Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen learned about Taiwu Holy Land and the World Martial Ranking but chose to remain in Red Cliff City. After Zhao Zhenxuan left, Old Yao asked Wang Chen to help Shao Hongcheng break through and unseal a hidden treasure vault that could provide the resources for his advancement.

• Zhao Zhenxuan asked Wang Chen about his lineage and learned that he came from the Wuji Sect.
• Zhao Zhenxuan explained Taiwu Holy Land, the World Martial Ranking, and how Innate experts could qualify to become city lords, while concealing that they could also seize a rank by defeating another Innate expert.
• Wang Chen declined to leave Red Cliff City, and Zhao Zhenxuan offered him an estate and welcomed a future alliance.
• Old Yao asked Wang Chen to help Shao Hongcheng reach the Houtian Great Realm by unsealing a hidden treasure vault, promising Wang Chen the remaining treasures, including a divine weapon.

Wang Chen hunted sixth-rank ferocious beasts in North Mountain to charge the Reincarnation Pearl and reach one of Old Yao’s secret treasuries. After finding the waterfall hiding the treasury, Wang Chen was ambushed by a seventh-rank Black Feather Thunder Eagle.

• Wang Chen used the Reincarnation Pearl to drain a Red Scale Beast of its essence.
• Old Yao guided Wang Chen to hunt six more sixth-rank ferocious beasts, charging the pearl with their spiritual energy.
• Wang Chen reached the waterfall where Old Yao’s secret treasury was hidden and rested beside its pool.
• As Wang Chen prepared to enter the cave behind the waterfall, a Black Feather Thunder Eagle swooped down at him.
• Wang Chen dodged the eagle’s attack with a roll, narrowly avoiding its strike.

Wang Chen escaped a Black Feather Thunder Eagle by entering Water Curtain Cave and opened Old Yao’s hidden secret treasury. He found it packed with chests of Purple Gold Coins and Pills.

• Wang Chen dodged the Black Feather Thunder Eagle’s attack and followed Old Yao’s advice to enter the waterfall.
• Wang Chen fought off the eagle’s strike inside the cave, broke his saber against its talons, and retreated deeper into Water Curtain Cave.
• The Black Feather Thunder Eagle chose to wait outside while Wang Chen reached the cave’s end with the Reincarnation Pearl.
• The Reincarnation Pearl opened a hidden passage in the rock wall, and Wang Chen entered Old Yao’s secret treasury.
• Wang Chen opened several chests and found them filled with Purple Gold Coins, then discovered a chest containing hundreds of Pills.

Wang Chen discovered Old Yao’s secret vault, claimed three divine weapons, and mastered the martial arts that matched them. Outside the cave, he wounded the Black Feather Thunder Eagle and then fired the Sun-Shooting Bow at it.

• Wang Chen opened the secret vault and found high-tier Pills, cultivation manuals, precious materials, and three divine weapons: the Overlord Spear, the Mountain-Slaying Saber, and the Sun-Shooting Bow.
• Old Yao explained the weapons’ powers and how they might advance in grade, while Wang Chen found matching martial arts manuals and practiced them in the cave.
• Wang Chen left the vault carrying the three divine weapons and a bundle of Pills, then faced a surprise attack from the Black Feather Thunder Eagle.
• Wang Chen pierced the Black Feather Thunder Eagle with the Overlord Spear, but the wounded bird escaped into the sky and attacked him with volleys of iron feathers.
• Wang Chen blocked the feathers with the Overlord Spear, then drew the Sun-Shooting Bow and released a Moon-Falling Arrow at the circling Black Feather Thunder Eagle.

Wang Chen killed a seventh-rank Black Feather Thunder Eagle and returned to Red Cliff City, where he helped Shao Hongcheng break through to the Houtian Great Realm using the Reincarnation Pearl and Blood Marrow Pills. Shao Hongcheng awoke from the painful process having reached the new realm.

• Wang Chen shot the Black Feather Thunder Eagle with three Moon-Falling Arrows, killing it and using the Reincarnation Pearl to devour its bloodline essence.
• Wang Chen collected the eagle's valuable materials and returned to Red Cliff City after two days.
• Shao Hongcheng told Wang Chen that visitors from local families had crowded Hongyi Martial Arts School while Wang Chen was away.
• Wang Chen knocked Shao Hongcheng unconscious at Old Yao's direction and placed the Reincarnation Pearl and Blood Marrow Pills around him.
• Old Yao used the Reincarnation Pearl to infuse Shao Hongcheng with beast blood marrow essence and the pills' medicinal power, advancing him to the Houtian Great Realm.

Wang Chen helped Shao Hongcheng break through to Houtian and waited in Red Cliff City for Hu Jiaojiao, who never arrived. After months of cultivation, City Lord Zhao Zhenxuan came to ask Wang Chen to help kill bandits disrupting the city’s trade routes.

• Wang Chen revealed that he had helped Shao Hongcheng advance to Houtian and gave him a bottle of Innate Pills.
• Wang Chen secluded himself to cultivate and instructed Shao Hongcheng to bring Hu Jiaojiao to him if she came looking for him.
• Wang Chen waited for months without hearing from Hu Jiaojiao and worried that he might be trapped in the World Within the Bell.
• Zhao Zhenxuan visited Wang Chen and asked him to help kill a bandit group that had attacked roads near Red Cliff City and disrupted trade.

Wang Chen agreed to suppress the bandit gang threatening Red Cliff City in exchange for choosing three non-divine items from Zhao Zhenxuan’s secret treasury. After taking three treasures identified by Old Yao, Wang Chen promised to return with the bandits’ heads within three days.

• Zhao Zhenxuan explained that a Houtian peak bandit leader had cut off the Sacred Ancestor Road and raided villages, while Zhao could not leave Red Cliff City without risking unrest.
• Wang Chen asked for payment, declined Zhao Zhenxuan’s offer of a divine weapon, and negotiated the right to choose three other items from the secret treasury.
• Zhao Zhenxuan took Wang Chen to the City Lord's Mansion secret treasury and let him choose his reward.
• Old Yao pointed out a Protection magic treasure and guided Wang Chen to two more valuable items left by cultivators from the lower realm.
• Wang Chen asked Zhao Zhenxuan for information about the bandits and promised to bring back their heads within three days.

Lu Qi led a caravan onto the dangerous Heavenly Stairway, where bandits ambushed and overwhelmed the travelers. Just as the bandit leader attacked a young woman, an unseen archer struck him and began shooting the bandits, leaving them in chaos.

• Lu Qi led the caravan onto the Heavenly Stairway, but an arrow killed him before he could warn the others.
• The bandits attacked, and their burly leader killed the caravan's strongest Martial Artist and forced the guards to surrender.
• The bandits robbed the travelers and killed a young man who tried to protect a woman they had dragged from a carriage.
• The bandit leader prepared to assault the unconscious woman, but an unseen archer shot him in the shoulder and throat.
• An arrow killed a bandit who called out a warning, and the remaining bandits scattered for cover.

Wang Chen killed the bandits attacking a caravan on the Sacred Ancestor Road and revealed himself as an Innate expert. After the caravan departed, he captured a surviving bandit and prepared to use him to track down the rest.

• Wang Chen used the Sun-Shooting Bow and Invisibility Cloak to kill the fleeing bandits, then helped the surviving travelers and apologized to a grieving woman whose companion had died.
• An ambusher leapt from a cargo cart, but Wang Chen killed him with a palm strike and recognized him as a Marrow Refining martial artist.
• Wang Chen shot the last fleeing bandit and identified himself to the caravan as Wang Chen of Red Cliff City, earning the travelers' recognition of him as a Sacred Master and Martial Saint.
• Wang Chen told the caravan that the road ahead was safe, then watched it leave with the survivors and their losses.
• Wang Chen exposed an injured bandit who had been pretending to be dead and offered to spare him if he helped locate the others.
• The bandit agreed to serve Wang Chen, who gave him a Healing Pill and instructed him to take half internally and apply half externally.

Wang Chen uncovered Xu San’s betrayal and discovered that the bandit alliance had laid a trap for him. He attacked the hidden bandits in their cave camp, but two figures charged at him from both sides as the battle continued.

• Xu San led Wang Chen toward the bandit camp, but Wang Chen sensed danger and confronted him about a trap.
• Xu San panicked and tried to flee, so Wang Chen killed him with the Mountain-Slaying Saber.
• Wang Chen activated his cloak with Innate true qi and spiritual energy, then slipped into the cave dwelling and spotted the ambush.
• Wang Chen opened the fight by shooting three bandits with the Sunset Bow and dodging the bandits’ return fire.
• Wang Chen switched to the Overlord Spear and tore through the bandits’ ranks as two figures attacked him from the sides.

Wang Chen defeated the wandering bandits’ experts and hunted down their fleeing men, but City Lord Zhao Zhenxuan then ambushed him with venom-coated gauntlets and surrounded him with armed men. Wang Chen showed that the poison was already wearing off as the confrontation with Zhao began.

• Wang Chen killed the two Houtian experts who attacked him and sent a burly bandit flying.
• Wang Chen killed the long-saber expert with his spear and shot down more than twenty fleeing wandering bandits.
• Zhao Zhenxuan suddenly attacked Wang Chen with his Thorn Gauntlets, leaving poisoned wounds on Wang Chen’s palm.
• Zhao Zhenxuan’s azure-clad men slaughtered the fleeing bandits and surrounded Wang Chen and Zhao.
• Zhao Zhenxuan revealed that his gauntlets carried Golden Ring Snake venom, but Wang Chen showed that his wounds were already healing.

Wang Chen revealed that the Golden Ring Snake venom could not harm him and clashed with Zhao Zhenxuan and the twelve blue-robed martial artists in the Execution Saber Array. He killed several of Zhao Zhenxuan’s fighters with the Overlord Spear while Zhao Zhenxuan pursued him through the Cave Dwelling.

• Zhao Zhenxuan threatened Wang Chen with the Golden Ring Snake venom and attacked, but Wang Chen’s saber strike cut through Zhao Zhenxuan’s armor and body-protecting true qi.
• Zhao Zhenxuan ordered the twelve blue-robed martial artists to form the Execution Saber Array and attack Wang Chen.
• Wang Chen drew the Overlord Spear and killed a blue-robed martial artist with a single thrust.
• Zhao Zhenxuan reappeared and tried to ambush Wang Chen, who blocked him and confirmed that he was not poisoned.
• Wang Chen evaded Zhao Zhenxuan and killed more blue-robed martial artists with the Overlord Spear as Zhao Zhenxuan pursued him.

Wang Chen killed Zhao Zhenxuan after defeating his twelve elite death warriors, then accepted the Red Cliff City Seal. After returning to Red Cliff City, he told Shao Hongcheng what had happened and appointed him the city's new lord.

• Wang Chen killed all twelve of Zhao Zhenxuan's elite death warriors in the Cave Dwelling.
• Zhao Zhenxuan offered Wang Chen Red Cliff City and asked for time to leave with his family, but Wang Chen attacked him instead.
• Wang Chen defeated Zhao Zhenxuan, who gave him the Red Cliff City Seal and asked him to spare the Zhao Clan before dying.
• Wang Chen buried Zhao Zhenxuan and his twelve subordinates, then returned to Red Cliff City.
• Wang Chen told Shao Hongcheng that Zhao Zhenxuan was dead, and Shao Hongcheng offered his support as the city's new lord.
• Wang Chen told Shao Hongcheng that he would be the lord of Red Cliff.

Wang Chen told Shao Hongcheng he would help him reach the Innate realm so he could become Red Cliff City’s true lord. At the City Lord’s Mansion, Wang Chen declared Zhao Zhenxuan dead and claimed the position, then crushed a steward who challenged him.

• Wang Chen reassured Shao Hongcheng that he would not make him a puppet and promised to help him reach the Innate realm.
• Wang Chen and Shao Hongcheng went to the City Lord’s Mansion, where Shao Hongcheng knocked aside two guards at the entrance.
• Zhang Zhongxun and the mansion’s guards confronted Wang Chen, but Wang Chen revealed the Red Cliff City Seal and said Zhao Zhenxuan had died and entrusted him with the city.
• A Zhao Clan steward rejected Wang Chen’s claim and ordered the guards to seize him.
• Wang Chen used the Red Cliff City Seal to crush the steward, then challenged the silent crowd to name who else would oppose him.

Wang Chen secured control of Red Cliff City after using the City Lord's Seal to kill an attacker and suppressing resistance. At his enthronement ceremony, an unseen force granted him a sudden vision and cultivation insight, while Old Yao realized something about Wang Chen's Fortune Blessed nature.

• Wang Chen used the Red Cliff City Seal to kill the man who disrupted the proceedings, and Zhang Zhongxun and the guards submitted to him.
• Shao Hongcheng and Zhang Zhongxun put down the Zhao Clan's resistance, and Wang Chen ordered those who surrendered spared and those who resisted killed.
• Wang Chen accepted the city's clans' allegiance, and Red Cliff City transformed over the next three days.
• At the enthronement ceremony, Wang Chen's Divine Soul left his body, surveyed the city, and received a profound cultivation mantra.
• Wang Chen burned a would-be assassin with a fireball, and Old Yao exclaimed that he finally understood Wang Chen's Fortune Blessed nature.

Wang Chen broke through to the extraordinary realm when he became Red Cliff City Lord, revealing to Old Yao that gathering the world's fortune—not merely pursuing greater power—could lead to the Mist Mountain Realm's origin. After half a year of cultivation and Red Cliff City's recovery, Wang Chen followed a familiar call into the mountains and reunited with a White Fox.

• When Wang Chen became Red Cliff City Lord, he received the world's fortune and broke through the Innate realm into the extraordinary domain.
• Old Yao realized his twelve reincarnations had followed the wrong path and urged Wang Chen to unite the Mist Mountain Realm and gather its human Dao fortune.
• Wang Chen rejected Old Yao's plan, citing the Qingqiu Fox Clan's World-Asking Bell and the danger of claiming the world's origin, and said he still hoped to find the Mysterious Fox Token.
• Wang Chen secluded himself to cultivate while Shao Hongcheng handled Red Cliff City, which prospered after trade along the Sacred Ancestor Road resumed.
• Half a year later, Wang Chen sensed a familiar call from the mountains, flew from Red Cliff City, and caught a White Fox that leaped toward him.

Wang Chen reunited with Hu Jiaojiao, now a seventh-rank White Fox, and learned she knew where the Mysterious Fox Token was. Before leaving the Mist Mountain Realm with her, he helped Shao Hongcheng become an Innate expert and handed him control of Red Cliff City.

• Wang Chen brought Hu Jiaojiao back to his residence, where she told him how she had searched for him after becoming a White Fox.
• Hu Jiaojiao revealed that she had sensed the Mysterious Fox Token, but Wang Chen chose to delay their search until Shao Hongcheng could protect Red Cliff City.
• Old Yao agreed to help Wang Chen raise Shao Hongcheng into the Innate realm, and Wang Chen summoned Shao Hongcheng to prepare for the training.
• Wang Chen and Old Yao used medicinal baths, Pills, and Innate true qi to strengthen Shao Hongcheng until he broke through into the Innate Great Realm.
• Wang Chen gave Shao Hongcheng the Overlord Spear and the Mountain-Slaying Saber, then transferred the City Lord position to him.
• Three days later, Wang Chen set out with Hu Jiaojiao to find the Mysterious Fox Token.

Wang Chen and Hu Jiaojiao learned that the Mysterious Fox Token was likely sealed somewhere in Taiwu, so they traveled to Taiwu City to wait for its seal to break or strengthen Hu Jiaojiao’s senses. Wang Chen arrived at the city, where Old Yao recalled having studied and proved his Dao there.

• Wang Chen shared roasted meat with Hu Jiaojiao while Old Yao told him that the Mysterious Fox Token was likely in Taiwu.
• Hu Jiaojiao suddenly lost her ability to sense the token, and Old Yao suggested that it had been sealed.
• Wang Chen explained Old Yao’s options to Hu Jiaojiao: wait in Taiwu City for the seal to break or help her reach a higher rank.
• Wang Chen and Hu Jiaojiao crossed a mountain and saw Taiwu Mountain and the expansive Taiwu City below.
• Wang Chen hid Hu Jiaojiao in his bundle and ran toward Taiwu City, observing the thriving farms, travelers, and warriors along the way.

Wang Chen entered Taiwu City with Hu Jiaojiao and rented a residence after refusing to sell the White Fox to a man acting for his master. Settled in the city, Wang Chen planned to visit Old Yao’s largest hidden vault the next day to look for medicinal ingredients that could help Jiaojiao raise her rank.

• Wang Chen passed the city guards’ inspection after explaining that his White Fox was his pet, and they told him to register it with the Bureau of Civil Affairs.
• A refined middle-aged man offered Wang Chen three thousand Jade Coins for the White Fox, but Wang Chen refused and vanished; the man’s master ordered him to find Wang Chen or face death.
• Wang Chen surveyed Taiwu City’s busy streets and learned that its many competing factions made it far more complicated than Red Cliff City.
• Wang Chen rented a furnished residence in the eastern part of the city and paid a full year’s rent upfront.
• Old Yao told Wang Chen that his largest hidden vault was in Taiwu City and might contain medicinal ingredients, so Wang Chen decided to visit it with Jiaojiao the next day.

Wang Chen struggled to register the White Fox in Taiwu City and learned that an influential person wanted to take it from him. When the man who had tried to buy the fox at the city gate surrounded Wang Chen with armed men, Wang Chen prepared to fight back.

• Wang Chen spent the morning being sent between civil affairs offices without completing the White Fox's registration.
• A tout offered to obtain a Beast-Taming Token for thirty Jade Coins, but returned the documents after warning that an important figure had taken a liking to the White Fox.
• The middle-aged man from the city gate confronted Wang Chen and accused him of stealing the White Fox.
• The middle-aged man called in more than a dozen men in green, who surrounded and attacked Wang Chen.
• Wang Chen asked Old Yao about the consequences of killing someone in Taiwu City, and a white shadow flashed past.