Chapter Summaries

Lou Zhenxiao watched the slaughter tribulation spread across the Southern Continent as Dao Lords agreed to let their juniors contend to begin the eternal demonic tribulation in the north. Jiang Yi learned that Sui Yuzhu would soon die in Dangyin Ridge and announced he was ready to break through, but Profound Mystery True Person stopped him with something it had not yet explained.

• Lou Zhenxiao considered the competing plans of Xuanchanzi and Dingzhenzi and saw black Qi spreading from Northern Mang Ridge toward the Huai River.
• The Nine-Spirit Brahma-Mystery Dao Lord and a gray-robed Daoist agreed to leave the contest over the Sun and the start of the eternal demonic tribulation to the younger cultivators.
• Jiang Yi used the Heavenly Book to learn that Sui Yuzhu was alive but would meet a slaughter tribulation in Dangyin Ridge within days.
• Jiang Yi wondered whether Sui Yuzhu's fate and the turmoil in Northern Mang Ridge were connected to Xuanchanzi and the Zhongyi Sect's revival.
• Jiang Yi told Profound Mystery True Person that he could break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining, but Profound Mystery True Person said there was something important it had not explained.

Jiang Yi learned that his flawless Dao Inheritance could bring unpredictable tribulations, then strengthened his cultivation and Dao embryo with spiritual objects and Mingtang Qi. As dawn arrived, he prepared to descend the mountain with Senior Brother Xu and learned about the prestigious Cinnabar Essence Dharma Assembly.

• Profound Mystery True Person told Jiang Yi that his perfect Dao Inheritance could draw any kind of tribulation, and Jiang Yi decided to build a stronger foundation to withstand it.
• Jiang Yi crushed spiritual objects from Fate-Watching Peak’s storehouse and absorbed their Ding Fire essence, raising his cultivation to ninety percent and forming a post-heaven Ding Fire body.
• Jiang Yi absorbed Grandpa Yang Xun’s Mingtang Qi in an instant, bringing his cultivation to ninety-nine percent and nearing the Seventh Level of Qi Refining.
• Jiang Yi confirmed through the Supplicating the Heavenly Book that world-shocking foundations could help him endure tribulations through sheer strength.
• Jiang Yi concealed his power and packed his belongings for his first descent from the mountain with Senior Brother Xu to confiscate property and exterminate a clan.
• Profound Mystery True Person told Jiang Yi that the Cinnabar Essence Dharma Assembly gathered the four great Dao Lineages’ leading talents, who were regarded as seeds of True Lords.

Jiang Yi accepted an assignment to Lujiang and set out with Han Li after Xu Yan was injured in a duel with Zhou Fu. On the journey, Han Li explained how Dharma Lineages assessed mortal livelihoods and described the origins of the principle of manifesting the Dao and valuing life.

• Jiang Yi received the Bright Flame Mirror and Divine Fire Ring from Li Ruohan, then registered for the Lujiang assignment at Qigong Court.
• Han Li told Jiang Yi that Xu Yan could not accompany him because Zhou Fu had challenged him to a fight that left Xu Yan injured.
• Jiang Yi agreed to travel with Han Li, and the two flew toward Lujiang without gathering other junior cultivators.
• Han Li explained that Dharma Lineages were assessed on Dao Talents, resources, and mortal populations, and said some lineages had been destroyed for failing major assessments.
• Han Li said the Immortal Dao had adapted the older principle of manifesting the Dao and valuing life, then recast it as a claim that the Immortal Dao valued life while condemning the Demonic Dao.

Han Li and Jiang Yi investigated Hanyang Prefecture’s suspected clans by summoning its Earth God and City God, who revealed that disasters had reduced the mortal population and pointed to Swan Mountain as a site of bloodshed linked to the Huang and Wang clans. Han Li rode into the city to probe the clans, while Jiang Yi waited outside and felt a sudden throbbing between his brows.

• Han Li taught Jiang Yi that Dharma Lineage cultivators periodically rooted out rebellious clans and warned him to watch and learn during his first assignment.
• Han Li summoned Hanyang Prefecture’s Earth God, who reported floods, epidemics, and a roughly twenty-percent decline in the mortal population over five years.
• Han Li summoned the City God, who identified blood Baleful Intent and death Qi at Swan Mountain and connected the site to the Huang and Wang clans.
• Han Li decided to enter the city and test the clans’ strength, instructing Jiang Yi to stay outside and seek reinforcements if he did not return by late the next day.
• Jiang Yi waited in the City God temple, then felt the space between his brows throb and wondered whether something had changed during Han Li’s trip.

Jiang Yi used the Heavenly Book to investigate a coming calamity in Hanyang Prefecture and sacrificed the Divine Fire Ring to speed up the divination. While awaiting the result, he learned from Profound Mystery True Person about the ancient Devil Ancestor who had claimed [Sheji], then received a list of forces tied to the danger.

• Jiang Yi divined that Hanyang Prefecture faced a great calamity, identified Cold Pine Lodge and Swan Mountain as dangerous locations, and learned that Han Li faced no mortal danger.
• Jiang Yi asked which Law Artifact would best reduce the divination time and sacrificed the Divine Fire Ring, cutting the wait to six hours.
• Jiang Yi reasoned that neither his life nor Han Li's was in danger and decided to await the Heavenly Book's answer before choosing what to do.
• Profound Mystery True Person explained how an ancient Demonic Dao ancestor had attained [She] and [Ji], raised [Sheji], and helped make earth-phase inheritances rare.
• The Heavenly Book revealed that the calamity involved the ancient Demonic Cultivator Dharma Lineage Nether Spring Sect, Lujiang's Huang and Wang clans, the Illuminating Nether Sect, a hidden Dao Lineage, and Fengdu.

Jiang Yi learned from Profound Mystery True Person how incense offerings and named divine stations could summon the essence Qi of the Divine Dao. He created and named a mighty spirit, Jiang Shang, and sent it to investigate the Huang and Wang Clans in Hanyang Prefecture.

• Jiang Yi reviewed how the Nether Spring Sect had secretly supported the Huang and Wang Clans and decided he would enter the conflict without personally confronting them.
• Jiang Yi asked Profound Mystery True Person about incense offerings, and the Cat Master explained the Divine Dao, its nameless spirits, and how names, talismans, and incense could summon them.
• Jiang Yi realized he could use his Dharma Lineage to summon a spirit and investigate Hanyang Prefecture remotely.
• Jiang Yi wrote the words Profound Mystery True Person dictated, and a mighty spirit of condensed essence Qi answered his summons.
• Jiang Yi named the spirit Jiang Shang, shaped it into a white-haired old man, and ordered it to investigate the Huang and Wang Clans.

Jiang Yi used Jiang Shang to recruit Fang Han by revealing the Wang Clan’s role in his family’s ruin and promising him an opportunity at Swan Mountain, while the Wang and Huang clans prepared to pursue the hidden Dao Lineage at Fengdu. The chapter ended with the clans’ leaders believing Fengdu could bring them Foundation Establishment and the True Lord’s station.

• Jiang Shang appeared in Fang Han’s dream, exposed his secret martial arts practice, and told him the Wang Clan had caused the flood that destroyed his family’s home.
• Fang Han begged Jiang Shang for cultivation techniques and agreed to join the Wang estate’s trip to Swan Mountain in two days for a promised opportunity.
• Jiang Yi enjoyed manipulating lower cultivators and directed Jiang Shang to approach Hong Yi at the Huang estate as well.
• Wang Yang questioned Huang Yulang about the Qianji Sect’s investigation, and Huang said he had sent its disciple Han to Cold Pine Lodge to contain the threat.
• Huang Yulang persuaded Wang Yang to continue their plan to open Fengdu, claiming its hidden Ghost Dao lineage offered a path to Foundation Establishment and even the True Lord’s station.
• Huang Yulang showed Wang Yang the ancestral teaching that predicted the Huang Clan would produce a Foundation Establishment True Person.

Huang Zishang revealed that the Illuminating Nether Sect had spent two centuries arranging for the Huang and Wang families to open Fengdu, with plans to use calamities and blood sacrifices to create the entities needed to enter. Jiang Yi learned that the common people were being used as living sacrifices and rode to Swan Mountain to investigate.

• Song Chou met Huang Zishang outside Hanyang Prefecture, and Huang explained the prophecy and the sect’s long plan to claim Fengdu for a Foundation Establishment opportunity.
• Huang Zishang said he had prepared to enter Fengdu by capturing a vengeful ghost or evil entity, while Song Chou warned that the scheme would kill many common people.
• Huang revealed that True Person Kang had secured a Dharma Lineage Talisman Edict from the Qianji Sect by lending resources, and that the Qianji Sect would become a Kang Clan branch household.
• Jiang Yi consulted the Heavenly Book about traveling to Swan Mountain and received a middling fortune, then learned from Profound Mystery True Person that the Nether Spring Sect was a remnant of the Ghost Dao destroyed by the Zhongyi Sect.
• Jiang Yi learned that the Huang and Wang families had been buying servants for blood-sacrifice rituals, and he rode the Yin Horse to the foot of Swan Mountain.

Jiang Yi followed the Heavenly Book to Gao Family Village and found the Nether Spring Sect preparing villagers for its blood-food ritual. He saved the selected villagers with Bing Fire and confronted the sect as the Cat Master urged him to burn them all.

• Jiang Yi reached Swan Mountain and saw the bloody Sha Qi left by years of the Huang and Wang Households' offerings to the Nether Spring Sect.
• Jiang Yi followed the Heavenly Book's guidance into Gao Family Village, where Profound Mystery True Person sensed a serious haunting and urged him to practice Bing Fire.
• A blood-robed Daoist selected villagers, including a little girl, for the Nether Spring Sect's Livestock-Cutting Ritual Ceremony while Old Gao failed to stop him.
• Jiang Yi's Bing Fire killed the two black-robed figures who were about to shave and cage the little girl and other captives.
• Jiang Yi entered the shrine clearing with Profound Mystery True Person and unleashed nine flood dragons of Bing Fire as the Cat Master urged him to kill the Nether Spring Sect members.

Jiang Yi fought the Nether Spring Sect’s blood-robed Daoist at Gao Family Village, using Bing and Ding Fire to destroy his smoke and blood banners. After Senior Brother Fang ambushed him and Jiang Yi broke free, another youth appeared and killed Fang, leaving the Nether Spring Sect disciples unsure whether the newcomer was an immortal or a demon.

• The blood-robed Daoist threatened Jiang Yi and summoned Seven Sha Smoke and corpse puppets, but Jiang Yi’s Bing Fire burned through them.
• The blood-robed Daoist trapped Jiang Yi with the Nine Nether Mother-Child Blood Banner, but Jiang Yi used Ding Fire to pierce and destroy it.
• Senior Brother Fang attacked Jiang Yi from behind with the Impermanence Great Hand Seal, but Jiang Yi broke free using his body-refining strength.
• Senior Brother Fang fled toward the Nether Spring Sect disciples, but a lithe youth caught him and stamped him into the ground before burning him to ash.
• The Nether Spring Sect disciples watched the youth approach, wondering whether he was a demon or an immortal.

Jiang Yi refined his Bing Fire cultivation and comprehended Red Firmament Void True Qi while preparing to seek the Fire Virtue opportunity in Fengdu. As the Myriad Lives Birthday Banquet approached, Huang Zishang revealed that the Nether Spring Sect had been used to conceal the Illuminating Nether Sect’s plans, and a great calamity began over Hanyang Prefecture.

• Jiang Yi returned to Gao Village’s ancestral hall, collected the spoils from the blood-robed Daoist, and gave Profound Mystery True Person more fierce baleful entities to eat.
• Jiang Yi explained that he had come to Swan Mountain because he could not stand ancient Demonic Cultivators swaggering around, then used Pure Qi to clear the ancestral hall’s ghostly atmosphere.
• Jiang Yi digested the Turbid Qi, Sha Qi, blood Qi, and ghost Qi, bringing his Bing Fire Primordial Essence close to matching his Ding Fire Primordial Essence.
• Jiang Yi comprehended Red Firmament Void True Qi, a powerful offensive art that could melt lesser Daoist arts and methods.
• Jiang Yi suppressed his near-advancement to the Seventh Level of Qi Refining, intending to seek the Fire Virtue opportunity in Fengdu before facing the Divine Gate tribulation.
• Huang Zishang told Song Chou that True Person Kang had used the Nether Spring Sect as cover for opening Fengdu, just as lightning struck ahead of the planned Myriad Beasts Grand Ceremony in Hanyang Prefecture.

Jiang Yi realized that a Foundation Establishment True Person of the Illuminating Nether Sect had manipulated the Huang and Wang Households and sacrificed countless commoners to lure out [Fengdu]. At Cold Pine Lodge, Huang Yulang and Wang Yang prepared to free Huang Yangde and open [Fengdu], believing their plan would make the Huang Household a Foundation Establishment Dao Clan.

• Huang Yulang dressed for the Wang Household patriarch’s birthday and anticipated carrying out a plan to raise his clan’s status.
• Jiang Yi detected Foundation Establishment-level Ding Fire influencing Huang Yulang and concluded that an Illuminating Nether Sect True Person had orchestrated the disaster and used commoners as bait.
• Jiang Yi resolved to pursue the opportunity within [Fengdu] by his own choice, while Profound Mystery True Person reflected on how cultivation could erode a Dao heart.
• Wang Yang arrived at Cold Pine Lodge and told Huang Yulang that the banquet food had been dosed with Blood Paste and that their plan was ready.
• Huang Yulang and Wang Yang entered the Buddhist hall, where Huang Yangde’s spirit appeared and repeatedly asked whether the Huang Household would produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Fang Han witnessed the release of Huang Yangde as the Huang and Wang households’ ghostly plot erupted into catastrophe across Hanyang Prefecture. Huang Zishang revealed the clans’ crimes and burned their leaders, while the summoned [Thunder Pivot] appeared in the sky.

• Fang Han followed the Mighty Spirit Essence Qi into Cold Pine Lodge’s rear courtyard and hid in a pool filled with corpses as Huang Yulang released the trapped yin Sha Qi.
• Jiang Yi and Profound Mystery True Person watched the ghostly outbreak and discussed the Huang and Wang households’ long scheme to cultivate the [Ghost Dao].
• Huang Zishang arrived over Hanyang Prefecture and let the ghost creatures slaughter residents before he shattered them with his bronze bell.
• Huang Zishang accused the Huang and Wang clans of raising ghost creatures and colluding with the Nether Spring Sect, then used Dragon Transformation True Qi to burn their households and kill Huang Yulang and Wang Yang.
• Thunder essence gathered in the sky and formed an immense ancient gate as the [Thunder Pivot] answered the summons.

Jiang Yi and Profound Mystery True Person waited for [Fengdu] to open while Kang Congyun’s plan to seize its opportunity was stopped by the powerful Fuli Zi. As Swan Mountain was uprooted by the Great Talisman Sect’s Exquisite Dharma Tower, Profound Mystery True Person feared that Fuli Zi was luring them into a trap.

• Huang Zishang entered the Huang Household residence in Hanyang Prefecture and waited for [Thunder Pivot] to scatter the ferocious Baleful Intent so he could pursue the opportunity inside [Fengdu].
• Jiang Yi asked Profound Mystery True Person about the power of the Immortal Dao, and the cat explained that Dao manifestations could not easily be stopped and described the feared Dao Lord of Exalted Virtue, Boundless Dharma, and Tranquility.
• Kang Congyun prepared to claim the [Fengdu] opportunity, but Fuli Zi appeared, severed his Karmic connection, and ordered him to stay in his cave abode for ten years.
• Fuli Zi warned Kang Congyun not to touch [Fengdu] and identified himself as a cultivator residing in Mingcang Great Marsh.
• Jiang Yi and Profound Mystery True Person watched as the Great Talisman Sect’s Exquisite Dharma Tower descended and uprooted Swan Mountain, prompting the cat to suspect that Fuli Zi was trying to catch them.

Jiang Yi learned that Fuli Zi, one of the Great Talisman Sect’s ten True Disciples, had targeted Fengdu and sought to open it with Thunder Pivot. Fuli Zi persuaded Lou Zhenxiao to help retrieve the Six Ding True Fire and use it to test promising cultivators, leaving Lou considering the proposal.

• Profound Mystery True Person explained that Fuli Zi was a wealthy, troublesome True Disciple who collected Children of Destiny and planted Fortuitous Encounters.
• Swan Mountain was torn from the earth, and Profound Mystery True Person realized Fuli Zi intended to use Thunder Pivot to open Fengdu.
• Fuli Zi met Lou Zhenxiao in the Exquisite Dharma Tower and revealed that he had arranged for Fengdu to develop over many years.
• Fuli Zi told Lou Zhenxiao that Fengdu contained a remnant seed of Six Ding True Fire, and proposed testing cultivators by exposing them to it.
• Fuli Zi offered Lou Zhenxiao an Eastern Victory Continent Dao Register and asked for the Talisman Edict to gather cultivators’ life Qi for the trial.

Lou Zhenxiao destroyed the baleful creatures stirring the [Thunder Pivot] and opened [Fengdu], while Jiang Yi received the golden bell and became the new master of [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven] and successor to a shattered Metal Position. Fuli Zi then led the way into [Fengdu], intending to find Lady Mysterious Maiden a husband for a ghostly union.

• Lou Zhenxiao used his Dao arts to destroy the vicious baleful creatures and Thunder General, then pushed the [Thunder Pivot] gateway into Swan Mountain and opened [Fengdu].
• Jiang Yi discussed joining a Sect-tier lineage with Profound Mystery True Person, who admitted that Jiang Yi's Dao Inheritance had cost him some Destiny Qi.
• Profound Mystery True Person gave Jiang Yi the golden bell and named him the new master of [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven] and successor to the shattered Metal Position.
• Ji Fuyao sensed [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven] choose a new master and suppressed a disturbance caused by the Supreme Metal Position.
• Fuli Zi entered [Fengdu] and called out to Lady Mysterious Maiden, promising to find her a husband for a ghostly union.

Fuli Zi opened the gateway to [Fengdu] and negotiated with Lady Mysterious Maiden about finding her a husband through a dangerous trial. As the Three Lives Stone rose, Jiang Yi spotted the name Jiang Shang on it.

• Fuli Zi entered [Fengdu], where he reached the Central Palace of Mysterious Capital and called on Lady Mysterious Maiden.
• Gui'er demanded that any prospective husband for Lady Mysterious Maiden meet high standards of appearance, lineage, and destiny.
• Fuli Zi proposed using the six ding true fire to attract Dao talents and find a man with the fate pattern of the [Yin Heavenly Son].
• Lady Mysterious Maiden agreed to let candidates attempt the eighteen levels of [Fengdu], and Gui'er announced that anyone who passed and left his name on the Three Lives Stone could earn her attention.
• The Three Lives Stone rose from below [Fengdu], and Jiang Yi saw the name Jiang Shang at its bottom.

Jiang Yi discovered that he had inherited [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven], but Profound Mystery True Person warned that he could not access its treasures until Foundation Establishment. Meanwhile, Lady Mysterious Maiden considered whether a ghost marriage with a [Young Lord] who inherited the Metal Position could free her, and the resulting marriage offer drew suitors from across the lands.

• Jiang Yi examined the treasures within [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven], but Profound Mystery True Person warned him to reach Foundation Establishment before trying to unlock its layers.
• Jiang Yi returned to Gao Family Village to meditate and prepare for the seventh level of Qi Refining.
• Gui'er warned Lady Mysterious Maiden that the Daoist's ghost-marriage proposal might be a trap, but Lady Mysterious Maiden said she sensed a [Young Lord] who had inherited the Metal Position.
• Lady Mysterious Maiden wondered whether that [Young Lord] might be the answer to her ghost marriage and a way to escape her confinement.
• News spread that a noble lady was recruiting a live-in husband with a dowry said to grant a man the station of a True Lord.
• Jiang Yi found Sect Leader Liu Huan and Grandpa Yang Xun at the ancestral hall and asked whether they had come to marry into the lady's household.

Jiang Yi explained the trials within [Fengdu] to Liu Huan, who decided to try for the mysterious lady’s husband selection. At the name-registration wall, Liu Huan learned his fate ranked only third from the bottom, while a purple-robed youth revealed that someone named Shang had attained the highest grade of Sun and Moon Complete fate.

• Liu Huan returned Han Li, whose mind was clouded by Sha Qi, and told Jiang Yi that a Foundation Establishment True Person had likely orchestrated the trouble around Swan Mountain.
• Jiang Yi described how entrants had to register their fate Qi at the wall and survive the trials inside [Fengdu] to reach the lady at the top of the Heaven-Reaching Giant Tower.
• Liu Huan ordered Yang Xun to watch Han Li and had Jiang Yi guide him to the name-registration wall.
• Liu Huan registered his name and learned that his Earth-and-Wood Fate ranked third from the bottom among the nine grades.
• A purple-robed youth said the highest grade was Sun and Moon Complete, then revealed that a person named Shang had recently attained it.

Liu Huan avoided provoking a powerful young cultivator, while Huang Zishang was ordered to compete for a Foundation Establishment opportunity in [Fengdu] and kill a rival whose name contained “Shang.” At Gao Family Village, Jiang Yi helped Yang Xun overcome his Seventh Level Divine Gate, then consulted the Heavenly Book about his own breakthrough.

• Liu Huan recognized the purple-robed youth's gray-robed attendant as a Twelfth Level Qi Refining cultivator and concealed his anger until they left.
• A youthful attendant told Huang Zishang that his Foundation Establishment opportunity remained in [Fengdu] and ordered him to kill anyone there whose name contained “Shang.”
• Yang Xun told Jiang Yi to leave Northern Mang Ridge if he gained the chance, then confessed that guilt and regrets weighed on him.
• Jiang Yi used Ding Fire to clear Yang Xun's distracting thoughts and help him reach Great Mastery of the Seventh Level of Qi Refining.
• Jiang Yi asked the Heavenly Book to reveal the tribulation and survival chances for his own Seventh Level breakthrough.