Chapter Summaries

Xu Jia explained to Li Boyang how the search for the Jade of Spiritual Communication led him into the Mirror Dimension and the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. After defeating the headless Buddha statue, Luo Qiao healed the Golden Ao leader and chose to teach the Golden Ao.

• Xu Jia told Li Boyang that he would probably still have gone to the East Sea, where he found the Jade of Spiritual Communication and briefly awakened memories of Amitabha Buddha.
• Xu Jia resisted the Buddhas and bodhisattvas trying to restore his past-life memories, then attacked Li Boyang when he entered the Mirror Dimension.
• Luo Qiao and Yinglong defeated the headless Buddha statue, while the wounded Golden Ao leader mourned and the other Golden Ao guarded it.
• Luo Qiao transformed his Body-Protecting Sword Qi into Spiritually Clear Brahma Qi and used it to soothe the Golden Ao and heal their leader.
• Luo Qiao told the Golden Ao leader that he wanted to teach the Golden Ao, though the leader could not understand his words.

Li Boyang returned to the East Sea and found Luo Qiao teaching the Golden Ao to speak, then decided to let the young man pursue his chosen path as a fellow Daoist rather than take him as a disciple. He brought Xu Jia, the reincarnation of Amitabha Buddha, out of the Six Desire Heavens and made him a servant for their onward journey.

• Li Boyang returned to the Longbo Giants' archipelago, where Xiluo told him that Luo Qiao had been teaching the Golden Ao to speak.
• Li Boyang said Luo Qiao had chosen his own path, so he would let him continue as a fellow Daoist instead of taking him as a disciple.
• Xiluo asked Li Boyang about the rift in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and why it had disappeared when he returned from the Six Desire Heavens.
• Li Boyang opened a passage with the [Heaven and Earth Ring] and brought Xu Jia out of the Six Desire Heavens, identifying him as Amitabha Buddha's reincarnation.
• Li Boyang assigned Xu Jia the role of servant, and Xiluo told him to collect the fragments of the 'Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare' for their journey.

Xu Jia parted from the Golden Ao and accepted Luo Qiao’s claim that they were now his disciples. Before leaving, Xu Jia revealed that his prayer beads were a fragment of the Jade of Spiritual Communication and merged them into the Green Duckweed Sword.

• The Longbo Giants loaded the broken Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare onto the steel aircraft carrier and gave Li Boyang and Xiluo gifts.
• Luo Qiao confronted Xu Jia, who said the Golden Ao were his companions and family, not his slaves.
• Luo Qiao declared that the Golden Ao were his disciples and forbade Xu Jia from approaching them again.
• Xu Jia said karma had no distinction between good and evil and argued that no one had died in the disaster, angering Luo Qiao.
• Luo Qiao threatened Xu Jia with the Green Duckweed Sword, and Xu Jia recognized it as the original owner’s Jade of Spiritual Communication.
• Xu Jia merged his prayer beads into the Green Duckweed Sword and explained that its fragments could make it a divine sword, though the Buddha’s head was lost.

Li Boyang and Xiluo turned inland toward Great Xia and Kunlun to investigate the missing head of the Buddha statue, and Xu Jia explained how it had been stolen. Xu Jia suspected the mysterious attacker wanted Amitabha Buddha’s power, leaving the thief’s identity and whereabouts unknown.

• Li Boyang and Xiluo departed the Longbo Giants’ island, while Yao Xi prepared to strengthen Yinglong’s formation for the mountain folk’s arrival.
• Li Boyang changed course inland, and Xiluo realized he meant to investigate the missing Buddha head.
• Xu Jia explained that he had fought a shapeshifting enemy who targeted him rather than the Jade of Spiritual Communication.
• After Amitabha Buddha tried to enlighten Xu Jia and the Buddha statue was beheaded by the Mirror Dimension, the enemy seized its head.
• Xu Jia concluded that the enemy had been seeking Amitabha Buddha’s power all along.

Xingtian City had grown into a vast, highly organized city under Xingtian Shi’s theocratic imperial rule, fueled by technology and trade with the Hundred Lands Mountain Range. The chapter ended with an overseas performer from the Puppeteer Kingdom carrying the famed Horn of Plenty through the city alongside his young companion and a company of puppets.

• Xingtian City expanded into a main city and five satellite cities, with a population approaching ten million.
• Xingtian Shi established a centralized theocratic imperial system that joined divine and royal authority in his person.
• The city used identification rules, a vast formation barrier, satellites, electricity, and spatial-compression containers to manage its people and trade.
• An overseas citizen bought the Horn of Plenty from the mountain folk, though some suspected the supposed source of its endless food and seeds was a scam.
• The old man carrying the Horn of Plenty traveled with a young girl and stiff-moving people and animals, which were puppets made through the Puppeteer Kingdom’s Armor Technique.

An old performer from the Puppeteer Kingdom reflected on his choice to study Armor Technique in Xingtian City and the value of the Hundred Lands Mountain Range’s resources. When monsters ambushed him and his granddaughter, he offered himself in exchange for her safety.

• The old man thought about how the Puppeteer Kingdom’s limited food and resources made the Hundred Lands Mountain Range’s Law Treasures especially valuable.
• A puppet guard fired an explosive iron fist at an unseen attacker, revealing and destroying a vicious beast that had been hiding ahead.
• The puppet people formed a defensive barrier around the old man and his granddaughter, while she readied a talisman launcher.
• The old man called for the attackers to identify themselves, then offered the goods in his carriages in exchange for their lives.
• The destroyed beast reassembled as a half-human, half-beast monster, and identical monsters emerged from the woods, demanding that the old man and his granddaughter come with them.
• The old man asked the monsters to take him and spare his granddaughter.

The old man and his granddaughter fled toward Xingtian City while his puppets fought off the monsters, sacrificing themselves to save them. A pack of Feilian intercepted them, and the old man revealed his combat prosthesis as the story ended with the Feilian identifying his Thousand Mechanism Transformation.

• The old man refused to leave his granddaughter behind, and his puppets attacked the monsters with guns, explosives, fire, and electricity.
• The old man escaped with his granddaughter using mechanical wings while the puppets held off the monsters.
• A regenerating monster pursued them, but a puppet self-destructed and killed it, prompting the puppets to adapt their tactics to destroy the monsters completely.
• The granddaughter mourned the puppets as family, but a sudden cold wind froze the wings and twisted off the old man's prosthetic arm.
• Two Feilian appeared, and one recognized the old man as a puppeteer who had modified his own body.
• The old man landed in a tree, activated his prosthesis, and transformed it into a bladed weapon and steel whip as the Feilian called it a Thousand Mechanism Transformation.

An old man and his granddaughter killed two Feilian attackers using golden silkworm silk and a talisman launcher. In Ganqi City, Luo Lan sensed the deaths and rushed outside the city to investigate, despite warnings from his partner and captain.

• The Feilian recognized the old man's arm as a Thousand Mechanism Transformation and warned each other about its hidden ranged attacks.
• The old man used golden silkworm silk to bind one Feilian, while his granddaughter struck the other with her talisman-sacrifice launcher and a lightning bolt killed him.
• The old man tightened the bindings and killed the remaining Feilian with the finger blades in his hand.
• Luo Lan sensed someone killing people in Ganqi City's territory, drew his axe, and ran toward the outskirts.
• Luo Lan's partner told Squad 317's captain that Luo Lan had gone to investigate, and the captain warned that Luo Lan's teacher and younger sister had died in the Ganqi City Rebellion.

Aboard the steel aircraft carrier, Xiluo, Li Boyang, and Xu Jia watched a battle near Ganqi City and recognized the hidden attacker’s methods as those of the person who stole the Buddha head. The attacker abruptly withdrew after Li Boyang glanced toward the gathering Yuan Qi, leaving Xiluo wondering why he was so cautious.

• Xiluo pointed out a firelit battle below Mount Changyang, and Li Boyang spotted a vortex of Yuan Qi gathering near the battlefield.
• Xiluo identified the fighters as performers from the Puppeteer Kingdom, and Li Boyang traced the Yuan Qi toward Mount Kunlun.
• Xu Jia emerged and suspected that the person who stole the Buddha head was directing Feilian and the vicious beasts.
• The Yuan Qi abruptly flowed back toward Mount Kunlun after Li Boyang looked its way.
• Li Boyang said the attacker had not recognized him, and Xiluo questioned Xu Jia’s account of the attacker’s abilities.

A black-skinned man on Mount Kunlun absorbed the power of Amitabha Buddha’s head and sent his influence to the battlefield, where he defeated the old puppeteer. The old man lost consciousness, and the man turned his attention toward Xiao Ling as she fled to Ganqi City.

• The sixteen-foot man sensed Li Boyang’s oppressive presence, then decided to accelerate his plan and continued absorbing the last Jade of Spiritual Communication.
• As the man transformed and gained twisted powers from Amitabha Buddha’s head, his demonic chanting caused the destroyed Feilian corpse to reassemble.
• The old man sent Xiao Ling toward Ganqi City with the Horn of Plenty, then stood his ground against the transformed Feilian.
• The man attacked the old man, shattered the Thousand Mechanism Transformation, and knocked him unconscious with a palm strike.
• After defeating the old man, the man looked toward the direction Xiao Ling had fled.

Xiao Ling tried to escape with her grandfather, but a mysterious man caught up with them and toyed with her until Luo Lan intervened. As Luo Lan fought the man, he revealed both Taogao Shi footwork and the Xingtian Shi’s battle-shaman power, leaving his identity unclear.

• Xiao Ling fled into the mountain woods, but the man appeared before her while carrying her captured grandfather and ordered her to come quietly.
• Xiao Ling fired a copper pellet inscribed with Thunder Method Talisman Seal Script, but the man caught it and threw it aside, where it struck a tree with lightning.
• Xiao Ling ran toward the main road and called for help, and the man pursued her until Luo Lan arrived and split his body with an enormous axe.
• The man regenerated and fought Luo Lan with one hand while holding the old man, using Cicada-Sealing Steps that Luo Lan recognized as a secret technique of the Taogao Shi.
• The man formed a shamanic hand seal and unleashed the Xingtian Shi’s battle-shaman power, shocking Luo Lan.

Luo Lan and Xiao Ling fought the mysterious man, who used combat techniques familiar to Luo Lan and ultimately escaped with Xiao Ling’s grandfather. Luo Lan comforted Xiao Ling, who was overwhelmed by relief and grief, while the man’s connection to Luo Lan’s dead master remained unexplained.

• Luo Lan used a blade grown from his arm to wound the man, but the man’s mastery of Xingtian combat techniques gave him the advantage.
• Xiao Ling chose to help Luo Lan and fired the Talisman Seal Script launcher at the man.
• The man unleashed his power and began losing ground as Luo Lan regained the upper hand, then paused when Luo Lan called him master.
• Luo Lan demanded to know why the man used his dead master’s moves, but the man escaped into the forest carrying Xiao Ling’s grandfather.
• Xiao Ling stopped Luo Lan from pursuing, and he embraced and comforted her as she wept.

Luo Lan brought Xiao Ling to the Inspection Bureau and urged Xing Jin to activate Ganqi City's defenses, warning that the outsider connected to his master's fighting style might signal a new attack on the Xingtian Shi. Xing Jin refused but secretly reported that the Dao Proving One from three years ago had returned and targeted a performer from the Puppeteer Kingdom.

• Li Boyang used a Bagua Compass to investigate the outsider and concluded that he was familiar with divination methods associated with Li Boyang or the Dao Ancestor.
• Xiluo left the carrier to explore Xingtian City while Li Boyang grew suspicious that the Xingtian Shi had unusually few shaman seers.
• Luo Lan brought Xiao Ling to the Inspection Bureau and demanded that Xing Jin activate Ganqi City's defense barrier, arguing that the earlier rebellion and the outsider's resemblance to his master were connected.
• Xing Jin refused to activate the barrier, arranged papers and protection for Xiao Ling, and ordered guards to take her and Luo Lan away.
• Xing Jin privately contacted his elder brother and reported that the Dao Proving One from three years ago had returned, now targeting a performer from the Puppeteer Kingdom.

Xiluo followed Luo Lan and Xiao Ling after overhearing a commotion, while a disguised culprit recognized her and reflected on the near-erasure of the Xingtian clan’s shamanic lineage. At Xingtian Temple, Wu Zhen struggled to remember her vanished relatives as she and Xingtian Shi vowed to hunt the culprit, who had now targeted the performers of the Puppeteer Kingdom.

• Xiluo overheard a commotion at the Inspectorate and followed Luo Lan and Xiao Ling into the streets.
• A three-foot-tall man recognized Xiluo as the Queen Mother of the West and feared that the Dao Ancestor was nearby.
• The man recalled that he had caused the Ganqi City Rebellion, devoured Xingtian Shi’s great shamans, and nearly severed the Xingtian clan’s shamanic lineage.
• Wu Zhen struggled with contradictory memories of her vanished relatives, while Xingtian Shi promised to help her remember them.
• Xingtian Shi revealed that the culprit had appeared again and targeted the Puppeteer Kingdom’s performers, and Wu Zhen summoned her Ten White Bone Rings and Primordial Spirit as she vowed to kill him.

As Ganqi City tightened security, Xiluo explained that she was teaching Xiao Ling and Luo Lan to cultivate so they could help her win against the culprit behind the Ganqi City Rebellion. Luo Lan reached the great completion stage of Refining Essence into Qi, took a Primordial Spirit Pill, and began forming his Primordial Spirit.

• Xu Jia noticed Ganqi City increasing its guards and activating its barrier screening system, which led suspected spies and smugglers to leave.
• Xiluo told Xiao Ling she was teaching her and Luo Lan because both were tied to the person who stole the Buddha's head and wanted to uncover the truth behind the Ganqi City Rebellion.
• Xiluo said the culprit had taken Xiao Ling's grandfather, but Xiao Ling insisted she was an orphan and had no grandfather.
• Luo Lan meditated beneath a waterfall and used Life Primordial Qi to form Body-Protecting Gang Qi, reaching the great completion stage of Refining Essence into Qi.
• Luo Lan swallowed a Primordial Spirit Pill, and his Primordial Spirit manifested as he began drawing in Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi.

Luo Lan’s attempt to manifest his Primordial Spirit collided with the Mind-Aspect Barrier he had learned from Wu Luo, causing his body and spirit to merge painfully. Xiluo fed him a Fire Jujube that transformed him further, leaving him with two additional heads and eight weapon-bearing arms.

• Luo Lan recalled the danger facing Ganqi City and resolved to become strong enough to protect others as he underwent his transformation.
• Luo Lan’s body grew metallic and sprouted blades as his Primordial Spirit returned to his flesh and fused with it.
• Xiluo rushed to Luo Lan and recognized the transformation as Wu Luo’s Mind-Aspect Barrier, then asked why he had not told her he studied under Wu Luo.
• Xiluo gave Luo Lan a Fire Jujube, an Elixir of Immortality that added five hundred years to his lifespan and bestowed a Divine Ability.
• Luo Lan’s body restructured, growing two additional heads and transforming the blades into eight arms holding weapons.

A pitch-black man devoured Xiao Ling’s grandfather, absorbing his memories and erasing him from history, then vowed to use his puppeteering craft to create god-killing constructs. Xiao Ling began recovering a fading memory that revealed she was an Artificial Human, and she tried to preserve it before it vanished.

• The pitch-black man absorbed the old man’s existence and learned that he had created Xiao Ling as an Artificial Human.
• The man recalled the old man’s past as a ruthless puppeteer who had destroyed nations and exterminated races, then vowed to surpass his craft and claim the Ganqi Axe.
• Xiluo told Xiao Ling about her grandfather, but Xiao Ling could not remember him and questioned how her past fit with the [Horn of Plenty] she had bought.
• Xiao Ling recalled a blurred scene of her grandfather holding her as a newborn beside a beast whose opened abdomen contained other malformed babies.
• Xiao Ling realized she was an Artificial Human and bit through her finger to record the memory as it began to disappear.

Wu Zhen launched a sweeping attack as Xingtian Shi’s forces moved to capture the suspects, and they cornered Jing Sui in Ganqi City. Jing Sui revealed that he had engineered the Ganqi City Rebellion to uncover the secret of Ganqi, leaving the Xingtian Shi clan confronting a hidden truth about its past.

• After Xingtian Shi received a report identifying the suspects, Wu Zhen flew from the summit and summoned the ten demon gods of the [Ten White Bone Rings].
• The high-altitude satellites and their priests formed a vast electrical grid, unleashing lightning over the five cities and surrounding Jing Sui’s location with a forbidden zone.
• Jing Sui remained calm in a restaurant as guards and lightning encircled him, and Xing Jin accused him of instigating the Ganqi City Rebellion.
• Jing Sui admitted he had helped build Ganqi City to search for Xingtian’s divine artifact, Ganqi, and had orchestrated the rebellion to draw out the clan’s great shamans.
• Jing Sui said he had forcibly devoured the great shamans after Xingtian Shi intervened, then challenged the clan’s account of its own history and strength.

Jing Sui revealed that he had erased nearly all of Xingtian Shi’s great shamans and fought Xing Jin as the clan launched a coordinated defense against the calamities emerging from Mount Kunlun. The Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Formation activated, but Jing Sui used his knowledge of the city-defense barrier to damage it and break out of the lightning domain.

• Jing Sui told Xing Jin that he had erased more than ninety-nine percent of Xingtian Shi’s great shamans and explained why traces of their past remained.
• Xing Jin attacked Jing Sui, who evaded his blow as the pavilion collapsed; Jing Sui’s hidden attack killed several guards, and Xing Jin ordered his forces to leave no one alive.
• Xu Jia and Li Boyang watched as beasts, ghosts, and Ominous Deities emerged from the fog, prompting Ganqi City and the other cities to activate their linked defense barriers.
• The satellites formed the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions Formation: Horn Mansion, while the Xingtian Shi clan blocked outsiders from fleeing the cities.
• Jing Sui triggered an earthquake that destroyed barrier nodes on Mount Changyang, then broke through the lightning domain and caused several satellites to fall.

Xingtian Shi’s formation and satellites helped repel the black mist and its monsters while the Xingtian Shi clan exposed Jing Sui’s incarnations across the cities. Xingtian Shi recognized that Jing Sui was hiding near the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension, and Lu Huaijin connected the legendary stairway to Great Xia’s Jianmu Cauldron.

• The formation’s collapsed nodes unleashed Sha Qi that destroyed or mutated creatures in the black mist, while Wu Zhen’s ten great demon gods and the satellites’ fire cleared the area around Xingtian City.
• Jing Sui realized that the Xingtian Shi clan’s attacks had exposed his incarnations in other cities and wondered how they had found them so quickly.
• Xingtian Shi thanked Lu Huaijin and the mountain folk for helping locate Jing Sui’s suspicious sentries through divination and Li Xi’s Knowledge of Past Lives.
• Xingtian Shi recalled Xingtian’s ascent through the Long Stairway of Divine Ascension and concluded that Jing Sui was hiding in the depths of Kunlun.
• Lu Huaijin said the Long Stairway had become the Jianmu Cauldron, and reasoned that the first Witch King had subdued the Xingtian Shi while searching for it.