Chapter Summaries

Lu Ming exhausted himself in a fierce battle against Lin Huasheng, but Lin Huasheng survived his final attack and won. After recovering from the fight, Lin Huasheng challenged Su Bai, addressing him as Daoist friend Lu Jiu.

• Lu Ming used a Defense Formation Array and trapped Lin Huasheng with golden runes before landing a devastating punch, but he collapsed from exhaustion while Lin Huasheng remained standing.
• The spectators praised Lu Ming's strength and were shocked by Lin Huasheng's victory, while Lin Huasheng sat down to recover for another match.
• Su Bai secretly analyzed wisps of Lin Huasheng's Azure Dan Qi and Crimson Dan Qi and discovered that both came from mid-grade X Tier pills.
• As the Heavenly Star Alliance's Golden Core Cultivators hesitated to challenge Lin Huasheng, he recovered most of his strength and invited Su Bai to talk on the stage.

Su Bai accepted Lin Huasheng’s challenge at the Dao Discussion Convention and faced his opponent’s three high-tier pills without revealing much of his own strength. He quickly overwhelmed Lin Huasheng with his speed and swordsmanship, leaving the fight unresolved as his second strike pressed through Lin Huasheng’s defenses.

• Lin Huasheng invited Su Bai to the stage, and Su Bai accepted amid the crowd’s speculation about their strength.
• Lin Huasheng swallowed three high-tier pills at once, then began the match after Su Bai drew his sword.
• Lin Huasheng called down purple lightning, but Su Bai evaded it and rapidly closed the distance.
• Lin Huasheng retreated with Crimson Dan Qi, but Su Bai kept pace and struck his Azure Dan Qi barrier with the Soaring Dragon Sword.
• Su Bai’s first strike shattered the barrier, and his faster second sword came before Lin Huasheng could form another.

Su Bai defeated Lin Huasheng in a single exchange at the Dao Discussion Convention, revealing enough strength to alarm the South Sea Cultivators while keeping his strongest methods hidden. After yielding the arena, he noticed a quiet Female Cultivator whose restrained aura concealed a dangerous talent, as the South Sea's Eldest Senior Brother marked him as a future opponent.

• Su Bai struck Lin Huasheng down despite his three X Tier spirit pills, and the referees declared Lu Jiu the winner.
• The Heavenly Star Alliance cheered Su Bai's victory while the South Sea Cultivators reacted with shock and apprehension.
• Su Bai left the platform to preserve his hidden strength, having used the fight to reveal only part of his abilities.
• The brocade-robed Eldest Senior Brother dismissed Lin Huasheng and declared that he would wait to fight Su Bai himself.
• Su Bai sensed that a quiet Late Golden Core Female Cultivator in the South Sea camp concealed exceptional ability and marked both her and the Eldest Senior Brother as talents to investigate.

After Su Bai defeated Lin Huasheng, Yan Chi crushed two Heavenly Star Alliance fighters in succession, and the South Sea gained the upper hand in the Golden Core matches. With four South Sea fighters remaining and Su Bai as the Heavenly Star Alliance’s final fighter, Su Bai asked Heavenly Law Ancestor to place huge bets on the alliance winning.

• Su Bai defeated Lin Huasheng with a single sword strike, restoring the Heavenly Star Alliance’s lead by one fighter.
• Yan Chi defeated Ling Yuanshan with his Burning Heaven Seal, then incapacitated another Heavenly Star Alliance fighter with a finger of fire.
• Yan Chi returned to the South Sea camp, while the remaining fighters continued battling and the Heavenly Star Alliance fell behind by twelve victories to fifteen defeats.
• After the fifteenth Heavenly Star Alliance fighter lost, Heavenly Law Ancestor promised Su Bai an Innate Spirit Treasure if he won three of the remaining four matches.
• Su Bai asked Heavenly Law Ancestor to wager ten million Spirit Stones on the Heavenly Star Alliance’s overall result and three million on each remaining match.
• Heavenly Law Ancestor agreed to advance the Spirit Stones and place the bets.

As the betting pools favored the Southern Sea, an arrogant purple-robed youth placed enormous bets on the Heavenly Star Alliance and its fighters. The crowd rushed to bet against him, while the next four matches remained to be fought.

• Gamblers lamented their losses after Ling Yuanshan fell and debated whether Yan Chi could defeat the Heavenly Star Alliance.
• The largest betting pool displayed odds of one to 1.2 for the Southern Sea and one to 8 for the Heavenly Star Alliance.
• A purple-robed youth arrived with two guards and bet ten million Spirit Stones on the Heavenly Star Alliance to win overall.
• The youth added three-million-Spirit-Stone bets on each of the next four Heavenly Star Alliance fighters, for a total of twenty-two million.
• The bookmaker registered the bets and gave the youth a Jade Token, prompting gamblers to rush to bet on the Southern Sea.

Su Bai feigned exhaustion and fear to lure Duan Cong and the spectators into underestimating him. As Duan Cong pressed him with a barrage of fire attacks, Su Bai continued to evade clumsily, leaving the duel unresolved.

• Su Bai walked into the arena trembling and sweating, prompting the spectators to assume his earlier victory had left him exhausted.
• Yan Chi dismissed Su Bai, while Duan Cong mocked him and claimed he was too weak to face Yan Chi.
• The Heavenly Law Ancestor recognized Su Bai's performance as an act and chose to play along.
• The bookmaker discouraged a purple-robed youth from trusting his wager on Su Bai, as gamblers increasingly bet on Duan Cong.
• After the referee began the duel, Duan Cong attacked Su Bai with a fast line of fire, then trapped him in a net of fire lines.
• Su Bai dodged and blocked the attacks in an apparently panicked, disorganized manner as the South Sea cultivators jeered.

Su Bai defeated Duan Cong by turning the blast from Duan Cong’s strongest attack into an opening for a sword strike, though he pretended to be badly weakened. As the crowd turned its bets toward the South Sea for the remaining matches, an eerie youth wagered heavily on Lu Jiu to win all three.

• Duan Cong used his Crimson Sun Flame Burst and charged behind it, expecting to finish off Su Bai.
• Su Bai used the explosion to launch himself above Duan Cong and struck him with the Soaring Dragon Sword, shattering his protective artifact and leaving him unconscious.
• Su Bai pretended to be exhausted while spectators erupted in shock and gamblers cursed Duan Cong and bet on the South Sea in the next matches.
• An eerie youth placed ten thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones on Lu Jiu to win each of the remaining three matches.
• Old Ancestor Tianfa briefly glanced at the youth as Su Bai waited in the arena for his next opponent.

Su Bai asked Yan Chi for an hour to recover before their duel, while a rumor that Yan Chi had defeated a Half-step Nascent Soul drove the crowd to bet heavily on him. When the hour ended, Su Bai suffered a violent backlash during meditation, leaving the duel delayed and Yan Chi wary.

• Yan Chi entered the arena after Duan Cong was carried away, and Su Bai asked to meditate for an hour before fighting.
• Yan Chi agreed, and Su Bai sat down to recover as spectators argued over his request.
• A hidden South Sea Foundation Establishment Cultivator spread a claim that Yan Chi had defeated a Half-step Nascent Soul, prompting a rush of bets on Yan Chi.
• Yan Chi waited through the hour while Su Bai appeared to regain some strength.
• Just as Yan Chi prepared to start the duel, Su Bai's Spiritual Energy erupted and he spat blood from a cultivation backlash.
• Su Bai apologized and blamed the incident on an overbearing technique he had not yet mastered.

Su Bai prolonged his apparent collapse until the betting pool on his match with Yan Chi closed, convincing spectators to wager on Yan Chi. Heavenly Law then notified Su Bai that betting had ended, and Su Bai's eyes brightened as Yan Chi launched a powerful Fire Attribute Divine Ability.

• Su Bai suffered another violent Spiritual Power burst and struggled to stand, while Yan Chi demanded that he fight or admit defeat.
• Su Bai declared that he would fight for the Heavenly Star Alliance and the Star Luo Pill Pavilion, then spat blood to strengthen the illusion of his resolve and injury.
• Yan Chi urged Su Bai to withdraw before he ruined his cultivation, but Su Bai refused.
• Su Bai's apparent weakness persuaded the remaining hesitant Cultivators to bet on Yan Chi, and the fat bookmaker closed the betting pool.
• Heavenly Law told Su Bai that betting had closed, and Su Bai's eyes brightened as Yan Chi unleashed a powerful Fire Attribute Divine Ability.

Su Bai overwhelmed Yan Chi with rapid attacks and revealed that his purple lightning streaks were actually Flying Swords, while Yan Chi repeatedly spent Spiritual Power evading them. As Yan Chi began summoning the Crimson Flame Island Ancestor’s famed Ancestral Fire Manifestation, Su Bai accelerated his swords again, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Su Bai dodged Yan Chi’s opening sea of fire and appeared above him with purple lightning movement.
• Su Bai’s twelve lightning-like Flying Swords struck the arena, forcing Yan Chi to use his Spirit Fire Illusion Body twice to evade them.
• Yan Chi recognized that Su Bai’s attacks were not a lightning divine ability and abandoned his earlier contempt.
• Su Bai sent two waves of twelve Flying Swords toward Yan Chi, while a distortion around Yan Chi increased their speed.
• Yan Chi chose to endure the swords with his crimson protection and began forming the Ancestral Fire Manifestation as the Nascent Soul Old Ancestors judged him favored to win.
• Su Bai watched Yan Chi’s rising aura and suddenly accelerated both waves of Flying Swords again.

Su Bai, fighting as Lu Jiu, defeated Yan Chi with a sudden burst of speed and then faced the South Sea’s heavily fortified Nangong Yuxiu. He put Nangong to sleep and knocked him out of the arena, leaving the South Sea’s final Golden Core fighter to face him.

• Lu Jiu shattered Yan Chi’s barrier with twenty-four speeding Flying Swords, and a South Sea Nascent Soul pulled Yan Chi from the platform.
• The South Sea representative declared Lu Jiu the winner, while confused bettors demanded their Spirit Stones back.
• The South Sea’s Nascent Soul cultivators armed Nangong Yuxiu with layered defensive treasures and pills before sending him to fight Lu Jiu.
• Nangong Yuxiu activated his defenses and gathered power for a full-strength strike as Lu Jiu attacked with twenty-four streaks of purple lightning.
• Nangong Yuxiu’s eyes went blank and he fell asleep, then a Flying Sword knocked him out of the arena.

Su Bai defeated Nangong Yuxiu with a concealed Spiritual Sense strike, then faced Xu Qing in the final Golden Core match. Though the Southern Sea expected her to lose, Xu Qing refused their treasures and calmly claimed she had a chance to win.

• Su Bai's Yin Yang Sword Qi injured Nangong Yuxiu's divine soul, knocking him unconscious and sending him out of the arena.
• Cultivators explained Nangong Yuxiu's defeat as a Spiritual Sense attack, while Heavenly Star Alliance spectators mocked the Southern Sea's reliance on its protections and treasures.
• Su Bai collected seven hundred High-grade Spirit Stones from the match, bringing his total winnings to two thousand seven hundred, and prepared to face Xu Qing.
• Southern Sea Nascent Souls urged Xu Qing to accept magic treasures and fight with dignity, but she refused and said she had a chance to defeat Lu Jiu without borrowed aids.
• Xu Qing entered the arena and introduced herself as Zhang Sanren's eldest disciple from the Boundless Lower Islands, remaining calm despite the crowd's doubts.

Su Bai, posing as Lu Jiu, tested Xu Qing with his Thundercloud Sword Array and discovered her astonishing ability to condense and redirect Spiritual Power. When he closed in to attack, Xu Qing accelerated after his escape technique, and the pressure he had sensed from her suddenly erupted.

• Su Bai introduced himself as Lu Jiu and surrounded Xu Qing with his Lightning Attribute Spirit Swords and Virtual Reality Sword Domain.
• Xu Qing endured the sword barrage by forming tiny, powerful defenses at each point of impact, though the effort consumed much of her Spiritual Energy.
• Su Bai recognized that Xu Qing’s defense required immense Spiritual Power and advanced to attack her directly.
• Xu Qing caught and redirected Su Bai’s sword strike with her palm, then punched toward his chest.
• Su Bai escaped several dozen zhang, but Xu Qing stepped onto a Spirit Sword and surged after him as her overwhelming pressure burst forth.

Su Bai defeated Xu Qing in the final battle after overcoming her domain-like technique and powerful close-quarters attacks. The spectators celebrated his victory and praised Xu Qing’s strength, while Su Bai turned his attention to a telepathic message from the Heavenly Law Ancestor.

• Xu Qing locked Su Bai inside a strange domain that kept them at close range and struck him with a punch that injured him despite his sword block.
• Su Bai countered Xu Qing’s next palm strike with the Soaring Dragon Sword, cracking the bones in her hand, but she continued attacking without hesitation.
• Xu Qing’s domain faded as her Spiritual Energy ran low, and Su Bai used Yin Yang Sword Qi to briefly disrupt her focus.
• Su Bai sent twenty-four Lightning Attribute Spirit Swords at Xu Qing, and a South Sea Nascent Soul pulled her out of the arena before she could defend herself.
• The Nascent Soul announced Su Bai as the winner, and spectators praised Xu Qing while gamblers reacted to their losses.
• Su Bai reflected that Xu Qing had been one of his toughest opponents, then received a telepathic message from the Heavenly Law Ancestor.

Su Bai reflected on the wealth and information he had gained at the Dao Discussion Convention, then overheard Xu Qing explain the Martial Dao True Principle behind her refusal to use pills and artifacts. Xu Qing received a South Sea reward and left, while Su Bai added her to his highest-priority targets for copying talents.

• Su Bai considered how his fifteen thousand High-grade Spirit Stones and the contestants’ talents could benefit him.
• After Xu Qing saluted him, Su Bai left the arena and secretly observed the South Sea Nascent Soul cultivators speaking with her.
• True Monarch Mingyuan asked Xu Qing why she had refused the pills and artifacts offered before her match.
• Xu Qing explained that her Martial Dao True Principle depended entirely on her own Spiritual Power and would be undermined by external aids.
• Xu Qing told the Nascent Soul cultivators that she had inherited her master's teachings through a trial, and True Monarch Mingyuan offered her a different reward.
• Su Bai ranked Xu Qing among his top three targets for copying talents, behind the Tian Xing and Heavenly Punishment Old Ancestors.

Demon King Liu Yu returned to the Demon Star Sea and ordered the Demon Kings to unite for an operation against the Human Race. As dark clouds gathered over Cangwu Island, Cang Zhu organized the attack while Fu Kong prepared to leave.

• The Demon Kings watched the Dao Discussion Convention through a projection and saw Su Bai defeat several South Sea Golden Core cultivators.
• Cang Zhu reminded Fu Kong of his failed assassination of Lu Jiu, and Fu Kong reacted angrily.
• Elder Liu Yu ordered the Demon Kings to eliminate Lu Jiu, Han Zhenyuan, Yan Chi, and Lin Huasheng, and placed Cang Zhu in charge of the operation.
• The Demon Kings learned that Liu Yu had returned with a disciple who had bypassed the convention’s restrictions and supplied the projection.
• Fu Kong urged an immediate assault, but Cang Zhu directed him to send the Night Fire unit after the Human Race prodigies while the Demon Kings targeted Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Cang Zhu assigned roles to the Demon Kings as dark clouds gathered above Cangwu Island.

After receiving the Spirit Transformation Furnace, Su Bai used it to cultivate and practiced imitating Xu Qing’s precise Spiritual Power defense. The next morning, he left the Grotto-Heaven with the other juniors and discovered that the Nascent Soul battle would take place in the open sea.

• Su Bai received the Spirit Transformation Furnace and learned that even the Heavenly Law Ancestor did not know its origins or full workings.
• Su Bai reviewed his fight against Xu Qing and practiced condensing Spiritual Power into a defensive white dot, gradually learning to block stronger sword strikes.
• Su Bai spent the night refining his control and managed to block a slash using fifty percent of his flying sword’s strength.
• Su Bai left the Grotto-Heaven with the Heavenly Star Alliance cultivators and found that they had been brought to a vast sea beyond Cangwu Island.
• A Nascent Soul cultivator in golden battle armor raced across the sea as another cultivator arrived in violet light, beginning the gathering for their battle.

The Nascent Soul Dao Discussion ended with the Heavenly Star Alliance losing to the South Sea, but the gathering was interrupted by a Demon Race ambush. As the Nascent Souls battled the Demon Kings, Su Bai sensed a swarm of Demon General-level forces approaching.

• The Nascent Soul cultivators from the Heavenly Star Alliance and South Sea fought for a day, and the Heavenly Star Alliance lost.
• An armored Sea Tribe Demon King accused the Human Race of trespassing, and True Monarch Mingyuan and the other Nascent Souls confronted him.
• Cang Zhu of Demon Star City appeared with several Demon Kings, revealing the confrontation as a Demon Race trap.
• Old Ancestor Xiao and the Soldier Island Elder attacked the crab-armored Demon King, and the Nascent Souls began fighting their opponents.
• Su Bai sensed many Demon General-level auras flying toward the battle.

Heavenly Law Ancestor stopped Demon King Fu Kong from assassinating the cultivators inside the protective barrier, while Old Ancestor Heavenly Star arrived through a Teleportation Array and killed Fu Kong. The battlefield’s balance shifted, and Tian Xing challenged the mysterious Liu Yu to a fight to the death.

• Demon King Fu Kong emerged from spatial concealment and attacked Heavenly Law Ancestor, but Heavenly Law froze the space around him and forced him into view.
• Fu Kong attacked Heavenly Law, then sensed a Teleportation Array and tried to warn the other Demon Kings; Su Bai read his lips and identified the words as “Teleportation Array.”
• Starlight swept across the Desolate Sea Region, and Old Ancestor Heavenly Star appeared and crushed Fu Kong into bloody mist and black qi.
• The Demon Kings realized Old Ancestor Heavenly Star’s arrival had turned the battle against them, while Cang Zhu continued fighting rather than risk being the first to flee.
• Old Ancestor Heavenly Star addressed Liu Yu, who had returned to the realm, and challenged him to a fight in which life and death would be disregarded.
• Liu Yu accepted, and Old Ancestor Heavenly Star flew toward the source of his voice to find a suitable battlefield.

After the Nascent Soul cultivators and Demon Kings were teleported away, Su Bai and the other Golden Core cultivators faced an approaching force of Night Fire Demon Generals. The demons abandoned their failed ambush and chose to fight head-on, and the battle began.

• Heavenly Law Ancestor teleported the Demon Kings and Nascent Soul cultivators away, leaving the younger cultivators behind to temper themselves.
• Yan Chi sensed Demon Generals approaching from the southeast, and Nangong Yuxiu discovered that at least sixty were closing in.
• Nangong Yuxiu asked Su Bai to set aside past grievances and help resist the enemy, and Su Bai agreed that the allied realms had no grievances to put aside.
• The Night Fire Demon Generals realized they could not contact Lord Fu Kong and that their concealment plan had failed, but the Blood Wolf Tribe’s Wolf Venerable ordered them to attack.
• The Golden Core cultivators launched wide-range Divine Abilities, and the battle between the two sides erupted.