Chapter Summaries

Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan made discreet arrangements to protect Qin Ming’s lineage and explained the coming Secret Realm, where New Life Evolvers were reduced to hired hands or companions. After studying the Dragon Snake Scripture, Qin Ming arrived with Little Wu to form a team, but the promising recruits they hoped to join were already taken.

• Yu Gensheng assigned Cheng Rui to study with Zhao Minghui and sent Qian Chuan and Tang Jun to serve the elders in the Mist Land, while Zhao Ziyuan and Yu Gensheng gave the other youths guidance and assignments.
• Yu Gensheng told Qin Ming, Wu Yaozu, Ling Yu, and Xin Youdao that they were eligible to enter the Secret Realm, then Zhao Ziyuan revealed that Qin Ming’s hidden lineage and Grandmaster Level aptitude had drawn attention.
• Tang Jin and Purple-Eyed Crow reassured the elders that their lineage would not betray Qin Ming, and Zhao Ziyuan explained that Qin Ming’s fight with an Immortal Land disciple had ended in a draw.
• Yu Gensheng and Zhao Ziyuan disagreed over whether to nurture Qin Ming closely, then chose to let him develop on his own while giving him the Undying Butterfly Scripture and warning him about the Secret Realm’s harsh entry conditions.
• Qin Ming studied the Dragon Snake Scripture for two days, then joined Little Wu at Ascension Academy, where Xin Youdao and Ling Yu failed to secure them places on their teams because the rosters were full.

Qin Ming and Wu Yaozu failed to join the established teams heading into a newly conquered Secret Realm, so they formed a bare-bones team of their own. After traveling to the plateau, they entered the realm, which proved to be a tiny fragment of a celestial body with the properties of an entire star.

• Wu Yaozu approached famous disciples from several academies and Dao Fields, but they rejected him and he mockingly assigned them Number One or Number Two titles.
• Qin Ming recognized Xiang Yiwu, but a senior figure sent him away with the Esoteric Sect contingent because he did not belong to a Kunling academy.
• After learning that teams had arranged their memberships in advance, Qin Ming and Wu Yaozu established their own two-person team.
• Five days later, Qin Ming and Wu Yaozu joined the other teams aboard an airship and traveled to the plateau.
• An old man revealed that the Secret Realm was a fragment of a celestial body, and the disciples stepped onto it to explore its star-like landscape.

Qin Ming and Little Wu entered the Secret Realm with teams from several academies, survived a battle with powerful beetles, and discovered a strange vision of a woman who had failed to become a Near-Immortal. Though the others could not enter the vision’s courtyard, the brothers reached its table, drank the ancient tea, and found bamboo slips that filled them with excitement and insight.

• The old man warned the teams that the Secret Realm’s greatest opportunities required spiritual sensitivity, then left after telling Qin Ming that New Life Evolvers had bleak prospects there.
• Several youths were lured by golden orchids growing in dung, prompting a fight with eight black beetles and a powerful silver beetle; Qin Ming and Little Wu helped destroy the silver one and saved Liu Hannya.
• The teams discovered spiritual visions that differed for each person, including the story of a woman whose attempt to become a Near-Immortal ended with her family turning to ashes.
• Although the other youths failed to enter the courtyard in the vision, Qin Ming and Little Wu resisted its pressure and reached the blue-stone table.
• Qin Ming and Little Wu drank the tea and examined the surviving bamboo slips, realizing that the ancient writings offered them a remarkable opportunity.

Qin Ming and Little Wu used mysterious tea and bamboo slips to gain enlightenment, and Qin Ming perfected a personal version of the Silk Book Method. After the group encountered demons attacking their teams, Qin Ming challenged the four powerful young demons and killed the silver-haired youth.

• Qin Ming and Little Wu drank the mysterious tea and studied bamboo slips that reflected their thoughts, resolving doubts about their cultivation.
• Qin Ming adjusted the Silk Book Method’s fine circulation routes, fused it with his other powers, and tested the perfected method in the five-colored mist alongside Little Wu.
• Qin Ming, Little Wu, and Liu Hannya entered a village where demons were attacking the teams, and they joined Xin Youdao and the wounded survivors.
• The four young demons killed Sun Junlin and fatally wounded Lin Qianyu, while Qin Ming and Little Wu confronted them and the others prepared to hold off the demons on the rooftops.
• Qin Ming fought the silver-haired youth with his Five Colors Saber and cleaved him in two.

Qin Ming and Little Wu defeated the young fiends, but Qin Ming inherited a Fragmented Demon Seed that drew the attention of other competitors. As the Demon Seed tore at his flesh, Qin Ming discovered the Dragon Snake Scripture was refining it into nourishment and welcomed the coming fiends.

• Qin Ming killed the Silver-Haired Fiend Youth, then joined Little Wu and the others in fighting the remaining fiends.
• Little Wu and Qin Ming killed the Gray-Haired Youth, the blond youth, and the other fiends, while Qin Ming pursued and killed the escaping Black-Haired Youth.
• A Fragmented Demon Seed emerged from the Black-Haired Youth and entered Qin Ming, marking him as a target for other Demon Seed competitors.
• Qin Ming's body began splitting as he tried to refine the Fragmented Demon Seed, and Xin Youdao, Jiang Ruoli, and the others refused to abandon him.
• Qin Ming discovered that the Dragon Snake Scripture was absorbing the Demon Seed and strengthening his Dragon Snake Force, so he told the others to let the Demon Seeds come.

Qin Ming shed his damaged skin as the Dragon Snake Scripture transformed his body and became usable in combat. When the Silver Robed Youth’s powerful fiend squad arrived to claim his Fragmented Demon Seed, Qin Ming fought them and glimpsed mysterious paths converging deep within the Secret Realm.

• Qin Ming refined the Fragmented Demon Seed with the Dragon Snake Scripture, shed his ruined skin, and recovered with newfound strength.
• Qin Ming sent the others away from the approaching fiend squad, while Little Wu made them swear a forbidden oath to keep their identities secret.
• The Silver Robed Youth and his eighteen fiends arrived, carrying the bodies of five dead disciples, including two from Gan Jincheng’s squad.
• Qin Ming attacked the fiends with iron spears, Jade-Iron Arrows, and his saber, killing two fiends while facing their strongest fighters.
• Qin Ming and the Silver Robed Youth’s Fragmented Demon Seeds resonated, revealing paths toward a destination deep in the Secret Realm and figures including Tathagata's Abandoned Disciple, Li Qingyue, Cui Chonghe, Su Shiyun, Zhao Yaoting, Leng Feiyue, Tang Yutian, and Sun Taichu.
• The Silver Robed Youth learned Qin Ming was human and accused him of stealing the fiends’ path, then ordered his squad to surround and kill him.

Qin Ming survived a deadly battle with a group of powerful demons, killed several of them, and absorbed two Fragmented Demon Seeds as nourishment for his transformation into a dragon. The chapter left him approaching his ninth new life, while Sun Taichu learned that a formidable figure in the Esoteric Sect had designs on every forbidden ground in the Kunling Territory.

• Qin Ming fought the Silver Robed Youth and the other demons, then killed the Elephant Fiend after severing his trunk and beheading him.
• Qin Ming and the demons agreed to face a stronger Fragmented Demon Seed bearer, but the Silver Robed Youth betrayed him and attacked.
• Qin Ming killed the Peacock Demoness, the Serpent Headed Youth, and the Crane Demon Girl, while the Ox Fiend fled.
• Qin Ming defeated the Silver Robed Youth, captured his Fragmented Demon Seed, and used the Torn Cloth to refine both seeds as he escaped.
• Qin Ming crushed the Demon Seeds for nourishment and underwent a transformation that brought him close to his ninth new life.
• Sun Taichu learned that an extraordinary figure in the Esoteric Sect intended to claim every forbidden ground in the Kunling Territory.

Qin Ming completed his ninth new life, gained enhanced vision, and integrated Dragon Snake Force into his Heavenly Light Force, greatly increasing his strength. He sensed his transformation might still have more to offer, while Li Qingxu set out on a glowing path in the Secret Realm.

• Sun Taichu surveyed the darkened Kunleng Territory and wondered whether a peerless powerhouse or an Ancient God had risen.
• Qin Ming underwent a violent ninth new life, shed his blood scabs, and gained a powerful transformation from the Dragon Snake Scripture.
• Qin Ming developed a new ability that sharpened his vision and tested his fiercer Dragon Snake Force.
• Qin Ming integrated his sixth Extraordinary Art into his Heavenly Light Force and smashed a hole through a mountain wall.
• Qin Ming sensed new life energy still gathering within him and considered using the Golden Cicada Scripture to extend his transformation.
• Li Qingxu walked away along a glowing trail, prompting his former rivals to wonder whether someone might knock him off the path.

Qin Ming discovered that his Heavenly Light Force could reveal a brilliant path even without a demon seed, then set out to hunt fiends and test his strength after his ninth new life. After killing the White Rhinoceros and Spider Scorpion and refining their fragmented demon seeds, he found two paths appearing beneath his feet in another old town.

• Tang Xumi burned his accumulated power and vitality to try to break through and become an immortal seed.
• Qin Ming followed Little Wu’s trail to an illusory town, where Little Wu revealed a path by resonating with his Spirit Domain.
• Qin Ming’s Heavenly Light Force revealed a broad, golden path, and Little Wu set out along his own path while Qin Ming stayed behind to hunt fiends.
• Qin Ming killed the charging White Rhinoceros with a full-strength punch and captured its Fragmented Demon Seed.
• Qin Ming fought and slew Spider Scorpion, captured two fragmented demon seeds, and left to search for another town.
• Qin Ming reached another old town, where two paths appeared beneath his feet.

Qin Ming followed both the fiend path and the New Life Path, passing their trials and receiving high assessments while gaining new insight into his Extraordinary Arts. He reached a plaza of statues and recognized Li Qingxu, while Cao Qianqiu’s eldest disciple discussed Li’s prospects elsewhere.

• Qin Ming controlled his Demon Seeds and Heavenly Light Force to switch between the fiend path and the New Life Path, then disguised himself as Fiend One.
• At the Demon Fire Hall, Qin Ming endured the fiend-fire baptism, received the highest assessment, and widened the fiend path beneath his feet.
• Qin Ming switched to the New Life Path and underwent its heavenly-light tempering, earning the highest assessment and widening that path as well.
• Qin Ming fought dragon and snake phantoms at the Enlightenment Fighting Palace, learned more about the Demon Race’s Dragon Snake Scripture and Golden Cicada Scripture, and received its highest assessment.
• Qin Ming continued through trials that manifested the six Extraordinary Arts he had mastered, then reached a plaza and slapped a statue of Li Qingxu.
• In Kun Jun City, Cao Qianqiu’s eldest disciple told a friend that Li Qingxu had embarked on the path and might become a Near-Immortal.

Qin Ming shattered Li Qingxu’s statue and triggered a clash between their paths, where their strength was equalized for combat. Qin Ming’s Fiend Path gained the advantage, leaving Li Qingxu shaken and observers in the Secret Realm wondering who had challenged him.

• Qin Ming smashed Li Qingxu’s statue in the plaza, repeatedly disturbing Li Qingxu’s cultivation in the Enlightenment Realm.
• Qin Ming destroyed the statue again, and the paths formally matched him as Demon One of the Fiend Path against Li Qingxu of the Immortal Path.
• Li Qingxu and Qin Ming attacked through their manifested paths, and Qin Ming’s blow knocked aside Li Qingxu’s staff and drove him back.
• The mechanical voice explained that their achievements had been converted to the same realm for the clash, and Qin Ming welcomed the contest.
• People throughout the Secret Realm watched the Fiend Path overpower the Immortal Path, while Gan Jincheng, Jiang Ruoli, Xiao Yaqin, Liu Hannya, and Xin Youdao suspected Qin Ming but kept his identity unspoken.
• The Beyond the Mundane Pure Land disciples watched Li Qingxu’s path falter, while his supporters insisted he would not lose.

Qin Ming defeated Li Qingxu in a clash between their paths, leaving the Immortal Seed humiliated and eager for a real fight. Qin Ming gained the Heavenly Fiend Mirror’s promise that he could restore a Fragmented Demon Seed by breaking a road, while Li Qingxu’s elders learned of his defeat.

• Qin Ming’s Fiend Path overwhelmed Li Qingxu’s Immortal Path, and Li Qingxu nearly fell before catching the broken road.
• The Heavenly Fiend Mirror explained the path evaluations and promised Qin Ming a chance to restore a Fragmented Demon Seed if he broke a road.
• Qin Ming received an incense burner and meditation cushion, then entered the New Life Path while changing his appearance.
• Li Qingxu tried to smash Qin Ming’s statue with his Purple Bamboo Staff, but the statue remained unharmed, so he demanded an actual battle.
• Old fiends on the plateau learned of Qin Ming’s victory and decided to guard outside the Secret Realm.
• Pu Heng received a letter with the latest news about Li Qingxu and began to read it.

Pu Heng learned that Li Qingxu had lost to Qin Ming and sought the Demon-Revealing Mirror, while Qin Ming studied ancient records and defeated a horde of fiends. At the second Node, Qin Ming overwhelmed Li Qingxu in their opening clash, cracking the Immortal Path as their battle continued.

• Pu Heng read that Li Qingxu had been defeated by a fiend and decided to retrieve the Demon-Revealing Mirror, despite Xu Chengdao warning him not to interfere with the paths.
• Qin Ming studied a damaged booklet about Primordial Heavenly Light and read the Records of Kunlun Godlike Beings, learning accounts of ancient gods, Near-Immortals, and the origins of cultivation arts.
• Qin Ming slaughtered the First Realm fiends in a trial, and the Heavenly Fiend Mirror praised him as supreme for an age among the early fiends.
• Qin Ming and Li Qingxu reached the second Node together, where Li Qingxu launched the first attack with his Pure Yang sword and Purple Bamboo Stick.
• Qin Ming smashed Li Qingxu's sword body and struck him with the Dragon Snake Scripture's yin-and-yang forces, sending him flying and cracking the Immortal Path.
• Li Qingxu summoned nine Divine Chains as Qin Ming formed a spinning Black-and-White Dragon-Snake Diagram and conjured a Snake Sword and Dragon Saber.

Qin Ming overwhelmed Li Qingxu in their battle, breaking Cao Qianqiu’s signature techniques while repeatedly targeting Li Qingxu’s head. The fight continued with Li Qingxu’s Divine Chains snapping as Qin Ming pierced his chest and sought to uncover their secret.

• Li Qingxu’s power rose as his Nine Divine Chains stirred, and he unleashed a devastating rain of light at Qin Ming.
• Qin Ming blocked the attack with the Black-and-White Dragon-Snake Diagram, then wounded Li Qingxu’s face and head with his saber and sword.
• Li Qingxu used Cao Qianqiu’s golden-and-silver crushing technique, but Qin Ming’s manifested dragon and serpent shattered it.
• Qin Ming charged again and gravely wounded Li Qingxu, while an exploding Divine Chain briefly drove him back.
• Qin Ming pierced Li Qingxu’s chest, snapping two Divine Chains as he tried to discover what lay beneath them.

Qin Ming overwhelmed Li Qingxu, shattered Cao Qianqiu’s Ten Thousand Talisman Pouch, and broke all Nine Divine Chains. As Li Qingxu’s Immortal Path collapsed, a strand of pure yang light took the form of Cao Qianqiu, leaving Qin Ming facing the legendary old man.

• Li Qingxu unleashed lightning, but Qin Ming countered with his own thunder arts and struck him down, breaking another Divine Chain.
• Li Qingxu transformed a broken Divine Chain into a blood phoenix and used the Ten Thousand Talisman Pouch to trap Qin Ming.
• Qin Ming escaped almost immediately by blasting the pouch apart with Heavenly Light Force, then mocked its flaws and attacked Li Qingxu again.
• Qin Ming battered Li Qingxu until his final Divine Chains snapped and his Immortal Path shattered.
• A strand of pure yang light emerged from Li Qingxu and formed the figure of Cao Qianqiu.

Cao Qianqiu emerged from Li Qingxu’s Nine Dragons Nourishing Body Technique and challenged Qin Ming, who demanded a fight on equal terms. They clashed with enormous hammers, and Qin Ming shattered Cao Qianqiu’s rune hammer before calling on him to use his Immortal Path techniques.

• Li Qingxu’s broken technique released Cao Qianqiu’s pure yang consciousness spirit light, which comforted his injured disciple and vowed to kill Qin Ming.
• Qin Ming challenged Cao Qianqiu to fight at his level, and Cao Qianqiu accepted while boasting that he would defeat him with one hand.
• Cao Qianqiu formed a rune hammer, while Qin Ming transformed the Dragon Saber into the Dragon Snake Hammer and charged him.
• Qin Ming and Cao Qianqiu exchanged repeated hammer blows that shook the battlefield.
• Qin Ming shattered Cao Qianqiu’s rune hammer and pointed his own hammer at him, demanding that he use his Immortal Path techniques.

Qin Ming overwhelmed Cao Qianqiu in a hammer fight, forcing the old master to concede that Qin had beaten him in his strongest field. Cao then turned to Immortal Path techniques, but Qin broke his Body Illuminating Mirror and continued battering him, leaving Cao’s head cracking apart beneath another blow.

• Li Qingxu watched as Qin Ming and Cao Qianqiu exchanged dozens of hammer blows, with Qin repeatedly shattering Cao’s weapon and overpowering him.
• Qin Ming used his Dragon Snake Hammer and fused Heavenly Light Force to batter Cao Qianqiu until Cao admitted defeat in that field.
• Cao Qianqiu formed a Body Illuminating Mirror and attacked Qin Ming with pure yang beams, but Qin blocked them with a mirror of his own.
• Qin Ming shattered Cao’s mirror, pursued him with his hammer, and repeatedly cracked apart his pure yang consciousness spirit light.
• Cao Qianqiu resolved that Qin Ming could not be allowed to live, but Qin struck his head with another heavy hammer blow.

Qin Ming fought Cao Qianqiu’s pure yang spirit body, breaking his trump-card techniques and repeatedly battering him with the Dragon Snake Hammer. Cao Qianqiu tried to break the local suppression with a Forbidden Technique, but the Heavenly Fiend Mirror intervened and engulfed him in a beam of light.

• Qin Ming pursued Cao Qianqiu and smashed his pure yang spirit body apart with repeated Dragon Snake Hammer blows.
• Cao Qianqiu trapped Qin Ming inside the Soul Stabilizing Bell, but Qin Ming broke the bell with his hammer and charged back at him.
• Qin Ming used Dragon Snake Scissors to sever Cao Qianqiu’s Rune Golden Rope and cut apart his body.
• Cao Qianqiu unleashed his Blood-Red Great Sun, but Qin Ming shattered it with a weapon formed from concentrated Heavenly Light Force.
• Qin Ming used Adhesion Force to restrain Cao Qianqiu and battered him until his pure yang spirit light suffered severe losses.
• Cao Qianqiu used a Forbidden Technique to escape the local suppression, and the Heavenly Fiend Mirror declared punishment and engulfed him in a beam of light.

Qin Empire Ming defeated Cao Qianqiu’s Pure Yang Consciousness Spirit Light with the Heavenly Fiend Mirror’s protection, then won a comprehension contest against Sun Jingxiao while cultivating new techniques and continuing his Ninth New Life. The chapter ended with Cui Chonghe challenging him.

• Cao Qianqiu tried to kill Qin Empire Ming, but the Heavenly Fiend Mirror overwhelmed and erased his Pure Yang Consciousness Spirit Light.
• The Heavenly Fiend Mirror restored Qin Empire Ming’s fragmented Demon Seeds and sent him to an Enlightenment Hall, where he prepared for Sun Jingxiao’s comprehension challenge.
• Qin Empire Ming mastered the Golden Silkworm Force Field, then refined Demon Seeds and practiced the complete Golden Cicada Scripture.
• Qin Empire Ming emerged from a life-and-death transformation with a stronger body, and the Heavenly Fiend Mirror declared that Sun Jingxiao had lost the comprehension contest.
• Cui Chonghe challenged Qin Empire Ming.

After completing his ninth new life, Qin Ming faced Cui Chonghe in a challenge over the Silk Scripture and met Li Qingyue for a mutually rewarding discussion of the Dao. He reached the shattered end of the Secret Realm, escaped under the Heavenly Fiend Mirror’s protection, and learned that Cao Qianqiu had set out for Kunling to destroy the plateau.

• Qin Ming completed his transformation by merging the Golden Cicada Force, and Cui Chonghe challenged him to solve the Silk Book Method’s first-realm teachings.
• Qin Ming returned the same method to Cui Chonghe, who refused to cultivate it, and the Heavenly Fiend Mirror declared their contest a draw without rewards.
• Li Qingyue discussed cultivation with Qin Ming, shared further teachings of the scripture that produced Consciousness Spirit Light, and gave him the Dragon Tiger Pill before they agreed to a draw.
• Qin Ming advanced along the paths, studied the riddles, and discovered that the route ended at a shattered Cicada Palace; the Heavenly Fiend Mirror arranged his safe departure.
• Qin Ming returned to his Shen Wubing identity and removed the demonic traces from three Demon Seeds while Pu Heng fought a giant demon outside.
• Cao Qianqiu emerged from seclusion after receiving Pu Heng’s report and set out for Kunling, declaring that the Secret Realm and plateau should be destroyed.