Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key events

• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun visit Dongfang Caibai to ask when his wedding will take place. She says it is scheduled for the following day.
• Zhang asks permission to leave the residence and remain in the capital, hoping to claim a newly manifesting strand of earthly sha. Dongfang agrees, recognizing his purpose, and assures him that no Celestial Person will attack him before the wedding.
• Her decision reflects a secret bargain: she has persuaded the Li and Chu factions not to interfere with her before the wedding, in exchange for demonstrating that she can oppose them. She intends to turn against her own side on the wedding day.
• Zhang and Xiao head to the edge of the capital to find Iron Chain Sha, Zhang’s fourth strand of heavenly gang and earthly sha. Xiao explains that, while weak by itself, it could pair well with Interlocking Sha to produce a useful divine ability; she promises to obtain the second strand for him.
• At the crowded site, Zhang spots Li Jiejian, Chu Ruifeng, and Chu Xiyin, who have also gathered to compete for the sha. He then bumps into a small white-robed girl, assumes she is a child, and offers to take her to her guardians. She angrily insists she is an adult, then turns back to examine him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan stays focused on gathering information and strengthening his cultivation, though he remains puzzled by his extraordinary progress and luck. He suspects his fortune comes from being favored by the realm rather than from having ordinary “blessings.”
• Dongfang Caibai reveals more of her political strategy. Her apparent generosity toward Zhang masks careful bargaining with the Li and Chu factions as she prepares to betray her own side.
• Xiao Yuanjun is impressed by Zhang’s rapid advancement and treats his good fortune as remarkable. She also shows confidence in the future potential of Iron Chain Sha, despite not explaining exactly how it will work.
• Li Jiejian appears to lead the aristocratic youths despite being less advanced in cultivation than Chu Ruifeng and Chu Xiyin, puzzling Zhang.
• The white-robed girl is introduced as sharp-tongued and easily offended, contradicting Zhang’s assumption that her youthful appearance means she is a child.

Significant themes

• Luck, fate, and cultivation: Zhang’s rapid growth raises the question of whether he is truly blessed or merely favored by forces beyond the ordinary world.
• Political calculation and betrayal: Dongfang’s choices show that alliances are temporary and that power determines whether a threat is taken seriously.
• Potential beneath apparent weakness: Iron Chain Sha seems unimpressive alone, but its value may emerge through combination—much like characters whose true abilities or roles are not immediately obvious.

Key events

• Zhang Yuan meets Li Huixi, a young member of the Eastern Bian Li Clan who knows his identity and his betrothal to a Li Clan daughter.
• Zhang spots Li Huixi’s exceptionally rare, multicolored [Dust Realm Deputy Sovereign] tag, though he cannot determine what it signifies.
• They argue over whether Zhang’s forced marriage contract is binding. Zhang dismisses the betrothal and brushes off Li Huixi’s insistence that it counts.
• Li Huixi reveals that the Eastern Li and Western Chu clans each have a True Lord in the capital. Their True Lords’ presence explains why aristocratic descendants currently gather around the Li Clan—and suggests the powerful factions could diminish the Empress’s chances.
• She tells Zhang that the Chu Clan’s Golden Core True Lord is at Chu Manor. Zhang conceals why he wants this information.
• Xiao Yuanjun interrupts: she has traced the karmic threads of the [Iron Chain Sha] and is ready to seize it. A sudden crash and the sound of chains signal that something is emerging from underground.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains wary of the Li Clan, uses humor and dismissal to avoid a serious argument, and quietly gathers intelligence about the True Lords.
• Li Huixi is confident, blunt, and unusually forthcoming. Though young, she displays knowledge of the capital’s political and spiritual landscape; her rare tag hints at exceptional importance.
• Xiao Yuanjun stays focused on divining the Iron Chain Sha and is recognized by Li Huixi as a promising future Celestial Person. Zhang agrees, though privately he questions whether his master is truly as young as she looks.
• Zhang and Li Huixi’s exchange mixes hostility over the forced betrothal with an unexpectedly useful sharing of information.

Significant themes

• Status and power: A person’s lineage, cultivation rank, and titles shape how others behave.
• Hidden potential: Li Huixi’s rare tag suggests that appearances may conceal extraordinary significance.
• Political uncertainty: Rival clan True Lords complicate the Empress’s prospects.
• Humor amid danger: Zhang’s irreverent remarks offset the serious conflict and the ominous disturbance below.

Plot points and events

• Foundation Establishment Celestial Li Houjin appears and uses his authority to halt the earthquake threatening the Bian Kingdom Capital. Li Huixi claims he has intervened only to prevent destruction, not to break the clan’s promise that no Celestial would oppose the cultivators.
• A hundred-meter earth dragon emerges: the [Iron Chain Sha], formed from an ancient Dragon-Trapping Lock that absorbed dragon qi. The Demon Empress’s damage to the kingdom has weakened its fortune, allowing it to surface.
• The dragon’s tail injures or drives away most of the gathered Qi Refining cultivators, demonstrating the danger of trying to subdue it.
• Xiao Yuanjun rejects Zhang Yuan’s suggestion to wait for others to weaken the dragon. She attacks at once, using all three Divine Abilities to subdue it, tear out its chain-like spine, and claim the [Iron Chain Sha].
• Before anyone can challenge her, Li Houjin declares the treasure belongs to the Eastern Bian Li Clan. His command pulls the chain from Xiao Yuanjun’s grasp. She furiously tries to retrieve it.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Yuanjun shows decisive confidence and overwhelming strength, defeating the dragon in only a few breaths. Her anger at the Li Clan rises when Li Houjin takes her prize.
• Zhang Yuan remains wary of the Li Clan, linking its promises to the past theft of his Immortal Spirit Root. He is impressed by Xiao Yuanjun’s power and briefly forgets to call her “Master.”
• Li Huixi defends the clan’s reputation and asks Zhang Yuan about Xiao Yuanjun’s lineage, which he does not know.
• Li Houjin first acts as a protector of the capital, then asserts the Li Clan’s claim to the Sha through his overwhelming Celestial authority.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: A Celestial can command the world itself, while even a powerful Qi Refining cultivator can be overruled by a higher authority.
• Seizing opportunity: Xiao Yuanjun embodies decisive action, contrasting with Zhang Yuan’s plan to let others fight first.
• Trust and betrayal: The Li Clan’s insistence that it keeps its word conflicts with Zhang Yuan’s grievance and its seizure of Xiao Yuanjun’s prize.
• Fortune and disorder: The kingdom’s declining fortune enables the [Iron Chain Sha] to emerge, connecting political ruin to supernatural danger.

Key plot points and events

• Xiao Yuanjun tries to stop Li Houjin from taking the [Iron Chain Sha], but her two active divine abilities can barely slow it. The Sha is vital both to Zhang Yuan’s cultivation and to her own Dao Path.
• She suddenly rises to near-Celestial standing by using her fourth divine ability, [Heaven-Sundering Fourfold Immortal Domain]. Formed from all ten Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha she has refined, it has no combat function; it only temporarily elevates her standing.
• Xiao declares the [Iron Chain Sha] to be in Zhang Yuan’s hand, and it instantly appears there. Zhang Yuan summons his Golden Carriage and flees while Xiao draws Li Houjin’s attention.
• Li Houjin mistakes Xiao for a true Celestial and tries to divine her identity, but cannot. He attacks; Xiao’s apparent figure vanishes, revealing it was an image created with [Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying]. Her real self has already escaped with Zhang Yuan.
• Li Houjin realizes he has been tricked and lost the Sha. The bystanders scatter, while Li Huixi dismisses Li Houjin as useless.
• Safely aboard the carriage, Xiao admits how dangerous the encounter was. Zhang Yuan quickly refines the Sha, advancing to Four-Turn Qi Refining.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Yuanjun reveals the source of her extraordinary power and her willingness to risk herself to protect her Dao Path and disciple. Her apparent confrontation is a calculated bluff rather than a direct fight.
• Zhang Yuan quickly understands her plan: Xiao will hold Li Houjin’s attention while he takes the prize and escapes. Their coordination shows a strong early bond between master and disciple.
• Li Houjin is powerful but overconfident. His assumption that Xiao is a real Celestial leaves him vulnerable to her deception; afterward, Li Huixi’s rebuke makes clear his failure has consequences.
• Li Huixi asserts authority over Li Houjin with a brief, icy reprimand.

Significant themes

• The gulf between realms: Celestial power vastly exceeds Qi Refining, making Xiao’s temporary rise—and Li Houjin’s misjudgment—central to the confrontation.
• Deception and perception: Xiao’s borrowed standing and fabricated image let her exploit Li Houjin’s arrogance without truly matching his power.
• Trust and teamwork: Xiao and Zhang Yuan succeed through complementary roles and an implicit understanding.
• The cost of ambition: The [Iron Chain Sha] is more than a prize; it is tied to both Zhang Yuan’s progress and Xiao’s path to Celestial status.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan evaluates the Iron Chain Sha he has refined. It can restrain opponents but offers little offensive power, so its contribution to his strength seems modest.
• Xiao Yuanjun reveals that she is deliberately assembling Zhang Yuan’s second divine ability to help him advance faster and support her disciple trial. The ability requires the Iron Chain Sha, an Interlocking Sha, and a Shared Life Sha.
• Xiao believes the Shared Life Sha will manifest through Zhang Yuan’s wedding to Dongfang Caibai the next day. She also knows an Interlocking Sha is kept at the Western Bian Chu Clan’s residence, but her recent actions may have made infiltration difficult.
• Zhang Yuan suggests visiting the Chu Clan openly and negotiating for it in exchange for something valuable.
• At Chu Manor, Li Huixi asks Li Zhongshuang whether she resents losing the Iron Chain Sha. Zhongshuang says she does not and apologizes for failing to meet Li Huixi’s arrangements.
• Li Huixi takes Zhongshuang to meet True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor, the Chu Clan’s Golden Core True Lord in the capital. They discuss the Third Princess’s wedding. Li Huixi announces that they will “steal the groom,” explaining that Zhang Yuan had a longstanding marriage agreement with the Eastern Bian Li Clan.

Character developments

• Zhang Yuan is pragmatic: rather than accept that the needed sha may be difficult to obtain, he proposes bargaining for it.
• Xiao Yuanjun shows both ambition and strategic care for her disciple. She is designing Zhang Yuan’s ability as a shortcut, though her own earlier confrontation has complicated the plan to enter Chu Manor.
• Li Zhongshuang remains unusually composed after losing two earthly sha and does not openly blame anyone.
• Li Huixi is confident and assertive, treating Zhang Yuan’s rare aptitude as highly valuable and planning to claim him through the Li Clan’s old marriage agreement.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor is surprised by Li Huixi’s unconventional plan to “steal” the groom.

Significant themes

• Power shaped by composition: The combination of heavenly gang and earthly sha determines a divine ability’s effects, making careful selection crucial.
• Mentorship and advancement: Xiao Yuanjun’s disciple trial depends on Zhang Yuan’s progress, linking his cultivation to her own prospects.
• Negotiation and competing claims: Zhang Yuan’s value may be exchanged for resources, while rival marriage arrangements give the Li Clan a claim on him.
• Ambition and restraint: Li Huixi acts boldly, while Zhongshuang’s lack of visible resentment contrasts with the intense competition around her.

Character interactions

• Zhang Yuan questions Xiao Yuanjun about the Iron Chain Sha, prompting her to explain the planned divine ability and its required components.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun differ mainly in approach to obtaining the Interlocking Sha: she worries that direct entry is now risky, while he favors negotiation.
• Li Huixi tests Zhongshuang’s feelings about the lost sha; Zhongshuang answers respectfully and without complaint.
• Li Huixi informs True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor of the Li Clan’s connection to Zhang Yuan and signals her intention to intervene in the wedding.

Key plot points

• Li Huixi tells True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor that Zhang Yuan is betrothed to a daughter of the Eastern Bian Li Clan. Xuanqing infers that Li Huixi may have come to help Li Zhongshuang claim her fiancé.
• Chu Miaofu announces that Zhang Yuan has arrived to request a strand of [Interlocking Sha]. He and Xiao Yuanjun are brought before Xuanqing, where they also find Li Huixi and Li Zhongshuang.
• Zhang Yuan clarifies that he has never wanted to be the Third Princess’s consort. He offers to help the Chu Clan defeat the Demon Empress at the next day’s wedding, as long as his life is not at risk.
• Xuanqing rejects that offer as insufficient and proposes that Zhang marry a Chu Clan daughter in exchange for the Sha. Zhang declines, claiming his heart belongs to someone else.
• Pressed to name the woman, Zhang improvises and points toward Li Huixi and Li Zhongshuang. Xuanqing understands him to mean Li Huixi and is horrified by the implications; Li Zhongshuang cannot tell whom he means and becomes flustered.
• Li Huixi calmly greets Zhang, calling their repeated meetings a sign of fate.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan tries to keep control of his affairs, but his good looks and tangled betrothal continue to draw him into marriage negotiations. Under pressure, he invents a romantic attachment and points to the women present as a way out.
• Li Zhongshuang is uncertain about her betrothal and reluctant to face Zhang. His declaration leaves her wondering whether he means her, stirring unexpected excitement.
• Li Huixi remains composed and enigmatic. Her presence fuels speculation that she may be intervening in Li Zhongshuang’s marriage.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor is cordial but politically alert. He recognizes Zhang’s low cultivation despite his impressive appearance, then finds himself alarmed by Zhang’s apparent affection for Li Huixi.
• Xiao Yuanjun watches Zhang’s recurring romantic complications with amusement and suspects his charm may be the cause.

Significant themes

• Marriage, agency, and political alliances: Betrothals bind people across powerful clans, while the younger generation’s wishes remain uncertain.
• Appearance versus ability: Zhang’s handsome, dignified bearing attracts attention despite his modest cultivation.
• Improvisation and misunderstanding: Zhang’s desperate lie creates a new, potentially dangerous romantic entanglement.
• Fate and recurring complications: The characters’ repeated encounters make personal choices seem caught up in larger forces.

Key plot points and events

• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor offers Zhang Yuan the [Interlocking Sha] if he defeats Chu Xiwen, a Fourth-Turn Qi Refining cultivator from the Chu Clan.
• Chu Xiwen assumes Zhang Yuan is an inferior outsider from beyond the heavens and tells him to surrender. He refuses, intent on winning the Sha.
• Chu Xiwen opens with her potent [Myriad Manifestation Creation Divine Light], which can erode objects and endanger living beings. Zhang Yuan narrowly dodges it.
• Zhang first sends a golden carriage at her, which she easily destroys. He then uses [Iron Chain Sha] to link their states. By striking his own knee with a small carriage and dispersing three earthly Sha, he makes Chu Xiwen’s knee buckle too, forcing her down.
• Enraged, Chu Xiwen attacks again with divine light. Zhang appears to take the hit, but remains unharmed; instead, her hand is badly injured, while Zhang holds the divine light itself. The outcome of the fight is left unresolved.

Character developments

• Zhang Yuan remains cautious but accepts a direct fight as preferable to being maneuvered into an unwanted marriage. He proves resourceful, using an unconventional technique to turn Chu Xiwen’s confidence against her.
• Chu Xiwen begins arrogant and dismissive, convinced her clan status and refined heavenly gang guarantee victory. Her confidence gives way to shock and pain as Zhang’s tactics defeat her expectations.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor tries to settle the dispute by turning it into a contest with a clear prize.
• Xiao Yuanjun calmly analyzes Chu Xiwen’s Divine Ability and protects herself from its effects.

Significant themes

• Prejudice and status: Chu Xiwen’s contempt for outsiders and belief in clan superiority blind her to Zhang’s capabilities.
• Cunning over force: Zhang uses the linked effects of [Iron Chain Sha] and his opponent’s own attack rather than trying to overpower her directly.
• Appearance versus ability: Zhang’s modest-looking techniques seem harmless, but their unusual properties make them dangerous.

Character interactions

• Zhang and Chu Xiwen trade insults before fighting; her scornful challenge draws his refusal to concede.
• Zhang’s tactics exploit Chu Xiwen’s carelessness, and her anger prompts the second attack that appears to reverse their positions.
• Xiao Yuanjun observes and identifies the nature of Chu Xiwen’s Divine Ability, while True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor watches over the arranged contest.

Zhang Yuan defeated Chu Xiwen, won the promised [Interlocking Sha] from True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor, and advanced to five-turn Qi Refining. As he prepared to cooperate with Dongfang Caibai at the grand wedding, Chu Xiwen received recognition and a reward for her perseverance.

• Zhang Yuan crushed Chu Xiwen's [Myriad Manifestation Creation Divine Light] with [Life-Stealing Sha], and Chu Xiwen conceded after realizing she could not defeat him.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor fulfilled his promise by condensing a new [Interlocking Sha] into a pebble for Zhang Yuan.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor told Zhang Yuan to cooperate with Dongfang Caibai at the grand wedding and not act rashly.
• Zhang Yuan refined [Interlocking Sha] in the golden carriage, advanced to five-turn Qi Refining, and Xiao Yuanjun concealed his cultivation aura.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor reassured Chu Xiwen that her defeat was not her fault and ordered Wonderful Being to fetch two suitable earthly sha for her.

Plot points and events

• On the day of his wedding to Third Princess Dongfang Caibai, Zhang Yuan wakes in the princess’s residence and checks [Heaven’s Sight]. One future has changed: instead of showing him marrying into the imperial family, it now says the Li Clan’s daughter will come to take him from the wedding—but gives no outcome.
• Zhang Yuan suspects the daughter may be the veiled Li Clan disciple he once encountered. He reasons that her unusual standing could be powerful enough to alter his future, and decides to respond to events as they unfold.
• Zhang Yuan leaves his room with his master, Xiao Yuanjun, who is unusually cheerful and dressed in fine robes. They go to the main hall, where the wedding—and the manifestation of the [Shared Life Sha]—is expected to take place.
• There, Zhang Yuan and Dongfang Caibai are about to bow to heaven and earth when an unseen force begins controlling their bodies. The Bian Kingdom Empress smiles, suggesting she is directing or benefiting from the ceremony.
• The Western Bian Chu Clan arrives with wedding gifts, while the Eastern Bian Li Clan arrives armed and apparently seeking confrontation. Li Jiejian, pushed forward by his uncle, dramatically demands that the Empress release his “brother-in-law.”

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains wary and practical. Though uncertain about his fate, he has prepared fallback options: cooperate with the Empress if she can withstand the rival clans, or turn to the Chu Clan if she cannot.
• Xiao Yuanjun is relaxed and teasing, asking Zhang Yuan to praise her appearance and joking that he is starting a family. Her composure contrasts with the danger surrounding the wedding.
• Dongfang Caibai stands ready to marry Zhang Yuan, but loses control of her body along with him when the ceremony begins.
• The Bian Empress appears gentle and welcoming toward Zhang Yuan, yet her smile as the couple are compelled to bow suggests a hidden agenda. The Bian Emperor, by contrast, seems vacant and puppet-like.
• Li Jiejian reluctantly takes the role of challenger, encouraged by his uncle to defend the Eastern Li Clan’s standing. His accusation frames Zhang Yuan as the clan’s “brother-in-law,” despite the Li Clan’s earlier abandonment of him.

Significant themes

• Fate and agency: Zhang Yuan’s changing forecast raises the question of whether the future can be rewritten—and by whom.
• Power and control: The wedding ceremony turns physical obedience into a struggle for agency, while the Emperor’s lifeless demeanor hints at political manipulation.
• Marriage as alliance and conflict: Zhang Yuan’s wedding is not merely personal; it becomes a flashpoint between the imperial family and rival clans.
• Comedy amid danger: Xiao Yuanjun’s casual teasing and Li Jiejian’s theatrical challenge provide humor against an increasingly ominous backdrop.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Li Jiejian interrupts Zhang Yuan and Dongfang Caibai’s wedding, claiming Zhang is betrothed to a daughter of the Eastern Bian Li Clan and asking that he be allowed to leave with them.
• The Bian Kingdom Emperor dissolves Zhang Yuan’s old betrothal, clearing the way for the ceremony to continue. Zhang realizes Li Zhongshuang is among the Li Clan’s delegation, concealed beneath a cloak.
• During the first wedding bow, the Bian Kingdom’s national fortune descends upon Zhang and Dongfang Caibai, linking their lives and dividing the kingdom’s blessing between them.
• Chu Miaofu reveals that the Demon Empress has slaughtered most of the imperial family to weaken its claim over the national fortune. The group moves to stop the wedding’s outcome by killing Zhang, which would also undermine the Empress’s plan.
• Li Houjin attacks Zhang, but Dongfang Caibai breaks free of her restraint and blocks the strike, recognizing that Zhang’s death would now endanger her as well.
• Li Houjin unfolds his Eternal Stillness Dao Domain, trapping the residence in a realm where he has overwhelming authority. Before he can act, the Shared Life Sha appears.
• Xiao Yuanjun uses her divine abilities to force the Sha onto Zhang and urges him to refine it. Zhang absorbs it in less than two breaths, advances to Sixth-Turn Qi Refining, and understands the intended purpose: to create a divine ability binding his life and karma to Xiao Yuanjun’s.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains outwardly composed despite repeated attempts on his life. His rapid refinement of the Shared Life Sha reveals a remarkable ability and brings him to a new cultivation stage.
• Dongfang Caibai shifts from a restrained bride to Zhang’s active defender. The wedding’s national-fortune bond makes their fates mutually dependent, and she confronts Li Houjin for attacking them both.
• Li Jiejian boldly invokes his clan’s claim over Zhang, but the Emperor’s decree dissolves the betrothal and defeats his immediate effort.
• Li Houjin escalates from assassination attempts to deploying his formidable Dao Domain, intent on killing Zhang and disrupting the Empress’s scheme.
• Xiao Yuanjun acts decisively despite being nearly immobilized, using her remaining ability to make Zhang refine the Sha.
• Chu Miaofu recognizes the danger of allowing the wedding and national-fortune transfer to proceed, prompting the attack.

Significant themes

• Marriage as a political and supernatural bond: The wedding is not merely ceremonial; it affects the kingdom’s succession and national fortune.
• Life and fate intertwined: Zhang’s bond with Dongfang Caibai makes an attack on him an attack on her, while the Shared Life Sha foreshadows an even deeper life-and-karma bond with Xiao Yuanjun.
• Power and vulnerability: A Foundation Establishment Celestial’s Dao Domain seems absolute, yet timely intervention and Zhang’s unusual talent alter the outcome.
• Hidden schemes and contested inheritance: The Empress’s slaughter of the imperial family and the struggle over who may bear the national fortune drive the conflict behind the wedding.

Key plot points

• Zhang Yuan awakens Myriad Coexistence, a Divine Ability that links him symbiotically to another person or object. Through a karmic bond with a higher-realm practitioner on the Gang Sha path, he can also borrow one of their Divine Abilities.
• He links himself to Xiao Yuanjun and receives Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying, a power intended to help him escape.
• Li Houjin’s Dao Domain suppresses everyone and nearly crushes Zhang Yuan, but the Bian Kingdom’s empress intervenes, breaks the domain, and grievously wounds Li Houjin.
• True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor arrives to confront the empress, whose true identity is True Lord Ten Thousand Strands Imperial Decree. She kills the emperor and devours the kingdom’s national destiny, sharing some of it with Zhang Yuan and Dongfang Caibai as she prepares to fight Xuanqing.
• Amid the chaos, Xiao Yuanjun urges Zhang Yuan to flee, while she stays behind to hold off the other Celestial Persons. She then announces that the second heaven-and-earth trial has been passed and faces the impending Heavenly Punishment Trial, the final step toward Celestial Personhood.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan gains a powerful new Divine Ability and a clearer understanding of his connection to Xiao Yuanjun. Though eager to escape, he worries about leaving her to face multiple opponents.
• Xiao Yuanjun reveals her confidence and willingness to protect Zhang Yuan. She believes she can become a Celestial Person through the trial, despite the danger of heavenly lightning.
• The empress / Wanlv Chiming shows her overwhelming power and ruthless ambition, killing the emperor to seize the Bian Kingdom’s national destiny.
• Li Houjin is checked by the empress after trying to kill Zhang Yuan, but Xiao Yuanjun warns that his injury may not keep him out of the fight.
• Xuanqing Tianhua arrives to challenge Wanlv Chiming, setting up a clash between two Golden Core True Lords.

Significant themes

• Power and sacrifice: Xiao Yuanjun risks facing several powerful enemies so Zhang Yuan can escape.
• Ambition and political upheaval: Wanlv Chiming’s pursuit of national destiny threatens the kingdom’s rule and stability.
• Trials and transformation: Passing the second trial brings Xiao Yuanjun to the threshold of a dangerous final test.
• Interdependence: Myriad Coexistence turns bonds between people into a literal source of power.

Plot points and events

• Xiao Yuanjun undergoes the Heavenly Punishment Trial and withstands its lightning with ease, then announces her attainment of Celestial Personhood at eighteen. She takes the Dao title Perfect Self.
• Li Houjin considers attacking her but holds back during the trial to avoid entangling himself in its heavenly karma. Once she succeeds, he decides she must be stopped before she grows stronger and brings down his Eternal Stillness Dao Domain.
• Meanwhile, Zhang Yuan uses Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying to slip out of the Third Princess’s Residence. Confident that Xiao Yuanjun can protect herself, he plans to leave the capital.
• Li Zhongshuang intercepts him. Zhang Yuan recognizes that she is the Li Clan daughter to whom he was betrothed, but neither explains nor pursues their connection; she admits she has no particular reason for following him and lets him go.
• Li Huixi then blocks Zhang Yuan and asks where he is headed. He bluntly refuses to go to the Li Clan, drives off in his golden carriage, and escapes. Li Huixi lets him leave, confident she can capture him whenever she chooses.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Yuanjun confirms her exceptional, self-made talent by reaching Celestial Personhood at eighteen. Her achievement impresses those watching, including Dongfang Caibai, who recognizes that Xiao surpassed her own record without comparable advantages.
• Li Houjin shifts from waiting to eliminate Xiao Yuanjun after her breakthrough, revealing his fear of the threat she may become.
• Zhang Yuan is eager to regain his freedom and rationalizes leaving by trusting Xiao Yuanjun’s strength. He privately accepts her as his master despite some discomfort that she is younger than he is.
• Li Zhongshuang seems drawn to Zhang Yuan but cannot explain why she followed him. Her changed white hair and covered eye mark her altered appearance.
• Li Huixi remains calm and self-assured, treating Zhang Yuan’s escape as temporary rather than a real challenge to her control.

Significant themes

• Talent, achievement, and earned status: Xiao Yuanjun’s breakthrough is presented as a triumph of personal ability, distinguishing her from those aided by powerful origins or family.
• Ambition and the threat of growth: Li Houjin sees Xiao’s rising strength as something to suppress before it becomes impossible to contain.
• Freedom versus control: Zhang Yuan’s attempted escape contrasts with Li Huixi’s certainty that he cannot truly evade her.
• Fate and unexpected connections: Zhang Yuan discovers that the woman who stops him is the same Li Clan daughter to whom he was betrothed.

After Zhang Yuan fled, Xiao Yuanjun faced the Li and Chu clans and Dongfang Caibai, but Li Huixi arrived and revealed her standing as the Dark-Heaven World-Annihilating True Lord. She caught and punished the Demon Empress of the Bian Kingdom, then claimed Dongfang Caibai as an attendant at Sun-Moon Cliff.

• Xiao Yuanjun overpowered Li Houjin, Chu Miaofu, and Dongfang Caibai, who realized she possessed a Dao domain.
• Li Huixi entered the main hall, and Li Houjin respectfully addressed her as Little Ancestor.
• Li Huixi cleared the clouds above the Capital City, revealing True Lord Profound Firmament Heavenly Splendor battling the Demon Empress of the Bian Kingdom.
• The Demon Empress fled toward Qingqiu, but Li Huixi seized her before her escape and punched her body into a mist of blood.
• Li Huixi warned the Demon Empress not to tie red threads at random, and the Demon Empress realized Zhang Yuan's destined marriage remained intact.
• Li Huixi ordered Dongfang Caibai to cultivate under her as an attendant at Sun-Moon Cliff.

After Li Huixi rescued the Bian Emperor and severed Dongfang Caibai's connection to Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yuan fled the Bian Kingdom and entered Jianning City, where he discovered Xiao Yuanjun's portrait among the wanted notices. Safely settled in an inn, he unlocked three new talent choices but had not yet selected one.

• Li Huixi rewound time to restore the Bian Emperor, then severed the karmic link between Dongfang Caibai and Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan flew away from the Bian Kingdom for three days and nights, then headed to Jianning City while sensing through [Myriad Coexistence] that Xiao Yuanjun was safe.
• At Jianning's gates, Zhang Yuan recognized Xiao Yuanjun in a portrait the guards were using to identify entrants, but entered the city without revealing his connection to her.
• Zhang Yuan checked [Heaven's Sight] at an inn, found no predetermined futures, and activated [Person Viewing].
• Zhang Yuan discovered the new talents [Certain Gain], [Naturally Formed Immortal Body], and [Immaculate Primordial Spirit], and began weighing which one to choose.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan chooses [Unsullied Primordial Spirit] over talents that would improve his luck or aptitude for the outer dao. It shields him from primordial-spirit influence below the Golden Core level and keeps his mind clear and tireless, so he no longer needs sleep or meditation to restore his mental energy.
• The next morning, he learns that a tomb belonging to a powerful beyond-the-world cultivator has been discovered in Jianning City. A crowd—including outer dao cultivators and gang-sha Perfected Persons—is heading to the site.
• Zhang Yuan realizes that the prospect of obtaining heavenly gang and earthly sha has stirred his own desire to join them, despite his decision not to chase opportunities. He suspects a Foundation Establishment Celestial is influencing people and decides to leave the city.
• Before he can go, an arrogant maid driving a Dragon Horse carriage lashes a whip at the crowd and injures a man. When she attacks Zhang Yuan, he cuts the whip with an Iron Chain, revealing himself as a gang-sha Perfected Person.
• The maid identifies her carriage as belonging to the powerful Aohai Cui Clan. Zhang Yuan avoids confrontation and tries to leave, but a woman inside the carriage calls for him to stay. He ignores the summons and prepares to flee.

Character developments

• Zhang Yuan’s new talent strengthens both his defenses and his discipline: it helps him recognize when his judgment may be compromised and resist the pull of tempting opportunities.
• Despite this caution, he is still vulnerable to outside influence; the sudden urge to pursue the tomb alarms him and reinforces his desire to avoid unnecessary risks.
• He shows restraint by initially refusing to intervene in the maid’s abuse of the crowd, but defends himself decisively when she targets him.

Significant themes

• Temptation and manipulation: The tomb’s promise of advancement draws people toward danger, and Zhang Yuan suspects someone is exploiting that desire.
• Self-preservation over ambition: Zhang Yuan’s long-term survival matters more to him than quick gains.
• Power and social hierarchy: The maid treats ordinary people as disposable, relying on her clan’s status—until Zhang Yuan’s strength forces her to reconsider.
• Awareness as protection: A clear, undisturbed mind helps Zhang Yuan notice that his impulses may not be entirely his own.

Character interactions

• The innkeeper explains the tomb rumors and casually encourages Zhang Yuan to seek an opportunity.
• The maid humiliates the crowd and injures a man, then attacks Zhang Yuan. He stops her whip but declines to challenge the clan.
• A woman in the carriage addresses her maid, Xiao Shi, and calls Zhang Yuan to stay, setting up a possible confrontation as he attempts to escape.

Zhang Yuan refused Cui Yuanxi’s invitation to explore an Ancient Cultivator Tomb, then watched from an inn as the tomb’s barrier trapped its visitors and killed them to form a pill. He realized the danger was real and remained outside, watching events unfold.

• Xiao Shi stopped Zhang Yuan from leaving and relayed Cui Yuanxi’s invitation to help explore the tomb, but he refused.
• Zhang Yuan’s Heaven’s Sight showed that entering the tomb could lead to his death or being turned into a puppet, and that Cui Yuanxi would narrowly escape the trap without his help.
• Unable to leave Jianning City because the gate was sealed, Zhang Yuan returned to an inn and rented a higher room overlooking the tomb.
• A Foundation Establishment Celestial opened the barrier, and crowds of cultivators and mortals entered the tomb while Cui Yuanxi used a private passage.
• The barrier sealed again, turned scarlet, and dissolved visitors holding treasures into blood mist that gathered into a pill.

Key plot points and events

• A scarlet barrier traps people emerging from a tomb, turning them into blood mist to feed a pill. Cui Wenshan, guarding Jianning City, is chiefly concerned with protecting his niece, Cui Yuanxi.
• The innkeeper reveals himself as Blood Miasma, a powerful demonic-path Foundation Establishment Celestial. Zhang Yuan realizes the danger was beside him all along and quickly flees.
• Cui Wenshan identifies Blood Miasma and suspects the blood-fed golden pill is part of an attempt to become a Golden Core True Lord.
• Blood Miasma releases Cui Yuanxi to avoid antagonizing her powerful clan. Cui Wenshan then demands the release of everyone else, despite having promised to leave once his niece was freed.
• When Blood Miasma refuses, Cui Wenshan reveals that four more Foundation Establishment Celestials—one at perfection—have arrived.
• Outnumbered, Blood Miasma tears open the tomb, hurls out its treasures to distract his pursuers, and escapes east. Cui Wenshan gives chase.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan recognizes his own carelessness for not checking the innkeeper’s identity with his talent. He resolves to inspect everyone more carefully and prioritizes escape over curiosity.
• Cui Wenshan shows fierce protectiveness toward Cui Yuanxi, but his concern for the other trapped people is also shaped by his duty to the city. He uses his clan’s influence and reinforcements to pressure Blood Miasma.
• Cui Yuanxi is established as an exceptionally talented dual-path cultivator and a prized member of her clan. She is rescued, though the chapter gives little direct view of her response.
• Blood Miasma is calculating and ambitious, but wary of powerful aristocratic clans. After initially yielding to Cui Wenshan, he becomes enraged at the added demand and resorts to a destructive distraction to escape.

Significant themes

• Power and privilege: Cui Wenshan treats ordinary people as expendable compared with his gifted niece, while Blood Miasma is forced to account for the strength of her clan.
• Deception and vigilance: Blood Miasma’s disguise exposes the danger of judging people by appearances, prompting Zhang Yuan to rethink his caution.
• Ambition and risk: Blood Miasma’s apparent bid for True Lord status represents extraordinary ambition—and invites skepticism and danger.
• Self-interest and coercion: Cui Wenshan’s broken promise and Blood Miasma’s use of people and treasures as tools show how the powerful maneuver for advantage.

Plot points and events

• After the inn collapses the great tomb, the Foundation Establishment Celestials leave Jianning City to pursue the fleeing innkeeper. Zhang Yuan realizes the city is briefly unguarded and decides to seize some of the tomb’s scattered treasures.
• He uses a derivative form of [Golden Carriage Luan Chariot] to fly quickly, collecting several treasures. When he spots [Water Calamity Sha], he prioritizes it over the other loot.
• The appearance of [Demon-Subduing Heavenly Gang] draws nearly every powerful Qi Refining cultivator into a scramble. Zhang Yuan judges that the heavenly gang is beyond his current ability to claim and escapes with the Water Calamity Sha instead.
• Outside the city, he counts five outer dao treasures and the sha among his gains. Before he can get farther away, three cultivators catch up and appear intent on robbing him.
• To deter them, Zhang Yuan falsely claims to be Li Huixi of the Eastern Bian Li Clan, threatening them with the clan’s Golden Core ancestor.

Character developments

• Zhang Yuan shows himself to be ambitious but calculated. He wants to reach Foundation Establishment, yet recognizes the gap between his strength and that of true ninth-turn cultivators.
• Rather than letting greed draw him into the contest for the heavenly gang, he secures a resource he can realistically use to advance his cultivation.
• When confronted by likely bandits, he stays composed and uses bluff and social status as a defensive weapon.

Character interactions

• Zhang Yuan exploits the absence of the Foundation Establishment Celestials to compete with the remaining cultivators for treasure.
• Other Qi Refining cultivators abandon their interest in the Water Calamity Sha once the far rarer Demon-Subduing Heavenly Gang appears.
• The three pursuers—an old man, a burly middle-aged man, and a finely dressed young man—intercept Zhang Yuan. The old man first probes his faction and status before they act, while Zhang Yuan answers with a fabricated aristocratic identity.

Significant themes

• Survival and ambition: Zhang Yuan sees survival as essential, but not as a reason to abandon his goal of becoming a Foundation Establishment Celestial.
• Prudence over greed: He chooses a attainable prize over a potentially fatal fight for a more valuable one.
• Power and status: In this world, cultivation rank and clan backing determine who can act safely; Zhang Yuan tries to turn that social order to his advantage.

Key plot points and events

• Three cultivators confront Zhang Yuan, apparently hoping to rob him. He dismisses their claims of powerful clan connections and decides not to let any of them escape.
• Zhang Yuan uses [Myriad Coexistence], supported by [Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying], to ensnare the burly man and Wang Shaohua, blocking their ability to use their divine abilities.
• The black-robed elder escapes into the air, revealing himself to be the burly man’s grandfather. He chooses self-preservation over rescuing his grandson.
• Zhang Yuan kills the burly man, then kills Wang Shaohua despite the youth’s plea and threat that his clan’s Celestial Person will retaliate. Zhang Yuan conceals his identity and erases karmic ties before striking, then burns both bodies to ash.
• The elder threatens revenge and flees. Zhang Yuan pursues him in his Golden Carriage Luan Chariot, whose manifested form is far faster than the elder expects. The chapter ends as the chase begins.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan is calm, ruthless, and increasingly confident in his abilities. He recognizes the attackers’ hostile intent and treats their threats and pleas as no reason to spare them. He also uses his powers strategically to avoid future consequences.
• The black-robed elder proves willing to abandon even his grandson to survive. His parting threat exposes his resentment but also gives Zhang Yuan time to catch up.
• The burly man shifts from aggression to panic and desperate pleading once trapped; his cultivation cannot save him.
• Wang Shaohua first relies on his clan’s status to protect him, then realizes Zhang Yuan intends to kill him and begs for his life.
• The three’s encounter with Zhang Yuan turns an attempted ambush into a one-sided confrontation, exposing the contrast between their confidence in status and force and Zhang Yuan’s superior abilities.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: A cultivator’s rank and reputation offer little protection against a stronger, better-prepared opponent.
• Self-preservation and betrayal: The elder sacrifices his grandson rather than risk his own life.
• Consequences of predation: Zhang Yuan views the attackers’ intent to rob and kill him as sufficient reason to show no mercy.
• Pragmatic use of power: He combines restraint, concealment, and overwhelming force to eliminate both immediate threats and potential repercussions.

Plot points and events

• After killing Zhang Yuan’s grandson, the black-robed Daoist Ghostwind flees Jianning City, confident his knowledge of the terrain will keep him safe. He vows to seek revenge once he reaches Foundation Establishment.
• Zhang Yuan catches him with the extraordinarily fast Golden Carriage Luan Chariot, rams him into a mountain, then corners him with iron chains.
• A mortal herb-gatherer, Chen Qinkuai, stumbles upon the confrontation. Ghostwind grabs him and threatens to kill him unless Zhang Yuan lets him go.
• Zhang Yuan refuses to bargain, saying Ghostwind’s decision to seize Chen is no reason for him to relent. Ghostwind misreads this as proof that Zhang is a demonic cultivator.
• When Ghostwind starts to crush Chen’s neck, Zhang uses [Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying] to appear beside the farmer and free him. Zhang then closes in with the iron chains.
• Realizing he has been tricked and is trapped, Ghostwind prepares to use his offensive divine ability, [Mirage Wind]. The chapter ends as the fight resumes.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan is confident and decisive, using speed, deception, and a newly adopted application of his ability to protect Chen. He shows no interest in Ghostwind’s hostage bargain.
• Daoist Ghostwind shifts from smug confidence to fear, desperation, and rage. His threat against Chen reveals how far he will go to escape.
• Chen Qinkuai, an unarmed, untrained farmer, is caught between the cultivators. He behaves cautiously and is briefly used as a hostage before Zhang rescues him.

Significant themes

• Power and preparation: Zhang’s superior mobility defeats Ghostwind’s advantage in local knowledge.
• Mercy and responsibility: Zhang refuses to be coerced by a hostage, but still intervenes to save Chen.
• Appearance and misjudgment: Ghostwind assumes Zhang’s blunt refusal means he is evil, projecting his own expectations onto him.
• Desperation and self-preservation: Ghostwind’s threats and final resort to combat show how fear erodes his earlier confidence.