Chapter Summaries

Gu Yuanqing escaped the Sanyang Sect with Yi Yunbo’s help and learned that Shang Ziyin had trapped their cultivators in her Wine Realm. He reached the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s residence but refused to enter its mountain gate, while Yi Yunbo went to report his arrival and guest elder recommendation.

• Shang Ziyin used her Wine Realm to hold off the Sanyang Sect’s Chen Baotian and two other cultivators, allowing Yi Yunbo to escort Gu Yuanqing away.
• Yi Yunbo led Gu Yuanqing across the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s boundary and explained that cultivators had gathered at the Boundless River because of a rumor about an approaching tide of fortune.
• Yi Yunbo told Gu Yuanqing that he had recommended him as a guest elder and urged him to take the Divine Fishing Ranking challenge seriously.
• Gu Yuanqing sensed danger beyond the sect’s memorial archway and chose to stay outside the mountain gate.
• Yi Yunbo went to report to the elders, and Qiu Ziqing questioned Gu Yuanqing’s reservations about entering the sect.

Yi Yunbo and Qiu Ziqing discussed the risks of the Heavenly Tribulations and Yi Yunbo’s plan to make Gu Yuanqing a Guest Elder. Gu Yuanqing explored the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s Market Ward, heard about a coming duel, and received a warning from Shang Ziyin before Yi Yunbo arrived.

• Yi Yunbo told Qiu Ziqing he believed Gu Yuanqing was worth the risk of using the Guest Elder position, while Qiu Ziqing warned him about the dangers of the Two Tribulations of Heavenly Change.
• Qiu Ziqing explained that he had a twenty percent chance of surviving his next tribulation and advised Yi Yunbo to prepare early for his own Heavenly Tribulations.
• Gu Yuanqing visited the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s Market Ward, where he saw cultivators trading Fishing Gear and Dao Souls before settling at a restaurant.
• Gu Yuanqing overheard that Shi Ziqian and Cen Pingshan would duel over the White Emperor Sword at the Ancient Realm Platform, and considered watching if he became a Heavenly Human within ten years.
• Shang Ziyin appeared as a Heavenly Human Split Soul, questioned Gu Yuanqing’s confidence, and warned him that fishing for Dao Souls at the Ancient Fishing Platform could be deadly.
• Yi Yunbo entered the restaurant as Shang Ziyin vanished.

Gu Yuanqing prepared to fish at the Ancient Fishing Platform, refusing Yi Yunbo’s offer to become an Illusionary Spirit Sect Attendant despite the dangers. After Gongsun Miao mocked him at the sect gate, Gu Yuanqing and Yi Yunbo headed to the platform, where they found a red-clad figure already waiting.

• Yi Yunbo warned Gu Yuanqing that earth-tier dao souls at the Ancient Fishing Platform could be deadly, lent him fishing equipment, and arranged one year of access.
• Gu Yuanqing asked which dao soul attributes Yi Yunbo needed, and Yi Yunbo said Wind Dao or water would do.
• Shang Ziyin spoke with the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s Sect Master about her visit to the Market Ward and her memories of someone who had challenged the Divine Fishing Ranking.
• Gu Yuanqing waited at the Illusionary Spirit Sect Mountain Gate, where Gongsun Miao mocked him for challenging the Divine Fishing Ranking as a Void Heaven cultivator.
• Yi Yunbo identified Gongsun Miao as the sect’s sixth-ranked True Disciple and himself as the seventh, then took Gu Yuanqing to the Ancient Fishing Platform.
• Gu Yuanqing and Yi Yunbo arrived at the platform and saw a red-clad figure standing atop it, gazing across the Boundless River.

Gu Yuanqing entered the Ancient Fishing Platform despite warnings that its dangerous currents and powerful Dao Souls could kill a Void Heaven cultivator. After quickly catching a Mid-Grade Profound Tier Dao Soul, he decided to use the platform as a place to fish and cultivate for as long as he could afford.

• Shang Ziyin warned Gu Yuanqing to stay within his limits, and Yi Yunbo explained that a Void Heaven cultivator had died on the platform after encountering a mid-grade earth-tier Dao Soul.
• Yi Yunbo activated the array with the sect master's authorization, and Gu Yuanqing used the token to travel to the floating island in the Boundless River.
• Gu Yuanqing began fishing with Yi Yunbo's borrowed gear and endured the currents that drained vital energy and divine soul.
• Gu Yuanqing quickly hooked and subdued a Mid-Grade Profound Tier Dao Soul, astonishing Yi Yunbo and drawing envious attention from experts on the shore.
• Gu Yuanqing resolved to remain on the Ancient Fishing Platform as long as possible to hone his Dao, regardless of the cost in ancient coins.

Gu Yuanqing repeatedly caught Profound Tier Dao Souls at the Ancient Fishing Platform, drawing the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s attention before leaving to recover from their effects and strengthen his Void Heaven Domain. When Li Chengyi reported that a trial cultivator was Zuo Qiu’s junior fellow disciple, Gu Yuanqing agreed to teach him a suitable Soul Imprint Technique, while Li Chengyi waited under the trial’s three-day limit.

• Gu Yuanqing refined the Dao Souls he caught, and observers began to recognize his remarkable fishing skill as the Illusionary Spirit Sect and Sanyang Sect weighed its significance.
• After half a month of increasingly potent catches, Gu Yuanqing left the Ancient Realm and drank Red Dust Wine to restore his fading memories and emotions.
• Gu Yuanqing discovered that he could imitate the wine’s effects, cultivate thirty percent faster in that state, and strengthen his control over the Void Heaven World.
• Gu Yuanqing sensed a peak dao fire cultivator enter the Floating World and informed Li Chengyi.
• Li Chengyi told Gu Yuanqing that the newcomer was from the Sacred Heaven Sect and was Zuo Qiu’s junior fellow disciple, then asked to learn the Soul Imprint Technique to control him.
• Gu Yuanqing agreed to teach Li Chengyi a suitable technique the next day, while Li Chengyi worried that the trial cultivator would leave within three days.

Li Chengyi confirmed that the Sea Islands lay in the Cultivation World and planned to pursue revenge and search for his mother, while Gu Yuanqing considered seeking Li Miaoxuan again. In the Ancient Realm, leaders from the Slanting Moon World learned that a Gu Yuanqing had reached the Void Heaven realm and worried about facing him in the coming world conflict.

• Li Chengyi planted a soul seal on Chang Xudong and used an ancient oath to protect information about the Floating World before the trial rules sent Chang away.
• Li Chengyi told Li Haotian that Zuo Qiu had reached the second divine platform and said he planned to locate him through Chang Xudong, while the Great Qian group hoped to kill Zuo Qiu themselves.
• Gu Yuanqing returned to the Ancient Realm, resumed fishing and cultivation by the Boundless River, and slowly transformed his divine soul.
• Li Chengyi confirmed that the Sea Islands were in the Cultivation World and urged Gu Yuanqing to seek Li Miaoxuan; Gu Yuanqing reflected on their past and considered meeting her again.
• Bai Zongyi and other Slanting Moon World cultivators received Qin Changbin's jade slip, which showed that a Gu Yuanqing had reached the Void Heaven realm, and learned that confirming his identity would cost a million ancient coins.

The Slanting Moon World’s void heaven cultivators worried that Gu Yuanqing could grow powerful enough to threaten them before the world conflict in sixty years. Half a year later, Gu Yuanqing hooked an Earth Tier Mid-Grade Dao soul from the Boundless River and prepared to subdue it for its Thunder Dao resonance.

• Bai Zongyi and the Slanting Moon World’s cultivators learned that Gu Yuanqing had advanced from the divine platform ninth layer to void heaven within ten years, and they began planning for the coming world conflict.
• The Slanting Moon cultivators discussed Gu Yuanqing’s rapid progress along the Path of Incense and Fire, while remaining anxious about the heavenly heart warning and his potential opportunities.
• Gu Yuanqing practiced Dao comprehension on North Spring Mountain, continued fishing for Dao souls in the Ancient Realm, and spent half a year cultivating.
• A powerful disturbance over the Boundless River drew Cultivators and heavenly humans to the Ancient Fishing Platform, where they recognized that an Earth Tier Mid-Grade Dao soul had been hooked.
• Gu Yuanqing faced a lightning-wreathed flood dragon Dao soul and welcomed the chance to gain Thunder Dao resonance.

Gu Yuanqing caught an Earth Tier Middle Rank Thunder Flood Dragon Dao Soul from the Boundless River, stunning the watching Heavenly Humans. The Illusionary Spirit Sect offered him 1.2 million Ancient Coins or valuables of equal worth for the prize.

• Gu Yuanqing rejected Lu Zeyu's offer of help and began subduing the Thunder Flood Dragon himself.
• Gu Yuanqing trapped the dragon with a net of True Essence Filaments, suppressed it, and pulled it onto the Ancient Fishing Platform.
• Lu Zeyu, Shang Ziyin, Qiu Ziqing, and others reacted with surprise as Gu Yuanqing's successful catch became clear, while Gongsun Miao and Zhuang Tianlai grew troubled.
• The Illusionary Spirit Sect offered Gu Yuanqing 1.2 million Ancient Coins or valuables of equal worth for the Thunder Dao Soul.

Gu Yuanqing caught a mid-grade Earth Tier Thunder Dao Soul and turned down offers to buy it, while the Illusionary Spirit Sect recognized him as a Guest Elder. He stayed at the Ancient Fishing Platform, planning to fish for more dao souls before carefully refining the Thunder Dao Soul.

• Lu Zeyu warned Gu Yuanqing that refining an Earth Tier Dao Soul was dangerous and offered help, then speculated with Elder He about Gu Yuanqing's background and rumors surrounding the Slanting Moon World.
• Gu Xiaotian of the Lingye Sect asked to buy Gu Yuanqing's Thunder Dao Soul, but Gu Yuanqing refused because he cultivated the Thunder Dao Law himself.
• Qiu Ziqing congratulated Gu Yuanqing and recognized him as an Illusionary Spirit Sect Guest Elder, then offered to guard him while he refined the dao soul.
• Gu Yuanqing chose to remain at the Ancient Fishing Platform for more than four months, intending to catch dao souls for Qiu Ziqing's disciple before restoring himself and refining the Thunder Dao Soul.

Gu Yuanqing refined an earth-tier Dao Soul, mastered the Path of Thunder, and advanced to half a step from the Heavenly Human Realm. After returning from the Ancient Fishing Platform, he declined the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s invitation to visit its mountain and receive a Guest Elder Token.

• Gu Yuanqing defeated the Thunder Flood Dragon’s consciousness and absorbed the Dao Soul’s years of experience, gaining insight into the Path of Thunder.
• After recovering from the Dao Soul’s influence with the Red Dust Wine, Gu Yuanqing refined his insights and brought his Void Heaven World closer to Perfection.
• When the year ended, Gu Yuanqing returned from the Ancient Fishing Platform and greeted Qiu Ziqing and Yi Yunbo, who noticed his cultivation had advanced considerably.
• Qiu Ziqing hosted Gu Yuanqing at a feast, and Yi Yunbo invited him to the Illusionary Spirit Sect’s mountain to receive a Guest Elder Token from the Sect Master.
• Gu Yuanqing declined to visit the mountain, explaining that he did not want to trouble the Sect Master, while privately avoiding the risk.

Gu Yuanqing returned to the Ancient Fishing Platform for another year, catching Dao Souls of remarkable quality and attracting growing attention from cultivators at the Boundless River. When his year ended, he faced a crowd of visitors eager to meet him and build ties.

• Gu Yuanqing and Yi Yunbo settled the payment for the Fishing Rod and Storage Bag, and Gu Yuanqing offered two profound-tier Dao Souls to rent the Ancient Fishing Platform for another year.
• Elder Qiu gave Gu Yuanqing the Upper Garden Residence, and Yi Yunbo delivered his Guest Elder Token and Fishing Platform Token the next morning.
• Gu Yuanqing resumed fishing and caught a three-tailed fire fox earth-tier Dao Soul, while cultivators who came to visit him found that he had already left the courtyard.
• Over the following year, Gu Yuanqing caught numerous profound-tier Dao Souls and three earth-tier Dao Souls, drawing spectators and filling the other Ancient Fishing Platforms with fishermen.
• When Gu Yuanqing returned after the year ended, Yi Yunbo explained that word of his fishing had spread, and cultivators from the Illusionary Spirit Sect and other sects came to greet him.

Gu Yuanqing reunited with Zheng Kun and learned that Zhuang Tianlai had lost his True Disciple position after his injury and that Zheng was being hunted because Zhuang blamed him for their past conflict. The next day, Gu Yuanqing asked Yi Yunbo to manage and trade his Dao Souls, preparing for a possible departure from the Ancient Realm.

• Gu Yuanqing greeted Zheng Kun at the Ancient Fishing Platform and introduced him to Yi Yunbo as the man who had taught him about catching Dao Souls.
• Zheng Kun criticized the Sanyang Sect, and Yi Yunbo invited him and Gu Yuanqing to a meal.
• Yi Yunbo secretly told Gu Yuanqing that Zhuang Tianlai had lost his True Disciple position and was taking revenge on Zheng Kun by hunting him.
• The next day, Gu Yuanqing asked Yi Yunbo to store and trade his Dao Souls for resources, offering him ten percent of their value.
• Gu Yuanqing explained that he might leave the Ancient Realm and would need Yi Yunbo's connections to handle future Dao Soul trades.

Gu Yuanqing left the Illusionary Spirit Sect Residence to prepare for his breakthrough, while the sect shielded him from heavenly humans following him. After years of cultivation and experience among mortals, his divine soul and Void Heaven World reached perfection, and he sensed that the heavenly human realm had arrived.

• Gu Yuanqing entrusted Yi Yunbo with his belongings and asked him to protect Zheng Kun within the Illusionary Spirit Sect's territory.
• Two heavenly humans followed Gu Yuanqing from the sect residence, but Qiu Ziqing and another disciple intercepted them on the sect's behalf.
• Gu Yuanqing escaped into the mountains, concealed his trail, and left the Ancient Realm after setting up protective formations.
• Gu Yuanqing spent years cultivating on North Spring Mountain, observing the world and living through ordinary mortal experiences with his incense avatar.
• Gu Yuanqing's state of mind settled, his divine soul harmonized with the Dao resonance, and he reached the perfection of Void Heaven, sensing the heavenly human realm had arrived.

Gu Yuanqing began his breakthrough, summoning a Heavenly Tribulation that overwhelmed North Spring Mountain and drew the attention of the Floating World’s cultivators and rulers. He revealed that the Calamity had descended across the Floating World, Demon Realm, and Cultivation World at once.

• Gu Yuanqing announced that he would break through and warned the people around North Spring Mountain not to panic when the Heavenly Tribulation came.
• Li Shi'an, Ji Dai, Qin Wuya, Li Haotian, and other cultivators gathered to watch the Calamity clouds gather over North Spring Peak.
• Li Chengyi ended court and hurried to North Spring Mountain, while Crown Prince Li Guanrong followed after him.
• Gu Yuanqing drew Li Chengyi into the Calamity’s reach and caught a lightning bolt before it could harm him.
• Li Chengyi sensed that the Heavenly Calamity was only one part of something larger, and Gu Yuanqing showed him the same storm raging over all three worlds.

Gu Yuanqing began his heavenly human tribulation on North Spring Mountain, drawing the attention of the Three Realms and enduring its first lightning strikes. He realized the Calamity lightning was transforming his void heaven world and divine soul, while the tribulation remained underway.

• Gu Yuanqing sent Li Chengyi, Aunt Feng, and the other living creatures away from the main peak before unfolding his void heaven domain.
• Bai Xianghui watched the tribulation and concluded that Gu Yuanqing alone could overwhelm the Slanting Moon World, while Xiong Mo and Xiong Ba observed from Bamboo Mountain.
• Gu Yuanqing monitored the tribulation's effects across the Three Realms and felt relief when the disturbance failed to wake the Undersea Divine Turtle.
• Gu Yuanqing took the final step into the heavenly human realm, provoking the Three Realms' Calamity clouds to gather lightning.
• Gu Yuanqing let three bolts strike his void heaven world and sensed the lightning breaking and reforming its dao resonance while awakening pure yang in his divine soul.

Gu Yuanqing used the Heavenly Tribulation on North Spring Mountain to study the yin-yang dao, then forced the clouds to gather again after surviving its ninth bolt. As he faced a second tribulation, Bai Zongyi negotiated with the Main Family to have Gu Yuanqing killed in exchange for the Danlin Token Seal.

• Gu Yuanqing absorbed the successive Calamity lightning bolts while studying their transformations, aided by Mountain Observation and Object Control.
• The ninth bolt struck Gu Yuanqing, completing one stage of his transformation toward the heavenly human level.
• Gu Yuanqing drew the dispersing Calamity clouds back together because the tribulation had not let him explore the yin-yang dao enough.
• Xiong Mo and Xiong Ba realized Gu Yuanqing was undergoing two tribulations in succession.
• Bai Zongyi offered the Main Family the Danlin Token Seal in return for killing Gu Yuanqing and helping him win the world conflict.

Bai Zongyi agreed to surrender the Danlin Token Seal to the Bai Clan Main Family in exchange for his branch keeping the Slanting Moon World as a place to settle. As Gu Yuanqing endured another Heavenly Tribulation on North Spring Mountain, Bai Hong entered the Underworld to reach Bai Xianghui, while a mysterious Black-Robed Middle-Aged Man failed to see through the mountain’s concealed heavenly secrets.

• Bai Zongyi accepted the Main Family’s terms, giving up the Danlin Token Seal to preserve the Slanting Moon World for his branch.
• Bai Hong took the seal and prepared to enter the Floating World through the Underworld, using Bai Xianghui’s soul lamp to guide him and planning to place part of his divine soul in Bai Xianghui.
• Gu Yuanqing faced the Second Heavenly Change Tribulation, while Li Chengyi and the others struggled under its aura until Gu Yuanqing shielded them with North Spring Mountain’s power.
• The Heaven and Earth Stele began glowing as the tribulation’s power reached the limit the Floating World could endure, and Gu Yuanqing’s Heavenly Human World grew stronger.
• Bai Hong traveled through the Underworld toward Bai Xianghui, while a Black-Robed Middle-Aged Man failed to reveal the tribulation on North Spring Mountain with the Mysterious Light Mirror.

Gu Yuanqing survived his second Heavenly Tribulation and gained a stronger Divine Soul, while a heavenly human named Bai Hong arrived through the Lunar Bell to pursue the Bai Clan’s plan against him. Bai Hong possessed Bai Xianghui’s body and began forcing it to cultivate despite its inability to withstand the power.

• Gu Yuanqing absorbed the final bolt of the Heavenly Tribulation into his domain, completed his second tribulation, and gained the heavenly human split soul.
• Li Chengyi and the others relaxed after Gu Yuanqing survived, while Bai Xianghui silently accepted that he could not oppose Gu Yuanqing.
• Bai Hong arrived from the Underworld inside the Lunar Bell and confronted Bai Xianghui in his Divine Court.
• Bai Xianghui’s Soul Seal prevented him from revealing what he knew about Bai Zongyi’s plot against Gu Yuanqing.
• Bai Hong sealed Bai Xianghui and took control of his body, then drew in spiritual qi to force his cultivation higher as his body began to crack.

Bai Hong advanced his cultivation on Long Mountain and drove off a Heavenly Policy Mansion attendant who came to investigate. Meanwhile, Gu Yuanqing vanished from the Heaven Ladder Rankings despite still being alive, unsettling the Floating World, and Bai Hong prepared to confront him.

• Void Form investigated the spiritual qi gathering around Long Mountain, but Bai Hong struck him from a hundred li away and sent him fleeing with severe injuries.
• Li Chengyi and the others discovered that Gu Yuanqing's name had vanished from the Heaven Ladder Rankings, though he remained meditating atop North Spring Mountain.
• Li Chengyi flew back to Fengtian City after Li Haotian warned that the missing name could provoke unrest across Great Qian.
• Chen Zhengfeng and Tong Yuefei sensed through their Soul Seals that Gu Yuanqing was safe, even as the seals' control grew stronger.
• Bai Hong pushed his cultivation close to Void Heaven Great Accomplishment, took out the Lunar Bell, and wondered why Gu Yuanqing's name was absent from the Heaven and Earth Stele.

Bai Hong arrived at North Spring Mountain seeking Gu Yuanqing and the Danlin Token imprint, believing Gu Yuanqing might be dead. When Li Shi'an and Ji Dai confronted him, Bai Hong overwhelmed them and attacked the mountain, prompting Gu Yuanqing to open his eyes.

• Bai Hong surveyed the Heaven Ladder Rankings, flew to North Spring Mountain, and found its spiritual energy and defenses unusual.
• Bai Hong demanded that someone in charge come out and asked Li Shi'an where Gu Yuanqing was.
• Bai Hong concluded Gu Yuanqing was likely dead and ordered the mountain's array formation opened, threatening its defenders.
• Bai Hong's aura sent Li Shi'an crashing down, and he broke Ji Dai's sword with a flick of his finger.
• Bai Hong gathered spiritual energy into a massive palm and struck toward North Spring Mountain as Gu Yuanqing opened his eyes.