Chapter Summaries

Chu Tianshu challenged the Xiao Clan’s falling wages and argued that the old powers were failing to adapt to changing times. When Xiao Shexin, Song Zixian, and Fa Wendao attacked him together, their power was mysteriously weakened, and Chu Tianshu declared that he had arrived first.

• Chu Tianshu visited the Xiao Clan’s quarry and had the laborers sent home for half a day with pay.
• Chu Tianshu questioned the quarry manager about wages declining as the Xiao Clan’s workforce grew.
• Xiao Shexin explained that more workers meant less money for each, and Chu Tianshu challenged that reasoning.
• Chu Tianshu compared the treatment of craftsmen with the rewards and influence of Dao attainers, prompting Fa Wendao to ask whether he wanted them to help control Denglai Mountain Market.
• Chu Tianshu revealed that he had only been testing his arguments, refused to leave Denglai Mountain Market, and faced an attack from Xiao Shexin, Song Zixian, and Fa Wendao.
• The three Dao attainers’ combined attack lost speed and power as something interfered with their control of heaven and earth’s Qi, and Chu Tianshu said he had reached the place first.

Chu Tianshu defeated Song Zixian, Fa Wendao, and Xiao Shexin by combining underground True Qi, sword techniques, and battlefield resources. He killed Xiao Shexin and Fa Wendao, leaving Song Zixian gravely wounded and declaring that the three experts had to be completely eliminated before their factions would negotiate.

• Chu Tianshu used buried Yang True Qi to draw in the three experts' attacks, then struck Song Zixian with a palm that combined Death-Claiming Sword and Vajra Palm, injuring him despite Fa Wendao's help.
• Chu Tianshu misled Fa Wendao with an illusory image, then struck Xiao Shexin and Fa Wendao into the cliff and gravely injured them.
• Song Zixian attacked Chu Tianshu with four golden snakes, but Chu Tianshu sent him flying with Sanqi and launched a broken prayer bead that pierced his body.
• Fa Wendao said the other factions might tolerate Chu Tianshu living on Mount Denglai, but Chu Tianshu killed Xiao Shexin and then stabbed Fa Wendao through the heart.
• Chu Tianshu said only the complete loss of all three experts would force their factions to negotiate, and he reflected that the battle had solidified his martial path.

At the Celebration of the Sage Temple, Monk Qingsheng recalled how he gained power and learned that three experts sent to Denglai Mountain Market had been killed. He decided to send generous gifts to the victor to placate him, while the temple continued preparing for a larger undertaking.

• Monk Qingsheng recounted how he married two princesses, helped defeat a rebellion, and rose to power in the Northern Dynasty.
• Master Wubei reported that all three experts who had Attained the Dao and gone to Denglai Mountain Market had been defeated and killed.
• Monk Qingsheng recognized that Fa Wendao and Song Zixian had perished and concluded that the Xiao Clan expert had also been killed.
• Master Wubei proposed rallying the Xiao Clan, the Hou Clan, and the Ascetic Hall to retaliate, but Monk Qingsheng rejected the plan as too costly and uncertain.
• Monk Qingsheng ordered Wubei to send generous gifts with an honest messenger to Denglai Mountain Market to resolve the grudge and avoid provoking the victor.

Chu Tianshu anticipated the political consequences of the Celebration of the Sage Temple’s gifts and sought to exchange combat techniques with Xiao Liang. The gift procession reached Denglai Mountain Market, led by Grand Matriarch Gao, while the old scholar sensed another person in her carriage.

• Chu Tianshu warned that his enemies might unite if others portrayed him as a powerful, ambitious threat, but decided to accept any gifts that arrived.
• Chu Tianshu named Shen Minglai’s estate as his residence and asked the old scholar to arrange a meeting with Xiao Liang so they could exchange martial techniques.
• The old scholar explained that Xiao Liang could not teach his ultimate sword technique, but might offer his treasure-refining methods; Chu Tianshu considered seeking the Yellow Mountain Ancestor’s spear techniques instead.
• Xiao Liang promised to visit but did not arrive within two days, and the Celebration of the Sage Temple’s thirty-carriage gift procession reached Denglai Mountain Market first.
• Grand Matriarch Gao stopped at the Pengcheng Tavern, accepted the old scholar’s offer of wine, and drew his attention to an unexplained presence in her carriage.

Chu Tianshu cultivated in the valley, nourishing the spirit pine with water-attribute essence before heading to the Pengcheng Tavern in response to an alert. There, Grand Matriarch Gao introduced the mysterious bronze figure in the lead carriage as the Bronze Longevity Immortal.

• Chu Tianshu completed his cultivation and fed the spirit pine a mass of water-attribute heavenly and earthly essence, which also produced beneficial dew for him.
• Zhuo Xinlan visited Chu Tianshu and spoke with the pine, which revealed that it could project a human form and wanted to resemble her.
• Chu Tianshu received an alert from a silver needle and left the valley for the Pengcheng Tavern.
• At the tavern, Chu Tianshu sensed something strange inside the lead carriage and saw a brass figure in Daoist robes.
• Grand Matriarch Gao told Chu Tianshu that the figure was the Bronze Longevity Immortal, the most valuable treasure on the gift list.

Chu Tianshu examined the Bronze Longevity Immortal and realized its many enticing cultivation patterns were a trap meant to waste the time of experts who studied them. He then let Sanqi possess the bronze body, giving the metal-loving spirit a powerful new vessel.

• Grand Matriarch Gao delivered the Celebration of the Sage Temple’s gifts to Chu Tianshu and described how the Bronze Longevity Immortal’s intricate meridians had captivated her.
• Chu Tianshu invited Grand Matriarch Gao to study the bronze figure at his manor, where she shared her findings before leaving quickly to avoid becoming obsessed with it.
• Chu Tianshu examined the Bronze Longevity Immortal and concluded that most of its cultivation ideas were misleading, designed to distract experts from genuine progress.
• Chu Tianshu summoned Sanqi from the sword scabbard and used blood and Qi to help it adapt to the bronze body.
• The Bronze Longevity Immortal’s eyes flashed white as Sanqi’s Sword Intent filled the hall.

A spy from the Celebration of the Sage Temple monitored Chu Tianshu’s use of the Bronze Longevity Immortal while Chu Tianshu explained how he secretly built a training force in the valley and advanced his cultivation through teaching. Lu Yuande refined Moon Turbidity’s power and gained confidence in his breakthrough, then Xiao Liang arrived and revealed that Huang had disappeared from his secluded cultivation site.

• A Celebration of the Sage Temple spy used a crystal token to learn that Chu Tianshu had been studying the Bronze Longevity Immortal for at least six shichen a day.
• Chu Tianshu explained to Lu Yuande how he recruited thousands of youths and laborers into a hidden valley force while spies watched his estate.
• Chu Tianshu drew in moonlight with the aid of his Renowned Teacher Persona, and Lu Yuande absorbed and refined a trace of Moon Turbidity’s power.
• Lu Yuande said he had found solutions to hurdles in advancing from Dao-Seeking Shennong to the Internal Elixir method and hurried away to write them down.
• Xiao Liang met Chu Tianshu at the Pengcheng Tavern and said he had delayed their meeting because Huang had disappeared from his secluded cultivation site.

Xiao Liang told Chu Tianshu that the Yellow Mountain Ancestor had gone missing, then demonstrated how he condensed all eighty-one moves of Burning Wood Saber into one strike. He showed Chu Tianshu the stone slabs behind the technique, and Chu opened them to reveal intricate patterns.

• Xiao Liang said the Yellow Mountain Ancestor had disappeared and that his investigation found no disciples who had plotted against him.
• Chu Tianshu and Xiao Liang discussed exchanging cultivation methods and what made a true ultimate move.
• Xiao Liang demonstrated a Burning Wood Saber strike that pierced through the ground and destroyed aquatic plants in the river.
• Chu Tianshu used his insight technique to see eighty-one saber-wielding figures combine into Xiao Liang’s single strike.
• Xiao Liang explained that he had learned to condense an entire advanced technique into one move by studying two stone slabs.
• Chu Tianshu opened the joined slabs and saw intricate patterns crossed by lines of varying lengths.

Chu Tianshu studied the stone slabs while Xiao Liang discussed the burdens and moral failings of those who had attained the Dao. Chu Tianshu urged Xiao Liang to fight powerful evildoers rather than try to understand them, then discovered that his first deduction had produced the Penglai Supreme Method General Principles.

• Chu Tianshu focused on a pattern on the stone slabs and began to sense that he could understand it by examining the thoughts and feelings behind its lines.
• Xiao Liang and the old scholar shared grapes and discussed how attaining the Dao freed people from ordinary needs, yet left them with conflicts against other powerful cultivators.
• Xiao Liang questioned why those who had attained the Dao relied on others’ suffering, and worried that he would eventually be left behind.
• Chu Tianshu called Xiao Liang a literary youth who lacked comrades-in-arms and urged him to fight evil powers instead of seeking to understand them.
• Chu Tianshu revealed that his world called the realm of wielding heaven-and-earth power Taboo, and said it should be used to destroy evil beings.
• Chu Tianshu checked his token screen and found that his first deduction had completed, granting him the Penglai Supreme Method General Principles.

Chu Tianshu learned that Northern and Southern Dynasty troops had been redirected toward Heze after the deaths of three Dao achievers at Denglai Mountain Market, suggesting the leaders had coordinated plans to attack the region. He and Xiao Liang set out for Heze to prevent the area from becoming a battlefield.

• Chu Tianshu practiced condensing the Samadhi Power Hand Seal into a single move, but his failed attempts exploded across the scorched hillside.
• Chu Tianshu returned to the manor and discussed the Sun-Boiling True Scripture with Xiao Liang and Lu Yuande, while they remained uncertain about Monk Qingsheng's motives and the Bronze Longevity Immortal.
• The old scholar reported that troops from Jining and Linyi had been redirected to Heze after the three great Dao achievers died at Denglai Mountain Market.
• Xiao Liang and Lu Yuande concluded that the Northern and Southern Dynasties might have coordinated a war against the local people, though they could not understand the motive.
• Chu Tianshu decided to go to Heze, and Xiao Liang joined him to stop the region from becoming a battlefield.

Xiao Liang and Chu Tianshu intervened as soldiers and local thugs ravaged towns in Heze, killing pursuers and stopping looting. Chu Tianshu learned that the army had been divided into independent battalions and that Northern Dynasty monks had accompanied them, leaving their purpose uncertain.

• Xiao Liang used flying leaves to kill the men chasing fleeing townspeople and learned that a soldier had given their leader an army arrow to authorize the hunt.
• Soldiers and local powerful clans plundered households, then the soldiers turned on the clans and burned their mansions.
• Xiao Liang swept through the city, killing attackers and extinguishing fires with a cool wind.
• Chu Tianshu struck down several hundred looting soldiers and captured their general.
• The general revealed that battalions had been ordered to roam Heze independently for three months and that Northern Dynasty monks had accompanied them before stopping upstream.

Monk Shengmie used a multicolored Consciousness Realm treasure to project demonized versions of Xiao Liang and Chu Tianshu, but Xiao Liang and Chu Tianshu defeated him and seized the treasure. Shengmie revealed that the Celebration of the Sage Temple had discovered the Eighth Consciousness Treasure Storehouse, and Chu Tianshu hinted that his disciples could help pursue the temple’s hidden forces.

• Fachi and Fahe sensed that the battalion they had secretly dosed had suddenly vanished, then found Monk Shengmie refining a multicolored treasure inside the boat.
• Monk Shengmie recognized Xiao Liang as an approaching threat and used the treasure to summon a demonized apparition of Xiao Liang, whose Sword Intent dispersed Xiao Liang’s attack.
• Xiao Liang cut through the apparition and split the boat, blinding the four Fa-generation monks, while Chu Tianshu destroyed his own apparition and severed Shengmie’s hand to take the treasure.
• Chu Tianshu and Xiao Liang questioned Shengmie, who explained that the treasure drew on the Eighth Consciousness to manifest accumulated demonic intent as Consciousness Realm Sariras.
• Shengmie offered to lead them to Monk Qingsheng and the other temple disciples, but Chu Tianshu doubted he would know their locations and said his own disciples could help find them.

Li Jianke, Lian Shanbai, and Zhou Yuan tracked monks to an empty village and confronted a group wielding a Consciousness Realm Sarira. Zhou Yuan’s Death-Claiming Sword unexpectedly triggered the Sarira’s destruction, while Chu Tianshu prepared a challenge that forced his enemies to choose between recovering their dead or pursuing his finished treasures.

• Li Jianke killed wild wolves that threatened refugees, then continued searching with Lian Shanbai and Zhou Yuan for monks accompanying the army.
• Zhou Yuan identified wood shavings from a Buddhist shrine, and the three followed the clues to an empty village where monks were hiding.
• Li Jianke and Lian Shanbai attacked the monks, but a bristle-bearded monk unleashed a Consciousness Realm Sarira that trapped them in multicolored light.
• Zhou Yuan thrust with his sword, and his Death-Claiming Sword Intent caused the Sarira to crack and explode, killing all five monks.
• Chu Tianshu gathered five finished Consciousness Realm Sariras and sent a message into the sky demanding that his enemies come within one day or watch the treasures be destroyed.

Xiao Zhenru, Hou Tianyuan, and Dugu Jue learned that Chu Tianshu had disrupted the Consciousness Realm Sarira refinement and gathered to decide how to respond. They set out to confront him, with Xiao Zhenru embracing the Demonic Dao more fully as they flew across the waters on a vast flock of eagles.

• Xiao Zhenru, Hou Tianyuan, and Dugu Jue watched a multicolored challenge appear in the sky and discussed how many Consciousness Realm Sariras Xiao Liang had taken.
• A foreign monk reported that the Sheng-generation monks and the sariras in the Eighth Consciousness Realm were rapidly being destroyed.
• Hou Tianyuan and Dugu Jue identified Chu Tianshu as the likely culprit, while Dugu Jue's spies confirmed that his allies had been routing rampaging soldiers on the battlefield.
• Dugu Jue persuaded Xiao Zhenru that their unsettled hearts weakened their Demonic Dao powers, and Xiao Zhenru recognized that their conversation had helped him discern his true heart.
• Dugu Jue, Hou Tianyuan, and Xiao Zhenru rose into the sky on a massive flock of eagles and flew toward the horizon.

Chu Tianshu and Xiao Liang shattered eight relics to disrupt the black eagles and lure their attackers into battle. Chu Tianshu killed Hou Tianyuan, but two demonic figures struck from behind as the chapter ended.

• Xiao Liang reflected on the ruined town and shared a flatbread with Chu Tianshu while they waited for the enemy.
• As a vast flock of black eagles approached, Xiao Liang broke all eight relics, spreading colored fragments and ripples of intent through the town.
• The black eagles attacked amid collapsing houses while Hou Tianyuan concealed his killing strikes within shifting light and shadows, but Chu Tianshu repelled them.
• Hou Tianyuan, Dugu Jue, and Xiao Zhenru combined their power against Chu Tianshu, who used Four Seasons Tremble in Unison to divert their attack with four bolts of lightning.
• Chu Tianshu seized Hou Tianyuan and fought his golden technique as Xiao Liang appeared and pierced Hou Tianyuan's head with his sword, killing him.
• Two demonic figures descended behind Chu Tianshu and struck his back and head with Buddha light and demonic intent.

Chu Tianshu and Xiao Liang fought to escape the four experts’ encirclement, with Chu Tianshu badly injured and Xiao Liang’s sword hand damaged. Chu Tianshu used a sword strike empowered by the surrounding heaven and earth Qi to kill Qingsheng, then flew toward Xiao Zhenru.

• Qingsheng and Wubei attacked Chu Tianshu with Buddhist light, but Xiao Liang’s sword blocked Wubei’s beam while Chu Tianshu’s punch destroyed Hou Tianyuan’s corpse and carried him through the encirclement.
• Xiao Liang used four Penglai sword techniques to hold off Qingsheng, Wubei, Xiao Zhenru, and Dugu Jue, but the techniques badly split open the fingers of his sword hand.
• Chu Tianshu stitched his chest and injured meridians with his hair, then fought Qingsheng with alternating saber and sword techniques.
• Qingsheng pursued Chu Tianshu through the air and crushed an attacker hidden in the rubble, but the attack created an opening for Chu Tianshu to seize Sanqi.
• Chu Tianshu used the Nine-Nine Tribulation Ash Spirit-Shocking Manual to drain the surrounding Qi and kill Qingsheng with the Phoenix Nirvana Sword Strike.
• Chu Tianshu joined with Sanqi and flew toward Xiao Zhenru as a crimson sword-wielding figure.

Chu Tianshu and Xiao Liang defeated the five enemies, including Xiao Zhenru, Wubei, and Dugu Jue. Afterward, Chu Tianshu proposed visiting the Celebration of the Sage Temple to find Monk Qingsheng’s notes before anyone else could take them.

• Xiao Zhenru attacked Chu Tianshu while Chu Tianshu treated Xiao Liang’s damaged meridians, and Xiao Liang drove Wubei and Dugu Jue back with a rapid sword assault.
• Chu Tianshu returned to his body and killed Xiao Zhenru with repeated saber strikes.
• Chu Tianshu caught Wubei off guard with a saber and sword, then destroyed the evil spirit’s head.
• Xiao Liang and Chu Tianshu fought Dugu Jue together and killed him after five exchanges.
• Chu Tianshu suggested searching the Celebration of the Sage Temple for Monk Qingsheng’s notes, and Xiao Liang joked that Chu Tianshu was humane.

Lu Yuande built a concealment formation in Green Pine Valley, but an uninvited man in black recognized its origins and attacked the people there. The pine tree’s divine soul drove him away, while the intruder left to report the unexpected discovery to his master.

• Lu Yuande directed the valley’s residents to plant bamboo and position a carved stone, then used purple qi to establish the first part of a formation that concealed the grove and nearby houses from birds flying overhead.
• The man in black descended into the valley, identified the formation as a Purple Mansion Sect art, and deduced that Lu Yuande and Daoist Child Shitou were remnants of the sect.
• The man in black explained that he had come to borrow books from Chu Tianshu’s collection, then suddenly attacked Zhuo Xinlan as Lu Yuande tried to intervene.
• The pine tree’s divine soul appeared and caught the man’s attack, then fought off his Qimen Dunjia assaults after growing additional heads and arms.
• The pine tree’s divine soul extended a root through the ground, prompting the man in black to retreat; he later failed to use a curse on a piece of cloth she had taken and decided to report the encounter to his master.

Chu Tianshu uncovered Monk Qingsheng’s notes on the Eighth Consciousness Realm, then ordered Gao Min to provide food for the people of Jiyin Commandery. After learning an intruder had attacked his valley, he found the attacker’s cloth had been destroyed by a curse, while a Daoist in Guilin discussed Chu Tianshu and visited two imprisoned figures, including Zhang Tongxuan.

• Chu Tianshu found Monk Qingsheng’s secret notes and learned that Qingsheng’s demonic trait turned thoughts into stronger Mind Power as death approached.
• Xiao Liang announced that Chu Tianshu and his companions had killed the five chief culprits, and Chu Tianshu told Gao Min to feed Jiyin Commandery without taking grain from other commoners.
• Chu Tianshu left Zhou Yuan to oversee relief efforts, then returned to his valley and learned that an intruder had tried to steal his cultivation manuals and attacked Xiaolan and the others.
• The black cloth Chu Tianshu took from the pine spirit crumbled under a curse, and he sensed traces of both Demonic Dao and Daoist techniques.
• In Guilin, a Daoist warned Chen Zhuangzhi not to provoke or manipulate Chu Tianshu and went to check on two confined visitors.
• Grand Matriarch Gao learned from Huang that the secluded master of the southern Mystic Sect was Zhang Tongxuan.

Zhang Tongxuan’s history and the circumstances of his rise were recounted as he and Chen Zhuangzhi questioned the captured masters. The captives secretly exchanged escape plans, but the Yellow Mountain Ancestor’s attempt to flee was intercepted by Zhang Tongxuan.

• Zhang Tongxuan’s past debate with the Northern Celestial Master and the founding of the Mystic Sect were recounted, explaining why many had underestimated his strength.
• Chen Zhuangzhi told Grand Matriarch Gao that her disappearance would likely be concealed and questioned Silver Sand True Person about the Purple Mansion Sect.
• The captives secretly communicated through moisture in the mountain’s crevices and shared their escape methods with Grand Matriarch Gao and the Yellow Mountain Ancestor.
• At midnight, the Yellow Mountain Ancestor slipped his chains and rose from his well without alerting the guards.
• Zhang Tongxuan blocked the Yellow Mountain Ancestor’s path at the cliff, revealing that he had detected the escape attempt; the Yellow Mountain Ancestor declared that leaving the well gave him another chance.