Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xinzhan and his allies prepared to trap and kill the Five Poisons Heavenly King inside Zhuanxu Dragon Cave, using a prayer bead as bait and exploiting his weakened state. The chapter ended when Ye Yuanjing sensed that Lie Xingye had begun refining the bead.

• Lie Xingye returned from plundering Luoji Mountain, praised his Dragon Centipede’s harvest, and entered seclusion to refine the mountain’s marrow pearls and a hidden prayer bead.
• Zhou Qingyun, Lu Linqing, Ye Yuanjing, and Cheng Xinzhan reviewed their plan to lure Lie Xingye into refining the bait and draw his demon soldiers out of the cave.
• Lie Xingye ordered his soldiers to gather earth and sand for the Nine-Covenant Ghost-Driving Divine Sand after Xuanmen began pouring material into Zhuanxu Dragon Cave.
• Miechenzi gave Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing all-heaven liuyi baleful intent and warned them about Lie Xingye’s escape methods and the risks of fighting a Fourth Realm cultivator.
• Ye Yuanjing sensed that Lie Xingye had begun refining the prayer bead.

Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing infiltrated the Zhuanxu Dragon Cave to seal its entrances and test whether Cheng’s baleful intent could carve an escape route. After the Five Poisons Heavenly King detected them and sent demons to attack, Cheng used the Heavenly Light Rainbow-Transformation Art to evade the Dragon Centipede and continued toward his incarnation.

• Zhou Qingyun lent Cheng Xinzhan the Moon Soul Sword and gave him a Leopard Pouch that could carry his lion, then wished him caution on his mission.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing parted ways and entered the Dragon Cave through separate gates, each using an insect’s sleep-inducing mist to take a gate token and kill the sleeping warden.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing sealed the cave entrances with their treasures and confirmed that Cheng’s All-Heaven Liuyi Baleful Intent could melt through the walls.
• The Five Poisons Heavenly King sensed the intruders and sent his remaining subordinates after them; Cheng reported that the Dragon Centipede and a Third Wash demon were approaching him.
• Cheng Xinzhan transformed into fire with the Heavenly Light Rainbow-Transformation Art, burned the pursuing Dragon Centipede, and raced toward his Bamboo Staff incarnation.

Cheng Xinzhan defeated Duan Youlin and the Dragon Centipede, then agreed to care for the Dragon Centipede’s unborn child after she sacrificed herself to save it. As Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing tried to regroup, Lie Xingye reported that the Five Poisons Heavenly King had ambushed him and that Elder Ye had become a Nascent Soul spirit body after losing his physical body.

• Duan Youlin sent his Green-Copper Golden Tortoise Beetle charging at Cheng Xinzhan’s Bamboo Body, but the beetle was thrown back and crushed him before Lion swallowed it.
• Cheng Xinzhan lured the Dragon Centipede into an open cavern and used High Truth and Dragon Thunder Arts to destroy her poisoned mist, armor, whiskers, and sinews.
• The Dragon Centipede confessed that she had eaten people before and after the Five Poisons Heavenly King controlled her, then pleaded for the life of her unborn child.
• Cheng Xinzhan spared the child, and the Dragon Centipede burned herself to transfer her Golden Core and vital essence into a white egg; Cheng Xinzhan took the egg and destroyed her controlling armchair.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing discussed the Old Devil’s movements and agreed to meet, but Lu Linqing was interrupted when Lie Xingye reported an ambush and Elder Ye’s lost body.

Cheng Xinzhan joined Lu Linqing’s fight with the Five Poisons Heavenly King and used his fire, sword, and void arts to defeat the demon’s five venomous creatures. After the demon fled toward the central Dragon Palace, Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing decided to pursue him.

• Cheng Xinzhan reached Lu Linqing’s cavern and found him battling Lie Xingye while the lion fought five powerful venomous creatures.
• Cheng Xinzhan used Yang Fire and the Five Elements to rout the venomous creatures, then trapped and killed them with spells and Moon Soul.
• Cheng Xinzhan discovered that Lie Xingye had fed his former physical body to the venomous creatures to raise their strength.
• Lie Xingye attacked Cheng Xinzhan with his spear, but the lion’s roar revealed it and Moon Soul broke it in two.
• Cheng Xinzhan recovered his magic power with Whale Inhalation, and Lie Xingye fled into the void toward the central Dragon Palace.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing gathered the spoils and set out to pursue Lie Xingye into his lair.

Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing confronted the Five Poisons Heavenly King in the Dragon Palace, using their techniques and treasures against his defenses and insect hordes. Lie Xingye unleashed his Yin Scorpion Dao Domain, trapping the two men and beginning to overwhelm them.

• Cheng Xinzhan located the Five Poisons Heavenly King in the palace complex and traded divine light with him, ending their clash in a draw.
• Lu Linqing summoned a giant jade puppet to smash through the palaces and their formations, forcing Lie Xingye to emerge as the Hundred-Eyed Devil Lord.
• Lie Xingye released a vast tide of venomous insects, which Cheng Xinzhan burned with Yang Fire while Lu Linqing cut them down with Lieque Formless Swordlight.
• Lie Xingye spread his Limitless Yin Scorpion Dao Domain, suppressing the two cultivators and eroding the jade puppet as venomous insects and miasma overwhelmed the battlefield.

Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing fought the Five Poisons Heavenly King inside his Dao Domain, where Cheng revealed an extraordinary array of powers and the Hairy Head Sun Star Officer Dharma Form. The Star Officer destroyed the Hundred-Eyed Devil Lord Dharma Form, leaving the devil king’s Nascent Soul in agony as Lu Linqing continued to attack.

• Cheng Xinzhan raised a small light realm with three kinds of heavenly gang, while Lu Linqing’s jade figurine shattered under the Five Poisons Heavenly King’s Dao Domain.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing froze the Hundred-Eyed Devil Lord’s fly whisk, then used all-heaven liuyi baleful intent to consume the devil king’s Nine-Covenant Ghost-Driving Divine Sand.
• The Five Poisons Heavenly King sent swarms of insects against the light realm, but Cheng Xinzhan used his Dragon-Screaming ability to make them fall back.
• Lu Linqing sent his spirit into the Lieque Hook to attack the Five Poisons Heavenly King’s Nascent Soul as Cheng Xinzhan summoned the Hairy Head Sun Star Officer Dharma Form.
• The Hairy Head Sun Star Officer drove off the Hundred-Eyed Devil Lord and used Peach Capital to pierce its hundred eyes and shatter its Dharma Form.

Cheng Xinzhan and Lu Linqing fought the Five Poisons Heavenly King through a Golden Core explosion and pursued him as he tried to escape the Dragon Cave. Cheng Xinzhan killed the devil with a combined sword technique, then departed after returning two borrowed treasures, leaving Lu Linqing to recover.

• Cheng Xinzhan exposed the Golden Core hidden in the Five Poisons Heavenly King's Dao Domain and wounded it while Lu Linqing attacked the devil king.
• The Five Poisons Heavenly King detonated his Golden Core, blasting open the Dragon Cave and scattering Cheng Xinzhan's defenses while injuring Lu Linqing's Primordial Spirit.
• Cheng Xinzhan rescued Lu Linqing from the devil king's baleful fire, then pursued the fleeing Five Poisons Heavenly King through the breach in the cavern wall.
• The Five Poisons Heavenly King emerged from the Dragon Cave but was caught in Cheng Xinzhan's samadhi true fire as Mu Longzhang and Miechenzi clashed nearby.
• Cheng Xinzhan combined Peach Capital and Moon Soul into a yin-yang sword strike that pierced and killed the Five Poisons Heavenly King.
• Cheng Xinzhan returned Moon Soul and the Bì Shell Dark Iron Shield to Miechenzi and left on the lion, while Mu Longzhang fled after threatening him.

Cheng Xinzhan traveled east with the lion after defeating the Five Poisons Heavenly King, visiting Feng Ji Hu before returning to Three Pure Ones Mountain. He named the lion Shi Baolu, gave Feng Ji Hu a Red-Headed Centipede egg, and arrived at the mountain with Shi Baolu marveling at the immortal realm.

• Cheng Xinzhan named the lion Shi Baolu as they traveled toward Feng Ji Hu’s hut in Badong.
• Cheng Xinzhan gave Feng Ji Hu a Red-Headed Centipede egg and briefly recounted killing the Five Poisons Heavenly King.
• Cheng Xinzhan told Feng Ji Hu that his identity as the master of Guanxuan Monastery was already exposed and invited him to return to the mountain, but Feng Ji Hu chose to stay in Badong.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Shi Baolu rode east through the spring scenery toward Yu Zhang and Three Pure Ones Mountain.
• Shi Baolu entered Three Pure Ones Mountain for the first time and gazed in awe at its peaks, palaces, and clouds.

Cheng Xinzhan returned to the sect with the lion, whose arrival coincided with Kui Lingguan awakening from decades of meditation after passing his fire calamity. Kui Lingguan recognized the lion as the reason he had awakened and agreed to teach him while keeping him registered under Bright Governance Mountain.

• Cheng Xinzhan and the lion passed Lord Kui Mountain, where the lion grew frightened and Lord Kui Mountain began to stir.
• Su Duyi recognized Cheng Xinzhan’s cultivation progress, and the gathered sect leaders debated which mountain should register the Third Realm lion.
• Kui Lingguan emerged from seclusion, revealed that he had passed the fire calamity, and received congratulations from the sect leaders.
• Ji Hehe introduced Cheng Xinzhan to Kui Lingguan, who praised the young Scripture Master and asked to take the lion as his disciple.
• Cheng Xinzhan agreed, and the lion knelt before Kui Lingguan and declared himself his disciple.

After returning to Bright Governance Mountain with Shi Baolu, Cheng Xinzhan learned how his disciples had progressed and rested in Carefree Cave. News of his killing the Five Poisons Heavenly King reached Three Pure Ones Mountain, where he agreed to let the Haoran Alliance publicize his Western Kham exploits; the chapter ended with him staying to seek Ji Hehe’s guidance.

• Cheng Xinzhan returned to Bright Governance Mountain with Shi Baolu, met Xinshu and Bai Yongliang, and learned that White Dragon had left to venture into the world while Zhaoli had taken the Dao name Weiyi.
• Cheng Xinzhan settled Shi Baolu on the mountain, then returned to Carefree Cave and fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Yan Jizhuo reported that Yunlai Rogue Person had killed the Five Poisons Heavenly King, and Lu Jingming connected the rogue cultivator’s lion mount to Cheng Xinzhan’s return.
• Gong Weijian and Lu Jingming brought the news to Ji Hehe, and Cheng Xinzhan confirmed that he had killed the Five Poisons Heavenly King.
• Lu Jingming explained that publicizing Cheng Xinzhan’s accomplishments would help Three Pure Ones Mountain and the Haoran Alliance attract rogue cultivators, and Cheng Xinzhan agreed.
• Ji Hehe lamented that Cheng Xinzhan had not visited him, so Cheng Xinzhan stayed to ask for his guidance.

Cheng Xinzhan took Xinshu, Lion, Bai Yongliang, Third Younger Sister, and Pu Jixuan to the Yellow Sea to escape the summer heat and inspect the route planned for the Dragon Clan’s visit. After welcoming them beneath the sea, Ni Wenyu explained that growing contact with the mainland had prompted the Yellow Sea to expand its Sea Markets.

• Cheng Xinzhan invited Xinshu, Lion, and Bai Yongliang to escape the heat in the Yellow Sea and said he would bring Third Younger Sister and ask Jixuan to join them.
• Wu Qingbo returned after safely passing the Six Washings Elixir Tribulation, and Cheng Xinzhan registered him as a disciple of Bright Governance Mountain.
• Three days later, Cheng Xinzhan and the others left Bright Governance Mountain aboard Pu Jixuan’s cloud boat and followed the route planned for the Yellow Sea Dragon Clan’s journey to the mountain.
• The group traveled by way of Poyang Lake, the Yangtze River, and the canal, where Cheng Xinzhan saw the work to dredge the waterway and prepare for the Dragon Consort’s journey ashore.
• Ni Wenyu welcomed the group at the Huai River’s mouth and escorted them into the Yellow Sea in a tridacna-shell carriage drawn by rays.
• Ni Wenyu told Cheng Xinzhan that the Yellow Sea had greatly expanded its Sea Markets as contact with the mainland increased.

Feng Ji Hu told Cheng Xinzhan and their companions how Xuanmen reacted after Cheng Xinzhan’s identity was revealed and Three Pure Ones Mountain announced an alliance with the Yellow Sea. The chapter ended with Qi Shuming shifting attention to an attack on the Nanpan River, while the controversy over Cheng Xinzhan and Gu Yi remained unresolved.

• Ni Wenyu escorted Cheng Xinzhan and the others to the outer city, where Xinshu reunited with Gu Yi and Pu Jixuan reunited with Feng Ji Hu.
• At a restaurant, Feng Ji Hu explained that rumors about Cheng Xinzhan’s snow lion led Xuanmen to question Yan Renying, Zhou Qingyun, Lu Linqing, Huyan Jun, and others connected to Guanxuan Monastery.
• Feng Ji Hu reported that Miechenzi and his disciple had been sent to guard the Golden Sands River, and Lu Linqing suspected Qi Shuming and Xun Lanyin wanted to prevent Miechenzi from reaching the fifth realm.
• Feng Ji Hu described how Three Pure Ones Mountain and the Yellow Sea announced an alliance, while the Dragon Palace granted titles to Gu Yi and Xinshu and accepted Jiao refugees fleeing the Shu Central Region and Kuizhou.
• Feng Ji Hu recounted Xuanmen’s attacks on Cheng Xinzhan and Gu Yi, as well as arguments defending them, including that Peach Capital had chosen Cheng Xinzhan as its master.
• Feng Ji Hu said Qi Shuming had let Xun Lanyin vent her anger before proposing an attack on the Nanpan River to cut off the Green-Robed Ancestor’s power.

Cheng Xinzhan toured the Yellow Sea Kingdom with Little Six, who explained Divine Land’s geography and the boundaries and politics of the Four Seas. Little Six described the Eastern Sea’s divided, disorderly rule and its coastal waters, leaving Cheng Xinzhan with a clearer understanding of the region and the powers competing for it.

• After the other visitors departed, Cheng Xinzhan asked Little Six, an official of the Court of State Ceremonial, to explain the Four Seas and their borders.
• Little Six explained how Divine Land sank in the southeast, how the Four Seas lay along its southeastern coast, and how the Yellow Sea had separated from the Eastern Sea.
• Little Six described the Eastern Sea’s boundaries and its division between the Sea-Covering Great Sage and the Sky-Supporting Great Sage, whose Demon Kings fought for territory.
• Little Six explained why sea demons sought coastal waters and outlined the Eastern Sea’s five coastal seas and the river mouths controlled by powerful rulers.

Xiao Liu explained how the Three Corpses had carved out the Ten Thousand Corpses Sea and how the Sea-Covering Great Sage’s restrictions on dragon-descended Demon Kings shaped the Eastern Sea’s balance of power. As Cheng Xinzhan reached the Qiantang Sea border, he wondered whether the coastal dragon descendants might still seek a chance to become True Dragons.

• Xiao Liu told Cheng Xinzhan how the Alligator King took the Great Belly Sea and the Three Corpses expanded the Ten Thousand Corpses Sea between it and the Qiantang Sea.
• Xiao Liu explained that the Sea-Covering Great Sage barred True Dragon descendants from reaching the Fifth Realm, while seeking a non-dragon Fifth Realm subordinate to manage the Azure Sea.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Xiao Liu reasoned that the Sea-Covering Great Sage allowed the Three Corpses to expand so Gu Chen could prove his strength, while remaining wary of his damaged Dao foundation and protecting the Cold King and Alligator King.
• Xiao Liu described the Sand Sea’s coastal rulers and identified the Cold King, Alligator King, and Red King as True Dragon descendants.
• Cheng Xinzhan wondered whether the three coastal Demon Kings had an opportunity to become True Dragons, and Xiao Liu announced they had reached the border of the Qiantang Sea.

Cheng Xinzhan restored Iron-Raft Mountain and prepared it as the site of his next elixir-washing tribulation, then welcomed friends and Yellow Sea dignitaries to celebrate his new retreat. After they named it Cloudlight Cave and departed, he opened their gifts and discovered the Dragon Lord had sent him a volume of the Supreme Cavern Abyss Divine Incantation Scripture.

• Cheng Xinzhan turned back from the boundary between the Yellow Sea and the Eastern Sea and asked Xiaoliu about the sea’s divisions and guardian kings.
• Cheng Xinzhan spent the summer restoring Iron-Raft Mountain, expanding his cave abode, and setting his third elixir-washing tribulation for Awakening of Insects in the Wuzi year.
• Xinshu, Third Younger Sister, Feng Ji Hu, Pu Jixuan, Lion, Bai Yongliang, Uncle Gu, the Laodong King, and Marshal Ni visited Cheng Xinzhan with gifts to celebrate his new residence.
• Feng Ji Hu proposed the name Cloudlight Cave, and Cheng Xinzhan carved it above the entrance with Sword Qi.
• The guests departed, and Cheng Xinzhan opened Yan Zhengyang’s tea gift and the Dragon Lord’s gold case, finding the thirteenth volume of the Supreme Cavern Abyss Divine Incantation Scripture inside.

Cheng Xinzhan examined the gifts for his new residence, including a rare scripture, fine tea implements, incense materials, and an exceptional guqin, then prepared to attend the Laodong Prince’s heir-crowning banquet. At the banquet, he reunited with Gu Yi and was surprised to see Xue Lixing.

• Cheng Xinzhan recognized the Dragon Lord’s gift as a lost volume of the Supreme Scripture of Divine Incantations of the Cavernous Abyss and decided to tell the sect leader after studying it later.
• Cheng Xinzhan admired Commander Ni’s Tiger and Xi Paperweights and Gu Yi’s guqin, Azure Sea Tide-Rising, whose notes stirred waves outside.
• Cheng Xinzhan received a guqin score from Xinshu, incense ingredients from Feng Ji Hu, cloud brocade and rosy-cloud silk from Pu Jixuan, and a coordinated tea set from Third Younger Sister, Yongliang, and Lion.
• As winter arrived, Cheng Xinzhan prepared a gift and traveled to Changrong Prefecture City for the Laodong Prince’s banquet celebrating his heir’s crowning.
• Yan Zhengyang welcomed Cheng Xinzhan, who greeted him and entered the hall, where he recognized Gu Yi and encountered Xue Lixing.

At the Prince of Laodong’s residence, Cheng Xinzhan attended the heir’s investiture and reunited with Xue Lixing, who described the worsening war in the north. The Northern Faction had advanced in an organized campaign to Jinyuan and Heluo, leaving the Long regions close to collapse.

• Yan Zhengyang introduced Cheng Xinzhan to the guests, including Laoshan’s Li Yangxing and Xue Lixing, whom Cheng had known decades earlier.
• Cheng Xinzhan discussed his experiences in the west and answered questions about Xuanmen and the demons with the assembled guests.
• The guests witnessed the heir’s investiture, after which Cheng Xinzhan and Xue Lixing caught up over the feast.
• Cheng Xinzhan asked Xue Lixing about the northern war, and Xue said the Demon Cult had begun consolidating its gains as it advanced.
• Xue Lixing reported that the Northern Faction had reached Jinyuan and Heluo, while Mount Hua and Mount Zhongnan were struggling to hold the Long regions after Mount Beimang joined the enemy.

Cheng Xinzhan prepared for his Third Elixir-Washing Tribulation at Cloudlight Cave, but the Purple Empyrean Tribulation unexpectedly manifested as Dragon Thunder. As the lightning battered his Golden Core and stirred the many dragon breaths within him, he decided to visualize Thunderbolt Sudden-Fire Heavenly Lord Deng to suppress them.

• Cheng Xinzhan opened Cloudlight Cave to guests and spent two years building connections with the Yellow Sea and northern Daoists while preparing for his next tribulation.
• On the second day of the second month, Cheng Xinzhan used his Eight-Treasure Cloudlight Handkerchief to veil Iron-Raft Mountain as the Purple Empyrean Seven-Nine Azure Dragon Dragon Thunder Tribulation formed.
• Cheng Xinzhan tried to shield his Golden Core with the Great Unity Azure Radiance Umbrella, but the Dragon Thunder passed through it and struck him directly.
• The Dragon Lord explained that Dragon Thunder cleansed the body and dragon pearl, then warned Cheng Xinzhan that his mixed dragon breaths could tear his body apart.
• Cheng Xinzhan chose to visualize Thunderbolt Sudden-Fire Heavenly Lord Deng within his Inner Vision World to suppress the dragon breaths.

Cheng Xinzhan survived the Third Wash Dragon Thunder tribulation, gained a renewed body, two jiazi of lifespan, and a Golden Core emitting Elixir Qi. After sharing a newly formed Heavenly Gang with the four cultivators who guarded him, he returned to Cloudlight Cave to examine his gains and decided he was not ready to proceed directly to the Fourth Realm Method.

• Cheng Xinzhan visualized Marshal Deng in his Tianshu acupoint, and the marshal suppressed the dragon breath tormenting his body as the Dragon Lord advised him to endure the tribulation with his flesh.
• Cheng Xinzhan faced the Dragon Thunder directly, using his medicines as his flesh was repeatedly destroyed and renewed until the tribulation clouds dispersed.
• Cheng Xinzhan discovered his Golden Core emitted Elixir Qi, welcomed the four cultivators who had guarded him, and divided the Heavenly Gang formed overhead among them.
• Cheng Xinzhan returned to Cloudlight Cave and found that the tribulation had increased his lifespan by two jiazi and refined his Golden Core to the size of a lotus seed.
• Cheng Xinzhan observed the Elixir Qi rising from his Golden Core but decided not to begin practicing the Fourth Realm Method yet.

Cheng Xinzhan assessed the benefits and costs of further elixir tribulations, deciding to wait twelve years for a chance to obtain plain wind and undergo a fourth wash before considering forming a fate embryo. He then reviewed the demonic fronts across the Divine Land and chose to go to Kuaiji to fight the Ten Thousand Corpses Sea.

• Cheng Xinzhan decided not to rush into forming a fate embryo and planned to cultivate his immortal sprout while waiting for another elixir-washing tribulation.
• Cheng Xinzhan judged that his next wash could arrive in thirty years, or sooner if he obtained plain wind, and set a twelve-year period to reconsider his plans.
• Cheng Xinzhan used the Earth Book to review the powers and battles across the Divine Land and concluded that the north, west, Jinling, Eight Min, and Yuyang did not need his immediate help.
• Cheng Xinzhan weighed going to Three Xiang or Kuaiji and chose Kuaiji, citing his ties to Juqü Mountain, the Red-Haired Ancestor, Fuxia Lake, and Bright Governance Mountain’s duty to find an emperor corpse.