Chapter Summaries

News of Azure Firmament Academy’s victory and its acquisition of the Classic of Mountains and Seas spread through the Chaos Realm, while Lu Changsheng learned more about the treasure from Qi Wu. Comparing Qi Wu’s fragmentary page with the others, Lu Changsheng suspected the world was far more complicated than it seemed.

• The Listening Wind Pavilion’s master decided to sell information about the Six Realms Academy Exchange, including the details the Divine Realm had suppressed, despite concerns about the rising Dark Domain.
• Qi Wu joined Ye Qiubai and the Azure Firmament Academy group, while Vice Dean Lin returned to Chaotic Spirit Academy with Tan Zongzhao and Gu Sheng chose to stay and train with the group.
• Hong Ying activated Lu Changsheng’s spatial node and brought the group back to Azure Firmament Academy, where Qi Wu met Lu Changsheng.
• Qi Wu told Lu Changsheng that the Classic of Mountains and Seas contained seventy-five scattered exotic beasts and that its Heaven Rod and Earth Rod could unlock some of its powers.
• Qi Wu gave Lu Changsheng his fragmentary page; after comparing it with the other three pages, Lu Changsheng grew certain that the world was not simple.

After discovering that the four loose pages matched the Classic of Mountains and Seas from his previous life, Lu Changsheng learned from Willow Tree about a mysterious world where the same exotic beasts had fought people. He decided to investigate the connected mysteries and set out with Huang Qian and his companions.

• Lu Changsheng learned that the Earth Rod was somewhere on the Devil Beast Continent and told Ye Qiubai and the others to search for it after a short rest.
• Lu Changsheng gave Qi Wu a powerful pill as payment, then Ye Qiubai and the others agreed to show Qi Wu around the Mortal Realm.
• In the Changsheng Realm, Lu Changsheng told Huang Qian to have Liu Ziru watch for loose pages of the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the Chaos Realm.
• Willow Tree recalled visiting a world where exotic beasts matching the pages fought people, and seeing a woman use the Classic of Mountains and Seas to summon a beast powerful enough to destroy a world.
• Lu Changsheng decided to investigate the mysteries and set out with Huang Qian, Xiangliu, Zhu Jiuyin, and the Bone-Winged Serpent Tiger.

Lu Changsheng and his companions searched for a remnant page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas in Phoenix Cry City, then heard reports of a phoenix cry at the sealed Phoenix Cry Sect. They infiltrated the sect to investigate, disguising themselves as two unconscious disciples.

• Lu Changsheng failed to sense the remnant page, but learned at a restaurant that a phoenix had cried at the Phoenix Cry Sect, which had sealed its grounds.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian connected the phoenix cry to events from a million years ago and considered it a possible sign of a remnant page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Xiangliu gathered information about the Phoenix Cry Sect, and Lu Changsheng and his companions found Phoenix Cry Mountain under heavy guard and surrounded by a barrier.
• Lu Changsheng concealed himself and Huang Qian and brought them inside the sect, where they hid in a cramped corner.
• Lu Changsheng knocked two disciples unconscious, and he and Huang Qian disguised themselves as them and imitated their presences.

Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian entered the Phoenix Cry Forbidden Land disguised as low-ranking disciples and saw a Divine Phoenix Soul appear in a pillar of fire. Lu Changsheng suspected it had been summoned through a medium, leaving them to search for the medium and the summoner to locate the Earth Rod.

• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian concealed their identities and bloodlines to pass the elders’ Phoenix Cry Stone test.
• An unfamiliar disciple recognized them as Brother Tang and Brother Liang, then explained that cultivation and bloodline strength determined how close disciples could approach the Phoenix Soul.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian passed the checkpoint with modest results and followed the disciple through a canyon lined with Divine Phoenix statues.
• The three reached a plaza where a Divine Phoenix phantom released waves of fire from a pillar of light, and the disciple sat down to endure the heat and comprehend its power.
• Lu Changsheng realized the Divine Phoenix Soul seemed to have been summoned through a medium, so he and Huang Qian set out to identify the medium and summoner and trace the Earth Rod.

Lu Changsheng traced the Divine Phoenix soul’s frenzy to a disciple and used the chaos to conceal his investigation with Huang Qian. That night, they entered the disciple’s cave abode and found a fragmentary page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas bearing a phoenix portrait.

• Lu Changsheng secretly sent Holy Qi into the Divine Phoenix soul, traced its hidden presence to a disciple in the square’s inner circle, and waited rather than confront him.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian pretended to be badly injured, then hid while the Phoenix Cry Sect elders contained the fire waves and the Divine Phoenix soul disappeared.
• After night fell, Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian left the courtyard, while the disciple checked on two unconscious disciples they had placed in their beds as decoys.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian sneaked into the disciple’s cave abode and found him drawing beside a fragmentary page of the Classic of Mountains and Seas bearing a phoenix portrait.

Lu Changsheng met Xu Yeming, whose Great Wilderness Beast Heart and connection to the Classic of Mountains and Seas made him a potential disciple, but Xu Yeming refused to trust him. The next morning, Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian were summoned to the Elders' Hall after approaching the Divine Phoenix soul.

• Lu Changsheng learned from the system that Xu Yeming had SSS-rank talent and a Great Wilderness Beast Heart, and that the system wanted him to accept Xu Yeming as a disciple.
• Xu Yeming attacked Lu Changsheng with a painted Azure-Eyed White Tiger, but Lu Changsheng restrained him and destroyed the beast with a golden light from his eyes.
• Lu Changsheng released Xu Yeming and offered to take him as his disciple, but Xu Yeming accused him of wanting the Classic of Mountains and Seas Scroll Rod and refused to trust him.
• Lu Changsheng left with Huang Qian, while Xu Yeming investigated their departure and then returned to painting with the fragmentary page put away.
• The next morning, Qin Zhan told Lu Changsheng that the elders had summoned everyone who approached the phoenix soul to the Elders' Hall, and Lu Changsheng went there with Huang Qian.

Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian entered the Divine Phoenix Hall for the bloodline test, while a senior expert investigated the phoenix statues’ reaction to Huang Qian. The Phoenix King took over the examination and unleashed his bloodline pressure, which suddenly vanished when a presence descended upon Xu Yeming.

• The phoenix statues bowed toward Huang Qian, and an old man in seclusion ordered someone to investigate anyone who showed exceptional talent in the bloodline test.
• Lu Changsheng warned Huang Qian that the statues’ reaction might attract the sect’s higher-ups, and they joined the line for testing while watching Xu Yeming.
• The Phoenix King arrived and began examining the disciples himself, summoning a phoenix phantom whose bloodline pressure forced nearly everyone to the floor.
• As Lu Changsheng watched Xu Yeming struggle under the pressure, a sudden presence descended upon him and erased the oppressive bloodline might.

Lu Changsheng concealed Xu Yeming’s awakened bloodline from the Phoenix King, then waited to learn what Xu Yeming would do. Xu Yeming triggered a second, stronger Phoenix Soul manifestation at the Phoenix Cry Sect, and Lu Changsheng chose to watch as the sect searched for him.

• The Phoenix King tested the disciples for awakened bloodlines, warned them to report any awakening, and left without discovering Xu Yeming.
• Lu Changsheng sent Qin Zhan away, waited for Xu Yeming, and heard him acknowledge a debt while refusing to involve the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• After Xu Yeming left, Lu Changsheng investigated the Phoenix Cry Sect further, suspecting the young man was about to make a bold move.
• A second, stronger Phoenix Soul appeared in the valley, and the Phoenix King ordered the elders to secure the area and search for anyone who had approached it.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian spotted Xu Yeming hiding from the search, but Lu Changsheng refused to intervene and decided to see what he would do.

Xu Yeming tried to give the Phoenix Soul a physical body using the Classic of Mountains and Seas, but his attempt stalled until an unknown person sent him the Heaven Rod. After combining it with the Earth Rod and painting the phoenix onto the completed scroll, Xu Yeming was exposed to the Phoenix King, who chose to capture him alive.

• The Phoenix King sensed that someone had caused the Phoenix Soul to descend and ordered a search of Phoenix Cry Mountain.
• Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian realized Xu Yeming was using the Phoenix Cry Sect’s Phoenix Soul to test whether the Earth Rod could summon a beast, and Lu Changsheng learned that Xu Yeming’s Great Wilderness Beast Heart could resonate with and accommodate exotic beasts.
• Xu Yeming’s attempt to solidify the Phoenix Soul faltered, and he feared his concealment pill was wearing off.
• An unknown person delivered the Heaven Rod to Xu Yeming, who joined it with the Earth Rod and his fragmentary page to form the Classic of Mountains and Seas scroll.
• Xu Yeming painted the phoenix onto the scroll, causing a physical body to appear over the Phoenix Soul’s phantom.
• The Phoenix King found Xu Yeming and burned away the surrounding terrain, exposing him while deliberately sparing him.

Xu Yeming completed a phoenix using the Classic of Mountains and Seas, then refused to surrender the book as the Phoenix King and Phoenix Cry Sect tried to capture him. Surrounded and nearly out of strength, he called on an unknown senior and prepared to test the Classic’s exotic beasts across Phoenix Cry Mountain.

• Xu Yeming’s fading concealment revealed his location, and the Phoenix King recognized the Classic of Mountains and Seas as the source of his work.
• The Phoenix King offered to nurture Xu Yeming if he surrendered the Classic, or kill him and take it; Lu Changsheng told Huang Qian that Xu Yeming would not die.
• Xu Yeming completed the phoenix, whose bloodline pressure shattered the valley’s restrictions and forced many disciples to kneel.
• Xu Yeming refused to hand over the Classic and rode the phoenix into the air, but the Phoenix King ordered the elders to capture him.
• Cornered, Xu Yeming entrusted his fate to an unknown senior and unleashed the phoenix’s bloodline pressure across Phoenix Cry Mountain; Qin Zhan wondered where Brother Tang and Brother Liang were.

Xu Yeming and the phoenix were overwhelmed by the Phoenix King and the elders, but Liang Yuan intervened and revealed herself as Huang Qian. Huang Qian confronted the Phoenix Cry Sect with Divine Phoenix Fire, leaving the Phoenix King and elders stunned by her power.

• The Phoenix Cry Sect Master sensed Xu Yeming’s pure Phoenix Bloodline but remained in seclusion, expecting the Phoenix King and elders to handle him.
• The Phoenix King ordered the elders to attack Xu Yeming and seize the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Xu Yeming used the phoenix’s Nirvana Fire to hold off the elders’ attacks, but the Phoenix King’s fire overwhelmed it and engulfed him.
• Liang Yuan appeared unharmed before Xu Yeming, then shed her disguise and revealed herself as a woman in a fiery-red dress.
• Huang Qian warned the Phoenix King that he could not kill Xu Yeming and unleashed Divine Phoenix Fire, manifesting a Divine Phoenix above the clouds.

Huang Qian revealed her Divine Phoenix Bloodline and forced the Phoenix Cry Sect to submit, while Lu Changsheng secured the sect master’s obedience and secrecy. The sect master received a pill to resolve his predicament, and the Phoenix Cry Sect was left under Huang Qian’s authority.

• Huang Qian’s Divine Phoenix presence made the Phoenix Cry Sect elders and disciples kneel, and her surging cultivation forced the Phoenix King to submit.
• The Phoenix Cry Sect Master ordered the entire sect to treat an audience with Huang Qian as an audience with him.
• Lu Changsheng, speaking through a puppet, ordered the sect master to keep the day’s events secret and place soul restrictions on the sect’s witnesses, including himself.
• Lu Changsheng warned the sect master not to harbor ill intentions toward Xu Yeming, whom he named as his disciple.
• Lu Changsheng left a fiery-red pill for the Phoenix Cry Sect Master, who thanked him and promised to remember his instructions.

After the Phoenix Cry Sect’s crisis ended, Lu Changsheng asked Xu Yeming to become his disciple, and Xu Yeming accepted. Lu Changsheng gave him a rare brush and the Great Wilderness Art, then asked why he had risked coming to the sect.

• The elders arranged for the Phoenix Cry Sect’s disciples to have restrictions planted in them, while Huang Qian assured Qin Zhan that Liang and the others were safe.
• Xu Yeming offered Lu Changsheng the Heaven Rod, but Lu Changsheng told him to keep using it and asked him to become his disciple.
• Xu Yeming accepted Lu Changsheng as his master after questioning his motives and hearing Huang Qian joke that he would have to learn to cook.
• Lu Changsheng gave Xu Yeming the Heavenly Wilderness Spirit-Controlling Brush and passed the Great Wilderness Art into his mind.
• After Xu Yeming spent three days absorbing the art, Lu Changsheng asked why he had risked coming to the Phoenix Cry Sect.

Xu Yeming told Lu Changsheng that he had risked summoning the phoenix to find Nirvana Fire for his dying parents, whose meridians had withered and Dantians had shattered. Lu Changsheng agreed to take him to them with Huang Qian, and Huang Qian clasped Lu Changsheng’s hand as they entered the spatial rift.

• Lu Changsheng confronted Xu Yeming about his hidden motive, and Xu Yeming explained that he had hoped phoenix fire could save his parents.
• Xu Yeming revealed that his human father and beast mother had been hunted by a powerful Lineage and left gravely injured.
• Xu Yeming said that his parents were near death despite treatments and that he had heard Nirvana Fire might prolong their lives.
• Lu Changsheng agreed to take Xu Yeming to his parents, with Huang Qian’s Divine Phoenix Fire offering hope of treatment.
• Lu Changsheng tore open a spatial rift, and Huang Qian took his hand as they stepped inside.

Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian saved Xu Yeming’s dying parents by restoring their vitality and rebuilding their shattered Dantians. After nine days, Xu Canghai and the white fox recovered their peak strength, and Xu Canghai asked Lu Changsheng whether he came from the Cangxuan Continent.

• Lu Changsheng followed Xu Yeming to a remote cabin and found Xu Yeming’s father and eight-tailed white fox mother gravely injured.
• Lu Changsheng used his Intent of Unending Life to restore their failing vitality, then asked Huang Qian to help rebuild their Dantians.
• Huang Qian enveloped the pair in Divine Phoenix Fire while Lu Changsheng supported the treatment, and Xu Yeming watched for nine days.
• Xu Canghai and the white fox recovered their strength and assumed human form, then knelt to thank Lu Changsheng and Huang Qian.
• Xu Canghai asked Lu Changsheng whether he was human and came from the Cangxuan Continent.

Xu Canghai told Lu Changsheng how he and Bai Qingxin had been framed and driven into hiding by the Xuanyuan Clan, then left Xu Yeming to cultivate under his master. Meanwhile, Qi Wu brought Xiao Hei, Shi Sheng, and Mu Fusheng to the Qilin Clan headquarters, where they prepared for the dangerous contest against Qi Chuan.

• Xu Canghai explained that he had fled with Bai Qingxin after refusing his arranged marriage, and that the Xuanyuan Clan had pursued them after his intended bride died under suspicious circumstances.
• Xu Yeming accepted his parents' decision to continue investigating without him and vowed to become strong enough to help them.
• Lu Changsheng, Huang Qian, and Xu Yeming set out for Phoenix Cry Sect to investigate the Earth Rod's resonance with the phoenix fragment of the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
• Qi Wu brought Xiao Hei, Shi Sheng, and Mu Fusheng to his residence at the Qilin Clan headquarters and left to report to the clan head.
• Mu Fusheng urged Xiao Hei and Shi Sheng to keep a low profile while helping Qi Wu challenge Qi Chuan, but Xiao Hei pointed out that his bad temper would likely lead to trouble.

Qi Wu brought Xiao Hei, Shi Sheng, and Mu Fusheng to the Qilin Clan and used their resonance with the Painting Rod of the Classic of Mountains and Seas to justify their presence. Qi Chuan investigated the humans, found their origins unusually difficult to uncover, and arranged a banquet to meet them.

• Qi Wu told the Qilin patriarch and Qi Chuan that the humans had resonated with the Painting Rod and could help locate the Earth Rod, so the patriarch allowed them to stay.
• Qi Chuan left after Qi Wu suggested the humans could help them find the Earth Rod.
• The Qilin patriarch refused to interfere in Qi Wu and Qi Chuan’s rivalry, while a scarred woman offered to fight him.
• Qi Chuan received a report on Xiao Hei, Shi Sheng, and Mu Fusheng but learned that his agents could not locate the Mortal Realm and the Dark Domain had refused to provide information.
• Qi Chuan concluded that the three humans had unusual standing and ordered Luo Zhou to arrange a banquet.

Qi Wu and the three humans prepared to attend Qi Chuan’s banquet, which Qi Wu warned was an open trap that could decide his chances of becoming clan leader. Prince Scarlet Flame refused to support Qi Wu until he had dealt with the humans, leaving Qi Wu to face the banquet without his help.

• Luo Zhou announced that Qi Chuan would hold a banquet on Chuan Peak, and Qi Wu explained that refusing to attend would worsen suspicion toward him and his human allies.
• Qi Wu warned that the banquet was a Hongmen banquet, while Xiao Hei and Shi Sheng said Mu Fusheng had likely gone to prepare talismans.
• News spread that Qi Chuan commanded one prince and three Purple Flame Generals, while Qi Wu had only two generals, and the three humans’ arrival further damaged his standing among the clan.
• Qi Wu received a token and left to handle another matter as Xiao Hei and Shi Sheng joked about the political struggle and Mu Fusheng’s involvement.
• Qi Wu met Prince Scarlet Flame, who acknowledged his alliance with the humans but refused to help at the banquet until Qi Wu dealt with them.

Qi Chuan used a banquet to undermine Qi Wu by highlighting his poor results at the Six Realms Academy Exchange and accusing him of bringing humans into Qilin Clan affairs. The chapter left Qi Wu facing coordinated criticism from three Violet Flame Generals as the other guests watched to see how he would respond.

• Qi Wu arrived at the banquet on Chuan Peak with Xiao Hei, Shi Sheng, and Mu Fusheng, drawing hostile looks from the Qilin Clan members.
• A servant gave Qi Wu a deliberately disrespectful reception, so Qi Wu ignored him and took a seat at the front with his companions.
• Qi Chuan welcomed the two princes, opened the banquet, and toasted the guests for helping the Qilin Clan remain foremost among the Four Great Beast Clans.
• Qi Chuan mocked Qi Wu's results at the Six Realms Academy Exchange, and Qi Wu replied that his elder brother would not have changed the outcome.
• Qi Chuan questioned why Qi Wu had brought humans to the banquet, and Qi Wu said their abilities could help him and the Qilin Clan.
• Three Violet Flame Generals on Qi Chuan's side accused Qi Wu of cooperating with humans and argued that he should not become clan leader.

Mu Fusheng agreed to let Prince Azure Flame place Qilin Soul Seals on him, Xiao Hei, and Shi Sheng, confident Lu Changsheng’s protections would neutralize them. After the seals failed to affect them, Xiao Hei challenged the Qilin Clan to prove its strength.

• Xiao Hei, Shi Sheng, and Mu Fusheng ignored the Purple Flame Generals’ hostility and criticized the banquet food and drink.
• Qi Wu revealed that the three humans had resonated with the Painting Rod of the Classic of Mountains and Seas in the God Ascension Ruins, which could help find its Earth Rod.
• Qi Chuan proposed placing soul restrictions on the humans so they would have to hand the Classic of Mountains and Seas Scroll Rod to the Qilin Clan.
• Mu Fusheng accepted Qi Chuan’s terms, and Prince Azure Flame placed Qilin Soul Seals in the seas of consciousness of Mu Fusheng, Xiao Hei, and Shi Sheng.
• Protected by Lu Changsheng’s defenses, the seals could not affect the three, and Prince Azure Flame did not notice.
• Xiao Hei shattered his wine cup and challenged anyone at his cultivation realm or one or two minor realms higher to fight him.