Chapter Summaries

Gu Sheng negotiated an alliance with Nangong Yuexia, who agreed to help him enter a secret realm in exchange for support in taking control of the Purple Cloud Divine Sect. When she questioned his ability to back her against the sect’s powerful forces, Gu Sheng challenged her thirteen Grandmaster Realm death warriors to attack him together.

• Nangong Yuexia emerged in armor and invited Gu Sheng and Situ Qingfeng into her courtyard, where thirteen of her foster father's death warriors awaited.
• Gu Sheng identified the warriors as Grandmasters around the third heaven and convinced Nangong Yuexia that killing him would bring her little benefit and greater danger.
• Nangong Yuexia agreed to help Gu Sheng enter the secret realm and asked him to support her bid for real control of the Purple Cloud Divine Sect.
• Gu Sheng promised resources and intelligence, while telling Nangong Yuexia that her success would depend on her own ability.
• Nangong Yuexia questioned whether Gu Sheng could protect himself against her warriors, and Gu Sheng challenged all thirteen to attack him together.

Gu Sheng faced Nangong Yuexia and thirteen manor warriors in a test of strength, enduring their combined attacks without injury and overpowering Nangong Yuexia with his speed and sword-like aura. After he spared her, he revealed that he was at the peak of the ninth layer of the Heavenly Martial Realm and had achieved a Half-step Glass Golden Body.

• Nangong Yuexia joined the thirteen manor warriors in their battle formation and ordered them to attack Gu Sheng together.
• Gu Sheng stood still as their combined spear strike hit him, and the spears could not pierce his skin.
• The warriors attacked again, but one spearhead cracked; Gu Sheng appeared behind Nangong Yuexia and bent her sword against his chest.
• Gu Sheng stopped an invisible sword light at Nangong Yuexia's throat, then asked whether she believed his warning and told her to end the test.
• Nangong Yuexia withdrew the warriors and asked about Gu Sheng's strength, and he disclosed his cultivation and Half-step Glass Golden Body.

Gu Sheng forced Nangong Yuexia to accept his control and arranged a deceptive expedition to the Golden Wing Ridge secret realm. As the departure approached, he revealed his strengthened defenses and told Situ Qingfeng that he needed Nangong Yuexia’s usefulness, not her loyalty.

• Gu Sheng persuaded Nangong Yuexia to submit by promising power, then learned that Nangong Tiance had likely bought or abducted many of his adopted children.
• Gu Sheng placed a Soul Imprint on Nangong Yuexia and ordered her to arrange their trip to Golden Wing Ridge and spread a cover story that implicated the Xiaguang City Lord’s line.
• Three days later, Nangong Yuexia’s messenger reported that the Skyfire Divine Sect, Glazed Divine Sect, Longevity Divine Cult, and possibly the Five Poisons Divine Cult would join the expedition.
• The messenger gave Gu Sheng the forged identity of City Lord’s Mansion adviser Yun Qing, and Gu Sheng revealed that his Glazed Golden Body had reached minor mastery.
• Gu Sheng warned Nangong Yuexia through the messenger not to test him, then told Situ Qingfeng that he only needed her as a useful chess piece, not a loyal partner.

Gu Sheng sent a Spirit Embryo Incarnation disguised as Yun Qing with the expedition to Golden Wing Ridge while his true body followed unnoticed. Elsewhere, intruders rescued Gu Lie from Xiao Beixuan’s residence and left a shapeshifter disguised as the captive in his place, but Xiao Beixuan soon came to inspect him.

• Gu Ling'er created an incarnation of Gu Sheng, which he changed into Yun Qing and sent to join the City Lord’s expedition.
• The new City Lord assembled his forces, and the Yun Qing incarnation joined the formation while Gu Sheng’s true body followed behind Situ Qingfeng.
• A young woman traveling with the expedition warned Yun Qing about the mission, and Gu Sheng learned that her master supported the City Lord.
• Two intruders infiltrated Xiao Beixuan’s residence, freed Gu Lie, and had one of them transform into his likeness to remain chained in the courtyard.
• Xiao Beixuan inspected the apparent Gu Lie and found no obvious sign that the captive had been replaced.

A rescuer freed Gu Lie and escaped with him while a disguised accomplice fooled Xiao Beixuan into believing his prisoner was still chained in the courtyard. On the road to Golden Wing Ridge, Situ Qingfeng’s party met Skyfire Divine Sect members, and a concealed girl recognized Gu Sheng’s Yun Qing incarnation by the Five Immortals Soul Chasing Gu mark.

• A woman broke Gu Lie’s chains, transformed into his likeness, and let another rescuer carry the unconscious Gu Lie away through a secret passage to Linlang Pavilion.
• The woman impersonating Gu Lie reattached the broken chains and mimicked his exhausted posture as Xiao Beixuan inspected the courtyard and found no sign of interference.
• Xiao Beixuan left the courtyard, while the disguised Gu Lie suppressed his killing intent and resolved to follow the young master's plan.
• Shen Wuguang and Situ Qingfeng led Xiaguang City's group out of the no-fly region and encountered martial artists from the Skyfire Divine Sect.
• When a Skyfire Divine Sect elder questioned Yun Qing’s strange aura, Situ Qingfeng claimed he was a rare Golden Body Realm Body Cultivator and diverted suspicion.
• A concealed girl recognized Yun Qing as Gu Sheng’s incarnation by the lingering mark of the Five Immortals Soul Chasing Gu and reacted with murderous hatred.

Gu Sheng protected Situ Qingfeng from the Longevity Old Ancestor’s spiritual probe at Golden Wing Ridge, drawing attention to the disguised incarnation. Situ Qingfeng opened the Golden Peng’s Nest secret realm, and he and Gu Sheng entered first.

• The Five Poisons Divine Cult’s Little Princess recognized Gu Sheng’s distinctive karmic aura, and Gu Sheng secretly marked her with his spiritual sense.
• The Skyfire Divine Sect brought the group to Golden Wing Ridge, where Shen Wuguang explained that the Longevity Old Ancestor had come searching for Gu Sheng.
• The Longevity Old Ancestor used spiritual pressure to test Situ Qingfeng, but Gu Sheng broke the suggestion and warned the elder against attacking Situ Qingfeng again.
• Situ Qingfeng fitted a blood-red jade plaque into the Golden Winged Great Peng sculpture and opened the Golden Peng’s Nest secret realm.
• Situ Qingfeng took Gu Sheng by the arm, and the two entered the teleportation gate first.

Gu Sheng and Situ Qingfeng entered the Golden Wing Ridge secret realm, while the Longevity Old Ancestor ordered the surrounding sects to hunt Gu Sheng, whom he suspected was disguised as Situ Qingfeng’s protector. Gu Sheng used his incarnation to kill a Heavenly Charm Sect infiltrator and planned to draw attention away from his true body, which then headed with Situ Qingfeng toward the secret realm’s core.

• After the sects entered the secret realm, the Longevity Old Ancestor identified Gu Sheng as a likely disguised protector and ordered the forces outside to seal the exits and kill him.
• Gu Sheng and Situ Qingfeng arrived in the secret realm together, and Gu Sheng sensed that his incarnation was roughly a hundred miles away.
• Gu Sheng’s incarnation killed the seductive female adviser with a black short sword made by Gu Ling’er, who explained that the weapon could annihilate its victims’ vitality and souls.
• Gu Sheng resolved to draw attention toward his incarnation while his true body pursued the secret realm’s core with Situ Qingfeng, who used his mother’s inherited memories to guide them.
• Gu Sheng and Situ Qingfeng discovered three Purple Cloud Divine Sect disciples hiding in a thicket and questioned why they had been spying on fellow cultivators.

Gu Sheng passed the pressure trial and entered the Golden Winged Great Peng's main hall, while Situ Qingfeng remained outside with the Purple Cloud Divine Sect disciples. The Little Princess of the Five Poisons Divine Cult appeared and poisoned the disciples unconscious before turning to Situ Qingfeng.

• Situ Qingfeng invited three Purple Cloud Divine Sect disciples to travel with him and Gu Sheng, then led them to the main hall's bronze doors.
• Gu Sheng endured the pressure trial, opened the doors, and entered the main hall alone as the doors slammed shut behind him.
• Gu Sheng sensed the Golden Winged Great Peng's core source aura and sped toward the deepest part of the ancient world to seek its remains.
• A disguised young woman appeared outside the doors and was identified as the Little Princess of the Five Poisons Divine Cult.
• The Little Princess incapacitated the three Purple Cloud Divine Sect disciples with a mysterious poison, leaving Situ Qingfeng on guard as she addressed him.

The Five Poisons Little Princess captured Situ Qingfeng with a poisonous gu mark to force him to help her find Gu Sheng. Unaware of the trouble outside, Gu Sheng fought through the main hall’s traps, subdued a shadow creature, and counterattacked a spear-wielding ambusher.

• The Five Poisons Little Princess rejected Situ Qingfeng’s denial that he knew Gu Sheng and marked him with a bone-clinging maggot, making him her prisoner until she found Gu Sheng.
• Situ Qingfeng persuaded the princess to follow him into the main hall by claiming he was searching for a remote treasure and might encounter Gu Sheng there.
• Gu Sheng pushed through the main hall’s traps, enduring their attacks with his Glazed Golden Body.
• Gu Sheng detected and seized a shadow-like construct that had attacked him with poisoned needles, then pinned it down and struck it into submission.
• An ambusher attacked Gu Sheng from behind with a blue spear, but Gu Sheng used Shaping Dao to form a protective shield and punched the attacker in the chest.

Gu Sheng escaped a horde of regenerating shadow warriors and discovered an ancient bronze funerary stele that may mark an Immortal Tomb. As its characters activated and imprisoned him, he realized the stele had triggered a teleportation restriction.

• Gu Sheng destroyed a shadow warrior, saw it begin to regenerate, and spotted countless armed shadows filling the passage.
• Gu Sheng fled through an ancient gate, where the shadows stopped and would not cross the threshold.
• A bronze stele rose from the ground, and Gu Sheng suspected its ancient inscription described an Immortal Tomb and a guardian ordered to remain there.
• Gu Sheng concluded the shadows might be fallen martial artists absorbed by the secret realm, then prepared to continue deeper into the hall.
• The stele's characters lit up and circled Gu Sheng, imprisoning him as the hall twisted under spatial fluctuations and a teleportation restriction activated.

Gu Sheng spoke across time and space with the final ruler of the Fate Weaver clan, who revealed the bronze stele’s origins and offered him the clan’s inheritance in exchange for retrieving a compass. The conversation ended as the stele’s light dispelled the darkness, leaving Gu Sheng with the task of finding the Circumference Star Compass in the main hall.

• Gu Sheng found himself in a vast, lightless hall with his spiritual power suppressed and learned that a Fate Weaver was speaking to him across time and space.
• The Fate Weaver revealed that the bronze stele had been made from the Mirror of Fate and that the core inheritance had been sealed within the River of Time.
• The Fate Weaver sensed an aura from beyond Gu Sheng’s world and recognized that Gu Sheng was pursuing the ancient Dao Fusion method.
• The Fate Weaver offered Gu Sheng the complete Way of the Fate Weaver to help him break through his cultivation bottleneck if he retrieved the Circumference Star Compass from the Fate Weaver’s body.
• The Fate Weaver revealed that the Golden Winged Great Peng clan descended from his spirit beasts and had guarded his body until the inheritance reappeared.
• The Fate Weaver’s message faded, and the bronze stele released a brilliant light that dispelled the hall’s darkness.

Gu Sheng entered the hall and met the remnant spirit of a Golden Winged Great Peng, who recognized him as the person awaited by Lord Siming. She led him to Siming’s starry resting place and asked him to carry her remains to the Golden Winged Great Peng ancestral grounds in the Northern Sea, hinting that a greater opportunity awaited there.

• Gu Sheng discovered that the colossal figure in the hall was the sealed remains of a Golden Winged Great Peng, which awakened under the control of a remnant spirit.
• The bird-bodied woman asked whether Gu Sheng was the one awaited by Lord Siming, and Gu Sheng confirmed that he had spoken with Siming across the river of time.
• The woman led Gu Sheng through a hidden passage into a star-filled space and used her demonic energy to reveal Siming’s coffin.
• The woman entrusted Siming’s final instruction to Gu Sheng and offered him eighteen drops of her natal essence blood in exchange for burying her remains.
• The woman asked Gu Sheng to return her remains to the Northern Sea, explaining that the true great opportunity lay there.

Gu Sheng accepted the Golden Winged Great Peng’s request to carry her corpse to the Northern Abyss Burial Ground and help her descendant hatch. He opened the Starry Sky Coffin, heard a final message from the Arbiter of Fate, and retrieved the Fate Compass without damaging her body.

• Gu Sheng agreed to deliver the Golden Winged Great Peng’s corpse to the Northern Abyss Burial Ground and free the pure-blooded hatchling sealed there.
• The Golden Winged Great Peng’s remnant spirit faded, and eighteen drops of her natal essence blood entered Gu Sheng’s body.
• Gu Sheng stored the Golden Winged Great Peng’s corpse and watched the Starry Sky Coffin open to reveal the Arbiter of Fate’s body.
• When Gu Sheng cut the Arbiter of Fate’s skin, a preset consciousness spoke to him and warned him not to damage her body further.
• The Arbiter of Fate’s voice directed Gu Sheng to a ring beneath her jade pillow and told him it would let his hand pass through the body’s barrier.
• Gu Sheng used the ring to retrieve the Fate Compass from inside the Arbiter of Fate’s chest, and the ring vanished.

After obtaining the Fate Compass, Gu Sheng activated the Destiny Star Plate and inherited the Way of the Fate Weaver, refining his spiritual power and learning that another supreme treasure lay elsewhere in the secret realm. With danger awaiting outside, he chose to postpone the search and began preparing to refine the Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood before attempting Dao Fusion and a breakthrough.

• The Starry Sky Coffin vanished after Gu Sheng took the Fate Compass, and he resolved to strengthen himself before facing Longevity Old Ancestor outside the secret realm.
• Gu Sheng activated the Destiny Star Plate with his blood and received the Way of the Fate Weaver inheritance.
• The inheritance advanced Gu Sheng’s spiritual power to the seventh rank and refined it, also tempering his second Sea of Consciousness.
• Gu Sheng learned that the Fate Weaver had hidden another supreme treasure elsewhere in the secret realm, but decided to prioritize improving his strength.
• Gu Sheng summoned one of the eighteen drops of Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood and prepared to refine it.

Gu Sheng fused the Longevity Dao Resonance into his bones and prepared to use Gu Ling’er’s help with his remaining Dao Resonances. After Gu Ling’er revealed that she had framed rival sects and Shen Wuguang for the incarnation’s crimes, Gu Sheng began fusing the Thousand Illusions Dao Resonance as Situ Qingfeng and the disguised Little Princess entered an enormous mountain hall.

• Gu Sheng drew power from a Blood Essence Pearl and fused the Longevity Dao Resonance into his bones, enduring severe pain before gaining greatly increased vitality.
• Gu Ling’er emerged from Gu Sheng’s body and told him that his Spirit Embryo Incarnation had been killed after she used it to assassinate a Skyfire Divine Sect elder and two Longevity Divine Cult disciples, turning the factions against each other and implicating Shen Wuguang.
• Gu Sheng praised Gu Ling’er and explained his plan to fuse the Thousand Illusions, Earth Element, and Way of the Fate Weaver Dao Resonances into his body to establish his Sect Realm foundation.
• Gu Ling’er offered to protect Gu Sheng’s meridians and acupoints during the first two fusions, saying the effort would cost her three Blood Essence Pearls; Gu Sheng agreed, and she created a spirit formation with her origin spiritual energy.
• Gu Ling’er urged Gu Sheng to begin, and he drew the Thousand Illusions Dao Resonance toward his legs to start fusing it.
• Situ Qingfeng and the disguised Little Princess of the Five Poisons Divine Cult entered a vast, ancient hall inside a mountain in another part of the secret realm.

The Five Poisons Little Princess and Situ Qingfeng continued searching for Gu Sheng through Fate Weaver Hall, while outside, Nangong Yuexia maneuvered to have Shen Wuguang detained over accusations of collusion. Shen Wuguang accepted the plan under pressure, leaving his fate to be judged by the Longevity Old Ancestor.

• The Five Poisons Little Princess saved Situ Qingfeng from a flame trap and said she was seeking Gu Sheng for her own benefit, though she kept her reason secret.
• The Skyfire Divine Sect and Longevity Divine Cult accused Shen Wuguang of aiding Gu Sheng, while Shen Wuguang denied knowing him and called the charge a frame-up.
• Nangong Yuexia questioned Shen Wuguang and suggested that he had helped Gu Sheng enter the secret realm.
• A Moon Hall disciple presented a recording crystal showing Gu Sheng killing a Moon Hall disciple, and Shen Wuguang argued that Gu Sheng had impersonated someone in his mansion.
• Nangong Yuexia proposed that Shen Wuguang be guarded by the Skyfire and Longevity forces until the Longevity Old Ancestor could judge the case.
• Outnumbered, Shen Wuguang agreed to the plan but vowed to pursue the matter before the Sect Master and elders.

Gu Sheng forged a Dao Body from four Dao auras and broke through to the peak of the seventh level of the Grandmaster Realm. After gaining control over his new strength and discovering the Fate Controlling Yin Plate could repel the tomb’s shadows, he found a black compass among the shattered bronze stele.

• Gu Sheng fused the Thousand Illusions, Longevity, Spirit Severing, and Fate Commanding Dao auras to forge his Dao Body while Gu Ling'er protected him and nearly exhausted her source.
• Gu Ling'er returned to Gu Sheng's sea of consciousness to recover, and Gu Sheng counted his remaining Golden Winged Great Peng blood essence pearls before using one to break through.
• Gu Sheng reached the peak of the seventh level of the Grandmaster Realm and realized the Nine Dragon Qiankun Art gave him true qi reserves beyond those of an ordinary cultivator at his level.
• Gu Sheng hurried toward the southern hall, quickly learned to control his new power, and found that the passageway shadows retreated from his aura, apparently restrained by the Fate Controlling Yin Plate.
• Gu Sheng touched the ancient bronze stele in the main hall, causing it to crumble and reveal a palm-sized black compass among the fragments.

Gu Sheng awakened the Fate Controlling Yin Plate and used it to summon powerful shadow soldiers before meeting Qi Diao Yaoyao, who offered help escaping the Longevity Old Ancestor’s trap in exchange for an escort to the Central Continent. He refused her unexplained terms, then struck Situ Qingfeng and exposed hidden gray entities in his blood, revealing that someone had tampered with him.

• Gu Sheng touched the Fate Controlling Yin Plate, which absorbed his essence blood and devoured more than a thousand black shadows in the passageway.
• Gu Sheng infused the Yin Plate with true qi and summoned shadow soldiers, whose blade strike cut through a thick bronze pillar with peak Grandmaster-level power.
• Situ Qingfeng entered with Qi Diao Yaoyao, who revealed her identity and offered the Five Poisons Divine Cult’s help in exchange for Gu Sheng escorting her to the Central Continent.
• Gu Sheng demanded the full details of Qi Diao Yaoyao’s request and refused to accept her vague terms, while Situ Qingfeng warned him about the Venerable-level ambush outside.
• Qi Diao Yaoyao decided to follow Gu Sheng for the time being, and Situ Qingfeng went after her.
• Gu Sheng suddenly struck Situ Qingfeng’s chest, then burned the blood he spat out and exposed hidden gray entities before telling him someone had tampered with him.

Gu Sheng revealed that his apparent death was part of a contingency plan and used the deception to gain leverage in negotiations with Qi Diao Yaoyao. The three agreed to separate when leaving the secret realm, but Gu Sheng demonstrated that he could use her child Gu to harm her, leaving their cooperation guarded by mutual risk.

• Gu Sheng told Situ Qingfeng that Qi Diao Yaoyao’s Heart-Gu had influenced him and revealed his Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell plan, which had convinced the rival sects that he was dead.
• Gu Sheng and Situ Qingfeng left the Fate Weaver's Main Hall and encountered Qi Diao Yaoyao, who used a Gu to question a Longevity Divine Cult disciple about the sects’ confrontation.
• The disciple said Gu Sheng had been killed by Skyfire Divine Sect’s First Elder and that Shen Wuguang was being blamed; Qi Diao Yaoyao realized Gu Sheng had staged his death.
• Gu Sheng proposed discussing cooperation with the Five Poisons Divine Cult after leaving the secret realm, and he, Qi Diao Yaoyao, and Situ Qingfeng agreed to travel separately to reduce the risk of exposure.
• Qi Diao Yaoyao gave Gu Sheng a child Gu for communication, and Gu Sheng used his knowledge of Gu techniques to inflict pain on her and warn that he could damage the child Gu and injure its mother.

After the Secret Realm closed, Gu Sheng emerged disguised among the survivors as the Longevity Old Ancestor sealed the valley and searched for him. The Old Ancestor exposed Shen Wuguang’s supposed evidence of Gu Sheng’s death as unreliable and began a direct inspection, leaving Gu Sheng under focused pressure and an offer of surrender.

• Qi Diao Yaoyao realized Gu Sheng’s Gu technique was exceptionally advanced and decided to urge her Old Ancestor to protect him.
• Gu Sheng reviewed his new Sect Realm strength and used Gu Ling’er’s Soul Power to create a false body before the survivors were transported out of the Secret Realm.
• The Longevity Old Ancestor sealed the valley, restrained the survivors, and ordered them inspected for Gu Sheng.
• The Skyfire First Elder claimed he had killed Gu Sheng, but the Longevity Old Ancestor crushed Shen Wuguang and searched his memories, finding signs of a feigned death.
• Gu Sheng rejected Qi Diao Yaoyao’s offer to use their contingency plan immediately, while her Old Ancestor instructed her to stay in contact and preserve Gu Sheng if necessary.
• The Longevity Old Ancestor began scanning the survivors, then singled out Gu Sheng’s area and offered to spare him if he surrendered and handed over what he had obtained in the Eastern Emperor Secret Realm.