Chapter Summaries

Zhao Sheng confronted a group of Red Eyebrow Daoist demonic cultivators who attacked the Spirit Vein Mystic Realm, and crushed his Great Tribulation Beacon Fire Talisman when they unleashed the Four Gods Strange Cauldron. After his soul erased the cauldron and the danger passed, Yan WuXiu arrived, leaving Zhao Sheng uneasy about how unsurprised his master seemed.

• An earthy-yellow vortex nearly dragged Zhao Sheng away, but he escaped to the Space-Time Fault Formation as the yellow haze began eroding its barrier.
• Zhao Sheng rescued Zhang Fengxian, Chen Yizhuo, and five other Golden Core disciples, then confronted the yellow-robed demonic cultivator and threatened to crush his Great Tribulation Beacon Fire Talisman.
• The yellow-robed elder offered Zhao Sheng the location of a lost grotto-heaven, but a purple-dressed woman and other demonic cultivators arrived and prepared a combined attack.
• Zhao Sheng crushed the talisman, summoning aid, while four demonic spirit gods fused into the Four Gods Strange Cauldron and attacked his soul.
• The cauldron entered Zhao Sheng's Soul Sea, but his divine soul erased it and restored the Soul Sea; Zhao Sheng then cleared away the remaining yellow haze.
• Yan WuXiu's Body Integration Realm avatar arrived, heard Zhao Sheng's account, and accepted it after Zhang Fengxian and the others confirmed what happened; Zhao Sheng suspected his master had expected the attack.

Zhao Sheng led Zhang Fengxian and the academy’s disciples toward the Hundred Academies Grand Tournament, defeating a pursuing vulture horde on the way. At the Equatorial Ring Divine Palace, he glimpsed mysterious immortal script on the Heavenly Questions Ancestor’s statue, then entered the palace with his group as the tournament was about to begin.

• Zhao Sheng concealed Zhang Fengxian’s Banished Immortal nature from Yan WuXiu and told her to aim for around eightieth or ninetieth place in the tournament.
• Three months later, Zhao Sheng led Zhang Fengxian and the other disciples south aboard the Azure Mysterious Puppet Turtle toward the Nan Yue Spirit Sea.
• A Two-Headed Monstrous Vulture and its Fiery Bald Vultures attacked, but Zhao Sheng swallowed their Blazing Sun with a black hole and killed the demon emperor with his Three Feet Thunder Sword.
• Zhao Sheng’s group reached the Equatorial Ring Divine Palace, where he studied the Heavenly Questions Ancestor’s statue and saw immortal-script patterns that he could not remember.
• After Zhang Fengxian woke him from his exhausted trance ten days later, Zhao Sheng led the group into the palace to activate the teleportation formation for the tournament.

Zhao Sheng watched the Hundred Academies Grand Tournament begin and tracked his disciples as they entered the Ten Thousand Miles Immortal Light Realm. Zhang Fengxian faced a horde of demon toads, Niu Gan Shan became trapped in a strange grassland, and months later a disguised Golden Core cultivator ambushed a rival disciple.

• Zhao Sheng arrived at the tournament gathering, greeted the Woxuan lineage institute heads, and watched Daoist Song Pan announce the start of the competition.
• Zhang Fengxian entered Nameless Marsh, found a fortune spirit pearl atop a colossal toad, and unleashed the Heaven Burning Myriad Swords Art against the demon toads.
• Niu Gan Shan appeared in an empty grassland, noticed his true essence draining rapidly, and stopped to restore his power.
• Zhao Sheng used the Immortal Light Mirror to locate Zhang Fengxian, Niu Gan Shan, Chen Yizhuo, and Chen Jinghui, and worried that Niu Gan Shan might fail to see through the grassland's illusion.
• Several months later, a disguised cultivator from the Zhen Huai Dao Institute killed a Yin-Yang Daoist disciple with his shadow-based ability and reflected on having slain three people.

During the Hundred Academies Grand Tournament, Zhang Fengxian gathered luck and climbed into the top hundred while Niu Gan Shan entered a hidden realm. As Niu Gan Shan cautiously explored its strange cave, an unseen figure closed in on him.

• Zhang Fengxian killed a pack of emerald wolf demons, collected their Luck Fortune Spirit Pearl, and detected nearby contestants through her spirit-light map.
• Niu Gan Shan recalled killing an Illusory Mirage and gathering enough luck to activate his map, then broke into a hidden realm concealed in a valley.
• A red-faced young man discovered the hidden realm and followed Niu Gan Shan inside, while Chen Yizhuo was swallowed by a demon.
• Zhao Sheng and Abbot Leng Zhuo wagered on Zhang Fengxian's tournament ranking, and Zhao Sheng also bet that Niu Gan Shan would reach the top hundred.
• A Shuo Feng Dao Institute team set out to pursue a red-light coordinate, while Niu Gan Shan explored a cold cave and burned the passage after hearing footsteps.
• An unseen black figure approached Niu Gan Shan through the rock above him as he searched the cave.

Across the Hundred Academies Grand Competition, several cultivators displayed their strength as Niu Gan Shan defeated Xin Yuanzi and discovered a sealed Giant Skull. The Skull drained Niu Gan Shan and began breaking its restraints, but a fiery red spear entered his corpse and awakened him with overwhelming Baleful Intent.

• Tu Gongping chased Shang He Tian, took his Luck Fortune Jade Pendant, and let him escape.
• Bai Li Jun killed a white-robed cultivator, while the Mo Family Three Brothers destroyed a swarm of Two-Winged Ghost Ants with Petrification Divine Light.
• Shangguan Qiao'er escaped a pack of Flying Whisker Giant Tigers with a stolen egg, and Tian Shentian gained a second halo of fortune after killing Golden Core Heavenly Wolves.
• Niu Gan Shan struck Xin Yuanzi with the Water-Fire Mountain Splitting Staff's Annihilation Divine Light, killed him, and took his Luck Fortune Jade Pendant.
• Niu Gan Shan entered an underground cavern, found a sealed Giant Skull, and was drained by its rainbow-hued tentacles as it snapped three chains of law.
• A fiery red spear plunged into Niu Gan Shan's withered corpse, and he opened his eyes as immense Baleful Intent erupted from him.

Niu Gan Shan’s body was remade after the Demon Star dissolved, and his unexplained rise to first place made him the tournament’s hidden Son of Destiny. As the tournament entered its second phase, Chen Jinghui and Master Kan found a Bottomless Pit that trapped them, while Si Li Chengfang fled into it from a dragonfly swarm.

• Niu Gan Shan’s spear activated the Demon Star’s long-planned master-recognition process, and the Demon Star dissolved as a blood-red body formed around him.
• The tournament ranking placed a blurred, unidentified name above Long Xiangzi, and Zhao Sheng realized that Niu Gan Shan had become the Son of Destiny.
• A year later, the tournament began its second phase as five-colored barriers closed in to shrink the grounds.
• Chen Jinghui led Master Kan toward a Bottomless Pit after sensing an unusual concentration of spiritual energy, but blood-red eyes and green vines seized them.
• Dang Zhang Fengxian received an urgent message from Chen Jinghui asking her to come save her.
• Si Li Chengfang escaped a swarm of mutant dragonflies by plunging into the Bottomless Pit, where flames appeared and blood-red eyes opened.

Zhang Fengxian killed the vinewood demon in the Bottomless Pit and began refining the Fire God Pearl, which lifted her to second place and drew the Nine Questions Immortal Sect’s attention. Two years later, Long Xiangzi killed Kang Jin Dragon and obtained the Gold God Pearl, changing the tournament’s second-place ranking again.

• Zhang Fengxian burned through the vines and spores in the Bottomless Pit, killed the demon, and began refining the Fire God Pearl.
• Zhang Fengxian rose to second place, prompting sect leaders to identify her as the Fire God Pearl’s inheritor and Zhao Sheng to worry that her identity would be exposed.
• As the tournament continued into its third year, the barrier shrank, Nascent Soul demons began hunting contestants, and many Golden Core disciples were eliminated.
• Long Xiangzi waited for Kang Jin Dragon, trapped it in a formation, and killed it after a day and night of battle.
• Long Xiangzi dug the Gold God Pearl from Kang Jin Dragon, and the tournament’s second-place position changed again.

With the competition down to eleven survivors and eight Nascent Soul-level hunters, Zhang Fengxian and Long Xiangzi joined forces against a Void Star Centipede, a Winged Human, and an insectfolk cultivator. Zhang Fengxian survived the centipede’s attack and wounded it, but Long Xiangzi fled and the battle continued as the insectfolk pressed her with its beetles.

• As the competition narrowed to eleven survivors, Long Xiangzi fled toward Zhang Fengxian with a Void Star Centipede and two foreign cultivators in pursuit.
• Long Xiangzi persuaded Zhang Fengxian to fight beside him, and they unleashed the Gold God Pearl and Fire God Pearl against their three pursuers.
• The insectfolk fused with the Void Star Centipede, raising it to the late eighth rank; it destroyed Long Xiangzi’s golden dragon and attacked Zhang Fengxian.
• Zhang Fengxian used Shadow Shift to escape the centipede’s bite, then wounded it in the head with the Thousand Feather Hundred Wing Sword.
• The blow left Zhang Fengxian unable to sense her sword, while the Winged Human shattered Long Xiangzi’s armor and drove him to flee.
• The centipede and insectfolk attacked Zhang Fengxian with black blades and Six-Winged Golden Beetles, and she burned most of the insects while a powerful beetle continued advancing.

Zhang Fengxian joined forces with Xue Yinhuan and helped bring the tournament’s final battles to a close, finishing in second place. After the contestants returned, Zhang Fengxian learned that the masked first-place winner was Niu Gan Shan, who had entered the Yan Dao lineage, and her Luck Fortune Jade Pendant raised her academy’s spiritual peak.

• Zhang Fengxian killed the Antenna Insectoid but fled when two Nascent Soul Great Demons approached, and her fight with Long Xiangzi left her in second place.
• Zhang Fengxian persuaded Xue Yinhuan to join her in hunting demons, and the contestants formed four temporary alliances.
• Zhang Fengxian and Xue Yinhuan killed the Void Star Centipede while the golden Insectoid escaped; Long Xiangzi and Ren Fei failed to kill a Dragon Wolf, and the four-person alliance lost one member to the Primal Chaos Qian Bear.
• Zhang Fengxian returned from the tournament and saw that her name ranked second while the first-place contestant’s identity was concealed.
• Zhao Sheng told Zhang Fengxian that the hidden first-place winner was Niu Gan Shan, who had joined the Yan Dao lineage, then instructed her to place her Luck Fortune Jade Pendant on the altar.
• Zhang Fengxian’s jade pendant raised the spiritual peak and increased its spiritual energy, while Zhu Hong and Xin Zhui’s pendants caused no further change.

Zhao Sheng seized the fortune of the immortal mountain blessed land to comprehend the Dao, then returned to the North Sea Dao Institute and cultivated in seclusion for sixty years until he reached great perfection of Spirit Transformation. Unable to advance further because the Kui Ox Treasure talisman disrupted his breakthroughs, he decided to visit the Guiyuan Ruins, while the institute continued to flourish.

• Zhao Sheng urged Zhu Hong and Xin Zhui to meditate as the blessed land’s fortune descended, and he entered deep Dao comprehension while Zhang Fengxian and the others gained from the opportunity.
• Zhao Sheng comprehended the Great Dao True Script of Thunder and glimpsed a path toward True Immortal; afterward, he praised Zhang Fengxian’s progress and warned her to conceal her identity as a Banished Immortal.
• Zhang Fengxian departed for the Inner Mountain Gate, and Zhao Sheng returned to Tranquil Sea City with Zhu Hong and Xin Zhui before delegating institute affairs to Dai YiPing and Qing Nian Dao Ren.
• Zhao Sheng secluded himself for sixty years, fused his Primordial Spirit, will, and Mana, and reached great perfection of Spirit Transformation, but the Kui Ox Treasure talisman repeatedly disrupted his attempts to advance.
• Zhao Sheng decided to travel to the Guiyuan Ruins and left the spirit vein secret realm, while the North Sea Dao Institute grew in reputation, strength, and enrollment.

Zhao Sheng rescued Gao Jianli from three assassins, accepted him as a Nominal Disciple, and later entered the Ruined Market disguised as Kui Ox. There, Huo Dou revealed that the Ten Thousand Forms Immortal Lord had placed her Primordial Spirit in a treasure and commanded hundreds or thousands of divine beast disciples.

• Qian Qianyi and two other Nascent Soul Great Cultivators attacked Gao Jianli at Transverse Mountain, but Zhao Sheng arrived and killed them.
• Zhao Sheng gave Gao Jianli the attackers’ sealed Nascent Soul infants in exchange for rare treasures, and later accepted him as a Nominal Disciple.
• Zhao Sheng returned to the Ruined Market, where Huo Dou recognized him as a fellow disciple of the Immortal Venerable and invited him to Immortal Delicacy Heaven.
• Huo Dou revealed that her Primordial Spirit resided in the Huo Dou Treasure and that she could seize new bodies at will.
• Huo Dou named their master the Ten Thousand Forms Immortal Lord and said he had hundreds or thousands of divine beast disciples, leaving Zhao Sheng deeply unsettled.

Zhao Sheng learned that the Ten Thousand Forms Immortal Lord’s divine-beast disciples competed for lost Blessed Lands and could kill their own kind, then agreed to join Huo Dou’s group. After a hostile Kui Ox challenged him and fled, Zhao Sheng sparred with Huo Dou and showed enough strength to earn his confidence.

• Huo Dou told Zhao Sheng that the Immortal Lord sent disciples to find lost Blessed Lands for sacrifice and that Fiend Star Lords competed with them in the Yuan Ruins.
• Huo Dou invited Zhao Sheng to join him, Wu Zhiqi, Dijiang, and Teng Snake in opening a lost Blessed Land, and gave him a Ruins Time Plate.
• A Golden Robed Kui Ox confronted Zhao Sheng, but Huo Dou intervened; the challenger left after warning that they would fight to the death once he obtained an Immortal Decree.
• Huo Dou explained that some divine beasts sought immortality by devouring their own kind, and Zhao Sheng agreed to join the group after learning he could meet Dijiang at a gathering in two years.
• Zhao Sheng and Huo Dou sparred in Ten Desolations Heaven, and Huo Dou stopped the match after seeing Zhao Sheng’s powerful Source Spirit Sense and concluding he had at least Return to Void cultivation.

Zhao Sheng learned that the Sky Pillar Zhao Clan had flourished and received a message and Void Ring from Zhao Xuanjing. An Immortal Decree then sent him into a duel with the Golden Robed Man, where Zhao Sheng recovered from a devastating strike and trapped his opponent in purple lightning chains.

• Zhao Sheng met Bi Jie at the Gui Ruins Market, bought ancient Wind Thunder Peng blood, and asked him to contact Zhao Xuanjing.
• Zhao Sheng gave Bi Jie a coded Jade Slip for Zhao Xuanjing, and Bi Jie returned with Zhao Xuanjing’s reply and a Void Ring.
• Zhao Sheng learned that the Sky Pillar Zhao Clan had grown into a powerful clan with nine Ascended True Lords and that two dangerous passages connected his realm to Zhao Xuanjing’s.
• An Immortal Decree summoned Zhao Sheng and the Golden Robed Man to a sealed space-time for a battle to the death.
• The Golden Robed Man struck Zhao Sheng’s chest apart, but Zhao Sheng regenerated and bound him with purple lightning chains.

Zhao Sheng defeated the Golden Robed Man in the nine-colored world and absorbed the Return to Void Half Immortal’s power and memories through the Kui Ox Treasure. He returned to the Market with his path to the Return to Void Lightning Tribulation cleared and gave Bi Jie a token for protection.

• The Golden Robed Man trapped Zhao Sheng with the Golden Scimitar, but Zhao Sheng’s source will grew stronger as he endured the lightning assault and then counterattacked.
• Zhao Sheng transformed his bones into White Bone Godslaying Swords, destroyed the Golden Robed Man’s Kui Ox Dharma manifestation, and severed his body into pieces.
• The Golden Robed Man reformed his body from Source Spirit Sense, but Zhao Sheng formed a Chaos Thunder net that annihilated him and his protected head.
• The two Kui Ox Treasures fused and transferred the Golden Robed Man’s memories, cultivation, and Primordial Spirit Essence to Zhao Sheng, strengthening his will and removing the interference blocking his advancement.
• Zhao Sheng returned to the Market, where Bi Jie congratulated him, and Zhao Sheng gave Bi Jie a violet jade token to use if he encountered trouble.

After thirty years of seclusion spent refining the Golden Spirit Saber and absorbing the Golden Robed Man’s insights into Metal Envoy Divine Lightning, Zhao Sheng was interrupted by three fleeing travelers and began his long-delayed Return to Void Lightning Tribulation. The travelers escaped as the immense tribulation spread across the wilderness, while Zhao Sheng faced it directly alongside his nearly real Kui Ox Avatar.

• Zhao Sheng concealed a cavern with a Seven Colors Barrier and refined the Golden Spirit Saber until it obeyed his will and merged into his Willpower Field.
• For thirty years, Zhao Sheng studied the Golden Robed Man’s cultivation insights to improve his understanding of Metal Envoy Divine Lightning.
• A wounded white-haired elder arrived with a woman, a boy, and a strange luan bird, but Zhao Sheng’s barrier trapped them and his Golden Scimitar broke the elder’s Qing Mu domain.
• Zhao Sheng sealed the elder’s power, cured his curse with Divine Sense Primordial Lightning, and sent the travelers away before the lightning tribulation began.
• Zhao Sheng chose to undergo the Return to Void Lightning Tribulation immediately and faced it without defenses as his Kui Ox Avatar appeared above him.
• The tribulation clouds spread across the wilderness, forcing nearby beasts and clans to flee while the elder and woman watched from a distance.

Zhao Sheng survived an extraordinary lightning tribulation, advanced to the Void Return Realm, and discovered that the Kui Ox Treasure was subtly assimilating his consciousness. He accepted Ke Yingzhen as a nominal disciple and gave her the South Ke Palace, while the Ke Clan survivors settled under his protection.

• Zhao Sheng endured and absorbed the Tribulation Thunder as his Giant Spirit Battle Body transformed, while Ke Jiuliang and his family watched and resolved to seek his help.
• After the tribulation, Ke Jiuliang, the woman, and the boy settled near Zhao Sheng's barrier and waited for him to emerge from seclusion.
• Zhao Sheng cultivated for three years, stabilized his Void Return Realm cultivation, and mastered True Time and Break Void Travel.
• Ke Jiuliang introduced himself and explained that the Evil God Dao had destroyed the Sky Illusion Ke Clan, leaving only three survivors; Zhao Sheng agreed to take Ke Yingzhen as a nominal disciple in exchange for the clan's hidden treasures.
• Zhao Sheng gave Ke Yingzhen the Spirit Treasure South Ke Palace and realized that the Kui Ox Treasure had been gradually reshaping his thoughts and devotion toward the Ten Thousand Forms Immortal Lord.

Zhao Sheng returned to the North Sea Dao Institute and found Chen Chen and the Chen Family trying to take over the deanship. After learning that Chen Bei was in seclusion and Master Yan was away, Zhao Sheng eventually retired from the position, while keeping the two Inner Mountain Gate slots.

• While Zhao Sheng was away, Chen Chen and his father, Chen Guangluo, pressed Dai YiPing to hand over the Dao Institute’s treasury and recognize Chen Chen as dean.
• Zhao Sheng returned with Ke Mi, Zhen'er, and another disciple, silenced a roaring spirit lion, and met Chen Chen and Chen Guangluo at the summit.
• Zhao Sheng learned that the Chen Family had replaced many institute masters and that Chen Chen had held the deanship for over a decade; he let Chen Chen arrange lodging for his companions.
• Zhao Sheng visited Cang Lang Dongtian to find Master Yan, then Chen Bei, but learned that Master Yan was away and Chen Bei had been in seclusion for over a century.
• Three years later, Zhao Sheng yielded the deanship after accomplishing his work, having learned that he had reached Return to Void; he retained the two Inner Mountain Gate slots and moved most of the secret realm’s treasures.

After settling into Cang Lang Dongtian, Zhao Sheng kept his appointment at Gui Ruins Market and joined an expedition led by Dijiang. The group crossed into a volcanic realm aboard Demon God Puppets and flew toward the far end of the land.

• Zhao Sheng moved into Golden Wind Jade Dew Valley, met his fellow Woxuan lineage cultivators, and learned which Puppet Master's True Inheritance Disciples remained alive.
• Zhao Sheng used the Ruins Time Plate and thirty Dongtian Jade to travel to Gui Ruins Market, where he reunited with Huo Dou and met Chong Xuan and Wu Zhiqi.
• Dijiang arrived at the pleasure boat, and Zhao Sheng sensed that the expedition leader possessed a terrifying existence beyond the Body Integration Realm.
• Dijiang, Wu Zhiqi, Huo Dou, Zhao Sheng, and Teng Snake boarded Demon God Puppets and entered a volcanic land with three Eagle Puppets leading the way.

Zhao Sheng and his companions crossed the Burial Immortal Ruins, surviving deadly native creatures and an encounter with a Demon Immortal while learning more about the ruins’ dangers. After enduring a law-corroding storm, they reached an immense ice field packed with corpses, whose ice Dijiang could not break.

• A vine oasis seized and crushed one of the Demon God Eagle Puppets, forcing Zhao Sheng’s group to change course.
• An Ossified Dragon Bat swept over the mountain ruins, terrifying the group; Dijiang and Wu Zhiqi explained that the fallen Demon Immortal hunted living creatures and that the ruins held many other dangers.
• The group fought several Pitch Black Armored Beasts, and Wu Zhiqi harvested their meat while warning Zhao Sheng and the others not to eat too much or carry too much back to the lower realm.
• During a prolonged corrosion storm, Zhao Sheng secretly sheltered his Primordial Spirit Dharma Body beneath the Hundred Lifetimes Book, greatly reducing the attack’s effect.
• After the storm ended, the group reached an ice field containing countless corpses, but Dijiang could not crack the ice.

Dijiang led Zhao Sheng and the others through the Frozen Demon Abyss toward a strange mountain where they gained insights into the Great Dao of Time. As they waited near their destination, Fiend Star Light Bodies arrived, forcing the group to prepare for a confrontation.

• Dijiang led the group across the Frozen Demon Abyss, where they survived ice storms, Ice Demons, and other dangers while losing an eagle god puppet and recovering a Dragon Pearl.
• At the bottom of the abyss, the group approached a strange two-colored mountain whose manifestation of the River of Laws gave Zhao Sheng and the others an opportunity to comprehend the Great Dao of Time.
• Zhao Sheng gained the greatest insight into the Great Dao of Time, and Huo Dou and Wu Zhiqi explained that the outer ruins could offer life-changing opportunities.
• Dijiang told the group to wait near the mountain, and they returned to their puppet compartments to rest.
• Fiend Star Light Bodies descended among the ice peaks, and Huo Dou warned everyone that the Fiend Locusts had found them again.