Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou discussed the Life-Extending Golden Elixir and asked Rong Tianding to help build a formation at Mount Tai that could trigger a Spiritual Qi eruption. He arranged for Kong Ning to move to Chang'an City, while his own cultivation path continued to take shape.

• Zhang Xuezhou suspected that the Immortal Court raised Dragon Kings as medicinal ingredients, but kept his theory from Ao Li because it remained unverified.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Rong Tianding about patrolling Mount Tai and proposed building a simple Primordial Chaos Grand Formation to make its three secret lands collide and erupt with Spiritual Qi.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested that Rong Tianding and Shi Wudao study the Reincarnation Stones while they were at Mount Tai.
• Rong Tianding raised concerns about leaving Kong Ning behind, and Zhang Xuezhou said he had arranged for her to live in Chang'an City with Yi Shuo.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Kong Ning's Nine Cauldrons Technique should conceal her from the Demon-Revealing Mirror, and said the new emperor would soon take her in.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Rong Tianding that his cultivation path was nearly open and that he no longer cared whether Kong Ning weakened his position at court.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Kong Ning to Chang'an City and arranged for her to stay with Yi Shuo, who welcomed her with plenty of food. Princess Pingyang confronted Zhang Xuezhou about the Dao Lord’s threat to the Marquis of Pingyang, then vowed to forge weapons capable of defeating him.

• Zhang Xuezhou warned Kong Ning to follow human rules in Chang'an City and told her to rely on Yi Shuo for help.
• As the carriage crossed the increasingly crowded city, Zhang Xuezhou noticed the influx of Lineages and cultivators reshaping Chang'an.
• Zhang Xuezhou introduced Kong Ning to Yi Shuo, who had brought two partly cooked pigs for her to eat.
• Princess Pingyang climbed over the wall to ask Zhang Xuezhou whether the Marquis of Pingyang could be saved and who had sought him out.
• Zhang Xuezhou identified the visitor as Dao Lord, and Princess Pingyang left in anger, promising to forge swords and armor that could defeat him.

After learning that the Dao Lord had come to Chang'an to find Princess Pingyang, Zhang Xuezhou discussed the growing threat with the new emperor and supported an offensive war against Xiong State. The emperor and empress dowager then considered how he might survive the Dao Lord’s Flying Dagger Technique, relying on an avatar and Huo Qubing’s progress with a cultivation fusion method.

• Zhang Xuezhou reported to the new emperor that the Dao Lord had come to Chang'an seeking Princess Pingyang, while the Marquis of Pingyang remained difficult to locate.
• The new emperor told Zhang Xuezhou he planned to prepare for a large-scale war against the Northern Kuru Continent and use the Immortal Court to restrain Zhu Jiuyin; Zhang supported him.
• After Zhang left Weiyang Palace, the empress dowager praised his support for taking the initiative against Xiong State.
• The new emperor said he would risk confronting the Dao Lord and might survive a Flying Dagger Technique strike by using an avatar.
• The empress dowager explained that the avatar would need Spirit Jade and a fusion method to retain the emperor’s cultivation, and the new emperor hoped Huo Qubing could develop that method with her guidance.

Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Emperor Jing and Shi Wudao to leave the Yang Mausoleum and visit Mount Tai, where he had fused the Dao of life and death. The group set out aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle with the Red Empyrean Sword, while Emperor Jing reflected on how flight and political change had shaped his past ambitions.

• Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Rong Tianding at the Yang Mausoleum and invited Emperor Jing and Shi Wudao to Mount Tai to see his work with the Dao of life and death.
• Shi Wudao resisted the trip, but Emperor Jing agreed because he hoped Mount Tai could offer new territory and a chance to separate their lives and deaths.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Shi Wudao argued over resurrection and his growing strength, while Emperor Jing decided their cooperation with Zhang still had value.
• Emperor Jing asked Zhang Xuezhou to take the Red Empyrean Sword from the Yang Mausoleum, and Zhang agreed to bring it to Mount Tai.
• Zhang Xuezhou departed aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle with Emperor Jing, Shi Wudao, Rong Tianding, and the Flying Jiangshi.

Zhang Xuezhou led Shi Wudao and Emperor Jing through the Geomagnetic Primal Light to enter Mount Tai’s secret lands, but they emerged in the Yin-Yang Secret Land instead of the Lord of Mount Tai’s Daoist Ground. Emperor Jing recognized the place as a legendary cultivation sanctuary, though its Spiritual Qi seemed weaker than expected.

• Zhang Xuezhou, Shi Wudao, and Emperor Jing waited at the entrance until nightfall, then headed to Jade Emperor Peak to cross the Geomagnetic Primal Light.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered first, and Shi Wudao and Emperor Jing followed despite the dangerous passage taking far longer than Zhang’s countdown suggested.
• Shi Wudao’s body was badly damaged by the Geomagnetic Primal Light, while Emperor Jing also endured its erosion before reaching Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized they had entered the Yin-Yang Secret Land rather than the Lord of Mount Tai’s Daoist Ground.
• Emperor Jing identified the secret land as a renowned cultivation sanctuary but suspected the Yin-Yang School’s alterations had weakened its Spiritual Qi.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others searched the Yin-Yang Secret Land, once regarded as the strongest secret land, but found it barren and ruined. As they debated whether the Yin-Yang School had deliberately desolated it, Shi Wudao pointed out the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps, prompting Zhang Xuezhou to consider whether the inherited token held clues.

• Emperor Jing told Zhang Xuezhou that dozens of True Self Realm cultivators had once emerged from the Yin-Yang Secret Land.
• Shi Wudao searched the barren secret land and the ruined hall but found no treasures or signs of its former glory.
• Emperor Jing suggested that the Yin-Yang School might have ruined the secret land to deter outsiders and planned to restore it later.
• Zhang Xuezhou denied knowing how to restore the secret land or having inherited any relevant secrets from the Yin-Yang School.
• Shi Wudao asked whether Zhang Xuezhou's Six Talismans of the Tai Steps contained records about the secret land.

Zhang Xuezhou and Shi Wudao investigated the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps as Emperor Jing activated its first five talismans and revealed their powers. Emperor Jing then became locked in a contest with the jade token’s apparent owner, leaving Zhang Xuezhou to wonder who that person was.

• Shi Wudao examined the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps, but found no obvious clue, and Emperor Jing took the jade token to test it.
• Emperor Jing used a Fortune Technique to activate the third talisman, which created a protective barrier around the Flying Jiangshi.
• Emperor Jing activated the fourth talisman and saw the grand formation’s hubs and how it drew power from the earth veins.
• Emperor Jing tried to activate the fifth talisman, but Shi Wudao noticed that he seemed locked in a contest with the jade token’s owner.
• Zhang Xuezhou recalled that Jin Chang had called the jade token part of the Yin-Yang School’s inheritance and wondered who its living owner could be.

Zhang Xuezhou realized the Mount Tai formation and the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps might be tied to Emperor Qin, then used the Fortune Technique to observe Emperor Jing’s standoff with him. He urged Emperor Jing to wield the Red Empyrean Sword and attack, but Emperor Jing remained unable to use it as the Fortune War dragged on.

• Zhang Xuezhou suspected the Mountains and Rivers Ever-Secure Formation had been built by the Great Qin Dynasty to house the Qingzhou Cauldron or trap Yin-Yang School cultivators.
• Zhang Xuezhou handed Shi Wudao the Red Empyrean Sword, but Shi Wudao panicked when he heard Emperor Qin might still be alive.
• Zhang Xuezhou gripped the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps and entered the Fortune Technique, where he saw Emperor Jing’s golden dragon Fortune Form facing Emperor Qin’s black dragon remnant.
• Emperor Jing explained that Emperor Qin wanted to defeat him and recover Hu Hai’s remnant body, while warning that destroying it would bring a curse and let Emperor Qin locate him.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Emperor Jing to use the Red Empyrean Sword and attack, but Emperor Jing could not command it and the Fortune War remained at a deadlock.

Zhang Xuezhou exposed Emperor Qin’s injuries and warned Emperor Jing that the Red Empyrean Sword could kill him, but Emperor Jing avoided escalating their clash. Emperor Qin offered an exchange of two formation tools as the black dragon faded, and Zhang Xuezhou sent dragon fish to attack it.

• Zhang Xuezhou taunted Emperor Qin and revealed that the Red Empyrean Sword had badly wounded his Fortune Form.
• Emperor Jing struck Emperor Qin’s dragon fish and concluded that his opponent was injured, while Zhang Xuezhou explained that the sword could counter him and that Great Han had more Fortune Technique cultivators to oppose him.
• Emperor Qin’s black light faded as he offered Emperor Jing the Yin-Yang Secret Land formation tool in exchange for the Mountains and Rivers Great Array formation tool, and promised to return Zou Ji’s head to an Yin-Yang School inheritor.
• Emperor Jing refused to destroy the black dragon, fearing that Emperor Qin could manipulate him into seeking the Red Empyrean Sword.
• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on how the two formation tools had divided control of the Yin-Yang School’s secret land, then sent several hundred dragon fish charging at the headless black dragon.

Zhang Xuezhou and Emperor Jing emerged from the Yin-Yang Secret Land after Zhang spent five days overcoming Qin Er Shi’s remains. As Zhang headed back to Chang'an City, he brushed aside Emperor Jing’s suspicions and warned him that the empress dowager was angry about his final edict to Dou Ying.

• Zhang Xuezhou complained that Emperor Jing had not helped him, then explained that Emperor Gaozu had fought Emperor Qin.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined the Six Talismans of the Tai Steps and the black ring marking Qin Er Shi’s curse of resentment, and considered taking Liu Xuan as a hostage if he met Emperor Qin.
• Shi Wudao revealed that Zhang Xuezhou had been trapped in the struggle for five days, and Zhang urged Emperor Jing and Shi Wudao to follow him out of the secret land.
• Shi Wudao exposed Emperor Jing’s suspicions of Zhang Xuezhou, and the two argued as Zhang led them toward the exit.
• Zhang Xuezhou assured Emperor Jing that he would not harm him and warned that the empress dowager was unhappy with his final edict to Dou Ying.

Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding discussed their plan to strengthen Liu Xuan and make Emperor Qin relinquish control of the Yin-Yang Secret Land formation device. Shi Wudao examined the Reincarnation Stone, but his disappointment at being surpassed eased after Emperor Jing recounted his own miserable life.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Rong Tianding that Liu Xuan needed connections, resources, and greater cultivation to help pressure Emperor Qin into giving up the formation device safely.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Rong Tianding that using a Reincarnation Stone to imprint life and death required a way to awaken the mind, and admitted he did not know whether his own attempt had succeeded.
• Shi Wudao complained that the Reincarnation Stone was far larger than his Life and Death Token, while Emperor Jing explained why the Shijiao School had rarely studied such stones.
• Shi Wudao hesitated to use the Reincarnation Stone because transferring life and death to a new vessel could be like dying again.
• Emperor Jing recounted his misfortunes to console Shi Wudao, and Zhang Xuezhou's account of his own upbringing further lifted Shi Wudao's spirits.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Sinkhole No. 2 and helped those who could no longer endure its Spiritual Qi escape to the outside world. Nagesi reached the Ninth Sequence and proposed a lasting partnership with Zhang Xuezhou, while others stayed behind to attempt a later crossing.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Ren Anran that Nine Spirits believed him dead and that he planned to visit Bulanpeida to sacrifice to the flag and research the catalyst.
• Zhang Xuezhou let those eager to leave Sinkhole No. 2 go first, while Bi Dazhi, Qimeng Haige, and Ren Yisheng chose to wait and test themselves later.
• Zhang Xuezhou crossed the distorted space with Nagesi, Qin Zhong, and Zhen Wudi; Qin Zhong and Zhen Wudi coughed violently after emerging.
• Mengtesi Badun arrived and learned that Nagesi had reached the Ninth Sequence, while Ren Yisheng and Qimeng Haige remained inside.
• Nagesi thanked Zhang Xuezhou, proposed a long-term partnership, and offered to split any discoveries from No. 1 Sinkhole; Zhang Xuezhou agreed, while Mengtesi Badun held back.

Zhang Xuezhou, Luo Burang, and Zhang Manqian traveled to the Aomeijia Alliance to pursue a catalyst breakthrough and discussed the limits of humanity’s evolutionary paths. They arrived in Bulanpeida City, where Grian and a crowd of children welcomed them.

• Li Yingbo arranged a private Airbus to take Zhang Xuezhou and his companions to Bulanpeida City.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the Fortune Technique could improve the odds of a successful breakthrough but came with a cost, and Luo Burang argued that even one success could ease the shortage of Ferocious Beast materials.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhang Manqian and Luo Burang about the Technique Methods he had learned and discussed the drawbacks of Qi and Blood cultivation.
• Luo Burang questioned whether plentiful Ferocious Beast resources would change Zhang Xuezhou’s preference for mental development, and Zhang Xuezhou said his weak genes left him no choice.
• Zhang Xuezhou and his companions arrived at Bulanpeida Airport, where a hundred children and Grian welcomed them.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to the Aomeijia Alliance and performed another blood ritual for Grian, hoping to strengthen his fortune and political position. Xuanming said he could not grant Grian the Karmic Fortune Pearl and advised Zhang Xuezhou to seek Huangdao instead, offering a way to lure him over.

• Zhang Xuezhou met Grian in Bulanpeida City and saw that the former council chairman feared Mengtesi Badun but still treated Zhang Xuezhou as a backer.
• Zhang Xuezhou praised Grian’s governance and noticed that golden Karmic Fortune surrounded him.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Grian to develop explosive firearms and build ties with the Scarlet Alliance State, then used Grian’s blood in a ritual with the Karmic Fortune Golden Turtle.
• Xuanming told Zhang Xuezhou that the Karmic Fortune Pearl could not be passed to anyone else and directed him to find Huangdao.
• Zhang Xuezhou declined the promised Profound Qi Heavy Armor and accepted Xuanming’s offer to lure Huangdao to him.

Zhang Xuezhou learned from Xuanming and Meng Zhang that Fortune Techniques warded off calamity, but their benefits could overwhelm cultivators who exceeded their abilities. After the sacrifice ended, he discovered the bronze turtle could track Huang Daoxian, whom Xuanming had betrayed.

• Xuanming and Meng Zhang explained that Fortune Techniques did not cause bad luck, and warned Zhang Xuezhou to distinguish their benefits from his own abilities and know when to retreat.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked whether using a Fortune Technique to improve pill-making had caused trouble, and Xuanming and Meng Zhang said fleeing from the opponent he encountered had been the right choice.
• Meng Zhang advised drawing a third party into fights against stronger opponents, and Xuanming and Meng Zhang agreed to use their Karmic Fortune Pearl against Dragon God Yasha.
• The Fortune Technique space faded, revealing Grian standing vacant among the Fortune-Seizing Flags as Zhang Xuezhou returned to reality.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw a dog running across the bronze turtle's shell and realized he could use it to track Huang Daoxian, whom Xuanming had exposed.

After securing Grian’s support and touring Bulanpeida’s laboratories, Zhang Xuezhou tracked Huang Daoxian to the Qinmeng region and went to meet him alone. Zhang Manqian watched as Zhang Xuezhou restrained Huang Daoxian by scolding him, but an approaching woman in red armor made both men react warily.

• Grian accepted Zhang Xuezhou’s assurances, instructed his sons about the Montes Lineage’s future, and planned to use his time as Grand Council Speaker to build wealth and connections.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that Luo Burang and Zhang Manqian had felt nothing during his ritual, then used the bronze turtle to track Huang Daoxian’s movement toward the Qinmeng region.
• Zhang Xuezhou waited four days while touring Bulanpeida’s major laboratories with Luo Burang and Zhang Manqian.
• When the bronze turtle’s image stopped changing, Zhang Xuezhou went alone to meet Huang Daoxian, who was curled beneath an ornamental tree.
• Zhang Manqian watched Zhang Xuezhou curse Huang Daoxian until the Soul-Upsetting Beast Control Technique kept him from leaving or retaliating.
• A scantily clad woman wearing red armor approached, and Huang Daoxian barked at her as Zhang Xuezhou grew grave.

Zhang Xuezhou and Huang Daoxian faced a red-armored creature with Divinity, which Huang Daoxian had provoked by killing the Spider God’s vessel. The research institute’s lights exposed her weakness, and she shed her humanlike shell to reveal a giant spider.

• Zhang Xuezhou confronted Huang Daoxian about the woman pursuing him, and Huang Daoxian explained that she could not be killed because she possessed Divinity.
• Huang Daoxian admitted he had killed the woman’s offspring, which he believed would have served as the Spider God’s vessel for descent.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the words “Huangdao, save me” to stop Huang Daoxian from fleeing, and Huang Daoxian realized the call imposed strange feelings and control on him.
• The red-armored woman attacked Zhang Xuezhou and Huang Daoxian, then identified them as sacrifices to the matriarch.
• The research institute’s lights struck the woman, and she screamed before splitting open to reveal a giant human-faced spider.

Zhang Manqian and Luo Burang prepared to shoot the Human-Faced Spider as it pursued Zhang Xuezhou through the institute, but its speed made it difficult to target. Zhang Xuezhou then called Huang Daoxian back to attack it, and Huang Daoxian pleaded for release after his wounds failed to slow the creature for long.

• Zhang Manqian recalled a vision of the coming fight, and she and Luo Burang agreed to coordinate their fire with Song 727's Spiral Bullets.
• Luo Burang and Zhang Manqian took positions at separate skylights while the Human-Faced Spider destroyed the institute's searchlights.
• Zhang Manqian failed to lock onto the Human-Faced Spider as the tenth and eleventh lights were smashed, leaving her unsure when to shoot.
• Zhang Xuezhou called for Huang Daoxian's help from atop a searchlight, and Huang Daoxian struck the Human-Faced Spider with blood-red claw marks.
• Huang Daoxian said the spider's injuries healed quickly and begged Zhang Xuezhou to let him escape.

Zhang Xuezhou and Huang Daoxian fought the regenerating Human-Faced Spider, but Zhang was trapped in its silk and Huang was poisoned while trying to save him. After gunfire weakened the beast and Zhang tore off a leg it used to heal, it fled, and Huang found himself compelled to chase it.

• Luo Burang and Ren Anran shot the Human-Faced Spider, lodging bullets in its body, while Zhang Xuezhou urged Huang Daoxian to attack it with a weapon.
• Zhang Xuezhou grabbed the spider’s leg and kicked it, but its healing nullified his special ability and it wrapped him in red silk.
• Huang Daoxian used Blood Rainbow Pierces the Sun to rush at the spider, but it spat venom at him and its black rings suppressed his power.
• The spider fell from the institute’s high-rise as Huang Daoxian followed, and guards’ gunfire weakened the black rings around it.
• Zhang Xuezhou broke free and said he had torn off the spider’s healing leg; the wounded beast fled, and Huang Daoxian involuntarily pursued it.

Zhang Xuezhou escaped the Human-Faced Spider’s poisonous webbing by turning it against the beast, then examined its severed leg and its power to negate control and domain abilities. After a researcher died from the leg’s poison, Zhang Xuezhou realized the spider could rapidly regenerate by sacrificing the leg and headed after the beast as Huang Daoxian drove it toward the research institute.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained to Luo Burang how he used strands from his clothes to wrap the Human-Faced Spider in its own webbing and tear off its leg.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined the leg and considered how its Principle power could erase control and domain abilities, possibly even be lent to others.
• A researcher touching the leg died within seconds from its poison, prompting Zhang Xuezhou to curse Mengtesi Badun for failing to explain the danger.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Luo Burang that the spider could regenerate in ten seconds by expending the power of its leg, and Luo Burang compared it to a perpetual source of Ferocious Beast materials.
• Zhang Xuezhou spotted Huang Daoxian driving the Human-Faced Spider toward the research institute, obtained a loaded rifle, and disappeared into the darkness to pursue it.