Chapter Summaries

After emerging from seclusion at Late Core Formation, Su Mu learned that the new markets were thriving and that the Eldest Princess had become ruler of Great Liang. He obtained thirty million Spirit Stones from her to build a Teleportation Array and prepare to return to the dangerous Haotian Realm.

• Su Mu emerged from seclusion at Late Core Formation, and Yu Guyue told him the new markets were operating and had drawn enormous trade on their first day.
• Su Mu told Yu Guyue he planned to return to the Haotian Realm, despite her warning that it was dangerous.
• Su Mu saw that the Eldest Princess had become ruler of Great Liang and asked her for Spirit Stones to build a Teleportation Array.
• The Eldest Princess questioned Su Mu's decision to return, but he explained that he wanted to investigate the Haotian Realm's cultivators and prepare for their attack.
• The Eldest Princess gave Su Mu thirty million Spirit Stones, and Su Mu left to build a Teleportation Array under his own control.

Su Mu returned to the Haotian Realm after learning that the Youtian Realm’s Spiritual Power and cultivation conditions had improved. Ye Weixiao told him that True Person Fire Cloud had escaped and that news of Su Mu’s survival had spread.

• Su Mu discussed the Youtian Realm’s increased Spiritual Power and cultivation progress with Yu Guyue, then said he would leave the next day.
• Su Mu told Yu Guyue to destroy one Teleportation Array and keep the other, and urged the eldest princess to recruit more cultivators before he departed.
• Su Mu arrived in the Haotian Realm, where Ye Weixiao explained that True Person Fire Cloud had escaped after high-level cultivators broke his array.
• Ye Weixiao told Su Mu that True Person Fire Cloud was on the bounty list and that cultivators from the Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land had spread word that Su Mu was still alive.

Su Mu learned that the righteous sects were still hunting him and that True Person Fire Cloud had grown powerful by killing cultivators. After searching for treasures and assessing a sect, Su Mu decided his plan was too uncertain until he reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Su Mu dismissed Ye Weixiao’s warning that the Holy Son and Holy Maiden intended to kill him, and said he would try to achieve Nascent Soul Formation.
• Su Mu left Ye Weixiao’s cave abode and went to a market to learn what people were saying about him.
• Su Mu read that the bounty on him had risen and that True Person Fire Cloud had killed ten thousand cultivators and received a fifty-million Spirit Stone bounty.
• Su Mu examined records of treasures in the Haotian Realm but found that major sects concealed their locations and guarded them with powerful formations.
• Su Mu studied the strength of the Cloud Ravine Sect and concluded that his plan had too many variables while his cultivation remained below the Nascent Soul Realm.

After months in seclusion, Su Mu met Mi Hongling and learned that the Demonic Sect planned to rescue a High Antiquity patriarch sealed beneath a great Buddha. Worried about the consequences if the Demonic Sect obtained the patriarch’s body, Su Mu told Ye Weixiao about the plan and waited for her response.

• Su Mu ended his seclusion after several months and met Mi Hongling, who was surprised that he had reached Late Core Formation.
• Mi Hongling revealed that the Demonic Sect intended to rescue the body of a patriarch sealed for over ten thousand years beneath a great Buddha.
• Mi Hongling told Su Mu to stay out of seclusion and keep the operation secret, promising that he could absorb Buddhist Sect Fortune if the mission succeeded.
• Su Mu returned to his cave abode and sent Ye Weixiao a voice message about the Demonic Sect’s plan.
• Ye Weixiao replied quickly, fell silent after hearing Su Mu’s account, and then responded.

Su Mu learned that the Mysterious Yin Cult and other demonic experts planned to find Ancestor Litian, but he and Ye Weixiao decided not to interfere for fear of exposing themselves. At Heaven-Severing Valley, Devil Lord Ye revealed that the sect had leaked false versions of its plans to identify spies, leaving the assembled cultivators under suspicion.

• Ye Weixiao told Su Mu that Ancestor Litian had been a powerful figure who may have been sealed away, but warned that opposing the Mysterious Yin Cult's operation could expose Su Mu and the remaining Youtian Realm cultivators.
• Su Mu decided not to notify the major sects or interfere, then spent five days studying the Dao Scripture until Mi Hongling summoned him to Heaven-Severing Valley.
• On the way into the valley, Su Mu nearly fell under the influence of Mi Hongling's alluring scent but cleared his mind with the Life-Claiming Brahma Sound.
• Mi Hongling led Su Mu into a gathering where Devil Lord Ye announced that news of the Demonic Sect's planned operation had leaked.
• Devil Lord Ye said he had spread different false accounts of the sect's plans to determine which cultivators were spies.

Devil Lord Ye exposed spies among the gathered cultivators, and the accused fought back as the others hunted them down. After reading the final name, he let the matter rest despite suspecting more spies remained, since he lacked evidence to attack them.

• Mi Hongling questioned Su Mu about whether the spy purge had been planned, and Su Mu calmly said the spies had to be cleared out before they could act.
• Devil Lord Ye accused Zhuo Feng of the Compassionate Ferry Sect of sending secret messages and revealed evidence linking him to the fallen Zhu Yu of the Azure Wood Sect.
• Zhuo Feng attacked and killed two Devil Cultivators, but the gathered cultivators fought him and crushed his Nascent Soul.
• Devil Lord Ye read out more names, prompting spies to attack or resist as the Devil Cultivators killed them across the grounds.
• Devil Lord Ye read the final name and stopped the purge, wary that attacking suspected spies without evidence could turn the other sects against him.

Devil Lord Ye led the Devil Cultivators to Kashyapa Temple and demanded the release of their patriarch, but the abbot refused and the two sides began a battle. Su Mu watched the fighting and observed that the temple’s golden light shielded the Buddhist Sect experts and strengthened their techniques.

• Devil Lord Ye removed the formation, gathered the cultivators onto a giant gourd, and flew toward Kashyapa Temple.
• Devil Lord Ye demanded that the temple topple its Buddha statue and release the Devil Dao patriarch, while the abbot claimed the patriarch was a lay devotee who wished to remain there.
• Devil Lord Ye revealed that the Devil Dao had blocked the Buddhist Sect’s reinforcements and ordered an attack when the abbot refused to yield.
• The Devil Dao and Buddhist Sect experts began fighting, with Devil Lord Ye facing the abbot and Mi Hongling confronting a monk.
• Su Mu watched instead of joining the battle and noticed that Kashyapa Temple’s golden light protected the Buddhist Sect disciples and boosted their strength.

Mi Hongling used her bewitching technique against Kashyapa Temple’s defenders, but an elder bhikkhu broke it and injured her. Su Mu joined the fight and confronted a bhikkhu whose Buddhist palm technique echoed his own, while the battle around the temple grew increasingly chaotic and Kashyapa Temple’s forces fell behind.

• Mi Hongling’s dance entranced the novice monks, allowing Devil Cultivators to kill them, until an older bhikkhu used the temple’s golden light to break her technique and wound her.
• Mi Hongling asked Su Mu to fight, and he blocked a bhikkhu’s attack with a dark palm imprint that carried a powerful Buddhist resonance.
• Su Mu identified himself as the Demonic Sect’s holy son and began fighting the confused bhikkhu.
• The fighters remained crowded around the temple, where the bhikkhus gained strength, and the chaotic battlefield left cultivators vulnerable to attacks from multiple directions.
• Su Mu avoided numerous Law Techniques and hidden Law Treasures as the fighting continued and Kashyapa Temple’s defenders dwindled.

Su Mu used his Life-Claiming Brahma Sound to disrupt Kashyapa Temple’s Vajra Demon-Subduing Incantation and break its grand formation. The Devil Cultivators turned back to attack the novice monks while Su Mu rested and Mi Hongling pressed on toward the temple.

• Kashyapa Temple’s novice monks summoned a colossal Buddha and used Sanskrit characters to overwhelm the Devil Cultivators, forcing even Mi Hongling to flee.
• Su Mu found that his pitch-black Buddha palm could cancel out the Sanskrit characters, and Mi Hongling urged him to use his Life-Claiming Brahma Sound.
• Mi Hongling cleared the characters near Su Mu while he sat down and chanted, disrupting the monks’ scriptures and breaking the grand formation.
• The Devil Cultivators charged back at the novice monks, and Mi Hongling told the drained Su Mu to rest before rejoining the battle.
• Mi Hongling hurried toward the temple with the others, aiming to destroy the great Buddha statue and rescue the patriarch trapped beneath it.

The Devil Cultivators defiled Kashyapa Temple with blood-soaked Law Treasures, weakening its protection as Su Mu absorbed the Buddhist Fortune leaking from its damaged Buddha statue. He moved the statue aside and entered the sealed chamber beneath it, where a bound figure was being suppressed by golden arhat statues.

• The Devil Cultivators poured blood from their sinister Law Treasures over Kashyapa Temple, extinguishing its golden barrier and cracking the Buddha statue.
• Su Mu absorbed the Buddhist Fortune escaping from the damaged statue as the abbot called for the Devil Cultivators to be slain.
• Mi Hongling urged the Devil Cultivators to kill the remaining monks and rescue their patriarch.
• Su Mu pushed aside the Buddha statue, revealing an opening that the Sanskrit inscription prevented Mi Hongling from entering.
• Su Mu entered the chamber below and found a dark figure bound by chains connected to golden arhat statues.
• The chains flared red and burned the bound figure, releasing wisps of black vapor.

Su Mu confronted the sealed Ancestor Litian and pretended to rescue him while testing whether he was still alive. After revealing his true intentions, Su Mu used the Golden Lotus to empower the Arhat statue and burn Ancestor Litian, who begged for mercy as the attack continued.

• Su Mu claimed to be the Demonic Sect's Holy Son and offered to free Ancestor Litian, who promised to take him as a disciple.
• Su Mu touched the Arhat's golden body, activating the seal and causing Sanskrit flames to burn Ancestor Litian.
• Ancestor Litian urged Su Mu to stop and wait for other Demonic Sect experts, but Su Mu continued and revealed that he had seen through the deception.
• Su Mu used the Golden Lotus to pour Buddhist Fortune into the Arhat, which spoke a sacred word and fired divine light at Ancestor Litian.
• Ancestor Litian begged Su Mu to stop and offered to agree to anything, but Su Mu ignored him and intensified the attack.

Su Mu tried to ensure Ancestor Litian had died before Mi Hongling discovered the sealed body and considered claiming it. When sect elders arrived, they confirmed Ancestor Litian was dead and prepared to take his body.

• Su Mu continued burning Ancestor Litian with Brahma flames, but the cave entrance seal broke and Mi Hongling appeared.
• Mi Hongling admitted she coveted Ancestor Litian's body, then failed to break the golden body with her blood blade, which was damaged in the attempt.
• Mi Hongling gave up on claiming the body and waited with Su Mu for the seniors to arrive.
• Old Monster Fentian and elders from other sects descended into the cave and recognized Ancestor Litian.
• An elder of the Compassionate Ferry Sect confirmed with Divine Sense that Ancestor Litian had perished, and Su Mu felt relieved.

Su Mu left the elders to dispute who would claim Ancestor Litian’s body and absorbed the Fortune from the ruined temple. Fearing a clash among the demonic elders and a righteous-path counterattack, he fled, and Mi Hongling followed.

• The elders argued over whether Ancestor Litian’s body belonged to the Mysterious Yin Cult or should go to whoever claimed its treasures.
• Su Mu left the elders and saw that the temple’s monks had been killed, then absorbed Fortune from its Buddhist statues.
• Mi Hongling joined Su Mu and asked who would claim the body, while Su Mu decided not to interfere.
• Su Mu warned that fighting and a righteous-path attack could trap them, then left after absorbing the temple’s Fortune.
• Mi Hongling followed Su Mu as he flew away.

Su Mu escaped Kashyapa Temple before righteous experts encircled it, then waited in a nearby city for news of the battle. Reports said the temple had been massacred, many young demonic cultivators had died, and Ancestor Litian’s body had been taken, leaving Su Mu relieved that he had fled in time.

• Su Mu told a Demonic Sect member that Kashyapa Temple had fallen and that Ancestor Litian’s body had been found, then continued flying away.
• Ye Weixiao warned Su Mu that righteous experts were heading to Kashyapa Temple, and Su Mu replied that he had already left.
• Su Mu reached a city, changed his appearance, and waited while righteous experts encircled Kashyapa Temple.
• Two days later, reports said Kashyapa Temple had been massacred, three-quarters of the demonic younger-generation elites had died, and Ancestor Litian’s body had been taken.
• Su Mu realized his early escape had spared him from the battle and felt relieved.

Su Mu learned that the Devil Dao had lost many cultivators in a recent clash with the righteous sects, then decided to keep a low profile and focus on comprehending the Dao Scripture. He joined a merchant caravan as an escort and began traveling through the Haotian Realm.

• Su Mu overheard that the Devil Dao Holy Son and Holy Maiden had narrowly avoided the righteous sects’ Holy Son and Holy Maiden.
• Devil Lord Ye contacted Su Mu, confirmed he was safe, and warned him to keep his head down; he said twenty-three Devil Dao experts had fallen and that the old ancestor’s body had been taken.
• Su Mu decided to stop robbing people for a while and prioritize cultivating and comprehending the Dao Scripture.
• Su Mu left the city and agreed to escort a merchant caravan in exchange for Spirit Stones.
• The caravan set out with Su Mu reading the Dao Scripture in his carriage, while the other Foundation Establishment cultivators left him undisturbed.

Su Mu traveled past Hundred-Step Cliff and sensed a terrifying presence in the abyss below. He returned safely to the carriage, but remained unsure what lurked beneath the cliffs and decided not to investigate further.

• Su Mu listened as two Foundation Establishment cultivators lamented how difficult it was for Rogue Cultivators to advance without resources.
• Su Mu noticed the Azure Lotus behind him nearing another bloom while he read the Dao Scripture in the carriage.
• Su Mu learned from the guards that the cliffs were called Hundred-Step Cliff and that fierce Gang Wind filled the depths below.
• Su Mu flew over the cliff, felt an oppressive presence staring from the dark abyss, and relaxed only after the Azure Lotus turned.
• A guard told Su Mu that cultivators and birds often fell into the cliff and that even Core Formation Cultivators had failed to return.
• Su Mu considered exploring the abyss but abandoned the idea, deciding it was beyond his ability.

Su Mu traveled with a merchant caravan past Hundred-Step Cliff and boarded a large boat bound for Lincu City. After the caravan’s Foundation Establishment cultivator questioned why a powerful cultivator was traveling with them, the shopkeeper accepted that Su Mu would stay, though he worried about the danger.

• Su Mu reassured the guard that he would not fly over Hundred-Step Cliff again, while the guard explained that the road was safer than taking a detour as long as travelers stayed grounded.
• A pair of enormous eyes opened in the depths beneath the cliff, then closed again.
• The caravan left Hundred-Step Cliff and boarded a large boat headed for Lincu City.
• Su Mu sat on deck at night as the caravan’s Foundation Establishment cultivator asked why he was traveling with them.
• Su Mu said he was simply going the same way, and the shopkeeper decided to let him stay despite worrying that a high-level cultivator could endanger the caravan.

Su Mu studied the Dao Scripture during his journey until his Dao Lotus reached twenty-three petals, then returned to Earth and collected the mature Heavenly Thunder Bamboo. The lightning field disappeared after he removed it, surprising the public, while Su Mu left to test the bamboo’s power.

• Su Mu traveled by boat and carriage while studying the Dao Scripture, and his Dao Lotus grew to twenty-three petals over several months.
• Su Mu returned to Earth and went to inspect the Heavenly Thunder Bamboo after Zhou Jianhua called to report changes.
• Su Mu found the bamboo had grown to thirteen segments and collected it, causing the surrounding lightning clouds to disperse.
• Su Mu told Zhou Jianhua that the power supply could be shut down, then tested the bamboo’s lightning in a deserted place.
• People nearby watched the lightning field vanish and wondered why it had disappeared.

Su Mu met Zhou Jianhua before returning home for the New Year and learned how the country was using the items he had provided. After agreeing to bring Storage Rings for study, Su Mu left to visit his parents.

• Zhou Jianhua told Su Mu that Thunder Crystals could store enormous amounts of electricity and might be used to disable enemy vessels.
• Zhou Jianhua reported that nuclear fusion research was progressing smoothly and that Huaxia had completed a lunar base with a functioning ecosystem.
• Su Mu and Zhou Jianhua discussed other countries' interest in the moon and Huaxia's plans to reach Mars and beyond.
• Zhou Jianhua gave Su Mu gifts for his parents, and Su Mu stored them in his Storage Ring.
• Su Mu agreed to bring several Storage Rings for the country to study, then disappeared to head home for the New Year.

Su Mu returned to his hometown and brewed spirit-infused medicine for his parents while neighbors visited and asked about his work. He could not arrange a public institution job for a neighbor’s son, but offered to recommend him to Wang Peng’s company instead.

• Su Mu drove home with fruit from the Qinling Mountains and gave some to children he met outside his house.
• Finding his parents away, Su Mu brewed medicine for them with spirit medicine and a spirit flame.
• Neighbors visited Su Mu, and he told them his institution’s work was confidential when they asked what he did.
• A neighbor asked Su Mu to arrange a public institution job for his university-graduate son, but Su Mu explained that such jobs were difficult to arrange.
• Su Mu offered to recommend the son to Wang Peng’s company, where the pay was good, and reminded the neighbors of the company’s hiring requirements.