Chapter Summaries

Lu Li returned to Beyond Heaven Dao Academy and reflected on Ye Chenfeng and the blood-red jade pendant he had spent years nurturing. He was welcomed by his disciples and asked where Xu was, learning that Xu was negotiating trade with several factions.

• Lu Li thought about Ye Chenfeng's departure and hoped he would cultivate peacefully without getting into trouble.
• Lu Li examined his blood-red jade pendant and recalled that demonic essence blood nourished it, though years of effort had produced only slight improvement.
• Lu Li imagined the pendant absorbing the flood dragon and suanni, then arrived at Beyond Heaven Dao Academy and was welcomed by its disciples.
• Lu Li praised Changming and Changye's contributions and dismissed the gathered disciples, asking them not to arrange welcomes and farewells each time he returned.
• Lu Li asked Lu Changming where Martial Uncle Xu was, and Lu Changming said Xu was discussing trade with three blessed lands, five cultivation clans, and eight sects.

Lu Li watched Xu Xiong break a coalition of merchants by insisting on firm prices and threatening limited supplies, then praised his mastery of the Dao of Commerce. Lu Li began discussing an issue he had noticed among the outer academy’s disciples: widespread saving.

• Lu Li secretly listened as merchants complained to Xu Xiong about prices and discounts on the academy’s pills and Law Artifacts.
• Xu Xiong defended the quality of the academy’s goods, declared the ten-percent discount nonnegotiable, and warned that future supplies would be cut off and limited by quotas.
• The merchants’ alliance collapsed, and they hurried to place orders and pay deposits before leaving.
• Lu Li revealed himself and praised Xu Xiong’s commercial skills, crediting the treasured finance manual he had provided.
• Lu Li told Xu Xiong that he had noticed saving was extremely common among the outer academy’s disciples.

Lu Li recognized that the disciples’ habit of saving Spirit Stones could support a new financial institution, then investigated Yuanhao’s increasingly strange character-education course. After reading the second edition, Lu Li was left facing the latest product of Yuanhao’s fanatical reverence for him.

• Lu Li told Xu Xiong that disciples’ savings could be put to better use by keeping Spirit Stones in circulation.
• Xu Xiong proposed establishing the Silver Hall to pool savings, pay interest, offer loans, and fund academy projects and bulk purchases.
• Lu Li gave Xu Xiong his jade pendant and authority to requisition resources as he organized the Silver Hall for both the outer and inner courts.
• Lu Li worried that Yuanhao’s character-education work had strayed from its purpose and went to visit him.
• Yuanhao presented Lu Li with the second edition of the Litian Thought Law Course, which he had developed out of his reverence for the headmaster.

Lu Li reviewed Yuanhao’s draft praising his leadership, then asked Primordial Beginning to display Beyond Heaven Dao Academy’s annual finances. The academy had a large surplus, but Lu Li’s cultivation and research expenses left him with little to save.

• Lu Li read Yuanhao’s draft for an inner academy ideological lesson and tactfully suggested he reconsider parts of it.
• Yuanhao took Lu Li’s response as praise and resolved to make the lesson even more moving.
• Lu Li returned to his underground palace, where he cultivated and worked on Spirit Machinery research.
• Lu Li ordered Primordial Beginning to retrieve the academy’s annual income and expenditure breakdown.
• Primordial Beginning reported a combined annual surplus of about 320,000 spirit stones, but Lu Li noted that his cultivation, research, and other costs consumed most of it.

Lu Li cultivated using a costly Spirit Stone-powered environment while the academy continued developing under his directives. Xu Xiong began recruiting steady, trustworthy disciples to establish a new hall for managing cultivation resources.

• Lu Li activated his cultivation environment and absorbed Spiritual Qi from thousands of Spirit Stones.
• Xu Xiong went to the inner academy General Affairs Hall to arrange personnel for the new hall.
• Xu Xiong waited for Chen Ke, who was teaching a techniques class, while disciples used the mission jade wall.
• Chen Ke inspected Lu Li's directive and asked Xu Xiong what kind of disciples he needed.
• Xu Xiong requested steady, mature, upright, and trustworthy disciples, and Chen Ke issued an academy mission to recruit them.

Xu Xiong used Lu Li’s Dharma boat to introduce the Silver Hall and its services to the outer academy, whose disciples mistook the vessel for the headmaster’s arrival. The chapter left the disciples considering deposits, loans, and investment as ways to support their cultivation and families.

• Xu Xiong led inner academy disciples aboard Lu Li’s Dharma boat and flew to the outer academy to promote the Silver Hall.
• Dong Qing reflected on how Lu Li had guided her after her parents were killed and reaffirmed her resolve to slay demons and protect the Dao Academy.
• Outer academy disciples saw the Dharma boat and greeted it as though Lu Li had come in person.
• Xu Xiong released puppets that displayed Silver Hall banners and scattered flyers explaining its deposit, loan, and investment services.
• Outer academy disciples discussed the promised interest, and one imagined that his family might eventually produce a True Person.

Lu Li authorized Xu Xiong to put the Silver Hall’s growing deposits to work, and Xu Xiong began a plan to corner the golden thread grass market in the Golden Ape Blessed Land. As buyers secretly purchased the herb across the region, Jin Mi agreed to sell, unaware of the scheme.

• Lu Li reviewed the Silver Hall’s nearly 480,000 Spirit Stones in deposits and urged Xu Xiong to use the funds carefully and pursue his proposed plans.
• Xu Xiong chose to stockpile golden thread grass, hoping to control its circulation and raise the price of Yellow Sprout Pills.
• Xu Xiong began buying golden thread grass through the Dao Academy’s channels and contacts in the Golden Ape Blessed Land.
• Jin Mi agreed to contact friendly factions and sell their golden thread grass to the human cultivators, who had left a deposit.
• The buyers’ leader told his younger relative that they could profit by selling at the high prices offered by the Litian Blessed Land, while buyers spread across the region to acquire golden thread grass.

Ye Chenfeng guarded Hanging Blade Pass as a vast beast tide arrived, and Elder Jian worried that Ye Chenfeng’s terrible luck had drawn it there. The attack was led by the Spirit Transformation demon Cang Yue, while Divine Lord Ling Shuangyu confronted him above the walls.

• Ye Chenfeng reflected on his ten years at Hanging Blade Pass and his worry for Lu Li, who was trapped in the Demon Manor.
• A huge beast tide appeared beyond the pass, and the cultivators mobilized to defend the walls.
• Elder Jian sighed as he suspected Ye Chenfeng’s misfortune had caused the unusually fierce attack.
• A sword light revealed several immense demons in the clouds, including the Spirit Transformation demon Cang Yue.
• Ling Shuangyu appeared in her Dharma Aspect and challenged Cang Yue, who revealed his enormous bat form and ordered the attack.

Demon Lord Cang Yue led a massive beast tide against Hanging Blade Pass while Ling Shuangyu and the defenders fought to hold the walls. A Spirit Transformation Demon Lord self-detonated above the fortress, shattering its defenses, and Ye Chenfeng awoke outside the walls to find that Hanging Blade Pass had fallen.

• Cang Yue ordered the Demon Beasts to attack as Ling Shuangyu rallied Hanging Blade Pass's defenders and they unleashed their weapons and abilities against the beast tide.
• Ye Chenfeng fought Golden Core greater demons with his Great Gold Sword Array, dedicating each strike to Junior Brother Lu.
• Cang Yue attacked Ling Shuangyu with his demonic artifact, and she answered with her lifebound Law Treasure as they clashed.
• A second Spirit Transformation Demon Lord appeared above Hanging Blade Pass and self-detonated, devastating the battlefield and shattering Ling Shuangyu's Dharma Manifestation.
• Cang Yue ordered the Demon Race to surge through the breach and flatten Pacify the West.
• Ye Chenfeng regained consciousness beyond the walls and saw that Hanging Blade Pass had been broken in two.

Ao Qing ordered the Demon Manor to prepare for the approaching Prefecture-Breaking War while worrying that the Zong Household had found a way to destroy his reverse scale. After Nether Toad warned Lu Li, Lu Li seized the chance to expand the Beyond Heaven Dao Academy and stockpile resources before the war began.

• Ao Qing learned that Cang Yue's forces had entered Jingxi Prefecture and ordered Suanni to let Cang Yue die according to plan.
• Ao Qing recalled that his reverse scale had vanished and feared the Zong Household had discovered a way to threaten him.
• Ao Qing's dragon cry commanded the great demons throughout the Demon Manor to prepare for the Prefecture-Breaking War.
• Nether Toad hurried to Lu Li and reported the order, the border clashes, and the threat of human sneak attacks.
• Lu Li told Nether Toad to help the Beyond Heaven Dao Academy exploit the prewar confusion to expand its influence and gather resources.

With the Prefecture-Breaking War approaching, Lu Li decided to steal high-tier materials from a blessed land using two tier-four Spirit Gang Giant Puppets, while Nether Toad distracted the demons. After Changming and Changye divined that Lu Li faced fortune and no calamity, he set out with Nether Toad and left the academy in their care.

• Lu Li ordered Nether Toad to create a commotion in Heavenly Wolf Blessed Land while pretending to search for healing medicine, so the Spirit Gang Giant Puppets could raid a target blessed land.
• Lu Li informed Blue Star of his accelerated plans, and Li Yuanchao mobilized the nation to send more Spirit Machinery weapons.
• Lu Li asked Changming and Changye to divine Nether Toad's fate, but they could not see through his high cultivation.
• Changming and Changye divined that Lu Li had a source of fortune to the east and no calamity, though their effort triggered dangerous side effects that Lu Li treated.
• Lu Li ordered Nether Toad to leave and distract Heavenly Wolf Blessed Land two days later, then entrusted academy affairs to Changming and Changye as he departed with Nether Toad.

Lu Changming disobeyed Lu Li’s orders and left to seek a way to strengthen his talent, while Lu Changye stayed behind to oversee the Dao Academy. Meanwhile, Nether Toad entered Heavenly Wolf Blessed Land and provoked a standoff by demanding twenty fourth-tier spirit medicines, drawing a crowd of greater demons.

• Lu Changming decided to leave the sect to seek fortuitous opportunities, despite Lu Li’s warning, and asked Lu Changye to care for their godmother and master if he failed to return.
• Lu Changye chose to remain behind and fulfill Lu Li’s orders to oversee the inner court, though he worried about his brother’s safety.
• Nether Toad traveled to Heavenly Wolf Blessed Land while lamenting the possibility of dying in the coming Prefecture-Breaking War and missing Blue Star.
• Nether Toad accused Demon Ancestor Heavenly Wolf of causing its old injuries and demanded twenty fourth-tier spirit medicines instead of the third-tier medicine Heavenly Wolf offered.
• Nether Toad forced its way into Heavenly Wolf Blessed Land, and the two demons locked horns without attacking as greater demons gathered to watch.

Lu Li concealed himself outside the Golden Ape Blessed Land and sent Yuanhao in a mech to provoke Golden Ape. Golden Ape came to seize the strange armor, and Yuanhao found himself facing the Patriarch’s overwhelming Nascent Soul pressure.

• Lu Li set up a formation to hide his Nether Toad presence and instructed Yuanhao to lure Golden Ape over.
• Golden Ape, disturbed by news of a Golden Core plundering his blessed land, left his seclusion to capture the intruder.
• Golden Ape detected Yuanhao operating a powerful Lord-Class Spirit Machinery Mech 3.0 and approached in secret, hoping to claim it.
• Yuanhao, who had already defeated two Golden Cores with the mech, looked up to see Golden Ape looming overhead.

Yuanhao’s predicament in Golden Ape Blessed Land prompted Lu Li to reveal Great Xia’s Spirit Gang Giant Puppets and unleash their Spiritual Energy Dharma Manifestations against Golden Ape. The manifestations badly wounded the demon before their power ran out, leaving the puppets to fire a final annihilation wave.

• Golden Ape threatened to capture Yuanhao, extract his Divine Soul, and investigate his strange battle armor.
• Lu Li activated two fourth-tier Spirit Gang Giant Puppets from within a concealed formation.
• Golden Ape revealed his ten-thousand-meter true form and attacked, but Lu Li ordered Primordial Beginning to activate the puppets’ Spiritual Energy Dharma Manifestations.
• The manifestations grew taller than Golden Ape and struck him with a giant blade and a compressed spiritual-power fist, breaking his defenses and wounding him.
• As the manifestations’ brief power supply expired, the puppets combined their remaining Spiritual Power and fired a focused annihilation wave at Golden Ape.

Lu Li and the Spirit Gang Giant Puppets defeated Golden Ape, while Yuanhao became convinced that Lu Li was an immortal descended from another world. After consulting Bureau 749 about recruiting the unconscious yao ancestor, Lu Li received the recommendation to take over Golden Ape’s account.

• The Spirit Gang Giant Puppets battered Golden Ape until he collapsed unconscious, and Yuanhao watched in shock.
• Yuanhao concluded that Lu Li had descended from the Immortal Realm, swore to follow him, and flew ahead to keep watch at Lu Li’s request.
• Lu Li realized Golden Ape had survived the puppets’ devastating attack and considered putting him through the same process as Nether Toad.
• Lu Li contacted Bureau 749 and described how the zero-dollar shopping trip had ended.
• Bureau 749’s researchers reviewed the puppets’ combat data, and the strategy team recommended taking over Golden Ape’s account.

Lu Li and Great Xia chose to take over Golden Ape’s Divine Soul rather than kill him, aiming to gain his resources and infiltrate the Demon Manor. As the Soul Dao team prepared to overwrite the Divine Soul in a Spirit World sandbox, Lu Yao hoped the experiment would let her meet her brother soon.

• Li Yuanchao explained that taking over Golden Ape’s account offered greater rewards and lower risks than killing him, and Lu Li agreed to send the Divine Soul to Great Xia.
• Lu Li used the jade pendant to open Golden Ape’s skull, seized his escaping Divine Soul, and transmitted it to Great Xia.
• Bureau 749’s researchers prepared the spiritual nuclear fusion facility and overwrite program for Golden Ape’s arrival.
• Lu Dahai led the cultivator team into position, while Lu Yao teased him for acting like a lofty True Person.
• A researcher told Lu Yao the team would attempt to record Divine Soul memories in the Spirit World sandbox, and she hoped success would let her meet her brother soon.

Lu Yao and the research team prepared a virtual Great Xia inside the Spirit World sandbox to overwrite the Golden Ape's Nascent Soul Divine Soul with a complete memory. The world was completed, and Lu Yao requested the experimental subject's deployment.

• Wang Zhiwen and Lu Yao prepared the researchers and cultivator team for the Nascent Soul Divine Soul overwriting experiment.
• The Golden Ape's Divine Soul appeared, and the research team used Spirit Core Fusion and Spiritual Power to subdue it without destroying it.
• Lu Yao and 100 cultivators entered the Spirit World sandbox and constructed virtual bodies.
• Lu Yao directed the cultivators to build a detailed virtual Great Xia using databases and coordinated Divine Senses.
• After the virtual world was completed, Lu Yao requested deployment of the experimental subject.

Lu Yao and the cultivators tested a virtual Spirit World by placing Golden Ape’s Divine Soul in a Spirit Machinery Quantum Computer and accelerating time inside the simulation. After years of learning and seeking a master, Golden Ape met Lu Dahai, who accepted it and told it to serve the nation alongside him.

• Li Yuanchao ordered the deployment, and Golden Ape’s Divine Soul entered the Spirit Machinery Quantum Computer.
• Golden Ape appeared on Mount Emei, where it joined the monkeys in stealing a tourist’s backpack and found a booklet about Qi theory.
• Lu Yao reviewed the virtual world’s stable monitoring data and ordered the Spirit World’s time accelerated.
• Golden Ape studied the booklet and a copy of Journey West, decided to seek a master, and left Mount Emei.
• Golden Ape met Lu Dahai, bowed to him, and was accepted as his disciple with orders to serve the nation.

Great Xia prepared Golden Ape to cross into Lu Li’s world as a covert ally, enhancing its Divine Soul and implanting a Nascent Soul yao ancestor’s memories. Golden Ape awakened in the experimental facility ready to cross realms, while Lu Yao promised Lu Li he would return home safely.

• Lu Yao accelerated the Spirit World simulation, and Golden Ape spent years cultivating and serving Great Xia alongside Lu Dahai.
• Golden Ape accepted a mission to support Lu Li after recognizing him as Lu Dahai’s child.
• Great Xia instructed Golden Ape to follow Lu Li’s orders, keep its identity secret, and prepare to inhabit a Nascent Soul yao ancestor’s body.
• Great Xia enhanced Golden Ape’s Divine Soul and integrated the yao ancestor’s memories, completing the simulation without anomalies.
• Lu Yao spoke with Lu Li, who reassured her that he hoped to return home and eat spicy hot pot with his family.
• Golden Ape’s Divine Soul awakened in the experimental chamber and told Director Li it was ready for the realm crossing.

Golden Ape's Divine Soul was sent to support Lu Li after it received an advanced technological enhancement, while Lu Dahai bid farewell to it as its master. The experiment confirmed that the Spirit World sandbox could sustain a highly intelligent Divine Soul, though Wang Zhiwen insisted further testing was needed before live experiments.

• Golden Ape absorbed the memories of the Nascent Soul demon it would possess and vowed to help Lu Li and fulfill the nation's expectations.
• Lu Dahai and Golden Ape exchanged tearful farewells, and Lu Li guided Golden Ape's Divine Soul through the jade pendant.
• After the transmission ended, Lu Dahai asked a researcher to copy the sandbox recording and watched it repeatedly.
• Wang Zhiwen analyzed the experimental data and confirmed that the Spirit World sandbox could sustain highly intelligent Divine Souls with a 99% match rate.
• Wang Zhiwen ordered further research into memory integrity, sandbox architecture, and ordinary souls, while telling Li Yuanchao that they would see Lu Li within their lifetimes.