Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yi gained two hundred years of life by refining lead and mercury, then resolved to enter Crouching Dragon Ravine to gather the final medicine he needed for the highest-grade True Xi. True Lord Lu secured the sect master's permission, while Qin Baiyu revealed that Jiang Yi would face a further test if he survived and reached the twelfth level of Qi Refining.

• Jiang Yi formed the longevity medicine from Sun True Lead and Taiyin True Mercury, gaining two hundred years of life but still lacking Water Beneath Kan.
• True Lord Lu told Jiang Yi that gathering Water Beneath Kan would require facing danger, and he chose to enter Crouching Dragon Ravine.
• Profound Mystery True Person explained that Ji Fuyao had slain Yazi at Crouching Dragon Ravine and warned Jiang Yi of its deadly Sha Qi and dangers.
• True Lord Lu asked Qin Baiyu to open Crouching Dragon Ravine for Jiang Yi, and Qin Baiyu agreed not to interfere with his attempt.
• Qin Baiyu told True Lord Lu that if Jiang Yi survived the ravine and gathered all six medicines, he would open Gathering Grotto Continent for him as a test.
• Jiang Yi examined the Golden Paper's lifespan record, invested more than a hundred years in deducing the All-Extinctions Sword Intent, and prepared to enter the ravine without his Sleeve Pouch or [Upside Down].

Jiang Yi dismissed He Shouzheng from his Cloud-Receiving Hall post, then hired him to manage three halls at the Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool. Feng Yuan arrived with a report on the punishment of those connected to Jiang Yi’s past, leaving Jiang Yi to decide the fates of the survivors.

• Jiang Yi suppressed his cultivation at perfected tenth-level Qi Refining while He Shouzheng waited to see him.
• He Shouzheng took responsibility for neglecting Jiang Yi’s ceremonial reception and asked to be stripped of his post and expelled from the sect.
• Jiang Yi removed He Shouzheng as administrator but recruited him to manage the Precious Yang Hall, Sand-Casting Hall, and Returning-to-the-Origin Hall.
• Feng Yuan arrived from Li Peak and presented Jiang Yi with a report that the Illuminating Nether Sect and Kang Dao Clan had been punished and several people executed.
• Feng Yuan told Jiang Yi that the remaining people named in the report awaited his decision on whether to kill them or give them a future.

Jiang Yi considered the rules for severing his past as Dao Child and left the Qianji Sect’s fate to Liu Huan, then asked Feng Yuan to demonstrate his fire arts. At the Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool, Feng Yuan unleashed a vast torrent of flame that burned away millions of demon forms.

• Jiang Yi learned from Feng Yuan that the Illuminating Nether Sect had been demoted and the Qianji Sect’s future was now his to decide, but he declined to become entangled in his past.
• Jiang Yi thanked Feng Yuan for his help and asked him to demonstrate his mastery of fire arts.
• Jiang Yi revealed that he had refined Bing and Ding Fire together and formed the innate fire virtue body, surprising Feng Yuan.
• Jiang Yi and Feng Yuan flew over the Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool to test their arts on the demon forms.
• Feng Yuan plucked a flame from between his brows and unleashed a torrent that swept across the sky and burned away millions of smoke columns.

Jiang Yi demonstrated his Six Ding Fire to Feng Yuan, then weighed his cultivation deadline and the factions within the sect. At Gen Peak, Gu Changling resisted pressure to kill the Dao Child, but Martial Uncle Huang offered to take on the task himself.

• Jiang Yi showed Feng Yuan his mastery of Samadhi True Fire and revealed his own Six Ding Fire, which he used to destroy a swarm of demonic manifestations.
• Feng Yuan praised Jiang Yi’s fire art as a Dao-protecting art, then departed from Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool.
• Jiang Yi considered which peaks might support him and worried about obtaining the ingredient Water Beneath Kan at Crouching Dragon Ravine in five days.
• Martial Uncle Huang visited Gu Changling and urged him to obey True Lord Luo’s wishes by killing Jiang Yi, but Gu Changling refused to become a pawn in the dispute.
• Martial Uncle Huang told Gu Changling that he had come to ease his burden and kill the Dao Child himself.

The thick-browed Daoist accepted a deadly mission to assassinate the Dao Child in exchange for having his primal spirit sent to Eastern Victory Continent for a new life. Jiang Yi entered Crouching Dragon Ravine to seek water beneath Kan and discovered that his Divine Sense reached far more freely in the minor realm.

• The thick-browed Daoist told Gu Changling he intended to serve as the True Lord's pawn, kill the Dao Child, and seek rebirth on Eastern Victory Continent.
• The thick-browed Daoist and Gu Changling shared wine and wished each other success before parting.
• After five days of cultivation, Jiang Yi resolved to enter Crouching Dragon Ravine and left the [Upside Down] Slaying Sword with Profound Mystery True Person for Miss Xiao Qiao.
• True Lord Lu sent Jiang Yi into Crouching Dragon Ravine and explained its origins as a treasure ground formed from the Dragon Son's blood.
• Jiang Yi arrived in a temple in the minor realm and used his Divine Sense to survey a thousand li, learning of Dayu County, Cloud-Blocking River, and the Dragon King Festival.

Jiang Yi learned that the Cloud-Blocking River Dragon King demanded children as sacrifices, freed the captives, and confronted the demon. He lured the River Dragon King into an attack and struck it down with Scarlet Radiance Divine Light.

• Jiang Yi summoned a water-spirit attendant, who explained that the River Dragon King was a powerful python demon and that Dragon Head Mountain and Leopard Transformation Mountain were guarded by stronger demons.
• Jiang Yi freed the children in the temple and killed a Shrimp Soldier that had come to collect sacrifices for the Dragon King.
• Jiang Yi swept his Divine Sense across the Cloud-Blocking River, prompting the River Dragon King to attack with its Southern Winnowing Basket Water-Commanding Banner.
• Jiang Yi's golden flames burned through the River Dragon King's Heavenly Yin True Water, but the demon used the banner's wind and water power to wear down his attacks.
• Jiang Yi feigned weakness until the River Dragon King lunged to devour him, then pierced its body with Scarlet Radiance Divine Light and sent it crashing onto the riverbank.

Jiang Yi killed the Lanyun River’s python demon, took control of its underwater manor, and absorbed Dragon Son Essence Blood to begin forming the Heavenly Strategy True Dragon Body. After transforming into a flood dragon descendant, he learned of the Dragon Son Assembly at the Angry Flood Dragon Manor and considered going there to obtain more essence blood.

• Jiang Yi killed the River Dragon King, refined its body into turbid blood Qi, and ordered Yunniang to care for the young people at the temple.
• Jiang Yi retrieved the Southern Winnowing Basket Water-Commanding Banner and uprooted the underwater manor, moving it to a nearby island.
• Jiang Yi bound the surviving crab general to fetch the manor’s treasures, then absorbed Dragon Son Essence Blood and briefly transformed into a White Flood Dragon.
• Jiang Yi decided to pose as a dragon descendant and seek more essence blood, transforming into a flood dragon whose draconic might subdued the crab general.
• Jiang Yi asked the crab general how to reach the Angry Flood Dragon Manor, and it told him the Dragon Son Assembly was being held there.

A thick-browed Daoist recruited the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas to help kill Jiang Yi, while Jiang Yi traveled to the Dragon Son Assembly and killed a Shen Sea officer on the way. The Dragon Kings discussed the assignment just as Jiang Yi arrived at the Angry Flood Dragon Manor.

• The thick-browed Daoist visited the green flood dragon woman and asked the Angry Flood Dragon Manor to help find and kill a young, unusually fortunate cultivator.
• The thick-browed Daoist promised to take the demon who killed his target out of the Minor Realm, and the green flood dragon woman agreed to alert the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas.
• Jiang Yi traveled toward the Dragon Son Assembly in a carriage, absorbing water-phase spiritual substances along the way.
• Jiang Yi ordered his carriage to ram through the Shen Sea and killed a tenth-level Horned Dragon Demon that tried to stop him.
• The Dragon Kings of the Four Seas debated the thick-browed Daoist’s request and decided to proceed cautiously.
• A water demon announced that a Jiao Descendant had arrived at the Angry Flood Dragon Manor for the Dragon Son Assembly.

Jiang Yi entered the Angry Flood Dragon Manor disguised as a white flood dragon descendant, learned that an upper sect cultivator had ordered the Dragon Kings to kill a fortunate young man, and persuaded the Green Flood Dragon Maiden that he was a Dao Child. He proposed joining forces against the cultivator, leaving her tempted by the promise of escape from Crouching Dragon Ravine and wondering why the Shen Sea Dragon King had been excluded.

• Jiang Yi arrived at the underwater manor and claimed he had taken the Cloud-Blocking River from its python demon Dragon King.
• The Shen Sea Dragon King threatened to refine Jiang Yi, but the Green Flood Dragon Maiden and two chi dragons intervened, and the Dragon Kings discussed their dwindling supply of snake and python descendants.
• Jiang Yi followed the Green Flood Dragon Maiden to her bedchamber and learned that an upper sect immortal master had ordered the demons to eliminate a young man of extraordinary fortune.
• Jiang Yi identified himself as that target and presented Master Lu's Talisman Edict and World-Breaking Tokens as proof that he was a Dao Child.
• Jiang Yi proposed giving tokens to the Green Flood Dragon Maiden and the two chi dragons so they could ambush the immortal master together, and the Green Flood Dragon Maiden realized the plan excluded the Shen Sea Dragon King.

Jiang Yi persuaded Consort Yu, the Cloud Chi, and the Azure Chi Dragon to join his plan to eliminate Xuan Guang and pursue escape from the minor realm. After Xuan Guang ambushed Jiang Yi in a cloud barrier, the two fought while their allies struggled to reach them; the chapter ended with Jiang Yi trapped in the barrier and the others fearing for his survival.

• Xuan Guang grew jealous when he heard Consort Yu and the two Chi Lords were in the Bedchamber with Jiang Yi, and he resolved to kill the White Flood Dragon.
• Jiang Yi convinced Consort Yu, the Cloud Chi, and the Azure Chi Dragon that they needed the World-Breaking Tokens to escape the decaying minor realm, and they agreed to eliminate Xuan Guang first.
• Consort Yu created a mirage palace where the group waited for Xuan Guang to grow impatient, then sent Jiang Yi out as bait.
• Xuan Guang pursued Jiang Yi after hearing he had left the manor in anger, and confronted him inside the Nine-Smoke Barrier of Dense Clouds.
• Jiang Yi dropped his pretense of fear and attacked Xuan Guang with water Qi, but Xuan Guang split the tidal wave and charged him with his halberd.
• Consort Yu, the Cloud Chi, and the Azure Chi Dragon arrived at the barrier but could not break through, leaving them worried that Xuan Guang would kill Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi defeated Xuan Guang, then climbed Dragon Head Mountain in search of the Great Medicine “Water Beneath Kan.” At the summit, he triggered a vision that revealed the realm of Crouching Dragon Ravine was founded upon “An Inch of Time,” and he realized that Ji Fuyao’s dragon-slaying was the perilous trial he needed.

• Jiang Yi used his Innate Fire Virtue Body and fire techniques to kill Xuan Guang, then broke the Nine-Smoke Barrier of Dense Clouds.
• Jiang Yi agreed with Azure Flood Dragon Consort Yu, Cloud Chi, and the Azure Chi Dragon to deal with the Upper Sect immortal master, then learned the Heavenly Book confirmed he could gather Water Beneath Kan on Dragon Head Mountain.
• Jiang Yi entered Dragon Head Mountain and fought his way past increasingly dangerous snakes and pythons, including a Python Demon nearing transformation into a flood dragon.
• Jiang Yi reached the summit after two days of climbing and released his full presence, triggering a vision of brilliant light and a human figure in the sky.
• Jiang Yi realized that Crouching Dragon Ravine was founded upon “An Inch of Time” and that the place where Ji Fuyao slew a dragon held the peril he needed for his cultivation.

Jiang Yi fought Ji Fuyao's manifestation on Dragon Head Mountain and used the mortal danger to obtain Water Beneath Kan and complete the Six Harmonies Great Medicine. After condensing Supreme True Steaming, he shattered Ji Fuyao's defensive immortal barrier with his newly strengthened divine light.

• Jiang Yi released his Qi presence on Dragon Head Mountain and summoned Ji Fuyao's manifestation, whose cultivation was restricted to the Twelfth Level of Qi Refining.
• Jiang Yi tested Ji Fuyao's Three Great Immortal Arts with Dao arts, Law Artifacts, and physical attacks, but failed to overcome them.
• Jiang Yi repeatedly risked death against Ji Fuyao and obtained Water Beneath Kan after suffering grievous wounds.
• Jiang Yi returned his Divine Sense to his body and refined the Six Harmonies Great Medicine, forming a golden Dao lotus and the Life Stalk.
• Jiang Yi absorbed the Foundation Establishment Pill's Spirit Chance and condensed Supreme True Steaming.
• Jiang Yi unleashed Ding Fire Seizing Radiance Scarlet Sun Divine Light and shattered Ji Fuyao's Unified Upper Origin Immortal Barrier and Great Sun image.

Jiang Yi defeated Ji Fuyao’s manifestation at Dragon Head Mountain and confirmed his breakthrough to the eleventh level of Qi Refining with supreme True Steaming. He arrived at the Qi Sea to rescue the dragons from the Thick-Browed Daoist, then seized the Daoist after overpowering his Ren Water arts.

• Jiang Yi’s golden Dao Lotus dissolved Ji Fuyao’s seven rays of True-Settling Upper Mystery Immortal Light, and Jiang Yi realized that supreme True Steaming let him transmute the Five Phases.
• Jiang Yi fought Ji Fuyao with repeated punches, shattered the summit of Dragon Head Mountain, and outlasted the Imperial Lord’s manifestation as its remaining time ran out.
• The Thick-Browed Daoist woke from the Two Aspects Illusory Cloud Scenery Array and broke it with thirty-six drops of Ren Water.
• The Thick-Browed Daoist overwhelmed Azure Flood Dragon Consort Yu, the Azure Chi Dragon, and the Cloud Chi Dragon, destroying Consort Yu’s Profound Imagining Mirage Qi Pearl and pinning the dragons down.
• Jiang Yi arrived at the Qi Sea and challenged the Thick-Browed Daoist, who admitted he had come under orders to kill him.
• Jiang Yi’s supreme True Xi shattered all thirty-six drops of Ren Water and seized the Thick-Browed Daoist in a mighty hand.

Jiang Yi captured and interrogated Huang Yuanzhou, learning that Luo Qingya had arranged the plot to eliminate him and use the fallout to remove Gu Changling. After killing Huang Yuanzhou and advancing his cultivation plans, Jiang Yi’s discovery led into Luo Xuanming’s return to the sect, where Luo Qingya summoned him and asked why he thought he had been recalled.

• Jiang Yi subdued the Thick-Browed Daoist, rewarded Azure Flood Dragon Consort Yu and the Chi Dragon descendants, and brought his captive to Angry Flood Dragon Manor.
• Jiang Yi identified the captive as Huang Yuanzhou and pressured him into revealing that Luo Qingya of the Luo Yi had ordered the assassination, promising to preserve part of his primal spirit if it succeeded.
• Jiang Yi deduced that the plot was also meant to make him kill Gu Changling and clear the way for Luo Xuanming, then burned Huang Yuanzhou to death and took his jade key and Ren Water.
• Jiang Yi checked his cultivation at the Eleventh Level of Qi Refining and planned to gather Gang-Baleful Intent from the Ancient Mountains to strengthen his Qi Root.
• Luo Xuanming returned to South Heng Ridge after eighty years away, believing the Luo Yi intended to restore his standing after Gu Changling’s failure to challenge Jiang Yi.
• Luo Qingya welcomed Luo Xuanming and asked why he had been summoned back; Luo Xuanming declared he would obey the clan, even if ordered to contend with Jiang Yi.

Jiang Yi confronted Luo Qingya at South Heng Ridge after revealing that Huang Yuanzhou had tried to murder him, then used Lady Mysterious Maiden’s talismans to kill the Foundation Establishment elder. Luo Qingya’s Primordial Spirit was destroyed despite Gen Peak Grotto-Heaven’s attempt to intervene.

• Luo Qingya praised Luo Xuanming’s service and promised to support his advancement and prospects for high office, then discussed finding a rival to Dao Child Jiang.
• Jiang Yi arrived at South Heng Ridge with Profound Mystery True Person and was joined by Feng Yuan and Gu Changling.
• Jiang Yi told Luo Qingya that he had killed Huang Yuanzhou, who had attempted to murder him in Crouching Dragon Ravine, and said he had come to demand an explanation.
• Jiang Yi activated Lady Mysterious Maiden’s True Law Talisman, and its power stopped Luo Qingya’s attacks and overcame his defenses.
• Jiang Yi activated a second talisman when Gen Peak Grotto-Heaven tried to intervene, killing Luo Qingya and destroying his escaping Primordial Spirit with the Ding Fire Seizing Radiance Scarlet Sun Divine Light.

Jiang Yi executed Luo Qingya for plotting to kill him, then accepted Luo Xuanming’s offer to cooperate with an investigation. He visited True Lord Lu, who confirmed the Patriarch’s support for Jiang Yi’s advancement and his residence at the Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool.

• Jiang Yi dispersed Luo Qingya’s primal spirit and questioned Luo Xuanming, who condemned Luo Qingya and volunteered to assist the investigation.
• Jiang Yi asked Feng Yuan and Gu Changling to investigate the case thoroughly, and True Lord Luo accepted the execution without intervening.
• Luo Xuanming collected some of Luo Qingya’s remaining Qi presence in an Origin Gathering Bottle, which Jiang Yi accepted.
• Jiang Yi traveled to Kan Water Palace and told True Lord Lu that he had condensed Supreme True Xi from the Six Harmonies Great Medicine.
• True Lord Lu told Jiang Yi that the Patriarch had prepared materials for his next two levels of Qi Refining and approved his residence in the Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool.

Jiang Yi learned that his deep cultivation reserves would make Foundation Establishment especially difficult, but he remained determined to succeed within five years and began studying a new escape art. After Luo Qingya’s death unsettled the Eight Peaks, Shao Guansu prepared to apologize, while Jiang Yi focused on cultivating and preparing for his Upper Hall assessment.

• Jiang Yi asked True Lord Lu about Foundation Establishment and learned that cleansing his accumulated mortal substance could take far longer than five years without a fortuitous encounter.
• True Lord Luo accepted the sect leader’s decision to end the dispute over Jiang Yi and ordered the Luo Yi clan to send gifts in apology.
• After learning that Jiang Yi had killed Luo Qingya, Shao Guansu decided to present gifts and personally pay his respects at the Eternal Bright Heavenly Pool.
• Jiang Yi received messages from several peaks, prioritized the Kan Peak disciple, and cultivated for three days while reviewing his progress.
• Profound Mystery True Person told Jiang Yi that Ziwu Fire could help him overcome the mortal substance barrier and mentioned the Gathering Grotto Continent as a possible source of lost resources.
• Jiang Yi learned he would soon undergo an Upper Hall assessment and used the Heavenly Book and Golden Paper to master Divine Fire Great Escape within days.

Jiang Yi went to Primordial Beginning Palace for an assessment and encountered the Eight Peaks’ True Disciples, whose rivalries flared as they waited for him. He arrived in a grand procession and received their formal respects, leaving the assessment yet to begin.

• Profound Mystery True Person explained the authority of Upper Hall masters and the Dao Child’s power to choose halls and approve appointments.
• Jiang Yi traveled to Primordial Beginning Palace while the Eight Peaks’ True Disciples gathered for the assessment.
• Yuan Xiao questioned Shao Guansu about his dealings with Jiang Yi and decided to judge the Dao Child’s abilities for himself.
• Feng Yuan, Yuan Xiao, Pang Zhongwang, and Zhou Shiyu clashed over whether to enter the palace before Jiang Yi arrived, and Gu Changling intervened to calm them.
• Jiang Yi arrived in a carriage with Supreme True Steaming spread around him, and the True Disciples bowed and paid respects to the Dao Child.

Jiang Yi arrived at the Primordial Beginning Palace and joined the True Disciples as the Grotto-Heaven True Lord examined their cultivation. After Gu Changling received the True Lord’s guidance, Jiang Yi stepped forward to be examined himself.

• Jiang Yi greeted Xu Changyou, who led him into the hall and offered him the seat of honor.
• Xu Changyou summoned the Grotto-Heaven True Lord, whose scrutiny briefly passed over Jiang Yi without revealing his Karma.
• The True Lord selected Gu Changling, the highest-cultivated disciple, for examination with the Luosheng Treasure Mirror.
• Gu Changling’s Mysterious Yellow One-Swallow Great Grasping defeated its mirrored counterpart, and the True Lord advised him to balance his Earth Qi with Azure Firmament Gang Qi.
• When Pang Zhongwang volunteered to be examined, Jiang Yi interrupted and offered himself instead.

Jiang Yi accepted the Kun Peak True Lord’s Dao discussion and faced a trial of his Fire Techniques in the Sea-Storing Study. He recognized the test as one of Foundation Establishment-level Fire Virtue and began considering how to subdue the Tail Fire Tiger.

• Profound Mystery True Person rebuked Pang Zhongwang for defying the Dao Child, and Pang withdrew rather than risk Jiang Yi’s displeasure.
• The Kun Peak True Lord invited Jiang Yi to discuss the Dao and brought out the Sea-Storing Study, whose Artifact Spirit tested visitors’ understanding.
• The Artifact Spirit praised Jiang Yi’s mastery of Bing and Ding Fire, then asked him to place his fire in the Dragon-Tail Fuchen Bowl.
• The bowl transformed Jiang Yi’s fire into a Tail Fire Tiger, and the Artifact Spirit required him to subdue it and comprehend its meaning.
• Jiang Yi recognized the tiger as a manifestation of Fire Virtue, while Pang Zhongwang and Gu Changling doubted that a Qi Refining cultivator could pass the Foundation Establishment-level test.