Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xinzhan’s corpse-liberated bodies underwent their first golden-core tribulations, strengthening his primordial spirits and magical treasures. He later asked Mi Shanglian how to trace the Ginseng Fruit Tree’s past so he could pursue a Ginseng Fruit true form, and she agreed to teach him an eye technique.

• Dong Shouren and Fang Weimin admired Cheng Xinzhan’s alchemy and encouraged him to help restore lost elixir traditions.
• Cheng Xinzhan left Feixia Mountain after the Crimson Empyrean Dharma Sword gained an artifact spirit and became a fetal artifact.
• At Iron-Raft Mountain, Cheng Xinzhan sent his Bamboo Body through a six-nine lightning tribulation, advancing his magical treasures and awakening the Water Sword’s artifact spirit.
• Cheng Xinzhan used a Three Origins Spirit-Nourishing Elixir before his Lotus Body underwent a four-nine lightning tribulation, advancing his treasures and awakening several artifact spirits.
• Cheng Xinzhan visited Mi Shanglian and explained that he wanted to trace the Ginseng Fruit Tree’s past to pursue a Ginseng Fruit true form.
• Mi Shanglian said the tree’s origins might be impossible to observe but taught Cheng Xinzhan the Transformation-Observing, Truth-Penetrating Bright Eye.

Cheng Xinzhan mastered the Bright Eyes of Contemplation of Transformation and Insight into Truth, traced the immortal tree back to its legendary parent tree, and glimpsed the person who had knocked down its fruit. After learning the latest news from Ji Hehe, he prepared to return to Yuyang.

• Ancestor Mi taught Cheng Xinzhan the Bright Eyes of Contemplation and Insight into Truth, and he spent months studying the sun and moon’s paths.
• Cheng Xinzhan used the eye art to trace the immortal tree’s history back to a Ginseng Fruit hanging from its parent tree, but a glimpse of a mysterious guest injured his eyes and ended the retrospection.
• Cheng Xinzhan learned from Ji Hehe that the final three transformations of his fate embryo had no fixed form and that an immortal bud was a protective fetal membrane.
• Ji Hehe told Cheng Xinzhan that Wan Gaoming had entered the fourth realm and that Ancestor Haha had broken free of his seal and unified Wildman Mountain’s seventy-two caves.
• Ji Hehe reported that Xu Shiren had been injured fighting Hu Hailong, and Cheng Xinzhan agreed to return to Yuyang and pay his respects.

Cheng Xinzhan learned about Parasol Tree Mountain’s fall and the demons guarding it, then discovered that the Earth Book had formed a protective immortal bud around his fate embryo. A month later, he began advancing unseen through Parasol Tree Mountain to prepare its recovery.

• Cheng Xinzhan gave the injured Xu Shiren a Longevity Rock Pill and asked about Parasol Tree Mountain, learning that the Southern Sea Twin Fiends and their forces held it.
• Xu Shiren described the mountain’s fall, its defenses, and the distinct fighting styles of Hu Hailong and Hu Haitao, then offered to help Cheng Xinzhan retake it.
• Cheng Xinzhan examined his fate embryo and watched the Earth Book transform into an apricot-yellow immortal bud that enclosed and protected it.
• After a month of preparation, Cheng Xinzhan surveyed Parasol Tree Mountain’s earth veins and crude demonic array, then entered under Conceal and planted Triangular Command Flags as he approached the summit.

Cheng Xinzhan restored Parasol Tree Mountain’s Mountain-Guarding Grand Array, captured its demons, and executed their leader before Hu Hailong arrived. Xu Shiren and Cheng Xinzhan then sprang a coordinated ambush on Hu Hailong, trapping him as another Xu Shiren deployed a Mercury Net against his internal core.

• Cheng Xinzhan completed the Jade City Jeweled Pivot Paulownia Phoenix All-Illuminating Grand Array, trapping the demons on Parasol Tree Mountain and capturing their leaders.
• Hu Hailong arrived and offered to exchange the captured demons for Parasol Tree Mountain, but Cheng Xinzhan drew his sword and executed the lobster general in front of him.
• Xu Shiren attacked Hu Hailong with flames from his Persimmon Furnace, then blew up the furnace to injure Hu Hailong and create an opening.
• Hu Hailong’s internal core pierced a Death-Substitution Talisman disguised as Xu Shiren, but Cheng Xinzhan and Timely Rain Lord bound Hu Hailong with Peach Capital and the Dragon Rope.
• A second Xu Shiren appeared and threw a Mercury Net over Hu Hailong’s internal core.

Cheng Xinzhan and Xu Shiren ambushed Hu Hailong, captured his Internal Alchemy core, and nearly killed him, but Hu Haitao’s sword rainbow rescued the Black Water Insect and carried him away. Cheng Xinzhan and Xu Shiren planned to secure the core, retake the lands north of Luo Creek, and move the Five Mountains Defense Line south.

• Hu Hailong transformed into a Black Water Insect to escape Shi Yujun’s Dragon Rope, but Xu Shiren pinned him with the Zhuming Radiance Lamp and Cheng Xinzhan’s sword threads struck his scattered body.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Xu Shiren found Hu Hailong hiding in the void and pursued him with Dragon Thunder, the Dragon Rope, and a seal-script wall, while Shi Yujun and the silver Binding Formation captured his Internal Alchemy core.
• Hu Haitao sent a black sword rainbow from Nine-Dragon Island, broke through the seal-script wall, restored Hu Hailong’s strength, and carried him away despite Cheng Xinzhan and Xu Shiren’s attacks.
• Cheng Xinzhan advised Xu Shiren to secure Hu Hailong’s core, reclaim the lands north of Luo Creek, and move the Five Mountains Defense Line south; Xu Shiren agreed to report to the Alliance.

Cheng Xinzhan refined Hu Hailong’s captured internal core into a water-controlling spirit pearl for his Junior Sister and helped restore Parasol Tree Mountain. After returning the Binding Formation to Xu Shiren, Cheng Xinzhan revealed that his Fate Embryo was complete and that he was preparing to enter seclusion for Fetal Formation, then flew west toward the Southern Sea.

• Cheng Xinzhan entered the Binding Formation, isolated Hu Hailong’s internal core, and decided to refine it into a spirit pearl for his Junior Sister.
• After half a year of work, Cheng Xinzhan completed the water-controlling pearl, leaving its final restrictions to be activated by his Junior Sister’s Dragon Blood.
• Cheng Xinzhan retrieved the treasures and Dharma Swords he had used to protect Parasol Tree Mountain, then left as its returning disciples thanked him for restoring their Dao Tradition.
• Cheng Xinzhan returned Xu Shiren’s Binding Formation on Plum Grove Mountain and learned that Xu Shiren had mostly recovered from his injuries.
• Cheng Xinzhan told Xu Shiren that his Fate Embryo was complete and that he planned to enter seclusion for Fetal Formation.
• Xu Shiren watched Cheng Xinzhan fly west across the Lingding Ocean toward the Southern Sea, wondering why he had not headed for his mountain.

Cheng Xinzhan opened his final celestial-circuit aperture on Cloud Ladder Mountain, provoking the Purple Tenuity Imperial Procession phenomenon as he began illuminating his fate embryo. The embryo’s first heartbeat then echoed across the Divine Land, and the chapter ended with the sound ringing wherever Cheng Xinzhan had left his mark.

• Cheng Xinzhan returned to Cloud Ladder Mountain, sealed off Heavenly Ladder Peak, and completed the opening of his final aperture, the purple palace.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s fully opened apertures illuminated the sky with stars and the Purple Tenuity Star, prompting Xu Shiren and Dong Shouren to fly to Cloud Ladder Mountain while Zou Shizheng remained to guard the defensive line and Shi Tongxuan hurried south.
• Cheng Xinzhan examined the changes to his body, gathered the star gang, and began his planned Three Luminaries in the Same Sky illumination method.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s three primordial spirits sent their divine light through his illumination route and into his fate embryo.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s fate embryo beat its heart, and the sound spread underground across the Divine Land wherever he had traveled, painted, or written.

Cheng Xinzhan began forming his fetus on Cloud Ladder Mountain, drawing Fourth Realm allies from several schools to guard him. The Green-Robed Ancestor plotted to disrupt the breakthrough, but the chapter ended as he ordered the Hu brothers to attack the mountain with waves, promising to protect Cliff Gate while leaving them to bear the backlash.

• Cheng Xinzhan's fetal sound rang out, and Xu Shiren, Dong Shouren, and Shi Tongxuan guarded the mountain as allies including Fu Shouzhen, Daoist Zhanchang, Daoist Nengyue, Wen Tianzhen, and Wen Sukong arrived.
• Green-Robed Ancestor ordered the badly injured Egui Zi to curse Cheng Xinzhan and interrupt his breakthrough, threatening him when he pleaded for his life.
• On the fifth day of the fetal sound, Green-Robed Ancestor demanded that Egui Zi cast the curse within an hour despite the lack of a proper altar or medium.
• Green-Robed Ancestor offered Hu Hailong the Ruyi Water-Smoke Gauze and ordered him and Hu Haitao to flood Cloud Ladder Mountain.
• Hu Haitao warned that the waves could strike the nearby Yellow Reed Ocean and damage Cliff Gate, so Green-Robed Ancestor said he would block the waves himself and make the brothers bear the backlash.

Egui Zi’s fourth curse against Cheng Xinzhan failed, and the backlash destroyed his altar, Nascent Soul, and Golden Core. As Green Robe’s wave attack threatened Yuyang, Cheng Xinzhan used his breakthrough and zither to turn the Lingding Ocean’s tides against the Southern Sea, summon dragons to take charge of the North, Central, and East Rivers, and leave the flood’s outcome in motion.

• Egui Zi sacrificed his decaying body to build an altar and curse Cheng Xinzhan, but Cheng Xinzhan’s protective light destroyed the altar and killed Egui Zi.
• Cheng Xinzhan sensed the failed curse from Penghu Island, spotted the Hu brothers leading a giant wave toward Yuyang, and began playing his Azure Sea Tide-Rising zither.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s music stirred the Lingding Ocean and drove its waves toward the Southern Sea, while he told Daoist Nengyue and Xu Shiren to reclaim the Red Furnace Archipelago.
• Cheng Xinzhan sent the Dragon Rope to take charge of the Central River and dispatched Gu Yi and Lan Yizhou to govern the East and North Rivers.
• Cheng Xinzhan sent Daoist Zhenchang, Heavenly True Boy, Fu Shouzhen, Zuo Feizi, Shi Tongxuan, and Dong Shouren to escort the three dragons, then played Vast Sea Dragon-Screaming to stir the rivers and tributaries of Yuyang.

Cheng Xinzhan summoned rain and floods to drive three Jiao Dragons through Yuyang’s rivers while preparing for the Hu Brothers’ incoming wave. Green Robe attacked Cloud Ladder Mountain, but the dragons gained strength at Tiger Gate’s Dragon Gate, and the Sky-Supporting Great Sage of the Sand Sea appeared to raise the Southern Sea wave further.

• Cheng Xinzhan used talisman edicts to summon wind, clouds, lightning, and rain, directing Yuyang’s waters toward Lingding Ocean as the three Jiao Dragons river-walked.
• Cheng Xinzhan sent Daoist Zhenchang north to guard Brocade Dragon while Wood Dragon and the incoming Southern Sea wave advanced toward Tiger Gate and Cloud Ladder Mountain.
• Wood Dragon reached Tiger Gate and struggled to clear a Dragon Gate that appeared in the river, while a purple beam and a crossbow bolt attacked Heavenly Ladder Peak and Wen Sukong’s defenses repelled them.
• The Chi-Dragon caught the falling Wood Dragon, and the two dragons cleared the Dragon Gate together; Wood Dragon became an azure qiu, while Gu Yi advanced to the Fourth Realm.
• Cheng Xinzhan saw the Southern Sea wave surge to a thousand zhang, then recognized the Sky-Supporting Great Sage of the Sand Sea answering Green-Robed Ancestor from the sea.

Cheng Xinzhan summoned the Southern Sea Dragon King to help Lan Yizhou defeat the flood, then used his Dharma Form to calm the waves and stabilize Yuyang. After 128 days of silence, Cheng Xinzhan completed his breakthrough to the Fourth Realm and received the Primordial Purple Firmament Gang.

• Sky-Supporting Great Sage controlled the Southern Sea flood and drove a towering wave toward Yuyang, while Lan Yizhou leaped through the Dragon Gate and regained his former peak strength.
• Cheng Xinzhan summoned Ao Qin, whose phantom possessed Lan Yizhou and raised him to the Fifth Realm so he could drive the Southern Sea wave against the incoming flood.
• After the two waves collided, the Green-Robed Ancestor assumed his Black Dragon form and worsened the shifting earth, but Cheng Xinzhan manifested a Dharma Form and calmed the tides, earthquakes, and rain.
• Cheng Xinzhan remained in meditation for 128 days as spectators and cultivators guarded Cloud Ladder Mountain; at sunrise, purple qi swept in from the east and the Fetal Sound ceased.
• Cheng Xinzhan completed Plumbing the Profound, received the Primordial Purple Firmament Gang, and thanked the gathered crowd before reciting a poem.

Cheng Xinzhan celebrated Master Guangfa’s breakthrough at a grand feast on Cloud Ladder Mountain, where music, dragon dances, and a poetry contest filled the night. After he went to greet Shi Yiniang, Jiang Nanjing approached him, but a blood-red shadow burst from Jiang Nanjing and lunged at Cheng Xinzhan.

• The Golden Water Trading Association, led by Xiao Shiniang, coordinated a massive feast celebrating Master Guangfa’s attainment of the Profound and Yuyang’s recent victories.
• Dragon Earl Lan, Dragon Earl Shi, the Laodong King, and other guests danced over the Lingding Ocean while Gu Yi led the music on Heavenly Wind Over Pine and Snow.
• Cheng Xinzhan announced a poetry contest themed “There Is No Need to Lament Autumn,” with one tael of primordial purple firmament gang as the prize.
• Cheng Xinzhan thanked Shi Yiniang for organizing the feast, then turned to greet Jiang Nanjing, who had hurried over to see him.
• As Jiang Nanjing stepped forward as if to embrace Cheng Xinzhan, a blood-red shadow burst through his body and lunged at Cheng Xinzhan.

Cheng Xinzhan was ambushed by the Blood Shadow Divine Light of Wusaqi, the eldest of Blood God Child’s disciples, during the banquet. Protected by the Three Pure Ones Bell and his extraordinary Inner Vision World, he fought the intruder within his body as the Shangqing Bilu Mirror weakened the blood shadow from outside.

• True Person Chengchu used the Shangqing Bilu Mirror to reveal a blood shadow inside Cheng Xinzhan, while Jiang Nanjing withered to ash beneath its light.
• Shi Yiniang explained that the blood shadow had entered Cheng Xinzhan when Nanjing tried to embrace him, and True Person Chengchu identified it as the Blood Shadow Divine Light rather than Blood God Child himself.
• True Person Chengchu explained that Cheng Xinzhan had to expel the bloodlight or destroy its wielder, and reassured Ji Hehe that the Three Pure Ones Bell and Cheng Xinzhan’s Inner Vision World would protect him.
• Inside Cheng Xinzhan, Wusaqi introduced himself as Blood God Child’s eldest boy and attacked the Purple Tower, but the Three Pure Ones Bell repelled him.
• Wusaqi fled through Cheng Xinzhan’s apertures, only to be struck by a Spirit Embryo wielding an apricot-yellow book, a bird-headed Daoist’s enormous hand, and Immortal Fire in the Bright Palace.
• Wusaqi entered the Gallbladder Aperture and encountered thunder and lightning as Cheng Xinzhan continued resisting him beneath the mirror light.

Usaqi attempted to seize Cheng Xinzhan’s body, but Cheng Xinzhan’s awakened Inner Landscape gods and the Shangqing Bilu Mirror defeated and captured him. The banquet continued, though Cheng Xinzhan learned that Jiang Nanjing had died and entrusted Usaqi to the mirror for questioning.

• Usaqi unleashed the Netherworld Blood River Canopy inside Cheng Xinzhan, but the gods of Cheng Xinzhan’s Inner Vision World drove his blood shadow back.
• The Shangqing Bilu Mirror entered Cheng Xinzhan’s body, burned away the bloodlight, and helped him find and capture Usaqi.
• Cheng Xinzhan regained control of his body and learned that Jiang Nanjing’s body had crumbled to ash.
• Cheng Xinzhan revealed Usaqi’s identity and asked True Person Chengchu to question him, but the mirror insisted on accompanying Cheng Xinzhan back to the mountain.
• The Mountain and Sea Grand Banquet continued as the guests remained unaware of the hidden battle.

Wen Sukong transferred leadership of Bright Governance Mountain to Cheng Xinzhan and explained his duties as its new Mountain Lord. Ji Hehe then appointed him Vice Sect Master over Pure Yang Hall and Origin Yin Hall, leaving Cheng Xinzhan with even more responsibilities.

• Wen Sukong gave Cheng Xinzhan the Bamboo-Hiding Stele key, the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Mirror, and Bright Governance Mountain’s records as she stepped down as Mountain Lord.
• Wen Sukong explained Cheng Xinzhan’s duties to preserve corpses, nurture the mountain’s heirloom, recruit disciples, add cultivation methods, and replenish its collections.
• Cheng Xinzhan inspected the mountain’s repository and treasury, realized they were sparse, and considered asking Ji Hehe to allocate spoils to them.
• Ji Hehe summoned Cheng Xinzhan and handed him the credential seals for Pure Yang Hall and Origin Yin Hall, appointing him Vice Sect Master.
• Ji Hehe outlined the Vice Sect Master’s responsibilities, and Cheng Xinzhan gave up on asking for help with Bright Governance Mountain’s treasury.

Ji Hehe explained the One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones art and entrusted Cheng Xinzhan with its secret technique and the Golden Core chapter of Master Who Embraces Simplicity. He assigned Cheng to remain on Flat-Top Mountain and prepare to succeed him as Sect Leader, while allowing him to explore through his Primordial Spirit.

• Ji Hehe told Cheng Xinzhan that only cultivators with Innate Dharma Qi could perform One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones, which could produce up to three powerful Qi Bodies.
• Ji Hehe revealed that his presence in Three Pure Ones Palace was a Qi Body and said Shouren and Duyi had each cultivated one as well.
• Ji Hehe gave Cheng Xinzhan Secret Prohibition Fruits containing One Qi Transforms into the Three Pure Ones and the Golden Core chapter of Master Who Embraces Simplicity.
• Ji Hehe told Cheng Xinzhan to stay on Flat-Top Mountain, learn its administrative duties, and prepare to succeed him, while suggesting that Cheng could explore the stars using his Primordial Spirit.
• Cheng Xinzhan agreed and left Three Pure Ones Palace, and Ji Hehe recited a verse praising his prospects.

Three years later, Cheng Xinzhan settled a dispute over which mountain would take a frail child with two hearts, assigning him to Hundred Herbs Mountain for care. Back at Pure Yang Hall, he reviewed reports and learned that Ancestor Haha was recovering strength and Doumu Pavilion’s Sect Master Zuo had died.

• Cheng Xinzhan sent an avatar to the disciple admission ceremony, where Ren Wushi and Lin Wuchen disputed whether Cinnabar Glow Mountain or Hundred Herbs Mountain should take the child with two hearts.
• Lin Wuchen argued that the child needed treatment for his frail health, and Cheng Xinzhan assigned him to Hundred Herbs Mountain and ordered a care and education plan.
• Cheng Xinzhan returned to Pure Yang Hall and approved Cliffside Mountain’s planned closure, requesting its completed book on thunder talismans for his review.
• Cheng Xinzhan read Tan Weixu’s report of ominous astral signs and concluded that Ancestor Haha’s strength was recovering and Sect Master Zuo had died.
• Cheng Xinzhan ordered more frequent observations of the western sky and warned Wujiu to seek help from the sect if anything unusual happened.

Cheng Xinzhan accompanied Ji Hehe into the secret Three Pure Ones Grotto-Heaven and learned that Sect Master Lu had been reduced to a child after trying to die from guilt over revealing the sect’s secrets. Ji Hehe asked Cheng Xinzhan to raise and teach him, and Cheng Xinzhan welcomed the task.

• Ji Hehe took Cheng Xinzhan through a guarded cloud corridor to Three Pure Ones Grotto-Heaven and explained how its innate qi was maintained.
• Cheng Xinzhan met Bailingzi and learned that the child with him was Lu Tongxing, who needed a suitable master.
• Ji Hehe revealed that Lu Tongxing was Sect Master Lu, whose Primordial Spirit had been cleansed but who tried to destroy himself upon waking, leaving him with a childlike mind and lost memories.
• Ji Hehe explained that the Immortals had preserved Lu Tongxing’s life and Third Realm cultivation, and asked Cheng Xinzhan to nurture his will to live and teach him.
• Cheng Xinzhan offered to cultivate with Lu Tongxing, and the child agreed after studying him.

Cheng Xinzhan began teaching Little Lu, Sect Master Lu reincarnated with memories of his former life, and gave him a talisman to conceal his true cultivation. After reflecting on his unresolved grudge against Dragon-Tiger Mountain, Cheng Xinzhan entered meditation and reviewed his completed myriad phenomena Dao domain and sage infant, leaving him ready to consider the three calamities.

• Cheng Xinzhan brought Little Lu to Pure Yang Hall, tested his understanding of metal nature, and agreed to teach him.
• Little Lu told Cheng Xinzhan that he remembered being a powerful disciple of Three Pure Ones Mountain in a previous life, and Cheng Xinzhan urged him to focus on his new life.
• Cheng Xinzhan gave Little Lu a Mystic Non-Leaking Talisman that concealed his golden core cultivation as that of a first-realm beginner.
• Cheng Xinzhan taught Little Lu cultivation and sect administration, then stopped when night fell and had him rest in meditation.
• Cheng Xinzhan considered his desire for revenge against Dragon-Tiger Mountain and concluded that the time was not yet right to act.
• Cheng Xinzhan examined his completed myriad phenomena Dao domain and sage infant in meditation and decided it was time to consider invoking the three calamities.

Cheng Xinzhan deliberately triggered the Nascent Soul wind calamity and endured all three kinds of wind, gaining lifespan and insight. After a sect member requested an audience at dawn, Cheng Xinzhan prepared to face the fire calamity that night.

• Cheng Xinzhan reviewed his knowledge of the three calamities and decided he was ready to trigger them.
• Cheng Xinzhan summoned the Bì wind and used his cultivation to protect his body until the wind subsided.
• The evil wind arose next, and Cheng Xinzhan sealed his body's openings and contained it with his Golden Core.
• The declining wind followed, and Cheng Xinzhan refined it into wind dew before it faded at dawn.
• Cheng Xinzhan gained three sixty-year cycles of lifespan, received a report request from a sect member, and postponed the fire calamity until night.