Chapter Summaries

Mu Fan planned to use the Tai Clan’s connection to the Power That Cannot Be Controlled to create pressure and recruit Zhong Ming to help. The Jiang Clan prepared to smear the Tai Clan but agreed to wait until Mu Fan’s plan was ready.

• Mu Fan considered how to make the Tai Clan’s situation precarious enough for him to fulfill his task, then asked Zhong Ming to join him in a risky scheme.
• Lu Changzhi gave Jiang Qingya the item Mu Fan had provided and told him to coordinate its use with his disciple; Jiang Qingya discussed bringing Mu Fan under Jiang Kui’s wing.
• Lu Changzhi gave Mu Fan a voice transmission device and storage rings taken from Tai Clan members, and Mu Fan said he would leave with Zhong Ming for a few days.
• Jiang Clan experts concluded that rumors linking their clan to the Power of Time had likely been spread by the Tai Clan or its allies, and agreed to take concrete action against the Tai Clan.
• Jiang Qingya told the Jiang Clan to wait because Mu Fan’s disciple had not finished his work and the item would be most useful later.

Several youths stole a glowing egg from a powerful crimson bird, but escaped just before it caught up with them. Mu Fan and Zhong Ming followed the bird, while the youths’ return to the Jiang Clan left the clan head scrambling after learning the bird had already noticed the theft.

• The youths saw the stolen egg begin to glow and fluctuate, then spotted the crimson bird closing in and teleported away.
• The crimson bird arrived, shrieked into the void, and veered off as Mu Fan and Zhong Ming decided to follow it.
• At the Jiang Clan, a middle-aged man questioned the youths and learned they had stolen the egg from the big red bird near the Cheng Clan.
• The middle-aged man slapped the youths, brought them to the Jiang Clan head, and warned him that they had barely concealed the egg’s scent.
• A youth revealed that the bird had already caught up with them, and the Jiang Clan head crushed a jade talisman.

The Jiang Clan learned that its youths had stolen the big red bird’s egg, bringing the bird’s wrath upon them instead of the Cheng Clan. The clan sent the youths outside with the egg, but after reclaiming it, the bird turned back with a far stronger presence, making the Jiang Clan head suspect it had been hiding its true strength.

• The Jiang Clan head revealed that the youths had stolen the big red bird’s egg and that the bird was approaching the clan.
• The Jiang Clan head ordered the egg returned and the Heavenly Medicine Hall’s spirit herbs prepared as an offering.
• Jiang Xiong argued that the youths and their fathers should bear the consequences, and the clan head agreed to send the youths outside.
• The Jiang Clan formation sealed the clan inside while the youths and the egg remained outside.
• The big red bird reclaimed its egg, stared at the youths, and flew away without attacking them.
• The big red bird abruptly returned with a surging presence, prompting the Jiang Clan head to wonder if it had been pretending to be weak before.

The enormous red bird battered its way through the Jiang Clan’s barrier while the clan head refused to interrupt the old ancestor’s breakthrough. Mu Fan recognized that the situation was a trap, prepared to face it with Zhong Ming’s help, and appeared above the Jiang Clan disguised as its old ancestor.

• The red bird repeatedly struck the Jiang Clan’s barrier, leaving claw holes and deepening cracks as the clan’s experts worried it would soon collapse.
• The clan head refused to summon the old ancestor because disturbing his breakthrough could ruin the Jiang Clan’s chance to gain a powerful pillar.
• The red bird declared that everyone would die, and the clan head realized it would not stop until one side was dead.
• Mu Fan told Zhong Ming that the situation was a trap, then asked him for a disposable old-ancestor replica; Zhong Ming handed him one and left.
• The red bird shrank and squeezed through the holes in the barrier, while Mu Fan vanished and reappeared above the Jiang Clan disguised beneath a cloak.
• The Jiang Clan’s experts mistook Mu Fan for their old ancestor and wondered why his figure had grown so large.

Mu Fan, calling himself Taijun, appeared to save the Jiang Clan from a great red bird and destroyed it with a single hidden strike. As the Jiang Clan celebrated, a giant bell killed several youths outside the barrier, and a voice accused the Jiang Clan of impersonating the Tai Clan.

• The Jiang Clan head asked the newcomer how to address him, and Mu Fan answered, “Call me Taijun,” prompting the clan members to believe they were saved.
• The great red bird warned Mu Fan that he could not protect the Jiang Clan, but Mu Fan told it to leave because it was not his target.
• The great red bird attacked Mu Fan, who shifted positions and spoke from inside its body before telling everyone to listen.
• A muffled thump erupted inside the great red bird, and an explosion tore a huge hole through its body and killed it.
• A giant bell appeared above the barrier and crushed several youths outside the Jiang Clan, while a voice accused the Jiang Clan of impersonating a member of the Tai Clan.

Tai Jiuling entered the Jiang Clan’s bell and exposed Mu Fan, who had been impersonating a Tai Clan expert, but Mu Fan escaped after sacrificing what appeared to be a clone. Huaxia Sect experts surrounded Tai Jiuling, and the figure controlling the bell tried to explain that they had caught the wrong person.

• Tai Jiuling entered the bell, tore away Mu Fan’s cloak, and revealed that he had been impersonating Tai Jiuling.
• Mu Fan taunted Tai Jiuling about exposing the Tai Clan’s power, then tried to escape when Tai Jiuling suppressed the space inside the bell.
• Tai Jiuling seized Mu Fan’s apparent body and suppressed its self-destruction, but Mu Fan escaped as the body was destroyed.
• Tai Jiuling sensed danger outside the bell and was surrounded by several Huaxia Sect experts whose combined pressure trapped him.
• A Huaxia Sect figure asked whether the bell’s controller was Taijun, and the controller explained that a Jiang Clan member had impersonated the Tai Clan and that they had set a trap to catch him.

Li Baimei appeared before Tai Jiuling and used the great book of time to reveal what had really happened. The vision showed Tai Jiuling and the bell-controller planning to use the artifact to hide their presence after Tai Jiuling dealt with the big bird.

• Huaxia Sect experts accused the bell-controller of using the great bell to conceal himself and demanded that he put it away.
• Huaxia Sect experts identified Tai Jiuling as connected to the power after examining the big bird's corpse and the presence on his hand.
• Tai Jiuling told the experts that the power belonged to someone connected to the Jiang Clan, but they suspected he was blaming them for his setback in the secret realm.
• Li Baimei arrived and offered to reveal the truth by looking back through the great book of time.
• Li Baimei opened the vertical eye on his forehead, and the vision showed Tai Jiuling telling the bell-controller to conceal their presence after he dealt with the big bird.

Li Baimei showed the Jiang Clan evidence that Tai Jiuling had lured the great bird to them, then confronted Tai Jiuling about whether the Huaxia Sect had wronged him. Tai Jiuling stayed silent and concluded that the Huaxia Sect had framed him as part of a larger plan, leaving him afraid to challenge Li Baimei.

• Tai Jiuling's words and the shattered soul jades of the Jiang Clan youths led the Jiang Clan experts to suspect that he had used them as bait.
• Li Baimei showed scenes of Tai Jiuling discussing the great bird, killing it, entering the ancient bell, and later being stopped by the Huaxia Sect.
• Li Baimei freed Tai Jiuling's voice and asked whether the Huaxia Sect had wronged him, but Tai Jiuling only asked why.
• Tai Jiuling realized the Huaxia Sect had likely manipulated events and that the images portrayed his actions as deliberate.
• Tai Jiuling suspected Li Baimei was a Huaxia Sect puppet and feared that denying the accusations would provoke Li Baimei to attack him.

Li Baimei accused the Tai Clan of secretly mastering the Power That Cannot Be Controlled and took its experts away under the pretext of bringing them to the Huaxia Sect. He returned to the sect after secretly bowing toward every direction to greet the senior whose connection he was trying to protect, while the Jiang Clan divided the great bird’s corpse and preserved evidence of the Tai Clan’s actions.

• Li Baimei confronted Tai Jiuling, claimed the Tai Clan had mastered the Power That Cannot Be Controlled, and ordered its experts to accompany him to the Huaxia Sect.
• Li Baimei sent the others ahead, then repeatedly bowed in every direction to greet the senior he believed might be watching.
• Jiang Clan members condemned the Tai Clan for endangering them, and one preserved what they had witnessed in an artifact.
• The Jiang Clan found only the great bird’s corpse beneath its feathers and divided it among themselves.
• Li Baimei returned to the Huaxia Sect and reflected that he had used the Power of Time to turn the Jiang Clan’s suspicions against the Tai Clan.

A Huaxia Sect visitor and the Grand Elder planned to use the dispute over the Power That Cannot Be Controlled to test whether the Tai Clan had powerful allies. Meanwhile, Jiang Tao tried to publicize the Tai Clan’s alleged crimes, but someone else began denouncing the clan first.

• The visitor proposed demanding that the Tai Clan demonstrate how it controlled the Power That Cannot Be Controlled, and the Grand Elder approved the plan.
• The visitor warned that it might be too early to push the matter forward, but the Grand Elder assured him the Huaxia Sect could act without worry.
• Mu Fan told Zhong Ming that their master’s influence seemed to be at work and suggested they help spread news of the Tai Clan incident.
• Jiang Tao and his companion arrived in a crowded city to publicize the Tai Clan’s alleged crime, but Jiang Tao rejected the idea of hiring help.
• Bells and thunder announced public accusations against the Tai Clan, and Jiang Tao stared in shock as a figure began denouncing it.

An elderly man publicly accused the Tai Clan of controlling the Power That Cannot Be Controlled and sacrificed his life to reveal evidence of its actions. His display sparked alarm across Qingyuan City, while Jiang Tao suspected the dead man might be his clan’s secluded ancestor.

• A city official halted the disturbance and warned the old man not to make unsupported accusations against the Tai Clan.
• The old man stabbed himself, declared that the Tai Clan would meet an early destruction, and burned his life force to project a vision of Li Baimei and other Huaxia Sect experts.
• The old man condemned the Tai Clan once more, then died and fell into the city.
• Jiang Tao recognized that the revealed scenes involved the Jiang Clan, suspected the corpse might be his ancestor, and hurried back with his companion.
• The crowd debated whether the Tai Clan had truly gained control of the Power That Cannot Be Controlled and wondered where they could verify the events.

Li Changqing and the other youths discovered that the burial chamber’s senior had left them a secret: the Tai Clan had mastered the Power That Cannot Be Controlled long ago. Outside the chamber, Mu Fan revealed that he had taken the powerful expert’s bones, while rumors about the Tai Clan’s secret spread and alarmed the Jiang Clan.

• Li Changqing reached the coffin, and the senior’s illusory figure appeared and said he had no inheritance to pass on.
• The senior revealed that the Tai Clan had mastered the Power That Cannot Be Controlled long ago and had pretended otherwise.
• After the figure vanished, Li Changqing found the coffin empty and suspected someone had taken the remains.
• Outside, Zhong Ming praised Mu Fan for obtaining the powerful expert’s bones, and Mu Fan suggested they go elsewhere.
• News of the Tai Clan’s secret spread, and Jiang Clan experts suspected someone was framing them and feared the Tai Clan might attack.

The Jiang Clan considered how to survive the Tai Clan’s threat and proposed inviting people to study the traces of the Power That Cannot Be Controlled at their grounds. Other forces that had also been helped by a Tai Clan expert arrived with the same plan, and the Jiang Clan was asked to join their venture.

• A Jiang Clan member argued that relocating was impractical and urged the clan to use its traces of the Power That Cannot Be Controlled to draw the Huaxia Sect into its plans.
• The Jiang Clan head decided to inform the ancestor, but several forces arrived at the clan gates before he could act.
• The visiting forces explained that they too had received help from a Tai Clan expert and suspected the expert had caused the dangers they faced.
• The visitors proposed joining forces to let people gain insight into the Power That Cannot Be Controlled in exchange for resources.
• The visitors urged the Jiang Clan to participate, saying the Huaxia Sect’s use of the Power of Time there would attract the most visitors.

The Tai Clan faced accusations that it had mastered the Power That Cannot Be Controlled, and Patriarch Tai Da tried to contact its former allies. The allies chose to keep the Tai Clan at arm’s length while investigating the Jiang Clan, where a crowd had gathered to sense the Power of Time.

• Tai Clan members blamed the Huaxia Sect for spreading claims that their clan had mastered the Power That Cannot Be Controlled, and Tai Da acknowledged that the sect would likely confront them.
• Tai Da entered a private room to contact the clan’s allies, but his call went unanswered, and he cursed them for cutting ties with the Tai Clan.
• The allies debated whether to support the Tai Clan, deciding that their choice depended on whether the clan would reveal a genuine method for mastering the power.
• One ally reported visiting the Jiang Clan and suggested that the Huaxia Sect’s claims might have some basis, prompting another figure to set off for the clan.
• Several figures arrived near the Jiang Clan and found a huge crowd gathered; a Jiang Clan member warned them they would have to wait to enter, though he confirmed there was a way in.

Mu Fan left the bustling attraction to investigate the Power That Cannot Be Controlled, while Li Baimei discovered that a statue delivered in his likeness held the Longwang Clan’s egg. The carved character led Li Baimei to wonder whether an old acquaintance, Lu Lulu, still remembered him.

• The Jiang Clan expert charged visitors for closer access to the statue Venerable Baimei had delivered, and the crowd mistook the egg in its hand for the Power of Time.
• Mu Fan told Zhong Ming he planned to investigate the Power That Cannot Be Controlled alone, believing it referred to highly enriched uranium.
• Mu Fan set off to find the source of the Power That Cannot Be Controlled after concluding that the matter at the attraction was settled.
• Li Baimei asked a Huaxia Sect expert to investigate his old acquaintance Lu Lulu, but the name sounded like an alias and would be difficult to trace.
• Li Baimei viewed the statue displayed at the Jiang Clan’s place and recognized the egg in its hand as one from the Longwang Clan, prompting him to wonder whether Lu Lulu still remembered him.

Mu Fan arrived at a vast barren region where people hoped to master the Power That Cannot Be Controlled. After hearing a local guide’s warnings, he let the others enter first and watched as one quickly returned, alarmed by the danger and rapid loss of spiritual power.

• Mu Fan landed beside a group near the edge of the barren land and learned they had come to try mastering the Power That Cannot Be Controlled.
• A tall, thin figure explained that stronger cultivators could travel less far, claimed the Tai Clan was faking its mastery, and said reaching the power’s source was nearly impossible without mastering it.
• Mu Fan paid the tall, thin figure for information and asked about the danger, learning that the damage was less severe than rumors suggested and varied with a person’s strength.
• The group decided to enter together, while Mu Fan stayed behind and questioned the tall, thin figure about his repeated visits.
• One person returned from the barren land, describing a growing sense of danger and rapidly draining spiritual power, then asked whether the place was an inheritance trial.

Mu Fan entered the barren area where the Power That Cannot Be Controlled corroded spiritual power and discovered that its effects were radiation rather than a force people could master. He advanced farther than the others before his clothes disintegrated and he turned back, leaving the source of the radiation unexplored.

• A man’s storage ring was destroyed by the area’s power, and the tall, thin figure explained that it corroded spiritual-power-infused objects and that coarse clothing was safest.
• Mu Fan crossed into the barren area, tested a strand of spiritual power, and concluded that the people mistook intense radiation for the power itself.
• Mu Fan pressed on while the others watched, passing the farthest point they had reached.
• Mu Fan’s clothes disintegrated as he walked farther, and he eventually stopped and returned, prompting the tall, thin figure to lament that he had not gone farther.

Mu Fan crossed the increasingly radioactive wasteland and traced the source toward a hidden fissure behind a cliff. He used Mirror Realm to enter it, but the radiation immediately extinguished the light he made with spiritual power.

• Mu Fan explained that radiation grew stronger deeper in the wasteland and devastated spiritual power, though his system let him continue safely.
• He tested the radiation with objects, changed direction repeatedly, and concluded that its source might lie underground.
• Mu Fan found a rift valley littered with scraps and inferred that travelers who entered it had been destroyed by the radiation.
• Mu Fan discovered a sealed fissure concealed behind a natural-looking cliff and used Mirror Realm to pass through the stone wall.
• Mu Fan illuminated the dark fissure with spiritual power, but the light quickly vanished as the radiation drained it.

Mu Fan followed signs of an earlier visitor through a fissure and found glowing stones in a radiation-filled chamber. He located a heavy door leading toward the area that disrupted his mental probing, but when his voice transmission talismans failed, he summoned Lu Changzhi instead.

• Mu Fan lit a torch, found a deep footprint in the dust, and followed the fissure toward an area his mental probe could not penetrate.
• Mu Fan descended into a chamber of faintly glowing stones and asked the system whether he was surrounded by radiation.
• Mu Fan concluded that the stones were only remnants of a larger source and found a door leading to the mysterious area beyond.
• Mu Fan decided to proceed cautiously, but his voice transmission talismans crumbled when he tried to use them.
• Mu Fan chanted for Lu Changzhi, who answered and asked why he had called.

Mu Fan entered a vast underground city and explored its deteriorating buildings, discovering evidence that the city had been designed to shield against radiation. At its center, he found a stele whose inscription suggested the ruins might be connected to a transmigrator, and he turned toward a hall facing it.

• Mu Fan used the Mirror Realm to pass through the heavy door and found a vast, illuminated underground space with no other living creatures.
• Mu Fan followed the road into the city and recognized that the soft material underfoot was lead, likely used to shield against radiation.
• Mu Fan explored an abandoned house, but the weakened second floor and walls collapsed around him.
• Mu Fan concluded that the city had been built underground, then reached its center and found a stele marked with the character “Tribulation.”
• Mu Fan read the inscription “Mortal or cultivator, is either born superior?” and suspected the city’s origins were tied to a transmigrator.
• Mu Fan turned toward the hall facing the stele.