Chapter Summaries

Shen Qiong’s loss exposed Golden Egg’s illusion, which had made many prodigies fight their own Companion Beasts, while Chen Beiwu’s projection earned a fearsome reputation. In the Strife Realm, Chen Beiwu advanced to face Qi Wei and his Great Purity Treasure Crocodile.

• The Golden Ripple Xi used Metal-Water Spatial Escape to strike Chen Beiwu, but the illusion redirected its Dark Abyssal Gold Needle into Shen Qiong, and both collapsed.
• Shen Qiong realized he had been fighting his own Companion Beast and left the Strife Platform after vowing to remember Chen Beiwu.
• Other examinees at several examination grounds discovered that Golden Egg’s projection had tricked them into fighting their own Companion Beasts, spreading Chen Beiwu’s notoriety.
• Pei Heng and Ai Jing watched Chen Beiwu’s battles, while Ai Jing considered recruiting him for the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect.
• Chen Beiwu reached the Strife Realm’s third stage and faced Qi Wei, a Great Purity Immortal Sect disciple, alongside his Great Purity Treasure Crocodile.

Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg battled Qi Wei and the Great Purity Treasure Crocodile on the Strife Platform. Golden Egg absorbed Qi Wei’s ten-thousand-sword attack, allowing Chen Beiwu to unleash Twelve Calamity Baleful Intent at Qi Wei.

• Chen Beiwu attacked with Rat of the Earthly Branches · Shadowless, but Qi Wei’s Great Purity Sword Qi cut through the phantom arrows and the Great Purity Treasure Crocodile lunged at him.
• Golden Egg rammed the Great Purity Treasure Crocodile, then protected Chen Beiwu with a Mist Flower Mirror that shattered and sent the crocodile crashing to the ground.
• Chen Beiwu decided to reveal his full strength and poured his liquid magic power into the Twelve Earthly Branches Baleful Bow as Qi Wei transformed the crocodile into a Third-Tier treasure sword.
• Qi Wei formed a ten-thousand-sword domain, while Chen Beiwu awakened the twelve Earthly Branches Spirit Beast essences and prepared Twelve Calamity Baleful Intent.
• Golden Egg shielded Chen Beiwu and devoured Qi Wei’s descending Sword Momentum, enabling Chen Beiwu to fire a black arrow at Qi Wei and the crocodile-headed treasure sword.

Chen Beiwu reached the fourth Strife Realm trial after exhausting himself in the third, where he faced the projection of Gu Qinghan, a peerless prodigy with an innate dao body. As Chen Beiwu recovered for their fight, the Azure Firmament Immortal Sect’s Golden Core cultivators discussed Gu Qinghan’s extraordinary origins and strength.

• Chen Beiwu considered whether he could continue after the third trial, and Golden Egg offered to protect him while he recovered.
• The Strife Platform formed Gu Qinghan’s phantom as Chen Beiwu learned she had been a Foundation Establishment Peak candidate in the Immortal Alliance examination.
• Gu Qinghan refrained from attacking Chen Beiwu while he recovered, and Golden Egg sensed a frightening bloodline pressure from her jade rabbit.
• Chen Beiwu chose to recover his magic power before challenging Gu Qinghan, determined to fight despite the odds.
• The Golden Core True Persons learned Chen Beiwu had encountered Gu Qinghan’s projection and discussed her rare lesser yin dao body and peerless cultivation.
• True Lord Jiang Chuan recalled Gu Qinghan crushing three Nascent Soul cultivators with one move and suspected she had once been able to contend briefly with a Spirit Transformation Venerable.

After Gu Qinghan defeated Chen Beiwu with a single breath in the Strife Realm, True Lord Jiang Chuan recruited him for the Jade Purity Immortal Sect. Jiang Chuan offered to help him obtain further cultivation techniques and a chance to study a powerful Daoist scripture, leaving Chen Beiwu weighing the offer.

• Chen Beiwu awoke from his defeat in the Strife Realm, shaken by Gu Qinghan's overwhelming power.
• True Lord Jiang Chuan took Chen Beiwu aside and invited him to join the Jade Purity Immortal Sect.
• Jiang Chuan explained that the Jade Purity Primordial Chaos Dao Record was beyond Chen Beiwu's reach, but offered him a chance to study the Supreme Origin Boundless Upper-Grade Sublime Scripture of Deliverance.
• Jiang Chuan promised to help Chen Beiwu obtain the later techniques of the Myriad Laws Return to Flow Jianmu Heavenly Book and an opportunity to study the scripture.
• Chen Beiwu asked whether redeeming the opportunity would require Spirit Origin or Fortune.

Chen Beiwu reconsidered his college preferences after learning that the Azure Firmament Immortal Sect favored disciples from its core lineages, and he chose the Jade Purity Immortal Sect. True Person Zhao Wuchen then tried to persuade him to change his mind, citing his rare aptitude for the Myriad Laws Return to Flow Jianmu Heavenly Book.

• True Lord Jiang Chuan explained that studying the Supreme Origin Boundless Sublime Scripture of Universal Salvation required credits and a place among the Jade Void Ranking's top hundred.
• True Lord Jiang Chuan described the Azure-Luo Pine and warned Chen Beiwu that only members of the Azure Firmament Immortal Sect's two core lineages could contract with one.
• Chen Beiwu heard from admissions teachers that the Azure Firmament Immortal Sect favored family background, while the upper immortal sects valued talent, and he decided against applying there.
• Chen Beiwu told True Person Zhao Wuchen that he wanted to attend the Jade Purity Immortal Sect.
• True Person Zhao Wuchen urged Chen Beiwu to reconsider, explaining that his unusual progress in the Myriad Laws Return to Flow Jianmu Heavenly Book could lead to a Water-Wood Dharma Body and Flawless Qi Refining.

Chen Beiwu refused Zhao Wuchen’s offer to join the Azure Firmament Immortal Sect, then turned down Ai Jing’s generous recruitment offer from the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect. He remained committed to applying to the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, hoping to preserve his cultivation progress and eventually secure permission for Golden Egg’s dragon transformation.

• Zhao Wuchen offered Chen Beiwu a Calamity-Breaking Golden Elixir to join the Azure Firmament Immortal Sect, but Chen Beiwu declined and asked for later cultivation methods and an Azure-Luo Pine.
• Zhao Wuchen refused Chen Beiwu’s request because the Azure-Luo Pines were reserved by the sect’s upper ranks, then left.
• Ai Jing invited Chen Beiwu to join the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect and offered metal essence qi, flood dragon essence blood, and access to a lake for Golden Scale’s dragon transformation.
• Chen Beiwu asked whether the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect could provide the later methods of the Myriad Laws Return to Flow Jianmu Heavenly Book, but Ai Jing instead suggested switching to another heaven-grade technique.
• Chen Beiwu rejected Ai Jing’s offer and reaffirmed his decision to apply to the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, concluding that its influence might help him obtain permission for Golden Egg’s dragon transformation.

Chen Beiwu comprehended the Foundation Establishment chapter of the Myriad Laws Return to Flow Jianmu Heavenly Book, then returned to Pingchen Township to celebrate his admission to the Jade Purity Immortal Sect. He received a public welcome and a fifty-thousand-Spirit-Stone reward, while Xu Tianguang regretted that his daughter Xu Lingling had not secured a match with him sooner.

• Chen Beiwu received the Heavenly Book’s Foundation Establishment Jade Slip and comprehended its method for cultivating a powerful water-wood Dao foundation.
• Chen Beiwu told Golden Egg that he would go home to celebrate rather than cultivate the chapter before reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Huang Xiaoling refused Aunt Lin’s offer to marry her daughter to Chen Beiwu as a concubine and considered more advantageous matches for her son.
• Huang Xiaoling and Chen Dong joined Fallen Dragon Prefecture’s officials and cultivators to welcome Chen Beiwu at the train station.
• Prefecture Lord Yi Zhen publicly congratulated Chen Beiwu and awarded him a check for fifty thousand Spirit Stones as reporters photographed the ceremony.
• Xu Tianguang regretted that he had acted too late to secure Chen Beiwu as a match for Xu Lingling.

After gaining admission to the Jade Purity Immortal Sect, Chen Beiwu returned home to a flood of attention and learned that his childhood friend Chen Qin’s cultivation debt collectors had disappeared. He rejected the lenders’ attempt to buy his favor, leaving them wary of provoking an immortal sect disciple.

• Xu Ziqing watched Chen Beiwu attract attention and admitted that pursuing him might cost them their friendship.
• Chen Beiwu’s parents celebrated his success, and Huang Xiaoling told him that One Point Interest Cultivation Loan had returned Chen Qin’s IOU and requested a meeting.
• Chen Beiwu met Lu Quan and Lu Ren at Yueyang Private Banquet, but refused their offer of a stake in their cultivation-loan company and left without eating.
• Lu Ren complained about Chen Beiwu’s arrogance, while Lu Quan warned him that Chen Beiwu’s admission to the Thirteen Immortal Sects made him dangerous to antagonize.
• Lu Quan said that if Chen Beiwu pursued the matter, they would carry thorn branches to Chen Qin’s door and beg her forgiveness.

Chen Beiwu visited Chen Qin and learned that debt collectors had been troubling her while she considered enlisting to escape her Cultivation Loan. He tore up her IOU, easing her debt, and her fortune shifted from orange toward gold.

• Senior Hu urged Chen Qin to borrow Spirit Origin from Chen Beiwu so she could advance, but Chen Qin refused to ask for help.
• Chen Beiwu visited Chen Qin and noticed her fortune had become orange, while Senior Hu hid from him.
• Chen Beiwu asked about strange visitors, and Chen Qin explained that they were debt collectors and that she planned to enlist.
• Chen Beiwu gave Chen Qin her IOU, then tore it up and told her he would not charge her the principal.
• Chen Qin hugged Chen Beiwu, and her fortune brightened from orange toward gold.

Chen Beiwu received the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Kan-Li Secret Record from Chen Qin and learned it could help cultivators achieve flawless qi refining and a first-rank dragon-tiger golden core through dual cultivation. After arriving at the sect, he exchanged spirit stones for Zhao Heng’s available contribution points and heard about a promising sect mission.

• Chen Qin decided to learn Senior Hu’s method for flawless qi refining and said she trusted Chen Beiwu more than the Illusion-Tailed Fox.
• Chen Beiwu discovered a new wisp of orange fortune in Chaos Heaven and Earth after helping Chen Qin change her fortune.
• Chen Beiwu retrieved Chen Qin’s secret parcel and read the Primordial Dragon-Tiger Kan-Li Secret Record, a damaged dual cultivation technique tied to special spirit bodies.
• Chen Beiwu memorized the traits of the mysterious female and white tiger spirit bodies, stored the secret record, and teleported to the Southern Wasteland.
• Chen Beiwu exchanged forty-eight hundred spirit stones with Zhao Heng for twelve hundred contribution points, and Zhao Heng told him about a promising sect mission.

Chen Beiwu declined to immediately pay Jiang Yuyan to help capture Li Buwei and instead accepted a dangerous Azure Phosphor Pool mission in the distant Black Gauze Sea Region. Jiang Yuyan’s secret plan to kill her master Yu Zhaoli was revealed as she continued exploiting Zhao Heng to recruit disciples.

• Zhao Heng offered Chen Beiwu a bounty mission to capture Li Buwei and proposed that Jiang Yuyan join for thirty thousand spirit stones, but Chen Beiwu said he would think it over.
• Jiang Yuyan learned Chen Beiwu had not agreed and ordered Zhao Heng to keep recruiting disciples while secretly advancing her plan to slay Yu Zhaoli and reach Golden Core.
• Chen Beiwu went to the Mission Hall and accepted a mission to slay Azure Phosphor Flies and collect their shells at Azure Phosphor Pool, despite Ma Dongmei warning him of the dangers.
• Chen Beiwu took the mission jade slip and headed to the Star-Transferring Hall to travel toward the Black Gauze Sea Region.

Li Lin, Senior Sister Lin, and Zhao Jing encountered a powerful Thornbone Kingfish while fishing in the Black Gauze Sea Region, and Senior Sister Lin sacrificed Zhao Jing to escape. Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg watched from hiding, and Chen Beiwu decided not to intervene yet.

• Li Lin, Senior Sister Lin, and Zhao Jing caught a school of Four Seasons Fish but found no Black Gauze Fish among them.
• Li Lin spotted a terrifying demonic aura beneath the sea and warned the others to flee.
• A Thornbone Kingfish attacked their vessel, and Senior Sister Lin kicked Zhao Jing toward the beast to buy time to escape.
• Senior Sister Lin triggered a hidden restriction in Zhao Jing's body, causing her to self-detonate and slow the Thornbone Kingfish.
• Chen Beiwu watched with Golden Egg and chose to wait rather than help the three cultivators escape.

Chen Beiwu and his companions ambushed the Thornbone Kingfish that was pursuing Lin Xinru and her junior sisters. Golden Egg restrained the beast, leaving Lin Xinru stunned by the seemingly early-stage cultivator who had effortlessly suppressed it.

• Chen Beiwu concealed his Flying Boat and prepared an ambush with Golden Egg and his companions.
• Lin Xinru suggested splitting up, and Li Lin used the Blood-Burning Escape Art to flee in four streaks of blood-colored light.
• Lin Xinru attacked the Thornbone Kingfish with her Twin-Heart Thorn, injuring its eyes but failing to kill it.
• The Thornbone Kingfish destroyed Lin Xinru's boat and nearly struck her before Chen Beiwu trapped it with the Demon-Locking Entangling Silk Net.
• Golden Egg grew into a Flood Dragon and coiled around the Thornbone Kingfish, immobilizing it as Lin Xinru recognized Chen Beiwu's familiar figure.

Chen Beiwu killed the Thornbone Kingfish, captured its spirit, and confronted Lin Xinru over Zhao Jing’s death. Lin Xinru threatened to detonate her Dao foundation, but Chen Beiwu struck first and killed her instantly.

• Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg restrained the Thornbone Kingfish while he struck its vital points with seven Mountain-Crushing Arrows and killed it.
• Chen Beiwu used the Soul-Locking Formation to capture the Thornbone Kingfish’s spirit as Lin Xinru suspected the sect’s cultivators practiced demonic methods.
• Chen Beiwu accused Lin Xinru of killing Zhao Jing and demanded an explanation, but she denied it before begging for her life and offering her possessions.
• Lin Xinru threatened to detonate her Dao foundation, but Chen Beiwu vanished and beheaded her with the Cold Pool Spirit Sword.

Chen Beiwu exposed and survived Lin Xinru’s poisoned Storage Bag, then claimed her resources and the Thornbone Kingfish. He found earth baleful essence among her possessions and considered how it could aid golden-core formation.

• Chen Beiwu used the Water Prison Spell to reveal poison hidden on one of Lin Xinru’s Storage Bags, then destroyed the soul remaining on her corpse.
• Chen Beiwu collected the Thorn King Crown and other materials from the Thornbone Kingfish, and Golden Egg swallowed its carcass to refine it.
• Chen Beiwu found a Black Gauze Fish in Lin Xinru’s Spirit Beast Pouch, adding to his contribution-point haul.
• Chen Beiwu searched the poisoned Storage Bag and discovered a jade bottle containing earth baleful essence.
• Chen Beiwu reflected that Foundation Establishment cultivators used earth baleful essence to temper their magic power before forming a golden core.

Chen Beiwu used bait and a carefully placed trap to capture the Azure Phosphor Flies for his mission. He and Golden Egg secured the pair after they fled the Azure Phosphor Pool into the net.

• Chen Beiwu examined a bottle of lower-grade Xuanli essence qi and decided to sell it privately at the sect's cultivator trading market.
• Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg reached Azure Tide Island and prepared a trap near the Azure Phosphor Pool.
• Chen Beiwu laced Phosphor Moon Moss with medicinal herb dregs, left it by the pool, and teleported away with Golden Egg.
• The awakened Azure Phosphor Flies ate the bait and began reproducing under the influence of Fly-Luring Grass dregs.
• Chen Beiwu teleported back as Golden Egg struck at the flies, prompting them to flee using Shell-Shedding Shadow Escape.
• Chen Beiwu and Golden Egg reached the ancient tree where the Demon-Locking Entangling Silk Net had caught both Azure Phosphor Flies.

Chen Beiwu sold demonic beast trophies for contribution points, then set up a stall at the Shangshui Island Market to sell spiritual artifacts and cultivation arts. As he read at the stall, he noticed a figure surrounded by striking fortune radiance and crimson calamity aura.

• Ma Dongmei awarded Chen Beiwu six thousand contribution points for his missions, and he sold her a Black Gauze Fish for another six thousand.
• Chen Beiwu went to Shangshui Island Market and rented a stall, offering spiritual artifacts and cultivation arts for contribution points.
• A gray-robed cultivator offered to buy the Windbreaking Spirit Bow, but Chen Beiwu insisted on fifteen hundred contribution points.
• Chen Beiwu noticed a conspicuous mass of orange-gold fortune radiance entwined with crimson calamity aura in the crowd.

Chen Beiwu recognized Gu Yun Si’s heart-illuminating lotus as a rare treasure that could improve spiritual root purity and decided to obtain it. After selling enough items to gather contribution points, he placed half a profound marrow origin ginseng on his stall, catching Gu Yun Si’s attention.

• Gu Yun Si set out rare spirit medicines and a heart-illuminating lotus at his stall, then explained the lotus’s value to Chen Beiwu.
• Chen Beiwu realized the lotus could help him improve his spiritual root purity and resolved to secure it.
• Gu Yun Si demanded thirty-five thousand contribution points for the lotus, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator walked away rather than pay.
• Chen Beiwu sold several items for seven thousand six hundred contribution points and learned what Gu Yun Si wanted in exchange for the lotus.
• Chen Beiwu displayed half a profound marrow origin ginseng, and Gu Yun Si noticed it with pain in his eyes.

Chen Beiwu bargained with Gu Yun Si over his half of a thousand-year marrow ginseng and sought Gu Yun Si’s heart-illuminating lotus. The two agreed to trade the ginseng and golden core formation insights for the lotus and five thousand contribution points, pending the insights being genuine.

• Chen Beiwu refused Gu Yun Si’s offers of contribution points and a Foundation Establishment Pill, insisting on exchanging the ginseng for a third-tier medicinal herb.
• Zhuang Xinya arrived and asked about the ginseng, but Chen Beiwu rejected her offer of a Spirit-Awakening Pill.
• Zhuang Xinya asked Gu Yun Si about his heart-illuminating lotus, and he named his price as thirty-five thousand contribution points or suitable alternatives.
• After Zhuang Xinya left, Gu Yun Si demanded the ginseng and an additional ten thousand contribution points for the lotus.
• Chen Beiwu offered golden core formation insights along with the ginseng in exchange for the lotus and five thousand contribution points, and Gu Yun Si agreed if the insights were genuine.

Chen Beiwu traded Core Formation insights with Gu Yun Si for the great mystery reflecting heart lotus, then requested the Heavenly Evolution Wheel-Turning Art at the True Transmission Hall. There, Yu Shuxian recognized his exceptional talent, offered to take him as her disciple, and gave him the second level of Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water as a gift.

• Chen Beiwu swore Gu Yun Si to secrecy and exchanged Core Formation insights for the great mystery reflecting heart lotus.
• Gu Yun Si promised to post a bounty for five thousand contribution points and left Chen Beiwu a Message Transmission Talisman.
• Chen Beiwu traveled to the True Transmission Hall and waited while the Sect reviewed his request for the Heavenly Evolution Wheel-Turning Art.
• Yu Shuxian questioned Chen Beiwu about choosing the difficult art, then offered to take him as her disciple when he said he had mastered the first level of Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water.
• Chen Beiwu refused to change masters, and Yu Shuxian gave him the Heavenly Evolution Wheel-Turning Art jade slips and the second level of Flower in the Mirror, Moon on the Water.