Chapter Summaries

Chen Yan passed the Core Tribulation’s heart demon illusion and successfully formed a Golden Core, reaching Refining Qi into Spirit Transformation. His breakthrough drew attention from allies and rivals alike, while he returned to Void Space to inspect his cultivation and confirmed that he still had five hundred thousand merit.

• Chen Yan recognized the imagined Ghost Cry Sect battlefield as a heart demon illusion when he realized he had not used merit during its five-year preparation period, then awakened in his cultivation room.
• Chen Yan’s Golden Core began to rotate after he passed the heart demon tribulation, and a golden-sun phenomenon appeared above Mount Lao as his allies celebrated his breakthrough.
• News of Chen Yan’s breakthrough spread, prompting Rogue Cultivators to visit Mount Lao while Zhang Tianzheng and the others handled the congratulatory gifts.
• Ye Ming received news of Chen Yan’s new realm, Gu Panpan mocked his late breakthrough, and Yin Mo warned them not to underestimate him before Ye Ming ordered the news sent to Ghost Cry Sect.
• Chen Yan entered Void Space and checked his personal panel, which showed him at early-stage Embracing Dan and early-stage Refining Qi into Spirit Transformation, with five hundred thousand merit remaining.

After three years of cultivation, Chen Yan reviewed his strengthened techniques, golden bodies, and five hundred thousand merit, then discovered that the Heavenly Book of Merit could fuse his Dragon Elephant Golden Body and Myriad Law Golden Body into an incomplete Dao Fruit. He chose to use his merit on the fusion, despite not knowing what the Dao Fruit would do.

• Chen Yan reviewed his cultivation gains, including third-grade Spirit Striking, which had formed the Myriad Law Golden Body alongside his Dragon Elephant Golden Body.
• Chen Yan considered how to spend his five hundred thousand merit, weighing cultivation improvements against upgrading the Thunder Department Seal and other abilities.
• Chen Yan noticed the two golden bodies glowing and learned that fusing them would produce the Dao Fruit: Indestructible Vajra (Incomplete).
• Chen Yan realized the Heavenly Book of Merit could create a Dao Fruit and worried that anyone learning of the book’s power would target him.
• Chen Yan hesitated over whether to spend his merit on the Dao Fruit, then chose the fusion and issued the command inwardly.

Chen Yan refined the damaged Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit by fusing his Dragon Elephant and Myriad Law Golden Body forms, enduring a near-fatal bodily transformation. He gained the Nine Revolutions Profound Art and achieved an indestructible vajra body, but his merit was exhausted and the Dao Fruit remained damaged.

• Chen Yan began refining the Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit, spending merit rapidly as the Great Dao revealed that Dao Fruits were foundations for advancing toward immortality and godhood.
• Chen Yan endured his body being torn apart as the Dragon Elephant and Myriad Law Golden Body forms fused, while Zhang Tianzheng, Xu Ji, Zhang Yan, and the others were shaken by the resulting blast on Mount Lao.
• Chen Yan heard the Great Dao explain the vajra state and received the Nine Revolutions Profound Art, which offered a path beyond Embracing Dan toward Seeing God.
• Chen Yan condensed his qi-blood dan, achieved the Indestructible Vajra state, and regenerated his flesh with an indestructible body.
• Chen Yan emerged from the secret chamber, checked his status, and found that he had reached the first revolution of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art with zero merit remaining.

After refining the incomplete Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit, Chen Yan gained the Nine Revolutions Profound Art and felt ready for the Ghost Cry Sect’s return. In the Profound Yellow Great World, the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion discovered that Chen Yan had suddenly taken first place on the Human Ranking.

• Chen Yan found that the Dragon Elephant Wisdom Skill and Spirit Striking had been replaced by the First Revolution of the Nine Revolutions Profound Art.
• Chen Yan examined his incomplete Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit, judged his body stronger than ever, and anticipated facing the Ghost Cry Sect when the Blood Moon returned.
• At the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion, a disciple told the Pavilion Master that the Human Ranking’s top ten had changed.
• The Pavilion Master examined the Heavenly Secrets Stele and saw that every ranked prodigy had fallen one place.
• The Pavilion Master discovered Chen Yan from the Netherworld Realm listed first on the Human Ranking, with no recorded deeds.

Tong Xiuyuan discovered that Chen Yan, an unknown early Refining Qi into Spirit cultivator from the Netherworld Realm, had topped the Human Ranking. He refused to alter the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s records, and the public erupted in disbelief when the rankings were announced.

• Tong Xiuyuan and a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion disciple were stunned to see Chen Yan ranked first despite his low cultivation, obscure origin, and lack of recorded deeds.
• The disciple suggested withholding Chen Yan’s entry, but Tong Xiuyuan insisted the rankings must remain truthful and ordered an investigation and a new Pavilion branch in the Netherworld Realm.
• Heavenly Secrets Pavilion branches across the Three Thousand Worlds received the rankings and confirmed Chen Yan’s first place before announcing them.
• A huge crowd gathered at the Pavilion headquarters in Kaiyuan City and debated which familiar prodigy would lead the Human Ranking.
• Tong Xiuyuan authorized the announcement, and the rankings were unfurled in Kaiyuan City and other worlds.
• The crowd saw Chen Yan at the top of the Human Ranking and shouted questions and accusations of rigging.

Chen Yan's rise to first place on the Human Ranking stirred debate across the Three Thousand Worlds. In the Profound Yellow Great World, Li Shouyi learned that Chen Yan came from the Netherworld Realm, where powerful outsiders were likely to gather for its newly revived Earth Fiend Yin Veins.

• The Heavenly Secrets Pavilion confirmed Chen Yan's first-place ranking, despite protests from supporters of other prodigies.
• Li Shuren told Li Shouyi that he had lost first place to Chen Yan of the Netherworld Realm.
• Li Shouyi checked a jade slip and learned the Netherworld Realm was expected to regain Earth Fiend Yin Veins as its Three Yins revived.
• Li Shouyi realized cultivators from across the Three Thousand Worlds would likely converge on the Netherworld Realm to compete for the veins.
• Li Shouyi teased Li Shuren about his unfinished scriptures and returned to the temple, thinking about Chen Yan.

Ye Ming, Gu Pan'er, and Yin Mo learned that Chen Yan had claimed first place on the Human Ranking and discussed the coming competition over the Netherworld Realm’s Earth Fiend Yin Veins. While Chen Yan trained on Mount Lao and his subordinates grew stronger, a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Yin God manager arrived to tell him of his ranking.

• Gu Pan'er and Yin Mo reacted with disbelief when Ye Ming confirmed that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion had reported Chen Yan’s first-place Human Ranking position.
• Ye Ming warned that experts from other worlds, including Human Ranking prodigies, would seek the Earth Fiend Yin Veins after the third Blood Moon, and he proposed secretly opposing them.
• Chen Yan and his subordinates trained hard on Mount Lao; Zhang Yan reached Spirit Transformation, and Qin Chong advanced to Martial Innate.
• Chen Yan’s perfected Nine Breaths Qi Nourishment let him estimate that he would reach middle Spirit Transformation within a year and late Spirit Transformation within three.
• Three months after Chen Yan refined the Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit, a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion Yin God manager visited Mount Lao and informed him that he had taken first place on the Human Ranking.

Chen Yan accepted the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s Golden Scale Armor after learning that he had been placed first on the Human Ranking, and he concealed the source of his strength while discussing Ghost Cry Sect and realm travel with Guo Tai. Guo Tai revealed that he had crossed realms in a World Ship, but said he could not return without finding Outer-Heaven Meteorite Gold to repair it.

• Guo Tai told Chen Yan that the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s Heavenly Secrets Stele had ranked him first on the Human Ranking.
• Guo Tai presented Chen Yan with the supreme Spiritual Treasure Golden Scale Armor as a congratulatory gift and offered to protect him personally if needed.
• Chen Yan accepted Guo Tai’s offer to establish Heavenly Secrets Pavilion branches in Black Mountain City, Zhongzhou, and Min Prefecture, while evading questions about his background.
• Chen Yan asked how Guo Tai had reached the Netherworld Realm, hoping to learn a way to escape there if Ghost Cry Sect became impossible to defeat.
• Guo Tai showed Chen Yan his damaged World Ship, forged from Outer-Heaven Meteorite Gold, and explained that he could not return until he found material to repair it.

After ascending to first place on the Human Ranking, Chen Yan spent four years cultivating as Xiang Prefecture rebuilt and grew stronger, while the Netherworld Realm awaited its full revival. Just as he prepared to continue his seclusion, an unexpected incident disrupted his routine.

• Guo Tai left Xiang Prefecture to recruit subordinates and establish a Heavenly Secrets Pavilion branch, while the realm’s major powers remained largely at peace.
• Chen Yan cultivated for three years, advancing to the middle stage of Refining Qi into Spirit and Embracing Dan, while mastering Greater Mastery of Demon Slaying and Nether Insight.
• Chen Yan’s Wood Spirit Physique reached the late stage of Refining Qi into Spirit, and Wang Lingguan advanced to the same stage by refining Xiang Prefecture’s Incense and Fire Prayer Power.
• Hong Gu broke through to Refining Qi into Spirit, while Yuantong and Wu Guhan also advanced, and Xiang Prefecture’s population surpassed ten million as the region recovered.
• Chen Yan continued searching for the missing Yu Huatian and estimated that the Netherworld Realm’s full revival was still at least two years away.
• In the fourth year, an unexpected incident interrupted Chen Yan’s routine cultivation.

After breaking through to late-stage Refining Qi into Spirit Transformation, Chen Yan investigated a strange light in a valley that his spiritual sense could not detect. He suspected the light had a spatial connection and touched it to verify his theory.

• Chen Yan advanced to late-stage Refining Qi into Spirit Transformation as the Netherworld Realm’s spiritual energy increased, and he sensed that upheaval would come the following year.
• Xu Ji reported that villagers had found an immovable strange object in a valley in Tonggu County, and Chen Yan went to investigate with him.
• Zhang Tianzheng led Chen Yan through the valley to a glowing speck floating above a pool, which Chen Yan’s spiritual sense could not detect.
• Chen Yan used Nether Insight to see spiritual energy spilling from the light and sensed a spatial fluctuation within it.
• Despite Xu Ji and Zhang Tianzheng’s warnings, Chen Yan reached out and touched the light.

Chen Yan discovered an embryonic spatial passage to the Inner World and forcibly expanded it so he could enter before the other factions. He plunged through as it began to heal, leaving himself trapped amid spatial turbulence and severing with no way back.

• Chen Yan identified the white speck as an embryonic passage connecting the Netherworld Realm to the Inner World and considered the Earth Fiend Yin Veins he needed to find there.
• Chen Yan decided to force the passage open with his strength, relying on his Indestructible Vajra body and Spirit Sight to withstand its dangers.
• Chen Yan ordered Xu Ji and Zhang Tianzheng to seal off the valley and follow Wang Lingguan and Huai Qing if he disappeared.
• Chen Yan struck the embryonic passage with the power of his Indestructible Vajra Dao Fruit, expanding it into a hole more than two meters wide.
• Chen Yan rushed through before the passage healed, suffered cuts from spatial severing, and found himself lost in chaotic spatial currents with no way back.

Chen Yan crossed into the inner world and defeated an eagle-shaped spiritual tide whose strength rivaled the Refining Spirit into Void realm. After realizing how dangerous the inner world was, he ruled out bringing Zhang Tianzheng and the others there without formidable cultivation and set off to explore.

• Chen Yan used Spirit Sight to locate the spatial passage’s exit and crossed through its archway into the inner world.
• Chen Yan arrived in a desolate land filled with raging spiritual tides and was attacked by an enormous eagle-shaped tide at the Refining Spirit into Void level.
• Chen Yan fought the eagle-shaped spiritual tide, endured its wing slash, and destroyed it with his strongest punch.
• Chen Yan concluded that he had combat strength comparable to the Refining Spirit into Void realm.
• Chen Yan decided that Zhang Tianzheng and the others should not enter the inner world without the strength of Golden Core cultivators, then chose a route with fewer spiritual tides and began exploring.

Chen Yan discovered a secret realm beneath a pool in the Netherworld Realm and entered it, finding a fire-filled domain inhabited by Fire Crow Demons. He unleashed the Thunder Department Commander's Great Seal against their flock, killing more than a hundred as the survivors cried out from Fire Crow Mountain and the Fire Mulberry Grove.

• Chen Yan flew through the Netherworld Realm's Inner World, observing ancient battle scars, violent spiritual tides, and savage demons affected by the pervasive baleful intent.
• Chen Yan found a pool rich in spiritual energy, killed the Snake-headed Fish Demon that emerged from it, and discovered a secret-realm entrance beneath the water.
• Chen Yan entered the secret realm and saw its dense spiritual essence, fiery forest, and a black-red mountain topped by a banyan tree.
• Hundreds of Fire Crow Demons, including five Golden Core Demon Kings, gathered into a sea of flames and attacked Chen Yan.
• Chen Yan summoned the Thunder Department Commander's Great Seal and struck the Fire Crows with a four-colored lightning net, killing more than a hundred.

Chen Yan destroyed the Fire Crow flock with the Five Elements Divine Thunder and found a dangerous Flame Lotus beneath the ancient banyan tree atop Fire Crow Mountain. After enduring its white flames, he seized the lotus, only to discover a fiery owl-like shadow inside its bud.

• Chen Yan unleashed the Thunder Department Seal and killed the Fire Crows, leaving only a few frightened chicks behind.
• Chen Yan went to the summit of Fire Crow Mountain and found a Flame Lotus beneath the ancient banyan tree.
• Chen Yan tested the Flame Lotus with a Dragon Soaring Jade Divine Talisman, which was consumed by its burst of white fire.
• Chen Yan approached the lotus and endured its flames long enough to snap off its stalk and claim it.
• Chen Yan saw an owl-like fiery shadow inside the lotus's bud and heard it screech.

Chen Yan discovered that the Crimson Flame Lotus contained Phoenix Blood Essence and that the Dragon Sparrow Saber yearned to devour it. He let the saber take the risk, and after the Phoenix Blood Essence’s flames began melting it, their phantoms fought and fused until the blaze pulsed like a heart.

• Chen Yan recognized the fiery phantom in the Crimson Flame Lotus as Phoenix Blood Essence and suspected it had caused the mutations on Fire Crow Mountain.
• The Dragon Sparrow Saber began crying out toward the blood essence, and Chen Yan realized it wanted to devour it despite knowing nothing of the saber’s origins.
• Chen Yan agreed to let the Dragon Sparrow Saber choose its fate, drew out the Phoenix Blood Essence, and sent it into contact with the blade.
• The blood essence erupted in white flames that engulfed and began melting the Dragon Sparrow Saber.
• A dragon sparrow phantom fought the phoenix phantom inside the flames, endured its stronger attacks, and gradually fused with it.
• After two and a half hours, Chen Yan sensed the still-raging flames pulsing like a massive heart.

Chen Yan discovered that the Dragon Sparrow Saber had become an Immortal Embryo after devouring the Phoenix Blood Essence, but it needed vast quantities of fire-element Earth Fiend Yin Veins to transform and advance. As he prepared to leave the Fire Crow Secret Realm, he realized Fire Crow Mountain might hold an important harvest he had overlooked.

• The Dragon Sparrow Saber emerged from the flames reforged as an Immortal Embryo, and Chen Yan learned it could eventually transform into a Dragon Sparrow by consuming fire-element Earth Fiend Yin Veins.
• Chen Yan realized his own cultivation and the Dragon Sparrow Saber’s needs would require an enormous supply of Earth Fiend Yin Veins.
• Chen Yan stored the Crimson Flame Lotus, intending to trade it to Guo Tai for fire-element Earth Fiend Yin Veins, and collected the Fire Crow corpses as materials and goods.
• As Chen Yan moved to leave the Fire Crow Secret Realm, he reconsidered why its fire-attribute spiritual energy was so dense and why the Phoenix Blood Essence had chosen Fire Crow Mountain.
• Chen Yan realized he had nearly missed the most important harvest in the secret realm.

Chen Yan discovered a vast vein of fire-attributed Spirit Stone Raw Ore beneath Fire Crow Mountain and began planning to return with helpers to mine it. Following the Dragon Sparrow Saber into a hidden chamber, he found a pool of crimson vapor that he recognized as Earth Fiend Yin Veins.

• Chen Yan dug up the remaining roots of the Crimson Flame Lotus and used an earth-traveling technique to investigate the unusually rich fire-attributed spiritual energy below the banyan tree.
• After descending more than a thousand meters, Chen Yan entered a huge underground space whose walls were covered in fire-attributed Spirit Stone Raw Ore.
• Chen Yan estimated that the ore was worth billions of Spirit Coins and decided to return after the third Blood Moon with Xu Ji, Zhang Tianzheng, and others to mine it.
• The Dragon Sparrow Saber sensed another special aura and carved a passage through the eastern wall, leading Chen Yan into a smaller natural chamber.
• Chen Yan saw crimson vapor gathered in a depression beneath a stalactite-like pillar and identified it as Earth Fiend Yin Veins.

Chen Yan discovered a thousand strands of Dry Yang Departing Fire Fiend in the Fire Crow Secret Realm and chose to let the Dragon Sparrow Saber absorb them rather than use the middle-grade resource for his own breakthrough. The saber confirmed it could manifest the Dragon Sparrow to fight a Yin God Nine Refinements cultivator, giving Chen Yan confidence against Ghost Cry Sect as he prepared to seek high-grade Earth Fiend Yin Veins.

• Chen Yan identified the crimson strands in the secret chamber as Dry Yang Departing Fire Fiend and realized the supply was enough for his breakthrough.
• Chen Yan had the Dragon Sparrow Saber absorb all the Dry Yang Departing Fire Fiend, and the saber confirmed the stored energy could let it manifest the Dragon Sparrow once.
• Chen Yan asked whether the manifested Dragon Sparrow could defeat a Yin God Nine Refinements cultivator, and the Dragon Sparrow Saber answered, "No problem."
• Chen Yan decided to seek high-grade Earth Fiend Yin Veins, preferably lightning-attribute ones, before the coming confrontation with Ghost Cry Sect.
• Chen Yan returned to the pool and concealed the Fire Crow Secret Realm entrance with five array discs embedded with carved Fire Spirit Stone Raw Ore.

Chen Yan searched the Inner World for a thunder-attribute treasure land while the Rebirth Cult prepared to seal the Netherworld Realm and turn it into the White Lotus Buddha Kingdom. He reached the Land of Thunder in Yizhou, where its dense thunder aura welcomed him.

• Chen Yan left the Fire Crow Secret Realm and continued searching the Inner World for thunder-attribute Earth Fiend Yin Veins, finding only low-grade veins and ancient ruins.
• The major factions occupied most Inner World entrances, while Jade Profound Sword Mountain struggled against the White Bone Sect and Blood Fiend Sect for the entrance in Yizhou.
• Kong Liang told the Rebirth Cult’s Protector that its preparations were complete, and the Protector ordered the cult to seal the Netherworld Realm rather than seize an Inner World entrance.
• The Protector said the Old Mother wanted the souls of the factions’ prodigies, while Liu Xian’er trembled under the Protector’s scrutiny and Kong Liang vowed to succeed.
• Chen Yan captured a thunderbird and searched its memories, learning the location of its lightning-filled birthplace and setting out for the Land of Thunder.
• After flying into Yizhou, Chen Yan arrived at the Land of Thunder and felt its dense thunder aura resonate with his body.

Chen Yan reached the lightning-filled Thunder Cliff and relied on the Thunder Department Seal to shield him from its deadly Divine Thunders. As the seal absorbed the lightning and began healing its damage, Chen Yan realized it might recover its former Immortal Artifact power.

• Chen Yan spotted juvenile Thunderbirds enduring deadly lightning on Thunder Cliff and suspected that the cliff’s core contained powerful lightning-attributed Earth Fiend Yin Veins.
• Chen Yan asked the Thunder Department Seal whether it could protect him, and the seal enthusiastically agreed despite clashing with the Dragon Sparrow Saber.
• Chen Yan approached Thunder Cliff, sensing that its dense lightning could greatly accelerate his cultivation and help him reach the peak of Qi Refinement Spirit Transformation.
• When Chen Yan entered Thunder Cliff, savage lightning struck him, but the Thunder Department Seal raised a purple barrier that absorbed the attacks.
• Chen Yan sensed the Thunder Department Seal using the absorbed Divine Thunder to heal its internal damage and wondered whether it could become an Immortal Artifact again.