Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Xu Lingyin completes six strands of Heavenly Gang and Earthly Sha, emerging as a sixth-turn Human Immortal with two divine abilities. She hurries to tell Zhang Yuan, arriving soaked by the rain.
• Zhang Yuan accepts her explanation for not shielding herself from the rain and sends her to change. He decides her cultivation is already high enough to attract the attention of the Lords of Heaven and Earth, so he will stop accelerating her progress.
• He recognizes that her rapid advancement has left her Dao mastery behind her cultivation. She must strengthen that mastery before attempting further refinement or eventual Celestial attainment, which would otherwise be dangerously difficult.
• When Xu Lingyin returns in a revealing outfit, Zhang Yuan mistakes her behavior for possible possession by Ji Guang. She denies it, claiming she only wants to repay his help.
• Zhang Yuan wraps her in a quilt and tells her to change into normal clothes, emphasizing that he called her for serious business. The chapter ends as he prepares to ask her a single important question.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Lingyin is triumphant about her breakthrough but quickly reveals her bold, calculating side: she tries to use her appearance and flirtation to get closer to Zhang Yuan, while presenting it as gratitude. Her apparent obedience remains questionable.
• Zhang Yuan shifts from supportive cultivation mentor to cautious planner. He recognizes the danger of her uneven development and intends to let her build Dao mastery at her own pace. Though visibly affected by her approach, he maintains boundaries and tries to refocus the conversation.
• Chi Guanguan reacts with alarm and embarrassment to Xu Lingyin’s outfit, warning Zhang Yuan not to look. Her reaction prompts his curiosity.
• The exchanges between Xu Lingyin and Zhang Yuan mix her teasing advances with his suspicion and firm attempts to redirect her toward their actual discussion.

Significant themes

• Cultivation and its costs: Rapid advancement can outpace Dao mastery, leaving a cultivator powerful in rank but weak in actual strength—and making future breakthroughs perilous.
• Ambition and manipulation: Xu Lingyin treats every available means as a tool for cultivation, while Zhang Yuan tries to manage her progress without letting her exploit his help.
• Mentorship and boundaries: Zhang Yuan supports Xu Lingyin’s development but insists that their meeting concern serious matters rather than flirtation.

Plot and key events

• Zhang Yuan questions Xu Lingyin about what the Mysterious Court’s two Great Immortal Lords know of Sky Mountain and its metal position. She recalls their only clue: “Sky Mountain, Stone in the Mountain.” They promised to explain more after she formally began the ancient immortal path.
• With Qin Tianyi’s truth-seeking Proving the Dao imminent, Zhang Yuan decides there is no time to seek further answers. He orders Xu Lingyin to accompany him the next morning, then spends the night refining his sword qi.
• In the morning, Zhang Yuan and Xu Lingyin leave the Mysterious Court and fly through the rain toward the area beyond the Profound Ancestor Mountain Range.
• There, Qin Tianyi prepares to pursue Proving the Dao, supported by the First God Cult Master and Yu Lian. The cult has split its forces: one group supports Qin, while another plans to infiltrate the Mysterious Court and advance the scheme to resurrect the “First God.”
• Surrounded by powerful figures—including perfected Celestial People, Immortal Lords, and a black dragon—Yu Lian fears for his safety. Qin and the Cult Master tell him he may leave because his cultivation is too low, but he remains caught up in a dangerous, high-stakes plan.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan is focused and pragmatic: he presses Xu Lingyin for information, sets a firm departure time, and uses the remaining night to prepare. He shows little concern for her teasing or private thoughts.
• Xu Lingyin cooperates and reveals the cryptic clue. Though wary of Zhang Yuan, she also finds his appearance deceptive and impressive; she remains cautious about her own reputation and behaves obediently when it is time to leave.
• Qin Tianyi has advanced to Celestial Person perfection and intends to risk a rare opportunity to reach Golden Core Devil Lord status through Proving the Dao.
• Yu Lian is loyal enough to accompany Qin but plainly frightened by the gathering’s overwhelming power. His exchanges with Qin and the Cult Master emphasize the gap between his modest strength and the dangers ahead.
• The First God Cult Master supports Qin’s plan and shares his view that Yu Lian should withdraw, while the cult’s wider resurrection plot adds another layer of intrigue.

Significant themes

• Cryptic knowledge and unanswered mysteries: The phrase about Sky Mountain offers a clue without explaining its meaning.
• Preparation under pressure: Zhang Yuan’s cultivation and urgent departure reflect the need to act before a narrow opportunity closes.
• Risk, ambition, and power: Qin Tianyi’s Proving the Dao and the First God Cult’s resurrection scheme place characters in a dangerous convergence of goals.
• Appearance versus reality and vulnerability: Xu Lingyin privately contrasts Zhang Yuan’s handsome appearance with his fearsome reputation, while Yu Lian’s anxiety exposes the peril facing those with little power.

Plot points and events

• The First God Cult Master teleports Yu Lian away from the mountaintop to keep him out of the danger surrounding Qin Tianyi’s attempt to Prove the Dao.
• Outside the Mysterious Court, Immortal Lords Lingxiang and Liujing find a formidable crowd gathered: several Celestial Person Perfection experts, the First God Cult Master, and Immortal Lord True Dragon.
• Qin Tianyi announces that he intends to undertake truth-seeking Proving the Dao on Mysterious Court grounds. The assembled experts have largely come to stop him, following a True Lord’s decree that the Mortal World must not face further upheaval.
• Some urge Qin Tianyi to abandon the attempt, while others call for his death or argue that he should be befriended. Their disagreement is interrupted by the arrival of Zhang Yuan and Xu Lingyin.
• Zhang Yuan sends Xu Lingyin to Immortal Lord Liujing for safety, reveals himself, and declares that he is Qin Tianyi’s Dao protector. He warns the gathered experts to leave peacefully.

Character developments

• Qin Tianyi is determined to proceed despite the danger and appears reassured when Zhang Yuan arrives. He has openly acknowledged his identity and secured help from both the First God Cult and Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan takes responsibility for protecting Qin Tianyi and confronts a vastly outnumbering group with confidence.
• The First God Cult Master remains cautious but continues to trust and support Qin Tianyi, citing both the cult’s Divine Edict and his faith in the Holy Son.
• Yu Lian is eager to be involved, but his low cultivation leaves him vulnerable; the Cult Master removes him from the immediate threat.
• Immortal Lords Lingxiang and Liujing are alarmed by the gathering and uncertain whether the Mysterious Court’s ancestor has approved Qin Tianyi’s use of its grounds.

Character interactions

• Lingxiang demands an explanation from the gathering and then directly questions Qin Tianyi about using Mysterious Court territory.
• An elder of the Jingyang Li tries to persuade Qin Tianyi to wait, while other experts advocate killing him or dismiss the idea of befriending him.
• Zhang Yuan entrusts Xu Lingyin to Liujing before addressing the hostile crowd, positioning himself publicly as Qin Tianyi’s protector.

Significant themes

• Risk and ambition: Qin Tianyi pursues a dangerous, uncertain path despite his youth and the many warnings.
• Loyalty and cooperation: His attempt depends on support from unlikely allies, including the First God Cult and Zhang Yuan, its sworn enemy.
• Power and intimidation: The gathering’s overwhelming strength threatens both Qin Tianyi and the Mysterious Court, while Zhang Yuan’s defiant warning sets up a confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Yuan arrives to support Qin Tianyi, who is surrounded by Celestial Person Perfection cultivators sent to stop him from Proving the Dao.
• Once Qin identifies Zhang as the famed [Return to the True], the gathered cultivators greet him respectfully, mindful of his reputation and his powerful backing as a True Lord’s foremost disciple.
• Li Lingyun urges Zhang to stay out of the conflict and persuade Qin to abandon his attempt, arguing that this could prevent a battle.
• Before the discussion can continue, the Black Dragon in the clouds attacks Zhang directly. His immense power devastates the surrounding landscape and alarms the assembled cultivators.
• Zhang realizes the dragon has come for him, not Qin. He prepares a powerful sword strike intended to kill the dragon and intimidate the gathered forces.
• The First God Cult Master intervenes, declaring that he will handle the dragon. Zhang agrees and jokingly offers help if the Cult Master cannot cope. Irritated, the Cult Master tears open space and moves to intercept the attacker.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Yuan remains confident and confrontational, calmly preparing to meet a formidable Immortal Lord. His teasing warning to the First God Cult Master adds humor to an otherwise tense moment.
• Qin Tianyi proudly introduces Zhang, then privately panics when he mistakes the dragon’s attack as an attempt on his own life.
• The First God Cult Master unexpectedly takes the initiative against the dragon, showing a willingness to act alongside Zhang despite their past rivalry.
• The assembled cultivators shift from dismissive suspicion to respectful caution once they recognize Zhang, then become alarmed by the dragon’s overwhelming strength.
• Li Lingyun favors negotiation and restraint, hoping to avoid a costly fight.

Significant themes

• Reputation and power: Zhang’s name immediately changes how the gathered cultivators treat him, while the dragon’s strength unsettles even the most powerful present.
• Conflict beneath courtesy: The cultivators exchange polite greetings and advice, but their opposing aims and the dragon’s sudden attack reveal how fragile that civility is.
• Unexpected cooperation: Former rivals can become temporary allies when a greater threat appears.
• Humor amid danger: Zhang’s banter with the First God Cult Master briefly undercuts the scene’s tension.

Zhang Yuan defended Qin Tianyi from the Celestial Persons who tried to stop his Truth-Seeking Rite, while the First God Cult Master faced the [Five Black Dragon Lord]. Zhang Yuan’s overwhelming attacks made the remaining challengers hesitate as Qin Tianyi prepared to proceed.

• The First God Cult Master went to confront the [Five Black Dragon Lord] while several Celestial Persons charged toward Zhang Yuan and Qin Tianyi.
• Zhang Yuan shielded Qin Tianyi with the [Primordial Form-Converging Sword] and split Deng Qiuzhi in two with a slash.
• Deng Fufeng asked Zhang Yuan to give Deng Yici a chance to pursue the same golden position as Qin Tianyi, but Zhang Yuan said she would have to undertake true-seeking dao attainment immediately.
• A concealed expert at celestial person perfection attacked Zhang Yuan with a Pre-Heaven Spirit Treasure saber, but Zhang Yuan used [Yellow Springs Drink] to reverse its strike and severed the attacker’s head.
• The attacker regenerated his head, while the other experts grew wary of Zhang Yuan and hesitated to continue their assault.

Key plot points and events

• The [Five Black Dragon Lord] moves to subdue Zhang Yuan, but the First God Cult Master intercepts him with a powerful black blade.
• Recognizing the Cult Master as an unusually strong Qi Sea Unity Path cultivator, [Five Black Dragon Lord] offers him a chance to serve the South Sea Dragon Clan. The Cult Master refuses, declaring his loyalty to his own “Lord.”
• The two clash. [Five Black Dragon Lord]’s superior physical power and combined attacks overwhelm the Cult Master, who realizes he has little chance of winning outright.
• The Cult Master chooses to keep fighting only to buy time for Qin Tianyi and Deputy Cult Master Tan, who have infiltrated the Mysterious Court. He believes his Lord will soon awaken.
• The wider battle devastates the surrounding region, though the Profound Ancestor Mountain Range and the mountain protected by three-colored radiance remain intact. The Mysterious Court’s residents survive because they were evacuated beforehand.
• At the protected mountain, Qin Tianyi completes a ritual intended to destroy the Demon Ghost Cavern. His lightning-charged Copper Coin Sword pierces the Mysterious Court’s defensive formation and strikes the foot of Sky Mountain. The sword is destroyed, but its black energy forms a vast, indistinct gateway.

Character developments and interactions

• First God Cult Master: Reveals both his formidable strength and his unwavering devotion to his Lord. Though he recognizes [Five Black Dragon Lord] is stronger, he accepts the danger and focuses on delaying him rather than winning.
• [Five Black Dragon Lord]: Displays confidence in his Immortal Lord-level body and fighting ability. He dismisses the Cult Master’s insults and repeatedly presses him to submit.
• Qin Tianyi: Acts decisively when the moment arrives, using his ritual and lightning to breach the Mysterious Court’s defenses and open a gateway at Sky Mountain.
• The First God Cult Master and [Five Black Dragon Lord] exchange insults and offers of allegiance before their fight escalates. The Cult Master pointedly refuses to involve himself in Zhang Yuan’s fate.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus power: The Cult Master refuses to abandon his Lord despite facing a far stronger opponent.
• Strategy over direct victory: He accepts that he cannot defeat [Five Black Dragon Lord] and instead prioritizes buying time for the larger plan.
• Consequences and preparation: The battle’s destruction is immense, but the evacuation shows the Mysterious Court’s leaders anticipated its scale.
• Ritual and revelation: Qin Tianyi’s ceremony transforms the battle’s focus, ending with the mysterious gateway’s appearance.

Plot points and events

• Qin Tianyi reveals an ancient Gate of the Nether Bureau at the foot of Sky Mountain. Its opening releases immense yin and death qi, and a huge figure with glowing red eyes appears behind it.
• The qi spreads across the Profound Ancestor Mountain Range, turning the landscape gray and white and making its Mysterious Court Disciples vanish. A Day Patrol Deity emerges, followed by other Nether Bureau Ghost Deities.
• Recognizing that the Bureau has come to claim long-overdue souls, several long-lived Celestial People panic and try to flee. The qi reaches them before they can escape, trapping them in a special realm where they cannot use the Great Void or Sky Traversal.
• Li Lingyun explains that the Nether Bureau has overlaid the Present World with its own Dao domain. The group realizes they may be able to escape by using their own Dao domains to break through.
• A white-bearded Celestial Person tries to do so, but the Bureau’s qi nearly extinguishes his domain and overwhelms his power. His failure convinces the others that resistance is futile.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Lingyun draws on texts about the Primordial Nether Bureau to identify the trap and suggest a possible way out.
• Chu Yinbai articulates Li Lingyun’s explanation: they are trapped inside the Bureau’s manifested Dao domain.
• The white-bearded old man shifts from demanding a solution to desperate action, then despair when his Dao domain is suppressed.
• The gathered Celestial People, many of whom have evaded the Bureau for centuries, move from confusion to panic and finally helplessness.

Significant themes

• Inevitability of judgment: Those who have evaded the Nether Bureau’s reckoning can no longer escape it.
• Limits of individual power: Even a formidable Celestial Person’s Dao domain is overwhelmed by the Bureau’s vastly greater authority.
• Fear and uncertainty: The characters’ knowledge helps them understand their predicament, but offers no reliable means of survival.

Key plot points and events

• The Day Patrol Deity declares Qin Tianyi guilty of attacking the Nether Bureau’s eastern Gate, sentencing him to lose 800 years of life and undergo ten reincarnations, with additional punishment if needed.
• Qin rejects the Deity as an impostor and calls the Netherworld beings “Evil Ghosts of the nether darkness.” He summons lightning, apparently to attack the Deity.
• An enormous purple thunderbolt destroys the Day Patrol Deity and tears open the gray-white Netherworld. A second Gate, formed from thunderbolts, appears in the sky.
• Li Lingyun and the others recognize the Gate as the metal position [Thunder Gate Pivot]. They realize Qin’s apparent attack was part of a truth-seeking ritual array, not a plot against them.
• Qin and Zhang Yuan had chosen the Nether Bureau Ghost Deities as stand-ins for the demons and evil spirits that Thunder Cultivators traditionally oppose. The danger posed by these beings draws out a trace of the metal position’s Imago; Qin uses it to summon the Thunder Gate.
• Qin unleashes repeated volleys from the Thunder Gate, destroying the Ghost Deities behind the Nether Bureau Gate. Their glowing eyes go dark, and the yin and death qi recedes from the Mysterious Court.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Tianyi appears reckless or deluded to the observers, but is revealed to be deliberately staging his ritual. His calm defiance and command of overwhelming thunder show both confidence in his plan and the scale of his power.
• Zhang Yuan is identified as Qin’s partner in devising the ritual and supplies the true name, [Thunder Gate Pivot], when the metal position manifests.
• Li Lingyun, Chu Yinbai, and the others shift from suspicion—believing Qin may be setting a trap for them—to astonishment and understanding. They watch the ritual succeed but do not intervene.
• The Day Patrol Deity follows its assigned duty, pronouncing judgment and ignoring Qin’s accusations; it is destroyed before it can act further.

Significant themes

• Ritual and interpretation: Qin’s actions look like madness or provocation until their purpose becomes clear; the observers’ assumptions obscure the ritual’s design.
• Tradition adapted to new conditions: With demons and evil spirits scarce in the world, Qin repurposes Nether Bureau Ghost Deities to fulfill the old Thunder Dao’s role of suppressing them.
• Power and law: The Nether Bureau’s formal judgment is overwhelmed by a force beyond the local order, as Qin turns its own presence into the means of reaching the Thunder Gate Pivot.

Key plot points

• The ghosts are destroyed and the world returns to normal, but Qin Tianyi’s Thunder Gate remains overhead: his truth-seeking ritual is complete, and he is on the verge of attaining the Dao.
• Li Lingyun, Chu Yinbai, and the other Celestial Person Perfection cultivators rush to stop him. Qin Tianyi tells Zhang Yuan to let them come, then uses the Thunder Gate’s lightning to hurl them far away and leave them badly injured.
• Though Qin has only completed the first step of truth-seeking and is not yet a True Lord, controlling the Thunder Gate makes him powerful enough to defeat anyone at his current level.
• In the Great Void, a gathering of True Lords identifies the Thunder Gate as [Thunder Gate Pivot], a long-hidden Thunder Cultivator Metal Position. They learn that Western Bian Chu arranged for Qin to seek it, though the exact True Lord behind the plan is unclear.
• The True Lords debate how to stop Qin. They fear that if he succeeds, Zhang Yuan’s friendship and alliances will help him secure his new position, making it dangerous to attack him afterward. Deng Lao’er claims to have a plan, but the chapter ends before he reveals it.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Tianyi shifts from completing his ritual to confidently defending it. His easy defeat of the attackers shows that he is far stronger than they expected.
• Zhang Yuan trusts Qin’s judgment and stops shielding him from the attackers, while preparing for his own next moves.
• Li Lingyun, Chu Yinbai, and the others abandon caution when they realize Qin’s success could endanger them, but are swiftly overwhelmed.
• The True Lords reveal their mutual suspicion and political calculations, including rivalries within clans and uncertainty about which Western Bian Chu power is involved.
• Jun Tian Night-Cutting Goddess resents being pressured to fight because Zhang Yuan’s connections could effectively compel her to act. Her reaction makes the group back off.

Significant themes

• Power and political influence: Qin’s potential rise threatens established powers, while Zhang Yuan’s friendships could protect him.
• Ambition and self-preservation: The cultivators attack Qin not from principle but from fear of future consequences.
• Hidden schemes and mistrust: Even allies and members of the same clan conceal their plans.
• Agency and obligation: The Goddess’s anger highlights the burden of being drawn into another person’s alliances and conflicts.

Key plot points

• The True Lords discuss how to disrupt Qin Tianyi’s nearly completed Truth-Seeking ritual. The True Lord of Ten Thousand Cycles of Balance proposes finding an Evil Ghost Qin cannot defeat, but keeps his intended candidate secret.
• Qin, empowered by the Thunder Gate Pivot’s imago, defeats several Celestial Person Perfection cultivators and prepares to attain the Dao. He senses the true Thunder Gate Pivot is about to appear.
• Sky Mountain suddenly shakes, and a huge section disappears from its middle. The upheaval disrupts Qin’s ritual and fills him and Zhang Yuan with foreboding.
• Zhang Yuan divines that the disturbance is an old, previously unnoticed variable connected closely to Qin. After questioning him, he realizes the First God Cult’s followers on Sky Mountain may be attempting to revive the First God.
• Zhang urges Qin to stop them. Qin rushes toward Sky Mountain, but a colossal stone giant rises from its base and blocks the way.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Tianyi moves from triumphant anticipation to alarm. Despite his overwhelming new power, he recognizes the threat to his Dao attainment and immediately acts on Zhang’s warning.
• Zhang Yuan uses divination to identify the First God Cult as the likely source of the danger. He pieces together Qin’s connection to the cult and relays his conclusion through a private message.
• The True Lord of Ten Thousand Cycles of Balance remains cryptic, confident that a suitable obstacle to Qin is already emerging.
• Li Lingyun and the others recover from Qin’s defeat of them but do not challenge him again, knowing they cannot stop him.
• The conflict shifts from Qin’s earlier confrontation with the cultivators to a joint effort—prompted by Zhang—to prevent the First God’s revival.

Significant themes

• Unforeseen variables: A hidden factor already present in events suddenly disrupts Qin’s carefully prepared ritual.
• Power and vulnerability: Qin’s extraordinary strength cannot guarantee success when his ritual depends on circumstances beyond his control.
• Divination and interpretation: Zhang’s deductions reveal how partial knowledge can expose a threat, even if its exact nature remains uncertain.
• Competing ambitions: Qin’s attempt to attain the Dao now intersects with the First God Cult’s plan to revive its deity.

Plot points

• The stone giant beside Sky Mountain is revealed to resemble the First God Cult’s Demon-Summoning Transformation Incarnation. Its arrival disrupts Qin Tianyi’s completed Truth-Seeking Ritual Array: the Thunder Gate identifies the giant as a new demon that must be slain before Qin can continue his Dao attainment.
• Qin resolves to kill it, reasoning that success could both complete his ritual and earn the Thunder Gate Pivot’s favor. He gathers nearly all his power into a lightning spear and hurls it at the giant.
• Zhang Yuan suspects the giant’s stone body was made from Sky Mountain’s exceptionally hard “east-gate mountain fengshui stone.” The spear pierces the stone head, but then stops at something beneath the surface. Qin discovers a crystal-clear skull under the stone “skin” and “flesh.”
• Meanwhile, the Five Black Dragon Lord tries to turn the First God Cult Master against Qin, but the cult master refuses and continues fighting the dragon lord. He trusts that the First God’s new body can withstand Qin’s attack and believes it is stronger than the earlier incarnation.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Tianyi remains determined despite the unexpected threat, treating the crisis as a chance to advance his Dao. His confidence is shaken when his strongest attack fails to penetrate the giant’s inner skull.
• Zhang Yuan assesses the danger and recognizes the likely material of the giant’s body, but can only wait to see whether Qin’s attack will work.
• The First God Cult Master stays loyal to his plan and keeps fighting the Five Black Dragon Lord, even after learning Qin has turned against him.
• The Five Black Dragon Lord uses persuasion to try to clear his path toward Zhang Yuan and Ao Xiu; when the cult master refuses, he decides to defeat him by force.

Significant themes

• Fortune intertwined with danger: The giant is both an obstacle to Qin’s ritual and a possible means of gaining the Thunder Gate Pivot’s favor.
• Faith and miscalculation: The cult master’s confidence in the First God’s body contrasts with the apparent threat posed by Qin’s attack.
• The limits of power: Qin’s nearly all-out strike breaks the giant’s outer stone defenses but cannot reach its core, leaving the outcome uncertain.

Key plot points

• Qin Tianyi’s lightning spear—created from the [Thunder Gate Pivot] imago—cannot pierce the First God’s skull, which is made from the Profound Ancestor’s remains. Qin realizes that his ritual has failed and that there is no way to complete it now.
• Zhang Yuan offers to intervene with his own Celestial Person Perfection-level sword qi, but Qin refuses: even if Zhang destroyed the Dharma Body, Zhang—not Qin—would have dealt the decisive blow, so the Truth-Seeking Ritual Array would still fail.
• The revived First God plucks out and crushes Qin’s spear. He recognizes Zhang Yuan as the person who thwarted his previous revival and resolves to kill him, but first turns to the two Mysterious Court Immortal Lords.
• The Immortal Lords explain that they failed to notice the cult’s work because several True Lords concealed it. The damage to Sky Mountain is minor, since the mountain can regenerate.
• The First God claims to be a revived Primordial Great Encompassing and demands that the Immortal Lords stand aside. Xuanc Cong Chuarui permits him to remain on the condition that he does not use Mysterious Court disciples as blood food.
• The First God outwardly agrees, while privately planning to recover his strength and betray them later. Xuanc Cong Chuarui remains wary, keeping a lethal Great Immortal Art ready. The chapter ends as the First God raises his hand and calls [Luo Tian Dou].

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Tianyi collapses from confidence into despair, accepting that his effort—and his chance to succeed—are over.
• Zhang Yuan offers help but respects Qin’s reasoning when he understands that intervening cannot salvage the ritual.
• The First God emerges arrogant and vengeful, targeting Zhang Yuan while carefully concealing his long-term intentions from the Immortal Lords.
• Xuanc Cong Chuarui chooses diplomacy to avoid needlessly antagonizing a potentially powerful ally, but stays prepared to strike. Youhuang Miefa is more openly hostile and challenges the First God’s threat.
• The First God and Xuanc Cong Chuarui exchange courteous words while each remains suspicious of the other.

Significant themes

• Limits of borrowed power: A mere imago cannot match the original authority or the remains of a supreme being.
• Ritual, credit, and agency: Zhang’s intervention would not count as Qin’s success, even if it achieved the same physical result.
• Deception and vigilance: The cult conceals its actions, and the First God masks his intentions behind a false agreement.
• Pragmatic diplomacy: The Immortal Lords tolerate a dangerous newcomer to preserve the possibility of alliance, while preparing for betrayal.

Plot points and events

• The First God manifests his second Dharma Body, the Supreme Demon Immortal Bone Body, and uses the Metal Position imago to cast enormous blood-red nets over the Mysterious Court and several kingdoms.
• He intends to sacrifice all living beings in the region to restore his strength. Warnings from unseen Great Encompassing True Lords—who have ties to the kingdoms—force him to narrow the sacrifice.
• The nets instead drain birds, beasts, some ordinary people, and those nearby. The stolen vitality begins repairing his damaged body, which starts changing from stone into flesh.
• Seeing the First God recover, Zhang Yuan concludes he cannot win and considers escaping to Dragon Creek City.
• Qin Tianyi, who had seemed defeated after believing his pursuit of truth and Proving the Dao had failed, regains his resolve. He says he has found a way to deal with the First God: the demon’s arrival is drawing the concealed thunder Gate pivot closer, allowing him to borrow its imago.

Character developments

• Zhang Yuan recognizes the overwhelming gap between his Celestial Person Perfection and the First God’s Great Encompassing power. He prepares to flee, but chooses to stay once Qin Tianyi offers hope.
• Qin Tianyi moves from dejection to renewed confidence and purpose, believing the thunder Gate pivot may give him a chance to act.
• The First God demonstrates formidable power but remains weakened and constrained: his Dharma Body has only a fraction of his true strength, and the True Lords’ warning limits his blood sacrifice.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Even immense power is restricted by the threat of peers, while a weakened True Lord still vastly outclasses lesser beings.
• Hope in desperation: When Zhang Yuan sees no path forward, Qin Tianyi identifies a possible opening.
• Trust and companionship: Zhang Yuan’s confidence in Qin Tianyi leads him to abandon his escape plan.
• The cost of restoration: The First God rebuilds his strength by draining the life of others.

Character interactions

• The unseen True Lords silently warn the First God against sacrificing the kingdoms, compelling him to reduce the scope of his attack.
• Zhang Yuan and Qin Tianyi discuss the crisis: Qin Tianyi explains his plan, and Zhang Yuan responds with trust and humor, reaffirming their long friendship.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Tianyi destroys an incoming blood vessel with the dwindling power of the Thunder Gate. The revived [Supreme Demon Immortal Bone Body] notices him and Zhang Yuan, then uses the blood-red net to block communications and prevent them from calling the [Henggu Imperial Edict Divine Lord].
• The Bone Body sends more blood vessels to kill them. Qin Tianyi’s purple lightning burns them away and he advances, asking Zhang Yuan to follow ten li behind.
• Though the Thunder Gate’s remaining power is nearly spent, Qin Tianyi and Zhang Yuan charge toward the Great Encompassing. The Bone Body suspects they have a hidden attack and unexpectedly flees.
• Qin Tianyi uses the Thunder Gate’s remaining power to catch and overtake him; Zhang Yuan follows in the [Golden Chariot]. Qin Tianyi confronts the Bone Body and fires two refined thunderbolts.
• The lightning leaves the Bone Body unharmed. Qin Tianyi admits with a sigh that he failed to hurt him—the attack was a bluff.

Character developments

• Qin Tianyi shows courage and ingenuity, using the threat of a powerful hidden attack to make the Bone Body flee and buy time, despite knowing he could not actually damage him.
• Zhang Yuan trusts Qin Tianyi’s plan and follows at a careful distance, though he wonders whether the thunderbolts might be a genuine killing move.
• The Bone Body is revealed as deeply cautious and vulnerable to uncertainty: despite his overwhelming strength, he retreats rather than risk an unknown counterattack.

Significant themes

• Caution and misdirection: The Bone Body’s wariness gives Qin Tianyi’s bluff its effect.
• Perception versus reality: The apparent pursuit of a Great Encompassing by two Celestial People looks like a confident attack, but rests on deception rather than strength.
• Courage under impossible odds: Qin Tianyi and Zhang Yuan act boldly despite being vastly outmatched.

Character interactions

• Qin Tianyi directs Zhang Yuan to remain ten li behind him, and Zhang Yuan complies.
• Their advance unsettles the Bone Body, whose fear of an unseen weapon turns him from hunter into fugitive.
• Qin Tianyi’s bluff briefly controls the encounter, but the failed lightning strike reveals how precarious their position remains.

Plot points and events

• Enraged at having been tricked, the Supreme Demon Immortal Bone Body prepares to kill Qin Tianyi—but Qin reveals the bronze Thunder Gate, manifestation of the metal position [thunder gate pivot].
• A devastating bolt of purple divine thunder engulfs Qin and strikes the demon. After a quarter of an hour, the demon falls, grievously wounded: the thunder has destroyed much of his protected head and arms, and reduced his power to Celestial Person Perfection. The nets he held over the nations collapse.
• Zhang Yuan realizes Qin was caught in the blast and finds him alive but badly injured beneath the Thunder Gate. Qin explains that the bolt was aimed at him: the manifestation of the thunder gate pivot means his truth-seeking has failed, and the divine thunder was its backlash.
• Qin gives Zhang his original cultivation manual and a sphere containing three kinds of heavenly thunder, hoping they will help Zhang. He then dies, his Dao Domain destroyed and his Dao extinguished. Zhang buries him.
• With the demon weakened and Qin dead, the assembled cultivators and observers assume the crisis is over. Zhang instead declares that it has only begun.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Tianyi proves resourceful and willing to risk everything to cripple the demon, but pays for the victory with his life. In his final moments, he entrusts Zhang with his lifetime’s work and remaining power.
• Zhang Yuan shifts from relief at the demon’s defeat to grief and disbelief over Qin’s death. He honors Qin with a burial, then hints at a larger struggle ahead.
• The Supreme Demon Immortal Bone Body goes from furious confidence to a catastrophic defeat, though he is not yet confirmed dead.
• Zhang urges Qin to help finish the weakened enemy; Qin’s explanation of his failed truth-seeking reframes the attack as a personal backlash rather than a deliberate sacrifice.

Significant themes

• Victory’s cost: The strike saves the situation but kills the cultivator who unleashed it.
• The uncertainty of endings: Others regard the danger as resolved, while Zhang insists the real conflict is only beginning.
• Legacy and trust: Qin’s final gifts pass his knowledge and power to Zhang, leaving him to carry them forward.

After Qin Tianyi died, Zhang Yuan made it seem as if he was about to attack everyone at the Profound Ancestor Mountain Range. Instead, he searched for the First God Cult Disciples and targeted Xuan Chen, leaving Tan Duanchang and the others startled.

• Zhang Yuan unleashed his Talents and Malice Growth, causing Li Lingyun, Chu Yinbai, and the other cultivators to fear he would kill them.
• Zhang Yuan spread Three Calamities Returning to Origin Divine Radiance and his Celestial Person Divine Sense across the Profound Ancestor Mountain Range to search for someone.
• Zhang Yuan found Tan Duanchang and the First God Cult Disciples, and Tan Duanchang prepared to hold him off so the weaker disciples could escape.
• Xuan Chen secretly planned to flee while the other disciples distracted Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan ignored Tan Duanchang and slashed toward Xuan Chen.

Zhang Yuan killed Xuan Chen before the gathered immortals and revealed that he had made a deal with the Mysterious Court. Instead of accepting transport to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect, he asked for Sky Mountain’s golden position, and Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui offered it on demanding terms.

• Xuan Chen defended himself against Zhang Yuan’s first strike, exposing his identity as the Profound Ancestor Evil Spirit and prompting the spectators to recognize his resemblance to the Mysterious Court’s founding ancestor.
• Zhang Yuan sealed Xuan Chen with the Yellow Springs Drink and killed him with the Primordial Form-Converging Sword and its two Slaughter Divine Abilities.
• Zhang Yuan displayed Xuan Chen’s head toward Sky Mountain Hall, and Immortal Lord Youhuang Miefa offered to send him to the Azure Nether Immortal Sect as agreed.
• Zhang Yuan declined the offer and changed his request to Sky Mountain’s golden position.
• Immortal Lord Xuancong Chuirui agreed, provided Zhang Yuan became a Mysterious Court Supreme Elder for a thousand origin cycles or married the Dao Maiden or Immortal Lord Liujing after proving the Dao.

Zhang Yuan accepted the Mysterious Court’s terms and immediately began seeking truth by naming Sky Mountain’s golden position, Stone Guardian. He prepared to climb the mountain and prove the Dao, while True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns moved to interfere.

• Zhang Yuan chose to serve the Mysterious Court for one thousand origin cycles if he succeeded, rather than marry into the sect.
• Zhang Yuan manifested his Dao Domain and declared Sky Mountain’s true name to be “Stone Guardian,” restoring the mountain and summoning a stele at its summit.
• The Lords of Heaven and Earth reacted with astonishment, while True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns decided to push Zhang Yuan toward failure by targeting the First God.
• Zhang Yuan revealed that he had planned to seek truth immediately to catch True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns off guard, despite lacking three Six Yin-Yang Essences.
• Chi Guanguan and Ao Xiu assured Zhang Yuan they would support him, and Zhang Yuan challenged anyone who wished to stop him as he prepared to climb Sky Mountain.

Zhang Yuan began his Truth-Seeking Rite to reach the Stone Guardian at Sky Mountain, drawing the attention of powerful beings across the Five Realms and beyond. Ordered by their True Lords to stop him, cultivators at Celestial Person Perfection attacked as he advanced, but he repelled them and continued toward the summit.

• Zhang Yuan declared that he would seek truth, and cultivators at Celestial Person Perfection received orders from their True Lords to disrupt his rite.
• True Lords across the Five Realms and beings beyond them turned their attention to Zhang Yuan as he began walking toward Sky Mountain under the Stone Guardian's suppression.
• Deng Fufeng attacked Zhang Yuan with a Spirit Treasure mace, but Zhang Yuan caught it barehanded and sent him flying before taking the mace into his Dao Domain.
• Zhang Yuan dispersed a White-Bearded Elder's Slaughter Divine Ability with Miasma Wind and brushed aside three more cultivators.
• Li Lingyun and Chu Yinbai attacked with top-tier Slaughter Divine Abilities, but Zhang Yuan split them with the Primordial Form-Converging Sword, and they withdrew as he continued onward.

Zhang Yuan fought his way closer to Sky Mountain as his invincible momentum among Celestial Persons grew, leaving the First God Cult Master trapped and facing the [Five Black Dragon Lord]. His final slash was already bearing down on the Dragon Lord as the latter realized he had been caught off guard.

• Zhang Yuan's Conceptual Image gained the momentum of invincibility after he defeated several cultivators, prompting the [Five Black Dragon Lord] and the First God Cult Master to move against him.
• The First God Cult Master wounded Zhang Yuan with black mist, but Zhang Yuan drove him back with Three-Colored Divine Radiance and a powerful sword slash.
• Zhang Yuan used the [Western Duguang Bridge-Sky Banner] to cut off the First God Cult Master's spatial Escape Art and continued toward Sky Mountain.
• The [Five Black Dragon Lord] charged Zhang Yuan while demanding that he hand over Ao Xiu, and Zhang Yuan steadied himself against the Dragon Lord's attack.
• Zhang Yuan unleashed an even stronger sword slash under [Malice Growth], and the [Five Black Dragon Lord] realized too late that it was coming.