Chapter Summaries

Qin Wang used the refreshed intelligence to understand the Grand Elder’s planned matchups and learned that Houtu Wan’er had been captured while seeking Azure Wood Holy Water for him. At the Holy Land, Qin Wang persuaded Jiu Zi to let him fight the third battle, and his identity as Qin Tiedan was revealed before the first duel began.

• Qin Wang learned that the Grand Elder planned to win the best-of-three battle with Tian Wu, Dijiang, and Zhurong, and that Houtu Wan’er had been imprisoned in the Witch Clan’s water dungeon.
• Qin Wang decided not to rescue Houtu Wan’er before the battle because doing so could expose that he was not injured.
• Qin Wang rejected Jiu Zi’s proposed battle order and insisted that Houtu Elder fight first, Shebishi Elder second, and he fight third.
• Houtu Elder recognized Qin Wang as Qin Tiedan and described his exploits against powerful Central Continent factions, including the Wuji Sect.
• Jiu Zi agreed to Qin Wang’s participation, and the High Priest announced the first match: Gonggong Elder against Tian Wu.
• Jiu Zi and the others sensed that something was amiss as the first battle was about to begin.

Elder Tian Wu fought the much stronger Gonggong Elder in the first match of the struggle between the Holy Maiden and the Grand Elder, using his Ancestral Witch Manifestation but failing to overcome Gonggong’s defenses. After conceding, Tian Wu secretly attacked Gonggong as he turned to leave.

• Gonggong Elder challenged Elder Zhurong, but Zhurong refused to fight until the contest was over.
• Elder Tian Wu asked Gonggong to let him make three moves before conceding, and Gonggong agreed.
• Elder Tian Wu summoned his Tian Wu Manifestation, whose first two attacks failed to break Gonggong’s watery mist barrier.
• Elder Tian Wu unleashed Blade Storm, which clashed evenly with Gonggong’s torrent, though Gonggong had used only a casual strike.
• Elder Tian Wu admitted defeat, but then sent the manifestation’s eight tails at Gonggong in a sudden killing attack.

Gonggong Elder flew into a rage after Elder Tian Wu unexpectedly ambushed him, then beat him until the Grand Elder intervened. With Gonggong Elder declared the winner of the first battle, the second match was set between Houtu Elder and Elder Dijiang.

• Elder Tian Wu's surprise attack bounced off Gonggong Elder's protective water aura, enraging Gonggong Elder.
• Gonggong Elder seized Elder Tian Wu and repeatedly smashed him into the ground, leaving him gravely injured.
• The Grand Elder stopped Gonggong Elder and apologized on Elder Tian Wu's behalf, and Gonggong Elder agreed to spare him.
• The Witch God Guards carried Elder Tian Wu away, while the High Priest declared Gonggong Elder the winner of the first battle.
• The High Priest announced Houtu Elder against Elder Dijiang for the second battle, and the Grand Elder remained confident that the resurrection plan would succeed.

Qin Wang faced Elder Zhurong in the deciding battle and wounded him with a devastating sword strike after stopping time. Elder Zhurong survived, while Qin Wang spent nearly all his strength, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Houtu Elder conceded to Elder Dijiang, then escaped his attempted attack by calling for Gonggong Elder.
• Jiu Zi urged Qin Wang to concede the third battle, but Qin Wang insisted he was confident, and Wanyan Meng worried for his safety.
• The Witch Clan High Priest announced Qin Wang as the Holy Maiden's fighter against Elder Zhurong, and the Witch Clan Grand Elder ordered Zhurong to attack without holding back.
• Qin Wang summoned Candle Dragon to stop time for one breath and gathered his strength into the Qingping Sword.
• Qin Wang's Heaven Splitting Sword Strike split Elder Zhurong's flames and cut deeply into his raised arm, but Qin Wang was left drained and the fight remained undecided.

Qin Wang refused to concede defeat and forced the Qingping Sword’s hidden sword immortal, Wu Su, to appear and save him from Elder Zhurong’s attack. Wu Su’s arrival revealed Qin Wang as Qin Tiedan, the man wanted by the Wuji Sect, leaving the spectators stunned.

• Elder Zhurong urged Qin Wang to admit defeat, but Qin Wang refused and knocked Wanyan Meng unconscious before sending her to Jiu Zi.
• Qin Wang called on the Qingping Sword for help as Elder Zhurong prepared to attack him with Fire God's Wrath.
• Wu Su emerged from the sword and shattered Elder Zhurong’s spiraling pillar of fire with sword light.
• Wu Su questioned Qin Wang about how he knew she was there, and he said he had guessed.
• The spectators recognized Wu Su as the sword soul from the barbarian lands and identified Qin Wang as Qin Tiedan, the man wanted by the Wuji Sect.

Qin Wang revealed that he was human and defeated Elder Zhurong with Wu Su’s avatar and the Qingping Sword, securing victory for Jiu Zi’s side in the three battles. With Elder Zhurong gravely injured but alive, Qin Wang demanded that the Grand Elder honor the agreement and spare Wanyan Meng from sacrifice.

• Gonggong Elder accused Jiu Zi of knowing Qin Wang’s identity and questioned her loyalty, but Shebishi Elder ended the argument.
• Elder Zhurong learned Qin Wang was human and attacked him with Fire God World Annihilation.
• Wu Su’s avatar used A Sword Separates Worlds to pierce Elder Zhurong and stop his attack, then disappeared after exhausting her power.
• The High Priest declared Qin Ba the winner of the third battle and Jiu Zi the winner of the confrontation.
• Qin Wang asked the Grand Elder to honor the promise not to sacrifice Wanyan Meng to revive the Twelve Ancestral Witches.

The Witch Clan Grand Elder broke his agreement and began the sacrifice of Wanyan Meng, leaving Qin Wang with no way to stop him. Qin Wang sent the Houtu Seal into Wanyan Meng, whose sudden eruption of power destroyed the altar and disrupted the ritual.

• The Grand Elder seized Wanyan Meng despite Qin Wang’s victory and Jiu Zi’s protest, then ordered the High Priest to begin the sacrifice.
• Qin Wang asked Jiu Zi to summon the Witch Clan Patriarch, but she could neither contact him nor find his secluded location.
• As the ritual began, Qin Wang threw the Houtu Seal toward Wanyan Meng while Jiu Zi’s allies tried to hold off the elders.
• Elder Gou Mang shattered Qin Wang’s Barbarian God Shield, but Qin Wang used Candle Dragon’s time stop to give the Houtu Seal a brief opening.
• The Houtu Seal entered Wanyan Meng’s forehead, unleashing an aura and shockwave that destroyed the altar and enraged the Grand Elder.

Wanyan Meng used Curse Power to nearly kill the Witch Clan Grand Elder for threatening Qin Wang, but Patriarch Wushen Ji intervened and negotiated her departure. After Wanyan Meng vanished to escape the gathering tribulation clouds, Wushen Ji saved the Grand Elder and offered to explain the situation to Qin Wang.

• Wanyan Meng cursed the Grand Elder, worsening his injuries until he fell to the ground near death.
• Wanyan Meng prepared to strike again, but Wushen Ji blocked and burned away her Curse Power.
• Wushen Ji warned Wanyan Meng that heaven and earth’s rules would obliterate her if she stayed, then promised Qin Wang would be protected in exchange for her sparing the Witch Clan.
• Wanyan Meng accepted the deal, entered a spatial rift, and disappeared as tribulation clouds gathered and then dispersed.
• Wushen Ji expelled the Curse Power from the Grand Elder and burned it away, then told Qin Wang they could talk.

Wushen Ji recognized Qin Wang’s flawless white false core and promised him the Chaos Stone, which Qin Wang needed to form a Chaos Golden Core. After receiving the stone, Qin Wang chose to recover before attempting the breakthrough, while Wushen Ji urged Jiu Zi to win him over.

• Wushen Ji told Jiu Zi and Qin Wang that his Mahayana opportunity seemed connected to Wanyan Meng, and Qin Wang agreed to ask her for help.
• Qin Wang asked for the Chaos Stone, revealed his white false core, and learned that a Chaos Golden Core was said to guarantee Great Ascension.
• Wushen Ji promised Qin Wang the Chaos Stone, then asked Jiu Zi to win Qin Wang over for the Witch Clan’s future.
• Zhu Heng told Qin Wang that other Witch Tribes had sent gifts, and Qin Wang let him accept them while reaffirming his promise to Candle Dragon.
• Jiu Zi brought Qin Wang the Chaos Stone, and he decided to wait until he had fully recovered before forming his Chaos Golden Core.
• In the predawn hours, Qin Wang opened the Intelligence Panel after securing the Chaos Stone.

Qin Wang learned that the Witch Clan Grand Elder planned to devour the injured Elder Zhurong and frame him, so he recruited Jiu Zi and Gonggong Elder to guard Zhurong. As dawn neared, a hooded stranger arrived at Zhurong’s residence, leaving the ambush unresolved.

• Qin Wang learned that Wu Su’s exposed aura would soon lead the Wu Family to her hiding place and resolved to find her after reaching the Golden Core Stage.
• Qin Wang warned Jiu Zi that the Witch Clan Grand Elder planned to devour Elder Zhurong, and she agreed to help protect him.
• Jiu Zi summoned Gonggong Elder, who agreed to join the effort and joked that saving Zhurong would make him owe a favor.
• Qin Wang, Jiu Zi, and Gonggong Elder hid near Elder Zhurong’s residence and concealed their auras.
• A hooded figure arrived before dawn, and Elder Zhurong sensed the visitor and watched the door warily.

Zhu Jingtian attempted to devour the severely injured Elder Zhurong, but Gonggong Elder and the others arrived too late to save him. Zhu Jingtian escaped after fighting off Wushen Ji, who ordered a wanted notice for the traitor.

• The Grand Elder Zhu Jingtian used Time Stop to seize Elder Zhurong and revealed that he could wield the Candle Dragon bloodline’s power more strongly than Qin Tiedan.
• Zhu Jingtian’s Candle Dragon phantom swallowed Elder Zhurong before Gonggong Elder could interrupt the devouring.
• Gonggong Elder confronted Zhu Jingtian, who transformed into a Candle Dragon and fled after blasting a hole through Wushen Ji’s giant hand.
• Jiu Zi questioned Wushen Ji for letting Zhu Jingtian escape, and Wushen Ji explained that he feared a human attack while he was away.
• Wushen Ji declared Zhu Jingtian an enemy of the Witch Clan and ordered Gonggong Elder to issue a wanted notice.

After Zhu Jingtian fled the Witch Clan, Qin Wang absorbed the Chaos Stone and began condensing a Golden Core, consuming an enormous quantity of spirit stones. When the Wuji Sect arrived to capture him, Wushen Ji declared Qin Wang was the Witch Clan’s Holy Son and his son-in-law, leaving the sect unable to act against him.

• Qin Wang let Zhu Jingtian’s betrayal stand, ensuring the Witch Clan abandoned him and treated him as an enemy.
• Qin Wang absorbed the Chaos Stone, turning his False Core pitch-black and making it ravenously hungry for Spiritual Energy.
• Qin Wang exhausted over a billion spirit stones, drawing attention across the Witch Clan Ancestral Land.
• Jiu Zi flew toward the Zhu Yin Witch Tribe after noticing the disturbance, while Wushen Ji prepared to help Qin Wang.
• Chu Wusheng arrived with two Wuji Sect experts to capture Qin Tiedan, but Wushen Ji ordered them to leave.
• Wushen Ji declared Qin Tiedan the Witch Clan’s Holy Son and his son-in-law, leaving Chu Wusheng stunned.

Qin Wang absorbed nearly one billion spirit stones and completed his breakthrough to the Golden Core Realm, drawing a lightning tribulation. Wushen Ji revealed that it was an Annihilation Tribulation, far beyond an ordinary Golden Core tribulation, and hurried to protect him.

• Wushen Ji pressured Chu Wusheng’s Spirit Transformation expert but let Chu Wusheng and his companions leave to avoid violating the agreement with the human race.
• At the Zhu Yin Witch Tribe, Jiang Haotian told Jiu Zi that Qin Wang was absorbing Spiritual Energy to complete his Golden Core breakthrough.
• Jiu Zi learned that Qin Wang had consumed nearly one billion spirit stones, about a hundred times the amount an ordinary cultivator needed.
• Qin Wang awakened after draining the last spirit stone, and the resulting shockwave knocked Zhang Fujiang and the others down.
• Tribulation clouds darkened the sky, so Qin Wang flew away to undergo the lightning tribulation while Jiu Zi wondered where Houtu Wan'er was.
• Wushen Ji arrived, seized Jiu Zi, and rushed after Qin Wang, explaining that he faced an Annihilation Tribulation rather than an ordinary Golden Core tribulation.

Qin Wang overcame an Annihilation Tribulation while breaking through to the Golden Core Stage, then used the remaining tribulation lightning to recover and grow stronger. After Wushen Ji and Jiu Zi arrived, Qin Wang noticed an indelible black scratch on his Candle Dragon Mark.

• Wushen Ji identified the tribulation as an Annihilation Tribulation and warned Jiu Zi that intervening would make it more powerful.
• Qin Wang summoned the Candle Dragon phantom and prepared his strongest defenses and sword techniques as the black thunder dragon emerged.
• The thunder dragon destroyed the Candle Dragon phantom and Barbarian God Shield, but Qin Wang pierced it with A Sword Separates Worlds and won the tribulation at the cost of severe injuries.
• Qin Wang charged into the dissipating tribulation clouds and absorbed their ordinary lightning, which helped his body recover and grow stronger.
• Wushen Ji and Jiu Zi checked on Qin Wang, who then saw an indelible black scratch on his Candle Dragon Mark.

Qin Wang learned that the Annihilation Tribulation was consuming and sealing his Candle Dragon Mark, and Wushen Ji told him to restore it with Soul Power from the Spirit Transformation Pool in the Underworld. Qin Wang departed by riding the Ten Thousand Zhang Blood Crocodile, while Jiu Zi returned to the Witch Clan Ancestral Land and freed Houtu Wan'er from the dungeon.

• Qin Wang failed to summon Candle Dragon, and Wushen Ji explained that the Annihilation Tribulation would eventually destroy the Candle Dragon Mark.
• Qin Wang promised Wushen Ji that he would remain a member of the Witch Clan, and Wushen Ji revealed that Soul Power from the Spirit Transformation Pool could remove the tribulation's effects.
• Jiu Zi asked to accompany Qin Wang to the Underworld, but Qin Wang and Wushen Ji refused because the journey was dangerous and she would hinder him.
• The Ten Thousand Zhang Blood Crocodile burst out of the ground, and Qin Wang rode it away after asking Wushen Ji to have the Holy Maiden rescue Houtu Wan'er.
• Jiu Zi questioned the Witch Clan Treasury guards, found Houtu Wan'er in the dungeon, and learned that Qin Tiedan had told her where to look.

Qin Wang entered the Underworld to find Wanyan Meng, where he discovered that his Five Ghosts could grow stronger by devouring yin energy and death energy, while the lack of spiritual energy weakened his other abilities. After pursuing a frightened cultivator, Qin Wang began questioning him about the Underworld.

• Houtu Wan'er learned that Qin Wang had gone to the Underworld to find Wanyan Meng and decided to follow him there.
• Qin Wang used the Nether Tiger to open a passage, then entered the Underworld with the Ten Thousand Zhang Blood Crocodile.
• Qin Wang released the Five Ghosts, who absorbed the surrounding yin energy and death energy, while the Ten Thousand Zhang Blood Crocodile devoured a territorial revenant and produced a gray crystal that strengthened the Nether Tiger.
• Qin Wang checked his system panel and found that his lifespan had risen to 800 years and his cultivation art had become the beginner-level Chaos Five Elements Art.
• Qin Wang discovered that spiritual energy was scarce in the Underworld, weakening his spells and preventing him from replenishing Magic Power from his surroundings, so he rode the Nether Tiger onward.
• Qin Wang chased down a fleeing Golden Core cultivator, who begged not to be devoured, and ordered him to get up and speak.

Qin Wang learned that the Houtu Legacy could be found at the top of Fengdu Ghost City's Tower of Trials and entered the tower, where the Soul Gathering Bowl unlocked its seventh restriction after devouring skeletal remains. As Qin Wang and the Nether Tiger climbed and absorbed the tower's ghost creatures, the Yanluo Family confronted ghost cultivators protesting that the tower's trials had disappeared.

• Qin Wang questioned Bai Xiaowen about the Underworld and had him lead the way to Fengdu Ghost City.
• Bai Xiaowen explained that reaching a high floor of the Tower of Trials would make Qin Wang's name known across the Underworld and that its hundredth floor held the Houtu Legacy.
• Qin Wang rewarded Bai Xiaowen with a magical treasure, then entered the Tower of Trials and used magical treasures to pay the entry fee.
• The Nether Tiger destroyed the first-floor skeletal soldiers, and the Soul Gathering Bowl devoured their remains and unlocked its seventh restriction.
• Qin Wang and the Nether Tiger climbed the tower, killing its skeletal soldiers, Spectral Vengeful Ghosts, Minotaurs, and Horse-Faced Men for the Soul Gathering Bowl to absorb.
• Ghost cultivators protested that the tower's trial creatures had vanished, and a Nascent Soul Realm member of the Yanluo Family ordered them to leave while the family investigated.

Qin Wang reached the hundredth floor of the Tower of Trials after his ghost army overwhelmed the trials and grew stronger. He confronted the final floor’s mysterious gatekeeper, whose power suggested he might be a Void Refining Realm ghost.

• Qin Wang reviewed updated intelligence revealing the Tower of Trials was unrelated to the Houtu Legacy, could merge with the Soul Gathering Bowl, and held dangers involving Wanyan Meng and Houtu Wan'er.
• The Yanluo Family Head ordered the Tower of Trials surrounded while the Zhuanlun Family Head hurried away after learning the human-realm Teleportation Array had activated.
• Qin Wang’s forces defeated the gatekeepers on the seventieth floor and above, and he condensed a Nether Crystal that strengthened the Nether Tiger.
• By the ninety-ninth floor, the Five Ghosts had reached Spirit Transformation and the Nether Tiger had advanced to the ninth level of Spirit Transformation.
• On the hundredth floor, Qin Wang sent the Five Ghosts and Nether Tiger against a mysterious gatekeeper, who repelled them with a powerful palm strike.

Qin Wang discovered that the Void Refining Realm ghost Chang Er recognized the Qingping Sword and submitted to him, then took Chang Er and the Tower of Trials for himself. As the Yanluo Family and the other great families attacked, Chang Er blocked a powerful newcomer from reaching Qin Wang while the tower was still being absorbed.

• Chang Er knelt before Qin Wang after recognizing the Qingping Sword, claimed he had served Qin Wang in a past life, and offered his Soul Blood.
• Qin Wang placed Chang Er in the Soul Gathering Bowl and passed through the teleportation gate after Chang Er let him proceed.
• Qin Wang emerged above the Tower of Trials and used the Soul Gathering Bowl to pull the tower out of the ground, prompting the Yanluo Family and the other eight great families to attack.
• Qin Wang released the Nether Tiger to fight a Yanluo Family member and the Five Ghosts to protect him while he continued absorbing the tower.
• A black shadow shattered the Five Ghosts' defensive array, but Chang Er stepped between the newcomer and Qin Wang and challenged it.

Qin Wang ordered Chang Er to hold off the Yanluo Family Head and the other family heads while he fused the Tower of Trials with the Soul Gathering Bowl. After the nine family heads attacked, Qin Wang suddenly stopped and fled with the Qingping Sword, leaving Chang Er to face them alone.

• The Yanluo Family Head summoned several Void Refining Realm experts and demanded control of the Tower of Trials as it was devoured by the Soul Gathering Bowl.
• Qin Wang told Chang Er to hold off the approaching family heads for a quarter of an hour while he supplied Magic Power to the Soul Gathering Bowl.
• The Yanluo Family Head urged the other family heads to attack Qin Wang, and nine of them charged at him.
• Chang Er used the Six Souls Banner to send divine sense attacks into the nine family heads' Seas of Consciousness and began trying to control them.
• Qin Wang recalled the Five Ghosts and the Nether Tiger, formed the Qingping Sword from twelve Azure Nether Small Swords, and fled, enraging Chang Er.