Chapter Summaries

Xuannü began training Zhang Xuezhou before the next round of the Centennial Pact, but his defenses and varied techniques let him withstand her attacks. The Emperor and Empress watched, impressed by Zhang Xuezhou’s resistance to realm suppression and curious about how his cultivation could overcome the limits of body refinement.

• Xuannü explained the different flying Law Treasures and told Zhang Xuezhou that the Emperor had asked her to train him before the next round.
• Zhang Xuezhou tried to avoid training, but Xuannü attacked him with her sword and martial techniques.
• Zhang Xuezhou checked that the Seal-Bearing Divine Robe remained intact while Xuannü struck him, then used it alongside the Fleshly Body Technique to defend himself.
• The Emperor and Empress watched the spar through the Water Curtain Technique and observed that Xuannü’s realm pressure had little effect on Zhang Xuezhou.
• Xuannü increased her strength and used the Gang-Breaking Finger, but Zhang Xuezhou still resisted her attacks.
• The Emperor and Empress wondered how Zhang Xuezhou had cultivated so many techniques and how he would surpass the limits of body refinement.

Zhang Xuezhou sparred with Xuannü for a full day, learning to endure her attacks, counterattack, and develop his own fighting rhythm. As the Eight-Scenery Carriage prepared to depart for Spirit Mountain, Cai Ma wondered whether Xuannü had stopped driving it herself because of what happened the previous night.

• Zhang Xuezhou discovered that the Seal-Bearing Divine Robe moved like an extension of his body and could serve as both armor and a weapon during his sparring with Xuannü.
• Xuannü increased the pressure in their fight, and Zhang Xuezhou realized that he needed to grow stronger to face the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon.
• Zhang Xuezhou gradually improved through a full day of sparring, learning to withstand Xuannü's strikes and find openings to counterattack.
• Xuannü announced that it was time to set out, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested that she spar with Cai Ma, but Xuannü refused.
• Aboard the Eight-Scenery Carriage, Zhang Xuezhou told Cai Ma that his training had gone well, and Cai Ma noticed that Xuannü had called female officials to help steer the carriage.

The Emperor and Empress discussed how to respond to Kunlun’s aging, weighing a second life through combined cultivation techniques against following Hongjun’s path. The Emperor left to handle the Western Sect’s likely demands over Buddha Son Shigong, while the Empress considered the newly available paths forward and back.

• The Emperor and Empress recognized that they had grown old and discussed combining Jiang Qi’s Six-Lifetime Reincarnation Method with the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique.
• The Empress urged caution, and the Emperor agreed to study the techniques before attempting a second life while they continued observing the Holy Son’s cultivation.
• The Emperor revealed that Mi Fei, Shangyuan, and Taizhen’s seduction technique had contributed to Buddha Son Shigong’s injury from the Empress’s vermilion hairpin, and instructed the Empress to treat the Western Sect courteously.
• The Emperor left the Jade Pool Palace as lightning, telling the Empress they should try a second life, while she considered whether to pursue that path or follow Hongjun.

Zhang Xuezhou and Xuannü traveled west in the Eight-Scenery Carriage and arrived at Spirit Mountain, where monks gathered to welcome the Kunlun party. Abbot Yinding recognized Zhang Xuezhou as Buddha Son Shigong’s old friend, but Zhang kept silent to protect his separate identities.

• Zhang Xuezhou fell asleep in the Eight-Scenery Carriage after eating eight Drunken Peaches, and Xuannü discussed his resilience and unknown abilities with Cai Ma.
• Xuannü concluded that Zhang Xuezhou had a strong foundation but doubted he would learn her killing techniques because he avoided direct fights.
• The Eight-Scenery Carriage reached Mahabodhi Temple at Spirit Mountain, where Xuannü used her Law Sword to keep covetous monks away.
• Abbot Yinding welcomed the Kunlun visitors and told Xuannü that he was the sixty-eighth abbot of Mahabodhi Temple.
• Xuannü woke Zhang Xuezhou, and Yinding recognized him as the good friend of Buddha Son Shigong, but Zhang did not acknowledge him.

Xuannü brought Zhang Xuezhou and the others to Spirit Mountain to learn its terrain before the Centennial Pact gathering, where they met Sect Master Jieyin. Zhang Xuezhou saw Jieyin’s mental manifestation firsthand, and Xuannü secured an invitation for Jieyin and Zhunti to visit Eastern Kunlun by mentioning its spirit fruits.

• Zhang Xuezhou tested the dangerous bi winds around Spirit Mountain and learned that prolonged exposure could scour his flesh.
• Xuannü warned the group to guard their belongings, then led them up Spirit Mountain to pay their respects to the sect masters.
• Sect Master Jieyin’s mental suppression made Zhang Xuezhou see chanting sutras and falling lotuses until Xuannü drew her sword and dispelled the manifestation.
• Jieyin recognized Zhang Xuezhou and claimed he had an affinity with the Western Sect, while Xuannü countered by suggesting the Sovereign might test his tricks on Jieyin.
• Xuannü said Eastern Kunlun wished to share its spirit fruits, and Jieyin agreed to visit with Zhunti.

At Spirit Mountain, Zhang Xuezhou sought a translator so he could understand the Western Sect’s scriptures and learn from its cultivation methods. He recruited Cihang by promising a pill, while Xuannü watched from the hall.

• Zhang Xuezhou wandered around Spirit Mountain because he could not understand the monks’ chanting, and Xuannü dismissed their methods as impractical in battle.
• Xuannü explained that Spirit Mountain’s spirit rice could keep someone full for several days, while Cai Ma nervously ate her portion and worried about Zhang Xuezhou.
• Xuannü recognized Cihang among the monks and told Cai Ma that his cultivation had left him with an unusual nature and many hands.
• Zhang Xuezhou approached Cihang and asked whether he could translate between the languages of the Eastern Land and the western lands.
• After Cihang patted him down, Zhang Xuezhou warned him that Xuannü would not tolerate it and offered him an effective pill in exchange for translating. Cihang agreed.

Zhang Xuezhou toured Spirit Mountain with Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom, learned about the Western Sect’s scriptures and their effects on mental power, then asked her to teach him Sanskrit. She agreed after Zhang Xuezhou promised her rewards, leaving him preparing to study the language before the Centennial Pact challenge.

• Zhang Xuezhou had Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom escort him around Spirit Mountain and show him its forbidden areas and the sect leader’s cottage.
• Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom translated the Immeasurable Life Immeasurable Buddha Sutra and explained how repeated recitation could manifest Buddha’s light.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that the Western Sect had twenty-two scriptures and concluded he needed to understand Sanskrit to access their teachings on mental power.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom a Qi and Blood Fortune Pill and a secret medicine in exchange for teaching him Sanskrit.
• Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom accepted Zhang Xuezhou’s offer and agreed to teach him.

Zhang Xuezhou won the trust of Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom and recruited her, Samantabhadra, and Manjushri to teach him Sanskrit in exchange for pills. The three Bodhisattvas agreed to use their own sutras for instruction, leaving Zhang Xuezhou poised to study the Western Sect's scriptures.

• Zhang Xuezhou promised Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom pills based on how well she taught him Sanskrit, and she summoned Samantabhadra and Manjushri to help.
• Manjushri and Samantabhadra approached Zhang Xuezhou to inspect the promised pills, and he flicked their fingers when they tried to touch him.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered friendship with Kunlun, and the four quickly became sworn brothers.
• Samantabhadra and Manjushri proposed teaching from their sutras, and Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom offered her copies of the Nirvana Sutra.
• The three Bodhisattvas agreed to show Zhang Xuezhou the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Nirvana Sutra to help him understand Western Sect scriptures.

Zhang Xuezhou studied the bodhisattvas’ Sanskrit sutras and learned how the Western Sect used mental power to produce combat abilities. A bell announced that Spirit Mountain’s blessing ceremony had begun and the Centennial Pact contest was about to start, with less than a day left before Zhang Xuezhou had to return to the real world.

• Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom explained the Nirvana Sutra’s Lion’s Roar technique, which Zhang Xuezhou recognized as resembling Changkong Luo’s Moulan power.
• Samantabhadra demonstrated how the Western Sect’s sutras shaped mental power into protective flames, while Manjushri and Contemplator of Freedom described their own abilities.
• Samantabhadra and Manjushri asked Zhang Xuezhou about the Centennial Pact gathering and the Buddha Sons’ injuries, but Zhang denied causing them or even seeing them there.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that Jieyin and Zhunti possessed different Prajna Heart Sutras, and that the bodhisattvas had studied both.
• After more than two days of study, Zhang Xuezhou heard a bell and saw crowds of monks gathering outside the great hall to chant blessings before the contest.

At the Spirit Mountain gathering, Zhang Xuezhou tried to keep himself and Cai Ma out of trouble while Sect Master Zhunti intimidated the assembled contestants. The Western Sect announced a test of fortitude in a wind cavern, leaving Zhang Xuezhou worried that Cai Ma would be eliminated early.

• Zhang Xuezhou chatted with Bodhisattva Contemplator of Freedom before joining his team and urged Cai Ma not to worry about winning or losing.
• Sect Master Zhunti froze Demon King Feiyu with a streak of dark light after Feiyu interrupted him about Kong Ning.
• Kong Ning told Sect Master Zhunti she wanted to win a request to rescue her father, but he warned that she could not make that request unless she won.
• Sect Master Jieyin and Sect Master Zhunti announced that contestants would be ranked by how long they endured the damaging bixi wind in a cavern atop Spirit Mountain.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Cai Ma that contestants could attack one another in the cavern and that the test threatened her chances of lasting.

Zhang Xuezhou planned how to exploit the Western Sect’s contest, then singled out Buddha son Brahma as a target for a coordinated attack. The sect masters finalized the rules, and Brahma was told to flee into the Wind Cave before Zhang Xuezhou and Cai Ma could strike.

• The Western Sect’s masters ruled that team leaders could rescue contestants only after they withdrew, and that the Wind Cave contest would proceed without special safety measures.
• Xuannü warned the contestants about the dangers of Bifeng, while Zhang Xuezhou told Cai Ma to target a Buddha son with curse techniques.
• Zhang Xuezhou’s remarks exposed his plan to target the feathered Buddha son, Brahma, and drew the attention of the contestants and Sect Master Zhunti.
• Xuannü warned Sect Master Zhunti against intervening, and Zhang Xuezhou invoked his master’s strength to deflect the threat.
• The sect masters privately instructed Brahma to run deep into the Wind Cave and avoid Cai Ma’s Fate Technique and Zhang Xuezhou’s attack.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to turn the contestants against the Western Sect’s Buddha Sons, but the concentration test began before his plan took hold. As the contestants entered the wind cave, he survived a snake attack from the Yedie River Holy Land’s incantation masters, who escaped ahead of him.

• Zhang Xuezhou warned the contestants that the Western Sect’s Buddha Sons had an advantage in the unfamiliar wind cave, while Ao Sheng volunteered to search Kunlun’s spirit pool for Golden Dragon Fish.
• Sect Master Jieyin began the test despite Li Jing’s request to let the winded contestants recover.
• Zhang Xuezhou leapt at Buddha Son Brahma, and Ao Li threw her spear, but Brahma dodged and entered the wind cave with the other Buddha Son.
• Zhang Xuezhou invited Cai Ma to follow him into the cave as the other contestants hurried past.
• Zhang Xuezhou grabbed an apparent Yedie River Holy Land incantation master, but three Black Whip Snakes bit him before the incantation masters fled into the cave.
• Zhang Xuezhou showed that he had not been poisoned, though the Yedie River Holy Land’s escape left his attempted counterattack fruitless.

Zhang Xuezhou searched the Wind Cave for a rival to keep from finishing last while the Bifeng battered the contestants. After advising Cai Ma to shelter behind a rock, he spotted a contestant revealed by a protective technique and chased after them.

• Zhang Xuezhou entered the Wind Cave to scout for an advantage while Cai Ma stayed near the entrance.
• Xuannü told Cai Ma to hold her position, and the Western Sect’s leaders rebuked Xuannü for interfering with the gathering.
• The Bifeng struck Cai Ma at the entrance, rapidly consuming her Law Power.
• Zhang Xuezhou emerged and told Cai Ma to shelter behind a protruding rock, then returned to search the cave for opponents.
• Zhang Xuezhou spotted golden light as a contestant used a protective technique against the second gust and pursued them.

Zhang Xuezhou chased Buddha Son Vishnu through the Wind Cave, where Vishnu used his knowledge of the terrain and a teleporting Law Artifact to evade him. Zhang Xuezhou finally caught and struck Vishnu, but the third, far stronger wave of Bifeng swept through before he could take the artifact.

• Zhang Xuezhou pursued Vishnu through the Wind Cave after hearing that Vishnu was a poor fighter but an expert at running.
• Vishnu dodged through the caverns and used a Law Artifact to teleport ten zhang whenever Zhang Xuezhou nearly caught him.
• Zhang Xuezhou cursed Vishnu in Sanskrit as he chased him, then struck him when Vishnu was panting and distracted.
• Zhang Xuezhou grabbed Vishnu and his traveling Law Artifact, but Vishnu used it to escape and taunted him.
• The third wave of Bifeng struck with far greater force than the earlier waves, while Vishnu relied on his Law Artifact's golden light to withstand it.

Zhang Xuezhou withstood the Bifeng in the Wind Cave and overpowered Vishnu, who had lured him there. Vishnu offered bargains to avoid the consequences of losing, then revealed a hidden Wind Cave opportunity tied to the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.

• Zhang Xuezhou approached Vishnu in the Bifeng and beat him while Vishnu struggled to move.
• Zhang Xuezhou stripped Vishnu of his arhat robe and threatened that the grand gathering would punish him for using forbidden Law Treasures.
• Vishnu offered to help Zhang Xuezhou obtain the Prajna Heart Sutras and defeat Brahma, but Zhang Xuezhou rejected the uncertain bargains.
• Vishnu revealed that a hidden Wind Cave opportunity had renewed Tathagata's body, extended his lifespan, and served as the source of the Eight Treasures Merit Pool.

Zhang Xuezhou crossed the fiercest Bifeng in the Wind Cave and reached the hidden spirit spring. After drinking and soaking in it, he relived a memory from before his birth and awoke in the real world to the sound of medical instruments.

• Vishnu led Zhang Xuezhou to the source of the Bifeng, then left after Zhang Xuezhou released him.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Wind Avoidance Instruction and his Fleshly Body Technique to cross the dense Bifeng and reach a sheltered grotto.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided the grotto was a safe place to hide and considered how to use its spirit spring.
• Zhang Xuezhou drank the spring water and immersed himself in the pool, experiencing a memory of the North Rehe explosion from inside Song Fengying's womb.
• Noisy instruments testing Zhang Xuezhou's physical condition sounded, and he opened his eyes in the real world.

After waking from the spirit spring, Zhang Xuezhou learned that catalyst research was progressing too slowly and urged the Zuo Household to recruit more innovative researchers. Zhang Manqian then told him that civil strife had erupted in the Aomeijia Alliance after Badun’s long-unreported unconsciousness came to light.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke ten minutes later than before and explained that his thoughts had become immersed in the spirit spring.
• Zhang Manqian verified Zhang Xuezhou’s identity through his familiar habits and told him that Zhong Rang, Song Xianzhong, and Cai Guoli wanted help mastering the sequence lock and learning about Zuo Lianguang’s genetic drug.
• Zhang Manqian reported that the R34 Catalyst was sixty percent complete, and Zhang Xuezhou told her to ask Zuo Denggao to recruit more capable researchers.
• Zhang Manqian said that foreign research teams might now be easier to obtain, though Zhang Xuezhou doubted that an international arrangement would be worthwhile.
• Zhang Manqian told Zhang Xuezhou that civil strife had broken out in the Aomeijia Alliance after Badun’s prolonged unconsciousness was exposed and backlash against the Montes Lineage spread.

Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian discussed how Montes Badun’s troubles had plunged the Aomeijia Alliance into chaos and considered the possibility of bringing its researchers to the Scarlet Alliance State. After outlining how difficult the conflict would be to end, Zhang Xuezhou planned his work for the next twelve days, while Zhang Manqian noticed that he had taken longer than usual to regain his clarity.

• Zhang Manqian told Zhang Xuezhou that rocket artillery was paralyzing Bulanpeida and that ordinary soldiers and Sequencers were fighting across the Aomeijia Alliance.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the conflict could worsen into war among regional factions if the Alliance Council fell, and that Montes Badun or Qimeng Haige would be unlikely to stop it.
• Zhang Manqian asked whether they could bring an Aomeijia Alliance research team to the Scarlet Alliance State, and Zhang Xuezhou said they should wait for researchers to seek asylum before accepting them.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided to settle the Void Furnace and work on medicines, while pursuing ways to master the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou arranged his tasks for the next twelve days, and Zhang Manqian wondered why he had been muddled and slow to become clearheaded after waking.

The turmoil in the Aomeijia Alliance disrupted travel, while Zhang Xuezhou avoided getting involved and continued his usual tasks. Those watching him worried that Hongku might be trying to control his body, so they discussed ways to protect him and prepare a backup body.

• The Aomeijia Alliance descended into turmoil, closing its airspace and roads and making travel to Qinmeng difficult.
• Zhang Xuezhou gathered supplies and flew alone to Western Capital City while Ren Yisheng and the others monitored him for signs of unusual behavior.
• Zhang Manqian, Ren Yisheng, Ren Anran, Ren Wuyang, and the others discussed whether Hongku knew Zhang Xuezhou's memories and how to make his body harder to control.
• Ren Anran proposed cultivating an unconscious body for Zhang Xuezhou as a refuge if he could not defeat Hongku.
• Ren Yisheng agreed that they might need Tuer Kelanduo's help to develop a backup body quickly enough.

Zhang Xuezhou visited Twilight Years Mansion to help Zhong Rang form a Sequence Lock and attempt to enter the Seventh Sequence. As Zhong Rang prepared to take the scarce medicine, Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian watched, hoping the same methods might overcome their own limits.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhong Rang discussed how heavy weapons threatened Sequence Holders and whether higher Sequences could counter them.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhong Rang that progress depended on continued exploration and invited him to try forming a Sequence Lock.
• Zhong Rang asked whether Zhang Xuezhou’s medicine could cause him to lose his mind, then decided to take it for a better chance of reaching the Seventh Sequence.
• Zhang Xuezhou began guiding Zhong Rang through the process while Song Xianzhong, Cai Guoli, and others waited their turn.
• Changkong Yinghao and Changkong Yinglian watched Zhong Rang’s attempt, wondering whether Sequence Locks and genetic medicine could help them reach the Seventh Sequence.