Chapter Summaries

Ye Qiubai overwhelmed Jian Chaomian with his Sword Domain, helping him deepen his Sword Intent and prompting Lin Rufeng to invite him to the Hidden Sword Sect. The main academy’s challengers then chose Shi Sheng and Xiao Hei, and Xiao Hei badly injured his opponent with one punch.

• Ye Qiubai swept Jian Chaomian into a river of Sword Intent, which Jian Chaomian could not withstand.
• Jian Chaomian thanked Ye Qiubai and left the platform determined to cultivate harder.
• Lin Rufeng asked Dean Yan to let Jian Chaomian join the Hidden Sword Sect, and Dean Yan agreed to let Jian decide for himself.
• Two main academy disciples chose Shi Sheng and Xiao Hei as their opponents.
• Shi Sheng pinned his challenger down with one swing of the Minghuang Mystic Axe, while Xiao Hei knocked his challenger off the platform with a single punch.
• Xiao Hei said he had held back, and his injured opponent fainted after hearing him.

After the Cottage’s disciples secured the academy exchange championship, factions rallied behind Hong Ying and the Cloud Phoenix Empire’s rebuilding. Meanwhile, the Buddhist Sect tried to contact the Upper Realm, but Lu Changsheng’s formations blocked its message, prompting the Heavenly Spirit Sect to prepare for a march.

• Qin Tiannan celebrated the Southern Region Hidden Dao Academy’s victory as the Li Clan, the Pill Sect, and other factions pledged support for rebuilding the Cloud Phoenix Empire.
• Hong Ying revealed that the Pill Sect’s support came with a promise that Lu Changsheng would guide them, then blamed Ye Qiubai for negotiating the deal as the Cottage group headed home.
• The four surviving Buddhist Sect elders told the Buddha Lord that Empress Yunhuang had returned, obtained the Heart of the Realm, and could not be stopped; he ordered them to hinder the Cloud Phoenix Empire and await the Buddha Child.
• The Buddha Lord used his blood essence to send a message toward the Upper Realm, but Lu Changsheng’s concealment formation and Jianmu Dragon-Trapping Grand Formation crushed the golden pillar and left him injured.
• Kong Jianghan concluded that the formation was hiding events in the lower realm and ordered the grand elder to notify Sect Master Peng and the other sects to prepare to march.

Lu Changsheng was summoned to the Pill Sect after Ye Qiubai promised guidance on his behalf, and he gave Sect Master Geng Chun advice about creating pill formulas. Geng Chun believed he had understood, while Lu Changsheng remained baffled by his reaction.

• Hong Ying blamed Ye Qiubai for the trouble, and Lu Changsheng scolded and punished him while the disciples cultivated in seclusion.
• Ye Qiubai reached the mid-stage Qianyuan Realm, while Shi Sheng reached Half-Step Void God and his talent rose to SS rank.
• The Pill Sect's grand elder and Hu Qing visited the Cottage to invite Lu Changsheng to answer the sect's questions, and Lu Changsheng sent Ye Qiubai to spend three days beneath a waterfall.
• Lu Changsheng went with the grand elder to the Pill Sect, where Sect Master Geng Chun asked how to create Earth Rank pill formulas.
• Lu Changsheng advised Geng Chun to stop relying on formula restrictions and develop his own understanding, and Geng Chun declared that he had understood.

After refusing Geng Chun’s offer to become an honorary elder of the Pill Sect, Lu Changsheng returned to the Cottage and found Xiao Hei in agony as his seal loosened. Xiao Hei sensed that a stone was connected to the missing memories, so Lu Changsheng took him to where the black stone had fallen and followed its lingering presence to a strange village.

• Geng Chun invited Lu Changsheng to join the Pill Sect as an honorary elder and offered him access to the Pill Tower, but Lu Changsheng refused and left.
• Lu Changsheng returned to the Cottage and found Xiao Hei writhing in pain as demonic Qi surged from his eyes.
• The Willow Tree explained that Xiao Hei’s seal had loosened as his strength grew, while the little bird warned that resealing it could damage his sea of consciousness.
• Lu Changsheng diagnosed that missing memory fragments had caused Xiao Hei’s distress and asked him to sense what he needed.
• Xiao Hei managed to say “stone,” prompting Lu Changsheng to take him to the place where the black stone had landed.
• Lu Changsheng found the landing site transformed into a barren area, followed the black stone’s lingering presence, and reached a strange village.

Lu Changsheng purified the demonic frenzy consuming an old man in Afterglow Village, and the black stone restored fragments of Xiao Hei’s sealed memories. Xiao Hei resolved to seek the Demon Abyss, while the old man awoke to find his village deserted.

• Lu Changsheng and Xiao Hei entered the silent Afterglow Village and followed the black stone’s presence to a stone house.
• A demonic old man attacked Lu Changsheng, who purified him and treated his injuries before he fainted.
• Lu Changsheng found the black stone among bloody offerings and placed it before Xiao Hei, where it entered Xiao Hei’s brow and restored memory fragments.
• Xiao Hei saw memories mentioning his brother, the Demon God, and a plan to seize the Demon Realm, along with a vision of the Demon Abyss.
• Xiao Hei decided to go to the Demon Abyss, and Lu Changsheng told him to deal with what had happened in the village.
• The old man awoke the next morning, saw the deserted village, and blamed the black stone for what had happened.

After learning that the black stone had driven the people of Afterglow Village to kill one another, Xiao Hei asked Lu Changsheng to help save their souls. In the Nine Nether, Lu Changsheng arranged for Xiao Hei to become its future lord, and a mysterious man agreed to let Xiao Hei take the villagers’ souls as a greeting gift.

• The village chief told Lu Changsheng and Xiao Hei that the black stone had corrupted the villagers, leaving him the sole survivor after he killed the others.
• Xiao Hei asked Lu Changsheng to save the villagers, and Lu Changsheng took him to the Nine Nether to find their souls before they entered reincarnation.
• Lu Changsheng proposed that Xiao Hei become the Lord of the Nine Nether, and the three black-robed figures agreed once he became strong enough to contend with the Half-Step Emperor Realm.
• Xiao Hei asked to take the villagers’ souls out of the Nine Nether, but the three black-robed figures objected that it would disrupt its order.
• The man who had given Lu Changsheng the spirit of the Yellow Springs River appeared and offered to let Xiao Hei take the souls as a greeting gift for the future Lord of the Nine Nether.

Lu Changsheng and Xiao Hei restored the sixty-nine villagers of Afterglow Village to life, and Lu Changsheng reminded Xiao Hei that being a demon did not determine whether he was good or evil. Back at the Cottage, Hong Ying advised Ning Chenxin to establish a Confucian faith before spreading his teachings, and he decided to follow his heart.

• The Underworld Envoy returned Afterglow Village's sixty-nine souls to Xiao Hei and explained that he had arranged the deal to make Lu Changsheng owe him another favor.
• Lu Changsheng used the Life Dao Law to restore the villagers' bodies, and Xiao Hei reunited their souls with them, bringing all sixty-nine villagers back to life.
• Xiao Hei accepted the villagers' gratitude, and Lu Changsheng told him that a demon's goodness or evil depended on his heart before they set off for the Cottage.
• Hong Ying told Ning Chenxin that his efforts to spread his teachings were too inefficient and advised him to establish a Confucian faith.
• Ning Chenxin considered Hong Ying's proposal to inherit the Confucian Temple's foundations and decided to follow his heart.

Ye Qiubai, Hong Ying, and Ning Chenxin left the Cottage to establish their own forces, while Shi Sheng stayed with Lu Changsheng. The Study’s first test came when the Buddhist Sect’s hidden prodigy challenged Ning Chenxin to debate the Dao.

• At dinner, Ye Qiubai said he wanted to establish a force of his own, and Shi Sheng chose to remain with Lu Changsheng.
• The next day, Ye Qiubai and Hong Ying left the mountain to build the Azure Cloud Sword Sect in the Southern Region and rebuild the Cloud Phoenix Empire in the Central Region.
• Seven days later, the Azure Cloud Sword Sect and Cloud Phoenix Empire were established, and Ning Chenxin’s Study appeared in the Western Region.
• Ye Qiubai opened Lu Changsheng’s congratulatory calligraphy and found that it contained a Spirit-Nurturing Array for the Azure Cloud Sword Sect.
• Ye Qiubai selected four disciples for the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, including Jian Chaomian and Liang Feng, who had left the Hidden Sword Sect with Lin Rufeng’s approval.
• The Buddhist Sect’s Buddhist Son challenged Ning Chenxin to debate the Dao at the Study in seven days, and Ning Chenxin accepted.

Ning Chenxin accepted the Buddhist Sect’s challenge and met its Buddha Son at Crane Cry Mountain to debate the Dao. He argued that all things were the Dao but that Buddhism and Confucianism differed in their views of worldly life and human destiny, then questioned whether Buddhist practitioners truly acted without selfish desire.

• Ning Chenxin accepted the Buddhist Sect’s challenge to debate the Dao, knowing that either outcome would affect the Study’s reputation.
• Factions gathered at Crane Cry Mountain, but Ning Chenxin refused to let them ascend before the contest began.
• The Buddha Son arrived alone beneath three Buddhist manifestations and opened the debate by asking, “What is the Dao?”
• Ning Chenxin declared that the Dao had existed before heaven and earth and that all things, even soil and plants, were the Dao.
• When the Buddha Son asked why Buddhism and Confucianism differed, Ning Chenxin contrasted Buddhism’s renunciation of worldly suffering with the Dao’s embrace of human life, then challenged the Buddha Son over Buddhist practitioners’ motives.

Ning Chenxin defeated the Buddhist Disciple in a debate on the Dao by exposing how he had abandoned his ideals and conformed to the Buddhist Sect. The Study established its standing in the Western Region, while Ye Qiubai celebrated his junior brother’s victory as he finished a chess game with Jian Chaomian.

• Ning Chenxin countered the Buddhist Disciple’s arguments, challenging the Buddhist Sect’s contradictions and its claim that conflict could not be overcome.
• Ning Chenxin reminded the Buddhist Disciple that he had once wanted to change the world but had given up and been assimilated by the Buddhist Sect.
• The Buddhist Disciple spat blood as his Dao heart collapsed, then conceded defeat to Ning Chenxin.
• The factions present respected Ning Chenxin, and the Study’s standing in the Western Region and across the continent was established.
• At the Azure Cloud Sword Sect, Liang Feng told Ye Qiubai and Jian Chaomian that Ning Chenxin had won; Ye Qiubai finished the chess game and declared that Third Junior Brother could not lose at trading words.

As signs of an Upper Realm invasion emerged, Qin Tiannan summoned Lu Changsheng to join the Cloud Phoenix Empire’s preparations. Lu Changsheng agreed, recognizing that the invaders would come for him and his disciples, while unseen tensions gathered beneath the continent’s fragile peace.

• Xiao Hei left for the Extreme Northern Icefield to hunt Devil Beasts, while Shi Sheng stayed at the Cottage and neared the Void God Realm.
• Lu Changsheng checked his disciples’ cultivation and tried to avoid Qin Tiannan, who arrived with news that cultivators from outside the realm were approaching the Wilderness Realm.
• Qin Tiannan told Lu Changsheng that Central Region powers were gathering in the rebuilt Cloud Phoenix Empire and that Dean Yan and Sect Master Lin wanted his help.
• Lu Changsheng agreed to travel with Qin Tiannan and Shi Sheng after considering the invaders’ ties to the Heart of the Realm and his own past actions.
• After they departed, the Willow Tree said some causes could only be resolved by force, and the little bird reflected on its words.
• Cloud Emperor City prospered as unseen tensions grew toward a war between realms.

With an army from another realm expected to reach the Heavenly Road in three days, Hong Ying gathered the Central Region’s leaders and waited for Lu Changsheng to arrive. Lu Changsheng revealed that he had set up arrays on the Heavenly Road that could delay the invasion for about half a month, giving them time to gather their forces.

• Dean Yan reported that the invading army would reach the Heavenly Road in three days, and Hong Ying told the gathered leaders to wait.
• Qin Tiannan arrived with Lu Changsheng, whom Hong Ying, Ye Qiubai, and Ning Chenxin addressed as their master.
• Lu Changsheng agreed to advise the leaders and told them to prepare their forces.
• Lu Changsheng revealed that he had set up arrays on the Heavenly Road to stall the invading army and weaken its fighting strength.
• Lu Changsheng estimated that the arrays could hold the army off for half a month, giving the factions time to gather their forces.

As the invasion from beyond the realm began earlier than expected, Lu Changsheng took command of the gathered forces while Hong Ying brought the Imperial Preceptor back to Cloud Phoenix City. The factions assembled for war, and the Imperial Preceptor prepared to strengthen their forces before they headed to the Heavenly Road.

• Hong Ying left for the Cloud Phoenix Secret Realm to summon the Imperial Preceptor while Lu Changsheng remained in Hanging City with Ye Qiubai's group.
• The three elders maintaining an array at the Heavenly Array Gate detected that the enemy had reached the Heavenly Road ahead of schedule and sent up nine pillars of light to warn the continent.
• Dean Yan, Lin Rufeng, and Mu Heze reacted to the warning, and factions across the four regions began gathering their forces in Cloud Phoenix City.
• Yun Zhan asked Lu Changsheng to command the Nine Heavens Division, and Lu Changsheng ordered the factions to coordinate their forces, supplies, and array support before heading to the Heavenly Road.
• Hong Ying returned with the Imperial Preceptor, whose strength had reached the Half-Step Emperor Realm; he promised to raise the continent's overall strength by ten percent in fifteen days.
• Four old men and a middle-aged man left the Buddhist Sect and headed for Cloud Phoenix City.

As Cloud Phoenix City absorbed the Imperial Preceptor’s purified Spiritual Qi, the Buddhist Lord arrived to oppose the empire’s war and clashed with the Imperial Preceptor at the Half-Emperor Realm. Meanwhile, the Buddhist elders began draining the city’s Spiritual Qi, and Lu Changsheng considered strengthening the arrays at the Heavenly Road.

• The Imperial Preceptor explained to Hong Ying that he had spent more than ten thousand years purifying Spiritual Qi, allowing cultivators in Cloud Phoenix City to absorb it directly and advance rapidly.
• Hong Ying asked Ye Qiubai where Lu Changsheng was, and Ye Qiubai said he had gone to set up more arrays.
• Hong Ying and the Imperial Preceptor spotted five approaching figures, led by the Buddhist Lord, who declared that he would oppose the empire’s war.
• The Buddhist Lord and the Imperial Preceptor unleashed their Half-Emperor powers and fought, while the Buddhist elders attacked Cloud Phoenix City and consumed its pure Spiritual Qi.
• Lu Changsheng arrived at the Heavenly Road and considered moving the Nine Nether Yellow Springs Grand Array there.

Lu Changsheng reinforced the Heavenly Road’s defenses while keeping his strongest formation hidden. The Buddhist Lord disrupted the allied army’s cultivation before departing, as Kong Jianghan led the Heavenly Spirit Realm’s forces toward the Wilderness Realm.

• Lu Changsheng strengthened the three suppression formations on the Heavenly Road and decided to create three more killing formations, keeping the Nine Nether Yellow Springs Grand Array as a trump card.
• The Buddhist Lord used the Buddhist Sect Lion's Roar against the Imperial Preceptor, injuring cultivators in the allied army and interrupting their cultivation.
• The Imperial Preceptor blocked the attack and warned the Buddhist Lord that they would be enemies in the coming war.
• The Buddhist Lord left Cloud Phoenix City with the four great Buddhas, while the Imperial Preceptor prepared to restore the allied army before they set out for the Heavenly Road.
• Kong Jianghan led seven top experts and a dense army from the Heavenly Spirit Realm toward the Wilderness Realm to claim the Heart of the Realm.

Lu Changsheng prepared three formations to delay the invading forces while Hong Ying led the allied army to the Heavenly Road. After Lu Changsheng killed an elder who urged surrender, the invaders arrived and Kong Jianghan demanded the Heart of the Realm.

• Lu Changsheng set up the Scarlet Sun Wind-Slaying Formation, the Spatial Binding and Explosion Formation, and the Cloud River Sea-Overturning Formation, then rested on a Jianmu chair.
• Hong Ying led the allied army to the Heavenly Road, where she and the others found Lu Changsheng waiting.
• An elder urged the army to compromise with the invaders, and Lu Changsheng killed him with Sword Intent.
• Hong Ying ordered the Nine Heavens Division and the imperial preceptor to restore morale as the allied army's resolve faltered.
• Kong Jianghan and the forces from another realm arrived outside the Heavenly Road, and he demanded that the Wilderness Realm hand over the Heart of the Realm.

Lu Changsheng rallied the wavering allied army and entered the Heavenly Road to confront Kong Jianghan and seven other Emperor Realm experts. The Jianmu Dragon-Trapping Formation failed to stop them outright, but Lu Changsheng’s next formations sealed their Spiritual Qi and compressed space.

• Lu Changsheng persuaded the allied army that surrender would not guarantee survival and urged them to fight for their future, restoring their morale.
• Hong Ying rejected Kong Jianghan’s demand, and Kong Jianghan led seven other Emperor Realm experts into the Heavenly Road to destroy its formations.
• Lu Changsheng stepped into the Heavenly Road as Hong Ying entrusted the fight to him.
• The Jianmu Dragon-Trapping Formation attacked the eight experts, but the bushy-bearded man and the veiled woman destroyed the Jianmu with lightning and pink Qi.
• Lu Changsheng activated the Spirit-Sealing Cloud River Formation and the Spatial Lockdown Grand Array, draining Spiritual Qi and compressing space around the attackers.

Lu Changsheng’s three trapping formations held eight Emperor Realm experts in the Heavenly Road, even when they attacked together with Spirit Treasures. As the formations continued to hold, Lu Changsheng decided to strike first, and four killing presences began to rise.

• Lu Changsheng’s formations trapped the full-bearded man and the black-veiled woman, while he waited for more enemies to enter the Heavenly Road.
• Kong Jianghan led five other Emperor Realm experts into the Heavenly Road, where the three formations attacked them and shook the realm with their power.
• The allied army feared the eight experts, but Ye Qiubai and Hong Ying trusted Lu Changsheng, who secretly panicked and considered relying on the Nine Nether Yellow Springs Grand Array if needed.
• Kong Jianghan revealed his Spirit Treasure sword and Sword Saint status, and all eight experts attacked the Jianmu Dragon-Trapping Formation with their own Spirit Treasures.
• Lu Changsheng poured Spiritual Qi into the Jianmu formation, which withstood the eight experts’ full assault, and he began preparing to strike as four killing presences rose within the Heavenly Road.

Lu Changsheng activated four killing formations against the eight trapped Emperor Realm experts, overwhelming their defenses and forcing Kong Jianghan to call for the Power of the Realm. The battle left the experts on the brink of using their strongest remaining countermeasure.

• Lu Changsheng activated the Annihilation Killing Formation, Scarlet Sun Wind-Slaying Formation, Spatial Binding and Explosion Formation, and Cloud River Sea-Overturning Formation against the trapped experts.
• Kong Jianghan and the other seven raised Spiritual Qi barriers and defensive Spirit Treasures as the killing formations’ power grew.
• The Scarlet Sun Wind-Slaying Formation scorched the Jianmu bindings and battered the experts’ barriers with fierce flames and cutting winds.
• Lu Changsheng sent annihilation Qi blades through the flames, and they broke through the outer defenses and cracked the eight defensive Spirit Treasures.
• The scarlet flames spread across the Wilderness Realm, raising its temperature and melting ice in the Extreme Northern Icefield.
• Kong Jianghan urged the others to use the Power of the Realm, warning that they would otherwise be left behind for good.

Kong Jianghan and the other seven drew on the Heavenly Spirit Realm’s Heart of the Realm, but Lu Changsheng’s formations and Scarlet Sun Fire devastated them and shook the Wilderness Realm. As Lu Changsheng realized how powerful he might be, a roar sounded from a spatial black hole.

• Kong Jianghan and the other seven used the Power of the Realm to form a gigantic longsword and strike at Lu Changsheng’s Scarlet Sun Fire.
• Lu Changsheng activated the Cloud River Sea-Overturning Formation and the Spatial Binding and Explosion Formation against them.
• The clash triggered catastrophic tremors across the Wilderness Realm as Hong Ying and the others raised a defensive barrier.
• The explosion destroyed the formations and left Kong Jianghan badly wounded, four of the eight Emperor Realm experts dead, and the other three survivors gravely injured.
• Kong Jianghan asked whether Lu Changsheng came from a higher-dimensional realm, while Lu Changsheng wondered if he was the strongest person in the Wilderness Realm.
• Lu Changsheng looked toward a spatial black hole when an immense roar sounded from within it.