Chapter Summaries

Han Kang successfully endured his Nascent Soul tribulation, while Lin Mo offered to upgrade Qiongsongzi’s Nascent Soul Condensation Pill and help the Divine Firmament Sect gain another Nascent Soul cultivator. The two sects began discussing an alliance, and Qiongsongzi presented Han Kang with a gift.

• Han Kang used the White Sun Tower and Nether Crow Feather Robe to survive the tribulation bolts, while Lin Mo advanced to the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Qiongsongzi explained that he had obtained a High-Grade Nascent Soul Condensation Pill for Han Kang, and Lin Mo offered to remove its toxins and raise its grade for a Golden Core cultivator from Qiongsongzi’s sect.
• Han Kang completed his tribulation and formed a Nascent Soul as Azure Cloud Sect disciples celebrated.
• Han Kang welcomed Qiongsongzi and the others into the sect’s great hall, where Lin Mo was seated among the most distinguished guests.
• Qiongsongzi proposed a lasting alliance between the two sects and produced an emerald-green spirit plant as a gift for Han Kang.

After Han Kang advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm, Qiongsongzi presented a rare Ten-Thousand Tendril Azure Sun Vine, which Han Kang passed on to Lin Mo. Lin Mo returned home, then used the Treasure Gourd to purge the toxins from a Nascent Soul Condensation Pill and brought out two swords.

• Luan Xiuping identified Qiongsongzi's Azure Sun Vine as a priceless sixth-grade upper-tier specimen with over ten thousand tendrils.
• Qiongsongzi offered the Azure Sun Vine as a gift celebrating Han Kang's advancement, and Han Kang gave it to Lin Mo, who accepted it.
• Han Kang asked Lin Mo to receive Luan Xiuping and Dantai Jingyu, then directed the others to announce the sect's advancement; Lin Mo settled the two guests in neighboring courtyards.
• Lin Mo returned to the Elders' Court and found Qin Sang Sang and his parents cleaning up damage from Han Kang's tribulation lightning.
• Lin Mo used the Treasure Gourd to remove the toxins from Qiongsongzi's Nascent Soul Condensation Pill, then took out the Greenwood Mystic Gourd Sword and the Third Ancient Sword.

Lin Mo prepared to pursue the fourth ancient sword at Buddha Hand Peak in the Western Region, believing Liu Xianzong’s unusual physique could help them enter the hostile Buddhist stronghold. After arranging for the Azure Cloud Sect to continue investigating the Soul-Devouring Formations, Lin Mo departed with his companions for the Western Esoteric Buddhism.

• Lin Mo engraved the Third Ancient Sword’s star-pattern formation diagram onto the Greenwood Mystic Gourd Sword.
• After three days at the Azure Cloud Sect, Qiongsongzi received a purified Supreme Nascent Soul Condensation Pill and promised to find Lin Mo another High-Grade Nascent Soul Condensation Pill within three years.
• Lin Mo told Han Kang he would pursue the fourth ancient sword and asked him to watch for the remaining Soul-Devouring Formations; Han Kang put Bai Qing in charge of the search and planned to enter seclusion.
• Lin Mo asked Han Kang to leave Du Zhong at the Black Market, then went to the Artifact Hall to collect Liu Xianzong for the journey.
• Lin Mo, Luan Xiuping, Dantai Jingyu, and Liu Xianzong flew toward the nearest Teleportation Array in the Eastern Domain Archipelago.

Lin Mo and his companions reached the Central Continent and learned about its powerful sects, strict laws, and their route westward. As they prepared to travel to Kangyuan City, a man accused of stealing the Dharma Gate Sect’s Sect-Guarding Golden Alms Bowl was pursued overhead.

• Lin Mo and his companions used the Teleportation Array on West Xing Island to reach Floating Duckweed Town on the Central Continent.
• A guard warned them that Central Province forbade unauthorized fighting and protected villagers under laws established by the Twelve Ancient Sects.
• Luan Xiuping described the Twelve Ancient Sects’ strength, including Spirit Transformation experts among the Three Upper Sects.
• Dantai Jingyu said his divination foretold that Lin Mo would eventually subdue the fourth Ancient Sword.
• Luan Xiuping explained that they would travel through Kangyuan City and several Teleportation Arrays toward the Western Region.
• A furious voice announced that a man had stolen the Dharma Gate Sect’s Sect-Guarding Golden Alms Bowl and offered a reward for his capture.

Lin Mo sent Luan Xiuping to investigate the thief who stole the Dharma Flower Sect’s Sect-Guarding Golden Alms Bowl, while he and his companions waited outside Kangyuan City. Luan captured the female thief and brought her to them, and Lin Mo began questioning her about the theft and her ties to Western Esoteric Buddhism.

• Lin Mo sent Luan Xiuping after the thief while he, Dantai Jingyu, and Liu Xianzong traveled to a forest east of Kangyuan City to wait.
• Liu Xianzong ate handfuls of golden-light rice while Lin Mo and Dantai Jingyu waited for Luan to return.
• Luan Xiuping arrived with the bound female thief, whom he had captured using the Two-World Bell after sealing her golden core.
• The thief accused her captors of ambushing her and using an ancient treasure unfairly.
• Lin Mo asked the thief why she had stolen the Dharma Flower Sect’s treasure and what connection she had to Western Esoteric Buddhism.

Lin Mo fell into a heart-demon tribulation while untangling how Dantai Jingyu’s divination and the Buddhist girl’s capture related to fate. After realizing he would have met her regardless, he warned Dantai against divining for others and asked the girl to help them enter Buddha Hand Peak to address a danger to Esoteric Buddhism.

• The Buddhist girl revealed that she was an Esoteric Buddhism Outer Sect Disciple seeking the Violet-Gold Maitreya Alloy, and Lin Mo questioned how fate had brought them together.
• Lin Mo became trapped in doubts about cause and effect, and the Buddhist girl warned the others not to interfere while he faced his heart demon.
• Lin Mo asked what the girl would have done if Luan Xiuping had not captured her, and she explained that she would have disguised herself and escaped through Kangyuan City.
• Lin Mo realized he would have encountered the girl by chance even without Dantai Jingyu’s divination, then warned Dantai to avoid divining for others.
• Lin Mo asked the Buddhist girl to help them enter Buddha Hand Peak and offered to swear that he intended to protect Esoteric Buddhism.

Lin Mo learned that the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation could threaten Buddha Hand Peak, but Jingxi revealed she could not enter the sacred mountain without merit. She agreed to take Lin Mo and his companions to meet its guardian, leaving them to seek another way inside and warning them how to behave near the mountain.

• Lin Mo freed the Buddhist maiden and warned her that the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation could erode Esoteric Buddhism's fortune and cultivation.
• Jingxi explained that she had recovered the Violet-Gold Alms Bowl to earn enough merit to enter Buddha Hand Peak, and outlined three ways to reach the sacred mountain.
• Jingxi refused to lend Lin Mo any scriptures but explained Esoteric Buddhism's ranks and said she could guide the group to the guardian.
• Lin Mo and his companions introduced themselves, and the maiden gave her Dharma name as Jingxi.
• Jingxi led the group toward the sacred mountain and warned them not to look up at it or directly at the guardian.

Lin Mo and his companions reached Sacred Heart City and flew with Jingxi to Buddha Hand Peak, where the mountain’s Buddhist light began influencing their minds. Lin Mo resisted with Vitality Essence, but Liu Xianzong ran toward the peak, and a monk declared him the reincarnation of a Buddhist disciple.

• Jingxi led Lin Mo and his companions from Sacred Heart City toward Buddha Hand Peak and explained the Tathagata’s supreme status in Buddhist belief.
• As they approached the mountain, Lin Mo sensed that its Buddhist light was drawing him and his companions toward Buddhism.
• Lin Mo used Vitality Essence to dispel the influence and warned Luan Xiuping, Dantai Jingyu, and Liu Xianzong through Divine Sense.
• Luan Xiuping and Dantai Jingyu regained their senses, but Liu Xianzong remained entranced and sprinted toward Buddha Hand Peak.
• An unseen monk said he had waited a thousand years and identified Liu Xianzong as the reincarnation of the Free-from-Affliction Vajra and Remover-of-Obstacles Bodhisattva.

Lin Mo struggled to keep Liu Xianzong from being claimed by the Buddhist Esoteric Sect, but a half-step Spirit Transformation elder named Zonge arrived and explained that Liu Xianzong was the reincarnation of a Buddhist vajra. The chapter ended with Zonge warning that Liu Xianzong’s awakened dharma body could turn its dormant baleful forces against him unless he returned to Buddhism.

• A voice from Buddha Hand Peak identified Liu Xianzong as a reincarnated Buddhist figure, and Lin Mo and his companions tried unsuccessfully to pull him away.
• Lin Mo poured his vitality-rich blood into Liu Xianzong’s mouth, restoring his awareness and prompting a burst of Buddha-light above the peak.
• Liu Xianzong recalled a dream in which a voice called him the reincarnation of Free-from-Affliction Vajra and promised he would reclaim his Buddhist fruit position.
• Jingxi recognized the arriving white-browed monk as Zonge, the Sacred Mountain Guardian and a half-step Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Zonge told Lin Mo that Liu Xianzong’s awakened diamond dharma body needed to return to Buddhism to control its dormant resentment and killing intent.

Liu Xianzong chose to stay with the Buddhists to cultivate, while Lin Mo arranged for them to exchange messages and accepted the separation. Lin Mo then asked to destroy the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation and retrieve the extraordinary treasure beneath the Sacred Mountain, and the old monk led him underground.

• Liu Xianzong told Lin Mo he wanted to stay among the Buddhists, saying he would remain loyal to the Azure Cloud Sect and their bond.
• The old monk placed Lin Mo's and Liu Xianzong's divine soul imprints into their jade slips so they could exchange messages after Liu Xianzong reached Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Mo asked permission to destroy the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation beneath the Sacred Mountain.
• The old monk revealed that Esoteric Buddhism had found the formation centuries ago and that an extraordinary treasure suppressed it.
• Lin Mo explained that the treasure had nine parts, that he had subdued three, and that he could use it to destroy the formation.
• The old monk agreed to lead Lin Mo underground and opened a stairway through the mountain rock.

Lin Mo claimed the fourth Ancient Sword after it destroyed the formation beneath Buddha Hand Peak, where a śarīra relic and Wickless Lamp had been suppressing it. He realized Dantai Jingyu's divination had likely foretold Liu Xianzong's unexpected rise as the Buddha-Child, then left for Sacred Heart City with Dantai Jingyu and Luan Xiuping.

• Lin Mo followed the old monk beneath Buddha Hand Peak and saw the fourth Ancient Sword, a śarīra relic, and a Wickless Lamp suppressing the Nine-Nine Soul-Devouring Formation.
• The Ancient Sword unleashed starlight that shattered the formation's pillars, then appeared before Lin Mo and made him its master.
• The old monk rewarded Jingxi for guiding Lin Mo's group by allowing her to study Buddhist teachings on the sacred mountain.
• Lin Mo asked whether they would have reached the sacred mountain without Jingxi, and the old monk said the outcome would have been unchanged despite possible obstacles.
• Lin Mo concluded that Dantai Jingyu's divination had concerned Liu Xianzong's rise as the Buddha-Child rather than Lin Mo's journey, and decided to test another divination in the future.
• Lin Mo bid Liu Xianzong farewell and departed for Sacred Heart City with Dantai Jingyu and Luan Xiuping.

After returning to the Azure Cloud Sect, Lin Mo resumed searching for the remaining Ancient Swords through the sect and the Eight Great Households, then examined the transformed Azure Sun Vine in his Gourd Space. As he wondered whether the Spirit-Devouring Vine could gain as many vines as its neighbor, it suddenly attacked the Azure Sun Vine’s root ball.

• Lin Mo returned to the Azure Cloud Sect, gave copies of the five remaining Ancient Sword images to the sect and the Eight Great Households, and put the search aside for lack of leads.
• Lin Mo entered his expanded Gourd Space and inspected its spirit fields, where the Gu-Devouring Bee remained asleep and the Spirit-Devouring Vine continued to grow.
• Lin Mo examined the mutated fifth-grade Azure Sun Vine, which had grown a fifty-zhang root ball, three hundred and sixty stems, and more than a hundred thousand vines.
• Lin Mo considered the Azure Sun Vine’s unclear uses and wished the Spirit-Devouring Vine had as many vines.
• The Spirit-Devouring Vine suddenly thrust a golden Curled-Branch Sword into the Azure Sun Vine’s root ball.

Lin Mo watched the Spirit-Devouring Vine fuse with and subjugate the Azure Sun Vine, creating a vast formation he named the Ten-Thousand Vine Spirit-Devouring Formation. The next morning, Wu Ying and Wu Zheng visited with pills meant to help him form his Golden Core, and Lin Mo had a bold idea as he examined them.

• The Spirit-Devouring Vine fused with the Azure Sun Vine and drained much of its life force, making the Azure Sun Vine its subordinate.
• The Spirit-Devouring Vine transformed the Azure Sun Vine's vines into a massive sword formation that Lin Mo named the Ten-Thousand Vine Spirit-Devouring Formation.
• Lin Mo asked Chen Li to keep exploring the Gourd Space, then meditated after drinking mid-grade spirit spring water.
• The next morning, Wu Ying and Wu Zheng visited Lin Mo and gave him a supreme-grade Primordial Essence Gathering Pill and ten supreme-grade Spirit-Concentrating Pills from their great-aunt.
• Lin Mo examined the pills and suddenly came up with a bold idea.

Lin Mo proposed building a Super Spirit Field to dominate the Spirit Plant market and cut off the Tai Sui Gate Fiends’ pill supplies. He planned to place it on the border between the White Jade Domain and the Pill King Domain, where he could use it to lure the Fiends into an ambush.

• Lin Mo explained that controlling Spirit Plant supplies could hinder the Tai Sui Gate Fiends’ access to pills.
• Lin Mo proposed transplanting the Eight Great Households’ Spirit Plants to a Super Spirit Field in the Medicine King Domain and expanding their sales across the region.
• Lin Mo said he would enrich the field’s soil and require partners to report large transactions and verify retail buyers to keep goods from reaching the Fiends.
• Wu Ying and Wu Zheng discussed the Eight Great Households’ market share and concluded that a Super Spirit Field could greatly increase it.
• Lin Mo chose the border between the White Jade Domain and the Pill King Domain for the field, hoping the Tai Sui Gate Fiends would attack and fall into his trap.

Lin Mo persuaded the Wu siblings to lure Tai Sui Gate fiends into a trap at a vast new spirit field, then demonstrated his special irrigation method to transform the land. The field had been prepared, but Wu Zheng doubted it could grow spirit plants above the low grades needed to compete in the market.

• Lin Mo explained that the Eight Great Households would publicize the Nascent Soul ancestors’ absence to entice Tai Sui Gate fiends into his Ten Thousand Vines Spirit-Devouring Formation.
• Wu Ying and Wu Zheng agreed to the plan after Lin Mo assured them that the concealed formation could defeat anyone below Nascent Soul.
• Dozens of Golden Core True Lords cleared and prepared more than 150,000 mu of wilderness between the White Jade Domain and the Pill King Domain.
• Lin Mo poured Mountain Spring Water containing vitality essence over the prepared land, irrigating the entire field in less than an hour.
• Wu Zheng questioned whether Lin Mo’s method had truly created spirit fields capable of growing seventh-grade plants.

Lin Mo turned barren land into a seventh-grade spirit field that produced a bumper harvest in half a month, allowing the Eight Great Households to dominate the Eastern Province’s spirit plant and pill trade. As merchants and sects gathered to seek alliances, Wei Chen of the Tai Sui Gate watched Pill King City with hostile intent.

• Lin Mo planted iceheart lotus seeds and Fire Lotus Roots, and they sprouted within four hours in the transformed spirit field.
• Wu Zheng and the Golden Core True Lords marveled at the spirit field’s power as Lin Mo vowed to make merchants across the Eastern Province allies of the Eight Great Households and deny the Tai Sui Gate high-grade pills.
• Half a month later, the Cinnabar-and-Verdant Spirit Field yielded more than thirty varieties of seventh-grade spirit plants and over a dozen medicinal ingredients.
• The Eight Great Households sold most of their harvest and produced seventh-grade pills, forcing rival merchants and sects into defeat as their influence spread across the province.
• By the following spring, more than eighty alchemy sects and rogue cultivator merchants gathered outside Pill King City to seek cooperation with the Eight Great Households and Lin Mo.
• Wei Chen, the Ghost-Eyed Green Wolf of the Tai Sui Gate, watched the city gates with a cold gleam in his eyes.

Lin Mo hit a bottleneck before the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment and sought Dantai Jingyu’s divination to find the breakthrough opportunity. The prophecy pointed east toward the Cinnabar-and-Verdant Spirit Field, where Wei Chen and two Tai Sui Gate prodigies were plotting its destruction.

• Lin Mo’s six Dao platforms and other powers neared fusion, but he could not break through to the tenth layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Lin Mo asked Dantai Jingyu to divine the opportunity that could help him advance.
• Dantai Jingyu’s Starry Sky Compass pointed east, and he gave a cryptic prophecy about a cavern court, thunder, and blossoms.
• Lin Mo suspected the opportunity lay at the Cinnabar-and-Verdant Spirit Field and set out for it.
• Wei Chen met Gu and Yin, two Tai Sui Gate prodigies, and urged them to destroy the Cinnabar-and-Verdant Spirit Field before their leaders returned.

Lin Mo learned that the Eight Great Households had gained control of most of the Eastern Province’s spirit plant and pill markets, then sensed Tai Sui Gate attackers approaching the Cinnabar-and-Verdant Spirit Field. The two late Golden Core guards confronted the three black-robed intruders as Lin Mo prepared to meet them.

• Wu Zheng told Lin Mo that the Spirit Plant Trade Alliance had secured over seventy percent of the Eastern Province’s spirit plant market and blocked nearly all of Tai Sui Gate’s pill-purchasing channels.
• Wu Zheng warned that Tai Sui Gate might attack and noted that the Nascent Soul ancestors in Pill King City would need an hour to reach the spirit field.
• Lin Mo sensed the Tai Sui Gate Fiends approaching and announced their arrival to Wu Zheng.
• Two late Golden Core guards flew out to confront three black-robed Tai Sui Gate cultivators, who openly mocked the Eight Great Households.
• The guards challenged the intruders and declared that they would kill them for daring to attack.

Three Tai Sui Gate Fiends attacked the Eight Great Households’ spirit fields, and Gu and Yin easily defeated two late Golden Core cultivators. Wei Chen’s thunder strike was met by a vast surge of Curled-Branch Swords, leaving him to ask Gu for help as the swords threatened to overwhelm them.

• Gu used a ward to nullify the two late Golden Core cultivators’ sword formations, while Yin struck their consciousness and left them gravely injured.
• The Qi Refining disciples of the Eight Great Households panicked as Gu and Yin revealed their strength and Wei Chen prepared to attack.
• Wei Chen summoned thunderclouds and unleashed hundreds of lightning bolts at the spirit fields, declaring that Tai Sui Gate would destroy the Spirit Plant Trade Alliance.
• More than a hundred thousand Curled-Branch Swords surged from the fields and consumed the lightning barrage, forcing Wei Chen to ask Gu to destroy them.

Lin Mo kept attacking the three Tai Sui Gate Fiends with an endless flood of Curled-Branch Swords, exhausting Gu and thwarting Yin’s attempts to destroy them. Yin concluded that their operation had failed and called for an immediate retreat before Nascent Soul cultivators arrived.

• Gu used his spatial ability to shield himself and his companions from Lin Mo’s Curled-Branch Swords, while Wu Zheng explained how spatial spells worked.
• Lin Mo continued sending Curled-Branch Swords into Gu’s independent space, relying on the Azure Sun Vine’s ability to regrow and the Treasure Gourd’s Mountain Spring Water.
• After hours of resisting the attack, Gu had spent most of his divine sense and magical power and asked Yin to destroy the wooden swords while he recovered.
• Yin used an invisible ripple to shatter thousands of Curled-Branch Swords, but Lin Mo replenished the Azure Sun Vine and more swords quickly filled the gaps.
• Yin judged the operation a failure and urged Gu and Wei Chen to retreat before the Eight Great Households’ Nascent Soul cultivators arrived.