Chapter Summaries

Li Qingshan elevated Hong Yi to the Ghost Immortal realm and gave him a lotus platform, prompting Hong Yi to offer him the Past Amitabha Sutra, whose insights strengthened Li Qingshan’s primordial spirit. Li Qingshan then gave Jin Xun’er her own lotus platform and began gathering the remaining starlight and Dao resonance into a halo above his palm.

• Li Qingshan revealed that Hong Yi’s Ghost Immortal realm was genuine and gave him the azure water lotus, which merged into his Yin Spirit.
• Hong Yi, moved by Li Qingshan’s generosity, revealed the Past Amitabha Sutra and offered it to him as a token of sincere trust.
• Li Qingshan comprehended the sutra’s principle of anchoring existence in the past, deepening and strengthening his primordial spirit.
• Li Qingshan gave Jin Xun’er the azure water lotus, which entered her brow and became a treasure that nourished her soul.
• Li Qingshan gathered the remaining starlight and Dao resonance above his palm into a halo filled with tiny vortices of light.

Li Qingshan bestowed Jin Xun'er with a new cultivation art and helped her advance before ending the gathering and vanishing into the starlight. Chan Yinsha, Hong Yi, and Jin Xun'er departed with their gains, while the thousand-year-old clam absorbed the lingering Dao resonance.

• Li Qingshan strengthened Jin Xun'er's Yin Spirit and demonic body, raised her to Body Attachment and Marrow Training, and gave her the Starlight Marrow Refining Art.
• Li Qingshan declared the discussion of the Dao over, then departed in a torrent of starlight after saying they might meet again.
• Chan Yinsha and Hong Yi reflected on Li Qingshan's guidance, while Jin Xun'er wondered if he was an immortal.
• Chan Yinsha bowed and left, Hong Yi returned to his body in the military camp, and Jin Xun'er headed toward land.
• The thousand-year-old clam absorbed the lingering starlight and Dao resonance, gaining clearer spiritual insight and a firmer Dao foundation.

Li Qingshan discovered the Present Buddha’s hidden statue beneath Giant Whale Island and recognized its doctrine of grasping the power of the present as a complement to the Past Amitabha Sutra. As he examined the statue’s wooden interior, he sensed something strangely familiar within it.

• Li Qingshan surveyed Giant Whale Island and recognized its inhabitants as remnants of fallen powers, including surviving Great Zen Temple warrior monks.
• Li Qingshan sensed the Dao resonance of grasping the present and slipped through the island’s defenses into a cavern underground.
• Li Qingshan found a red-gold Buddha statue and identified it as the Present Buddha from its posture and carved scriptures.
• Li Qingshan compared the Present Buddha’s direct, forceful doctrine with the Past Amitabha Sutra and began examining the statue.
• Li Qingshan discovered that the statue was carved from unusual wood with a network of veins, and felt a strange familiarity as he studied it.

Li Qingshan retrieved half of the Present Tathagata Scripture from a hidden small chiliocosm and studied its methods for cultivating 108 acupoints. By practicing its Earth Pole acupoints, he resonated with the earth’s power and gained new insight into the Dao of the earth; he then began comparing the scripture’s teachings with the Shrouding Method.

• Li Qingshan located a stable small chiliocosm inside the Buddha statue and retrieved an ancient scripture from it.
• Li Qingshan identified the text as half of the Present Tathagata Scripture, containing methods for cultivating 108 acupoints, and expected the remaining half and its general outline to appear in the Universe Bag.
• Li Qingshan compared the scripture’s acupoint cultivation with the Shrouding Method and focused on the two Earth Pole acupoints beneath the soles of the feet.
• Li Qingshan visualized the earth star and resonated with the ground, extending his perception through its veins and sensing its primordial magnetism and power.
• Li Qingshan gained new insight into the Source Heaven Book’s Source Arts and began systematically studying the scripture’s acupoints alongside the Great Dao of Shrouding the Heavens.

Li Qingshan traced the Universe Bag to Monk Jingren on Heaven-Absolving Mountain and demanded the Great Zen Temple treasure. Monk Jingren surrendered it, leaving Li Qingshan with the bag and the scripture fragments he hoped to find inside.

• Li Qingshan recalled that the Universe Bag held the other half and general outline of the Present Tathagata Scripture, and considered the dangers tied to the Wild Continent and Yang An.
• Li Qingshan crossed the sea to the Wild Continent and used the Movement secret art to reach Heaven-Absolving Mountain.
• Li Qingshan located Monk Jingren, the Great Zen Temple's surviving heir, and demanded the Universe Bag he had guarded for twenty years.
• Monk Jingren recognized Li Qingshan's overwhelming power and admitted that he possessed the treasure.
• Monk Jingren handed the Universe Bag to Li Qingshan, who identified it as a container refined from a Human Immortal's skin and tendons.

Li Qingshan retrieved the Present Tathagata Scripture’s guiding principles from the Universe Bag and used them to deepen his understanding of his own Dao, glimpsing the path toward the Limitless Seal. He passed his insights to Monk Jingren, who broke through to a new realm, then left Heaven-Absolving Mountain as the change altered the course of future events.

• Li Qingshan drew the hidden guiding page of the Present Tathagata Scripture from the Universe Bag and studied its ten Buddha seals.
• Li Qingshan sent his understanding of the scripture to Monk Jingren, repaying him for the karmic debt of taking the treasure.
• Monk Jingren practiced the ten seals, awakened a new fist intent, and broke through to a higher realm.
• Li Qingshan compared the scripture’s principles with his Seven Seals of Yuanshi and discovered a direction toward the nascent Limitless Seal.
• Monk Jingren thanked Li Qingshan, while Li Qingshan realized that Jingren’s increased strength could change Champion Marquis Yang An’s future encounter with him.
• Li Qingshan left Heaven-Absolving Mountain, leaving Monk Jingren and a new variable in the world’s unfolding conflicts.

Li Qingshan secluded himself in the Wild Continent to contemplate the Limitless Seal and the origins of the Dao. Meanwhile, Hong Yi led a campaign against coastal pirates, found a scripture that challenged his ideas about merit and virtue, and continued his advance across Giant Whale Island.

• Li Qingshan settled in a chaotic mountain range and deepened his understanding of the Limitless Seal and the Seven Seals of Yuanshi.
• Hong Yi advanced his cultivation of the Past Amitabha Sutra and led his first independent campaign against the sea raiders.
• After Hong Yi's forces reached Giant Whale Island, he killed the pirate leader Lü Mei and discovered the Discourse on Merit and Virtue in his clothing.
• Hong Yi read that scripture's claim that merit and virtue came from recognizing and following one's true nature, and began questioning the teachings that had shaped him.
• Hong Yi subdued the expert Lei Lie, pressed through Giant Whale Island's palaces with the Peach God Sword, and found a copy of the Battle Buddha's Notes.

Li Qingshan emerged from secluded cultivation and followed his karmic connection to Hong Yi, arriving as Hong Yi and Chan Yinsha faced Peacock King Xing Xuan at sea. Xing Xuan claimed Meng Shenji had been gravely wounded, but a True Dragon appeared and challenged his account.

• Hong Yi’s Battle Buddha’s Notes recorded the monk’s past battles with powerful figures, while Hong Yi’s victory over Lü Mei earned him recognition in the expeditionary army.
• Li Qingshan ended his seclusion, sensed Hong Yi’s presence and urgency, and traveled across the Wild Continent to find him.
• Li Qingshan arrived above the sea and recognized Hong Yi and Chan Yinsha, then identified their opponent as Peacock King Xing Xuan.
• Chan Yinsha challenged Xing Xuan after breaking his Metal Essence Sword Sha, but Xing Xuan manifested five elemental sword pellets and demanded that she withdraw.
• Xing Xuan claimed that he and his allies had grievously wounded Meng Shenji, but an ancient voice from the sky called him a liar.
• A vast crimson cloud appeared, and a gigantic claw emerged, revealing a real True Dragon above the sea.

The Nine Fire Flame Dragons forced the Peacock King’s incarnation to flee with Xing Yuxian, allowing Hong Yi to seize the initiative against Wei Taicang’s fleet. The enemy ships surrendered without a fight, and Hong Yi discovered a vast store of weapons and Dharma-Breaking Fire Arrows aboard them.

• The Nine Fire Flame Dragons halted the Peacock King’s attack, and Xing Xuan escaped with Xing Yuxian inside a five-colored shield of light.
• Hong Yi ordered his troops to attack Wei Taicang’s fleet while the enemy soldiers were still shaken by the clash.
• The fleet’s young commander ordered the ships to lower their sails, raise white flags, and surrender without resistance.
• Hong Yi’s forces received the surrendered ships and found large stocks of armor, weapons, black bows, and Dharma-Breaking Fire Arrows.

Hong Yi gained Wei Liancheng’s fleet and learned secrets about the Great Qian court and Meng Shenji. As Li Qingshan watched Meng Shenji’s creations distract their pursuers, he reflected on the history connecting Meng Shenji, Hong Xuanji, and Hong Yi.

• Hong Yi took possession of more than a hundred warships and their weapons after Wei Liancheng led his men to surrender and offered the Wei family’s True Martial Saint Body.
• Wei Liancheng revealed that past Great Qian emperors had cultivated Daoist arts, that the Heavenly Book of Fortune protected Yang Pan and Yang Yuan, and that Meng Shenji was recovering after his eighth lightning tribulation.
• Li Qingshan observed that Xing Xuan, Xing Mou, Nalan Anhuang, and other pursuers were chasing nine Nine Fire Flame Dragons created by Meng Shenji rather than his hidden true body.
• Li Qingshan studied a flame dragon’s creation and life force, gaining insight into the Great Dao of flames.
• Li Qingshan recalled how Meng Bingyun had revealed Meng Shenji’s secluded body to Hong Xuanji, enabling Hong Xuanji and Yang Pan to destroy it and force Meng Shenji into reincarnation.

Li Qingshan intercepted the Lifeless Old Mother, mastered the secrets of her Future Lifeless Sutra, and began integrating the Great Zen Temple’s three supreme scriptures. He reviewed the Past Amitabha Sutra’s methods for guarding and strengthening the soul, leaving himself ready to study the unified inheritance further.

• Li Qingshan watched Hong Yi’s ship sail toward the Divine Wind Kingdom, then left to settle his remaining affairs in the Yang God World.
• Li Qingshan reached Wuyuan Province and blocked the Lifeless Old Mother, who had come to kill Hou Qingchen.
• Li Qingshan subdued the Lifeless Old Mother and examined the Future Lifeless Sutra, learning how its seven faith-powered incarnations could merge into the Vacuum Great Hand Seal.
• Li Qingshan gathered the Great Zen Temple’s three supreme scriptures and began combining their teachings into a complete cultivation system.
• Li Qingshan reviewed the Past Amitabha Sutra’s soul trials, Amitabha Form, and methods for resisting inner demons and preserving one’s true nature.

Li Qingshan studied the Past Amitabha Sutra, Present Tathagata Sutra, and Future Lifeless Sutra, considering how their powers could unite and how faith worked differently across worlds. He reflected on the Great Zen Temple’s destruction before departing the Yang God World with new insights for his future cultivation.

• Li Qingshan examined the Future Lifeless Sutra’s stages, faith-based powers, and Lord of the Future incarnation, then considered applying its methods in the Shrouding the Heavens World.
• Li Qingshan compared how faith functioned across different worlds and reasoned that combining the Past and Future Sutras could refine faith while protecting the soul.
• Li Qingshan identified restrictive inheritance, political threats, internal divisions, and difficult cultivation as reasons the Great Zen Temple had fallen despite possessing three supreme scriptures.
• Li Qingshan reflected on the temple’s lost inheritance and concluded that its destruction had resulted from intertwined internal and external causes.
• Li Qingshan deepened his understanding of the three Buddhist scriptures and faith before stepping away and fading from view.

Li Qingshan intercepted Su Mu, Tai Shang Dao’s holy maiden, in the waters off Nanyang and pressed her to demonstrate her sect’s supreme arts. Su Mu unleashed the Clock of the Ultimate Time and then the Tower of the Great Universe, while Li Qingshan resisted the first and studied the second as their confrontation continued.

• After dealing with the Lifeless Old Mother, Li Qingshan meditated off Nanyang while waiting for Su Mu to arrive.
• Su Mu appeared, and Li Qingshan identified her and revealed that she was traveling toward Hong Yi, leaving her wary of how much he knew.
• Su Mu explained her views on Tai Shang Dao, Meng Bingyun, and her interest in Hong Yi, while Li Qingshan challenged her to make a move.
• Su Mu summoned the Clock of the Ultimate Time, but Li Qingshan’s understanding of the Future Lifeless Sutra let him resist its attempt to freeze his thoughts and power.
• Li Qingshan attacked with Five-Colored Divine Light, and Su Mu transformed the clock into the Tower of the Great Universe, which trapped and dispersed his attack through layers of space.

Li Qingshan defeated Su Mu’s Tower of the Great Universe and compelled her to explain Tai Shang Dao’s space-and-time arts and acupoint teachings. After gaining the insights he sought, he decided to leave the Yang God World, but first planned to visit the former site of the Great Zen Temple.

• Li Qingshan shattered Su Mu’s Tower of the Great Universe and held his Five-Colored Divine Light over her.
• Su Mu abandoned resistance after sensing Li Qingshan’s overwhelming presence and explained Tai Shang Dao’s Two Scriptures of Space and Time and the twenty-four divine acupoints.
• Li Qingshan compared the Yang God method of acupoint cultivation with the Shrouding Method and considered how their principles could strengthen his foundation.
• Li Qingshan studied the teachings alongside the Wushi Scripture and gained new insight into the laws of space and time.
• Li Qingshan judged that his purpose in the Yang God World was essentially fulfilled and chose to return after visiting the former site of the Great Zen Temple.

Li Qingshan traveled to the ruins of the Great Zen Temple to find its hidden inheritance palace and encountered the dragon spirit of Mount Tai Shi beneath the temple. After subduing it, he studied how its nature compared with innate spirits in the Shrouding the Heavens World, gaining new insight but no immediate grasp of the Dao of Saint Spirits.

• Li Qingshan arrived at the ruined Great Zen Temple and saw that the Great Qian Dynasty had excavated its pagoda forest and taken the monks’ remains and relics.
• Li Qingshan used the Five-Colored Divine Light to descend beneath the temple and found a glowing pearl and a booklet in an underground chamber.
• The dragon soul of Mount Tai Shi emerged from the pearl and challenged Li Qingshan, then submitted after sensing the Primordial Heart Seal’s power.
• Li Qingshan promised the dragon soul a chance at reincarnation and drew it into his palm for examination.
• Li Qingshan compared the dragon soul’s nature with Saint Spirits and Immortal Medicines, gaining a broader understanding of how spirit and Dao differed between the two worlds.

Li Qingshan granted the dragon soul a Dao Seed, then studied the Tathagata Kasaya and formed a preliminary Primordial Cause Dao Fruit. Having gained the insight he sought, he prepared to leave the Yang God World, leaving Hong Yi and the coming political struggle to their own fates.

• Li Qingshan gave the dragon soul a Spiritual Light Dao Seed and opened a rift so it could begin a new life through reincarnation.
• Li Qingshan examined the Tathagata Kasaya, whose artifact spirit allowed him to study the scriptures and mysteries engraved within it.
• Li Qingshan comprehended the Great Dao of Cause and Effect and formed a preliminary Primordial Cause Dao Fruit.
• Li Qingshan considered using his insight into Cause and Effect as a foundation for the unfinished Dao Yi Seal, while deciding not to force further progress.
• Li Qingshan foresaw Hong Yi's return to Jade Capital City and the coming clash over the imperial examination and new tax policy, but chose not to intervene.
• Li Qingshan decided to leave the Yang God World and began to fade from the ruins of the Great Zen Temple.

As Li Qingshan traveled the Starry Sky Ancient Road toward Earth, the Beginningless Bell awakened and confirmed that Earth was the Primordial Ancient Star, once home to the Kunlun Immortal Land. The Bell recounted how the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains drained Earth to nurture the Green Cauldron, leaving the ancient star depleted as Li Qingshan continued his journey home.

• Li Qingshan reflected on the universe’s vast age and solitude as he crossed the stars.
• The Beginningless Bell awakened in Li Qingshan’s Immortal Platform and spoke about the passage of time.
• Li Qingshan told the Bell that Earth lay roughly four hundred light-years ahead, and the Bell identified it as the Primordial Ancient Star.
• The Beginningless Bell explained that Emperor Zun and the Nether Emperor had arranged the Ninety-Nine Dragon Mountains in Kunlun to nurture the Immortal Ascension Cauldron.
• The Bell recounted how the mountains drained life-bearing stars, including Earth, while the Feathered Divine Dynasty and the Ruthless Great Emperor later fought over the Green Cauldron fragments.
• Li Qingshan listened as the Bell described how Earth’s spiritual Qi would remain depleted until Ye Fan eventually removed the Green Cauldron fragment from the Immortal Ascension Ground.

Li Qingshan continued his journey along the Starry Sky Ancient Road, battling a hostile alien clan and uncovering its ancient ties to Earth. After six years of travel, he reached the outer edge of the Sun System and saw Earth, leaving him about two months from home.

• Li Qingshan repaired damaged Five-Colored Altars and crossed the star regions, completing three more years of his journey.
• Li Qingshan crushed a group of antlike attackers and learned from their memories that they were descendants of invaders who had fought Earth’s people at Hangu Pass.
• The Beginningless Bell explained that the Flying Immortal Remnant Clan belonged to the Kunlun Remnant Clan, whose ancestors had been driven from Kunlun by Emperor Zun.
• The Beginningless Bell sensed that they had nearly crossed the KBC Void, and Li Qingshan used his Heavenly Eye to spot the Sun System and Earth about three light-years away.
• Li Qingshan estimated that traveling at close to full speed would bring him to Earth in about two months.

Li Qingshan returned to Mars and discovered that the ancient battlefield he first saw was only a trace of the past reflected by the Five-Colored Altar. At the ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple, he recognized the ghostly figures as sealed Temple-Guarding Demon Gods and exposed the foundation beneath them.

• Li Qingshan traveled from Pluto to Mars using the Movement character secret and saw a vision of an ancient battlefield that he dispelled with his divine sense.
• He recognized the Five-Colored Altar and the nearby marker for Mars, recalling that Ye Fan and the other students had passed the site eleven years earlier.
• Li Qingshan set out for the buried ruins of the Great Thunderclap Temple, where he found remnants of the Bodhi Sacred Tree.
• Ghostly figures appeared among the ruins, then vanished and reappeared as several demonic silhouettes.
• Li Qingshan identified them as Temple-Guarding Demon Gods sealed into the foundation by Shakyamuni and swept away the rubble covering it.

Li Qingshan explored the first two levels of hell beneath the Great Thunderclap Temple on Yinghuo Ancient Star and took a ghost lantern from the second level. After he returned to the surface, a vast black sea and eerie ghost ships suddenly appeared.

• Li Qingshan descended into the first level of hell, examined the Demon-Refining Pillars and Crocodile Ancestor’s discarded scales, then entered the second level.
• Li Qingshan confronted the gaunt old ghost guarding a stone coffin, and it dissolved beneath his gaze before retreating into an ancient bronze ghost lantern.
• Li Qingshan recognized the ghost lantern as a coffin-suppressing artifact and stored it in his Bitter Sea, where Xuanhuang Qi subdued it.
• Li Qingshan returned to the surface, where a black ocean surged across Yinghuo Ancient Star and swallowed the Five-Colored Altar and Great Thunderclap Temple ruins.
• Several ancient ghost ships appeared in the waves as thick gray-white fog spread across the sea and obscured them.