Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xun completed a teleportation network linking Seatown Immortal City with the South Sea’s four other great fortresses, strengthening the region’s defenses. After receiving a cave residence from Monarch Qian Chuan, he left the newly built city and set out for Oblivion River Island.

• Zhou Xun and Wang Lingfeng successfully tested a Teleportation Array by teleporting a Tier 2 demon crab between Seatown Spirit Island and Seatown Immortal City without harming it.
• Monarch Qian Chuan and Zhou Xun tested the array themselves, then returned to Seatown Spirit Island with Wang Lingfeng.
• Over the next half year, Zhou Xun completed four more arrays at the South Sea’s great fortresses, finishing the teleportation network.
• Monarch Qian Chuan praised Zhou Xun’s work, gave him a cave residence at the new Seatown Immortal City, and heard him announce his intention to leave for Oblivion River Island.
• Zhou Xun departed the next morning, flying away on his improved Upper-Grade Thunderclap Wings.

Zhou Xun arrived at Oblivion River Island, his new Tier 4 Middle-Grade abode, and reunited with Jiang Wanning and his old acquaintances who had come to help develop it. He invited them to cultivate on the island and began considering a reward for Jiang Wanning, whose efforts had prepared the island for his sect members and disciples.

• Zhou Xun arrived at Oblivion River Island and found its Spiritual Qi denser than Seatown Spirit Island's.
• The Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle and Feng Zhong welcomed Zhou Xun and told him that Jiang Wanning was overseeing construction with help from Thousand Talisman Sect disciples.
• Jiang Wanning, Thousand Talisman True Man, Cao Feiyu, Wen Yue, Li Daniu, and Luo Yuancheng greeted Zhou Xun, who assessed their cultivation progress.
• Cao Feiyu explained that Zhou Xun's victory had expanded Southern Sea territory by three million li and protected Heaven Talisman Island from the Demon Race.
• Zhou Xun offered his guests cave residences on Oblivion River Island and told Luo Yuancheng to stay and cultivate there.
• Zhou Xun thanked Jiang Wanning for developing the island and considered her devotion to the Jiang family as he began to decide how to reward her.

Zhou Xun inspected his new cave abode on Oblivion River Island and decided to protect the estate with the powerful Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array. He began activating the formation, but its final deployment had not yet been shown.

• Zhou Xun invited Jiang Wanning to recruit capable juniors from her clan to serve on the island and then toured his cave abode with her.
• Zhou Xun admired the cave abode's Tier 3 High-Grade Flesh Bloom Lotuses and reunited with the Wind-Guiding Butterflies, feeding them spirit elixir.
• Jiang Wanning left to oversee construction, while Zhou Xun considered the island's defenses and chose to install his Tier 4 Upper-Grade Five Clouds Purple Lightning Array.
• Zhou Xun placed the array flags around Oblivion River Island, set the array plate on the mountain, and began activating the formation.

Zhou Xun completed the Mountain Protection Grand Formation on Oblivion River Island and began connecting the island to the Spirit Mastery Sect and the Eastern Wasteland. He arrived at the Spirit Mastery Sect to establish a Teleportation Array, where Azure Canopy requested that its disciples be allowed to use the route and Song Yiqing welcomed him.

• Zhou Xun activated the Mountain Protection Grand Formation, impressing the residents of Oblivion River Island, then concealed it and distributed access tokens.
• Zhou Xun planned Teleportation Arrays linking Oblivion River Island with the Spirit Mastery Sect and the Eastern Wasteland, along with an entrance to the Heavenly Star Grotto.
• Zhou Xun set up the island-side Teleportation Array for the Spirit Mastery Sect and built a guarded teleportation hall for a future connection to the Eastern Wasteland.
• Two months later, Zhou Xun arrived at the Spirit Mastery Sect with Feng Zhong and told Azure Canopy he intended to connect it to Oblivion River Island for Song Yiqing.
• Azure Canopy asked Zhou Xun to let Spirit Mastery Sect disciples use the connection to hunt demons and obtain contract beasts, and Zhou Xun deferred the decision until he spoke with Song Yiqing.
• Song Yiqing welcomed Zhou Xun and told him she had reached the Mid-Stage Core Formation Realm while studying the Spirit Mastery Scripture and hoping to help him.

Zhou Xun visited Song Yiqing and his spirit beasts, then began relocating the teleportation arrays and concealment formation. After setting up and testing a new array, he confirmed it worked, leaving the original cross-realm array dismantled for relocation to Oblivion River Island.

• Zhou Xun praised Song Yiqing’s Crimson Flame and gave his Blackscaled Armadillo and Azure Golden Dragon matching Tier 4 demon cores to help them break through.
• Zhou Xun told Song Yiqing he planned to link the Spirit Mastery Sect with Oblivion River Island and move the Eastern Wasteland teleportation array to his cultivation abode.
• Zhou Xun dismantled and stored the Five Elements Spirit Illusion Array, then carefully took apart the original cross-realm teleportation array and stored its Profound Void Crystal and spirit jades.
• Zhou Xun spent two days setting up his own teleportation array in the cave.
• Zhou Xun sent a restrained demon monkey through the new array and confirmed it returned unharmed, proving the array worked.

Zhou Xun completed the teleportation routes linking Oblivion River Island, Forgetful River Lake, and Heaven Han City, then welcomed True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord to his Central Continent home. He helped them return to the Eastern Wasteland for the first time in nearly a century and invited them to rest at Forgetful River Lake before visiting their old friends.

• Zhou Xun finished rebuilding the Teleportation Array to the Eastern Wasteland and moved the Heavenly Star Grotto entrance into his cave abode.
• True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord visited Oblivion River Island, where Zhou Xun served them Spirit Mist Tea and gave them tea to take away.
• True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord explained that they wanted to return to the Eastern Wasteland and see True Person Pill Cauldron and South Peak True One.
• Zhou Xun gave them tokens for the Teleportation Arrays connecting Oblivion River Island, Forgetful River Lake, and Heaven Han City.
• Zhou Xun led True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord through the array to Forgetful River Lake, then invited them to rest there before going to Heaven Han City.

Zhou Xun welcomed True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord to Lakeheart Island, where they saw the recovering Spiritual Qi and enjoyed his spirit tea and Stillheart Lotus. They discussed the Eastern Wasteland’s recovery and the fight against the ghost mist before True Lord Tian Ci returned to Heaven Han City.

• Zhou Xun led True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord out of the Teleportation Array and showed them Lakeheart Island’s abundant spiritual plants and insects.
• Zhou Xun explained that Spiritual Qi and heaven-and-earth essence had been returning since the ghost mist erupted, and that True Person Xing Yue had reached Tier 4 and achieved the Nascent Soul.
• Zhou Xun summoned Wei Qiuxin and asked her to prepare high-grade Crimson Spirit Dragonfish for his guests.
• Zhou Xun took the two visitors to Stillheart Pavilion, where they tasted his Tier 4 Spirit Mist Tea and Stillheart Lotus seeds.
• Zhou Xun told the guests that more than two-thirds of the ghost mist across the Eastern Wasteland had been resolved, and they offered to help.
• True Lord Tian Ci stayed at Forgetful River Lake for two days, then returned to Heaven Han City while Zhou Xun remained on Lakeheart Island.

True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord returned to the Eastern Wasteland and reunited with South Peak True One and True Person Pill Cauldron after a hundred years apart. They gathered in South Peak True One’s cave abode to share tea and catch up on their years away.

• True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord traveled from Forgetful River Immortal City to Heaven Han City through the new teleportation network.
• The two visited South Peak True One’s Daoist temple and sent word that old friends had arrived.
• South Peak True One and True Person Pill Cauldron recognized True Lord Tian Ci’s voice and hurried to welcome their visitors.
• True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord revealed their identities, and the four friends reunited emotionally.
• South Peak True One served Zhou Xun’s Tier 4 spiritual tea and asked the visitors to recount their experiences and Nascent Soul breakthroughs.

True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord recounted how they reached the Nascent Soul Realm, while South Peak True One and True Person Pill Cauldron reflected on their own limited time. The story then shifted to Eastern Qi City’s growing threat from nearby Lands of Ghost Mist, where True Person East Leaf was monitoring the northeast site.

• True Lord Tian Ci explained that he had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm without a Nascent Soul Pill after leaving the Eastern Wasteland with little lifespan remaining.
• Ironside True Lord said Brother Ji had extended his life with a Top Grade Tier 3 Longevity Pill and later obtained a Nascent Soul Pill for him during the Southern Sea war.
• South Peak True One and True Person Pill Cauldron acknowledged their regret about lost opportunities but accepted that they had only ten or twenty years left.
• Eastern Qi City grew into one of the Eastern Wasteland’s largest immortal cities after joining the teleportation network, but three Lands of Ghost Mist appeared nearby.
• True Person East Leaf asked his fifth disciple Zongyuan about the northeast ghost mist while leading ten Foundation Establishment cultivators on a monitoring mission.

Ghost mist erupted across the Eastern Wasteland, killing guards and threatening human territories, so Zhou Xun called for a Cultivator Alliance to resist it. As he set out to inspect the danger, the Eastern Sun Sect’s Core Formation cultivators gathered to discuss the crisis.

• True Person East Leaf tried to flee with his disciples when the ghost mist churned, but it engulfed him after Wu Zongyuan was killed.
• Xu Shaoqing, Xing Huaian, and Wei Qiuxin told Zhou Xun that ghost mist across the Eastern Wasteland was spreading faster and attacking human territories.
• Zhou Xun ordered messengers to invite every sect with Core Formation cultivators or above to an alliance assembly in Forgetful River Immortal City in a month and a half.
• Zhou Xun left Forgetful River Lake to inspect the ghost mist near Eastern Qi City.
• Four Core Formation cultivators of the Eastern Sun Sect discussed the outbreak after True Person Dongping investigated the mist and found it too dangerous to enter.

Eastern Sun Sect debated how to save Eastern Qi City from the advancing ghost mist, while Zhou Xun arrived to investigate it himself. After learning the mist had reached eighteen thousand li from the city, he prepared to enter and assess its strength.

• True Person Dongping rejected an attack on the ghost mist, and the sect discussed seeking Oblivion River True Lord’s help.
• Zhou Ping delivered Oblivion River True Lord’s decree calling the Eastern Wasteland sects to an alliance meeting in Forgetful River Immortal City on the fifteenth day of the ninth month.
• Zhou Xun arrived in Eastern Qi City, learned the nearest ghost mist was eighteen thousand li away, and rewarded the cultivator who gave him the news.
• Zhou Xun reached the ghost mist and saw that its ghosts were far stronger than those at White Cloud Market.
• Zhou Xun decided to send his avatar into the ghost mist to investigate.

Zhou Xun reached the source of the ghost mist, destroyed the creatures gathering there, and temporarily sealed the crack feeding it. He then assembled the Eastern Wasteland’s major factions to unite against the threat, and their representatives awaited his arrival.

• Zhou Xun flew into the ghost mist, killed the swarms of ghost creatures with lightning, and temporarily sealed the crack at its source.
• On the fifteenth day of the tenth month, powerful cultivators from the Eastern Wasteland arrived at Forgetful River Immortal City for Zhou Xun’s alliance meeting.
• Zhou Xun met with True Lord Tian Ci, Ironside True Lord, and True Person Xing Yue, the other remaining Nascent Soul Cultivators in the Eastern Wasteland.
• Wei Qiuxin reported that all the faction representatives had arrived, and Zhou Xun headed to the Forgetful River Great Hall.
• True Person Yu Yuan, True Person Xingqiu, and True Person Qian Ye discussed the alliance as its representatives gathered.
• An announcement declared that Oblivion River True Lord had arrived.

Zhou Xun gathered the Eastern Wasteland’s sects and revealed that the ghost mist was growing stronger, proposing an alliance and Tier 4 War Flying Skiffs to fight it. Several sect leaders supported the plan, while the gathering’s response remained underway.

• Zhou Xun introduced True Lord Tian Ci and Ironside True Lord, explaining that both had returned to help fight the ghost mist.
• Zhou Xun warned that seventeen ghost mist sites remained unsealed and that the growing disaster could eventually overwhelm even Tier 4 Arrays.
• True Monarch Yu Yuan asked how cultivators could fight inside the ghost mist despite its suppression of their power.
• Zhou Xun proposed forming an alliance and using Tier 4 War Flying Skiffs, which he knew how to refine, to attack ghost creatures and seal the sites.
• Star Mound True Lord and True Person Yu Yuan declared their sects’ support for the alliance, and other attendees voiced support as well.

Zhou Xun established the Eastern Wasteland Cultivator Alliance to organize the factions against the Ghost Mist and assigned its leaders, forces, and contributions. He left True Lord Xing Yue to guard Eastern Qi City, arranged for Tier 4 lightning talismans and War Skiffs to be made, and planned to bring the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle and the others into the fight.

• The factions formed the Eastern Wasteland Cultivator Alliance, named Zhou Xun its leader, and made True Lord Tian Ci, Ironside True Lord, and True Lord Xing Yue deputy leaders.
• Zhou Xun set the alliance's first-wave army and Ghost Mist fees, then paid ten million spirit stones himself to lead by example.
• Zhou Xun sent True Lord Xing Yue to guard Eastern Qi City and ordered him to retreat and report if a Tier 4 ghost appeared.
• Zhou Xun gave True Lord Tian Ci a Tier 4 lightning talisman method and the Thunder Essence Crystal needed to craft talismans effective against the ghost race.
• Zhou Xun gave Ironside True Lord the War Skiff refinement method and asked him to oversee the vessels' construction.
• Zhou Xun prepared to return to Oblivion River Island to bring the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle and the others to the Eastern Wasteland.

Zhou Xun returned to Oblivion River Island and reunited with Wang Erniu, who wanted to go back to the Eastern Wasteland to see his family. Zhou Xun gave him access to the island’s teleportation array, while saying he would remain behind and would need Erniu’s help later.

• Zhou Xun returned to Oblivion River Island and saw that its spiritual fields and medicinal gardens had been planted.
• Jiang Wanning told Zhou Xun that Wang Erniu had been waiting to see him, and Zhou Xun welcomed his old friend.
• Wang Erniu explained that Nine Swords True Lord had kept him from joining the West Desert war until he advanced to Nascent Soul.
• Wang Erniu said he wanted to return to the Eastern Wasteland to see Xue'e, Shun'er, and the others, and Zhou Xun agreed.
• Zhou Xun gave Wang Erniu a token for the island and warned him to use a Teleportation Talisman with the long-distance array.
• Wang Erniu prepared to teleport home, while Zhou Xun stayed behind and asked him not to hurry back because he would need his help.

Zhou Xun arranged to return to the Eastern Wasteland with Feng Zhong and the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle to deal with the ghost mist. Wang Erniu reunited with Lin Xue'e and his family, and the peace of their reunion brought him the breakthrough opportunity he had long awaited.

• Zhou Xun told the Crimson Noon Spirit Turtle and Feng Zhong about the ghost mist and asked them to return to the Eastern Wasteland with him; both agreed.
• Wang Erniu arrived at Forgetful River Lake and reunited with Lin Xue'e, promising to stay with her.
• Wang Shun welcomed his father, who offered him an Essence Crystallization Pill, but Wang Shun said Zhou Xun had already prepared pills for the family.
• Wang Erniu gathered with his sons, grandchildren, and Lin Xue'e, and their reunion filled the longing that had weighed on his heart.
• Wang Erniu sensed the barrier in his heart-lake break and realized his chance to advance had arrived.
• On Oblivion River Island, Zhou Xun summoned Jiang Wanning.

Zhou Xun left Jiang Wanning to guard Oblivion River Island and traveled to the Eastern Wasteland with Feng Chong, Crimson Noon, and Luo Yuancheng. There, Wang Erniu began advancing to the Nascent Soul Realm, and Zhou Xun supplied the Spiritual Qi and world primordial energy he needed to form a Sword Infant.

• Zhou Xun gave Jiang Wanning the formation control token and left her to guard Oblivion River Island with the Thousand Echo Bugs and Spirit-Attracting Butterflies.
• Zhou Xun took Feng Chong, Crimson Noon, and Luo Yuancheng through the Teleportation Array to the Eastern Wasteland.
• Zhou Xun recognized that Wang Erniu was beginning his breakthrough and brought his companions to watch; Xing Huaian, Xu Shaoqing, and other cultivators also gathered.
• Zhou Xun introduced Feng Chong and Crimson Noon as Tier 4 Demon Emperor mounts and Luo Yuancheng as the group’s Sixth Junior Brother.
• When Wang Erniu’s breakthrough faltered from a lack of world primordial energy, Zhou Xun detonated more than a dozen Top-Grade Spirit Stones to supply it.
• Wang Erniu formed a Sword Infant bearing his own face, completing the first stage of his advancement.

Wang Erniu overcame the lightning and inner demon tribulations to become a Nascent Soul True Lord, strengthening the Eastern Wasteland during the ghost mist outbreak. After celebrating with Zhou Xun, he revealed that his tribulation had added destructive intent to his sword intent but that he could not advance the Sword Shadow Unification Technique further.

• Wang Erniu used his Sword Infant to withstand all nine bolts of tribulation lightning, then shattered the inner demon illusion and completed his Nascent Soul advancement.
• Wang Erniu thanked Zhou Xun for helping him and promised to repay the thirteen Top-Grade Spirit Stones Zhou Xun had spent.
• Xu Shaoqing, Xing Huaian, Luo Yuancheng, Wang Shun, and Lin Xue'e congratulated Wang Erniu before Zhou Xun sent the observers away to reflect on what they had witnessed.
• Wang Erniu told Zhou Xun that the lightning tribulation had given him a trace of destructive intent to add to his sword intent.
• Wang Erniu said he could not derive the Sword Shadow Unification Technique beyond its current level, leaving Zhou Xun disappointed.

Zhou Xun and Wang Erniu discussed the ghost mist, which could only be suppressed, while six Spirit Transformation cultivators coordinated efforts against the Netherworld invasion. Grandmaster Yun Ku told Dan Xiong Hai that Zhou Xun had become a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator and sent him back to the Eastern Wasteland with a formation to help.

• Zhou Xun told Wang Erniu that the ghost mist could be suppressed but not eliminated because it leaked through fissures connecting the realms.
• Fang Jiuzun and the other Spirit Transformation cultivators discussed the ghost mist invasion, and Ji Wanren agreed to command the forces in the Western Desert.
• Grandmaster Yun Ku met with Dan Xiong Hai and recounted Zhou Xun's advancement and victory over the Purple Flood Dragon.
• Dan Xiong Hai asked whether he could return to the Eastern Wasteland, and Grandmaster Yun Ku agreed, giving him the Five Elements Devil Subduing Formation for Zhou Xun.
• Dan Xiong Hai asked whether the Emptiness Seal and Tathagata Seal could also be passed on to Zhou Xun.

Zhou Xun arranged for Ironside True Lord to forge three Tier 4 War Skiffs and supplied the materials. After months of work, Ironside True Lord completed the first skiff’s assembly, while Zhou Xun’s main body returned to Lakeheart Island to cultivate.

• Zhou Xun visited Ironside True Lord and asked how his study of the War Skiff had progressed.
• Ironside True Lord said he had mastered the design, and Zhou Xun gave him enough materials to make three skiffs.
• Ironside True Lord and his disciples forged the skiff’s components as Zhou Xun arranged for more spiritwood to be collected.
• Ironside True Lord spent two months forging the five-hundred-zhang keel, then assembled the other components with help from hundreds of artifact forgers.
• Ironside True Lord provisionally completed the first War Skiff in the third month, while Zhou Xun’s main body returned to Lakeheart Island after running short of Tier 4 array materials.