Chapter Summaries

Yun Huang struck the Ji Clan with a devastating warning blow, destroying its secret vault and weakening its fortune. Back in the Langhuan Clear Void Cave Heaven, Yun Qing struggled to decide how to address Yun Huang after learning the extent of his power.

• Yun Huang snapped his fingers and sent a colossal Heavenly Dao hand down upon the Ji Clan’s grounds.
• The hand shattered the Ji Clan’s protective formations and Heaven-Stealing Fate-Reversal Secret Vault, killed several elders, and reduced the clan’s fortune by thirty percent.
• Yun Huang told Yun Qing that those who had once dared to act against him had entered death seclusion, leaving Yun Qing uneasy about the Yun Clan’s own past actions.
• Yun Qing offered Yun Huang wine and asked how he should address him.
• Yun Qing tried several titles before hesitantly calling him “Brother Huang.”

Yun Huang and Yun Qing reconciled over Cangwu Nectar before Yun Li arrived and received cultivation guidance from Yun Huang. Yun Huang approved Yun Qing’s request to abolish the rule targeting bastard-born sons, and then asked what Yun Li had come to report.

• Yun Huang allowed Yun Qing to address him as Brother Huang in private, and the two shared Cangwu Nectar while Yun Qing recounted clan affairs.
• Yun Huang and Yun Qing returned to Perching Phoenix Hall, where Yun Li arrived and greeted Yun Huang as Your Majesty.
• Yun Huang asked about Yun Li’s Taowu Savage Soul and gave him a Suppression and Tranquility Method to control its killing intent.
• Yun Qing asked Yun Huang to revise outdated clan rules, and Yun Huang agreed to abolish the rule requiring bastard-born sons to kneel when answering their lord.
• Yun Huang asked Yun Qing what Yun Li had come to report.

Yun Huang approved Yun Qing’s reforms and dispelled Yun Li’s fears about a prophecy, revealing his past destruction of the Star Seer. He warned that the Star Seer Lineage sought more than Azure Cloud List rankings and ordered Yun Qing to prepare for the early competition while maintaining his daily cultivation.

• Yun Huang reviewed the Steward Hall records and tacitly approved Yun Qing’s reforms.
• At Yun Qing’s prompting, Yun Li asked Yun Huang whether the prophecy he had seen about himself and Yun Yao could be defied.
• Yun Huang revealed that he had once crippled the legendary Star Seer and explained that prophecies offered only fragmented glimpses, not an unbreakable fate.
• Yun Li thanked Yun Huang, abandoned his fear of the prophecy, and left the hall with renewed resolve.
• Yun Huang told Yun Qing that the Star Seer Lineage sought to contend for the title of Immortal Emperor and ordered him to prepare the Yun Clan for the early Azure Cloud List.
• Yun Qing accepted the work and Yun Huang’s demand that he continue daily cultivation, then left the hall reflecting on the burdens ahead and his family’s unity.

Yun Huang turned the center of Langhuan Clear Void into an Immortal Plants Garden and placed Yun Qing among its plants before summoning Yun Hua to paint him. Yun Hua accepted the task with sudden enthusiasm, while Yun Qing remained the garden’s centerpiece.

• Yun Qing kept overseeing the Azure Cloud List by day and enduring Yun Huang’s training at night, bringing him closer to the middle stage of the immortal king realm.
• Yun Qing realized that Yun Huang had arranged the Immortal Plants Garden around him as though he were a tree in a cultivation garden.
• Yun Huang positioned Yun Qing among the plants and, after studying the scene, drew a line through empty space.
• Yun Huang’s spatial force transported Yun Hua from a secluded valley to Langhuan Clear Void, where she found Yun Qing and Yun Huang.
• Yun Hua recognized Yun Huang as Your Majesty and bowed before he pointed at Yun Qing and ordered her to paint.
• Yun Hua admired Yun Qing’s pose and surroundings and eagerly agreed to paint him.

Yun Hua painted a portrait for Yun Huang and received rare painting treasures in return. Later, Yun Qing persuaded Yun Huang to secretly observe Yun Li and Yun Yao, whose disagreement over her joining the dangerous Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List left them at an impasse.

• Yun Hua painted Yun Huang as Immortal Lord Langhuan Tending the Garden, and Yun Huang took the painting before sending her back with a storage pouch full of treasured painting supplies.
• Yun Ge and Yun Pengxing welcomed Yun Hua back, and the Three Masteries continued their outing.
• Yun Qing teased Yun Huang about Yun Li and Yun Yao's quarrel, then persuaded him to go see them despite his initial refusal.
• Yun Li urged Yun Yao to stay away from the dangerous Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List, while secretly resolving to kill Yun Qingqu if needed to protect her.
• Yun Yao insisted she wanted to stand beside Yun Li and protect him, and Yun Li told her he feared something would happen to her.
• Yun Qing and Yun Huang watched Yun Li and Yun Yao from concealment in the bamboo grove.

Yun Yao proved she could protect herself by withstanding Yun Li’s strongest attack, then insisted on accompanying him to the Azure Cloud List. After the couple left to meet the Third Elder, Yun Huang told Yun Qing a grim tale about the Jade Womb Immortal Lord, while privately judging Yun Yao and Yun Li more compatible than he had expected.

• Yun Yao used the Preserve the One, Return to the Origin Formation to withstand Yun Li’s strongest punch without the barrier breaking.
• Yun Yao told Yun Li she wanted to accompany him to the Azure Cloud List and protect his back, and he could no longer refuse her.
• Yun Yao dragged Yun Li from the bamboo grove and took him to meet the Third Elder.
• Yun Huang startled Yun Qing by recounting how the Jade Womb Immortal Lord was betrayed and killed by the cultivation partner she had protected.
• Yun Huang watched Yun Li and Yun Yao leave and privately decided their strengths seemed more compatible than he had expected.

Yun Qing cultivated under Yun Huang’s stern guidance until the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Road opened three days ahead of schedule, summoning marked contenders across the continent. Yun Huang and Yun Qing prepared to lead the Yun Clan into the trials as its war drum called the clan to arms.

• Yun Qing noticed that Yun Huang had planted a White Jade Lily of the Valley beside Yun Li’s Blood Jade Dragon Ginseng.
• The Nine Heavens Azure Cloud Road appeared above the continent, and twelve Dao resonances rose from the Yun Clan Territory in response.
• Yun Qing’s Purple-Gold Immortal Seal lit up and delivered the trial rules, while Yun Huang said the roads had opened early because something had triggered them or the Heavenly Dao had gone wrong.
• Yun Huang showed Yun Qing a star map of the nine roads and said the Yun Clan had to move out.
• First Elder Yun Che struck the Heaven-Conquering War Drum and summoned the Yun Clan to assemble and contend on the Azure Cloud Road.

Yun Qing led the Yun Clan’s Twelve Young Masters and ten thousand elites aboard twelve Void-Breaking Cloudships bound for the Azure Cloud Road. Yun Huang joined the fleet, leaving Yun Qing to wonder whether the Immortal Emperor intended to enter the competition himself.

• The Yun Clan’s Twelve Young Masters, ten thousand young elites, and core elders gathered before Perching Phoenix Hall as the Azure Cloud Road opened.
• Yun Qing announced the Yun Clan’s departure, and the disciples boarded twelve Void-Breaking Cloudships.
• As Yun Qing prepared to set sail, Yun Huang unexpectedly boarded the flagship and ordered everyone to return to their stations.
• Yun Qing ordered the fleet toward the Ninth Reception Platform of the Eastern Region’s Azure Cloud Road, and all twelve cloudships departed.
• Yun Qing found Yun Huang relaxing on the observation platform and asked whether he planned to enter the competition himself.

Yun Huang told Yun Qing that he would not personally compete on the Azure Cloud Road and instead expected Yun Qing to gather fortune for the Yun Clan on his behalf. Yun Qing accepted the role of proxy fighter, while Yun Huang hinted that he would deal with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and the North Pole Ice God Palace himself.

• Yun Huang told Yun Qing he would not personally participate in the Azure Cloud Road competition.
• Yun Huang declared that the Yun Clan's fortune ranking depended on Yun Qing and urged him to compete with his chaos dao embryo, primordial double pupils, and growing mastery of the Chaos Primordial Source Scripture.
• Yun Huang explained that the Yun Clan's accumulated fortune would count toward him, and that Yun Qing's victories would strengthen the clan's fortune.
• Yun Qing drank the tea Yun Huang poured for him and vowed not to fail his brother's trust.
• Yun Huang demanded that Yun Qing win beautifully and trample the representatives of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion and North Pole Ice God Palace, then chuckled when Yun Qing wondered whether they had proxy fighters too.

As the Yun Clan fleet approached the Azure Cloud List, Yun Qing learned that the elders planned to evade the Heavenly Dao’s limit by having disciples compete under the names of other factions. The disguised fleet set off for the competition, and Yun Qing asked how the clan’s sages had handled the Heavenly Dao’s retaliation.

• Yun Jinglei asked Yun Tianluo how the elders planned to get around the Heavenly Dao’s rules for the Azure Cloud List.
• Yun Tianluo and Yun Pengxing explained that disciples from other lineages would compete under the names of established factions, while only the twelve young masters would represent the Yun Clan.
• The Yun Clan disciples lowered their banners and transformed eleven cloudships into vessels representing factions such as the Hundred Herbs Alchemy House, Ten Thousand Treasures Mountain, and Yellow Sand Mercenary Group.
• Yun Qing surveyed the disguised fleet and questioned whether it was really heading to compete for ten thousand years of fortune.
• Yun Tianluo described the clan’s generations of experience exploiting Heavenly Dao loopholes, and Yun Zui asked what conclusion the elders had reached about preventing retaliation.

As the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List approached, Yun Huang ordered the Yun Clan’s young scions not to slaughter indiscriminately, hinting that a danger beyond their rivalries might threaten everyone. Other supreme factions likewise instructed their prodigies to restrain their killing on the Azure Cloud Road, though whether they would obey remained uncertain.

• Yun Ge, Yun Pengxing, and Yun Poxiao explained how the Yun Clan had turned nominal factions into real organizations by exploiting loopholes in the rules.
• Yun Qing announced that Yun Huang had summoned the twelve young scions, who gathered at the Star-Watching Terrace.
• Yun Huang told the scions that the Azure Cloud List was a battle of life and death but ordered them not to slaughter indiscriminately because even Yellow List contestants were living beings.
• Yun Qing and the other scions suspected Yun Huang’s order pointed to a greater threat, but they agreed to obey without asking for an explanation.
• Li Qingming, Xuanchan, Ao Zhan, and prodigies from other great factions received similar instructions to restrain their killing on the Azure Cloud Road.

Yun Qing and Yun Huang finished a close game of Go before Yun Qing prepared the fleet to anchor near the Eastern Region's Azure Cloud Road Ninth Reception Platform. At Heaven-Cracking Gorge, Li Ergou arrived among the gathered cultivators and caught the attention of Heaven List prodigy Wang Hu.

• Yun Huang won the Go game against Yun Qing by half a point and used their play to teach him about strategy and cultivation.
• A report announced that the fleet was nearing the Ninth Reception Platform, and Yun Qing ordered the ships to anchor and raised the alert level to upper B.
• Yun Qing left the Star-Watching Terrace to assess the situation while Yun Huang stayed behind.
• Li Ergou recalled fleeing the Iron Palm Sect after suspecting its head meant him harm, then gaped at the cultivators and crowds gathered at Heaven-Cracking Gorge.
• Wang Hu, a crimson-marked Heaven List prodigy, approached Li Ergou, offered him Firecloud Fruit, and introduced himself.

Li Ergou joined Wang Hu’s group as they prepared to enter Azure Cloud Road, where the Yun Clan’s Southern Mountain Branch had established a marketplace. The Yun Clan’s main fleet then arrived, led by Yun Qing, and the Azure Lotus Sword Sect followed, leaving the gathered factions awaiting what came next.

• Li Ergou accepted a spirit fruit from Wang Hu and learned that the people around him bore ranking marks, including black ones.
• Wang Hu showed Li Ergou the Heavenly Secrets Primordial Divination Pavilion and the Yun Clan’s Southern Mountain marketplace, then invited him to join a Hunting Team.
• Wang Hu led Li Ergou toward his followers, but a fleet of twelve immortal ships roared into view over Heaven-Cracking Gorge.
• A knowledgeable cultivator identified the fleet as the Yun Clan’s main lineage, and Wang Hu felt dwarfed by the arrival.
• Yun Qing appeared on the flagship, and the crowd recognized him as a prodigy with primordial double pupils and a place on the Upper Immortal List.
• The Azure Lotus Sword Sect arrived in a sword-shaped tower ship, drawing the crowd’s attention after the Yun Clan’s entrance.

Yun Qing and the Yun Clan’s Twelve Young Masters formally greeted the Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s Li Qingming and Liu Qingwu before surveying the gathered factions at Heaven-Cracking Gorge. Yun Qing discovered that the Southern Mountain Lineage had set up a bustling market ahead of the other factions, and he led the young masters down to inspect it.

• Yun Qing and Li Qingming exchanged formal greetings across the void, while Liu Qingwu and the other sword cultivators offered the Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s highest sword salute.
• The gathered factions occupied separate areas around Heaven-Cracking Gorge, including the Yun Clan, the Azure Lotus Sword Sect, and the Heavenly Secrets Primordial Divination Pavilion.
• Yun Qing spotted the Southern Mountain Lineage’s market stalls and recognized Yun Baotang doing business there; Yun Baojian confirmed the lineage had arrived early to claim ground and trade.
• Yun Qing invited the other young masters to visit the market, and all twelve descended from their cloudship in a display that astonished Jiang Zhiyuan and the Flowing Radiance Sect cultivators.
• The Twelve Young Masters landed before the entrance to Ten Thousand Treasures Mountain.

Yun Jinyu and Yun Yinzhu confronted Xia Yuanchen after he insulted them and tried to claim them as maids, prompting the Plum-Folding Immortal and Yun Baojian to strike at him. A calm voice challenged Xia Yuanchen’s boast about Prince Anyang’s Manor.

• Yun Qing and eleven others entered Ten Thousand Treasures Mountain, drawing attention with their shared bloodline presence.
• Xia Yuanchen insulted Yun Jinyu and Yun Yinzhu, revealed himself as Prince Anyang’s Heir of the Great Xia Ancient Dynasty, and ordered his attendants to seize the sisters or demand them from the Yun Clan.
• Yun Jinyu and Yun Yinzhu called for Sister Zhe Mei to show Xia Yuanchen out, and the Plum-Folding Immortal slashed at his reaching hand.
• Yun Baojian attacked Xia Yuanchen from behind, forcing his four Immortal King attendants to defend him again.
• A calm voice called Prince Anyang’s Manor overbearing as Xia Yuanchen shouted for the identity of his attacker.

Yun Qing and the Twelve Young Masters of the Yun Clan confronted Xia Yuanchen after he tried to buy Yun Jinyu and Yun Yinzhu as maids. Yun Baojian beat Xia Yuanchen nearly to death, and Yun Qing ordered a truthful report sent to the Crown Prince of Xia.

• Yun Qing challenged Xia Yuanchen to prove he could speak for the Xia Dynasty and declare war on the Yun Clan.
• Yun Jinyu and Yun Yinzhu reunited with Yun Baojian and revealed they were his younger siblings.
• Xia Yuanchen tried to excuse his behavior, but Yun Qing told Yun Baojian to leave him breathing and let him act.
• Yun Baojian overwhelmed Xia Yuanchen's guards and slashed Xia Yuanchen until he was badly wounded.
• Yun Tianluo suggested Xia Yuanchen might have violated the Crown Prince of Xia's punishment, and Yun Qing ordered a letter reporting the incident to the Crown Prince.

Yun Qing and the Yun Clan young masters welcomed Yun Lan at Ten Thousand Treasures Mountain after Xia Yuanchen’s defeat, and Yun Lan gave them access to rare treasures. As they toured the pavilion, Yun Qing noticed a Heaven List prodigy running a humble fortune-telling stall on the second floor.

• Yun Qing said Xia Yuanchen should be left for Crown Prince Xia Wushang to deal with, frightening Xia Yuanchen into begging for mercy.
• Yun Lan arrived, greeted the Yun Clan young masters, and teased Yun Baojian until his son told him to stop.
• Yun Lan gave Yun Qing a catalog of rare treasures and presented Zhe Mei with a gift for reaching the Heaven List.
• Xia Yuanchen and his attendants hurried away to report the incident to Prince Anyang.
• Yun Lan showed the group around Ten Thousand Treasures Mountain and explained its floors and auction chambers.
• Yun Qing spotted a Heaven List prodigy at a fortune-telling stall on the second floor.

Yun Qing met Fu Sanyuan, a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion disciple, who used a divination compass to answer Yun Qing's question about reaching the top of the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List. The hexagram said Yun Qing had the qualifications to advance but would face other contenders in a final arena of contention.

• Yun Qing recognized Fu Sanyuan as a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion prodigy, and Fu Sanyuan's banner raised a barrier that separated Yun Qing from his companions.
• Fu Sanyuan offered Yun Qing a divination in exchange for a possible future favor tied to a request from the stars, and Yun Qing accepted.
• Yun Qing asked about the key to reaching the top of the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List and its greatest obstacle, then spun the Bronze Divination Compass three times.
• The compass produced the Qian Hexagram, Nine in the Fourth Place, and Fu Sanyuan said Yun Qing could advance or retreat without blame for now.
• Fu Sanyuan interpreted the abyss as a predicament or final arena where multiple people, including Yun Qing, would contend for the summit, but he refused to identify the others.

Yun Qing realized Fu Sanyuan was likely an incarnation of Star Seer, who sent him a message about meeting when the stars were reflected in his Double Pupils. As Star Seer watched Yun Qing through a Fate Hall Formation Disc, a blazing sun struck the palace and shattered the disc, while Star Seer warned that fate was turning and time was short.

• Fu Sanyuan warned Yun Poxiao against advancing recklessly, then told Yun Qing that they would meet when the stars of all heavens were reflected in his Double Pupils.
• Yun Qing recognized the veiled figure in his vision as Star Seer and returned with Yun Lan and the others to a private loft to discuss what had happened.
• Star Seer watched Yun Qing’s encounter with Fu Sanyuan from the Fate Hall and wondered whether Yun Qing could change the world’s foretold decline.
• A blazing sun carrying Radiant Sun Divine Power broke through the palace dome and nearly destroyed Star Seer’s Cosmic Star Curtain, shattering the Formation Disc showing Yun Qing.
• Star Seer said fate’s gears would turn again and that the Three Realms had little time left, while a blood-red pattern spread through the palace.
• Star Seer told his disciple Sanyuan not to contact him unless it concerned life or death.

Yun Lan outfitted the Twelve Young Masters with treasures and explained how the Yun Clan’s Void-Breaking Cloudships could carry them to the Heavenly Origin Platform. Yun Huang suddenly ordered Yun Qing to return, so the group accepted Yun Lan’s supplies and hurried back to their cloudships.

• Yun Lan invited the Twelve Young Masters to choose treasures, and Yun Poxiao took the Eight Desolations Dragon Fury Gauntlets after Yun Qing confirmed they could accept them.
• Yun Tianluo and the others selected artifacts, pills, and other supplies for the Azure Cloud Road.
• Yun Lan explained that a Yun Clan ancestor had forged the twelve Void-Breaking Cloudships from treasures found on the Azure Cloud Road, allowing them to reach the Heavenly Origin Platform directly.
• Yun Huang sent Yun Qing the voice transmission, “Return at once,” and Yun Qing ordered the group to leave for the cloudships.
• Yun Lan gave each of the Twelve Young Masters a spatial ring containing supplies and intelligence gathered by Southern Mountain, and Yun Qing led them back.