Chapter Summaries

Yu Yingnan revealed her Southern Bright Li Fire Sword and attacked Mei Luzi, who struck back with his Heart-Piercing Curse. She burned away the curse and pursued him, but a starry river arrived from the south and intercepted her sword.

• Mei Luzi used a coral fork to defend himself from the vermilion sword light, but the precious tree cracked and lost a branch.
• Yu Yingnan withdrew the sword’s radiance, introduced herself as the Southern Bright Sword Master, and explained how Emei and Dragon Elephant Nunnery had arranged for her weapon and future role.
• Mei Luzi struck Yu Yingnan with his Heart-Piercing Curse, lodging a poisoned blood arrow in her Heart Aperture.
• Yu Yingnan summoned the Southern Bright Li Fire Sword into her heart and burned away the curse, then flew after the fleeing Mei Luzi.
• A starry river rushed in from the south and collided with Yu Yingnan’s vermilion sword rainbow.

Mei Luzi and the Wumeng Demon Ancestor escaped into the Southern Wastes as Yan Renying defeated Yu Yingnan and revealed that he had formed a Sword Nascent Soul. Yan Renying declared that he would establish the Heavenly Vengeance Sword Sect on Ma Xiong Mountain.

• Yan Renying’s Starry Han River clashed with Yu Yingnan’s Southern Bright Li Fire Sword, letting Mei Luzi escape while the Demon Ancestor fled toward the Southern Wastes.
• Mei Luzi warned the Demon Ancestor to avoid the Daoist forces, then traveled cautiously to Dayao Mountain.
• The Demon Ancestor instead openly visited Rotten Peach Mountain, where Master Cheng welcomed him, prompting Qi Jinchan to denounce Master Cheng and Zhou Qingyun to question the prophecy surrounding the Two Clouds.
• Yan Renying defeated Yu Yingnan’s sword and prepared to strike again, but Zhou Qingyun arrived with the Azure Cord Sword and the Qi siblings.
• Zhou Qingyun recognized that Yan Renying had formed a Sword Nascent Soul, and he revealed his Fourth Realm cultivation to the Emei disciples.
• After Green Robe secretly offered him Ma Xiong Mountain, Yan Renying announced that he would found the Heavenly Vengeance Sword Sect there.

After three years of seclusion, Cheng Xinzhan completed the Great Corpse Liberation Pill, bringing miraculous signs and a spiritual spring to Rotten Peach Mountain. He emerged to meet Xiao Youshi, whose polite remarks hinted that he had a concern beneath his praise of the mountain.

• Zhaoli endured a third elixir-washing tribulation as Xiao Youshi and Feng Ji Hu watched and marveled at the elixir smoke's effects.
• Cheng Xinzhan's furnace burst from the Alchemy Chamber, and its elixir produced golden lotuses, a jade spring, white cranes, purple Jiao, and human-shaped essences before heaven and earth gathered them away.
• Cheng Xinzhan discovered that the elixir's refinement had drawn up a lasting spiritual spring, advanced Zhaoli, and tempered the Fire Sword to the pinnacle of Dao artifacts.
• Cheng Xinzhan gave Bai Yongliang two liang of baleful intent, then went to receive Xiao Youshi, the Demon Ancestor who had waited on the mountain during his seclusion.
• Cheng Xinzhan apologized for keeping Xiao Youshi waiting, and Xiao Youshi praised the mountain while admitting that its splendor left him ill at ease.

Cheng Xinzhan agreed to help Xiao Youshi reclaim Wumeng Mountain if Xiao first assisted the Daoist Sect’s campaign against the Southern School in Yuyang. After introducing Xiao to Marshal Kui, Cheng traveled to Swordpoint Mountain, where the Divine Empyrean School welcomed his arrival with excitement.

• Xiao Youshi told Cheng Xinzhan that Emei had seized Wumeng Mountain and asked him to help recover it, but Cheng said he could not risk disrupting the campaign against the Southern School.
• Cheng offered to mediate over Wumeng if Xiao helped reclaim the Cliff Gate Waterway, Tan River, and Moyang River in Yuyang, and Xiao agreed after learning he could discuss Celestial Dragon ascension with Marshal Kui.
• The next morning, Cheng left a radiant body behind and accompanied Xiao to Dinghu Mountain, where he introduced Xiao to Marshal Kui.
• Cheng departed for Swordpoint Mountain, and the Divine Empyrean School disciples rang bells and drums to announce his arrival.

Cheng Xinzhan visited Swordpoint Mountain, where he delivered a ten-day discourse on the Thunder Arts that inspired the Divine Empyrean School. He then asked to meet True Person Yixuan and revealed that he had refined a Great Corpse Liberation Pill, leaving True Persons Dingyi and Dingfei astonished.

• The Divine Empyrean School disciples crowded around Cheng Xinzhan and eagerly welcomed him to Swordpoint Mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan agreed to expound the Thunder Arts, and True Person Dingyi led him and the gathered disciples to the Thunder Jujube Grove.
• Cheng Xinzhan lectured for three days and answered questions for seven more, and the discourse sparked advances in cultivation and a year of discussion.
• Cheng Xinzhan met with True Person Dingyi and Daoist Master Dingfei and asked to see True Person Yixuan, who was secluded in the grotto-heaven.
• After Dingyi warned that Yixuan had little lifespan remaining and should not be disturbed, Cheng Xinzhan revealed that he had refined a Great Corpse Liberation Pill.

Cheng Xinzhan visited the dying True Person Yixuan and gave him a Great Corpse Liberation Pill, which Yixuan chose to use for an attempt at immortal ascension. Cheng Xinzhan then refined the pill with lightning from his incarnations’ tribulations, improving Yixuan’s chances before they planned to meet at the Ascension Platform.

• True Person Dingyi led Cheng Xinzhan through the waterfall into the Divine Empyrean School’s Thunder Pool grotto-heaven and brought him to Silent Contemplation Abbey.
• Cheng Xinzhan offered True Person Yixuan a Great Corpse Liberation Pill and explained that Yixuan could use it to extend his life or attempt ascension through Corpse Liberation.
• True Person Yixuan chose to attempt Corpse Liberation, and Cheng Xinzhan said he would re-refine the pill to suit Yixuan’s lightning-Dao Primordial Spirit.
• Cheng Xinzhan underwent the Third Wash tribulations of his Bamboo Body and Lotus Body, then extracted their Yin and Yang Metal Thunder to improve the pill.
• Cheng Xinzhan increased the pill’s chances of helping Yixuan overcome the ascension tribulation and arranged to meet him at the Divine Empyrean School’s Ascension Platform.

Cheng Xinzhan watched True Person Yixuan take the Great Corpse Liberation Pill and undergo Corpse Liberation on the Divine Empyrean School's Ascension Platform. True Person Yixuan survived the tribulation of immortality, ascended through the Heavenly Gate, and left the school celebrating his success.

• True Person Yixuan arrived at the Ascension Platform as a primordial spirit and entrusted the Divine Empyrean School's affairs to True Person Dingyi.
• Cheng Xinzhan gave True Person Yixuan the Great Corpse Liberation Pill, which took human form and displayed powerful immortal and thunder Dao resonance.
• True Person Yixuan dispersed his cultivation and united with the pill, regaining a youthful body at the peak of the Fifth Realm.
• True Person Yixuan flew into a waterfall of tribulation lightning and emerged above it, successfully overcoming the tribulation of immortality.
• True Person Dingyi lifted the Ascension Platform's concealment, revealing True Person Yixuan's Feathered Ascension to the cultivators of Yu Zhang Land.
• True Person Yixuan passed through the Heavenly Gate while riding an Immortal-Ascending Rainbow Bridge of cranes and butterflies.

After True Person Yixuan ascended using Cheng Xinzhan’s Great Corpse Liberation Pill, the cultivation world sought the Grand Master, who had quietly gone to Chiyou Cave to hear how the Southwest had changed. The old village chief reported that the Miao Borderlands and Dianwen had been cleared of most demons and that the sects were preparing to press into the Southern Wastes.

• News of True Person Yixuan’s ascension with the Great Corpse Liberation Pill drew crowds to Swordpoint Mountain, Three Pure Ones Mountain, and Rotten Peach Mountain as people searched for Cheng Xinzhan.
• At Chiyou Cave, Cheng Xinzhan explained that Yixuan’s cultivation, insight, and the pill’s thunderous Dao intent had combined to make his ascension possible.
• Cheng Xinzhan asked the old village chief about the Southwest, and the chief reported that the Miao Borderlands’ righteous sects had emerged and that Emei’s Qi Siblings occupied Wumeng Mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan approved the Miao Borderlands’ defensive checkpoints and urged the sects to support Renying’s Heavenly Vengeance Sword Sect on Ma Xiong Mountain.
• The chief described how Dianwen’s demons had been driven away, how the Lushan School and other sects had expanded, and how the remaining demons were concentrated in the Southern Wastes.
• The chief said the four regions were advancing toward the Southern Wastes while the trapped Demon Fiends fought among themselves, and he reflected on Cheng Xinzhan’s earlier plans coming to fruition.

After three years of cultivation, Cheng Xinzhan entered the Southern Wastes to test whether he could do more than drive demons away and transform their lands. He emptied Hundred Barbarian Mountain with a vast purifying spell, killed Xinchénzi, and began preparing to achieve Union with the Dao there before spotting an arrow flying toward Rotten Peach Mountain.

• Cheng Xinzhan left Chiyou Cave for the Southern Wastes, determined to overcome the longstanding difficulty of governing lands cleared of demons.
• Cheng Xinzhan arrived at Hundred Barbarian Mountain, where Demon Fiends had gathered in the intricate caves under Xinchénzi’s protection.
• Cheng Xinzhan cast his Purifying Water Compassionate Light Sky-Filling Art, flooding the caves with light that dissolved demonic power and freed the resentful souls trapped in a banner.
• Cheng Xinzhan trapped Xinchénzi as he fled and killed the Fourth-Realm Demon King with a single strike of Golden Rainbow Sword Light.
• The lesser demons fled toward Dayao Mountain, and Cheng Xinzhan decided to remain and achieve Union with the Dao at Hundred Barbarian Mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan saw an arrow fly from Dayao Mountain toward Rotten Peach Mountain.

Green Robe launched successive divine arrows from Dayao Mountain at Rotten Peach Mountain while Cheng Xinzhan defended the site where his main body was entering Union with the Dao. The Lion Lord evacuated the mountain’s remaining occupants, but a third arrow arrived as Cheng Xinzhan’s formation and treasure mirror struggled to hold the first two.

• A massive arrow struck toward Rotten Peach Mountain, and the Lion Lord sacrificed the Snow Toad Pearl before preparing to defend the mountain with the Taiyi Divine Altar.
• Cheng Xinzhan’s incarnation stopped the Lion Lord from confronting the arrow and used the Five Dharma Swords to trap it in the Innate Five Elements Sword Formation.
• Green Robe launched a second arrow, and Cheng Xinzhan ordered the Lion Lord to evacuate the mountain’s occupants to Lan Mountain and told Kui Lingguan to attack Cliff Gate.
• Cheng Xinzhan used his Yin-Yang Treasure Mirror to hold the second arrow in place while the Five Dharma Swords remained occupied with the first.
• A third arrow shot from Dayao Mountain toward Rotten Peach Mountain as Cheng Xinzhan struggled to contain the first two.

Cheng Xinzhan tried to stop Green Robe’s divine arrows from destroying Rotten Peach Mountain, using his Ancestral Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Mirror and an incomplete sleeve technique that cost him his right arm. He pursued Green Robe after discovering he had drained five rivers to forge the arrows, but Green Robe’s final shot injured Cheng Xinzhan and let him escape to an island in the Southern Sea.

• Cheng Xinzhan used his Ancestral Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams Mirror to block Green Robe’s third arrow, but a fourth arrow hidden behind it flew toward Rotten Peach Mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan struck the fourth arrow with Heaven and Earth Within the Sleeve, deflecting it into the sky, but the backlash destroyed his right arm; he sent Lion to retrieve it.
• Cheng Xinzhan reached Dayao Mountain and discovered that Green Robe had drained five rivers to refine the arrows, then pursued the fleeing Demon Dragon south.
• Green Robe turned and fired his fifth arrow at Cheng Xinzhan, who used the Heavenly Light Rainbow-Transformation Art to weaken it but was wounded in the clash.
• Green Robe’s fifth arrow struck Dayao Mountain and buried the dry Xun River, while Green Robe escaped across the Southern Sea to a large island.

After Green Robe’s arrow devastated Dayao Mountain and severed the Southern Wastes’ rivers, Cheng Xinzhan organized an urgent effort to restore the waterways and suppress the demons. His orders mobilized dragon lords, Daoist sects, and regional forces, while Pure Brightness Vice Sect Master Zhanchang sent an expedition toward the Meng River and other sects began mustering in response.

• Cheng Xinzhan learned that Green Robe had withdrawn his incarnation from Cliff Gate Waterway and divided his emanations between Rotten Peach Mountain, Leizhou Peninsula, and Hundred Barbarian Mountain while he headed to Dayao Mountain.
• Cheng Xinzhan issued Talisman Orders directing Lan Yizhou, Kui Lingguan, Gu Yi, and Timely Rain Lord to divert floods, dredge the Xun River, and stabilize the Southern Wastes’ waterways.
• Cheng Xinzhan summoned disciples from Yu Zhang, Jinling, Dianwen, Yuyang, the Miao Borderlands, and Three Xiang to repair the water veins, defend Leizhou, seal mountain passes, and eradicate demons.
• Daoist Zhanchang received the Pure Brightness School’s summons and dispatched Zhongzheng and more than a thousand disciples toward the Meng River, while the Divine Empyrean and Lingbao Schools also began mustering forces.
• Cheng Xinzhan reached Dayao Mountain as the summoned forces prepared to restore the rivers and prevent Green Robe’s abandoned demons from escaping to the sea.

Cheng Xinzhan assessed the damage Green Robe’s arrows had inflicted on Dayao Mountain, stabilized the mountain and rivers, and organized reinforcements to manage the coming flood. He began planning flood-relief lakes as part of his broader effort to restore the Southern Wastes, and Yue Gaosong arrived with maps and three hundred Jingming disciples to help.

• Cheng Xinzhan recovered Green Robe’s fifth arrow beneath Dayao Mountain and deduced that the arrows had been empowered with water-vein essence and likely came from an overseas Dragon Clan source.
• Cheng Xinzhan sent a paper crane to Three Pure Ones Mountain to investigate the bow and arrows, then used the Earth Book, Wuying Seal, and Five-Element Dharma Swords to stabilize Dayao Mountain and its waterways.
• Marshal Kui and Xiao Youshi arrived and helped repair the mountain and reopen the Xun River’s course, while Gu Yi and the Timely Rain Lord went to slow the Qian and Yu Rivers.
• Cheng Xinzhan chose a barren site beside the lower Peach Blossom River for a flood-relief lake and planned its canals to manage floods and improve the land’s feng shui.
• Yue Gaosong arrived with three hundred Jingming disciples and hydrological maps, and Cheng Xinzhan assigned them to build lakes and channel water according to his plans.

Cheng Xinzhan oversaw six months of waterworks and forest planting across the Southern Wastes, then celebrated as the Xun River flowed again. He revealed that those who claimed and managed waterways would be rewarded with instruction on the secret essentials of union with the Dao, and led fellow cultivators up a restored Dayao Mountain.

• Cheng Xinzhan's river stewardship system drew intense competition from the Four Great Immortal Sects and other cultivation groups, so he added forest planting as another way to direct their efforts.
• After six months of work, the river and lake officials received Cheng Xinzhan's order to release the waters of the seven lakes and reopen the Xun River.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Marshal Kui, Daoist Zhongzheng, Daoist Master Dingfei, Daoist Nengyue, and Daoist Shengying watched the Xun River surge past Dayao Mountain, restoring water transport across the Southern Wastes.
• Cheng Xinzhan invited the river officials up Dayao Mountain and announced that he would teach them the secret essentials of union with the Dao, revealing the reward for their service.
• Cheng Xinzhan led the Xuanzai cultivators toward the newly restored Daoist temple on Dayao Mountain and recited a poem celebrating the mountain's renewal and the journey's success.

On the Double Ninth Festival in Ming year 490, crowds gathered at Dayao Mountain as the Eastern Daoist Sect, southern sects, and the Zhuming dynasty prepared to honor Master Cheng as a True Lord for reclaiming Eight Gui and restoring civilization. The chapter ended as Great True Person Xinzhan arrived at the mountain in a vast ceremonial procession and the rites continued.

• The Grand Master’s reclamation of Eight Gui and years of settlement and cultivation established the grounds for honoring him with the title of True Lord.
• The gathered sects and the Zhuming dynasty held the ceremony at Dayao Mountain after completing its preliminary rites.
• Cloud bridges, ritual musicians, and chanting masters opened the ceremony as the sun rose.
• An immortal procession traveled from Yu Zhang through Mount Jiuyi, where it informed Emperor Shun and proclaimed the Grand Master’s achievements.
• Great True Person Xinzhan arrived riding a two-headed Snow Lion, and the procession entered Dayao Mountain.

Cheng Xinzhan underwent the rite of petitioning for the title of True Lord at Shangzhen Palace on Dayao Mountain. After accepting the title and ceremonial robe, he completed the final crowning rite alone before the Three Pure Ones.

• The southern sects expanded Listening to the Earth Monastery into Shangzhen Palace for the investiture ceremony.
• The procession brought Cheng Xinzhan to the middle altar, where True Person Rongyi recited the petition proposing the title of True Lord of Subtle Insight and Evolving Transformation.
• After the assembled Daoists entreated him, Cheng Xinzhan accepted the title and lit the sacred incense with the petition’s holy flame.
• True Person Hehe bestowed the Three Origins All-Embracing, Heaven-Encompassing Great Grotto Immortal Robe on Cheng Xinzhan, who presented the seals and swords as offerings.
• Cheng Xinzhan entered the Hall of the Three Pure Ones alone, lit incense, put on the Lotus Daoist Crown, and completed the rite.

After his True Lord ceremony, Cheng Xinzhan gave True Person Rongyi a Corpse-Liberation Immortal Elixir and returned the Mysterious Female Pearl to Heavenly True Boy, then discussed action against the Overseas Demon Cult. The chapter ended with Ji Hehe urging Cheng Xinzhan to return to the sect, and Cheng Xinzhan eagerly accepting once assured he would not have to manage its affairs.

• Cheng Xinzhan thanked True Person Rongyi for presiding over the ceremony and persuaded him to accept a Corpse-Liberation Immortal Elixir that could extend his life and help him reach the Immortal Ascension Tribulation.
• Cheng Xinzhan returned the Mysterious Female Pearl to Heavenly True Boy and invited him to join a future move against the Northern Faction; Heavenly True Boy agreed.
• Cheng Xinzhan and Ji Hehe checked reports from their people stationed along the coast and found no unusual movement at sea.
• Cheng Xinzhan considered how the Overseas Demon Cult might respond to the Daoist Sect's recovery of Eight Gui and resolved to remain wary of it.
• Ji Hehe urged Cheng Xinzhan to return to the sect, and Cheng Xinzhan eagerly agreed after Ji Hehe promised not to make him handle sect affairs.

Cheng Xinzhan returned to Three Pure Ones Mountain and endured three days of homecoming ceremonies before joining the sect’s senior cultivators to discuss its growing strength and affairs. Ji Hehe rewarded the leaders of Illuminating Clarity Sect, while Cheng Xinzhan gave Hua Yaosong the Other-Mountain Tray, a treasured relic of her late master.

• Cheng Xinzhan returned to Three Pure Ones Mountain, where Fu Shouzhen led an elaborate homecoming ceremony despite Cheng’s misgivings.
• Cheng Xinzhan met the sect’s senior cultivators, including Hao Jingsi, who thanked him for helping restore his cultivation path and pledged to serve him.
• Ji Hehe praised Illuminating Clarity Sect’s achievements and awarded Shi Tongxuan and Hua Yaosong a Myriad-Dharma Responsive Banner and a Dao-Scripture-Master Treasure Seal.
• Ji Hehe welcomed Hua Yaosong to the ancestral seat with a spiritual pearl, and Su Duyi and Wen Sukong encouraged her to accept it.
• Cheng Xinzhan gave Hua Yaosong Patriarch Yuan’s Other-Mountain Tray, and she accepted it tearfully as a keepsake of her late master.

Cheng Xinzhan assigned the Marshal to establish a thunder lineage branch in Kuizhou and asked Fu Shouzhen to approach the Thunder Observatory for help restoring Eight Gui. The chapter ended with Fu Shouzhen realizing Cheng Xinzhan hoped the besieged Thunder Observatory would name its own terms in exchange for assistance.

• Cheng Xinzhan described how Three Pure Ones Mountain had established branches at Feixia Mountain, Dinghu Mountain, and Cloud Ladder Mountain, and Ji Hehe defended their claims to the recovered sites.
• Cheng Xinzhan asked the Marshal to claim a blessed site in Kuizhou and establish a thunder lineage branch, and the Marshal agreed to go with North Pole Bureau personnel.
• Ji Hehe instructed Zhao Wuji to arrange Thunder Mansion personnel, while Cheng Xinzhan told the Marshal to secure a foothold and avoid provoking Xuanmen unless they caused trouble.
• Cheng Xinzhan asked Fu Shouzhen about the Thunder Observatory and proposed inviting it to establish a branch in Eight Gui to repair the region's damaged earth qi.
• Fu Shouzhen warned that the besieged Thunder Observatory might demand harsh conditions, and Cheng Xinzhan laughed, revealing that he hoped it would name its terms.

Cheng Xinzhan outlined a strategy for breaking the Northern Faction from within and assigned Wen Sukong and Fu Shouzhen to contact key Northwestern powers. The elders prepared to travel north while Cheng Xinzhan planned to coordinate with his Martial Uncle and proceed cautiously.

• Fu Shouzhen agreed to travel north for Cheng Xinzhan, and Wen Sukong volunteered to go as well.
• Ji Hehe recalled that Wen Sukong had formed a Nascent Soul Dao Domain in six years, fulfilling the condition he had set before allowing her to travel.
• Cheng Xinzhan asked Wen Sukong to visit the Golden One Palace and support it if Demon Fiends attacked, while Fu Shouzhen would go to the Thunder Observatory.
• Cheng Xinzhan explained that Three Pure Ones Mountain should establish footholds among the Northwestern Righteous Path powers and attack the Northern Faction from within, rather than encircle it from outside.
• Cheng Xinzhan said he had been studying the Northern Faction since joining Rotten Peach Mountain and had sent an incarnation north to investigate.
• Cheng Xinzhan told Wen Sukong he would contact his Martial Uncle to arrange a Nascent Soul Spirit Breath link, and she said there was no hurry.