Chapter Summaries

Yun Huang summoned Yun Qing and the other young masters, inspected Yun Qing for traces of the Star Seer, and warned that the Azure Cloud Road was about to open. The road opened moments later, and cultivators surged toward its starting point as a rainbow beam descended onto the Eastern Region's Ninth Reception Platform.

• Yun Qing and the eleven young masters arrived at Yun Huang's Star-Watching Terrace aboard the Cloudship.
• Yun Huang sent the other young masters away and inspected Yun Qing with his divine power, finding him fairly clean.
• Yun Huang said he had sent the Star Seer a gift in return and announced that the Azure Cloud Road was about to open.
• The Azure Cloud Road opened across the Heavenly Origin Continent, and a rainbow beam descended toward the Eastern Region's Ninth Reception Platform.
• Cultivators rushed toward the road's starting point.

Yun Qing led the Yun Clan’s twelve Cloudships onto the Azure Cloud Road, while its crushing rules hindered the cultivators who had rushed ahead. The Azure Lotus Sword Sect and the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion found ways to advance too, as Yun Huang watched the contest from the Star-Watching Terrace.

• Yun Huang urged Yun Qing to make the Yun Clan unrivaled, and Yun Qing rallied the clan’s disciples and elders with the same vow.
• Yun Qing ordered unlisted elders off the Cloudships and directed the others to prepare for landing and battle.
• The Azure Cloud Road’s pressure crushed weaker cultivators and weakened many treasures, but the Yun Clan’s Cloudships crossed the path smoothly under their banners’ starlight.
• Li Qingming led the Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s Sword Boat up the road by carving through its suppressive rules with sword qi.
• The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion used its Primordial Eight Trigrams Formation Disc to find gaps in the road’s rules and dart upward.
• Yun Huang watched the contest from the Star-Watching Terrace as a blindfolded man gazed toward the Azure Cloud Road, before a young woman’s laughter ended the scene.

Jiang Zhiyuan and the rogue cultivators struggled against the Azure Cloud Road’s crushing pressure as the great powers surged ahead. Wang Hu used an ancestral relic from the road to shield his group, while Yun Qing watched the competing climbers continue their ascent.

• Jiang Zhiyuan led the Flowing Radiance Sect disciples upward in a grass-blade vessel that eased the road’s pressure.
• Wang Hu’s rogue cultivators faltered under the pressure until he recognized an ancestral Azure Cloud Road relic and poured his immortal origin into it.
• The relic formed an azure dome that weakened the pressure, allowing Wang Hu to lead the surviving cultivators toward the first step.
• The Yun Clan’s Cloudships, the Azure Lotus Sword Sect’s Sword Boat, and the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s Formation Disc climbed rapidly past the struggling cultivators.
• Yun Tianluo and Yun Ruyi reflected on the disparities between cultivators as Yun Qing watched the groups contend for a path upward.

The Ghost Ruins invaded the Azure Cloud Road, and Yun Qing led the Yun Clan disciples against the Ghost Creatures while discovering that the Heavenly Dao rewarded their kills with Merit and rankings. Yun Huang explained that Dao Resonance adapted its message to each listener, leaving Yun Qing wondering whether his strange system-like notifications came from his own thoughts.

• Netherworld Rifts opened across the Immortal Domain, and Yun Li warned the Yun Clan disciples about the Ghost Creatures emerging from them.
• Yun Qing identified the Ghost Creatures’ weak points, formed the Yun Clan disciples into a formation, and killed a peak King Sealing Ghost General with his Bear All Things Spear.
• The Evil-Slaying Merit Ranking appeared above the Azure Cloud Road, placing Yun Qing first and showing that killing Ghost Creatures earned Merit and providence.
• Yun Qing asked Yun Huang why the Heavenly Dao’s messages were so precise, and Yun Huang said its formless voice conveyed rules in ways people could understand.
• Yun Qing cleared his mind of his unusual thoughts and received a notification awarding him Merit for dispersing a Ghost Creature’s resentment and returning its True Spirit to Reincarnation.

Yun Qing dissolved a grief-bound female ghost, whose cries stirred memories of his mother and briefly shook his resolve. Watching from the Star-Watching Terrace, Yun Huang decided to send Yun Qing into harsher trials at the Heavenly Origin Platform, believing it was time to stop protecting him so closely.

• A female ghost approached Yun Qing, grieving for the child she had lost, and her memories showed him a village destroyed by spells.
• Yun Qing hesitated before striking the ghost, then dissolved her with Bear All Things and gained three hundred strands of pure merit.
• Yun Huang observed Yun Qing's hesitation on the Go board and reflected on his compassion and restraint.
• Yun Huang told an unseen presence that compassion needed to be tempered by fierce trials and resolved to use the Heavenly Origin Platform.
• Yun Huang placed a stone on the board's Heavenly Origin, settling the game, and decided that Yun Qing must face true danger without his protection.

Yun Ruyi’s Fortune Golden Light shields the Yun Clan’s Cloudships from the ghost tide, while Yun Qing organizes the twelve Young Masters into a coordinated assault. The formation charges into the Netherworld to destroy the ghosts and claim the top spot on the Demon-Slaying Rankings.

• Yun Qing senses that someone intends to harm him as the Nine Azure Heaven-Reaching Roads draw together, but Yun Jinglei’s screams interrupt his focus.
• Yun Ruyi’s Fortune Golden Light purifies the ghosts’ baleful energy and steadies the Yun Clan disciples across the twelve Cloudships.
• Yun Li rescues Yun Poxiao from a Ghost General, then exchanges a shy smile with Yun Yao.
• Yun Qing assigns the twelve Young Masters their positions and orders them to form the Four Symbols Demon-Slaying Formation.
• Yun Tianluo, Yun Li, Yun Baojian, Yun Ge, Yun Pengxing, Yun Hua, and Yun Jinglei attack the ghost tide as the twelve Cloudships plunge into the Netherworld.

The Ghost Ruins sealed all nine Azure Cloud Roads, forcing cultivators to fight their way toward the summit as fortune and list marks grew through battle. After the Heavenly Dao announced a contest for the Eastern Region's Token Lord, Yun Qing and Li Qingming pressed forward, while Fu Sanyuan sensed a major disturbance in the workings of heaven.

• Jiang Zhiyuan and other cultivators fought Ghost Creatures as their list marks brightened, while Wang Hu used his Pure Yang White Tiger bloodline to rout Three-Eyed Nether Hounds and Li Ergou joined the fight.
• The Heavenly Dao sealed every Azure Cloud Road and disabled teleportation, leaving cultivators able only to advance or die.
• Yun Qing received soul crystals from killing six Nether Ghost Generals, then learned that the first to reach the first-tier summit could become Token Lord and that the eastern and northern roads would merge in three days.
• Yun Qing ordered the twelve Yun Clan Cloudships to accelerate toward the summit as powerful cultivators on the nine roads recognized the contest's importance.
• Li Qingming declared her intent to contend for Token Lord and split a host of ghosts with one sword strike, brightening her Immortal List mark by ten percent.
• Fu Sanyuan sensed a massive fluctuation in the workings of heaven and wondered whether he could reach his teacher before Yun Qing confronted him.

The Yun Clan’s cloudships fought through the ghost tide, with Yun Qing and his companions defeating a powerful Netherworld Ghost King. Yun Qing then guided the fleet into a spatially distorted region of the Ghost Ruins, where a spectral claw attacked their formation.

• Yun Tianluo and Yun Baojian worked together to kill three ghost generals as the twelve cloudships swept through the ghost tide.
• Yun Ge used the Pure Goodness Heart-Cleansing Mantra to shield the disciples from the Mourning-Faced Ghost Vultures’ cries.
• Yun Qing, Yun Tianluo, and Yun Li attacked the Netherworld Ghost King, and Yun Qing destroyed its soul core with Bear All Things.
• Yun Li recovered from his injury as the Yun Clan’s young masters continued clearing ghosts and raising their Demon-Slaying Rankings points.
• Yun Qing recognized that the Ghost Ruins’ space had overlapped with the Azure Cloud Road and ordered the fleet into the Nine Palaces Defensive Formation.
• As the cloudships advanced through the distorted mist, Yun Jinglei spotted a spatial fold, and Yun Baojian cut off the spectral claw reaching for a formation node.

Yun Qing and the fleet defeated a quasi-Immortal Lord Ruin-Eroding Carbuncle in the Ghost Ruins, and his Double Pupils erased it from existence. The fleet gained rewards and merit, while Yun Qing ended the battle with a bleeding eye and his relatives teasing him about holding back.

• Yun Zui used her Drunken Immortal Secret Art to expose hidden fissures, and Yun Jinglei directed the fleet in destroying the attacking ghosts.
• Yun Qing spotted the approaching Ruin-Eroding Carbuncle and ordered the Cloudships to hold formation while the others prepared a coordinated attack.
• Yun Qing marked the monster's core, and the fleet's combined strike cracked its body.
• Yun Qing opened his Double Pupils fully and erased the Ruin-Eroding Carbuncle, earning the fleet rewards and a substantial blessing of merit.
• Yun Tianluo accused Yun Qing of holding back during their spar, then quickly changed his tune and urged him to conserve strength for the Token Lord contest.
• Yun Qing watched his relatives suppress their laughter and privately told Brother Huang that meeting them was his good fortune.

Yun Qing and Li Qingming raced toward the Eastern Region Azure Cloud Token, then clashed in a fierce duel just before the platform. Their strongest attacks collided one li from the finish, leaving the contest unresolved.

• Yun Qing led Li Qingming and Fu Sanyuan toward the platform as the three groups accelerated across the final stretch.
• Yun Ruyi lent her blessed fortune to Yun Qing’s Cloudships, helping them evade attacks and gain speed, while Fu Sanyuan slowed down to clear nearby ghosts.
• Li Qingming leaped from the Sword Boat and redirected her charge toward Yun Qing, who met her in midair with Bear All Things Spear.
• Yun Qing and Li Qingming exchanged praise as their sword and spear techniques clashed without either gaining the advantage.
• Li Qingming unleashed Azure Lotus-Split Heaven, and Yun Qing answered with Chaos-Bear All Things as they collided near the jade platform.

Yun Qing narrowly defeated Li Qingming to claim the Eastern Region Azure Cloud Token and become the Eastern Region Token Lord. Afterward, they explored the first-tier platform and shared Vermilion Fruits, whose origins revealed the Yun Clan had received a fruit tree from the Azure Lotus Sword Sect as an alliance gift.

• Yun Qing used his double pupils to disrupt Li Qingming's sword-wielder unity and reached the jade platform half a step ahead of her.
• The Azure Cloud Token entered Yun Qing's Purple-Gold Immortal Seal, granting him Eastern Region fortune and unlocking the first-tier region for him and Li Qingming.
• Li Qingming congratulated Yun Qing and accepted his respectful salute after acknowledging his narrow victory.
• Yun Qing and Li Qingming examined the platform's projections of rare immortal plants and harvested Vermilion Fruits by spending merit.
• Li Qingming told Yun Qing that Martial Uncle Qing Shuang had gifted the Azure Lotus Sword Sect's ancient Vermilion Fruit tree to Yun Che, leaving Yun Qing to suspect his clan's ancestor had arranged the acquisition.

Yun Qing and Li Qingming witnessed the Eastern and Northern Regions’ platforms merge as their six great fortunes clashed. The Northern Region Token Lord, Jiang Shinian, arrived and introduced himself to Yun Qing and Li Qingming, ending with the full, remarkably long name of his sect.

• The Azure Cloud Road shook as the Eastern and Northern Regions’ platforms began docking, and Yun Qing and Li Qingming watched the collision of their fortunes.
• Six manifestations of Great Dao fortune rose over the two platforms, representing the Yun Clan, Azure Lotus Sword Sect, Heavenly Secrets Primordial Divination Pavilion, Jiang Clan, Supreme Dao Sect, and North Pole Ice God Palace.
• The platforms merged into a vast yin-yang diagram, and the Vermilion Fruit Tree ripened several more fruits near Yun Qing.
• Jiang Shinian arrived from the Northern Region platform, carrying the Northern Region Token and accompanied by Shennong Cauldron and Supreme Ultimate manifestations.
• Yun Qing and Li Qingming greeted Jiang Shinian, who introduced himself as the Jiang Clan Heir and Dao Heir before reciting his sect’s full name.

Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian put aside their rivalry to share Vermilion Fruits on the Two-Aspects Platform, astonishing the assembled sects and their elders. Yun Huang watched the scene and laughed in disbelief at Yun Qing’s behavior.

• Yun Qing introduced Jiang Shinian to the Vermilion Fruits and invited him and Li Qingming to eat together.
• The major powers arrived at the platform and found the three leading talents peacefully sharing fruit instead of preparing to fight.
• Yun Tianluo, Yun Li, and Yun Shuanghua watched Yun Qing’s antics from the Cloudship, while Liu Qingwu decided the Azure Lotus Sword Sect disciples could rest.
• True Person Xuanwei scolded Jiang Shouzhuo over Jiang Shinian’s easygoing friendliness, and the two speculated about whom he might favor.
• Yun Huang watched the scene from the Star-Watching Terrace and laughed at Yun Qing sitting in a row to share fruit.

Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian formed an alliance among their four factions to hunt ghost creatures and gather merit instead of fighting over limited fortune. Yun Qing then proposed targeting the Western and Southern Regions after the nine roads converged, but Li Qingming refused to let the Azure Lotus Sword Sect fight over private grudges.

• Yun Huang allowed the three prodigies to make friends as more factions arrived and hesitated to challenge their unusual harmony.
• Wang Hu led Li Ergou, Zhao Polu, and the other rogue cultivators onto the platform, where they chose to recover and wait for an opportunity.
• Yun Qing proposed that the four factions cooperate to hunt ghost creatures rather than compete for limited fortune.
• Li Qingming and Jiang Shinian agreed to join the alliance, and Jiang Shinian suggested exploring the Netherworld Rifts at Shadowy Ravine.
• Yun Qing suggested settling old scores with the Ji Clan after the nine roads converged, but Li Qingming said her sect would not draw its swords for private grudges.

Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian formed an alliance to clear the Shadowy Ravine ghost nest and arranged to target the Ji Clan and Ten Thousand Buddhas Sacred Land in future exchanges. Their elders approved the schemes, while Yun Huang let Yun Qing proceed and Fu Sanyuan set off to visit the North Pole Ice God Palace.

• Yun Qing offered Li Qingming an extra share of Merit, and Jiang Shinian proposed adding the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sacred Land to their planned Dao discussions; the three agreed to prepare for the Shadowy Ravine.
• Jiang Shinian returned to the Supreme Dao Sect carriage and told True Person Xuanwei and Jiang Shouzhuo about the alliance and the planned exchanges with the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sacred Land.
• Li Qingming reported her gains to Liu Qingwu, who agreed the Azure Lotus Sword Sect could lend its strength to the Supreme Dao Sect if the Buddhists proved stingy.
• Yun Qing told Yun Huang that he had organized an activity targeting the Ji Clan, and Yun Huang allowed him to try his plan.
• Fu Sanyuan praised Yun Qing’s strategy, then left with the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion disciples to visit the North Pole Ice God Palace.

Yun Qing’s alliance of the Yun Clan, Azure Lotus Sword Sect, Supreme Dao Sect, and Jiang Clan set out to clear a ghost nest, inspiring other factions and rogue cultivators to form hunting groups. The Azure Cloud Road’s eastern and northern regions shifted toward cooperation, though bloody clashes continued among those who refused to join forces.

• The four allied factions marched toward a ghost nest, with Yun Baojian fighting alongside the Azure Lotus Sword Sect and Yun Shuanghua discussing plant cultivation with Jiang Shinian.
• Yun Jinglei gave Yun Li a Frostsky Lily after Yun Li threatened to reveal his remarks about Yun Baojian, and Yun Li passed it to Yun Yao.
• News of the four-faction alliance spread, prompting small and medium-sized factions to form their own temporary hunting partnerships.
• Wang Hu rallied thousands of rogue cultivators into a temporary Ghost-Hunting Team to target small groups of ghosts and share merit.
• Some cultivators continued fighting over merit, while the Vermilion Fruit Alliance’s example reshaped the early struggle in the eastern and northern regions of the Azure Cloud Road.

The allied forces advanced through the Ghost Ruins toward a dangerous spatial anomaly, while Yun Qing and his companions discussed Central Province and its Human Sovereign Dao. Near the end, Yun Qing spotted a corrupted wandering soul whose origin matched Yun Chi’s, despite having personally destroyed him.

• Jiang Shinian led the allied army toward a spatial overlap guarded by a vast vortex, and Yun Qing warned them that a Ghost Lord might be waiting at its heart.
• Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian coordinated their attacks against organized ghost armies as their factions’ Core Disciples climbed the Merit Rankings.
• During a rest, Jiang Shinian explained that Central Province was a fragment from another world and that the Great Xia Ancient Dynasty practiced the Human Sovereign Dao.
• Li Qingming asked Yun Qing about Xia Yuanchen, and Jiang Shinian suggested that the group might encounter Central Province’s entrants farther ahead.
• Yun Qing spotted a corrupted wandering soul in the mist and recognized traces of Yun Chi’s Spirit-Devouring Body origin, though he believed Yun Chi’s body and soul had been destroyed.

Yun Qing erased Yun Chi’s lingering vengeful spirit, then led the allied fleet into battle against a powerful Netherworld Ghost Lord at the heart of the Ghost Nest. Their combined attack knocked the Ghost Lord back but failed to harm it fundamentally, as the vortex restored its body.

• Yun Qing dispersed Yun Chi’s phantom and wondered how Yun Chi’s remnant soul had survived despite his complete death.
• Yun Qing led the fleet through the final barrier and encountered a Netherworld Ghost Lord joined to the enormous vortex.
• Yun Qing, Li Qingming, Jiang Shinian, and the allied disciples combined their techniques to stop the Ghost Lord’s descending claw.
• Yun Huang teased Yun Qing during the battle, then urged him to focus as Yun Qing attacked with Bear All Things.
• The allies damaged and knocked down the Ghost Lord’s claw, but its connection to the vortex let it quickly regenerate.

Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian attacked the Ghost Lord and tried to sever his connection to the Ghost Nest, only to discover their strikes had crossed the vortex and hit another force. The Great Xia Ancient Dynasty’s fleet emerged from the vortex, leaving Jiang Shinian to apologize to Crown Prince Xia Wushang for the accidental attack.

• Yun Qing and the allied forces formed the Four Symbols Immortal Slaying formation and attacked the Ghost Lord and the vortex beneath him.
• Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian realized something on the other side of the vortex was blocking their attacks, and Yun Qing prepared to use his double pupils to investigate.
• The vortex collapsed, revealing the Great Xia Ancient Dynasty’s fleet, which had fought its way through the Ghost Nest.
• A soldier accused the Ghost Lord of shifting the vortex so the attacks struck their formation, and Yun Qing realized both groups had been attacking each other through it.
• Crown Prince Xia Wushang introduced himself and asked about the apparent misunderstanding, and Jiang Shinian explained their mission and apologized on behalf of his group.

The four factions joined Great Xia to slay the Ghost Lord, earning substantial merit and beginning to settle the spoils. Xia Wushang then presented Xia Yuanchen to Yun Qing and acknowledged that he owed him an apology.

• Xia Wushang proposed that the factions cooperate against the Ghost Lord, and they formed battle formations.
• Yun Jinglei and the other Yun Clan young masters watched Great Xia's forces fight while Yun Qing and Li Qingming struck the Ghost Lord's Soulflame Nodes.
• The combined assault killed the Ghost Lord, and the Heavenly Dao awarded merit that placed Yun Qing first in the rankings.
• Jiang Shinian, Yun Qing, and Li Qingming offered healing treasures to Xia Wushang and his forces as a gesture of goodwill.
• Xia Wushang brought the bound Xia Yuanchen before Yun Qing and said he still had to apologize for a matter involving him.