Chapter Summaries

Chen Sanshi survived an unusually powerful lightning tribulation and broke through to the Nascent Soul Stage before returning to Five Zhang Plain. There, he reunited with his martial brothers and learned that an Evil God Path Cultivator had infiltrated Guangren Dao, while the Buddhist sect’s actions appeared aimed at gaining entry to Tianshui Continent.

• Chen Sanshi used the remnants of the lightning tribulation to form a Nascent Soul, and his Fire Swallowing Art gained the ability to scorch an opponent’s Nascent Soul.
• After hearing that Elder Xu Taisu wanted the Tier 5 formation restored at Five Zhang Plain, Chen Sanshi changed his plans and traveled there with Lu Ji and Nie Yuan.
• Chen Sanshi visited Zhang An to say farewell, rejected the new emperor’s request to learn an Immortal Method, and left Great Tang.
• At Five Zhang Plain, Chen Sanshi reunited with Wang Zhi and the other martial brothers, who learned that Lu Ji had become a Fourth Realm cultivator.
• Chen Sanshi reviewed reports that people were dying mysteriously in Guangren Dao and that investigators had found signs of Cihang from the Evil God Path.
• Chen Sanshi suspected the Buddhist sect had used its campaign against the Evil God Nations to pressure Tianshui into allowing Buddhist teachings, temples, and incense offerings on the continent.

Chen Sanshi searched for Cihang and discovered that a hidden conspiracy involved a blood-fueled formation and a traitor with access to the City Protection Array tokens. While he and Lu Ji secretly watched Cihang meet Rong Roujun and Daoist Master Dongwei, Cihang sensed their presence and called Chen Sanshi out.

• Chen Sanshi warned Mu Qing Ming that Cihang might have had help entering Guangren Dao, and Mu Qing Ming secretly investigated the elders.
• An elder reported that Shangguan Yunzhi had exchanged letters with the Demonic Sect, so Mu Qing Ming ordered the City Protection Array tokens retrieved and Shangguan watched.
• Chen Sanshi and Lu Ji found a village shrine dedicated to Cihang, then used Lu Ji's killing intent to locate a remote temple built around a blood-soaked altar.
• Chen Sanshi realized Cihang was preparing a formation and suspected that the plot depended on obtaining the tokens that controlled the Great Wall of Demon Suppression.
• Hidden inside the temple, Chen Sanshi and Lu Ji watched Rong Roujun and Daoist Master Dongwei deliver Gu Worms and urge Cihang to finish the formation.
• Cihang sensed Chen Sanshi nearby, activated the temple's barrier, and called him out.

Chen Sanshi and Lu Ji fought their way out of a temple ambush, but Chen Sanshi was chased by two powerful enemies while Lu Ji escaped. At Five Zhang Plain, Mu Qing Ming prepared to lead Shangguan Yunzhi on a sortie to disrupt the demonic army’s mysterious formation.

• Chen Sanshi’s arrows overwhelmed Daoist Master Dongwei, while Lu Ji ambushed Rong Roujun and fought her as Zen Master Cihang attacked Chen Sanshi.
• Cihang summoned reinforcements, and Chen Sanshi and Lu Ji escaped the temple only to be intercepted by Multi-Eyed Daoist Lord; Chen Sanshi broke free of his illusion and survived the attack.
• Chen Sanshi sent Lu Ji away to seek help, then fled from Cihang and Multi-Eyed Daoist Lord while Rong Roujun and Dongwei pursued Lu Ji but failed to stop him.
• Rong Roujun revealed that she had warned Zhao Rui to begin the plan early, while she and Dongwei hoped the formation would soon be complete.
• At Five Zhang Plain, Mu Qing Ming saw the demonic army assembling a powerful, unfamiliar formation and chose to lead Shangguan Yunzhi out to destroy it.
• Mu Qing Ming distributed command tokens to Xiao Boxu, Feng Qingyan, and an Outer Sect Elder before preparing for the sortie.

Mu Qing Ming and Shangguan Yunzhi fell into a Demonic Path trap while the army attacked the Great Wall, where Feng Qingyan revealed himself as the traitor. Feng Qingyan poisoned and killed Xiao Boxu, then gathered the city-defense tokens, leaving the city’s defenses compromised.

• Mu Qing Ming led Shangguan Yunzhi and several disciples toward the Demonic Path formation, where Zhao and Qu Sanyuan trapped him and revealed that Shangguan Yunzhi’s disciple Lan’er had died after refusing to cooperate.
• Shangguan Yunzhi explained that she had contacted the Demonic Path to try to rescue Lan’er, and she and Mu Qing Ming tried to return to the Great Wall as Emperor Tianxi ordered the army to attack.
• Xiao Boxu and Feng Qingyan defended the Great Wall while Mu Qing Ming was held back, but Feng Qingyan betrayed Xiao Boxu and admitted he was the informant.
• Feng Qingyan’s poisoned pills weakened Xiao Boxu, and he and a Ghost Cultivator killed him despite his refusal to surrender the city-defense token.
• Li Feng witnessed Xiao Boxu’s death and tried to flee, but Feng Qingyan killed him and took the tokens from both bodies, completing the set of three.

Feng Qingyan shut down the City Protection Array, allowing the Blood Demon Army to seize the Great Wall and forcing Mu Qing Ming and the defenders to retreat to Juqiao City. Chen Sanshi escaped two Evil God Path Cultivators and joined the besieged defenders, while the Demonic Sect prepared an array and waited for Tianxi’s martial uncle.

• Feng Qingyan used the three tokens to deactivate the City Protection Array, and the Blood Demon Army stormed the Great Wall.
• Shangguan Yunzhi identified Feng Qingyan as the traitor, and Mu Qing Ming ordered the defenders to retreat to Juqiao City.
• Chen Sanshi fought Multi-Eyed Daoist Lord and Cihang, used a Calming Talisman and a nurtured Sun-Burning Talisman to escape, and learned that the Great Wall had fallen.
• Chen Sanshi entered Juqiao City, where he and Mu Qing Ming discussed the need to contact Kunxu and hold out against the siege.
• Multi-Eyed Daoist Lord told Tianxi that the array was complete, and Tianxi said his martial uncle was on the way.

Chen Sanshi and Mu Qing Ming failed to break out of Juqiao City after Xian Kui Sect’s Grand Elder Feilian stopped them, and Mu Qing Ming used a talisman treasure to teleport them back. Chen Sanshi realized the demonic army was using the siege to lure Zhang Huaiqing to Guangren Dao, but Xuancheng then announced that Huaiqing was already approaching with a Sacred Sect Elder.

• Chen Sanshi and Mu Qing Ming tried to escape through the Nine Heavens Demon Purging Thundercloud Great Formation, but Mysterious Fiend Spirit Official and Feng Qingyan intercepted them.
• Feilian arrived and overwhelmed Chen Sanshi, then struck Mu Qing Ming down with his flying sword; Mu Qing Ming teleported them both back to Juqiao City with a talisman treasure.
• Mu Qing Ming estimated that Kunxu reinforcements would take more than forty days to arrive, while the defenders feared Feilian could help breach Juqiao City within five days.
• Little Sixteen told Chen Sanshi that Xu Taisu had said Zhang Huaiqing was on his way and urged Chen Sanshi to repair the Primordial Great Formation.
• After five days without an attack, Chen Sanshi deduced that the demonic army was using Juqiao City as bait to lure Zhang Huaiqing, but he could not send a warning.
• Xuancheng announced that Zhang Huaiqing had already fought his way outside Guangren Dao with a Sacred Sect Elder and would soon arrive to lift the siege.

Zhang Huaiqing arrived at Guangren Dao and battled Feilian and the demonic cultivators, but the enemy completed the Inverted Seven Sufferings Reincarnation Great Formation. He retreated with the trapped cultivators into Juqiao City as the formation began consuming the city’s people, while the demonic forces hurried its refinement.

• Chen Sanshi warned Zhang Huaiqing to observe from outside Guangren Dao, but Zhang Huaiqing descended and confronted Zhao and the demonic forces.
• Zhang Huaiqing defeated Qu Sanyuan’s attack, bound Feng Qingyan, and fought Feilian with the Cloud Chi Zhu Lan Sword and the Mirage Skull Sword.
• Xu Taisu and other Nascent Soul Cultivators entered Guangren Dao to support the trapped defenders, but Chen Sanshi warned them that the area was a trap as the formation sealed the region.
• The Inverted Seven Sufferings Reincarnation Great Formation transformed Juqiao City into a living, devouring cage and began driving its inhabitants mad.
• Zhang Huaiqing recognized the Tier 5 formation and withdrew with the cultivators into Juqiao City, while Zen Master Cihang estimated that its refinement would take twenty to fifty days.
• Zhao ordered the demonic forces to accelerate the formation, even if doing so destroyed Guangren Dao’s spirit vein.

Trapped in Juqiao City and Guangren Dao, cultivators and soldiers struggled against the Inverted Samsara Great Formation while searching for a way to survive. Qi Cheng used divination to identify a mysterious visitor as their turning point, as Master Miaotan sent Hui Kong into Guangren Dao to contact Tianwu.

• Zhang Huaiqing asked Gongsun Baorui, Chen Sanshi, and other formation experts to seek a way to break the formation, while cultivators argued over whether the Heavenly Sword Sect was responsible.
• A false Origin Lightning Tribulation drew Chen Sanshi and the other cultivators toward its apparent location, but the thunderclouds vanished without a trace.
• Xiong Qiuan weakened under the formation’s influence, and Zhao Kang urged the old generals to endure while Qi Cheng warned Dongfang Jingxing that ordinary soldiers and weaker cultivators were dying in large numbers.
• Qi Cheng performed divination using candles, a tortoise shell, and Copper Coins, then told Dongfang Jingxing to have the Emperor meet someone at Jufeng Mountain before midnight.
• Master Miaotan and Hui Kong arrived outside Guangren Dao, and Miaotan sent Hui Kong through the barrier to contact Tianwu.

Chen Sanshi brought Monk Hui Kong to Juqiao City, where the Buddhist disciple and the city’s Formation Masters began weakening the Inverted Great Formation. As the trapped cultivators welcomed the promised arrival of Shentu Hai, the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Supreme Elder revealed his betrayal and watched demonic cultivators slaughter the messengers.

• Chen Sanshi rescued Monk Hui Kong from demonic cultivators outside Jufeng Mountain and brought him to Juqiao City to help break the Inverted Great Formation.
• Monk Hui Kong led the city’s Formation Masters in using Buddhist light to damage the barrier, while Zhang Huaiqing urged Chen Sanshi to repair the Primordial Formation.
• Miaotan burned her source blood essence to weaken the formation’s core, and the demonic forces learned that the barrier could now be broken from within.
• Lin Xuzhou returned with news that Shentu Hai would come to Juqiao City, raising the trapped cultivators’ hopes of rescue.
• Shentu Hai arrived with Wang Shouzhi and the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Twelve Elders, then ordered the demonic cultivators to attack Lin Xuzhou’s returning messengers.
• Shentu Hai stood by as the messengers were killed, revealing to the people in Juqiao City that he had come to slaughter them rather than save them.

Shentu Hai betrayed the demonic cultivators and trapped them with the Heaven-and-Earth Inverted Great Formation, while Chen Sanshi prepared to leave Juqiao City to strengthen his divine sense and find a way to break the formation. He entered the teleportation array with Mu Qing Ming and Mu Chutai, as Gongsun Baorui offered to join them.

• The cultivators in Juqiao City tried to break the formation, but Wang Shouzhi and the Heavenly Sword Sect repaired it and sealed them in.
• Shentu Hai refused Zhang Huaiqing's demand to spare the city and revealed that he intended to eliminate both the city’s cultivators and the demonic cultivators to conceal his scheme.
• Rong Roujun and Daoist Master Dongwei used Nine Profound Formation Core Gu Worms to seize control of the Inverted Great Formation and trap Zhao, Cihang, and the demonic army.
• Hui Kong explained that the formation could no longer be broken by the original method, so Zhang Huaiqing asked Chen Sanshi to go to a distant valley to strengthen his divine sense.
• Chen Sanshi accepted Zhang Huaiqing's storage talisman, chose Mu Qing Ming as a companion, and watched Mu Chutai rush into the teleportation array; Gongsun Baorui offered to go as well.

Chen Sanshi escaped Guangren Dao and endured the Beast Soul Refining Spirit Formation, gaining the Radiant Soul Candle Dragon mark and Late Origin Stage divine sense. As he began repairing the Primordial Great Formation, Mu Qing Ming was nearly overwhelmed, Sixteen intervened, and the Blood Colored Buddha swallowed Guangren Dao.

• Chen Sanshi, Mu Qing Ming, and Moo Chutai escaped through the Teleportation Array while Shentu Hai ordered the Heavenly Sword Sect to pursue them without leaving Zhang Huaiqing unattended.
• Chen Sanshi entered the hidden cave in Cloud Hidden Valley and activated the Beast Soul Refining Spirit Formation as Mu Qing Ming went out to hold off five Early Origin Stage cultivators.
• Chen Sanshi endured the formation’s agonizing trial, gained the Radiant Soul Candle Dragon mark, and raised his divine sense to the Late Origin Stage.
• Mu Qing Ming fought off the five attackers and then Wang Shouzhi, but his Nascent Soul was badly wounded while Chen Sanshi began repairing the formation disk.
• Sixteen emerged from Chen Sanshi’s talisman and blocked Wang Shouzhi’s attack, urging Chen Sanshi to hurry as the Blood Colored Buddha swallowed Guangren Dao.

Chen Sanshi repaired the Primordial Great Formation while Wang Shouzhi overwhelmed the defenders outside and the people of Guangren Dao faced the formation’s deadly refinement. Chen Sanshi completed the final formation core, and the formation began absorbing spiritual energy and even Wang Shouzhi’s attacks, leaving its full effect unknown.

• Chen Sanshi discovered that the formation could bargain with the Heavenly Dao to dissolve a tribulation and realized that three people might be breaking through together.
• Wang Shouzhi manifested his Late Nascent Soul Stage Dharma form, shattered Young Taoist Sixteen’s sword, and gravely wounded Mu Qing Ming.
• Mu Qing Ming activated his Reincarnation Dao Fruit and fought Wang Shouzhi, while the defenders of Guangren Dao struggled against the Inverted Great Formation and its blood-red scripture illusion.
• Chen Sanshi repaired the Eternal Brightness and Profound Nether formation positions as Wang Shouzhi’s sword attack threatened the cave.
• Chen Sanshi completed the final stroke, causing the three formation cores to rotate and devour spiritual energy, including Wang Shouzhi’s sword qi and spells.

Chen Sanshi completed the Primordial Great Formation, which revealed Zhang Huaiqing’s plan to merge his three bodies and break through to Deity Transformation while dissolving his Human Race Destiny. Wang Jun tried to attract that destiny with Dantai Duanhong’s secret art, but nearly all of it chose Zhang Huaiqing, leaving Wang Jun with only a tiny wisp.

• Shentu Hai sensed two surges of pure qi, and they destroyed Juqiao City’s Inverted Great Formation, saving the trapped cultivators and soldiers.
• Zhao withdrew with Feilian and the other demonic cultivators after deciding that Nascent Soul Cultivators could no longer affect the battle.
• Chen Sanshi completed the formation as Zhang Huaiqing’s three bodies merged through One Qi Transforms into Three Pure Ones, revealing that Xu Taisu and Young Taoist Sixteen were also his forms.
• Zhang Huaiqing’s golden lotus dispersed the Deity Transformation lightning tribulation, and he returned his Human Race Destiny to heaven and earth.
• Dantai Duanhong taught Wang Jun a secret art to draw destiny, but most of it went to Zhang Huaiqing and only a tiny wisp settled on Wang Jun.

Wang Jun chose to cultivate at Yunlan Marketplace rather than risk dying while trying to save his besieged sect. Zhang Huaiqing reached Mid-Stage Deity Transformation, defeated Wang Shouzhi and Shentu Hai, while Chen Sanshi and Mu Qing Ming killed the Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators; Shentu Hai then asked whether he and his disciples could choose how they died.

• Wang Jun rejected an immediate return to save his master and decided to cultivate at Yunlan Marketplace until he was strong enough to take revenge.
• Zhang Huaiqing emerged from the formation in Mid-Stage Deity Transformation and crushed Wang Shouzhi’s Dharma Form.
• Zhang Huaiqing confronted Shentu Hai over the Qingxu Sect’s Dao fortune, and the two vanished to fight elsewhere.
• Chen Sanshi and Mu Qing Ming intercepted the Heavenly Sword Sect cultivators; Chen Sanshi killed Daoist Master Dongwei, Rong Roujun, and Wang Shouzhi, while Mu Qing Ming killed the remaining opponents.
• After their battle, Shentu Hai admitted he could no longer hold on to the Dao fortune and asked Zhang Huaiqing whether he and his disciples could choose how they died.

Sikong Sheng tried to flee as the demonic army besieged Zijun City, but Shentu Hai arrived and fought alongside him to destroy Mo Wuya and reclaim Ningyou Dao. Shentu Hai and the Heavenly Sword Sect then sacrificed themselves against the demonic path; after the war ended, Chen Sanshi ordered Great Han’s army to withdraw and prepared to return home.

• Sikong Sheng abandoned Zijun City to escape, but Mo Wuya intercepted him in a canyon.
• Shentu Hai arrived, revealed that the scheme in Guangren Dao had failed, and led the Heavenly Sword Sect’s disciples into battle to defend Zijun City.
• Shentu Hai and Sikong Sheng fought Mo Wuya for two days and two nights, killed him, and reclaimed Ningyou Dao from the demonic army.
• Shentu Hai led the three thousand Heavenly Sword Sect disciples into Chaos Wasteland Yongzhou, where they died attacking Soul-Seizing Hall; Shentu Hai detonated himself after gravely wounding its Grand Elder.
• After the demonic army withdrew and the war temporarily ended, Chen Sanshi ordered Qi Cheng to prepare Great Han’s troops to return within three months.
• Chen Sanshi considered the threats facing Great Han and Mei Xiyue, then planned to return home before going to the Myriad Monster Kingdom to continue cultivating.

Chen Sanshi returned to Great Han after the battle at Guangren Dao, mourned the old comrades who had died while he was away, and prepared to lead another campaign after accepting Kunxu’s alliance request. Before departing, he stayed with his family for two months, then left to join Jiang Xiyue and deal with the demon seed.

• Zhang Huaiqing thanked Chen Sanshi for repairing the array disk and said Qingxu Sect would rebuild on the former Heavenly Sword Sect site; Mu Qing Ming urged Chen to open the Eastern Continent’s seal and hand over the demon seed, but Chen refused.
• Chen Sanshi returned to Chang'an after twenty years of war and learned that several longtime comrades, including Zhao Kang, Liu Jinkui, Xu Bin, and Zhu Tong, had died; Great Han had grown into one of the Twelve Great Sects.
• Dugu Ao asked Chen Sanshi for troops against the demon race, warned that Purple Sun Palace was searching for Jiang Xiyue, and questioned his plans for Great Han; Chen said he wanted to govern the land well rather than destroy its spiritual veins.
• Kunxu requested an alliance and troops, and Chen Sanshi agreed after Great Han secured control of the Five Regions of Tianshui; Jiang Xiyue’s letter reported her breakthrough to Mid Nascent Soul and urged him to come because the demonic seed had an important purpose.
• Chen Sanshi stayed in the palace for two more months at Chen Yunxi’s urging, then left at full speed while Gu Xinlan and Sun Li watched him depart.

After the Starry Abyss trial, Lin Qingfeng, Su Yao, Xing Hui, and their companion discovered a spreading rift filled with ancient dark power and fought the Shadow Cult at its source. They awakened the Core of Stars’ full power, sealed the darkness, and set out toward the challenges ahead.

• After leaving the Starry Abyss, Lin Qingfeng, Su Yao, and Xing Hui noticed that their powers and divine artifacts had changed.
• The four discovered a rift releasing black mist and raced toward its source, fighting creatures corrupted by the dark power along the way.
• At the rift’s heart, Xing Hui found an ancient stone stele, while Lin Qingfeng spotted approaching Shadow Cult members whose defenses resisted his arrows.
• The four battled the strengthened Shadow Cult but struggled against its powerful leader.
• Xing Hui proposed awakening the Core of Stars, and the four channeled its power through their divine artifacts to dissolve the dark energy and defeat the black-robed figures.
• Exhausted but victorious, the four left the sealed rift and continued their journey.

Chen Sanshi used the Universe Myriad Manifestations Pill to break through to the Heavenly Manifestation of Earth Realm, enduring a deadly tribulation and fighting a three-headed Taotie that interfered with it. After defeating the beast and absorbing its laws, he completed his breakthrough and gained the Three Heads Six Arms ability.

• Chen Sanshi refined the Universe Myriad Manifestations Pill and prepared to break through at Jiangshan.
• The Nine-Tailed Fox Demon brought Chen Sanshi to the Five Elements Pool, where Jiang Xiyue guarded him as he began cultivating in a hidden realm.
• Chen Sanshi resonated with Heaven and Earth Laws, then provoked a heavenly tribulation and endured lightning that forged his Glazed Bones.
• When metal-element lightning struck, Chen Sanshi refined it into Geng Metal Primordial True Fire and discovered a three-headed Taotie was intensifying his tribulation.
• Chen Sanshi fought and killed the Taotie, absorbed its Heaven and Earth Laws, and broke through to the Heavenly Manifestation of Earth Realm with the Three Heads Six Arms ability.

After breaking through to the Fourth Realm, Chen Sanshi learned that a dangerous secret realm would open within ten years and began preparing for it. Nine years later, just as he mastered a new archery technique, he learned that Empress Gu Xinlan was gravely weakened and rushed back to Great Han, where he summoned physicians to save her.

• Chen Sanshi left the Blessed Land after his breakthrough, and Bai Suyin and Old Green Wood Demon told him about the ancient secret realm and their plan to enter it.
• The Witch said she wanted to search the secret realm for something before her time ran out and promised she might help Chen Sanshi make a cross-realm breakthrough.
• Chen Sanshi spent nine years cultivating, then developed the Fourth-Tier Arrow Way by drawing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy into his arrows.
• Nianxia told Chen Sanshi that Gu Xinlan had collapsed after years of declining health, so he left the Blessed Land and hurried back to Great Han.
• Chen Sanshi returned two months later with renowned mortal physicians and precious medicines, then ordered the physicians to examine the pale and bedridden Gu Xinlan.

Chen Sanshi tried desperately to save Gu Xinlan, but she accepted that her mortal life was ending and died after spending her final years with him in Poyang; Sun Li also later passed away. Alone and still bound to a long road of cultivation, Chen Sanshi set out to meet the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon and rejected Shen Guihuang’s warning to avoid conflict with the Tianshui Immortal Sect.

• Chen Sanshi summoned Shen Guihuang and Chen Duhe, but rejected Chen Duhe’s proposal to have Gu Xinlan cultivate corpse-refining or ghost arts, and Miaotan confirmed that Gu Xinlan’s mortal lifespan was ending.
• Gu Xinlan asked Chen Sanshi not to grieve or damage his cultivation over her, and they returned to Poyang with Sun Li to live quietly together.
• Gu Xinlan died in the fifty-ninth year of Tianwu, leaving Chen Sanshi a white robe and a short farewell letter.
• Sun Li told Chen Sanshi she could no longer keep practicing martial arts, asked him to teach her Spiritual Plant Cultivation, and died in the sixtieth year of Tianwu.
• After Sun Buqi urged him to honor the women’s wishes, Chen Sanshi left Chang'an to meet the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon and pursue the matter of Mei Xiyue.
• Shen Guihuang warned Chen Sanshi that Purple Sun Palace was searching for Jiang Xiyue and that he should avoid opposing the Tianshui Immortal Sect, but Chen Sanshi vowed its elders would pay for underestimating him and sped away.