Chapter Summaries

Qin Lu refined Jing Ke’s body to extract a Dao seed, then merged it with his wood heart and toxic miasma spirit body to create the King Wood Spirit Physique. He awakened its Parasitic Soul ability and named a newly intelligent Second-Tier Spirit Plant Flower Princess.

• Qin Lu refined Jing Ke’s body and nourished the extracted Dao seed with spiritual liquid and Third-Tier Spirit Plants until its original imprint faded.
• Qin Lu merged the Dao seed with his wood heart and toxic miasma spirit body, suppressing the Soul Dao remnants with his Nether Soul Dao Principle.
• Qin Lu awakened the King Wood Spirit Physique, which absorbed spiritual Qi efficiently and granted him the Parasitic Soul Divine Ability to drain hosts’ souls.
• The little white flower broke through to become a Second-Tier Spirit Plant and awakened its intelligence.
• Qin Lu named the newly intelligent flower Flower Princess.

The Qin Clan consolidated its rule as the Northern Province prospered, expanding its control over cultivation, industry, and the region’s resources. A marriage alliance with the Xiashang Dao Academy strengthened its ties to another Dao Foundation power, and Shang Yue gave birth to Qin Mingle, a gifted new member of the third generation.

• The Qin Clan supported smaller powers and brought the Northern Province’s major clans and sects under its influence as the province recovered and cultivation flourished.
• The Forest Peak Giant Deer, Golden-Winged Black Bird, and Black Armor Crocodiles multiplied across Beichuan, turning it into a prosperous beast-taming garden and source of resources for the Qin Clan.
• Gongsun Jian founded the Hundred Refinements Sect, while Qin Mingzheng became its deputy sect master and excelled at artifact refining and puppetry, giving the Qin Clan control of the Northern Province’s artifact-refining path.
• The Qin Clan maintained its command over alchemy and formations, strengthening its influence across the Northern Province.
• Qin Zhuang married Shang Yue, a direct descendant of the Shang Clan branch of the Xiashang Dao Academy, establishing a marriage alliance between the two Dao Foundation powers.
• Shang Yue gave birth to Qin Zhuang’s son, Qin Mingle, whose aptitude measured two inches and one tenth.

During Qin Mingle’s birth celebration, Ancestor Blood Cry secretly met with Qin Lu and offered him an illusion Dao treasure in exchange for a path to survival for Devil Venerable Heaven’s descendants. He proposed that Devil Venerable Heaven and the Qin Clan form a covert alliance, leaving Qin Lu’s response unresolved.

• Qin Mingle’s birth drew congratulations from several Dao Foundation powers and strengthened the Qin Clan’s connections.
• Ancestor Blood Cry and other Qi Condensation cultivators came to find Qin Lu during the Qin Clan’s celebration.
• Ancestor Blood Cry greeted Qin Lu as both Ancestor Qin and Fellow Daoist Lu, and they sat together to talk.
• Ancestor Blood Cry offered Qin Lu a jade box, saying it held an illusion Dao secret treasure sought by the Qin Clan.
• Ancestor Blood Cry proposed an alliance, asking the Qin Clan to help secure a path to survival for Devil Venerable Heaven’s descendants.

Qin Lu accepted Lu Ming and the Devil Cultivators’ submission, offering them positions in the Qin Clan’s service and planning to take control of Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery. The chapter ended with Qin Lu preparing to build a tower using rare illusion materials and the help of Huang Liang and Zi Yan.

• Lu Ming offered Qin Lu an illusory soul crystal and argued that Devil Cultivators were driven to their path by circumstance.
• Qin Lu laid out a plan to use Devil Venerable Heaven’s attack on Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery as a pretext to seize the region and establish Extreme Yuan Sea Commandery under Northern Province.
• Qin Lu appointed Lu Ming to govern Extreme Yuan Sea Commandery and offered Lu Ming’s juniors places in the Qin Clan’s secret guards, army, or arts training.
• Lu Ming accepted Qin Lu’s offer and planned to assign his more violent juniors to the Net and the more peaceful ones to the Shadow Secret Guard.
• Qin Lu described a tower to be made from a thousand-year-old Illusory Form Demon Tree, an illusory soul crystal, and a Dao Foundation remnant soul, then asked Huang Liang and Zi Yan to prepare its arrays.

Huang Liang and Zi Yan founded the Formation Evolution Sect, while Gongsun Jian and his companions spent over a year forging the Heart-Refining Pagoda. The Qin Clan crushed a devil invasion, established the Extreme Yuan Sea Commandery, and helped the former Devil Cultivators become the Yuan Sea Immortal Sect; the completed pagoda then passed into Qin Lu’s hands.

• Huang Liang and Zi Yan joined forces with the Huang and Zi Clans and formation-master families to establish the Formation Evolution Sect, which later became a major power under the Qin Clan.
• Gongsun Jian, Huang Liang, and Zi Yan refined the Illusory Form Demon Tree and Ghost Elder’s remnant soul into the Heart-Refining Pagoda over forty-nine cycles.
• Devil Cultivators devastated Eastern Mystic Sea Commandery, prompting the Dragon-Gazing Immortal Sect to seek aid from the Qin Clan.
• The Qin Clan quelled the devil calamity and established the Extreme Yuan Sea Commandery, while the former Devil Venerable Heaven became the Yuan Sea Immortal Sect and submitted as the Qin Clan’s regional guardian.
• Gongsun Jian completed the Heart-Refining Pagoda as a Third-Tier Law Treasure, and Qin Lu took it into his hand.

Qin Lu passed through the Heart-Refining Pagoda’s illusion, revisiting his past and strengthening his Dao heart before refining the pagoda as a clan treasure. He installed it in the canyon plain and assigned five corpse puppets to guard it.

• Qin Lu entered the Heart-Refining Pagoda’s illusion and relived his path from discovering the Azure Wood Scripture to establishing Great Qin.
• Qin Lu suppressed the strange phenomena of his King Wood Spirit Physique, emerged with a firmer Dao heart, and praised the pagoda as a Third-Tier Law Treasure.
• Qin Lu accepted several Three Origins Dao Fruits as a reward, refined the pagoda with his heart’s blood, and enlarged it into a seven-story guardian treasure.
• Qin Lu placed the pagoda in the canyon plain to suppress the Twenty-Four Peaks’ earth veins, the Ba River’s water vein, and the region’s fortune.
• Qin Lu summoned five Qi Condensation Corpse Puppets, including the former sect master of the Golden Saber Sect and the Pure Yang Ancestor, and assigned them to guard the pagoda.

Qin Lu completed the Heart-Refining Pagoda’s five-element defenses and decided to put it to wider use. Qin Xiao proposed a grand competition to promote the pagoda and develop the Qin Clan, and Qin Lu approved holding it in one year alongside the Northern Province Minor Gathering.

• Qin Lu used five corpse puppets to form a five-element natural barrier around the Heart-Refining Pagoda and establish new illusion trials within it.
• Qin Lu scolded Qin Xiao and Qin Hui for neglecting their cultivation and warned Qin Hui about the danger of turning into a living corpse.
• Qin Xiao proposed a grand competition for Northern Province clans and ordinary warriors, with benefits including recruiting talent, training the Qin Clan’s younger generation, gathering intelligence, and earning resources.
• Qin Lu agreed to the competition and set it for one year later, alongside the Northern Province Minor Gathering.

Qin Lu reflected on reforming the Cauldron Primordial Dao-Seeking Method while the Qin Clan prepared for its future. Qin Minghan, Qin Mingdao, and Qin Mingyuan pursued Black Tiger Gang fugitives and confronted their hidden leader, Black Tiger Liu Yang.

• Qin Xiao and Qin Hui left to organize preparations for the grand competition and strengthen Northern Province.
• Qin Lu concealed himself to cultivate and considered improving the Cauldron Primordial Dao-Seeking Method for the Qin Clan.
• Qin Minghan, Qin Mingdao, and Qin Mingyuan tracked seventeen Black Tiger Gang fugitives through Ironwood Forest.
• Qin Mingdao sent the Nine-Segment Frost Centipede to block the fugitives, while Qin Minghan killed several with jade-green silver needles.
• Qin Minghan exposed Black Tiger Liu Yang's Illusory Body Talisman and struck him with a powerful punch.

Qin Mingyuan used his Spirit-Observing Dao Eyes, twin blades, talismans, and a Thunderbolt Pellet to defeat five opponents alone. After the fight, he worried that he had wasted a set of five-element talismans.

• Qin Minghan killed Liu Yang with a silver needle while Qin Mingdao and the Nine-Segment Frost Centipede slaughtered the Black Tiger Gang.
• Qin Minghan praised Qin Mingyuan’s strength and Spirit-Observing Dao Eyes, saying he might be the strongest of their generation.
• Qin Mingyuan used his mismatched eyes to read his opponents’ movements and killed two of five attackers with a set of five-element talismans.
• Qin Mingyuan killed two more attackers with his twin blades, then disarmed the last man and killed him with a Thunderbolt Pellet.
• Qin Mingyuan lamented that he had wasted a set of talismans and judged his strength insufficient.

After defeating members of the Black Tiger Gang, Qin Minghan, Qin Mingdao, and Qin Mingyuan returned to the Qin Clan with loot. They learned that every third-generation Qin Clan member must enter the Hundred Lineages Grand Competition, whose divisions and rewards were announced.

• Qin Minghan, Qin Mingdao, and Qin Mingyuan gathered after their cleanup and divided the Black Tiger Gang members' Spirit Stones and Law Artifacts.
• The chapter described the Qin Clan's generous stipends, substantial income, and major yearly expenses, including expanding its Spirit Vein.
• The Qin Clan ordered every eligible third-generation member to participate in the Hundred Lineages Grand Competition.
• The youth division was announced for competitors aged fifteen to eighteen in the True Martial Four Realms through Sixth Realm, with rewards including a Heart-Refining Pagoda trial place and spirit beasts for the top three.
• The young adult division was announced for competitors aged eighteen to twenty-five in the True Martial Seventh through Ninth Realm, with a Qi Condensation Pill and other rewards for the top three.
• The cultivator division was announced as an exhibition for Qi Condensation cultivators under sixty, with the victor receiving an immortal art inheritance, a custom Law Artifact, and a Heart-Refining Pagoda trial place.

As Baxuan Immortal City filled with visitors for the Hundred Lineages Grand Competition, several factions’ young prodigies arrived and assessed the Qin Clan and one another. Nangong Bahuo dismissed Qin Lu as merely lucky and vowed to rise by defeating the Qin Clan, while another senior hinted that the Qin Clan’s hidden strength would soon be revealed.

• Crowds from the Northern Province and neighboring provinces traveled to Baxuan Immortal City for the competition and the Heart-Refining Pagoda.
• Nangong Bahuo mocked Qin Lu’s achievements as luck and shortcuts, then declared he would make his name by stepping on the Qin Clan.
• Ji Qing arrived with Senior Brother Liu, who warned him against arrogance and reminded him that the Ji Clan’s wind-and-thunder Dao cultivated the heart as well as Techniques.
• Onlookers identified Nangong Bahuo and Ji Qing as prodigies, noting Bahuo’s inherited Chaotic Pupils and Qing’s exceptional wind affinity.
• A senior told Fawen that the Qin Clan had concealed its depths and urged him to learn what true heavenly destiny and a true prodigy were.

Heroes and sects gathered in Baxuan Immortal City as the Hundred Lineages Grand Competition approached, bringing a new generation of talents into the spotlight. The opening minor competition began as scheduled, with the Qin Clan opening a betting pool.

• Su Qin, Gan Long, and Zhang Yi arrived from Cloud Dream Mountain with Gai Nie, while their differing philosophies drew attention to their promise in the Northern Province.
• Ye Huan and Ye Qiao, newly chosen holy maidens of the Jade Maiden Sect, appeared with their attendants; Ye Huan was expected to inherit the sect, while Ye Qiao was destined to marry into the Qin Clan.
• Qin Mingzheng returned to Baxuan Immortal City after studying at the Hundred Refinements Sect, believing he could contend with ordinary eighth- or ninth-realm True Martial experts in the minor competition.
• Meng Tian and Meng Yi, both fifteen and newly stabilized at the True Martial Five Realms, were brought forward by Meng Wu to be tempered at the grand competition.
• Disciples and cultivators from across the provinces gathered in Baxuan Immortal City, and the opening minor competition began as the Qin Clan opened a betting pool.

Qin Lu opened the Hundred Families Competition by displaying his Dao Foundation power, while Qin Hui, Qin Wu, and Qin Zhuang unveiled Boundless City as the contest venue. The opening contest began with four Qin Clan juniors facing one another, and Qin Mingxi and Qin Mingzheng advanced after Qin Mingyi conceded and Qin Mingyue was poisoned.

• Qin Lu manifested his King Wood Dao Grace and Tai'e Sword to destroy a towering peak, then exchanged a brief glance with Nangong Bahuo as a possible contact with Nangong Qinghong.
• Qin Hui assembled Boundless City from Law Artifacts, Qin Wu concealed it with a compound formation, and Qin Zhuang shaped the surrounding terrain into a spiritual region.
• Qin Hui, Qin Wu, and Qin Zhuang invited the factions into Boundless City and announced the opening contest, where 384 competitors fought in groups of three.
• Qin Mingxi defeated Qin Mingyi in their group after he conceded, revealing her True Martial Sixth Layer Perfection cultivation.
• Qin Mingyue and Qin Mingzheng first eliminated their other opponent, then Qin Mingzheng poisoned Qin Mingyue with his puppet snake and advanced.

Qin Mingzheng reflected on his victory over Qin Mingyue as the first round eliminated most minor-sect competitors and the major forces’ disciples advanced. The second round began with a draw that paired Qin Mingzheng against Tong Hu of the Jinxuan Dao Sect.

• Qin Mingyue blamed Qin Mingzheng’s underhanded tactics after losing and was carried away to have the poison removed.
• Qin Mingzheng resolved to preserve his strength and ensure the Qin Clan won the grand competition.
• Qin Zhao, disguised as the Black Dragon Rogue Person, discussed rival cultivation methods with Lin Qi, who avoided comparing the great forces’ techniques.
• The first round concluded with 128 competitors advancing, most of them disciples of major sects.
• Qin Zhuang distributed the second-round lots, and Qin Mingzheng drew number three, matching him with Tong Hu, a Jinxuan Dao Sect disciple famed for his body-refinement method.

Qin Mingzheng faced Tong Hu in the third match and used three beast puppets to overcome the Jinxuan Dao Sect disciple’s powerful metal-refining body. Tong Hu surrendered after the puppets’ combined attacks exhausted him.

• Qin Mingzheng stepped onto the platform and exchanged formal introductions with Tong Hu.
• Tong Hu surged forward with his Ten Thousand Metals Body Refinement and struck through Qin Mingzheng’s sea of fire.
• Qin Mingzheng raised a bronze shield while directing the Six-Lock Viper to engulf and bind Tong Hu.
• Qin Mingzheng summoned the Kui Wood Wolf and Golden-Winged Eagle, combining their attacks with the viper’s flames.
• Tong Hu’s True Essence ran out, and he surrendered.

Qin Mingzheng won two more fights in the grand competition, first defeating a sword cultivator with ease and then facing an unusual disciple from Xiashang Dao Academy. The chapter left Qin Mingzheng and his latest opponent poised to reveal more of their abilities after their opening attacks canceled each other out.

• Qin Mingzheng defeated Tong Hu, and Elder Ming of the Nangong Clan ordered Wu Yanmian to arrange marriages between Nangong women and the Qin Clan to build a friendly bond.
• The next morning, Qin Mingzheng faced a skilled sword cultivator and won without summoning his puppet beast.
• Qin Mingzheng criticized the young sword cultivator's soft approach, and the defeated cultivator accepted his loss and saluted him as a teacher.
• In the fourth round, Qin Mingzheng faced a strange, simple-minded disciple of Xiashang Dao Academy, who formed heavy armor from True Essence and summoned a magic sword.
• Qin Mingzheng summoned the Wood Puppet · Kui Wood Wolf to block the opponent's Sword-Ray, leaving both fighters to decide whether to reveal their hidden abilities or seek a decisive opening.

Qin Mingzheng used five beast puppets to defeat a Xiashang Dao Academy contestant, while Qin Xiao reviewed the remaining competitors and ordered the Net to monitor the Nangong Clan. The chapter ended with Qin Xiao planning to send Zichi to investigate a strange phenomenon on the Blood-Colored Plain after the grand competition.

• Qin Mingzheng summoned five elemental beast puppets and used Tea Smoke and Spirit Stones to sustain their power.
• Qin Mingzheng's puppets wore down the simple-minded young man's defense, and Qin Mingzheng won the match for the Beichuan Qin Family.
• Shang Yang reported that sixteen contestants remained and suggested recruiting the Rogue Cultivator Li Shan, whom Qin Xiao approved for cultivation and possible allegiance.
• Shang Yang briefed Qin Xiao on the Nangong Clan's stronger, centralized Southern Province and presented a Black Dragon Lock containing Zichi's intelligence.
• Qin Xiao ordered the Net to keep the Nangong Clan under surveillance and directed Zichi to investigate the Blood-Colored Plain after the grand competition.

At the Boundless City sub-venue, Qin Mingzheng and Qin Mingxi advanced in the round of sixteen by defeating a sound cultivator and the rogue cultivator Li Shan. Qin Mingxi then invited Li Shan to join the Qin Clan, offering him a place to settle and the guidance of her third uncle.

• Meng Tian and Meng Yi were praised as promising fifth-realm True Martial prodigies and received opportunities to enter the Heart-Refining Pagoda.
• The round of sixteen began, with Qin Mingzheng matched against a female cultivator of the Nangong Clan and Qin Mingxi matched against Li Shan.
• The Nangong Clan cultivator used flute music to make Qin Mingzheng drowsy and disrupt his control of his puppets.
• Qin Mingzheng used his Gold Origin Bell to break the flute music, then deployed musical and soldier puppets to defeat the Nangong Clan cultivator.
• Qin Mingxi used a mirror Law Artifact to strike Li Shan with golden rays containing gold Sha Qi, leaving him unable to rise.
• Qin Mingxi urged Li Shan to join the Qin Clan and offered him wealth, instruction from her third uncle, and a choice of spirit mountains.

Qin Mingzheng defeated Qin Mingxi in the opening tournament after breaking through to the True Martial Seventh Realm, while Qin Mingxi accepted that she needed greater strength to control her fate. Qin Hui assigned Qin Wu a mission to clear Gold-Devouring Rats from a Crimson Spirit Copper deposit in Cloud Mountain Commandery.

• Li Shan accepted Qin Mingxi's invitation to serve the Qin Clan as her attendant and hurried after her.
• Qin Mingzheng fought Qin Mingxi in the opening tournament, deploying his Five Elements Beast Puppets and ten armored puppets in formation.
• Qin Mingzheng broke through to the True Martial Seventh Realm and defeated Qin Mingxi, who resolved to grow stronger after accepting her loss.
• Qin Hui praised Qin Mingzheng's strength, and Qin Wu complained about the resources spent supporting his son and his military forces.
• Qin Hui assigned Qin Wu to lead troops against the Gold-Devouring Rats at a suspected Second-Tier Crimson Spirit Copper deposit in Cloud Mountain Commandery, and Qin Wu accepted.

Qin Mingzheng easily won the opening minor tournament’s semifinal and faced Bai Pengzhan of the Yan Miao Bai Clan in the final. Bai revealed a powerful Lion-Ape Beast that shattered Qin Mingzheng’s Crimson Sand Needle, leaving Qin Mingzheng alarmed as the battle began.

• The Qin Clan justified giving the Martial Branch extra resources to develop Qin Mingzheng as an artifact refiner and expand the Qin Elite Soldiers.
• Qin Mingzheng defeated a Medicine King Valley disciple in the semifinal after the disciple’s poison failed to affect him.
• Bai Pengzhan entered the final as the Yan Miao Bai Clan’s hidden talent, while the clan hoped to build his reputation by defeating Qin Mingzheng.
• Qin Mingzheng began the final cautiously, summoning five Five Elements Beast Puppets and sending a Crimson Sand Needle at Bai Pengzhan.
• Bai Pengzhan manifested a Lion-Ape Beast, which shattered the Crimson Sand Needle and made Qin Mingzheng fear he could not win.