Chapter Summaries

As Li Yingling prepared to break through to Spirit Transformation, Lin Luoyu recalled her own breakthrough to Nascent Soul and a moonlit conversation with Chu Xingchen. She spoke about her missing parents and recurring nightmares, leaving her past unresolved as she remembered her mother’s concern.

• Lin Luoyu observed that Li Yingling’s cultivation had grown so refined that her spiritual power and Dao resonance were difficult to sense.
• Five years earlier, Qinghe tried to prolong the Whole-Sect Gathering, while Xie Lingyu ended the celebration and Li Yingling scolded Cui Hao for his slow progress.
• After the gathering, Chu Xingchen took Lin Luoyu to a moonlit cliff and praised her achievement of Nascent Soul.
• Lin Luoyu told Chu Xingchen she missed her teacher, who had hoped Lin Luoyu might pursue the path of a Second Sage.
• Chu Xingchen asked about Lin Luoyu’s childhood, and she recalled hunger, fleeing with her mother, being left in Lin Family Ravine, and not remembering her parents’ faces.
• Lin Luoyu said her nightmares reminded her to do what was right and that she wished she could tell her mother she could protect herself now.

Chu Xingchen guided Lin Luoyu through a reflection on righteousness before her breakthrough revealed her Heaven and Earth Righteousness. Li Yingling then emerged from the secret realm in the Spirit Transformation Realm, and the disciples prepared to settle accounts with Cui Hao.

• Chu Xingchen told Lin Luoyu to trust her own principles and remember that she had created her righteousness qi.
• Lin Luoyu’s righteousness qi surged over A Loving Family Peak, and Chu Xingchen saw that she had gained the Heaven and Earth Righteousness trait.
• Li Yingling completed her breakthrough and emerged from the secret realm as a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• The system announced a new quest for a disciple to reach the Body Integration Realm and delivered a Wisp of True Intention to Li Yingling.
• Chen Baiqing arrived and apologized for being late, and Li Yingling said they would go settle accounts with Cui Hao.

At the sect-wide assembly, Chu Xingchen discussed Bai Xuanling’s newfound ease and the major troubles awaiting him. The Buddhist Sect’s internal conflict had grown close to collapse, forcing Ru Nan to seek Chu Xingchen’s help in resolving the Guangming Buddha crisis and restoring the sect’s reputation.

• Cui Hao entertained the assembly with travel stories while Chen Baiqing let him embellish them.
• Bai Xuanling praised Yingling’s talent, then told Chu Xingchen she preferred a peaceful life on Pearl-Gem Peak.
• Bai Xuanling asked whether Chu Xingchen knew about the Buddhist Sect’s crises, and he admitted he would have to face them himself.
• The Karma Buddhas and Dust-Matters Buddhas grew increasingly hostile as Ru Nan’s attempt to stall failed, and one Karma Buddha defected to Guangming Buddha.
• Ru Nan sought Chu Xingchen’s intervention to address Guangming Buddha and protect the Buddhist Sect from disintegration, leaving Chu Xingchen lamenting his burdens.

At the Great Thunderclap Temple, Ru Nan secured the Buddhas’ agreement to meet Chu Xingchen and face the mortal world’s calamity. Ruzhong returned to stand beside Ru Nan, and the chapter ended with the two senior brothers reminiscing about their bond.

• A Śrāmaṇera announced that Chu Xingchen had accepted Ru Nan’s invitation to meet at the Heavenly Derivation Sect in two days.
• A Dust-Matters Buddha questioned whether meeting Chu Xingchen would endanger the Buddhist Sect, while the Karma Buddhas stayed silent.
• Ruzhong entered the hall and urged the Buddhas to act with compassion rather than retreat from the calamity.
• The Karma Buddhas agreed to meet Chu Xingchen, and Ru Nan named Ruzhong, Hua Wu, Du Ci, Wen Liu, Eight Turns, and Jin Huan to accompany him.
• After the other Buddhas left, Ruzhong told Ru Nan that he could stand shoulder to shoulder with him again, and Ru Nan joked about asking his Second Senior Brother to save him.

Chu Xingchen’s disciples debated how to hide his injuries and Bai Xuanling’s cultivation before meeting the Buddhists, until Xie Lingyu suggested using her aura to conceal them. Chu Xingchen prepared to use the Primordial Two Qi Dao-Stabilizing Beads and took Chen Baiqing with him, leaving Bai Xuanling reflecting on Chen’s fearsome reputation and obedience to her master.

• Li Yingling, Li Xingtian, and Bai Xuanling proposed ways to make Chu Xingchen appear injured, but Chen Baiqing rejected the risky suggestions and Xie Lingyu proposed concealing his aura with her own.
• Chu Xingchen smeared rouge on Li Yingling and Li Xingtian, drew a floral mark on Chen Baiqing, and wrote the character [king] on Cui Hao’s forehead.
• Chu Xingchen asked his disciples why they had gathered, then dismissed Li Yingling, Li Xingtian, and Cui Hao while keeping Chen Baiqing behind.
• Chu Xingchen activated the Primordial Two Qi Dao-Stabilizing Beads and asked Chen Baiqing to accompany him, saying her Fourth Junior Sister might need her help.
• Bai Xuanling considered Chen Baiqing’s reputation as the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect’s Uncalculating Demoness and reflected on how obedient she was to Chu Xingchen.

Chu Xingchen met with Ru Nan at the Heavenly Derivation Sect and assured him that the Buddhist Sect remained righteous, promising to issue a statement clearing up past misunderstandings. He left Ru Nan suspicious of his unexpected sincerity and said the question of Guangming Buddha could not be decided by him alone.

• Lü Xuan and Yan Yun kept Ru Nan waiting with formalities and talk of cooperation until Chu Xingchen arrived with Xie Lingyu.
• Chu Xingchen apologized for his illness and said he had been unable to receive Ru Nan earlier.
• Chu Xingchen argued that Ru Nan and Hua Wu True Buddha’s actions against the Devil Race proved the Buddhist Sect had not entered the demonic path.
• Chu Xingchen promised to issue a statement affirming the Buddhist Sect’s righteousness and asked only for help spreading the word.
• Chu Xingchen said the matter of Guangming Buddha was not his alone to decide, while Ru Nan doubted Chu Xingchen’s professed sincerity.

Chu Xingchen negotiated with Ru Nan over the Buddhist Sect’s dispute with Guangming Buddha, agreeing not to issue a clarification while refusing to help capture him. He then proposed spreading the Buddhist Sect’s current teachings across the Four Great Continents to counter the Heavenly Demons, leaving Ru Nan suspicious of his motives.

• Chu Xingchen promised not to add conditions to his agreement about clarifying his position, and Ru Nan accepted his word.
• Ru Nan asked Chu Xingchen to help deal with the Evil Buddha, but Chu Xingchen said the Buddhist Sect could apprehend Guangming Buddha itself and refused to get involved.
• An Eighth-Turn True Buddha accused Chu Xingchen of previously helping Guangming Buddha escape and demanded that he stop other sects from sheltering him.
• Chu Xingchen urged the Buddhist Sect to publicize the Evil Buddha’s dangers and criticize his doctrines, while promising not to defend Guangming Buddha; Ru Nan agreed.
• Ru Nan offered the Buddhist Sect’s help against demons, and Chu Xingchen proposed spreading its current teachings across the Four Great Continents to resist the Heavenly Demons.
• Ru Nan found Chu Xingchen’s proposal suspicious and wondered whether someone had replaced him.

Chu Xingchen offered the Buddhist Sect a chance to promote Hinayana Buddhism and invited Ru Nan to speak privately. He explained that he hoped to help Ru Nan reform the sect and share his burden, then extended his hand in a pledge to pursue the greater good together.

• Chu Xingchen suggested that the Buddhas consider his offer while he and Ru Nan spoke privately, and Xie Lingyu steadied herself and supported him.
• Ru Nan accompanied Chu Xingchen out of the hall, reassuring him that he had only been concerned about his recovery.
• Chu Xingchen and Ru Nan spoke as they walked, and Ru Nan apologized for the Buddhist Sect's role in putting Chu Xingchen in danger.
• Chu Xingchen said he had considered imposing conditions but chose instead to recognize how the Buddhist Sect had once protected the people of the Western Ox-He Continent.
• Chu Xingchen explained that he wanted to help Ru Nan put the Buddhist Sect in order and make peace with the other immortal sects.
• Chu Xingchen offered Ru Nan his hand and proposed that they pursue the greater good together and relieve the suffering of all living beings.

Chu Xingchen and Ru Nan reached an agreement to work together, and Chu Xingchen left the remaining arrangements to his disciples while recovering. Back at A Loving Family Peak, Bai Xuanling warned him that the real work was beginning, and Chu Xingchen calmly accepted responsibility.

• Chu Xingchen and Ru Nan returned to the hall as fellow Daoists and agreed to discuss cooperation further once Chu Xingchen had recovered.
• Chu Xingchen appointed his eldest disciple to lead the remaining work and left the hall with Xie Lingyu.
• Ru Nan confirmed to Lü Xuan that he had accepted Chu Xingchen's proposal and had discussed nothing else outside the hall.
• Chu Xingchen joked with Xie Lingyu about becoming Ru Nan's sworn brother as they returned to A Loving Family Peak.
• Bai Xuanling warned Chu Xingchen that he had made a start and would have no further chance to take things easy, and Chu Xingchen replied, "Just leave it to me."

Li Junzi continued pursuing the Confucian School’s path to becoming a Second Sage despite her advancing age and the recent suppression of her University Reform. Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao arrived to visit her, leaving them reunited as Li Junzi acknowledged that time was short.

• Li Junzi wrote in her courtyard while Confucian scholars from Junzi Mountain tended the garden, and she relied on their support as she pursued the path to becoming a Second Sage.
• Cui Hao arrived and urged Lin Luoyu not to let concern keep her from meeting Li Junzi openly.
• Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao entered the courtyard, where Li Junzi welcomed them and warmly clasped Lin Luoyu’s hand.
• Li Junzi said she had been well enough but admitted that her efforts had not gone well and that she had wasted others’ time and effort.
• Lin Luoyu reflected on the fifteen years Li Junzi had spent studying and striving, aware that a mortal’s life passed quickly.

Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao visited Li Junzi, whose Great Learning reforms had been defeated by the aristocratic clans and left her sidelined. Lin Luoyu revealed that Chu Xingchen had arranged a single chance to help her reforms succeed, and said the Buddhist Sect would support Li Junzi becoming a Second Sage to calm the people before the coming calamity.

• Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao reunited with Li Junzi and told her that Lin Luoyu had become a Nascent Soul patriarch.
• Lin Luoyu considered Li Junzi's repeated failures to implement Great Learning, a policy that would spread education beyond the aristocratic clans' control.
• Lin Luoyu offered Chu Xingchen's help in creating one opportunity for Li Junzi to implement the policy, while clarifying that cultivators would not intervene directly.
• Li Junzi said she did not want to change the world merely to become a Second Sage and admitted she lacked the ruthlessness for such a goal.
• Lin Luoyu told Li Junzi that Central Province's Eighteen Immortal Sects were preparing for the Heaven and Earth Great Calamity, and that a Second Sage could reassure the people.
• Lin Luoyu said the Buddhist Sect was willing to serve as a stepping stone to help Li Junzi become a Second Sage.

Li Junzi neared completion of her carefully revised Character Recognition Classic while Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao discussed her progress. In the Black Tortoise Kingdom’s capital, Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian approached Zhao Xuan to discuss a matter, leaving him uneasy about their intentions and the rules governing immortals.

• Li Junzi continued writing the final pages of her Character Recognition Classic as Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao waited outside with Junzi Mountain’s Confucian Cultivators.
• Cui Hao showed that he had reached the Understanding Principle Realm, then praised Li Junzi’s progress and urged Lin Luoyu to read her book.
• Lin Luoyu recognized that Li Junzi had spent years organizing and refining the primers she had prepared for her, and looked toward her by the window.
• Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian met Zhao Xuan in the Black Tortoise Kingdom’s capital, where he wondered about Chu Xingchen’s current realm and feared the price of their visit.
• Chen Baiqing told Zhao Xuan that rules bind those who fear them, then added that they understood the need to follow rules to endure.

Chen Baiqing persuaded Zhao Xuan to invite Li Junzi to implement university reform in the Black Tortoise Kingdom by arguing that the reforms could help him weaken the aristocratic clans and strengthen his kingdom. After leaving the palace with Li Xingtian, she joked about how smoothly he had helped her, and he remarked that Master often sweet-talked him into doing work.

• Zhao Xuan agreed to invite Li Junzi and do his best to protect her reforms, though he warned that success was not guaranteed.
• Chen Baiqing argued that implementing the reforms could help Zhao Xuan diminish the aristocratic clans and draw scholars to the Black Tortoise Kingdom.
• Chen Baiqing told Zhao Xuan to send a messenger within three months, and Zhao Xuan promised to do so.
• Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian left the hall, and she praised him for helping by staying quiet and keeping his expressions just right.
• Li Xingtian told Chen Baiqing that Master often sweet-talked him into taking on work.

Li Yingling delegated the Buddhist Sect negotiations and preparations to Yun Li while keeping the real plan between herself and Zhang Miaoyu. Yun Li left believing he had been entrusted with the implementation, and Zhang Miaoyu agreed that their approach was working well.

• Li Yingling complained to Zhang Miaoyu about being left with diplomatic work while Yun Li reflected on the concessions she had approved during his negotiations with the Buddhist Sect.
• Li Yingling asked Yun Li whether the monks had made further demands, and he said the general terms were settled.
• Li Yingling told Yun Li to begin carrying out the negotiated terms and promised to take over if the monks made trouble for him.
• Yun Li eagerly accepted the task and left to get the Buddhist Sect working, unaware of the preparations Li Yingling and Zhang Miaoyu had completed.
• Zhang Miaoyu asked whether it was unfair to keep Yun Li out of the loop, and Li Yingling replied that the arrangement was working well.

Ru Nan reflected on Chu Xingchen’s public defense of the Buddhist Sect and received confirmation that the Heavenly Derivation Sect had agreed to promote Hinayana Buddhism under terms that placed the risk on Chu Xingchen. He recognized that he had misjudged Chu Xingchen’s sincerity.

• Ru Nan recalled how Chu Xingchen’s carefully prepared statement cleared the Buddhist Sect’s name and won public support from the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect and the Great Dao Sect.
• The statement eased pressure within the Buddhist Sect, and the Mundane Buddhas stopped pressing Ru Nan over Guangming Buddha.
• Wuwang returned to the Great Hero Hall with a Jade Token bearing Li Yingling’s signed mark and reported that the Hinayana Buddhism negotiations were settled.
• Ru Nan read the terms and learned that the Buddhist Sect would benefit if the plan succeeded while Chu Xingchen would bear responsibility if it failed.
• Ru Nan acknowledged that he had underestimated Chu Xingchen and concluded that Chu Xingchen had acted with genuine sincerity.

Ru Nan assigned Wuwang to lead the Buddhist Sect’s cooperation with Chu Xingchen and ordered him to answer only to Ru Nan. Meanwhile, Chu Xingchen teased Li Yingling over the agreement, and their playful bickering left Xie Lingyu amused and warmed.

• Ru Nan decided the Buddhist Sect would promote Hinayana Buddhism without imposing the drafted terms and would shoulder its own responsibilities.
• Ru Nan chose Wuwang to oversee the work and told him to obey only Ru Nan’s decrees, even if other Buddhas objected.
• Chu Xingchen complained to Li Yingling about the agreement she had signed with the Buddhist Sect, and she defended her decision as following his strategy.
• Li Yingling and Chu Xingchen mock-argued about which of them had changed their attitude, while Xie Lingyu watched their affectionate performance.

Li Yingling checked in with Master, then joined Yun Li for the meeting with the Buddhist Sect about promoting Hinayana Buddhism. Yun Li met Wuwang instead of a Buddha and learned that the Venerable Buddha and the entire Immortal Sect of Central Province were watching the outcome.

• Li Yingling reported the situation and her plans to Master, who told her not to sell him off.
• Ten days later, Li Yingling and Zhang Miaoyu waited for Yun Li and prepared to join the meeting with the Buddhist Sect.
• Li Yingling praised Yun Li's recent work, told him not to ask questions, and sent him ahead to the Discussion Hall.
• Yun Li found Wuwang leading the Buddhist delegation and asked whether he had authority to make decisions.
• Wuwang said the Venerable Buddha and the entire Immortal Sect of Central Province were paying close attention to the undertaking.

Yun Li struggled to continue negotiating with Wuwang, who insisted on consulting Chu Xingchen and obtaining proof of his answer. Li Yingling arrived and confronted Wuwang, demanding that the Buddhist Sect demonstrate its own sincerity before negotiations could proceed.

• Wuwang pressed Yun Li to ask Chu Xingchen for a definite answer and a Jade Token before continuing the discussions.
• Yun Li relented and left the Council Hall, where he found Li Yingling and Zhang Miaoyu waiting in the corridor.
• Li Yingling entered the hall and told Wuwang that her presence made Chu Xingchen's Jade Token unnecessary.
• Li Yingling placed Chu Xingchen's Jade Token on the table and said the negotiations might need to be reconsidered if the Buddhist Sect continued to question his goodwill.
• Li Yingling threw the Jade Token to Wuwang and demanded that he return with the Venerable Buddha's Jade Token and an account of what the Buddhist Sect could offer.

Li Yingling confronted Wuwang over the Buddhist Sect’s conduct and demanded revised terms for their cooperation. She proposed testing Hinayana Buddhism’s rollout at a pilot site in Southern Jambu Continent, leaving Wuwang to consider the plan.

• Li Yingling accused Wuwang of treating the Buddhist Sect’s misunderstanding too lightly, while Yun Li silently realized she had maneuvered him into the negotiations.
• Wuwang apologized and offered to accept punishment, invoking the Venerable Buddha’s hopes of repairing relations with Chu Xingchen.
• Li Yingling rejected Wuwang’s apology and demanded that their cooperation be reassessed.
• Li Yingling argued that a full rollout was too risky and proposed a pilot site, with further implementation dependent on both sides agreeing it had proved feasible.
• Wuwang asked where Li Yingling intended to begin the pilot, and she named Southern Jambu Continent.

Cui Hao treated Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian to tea and asked the merchants gathered at a stall what they thought of Li Junzi’s plans for education. He ended by quoting his father’s warning about the power of words, leaving the crowd’s response unstated.

• Cui Hao joked with Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian as they walked toward a tea stall, and Li Xingtian unexpectedly laughed at his claim to be a genius.
• Cui Hao paid for fresh tea for everyone at the stall, drawing wary looks from the poor travelers gathered there.
• Cui Hao asked the travelers about life beyond the capital and brought up Li Junzi of Junzi Mountain.
• Cui Hao asked whether Li Junzi’s vision of making books available to everyone was good or bad, then declared that words were formless blades that killed without drawing blood.