Chapter Summaries

Grand Elder Wan Hun confronted Sun Wudi over Qing Chen’s disappearance and his unauthorized war declaration against the Eight Serpent Sect. After leaving the hall, Wan Hun grew resentful of Qing Chen’s rising influence and began considering a proposal from Lesser Cold Temple.

• Wan Hun demanded that Sun Wudi explain Qing Chen’s whereabouts and withdraw the war declaration, but Sun Wudi said he had only followed Qing Chen’s orders.
• Sun Wudi told Wan Hun that Qing Chen had reached the middle Golden Core stage and might be cultivating in seclusion, angering the Grand Elder.
• Wan Hun ordered Sun Wudi to summon Qing Chen and have him withdraw the declaration, but Sun Wudi warned that Qing Chen might not receive the message immediately.
• Wan Hun left after deciding he had no grounds to punish Sun Wudi while True Person Budong was on the island.
• Wan Hun reflected on Qing Chen’s breakthroughs, resources, and growing standing, then began to waver over Lesser Cold Temple’s proposal.

Xuanji True Lord discussed the Sect’s turmoil with Chi Xuntian while fishing at Xuanji Peak, revealing that he hoped his disciple might one day inherit the Sect. He caught a rare Blood-Eyed Flood Dragon Fish and declared it could give Chi Xuntian a chance to form a pseudo-core or golden core, leaving Chi Xuntian wondering how he could refine such a powerful demon beast.

• Xuanji True Lord caught Blade-Whiskered Pythonfish in the Spirit Pool while Chi Xuntian asked whether he would intervene in the conflict between Elder Wan Hun and Elder Qing Chen.
• Xuanji True Lord said he was reluctant to intervene because the Xuanji Lineage lacked successors, and he considered Chi Xuntian a promising candidate to inherit the Sect.
• Xuanji True Lord hooked and bound a low-grade third tier Blood-Eyed Flood Dragon Fish from Crescent Moon Spring.
• Xuanji True Lord told Chi Xuntian the rare fish could help him form a pseudo-core or golden core, and Chi Xuntian asked how he could refine a third tier great demon.

Xuanji True Lord explained the medicinal fish’s benefits and warned Chi Xuntian away from Primordial Magnetic Origin Mountain, then taught him about rules and the paths to cultivation. He revealed that his own dharma nascent soul had no hope of further growth and shared his wish for Chi Xuntian to become a Nascent Soul True Lord.

• Xuanji True Lord explained that the medicinal fish could help Chi Xuntian reach the pseudo-core realm and provide a rare core for refining a superior Dragon-Tiger Golden Core.
• Xuanji True Lord warned Chi Xuntian that Primordial Magnetic Origin Mountain held dangerous magnetic origin rule power and could not be entered safely by Nascent Soul True Lords.
• Xuanji True Lord explained how cultivators comprehended rules, described basic and special rules, and urged Chi Xuntian to choose a cultivation path suited to his sect’s technique.
• Xuanji True Lord lamented that his dharma nascent soul could neither advance nor truly commune with heaven and earth, and said he hoped Chi Xuntian would become a Nascent Soul True Lord.
• Chi Xuntian grieved for Xuanji True Lord and hated the thief who had taken his master's three souls seven apertures spirit embryo fruit.

Qing Chen reflected on improving his spiritual roots and grew more suspicious that Xuanji was hiding a gifted rival for the Sect Master position. He summoned Xu Jiuling to ask about unusual movements in the sect.

• Qing Chen gave Qing An Golden Core Talismans and left Mystic Lotus Island, thinking about his cultivation aptitude and the resources he had invested in his clansmen.
• Qing Chen recalled the Heaven-Mending Ginseng and its power to improve spiritual roots, then resolved to find the young man Xuanji had brought to the mountain.
• Qing Chen concluded that Xuanji’s hidden young man might threaten his claim to the Sect Master position and grew angrier after reading a message from Sun Wudi about the sect’s treatment of him.
• Qing Chen landed on a barren island, carved out a cave, and activated a Wind-Thunder Communication Formation.
• Xu Jiuling answered Qing Chen’s summons, and Qing Chen asked whether anything unusual had happened inside or outside the sect.

Qing Chen learned that Li Xiao'er’s business ventures had increased Condensed Jade Sect’s revenue and ordered rewards to help him expand the Windrider Envoys. He also set Xin Bairen a test of loyalty and summoned Dragon-Seal Vajra to discuss the Ceasefire Alliance.

• Xu Jiuling told Qing Chen that Xin Bairen wanted to join him and had left an address for messages.
• Qing Chen told Xu Jiuling to demand that Xin Bairen gather conclusive evidence against Wan Hun, Yuji, and the Eight Serpent Sect members who intercepted Qing Chen’s congratulatory gifts.
• Xu Jiuling reported that Li Xiao'er’s Spirit Crystal VIP Card and Windrider Envoy service had raised Condensed Jade Sect’s revenue by five percent.
• Qing Chen ordered Xu Jiuling to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill for Li Xiao'er and promote him to steward of the General Affairs Hall.
• Qing Chen told Xu Jiuling to invite Dragon-Seal Vajra to Earth Pass Island to discuss the Ceasefire Alliance’s next steps.

Rogue cultivator Wang Shisan hesitated over joining the Eight Serpent Sect’s recruitment until his friend Liu Laosi persuaded him that the war was too distant to pose a real threat. Across the sect’s vassal islands, cultivators began mobilizing under Second Elder Poison Python True Person’s decree.

• Wang Shisan received Liu Laosi’s urgent message and opened his cave abode to hear about the recruitment.
• Liu Laosi explained that volunteers at the fifth Qi Refining layer or above would receive rent waivers, a stipend, and merit rewards.
• Wang Shisan initially refused, wary that the offer concealed danger and that cultivators would be sent to die in battle.
• Liu Laosi argued that the Condensed Jade Sect would have to pass through other territories before reaching them, and urged Wang Shisan to enlist for the benefits.
• Wang Shisan’s resistance faded, and he asked about the recruitment requirements and whether making talismans would affect his pay.
• Cultivators across the Eight Serpent Sect’s vassal islands began mobilizing, with Eight Serpent True Person supporting Poison Python True Person’s decision.

Qing Chen met Dragon-Seal Vajra on a remote island to discuss strengthening the Ceasefire Alliance against the Eight Serpent Sect. Dragon-Seal demanded a fight before discussing business, and their battle began with a clash of weapons.

• Qing Chen waited on a barren island at the border of the Azure Wave Archipelago and the Cold Mountain Archipelago for Dragon-Seal Vajra to arrive.
• Qing Chen proposed putting more effort into the Ceasefire Alliance because the Eight Serpent Sect had grown increasingly arrogant, but Dragon-Seal rejected the idea of involving Cold Mountain Temple.
• Dragon-Seal accused Qing Chen of having used him before and demanded an all-out fight as the price of further discussion.
• Qing Chen agreed to fight without using his Demon Gourd and wagered a bottle of Clear Void Yang-Transforming Pills.
• Dragon-Seal struck Qing Chen with his Demon-Subduing Pestle, and Qing Chen counterattacked with his Pojun Battle Halberd, aiming at Dragon-Seal's lower body.

Qing Chen and Dragon-Seal Vajra fought a brutal close-quarters battle on Broken Reef Island, with Qing Chen using his Second Demon Aspect and mixed halberd techniques to wound and overpower the Vajra. Dragon-Seal Vajra brought out his ultimate weapon and launched a final head-on attack, leaving the duel unresolved.

• Dragon-Seal Vajra blocked Qing Chen’s halberd with his shoulder and pursued him with a storm of attacks.
• Qing Chen activated the Heartless Demon Aspect and Four-Armed Wisdom King phantom, then struck Dragon-Seal Vajra with fiery and icy halberd techniques.
• Qing Chen’s blood-colored ice dragon shattered Dragon-Seal Vajra Finger and wounded Dragon-Seal Vajra.
• Dragon-Seal Vajra summoned his golden Dharma Form and used the Dragon Splendor Demon-Breaking Pestle, while Qing Chen met his attack with a karmic-fire lotus and Pojun Battle Halberd.
• Qing Chen pressed the advantage with swift, sinister halberd strikes, and Dragon-Seal Vajra launched Dragon Splendor Demon-Subduing in a head-on assault.

Qing Chen defeated Dragon-Seal in a brutal contest of strength and claimed the wagered jade bottle. He proposed that Cold Mountain Temple ally with him against Lesser Cold Temple, and Dragon-Seal agreed to consult his fellow disciples before answering.

• Qing Chen overpowered Dragon-Seal with his Devil Aspect-enhanced strength and Third Terror: Earth Annihilation, leaving the monk gravely wounded.
• Dragon-Seal admitted defeat and handed Qing Chen the Clear Void Yang Transformation jade bottle as their wager required.
• Qing Chen asked Dragon-Seal to ally with him against Lesser Cold Temple, offering Cold Mountain Temple its waters while claiming only the Lesser Cold Corridor Sea.
• Dragon-Seal wondered whether Qing Chen's interest in Lesser Cold Temple stemmed from its alluring nuns, then said he would consult his fellow disciples about the alliance.
• Qing Chen pressed his palms together and thanked Dragon-Seal for the trouble.

Three months later, Qing Chen presided over a Demon Lotus Sect stronghold beneath a barren islet and interrogated captives from rival sects and the surrounding waters. He began torturing a Lesser Cold Temple nun and a rogue cultivator, while the other prisoners watched in fear.

• Qing Chen gathered Demon Lotus Sect leaders and roughly thirty captives in the underground palace’s Central Hall, with Lin Changsheng absent.
• Qing Chen warned the kneeling captives to fear the Demon Lotus Sect more than the Condensed Jade Sect in the Azure Wave and Cold Mountain Archipelagos.
• Qing Chen pinned a Lesser Cold Temple nun to the wall with a blood spike that tormented her body and soul.
• Qing Chen dragged a pockmarked rogue cultivator across the floor with an iron chain and burned him with ghostly green flames.
• The terrified nun offered to speak.

Qing Chen interrogated captured Lesser Cold Temple disciples and tortured the White Dragon Envoy to expose the schemes behind the conflict. He prepared to use their confessions as justification to attack Lesser Cold Temple and pressure the Eight Serpent Sect, while offering the envoy a chance to cooperate.

• Qing Chen tortured a Lesser Cold Temple monk until he confessed that Dharma Master Miao Xuan had ordered rumors spread about Yuji True Person, and the monk and nun blamed each other for their roles.
• Qing Chen explained that the Demon Lotus Sect's hidden followers had uncovered Lesser Cold Temple's involvement in regional disputes, and that taking it would open the route between Earth Pass Island and the Heavenly Illumination Archipelago.
• Qing Chen had Han Shi bring out Heart-Devouring Torture Gu and inserted the bone needles into the White Dragon Envoy, who endured the pain and spat blood at Qing Chen.
• Qing Chen showed the White Dragon Envoy recordings of the Lesser Cold Temple disciples' confessions and explained how the evidence could justify an attack and provoke the Eight Serpent Sect.
• Qing Chen threatened to frame the White Dragon Envoy, destroy what he protected, and torture him for years, then offered him one last chance to cooperate.

Qing Chen broke Bai Xiangchuan’s resistance and ordered the Demon Lotus Sect to prepare to attack Lesser Cold Temple. Inside the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda, the four cities held a martial arts tournament, where Little Stone won his opening match and sought a path to avenge his parents.

• Qing Chen persuaded Bai Xiangchuan to surrender by showing him evidence of the Eight Serpent Sect’s secret dealings, then ordered Jueqing to kill everyone else in the hall.
• Qing Chen rallied the Demon Lotus Sect’s leaders and arranged an attack on Lesser Cold Temple to seize its corridor, spirit mines, and territory.
• The Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda refined third-tier gold-jade fire ore as Qing Chen reviewed the fortified cities and the brutal battles fought by the people trapped inside.
• The four cities organized a tournament to select elite warriors and battle generals who would train in the forbidden grounds and might return to the mortal world as Brahma Walkers.
• Little Stone fought Sun Er in the tournament, used his nimble and underhanded moves to defeat the stronger body cultivator, and vowed to become an Elite Warrior so he could avenge his parents.

Cold Mountain Temple debated Qing Chen’s offer to help reclaim Lesser Cold Temple, weighing the danger of being betrayed against a rare chance to recover its ancestral territory. The Grand Elder committed the temple to an alliance and ordered preparations for a surprise offensive while Abbot Huan Chan was away.

• Dharma Master Huishan questioned Dragon-Seal about Qing Chen’s motives, while Dharma Master Jingxin and another elder warned that Qing Chen might be manipulating Cold Mountain Temple.
• Dragon-Seal challenged the elders over whether they would abandon their effort to reclaim Lesser Cold Temple, prompting Huishan to recount the losses from thirty-five failed campaigns.
• Huishan declared that Cold Mountain Temple would seize the opportunity to fight alongside Qing Chen and reclaim its homeland.
• Huishan appointed Dharma Master Jingxin to command the expedition and ordered him to secretly muster fifty Foundation Establishment bhikkhus, five thousand śrāmaṇera monk-soldiers, and two treasure ships.
• Huishan ordered Dragon-Seal to contact Qing Chen at Earth Pass Island in half a month and convey Cold Mountain Temple’s willingness to launch an allied offensive.

Qing Chen practiced the Primordial Magnetism Annihilation Great Art and discovered how to form the powerful Yin-Yang Primal Magnetism Baleful Seal. He hoped to refine higher-grade magnetic baleful intent to strengthen his body and advance his cultivation.

• Qing Chen practiced Magnetic Essence Step with the Magnetic Sand in his secret chamber.
• Qing Chen formed a massive Yin-Yang Magnetic Wheel and realized it could serve as the foundation for the Yin-Yang Primal Magnetism Baleful Seal.
• Qing Chen compressed the magnetic wheel into yin and yang energies, enduring severe pain as he shaped them into the seal’s embryonic form.
• Qing Chen considered refining Third Tier magnetic objects into yin-yang primal magnetism baleful intent to advance his Immovable Wisdom King Heart Method and Vajra Realm cultivation.

Qing Chen mastered Yin-Yang Primal Magnetism Baleful Seal and prepared to use his recordings to obtain more magnetic origin spells while delaying his entry into Magnetic Origin Mountain. As he continued cultivating, hurried footsteps approached his mountain.

• Qing Chen recalled mastering Magnetic Essence Step and Yin-Yang Magnetic Wheel, then sending a Projection Stone of his demonstrations to Elder Xuangu through Han Shi.
• Elder Xuangu and the senior figures of Wuji Island praised Qing Chen's performance and sent him a jade slip containing Yin-Yang Primal Magnetism Baleful Seal and information about Primordial Magnetic Origin Mountain.
• Qing Chen mastered Yin-Yang Primal Magnetism Baleful Seal and reasoned that it would help him resist and wield magnetic origin power in Magnetic Origin Mountain.
• Qing Chen recorded his progress but chose to delay sending the Recording Stone so the Infinite Extremity Devil Palace would not suspect how quickly he comprehended spells.
• Qing Chen continued practicing his magnetic origin spells and studying the Third Demonic Aspect until hurried footsteps sounded at the foot of the mountain.

Xu Jiuling braved Digu Pass Peak’s deadly restrictions to deliver Xin Bairen’s secret report to Qing Chen. The report exposed collusion with the Eight Serpent Sect, while a possible summons from Heavenly Jade Island left Qing Chen facing a visit to the Sect Master.

• Xu Jiuling climbed Digu Pass Peak through its snowbound, shifting restrictions and knelt before Qing Chen’s palace.
• Qing Chen summoned Xu Jiuling into the hall, where Xu reported that Xin Bairen had evidence of three groups colluding with the Eight Serpent Sect and asked to deliver it in person.
• Xu Jiuling warned Qing Chen that Heavenly Jade Island might summon him to report his duties because the Sect Master wished to see him.
• Qing Chen considered traveling to receive Xin Bairen’s information, then heard Xu Jiuling mention the Sect Master.

Sun Wudi left Tianshu Hall after losing his temper with the Foundation Establishment stewards and hurried to Mingwang Peak in response to True Person Budong’s summons. He recalled asking his master for help obtaining a Dragon-Tiger Golden Core, then sat before him, fidgeting as he struggled to speak.

• Sun Wudi berated the Foundation Establishment stewards for resisting his orders and drove them out of Tianshu Hall.
• Sun Wudi recalled how he had given True Person Budong two hundred thousand spirit stones toward securing a Dragon-Tiger Golden Core.
• Sun Wudi flew to Mingwang Peak and passed the mountain-guarding disciples without needing to show his command token.
• True Person Budong invited Sun Wudi into the Immovable Wisdom King Hall and offered him a meditation cushion.
• Sun Wudi sat obediently before his master but soon began fidgeting, unable to bring himself to ask what he wanted.

True Person Budong gave Sun Wudi the treasures he needed to prepare for a Golden Core breakthrough and revealed his concern about hidden threats within the sect. As Sun Wudi entered seclusion under his master's protection, True Person Budong wondered how Qing Chen would respond to the conflict brewing on Heavenly Jade Island.

• True Person Budong gave Sun Wudi a Dragon-Tiger Golden Core and explained that he had spent decades preparing it to support his disciple's breakthrough.
• True Person Budong gave Sun Wudi Golden Python Rain Dew Incense, Calamity-Transcending Fine Wine, and Spirit-Enlightenment Tea, and told him to enter seclusion while he stood guard.
• Sun Wudi asked what could threaten the Azure Wave Archipelago, and True Person Budong warned that the greatest danger might come from within the sect, even from someone on Heavenly Jade Island.
• True Person Budong recalled that Wan Hun and Yuji were summoning hall leaders to undermine Qing Chen, and wondered how Qing Chen would respond to his letter.

Xue Qingxia revealed that she had reached the pseudo-core realm and drove Baili Tingfeng from Pill Lineage Peak. Meanwhile, Qing Chen arrived at a hostile elders’ meeting to report on his work, where Grand Elder Wan Hun had arranged for him to sit opposite the elders.

• Baili Tingfeng demanded that Xue Qingxia refine medicinal pills and accused her of disrespecting her seniors.
• Xue Qingxia released her pseudo-core spiritual pressure, forcing Baili Tingfeng back and revealing her cultivation.
• Baili Tingfeng warned that Xue Qingxia’s backer might fall and that another alchemist could replace her, then hurried away.
• Xue Qingxia trusted that her lord could not be shaken and reflected on how their dual cultivation had benefited her cultivation.
• Grand Elder Wan Hun and the other elders gathered for Qing Chen’s work report meeting, with Yuji and Heavenfire True Person present but Budong absent.
• Qing Chen entered the Elder Hall and calmly took the seat opposite Wan Hun, despite the hostile reception.

Qing Chen faced Elder Yuji and Grand Elder Wan Hun’s accusations in the Elder Hall, answering their hostility with a calm display of tea-making and a pointed warning about hot tempers. He offered the elders tea, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Elder Yuji criticized Qing Chen for neglecting the Elder Hall, while the other elders stayed silent and Xin Bairen seemed distracted.
• Elder Wan Hun urged Qing Chen to answer Yuji, and Qing Chen dismissed Yuji’s remarks as nonsense.
• Wan Hun pressed Qing Chen over his manner and used his divine sense to intimidate him, but Qing Chen responded with a pointed explanation of his burdens as Hall Lord.
• Qing Chen brewed Cold Mountain Temple’s Late Maple Grove Tips with Demon Lotus Karmic Fire and warned that people with restless tempers should cool down.
• Qing Chen filled five spiritwood cups with tea and asked the elders who would share it with him.