Chapter Summaries

Zhao Sheng used the Star God to perceive the Heavenly Dao, gaining vast insights and many completed techniques at the cost of nearly exhausting his lifespan and losing his emotions. After the Star God sent him far from Star God Island, he returned to the Naha Shell grotto-heaven and examined the Ancient Spiritual Treasure Painting, where he discovered a mysterious thread linked to the Five Fortunes Spirit Fish.

• Zhao Sheng had the Star God reveal the Heavenly Dao as a sea of light, and a strand of innate fortune let him perceive the Dao of fortune.
• The Heavenly Dao's information torrent nearly destroyed Zhao Sheng's soul, but the Hundred Lifetimes Book stored the information while his Star God tasks rapidly produced new techniques and formulas.
• Zhao Sheng stopped the transmission with only two years of lifespan left, promised to help the Star God gain freedom, and asked it to rescue him from the Spirit Race.
• The Star God sent Zhao Sheng thirty thousand li away from Star God Island, where he fell unconscious and later awoke with three months to live and no human emotions or desires.
• Zhao Sheng entered the Naha Shell grotto-heaven, retrieved the jade-green fishing rod from the Ancient Spiritual Treasure Painting, and saw countless threads attached to the Five Fortunes Spirit Fish.

Zhao Sheng refined his Spirit Treasure Map and recorded cultivation, talisman, alchemy, and other legacies for future generations. Before his fifth life ended, he secretly bestowed treasures and pills on the Zhao Clan of Sky Turtle Island to repay an old debt, leaving the family with powerful resources.

• Zhao Sheng examined the Soul Hook and Void Snatching Basket, discovering that the ancient treasures were a paired set whose seals would take centuries to refine.
• Zhao Sheng mastered the Spirit Treasure Map and spent nearly a month recording cultivation arts, talisman methods, alchemy knowledge, and other inheritances on Jade Slips.
• Zhao Sheng traveled to Sky Turtle Island and secretly gave Zhao Yunxian a mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pill, then summoned him to a reef cluster at midnight.
• Zhao Sheng confirmed that the Zhao Clan descended from Zhao Chonghe and gave Zhao Yunxian Jade Slips, three Foundation Establishment Pills, two Core Formation Pills, talismans, and spirit pills as repayment for an old favor.
• One month later, Zhao Sheng died peacefully in the Bei Estate Grotto-Heaven, ending his fifth life.

After completing his fifth life, Zhao Sheng received powerful inheritance and rewards from the Hundred Lifetimes Book, including a new spiritual root, an enhanced time talent, and the Barbaric Ancient Battle Body. He then reincarnated as Zhao Qingyang, a young member of the Zhao Clan whose extraordinary abilities led the clan to conceal his potential.

• The Hundred Lifetimes Book settled Zhao Sheng’s fifth life, awarded him inheritance choices, and revealed that his actions had altered the world’s trajectory.
• Zhao Sheng advanced to Gold Fire Dual Spiritual Roots, gained Immortal Spirit Vision (Incomplete), drew the Barbaric Ancient Battle Body, and retained a Profound Grade reward for a later life.
• Zhao Sheng awoke as eight-year-old Zhao Qingyang, whose hunger and overwhelming strength reflected his new body.
• Zhao Qingyang chose the clan school over the Immortal Martial Hall, then impressed instructors by mastering lessons, drawing talismans, and defeating eight Half-Step Innate martial artists.
• Zhao Yancang and four Foundation Establishment clan elders tested Zhao Qingyang, after which the Zhao Clan sealed away information about him and the saying “The Zhao Clan produces a dragon” spread.

During the Eight Branches’ Grand Competition, Zhao Xuanjing watched the bouts with Zhao Sheng, a seemingly frail eighteen-year-old at Qi Refining Great Perfection, and discussed the Zhao Clan’s history and dwindling prospects. After the competition produced its top eight, Zhao Xuanjing asked Zhao Sheng to teach the finalists a lesson, and Zhao Sheng turned his attention to the grounds.

• Zhao Yanqi and Zhao Dehan fought fiercely for a place in the top eight while the gathered clansmen watched, aware that branch points affected resource allocation.
• Zhao Xuanjing asked Zhao Sheng to assess the fighters, and Zhao Sheng claimed he could take on ten of them by himself.
• Zhao Sheng recounted the clan’s history, including its expansion into the Alligator Dragon Marsh, while Zhao Xuanjing stopped him from revealing secrets about Rising Dragon City.
• Zhao Sheng showed enough strength to push Zhao Xuanjing’s palm off his head, and Zhao Xuanjing reacted with surprise and delight.
• The day’s competition ended with eight Qi Refining Level Nine finalists, including six at Great Perfection, and Zhao Xuanjing worried about the clan’s future.
• Zhao Xuanjing asked Zhao Sheng to teach the eight finalists a lesson for the Shen Branch’s benefit, and Zhao Sheng focused on the grounds as Five-Colored Divine Light appeared in his eyes.

Zhao Sheng revealed Zhao Xuanjing’s hidden history and presented a forged testament attributed to Zhao Chonghe, along with two powerful cultivation arts. Zhao Xuanjing accepted the discoveries as valuable to the family, and Zhao Sheng demanded a substantial reward for his services.

• Zhao Sheng picked two unlikely candidates for a group of ten, then teased Zhao Xuanjing about rewarding him with a Foundation Establishment Pill and described his recent alchemy success.
• Zhao Sheng revealed that he knew Zhao Xuanjing’s secret connection to the Mountain Dragon, prompting Zhao Xuanjing to suspect Zhao Dingguang had told him.
• Zhao Sheng showed Zhao Xuanjing a forged last testament attributed to Zhao Chonghe, which described Zhao Xuanjing’s concealed past, predicted the Zhao Clan’s future, and included two cultivation arts.
• Zhao Xuanjing examined the Geng Metal Pearls and the two Jade Slips, recognizing the One True Water Art and Undying Golden Body as treasures for the clan.
• Zhao Sheng demanded Geng Metal and several rare materials as his reward, while Zhao Xuanjing objected to the cost.

Zhao Sheng secured rare materials from Zhao Xuanjing and was assigned to face the Zhao Clan’s Martial Dao Tournament top eight in the Supergravity Chamber. He explained that the Old Ancestor had gathered them to teach him a lesson, and the group prepared to challenge him.

• Zhao Sheng persuaded Zhao Xuanjing to give him all the Geng Metal and a piece of Ice Fire Copper, while the clan agreed to record his contributions as great merit.
• Zhao Yanqi received a summons and traveled to the Supergravity Chamber, meeting Zhao Yanyong and Zhao Deqian on the way as they discussed Foundation Establishment and the tournament.
• The Zhao Clan’s top eight gathered at the chamber, where Zhao Qingming recognized Zhao Sheng and entered the tenfold-gravity training ground.
• Zhao Sheng reduced the chamber’s gravity with a stone sphere and revealed that Zhao Xuanjing had summoned the group to teach him a lesson for becoming cocky.

Zhao Sheng overwhelmed the Zhao Clan’s tournament elites, then received the resources and status prepared for him and secretly advanced to Foundation Establishment before turning twenty. Ten years later, the clan held another Martial Dao Tournament, while only Zhao Qingming of the previous top eight had also reached Foundation Establishment.

• Zhao Sheng challenged the tournament’s top fighters to attack together, defeated Zhao Qingming, and knocked out the remaining challengers, including Zhao Degang and Zhao Qinghua.
• Half a month later, Zhao Sheng received his fourth-life contingencies, including Spirit Stones, Foundation Establishment Pills, Geng Metal Pearls, Nine Returns Iron, and a clan elder’s jade token.
• Zhao Sheng shut himself away and emerged two months later as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, a secret known only to a few people including Zhao Xuanjing and Zhao Yancang.
• Over the next ten years, the Xinglong Zhao Clan gained three more Foundation Establishment elders, while Zhao Qingming was the only member of the previous tournament’s top eight to reach Foundation Establishment.
• Ten years after Zhao Sheng’s challenge, the Zhao Clan held another Martial Dao Tournament and determined a new top eight.

Zhao Sheng strengthened his body and cultivation while refining Geng Metal Sword Bones, then received an urgent summons to a clan elders’ meeting. The chapter left him suspecting that a major event had occurred within the Zhao Clan.

• Zhao Sheng encouraged Zhao Qinghua to join the Zhao Clan Dark Guard and promised to guide him toward Golden Core.
• Zhao Sheng gave Zhao Degang a High-Grade Foundation Establishment Pill after learning that Degang had won the Martial Dao Tournament but was only twenty percent confident of breaking through.
• Zhao Sheng trained under extreme gravity, reviewed his cultivation data, and refined another Geng Metal Pearl into a Geng Metal Sword Bone.
• Zhao Sheng exhausted his Geng Metal Pearls, refined eighty-three Sword Bones, and advanced to the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment.
• Zhao Dexuan summoned Zhao Sheng to a meeting of the clan elders, and Zhao Sheng suspected that an extraordinary event had struck the clan.

Zhao Sheng agreed to let the Zhao Clan reveal him as a Little Dao Child, and Clan Chief Zhao Dexuan proposed arranging a marriage for him. After Zhao Tongxian entered suspended death, Zhao Sheng agreed to seek a marriage with a Candidate Weaving Maiden of the Dong Clan.

• Zhao Dexuan asked Zhao Sheng whether the clan could announce that he had reached Foundation Establishment at age twenty, and Zhao Sheng agreed.
• Zhao Sheng revealed that he had reached the fifth level of Foundation Establishment and could contend with several Middle Stage cultivators or challenge higher-level opponents.
• Zhao Dexuan changed his plan to have Zhao Sheng challenge Liu Xinwu and instead proposed arranging a marriage for him.
• Zhao Xuanjing, Zhao Dingguang, Zhao Dexuan, Zhao Sheng, and other Zhao Clan members placed Zhao Tongxian in a Myriad Ages Ice Coffin to preserve him in suspended death.
• Zhao Dexuan proposed that Zhao Sheng visit the Weaving Maiden Dong Family to seek a Candidate Weaving Maiden's hand, and Zhao Sheng agreed.

Zhao Sheng traveled with the Zhao Clan to Brocade Orchid City to seek a marriage alliance with the Dong Clan and participate in the Phoenix Assembly. After passing the assembly’s background screening, he surveyed the competitors’ fortunes on Heavenly Maiden Peak before the Dong Clan’s Cloud Phoenix Birds carried them into the mountains.

• Zhao Xuanjing disciplined the sixth-order crocodile dragon, and Zhao Sheng departed with Zhao Jiu and the Zhao Clan entourage carrying an Ancient Immortal Peach as a gate gift for the Dong Clan.
• The Zhao party arrived in Brocade Orchid City, where Zhao Sheng delivered a calling card at the City Lord’s Manor and settled into the Zhao Estate.
• Zhao Sheng read intelligence about the Phoenix Assembly’s many powerful competitors and received an invitation after passing its background test.
• On Heavenly Maiden Peak, Zhao Sheng used Five-Colored Divine Light to examine the competitors’ fortunes and noticed Li Feixuan’s unusual red-purple fortune.
• Cloud Phoenix Birds arrived, and Zhao Sheng and the other competitors flew toward the Cloud Phoenix Mountain Range.

At the Phoenix Assembly on Phoenix Tree Mountain, Zhao Sheng pursued a place to stay and challenged Kong Lang for Summit Pavilion. Zhao Sheng overwhelmed Kong Lang in battle and ended with his halberd at Kong Lang’s neck.

• Kong Lang and Sword Thirteen argued after arriving at Phoenix Tree Mountain, while Song Xingyun tried to calm them.
• The competitors began claiming residences, and Zhao Sheng learned that the Phoenix Assembly would last a month and that its limited guest courtyards would spark competition.
• Zhao Sheng tried to befriend Li Feixuan, then fled when Hua Lianqiao pursued him after praising his strong body.
• Zhao Sheng challenged Kong Lang for Summit Pavilion, and the two fought after Kong Lang refused to yield it.
• Kong Lang trapped Zhao Sheng with a divine talisman, but Zhao Sheng unleashed his twentyfold power and smashed through the prison.
• Zhao Sheng defeated Kong Lang and held his halberd beside Kong Lang’s neck.

Zhao Sheng discovered that Summit Pavilion concealed a cultivation method and used his social encounter with Kong Lang to make a name for himself at Phoenix Perching Lake. As the Phoenix Assembly began, Zhao Sheng and Dong Miaozhen’s secret arts clashed, revealing their mutual ability to perceive unusual signs in others.

• A drunken middle-aged man watched the competitors across Phoenix Tree Mountain and took an interest in Zhao Sheng’s strength and potential.
• Zhao Sheng recognized the Heavenly Prefecture Water Source Commentary as a hidden spiritual cultivation method, tested it with the Star God Thousand Hearts Art, and found that he could cultivate it.
• Zhao Sheng taunted Kong Lang at Phoenix Perching Lake, prompting Kong Lang to lose his temper before Meng Gu stepped in to defuse the confrontation.
• Zhao Sheng introduced himself as Zhao Qingyang of the Xinglong Zhao Family and quickly won over the assembled young cultivators with his conversation.
• The Dong Family’s Weaving Maidens arrived, and the young talents introduced themselves to them.
• Dong Miaozhen used her rainbow-seeing secret art to assess the crowd, but her gaze clashed with Zhao Sheng’s; both suffered backlash, and Zhao Sheng suspected she was a Candidate Weaving Maiden or a true Weaving Maiden.

Zhao Sheng provoked the Phoenix Assembly’s prodigies and accepted their challenges at the Contention Stage, where he wagered against Ying Tianlong. The fight left Ying Tianlong being battered by Zhao Sheng’s overwhelming speed and strength.

• Dong Miaozhen introduced herself, and Zhao Sheng grabbed Kong Lang and ordered him to call her Sister-in-Law before declaring that he wanted to marry her.
• Ying Tianlong challenged Zhao Sheng after Zhao Sheng insulted him, and Dong Miaozhen stopped their fight before it began.
• At the Contention Stage, Zhao Sheng challenged the gathered prodigies, accepted their challenges, and faced Ying Tianlong first.
• Zhao Sheng wagered that he would defeat Ying Tianlong within ten breaths to win his Gold Sun Fire, while agreeing to kowtow to Dong Miaozhen if he lost.
• Ying Tianlong layered defenses around himself, but Zhao Sheng vanished from sight and struck him repeatedly, sending him flying across the stage.

Zhao Sheng defeated Ying Tianlong and Sword Thirteen in succession, revealing overwhelming physical skill and a devastating sword technique. Li Feixuan then used his Thousand Autumn Cicada to launch a time-slowing saber strike intended to kill Zhao Sheng, who blocked it with his Fangtian Halberd.

• Zhao Sheng overwhelmed Ying Tianlong with rapid attacks that pierced his defenses and left him unconscious in seven breaths.
• Sword Thirteen challenged Zhao Sheng, but Zhao Sheng evaded his Wind Thunder Sword Art, tested his sword-bone defense, and disarmed him with a blue-violet sword light from his fingertip.
• Zhao Sheng invited another challenger and noticed Dong Miaozhen watching before Li Feixuan accepted, proposing a single move to decide the match.
• Li Feixuan used the Thousand Autumn Cicada to slow time around them, sacrificed a year of his lifespan, and unleashed a lethal Flowing Light Saber strike.
• Zhao Sheng perceived the slowed time and blocked Li Feixuan's killing move with his Fangtian Halberd.

Zhao Sheng dominated the Phoenix Assembly’s Contention Stage, defeating a string of challengers, including Qian Qianbing and Hua Lianqiao. With no one else willing to face him, he left the stage and approached Dong Miaozhen.

• Zhao Sheng forced Li Feixuan to concede, then let him flee after deciding not to pursue his unknown treasure in front of the crowd.
• Qian Qianbing challenged Zhao Sheng with his Aurora Ice Domain, but Zhao Sheng overwhelmed him and returned his Aurora Ice Mirror.
• Zhao Sheng quickly defeated a Thunder Spiritual Root prodigy and an illusionary arts genius, then faced Hua Lianqiao.
• Hua Lianqiao injured Zhao Sheng with a God-Slaying Spike, but Zhao Sheng struck back and beat him unconscious.
• After Zhao Sheng won nine battles and no one answered his challenge, he left the Contention Stage and walked toward Dong Miaozhen.

After Zhao Sheng dominated the Phoenix Assembly’s first day, the gathered powers took notice of his strength, and the second day’s trial at Dao Guarding Peak began with a wager to reach its summit first. As the other contestants climbed the Heart Refining Road, Dong Yuyi openly declared her feelings for Zhao Sheng, while Zhao Sheng continued pursuing Dong Miaozhen.

• Zhao Sheng dismissed the prodigies he had defeated and tried to grow closer to Dong Miaozhen, who told him to address her formally and keep the Phoenix Assembly orderly.
• The group returned to Phoenix Perching Lake, while reports of Zhao Sheng’s victories spread among the major powers in Brocade Orchid City.
• At Dao Guarding Peak, Ying Tianlong challenged Zhao Sheng to a race up the Heart Refining Road, with the loser required to kowtow and admit defeat.
• Song Xingyun proposed that the winner could make a reasonable request of the loser, and Jin Wulin, Sword Thirteen, and other prodigies joined the wager.
• Ying Tianlong rushed onto the Heart Refining Road, followed by the other contestants, while Zhao Sheng stayed behind to speak with the Dong Clan girls.
• Dong Yuyi confessed that she liked Zhao Sheng and revealed that she had investigated his family’s potential after learning about Zhao Xuanjing’s connection to the Earth Treasury Sect and a Mountain Dragon.

Zhao Sheng effortlessly overcame the Heart Refining Road, surpassing the younger cultivators and reaching its summit, while his performance impressed the Dong Clan’s women and attracted the attention of Lin Yizhi. Lin Yizhi secretly concluded that Zhao Sheng had a rare mutated bloodline and decided he should father children with a Dong Clan Heaven-Fated Weaving Maiden.

• Zhao Sheng rejected Dong Yuyi’s confession and began climbing the Heart Refining Road, steadily passing Jin Wulin, Song Xingyun, Ying Tianlong, and Sword Thirteen.
• Zhao Sheng broke the wedding illusion at the seven-hundred-and-eighty-eighth step and continued upward while Sword Thirteen remained trapped in his own trial.
• Dong Yushou asked Dong Miaozhen if she could pursue Zhao Sheng, and Dong Yuyi protested before Dong Miaozhen stopped their argument.
• Lin Yizhi appeared before the Dong Clan women, recalled his tragic past with Yue Ru, and gave an ambiguous assessment of Zhao Sheng before vanishing.
• Zhao Sheng reached the summit and waited before the barrier protecting the Dao Word Stele, unaware that Lin Yizhi was examining him and planning to match him with a Dong Clan Heaven-Fated Weaving Maiden.

Zhao Sheng completed the Heart Refining Road, secured his contest wagers, and gained deep insights from the Dao Word Stele. After awakening from an entire night of enlightenment, he went with the others to the Ten Thousand Dao Tower, while Dong Miaozhen began drawing closer to him after accepting that she would likely marry him.

• Sword Thirteen and several other contestants reached Dao Guarding Peak, while more than sixty people failed to emerge from the Heart Refining Illusion Formation.
• Zhao Sheng confronted Ying Tianlong over their wager, then spared him from kneeling at Dong Miaozhen's request in exchange for leaving Phoenix Tree Mountain and providing precious materials.
• Song Xingyun and the other contestants agreed to send wedding gifts when Zhao Sheng married Dong Miaozhen, settling their wager.
• The Dao Word Stele appeared, and Zhao Sheng saw a Great Sun that filled him with insights into metal, fire, the sun, and light while burning away dark thoughts.
• Zhao Sheng awakened after a night of enlightenment, exchanged sharp words with Kong Lang, and learned that the group would next visit the Ten Thousand Dao Tower.
• Dong Miaozhen led Zhao Sheng and the others into the Ten Thousand Dao Tower and began treating him with shy closeness after her clan elders told her she would likely marry him.

At the Ten Thousand Dao Tower, Zhao Sheng traded barbs with Kong Lang and later outmatched him in a public Dao debate at the Dao Discussion Platform. Zhao Sheng ended by reciting a poem about casting off worldly dust and discovering who he was.

• Song Xingyun recognized the Spiritual Root Diagram as a legacy painting by Ancestor Huishengzi and gained insight into his cultivation technique.
• Kong Lang challenged Zhao Sheng in the Ten Thousand Dao Tower, but Dong Miaozhen stopped their confrontation before it became a fight.
• At the Dao Discussion Platform, Kong Lang provoked Zhao Sheng into debating the Dao, and Zhao Sheng rebutted his arguments with passages from the Dao De Jing.
• Shao Shaoyang praised his own Dao poem and challenged Zhao Sheng, hoping to improve his standing at Soaring Cloud Academy.
• Zhao Sheng recited a poem about a golden crow bloom and declared that he finally knew who he was.

After Zhao Sheng impressed the Dong Family and won approval to marry Dong Miaozhen, the two clans completed the marriage arrangements. Their lavish wedding in Rising Dragon City displayed the Xinglong Zhao Clan’s strength and improved its standing among the cultivation forces.

• Zhao Sheng impressed the Phoenix Assembly with his Dao insights, pill refining, and talisman making, then began a relationship with Dong Miaozhen.
• Zhao Sheng visited Dong Yiren and Lu Hao, presented a Longevity Peach, and gained their approval to marry Dong Miaozhen.
• Zhao Sheng returned to Brocade Orchid City and quickly departed for Xinglong Plain, while a Vast Righteous Sect disciple discussed the danger of targeting Dong Miaozhen.
• Zhao Dingguang visited the Dong Family, and over the following half year the clans arranged Dong Miaozhen’s marriage to Zhao Sheng.
• Zhao Sheng helped Zhao Dexuan receive wedding guests as the Zhao Clan hosted a grand celebration in Rising Dragon City.
• Dong Miaozhen arrived with a vast bridal procession and dowry, and Zhao Sheng carried her into the Bright Light Tower for their wedding.