Chapter Summaries

Yang Lingrui entered the Soul-Return Dao Art to attempt the Soul-Severing Karma Cut, while the eight righteous Dao Venerables prepared to protect him and locate the soul realm. The chapter ended with Yang Lingrui encountering his first obstacle inside the soul art.

• Venerable Xuansheng reassured Yang Lingrui that the eight Venerables would defend the righteous path if he could not complete the soul-severing act.
• Yang Lingrui thanked the Venerables, climbed their Zhen Xuan staircase, and entered the Soul-Return Dao Art.
• Venerable Shuying worried about the risk to Yang Lingrui, while Azure Bamboo Venerable explained that his attempt offered the best hope of saving the departed souls and stopping the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord's scheme.
• The Venerables agreed that, if Yang Lingrui failed, they would enter the soul art together and sacrifice their lifespans to contain its influence, despite the suffering this would cause returned souls.
• Venerable Xuansheng divided the Venerables between guarding Yang Lingrui and searching for the soul realm, and Yang Lingrui encountered his first obstacle inside the soul art.

Yang Lingrui reunited with Yang Linghu's awakened soul in the sea of fog and explained that only forty years had passed since his death. Yang Lingrui thanked his elder brother for sacrificing himself for the Yang Clan, leaving the two brothers together as Lingrui honored him.

• Yang Lingrui recognized that Yang Linghu's soul was genuinely connected to the severed arm buried in Pine Mountain Cemetery.
• Yang Linghu explained that he had drifted in a vast sea before a force awakened him in the sea of fog, and he held back questions about Wu Tong and his child when he noticed Lingrui's serious expression.
• Yang Lingrui sat down to speak with Yang Linghu and told him he had entered the True Intent Realm.
• Yang Linghu was shocked by Lingrui's cultivation and worried that his wife and child might have died during the many years since his death.
• Yang Lingrui told Yang Linghu that only forty years had passed and credited his success to the Yang Clan's fortunes, Sister Qing's leadership, and Yang Linghu's devotion.
• Yang Lingrui knelt and saluted Yang Linghu, thanking him for risking his life to secure the Yang Clan's future.

Yang Lingrui told Yang Linghu about his son Yang Yuanhong’s extraordinary rise and showed him images of Wu Tong and Yuanhong throughout his life. As Yang Linghu watched, an unseen fluctuation from the Soul Law mist approached and began to make his soul frenzy.

• Yang Linghu learned that Wu Tong had named their son Yang Yuanhong and eagerly praised the name.
• Yang Lingrui explained that Yuanhong became a dragon-bodied prodigy, earned the title Vaulting Dragon Lord, reached the True Intent Realm as Dragon Martial, and secured aid that helped the Yang Clan become independent.
• Yang Linghu asked to see Wu Tong and Yuanhong, and Yang Lingrui used the soul stele to manifest them and show Yuanhong at every stage of his life.
• A faint fluctuation emerged from the Soul Law mist and drifted toward Yang Linghu, whose soul began showing signs of frenzy.
• Yang Lingrui noticed the danger and realized he could not fully understand the living peak expert’s Soul-Returning Method.

Chen Yang used True God Authority to empower the Lagging Light Divine Technique and overwhelm Qin Changsheng while Dark Underworld Venerable watched. Qin Changsheng remained trapped defending the aspect realm, and Dark Underworld Venerable still could not discern the secret behind Chen Yang’s strange technique.

• Chen Yang’s empowered Lagging Light Divine Technique let him strike both peak cultivators with concealed Zhen Xuan impacts.
• Dark Underworld Venerable realized Chen Yang had been hiding a powerful trump card and held back from attacking.
• Chen Yang forced Qin Changsheng toward the edge of the aspect realm, while Qin Changsheng continued protecting the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord’s tribulation.
• Chen Yang increased his use of divine power and struck Qin Changsheng with three Zhen Xuan impacts, driving him into the aspect realm’s barrier.
• Dark Underworld Venerable watched closely but found no trace of spellwork that could explain Chen Yang’s technique.

Chen Yang relentlessly battered Qin Changsheng, destroying several of his artifacts while Dark Underworld Venerable chose not to interfere. Qin Changsheng then faced Chen Yang’s attacks with his own body, revealing a strange defense that consumed life force from somewhere else, and Chen Yang realized he had not seriously injured him.

• Dark Underworld Venerable decided against attacking Chen Yang, wary of the consequences and the child’s ties to Yang Yuanhong’s lineage.
• Chen Yang struck Qin Changsheng with True Profound Impacts, breaking through his Yang-fire protection and damaging his Dao robe, Dharma sword, and Yang-law talisman.
• Qin Changsheng praised Chen Yang’s technique but realized negotiation was impossible as the assault continued.
• Qin Changsheng put away his damaged Dao robe and let Chen Yang’s attacks hit his body directly.
• Chen Yang sensed that the blows consumed life force that did not belong to Qin Changsheng, who emerged without substantial injury.

The chapter revealed how Qin Changsheng used his Extreme Yang Dao arts to inspire mortals to seek the Dao, hoping to repair their aptitudes and let everyone on the Canglan Continent cultivate. His efforts had yielded no known success, and Dark Underworld Venerable reacted with killing intent after Qin Changsheng openly disclosed the Extreme Yang Path.

• Dark Underworld Venerable grew wary when Qin Changsheng revealed the cultivation method of the Extreme Yang Path.
• Qin Changsheng traveled among mortals as a fortune-teller, storyteller, and swordsman, helping people and fighting evildoers.
• Qin Changsheng used his Dao arts to make mortals dream of cultivating, then gave those who sought the Dao orthodox qi-gathering methods.
• Mortals with blocked or incomplete Qi Meridians failed to cultivate and returned to Qin Changsheng for help.
• Qin Changsheng had hoped to repair mortal aptitudes so everyone in the Canglan Continent could enter the Dao, but his efforts had produced no results.

Qin Changsheng’s past revealed how he left Lingxiao Dao Academy and rose to the top of the demonic lands by carrying the aspirations of mortals through the Extreme Yang Path. Chen Yang abandoned his attempt to kill Qin Changsheng and began attacking the phase realm’s ceiling, leaving Qin Changsheng unable to stop him.

• Qin Changsheng left Lingxiao Dao Academy after its elders confined him for pursuing a Dao that clashed with their beliefs, then entered the Vast Sea Demonic Land and cultivated the Extreme Yang Path.
• Qin Changsheng used the suffering of mortals in the demonic lands to offer them power and carried their destinies within himself as he rose to the highest position in the demonic lands.
• Chen Yang sensed the collective strength within Qin Changsheng and judged that his limited True God Authority could not reliably kill him.
• Chen Yang redirected his attacks toward the phase realm’s ceiling and blasted a massive dent into it with repeated True Profound Impacts.
• Qin Changsheng realized he could not stop Chen Yang from destroying the phase realm and sent a transmission to the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord, who was undergoing Tribulation Crossing.

The Myriad Corpses Demon Lord began his ascension tribulation and tried to escape into the Sea of Corpse Souls, while Chen Yang used his remaining divine power to stop him. Chen Yang’s attack landed just before his time-freezing technique failed, erasing one of the Demon Lord’s legs and nearly half his body.

• The Myriad Corpses Demon Lord recognized the Nine Lives Manifestation Tribulation and resolved to prioritize surviving and ascending over its hidden boon.
• The Myriad Corpses Demon Lord opened a passage to the Sea of Corpse Souls and carried Cui Shenyoo toward it with the Soul-Return Dao Art.
• Chen Yang froze time throughout the collapsing space with the Lagging Light Divine Technique and refused Blood Sun Venerable God’s offer of divine power.
• Chen Yang gathered the power of five thousand Zhen Xuan and struck the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord with a True Profound Impact.
• The True Profound Impact erased one of the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord’s legs and nearly half his body before Chen Yang’s divine power ran dry.

After driving off the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord, Chen Yang spoke with Xu Cang and arranged additional help for Yang Lingrui, hoping he could later strike the fleeing demon and capture the last Upper Realm split soul. Yang Lingrui received Xu Cang’s power in the Soul Law Land and was able to advance deeper.

• Chen Yang apologized to Xu Cang for failing to capture the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord’s split soul, but Xu Cang thanked him for detaining the other two and stabilizing Azure Waves.
• Chen Yang told Xu Cang that Yang Lingrui might get another chance to strike the demon in the Soul Sea Land and asked whether Xu Cang could provide him with aid.
• Xu Cang agreed to help Yang Lingrui, whose killing Dao talent could make him a future peak cultivator.
• Yang Lingrui sensed Xu Cang’s power joining the Immortal Venerable’s Illuminating Radiance, allowing him to resist the soul-returning power and walk deeper into the Soul Law Land.

Yang Lingrui resisted the Soul Dao technique’s attempt to trap him, and Chen Yang explained that its attempt to redirect heavenly punishment would instead help temper Yang Lingrui’s blade. Yang Lingrui merged with the surrounding space as the tribulation locked onto his ghost-headed saber and unleashed a storm of thunderous weapons.

• The Soul Dao technique failed to overcome the Bright Mirror and tried to shift the Great Dao’s punishment onto Yang Lingrui.
• Xu Cang offered to eliminate the gathering tribulation, but Chen Yang refused and explained that Yang Lingrui could use it to temper his blade.
• Yang Lingrui broke through the Soul Dao fog and stepped into the air to meet the punishment tribulation.
• Yang Lingrui merged with the spatial domain, causing the tribulation to lose track of his body.
• The tribulation locked onto Yang Lingrui’s ghost-headed saber and transformed its lightning into a rain of thunder-art blades and weapons.

Yang Lingrui’s Ghost-Head Long Saber survived the Redfire Tribulation, and he emerged in a bloodfire-red robe to strike the Soul Law Spirit. The spirit escaped his attack and summoned a host of familiar Arcane Corpses to block his path.

• Chen Yang refused to help Yang Lingrui dispel the tribulation, insisting that the blade had to withstand its tempering.
• The Ghost-Head Long Saber absorbed the Redfire Tribulation and burst from the molten fire as Yang Lingrui rose with it in hand.
• Yang Lingrui struck the Soul Law Spirit, cutting away fifty years of its refined lifespan, but the spirit hid itself in the fog.
• The Soul Law Spirit sent twenty or thirty Arcane Corpses—all cultivators Yang Lingrui had killed, now strengthened to the True Intent Realm—to confront him.

Chen Yang tried to end his fight with Dark Underworld Venerable and Qin Changsheng after the Upper Realm cultivator disappeared, while hinting that other forces were involved in the Great Competition of Two Daos. He left them wondering about the hidden threat he had sensed beneath Canglan Continent.

• Chen Yang warned Dark Underworld Venerable and Qin Changsheng that he had no reason to keep fighting now that Ten Thousand Corpses had taken the Upper Realm cultivator away.
• Dark Underworld Venerable asked Chen Yang to stay until the Great Competition of Two Daos ended, saying his departure would leave him uneasy.
• Chen Yang asked whether Dark Underworld Venerable was certain there were no other variables in the contest, prompting both opponents to question his meaning.
• Chen Yang recalled sensing an aura in Canglan Continent that matched the calamitous black shadows he had seen in the Illusory Realm of Time.
• Chen Yang had used the Bright Mirror atop the Canglan Divine Palace to show the gods the shadows, and they understood that hidden beings beyond the Canglan gods were watching the contest.

Chen Yang realized the shadowy beings were lingering karmic poisons from the old Divine Path and reasoned that the Old Divine Lord had buried the gods to weaken their influence. He concluded that the Soul-Severing Karma Cut in Canglan Continent might trigger their arrival.

• Chen Yang deduced that the shadowy beings were remnants of the karma tied to the Divine Path’s destruction.
• Chen Yang concluded that the Old Divine Lord had hunted and buried the gods both to resist the Outer-Heaven Cataclysm and to reduce the old karma’s effects on the future.
• Chen Yang considered what event could draw the karmic remnants into the present world and reviewed the great variables gathering around the Great Competition of Two Daos.
• Chen Yang realized that the fighting beyond Heaven had not summoned the remnants and turned his attention to the Soul-Severing Karma Cut being carried out by the Dao Venerable of the Righteous Path and Yang Lingrui.

The karmic remnants of the old Divine Path suppressed Azure Waves to preserve their existence and force the predetermined rise of the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord. Chen Yang’s withdrawal and the Demon Lord’s worsening position left their plan hanging by a thread.

• The karmic remnants lost Chen Yang’s trail after he sealed his doors and went into seclusion, while Wu Chang remained trapped and unable to provide them with clues.
• The remnants realized they could not abandon their foothold in immortal Dao karma because the Temporal Divine Seal would let the River of Time erase them.
• The remnants sought to seize the bodies of Divine Path survivors such as Chen Yang and Wu Chang to escape that fate.
• The remnants used Azure Waves’ karmic power to suppress variables and preserve the predetermined trajectory of the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord ascending to the heavens.
• Chen Yang had severely wounded the Myriad Corpses Demon Lord, and Yang Lingrui threatened to sever his connection to the Soul Severing Realm.

Shen Yue and several powerful cultivators heard an indistinct voice calling for help near Demon Suppression Pass. Ling Shuang connected the listeners through their ties to Yang Lingrui, leaving them to investigate the call’s meaning.

• Shen Yue heard a familiar voice calling to him and followed it to the Black Flame Barrier at Demon Suppression Pass.
• Ling Shuang, Mo Yunzhou, Xiao, and Chi Tian arrived after hearing the same call.
• Mo Yunzhou suggested the listeners shared a connection, and Ling Shuang traced it to their ties with Yang Lingrui.
• Ling Shuang concluded that Yang Lingrui was most likely sending the call, and the group began comparing what they had heard.

Yang Lingqing figured out that Yang Lingrui’s call for help referred to the True Self Cave Heaven, which could serve as a route to reach him in the Soul Law Land. She sent four cultivators through the cave heaven to aid him, while he remained trapped amid the dharma corpses.

• Yun Xiwu told Yang Lingqing that Yang Lingrui had once experienced a special space while his soul was scattered in the Wind Cavern.
• Yang Lingqing reasoned that a special space could let cultivators bypass the distance to the Central Region and reach Yang Lingrui.
• Yang Lingqing identified the True Self Cave Heaven as an accessible space and ordered Xue Qingluan and Chen Huaien to open a path to it.
• Yang Lingqing sent Yang Yuanhong, Yun Xiwu, Ying Cai, and Shenwu to help Yang Lingrui, and the four entered the cave heaven with Xue Qingluan and Chen Huaien.
• Yang Lingrui remained trapped in the Soul Law Land, enduring the dangers surrounding him.

Yang Lingrui summoned Yang Yuanhong’s power through the Soul Intent Descent Technique, unsettling the Soul Law Spirit’s belief that trust between cultivators was impossible. After Yang Lingrui provoked it into revealing its aura, Yang Yuanhong attacked the spirit.

• The Soul Law Spirit recognized the Soul Intent Descent Technique and was shocked that Yang Yuanhong had entrusted Yang Lingrui with his soul intent.
• Yang Lingrui challenged the Soul Law Spirit’s cynical beliefs and said its experience in the demonic land had made it narrow-minded.
• The Soul Law Spirit grew angry, stirred the wind and sand, and pinned Yang Lingrui in place as it defended its views.
• Yang Lingrui’s provocation made the Soul Law Spirit lose control and reveal its aura, giving Yang Lingrui and Yang Yuanhong an opening.
• Yang Yuanhong attacked the Soul Law Spirit, multiplying his punch into more than a hundred strikes.

Yang Yuanhong countered four Dharma corpses summoned by the Soul Law Spirit and quickly destroyed them with his perfected strength arts. The Soul Law Spirit was left facing Yang Yuanhong’s overwhelming combat ability.

• Yang Lingrui identified the four Dharma corpses’ sword, fire, lightning, and sound attacks and shared their positions with Yang Yuanhong.
• Yang Yuanhong shielded Yang Lingrui with his dragon shadow as a spatial sword strike pierced his body.
• Yang Yuanhong used the Blood Refining Technique to refine the sword and returned its sword qi, destroying the sword cultivator Dharma corpse.
• Yang Yuanhong created countless Martial Qi illusory bodies that overwhelmed two more Dharma corpses.
• Yang Yuanhong struck down the final Dharma corpse with his black dragon breath.

Yun Xiwu and Yang Lingrui used the Void Nether Divine Wind to weaken the Soul Law Spirit and help Yang Lingrui regain most of his strength. Yang Lingrui and Yang Yuanhong defeated the Dragon-Slaying Corpse, but the Soul Law Spirit retaliated with a powerful fist that left Yang Yuanhong injured.

• Yun Xiwu secretly joined Yang Lingrui in spreading the Void Nether Divine Wind, costing the Soul Law Spirit five years of lifespan and restoring Yang Lingrui to about ninety percent of his peak strength.
• Yang Lingrui summoned a divine wind sword and joined Yang Yuanhong in battle against the Dragon-Slaying Corpse, quickly suppressing it.
• Yang Lingrui severed the Dragon-Slaying Corpse's arm, prompting the Soul Law Spirit to block the pair's finishing attack with a spatial barrier.
• The Soul Law Spirit sent a massive fist shadow at the two Yangs; Yang Yuanhong confronted it while Yang Lingrui pursued the wounded corpse.
• Yang Yuanhong was blasted back by the fist, but Yang Lingrui killed the Dragon-Slaying Corpse, allowing Yang Yuanhong to reform his dragon body and return to his side.

Yang Lingrui attacked the Buddhist monk’s dharma corpse, whose Buddhist techniques suppressed his killing intent and battered Shenwu’s soul intent. After withdrawing Shenwu to protect it, Yang Lingrui pressed on with a direct assault and discovered the weak point behind the monk’s left ear.

• Yang Lingrui attacked the Buddhist monk’s dharma corpse with the Soul-Slaying Blade and the Void Nether Divine Wind sword, while the monk repelled him with Buddhist radiance.
• Yang Lingrui used phantom bodies to distract the monk, then struck at his neck with the Divine Wind sword, but the monk’s Immovable Vajra form withstood the blow.
• The monk suppressed Yang Lingrui’s killing intent and struck Shenwu’s soul intent repeatedly with the Vajra Fist Seal.
• Yang Lingrui withdrew Shenwu to prevent further damage, then attacked the monk’s golden body without defending himself.
• Yang Lingrui targeted the Yifeng acupoint behind the monk’s left ear, the concealed weakness in his Immovable Golden Body Technique.