Chapter Summaries

White Cloud Temple profited from the prolonged war while Shi Jian expanded his covert footholds in Yuan Continent and the Liang Kingdom. The temple's growing wealth sparked a dispute over the weakened Sun Clan's share, which Yun Du insisted on preserving.

• The Supreme Purity Sect pursued a war of attrition against the Jin Kingdom while wartime demand fueled White Cloud Temple's supply and salvage businesses.
• Yun Qi presented accounts showing seventy-four thousand three hundred Spirit Stones in monthly net profit, and Yun Du warned against drawing attention to sales of Devil Cultivator inheritances.
• Lord Rat reported that Zhao Yanchuan would lead a Zhao Household trading party to Yuan Continent, where Shi Jian intended to establish a foothold and contact the Origin Return Gate.
• Lord Rat reported that Bi Luo's Sacred Blood Sect had exceeded five thousand members in the Liang Kingdom, and Shi Jian ordered continued discreet expansion.
• Yun Ci proposed reducing the Sun Clan's profit share because it had contributed nothing to the trade, but Yun Du upheld its entitlement on account of its past contributions.

Yun Ci challenged the Sun Clan’s share of the sect’s resources, but Yun Du preserved it and ordered additional resources distributed to the peaks and branches. Zhao Yanshan warned Yun Du about Yun Ci’s growing influence and revealed that Shi Jian’s plans for the Yuan Continent were meant to secure a future for the Demon Race, while he and Yun Du agreed that survival mattered most.

• Yun Ci argued that the Sun Clan’s resources should reflect its contributions, but Yun Du kept its share unchanged and granted additional resources to the sect’s peaks and branches.
• Zhao Yanshan told Yun Du that Yun Ci had privately won people over and warned that he might turn his influence toward the wrong goals.
• Yun Du said the White Cloud Temple could not afford internal conflict while the western war continued and the Wei Kingdom and Liang Kingdom threatened it from the east.
• Zhao Yanshan revealed that Shi Jian’s plans to send people to the Yuan Continent were meant to prepare a way out for the Demon Race.
• Yun Du asked whether the Zhao Household stood with humans or demons, and Zhao Yanshan answered that it stood only for survival.
• Yun Du agreed that staying alive was enough for now.

Zhao Yanchuan brought the Zhao Household to Tianyuan City to establish trade routes under the Origin Return Gate’s protection. After opening a successful shop and making local connections, he learned of turmoil in the Liang Kingdom and received a request to procure spirit mice.

• Zhao Yanchuan arrived in Tianyuan City, where Origin Return Gate elder Li Changfeng welcomed the Zhao Household and arranged a residence for them.
• Zhao Yanchuan agreed to pay Sect Master Zhou Yuanshan four-tenths of the Zhao Household’s profits in exchange for protection, while planning to establish trade routes and eventually raise Demon Beasts.
• The Zhao Household opened a shop in Tianyuan City, attracting customers with a broad selection of goods and prices below the market rate.
• Zhao Yanchuan built connections with caravans traveling to the Liang Kingdom and met Qian Guangjin of the Qian Household.
• Qian Guangjin asked Zhao Yanchuan to procure spirit mice, explaining that fighting among four sects and the Sacred Blood Sect’s activities had made travel in the Liang Kingdom dangerous.

Zhao Yanchuan began establishing the Zhao Household on the Yuan Continent, buying spirit rats and leasing a Spirit Vein near Tianyuan City. Three years later, the household had built a thriving base and expanded its businesses, while its beast gardens began raising animals for future sale.

• Zhao Yanchuan sold Qian Guangjin ten Gray Mist Spirit Rats and learned that the factions were letting the Sacred Blood Sect raid trade routes rather than risk weakening themselves to defeat it.
• Zhao Yanchuan leased a mid-grade second-tier Spirit Vein from the Guiyuan Sect and planned to build the Zhao Household’s base, including residences, medicine gardens, beast gardens, and mortal towns.
• Zhao Yanchuan developed the Spirit Vein as the Zhao Household’s shops in Tianyuan City expanded from two to eight and began selling spirit medicines, talismans, and artifact-refining materials.
• Zhao Yanchuan used the household’s profits to build halls, palaces, residences, and guest facilities across the Spirit Vein.
• Zhao Yanchuan prioritized the beast gardens and transferred young spirit rats, black hound pups, and multicolored spirit birds from White Cloud Temple.

Shi Jian learned that the Devil Dao planned to retreat under a truce with the Supreme Purity Sect, and he chose to keep a low profile while sending his subordinates to claim abandoned spoils. By autumn of the sixth year of the war, the Jin Kingdom had fallen, the Blood Bone Devil Sect had fled to the Boundless Sea, and the Clear Azure Kingdom had expanded across eight provinces.

• Lord Rat reported that the Blood Bone Devil Sect was near defeat and negotiating a truce with the Supreme Purity Sect.
• Shi Jian decided not to join the fighting himself and told Lord Rat that his groups could follow Yun Du west to collect spoils.
• The six Nascent Soul Devil Lords of the Blood Bone Devil Sect and tens of thousands of Devil Cultivators fled to the Boundless Sea with a vast quantity of resources.
• The Supreme Purity Sect swept away the Jin Kingdom's remaining forces, killing or scattering its Devil Cultivators and bringing the kingdom to an end.
• The Clear Azure Kingdom expanded to eight provinces, and resources left behind by the fleeing Devil Cultivators flowed to the Supreme Purity Sect and other local forces.

White Cloud Temple led the Ming Province Northern Protectorate’s western expedition into Devil Province to plunder abandoned resources and capture surviving Devil Cultivators. After a month of sweeping through the province, the force amassed a vast haul, while the Zhao Clan gained resources that hinted at its renewed rise.

• Yun Du summoned White Cloud Temple’s Foundation Establishment cultivators and led a fleet with allied clans and demons west into Devil Province.
• Yun Du ordered the forces to divide their assigned territories, avoid forbidden zones and local powers, and seize anything unclaimed.
• At the Heart-Devouring Sect’s ruins, Yun Du found two third-tier Spirit Veins, and Yun Ci extracted them while others looted the site and captured surviving Devil Cultivators.
• White Cloud Temple and its allies swept through eastern and central Devil Province, plundering Spirit Veins, ore deposits, medicinal gardens, and other valuables while taking nearly three thousand prisoners.
• Zhao Yanshan’s contingent secured two second-tier Spirit Veins, an iron spirit ore vein, and more than thirty Devil Cultivation Methods, boosting the Zhao Clan’s resources.

After the forces stripped Devil Province and Transformation Province of their remaining resources, Yun Du decided White Cloud Temple should establish a branch in Transformation Province as a strategic foothold. He chose Yun Ci to lead it, with Shi Jian arranging demons to accompany the expedition.

• Yun Du and the other forces dismantled or plundered the ruined Blessed Lands across Devil Province, while Lord Rat complained that he had been forced to keep a low profile despite his haul of Devil Cultivator corpses.
• By the end of the second month, cultivators had stripped Devil Province and Transformation Province, and the Supreme Purity Sect announced plans to resettle sects and small clans there.
• Yun Du visited Shi Jian on Purple Firmament Peak and explained that White Cloud Temple needed a foothold in Transformation Province in case Ming Province became a war front.
• Yun Du proposed sending Yun Ci to establish a White Cloud Temple branch, giving him authority and territory away from the sect’s center in Ming Province.
• Shi Jian agreed and offered Bai Ling, her foxes, and two young bear demons from the Primordial Line to accompany the branch expedition.

Yun Ci led White Cloud Temple’s effort to establish a branch hall in the devastated Transformation Province, while Lu Xun stayed behind in Ming Province to support the sect. Yun Ci claimed a ruined stronghold as the branch hall’s base and began negotiating with other settlers, leaving White Cloud Temple’s territory recognized and its reputation respected.

• Yun Du appointed Yun Ci to lead the Transformation Province branch hall and ordered him to focus on building a foundation for the first three years; Lu Xun offered young spirit beasts to help open up the land.
• Lu Xun chose to remain in Ming Province because the weakened Sun Clan line needed someone to hold its position within White Cloud Temple.
• Yun Ci arrived in Transformation Province, assessed the Devil Qi-scarred soil, and chose a ruined Blood Bone Devil Sect stronghold with a weak Spirit Vein as the branch hall site.
• Yun Ci divided the Qi Refining disciples among construction and clearing tasks, while Bai Ling and the spirit beasts guarded the area.
• Lü Mingyuan of the Golden Chrysanthemum Sect met Yun Ci, learned White Cloud Temple had claimed the area, and agreed to settle five hundred li away.
• Yun Ci later received three more factions, recruiting some as vassals and directing the others beyond White Cloud Temple’s territory.

Yun Ci imposed harsh measures to establish the Demon Race’s branch altar in Transformation Province, while Shi Jian reviewed the scattered strongholds he had built and continued strengthening himself to protect the Demon Race. He concluded that the Demon Race needed more Golden Core cultivators and resolved to keep carrying its burdens.

• Yun Ci ordered the branch altar to double the manpower clearing demonic Qi, drawing workers from vassal forces despite the hardship and risks to their people.
• The branch altar gradually improved, and the vassal forces endured their losses without rebelling as they worked toward a stable foothold.
• Shi Jian reviewed the Demon Race’s five scattered strongholds and noted that their territories remained weak and difficult to support.
• Purple Firmament told Shi Jian that the Demon Race needed more Golden Core cultivators, but Shi Jian acknowledged that Shi Pan, Kuang Dou, and Lord Rat could not be rushed.
• Shi Jian submerged himself in the lightning pool to temper his body and raise his Golden Core Middle Stage cultivation, determined to protect and strengthen the Demon Race.

As True Person Luan Shan neared death, he entrusted the Zhou Clan’s future to his grandson Zhou Tianle and gave him the Ice Dao Heaven and Earth Qi and Ice Soul Sword for his Core Formation attempt. After Luan Shan passed away, Zhou Tianle passed the spiritual power trial and began absorbing the Qi, triggering a vast snow-and-ice phenomenon over Cold Moon Peak.

• True Person Luan Shan gave Zhou Yan the Ice Dao Heaven and Earth Qi and Ice Soul Sword for Zhou Tianle’s Core Formation attempt.
• True Person Luan Shan passed away, and Zhou Yan concealed his death from Zhou Tianle so the news would not disrupt his seclusion.
• Zhou Tianle compressed his spiritual power into a vortex and passed the first Core Formation trial.
• Zhou Tianle absorbed the Ice Dao Heaven and Earth Qi, enduring its extreme cold as it assimilated into his body.
• A sweeping snow-and-ice phenomenon covered Cold Moon Peak, and Zhou Yan prayed that Zhou Tianle would succeed.

As Zhou Tianle neared Core Formation, his life-bound spirit beast Shi Yin betrayed him and destroyed his attempt to form a Golden Core. Zhou Tianle died in the resulting explosion, while Shi Yin freed himself from their contract and absorbed the remaining Heaven and Earth Qi.

• Zhou Tianle reached the final stage of merging ice-path Heaven and Earth Qi into his Dantian and let Shi Yin stay beside him.
• Shi Yin revealed he had spent decades learning Zhou Tianle’s habits and corrupting his will to escape the Master-Servant Contract.
• Shi Yin struck Zhou Tianle with his frost-covered paw and flooded his meridians with cold Qi, disrupting the Core Formation process.
• Zhou Tianle activated the contract mark, but Shi Yin used the resulting backlash to dissolve the contract.
• The uncontrolled Qi exploded, freezing Zhou Tianle into an ice sculpture that crumbled to dust.
• Shi Yin inhaled the scattered Heaven and Earth Qi and absorbed its remaining essence.

Shi Yin survived Zhou Tianle’s failed Core Formation and completed his own breakthrough, becoming a Golden Core demon. He took the title Frost and Snow and vowed to protect the Zhou Clan and serve Supreme Purity.

• Zhou Yan found Zhou Tianle gone and Shi Yin alive in the frozen secret chamber, then concluded Tianle had undergone Dao Dissolution.
• The Zhou Clan held a sparsely attended funeral for True Person Luan Shan and Zhou Tianle, while other clans distanced themselves.
• After learning the master-servant contract had dissolved, Zhou Yan began to suspect Shi Yin and considered ordering his capture.
• A vast Core Formation phenomenon appeared above Cold Moon Peak, and a gigantic pale bear phantom devoured the surrounding Spiritual Qi.
• Shi Yin overcame the trials, reforged his Demon Core, and revealed his Golden Core power to the surrounding cultivators.
• Shi Yin named himself Frost and Snow, vowed to protect Zhou Tianle’s Zhou Clan, and pledged to fight for Supreme Purity.

Shi Yin’s Core Formation secured the Zhou Household’s properties and made him its new protector, while Zhou Yan chose to accept their dependence on him despite his suspicions. The Zhou Household reached out to the White Cloud Temple to build ties through Shi Yin, and Yun Du ordered a careful reply and a congratulatory gift.

• Shi Yin pledged to protect the Zhou Clan and Supreme Purity, and the sect named him a Sect-Guarding Spirit Beast with the treatment of a Golden Core elder.
• Zhou Yan suspected something was wrong with Shi Yin’s Core Formation and Zhou Tianle’s death, but decided to keep silent and instructed the clan to honor Shi Yin as their ancestor.
• Zhou Yan sent a humble letter to the White Cloud Temple proposing that Shi Yin and Ancestor Shi visit and exchange resources.
• Yun Du told Lu Xun that the Zhou Household was seeking support through Shi Yin and the Temple’s connection to him.
• Yun Du ordered Lu Xun to draft a measured reply and prepare a generous gift congratulating Shi Yin on his Core Formation.

Sun Chengzu’s long seclusion in the Return to Origin Sword Tomb reached its decisive moment as White Cloud Temple prepared for his Core Formation attempt. With the Sun Clan’s survival and the temple’s rise to first-rate status at stake, the chapter ended with everyone awaiting his outcome.

• Shi Jian and Lord Rat learned that Shi Yin had successfully formed a Golden Core and become the Supreme Purity Sect’s guardian spirit beast.
• White Cloud Temple’s standing rose, while the quiet Sun Clan waited for Sun Chengzu to emerge from seclusion.
• After years of refining his cultivation and preparing his body, Sun Chengzu stirred the Spiritual Qi around the Return to Origin Sword Tomb.
• Lu Xun reported the disturbance to Shi Jian, who ordered him to spread the news and arrange assistance for Sun Chengzu.
• Lu Xun, Lei Zhen, Lord Rat, Kuang Dou, Shuang Yu, and others gathered near the Sword Tomb, aware that Sun Chengzu’s success could save the Sun Clan and make White Cloud Temple a first-rate sect.

Sun Chengzu successfully broke through to Golden Core inside the Sword Tomb, becoming the Sword Dao Golden Core True Person Chengye. His breakthrough strengthened White Cloud Temple and ushered in a new era for the sect.

• Sun Chengzu began forming his core after years of refining his spiritual power and strengthening his Dao heart.
• Sun Chengzu merged the Sword Dao Heaven and Earth Qi with his spiritual power and formed a Core Embryo as a celestial phenomenon spread across the Sword Tomb.
• Sun Chengzu condensed the Core Embryo into a Golden Core, and the Sword Tomb's ancient swords answered with a ringing cry.
• Sun Chengzu emerged from the Sword Tomb as Golden Core True Person Chengye, and Yun Du welcomed him as White Cloud Temple's new heir to its legacy.
• Lord Rat and Shuang Yu departed as White Cloud Temple entered an era presided over by three Golden Core cultivators.

White Cloud Temple celebrated Sun Chengzu’s Core Formation with a grand ceremony that drew Golden Core figures from across the Clear Azure Kingdom. True Person Xuancheng of the Supreme Purity Sect attended, and after the banquet he requested a private meeting with the temple’s three Golden Cores.

• News of Sun Chengzu’s Sword Dao Golden Core spread throughout the Clear Azure Kingdom, raising White Cloud Temple’s standing and morale.
• Yun Du and Lu Xun prepared invitations and gifts for a grand Core Formation ceremony, while Zhao Yanshan raised the question of the Supreme Purity Sect’s response.
• Golden Core guests arrived in White Cloud Immortal City and congratulated Sun Chengzu, who received them at the ceremony.
• True Person Xuancheng arrived on behalf of the Supreme Purity Sect and toasted Sun Chengzu and White Cloud Temple.
• Shi Jian appeared at the banquet in his bear-beast form, greeted True Person Xuancheng, and received praise for his power and past guidance of Shi Yin.
• After the banquet, True Person Xuancheng asked to speak privately with White Cloud Temple’s three Golden Cores, and Yun Du led him to a side hall.

True Person Xuancheng ordered White Cloud Temple to conquer the Vile Muddy Marsh, promising it forty percent of the territory while testing its loyalty to the Supreme Purity Sect. Shi Jian accepted and planned to use the campaign to recruit or subdue the marsh’s Demon Beasts, building White Cloud Temple’s power and a domain for the Demon Race.

• True Person Xuancheng told Yun Du, Sun Chengzu, and Shi Jian that the Supreme Purity Sect wanted White Cloud Temple to develop the Vile Muddy Marsh and claim forty percent of its land.
• Yun Du recognized that refusing could harm Shi Yin’s standing, while accepting would cost White Cloud Temple lives and resources; Sun Chengzu said he was ready to fight.
• Shi Jian accepted the assignment, and True Person Xuancheng gave White Cloud Temple five years to prepare before the army departed.
• After Xuancheng left, Shi Jian explained that White Cloud Temple could spare useful Demon Beasts, enslave those who could serve, and kill those who resisted.
• Yun Du understood that the campaign could expand White Cloud Temple’s foundation, while Shi Jian envisioned turning the marsh into a self-governing domain for the Demon Race.

After Sun Chengzu’s Core Formation ceremony, Yun Du and Sun Chengzu reviewed the sect’s new trade deals and prepared for the dangers of Evil Water Marsh. Yun Du warned Sun Chengzu to protect himself and remain wary of Shi Jian, leaving Sun Chengzu caught between his complicated ties to Shi Jian and his hopes for the Sun Clan.

• Shi Jian returned to Purple Firmament Peak while Yun Du and Sun Chengzu resumed overseeing the ceremony.
• After the seven-day ceremony ended, Yun Du and Sun Chengzu reviewed lucrative deals with the Blackwater Sect, Hundred Beast Valley, and Origin Return Gate.
• Sun Chengzu planned to forge thirty-six flying swords into his Life-Bound Law Treasure for the coming trip to Evil Water Marsh.
• Yun Du urged Sun Chengzu to prepare supplies and defenses, refine his own treasure, and prioritize survival in Evil Water Marsh.
• Yun Du invoked Zhao Qing’s fate to caution Sun Chengzu about Shi Jian, while Sun Chengzu struggled with his loyalty to Shi Jian and his ambition for the Sun Clan.
• Yun Du and Sun Chengzu spent several hours settling the preparations for the trip.

Over five years, Sun Chengzu rebuilt the Sun Clan by raising new Foundation Establishment cultivators, recruiting retainers, and enforcing strict discipline while strengthening ties with the Demon Beasts. Shi Jian prepared a large coalition to enter the Evil Water Marsh, hoping to claim it as territory and spur his cultivation, and the army set out from White Cloud Immortal City.

• Sun Chengzu used his resources and influence to help Sun Qiming, Sun Qinian, and Sun Qihe achieve Foundation Establishment, restoring the Sun Clan's strength.
• Sun Chengzu recruited promising disciples and allied clans, then punished clansmen who abused the clan's growing power and taught the younger generation to respect the Demon Beasts and Shi Jian.
• The Sun Clan renewed its cooperation with Lord Rat, whose Wind Rat Line prospered while he advanced to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
• Lord Rat reported that fifty-three Foundation Establishment cultivators, more than two thousand Qi Refining disciples, three warships, and Demon Race forces were ready to enter the Evil Water Marsh with Shi Jian.
• Shi Jian planned to bring the marsh under his control as a new Demon Race foundation and hoped the expedition would stimulate a breakthrough in his cultivation.
• Three days later, the coalition departed White Cloud Immortal City aboard three warships.

White Cloud Temple’s expedition reached Evil Water Marsh and began establishing a foothold, but a Demon Beast tide attacked the new camps. After a golden giant crocodile destroyed an outpost, Shi Jian appeared and faced the beast.

• Sun Chengzu led White Cloud Temple’s vanguard and allied lineages south to claim territory in Evil Water Marsh.
• The expedition landed, dispersed the miasma, and set up forward outposts across the swamp.
• At night, local Demon Beasts launched a massive tide against the human camps.
• An Early Golden Core golden giant crocodile destroyed an outpost and killed more than a hundred cultivators.
• Shi Jian unleashed purple-gold lightning and emerged before the crocodile, whose bloodline instinctively recoiled from him.