Chapter Summaries

Lu Li decided to exploit the Demon Manor’s weakened defenses and target a Dongting domain, while Great Xia warned him to prepare for the remaining Spirit Transformation Demon Lords. As he considered whether becoming an immortal could let him return to Blue Star, the Heart of Primordial Beginning reported that Jiang Wuxie had requested the highest level of Spirit Machinery support after suspected contact with a Spirit Transformation Demon Lord.

• Lu Li proposed attacking a Dongting domain to obtain fifth-tier spiritual materials, and Li Qingshan cautioned him about the six overseeing Dongting lords still in the Demon Manor.
• Lu Li exchanged resources and artifacts with Great Xia, then reflected on the barrier preventing him from transporting living things and the possibility that becoming an immortal would let him return home.
• Lu Li greeted the disciples and examined the Contribution Heaven Ranking, where Li Nanci had risen to fourth place through battle and support contributions.
• The Heart of Primordial Beginning told Lu Li that Li Nanci had repeatedly requested Spirit Machinery nuclear support, but a new request came from Jiang Wuxie.
• The Heart of Primordial Beginning reported that Jiang Wuxie had requested the highest level of Spirit Machinery strategic support after suspected contact with a Spirit Transformation Demon Lord.

Jiang Wuxie lured Thunder Leopard Demon Lord toward his Mountain-Subduing Banner and prepared to use his blood-ringed saber while awaiting Dao Academy support. As Thunder Leopard faced him, a mechanical voice announced that a space-based spirit weapon had locked onto the Spirit Transformation demon and was requesting a strike.

• Jiang Wuxie decided to lure a Spirit Transformation Demon Lord into battle to improve his chances of claiming the True Disciple position.
• Thunder Leopard Demon Lord noticed Jiang Wuxie's deliberate spell fluctuations and summoned lesser demons to contact the other five overseeing Demon Lords.
• Thunder Leopard sent nearby Foundation Establishment and Golden Core demons to investigate, and Jiang Wuxie killed them when they reached his location.
• Thunder Leopard recognized the attackers as weak human cultivators and rushed toward Jiang Wuxie without waiting for the other Demon Lords.
• Jiang Wuxie rose into the air with his blood-ringed saber as Thunder Leopard sensed danger and hesitated.
• A mechanical voice announced that a pseudo-tier five Spirit Command-grade space-based spirit weapon had locked onto Thunder Leopard and requested a strike.

Jiang Wuxie’s Dao Academy reinforcements unleashed a space-based weapon and a devastating shipborne barrage against the Thunder Leopard Demon Lord. The attack left the beast gravely wounded but alive, and as it fled, the Sect Master raced after it.

• The Thunder Leopard sensed danger, took its enormous true form, and tried to escape as Jiang Wuxie withdrew from it.
• The Dao Academy’s spatial domain halted the Thunder Leopard, and a space-based weapon struck it from above.
• The Thunder Leopard countered with scarlet lightning, but the warhead pierced its defenses as the warship’s cannons unleashed a saturation strike.
• The bombardment consumed nine hundred thousand contribution points and left a vast crater, but the Heart of Primordial Beginning reported that the hostile creature’s vital signs remained.
• The half-destroyed Thunder Leopard fled when the attack ended, and the Sect Master sped past Jiang Wuxie in pursuit.

Lu Li killed the fleeing Thunder Leopard, a badly wounded Spirit Transformation demon, with a powerful attack that revealed his Nascent Soul strength could rival Spirit Transformation. He ordered the Dao Academy’s three banners to advance on a Spirit Transformation Dongting territory, while the fish-shaped jade pendant absorbed Thunder Leopard’s blood essence.

• Thunder Leopard fled after the ambush, cursing his attackers and planning to seek reinforcements from other Spirit Transformation Demon Lords.
• Lu Li intercepted Thunder Leopard and met his desperate lightning attack with an overwhelming combination of spells and five-elements Spiritual Power.
• Lu Li annihilated Thunder Leopard’s head and Primordial Spirit, then realized his newly achieved Nascent Soul cultivation might give him combat strength comparable to Spirit Transformation.
• Lu Li sent the fish-shaped jade pendant to absorb the blood essence from Thunder Leopard’s body and ordered Primordial Beginning to recover the remains and display the head as a warning.
• Lu Li ordered the three banners and the entire academy to head for a Spirit Transformation Dongting territory, while the academy’s collection puppets gathered Thunder Leopard’s resources.

Lu Li absorbed Thunder Leopard’s Blood Qi essence, improving his spiritual circulation, physique, and aptitude, then examined the demon’s wealth and found High-Grade Spirit Stones. As the Dao Academy expanded its strength, five other Spirit Transformation Demon Lords arrived at Thunder Leopard’s death site and decided to investigate without reporting it to Ao Qing.

• Lu Li used the jade pendant to absorb Thunder Leopard’s demonic flesh and gained forty strands of Blood Qi essence.
• Lu Li absorbed the essence, strengthening his body and smoothing the barriers between his five spiritual attributes.
• Lu Li broke the imprint on Thunder Leopard’s fifth-tier Storage Bag and found valuable resources, including around a hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• The Dao Academy continued advancing and sending resources back to Great Xia as its strength grew.
• Five Spirit Transformation Demon Lords reached Thunder Leopard’s crater and saw his severed head displayed with a warning.
• Sun Yang Demon Lord urged the five not to report the incident to Ao Qing yet and to investigate the enemy’s strength together.

Sun Yang Demon Lord and four other Spirit Transformation demons searched for Lu Li while Ao Qing’s forces broke through the three defensive walls and began its Jiao Journey to become a Sin Dragon. Zongzheng Lie ordered Jingxi Prefecture’s humans to abandon their ancestral lands and flee to the Endless Sea, then wondered who Lu Li really was.

• Sun Yang Demon Lord and four other Spirit Transformation demons began searching Heaven-Pacifying Yao Prefecture for Lu Li and sent a brief report to the Pacify the West front line.
• Ao Qing’s demons overwhelmed the three defensive walls, and Ao Qing’s blood cloud absorbed the sinful resentment of the dead as it rolled toward Jingxi Prefecture.
• Hu Lie and living beings across the Western Continent received heaven’s warning that Ao Qing was undertaking a Jiao Journey to become a Sin Dragon.
• Zongzheng Lie realized Ao Qing’s plan was tied to the ten-thousand-year demonic calamity and decided to stop it, even if he had to abandon the Western Continent.
• Zongzheng Lie ordered all humans in Jingxi Prefecture to leave for the Endless Sea and, as he looked toward the Demon Manor, asked who Lu Li really was.

Two hidden figures discussed Ao Qing’s transformation and the new variable in their plans as Jingxi Prefecture fell to the beast hordes. Lu Li learned that Ao Qing was becoming an abomination dragon, a path Elder Jian said would invite disaster.

• Two hidden figures agreed that the Zong Household’s move had made Ao Qing’s path to dragonhood harder, and one warned that a variable had entered the game.
• Zongzheng Lie ordered cultivators to retreat toward the Endless Sea, while Fang Jing chose to lead his clan into the mountains rather than abandon its mortals and children.
• Ao Qing’s beast hordes ravaged Jingxi Prefecture, and Zongzheng Lie fled with his family and trusted followers as three great demons slipped away toward Heaven-Pacifying Yao Prefecture.
• Ye Chenfeng told Lu Li that Ao Qing was transforming into a dragon, Jingxi Prefecture was in chaos, and Golden Ape and Heavenly Wolf were approaching with the forces.
• Elder Jian told Lu Li that the blood rain and vile resentment marked Ao Qing’s transformation into an abomination dragon, a dangerous path that could give merit to the Central Continent.

Elder Jian revealed that the Central Continent’s schools may have orchestrated Ao Qing’s transformation so they could slay him for merit and claim the Western Continent’s fortune. Lu Li and Great Xia realized the scheme could threaten the Dao Academy, and Elder Jian explained that the gained fortune might unite the continent under a single household.

• Elder Jian explained that Great Jin fell over ten thousand years ago and the Central Continent’s schools rose to power by seeking merit and fortune.
• Elder Jian reasoned that the schools may have allowed Ao Qing to transform so someone could kill him afterward and gain merit.
• Lu Li and Great Xia connected Ao Qing’s transformation to a possible long-term scheme and warned that its hidden actors might also target Lu Li and the Dao Academy.
• Lu Li asked what would follow the dragon’s death and the acquisition of merit.
• Elder Jian said the schools could use the Western Continent’s fortune to link its lands and make the continent belong to a single household.

Lu Li feigned indifference to Elder Jian’s revelations about the continents and asked him to record everything, while Elder Jian mistook the request for part of Lu Li’s secret plan against the Central Continent. After copying the record to Great Xia, Lu Li began reading Jian Canglan’s account of his life and the catastrophe that divided the continents.

• Lu Li pretended the matter was trivial and asked Elder Jian to put his knowledge on a jade slip.
• Elder Jian decided Lu Li was secretly plotting against the Central Continent and recorded his life experiences and knowledge of Great Jin.
• Elder Jian delivered the jade slip to Lu Li, and Ye Chenfeng left the hall to return to his duties.
• Lu Li copied the jade slip’s contents and sent them to Great Xia before reading them.
• Lu Li learned from Jian Canglan’s account that the Great Dark Heaven had fallen over the Central Continent, Great Jin had fractured, and Jian Canglan had escaped to the Western Continent as a remnant soul.

Lu Li learned from Elder Jian’s Jade Slip that the Central Continent had been sealed off and that merit and providence could bring great power and fortune. After discussing the revelation with Great Xia, he suspected the dragon’s helper and slayer were connected, and that a Central Continent cultivator had remained hidden in the Western Continent for ten thousand years.

• Lu Li read Elder Jian’s account of Great Jin’s fall and the Central Continent’s sealing by its hundred schools.
• The Jade Slip explained how providence and merit were gained, prompting Great Xia researchers to wonder whether Lu Li carried their nation’s providence.
• Lu Li considered whether the extraordinary people and opportunities he had encountered resulted from Great Xia’s recognition of him.
• Li Qingshan told Lu Li that Great Xia would study providence and the Jade Slip, and warned him to prepare for changes after Ao Qing’s transformation.
• Lu Li read Elder Jian’s theory that Ao Qing’s helper and slayer were the same person, then guessed a Central Continent cultivator had been hiding in the Western Continent for ten thousand years.

Lu Li considered using Great Xia’s fortune to secure the Western Continent, then joined Lu Yao and Wang Zhiwen in the Primordial Beginning Spirit World. Wang Zhiwen revealed that they had successfully carried out the spirit descent plan, though the virtual world still had limits.

• Lu Li reasoned that Great Xia’s fortune might let him gather the Western Continent’s human fortune, but he lacked the strength and knowledge to act on the idea.
• Lu Li focused on expanding the Dao Academy into the Dongting territories before the other five overseer lords noticed, while relying on Great Xia to develop more Spirit Machinery.
• Lu Yao called Lu Li into the Heart of Primordial Beginning after Wang Zhiwen and the others made a major discovery.
• Wang Zhiwen explained that six months of research had produced a 100 × 100 Primordial Beginning Spirit World with rules and physical laws matching the Imprisoned Dragon Realm.
• Wang Zhiwen said time acceleration consumed enormous numbers of Spirit Stones and distorted the world’s parameters, but the team had successfully carried out the spirit descent plan.

Lu Li learned that Elder Wang and the researchers had successfully tested the Spirit Descent Plan in the illusion, but he delayed real-world experiments until they had studied the risks further. After spending time with Lu Yao and their family, he returned to the Dao Academy's arcane warship as it arrived at Thunder Leopard's Dongting, where a decree made a fourth-tier warship the prize for the banner earning the most contributions.

• Lu Li replayed Elder Wang and the researchers' successful spirit-descent experiment and praised their work.
• Lu Li postponed real-world trials and asked the researchers to compare spirit descent among mortals, Qi Refinement cultivators, and Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Lu Yao told Lu Li that practicing a Soul Dao Cultivation Method had strengthened and condensed her soul body, and he offered to help her with questions.
• Lu Li took Lu Yao to see their mother, and the family shared a reunion meal before he returned from the Spirit World Sand Table.
• The Dao Academy's arcane warship arrived at Thunder Leopard's Dongting, and the Sect Leader decreed that the banner earning the most contributions would receive a fourth-tier arcane warship.
• Jiang Wuxie, Dong Qing, and Ye Chenfeng each considered competing for the prize for their own reasons.

Lu Li approved recruiting qualified Cultivator Employment Hall members into the academy and tasked Yuanhao with handling their admission. As Yuanhao revised the academy’s ideological lessons, Qiu Mingzi began rewriting the Headmaster’s Sayings to promote Lu Li, convinced Yuanhao could not match his skill.

• The Heart of Primordial Beginning reported that the academy had recruited ten thousand cultivators, including candidates eligible for its outer and inner academies.
• Lu Li ordered eligible recruits admitted after loyalty checks and told Yuanhao to oversee the work.
• Yuanhao received Lu Li’s mission and decided to revise the academy’s ideological instruction curriculum.
• Yuanhao rebuffed Qiu Mingzi’s offer to help and left to work on his lesson plan.
• Qiu Mingzi, eager to prove his worth at the academy, rewrote Yuanhao’s Headmaster’s Sayings with praise for Lu Li.

Qiu Mingzi’s biography and sayings booklet inspired rogue cultivator Dongfang Lin to pursue a future with the Dao Academy, while he recognized Lu Changming as the rogue cultivator once rejected by his Lineage. Lu Changming left the magical warship to seek Core Formation, and Lu Li suspected he was about to confront a destiny dungeon.

• Qiu Mingzi distributed booklets about the headmaster throughout the academy and the Cultivator Employment Hall, changing many cultivators’ views of the Dao Academy.
• Dongfang Lin, encouraged by the academy’s generous rewards, planned to earn enough contribution points for a Foundation Establishment Pill and hoped to join the Dao Academy.
• Dongfang Lin recognized Lu Changming as the rogue cultivator his Lineage head had once rejected as a suitor for a daughter of the Dongfang Household.
• Lu Changming left the magical warship and flew into the mountain forests, determined to achieve Core Formation before returning to Xue'er’s Household.
• Lu Li learned that Lu Changming had spent 500,000 contribution points on Core Formation supplies and worried that he was rushing into a destiny dungeon.

Lu Changming secretly achieved Golden Core, then traveled to the Dongfang Household to fulfill his agreement and meet Jiangxue. Dongfang Yu told him Jiangxue had left and provoked him, so Lu Changming fought back and demanded that the household call its ancestor back.

• Lu Changming secluded himself in a mountain cave to attempt Core Formation, and Lu Li found him and secretly stayed nearby to guard him.
• After three days, Lu Changming broke through to Golden Core and discovered his talent for sensing danger had grown stronger.
• Lu Changming reached the Dongfang Household and announced that he had come to fulfill their agreement.
• Dongfang Yu told Lu Changming that Jiangxue had left and dismissed him, then pressured him with his Golden Core cultivation.
• Lu Changming used third-tier spell armor and a spiritual cannon to fight Dongfang Yu, who retreated behind the household’s spell formation.
• Dongfang Yu taunted Lu Changming to wait for the ancestor’s return, and Lu Changming demanded that he call the ancestor back.

Lu Li arrived to rescue Lu Changming, broke the Dongfang Household’s formation, and forced Dongfang Yu to explain what had happened to Dongfang Jiangxue. Lu Changming received a sachet she had left for him, and Lu Li took him away after ordering the clan sent to the Slave Cultivator Hall.

• Lu Li appeared behind Lu Changming and rebuked his disciple for refusing to rely on his backing.
• Lu Li shattered the Dongfang Household’s third-tier formation and seized Dongfang Yu, demanding to know where Dongfang Jiangxue was.
• Dongfang Yu explained that Jiangxue had left half a year earlier and that her old servant had ordered the Household to reject Lu Changming’s proposal.
• Dongfang Yu gave Lu Changming the sealed envelope Jiangxue had left, and a miniature sachet fell out.
• Lu Li knocked Dongfang Yu unconscious, told Lu Changming they would discuss matters back home, and ordered Primordial Beginning to send the entire clan to the Slave Cultivator Hall.

Lu Li consigned most of Dongfang Yu’s clan, including Dongfang Yu, to the Slave Cultivator Hall, then questioned Lu Changming about his connection to Dongfang Jiangxue. After hearing how they met, Lu Li stopped Changming from making a vow and began preparing a lesson on cultivation backgrounds for his disciples.

• Lu Li sent Dongfang Yu and most of his clansmen to the Slave Cultivator Hall under the Dao Academy’s rules.
• Lu Li asked Lu Changming to explain his relationship with Dongfang Jiangxue.
• Lu Changming recounted meeting Dongfang Jiangxue in a forbidden area, traveling with her, and later finding her among the Dongfang Lineage.
• Lu Li suspected Dongfang Jiangxue had a hidden background and interrupted Lu Changming before he could voice a resolute decision.
• Lu Li sent Lu Changming away with the sachet and began writing a Jade Slip titled “On the importance of one's cultivation background!”

Lu Li prepared a cultivation guide to teach the Dao Academy’s disciples practical lessons, then reviewed the resources collected from Thunder Leopard Dongting. After confirming the haul included rare fifth-tier materials, he decided Great Xia could begin exploring Pseudo-Sixth-Tier Spirit Machinery.

• Lu Li wrote lessons about relying on sect backing, avoiding ill-omened vows, and staying alert to common dangers, then had the Heart of Primordial Beginning distribute the book Guide to Immortal Cultivation to the Dao Academy’s disciples.
• Lu Li asked the Heart of Primordial Beginning how resource collection in Thunder Leopard Dongting was progressing and learned it was 56% complete.
• The Heart of Primordial Beginning displayed a rich inventory, including spirit stones, cultivation resources, and two kinds of fifth-tier high-grade materials.
• Lu Li asked the Heart of Primordial Beginning to verify the fifth-tier materials’ uses and relaxed after it confirmed their identities.
• Lu Li concluded that Great Xia could begin exploring Pseudo-Sixth-Tier Spirit Machinery.

Lu Li sent most of Dongting’s seized resources to Great Xia while keeping materials for his own cultivation, then raised rewards to accelerate the Dao Academy’s hunt. The rewards and Qiu Mingzi’s account of Lu Li’s ambitions inspired the cultivators to fight for the academy, as Elder Jian sensed Human Dao karmic luck gathering around Lu Li.

• Lu Li kept earth vein yin iron and heavenly thunder tribulation wood, then sent the remaining sorted resources back to Great Xia.
• Lu Li ordered Primordial Beginning to double the Contribution Heaven Ranking rewards for the top hundred and establish an Earth Ranking with extra rewards.
• Dong Qing and Jiang Wuxie saw their chances of becoming True Disciples improve, while hired and rogue cultivators were stirred by the Earth Ranking’s fourth-tier prizes.
• Qiu Mingzi’s compilation of the sect leader’s sayings reached the cultivators, whose hope in Lu Li’s ambitions grew alongside their desire to become free of demonic servitude.
• Tens of thousands of cultivators looked toward Lu Li’s main hall as Human Dao karmic luck gathered above him, and Elder Jian sensed it from Ye Chenfeng’s Dantian.

Elder Jian recognized the mysterious Qi around Lu Li as Kingly Dao Dragon Qi, stirred by the academy’s gathered Human Dao Karmic Luck and Heavenly Mandates. As Beyond Heaven Dao Academy grew into a major force, the Yin-Yang School discovered the Dragon Qi but judged it too weak and isolated to threaten its plan involving Ao Qing.

• Elder Jian realized that Lu Li bore Kingly Dao Dragon Qi and wondered whether it could lead to Great Jin’s restoration, while worrying that the Central Continent’s old powers might detect it.
• Ye Chenfeng left to lead disciples in gathering resources and working toward first place on the Heavenly Ranking.
• Beyond Heaven Dao Academy’s reputation spread across Thunder Leopard Dongting, attracting cultivators until the Cultivator Employment Hall had gathered fifty thousand slave cultivators.
• At the Mystic Pivot Yin-Yang Palace, the starlit Libationer identified the new Kingly Dao Dragon Qi and considered whether it could disrupt the Yin-Yang School’s plan involving Ao Qing.
• The Libationer concluded that the Dragon Qi was too weak and lacked a race or people, so it could not yet rival a true dragon’s momentum.