Chapter Summaries

Chang E revealed the Primordial World’s history and clarified the truth behind several legends while advising Ling Yi on how to grow stronger. After Ling Yi returned to write and seek the Great Dream Heart Sutra, Chang E sensed demons surrounding the White Rainbow Residential Complex with freezing fog.

• Chang E explained that the nine thousand worlds had been destroyed in wars after Chaos vanished, leaving their Small Thousand World as the last survivor, and identified the Deer-Tiger Demon as a remnant of a rival world.
• Chang E admitted that the Jade Emperor had sent her to monitor, protect, and potentially control Ling Yi, though she had come mainly out of curiosity.
• Chang E told Ling Yi that her real name was Changxi and explained that the legends about Chang E, Hou Yi, Dijun, Xihe, and the Journey to the West were not accurate accounts of their lives.
• Chang E said Ling Yi’s forty-eight Dao-law patterns were his greatest backing and suggested that the Great Dream Heart Sutra might help him cultivate within dreams.
• Ling Yi decided to ask the Jade Emperor and Tathagata for the Great Dream Heart Sutra by delaying his novel’s progress, then hurried back to write.
• Chang E sensed demons coveting Ling Yi as thick fog engulfed the White Rainbow Residential Complex and frost formed on its windows.

Evil demons attacked White Rainbow Residential Complex while the immortals and Buddhas were weakened by cultivating the Divine Court Method. As Chang E explained the threat to Ling Yi, his sense of urgency grew, and he went to check whether Tathagata had answered his message.

• Chang E warned Guanyin that she would protect Ling Yi, while Guanyin put the complex’s residents into a deep sleep and the immortals discussed the danger evil demons posed to him.
• Dragon-Subduing, Tiger-Taming, and the Buddhas fought off waves of wronged souls as Li Jing and the Heavenly Court’s people prepared for stronger attackers.
• Old Tang and his companions watched the complex from outside; Houzi said he had never forgotten his five hundred years of torment, and Old Tang suggested they might have a chance to resolve their obsessions.
• Ghosts, monsters, spirits, and fiends joined the attack, forcing Li Jing and the other defenders to struggle without access to their Magic Power while Guanyin held back for the great demon.
• Chang E told Ling Yi that the demons were exploiting the immortals’ temporary weakness, and Ling Yi went to check for a reply from Tathagata.

Tathagata and the Jade Emperor arranged for Ling Yi to receive the Great Dream Heart Sutra, using a Pinecone Śarīra and the Jade Emperor’s Magic Power. After absorbing the inheritance, Ling Yi entered the Stone Stele Dreamscape voluntarily and continued cultivating there.

• Tathagata called the Jade Emperor and agreed to provide the Great Dream Heart Sutra and an Inheritance Stone in exchange for the Jade Emperor’s Magic Power and recognition from Ling Yi.
• Tathagata and the Jade Emperor discussed the Stone Stele Dreamscape, Ling Yi’s role, and the fiends, but admitted they could not divine the scheme behind it.
• Chang E told Ling Yi that Liu Rui was Guanyin and explained why the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain hoped to grow closer to him.
• Ling Yi received a package from the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain containing a Pinecone Śarīra infused with the Great Dream Heart Sutra and Magic Power.
• The Pinecone Śarīra melted into Ling Yi, who absorbed its information and entered the Stone Stele Dreamscape voluntarily.
• Ling Yi recognized the stone stele and continued cultivating inside the dreamscape.

After cultivating the Great Dream Heart Sutra, Ling Yi learned that the Stone Stele was the Soul Realm Stele, which could convert stolen Power of Chaos into Dao principles markings and grow through Soul Power from slain Soul Beasts. He revealed the Nine-Turn Chaos Art to mythological figures in a group chat and planned to recruit them as workers, but the Bull Demon King asked whether the method was the Spirit Court technique.

• Ling Yi learned the Soul Realm Stele's functions and discovered that he could use Dream Entry to bring others into the Soul Realm to fight Soul Beasts.
• Ling Yi published a message promising a way to restore cultivation quickly, then told Chang E that the method was the Nine-Turn Chaos Art.
• Liu Rui revealed herself as Guanyin, Bai Nan as Dragon-Subduing, Uncle Liu as Tiger-Taming, and Li Jing as a Heavenly Court general; the Bull Demon King and other figures also joined Ling Yi's contact list.
• Ling Yi created the Primordial World Mythology Group, where the Jade Emperor and Tathagata discussed their schemes and Son Goku argued with Li Jing and Zhu Bajie.
• The Bull Demon King asked Ling Yi whether his method for restoring their strength was the Spirit Court technique.

Ling Yi arranged to open the Stone Stele Dreamscape so ordinary people could hunt its monsters, while negotiating with the Jade Emperor and Tathagata for resources to strengthen them. Chang E warned him that the Primordial World might be caught in the Great Dao’s designs and that another Calamity could turn all living beings against them.

• Ling Yi told the Primordial World Mythology Group that he could bring eligible ordinary people into the Stone Stele Dreamscape, and the Jade Emperor proposed using a karmic force rune to keep evil people out.
• The Jade Emperor offered the Investiture of the Gods Scroll, while Tathagata agreed to lend Ling Yi the Merit Golden Pool and Merit Golden Lotus for testing.
• Ling Yi asked Li Jing to protect the people of White Rainbow Residential Complex from evil demons, and Chang E confirmed that the real Uncle Liu and Uncle Bai were safe abroad.
• Chang E warned Ling Yi that the Jade Emperor and Tathagata had been testing his attitude and might scheme against him if he ceased to be useful.
• Chang E explained that the Great Dao had left the Primordial World a thread of hope and suggested it might have been watching Ling Yi since he became The Escaped One.

Ling Yi received the Investiture of the Gods Scroll, Merit Golden Pool, and Merit Golden Lotus from Taibai Jinxing and Tathagata, while concealing how his Dao Principles affected cultivation. After Chang E discovered that the Spirit Court method restored magic power, Ling Yi used the treasures in the Soul Realm to build a basic player system for the Stone Stele Dreamscape.

• Taibai Jinxing delivered the Investiture of the Gods Scroll, and Tathagata brought the Merit Golden Pool and Merit Golden Lotus to Ling Yi.
• Tathagata questioned Ling Yi about the Spirit Court method's inefficiency, but Ling Yi denied knowing its cause and sent the visitors away.
• Tathagata worried that Ling Yi's plans for the Stone Stele Dreamscape and evil demons could threaten their interests, while the Jade Emperor chose to let Ling Yi act.
• Chang E warned Ling Yi that Tathagata and the others might turn against him once they regained their strength, but Ling Yi said they would have to behave around him.
• Chang E cultivated the Spirit Court method and restored a small amount of magic power, realizing Ling Yi had intercepted most of the power of chaos.
• Ling Yi entered the Soul Realm and used the three treasures to create gameplay levels, experience points, and a basic player system overnight.

Over half a month, the Stone Stele Dreamscape transformed the Ancient Country as millions of players gained real-world strength, while evil demons emerged across the world and Heavenly Court prepared to fall. Ling Yi sent Guanyin to bring the Great Eagle Museum’s artifact spirits home, then entered the Soul Realm and surveyed the players’ expanding territory.

• The Stone Stele Dreamscape grew to over 200 million players, while DK and the karmic-force requirement helped the authorities maintain order and players used their new strength to hunt evil demons.
• More than twenty-three thousand Ancient Country artifacts in the Great Eagle Museum became demonic spirits, throwing Great Eagle into chaos as the Ancient Country delayed its response.
• Guanyin warned Ling Yi that players were growing beyond Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain’s control, and told him Heavenly Court would soon fall into Kunshan as the Jade Emperor sought to recruit players.
• Guanyin suspected the Great Dao was influencing Tathagata and steering him into another Calamity, while Ling Yi said he would eventually erase the Great Dao.
• Ling Yi asked Guanyin to go to Great Eagle and bring the artifact spirits home after they had vented, explaining that their obsession was simply to return.
• That night, Ling Yi entered the Soul Realm and surveyed its expanding regions, where players were farming monsters and avoiding dangerous lakes and volcanoes.

Ling Yi unleashed the Pangu Great Axe formed from the Nine-Turn Chaos Art’s 108 golden characters, raising the Soul Realm Stele’s golden lines as he hunted tier-three Soul Monsters. He then traveled with Chang E to the Supreme Yin Asgard, where she explained that their Small Thousand World’s history was a setting established at its birth and hinted at the Great Dao’s interference.

• Ling Yi released all nine levels of the Nine-Turn Chaos Art and used its golden characters to form the Pangu Great Axe.
• Ling Yi killed a tier-three dragon-shaped Soul Monster with the axe, and the distant Soul Realm Stele’s golden lines rose.
• Ling Yi hunted nearby tier-three Soul Monsters for several days, driving the golden lines closer to the top of the stele.
• Chang E invited Ling Yi to the Supreme Yin Star, and she transported them there despite Tathagata’s anger at Ling Yi’s hidden strength.
• Chang E showed Ling Yi her modern villa and alien spaceships, then explained that the Small Thousand World’s apparent history was part of its original setting and that the Great Dao had intervened.

Ling Yi returned from Supreme Yin Asgard and learned that White Rainbow Residential Complex had been fortified while Guanyin reported on the artifact spirits sent back to the Ancient Country. In the Soul Realm, Yin Wanqing told him the Ling Realm was stable and urged him to make future worlds more original by taking an active role in their plots.

• Ling Yi spent nearly a month with Chang E in Supreme Yin Asgard, where she explained that alien technology had transformed the palace.
• Ling Yi returned to a heavily fortified White Rainbow Residential Complex, and Guanyin reported that twenty-three thousand artifact spirits had returned to the Ancient Country.
• Ling Yi entered the Soul Realm and met Yin Wanqing, who explained that Pangu had become a powerful soul monster and ravaged the realm.
• Yin Wanqing told Ling Yi that the Ling Realm was doing well and discussed how Uncle's fans had helped stabilize his popularity despite his lack of promotion.
• Yin Wanqing said the recent worlds lacked immersion and originality, then advised Ling Yi to stop relying on the Infinite Passive Plot Aura and actively stir up trouble in the next world.

Ling Yi’s cultivation technique clone system activated, giving him two self-aware clones that could cultivate and hunt for him. After the clones gathered food around Fallen Phoenix Slope, they vanished when their two-hour duration ended.

• Ling Yi told Bai Hong to wait until the next day before deciding the bandits’ future, while Bai Hong worried that Ling Yi might abandon or betray them.
• At midnight, Ling Yi’s Infinite Passive Cultivation Technique Clone System activated and displayed his cultivation techniques and clone rules.
• Ling Yi summoned the Wuming Internal Cultivation Method and Arhat Fist clones, named them Wuming and Luohan, and learned that Wuming’s cultivation gains synchronized with his own.
• Wuming and Luohan hunted wild rabbits, a pheasant, and a green snake, which the system stored in its space as Ling Yi sensed Qi growing within him.
• After two hours, Wuming and Luohan reached their time limit and vanished in the wilderness.

Ling Yi used Wuming and Luohan to rapidly advance his cultivation, then left Fallen Phoenix Slope for Fuzhou City to seek martial arts manuals and target the official who framed the bandits. He sent six clones into the city on separate missions, including searching for the Bixie Sword Manual, while Liu Chengzhang’s residence was unusually lively.

• Ling Yi allowed Wuming and Luohan to devour wild rabbits, raising both techniques to level 2 and his cultivation to the peak of the acquired fourth stage.
• Ling Yi sent four clones to hunt; after they gathered many wild beasts, Wuming and Luohan reached level 3 and their clone count rose to six.
• Ling Yi gave three wild boars to the hungry bandits, then left Fallen Phoenix Slope after telling them to watch events in Fuzhou City.
• Ling Yi saw a wanted notice falsely accusing him and the other bandits of atrocities, so he turned away from the city gates.
• Ling Yi sent six clones into Fuzhou City to gather information, stir up trouble for Liu Chengzhang, and search Xiangyang Alley for the Bixie Sword Manual.

Ling Yi rejected the Bixie Sword Manual for himself but had his clone devour it, advancing his cultivation to the peak of the Acquired Eighth Stage. After his clones burned Liu Chengzhang's estate, Ling Yi prepared to watch the Fuwei Escort Agency and encountered a man and a young woman in the forest.

• Yu Canghai promised Liu Chengzhang thirty thousand taels, then plotted to have him killed and ordered Luo Renjie to meet Yu Renyan.
• Ling Yi found the Earth Grade Bixie Sword Manual, refused to practice it, and had a Wuming clone devour it, raising his cultivation to the peak of the Acquired Eighth Stage.
• Ling Yi discovered that his Arhat clones had killed Liu Chengzhang and set fire to the estate, then ordered them to lie low.
• Ling Yi sent his Wuming clones to watch the Fuwei Escort Agency after their cultivation advanced and their number grew to six.
• Ling Yi noticed a plainly dressed man and a lively young woman approaching through the forest.

Ling Yi met Yue Lingshan and Lao Denuo near Fuzhou, shared his rabbit with Yue Lingshan, and explained how a corrupt prefect had framed his bandit group before Ling Yi killed him. After Ling Yi revealed that the Bixie Sword Manual required castration, Yue Lingshan mentioned Zhu Wushi and the Dragon Guarding Manor, leaving Ling Yi to suspect that this world combined different stories and ask her about its Jianghu factions.

• Ling Yi invited hungry Yue Lingshan and wary Lao Denuo to share his roasted rabbit, and Yue Lingshan introduced herself as Mount Hua's foremost heroine.
• Ling Yi told Yue Lingshan that a corrupt prefect had blamed his starving bandit group for mass killings, given them notorious nicknames to steal suppression funds, and been killed by Ling Yi.
• Ling Yi asked whether Yue Lingshan and Lao Denuo had come to Fuzhou for the Bixie Sword Manual, then told Yue Lingshan it could only be practiced by eunuchs.
• Ling Yi said he planned to grow stronger and beat up the emperor to remove his wanted notice, while Lao Denuo dismissed him as a reckless greenhorn.
• Yue Lingshan warned Ling Yi about Zhu Wushi and the Dragon Guarding Manor, prompting Ling Yi to question whether the world was a mixture of different stories and ask her to name its factions and experts.

After learning how vast the martial world was, Ling Yi used his clones to buy supplies and a courtyard for his System Space. Yue Buqun ambushed him over his knowledge of the Bixie Sword Manual, but Ling Yi turned the fight around with three clones and held a sword to Yue Buqun’s throat.

• Yue Lingshan and Lao Denuo told Ling Yi about the powerful sects and kingdoms across the martial world, then left for Fuzhou.
• Ling Yi sent a clone into Fuzhou to buy necessities and a courtyard, using the wealth he had taken from Liu Chengzhang.
• Yue Buqun ambushed Ling Yi, intending to kill him for knowing Yue Lingshan and Lao Denuo had come to Fuzhou.
• Yue Buqun recognized traces of the Bixie Sword Technique in Ling Yi’s swordplay and tried to wear him down with his Zixia True Qi.
• Ling Yi summoned three clones, and their three rapid strikes forced Yue Buqun to stop as Ling Yi’s sword reached his throat.

Ling Yi forced Yue Buqun to write out the complete Zixia Manual and Mount Hua’s martial arts, then learned the Zixia Manual and gained a new clone. He left Yue Buqun to return to Mount Hua and began making plans to use others to collect martial arts manuals.

• Ling Yi captured Yue Buqun and threatened him until he wrote the Zixia Manual accurately, rejecting five tampered versions.
• Ling Yi had a Wuming clone dictate the complete Bixie Sword Manual to Yue Buqun and promised an improved version in exchange for Mount Hua’s martial arts manuals.
• Yue Buqun wrote out seven Mount Hua manuals, then left to take Yue Lingshan back to Mount Hua and stop causing trouble in Fuzhou.
• Ling Yi learned the Zixia Manual, gained purple internal power, and summoned a beautiful Zixia clone.
• Ling Yi gave Zixia the seven Mount Hua manuals to devour.

Ling Yi’s cultivation technique clones arrived at the Fuwei Escort Agency and stopped Yu Canghai’s assault, killing the Qingcheng Sect members. Wuming No. 1 held Yu Canghai at swordpoint and demanded to know whether he wanted to live or die.

• Yu Canghai learned that three young monks had killed Liu Chengzhang and decided to attack the Fuwei Escort Agency that night.
• Yu Canghai led his black-clad men in a raid, where they killed the guards and defeated Lin Zhennan, Lin Pingzhi, and Madam Wang.
• Yu Canghai demanded the Bixie Sword Manual and attacked Madam Wang when Lin Zhennan refused to hand it over.
• A pebble knocked Yu Canghai’s sword aside, and Ling Yi’s six Innate clones appeared to protect the Lin family.
• Wuming No. 1 led the clones in killing the Qingcheng Sect members, then held Yu Canghai at swordpoint and asked if he wanted to live or die.

Ling Yi assigned his clones specialized cultivation paths and set his sights on Shaolin, stopping at Mount Hua to recruit Yue Buqun into collecting martial arts manuals. After trading the Three-Yuan Sword Manual for Yue Buqun’s cooperation, Ling Yi gained new manuals and advanced to Innate Fifth Stage Great Perfection.

• Ling Yi summoned his ten Innate Realm clones and assigned Wuming to sword techniques, Luohan to fist and kick techniques, and Zixia to internal cultivation.
• Ling Yi chose Mount Hua as his next stop before Shaolin and arrived there half a month later with a Zixia clone.
• Ling Yi gave Yue Buqun the Three-Yuan Sword Manual and tasked the Huashan Sect with collecting cultivation manuals in exchange for stronger techniques.
• Yue Buqun and Ning Zhongze agreed to Ling Yi’s exchange terms, and Ling Yi left Mount Hua with more than thirty Mortal Grade manuals.
• Ling Yi’s Arhat Fist advanced to Earth Grade, his cultivation reached Innate Fifth Stage Great Perfection, and his system displayed ten clones for each of his three cultivation techniques.

Zhuge Zhengwo sent Emotionless to Fuzhou to investigate Prefect Liu Chengzhang’s murder, a mysterious Jianghu force, and clues tied to the old Sheng Dingtian case. In Mount Heng City, Ling Yi encountered Dongfang Bubai and ordered Zixia to kill Tian Boguang and Yu Renyan, who had threatened them.

• Zhuge Zhengwo assigned Emotionless to investigate the Fuzhou murder and the mysterious force, with Dingdang accompanying her; Coldblood was told to stay behind.
• Ling Yi reflected on the world’s scrambled geography and traveled to Mount Heng City to watch Liu Zhengfeng’s upcoming retirement ceremony.
• Zixia identified Dongfang Bubai as an Innate expert, and Ling Yi decided to obtain the Sunflower Codex from her.
• Tian Boguang and his disciple Yu Renyan approached Ling Yi and demanded that he hand over Zixia.
• Ling Yi ordered their deaths, and Zixia struck them with purple light, sending them through the inn window before they vanished.

Zixia asked Ling Yi for permission to take Qu Feiyan as her disciple, and Ling Yi agreed despite learning that Qu Yang was a Sun Moon Sect elder. Qu Yang explained the Greater and Lesser Jianghu and the mysterious Jianghu Boundary Tokens, leaving Ling Yi alarmed by the world’s hidden rules.

• Qu Feiyan praised Zixia’s martial arts and asked to become her disciple, and Zixia sought Ling Yi’s permission to take her on.
• Qu Yang revealed that he was a Sun Moon Sect elder and warned that taking Qu Feiyan as a disciple could bring trouble, but Ling Yi said he did not mind.
• Ling Yi asked Qu Yang about his plans, and Qu Yang said he intended to leave the Jianghu with Liu Zhengfeng.
• Qu Yang explained that the Hanming Jianghu was divided into the Greater and Lesser Jianghu and that the imperial court controlled it from above.
• Qu Yang described the Jianghu Boundary Token, saying the mysterious tokens appeared without explanation and were held by only certain prominent Jianghu figures.
• Ling Yi tested Qu Yang’s token, found it seemingly indestructible, and grew alarmed that something was wrong with the tokens and the mash-up Jianghu.

Ling Yi investigated his system and the Jianghu Boundary Tokens while his cultivation clones secretly targeted local criminals and sect members. At Liu Zhengfeng’s ceremony, Miejue blamed Dongfang Bubai for the disappearances, pursued her, and Emotionless confronted Ling Yi, revealing that she could not read his mind—or the minds of his clones.

• Ling Yi questioned Zixia about taking Qu Feiyan as her disciple, canceled her summoning, and challenged the silent system after suspecting it had influenced her.
• Ling Yi reviewed Qu Yang’s information, speculated that the Jianghu Boundary Tokens limited interference between plot characters, and ordered his clones to act despite their ten-kilometer range.
• Ling Yi sent Zixia to buy a courtyard for Qu Yang and Qu Feiyan, then spent nearly two weeks cultivating as sect members arrived and local thugs, bandits, and Jianghu figures disappeared.
• At Liu Zhengfeng’s golden basin ceremony, Miejue accused the Mount Song Sect of links to bandits, cut off Ding Mian’s arm, and deduced that at least two Innate sword experts had killed the bandits.
• Miejue identified the fleeing culprit as Dongfang Bubai and pursued her, while Emotionless approached Ling Yi and told him her Mind-Reading Technique could not work on him or his clones.