Chapter Summaries

Gu Xuanzhen emerged from the Sword Dao and possessed Qin Wu, restoring his body and raising its cultivation while searching Qin Wu’s memories. He traveled to Qin Island to seek a Golden Core body, where Qin Lu confronted him and demanded his son back.

• A figure appeared amid a thunderous celestial phenomenon, and its Great Dao power nearly destroyed Qin Wu after he looked at it.
• The figure possessed Qin Wu, restored his body, and raised his cultivation to the Dao Foundation Extreme Realm before realizing he had nearly erased Qin Wu’s consciousness.
• Gu Xuanzhen learned from Qin Wu’s memories that he had been lost in the Sword Dao for nearly seventy years and decided to seek a Golden Core body in Great Qin.
• Gu Xuanzhen traveled from the Spirit Burial Sea to Qin Island in search of a suitable body.
• Qin Lu confronted Gu Xuanzhen, unleashed his three Dao Principles, and demanded that he return Qin Wu’s body.

Qin Lu used the Seven Emotions Soul Poison to weaken Gu Xuanzhen and force the Nascent Soul True Lord to back down. He escaped toward Qin Island with Haiyue, while Gu Xuanzhen destroyed the ghosts covering their retreat and searched for a body to possess.

• Gu Xuanzhen recognized Qin Lu's Innate Spirit Physique and felt threatened by his combat strength.
• The Seven Emotions Soul Poison amplified Gu Xuanzhen's brief fear, forcing him to cut away the contaminated part of his Nascent Soul and seal his emotions.
• Gu Xuanzhen abandoned Qin Wu's body and pleaded with Qin Lu to talk, but Qin Lu reclaimed Qin Wu and attacked before fleeing with Haiyue toward Qin Island.
• Qin Lu left the Soul Frost Ghost King and the Seven Emotions Ghost Generals behind to cover their retreat.
• Gu Xuanzhen shattered the Heaven-Cleaving Sword strike and destroyed the Soul Frost Ghost King and Seven Emotions Ghost King, but his Nascent Soul weakened further.
• Gu Xuanzhen realized he needed to find a body to possess before his Nascent Soul disintegrated.

Qin Lu discovered that Qin Wu had survived and learned that the injured Nascent Soul was Gu Xuanzhen, who claimed he had come seeking help rather than harm. After accepting Gu Xuanzhen’s explanation, Qin Lu gave him a temporary body, leaving Gu Xuanzhen to recover while still asking for a better one later.

• Qin Lu found Qin Wu alive but in suspended animation with severe Divine Sense damage, and realized Qin Wu’s cultivation had risen to Dao Foundation Ninth Layer Perfection.
• Qin Lu told Haiyue to evacuate the children and core clan members while he confronted the Nascent Soul himself.
• Gu Xuanzhen identified himself as True Lord Mystic Sword and explained that he had protected the Northern Continent and had not intended to harm Qin Wu.
• Gu Xuanzhen pierced Qin Lu’s formation with a thread of sword light to prove he could have killed him, and Qin Lu accepted that he might have attacked the wrong person.
• Qin Lu offered Gu Xuanzhen two Golden Core bodies, and Gu Xuanzhen chose the incomplete old man’s body over the woman’s body.

After several years of recovery, Gu Xuanzhen approached Qin Lu to negotiate Great Qin’s support for a campaign to reclaim the Northern Continent and return to the Central Lands. He offered Great Qin territory, protection, and Nascent Soul techniques in exchange for repairing the ancient teleportation array and backing the Longlife Ancient Kingdom.

• Qin Lu arranged a residence for the injured Gu Xuanzhen, then sent clan members out to gain experience and concealed the secret realm as a precaution.
• Over the following years, Qin Lu neared the Golden Core Late Stage while Gu Xuanzhen secluded himself to heal his Nascent Soul and assimilate Sha Spirit True Person’s body.
• In Year 41 of the Great Qin calendar, Gu Xuanzhen emerged with thirty percent of his strength restored and resolved to return to the Central Lands by way of the Northern Continent.
• Gu Xuanzhen found Qin Lu in Tai'e Immortal Palace and discovered that Qin Lu had reached the Golden Core Late Stage and was speaking through a puppet while hiding his real body.
• Gu Xuanzhen swore a Great Dao Oath not to harm the Qin Clan without cause, interfere in Great Qin’s affairs, or attack Qin Lu for three hundred years.
• Gu Xuanzhen asked Great Qin to help him retake the Northern Continent and repair its ancient teleportation array, promising territory, protection, and Nascent Soul techniques in return for joining the Longlife Ancient Kingdom.

Qin Lu accepted Gu Xuanzhen’s offer, and Gu provided him with Nascent Soul formation records and helped him unlock the inheritance of the Eight Seas Dao Sect. Qin Lu entered the Heart Sea Secret Realm, where he found a medium-sized Spirit Vein and a powerful Golden Core demon beast.

• Qin Lu agreed to work with Gu Xuanzhen on forming a Nascent Soul and counterattacking the Northern Continent, asking Gu to swear a Great Dao Oath.
• A week later, Gu Xuanzhen gave Qin Lu a volume of Nascent Soul formation insights and records from the Longlife Ancient Kingdom.
• Gu Xuanzhen helped Qin Lu fuse the Treasures of the Eight Immortals, opening a gateway to the Eight Seas Dao Sect’s hidden realm.
• Qin Lu entered the Heart Sea Secret Realm, where the treasures returned to eight altars and he received the Eight Seas Command Token from eight remnant souls.
• Qin Lu explored the secret realm and discovered a medium-sized Spirit Vein, dozens of Third-Tier Demon Beasts, and a Golden Core demon with a white-tiger body and suanni head.

Qin Lu attacked Lin Xuan, the guardian spirit beast of the Eight Seas Dao Sect, to claim his body and soul for his own use. After a fierce battle, Qin Lu’s three Dao-law wielding selves overwhelmed and surrounded Lin Xuan, threatening him into submission.

• Lin Xuan introduced himself as the Three Suanni and guardian spirit beast of the Eight Seas Dao Sect, then told Qin Lu he could use the Eight Seas Command Token to leave.
• Qin Lu attacked Lin Xuan without warning, hoping to seize his bloodline, materials, and soul.
• Lin Xuan retaliated with his third eye, sealing Qin Lu’s Law Power and Dao laws, but Qin Lu escaped the attack by splitting into three selves.
• Qin Lu’s three selves attacked together, forcing Lin Xuan to shrink and fight back while they overwhelmed him with spells and close combat.
• The Ghost King Seal crushed Lin Xuan into the ground, and the three Qin Lus surrounded him as Qin Lu threatened him with his sword.

Qin Lu defeated Lin Xuan’s sealing trick and forced the Three-Eyed Suanni to submit, placing him under a Parasitic Soul Seed and other restrictions. Lin Xuan agreed to serve Great Qin and led Qin Lu through the Heart Sea Secret Realm while asking for female dragons.

• Lin Xuan used his innate Divine Ability to seal three wooden puppets, but Qin Lu’s true body appeared behind him with a sword at his neck.
• Qin Lu threatened Lin Xuan until the Suanni gave in and opened his sea of Divine Sense.
• Qin Lu implanted a Parasitic Soul Seed in Lin Xuan and placed restrictions on him, taking control of his life and death.
• Qin Lu asked Lin Xuan to explain the Heart Sea Secret Realm and promised to release him after a thousand years.
• Lin Xuan led Qin Lu onward, pledged loyalty to Great Qin, and asked him to find young female dragons.
• Qin Lu promised Lin Xuan ten or even a hundred female dragons if he served Great Qin faithfully.

Qin Lu entered the Eight Seas Dao Sect’s inheritance hall and received the legacy of the Eight Seas True Lord. He obtained the Profound Water Grotto-Heaven Ring and the Dao-Transforming Immortal-Extinguishing Hand, leaving him with a powerful new cultivation ground and decisive combat technique.

• Lin Xuan explained the Heart Sea Secret Realm, its ecosystem, and how Qin Lu’s Eight Seas Command Token gave him control of its Fifth-Tier grand array.
• Qin Lu entered the inheritance hall and found the dead Eight Seas True Lord seated in a small grotto-heaven with a scroll and a ring.
• Qin Lu respectfully bowed to the Eight Seas True Lord, whose lingering obsession then faded as his body turned to dust.
• Qin Lu received the Profound Water Grotto-Heaven Ring, a Fifth-Tier Heaven-Penetrating Spirit Treasure and cultivation ground linked to future breakthroughs.
• Qin Lu learned the scroll contained the Dao-Transforming Immortal-Extinguishing Hand and recognized it as the decisive combat technique his growing abilities lacked.

Qin Lu emerged from the Profound Water Grotto-Heaven riding Lin Xuan and used the Eight Seas Command Token to remove the Eight Seas Grand Array’s restraint. Across the region, cultivators and demons prepared to break through to Core Formation, while Mo Li became a Dragon King and Great Qin’s control over the Demon Race remained a condition for their advancement.

• Qin Lu left the Profound Water Grotto-Heaven on Lin Xuan’s back and returned to the Eight Immortals Sea, where his arrival drew the attention of cultivators and mortals.
• Qin Lu activated the Eight Seas Command Token, removing the restraint of the Eight Seas Grand Array and prompting long-waiting cultivators to thank him.
• Mo Li underwent tribulation in the Dragon-Nurturing Sea, formed a Dragon Core, and declared himself Dragon King Hanli.
• Mo Li merged a drop of dragon blood into the Dragon-Nurturing Pool, strengthening the bloodline and potential of the life-bound dragon egg prepared for Qin Zheng.
• In the Heart Questioning Sea, a young girl played Qin Mingle’s tune as her mother prepared for Core Formation, and the melody revealed her promising future.
• Sealed demons and hidden cultivators prepared for breakthroughs, while Great Qin demanded that Demon Race beings submit to its control or face destruction.

Huai Qing overcame her Core Formation tribulation, then swore loyalty to Great Qin and agreed to Qing Yan’s marriage to Qin Mingle after Lin Xuan pressured her. Elsewhere, Yan Sheng reached Core Formation, but True Person Guiling’s hidden split soul seized his body and returned to life.

• Huai Qing overcame her lightning tribulation and reunited with Qing Yan as the Three Qing Great Void Swallow clan gained a foothold in the Eight Immortals Sea.
• Lin Xuan, disguised as the Three-Eyed Suanni, ordered Huai Qing to swear a Great Dao Oath to Great Qin and announced Qing Yan’s marriage to Qin Mingle.
• Huai Qing pledged her loyalty, ordered her clan to search for spatial treasures, and began preparing Qing Yan’s dowry.
• Lin Xuan identified himself as the Qilin Emperor, Chiyan Demon King, and left for another tribulation site.
• Yan Sheng completed his Core Formation tribulation, but True Person Guiling’s hidden split soul activated and took control of his body.

Lin Xuan enforced Great Qin’s demand for submission, killing True Person Guiling and saving Yan Sheng’s fading soul by restoring it with Soul Qi. He then dealt with the other cultivators who had reached Core Formation, ending with Guo Shun, the sect master of No Mystery Dao, willingly pledging himself and his sect to Great Qin.

• Lin Xuan demanded that True Person Guiling swear a Great Dao Oath and serve Great Qin, but Guiling insulted him, so Lin Xuan killed him and sealed the escaping souls.
• Lin Xuan devoured True Person Guiling’s soul and used a wisp of Soul Qi to stabilize Yan Sheng’s soul, declaring that Yan Sheng would serve Ancestor Qin.
• A Third-Tier Peak great demon and an old Rogue Cultivator died to tribulation lightning, while Lin Xuan killed the Giant Shark Demon King after he refused to submit to the Qin Clan.
• At the final tribulation site, Guo Shun, the sect master of No Mystery Dao, survived the tribulation and voluntarily pledged his sect’s loyalty to Great Qin and Ancestor Qin.

Great Qin consolidated its court, military, and secret networks while the Qin Clan’s younger generations advanced, and Qin Lu and Gu Xuanzhen secretly began preparing a counterattack against the Northern Continent. As Great Qin’s power gathered, Qin Zheng grew into a gifted and fiercely ambitious child determined to expand its territory.

• Guo Shun submitted to Great Qin as True Person Shuntian and became left chancellor, while Bai He became right chancellor and the two posts joined the six grand scholars to form the Great Qin Cabinet.
• The Great Void Swallow Clan integrated into Great Qin, Yan Huaiqing became its first female marquis, and Yan Sheng became True Person Lingjue, overseeing the Net and the Shadow Secret Guard.
• Qin Mingle and Qin Xinzhou broke through to Dao Foundation, while Qin Xinzhou used his influence and relationships to build an information network across Great Qin’s lineages and academies.
• Qin Lu and Gu Xuanzhen secretly launched preparations for a counterattack against the Northern Continent, sending Qin Lu’s split soul there through the great teleportation formation.
• Gu Xuanzhen continued recovering and teaching Qin Wu and Gai Nie as Qin Zheng reached Qi Condensation Seventh Layer and resolved to expand Great Qin’s lands.

Flower Princess and Gai Nie hurried Qin Zheng to the Dragon-Nurturing Sea after learning that his Natal Spirit Beast was about to be born. Meanwhile, Gu Xuanzhen recognized that he was facing the Heart Tribulation and began searching for its answer as Qin Zheng’s party reached the Dragon-Nurturing Pool.

• Flower Princess received an urgent message from True Person Lingjue: Yan Sheng and took Qin Zheng away, with Gai Nie following them.
• Gu Xuanzhen reflected on his life of pursuing the sword and regretted the people and experiences he had missed.
• Gu Xuanzhen realized that his struggle to advance stemmed from the Heart Tribulation and resolved to keep searching for its answer.
• Gai Nie used a token to pass the guards at Mystic Dragon Immortal City, then flew Qin Zheng and Flower Princess toward the dragon-nurturing grounds.
• Gai Nie brought Qin Zheng and Flower Princess to the Dragon-Nurturing Pool, where Great Qin nurtured dragons.

Qin Zheng visited the Dragon-Nurturing Pool, where he gained a corrosive dragon-claw ability and met the dark-gold egg’s hatchling. After the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon hatched, it bonded with Qin Zheng, who named it Jintong.

• Qin Zheng approached the Dragon-Nurturing Pool, where its little flood dragons flocked to him, and Qing Centipede welcomed him with a Dragon Fruit.
• Mo Li gave Qin Zheng an ancient dragon pearl, which the illusory dragon swallowed and which helped Qin Zheng awaken the Dao of Corrosion: Dragon Claw Hand.
• Qing Centipede took Qin Zheng to Lin Xuan and the dark-gold dragon egg, where Qin Zheng waited as the dragons served him food.
• The egg hatched into a four-clawed, golden-eyed black dragon, which immediately coiled around Qin Zheng.
• Qin Zheng formed a Natal Contract with the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon and suggested naming it Jintong.

Great Qin expanded its military and cultivated resources from the Heart Sea Secret Realm while preparing for war. In the 45th year of the Great Qin calendar, Bai He passed his Core Formation tribulation and became the Crimson Firmament True Person.

• The Qin Clan secured thirteen complete Fourth-Tier inheritances and two Fifth-Tier inheritances, including the forbidden Thought-Severing Heaven-Enslaving Method, which Qin Wen guarded.
• The Qin Clan transformed the Heart Sea Secret Realm into a resource-growing region, and Great Qin increased its academy funding and planned to double the Black Dragon Legion.
• Great Qin prepared a tribulation island with a Fourth-Tier lightning-avoidance formation and lightning-attracting stones, while teaching promising cultivators to refine Infant Embryo Fruits.
• Bai He drew down the Four-Nine Lightning Tribulation and endured its bolts with the aid of an Infant Embryo Fruit, though his Law Treasures were damaged.
• Bai He survived the final nine bolts of three-colored divine lightning, formed a Golden Core, and received the title Crimson Firmament True Person.

Bai He led Great Qin’s army through a grand teleportation array to Basikadun, where he received orders from Qin Hui to consolidate forces and wait for an opportunity against the Frost Spirit Demon Race. On the anti-demon front, soldiers collected battlefield blood amid rumors that it would help prolong Qin Hui’s life.

• Bai He used the Myriad Stars Returning to the Sea Chart to send Great Qin’s fleets and over a million Black-Armored Army soldiers through the teleportation array.
• Bai He arrived in Basikadun and met Qin Hui, whose people had built hidden settlements and regarded him as their king.
• Qin Hui ordered Bai He to settle and reorganize his forces, keep their presence concealed, and wait before confronting the Frost Spirit Demon Race’s three Core Formation Demon Kings.
• Bai He gave Qin Hui a wine jar from Ancestor Qin, and Qin Hui recognized that his father had prepared for his chance to reach Core Formation.
• On the anti-demon battlefront, a squad collected blood and cleared the battlefield while its leader repeated a rumor that the blood was intended to prolong Qin Hui’s life.

Near the end of his lifespan, Qin Hui transformed himself into a rational jiangshi and began calling himself the Benevolent High Person, while stories of the Man-Eating Immortal spread among the common folk. Zhao Gou let him continue operating because the Song Alliance still needed him, despite Yue Fei wanting to kill him.

• As his lifespan ran out, Qin Hui swallowed a Yin Sha treasure and used a Soul-Awakening Tea King leaf to preserve his mind while entering a blood pool.
• After three months, Qin Hui emerged as a young-looking jiangshi with a rational but twisted mind.
• Qin Hui devoured the surviving mortals in his hidden chamber and declared that he had become a cultivator and fulfilled his father's hopes.
• Qin Hui donned a blood-colored robe and mask, named himself the Benevolent High Person, and became the subject of a Man-Eating Immortal tale.
• Yue Fei wanted to kill Qin Hui, but Zhao Gou allowed him to remain in service because the Song Alliance could use him as a weapon.

The Song Alliance and twelve other powers formed the Han Alliance under Liu Ji, while Qian Guming agreed to support a plan to counterattack the demons. The human offensive gained ground as Bai He used disguises and a Soul Seed to deepen divisions among the demon races, leaving the Ice and Snow Demon Race in chaos.

• After Yue Fei and Han Shizhong broke through to Dao Foundation, the Song Alliance joined twelve other powers in forming the Han Alliance, with Liu Ji as its leader and King of Han.
• Qian Guming gave a Weapon Soul to his visitor and agreed to support a plan that would send the humans overseas if they could not defeat the demons.
• Three months later, True Lord Poyuan entered the Ice and Snow Demon Domain and killed two Core Formation Demon Kings, prompting the humans to launch a massive counteroffensive.
• The human armies won several victories in three days, while infighting among the demon races delayed a coordinated response.
• Bai He disguised himself as different Feather Race demons, slaughtered the Giant Bear Race and other groups, and planted a Soul Seed in a young Bear Demon to stoke suspicion.
• The Bear King withdrew bear forces to defend their homes, the Penguin Emperor doubted his own race’s involvement, and the eighteen human armies advanced northward.

The Bear King withdrew most of the bear Demon Kings from the front after concluding that the Qi Mystic Bird Race was responsible for the attacks on bear settlements. Their retreat weakened the demon coalition, leaving the Penguin Emperor and Frost Demon Ancestor to watch the human offensive break through their forces.

• The Bear King investigated the attacks on the bear races and, unable to find evidence pointing elsewhere, accepted that the Qi Mystic Bird Race was guilty.
• The Bear King ordered the bear races to retreat to their ancestral lands, leaving only ten Demon Kings to fight and assigning others to guard their territory.
• The Qi Mystic Bird Race ceded a large stretch of ice plain to the bears in an effort to ease relations.
• The Penguin Emperor faced a disordered front line as the bear withdrawal left the human army, with fifty Core Formation True Persons, difficult to stop.
• The demon coalition mobilized more than a hundred Demon Kings, but fear of death and the destruction of their races kept them from fighting decisively.
• The Penguin Emperor asked the Frost Demon Ancestor what they should do and where the Ice and Snow Demon Race's future lay.

Frost Demon Ancestor ordered a bloody crackdown to force the demons back into battle, while Qian Guming drew three Demon Emperors away to hold them off. On a distant battlefield, two cultivators summoned Four-Nine Core Formation Lightning Tribulations at the same time, prompting both sides to rush to stop them.

• Frost Demon Ancestor ordered the demons under his rule to stop retreating and authorized executions for those who fled or refused to fight.
• Penguin Emperor publicly executed five Demon Kings, including one from his own Qi Mystic Bird Race, and the demons' offensive grew fiercer.
• Bear King, Penguin Emperor, and Frost Ancestor confronted True Lord Poyuan while Qian Guming focused on keeping the three Demon Emperors occupied.
• Two human Core Formation True Persons fought three Demon Kings, and their battle reshaped a plain into a mountain range.
• A young man in a dark teal robe and a cultivator in dark gold robes each summoned Four-Nine Core Formation Lightning Tribulation clouds, and humans and demons called for reinforcements to stop them.