Chapter Summaries

Wang Ba learned the sect assessment requirements and helped Wang Qingyang prepare, then watched her pass and receive a Grade B Middle Dao Heart rating. He visited Hehuan Peak to study its Yin-Yang Creation Dao, where peak master Yan Caier began explaining its cultivation method.

• Wang Ba visited Deputy Hall Master Luo Yuzhong, who explained the Sect Entrance Assessment requirements and gave him Dao-Revealing Talismans to test Wang Qingyang’s Dao Heart.
• Wang Ba tested Wang Qingyang, whose talisman showed Grade B Lower, and brought her to the assessment three days later.
• Wang Ba and Bu Chan watched Wang Qingyang enter the Spirit Mirage Heart-Questioning Formation; she passed, and Xi Wushang later reported her Dao Heart was Grade B Middle and her Divine Soul was unusually talented.
• Wang Ba went to Hehuan Peak to ask its peak master about studying the Yin-Yang Creation Dao, and Yan Caier welcomed him and explained that the peak’s male and female cultivators lived separately.
• Yan Caier said Hehuan Peak cultivated by drawing in Spiritual Qi through a method called “Harvest Yin to Nourish Yang,” surprising Wang Ba with its guiding principle.

Wang Ba studied Hehuan Peak’s Heaven-and-Earth Reversion Method under Yan Caier, then returned to Myriad Laws Peak and practiced Spiritual Communion with Bu Chan. After the couple’s cultivation improved, Wang Ba received word that he had to attend the reopening ceremony for the Five Elements Offices.

• Yan Caier explained Hehuan Peak’s spiritual-communion cultivation and shared a Jade Slip of the Heaven-and-Earth Reversion Method with Wang Ba.
• Wang Ba asked Yan Caier difficult questions about the method, impressed her with his insights, and declined her offer to guide him through Spiritual Communion before leaving with a gift of Vermilion Beauty Jade Nectar.
• Back on Myriad Laws Peak, Wang Ba bred Divine Void Beasts, checked on the Bead Secret Realm, and prepared a disciple acceptance banquet for Wang Qingyang with Bu Chan.
• Wang Ba and Bu Chan practiced Spiritual Communion for half a month, improving their Law Power and Divine Soul.
• Wang Ba learned that he had to attend the reopening ceremony for the Five Elements Offices and headed to the Earthly Treasures Hall.

Wang Ba accepted the Chief Director post as the Five Elements Offices reopened, received several valuable gifts, and began organizing the offices while preparing to advance his cultivation. After ten years in seclusion, the Dragon Rock Secret Realm opened, leaving his next step to be revealed.

• Xi Kui unsealed the Five Elements Offices, raised Five Elements Mountain, and installed Wang Ba as Chief Director with a powerful seal; the Acting Sect Master and other senior cultivators sent him gifts.
• Wang Ba examined the gifts, including the Supreme Refining Emotions Art, Fifth Tier spirit beast blood, a spirit fan, and a Great Void One Qi Pill, and resolved to build up the offices and seek cultivation opportunities.
• Qi Yan revealed that he had condensed his Dao Opportunity and planned to pursue Spirit Transformation, while Wang Ba arranged staffing with Ma Shengxu and agreed that Chi Liequan could become Fire Office director despite their past conflict.
• Wang Ba taught Wang Qingyang Yao Wudi's revised Myriad Laws Unitary Intent Art and helped her progress through the Ninefold Heavenly Firmament, while Wang Yi'an's youthful affection for her faded as she aged.
• Wang Ba and Bu Chan planted a Fourth Tier Spirit Vein beside the Emperor Willow in the Bead Secret Realm, then Wang Ba prepared to enter seclusion after arranging his duties and spending time with his family.
• Ten years later, the Dragon Rock Secret Realm suddenly opened.

After ten years in seclusion, Wang Ba returned to the Earthly Treasures Hall, learned of the worsening conflicts across Great Jin’s borders, and discovered that Wang Yi'an had left for the West Sea Kingdom. Wang Ba set out to find him, while Wang Yi'an traveled through the West Sea Kingdom with a group of cultivators and encountered Qin Lingxiao.

• Wang Ba emerged at mid-stage Gold Core, heard about the conflicts on all four sides of Great Jin, and went to the Earthly Treasures Hall to help Ma Shengxu organize requisitions and review the Five Elements Offices’ work.
• Wang Ba reunited with his companions and learned that Wang Yi'an had gone missing after leaving the sect; Xi Wushang revealed that Yi'an had borrowed a Qin Clan token that could grant access to teleportation arrays in the West Sea Kingdom.
• Wang Ba decided to travel to the West Sea Kingdom to bring Yi'an back, gathered the Wu Ape King and other spirit beasts, and teleported there.
• Wang Yi'an traveled with a group through a city in the West Sea Kingdom, where he saw Qin Lingxiao riding a white dragon and learned she was a favored commandery princess.

Wang Yi'an traveled with a Treasure-Hunting Team through the dangerous West Sea Kingdom, where Commandery Princess Qin rescued them from a puppet ambush and Wang Yi'an later unleashed Dafu to defeat a powerful Tupi Continent cultivator. Dafu drew the Three Continents cultivators away so Wang Yi'an could escape, while Shen Ying and Elder Xumi prepared to launch a major assault near Wind Islet Mountain.

• Wang Yi'an joined a Treasure-Hunting Team heading toward the battlefield and warned them of an ambush, but the group entered the forest and was surrounded by Gold Core puppets.
• Commandery Princess Qin appeared on a White Dragon, disabled the puppets, and cut down the hidden Daosheng Province cultivator before flying away.
• Wang Yi'an and the Pockmarked Long-Bearded Elder hid underground until the Three Continents patrols left, then joined the team as it waited to seize battlefield spoils.
• True Person Duan's team mistook a Nascent Soul cultivator from Tupi Continent for a mid-stage Gold Core target, and Wang Yi'an summoned Dafu to protect them and kill the man.
• As Three Continents cultivators converged, Dafu sent Wang Yi'an and the Pockmarked Long-Bearded Elder away and charged off to draw the pursuers after him.
• At Wind Islet Mountain, Shen Ying decided to begin a frontal assault, and Elder Xumi's Sword Qi drew a challenge from the Clan Chief in the Deep Sea.

Wang Yi'an fought to escape the Three Continents cultivators and protect Uncle Dafu, while Commandery Princess Qin and Garrison Commander Shen intervened in the battle. Wang Yi'an was reunited with his father, who greeted Qin Lingxiao as an old acquaintance, while an Azure Abyss Dragon Whale threatened the West Sea Kingdom.

• Wang Yi'an killed a pursuing Gold Core cultivator with one sword strike, then detonated a third-tier Robe Artifact to escape the remaining pursuers.
• Qin Lingxiao rescued Wang Yi'an from the Gold Core cultivators, but she was soon forced to face several Nascent Soul cultivators and a pursuing barbarian.
• Garrison Commander Shen arrived, bound the Nascent Soul cultivators so Qin Lingxiao could kill them, and told Wang Yi'an that his father was on the way.
• Shen confronted the approaching Azure Abyss Dragon Whale, while Qin Lingxiao helped Wang Yi'an evade enormous worms that attacked from underground.
• Big Hair transformed into a Demonic Ape and tore an enormous sea anemone covered in worms from the ground, then Wang Yi'an's father arrived and burned the remaining worms away.
• Wang Yi'an called the young cultivator Dad, and his father greeted Qin Lingxiao after many years apart.

Wang Ba reunited with Qin Lingxiao during the battle and stayed to fight, revealing overwhelming strength when he slew a powerful Fierce Beast and a Nascent Soul cultivator with one saber strike. As Qin Lingxiao and Wang Yi'an left the battlefield, Yi'an realized his father was the man who had rejected her and asked whether he had a younger sibling.

• Qin Lingxiao saw Wang Ba again after nearly fifty years and struggled with her lingering feelings while Wang Ba awkwardly greeted her.
• Wang Ba told Qin Lingxiao and Wang Yi'an to leave the battlefield, apologized for rejecting her, and promised to visit the Jin Capital after the battle.
• Wang Ba ordered the Wu Ape King to tear apart the sea anemone, then flew toward the front lines while Qin Lingxiao and Wang Yi'an watched.
• Wang Ba unleashed his power and killed a fourth tier Fierce Beast and a Nascent Soul cultivator with a single saber strike, shocking Wang Yi'an.
• A Qin Clan cultivator urged Qin Lingxiao to leave, and she flew away with Wang Yi'an and the pockmarked old man on a white dragon.
• Wang Yi'an asked Qin Lingxiao whether he had a younger brother or sister, and she understood his implication and froze.

Wang Ba fought a powerful Lion-Mane Eel while Shen Ying faced a Nascent Soul Perfection scorpion and eight puppets, and Qin Lingxiao rushed to help. Wang Yi'an escaped the battlefield with the pockmarked elder, killed him when he tried to murder him, and wondered whether his father was safe as Wang Ba prepared to deal with the beast.

• Wang Ba cut down cultivators and Fierce Beasts until a high-grade fourth-tier Lion-Mane Eel attacked him, while a Nascent Soul Perfection scorpion and eight puppets surrounded Shen Ying.
• Qin Lingxiao sent Wang Yi'an and the pockmarked elder away, then flew toward the Lion-Mane Eel; Wang Yi'an tried to return to his father but ran out of Law Power and accepted the elder's help escaping.
• Wang Yi'an used Spirit Chicken Essence to replenish Law Power and helped the injured elder fly toward safety, while the elder urged him to abandon him and take a dangerous route through an earth-vein entrance.
• The pockmarked elder attacked Wang Yi'an with third-tier Talismans, but the Psychic Ghost Loach shielded him; Wang Yi'an revealed he had not trusted the elder and asked why he had tried to kill him.
• The elder admitted he had planned to hunt Wang Yi'an for resources, and Wang Yi'an used a Third-Tier Ritual Sword to kill both the elder and a strange python that emerged from the lake.
• Wang Yi'an wondered whether Wang Ba was safe, while Wang Ba sensed that the Profound Dragon Dao Soldiers he had placed on his son had been used and prepared to fight the Lion-Mane Eel for material for a Yuan Magnetism Incarnation.

Wang Ba recognized the Azure Abyss Dragon Whale as the key to the battle and helped turn the tide after Qianyuan's attempt to kill it failed. He summoned his Fourth-tier supreme-grade white tiger to fight the whale, then vanished just as Three Continents cultivators closed in on him.

• Wang Ba realized the Azure Abyss Dragon Whale was disrupting Great Jin's formation, while Qianyuan announced that he could kill the beast if others held off its defenders.
• Qianyuan launched the Five Baleful Intent Heavenly Capital Qi at the Azure Abyss Dragon Whale, but a monk blocked it with an illusory Buddha and Qianyuan was killed by the whale's water column.
• Wang Ba let the Mane-Lion Eel's blow send him toward the Azure Abyss Dragon Whale, then summoned his Fourth-tier supreme-grade white tiger, which swallowed a Tupi Continent cultivator and engaged the whale.
• With the white tiger tying down the whale, Great Jin's cultivators regained momentum and counterattacked, while Three Continents cultivators surrounded Wang Ba.
• A jade artifact shattered as the attackers moved to strike Wang Ba, and he vanished, leaving the Three Continents cultivators searching for him.

Wang Ba used his teleportation technique, stolen weapons, and Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Arts to disrupt the Three Continents cultivators and aid Great Jin. As enemies converged on him, he unleashed the Wu Ape King and Jia Ten Five, then swept a vast, fan-amplified wave of flames toward the battlefield.

• Wang Ba teleported between jade pendants, ambushed Three Continents cultivators, and helped Great Jin break their encirclement.
• Wang Ba stole a Tupi Continent cultivator's spear with the Sleight-of-Hand Incantation, then struck him with blade radiance.
• Wang Ba turned the attacks of two Totem Beasts against them with Mother Qi of Ten Thousand Arts and the palm-leaf fan, burning the black waterfowl.
• As Three Continents cultivators charged Wang Ba, he summoned the Wu Ape King and Jia Ten Five to hold them off.
• Wang Ba cast 120 third-tier Five Elements Law Techniques and used the palm-leaf fan to drive the resulting flames toward the Azure Abyss Dragon Whale.

Wang Ba’s Heaven-Burning Raging Fire shattered the Three Continents cultivators’ formation and helped Great Jin escape, but Daosheng Continent puppets ambushed him and killed his two protectors. Wang Ba combined his techniques to survive until Shen Ying’s water swept him away, while the Azure Abyss Dragon Whale and the White Tiger ended their contest and the enemy began to retreat.

• Shen Ying restrained the five enemy leaders with water while Wang Ba’s wall of fire engulfed the charging Nascent Soul cultivators, killing several and disrupting the Three Continents’ attack.
• Shen Ying called for the Great Jin cultivators to form an array, and they gathered together as the Three Continents forces scattered from the advancing flames.
• Wang Ba withdrew after Great Jin escaped, and Li Wanju and Zhou Boyang volunteered to guard him; Qin Lingxiao ignored his question about his son and flew away.
• Two Nascent Soul Perfection puppets ambushed Wang Ba, killed Li Wanju and Zhou Boyang, and forced Wang Ba to defend himself with his Wu Earth power.
• Wang Ba disabled one puppet and used Five Elements principles and his other techniques to resist the second until Shen Ying’s azure water carried him away.
• The Azure Abyss Dragon Whale and the White Tiger roared as their contest ended, and the enemy monk ordered the Three Continents forces to retreat.

The Great Jin forces defeated the Three Continents’ invasion, but Yanzhi Xie escaped through an Earth Vein after breaking the coastal embankment, and Dafu disappeared in the resulting flood. More than a month later, Wang Ba learned that a Mane-Lion Eel had been caught, while Dafu emerged from a lizard’s mouth deep beneath the sea and unknowingly helped the lizard absorb Yuan Magnetic Power.

• Xumi revealed his strength, killed Yanzhi Xie’s black water buffalo, and drove Yanzhi Xie to flee as the Great Jin formation and Shen Ying pressured him.
• Yanzhi Xie broke the embankment, opened an Earth Vein, and escaped with Three Continents cultivators; the flood and spreading darkness left Dafu and several Great Jin cultivators missing.
• Wang Ba helped manage the flooding and searched unsuccessfully for Dafu, finding only one of Dafu’s shed scales.
• More than a month later, Wang Yi'an mourned Dafu beside the rebuilt embankment, and Wang Ba was summoned to inspect a captured Mane-Lion Eel.
• Dafu crawled out of a lizard’s mouth beneath the sea and pushed its body onto a Membrane Eye, where Yuan Magnetic Power flowed into it as its eyelids began to lift.

Fish Head reflected on the effort and shortcomings of writing his first novel in 2023, and expected to finish its main plot around May 2024. He thanked readers for their support and asked to take New Year's Day off.

• Fish Head recapped posting on 273 days and writing 2.01 million Chinese characters while balancing a day job.
• Fish Head described the strain of writing nightly and acknowledged that his prose wandered from readers' expectations.
• Fish Head said the book averaged 4,500 subscriptions per chapter and that he hoped to improve his writing and earnings.
• Fish Head expected the novel to reach its middle-to-late stages in 2024 and aimed to finish the main plot around May.
• Fish Head admitted he still owed two makeup chapters and said he would write them when he had extra time.
• Fish Head thanked readers, wished them well for 2024, and asked to take New Year's Day off.

Wang Ba completed the Yuan Magnetism incarnation and broke through to the third tier of body cultivation while integrating his Thunder Method into his Gold Core. He arranged for Xumi to guide Wang Yi'an in the Sword Dao, then learned that the Severed Dao in North Sea Continent had opened and his master had summoned him there.

• Wang Ba subdued a wounded Mane-Lion Eel and used it to begin forming an incarnation with the Womb-Nurturing Incarnation Technique.
• Wang Ba traveled to Evil Dragon Islet, where Shen Ying guarded him as Tribulation Lightning struck the Origin Embryo.
• Wang Ba endured the lightning, broke through to the third tier of body cultivation, and merged his Thunder Method into his Gold Core.
• Wang Ba completed the Yuan Magnetism Rail Man incarnation and left it to cultivate in the Deep Sea.
• Wang Ba brought Wang Yi'an to meet Xumi, who agreed to guide him in the Sword Dao.
• Wang Ba received word that the Severed Dao in North Sea Continent had opened and that his master wanted him to hurry there.

Wang Ba prepared to travel through Guangling Kingdom to the North Sea Continent, where he planned to study the Ice Dao, and agreed to deliver Xumi's broken sword to a Sword Hut if he had time. On the way to Black Water Harbor with Li Yingfu, he spotted a mortal hunter whose astonishing strength identified him as a True Martial Practitioner, raising questions about how widely the True Martial Dao had spread.

• Wang Ba learned about the dangerous North Sea Death Passages, visited Xumi, and left Wang Yi'an in Xumi's care while agreeing to deliver a broken sword to a Sword Hut in the southwest of North Sea Continent if time allowed.
• Wang Ba arranged to travel through Guangling Kingdom, gathered information about the North Sea and its hazards, and requested a cold-warding treasure from the sect.
• Wang Ba checked on his incense supply and spirit beasts, learned Qi Yan had entered seclusion, and reunited with Bu Chan, who supported Wang Yi'an's decision to stay in the West Sea Kingdom.
• Wang Ba traveled to Guangling Kingdom with Li Yingfu and headed toward Black Water Harbor, where Protector Ying was waiting to join them.
• Wang Ba and Li Yingfu saw a mortal hunter swiftly kill a first-tier snow wolf, and Wang Ba recognized the man as a True Martial Practitioner.

Wang Ba and Li Yingfu traveled toward Black Water Harbor, where Wang Ba examined a True Martial Practitioner and they encountered hostile Burning Gold Sect cultivators. At the harbor, the Primordial Demon Sect's Holy Sons seized the only ship bound for North Sea Continent, while True Lord Yinghe waited for Wang Ba to arrive.

• Wang Ba used Yin Spirit Power to make a hunter practice True Martial techniques, then he and Li Yingfu avoided a fight with Burning Gold Sect cultivators by revealing their Myriad Phenomena Sect affiliation.
• The Burning Gold Sect cultivators killed the hunter and planned to report Wang Ba and Li Yingfu to the Primordial Sacred Sect.
• At Black Water Harbor, cultivators discussed the North Sea Death Passage, the Exquisite Ghost Market, and the alliance between Great Yan and Great Jin as they waited for the ship.
• The Primordial Demon Sect's Holy Sons arrived and commandeered the only ship bound for North Sea Continent, and a Nascent Soul cultivator burned a rogue cultivator who begged to board.
• True Lord Yinghe remained at the harbor as the ship departed, and he emerged to greet Wang Ba when Wang Ba's flying boat arrived.

Yinghe took Wang Ba and Li Yingfu across the frozen North Sea toward the North Sea Continent, where Wang Ba gained insight into the cold and damp aspects of the Sixfold Wind-Riding Art. Meanwhile, the battered Ancestor of True Martial escaped three Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivators, who pursued him toward the approaching iron ship.

• Yinghe brought a small iron ship to Black Water Harbor, and Wang Ba and Li Yingfu boarded with several Rogue Cultivators, including a weathered Qi Refining cultivator who offered to guide them.
• Wang Ba learned that the Extreme Northern Cold Current made travel and communication dangerous, then contacted Yao Wudi and asked about the reclusive senior he planned to visit.
• Wang Ba contemplated the wind and snow on deck and gained insight into the cold and damp aspects of the Sixfold Wind-Riding Art.
• After two days, Yinghe guided the ship past the frozen waters and into Hurricane Sea Pass, where it sped north toward the North Sea Death Passage.
• The Ancestor of True Martial, badly injured after fighting off his pursuers, feinted toward one Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivator and fled across the deep sea as the iron ship approached.

Wang Xu, a badly wounded True Martial Practitioner, reunited with Wang Ba after narrowly escaping three Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivators. Wang Ba helped him attempt a dangerous rebirth, and Wang Xu survived and broke through the limits of the True Martial Dao.

• Wang Xu used decoys and a surprise attack to wound one of three pursuing Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivators, then fled toward Wang Ba's iron ship as his body collapsed.
• Wang Xu recognized Immortal Wang and turned to face his pursuers rather than draw Wang Ba into the fight; a pale-purple figure killed the three Nascent Soul Demonic Cultivators and carried Wang Xu aboard the ship.
• Three days later, Wang Ba learned from Li Yingfu that Wang Xu was near death and heard him describe how Daosheng Continent's Puppet Masters had killed Wen Yin and his mother.
• Wang Ba offered Wang Xu a dangerous chance to live another life by fusing his essence, Qi, and spirit, and Wang Xu agreed.
• Wang Xu endured the infusion of lifespan, recovered with Spirit Chicken Essence, and realized he had broken through the limits of the True Martial Dao.

Wang Xu survived a near-fatal transformation, revealed that he had created the True Martial Sutra, and left after refusing Wang Ba’s offer to return to Great Jin. Wang Ba’s group crossed Hurricane Sea Pass and entered the North Sea Death Passage, where he learned that Shen Fu was among the Primordial Demon Sect Holy Sons nearby and felt his God-Locking Bell stir.

• Wang Xu thanked Wang Ba, presented him with the True Martial Sutra, and admitted that he was the True Martial patriarch hunted by the Primordial Demon Sect.
• Wang Ba ordered Wang Xu to leave, then offered to take responsibility for him and bring him to Great Jin; Wang Xu refused, swore not to harm Myriad Phenomena Sect disciples, and flew west.
• Wang Ba warned that he feared the True Martial Dao could threaten cultivators, but ultimately let Wang Xu go; Yinghe returned and reported that he had concealed the deaths of three people to buy time.
• Wang Ba caught a Fourth Tier, Middle Grade Profound Tortoise of Enlightenment beneath the sea, and Yinghe guided the iron ship through a cavern and across the harsh ice fields beyond Hurricane Sea Pass.
• The group reached the green North Sea Death Passage, where Yinghe said four Primordial Demon Sect Holy Sons, including Shen Fu, had come to North Sea Continent seeking someone who had stolen from them.
• Wang Ba recognized Shen Fu as his junior brother, wondered whether he had reached Nascent Soul, and felt the fully refined God-Locking Bell sway twice in his middle Dantian.

Shen Fu joined Yan Zhenyi, Bian Burang, and Gong Xiyin to locate Bian Burang’s stolen Jade Fire Parasol Tree, while Wang Ba sensed Fanming’s presence nearby. When the Holy Sons found the tree, they discovered a Black Spirit Chicken nesting among its branches and tried to capture it, but the enraged beast broke free and began swallowing them.

• Shen Fu traveled with Yan Zhenyi, Bian Burang, and Gong Xiyin, who mocked his reputation as a Holy Son Nemesis while searching for Bian Burang’s stolen spirit plant.
• Shen Fu recalled that he was seeking Ten-Thousand-Year Profound Ice Spirit Marrow to heal Jiang Old Devil and escape the control of his teacher, Liang Qiu Yu.
• Wang Ba sensed the God-Locking Bell move and suspected Fanming was nearby on North Sea Continent, then continued past a vessel whose attendant said Yan Zhenyi and the other Holy Sons had left.
• Bian Burang led the group to the Jade Fire Parasol Tree, where they found a supreme-grade fourth-tier Black Spirit Chicken laying an egg among its fiery branches.
• Gong Xiyin and the protectors trapped the chicken in a Twelve Ghost Spirit-Devouring Net, while Yan Zhenyi and Bian Burang excluded Shen Fu from sharing the capture.
• The Black Spirit Chicken broke free after its gaze dazed the cultivators, swallowed Yan Zhenyi and others, and left Gong Xiyin terrified that the Holy Son Nemesis rumor was real.