Chapter Summaries

Fang Yuan defeated Tang Xiong in the Training Arena by switching to ranged attacks, then continued investigating the legendary Gu he had sought in a Star Stone. After seven or eight days without finding it, he turned to his final lead: Li Ran.

• Tang Xiong attacked Fang Yuan to avenge his brother, but Fang Yuan matched his strength in their opening clash.
• Tang Xiong used Bear Brute Gu and Bear Paw Gu, then landed a Bear Strength Phantom strike that shattered Fang Yuan's phantom armor.
• Fang Yuan avoided further close combat, using Jumping Grass to evade Tang Xiong and Blood Moon Gu to wound him from a distance.
• Tang Xiong ran out of options and admitted defeat, giving Fang Yuan his third victory and the Bear Brute Gu.
• Fang Yuan concluded that the legendary Gu was not in the Star Stone and secretly investigated the Gambling Stone House for seven or eight days without success.
• Fang Yuan decided that Li Ran, who had obtained the legendary Gu in his previous life, was his final remaining clue.

Fang Yuan used a Flash of Inspiration Gu to uncover a hidden pattern in Li Ran’s supposedly chaotic life and realized Li Ran’s visits to a restaurant were not for the reason they appeared. The chapter ends with Fang Yuan suddenly understanding the truth behind the legendary Gu and the doubts linking his past and present lives.

• Fang Yuan identified the impoverished, self-indulgent Li Ran as the likely man who had obtained a legendary Gu in his previous life, but could not explain why it was absent from the Star Stone.
• After tracking Li Ran for more than twenty days, Fang Yuan bought and used a costly Flash of Inspiration Gu to clarify his suspicions.
• Fang Yuan noticed that Li Ran’s visits to restaurants, gambling houses, and brothels followed a regular schedule, including repeated visits to Fu Tai Xiang He.
• At Fu Tai Xiang He, Fang Yuan learned that Li Ran always sat by a window overlooking both Qin Yan Tower and the tofu shop run by his estranged wife and son.
• Fang Yuan realized that Li Ran’s apparent decadence concealed deliberate self-control and that he was secretly observing his family.
• As Fang Yuan considered the clues, he abruptly understood how the mysteries of his previous and present lives fit together.

Li Ran, secretly Wu Ran and a Wu clan spy, prepared to reveal a rare strength-path Gu and rise within Shang Clan City, but Fang Yuan discovered and stole the Star Stone containing it. The chapter ended with Fang Yuan realizing that the legendary Gu had finally fallen into his hands.

• Wu Ran recalled Empress Wu assigning him to infiltrate Shang Clan City and planned to use a forged Star Stone to reveal a rare Gu and regain his wife and son.
• Li Ran went to the Training Arena, where he was hurt after his Bud Gu suddenly lost contact with him.
• Fang Yuan searched Li Ran's home, refined his Bud Gu, and found the Star Stone hidden inside it.
• Fang Yuan recognized the Star Stone as the one containing the legendary Gu and concluded that Li Ran was a planted spy.

Li Ran discovered that the Bud Gu he had hidden was gone and feared his undercover identity had been exposed. Fang Yuan used a Heart Sound Gu to summon him to the Prosperous and Peaceful Restaurant, where Li Ran finally met the young man who claimed to be his collaborator.

• Li Ran surrendered his match early and hurried home after sensing that Fang Yuan had refined his Bud Gu.
• Li Ran found his residence ransacked and discovered a Heart Sound Gu left beneath the lifted bedboard.
• Fang Yuan contacted Li Ran through the Heart Sound Gu, revealed that he knew Li Ran was a false name, and claimed he wanted to collaborate.
• Li Ran followed Fang Yuan's directions through the streets to the Prosperous and Peaceful Restaurant, despite fearing that he was being watched.
• Fang Yuan repeatedly redirected Li Ran before telling him to buy flatbreads and return to the restaurant.
• Li Ran reached the third floor and met Fang Yuan, whose youthful appearance surprised him.

Fang Yuan revealed that he knew Li Ran possessed the All-Out Gu and persuaded him to cooperate by appealing to their shared risks and families. Three days later, Fang Yuan cut the Gu from a gambling stone, and rumors spread throughout Shang Clan City about how he had obtained it.

• Fang Yuan used the Star Stone and his knowledge of the All-Out Gu to unsettle Li Ran, then said he wanted the Gu and needed Li Ran's cooperation.
• Fang Yuan hinted that he knew about Li Ran's wife and son and argued that the two undercover agents could protect their families by working together while remaining loyal to their lineages.
• Li Ran questioned whether Fang Yuan could be trusted, and Fang Yuan produced a Poison Oath Gu.
• Three days later, Fang Yuan cut the All-Out Gu from a stone at the Blue Nest Gambling Stone House, causing a sensation.
• People in Shang Clan City spread rumors that Li Ran had chosen the stone and Fang Yuan had taken it from him.

Fang Yuan received the All-Out Gu and prepared to build his strength-path Gu set, while Wei Yang warned him about its risks and offered advice. After acquiring more Gu worms through private deals, Fang Yuan tested his new strength by defeating Li Ran in the Training Arena.

• Wei Yang examined Fang Yuan’s Rank 3 All-Out Gu, urged him to reconsider the strength path, and advised him to protect the Gu and seek suitable supports and refinement formulas.
• Fang Yuan revealed that he already had an All-Out Gu refinement formula and planned to combine the Gu with Self-Reliance Gu and Toil Gu before improving the set through the Three Kings Inheritance.
• Fang Yuan considered ways to protect the All-Out Gu during refinement and resolved to obtain the Hundred Battles Gu from the Three Kings Inheritance.
• Fang Yuan rejected offers to buy the All-Out Gu, made other deals with visiting Gu Masters, and received the Gu worms he had ordered.
• Fang Yuan returned to the Training Arena to face Li Ran, who accused him of stealing his opportunity and challenged him to a fight.
• Fang Yuan used Charge Gu and a mountain boar phantom to break Li Ran’s arm and defeat him with a single strike.

Fang Yuan publicly paid Li Ran for the favor that helped him obtain the All-Out Gu, establishing a reputation for repaying kindness. He explained to Bai Ning Bing that reputation was worth more than the primeval stones he spent, then recounted how Great Sun Yang Mang used the Reputation Gu to cross the Abyss of the Ordinary.

• Li Ran admitted defeat after Fang Yuan’s final attack, then claimed Fang Yuan owed him for helping him obtain the All-Out Gu.
• Fang Yuan agreed to compensate Li Ran and promised him two hundred thousand primeval stones, paying over eighty thousand on the spot.
• News of Fang Yuan’s generosity spread through Shang Clan City, strengthening his reputation and making people aware of his Purple Thorn Token.
• At Nan Qiu Yuan, Fang Yuan told Bai Ning Bing that reputation was more valuable than the stones he spent and began telling her the story of the Reputation Gu.
• Great Sun Yang Mang found the Reputation Gu in Whispering Forest and used it to create a golden bridge across the Abyss of the Ordinary.

Fang Yuan tested the All-Out Gu and his new strength-path Gu worms, refining his attacks and beginning to transform his body with the Steel Gu. At the Fifth Inner City Training Arena, he defeated a challenger and kept the All-Out Gu.

• Fang Yuan shattered stone pillars with and without the All-Out Gu, comparing the strength it added to his attacks and noting the limits of his defenses and finances.
• Fang Yuan practiced with the Charge Gu and Charge Sideways Gu, then tested how his boar, bear, and crocodile strength worked with the All-Out Gu.
• Fang Yuan concluded that his body had reached its limit and returned to his secret room to use the Steel Gu.
• Three days later, a burly man in blue trapped Fang Yuan in a Water Prison Gu, but Fang Yuan broke it with the Crocodile Strength Phantom.
• Fang Yuan used the Charge Gu to send the burly man in blue flying, defeating him in the Training Arena.

Fang Yuan continued winning in the Training Arena, paid Li Ran another fifty thousand Primeval Stones, and pushed himself through punishing Steel Gu training while resolving to pursue eternal life. Five days before Li Hao's scheduled challenge, Li Hao demonstrated how his Mountain Back Toad and Shapeshift Gu let him overwhelm an opponent.

• Fang Yuan defeated and killed the blue-clad burly man, bringing his record to seventeen victories and no defeats.
• Fang Yuan publicly gave Li Ran fifty thousand Primeval Stones, bringing his payments toward the promised two hundred thousand to one hundred and thirty thousand.
• Fang Yuan trained with Steel Gu and reaffirmed that he would endure anything to pursue eternal life.
• Spectators said Li Hao would challenge Fang Yuan in five days, and Li Hao continued fighting in the Training Arena.
• Li Hao used Shapeshift Gu to exchange positions with Mountain Back Toad, letting the toad crush his opponent and bringing Li Hao to twenty-nine net victories.

Fang Yuan faced Li Hao, a veteran strength cultivator who had switched to the support path and brought a Mountain Back Toad to counter Fang Yuan’s All-Out Gu. Fang Yuan avoided Li Hao’s tricks and battered the toad, forcing it to counterattack as the battle continued.

• Wei Yang warned Fang Yuan that Li Hao had once cultivated Strength Dao, now used Shapeshift Gu and a Mountain Back Toad, and wanted Fang Yuan’s All-Out Gu.
• Li Hao entered the swamp arena to cheers from the crowd and kept himself sixty paces from Fang Yuan to stay beyond Charge Gu’s range.
• Fang Yuan used Charge Gu to attack, but Li Hao activated Shape Swap to switch places and evade the charge.
• Li Hao summoned the Mountain Back Toad, but Fang Yuan dodged its landing and struck it repeatedly with strength phantoms.
• Li Hao ordered the injured Mountain Back Toad to ram Fang Yuan, who evaded the counterattack with Charge Gu.

Fang Yuan overwhelmed Li Hao and the Mountain Back Toad by exploiting his strength cultivation’s low true essence consumption and relentless attacks. He killed the Mountain Back Toad and defeated Li Hao, ending the battle in the Training Arena.

• Fang Yuan dodged the Mountain Back Toad’s attacks and charged at Li Hao, forcing him to use Shapeshift Gu to escape being crushed.
• Fang Yuan repeatedly attacked the Mountain Back Toad, draining Li Hao’s true essence whenever Li Hao used Shapeshift Gu to interrupt him and treat it.
• Li Hao abandoned treatment and fought Fang Yuan, but Fang Yuan’s fierce assault forced him to swap places with the Mountain Back Toad again.
• Fang Yuan continued attacking the Mountain Back Toad, using his low-consumption strength Gu to outlast Li Hao and overwhelm them both.
• Fang Yuan killed the Mountain Back Toad with a final blow and struck Li Hao so hard that he crashed into the mud and did not move.

Fang Yuan healed the injuries from his battle with Li Hao and reflected on how Gu carried fragments of the Great Dao. As Fang Yuan racked up easy victories in the Training Arena, a Bai clan pursuit party arrived beneath Shang Clan City.

• Fang Yuan used the Self-Reliance Gu to heal injuries caused by the strain of his battle with Li Hao, though the Steel Gu’s effects made the damage harder to mend.
• Fang Yuan considered how Gu and Beast Strength Phantoms embodied fragments of the Great Dao’s laws.
• Shang Yan Fei discussed Fang Yuan’s poem with Wei Yang and weighed his ambition, character, and possible future as an ally or threat.
• After Fang Yuan killed Li Hao, challengers in the Training Arena began conceding rather than risk fighting him, and Fang Yuan’s victories mounted.
• A Bai clan pursuit party arrived beneath Shang Clan City.

Bai Feng’s group tracked Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing to Shang Clan City and discovered Fang Yuan thriving in the Martial Training Area. As Tie Dao Ku and the Bai family planned to challenge him under the arena’s rules, Bai Zhan Lie confronted Fang Yuan and the two groups faced off.

• Bai Feng’s group entered Shang Clan City after following suspicious traces and learned that Fang Yuan and Bai Ning Bing were protected by Purple Thorn Tokens.
• Fang Yuan won his twenty-ninth consecutive match when his opponent immediately conceded, then gave Li Ran another forty thousand primeval stones.
• Bai Zhan Lie and the others recognized Fang Yuan, while Tie Dao Ku proposed using martial training to attack him and curb his growth.
• Fang Yuan considered how to obtain enough primeval stones to bid on a One Step to Success Gu before Bai Zhan Lie blocked his path and the Bai family group surrounded him.

Fang Yuan confronted Bai Feng, Bai Lian, Bai Zhan Lie, and Tie Dao Ku, then used the Bai lineage’s missing Young Clan Leaders to draw them into a private meeting. He revealed that the two leaders were dead and exposed the Bai lineage’s secret crisis, leaving Bai Feng’s companions alarmed and doubtful.

• Bai Feng and Tie Dao Ku accused Fang Yuan of killing their clansmen, and Fang Yuan mocked them and challenged their right to punish him.
• Bai Feng threatened to stop Fang Yuan from becoming an external elder through the Training Arena, so Fang Yuan hinted that he knew where the Bai lineage’s two Young Clan Leaders were.
• Fang Yuan demanded that the Bai group treat him to a meal at Lion Tower, then had Tie Dao Ku leave their private room before answering their questions.
• Fang Yuan told the Bai group that both Young Clan Leaders were dead, provoking their anger, but they held back because he was protected by the Shang clan.
• Fang Yuan claimed that the Young Clan Leaders had told him the Bai lineage’s primeval spring was drying up, and Bai Feng’s shocked response alarmed the others and confirmed their suspicions.

Fang Yuan blackmailed the Bai lineage by threatening to expose that their primeval spring was drying up. Bai Feng reluctantly accepted the demand, and Fang Yuan gave the lineage one day to pay five hundred thousand primeval stones and leave Shang Clan City.

• Fang Yuan revealed that the Bai lineage's primeval spring was drying up and threatened to expose the secret unless they paid him.
• The Bai lineage members suppressed their desire to kill Fang Yuan because the lineage would be endangered if the secret spread.
• Fang Yuan demanded three million primeval stones and invoked his Purple Thorn Token to prevent the Bai lineage from attacking him.
• Fang Yuan slapped and berated Bai Zhan Lie when he confronted him, then continued pressuring the group to accept his terms.
• Bai Feng refused to pay three million at once, so Fang Yuan demanded five hundred thousand primeval stones within one day and ordered the Bai lineage to leave Shang Clan City.

Fang Yuan forced the Bai clan to withdraw from pursuing him, then attended a large auction and spent over two hundred and seventy thousand primeval stones on Gu. The chapter left Tie Dao Ku stuck working as a gatekeeper to pay his banquet bill when an acquaintance recognized him.

• Fang Yuan reached a Poison Oath Gu agreement with the Bai clan, ending their pursuit, while Tie Dao Ku resolved to keep hunting him.
• Bai Feng took responsibility for the treaty and arranged for the Bai clan members to borrow money and pawn Gu to pay Fang Yuan the agreed three million primeval stones.
• At the large auction, Fang Yuan bought One Step to Success Gu, Silver Sari Gu, and Golden Gang Gu, but failed to find the Toil Gu he needed.
• Fang Yuan learned that the Bai clan had left Shang Clan City and considered the threat posed by the Bai and Tie clans.
• Unable to pay his expensive Lion Tower bill, Tie Dao Ku worked as a gatekeeper and was recognized by an acquaintance.

Fang Yuan used the One Step to Success Gu to erase one pig-strength phantom and rapidly gain the strength of a horse and an ox, at the cost of more than half a year of lifespan. After winning thirty consecutive battles and advancing to the Fourth Inner City, he left Tie Dao Ku behind, who then encountered Bai Ning Bing in his first match.

• Fang Yuan used the Yin Yang Cloud Gu and One Step to Success Gu to remove the Mountain Boar Strength from his body and add horse and ox strength, exhausting the consumable Gu and losing more than half a year of lifespan.
• Fang Yuan won his thirtieth consecutive battle in the Fifth Inner City and advanced to the Fourth Inner City.
• Tie Dao Ku reaffirmed his determination to capture Fang Zheng and decided to fight his way through the martial training arena.
• Bai Ning Bing entered the Training Arena while considering his Ice Crystal Gu combat setup, and Tie Dao Ku recognized him as his first opponent.

Bai Ning Bing fought Tie Dao Ku in the Training Arena, where his close-range assault initially drove her back before she adapted and gained the advantage. Tie Dao Ku surrendered after Bai Ning Bing blinded one eye and badly injured the other, and the arena’s presiding Gu Master stopped her from continuing the attack.

• Tie Dao Ku recognized Bai Ning Bing from the Bai clan’s Wanted Posters and attacked her, enraged by what he believed she had done to him.
• Tie Dao Ku used Iron Hand Gu, Hand Blade Gu, and Swift Shadow Gu to overwhelm Bai Ning Bing in close combat and wound her.
• Bai Ning Bing used Frost Spit Gu to slow Tie Dao Ku, then activated Ice Crystal Gu and met his attacks head-on.
• Bai Ning Bing improved her blade work during the fight and used Ice Blast Gu to explode her ice blade, breaking Tie Dao Ku’s defense and injuring his eyes.
• Tie Dao Ku shouted that he surrendered, but Bai Ning Bing kept attacking until the presiding Gu Master forcibly separated them.

Bai Ning Bing reviewed her battle with Tie Dao Ku and reconsidered her Gu combination before arriving to watch Fang Yuan fight Zhu Ba. Fang Yuan endured Zhu Ba’s rebounding defense without giving up, and the chapter ended with him shouting at Zhu Ba.

• Bai Ning Bing reviewed her primeval essence use and decided to abandon Snowball Gu while developing a strategy around Ice Blast Gu.
• Bai Ning Bing recalled Fang Yuan’s first battle in the Fourth Inner City and hurried to the Training Arena to watch.
• Fang Yuan attacked Zhu Ba repeatedly, but Zhu Ba’s fat and Gu worms rebounded most of the force and injured Fang Yuan’s internal organs.
• Fang Yuan paused to heal with Self-Reliance Gu, then resumed attacking while Zhu Ba urged him to concede.
• Fang Yuan shouted, “Shut up, you fat pig!” at Zhu Ba.

Fang Yuan fought Zhu Ba in the arena, enduring repeated blows while probing the limits of his defensive Gu. After forcing Zhu Ba’s defense to fail, Fang Yuan seized the advantage and beat him back, leaving the spectators stunned.

• Fang Yuan exposed Zhu Ba’s defensive tactics and provoked him into using his Rolling Flesh killing move.
• Fang Yuan repeatedly charged Zhu Ba’s rolling flesh ball, survived the impacts with Self-Reliance Gu, and revealed Golden Gang Gu after Heavenly Peng Gu was destroyed.
• Fang Yuan changed his approach, circling Zhu Ba and striking different spots until Zhu Ba struggled to coordinate his Gu worms.
• Fang Yuan used Horse Strength Phantom to rush past Zhu Ba’s blade qi and land a powerful punch.
• Fang Yuan’s next punch struck while Zhu Ba’s defense stalled, triggering a backlash that left Zhu Ba vulnerable.
• Fang Yuan unleashed a barrage of attacks that drove Zhu Ba backward as the spectators watched in disbelief.