Chapter Summaries

Qin Zhuang achieved Qi Condensation, and he and his brothers discussed Qin Wen’s prospects for Confucian cultivation and the ambitions of the Qin Clan’s mortal descendants. Qin Xiao proposed building a Heart-Tempering Tower from the Illusory Form Demon Tree’s remains to strengthen the younger generation’s States of Mind, and Qin Wu and Qin Zhuang approved.

• Qin Zhuang broke through to Qi Condensation, and Qin Hui and Qin Wu congratulated him.
• Qin Zhuang, Qin Hui, and Qin Wu worried that Qin Wen might struggle to comprehend Confucian cultivation and discussed a Spirit Turtle bond as a possible way to extend his life.
• The brothers discussed how the Qin Clan’s mortal descendants were being educated, including Qin Hui’s ambition to govern as a mortal.
• Qin Xiao assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the third generation and proposed building a Heart-Tempering Tower from the Illusory Form Demon Tree’s remains.
• Qin Wu and Qin Zhuang approved Qin Xiao’s plan.

Great Zhou struggled to administer its expanded territory and plan a Heart-Tempering Tower while cultivators and four-arts specialists remained scarce. Qin Lu reached the Eighth Level of Qi Condensation and glimpsed the King Wood Dao, though he left cultivation still unsure how much of its Dao Rhyme he had grasped.

• Great Zhou put the Heart-Tempering Tower on its agenda but faced shortages after conquering Chiyuan and Daliang, while sixteen Dao Foundation factions competed for control of the newly expanded territory.
• The Qin Clan and Huang Clan profited from the upheaval as pill prices soared and factions sought strength to seize more land.
• The chapter described the northern frontier, where a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Longlife Ancient Kingdom guarded against the Ice and Snow Demon Race.
• Qin Lu broke through to the Eighth Level of Qi Condensation after years of cultivation.
• Qin Lu contemplated his Dao and forged the King Wood Heart, sensing a faint King Wood Dao Rhyme that seemed to make nearby plants more spiritually alive.

Qin Zhao received pills and a flood dragon soul from Qin Lu to help him break through to Qi Condensation and strengthen the Qin Clan. After consuming the pills and feeding the soul to a creature in Dragon-Gazing Lake, Qin Zhao forced a breakthrough, and a dragon's roar and Spirit Rain signaled a dramatic change.

• Qin Zhao read and treasured a letter from his family, then vowed to reach Qi Condensation and help Fourth Brother advance.
• Qin Zhao examined the three Qi Condensation Pills, the foundation-nourishing black pill, and the flood dragon soul Qin Lu had sent him.
• Qin Zhao threw the flood dragon soul into Dragon-Gazing Lake, where a dark shape swallowed it.
• Qin Zhao swallowed the black pill and a Qi Condensation Pill, then forced his way toward the bottleneck.
• A dragon's roar rang through the mountains as rosy light filled the sky and Spirit Rain fell.

Qin Zhao reached Qi Condensation and declared that the Dragon-Gazing Sect would become the Dragon-Gazing Immortal Sect, stirring alarm among neighboring powers. As the Qin Clan’s strength became public and five of its cultivators traveled to the Eastern Sea, Qin Zhao faced seven gathered forces threatening his new sect.

• Qin Zhao reached Qi Condensation as Black Dragon awakened further, and Qin Zhao announced plans to invite the region’s powers and spread the Dragon-Gazing Immortal Sect’s name.
• News of Qin Zhao’s breakthrough unsettled neighboring Qi Condensation forces, while the Qin Clan received his reply and Qin Xiao publicly revealed his own Qi Condensation cultivation.
• The Qin Clan’s reputation grew as its cultivators and allied forces were counted among nearly ten Qi Condensation cultivators, and Qin Lu, Qin Hui, Qin Wu, Qin Zhuang, and Qiao Mei set out for the Eastern Sea.
• After crossing several thousand kilometers, the five Qin Clan cultivators arrived at Sea Moon Peninsula on the day seven invited forces assembled to pressure Qin Zhao.
• A Golden Saber Sect cultivator at Qi Condensation Fourth Layer threatened Qin Zhao and warned him not to expand beyond Azure Moon Peninsula, while Qin Zhao calmly drank his wine.

Qin Lu arrived at the hall and revealed overwhelming Dao Rhyme power, turning the seven factions’ threats against the Qin Clan into a massacre. With the survivors defeated or eaten by giant insects, Qin Lu ordered the Qin Clan to destroy the factions and claim the Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery.

• Qin Zhao taunted the Golden Saber Sect man as the seven factions watched, and the man threatened to wipe out the Qin Clan.
• Qin Lu entered the hall and killed the Golden Saber Sect man with a sword strike, silencing the others with his Dao Rhyme presence.
• Four more Qi Condensation cultivators appeared around the survivors while two enormous creatures blocked the exits.
• Qin Lu cleaved another cultivator in two when he tried to speak, then joined the other cultivators in attacking the remaining enemies.
• Several faction members died in the hall, and those who escaped were swallowed by the giant insects.
• Qin Lu ordered the Qin Clan to destroy the factions, ransack their homes, and take control of the Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery.

Qin Lu led six people and two beasts to destroy the Golden Saber Sect, while Patriarch Huang Mao divined his impending death and prepared to face him. The chapter ended with Qin Lu and Huang Mao ascending into the sky to fight, as Huang Mao chose battle over surrender.

• Patriarch Huang Mao’s tortoise-shell divination shattered before giving an answer, and he accepted it as a sign of certain death.
• Qin Lu’s group arrived at the Golden Saber Sect and shattered its protective formation after a brief assault.
• Huang Mao recognized Qin Lu as a great Qi Condensation cultivator and learned that Qin Lu had come to avenge Qin Zhao.
• Qin Lu offered to spare the sect’s legacy if Huang Mao took his own life and the other Qi Condensation cultivator submitted.
• Huang Mao refused to surrender without testing Dao resonance, and Qin Lu agreed to fight him.
• Qin Lu and Huang Mao clashed above the sect with swords, saber lightning, and living wooden vines.

After Qin Lu seized control of the Golden Saber Sect and helped establish the Four Directions Alliance, the Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery began to stabilize. Qin Zhao then reported that the Extreme Abyss Strait was controlled by the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect and Devil Venerable Heaven, revealing a possible connection to the remnants of the Cangnong Qi Clan.

• Qin Lu kept Patriarch Huang Mao's corpse to refine into a metal-element Five Poison Corpse Puppet.
• At Qin Lu's urging, Jin Yuanzi slaughtered the Golden Saber Sect's resisting elders and disciples to preserve the sect under his control.
• Qin Lu's forces plundered the sect's treasures, enslaved or otherwise subjugated its people, and forced the remaining powers to submit.
• The surviving powers divided the Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery and established the Four Directions Alliance with the Dragon-Gazing Immortal Sect at its core.
• Qin Zhao showed Qin Lu and his brothers a map of the Extreme Abyss Strait and identified the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect and Devil Venerable Heaven as its ruling powers.
• Qin Zhao reported that the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect was likely a disguise created by remnants of the Cangnong Qi Clan.

Qin Lu and the others assessed the strength of the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect and discussed ways to seize its territory and resources. Qin Zhao proposed exploiting divisions within the sect and drawing Devil Venerable Heaven into an attack, but the chapter ended before the plans were carried out.

• Qin Zhao estimated that the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect had twelve openly known Qi Condensation cultivators, seven second-tier sea Demon Beasts, and possibly hidden elders and subordinate forces.
• Qin Lu judged that the sect’s surviving strength was modest compared with other powers and reflected that the force that destroyed the Cangnong Qi Clan may have been a powerful nation or an ancient legacy.
• Qin Zhao explained that the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect included native members as well as remnants of the Qi Clan, which had seized control of it.
• Qin Zhao proposed sowing disorder within the sect before attacking from outside.
• Qin Zhao suggested recruiting Devil Venerable Heaven to attack the sect, with Devil Venerable Heaven taking the territory while they claimed most of its inheritances and resources.

Qin Zhao persuaded Qin Lu that working with Devil Cultivators was no worse than the Qin Clan’s own methods, and the clan agreed to contact Devil Venerable Heaven to plot against East Extreme Heaven. A month later, Qin Lu met Ancestor Blood Cry on a deserted island, where Blood Cry assessed the gathered cultivators and greeted him.

• Qin Zhao argued that Devil Cultivators were no more ruthless than the Qin Clan and said he wanted to surpass Qin Lu.
• Qin Lu approved Qin Zhao’s plan to contact Devil Venerable Heaven and conspire against East Extreme Heaven for a chance at the Qi Clan’s Dao repository.
• A month later, Qin Lu and more than twenty others gathered in two groups on an unnamed deserted island.
• Ancestor Blood Cry arrived with Devil Cultivators from Devil Venerable Heaven and remarked on the powerful, unsettling presence of the cultivators before him.
• Qin Lu bowed to Ancestor Blood Cry and formally greeted him.

Qin Lu negotiated an alliance with Ancestor Blood Cry to destroy the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect, securing the inheritance for himself and ceding most of the territory and spoils to Devil Venerable Heaven. After their Dao oaths bound the agreement, a disguised intruder infiltrated the sect’s formation and triggered its defenses.

• Qin Lu offered Ancestor Blood Cry the East Extreme Heaven territory and most of the spoils in exchange for the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect’s inheritance and several intact corpses.
• When the Devil Cultivators hesitated to trust him, Qin Lu displayed his forces and King Wood Dao Rhyme, overwhelming them with his pressure.
• Ancestor Blood Cry agreed to the alliance, and Qin Lu gave the alias Lu before they settled their plan and swore oaths upon their Daos.
• More than half a month later, a black-and-purple-robed intruder entered the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect’s formation disguised as a fly.
• The intruder set up a grand formation and exposed himself, causing the sect’s defenses to activate and reveal four enormous beast-shaped lights.

A coordinated force launched a surprise assault on the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect, overwhelming its defenses and killing several elders. As the sect’s surviving fighters faced defeat, a white-robed Daoist mounted on a white flood dragon arrived at Qi Condensation Completion and demanded the attackers withdraw.

• The purple-robed cultivator activated a giant turtle-shaped formation that broke the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect’s formation, allowing nearly fifty attackers to storm East Extreme Heaven.
• The sect master ordered the elders and disciples to defend the sect, but the attackers killed an elder while the battle spread across the sky.
• Qiao Mei struck Elder Qing from behind, and Qin Zhuang finished him; Qin Zhuang then fought with the power channeled from the Forest Peak Giant Deer.
• Qin Zhuang, Qin Hui, Qin Wu, and Qin Zhao fought together as the attackers killed Elder Hu and tore apart Elder Xuan and the six sea immortal beasts.
• A white-robed Daoist riding a white flood dragon arrived from the summit of East Extreme Heaven and warned the attackers to withdraw or face further losses.

Yun Daozi and Ancestor Blood Cry clashed with their Daos as Blood Cry’s blood souls and poison forces overwhelmed Yun Daozi’s cloud soldiers. Qin Lu entered the battle with the Tai'e Sword and unleashed a powerful slash across the sea of clouds.

• Ancestor Blood Cry summoned blood beasts and blood souls to attack Yun Daozi and threatened to destroy the Flood Dragon Sea Immortal Sect.
• Yun Daozi unleashed his ultimate technique, shaping clouds into spears, soldiers, and waves of mist to fight the blood souls.
• Poisonous rosy mists mingled with Yun Daozi’s clouds, forming poison generals and soldiers that destroyed his cloud soldiers.
• Qin Lu appeared with the Tai'e Sword and used Extreme Dao: Sword Cry of a Hundred Severances to slash across the sea of clouds.

Yun Daozi fought Ancestor Blood Cry and the poison-wielding young cultivator, unleashing his cloud and frost Dao Rhymes despite the toxins killing him. As Yun Daozi launched his final Ten-Direction Cold Cloud Domain, his opponent answered with the King Wood Dao’s true-self manifestation, leaving their clash unresolved.

• The young cultivator’s sword strike shattered Yun Daozi’s cloud technique and defensive Law Artifact, while a hundred poisons entered his meridians.
• Yun Daozi suspected the young cultivator had seized the Qi Clan’s inheritance, then resolved to fight to protect the clan’s younger generation.
• Yun Daozi and Ancestor Blood Cry exchanged attacks as cloud soldiers, poison forces, and blood beasts clashed across the sky.
• Ancestor Blood Cry used his Dao of Blood and Soul to attack Yun Daozi, but Yun Daozi’s cloud shield absorbed and dispersed the blow.
• Yun Daozi summoned ten Second-Tier Law Artifacts and unleashed the Ten-Direction Cold Cloud Domain, freezing the battlefield with frost and snow.
• The young cultivator manifested a colossal no-self Dharma form and invoked Extreme Dao: Dao's release of the true self · King Wood reaching the heavens.

Yun Daozi died after freeing the white flood dragon, who escaped overseas with members of the Qi Clan. Qin Lu and Ancestor Blood Cry divided the spoils and parted on friendly terms, leaving open the possibility of meeting again.

• Yun Daozi urged the white flood dragon to flee and gave him a final farewell as his restraints broke.
• The white flood dragon escaped into the Eastern Sea with some members of the Qi Clan’s bloodline, while Yun Daozi died from the poison in his body.
• Qin Lu and Ancestor Blood Cry divided the inheritance, treasures, and Spirit Stones according to their agreement.
• Ancestor Blood Cry said he would visit Qin Lu’s clan for a meal if he had not forged his Dao Foundation in twenty years, and Qin Lu welcomed him.

After returning to Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery, Qin Lu prepared to advance toward Dao Foundation by refining his King Wood Dao. A Dao-enlightenment phenomenon appeared around him, marking him as a genuine prospective Dao Foundation expert.

• Qin Lu brought his companions back to Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery to recover and reinforce the Qin Clan’s authority.
• Qin Lu distributed most of the expedition’s spoils to Qin Hui, Qin Wu, and the other weaker clan members.
• Qin Lu focused on wood-attribute treasures and used traces of other wood Daos to develop his King Wood Dao.
• Qin Lu declared his intention to forge his Dao Foundation after reaching the Ninth Layer of Qi Condensation and letting his cultivation settle.
• Qin Lu’s Dao enlightenment caused plants to flourish and a tiny white flower to gain sentience.
• Qin Hui and the other second-generation Qin Clan members sensed the phenomenon and recognized Qin Lu as a prospective Dao Foundation expert.

Qin Lu’s family concealed his breakthrough, then returned to Yingchuan after securing the Qi Clan’s inheritances and leaving a powerful puppet behind in the Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery. Back at Muxuan Mountain, Qin Xiao welcomed them home as Qin Lu assessed the new resources and methods that could strengthen the Qin Clan.

• Qin Hui concealed the breakthrough phenomenon with an array while Qin Wu, Qin Zhao, Qin Zhuang, and their spirit beasts guarded the area.
• After more than a month, Qin Lu left the Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery with the Qin Clan and planted Xu Mu, a Late Qi Condensation corpse puppet, as a deterrent and hidden fallback.
• Qin Lu and the others returned to Muxuan Mountain after nearly half a year away, relieving Qin Xiao, who had kept the clan’s situation stable.
• Qin Xiao celebrated after learning that the Qin Clan had obtained the Qi Clan’s inheritance, including the Third-Tier Azure Wood Profound Penetration Scripture and its three Dao Rhyme methods.
• Qin Lu considered using the Azure Wood Profound Penetration Scripture as a reference for his own inheritance, while the Third-Tier spirit plant and alchemy inheritances addressed gaps in the Qin Clan’s knowledge.

The Qin Clan expanded across three prefectures, strengthened its government and military, and became the dominant northern power. After Mr. Mengyu disappeared, Wang Xu became Cloud Dream Mountain’s new master, while Mr. Mengyu traveled south and east in search of Li Yuan.

• The Qin Clan expanded its territory to 180,000 square kilometers, controlled nine county seats, and helped Wang Jian and Meng Wu establish loyal Immortal Clans.
• Shang Yang joined the Qin Clan and led reforms, while the Han Academy and Combat Commanders Palace became the highest bodies for civil and military administration.
• Qin Xiao appointed six grand scholars and six Yuan Generals as the Twelve Pillars of Beichuan, and Bai Qi became the Qin Clan’s supreme battle general.
• Mr. Mengyu vanished, and Wang Xu achieved Qi Condensation and became the new master of Cloud Dream Mountain, taking the title Ghost Valley Master.
• Mr. Mengyu’s letter said he had gone south and then east to find his old acquaintance Li Yuan.

The chapter described Yingchuan City’s Warm Fragrance Pavilion and its four ranks of female cultivators, from enslaved wind-rank cauldrons to influential moon-rank courtesans. It ended by portraying the Jade Maiden Sect as a puppet of the Qin Clan, whose new Qi Condensation fairies were likely destined to become exclusive cauldrons for the clan’s younger generation.

• Yingchuan City grew around the Jade Maiden Sect’s new home in the Wuzhi Mountains and became known for its pleasure establishments.
• The Warm Fragrance Pavilion divided its female cultivators into wind, flower, snow, and moon ranks, with differing status, choices, and clientele.
• The Qin Clan’s Shadow Guards used connections among the snow-rank women to gather intelligence and serve Qi Condensation members.
• With Qin Clan support, the Jade Maiden Sect produced the Fairy of Wind and Dust and the Fairy of Snow and Moon, joining sect master Qiao Mei as its third Qi Condensation cultivator.
• The chapter described Qiao Mei as the Qin Clan patriarch’s exclusive plaything and suggested the two new fairies would become exclusive cauldrons for the clan’s second-generation descendants.

Two young swordsmen, Jing and Gai, discussed the Beichuan Qin Family and its rule, while Jing revealed his desire to avenge his family and village. They spotted Qin Mingwan, the Qin Clan’s young princess and the target they had been waiting for.

• Jing asked Gai whether the Beichuan Qin Family was good and lamented the hardships of the world.
• Gai said the Qin Clan had brought peace and fairness to Northern Qin, though it had also destroyed innocent minor clans and caused tragedies.
• Jing revealed that his parents, little sister, and more than three hundred villagers had been killed, and vowed to avenge them.
• Gai chose not to dissuade Jing and let him follow his chosen path.
• Jing and Gai spotted Qin Mingwan, whom they had waited for at the Warm Fragrance Pavilion for months.

Jing Ke used the Parasitic Slave Heart Method to enter Qin Mingwan’s body, then secretly guided her rise within the Qin Clan. Years later, the clan suspected something was wrong but found no evidence, leaving Jing Ke’s possession undiscovered.

• Jing Ke entered Qin Mingwan’s body while Gai Nie carried away Jing Ke’s limp physical body.
• Qin Mingwan left with her servant, unaware of the possession, as Gai Nie watched and mourned his friend’s departure.
• Months later, Jing Ke posed as a soul awakened by a mysterious ring and gained Qin Mingwan’s trust during her mission to Yunmeng Marsh.
• Jing Ke manipulated Qin Mingwan into finding repeated opportunities, and she grew convinced she was chosen as her cultivation advanced.
• Over three years, Qin Mingwan rose from the True Martial Second Realm to the fourth, gained guards, and built her own faction.
• Qin Hui and other Qin Clan cultivators investigated Qin Mingwan but found nothing abnormal and attributed her success to Dao fortune.