Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng reassures three powerless Ghost Immortals as warships’ guns tear through attacking human-headed birds near the end of a spatial passage.
• The three Ghost Immortals realize that abandoning their bodies has left them helpless amid disrupted Heavenly Secrets. Tang, despite having comparable cultivation, can still use Dharma Power; ordinary soldiers are affected only mildly.
• At Far Expedition Base, Tie Xinxiu watches the three warships arrive and fears Tang will soon kill him for his past actions.
• Elder Wei urges Tie Xinxiu to help ambush Tang while his abilities may be weakened by the passage’s chaotic laws. Before Tie Xinxiu can act, a massive Harpy attack—including the Hag Queen—threatens the base.
• Torn between his comrades and his enemy, Tie recalls how his sect’s attempt to seize the Heaven-Earth Sealing Array led to the ambush that began his feud with Tang. When officers summon him to respond to the attack, Tie chooses not to join Elder Wei, reasoning that the elder can kill Tang alone if the opportunity is real.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng appears calm and capable, contrasting with the Ghost Immortals’ vulnerability.
• The three Ghost Immortals recognize the cost of their path and quietly acknowledge that becoming Ghost Immortals is a last resort.
• Tie Xinxiu is revealed as conflicted rather than simply vengeful: he dreads Tang, regrets how their feud began, and feels responsible for the base and its soldiers. He ultimately avoids the ambush, though whether from duty, hesitation, or hope that Elder Wei will succeed remains uncertain.
• Elder Wei pushes Tie to act, while base officers pull him toward the defense against the Harpies.

Significant themes

• Dependence versus freedom: Ghost Immortals’ reliance on external conditions makes them less resilient than practitioners of the Immortal Dao.
• The clash of eras: Modern weapons and logistics give Great Chu formidable power, while supernatural forces still pose severe threats.
• Duty and divided loyalties: Tie must choose between personal revenge and protecting the people and base he helped build.
• Escalating consequences: The Jade Kun Sect’s ambition and failed attack on Tang have turned a manageable rivalry into a catastrophe.

Key plot points and events

• Believing he would be useless against Tang Changsheng, Tie Xinxiu stays behind at Far Expedition Base. He orders his staff officers underground, where the base’s troops and transport systems are protected inside a vast subterranean fortress.
• The base is revealed as a military installation beside an anchored carrier strike group. As the Harpies approach, alarms sound and personnel prepare for an attack.
• Tang Changsheng’s fleet emerges into a hostile new world. Its laws reject the newcomers, causing severe dizziness among ordinary soldiers and dimming their Three Fires—signs that the world may bring them terrible misfortune.
• Using his Heavenly Secrets Seed and insight into the Heavenly Secrets, Tang Changsheng attunes himself to the world’s laws and escapes their rejection. He concludes that this cross-world adaptability is a major advantage of Eastern Glory World’s cultivation system.
• Dozens of Harpies attack the fleet. Tang Changsheng drives them off with Sky Silver Wishfire, confirming that Vow Power works across worlds without backlash.
• Elder Wei attacks with a Yin Spirit Dharma Realm. Tang Changsheng counters with his own Primordial Magnetic Dharma Realm; their powers collide, throwing Elder Wei into the air and forcing the battleship downward. Tang Changsheng then pursues him.

Character developments and interactions

• Tie Xinxiu overcomes his hesitation by deciding his best contribution is protecting the base rather than joining the fight.
• Tang Changsheng demonstrates exceptional adaptability, confidence, and combat strength. His ability to resist the world’s hostility surprises even his opponents.
• Elder Wei is shaken when Tang Changsheng proves unaffected by the Heavenly Secrets’ misalignment. Unlike Tang, Elder Wei needed a month or two to adjust, and he now faces Tang’s immediate counterattack.

Significant themes

• Worlds as hostile environments: A new world’s laws can actively reject outsiders, affecting both body and fortune.
• Adaptation and cultivation: Tang’s preparation and cultivation give him an advantage where others remain vulnerable.
• Practical responsibility: Tie chooses a role where he can protect others, despite his anxiety about direct combat.
• Escalating power: Tang’s effortless defeat of the Harpies gives way to a more serious confrontation with a fellow wielder of a Yin Spirit Dharma Realm.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng defeats Elder Wei in a direct clash. A burst of Yang Spirit power first disrupts Elder Wei’s Yin Spirit Dharma Realm; Tang’s Primordial Magnetic Dharma Realm then smashes through it. Elder Wei’s Primordial Spirit is trapped and dissolved by Tang’s Primordial Magnetic Divine Light.
• At Far Expedition Base, Commander Hai Dongyang assigns forces to defend the port and its docked warships from the Harpies, which are attacking in force. Although the base has strong defenses, the ships are vulnerable.
• Tie Xinxiu, shaken by Tang’s overwhelming victory, briefly considers desperate options, including taking Hai Dongyang hostage. He abandons these thoughts, reports that the Dragon Team is ready, and leads its members to the docks.
• The Dragon Team joins the defense as Harpies attack the base and Carrier Strike Group. Gun emplacements fire, but soldiers are still being carried off or killed.
• Aboard the battleship, Tang uses Wishfire to stabilize three weakened Ghost Immortals and conceals them with the Myriad Forms Mirror. He urges them to restore their power and adapt to the world’s Heavenly Secrets.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng demonstrates formidable power and decisiveness by killing Elder Wei with ease. He also shows care toward Youxu True Person and the other Ghost Immortals, helping them recover rather than leaving them to suffer.
• Tie Xinxiu shifts from fear and self-preservation toward duty. Though he recognizes that challenging Tang would be futile, he regains composure, answers Hai Dongyang’s call, and prepares to lead the Dragon Team.
• Hai Dongyang focuses on protecting the base and its ships, relying on Tie Xinxiu and the Dragon Team as crucial defenders.
• The Dragon Team responds confidently and in unison to Tie Xinxiu’s orders, underscoring its discipline and importance to the base.
• The three Ghost Immortals express gratitude to Tang and begin working to stabilize and adapt their power.

Significant themes

• The cost of desperation: Elder Wei’s reckless charge against Tang turns a dangerous confrontation into a fatal one.
• Inner conflict and duty: Tie Xinxiu’s private temptation to betray the base contrasts with his eventual decision to fulfill his responsibilities.
• Adaptation and vulnerability: The world’s Heavenly Secrets weaken even powerful supernatural beings, making recovery and adjustment essential.
• Uneasy reversal of power: Great Chu’s advanced fleet depends on the base and its spiritual defenders for protection, while the Harpy assault exposes how fragile even a heavily fortified position can be.

Plot points and events

• Three Ghost Immortals feel ashamed that they could not help Tang Changsheng during the fight; their fellow Ghost Immortal was killed by him in minutes. They try to adapt to the New World’s laws while Tang suspects they lack proper preparation and may need his help.
• The Far Expedition Base and harbor are under attack by a vast flock of Harpies. The base’s defenses hold, but exposed soldiers and crews at the harbor suffer heavy casualties.
• Several powerful allies on the carrier—including a flying-sword wielder, a monk with a staff, a knife-throwing woman, and an archer—join the defense. Their efforts, combined with the soldiers’ firepower, stabilize the line.
• When hundreds of Harpies turn toward Tang’s fleet, he uses the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp and Heavenly Heart Seeds to seize control of their minds. He sends them back to attack their own kind, plunging the harbor battle into confusion and helping drive the attackers back.
• Tang notices that the fleet’s large ships are laid up, then senses the world’s abundant Spiritual Qi. He and the Ghost Immortals admire the enormous nuclear-powered carrier, and Tang explains that Great Chu has since built an even more advanced class.

Character developments and interactions

• The three Ghost Immortals’ confidence is shaken by their helplessness and by Tang’s decisive power. Their admiration for Great Chu grows as they learn about its technology.
• Tang is resourceful in battle, discovering how effectively the Heavenly Heart Seed Method can control the Harpies. He also takes on a guiding role toward the Ghost Immortals.
• Youxu True Person is especially enthusiastic about Great Chu’s strength, hoping its growing power and Fortune will benefit them. Ma Yu shares his amazement at what the Human Way can achieve.
• The supernatural experts and Great Chu soldiers work together to defend the harbor, while Tang’s intervention prevents the Harpies from reaching the expedition fleet.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: The Ghost Immortals’ status offers little protection when they cannot adapt to a new world or match Tang’s strength.
• Cooperation across differences: Human soldiers, supernatural fighters, and Tang’s mind-control technique combine to resist the attack.
• Human technological achievement: The carrier embodies the astonishing scale of Human Way progress, inspiring awe even among immortals.
• Adaptation and ingenuity: Tang turns a weakness in the Harpies’ limited intelligence into a decisive tactical advantage.

Key plot points

• Tang Changsheng promises Ma Yu and the other two Ghost Immortals formal divine appointments if they serve Great Chu. Privately, he plans to keep that reward just out of reach so they remain motivated.
• A gunboat brings staff officer Yu Hai aboard the Raging Flood Dragon. Tang presents his credentials as the Imperial Court’s Plenipotentiary Envoy and asks who commands the Far Expedition Base.
• Yu Hai confirms that General Hai Dongyang remains in command and says Tie Xinxiu is also stationed there. Tang suspects Tie may be involved in the missing supply shipment, but conceals his concerns.
• As the flotilla nears the harbor, a large swarm of Harpies—including their enormous Hag Queen—breaks away from the base and heads for the ships. Yu Hai explains that the Harpies often attack the base and are likely targeting the more exposed harbor.
• The three Ghost Immortals volunteer to fight the Harpies, eager to prove their worth. They admit they have not fully adjusted to this world’s laws but claim they can handle the creatures even at reduced strength.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shows himself to be calculating and politically cautious: he uses promised appointments to motivate the Ghost Immortals, questions Yu Hai about the base’s leadership, and avoids airing suspicions about Tie Xinxiu in front of a junior officer.
• Yu Hai is respectful toward Tang but alarmed by the Harpy attack. His admiration for Tie Xinxiu contrasts with Tang’s private distrust.
• Ma Yu and the other Ghost Immortals shift from seeking reward to actively pursuing merit, viewing the approaching Harpies as a chance to earn favor.
• Tang and Yu Hai exchange formal information, while Tang’s guarded questions hint at political tension behind the expedition’s apparent chain of command.

Significant themes

• Motivation through deferred reward: Tang’s “donkey pulling the mill” analogy frames leadership as carefully balancing incentives rather than granting rewards outright.
• Limited communication and uncertain authority: The spatial passage blocks signals, leaving the base dependent on supply ships and complicating Imperial oversight.
• Public image and political restraint: Tang believes attacking rivals openly can damage one’s own reputation, so he keeps his suspicions private.
• Adaptation and power: The Ghost Immortals’ reduced strength in an unfamiliar world sets up a test of how well they can operate under new laws.

Key events

• Tang Changsheng’s three Ghost Immortal companions rise on clouds to engage the approaching Harpies, astonishing Yu Hai, who mistakes them for true Immortals.
• Youxu True Person quickly cripples the Hag Queen with Yin Fire, while Ma Yu and another Ghost Immortal destroy ordinary Harpies by killing their souls. The base’s defenders shift from alarm to relief and amazement.
• Watching the battle, Tang suspects the Harpy attack is a distraction or part of a larger threat. Yu Hai explains that the Harpies are unusually strong, and that even more dangerous Tritons have long kept the base contained.
• Tang predicts the Tritons will appear. Soon, giant Tritons riding enormous sharks charge in, and the three frigates open fire.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng remains composed and confident, dismisses the Harpies as minor threats, and shows strategic suspicion about why they attacked. He presses Yu Hai for information and infers that the Tritons are likely to arrive.
• Yu Hai is frightened by the Ghost Immortals’ cloud-riding and initially calls them Immortals. He then gives Tang an account of monster threat levels and the Tritons’ past impact on the base.
• Tie Xinxiu privately recognizes how formidable Tang has become: Tang once defeated the Jade Kun Sect’s three Ghost Immortals, leaving none.
• The soldiers and Dragon Team members react with relief and awe at the unexpected reinforcements. The large monk, unsure of the newcomers’ identity, asks Tie whether they belong to the Jade Kun Sect.
• The Ghost Immortals’ rapid victory establishes their power, while the frigate crews’ immediate response shows their combat experience.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Cloud-riding looks divine, but Ghost Immortals remain Yin beings vulnerable to sunlight; spectacle does not prove true immortality.
• Knowledge and perspective: Yu Hai sees a miracle, while experienced observers recognize the fighters’ nature and skill.
• Hidden threats and escalation: The Harpy attack is only the first danger; the arrival of the much stronger Tritons raises the stakes.
• Power and confidence: Tang’s calm contrasts with the defenders’ fear, reflecting his belief that the apparent crisis is manageable.

Plot points and events

• Three modified frigates unleash two devastating barrages, wiping out nearly all of the Shark-Riding Giants.
• Three shielded Tritons survive and charge the ships. Their speed and protective shields make ordinary gunfire ineffective.
• A Close-In Weapon System kills one Triton, while another dodges its rapid-fire barrage and closes in.
• Tang Changsheng intervenes as the remaining Tritons attack the ships. He traps one between the halves of the Yin-Yang Netherworld Sacred Coin and finishes it with a small flame.
• The final Triton tries to pierce the Soaring Serpent’s hull, but its specially thickened armor slows him down. Tang kills it with Wishfire from the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp.
• With the attackers dead, Tang considers whether Great Chu’s retired battleships could be adapted for the Otherworld and watches for stronger threats.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng remains composed and tactically resourceful, using his supernatural abilities to cover weaknesses in the ships’ defenses. He also reflects on the limits of even powerful defenses and weapons.
• Yu Hai’s confidence in the warships is shaken: their firepower is formidable, but he sees how dangerous the Tritons become at close range.
• The Tritons are established as exceptionally strong and agile opponents, though vulnerable to Tang’s magic and, unexpectedly, to fire.

Significant themes

• Technology and supernatural power: Modern naval weapons devastate ordinary enemies, but exceptional creatures can evade or withstand them.
• Adaptation and countermeasures: The battle turns on matching each threat with the right defense—rapid-fire guns, heavy armor, and Tang’s magic.
• Limits of strength: The Tritons’ power is formidable, but their assumptions about the armor and their fear of fire prove exploitable.

Character interactions

• Tang and Yu Hai witness the contrast between the ships’ impressive firepower and its limits against the Tritons.
• Tang directly confronts two Tritons, defeating them through a mix of deception, magical weapons, and knowledge of the ship’s reinforced armor.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng’s forces defeat Triton’s army, and Youxu True Person finishes refining the Hag Queen. The surviving Harpies flee.
• Tang uses the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp to plant Heavenly Heart Seeds in some of the fleeing Harpies, then summons and tames roughly one or two hundred of them. He prevents the warships’ crews from attacking the now-docile creatures.
• At the Far Expedition Base, Tang arrives bearing a joint edict from Great Chu’s highest authorities and announces that he is taking command. The base’s people submit without resistance: the edict carries supreme legal authority, and Tang’s status as a visibly powerful Immortal reinforces it.
• Hai Dongyang agrees to surrender command, bewildered about why the court intervened. The soldiers suspect the authorities may have been guarding against a rebellion.
• Tie Xinxiu claims responsibility and steps forward to face the consequences. Tang asks about the other Jade Kun Sect experts; Tie reveals that Tang has just killed Elder Wei. Tang then has Tie restrained and taken away. No one dares defend him.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng demonstrates both practical cunning, by turning the Harpies into an asset, and political authority, using the edict to take control of the base. He reflects on how easily central power can strip a celebrated general of command.
• Hai Dongyang shifts from shock and confusion to immediate compliance, then relief when Tie Xinxiu appears to be the target.
• Tie Xinxiu accepts personal responsibility rather than let others bear the blame, but is taken into custody. His admission also reveals that Elder Wei has been killed.
• The base’s soldiers and officers obey the edict and remain silent, even when Tie is seized. Ma Yu and Red-Haired True Person act as Tang’s enforcers.

Significant themes

• Central authority and political legitimacy: The jointly authorized edict combines the force of the head of state, Grand Secretariat, and Elder Council, making resistance effectively treason.
• Power beyond the battlefield: Tang’s military and supernatural strength matter, but the court’s legal authority can transfer command without a fight.
• Pragmatism and control: The authorities prepared for the possibility of rebellion, while Tang turns potential threats—both the Harpies and the base’s political crisis—to his advantage.
• Isolation under authority: Tie accepts blame, but no one speaks for him, underscoring how fear and institutional power can silence even those around an accused person.

Key plot points

• Tang Changsheng arrives at Far Expedition Base with an overwhelming display of power, silencing the Attendant experts and reassuring the assembled officers.
• He tells General Hai Dongyang that the Imperial Court has no reason to suspect him; it feared Tie Xinxiu might take Hai hostage and endanger the base.
• Hai hopes to return home after years of service, but Tang warns that the base may soon be abandoned because a traitor has exposed Great Chu’s New World project to other nations.
• Hai argues that withdrawing would waste years of sacrifice and forfeit vast mineral and oil deposits. The Hag Queen’s death also makes nearby territory newly accessible.
• Tang says the exposure may force Great Chu to choose decisively: either withdraw or invest far more heavily. He encourages Hai to present the base’s value to the Grand Secretariat and Elder Council.
• Reassured that he may be able to persuade the authorities to preserve or expand the base, Hai thanks Tang sincerely.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng establishes himself as a formidable, politically astute figure. He comforts Hai, reveals the strategic crisis, and offers him a practical way to influence policy.
• Hai Dongyang shifts from relief at Tang’s arrival and hope of going home to alarm over the base’s fate. His attachment to the post, its resources, and his soldiers’ sacrifices leads him to champion its survival.
• Tang’s respectful, reassuring manner wins Hai’s trust and gratitude. The other experts, by contrast, are intimidated by Tang’s power and avoid meeting his gaze.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Onlookers speculate that Tang’s extraordinary strength may be tied to the Imperial Family’s vast political fortune.
• Secrecy and geopolitical rivalry: The leak turns a hidden expedition into an international crisis.
• Sacrifice versus material value: Hai sees the base as the product of years of hardship and lives lost, while its resources also make it strategically and economically valuable.
• Pragmatism and political persuasion: Tang treats exposure not only as a danger but as a turning point that may justify greater investment.

Key plot points and events

• After Hai Dongyang cooperates with the handover, Tang Changsheng takes command of the base in name; staff officers handle its military operations.
• Tang turns his attention to more than two hundred Attendant cultivators serving the Great Chu court. Most are at the Third or Fourth Level, with only four at the Fifth—powerful enough to be useful, but far below Tang’s own level.
• He recognizes that winning them over is essential if he hopes to control Great Chu’s cultivation world and rebuild the Immortal Dao alongside the Dragon Court’s Divine Way.
• Tang visits the cultivators’ villa compound, where spiritual energy is exceptionally abundant. The experts gather to meet him.
• Tang and three Ghost Immortals display their spiritual radiance, overwhelming the cultivators with the pressure of their higher realms. Once they have made their point, Tang withdraws the display and introduces himself as Great Chu’s envoy and a Yin God True Person.
• The Attendant experts are astonished that Tang has reached the Yin Spirit stage, apparently despite having cultivated in Great Chu’s spiritually depleted world. Ma Yu silences their excited questions with a threat.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shifts from assuming command of the base to assessing the cultivators as potential allies and a foundation for his ambitions. He deliberately uses his power to establish authority, then greets the group courteously.
• The Attendant experts are impressed and intimidated by Tang’s cultivation, and their amazement turns into a noisy debate over how he advanced so quickly.
• Ma Yu acts as Tang’s enforcer, first observing the villa’s spiritual environment and later restoring order when the cultivators’ chatter displeases Tang.
• Youxu True Person and the other Ghost Immortals support Tang’s display. Their radiance is formidable but carries a darker, deathly quality distinct from Tang’s life-bearing Yin Spirit power.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: The cultivators’ physical fear illustrates the overwhelming divide between their realms and Tang’s.
• Spiritual conditions and opportunity: The New World’s abundant qi draws ambitious cultivators, while Great Chu’s declining spiritual environment makes Tang’s achievement especially remarkable.
• Political authority and alliance-building: Formal command alone is insufficient; Tang needs the Attendant experts’ support to consolidate control and restore the Immortal Dao.
• Different paths of cultivation: The contrast between Yin Spirits and Ghost Immortals highlights their distinct strengths and limitations, especially their differing prospects for reaching the Yang God realm.

Key plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng silences the defiant Attendants by releasing overwhelming power: wind and darkness sweep over the mountainside, and a gateway to the Netherworld appears beneath a blood-red moon.
• Strange birds rise from a distant Netherworld City. Tang withdraws his power before they can emerge, leaving the onlookers shaken by how dangerous the opening was.
• He orders the unruly experts to take his command. None dare object, so he declares their obedience settled.
• Tang then uses the Three Realms Mirror, illuminated by the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp, to pull out Ghost King Bats—predators powerful enough to threaten the base. Sunlight burns them to ash immediately.
• The mirror still contains hundreds of bats, demonstrating that Tang can capture and control creatures that could otherwise devastate Far Expedition Base.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang shifts from a calm authority to a deliberately terrifying one, using a display of power to bring the Attendants under control. His willingness to risk opening the Netherworld makes him seem unpredictable as well as formidable.
• The Attendants, initially bold and resentful, become fearful and submissive. They recognize that Tang’s strength far exceeds theirs and that defying him could endanger them all.
• One Attendant identifies the Ghost King Bats and explains their threat, making the others understand the scale of the danger Tang has contained.

Significant themes

• Power and obedience: Tang secures cooperation through an unmistakable show of force.
• Fear as authority: His apparent recklessness makes him more intimidating, encouraging even capable experts to yield.
• The fragility of safety: Far Expedition Base survives in a remote region, but powerful monsters—and the Netherworld itself—remain a constant danger.
• Hidden capability: The Three Realms Mirror turns deadly predators into manageable captives, revealing how much Tang’s resources exceed what the others understand.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng uses the mirror and Primordial Yang Divine Lamp to expose the Ghost King Bats to sunlight, where the Solar True Fire destroys them. The demonstration leaves the Attendant experts largely silent and more willing to obey.
• He assigns the experts to perform Ritual Refinement on Earth Net Sky-Locking Formation Banners. They ask what the banners are for but do not openly resist.
• Tang privately plans to accustom the experts to following orders and gradually bring them under his control, a necessity given the General’s Temple’s shortage of usable disciples.
• He leaves Far Expedition Base alone to assess whether its surroundings are safe and whether it must be evacuated.
• His survey finds several nearby monster lairs, but the Harpies and Tritons—the greatest immediate threats—have been nearly wiped out. He also investigates Goblins who mine refined iron for the Wild Giants, and confirms that the Giants are a potential nuisance but not as dangerous as the former coastal threats.
• Tang finds the nearby coast riddled with reefs and unsuitable for shipping, underscoring the value of Far Expedition Base’s natural harbor.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng demonstrates both decisive power and political calculation: he uses force to secure the Attendants’ compliance, then works to make their obedience habitual. He also takes personal responsibility for assessing the base’s strategic position.
• The Attendant experts have been humbled by repeated demonstrations and now refrain from openly challenging Tang, though some may still intend to delay their work.
• Ma Yu and the Red-Haired True Person carry out Tang’s orders by distributing the banner materials and instructions.

Significant themes

• Power and control: Tang’s supernatural strength helps him enforce authority, while his longer-term strategy relies on gradually shaping obedience.
• Strategic survival: The base’s safety depends on understanding nearby threats, resources, terrain, and transport routes.
• The costs of valuable resources: The iron mine is useful, but its Goblin inhabitants are protected by difficult terrain and controlled by the Wild Giants.
• Unequal threats: The base faces many dangers, but Tang’s survey distinguishes between manageable local monsters and the far greater threats posed by the Harpies and Tritons.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng surveys the sea near Hag Island, where a potentially valuable oil deposit lies beneath the reefs, and finds no immediate threats near the expedition base.
• A mysterious melody draws him into an altered-seeming scene beneath a bright moon, where a woman sits playing a harp. He resists its influence and prepares to leave.
• The woman introduces herself as An Ruoshui, a minor sea immortal. She warns that Tang has angered the Sea God by killing a Triton clan, which served as the Sea God’s guards. The Sea God—or the surviving guards—could threaten Tang and his expedition.
• An Ruoshui recognizes that Tang and his people come from another world. She detects both the Heavenly Secrets Seed and the mark of Eastern Glory World on him.
• Their conversation reveals that An Ruoshui is connected to Eastern Glory World and that this New World belongs to, and serves as a training ground for, Purple Dusk Heavenly Court. She calls Great Chu “Sword Immortal World,” reflecting its former reputation for sword-immortal techniques.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng shifts from surveying the area to cautiously weighing the danger of the Sea God and the possibility of withdrawing the expedition. He stays polite, probing An Ruoshui’s motives and background.
• An Ruoshui first appears as a powerful, potentially threatening figure, but instead of attacking Tang, she warns him. Her knowledge of his origins suggests a deeper history linking her to his world.
• Their exchange is wary but civil: Tang addresses her respectfully, while An Ruoshui answers his questions and explains the danger, though her own reasons for helping him remain unclear.

Significant themes

• Hidden danger and uncertain alliances: An Ruoshui is powerful and mysterious, yet offers help to someone whose actions may put him at odds with her allies.
• Political and supernatural power: Tang’s survival may depend not only on his strength but on larger factions—the Sea God, Purple Dusk Heavenly Court, and a possible Chief God.
• Worlds connected by history: An Ruoshui’s recognition of Tang’s origins reveals that this New World and Eastern Glory World share ties, while “Sword Immortal World” shows how one world’s past shapes its reputation elsewhere.

Key plot points

• Tang Changsheng suspects An Ruoshui is one of the Eastern Glory experts who came to help the Sword Immortal World during the Purple Dusk invasion.
• An Ruoshui assumes Tang is a remarkably talented disciple of the Azure Sea True Void Palace. Tang lets the misunderstanding stand, though he is actually from the small Primordial Yang Church.
• She offers to help him become a Core Disciple of the Taiyi Immortal Sword Sect if he delivers intelligence about the Purple Dusk Heavenly Court. The information, she claims, could determine the Court’s survival.
• Tang is tempted but cannot accept without risking exposure of his secret ability to travel between worlds—and the source of his information.
• In response to his questions, An reveals that the Purple Dusk Heavenly Court originated as a revolt by Divine Way powers against the Eastern Flower Heavenly Court, which had been established by the Immortal Dao after overthrowing the Divine Way.
• The Purple Dusk Court later allied with Ghost Gods from other worlds to build its strength. An says the Sword Immortal World is its training ground, and its monsters are organized into “Tiered Troops”; the chapter ends before she explains further.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is cautious and calculating: he probes An for information, uses a feigned farewell to draw her out, and weighs her offer against the danger of revealing his interworld travel.
• An Ruoshui is confident and somewhat disdainful. She mistakes Tang for a major talent, tries to recruit him through the Taiyi Immortal Sword Sect, and gradually shares the history behind the conflict.
• Their conversation shifts from suspicion and attempted recruitment to an exchange of questions, with Tang’s knowledge challenging An’s assumptions and her revelations reshaping his understanding of the Purple Dusk Heavenly Court.

Significant themes

• Hidden identity and misunderstanding: An misjudges Tang’s origins and status, while Tang conceals his true affiliations and abilities.
• The cost of opportunity: A promising career advancement is weighed against the risk of exposing a dangerous secret.
• Ideological conflict and historical reversal: The war is rooted in a struggle between the Immortal Dao and the Divine Way, not simply an invasion by an external enemy.
• Power, decline, and adaptation: The Divine Way’s stagnation allowed the Immortal Dao to overtake it, while the Purple Dusk Court’s alliances helped it regain strength.

Key plot points and events

• An Ruoshui reveals that this world is a Purple Dusk Heavenly Court training ground, but claims it is too insignificant to attract attention. She says the Great Chu’s Far Expedition Base will make a future conquest easier for her faction.
• She explains that the Taiyi Immortal Sword Order formed from Sword Immortal World sects that relocated to the Eastern Glory World. She asks Tang Changsheng to deliver a letter to the Order, offering Heavenly First True Water in payment.
• Tang accepts but demands an advance. An Ruoshui gives him a shell containing a substantial amount of the rare substance, which he needs for his Cave Abode’s evolution.
• Rather than return to base, Tang carefully searches a desolate coastline. Using his Three Realms Mirror, he locates a hidden entrance and enters the ruins of a Cave Abode.
• Inside, he encounters the lingering, terrifying sword intent of an ancient strike that split the buildings apart. He discovers a perfectly preserved but dead Daoist and finds another fragment of the Three Realms Mirror in the man’s hand.
• An Ruoshui watches Tang enter the ruins and realizes he came seeking the Sea God Palace, concluding that he carries the Three Realms Mirror. She has plans for the artifact once it reaches the Order’s leaders.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng learns that the expedition’s presence is tied to a larger political and military plan. He remains cautious, negotiates for a deposit, and secretly pursues his own goal rather than immediately returning to deliver An Ruoshui’s letter.
• An Ruoshui presents herself as confident and influential, but her private reaction shows she is also watchful and scheming. She intends to use Tang and the mirror for the Taiyi Immortal Sword Order’s benefit.
• Their exchange is polite but wary: An Ruoshui uses a valuable reward to secure Tang’s cooperation, while Tang insists on payment up front and keeps his own mission concealed.

Significant themes

• Hidden agendas and uneasy alliances: Tang and An Ruoshui cooperate, but neither fully trusts the other.
• Imperial ambition and political maneuvering: The expedition base may serve as preparation for a future conquest, while rival powers compete for advantage.
• Dangerous relics and inherited power: The ancient sword strike remains lethal in its presence long after its creator’s death, and the mirror fragment links the ruins to Tang’s larger quest.
• Caution and temptation: Tang accepts a powerful reward but continues to act carefully as he follows the opportunity toward a potentially perilous discovery.

Key plot points and events

• After acquiring the Three Realms Mirror, Tang Changsheng discovers it has an unexpected function. The Cave Abode collapses almost immediately, forcing him to escape before the cliff comes down.
• The story shifts to an island formed where Little Paulownia Mountain once stood, after catastrophic floods transformed the Southern Borderlands. The Primordial Yang Church has relocated there, and the Heavenly Court and Immortal Sects have moved Spirit Veins to the island, creating a small blessed land.
• The island is besieged by numerous powerful, black-scaled monsters. Xin Chengying leads the town’s defenders through a difficult attack: arrows kill few enemies, but close-range fire and falling stones and logs force the monsters back. The defenders nevertheless suffer casualties, and the monsters carry off and devour the dead.
• At night, a freezing mist approaches the town. Lu Yuanzhen’s Primordial Yang Divine Lamp repels it, revealing the mist as another supernatural assault. Lü Yuanhua returns to the lamp after driving off the Sea Yaksha’s attack.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng is startled by what he learns about the Three Realms Mirror, but responds quickly to the Cave Abode’s collapse and escapes.
• Xin Chengying acts as the town’s defender and tries to keep morale up, urging the archers to conserve their dwindling arrows. His skill and courage are evident, though he is inexperienced as a commander and fails to fully address the emotional impact of the defenders’ losses.
• Lu Yuanzhen protects the settlement with the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp. Despite defeating the Sea Yaksha’s assault, he appears weary rather than triumphant.
• Xin Chengying reports to Lu Yuanzhen and asks about the night attack, showing Lu’s authority and Xin’s reliance on him.

Significant themes

• The cost of upheaval: The transformation of land into sea has displaced people and created new dangers, even after the old barbarian threat was defeated.
• Survival and fragile security: The town has a blessed land and strong walls, but remains vulnerable to repeated monster attacks and shortages.
• Leadership under pressure: Xin Chengying inspires his people through action, yet the chapter also shows the limits of courage without experience.
• The burden of protection: Lu Yuanzhen’s defense preserves the town, but his weariness underscores the ongoing cost of keeping it safe.

Plot points and events

• Lu Yuanzhen and Xin Chengying endure relentless attacks. Lu Yuanzhen is exhausted, while Xin admits he has not formed a Heavenly Secrets Seed and considers advancing as a Yin Spirit instead. Lu Yuanzhen reflects on his failed ambitions and the hardships of the Rogue Cultivator path.
• A sea monster suddenly attacks Lu Yuanzhen’s divided spirit. He destroys it, but the encounter underscores the dangers still facing him.
• Tang Changsheng returns to the Southern Borderlands after more than half a year away and finds the landscape transformed: the Suxu River has become a vast body of water, and Suxu City is now a thriving coastal trade hub.
• Tang avoids entering the city because its Heavenly Court guardian Deity could question his unexplained survival and absence. He worries he may be mistaken for a Purple Dusk spy.
• He reflects on the deep connections between the Eastern Glory and Great Chu worlds, and realizes the Three Realms Mirror is a powerful strategic artifact sought by both sides. He vows to keep its existence secret.
• Tang knows the Purple Dusk Heavenly Court is preparing a major assault, but is unsure how to warn the Taiyi Immortal Sword Order without exposing himself. He decides first to learn what happened to Lu Yuanzhen and the others.

Character development and interactions

• Lu Yuanzhen reveals weariness and regret beneath his stern manner, recalling the lofty hopes he once had for the Primordial Yang Church. He rebukes Xin Chengying’s lack of ambition, though he does not force him to pursue the Heavenly Secrets Seed.
• Xin Chengying acknowledges his limitations and asks to take over the fighting, showing concern for his martial uncle despite his uncertain cultivation path.
• Tang Changsheng becomes more cautious and strategic. His return awakens grief and disorientation, but also sharpens his understanding of the Three Realms Mirror’s importance and the need to protect its secret.

Significant themes

• Change and impermanence: The transformed Southern Borderlands embody the chapter’s title and the proverb that seas may become mulberry fields.
• The cost of ambition: Lu Yuanzhen’s past hopes contrast with his present exhaustion and disappointment.
• Secrecy and political danger: Tang’s knowledge could affect the coming war, yet sharing it may reveal his identity and the mirror.
• Displacement and lost connections: Tang returns to a world that no longer resembles the one he left, while the histories of distant realms prove unexpectedly intertwined.

Key plot points and events

• Shut out of Suxu City, Tang Changsheng remembers old acquaintances on Fuyang Mountain and heads there, taking care to conceal his presence with the Heavenly Mandate Compass.
• The area has changed dramatically: a busy road leads to Fuyang Mountain, and a grand temple now stands there. Tang learns from Squire Wang that several centuries have passed since Tang last knew the region, though Tang believes less than a year has passed for him.
• Wang recounts a local legend: a Black Dragon flooded Wu Hou State, and the Heavenly Court sent a Sea-Calming Divine General to defeat it and protect the region.
• Tang doubts the legend’s accuracy and wonders what happened to the Primordial Yang Church, Lu Yuanzhen, and the people he knew. He suspects the Heavenly Court may have altered the region as part of an experiment.
• At Sea-Calming Temple, Tang observes worshippers’ prayers gathering as Incense and Fire Prayer Power for the deity. He recognizes the Sea-Calming General as a powerful, uncorrupted Orthodox God of the Heavenly Court.

Character developments

• Tang Changsheng is unsettled by the vast discrepancy between his own sense of elapsed time and the centuries that have passed in the Eastern Glory World. He remains cautious and curious, concealing his identity while seeking answers.
• Squire Wang appears perceptive and devout. Impressed by Tang’s bearing and believing him to be an ancient Immortal, he treats him with increasing deference.

Significant themes

• Dislocation through time and change: Tang returns to a familiar place transformed beyond recognition.
• Faith and divine authority: The temple’s worship sustains a deity through directed prayer power.
• Myth versus truth: Tang’s firsthand knowledge conflicts with the popular legend.
• Caution and restraint: Though Tang notices the divine power he might covet, he refuses to harm a deity without cause.

Character interactions

• Wang approaches Tang and invites him to the temple. Tang questions him about the region’s history, and Wang shares the local account of the flood and the General’s intervention.
• On the mountain, Wang explains his personal reliance on the Sea-Calming General for the safety of his family’s ships, while Tang silently assesses the deity’s power and nature.

Plot points and events

• Tang Changsheng visits Zhenhai Temple with Mr. Wang, a wealthy regular patron. His Heavenly Mandate Compass hides his nature so completely that he appears ordinary.
• Tang and General Zhenhai sense a disturbance. Zhenhai mobilizes Fuyang Mountain’s Spirit Vein and Spirit Realm, revealing that he serves not only as guardian of the sea but also as the mountain’s god.
• As dark clouds and mist engulf the coast, Tang vanishes. A temple attendant urges Mr. Wang to stay, and he agrees after sensing danger offshore.
• Tang sees waves carrying Demon Aura and witnesses Zhenhai’s Ghost Soldiers defend the shore. They burn waves of bloated Drowned Ghosts to ash with cold Yin Fire.
• Tang senses more powerful threats beyond the drowned dead. The mist is driven back, revealing thousands of enormous sea-monster skeletons and rotting carcasses, some at Spirit Terrace or Illusory Spirit level. The defenders are badly shaken by the scale of the threat.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng remains concealed and composed, but his sharp perception lets him recognize that the attack is much more serious than a sudden change in weather. He watches the battle without intervening.
• Mr. Wang moves from casual unease to genuine fear. He briefly wonders whether Tang is an Immortal, regrets missing the chance to speak with him, and accepts the attendant’s warning to remain in the temple.
• General Zhenhai responds swiftly, deploying his supernatural forces to defend the coast. His command of both the mountain’s Spirit Realm and a large army establishes his authority and the seriousness of the danger.
• The temple attendant’s calm warning suggests familiarity with the risks, contrasting with Mr. Wang’s uncertainty.

Significant themes

• Hidden identities and limited perception: Mortals cannot see the supernatural conflict, and Tang’s true nature is concealed even from powerful beings.
• Protection and danger: The temple and General Zhenhai’s forces offer shelter, but the threat is vast and may overwhelm them.
• The scale of unseen conflict: The Drowned Ghosts are only the first wave; the much stronger sea-monster remains reveal a deeper, escalating danger.

Plot points and events

• Sea Ghosts and their monsters attack the Eastern Glory coast. The Sea-Calming General rallies his Ghost Soldiers, but swarms of Corpse-Eating Crows break through their defenses, devouring the soldiers’ Yin Energy until their souls scatter.
• Tang Changsheng initially holds back, judging the threat to Fuyang Mountain manageable, but decides Suxu City must be protected because hundreds of thousands of people live there. Concealed by the Heavenly Mandate Compass and Myriad Forms Mirror, he reaches the city unnoticed.
• Suxu City is surrounded by filthy seawater filled with corpses. Its defenders are under attack from the crows, among them Fang Xin, whom Tang recognizes leading several hundred Ghost Soldiers.
• The City God uses his seal to burn many crows and drive them back temporarily. Tang observes that the City God is only at Yin Spirit level and doubts he can stop the larger assault.
• Sea Monsters resume their advance, including terrifying Witch Undead. The defenders’ Yin Fire arrows barely affect the corpses, whose protective black mist extinguishes most of the flames.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang Changsheng remains cautious about intervening directly, but his concern for Suxu City’s inhabitants draws him toward the defense. He recognizes Fang Xin and considers whether to reveal himself, though the City God acts before he decides.
• Fang Xin, now serving as an officer under Suxu City’s City God, fights desperately with his troops. Tang reflects that Fang’s career has not advanced as far as expected.
• The Sea-Calming General tries to sustain morale and organize the Ghost Soldiers, but the crows devastate his formation.
• The City God demonstrates effective fire-based power against the crows, yet cannot end the threat or stop the Sea Monsters’ renewed assault.

Significant themes

• The limits of authority and power: Even deities and organized Ghost Soldier forces struggle against threats beyond their strength.
• Duty versus caution: Tang weighs the risks of involvement against the danger to a heavily populated city.
• Horror and overwhelming danger: The corpse-filled waters, soul-devouring crows, and resilient Witch Undead make the assault feel relentless and apocalyptic.