Chapter Summaries

At the banquet, Zhang Xuezhou used accusations of impropriety to expose Grand Princess Dou’s attachment to Dong Yan and undermine her authority over the Huang-Lao Way. As the banquet ended, the empress realized the Dou Household might lose power and suspected the empress dowager had arranged for her infertility.

• Grand Princess Dou rushed to stop Dong Yan from killing himself and pleaded with the New Emperor to punish her instead.
• Zhang Xuezhou accused Dong Yan of violating social propriety through his feelings for Grand Princess Dou, turning the charges against her and her position.
• The New Emperor told his aunt to mend her ways, then ended the banquet without sentencing her or Dong Yan.
• Zhufu Yan offered to take Zhang Xuezhou for medical treatment, but Zhang Xuezhou said his wife could treat him at home.
• Grand Princess Dou clung to Dong Yan while the empress worried that the Dou Household would lose power and suspected the empress dowager had made her infertile.

Zhang Xuezhou learned how Dong Yan had used the Same-Heart Witchcraft Gu Technique to bind Grand Princess Dou, then told him the Immortal Court was dismissing recruits and had little chance of accepting him. Dong Yan left shaken but temporarily reassured by Zhang Xuezhou’s promise to ask the higher-ups about his prospects, returning the Law Artifact for the Demon-Revealing Mirror.

• Dong Zhongshu visited Zhang Xuezhou to discuss the scandal over Grand Princess Dou’s affair with Dong Yan, and Zhang defended her right to take a male favorite.
• Dong Yan secretly came to Zhang Xuezhou’s residence and asked what he should do, while Zhang asked how he had won Grand Princess Dou’s affection without a Technique Method.
• Dong Yan explained that he had used the Huang-Lao Way’s Same-Heart Witchcraft Gu Technique, tying their hair into a doll and making daily offerings to it.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Dong Yan that the Immortal Court was dismissing many people and that even well-connected cultivators struggled to gain a place there.
• Dong Yan revealed that Yao Yuanguang had secured the submission of the Kingdom of Huainan, and Zhang promised to ask the Immortal Court’s higher-ups about Dong Yan’s prospects.
• Dong Yan left in a numb state and returned the Law Artifact used to control the Demon-Revealing Mirror.

Zhang Xuezhou tested the Demon-Revealing Mirror by making Kong Ning flee its attacks, using the chase to assess the mirror and coach her flying technique. After they escaped its range, Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the mirror’s power resembled the Boundless Jade Disc and might have come from a powerful living being.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Kong Ning to test the Demon-Revealing Mirror, and she reluctantly agreed after he reminded her that he provided her food and shelter.
• When the mirror revealed Kong Ning’s demon form, she fled East Gate Garden as its white radiance pursued her.
• Zhang Xuezhou kept pace with Kong Ning and criticized her speed while the mirror’s strikes injured and scorched her demon form.
• Zhang Xuezhou instructed Kong Ning to adjust her Peacock Transformation, and she increased her flying speed by nearly ten percent.
• Kong Ning escaped the mirror’s range and found that her injuries had mostly vanished, while Zhang Xuezhou sensed a power like the Boundless Jade Disc in the mirror.

Zhang Xuezhou refined pills and prepared to use the Demon-Revealing Mirror and the New Emperor’s help to achieve Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood. After recruiting the New Emperor to open more furnaces, he arranged to go to Long Gate Garden, leaving the emperor wary of the Karmic Fortune his plans would consume.

• Zhang Xuezhou took medicinal ingredients from the inner storehouse and began refining pills to support his attempt at Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood.
• Zou Bugui questioned Zhang Xuezhou about the technique, and Zhang explained that he would need the New Emperor’s help and the Demon-Revealing Mirror to advance.
• Zou Bugui told Zhang Xuezhou that Noble Lady Tang no longer needed the pills he had prepared for her, and they discussed keeping the pills for future needs.
• The New Emperor arrived at the Alchemy Chamber, and Zhang Xuezhou asked him to help open the furnace and refine more batches.
• Zhang Xuezhou gathered the pills and asked the New Emperor to help with more batches before they went to Long Gate Garden, leaving the emperor concerned about losing Karmic Fortune.

Zhang Xuezhou used the Demon-Revealing Mirror’s escalating power to temper his body while the New Emperor invoked the Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven Technique. The New Emperor unexpectedly encountered a powerful serpent spirit, received guidance from the imprints of ancient emperors, and learned how to control the mirror just as its power erupted beyond his command.

• Zhang Xuezhou aimed the Demon-Revealing Mirror at himself and endured its increasingly powerful beams, using them to cultivate his body.
• The New Emperor invoked the Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven Technique and saw a giant serpent appear through the mirror, then transform into a woman who attacked him.
• The seventy-two sage emperors’ Feng and Shan sacrifice imprints emerged from the New Emperor and sealed the woman until she became a stone-like serpent.
• The New Emperor understood how to control the Demon-Revealing Mirror, formed a seal, and summoned its power.
• The mirror’s power abruptly poured out as white light before the New Emperor could control it.

While using the Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven Technique, Zhang Xuezhou was overwhelmed by a surge of Demon Power and the Demon-Revealing Mirror, which killed him. He revived through the Reincarnation Stone with a stronger body, a reconstructed pair of wings, and the Shijiao School's Life and Death Technique fused into his Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood.

• Zhang Xuezhou was caught in the Demon-Revealing Mirror's power as the Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven Technique caused his Demon Power to surge and the giant serpent's silhouette appeared.
• Zhang Xuezhou stabilized his damaged body with the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique and pills, then fused his abilities toward Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood.
• The New Emperor formed a hand seal toward the Demon-Revealing Mirror, and its power destroyed Zhang Xuezhou's newly strengthened body.
• Zhang Xuezhou revived in Lord of Mount Tai's secret place as the Reincarnation Stone rebuilt his body, astonishing Emperor Jing and Shi Wudao.
• Zhang Xuezhou discovered that his Jade Wings had been reconstructed and the Shijiao School's Life and Death Technique had fused into his Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed that the giant serpent had targeted him and the New Emperor, leaving open the possibility of another encounter.

After resurrecting, Zhang Xuezhou reflected on his unexpected death, learned that the Reincarnation Stones were scattered across many secret lands, and recovered in the Yin-Yang School’s secret land. As he traveled back to the real world, he sensed something in the void and discovered another person inside the sealed greenhouse.

• Zhang Xuezhou avoided explaining how he died and asked Shi Wudao how long his own recovery from resurrection had taken.
• Shi Wudao and Emperor Jing used Zhang Xuezhou’s knowledge and Emperor Jing’s maps to identify thirty-six secret lands containing Reincarnation Stones within Great Han territory.
• Emperor Jing began asking Zhang Xuezhou to investigate the Yin-Yang Secret Land’s Spiritual Qi, but Zhang Xuezhou left through a formation before he could finish.
• Zhang Xuezhou went to the Yin-Yang School’s secret land, found a fissure with pure Spiritual Qi, and rested there while waiting for his next journey.
• When the travel time arrived, Zhang Xuezhou entered the void and saw another person appear inside the sealed greenhouse.

Zhang Xuezhou encountered Hongjun while traveling through the void, and Hongjun recognized the mark Zhu Jiuyin had placed on his soul. After criticizing Zhang Xuezhou, Zhu Jiuyin, and Ren Anran, Hongjun offered to improve their method of communicating across worlds before Zhang Xuezhou awoke in Sinkhole No. 2.

• A gray-robed young man entered Zhang Xuezhou's greenhouse, mistook him for someone named Hei, and tried to destroy his divine soul when he realized the mistake.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized the young man as Hongjun and learned that Hongjun was searching for Donghua.
• Hongjun identified the mark Zhu Jiuyin had placed on Zhang Xuezhou's divine soul and learned they hoped to use it to communicate with cultivators in another world.
• Hongjun criticized Zhu Jiuyin's mark and the plan to pull another cultivator's divine soul across the void, then said he could use traces from Zhang Xuezhou's travels to make a better mark.
• Hongjun berated Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran for acting without thinking, while Zhang Xuezhou forgot what he had meant to ask.
• Hongjun praised Zhang Xuezhou's saber and departed, and Zhang Xuezhou awakened in Sinkhole No. 2.

Zhang Xuezhou left Sinkhole No. 2 to check on his team in Qinmeng, unable to control the Wind and Thunder Saber but able to wield his poison tree staff and fly with the Red Gold Cloud Wings. He told Huang Daoxian how he had acquired several treasures, prompting Huang Daoxian to suspect he had used the Tiger Soul Hall and a sacrificial formation to bring them back from the Tiger Saint Lineage.

• Zhang Xuezhou failed to claim the Wind and Thunder Saber with his blood and instead took up the poison tree staff before flying toward his team.
• Zhang Xuezhou called for Huang Daoxian at the B13 Research Institute, and Huang Daoxian appeared in his hyena beast body.
• Zhang Xuezhou said Hu Yu had given him the Red Gold Cloud Wings, and Huang Daoxian complained that Hu Yu had treated Zhang better than he had treated him.
• Zhang Xuezhou revealed that he had also taken the Wind and Thunder Saber and a Five-Colored Divine Stone, leaving Huang Daoxian astonished.
• Huang Daoxian guessed that Zhang Xuezhou had used the Tiger Soul Hall and a sacrificial formation to bring the treasures back from the Tiger Saint Lineage.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Luo Gaogao and technical staff to establish communications links between the Aomeijia Alliance, the Scarlet Alliance State, and Qinmeng. During the journey, they spotted a cloud eagle flying at an impossible altitude, raising fears that mutated creatures were spreading beyond Qinmeng.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Luo Gaogao about connecting communications systems across the Aomeijia Alliance, the Scarlet Alliance State, and Qinmeng, and agreed to help clear political and funding obstacles.
• Huang Daoxian practiced coordinating his swordsmanship and frequency with Zhang Xuezhou while Luo Gaogao discussed entering the Seventh Sequence and advancing the Human Body Equation.
• Zhang Xuezhou spotted a cloud eagle flying through the clouds beside the airliner, and Luo Gaogao noted that the rare bird should not be at that altitude or in that region.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected the cloud eagle was mutated and warned that if Qinmeng's creatures spread outward, they could trigger beast tides and threaten humanity.

After landing in Bulanpeida City, Zhang Xuezhou sensed that the Aomeijia Alliance was changing like Qinmeng, and Ren Anran confirmed that strange weather and beasts had appeared there. Zhang Xuezhou and Mengtesi Badun suspected someone had gained control of a World Origin, but Zhang Xuezhou insisted they plan carefully before entering Qinmeng to investigate.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Gaogao noticed Qinmeng-like air after arriving in Bulanpeida City.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that Sar Port was snowing, the sea had frozen, and Ren Yisheng had seen an owl-like strange beast.
• Mengtesi Badun questioned whether Zhang Xuezhou had caused the changes, and Zhang Xuezhou denied it before suspecting a World Origin was transforming the environment.
• Mengtesi Badun said they needed to find whoever controlled the Origin and kill him during the period when he adapted to its power.
• Zhang Xuezhou argued that their Spider God Cave investigation was complete and urged Mengtesi Badun to plan before sending anyone into Qinmeng.

Zhang Xuezhou and Huang Daoxian realized that someone had found and was transforming the World Origin, spreading an ice age and wielding power that could make resistance futile. They concluded that after nearly a century of change, the Qinmeng Empire’s disappearance likely meant the powerful cultivator would eliminate uncontrollable threats, leaving them in grave danger.

• Huang Daoxian sensed the world changing and, after Zhang Xuezhou pressed him, agreed that the World Origin might already have been found.
• Huang Daoxian regretted destroying the Spider God Liao Meng’s opportunity to interfere, while Zhang Xuezhou admitted he had also relied on other beings to stir up chaos.
• Zhang Xuezhou grabbed Huang Daoxian to force him to analyze the threat, and Huang Daoxian warned that the cultivator’s ice power might impose absolute zero across the transformed area.
• Huang Daoxian advised hiding in underground doomsday bunkers, but warned that a long sojourn would lead the cultivator to eliminate powerful, uncontrollable people.
• Zhang Xuezhou connected the nearly century-long changes to the Qinmeng Empire’s disappearance and realized the cultivator was unlikely to let them survive by becoming his followers.

Zhang Xuezhou reassured Huang Daoxian about the growing crisis in Qinmeng and set out to recruit Hu Yu to help coordinate resistance. As Huang Daoxian followed him, he explained the dangers of the void and why he had decided to rely on Zhang Xuezhou, who he believed might claim the World Origin.

• Zhang Xuezhou calmed Huang Daoxian and Huang Daoxian agreed to follow his arrangements, asking for recognition if their efforts brought benefits.
• Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Luo Gaogao and the others to guard the Aomeijia Alliance communications headquarters, then flew west with Huang Daoxian toward Hu Yu's oil well.
• Huang Daoxian explained that Cloud Treading resembled Zhang Xuezhou's Red Gold Cloud Wings and described the risks and rewards of mining Void Gold in the void.
• Huang Daoxian warned Zhang Xuezhou that their world lagged far behind others in cultivation and that powerful cultivators elsewhere could rival dimension ascenders.
• Huang Daoxian accepted that he needed to cooperate with Zhang Xuezhou and believed Zhang Xuezhou's Fortune cultivation gave him a chance to obtain the World Origin.

Zhang Xuezhou told Hu Yu that someone had reached the World Origin first and triggered a vast spread of cold air, then urged him to investigate with help from the others. Hu Yu agreed to contact Nine Heads first and received a way to send messages to Zhang Xuezhou.

• Hu Yu woke when Baqi growled at Zhang Xuezhou, then welcomed him as a senior.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Hu Yu that someone had stirred up cold air near the Qinmeng capital and asked whether the diviner had located the World Origin there.
• Hu Yu said the diviner had predicted that the Lineage’s most gifted offspring could find the Origin, and Zhang Xuezhou urged him and Hu Hao to investigate.
• Zhang Xuezhou advised Hu Yu to enlist Seven Spiders, Nine Heads, White Bone, Hundred Eyes, and Six Ears, and to pay whatever price was needed for their help.
• Zhang Xuezhou singled out Nine Heads as a useful first contact, and Hu Yu pledged to contact him.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Hu Yu a number he could call from the Aomeijia Alliance to pass messages along to him.

Zhang Xuezhou prepared for the threat posed by the cultivator in Qinmeng who might have claimed the world's Origin by asking Huang Daoxian to teach him his Fortune Technique. He accepted Huang Daoxian's offer to share his Fortune Artifact and help investigate Sinkhole No. 2, then joined the others with him.

• Zhang Xuezhou decided not to return to Qinmeng's capital and considered making fuller preparations before confronting the possible owner of the world's Origin.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Huang Daoxian to teach him his Fortune Technique, and Huang Daoxian explained how he planned to use the Scarlet Alliance State's Karmic Fortune to find the Origin.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Huang Daoxian that pursuing the Origin after someone had claimed it would bring deadly retaliation.
• Huang Daoxian said he could no longer make lucky jewelry but offered his Fortune Artifact to Zhang Xuezhou or Xuanming for study.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed to let Huang Daoxian travel through the twisted space into Sinkhole No. 2, and they went to join the others.

Zhang Xuezhou led his team home after agreeing to help Nagesi if trouble arose, and assigned his companions tasks involving Sinkhole No. 2, mental techniques, cutting into the void, and advancing the Seventh Sequence. Huang Daoxian then suggested that remnants of Liao Meng’s Principle might disrupt the powerful figure in the capital who was deriving Principle.

• Nagesi asked Zhang Xuezhou to help him defeat the former owner of the Immortality Gem if needed, and Zhang agreed.
• Zhang Xuezhou led the team toward home and outlined plans for Huangdao, Luo Tianming, Ren Anran, and the Seventh Sequence project.
• Ren Yisheng questioned whether the team could develop mental techniques quickly, while Zhang Hao said that reaching the planned Tenth Sequence could enable exploration of the void.
• Zhang Xuezhou described Principle as a fixed form of power connected to the mind, the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation, and related Techniques.
• Huang Daoxian proposed that any remaining power of Principle from Liao Meng could disrupt or collapse the Principle being derived by the figure in the capital.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Luo Tianming out of the Little Tangshan Recuperation Center and invited him to join his research institute. Luo Tianming agreed to help study the Innate One Qi Technique, as Zhang sought a way to prepare for a powerful opponent from Qinmeng.

• After failing to enter the recuperation center, Zhang Xuezhou contacted Luo Tianming through a livestream and invited him to recuperate with his group.
• Luo Tianming agreed to leave, hoping Zhang's faction could offer him a chance to change his fate.
• An alarm sounded, and Zhang witnessed a brief conflict before Luo Tianming's equipment was loaded into a vehicle; a fleeing Sequence Holder appeared to have targeted Luo Tianming's inheritance.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained his research plans to Luo Tianming, who promised to analyze the details and work through them carefully.
• Zhang Xuezhou planned to gather researchers to study the Innate One Qi Technique and prepare to face a stronger cultivator from Qinmeng.

Zuo Teng watched the Seventh Sequence Holders and realized that reaching their level was only another threshold to cross. After Zhang Xuezhou summoned Sequence Holders for genetic assessments, Zuo Teng became the first to arrive at B13 Research Institute, where Zhang Xuezhou prepared to examine his Gene Fighting Technique.

• Zuo Teng watched Zhang Manqian and concluded that entering the Seventh Sequence did not erase the gap between younger and older fighters.
• Zuo Denggao noticed that only about a dozen of the more than twenty people who had gone on the operation had returned, then received Zhang Xuezhou's group message requesting genetic data for preliminary physical assessments.
• Zuo Teng responded quickly and hurried to B13 Research Institute, becoming the first visitor to arrive.
• Zuo Teng admitted that he had not prepared his genetic data, so Zhang Xuezhou asked him to demonstrate his Gene Fighting Technique instead.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Hao focused on the challenge of accurately translating the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture and its connection to Hongjun's cultivation teachings.

The B13 Research Institute prepared to raise more people to the Seventh Sequence while translating the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture into terms they could use. Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran were left facing a risky journey across worlds to obtain knowledge needed for the translation.

• Luo Burang planned to use multiple sets of equipment to advance several groups, while Zhang Xuezhou described how he would handle failed attempts.
• Zhang Xuezhou said the shortage of Ferocious Beast extract limited the number of adjustment attempts, and Zhou Xin expected Mengtesi Badun to eventually provide his supplies.
• Ren Anran took responsibility for helping translate the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture and prepare for discussions with Zhu Jiuyin.
• Ren Yisheng asked whether anyone besides Ren Anran could make the journey, but Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Hao said they could not replace Ren Anran.
• Zhang Hao admitted he would not return if sent across worlds, since he would go to Kunlun.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others prepared for a dangerous traversal, and Huang Daoxian revealed that his Void Gold could restore Ren Anran’s depleted Profound Qi Heavy Armor. They left with a new way to protect Ren Anran, though their journey through distorted space still lay ahead.

• Ren Yisheng warned Ren Anran about the bodily risks of traversal, but she decided to go with Zhang Xuezhou and brought Heavenly God General Medicine.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Huang Daoxian for his Void Gold, and Huang Daoxian handed over four flakes embedded in his limbs.
• Huang Daoxian explained that Void Gold gave him speed and the ability to cut through space, though using it consumed his life force.
• Ren Anran realized that Void Gold could replenish her Profound Qi Heavy Armor by supplying spatial power.
• Zhang Xuezhou accepted the use of the Void Gold as worthwhile preparation for their dangerous journey.