Chapter Summaries

Wang Quan brought the Officiant Daoist Nun, Dream, Si Xiaohong, Fairy Qin, and other cultivators to Stone City after forcibly requisitioning them from the battlefield. He explained that their work would expand safe zones across three worlds, leaving the rescued cultivators ready to help with his plan.

• A New-Method cultivator charged toward the front after the [Dao Seal] cultivators ordered him and others to advance, but the Officiant Daoist Nun and her companions were requisitioned and withdrew.
• The [Dao Seal] cultivators received orders not to obstruct the transfer, then told orthodox Foundation Establishment cultivators to fall back and New-Method cultivators to advance.
• Wang Quan waited at Stone City's ritual teleportation hall until the Officiant, Dream, Si Xiaohong, Fairy Qin, and the others arrived.
• The reunited cultivators wept and described their suffering, including Si Xiaohong, who had only her head left and was trapped in a water vat.
• Dream Nun described how they had once stabilized dangerous land by using cultivators to wear away anomalous weather, building yin caverns, and refining earth veins.
• Wang Quan asked the group to help expand safe zones by bearing spells, tending spiritual plants, worshipping celestial bodies, and controlling magical artifacts.

Wang Quan healed the cultivators' injuries in Stone City, including Si Xiaohong's severe condition, and restored the group to full health. With their strength and hope renewed, he prepared to assign them spells and have them help with his work.

• Wang Quan reassured the cultivators that he could treat injuries caused by abnormal weather and began by healing Officiant.
• Wang Quan healed the lightly injured cultivators and restored those with missing limbs or blind eyes.
• Wang Quan used [Incense Drowning Water] to overcome the strange power resisting his Healing Spell and cleared Si Xiaohong's injuries.
• Wang Quan accelerated Si Xiaohong's body restoration, and she adjusted her new body's proportions as it grew.
• Wang Quan, Officiant, and the other cultivators spent six hours restoring the remaining gravely injured cultivators.
• Wang Quan told the cultivators to carry spells and control magical artifacts, and they agreed to help as long as they did not have to fight outside the city.

Wang Quan used spirit soil, magical artifacts, and the Five Elements Fruit Trees to stabilize Stone City’s earth veins and help the cultivators reclaim farmland. After they harvested enough spirit grain to feed fifty thousand people, they turned to Wang Quan for advice on whose cannon fodder to summon first.

• Si Xiaohong recognized Wang Quan from the Drowning Dao Lower Court, and Wang Quan explained that he had used the spirit soil himself.
• Wang Quan explained that Egg Birth Art let cultivators bring companions, and a female cultivator released and recalled hundreds of cultivators, spirit monsters, and martial artists from eggs.
• Wang Quan used top-grade magical artifacts from the Drowning Dao Lower Court to stabilize the earth veins and accelerate the growth of the Five Elements Fruit Trees.
• After three days, the cultivators confirmed that the earth veins had stabilized and worked together to reclaim farmland and grow spirit grain.
• The cultivators debated whose cannon fodder to summon first, then asked Wang Quan what he thought.

Wang Quan helped the cultivators plan the new outpost’s food production, earth veins, and spiritual energy, then left the ongoing labor to them. Ruo Jinghong of the Rouge Gate approached him to propose deeper cooperation.

• Wang Quan urged the cultivators to establish earth veins, farm fields, and construct spirit veins for New-Method Cultivators.
• The cultivators decided to recruit a hundred thousand Orthodox Foundation Establishment Cultivators and forty thousand farm-skilled spirit monsters and martial artists.
• Wang Quan instructed the Officiant Daoist Nun and the others in spells and Foundation Establishment, and told them to rest at night.
• Ma Qingqiu reported that each outpost could recruit only twenty thousand Orthodox Foundation Establishment Cultivators per day, while the group had recruited sixty thousand farming spirit monsters.
• Wang Quan said the Five Elements Fruit Trees and his companions would cover his contribution to the outpost’s labor.
• Ruo Jinghong of the Rouge Gate introduced herself as a Second-Rank Dao Seal and level-two authority holder, then proposed in-depth cooperation with Wang Quan.

Ruo Jinghong allied with Wang Quan, and they went to choose neighboring base plots in Stone City. The cultivators learned that plot locations depended on access levels and began claiming land, while Ma Qingqiu urged Wang Quan to choose a spot beside his.

• Ruo Jinghong explained through her actions that she wanted to work with Wang Quan because his high-level access and ability offered her a better chance of survival, and Wang Quan agreed to join forces.
• Ruo Jinghong and Wang Quan exchanged contact details and headed to the Planning Hall to choose base plots together.
• Ma Qingqiu persuaded the cultivators to give ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivators earth-vein spells, while the cultivators assigned spirit monsters to eat and produce manure.
• Wang Quan and Ruo Jinghong waited at the Planning Hall for the other cultivators before asking the land-distributing puppet about plots.
• The puppet explained that plots lay in three rings, that the third ring offered the best chance to expand later, and that access levels restricted which rings cultivators could choose.
• Ma Qingqiu claimed a second-ring plot, helped Mei'er and other scripture students mark nearby plots, and urged Wang Quan to choose a spot beside his.

Wang Quan organized the cultivators to survey Stone City, claim a third-ring territory, and build an enormous ritual altar intended to stabilize the Far Western Land. As the construction impressed their rivals, Ma Qingqiu suspected Wang Quan had obtained level-three access.

• Wang Quan sent the cultivators to survey the land and chose a site by Stone City's northern wall for their settlement.
• Wang Quan claimed a third-ring area and planted ritual-node banners to lay the foundations of an enormous altar.
• Wang Quan described how the altar could help clear abnormal weather, stabilize the land, and secure a future for the settlers, inspiring the cultivators to begin construction.
• The cultivators built manors, residences, fields, and a palace for studying Daoist scriptures across Stone City.
• Mei'er wondered who had reached level-three access, and Ma Qingqiu concluded that Wang Quan was the likely candidate, recalling that he had seemed capable when they first met.

Wang Quan prepared a grand sacrificial ceremony in Stone City, gathering cultivators and Spirit Monsters to burn Sandalwood Incense as part of the ritual. The ceremony advanced through its first stages, leaving the Officiant and Dream Nun ready to fire the cannon for Wang Quan’s call of snow.

• Ma Qingqiu told Mei'er about Wang Quan’s strength and how he had inspired Ma Qingqiu to gain the second level of authority, though neither knew how Wang Quan obtained the third.
• Stone City gained a hundred thousand Orthodox Foundation Establishment Cultivators and over two hundred thousand farming Spirit Monsters, including chives that helped sustain the settlement’s livestock.
• Mei'er and Ruo Jinghong discussed their celebration of Daoist Scriptures, and Wang Quan agreed to let their people join his grand sacrificial ceremony if they brought plenty of Sandalwood Incense.
• Cultivators and Spirit Monsters gathered outside the altar with incense, and Wang Quan began the ceremony by calling for wind and then thunder.
• Thunderfire burned the incense and struck the participants, causing the Spirit Monsters to collapse and burning away a third of the cultivators’ incense.
• The Officiant and Dream Nun prepared the cannon as Wang Quan called for snow, and they lit the fuse before the chapter ended.

Wang Quan’s sacrificial ceremony drained the cultivators and spirit monsters but stabilized the newly born seasons, earning everyone a thousand permission points. He decided to hold the ceremony again every few days, despite their protests.

• Wang Quan continued the sacrificial ceremony until the Orthodox Foundation Establishment Cultivators, Ma Qingqiu, Ruo Jinghong, and Mei'er collapsed from exhaustion.
• Wang Quan used [Manifest the Four Seasons] and magic artifacts to stabilize the newborn seasons and synchronize them with the Real World's seasons.
• More than a hundred thousand golden spheres appeared, illuminated the Manor altar, and left golden patterns across its buildings and ground.
• The cultivators discovered that their identity tokens had awarded them 500 permission points for participating in the seasons’ birth and another 500 for stabilizing seasonal changes.
• Wang Quan told the exhausted participants to return to work and announced that they would perform another sacrificial ceremony in a few days.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun berated the protesting spirit monsters and ordered them to eat more grass before the next ceremony.

Wang Quan’s grand sacrifice raised his Far West authority to level four, giving him the power to carry out a compulsory conscription. He promised the Orthodox Cultivators another ceremony in three days, while the spirit monsters dreaded having to endure it again.

• The Orthodox Cultivators asked Ma Qingqiu and the other [Dao Seal] cultivators when they could hold another worship ceremony, but the cultivators deferred to Wang Quan.
• Wang Quan received fifty thousand authority points for the birth of Stone City’s seasons and solar terms, and his Far West authority rose to level four.
• Wang Quan tested his new power by trying to conscript the Far Western Land’s highest-authority cultivator, but learned that he would conscript himself within the current area.
• Wang Quan told the excited Orthodox Cultivators that he would hold another grand sacrificial ceremony in three days.
• Wang Quan urged the spirit monsters to recover and invoked survival of the fittest, prompting a goat spirit to eat leaves and a leopard spirit to ask a pig spirit for meat.

Wang Quan led another sacrifice that slightly cleared Stone City's sky and earned the cultivators permission points, while Ma Qingqiu and the others began preparing their own plan to combat the abnormal climate. At the Five Elements orchard, Wang Quan chose cattle grass to enrich the soil after a toad spirit proposed it, though the spirit also suggested the more valuable haze grass.

• Wang Quan led the cultivators in restoring the spirit monsters and announced that they would hold another sacrifice in three days.
• Ma Qingqiu asked the cultivators to help refine a set of magical implements for fighting the abnormal climate, and they agreed to assist her.
• Ruo Jinghong and the other cultivators debated whether to support Wang Quan, with Ruo Jinghong backing him while Fierce Tiger Daoist argued they should still compete with him.
• Wang Quan inspected the Five Elements Fruit Trees and found that Stone City's weak earth and poor soil prevented them from flowering and bearing fruit.
• Si Xiaohong brought Wang Quan a group of farming spirit monsters, and their toad spirit leader recommended planting cattle grass to enrich the soil before suggesting haze grass as a more valuable alternative.

Wang Quan’s growing settlement used cattle grass and spirit monsters’ manure to strengthen Stone City, while repeated worship ceremonies expanded the city without granting anyone more access privilege points. As competition for food and dung grew harsher, an injured Leopard Spirit faced pressure to become a Pig Demon’s mount.

• Wang Quan ordered the Toad Spirit to have herbivorous spirit monsters plant cattle grass and produce manure, and the Toad Spirit realized why Wang Quan had forbidden Haze Grass.
• After thirty grand worship ceremonies, Stone City had more cultivators and spirit monsters, deeper soil, widespread earth veins, and cattle grass, but food remained scarce.
• A Leopard Spirit tried to seize fresh elephant dung, but other spirit monsters beat it and took the dung after its creditors promised them benefits for crippling it.
• A Pig Demon confronted the injured Leopard Spirit and demanded that it become his mount, threatening to stab it when it refused.

The Pig Spirit and Leopard Spirit seized a Five Elements Fruit Tree, hoping its power would help them form Spirit Veins. As night fell, Stone City endured attacks from beyond its walls while strange sounds from clouds above the grove entranced its inhabitants.

• The Pig Spirit explained that claiming a Five Elements Fruit Tree could increase their Spirit Vein cultivation, then rode the Leopard Spirit toward the grove.
• The two Spirit Monsters passed the magical implements and laboring creatures that regulated and improved Stone City.
• At the grove, the Pig Spirit claimed a tree and fought alongside the Leopard Spirit to hold it against the other Spirit Monsters.
• After dark, strange winds, flames, meteorites, seawater, and monsters battered Stone City while the incense and pink clouds gathered above the grove.
• The Pig Spirit and Leopard Spirit listened to the strange sounds and swayed, with the Pig Spirit hoping his cultured appearance would earn him control of more trees.

After months of building Stone City, the cultivators debated whether to attack the anomalous weather outside or strengthen their foundations, then learned their city had no ranking or points. Divination convinced them they could begin missions, and Wang Quan proposed advancing on all three fronts, though others favored the safer Present World missions.

• Mei'er urged the cultivators to clear the anomalous weather outside Stone City, while Ruo Jinghong argued they should wait another month and consolidate.
• Wang Quan said Stone City's development and its sacrificial ceremonies must not be delayed, regardless of whether they chose to fight outside.
• Mei Niang revealed that the Mission Hall had posted city rankings, and Wang Quan and the cultivators learned Stone City had no points or ranking.
• Wang Quan warned against sacrificing too many cannon fodder and Orthodox Foundation Establishment Cultivators for points, but Mei Niang proposed breeding cannon fodder before sending them to die.
• After hours of divination, Ruo Jinghong agreed that Stone City could undertake missions, and Wang Quan proposed advancing in the Present World, Underworld, and Second-Layer World at once.

Wang Quan prepared to enter the dangerous Underworld and establish a foothold there, while Stone City organized its residents to fight the abnormal weather. The chapter ended with Ruo Jinghong warning him to flee if the attempt went badly, and Wang Quan beginning the rite.

• Wang Quan urged the cultivators to help clear evil from the Second-Layer World, but Ma Qingqiu said the People-Crossing Scripture made that approach ineffective, so they chose to fight the abnormal weather in shifts.
• Wang Quan asked the cultivators to join him in the Underworld, but Ruo Jinghong, Su Mali, and the others chose to build up their strength in the Real World first.
• Wang Quan reminded everyone to continue Stone City's sacrificial ceremonies, and the city conscripted its spirit monsters, martial artists, and cultivators to prepare for battle.
• Forces of conscripted cultivators formed secret groups to resist their commanders, while other Foundation Establishment experts secretly investigated the advantage held by [Dao Seal] cultivators.
• Ruo Jinghong warned Wang Quan that few cities had established Underworld outposts, but Wang Quan said his ghostly connections and worldly ways could help him succeed.
• Wang Quan ascended the Five-Colored Altar and began the rite to enter the Underworld.

Wang Quan entered the Far Western Land’s bustling Underworld and recruited Yasi Ghost to guide him to a residence. As Yasi Ghost led him through the city, Wang Quan became interested in its alleys, which even ghost gods feared to enter.

• Wang Quan used a flaming lotus ritual to enter the Underworld, where he saw its sprawling cities and the creatures struggling to reach them.
• A ghost god scrutinized Wang Quan, but he displayed tokens proving his service to the Underworld, and the ghost god moved on.
• Wang Quan asked a hunchbacked creature where to buy a residence and promised a reward; the creature introduced himself as Yasi Ghost and offered to guide him.
• Yasi Ghost showed Wang Quan the city’s businesses while Wang Quan noticed that many creatures entered through gaps and small doors in the alleys.
• Wang Quan asked to explore the alleys, but Yasi Ghost warned that their deeper passages were so dangerous even ghost gods could be killed there.

Wang Quan tested his Foundation Establishment spells against an Underworld being after a little giant offered to reveal the Underworld’s secrets in exchange for eating him. Wang Quan emerged from the giant’s belly unharmed, leaving the other Underworld beings stunned.

• Yasi Ghost brought Wang Quan to a mansion where visitors lined up to give gifts, and told him that he had once been a local overlord before a strange wind swept his town away.
• A little giant offered to explain where they were if Wang Quan let him suck on his bones, and Wang Quan agreed to test his abilities.
• Wang Quan cast a substitution spell on the little giant, jumped into his mouth, shrank, and ran through his esophagus into his stomach.
• Wang Quan used the Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust to defend against the giant’s poisonous smoke, flames, acid, and summoned monsters.
• The little giant mocked Wang Quan and went for a stroll, but Wang Quan crawled out through his belly with the giant’s internal organs, making him wail.

Wang Quan controlled the little giant and used him to devour Underworld creatures in the queue, collecting their gift boxes while Yasi Ghost helped conceal the evidence. After several dozen more creatures were swallowed, a two-headed crow ghost god asked Wang Quan to queue behind him, and Wang Quan agreed.

• Wang Quan used a Foundation Establishment spell to control the little giant, who swallowed Underworld creatures demanding to eat Wang Quan.
• Wang Quan collected the fallen gift boxes and ordered Yasi Ghost to clean up, while the little giant continued eating creatures in the queue.
• Yasi Ghost recruited beast-shaped Underworld creatures to clean the ground and the little giant’s belly as Wang Quan used spells to conceal his actions.
• Wang Quan noticed that ghost gods passed through the city or patrolled it, while creatures with ghost god bloodlines in the queue did not interfere.
• A two-headed crow ghost god asked Wang Quan to queue behind him, and Wang Quan agreed after seeing that few creatures remained ahead.

Wang Quan arrived in Emperor's Tomb City and learned from Daoist Two Ravens that it was one of the Underworld's five imperial cities. Daoist Two Ravens revealed a forbidden legend about the city's origins, leaving Wang Quan intrigued by the possibility that the current Ghost Emperors had built it over the bodies of their predecessors.

• Wang Quan asked Daoist Two Ravens which lineage he belonged to and said he came from the countryside.
• Daoist Two Ravens explained that Emperor's Tomb City was the western supreme ghost god lord's capital, where former local powers were treated as common rabble.
• Wang Quan said his bloodline memories placed the Ghost God Emperors of the Five Directions on five mountains, and Daoist Two Ravens secretly praised him for knowing a dangerous secret.
• Daoist Two Ravens told Wang Quan that, according to his ancestors' records, the current Ghost Emperors had killed their predecessors and built the five imperial capitals atop their remains and treasures.
• Daoist Two Ravens admitted that the story was only a forbidden legend, since generations had passed and no ghost god knew Emperor's Tomb City's true origins.

Wang Quan suspected Emperor's Tomb City concealed the previous generation of Ghost Emperors and used an enormous stash of gifts to seek a better place to live. After impressing the residence's inhabitants, he was invited onto a black road reaching to heaven.

• Wang Quan reasoned that Emperor's Tomb City might suppress the previous generation of Ghost Emperors of the Five Directions beneath it.
• At the residence gate, Wang Quan learned that gifts could earn him better living arrangements and promised gatekeeper Qin a Luoyang shovel in exchange for help.
• Wang Quan and the others entered the courtyard and received keys after tossing their gifts into a pavilion.
• Wang Quan poured more than six hundred sets of gift boxes into the pavilion, drawing increasingly grand hosts and entertainers.
• A black road appeared before Wang Quan, and a voice invited him over for a chat.

Wang Quan met Ghost God Soft Bristle, who asked him to find a Western Ghost Emperor Statue in exchange for a place to live in the Underworld. After receiving two keys, Wang Quan returned to the residential compound and used his gold key to gain entry as a distinguished guest.

• Master Qin and the estate’s residents trembled as the black road appeared, while Daoist Two Ravens realized Wang Quan had struck it rich.
• Wang Quan traveled along the black road and met Ghost God Soft Bristle, who saw through his disguise and offered him a residence for finding a statue or living being.
• Ghost God Soft Bristle described the three-headed, six-armed Western Ghost Emperor Statue and told Wang Quan to burn incense and call his name once he found it.
• Ghost God Soft Bristle gave Wang Quan a bronze key as an advance payment and a gold key corresponding to his gifts, then sent him back to the compound.
• Daoist Two Ravens and the other ghost-god descendants argued with the gatekeeper until Wang Quan arrived and showed his gold key.
• The gatekeeper welcomed Wang Quan as a distinguished guest of No. 95 Courtyard, then let the other descendants enter with him at Wang Quan’s request.