Chapter Summaries

Li Rui acquired the Eternal Evergreen Art, cultivated its life-extending Evergreen Qi, and strengthened his position at Qingwei Sect while navigating an offer of surrender from the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad. After returning to Qinghe City and reconnecting with his former colleagues, he left in secret, ready to pursue his next breakthrough.

• Li Rui received the Eternal Evergreen Art and concealed from Ning Zhongtian and the others that he had already reached the Dao Embryo Realm.
• After the Grand Rite of the Heavens ended, Li Rui encouraged Wei Ming and met the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad, which offered to surrender and help retrieve something Blood Shadow Old Ancestor had taken from him.
• The National Preceptor approved Li Rui staying at Qingwei Sect, and Li Rui spent the following year cultivating the Eternal Evergreen Art until he developed Evergreen Qi.
• Li Rui brought Wei Ming and Tan Hu back to Qinghe City, where Xue Gui and Zhou Dinghai treated him as a peer and a valuable future Tongxuan expert.
• Li Rui secretly left Clear River for a desolate mountain range and declared that it was his turn to become an Earth Immortal.

Li Rui broke through to Mystic Passage and discovered that his Immortal Court had begun to nurture spiritual energy as an embryonic small world. After returning to Qinghe and waiting for word from the capital, he received the Holy Emperor’s personal edict authorizing him to grant Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad the title of Red River River God if the demon proved benevolent.

• Li Rui absorbed spiritual energy and broke through to Mystic Passage, transforming the Immortal Court within his dantian.
• Li Rui concealed his new cultivation and returned to the General's Mansion in Qinghe City.
• Li Rui spoke with Liang He, answered his questions, and waited for a reply from the capital about Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad.
• After seven days, Li Rui received a personal Imperial Edict in which the Holy Emperor approved granting Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad the title of Red River River God if he was benevolent.

Li Rui used the Holy Emperor’s Imperial Edict to enlist the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad and arrange a joint assault on the Purple Gold Palace. As Zhou Dinghai and the Qingwei Sect attacked, Li Rui recovered the Thousand Soul Banner from Blood Shadow Old Ancestor’s cave.

• Li Rui met the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad and offered it the prospect of becoming Red River River God if it earned merit by helping the Yu Kingdom.
• Ji Lei arrived at the Purple Gold Palace seeking Si Feng, and Blood Shadow Old Ancestor told him Si Feng was imprisoned in the capital.
• Zhou Dinghai, Li Rui, and the Qingwei Sect disciples entered the Purple Gold Palace through an opening in its illusion formation, with the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad guiding them.
• Zhou Dinghai and Xuan Yu Daoren led the assault while Blood Shadow Old Ancestor confronted them, and Li Rui slipped into the cave with the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad.
• Li Rui retrieved and instantly refined the Thousand Soul Banner while the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad sealed the cave against spiritual detection.

Li Rui helped Zhou Dinghai and Xuan Yu Daoren trap Blood Shadow Old Ancestor, reclaimed the Thousand Soul Banner, and learned more about the Profound Understanding Realm from the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad. A month later, Eunuch Hong arrived in Clear River with an imperial edict, leaving the Red River River God’s investiture imminent.

• Blood Shadow Old Ancestor was overwhelmed by Zhou Dinghai and Xuan Yu Daoren, but a youth in white used a Great Teleportation Talisman to escape with him; Li Rui recovered the Thousand Soul Banner.
• Li Rui returned to Clear River with the others, and the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad stayed at his residence while seeking his support in becoming the Red River River God.
• The Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad explained the stages of Profound Understanding, the Great Dao, and the danger of Contention for the Great Dao to Li Rui.
• Li Rui practiced Talismans Art, demonstrated his Clone Talisman, and continued refining the Thousand Soul Banner.
• A month later, Vice Minister Wang and Eunuch Hong arrived at the Annan Garrison camp, where Eunuch Hong announced that he had come by the Holy Emperor’s decree to proclaim an imperial edict.

Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad received an imperial appointment as Red River River God, while Li Rui was promoted to Right Vice Censor-in-chief and made Earl of Pingyuan. After Li Rui celebrated with the delegation, Eunuch Hong delivered a private decree appointing him a Mountain-Suppressing Envoy of the Dark Guard and placing Qingwei Sect matters under his authority.

• Eunuch Hong proclaimed Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad's appointment as Red River River God in recognition of its service.
• The emperor promoted Li Rui to Right Vice Censor-in-chief, granted him the title Earl of Pingyuan, and awarded him a thousand-household fief.
• Li Rui completed the Promotion and Ennoblement achievement mission and received 30 Achievement Points.
• Zhou Dinghai hosted a banquet for Eunuch Hong, Vice Minister Wang, Li Rui, Nie Siming, and Yuan Xiong.
• Eunuch Hong privately gave Li Rui a handwritten decree appointing him a Mountain-Suppressing Envoy of the Dark Guard and assigning him responsibility for Qingwei Sect matters.

Li Rui traveled in secret to the South Sea Immortal Market to obtain Longevity Water, using a false identity and the Heaven Origin Commerce Association’s help. The market’s strict rules became clear when a flying cultivator was killed for violating them.

• The Imperial Court’s plans for Dao Academies and Qingwei Sect officials were explained to Li Rui, and the Celestial Ox Vermilion Toad became the Red River River God after drinking with him for three days.
• Back at Qingwei Sect, Wei Ming entered the immortal path, while Tan Hu revealed that he had broken through in martial cultivation.
• Li Rui studied arrays and began planning a mountain-protecting formation for Evergreen Peak.
• Chunxuzi invited Li Rui to the South Sea Immortal Market, but Li Rui suspected him of probing into his search for Longevity Water and secretly departed under an assumed identity with Lin Lang and Fei Ming.
• After Li Rui and his companions reached the island, a flying cultivator was struck down by a flying sword, and a voice warned that everyone at the South Sea Immortal Market had to obey its rules.

Li Rui and Lin Lang visited the South Sea Immortal Market, where Li Rui traded two second-grade Great Pills for Longevity Water. After hearing that Demonic Cultivators threatened travelers beyond the market, Li Rui decided to improve his spiritual roots before continuing.

• A disciple of the South Sea Immortal admitted Lin Lang, Li Rui, and Fei Ming to the market after Lin Lang identified himself as a vice president of the Heaven Origin Commerce Association.
• Lin Lang set out the association’s goods while Li Rui surveyed the market and spotted Chunxuzi and Old Ziyang Daoist among the cultivators.
• Li Rui met Fellow Daoist Chu on the island’s reefs and exchanged two second-grade Great Pills for Longevity Water using Replacement Talismans.
• Li Rui returned to Lin Lang without discussing the successful trade, and Lin Lang warned him that Demonic Cultivators were plundering the South Sea beyond the market.
• Li Rui considered the Longevity Water and decided to find a place to improve his spiritual roots before trouble arose.

Li Rui used Longevity Water and the Spirit Ascension Manual to ascend to an Immortal Spiritual Root, then returned toward the South Sea Immortal Market. On the way, he saw Chunxuzi pursued by two South Sea Demonic Cultivators and watched from beneath the sea as his thoughts turned cold.

• Li Rui traveled to a remote island, drank the Longevity Water, and spent three days and nights cultivating with the Spirit Ascension Manual.
• Li Rui discovered that his new Top Grade Spiritual Root was an Immortal Spiritual Root that guided him toward the Immortal Path and made Immortal Techniques easier to use.
• Chunxuzi fled from two Demonic Cultivators who sought revenge on behalf of their slain brother, whom Xuan Yu Daoren had killed.
• Li Rui concealed himself beneath the seabed, recognized Chunxuzi, and watched the pursuit with an icy gaze.

Li Rui disguised himself as the Old Demon of Tiannan, killed Chunxuzi with the Thousand Souls Banner, and escaped suspicion as the South Sea Immortal Market closed. After returning to the Qingwei Sect, he broke through to the Tongxuan Realm while Chunxuzi’s death prompted Xuan Yu Daoren to investigate.

• Li Rui ambushed Chunxuzi at sea with the Thousand Souls Banner, then demanded treasures from the two pursuing cultivators and sent them away as the Old Demon of Tiannan.
• Li Rui fled, destroyed Chunxuzi’s soul, and completed the Conflict achievement mission, earning 20 Achievement Points.
• A month later, Li Rui traveled home with Lin Lang and Zhu while rumors spread about the Old Demon of Tiannan.
• A young Daoist found Chunxuzi’s life talisman shattered, and Xuan Yu Daoren left the Qingwei Sect to investigate his death.
• Three months later, Li Rui broke through on Evergreen Peak, and Sang Kong and Ziyang Daoren came to congratulate him.
• Ziyang Daoren told Xuanwei Daoren that Chunxuzi may have been searching for something before his death, while Xuanwei left the matter to Xuan Yu Daoren.

After a year of cultivation, Li Rui completed a hidden Reversed Five Elements Array and prepared Qingwei Sect to assess the first Yu Kingdom Dao Academy students. The assessment began with a Bewildering Heart Array, and the first student to emerge had gone mad.

• Sang Kong and Ziyang Daoren congratulated Li Rui on entering the Upper Three Ranks and discussed the coming World Martial Evaluation and Chunxuzi’s death.
• Li Rui spent a year cultivating and studying arrays and talismans, then secretly completed the Reversed Five Elements Array around Evergreen Peak.
• Li Rui arranged for the arrival of the Yu Kingdom Dao Academy students and learned that Yuan An, the Young Master of the Marquis of Annan, would come under his care.
• Yuan Xiong escorted the students to Qingwei Sect, where Yuan An greeted Li Rui as Mister and Yuan Xiong urged Li Rui to discipline him.
• Li Rui, Sang Kong, and the Qingwei Sect elders began the entrance assessment, and a student emerged from the Bewildering Heart Array having gone mad.

Li Rui helped the Qingwei Sect’s assessment continue, then accompanied the students to suppress a demonic upheaval in Red Wind Valley. There, he joined Yuan Xiong and Chen Ming in killing a python demon, and Chen Ming was astonished by Li Rui’s late rise to the Profound Understanding Realm.

• Li Rui asked Xuan Cheng Daoren to withdraw the Bewildering Heart Array’s intent, saving a Witch Kingdom youngster from madness and earning Sang Kong’s gratitude.
• The Bewildering Heart Array ended with fewer than eighty students from the Yu-Wu Kingdoms still clear-headed, and Ziyang Daoren explained that Xuan Cheng Daoren had used a heavy hand.
• Ziyang Daoren carried the students to Red Wind Valley, where Li Rui directed the Jiannan Garrison to lead them into the valley to suppress a demonic upheaval.
• Li Rui and Yuan Xiong flew into the valley to watch over Yuan An and the other students, then rushed toward the battle of two Upper Three Ranks.
• Li Rui and Yuan Xiong joined Chen Ming in defeating a Silver Ring Bull Python, and Chen Ming marveled that Li Rui had reached the Profound Understanding Realm despite his advanced age.

Li Rui declined Chen Ming’s offer to join a search for a spirit mine, then returned to the Qingwei Sect and continued cultivating while quietly strengthening Evergreen Peak’s defenses. A year later, the World Martial Evaluation was published, listing Li Rui at number 1,137, and a system notification confirmed he had completed the achievement storyline for gaining fame throughout the world.

• Chen Ming told Li Rui that he sought a spirit mine to honor his dead sworn brother and invited him to partner with Xia Yun, but Li Rui refused.
• Li Rui returned the students safely to the Qingwei Sect, where Yuan An entered the Law Transmission Hall and received a post guarding the Cultivation Method Pavilion.
• Li Rui advanced his cultivation and placed Five Elements Stones to establish the Bewildering Heart Array around Evergreen Peak.
• Ning Zhongtian and the other three brought Li Rui the new World Martial Evaluation, which ranked Gao Tianxia first and Li Rui 1,137th.
• Li Rui saw a system notification that he had completed the advanced achievement storyline for gaining fame throughout the world.

After earning a D rating for placing 1,137th in the World Martial Evaluation, Li Rui returned to Clear River and visited He Qiannian at Thousand Crane Martial Hall. During meditation, the Eastern Heaven Gate formed in his Immortal Court, completing the four great immortal gates.

• Li Rui accepted his D-rated World Martial Evaluation reward and chose not to seek a higher ranking by revealing more of his strength.
• Ning Zhongtian, Wei Ming, and the others discussed their hopes for the Martial Ranking before Li Rui told Tan Hu to return with him to Clear River.
• Five days later, Li Rui visited He Qiannian at Thousand Crane Martial Hall and learned that Commander Yang would send a Mystic to Clear River for a joint mission.
• Li Rui spent the next half month cultivating in Clear River while awaiting the mission.
• While meditating at night, Li Rui watched the Eastern Heaven Gate rise within his Immortal Court, completing its four great gates.

After opening the Eastern Heaven Gate, Li Rui advanced his talisman and formation skills and created a golden-armored talisman warrior. He joined Yao Xue and He Qiannian in searching the Ten Thousand Mountains for a spirit mine, where they discovered that Xuan Yu Daoren and Qingwei Sect were secretly mining it.

• Li Rui advanced his Talismans Art and formations, summoned an Innate-level golden-armored talisman warrior, and brought him into the Li Residence as a guard.
• Yao Xue visited Li Rui and revealed that she had learned to seek spirit mines and sensed one in the Ten Thousand Mountains.
• Li Rui, He Qiannian, and Yao Xue searched the Ten Thousand Mountains, followed Yao Xue's firefly to a valley, and waited outside its illusion formation for a month.
• Xuan Yu Daoren and Xu Zhou emerged from the formation, and Li Rui recognized Xuan Yu Daoren and decided the group should withdraw and plan carefully.
• Inside the formation, Xuan Yu Daoren and Xu Zhou oversaw miners extracting spirit stones from the concealed mountain, intending to strengthen Qingwei Sect.

After Li Rui reported Qingwei Sect’s spirit mine, the Yu Kingdom, the Witch Kingdom, and Qingwei Sect negotiated a division of its resources. Li Rui was appointed guardian of the mine and prepared for a prince’s inspection, gaining authority to handle its spirit stones.

• Li Rui recalled that he, Yao Xue, and He Qiannian had discovered the spirit mine and that the missing official had been used as a pretext to contest it.
• Sang Kong joined Li Rui, and they met Zhou Dinghai and Witch Kingdom Minister Lu Xin before entering Qingwei Sect to negotiate.
• For more than ten days, officials and Qingwei Sect elders argued over the mine while Zhou Dinghai, Lu Xin, and Xuanwei Daoren waited to settle the matter.
• At a banquet, Xuanwei Daoren proposed dividing the spirit mine into three equal shares, and Zhou Dinghai and Lu Xin agreed.
• Zhou Dinghai appointed Li Rui guardian of the spirit mine and told him that a prince would arrive to inspect it.
• Li Rui visited the mine with Ning Zhongtian and the others, inspected a spirit stone, and considered using his position to take some for himself.

Fifth Prince Zhu Qian arrived to oversee the spirit mine, where Li Rui later discovered that someone had planted a powerful Evil Puppet Array in his courtyard. Li Rui concealed his discovery and set up a smaller array to delay its effects while he considered who was targeting him.

• Li Rui welcomed Fifth Prince Zhu Qian, who inspected the spirit mine and ordered its walls reinforced while criticizing the prior arrangements.
• Li Rui returned to Evergreen Peak and cultivated with Mid-Grade and High-Grade Spirit Stones, estimating that he could break through within five years.
• Li Rui brought Ning Zhongtian to the spirit mine for a month-long inspection and found a giant maggot beneath a willow tree in his courtyard.
• Li Rui recognized the maggot as part of a third-rank Evil Puppet Array designed to turn him into a puppet over time.
• Li Rui told Ning Zhongtian to act as if they had found nothing, then set up a Small Five Elements Array to delay the evil array's effects.

Li Rui investigated the suspicious array around his residence, secretly suppressing the restrictions placed on his guards while remaining wary of Ke Chuan. In the Great Void Dao Field, Wu De offered to connect him with someone skilled in talismans and arrays, and the chapter ended when Li Rui sensed Chen Ming outside the spirit mine.

• Li Rui toured the spirit mine with Yuan Xiong, questioned him about visitors to his residence, and encountered Ke Chuan reinforcing the grand array.
• Li Rui suspected Ke Chuan might be tied to the Evil Puppet Grand Array but decided the Fifth Prince would face too much risk to be its instigator.
• Li Rui secretly planted talismanic intent in his guards and used the Small Five Elements Array to delay the Evil Puppet Grand Array's activation.
• Li Rui met Wu De at the Great Void Dao Field and learned that a newly discovered grotto-heaven might be his own realm.
• Wu De promised to find a friend who excelled at talismans and arrays before vanishing from the Dao Field.
• After observing his guards for several days, Li Rui suppressed the restrictions hidden in them and sensed Chen Ming outside the spirit mine.

Li Rui uncovered a plot to use an evil array to turn him into a puppet, then helped defend the spirit mines from Demonic Cultivators while concealing the array from its master. After years of cultivation and steady rewards, he reached the threshold of the initial stage of Profound Penetration.

• Li Rui discovered Chen Ming and other powerful cultivators watching the spirit mine, while an Immortal Cultivation World cultivator revealed his plan to refine Li Rui into a puppet and seize the mine’s resources.
• Li Rui left the spirit mine when the Small Five Elements Array could no longer suppress the Evil Puppet Array, then spent a year cultivating on Evergreen Peak.
• Ning Zhongtian told Li Rui that Demonic Cultivators had attacked the Yu Kingdom’s spirit mine and stolen spirit stones, prompting Li Rui to join the hunt.
• Li Rui and Sang Kong agreed to share information about threats to their respective spirit mines, and Li Rui later captured more than a dozen Demonic Cultivators and displayed their corpses on the city wall.
• Li Rui kept blocking the evil arrays during his inspections and advanced rapidly with his spirit-stone rewards.
• Li Rui went to a remote valley in the Ten Thousand Mountains, where his aura reached its peak at the initial stage of Profound Penetration.

Li Rui broke through to the initial stage of Transcendent Mystery and learned that outsiders were targeting the spirit mine over rumors of a Top Grade Spirit Stone. After helping Sang Kong capture infiltrators, Li Rui heard that several powerful sects were involved and suspected they had set up the formation.

• Li Rui reached the initial stage of Transcendent Mystery, gaining the power to wield heaven-and-earth energy within thirty feet and ten more years of lifespan.
• A black-robed Demonic Cultivator told Li Rui that cultivators were heading to the Ten Thousand Mountains after hearing that a Top Grade Spirit Stone had appeared in the spirit mine.
• Li Rui returned to Qingwei Sect and learned from Sang Kong that infiltrators had stolen spirit stones and attacked the mine, so he gave Sang Kong two Tracking Talismans.
• Seven days later, Sang Kong reported that the talismans helped him capture seven or eight Demonic Cultivators and that spies from several immortal sects had been stirring up trouble.
• Sang Kong gave Li Rui a high-grade spirit stone and said the Qingwei Sect had also suffered a setback, leading Li Rui to suspect that the immortal sects had set up the formation.

Myriad Ghosts Daoist was forced to serve the Myriad Laws Palace after Ji Lei subdued him and ordered him to watch Li Rui. At the spirit mine, Li Rui refused Zhu Qian’s request to teach him talismans, then saw Chen Ming crash through his window.

• A Qingwei Sect outer disciple reported Li Rui’s regular trips to the spirit mine to Myriad Ghosts Daoist and accepted another infusion of spiritual energy, unaware it was slow-acting poison.
• Ji Lei appeared before Myriad Ghosts Daoist, defeated his escape with a talisman, recruited him for the Myriad Laws Palace, and ordered him to keep an eye on Li Rui.
• Li Rui sensed a brief ripple in the Evil Puppet Array, then met Zhu Qian, who asked him to teach talismans.
• Li Rui claimed his talisman skills were too limited and offered to recommend Qingwei Sect masters instead; after Zhu Qian left, Li Rui asked Ning Zhongtian to find out who had told him about Li Rui’s skills.
• That night, after cultivating, Li Rui saw Chen Ming crash through his window and sent the Immortal Blade Flood Dragon Slayer flying toward him.