Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Gao Bai’s Five-Colored Brilliant Light fails to stop Wang Shichong’s Blood Fiendish Energy. The bloodlight corrodes Gao Bai’s power and draws on his blood and Essence Origin.
• Wang emerges from the Blood Mist transformed: the Red Pellet inside him is producing Blood Fiendish Energy, and an eight-headed beast’s shape looms above him. The energy is also draining nearby cultivators and weakening them.
• Gao Bai recognizes Wang as Tian Wu, an ancient being from Primordial Antiquity. Wang’s revelation of his past identity triggers violent upheavals in the sky and leaves the gathered cultivators disoriented.
• Wang’s current personality fuses with the violent thoughts rising from his previous existence. He intends to absorb everyone present, restore his original power, and recover his lost memories. Guards, servants, and attendants throughout the residence burst into bloodlight and merge into him.
• Wang claims his ancient slaughter was not a crime: he says he killed descendants of the Central Plains to make room for the Cycle Tribulation, and was sealed only after becoming entangled with two others and bound by a Dao Lord’s contracts.
• Lingya asks Gao Bai who Wang is. Gao Bai identifies him as the Eight-Headed Tianwu, once master of Rising Sun Valley beneath the Fusang Tree. Huang Xiyu suspects Wang may have been reborn through a vessel rather than reincarnated. Kan Yuanzi explains that Tian Wu was a savage Desolate Beast with a trace of Pangu’s blood, eventually sealed beyond the Three Realms by an ancient human emperor.
• Wang dismisses the cultivators’ understanding as ignorant, claims the seal was only temporary, and ensnares the entire group in a net of Blood Fiendish Energy. Gao Bai attacks with an Essence Gold sword beam, but Wang effortlessly dissolves it and knocks him down.
• Wang says the appearance of Zhuanxu’s Divine Treasury in his residence was deliberately arranged, though he refuses to explain why. As he tightens his blood-energy net, he leaves Elder Wu and his associates untouched while capturing the others.
• Wang also drains the Fortune of the Sui remnants, dragging down their purple-qi Divine Dragon. Blood clouds spread beyond the city, alarming Li Tang’s soldiers. An unidentified speaker then asks who arranged the Divine Treasury.

Character developments and interactions

• Gao Bai shows growing awareness of his former-life identity and ancient history, but his attacks cannot match Wang’s power. He remains defiant even as Wang overwhelms him.
• Wang Shichong becomes increasingly dominated by Tian Wu’s savage, arrogant nature, though the two personalities appear to fuse rather than one simply replacing the other. He reveals his past, boasts of his supposed justification, and sets out to absorb the gathered cultivators.
• Elder Wu appears to support Wang: a thread of scarlet smoke connects him to Wang, and he is conspicuously spared from the blood-energy net.
• Lingya, Huang Xiyu, and Kan Yuanzi respond to Gao Bai’s revelation and help frame the mystery of Wang’s identity and origins. The younger cultivators, lacking their knowledge, are left frightened and confused.
• Wang speaks down to Gao Bai and the assembly, while Gao Bai challenges him and Lingya respectfully seeks an explanation. Wang’s attack turns the exchange into an immediate struggle for survival.

Significant themes

• Identity and memory: Wang’s present self merges with the thoughts of his previous existence, while Gao Bai’s own past-life wisdom begins to awaken.
• Power and moral justification: Wang reframes mass slaughter as a necessary service, challenging the difference between crime and supposedly greater purpose.
• Corruption and predation: Blood Fiendish Energy consumes bodies, cultivation, spiritual power, and even political Fortune.
• Hidden manipulation: The Divine Treasury’s appearance was arranged by an unknown party, suggesting that the crisis is part of a larger plan.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Elder Wu senses danger and retreats, using a black jade pendant to conceal his presence.
• Chen Cuo arrives amid the Baleful Intent surrounding the Divine Treasury’s gate. His appearance briefly eases the oppressive atmosphere, though the onlookers react with both relief and apprehension.
• Wang Shichong recognizes Chen Cuo as Chen Fangqing, and the recovered memories of his Previous Life intensify his fury. He attacks with overwhelming Baleful Intent.
• Chen Cuo dispels the attack with a finger tap, causing peach blossoms to bloom. Their petals free people trapped by the Baleful Intent.
• From a nearby pavilion, Yang Ling’er and the others watch. She reassures Li Dingji that Chen Cuo is safe because being near their martial uncle is the safest place in the Mortal World.
• Wang Shichong charges again. Chen Cuo’s gray-white mist and strange light freeze him in midair, trapping him in the Peach Paradise Dreamscape. Chen Cuo then absorbs all the Baleful Intent spreading through Luoyang.
• Chen Cuo tells Gao Bai that he has restrained Wang Shichong rather than killed him because Wang has powerful backing; he expects the fiend to wear himself down in the dreamscape.
• In private, Gao Bai explains Wang Shichong’s connection to Tian Wu: the Ancient God joined the Primordial Beginning Great Church, later became one of the Three Fiends after a murderous rampage during the last Reversal Calamity, and was sealed beyond the Three Realms.

Character developments

• Chen Cuo demonstrates overwhelming control, subduing Wang Shichong and cleansing Luoyang with little effort. Yet he remains cautious about Wang’s powerful backers and admits his memories of his Previous Life may not be complete.
• Wang Shichong appears far more powerful after absorbing lifeblood and recovering memories, but his confidence collapses when he recognizes Chen Cuo. His rage leads him to attack despite the danger.
• Gao Bai remains wary and resentful, criticizing Chen Cuo for seeming detached from cultivators and even his own family. He nevertheless shares important knowledge about Wang’s origins.
• Elder Wu recognizes the danger early and discreetly withdraws, suggesting he understands more than he reveals.
• Yang Ling’er is confident in Chen Cuo’s strength and helps reassure the frightened Li Dingji.

Character interactions

• Wang Shichong confronts Chen Cuo as an old enemy, while Chen Cuo treats his attacks almost casually.
• Chen Cuo and Gao Bai exchange tense but civil greetings. Gao Bai challenges Chen Cuo’s apparent indifference; Chen Cuo hints that he has reasons for his choices.
• Yang Ling’er comforts Li Dingji by turning his fear into confidence in their martial uncle.
• Once Chen Cuo seals the scene in white mist, he and Gao Bai can discuss Wang Shichong’s history without outside interference.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Chen Cuo’s strength is evident, but he chooses imprisonment over immediate execution.
• Memory and past lives: Wang’s recovered memories revive old hatred, while Chen Cuo’s incomplete recollections leave him seeking answers.
• Hidden history and ancient threats: Wang’s link to Tian Wu reveals a deeper cosmic history behind the present conflict.
• Trust and dependence: The disciples’ faith in Chen Cuo contrasts with Gao Bai’s distrust and criticism.

Key events

• Gao Bai is shocked when Chen Cuo speaks Primordial Master Guangcheng’s name without triggering the Heavenly Dao. He concludes Chen’s cultivation has returned to Beyond the Mundane and wonders who Chen was in a past life.
• Gao Bai explains the Three Fiends of Primordial Antiquity. The Blood Sea Ancestor was an ancient being who nearly became a Dao Lord, but slaughtered to build a vast Blood Sea. Chen notes that the Ancestor may be among his enemies.
• Wang Shichong, bound by Chen’s God-Binding Lock, interrupts to defend his own past achievements and warn Gao Bai that Chen is a dangerous anomaly.
• Asked about the third Fiend, Wang describes a powerful deity who sought to reunite the scattered divine clans and restore old traditions. The immortals and gods condemned him after he killed hundreds of them.
• Wang reveals that, during the Revolving Calamity, this Fiend refined six hundred immortals and gods into the Profound-Washed Scarlet Blood Yin Pearl. The Blood Sea Ancestor, by contrast, switched sides when his fortunes turned and was sealed as a political concession.
• Chen offers to consider sparing Wang if he shares what he knows. Wang agrees to explain, and Chen asks him to define the Revolving Calamity.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo stays composed and inquisitive, using his uncertainty about his past to draw information from Gao Bai and Wang. He also shows interest in Wang’s partial memories and independence from his true body.
• Gao Bai shifts from wary suspicion of Chen to sharing forbidden history, though he remains dismissive of Wang.
• Wang Shichong asserts that he is a person in his own right, not merely a disposable reincarnation of Tian Wu. Despite being imprisoned, he tries to provoke suspicion between Chen and Gao Bai, then bargains for his life through his knowledge.

Significant themes

• History and propaganda: Wang argues that the victors distorted the third Fiend’s legacy, judging mass mortal deaths less harshly than the killing of immortals and gods.
• Power and political expediency: The Blood Sea Ancestor survives by changing sides, while the third Fiend is punished for challenging the established order.
• Identity and free will: Wang rejects the idea that his true body’s scheme defines him.
• Secrets and dangerous knowledge: The Three Fiends’ histories—and even the third Fiend’s name—remain taboo, setting up Chen’s investigation into the Revolving Calamity.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo presses Gao Bai and Wang Shichong to explain the origins of the Cycle Tribulation. Both warn that discussing it is dangerous: when the Dreamscape ends, what they reveal may reach the Heavenly Dao.
• Wang Shichong agrees to share a limited account in exchange for Chen Cuo’s protection. Gao Bai cautions Chen Cuo not to trust him, describing him as a ruthless, deceptive fiend whose memories may be unreliable.
• Wang explains that Great Calamities accompany changes in the Heavenly Dao. The Pangu True Gods once dominated through the Innate Supreme Way, but their Path collapsed as rival Paths rose and their people declined.
• He describes how the Merit Way, Primordial Beginning Way, Creation Dao, and Life and Death Way emerged, each drawing on aspects of the Pangu legacy. Their rise ended the Ancient Gods’ immortality.
• Later, the four Paths struggled for supremacy. Wang hints that the conflict ended in Middle Antiquity with four Paths declining and one rising. Chen Cuo suspects that the victor was the Cultivation Way, but the revelation is cut off.
• Outside the White Mist, the sects grow impatient and eye the ruined Duke’s Residence. A voice urges them to enter the newly opened Divine Treasury while Chen Cuo and the “Evil Fiend” are occupied with each other.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo remains composed and strategic. He offers Wang protection to gain information, but rejects Wang’s theatrics and assures Gao Bai that he will not be manipulated.
• Wang Shichong alternates between pleading, flattery, and provocation. Though he presents himself as a survival-minded informant, his sinister glance and Gao Bai’s warning leave his motives uncertain.
• Gao Bai acts as a wary counterweight, openly challenging Wang’s credibility and cautioning Chen Cuo against overconfidence.
• The three’s tense exchange is driven by Chen Cuo’s demand for knowledge, Wang’s attempt to bargain, and Gao Bai’s effort to prevent him from exploiting the situation.

Significant themes

• Cycles of rise and decline: Heavenly Paths replace one another, while the peoples and powers tied to them flourish or perish.
• Power and impermanence: Even the seemingly immortal Ancient Gods could not survive the collapse of the Path that sustained them.
• Knowledge and danger: Revealing the past may create consequences in the present, especially through the Heavenly Dao and Cause and Effect.
• Trust and manipulation: Wang’s account may be valuable, but his history and behavior make its reliability uncertain.

Key plot points

• The leaders of the Eight Sects debate whether to send their disciples into the Divine Treasury. Though tempted, they fear Chen Cuo’s retaliation and order everyone to remain firm and not approach it.
• A hidden voice challenges their resolve. Blinding lightning and an invasive presence attack the group’s minds, especially the weaker-willed disciples. Kan Yuanzi uses a jade Command Token to summon the protection of the sects’ Patriarch, whose image drives back the intrusion.
• The attacker appears as a winged man in an ancient robe. He claims to be a Patriarch of the Eight Sects and offers protection in exchange for their devotion and support in entering the Treasury.
• Elder Wu recognizes the winged man’s ambitions and tries to escape. Before either man can act, Chen Cuo emerges from the mist, defeats the winged intruder, and captures Elder Wu as well. Wang Shichong is also revealed to be bound, with Gao Bai accompanying Chen Cuo.
• Chen Cuo addresses two more hidden observers. A Basket-Carrying Boy and a Red-Faced Man finally reveal themselves, admitting that he has seen through them.

Character developments and interactions

• Kan Yuanzi acts decisively to protect the disciples, sacrificing his concentration to warn them and using the Command Token to call on their Patriarch.
• The Eight Sects’ disciples are tested: many initially resist, but some are vulnerable to flattery and doubt. The Patriarch’s image restores their mental defenses.
• The winged man reveals himself as a would-be spiritual authority, using promises of protection and claims of kinship to gain influence over the sects. His confidence collapses when Chen Cuo overwhelms and captures him.
• Elder Wu remains wary and opportunistic, recognizing the winged man’s ambitions and seeking escape rather than involvement. Chen Cuo catches him before he can flee.
• Chen Cuo demonstrates overwhelming power and sharp perception, capturing multiple figures and drawing out the two observers who had remained concealed.
• The Basket-Carrying Boy and Red-Faced Man shift from concealment to a cautious, embarrassed introduction, acknowledging that Chen Cuo has uncovered them.

Significant themes

• Faith and mental discipline: The attack exploits doubt and flattery, showing how easily conviction can weaken when fear and hope are manipulated.
• Authority and competing legacies: The winged man invokes the sects’ heritage to claim loyalty, while the Patriarch’s lingering influence provides genuine protection.
• Ambition and self-preservation: The sect leaders weigh opportunity against consequences; Elder Wu chooses escape, while the winged man seeks power through the Divine Treasury.
• Power and exposure: Chen Cuo’s arrival abruptly settles the contest, revealing how little the hidden players’ schemes can withstand his strength and insight.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo recognizes the Red-Faced Man and the Basket-Carrying Boy as the reincarnated immortals Jin Zhongjian and Lan Caihe. They are startled that he identifies them without disturbing the threads of Cause and Effect.
• Jin Zhongjian admits that he and Lan Caihe followed Chen Cuo because they expect a disaster and hope to find an ally able to protect them. Their reincarnations were not directly caused by the Cycle Tribulation, though the two are connected.
• Chen Cuo reveals that he, too, is seeking allies against the coming calamity. He draws out what information he can, but Jin Zhongjian avoids discussing the Cycle Tribulation further and redirects attention to the immediate opening of the Divine Treasury.
• With the other complications cleared away, Jin Zhongjian yields authority over entry to Chen Cuo. The gathered cultivators wait anxiously to see whether he will let them through.
• Chen Cuo says he will send them on their way and hints at an “excellent venture” needing willing participants: his Journey West. He sees it as a means to advance his cultivation, develop and spread the Way of Rise and Fall, investigate the Cycle Tribulation, and prepare others to survive it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo proves both perceptive and strategic: he sees through the immortals’ identities, recognizes their concealed purpose, and uses the conversation to learn what he can. His priorities have broadened from personal cultivation to preparing the Mortal World for disaster.
• Jin Zhongjian and Lan Caihe approach Chen Cuo as potential protectors and allies. Jin speaks for them, but carefully limits what he reveals about the Cycle Tribulation.
• Wang Shichong and Gao Bai realize Chen Cuo is piecing together the catastrophe’s nature and using his questions to draw out the truth.
• The gathered cultivators, including Huang Xiyu and Kan Yuanzi, remain wary and hopeful, depending on Chen Cuo’s decision about the Divine Treasury.

Significant themes

• Interdependence in the face of catastrophe: Even great power may not be enough to protect the world alone; Chen Cuo believes many people must grow stronger.
• Strategic alliance and manipulation: Potential allies—and even opponents—may have a role in Chen Cuo’s plans.
• Legend as a collective undertaking: The Journey West must involve others; it is not merely Chen Cuo’s private path to advancement.
• Preparation and uncertainty: The Cycle Tribulation’s full nature remains unclear, but Chen Cuo treats its possible consequences as too serious to ignore.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo, known as True Person Soaring, calms the Eight Sects’ cultivators by saying he will not use his power or status to demand concessions. He allows anyone who meets the Divine Treasury’s conditions to enter.
• Using his Five-Colored Divine Light, he gathers cultivators from across Luoyang and sends them through the Ancient Gate into the Divine Treasury.
• Huang Xiyu and Kan Yuanzi discover that Chen Cuo has also admitted Creation Dao cultivators. He knowingly defends the decision by pointing to their shared roots with the Eight Sects.
• Chen Cuo then sends Ruan Ji, an attendant of Wang Shichong suspected of demonic connections, through the gate as well. The sect leaders object, but Chen Cuo offers only a cryptic reflection on cause and effect before turning the choice back to them: will they accept the opportunity?

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo appears generous and composed, but his choices suggest a deeper plan. He uses his authority without openly coercing the sect leaders, while deliberately admitting people they consider dangerous.
• Huang Xiyu is initially pleased by the easy access, then becomes wary and directly challenges Chen Cuo over the Creation Dao cultivators and Ruan Ji.
• Kan Yuanzi is pragmatic: he is willing to overlook the Creation Dao entrants as long as his own disciples get in, but Ruan Ji’s presence unsettles him.
• The gathered cultivators move from fear of Chen Cuo to relief and admiration, though their reactions turn to confusion when his selections prove broader than expected.

Significant themes

• Power and generosity: Chen Cuo presents his decision as fair-minded, but his overwhelming power means no one can meaningfully contest it.
• Shared origins and divided loyalties: The “one family” argument challenges the sects’ boundaries, even as they remain suspicious of outsiders.
• Cause, effect, and fate: Chen Cuo’s cryptic closing remark hints that choices that seem mistaken may serve a larger or reversed chain of events.

Plot points and events

• With the younger disciples sent into the Divine Treasury, Chen Cuo confronts the gathered elders about forming an Eight-Sect Alliance. Huang Xiyu objects that he lacks authority to agree.
• Chen Cuo argues that the sects gladly accept shared benefits but resist shared obligations. He uses his overwhelming Aura Pressure to force the elders to listen.
• He summons cultivators from other traditions—including Creation Dao, Incense Way, and Life and Death Way—and offers everyone an opportunity: the young may seek gains in the Divine Treasury, while the senior cultivators can make an agreement with him, witnessed by the River of Time.
• The thunderous oath-taking prospect alarms Huang Xiyu and Kan Yuanzi. Lingya volunteers first, arguing that someone of Chen Cuo’s power has no need to deceive them. Wang Shichong, Gao Bai, and others also agree, sending out points of Spirit Light. After hesitation, Kan Yuanzi and Huang Xiyu follow.
• Chen Cuo turns to Elder Wu, the winged man, Jin Zhongjian, Lan Caihe, and the remaining cultivators, insisting that they too should receive a share. Before they can decide, the Divine Treasury Portal shudders, and space and time begin to distort.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo reveals his impatience with gradual diplomacy. He combines intimidation with a stated offer of mutual benefit, insisting that his aim is both to advance the cultivators and gain insight himself.
• Huang Xiyu and Kan Yuanzi begin suspicious and resistant, hoping the sects can stand together against Chen Cuo. Lingya’s reasoning—and the example of others agreeing—eventually persuades them to submit.
• Lingya acts decisively and independently, challenging the elders’ fear-driven response and becoming the first to accept.
• Gao Bai bluntly warns the holdouts that resistance is futile, then agrees himself.
• Wang Shichong eagerly accepts, showing how strongly the promised opportunity appeals to those who have long faced cultivation bottlenecks.
• Jin Zhongjian questions whether his group must also participate, but the portal’s sudden disturbance interrupts the discussion.

Significant themes

• Power versus consent: Chen Cuo calls the agreement an opportunity, but secures participation through overwhelming force.
• Unity and self-interest: The scene challenges the sects’ claim of solidarity when shared obligations arise.
• Opportunity and mutual exchange: Chen Cuo presents advancement as a benefit offered in return for insight and cooperation.
• Uncertainty and danger: The agreement appears settled just as the Divine Treasury’s instability signals a new crisis.

Key events

• The Divine Treasury’s gate erupts with strange light that freezes everyone and threatens to engulf them. Chen Cuo absorbs the first wave with his Little Gourd, then shields the group with Five-Colored Divine Light.
• Chen Cuo suspects the light is tied to an ancient power left by a Great Divine Ability User. The Winged Man recognizes that Emperor Zhuanxu hid something in the Treasury and is unnerved by its power.
• Jin Zhongjian, Lan Caihe, and the Winged Man each offer up a fragment of their True Spirit, asking Chen Cuo for future help in return. Chen Cuo gathers their spirits—and those of others present—into the Dream Marsh, recording them on a Black Banner as potential “actors” for his cultivation plans.
• Chen Cuo sends Wang Shichong, Elder Wu, and the other captives away, then confronts the gate’s renewed surge. He holds back the light with a powerful hand-shaped force, cracking the gate and forcing dozens of people out.
• The expelled disciples are in radically different physical states: some have aged greatly, while others have become children. Their companions are left asking what happened inside.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo demonstrates exceptional control and remains composed, but his thoughts reveal both the limits of his understanding and the scale of the story he hopes to stage as a path of cultivation.
• Jin Zhongjian and Lan Caihe commit their True Spirits to Chen Cuo, with Lan Caihe appearing notably calm and decisive.
• The Winged Man shifts from seeking an opportunity to seize Zhuanxu’s Legacy to fearing the Treasury’s power. He asks Chen Cuo for aid in the coming Cycle Tribulation, which he believes threatens even exceptional beings.
• The gathered disciples and elders rely on Chen Cuo for protection, then react with alarm and confusion as the Treasury’s altered occupants emerge.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Chen Cuo can contain the strange light, but admits he cannot control or fully understand its source.
• Crisis as opportunity and bargain: Characters offer their True Spirits in exchange for future assistance, while Chen Cuo turns the encounter into a chance to recruit figures for his larger plans.
• Transformation and uncertainty: The disciples’ sudden changes in age suggest that time or identity behaves unpredictably within the Divine Treasury.
• Story as cultivation: Chen Cuo aims to arrange events and participants so completely that an entire journey becomes part of his own cultivation.

Key plot points and events

• A Kunlun cultivator tells the elders that she and the others spent three years in the Divine Treasury’s Great Wilderness, though less than a teacup’s time passed outside. The discrepancy confirms that time flowed differently within.
• The Great Wilderness was dangerous and short of spiritual energy. As the newcomers’ power dwindled, they relied on local tribes for shelter and performed rites in return. The powerful Zhou Kingdom monitored the region closely, preventing them from claiming its many Immortal Opportunities.
• The cultivators describe a sudden upheaval in the sky: lightning, thunder, and a gigantic figure. A thunderbolt struck them, and their surroundings seemed to rewind before they were expelled from the Treasury, their Primordial Vital Energy depleted. Their bodies also changed—some aged, others became younger.
• Most entrants return, and few deaths are confirmed. However, more than a dozen remain unaccounted for, including several Great Hua Mountain disciples: Yang Ling’er, Li Dingji, and Li Chunfeng.
• Li Dingji and Li Chunfeng then emerge. Chen Cuo catches them before they fall. One sits upright in a white glow; the other is disheveled and limping. Chen Cuo recognizes a pattern, works out the mystery, and laughs.

Character developments and interactions

• The Kunlun cultivator gives a clear account of the group’s hardships, while the elders—especially Kan Yuanzi, Huang Xiyu, and Lingya—question her closely about the strange time distortion and the lack of gains.
• The elders’ disappointment over the failed expedition deepens, particularly because their journey had already involved serious setbacks and an agreement with Chen Cuo.
• Chen Cuo shifts from observing the events to understanding them. His sudden realization suggests that the missing disciples and the Treasury’s anomalies fit together in an unexpected way.

Significant themes

• Distorted time: Years pass inside while moments pass outside, making the Treasury’s rules and chronology uncertain.
• Opportunity and loss: Despite the promise of rare treasures and insight, harsh conditions and political control leave most entrants with little to show for their ordeal.
• Transformation and uncertainty: Aging, rejuvenation, depleted vitality, and unexplained disappearances show that the Treasury affects bodies and fate in unpredictable ways.
• The limits of power: Even trained cultivators become vulnerable when their resources run out and they are outmatched by the world around them.

Key plot points and events

• Li Dejiang reunites with Li Dingji, who has survived the Divine Treasury ordeal despite his injuries. Dingji says he has broken free of his former limitations, hinting at a profound change. He reveals that Ling’er and Ruan Ji escaped the Divine Thunder by falling into the Strange-Light Jade Pool, but leaves their fate unclear.
• Li Chunfeng emerges from meditation with a brief, dazzling vision. Observers conclude that he has grasped insight into a higher realm, making his future advancement seem nearly inevitable.
• The Divine Treasury’s strange light batters Chen Cuo’s barrier and threatens to overwhelm those nearby with the weight of history. Chen Cuo’s bell-like power wakes them and reminds them not to surrender their will to the currents of time. He enters the portal and disappears.
• The portal shatters, releasing a gale infused with strange light. It destroys the Duke’s Residence and carries away three years in an instant. The survivors learn that the Divine Treasury’s opening has lasted far longer than they realized, then disperse.
• Li Dingji stays behind to report what happened in Luoyang and honor his new bond with Chen Cuo. Jin Zhongjian and Lan Caihe depart together. In the city, a boy is born to Chen Guangrui, with a faint golden gleam in his eyes.
• Beyond the Mortal World, cosmic barriers crack and great forces stir. The World-Honored One sends the Bright King, in peacock form, toward the Mortal World, but an unknown intervention transforms him into a golden cicada. The World-Honored One accepts the change as part of Buddhism’s coming flourishing, while signs of time, ancient powers, and falling stars signal a vast new cycle.
• Further portents appear: an azure-lotus sword enters the world, the Great Hua Secret Realm’s formation breaks, and figures including a spirit monkey, the would-be disciple Zhang Guo, and a traveling young man are introduced.
• Chen Cuo, surrounded by visions of the Mortal World, continues gathering mysterious light into the Vertical Eye on his forehead. The chapter closes by announcing the next great narrative cycle: the Three-Life Path-Seeking and Nine-Heaven Cycle.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Dingji presents his injuries as the price of liberation rather than defeat. His concern for Ling’er is tempered by his belief that her path lies elsewhere, and he chooses loyalty and responsibility over leaving with Jin Zhongjian.
• Li Chunfeng appears to have made a major leap in understanding, earning admiration and envy from onlookers. He calls out to Chen Cuo as his master when Chen disappears.
• Chen Cuo acts as protector and guide, rescuing those around him from the strange light’s erosion of their will before entering the portal himself.
• Jin Zhongjian and Lan Caihe share a measured farewell with Dingji, then notice the newborn’s significance and reflect that the events in Luoyang may have far-reaching consequences.
• The World-Honored One welcomes the approaching age of Buddhist flourishing, though the altered fate of the Bright King unsettles him briefly.

Significant themes

• Time and history: The strange light makes individuals feel like grains of sand carried by history, while the lost three years and the transformation of the Bright King show time and destiny being reshaped.
• Agency and fate: Chen Cuo urges others to retain command of their own lives even amid overwhelming historical forces.
• Transformation and liberation: Dingji interprets his losses as freedom from shackles; the peacock’s conversion into a golden cicada signals a changed destiny.
• A new age beginning: Births, falling stars, awakened powers, and broken barriers foreshadow a sweeping transformation of the world and the next volume’s central saga.

Summary

• Volume structure: The author explains that the volume compresses material originally intended for three volumes. The Lord of Self contest was shortened, while the Luoyang Divine Treasury arc—initially planned as a separate, mostly behind-the-scenes storyline—was pushed into the final chapters. Earlier plot echoes and unresolved clues remain for attentive readers to connect.
• Story framework: Chen Cuo’s Innate Divine Ability, Between Cause and Effect, was meant to shape the book’s structure, but revisions disrupted the original plan. The author says the core ideas and early planted threads remain intact and will be brought together in the final volume.
• Why the narrative became uneven: The author lost the original outline during a honeymoon trip and had to reconstruct much of it from memory, improvising sections while continuing serialization. Serious family health issues, his wife’s pregnancy, and his own health concerns further limited his time and energy.
• Next volume and break: The upcoming volume, tentatively titled the “Calamity Release Arc,” is intended to be structurally important. The author is taking a short break to finish its outline before writing; serialization is scheduled to resume the following day.

Character and interaction notes

This is an author’s afterword, not a narrative chapter: it introduces no new character developments or story interactions. Its personal focus is on the author’s family—especially his ill parents and pregnant wife—and on the author’s effort to balance writing with family responsibilities.

Key plot points and events

• On Hanging Peak, Zhang Guo questions a scruffy, lame Taihua Daoist about the disappearance of their Little Martial Uncle. Twelve years of searches—including one by the Eldest Martial Uncle—have found no trace, though they uncovered other legends. Zhang suspects Li Tang may have obstructed the inquiry.
• The Daoist argues that the Little Martial Uncle will return if he chooses, and urges Zhang to cultivate instead of dwelling on his defeat by a Mount Zhongnan visitor. When Zhang tries to attack, the Daoist casually sends him flying to a neighboring peak.
• The Daoist goes to a bamboo hut, where Li Chunfeng and Li Jing are waiting. Li Jing, recently recalled from Spirit Province, explains that the matter he brings concerns that region.
• Li Jing produces a cold, unmarked white jade pendant. Though it resembles Taihua White Jade, it has no inscription or True Blood and instead contains fine black lines. He says it belongs to King of Chujiang, a lord of the Netherworld, and was sent to be delivered to the Little Martial Uncle.
• When the Daoist touches the pendant, he experiences a vision of a majestic, shadowy hall. The scene shifts to Tingyi racing through the stars, pursued by gray mist. She arrives at a vast mountain complex of twelve towers and five cities, where a mysterious figure sits in the central city.
• Tingyi is unable to escape as time and space freeze. A voice invites King of Chujiang to climb the mountain if he wishes to be freed from the thoughts of the master of the Life and Death Way.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Guo is ambitious and frustrated by his slow progress, worried about Taihua’s standing at the coming Immortal Combat Assembly. The senior Daoist sees his impatience and wounded pride as distractions from cultivation.
• The scruffy Daoist is playful and irreverent in conversation but demonstrates overwhelming skill and authority. His reaction to the pendant shows that the Netherworld matter is far more serious than ordinary sect business.
• Li Jing acts as the messenger, bringing the pendant and explaining its connection to King of Chujiang; Li Chunfeng calmly frames Li Tang’s involvement as a response to events within its territory.
• Tingyi appears in danger and fearfully attempts to flee, but the mysterious mountain’s power traps her. The vision links the pendant’s arrival to a larger supernatural conflict.

Significant themes

• Cultivation versus impatience: Zhang’s desire for quick advancement and recognition contrasts with the senior Daoist’s insistence on disciplined practice.
• The limits of investigation and control: The Little Martial Uncle’s absence cannot be solved through searches if he does not wish to be found.
• Intersecting worldly and supernatural powers: Li Tang’s political reach, Taihua’s cultivation world, and the Netherworld’s forces converge around the pendant.
• Hidden identity and reincarnation: The vision’s remark that Taihua has produced several “Reincarnated Immortals” suggests a deeper mystery behind the pendant and the sect’s missing figure.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yi, a gifted young man from a powerful family, rides toward a Buddhist mountain to challenge the monk Bocheng, whom he blames for convincing his mother that he will die young unless he becomes a Buddhist.
• On the way, Chen Yi denounces Buddhism’s growing political influence, criticizing temples for evading taxes and service and arguing that excessive Buddhist power contributed to the former dynasty’s collapse.
• Lay disciple Shu Zuncang confronts Chen Yi, then uses a magical bead to summon a Yellow-Turban Strongman, who seizes the boy. An old monk appears in a beam of Buddha Light and orders Chen Yi punished and returned home.
• Chen Yi is confined to the Study by his mother, Yin Wenjiao, who fears his defiance will bring disaster on the family and considers sending him to a temple.
• That evening, Chen Guangrui tells Yin Wenjiao that court officials are proposing even greater legal privileges for monks. He fears temples may become “states within a state,” though he suspects the emperor may be allowing Buddhist factions to reveal themselves.
• After hearing his parents’ conversation, Chen Yi despairs at his inability to oppose Buddhist influence or escape the prospect of having his head shaved. A mysterious black-robed Daoist then appears, identifies himself as an ancestor, and grants Chen Yi supernatural power, urging him to investigate Buddhism’s roots and dismantle its influence.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yi is introduced as intelligent, outspoken, and fiercely protective of his family and the traditions of Great Tang. His confidence in confronting religious authority gives way to frustration when he is overpowered and confined, but the Daoist’s intervention offers him a new path.
• Yin Wenjiao loves her son but is frightened by the Buddhist prediction of his early death. Her devotion to Buddha leads her to discipline him and consider sending him to a temple, even as she hesitates to discuss it with her husband.
• Chen Guangrui is politically perceptive and increasingly worried about the court’s concessions to monks. His conversation with Yin Wenjiao reveals that Chen Yi’s concerns are part of a broader national crisis.
• Shu Zuncang presents himself as a sincere defender of Buddhism, but Chen Yi accuses him of seeking tax and labor exemptions for himself and his family. Their confrontation escalates into a supernatural assault.
• The old monk exercises religious authority publicly, framing Chen Yi’s criticism as sinful delusion and imposing punishment rather than engaging with his arguments.
• The Daoist ancestor appears as Chen Yi’s unexpected ally, transforming his helpless anger into a mission and promising him the means to challenge even powerful Buddhist figures.

Significant themes

• Religion and political power: The chapter portrays Buddhism not only as a faith but as an increasingly influential institution with privileges that may undermine state authority.
• Free speech and coercion: Chen Yi’s criticism is met with supernatural force, exposing the imbalance between the boy and religious authorities.
• Family duty and tradition: His resistance to shaving his head reflects both filial bonds—his body and hair come from his parents—and attachment to Huaxia identity.
• Helplessness and empowerment: Chen Yi’s confinement and inability to affect court politics create the crisis that prompts the Daoist to grant him power.
• Competing spiritual traditions: Buddhist and Daoist forces are positioned in opposition, with the Daoist encouraging investigation and resistance rather than submission.

Plot points and events

• Chen Yi wakes from a dreamlike encounter with a Black-Robed Daoist and realizes he has been confined. He expects his father, Chen Guangrui, to free him, unaware that his father is now heavily influenced by his wife.
• Chen Cuo watches over Chen Yi, noting that the boy’s state of mind, inherited safeguards, and a planted Black Lotus will make the Buddhist School’s coming scheme especially dramatic. With the barrier over the Mortal World weakening, Chen Cuo also resolves to hasten his plans and gather the remaining principal players.
• One of Chen Cuo’s visions shows Zhu Ganglie, now living quietly as a laborer in a village. A five-colored Talisman reaches him, signaling that the time has come. He returns home and tells his wife to bring wine, eager to reveal his formidable reputation.
• Another vision shows Sun Yuan confronting powerful young nobles at the Jade-Green Tower. He defends Bai Xian’er, a disgraced official’s daughter whom Wang Shilu is threatening, and denounces the nobles’ abuse of power and suspected murders.
• When Wang’s armed men attack, Sun Yuan unleashes terrifying strength and kills them. He is about to kill Wang as well, but a golden Buddha pendant protects the young noble and knocks Sun away.
• Master Bocheng arrives and urges Sun to repent and enter Buddhist discipline. Sun rejects the offer and attacks. Bocheng prepares to restrain him—but an unseen speaker calls Sun “my Mind Monkey,” startling the monk.

Character developments

• Chen Yi remains naïvely hopeful that his father will rescue him, while the moonlight around him hints at an unusual power or influence.
• Chen Cuo emerges as a patient strategist with urgent concerns about the failing barrier and the Buddhist School’s plans.
• Zhu Ganglie has spent over a decade in an ordinary life, but the Talisman rekindles his anticipation of returning to action.
• Sun Yuan is impulsive, combative, and contemptuous of social hypocrisy. He protects Bai Xian’er, but answers injustice with overwhelming violence.
• Bai Xian’er is frightened by the nobles’ threats and her family’s vulnerability, yet remains beside Sun.
• Wang Shilu reveals entitlement and cruelty beneath his polished status; when threatened, he relies on a Buddhist charm.
• Master Bocheng presents himself as compassionate, but his interest in Sun’s rare nature suggests a more strategic motive.

Themes

• Power and injustice: Aristocratic privilege lets Wang and his peers intimidate others and evade the law.
• Violence and moral judgment: Sun opposes corruption but does so through lethal force, while Bocheng frames restraint and repentance as salvation.
• Competing religious and supernatural forces: Buddhist protection, Daoist intervention, and the looming conflict over the Mortal World converge around the characters.
• Hidden destinies and delayed action: The Talisman and Chen Cuo’s visions signal that long-dormant players are being drawn into a larger scheme.

Character interactions

• Chen Yi’s hopes depend on his father, while Chen Cuo privately anticipates how Buddhist influence will shape the boy’s fate.
• Zhu Ganglie’s return to his wife hints at a domestic life he may soon leave behind.
• Sun stands up for Bai Xian’er against Wang’s threats, then clashes with Wang’s guards and Master Bocheng.
• Bocheng attempts to redirect Sun toward Buddhist repentance; Sun refuses, and the chapter ends with a mysterious voice claiming authority over him.

Key plot points and events

• At the Yihong House, Monk Bocheng tries to claim Sun Yuan for the Buddhist School, disguising his interest in the monkey’s unusual abilities as a promise of guidance.
• Chen Cuo appears unexpectedly and exposes the monk’s motives. Bocheng recognizes him, immediately apologizes, offers a Golden Relic Pellet, and withdraws rather than confront him.
• Sun Yuan insists on carrying out his threat against Wang Shilu and the other nobles’ sons. Chen Cuo lets him proceed, then leaves to punish the Western Bright Temple.
• Sun Yuan massacres the nobles. When their relatives demand retribution from Emperor Li Shimin, Li initially promises to act, but a crash outside the city reveals Chen Cuo attacking the Temple.
• Chen Cuo destroys the Western Bright Temple and its mountain, defeating Bocheng and six other monks. Though nearby Buddhist Temples gather, they retreat after Chen warns them not to interfere.
• Li Shimin realizes Chen Cuo has returned and suspects the nobles’ sons may have provoked the incident. He sends the nobles away to investigate, then plans a visit to Great Hua Mountain.
• In the sky, Chen Cuo captures a descending golden cicada with the Black Banner, then releases it. A vast Rift opens, stars appear to draw nearer, and phantom emperors rise from tombs across the Central Lands, stirring fear and unrest.

Character developments

• Chen Cuo is revealed as a formidable, self-assured power whose arrival alone makes Bocheng retreat. He acts decisively against the Temple and appears to have been waiting for the golden cicada.
• Sun Yuan remains vengeful and fiercely independent, choosing to kill the nobles despite Chen Cuo’s arrival. Chen’s willingness to let him act earns his approval.
• Monk Bocheng shifts abruptly from self-righteous authority to fear and submission once he recognizes Chen Cuo.
• Li Shimin displays political caution: he reads the situation, restrains the nobles, and moves to approach Chen Cuo rather than risk escalating the conflict.
• The nobles and Buddhist disciples are shaken by the collapse of the power structures they assumed were unassailable.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: Chen Cuo’s identity and standing outweigh the Buddhist School’s influence; even its allies choose not to challenge him.
• Hypocrisy and coercion: Bocheng’s lofty language masks a desire to seize Sun Yuan for the Temple’s benefit.
• Retribution and unchecked violence: Sun Yuan’s revenge is brutal, while Chen Cuo’s response to the Temple is overwhelmingly destructive.
• Shifting political and spiritual order: Li Shimin’s concern about Buddhism’s influence, the Temple’s submission, and the rising phantom emperors suggest upheaval beyond the immediate conflict.

Character interactions

• Chen Cuo confronts Bocheng and exposes his intentions; Bocheng responds with apology and tribute.
• Sun Yuan challenges the nobles, and Chen Cuo refuses to stop him, leaving the consequences to Sun Yuan.
• Chen Cuo attacks the Temple while its monks plead and fight back; nearby Temples decide not to intervene.
• Li Shimin deflects the nobles’ demands and recognizes that the wider conflict may involve Chen Cuo.
• Chen Cuo intercepts the golden cicada, then releases it as the sky and the ancient tombs begin to react.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo hears what seem to be the cries of past emperors reverberating through Heaven and Earth. He senses sorrow in the land itself and reflects that the approaching Revolving Calamity may be tied to the foundations of the world.
• He concludes that the Firmament is breaking down and that a world-wide slaughter is drawing near. Mortals, he fears, may have little choice but to endure what comes.
• The Heavenly Palace Lord tells the assembled gods and deities that the calamity cannot be avoided. Their power depends partly on mortal belief and inherited legends, so they must risk everything to advance—or be swept backward into oblivion. He vows to fight despite having already suffered two defeats.
• In the Blood Sea, a vast collective will recalls its own two earlier losses: first its true self, then its Nature, Life, and physical form. It resolves to fight again rather than risk being shattered or reduced to lesser beings.
• In the Starry Sky, representatives of three powerful Immortal Cult leaders depart for the Mortal World, claiming they will restore order and await the sages’ descent.
• The World-Honored One confronts the three stars, accusing the Immortal Sects of using the Heavenly Palace and Buddhist School as vanguards while they pursued their own schemes. He argues that the Buddhist School has established roots in the Mortal World, whereas the Immortal Sects are divided and cannot yet descend in person.
• The emerald star counters that the Mortal World’s people originally belonged to the Immortal Sects and warns that the World-Honored One’s ambition may bring his ruin. It also hints that the Immortal Sects’ divisions will soon be resolved.
• Emperor Li Shimin worries over strange signs at the Imperial Ancestral Temple and tombs, and over the Buddhist School’s growing influence. He hesitates to ban it, fearing a crackdown would appear unjust and might not last beyond his reign.
• Li Shimin suddenly finds himself in a Dark Forest, where rotting dragons and battling figures embody the ongoing conflict of dynasties. A Daoist explains that an emperor’s political authority shapes people’s lives and creates legends; after the emperor dies, those legends can manifest in the Netherland and the Dynasty’s Dragon Vein. Li Shimin recognizes the speaker as True Person Soaring.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Cuo shifts from observing strange phenomena to contemplating the cosmic stakes of the calamity and the deeper structure of Heaven and Earth.
• The Heavenly Palace Lord acknowledges his faction’s precarious origins and commits to a desperate, all-or-nothing struggle, even after two previous failures.
• The Blood Sea’s collective will sees another cycle of defeat as an existential threat and embraces continued war rather than passively accepting decline.
• The World-Honored One openly challenges the Immortal Sects, presenting the Buddhist School as an independent power rather than a subordinate instrument.
• The Immortal Cult leaders, speaking through the emerald star, assert a claim over the Mortal World and warn the World-Honored One against overreach.
• Li Shimin is politically cautious: he recognizes the Buddhist School’s influence but fears that acting too soon could turn it into a persecuted movement. His encounter with True Person Soaring begins to connect his imperial authority to supernatural forces and history.

Significant themes

• Cyclical catastrophe and struggle: In the Revolving Calamity, failing to advance means decline; survival demands repeated conflict.
• Power, belief, and legitimacy: Heavenly factions depend on legends and mortal belief, while emperors shape the world through decrees that later become supernatural legacies.
• History as a living force: The Earth, Dragon Veins, imperial tombs, and the Netherland preserve the sorrow and consequences of past eras.
• Factional ambition: Buddhist and Immortal powers compete to shape the Mortal World, each claiming rightful authority while pursuing its own interests.
• Uncertainty and sacrifice: Every major power faces a wager with potentially existential consequences, while mortals remain vulnerable to struggles far beyond their control.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Cuo meets Li Shimin in the Netherworld. Li fears he has died and asks Chen to save him, but Chen says Li arrived on his own and invites him to see the sights.
• Chen shows Li a colossal Divine Dragon representing the Tang Dynasty’s national fortune and strength. Li sees the people of the living world working across its cities and feels their labor strengthening the dynasty.
• The vision turns grim: people are weakened by sickness and poverty, driven from their homes, or lose their land. Chen explains that these are consequences of inadequate care and land seizure—not abstract misfortune.
• Buddha Light then draws the people away from the dragon as they renounce their former identities and take refuge in Buddhism. Li realizes the Buddhist School is gaining influence and weakening Tang’s fortune.
• Chen argues that this is a struggle for people’s hearts: when the government fails to help, religious institutions can win their loyalty. He urges Li to establish a coherent policy and unite the realm, while warning that change cannot happen all at once. A streak of black light then strikes the dragon, suggesting a further threat.
• Chen sends Li back. Awake in his palace, Li suspects the encounter was a warning. Concerned that even his ministers may be compromised, he cancels their summons and decides to visit Great Hua Mountain after court.
• Chen notices that Tingyi is missing, despite expecting her to cross paths with Li, and wonders whether someone has altered reality.
• Meanwhile, True Immortals descend from the Upper Realm onto sacred mountains. At Kunlun, the returning Patriarchs condemn the sect’s weakened fortune and blame rival sects—and especially Master Soaring of Great Hua Mountain—for undermining Kunlun’s authority.
• Kunlun’s Sect Leader Qiexinzi supports the Patriarchs’ account, while the elder Yuan Liuzi objects. The green-eyed Patriarch declares that they will use Master Soaring as an example to reassert control over the Immortal Sect. Dianyunzi rises to oppose them.

Character developments

• Li Shimin moves from alarm about his possible death to a sober recognition that Tang’s strength depends on the people’s well-being and loyalty. He resolves to act, though mistrust makes him hesitate to rely on his ministers.
• Chen Cuo acts as a cryptic guide, showing rather than dictating what Li should understand. He is also unsettled by Tingyi’s unexplained absence.
• Qiexinzi openly aligns himself with the returning Kunlun Patriarchs and blames the sect’s decline on rivals.
• Yuan Liuzi worries that the coming calamity will make disciples expendable pawns and urges caution, but is silenced by the Patriarchs’ power.
• Dianyunzi emerges as a direct challenger to the Patriarchs’ plan to target Master Soaring.

Significant themes

• Good governance and popular loyalty: A dynasty’s fortune depends on whether people are protected from poverty, displacement, and exploitation.
• Religion as political influence: Buddhist growth is presented as a consequence of winning people’s trust when rulers and officials fail them.
• Power struggles within institutions: The Upper Realm’s return threatens to turn mortal sects into pawns and restore centralized control by force.
• Uncertainty and hidden interference: Li cannot tell whether his experience was a dream, while Chen suspects reality itself may have been altered.

Character interactions

• Chen challenges Li to interpret the dragon’s decline and gives him guidance without offering a simple solution.
• Li responds respectfully, accepting the warning and reconsidering his approach to rule.
• At Kunlun, Qiexinzi’s accusations against Great Hua Mountain clash with Yuan Liuzi’s caution; the Patriarchs then assert authority and suppress dissent.
• Dianyunzi’s intervention sets up a confrontation over whether the Patriarchs should attack Master Soaring.

Plot points and events

• A True Immortal descends in his genuine body at Kunlun and asserts that, although heaven and earth limit him to the Fifth Realm, his techniques can reach the laws of the Heavenly Dao. He uses forty-nine Sword Lights to strike at Chen Cuo.
• Dianyunzi resists the immortal’s pressure and warns that Kunlun should not move against Soaring. An ancient will within Dianyunzi identifies the visitor as a formidable Grotto-Heaven immortal, then falls silent to avoid detection. Qiexinzi rebukes Dianyunzi for putting personal ties above the sect’s interests.
• The Kunlun immortal urges the sect to unite the Immortal Sects against the coming calamity. At Kongtong, another descended immortal makes a similar case, arguing that Taihua’s rise has disrupted the old order. Lingya asks why Great Hua Mountain could not lead the alliance; the immortal says it lacks the foundations and perspective to do so.
• Chen Cuo meets the Sword Lights outside the Imperial Palace, where Li Shimin has just awakened. The attack entangles Chen in black threads of his past, reputation, fortune, and Fate. He recognizes the method as an attempt to manipulate stories and history—and turns it to his own advantage.
• Using his Myriad Manifestation radiance, the River of History, and a fragment of the attacker’s power, Chen begins forging legendary figures for a scripture pilgrimage. The Kunlun immortal projects his Primordial Spirit into the Sword Lights to confront him, but Chen traps and batters it with Gray Mist and condensed mountains.
• Chen uses the captured Sword Lights as tools to shape figures in history. Several outlines begin to form, including a Brocade-Robed Daoist, a thin man, a large-eared fat man, a monk, and a White Horse. He also draws beings from distant places and merges them into the evolving Dragon Horse.
• The Kunlun immortal’s Grotto-Heaven collapses under the strain. His past is corrupted by karmic backlash: black mud and smoke emerge from his body, and his history begins to twist and disappear. He realizes Chen has set him up and falls from the dais. The chapter closes with the narrator lamenting that the outline forced the chapter to be longer than desired.

Character developments and interactions

• Dianyunzi shows courage and loyalty to Soaring, even under overwhelming pressure. His warning brings him into conflict with Qiexinzi, who prioritizes sect unity over personal allegiance.
• Chen Cuo proves both resourceful and audacious: instead of merely defending himself, he redirects an attack based on Fate into an opportunity to manufacture legends and reshape history.
• The Azure-Eyed Immortal begins as a commanding force attempting to rally Kunlun, but underestimates Chen. His attempt to interfere with Fate rebounds catastrophically.
• Lingya challenges the assumptions of the Kongtong gathering, suggesting that Great Hua Mountain might lead the Immortal Sects. The blue-robed immortal answers her directly, while Ling Mei and Zhaixingzi try to restrain or protect her.
• The sect leaders and disciples react to the immortals’ displays with fear and awe, revealing the gulf between mortal cultivators and descended True Immortals.

Significant themes

• Fate and history can be manipulated—but at a cost: Chen turns an attack on his fortune into a creative weapon, while the attacker suffers severe karmic backlash.
• Unity versus personal loyalty: Kunlun and Kongtong frame political consolidation as necessary in the face of a looming calamity, even when it means overriding individual ties.
• Power and perspective: The immortals’ greater realm lets them see beyond the mortal world, but Chen demonstrates that ingenuity can challenge raw power.
• Legends are made, not merely remembered: The chapter presents stories and historical identities as forces that can be deliberately created, altered, and rooted in collective memory.

Key plot points and events

• After Chen Cuo defeats the Azure-Eyed Immortal, a powerful will approaches Kunlun. The masked immortal activates Kunlun’s ancient formation, sealing the Secret Realm and forcing the will to withdraw.
• The Azure-Eyed Immortal is badly injured. The Red-Haired Immortal discovers that his Heart Moon has been nearly drained and seals his body and the black, corrupting smoke within him. The Azure-Eyed Immortal explains that Chen Cuo used his Divine Ability to rewrite history, exposing a mortal—Chen Yi—with unusual Fortune.
• The immortals decide to investigate Chen Yi, suspecting he may be part of Chen Cuo’s plans or a possible weakness. The Red-Haired Immortal asks other sects to help, but their immortals refuse or make excuses, unwilling to let Kunlun bear the risks alone.
• The story shifts to Chang’an, where Chen Yi practices swordsmanship but remains clumsy. He believes a recent encounter with a mysterious man was only a dream.
• A Daoist from beyond the mundane arrives to seize him. The Daoist’s attempt to use an escape technique fails, and Chen Yi confronts him with an impassioned defense of Chang’an and its history. As Chen Yi speaks, an unseen force drains the Daoist’s strength, leaving him helpless.

Character developments and interactions

• Qiexinzi is shaken by the failed descent and worries that Kunlun cannot regain its former influence. The elders’ reproach deepens his unease.
• The Red-Haired Immortal takes command, stabilizes the situation, and shifts Kunlun’s focus toward Chen Yi. The immortal is wary of Chen Cuo but determined to act.
• The Azure-Eyed Immortal loses much of his power and dignity, yet still provides useful information about Chen Yi and Chen Cuo’s methods.
• Chen Yi is modest about his poor sword skills but earnest about the need to cultivate both learning and martial ability. Under threat, his confidence and eloquence reveal a strange, potent force he cannot yet explain.
• Mr. Kan encourages Chen Yi to prioritize scholarship, while Chen Yi argues that a gentleman should develop all six arts.
• The other sects’ refusal to support Kunlun exposes mistrust and self-interest among the immortals. In contrast, Chen Yi’s direct confrontation with the Daoist turns an apparent mismatch into a sudden reversal.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Even a True Immortal can be badly damaged, while an apparently ordinary mortal may wield a hidden force.
• Declining authority and factional rivalry: Kunlun’s attempt to restore its influence is undermined by its own weakness and the other sects’ reluctance to cooperate.
• Fate and concealed purpose: Chen Yi’s unusual Fortune and connection to Chen Cuo suggest that he has a larger role in the coming calamity.
• Learning versus martial skill: Chen Yi values both scholarship and combat, though his abilities have not yet caught up with his ideals.
• Words as power: Chen Yi’s speech about Chang’an appears to shape an invisible force that overwhelms the Daoist, suggesting that writing, history, or conviction may have effects beyond ordinary action.