Recaps

Wang Ba defeated the three Great Bodhisattvas attacking the Ruins of Zhangshi, but Buddha Lord Tianshang intervened from afar and the monks vanished before he could learn what had happened. After the battle, Wang Ba secured Gai True Person’s invitation to the Cloud-Heaven Realm and the Lord of the Still Cave’s promise to aid him.

• Wang Ba overpowered the West Great Bodhisattva and South Great Bodhisattva after capturing the Northern Great Bodhisattva, while observers outside the Ruins of Zhangshi marveled at his strength.
• The West Great Bodhisattva formed a hand seal, prompting Buddha Lord Tianshang to point toward Wang Ba from the distant Reclining Buddha.
• The Ruins of Zhangshi began to tremble as an ancient consciousness stirred, and Buddha Lord Tianshang’s light then enveloped the monks and made them disappear.
• Wang Ba thanked the cheering cultivators, then met Gai True Person and the Lord of the Still Cave in the void outside the ruins.
• Gai True Person invited Wang Ba to the Cloud-Heaven Realm, and the Lord of the Still Cave agreed to support the Ruins of Zhangshi and formed an alliance with him.

After the Ruins of Zhangshi repelled the Supreme True Buddha, Wang Ba rewarded its defenders and learned that the ruins might be the corpse of an immortal from the Second Boundary Sea. He began to suspect that the hidden core was using cultivators to nourish itself.

• Wang Ba praised Cheng Lianzi for confronting Bodhisattva Dust and gave him a supreme-grade Dao Treasure; Cheng Lianzi vowed to kill Zhijing Bodhisattva or die trying.
• Wang Ba rewarded Yin Tianzhi with a supreme-grade Dao Treasure and distributed lesser rewards to the other defenders.
• Wang Ba warned that the Supreme True Buddha would return better prepared and urged the cultivators to coordinate their varied methods.
• While helping repair the formations, Wang Ba found the stone beneath the ruins extraordinarily hard and asked why the place was called the Ruins of Zhangshi.
• Cheng Lianzi explained that his sect's records described an immortal from the Second Boundary Sea whose corpse drifted through the Boundary Sea, and said his patriarch had found a mysterious horn in the ruins.
• Wang Ba connected the ruins' core, its demand for cultivators' recognition, and his own expulsion from the horn's ocean, then suspected the being within the ruins was feeding on the cultivators.

Wang Ba confirmed that the horn reacted to the hidden presence within the Ruins of Zhangshi, then traveled to the Cloud-Heaven Realm. There, Bai Liaochan welcomed him and revealed that he was close to a breakthrough.

• Wang Ba tested the Laowen Sect patriarch’s horn and sensed the same force that had rejected him from the core of the Ruins of Zhangshi, then departed for the Cloud-Heaven Realm.
• Buddha Lord Tianshang told the Great Bodhisattvas to select the Future Buddha Son quickly and eliminate the threat of the Cloud-Heaven Realm before he left the Boundary Sea.
• The Great Bodhisattvas reported that Zhijing Bodhisattva had been eliminated from the Future Buddha Son trial, and Buddha Lord Tianshang said he would personally deal with True Person Taiyi and the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm.
• Wang Ba inspected Sea-Cutting Cliff and the Cloud-Heaven Realm before meeting Bai Liaochan outside the realm.
• Bai Liaochan tested Wang Ba’s strength with a finger strike and admitted he had hoped to gain insight into his own imminent breakthrough; Wang Ba encouraged him, and they went to meet Bai Liaochan’s teacher.

Wang Ba asked Gai True Person and Bai Liaochan to help free the cultivators trapped in the Sea of Boundary Turmoil, but learned that breaking Sea-Cutting Cliff could endanger the Four Great Realms. After agreeing to consider another route, he asked to visit Buddha Lord Tianyin, and Gai True Person took him toward the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm.

• Wang Ba met Gai True Person and heard his warning that human cultivators should not grow too close to Primordial Gods and Devils.
• Wang Ba explained that his family, sect, friends, and descendants were trapped in the dying Sea of Boundary Turmoil, then asked Gai True Person and Bai Liaochan to help open Sea-Cutting Cliff.
• Gai True Person refused and revealed that the Four Great Realms depended on Sea-Cutting Cliff for their supply of Primal Chaos Source Substance.
• Bai Liaochan suggested freeing the trapped cultivators through the Boundary Sea Vortex at the Reclining Buddha, and Wang Ba agreed to consider that approach after Buddha Lord Tianshang ascended.
• Wang Ba asked to visit Buddha Lord Tianyin for guidance on Supreme True Buddha Dharma Methods, and Gai True Person agreed to escort him to the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm.

Wang Ba visited the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm with Gai True Person to seek Buddha Lord Tianyin’s guidance on the Supreme True Buddha’s methods. Tianyin explained how the Supreme True Buddha’s Mahayana teachings had been distorted, and Wang Ba ended by asking whether Tibo was responsible.

• Gai True Person told Wang Ba that Tianyin had once held off the Supreme True Buddha with the Ten Thousand Buddhas Formation, but had exhausted himself in the process.
• Yanpoluo welcomed Wang Ba and Gai True Person into the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm and led them through its thousand small worlds toward Tianyin.
• Wang Ba explained the Buddhist conception of Lesser, Middle, and Greater Thousand Worlds as they traveled to Tianyin’s temple on Xumi Mountain.
• Several monks challenged Wang Ba for studying the Supreme True Buddha’s methods, but Tianyin quieted them and explained that the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm followed the Hinayana path.
• Tianyin said the Supreme True Buddha’s Mahayana teachings were authentic in origin but had been misapplied, and Wang Ba asked whether Tibo had altered their core.

Wang Ba learned how Tibo and Immortal Lord Lu He died and how Tibo’s teachings spread into the Supreme True Buddha, then discovered that the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm’s mysterious future Buddha Lord was an old acquaintance. The chapter ended as Kongchanzi arrived at Xumi Mountain and greeted Wang Ba, revealing that the two had connected mentally.

• Wang Ba read the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm’s records, which said Tibo and Immortal Lord Lu He both died in their battle and that Tibo’s śarīra and the True Emptiness Staff came to the realm.
• Buddha Lord Tianyin explained that Tibo had promoted Mahayana Buddhism and called himself the True Buddha, whose doctrine later spread as the Supreme True Buddha; Wang Ba and Gai True Person discussed Buddha Lord Tianshang’s possible ascension and the danger he posed.
• Wang Ba released a captured Arhat and proposed that reversing the Buddhist School’s Four Great Element Laws might restore the minds of Supreme True Buddha monks; Buddha Lord Tianyin agreed to have a cultivator study the matter.
• Buddha Lord Tianyin summoned Xinyuan, whom Wang Ba recognized from the Little Cang Realm, but Yanpoluo clarified that Xinyuan was not the future Buddha Lord and that the chosen figure was preparing for a destined encounter.
• The ninefold heavens shattered above Xumi Mountain as a dazzling monk descended amid Buddhist manifestations; Wang Ba recognized him as Kongchanzi, and Kongchanzi greeted him by name.

Wang Ba met Kongchanzi, whom Buddha Lord Tianyin had chosen as the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm’s future leader, and asked Tianyin to help break Sea-Cutting Cliff, but Tianyin refused because he had to protect his realm. As Kongchanzi guided Wang Ba along the Fragrant Waters Sea and taught him Buddhist divine abilities, the Supreme True Buddha returned to the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm.

• Buddha Lord Tianyin introduced Kongchanzi as his chosen successor and asked him to study the captured Arhat whose temperament had been changed by the Four Great Laws.
• Wang Ba stayed in the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm to visit the Fragrant Waters Sea after Gai True Person returned to the Cloud-Heaven Realm.
• Wang Ba asked Buddha Lord Tianyin to help break Sea-Cutting Cliff and rescue the beings trapped in the Sea of Boundary Turmoil, but Tianyin declined to protect the Glazed Buddha Realm.
• Buddha Lord Tianyin told Yanpoluo that Kongchanzi had the compassion and Buddha-nature needed to lead the realm through the coming calamity, and asked Yanpoluo to guide him.
• Kongchanzi took Wang Ba along the Fragrant Waters Sea and taught him Buddhist divine abilities, including the Dharma Form Divine Ability, the Great Divine Ability of the Eight Divisions of Heavenly Dragons, and the Truth-Listening Technique.
• The Supreme True Buddha entered the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm through a fissure in its World Domain.

Wang Ba used the Fragrant Waters Sea to deepen his understanding of the Myriad Laws Dao, then encountered a monk identical to Buddha Lord Tianyin. Buddha Lord Tianyin revealed that the newcomer was his original self, apparently Buddha Lord Tianshang.

• Kongchanzi explained how the Buddhist School's six great elements and cultivators' rules ultimately returned to unity, then guided Wang Ba to use the Fragrant Waters Sea.
• Wang Ba and Kongchanzi climbed Xumi Mountain while drinking the sea's water, deepening their shared understanding of the Six Great Rules and Wang Ba's Myriad Laws Dao.
• Wang Ba reached the summit and descended alone, digesting his insights as the Fragrant Waters Sea's effects faded.
• Wang Ba encountered an old monk resembling Buddha Lord Tianyin, who recognized him as True Person Taiyi.
• Buddha Lord Tianyin prepared the monks for his final nirvana, then appeared above the Fragrant Waters Sea and greeted the old monk as his original self.

Buddha Lord Tianshang revealed that he had returned to reunite with his incarnation, Buddha Lord Tianyin, and attacked the monks gathered at the Fragrant Waters Sea. As Tianyin, Kongchanzi, Yanpoluo, Wang Ba, and Gai True Person tried to stop him, the Silkworm Dragon Staff summoned Chao Shi to protect Wang Ba.

• Buddha Lord Tianshang identified Tianyin as his incarnation and said he had come to make them one again.
• Tianshang’s Buddhist light killed a Body Integration Realm monk, and Kongchanzi intercepted the attack aimed at Xinyuan.
• Yanpoluo and the other monks formed a Buddha to defend Kongchanzi, but Tianshang’s attack shattered their formation before Tianyin stepped in to shield Kongchanzi.
• Wang Ba attacked Tianshang, and Gai True Person arrived with a sword strike, but Tianshang used feints to draw Tianyin away and reach for Wang Ba.
• The Silkworm Dragon Staff emerged from Wang Ba’s Primordial Spirit, and Chao Shi appeared to shield him from Tianshang.

Celestial Lord Chao revealed himself and joined Buddha Lord Tianyin and Gai True Person in fighting Buddha Lord Tianshang, whose power threatened the East Lapis Lazuli Buddha Realm. Buddha Lord Tianyin used the Soul-Detesting Elixir to wound himself and Tianshang, then explained their past connection as Tianshang’s former self before asking whether Kongchanzi’s empowerment ceremony was ready.

• Celestial Lord Chao emerged from the Silkworm Dragon Staff and joined Buddha Lord Tianyin and Gai True Person in surrounding Buddha Lord Tianshang.
• Wang Ba recognized that the Boundary Sea’s Reception Tribulation Lightning was gathering, and Buddha Lord Tianshang summoned the Seated Buddha’s hand through the Boundary Membrane.
• Buddha Lord Tianyin stopped Kongchanzi from attacking Tianshang, gave him to Wang Ba, and used the Soul-Detesting Elixir on himself.
• Buddha Lord Tianshang withdrew beyond the Boundary after the elixir weakened him, while Buddha Lord Tianyin explained that they were originally one and that he was Tianshang’s past self.
• Buddha Lord Tianyin asked Yanpoluo whether Kongchanzi’s empowerment ceremony was ready, and Kongchanzi shuddered.

After Buddha Lord Tianyin’s passing, Wang Ba and Celestial Lord Chao discussed rebuilding the Silkworm Dragon Realm and the uncertain prospects of ascending beyond the Third Boundary Sea. They left Xumi Mountain after learning that Kongchanzi had inherited Tianyin’s legacy, while crimson clouds appeared above Wondrous Enlightenment Temple.

• Celestial Lord Chao told Wang Ba he planned to rebuild the Silkworm Dragon Realm, and Wang Ba and Gai True Person offered disciples, formations, and elixirs to help.
• Gai True Person departed for the Cloud-Heaven Realm to oversee Liao Chan’s breakthrough, while Wang Ba and Celestial Lord Chao discussed Sea-Cutting Cliff and the uncertain nature of the Second Boundary Sea.
• Xinyuan asked about the Wheel-Turning Temple legacy in the Little Cang Realm, and Wang Ba assured him it remained safe before introducing him to the Wu Ape King.
• Wang Ba and Celestial Lord Chao spent several days exchanging insights into Myriad Beasts Without Reins until monks emerged from Wondrous Enlightenment Temple chanting the Rebirth Mantra.
• Yanpoluo told them Kongchanzi had received Tianyin’s empowerment and legacy and invited Wang Ba to Kongchanzi’s future succession ceremony.
• Wang Ba and Celestial Lord Chao departed Xumi Mountain beneath crimson clouds as Celestial Lord Chao recited a verse about life as a dream.

Celestial Lord Chao and Wang Ba rebuilt the Silkworm Dragon Realm using an Azure Emptiness Ancient Tree and a cultivator who became its world spirit. After warning Wang Ba that Buddha Lord Tianshang could return, Celestial Lord Chao urged him to use Myriad Beasts Without Reins to nurture a ninth-tier divine beast, and Wang Ba thought of a possible place to find a core beast.

• Celestial Lord Chao explained that divine beasts rarely broke through to the ninth tier and described how Myriad Beasts Without Reins could help them experience other bloodline rules.
• Celestial Lord Chao and Wang Ba met Gai True Person in the Cloud-Heaven Realm, where Gai showed them the Azure Emptiness Ancient Tree and introduced the cultivator who had agreed to become its world spirit.
• The cultivator transformed into a new world domain at the former site of the Silkworm Dragon Realm, and Celestial Lord Chao reshaped its rules over the following year.
• Gai True Person left after congratulating them, and Celestial Lord Chao gave Wang Ba the Silkworm Dragon Staff before they entered the rebuilt realm.
• Celestial Lord Chao warned Wang Ba that Buddha Lord Tianshang could return and urged him to nurture a ninth-tier divine beast for protection.
• Wang Ba realized he lacked a late-eighth-tier core beast but suddenly thought of a place that might help.

Wang Ba entered Soulfall Marsh and subdued an Eight-Tailed Celestial Fox by offering it a chance to reach the ninth tier. After binding it and naming it Iron Pillar, he collected its kin and treasures before leaving a marker beside the Boundary Sea Vortices.

• Wang Ba entered Soulfall Marsh and evaded the creatures and attacks guarding its World Embryo.
• An Eight-Tailed Celestial Fox emerged from the World Embryo and fought Wang Ba, using its tails and a powerful black-light attack.
• Wang Ba offered to help the fox reach the ninth tier and demonstrated his ability by raising the Wu Ape King's cultivation with fierce beasts.
• The fox agreed to obey Wang Ba, but after testing him with a sudden tail attack, it submitted when he effortlessly turned the attack aside.
• Wang Ba placed Divine Patterns on the fox, named it Iron Pillar, and gathered its kin and the treasures and Spirit Materials hidden in the World Embryo.
• Wang Ba left Soulfall Marsh after marking the Boundary Sea Vortices, suppressing his urge to return to the Sea of Boundary Turmoil.

Wang Ba returned to the Silkworm Dragon Realm, where Celestial Lord Chao proposed using Chaos and the Eight-Tailed Celestial Fox in a vast divine-beast fusion project to create a ninth-tier beast. After Chao left to gather beasts and seek world domains, Wang Ba raised the Five Spirits, studied bloodlines, and repaired the realm’s laws, deepening his own cultivation over fifty years.

• Wang Ba returned to the Silkworm Dragon Realm and released Iron Pillar, the Eight-Tailed Celestial Fox, whom Celestial Lord Chao identified as a divine beast from the Heavenly Demon Cave.
• Celestial Lord Chao explained the Five Spirits’ eighth-tier limit and proposed combining Chaos with the Celestial Fox and other divine-beast bloodlines to create a ninth-tier beast.
• Wang Ba suggested fusing many completed beasts a second time, and Chao became excited by the possibility that large numbers of such creations could challenge Buddha Lord Tianshang.
• Celestial Lord Chao left to find divine beasts and world domains, instructing Wang Ba to abandon the Silkworm Dragon Realm if the Supreme True Buddha attacked.
• Wang Ba began preparing the Five Spirits for advancement and considered the exceptionally durable Wu Ape King as a possible primary beast, while also thinking of Jia Ten Five.
• Over fifty years, Wang Ba refined the Silkworm Dragon Staff, used its simulations to study bloodlines, and worked with the realm’s World Spirit to repair the Silkworm Dragon Realm’s laws, strengthening his foundations.

Wang Ba successfully transformed Iron Pillar into a ninth-tier azure Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox and discussed how to combine its bloodline with Hundun. After Celestial Lord Chao returned with spirit beasts and warned that Buddha Lord Tianshang was preparing to ascend, Wang Ba left for the Still Cave to obtain more materials.

• Wang Ba completed Iron Pillar’s transformation into a ninth-tier azure Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox by using Myriad Beasts Without Reins to fuse numerous divine beast bloodlines.
• Wang Ba reflected on his cultivation bottleneck, then welcomed Celestial Lord Chao back to the Silkworm Dragon Realm.
• Celestial Lord Chao examined the azure fox, approved Wang Ba’s approach, and provided a vast collection of spirit beasts for further cultivation.
• Celestial Lord Chao explained that fusing Hundun with the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox would require insight into the Boundary Sea’s origin, which was connected to the Mahayana realm.
• Celestial Lord Chao warned Wang Ba that Buddha Lord Tianshang was preparing to ascend and gave him a teleportation treasure to summon aid.
• Wang Ba stored the spirit beasts and Iron Pillar, then left for the Still Cave to seek more spirit materials.

Wang Ba visited the Still Cave to collect Spirit Materials and create cultivation methods for the Primordial Gods and Devils’ reincarnation bodies, then hurried toward the Ruins of Zhangshi to prepare for Buddha Lord Tianshang’s threat. As he arrived, Buddha Lord Tianshang ambushed him and declared that Wang Ba was the Supreme True Buddha’s greatest future threat.

• Wang Ba met the Lord of the Still Cave and learned that the reincarnation bodies had advanced with the help of pill refiners from the Ruins of Zhangshi.
• Wang Ba asked to borrow Spirit Materials, and the Lord of the Still Cave gave him half while Wang Ba tailored cultivation methods for the reincarnation bodies.
• Before Wang Ba left, the Lord of the Still Cave gave him a scale that would summon help if Buddha Lord Tianshang attacked.
• Wang Ba headed for the Ruins of Zhangshi, pondering Xiahou Heavenly Demon’s plans and whether Shen Fu was the Supreme True Buddha’s Buddha Son.
• As Wang Ba examined the Ruins of Zhangshi with the Laowen Sect’s Horn, Buddha Lord Tianshang ambushed him and knocked back his transformed Azure Fox tails.
• Wang Ba activated a teleportation treasure and the Lord of the Still Cave’s scale as Buddha Lord Tianshang identified him as the Supreme True Buddha’s greatest future threat.

Wang Ba fought Buddha Lord Tianshang, who knocked his True Spirit out of his body, but a horn’s call drew it away before Tianshang could seize him. After Tianshang fled from a giant phantom in the Ruins of Zhangshi, Celestial Lord Chao and the Lord of the Still Cave found Wang Ba’s empty body and failed to summon his True Spirit; the Ruins’ consciousness then discovered that the True Spirit it thought it had sheltered was missing.

• Buddha Lord Tianshang trapped Wang Ba in a Buddha Kingdom, and Wang Ba used replicated bodies and his staffs to counter the attack while the Wu Ape King struck the illusion with two memorial tablets.
• Tianshang revealed that the Buddha Kingdom was an illusion, overwhelmed Wang Ba’s defenses, and knocked his True Spirit out of his body.
• A horn call pulled Wang Ba’s True Spirit away just as Tianshang tried to capture it, and a giant phantom emerged from the Ruins of Zhangshi to attack Tianshang.
• Tianshang fled through a rift, and the giant phantom returned to the Ruins of Zhangshi as Celestial Lord Chao and the Lord of the Still Cave arrived to find Wang Ba’s body vacant.
• Celestial Lord Chao failed to recall Wang Ba’s True Spirit, while the Ruins’ consciousness realized the True Spirit it believed it had taken in was gone.

After Buddha Lord Tianshang struck Wang Ba’s True Spirit from his body, the horn drew him into the Boundary Sea’s origin, where he feared his spirit would be erased. He struggled toward the surface but collapsed as a mysterious hand reached for him, while the Lord of the Still Cave entered the source to search and found no sign of him.

• Wang Ba realized that the horn had carried his True Spirit into the Boundary Sea’s origin, where countless other True Spirits drifted.
• Wang Ba concluded that he was dead and feared his True Spirit would be consumed rather than reincarnated.
• Wang Ba swam toward the surface despite his fading memories and strength, then collapsed after breaking through the water as a jade-white hand reached toward him.
• The Lord of the Still Cave split off a True Spirit and asked Celestial Lord Chao to guard his body while he searched the Boundary Sea’s source.
• The Lord of the Still Cave searched the source but found no trace of Wang Ba.

Celestial Lord Chao and Gai True Person mourned Taiyi’s death and planned to attack the Supreme True Buddha after Buddha Lord Tianshang ascended. Wang Ba regained consciousness as a fish in Li Yuehua’s bamboo basket, where she recognized him and asked about Lingxiao and Wuhen.

• Celestial Lord Chao told Gai True Person that Taiyi had fallen to Tianshang, and Gai True Person concluded that Tianshang was preparing to ascend.
• Celestial Lord Chao and Gai True Person agreed to join Xiahou Heavenly Demon and other allies to destroy the Supreme True Buddha when Tianshang ascended.
• The Wu Ape King guarded Wang Ba and carried his body toward the Ruins of Zhangshi, while Celestial Lord Chao took back the Silkworm Dragon Staff and departed.
• Wang Ba regained consciousness and realized that someone had rescued him from the Boundary Sea’s source.
• Li Yuehua revealed herself as the woman carrying Wang Ba in a bamboo basket, asked about Lingxiao and Wuhen, and mistook him for a fish.

Wang Ba found himself as a True Spirit fish in the Boundary Sea origin, where Li Yuehua served a mysterious master and gathered fish for a banquet. After Li Yuehua secretly saved him from being fed to hound beasts, she explained how she had arrived there and hinted that her master ruled the Third Boundary Sea, leading Wang Ba to suspect the banquet guests were Immortals from the Second Boundary Sea.

• Wang Ba realized he had become a True Spirit fish in the Boundary Sea origin and sensed the life memories of a Mahayana fish and a Tribulation Crossing fish.
• Li Yuehua gathered seven True Spirit fish for a banquet, while Wang Ba overheard that honored guests prized the fish for their life and cultivation experiences.
• A female official ordered Wang Ba fed to the hound beasts, but Li Yuehua persuaded her to leave him behind and carried him away.
• Li Yuehua told Wang Ba that she had ascended as a True Spirit after the World Eater destroyed her body, and that the master had helped her take form.
• Li Yuehua hinted that her master reigned supreme in the Third Boundary Sea, and Wang Ba concluded that the master was its lord and the banquet guests were Immortals from the Second Boundary Sea.

Wang Ba learned from Li Yuehua that several ways existed to leave the Boundary Sea Origin, and she gave him a True Spirit Pill before taking him to a pool. As Li Yuehua left him there, Wang Ba absorbed the experiences of fallen True Spirits and gained insights into Buddhist rules, then noticed that a banquet had begun nearby.

• Li Yuehua gave Wang Ba a True Spirit Pill, which restored his bodily senses and cleared his fading memories.
• Wang Ba used written characters to ask Li Yuehua about leaving the Boundary Sea Origin, and she explained three possible methods and promised to ask her master for help.
• Li Yuehua told Wang Ba about Wuhen and Qin Lingxiao, then moved him into a pool before hurrying away to attend to her duties.
• Wang Ba encountered the memories of fallen True Spirits and contemplated cause and effect, reincarnation, and good and evil.
• Wang Ba heard maids approaching a waterside pavilion and realized that the banquet had begun.

Wang Ba listened beneath Taiyuan’s pavilion as Taiyuan resisted the Immortal guests’ requests to enter the Third Boundary Sea, then offered them True Spirit fish, Origin Water, and a chance to study its rules. As Wang Ba swam away to avoid being caught, Taiyuan looked down toward the water and narrowed his eyes.

• Wang Ba disguised himself as a dead True Spirit fish and swam closer to the pavilion to overhear the banquet.
• Taiyuan refused to let the guests enter the Third Boundary Sea, but agreed to let them take some True Spirit fish when they claimed they only wanted to eat them.
• An Immortal from the Yin Palace presented Taiyuan with a Golden Immortal’s handwritten original, and Taiyuan accepted it and said he would visit the Yin Palace for eight or nine hundred years.
• Taiyuan offered the guests some Origin Water and explained that the Third Boundary Sea’s rules were manifested across the sky for them to contemplate.
• Wang Ba memorized Taiyuan’s explanations while swimming beneath the pavilion, then retreated when Taiyuan offered to provide each guest with Origin Water.
• A middle-aged figure in a crane-feather cloak drew aside the pavilion’s gauze curtain and looked down at the water.

Wang Ba studied the Boundary Sea Laws in the firmament, gradually transformed his True Spirit, and learned to take human form. While exploring the memories of a Seven-Colored True Spirit Fish, he discovered that Buddha Lord Tianshang’s ascension was a trap set to eliminate surviving Mahayana cultivators.

• Li Yuehua told Wang Ba that Taiyuan had left and gave him more Elixir Pellets, while warning him to hide and avoid being seen.
• Wang Ba comprehended the Boundary Sea Laws in the stars, which consumed his True Spirit and enabled him to speak.
• Li Yuehua continued supplying Wang Ba with pills and explained that Court Lady Cui had arranged for the maids to study the Ghost Immortal Dao.
• Wang Ba leaped through a golden gate-like vision in the firmament and took human form, then returned to the water when he sensed the transformation was draining his True Spirit.
• Wang Ba encountered a Seven-Colored True Spirit Fish and learned from its memories that the Supreme True Buddha had destroyed its World Domain and that Buddha Lord Tianshang planned to ascend.
• Wang Ba connected the fish’s memories with what Celestial Lord Chao had told him and realized Buddha Lord Tianshang’s ascension was bait to draw in and kill surviving Mahayana cultivators.

Wang Ba discovered that Buddha Lord Tianshang and the Supreme True Buddha planned to make the entire Third Boundary Sea the foundation of a Buddha Kingdom, threatening to trap its inhabitants and prevent ascension. After learning this from Boundary Sea Anecdotes, he made a great vow to stop the demon Buddhas, declaring he would not become an immortal until they were gone.

• Wang Ba realized Buddha Lord Tianshang was using his planned ascension to lure Mahayana cultivators into a trap and feared Celestial Lord Chao and the Four Great Realms were in danger.
• Wang Ba failed to find a way out and persuaded Li Yuehua to help him investigate Taiyuan's unattended Origin Study.
• Wang Ba entered the study using origin water to bypass its restrictions and found Boundary Sea Anecdotes, which revealed the powers and realms of the Second Boundary Sea.
• Wang Ba read Tibo's account and learned that the Supreme True Buddha's goal was to unite the Three Great Dharma Realms and create a Buddha Kingdom across the Third Boundary Sea.
• Wang Ba concluded that stopping the demon Buddhas would earn him supreme merit and vowed to free all living beings of the Third Boundary Sea from their depredations before becoming an immortal.

Wang Ba recovered in the Boundary Sea Origin, studied its rules, and searched Taiyuan’s pavilion for a way to return to his physical body. As the Origin Water nourished him and repeated exposure to a mysterious book strengthened his True Spirit, he began to transform into a dragon-like fish and sensed his body below.

• Wang Ba suspected Taiyuan had left a way for him to escape and nearly destroyed his True Spirit by briefly glimpsing a book sealed in a case.
• Wang Ba discovered that the Origin Water nourished him after his vow, so he memorized the rules above while continuing to search Gleanings from the Boundary Sea for a way out.
• Li Yuehua brought Wang Ba more pills, learned she had become a grandmother, and advised him to take some Origin Water if he returned to his body.
• Wang Ba read about wars in the Second Boundary Sea and concluded that even reaching it offered no escape from conflict and ambition.
• Wang Ba repeatedly opened the mysterious book, finding that the cycles of depletion and recovery rapidly strengthened his True Spirit.
• Wang Ba noticed his fish form had grown long and slender, resembling a dragon, and sensed his physical body beneath the Origin Water.