Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou and Buddha Son Shigong traveled toward Western Kunlun as Zhang Xuezhou prepared Shigong for his impending sleep. After Zhang Xuezhou fell unconscious, Shigong discovered that his purple-gold gourd seemed to have a mysterious use.

• Zhang Xuezhou reflected that the Western Aparagodaniya Continent relied on a few powerful cultivators, while Buddha Son Shigong had limited experience beyond the Greater Yuezhi Kingdom.
• Zhang Xuezhou refused the fish and told Buddha Son Shigong that a Brahma Udumbara Lotus could keep him full but might make him sleep for days.
• Buddha Son Shigong agreed to protect Zhang Xuezhou on their journey, since he needed him to lead the way to Western Kunlun Holy Land.
• Zhang Xuezhou suddenly fell into a deep, difficult-to-wake sleep, and Buddha Son Shigong checked his breathing and belongings.
• Buddha Son Shigong filled Zhang Xuezhou's purple-gold gourd with stream water and noticed that water repeatedly vanished from it, prompting him to suspect it had a hidden use.

Zhang Xuezhou woke in the X432 device and learned that Zuo Quan and his associates had done something to his body while he was unconscious. He found no obvious tumor, but discovered that a large amount of foreign mental energy had partly healed his brain injury while leaving him at risk of severe complications.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke without pain and checked his condition while Zhang Manqian and Ren Anran described what they had observed and overheard during the night.
• Zhang Xuezhou’s readings returned to normal, but the X432 device could not determine whether he had a tumor, and he found no unusual lumps by examining himself.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized that his brain injury had improved and sensed powerful mental energy that did not belong to him, separated from his own mental power.
• Ren Anran warned that the foreign energy could cause a dangerous rejection, while Zhang Xuezhou said he would try to adjust it using the X432 device.
• Zhang Manqian wondered whether Zuo Luo might return for revenge, but Zhang Xuezhou reasoned that transferring so much mental energy had likely weakened Zuo Luo severely.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others investigated the foreign mental energy isolated inside his damaged brain region and decided to pursue a risky advance in the Mental Strengthening Chapter to protect him. They also prepared to obtain Aomeijia Alliance medicine and pressure the alliance, while Zhang Manqian was set to compete in the Third Sequence contest.

• Ren Yisheng, Ren Anran, Zhang Manqian, and Zhang Xuezhou discussed the unexplained mental energy in Zhang Xuezhou’s brain, and Zhang Xuezhou’s call confirmed Zuo Luo was unavailable.
• Ren Yisheng suggested eliminating Zuo Luo, but Ren Anran warned that doing so could make the mental energy run wild, while Zhang Manqian relayed Huang’s advice to strengthen Zhang Xuezhou’s mind first.
• Ren Anran urged Ren Yisheng to combine his revised fifth chapter with her sixth chapter to create material for a risky advance, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed to try it.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered his cultivation conditions and planned to use Ren Yisheng’s guidance, medicine, and possible help from Kunlun Sacred Land to advance.
• Ren Anran said they needed Aomeijia Alliance’s X864 Gene Medicine, and Ren Yisheng said Zhang Manqian would travel there to compete in the Third Sequence contest while he organized pressure over the international dispute.

Zhang Xuezhou went to take office as director of the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums Management Office, hoping to use the site’s Fortune while recovering his health. His inauguration became a vast show of force, with old-order remnants and heavily armed officials gathered around the ceremony.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Li discussed Wang Li’s slow sequence advancement and how he might train to absorb blood serum faster.
• Zhang Xuezhou arrived at the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums area for his inauguration ceremony, accompanied by Wang Li.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw the elaborate reception Li Yingbo and the others had arranged, with crowds, officials, reporters, and a marching band lining the route.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized that the ceremony also displayed force against old-order remnants, as special task force members and other armed groups gathered around the venue.

At his inauguration as head of the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums, Zhang Xuezhou proposed shifting Luofu Dynasty projects from public subsidies to a profit-based model and investing in a major history museum. He pledged 300 million and drew further contributions from the powerful figures gathered there.

• Zhang Xuezhou met with Feng Xiangyu and other representatives of the Luofu Dynasty’s diehards and hangers-on during his inauguration.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran told Feng Xiangyu that future films, books, repairs, and events would need to be funded and managed by their organizers.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed turning the imperial mausoleums into a history museum and pledged 300 million to develop it.
• Wang Haoran and Zhu Liangping each pledged ten million, and other attendees, including Zuo Quan, also offered investments.

Zhang Xuezhou proposed turning the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums into a vast historical and tourist complex, winning Feng Xiangyu’s support and prompting him to seek funding from the loyalists and descendants. The construction could also give Zhang a chance to uncover the strange means Huang Daoxian had left behind.

• Feng Xiangyu asked Zhang Xuezhou for a concrete plan after committee members and alternate members pledged a total of 230 million.
• Zhang Xuezhou sketched a blueprint for sixty-eight historical memorial museums covering the Luofu Dynasty’s history, alongside hotels, shops, entertainment, and other attractions.
• Feng Xiangyu questioned the scale and commercial facilities, but Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran argued that a lively tourist destination would preserve the dynasty’s heritage.
• Zhu Liangping explained that the committee could offer policy support but not large-scale funding, so Zhang Xuezhou asked Feng Xiangyu to seek contributions from the loyalists and descendants.
• Feng Xiangyu accepted the task and went to gather the loyalists and descendants, seeing the project as a way to preserve their heritage and support their livelihoods.
• Wang Haoran and Zhu Liangping realized the project would allow extensive excavation at the mausoleums, where Zhang Xuezhou might uncover the strange means Huang Daoxian had left behind.

Zhang Xuezhou arranged a massive, broadly funded inauguration and construction project at the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums, drawing Ren Anran’s concern about the Zuo Household and the secrets buried there. Ren Anran resolved to advance her Mental Strengthening despite the pain, hoping to help Zhang Xuezhou recover and to pursue her own path.

• Zhang Xuezhou secured loyalist and committee support for the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums project, raising more than a billion in funds and inviting Zuo Quan to his inauguration ceremony.
• Ren Yisheng told Ren Anran that the project’s broad agreement meant the Zuo Household could not simply stop it, though its hidden stronghold might be difficult to move.
• Ren Anran worried about the purple gladiolus grass, the secrets on East Mountain, and Zhang Xuezhou becoming the center of a dangerous conflict.
• Ren Anran decided to use two doses of Heavenly God General Medicine to try to break through to the sixth chapter of the Mental Strengthening Chapter, despite Ren Yisheng warning that she would struggle with the pain.
• Ren Anran recalled the Emperor’s solitary cultivation and argued that true experts had to push beyond comfortable, established paths, leaving Ren Wuyang feeling distant from his changed sister.

Zhang Xuezhou’s plan to develop the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums drew enormous pledges of money, labor, designs, and artifacts from officials and descendants of the former dynasty. The fundraising continued to grow as the attendees felt pressure to contribute and sought to support Zhang’s new position.

• Wang Haoran and Zhu Liangping urged Feng Xiangyu and the attendees to fund the mausoleums project, describing its scale and promising rapid construction.
• Zhong Zhenzhen, Zhou Bo, Huo Deqian, Pei Ying, and provincial representatives pledged design work, artifacts, and other resources for the site.
• Feng Xiangyu and the elders accompanying him repeatedly increased their funding commitments as the attendees made promises on camera.
• Luo Gaogao contributed ten million but wondered why Zhang Xuezhou could raise funds so easily when his space company had struggled.
• Wang Haoran recognized that Zhang’s initial contribution, the attendees’ connections to him, and mounting social pressure had prompted the pledges.
• Feng Xiangyu lost his earlier restraint and increased the funds pledged for the project’s second phase.

Zhang Xuezhou secured a massive investment agreement to develop the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums, making his new director position easy to manage. As the ceremony continued, Zhu Kuang considered Zhang Xuezhou’s efficiency and the growing distance between their generation and Zuo Teng.

• Zhu Liangping suspected that Zhang Xuezhou’s mausoleum project was disturbing hidden balances connected to past tragedies, while Zuo Quan appeared uneasy.
• Feng Xiangyu and the other investors transferred huge sums into the company account, and Zuo Quan questioned Zhang Xuezhou’s reasons for funding the project.
• Zhang Xuezhou said the investment would buy him a peaceful term in office, then secured Feng Xiangyu’s support as director of the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums Management Office.
• Zhu Youjia told Zhu Kuang that Zhang Xuezhou had made his first day in office seem like retirement, and Zhu Kuang marveled at his decisiveness.
• Zhu Kuang considered whether Zuo Teng could seek Zhang Xuezhou’s advice, then noticed Zuo Teng standing watch in uniform outside the Management Office.

Zhang Xuezhou’s investment sparked a massive development project at the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums, disrupting Zuo Luo and Zuo Quan’s plans. Zuo Quan arranged for the Zuo Household to bid on a key construction contract while hoping future advances would let their lord reach the site.

• Zuo Quan told Zuo Luo that Zhang Xuezhou’s actions had expanded the mausoleums instead of protecting them, and Zuo Luo could not rule out that his control had backfired.
• Zuo Luo urged Zuo Quan to bid for a construction contract, and they chose Luo Zhong’s imperial mausoleum as their priority.
• Zuo Luo said he would need at least half a year to recover, while Zuo Quan noted that his seed still influenced Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zuo Teng questioned Zuo Quan after finding him alone in the restroom, and Zuo Quan allowed his squad to inspect.
• Zuo Quan instructed the Zuo Household’s employees to bid for the designated area and hoped the Road of Seeds would eventually reach the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums.

After Zhang Xuezhou’s inauguration ceremony, Zuo Teng privately asked him how to secure his position without hindering his advancement. Zuo Teng realized Zhang shared his connection to Zuo Luo’s control, leaving him with a possible companion as he struggled to survive and protect what remained of his life.

• Zhang Xuezhou thanked the guests and security team, then exchanged a guarded greeting with Zuo Teng.
• Zuo Teng asked Zhang how to establish himself in his position, and Zhang advised him not to fear losing it.
• After sensing a presence in Zhang that came from the same source as his own, Zuo Teng felt less alone and considered keeping what he saw from Zuo Luo.
• Zuo Teng used his new woodlike physical ability and Qi-observing skill to examine Zhang, seeing a red halo flecked with black and gold.
• Zuo Teng reflected on the Zuo Household’s decline and his fears of losing his life, position, sequence, friends, and father.
• As the ceremony ended, Zuo Teng organized the crowd’s departure and then returned toward the management office.

Zuo Teng asked Zhang Xuezhou how to live under Zuo Luo’s control, and Zhang advised him to strengthen his sequence rather than confront Zuo Luo. Zhang Teng agreed to seek Qimeng Haige’s R33 Catalyst data, but remained suspicious that Zhang Xuezhou might not be controlled in the same way.

• Zuo Teng told Zhang Xuezhou that Zuo Luo had made him a lackey and asked what path he should take.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he would carry on as before and suggested that Zuo Teng improve his sequence to build mental resistance.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Zuo Teng to visit Qimeng Haige in Qinmeng and seek the R33 Catalyst data for their weak-gene research.
• Zuo Teng agreed to ask whether he could travel to Qinmeng, while wondering whether Zuo Xuezhou had resisted Zuo Luo’s control or escaped it.

Zhang Xuezhou rushed to the Jishi Medical Center after Ren Anran’s second injection of Heavenly God General Medicine left her standing silently in pain. He concluded that her spirit had left her body and urged Ren Yisheng to wait, as Ren Anran’s cultivation appeared to have reached a fork in the road.

• Zhang Xuezhou considered how to handle Zuo Teng while avoiding Zuo Luo’s mental influence, and resolved to gather research for others to develop new paths of cultivation.
• After Ren Yisheng called to report Ren Anran’s condition, Zhang Xuezhou abandoned his plan to enter the Luo Yan Imperial Mausoleum and hurried to the Jishi Medical Center.
• Ren Yisheng explained that Ren Anran had endured extreme pain after her first injection, then became silent and unresponsive after injecting a second dose to test the sixth chapter of Mental Strengthening.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined Ren Anran and said her Yang Corporeal Soul had likely left her body, so he advised Ren Yisheng and Ren Wuyang to wait for her return.
• As they waited, Zhang Xuezhou noted that Ren Anran’s spirit might be traveling through Creation Heaven and Earth toward the unknowable Western Kunlun.

Ren Anran’s spirit reached the emperor’s realm, where their language barrier kept her from explaining that she wanted to return to her body and needed guidance with her cultivation. Mistaking her gestures, the emperor used Myriad Spirits Incense to solidify her Dharma body and welcomed her to Western Kunlun.

• Ren Anran crossed the darkness to see the emperor’s realm and found its palaces, transformed beings, and fragrant flowers astonishing.
• Ren Anran gestured that she had separated her true form from her body through a cultivation mistake and asked the emperor to send her back and guide her.
• The emperor recognized that their cultivation had produced different results and hoped Ren Anran could help him understand his own stalled progress.
• Misreading Ren Anran’s gestures, the emperor used Myriad Spirits Incense to keep her Dharma body solid in the lower realm for three to five days.
• Ren Anran’s illusory form became solid, and the emperor welcomed her to Western Kunlun.

Ren Yisheng waited with Zhang Xuezhou as Ren Anran stood motionless by the window, her divine soul missing. Ren Yisheng entered the strange darkness reflected in her eyes and called her back, and the chapter ended with Ren Anran awakening as he sensed he had grasped something from the vision.

• Ren Anran remained motionless for three days, and Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Yisheng and Ren Wuyang to wait while they worried over her absent divine soul.
• Ren Yisheng feared Ren Anran might have developed a mental illness and became overwhelmed by memories of the sorrows in his life.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Yisheng that a technique coordinate in Ren Anran's eyes might reveal where her divine soul was, and warned him not to damage it.
• Ren Yisheng stared at Ren Anran's reflection and called for her return, then experienced a vision of starlight, landscapes, a gigantic palm, and a storm of lightning that caused him pain.
• Ren Anran's eyes began to move, and Zhang Xuezhou announced that she had returned as Ren Yisheng sensed he had grasped something from the vision.

The Emperor met Ren Anran in the Kunlun Sacred Land and tried to learn her language so they could communicate. Their lessons remained awkward, and the chapter ended with the Empress arriving by ceremonial carriage.

• The Emperor summoned Ren Anran with Myriad Spirits Incense and greeted her as a high god.
• Ren Anran cautiously examined the Myriad Longevity Pavilion while guarding what she revealed about her world.
• The Emperor asked Ren Anran to teach him her language, and they practiced words using objects and scrolls.
• Ren Anran worried about her body and her attempt to break through to the sixth chapter of the Mental Strengthening Chapter.
• The Empress arrived in a ceremonial carriage, and the Emperor introduced her to Ren Anran as his wife.

Ren Anran saw the power and despair of Western Kunlun before the Emperor tried to keep her spirit and probe her cultivation. When his attack trapped her in a ghost-filled illusion, an old voice urged her to return, and a powerful force answered her call.

• Ren Anran spent three days with the Emperor and Empress, meeting Western Kunlun’s cultivators and recognizing their profound strength and loss of purpose.
• Ren Anran asked to return to her body and family, but the Emperor delayed her so he could question her about cultivation.
• The Emperor and Empress discussed keeping Ren Anran’s spirit and searching it, but the Emperor chose to test her with his technique while promising to send her back afterward.
• Ren Anran failed to break the Emperor’s storm illusion without her body, then was swallowed by a ghostly face and surrounded by Netherworld spirits.
• An old voice called for Ren Anran to return, and she summoned a familiar mental force that struck the ghostly faces with the image of a dragon and elephant.

The Emperor tried to bind Ren Anran’s soul to the Spirit-Gathering Banner, but an attack through the mark in her eye disrupted his connection and she vanished into the void. His heart monkey then mocked him for letting her go and provoked the Empress before suggesting they drink.

• The Emperor had Ren Anran bound to the Spirit-Gathering Banner so he could keep her soul and learn what she knew.
• The Emperor and the Empress discussed the upper realm and wondered whether Cai Ma had found Zhang Xuezhou, whom the Emperor sensed might still be alive.
• A distant cultivator used the Technique Method mark in Ren Anran’s eye to attack the Emperor and destabilize his connection to her.
• Ren Anran’s incense body collapsed, and the dark ring to the void vanished before the Emperor could seize her soul.
• The heart monkey emerged from the Emperor and berated him for backing down, then insulted the Empress until she left with a flag.
• The heart monkey urged the Emperor to drink and call over the featherless crow, while the Emperor lamented the damage his incarnation did to his household.

After Ren Anran recovered, Ren Yisheng gained a sudden insight into mental control by recalling the Sovereign’s power over wind, clouds, and lightning. He demonstrated the ability but discovered its strain had left his body withered, and he concluded that he needed a Seventh Sequence body to wield it safely.

• Ren Anran regained consciousness after three days, and Ren Yisheng felt his mental power respond to the darkness in her eyes.
• Ren Yisheng experienced mental control, floated briefly, and summoned wind before losing control and collapsing into an altered state.
• Ren Yisheng woke after sixty-seven hours to find himself gaunt, while Ren Wuyang, Ren Anran, and Zhang Xuezhou watched over him.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected Ren Yisheng’s sudden enlightenment to the Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity, which Ren Yisheng and Zhang Xuezhou had studied before.
• Ren Yisheng used mental control to summon wind and shred a sheet of paper, then realized that raising his body to the Seventh Sequence would let him bear the power’s strain.

Ren Yisheng recovered after Zhang Xuezhou improvised a cultivation environment, and Ren Anran explained how she survived and broke free of the Sovereign’s imprint. The family discussed her changed personality and the gold necklace, while Ren Yisheng encouraged Zhang Xuezhou to maintain ties with the Zuo Household.

• Zhang Xuezhou put Zuo Denggao’s gold chain and Spirit Jade on Ren Yisheng to help him survive cultivation.
• Ren Yisheng listened as Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran explained what had happened, then asked about Ren Anran’s condition.
• Ren Anran said she had advanced her cultivation and that Ren Yisheng’s intervention had shattered the Sovereign’s imprint.
• Ren Anran gently reassured Ren Yisheng, while Ren Wuyang asked whether he could inject himself with two doses and received a lecture.
• Ren Yisheng learned that the necklace could improve the odds of success and praised Zuo Quan, advising Zhang Xuezhou to cultivate ties with the Zuo Household.