Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen took the Alliance Covenant from Dharma Master Xingchi and ordered Hua Tieshou to withdraw from Coldwater Island while ceding ten nearby second-tier islands to the Cold Mountain Temple. Dharma Master Jingxin watched from hiding but realized Qing Chen had detected him, and Qing Chen left the larger territorial promise unresolved until the Condensed Jade Sect took Eight Serpent Island.

• Qing Chen praised Hua Tieshou and promoted him to Deputy Hall Master of the General Affairs Hall.
• Qing Chen seized the Alliance Covenant and ordered Hua Tieshou to cede the waters of ten nearby second-tier islands to the Cold Mountain Temple.
• Qing Chen told Dharma Master Xingchi to inform Dharma Master Huishan and Dharma Master Jingxin that it was time to send out troops.
• Dharma Master Jingxin, secretly watching from sixty li away, sensed Qing Chen's warning gaze and withdrew his Divine Sense.
• Dharma Master Xingchi asked why the Condensed Jade Sect would receive only ten islands, and Qing Chen said the larger promise would be fulfilled after he took Eight Serpent Island.

Qing Chen studied Xuanji True Lord’s Jade Slip and realized the strange red patterns in his third Brahma Aperture might be his first glimpse of blood-path laws. He began exploring that insight and wondered how far mastering those laws could take him.

• Qing Chen secluded himself on a hidden island and examined the Jade Slip Xuanji True Lord had sent him.
• Qing Chen read the Jade Slip’s explanation of laws and connected it to the red patterns that had appeared when he opened his third Brahma Aperture.
• Qing Chen concluded that his Brahma Demon-Refining Art had let him touch the power of laws while still in the Golden Core Realm.
• Qing Chen activated his Brahma Apertures and sensed his blood qi and spiritual energy following the patterns’ paths.
• Qing Chen realized that the enormous resources used to open his third Brahma Aperture had forced open a crack in the gateway to blood laws, and he considered the possibilities of mastering them.

Qing Chen gained a deeper understanding of the blood laws and felt his third Brahma aperture respond, while First Seat Jingxin organized the takeover of the islands Qing Chen had ceded. After hearing Jingxin’s report, Dharma Master Huishan demanded another two hundred thousand li of sea and summoned Qing Chen to Earth Zen Island for negotiations.

• Qing Chen studied the jade slip’s insights into blood laws and Nascent Soul breakthroughs, then considered opening a fourth Brahma aperture.
• First Seat Jingxin arrived on Coldwater Island and ordered Xingchi to take over ten second-tier islands and organize defenses across the ceded sea.
• Jingxin sent Xingchi with a Buddhist token to requisition ships and tasked him with preparing defense maps and formation diagrams within seventy-five days.
• Jingxin told Dharma Master Huishan that Qing Chen had ceded a hundred thousand li of sea and that his divine sense reached the late Golden Core level.
• Dharma Master Huishan agreed to send reinforcements only if Qing Chen ceded another two hundred thousand li of sea, and summoned him to Earth Zen Island.

Qing Chen cultivated in a secret chamber while feeding the Pojun Battle Halberd the killing intent of five Golden Core cultivators. The weapon advanced beyond mid-grade, gained a beast-head emblem and a killing-intent domain, and left Qing Chen admiring its power.

• Qing Chen used the White Bone Demon Mara Banners to enclose himself and the Pojun Battle Halberd as he cultivated in the secret chamber.
• Qing Chen drove his techniques while the halberd absorbed the killing intent of the five Golden Core cultivators and the resentful souls gathered around it.
• The halberd's damaged dark iron renewed itself, its seven blood marks became fourteen, and a battle-soul phantom appeared as it absorbed the first middle Golden Core cultivator's killing intent.
• The fourteen blood marks formed a beast-head emblem when the halberd broke through to mid-grade magic treasure.
• The halberd absorbed Dharma Master Su Xin's late Golden Core killing intent, its spiritual pressure continued to rise, and it formed a domain that strengthened Qing Chen's baleful core.
• After the halberd devoured all five cultivators' killing intent, its blood marks faded into the shaft, and Qing Chen praised the weapon.

Qing Chen strengthened the Pojun Battle Halberd and planned to refine Songshan True Person's remains before investigating Primordial Magnetic Origin Mountain. There, Lin Changsheng survived a battle with a magnetic rock giant bear and found a formation near the Soul-Extracting Gu's aura.

• Qing Chen bonded with the restored Pojun Battle Halberd, whose power surpassed the Radiant Night Sword and rivaled other powerful treasures.
• Qing Chen considered refining six golden cores and Songshan True Person's remains, and said he would visit Primordial Magnetic Origin Mountain within three years.
• Lin Changsheng tracked the Soul-Extracting Gu's aura through the mountain's magnetic mist and fought an early third-tier magnetic rock giant bear for most of a day before escaping.
• Lin Changsheng followed the growing aura to a mountain hollow and discovered a barrier formed from natural magnetic force and artificial restrictions.

Lin Changsheng crossed a damaged barrier and navigated an illusion formation into the Duer Secret Residence, where he heard Chang Ping'an discover demon cores before screaming in terror. Lin Changsheng headed toward the voice, eager to take advantage of the disturbance.

• Lin Changsheng found a flaw in the barrier, widened a gap, and slipped inside.
• He broke through the shifting illusion formation using his Flying Yaksha powers, Yin-Yang Magnetic Wheel, and Magnetic Essence Step.
• Lin Changsheng followed the Soul-Extracting Gu's aura across a rainbow bridge into a cavern filled with geomantic wonders and ancient cultivator projections.
• He reached a stele marking the Duer Secret Residence and realized it was the secret Chang Ping'an had concealed.
• Chang Ping'an shouted that he had found several great demon cores, then screamed for someone to get out of his body as a woman cried out.
• Lin Changsheng turned toward the screams and prepared to investigate the disturbance.

Lin Changsheng interrupted the old ghost’s attempt to possess Chang Ping'an and helped him destroy the remnant soul. After subduing Chang Ping'an and capturing Chang Yao, Lin Changsheng demanded that they reveal the secrets of the Duer Secret Residence.

• Lin Changsheng followed Chang Ping'an’s trail of destruction into a great hall, where he found Chang Ping'an being possessed by an old ghost and Chang Yao gravely wounded.
• The old ghost sensed Lin Changsheng and attacked him with a Magnetic Baleful Intent Long Saber, while Chang Ping'an begged Lin Changsheng for help.
• Lin Changsheng urged Chang Ping'an to use his Duer magic power and Divine Sense against the ghost, and Chang Ping'an’s counterattack triggered the altar’s golden chains.
• Lin Changsheng shattered the old ghost’s Magnetic Baleful Intent, and the golden chains dragged its remnant soul back into the skeleton until it vanished.
• After Chang Ping'an reached for a hidden formation plate, Lin Changsheng broke his wrist and injured him, then bound and seized Chang Yao.
• Lin Changsheng demanded that the subdued Chang Ping'an and Chang Yao explain the secrets of the Duer Secret Residence.

Qing Chen learned that Cold Mountain Temple demanded another two hundred thousand li of territory before sending reinforcements against the Eight Serpent Sect. Enraged, he ordered Sun Wudi and Su Zixuan to blockade the ten islands Cold Mountain Temple had just accepted, leaving the story with the threat of violence if the monks tried to break out.

• Xin Bairen reported that Cold Mountain Temple had taken over ten second-tier islands and that the Heavenly Illumination Archipelago's defenses were secure.
• Xin Bairen told Qing Chen that Grand Elder Wan Hun had objected to his command and Chi Xuntian had tried to join the army's deployment.
• Xin Bairen relayed that Dharma Master Huishan demanded another two hundred thousand li and Qing Chen's personal visit in exchange for sending reinforcements.
• Qing Chen erupted in anger and refused to cede more territory or meet Huishan.
• Qing Chen ordered Xin Bairen to send Sun Wudi and Su Zixuan with ten thousand cultivators and war assets to blockade the islands, with orders to kill anyone who tried to break out.

Qing Chen abandoned his cautious plan after Cold Mountain Temple made demands, ordering his subordinates to stir up trouble there and traveling to West One Guard Island. He arrived to meet Grand Elder Wan Hun and the others as tensions with the Eight Serpent Sect mounted.

• Qing Chen gave Xin Bairen, Xu Jiuling, and his other trusted subordinates full authority to contact the Three Corpse Demon Sect, the Azure Sun Sect, and others to throw Cold Mountain Temple into turmoil.
• Qing Chen changed his strategy, summoned the Five-Dragon Carriage Treasure Talisman, and refined golden cores while flying across the sea.
• Qing Chen's carriage crossed three hundred thousand li in twenty hours and reached West One Guard Island, where the cultivators knelt in fear of its killing intent.
• Xue Qingxia welcomed Qing Chen and escorted him toward the Council Hall, where Grand Elder Wan Hun and the others were waiting.

Qing Chen took command at West One Guard Island and defended his controversial troop movements against Grand Elder Wan Hun. He declared that his presence alone was enough and ordered the army to march on Guangqi the next day.

• Qing Chen entered the Council Hall, received the elders' salutes, and took the chief seat while Chi Xuntian and the other lower-ranking cultivators remained standing.
• Wan Hun challenged Qing Chen for sending Xin Bairen, Sun Wudi, and over ten thousand cultivators to the rear islands without consulting the front-line elders.
• Wan Hun accused Qing Chen of surrounding Dharma Master Xingchi and Cold Mountain Temple's forces, a move that had driven Dragon-Seal Vajra and the other Dharma Masters to withdraw to Withered Stone Island.
• Wan Hun warned that the troop transfers had left West One Guard Island exposed as Eight Serpent Sect ships probed its defenses.
• Qing Chen dismissed Wan Hun's concerns, saying his presence alone was enough, and ordered the entire army to march on Guangqi the next day.

Months later, Wang Shisan and Liu Laosi’s rogue cultivators were pursued across a misty sea by the Iron Blade Society. Just as the two sides clashed, six terrifying Golden Core Ancestors appeared in the sky, leaving everyone below helpless with fear.

• Wang Shisan and Liu Laosi fled the Iron Blade Society’s Spirit Boat, whose second-in-command demanded their surrender.
• Wang Shisan refused and threw three Explosive Flame Talismans, but the pursuing cultivators blocked them with a Dark Iron Shield.
• The Iron Blade Society damaged the Spirit Boat’s spiritual power hub with Corrosion Bone Water-coated arrows, slowing it and leaving the crew exposed.
• Wang Shisan rallied his fellow rogue cultivators to fight, and they joined Liu Laosi in blocking the second-in-command’s attack, though the Greenwood Shield shattered and Liu Laosi was badly hurt.
• Thunder tore open the gray mist, revealing six masses of spiritual light whose pressure paralyzed both crews; Liu Laosi recognized them as Golden Core Ancestors.

Qing Chen faced the leaders of the Eight Serpent Sect, Guangqi Island, and their allies after months of relentless warfare had pushed his enemies toward collapse. The Eight Serpent Sect revealed the Eight Serpent Mirror and joined it with Heavenly Serpent Old Man’s mysterious staff to manifest the Heavenly Serpent Phantom.

• Qing Chen, True Person Budong, and Grand Elder Wan Hun confronted the Eight Serpent Sect Master, the Radiant Night Palace Master, and Heavenly Serpent Old Man.
• The Eight Serpent Sect Master demanded to know what Qing Chen wanted, while Qing Chen noticed that Heavenly Serpent Old Man’s Snake-Shaped Staff seemed more powerful than an ordinary mid-grade Magic Treasure.
• Heavenly Serpent Old Man offered to accept Qing Chen’s terms, but Qing Chen challenged the opposing leaders to prove their strength or die there.
• Enraged by Qing Chen’s insults, the Eight Serpent Sect Master summoned the Eight Serpent Mirror.
• The Eight Serpent Staff resonated with the mirror, and eight flood serpent phantoms emerged as Heavenly Serpent Old Man called for the Heavenly Serpent Phantom to manifest.

Heavenly Serpent Old Man and the Eight Serpent Sect Master activated a seabed formation to summon a powerful Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent phantom against Qing Chen’s group. Qing Chen responded by unleashing his Heartless Demon Aspect and breaking through the limits of the middle Vajra realm, leaving his aura nearly at its peak.

• Heavenly Serpent Old Man and the Eight Serpent Sect Master combined the Eight Serpent Mirror and Eight Serpent Staff, summoning a Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent phantom.
• The Myriad Serpents Sea-Locking Spirit-Gathering Formation rose from the seabed and drained an underwater third-grade spirit vein to strengthen the phantom.
• True Person Budong warned Qing Chen that the Heavenly Serpent phantom might surpass the Elysian Rebirth Aspect, while the spirit-boat passengers feared for their lives.
• Qing Chen declared the enemy worthy and activated the power of his Dragon Robe in Battle Armor and Heartless Demon Aspect.
• Qing Chen broke through the limits of the middle Vajra realm as fourteen blood marks on the Pojun Battle Halberd lit up, bringing his physical aura close to the Vajra realm peak.

Qing Chen fought the Eight Serpent Sect’s Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent Phantom and proved far stronger than its defenders expected. After overpowering its attacks, he declared that its formidable appearance lacked real fighting strength and warned that none of them would escape.

• The Heavenly Serpent Old Man and the Eight Serpent Sect Master combined their Magic Treasures to summon the Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent Phantom.
• Qing Chen charged the phantom and endured its poisonous flames and icicles while cutting a deep wound into its tail, which the Heavenly Serpent Old Man healed with power from the Spirit Veins.
• Qing Chen manifested a Third Demonic Aspect and seized both serpent heads, while Wan Hun and Budong held back and the Radiant Night Palace Master and Eight Serpent Sect Master stayed wary.
• Qing Chen broke another blast of poisonous breath and told his opponents that the serpent’s realm exceeded its fighting power, warning that none of them would leave alive.

Qing Chen fought the Heavenly Serpent Old Man’s empowered Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent and countered its soul-devouring beam and copied attack. The mirror image self-destructed in a massive blast, forcing Qing Chen to put his Third Demonic Aspect between himself and the storm.

• The Heavenly Serpent Old Man drew spiritual energy from the seabed formation and united the Eight Serpent Staff and Eight Serpent Mirror to empower the serpent phantom.
• The Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent attacked Qing Chen with Poison Flood Dragon Soul-Devouring Light and a mirror image that copied his combat ability.
• Qing Chen blocked the soul-devouring beam with the Sentient Beings Annihilation Seal and deflected the mirror image’s halberd with yin-yang origin magnetism baleful intent.
• Qing Chen broke the mirror image’s halberd with the Pojun Battle Halberd, but sensed danger as the image began to swell.
• The mirror image exploded in a vast storm of spiritual light and killing intent, and Qing Chen ordered his Third Demonic Aspect to shield him.

Qing Chen survived the Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent’s devastating attack by sacrificing his Third Demonic Aspect and using the Vajra Mound to absorb the resulting energy storm. He faced down the shaken Eight Serpent Sect and left their fate hanging on whether they would submit or keep fighting.

• The Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent’s energy storm shattered Qing Chen’s Third Demonic Aspect and injured him.
• Qing Chen opened the Vajra Mound’s Sixth Layer and absorbed the entire energy storm, shielding himself with its Buddhist light.
• The Heavenly Serpent Old Man admitted that even combining the sect’s three treasures might not be enough to kill Qing Chen, while the Radiant Night Palace Master prepared to retreat.
• The Eight Serpent Sect Master lost his will to fight after realizing Qing Chen had survived an attack that would have killed him.
• Qing Chen recovered from his injuries, praised the Two-Headed Heavenly Serpent’s reserves, and challenged the Eight Serpent Sect to choose whether it wanted to live or die.

Daoist Zhaolie arrived to halt Qing Chen’s fighting with the Eight Serpent Sect, while the chapter revealed that Qing Chen’s border war was a smokescreen for Xin Bairen’s secret diplomacy. Qing Chen’s plan to recruit neighboring powers for an assault on the Cold Mountain Temple was welcomed by sects that hoped the campaign would entangle and weaken the Condensed Jade Sect.

• Daoist Zhaolie arrived and his overwhelming pressure stopped the Radiant Night Palace Master from escaping.
• Daoist Zhaolie challenged Qing Chen’s motives, claiming he had come as a witness to protect the archipelago’s mines and spirit veins.
• The chapter revealed that Qing Chen’s prolonged border war concealed Xin Bairen’s secret visits to nearby sects with promises of peace through a joint attack on the Cold Mountain Temple.
• Yin Corpse True Person and other powers agreed to exploit Qing Chen’s ambitions, hoping the Cold Mountain campaign would stretch the Condensed Jade Sect thin.

Qing Chen used his victory over the Eight Serpent Sect to demand concessions and enlist its forces for an attack on Cold Mountain Temple. After overriding Grand Elder Wan Hun’s objections, he made clear that Guangqi Island’s wishes would not affect how its territory was divided.

• Qing Chen reflected that Xuanji True Lord favored Chi Xuntian over him, but he relied on his own treasures and loyal followers.
• Qing Chen demanded Poison Python True Person, Chilin True Person’s Demon Banner, part of Guangqi Island, and the Eight Serpent Sect’s help attacking Cold Mountain Temple.
• The Eight Serpent Sect Master agreed to the first two demands but said he could not decide Guangqi Island’s fate or commit to the attack yet.
• Grand Elder Wan Hun objected to attacking Cold Mountain Temple, but Qing Chen claimed the Sect Master had already approved it.
• Qing Chen dismissed Guangqi Island’s objections and asserted that he would divide its territory as he chose.

Three months after Qing Chen seized Cold Mountain Temple’s bridgehead, his allies prepared a massive invasion while the temple divided its forces to defend against attacks on several fronts. The chapter left the Condensed Jade Sect’s fleet approaching Putu Islet as Dharma Master Huishan faced the threat to Cold Mountain Temple.

• A high-grade Spirit Boat carrying the thirty-seventh squad of the Seventh Fleet headed toward Putu Islet, with Wang Shisan’s rogue cultivators and the Iron Saber Society’s members serving together under Condensed Jade Sect supervisors.
• Wang Shisan checked the Spirit Boat’s shield after the Second-in-Command of the Iron Saber Society warned that Putu Islet was three thousand li away, while Liu Laosi worried that their former enemies still held grudges.
• Qing Chen’s alliance divided Guangqi Island’s waters among the Condensed Jade Sect, Radiant Night Palace, and the Eight Serpent Sect, and organized its forces into additional fleets to attack Cold Mountain Temple.
• Dharma Master Huishan withdrew to Earth Cold Island and assigned defenders across Cold Mountain Temple’s threatened fronts, leaving Earth Zen Island under a newly promoted late Golden Core abbot.
• Dharma Master Huishan feared Qing Chen’s assault and lamented that the conflict could have been settled through negotiation.

Xuanji True Lord learned that Qing Chen had secretly redirected forces to attack Cold Mountain Temple and then left the front to meet the Vajra Zen Sect. As Xuanji tried to contain the crisis, Qing Chen was actually traveling toward Wuji Island.

• Yuji True Person told Xuanji True Lord that Qing Chen had used the Talisman of Ad Hoc Decision to transfer reinforcements away from the Azure Sun Sect border and attack Cold Mountain Temple.
• Xuanji True Lord learned that Qing Chen had built up a large force and that Yuji did not know how the battle was going.
• Xuanji True Lord ordered Yuji to join the fighting at Little Cold Island and summon Qing Chen, but Yuji said Qing Chen had already left the Cold Mountain Sea Region.
• Yuji reported that the Vajra Zen Sect had visited Little Cold Island and requested Qing Chen's presence, prompting Xuanji True Lord to warn everyone not to offend its senior cultivators.
• Qing Chen traveled toward Wuji Island rather than the Vajra Zen Sect or the Rihai Sea Region.