Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan visited the Eastern Sunken Pavilion, where Ji Guang had transformed into Ye Xiangning to keep him off guard. Their mutual suspicions escalated until Zhang Yuan claimed the unseen presence on his shoulder was his fiancée, leaving Ye Xiangning to guess her identity.

• Ji Guang suspected Zhang Yuan was plotting against him and transformed into Ye Xiangning to greet him.
• Zhang Yuan saw Ye Xiangning and suspected Ji Guang had discovered his plan with the Mirror-Holding Armored Lord, Divine Master.
• Ye Xiangning linked arms with Zhang Yuan, but he pulled away, while Chi Guanguan teased him about his fiancée.
• Ye Xiangning sensed Chi Guanguan watching from Zhang Yuan’s shoulder and repeatedly demanded to know who was there.
• Zhang Yuan pulled Ye Xiangning close and told her that the person on his shoulder was his fiancée.

Zhang Yuan teased Ye Xiangning by pretending he would reveal his fiancée, then used Chi Guanguan’s title to test her reaction. After introducing Chi Guanguan’s avatar, he turned to his real purpose and asked Ye Xiangning about the coming upheaval around Heaven-Reaching City and Great Heng’s First Ancestor.

• Zhang Yuan claimed he had something important to tell Ye Xiangning about his fiancée, making her fear he would reveal his connection to Li Huixi.
• Zhang Yuan named [Dust-Treading Cosmos True Lord] instead, and Ye Xiangning realized he had deliberately tricked her.
• Ye Xiangning explained that [Dust-Treading Cosmos True Lord] was an ancient [Unimpeded Foot] True Lord and admitted she knew little about her.
• Zhang Yuan revealed Chi Guanguan’s Wu Earth Conceptual Image avatar, and Ye Xiangning recognized her as [Dust-Treading Cosmos True Lord].
• Zhang Yuan promised Chi Guanguan twenty boxes of pastries to make up for borrowing her title, then asked Ye Xiangning what she thought of Great Heng’s First Ancestor amid the coming changes in Heaven-Reaching City.

Zhang Yuan persuaded Ye Xiangning to support Eldest Princess Tan Chengcheng in exchange for a future favor, while privately plotting to use the succession struggle against the Grand Hua Jade Heaven Sect. He left the [Eastern Sunken Pavilion] with mysterious yang life qi for Xiao Yuanjun, after Ye Xiangning angrily ordered him out.

• Ye Xiangning revealed that she had bet on the Great Heng Emperor, and Zhang Yuan proposed that she instead support Tan Chengcheng in exchange for one future favor.
• Ye Xiangning accepted after Zhang Yuan explained that the Grand Hua Jade Heaven Sect backed Crown Prince Tan Yuming, and the two discussed exploiting the conflict to strike at the sect and its Divine Master.
• Zhang Yuan asked Ye Xiangning for help against Tan Yuming's powerful allies, but she said she had no people to lend him.
• Zhang Yuan asked whether Ye Xiangning had any of the Six Yin-Yang Essences, and she produced mysterious yang life qi.
• Zhang Yuan took the qi for Xiao Yuanjun and left, prompting Ye Xiangning to angrily order him out of the [Eastern Sunken Pavilion].

After leaving the Eastern Sunken Pavilion, Zhang Yuan was approached by a First God Cult disciple recruiting new members. He agreed to take the cult’s initiation test and followed the disciple toward its site, hoping to learn more about the organization.

• Zhang Yuan asked Chi Guanguan whether he had revealed a flaw while speaking with True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts, but she did not understand his concern.
• A black-robed First God Cult disciple approached Zhang Yuan and offered him a concealment robe and a cultivation method leading to the peak of the World-Raising Realm.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to go with the disciple and sent Xiao Yuanjun a message by paper crane before leaving.
• Zhang Yuan put on the black robe, which concealed his appearance and aura, and followed the disciple to the initiation test before sunset.

Zhang Yuan entered the First God Cult’s initiation ceremony and found that its entrance examination was a written test. As he answered its questions, he recognized another cultivator through their matching Paper Crane messages.

• A black-robed cultist brought Zhang Yuan to the Lavish Pavilion, where Elders Fang and Wang began the First God Cult’s initiation ceremony.
• Elder Fang expelled a recruit for being unable to read, and the remaining recruits sat down to take the written examination.
• Zhang Yuan answered the first two questions with ruthless strategies for dealing with Righteous Dao cultivators and fellow cult members.
• Two Paper Cranes flew into the pavilion, and Zhang Yuan recognized the black-robed cultivator at a nearby table through their karmic resonance.

Zhang Yuan finished the First God Cult's initiation exam with an answer proposing a blood sacrifice of the Five Realms Heavens, earning him first place and a nomination as Candidate Holy Son. He chose Xiao Yuanjun and Tan Chengcheng as his personal attendants.

• Zhang Yuan learned from Xiao Yuanjun's Paper Crane that she and Tan Chengcheng were attending the First God Cult's initiation ceremony, then finished his exam.
• Zhang Yuan answered that the First God Cult should sacrifice the Five Realms Heavens, slay the Divine Master, and reforge Chaos.
• Elder Fang and Elder Wang read Zhang Yuan's answers and decided his deep demonic roots made him a strong Candidate Holy Son prospect.
• Zhang Yuan placed first in the examination, and Elder Fang and Elder Wang nominated him as Candidate Holy Son.
• Zhang Yuan selected Xiao Yuanjun and Tan Chengcheng as his personal attendants, and both agreed.

Zhang Yuan completed his initiation into the First God Cult and used his Candidate Holy Son role to take Tan Chengcheng with him. He revealed his identity at her house in West City, leaving Tan Chengcheng flustered as Xiao Yuanjun stood beside him.

• Elder Fang gave Zhang Yuan a qi sea uniting spirit dao manual and promised him the Cloud-Qi Inversion Heaven-Splitting Scripture, but Zhang Yuan claimed he had a heavenly spirit root and would not cultivate the dao.
• Elder Fang warned the new cultists about the wanted demon fiend Return to True, whose real name was Zhang Yuan, while Elder Wang gave Zhang Yuan a Command Token to summon help if he encountered him.
• After the elders departed, Zhang Yuan ordered Tan Chengcheng to come with him, and she followed alongside Xiao Yuanjun, unable to find a chance to call for help.
• A figure arrived at the empty initiation hall, divined Zhang Yuan's karma, and pursued him as lightning.
• Zhang Yuan brought Tan Chengcheng to her house in West City, removed his black robe, and teased her to take off hers; Xiao Yuanjun revealed herself too.

Zhang Yuan confronted his old friend Qin Tianyi, who had come under the Great Heng Empress’s orders to kill Tan Chengcheng. After feigning a fierce fight to protect Qin Tianyi from suspicion, Zhang Yuan learned that a secret art targeting Qin Tianyi’s primordial spirit was controlling him.

• Zhang Yuan sent Tan Chengcheng and Xiao Yuanjun inside after sensing that Qin Tianyi was approaching through a storm.
• Qin Tianyi told Zhang Yuan that the Great Heng Empress had hired him with one portion of five aggregates and ten natures, warning him indirectly about the ji earth she had given him.
• Zhang Yuan launched a powerful attack on Qin Tianyi, then fought him in a staged clash that allowed Qin Tianyi to escape into the Great Void.
• Qin Tianyi said he would leave the Eldest Princess alive for now and target the Crown Prince instead.
• Zhang Yuan asked Chi Guanguan about Qin Tianyi, and she identified a secret art that could destroy his primordial spirit and sea of consciousness.

Zhang Yuan used [Heaven's Sight] to uncover a plot involving the Great Heng Empress and a strand of Ji earth, then asked Xiao Yuanjun and Chi Guanguan to help assess it. They discovered the Ji earth contained a secret art that could destabilize his Dao Domain, and Chi Guanguan offered to neutralize it while he refined the strand.

• Zhang Yuan realized a profound mystery had made him forget [Heaven's Sight] and opened it to see three possible futures involving the Great Heng Empress and Ji Guang.
• Zhang Yuan chose to tell Chi Guanguan and Xiao Yuanjun about the danger, then returned to Tan Chengcheng's house and helped secure the room against eavesdroppers.
• Zhang Yuan showed them the unrefined Ji earth, and Xiao Yuanjun identified a secret art hidden inside that could destabilize his Dao Domain.
• Chi Guanguan volunteered to handle the secret art so Zhang Yuan could safely refine the Ji earth.

Zhang Yuan refined the Ji Earth and brought Xiao Yuanjun and Chi Guanguan into his Dao Domain so they could remove the Secret Art hidden inside it. Chi Guanguan empowered her Divine Sense with the might of her True Lord status and destroyed the Great Heng Empress’s Secret Art, leaving the Ji Earth’s hidden problem resolved.

• Zhang Yuan chose to have Xiao Yuanjun supervise Chi Guanguan while she dealt with the Ji Earth, then refined it and entered the Dao Domain with her.
• Chi Guanguan followed Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun into the Dao Domain, where Ao Xiu greeted Zhang Yuan sadly and received comfort and a pastry.
• Zhang Yuan handed the refined Ji Earth Conceptual Image to Chi Guanguan after Xiao Yuanjun agreed to oversee the process.
• Chi Guanguan invoked the [Unimpeded Foot] to raise her Divine Sense to True Lord status, shaking the [Great Cavern Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain].
• Chi Guanguan pulled the Great Heng Empress’s Secret Art from the Ji Earth and crushed it into nothingness.

The True Lords in the Great Void reacted to the sudden appearance of [Unimpeded Foot] in the Boundless Southern Heaven Realm and speculated about the ancient figure’s identity and purpose. [True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds] then revealed she was heading to Eastern Heaven to punish a Hengyang Lu Clan branch that had rebelled and renamed itself the Nine Serenities Lu Clan.

• [Unimpeded Foot] manifested across the Five Realms Heavens as Chi Guanguan struck, drawing the attention of the True Lords gathered in the Great Void.
• [True Lord Qingji Huiyu] questioned who held [Unimpeded Foot], and the East Sea Dragon Lord claimed not to know the True Lord’s origins.
• [True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns] noted that the figure was in the Boundless Southern Heaven Realm, prompting speculation that they sought the central heaven conceptual image.
• [True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds] urged the others not to overthink the appearance and warned that those killed by the Heavenly Sovereign could not return to life.
• [True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds] disclosed that a Hengyang Lu Clan branch in Eastern Heaven had rebelled, renamed itself the Nine Serenities Lu Clan, and that she intended to cleanse it.

Zhang Yuan placed Ji Earth in his Dao Domain, gave Xiao Yuanjun the Mysterious Yang Life Qi to refine, and sought Chi Guanguan’s help with the Five-Direction Banners. Chi Guanguan agreed to explain how to refine the Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner after Zhang Yuan begged her.

• Zhang Yuan added Ji Earth's conceptual image to his Dao Domain, nourishing the barren land and letting poisonous immortal grass spread.
• Zhang Yuan had Xiao Yuanjun and Chi Guanguan check the Mysterious Yang Life Qi, then gave it to Xiao Yuanjun to refine.
• Xiao Yuanjun left the Dao Domain to watch over Tan Chengcheng and break through to Celestial Person Perfection.
• Zhang Yuan brought out the Central True-Origin Emperor Banner and Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner and asked Chi Guanguan how he could ritually refine them.
• Chi Guanguan said she could help with the Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner, and Zhang Yuan begged her to explain.

Chi Guanguan removed Immortal Lord Duo Ning the Usurper’s restrictions from the Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner, making it ownerless despite the karmic backlash that weakened her divine sense. Zhang Yuan received the treasure and worried about Chi Guanguan, who said she would recover after resting.

• Chi Guanguan offered Zhang Yuan three ways to remove the banner’s restrictions, but Zhang Yuan ruled out asking Grand White Edge for help or gathering the materials needed for an immortal formation.
• Chi Guanguan said she would personally remove the restrictions, and Zhang Yuan asked what she wanted in return.
• Chi Guanguan grew indignant at Zhang Yuan’s suspicion and used her ancient Great Luo status to extract the restrictions, suffering karmic backlash that weakened her divine sense.
• Chi Guanguan tossed Zhang Yuan the now-ownerless Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner, and he caught it.
• Zhang Yuan asked whether Chi Guanguan was injured and offered her healing materials, but she said she only needed to rest.

Zhang Yuan completed the Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Banners and learned how their formation could counter powerful enemies, though he still planned to deal with the Imperial City’s rulers before acting. An Ascension Realm attack then struck his refuge, and he faced a gathering of powerful opponents, including a Divine Ability from the South Sea Dragon Clan.

• Zhang Yuan ritually refined the Central True-Origin Emperor Banner and Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner, completing the set of Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Banners.
• Zhang Yuan learned that the five banners could form the Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Five-Element Grand Formation, which restricted intruders to specific actions at each direction.
• Zhang Yuan decided he would need to eliminate Tan Yuming and Tan Linchuan before confronting the Great Heng Emperor and Great Heng Empress.
• An Ascension Realm spell blasted Zhang Yuan’s house into vapor, but Zhang Yuan protected Xiao Yuanjun and Tan Chengcheng with his Divine Abilities.
• The First God Cult’s two Deputy Cult Masters, Wei Heng, and Wangyou True Person arrived, while Wenren Shangzhi’s Dragon-Shift Great Marsh Mountain Divine Ability descended from the Great Void.
• Wangyou True Person claimed Xiao Yuanjun as her opponent, Tan Duanchang assigned Wei Heng to deal with Tan Chengcheng, and he and Deputy Cult Master Gao prepared to face Zhang Yuan.

After Wenren Shangzhi’s attack scattered Zhang Yuan, Xiao Yuanjun, and Tan Chengcheng, Zhang Yuan faced Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao alone and revealed the Five-Direction Banners. He trapped the two Ascension Realm cultivators in the [Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Five-Element Grand Formation], where Deputy Cult Master Gao’s attempt to break it backfired into an attack.

• Tan Yuming ordered Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao to kill Zhang Yuan, and they enlisted Wangyou True Person and Wenren Shangzhi’s aid.
• Wenren Shangzhi used [Dragon-Shift Great Marsh Mountain] to scatter Zhang Yuan, Xiao Yuanjun, and Tan Chengcheng, while his attack destroyed much of Heaven-Reaching City’s West City.
• Deputy Cult Master Gao collected the dead residents’ dispersing qi-blood before he and Tan Duanchang went after Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan waited on a mountain and calmly faced Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao, confident they could not kill him.
• Zhang Yuan deployed the five Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Banners and formed the [Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Five-Element Grand Formation] around himself and his opponents.
• Deputy Cult Master Gao’s formation-piercing black needle was swallowed by the formation and transformed into five-colored divine light that blasted toward him and Tan Duanchang.

Zhang Yuan trapped Deputy Cult Master Gao and Tan Duanchang in the [Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Five-Element Grand Formation], where Gao identified how to break the southern banner but could not locate the hidden northern one. The formation’s combined attacks overwhelmed them and sent them back to the south, forcing them to start over.

• Deputy Cult Master Gao and Tan Duanchang survived the formation’s five-colored divine light, which erased the mountaintop beneath them.
• Deputy Cult Master Gao deduced that they had to use [Wielding] in the south and broke the [Southern Flame-Bright Scarlet-Crimson Banner].
• The formation transported Deputy Cult Master Gao and Tan Duanchang to the north, where Gao realized they needed [Ramming] to break the hidden [Northern Profound-Devouring Nether Capital Banner].
• Zhang Yuan told them the northern banner was concealed inside a snowflake, leaving the two men unable to find it amid the formation’s endless snow.
• The [Profound Ramming] cold currents stiffened the men’s black robes as repeated [Light Wielding] flames attacked them.
• The flames blasted Deputy Cult Master Gao and Tan Duanchang away, and the [Western Duguang Bridge-Sky Banner] transported them back to the south.

Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao repeatedly failed to escape Zhang Yuan’s formation and resolved to self-detonate, but an immense power stopped them and a mysterious First God Cult Black Robe entered the formation.

• Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao repeatedly tried and failed to break through the formation, eventually collapsing from exhaustion.
• Zhang Yuan told the trapped cultivators he would kill them, and Deputy Cult Master Gao proposed they self-detonate to damage the formation and protect future cult members.
• Zhang Yuan attacked with the [Primordial Form-Converging Sword] as Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao prepared to detonate their Dharma Bodies.
• Zhang Yuan planned to escape into the Great Void rather than face their self-detonation directly.
• An immense power stopped the two cultivators and extinguished Zhang Yuan’s attack, while a mysterious First God Cult Black Robe entered the formation.

The First God Cult Master entered Zhang Yuan’s formation and effortlessly destroyed all five Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Banners. After the Cult Master stopped Zhang Yuan from escaping through the great void, Zhang Yuan fled toward Heaven-Reaching City.

• The First God Cult Master interrupted Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao’s self-detonation, then entered Zhang Yuan’s formation.
• The First God Cult Master returned after Zhang Yuan’s [Yellow Springs Drink] expelled him and broke four of the formation’s banners.
• The First God Cult Master damaged the [Central True-Origin Emperor Banner] with black divine light, forcing Zhang Yuan to evade.
• Zhang Yuan attacked with the [Primordial Form-Converging Sword], but the First God Cult Master shook him out of the great void.
• Zhang Yuan concealed his traces and karma and fled toward Heaven-Reaching City.

Zhang Yuan used [Yellow Springs Drink] to escape the First God Cult Master’s pursuit, then disguised himself as a Candidate Holy Son and waited in the First God Cult’s pavilion. The Cult Master and Deputy Cult Masters arrived to meet him, unaware of his identity.

• The First God Cult Master repeatedly saw through Zhang Yuan’s concealment and sent Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao after him.
• Zhang Yuan used [Yellow Springs Drink] to disrupt the Cult Master’s attempt to track him, then hid in an alley and changed into a First God Cult black robe.
• Zhang Yuan went to the pavilion, posed as the Candidate Holy Son, and waited while drinking tea.
• The First God Cult Master agreed to meet the Candidate Holy Son after the pursuers failed to find Zhang Yuan.
• Tan Duanchang and Deputy Cult Master Gao found Zhang Yuan in the pavilion and brought the First God Cult Master into his room.

Zhang Yuan proposed extreme plans to force the [Return to True] demon fiend out of hiding, impressing the First God Cult Master with his cruelty and willingness to take advice. The cult master named Zhang Yuan the First God Cult’s Holy Son.

• The First God Cult Master asked Zhang Yuan how he had recognized him, and Zhang Yuan explained that the cult master’s strength had given him away.
• Tan Duanchang asked Zhang Yuan where the demon fiend had fled, but Zhang Yuan said he could not follow the powerful fiend’s movements.
• Zhang Yuan proposed slaughtering everyone in Heaven-Reaching City to expose the demon fiend, then suggested turning the entire Boundless Southern Heaven Realm upside down if that failed.
• The First God Cult Master rejected the plans as impractical, explained that Divine Masters could intervene if the realm faced upheaval, and praised Zhang Yuan’s thinking.
• The First God Cult Master declared that Zhang Yuan would become the First God Cult’s Holy Son without any further competition.