Chapter Summaries

Wang Quan brought the Officiant Daoist Nun, Dream Nun, and Fairy Qin back to Drowning Dao Lower Court, where they saw how much it had changed and visited Qian Xiuyue’s thriving Sun Flower base. At a feast, the women competed for influence around Wang Quan, and Fairy Qin prepared a dance performance.

• Ruo Jinghong declined Wang Quan’s invitation to the contest because she planned to refine her Primordial Spirit, but offered to help if he ran into trouble.
• Wang Quan took the Officiant Daoist Nun, Dream Nun, and Fairy Qin to Drowning Dao Lower Court, where they found the Market Ward transformed but No. 95 Courtyard still standing.
• Wang Quan brought the three women to Seven Maidens Mountain, where Qian Xiuyue welcomed them to her vast Sun Flower base and explained that the Lower Court spent money to keep its coin mountains from overwhelming the landscape.
• Qian Xiuyue and the Officiant Daoist Nun traded private threats as they led Wang Quan and the others to a lavish feast atop a mountain of Green Fly Coins.
• Senior Sister Round Face joined the women’s covert contest and drove the Officiant Daoist Nun, Dream Nun, and Fairy Qin into retreat, while Wang Quan drank and enjoyed the scenery.
• Fairy Qin opened a chest and announced that she had brought trained dancers to perform at the feast.

Wang Quan discussed the coming contest of spells and warned that Drowning Dao Lower Court’s wealth would attract the New Method, then inspected its vast Second Layer Evil World safe zone. He left the group preparing to defend their base as the contest approached.

• Wang Quan enjoyed the banquet’s performances before explaining that the contest of spells was an inevitable clash between Orthodox Cultivators and the New Method.
• Wang Quan warned that Drowning Dao Lower Court’s wealth and Green Fly Coins would draw the New Method, and he asked Qian Xiuyue and Senior Sister Round Face to defend the Mortal World and Second Layer Evil World.
• Senior Sister Round Face told Wang Quan that the safe zone covered a million li and that the sun and moon’s renewed power was making it expand faster.
• Wang Quan and the others inspected the safe zone, where Sun Flower Spirits recited scriptures to worship the sun and moon.
• Fairy Qin suggested that the Mortal World was not another Second-Layer World, and Wang Quan said the coming contest mattered more than whether the worlds were alike.

Wang Quan traveled toward the Fury River’s source and found the New Method occupying cities, destroying Orthodox teachings, and training forces with Orthodox Cultivators’ help. When a group of Orthodox Cultivators challenged him, they declared that the tide of the times had given them courage.

• Senior Sister Round Face and Qian Xiuyue formed an alliance to ask Wang Quan for benefits after the battle, while Qian Xiuyue’s Dao companions urged her to seek his bloodline for their lineage.
• Wang Quan, the Officiant, and the others saw that the New Method had occupied the cities along the Fury River and burned the Immortal-Tutoring Bureau’s teachings, replacing it with the Immortal-Welcoming Bureau.
• Wang Quan and his companions observed New-Method Cultivators drilling spells and formations, and Wang Quan said their limited repertoire made them easy to defeat.
• New-Method Cultivators fired more than ten thousand fireballs at Wang Quan’s Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust, but he raised the cloud and the attacks burst beneath it.
• A group of Orthodox Cultivators serving the New Method confronted Wang Quan and defended their choice, with one declaring that the tide of the times had given them courage to fight.

Wang Quan and his allies overwhelmed a group of New-Method Cultivators, and the Officiant Daoist Nun captured them in her sack. The group continued toward their destination while a white dove spirit carried a warning to Parting Fire City, drawing other spirit monsters along to watch the coming battle.

• Dream Nun knocked dozens of Orthodox Cultivators unconscious with her Dream Thunderfire, and the New-Method Cultivators were unable to reach the group in the sky.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun used her sack to capture the New-Method Cultivators, then discussed their usefulness with Wang Quan, who said harvesting would be worthwhile only once they reached Golden Core level.
• The Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust continued toward the source as the New-Method Cultivators returned to the city after chasing them.
• A New-Method leader sent a white dove spirit to warn the lord of Parting Fire City that a powerful enemy was approaching.
• The white dove spread news of the coming attack to spirits along its route, and they followed it toward Parting Fire City to watch.

The white dove spirit carried warnings along the Fury River while city lords claimed they had defeated Wang Quan with four thousand Golden Cores. At the twelfth city, Wang Quan accepted a vanguard post as the Old Cultivation Method prepared for contests of magic against the New Method.

• The lord of Parting Fire City told the white dove spirit that his forces had driven Wang Quan away with four thousand Golden Cores and sent the spirit to warn the next city.
• The white dove spirit traveled from city to city, hearing each lord repeat the same claim, and led the spirit monsters in chanting, “Four thousand Golden Cores defeat Wang Quan!”
• The great cultivators of the Old Cultivation Method established twelve cities and formations along the Fury River and appointed Wang Quan vanguard officer after telling him the post might bring favor.
• The Old Cultivation Method assigned 3,908 official posts, gathered a huge force at the twelfth pass, and scheduled the contests of magic to begin in three days.
• The New-Method Cultivators also deployed troops and appointed generals as both sides prepared for the contests.

Heavenly World prodigies controlling New-Method Cultivators planned to defeat the Old Cultivation Method army in the magical duels, while native commander Jiang Wuwei stayed silent and played along. As the New Method army arrived at the twelfth pass, Wang Quan stepped forward to answer its grand display with one of his own.

• Heavenly World prodigies argued over the magical duels while native New-Method Cultivators, including Jiang Wuwei, had little say.
• The prodigies settled on sending their three vanguard officers against the Old Cultivation Method vanguards first, with the duels set to begin in three days.
• The New Method army marched toward the twelfth pass with horns, drums, spirit beasts, and a dark cloud of killing intent.
• Wang Quan’s companions offered to collect the dark cloud and destroy the army’s drums and horns.
• Wang Quan told everyone to step back and watch his grand display.

Wang Quan and the Officiant Daoist Nun used three cannon salutes to shatter the New Method army’s dark clouds and make a bloody but triumphant entrance at the twelfth pass. The New Method forces withdrew to camp, while the Orthodox Cultivators decided to weaken their confidence through repeated defeats rather than attack immediately.

• Wang Quan raised the Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust, and the Officiant Daoist Nun summoned cannons that scattered heavenly flowers and raised golden lotuses.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun fired a giant cannon with Wang Quan at its muzzle, blasting apart the New Method army’s dark clouds, killing the spirit beasts stitching them, and leaving Wang Quan bleeding from all seven orifices.
• Wang Quan challenged the New Method forces and mocked a Heavenly World cultivator before returning to the city wall with the Officiant Daoist Nun.
• Jiang Wuwei persuaded the New Method army to set up camp and recover, and its commanders agreed to fight again the next day.
• Orthodox Cultivators proposed attacking the camp for Favor, but their great cultivators urged them to chip away at the enemy’s pride through repeated failures.

Wang Quan led the Old Cultivation Method vanguards out to challenge the New Method army, then overwhelmed their spectacle with an elaborate display of spirits, music, and dancing. When the New Method vanguard officers could not rise high enough to fight him, they challenged him to come down from his cloud and duel on foot.

• Wang Quan persuaded the Old Cultivation Method vanguard officers to challenge the New Method vanguards together and led them beyond the pass.
• The New Method army sent three vanguard officers forward with a million-strong army making a grand display.
• Wang Quan summoned spirits, monsters, and female performers from the Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust, outshining the New Method army's spectacle.
• Wang Quan mocked the New Method vanguards from his cloud, and they challenged him to fight on foot after they failed to fly high enough to reach him.

Wang Quan and the Orthodox Cultivators faced the Heavenly World's New-Method Cultivators in a spell duel, but the two sides had to build cloud platforms to reach the sky. At three thousand meters, the new-method vanguards demanded a melee, then balked when dozens of Wang Quan’s vanguard officers showed up.

• Wang Quan mocked the New-Method Cultivators for being unable to fly high, so they built a towering cloud platform to launch themselves into the sky.
• The Heavenly World’s three vanguard officers demanded another platform, and both sides gathered at three thousand meters for the duel.
• The New-Method Cultivators insisted on an all-out melee, and Wang Quan reluctantly agreed after their supporters called for a fight.
• Wang Quan and several dozen vanguard officers stepped forward, prompting the three New-Method Cultivators to object that they were outnumbered.
• The Orthodox vanguard officers announced their unusual titles, while Wang Quan and the crowd challenged the three New-Method Cultivators to fight.

Wang Quan and the other Legends turned the New Method officers’ proposed duel into a melee, overwhelming the Heavenly World cultivators with their powerful divine abilities. Wang Quan captured an officer’s Nascent Soul and consciousness, leaving the New Method bigwigs to witness the slaughter.

• The three New Method vanguard officers asked to summon reinforcements, and Wang Quan and the others eagerly agreed.
• The Heavenly World cultivators rushed onto the platform while New Method bigwigs began appointing more vanguard officers to bring their followers down.
• Wang Quan and the Legends unleashed a torrent of spells and divine abilities that killed New-Method Cultivators in large numbers.
• A New-Method Cultivator attacked Wang Quan with Godslaying Spikes, but a lotus divine ability broke the spikes and pinned him down.
• Wang Quan revealed that he had taken the attacker’s Nascent Soul, then used a divine ability to put its consciousness to sleep and stored it in his Hundred-Treasure Pouch.

Wang Quan and the other Legend officers crushed the New-Method vanguard in the first magical contest, prompting its leaders to reject a costly siege and continue the contests at other ranks. Wang Quan discovered that defeating New-Method Cultivators earned him recurring primordial spirit light, and the junior officers’ contest ended with another New-Method defeat.

• Wang Quan killed a New-Method vanguard officer, seized his Nascent Soul, and let his corpse fall before the New-Method leaders as the other Legends’ kills followed.
• The New-Method leaders considered launching a siege, but Jiang Wuwei warned that it would cause heavy casualties and urged them to continue the magical contests.
• Wang Quan and the victorious Legends returned to the Twelfth Pass, where their Dao Seals revealed that winning the contest had granted them favor of the era and recurring primordial spirit light.
• Wang Quan eagerly asked to fight again, but the other officers reminded him that the remaining New-Method vanguard officers were dead and new ones had to be appointed.
• The Primordial Spirit junior officers finished their contest, with the orthodox cultivators killing the New-Method opponents and taking their Spirit Transformation prisoners.

New Method Void Refinement Cultivators fought orthodox Blessed Land Cultivators in duels, but the Magic Treasures they wielded shattered and the New Method fighters died. Jiang Wuwei flattered a New Method bigwig to protect his position, while the Body Integration Cultivators reluctantly received Magic Treasures and were told to fight next.

• After Dharma Form Cultivators complained about the lack of opponents, New Method bigwigs ordered lieutenant general-level duels between Void Refinement and Blessed Land Cultivators.
• New Method Void Refinement Cultivators argued with Body Integration Cultivators over who should receive the scarce Magic Treasures, and the bigwigs allotted a quarter to each realm.
• The Void Refinement Cultivators flew high above the battlefield and fought the orthodox Blessed Land Cultivators, but their low-grade Magic Treasures shattered and the New Method fighters fell to their deaths.
• Magic Treasure fragments killed many New Method cultivators in the army, while Jiang Wuwei stayed his hand and explained to a bigwig that the dead locals were keeping the Heavenly World fighters company.
• A New Method bigwig promised to help Jiang Wuwei become master of the New Method, then gave the remaining Magic Treasures to the Body Integration Cultivators and sent them into the duels.

New-Method cultivators continued their magical duels against the Old Cultivation Method forces, despite losing badly at lower realms. The New-Method tribulation transcendence experts initially dominated the legendary grotto heaven cultivators, but their opponents recovered from destruction while the New-Method fighters stayed dead, leaving the battle turning against them.

• A New-Method body integration cultivator killed himself to prevent the enemy from harvesting his consciousness, and a bigwig blamed him for weakening morale in a report to the Heavenly World.
• The New-Method body integration and Mahayana cultivators resumed the duels and were easily defeated by the grotto heaven cultivators.
• Jiang Wuwei warned the New-Method tribulation transcendence experts that their legendary grotto heaven opponents were unusually powerful, but they flew up to fight anyway.
• Wang Quan and the others answered the New-Method battle cheers with drums, monsters, and female spirits, while the New-Method cultivators beat fat men as makeshift drums.
• The New-Method tribulation transcendence experts blasted apart several legendary grotto heaven cultivators, who recovered instantly, while more than a third of the New-Method experts were killed within a few breaths.

After the Orthodox Cultivators routed the New Method cultivators in a preliminary duel, Wang Quan secured a place for a vanguard officer in the upcoming formal fights. He then reunited with the spirits who had gained the era’s favor and prepared to refine his spoils.

• The Grotto Heaven Cultivators collected the defeated Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators’ corpses, while Jiang Wuwei announced that formal duels would begin in three days.
• At the Twelfth Pass, Wang Quan persuaded the Golden Core Cultivators to reserve one dueling slot for a vanguard officer, then rejected his fellow officers’ request to share it.
• Wang Quan released the Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust and brought out the Officiant Daoist Nun and the other spirits, who reported that the era’s favor had improved their cultivation and restored their bodies.
• Wang Quan entered a Magic Implement residence with four Nascent Souls to refine, asked the Bump Spirit Monsters to wash them, and inspected the Bump Monkey for signs of change.

Wang Quan refined a Four Seasons formation diagram to prepare for the Era Cataclysm, then joined the cultivators waiting for magical duels with the New-Method army. When the enemy failed to appear, the cultivators debated waiting longer or launching an army-wide assault.

• Wang Quan sensed the Bump Spirit Monsters were behaving strangely, so he grew an eye on the back of his head to watch them while he worked.
• Wang Quan chose the Four Seasons formation diagram, had Dream Nun weave its cloth, and used four Nascent Souls to embroider and complete it.
• Wang Quan placed the unfinished formation diagram within the Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust, then urged the Officiant, Dream Nun, Fairy Qin, and the other cultivators to attack during the coming duels.
• Wang Quan and the cultivators waited atop the twelfth pass, but the New-Method army stayed in its camp and only used mirrors to observe their formations.
• The cultivators considered storming the enemy camp, but agreed to wait longer in case the magical duels could still be arranged.

After the New Method’s disastrous spell combat defeat, its leaders searched for someone to blame and forced Jiang Wuwei to take responsibility. Jiang accepted the black pot, despairing that his hopes of becoming an immortal were over.

• The New Method bigwigs met to explain their humiliating defeat and worried that their superiors would punish them.
• A bigwig blamed Jiang Wuwei, but the others first objected that he was only a mascot and lacked authority.
• One bigwig argued that Jiang should bear the blame because he was the mascot and had prepared the bodies used for the descent.
• Jiang defended the bodies as carefully selected prodigies, but the bigwigs declared him responsible rather than admit fault themselves.
• A bigwig threw a black pot at Jiang, and Jiang accepted it while mourning the end of his hopes of becoming an immortal.

After losing the contest of spells, the New Method bigwigs blamed their defeat on Jiang Wuwei and sent one of their own back to the Heavenly World to request reinforcements. A Ministry of Personnel administrator ordered talented outsiders to descend for the rematch and arranged resources and a treasure to prepare them.

• The New Method bigwigs gathered names of more than a hundred thousand overlooked talents and forced the bigwig who had saddled Jiang Wuwei with the blame to return to the Heavenly World.
• The bigwigs sacrificed thousands of New Method natives to teleport the unconscious emissary away, while Jiang Wuwei earned their praise.
• The emissary reported the Mortal World's defeat to the Ministry of Personnel administrator, who told him to let Jiang Wuwei lead the army and promised him future advancement.
• The Ministry of Personnel administrator ordered funds distributed to young talents so they could descend and fight the contest, promising immortal quotas if they won.
• The Ministry of Personnel administrator also ordered the emissary to take the Flesh and Blood Creation treasure and use it to prepare the natives' bodies before the talents descended.

The unlucky fellow collected resources from the director’s storehouses, was beaten and cheated at every turn, and decided to skim resources himself while recruiting cannon fodder in Amid Mountains and Waters. He recruited Chen Xi and Ye Fei and continued down the Stellar River toward the next waypoint.

• The storehouse keepers gave the unlucky fellow inferior treasures and beat him when he objected, then shorted him on supplies from the other storehouses as well.
• The unlucky fellow realized that the director’s longtime servants did not care about the director’s plans and decided to skim even more resources himself.
• The unlucky fellow traveled by star boat along the Stellar River to Amid Mountains and Waters, where Chen Xi agreed to join his mission in exchange for a chance to rise higher.
• The unlucky fellow told Chen Xi that successful recruits might receive immortal slots, but asked her to offer her fortune instead of using feminine charms.
• The unlucky fellow reached Ye Fei and recruited him as cannon fodder for the lower realm, urging him to board the boat at once.

A group of Heavenly World prodigies descended into the Fourth Layer Evil World in possessed bodies, only to discover that the bodies were old and mismatched. Chen Xi defeated a Legend Golden Core in a brutal duel, but an ominous aura began seeping from her as black patterns spread across her skin.

• The unlucky fellow brought over a hundred thousand young prodigies to the Fourth Layer Evil World and sent their consciousnesses into prepared bodies.
• The prodigies emerged in old bodies, and Chen Xi complained that hers was male; Jiang Wuwei suggested something had gone wrong with the process.
• Chen Xi adjusted her body and cultivation, transformed into a woman, and challenged the natives from the cloud platform.
• A Legend Golden Core fought Chen Xi, but she repeatedly destroyed him and declared victory.
• Wang Quan and the other Legend Golden Cores noticed black patterns on Chen Xi's skin, white patches in her hair, and an ominous aura unlike that of normal living beings.

The Old Cultivation Method cultivators examined Chen Xi and discovered that the ominous presence in her body could dissolve divine abilities. The contest turned into a chaotic battle, and the New-Method youths began withstanding thunderfire before black patterns and smoke appeared on their bodies, with the smoke piercing into the Heavenly World.

• A Grotto Heaven Cultivator dissected Chen Xi with white mist, and the cultivators discovered that her flesh destroyed divine abilities aimed at it.
• The New Method bigwigs urged their young prodigies to exploit their modified bodies, while the Blessed Land and Grotto Heaven cultivators continued the contest.
• The young prodigies from both sides rushed onto the cloud platform, and Wang Quan and the other Old Cultivation Method cultivators attacked with thunderfire.
• The contest became a mass brawl as thunderfire blasted the New-Method Cultivators, but their bodies soon began withstanding even powerful blasts.
• Black patterns spread across the New-Method youths, and their smoke pierced through the Evil World and manifested in the Heavenly World.