Chapter Summaries

Qin Wuya cultivated with Demonic Qi at Soul Falling Abyss and prepared to confront Gu Yuanqing for two objects. Gu Yuanqing sent an Incense Avatar to the abyss, where Qin Wuya challenged him to come in his true body.

• Qin Wuya told Qi Daojie that Gu Yuanqing was coming, while Qi recalled how Gu Yuanqing's actions had ruined his former life and driven him into the Death Camp.
• Gu Yuanqing borrowed Zhang Xuanlin's Sky Burning Tower, refined it, and created an Incense Avatar to travel to Soul Falling Abyss.
• Gu Yuanqing sent his Divine Soul and True Essence through the Avatar to confront Qin Wuya about drawing Demonic Qi into the world.
• Qin Wuya demanded that Gu Yuanqing hand over two objects and challenged him to come to Soul Falling Abyss in his true body.

Gu Yuanqing used the Sky Burning Tower to defeat Qin Wuya’s formation in Soul Falling Abyss, though Qin Wuya’s heavenly human split soul escaped into the Demon Realm. After containing the corrupted Qin Wuya and killing Qi Daojie, Gu Yuanqing returned the borrowed tower to Zhang Xuanlin.

• Gu Yuanqing attacked Qin Wuya with a palm strike, but Qin Wuya activated his formation and warned that their battle could tear open the world and let in the Demon Realm.
• Gu Yuanqing deployed the Sky Burning Tower and used strange fire and wind to overwhelm Qin Wuya’s formation.
• Qin Wuya spent his dao embryo essence blood to break free briefly, then fled into the Demon Realm as his body collapsed.
• Qi Daojie succumbed to demonic influence, charged into the flames, and burned to ashes; Gu Yuanqing took the unconscious Qin Wuya to North Spring Mountain.
• Qin Wuya awoke violently and was sealed as a little fish in the Heaven and Earth Pool, while Gu Yuanqing searched Soul Falling Abyss and concluded the split soul had escaped.
• Gu Yuanqing traveled to Repentance Cliff and returned the Sky Burning Tower to Zhang Xuanlin by placing it in his Storage Bag.

After Qin Wuya recovered from possession, Gu Yuanqing learned that the dangerous Visualization Method was the Heavenly Demon Sword Diagram and uncovered its history and power. Zhang Xuanlin offered Gu Yuanqing a cultivation method in exchange for freedom, and Gu Yuanqing agreed to trust him under strict promises as strange spatial fluctuations continued above North Spring Peak.

• Gu Yuanqing rescued Qin Wuya from the Heaven and Earth Pool, and Qin Wuya explained that a sword Visualization Method had enabled the possession.
• Gu Yuanqing kept Qin Wuya on North Spring Mountain until his consciousness could control his cultivation, then accompanied him to Fengtian City to retrieve his belongings.
• Gu Yuanqing examined the Heavenly Demon Sword Diagram and learned from Zhang Xuanlin that its sword seed let the Sword Lord possess practitioners, even those in the Divine Platform Realm.
• Zhang Xuanlin offered to teach Gu Yuanqing a method spanning the Divine Platform Realm through the Heavenly Human Realm if Gu Yuanqing freed his split soul and accepted responsibility for the method's Karma.
• Gu Yuanqing secured Zhang Xuanlin's promise not to harm him or reveal North Spring Mountain's secrets, then decided to trust him as spatial fluctuations intensified above North Spring Peak.

Gu Yuanqing studied the Formless Heart Sutra and questioned Zhang Xuanlin about cultivation, using the lessons to clarify ideas from the Remnant Scripture. Their instruction ended when the Heaven-Connecting Stele appeared across the Floating World, leaving Zhang Xuanlin to explain its strange nature.

• Gu Yuanqing agreed to learn from Zhang Xuanlin, who copied the Formless Heart Sutra by hand after Gu Yuanqing refused to lift the array's suppression of divine sense.
• For a month, Gu Yuanqing visited Repentance Cliff to study the manual and ask Zhang Xuanlin questions, while Ji Qingyun helped and their treatment improved.
• Zhang Xuanlin noticed that some of Gu Yuanqing's questions came from another source, and Gu Yuanqing admitted he had questions he could not ask anyone else.
• After Zhang Xuanlin explained the danger of learning advanced methods too early and asked Gu Yuanqing to honor his promise, the Floating World shook and a seven-colored light revealed the Heaven-Connecting Stele.
• Zhang Xuanlin recognized the stele from legend and told Gu Yuanqing to check whether its front remained visible from every direction.

Gu Yuanqing and Zhang Xuanlin investigated the Heaven-Connecting Stele and learned that it would open the Heavenly Ladder and give the Floating World a hundred years before a conflict with an Exquisite World. The chapter ended with Gu Yuanqing sensing that North Spring Mountain could still manifest in the Demon Realm, though something about it had changed.

• Gu Yuanqing used a Puppet Jade Token and the Void Piercing Heavenly Eye to confirm that the Heaven-Connecting Stele appeared the same from faraway places as it did from North Spring Mountain.
• Zhang Xuanlin explained that the stele would protect the world from outside threats for a hundred years before a world conflict began, possibly because Gu Yuanqing had nourished the world with demonic qi.
• Zhang Xuanlin described the Trial Path, the Heavenly Ladder, and how the stele would let the world's inhabitants repeatedly attempt the ladder and enter an Exquisite World after passing ten steps.
• Zhang Xuanlin revealed that the conflict would pit the Floating World against an Exquisite World and said he knew neither how it would be fought nor whether it would occur on the Ancient Realm Platform.
• Zhang Xuanlin said the stele's domain prevented him from sending word outside the world and warned Gu Yuanqing not to leave for the Demon Realm.
• Gu Yuanqing sensed that North Spring Mountain could still manifest in the Demon Realm, and Zhang Xuanlin asked whether it felt different.

After the Heaven-Connecting Stele appeared, Gu Yuanqing learned that it heralded a world conflict that could transform the Floating World, though its rules and creator remained unknown. Three days later, the stele spoke to everyone in the world, but only those born and raised there could hear its message.

• Gu Yuanqing asked Zhang Xuanlin about the Exquisite World and learned that its strongest known cultivators had reached the Peak of the divine platform realm, though some might have hidden their greater strength.
• Gu Yuanqing told Li Shi'an and Ji Dai what he had learned, including that the Floating World might ascend through a world conflict, and urged them to wait for clarity.
• Emperor Li Haotian received a report from North Spring Mountain, considered whether the Floating World’s transformation could let him see Miaoxuan again, and ordered officials to prevent unrest.
• Gu Yuanqing sent an incense avatar toward the Heaven-Connecting Stele, but spatial power kept it and other investigators more than ten li away.
• After three days, the Heaven-Connecting Stele blazed and spoke into the minds of the Floating World’s inhabitants; Gu Yuanqing heard it, while Zhang Xuanlin and Ji Qingyun did not.

Gu Yuanqing observed the first cultivators entering the Heavenly Ladder and learned that its trials felt like entire lifetimes despite lasting only moments outside. After Zhang Xuanlin left North Spring Mountain and gifted Gu Yuanqing the Sky Burning Tower, Gu Yuanqing discovered that Zhang Xuanlin’s puppet had returned to a hidden chamber beneath Lingxiao Mountain.

• Li Shi'an climbed the Heavenly Ladder's first step, experienced an entire lifetime in an instant, and received a bottle of marrow cleansing spirit liquid; Ji Dai also emerged weeping over memories from the trial.
• Shen Yurong reached the ladder's second step and obtained pills and a cultivation technique, while Li Haotian ordered Xu Lianying to record talented climbers for the Imperial Court.
• Zhang Xuanlin asked Gu Yuanqing to send him and Ji Qingyun outside North Spring Mountain so he could reconnect with his true body, and Gu Yuanqing lifted the mountain's suppression.
• Zhang Xuanlin gifted Gu Yuanqing the Sky Burning Tower before his divine sense departed, and Ji Qingyun and the puppet vanished as well.
• Gu Yuanqing used his heavenly eyes to see that the puppet had appeared in a hidden chamber beneath Lingxiao Mountain.

Gu Yuanqing entered the Heavenly Ladder, saw through its illusions, and fought his way to the nineteenth level before withdrawing with valuable rewards. As his name topped the rankings, leaders of the Slanting Moon World gathered to discuss its coming conflict with the Floating World.

• Gu Yuanqing entered the Heavenly Ladder and rejected illusions of his former life, his parents, and Li Miaoxuan because the phantom of North Spring Mountain remained clear to him.
• Gu Yuanqing defeated opponents on the ladder through the nineteenth level, where he subdued a fourth-heaven Divine Platform expert after a hundred moves and then withdrew.
• Gu Yuanqing received a pile of rewards, including phoenix gold and a seven-colored meteorite for clearing the fifteenth level.
• Gu Yuanqing's name rose to the top of the rankings, and people across the world accepted his achievement as expected of him.
• Bai Changbi gathered the five great Lineages at Hundred Phoenix Mountain to discuss the Slanting Moon World's coming battle against the Floating World.
• An elderly man in magnificent robes dismissed the Floating World as an insignificant opponent despite the hundred years before the conflict.

Bai Changbi convened the Slanting Moon World’s patriarchs to discuss the threat of a World Conflict and proposed inspecting the Heaven Ladder Rankings in ten years. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Ladder’s illusions transformed life across the Floating World, and Gu Yuanqing continued his daily trials while Ji Dai and Li Shi'an struggled with their memories.

• Bai Changbi argued that the patriarchs should prepare for a World Conflict, and Ji Yuhuan warned that losing could doom the Slanting Moon World.
• Bai Changbi proposed using the Five Directions Great Formation to inspect the Heaven Ladder Rankings, and Wang agreed to wait ten years before doing so.
• The Heaven-Connecting Stele made the Heavenly Ladder widely accessible, but repeated visits to its illusory realms caused many people to lose their memories or change their behavior.
• Gu Yuanqing warned Ji Dai against entering the Heavenly Ladder again, and Li Shi'an explained that Ji Dai was haunted by having killed his first wife after believing a false accusation.
• Li Shi'an admitted that the illusions had unsettled his own mind, while Gu Yuanqing returned to the trial and restarted it to collect phoenix gold and seven colored cloud iron.

Over nine years, Gu Yuanqing strengthened North Spring Mountain as the Floating World entered a cultivation boom, while Li Chengyi grew up and chose to leave the mountain to make his own path. In the Slanting Moon World, Bai Changbi and four others activated a formation that revealed the Heaven and Earth Stele’s rankings ahead of the World Conflict.

• Gu Yuanqing traded zen heart demonic bamboo with Meng San for divine platform materials, including phoenix gold, then hid North Spring Mountain in the void.
• Li Chengyi returned to North Spring Mountain, grew stronger alongside its evolving beasts, and saw through the Heavenly Ladder’s trials by instinct.
• Over nine years, spiritual qi spread across the Floating World, cultivators multiplied, and North Spring Mountain expanded into a powerful mountain range under Gu Yuanqing’s control.
• At thirteen, Li Chengyi told Gu Yuanqing he wanted to experience the Imperial Dynasty’s affairs and take part in the coming conflict between the two worlds, then left the mountain to begin his own journey.
• Bai Changbi and four other divine souls activated five Slanting Moon Tokens and a Grand Formation, causing the Heaven and Earth Stele’s rankings to appear.

Bai Changbi revealed that his clan possessed a World-Breaking Shuttle that could carry six people into the selected Floating World, then proposed using it to exploit the Heavenly Ladder’s rewards. The other patriarchs weighed the steep cost and Bai Clan’s demanded share, and the group remained to discuss the plan.

• The five patriarchs saw the Heaven Ladder Rankings and learned that Gu Yuanqing had reached Divine Platform Seventh Level.
• Bai Changbi argued that Gu Yuanqing could become a threat before the world conflict, while Chen Zongyao dismissed the danger and Wang Shihong called for a plan.
• Bai Changbi revealed his clan’s World-Breaking Shuttle and said it could carry people into the Floating World, though it required nine High Grade spirit veins and the divine soul power of nine high-level Divine Platform Cultivators.
• Bai Changbi proposed that the Bai Clan contribute one cultivator and one spirit vein, take two of the six places, and claim forty percent of the rewards.
• Chen Zongyao protested the Bai Clan’s share, but he stayed when the others did not join his objection, and Bai Changbi began discussing the details.

Gu Yuanqing lost a chance to catch a silver blood Snake when the winged Unicorn Beast severed his fishing line, then watched the people and cultivators of his world. Six powerful outsiders arrived through a space rift and began discussing how to divide the Floating World, while Gu Yuanqing observed them from afar.

• The winged Unicorn Beast cut Gu Yuanqing’s fishing line before he could catch the silver blood Snake, ending his attempt to fish for ingredients for Spirit Tempering Pills.
• Gu Yuanqing checked on Li Chengyi, Li Sian, and the cultivators around North Spring Mountain, then let Aunt Feng prepare his meal.
• Six divine platform cultivators from the Wang, Chen, Ji, Tong, and Bai clans emerged from a space rift more than six thousand li west of North Spring Mountain.
• Wang Yuchi proposed that the six outsiders divide the Floating World’s territory according to their already allocated shares.
• Gu Yuanqing watched the newcomers and wondered how they had reached the world despite the Heaven and Earth Stele’s blockade.

Wang Yuchi and the other visitors planned to divide the Floating World and cultivate its people to strengthen their gains from the world conflict. Gu Yuanqing decided to let them help develop the world, but when Bai Jianfei approached North Spring Mountain and tried to claim it, Gu Yuanqing captured him.

• Wang Yuchi proposed dividing the Floating World among the five families and establishing sects to cultivate its people, and Chen Zhengfeng and the Ji Family agreed.
• Gu Yuanqing listened to the visitors’ plan and decided to use their efforts to strengthen the Floating World while he considered his own strategy.
• The six visitors agreed to reconvene in three days and split up to inspect the world, while Gu Yuanqing stayed his hand.
• Bai Jianfei flew toward North Spring Mountain, sensed its dense spiritual qi, and decided to capture Gu Yuanqing and make the mountain his cultivation base.
• Gu Yuanqing trapped Bai Jianfei with a rope, inflicted severe pain on him, and suppressed his true essence and divine soul.

Gu Yuanqing captured Bai Jianfei and tried to force him to train Cultivators from the Floating World. After Bai Jianfei refused, Gu Yuanqing targeted another Slanting Moon World cultivator, Bai Shanghui, at Lingxiao Mountain.

• Gu Yuanqing suppressed Bai Jianfei, learned his identity, and offered to spare him if he helped train the Floating World’s Cultivators.
• Bai Jianfei refused to betray the Slanting Moon World, so Gu Yuanqing trapped him in a tower and burned him with Azure strange Fire Dao.
• Gu Yuanqing took Bai Jianfei’s Storage Bag and used the Void Piercing Heavenly Eye to find Bai Shanghui above Lingxiao Mountain.
• Kuang Tongyi recognized Bai Shanghui as an outsider and cautiously questioned him about his connection to the Lingxu Sect.
• Gu Yuanqing used the Hun Tian Rope to snare Bai Shanghui and pull him into the void.

Gu Yuanqing sealed Bai Xianghui’s cultivation and forced him to accept a Soul Imprint, then sent him into the Sky Burning Tower to confront Bai Jianfei. After witnessing their bitter clash, Gu Yuanqing decided to use Soul Seals to control the other people in the Floating World and targeted another man near the Heaven-Connecting Stele.

• Gu Yuanqing subdued Bai Xianghui, carved off a strand of his divine soul, and planted a Soul Imprint that let him control Bai Xianghui’s life and death.
• Gu Yuanqing sent Bai Xianghui into the Sky Burning Tower and told him to persuade Bai Jianfei or Bai Jianfei would be killed.
• Bai Jianfei condemned Bai Xianghui for betraying the Bai Clan, while Bai Xianghui argued that surrender could give the clan a way to survive.
• Gu Yuanqing decided to control the remaining people in the Floating World with Soul Seals so he could focus on cultivation.
• Gu Yuanqing spotted another man investigating the Heaven-Connecting Stele and used Heavenly Fishing to send the Hun Tian Rope through space.

Gu Yuanqing captured several cultivators who had crossed through World-Breaking, using Soul Seals to bring some under his control. He then gathered Li Shi'an, Emperor Li Haotian, and Prince Qing to warn them that six ninth-layer divine platform cultivators had arrived.

• Gu Yuanqing tracked down Ji Yuan despite his evasion techniques, suppressed him with North Spring Mountain's power, and placed a Soul Seal in his divine court.
• Gu Yuanqing sent Ji Yuan into the Sky Burning Tower, then captured Tong Yuefei and Chen Zhengfeng, who submitted to Soul Seals.
• The final cultivator fled overseas, beyond Gu Yuanqing's reach, so Gu Yuanqing decided to wait for their planned meeting in three days.
• Gu Yuanqing visited Li Shi'an and offered to guard him when he attempted to break through to the divine platform realm.
• Gu Yuanqing brought Emperor Li Haotian and Prince Qing to the pavilion and told them that six ninth-layer divine platform cultivators had crossed through World-Breaking.

Gu Yuanqing revealed that he had captured five of six Divine Platform ninth-layer cultivators from the Slanting Moon World and explained the threat they posed to the Floating World. After learning how outmatched they were, Li Haotian rallied the others to focus on strengthening their cultivators with the ninety years remaining before the World Conflict.

• Gu Yuanqing reassured Li Shi'an, Li Haotian, and Prince Qing that he had captured five powerful intruders, then showed them the damaged Dharma Treasure that had brought the outsiders across.
• Gu Yuanqing explained that the intruders planned to seize Heavenly Ladder rewards by ruling territories and enslaving the Floating World's cultivators, and he proposed using them as cultivation guides.
• Gu Yuanqing summoned Chen Zhengfeng, who revealed that the Slanting Moon World had five ruling families, hidden Void Heaven cultivators, and seventeen cultivators at the Divine Platform ninth layer or higher.
• After Chen Zhengfeng returned to Repentance Cliff, Li Shi'an and the others faced the vast strength gap, while Gu Yuanqing warned that he could only hold off Void Heaven opponents during the World Conflict.
• Li Haotian urged everyone to use the remaining ninety years and the Heavenly Ladder to grow stronger, then asked Gu Yuanqing to begin planning how to use the captured experts.

Gu Yuanqing negotiated with Li Haotian and the others over using captured divine platform cultivators to train their people, while pressing Bai Xianghui to persuade his brother to submit. After refining his cultivation technique and observing the Great Zhou court, Gu Yuanqing used the Heavenly Fishing Method to bring the Great Zhou Emperor to North Spring Mountain.

• Chen Zhengfeng told Tong Yuefei that Gu Yuanqing had planted a Soul Seal in him and that they had to accept their fate to survive.
• Gu Yuanqing, Chen Shian, Li Haotian, and Li Chengguo agreed on a plan to use the otherworldly divine platform cultivators as teachers, and Gu Yuanqing sent Li Haotian back to the imperial palace.
• Gu Yuanqing searched for Wang Yuchi, questioned Chen Zhengfeng and Tong Yuefei, and then returned to his courtyard for dinner.
• Gu Yuanqing released Bai Xianghui from the Sky Burning Tower and gave him more time to persuade his Second Brother to submit.
• Gu Yuanqing continued integrating the Formless Heart Sutra into his cultivation technique and observed the Great Zhou court with the Void Piercing Heavenly Eye.
• Gu Yuanqing swept the Great Zhou Emperor from the imperial palace to North Spring Mountain with the Heavenly Fishing Method.

Gu Yuanqing summoned Duanmu Jing to North Spring Mountain, warned him about the coming world conflict, and secured Great Zhou’s cooperation in preparing for it. He sent Duanmu Jing back to the Imperial Palace, where the emperor accepted that Great Zhou would have to support Gu Yuanqing’s plans despite resenting his ties to Great Qian.

• Duanmu Jing considered Great Zhou’s growing disadvantage against Great Qian and the power of Gu Yuanqing.
• Gu Yuanqing brought Duanmu Jing to North Spring Mountain and explained that the Slanting Moon World would threaten them in ninety years.
• Gu Yuanqing warned that Great Zhou’s disputes with Great Qian must not hinder preparations for the world conflict.
• Gu Yuanqing promised to send a divine platform ninth-layer expert to establish a Sacred Hall and train Great Zhou’s Cultivators.
• Duanmu Jing pledged Great Zhou’s cooperation and vowed to punish anyone who undermined the effort.
• Gu Yuanqing returned Duanmu Jing to the Imperial Palace, where the emperor reflected on the power he wished Great Zhou had possessed.

Gu Yuanqing sent Bai Xianghui, Chen Zhengfeng, and Tong Yuefei to establish Dao Halls across the world, then killed Ji Yuan to warn the others against betrayal. The three began opening their halls with Imperial Court support, and cultivators soon gathered to hear Bai Xianghui expound the Dao.

• Gu Yuanqing learned that Wang Yuchi had not returned, then decided to proceed without him and assigned Bai Xianghui, Chen Zhengfeng, and Tong Yuefei to establish Dao Halls in different regions.
• Gu Yuanqing released Ji Yuan, who refused to submit, and killed him by crushing his body and destroying his divine soul.
• Gu Yuanqing warned Bai Xianghui that his second brother's life depended on his service, then sent the three Dao Hall founders out of North Spring Mountain with their cultivation restored and Soul Seals intact.
• Bai Xianghui, Chen Zhengfeng, and Tong Yuefei announced the founding of Dao Halls in Great Qian, Great Zhou, and the Western Regions, while the Imperial Courts ordered support for their construction.
• Cultivators began gathering at Bai Xianghui's Dao Hall on Blue Dragon Mountain, and he prepared to expound the Dao to them.