Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen endured Pure Water Venerable’s overwhelming attack and confirmed how far his cultivation had advanced through decades of secluded training. He remained unable to defeat the guardian of the sixth layer, but recognized that further breakthroughs could give him a chance.

• Qing Chen burned his yang spirit and charged Pure Water Venerable, combining blood path and magnetic origin rules to clash with the water-element dragon spear.
• Pure Water Venerable’s attack hurled Qing Chen across the floor and left him gravely wounded, but Qing Chen survived the killing move.
• Pure Water Venerable began preparing an even more powerful strike after recognizing Qing Chen’s resilience.
• Qing Chen laughed as he assessed his nascent soul, immortal body, and newly condensed magnetic origin rule, confirming that his cultivation had surged during more than thirty years of training.
• Qing Chen concluded that defeating Pure Water Venerable required unsealing another layer of his spirit body or opening the fourth Brahma aperture.

Qing Chen used another Seven-Luminaries Trial to test his strength against Pure Water Venerable, then ended the fight and surveyed the World Inside the Tower after thirty-three years of growth. The world had expanded into a vast body-cultivation domain with a powerful population and military, though Qing Chen still did not know what benefits its development would bring him.

• Qing Chen fought Pure Water Venerable to refine his combat abilities and use of laws, then withdrew once he had learned enough.
• Qing Chen recalled how earlier trials punished his use of the Vajra Mound and Demon Banners with guardians wielding far stronger treasures.
• Qing Chen emerged from the trial after another thirty-three years of seclusion and inspected the World Inside the Tower.
• Qing Chen found that the tower world had grown to three thousand li across, with abundant spiritual energy and four greatly expanded forbidden lands.
• Qing Chen surveyed more than sixty thousand body cultivators, including twenty-four Vajra Realm fighters and over two thousand Boulder Realm fighters, supported by vast armies and settlements.
• Qing Chen sensed that the tower world's growth benefited him but remained uncertain about the nature of those benefits.

After thirty-three years of secluded cultivation and relentless trials, Qing Chen emerged with greatly strengthened cultivation and divine sense. He prepared to confront the officials and powerful representatives gathered at his residence, and the chapter ended as he arrived before them.

• Qing Chen watched the Twelve Demonic Calamities test the body cultivators in the tower, while their deaths and combat fed the World Inside the Tower.
• Qing Chen completed his seclusion with Nascent Soul early stage peak True Essence, Immortal Realm early stage peak physique, and formidable Demon Seed Divine Sense.
• Gao Yuliang reported that Qing Chen’s one-month deadline had been announced across six prefectures and that Su Zixuan had sent Yan Ming and Qing Xuansu away.
• Qing Chen greeted his waiting followers and learned that Dongfang Ming had returned to Qiongzhou on another assignment.
• Half a month later, Qing Chen’s guards and hundreds of Golden Core-or-higher attendees assembled at Qiong-Subduing Hall, and Qing Chen arrived through the air.

Qing Chen emerged from seclusion and convened Qiongzhou’s officials and factions, then confronted Yan Ming over his accusations against Administrative Advisor Su and the delayed unification of the spirit treasury. He ended by accusing Yan Ming of endangering Qiongzhou and asking whether he was a Southern Yue lackey.

• Qing Chen entered the Qiong-Subduing Hall to the acclaim of his guards and the assembled officials and faction representatives.
• Qing Chen took his seat and addressed the gathering, saying Qiongzhou’s situation had settled and certain matters needed to be concluded.
• Qing Chen questioned Yan Ming about accusing Su Zixuan of embezzling provincial funds and delaying the unification of the spirit treasury.
• Yan Ming defended his investigation, citing nearly three hundred million unaccounted spirit stones and complaints over depreciating old notes.
• Qing Chen rebuked Yan Ming for questioning his decrees and accused him of inciting resentment and acting as a Southern Yue lackey.

Qing Chen used his enhanced power to suppress Yan Ming and repel Qing Xuansu’s attempt to intervene. Qing Xuansu recognized Qing Chen as a possible heir to the Qing Household’s long-lost main lineage and concealed his alarm by backing down, while Yan Ming was left isolated under the pressure.

• Qing Chen unleashed his Immovable Black-Gold Baleful-Subduing Essence-Augmenting Light and used his rules to suppress Yan Ming, causing Yan Ming to drop his official seal.
• Qing Xuansu secretly attacked Qing Chen’s force field with divine sense, but Qing Chen struck back and forced him to stagger.
• Qing Chen warned Qing Xuansu about Qing Guhong and the danger of following in his footsteps.
• Qing Xuansu recalled the Qing Household’s buried history and suspected Qing Chen belonged to the exiled main lineage, deciding to conceal his fears and plan a decisive strike later.
• Qing Xuansu apologized and withdrew his resistance, leaving Yan Ming furious at being abandoned to face Qing Chen alone.

Three powerful cultivators confronted Qing Chen in the Qiongzhou Garrison Hall and demanded that he surrender the Di Jiang Demon Banner. Feng Jiuling then privately warned him that the Demon Seed Golden Lotus method would bring harmful changes at its final stages.

• Feng Jiuling, Yue Gu, and the Lesser Fate Commander revealed their overwhelming auras and identified themselves as great cultivators from powerful sects and strange ways.
• Qing Chen challenged True Lord Golden Snake for bringing the three guests without warning, while Golden Snake tried to avoid taking sides.
• Feng Jiuling claimed the Black Bird Heaven-Bearing Sect and its allies were charged with sealing traces of the Otherworld Immortal-Locking Cult, then demanded Qing Chen hand over the Di Jiang Demon Banner.
• Feng Jiuling privately praised Qing Chen's divine soul talent and warned him that advancing the Demon Seed Golden Lotus method to its final stages would bring harmful changes.

Feng Jiuling revealed that Qing Chen’s Demon Seed Golden Lotus cultivation method would make him a target of the Immortal-Locking Cult and the Heart Demon race when he attempted Spirit Transformation. Qing Chen thanked the three Great Cultivators, but privately connected their warning to the strange Heavenly Demon and ominous signs he had encountered before.

• Feng Jiuling told Qing Chen that the Demon Seed Golden Lotus would turn his foundation into material for the Immortal-Locking Cult’s Upper Three Banners and expose him to assimilation by the Heart Demon race.
• Feng Jiuling offered to explain how Qing Chen could remove the method if he surrendered the Demon Banners.
• Qing Chen calmly thanked Feng Jiuling, Yue Gu, and the Lesser Fate Commander, leaving the three Great Cultivators uncertain whether he believed them or had another plan.
• The cultivators watching below remained confused by the exchange, while Qing Chen’s subordinates watched the tense confrontation.
• Qing Chen recalled the strange Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon from his Nascent Soul tribulation and the distant gaze and oppressive premonition he had sensed, recognizing how they fit Feng Jiuling’s warning.

Qing Chen realized the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda might protect him from the Demon Seed Golden Lotus’s hidden danger and refused Feng Jiuling’s offer for the Di Jiang Demon Banner. Feng Jiuling and the other Great Cultivators threatened him, but Qing Chen stood his ground and challenged them over their conduct in Qiongzhou.

• Qing Chen asked Feng Jiuling about the Glazed Buddhist Domain, and Feng Jiuling explained that it was a leading power in the higher Star Sea and an enemy of the Nanhua Realm.
• Qing Chen connected the Glazed Buddhist Domain to his Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda and concluded that the pagoda might suppress the heart demon tribulation caused by the Demon Seed Golden Lotus Secret Technique.
• Feng Jiuling offered Qing Chen a method to resolve the technique’s hidden danger, the friendship of three sects, and a supreme-grade Blood River God-Slaying Spear in exchange for the Di Jiang Demon Banner.
• Qing Chen refused to surrender the banner, saying that his five demon banners had long been bound to his path of cultivation.
• Feng Jiuling, Lesser Fate Commander, and Yue Gu pressured Qing Chen, but he warned Feng Jiuling to watch his words and asked whether he intended to rebel in Qiongzhou.

Qing Chen activated Qiongzhou’s earth-vein formation and fortune to confront Feng Jiuling, Yue Gu, and Lesser Fate Commander, but their combined power pushed his force field back. Yan Moyou, a top-ranked expert from the Origin-Initial Devil Sect, revealed himself and ordered the three Great Cultivators to leave, leaving Feng Jiuling furious.

• Qing Chen activated the Spirit-Locking Grand Formation and drew on Qiongzhou’s fortune to empower himself.
• Feng Jiuling, Yue Gu, and Lesser Fate Commander joined forces against Qing Chen’s suppressing force field, and the hall shook under their clash.
• Yan Moyou’s concealment spell faded, and the three Great Cultivators recognized him as the Primordial Magnetism Devil Lord of the Origin-Initial Devil Sect.
• Yan Moyou told Feng Jiuling, Yue Gu, and Lesser Fate Commander to scram.
• Feng Jiuling protested that the Black Bird Heaven-Bearing Sect would not submit to the Origin-Initial Devil Sect, and Yan Moyou called him noisy.

Yan Moyou overwhelmed Feng Jiuling, Yue Gu, and the Lesser Fate Commander with a single attack, forcing them to retreat. He then demanded Feng Jiuling’s Blood River God-Slaying Spear, and Feng Jiuling defied him.

• Yan Moyou unleashed three Magnetic Origin Rule Threads, piercing Feng Jiuling’s defense and forcing all three Great Cultivators to retreat.
• Qing Chen realized he could not contend with Yan Moyou and silently cursed Ding Busan and Gong Shisan for bringing him there without warning.
• Feng Jiuling prepared to leave after recognizing Yan Moyou’s superior strength, but Yan Moyou demanded the Blood River God-Slaying Spear.
• Feng Jiuling protested that the spear belonged to the Black Bird Heaven-Bearing Sect and challenged Yan Moyou’s authority.
• Yan Moyou warned Feng Jiuling that he could take the crown of his skull immediately.

Qing Chen joined Yan Moyou in pressuring Feng Jiuling to surrender the Blood River God-Slaying Spear, driving Feng and his companions from the Provincial Governor's Residence. Qing Chen then tried to build a connection with Yan Moyou and invited him to a quiet room in the Inner Hall.

• Yan Moyou threatened to take Feng Jiuling's treasure, while Yue Gu and Lesser Fate Commander stayed out of the confrontation.
• Qing Chen backed Yan Moyou and threatened Feng Jiuling with Qiongzhou's forces if he refused to hand over the treasure.
• Feng Jiuling surrendered the Blood River God-Slaying Spear to Yan Moyou and fled with Yue Gu and Lesser Fate Commander.
• Qing Chen praised Yan Moyou, dismissed the onlookers, and invited him to speak in the Inner Hall.

Yan Moyou forced three cultivators to retreat and followed Qing Chen into the Inner Hall, leaving the onlookers to reconsider their plans. Meanwhile, Sun Wudi and Xue Qingxia arrived near the expanded Azure Wave Archipelago to prepare for Qing Chen’s Nascent Soul Ceremony.

• Qing Chen led Yan Moyou into the Inner Hall to speak privately after Yan Moyou took Feng Jiuling’s Blood River God-Slaying Spear and drove back three great cultivators.
• The gathered cultivators discussed Qing Chen’s apparent ties to the Origin-Initial Devil Sect, while Qing Xuansu decided to abandon his planned attack and report the news to his lineage.
• Ding Busan and Gong Shisan worried about the consequences of Yan Moyou’s arrival, while Feng Jiuling’s party feared Qing Chen might blame the Snake Spirit Way for helping arrange the ambush.
• Su Zixuan announced that the day’s proceedings were over, and Lin Changsheng, Xu Jiuling, and Ye Wushang escorted the guests out of the hall.
• Sun Wudi and Xue Qingxia sailed toward Cangming Island, noting the Azure Wave Archipelago’s expansion and the preparations for Qing Chen’s Nascent Soul Ceremony.

Sun Wudi and Xue Qingxia returned to Heavenly Jade Island to arrange Qing Chen’s Nascent Soul Ceremony, while True Person Budong prepared to discuss their arrival with Xuanji True Lord. The chapter ended with Xuanji True Lord meditating in a formation around the Yellow Springs Soul-Renewing Branch and other rare objects.

• Sun Wudi and Xue Qingxia recalled how Xuanji True Lord had previously delayed the ceremony plans to arrange a grand event that would raise the Condensed Jade Sect’s prestige.
• Sun Wudi said Qing Chen had emerged from seclusion, and the two hoped he might attend the ceremony in person.
• Sun Wudi and Xue Qingxia arrived at Earth Pass Island, where the Evil-Punishing Elder welcomed them on the Deputy Sect Master’s instructions.
• True Person Budong received Chi Xuntian’s report that the elders were coming to discuss Qing Chen’s Nascent Soul Ceremony and told him not to slight them.
• True Person Budong went to inform Xuanji True Lord, who sat in a formation with the Yellow Springs Soul-Renewing Branch, a finger bone, a Black Sunken Stone Fragment, and two Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones.

Xuanji True Lord prepared to hunt a Nascent Soul cultivator to reverse his flawed Dharma Nascent Soul, but first planned to attend Qing Chen’s Nascent Soul Ceremony. In Qiongzhou Governor’s Estate, Yan Moyou confronted Qing Chen over the Magnetic Origin Rule Thread and demanded an explanation, leaving him with four choices.

• Xuanji True Lord cultivated the Heaven-Seizing Nascent Soul Transformation Art, enduring its cost in lifespan as he pursued a plan to rebuild his Dharma Nascent Soul using a true Nascent Soul or grotto-heaven core.
• Xuanji True Lord received a message from True Person Budong and decided to attend Qing Chen’s Nascent Soul Ceremony before pursuing his plan.
• Qing Chen offered Yan Moyou spirit stones, access to Qiongzhou’s disciples, and other favors in thanks for his help.
• Yan Moyou rejected Qing Chen’s offer and said he had come for the Primordial Magnetic Origin Mountain and the Magnetic Origin Rule Thread.
• Yan Moyou explained that the Origin-Initial Devil Sect had enabled the Infinite Extremity Devil Palace to join the trial, then presented Qing Chen with four choices, beginning with killing Yan Moyou or being killed by him.

Qing Chen joined Yan Moyou’s Primordial Magnetism Branch of the Origin-Initial Devil Sect by exchanging a complete copy of the Primordial Magnetism Annihilation Great Art for the right to retain his Magnetic Origin Rule Thread. Yan Moyou rewarded him with a powerful spear, a favor, and a path to meet the branch master, then left behind instructions for breaking the Demon Seed Golden Lotus.

• Qing Chen chose Yan Moyou’s fourth option and became a named disciple of the Primordial Magnetism Branch.
• Yan Moyou offered to let Qing Chen keep his Magnetic Origin Rule Thread in exchange for a complete copy of the Primordial Magnetism Annihilation Great Art.
• Qing Chen copied the full technique onto a jade slip and gave it to Yan Moyou, who confirmed it contained fourteen levels and valuable arts missing from the branch’s inheritance.
• Yan Moyou gave Qing Chen the Blood River God-Slaying Spear, promised to act on his behalf once, and made him a core member eligible to seek the branch master’s guidance.
• Yan Moyou vanished from the secret chamber, leaving Qing Chen a compass and a jade slip containing the method to break the Demon Seed Golden Lotus.

Qing Chen read a jade slip from Yan Moyou revealing that the Immortal-Locking Cult’s Demon Seed Golden Lotus method turned cultivators into material for forging its Holy Son, along with possible ways to resist or escape its fate. He rejected dispersing his cultivation, accepted the danger, refined the Blood River God-Slaying Spear, and established a connection to the Origin-Initial Devil Sect before turning to outside matters.

• Qing Chen read the jade slip and learned about the Immortal-Locking Cult’s vast power and the Demon Seed Golden Lotus method’s purpose of refining countless demon-seed cultivators into its Holy Son.
• The jade slip explained that cultivators could attempt to disperse the method before Spirit Transformation at great cost, while those pursuing Spirit Transformation needed a supreme Dao-protecting treasure and would face further threats afterward.
• Qing Chen decided not to disperse his cultivation and forgave Yan Moyou for his earlier disrespect because of the jade slip’s candor.
• Qing Chen performed a preliminary refinement of the Blood River God-Slaying Spear and drew it into his Sea of Qi to nurture it.
• Qing Chen imprinted magic seals on the Dark Compass, formally connecting himself to the Origin-Initial Devil Sect, then stored the compass in the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda.

After emerging from three months of seclusion, Qing Chen learned that Qiongzhou had been peaceful and that Great Jin had recovered all seven prefectures, but he suspected Southern Yue’s sudden retreat was a trap. Meanwhile, Golden Toad Granny and White Snake True Lord faced Xiao Canglan in a nameless valley near Heavenly Abyss Pass.

• Su Zixuan and Lin Changsheng reported that Qiongzhou had been peaceful, its influential factions had paid tribute, and Qing Xuansu and Yan Ming had kept out of government affairs.
• Lin Changsheng told Qing Chen that Southern Yue had barely responded to Ye Wushang’s attacks and that Wu Gui’s army had withdrawn from Lotus Prefecture, allowing the Guanyin Tower Master to recover it.
• Qing Chen doubted the retreat, recalling the heavy losses Wu Gui and Southern Yue had endured to hold Lotus Prefecture and Tie Ming’s warning that Wu Gui was planning something major.
• Golden Toad Granny and White Snake True Lord appeared in a poison-shrouded valley and confronted Xiao Canglan.

Xiao Canglan faced envoys Golden Toad Granny and White Snake True Lord, who offered terms for a truce in the Southern Borderlands. He rejected their leverage and demonstrated his Spirit Transformation power, leaving them injured and demanding to know what they could do if he refused.

• Golden Toad Granny and White Snake True Lord told Xiao Canglan that Southern Yue and the Hundred Miao Villages had withdrawn their forces and sought a pause in the war.
• Golden Toad Granny argued that Great Jin faced threats on several fronts and proposed a truce with restored territory, retained resource rights, and reopened trade.
• White Snake True Lord demanded that Yue Hanshan or Tie Zhan and their Dao Army troops be transferred away, and that Qing Chen be stripped of his posts and punished.
• Xiao Canglan attacked with a ripple of water-path rules, shattering White Snake True Lord’s defenses and injuring Golden Toad Granny’s natal Gu Spirit.
• Xiao Canglan asked Golden Toad Granny what she could do if he refused their demands.

Xiao Canglan paused his attack after Golden Toad Granny pleaded with him to consider Great Jin’s enemies and offered to negotiate. In Qiongzhou, Ding Buxing explained that he had sacrificed nearly three hundred years of his lifespan to extend his mortal father’s life, then revealed his resentment toward Qing Chen before offering information about Wu Gui.

• Golden Toad Granny set down her bonded staff and urged Xiao Canglan to spare her and White Snake True Lord, citing Great Jin’s enemies and offering to negotiate their four conditions.
• Qing Chen arranged for Xue Yubing to find Ding Buxing and waited for him in Long Pavilion Valley.
• Ding Buxing arrived and Qing Chen noticed that his vitality was depleted despite his Dharma Nascent Soul cultivation.
• Ding Buxing told Qing Chen he had used a secret technique that burned nearly three hundred years of his lifespan to extend his mortal father’s life.
• Ding Buxing erupted in anger over the hardships and humiliations he had endured, blaming Qing Chen for stealing his opportunities.
• Ding Buxing regained his composure and said he had information about Wu Gui that Qing Chen would want to hear.

Ding Buxing told Qing Chen that Wu Gui was negotiating peace while demanding Qing Chen be removed and punished, leaving his position precarious. Ding then proposed that Qing Chen ally with the Eighth Prince through him.

• Qing Chen apologized to Ding Buxing with a fresh cup of Spirit Tea, and Ding told him the two had known each other for two hundred years.
• Ding revealed that Compiler Dongfang, Ding, and Lord Li Wenbi had delivered an imperial edict authorizing Xiao Canglan to decide the Southern Borderlands peace terms.
• Ding explained that Wu Gui and Southern Yue demanded Qing Chen be removed from office, investigated, and severely punished, while Xiao Canglan's stance remained ambiguous.
• Qing Chen suspected Wu Gui's peace negotiations concealed a scheme and feared he was being offered up for the sake of peace.
• Ding warned Qing Chen that his position was precarious, then offered to form an alliance with him on behalf of the Eighth Prince.