Chapter Summaries

Qin Zheng obtained a map to the lands beyond Great Jin and left to seek the Heavenly Roc Clan. There, True Person Lingxu demanded that the clan refine thirty strands of spiritual essence from Great Jin’s people in exchange for admitting the clan into the Qingxiao Faction’s beast garden and accepting its talented members as disciples.

• Qin Zheng asked the imperial Martial Saint for the Heavenly Roc Clan’s location, received a map, and said he would visit the Quan Yang Gao Clan before flying away.
• True Person Lingxu arrived at the Heavenly Roc Clan’s palace on the back of a Great Demon and asked where Ling Yuan had gone.
• True Person Lingxu criticized the banquet preparations and sent two human youths away to have the cooks remake the dishes.
• The Heavenly Roc Clan’s Upper Realm Great Saints asked to enter the Qingxiao Faction’s beast garden and have members with spiritual roots join the faction as disciples.
• True Person Lingxu agreed, then ordered the clan to refine thirty strands of spiritual essence from Great Jin’s people for him.

The Heavenly Roc Clan's Great Sages agreed to True Person Lingxu's demand, hoping to earn a place in the Qingxiao Faction. Qin Zheng then stormed the clan's hall, killed its leaders and Lingxu's companions, and discovered that Lingxu was a Qingxiao Faction disciple.

• True Person Lingxu persuaded the Heavenly Roc Clan's Great Sages to seek a way to refine human souls, and they agreed rather than risk losing their chance to join the Qingxiao Faction.
• Qin Zheng entered the hall, and the demons attacked him after mistaking him for a human intruder.
• Qin Zheng killed the strongest upper-realm Great Sage with one punch, then severely wounded the remaining demons and True Person Lingxu.
• Qin Zheng killed the demons in the hall and sent two streaks of light to slaughter the demon performers while Great Sages gathered outside.
• Qin Zheng stabbed the seemingly dead True Person Lingxu, who admitted he was from the Qingxiao Faction and threatened war between immortal sects.

Qin Zheng interrogated True Person Lingxu and learned that Myriad Manifestations Mountain had three immortal sects, each led by a Demon Dharma Body, while humanity had none. After wiping out the Heavenly Roc Clan, he left to seek answers from the Great Jin Emperor about the world and Wang Daoyi.

• Qin Zheng learned from True Person Lingxu that only Qingxiao Faction, Ziyun Sect, and Tongtian Pavilion existed on Myriad Manifestations Mountain, the world's only Spirit Vein mountain range.
• Qin Zheng forced True Person Lingxu to reveal that each of the three sects had one Demon Dharma Body, and all three experts were demons, then killed him.
• Qin Zheng considered how vulnerable Great Jin and the humans of Myriad Manifestations Mountain were while the three demon sects remained in a standoff, and resolved to reach the Demon Dharma Body realm.
• Qin Zheng gathered demon cores and killed the last surviving Great Saint of the Heavenly Roc Clan, ensuring no demons remained.
• Qin Zheng left for Great Jin to ask the emperor what he knew and to learn whether Wang Daoyi had left protections for humanity.

Emperor Hongyuan explained to Qin Zheng why humans could not attain the Dharma Body and why Great Jin planned to seek a human Dharma Body’s relics at Taixu Mountain. Qin Zheng declined to abandon his martial cultivation and asked to use the Enlightenment Divine Stele again, while a visitor at Qingxiao Mountain learned that Qin Zheng had killed Daoist Qingning.

• Emperor Hongyuan told Qin Zheng that the three Demon Dharma Bodies at Myriad Manifestations Mountain controlled the Spirit Vein needed for humans to attain the Dharma Body.
• Emperor Hongyuan explained that Great Jin had considered abandoning the Twelve Prefectures to search Taixu Mountain for relics that could reveal how to attain the Dharma Body through Incense and Fire Prayer Power.
• Emperor Hongyuan urged Qin Zheng to switch to the Incense and Fire Prayer Power path, but Qin Zheng refused because he did not want to discard his martial foundation.
• Qin Zheng asked Emperor Hongyuan to let him observe the Enlightenment Divine Stele again so he could refine demon cores into spiritual qi.
• A man arrived at Qingxiao Mountain, used soul banners and a ritual blade on Daoist Qingning’s remains, and learned that Qin Zheng had killed him.

Qin Zheng returned to the Enlightenment Divine Stele and used its power to advance his True Dragon Undying Body, opening seventy-two acupoints and greatly strengthening himself. Meanwhile, Emperor Hongyuan reflected on Qin Zheng’s refusal of Incense and Fire Prayer Power before a man from Myriad Manifestations Mountain arrived at the capital with a captured Nation-Suppressing Martial Saint.

• Qin Zheng entered the ruins of the former Ling'an Sect and realized the Enlightenment Divine Stele had once been part of the Ling'an Immortal Sect.
• Qin Zheng refined his demon cores into spiritual energy and used the divine stele’s power to open acupoints in his True Dragon Undying Body, reaching seventy-two.
• Emperor Hongyuan accepted that Qin Zheng would not take the Incense and Fire Prayer Power path for now, but believed he might reconsider once his current cultivation reached its limits.
• Emperor Hongyuan resumed cultivating with the Emperor’s Sword and its Incense and Fire Prayer Power.
• A man in azure robes flew toward the imperial palace on a silver-white boat, carrying a bloodied Nation-Suppressing Martial Saint, and Emperor Hongyuan realized Myriad Manifestations Mountain had sent him.

True Person Fuyun of the Qingxiao Faction invaded the Imperial Palace and demanded Qin Zheng after accusing him of destroying the Immortal Seeking Sect. Emperor Hongyuan and Gao Wuxing concealed what they knew, but Fuyun forced Hongyuan to take him to Taiwu Academy, where he demanded the Twelve Prefectures and spotted an intriguing hall.

• True Person Fuyun arrived at the Imperial Palace after severely injuring its Nation-Suppressing Martial Saint and demanded that Emperor Hongyuan identify Qin Zheng.
• Emperor Hongyuan denied knowing Qin Zheng, and Gao Wuxing also claimed ignorance while offering to search for traces of him; Fuyun gave them one day.
• Fuyun demanded to inspect the Emperor's Sword, recoiled from the voices of its Incense and Fire Prayer Power, and then ordered Hongyuan to take him to Taiwu Academy.
• At Taiwu Academy, Fuyun demanded the Twelve Prefectures so he could refine their human souls into spiritual essence.
• Fuyun noticed a deep, shadowy hall and said that something inside seemed interesting.

True Person Fuyun broke into the hall of dharma body remains and demanded access to the teleportation array, but Qin Zheng emerged and swiftly defeated him. Qin Zheng killed Fuyun despite Emperor Hongyuan’s plea, then challenged the emperor’s belief that submission had protected the Great Jin Dynasty.

• True Person Fuyun forced his way into the forbidden hall, dismissed the dharma body remains, and demanded that the array guardians open the teleportation array.
• When Fuyun threatened to destroy the array, it activated and Qin Zheng appeared, blocking his sword with the Ghost-Head Saber.
• Qin Zheng struck Fuyun out of the hall and revealed that his improved body now let him rival a half-step dharma body.
• Fuyun attacked Qin Zheng again, but Qin Zheng slammed him into the ground and took his storage pouch.
• Emperor Hongyuan asked Qin Zheng not to kill Fuyun, and Qin Zheng questioned whether the emperor’s compromises had only brought suffering to the people.
• Qin Zheng crushed Fuyun’s head and asked Emperor Hongyuan whether the Great Jin Dynasty had survived by bowing to Myriad Manifestations Mountain.

Qin Zheng met Wang Daoyi, the Great Ancestor of Great Jin, who revealed that Great Jin’s nine Dharma Body husks were its true foundation and urged Qin Zheng to seek a path to the Dharma Body at Taixu Mountain. The chapter ended with Gao Wuxing entering a hidden chamber beneath the Gao clan’s ancestral hall and paying respects to a withered ancestor seated above a river of blood.

• Qin Zheng sensed Wang Daoyi dwelling in a golden statue’s Dharma Body husk and spoke with him while Emperor Hongyuan listened.
• Wang Daoyi praised Qin Zheng’s martial talent, warned that Myriad Manifestations Mountain could not support another Dharma Body, and advised him to visit Taixu Mountain.
• Wang Daoyi explained that he could control all nine Dharma Body husks at great cost, but was nearing dissipation and needed someone to replace him through Incense and Fire Prayer Power.
• Qin Zheng asked about the Gao clan’s stance, then left the hall and flew away without confirming whether he would go to Taixu Mountain.
• Gao Wuxing entered a secret chamber beneath the Gao clan ancestral hall, crossed a river of blood, and knelt before a withered figure he called Ancestor.

Qin Zheng confronted Gao Qiuxian and Gao Wuxing at the Gao Clan’s ancestral hall, where Gao Qiuxian planned to possess him and break through to the Dharma Body realm. Qin Zheng killed both men, ending the possession attempt and the Gao Clan’s plot.

• Gao Wuxing told Gao Qiuxian that the Qingxiao Faction had entered the Great Jin Dynasty to kill Qin Zheng, and the two set out for the capital to complete the possession.
• Qin Zheng waited for Gao Qiuxian and Gao Wuxing in the Gao Clan’s ancestral hall, surprising them with his arrival.
• Gao Wuxing attacked Qin Zheng, but Qin Zheng threw him into the golden divine statue and shattered it.
• Gao Qiuxian charged at Qin Zheng to take his body, but Qin Zheng knocked him down and pinned him to the ground.
• Qin Zheng saw that killing Gao Qiuxian would earn nearly sixty thousand jin of merit, then beheaded him with the Ghost-Head Saber.
• Qin Zheng crushed Gao Wuxing’s neck after Gao Wuxing protested Gao Qiuxian’s death.

Qin Zheng discovered that Gao Wuxing had survived as an Incense and Fire Prayer Power golden body, then refined it and gained a new incarnation and the Book of the Earth True God. He searched the Gao ancestral residence for treasures and ended the chapter reading a travel journal about Taixu Mountain.

• Qin Zheng sensed Gao Wuxing's golden body fleeing Quanzhou and caught it before it could escape to the capital.
• Qin Zheng used the Merit Scroll to refine Gao Wuxing's golden body, erasing Gao Wuxing's consciousness and gaining a Mountain God Divine Spark fragment and the Book of the Earth True God.
• Qin Zheng placed a thread of his Primordial Spirit in the golden body and began cultivating with the Incense and Fire Prayer Power it drew from the land.
• Qin Zheng searched the Gao ancestral residence and found a contaminated Sun-Traveling God Statue and other contaminated treasures.
• Qin Zheng opened Floating Dream Daoist's Travels: Part One and learned that its accounts described Taixu Mountain.

Qin Zheng left Taiwu Academy after learning that the Gao family on Myriad Manifestations Mountain had half-step Dharma Bodies, then headed toward Taixu Mountain. There, a Nine Heavens Thunder Talisman devastated a mountain, and a badly wounded Flood Dragon Demon set off toward the demon lands near the Great Jin Dynasty.

• Qin Zheng failed to complete his True Dragon Undying Body with the Spirit Qi Great Pills and left the Great Ancestor of the Great Jin Dynasty undisturbed in his slumber.
• Emperor Hongyuan warned Qin Zheng that the Gao family might retaliate for the Quan Yang Gao Clan's destruction, but Qin Zheng asked whether they had Dharma Bodies and departed.
• Two bloodied men emerged on Taixu Mountain, pursued by Mo Ziqi, who demanded the items they had taken.
• The two men activated an ancient Nine Heavens Thunder Talisman, and its lightning devastated the mountain, killing them and apparently everyone else there.
• A badly wounded Flood Dragon Demon emerged from the ruined mountain, sought flesh, blood, and spiritual energy, and headed toward the demon lands near the Great Jin Dynasty.

Qin Zheng decided to travel to Taixu Mountain to seek Daoist Fu Hua’s inheritance and investigate how Incense and Fire Prayer Power could lead to a Dharma Body. In the ruins, he killed the injured Mo Ziqi, refined his demon core into a new cultivation technique, and prepared to upgrade the Primordial Limitless Seal.

• Qin Zheng told Wei Wuji he would help him become a Martial Saint as he prepared to refine the Jade Lion Demon's core.
• After devouring Great Saint demons to heal his wounds, Mo Ziqi reflected on the thunder talisman and the Dharma Body cave dwelling he had sought on Taixu Mountain.
• Mo Ziqi mistook Qin Zheng for a human seeking to serve the Demon Race and demanded his storage bag and medicinal pills.
• Qin Zheng killed Mo Ziqi with his halberd and tore off his head.
• Qin Zheng spent ten thousand jin of merit to refine Mo Ziqi's demon core, gaining the Spirit Devouring Heaven Mending Technique.
• Qin Zheng stored Mo Ziqi's corpse in the Human Seed Bag and used the Merit Scroll to begin upgrading the Primordial Limitless Seal.

A young man in a gold-patterned black robe intervened when Qiu Guangsheng and his tiger demon attendants brutalized a once-renowned human genius in Pingyang City. After Qiu Guangsheng ordered the young man to kneel, the stranger killed him with one palm strike, leaving the inn stunned.

• Crowds gathered in Pingyang City to await the rumored reopening of a Dharma Body expert's cave abode.
• A battered old man, once a human genius who had fought the Qingxiao Faction ancestor, was thrown into Qingyang Inn and mocked by the guests.
• Qiu Guangsheng ordered his tiger demon attendants to beat the old man and then attacked a Martial Saint who protested.
• The young man in the gold-patterned black robe tended to the old man's injuries while Qiu Guangsheng threatened him and ordered him to kneel.
• The young man crossed the inn in an instant and blew apart Qiu Guangsheng's head with a single palm strike.

Qin Zheng killed Qiu Guangsheng and two Upper Realm Great Saints, then used the Merit Scroll to enhance the True Dragon Undying Body as a Dharma Body cave abode opened near Pingyang City. He entered the passage ahead of Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor, while a Qingxiao Faction cultivator killed the Man in Feathered Robes.

• Qin Zheng killed Qiu Guangsheng's two companions with two punches, but the foolish old man ran away before Qin Zheng could speak with him.
• After learning Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor was a Half-Step Dharma Body, Qin Zheng followed the Book of World-Weariness to a cave outside Pingyang City and chose to enhance the True Dragon Undying Body.
• A Dharma Body cave abode opened near Pingyang City, and Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor guarded its entrance while the Man in Feathered Robes demanded that Qiu Guangsheng's killer step forward.
• Qin Zheng rushed into the spatial passage, and the crowd identified him as the man in the gold-patterned black robe who had killed the Mountain Lord's Young Son.
• Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor charged into the passage after Qin Zheng, and the crowd followed, leaving the Man in Feathered Robes behind.
• A Green-robed Immortal Robe cultivator wielding an Ink-black Longsword killed the Man in Feathered Robes and was recognized as belonging to the Qingxiao Faction.

Qin Zheng followed the Book of World-Weariness to a pavilion in the Dharma Body cave abode, killed three rat demons who tried to obstruct him, and entered past its deadly array. Inside, he found a seven-zhang golden body radiating Incense and Fire Prayer Power, whereupon a figure formed from golden light greeted him as a descendant of later generations.

• The Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor arrived in the cave abode, killed several cultivators, and sent the Changling Ghosts to hunt Qin Zheng.
• Qin Zheng reached a pavilion that drew him in through the Book of World-Weariness, while onlookers identified him as the man pursued by the Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor.
• Three gold-robed cultivators confronted Qin Zheng and demanded that he destroy the pavilion's array, so he killed them with one punch each and collected their demon cores.
• The Book of World-Weariness glowed and the pavilion doors opened for Qin Zheng, but the array killed the cultivators who tried to follow him inside.
• Qin Zheng discovered a seven-zhang golden body filled with Incense and Fire Prayer Power, and a golden figure emerged with the Book of World-Weariness and called him a descendant of later generations.

Qin Zheng learned from Daoist Fu Hua's remnant thought that attaining a Dharma Body through Incense and Fire Prayer Power required a golden body, the Earthly Title Book, and a divine rank. After warning him about the Heavenly Immortals and the danger of exterminating the Demon Race, Fu Hua vanished, leaving Qin Zheng with the Earthly Title Book and a chance to refine the golden body.

• Qin Zheng met Daoist Fu Hua, who revealed that he was only a lingering remnant thought and explained that the path to an Incense and Fire Prayer Power Dharma Body required a golden body, the Earthly Title Book, and a divine rank.
• Daoist Fu Hua said the Immortal Dao Civilization had been destroyed because of the Heavenly Immortals, warned that Dharma Bodies were not invincible, and urged Qin Zheng not to exterminate the Demon Race.
• Daoist Fu Hua dissipated into the seven-zhang golden body after telling Qin Zheng to write his name in the Earthly Title Book and refine the golden body.
• Qin Zheng picked up the Book of World-Weariness, which transformed into a damaged remnant of the Earthly Title Book with space for three names.
• Qin Zheng's Merit Scroll identified the Earthly Title Book remnant and the Incense and Fire Prayer Power Golden Body as refinable, listing the Kitchen God divine rank and the Book of Divine Fire Achievement among the possible results.

Qin Zheng refined Daoist Fu Hua’s seven-zhang Golden Body, inscribed his name in the Earthly Title Book, and confirmed that he could attain a Dharma Body once the Golden Body reached nine zhang. As he searched the pavilion’s treasures, Tongtian Pavilion’s True Person Xuanwu used captives to test the killing array, until Qin Zheng emerged from the pavilion.

• Qin Zheng refined the seven-zhang Golden Body and merged his one-chi Golden Body into it, discovering that its power exceeded a half-step Dharma Body’s but fell short of a true Dharma Body’s.
• Qin Zheng touched the Earthly Title Book fragment with the Golden Body, and the book inscribed his name, connecting the Golden Body to the earth.
• Qin Zheng returned the Golden Body and Earthly Title Book fragment to his dantian, then began searching the pavilion’s ancient books and treasures.
• True Person Xuanwu and two Tongtian Pavilion cultivators tested the white jade steps’ killing array by forcing captives to move across them, killing another martial artist.
• True Person Xuanwu and the other cultivators seized martial artists and Demon Cultivators from the crowd to use as further test subjects.
• Qin Zheng stepped out of the pavilion in a gold-patterned black robe, drawing the Tongtian Pavilion cultivators’ attention.

Qin Zheng emerged from Tongtian Pavilion and killed True Person Xuanwu and two other Tongtian Pavilion cultivators, revealing power that made the crowd suspect he was a Half-step Dharma Body. The Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor arrived to avenge his son, and Qin Zheng admitted killing him before striking first.

• The formation around Tongtian Pavilion vanished, and True Person Xuanwu attacked Qin Zheng on the white jade steps.
• Qin Zheng killed True Person Xuanwu with one punch and took his demon core and storage pouch.
• Qin Zheng identified two Tongtian Pavilion cultivators as demons, killed them, and collected their demon cores.
• The Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor arrived, killed fleeing demon cultivators with his roar, and confronted Qin Zheng about his son.
• Qin Zheng admitted killing the Tiger Roar Mountain Ancestor's son, then vanished and launched a punch at him.

Blood Spring True Person massacred the cultivators at a Dharma Body cave dwelling to strengthen his foundation, then confronted Qin Zheng and a half-step Dharma Body tiger demon. Qin Zheng killed the tiger, and Blood Spring True Person turned on him just as golden light appeared behind the cultivator.

• Blood Spring True Person crushed the lightning treasure, slaughtered the cultivators who had gathered at the cave dwelling, and absorbed their blood to deepen his foundation.
• Blood Spring True Person headed toward Tiger Roar Mountain as Qin Zheng fought the half-step Dharma Body tiger demon, whose roar attacked Qin Zheng’s Primordial Spirit.
• Blood Spring True Person attacked Qin Zheng and the tiger demon with scarlet Sword Qi, prompting the tiger demon to flee.
• Qin Zheng struck the tiger demon into the Sword Qi, seized its tail, battered it to death, and took its demon core.
• Blood Spring True Person threatened Qin Zheng and raised his sword, but brilliant golden light suddenly appeared behind him.

Qin Zheng’s seven-zhang golden body defeated Blood Spring True Person, and Qin Zheng killed him despite his appeal to the Qingxiao Faction. After searching the cave dwelling, Qin Zheng learned more about its origins, while outside Taixu Mountain’s spirit vein revived.

• Qin Zheng’s golden body overwhelmed Blood Spring True Person, who unleashed his Blood Prison Underworld River True Body and drained the blood essence of nearby cultivators to strengthen himself.
• Qin Zheng’s golden body battered Blood Spring True Person until Qin Zheng appeared and crushed him, earning merit and obtaining the Bat King Demon Core.
• Qin Zheng noted that the golden body had weakened after the battle and planned to seek other golden bodies recorded in Daoist Fu Hua’s notes.
• Qin Zheng stored Blood Spring True Person’s corpse and searched the cave dwelling, learning it had been left by a Dharmakaya expert who entered the Dao through Lightning Law.
• A deer demon witnessed mountains collapsing in Taixu Mountain, then sensed the buried spirit vein revive as spiritual qi surged into the sky.