Chapter Summaries

After Chu Qing announced the Dao Lineage Dispute, the Four Directions broadcast rules allowing anyone to seize Realm Ancestor venerable seats by killing their holders. The conflict erupted across the world, with hundreds of Realm Ancestors killed in a single day, while Chu Qing raised a proposal at Square Inch Gathering.

• The Four Directions announced that Reflection Old Ancestor had killed the Primordial Spirit Old Ancestor, and martial artists across the world learned of his death.
• Chu Qing declared the Dao Lineage Dispute, establishing that killing a Realm Ancestor granted their venerable seat and that holders could be sensed by other Realm Ancestors.
• The Four Directions announced that multiple venerable seats could be accumulated, then broadcast a wave of killings as Old Ancestors seized one another's titles.
• At least five hundred Realm Ancestors died in one day, leaving martial artists fearing their Paths would decline or perish.
• At Square Inch Gathering, Mythology called the Dao Lineage Dispute a feast and urged everyone to seize more benefits.
• Chu Qing said he had a suggestion, and the others asked what it was.

Chu Qing and the others targeted Realm Ancestors with two Venerable Seats, while martial artists debated which Paths offered the best prospects. At Stone Ridge Mountain, Chu Qing ordered more forces to join Cui Moyang’s campaign to spread the Golden Core Path and said he wanted to end the Dao Lineage Dispute sooner.

• Chu Qing proposed dividing the areas where Realm Ancestors were located and targeting those who had obtained two Venerable Seats, while Luo Tian refused to leave the restricted zone.
• Wu Feitu and other powerful figures killed Realm Ancestors, and observers realized that Heavenly Court, Myth, Netherworld, and their allies were harvesting Ancestors with two Venerable Seats.
• Martial artists debated the Ancient Sword Immortal, Gods and Devils, and Golden Core Paths, weighing their strength, cultivation costs, and prospects.
• Chu Qing told Madam Shi he could not accept waiting eight hundred to a thousand years for the Paths to wither and asked how to accelerate the dispute.
• Madam Shi recommended supporting Cui Moyang’s campaign to force martial artists to adopt the Golden Core Path, so Chu Qing committed Stone Ridge Mountain’s reserves and asked outsiders to join.
• Madam Shi told Chu Qing to kill more Realm Ancestors; he joked that he wanted her to gain strength but was still stronger than her, and she called him an arrogant coachman.

Chu Qing hurried to confront the Dharma Aspect Creator after the latter killed the Dharma Aspect Ancestor, whose honored title let the aliens derive his location. The Dharma Aspect Creator prepared the Imperial Capital for battle, but Chu Qing arrived within minutes and walked toward his restaurant.

• Madam Shi persuaded Chu Qing to pursue the Realm Ancestors, and he ordered the aliens to derive the Dharma Aspect Ancestor's location after hearing the Dharma Aspect Creator had killed him.
• Madam Shi's Space God Demons used a teleportation ritual to send Chu Qing across 108,000 continents toward the derived coordinates.
• The Dharma Aspect Creator warned the other Path Pioneers to begin reaping, then secretly released thousands of Dharma Aspects throughout the Imperial Capital and put on his strongest mask, Faceless.
• Chu Qing appeared in the Imperial Capital within minutes, repelling the rain around him as he walked toward the Dharma Aspect Creator's restaurant.

Chu Qing confronted the Dharma Aspect Creator in the Imperial Capital and easily overcame his three thousand Dharma Aspects before entering the tavern. The two faced off, and Chu Qing challenged the aging Creator as they prepared to fight.

• The Dharma Aspect Creator unleashed thirty-six thousand Wind God Dharma Aspects and a thunder dragon, but Chu Qing absorbed and destroyed them.
• The Creator sent warriors, transformed houses, and three thousand Dharma Aspects to attack, while Chu Qing advanced through the Imperial Capital unharmed.
• Chu Qing reached the tavern, where the three thousand Dharma Aspects returned to the Creator and the awakened warriors went home.
• Chu Qing climbed upstairs and confronted the Dharma Aspect Creator, who warned him not to throw away his life.
• The Creator admitted he had planned to harvest Chu Qing’s titles after he grew stronger, and Chu Qing mocked him as a rotten old thing and told him to prepare for his death.

Chu Qing overwhelmed the Dharma Aspect Creator with his self-created divine ability, Eye Shoots Dipper Light, and survived the creator’s strongest move, the Faceless Great Lord. The Dharma Aspect Creator realized he could not defeat Chu Qing and began wondering how to escape.

• Chu Qing unleashed his secret inheritances and Eye Shoots Dipper Light, forcing the Dharma Aspect Creator to burn through hundreds of human-skin substitutes to recover.
• Chu Qing and the Dharma Aspect Creator fought for several minutes, but the creator could not counter Eye Shoots Dipper Light and lost thousands more substitutes.
• The Dharma Aspect Creator summoned the Faceless Great Lord, combining three thousand Dharma Aspects and the faces of three million six hundred thousand prodigies into one powerful form.
• The Faceless Great Lord battered Chu Qing for a minute, but Chu Qing healed his wounds and declared the attack too weak to kill him.
• The Dharma Aspect Creator accepted that he could not defeat Chu Qing and wondered how he could run away.

Chu Qing pursued the Dharma Aspect Creator across the Endless Sea, hoping to force him to reveal other Path Pioneers' locations. Meanwhile, the Dao Lineage Dispute devastated the realms, and after three years of flight, the Dharma Aspect Creator began to despair.

• The Dharma Aspect Creator fled after Chu Qing defeated him, and Chu Qing chased him out across the Endless Sea.
• A giant sea beast tried to swallow them, but Chu Qing killed it, and the surviving sea creatures fed on its remains.
• The Dharma Aspect Creator refused to betray his companions, while Chu Qing kept pursuing him to pressure him into seeking help from other Path Ancestors.
• As the chase continued, Realm Ancestors slaughtered one another and their Paths fought brutal wars that consumed empires and continents.
• Mingyue's Stone Ridge Mountain demons killed Realm Ancestors who attempted to attack her, and Tang Wuming and the others studied their corpses.
• After three years of being pursued by Chu Qing, the Dharma Aspect Creator began to feel desperate.

Chu Qing pursued the Dharma Aspect Creator for nine years until the fleeing creator sought help from the Primordial Spirit Pioneer, who trapped Chu Qing in a vast formation. Chu Qing broke through the formation and defeated the Pioneer’s strongest attack, leaving both experts fleeing together while he continued the chase.

• The Dharma Aspect Creator tried to bargain with Chu Qing, but Chu Qing pursued him in silence for nine years.
• The Dharma Aspect Creator asked Xue Feiren, the Primordial Spirit Pioneer, to help kill Chu Qing, and Xue Feiren agreed to use his net of Heaven and earth.
• Xue Feiren raised a massive formation around his island, and Chu Qing entered it despite the Dharma Aspect Creator’s taunts.
• Chu Qing shattered the formation’s Primordial Spirits and pillars, killed the Faceless Great Lord repeatedly, and reached the central volcano.
• Xue Feiren launched his fiery Great Sun Primordial Spirit at Chu Qing, but Chu Qing’s Eye Shoots Dipper Light split it apart and forced Xue Feiren to revive by burning human skins.
• Xue Feiren fled, and the Dharma Aspect Creator followed him as Chu Qing continued pursuing them.

The Primordial Spirit and Manifestation Pioneers fled to the Yin God Pioneer, who summoned the Yin Mansion in an attempt to trap Chu Qing. The Yin Mansion spat Chu Qing back out, leaving the three Pioneers fleeing again.

• The Primordial Spirit and Manifestation Pioneers decided to seek help from the Yin God Pioneer while Chu Qing continued chasing them.
• The two Pioneers reached the Yin God Continent and persuaded the Yin God Pioneer to aid them by calling him Older Brother.
• The Yin God Pioneer used the Human Emperor Banner and the Yin God Grand Formation to summon a corner of the Yin Mansion and swallow Chu Qing.
• The Yin God Pioneer and the two Pioneers saw the Yin Mansion send Chu Qing back out, and the two Pioneers grabbed the Yin God Pioneer and fled.

Chu Qing chased the Primordial Spirit, Manifestation, and Yin God after they failed to find other Path Pioneers willing to serve as scapegoats. The pursuit carried them into the uninhabited region, where the three vowed to outlast Chu Qing and let time kill him.

• The Yin God Pioneer, Primordial Spirit Pioneer, and Manifestation Pioneer searched for the Visualization Pioneer, but she was nowhere to be found.
• The Pioneers contacted other Path Pioneers and learned that they had gone into hiding to avoid becoming scapegoats for Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing realized the three could no longer lead him to other Pioneers and decided to kill them, while Madam Shi and the others supported his plan to study their human skins.
• The three Pioneers fled for years, eventually crossing the last known human continent with Chu Qing in pursuit and entering the uninhabited region.
• After ten years of running through the uninhabited region, the three Pioneers claimed they had tens of millions of human skins and could outlast Chu Qing.

Chu Qing pursued the Primordial Spirit Manifestation and two Yin God Pioneers across the Endless Sea for over a century, eventually reaching a continent with no humans. The three Pioneers abandoned their flight to claim the discovery for history, but Chu Qing’s words turned them against one another as they faced him.

• Chu Qing pursued the three Pioneers while testing ways to kill them, and they burned through vast amounts of human skin to escape.
• After more than a century at sea, the three Pioneers and Chu Qing spotted a continent and hoped to earn fame and rewards by reporting it.
• Chu Qing followed the Pioneers onto the continent, found abundant wildlife but no humans or signs of intelligent life, and saw them gather atop a central volcano.
• The three Pioneers proposed surveying the continent and returning to the human world, but Chu Qing pointed out that only one of them could be remembered as first in history.
• The Pioneers’ formation collapsed as they eyed one another, and the Yin God Pioneer urged them to unite against Chu Qing before competing for the honor.

Chu Qing and the three pioneers discovered they could not leave the strange continent, and after nightfall he found a town where revelry overpowered reason. When the Primordial Spirit pioneer tried to entertain the crowd by cutting off his own head, mysterious flames engulfed him while Manifestation and Yin God kept celebrating.

• Chu Qing continued chasing the Primordial Spirit, Manifestation, and Yin God pioneers, but none of them could reach the continent’s coastline.
• Chu Qing explored the continent, found no way out, and discovered its limited earth veins and darkness behaved unlike anything he had encountered.
• After nightfall, Chu Qing found a brightly lit town whose people reveled around fires made from bones.
• The town’s strange atmosphere stirred Chu Qing’s desire to join the revelry, and he struggled to suppress it.
• The Primordial Spirit pioneer cut off his own head to entertain the crowd, but mysterious flames engulfed him as Manifestation and Yin God celebrated instead of helping.

Chu Qing investigated the strange flames and runes in the town, then fought its endlessly reviving inhabitants after the three Pioneers tried to make him burn. He slaughtered them through the night, but at dawn the town and everyone in it vanished, leaving him alone.

• Chu Qing studied the burning Pioneers and discovered that the flames contained three thousand runes resembling those found on humans and an Innate God and Demon.
• Chu Qing accidentally created a flame that infected a dancing woman, and the burning townspeople spread it throughout the town while singing and dancing.
• The Primordial Spirit Pioneer and the other two Pioneers attacked Chu Qing and urged the townspeople to burn him.
• Chu Qing fought back, destroying the human torches and much of the town, but both the inhabitants and the town repeatedly revived.
• Chu Qing continued killing through the night, and at dawn the town, the human torches, and the three Path Pioneers vanished, leaving Chu Qing alone.

Chu Qing uncovered records on a colossal turtle shell that revealed a spreading darkness swallowing continents and turning people into maddened dead. When night fell, the anomaly returned, and he attacked the three Pioneers to continue investigating and find a way to defeat them.

• Chu Qing shattered the ash-covered continent and discovered it had formed atop a turtle shell as large as a continent.
• Chu Qing found writings on the shell, including Cai Fei’s account and scripture, along with records from explorers who had settled there.
• Chu Qing read that darkness was consuming continents across the Endless Sea, contaminating survivors and preventing those on the turtle shell from escaping.
• At sunset, the darkness swept in and the burning Pioneers and torch-bearers reappeared, charging at Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing attacked the three Pioneers and used the clash to test new methods against them and wear down the torch-bearers.

Chu Qing killed the Primordial Spirit, Dharma Idol, and Yin God Pioneers after relentlessly improving his abilities, then considered exploring the darkness beyond the continents. News of their deaths frightened younger Path Pioneers, while an elderly Pioneer dismissed Chu Qing as a threat, and people in the Inch of Land asked him how he had done it.

• Chu Qing strengthened his secret legacies and the divine ability Eye Shoots Dipper Light, burning away the three Pioneers’ human skins faster and faster.
• The Primordial Spirit Pioneer offered to lift the curse and repay Chu Qing, but Chu Qing refused and continued fighting the three Pioneers.
• Chu Qing noticed that the strange creatures in a brightly lit town revived one instant more slowly and decided to stay until he had dealt with the Pioneers and learned about the darkness.
• The Primordial Spirit, Dharma Idol, and Yin God Pioneers begged Chu Qing to spare them, but he killed all three in the Endless Sea.
• News of the three deaths spread across the Four Directions, alarming younger Path Pioneers while an elderly Pioneer remained unconcerned.
• People in the Inch of Land contacted Chu Qing and asked him to share how he had killed the three Pioneers.

At the Square Inch Gathering, Chu Qing shared a more efficient way to kill Pioneers and told the others he planned to search for the darkness he had encountered. After speaking with Bi Luo about the dangers of being close to him, Chu Qing found the rapidly advancing darkness and tested it with his candle flames.

• Chu Qing explained how his methods could force Pioneers to burn through many human skins, and the Square Inch Gathering discussed improving his approach.
• Chu Qing told the gathering about the turtle-shell continent and said he would search for the dark region, then ended the meeting.
• Bi Luo admitted to Second Generation Moon God that she would seal herself away if she could not keep up with Chu Qing, while Second Generation Moon God warned she could become his weakness.
• Chu Qing traveled deep into the Endless Sea and found the darkness advancing far sooner than previous records suggested.
• Chu Qing sent more than a hundred thousand Enlightenment Star Candle Flames into the darkness, which swallowed them even though they could harm it.

Chu Qing entered the expanding Dark Sea and investigated how it affected beasts, communication, and a continent swallowed by darkness. He found humans surviving around failing strange treasures, whose power would eventually run out and leave them exposed.

• Chu Qing entered and left the darkness repeatedly, discovering it did not prevent travel and that Giant Beasts grew stronger inside it until their strength doubled.
• Chu Qing killed a dark Giant Beast and watched others devour its remains and slaughter one another, while his Fire Dragon could only push back the darkness.
• Chu Qing traveled deeper into the Dark Sea and lost contact with the Square Inch Gathering.
• Chu Qing found a lifeless continent where strange creatures emerged from the ground and turned into ashes that corroded him and burned other creatures.
• Chu Qing discovered humans farming and weaving near damaged strange treasures, whose weakening power would eventually leave them swallowed by darkness.

Chu Qing discovered that exotic treasures could repel the darkness and entered a settlement, where he learned that its people cultivated Dao Fruits and had never heard of the Four Directions or his title. He left the conversation with a new cultivation system to investigate and the settlement’s people hoping he could take them away.

• Chu Qing tested several Exotic Treasure Realms and found that they drove back the darkness, with stronger exotic treasures clearing wider areas at the cost of more Spirit and Energy.
• Chu Qing reached a settlement and met its residents, who had strange organs but recognized him as a normal human.
• Ling Xue explained that the darkness had spread for over ten thousand years, the Gifted had died, and exotic treasures were the only defense against darkness and the monsters it created.
• Chu Qing introduced himself as Forbidden, but Ling Xue and the others had never heard of the Four Directions, titles, honored ranks, or the Martial Progenitor.
• The residents showed Chu Qing their Dao Fruits, explaining that people cultivated them through Refine the False into the True and gained abilities based on the power inscribed upon them.

Chu Qing learned about the Dao Fruit cultivation system from Li Xue and taught the survivors new cultivation methods. After Li Xue combined a Golden Core with her Dao Fruit, she revived from death and created a field that drove back the darkness, giving the survivors hope.

• The martial artists cultivated the Four Great Realms, Three Great Limits, while Li Xue asked Chu Qing to preserve the history of her Lineage and explain the Dao Fruit system.
• Li Xue told Chu Qing that two competing Dao Fruit cultivation methods had fueled a Dao Lineage Dispute before the darkness invaded, then gave him inherited coordinates for other continents.
• Chu Qing taught the group the Heaven-Connecting Path, and Li Xue and the others chose the Golden Core Realm as a path compatible with their Dao Fruits.
• Li Xue formed a Golden Core that joined with her thirty-six-colored Dao Fruit, and the two restored her after she destroyed her own head.
• Li Xue stepped beyond the magical treasure's protection and used her Golden Core and Dao Fruit to push back the darkness within a ten-thousand-meter radius.
• Li Xue declared that Golden Cores and Dao Fruits could cleanse the darkness, and Chu Qing wondered whether his arrival had been fated or coincidental.

Li Xue and the survivors joined their Golden Core Dao Fruits to create a safe zone, and Chu Qing began cultivating their Dao Fruit System. After rapidly advancing thirty-six Dao Fruits with his martial foundations, he startled Li Xue and the others with their transformation.

• Li Xue and the survivors combined their Golden Core Dao Fruits to create a safe zone that allowed plants to grow, and Chu Qing gave them coordinates to more than a hundred settlements.
• When the survivors' extra organs began hurting, Chu Qing discovered that the rosy light from their Golden Core Dao Fruits could restore them.
• Chu Qing condensed a Dao Fruit and found that his Profession Slot claimed he had pioneered the Dao Fruit System, then he studied its cultivation paths.
• Chu Qing formed thirty-six Dao Fruits, branded them with the foundations of his martial path, and repeatedly advanced them until they became gray-white Dao Fruits.
• Li Xue and the others stared at Chu Qing's transformed Dao Fruits and asked if he had gone mad.

Chu Qing cultivated the third Dao Fruit method, raising all Thirty-Six Dao Fruits to thirty-six colors before merging them into one and fusing it with his Golden Core and Eye Shoots Dipper Light. His eyes became a sun and moon that illuminated the darkness, and he realized that the darkness was suppressing the continent's revival.

• Chu Qing rejected Li Xue's advice to switch to an easier cultivation method and continued investing Spirit and Energy gemstones into the Dao Fruits.
• As the Thirty-Six Dao Fruits advanced together, Chu Qing's foundation grew stronger, and Li Xue and the others marveled at his immense reserves of Spirit and Energy.
• Chu Qing raised all Thirty-Six Dao Fruits to thirty-six colors, then merged them into a single Dao Fruit that further strengthened his Four Great Realms.
• Chu Qing released his Golden Core, and it and the Dao Fruit expanded a safe zone before darkness's lightning cracked them.
• Chu Qing used Eye Shoots Dipper Light to transform the Golden Core and Dao Fruit into a sun and moon, which illuminated the safe zone and restored Li Xue and the others' bodies to normal.
• Chu Qing found that the darkness pressured his sun and moon and drew monsters toward the safe zone, then concluded that the darkness had perception and was suppressing the continent's revival.