Chapter Summaries

Tu Fei disturbed a Refined Ore Source and provoked two Human-Dragons, but Elder Li Yuan subdued them and turned them into little snakes. After Li Yuan warned the miners not to touch the ore, everyone gathered outside Mine Tunnel No. 13, where a huge rumbling and cloud of dust suddenly appeared.

• Tu Fei touched and struck the rock around the Refined Ore Source, provoking two Human-Dragons to attack him and Gu Sheng.
• Gu Sheng fought the Human-Dragons with his Fire Spirit Dagger, but they revived and forced him to flee toward Tu Fei.
• Elder Li Yuan arrived, told Gu Sheng and Tu Fei to leave, and defeated the Human-Dragons before transforming them into two little snakes.
• Gu Sheng and Tu Fei returned to the tunnel and found Elder Li Yuan cultivating beside the subdued snakes, but Tu Fei slipped away to dig at the Refined Ore Source.
• Gu Sheng stopped Tu Fei, and Elder Li Yuan examined the ore and ordered everyone to leave and count the miners.
• As the miners gathered outside Mine Tunnel No. 13, a tremendous rumbling sent a cloud of dust rising from the tunnel.

Elder Li Yuan defeated a powerful underground python and took Gu Sheng beneath the mine, where they discovered the Earth Core Tower, the source of the Northern Region’s power. As they explored a hidden passage toward the tower, blue-violet flames bypassed Elder Li Yuan’s defenses and threw his divine power out of control.

• Elder Li Yuan fought and killed a dark-black python that had burst out of the collapsed mine, while Gu Sheng and the miners watched from a distance.
• After recovering from the battle, Elder Li Yuan entered the tunnel with Gu Sheng and discovered a vast underground space containing the Earth Core Tower.
• Elder Li Yuan explained that the tower maintained the Northern Region’s balance, then led Gu Sheng into a passage to investigate it.
• Gu Sheng spotted a concealed mechanism, and blue-violet flames erupted from the passage and entered Elder Li Yuan’s body despite his divine power defense.
• Elder Li Yuan retreated and tried to force out the flames while Gu Sheng stood guard, but he trembled and sweated as his divine power went out of control.

Gu Sheng and Elder Li Yuan escaped the collapse of the Earth Core Tower mine, but Tu Fei fled with a piece of Refined Ore Source. When the Shaking Light Holy Lord arrived with Yao Xi and Tu Fei, Yao Xi confronted Gu Sheng over her hairpin, until the Peacock King intervened on his behalf.

• Gu Sheng found Tu Fei in the mine and sent him back toward the exit while Elder Li Yuan recovered and examined runes linked to the blue-purple flames.
• The Earth Core Tower’s base rotated, then the mine collapsed; Gu Sheng and Elder Li Yuan escaped, and Old Li Tou reported that Tu Fei had fled with Refined Ore Source.
• Elder Li Yuan summoned the Shaking Light Holy Lord and ordered Gu Sheng to guard the mining area while they waited three days for help.
• The Shaking Light Holy Lord arrived with Yao Xi and a bound Tu Fei, who surrendered the Refined Ore Source and was sentenced by Yao Xi to serve the Holy Land for life.
• Tu Fei revealed that Gu Sheng had taken Yao Xi’s hairpin, prompting her to confront him, but the Peacock King and Green Flood Dragon King arrived and the Peacock King defended Gu Sheng.

The Shaking Light Holy Lord, the Peacock King, and the Green Flood Dragon King nearly fought at the mining site before Jiang Yi intervened and moved the conflict elsewhere. Gu Sheng and Tu Fei were captured, but escaped at night; when Yao Xi’s curse caused Tu Fei unbearable pain, he stayed behind and gave Gu Sheng the Seal Immortal Powder antidote.

• The Shaking Light Holy Lord attacked the Peacock King, but Jiang Yi arrived with his iron cavalry and persuaded the powerful figures to take their conflict away from the mining area.
• Yao Xi confronted Gu Sheng, and Tu Fei accidentally revealed that he possessed the Seal Immortal Powder antidote, prompting Yao Xi to order both men bound.
• Gu Sheng told Yao Xi that the Shaking Light Holy Lord was facing powerful opponents, so she left with her cultivators and ordered her subordinates to hold Gu Sheng and Tu Fei.
• Gu Sheng and Tu Fei escaped from their confinement and crossed the mining area into a forest.
• Yao Xi’s curse on Tu Fei’s Life Spring caused him severe pain as pursuers closed in, and Tu Fei urged Gu Sheng to leave while handing him the antidote.
• Gu Sheng left Tu Fei behind, and Yao Xi caught up with Tu Fei and her subordinates.

After Yao Xi killed Tu Fei, Gu Sheng escaped her pursuit by using the Great Void Technique and hiding in a mountain cave. There he discovered a rich crystal vein and a hundred-jin Refined Ore Source, whose power drove him to attempt a breakthrough from the Other Shore Realm to the Dao Palace Realm.

• Yao Xi killed Tu Fei and pursued Gu Sheng through the forest as he fled into a storm.
• Gu Sheng swallowed Tu Fei's Seal Immortal Powder to restore his divine power, then used the Great Void Technique to hide from Yao Xi and her pursuers.
• After Yao Xi's group moved on, Gu Sheng changed direction, reached the mountains, and rested in a concealed cave.
• Gu Sheng accidentally exposed a crystal vein near the cave and followed it to a hollow containing exceptionally high-quality crystals.
• Gu Sheng found a hundred-jin Refined Ore Source and absorbed its power, strengthening his body and pushing his cultivation toward a breakthrough into the Dao Palace Realm.

Gu Sheng failed to break through to the Dao Palace Realm, then rescued Fifth Master Zhang and the mountain villagers from Stone Beasts. He led them to a massive Refined Ore Source that might save their village from Big Beard Chen, but Fifth Master Zhang warned that taking it could trigger a devastating backlash.

• Gu Sheng repeatedly failed to break through to the Dao Palace Realm and discovered that the remaining power inside the Refined Ore Source was beyond his reach.
• Gu Sheng rushed from his cave and killed half the Stone Beasts attacking Fifth Master Zhang and the mountain villagers, driving the rest away.
• Fifth Master Zhang explained that Big Beard Chen had threatened to massacre their village unless they found an ore vein, and described how Stone Beasts guarded Source Ore.
• Gu Sheng brought Fifth Master Zhang and several villagers to the cave and showed them the enormous Refined Ore Source.
• Fifth Master Zhang warned that removing the Refined Ore Source might destabilize the mountain and provoke a terrible backlash, dimming the villagers' hopes of using it to save their people.

Gu Sheng helped Stone Village repel a bandit attack and was welcomed as an honored guest. When Dao Bazi arrived seeking revenge, Fifth Master Zhang and Elder Shi tried to take responsibility for Gu Sheng’s actions, leaving Gu Sheng poised to face the threat himself.

• Fifth Master Zhang led Gu Sheng and the mountain villagers back toward Stone Village after hearing its distress signal.
• Gu Sheng flew ahead, reached the village, caught a bandit's arrow, and drove off the attackers with a single palm strike.
• Fifth Master Zhang and Elder Shi welcomed Gu Sheng as Stone Village's honored guest, but a villager soon warned that more bandits were approaching.
• Gu Sheng sensed that the approaching leader, Dao Bazi, was a cultivator at the initial stage of the Life Spring realm.
• Dao Bazi demanded to know who had injured his men, and Fifth Master Zhang and Elder Shi each claimed responsibility to protect Gu Sheng.

Gu Sheng defeated Dao Bazi without seriously hurting him, then learned that dozens of connected bandit groups threatened the villages around Stone Village. After hearing that Big Beard Chen led the bandits, Gu Sheng began setting up a formation around Stone Village to protect it while he planned how to deal with the wider threat.

• Gu Sheng faced Dao Bazi and effortlessly dodged his attacks, then neutralized his strongest punch with a breath and shattered a boulder to show his power.
• Dao Bazi and his bandits surrendered and pleaded for mercy, and Gu Sheng asked Elder Shi and Fifth Master Zhang how they should be dealt with.
• Fifth Master Zhang explained that thirty to fifty bandit groups operated in the area, while Dao Bazi named Big Beard Chen as their leader.
• Gu Sheng decided to protect Stone Village while planning to deal with Big Beard Chen, then drew Profound Yellow Power from his small cauldron and began forming a silver ring around the village.

Gu Sheng helped Stone Village drive away Dao Bazi, then learned of the village’s fears surrounding Pingtou Mountain and the Heavenly Book of Source-Seeking. After a strange halo appeared above the Sacred Mountain, Gu Sheng secretly investigated and concluded that a treasure might be hidden inside it.

• Gu Sheng used a formation to repel Dao Bazi’s bandit and heard from him about Big Beard Chen and the Dog-Headed Strategist.
• Dao Bazi swore not to trespass into Stone Village again, and Gu Sheng said he wanted Big Beard Chen to hear about the encounter.
• Stone Village’s elders agreed to pray to Pingtou Mountain, and Gu Sheng learned that Fifth Master Zhang’s ancestors had practiced Source-Seeking Ore and that the Heavenly Book of Source-Seeking had been lost there.
• A southeast wind disrupted Fifth Master Zhang’s prayer, and he warned that it foretold disaster; Gu Sheng promised to help protect the village.
• Days later, Fifth Master Zhang reported a northwest wind and a glowing halo above Pingtou Mountain, which he believed meant the Sacred Mountain had answered.
• Gu Sheng secretly flew to Pingtou Mountain, found that the halo repelled him and ignored his divine power, and suspected a priceless treasure lay inside the mountain.

Gu Sheng discovered that Pingtou Mountain concealed a deep passage and suffered a weakening backlash after exploring it, but Fifth Master Zhang treated him and gave him three-day talismans for protection. Gu Sheng returned to the mountain and entered the hidden path, where a powerful spiritual-energy fluctuation made the small cauldron inside him tremble.

• Gu Sheng split open the summit of Pingtou Mountain with the Fire Spirit Dagger, sensed a barrier deep in the fissure, and was driven back by a strange wind.
• After Gu Sheng returned to Stone Village, he collapsed from weakness, and Fifth Master Zhang explained that he had suffered the sacred mountain's backlash and gave him medicinal soup.
• Gu Sheng told Fifth Master Zhang he wanted to find the Heavenly Book, and Fifth Master Zhang agreed to help him by giving him talismans that would protect him for three days.
• The next morning, Gu Sheng climbed Pingtou Mountain, found ancient battle marks and a crack at its summit, then opened the fissure again with the Fire Spirit Dagger.
• Gu Sheng entered a hidden winding path beneath the mountain and followed it through dense vegetation as a powerful spiritual-energy fluctuation stirred the small cauldron within him.

Trapped inside the Divine Mountain as its cracks closed, Gu Sheng met Zhang Tianxing, Fifth Master Zhang’s ancestor, who lent him the Heavenly Book of Source-Seeking so he could try to reopen the passage. While Gu Sheng studied the book, Big Beard Chen arrived early at Stone Village to demand Refined Ore Source.

• Gu Sheng lost the ability to fly as the cracks closed, then explored an abandoned residence and met Zhang Tianxing, a source Heavenly Master and ancestor of Fifth Master Zhang.
• Zhang Tianxing explained that the cracks were the Divine Mountain’s breathing passages and that Gu Sheng would need the Heavenly Book of Source-Seeking’s spiritual energy revival method to reopen them before the next cycle in five hundred years.
• Zhang Tianxing gave Gu Sheng the Heavenly Book of Source-Seeking, and Gu Sheng began studying it as his talismans neared their limit.
• In Stone Village, Fifth Master Zhang and Elder Shi worried about Gu Sheng while Er Gou warned that the sacred mountain was dangerous.
• Big Beard Chen arrived at Stone Village with his bandits ahead of schedule and demanded twenty jin of Refined Ore Source, but Fifth Master Zhang refused.

Big Beard Chen extorted Stone Village, killed a villager, and took Er Gou hostage, demanding more Refined Ore Source within three days. Gu Sheng broke out of the Divine Mountain rift after sensing Stone Village’s distress signal and returned to learn what had happened, leaving him poised to confront Big Beard Chen.

• Big Beard Chen killed a Stone Village villager and demanded the village’s Refined Ore Source, threatening the villagers when they resisted.
• Fifth Master Zhang handed over the village’s ore, but Big Beard Chen had his men seize Er Gou and demanded another thirty pounds within three days for his release.
• Fifth Master Zhang searched the mountains for more ore while Elder Shi sought help from the other villages.
• Gu Sheng hit a cultivation bottleneck, and Zhang Tianxing advised him to temper his state of mind and seek an opportunity.
• The Zhang family talismans burned to signal that Stone Village was in danger, so Gu Sheng used the Heavenly Book of Source-Seeking to open the rift and flew back to Stone Village.
• Gu Sheng arrived at the council hall and learned from Elder Shi and Fifth Master Zhang that Big Beard Chen had taken Er Gou hostage.

Gu Sheng agreed to help Stone Village rescue Er Gou, then learned from Fifth Master Zhang about the Peerless Divine Source and resolved to return to the Divine Mountain after the rescue. He and Shi Lou and Shi Shanlin reached Big Beard Chen’s camp, where Chen threatened Er Gou’s life and Gu Sheng asked what he wanted.

• Gu Sheng promised to rescue Er Gou despite the other villages’ unwillingness to help Stone Village.
• Fifth Master Zhang told Gu Sheng that Zhang Tianxing was the Zhang family’s Progenitor and described the Peerless Divine Source; Gu Sheng said he would seek its secret after rescuing Er Gou.
• Elder Shi assigned Shi Lou and Shi Shanlin to accompany Gu Sheng, and the three set out the next morning.
• Gu Sheng persuaded Green Cloud Sect cultivators to let them pass by claiming ties to Big Beard Chen, then learned Chen’s group was connected to the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Gu Sheng, Shi Lou, and Shi Shanlin found Big Beard Chen’s camp, where Gu Sheng struck down the hunting dogs that charged them.
• Shi Lou and Shi Shanlin confronted Big Beard Chen about Er Gou, and Chen threatened Er Gou’s life before Gu Sheng demanded to know what he wanted.

Gu Sheng defeated Big Beard Chen’s bandits and killed Zhuge Xun after a dispute over his name and a threat from the Azure Cloud Sect. He stopped Big Beard Chen’s distress flare and demanded that the captives be released, but Big Beard Chen’s hesitation left Er Gou’s fate unclear.

• Big Beard Chen threatened Stone Village and admitted he planned to kill its villagers after obtaining the Refined Ore Source, prompting Shi Shanlin to attack.
• Gu Sheng rescued the wounded Shi Shanlin, overwhelmed the bandits, and defeated Big Beard Chen.
• Zhuge Xun confronted Gu Sheng after Big Beard Chen urged him to act, and Gu Sheng killed him despite his threat to summon the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Big Beard Chen fired an Azure Cloud Sect distress flare, but Gu Sheng intercepted it in midair and returned to confront him.
• Gu Sheng demanded that Big Beard Chen release Er Gou and the mountain folk from Stone Village and other villages, and Shi Lou and Shi Shanlin grew alarmed when Big Beard Chen hesitated.

Gu Sheng rescued Er Gou and the imprisoned mountain villagers, then learned the Azure Cloud Sect was behind the extortion of Refined Ore Source. He pursued Big Beard Chen toward Azure Cloud Mountain, where Green Cloud Sect cultivators intervened and were swiftly defeated, leaving them calling for reinforcements.

• Gu Sheng healed the badly injured Er Gou, caught Big Beard Chen trying to escape, and let Shi Lou beat him before questioning him about the extorted Refined Ore Source.
• Big Beard Chen revealed that the Azure Cloud Sect had taken the ore for a sacrifice, and Gu Sheng confirmed the truth by reading his memories before releasing him.
• Gu Sheng and Shi Lou rescued the imprisoned mountain villagers, and Gu Sheng sent Shi Lou back with the injured while he pursued Big Beard Chen.
• Gu Sheng caught up with Big Beard Chen near Azure Cloud Mountain, where Green Cloud Sect cultivators stepped in to protect him.
• The Green Cloud Sect cultivators attacked Gu Sheng, but he defeated them within a few exchanges as they called for reinforcements.

Gu Sheng pursued the Azure Cloud Sect’s spiritual vein after learning it was the source of the sect’s power, then entered a hidden cave beneath Azure Cloud Mountain. Following a stream of spiritual spring water deeper underground, he encountered a hostile Lizardman.

• Big Beard Chen attacked Gu Sheng with a dagger, but Gu Sheng killed him; a strand of spiritual sense escaped toward the Green Cloud Mountain Range.
• Gu Sheng caught up with the fleeing Green Cloud Sect cultivators and learned that the strand had been planted in Big Beard Chen by the Azure Cloud Sect’s Grand Elder.
• After confirming the cultivators’ account, Gu Sheng decided to destroy the Azure Cloud Sect’s spiritual vein and learned its entrance lay in a hidden cave at the foot of Azure Cloud Mountain.
• Gu Sheng opened the concealed cave entrance and continued inside after the Green Cloud Sect cultivators turned back because of the bitter cold.
• Gu Sheng found a glowing spring and followed its stream deeper into the cave, where a hostile Lizardman emerged and attacked him.

Gu Sheng survived the Lizardmen and discovered that the Green Cloud Sect cultivators had deliberately left him as their sacrifice. After their scheme ended in a massacre, he found an ancient jade that drew his consciousness into a strange space containing a map marked with the Azure Cloud Sect’s spiritual vein.

• Gu Sheng killed a Lizardman by striking its unscaled neck, then healed his shoulder with the Origin power in his dantian.
• Dozens of Lizardmen surrounded Gu Sheng, so he used the Great Void Technique to hide, but their sense of smell kept them near.
• Gu Sheng overheard Green Cloud Sect cultivators admit they had used him as a human sacrifice and planned to report his death to Elder Qingxia.
• When the cultivators tried to leave him behind, Gu Sheng killed one and used the blood to send the Lizardmen into a frenzy that killed the remaining cultivators and nearly all the Lizardmen.
• Gu Sheng found an ancient jade among the bodies and entered a strange space where a floating map prominently displayed the Azure Cloud Sect’s spiritual vein.

Gu Sheng followed the map hidden in the ancient jade through a sealed cave and discovered an ancient battlefield tied to the East Desolation Divine King and the Strangers. When the jade unlocked an altar, a preserved Stranger awakened, declared the seal broken, and rose into the air.

• Gu Sheng found Pingtou Mountain on the ancient jade map, but a massive boulder blocked the cave exit and resisted his divine power and Fire Spirit Dagger.
• Gu Sheng followed the map through the cave into another dimension, where he found an archway declaring that the East Desolation Divine King's fate ended there.
• Gu Sheng crossed a rune-lined passage to a plaza filled with bones and learned from an inscription that East Desolation's cultivators had fought and sealed the Strangers eight thousand years earlier.
• Gu Sheng recognized strange corpses as possible aliens, and the ancient jade flew into a matching indentation on the altar stone.
• The altar cracked open, revealing a perfectly preserved Stranger who awakened, identified Gu Sheng as a cultivator from the Eastern Wasteland, and announced that the seal had been undone.

Gu Sheng confronted the sealed strange being, but Elder Jiang arrived and overpowered it before being tricked and poisoned during an attempted resurrection of the ancient experts. Their ensuing battle left both combatants badly wounded, and Gu Sheng rushed to support the collapsing Elder Jiang.

• Gu Sheng attacked the strange being but was quickly injured and thrown aside.
• Elder Jiang arrived, identified himself as Guardian of the East Desolation, and began sealing the strange being.
• The strange being claimed it could resurrect the ancient experts, and Elder Jiang paused his attack to let it demonstrate.
• As bones began to reform into bodies, the strange being ambushed Elder Jiang and wounded him with a poisoned attack.
• Elder Jiang and the Otherworlder fought while Elder Jiang’s strength faded, and their clash seriously injured both of them.
• Gu Sheng rushed to support Elder Jiang, who weakly told him to leave while he held the Otherworlder back.

Gu Sheng accidentally caused the alien to suffer a backlash, forcing it to retreat into the ancient jade, while Elder Jiang revealed how to seal it and became a spirit pellet. Gu Sheng studied The Unbeginning Scripture and used the pellet to suppress the alien’s reviving power, leaving the jade wrapped in a sealing film.

• Gu Sheng stepped in front of Elder Jiang, and the alien’s attempt to withdraw its power caused it to strike itself and retreat into the ancient jade.
• Gu Sheng could not break the ancient jade, and Elder Jiang revealed that his fatal wound could not be healed and that he would become a spirit pellet to help seal it.
• Elder Jiang transformed into a spirit pellet and directed Gu Sheng to comprehend The Unbeginning Scripture on a nearby stone tablet.
• The ancient jade’s warmth drew Gu Sheng into visions that helped him understand the scripture, and he cultivated for several days as his strength improved.
• When the jade darkened and the spirit pellet glowed, Elder Jiang warned that the alien was reviving, and Gu Sheng used the scripture to seal it.
• Gu Sheng suppressed the black qi, and the spirit pellet became a thin film wrapped around the ancient jade.