Chapter Summaries

Xiao San'er and Zhou Wu joined the Jailer Hall’s assault on the Temple of Suffering, where Song Zongwu crushed the faction’s Yang God Realm elders. When a Heavenly Eerie Realm Manta Ray cultivator threatened the assembled forces, Ren Qing sent a Ghost Shadow to intervene, and Yinglong swallowed the attacker.

• Xiao San'er and Zhou Wu gathered Gu Insects in Jingzhou while discussing the Jailer Hall’s losses and Zhou Wu’s prospects of advancing to Yin Messenger Realm.
• The Jailer Hall cultivators assembled around the Temple of Suffering to rescue imprisoned Heavenly Court cultivators and build a defensive formation.
• Song Zongwu appeared, killed the Monk of Suffering and the Temple’s elders, and helped the Jailer Hall defeat the Monks of Tribulation.
• A massive Manta Ray cultivator emerged and challenged the Four Seas Dragon Kings, prompting Song Zongwu to contact Ren Qing for help.
• Ren Qing sent part of his Ghost Shadow to Jingzhou, where Yinglong appeared and swallowed the Manta Ray cultivator.

Ren Qing infiltrated the Myriad Buddhas Pilgrimage in disguise while secretly preparing to reach the Tathagata of Merit, and discovered that Jing Province was undergoing a sudden collapse. As the pilgrimage began and Jailer Hall mobilized to evacuate and plunder the Inner Layer World, the lake transformed into an eye and the Blood Moon rose, while Buddhist aura still restrained Taiyin Star Lord.

• Ren Qing returned the Manta Ray cultivator to a permanent prison cell, and Heaven's Court's growing forces discouraged other factions from challenging it directly.
• Ren Qing, Pig Daoist, and Daoist Mu She disguised themselves as Buddhas and took seats on Flesh Lotuses near the Tathagata of Merit, while Ren Qing sent Ghost Shadow into the lake to implant an immortal office.
• Ren Qing noticed that the Tathagata of Merit's chanting mangled the Heart Sutra of the Pineapple and wondered what had happened to Buddhism thousands of years earlier.
• Bodhisattva Wang Sheng killed newly arrived Buddhas and monks as ripples spread across the lake, while Ren Qing detected the Outer Layer World collapsing and ordered Jailer Hall to prepare for evacuation.
• Jailer Hall sent sand ships and cultivators into the Inner Layer World as Ren Qing noticed the ground merging with the lake's surroundings and the Myriad Buddhas Pilgrimage began.
• The lake turned into an eye as the Blood Moon rose, and Ren Qing confirmed through his immortal office that Buddhist aura still restrained Taiyin Star Lord.

Ren Qing investigated the strange Myriad Buddhas Pilgrimage as Jing Province collapsed and the Buddhas began dying. The third Immortal Position emerged, while Ren Qing waited for the hidden arrangement behind the disaster to reveal itself.

• Jing Province’s borders rose into mountains, trapping everyone inside as Buddha energy killed monks, cultivators, and Buddhas who tried to escape.
• Ren Qing took control of the Tathagata of Merit, gathered survivors, and discovered corpses in the lake that matched the Buddhas’ former lives and deaths.
• Ren Qing concluded that the Myriad Buddhas Pilgrimage was real, while Lady White Bone identified Dinguang Buddha Child as the likely force behind Jing Province’s Buddha energy.
• As Jing Province disintegrated and the Blood Moon rose, Heavenly Eerie Realm cultivators revealed their forms and tried to break through the Buddha energy.
• Ren Qing’s Immortal Position fully entered the Tathagata of Merit, and the third Immortal Position appeared sealed inside a massive rock in the lake.
• Bodhisattva Wang Sheng and many other Buddhas died as Buddha energy’s hold weakened, while Ren Qing waited for the hidden arrangement to surface.

Ren Qing disrupted Maitreya Buddha’s plan to use Jingzhou’s souls and immortals to seal the Three Dao Ancestors, then seized the Silkworm Mother Insect Immortal Position and escaped Jingzhou. The Supreme Heavenly Demon arrived as Dingguang Tathagata, two True Immortals, and the Corpse Immortal clashed, leaving the battle raging after Ren Qing had fled.

• Ren Qing imprisoned the cultivators who tried to remain in Jingzhou and captured Lady White Bone’s avatar, while Elephant Master escaped with her ashes.
• Ren Qing identified the Silkworm Mother Insect Immortal and discovered that Maitreya Buddha’s lingering thought was using the Merit Monks’ souls, Taiyin Star Lord, and other immortals in an attempt to seal the Three Dao Ancestors.
• Ren Qing shattered Maitreya Buddha’s thought and summoned the Forbidden Corpse and Corpse Immortal to disrupt the ritual as Taiyin Star Lord and the Blessed Earth Immortal fought to break free of Dingguang Buddha energy.
• Ren Qing transported the Silkworm Mother Insect Immortal Position to the Dragon Blood Sea and escaped Jingzhou through Heavenly Demon Possession.
• The Supreme Heavenly Demon arrived in Jingzhou, and Ren Qing sensed it battling Dingguang Tathagata and the other immortals as the True Immortals’ Heavenly Dao Transformation began to rekindle.

Ren Qing prepared for the growing struggle between Dao and Buddha by arranging for Immortal positions and expanding his influence in the Dragon Blood Sea. After discovering that Wuming had begun releasing Mirror World prisoners, Ren Qing sent the Flood Dragon People to explore the ocean and gave Li Yaoyang an Ascension Method that could lead to Earth Immortal.

• Ren Qing surveyed the ruined edge of Jingzhou, spotted a Buddha Fly, and returned to the Dragon Blood Sea after increasing his surveillance of the Immortal-Buddha War.
• Ren Qing discovered that a cultivator had escaped the Mirror World, concluded that Wuming had parasitized the Corpse Immortal, and anticipated that Wuming would seek Immortal positions.
• Ren Qing changed the Dragon Blood Ecosystem to let dragonkind coexist with ordinary species, ordered Tuna and the Flood Dragon People to explore south, and offered them help building a Dragon Palace.
• Chen Haoyu encountered Huang Ziwang and Sun in Dream City, and Huang Ziwang accepted an external mission to help build the Dragon Palace.
• Ren Qing gave Li Yaoyang the Weaving Insect Clothes Ascension Method and warned him that Gu True Person was highly ambitious, then entered seclusion to advance his Arts.

Ren Qing advanced Heaven and Earth Growth to Yi Sheng Er, expanding the stomach world and establishing unlimited Ghost Immortal positions for those acknowledged by its Heavenly Dao. After elevating the Son of Heavenly Dao and Chen Changsheng, Ren Qing turned his attention to the Insect Nest and the spreading rumors about Heavenly Court ruins.

• Ren Qing advanced Heaven and Earth Growth by consuming Zhenyuanzi's remaining body, strengthening the stomach world and helping cultivators sense paths toward breakthroughs.
• Ren Qing discovered that Yi Sheng Er allowed unlimited Ghost Immortal positions, then made the Heavenly Dao award them to cultivators who had attained the Yang God Realm.
• Ren Qing formed the Lingxiao Treasure Hall as a gathering place for cultivators above the Ghost Immortal level.
• Ren Qing gave the Son of Heavenly Dao the Art manual Dao Dao Dao and saw Chen Changsheng begin rebuilding his cultivation.
• Ren Qing sent the Great Cold True Person and Jade Splendor True Person to infiltrate the Insect Nest as factions and the Corpse Immortal undermined it.
• Ren Qing learned that false Heavenly Court ruins were appearing across the world and wondered whether he had become a stand-in.

Feng Ye investigated Mount Ling Peak’s Black Market and found rumors that its mysterious master was the Four Seas Dragon Kings, prompting Ren Qing to suspect a rival faction was claiming the Heavenly Court’s legacy. Ren Qing opened the Lesser Heavenly Court and used Lady White Bone’s memories to test whether the dead could be recreated, then arranged for Chen Changsheng to reincarnate while Son of Heavenly Dao refused.

• Feng Ye visited Mount Ling Peak’s Black Market, heard that its absent master was the Four Seas Dragon Kings, and reported his findings to Dream City.
• Ren Qing concluded that a powerful faction was spreading false Heavenly Court claims, ordered surveillance, and opened the Lesser Heavenly Court within the Immortal Matchmaker’s Niwan Palace.
• Ren Qing studied Lady White Bone’s memories in the Lesser Heavenly Court and discovered that she could enter the South Heaven Gate and recover her strength by visiting a moonlit well.
• Ren Qing unlocked Lady White Bone’s Mystery of the Womb, used a Shore Flower pill to create a Pseudo Soul, and reincarnated her memories into a new Mountain God; he repeated the process with Daoist Mu She.
• Ren Qing tried Grandmaster Tai Sui’s fungal seed as another possible source of a soul, but its effects remained uncertain.
• Son of Heavenly Dao refused an Earth Immortal official position, while Chen Changsheng accepted one and promised to persuade Son of Heavenly Dao to reincarnate in a future life.

Ren Qing uncovered Nameless’s role in spreading the Corpse Scripture through the fake Heavenly Court and began using black markets to gather information and distribute cultivation methods. As he expanded the Lesser Heavenly Court, the Supreme Heavenly Demon appeared in Jing Province wearing Dinguang Buddha’s form, leaving Ren Qing to face the arrival of a vast new threat.

• Ren Qing visited the Mount Ling Peak black market as North Star Lord and recognized the fake Heavenly Court’s influence in the rumors and strange fog.
• A Corpse Dragon appeared and spread the Corpse Bone Method, but the Elephant Master attacked it and exposed it as a Flesh and Blood Puppet.
• Ren Qing decided to let Nameless spread the Corpse Scripture while ordering Feng Ye and the Wind-Void People to take control of the black market and establish more markets.
• Ren Qing drew selected cultivators into the Lesser Heavenly Court, where the Elephant Master reunited with Lady White Bone and discussed the Heavenly Court’s history and coming chaos.
• The Blood Moon fell into Jing Province, and Ren Qing saw Dinguang Buddha appear as a giant Black Goat Supreme Heavenly Demon in white kasaya robes.

Dingguang Buddha transformed under the Supreme Heavenly Demon's influence and engulfed Jing Province, nearby regions, and many trapped cultivators in a deadly darkness. Ren Qing advanced the Zhi Li Technique to reach the darkness and help Han Li, but Han Li became a believer after seeing the bonfire's vision, and the darkness expanded again.

• Dingguang Buddha declared the Eight Directions Buddha Realm and consumed Jing Province and its inhabitants with spreading darkness.
• Great Compassionate Maitreya Bodhisattva escaped the darkness, while Li Tiangang ordered cultivators in the affected regions to evacuate.
• Ren Qing sent Jailer Hall cultivators to investigate and began advancing the Zhi Li Technique as more of Jing Province and surrounding regions fell into darkness.
• Ren Qing contacted Han Li, who survived by using Shadowless Ghost and followed his instructions to burn a corpse corrupted by Dingguang Buddha.
• The bonfire's smoke caused Han Li to repeat praises of Dingguang Buddha until the fire went out, and the darkness then expanded another thousand li.

Ren Qing helped Jailer Hall explore the Insect Nest while the Buddha Realm’s darkness continued to threaten Jing Province. After helping Song Zongwu advance to Lifeless Immortal, Ren Qing discovered that the Insect Nest had been abandoned by the Four Great Matriarchs and that its dead Heavenly Dao Worm eggs came from the Son of Heavenly Dao.

• The Buddha Realm expanded another thousand li, and Ren Qing’s attempts to investigate it revealed that its darkness disoriented cultivators and turned corpses into Corpse Fuel.
• Song Zongwu led Jailer Hall’s exploration of the Insect Nest, where the human insects suffered in a starving settlement and the tunnels to the depths had been sealed.
• Ren Qing arrived at the Insect Nest and helped Song Zongwu break through to Lifeless Immortal by pushing him to fight until his Asura Method advanced.
• Ren Qing entered the abandoned depths of the Insect Nest and found that the Four Great Matriarchs had left for Jing Province with millions of people.
• Ren Qing searched the Matriarchs’ caves and collected hundreds of thousands of dead Heavenly Dao Worm eggs, then recognized several embryos as originating from the Son of Heavenly Dao.

Ren Qing investigated the Insect Nest’s artificial Heavenly Dao Worm Eggs, evacuated its resources and human-worms, and moved the Immortal Positions to a hidden valley at Ape Mountain. There he uncovered a sinister Art created by Huang Ling, while Dinguang Buddha’s expanding Buddhist Realm began transforming the Endless Forest into an enormous Black Goat.

• Ren Qing revived several Insect Nest eggs enough to reveal that they contained soulless, malformed Sons of Heavenly Dao, then questioned Great Cold True Person about the matriarchs and their reproduction.
• Li Yaoyang discovered that Insect Nest eggs were crude imitations produced by an Art, and Ren Qing suspected the matriarchs had used the flesh and blood of Sons of Heavenly Dao to create them.
• Ren Qing ordered Great Cold True Person to return to the Heavenly Palace, evacuated the Insect Nest’s resources and human-worms, and destroyed the abandoned site with talismans.
• Ren Qing relocated the Immortal Positions to Ape Mountain, where he witnessed a young ape inherit an elderly ape’s pelt and rise to the Yang God Realm through Huang Ling’s Skin Nourishing Method.
• Ren Qing settled in a karst cave beneath Ape Mountain, established a Dragon Blood ecosystem, and concealed an Immortal Position there.
• Dinguang Buddha’s Buddhist Realm expanded into the Endless Forest, where darkness and the Heavenly Demon aura formed the bones and flesh of an enormous Black Goat.

Han Li struggled to evacuate Jailer Hall cultivators from the expanding Buddha Realm while Ren Qing developed Black Goat Robes that could withstand its dangers. After testing the robes, Ren Qing began considering how to draw the Nameless into exploring the Buddha Realm.

• Han Li rationed the gateway’s thirteen remaining slots, subdued a panicking Demon Vein elder, and sent thirteen cultivators back to the Stomach World, though four others were maimed or killed trying to follow.
• Ren Qing reviewed reports of the spreading Corpse Scripture and the emerging Rain-Assisting Heavenly Lord, then visited Xiao San'er to learn how the Skin Nourishing Method could turn a robe into an independent cultivator.
• Ren Qing used Heavenly Demon aura and the Skin Nourishing Method to refine Black Goat Robes, which let Ghost Shadow move through the Buddha Realm with limited soul erosion.
• Ren Qing sent three Black Goat Robes to Han Li, whose group used them to find Corpse Fuel and return safely to the World in the Stomach.
• Ren Qing left Ghost Shadow in the Buddha Realm and considered offering benefits that might persuade the Nameless to explore it.

Ren Qing moved the sleeping Matchmaker Immortal through the Dragon Blood Sea while planting clues about Old Man Under the Moon in the Lesser Heavenly Court to draw Nameless and the factions toward the Buddha Realm. As the ruins revealed disturbing truths about the Heavenly Court and its ruined cultivators faced persecution, reports of two more immortal positions spread.

• Ren Qing placed statues of Rain-Assisting Heavenly Lord and Old Man Under the Moon in the Lesser Heavenly Court and arranged for cultivators to discover the Ascension Methods Tying the Red Thread and Person in the Moon.
• Ren Qing used Kunpeng, dragon-type colossal beasts, and tens of thousands of Jailer Hall cultivators to transport the sleeping Matchmaker Immortal toward an underground river, while a disturbance from its breathing shook the surrounding region.
• Lady White Bone, Elephant Master, and other cultivators explored the Heavenly Court, where they discovered the Matchmaker's Abode and later found a mutated statue of the Moral Heavenly Venerate; Lady White Bone remembered encountering him as he comprehended the Heavenly Dao.
• Nameless's influence prompted factions to target independent cultivators who entered the Heavenly Court, reducing the explorers' numbers while driving some rogue cultivators to identify themselves as Heavenly Court cultivators.
• Ren Qing publicized the immortal positions Hermit Donghua and Medicine-Pounding Rabbit Immortal, and factions sent cultivators to investigate them as a tide of rabbits moved toward Jing Province.
• Some cultivators went to the Beast Pen to hunt Black Goats, hoping to make protective robes and verify the Art carved on the Moral Heavenly Venerate's statue.

Ren Qing manipulated rogue cultivators into gathering Black Goat pelts while Dinguang Buddha entered the Beast Pen and began fusing with it. With the Buddhist Realm’s restrictions weakened and new Immortal Positions stirring, Ren Qing prepared to investigate its secrets himself.

• Ren Qing secretly guided rogue cultivators to Black Goats, then arranged for Xiao San'er to refine their pelts into Black Goat Robes and direct them toward the Buddhist Realm.
• Dinguang Buddha crossed into the Beast Pen, where its flesh and blood began merging with his body as he transformed into an enormous, tentacled face.
• Ren Qing exploited Dinguang Buddha’s departure to issue Jailer Hall missions, rescue the Wind-Void People from the Bottomless Abyss, and send Feng Ye to reveal the Heavenly River to rogue cultivators.
• Feng Ye used Wind God Boqiang’s statue to open the Heavenly River and told the gathered cultivators that True Immortals were divided into Eerie and Turbid types.
• Ren Qing learned that Star Lord Shang Sheng, South Pole Immortal, and Jinghai Sea God had surfaced as Immortal Positions, while the Medicine-Pounding Rabbit Immortal and millions of rabbits vanished inside the Buddhist Realm.
• Ren Qing decided to enter the Buddhist Realm himself to investigate the Immortal Positions and the missing rabbits.

Ren Qing entered the Buddha Realm to investigate the Immortal positions and found that its monsters could overwhelm even his strongest Arts. He modified a Black Goat Robe into a lifelike Black Goat skin, used it to pass among the monsters, and set out toward Jing Province.

• Ren Qing learned that Great Dream True Person had entered Secluded Death Retreat and that Song Zongwu had created the Heavenly Eerie Realm Art Half-Thought Demon, then granted both Earth Immortal official positions.
• Jailer Hall delivered Matchmaker Immortal, whom Ren Qing secured in his cave before descending into the Buddha Realm.
• Ren Qing discovered that the underground river fish were drawn to Matchmaker Immortal and suspected Huang Ling might be hiding in its depths, so he released dragon blood to turn the fish into Dragon Beasts.
• In the Buddha Realm, Ren Qing found that his Arts could not harm its monsters, and a huge Heavenly Eerie Realm corpse-monster was drawn toward him.
• Ren Qing transformed a Black Goat Robe with Aberrant disease seeds, dragon blood, and a Ghost Immortal official position, then wore it as a Black Goat skin to blend in with the monsters.
• Ren Qing saw that the Buddha Realm's Black Goats resembled transformed Heavenly Dao Worm people and headed toward Jing Province to investigate where the Medicine-Pounding Rabbit Immortal had vanished.

Ren Qing investigated the Divine Incarnation Technique to find a way to advance his unstable Black Goat skin sack, then consulted Son of Heavenly Dao about the Beast Pen method and the Supreme Heavenly Demon. After learning that the method depended on visualizing the Supreme Heavenly Demon, Ren Qing began considering how to create a different version as the coming upheaval approached.

• Loose cultivators fled the Buddha Realm after Yue Laowu spotted Ren Qing, disguised as a solid-bodied Black Goat with dragon horns.
• Ren Qing found that Heavenly Demon aura was overwhelming his peak Martial Human Realm skin sack and began studying the Divine Incarnation Technique as a possible solution.
• Ren Qing visited Son of Heavenly Dao in the stomach world, shared wine with him, and told him that the Dao of Non-action Monastery's lineage had survived and flourished.
• Son of Heavenly Dao agreed to choose a Mountain God as his successor before reincarnating, and Ren Qing asked him about the Beast Pen method and the Spirit Devouring Method.
• Son of Heavenly Dao explained that the Spirit Devouring Method visualized an existence like the Supreme Heavenly Demon and warned Ren Qing not to experiment recklessly.
• Ren Qing resolved to seek a way to create a Beast Pen method distinct from the Supreme Heavenly Demon, imagining that the Heavenly Court could become the world's dominant faith.

Ren Qing refined the Divine Incarnation Technique to let his Black Goat hide cultivate through the incense-powered Twenty-Eight Mansions, gaining strength and the ability to become partially insubstantial. While exploring the Buddha realm, he found evidence that the Insect Nest had fractured and met Nameless through the corpses of the Black Crow Matriarch’s followers.

• Ren Qing left the Son of Heavenly Dao in the village statue and prepared twenty-eight fungal-soul books based on Strange Tales of the Gods and Ghosts.
• Ren Qing revised the Divine Incarnation Technique, but his first attempt to use the Physical Tathagata as a visualization target failed when karmic fire burned the hide.
• Ren Qing formed the Twenty-Eight Mansions into Physical Incense Immortals, and the hide successfully cultivated through the Ghost Golden Goat’s incense aura to reach the Half-Corpse Realm.
• Ren Qing’s hide gained the ability to become partially insubstantial, allowing him to travel deeper into the Buddha realm and follow traces of the Insect Nest.
• Ren Qing discovered that the Insect Nest Matriarchs had split into rival camps and that Nameless controlled the Black Crow Matriarch’s followers.
• The corpses of the Black Crow Matriarch’s followers rose and asked Ren Qing who he was, and he greeted Nameless as nearby Black Goats approached.

Ren Qing discovered Wuming's flesh-and-blood operation inside the Black Crow Matriarch and planned to use it while pursuing his own designs for immortal positions. Elsewhere, Auran Hermit hunted a nine-tailed fox demon to gain a path beyond his lifespan limit, then woke beside its enormous severed head and Ren Qing's avatar.

• Wuming told Ren Qing that Primal Spells originated in the upheaval ten thousand years ago and that the Heavenly Dao had induced cultivators to comprehend them, then vanished as the Black Goats overran the corpses.
• Ren Qing located the Black Crow Matriarch's hidden nest and found Wuming using the zombified Heavenly Dao Worm people to feed yin qi into a blood pool.
• Ren Qing chose to remain concealed in the nest, prepare hidden moves, and wait for his skin suit to advance before continuing inward.
• Auran Hermit explained how the Heavenly Court Consciousness promised immortal positions and how he hoped to overcome his incomplete Eye-gouging Method and lifespan limit.
• Auran Hermit attacked a nine-tailed fox demon, collected its blood, and transformed its likeness into a tattoo before losing consciousness.
• Auran Hermit awoke two days later beside the fox demon's thousand-meter head as Ren Qing's light-and-shadow avatar examined it.

Ren Qing uncovered the Heart Fire Constellation’s immortal position, sent it and Auran Hermit into the Heavenly Court’s care, and advanced his own cultivation while preparing to become an Immortal. He then traveled through the Buddha Realm seeking three lost immortal ranks and reached the abyss left by the Taiyin Star Lord, where he realized they had gathered together.

• Ren Qing exposed the True Immortal corpse beneath the mountain, destroyed the approaching fox demon with fungi, and transported the Heart Fire Constellation to his cave residence.
• Ren Qing sent Auran Hermit to Dream City, where she received the Divine Incarnation Technique, advanced to Spirit Severing, and discovered that she had transformed into a woman with a tail beginning to grow.
• The Heart Moon Fox statue at the Heavenly Court became whole, and the Heavenly Court Consciousness confirmed that Auran Hermit had obtained its inheritance; news of the immortal position stirred factions to investigate the Heavenly Court.
• Ren Qing advanced Heaven and Earth Growth to Sheng Wan Wu, merged Divine Immortal official positions with his four Arts, and prepared to seek three lost immortal ranks.
• Ren Qing planted Fengdu Corpse Emperor blood in the Black Crow Matriarch’s blood pool, traveled through the Buddha Realm, and found the great abyss created by the Taiyin Star Lord, where the three immortal ranks had gathered.

Ren Qing investigated the fused Taiyin Star Lord, Blessed Earth Immortal, and Medicine-Pounding Rabbit Immortal, then used his Zhenyuan Dizhu transformation and Dinguang Buddha energy to begin sealing them inside a Forbidden Zone. The chapter ended with Taiyin Star Lord enclosed in a growing shell of Buddha energy and powdered Buddha bones.

• Ren Qing sent his Ghost Shadow into the cave and discovered that Taiyin Star Lord had fused with Blessed Earth Immortal and the Medicine-Pounding Rabbit Immortal.
• Ren Qing concluded that the three immortal positions were trapped in a precarious balance and decided to seal them together rather than attempt to separate them.
• Ren Qing gathered Dinguang Buddha energy through fungal souls and Jailer Hall cultivators while the Physical Tathagata absorbed Buddha energy and reached Heavenly Eerie Realm Grand Completion.
• Ren Qing advanced into Zhenyuan Dizhu's Immortal Body and used the Chessboard of Methods to direct Three Thousand Dao Soldiers toward a hidden forbidden zone in the underground river.
• Ren Qing projected the Physical Tathagata onto his Immortal Body and combined Dinguang Buddha energy with powdered Buddha bones to encase Taiyin Star Lord.