Chapter Summaries

Chen Beiwu withdrew the Mirror Moon army, then secretly bought a formation-breaking treasure and infiltrated Dragon-Breaking Cliff with Xuele. He assassinated Mo Buyun instantly and set his sights on True Lord Scarlet Dragon.

• Chen Beiwu rejected Xinling's proposal to use star sand and ordered the Mirror Moon army to retreat to Blackstone Gorge, promising Xuele they would retake Dragon-Breaking Cliff within a month.
• Mo Buyun learned of the retreat, mocked Chen Beiwu, and gave True Lord Scarlet Dragon a Grand Void Formation Sect true disciple token, winning his approval.
• Chen Beiwu returned to the Immortal Alliance, bought an Earth-Aspect Origin-Returning Pearl from the Myriad Treasures Society, and collected it three days later in Tianyuan City.
• Chen Beiwu infiltrated Dragon-Breaking Cliff with Xuele's concealment and began searching for the formation hub nodes.
• Mo Buyun sensed danger but could not detect Chen Beiwu's attack; Chen Beiwu's Silence Illuminates Myriad Forms Profound Light Thorn split Mo Buyun's Nascent Soul and killed him instantly.
• Chen Beiwu killed the female cultivator who witnessed the assassination and vanished with Xuele, naming True Lord Scarlet Dragon as his next target.

Chen Beiwu and his beasts ambushed Sun Tianyi inside Dragon-Breaking Cliff, but the Crimson Fire Chi Dragon and the three-sect army nearly trapped them. Xuele turned the pass’s earth veins against its defenders, allowing Chen Beiwu to kill Sun Tianyi, while the Crimson Fire Chi Dragon offered to end their feud.

• Sun Tianyi refined Flame Gold Liquid for the Crimson Fire Chi Dragon, which warned him of Chen Beiwu’s surprise attack; Chen Beiwu’s first soul strike was stopped by Sun Tianyi’s Soul-Guarding Profound Pendant.
• Iron Egg’s Karmic Fire Heeding Sin ability ignited Sun Tianyi, but the Crimson Fire Glazed True Domain suppressed the flames, and Sun Tianyi activated Dragon-Breaking Cliff’s pass-protecting formations.
• The Crimson Fire Chi Dragon and Sun Tianyi fought Chen Beiwu and his beasts, while the dragon briefly considered switching partners before Sun Tianyi’s warning persuaded it to keep fighting.
• The three-sect allied army surrounded Chen Beiwu, but Xuele activated the Earth-Aspect Origin-Returning Pearl and unleashed the earth veins, causing Dragon-Breaking Cliff’s formations to turn against its defenders.
• Chen Beiwu appeared behind Sun Tianyi and killed him with a strike between the brows, then took his storage bag as the Crimson Fire Chi Dragon withdrew its aura and proposed ending their grievances.

Shu You’s army reached Dragon-Breaking Cliff and learned that Chen Zi'ang had seized it alone, killed two Nascent Soul True Lords, and routed the allied army. Chen Beiwu secured the Scarlet Fire Chi Dragon’s sloughed reverse scale and ordered the surviving enemy cultivators captured; meanwhile, the Five Great Sects’ leaders heard reports of Chen Zi'ang’s feat and dismissed them as exaggerated rumors.

• Yu Pan captured fleeing Azure Spirit Sect scouts, learned that Chen Zi'ang had supposedly taken Dragon-Breaking Cliff alone, and sent the report to Shu You.
• Shu You and Jiang Yuyan arrived at Dragon-Breaking Cliff, saw its devastation, and led the Mirror Moon army to surround the pass.
• Chen Beiwu refused to let the Scarlet Fire Chi Dragon simply leave and negotiated for its sloughed reverse scale in exchange for settling their grievances.
• Chen Beiwu declined to slaughter the fleeing cultivators and ordered Shu You and Jiang Yuyan to capture them and bring them to Blackstone Gorge, with help from three Demon Kings.
• The Five Great Sects’ leaders debated how to oppose the Eight Desolations Sect’s influence over the Grand Void Formation Sect Ruins.
• The sect masters heard that Chen Zi'ang had defeated the allied army and reclaimed Dragon-Breaking Cliff, but they dismissed the report as fabricated exaggeration.

After Chen Zi'ang captured Dragon-Breaking Cliff, Zhu Wuya and the sect masters debated the threat his rise posed while planning to recruit the Heavenly Craft Talisman Sect for the struggle over the Grand Void Formation Sect's ruins. The defeated alliance's leaders blamed one another for their losses, but Ning Hongye redirected them toward the ruins, while Chen Beiwu watched his fortune grow and imagined unifying the Earth Evolution Realm.

• Zhu Wuya heard sect masters praise Chen Zi'ang's victory and warned that the Five Great Sects might fear his future path to Spirit Transformation.
• Zhu Wuya proposed bringing in the Heavenly Craft Talisman Sect, explaining that the possible life-extending medicines and Formation Dao inheritances in the ruins could persuade it to cooperate.
• Mo Zijin, Sun Wenshi, and the Azure Spirit Sect's sect master accused one another over the defeat at Dragon-Breaking Cliff, until Ning Hongye silenced them and refocused the alliance on the ruins.
• Zhuo Buwei considered secretly supporting Junior Sister Zhao's wager on the Mirror Moon Sect while resolving to seek a Spirit Transformation Pill for himself.
• Chen Beiwu saw his fortune continue to rise after capturing Dragon-Breaking Cliff and wondered how much more he could gain by unifying the Earth Evolution Realm.

Chen Beiwu returned to Blackstone Gorge with four thousand captives and seized resources, then discovered that a token Zhiling chose could enable fixed-point teleportation tied to the Grand Void Formation Sect. He rejected the Sect’s usual exploitative treatment of prisoners and ordered Shu You to bring at least half of the captives into the Beast Taming Lineage.

• Chen Beiwu led the Mirror Moon army and its captives back to Blackstone Gorge, keeping five hundred and seventy thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones for developing the Beast Taming Lineage.
• Blackstone Gorge’s cultivators welcomed Chen Beiwu after confirming his victory, and he ordered the captives housed in the side valley.
• Zhiling selected a token that could provide fixed-point teleportation, and Chen Beiwu kept it rather than letting Zhiling refine it.
• Shu You explained the Sect’s usual ways of exploiting or disposing of enemy captives, and Chen Beiwu questioned her about the Beast Taming Lineage’s strength.
• Chen Beiwu ordered Shu You to bring at least half of the four thousand captives into the Beast Taming Lineage, despite her concerns about accepting enemy cultivators.

Chen Beiwu announced plans to turn Blackstone Gorge into Protectorate City and use a merit-based household system to build support for the Beast Taming Lineage, especially among ordinary Qi Refining cultivators. The chapter ended with him promising that Protectorate City would protect anyone who obeyed its publicly announced laws, even from attacks by Nascent Soul True Lords.

• Chen Beiwu ordered Shu You to rename Blackstone Gorge Protectorate City, establish city departments, and introduce merit points and seven household ranks for its residents.
• The three sects’ captured cultivators feared enslavement, but Mirror Moon disciples brought them azure rice, surprising them with their treatment.
• Chen Beiwu announced that prisoners could earn advancement through merit points, gain freedom, or join the Beast Taming Lineage.
• Chen Beiwu offered higher-ranked servants city residences, protection, discipleship, or guidance on Core Formation, prompting interest among both captives and Mirror Moon cultivators.
• Li Quan asked whether Protectorate City was absolutely safe, and Chen Beiwu promised protection from magical combat for law-abiding residents, declaring that he would suppress anyone who attacked them.

Chen Beiwu oversaw the start of Protectorate City's construction before receiving a mandatory ten-year garrison assignment at Ten Thousand Layer Mountain in the Earth Abyss. While inspecting its sealed well, he discovered a beast's claw within and realized the supposedly dead ancient being was still alive.

• Shu You held a denunciation assembly, and 821 coalition prisoners were classified as penal laborers while 2,837 agreed to help build Protectorate City.
• Chen Beiwu gave Shu You plans for Protectorate City and its defensive formation, then returned to the Immortal Alliance as construction began.
• Chen Beiwu received a compulsory ten-year assignment as garrison envoy of Ten Thousand Layer Mountain and traveled to the Earth Abyss.
• Liu Yuanming reported that Ten Thousand Layer Mountain was calm, and Chen Beiwu inspected the sealed Ten Thousand Layer Fief.
• Chen Beiwu spotted a beast's claw in the ancient well and realized the ancient being beneath Ten Thousand Layer Mountain was alive.

Chen Beiwu learned that a Heaven-Grade Mist Calamity was expected near the end of his term as Ten Thousand Layer Mountain’s Garrison Envoy and examined the city’s defenses. Liu Yuanming, Bai Yi, and Chang Ming secretly agreed to a dangerous scheme for the Tianyuan Xiao Clan, while Chen Beiwu’s beasts sensed an ancient presence in the Earth Abyss.

• Chen Beiwu questioned Liu Yuanming about the sealed old well and learned that a Heaven-Grade Mist Calamity could strike in nine years, bringing powerful demon beasts and possibly Fifth-Realm Demon Venerables.
• Liu Yuanming showed Chen Beiwu the Two Forms Heavenly Radiance Heaven-Transforming Grand Formation, which could hold off a Fifth-Realm Demon Venerable for a quarter of an hour until reinforcements arrived.
• Liu Yuanming met with Bai Yi and Chang Ming, and the three agreed to continue the Tianyuan Xiao Clan’s risky scheme in exchange for a Companion Beast Return-to-Nascent-Soul Pill and two Core-Sealing Mystic Profound Pills.
• Chen Beiwu refined fortune from the cultivators under his influence, while Golden Egg, Iron Egg, Xuele, and Zhiling sensed a strange pull from deep within the Earth Abyss.
• After Zhiling warned him of an ominous premonition, Chen Beiwu used his Garrison Envoy’s token and Golden Egg’s concealment ability to explore Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City.

Chen Beiwu uncovered a scheme in Ten Thousand Layer Mountain’s outer city in which Immortal Alliance officials secretly preyed on Spirit Clans to cultivate Blood Amber Orchids. After interrogating those involved and confronting three senior officials, he suspected they had concealed more than they admitted.

• Chen Beiwu took Xuele and the others through the outer city, where Iron Egg sensed abundant sinful karma and they saw Spirit Clans teaching cultivation and a fox-blooded Half-Spirit.
• Chen Beiwu followed a cultivator who abducted three injured demonic beasts to the Pure Fire Bureau, where he killed the gray-robed accomplice and interrogated Li Yuan.
• Li Yuan revealed a network in the Pure Fire Bureau, Healing Bureau, and Garrison Envoy’s residence that harmed Spirit Clans to obtain beast blood and materials for Blood Amber Orchids.
• Chen Beiwu secretly investigated the names Li Yuan provided and, the next day, summoned Liu Yuanming, Bai Yi, and Chang Ming over the Blood Amber Orchid case.
• The three senior officials denied knowing about the scheme and blamed their subordinates, but Chen Beiwu suspected their heavy sinful karma meant they were hiding something.

Chen Beiwu disciplined three officials over the Blood Amber case while suspecting they were hiding something, then turned his attention to building Protectorate City in the Southern Wasteland. He sought a rare piece of Illuminating Heart Marrow and offered the Heavenly Craft Merchant Association insights into forming a pure yang nascent soul to secure a negotiation.

• Chen Beiwu suspended Liu Yuanming, Bai Yi, and Chang Ming from their posts pending investigation, while the three left believing their plan was proceeding as expected.
• Chen Beiwu entered seclusion, and restless cultivators began stirring in Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City.
• Chen Beiwu reviewed Protectorate City's progress with Shu You and learned that True Lord Shangyu had reserved the Heavenly Craft Merchant Association's only piece of Illuminating Heart Marrow.
• Chen Beiwu summoned steward Zhao Yikun and demanded that someone with authority negotiate over the Illuminating Heart Marrow.
• Chen Beiwu offered the association insights into forming a pure yang nascent soul, and Zhao Yikun considered the opportunity's potential.

Chen Beiwu traded his insights into pure yang Nascent Soul formation for two pieces of Illuminating Heart Marrow and discussed investment in Protectorate City with Su Lanyue. Three years later, after advancing his cultivation and uncovering evidence that Liu Yuanming and two others had traded with the Green Hill Demon Kingdom, he assigned Zhiling to subdue them.

• Chen Beiwu offered Su Lanyue his Nascent Soul formation insights for two pieces of Illuminating Heart Marrow, and she accepted the deal and proposed investing in Protectorate City.
• At the Mirror Moon Sect, Zhu Wuya dismissed objections to Chen Beiwu's city project and raised the danger of a white-flame passage in the Grand Void Formation Sect Ruins.
• Chen Beiwu declined to risk entering the ruins and, three years later, completed a period of cultivation that brought him to the peak of the Nascent Soul early stage.
• Xuele revealed records showing that Liu Yuanming and two associates had traded with the Green Hill Demon Kingdom and leaked Immortal Alliance intelligence.
• Chen Beiwu chose to use the discovery as a trial and asked Zhiling to subdue Liu Yuanming and the other two.

Zhiling assassinated Chang Ming and Bai Yi after Chen Beiwu exposed their betrayal of the Immortal Alliance. Chang Ming died after sacrificing the Azure Rain Treasure Deer to escape, while Zhiling captured Bai Yi in its Cave-Heaven World.

• Chang Ming sensed Zhiling’s ambush, but used his Companion Beast Mark to make the Azure Rain Treasure Deer take Zhiling’s claw in his place and buy him time to flee.
• The wounded Azure Rain Treasure Deer spent its remaining strength to hold Zhiling back, but died without stopping it; Chen Beiwu confirmed Chang Ming’s guilt, and Zhiling killed him.
• Zhiling worried that Chen Beiwu might abandon it in a crisis, and Chen Beiwu promised they would face danger or death together.
• At the Pure Fire Bureau, Bai Yi summoned his Gale-Fire Treasure Swallow and transformed it into the Li Xun Gale Fire Wheel to fight Zhiling.
• Bai Yi struck Zhiling with a Space-Rending Needle, but Zhiling retaliated with Heaven and Earth Within the End and swept Bai Yi and his wheel into its Cave-Heaven World.

Chen Beiwu sent Zhiling to ambush Liu Yuanming, whose Golden Thread Gu forced Zhiling to awaken a powerful void-based Profound Ability. After Chen Beiwu captured Liu Yuanming over his dealings with the Green Hill Demon Kingdom, Liu Yuanming hinted that powerful forces had used him as a pawn and warned that investigating the Earth Abyss’s hidden network would invite retaliation.

• Chen Beiwu pointed out Zhiling’s mistakes in its fight with Bai Yi and asked whether it could kill Liu Yuanming in one strike.
• Zhiling ambushed Liu Yuanming in the records room, shattered his right arm, and pursued him when he fled.
• Liu Yuanming unleashed his Golden Thread Gu’s Heaven-Concealing Golden Sword, but Zhiling awakened a void Profound Ability and annihilated the insect with a miniature black hole.
• Zhiling nearly collapsed from exhaustion, and Chen Beiwu caught it before confronting Liu Yuanming about his dealings with the Green Hill Demon Kingdom.
• Liu Yuanming admitted that powerful people had made him and his associates pawns, then warned Chen Beiwu that investigating the Earth Abyss’s hidden network would draw its attention.

Chen Beiwu exposed a network of garrison inspectors who traded strategic secrets with the Green Hill Demon Kingdom, earning a promotion and a Thousand-Origin Pill that helped Xuele break through to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. After refining the pill’s power, Chen Beiwu neared his own breakthrough and returned to Protectorate City, where he finally met Su Lanyue after keeping her waiting for three days.

• Chen Beiwu questioned Liu Yuanming, learned that Qiu Yishan and Su Zhiyi were suspected of colluding with the Green Hill Demon Kingdom, and reported the evidence to the Jade Purity Immortal Sect’s sect master.
• The Immortal Alliance arrested Qiu Yishan and Su Zhiyi, sentenced them to death, and promoted Chen Beiwu to acting Deputy Garrison Inspector of the Southern Abyss while awarding him a Thousand-Origin Pill.
• Chen Beiwu gave the Thousand-Origin Pill to Xuele, which consumed it and increased its Dao practice to 2,800 years, reaching the equivalent of Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
• After three days of refining the power Xuele fed back through their companion beast contract, Chen Beiwu neared the Nascent Soul Middle Stage and returned to the Southern Wasteland.
• Chen Beiwu met Su Lanyue in Protectorate City and apologized for keeping her waiting, while she was astonished by his rapid progress to the peak of the Nascent Soul Early Stage.

Chen Beiwu traded Nascent Soul formation insights for Lucent Heart Marrow and sought materials for dual-origin Dao attainment, while Su Lanyue explained the difficulty of obtaining heavenly one nether crystal. After declining an invitation to explore the Blazing Sun Ruins, Chen Beiwu returned to Protectorate City, where he recognized Li Quan as a cultivator with extraordinary potential and left his future uncertain.

• Chen Beiwu exchanged his Nascent Soul formation insights with Su Lanyue for Lucent Heart Marrow, and she gained a glimpse of a path beyond her cultivation bottleneck.
• Chen Beiwu asked Su Lanyue to help acquire void-bearing heartstone, great transformation profound dew, and central sovereign jade marrow; she identified the last as heavenly one nether crystal and explained that the Heavenly Saint Sect would part with it only for a rare life-extending medicine.
• Su Lanyue invited Chen Beiwu to join the Five Great Sects' expedition to the Blazing Sun Ruins, but he refused and agreed to prepare the barter goods for the other materials within three months.
• While inspecting Protectorate City's construction, Chen Beiwu saw Li Quan working while letting his calf, Xiao Qing, rest, and learned that Li Quan hoped to cultivate alongside the ox as his companion Dao partner.
• Chen Beiwu said Li Quan could reach Golden Core and perhaps become a True Lord, but rejected Shu You's suggestion to admit him to the Beast Taming Lineage outside the usual rules.
• Chen Beiwu told Mo Li that he had a promising future, while warning that even sect prodigies could fall at the Golden Core hurdle.

Chen Beiwu dismissed Zhao Caixuan’s offer to join Protectorate City, but learned that the Blazing Sun Ruins might hold a path to Spirit Transformation. He agreed to explore the ruins with her within fifteen years after they swore oaths and signed a contract, then returned to the Immortal Alliance.

• Chen Beiwu told Mo Li and Wang Hao that they had chances to advance in cultivation, but warned Wang Hao that lacking ambition could limit his future.
• After advising his disciples and assigning city-building and recruitment tasks, Chen Beiwu detected Zhao Caixuan hiding in a canyon outside the city.
• Zhao Caixuan asked to join Protectorate City, but Chen Beiwu refused because he distrusted a powerful True Lord from an enemy sect.
• Zhao Caixuan showed Chen Beiwu a map of the Blazing Sun Ruins and revealed a secret passage leading to a land of creation that might let Nascent Soul True Lords advance to Spirit Transformation.
• After testing Zhao Caixuan’s sincerity, Chen Beiwu agreed to explore the ruins with her within fifteen years, and they swore Daoheart Oaths and signed a Mystic Contract.
• Chen Beiwu returned to the Protectorate Manor and used the Ten Directions Gate to teleport to the Immortal Alliance.

Chen Beiwu completed one-origin dao-proving with Iron Egg’s help, opened his Heavenly Eye, and advanced to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. After testing his new abilities, he wondered whether Nine-Breath Chaos concealed his secrets from powerful Immortal Sect elders, and Zhiling suggested it might possess an artifact spirit.

• Chen Beiwu used the One-Origin Platform and Iron Egg’s Karmic Fire Heeding Sin to begin his truth-seeking rite and open his Heavenly Eye.
• Chen Beiwu rejected the path of accumulating merit and chose a Dao centered on sharing life and cultivation with his Companion Beasts.
• After three years, Chen Beiwu reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage and discovered that his Heavenly Eye could foresee actions and rapidly improve his comprehension of formations.
• Chen Beiwu helped Zhiling suppress its surging Dao practice as the spent One-Origin Platform crumbled, and he noted that only a year remained on his garrison mission.
• Chen Beiwu discussed whether Immortal Sect elders could see through his secrets, and he and Zhiling conjectured that Nine-Breath Chaos might conceal itself through an artifact spirit.

After a month of secluded cultivation, Chen Beiwu faced an earth-rank demon fog crisis at Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City, where a demon venerable’s arrival nearly overwhelmed the defenses. An Immortal Alliance Venerable drew the demon venerable away, and Chen Beiwu flew out to confront the remaining Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion.

• Chen Beiwu received an urgent alert that earth-rank demon fog and primeval desolate beasts were attacking Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City.
• Lu Ren learned that the Southern Abyss Deep Thirty-Six Division Desolate-Quelling Army had been annihilated and that a demon venerable might have intervened.
• An Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion emerged from the fog, followed by a demon venerable’s paw that threatened to destroy the city.
• Chen Beiwu stayed ready to flee with the Ten Directions Gate, while a Twelve Golden Lotuses expert confronted the demon venerable and took it away to fight elsewhere.
• The weakened city faced the rampaging Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion, and Chen Beiwu flew out to meet it.

Chen Beiwu defeated the Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion with three fingers of his Primordial Origin Dharma Form, then returned to Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City and left the remaining fighting to Lu Ren. In the Earth Abyss, two fox demons discussed the scorpion’s death and their clan’s plan to pledge allegiance to the Immortal Alliance.

• Chen Beiwu and his Companion Beasts wounded the Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion, but it recovered and unleashed its Thousand Peaks Great Baleful True Domain against Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City.
• Chen Beiwu gathered his Companion Beasts’ Magic Power and used three fingers of the Primordial Origin Dharma Form to crush the scorpion and suppress its inner core.
• Chen Beiwu collected the scorpion’s blood essence and marrow blood, let Golden Egg consume some, and left the remaining Bone Wolf Dragons to Lu Ren and the city’s cultivators.
• Two fox demons observed that the Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion had died and discussed their elders’ orders to establish ties with Chen Beiwu.
• The beautiful woman in the fiery red dress said that she and her companion had come to offer the Immortal Alliance a pledge of allegiance.

Qing Yingxian and Qingzhao received Heart Lotus True Venerable’s order to gather more savage Demon Kings for Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City, while Chen Beiwu discovered that the Earth Abyss’s demonic mist had returned with powerful beasts. The chapter ended as Chen Beiwu and his companions prepared to confront a Neck Metal Demon Bull whose valuable parts could yield rare pills.

• Qing Yingxian and Qingzhao argued over the Green Hill Demon Kingdom’s Peace Faction and the Immortal Alliance before bowing to Heart Lotus True Venerable.
• Heart Lotus True Venerable ordered the demons to supply additional savage Demon Kings for his martial nephew at Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City, and Qing Yingxian agreed to arrange it.
• Heart Lotus True Venerable considered the Immortal Alliance’s plan to use Earth Abyss Xidong as a pill furnace and to deepen divisions within Green Hill’s factions.
• Chen Beiwu examined the Ancient Crystal Giant Scorpion’s blood essence and wondered whether the Earth Abyss or the existence beneath Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City was draining fallen beasts’ life essence.
• Six months later, earth-grade demon mist returned to Ten Thousand Layer Mountain City, and Chen Beiwu activated the city’s formation as savage Demon Kings approached.
• A Neck Metal Demon Bull charged out of the mist, and Chen Beiwu, Golden Egg, and Iron Egg recognized its valuable parts as ingredients for powerful pills.