Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: Immortal Tear Green Gold

Key Plot Points and Events

• After dividing the spoils, Jiang Ming offers Ye Fan a chance to raise God-Slaying Insects, but Ye Fan refuses because cultivating them requires enormous resources. The insects are only truly dangerous in large numbers or after being raised into rare Pureblood God-Slaying Insects.
• The group discovers more than a hundred God-Slaying Insect eggs inside the nest and distributes three eggs to everyone, including members of the Primordial Imperial Clan.
• As they advance through the Central Plains Ancestral Temple, the unusually powerful group begins splitting apart. Hua Yunfei leaves first, followed by Yan Ruyu and the Demon Race, Fairy Zixia with Purple Palace Sacred Land, Jiang Chanyu with the Ancient Hua Dynasty, and the Yaochi Sacred Maiden with the Yaochi cultivators.
• Ye Fan and Huoliner also depart because traveling with Jiang Ming provides too little danger or opportunity for personal tempering. The Fire Qilin Cave group leaves as well.
• Dragon Emperor’s Daughter remains with Jiang Ming despite Golden Heavenly Maiden’s reminder that she is expected to become Dao companions with Qingri. Her continued interest in Jiang Ming causes curiosity among her companions.
• As the remaining group ventures deeper, reports emerge that an Extreme Dao Immortal Material has appeared. Four powerful God-Slaying Insects are slaughtering anyone attempting to claim it.
• Jiang Ming recognizes the material from the original plot as Immortal Tear Green Gold and immediately moves to obtain it. He finds a fist-sized piece sealed inside Golden Divine Source.

Character Developments

• Jiang Ming continues to act as the center of the expedition, distributing resources fairly and allowing allies to leave independently. His growing cultivation also improves the quality of the rewards granted by his system.
• Ye Fan demonstrates his desire for genuine training rather than relying on Jiang Ming’s overwhelming protection, choosing to explore independently.
• Hua Yunfei remains connected to Jiang Ming through a complicated relationship: Jiang Ming wants him as a follower but also respects his need to develop freely.
• Yan Ruyu, Fairy Zixia, Jiang Chanyu, and the Yaochi Sacred Maiden each take responsibility for protecting and leading their respective groups.
• Dragon Emperor’s Daughter becomes increasingly interested in Jiang Ming and refuses to leave with the others, despite her clan’s plans for her relationship with Qingri.
• Jiang Ming’s female companions are portrayed as affectionate and playful toward him, frequently teasing him physically. The Heavenly Jade Saintess is quieter and more emotionally restrained, valuing her memories with Jiang Ming over recovered fragments from her past.

Significant Themes

• Partnership versus independence: Jiang Ming’s presence guarantees safety, but his overwhelming strength can prevent others from gaining experience. Several characters therefore leave to seek their own trials.
• Resource and power progression: The God-Slaying Insect eggs, system rewards, and Extreme Dao Immortal Materials highlight the importance of cultivation resources and the escalating level of power.
• Fate and relationships: Dragon Emperor’s Daughter’s rejection of her arranged path with Qingri suggests that personal attraction and fate may disrupt established political or clan expectations.
• Immortality and longevity: Immortal Tear Green Gold represents the ultimate value of cultivation treasures, offering not only weapon-forging potential but also the ability to nourish life force and extend a Great Emperor’s lifespan.

Character Interactions

• Jiang Ming and Ye Fan maintain a brotherly relationship built on trust; Jiang Ming accepts Ye Fan’s decision to leave while warning him to remain careful.
• Jiang Ming’s companions interact with him in a teasing, intimate manner, revealing their familiarity and affection.
• Yan Ruyu addresses Jiang Ming as her husband before separating, while Fairy Zixia and the other women coordinate their departures with him.
• Golden Heavenly Maiden questions Dragon Emperor’s Daughter about her romantic intentions, but Dragon Girl refuses to explain her attraction to Jiang Ming.
• The various factions cooperate temporarily around Jiang Ming but ultimately disperse to pursue their own opportunities.

Ending Development

The chapter ends with Jiang Ming confronting the danger surrounding the Immortal Tear Green Gold. The fist-sized piece is exceptionally rare, nearly sufficient to refine two Emperor Armaments, and possesses a unique life-nourishing power capable of extending a Great Emperor’s life by a thousand years while preserving youthful appearance.

Key plot points and events

• In the thirty-third linked small world of the Central Plains Ancestral Temple, four exceptionally powerful God-Slaying Insects rampage through the cultivators. They kill more than a hundred people, including Great Abilities, Holy Masters, and Dao-Severing Kings, while ordinary weapons prove useless.
• Jiang Ming arrives and sees his wife Jiang Chanyu, Ye Fan’s group, and forces from several sacred lands and Primordial Royal Clans sheltering beneath Heritage Saint Weapons.
• The attackers had uncovered a piece of immortal tear green gold, but the insects make it nearly impossible to claim. Two Great Accomplished Kings from Human World and Hell attempt to seize it using Heritage Saint Weapons and a Treasure-Gathering Basin.
• Jiang Ming uses Nearness and Ends of the Earth to put everyone beyond reach while keeping them vulnerable to him. He takes the green gold, then uses Eternal Emptiness to erase the two kings. His totem deities seize their weapons and the Treasure-Gathering Basin.
• When a Primordial Royal Clan member protests that Saints should not intervene, Jiang Ming replies that their own people have already taken his spoils and warns that he may kill them all.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming moves from having already warned others to intervening decisively when he sees the slaughter. He demonstrates overwhelming power, careful control, and seamless coordination with his totem deities, but his actions also provoke political tension.
• Jiang Chanyu is shown defending the Ancient China Dynasty’s forces with a Heritage Saint Weapon.
• Ye Fan and his companions, including the Holy Prince, are caught in the disaster and frustrated by how quickly events have turned against them. Ye Fan recognizes Jiang Ming’s forbidden technique from an earlier encounter.
• The Primordial Royal Clans challenge Jiang Ming’s intervention; he counters their complaint with a direct threat, making clear he will not accept their accusations or exploitation.

Significant themes

• The cost of greed: Pursuit of a rare treasure triggers a massacre.
• Overwhelming power and survival: Even elite cultivators and powerful weapons are helpless before the insects—and before Jiang Ming.
• Rules versus self-interest: The dispute over whether Saints may intervene contrasts with the factions’ own attempts to seize treasure.
• Cooperation and control: Jiang Ming’s totem deities act in perfect concert, turning his attack into a coordinated seizure of the spoils.

Plot points and events

• Beneath the altar, Jiang Ming and the others discover two enormous Saint-level God-Slaying Insects. Their sudden awakening sends most of the gathered fighters fleeing.
• Jiang Ming’s allies withdraw rather than risk fighting, while Jiang Ming remains long enough to inspect the hidden chamber. He finds the insects are already dead and takes the Divine Source.
• The Divine Spirit Coffin beside them is genuine. Jiang Ming senses that it contains the still-transforming Divine Silkworm Emperor and decides it is too dangerous to touch or move.
• To settle the karmic debt he feels from leaving the coffin behind, Jiang Ming leaves Ye Fan a piece of dragon-pattern black gold. He also leaves the insect corpses, which Ye Fan and the others can use.
• Ye Fan returns to find the gifts and a message explaining Jiang Ming’s choices. The group discusses the strange discovery, then prepares to leave. The Black Emperor promptly steals Ye Fan’s black gold.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming shows caution despite his power: he can handle lesser God-Slaying Insects, but recognizes the coffin’s occupant as a threat beyond his control. He also repays Ye Fan thoughtfully, though he keeps the immortal tear green gold for himself.
• Ye Fan trusts Jiang Ming enough to leave the danger behind, but is puzzled by his decisions when he returns.
• Jiang Ming’s allies follow his lead and retreat. He also promises the Golden Heavenly Maiden a powerful insect pet and a Heritage Saint Weapon, while agreeing to spend time cultivating with the Dragon Emperor’s Daughter.
• Pang Bo, Duan De, Qi Luo, and the Black Emperor provide comic relief as they speculate about Jiang Ming’s actions and claim the insect corpses. The Black Emperor’s final theft undercuts the group’s unease.

Significant themes

• Knowing when not to fight: The group’s retreat reflects the danger of overconfidence in the face of Saint-level threats.
• Power has limits: Jiang Ming can defeat or control formidable opponents but refuses to gamble with an unknown, potentially Emperor-level being.
• Karmic debts and reciprocity: Jiang Ming leaves Ye Fan valuable compensation rather than taking everything for himself.
• Humor amid danger: The characters’ bickering and the Black Emperor’s petty theft contrast with the ominous coffin and eerie ancestral temple.

Chapter Summary: “Traces of the Eclosion Great Emperor”

Key events

Ye Fan recovers the Dragon-Pattern Black Gold with the Nine Secret: Bing, but Black Emperor steals the Divine Spirit Coffin and flees. The group decides to pursue Eastern Demon Jiang Ming into the thirty-fourth small world, where they encounter enormous numbers of Corpse Ghosts and Corpse Demons. With Extreme Dao weapons and powerful techniques, they begin clearing the secret realm.

Eastern Demon’s past and character

The group discusses Jiang Ming’s history with the Heavenly Jade Saintess. Though she once relentlessly pursued him, their relationship eventually deepened after Jiang Ming risked his life to save her during a tribulation. She later became his wife. This story reinforces Jiang Ming’s loyalty and righteousness, while also revealing the tragic events that transformed him into a demon and awakened his Heavenly Tyrant Body. His relationship with Smoke Glow Fairy and the loss of her life remain painful subjects that the group avoids discussing.

Major battle

The thirty-fourth world is filled with more than a hundred thousand powerful Corpse Demons. Jiang Ming protects Yi Qingwu and the Heavenly Jade Saintess while effortlessly annihilating all undead creatures within a ten-mile radius. When two Saint-level Yin God child attendants attempt to sacrifice the cultivators using ancient formations and Emperor weapons, Jiang Ming kills them instantly with his technique, “Eternal Emptiness.” The others then join the assault and destroy the remaining Corpse Ghosts.

The Eclosion Great Emperor’s traces

The supposed Divine Embryo of the Eclosion Great Emperor is split open by the Primordial Emperor Sword and revealed to be only an empty shell. However, azure feathers and the aura of a Great Emperor emerge from it, proving that the Eclosion Great Emperor had genuinely stayed there before escaping. Jiang Ming uses his Time Ancestral Wizard-derived ability to steal the scriptures hidden within the embryo.

New suspicions

The Yin Gods reveal that the Eclosion Great Emperor awakened them roughly six thousand years earlier. Jiang Ming theorizes that the Emperor fled after witnessing Ruthless Empress destroy the Purple Star Emperor Seal. He further suspects that the Eclosion Great Emperor may have manipulated Heavenly Jade Holy Land into attacking the Desolate Forbidden Land to test whether Ruthless Empress was still alive. The reason for that disastrous attack remains unexplained, even to Madman and Wei Yi.

Themes and interactions

The chapter emphasizes loyalty, tragic relationships, fate, and the hidden motives behind ancient catastrophes. Friendly teasing about Jiang Ming’s misfortunes creates a warm contrast with the horror of the Corpse Ghosts and the mystery surrounding the Eclosion Great Emperor. The group’s cooperation, Jiang Ming’s protection of his companions, and the Jiang Family’s growing influence further highlight their unity and power.

Chapter Summary: “Rescuing Hua Yunfei”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jiang Ming suddenly senses that one of the incarnations protecting Hua Yunfei has been destroyed. He immediately travels across several small worlds and reaches the Central Plains Ancestral Temple.
• Hua Yunfei is under attack from the hidden Yaoguang Sacred Son, who is using the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold Cauldron and a strand of Imperial might. Hua Yunfei’s inherited Saint Weapon can barely withstand the assault.
• At the critical moment, Hua Yunfei activates a strand of Jiang Ming’s hair, creating an incarnation that rescues him and brings him to Jiang Ming’s true body.
• Jiang Ming destroys the incoming Imperial power and exposes Yaoguang Sacred Son’s hiding place. He warns Yaoguang not to pursue Hua Yunfei again, though he deliberately spares him because Yaoguang is a Human Race genius and the inheritor of a powerful Imperial weapon.
• Yaoguang retreats, recognizing that Jiang Ming is overwhelmingly stronger. He abandons his plan to use Hua Yunfei as a source of power and instead decides to hunt Primordial Antiquity Royal Clans.
• Having been rescued and forced to reconsider his future, Hua Yunfei formally offers to become Jiang Ming’s follower.
• Jiang Ming accepts him enthusiastically and gives him a drop of Quasi-Emperor-level Saint Spirit Blood Essence, hoping it will greatly improve Hua Yunfei’s bloodline and potential through the Heaven Devouring Demon Art.
• Elsewhere, Ye Fan discovers coordinates leading back to Earth. His journey is less dangerous than in the original timeline because Li Xiaoman has already been saved and Hua Yunfei has joined Jiang Ming.
• After Jiang Ming’s warning, Yaoguang kills two Primordial Antiquity Royal Clan members, takes their corpses, and quickly leaves the ancestral temple.

Character Developments

• Jiang Ming: Demonstrates his immense speed, perception, and combat power by crossing multiple worlds, neutralizing Imperial might, and seeing through Yaoguang’s concealment. He presents himself as both protective and strategically calculating: he saves Hua Yunfei but intentionally allows Yaoguang to continue growing so future opponents will remain challenging.
• Hua Yunfei: His pride and confidence have been tempered by repeated encounters with stronger enemies, including Yuangu, Fire Qilin Son, and Qingri. Realizing how difficult the path to the Great Emperor realm will be, he chooses to follow Jiang Ming rather than risk being left behind. His decision reflects humility, pragmatism, and continued dignity rather than submission born purely from fear.
• Yaoguang Sacred Son: Learns that his concealment and Imperial weapon cannot protect him from Jiang Ming. He retreats instead of gambling with his life, shifting his strategy toward killing Primordial Antiquity creatures to strengthen himself.
• Ye Fan: Makes progress toward returning to Earth, while the altered timeline reduces the dangers he faces.

Significant Themes

• Strength and survival in a dangerous era: The emergence of Primordial Antiquity Imperial Clans makes advancement extremely difficult, forcing talented figures to reconsider their goals and alliances.
• Loyalty and recognition of potential: Hua Yunfei becomes Jiang Ming’s follower not because he lacks ability, but because he recognizes Jiang Ming’s extraordinary future and wants to grow alongside him.
• The limits of innate talent: Jiang Ming reflects that even supreme physiques such as the Chaos Body or Innate Sacred Body Dao Embryo may represent the ultimate physical limits. Further advancement must come through other methods, such as his five Dao Palace Deities.
• Strategic cultivation of rivals: Jiang Ming does not simply eliminate every threat. He spares Yaoguang because he values the possibility of a stronger future opponent.
• Pride versus pragmatism: Hua Yunfei preserves his dignity while accepting that cooperation with Jiang Ming offers the best chance of surviving and reaching higher realms.

Important Character Interactions

• Jiang Ming rescues Hua Yunfei and confronts Yaoguang, warning him never to target Hua Yunfei again.
• Yaoguang recognizes Jiang Ming’s superiority and withdraws rather than risk death.
• Hua Yunfei thanks Jiang Ming and pledges himself as a follower, while Jiang Ming warmly embraces him and calls him his greatest gain from the secret realm.
• Jiang Ming gives Hua Yunfei Saint Spirit Blood Essence, demonstrating both trust and investment in his future.
• Jiang Ming’s thoughts about Yaoguang reveal that he wants capable allies and formidable enemies, not merely obedient followers or weak opponents.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Fan prepares to leave the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star for Earth, taking Ji Ziyue, An Miaoyi, Li Xiaoman, Qin Yao, and Jiang Ming’s Vermilion Bird Totem Deity with him.
• Jiang Ming encourages Ye Fan’s companions to join the journey, noting that Earth may offer them more than remaining behind. He also plans to send his Totem Deity there, partly to study and refine the Lihuo Divine Furnace.
• Jiang Ming’s main body stays behind, while the Totem Deity accompanies the group. The Ultimate Immortal Flame in the Fire Domain remains beyond Jiang Ming’s current ability to claim.
• Ji Haoyue arrives to protect Ye Fan and is distressed that his sister is leaving. Ye Fan and Jiang Ming tease him about her departure and her possible future family.
• The group activates the Five-Colored Altar expecting to travel through the starry sky, but arrives instead at the Desolate Forbidden Land. Jiang Ming recognizes the location and urges everyone to stay calm; Ye Fan sends the women into the Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron for safety.
• Many Primordial Creatures mistakenly celebrate Jiang Ming’s supposed departure, hoping his absence will strengthen their position.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Ziyue chooses to go with Ye Fan after previously staying behind during his trip to Ziwei. She is saddened by his departure but reassured by Jiang Ming’s presence.
• Jiang Ming shows his protective influence: his companions trust the journey more because he is present, and even Ye Fan feels secure with him. He remains behind in his main body while sending a powerful Totem Deity.
• Ji Haoyue reveals his deep affection and protectiveness toward Ji Ziyue, reacting angrily to her leaving and to Ye Fan’s teasing.
• Hua Yunfei sees less reason to travel to Earth after receiving Quasi-Emperor Saint Spirit blood essence from Jiang Ming, which has greatly improved his prospects. The cautious Yaoguang Sacred Son is believed to have already left the area.
• Ye Fan, Jiang Ming, and Ji Haoyue trade playful, provocative remarks, contrasting the danger of the journey with the group’s close, teasing relationships.

Significant themes

• Companionship and trust: The women’s willingness to travel—and their sense of safety—hinges partly on Jiang Ming’s presence.
• Separation and family bonds: Ji Ziyue’s departure weighs on both her and her devoted brother.
• Power and restraint: Jiang Ming recognizes the limits of his abilities, postponing any attempt to claim the Ultimate Immortal Flame.
• Misjudgment and irony: The Primordial Creatures celebrate Jiang Ming’s apparent departure, unaware that the group’s unexpected arrival in the Desolate Forbidden Land may alter their plans.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Ming and Ye Fan leave Big Dipper for Earth, with Ye Fan bringing Li Xiaoman, An Miaoyi, Qin Yao, and Ji Ziyue. The Primordial Royal Clans are relieved that the two feared troublemakers have gone.
• Jiang Ming’s companions know he has only pretended to leave: he has secretly remained behind to cause trouble for the Golden Heavenly Maiden.
• Ye Fan worries that traveling to Earth could strand Jiang Ming. Jiang Ming reveals that only his clone is making the journey.
• Traveling in the Heaven-Swallowing Devil Jar, the pair reach Mars Ancient Star in less than a day. They briefly see images of its former lush landscape in the River of Time, then find the planet barren.
• They sense the Crocodile Ancestor watching them. Jiang Ming claims he can kill the Great Saint, though it may be difficult.
• The group investigates the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple. Jiang Ming concludes that a powerful Demon Saint was once trapped there by a formation using the saint’s own flesh-and-blood power—and is now gradually breaking free.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Fan is eager to return to Earth but remains concerned for Jiang Ming’s safety. His Dao-Severing cultivation lets him travel the final stretch through space, while Jiang Ming accompanies him.
• Jiang Ming balances reassurance with bravado, concealing that he is using a clone and presenting himself as confident about confronting the Crocodile Ancestor. He is also motivated by the reward he expects for defeating the Great Saint.
• Ye Fan and the women travel together; he warns them to stay close while exploring. Li Xiaoman shares her knowledge of Earth’s legends about the Great Thunderclap Temple and its demons.
• Li Xiaoman carries a powerful but fragile, limited-use artifact. An Miaoyi and Qin Yao lack strong protective weapons, so Ye Fan has given them King-level divine weapons.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and companionship: Ye Fan and Jiang Ming undertake a dangerous journey together despite the risks.
• Hidden histories and myth: Earth’s legends about demons beneath the temple prove to contain fragments of truth.
• Power and peril: Even powerful cultivators face danger from ancient beings and breaking seals.
• Resourcefulness and preparation: The group relies on artifacts, cultivation, and careful investigation to confront threats.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Ming leads Ye Fan, Li Xiaoman, An Miaoyi, Qin Yao, Yan Ruyu, and Ji Ziyue into a cavern identified as the nexus of the Buddhist School’s eighteen levels of hell. Divine patterns cover its walls, and the place radiates a killing intent associated with the Crocodile Ancestor.
• The group finds one of the Crocodile Ancestor’s enormous scales, confirming that the ancient monster was once imprisoned here.
• Ye Fan uses nine-colored flames to drive a strange figure back into a bronze Coffin-Suppressing Lamp, which he takes and stores in his Myriad Things Mother Qi Cauldron.
• The cavern proves far larger than expected: the eighteen levels are linked small worlds, and one contains a black ocean crossed by ghost ships.
• When the group boards a ship, Corpse Ghosts attack. Jiang Ming’s Saintly might destroys them effortlessly. He then transfers everyone to a much larger vessel, where he also defeats stronger corpse demons, including one formed from a Saint’s body.
• A vast ship glowing with Buddhist light approaches, accompanied by overwhelming voices and meditative chants.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming acts as the group’s decisive protector, remaining calm amid the supernatural dangers and demonstrating the gulf between his Saint-level power and the undead creatures’ strength.
• Ye Fan relies on Jiang Ming’s judgment but also takes initiative, claiming the bronze lamp and considering awakening an ancient Saint he had preserved in divine source.
• Li Xiaoman and An Miaoyi have moved away from their former plans to become nuns. Ye Fan helped both pursue other cultivation paths, and Li Xiaoman’s reaction to the Crocodile Ancestor shows that her past trauma remains vivid.
• Qin Yao has received the Azure Emperor Scripture from Jiang Ming, while the other women have their own cultivation support and protections. Ji Ziyue is safeguarded by the Ruthless Empress’s ring.
• The group’s trust in Jiang Ming is evident: Ye Fan looks to him for direction, and the others follow his lead through the cavern and onto the ships.

Significant themes

• Power and protection: Jiang Ming’s overwhelming strength turns terrifying threats into manageable obstacles, allowing the others to observe rather than fight.
• The weight of the past: The Crocodile Ancestor’s prison and Li Xiaoman’s reaction connect present exploration to earlier dangers and trauma.
• Hidden worlds and mysteries: The linked hell-realms, black sea, ghost ships, and approaching Buddhist vessel reveal that the cavern conceals far more than a prison.
• Investment and loyalty: Jiang Ming’s generosity toward Ye Fan’s companions reflects his belief in Ye Fan’s potential and the value of supporting those close to him.

Key plot points and events

• As Jiang Ming destroys demon-ghost ships, the Western Desert’s lingering Buddhist power awakens on a treasure ship. Five hundred deceased Golden-Body Arhats chant and unleash Buddha’s Light Illuminates All, reducing ghost corpses to dust.
• Jiang Ming enters another ship and uses Red Lotus Karmic Fire and the Six Paths of Reincarnation Fist to destroy a powerful Corpse Ghost. He then annihilates the remaining black ships and their Half-Saint-level occupants.
• The black sea forms a devouring sea eye. Its disappearance reveals the Crocodile Ancestor, an ancient Great Saint enraged that Jiang Ming has ruined the Immortal Burial Ground’s once-in-a-thousand-years opening.
• Jiang Ming tells Ye Fan to bring out the Human Demon he is carrying, while joking that he wants to preserve the Crocodile Ancestor for a meal. He clashes with the Crocodile Ancestor more than a hundred times, using the Lihuo Divine Furnace and karmic fire.
• The Crocodile Ancestor then shifts from his enormous crocodile form into an imposing armored man. He declares that he has gauged Jiang Ming’s strength and intends to kill him and search his soul.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming displays overwhelming power against the ships and their monsters, but admits privately that he cannot defeat the Crocodile Ancestor outright with his current body. His boast about wanting crocodile meat contrasts with the seriousness of the threat.
• Ye Fan watches from a safe distance with his companions and questions whether Jiang Ming can handle the Great Saint. He also confirms that Jiang Ming feels like a clone rather than the original.
• An Miaoyi recognizes the Western Desert connection to the Arhats. The narration notes that Jiang Ming’s intervention has helped her—and Qin Yao and Li Xiaoman—avoid the tragic fates they would have faced in the original storyline.
• Qin Yao jokingly calls Jiang Ming a “demon king” and asks Ye Fan whether he is really a clone.
• The Crocodile Ancestor moves from furious retaliation to confident menace, believing Jiang Ming could have become a real threat with more time but is still outmatched by his own Great Saint cultivation.

Significant themes

• The persistence of spiritual power after death: Though the Arhats are dead, their bodies and lingering thoughts still wield sacred force.
• Fate altered by intervention: Jiang Ming’s help has changed the expected destinies of several women.
• Power and its limits: Jiang Ming dominates lesser enemies but faces a clear ceiling against an ancient Great Saint.
• Humor amid danger: Jiang Ming’s casual teasing and talk of eating his foe lighten a battle that is escalating toward a major confrontation.

Key plot points

• Jiang Ming recalls that the Golden-Winged Roc Lineage’s power comes from having once produced a Heavenly Demon, helping explain the Little Roc King’s arrogance and ambition to marry Yan Ruyu.
• As the Crocodile Ancestor advances, a seemingly dead monk awakens among the five hundred Arhats and Bodhisattvas. He reveals he has stayed alive to suppress the Demonic Sea Eye.
• Jiang Ming recognizes him as the ancient monk Ksitigarbha, who once guided Shakyamuni. He gives Ksitigarbha a drop of Ageless Immortal Spring, reviving him.
• The Crocodile Ancestor covets Jiang Ming’s Quasi-Emperor Armament and Ye Fan’s Emperor-protected treasures, expecting to defeat them and take their wealth.
• Ye Fan releases a sealed, emaciated elder from an Immortal Treasure Ancient Scroll: the Human Demon, a formidable fighter whose combat potential may reach the Divine Forbidden Realm.
• Ksitigarbha and the other Arhats’ lingering spiritual power aid Jiang Ming by chanting scriptures that suppress the Crocodile Ancestor and help awaken the Human Demon. Jiang Ming continues fighting, confident his reserves of refined essence and divine source will sustain him.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming shows both strategic generosity and resourcefulness: his earlier support of the Arhats unexpectedly revives Ksitigarbha, and he carefully preserves and uses large stores of divine source. He treats the Human Demon respectfully, avoiding a crude attempt to wake him by striking his source block.
• Ksitigarbha shifts from an apparently lifeless figure to an active spiritual force, renewing his vow to suppress the Demonic Sea Eye and joining the fight through Buddhist power.
• The Crocodile Ancestor is revealed as a powerful, greedy Great Saint, but his confidence makes him underestimate Ye Fan and focus on their treasures.
• Ye Fan escalates the confrontation by unveiling the Human Demon, adding a potentially decisive ally.
• Ksitigarbha’s chants and the Arhats’ lingering thoughts connect the Buddhist characters with Jiang Ming’s battle and the Human Demon’s awakening.

Significant themes

• Compassion and duty: Ksitigarbha endures beyond death to protect others and contain the Demonic Sea Eye.
• Power and greed: The Crocodile Ancestor sees the heroes primarily as sources of valuable weapons and treasures.
• Respect and restraint: Jiang Ming chooses a dignified way to awaken the Human Demon rather than treating him as an object.
• Unexpected consequences: Jiang Ming’s seemingly modest act of nourishing the Arhats brings Ksitigarbha back into the struggle.

Key events

• Ye Fan awakens the Primordial Great Saint known as Human Demon, whose cultivation had left him divided between divine and demonic states.
• Human Demon immediately attacks and kills Crocodile Ancestor, then roasts him and invites the group to eat. Jiang Ming’s system rewards him with half a cubic meter of extreme-dao feathered green gold.
• Human Demon reads Crocodile Ancestor’s memories, learns how much time has passed, and discovers that the Human Race eventually rose to prominence.
• The group feasts on Crocodile Ancestor’s meat and uses his remains: Human Demon makes a hide skirt and strengthens his White Bone Club with the bones.
• Jiang Ming shares Ageless Immortal Spring with Human Demon. Ye Fan provides star-map coordinates to help him navigate the stars when he exiles himself to resolve his cultivation problem.
• Over a month of discussion and teaching, Ye Fan shares Tai Chi philosophy, while Human Demon explains his Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang scriptures. Ksitigarbha helps restrain Human Demon’s demonic nature.
• The group’s cultivation improves substantially. Qin Yao advances three minor realms, awakens the ancestral bloodline of the Peach Saint, and gains hope of becoming a Saint. Jiang Ming reaches the fifth heaven of Saint.

Character developments and interactions

• Human Demon proves overwhelmingly powerful, but remains troubled by the failed fusion of his Yin and Yang cultivation. Tai Chi philosophy offers a possible path to reconcile them and reach Quasi-Emperor. His pleasure at the Human Race’s later rise brings out his pride in his people.
• Jiang Ming enjoys the feast, shares food with his original body and companions, and exchanges the Immortal Spring for Human Demon’s help and knowledge.
• Ksitigarbha is revealed to be severely weakened despite his confidence; he nevertheless supports Human Demon and benefits from the group’s shared cultivation and discussion.
• Ye Fan helps Human Demon both practically, with star coordinates, and philosophically, by introducing Tai Chi. He and his companions cultivate after eating Crocodile Ancestor’s meat.
• Qin Yao experiences the most dramatic personal breakthrough, gaining both cultivation and renewed hope of keeping pace with Ye Fan.

Themes

• Power and vulnerability: Crocodile Ancestor’s weapon cannot protect him from a Great Saint, while Ksitigarbha’s apparent strength masks a nearly exhausted life force.
• Shared knowledge and mutual aid: The characters exchange scriptures, philosophy, resources, and guidance, advancing through cooperation.
• Food as cultivation: Crocodile Ancestor’s roasted flesh becomes both a feast and a source of spiritual and physical growth.
• Balance and transformation: Human Demon’s unresolved conflict between Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang suggests that harmonizing opposing forces may enable renewal and transcendence.

Plot points and events

• The old Human Demon rewards Ye Fan and Jiang Ming with tens of thousands of pounds of roasted Crocodile Ancestor meat and several Blood Essence Pills. Old Monk Ksitigarbha shares a lost Buddhist scripture, the Eight Treasures Dragon Transformation Scripture, and chants it to cleanse the group.
• Eating the Great Saint-level meat greatly benefits everyone. Jiang Ming’s Vermilion Bird Totem Deity gains strength, and its physical shell reaches the Half-Great Saint domain.
• The old Human Demon leaves to exile himself, having only partially suppressed his nightly demonic nature. Ksitigarbha remains on Mars, continuing to suppress the Demonic Sea Eye. Jiang Ming stays to study the Dao with him; Ye Fan departs with his companions.
• Jiang Ming realizes that Earth is not the world of his previous life and that he has no clear reason to remain there. He considers cultivating with the Lihuo Divine Furnace and seeking guidance from the spiritual incarnation of Emperor Hengyu.
• A year passes. Jiang Ming benefits from Ksitigarbha’s teachings and advances his Vermilion Bird Totem Deity to the Sixth Heaven of Saint.
• Ye Fan returns with his companions, now dressed in modern clothes. Having had their company, he has recovered somewhat from the grief of losing his parents. He tells Jiang Ming he plans to investigate Earth’s ancient mythological ruins, believing its myths conceal real history.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming feels displaced after discovering that Earth is not his former home. He uses his own lasting grief over Smoke Glow Fairy to comfort Ye Fan and encourage him to pursue the seemingly impossible.
• Ye Fan comes through his grief with the support of his companions and strengthens his resolve to seek greater power—perhaps enough one day to challenge the limits of time.
• Li Xiaoman has secretly helped prolong her family’s lives but keeps her cultivation hidden, believing that revealing it would draw her relatives into a dangerous and unattainable pursuit.
• Old Monk Ksitigarbha shares his Buddhist knowledge generously and becomes Jiang Ming’s teacher in Dao discussions, but refuses to join Ye Fan’s expedition.
• The old Human Demon accepts the group’s company and gifts, yet leaves to confront his unresolved condition alone.

Significant themes

• Grief, memory, and hope: Ye Fan and Jiang Ming both carry painful losses, but Jiang Ming offers the possibility—however remote—of overcoming time and changing the past.
• Limits and ambition: The characters weigh ordinary people’s limited chances of cultivation against the determination to pursue immortality or transcendence.
• Mentorship and shared knowledge: The meal, scripture, and year of Dao discussion show how generosity and learning can strengthen both body and spirit.
• Myth and hidden history: Ye Fan’s plan reflects the chapter’s suggestion that Earth’s ancient myths may record real events.

Chapter Summary: “Taking Down the Golden Heavenly Maiden”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fourteen years after earlier events, Jiang Ming secretly enters Gold Cave, a natural treasure land rich in Geng Metal Essence, Golden Heavenly Wind, and Golden Treasure Aura. He identifies it as the “lung” of the former Chaos Body.
• By switching identities with the White Tiger Totem Deity, Jiang Ming conceals his true presence and approaches the Golden Heavenly Maiden. After three years of pursuit and cultivation, he wins her over, subdues her, and makes her his mount.
• During the following years, Jiang Ming cultivates in several major locations, including the Fire Domain, Emperor Hengyu’s hidden grounds, Myriad Dragon Nest, Gold Cave, the Yaochi Ruins, Qilin Cave, and the Nine-Aperture Stone Embryo.
• He spends eight years winning over Huoliner and eventually advances to the Ninth Heaven of Saint.
• His Great Freedom Dao Scripture reaches the Fifth Transformation, the Reality-Void Turn, continuing its progression through increasingly profound stages of Dao cultivation.
• The chapter also recounts how Jiang Ming’s female companions defeated the Son of the Celestial Emperor. Yan Ruyu, Fairy Zixia, Princess Gu Hua, and Yaochi Fairy forced him to flee, while the Heavenly Jade Saintess killed a Primordial Ancestral King who intervened.
• Jiang Ming deliberately keeps the Son of the Celestial Emperor alive so that he can continue accumulating resentment points and eventually gain greater rewards from the Gate System.

Character Development

• Jiang Ming: His cultivation rises dramatically from the Fourth Heaven to the Ninth Heaven of Saint. His Primordial Demon God Dao Body improves his talent and Dao comprehension, allowing his cultivation speed to increase sharply. He also expands his influence by winning over powerful women from different factions.
• Golden Heavenly Maiden: She becomes Jiang Ming’s companion and mount, enters the Half-Saint realm, and is emotionally attached to him despite calling him a scoundrel. Her strength and status remain exceptionally high compared with contemporary cultivators.
• Huoliner: Jiang Ming successfully wins her over after eight years, adding another powerful Ancient Emperor’s Daughter to his circle.
• Jiang Ming’s confidantes: They grow into formidable fighters, mastering Eight Prohibitions combat power and proving capable of challenging the Son of the Celestial Emperor as a group.
• Son of the Celestial Emperor: Though arrogant and extremely talented, he suffers a major defeat and retreats from public action. He remains Jiang Ming’s intentionally preserved enemy and “whetstone.”

Significant Themes

• Rapid cultivation and transformation: Jiang Ming’s growth reflects the benefits of exceptional physiques, powerful inheritances, rare resources, and the support of talented companions.
• Power through alliances: Formerly hostile Ancient Emperor’s Daughters become Jiang Ming’s allies and sisters to his confidantes, fundamentally shifting the balance of power.
• Romance and conquest: Jiang Ming’s relationships are portrayed as both romantic pursuits and acts of domination, with his partners becoming part of his expanding faction.
• Strategic restraint: Rather than killing the Son of the Celestial Emperor, Jiang Ming preserves him for future rewards and as training for his companions.
• Legacy and destiny: The Son of the Celestial Emperor’s background, the Immortal Saint Emperor’s arrangements, and Wushi Emperor’s interference emphasize how the plans of Ancient Emperors can be disrupted by later events.

Character Interactions

• The Golden Heavenly Maiden openly expresses affection for Jiang Ming while teasing him about gaining her father’s approval. Jiang Ming responds humorously, complaining that she mentions her father immediately after their prolonged intimacy.
• Their exchange highlights their close but combative relationship: she calls him a “scoundrel,” while he jokingly claims that he merely helped her cultivate.
• Jiang Ming’s confidantes cooperate against the Son of the Celestial Emperor, demonstrating both their unity and their growing confidence in battle.
• The Ancient Emperor’s Daughters, once potential enemies, are now integrated into Jiang Ming’s circle and treated as sisters by his other companions.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Fifteen years pass. Jiang Ming’s cultivation continues to grow, and his physical body is now comparable to a Great Saint at the eighth heaven. His partners also advance: his beloved companions reach the ninth layer of the King realm, while the Heavenly Jade Saintess has become a Saint King. Gu Qingyao has not yet reached Quasi-Emperor, and the Nine-Aperture Stone Embryo has advanced to the fifth heaven of Saint.
• Jiang Ming invests heavily in the Stone Embryo’s future, refining a Three-Treasure Jade Ruyi for her from rare materials. Her transformation is accelerating, though she remains far from fully emerging. The chapter explains that a Saint Spirit’s power depends on how complete its transformation is: a fully developed Saint Spirit could even threaten Forbidden Land Supremes.
• Despite his confidence and the peaceful life he enjoys with his companions, Jiang Ming worries about the coming Dark Cataclysm. He believes he will be helpless against it unless he reaches Quasi-Emperor, but he does not know when it will occur.
• On Earth, Jiang Ming’s Vermilion Bird Totem Deity reaches Saint King. He takes four disciples with unusual physiques: a paralyzed shut-in with a Divine King Body, an amputee child with a Heavenly Demon Body, and conjoined sisters with a Light-Dark Twin Body. He restores the injured disciples’ bodies, brings them to Kunlun, and teaches them four Ancient Scriptures. Within ten years, all four reach the Other Shore realm.
• Jiang Ming and Ye Fan visit the Immortal Ascension Cauldron. Ye Fan admits he wants it, but Jiang Ming declines, explaining that he has no need for it. He is there mainly to see the place where the Ruthless Empress once struck the Green Copper Cauldron.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming remains confident and indulgent in his relationships, but his concern about the unknown timing of the Dark Cataclysm reveals a deeper insecurity about whether he will be powerful enough to protect those around him.
• Gu Qingyao remains Jiang Ming’s strongest personal challenge, though he feels he is gradually catching up to her.
• The Nine-Aperture Stone Embryo is slowly becoming more independent and formidable. Jiang Ming’s support reflects his hope that she may one day emerge as a Great Emperor-level Saint Spirit.
• Jiang Ming’s four disciples are introduced as resilient people whose difficult lives have not extinguished their character. They support one another, and Jiang Ming’s restoration of their bodies and cultivation training strengthen their bond with him.
• Ye Fan admires Jiang Ming’s choices of disciples and does not challenge him over the cauldron, despite wanting it himself. Jiang Ming, meanwhile, treats the visit as an opportunity to witness history rather than claim another treasure.

Significant themes

• Time, transformation, and potential: The Stone Embryo’s slow evolution shows that extraordinary power may require long development, while her progress suggests that patient support can accelerate it.
• Mentorship and compassion: Jiang Ming uses his abilities to give disadvantaged but resilient people a chance to cultivate, without demanding that they follow him beyond Earth.
• The limits of knowledge and power: Jiang Ming’s awareness of future dangers does not tell him when they will arrive, and his present strength may still be inadequate.
• Resilience and mutual support: The disciples’ perseverance—especially the sisters’ lifelong care for one another—makes their character as important as their special physiques.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Ming gives his four Earth disciples rough-blanks of powerful Dao weapons—tower, cauldron, furnace, and armor—and shares secret arts from the Hengyu Scripture. He instructs them to remain on Earth until they become Great Saints, cultivate on Kunlun, and help their families once they have progressed.
• Ye Fan introduces Little Pine to Jiang Ming’s disciples, then leaves him on Earth with Huahua rather than taking him to the more dangerous Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star. Jiang Ming also brings the young cultivators to meet Old Monk Ksitigarbha, who will remain near them while guarding the Demonic Sea Eye on Mars.
• Ye Fan sets out to punish wicked forces, including Penglai Immortal Island, driven by anger over their past indifference during a tragedy. A month later, he and his companions depart through Hangu Pass for the Big Dipper.
• In a separate thread, Jiang Ming spends six months with the Golden Heavenly Maiden, then visits Huoliner. He plans to travel the Starry Sky Ancient Road to the Eternal Star Region and promises his beloved women a major opportunity, telling them not to rush into the Saint Realm.
• Jiang Ming’s power is already extraordinary: though only a ninth-heaven Saint, his body and Primordial Spirit rival a Great Saint’s, and his nine innate divine abilities can grow stronger still.

Character development and interactions

• Jiang Ming shows paternal care toward his disciples, offering them weapons, teachings, and firm guidance. His disciples accept his rules and part from him with mature resolve.
• Ye Fan is reluctant to leave Little Pine behind, but agrees that Earth is safer and better suited to the squirrel’s future. He also leaves Huahua there as a companion.
• Huoliner is embarrassed when Jiang Ming reminds her that an earlier opportunity helped her become a Half-Saint. She playfully bites him, and their teasing turns affectionate.
• Jiang Ming jokes that Huoliner’s brother would be furious if he saw them, reflecting the familiar tension between a protective older brother and his sister’s partner.

Significant themes

• Mentorship and responsibility: Jiang Ming and Ye Fan make decisions for their pupils’ safety and future growth.
• Patience and preparation: The disciples must remain on Earth until strong enough, while Jiang Ming’s companions are told not to rush their breakthroughs.
• Revenge and justice: Ye Fan confronts forces he believes failed to act when they could have prevented past suffering.
• Parting and trust: The Earth disciples accept separation, confident they will meet their masters again.

Key plot points

• Jiang Ming’s Qilin Totem Deity, Yellow Earth, has advanced rapidly to Saint ninth heaven, aided by the Five-Element Mountain, an intact Immortal Artifact with a damaged internal deity. His all-five-elements nature makes it especially valuable to him.
• Jiang Ming and Huoliner’s relationship deepens. Jiang Ming explains the connection between himself and Yellow Earth, and the pair separate briefly when they sense Huoliner’s brother nearby.
• Jiang Ming’s link with his Vermilion Bird Totem Deity returns. The deity has reached Saint King, signaling that Ye Fan has come back—and that a new period of upheaval is beginning.
• The chapter surveys fifteen years of change on the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star: Jiang Ming’s disciple Ying Tongtong has become a celebrated Great Ability cultivator, while his daughter Tingting has severed her Dao and gone to study under Gai Jiuyou. New prodigies and Dao-Severing experts have also emerged.
• Jiang Ming brings Huoliner into his Inner Heaven and Earth, a vast, mostly barren battlefield-world. After sharing its secrets with her, he shows her its small, richly nourished sacred pool and the separate bathing pool he has set aside for his wives.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming and Huoliner: Their romance becomes more intimate and trusting; Jiang Ming reveals a private part of his world to her.
• Yellow Earth: His cultivation and mastery of the Five Elements continue to grow, with the Five-Element Mountain central to his progress.
• Ying Tongtong: He has become a leading young talent, usually defeating the Myriad Beginning Sacred Land’s Holy Son, though he once deliberately lost to preserve goodwill between their factions. Jiang Ming’s protection and Tongtong’s Solar lineage make him difficult to challenge.
• Jiang Tingting: After severing her Dao, she joins Xia Jiuyou in training under Gai Jiuyou, one of humanity’s greatest surviving experts.
• Jiang Ming’s family and allies: His father Jiang Tang has reached Life Spring Realm at Clumsy Peak, where he cultivates alongside Cai Dun, Li Ruoyu, and others.
• Ye Fan and the Vermilion Bird deity: Ye Fan’s return is foreshadowed by the deity’s breakthrough, setting the stage for coming changes.

Significant themes

• A shifting era: A seemingly stable world is poised for change as Ye Fan returns and younger and older generations advance.
• Cultivation and legacy: The progress of Jiang Ming’s disciples, children, and deities shows how power and influence pass between generations.
• Trust and intimacy: Jiang Ming’s willingness to disclose his Inner Heaven and Earth marks a deepening of his bond with Huoliner.
• Power and preparation: Jiang Ming’s Inner Heaven and Earth is both a private domain and a tactical weapon, designed to isolate enemies from the outside world’s laws.

Key plot points and events

• Huoliner visits Jiang Ming’s Inner Heaven and Earth and is astonished to find the Qilin Divine Medicine thriving beside the Immortal Pool. Jiang Ming explains that, because he created the world, he could shape its laws to support the medicine. It has grown from a seed to a nearly fruit-bearing tree in just over thirty years.
• Jiang Ming takes Huoliner to bathe in the pool, which is enriched by the Qilin medicine, an Immortal Spring, divine-source blocks, and other rare treasures. Huoliner feels its restorative effects and is amazed by the abundance of valuable resources throughout his world.
• After half a month, they leave. Huoliner informs her older brother, and she and Jiang Ming travel to the Fire Domain so Jiang Ming can help her forge her own Dao weapon using feathered green gold.
• In the Fire Domain’s ninth layer, Huoliner sees Jiang Ming’s Vermilion Bird Totem Deity return to him. He absorbs the deity’s fifteen years of experience, further refining his Dao. The process transforms the surrounding nine-colored flames into Nine-Colored Flame Essence Liquid.
• Huoliner collects three cubic meters of the liquid, a rare and especially suitable cultivation resource for her fire-based path.

Character developments and interactions

• Huoliner is repeatedly impressed by Jiang Ming’s achievements and wealth, from his cultivated world and thriving divine medicine to his independent Dao Palace Deity. She also benefits directly from the Immortal Pool and the Flame Essence Liquid.
• Jiang Ming demonstrates the unusual power of his self-created world and the independence of his cultivation path. He continues supporting Huoliner by preparing to help her forge a Dao weapon and securing resources suited to her.
• Jiang Ming also reflects on his father-in-law, the Kirin Ancient Emperor, whom he hopes to recruit. He respects the Emperor’s refusal to survive through a Dark Cataclysm at the cost of harming living beings.

Significant themes

• Creating one’s own path: Jiang Ming’s world and freely roaming Dao Palace Deities show that he is not bound by established cultivation methods.
• Abundance and cultivation: Carefully accumulated treasures can nurture rare medicines, strengthen the body, and create exceptional opportunities.
• Power and moral choice: The contrast between emperors who may eventually prey on living beings and the Kirin Ancient Emperor’s principled self-sacrifice emphasizes the moral cost of clinging to power.
• Mutual support: Jiang Ming uses his resources and knowledge to help Huoliner advance along her own path.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Ming refines the Vermilion Bird Totem Deity’s accumulated power in the Fire Domain, strengthening his foundation without advancing to Saint King. He and Huoliner then return to his secret realm.
• He hosts a gathering with Gu Qingyao, the Golden Heavenly Maiden, the Dragon Emperor’s Daughter, the Yaochi Fairy, Fairy Zixia, Yan Ruyu, Princess Gu Hua, and others. Crocodile Ancestor meat and Immortal Brew greatly nourish the group; two of Jiang Ming’s partners advance to Half-Saint.
• The gathering becomes a year-long celebration. Jiang Ming urges his partners not to rush into sainthood.
• Elsewhere, Gu Tianshu kills three Primordial Ancestral Kings, discouraging further interference in the rising generation’s trials. Several young elites depart along the Starry Sky Ancient Road.
• Jiang Ming decides to follow the Southern Demon, whose karmic mark lets him track the route toward the Eternal Star Region. He explains that he intends to prepare opportunities there to help the women evolve before becoming Saints.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming’s gathering brings his partners closer, and the Ancient Emperor’s Daughters gradually accept one another. Jiang Ming briefly reflects that he may be indulging himself too much.
• The Crocodile Ancestor’s meat helps the group grow stronger. Ji Haoyue, Qin Yao, An Miaoyi, and Li Xiaoman are also noted as having advanced substantially; Qin Yao awakens her ancestral peach-blossom Demon Saint bloodline, while An Miaoyi and Li Xiaoman have cultivated the Heaven Devouring Demon Art.
• Gu Qingyao offers to accompany Jiang Ming, but he declines, saying the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star needs her protection. The others accept his plan and urge him to be careful.
• Jiang Ming reassures them that he means to bring them to the Ancient Road later, after arranging the opportunities they need.

Significant themes

• Companionship and intimacy: Shared experiences deepen the women’s bonds with one another and with Jiang Ming.
• Power through preparation: Cultivation, rare food, and carefully arranged opportunities build strength, while Jiang Ming cautions against advancing too quickly.
• Changing balance of power: Gu Tianshu’s intervention restrains the Primordial Ancestral Kings, allowing younger cultivators to pursue their paths.
• Exploration and cultural difference: The planned journey to the Eternal Star Region promises contact with a civilization that regards cultivators like Jiang Ming as primitive “natives.”

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Ming leaves the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star to follow the Southern Demon along the Starry Sky Ancient Road. He has arranged for his Dao Palace Deity and Sister Qing to protect those he leaves behind.
• Ji Haoyue also departs after achieving Dao Severing, abandoning his post as Ji Family head when Ji Ziyue refuses to take it. Their father inherits the position.
• Jiang Ming’s departure is publicized deliberately, so troublemakers will emerge instead of remaining hidden. Soon, Primordial Clan members provoke the Ji Family; Ji Ziyue retaliates by killing the attackers, demonstrating her formidable power.
• Rumors that the Desolate Forbidden Land conceals the Immortal Ascension Road tempt Primordial Royal Clans and Great Saints to investigate. Jiang Ming refuses to intervene and keeps the women close to him out of danger.
• During his journey, Jiang Ming reexamines a blue-gold Flying Saucer and realizes it is an advanced alloy from the Eternal Star Region. He upgrades it with stronger spatial and temporal Dao marks, Five-Colored Divine Light patterns, and a piece of feathered green gold, greatly improving its speed, durability, and ability to capture powerful opponents.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Ming remains strategic and confident: he leaves the Big Dipper to draw hostile forces into the open, while avoiding needless interference in the Forbidden Land affair. He also shifts from pursuing personal distractions to carefully studying and improving his craft.
• Ji Haoyue chooses adventure over a quiet life at home. Ji Ziyue declines leadership, preferring to stay with Ye Fan; she believes proximity to his extraordinary fortune will benefit her cultivation.
• Ji Ziyue shows both political restraint and combat strength. She had already warned the ambitious Ji Biyue to stop scheming, and now answers an attack on her family by defeating the attackers herself.
• Jiang Ming’s Totem Deities, including the Dragon Emperor’s Daughter, the Golden Heavenly Maiden, and Huoliner, consult him about the proposed expedition. He advises that he and his loved ones will stay out of it, leaving the reckless to face the consequences.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Jiang Ming uses his influence to shape events but refuses to endanger himself or his companions over others’ reckless choices.
• Ambition and danger: The pursuit of the rumored Immortal Ascension Road draws powerful factions toward a forbidden place that even ancient forces fear.
• Family conflict and factional politics: The Ji Family’s internal divisions persist even as it faces outside threats.
• Growth through opportunity and ingenuity: Ji Ziyue trusts Ye Fan’s luck, while Jiang Ming turns an overlooked artifact into a far more powerful tool through patient study.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Ming studies and upgrades his captured flying saucer, replacing its ordinary restraints with stronger alloy walls and intricate Dao Patterns. His modifications raise its capacity from imprisoning beings below the Saint realm to holding anyone below the Saint King realm.
• The saucer contains prisoners from many races, including powerful Dao-Severing Kings. Among them are two children of the Eternal Star Region’s Heavenly Martial King: a proud purple-haired man and a woman carrying the technologically advanced Vajra Bracelet.
• After years in captivity, the prisoners have become subdued. Jiang Ming has kept them alive because they may help him infiltrate the Eternal Star Region and obtain its resources. He now begins using soul arts—including the Ruthless Emperor’s Spirit-Duelling Art—to alter the captives’ memories and make them loyal followers.
• Jiang Ming plans to use the Eternal Star Region’s Essence Liquid to strengthen his loved ones and daughter, then deal with the Primordial Royal Clans on the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star.
• Back on the Big Dipper Burial Emperor Star, several major human figures—including Wang Teng, Xiang Yufei, Qi Lin, and Ji Haoyue—have departed. Their absence emboldens the Primordial Royal Clans. The Blood Moon Clan, infamous for its ancient hostility toward humans, is singled out as a clan that has kept a low profile while awaiting an opportunity.

Character developments

• Jiang Ming recognizes that he had underestimated the Eternal Star Region’s knowledge and technology. His growing expertise lets him improve the saucer and plan a more calculated, covert approach to its civilization.
• His view of the captives remains pragmatic: he spares them not out of kindness, but because they can serve his plans. He is now prepared to use his mastery of soul techniques to control them.
• The Dragon Emperor’s Daughter has benefited greatly from the Essence Liquid and supports Jiang Ming’s pursuit of the Eternal Star Region.
• The imprisoned man and woman, once arrogant and powerful, are now weakened by years of captivity and appeal to Jiang Ming for release or favor.

Themes

• Humility and learning: Jiang Ming’s reassessment of Eternal Star technology marks a shift from contempt to respect for another civilization’s ingenuity.
• Power and control: The upgraded prison and Jiang Ming’s soul-manipulation plans show how thoroughly he intends to dominate his enemies.
• Pragmatism over mercy: He preserves captives as assets, valuing their usefulness more than their lives or freedom.
• Power vacuums and old grudges: The departure of prominent human figures gives hostile clans room to act, reviving ancient conflicts.

Character interactions

• The purple-haired woman asks Jiang Ming to release her and offers to follow him; he ignores the appeal and proceeds with his plans.
• Jiang Ming’s earlier harsh treatment of captives—especially the Dragon Emperor’s Daughter killing those who insulted him—helped make them more compliant.
• The Dragon Emperor’s Daughter encourages his search for the Eternal Star Region, while Jiang Ming keeps his larger intentions to himself.