Chapter Summaries

He Pingsheng bound the primordial purple gold staff and tested its power before returning from the Sixth Zone. With the Netherworld Emperor Palace nearing its closure, the nine Demon Emperors began a trading fair, and Nanli offered a fifth-grade fire origin.

• He Pingsheng used his essence blood to bind the primordial purple gold staff, then stored it in his dantian to nurture it.
• He Pingsheng struck the Sixth Zone’s sea with the staff, raising enormous waves, and flew back to the Fifth Zone.
• He Pingsheng told the seven Demon Emperors that the Sixth Zone held only a lifeless ocean without spiritual energy, and showed them a recorded image.
• Nanli proposed that the group wait for the Netherworld Emperor Palace to close and hold a small trading fair, and the others agreed.
• Nanli offered a fifth-grade fire origin for trade, and Crown Prince Double Radiance handed her a ring to consider in exchange.

He Pingsheng failed to obtain anything useful at the Trading Fair, then went alone to the Emperor's Fall Abyss to hunt the Ghost King for the dragonscale immortal wood. He drew the Ghost King out with a sixth-grade Ghost King Talisman and agreed to spare him so they could talk.

• Nanli chose Crown Prince Double Radiance's offering, and the other cultivators sought items to trade, but no one had a sixth-grade talisman for He Pingsheng.
• He Pingsheng deployed the Eight-Treasure Ship, then left the group alone and traveled toward the Emperor's Fall Abyss in the Silver River Heavenly Shuttle.
• He Pingsheng searched the abyss for nearly ten days but could not find the Ghost King through the dense yin baleful energy.
• He Pingsheng took out a sixth-grade Ghost King Talisman, prompting the Ghost King to emerge and plead for his life.
• He Pingsheng promised not to harm the Ghost King and asked him to come out and talk.

He Pingsheng traded a supreme-grade Sacred Essence Pill to the Ghost King for two pieces of dragonscale immortal wood, then agreed to refine fire-attribute Dao-Gathering Pills for Crown Prince Double Radiance. After enhancing the materials and refining the pills, he delivered a bottle of supreme-grade pills to the prince.

• He Pingsheng persuaded the Ghost King to trade two dragonscale immortal wood ribs for a Sacred Essence Pill that extended the Ghost King's lifespan by a thousand years.
• The Ghost King said the dragonscale immortal wood came from the bones of one of the Netherworld Empress's enemies and that he had never seen her.
• He Pingsheng returned to Qiao Huizhu, where Crown Prince Double Radiance asked him to refine a batch of fifth-grade fire-attribute Dao-Gathering Pills.
• He Pingsheng enhanced the materials, failed to refine the first batch, then refined and enhanced the next batch into forty-eight supreme-grade pills.
• He Pingsheng emerged from the formation three days later and handed Crown Prince Double Radiance a bottle of pills.

He Pingsheng emerged from the Netherworld Emperor Palace and learned that Bing Yi was waiting to kill him. After failing to find Qiao Huizhu, he prepared to face Bing Yi alongside Hao Cang.

• Qiao Huizhu showed He Pingsheng the fifth-grade talismans she had learned to make, and they agreed to meet at the palace entrance after being teleported out.
• He Pingsheng gave Qiao Huizhu a sixth-grade Ghost King Talisman and reminded her to wait for him at the entrance.
• The Netherworld Emperor Palace closed, and He Pingsheng appeared beneath its entrance vortex, where he found Hao Cang and several others but not Qiao Huizhu.
• Hao Cang told He Pingsheng that he had perfected his divine sense and the Formless Big Dipper Nails.
• He Pingsheng received Liu Haoran's warning that Bing Yi had come to intercept and kill him, then located Bing Yi among the crowd.

He Pingsheng was pursued by Bing Yi and the Dragon-Flood Dragon Tribe after leaving with Hao Cang, then faced Bing Yi in a duel. He unleashed Myriad Annihilations Return to Origin, whose power made Bing Yi fear the strike as she raised a shield to defend herself.

• Bing Yi recognized He Pingsheng and was startled that he had reached the sixth layer of Spirit Transformation Stage since their last fight.
• Ao Ji asked Ninth Elder Ao Ban to help kill He Pingsheng, blaming him for his humiliation and for losing the chance to find the dragonscale immortal wood.
• He Pingsheng and Hao Cang hurried toward the exit, with Bing Yi and the two Dragon-Flood Dragon Tribe cultivators following them.
• Bing Yi stopped He Pingsheng and declared that he would die for violating the Divine Kingdom's laws and disrupting the Divine Emperor's plans.
• He Pingsheng merged with the Heaven-Deficiency Divine Spear and launched Myriad Annihilations Return to Origin, forcing Bing Yi to summon a circular shield.

He Pingsheng defeated Bing Yi by combining powerful spear techniques with poison and Hao Cang’s divine sense attacks. After Bing Yi collapsed, he confronted Ao Ji and Ao Ban, who had watched the battle in terror.

• Bing Yi expanded to three hundred zhang and fought He Pingsheng, but his spear shattered her ice shield and pierced her body.
• He Pingsheng and Bing Yi traded blows while Hao Cang and He Pingsheng sent divine sense attacks that Bing Yi’s jade pendant initially blocked.
• He Pingsheng’s poison weakened Bing Yi’s divine sense until she collapsed unconscious.
• He Pingsheng called out to Ao Ji and Ao Ban, who tried to leave but stopped when he threatened them.
• He Pingsheng summoned Ao Ji and Ao Ban over and told them he would give them a chance.

He Pingsheng killed Ao Ban and Bing Yi after forcing Ao Ji to test whether Bing Yi was still alive, then explained that Bing Yi could return through her avatar. As he and Hao Cang flew back toward Qiao Huizhu, they became trapped in a repeating landscape and spotted an old man fishing who might be the Heavenly Fire Divine Emperor.

• He Pingsheng ordered Ao Ban to strip Bing Yi, and when Ao Ban refused, he killed him with a black spear.
• He Pingsheng forced Ao Ji to approach Bing Yi, who revealed she had been pretending to be unconscious and killed Ao Ji.
• He Pingsheng struck Bing Yi with his primordial purple gold staff, vaporizing her body, then took her blue and red rings.
• He Pingsheng told Hao Cang that Bing Yi could survive through her avatar, gave Hao Cang the two Dragon Flood Dragons' rings, and set off toward Qiao Huizhu.
• He Pingsheng and Hao Cang found themselves passing identical mountains and lakes, realized they were trapped in a spatial illusion, and saw an old man fishing.
• Hao Cang wondered whether the fisherman was the Heavenly Fire Divine Emperor, and He Pingsheng feared they faced a Body Integration cultivator.

He Pingsheng met a mysterious old man who had trapped him beside a lake and learned that the man had guarded the secret realm for tens of thousands of years. The old man explained that he had placed the Primordial Purple Gold for He Pingsheng because he was human, as the Netherworld Emperor had intended it for a descendant of the Human Race.

• He Pingsheng scanned the old man, found no trace of spiritual power, and sat beside him after being summoned.
• The old man praised He Pingsheng's strength, identified his poison attribute rule, and recognized where he had comprehended it.
• The old man revealed that he had taken the Primordial Purple Gold and returned it to He Pingsheng, explaining it had been left by the Netherworld Emperor.
• The old man explained that he had guarded the Primordial Purple Gold for eighty thousand years or more and placed it in the Primordial Chaos Hall for a human descendant.
• The old man told He Pingsheng that other people had entered the Sixth Zone but received different items, while he alone received the Primordial Purple Gold because he was human.

He Pingsheng learned that the old man was the Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor, who gave him the Primordial Purple Gold and explained its power. Before ascending, the Demon Emperor asked He Pingsheng to help Nan Qiqi at the Stone Terrace Gathering, and He Pingsheng agreed.

• The Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor revealed that he had guarded the Netherworld Emperor Palace as a servant of the Netherworld Great Emperor and accepted He Pingsheng’s theft of the Southern Bough Immortal Spring.
• The Demon Emperor explained that the Primordial Purple Gold was an unfinished refining rod that could absorb high-grade equipment materials to strengthen itself.
• The Demon Emperor told He Pingsheng he was about to ascend and asked him to assist his descendant Nan Qiqi, a Vermilion Bird Tribe holy maiden, at the Stone Terrace Gathering.
• He Pingsheng agreed to help Nan Qiqi, and the Demon Emperor urged him to return to his waiting Dao Companion and offered to protect her if needed.

He Pingsheng reunited with Qiao Huizhu and Hao Cang, then traveled to Vermilion Bird Emperor City and met Liu Haoran. Liu Haoran warned him that Bing Yi had been sent to kill him, while He Pingsheng wondered whether his past reliance on treasures had cost him chances to overcome cultivation bottlenecks on his own.

• The Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor vanished after advising He Pingsheng to break through cultivation bottlenecks without relying on treasures when possible.
• He Pingsheng met Qiao Huizhu and Hao Cang at the Netherworld Emperor Palace entrance, then took them to Vermilion Bird Emperor City by flying ship.
• He Pingsheng contacted Liu Haoran, who arrived four hours later and was astonished by He Pingsheng's sixth-layer Spirit Transformation cultivation.
• Liu Haoran apologized for revealing He Pingsheng's identity to Tian Yao, which led the Heavenly Fire Divine Emperor to send Bing Yi after him, and warned him to stay in the city.
• He Pingsheng gave Liu Haoran the promised supreme-grade Sacred Essence Pill and learned that Tianyu had reached the fifth layer of Spirit Transformation.
• After parting with He Pingsheng, Liu Haoran wondered whether Bing Yi had spared him because she had taken a liking to him.

He Pingsheng chose Vermilion Bird Emperor City as a temporary home and bought a residence for himself, Qiao Huizhu, and Hao Cang. After securing the courtyard with new formations, he began refining Dao-Gathering Pills from the laws he had collected.

• He Pingsheng brought Qiao Huizhu and Hao Cang to the City Lord's Manor to find a place to live.
• He Pingsheng selected a high-grade spiritual-energy residence near the North Gate and paid thirty thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones for a five-hundred-year term.
• He Pingsheng registered the property's formation token under Hao Cang's name, and the three settled into the courtyard.
• He Pingsheng inspected the manor's low-grade formations and added defenses, a Spirit-Gathering Formation, an Illusion Formation, and a concealed Teleportation Array.
• He Pingsheng began refining the laws and rules he had obtained into Dao-Gathering Pills for Qiao Huizhu or future trade.

He Pingsheng prepared pills for Qiao Huizhu and Hao Cang before Nan Qiqi, the Vermilion Bird Tribe’s Holy Maiden, visited him. She explained the rules governing the Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor’s coming ascension, and He Pingsheng ended the chapter asking about cultivators who ascended from the Cultivation World.

• He Pingsheng gave Qiao Huizhu fifth-grade Dao-Gathering Pills and advised her to attempt a natural breakthrough, then gave pills to Hao Cang and planned to buy materials before entering seclusion himself.
• Nan Qiqi visited He Pingsheng alone and introduced herself as the Vermilion Bird Tribe’s Holy Maiden.
• Nan Qiqi said the Vermilion Bird Demon Emperor had gone to prepare for ascension and explained that ascension required the Heavenly King Mountain Ascension Platform and a Ten-Thousand-Year Continuation Covenant with the other Demon Emperors.
• He Pingsheng wondered where cultivators from the Cultivation World went after ascending and asked Nan Qiqi about it.
• Nan Qiqi asked He Pingsheng to call her Fellow Daoist Nan or Immortal Maiden Qiqi instead of Senior.

He Pingsheng learned from Nan Qiqi about the Stone Terrace Gathering and agreed to accompany her when it took place. After Nan Qiqi left, he went to the Sacred Fire Commerce Association, where an elder recognized him despite his disguise.

• He Pingsheng asked Nan Qiqi where cultivators from lower Cultivation Worlds appeared after ascending, and she explained how Ascension Pools and small-world locations varied.
• Nan Qiqi reminded He Pingsheng of his promise to accompany her to the Stone Terrace Gathering and explained its contests, Heavenly Ladder, and rewards for the top thirty participants.
• Nan Qiqi gave He Pingsheng five Heartbond Talismans and a Token for entering the Emperor Palace, then warned him that other prodigies could also defeat Void Refinement cultivators while in Spirit Transformation.
• He Pingsheng considered Nan Qiqi's warning, put on the Jinlan Treasure Robe, and headed to the Sacred Fire Commerce Association.
• An elder at the Sacred Fire Commerce Association recognized He Pingsheng's disguised appearance and was surprised by his greatly advanced cultivation.

He Pingsheng searched Emperor City’s commerce associations for materials to refine a Death-Substitute Puppet, but could not find the crucial fire radiance tiger blood stone. The Sacred Fire Commerce Association’s third elder directed him to Master Lone Pine’s Trading Fair and offered him a way to attend as the association’s representative.

• He Pingsheng bought most of the materials on his list from the Sacred Fire Commerce Association, but the third elder said it lacked the fire radiance tiger blood stone.
• He Pingsheng visited every commerce association in Emperor City and gathered the other materials, but still could not find the stone.
• He Pingsheng returned to the third elder, who told him that Master Lone Pine would hold a Trading Fair for artifact-refining materials outside the city.
• The third elder described Master Lone Pine as an overbearing peak Spirit Transformation Stage artifact-refiner and offered He Pingsheng the commerce association’s Token so he could attend as its representative.
• He Pingsheng asked whether any Void Refinement Realm cultivators would attend, and the third elder assured him there would be none.

He Pingsheng prepared for a trading fair on Lone Pine Mountain by inspecting and enhancing the treasures he obtained from Bing Yi. He gave Qiao Huizhu several powerful ice-attribute items and left to meet the Heavenly Fire Commerce Association for the trip.

• He Pingsheng agreed with the Heavenly Fire Commerce Association's third elder to attend the trading fair on Lone Pine Mountain in ten days and meet at the association.
• While Qiao Huizhu and Hao Cang cultivated in seclusion, He Pingsheng studied puppet-making texts and inspected Bing Yi's two rings.
• He Pingsheng enhanced Bing Yi's talismans, divine-sense defenses, sword, and ice-attribute divine abilities into powerful items.
• He Pingsheng gave Qiao Huizhu a Flying Snow Sword, a Divine Essence token, two ice-attribute divine abilities, and an Ice Splendor World talisman.
• When the appointed time came, He Pingsheng teleported to the Heavenly Fire Commerce Association's entrance to join the journey to Lone Pine Mountain.

He Pingsheng, using the name Dragon Hibernate, traveled with Mo Sang to Daoist Lone Pine’s Trading Fair at Lone Pine Mountain. After learning that a Void Refinement Realm ghost had appeared in the Netherworld Emperor Palace, he was recognized as someone who had entered its Secret Realm and was asked to open the fair.

• Mo Sang warned He Pingsheng that the Heavenly Fire Commerce Association would not protect him once he entered the Trading Fair, then took him west by Flying Boat.
• He Pingsheng and Mo Sang arrived at Lone Pine Mountain and joined the Spirit Transformation Stage cultivators gathered for the artifact-materials fair.
• Daoist Lone Pine asked Mo Sang whether any dragonscale immortal wood had emerged from the Netherworld Emperor Palace, and Mo Sang said none had because a powerful Void Refinement Realm ghost appeared in the Killing Intent Abyss.
• Daoist Lone Pine recognized Dragon Hibernate as someone who had entered the Netherworld Emperor Palace Secret Realm and invited him to start the Trading Fair by showing his artifact-refining materials.

He Pingsheng traded his supreme-grade wind peach celestial wood for fire radiance tiger blood stone, completing the materials he needed to refine a Death-Substitute Puppet. He sat out the rest of the trading session as Lone Pine presented another item.

• He Pingsheng brought out lightning-patterned wood, which Lone Pine identified as rare, supreme-grade wind peach celestial wood.
• He Pingsheng asked to trade the wood for fire radiance tiger blood stone, and Lone Pine guessed he was gathering materials for a Death-Substitute Puppet.
• He Pingsheng explained that fire radiance tiger blood stone had other uses, and a female cultivator offered her palm-sized piece in exchange for the wood.
• He Pingsheng completed the trade and said he would make no more trades, having obtained every material he needed for the puppet.
• Lone Pine brought out a pitch-black material and invited the others to make offers.

At the Trading Fair, Long Yue revealed a mysterious golden material that softened into sludge, and He Pingsheng’s Primordial Purple Gold Staff reacted eagerly to it. He offered increasingly valuable treasures for the material, but Long Yue refused to trade it and instead asked to exchange other treasures for his Sacred Essence Pill.

• Long Yue presented an unknown golden material, which softened and spread across the table when she set it down.
• The cultivators failed to identify the material, and He Pingsheng offered to buy it because his Primordial Purple Gold Staff seemed eager to consume it.
• He Pingsheng offered four supreme-grade fire-attribute Dao-Gathering Pills, then ten portions of Ice Jade Loquat Paste, but Long Yue refused both offers.
• He Pingsheng offered a supreme-grade Sacred Essence Pill, drawing intense interest from the gathered cultivators.
• Long Yue declined to trade the material but asked whether she could exchange other treasures for He Pingsheng’s Sacred Essence Pill.

He Pingsheng rejected the blue-robed cultivator’s offer and turned down several bids for his Sacred Essence Pill. During the trading fair, Daoist Lone Pine plotted with four allies to ambush Dragon Hibernate after the fair, while Immortal Maiden Hazy Moon refused to join; Mo Sang then pleaded with He Pingsheng to trade him a pill.

• He Pingsheng refused the blue-robed woman’s offer and rejected the treasures other cultivators offered for his Sacred Essence Pill.
• Daoist Lone Pine gathered five people and revealed that Dragon Hibernate had entered the Netherworld Emperor Palace’s Fifth Zone and might possess dragonscale immortal wood.
• Immortal Maiden Hazy Moon refused to join Lone Pine’s plan to attack Dragon Hibernate and left without promising to betray them.
• Lone Pine and the four remaining allies agreed to pursue Dragon Hibernate after the trading fair and discussed dividing his spoils.
• Mo Sang pleaded with He Pingsheng for a Sacred Essence Pill, offering all the Magical Treasures and cultivation resources he carried.

After leaving the trading fair, He Pingsheng was ambushed by Daoist Lone Pine and four peak Spirit Transformation cultivators seeking his treasures. His defenses withstood their attacks, and he killed two attackers as they tried to flee, leaving Lone Pine and the other survivors begging for mercy.

• Mo Sang warned He Pingsheng that his treasures had attracted greedy attention, and He Pingsheng gave him a Sacred Essence Pill before leaving the fair early.
• Five peak Spirit Transformation cultivators intercepted He Pingsheng, and Daoist Lone Pine admitted they planned to kill him and take his treasures.
• He Pingsheng summoned the Heaven-Deficiency Divine Spear and protected himself with the Blood-Colored Turtle Shell as the five attackers struck.
• The attackers' repeated assaults failed to break He Pingsheng's defenses, and the Moon-White-Robed man and woman fled.
• He Pingsheng killed the fleeing pair with Divine Sense Nails, prompting Daoist Lone Pine and the two remaining old men to claim the ambush had been a joke.