Chapter Summaries

Li Chen refused Mo Qing’s request to join the dangerous mission but promised to nurture her disciples, including Li Baiyan. He and Pan Ning prepared the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio to enter Immortal Alliance territory and advance Pan Ning’s Hu Meiniang avatar, and the troupe set sail from Cloud Province.

• Li Chen told Mo Qing that her exposed Grandmaster Artisan status made the journey too dangerous, but invited Li Baiyan and promised to help train Soundless Heavenly Palace disciples.
• Mo Qing selected several disciples and sent them to Cloud Province while Li Chen and Pan Ning prepared an Immortal Ship, the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio, and a tour through the Central Sea Lands toward the Earthly Immortal Continent.
• Li Chen explained that the troupe would use Art Dao performances to gain access to powerful figures and help Pan Ning’s avatar attain the Dao, while Pan Ning agreed to conceal his strength.
• At the end of the year, the troupe assembled in Cloud Province, where Li Baiyan kept Pan Ning’s true identity secret.
• After Li Baiyan confirmed that everything was ready, Pan Ning ordered the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio to set sail.

In Stargazing City, the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio broadcast Gu Yue Fairy’s performance across the harbor, captivating the city with her song about the moon. The performance succeeded and gathered incense and fire prayer power for her.

• Rogue cultivators in a teahouse discussed the coming tour by the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio from the Soundless Heavenly Palace.
• The studio projected its performance across the sky above Stargazing City, allowing residents without tickets to watch.
• Gu Yue Fairy performed “When Will the Bright Moon Appear?” as the sky and music transformed the city into an immersive spectacle.
• The crowd praised Gu Yue Fairy’s lyrics, music, and voice, and many listeners were deeply moved.
• Gu Yue Fairy collected incense and fire prayer power from the performance and privately rejoiced at its success.

Pan Ning, Li Baiyan, Han Li, and the Soundless Heavenly Palace disciples gained incense and fire prayer power through performances that made the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio famous across Wufu. As the tour’s returns diminished, Li Chen decided to begin experimenting with distributing recorded performances through the puppet world heavenly net.

• Pan Ning performed as Gu Yue Fairy, using a voice recorded by Mo Qing, and Li Baiyan realized the audience’s devotion could support cultivation through incense and fire prayer power.
• Li Baiyan sang and cultivated with the prayer power she received, then Han Li performed a sword dance as Gongsun Liniang and gathered recognition from Sword Cultivators.
• The other Soundless Heavenly Palace disciples performed, and data showed that millions watched while many approved and contributed prayer power to the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio.
• The studio held more than ten shows across nearby cities, and its performers rose to fame as repeated performances yielded less prayer power from the same audiences.
• Li Chen discussed expanding the group with Gu Yue Yu'er, then chose to test distributing recorded performances through jade slips or the puppet world heavenly net.

Cultivators in Dujin City queued to buy a Gu Yue Yu'er album made with Universal Knowledge Jade Talismans, while Li Chen’s virtual-reality technology made the experience remarkably immersive. A father caught his son neglecting his studies to enjoy the album, then became captivated by Gu Yue Yu'er himself and decided he might have another child.

• Cultivators and locals waited under the summer sun to buy a Gu Yue Yu'er jade disc, while two older rogue cultivators complained that people’s hearts had changed.
• A young cultivator in line resolved to buy Gu Yue Yu'er's disc, even if he had to sell his possessions.
• A white-robed disciple enjoyed Gu Yue Yu'er's immersive simulated performance using a Universal Knowledge Jade Talisman.
• The disciple’s father burst into his room and scolded him for neglecting cultivation and falling behind in his studies.
• The father spotted the disc, became infatuated with Gu Yue Yu'er, and thought he might remarry and have another son.

Li Chen observed how the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio’s fame boosted sales and spread cultural influence, while Heavenly Pivot reported useful data for cultural dissemination. Enraged by his slowed cultivation, Youxuan devised a way to exploit the public’s adoration of Gu Yue Yu’er and sent out lifelike paper figures of her.

• Li Chen noted that the Seven Wonders fairies’ popularity had increased sales of Universal Knowledge Jade Talismans and Mind Core devices, and considered the strategic value of cultural influence.
• Heavenly Pivot reported that the studio’s rise had yielded data on economic models, media, and the spread of culture.
• Youxuan fumed that Han Tong’s warning had forced him to slow his cultivation and suspected Li Chen had acted against him.
• Youxuan decided to use the public’s fantasies about Gu Yue Yu’er to gather dissipated spiritual energy without revealing himself or taking life force.
• Youxuan created lifelike paper figures resembling Gu Yue Yu’er and sent them flying in every direction.

Li Chen defended his covert influence in Pian Province to Dharma King Yuanhao, who warned him against spreading new armaments and the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio’s methods. After Yuanhao left, Li Chen ordered his people to withdraw and scaled back trade to avoid provoking the Immortal Alliance.

• Li Chen continued researching a virtual network phantom as a way to develop his heavenly ghost Dao Fruit.
• Dharma King Yuanhao confronted Li Chen about supplying new armaments to bandits in Pian Province and asked about the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio.
• Li Chen defended puppet masters’ innovations and argued that they had made cultivation resources easier to produce and obtain.
• Dharma King Yuanhao warned that he would not allow the Studio’s people onto the Earthly Immortal Continent, then left without receiving a satisfactory answer.
• Li Chen told Heavenly Pivot to withdraw their people from Pian Province and route supplies through public warehouses, suspending most trade in materials and Pill Dao techniques.

Li Chen reflected on the Immortal Alliance’s restrictions and Meng Fuyun’s growing influence in Nan Province. Meng Fuyun prepared to forge a powerful Nine-Star Battle Puppet, hoping to become a Grandmaster-level figure, and began the process under his personal supervision.

• Li Chen recognized that the Immortal Alliance had grown wary of the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio and was restricting it while its Immortal Ship traveled to Nan Province.
• Meng Fuyun used his knowledge of the Puppet Dao to make Nan Province prosperous and build a major Immortal Alliance stronghold.
• Meng Fuyun developed the ambition to create a Divine Ability-powered Magical Treasure and advance to the level of a Grandmaster comparable to a Primordial Spirit cultivator.
• Meng Fuyun prepared a vast volcanic furnace and planned to use Human-Weapon Living Soldier, Rune Beast, and Venerable Treasure techniques to forge his own Nine-Star Battle Puppet.
• Meng Fuyun ordered the operation to begin and returned to the formation’s Control Center to supervise the automated facilities.

Meng Fuyun used a vast array of rare materials and the volcano’s power to refine a Copper Bird magical treasure. He placed his own heavenly soul inside it as its artifact spirit, completing a Human-Weapon Living Soldier that returned to his shoulder with an aura matching his own.

• Meng Fuyun presided over the refining array and fed essence souls and rare materials into the furnace.
• As the refining continued for forty-nine days, the Artifact Dao disciples outside grew puzzled by the conflicting materials and the prolonged process.
• A three-headed, three-legged Golden Crow burst from the volcanic crater, restrained by chains and absorbing the volcano’s flame baleful energy.
• Meng Fuyun sent his divine soul into the Copper Bird and used secret arts and medicines to endure the dangerous final stage.
• The Copper Bird came alive and settled on Meng Fuyun’s shoulder, prompting the arriving disciples to recognize it as a Human-Weapon Living Soldier made with his own soul.

Meng Fuyun revealed that he had fused Nan Province’s main earth vein into his lifebound Sun Godbird and explained that he had done so to pursue the Dao and escape the contempt he faced as an Outer Dao craftsman. He left the Immortal Alliance factions with a choice: keep funding him or risk confronting his Primordial Spirit-level treasure.

• Meng Fuyun confirmed that his Sun Godbird was a Human-Weapon Living Soldier fused with his Divine Soul and made into his lifebound Magical Treasure.
• A disciple reported that the volcano at Nan Province’s formation nexus had gone out, and Meng Fuyun admitted he had extracted its main vein to forge the Sun Godbird.
• Immortal Alliance disciples challenged Meng Fuyun, while Old Man Qiu arrived and asked him to explain what had happened.
• Zhu Qing arrived, and Meng Fuyun recalled how she and Langhuan Blessed Land had helped him after he fled Chess Mountain, then described the contempt and helplessness he had endured as an Outer Dao craftsman.
• Meng Fuyun declared that his Sun Godbird had genuine Primordial Spirit-level fighting strength and announced that he would borrow more money until he attained Primordial Spirit.

Li Chen learned that Meng Fuyun had swindled powerful groups across Nan Province and blamed Li Chen’s influence on the cultivation world’s new financial risks. To repay his victims, Meng Fuyun turned the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio’s visit into a booming Songstress Doll business that spread across the region and inspired imitators.

• Dharma King Yuanhao accused Li Chen of making the cultivation world greedy, then cut contact before Li Chen learned Meng Fuyun had swindled blessed lands and clans across the Earthly Immortal Continent.
• Li Chen reflected on Meng Fuyun’s rise and the changes in the cultivation world as more people gained access to cultivation resources.
• Meng Fuyun appeased his angry clients and preserved Colorful Cloud Peak, but signed contracts promising to repay their losses.
• When the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio arrived in Nan Province, Meng Fuyun recorded the fairies’ images and sold discs, then partnered with a Puppet Dao Workshop to produce lifelike Songstress Dolls.
• Buyers snapped up the dolls, and Puppet Masters across several regions copied Meng Fuyun’s idea and began selling new entertainment and practical puppets to ordinary people.

Li Chen defended Meng Fuyun’s Songstress Dolls as a sign that cultivation arts were beginning to serve ordinary people, while the Immortal Alliance struggled to contain the cultural changes spreading across the Earthly Immortal Continent. In early September of year 177, the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio applied to enter the continent, forcing the Alliance to decide whether to admit them.

• Li Chen told Pan Ning to allow Songstress Dolls bearing Gu Yue Yu'er's likeness to spread, while banning imitations of the other women to protect the younger disciples.
• Li Chen explained that the dolls and the growing uprising in Pian Province reflected a transformation that would bring cultivation arts and rights to ordinary people.
• The Immortal Alliance watched singer culture spread among cultivators and could only promote traditional Dao paths while exchanges between the two sides continued to increase.
• In early September of year 177, the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio detoured around the war in Pian Province and applied to enter the Earthly Immortal Continent.
• The Immortal Alliance's senior leaders faced the question of whether to admit the women.

Li Chen completed the mental certification of the imaginary-number law and used it to create an ultraminiature star. He then began an artificial neutron star experiment in a secluded grotto-heaven.

• Youxuan entered the Earthly Immortal Continent with the Celestial Seven Wonders Studio and strengthened his Dao Fruit through the growing network of songstress Puppet Dolls.
• Traditional cultivators, including Dharma King Yuanhao, withdrew into seclusion as the cultivation world’s ties with mortal society grew closer.
• Li Chen successfully merged the imaginary-number law into his dharma body as a mental certification Dao Fruit.
• Li Chen visited Yu Bao and collected materials for an experiment in the Cloudview Heaven grotto-heaven.
• Li Chen used imaginary-number law and magnetic origin restrictions to form an ultraminiature star, then began an artificial neutron star experiment.

Li Chen attempted to create a neutron aggregate by using magic power to compress pure neutrons, hoping to uncover principles that could lead to neutron stars and black holes. After the aggregate briefly formed and exploded, he confirmed his success and began another attempt.

• Li Chen gathered atomic nuclei in Cloudview Heaven and used his magic power to strip away their protons and bind the remaining neutrons.
• A hazy sphere formed as its force field warped light and spacetime, but it soon exploded with immense force, and Li Chen escaped into imaginary number space.
• Yu Bao and the others asked Li Chen whether the high-energy explosion meant his experiment had failed.
• Li Chen reviewed the Time Mirror recording and declared that he had created a genuine neutron aggregate, though he had not yet mastered how to keep it together.
• Li Chen reproduced an egg-sized neutron aggregate, which expanded and exploded with power comparable to hundreds of millions of tons of explosives.
• Li Chen saw the potential for creating neutron stars and black holes, then began another attempt.

Li Chen developed a stable, fist-sized sphere of neutron aggregate and transformed his avatar into a neutron dharma body. The transformation gave him the Heavenly Ghost’s Perspective and advanced his magic power, and he prepared to test the body with the First Heaven Fleet.

• Li Chen’s attempt to shape neutron aggregate using only mortal methods failed, so he tried stabilizing it with Time Stop and other laws.
• Li Chen created a mirror-smooth, fist-sized miniature neutron star held in static equilibrium.
• Li Chen merged the sphere into his avatar, transforming its body into neutron aggregate and driving his soul into a higher-dimensional state.
• Li Chen recognized the Heavenly Ghost’s Perspective, formed it into a mental certification Dao fruit, and advanced toward late primordial spirit.
• Li Chen adapted to the mechanical sensations of his neutron dharma body and ordered Heavenly Pivot to bring the First Heaven Fleet and fire at full power.

Li Chen tested his neutron dharma body against the First Heaven Fleet and waves of divine abilities, finding that it endured them without damage and had reached the level of a preliminary immortal dao fruit. He concluded that perfecting the body through the fundamental laws of physics could make it independent of transcendent power, while he considered using prayer power and the perceptions of living beings to achieve primordial spirit immortality.

• Li Chen ordered the First Heaven Fleet to attack his dharma body, but its weapons left him unharmed.
• Li Chen summoned rune beasts, Insect Race corps, and mutant demons to bombard him with divine abilities and spells, which also failed to affect his body.
• Li Chen recognized that his neutron dharma body had achieved a preliminary form of fleshly immortality through the inherent properties of matter.
• Li Chen concluded that his body remained vulnerable to Dharma's Decline until he perfected it without relying on transcendent power.
• Li Chen considered using Materialized Heaven's Incense and Fire Prayer Power and the perceptions and culture of living beings to forge an immortal primordial spirit.

Li Chen explained his theory that immortality required preserving the true self’s unity and continuity, rather than merely keeping a body or soul alive. He left Yu Bao and the others considering how life constancy and union with the Dao might preserve or erase the self, without revealing which path he would choose.

• Li Chen returned to the Hidden Grotto-Heaven, where Yu Bao and the others gathered around his newly forged dharma body and asked about his pursuit of immortality.
• Li Chen used examples of copying, soul possession, and reincarnation to question what made someone the same person, and Yu Bao recognized how blurred the boundary between life and the true self was.
• Li Chen admitted that he had no answer to the question of personal identity, but argued that immortality could instead be pursued by keeping the self unchanged.
• Li Chen described Dancing Maiden’s life constancy law as a way to discard memories and knowledge that would strain her primordial spirit, comparing it to the immortal jellyfish’s ability to rejuvenate.
• Li Chen cited the Third-Generation Sea Emperor’s vast mind united with a star system as another possible form of immortality, while warning that union with the Dao might replace the self with the Heavenly Dao.
• Yu Bao asked Li Chen which path he would choose.

Li Chen explained his plan to test whether he could resist the Mystery of the Womb by reincarnating while preserving his memories and Primordial Spirit. Meanwhile, Shao Li learned that the Spirit Firmament Gate would teach him a derivative Divine Incarnation method rather than its secret Three Pure Ones from One Breath art.

• Li Chen told Yu Bao he hoped to combine the methods of Dancing Maiden and the Sea Emperor to achieve Dao Integration and True Refinement while retaining control of his consciousness.
• Li Chen explained that his memories and knowledge had continued unbroken since before birth, and that he planned to reincarnate to test whether he could resist the Mystery of the Womb.
• Li Chen described using his skills in deconstruction, memory transfer, and consciousness compression to preserve his identity through rebirth, and Yu Bao recognized that he meant to prepare a Primordial Spirit in advance.
• At the Sky-Gazing Terrace Headquarters, a Core Formation Elder told Shao Li that he did not qualify to learn the Spirit Firmament Gate's secret Three Pure Ones from One Breath method.
• The Core Formation Elder offered to teach Shao Li a derived Divine Incarnation method and cast a Spirit Art on him.

Shao Li received the Three Pure Ones from One Breath Dao fruit, which doubled his ability to control variant flames and split his soul. During the process, buried memories awakened and revealed his identities as Er Niu and Li Chen, and he left the Spirit Firmament Gate elder gravely wounded and fleeing.

• The Immortal Alliance granted Shao Li a Dao seed of Three Pure Ones from One Breath to aid his cultivation of variant flame.
• Shao Li formed a second soul and increased the number of flames he could control from seven to fourteen.
• Shao Li suffered a sudden mental conflict, and memories of the Spare Embryo Chamber, Azure Billow Immortal Abode, West River Gate, and Divine Mist Mountain surfaced.
• Shao Li recognized himself as Er Niu, Shao Li, and Li Chen, then attacked the Spirit Firmament Gate elder with his flames.
• The elder resisted the lingering flames with spell seals but vomited blood and fled the secret chamber.

Shao Li revealed himself as one of Li Chen’s planted agents, triggering hidden agents across the Sky-Gazing Terrace. Li Chen then broke through the Immortal Alliance’s defenses to retrieve their memories and departed, leaving Lin Xi wondering whether he had attained immortality through the Dao.

• The wounded Core Formation Elder exposed Shao Li as a suspected Puppet Dao School spy, and Shao Li insisted that he was Li Chen.
• Shao Li’s awakening activated similar hidden agents throughout the Sky-Gazing Terrace, while the Immortal Alliance sealed the area and tried to capture him.
• Shao Li used a blood shadow to evade attacks by shifting among the pursuing cultivators, and Li Chen blasted through the Mountain-Guarding Grand Formation.
• Li Chen absorbed the memories of Shao Li and the other planted agents, then said he had come only to retrieve them and turned to leave.
• Lin Xi refrained from attacking Li Chen and wondered whether he had attained immortality through the Dao.

After confronting Lin Xi, Li Chen revealed that he had infiltrated the Immortal Alliance to obtain a Dao fruit and studied the Spirit Firmament Gate’s primordial spirit method. His revised Dao-Proving Blueprint reminded him of heavenly will, leading him to suspect that it had once been a Great Power’s failed attempt to prove the Dao.

• Lin Xi pursued Li Chen and asked whether he had attained the immortal Dao fruit, and Li Chen admitted that he had.
• Li Chen told Lin Xi that he restrained himself despite his urge to kill, then used spatial transfer to leave.
• The Immortal Alliance condemned Li Chen’s actions, while the Puppet Dao’s elders questioned him; Li Chen explained that he had sought the Spirit Firmament Gate Soul Division Secret Art and the One Breath Becomes the Mystic Dao Fruit.
• Li Chen returned to seclusion with Shao Li’s Dao fruit and other gains, then studied the artificial primordial spirit and compared it with his own distributed primordial spirit approach.
• Li Chen revised his Dao-Proving Blueprint and realized that its form resembled heavenly will, prompting him to suspect that a Great Power had failed to prove the Dao and fallen into an uncertain state between life and death.