Chapter Summaries

Yue Hanshan formally established the Golden Scale Alliance and ordered its leaders to prepare a charter, while the former enemies of Jiaogu Island, Guixu Sea Tower, and Thousand Puppet Sect began arranging trade and cooperation. Qing Chen left with Shushan, focused on finding the missing twelfth level of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art, as the factions departed into a new balance of power.

• Yue Hanshan announced the Golden Scale Alliance, assigned responsibilities to Hui'an, Qing Chen, and Yaoyue, and summoned Hui'an and Qing Chen to Heavenly Abyss Pass after the charter was completed.
• Hui'an left with Wuchen and Yuan Chen, while Sea-Calming True Lord, Old Man Tianchi, and Fire Jiao True Lord agreed on shipping, puppet, and Profound Yin Iron Marrow deals.
• True Lord Budong warned Qing Chen to guard against Jiaogu Island and capture the two True Lords from Penglai Spirit Island, and Qing Chen revealed that Tie Ming, Wei Ting, and Gong Shisan were already pursuing them.
• Qing Chen recalled Yue Hanshan's offer of the twelfth level of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art and wondered how Xiao Canglan had learned so much about him and his forces.
• Ye Wushang teased Yinji about her interest in Qing Chen, then caught up with Qing Chen as he left with Ye Wushang and Heavenly Shu True Lord.
• Heavenly Shu True Lord observed the departing factions and remarked that a new balance of power had emerged.

Yaoyue and Qing Chen made plans to strengthen their positions after the Golden Scale Alliance formed, while Qing Chen pursued Yunwu and Chonghe. As Wei Ting caught up, Yunwu betrayed Chonghe to secure his own escape.

• Yaoyue agreed with Guanyin that the Blissful Union Tower should draw closer to Qing Chen and Hui'an, and sent Guanyin and Yinji to Cangming Island.
• Qing Chen revealed that he had sent Tie Ming, Gong Shisan, and Wei Ting after Yunwu and Chonghe while he followed their trail.
• Wei Ting shattered Chonghe’s water barrier, forcing the two fleeing True Lords to fight for their lives.
• Chonghe trapped Wei Ting with his Jade Water Glazed Glass Lamp while Yunwu attacked Chonghe with fourth-tier talismans and fled.
• Chonghe recalled the blood oath he and Yunwu had sworn as young cultivators, then laughed as Yunwu abandoned him.

Yunwu escaped by shedding his body and flying away as a Nascent Soul, while Wei Ting defeated and killed True Lord Chonghe. As Yunwu threatened Qing Chen’s loved ones and outran his pursuers, a five-colored light raced toward him at astonishing speed.

• Yunwu used Penglai’s Nascent Soul Shedding Shell and Spirit Wing Evasion Technique to escape Wei Ting, Tie Ming, and Gong Shisan, vowing revenge against them and their kin.
• True Lord Chonghe burned his lifeblood to drive a counterattack with the Jade Water Glazed Glass Lamp, but Wei Ting shattered the treasure with the Heavy Water Axe Art.
• The fourth-tier talismans overwhelmed Chonghe, and Wei Ting beheaded him and sealed his weakened Nascent Soul in a jade box.
• Yunwu taunted his pursuers and threatened to slaughter everyone Qing Chen cared about as his spirit wings carried him farther away.
• A five-colored light bearing the phantoms of five Flood Dragons raced toward Yunwu at a speed of two hundred and forty thousand li an hour.

Qing Chen captured Yunwu's Nascent Soul and revealed that the Demon Lotus Sect's retreat was a feint. He redirected his allies toward Penglai Spirit Island to wipe it out and claim its resources, while preserving its original techniques as he had promised an old acquaintance.

• Qing Chen caught Yunwu's fleeing Nascent Soul with Primal Magnetism Divine Light-Bind and absorbed him into the Di Jiang Demon Banner.
• Qing Chen returned to Tie Ming, Gong Shisan, and Wei Ting, showing them Yunwu's trapped Nascent Soul and praising their contributions.
• Qing Chen ordered the group to change course for the Penglai Archipelago, revealing that the announced return to the Azure Wave Archipelago had been a feint.
• Qing Chen declared that Penglai Spirit Island must be wiped out and offered the three allies whatever they seized there.
• Qing Chen required them to leave the original cultivation techniques and mystic arts for the Demon Lotus Sect, and Tie Ming and Gong Shisan immediately flew toward Penglai.

News of the Golden Scale Alliance’s formation and the destruction of Penglai spread across the Gouwu Sea and into Great Jin, revealing the alliance’s immense military strength. The Heaven-Observing Divine Directorate raised the Gouwu Sea’s Upper Eight Cave Spirit Islands to second place among the Ten Heterodox Ways and renamed them the Golden Scale Alliance.

• Rogue cultivators in Paradise Ward Market discussed the battle between Master Hui'an and Blood River Old Devil, including Sect Leader Qing surviving Hui'an’s Mount Sumeru Great Annihilation Finger.
• The rogue cultivators recounted how Sect Leader Qing and the Demon Lotus Sect destroyed Penglai Spirit Island with the Six Demon Banner, leaving no survivors.
• Golden Core cultivators at Guixu Sea Tower discussed the Golden Scale Alliance’s leadership, its growing army, and the possibility that Great Jin would bring the Gouwu Sea under direct rule.
• A registrar at the Heaven-Observing Divine Directorate assessed the Vajra Zen Sect and Demon Lotus Sect’s strength and noted that the alliance could mobilize nearly six hundred thousand fighting troops.
• The registrar moved the Upper Eight Cave Spirit Islands from sixth to second place in the Ten Heterodox Ways ranking, renamed them the Golden Scale Alliance, and noted that its two leading sects individually merited the ranking.

Hui'an celebrated his place on the Heavenly Gang Nascent Soul True Lord Ranking while Xiao Canglan confronted Yue Hanshan over the Golden Scale Alliance. Xiao Canglan revealed that Qing Chen’s powerful cultivation technique could cripple him without its missing final portion, which the Immortal Dynasty held at an enormous merit cost.

• Wuchen told Hui'an that he ranked one hundred and fiftieth on the Heavenly Gang Nascent Soul True Lord Ranking, and Hui'an ordered the sect to carve his appraisal onto its stone stele.
• Wuchen told Hui'an that Qing Chen had been excluded from the ranking after the Profound Mirror Sky-Hunting Bureau objected to counting a middle-stage cultivator whose strength relied on external aids.
• Xiao Canglan questioned Yue Hanshan about claiming the Gouwu Sea might become the Immortal Dynasty’s ninth circuit, then made him recount the formation of the Golden Scale Alliance.
• Xiao Canglan promised to recommend Yue Hanshan to govern the Lingnan circuit after the current disturbances were settled, provided he strengthened his power of laws.
• Yue Hanshan warned Xiao Canglan that Qing Chen was difficult to control, but Xiao Canglan explained that Qing Chen was searching for the final portion of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art.
• Xiao Canglan revealed that the complete Brahma Demon-Refining Art was in the Immortal Dynasty’s Central Authority Treasury and cost three hundred major merit points, while Qing Chen risked cultivation deviation without it.

Xiao Canglan discussed how Qing Chen’s need for merit left him under the Immortal Dynasty’s control, while Yan Moyou and the Nine Nether Aristocratic Clans searched for the Nine Netherworlds Ancient Bloodline Forbidden Grounds. News of Qing Chen’s strength and lineage stirred plans against him, and Tie Ce raised his name before Tie Hengjiang.

• Xiao Canglan told Yue Hanshan that Qing Chen would need major merit to obtain the Brahma Demon-Refining Art and could only earn enough by serving the Immortal Dynasty and fighting the Demon Race.
• Yan Moyou learned Qing Chen had withstood Hui’an’s Mount Sumeru Great Annihilation Finger and approved of the Branch Master’s judgment as the Nine Nether Aristocratic Clans searched for the forbidden grounds.
• Qing Yuanjia received a report that Qing Chen was a surviving remnant of the Qing Household’s main lineage and resolved to kill him inside the forbidden grounds.
• Tie Hengjiang ordered Tie Ce to reinforce Dragon-Severing Pass and request supplies from the Immortal Dynasty after the Azure Wolf King Tribe withdrew.
• Tie Ce asked Tie Hengjiang whether he still remembered Qing Chen.

Tie Ce persuaded Tie Hengjiang to send Tie Zhan to meet Qingyao and Qing Chen after learning of Qing Chen’s strength and influence in the Gouwu Sea. As rival powers plotted to recruit or discredit Qing Chen, he recovered from his battle with Hui’an and confronted the barrier to advancing his cultivation before summoning two Hehuan Sect tower masters.

• Tie Ce told Tie Hengjiang that Qing Chen had survived Hui’an’s attack and commanded nearly four hundred thousand Dao soldiers, and Tie Hengjiang agreed to send Tie Zhan to the forbidden ground.
• Ji Yan ordered Ding Buxing to go to the Gouwu Sea and secure Qing Chen’s allegiance in exchange for continued support of the Golden Scale Alliance.
• Kuang Sha ordered Fire Jiao True Lord to spread recordings of Qing Chen’s cordial dealings with them to stir suspicion in the Gouwu Sea and Great Jin.
• Qing Chen recovered from the injuries caused by his battle with Hui’an but realized he could not advance beyond Nascent Soul middle-stage peak without the twelfth level of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art.
• After Jia Daoyi reported that two Hehuan Sect tower masters had arrived, Qing Chen ordered them brought to him.

Qing Chen examined Yinji and Guanyin’s cultivation techniques before questioning Yinji about the factions that had plundered Penglai and their intelligence network. He then asked what she knew about the two archipelagos once controlled by Penglai Spirit Island.

• Qing Chen used his magic power to examine Yinji and Guanyin’s cultivation techniques, then concluded that both complemented his own cultivation.
• Yinji admitted that she had brought five hundred Blissful Union Tower disciples to help plunder Penglai when it fell.
• Yinji described the strength, leaders, resources, and growing alliance of the Guixu Sea Tower, the Thousand Puppet Sect, and Jiaogu Island.
• Qing Chen questioned Yinji about the Blissful Union Tower’s intelligence network, and she insisted it gathered information only to protect itself.
• Qing Chen asked Yinji whether she knew about the two archipelagos once directly controlled by Penglai Spirit Island.

Qing Chen gave the Mistveil Archipelago to the Blissful Union Tower to draw it into an alliance with the Demon Lotus Sect, then met with Lin Changsheng, who had reached the Nascent Soul early stage. He rewarded his disciple with the next layers of his cultivation technique and a powerful corpse-thunder palm art.

• Qing Chen assigned the Penglai Archipelago to the Demon Lotus Sect and offered the Mistveil Archipelago to Yaoyue’s Blissful Union Tower, asking for the handover within a month.
• Yinji accepted the gift on Yaoyue’s behalf, and Qing Chen invited Guanyin to visit Jade Rock Mountain again.
• Yinji teased Guanyin about Qing Chen’s strength as they left Demon Lotus City.
• Lin Changsheng thanked Qing Chen for helping him attain the Dao and demonstrated his corpse Nascent Soul body, revealing that he had refined thirty percent of the Yin Marrow Bone Pearl’s origin corpse qi.
• Qing Chen gave Lin Changsheng the tenth and eleventh layers of the Mysterious Yin Corpse-Refining Secret Technique and the Yinkui Corpse Thunder Palm.

Qing Chen rewarded Lin Changsheng with cultivation guidance and a powerful magic treasure, then named him a Devil Lord and entrusted him with overseeing the Demon Lotus Sect. Lin Changsheng reported the sect’s forces and began detailing the Cangming Army’s strength.

• Qing Chen instructed Lin Changsheng to comprehend the Great Dao rules within corpse qi and warned him not to fixate on refining the Ten Thousand Souls Banner.
• Qing Chen gave Lin Changsheng the Azure-Scale Dagger-Axe, and Lin Changsheng refined it and tested its power.
• Qing Chen recalled Lin Changsheng’s two centuries of cultivation under him and named him the Demon Lotus Sect’s Longevity Devil Lord.
• Qing Chen said Lin Changsheng was the only one who could truly oversee the sect on his behalf and asked him to report its strength.
• Lin Changsheng reported that the Demon Lotus Sect had 77,243 cultivators, including eighty-one Golden Core cultivators, and described the 300,000-strong Cangming Army and its Golden Core and pseudo-Nascent Soul officers.

Lin Changsheng reported the Demon Lotus Sect’s enormous forces, resources, and inherited techniques to Qing Chen, then assessed its standing and growing threats in the Gouwu Sea. He urged the sect to conceal its strength, build alliances, and concentrate its best resources on advancing Qing Chen’s cultivation.

• Lin Changsheng detailed the Demon Lotus Sect’s warships, spirit stones, fortune talismans, provisions, medicines, materials, and cultivation legacies, including the gains from Penglai Spirit Island.
• Qing Chen praised Lin Changsheng’s stewardship and told him to guard the sect’s estate and its accumulated wealth.
• Lin Changsheng assessed the sect’s combat strength, True Lords, Dao Soldiers, territory, and resources, comparing them with the Vajra Zen Sect.
• Lin Changsheng warned that Hui'an, allied factions including the Guixu Sea Tower, and Heavenly Abyss Pass posed dangers to the Demon Lotus Sect.
• Lin Changsheng urged Qing Chen to befriend distant powers, confront nearby threats cautiously, and focus the sect’s resources on Qing Chen’s cultivation, then knelt and kowtowed.

Lin Changsheng revealed that he had secretly amassed a vast stockpile of demon beast corpses and blood-path treasures for Qing Chen and proposed expanding the purchases across the Golden Scale Alliance. Qing Chen approved the plan but warned him to screen future acquisitions for hidden traps.

• Lin Changsheng presented Qing Chen with records showing purchases worth 1.24 billion low-grade spirit stones, including demon beast corpses and blood-path treasures.
• Lin Changsheng admitted that he had bypassed the Blood Hall’s authority to build the stockpile through the Battle Hall and General Affairs Hall.
• Lin Changsheng proposed establishing a permanent Golden Scale Alliance purchasing station to gather resources from across the Gouwu Sea for Qing Chen’s cultivation.
• Qing Chen praised Lin Changsheng’s initiative and accepted the value of the supplies for replenishing his demon banners.
• Qing Chen warned Lin Changsheng that enemies might tamper with purchased goods and ordered him to screen acquisitions carefully, while marking any especially valuable items that might be compromised.

Qing Chen appointed Lin Changsheng Vice Sect Leader of the Demon Lotus Sect and considered turning him into a living corpse before deciding his disciple was more valuable alive. Half a month later, Qing Chen cleared the fifth layer of the Seven-Luminaries Immortal Realm trial and resolved to keep strengthening himself.

• Qing Chen appointed Lin Changsheng Vice Sect Leader and instructed him to manage the sect, continue acquisitions, and gather resources for Qing Chen.
• Qing Chen requested spirit crystals and spirit stones while Lin Changsheng eagerly accepted the responsibility and returned to his cave abode.
• Qing Chen considered refining Lin Changsheng into a living corpse because of his rare Corpse Nascent Soul Body and Netherworld Spirit Body, but decided to let him live and prove his worth.
• Half a month later, Qing Chen defeated the fifth-layer Pure Water Venerable in the Seven-Luminaries Immortal Realm trial after a six-hour battle.
• Qing Chen assessed his improved combat strength, recognized he still fell short of Hui'an's power, and continued the trial.

Qing Chen entered the Sixth Layer and fought Thunderclap Arhat, whose lightning attacks pushed him to use his Blood River God-Slaying Spear and a pseudo-domain. The chapter left Qing Chen facing Thunderclap Arhat’s enormous, mantra-empowered lightning dragon.

• Qing Chen entered the Sixth Layer and found an endless sea of thunder, where Thunderclap Arhat rose to challenge him.
• Thunderclap Arhat struck Qing Chen with a lightning bolt, and Qing Chen escaped with Five Elements Escape Void.
• Qing Chen summoned the Blood River God-Slaying Spear and used the Five-Dragon Carriage Talisman to attack Thunderclap Arhat from behind, but the Arhat blocked the thrust with his Thunder God Chisel.
• Thunderclap Arhat unleashed a vast lightning net, and Qing Chen countered with a spear-based pseudo-domain by fusing rules.
• Thunderclap Arhat invoked Thunder Sound Prison Suppression and formed a giant purple lightning dragon that grew stronger as it chanted the six-syllable mantra.

Qing Chen cleared the sixth layer after a brutal, twenty-hour battle with Thunderclap Arhat, then entered the seventh and faced the terrifyingly fast Arhat Fengchi. Fengchi’s saber strikes wounded Qing Chen, leaving him to wonder how many more his body could endure.

• Qing Chen used the Lawless Blood Seal to break Thunderclap Arhat’s lightning dragon and injure him.
• After fighting for twenty hours, Qing Chen defeated Thunderclap Arhat and cleared the sixth layer, though he was badly wounded.
• Qing Chen paid three thousand high-grade spirit stones to enter the seventh layer and found Arhat Fengchi waiting in an empty gray-white space.
• Qing Chen tried to flee, but Fengchi appeared behind him and struck his spear with the Autumn Water Chan Saber, sending him flying.
• Fengchi’s next saber strike forced Qing Chen to block again, and a later slash grazed his shoulder as Qing Chen struggled to evade his speed.

Qing Chen fought Arhat Fengchi for hours, enduring devastating wounds while his blood-path comprehension and recovery strengthened. As Fengchi unleashed a lethal barrage, Qing Chen suddenly experienced a breakthrough in understanding.

• Qing Chen attacked Arhat Fengchi despite recognizing the Arhat's mastery of two wind-path Rules Threads.
• Over ten hours, Fengchi struck Qing Chen 137 times, but Qing Chen repeatedly charged back and managed to wound him seven times.
• Qing Chen's wounds began healing faster as he fought, and Fengchi realized he was gaining blood-path insights through the battle.
• Fengchi launched a sudden, deadly assault, slashing Qing Chen across his legs, chest, flank, and back.
• Under the pressure of Fengchi's barrage, Qing Chen experienced a flash of understanding in his sea of consciousness.

Qing Chen gained enlightenment about the Blood Path while fighting Arhat Fengchi, then used vast resources and Fortune Rules to condense a complete Blood Path Rules Thread. He emerged from cultivation far stronger, with his Blood Path advancement complete.

• Qing Chen realized that the Blood Path embodied blood loss and recovery, healed rapidly, and struck Arhat Fengchi hard enough to wound his hand and nick his saber.
• Qing Chen ended the sparring session and returned to the secret chamber inside Jade Rock Mountain.
• Qing Chen fed mountains of corpses and Blood Path treasures to the Six Demon Banners, using their refined essence alongside spirit stones and Fortune Spirit Crystals to advance his Blood Path Rules.
• Qing Chen swallowed the Fortune Rules contained in a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone, and his three strands of Blood Path Rules began forming a Rules Thread.
• Qing Chen completed and condensed a full Blood Path Rules Thread, his cultivation rose considerably, and he celebrated his breakthrough.

The Golden Scale Alliance convened its first council to discuss its future structure and petitioning the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty for official ranks and stipends. Wuchen set the Alliance’s initial rank requests and moved the meeting on to the situation in the Gouwu Sea.

• Yinji raised the sinking of her merchant ships near Jiaogu Island, and Gu Yuanzi did not answer her accusation.
• Wuchen took charge of the council while Ye Wushang remarked that he would rather spar with Qing, who was in seclusion.
• Lin Changsheng arrived and rebuffed Daoist Kumu’s attempt to learn whether his master had issued any decrees.
• Wuchen listed the council’s four matters and asked the True Lords to discuss ranks and stipends from the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty.
• After the True Lords argued over appropriate ranks, Wuchen used the Vajra Mantra to calm them and proposed requesting substantive Principal Fifth Rank, Subordinate Fourth Rank, and Principal Fourth Rank posts.

Yinji revealed that a late fourth-tier Three-Headed Black-Tailed Snake on Thousand Snake Island threatened the Star Sea Region, prompting Lin Changsheng to offer troops while the alliance turned to filling its vacant eighth seat. The debate focused on whether Nangong Lie and Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City should be admitted, with Wuchen left to weigh the competing arguments.

• Yinji presented the Gouwu Sea’s regions and disclosed the Three-Headed Black-Tailed Snake’s presence, growing strength, and likely role in repeated beast tides.
• Yinji warned that powerful Primordial Spirit Demon Race clans might stand behind the threat, while Lin Changsheng offered to send Cangming Army cultivators to the Star Sea Region.
• Wuchen opened discussion of the Golden Scale Alliance’s vacant eighth seat, and Dingxu proposed Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City.
• Yinji and Lin Changsheng argued that the city lacked a qualified Nascent Soul True Lord, but Kumu said Nangong Lie had joined it and met the requirement.
• Yinji and Lin Changsheng condemned Nangong Lie’s background, while Ye Wushang threatened him; Gu Yuanzi defended his military record and potential value to the alliance.