Chapter Summaries

Xia Wushang punished Xia Yuanchen for offending the Yun Clan, then departed with the Great Xia fleet. As the clans regrouped after the Ghost Lord’s defeat, an unnoticed wisp of eerie light entered Yun Yao’s Mysterious Womb Book of Preserving Truth.

• Xia Wushang crippled Xia Yuanchen’s cultivation and had him castrated, then offered to hand over his soul to the Yun Clan.
• Yun Qing accepted the punishment and let Xia Wushang take Xia Yuanchen away to be confined in the Ancestral Shrine.
• Xia Wushang departed with the Great Xia fleet, while Yun Qing resolved to be wary of the calculating Crown Prince.
• Li Qingming urged the group to clear the remaining ghostly energy, and Yun Qing ordered everyone to regroup and treat the wounded.
• Yun Tianluo reported the fallen, and Yun Ruyi used Fortune Golden Light to heal Yun Qing’s wound.
• An eerie wisp escaped the Ghost Lord’s destruction and entered Yun Yao’s Mysterious Womb Book of Preserving Truth unnoticed.

After the Ghost Nest was destroyed, Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian parted ways and continued toward the Heavenly Origin Platform. As the nine Azure Cloud Roads converged and the final battlefield formed, Yun Huang summoned Yun Qing and gave him a strange crimson outfit to wear.

• Xia Wushang reassured the injured Xia Wujie that destroying the Ghost Nest had made up for his earlier schemes, while privately reflecting on a ten-thousand-year plan and a rare opportunity.
• Yun Qing, Li Qingming, and Jiang Shinian exchanged farewells and split up, agreeing to meet again as rivals and fellow Daoists on the Heavenly Origin Platform.
• Yun Qing led the Yun Clan formation onward as its fighters cleared ghost creatures and the prodigies’ Merit Rankings continued to climb.
• The nine Azure Cloud Roads converged, reshaping the regions into a vast final battlefield as the overall rankings began to form.
• Yun Huang summoned Yun Qing to the Star-Watching Terrace and tossed him a dark crimson combat outfit, telling him to put it on.

Yun Huang sent Yun Qing and the Yun Clan prodigies toward the Heavenly Origin Platform, but an immense power darkened the sky and stripped them of consciousness. Yun Qing awoke alone in an unfamiliar wilderness with most of his memories erased, a system quest to compete for the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List, and a tiny yellow chick tucked inside his clothes.

• Yun Huang gave Yun Qing a dark red combat outfit as the new continent and Heavenly Origin Platform came into view.
• A force of law halted every flying vessel, so Yun Qing led the Yun Clan prodigies forward on their own.
• Enormous eyes and hands appeared in the sky, blinding the prodigies and sending them plummeting toward the continent.
• Yun Qing glimpsed the terrifying presence before losing consciousness, then awoke in a wilderness with only his bonded Wordless Spear and fragments of memory.
• A system told Yun Qing to compete for the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List and rise to its summit.
• Yun Qing recalled his previous life and discovered a little yellow chick inside his combat outfit.

Yun Qing discovered Yun Huang sealed in the form of a tiny golden chick and treated him as a pet, then examined his reflection and recognized the mark identifying him as someone who had once ranked highly on the Immortal List. The chapter ended with Yun Qing preparing to investigate the woods and earn merit while Yun Huang watched him.

• Yun Qing found a palm-sized golden chick and happily stroked it, unaware that it was Yun Huang in a weakened external incarnation.
• Yun Huang struggled and protested, but the Heavenly Origin Platform’s sealing power left him unable to resist or speak clearly.
• Yun Qing named the chick Little Radiant Chick and placed him on his shoulder, while Yun Huang angrily pecked at him.
• Yun Qing examined his reflection in a nearby lake and recognized the purple-gold mark on his forehead as the Nine Heavens Azure Cloud List mark of a former high-ranked Immortal List member.
• Yun Qing prepared to investigate the woods and earn merit as Yun Huang watched him in puzzlement.

Yun Qing entered the Heavenly Origin Platform trial, where participants faced elimination every three days and the loss of fortune’s protection. As battle broke out, he found himself poorly equipped and moved cautiously through the forest while Yun Huang watched and challenged the force behind the system.

• Yun Qing covered the conspicuous Immortal Seal on his forehead with a blade of grass after he could not tear his robe.
• The system announced the Heavenly Origin Platform trial, a three-day elimination countdown, and the consequences of losing fortune’s protection.
• Yun Qing heard fighting nearby and stealthily approached, then found several participants dead and their belongings taken.
• Yun Qing assessed his meager supplies as he hid near the corpses.
• Yun Huang played go from the Sea of Clouds, rejected the system’s authority, and watched Yun Qing with reluctant indulgence.

Yun Qing analyzed the merit trial and realized he could earn merit by hunting hidden ghost creatures, not only by taking it from other participants. After killing one, he found the creatures were scarce and weak nearby, then heard a man and a woman approaching.

• Yun Qing hid in a rocky crevice with the Little Radiant Chick and reasoned that the trial’s hidden merit standings made targeting other cultivators risky.
• He considered restraining weaker participants to keep them at the bottom, but rejected the plan because he wanted to earn a high ranking.
• Yun Qing guessed that wild creatures in the trial grounds might grant merit and searched the forest with his double pupils.
• He found a ghost creature beneath rotting tree roots and killed it with his Wordless Spear, causing his Immortal Seal to warm.
• Yun Qing saw that nearby ghost creatures were scarce and weak, then heard a man and a woman speaking ahead.

Yun Qing watched a female cultivator named Ling'er use clones and staged rescues to lure male cultivators, then seized the merit from a powerful ghost creature she was fighting. He recognized her as an Immortal List prodigy and confronted her about her deception.

• Yun Qing overheard Ling'er pretend to be rescued by several male cultivators and realized she was using clones to lure them.
• After seeing Ling'er dupe four men in an hour, Yun Qing followed when her latest clone vanished and her true body fought a powerful ghost creature.
• Yun Qing killed the ghost creature with his Xuanhuang Long Spear and absorbed its merit before Ling'er could finish it.
• Ling'er dropped her helpless act and tried to part ways with Yun Qing, but he blocked her and revealed that he had seen through her disguise as an Immortal List prodigy.

Yun Qing and Feng Ling'er formed a partnership to deceive other cultivators and divide their merit and loot. After their first successful ambush, Yun Qing questioned the trial’s rules and wondered whether reaching the summit would let him replace them.

• Yun Qing saw through Feng Ling'er's illusion technique, and they agreed to work together under the names Feng Ling'er and Qing Yun.
• Yun Qing learned that ghost creatures avoided him because of the Immortal Emperor's fortune, while Feng Ling'er had encountered many.
• Feng Ling'er posed as a distressed victim to lure a powerful cultivator into fighting Yun Qing.
• Feng Ling'er struck the cultivator from behind, and she and Yun Qing split his merit and possessions.
• Yun Qing admitted he would kill to survive but wondered whether the trial's rules were right and whether he could make new ones at the summit.

Yun Qing helped Feng Ling'er see that her strength and accomplishments made her more than a helpless pawn, and the two continued working together in the forest. With the first settlement only hours away, they rested in a cave after turning back an ambush, where Feng Ling'er asked about Yun Qing’s unusual chick.

• Yun Qing teased Feng Ling'er about her fine clothes and treasures, and she revealed that she had grown up struggling to survive as a furnace cauldron body.
• Yun Qing pointed out Feng Ling'er's cultivation, flawless Dao Foundation, and independence, helping her realize she had escaped the prison she had imagined for herself.
• Feng Ling'er thanked Yun Qing and joked about postponing her plans to swindle him, while Little Radiant Chick privately judged Yun Qing to be popular with female cultivators.
• Yun Qing and Feng Ling'er teamed up on several more jobs over the next two days, and Yun Qing gradually regained his combat instincts.
• With fewer than six hours before the first settlement, Yun Qing and Feng Ling'er defeated a three-person ambush team in a secluded cave and counted their spoils.
• Yun Qing fed spirit fruits to Little Radiant Chick and called him Little Huang, and the chick pecked his finger as Feng Ling'er asked about him.

Yun Qing and Feng Ling'er headed to a gathering point after the trial announced that participants would be ranked by regional merit, then joined a crowd divided between powerful clans and sects and scattered cultivators. They posed as strangers from opposing factions, but Mu Cheng targeted Yun Qing with insults over his association with Feng Ling'er.

• The trial system ordered all participants to reach their regional gathering points before a countdown expired or lose their karmic fortune, and nine pillars of light appeared across the terrain.
• Yun Qing and Feng Ling'er concealed their auras and disguises as they traveled to the nearest pillar, where more than two hundred participants had gathered in two hostile factions.
• Feng Tianmu introduced himself as a member of the Feng Clan, and Feng Ling'er pretended to be his long-lost clan sister while Yun Qing claimed to be a rogue cultivator named Qing Yun.
• Yun Qing and Feng Ling'er agreed to join separate factions while secretly sharing information and resources.
• Mu Cheng and his companions mocked Yun Qing for traveling with Feng Ling'er, and Mu Cheng ordered him to leave the clan faction.

Yun Qing rejected Feng Tianmu and Mu Cheng’s invitation and joined the wary rogue cultivators, where Wang Hu explained the factions gathering at the trial ground. As more cultivators arrived, the divide between the camps sharpened and Feng Tianmu and Mu Cheng began discussing their next move.

• Feng Tianmu tried to smooth over Mu Cheng’s insult and offered Yun Qing a place in their group, but Yun Qing ignored them and walked to the rogue cultivators’ camp.
• Yun Qing stood apart from the suspicious rogue cultivators and quietly waited for the system settlement while teasing the Little Radiant Chick.
• Wang Hu recognized Yun Qing’s strength and approached him with a Fireheart Fruit, then explained that the Feng Clan and Mu Family led the aristocratic camp and identified Feng Tianmu and Feng Tianming.
• Wang Hu revealed his feud with Feng Tianming and began telling Yun Qing that his memories had unlocked, but Yun Qing stopped him and glanced toward the pillar of light.
• More cultivators arrived and chose sides, making the division between the camps clearer as Feng Tianmu and Mu Cheng began a low-voiced discussion intended to pressure the rogue cultivators.

After the regional trial stripped Liu Shen of his fortune and calamity killed him, Yun Qing stopped Mu Cheng’s attack with two devastating strikes. He rallied the strongest rogue cultivators to protect the others and began building a force of his own.

• Feng Tianming persuaded the sect and clan disciples to target the rogue cultivators, but the Dao Resonance announced Liu Shen as the lowest-ranked participant and revoked his fortune.
• Liu Shen suffered a series of misfortunes and died after a stray Wind Blade cut his neck.
• Mu Cheng attacked Yun Qing while Feng Ling'er was held back, but Yun Qing shattered the space before Mu Cheng’s chest and kicked him into a rock wall.
• The witnesses realized Yun Qing could create spatial fissures, and the rogue cultivators gained hope while Feng Tianmu and Feng Tianming recoiled in alarm.
• Yun Qing selected Wang Hu, Zhao Polu, and several other strong cultivators to stay with him and directed the rest toward cover in the southeast.

Yun Qing broke through Feng Tianmu’s encirclement and escaped with Wang Hu and the rogue cultivators. Elsewhere, Yun Baojian approached a group from the Yun Clan with the Azure Lotus Sword Sect, while Yun Shuanghua hid in his Dragonblood Thornbush and encountered Ao Zhan.

• Yun Qing used Sweep Across a Thousand Armies to shatter the encirclement, then led Wang Hu and the others out while leaving Mu Cheng alive.
• Liu Qingwu praised Yun Baojian’s swordsmanship, and Yun Baojian affirmed his goal of becoming the Separation Gate’s sword chief.
• After spotting the Yun Clan’s cloud patterns, Yun Baojian noticed an orange-red-haired figure, felt an unexplained distaste, and followed Liu Qingwu toward the group.
• Yun Shuanghua hid inside his Dragonblood Thornbush as Ao Zhan arrived in the forest and stopped before the vine ball.

Ao Zhan found Yun Shuanghua protected by a Dragonblood Thornbush and carried her away after learning she had no family. Elsewhere, Yun Zui shared wine with Feng Jiuxiao, while Ji Lingri fought Yun Tianluo and tried to abduct him; a faint azure light began flickering in his eyes.

• Ao Zhan found Yun Shuanghua inside a Dragonblood Thornbush’s protective ball and recognized the plant as a rare Dragon Clan relative.
• Ao Zhan hoisted Yun Shuanghua and the thornbush onto his shoulder, then asked about her family; Yun Shuanghua said she had none.
• Yun Zui invited Feng Jiuxiao to share wine, and Feng Jiuxiao praised Yun Zui’s brew after tasting it.
• Ji Lingri battled Yun Tianluo in the ruins and offered him a secondary consort’s position to bring him back to Great Zhou.
• Yun Tianluo continued evading Ji Lingri’s attacks as a faint azure light flickered in his eyes.

After rescuing dozens of rogue cultivators, Yun Qing offered them a chance to follow him in exchange for helping lure out ghost creatures and earn merit. As some joined and others fled, Yun Qing killed three men who secretly tried to approach the aristocratic clan parties.

• Wang Hu, Zhao Polu, and the other rescued rogue cultivators thanked Yun Qing, who said he had intervened to protect his own chance at opportunities.
• Wang Hu asked to follow Yun Qing, and Yun Qing explained that he needed people to bait ghost creatures while he guarded them and promised participants would remain on the merit list for three reckonings.
• Wang Hu and a dozen or so rogue cultivators volunteered, while nearly half hesitated or chose to leave.
• Three sinister rogue cultivators secretly headed toward the aristocratic clan parties, but Yun Qing spotted them and killed them with Chaos Spear Ray.

Yun Qing killed three rogue cultivators who had secretly colluded with the enemy, then bound the survivors with Dao-heart oaths and rewarded their contributions. As the group learned to fight ghost creatures together, it grew more coordinated and began to trust him, though the ghosts appeared to avoid his presence.

• Yun Qing executed three traitors and required the remaining rogue cultivators to swear not to betray or abandon the group; thirty-five pledged themselves.
• Yun Qing rewarded Wang Hu, Zhao Polu, and others for guarding the flanks, then led the group in an ambush that destroyed a nest of Netherworld Hounds.
• Yun Qing found that ghostly energy fled from a fissure when he approached, so he taught the rogue cultivators the Five-Element Rotating Demon-Subduing Formation and stayed back to support them.
• Yun Qing crippled two rogue cultivators who attacked their companions over the spoils and threw them into the ghostly mist.
• Zhao Polu grew devoted to Yun Qing, and Wang Hu teased him for preferring Brother Yun, bringing laughter and warmth to the group.

Yun Qing fretted over being too poor to raise the Little Radiant Chick, but Zhao Polu and the Rogue Cultivators helped by giving him a nest and food. After Yun Qing tricked the chick into breathing fire with pepper powder, the group offered more gifts, and Yun Qing warmed to their kindness.

• Yun Qing worried that he could not afford to feed the Little Radiant Chick and resolved to rob Aristocratic Clan scions.
• Zhao Polu gave Yun Qing a carefully sewn, formation-inscribed nest for the chick, and Yun Qing thanked him warmly.
• Wang Hu offered Yun Qing several kinds of spiritual food for the Little Radiant Chick.
• Yun Qing fed the chick Crimson-Flame Pepper Powder, making it breathe a small flame and angrily peck his fingers.
• The Rogue Cultivators brought Yun Qing assorted gifts for the chick, and Yun Qing felt some of his reserve toward them soften.

Yun Qing rallied the Rogue Cultivators to keep hunting ghosts and build merit before settling their score with Feng Tianming. Watching from the void, Yun Huang reflected on how Yun Qing had once restrained his destructive impulses during seclusion and hoped his brother would bring unexpected change to the world.

• The Rogue Cultivators speculated about Yun Qing's strength and identity, while Wang Hu became convinced he came from a powerful lineage.
• Yun Qing ordered the group to continue hunting ghosts and accumulating merit before seeking revenge, and the Rogue Cultivators vowed to follow him against Feng Tianming.
• Yun Huang watched Yun Qing lead the group into the darkness and recalled how Yun Qing had guarded his seclusion and repeatedly restrained his urge to destroy the world.
• Yun Huang decided that Yun Qing's actions might make the stagnant world interesting and urged him to keep contending, protecting what he valued, and bringing surprises.

Yun Qing and his allies trapped Feng Tianmu and the other clan disciples in Desolate Valley, then attacked as Feng Ling'er turned against her supposed allies. When the Heavenly Dao announced the gathering point, Yun Qing escaped with Feng Ling'er and the others while Feng Tianmu remained behind trying to break the formation.

• Feng Tianmu boasted that he and the other clan disciples would settle the score with the rogue cultivators, while Feng Ling'er secretly signaled Yun Qing.
• Yun Qing activated a confinement formation around Desolate Valley and attacked Feng Tianmu as Wang Hu and the rogue cultivators engaged the others.
• Feng Ling'er killed the formation masters and joined Yun Qing’s side, then attacked Feng Tianming while Yun Qing fought Feng Tianmu.
• The Heavenly Dao announced the gathering point and warned that participants who failed to arrive before the countdown ended would lose their fortune.
• Mu Cheng tried to escape through a gap in the formation, but Yun Qing killed two of his followers and then withdrew with Feng Ling'er and the others toward the Heavenly Dao’s pillar of light.
• Feng Tianmu and the remaining cultivators desperately attacked the formation dome in an attempt to break free.

Yun Qing and Feng Ling’er’s defenses helped the rogue cultivators repel Feng Tianmu’s exhausted force before the regional assembly deadline. After Feng Tianming fell and Yun Qing smashed Feng Tianmu aside, Yun Qing stood over his stunned opponent as the fight continued.

• Yun Qing and Feng Ling’er joined the rogue cultivators in attacking Feng Tianmu’s charge, and fewer than twenty of his clan and sect disciples made it into the Gathering Ground before the deadline stripped the others of their fortune.
• Feng Tianmu used a pill to raise his cultivation to the late stage of the Immortal King realm and led an attack on Yun Qing, while the rogue cultivators counterattacked.
• Wang Hu and Zhao Polu overwhelmed Feng Tianming, and Wang Hu killed him with his White Tiger Fist Aura.
• Yun Qing and Feng Tianmu clashed with spear and fan, and Yun Qing’s Mountain-Suppressing strike knocked the Blazing Wind Fan away and hurled Feng Tianmu more than a hundred feet.
• Yun Qing appeared before the wounded Feng Tianmu and dismissed his pill-supported cultivation as hollow.