Chapter Summaries

As the Azure Cloud Sect hosted visitors for its approaching Sect Grand Competition, the Holy Son of Buddhism, Hui Zhi, debated Ling Feng and damaged his Dao heart. Ouyang spotted a strange label identifying Hui Zhi as a false Holy Son of Buddhism.

• Xiao Feng repaired the cliffside walkway while Ouyang lounged on Little Mountain Peak.
• Hui Zhi's debate on Azure Cloud Peak drew Buddhist light into the sky, and the sect's Summoning Bell called every available disciple to gather.
• Leng Qingsong drove Questioning Sword Peak's disciples from their prime viewing spot so Little Mountain Peak could watch the arena.
• Hui Zhi suppressed Ling Feng with his Buddhist debate, but Ling Feng upheld his belief that Buddhism and the Dao were separate.
• Ouyang checked Hui Zhi's status panel and saw that it called him the false Holy Son of Buddhism.

At the Azure Cloud Sect Grand Competition, Ouyang provoked Hui Zhi while Leng Qingsong challenged the Nascent Soul Realm monk. Leng Qingsong wounded Hui Zhi with sword intent carrying Dao Resonance, and Ouyang mocked him after Hui Zhi admitted defeat.

• Ling Feng praised Hui Zhi after their match, while Hui Zhi privately questioned Ling Feng about his damaged Dao heart.
• Ouyang threw a fruit pit at Hui Zhi and traded insults with him until Hui Zhi challenged him to a fight.
• Hui Zhi summoned his Eighteen-Foot Golden Body, revealing his ninth-level Nascent Soul Realm cultivation, and Leng Qingsong attacked him.
• Hui Zhi trapped Leng Qingsong with Buddha palms, but Leng Qingsong broke free with sword intent and shredded Hui Zhi's sleeve with a hidden strike.
• Hui Zhi admitted that Leng Qingsong had won the exchange, and Ouyang mocked him for losing to a Core Formation cultivator.

After Leng Qingsong defeated Hui Zhi, Ling Feng watched Su Ling'er embrace Ouyang and listened to the voice of his future self tempt him toward darkness. He hid the ancient ring and went to the summit with Zu Yuan, concealing his growing resentment behind a friendly smile.

• Leng Qingsong defeated Hui Zhi, while Ouyang comforted the disappointed Ling Feng.
• Su Ling'er ran to Ouyang and hugged him, causing Ling Feng to leave alone.
• Ling Feng's reflection urged him to accept its help and promised that he could kill Ouyang and gain everything he wanted.
• Ling Feng recalled losing his status as a genius and raised the ancient ring that had appeared on his hand.
• Zu Yuan found Ling Feng, who noticed his junior brother's venomous look, hid the ring, and accompanied him toward the summit.

The Azure Cloud Sect prepared to host its grand competition, and Dongxu Zi announced its prizes to the gathered sect representatives. The competition was set to begin in ten days, while Hui Zhi resolved to obtain the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure.

• Xiao Feng declared that he would one day bring Little Mountain Peak to the front of Azure Cloud Peak's steps, and Ouyang teased him about his senior brothers' ambitions.
• Dongxu Zi reflected on Ling Feng's shaken state of mind after the incident at the mountain gate and believed he needed to find his own way through hardship.
• Dongxu Zi announced that the Sect Grand Competition would begin in ten days and would be open to Inner Disciples and visiting disciples.
• Dongxu Zi offered the victor a Dao Artifact, a supreme mental cultivation method, and a viewing of the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure.
• Hui Zhi decided that he wanted to obtain the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure.

As representatives of the Nine Great Sacred Lands arrived for the Azure Cloud Sect's Inner Sect competition, Ouyang watched Chen Changsheng prepare to confront Zu Yuan. The competition opened with an extravagant display of an Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird, and the first contests had yet to begin.

• For ten days, the sacred lands arrived one after another, while their grand welcomes repeatedly disturbed Ouyang's sleep.
• Bai Feiyu told Ouyang that Chen Changsheng had prepared thoroughly, and Chen Changsheng emerged at the ninth level of Core Formation, intent on killing Zu Yuan.
• Ouyang and the Little Mountain Peak disciples went to Azure Cloud Peak, where the sect members and visiting elders watched their arrival.
• Dongxu Zi announced the start of the Sect Grand Competition, and an Azure Dragon and Vermilion Bird created a spectacle in the sky.

Ma Xingye was selected as an Inner Disciple while Xiao Feng stayed with Little Mountain Peak and cultivated under the Sect Master's care. The inner sect competition began inside the Mustard Seed Space, where Chen Changsheng summoned hundreds of powerful puppets and faced the other contestants alone.

• Ma Xingye was chosen by Five Elements Peak as an Inner Disciple and celebrated his success.
• Xiao Feng refused the Sect Master's offer to become his personal disciple and continued cultivating above the Main Hall.
• Dongxu Zi announced that the inner sect competition required Core Formation cultivation and would take place in the Mustard Seed Space.
• Chen Changsheng flew into the Mustard Seed Space after Ouyang encouraged him to fight without holding back.
• After the entrance closed at four hundred contestants, the Peak Master of Punishment Peak declared that the last person standing would win.
• Chen Changsheng summoned hundreds of Nascent Soul Realm puppets, shocking the contestants and the Peak Master of Punishment Peak.

Chen Changsheng used hundreds of nascent soul realm puppets to control the contestants in the Mustard Seed Space and began eliminating them by name while searching for the disguised Zu Yuan. Zu Yuan hid among the competitors, and the chapter ended with Chen Changsheng continuing to call names as contestants were thrown out.

• Zu Yuan used Myriad Transformations Demon Image to disguise himself, lower his cultivation to the Golden Core realm, and hide among the contestants.
• Chen Changsheng searched the Mustard Seed Space for Zu Yuan, found no trace of him, and began checking contestants against a list of names and appearances.
• Three contestants attacked Chen Changsheng but were subdued by his puppets and thrown out after he identified them.
• The spectators, elders, and Little Mountain Peak disciples watched in amazement as Chen Changsheng controlled hundreds of nascent soul realm puppets.
• The contestants charged Chen Changsheng together, but the puppets formed a killing array that trapped them.
• Chen Changsheng called names from his papers, and the puppets eliminated contestants one by one.

Chen Changsheng eliminated the gathered cultivators with regenerating puppets, then confronted Zu Yuan and Hui Zhi inside the Mustard Seed Space. After the Great Sage puppet pierced Hui Zhi’s Great Compassion Palm and Hui Zhi withdrew, Zu Yuan revealed his Devil Race identity as Chen Changsheng prepared to kill him.

• Chen Changsheng used hundreds of divine-soul puppets to eliminate the surrounding cultivators, leaving only disguised Zu Yuan and Hui Zhi in the Mustard Seed Space.
• Chen Changsheng confronted Zu Yuan, told Hui Zhi to leave, and summoned the Great Sage puppet to resist Hui Zhi’s Great Compassion Palm.
• Chen Changsheng used two Yellow Talismans to turn the Great Sage into a stone pillar that pierced Hui Zhi’s palm, and Hui Zhi left the space after admitting defeat.
• Chen Changsheng aimed a radiant bow and arrow at Zu Yuan, who unleashed his devilish energy and exposed himself as a member of the Devil Race.
• Dongxu Zi realized he had accepted Zu Yuan as a personal disciple without recognizing his identity, while Ouyang mocked Zu Yuan for revealing his devilish colors.

Chen Changsheng killed Zu Yuan with an arrow that struck his Divine Soul, exposing Zu Yuan as a devil and earning Chen Changsheng the title of Azure Cloud Sect Holy Son. As Chen Changsheng wondered whether the worldline had changed, Ling Feng carried Zu Yuan away to bury him while a voice in his mind urged him to hurry.

• Chen Changsheng shot Zu Yuan with an arrow infused with his Divine Soul, killing Zu Yuan’s Nascent Soul and revealing his devil-race identity.
• Dongxu Zi declared Chen Changsheng the winner of the Sect Grand Competition and named him the Azure Cloud Sect’s Holy Son to distance the sect from Zu Yuan.
• Hu Tutu, Ouyang, Bai Feiyu, and Leng Qingsong reacted to Chen Changsheng’s sudden promotion.
• Chen Changsheng wondered whether the worldline had diverged and said he did not want to be Holy Son.
• Ling Feng took Zu Yuan’s body away to bury him while a crazed voice in his mind urged him to hurry.

After Chen Changsheng became the Azure Cloud Holy Son, Ling Feng helped the soul in his ring take over his body and return to life, while Zu Yuan’s body revived as Lin Feng. The chapter ended with Hui Zhi receiving a Black Lotus Seed beneath Azure Cloud Peak.

• Chen Changsheng became the Azure Cloud Holy Son as the tournament ended without a ceremony.
• Ling Feng buried Zu Yuan’s body and used a golden needle to let the wronged soul in his ring take control of his body.
• The revived Ling Feng reached soul departure, buried the grave, and carved “The site of Lin Feng's rebirth” on a marker.
• Zu Yuan’s body crawled out of the grave as Lin Feng, a remnant of the Devil Race, and claimed its potential for himself.
• Hui Zhi received the Black Lotus Seed while meditating beneath a tree at the foot of Azure Cloud Peak.

After becoming the Azure Cloud Holy Son, Chen Changsheng returned to Little Mountain Peak and declined the chance to pursue the Sect Master position. Ling Feng arrived transformed and asked Chen Changsheng to take him to contemplate the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure, offering to support him as future Sect Master.

• Chen Changsheng left a puppet on Azure Cloud Peak and returned to Little Mountain Peak to cook while his fellow disciples resumed their usual routines.
• Ouyang told Chen Changsheng that the old Sect Master had invited him to contemplate the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure, but Chen Changsheng said he did not want to become Sect Master.
• Ling Feng arrived in extravagant robes, and Ouyang discovered that Ling Feng's panel showed Out-of-Body cultivation, Divine Soul aptitude above 10, and a new exclusive skill.
• Ling Feng said that recent events had changed his outlook and explained that he had broken through to Soul Departure and would soon have to leave the mountain.
• Ling Feng asked Chen Changsheng to take him to contemplate the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure and promised to follow Chen Changsheng's lead in the future Sect Master succession.

Chen Changsheng and Ling Feng went to Azure Cloud Peak to contemplate the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure together, while Ouyang later learned that Dongxu Zi considered him, Bai Feiyu, and Chen Changsheng “Those Who Know from Birth.” Dongxu Zi warned that Little Mountain Peak and the Azure Cloud Sect were too small for the younger disciples, whose own paths lay in the wider world.

• Chen Changsheng agreed to contemplate the Azure Cloud Secret Treasure with Ling Feng, and the two went to Azure Cloud Peak to meet the Sect Master.
• Bai Feiyu told Ouyang that Ling Feng felt different and unsettling, but Ouyang said people changed.
• Dongxu Zi visited Ouyang at night for drinks and asked whether he had known Zu Yuan was a devil; Ouyang said only Chen Changsheng had noticed.
• Dongxu Zi called Ouyang, Bai Feiyu, and Chen Changsheng “Those Who Know from Birth,” citing their unusual knowledge and abilities.
• Dongxu Zi warned Ouyang that he could not choose the paths of his junior brothers and sisters, who needed to seek their own destinies beyond Little Mountain Peak and the Azure Cloud Sect.

Dongxu Zi told Ouyang about the ancient catastrophe and demonstrated his Sword Dao by cleaving the moon, revealing its hidden resonance to the Azure Cloud Sect. He plucked a star and gave it to Ouyang before falling asleep, leaving the sect’s sword cultivators with a rare opportunity to cultivate.

• Dongxu Zi told Ouyang that the current generation might face a catastrophe and recalled the Conflict Between the Demonic and Daoist Paths a thousand years earlier.
• Dongxu Zi declared that the Dao could not be spoken and swung his Fly-whisk, sending Sword Qi toward the moon.
• The moon appeared to split as hidden Dao Resonance and sword insights spread throughout the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Bai Feiyu and Leng Qingsong sensed Dongxu Zi’s Sword Dao, bowed to him, and resolved to grow stronger.
• Dongxu Zi plucked a star from the sky and tossed it to Ouyang before lying down on his meditation cushion.

On the first snow of the year, Ouyang and Leng Qingsong prepared to travel down the mountain to the town where they once lived. Hu Tutu persuaded Leng Qingsong to let her join them, and the group set off for the mortal world.

• Hu Tutu excitedly played in the first snow while Ouyang reminded her to dress warmly and not lick the iron post.
• Leng Qingsong reminded Ouyang that the first snow was their time to visit the town where they had once lived.
• Hu Tutu got her tongue stuck to the iron post, and Ouyang warmed it until she could pull free.
• Ouyang refused to take Hu Tutu on the trip, but she packed her things and convinced Leng Qingsong to agree.
• Ouyang accepted Hu Tutu's company, and the three prepared to journey to the mortal world.

Ouyang, Leng Qingsong, and Hu Tutu traveled toward Maple Leaf City, where Ouyang and Leng Qingsong had spent their childhood, but Human Race Destiny and the thin Heaven and Earth Essence suppressed their cultivation. They left their flying treasures behind and continued on foot toward the city.

• Ouyang, Leng Qingsong, and Hu Tutu disguised themselves as wandering heroes and flew east from the Azure Cloud Sect toward their old home.
• Ouyang worried that Leng Qingsong’s feelings for Xuan'er, an ordinary woman, could bring him pain as she aged and died.
• As the trio entered the Mortal World, Hu Tutu and Leng Qingsong found their True Essence suppressed and struggled to replenish it.
• Ouyang used a Recording Stone to determine that Maple Leaf City was two days away on foot and told the others to walk.
• Leng Qingsong accepted Ouyang’s plan, and the three set off along the official road.

Ouyang, Leng Qingsong, and Hu Tutu encountered bandits attacking a group of guards, and Leng Qingsong drove the bandits away. They reunited with Wang Ming, who revealed that Sister Xuan'er and the others had been arrested and taken to the Imperial City, prompting Ouyang to demand directions there.

• Leng Qingsong charged into the battle between the bandits and the guards, killing their chief and forcing the bandits to flee.
• A guard from the Xie Household offered Leng Qingsong a reward, but Leng Qingsong told him to move aside.
• Wang Ming recognized Leng Qingsong and Ouyang, then told them that the authorities had arrested everyone in Maple Leaf City except him and taken Sister Xuan'er and the others to the Imperial City.
• Leng Qingsong erupted with killing intent, and Ouyang knocked out the middle-aged guard who tried to explain what had happened.
• Ouyang demanded that the remaining guards tell him which way the Imperial City was.

Ouyang learned that Leng Qingsong was the surviving son of Prince Su, whose name had been cleared after the emperor ordered his family executed. Xie Chongyang urged Leng Qingsong to return to the Imperial City as the emperor’s heir, but Leng Qingsong rejected mortal affairs.

• Ouyang confronted Xie Chongyang and learned that Maple Leaf City had promised to protect the immortals in exchange for favorable weather.
• Xie Chongyang revealed that Leng Qingsong possessed a piece of White Half-Jade and that the Imperial City had been searching for him since he disappeared as a child.
• Leng Qingsong asked whether the search was meant to eliminate him, and Xie Chongyang explained that the emperor wanted to see him before he died.
• Xie Chongyang recounted how Prince Su had been executed after a rebellion accusation and later cleared, leaving Leng Qingsong visibly conflicted.
• Xie Chongyang urged Leng Qingsong, the emperor’s only bloodline, to return and help restore order, but Leng Qingsong refused to involve himself in mortal affairs.

Ouyang rejected Leng Qingsong’s imperial inheritance and urged the Xie Household to seize the throne instead. He demonstrated that his pills could create Innate Grandmasters and gave Xie Chongyang a bottle, leaving him to consider Ouyang’s call to rebel.

• Leng Qingsong gave Xie Chongyang the other half of the white jade and declared he would kill the emperor if the emperor did not die first.
• Leng Qingsong told Ouyang he had no interest in becoming emperor and wanted only to pursue his Dao.
• Ouyang proposed that Xie Chongyang’s young companion take the throne, but Xinzhi denounced the idea as treason.
• Ouyang summoned Wang Ming, gave him a Spirit-Gathering Pill, and watched him break through to become an Innate Grandmaster.
• Ouyang gave Xie Chongyang a bottle of pills and urged the Xie Household to rebel and claim the throne.

Ouyang persuaded Xie Chongyang and Xie Xinzhi to use a hundred Innate Grandmasters to rebel against the emperor, while arranging for the emperor to be captured alive. After Leng Qingsong vented his frustration and learned how Ouyang planned to avoid mortal karma, the two set off for the imperial city to rescue Leng’s former love.

• Xie Chongyang accepted Ouyang’s offer of a hundred Innate Grandmasters after Ouyang said he wanted revenge on his junior brother’s behalf, not mortal power.
• Xie Xinzhi revealed that he had married Xuan'er and urged his father to seize the throne, declaring plans to ally with the twenty-one cities and march on the imperial city.
• Ouyang told Xie Xinzhi to keep the emperor alive, and Xie Xinzhi and Xie Chongyang agreed to return to Maple Leaf City and gather their descendants to cultivate the hundred Grandmasters.
• Leng Qingsong flew to a waterfall and cut it apart with his sword while Ouyang explained that letting the Xie Household depose the emperor would spare Leng from mortal karma.
• Ouyang told Leng Qingsong that his old flame was still suffering, and the two headed for the imperial city.

Ouyang, Leng Qingsong, and Hu Tutu explored the imperial capital before Ouyang recognized the powerful cultivator who had summoned them to the Yihong Brothel: their senior sister Xiaoyue. Xiaoyue stopped Leng Qingsong from fleeing and teased him about their past intimacy.

• Hu Tutu enjoyed the eastern market while Ouyang explained the shops and tried to steer her away from the brothel.
• Leng Qingsong sensed a very powerful cultivator nearby, and Ouyang recognized Xiaoyue by the fragrance on a crimson silk ribbon.
• Ouyang led Leng Qingsong and Hu Tutu into the Yihong Brothel after Xiaoyue told him to bring Leng Qingsong upstairs.
• Leng Qingsong tried to leave when the madam asked whether he knew Miss Xiaoyue, but Xiaoyue froze everyone in the building and appeared on the stairs.
• Xiaoyue greeted Leng Qingsong, surrounded him and Ouyang with crimson gauze, and reminded him that they had once bathed together.