Recaps

After emerging from seclusion with the Di Jiang Demon Banner advanced to a half-spirit treasure, Qing Chen learned that the Immortal Dynasty’s envoys had been waiting at Yanmen Pass to deliver an imperial edict. He refused to see them and raged over the titles and rewards offered in place of access to a Spirit Transformation Spirit Item, ending by asking Su Zixuan why she was laughing.

• Qing Chen admired the newly advanced Di Jiang Demon Banner and laughed over the Black Fox King’s death.
• Su Zixuan told Qing Chen that Junior Superintendent Wei Jin and other Immortal Dynasty officials had waited more than half a year to proclaim an edict.
• Qing Chen refused to meet the envoys and cursed the Immortal Dynasty for granting him titles instead of the Spirit Transformation resources he wanted.
• Qing Chen condemned Xiao Canglan, Ji Huaiyue, Emperor Jingtai, and the Eighth Prince for their roles in the Imperial Pole Hall’s decisions.
• Su Zixuan recalled Qing Chen’s old habit of cursing after setbacks and felt close to him again as he vented.
• Qing Chen stopped pacing and asked Su Zixuan if she was laughing.

Qing Chen set aside his anger over the Immortal Dynasty’s terms, deciding to accept its titles while continuing to pursue his plans for the Fourth Dream Seal and the Primordial Spirit Fruit. He received Wei Jin and took the Imperial Edict and official insignia, leaving their relationship formally intact.

• Su Zixuan persuaded Qing Chen not to antagonize the Immortal Dynasty before he had reached Spirit Transformation, and Qing Chen agreed to accept the decree while keeping his plans in motion.
• Qing Chen learned that Hua Tieshou was recovering in the underground Blood Pool and allowed him to draw freely from the Secret Treasury.
• Qing Chen ordered Su Zixuan to summon Wei Jin with the Imperial Edict to the Governor-General’s Office.
• Wei Jin waited for hours and told his attendants not to hurry Qing Chen, mindful of Qing Chen’s strength and reputation.
• Qing Chen entered the hall, stopped Wei Jin’s pitch about future rewards, and collected the Imperial Edict, Duke Cangming Golden Register, and Subordinate First Rank Official Seal.

Wei Jin told Qing Chen how Ding Buxing escaped the Eighth Prince’s forces with Qing Yuanjia and entered the Reincarnation Dead Sea. Qing Chen suspected the affair concealed a deeper connection, then dismissed Wei Jin and considered the danger the two men might pose in the future.

• Wei Jin explained that Ding Buxing had stolen the Black Jade Ancient Lamp and betrayed the Eighth Prince after returning from the Chi Xi Ancient Battlefield.
• Wei Jin showed Qing Chen a recording of Qing Yuanjia arriving as the Eighth Prince’s forces cornered Ding Buxing, then helping him escape with the lamp’s power.
• Wei Jin said Spirit Venerable Zhu Ritian pursued Qing Yuanjia and Ding Buxing, but the pair ultimately entered the Reincarnation Dead Sea, apparently with help from the Black Jade Ancient Lamp and Qing Yuanjia’s Bronze Compass.
• Qing Chen realized Qing Yuanjia had been behind the battle at Faneng Temple and resolved not to underestimate the two men if they survived.
• Qing Chen took the Recording Jade Slip and ordered Su Zixuan to escort Wei Jin back to his lodgings.

After leaving Yanmen Pass, Wei Jin celebrated surviving his assignment as a battle between Jin Shizong and Wu Gui raged outside Heavenly Abyss Pass. Jin Shizong’s suppression rules clashed with Wu Gui’s parasitic and evolving gu, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Wei Jin left the hall with Su Zixuan and escaped Yanmen Pass, relieved that he had completed his assignment and spoken up for His Eighth Highness.
• Jin Shizong stood above the devastated basin outside Heavenly Abyss Pass and demonstrated that his suppression rules were nearing the second tribulation and producing Dao marks.
• Jin Shizong froze the region, crushed Wu Gui’s countless gu insects with Spirit Suppression, and severed their links to their master with Spell Severance.
• Wu Gui’s parasitic gu devoured Jin Shizong’s Dao marks, while successive generations evolved to withstand his suppression and severance.
• Jin Shizong’s rules and Wu Gui’s gu clashed repeatedly across the battlefield as their Spirit Venerable battle continued.

Wu Gui faced Jin Shizong while concealing his plan to make Ding Buxing walk the Reincarnation Dead Sea with the Reincarnation Soul Lamp. At Yanmen Pass, Qing Chen revealed the Nine Netherworlds Soul-Returning Marrow to Yue Ting, who recognized it as the item needed to save his master Xie Yu’s fading consciousness.

• Jin Shizong identified the Ten Thousand Gu Source Cauldron’s immense power and demanded to know why Wu Gui had spared Xiao Canglan.
• Wu Gui refused to reveal his plan, which involved Ding Buxing and the Reincarnation Soul Lamp, and challenged Jin Shizong to defeat him first.
• Jin Shizong summoned a pudao-shaped Spirit Treasure, and the world abruptly darkened as their battle began.
• Yue Ting secretly returned to Yanmen Pass after the Black Fox King’s death, and Qing Chen showed him a vial containing Nine Netherworlds Soul-Returning Marrow.
• Yue Ting recognized the fifth-tier low-grade marrow he had sought for years and stopped himself from reaching for the vial.

Qing Chen gave Yue Ting the Nine Netherworlds Soul-Returning Marrow to improve Xie Yu’s chances and asked whether Yue Ting could refine a Purple Mansion Spirit Transformation Pill. Yue Ting explained that the Moon-Worshipping Divine Cult’s Pill Hall and his Dan Ding spirit body let him rehearse pill refinement, leaving Qing Chen impressed by his capabilities.

• Yue Ting examined the Nine Netherworlds Soul-Returning Marrow and confirmed it was genuine.
• Qing Chen gave Yue Ting the marrow for Xie Yu and assured him that his divine soul power surpassed the half-primordial spirit level.
• Yue Ting pledged to help Qing Chen and explained that he had refined many supreme-grade fourth-tier pills while held in the Black Fox Royal Court.
• Yue Ting described the Moon Marrow Furnace in the Pill Hall and its benefits for alchemy.
• Yue Ting revealed his Dan Ding spirit body could create copies of spirit medicines and rehearse pill refinement, astonishing Qing Chen.

Yue Ting explained that his Dan Ding Spirit Body could let him rehearse real pill refinements, and he and Qing Chen discussed how to enter the Reincarnation Dead Sea to use its Alchemy Hall. Inside the Dead Sea, Xuanji True Lord fled a nonhuman Holy Son, who was swallowed up by a Trial Demon Venerable.

• Yue Ting told Qing Chen that his Dan Ding Spirit Body could replicate spirit medicines and trial-refine pills, helping him reach fourth-tier supreme-grade Alchemy Grandmaster and prepare to refine the Purple Mansion Spirit Transformation Pill.
• Yue Ting explained that Demon Lotus Holy Sons could enter the Reincarnation Dead Sea through special trial entrances and described its vast inner world and wondrous landscapes.
• Qing Chen eagerly vowed that he and Yue Ting would explore the Reincarnation Dead Sea together.
• Xuanji True Lord fled through the Dead Sea while a nonhuman Holy Son pursued him for his demon banner.
• Xuanji True Lord hurled the banner toward ruined palaces, revealing an ink-green Trial Demon Venerable that swallowed the Holy Son's escape and pierced his nascent soul with a dragon whisker.

Xuanji True Lord served Heavenly Serpent Demon Venerable by luring Holy Sons into its hunting ground while searching for one of the rare Upper Three Banners that could free it. Five years later, Qing Chen refined his Immortal Demon Nascent Soul Chapter through Hua Tieshou’s cultivation, bringing his ambition to found a complete blood-path school closer to fruition.

• Heavenly Serpent Demon Venerable devoured a Holy Son, rewarded Xuanji True Lord with the demon banner, and demanded news of the Upper Three Banners.
• Xuanji True Lord revealed that he had a lead, but Heavenly Serpent Demon Venerable tortured him for having made a similar claim before and warned him not to deceive it.
• Five years later, Qing Chen supervised Hua Tieshou’s cultivation of the Immortal Demon Nascent Soul Chapter in a blood pool beneath the Governor-General’s Office at Yanmen Pass.
• When Hua Tieshou’s demon embryo nearly went out of control, Qing Chen stabilized it with immortality true blood and revised sixteen characters of the cultivation scripture.
• Qing Chen explained that the original cultivation cycle had been too forceful for other cultivators and continued refining the technique through Hua Tieshou’s progress.

Qing Chen studied the Brahma Demon Art and planned to switch to it after Hua Tieshou completed his recultivation, hoping to advance his Blood Path insights. Su Zixuan reported that declining trade and a sudden halt in major wars had slashed the Governor-General's income, leaving Qing Chen suspicious that a larger change was underway.

• Qing Chen considered how the Brahma Demon Art connected the body, Nascent Soul, and divine soul, and resolved to cultivate it after Hua Tieshou succeeded.
• Su Zixuan brought Qing Chen the annual accounts and reported that the fifteen provinces' taxes and smuggling profits left only a little over three hundred million low-grade spirit stones each year.
• Qing Chen questioned whether factions were skimming profits, but Su Zixuan's records showed that their minor tricks were not the main cause of the decline.
• Su Zixuan told Qing Chen that large battles had stopped between the Ten Thousand Saints Demon Kingdom and the Southwestern Circuit, and between the Azure Wolf King Tribe and the Iron Household.
• Qing Chen rejected the idea that the powers had made peace and suspected that he did not know what was really happening.

Qing Chen investigated the quieting of his smuggling business, then met Tie Hengjiang in a hidden chamber and returned the Primordial Magnetism Cauldron. Tie Hengjiang revealed that Qing Chen would soon be heading to the Reincarnation Dead Sea, leaving Qing Chen wondering how he knew.

• Qing Chen ordered Su Zixuan to contact the Blood God Sect and the Dugu Household about the decline in smuggling.
• Qing Chen sensed someone using the Nine Profound Suppression of the North Formation and secretly traveled through Yanmen Pass's earth veins to meet them.
• Qing Chen found Tie Hengjiang waiting in a concealed stone chamber beneath a waterfall.
• Tie Hengjiang said Qing Chen would soon go to the Reincarnation Dead Sea and asked him to return the Primordial Magnetism Cauldron.
• Qing Chen handed over the cauldron, and Tie Hengjiang erased Qing Chen's imprints and reclaimed it.

Tie Hengjiang offered Qing Chen the Five Hells Coiling Dragon Staff to replace some of the strength he had lost with the Primordial Magnetism Cauldron. After examining Qing Chen’s spear and rare divine iron, Tie Hengjiang agreed that he could forge them into a spear-shaped Half-Spirit Treasure.

• Tie Hengjiang presented Qing Chen with the Five Hells Coiling Dragon Staff, a Blood Path Half-Spirit Treasure once used by the Blood Fiend Spirit Venerable.
• Qing Chen tested the staff and found its heavy, suppressive style did not suit his spear techniques.
• Tie Hengjiang said the Blood River God-Slaying Spear lacked the quality to serve as the staff’s spearhead.
• Qing Chen showed Tie Hengjiang a piece of fifth-tier low-grade great white void-splitting divine iron he had obtained from the Black Fox King.
• Tie Hengjiang said the divine iron could form a spearhead, and the spear’s accumulated blood path essence could help forge the weapons into a top-class Half-Spirit Treasure.

Tie Hengjiang agreed to reforge Qing Chen’s Blood Spear and revealed that Wu Gui had conspired with outsiders against the Nanhua Realm. He urged Qing Chen to enter the Reincarnation Dead Sea and uncover Wu Gui’s scheme, leaving Qing Chen faced with a dangerous mission that might also offer a path to Spirit Transformation.

• Tie Hengjiang explained that a half-spirit treasure could become a true spirit treasure if it developed its own rule characteristic, and revealed that he was a fourth-tier supreme-grade Artifact Refining Grandmaster.
• Tie Hengjiang agreed to reforge Qing Chen’s treasure in exchange for one Low-Grade Spirit Crystal, and Qing Chen promised to repay him with two.
• Tie Hengjiang told Qing Chen that Wu Gui had colluded with cultivators from outside the Nanhua Realm, prompting several factions to destroy Wu Gui’s lair and wound him before he escaped.
• Tie Hengjiang said Wu Gui might have fled to Immortal-Burying Valley and that Ding Buxing from the Eighth Prince’s Residence had apparently been one of his pawns.
• Tie Hengjiang explained that the factions were seeking Demon Lotus Holy Sons to investigate Wu Gui’s plan in the Reincarnation Dead Sea, where a chance at Spirit Transformation might await.
• Tie Hengjiang told Qing Chen that his cultivation, ranking, and Demon Seed Golden Lotus made him the one who would break the deadlock.

Qing Chen let Tie Hengjiang persuade him to prepare for the Reincarnation Dead Sea, while making clear that he would need more support from the Immortal Dynasty. After Tie Hengjiang took his treasures to reforge them, Qing Chen began planning what else to request when he was summoned to the Divine Capital.

• Qing Chen suspected the Central Authority had sent Tie Hengjiang to secure his cooperation and privately resented the conditions surrounding their meeting.
• Qing Chen described his weaknesses outside Great Jin and argued that his victory over the Black Fox King had depended on the Immortal Dynasty's treasures and forces.
• Tie Hengjiang told Qing Chen to ask the Immortal Dynasty for whatever treasures or spells he needed, and Qing Chen agreed to do his part to protect the Nanhua Realm.
• Tie Hengjiang took the Blood River God-Slaying Spear, the Five Hells Coiling Dragon Staff, and the great white void-splitting divine iron to reforge them.
• After Tie Hengjiang departed, Qing Chen felt the loss of the Primordial Magnetism Cauldron and his spear, and began considering what to request from the Imperial House and Inner Cabinet.

Qing Chen mobilized the Governor-General's Office and his sect to gather spirit stones and Blood Path materials, then used old smuggling cases to seize wealth from trading firms and regional powers. Months later, his aides reported over five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, twenty supreme-grade spirit stones, and a vast reserve of valuable materials.

• Qing Chen left Hua Tieshou to complete the final stage of forming his immortality demon nascent soul on his own.
• Qing Chen ordered Su Zixuan, Lin Changsheng, and Xu Jiuling to gather spirit stones, Blood Path materials, and files on Northwestern Circuit smuggling cases.
• Qing Chen directed his forces to arrest and seize the assets of traders and powers accused of smuggling with the Golden Tent Khanate and the Ten Thousand Saints Demon Kingdom.
• Qing Chen presented the Tongyu Merchant Association head with evidence of smuggling, branded him a spy, and ordered him killed.
• A sect resisted arrest and was destroyed by Qing Chen's forces, while the Blood God Sect and Dugu Household stayed silent as investigations spread across the Fifteen Northwestern Provinces.
• Su Zixuan reported that Qing Chen's reserves had grown to over five hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, twenty supreme-grade spirit stones, and Blood Path materials worth about two billion low-grade spirit stones.

Qing Chen refused repeated orders to report to the Divine Capital, claiming he was in secluded cultivation while continuing to manage seized goods and withholding part of the Northwestern Circuit’s spirit taxes. The chapter left him welcoming Tie Ming and Tie Zhan from the Iron Household with conspicuous warmth.

• Qing Chen distributed seized spirit stones and stored the remaining treasures, blood materials, and corpses in the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda.
• Wei Jin delivered the Imperial Edict summoning Qing Chen to the Divine Capital, but Qing Chen claimed he could not leave because of secluded cultivation and kept Wei Jin waiting for months.
• Qing Chen repeatedly appeared to handle business despite insisting that his cultivation was unfinished, and he ignored increasingly stern demands from the Divine Capital.
• Qing Chen remitted only one billion of the Northwestern Circuit’s required 1.5 billion Low-Grade Spirit Stones and told Wei Jin the remaining five hundred million would be owed later.
• Wei Jin grew terrified of Qing Chen and stopped pressing him to depart, claiming he had suffered a cultivation deviation and staying in his courtyard.
• Tie Ming and Tie Zhan arrived from the Northern Border, and Qing Chen hurried out to welcome them and ushered them into the Inner Hall.

Tie Zhan and Tie Ming delivered the reforged weapon to Qing Chen, who discovered that Tie Hengjiang had made it into a top-tier half-spirit battle halberd. After testing its devastating power, Qing Chen asked Tie Zhan to let him test it against the Iron God Golden Palace Armor.

• Tie Zhan presented Qing Chen with the sealed Vermilion Long Casket, and Qing Chen eagerly broke it open.
• Qing Chen saw that Tie Hengjiang had reforged the Five Hells Coiling Dragon Staff and the Blood River God-Slaying Spear into an eighteen-foot battle halberd.
• Qing Chen recognized the preserved blood refining mark and Blood-Path rules threads, then channeled his power into the halberd.
• Qing Chen tested the halberd at the Central Martial Training Ground, destroying a fourth-tier Artifact Testing Stone pillar and smashing through the training ground's foundations.
• Qing Chen declared that the halberd could help him face Yan Moyou and asked Tie Zhan to let him test it against the Iron God Golden Palace Armor.

Qing Chen named and spent several months refining the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd, then prepared to leave for the Divine Capital after gathering the resources he wanted. Before departing, he transferred the Northwestern Circuit-Surveying Seal to Tie Zhan.

• Qing Chen joked about testing the halberd on Tie Zhan, who refused and praised Qing Chen’s strength alongside Tie Ming.
• Qing Chen named the weapon the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd, and Tie Zhan and Tie Ming acknowledged that he was worthy of wielding it.
• Qing Chen spent several months refining the halberd, imprinting its nine blood restrictions and learning to summon it into his sea of qi.
• Qing Chen concluded that mastering the halberd’s full power would require decades of work and hoped to obtain the Spirit Transformation section of the Ananda Blood Sea Pagoda.
• After completing his refinement and amassing valuable resources, Qing Chen went to the Circuit-Surveying Platform at Yanmen Pass and handed the Northwestern Circuit-Surveying Seal to Tie Zhan.

Qing Chen left Yanmen Pass for the Divine Capital, entrusting the pass to Tie Zhan and reflecting on the Northwestern Circuit during the journey. As an undetectable red speck closed in on the treasure ship, Qing Chen sensed imminent danger and moved behind Wei Jin.

• Qing Chen gave Tie Zhan the seal and warned him not to neglect his duties at Yanmen Pass.
• Qing Chen departed for the Divine Capital aboard a Sky-Patrolling Treasure Ship as Tie Zhan, Pei Xuance, and the others saw him off.
• Qing Chen admired the Northwestern Circuit's scenery and recited a poem about his years governing the region.
• Wei Jin praised Qing Chen's service and literary talent while privately recalling his corruption and indulgences.
• A red speck approached the treasure ship undetected, and Qing Chen sensed it would kill him and shifted behind Wei Jin.

Qing Chen and Wei Jin were ambushed aboard the black-gold Sky-Patrolling Treasure Ship by a half-spirit treasure sword, which killed Wei Jin and wounded Qing Chen before escaping. Qing Chen concealed his strength and set a trap, waiting for the assassin to return within range of the Nine Extremes Blood Prison.

• Qing Chen summoned the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd as a slender dark red sword pierced the treasure ship's formation curtains and killed Wei Jin.
• Qing Chen struck the half-spirit treasure sword head-on, but it slipped around the halberd's force, wounded him, and blasted him through several decks.
• The sword withdrew immediately, while the ship's guards and formation masters sounded the alarm and tried to seal the area.
• Qing Chen hid beneath the wreckage, placed nine Lawless Blood Seals around the ship, and prepared the Nine Extremes Blood Prison.
• Qing Chen feigned severe injury and waited for the assassin to return so he could trap them within a thousand zhang.

Qing Chen survived Xue Wugui’s long-range assassination attempt by feigning mortal injury and using the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd to block the strike, though Wei Jin died protecting him. After identifying the likely assassin as the Bloodslaughter Alliance leader, Qing Chen turned his anger on the guards who arrived only after the danger had passed.

• Qing Chen revealed that his grave injuries had been an act and healed himself after the assassin fled beyond his reach.
• Qing Chen concluded that the assassin was likely Xue Wugui, the Faceless Killing King and leader of the Bloodslaughter Alliance.
• Qing Chen saw that Wei Jin had died taking the first edge of the attack for him and recognized how the eunuch’s sacrifice had helped him survive.
• The imperial guards and officials arrived after the attack, claimed they had rushed to Qing Chen’s aid, and praised Wei Jin’s loyalty.
• Qing Chen noticed that the senior officials’ weapons and formation equipment were unused and condemned them as useless trash.

Qing Chen condemned the treasure ship’s officers and nobles for failing to protect Wei Jin, then turned on them when they invoked their status to escape blame. He trapped the ship in the Nine Extremes Blood Prison as they cried that he was rebelling.

• Qing Chen discovered the treasure ship’s formation had not been fully powered and accused its guards and officials of negligence that helped lead to Wei Jin’s death.
• The Divine Strategy Guard commandant, the formation directorate deputy commissioner, and imperial kinsmen defended themselves by citing regulations, family ties, and Qing Chen’s lack of authority to punish them.
• Qing Chen named their powerful relatives and declared that there was no need for an accounting because they would be dead.
• The officers tried to summon help and activate their Jade Registers, but Qing Chen deployed the Nine Extremes Blood Prison around the treasure ship and destroyed their means of communication.
• The Guangling Commandery Prince’s maternal grandson panicked and shouted that Qing Chen was rebelling and that the Clan Court would pursue him.

Qing Chen massacred the imperial escort aboard the Dark Gold Sky-Patrolling Treasure Ship and staged the wreckage to suggest an attack by a thousand assailants. Days later, he arrived alone at the Divine Capital’s Northwest Heavenly Gate and identified himself as Qing Chen.

• Qing Chen used the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd and the Nine Extremes Blood Prison to kill the imperial attendants, guards, and commanders aboard the treasure ship.
• Qing Chen erased traces of his attacks, damaged the ship, and set cabins ablaze to fabricate evidence of an ambush.
• Several days later, the ruined treasure ship reached the Northwest Heavenly Gate, where officials and soldiers waited after the escort’s soul lamps had gone out.
• Qing Chen emerged from the wreckage, declared his name, and presented the Cangming Duke’s Golden Seal.

Qing Chen returned to the Divine Capital with the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd, claiming he was the sole survivor of a massacre and leaving the noble households unable to challenge his account. At the Bloodslaughter Alliance’s hidden altar, an unidentified client demanded a refund, but Xue Wugui argued that the client had concealed Qing Chen’s powerful treasure.

• Qing Chen told the sky-patrol commander that Wei Jin and the rest of the entourage had died defending him against the Bloodslaughter Alliance and waves of assassins, and promised to seek posthumous honors for them.
• Recordings of Xue Wugui attacking Qing Chen and the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd blocking A Point of Red spread through the Divine Capital, while Qing Chen returned as the only survivor.
• Tie Qingyao welcomed Qing Chen, and they rode together to the newly renamed First-Rank Cangming Duke’s Manor.
• At a hidden Bloodslaughter Alliance altar, a masked client demanded to know where their payment had gone because Qing Chen was still alive.
• Xue Wugui replied that the alliance refunded half after a failed attempt but blamed the client for failing to disclose Qing Chen’s Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd.

After learning that Qing Chen had gained the Blood Abyss God-Slaying Halberd, Xue Wugui accepted extra payment to attempt another assassination. Qing Chen reunited with Tie Qingyao, received intelligence she had gathered, and went to Jade Capital Mountain for the palace summons, confident in his newfound strength.

• A masked man paid Xue Wugui another low-grade spirit crystal to renew the assassination contract against Qing Chen.
• The masked man asked whether the Bloodslaughter Alliance had sent the assassins who attacked the Dark Gold Sky-Patrolling Treasure Ship, and Xue Wugui denied it by explaining the alliance had fewer than a thousand members and accepted only Great Liang people.
• Qing Chen carried Tie Qingyao to their bedchamber despite her warning that the palace had summoned him, and he delayed his departure for more than ten hours.
• Tie Qingyao gave Qing Chen a blackwood casket containing intelligence gathered through her contacts, and he burned it after reading the jade slips.
• Four hours later, Qing Chen arrived at Jade Capital Mountain and reflected that his rank, forces, cultivation, and treasures now let him face the sacred mountain with confidence.

Qing Chen returned to Jade Capital Mountain and presented himself to Emperor Jingtai in the Profound-Nurturing Hall. When the emperor tried to rebuke him, Qing Chen instead offered a dream-cultivation scripture and his own collected insights, claiming he had rushed to deliver them.

• Qing Chen ascended Jade Capital Mountain, reflecting that its lavish spiritual materials no longer impressed him.
• The Golden-Armored Guards and officials recognized Qing Chen’s titles and bowed as he passed through the formation gates.
• Qing Chen reached the Profound-Nurturing Hall, where Emperor Jingtai’s divine sense settled over him.
• Emperor Jingtai began to admonish Qing Chen for delaying his arrival and defying the court, but Qing Chen knelt and presented two jade slips.
• Qing Chen said he had found the Yinghuo Illumination-of-the-World Dream Scripture and compiled his insights into dream cultivation, then offered them to Emperor Jingtai.