Chapter Summaries

Chen Shuangbai witnessed several Golden Core factions converge on the trapped Sha Beast, while Huinan’s attempt to convert it was interrupted by the Spirit-Seeking Sect. A late Golden Core elder from the Transformation Sect appeared alongside the Heart-Eroding Stronghold, and Bo Chengyun challenged him over entering the Jing Kingdom.

• Huinan of the Great Buddha Temple used the Demon-Subduing Golden Alms Bowl to suppress the Sha Beast while secretly performing Buddhist Conversion.
• Li Changfeng and Chen Shuangbai realized the Great Buddha Temple intended to turn the Sha Beast into a Dharma protector, but an earthen-gold radiance stopped Huinan.
• True Person Xuanguang and True Person Lingguang of the Spirit-Seeking Sect arrived with True Person Shi Yan of the Heart-Eroding Stronghold.
• A late Golden Core True Person named Jin Quan emerged beside Shi Yan, prompting Chen Shuangbai and the others to suspect an alliance between the Transformation Sect and the Heart-Eroding Stronghold.
• Bo Chengyun of the Jade Spring Sect appeared and asked Jin Quan why he had entered the Jing Kingdom, then coldly challenged him to seek death.

True Person Bo attacked the gathered Golden Core cultivators after High Person Jinquan accused the Jade Spring Sect of seeking dominion over the Jing Kingdom. Bo overwhelmed several opponents and left Huinan struggling beneath his water essence power.

• High Person Jinquan accused True Person Bo of trying to make the Jade Spring Sect the Jing Kingdom's overlord.
• True Person Bo unleashed a vast phantom ocean that enveloped High Person Jinquan, True Person Shi, the Jin Household's True Persons, and Huinan.
• True Person Lingguang attacked Bo, but Bo struck him back with a water essence whip and injured him.
• True Person Bo punched True Person Shi away and bound him with water essence serpents and flood dragons.
• Huinan used Buddhist light and a golden lotus pedestal to resist Bo's ocean, but Bo surrounded him with wind, lightning, and water essence.

True Person Bo fought High Person Jinquan while Chen Shuangbai, Li Changfeng, and Huo Min used the Law-Breaking Golden Awl to break the Great Buddha Temple’s defensive formation. The Buddhist cultivators’ formation faltered, and Chen Shuangbai killed one of the remaining monks as the battle continued.

• High Person Jinquan attacked True Person Bo with demonic vines, but Bo crushed them with a vast surge of water essence.
• Li Changfeng and Huo Min prepared to attack the Great Buddha Temple cultivators, and Huo Min used the Law-Breaking Golden Awl to pierce the Demon-Subduing Golden Alms Bowl’s barrier.
• Li Changfeng charged through the breach and fought Chan Master Huiming, disrupting the conversion formation.
• Huo Min drove Liaowu and another monk away, while Chen Shuangbai confronted two Foundation Establishment Early Stage monks.
• Chen Shuangbai’s frosty blue sword pierced and killed one monk, leaving the other screaming in terror.

Chen Shuangbai attacked the Great Buddha Temple cultivators to collect interest for the grievance against his martial uncle, but Zen Master Mingguang intervened and fought back. Chen Shuangbai overwhelmed Mingguang with his treasures and left him suppressed and bound.

• Chen Shuangbai sent his Frost Osmanthus Sword Essence to kill the last Foundation Establishment Early Stage Buddhist cultivator.
• Zen Master Mingguang appeared and blocked the sword strike, protecting his junior brother from Chen Shuangbai.
• Chen Shuangbai attacked Mingguang and his junior brother with Heavenly Wood Spirit Light, wounding the junior brother and forcing him into the desert.
• Mingguang summoned the Wrathful Vajra Gaze Dharma manifestation and clashed with Chen Shuangbai's Frost Osmanthus Sword Essence.
• Chen Shuangbai used his treasure banner to slow Mingguang, then trapped him with a jade bell and bound him with a jade cord.

Chen Shuangbai captured Mingguang and used his Fallen Toad Light to remove the Buddhist power poisoning Li Changfeng’s wound. The Jade Spring Sect restored its seal over the sandy burial mound, while the captured Great Buddha Temple heir remained silent.

• Chen Shuangbai suppressed Mingguang with Spirit Artifacts and Frost Osmanthus Sword Essence, then took him alive after Mingguang abandoned his attempt to resist.
• The Jade Spring Sect defeated the Great Buddha Temple cultivators, who fled with Huiming’s soul while Huinan remained trapped and the Demon-Subduing Golden Alms Bowl was damaged.
• Chen Shuangbai healed Li Changfeng’s wound by using Fallen Toad Light to erase the Buddhist power embedded in it.
• Huo Min, Li Changfeng, and Chen Shuangbai joined their Law Power to the Sharp Mountains and Embracing Rivers Painting and restored the seal over the sandy burial mound.
• Huo Min and Li Changfeng remarked on Mingguang’s capture and his expected succession as Great Buddha Temple abbot, while Mingguang closed his eyes and refused to respond.

True Person Bo returned from battling five Golden Core cultivators with three prisoners, while two enemies escaped. He then subdued the Golden Core Sha Beast and made it retreat into the Sharp Mountains and Embracing Rivers Painting.

• After half a day, a yellow-green streak and a yellow streak escaped as True Person Bo’s dark ocean of power vanished.
• True Person Bo emerged with True Person Xuanguang, True Person Shi Yan, and Huinan imprisoned, and Chen Shuangbai, Li Changfeng, and Huo Min congratulated him.
• Huinan offered a supreme-grade Spirit Artifact to spare Mingguang, but True Person Bo gave no answer.
• True Person Bo explained that the Old Devil from the Transformation Sect escaped after detonating a supreme-grade Spirit Artifact, while a younger Spirit-Seeking Sect cultivator had died in place of his elder.
• True Person Bo hauled the wounded Golden Core Sha Beast from the sand and forced it into the Sharp Mountains and Embracing Rivers Painting.

True Person Bo sealed the leaking Sha Qi beneath the desert in a lake and brought the captives back to the Jade Spring Sect. Chen Shuangbai received praise and was told to return in three days for a merit assessment, then went back to his cave abode to cultivate.

• True Person Bo summoned rain to fill the ruined Sha Lair, temporarily sealing its Sha Qi and creating a potential spiritual site.
• True Person Bo carried everyone back to Sunken Jade Valley and ordered the three captives to remain in separate side halls for a few days.
• True Person Bo praised Chen Shuangbai and the others for their service, then told them to return in three days for their merits and rewards.
• Shi Yubai arrived, heard Li Changfeng and Huo Min recount the journey, and discussed the consequences of holding Golden Core prisoners.
• Chen Shuangbai returned to his cave abode, activated its restrictions, and cultivated with his Moon Lord Divine Manifestations.

The Spirit-Seeking Sect, Great Buddha Temple, and Heart-Eroding Stronghold sent delegations to the Jade Spring Sect to ransom their captured Golden Core cultivators. The first two sects paid steep prices and reclaimed their people, while True Person Bo refused to negotiate with the Heart-Eroding Stronghold without its stronghold master.

• The Spirit-Seeking Sect, Great Buddha Temple, and Heart-Eroding Stronghold arrived with gifts and waited outside the Jade Spring Sect before being admitted to meet True Person Bo.
• Shi Yubai demanded a Law Treasure and harsh additional terms from Jin Wuyu in exchange for True Person Xuanguang, while Huo Min took Jin Wuyu aside to negotiate.
• True Person Bo rejected Zhuge Luo's offer to ransom True Person Shi and demanded that the Heart-Eroding Stronghold's master appear in person.
• Three days later, the Spirit-Seeking Sect and Great Buddha Temple paid heavily and ransomed their captured cultivators.
• True Person Xuanguang left the Jade Spring Sect with the Spirit-Seeking Sect delegation, furious over the ransom negotiations.

Chen Shuangbai discovered that the Pill Furnace from the collapsing blessed land had entered his Dantian and could be summoned as the Law Treasure [Heaven Beyond Heart Fire Furnace]. After True Person Bo confirmed its value despite its damaged primal spirit, Gongye Chun recognized that it would greatly aid the Jade Spring Sect’s pill refining.

• Huinan and Mingguang left Sunken Jade Valley, while True Person Shi remained sealed in the Heart-Eroding Stronghold’s side hall.
• Chen Shuangbai summoned the [Heaven Beyond Heart Fire Furnace] from his Dantian and discovered its Law Treasure space contained countless Divergent Flames.
• Chen Shuangbai took Yi Chongyue to the Abyss Suppression Hall, where True Person Bo examined the furnace and confirmed it was a damaged Law Treasure without its primal spirit.
• Gongye Chun inspected the furnace and said it would make refining the sect’s commissioned third-tier pills easier and might improve their quality.

Chen Shuangbai offered the Heaven Beyond Heart Fire Furnace to the Jade Spring Sect, and True Person Bo rewarded him with a powerful water Law Technique. The sect also gave Chen Shuangbai cultivation materials, while he and Yi Chongyue left to celebrate.

• Chen Shuangbai decided to offer the Heaven Beyond Heart Fire Furnace to the Jade Spring Sect because it did not suit him and would make him a target.
• True Person Bo praised Chen Shuangbai’s choice and gave him the third-tier Law Technique Clouds and Water Share the Same Sky, along with mystic origin heavy water.
• Chen Shuangbai told True Person Bo that he had already obtained two portions of mystic origin heavy water during his travels.
• True Person Bo severed Chen Shuangbai’s connection to the furnace, and Gongye Chun took it away to use in alchemy.
• The Jade Spring Sect gave Chen Shuangbai spiritual cultivation materials, and Gongye Chun promised to provide him with pills.
• Yi Chongyue praised Chen Shuangbai and invited him back to the peak to celebrate with Cold Pool Fragrance.

Chen Shuangbai failed to use the Great Yin Dao Fruit to evolve True Person Bo’s third-tier technique, then made progress understanding it through his own cultivation. He visited the Book Collection Cave and appeased Zhang Yin, who had been waiting for him.

• Chen Shuangbai considered two possible reasons the Great Yin Dao Fruit could not evolve [Clouds and Water Share the Same Sky]: its power was insufficient for a third-tier technique, or it could not remove True Person Bo’s personal Dao imprint.
• Over two months, Chen Shuangbai gained an initial grasp of [Clouds and Water Share the Same Sky], refined three portions of [mystic origin heavy water] into it, and formed a small domain of clouds and mist.
• Chen Shuangbai manifested [Midnight Month Cold Light Yin Thunder] and wondered how to incorporate the Yin Thunder Method into the technique.
• True Person Bo watched Chen Shuangbai’s progress, praised his Dao wisdom, and gave him a scroll of personal insights on the technique.
• Chen Shuangbai entered the Book Collection Cave, gave two duty disciples pills, and found Zhang Yin absent from its usual spot.
• Chen Shuangbai left three storybooks as an apology, and Zhang Yin appeared on the jade table, glaring at him with puffed cheeks.

Chen Shuangbai visited the Book Collection Cave to ask Zhang Yin about the third-tier spell Clouds and Water Share the Same Sky, and received scattered writings from earlier sect cultivators. After studying True Person Bo’s notes, he left with new insights into the water element.

• Chen Shuangbai apologized to Zhang Yin with storybooks and honeydew, and Zhang Yin accepted the gifts.
• Chen Shuangbai told Zhang Yin that the Great True Person had bestowed the spell Clouds and Water Share the Same Sky on him.
• Zhang Yin gave Chen Shuangbai True Person Bo’s cultivation notes and essays on the union of clouds and water.
• Chen Shuangbai studied True Person Bo’s observations of water, clouds, and thunder and gained a rich harvest of insight.
• Chen Shuangbai put away the notes and essays, promised to visit Zhang Yin again, and left the Book Collection Cave.

Chen Shuangbai learned that True Person Bo had made the Golden Core Sha Beast Fang Xiao a restricted mountain-guarding spirit beast for the sect’s talented disciples. Two years later, Chen Shuangbai and Fu Qianlan welcomed He Qi after he emerged from seclusion having achieved Foundation Establishment.

• Shi Yubai introduced Fang Xiao to Chen Shuangbai and explained that True Person Bo had placed restrictions on the Sha Beast’s demon soul, making him a spirit beast whom the sect’s talented disciples could summon and command.
• Shi Yubai taught Chen Shuangbai the incantation for controlling Fang Xiao’s restrictions and told him the beast usually stayed at Gaohe Ridge.
• Two years later, Chen Shuangbai left Verdant Hills Stream and met Fu Qianlan on the way to Lesser Yang Peak.
• He Qi greeted Chen Shuangbai and Fu Qianlan after emerging from three years of seclusion with lower vehicle Foundation Establishment.
• Chen Shuangbai gave He Qi pills to stabilize his breakthrough, and Fu Qianlan gave him a low-grade spirit saber.
• Fu Qianlan invited He Qi to celebrate at his cave abode with spirit dishes from the Hundred Flavors Pavilion.

Chen Shuangbai used an incantation to force Fang Xiao, a recovered Golden Core Sha Beast, to take him beyond Jade Spring Sect territory. As they entered the Spirit-Seeking Sect’s domain, Chen Shuangbai revealed that he was looking for a toad demon.

• He Qi thanked Chen Shuangbai and Fu Qianlan for helping him reach lower vehicle Foundation Establishment and took a post as an outer sect deacon elder.
• After two more months, Chen Shuangbai arranged affairs in his halls and left Jade Spring Sect to find Fang Xiao at Gaohe Ridge.
• Chen Shuangbai recited an incantation that tormented Fang Xiao’s demon soul until Fang Xiao emerged and agreed to go with him.
• Fang Xiao carried Chen Shuangbai through the earth to Cang Province in the Spirit-Seeking Sect’s domain.
• Chen Shuangbai told Fang Xiao he had come to find a toad demon, and Fang Xiao acknowledged why Golden Core demons hid from human cultivators.

Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao searched Cang Province’s underground waterways and found a Rotting Poison Toad, which Chen Shuangbai killed and harvested for its Demon Core and poisonous pus. After they left, a small jade-like toad crawled out of the corpse.

• Chen Shuangbai used water vapor to conceal himself and Fang Xiao as they traveled through Cang Province, then ordered Fang Xiao to search for nearby demons.
• Fang Xiao sensed a target to the southwest and led Chen Shuangbai through a cavern to an underground swamp.
• A giant Rotting Poison Toad attacked Chen Shuangbai, but he severed its tongue and Fang Xiao hardened the swamp to thwart its escape.
• Chen Shuangbai bound the toad with the [Turning Heart Ruyi Cord], killed it with Frost Osmanthus sword essence, and collected its Demon Core and pus.
• After Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao departed, a palm-sized toad that glowed like jade crawled from the slain toad demon’s mouth.

Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao discovered a jade toad hiding inside the dead giant toad and pursued it through the underground waterways. The toad fled toward the one place it believed could save its life.

• The jade toad escaped from the giant toad's corpse and headed for a hidden fissure, but Chen Shuangbai bound it with the [Turning Heart Ruyi Cord].
• Fang Xiao examined the toad and released his Golden Core presence, frightening it until it slipped through the cord and fled.
• Chen Shuangbai ordered Fang Xiao to pursue the toad without catching it, hoping to learn where it considered safest.
• The jade toad used its innate ability and knowledge of the underground waterways to evade its pursuers, but Fang Xiao's yellow light stayed close behind.
• As the chase continued, the jade toad decided it had to flee to the one place where it might save its life.

Chen Shuangbai discovered that the jade wall concealed the [Diagram of the Flying Immortal Ascending to Clarity], a spirit-refining secret method, and gained a pleasant surprise by visualizing it. Fang Xiao could see only the surface patterns, and the pair remained beside the jade wall after Chen Shuangbai finished.

• Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao followed a white streak of flight light to a jade wall, where Fang Xiao crashed into the barrier.
• Chen Shuangbai perceived the [Diagram of the Flying Immortal Ascending to Clarity] in the wall, while Fang Xiao saw only landscape patterns.
• Chen Shuangbai told Fang Xiao to guard him and began visualizing the diagram to refine his spirit.
• Chen Shuangbai's soul grew stronger and his understanding of cultivation and alchemy deepened as he visualized the diagram.
• Chen Shuangbai opened his eyes and told Fang Xiao that he had gained a pleasant surprise: a Secret Method for refining the spirit.

Chen Shuangbai refined the jade disc and entered a lavish cave abode with Fang Xiao, sealing the entrance to keep intruders and the Spirit-Seeking Sect away. They reached a hall called the Clear Abode, where Chen Shuangbai bypassed its ancient restrictions and surprised Fang Xiao with his knowledge of formations.

• Chen Shuangbai comprehended the Diagram of the Flying Immortal Ascending to Clarity and refined its jade disc into a miniature object.
• Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao entered the cave abode, and Chen Shuangbai had Fang Xiao seal the entrance against intruders and discovery by the Spirit-Seeking Sect.
• Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao explored the luxurious, empty abode and found that its decorations depicted peaceful scenes of life there.
• Fang Xiao read the characters on a jade screen as Clear Abode, explaining that the script seemed to have evolved from yao script.
• Chen Shuangbai bypassed the ancient restrictions on the hall, leaving Fang Xiao astonished that he also understood formations.

Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao examined an ancient hall and found a long-horned, faceless corpse seated on a jade throne. Chen Shuangbai captured a jade toad and used an illusion technique to question it, uncovering memories of the cave abode’s former light.

• Chen Shuangbai and Fang Xiao entered the hall and discovered a seemingly lifeless, long-horned figure in ancient robes seated on a jade throne.
• Chen Shuangbai noticed a jade toad trying to flee and sent Fang Xiao to catch it.
• Fang Xiao returned with the jade toad, and Chen Shuangbai threatened it into answering questions about the hall and its origins.
• The jade toad said it had been there for as long as it could remember, then recalled that the hall once glowed with warm, pure light flowing from the jade, dome, and air.

Chen Shuangbai learned that the jade toad’s memories linked the hall to the Jade Spirit Clan and discovered matching patterns on an ancient mural and objects he carried. As the Clear and Bright Jade Venerable’s corpse crumbled away, a radiant jade horn appeared on the throne.

• Chen Shuangbai used an illusion technique on the jade toad, which recalled people gathering to discuss the Dao and repeatedly saying “Jade Spirit.”
• Chen Shuangbai connected the Jade Spirit clue to the unknown cultivator named Jade True whose tablet he had seen in Wu Country.
• Fang Xiao translated a mural describing the Clear and Bright Jade Venerable, a descendant of the Jade Spirit Clan who received his rank from the King Who Swallows the Universe of Heavenly Pivot Country.
• Chen Shuangbai brought out his golden burner and wine pot, and their bird-and-fish patterns glowed in response to matching patterns on the mural and the jade toad.
• The Clear and Bright Jade Venerable’s corpse cracked apart and vanished as flecks of jade light, leaving a blue-gold jade horn on the throne.