Chapter Summaries

Wang Quan accidentally damaged a group of cultivators’ black-smoke Magic Treasure Blank, then examined it and offered to repair it. Meanwhile, the Round-Faced Daoist Nun waited aboard the cloud ship for him to catch up.

• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun practiced cloud-refining arts aboard the cloud ship while unaffiliated cultivators admired her skill.
• After waiting three days for Wang Quan, the Round-Faced Daoist Nun contacted him, and he said he had been delayed by something interesting.
• Wang Quan accidentally tore through a black-smoke Magic Treasure Blank, and its cultivators chased him, at first accusing him of destroying their years of work.
• Wang Quan challenged their claim and warned them not to extort him, but the lead cultivator apologized while his disciples confirmed that the Magic Treasure Blank was broken.
• Wang Quan examined the damaged blank with a spirit-eye spell and offered to study and repair it.

Wang Quan dismantled the cultivators’ Magic Treasure Blank, then used moon worship and rare materials to repair and refine it. He finished by offering to teach them its incantation, but they could not understand his Dao Language and asked him to explain it plainly.

• The cultivators privately feared Wang Quan was a powerful expert, but he revealed he was only a Qi Refining cultivator and admitted he had overheard their voice transmission.
• Wang Quan dismantled the Magic Treasure Blank, criticized its materials and refining methods, and asked the cultivators to provide all their materials.
• Wang Quan taught the cultivators moon-worship scriptures, causing a faint moon to appear, then gathered moonlight and refined it into yin moon silk.
• Wang Quan used the silk and other materials to repair the Magic Treasure Blank, explaining that its poor foundations would make it a weak Magic Treasure.
• Wang Quan offered to teach the cultivators the incantation, but their leader said they could not understand his Dao Language and asked him to use plain speech.

Wang Quan gave the Mountain Reliance Sect cultivators a magic treasure blank and promised to help the Round-Faced Daoist Nun, who chose to return to her declining lineage. The sect named him its Mountain-Backing Ancestor and called the treasure the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac, while Wang Quan and the nun parted with her carrying the Sun Flower Spirits.

• Wang Quan taught the Mountain Reliance Sect cultivators how to use the magic treasure blank, gave their leader half of a token, and flew off to pursue the Round-Faced Daoist Nun.
• The Mountain Reliance Sect leader tested the treasure, whose illusions transformed disciples into strange characters and trapped them until they were freed a day later.
• The leader declared Wang Quan the sect’s Mountain-Backing Ancestor and named the treasure the Twelve Houses of the Zodiac.
• Wang Quan reunited with the Round-Faced Daoist Nun and offered her Sun Flower Spirits, but she said she had to return home to preserve her declining lineage.
• Wang Quan gave the nun the spirits and promised to help if she ever needed him, and they parted on good terms.

The Round-Faced Daoist Nun returned to her hometown and seized control of her struggling Lineage, declaring that cultivators should harvest the weak rather than yield to them. Meanwhile, Wang Quan’s Sun Flower Spirit project expanded at Riverside Mountain, where Qian Xiuyue researched crossbreeding Sun Flower Spirits with Gourd Spirits.

• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun refused to return to the Lower Court until she completed Foundation Establishment, then challenged cultivators aboard the cloud ship to imitate her peach tree, whose living branches smashed every rival tree.
• After reaching her hometown, the Round-Faced Daoist Nun learned that New-Method Cultivators had pushed her Lineage aside through their numbers and popular support.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun killed a Lineage elder who objected to her taking control, then demanded that the Lineage choose whether to be harvesters or harvested materials.
• At Riverside Mountain, Spirit Monsters cultivated Sun Flower Spirits, gathered refined sunlight, and bred loyal offspring through manure, spells, and intensive care.
• Spirit Monsters sent defective Sun Flower Spirits to Qian Xiuyue’s Manor, where Qian Xiuyue investigated crossbreeding them with Gourd Spirits.

Wang Quan and Qian Xiuyue developed grafted plants that could produce refined sunlight, though their attempts to reproduce the new creatures failed. Wang Quan then entered seclusion with Ying Jiaren and mastered the twenty-thousandth scroll of Daoist Scriptures, revealing hidden information in his [First-Rank Dao Seal] and expanding his inner landscape.

• Qian Xiuyue and Wang Quan grafted Gourd Vine Spirits onto Sun Flower Spirits and, after the first creature broke at the waist, grafted a grapevine onto the next one.
• The grafted grapevine produced golden gourds filled with refined sunlight, but the seeds grew only ordinary plants or offspring that died young.
• As the grafting experiments continued, Wang Quan left for the Lower Court to focus on comprehending the final scroll of Daoist Scriptures.
• Ying Jiaren prepared a month's worth of cultivation supplies and set the condition that she and Wang Quan would not leave seclusion until the supplies ran out or he mastered twenty thousand scrolls.
• On the twenty-first day, Wang Quan mastered the final scroll, doubled the area of his inner landscape, and uncovered hidden information about Foundation Establishment, Magic Treasures, the Fundamental Method, and spells within his [First-Rank Dao Seal].

After reaching the Second-Rank Dao Seal, Wang Quan discovered that the Daoist Scriptures concealed a more demanding path to Foundation Establishment, requiring a 365-tier Dao platform built with thirty-six spells. He resolved to pursue it and suspected the hidden screenings explained Fairy Qin’s claim that the Drowning Dao was ill-suited to attaining immortality.

• Wang Quan advised Ying Jiaren to focus on Life Cultivation and the Daoist Scriptures rather than strengthening spells, then returned to Riverside Mountain.
• Wang Quan examined the changes from studying twenty thousand scrolls and found that his Inner Landscape had doubled in size.
• Wang Quan learned that the highest form of Foundation Establishment required 365 tiers of Foundation Establishment Spirit Light, a secret revealed by the Second-Rank Dao Seal.
• Wang Quan discovered that his Foundation Establishment required thirty-six special spells to build a 365-tier Dao platform in the Real World before moving it into his Inner Landscape.
• Wang Quan accepted the enormous cost of this path and connected the Daoist Scriptures’ hidden screenings to Fairy Qin’s warning about the Drowning Dao.

After reaching the Second-Rank Dao Seal, Wang Quan learned new ways to use Dharma Power and Yin Virtue and began preparing to establish his foundation. He returned to the Drowning Dao Lower Court to recruit cultivators and investigate the halls built for foundation establishment.

• Wang Quan discovered that his Second-Rank Dao Seal had doubled his Dharma Power production and revealed twelve methods for refining Magic Treasures.
• Wang Quan learned that Yin Virtue could buy property in the Underworld and unlock a Second-Layer Inner Landscape, but decided to prioritize foundation establishment.
• Wang Quan planned to build a three-hundred-and-sixty-five-layer Dao Platform using thirty-six spells and help from other cultivators.
• Wang Quan found that the Round-Faced Daoist Nun was too far away to contact, so he traveled to the Drowning Dao Lower Court himself.
• Wang Quan saw deserted halls that he suspected were prepared for foundation-establishing cultivators, then landed before the Weaving Hall.

Wang Quan discovered that the Lower Court had opened its halls and Foundation Establishment courts, allowing cultivators to seek jobs and fund the production of materials. After investing Green Beetles, he visited Spirit Soil Hall and encouraged a cultivator to keep harvesting spirit soil and recruit spirit monsters to do the work.

• Wang Quan used the Weaving Art to activate the Weaving Hall as the Lower Court announced that its thirty-six halls were open for staffing assessments.
• Cultivators rushed to compete for hall positions, while Lineages and factions tried to place their own people in the buildings.
• Wang Quan received notice that the thirty-six Foundation Establishment courts could produce materials through investment, and he invested a hundred million Green Beetles across several halls.
• Wang Quan watched newly hired Spirit Soil Hall staff recruit cultivators to harvest spirit soil for Green Beetles.
• A cultivator harvested only a dozen grains after a cup of tea and prepared to leave, but Wang Quan persuaded him to keep practicing and recruit spirit monsters to gather soil for him.

Wang Quan expanded his material-gathering operation by renting out perfected spells to cultivators, who used them to collect resources far more efficiently. After surveying the thirty-six halls, he returned to Riverside Mountain and weighed which third trait to choose as he planned for Foundation Establishment.

• Cultivators and spirit monsters across the Market Ward gathered sunlight and spirit soil, which were processed into costly spirit bricks for Wang Quan.
• Wang Quan used [Parting Chaos] to rent thirty-six perfected spells through the halls, requiring renters to hand over ninety-five percent of their earnings.
• A Lineage cultivator rented [Spirit Soil Art] and found it could gather a thousand grains of spirit soil in one handful.
• Wang Quan arranged for cultivators to use [Spirit Wood Art] and visited all thirty-six halls to familiarize himself with them.
• Back at Riverside Mountain, Wang Quan considered choosing [Dharma Refining] to earn more Dharma Power for Foundation Establishment materials, [Life Cultivation] to strengthen his foundations, or [Scripture Reading +1].

After advancing to a Second-Rank Dao Seal, Wang Quan chose a trait that improved his study of the Daoist Scriptures and discovered the scriptures could help with his rebellious organs. In the Second-Layer World, he saw a Zhong Household cultivator using the People-Crossing Scripture and reacted with alarm.

• Wang Quan selected [Daoist Scriptures +1] and found his maximum lifespan had increased to 260 years.
• He planned to focus on gathering Dharma Power, learning spells, and studying the Daoist Scriptures while leaving Riverside Mountain’s warriors and Spirit Monsters to develop on their own.
• Wang Quan studied fifteen volumes with Ying Jiaren and found a method in the tenth volume for dealing with his rebellious organs in the Second-Layer World.
• Ying Jiaren told Wang Quan she was nearing the end of her Yin Spirit transformation and planned to finish her [Life Cultivation] practice in three to five months.
• Wang Quan entered the Second-Layer World and saw a Zhong Household cultivator praised for using the People-Crossing Scripture; the sight made his hair stand on end.

Wang Quan saw that Cultivator Zhong had been transformed into a living scripture used to purge evil beings, then tried to suppress the rebellious consciousnesses in his own organs. After repeated battles weakened his heart and strengthened his control over his body, the organs lamented that their backbone was gone and wondered how they could rebel.

• Wang Quan saw Cultivator Zhong's chest transformed into the People-Crossing Scripture as cultivators used him to clear evil beings from a warped hall.
• Wang Quan realized Cultivator Zhong still retained a trace of consciousness but found no way to save him, then prepared to subdue the thoughts within his own flesh and organs.
• Wang Quan chanted Daoist verses to attack his heart, whose army fought back while his other organs searched for weaknesses and tried to escape.
• Wang Quan returned to the Real World when his kidneys nearly escaped, then reentered the Second-Layer World and resumed attacking his heart.
• Wang Quan weakened his heart and tightened his control over his organs until they lamented that their backbone was gone and they could no longer rebel.

Wang Quan suppressed his rebellious organs without reaching Foundation Establishment, while the Lower Court's safe zone expanded and its sunlight grew brighter. The Si Household cultivator revealed that people were testing whether infants born in this world could eventually return to the Real World, then asked Wang Quan to help with a plan.

• After the consciousness in his heart vanished, Dao characters appeared in Wang Quan's heart, strengthening his apertures, organs, and body enough to suppress his rebellious limbs without Foundation Establishment.
• Wang Quan surveyed the expanded safe zone, where milky-white light weakened evil and the sun appeared bright yellow rather than bloody.
• The Si Household cultivator told Wang Quan that disagreement over whether to clear the Lower Court or the Market Ward had slowed the work of removing evil buildings.
• The Si Household cultivator explained that safe zones in the Market Ward were making the sun look more normal, and that people hoped the world could become a place to live and establish lineages.
• The Si Household cultivator said attempts to bring more than a thousand infants born in this world back to the Real World had failed, and they would wait to see whether the children could return after learning cultivation.
• When the Si Household cultivator asked for help with a plan, Wang Quan warned that his cultivation in seclusion left him little time.

Wang Quan helped the Si Household test whether teaching the People-Crossing Scripture could reproduce Cultivator Zhong, but every test subject died or vanished. He then received an update from the Round-Faced Daoist Nun and encouraged her to achieve Foundation Establishment and return.

• The Si Household asked Wang Quan to teach the People-Crossing Scripture to a group of cultivators on the verge of turning anomalous, while they taught another group as a control.
• Wang Quan watched the test subjects become increasingly book-like and use the scripture to destroy Evil, but the final survivor vanished in blue smoke; the cultivators taught by the Si Household also died.
• The Si Household cultivator told Wang Quan that more than ten thousand cultivators had been tested and explained that anomalies had become harder to prevent as more people practiced Fundamental Methods across versions.
• Wang Quan worried that the Present World might eventually become like the Second-Layer World, but agreed to focus on expanding the safe zone and clearing out Evil.
• Wang Quan received a letter from the Round-Faced Daoist Nun describing her Sun Flower Spirits, cooperation with New Method sects, and plans to bring immortality seekers to the Lower Court for Foundation Establishment Spirit Light.
• Wang Quan replied with news about the Second-Layer World and Cultivator Zhong, urged her to read the Daoist Scriptures, and wished her success in reaching Foundation Establishment.

Wang Quan received letters from Fairy Qin, the Officiant Daoist Nun, and Dream Nun describing the deadly conditions in the Far Western Land and asking about Dao Seals; he replied with what he knew. Meanwhile, Ying Jiaren developed her Yang Spirit and began improving her Life Cultivation, while Wang Quan urged her not to delay her own progress for his sake.

• Fairy Qin told Wang Quan that her academy was thriving, and he replied that he would visit after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun reported that she had completed Foundation Establishment with twelve strands of Foundation Establishment Spirit Light and described the massive losses and corpse-refining orders in the Far Western Land.
• Dream Nun asked Wang Quan about Dao Seals after learning they distinguished powerful cultivators, and he explained that one had to master the Ten Thousand Scrolls Dao Canon before beginning Dharma Refining to obtain one.
• Ying Jiaren developed her Yang Spirit and wanted to save money to help Wang Quan reach Foundation Establishment, but he urged her to focus on her own cultivation.
• Ying Jiaren decided to improve her Life Cultivation and use the Second-Layer World’s Scripture Repository, then spent heavily to perfect her flesh-and-blood body while holding back from pushing it beyond its limits.

Wang Quan and Ying Jiaren discovered that studying Daoist Scriptures with their physical bodies in the Second-Layer World was most efficient, and kept up an intense cultivation routine for over two months. After the thirty-six heavenly gang were refined, Wang Quan absorbed them and expanded his abilities, while Ying Jiaren chose to refine the Incense Drowning Water Art before pursuing killing intent.

• Wang Quan and Ying Jiaren tested different ways to study Daoist Scriptures and found that their physical bodies alone could comprehend fifteen scrolls in twelve hours.
• Wang Quan and Ying Jiaren spent over two months studying scriptures, clearing evil beings, and refining Dharma Power through their Yang Spirits.
• After learning that the thirty-six heavenly gang had been refined, Wang Quan absorbed them and linked their patterns with his seventy-two earthly sha.
• Wang Quan's Inner Landscape expanded, his life cultivation advanced, and his body gained thirty-six traits, including the Nine Breaths ability to recover Dharma Power.
• Wang Quan tested his one hundred and eight strands of killing intent and found them far more powerful and resilient than before.
• Ying Jiaren told Wang Quan she would refine the Incense Drowning Water Art before seeking killing intent.

After absorbing Heavenly Gang Baleful Intent, Wang Quan resumed cultivating the [Multiple Arms Art] and studied arms from thousands of spirit monsters before growing several pairs of his own. He discovered that four pairs could be controlled effectively, greatly increasing his spellcasting ability.

• Wang Quan adjusted his schedule to practice the [Multiple Arms Art] after clearing out evil with Ying Jiaren, and he gathered arms from the martial artists of Riverside Mountain to study.
• After realizing he needed to study spirit monster arms, Wang Quan ordered ten pairs from every kind and spent about half a month examining arms from three thousand kinds of spirit monsters.
• Wang Quan visualized and merged more than three thousand pairs of arms beneath his ribs, then grew a pair of human arms that steadily strengthened his [Life Cultivation].
• Wang Quan grew additional spirit monster arms and tested their ability to cast spells, but found he could efficiently control only four pairs because his thoughts and realm were not strong enough.

Wang Quan performed the ritual to master the Flying Head Art, enduring the burning of his severed head while his body fought a black-energy dragon formed from the cravings of those around him. After his head rejoined his body, yin wind rose from Riverside Mountain and blew toward his feet.

• Wang Quan gathered the ritual materials and offered prayers before preparing to sever his head with the Green Beetle Sword.
• Wang Quan cut off his head and set it beneath the azure prayer, where flames consumed its flesh as the ritual began.
• The aroma of Wang Quan's burning brain drove the spirit monsters and martial artists into a frenzy until his body's golden light restored their senses.
• Wang Quan's headless body grew three pairs of arms, and his seven organs fought and defeated a black-energy dragon formed from the gathered cravings.
• Wang Quan's head fused back onto his body as his kidneys radiated golden light, and unseen yin wind from Riverside Mountain blew toward his feet.

Wang Quan endured the yin wind and found that it strengthened his body and Yang Spirit while evolving three spells. He examined the spells needed for Three Heads and Six Arms, but concluded that their requirements would delay his progress.

• Wang Quan let the yin wind batter his body and Inner Landscape until his golden light and Yang Spirit withstood it, triggering changes in Multiple Arms Art, Flying Head Art, and Yang Qi Furnace.
• Wang Quan mastered the changes in the three spells and determined that he could begin learning the Second-Rank spells Comprehend Yin and Yang, Mountain-Uprooting Strength, and Manifest the Four Seasons.
• Wang Quan realized that Manifest the Four Seasons required changing the climate across a thousand-li radius for a year and would cost too much without help.
• Wang Quan learned that Comprehend Yin and Yang required a trip to the Underworld after Foundation Establishment, while Mountain-Uprooting Strength required vast quantities of Spirit Soil.
• Wang Quan decided to postpone the spells that depended on Foundation Establishment or Spirit Soil and carefully plan how to practice Manifest the Four Seasons.

Wang Quan studied [Manifest the Four Seasons] while waiting to achieve Foundation Establishment, and Ying Jiaren revealed the secrets behind [Incense Drowning Water] and the Drowning Dao. They bought contact details for cultivators with Drowning Water, leaving with a sealed box that required a drop of Drowning Water to open.

• Wang Quan observed winter weather and developed a rough framework for [Manifest the Four Seasons], but suspected he needed spells he did not understand.
• Ying Jiaren told Wang Quan she had spent six months and over twenty billion Green Beetles refining [Incense Drowning Water], which had 365 abilities and could contribute to forming the Three Thousand Drowning Waters.
• Ying Jiaren explained that Drowning Dao cultivators could refine three hundred kinds of Drowning Water at each realm and gather three thousand to qualify to strive for immortality.
• Wang Quan suggested buying Drowning Water from other cultivators, and he and Ying Jiaren went to the Miscellaneous Goods Hall to inquire.
• Wang Quan paid a hundred thousand Green Beetles for contact details, and an older cultivator gave him a sealed box that required a drop of Drowning Water to open.

Ying Jiaren tested [Incense Drowning Water] against Wang Quan, discovering that it greatly strengthened her spells and let them suppress escape techniques and block his Nightmare-Subduing Technique. Wang Quan eventually revealed his greater power and defeated her, while their meeting at Wailing Mountain remained planned for the fifteenth.

• Ying Jiaren and Wang Quan opened the box and learned that a gathering would take place at Wailing Mountain on the fifteenth, then agreed to attend together.
• Ying Jiaren asked Wang Quan to help test [Incense Drowning Water], and they traveled into the mountains for a spell duel.
• Ying Jiaren's enhanced fishing net used Thunderfire to destroy Wang Quan's spells and suppress his escape techniques.
• Ying Jiaren used enhanced defensive spells to counter Wang Quan's illusions and block his Nightmare-Subduing Technique.
• Wang Quan sprouted four pairs of arms and overwhelmed Ying Jiaren's spells, then bound her in the Seventy-Two Streams of Smoke and Dust.