Chapter Summaries

Chu Tianshu trained with the Great Void Heavenly Eye while the market expanded, then learned that the Grotto-Heaven ruins might collapse under pressure from an unknown ancient treasure. New intelligence revealed that a group led by a likely Taboo expert was preparing to attack the Baosheng Temple market, and Chu Tianshu considered whether the leader was connected to the Grotto-Heaven.

• Chu Tianshu completed another longer training session with the Great Void Heavenly Eye, and Chen Taozhi reported that fourteen more groups had joined the market’s intelligence network.
• Chu Tianshu and Chen Taozhi discussed how the growing market could support domestic resources and manpower once the Grotto-Heaven crisis was resolved.
• Yungu reported that pressure on the Grotto-Heaven ruins could cause them to collapse into an ordinary secret realm, and Chu Tianshu suspected ancient treasures were involved.
• Chu Tianshu learned that the Special Investigation Bureau had no equipment to detect ancient treasures, leaving the group without a way to locate the source of the pressure.
• Sun Buyuan reported that Cai Xinzhai’s werewolf partner had infiltrated a new group planning to attack the Baosheng Temple market, which appeared to be led by a Taboo expert.
• Chu Tianshu took the threat seriously and wondered whether the unknown Taboo expert and the Grotto-Heaven incident were connected.

In the jungle, Samar explained to Su Ha why they would attack the Baosheng Temple market before pursuing the holders of a great treasure, then gathered the recruited extraordinary people and led them toward the market. Andrei, trapped among the group, realized the market was likely doomed and hoped to help his partner escape amid the coming chaos.

• Su Ha met Samar in the jungle and reported that he had recruited forty-two extraordinary people to help carry away treasures from the market.
• Samar told Su Ha that he planned to ambush and gravely wound the market's Taboo gunman before pursuing the great treasure, and that the market's wealth would help him build his power.
• Samar decided to attack that night, flew with Su Ha to the hotel, and summoned the recruited group with a shock wave that shattered its windows.
• Andrei realized the market had not had time to seek help or relocate, while the other recruits agreed to follow Samar.
• Samar concealed the group's supernatural traces with his sulfurous presence as they traveled toward Baosheng Temple, and Andrei feared the market was doomed.

Chu Tianshu and his allies prepared to document and provoke a confrontation at the sorcerers’ market, where Samar launched an assault using a smell that distorted his opponents’ senses. Yungu and Chu Tianshu fought him off, and the chapter ended with Chu Tianshu preparing to defeat Samar quickly.

• Chu Tianshu showed Naichai a camera that could record supernatural beings and offered it for documenting the observation mission’s actions.
• Chu Tianshu told Chen Taozhi to inform Cai Xinzhai that their plan was to encourage the werewolf to gather evil-path sorcerers and attack the market.
• Yungu sensed Samar’s smell spread through the market, disorienting the stallholders and separating Yungu from the surrounding Primordial Qi.
• Yungu struck back after Samar’s palm attack, but Samar blocked Chu Tianshu’s follow-up hook and was sent tumbling across the path.
• Samar mistook Chu Tianshu for someone who had set a trap to kill him and declared that he had been underestimated.
• Yungu urged Chu Tianshu to knock Samar flat within ten seconds, and Chu Tianshu said he could not stand Samar that long.

Chu Tianshu defeated Samar in a lightning-fast fight and stood on his back as the market’s evil-path sorcerers were attacked by transforming black-and-white armor. The armor’s appearance startled Naichai and Samar, while Chen Taozhi explained the deployment and discussed a possible sale with Naichai.

• Chu Tianshu used sword-finger strikes to injure Samar, then overwhelmed his ball-shaped charge with palm force and knocked him down.
• Chu Tianshu planted both feet on Samar’s back as Su Ha and the others realized the sulfurous stench had vanished and Samar had been defeated.
• More than thirty black sedans transformed into black-and-white armored suits, which attacked and trapped the evil-path sorcerers in the market.
• Samar was stunned that the armor exceeded the capabilities of Indian research institutes, while Chu Tianshu laughed at the results of applying knowledge from the wasteland.
• Chen Taozhi told Naichai that Siam’s upper echelons knew about Chu Tianshu and described the cars as justified precautions; Naichai asked whether the automobiles might be sold.
• Andrei cried out that he was a friend and undercover agent, then called for Cai Xinzhai to save him.

Chu Tianshu interrogated Samar and learned that the Great Yu Dragon Stele was hidden on Great Tong Mountain, guarded by Luo Sichao. Samar revealed that Luo Sichao was a Yu Mountain Priest connected to the Ghost Mother of Yu Mountain, leaving Chu Tianshu with a new lead and a powerful enemy to investigate.

• Chu Tianshu questioned Su Ha and learned that the Dragon Flower Tree followers sought the Great Yu Dragon Stele, whose location Samar had discovered.
• Chu Tianshu used the Samadhi Divine Fire to burn away Samar’s power, then briefly restored and resealed his energy until Samar agreed to talk.
• Samar revealed that the Great Yu Dragon Stele was in the Thousand Flowers Forest on Great Tong Mountain by the Mekong River, guarded by Luo Sichao and possibly a companion.
• Samar explained that Luo Sichao was a Yu Mountain Priest, a reincarnated descendant of the Ghost Mother of Yu Mountain’s Spirit Realm clan who had awakened the wisdom of his past lives.

Chu Tianshu set the Special Investigation Bureau’s plan in motion to search the Golden Triangle while he and Yungu prepared to visit Luo Sichao. At Great Tong Mountain, Luo Sichao supplied Luo Hanwen with spirit blood and privately plotted to gain power as Spirit Realm visitors infiltrated human society.

• Chu Tianshu ordered Chen Taozhi to keep questioning Samar and told Sun Buyuan to advance the Bureau’s plan to search the Golden Triangle with help from cultivators and local forces.
• Chu Tianshu and Yungu set out to find Luo Sichao, taking the Formation-Breaking Spear and medicinal wine with them.
• The chapter revealed that armed men had taken over the beekeepers’ houses on Great Tong Mountain, where Luo Sichao lived beside the Great Yu Dragon Stele.
• Luo Hanwen asked Luo Sichao for more spirit blood, insisting that he needed to gain Yu Mountain’s recognition before Spirit Realm visitors replaced human leaders.
• Luo Sichao gave Luo Hanwen a syringe of spirit blood while privately hoping the infiltration plan would remain slow enough for him to strengthen himself and claim the best souls and blood food.

Chu Tianshu and Yungu discovered that Luo Sichao had filled the Thousand Flowers Forest mountain with tunnels that stored cultivated power, and they launched a coordinated attack on his lair. Luo Sichao fought Chu Tianshu by drawing on the tunnel network, while Yungu charged into the mountain’s root to wreck its power channels.

• Chu Tianshu and Yungu sensed an unusual flow of primordial Qi beneath the Thousand Flowers Forest and discovered tunnels spreading through the mountain to store cultivated power.
• Chu Tianshu used the Great Void Heavenly Eye to corrupt the stored power, turning it green and alerting Luo Sichao.
• Luo Sichao mobilized the tunnels’ power and sent five earth mounds surging toward Chu Tianshu, who pierced them with the Sanqi Divine Sword.
• Luo Sichao attacked Chu Tianshu with a whirlwind of leg strikes, and the two clashed as he reinforced himself with power from the tunnels.
• Yungu struck through the mountainside with his Formation-Breaking Spear and charged into the mountain’s root, damaging the tunnels and causing stored power to leak out as black smoke.

Chu Tianshu pursued Luo Sichao through the mountain and countered his Wild Goose Divine Language movement technique with a devastating fire palm and finger strike. Luo Sichao’s body was destroyed, but his evil spirit remained trapped in the flames as he demanded to know what technique Chu Tianshu had used.

• Luo Sichao used Wild Goose Divine Language to evade Chu Tianshu and hinder his pursuit with traces of force across the air.
• Chu Tianshu sent his divine sword after Luo Sichao, then attacked from above with a blazing palm strike.
• Luo Sichao severed his own head to let his headless body escape the palm, but Chu Tianshu smashed the head.
• Chu Tianshu redirected the palm’s remaining power through his middle finger and struck Luo Sichao’s body, destroying it in flames.
• Luo Sichao’s black evil spirit emerged from the burning remains, unable to escape, and asked Chu Tianshu about his palm and finger technique.

Zhang Mengxi persuaded his spirit-blooded followers to build support instead of launching a reckless invasion, then met Sahong to discuss Luo Sichao’s death and the threat posed by Chu Tianshu. Although Zhang Mengxi considered abandoning the Golden Triangle, Sahong insisted they must destroy the Grotto-Heaven before withdrawing, and Zhang Mengxi agreed to consider their remaining options.

• Zhang Mengxi told the armed men that the evil path had often been orthodox, but warned that unrestrained violence would bring their destruction.
• Zhang Mengxi urged his followers to conceal their nature and gather allies, convincing the crowd to accept his strategy.
• Sahong told Zhang Mengxi that Luo Sichao had been killed by Chu Tianshu and another human Taboo, and Zhang Mengxi studied a report about Baosheng Temple’s market campaign.
• Zhang Mengxi judged that the Mystic Kingdom had enough Taboos to threaten them and proposed abandoning the Golden Triangle.
• Sahong argued that leaving would doom their mission to destroy the Grotto-Heaven, and Zhang Mengxi agreed that they had to destroy it before withdrawing.

Chu Tianshu and Yungu captured Luo Sichao and discovered that the Great Yu Dragon Stele could be divided by a secret method, then questioned Luo Hanwen about the Yu Mountain Priests’ influence. The next day, Alexis Green arrived on behalf of Victor Green to discuss the Golden Triangle, while Sahong and Zhang Mengxi watched the Americas move toward recognizing the North Sai Democratic State.

• Yungu captured the armed men at Great Tong Mountain and subdued Luo Hanwen, while Chu Tianshu imprisoned Luo Sichao.
• Chu Tianshu examined the Great Yu Dragon Stele and used True Words Soul Bewitchment to learn from Luo Hanwen that a Yu Mountain Priest had devoured Sahong and that Zhang Mengxi might be under their control.
• Chu Tianshu arranged for the stele to be removed and returned to the market, where he planned to question Luo Sichao.
• Alexis Green arrived by plane and introduced himself as Victor Green’s representative, then connected Chu Tianshu to Victor to discuss the Golden Triangle’s resources and international cooperation.
• Chu Tianshu revealed Luo Sichao in his teapot and challenged Victor’s claims about cooperating with Sahong, while Victor and Alexis argued for civility and peace.
• Sahong told Zhang Mengxi that the Americas were preparing to recognize the North Sai Democratic State, and Zhang compared the political situation to tea leaves spreading through boiling water.

Chu Tianshu negotiated with Victor while preparing to counter American interference, then learned the Great Yu Dragon Stele could measure cultivation realms. The stele revealed the first four great realms and showed that Chu Tianshu had advanced farther than Yungu, leaving him with new information about Self-Perfecting Transformation.

• Chu Tianshu invited Victor to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Sahong, but Victor only promised to pass along the request.
• After Victor left, Chu Tianshu told Chen Taozhi he suspected the Americans wanted to prevent nearby countries from cooperating, and he asked their people to intercept Victor’s communications.
• Sun Buyuan reported that the Great Yu Dragon Stele could be activated by Kingdom-Founding Dragon Qi and that dripping blood between the brows could make it measure realms.
• Yungu tested the stele, which identified six realms and showed his level near the beginning of the second realm.
• Chu Tianshu tested the stele and reached nearly halfway through its second layer, receiving detailed information about Self-Perfecting Transformation.

Chu Tianshu learned the three paths to Mortal Transcendence Great Accomplishment and resolved to pursue all three before attempting Returning Light. After Luo Sichao died under the Great Void Heavenly Eye, Chen Taozhi reported that Victor was heading to Kachin State Airport, and Chu Tianshu prepared to use the Heavenly Eye to investigate.

• Yungu explained that Mortal Transcendence Great Accomplishment had three paths—Leakless Innate Nature, Leakless True Force, and Leakless Mystic Art—and that a cultivator's path became fixed after the first attempt to reach Returning Light.
• Chu Tianshu decided to aim for accomplishment in all three paths and began tempering himself with the Great Void Heavenly Eye alongside Yungu.
• Chu Tianshu intensified the Heavenly Eye's light until it destroyed Luo Sichao, whose final curse warned that Sahong would make Chu Tianshu experience helplessness between life and death.
• Chen Taozhi reported that Victor had bought a plane ticket under a false identity to Kachin State Airport in Pagan and might travel through the jungle to reach the Golden Triangle.
• Chu Tianshu told Chen Taozhi that the team should wait until they could use Victor to locate Sahong, then aligned the Great Void Heavenly Eye with his right eye.

Victor met with Sahong to verify the Spirit Realm’s ability to transport resources, while Chu Tianshu and Yungu secretly observed. After Sahong and Zhang Mengxi demonstrated the transport and arrived in person, Sahong detected Chu Tianshu, who launched a sudden sword attack that froze the scene.

• Chu Tianshu and Yungu followed Victor from the airport to an abandoned factory without being noticed.
• Victor contacted Sahong and agreed to inspect the Spirit Realm’s transport capacity by helping establish a Spirit Track Formation.
• Victor used formations to dig trenches across the factory grounds, and Sahong guided him in pouring the supplied materials into them.
• The trenches produced far more Spirit Blood than the crates contained, and Sahong and Zhang Mengxi appeared at the factory to demonstrate the transport’s potential.
• Sahong sensed Chu Tianshu hiding in the forest, and Chu Tianshu sent out his Sword Soul to attack, freezing the people and Spirit Blood in place.

Chu Tianshu unleashed the Phoenix Nirvana Sword Strike, incinerating Zhang Mengxi and destroying the evil spirit within him. He then frightened Victor into fleeing and turned his attention to Sahong, who was restrained by Yungu as Chu Tianshu attacked.

• Sahong pushed Zhang Mengxi into the path of Chu Tianshu’s sword, but Zhang Mengxi caught the blade between his palms.
• Chu Tianshu’s Phoenix Nirvana Sword Strike ignited the surrounding vital Qi, burning Zhang Mengxi and the evil spirit inside him to ash.
• After being blasted backward, Chu Tianshu retreated into the mountain forest while Sahong began activating the trenches with dark purple flames.
• Yungu charged in and disrupted the trench formation, pinning Sahong’s spearhead as Sahong called for Victor’s help.
• Chu Tianshu confronted Victor in three steps, and Victor fled using a red cloak that turned him into fast-moving smoke.
• Yungu’s Gang Qi wrapped around Sahong’s wrist as Chu Tianshu advanced and thrust his sword toward Sahong’s face.

Chu Tianshu and Yungu fought Sahong together, using saber, spear, and the Great Void Heavenly Eye to overcome his defenses. Sahong was killed and his sinister Qi was destroyed when Chu Tianshu charged into the purple tornado and shattered the chimney he had turned into a cannon.

• Sahong tried to repair the Spirit Track Formation, but Chu Tianshu and Yungu pressed him with coordinated saber and spear attacks.
• Chu Tianshu’s Great Void Heavenly Eye subtly influenced Sahong’s movements, allowing Yungu to predict his dodges and keep him trapped in their rhythm.
• Sahong lost his right arm and used the Three Lives One Heart Jade to turn a red-brick chimney into a cannon that unleashed a purple tornado.
• Chu Tianshu used the spear and the Great Void Heavenly Eye to break through the tornado and pierce Sahong, causing his body to explode and leaving his evil spirit impaled.
• Chu Tianshu charged into the tornado and destroyed the chimney, dispersing its sinister Qi and reducing the evil spirit on the spear to nothing.

Chu Tianshu used the gathered evil-spirit materials to optimize his cultivation method into the Great Void Sun-Boiling True Exposition, which could let him wield the Great Void Heavenly Eye more effectively. Meanwhile, Alexis received Victor’s warning to comply with Chu Tianshu’s demands, and wondered whether he was being told to show submission on his uncle’s behalf.

• Chu Tianshu combined the evil-spirit materials and Zhang Tongxuan’s trait to create the Great Void Sun-Boiling True Exposition.
• Chu Tianshu realized the new technique could help him adapt to the Great Void Heavenly Eye and eventually convert his cultivation power into formless Sha Fire.
• Yungu expelled the Heavenly Eye from his spear and handed it to Chu Tianshu, who called Sanqi back and asked about Teacher Little Yuan.
• Chu Tianshu decided to message the others before visiting the Grotto-Heaven, while Chen Taozhi hurried toward Alexis after seeing a message on his watch.
• Alexis received Victor’s instruction to accept Chu Tianshu’s conditions and stay alive, then suspected Victor wanted him to demonstrate submission.

The armies of Siam, Pagan, and another neighboring country advanced into the Golden Triangle, where Zheng Jing and the black-and-white armored warriors helped crush the armed resistance. Yungu recovered the stone stele linked to the Grotto-Heaven ruins, while Chu Tianshu and Sun Buyuan prepared to release evidence against Sahong as a storm gathered.

• The Kingdom of Siam’s commander received orders confirming that North America’s ambassador had agreed with the Mystic Kingdom, and he ordered his troops to carry them out fully.
• The armies of three neighboring countries joined forces and advanced into the Golden Triangle as fighting spread through the mountains and settlements.
• Zheng Jing killed the defense corps leader’s guards, returned to the drug factory, and supervised the Siamese officer’s inventory and destruction of its supplies.
• Black-and-white armored warriors reinforced the Kingdom of Pagan’s troops and crushed the armed men’s counterattacks, while Yungu found and removed the stone stele from Sahong’s safe.
• Chu Tianshu and Sun Buyuan discussed releasing evidence from the reporter and the soldiers’ body cameras as thunder and lightning signaled approaching rain.

Chu Tianshu and Chen Taozhi explored Chen Ying’s Grotto-Heaven and discovered it could neutralize the backlash from failed breakthroughs, potentially helping practitioners attempt dangerous advances more safely. Chu Tianshu then found Yuan Zhonglü asleep under a turtle-breathing technique and took her out for congee.

• Chu Tianshu brought Chen Taozhi into the Grotto-Heaven, where Yungu guided them to Chen Ying.
• Chen Ying recognized Chen Taozhi’s planned breakthrough and invited him to attempt it in the Grotto-Heaven.
• Chen Taozhi failed his breakthrough without suffering his usual backlash and quickly identified his mistake.
• Chen Ying explained that the Grotto-Heaven could neutralize backlash for many practitioners, and could intercept about seventy percent of Chu Tianshu’s cultivation backlash.
• Chen Ying brought out the sleeping Yuan Zhonglü, who had been using turtle breathing, and Chu Tianshu took her out for congee.

Wei Qidong agreed to oversee Shencheng while Qin Si prepared to attempt a breakthrough, and she and Helai discussed the Grotto-Heaven’s benefits and the dangers of expanding into the Spirit Realm. After Chu Tianshu left for another trip, he returned home and entered a river landscape where fishermen sang.

• Helai told Wei Qidong that Qin Si might be reassigned to attempt a breakthrough to the Taboo and asked her to watch over Shencheng.
• Wei Qidong reviewed the Golden Triangle mission report and learned that the Grotto-Heaven could help resolve backlash, even for those who had entered the Taboo.
• Helai described dangerous Spirit Realm regions and said that flying toward the area corresponding to Shencheng had nearly left him lost; Wei Qidong agreed to keep watch there.
• Helai bowed to three incense sticks facing Lingnan, and Chu Tianshu entered with medicinal incense, mistaking the ritual for a crude curse.
• Chu Tianshu left on another trip, then returned home, vanished through a door, and found himself beside a river where fishermen sang.

Chu Tianshu saved Yao San’s child from a giant eagle and discovered that he had returned to the Great Tang world. When the falcon’s owner, a prince, arrived with armed riders and ordered the fishermen killed, Chu Tianshu confronted the group.

• A giant eagle snatched Yao San’s child, but Chu Tianshu severed its talons, caught the child, and healed his wounds.
• Chu Tianshu killed the eagle and handed the unharmed child to the old fisherman, who warned him the bird might belong to a wealthy household.
• Chu Tianshu recognized the Great Tang world through his token and sensed riders approaching; his Heavenly Eye revealed two extraordinarily tall, heavily trained men among them.
• The prince accused Chu Tianshu and the fishermen of killing his falcon, then ordered Guard Zhao to kill the commoners and demanded that Chu Tianshu’s clothes be stripped off.
• When the riders’ horses refused to move, Chu Tianshu rebuked the group and commanded them to kneel and answer.