Chapter Summaries

Xu Ji died peacefully, and Zhang Xuezhou comforted Xu Yuan before attending Rong Tianding’s wedding and giving him pills. After discussing Li Shaojun and pill refining with Rong Tianding, Zhang Xuezhou realized Dong Zhongshu might be using Fortune Technique to track his fortunes and time his visits.

• Xu Ji died peacefully, and Zhang Xuezhou reassured Xu Yuan that the Agricultural Sect’s ideals might one day be realized.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw Xu Ji’s funeral procession off, then returned to Old Tree Alley and congratulated Rong Tianding and Wanqing on their wedding.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Rong Tianding more than a hundred pills and told him to share some with Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong if they were in danger.
• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that Li Shaojun had cursed them after a failed pill-refining attempt, and the two discussed the risks of future cooperation with Venerable Hongku.
• Dong Zhongshu arrived after hearing Zhang Xuezhou praise him, and Zhang Xuezhou suspected Dong Zhongshu had locked onto his Fortune Technique to monitor his fortunes.

Zhang Xuezhou discussed Ren Anran’s Infant Transformation with Dong Zhongshu, who saw a chance to revive Golden Core principles through a new cultivation path. Dong Zhongshu decided to test the idea during his attempt to reach the True Self Realm, despite Zhang Xuezhou’s concern that the gamble could ruin his breakthrough.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique and Infant Transformation to Dong Zhongshu, who praised the ideas as a path of creation.
• Dong Zhongshu asked what catalyst could enable the transformation, and he proposed drawing on the abandoned Golden Core Method.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that the Primal Core Technique might not work, but Dong Zhongshu insisted that a realm breakthrough was the best time to test the idea.
• Dong Zhongshu argued that a freely gathering and dispersing Infant could avoid the Golden Core’s vulnerability to being locked in place.
• Rong Tianding asked Zhang Xuezhou whether Dong Zhongshu’s plan could work, and Zhang Xuezhou shook his head as Dong remained eager to gamble on his True Self Realm breakthrough.

Dong Zhongshu planned to spread the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique so cultivators could test his Infant-forming theory, while Zhang Xuezhou agreed so long as he was not blamed. After the wedding, Zhang Xuezhou prepared to return to reality with Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying, whose assessment of him suggested he had the makings of a Sacred Land master.

• Dong Zhongshu explained that he wanted to spread the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique widely and invite Confucian figures to test different methods of forming an Infant.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed to Dong Zhongshu's plan as long as he was not held responsible, and Dong Zhongshu warned him against copying another Realm's method wholesale.
• Dong Zhongshu left Rong Tianding's study to make arrangements with Gongsun Hong, while Zhang Xuezhou congratulated Rong Tianding and urged him to enter the bridal chamber.
• After Rong Tianding entered the bridal chamber, Zhang Xuezhou gave Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying pills to persuade them to help with A Qiao's delivery.
• On the carriage ride, Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong noticed Zhang Xuezhou's changed circumstances, and Zheng Wukong judged that he had the foundation to become a Sacred Land master.

After returning to reality, Zhang Xuezhou realized Hongjun’s influence had made him forget his plans to investigate the Purple Cloud Palace. He learned Ren Anran was still trapped in the distortion and decided to go to East Mountain to enter the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon’s lair himself once he could form a Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation.

• Zhang Xuezhou recalled that Hongjun was taboo in the other world and considered how Hongjun’s ability to bury memories might help him gain leverage.
• Zhang Manqian told Zhang Xuezhou that Ren Anran and the Void Furnace had remained in the distortion for twelve days, while Ren Anran’s body muttered recorded phrases.
• Zhang Manqian explained that Professor Ren and Wang Haoran were pursuing breakthroughs, while Ren Yisheng and the others had gone to East Mountain to prepare to enter the distortion.
• Ren Wuyang asked Zhang Xuezhou to rescue Ren Anran, and Zhang Xuezhou invited him to East Mountain to train rather than wait helplessly.
• Zhang Xuezhou listened to Ren Anran’s repeated chants about existing forever and eternal life, concluding that she had reached the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon’s lair and was still alive.

Zhang Xuezhou cultivated the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique to minor mastery after six days and nights, then set out to investigate the distortion trapping Ren Anran. He left Ren Yisheng and Wang Haoran to prepare in case he also became trapped.

• Ren Yisheng and Wang Haoran watched Zhang Xuezhou cultivate the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique and discussed how quickly they might master it.
• Zhang Xuezhou compared his progress with Ren Anran's and realized his cultivation was much slower, despite his advantages and the Qinmeng Secret Stone.
• Zhang Xuezhou condensed his Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation to minor mastery after six days and nights of uninterrupted cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou dispersed the incarnation and noted that Ren Anran had been trapped in the distortion for twenty days.
• Zhang Xuezhou headed toward the distortion while Ren Yisheng and Wang Haoran stayed behind to prepare in case he became trapped too.

Zhang Xuezhou entered the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's lair as a Yang Corporeal Soul and found a vast, charred world dominated by a mountain-like pillar. He could not reach Ren Anran or the others, leaving him to search the strange realm alone.

• Zhang Xuezhou left his body in the temporary medical room and sent his Yang Corporeal Soul toward the distortion near where Ren Anran and the Void Furnace had vanished.
• Zhang Xuezhou endured the distortion and scorching heat, then emerged into an immense realm of ash, black rock, and flowing lava.
• Zhang Xuezhou spotted a colossal pillar and heard mechanical voices chanting that the void would endure and believers would have eternal life.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Demonic Sound Technique to call for Ren Anran and the others, but the pillar's chanting drowned out his voice.
• Zhang Xuezhou began flying around the charred realm to search for Ren Anran and investigate the pillar.

Zhang Xuezhou used the Yin Entity Tracking Technique to reveal the dead souls chanting around the stone pillar and drew them together in hopes of attracting Ren Anran and the Void Furnace. As he flew upward, the gathered souls clashed with stronger dead souls, and the resulting battle began changing them.

• Zhang Xuezhou investigated the enormous stone pillar and found that knocks and shouts made it produce the same prayer chants.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Yin Entity Tracking Technique and saw dead souls on the pillar repeating the prayers.
• Zhang Xuezhou encouraged the dead souls to chant louder, drawing hundreds of them around him as he flew up the pillar.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw the souls surge upward and collide with stronger dead souls, with many turning into points of light absorbed by the pillar.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the dead souls were fighting and observed that those who survived the clashes grew sturdier.

Zhang Xuezhou drew countless dead souls into a rising torrent as he flew up the stone pillar, hoping to reach Ren Anran and the others. Near the summit, he encountered stronger dead souls and heard one threaten him, but Ren Anran remained out of reach.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the Yin Entity Tracking Technique and decided to rise up the pillar, suspecting powerful dead souls had trapped Ren Anran and the others.
• He chanted with the Demonic Sound Technique, gathering dead souls into a growing wave that swept upward and tore apart those in its path.
• Zhang Xuezhou observed the dead souls dying and being reborn at the pillar’s base, while the survivors grew stronger and more humanlike.
• As he climbed, Zhang Xuezhou called for Ren Anran, but received no answer, and the armored dead souls around him continued chanting.
• After flying nearly twenty li upward, Zhang Xuezhou saw the pillar’s narrow, ornate summit and heard a dead soul threaten to slay him for defying its superiors.

Zhang Xuezhou defeated the female dead soul guarding the stone pillar and followed her into a hidden hall, where he found Ren Anran and the Void Furnace bound. The green-feathered bird on the throne greeted him, and Zhang Xuezhou recognized it as the Demon Thought that had once haunted his brain.

• Zhang Xuezhou ordered his dead souls to overwhelm the female dead soul after she called him a sinner and referred to Ren Anran and the Void Furnace as heretics.
• As her crimson scales and wings were destroyed, the female dead soul pleaded to surrender and gave her name as “What.”
• Zhang Xuezhou asked where Ren Anran and the Void Furnace were, then followed What through a hidden passage into a dark red hall.
• Zhang Xuezhou found Ren Anran and the Void Furnace bound in red chains above rows of red-skinned dead souls reciting prayers.
• A green-feathered bird on a bloodstained wooden throne greeted Zhang Xuezhou, who recognized it as the Demon Thought that had once entangled his brain.

Zhang Xuezhou questioned the Demon Thought duck about its origins and the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, then used the dead souls to pressure it for answers. The duck realized Zhang Xuezhou had begun taking its master's place by commanding the Soul-Devouring Entities.

• Zhang Xuezhou ordered the red-skinned dead souls to release Ren Anran and the Void Furnace, who continued chanting after they fell to the floor.
• The Demon Thought duck explained that it was the part of Zhang Xuezhou's consciousness he had cut away and revealed that it was trapped in the hall.
• The Demon Thought duck said the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon would replace Zhang Xuezhou when he was no longer valuable.
• Zhang Xuezhou summoned more dead souls and threatened the Demon Thought duck, who feared being turned into a mindless Soul-Devouring Entity.
• The Demon Thought duck cried that Zhang Xuezhou had taken his master's place and begun commanding the Soul-Devouring Entities.

Zhang Xuezhou took control of the hall and forced the Demon Thought duck to reveal what it knew about the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon. After the duck showed him the Heavenly Demon's hidden staff, Zhang Xuezhou grasped it and discovered it let him move while everything around him stood still.

• Zhang Xuezhou used his influence over the dead souls to turn the hall's high priests against the Demon Thought duck.
• The Demon Thought duck said the throne might let Zhang Xuezhou see other worlds and guessed the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon would take over his body only after his death.
• Zhang Xuezhou rejected the duck's guess as too uncertain and demanded useful information in exchange for sparing it.
• The Demon Thought duck revealed the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's long, jeweled staff, which spread its power over fast and slow through the hall.
• Zhang Xuezhou grasped the staff and found that everyone and everything around him had stopped moving while he remained free to act.

Zhang Xuezhou explored the motionless hall while holding the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's staff, then waited for the fast-and-slow effect to end. The Void Furnace woke in agony and tried to flee, while Zhang Xuezhou explained that the hall’s exit was nearby.

• Zhang Xuezhou claimed the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's staff and searched the hall for other hidden objects, finding nothing beyond the staff and the withered-wood throne.
• Zhang Xuezhou sat on the throne, which did not react, then examined the motionless Void Furnace and tried pressing down on him to wake him.
• After waiting half a quarter of an hour, Zhang Xuezhou heard the Demon Thought duck land as the fast-and-slow effect ended.
• The Void Furnace awoke in intense pain, transformed into flames, and repeatedly crashed around the hall while trying to escape.
• Zhang Xuezhou pointed the exhausted Void Furnace toward the passage out, and the Void Furnace asked why the dead souls had stopped attacking.

Zhang Xuezhou and the Void Furnace investigated whether the base’s treasures could control its dead souls, while the Void Furnace recovered from his injuries and hunger. After the Void Furnace failed to lift the owner’s staff, Ren Anran woke and joined them.

• The Void Furnace praised Zhang Xuezhou for conquering the dead souls and admitted that the abyss’s poison fire suited his cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the Void Furnace he had been unconscious for about twenty days, and the Void Furnace realized he needed to return and recover.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that his control over the dead souls might not last after they left, so he suggested testing the throne and staff for a way to control them.
• The Void Furnace cautiously tried to lift the owner’s staff but could not move it, then found the throne easier to handle.
• Ren Anran woke and stood beside Zhang Xuezhou as the Void Furnace turned to report his attempt.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran investigated the staff and deadwood throne while learning that the place distorted a person's perception of time. When the throne pierced the Void Furnace with flowering thorns, Zhang Xuezhou confronted the Demon Thought duck about whether it had intended to use the artifacts against him.

• The Void Furnace explained that he had felt only a brief moment pass while more than five thousand dead souls entered the hall, and Ren Anran realized she had suffered a similar loss of time.
• Ren Anran asked Zhang Xuezhou about the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon and learned that his Realm Technique had come from his travels in another body, while the Emperor had taught him the Evasion Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou sent Ren Anran to examine the staff and the Void Furnace to inspect the deadwood throne, hoping to uncover dangers before taking control of the treasure.
• The Void Furnace sat on the throne, and flowering thorns sprang from it and pierced his body, though he showed no pain or awareness of danger.
• Zhang Xuezhou accused the Demon Thought duck of trying to use the staff and throne against him and pressured it to speak honestly if it wanted a chance to survive.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran investigated the Throne of Eternal Life and learned that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon visited it at irregular times. They planned to conceal their discoveries and find a way to take control of the area while keeping the Demon Thought duck alive as part of their deception.

• The Demon Thought duck explained that the Throne of Eternal Life drew pure energy from heaven and earth, but it was depleted and useless to Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran in the barren space.
• Zhang Xuezhou observed the Void Furnace and learned that its consciousness had drifted while it sat on the throne, though it was not in immediate danger of being drained.
• The Demon Thought duck said the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon returned at irregular times, sat silently on the throne, and then left.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Anran they needed to control the area and keep the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon from learning what they had discovered.
• Ren Anran agreed they should create a false impression, and Zhang Xuezhou decided not to kill the Demon Thought duck so his death would not alert the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to recruit the Demon Thought duck and learned more about the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon’s danger and the reason he maintained two bodies. The chapter left Zhang Xuezhou pondering what the demon sought in the Great Han Dynasty and what accident had forced him to retreat to the Scarlet Alliance State.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran pressed the Demon Thought duck to help conceal their plans from the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon.
• The Demon Thought duck warned that even gravely wounded, the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon had escaped attacks by top cultivators, and estimated Zhang Xuezhou’s odds of victory at one in a hundred.
• Zhang Xuezhou argued that his strength would grow, but the Demon Thought duck insisted he needed a rapid leap that would let him confront the demon directly.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked why he and the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon had two bodies, and the Demon Thought duck recalled the demon saying hope existed only in that world.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected an intervention or accident had forced the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon to enter the Scarlet Alliance State in haste.

Zhang Xuezhou reasoned that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon depended on him and would tolerate his actions, then tested the Throne of Eternal Life. The throne showed him its memories again, and he noticed something he had missed before.

• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon needed his abilities and was unlikely to replace him yet.
• The Demon Thought duck frightened the Throne of Eternal Life's thorns away from Void Furnace, who awoke sore and weak.
• Zhang Xuezhou refused to let the weakened Ren Anran test the throne and sat on it himself.
• The throne's branches enveloped Zhang Xuezhou, letting him see the dark space, the route to his body in Chang'an City, and the tree chair's connection to the other world.
• Zhang Xuezhou touched the tree chair and was forced to relive its memories of the giant tree devouring a planet, where he noticed something new.

After learning how the giant tree supported and constrained the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, Zhang Xuezhou regained confidence and considered how his companions might help him in the great hall. He left with Ren Anran and the exhausted Void Furnace, planning to return and explore the place again.

• Zhang Xuezhou examined the tree chair’s memories and realized the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon depended heavily on the giant tree’s power.
• Zhang Xuezhou reassessed his opponent’s strength, regained confidence, and recognized that companions who entered the great hall might assist him.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Anran that the timing of their clash depended partly on whether the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon could reconnect with him.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the exhausted Void Furnace left the great hall, with Zhang promising to bring him back to search for the demon’s immortality gem.
• Zhang Xuezhou picked up the staff that the Void Furnace could not lift, and the Void Furnace followed him and Ren Anran out.

Zhang Xuezhou used the staff to cross the spatial distortion safely and bring Ren Anran back to North Rehe, leaving the Void Furnace behind. To keep Hongku from learning what happened in the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's lair, Zhang Xuezhou had Ren Yisheng erase his returning memories, ending the chapter with those memories fading away.

• Zhang Xuezhou used the staff to navigate the distortion and pulled Ren Anran out, but could not grab the flame-covered Void Furnace.
• Ren Anran suggested using the staff to bring their physical bodies inside and enlist Ren Yisheng's help if Zhang Xuezhou confronted the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon.
• Zhang Xuezhou stored the staff in a safe at the B13 Laboratory with Zhang Manqian's help.
• Ren Yisheng arrived at North Rehe after Ren Anran asked him to blur Zhang Xuezhou's memories and prepared to use the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique.
• As Zhang Xuezhou returned to his body, Ren Yisheng erased his memories of the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's lair.

After his recent memories were erased, Zhang Xuezhou prepared to spend twelve days cultivating at East Mountain while Ren Anran secretly maintained the deception. Meanwhile, Zuo Teng and Zuo Denggao pushed their training forward as Zuo Teng sensed greater upheaval ahead.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Ren Anran about the distorted area, and she said she and the Void Furnace had escaped its attacks on their divine souls before her father took the injured furnace for treatment.
• Ren Anran urged Zhang Xuezhou to cultivate at East Mountain, and he agreed to postpone making chemical agents and spend twelve days training the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique.
• Zhang Manqian piloted the aircraft to East Mountain after Ren Anran changed the time on Zhang Xuezhou's communicator and asked her to cooperate without explaining the full plan.
• Zuo Denggao watched Zhang Xuezhou leave for East Mountain, while Zuo Teng told him to focus on advancing their Gene Sequences rather than worry about Zhang.
• Zuo Denggao asked whether Zhou could help their grandfather Zuo Lianguang recover his wits, but Zuo Teng said Zhou was occupied and warned that the brothers were not ready to learn what was happening.
• Zuo Teng reflected that those unable to reach the forefront of the Scarlet Alliance State's rapid changes risked becoming cannon fodder in the turmoil ahead.