Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou woke to find Hongku suffering severe vomiting after consuming the bitter almonds and Linglong Fruit, and he suggested using water and a hollow Arhat Bamboo to clear the contents of Hongku’s stomach. As Hongku recovered, he explained his earlier actions and the medicine’s benefits, while Venerable Lei refused to risk drinking it himself.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke and heard Venerable Lei discuss Hongku’s vomiting and the bad taste left by the bitter almonds and Linglong Fruit.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested that Hongku drink water and vomit repeatedly, then proposed using a hollow tube to trigger vomiting.
• Venerable Lei reshaped the Arhat Bamboo and pushed it into Hongku’s throat, allowing Hongku to vomit through its hollow center.
• Hongku told Zhang Xuezhou that he had not caused the trouble with Venerable Yufeng and had helped keep Zhang off the Yedie River Holy Land’s arrest warrant.
• Hongku said the great medicine could strengthen their Divine Sense and help it resist perishing, but Venerable Lei refused to drink it after seeing Hongku’s condition.
• Hongku reflected that he had tested the medicine on Zhang Xuezhou and had broken through because he feared Venerable Yinghua would come after his three-year protection period ended.

Zhang Xuezhou stayed behind after realizing Venerable Lei and Hongku could rely on the Yedie River Holy Land for protection, while he could not. As Venerable Lei tried to leave the secret grounds carrying Hongku and the unconscious Zhang Xuezhou, Golden Crow arrived and attacked them.

• Zhang Xuezhou failed to conceal the jade bottles of Nine Treasures Wine and decided to stay in the secret grounds rather than escape with Venerable Lei and Hongku.
• Venerable Lei explained that the Dao Lord protected the Yedie River Holy Land, giving him and Hongku confidence that they could avoid retaliation by returning there.
• Zhang Xuezhou drank a little Nine Treasures Wine base, became drunk, and lay down to delay Venerable Lei and Hongku from leaving without him.
• Hongku urged Venerable Lei to help Zhang Xuezhou cultivate the Technique Within the Clouds and perhaps teach him the basics of the Great Glazed Treasure Body, but Venerable Lei remained suspicious of their motives.
• Venerable Lei collected the wine base and followed Hongku's directions toward the exit, carrying Hongku and Zhang Xuezhou with him.
• Golden Crow confronted Venerable Lei on Mount Kunlun, spat flames at him, and raised thunderclouds filled with golden lightning to block his escape.

Venerable Lei struggled to escape the Heavenly Emperor’s thunderclouds while the Golden Crow Great Emperor attacked him, but Hongku got them out of danger. Afterward, Hongku confronted Venerable Lei about his distrust, and Venerable Lei’s repeated reassurances began to soften his suspicions.

• Venerable Lei charged through the Heavenly Emperor’s thunderclouds but remained trapped as the Golden Crow Great Emperor struck him repeatedly.
• Venerable Lei used Hongku and Zhang Xuezhou as shields, then fought back against the Golden Crow Great Emperor as the Heavenly Emperor’s lightning nearly overwhelmed him.
• Hongku invoked his connection to the Heavenly Emperor and got Venerable Lei out of the thunderclouds, then reminded him that he should not have abandoned Wu Jin.
• Venerable Lei left the secret place and Hongku followed, telling him that he understood Venerable Lei wanted his help but feared being manipulated.
• Hongku repeated that he sought only the person behind the Incantation that killed his family, and Venerable Lei’s wariness faded as he began to feel guilty about abandoning Wu Jin.

The Imperial Lord abandoned the attempt to pursue Venerable Lei and returned to his wine workshop, where he discovered that Hongku and Venerable Lei had stolen his wine and fruit-wine lees. Zhang Xuezhou recovered from the lightning and wine’s effects, and the Imperial Lord resumed brewing while the Golden Crow Great Emperor mourned the Heavenly Court’s decline.

• The Imperial Lord decided not to capture Venerable Lei and told the Golden Crow Great Emperor to take Zhang Xuezhou back with him.
• The Imperial Lord found his wine pool emptied and the Arhat Bamboo discarded, then angrily realized Hongku and Venerable Lei had stolen his wine lees.
• The Golden Crow Great Emperor dropped Zhang Xuezhou, who explained that he had hidden two bottles of wine; the Imperial Lord noticed feathers growing on his arms and asked about his connection to Leizhenzi’s Lineage.
• Zhang Xuezhou used the Supreme Purity True Technique to ease his pain and sober up, while the Imperial Lord treated his lightning injury.
• The Imperial Lord restored the wine workshop and continued brewing, and the Golden Crow Great Emperor reflected on the Heavenly Court’s fading prospects.

The Emperor considered adding Bodhi Fruit to his Nine Treasures Wine after Zhang Xuezhou argued it could improve the flavor. While waiting for the Golden Crow Great Emperor to fetch the fruit, he discovered Zhang Xuezhou’s body had been left without its three souls and seven spirits, and a powerful incantation blocked his investigation.

• Zhang Xuezhou urged the Emperor to add Bodhi Fruit to the brew, citing its balancing properties and his knowledge of alchemy.
• The Emperor sent the Golden Crow Great Emperor to ask for Bodhi Fruits, then returned to the brewery to think over Zhang Xuezhou’s suggestion.
• Zhang Xuezhou fell asleep, and the Emperor examined him out of boredom.
• The Emperor realized Zhang Xuezhou’s three souls and seven spirits had vanished from his body.
• The Emperor saw a red speck in Zhang Xuezhou’s eyes and lost his probing thought to a powerful incantation.
• The Emperor compared the incantation to the Immortal-Slaying Incantation and thrust two fingers toward Zhang Xuezhou’s eyes.

Zhang Xuezhou endured the backlash from a clash between the secret domain's master and a mysterious flame, then woke in the Kunlun Ruins and inferred that the Western Sect's leaders might be seeking new bodies for a second life. He defused the master's killing intent by offering to share how Nine Treasures Wine aided Divine Sense cultivation.

• Zhang Xuezhou suffered bleeding eyes and a nose as chanting and lights from the distant clash disrupted his consciousness, but the Kunpeng Combat Technique helped him withstand the suppression.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed the secret domain's master fighting a flame in the Kunlun Ruins and glimpsed what seemed to be many other beings like himself.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned to his body in the brewery, where the secret domain's master had taken the Buddha's Son's form and wiped away golden blood.
• The Divine Lord speculated that Jieyin and Zhunti were planning to replace their old bodies, and considered disrupting their scheme.
• Zhang Xuezhou inferred that the Divine Lord's killing intent came from his remark about the Buddha's Son's illness, then offered to share how Nine Treasures Wine accelerated Divine Sense cultivation.
• The Divine Lord halted his lightning and asked Zhang Xuezhou how he planned to strengthen his Divine Sense.

The emperor realized Zhang Xuezhou’s Divine Sense Strengthening Incantation offered a new path to refine consciousness and might explain the strength of his greatest rivals. After learning that Mr. Ren had taught Zhang the Technique, the emperor suspected that the mysterious figure was influencing events again, but the Golden Crow Great Emperor’s calls interrupted his thoughts.

• The emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou to repeat the Divine Sense Strengthening Incantation and recognized that it refined Divine Sense rather than increasing its volume.
• The emperor connected the Technique’s principles to his crushing defeat and concluded that stronger, refined Law Power explained the gap between him and his opponent.
• The emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou to explain the Incantation in greater detail, and Zhang suggested that he drink more Nine Treasures Wine before trying again.
• The emperor agreed to try again after drinking and considered how the Technique could affect the balance between the Heavenly Court and the Immortal Court.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the emperor that Mr. Ren had taught him the Technique, prompting the emperor to wonder whether Mr. Ren was guiding events and had planned the flame that wounded him.
• The Golden Crow Great Emperor called from outside the brewery, interrupting the emperor’s suspicions.

Zhang Xuezhou reflected on how powerful he hoped to become while the emperor watched his cultivation and worried about the Nine Treasures Wine. The empress arrived at the Kunlun Ruins, attacked the emperor after mistaking his concern for Zhang Xuezhou as evidence he was hiding a woman, and entered the winery to investigate.

• Zhang Xuezhou resolved to reach the level of the master of the Kunlun Ruins so no one could control his life and death.
• The emperor watched Zhang Xuezhou cultivate and wondered whether he would practice the Divine Sense strengthening incantation or leave after the Nine Treasures Wine was ready.
• A female official told the emperor that the empress would attack the Immortal Court if he did not return, so he set out for the palace.
• The empress arrived and accused the emperor of hiding a young woman after he tried to protect someone inside the winery.
• The empress struck the emperor unconscious with her Ruyi Vermilion Hairpin, then entered the winery to find the woman she suspected he was hiding.

The empress entered the brewery and mistook Zhang Xuezhou for a man the emperor had hidden away, while the Golden Crow Great Emperor struggled to explain why he was there. The emperor arrived to defend Zhang Xuezhou, but his explanation only deepened the empress’s suspicions, and she struck the Golden Crow Great Emperor with her hairpin.

• The empress entered the brewery and found Zhang Xuezhou beside the brewing vat, then accused the emperor of secretly meeting a man.
• The Golden Crow Great Emperor blocked the empress’s attack and explained that Zhang Xuezhou was a brewer competing with the emperor over Nine Treasures Wine.
• The empress grew angrier as the Golden Crow Great Emperor described the brewing contest and Zhang Xuezhou tried to play the fool.
• The Golden Crow Great Emperor urged the empress to spare Zhang Xuezhou until the emperor recovered, while the empress rejected his attempts to stall.
• The emperor arrived and called Zhang Xuezhou a student he planned to train against the Immortal Court, prompting the empress to strike the Golden Crow Great Emperor with her hairpin.

Zhang Xuezhou bowed to the Empress to save his life, and the Sovereign claimed him as a student to stop her from attacking him. The Sovereign decided to make the student claim real, suspecting Zhang Xuezhou could help him counter the Immortal Court and the mysterious force behind him.

• Zhang Xuezhou greeted the Empress as his teacher's wife after she struck the three-legged black bird with her hairpin.
• The Empress questioned whether Zhang Xuezhou was truly the Sovereign's student, and Zhang praised her while the Sovereign confirmed he had said flattering things about her.
• The Sovereign recovered from his paralysis and entered the winery, relieved to find Zhang Xuezhou alive.
• The Sovereign gave the Empress a shaky explanation for choosing Zhang Xuezhou, then privately considered whether Zhang was tied to the being who had once chosen Jiang Shang.
• The Sovereign resolved to turn his false claim into a real student-teacher relationship and told the Empress that he and Zhang shared an interest in wine.

Zhang Xuezhou spoke with the Golden Crow Great Emperor after witnessing the Emperor and Empress’s power, while privately planning to flee the secret place. The Golden Crow Great Emperor gave him a feather that could make fire when Zhang Xuezhou invoked their friendship, and Zhang Xuezhou went to answer the Emperor’s call.

• Zhang Xuezhou assessed the secret place’s powerful rulers and decided to escape once he left it.
• The Golden Crow Great Emperor recounted how the Emperor had saved him after his siblings were killed and explained his loyalty to the Emperor and Empress.
• Zhang Xuezhou claimed he would stay with his teacher and the teacher’s wife, then asked the Golden Crow Great Emperor for a feather.
• The Golden Crow Great Emperor plucked a living feather and taught Zhang Xuezhou to activate it by saying, “The Golden Crow Great Emperor is my good friend.”
• Zhang Xuezhou tested the feather’s flame and hurried out of the brewery when the Emperor called him.

After the Empress left, Zhang Xuezhou and the Emperor awkwardly settled into their new teacher-student relationship as the Emperor questioned him about his cultivation. The Emperor urged him to focus on raising his realm, but Zhang Xuezhou asked whether the Emperor could send him back to sleep so he could deal with the mysterious flame affecting him in reality.

• Zhang Xuezhou greeted the Emperor at the Myriad Longevity Pavilion, where they acknowledged their awkward, unexpected teacher-student bond.
• The Emperor questioned Zhang Xuezhou about his past teachers and learned that he had studied several cultivation techniques at different schools and sacred lands.
• The Emperor judged Zhang Xuezhou's scattered studies difficult to teach and advised him to prioritize raising his cultivation realm over techniques.
• Zhang Xuezhou privately doubted that raising his realm was a practical solution and considered how the mysterious flame in reality affected his cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked the Emperor to send him back to sleep, hoping to investigate the flame and the destruction mentioned by the Buddha's Son.

Zhang Xuezhou told the Emperor about the modern world he visited while asleep, and the Emperor believed him and envied its abundance. The Emperor explained that the being disrupting Zhang Xuezhou’s travels was an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, leaving Zhang Xuezhou worried that one was parasitizing him.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked the Emperor why he could no longer fall asleep and enter the world where Mr. Ren lived.
• The Emperor connected Mr. Ren to the mysterious opponent he had fought and suspected the opponent had been unable to send Zhang Xuezhou’s souls across worlds since being injured.
• Zhang Xuezhou described a world where people had food and homes, as well as schools, hospitals, Airbuses, and pressure cookers, and the Emperor marveled at it.
• The Emperor described beings that could preserve their Divine Sense after death, travel through the void, and inhabit new hosts, calling them Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demons.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked whether an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon was parasitizing him and whether there were many of them, while the Emperor dismissed the risk.

Zhang Xuezhou learned that strengthening his Divine Sense could protect him from the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon but might prevent him from traveling through the void. After settling into the Wondrous Dharma Palace on Mount Kunlun, he returned to the modern world and woke in a hospital at night, realizing the demon had shifted him from daytime to nighttime.

• The Sovereign explained that a stronger Divine Sense would make it harder for an Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon to control Zhang Xuezhou, though it could also stop the demon from taking him through the void.
• The Sovereign advised Zhang Xuezhou to master the complete Divine Sense Strengthening Incantation before cultivating or attempting a breakthrough, and suggested asking 'Mr. Ren' about changing the demon's contract.
• The Sovereign sent Zhang Xuezhou with the Golden Crow Great Emperor to the Wondrous Dharma Palace, where he could live in any room and eat lotus seedpods.
• Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether the meteor that struck while he was in Song Fengying's womb explained his two bodies and travel between worlds, and questioned whether his parents were truly in another world.
• After drinking Nine Treasures Wine, Zhang Xuezhou woke in a hospital beside Zhang Weimeng and realized the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon had shifted him from daytime to nighttime.

After awakening in the Xuanshi Building, Zhang Xuezhou reassured his father and advanced rapidly through the Mental Strengthening Chapter. He asked Ren Yisheng to help him resist the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, leaving Ren to weigh a request that could pit two paths of cultivation against each other.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke from his brain shock and told Zhang Weimeng that his disrupted biological clock would eventually return to normal.
• Zhang Xuezhou cultivated the Mental Strengthening Chapter and rapidly strengthened his mental power with the lingering benefit of the Nine Treasures Wine.
• Ren Yisheng sensed Zhang Xuezhou's progress and was shocked that he had nearly reached the fourth chapter's level without taking medicine.
• Ren Yisheng asked whether Zhang Xuezhou was himself or Hongku, and Zhang Xuezhou insisted that he was himself.
• Zhang Xuezhou pleaded with Ren Yisheng to help drive the invading presence from his body and offered to hand over everything Hongku possessed if Ren could help him resist.

Zhang Xuezhou sought Ren Yisheng’s help resisting Hongku, but Ren Yisheng explained that the Ren Household could not afford to train him. They formed a mutually beneficial alliance instead, agreeing to share cultivation techniques and connections as Zhang Xuezhou advanced.

• Ren Yisheng explained that the Ren Household’s financial decline and past losses made training another sequence expert too risky.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed a partnership in which he and his allies would earn money while relying on Ren Yisheng’s influence to protect their legitimate business.
• Ren Yisheng agreed to open the Ren Household’s connections to Zhang Xuezhou if he advanced.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered the first three chapters of the Supreme Purity True Technique and the first five chapters of the Heart Incantation in exchange for later chapters of the Mental Strengthening Chapter.
• Ren Yisheng promised to provide the fifth and sixth chapters when Zhang Xuezhou progressed, and they sealed their agreement with a clap of their palms.

Zhang Xuezhou showed his father that his cultivation could heal wounds, making Zhang Weimeng fear that the Zhang family’s old investigations were connected to his abilities. Ren Yisheng overheard them and realized Zhang Xuezhou expected him to provide protection over the sinkhole incident.

• Zhang Xuezhou joked with Zhang Weimeng about cultivation and explained that his family and several professors were learning techniques from a demonic sect elder’s legacy.
• Zhang Xuezhou demonstrated his skills by threading a hair through a quilt and then using internal power to stop and heal a cut on his palm.
• Zhang Weimeng connected Zhang Xuezhou’s healing ability to his past accident and worried that the Zhang family’s repeated investigations might relate to the meteor’s fall.
• Ren Yisheng overheard the conversation at Canglan Academy’s central medical control center and understood that their alliance also required him to shield Zhang Xuezhou over the sinkhole incident.

Ren Yisheng worried that the Zhang Household would face renewed scrutiny over Sinkhole No. 2 and decided he needed stronger allies to protect them. After realizing he could not rely on Western Capital City's Lineages, he considered helping Wang Haoran reach the Sixth Sequence and offered to use his new abilities to guide Wang Haoran's emotions.

• Ren Yisheng assessed the threat posed by the Zhou Household and Changkong Lineage and concluded that the Zhang Household could be targeted if Zhang Xuezhou and the others displayed unusual abilities.
• Ren Yisheng decided he needed a Sixth Sequence ally and considered helping Wang Haoran advance rather than trusting other Lineages.
• Wang Haoran refused to take an Origin-Nurturing Pill that day and explained that repeated failures had made him afraid of attempting Realm Entry again.
• Wang Haoran asked if Ren Yisheng planned to find another ally, and Ren Yisheng admitted he had considered it.
• Ren Yisheng offered to use his Seventh Sequence abilities to guide Wang Haoran's emotions and help him attempt Realm Entry.

Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Zhang Weimeng to begin cultivating, while Ren Yisheng used his mental ability to draw out Wang Haoran’s deepest fear. Wang Haoran was trapped in a vision of Ren Yisheng slaughtering his family and struggled to enter the Realm with Heart Incantation as Ren realized he was the person Wang feared most.

• Zhang Weimeng agreed to cultivate Zhang Xuezhou’s internal method and the Six Meridian Divine Sword after witnessing Zhang Xuezhou’s injuries heal.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he hoped cultivation would help his parents reduce the dangers caused by mental burning.
• Ren Yisheng read Zhang Xuezhou’s lips, then began using his mental ability to probe Wang Haoran’s emotions.
• Ren Yisheng forced Wang Haoran to relive his fear that Ren would take revenge on the Wang Household, showing him a vision of his family dead in their villa complex.
• Wang Haoran accused Ren Yisheng of betraying him and tried to resist with his Exquisite Flying Blade and Heart Incantation.
• Ren Yisheng watched Wang Haoran struggle for Realm Entry and realized that he was the person Wang feared most.

Ren Yisheng’s forced mental stimulation drove Wang Haoran into Realm Entry but left him convinced Ren had killed his family, and Zhang Xuezhou found that the Supreme Purity True Technique could not help. The group considered staging a convincing revenge so Wang Haoran might escape his fixed belief, while Zhang Xuezhou saw a possible way to help his parents enter a Realm.

• Wang Haoran raged at Ren Yisheng while the others restrained him, and Zhang Xuezhou determined that he could no longer distinguish reality from falsehood.
• Ren Yisheng explained that Wang Haoran believed his family had been killed, while Zhang Xuezhou said Wang’s physical condition was normal and the Supreme Purity True Technique could not treat him.
• Ren Yisheng warned that Wang Haoran’s condition had to be resolved that night to protect his standing in the Wang Household.
• Zhang Weimeng suggested that fulfilling Wang Haoran’s wish might free him from his belief, and Zhang Xuezhou proposed making him feel that his vengeance had been achieved.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered using Ren Yisheng’s mental stimulation method to help his parents enter a Realm, then supporting their cultivation with Origin-Nurturing Pills.