Chapter Summaries

Lu Qing and Xiao Li refined Golden Core Level Origin Blood, greatly strengthening their bodies, and Lu Qing decided to stop concealing his hunting ability. That night, he attacked the Ancient Pagoda’s Guardian Exotic Beasts and rapidly killed the Golden Core Initial Stage beasts on the outskirts.

• Xiao Li successfully refined a strand of Golden Core Level Origin Blood, increasing her physical strength by a third.
• Lu Qing and Xiao Li refined the remaining Origin Blood, strengthening their bodies while Xiao Li accumulated Baleful Qi that would eventually require her to pause.
• Lu Qing decided to hunt more Guardian Exotic Beasts at once, while Qin Zheng noticed his nighttime departure and chose not to question him.
• Lu Qing expanded his Earth Vein Yuan Magnetic Domain over the nine Golden Core Initial Stage beasts on the outskirts and began killing them with successive punches.

Lu Qing killed all nine Golden Core Initial Stage Guardian Exotic Beasts and continued inward, drawing the attention of powerful figures who suspected the beasts concealed a secret. He confronted a Golden Core Middle Stage ape and killed it with a series of powerful punches, leaving the observers stunned.

• Lu Qing used the Earth Vein Yuan Magnetic Domain and his physical strength to kill the nine Golden Core Initial Stage Guardian Exotic Beasts, one punch at a time.
• Powerful figures in the Dense Forest watched Lu Qing’s hunt and speculated that the Guardian Exotic Beasts held a secret.
• After killing the nine beasts, Lu Qing continued inward, leading the observers to believe he might challenge the pagoda alone.
• Lu Qing entered the Guarding Domain of the Golden Core Middle Stage ape that Chu Xiao Jing had mentioned, and met its punch with his own.
• Lu Qing used Earth Vein Yuan Magnetic Power to topple the ape, then struck its head and killed it.

Lu Qing hunted nearly a hundred Guardian Exotic Beasts outside the Ancient Pagoda before retreating as three Late Golden Core Stage beasts began to stir. When the allied sects of Vast Sea Sect and Profound Abyss Hall blocked his way, he refused their overtures and punched their leader through his defenses.

• Lu Qing killed the Golden Core Middle Stage ape with one punch, then hunted the remaining beasts while experts in the Dense Forest watched.
• Lu Qing hunted nearly a hundred Guardian Exotic Beasts over seven trips, but stopped when the three Late Golden Core Stage beasts at the pagoda began to stir.
• Lu Qing withdrew to the plain’s edge, and the three enormous beasts returned to stillness before he could reach the Dense Forest.
• An old man leading dozens of Golden Core Realm experts from Vast Sea Sect and Profound Abyss Hall blocked Lu Qing and claimed he wanted to make friends.
• Lu Qing rejected the old man’s offer and tried to leave, but when the old man stopped him, Lu Qing shattered his protective treasure light and struck his chest.

Lu Qing crippled Elder Yu with one punch and used his Earth Vein Yuan Magnetic Domain to suppress the gathered sect powerhouses. He offered to spare them in exchange for Golden Core Level cultivation techniques, and some began pleading to comply as the pressure mounted.

• Lu Qing punched Elder Yu, caving in his chest and knocking him unconscious despite his Treasure Armor.
• Lu Qing rebuked the middle-aged man who accused him of being vicious and warned the group to retreat.
• Lu Qing spread his Earth Vein Yuan Magnetic Domain and increased the pressure until the weaker cultivators were pinned to the ground.
• The middle-aged man admitted the group was at fault and asked Lu Qing to spare his fellow disciples.
• Lu Qing demanded a Golden Core Level cultivation technique from each person he spared and began counting down.
• Some weaker cultivators begged for mercy and offered to hand over a cultivation technique.

Lu Qing returned to the valley after forcing a group of Golden Core experts to surrender cultivation methods, then began refining Origin Blood from the Strange Beasts he had hunted. As he entered seclusion to strengthen his body, Qin Zheng and Ye Qingzhu guarded the valley, unaware of what breakthrough he was pursuing.

• Lu Qing collected Golden Core cultivation methods from the defeated experts and spared them, while the witnesses resolved to avoid provoking him.
• Gongshu Yu rejected the idea of joining forces with Lu Qing and continued discussing an alliance with Daoist Fang.
• Lu Qing returned to the valley, where Qin Zheng was relieved to sense him back, then prepared to refine the Strange Beasts’ Origin Blood with Xiao Li.
• Qin Zheng and Ye Qingzhu discussed Lu Qing’s mysterious strength, and Lu Qing asked them not to disturb him during several days of seclusion.
• Xiao Li swallowed one strand of Origin Blood, while Lu Qing swallowed five at once and began refining them to strengthen his body.

After refining vast quantities of exotic beast bloodlines, Lu Qing transformed his body and merged his Perfect Golden Core into his flesh, causing a terrifying aura to shake the valley. He learned that several factions, including the Gongshu Family, had entered the Ancient Pagoda, but as Qin Zheng’s group chose to stay out, Lu Qing hinted that other opportunities remained in the Secret Realm.

• Chu Xiao Jing and Ye Qingzhu discussed Lu Qing’s seclusion and the reports that he had hunted nearly a hundred Guardian Exotic Beasts and suppressed Yu Dahai’s group.
• Lu Qing completed a profound bodily transformation, greatly increased his vitality, and merged the Perfect Golden Core into his body, briefly releasing an aura that alarmed everyone in the valley.
• Lu Qing emerged from seclusion and apologized to Qin Zheng and the Universe Sect disciples for disturbing them with his breakthrough.
• Chu Xiao Jing told Lu Qing that factions including the Gongshu Family had entered the Ancient Pagoda after joining forces, and Lu Qing expressed surprise that they had managed to breach it.
• Qin Zheng decided that he and the Universe Sect disciples would not enter the Ancient Pagoda, judging its dangers too great after the death of Zhao Gang and the others.
• Lu Qing suggested that the group could seek other opportunities in the Secret Realm instead.

Lu Qing told Qin Zheng and the others that Exotic Beast bloodlines could strengthen their bodies, then set off with Xiao Li for the Ancient Pagoda. Before entering its Guarding Domain, he harvested another round of beasts and prepared to test his strength against the three Late Golden Core Stage Exotic Beasts.

• Lu Qing explained how to refine Exotic Beast bloodlines and warned Qin Zheng and the others about the Baleful Qi risks.
• Five Treasures Daoist declined to enter the Ancient Pagoda, and Lu Qing departed with Xiao Li while Qin Zheng and the others wished him luck.
• As they hurried through the Dense Forest, Xiao Li worried that others might have taken the pagoda's opportunities, but Lu Qing said the Ancient Pagoda had defeated earlier challengers.
• Lu Qing hunted the eighteen Exotic Beasts on the plain, drawing the attention of cultivators in the Dense Forest as he harvested Golden Core Level beasts again.
• After killing the final Golden Core Middle Stage Exotic Beast, Lu Qing entered the Guarding Domain of the three Late Golden Core Stage Exotic Beasts to test his strength.

Lu Qing fought his way past three Late Golden Core Stage Strange Beasts and entered the Ancient Pagoda. He discovered that the pagoda contained a vast inner space and continued toward a light ahead.

• Lu Qing entered the three Strange Beasts’ Guarding Domain and traded a powerful punch with the White Ape without either gaining the upper hand.
• The Black Giant Snake and White Wolf attacked Lu Qing from both sides, but he briefly bound them with Earth Vein Yuan Magnetic Power and broke free.
• Lu Qing used the White Ape’s counterattack to propel himself into the Ancient Pagoda, leaving the three Strange Beasts behind.
• Inside the pagoda, Lu Qing reflected that his physical strength alone was slightly below the Strange Beasts’ and decided to save his stronger abilities for later.
• Lu Qing traveled through a corridor that extended far beyond the pagoda’s exterior, then followed a light into an extraordinarily vast space.

Lu Qing explored the Ancient Pagoda, learned that its vast murals recorded the Witch Race’s history, and traveled through a gravity-heavy realm toward Heaven-Piercing Mountain. He left a group of cultivators behind as hundreds of deadly Mantis Exotic Beasts attacked them, then reached the mountain’s foot.

• Lu Qing examined the Witch's Stone Carvings, which showed the Witch Race’s rise, the Dao-Witch War, and the Dao Race’s ascendancy, then used a Teleportation Array to enter another space with Xiao Li.
• Lu Qing found that the new realm had crushing gravity and made Daoist Arts consume enormous amounts of spiritual power, so he relied on his physical strength to travel toward Heaven-Piercing Mountain.
• Lu Qing passed a group of Golden Core cultivators who recognized him, while Xiao Li accompanied him and they continued toward the mountain.
• A Mantis Exotic Beast emerged from underground and killed Old Mo with a flash of its blade-like legs before the group could react.
• The cultivators killed the first Mantis Exotic Beast, but hundreds more erupted from underground and pursued them as they fled.
• Xiao Li sensed danger behind them, but Lu Qing chose not to return and reached the foot of Heaven-Piercing Mountain after about an hour.

Lu Qing discovered that the towering mountain was the True Witch Bone, a giant spine containing a marrow-baptism opportunity for those who passed its trials. After Ba Tian warned him of the mountain’s crushing suppression and soul-corroding Baleful Qi, Lu Qing prepared to attempt the climb himself.

• Lu Qing used his ability to learn that the mountain was a True Witch’s spinal bone, which suppressed the strange space and held a trial and Marrow Baptism.
• Lu Qing reached the True Witch Bone and found more than a hundred cultivators gathered at its foot, many injured, incapacitated, or dead after attempting the ascent.
• Ba Tian greeted Lu Qing and warned him that the stairs intensified the suppressive force and unleashed Baleful Beasts capable of damaging the divine soul.
• Ba Tian offered to lend Lu Qing Protective Magic Treasures in exchange for a share of any opportunity he obtained on the mountain.
• Lu Qing declined the offer for now, and Ba Tian returned to his group while the gathered cultivators watched Lu Qing prepare to climb.

Lu Qing and Xiao Li began climbing the bone mountain’s trial, drawing the attention of the gathered factions as Xiao Li proved far stronger than they had expected. They reached the fifth bone joint, where the Baleful Qi became dangerously corrosive, and Xiao Li warned Lu Qing she might need to use her divine ability if they climbed higher.

• Dao Xu Temple and Azure Palace watched Lu Qing, while Ba Tian and Shen Cangfeng discussed his strength and Ba Tian’s proposal to recruit him.
• Lu Qing studied the bone mountain and started climbing, but Xiao Li left his arms after a voice told her she had to face the trial herself.
• Lu Qing and Xiao Li climbed through the first four bone joints, astonishing the experts below with Xiao Li’s ease and endurance.
• At the fifth bone joint, the Baleful Qi condensed into a substance that enveloped and corroded them, but Xiao Li managed to withstand it.
• Xiao Li told Lu Qing she might need to use her divine ability at the next bone joint, and they continued climbing as the watchers stared in disbelief.

Lu Qing and Xiao Li climbed Bone Mountain until Xiao Li reached her limit on the eighth bone joint and learned she had passed the trial. A mysterious voice transported her to a Refining Pool to become a Shaman, leaving Lu Qing determined to pass the trial and find her.

• Lu Qing and Xiao Li climbed past the sixth and seventh bone joints, drawing astonishment from the experts watching below.
• Xiao Li struggled onto the eighth bone joint, where she eventually stood after the pressure helped her refined bloodline fuse into her body.
• Xiao Li told Lu Qing that a mysterious voice had declared her trial passed and offered her entry to a Refining Pool that could transform her into a Shaman.
• Lu Qing advised Xiao Li to accept the opportunity only if she could retain her demon core, and she agreed before a ball of light carried her away.
• Lu Qing realized he had to pass the trial to reach Xiao Li, while the experts below erupted in an uproar.

Lu Qing climbed Bone Mountain past the limits of the other cultivators, reaching the Sixteenth Bone Joint before Witch Mountain’s ancient voice recognized him as having passed the Elementary Trial. He declined to enter the Refining Pool immediately and chose to keep climbing, hoping to reach a higher trial and reunite with Xiao Li.

• After Xiao Li vanished in a burst of light, Lu Qing stopped holding back and rapidly climbed toward the Tenth Bone Joint.
• Lu Qing’s Physical Body Treasure Light repelled the Baleful Beasts, allowing him to pass the Tenth Bone Joint and surpass Ba Tian and the other cultivators.
• Lu Qing reached the Fifteenth Bone Joint before slowing, then stepped onto the Sixteenth as the pressure and Baleful Beasts began to shake his defenses.
• An ancient voice told Lu Qing he had passed Bone Mountain’s Elementary Trial and could enter the Refining Pool with Xiao Li.
• Lu Qing asked about higher trials and learned that reaching the Twentieth, Thirtieth, or summit would grant access to increasingly advanced Refining Pools.
• Despite the ancient voice’s warning, Lu Qing chose to continue climbing in pursuit of the higher trials.

Lu Qing merged his Perfect Golden Core into his body and surged up Witch Mountain, impressing the hidden watcher and the powerful figures below. He reached the Thirtieth Bone Joint and qualified for the Advanced Refining Pool, but the watcher believed he had no strength left to climb the final three joints.

• Lu Qing learned that reaching Witch Mountain’s summit would qualify him to enter the Witch Clan’s True Marrow Refining Pool, so he resolved to climb with everything he had.
• Lu Qing merged his Mana Golden Core into his body, multiplying his physical strength and allowing him to race past the Nineteenth Bone Joint.
• The mysterious voice recognized Lu Qing’s Perfect Golden Core, explained its history, and approved his continued climb after hearing how he refined Strange Beast bloodlines.
• Lu Qing climbed past the Twentieth Bone Joint as the powerful figures below wondered whether a Golden Core Realm cultivator could truly be so strong.
• Lu Qing slowed under the crushing pressure, used the Li Fire Cauldron to advance, and reached the Thirtieth Bone Joint, qualifying for the Advanced Refining Pool.
• The mysterious voice told Lu Qing that he appeared to have reached his limit, with only three bone joints remaining above him.

Lu Qing used his Physical Body Divine Power to reach the summit of Bone Mountain and qualify for the True Marrow Refining Pool. He entered the pool and cautiously absorbed a thread of its Essence Treasure Fluid, triggering a violent change in his body.

• Lu Qing revealed his Great Strength Divine Power, which strengthened his body enough to overcome the final three bone segments and reach Bone Mountain's summit.
• Lu Qing endured the summit trial for a quarter of an hour, and the mysterious voice confirmed that he had passed and could enter the True Marrow Refining Pool.
• Lu Qing agreed to receive the pool's baptism and was transported to a mysterious space containing blood-colored mist and a Blood Pool.
• The mysterious voice explained that the pool's Essence Fluid could transform the body but contained dangerous Baleful Qi.
• Lu Qing entered the pool and absorbed a single thread of Essence Treasure Fluid, which immediately spread through his body as its Baleful Qi erupted.

Lu Qing endured the Essence Treasure Fluid in the True Marrow Refining Pool, then received and comprehended the ancient inheritance of the Myriad Tribulations Undying Heavenly Witch Body. He achieved Entry Level in the technique, while experts gathered beneath Bone Mountain were struck by a sudden eruption from underground.

• Lu Qing began refining the Essence Treasure Fluid as the Mysterious Existence watched and wondered how much he could absorb.
• The experts beneath Bone Mountain speculated about Lu Qing’s fate, then the ground split open and white light surged at them, spraying blood.
• The Mysterious Existence realized Lu Qing was absorbing Essence Fluid inefficiently and gave him an inheritance stone tablet left by the creator of the Secret Realm.
• Lu Qing used his Supernatural Ability to learn the tablet’s inheritance and entered a simulation where a Strange Beast swallowed Tribulation Lightning and transformed it into strength.
• Lu Qing emerged from his comprehension having reached Entry Level in the Myriad Tribulations Undying Heavenly Witch Body and recognized its extraordinary power.

Lu Qing cultivated the Myriad Tribulations Undying Heavenly Witch Body in the Blood Pool, rapidly mastering its first three levels and absorbing Essence Treasure Fluid to transform his body. The Mysterious Existence watched in astonishment as Lu Qing neared the breakthrough to condense a Heavenly Witch Body.

• Lu Qing recalled the first three energy pathway diagrams and began cultivating the Myriad Tribulations Undying Heavenly Witch Body.
• The Mysterious Existence recognized Lu Qing’s first-beast posture and realized he had entered the technique in less than half a day.
• Lu Qing absorbed Essence Treasure Fluid, transforming its Baleful Qi into pure energy and strengthening his body.
• When the first pathway diagram reached its limit, Lu Qing assumed the second Strange Beast’s posture and cultivated the second level.
• Lu Qing shifted to the third Strange Beast’s posture, stunning the Mysterious Existence by mastering all three foundational levels.
• As the Blood Pool’s ripples calmed, the Mysterious Existence sensed Lu Qing was about to condense the Heavenly Witch Body.

Lu Qing condensed the Heavenly Witch Body and reached Minor Achievement of the Golden Witch, gaining immense physical strength and vitality. With Xiao Li still asleep and the Secret Realm remaining open for a year, Lu Qing stayed to deduce the later levels of his Perfect Golden Core Method.

• Lu Qing combined the first three cultivation postures and circulation diagrams, then assumed the fourth Strange Beast's posture and condensed the Heavenly Witch Body.
• Lu Qing assessed his newfound strength and vitality, concluding that his Perfect Physical Body could rival or surpass powerful Nascent Soul experts in resilience.
• The Mysterious Existence praised Lu Qing's rapid breakthrough and told him that Xiao Li was sleeping in the Primary Refining Pool.
• Lu Qing learned that the Secret Realm would remain open for a year and decided to stay until Xiao Li awakened.
• Lu Qing entered Sudden Enlightenment to deduce the later levels of the Magic Art for his Perfect Golden Core Method.

Lu Qing finished deducing the Perfect Golden Core Method through its Ninth Revolution and decided to enter seclusion to improve his cultivation. Outside the Bone Mountain, Ba Tian, Shen Cangfeng, and the other factions withdrew after enduring increasingly dangerous attacks from Mantis Exotic Beasts.

• Ba Tian killed the last Mantis Exotic Beast in an attack wave, but mourned a clansman who had been killed in the strange space.
• Shen Cangfeng advised Ba Tian to leave, and Ba Tian agreed as the Mantis Exotic Beasts grew more violent.
• The Dao Child of Dao Xu Temple asked Fairy Luo whether they should stay, and she ordered their group to withdraw; the remaining powerful cultivators left the strange space.
• Lu Qing finished deducing the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Revolutions of the Perfect Golden Core Method, but realized he needed Nascent Soul Realm cultivation methods to deduce the final three revolutions.
• Lu Qing asked the Mysterious Existence to watch Xiao Li if she woke early, then said he would enter seclusion to advance beyond the Golden Core Fifth Revolution.
• Lu Qing arranged Mid-Grade Spirit Stones into a spirit-gathering formation and drew spiritual essence toward himself.

Nearly a year after Lu Qing vanished on the Bone Mountain, Qin Zheng’s group had grown stronger by refining beast bloodlines, but Gongshu Yu confronted them over the secret and demanded they share it. Their standoff was interrupted when the Secret Realm began to close, leaving everyone facing the emerging Space Vortex.

• Ye Qingzhu and the Universe Sect disciples killed a Golden Core Initial Stage beast, and Qin Zheng praised how much they had improved.
• Chu Xiao Jing worried about Lu Qing’s disappearance, while Qin Zheng and Zi Xiao reassured the others that he had likely survived and gained an opportunity.
• Gongshu Yu accused Qin Zheng’s group of hiding the beast bloodline secret and demanded they share its benefits.
• Qin Zheng refused to tell Gongshu Yu because of the Gongshu Family’s role in Zhao Gang and the others’ deaths, and both groups prepared to fight.
• The earth and sky trembled, a Space Vortex appeared overhead, and everyone realized the Secret Realm was about to close.