Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

Key events

• A Buddhist beast manifests as a projection and tries to sway Chen Cuo. It praises Buddhism’s long history and compassion, warns that the Qiu Ruins’ turmoil may bring catastrophe, and offers Buddhist aid if Chen studies its teachings and becomes a Living Buddha.
• Chen rejects the offer, destroys the projection with a sword strike, and refuses to let threats or claims of responsibility dictate his path.
• As rifts from the myriad heavens continue opening, Chen pours out his Divine Breath to contain them. The beast argues that this power alone cannot stop the intrusions.
• Chen reveals that he does hold the myriad heavens within his heart: he joins his Myriad Manifestation Thought to his Divine Breath, creating worlds that answer the rifts’ distinct energies. Using the Little Gourd’s gray mist and a sealing character, he turns the rifts to stone and closes them.
• A hostile presence in one rift accuses Chen of thwarting it again, then withdraws; the immediate danger passes. The effort leaves Chen exhausted, and a cracked egg consumes much of his aura, blood, Divine Sense, and thought before breaking and releasing bright yellow energy.
• Elsewhere, Di Ting is suddenly blasted away from the abyss where it guarded the unconscious or otherwise fate-unknown Wu Hong. It regains its footing, then flies toward a radiant sun among the stars.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo resists the beast’s spiritual influence and rejects both conversion and political pressure. He insists on assessing Buddhist teachings for himself, taking what is useful and following his own Dao. His mastery of multiple abilities—and his capacity to imagine and shape whole worlds—proves decisive, though the feat exacts a heavy physical and spiritual cost.
• The Buddhist beast presents its approach as compassionate and pragmatic, but Chen recognizes the offer as an attempt to recruit him and make him a Buddhist pawn. It shifts from persuasion to blame and warnings when he refuses.
• The crisp-voiced will argues that accepting Buddhist help, even temporarily, could prevent wider suffering. The cooler voice counters that surrendering one’s path under threat risks becoming another power’s vassal.
• Di Ting is abruptly forced to abandon its watch over Wu Hong, leaving Wu Hong’s condition unresolved.

Significant themes

• Spiritual independence: Chen argues that no tradition should be followed as an unquestionable rule; one must judge teachings and cultivate one’s own path.
• Power and worship: Gods and Buddhas may appear exalted, yet depend on mortal worship—a reason Chen rejects automatic submission to them.
• Compassion versus control: The beast frames Buddhist intervention as salvation, while Chen sees the hidden demand for allegiance and influence.
• Imagination as creation: Chen’s inner vision of myriad worlds becomes practical power, allowing him to answer and seal intrusions from those worlds.
• Cost of power: Chen’s successful defense drains him, while the cracked egg’s sudden consumption of his essence introduces a new, unexplained consequence.

Key plot points and events

• After confronting Chen Cuo in the Qiu Ruins, Di Ting struggles to suppress the memory of his power. The Buddhist monk who meets it gathers the lingering Divine Breath and sees what happened.
• Di Ting calls Chen an enemy of Buddhism and doubts he can be converted. The monk argues that coercion only deepens Chen’s resistance; Buddhism should win him through its teachings and influence over the people. He believes the wider tide of events may eventually carry Chen toward Buddhism.
• At the Sacrificial Altar, Chen Cuo recognizes that its three occupants are Incomplete Dao Masters bound by a seal. One explains that the altar must always imprison three such masters, though they do not know who created it.
• The altar suddenly cracks, breaking the seals. Its long-imprisoned occupants begin to crumble because their bodies have become fused with the structure. The old man shatters, leaving only a point of Spirit Light.
• As the cavern collapses, Cui Qian and Cui Qiang escape. Chen Cuo emerges with Xiang Ran and Xietongzi, then discovers that Little Pig, Little Turtle, and a strange six-legged, four-winged beast have also emerged from the brothers.

Character developments and interactions

• Di Ting is shaken by Chen Cuo’s power and admits that persuasion through force has failed.
• The Buddhist monk reveals a more patient strategy: win converts through the appeal of Buddhism and the accumulated faith of the people.
• Chen Cuo remains wary and observant. He respects the old man’s courage but refuses to step onto the suspicious altar or risk his Dao Mark and will.
• The imprisoned masters reveal the altar’s grim rule, then face the consequences of its destruction.
• Little Pig claims credit for helping the Cui brothers find their escape opportunity, surprising Chen Cuo.

Significant themes

• Persuasion versus coercion: The monk argues that pressure creates resistance, while genuine attraction to a belief is more effective.
• The force of history and public belief: Buddhism’s centuries of influence—and the hearts of ordinary people—may shape events more powerfully than individual choices.
• Sacrifice and imprisonment: The altar’s requirement that three masters remain bound suggests an enduring, possibly inherited burden.
• Power and vulnerability: Even formidable Incomplete Dao Masters are constrained by the altar and endangered when it breaks.

Plot points and events

• Chen Cuo protects a small group from the enormous wave of earth unleashed when the ancient ruins collapse. He helps Xiang Ran and Xietongzi recover, then examines the survivors.
• He notices a strange, six-legged, four-winged beast with an inexplicable emotional connection to him. The creature seems affectionate but timid, and Chen Cuo senses terrifying power hidden beneath its harmless appearance.
• Little Pig explains that the beast hatched from an egg he found in the ruins. He also reveals that he promised to take the Cui brothers as disciples if they survived the collapse.
• Chen Cuo confirms that Little Pig is a Longevity Deity and that becoming his disciples is a rare opportunity. The brothers’ embarrassment disappears when they learn Chen Cuo is the renowned True Person Soaring, their new martial uncle.
• Cui Qian recounts their journey through the ruins. The brothers saw a grave wrapped in black chains and a jade tombstone, but trying to remember its inscription causes pain. Chen Cuo warns them that the writing concerns a dangerous secret and should not be recalled.
• Realizing that the grave and beast may reveal something about the Qiu Ruins, Chen Cuo enters the Dream Marsh to question three powerful spirits he previously encountered.
• The spirits discuss how they escaped the damaged Sacrificial Altar and formed new incarnations in the Dream Marsh. They worry that, although free of the altar, they may now be bound to a world controlled by Chen Cuo. Chen Cuo appears and begins to reassure them.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo displays caution and insight, recognizing both the beast’s latent danger and the risk associated with the tombstone. His response to the beast hints at an unexplained bond that unsettles him.
• Little Pig boasts about his role in finding the beast and recruiting the Cui brothers, while Chen Cuo’s confirmation gives his claims credibility. He clashes playfully with the brothers over whether their good fortune comes from Chen Cuo’s fame or from having Little Pig as their master.
• The Cui brothers shift from conflicted uncertainty about becoming a pig’s disciples to pride and relief once they recognize Chen Cuo’s identity. They show respect by calling him their uncle-master and provide an orderly account of what they witnessed.
• The three spirits differ in their reactions to their new existence: the woman welcomes freedom, while the scholar fears their loss of autonomy, and the old man recognizes that the Dream Marsh remains under another’s control. Their concerns set up Chen Cuo’s reply.

Significant themes

• Freedom versus dependence: The spirits escape imprisonment but may have exchanged one form of control for another.
• Dangerous knowledge: The tombstone’s inscription is inaccessible for a reason; learning or remembering certain secrets may invite disaster.
• Fortune and opportunity: The Cui brothers’ survival and unexpected apprenticeship suggest that great rewards can emerge from danger.
• Mystery and hidden bonds: The beast’s origins, its connection to Chen Cuo, and the secrets of the Qiu Ruins remain unresolved.

Key events and plot points

• Chen Cuo meets the three Dao founders he rescued from the Qiu Ruins. They accept their new refuge and explain that, despite centuries of spiritual exploration, they never found the hidden tomb he asked about.
• Back in the Mortal World, Chen Cuo wonders why Little Pig, Little Turtle, and the Cui brothers discovered the tomb—and how the tomb, the mysterious egg, and the newly hatched beast might relate to the Pangu Path, the Ancient God clan, and the disappearance of the Pangu Path and Merit Way.
• A Turkic force of nearly a thousand approaches the ruins. Dianjuezi, Cui Qian, Cui Qiang, and Xiang Ran warn that the Turks are formidable and may employ practitioners of strange arts. They also describe past incursions and the disappearance of cultivators on the grasslands.
• In Dream Marsh, the rescued Dao founders discuss how to earn their place in Chen Cuo’s world. An unidentified elder arrives and urges them to learn the rules and make themselves useful.
• On the grasslands, Shibi Khagan fumes over the tribute he received from Li Yuan and demands land, livestock, women, and slaves. A monk known as the Living Buddha placates him, then detects and plucks a thread in the River of Time.
• The monk confronts the Lord of Self, accusing him of manipulating Cause and Effect and treating people—and the Buddhist School—as pieces in his schemes. The Lord of Self denies manipulating events, describing his method instead as following Cause and Effect and pruning away inconsequential branches.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo is shown as both considerate and inquisitive: he saved the three founders out of respect for their legacies, while continuing to investigate the tomb and beast’s deeper origins. He also senses the approaching Turkic force before it arrives.
• The rescued founders move from relief at being spared to concern about their future obligations. The old man argues they must serve Chen Cuo and restrain themselves; the woman and scholar take the warning seriously.
• The local allies emphasize the threat posed by the Turks, with Dianjuezi and Xiang Ran drawing on painful losses among their orders to caution Chen Cuo.
• Shibi Khagan displays greed and resentment toward Li Yuan, while the Living Buddha uses reassurance to encourage his ambitions.
• The Living Buddha and Lord of Self emerge as opposing strategists: the monk challenges the Lord of Self’s arrogance, and the Lord of Self counters by presenting his actions as selective pruning rather than direct control.

Significant themes

• Fate, causality, and agency: The tomb’s discovery and the beast’s connection to Chen Cuo raise questions about destiny, while the exchange between the monk and Lord of Self disputes whether events are manipulated or merely shaped by trimming possibilities.
• Power and responsibility: Chen Cuo’s strength brings rescued figures under his protection—and, potentially, his command—while they debate how to remain useful without losing their independence.
• Hidden history and lingering mysteries: The tomb, egg, beast, and vanished spiritual paths suggest a buried history that remains beyond Chen Cuo’s reach.
• Conflict across worlds and cultures: The Turkic threat links supernatural intrigue to the political disorder of the Northern Lands, where military ambition and spiritual forces intersect.

Key plot points and events

• An unidentified young man tells a monk that Chen Cuo’s Way of Rise and Fall is doomed to fade: it lacks a method for sustained contemplation and cannot become complete merely by accumulating Dao Marks. He offers an alliance against Chen Cuo, but the monk does not answer. The young man expects him to decide soon.
• A Turkic force of nearly a thousand cavalry, led by Shilifu She—the younger brother of the Shibi Khagan—arrives at the collapsed ruins. Two Grandmasters accompany him: a monk and a flame-robed man.
• Shilifu She intends to seize the treasures beneath the ruins, despite his official mission to travel to Chang’an. He hopes the prize will strengthen the Khaganate, undermine the Daoist Order, and possibly draw it into an alliance. The Grandmasters agree to help, though the robed man insists they leave if the situation changes.
• At the ruins, the Cui brothers recognize the Turkic banner and warn that its leader is likely a close relative of the khagan. Chen Cuo senses a powerful sign of future prosperity among the Turkic troops and identifies them as a chance to test his long-developed Method of Disintegration. He immediately moves toward them.

Character developments and interactions

• The young man presents himself as Chen Cuo’s rival and tries to recruit the monk by arguing that Chen’s Dao is incomplete and near extinction.
• The monk remains guarded, first with the young man and later while accompanying Shilifu She; he agrees to support the Yabghu’s plan but gives little away.
• Shilifu She emerges as ambitious and politically astute, but also overconfident. He disregards his escort mission and sees the ruins as an opportunity to expand Turkic influence.
• The flame-robed Grandmaster reluctantly cooperates while setting a clear condition: withdraw if events turn against them.
• Chen Cuo shifts from observation to action. The Turkic army’s arrival gives him a real-world opportunity to test his theory about the Way of Rise and Fall.

Significant themes

• Rivalry and alliance: Competing Dao traditions and religious schools seek advantage through shifting partnerships.
• Ambition amid upheaval: The Turkic Khaganate views Central Plains turmoil as a chance for expansion.
• Theory versus practice: Chen Cuo’s abstract work on disintegration is about to face its first practical test.
• Rise, decline, and fate: The chapter links the fortunes of a people and a Dao to signs of prosperity—and to the possibility of eventual decay.

Summary

• Chen Cuo approaches the Turkic party: On Small Hill, Yabghu Shilifu She is guarded by two spiritual masters: the monk Shi Nuo and the robed Moro. They sense an approaching threat and try to protect Shilifu with a Buddha-light dome and a wall of sacred fire. Chen Cuo appears beneath the hill, effortlessly dispelling both defenses.
• Chen Cuo assesses his opponents: He recognizes that Shi Nuo and Moro are both Third Step cultivators, but reflects that he has grown distant from worldly affairs during forty years of seclusion. He considers how power and influence can distort one’s perspective—and resolves to stay attentive to the changing world.
• Moro’s guards attack: Moro tries to subdue Chen Cuo with a forceful command, then orders an attack. Twenty-eight elite horsemen fire bone arrows empowered by constellation patterns and the Incense-born Xian God. Chen Cuo destroys the arrows with a breath infused by the Five Qi. The attack’s cost is devastating: Moro’s robe burns away, and the archers’ bows drain their vitality, leaving them dead.
• Moro invokes the deity: Moro roars that those who defy the god are guilty. The soldiers’ essence, energy, and spirit stream out of them, while their collective battle aura forms a towering divine phantom. It descends into Moro, who is transformed into a being with a vast, chilling presence. Shilifu celebrates, convinced that Chen Cuo is doomed; Shi Nuo remains wary. The chapter ends as the transformed “Moro” opens empty, indifferent eyes.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo is composed and intellectually observant, treating the attacks as opportunities to understand the Incense-based powers. His reflections reveal renewed awareness of the danger of becoming isolated from the mortal world.
• Shilifu She trusts divine power and military strength, but his confidence shifts from concern to triumph when Moro becomes the deity’s vessel.
• Shi Nuo protects Shilifu and cautions him that divine power carries a price; he is more skeptical than Shilifu about Moro’s transformation.
• Moro moves from confident defender to desperate aggressor, ultimately surrendering himself to the Xian God’s power.
• The attackers’ power comes at a human cost: the divine arrows consume their users, and the later invocation drains the whole troop.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts faith-based, Incense-powered strength with Chen Cuo’s cultivation; emphasizes that power demands a price; and explores how seclusion can leave even powerful figures out of touch with the world. It also raises questions about the difference between divine might and genuine mercy, as a god’s power is shown to be both formidable and ruthlessly extractive.

Plot points and events

• Chen Cuo realizes that “Moro” is a prepared vessel for Bahelamu, an Outer Regions war god whose presence was formed from the thoughts of many believers. The thousand Turkic cavalrymen have also been ritually refined and bound to the Divine Path of Incense.
• Bahelamu urges Chen Cuo to join his god’s project of establishing a divine kingdom, then attacks with a giant phantom hand and a mass of dark, chaotic thoughts.
• Chen Cuo sees through the god’s nature and counters with his Myriad Manifestation Thoughts. Bahelamu is overwhelmed by minds devoid of reverence, which threaten to tear apart and corrupt his Divine Thought.
• To resist, Bahelamu drains the life force of Moro, the cavalry, and their horses, gathering enough power to make his phantom more solid. Chen Cuo answers by summoning the River of Time and a Bronze Man, who destroys the god’s manifestation and binds Bahelamu in black chains.
• Shilifu She, thrilled by Bahelamu’s apparent power, fails to recognize the danger. Monk Shi Nuo recognizes Chen Cuo and tries to flee with him, but Chen Cuo uses a Five-Zhu Coin to bring them back.
• Chen Cuo captures Shilifu She and considers him a possible subject for testing the Method of Rise and Decline Disintegration. He also considers Bahelamu a potential test subject—or material for a treasure.
• Just as Chen Cuo examines his captive god, a powerful presence addresses him as Chen Fangqing and demands that he release his vassal.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo demonstrates sharp insight into both Bahelamu’s origins and his strategy. His calm, overwhelming victory reveals the scale of his power, while his interest in experimenting on captives shows a coldly practical, potentially ruthless side.
• Bahelamu shifts from confidence and religious certainty to alarm and fear when confronted with Chen Cuo’s alien, voracious thoughts. He sacrifices his followers’ vitality to preserve himself, revealing how expendable they are to him.
• Shilifu She is captivated by the supposed divine victory and longs to honor Bahelamu, but is abruptly confronted with the gap between his expectations and reality.
• Monk Shi Nuo recognizes Chen Cuo as a notorious figure from the Central Plains and reacts with immediate fear, prioritizing escape and then trying to protect Shilifu She.

Significant themes

• Belief as power: Bahelamu is made from the accumulated thoughts of believers, while his followers’ ritual refinement and life force fuel his manifestation.
• Faith and exploitation: The god’s promise of a moral divine kingdom contrasts with his willingness to drain his own soldiers and horses.
• Competing forms of thought: Bahelamu’s divine authority depends on reverence and restraint; Chen Cuo’s Myriad Manifestation Thoughts embody unchecked ambition and challenge that authority.
• Power and historical change: Chen Cuo treats Shilifu She, a future Turkic khan, as a possible means to alter history, linking individual choices to the course of empires.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo recognizes the captive god Zunba Helamu’s reference to the Xian God, a powerful deity whose faith is spreading east.
• The Xian God attacks from afar, filling the sky with fiery clouds and setting a thousand cavalrymen ablaze. The supernatural flames also stir violent impulses in the hearts of Chen Cuo’s companions.
• Chen Cuo cuts off the influence within himself, then uses the Human Dao Golden Book and the River of Time to examine and dismantle the flame. He identifies it as a force that moves between the mind and the physical world, letting a deity influence human thought.
• The Xian God attacks Chen Cuo directly through his gaze. Chen Cuo counters, shattering the fiery clouds and ending the attack.
• Rather than settle for driving the god away, Chen Cuo argues that the threat will return unless he strikes at its source. He destroys the captive phantom and extracts a droplet containing the faith’s long, complex history, sending it west along an unseen connection.
• In the distant western realm, the droplet appears above the Xian God’s hall as the deity and its followers rage against the Central Lands. The chapter ends before its effect is revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo demonstrates formidable spiritual insight and power: he recognizes the mind-altering attack, resists it, and defeats the Xian God’s remote assault. More significantly, he shifts from defense to a deliberate attempt to confront the threat at its root.
• Monk Shi Nuo explains the Xian God’s distant origins, long history, and vast following. He praises Chen Cuo but warns that the god’s deep foundations may make retaliation inevitable.
• The Xian God and its followers portray their eastward expansion as a benevolent mission to bring light, while their response to resistance reveals their fury and willingness to use violence.
• Chen Cuo’s companions are affected by the fiery influence, underscoring that the attack can spread beyond its immediate targets.

Significant themes

• Faith as power and influence: Religious belief can shape history, command followers, and directly alter people’s thoughts.
• Benevolence masking domination: The Xian God calls its expansion a gift of enlightenment, but treats opposition as sin and answers it with fire.
• Defense versus prevention: Chen Cuo rejects a temporary victory and seeks to remove the underlying source of future conflict.
• Historical depth and consequence: The faith’s thousand-year history is not merely background; Chen Cuo turns that history into something he can wield against the deity.

Key plot points

• Chen Cuo’s droplet appears in the Xian God’s domain. The god destroys it with divine fire, only for the flames to be absorbed and a scroll to unfold.
• The scroll depicts the ancient struggle between light and darkness. Chen Cuo challenges the credibility of Zoroastrian history, pointing out that its stories are only about a thousand years old.
• The Xian God smashes the scroll, unintentionally triggering its hidden power: a dustlike force of Decline spreads through his domain and the subordinate gods’ shrines.
• Chen Cuo explains that the Xian God was born from believers’ Incense and remains dependent on them. By destroying the Source-Flow Diagram tied to Zoroastrianism’s history, the god has effectively attacked the foundations of his own faith. The Xian God burns away the Decline, but is left furious and warned against targeting the Central Lands again.
• Back in the Northern Borderlands, Chen Cuo reflects on what he learned: a Deity can be undermined by attacking the faith and society that sustain it, though a religion can recover if its core believers endure.
• Chen Cuo considers using the war-related Divine Authority and Source-Flow Diagram as a treasure, then turns his attention to Shilifu She and the history of the Turks.
• Meanwhile, Shibi Khagan awakens from a dream in which a Deity tells him his brother has been captured by the Central Lands. He uses this as a pretext to march south and orders his attendants to summon the Living Buddha.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo demonstrates that he can threaten a god without directly overpowering it: he exploits the god’s dependence on believers and history. The encounter deepens his understanding of how religions and dynasties rise and fall.
• The Xian God shifts from righteous certainty and anger to shock when the Decline takes hold. Though he destroys it, Chen Cuo’s attack exposes his dependence on the faith’s human foundations.
• Shibi Khagan responds to the dream with laughter and resolves to use his brother’s capture as justification for war. His attendants react immediately to his command.
• Chen Cuo’s verbal challenge and the Xian God’s furious response frame their clash as both a contest of power and an argument over the origins of faith.

Significant themes

• The fragility of divine power: Even a chief god relies on believers and the Incense they provide.
• History as a source of power: A faith’s origin stories can sustain its authority—but can also become a vulnerability.
• Decline and recovery: Institutions and religions can falter when they lose their foundations, yet may endure if their core communities survive.
• Political manipulation: Shibi turns a dream and his brother’s capture into a justification for military action.

Plot and key events

• In Dingxiang, Lord Sai and Mr. Bei discuss Turkic dominance and the mysterious disappearance of Turks from the area. A messenger reports that the Turkic Great Khagan has gathered 50,000 cavalry and is preparing to march south.
• Liu Wuzhou worries that joining the Turkic campaign would jeopardize his hard-won position in Hedong, where his forces are already struggling against Tang. Zhang Lun argues that the Turks are likely targeting Tang, making their intervention potentially useful.
• Liu also wants to meet the legendary former Lord Chen, who he believes could help him. Zhang Lun reports that Chen may actually be south of the Yangtze, so Liu sends Zhang to investigate Chen’s identity and invite two Cui family members in Dingxiang to visit him.
• In Dingxiang, Chen Cuo gives Xiang Ran a powerful protective treasure he fashioned from the remains of an Otherworldly God. She warns him that the starving Turkic Yabghu in their custody and the growing number of scouts and cultivators nearby could cause trouble.
• Chen says observers from both the grasslands and the Eight Sects are testing him. Having finished dealing with the Otherworldly God, he decides to turn his attention to the Yabghu.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Wuzhou is torn between political survival and his reverence for Lord Chen, but accepts Zhang Lun’s advice and delegates the investigation.
• Zhang Lun shows political insight and a network of former Sui contacts, positioning himself as a trusted adviser and intermediary.
• Chen Cuo demonstrates formidable supernatural skill and generosity toward Xiang Ran, while remaining calm about the many factions watching him.
• Xiang Ran is cautious and protective of Chen’s interests. She accepts his gift but raises practical concerns about the captive Yabghu and nearby enemies.
• Lord Sai and Mr. Bei spar over the Turkic occupation and the risks of speaking openly, revealing tension beneath their guarded conversation.

Significant themes

• Political uncertainty and shifting alliances: Turkic, Tang, and regional forces weigh cooperation and survival.
• Power and reputation: Lord Chen’s legendary status draws both hopeful allies and wary investigators.
• The convergence of forces: Dingxiang is becoming a strategic center as armies, cultivators, and political actors gather around it.
• Caution amid danger: Characters must judge rumors, concealed motives, and the risks posed by both human and supernatural powers.

Key plot points and events

• Xiang Ran follows Chen Cuo and receives a refined Divine Husk, whose fire clears her thoughts and strengthens her spirit. Chen explains it came from an Outer Regions War Deity, whose divine consciousness he removed.
• Chen reveals he also possesses the Deity’s Divine Spirit Talisman, which holds its power over war, conquest, and strife. He warns that such a god would benefit from a world of endless conflict.
• Chen raises a troubling question: if the War Deity’s legends reach back ten thousand years but its religion began only a thousand years ago, which came first? Xiang Ran senses that the question touches a dangerous taboo; thunder breaks as they enter the room.
• The Turkish Yabghu, Shilifu She, agrees to cooperate. Chen takes a drop of blood from his heart and uses it to summon the River of Time, seeking the origins and history of the Turks.
• Elsewhere, a young man learns that Chen has begun using the River of Time to investigate legends. He considers Chen a potential rival but believes his own preparations—and Chen’s inability to establish himself as a legendary figure—will prevent Chen from succeeding.
• In Jiangdu, Shi Nan examines handbooks documenting possible traces of an immortal in the South. He resolves to compare accounts carefully and remove inconsistencies before recording them. His papers reveal the start of a history about Dream Immortal and the fallen Chen bloodline; a portrait of Dream Immortal hangs in the room.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiang Ran moves from political concern and hesitation to clearer focus after experiencing the Divine Husk. She is unsettled by Chen’s question about the origins of gods and religions.
• Chen Cuo demonstrates command over divine relics and the River of Time. He explains the dangers of divine power while pursuing historical truth through Shilifu She’s blood.
• Shilifu She submits to Chen’s request despite fear, choosing cooperation over resistance.
• The unnamed young man grows wary of Chen’s investigation but remains confident in his own plan.
• Shi Nan acts as a cautious researcher, emphasizing verification and consistency in accounts of Dream Immortal.

Significant themes

• History, myth, and constructed legend: The chapter questions whether gods precede their religions—or whether belief and recorded history create the past.
• Power and conflict: The War Deity’s authority turns warfare into a source of strength, making endless strife advantageous to it.
• Truth versus rumor: Chen and Shi Nan both investigate competing accounts, while the young man actively shapes legends for his own rise.
• Knowledge as danger: Xiang Ran’s instinctive alarm suggests that probing the origins of the divine may violate a fundamental taboo.

Plot points and events

• In Dingxiang City, Chen Cuo uses a drop of blood from the Turkic leader Shilifu She to examine the history embedded in his bloodline. With a method based on the twelve Dao Marks and the River of History, he reconstructs the Turks’ rise: their victories over rival peoples, the formation of their power, and their later division into eastern and western khaganates.
• Chen Cuo recognizes that the Eastern Turks, despite losing territory after the split, are poised for renewed strength by exploiting turmoil in the Central Plains. The historical visions exhaust Shilifu She, but Chen Cuo stabilizes the blood and restores some of the Fortune surrounding him.
• Chen Cuo concludes that the blood holds the rise and fall of a dynasty. He compares it with the rise and fall of Zoroastrianism, using both as material for his developing Dream. The resulting vision strengthens his cultivation, though he judges it insufficient to complete the Peach Paradise Dream: he needs at least three more examples, and his work on acupoints remains unfinished.
• During cultivation, Chen Cuo senses an unknown person recording his path and feels a growing connection to the River of History. A sudden bloody flash cuts off the connection, suggesting outside interference.
• Meanwhile, Zhang Lun arrives at Dingxiang with more than fifty men, sent by the Great Khan to verify that Chen Cuo is truly a Taihua Mountain disciple. He distrusts cultivators’ disregard for law and order and threatens consequences if Chen Cuo is an impostor.
• A red-faced, armed-looking man and a young boy watch Zhang Lun’s party. The boy wants to follow Chen Cuo, who has repeatedly touched on the River of Time’s principles. The man advises waiting, explaining that their lost legends and altered true names may require Chen Cuo’s help, but they must approach him carefully to earn his trust.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo advances his understanding of the Way of Rise and Fall, distinguishing the Dao’s principles from the concrete historical material used in cultivation. He remains ambitious but recognizes that his Dream and physical cultivation are incomplete.
• Shilifu She undergoes a painful experience as the history within his blood is drawn out; his Fortune weakens, then partially recovers through Chen Cuo’s intervention.
• Zhang Lun appears proud and suspicious, viewing Chen Cuo as a potential fraud and treating the city’s damage as evidence of cultivators’ lawlessness.
• The red-faced man and the boy are interested in Chen Cuo for different reasons: the boy is curious about his insight into time, while the man sees him as a possible ally and stresses patience and trust.

Significant themes

• Rise and fall as a recurring cycle: dynasties and religions alike pass through growth, decline, and renewal.
• History as a source of cultivation: Chen Cuo turns historical change into material for spiritual insight and the creation of his Dream.
• Power, culture, and influence: the Central Plains’ cultural and material strength shapes surrounding peoples, even when they remain politically distinct.
• Trust and hidden connections: unseen observers, altered names, and the severed historical link suggest that Chen Cuo’s path is entangled with concealed forces.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Lun, a military commander in Dingxiang, is furious that Master Soaring—whose identity he doubts—refuses to meet him. He considers forcing the Daoist to attend, but his subordinates warn that the Daoists have official standing and that acting rashly could bring punishment.
• Zhang orders the men to investigate the recent disappearance of Turkic nobles, noting that the vanishings began after the Daoist arrived. His subordinates suspect he intends to blame the Daoist and close the matter.
• Two Daoist brothers secretly observe Zhang. They decide to investigate the wider political connections of Zhang’s superior, Liu Wuzhou, before reporting their findings.
• The elder brother reveals that people who seemed to be Turks have somehow shed their apparent identities and become Han men. A child in blue appears, explains that the victims had been stripped of their names and given false ones through supernatural arts, then captures both brothers inside a Bamboo Basket for questioning.
• The child reflects that the region’s unusual Earth Veins have revealed traces of the Master of Rise and Fall and may be affecting people across the city.
• Chen Cuo receives a message from Great Hua Mountain: a Turkic army is moving south, and the Tang Court has asked Nanmingzi to emerge from the mountains. The message also reports that someone posing as Chen Cuo, under the name Chen Fangqing, has been doing good deeds along the Great River.
• Chen realizes the impostor may be drawing off some of his Fortune and making him a stand-in for himself. He decides he has nearly finished his work in the area and will soon leave.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Lun is shown as domineering and politically calculating, but cautious when reminded that mistreating the Daoists could have consequences. He pressures his subordinates and assigns them a potentially biased investigation.
• The Daoist brothers hope to prove their usefulness by investigating beyond Zhang Lun. Their inquiry is cut short when the child captures them.
• The child in blue demonstrates considerable supernatural power and knowledge, taking an active interest in the mystery of the altered identities.
• Chen Cuo remains focused on his spiritual investigation, but the news of his impersonator leads him to recognize a connection to Fortune and to prepare to move on.

Significant themes

• Names and identity: The chapter links names to a person’s sense of self; false names can erase memory and transform how someone is perceived.
• Political opportunism: Zhang’s handling of the investigation shows how officials may use uncertainty to shift blame and protect themselves.
• Hidden supernatural forces: Strange changes among the city’s inhabitants and the unusual Earth Veins suggest that unseen spiritual influences shape events.
• Reputation and Fortune: The impostor’s good deeds may increase Chen Cuo’s fame and Fortune, even as they complicate his identity.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo reviews the strange invisible Evil Fiends he captured after they possessed Xiang Ran, Xietongzi, and others at the Qiu Ruins. He suspects the creatures do not simply invade minds; some outside influence awakens people’s buried malicious thoughts and turns them into fiends.
• Similar possession is spreading among Han residents of Dingxiang, making them believe they are Turks and altering their memories—changes that ripple through the River of History. Since the Qiu Ruins collapsed, many of the fiends have begun departing, suggesting they originated there.
• Chen’s small, faceless beast devours one of the fiends. Its presence helps him organize his priorities. He suspects the fiends may come from Beyond the Mundane, and wonders whether they are connected to the mysterious Primordial Chaos Fruit and the Stone Pavilion’s Peach Paradise.
• Chen lays out his plans: advance his cultivation by studying new patterns of rise and fall and refining his acupoints; investigate the impostor using the name Chen Fangqing; address his sect’s ties to the dynasty and the Turkish invasion; and investigate the Qiu Ruins, the fiends, and the Primordial Chaos Fruit as opportunities arise.
• Xiang Ran reports that the Turks have marched south with desert cultivators. Chen decides to gather their people and return the next day. Xi Ran has not yet arrived, so he will leave her a message.
• Outside the city, a blue-robed child and a red-faced armored man decide to follow Chen rather than approach him immediately. They expect reincarnated or nameless figures to be drawn toward Chen by the River of Time and Fate, and hope to use a coming visitor from Beyond the Mundane to reveal the matter of their true names.
• At Great Hua Mountain, a two-faced warrior approaches the sects with his companion. They believe the world’s cultivation has declined so far that no one can oppose them. They plan to visit the companion’s Master’s Sect first, then Kunlun, where one face intends to apologize to his revered master.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo shifts from reflection to action, sorting his many concerns into immediate cultivation goals and urgent political and personal matters. He remains alert to the danger posed by Beyond the Mundane and to the impostor trading on his identity.
• Xiang Ran acts as Chen’s trusted messenger and organizer. He is concerned about Xi Ran’s delayed arrival and still preoccupied with Xietongzi, whom Chen believes has his own plans.
• Chen and the little beast share a moment of easy affection; the beast’s appetite also provides a practical way to eliminate an Evil Fiend.
• The blue-robed child and red-faced man disagree in temperament—the child is impatient and wants to avoid worldly turmoil, while the man is confident and strategic. They agree to shadow Chen and wait for an opportunity.
• The two-faced warrior and his companion display confidence and ambition, treating the weakened sects as institutions they can instruct or confront. Their planned visits hint at coming encounters with the sects and their former masters.

Significant themes

• Identity and memory: Possessed people accept false lives, while the observers outside the city worry about lost names and recovering former identities.
• History and fate: Altered memories affect the River of History, and Chen’s growing influence may draw reincarnated or hidden figures together.
• Corruption and hidden influence: The Evil Fiends may awaken darkness already within people, raising questions about whether the true danger lies in the creatures or the force behind them.
• Decline and power: The two-faced warrior sees a world where cultivation and sects have weakened, setting the stage for conflict between old powers and the present age.
• Duty versus personal cultivation: Chen must balance his own advancement with obligations to his sect and the crisis on the northern frontier.

• Chen Cuo’s party departs Dingxiang: Chen, Cui Qiang, and their companions travel aboard the Flying Boat. Cui Qiang enjoys the flight and feels increasingly close to the revered True Person Soaring, though he and his companion still find Chen’s manner different from the idealized Immortal Dao teacher they had imagined.
• Xietongzi joins the group: The Kunlun Longevity cultivator has come aboard after learning of the Turks’ southward advance and Kunlun’s coordination with Great Hua Mountain. Xiang Ran remains wary, but Xietongzi explains that he seeks Chen’s guidance to overcome a cultivation obstacle, not to scheme against Great Hua Mountain. His sincere words—and the insight he gains simply from observing Chen—shake Xiang Ran’s doubts. He also recognizes that many would envy those able to remain near Chen.
• A warning and a pursuit: Back in Dingxiang, the Blue-Robed Boy and Red-Faced Man learn that someone, apparently the Incomplete Dao Master, has laid a trap to seize Chen’s foundation. Fearing Chen is unaware of the danger, they hurry after him. The boy has gathered nearly all the “named thoughts” he needs; before leaving, the Red-Faced Man kills the people they had brought with them, erasing the traces in their souls.
• A scholar is attacked: A sword-carrying scholar arrives at the spot they left and discovers that the Qiu Ruins have collapsed. He also senses something unusual about Dingxiang and reasons that only certain figures from his past life might be able to respond. Before he can investigate further, a mysterious man manifests and asks to borrow Supreme Lord Donghua’s name and vessel. The city shakes, and nearby woodland is destroyed.
• Qiuyuzi arrives too late: Sent to smooth relations with Chen, Qiuyuzi finds that the disturbance’s aura has faded. He is relieved not to be drawn into investigating it, but the Peachwood Sword points out that Chen’s aura has also vanished from the city.
  Character developments and interactions: Xiang Ran’s distrust of Xietongzi softens when he speaks plainly about his motives and demonstrates respect for Chen. Xietongzi’s admiration for Chen deepens as he gains insight from observing him. Cui Qiang’s excitement reflects his growing affection for his new companions. Meanwhile, the Blue-Robed Boy and Red-Faced Man shift from deliberation to urgent action, while Qiuyuzi’s cautious, peacekeeping attitude contrasts with the ominous pursuit unfolding around Chen.
  Key themes: The chapter emphasizes the pull of a powerful teacher and the envy of those who cannot remain near him; the importance of trust and sincerity amid political and sectarian tensions; and the danger of hidden schemes, fate, and incomplete knowledge. Chen’s departure leaves the threat unresolved, creating suspense around the trap and the mysterious manifestation.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• The Flying Boat approaches its destination as the surrounding landscape shifts from grasslands to cultivated mountain country. Xiang Ran tells Chen Cuo that Great Hua Mountain’s sect master has gone to Chang’an at the Tang emperor’s invitation.
• Chen Cuo’s presence triggers a vision of the River of Time: a purple-qi Divine Dragon, badly wounded, cries out and sinks beneath the waters. The resulting force knocks passengers about, while Xietongzi recognizes it as an omen.
• At an inn near Great Hua Mountain, two visitors—one stern-faced and one handsome, sharing a single body under the name Yin Zi—are told the sect master is away. The stern brother demands entry, but the handsome one persuades him to wait three days.
• The brothers reveal that the River of Time is consuming their shared Proxy Vessel. Unless they return Beyond the Mundane or obtain a Primordial Chaos Fruit within forty-nine days, the body may become a Wangliang. They also need to deal with the still-at-large Reckless Outlaw.
• At the mountain gate, Qiongfa Zi is troubled by another powerful visitor bearing what appears to be Taihua White Jade and seeking entry to the sect and its Patriarch Hall. He reports the matter to Nanmingzi.
• Nanmingzi suspects the visitor may be an impostor, since the sect’s old disciples scattered after the Calamity of the Supreme Clarity and its White Jade art might have been copied. He decides to return to the mountain gate despite his responsibilities in Chang’an.
• Two Li family members urge Nanmingzi to support the dynasty’s ambitions, arguing that a religious order can outlast a kingdom. Before he answers, a violet star appears in the sky. Nanmingzi reads it as a sign that the Sui Dragon has collapsed, despite earlier reports that the Sui emperor had fallen and its purple qi been suppressed.

Character developments

• Chen Cuo remains intent on investigating Chang’an and the complicated ties between Great Hua Mountain and the Li family. The wounded dragon vision suggests his actions or presence are connected to major upheavals.
• Xiang Ran calmly explains the sect’s situation, while the vision reveals the limits of even her composure.
• Yin Zi’s two brothers show a strained but protective bond: the stern brother is aggressive, yet yields to his brother’s wish to preserve old ties. Their shared body is deteriorating, giving them an urgent deadline.
• Qiongfa Zi is cautious about making decisions beyond his authority and chooses to defer to Nanmingzi.
• Nanmingzi weighs suspicion against loyalty to the sect and prioritizes its safety over the political obligations in Chang’an.

Significant themes

• Dynastic rise and fall: The wounded dragon and falling violet star foreshadow political collapse and suggest that the Sui’s fate is unsettled.
• Loyalty versus ambition: The Li family seeks Nanmingzi’s help to secure a lasting dynasty, while he warns that all things rise and fall.
• Memory and inherited ties: Yin Zi’s brothers and the Li family both remain bound to old relationships, even as time and history change them.
• Identity and decay: The brothers share one name and body, which is being corrupted by the River of Time; the chapter presents identity as fragile and costly.
• Caution amid uncertainty: The visitors’ credentials, the sect’s history, and the political omens are all ambiguous, forcing characters to act carefully.

Character interactions

• Chen Cuo questions Xiang Ran about the sect master’s trip and the Li family connection; their conversation is interrupted by the dragon omen.
• Yin Zi’s stern brother confronts the Great Hua disciples over the delay, while his handsome brother restrains him to avoid damaging their relationship with the sect.
• Qiongfa Zi consults his son and then Nanmingzi rather than risk handling the mysterious visitor alone.
• Nanmingzi rejects his relatives’ appeal to blood and political duty, setting the stage for his return to Great Hua Mountain as the Sui omen appears.

Plot points

• The Sui emperor’s death sends the Dynasty’s Fortune into upheaval, but Xietongzi and Xiang Ran are disturbed because they and people in their sects remember signs of the emperor’s fall as though they had already witnessed them.
• Chen Cuo suspects that events in the real world may be undergoing the same kind of retroactive alteration he encountered in the Divine Treasury. The crisis prompts him to recognize that he has focused too narrowly on his own cultivation and must study Heaven and Earth directly.
• His resolve triggers an enlightenment: the fading Dynasty’s Fortune gathers around him, and the River of Time appears. By examining details in his memories, he links three mysterious traces: a man writing, Buddha-shrouded Chang’an, and a streak of bloodlight.
• He identifies the writer as Yu Shinan, who has recorded Chen Cuo’s deeds for decades, and realizes Yu may be important to his future and to the secrets of Heaven and Earth.
• The image of Chang’an reveals a youth connected to Chen Cuo’s bloodline, but the vision blurs and breaks before he can learn the youth’s identity. The interruption leaves Chen Cuo with a powerful, unexplained sense of loss.
• The bloodlight shows a vision of a lone figure facing five others beneath a blood-red sky, declaring, “From this day forth, I shall be…” The scene is cut off by a thunderclap, which shatters Chen Cuo’s enlightenment and destroys the flying vessel. Chen Cuo conjures a replacement to catch the others.
• The chapter ends with Chen Cuo fixated on the words, “From this day forth, I am Chen Cuo!” His own name now feels strangely unfamiliar.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo moves from observing the Sui crisis to recognizing his own limits and committing to a broader understanding of the world. His enlightenment reveals hidden connections but also unsettles his sense of identity.
• Xietongzi verifies that many people share the same apparent memories of the emperor’s fall. The contradiction briefly exposes him to a sinister influence, but Chen Cuo’s sharp clap jolts him back to himself.
• Xiang Ran shares Xietongzi’s concern and later tries to ask Chen Cuo what happened. He dismisses the question, absorbed by the vision.
• Yu Shinan, though absent, emerges as a potentially pivotal figure through his long record of Chen Cuo’s deeds.
• A mysterious youth in Chang’an appears to be a descendant of Chen Cuo’s former body; the youth’s identity and the source of their close connection remain unknown.
• The Cui Household brothers repeatedly faint amid the supernatural shocks, while the others protect themselves.

Significant themes

• Memory and reality: Shared memories of events that may not have happened suggest that the past itself can be rewritten.
• The limits of knowledge: Chen Cuo realizes that studying himself and the Human Path is not enough; he must investigate Heaven and Earth.
• Fortune, history, and destiny: The Sui dynasty’s collapse opens a path to insight, while records of Chen Cuo’s life appear to strengthen his bond with the world.
• Identity and inheritance: The bloodline revelation and the final uncertainty surrounding Chen Cuo’s name raise questions about what makes a person who they are.

Plot points

• Chen Cuo reflects on a strange vision of five figures beneath a blood-red sky. One called himself “Chen Cuo,” raising the possibility that Chen’s unusual name is linked to a hidden scheme or event.
• Unable to investigate the vision directly, Chen decides to trace two related clues: Lord Yu’s bloodline and the Chen Bloodline. He hopes they will lead him back to the mysterious third scene.
• Chen arrives near Chang’an and hurries toward the city, despite warnings that an eminent monk’s Restriction suppresses divine abilities and Daoist arts there. Xietongzi follows him.
• Chen’s companions explain that Li Tang’s emperor plans to select a state religion. With the dynasty rising, the sect that wins imperial favor could gain enormous power. Great Hua Mountain is vulnerable because it prospered under the fallen Sui dynasty, though its leader has blood ties to Li Tang.
• At Rainbow Star Tower, Mount Zhongnan’s leader, Hu Jingqi, discusses his sect’s weakened fortunes and its chance to recover by becoming the state religion. He identifies Great Hua Mountain as the main rival and confirms that Chen Cuo—known as True Person Soaring—is returning to Chang’an.
• Hu receives an invitation from Jifa Temple’s Master Falin to a citywide Dharma assembly. Hu suspects Falin is moving to secure his plans before Chen arrives.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo becomes more wary and determined after the vision, balancing his personal investigation with his duty to his sect.
• Xiang Ran defends Chen’s judgment and urges the others to trust his abilities, though she is concerned about the political stakes.
• Little Pig bluntly points out Great Hua Mountain’s dependence on Sui patronage and its precarious position under Li Tang.
• Hu Jingqi is ambitious and calculating: despite his sect’s past losses, he sees Li Tang’s rise as an opportunity and has prepared for Chen’s arrival.

Significant themes

• Identity and fate: Chen’s name may connect him to events he cannot yet understand.
• Political power and religious influence: Imperial patronage can transform a sect’s fortunes, but shifts in dynasty also create danger.
• Fortune’s reversals: The fall of one dynasty and rise of another can turn past advantages into liabilities—and present crises into opportunities.
• Hidden schemes and uncertain history: The vision’s unclear origins and the competing sects’ plans suggest that appearances and rumors may conceal deeper connections.

Plot points and events

• In Chang’an, an elderly Buddhist master learns that most major sects initially refused his invitation to a Buddhist assembly. He admits that the gathering’s real purpose is to find a way to restrain Chen Cuo, whom he sees as a threat to the world’s stability.
• Chen Cuo arrives in the city and surveys it with his Divine Sense. His reflections on his uncertain past-life memories unsettle his Dao Heart, but he steadies himself by affirming that his present actions and commitment to seeking the Path are real. His sweeping presence alerts the city’s cultivators.
• Kunlun disciples Du Lianzi and Qianxi debate Chen’s arrival. Du concludes Chen meant to intimidate the sects and decides to attend the Buddhist assembly, arguing that the real question is not which tradition leads but who must confront Chen first. Soon, even the sects that declined send word they will attend.
• Chen visits his senior brother Nanmingzi at the Li family residence. They discuss how a unified dynasty can shape a sect’s Fortune—and how Li Tang’s rise might threaten Great Hua Mountain. Chen dismisses the sects’ disputes as peripheral and heads directly toward the Imperial Palace.
• In the palace, Li Yuan questions his sons about their recent clash at Great Hua Mountain. Li Jiancheng accuses Li Shimin of disrupting his efforts to cultivate ties with the sect; Li Shimin remains silent. Li Yuan criticizes the importance they place on a remote religious institution.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo confronts doubts about his identity and memories but regains resolve. He is confident and impatient with indirect maneuvering, choosing to address the political power behind the sects’ concerns.
• Nanmingzi reveals a deeper understanding of how dynastic power and Fortune can determine a sect’s rise or decline. He hopes Chen will help protect Great Hua Mountain.
• Du Lianzi shifts from concern over sectarian prestige to pragmatic cooperation, while Qianxi initially hopes Chen’s confidence will make him vulnerable.
• The Buddhist master adapts when attendance unexpectedly swells, even using a magically produced ear of wheat to solve the food shortage.
• Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin display the tension between them: Jiancheng defends his political cultivation of Great Hua Mountain’s favor, while Shimin offers no reply. Li Yuan rebukes both brothers’ priorities.

Significant themes

• Identity and conviction: Chen’s past-life memories may be unreliable, but he grounds himself in the choices he has made in the present.
• Power, Fortune, and political influence: A dynasty’s authority can alter a sect’s prospects as surely as religious or magical forces.
• Cooperation through necessity: Buddhist and Daoist factions set aside rivalry because Chen’s arrival poses a greater shared concern.
• Appearance versus underlying purpose: The assembly’s public religious debate masks a political effort to manage Chen and secure influence with Li Tang.

Key plot points and events

• Li Yuan advises Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin that immortal sects should be respected but never feared or trusted blindly. A ruler must understand their rivalries and weaknesses and use them to serve the dynasty.
• Li Jiancheng warns that powerful sects and cultivators remain a serious threat; Li Shimin agrees, arguing that individuals such as Master Soaring should be treated sincerely even while sects are handled strategically.
• Li Yuan explains that he has spent years exploiting divisions among Buddhist and Daoist groups, recruiting cultivators, and preparing the palace to withstand sect-based powers. He declares that the Tang court need not bow to the sects.
• Master Soaring of Great Hua Mountain suddenly announces his arrival with a display of overwhelming force. Li Yuan recognizes it as a challenge to Tang’s authority.
• Three Buddhist monks, led by Master Discernment, claim that Master Soaring—identified as Chen Cuo—has come to seize Tang’s Dragon Aura. They propose using Li Yuan’s imperial Fortune to strengthen their formation and drive him back.
• Li Yuan accepts the risk, hoping that resisting Chen will let Tang negotiate with him as an equal. He lends the monks his Dragon Aura, empowering a Buddhist formation that merges with Tang’s national Fortune and raises confidence among cultivators and commoners alike.
• Chen Cuo sees through the monks’ plan. Finding Li Yuan in the formation, he chooses not to confront him directly. He uses a Bronze Long Sword and a Five-Zhu Coin to extract Li Jiancheng and Li Shimin’s Fortune Seeds, merges them into the sword, and prepares to sever something—ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yuan presents himself as a confident strategist, willing to manipulate sect rivalries and risk confrontation for Tang’s advantage. His confidence rises further when the Buddhist formation magnifies his imperial power.
• Li Jiancheng is cautious about provoking cultivators and visibly frightened when Master Soaring arrives. He challenges Li Yuan’s approach but ultimately yields to his father’s decision.
• Li Shimin is more restrained and perceptive. He questions the plan’s risks and favors sincerity toward powerful individuals, while privately recognizing the political calculations at play.
• Master Discernment and the Buddhist monks align themselves with Tang, but their assistance is tactical: they use Li Yuan’s Dragon Aura to strengthen their own formation against Chen Cuo.
• Chen Cuo remains composed and strategic, immediately identifying the formation’s purpose and exploiting the princes’ connection to him instead of attacking the fortified palace head-on.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Li Yuan argues that reverence for powerful groups can undermine a ruler’s judgment.
• Political manipulation: Sect divisions, personal grudges, and competing ambitions can be turned into tools of statecraft.
• The danger of overconfidence: Li Yuan’s belief that palace preparations can withstand any sect is immediately tested by Chen Cuo’s arrival.
• Fortune and legitimacy: Tang’s imperial Dragon Aura strengthens both the Buddhist formation and the people’s sense of belonging to the dynasty—but Chen Cuo’s move against the princes suggests that Fortune itself is vulnerable.