Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran speculated that Mengtesi Badun had accumulated vast gene resources through hidden research and hunting operations in Qinmeng, and discussed using their technology to trade with him. Zhang Xuezhou then refused Nagesi's request to leave Sinkhole No. 2 soon, saying he was about to lose consciousness and needed to go to Mount Tai later.

• Ren Anran questioned whether Badun would retaliate after Zhang Xuezhou cut off his hope, and Zhang said Badun still needed their help with the spider tide.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he had given Badun ten more doses of gene drug to help produce a Seventh Sequence Holder in the Aomeijia Alliance.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran speculated that Badun had a Qinmeng research base or sinkhole that let him accumulate Ferocious Beast resources and rebuild the Montes Lineage.
• Zhang Xuezhou summarized their relationship with Badun as one side having technology and the other having resources, while Ren Anran recognized the potential value of exchanging them.
• Nagesi urged Zhang Xuezhou to let him leave Sinkhole No. 2 soon, but Zhang refused, saying he was about to fall unconscious and could not delay his plans to visit Mount Tai.

Zhang Xuezhou returned safely from his spirit journey and found that Rong Tianding had kept him hidden from the Nine Spirits Primal Sage. As he recovered with the new emperor and Kong Ning, they discussed preparing for a future expedition and the emperor’s plans to reform the court; Kong Ning eventually ate pork and fell asleep.

• Zhang Xuezhou switched places with Mallard when his time away ended, then found himself safely concealed beneath straw at the Mao Mausoleum.
• Zhang Xuezhou left the shed and joined the new emperor, Kong Ning, and Rong Tianding for food and rice wine.
• The new emperor showed Zhang Xuezhou the broken jars left by the Nine Spirits Primal Sage’s search, and Zhang Xuezhou said he wanted to establish a formation at the Mao Mausoleum.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that the new emperor lacked the skills to escape safely, while the new emperor proposed that they visit the enemy’s territory in a few years.
• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou to tell him when he had recovered so they could set out, while Zhang Xuezhou told Kong Ning that stricter rules helped keep outsiders from entering Chang'an City.
• Kong Ning felt Zhang Xuezhou seemed familiar, then ate two jin of pork leg and fell asleep on a grass mat.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor discussed the limits of Fortune Techniques as they traveled to Mount Tai for the feng and shan sacrifice. At the altar, the emperor announced plans to reform the system and revealed the ancient Feng and Shan Sacrifice Document to the ministers who had gathered.

• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou whether Kong Ning could change her fate, and Zhang explained that Fortune Techniques could improve chances but could not replace personal ability.
• The new emperor reflected on Han Yan’s misfortunes and agreed that cultivators had to be strong enough to handle the opportunities their fortunes brought.
• After reaching Mount Tai at dawn, the new emperor felt the stirring of “Rise and Fall” and declared that he would reform the system to answer Heaven and bring peace to the realm.
• The new emperor told his gathered ministers that he would not prohibit them from cultivating Fortune Techniques, then surveyed the people who had reached the altar.
• The new emperor took out the Feng and Shan Sacrifice Document, whose old cloth bore ancient names and a Qin seal.

During the Fortune Technique ceremony on Mount Tai, Zhang Xuezhou explored the strange number signs appearing in the sacrificial space with Huo Qubing. After touching one, Zhang Xuezhou saw a vision of an old man with medicinal herbs who appeared to be choosing someone, and the chapter left Huo Qubing caught in a surging river of Fortune.

• The new emperor announced that the Fortune Technique was unsealed, and Zhang Xuezhou saw the emperor's golden dragon form while the emperor mistook Zhang's dragon fish for a weak form.
• Huo Qubing appeared as a small Yinglong, recognized Zhang Xuezhou, and showed him mysterious numbers from one to nine that appeared in the Fortune Technique space.
• Zhang Xuezhou noticed that women gathered near even numbers and men near odd numbers, then asked Huo Qubing to guide him to the odd-numbered signs.
• Huo Qubing pointed out the number one, and Zhang Xuezhou leapt toward it but missed as it shifted.
• Zhang Xuezhou bit Huo Qubing's tail, and a long river appeared with an old man holding herbs and a crowd behind him.
• Zhang Xuezhou called to the old man about his medicine and pill-refining studies, and the old man waved as the river swept Huo Qubing toward him.

During the new emperor’s Feng and Shan sacrifice, Zhang Xuezhou used Huo Qubing’s vision to seek blessings from ancient sacrificial imprints on Mount Tai. After receiving one blessing, Zhang Xuezhou and Huo Qubing became trapped in a formation, and Zhang Xuezhou escaped only to suspect Huo Qubing had received the next benefit.

• Zhang Xuezhou saw an ancient emperor’s sacrificial imprint and asked for a blessing that improved his Fortune Body’s resistance to medicinal herbs, poisons, and pill toxins.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Huo Qubing to enter another stream of golden light, where a serpent-bodied man examined them and invoked the endless transformations of hexagrams.
• The serpent-bodied man’s power separated Zhang Xuezhou from Huo Qubing and trapped him in a vast formation alongside the vanished Fortune Bodies of the new emperor and the others.
• Unable to see the formation, Zhang Xuezhou sent out countless illusory dragon fish to search for a way through and eventually escaped when the other Fortune Bodies reappeared.
• Zhang Xuezhou heard Huo Qubing asking the serpent-bodied man for benefits again and suspected Huo Qubing had received a blessing while he was still escaping.

Zhang Xuezhou and Huo Qubing explored the Fortune Technique space and tried to guide Wei Qing into its numbered areas, where strange encounters awaited. Wei Qing refused to continue after being beaten in each area, while Zhang Xuezhou reflected that the disrupted inheritance might give rise to a new order.

• Huo Qubing told Zhang Xuezhou how he had escaped the confusing space and described meeting strange figures who showed him swordsmanship he promptly forgot.
• Zhang Xuezhou failed to enter the opportunity Huo Qubing had found, so he asked Huo Qubing to bring others over and test the numbered areas.
• Huo Qubing recognized Wei Qing among the newly formed Fortune Forms and pushed him into several numbered areas.
• Wei Qing protested that each area had left him beaten and in pain, and he refused to let Huo Qubing drag him into another one.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered the sacrifice’s incomplete knowledge and concluded that the loss of the old inheritance might allow a new order to emerge.

The empress explained that those who arrived late had missed the minor sacrifice and would have to wait for a future major ceremony, while Chu Fu regretted missing the chance to learn a Fortune Technique. After the new emperor completed the sacrifice and burned the Feng and Shan Sacrifice Document, the empress tried to approach him but found he had disappeared.

• The empress told Chu Fu and the late arrivals that they could not join the sacrifice and would need to qualify for a future major rite.
• Chu Fu envied the participants, including Dongfang Shuo and Zhang Xuezhou, and asked whether Wei Zifu’s mastery of a Fortune Technique could threaten the empress’s position.
• The empress dismissed Wei Zifu as a threat but worried that she had not borne an heir and considered cultivating a Fortune Technique to improve her luck.
• The new emperor stamped the Feng and Shan Sacrifice List, declared the ceremony complete, and burned the document in the sacrificial cauldron.
• The empress went to greet the new emperor after the participants dispersed but could not find him.

After being rejected by the imprints of past emperors during the Mount Tai sacrifice, the new emperor tried to imitate Emperor Qin and spent nearly a day meditating on Jade Emperor Peak. He then leapt from the peak and vanished in midair, leaving Zhang Xuezhou searching the clouds.

• The new emperor lamented that he was unworthy of performing the Feng and Shan sacrifices, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested Emperor Qin might also have been rejected by the ancient emperors.
• The new emperor decided to go to Jade Emperor Peak and attempt another sacrifice, asking Zhang Xuezhou to help if the sages appeared again.
• Zhang Xuezhou brought the new emperor to Jade Emperor Peak, where he sat in meditation from morning until midday and beyond.
• While the new emperor meditated, Zhang Xuezhou searched for medicinal herbs and found no noticeable benefit from his blessing.
• The new emperor suddenly leapt from Jade Emperor Peak, and Zhang Xuezhou hurried down to catch him.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the new emperor had not reached the ground and searched the clouds, but the new emperor had disappeared.

Zhang Xuezhou entered the Yin-Yang Secret Land with his Yang Corporeal Soul to find the new emperor after the land began shaking. Inside, he encountered Li Jing, who mistook him for Zhu Jiuyin, and then heard Laojun warn that a great calamity would claim Zhu Jiuyin’s life.

• Zhang Xuezhou realized the new emperor had entered the Yin-Yang Secret Land using the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps, while he could not get in through the entrance.
• Zhang Xuezhou heard faint cries from beyond the boulder and felt the cave shake, suspecting the new emperor had activated another talisman and disturbed the formation.
• Zhang Xuezhou sent his Yang Corporeal Soul through the rock and found the secret land rocking violently, with bones tumbling through the area and no sign of the new emperor.
• Li Jing mistook Zhang Xuezhou’s dragon-shaped Yang Corporeal Soul for Zhu Jiuyin and accused him of plotting against Mount Tai’s three realms.
• Laojun appeared through the fog and spoke of the great calamity that would claim Zhu Jiuyin’s life.

Zhang Xuezhou searched the collapsing Yin-Yang Secret Land for the missing new emperor, then entered the Lord of Mount Tai's Daoist Ground and found him surrounded by yin creatures. The new emperor explained that a voice from the Unseen had drawn him there, and fresh tremors shook the temple as the secret lands' upheaval reached them.

• Zhang Xuezhou searched the ruins of the Yin-Yang Secret Land but found no sign of the new emperor.
• Zhang Xuezhou shouted directions to the escape route in Zhu Jiuyin's voice, returned to his body, and fled the collapsing cave.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the Lord of Mount Tai's Daoist Ground and found yin creatures surrounding its temple.
• The new emperor fought off the yin creatures with his Qi-and-Blood-wreathed sword until Zhang Xuezhou arrived and the creatures fled.
• The new emperor told Zhang Xuezhou that a voice from the Unseen had drawn him from Jade Emperor Peak into the Daoist Ground.
• Cracks split the temple floor as the upheaval spread into the Lord of Mount Tai's Daoist Ground.

As the secret land collapsed, the new emperor discovered that the Reincarnation Stone held knowledge and let him draw upon the earth’s momentum to form a sword. With the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps, Zhang Xuezhou entered the stone’s visions of the dead and began to age and decay before Mallard’s cry jolted him back to his body.

• The new emperor recognized the Reincarnation Stone as the source of a great opportunity and descended from the Heaven-Riding Shuttle to investigate.
• The new emperor pushed his hand into the Reincarnation Stone, gained knowledge of swordsmanship, and demonstrated a defensive strike he named “Defend the Borders.”
• Zhang Xuezhou found that he could enter the stone only while holding the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw powerful cultivators, including Emperor Gaozu, age and vanish, then experienced the same decay himself.
• Mallard’s shriek brought Zhang Xuezhou back to his senses as the Death Technique began to manifest on his body.

Zhang Xuezhou used the Reincarnation Stone to anchor his divine soul and merge the Life and Death Techniques, reviving after three days. He emerged from the still-dusty secret land and told the new emperor that he had understood a way to remain undying through repeated rebirth.

• Zhang Xuezhou used Nagesi's Imprinting Divine Marks method to anchor his divine soul to the Reincarnation Stone and guide the Death Technique toward the Life Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou's body decayed and gradually regenerated as Reincarnation Stones resonated through the Yellow Springs, accelerating his revival.
• After three days, Zhang Xuezhou fully restored his body and stepped out of the Reincarnation Stone into the unsettled secret land.
• The new emperor said Zhang Xuezhou had been drawn into the stone for about twelve to fifteen breaths and asked what he had learned.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked the new emperor to cut off his head so he could test his understanding, then explained that the Life and Death Techniques could allow repeated rebirth.
• The new emperor urged Zhang Xuezhou to leave the dusty cultivation ground and recover outside.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor escaped the ruined secret land and spotted the Immortal Court’s Heavenly Gate opening on Jade Emperor Peak. As they waited to see what came through, a purple-lit figure plunged from the sky faster than Zhang Xuezhou could fly.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor left the collapsed temple and discussed how the emperor had fallen into the secret land and nearly died.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested the new emperor could find the exit, then helped him emerge from the dust and fog onto Mount Tai.
• The two noticed a faint light on Jade Emperor Peak, where the Immortal Court’s Heavenly Gate was connecting to the lower realm.
• The new emperor sent his Yang Corporeal Soul to investigate and asked Zhang Xuezhou to guard his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether the Reincarnation Stone had truly changed his life and death, then saw a purple-lit figure plummet through the night sky.

Celestial Venerable Yuanshi confronted Zhu Jiuyin over his attack on the Three Realms’ secret realms, but Zhu Jiuyin was absent. Immortals evacuated the High Heaven Hall Secret Realm through the Heavenly Gates, leaving them stranded in the mortal world as Yuanshi urged them to find Zhu Jiuyin and restore the secret realm.

• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi descended to Jade Emperor Peak, deflected harmful spells with his Auspicious Cloud Technique, and called on Zhu Jiuyin to surrender.
• Immortal Court cultivators poured through the Southern Heavenly Gate carrying their belongings as Spirit Officer Wang Shan read the Jade Emperor’s order for them to obey mortal-world rules.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi explained that Zhu Jiuyin had exploited the alignment of the seven stars to disrupt the secret realms and that the Immortal Court had lost access to the human secret realm.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi blamed the Immortal Court for neglecting the secret realm, while the assembled immortals stayed silent and none volunteered to pursue Zhu Jiuyin.
• More cultivators emerged after dark, filling Jade Emperor Peak and forcing some to descend the mountain by the light of luminous pearls.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor avoided suspicion from Celestial Venerable Yuanshi by pretending to be a rejected couple seeking refuge. After hearing their account and learning they had escaped the secret realm, Celestial Venerable Yuanshi gave them tokens to pass through the Heavenly Gate and invited them to report any dragon they encountered.

• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi discovered Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor, and Zhang Xuezhou claimed they were lovers rejected by the mortal world and their Lineages.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi left them, but Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor followed him into the mist and claimed they had fled the secret realm when an earth dragon shook the ground.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi questioned them about what they had seen and learned they had not encountered the dragon he sought.
• Celestial Venerable Yuanshi promised to help them join Miluo Palace if they reported a dragon to the Immortal Court, and gave them tokens granting passage through the Heavenly Gate.

The new emperor and Zhang Xuezhou returned to Jade Emperor Peak to investigate the new emperor’s fall and the turmoil that drove the Immortal Court’s immortals to flee. Zhang Xuezhou identified the hidden passage as likely lying at the core of Mount Tai’s three secret lands, where several interacting forces had triggered the disaster.

• The new emperor considered the jade token a valuable means of learning about the Immortal Court, while Zhang Xuezhou dismissed its worth and the promise of Miluo Palace’s support.
• After the immortals departed, the new emperor and Zhang Xuezhou rode the Heaven-Riding Shuttle to Jade Emperor Peak to retrace the new emperor’s fall.
• The new emperor found a hidden stone spike and discovered an invisible path beyond it, where the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps let him stand while Zhang Xuezhou fell through the air.
• The new emperor stepped into the Geomagnetic Primal Light, which damaged his shoe and forced him to search carefully for a safe route.
• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the hidden area was likely the core of Mount Tai’s three secret lands and traced the turmoil to the combined effects of the talismans, the Yin-Yang School’s formations, the Geomagnetic Primal Light, and the seven-star alignment.

The new emperor investigated the seven-star alignment and considered how the Great Han could reduce disasters, then followed Zhang Xuezhou through the Geomagnetic Primal Light into the secret land of the Lord of Mount Tai's Daoist Ground. They found little they could investigate, but the new emperor left with a token from the Immortal Court and a plan to lure Zhu Jiuyin there.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained how the seven-star alignment could gradually cause natural disasters, and the new emperor considered the Nine Cauldrons and the lessons of past dynasties.
• The new emperor leaped through the Geomagnetic Primal Light, and Zhang Xuezhou followed him into the secret land of the Lord of Mount Tai's Daoist Ground.
• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou about the upheaval and Zhu Jiuyin, but they could not uncover the secret behind the turmoil.
• The new emperor proposed luring Zhu Jiuyin to Mount Tai to gain a legitimate reason to visit the Immortal Court, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed.
• The new emperor reflected on the pressure of facing the old immortal and resolved to keep cultivating, believing his Karmic Fortune was like a raging fire.

Zhang Xuezhou learned that the new emperor planned to return to Chang'an City rather than visit Suiyang or the Northern Border, and was ordered to take charge of researching Mount Tai’s secret ground. After initially resisting, Zhang Xuezhou agreed to remain at Mount Tai, where he could study its formations and spiritual imprints while keeping out of reach of his enemies.

• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the new emperor would tolerate Fortune Technique practitioners while consolidating power but might target them once the dynasty’s troubles were resolved.
• The new emperor explained that visiting the Queen of Liang would achieve nothing and that he planned to transform the Northern Border through personnel changes and war rather than investigate it himself.
• The new emperor ordered Zhang Xuezhou to lead research into the secret ground on Jade Emperor Peak and assigned others to deal with the descended immortals.
• Zhang Xuezhou objected that he had to oversee the construction of Mao Mausoleum, so the new emperor arranged for Zhufu Yan to assist and for Zhang Xuezhou’s cousin to be reassigned.
• Zhang Xuezhou accepted the assignment at Mount Tai, seeing it as a chance to research the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps, the sage emperors’ spiritual imprints, and the Reincarnation Stone.

The new emperor reassured the empress dowager that Zhang Xuezhou’s Fortune Body was only a low-grade dragonfish, then recounted his experiences after the Mount Tai ritual. Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Yi Shuo, arranged for her protection before his next trip to Mount Tai, and went with her to hear Zheng Wukong’s troubling news about the Life-Extending Golden Elixir.

• The new emperor told the empress dowager that Dongfang Shuo’s Fortune Body was only a dragonfish and described what he had experienced after the Mount Tai ritual.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned home, reunited with Yi Shuo, and told her he planned to travel to Mount Tai with his cousin.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Yi Shuo that she might be at risk and promised to find her a helper before leaving.
• Yi Shuo told Zhang Xuezhou that Zheng Wukong had made progress studying the elixir, so Zhang Xuezhou accompanied her to Old Tree Alley.
• Zheng Wukong greeted Zhang Xuezhou and Yi Shuo, despairing that his attempt to reverse-engineer the Life-Extending Golden Elixir had failed and ruined his plan to gain a thousand-year lifespan.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others investigated the demon ingredients and dangers of Life-Extending Golden Elixirs, then considered whether dragon demons supplied the Immortal Court’s materials. Zhang Xuezhou urged them to keep researching and anticipated a chance to obtain materials from Zhu Jiuyin, whose danger was rising.

• Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong determined that Life-Extending Golden Elixirs required rare, high-grade demon materials and could harm people unable to withstand their corrosive effects.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he had wisely waited until Lady Yourong and Zhang Zhong had made progress in Qi cultivation before letting them take the pills.
• Yi Shuo asked where the Immortal Court got demon materials, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested it might use dragon demons hunted under its authority over rain.
• Zheng Wukong agreed that they could not risk killing a dragon, while Zhang Xuezhou urged everyone to continue researching the pill formula and promised to save Zheng a pill.
• Zheng Wukong declined to take another Life-Extending Golden Elixir early, and Zhang Xuezhou put the pills away.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected the possible use of dragon materials to Zhu Jiuyin and resolved to get involved if Zhu Jiuyin fell, while urging the others to prepare.