Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ming and his companions approached the Bodhi Ancient Tree, where Qing Lin destroyed five Half-Saint puppets before the tree enveloped them in light and stripped away their Dou Qi. Xiao Ming saw an illusion of his former hometown, rejected it, and awoke inside a small emerald-green space containing a miniature Bodhi Ancient Tree.

• Qing Lin spotted negative energy within the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s vitality as Xiao Ming noticed its Bodhi Heart and considered saving it for Elder Huo.
• The tree produced five Half-Saint puppets, and Qing Lin destroyed them with her green light.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree captured Xiao Ming, Qing Lin, and Zi Yan in a pillar of light, making them disappear after their Dou Qi vanished.
• Xiao Ming found himself in his former hometown on July 5, recognized the scene as an illusion, and rejected it.
• Xiao Ming awoke in an emerald-green space with a miniature Bodhi Ancient Tree.

Xiao Ming learned that a black-clothed Dou Di had attacked the Bodhi Ancient Tree in ancient times and left behind resentment that chilled it. The tree demonstrated how Bodhi Seeds could cleanse the resentment and offered Xiao Ming more than twenty pristine seeds, leaving him considering whether to use it to help his Small Tree Sapling or persuade it to come with him.

• The Bodhi Ancient Tree showed Xiao Ming images of Qing Lin and Zi Yan trapped in illusions, then revealed a black-clothed Dou Di fighting it in ancient times.
• The black-clothed Dou Di was destroyed by a Destructive Strong Wind, and the Bodhi Ancient Tree absorbed his lingering resentment.
• Xiao Ming received the tree's information and understood that it lacked complete intelligence and had become afflicted by the Dou Di's resentment.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree demonstrated that refining a Bodhi Seed produced Clear Qi that weakened the chill around it.
• The tree offered Xiao Ming more than twenty pure Bodhi Seeds, and he wondered whether he could use them to catalyze his Small Tree Sapling or convince the ancient tree to leave with him.

Xiao Ming purified the Bodhi Ancient Tree by refining its Bodhi Seeds into Clear Qi, driving out the remnant will of a Dou Di. After the purification, the tree freed Qing Lin and Zi Yan from its illusion, and Xiao Ming reassured them that they were safe.

• Xiao Ming used his Heavenly Flame to refine Bodhi Seeds into Clear Qi, which entered the Bodhi Ancient Tree and drove out threads of black aura.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree restored Xiao Ming's Dou Qi and expanded his capacity as he refined more seeds, bringing him to the Five Star Dou Sheng Peak.
• Xiao Ming refined the remaining Bodhi Seeds, and the last of the black aura vanished from the tree.
• The purified Bodhi Ancient Tree glowed with renewed life and stroked Xiao Ming's head in gratitude.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree shattered the illusion trapping Qing Lin and Zi Yan, and Xiao Ming told them the tree no longer meant them harm.

After the Bodhi Ancient Tree gave Xiao Ming a Bodhi Heart, he jokingly asked for more and received five, but the tree then pulled him and his companions into reincarnation. Meanwhile, the tree’s released Clear Qi stirred the Desolate Ancient Region as experts rushed toward it.

• The Bodhi Ancient Tree presented Xiao Ming with a Bodhi Heart, which he stored after telling Zi Yan he would not let her eat it.
• Xiao Ming teased the Bodhi Ancient Tree by asking for another ten or eight Bodhi Hearts, and it gave him five emerald light clusters.
• When Xiao Ming began to speak, the Bodhi Ancient Tree tapped him unconscious and drew his consciousness into reincarnation.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree knocked Zi Yan unconscious and pulled Qing Lin into Xiao Ming’s reincarnation, then brought all three inside its trunk.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree’s Clear Qi spread through the Desolate Ancient Region, prompting experts to hurry toward the Ancient Domain Platform and gather near the beast tide.

Gu Xun'er worried that Elder Gu Yun had vanished as the Soul Clan's Hun Yu gathered the forces to cross the beast tide. The survivors reached the Bodhi Ancient Tree, whose golden light pulled them into an illusion.

• Gu Xun'er told Gu Qing Yang that Elder Gu Yun had not returned, while Hun Yu reported that the Soul Clan could not contact Elder Hun Mo.
• Hun Feng ordered Hun Yu to pursue the Bodhi Heart and hinted that they would test Gu Xun'er's Divine Grade Bloodline.
• Hun Yu proposed that the gathered clans and experts cross the beast tide together, then secretly let the Soul Clan withdraw from the vanguard as the formation advanced.
• The beast tide killed most of the several thousand people, while Hun Feng and the remaining groups broke through and reached the Bodhi Ancient Tree.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree restored the survivors' Dou Qi and healed their injuries, then enveloped them in golden light and drew them into its illusion.

Xiao Ming emerged from the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s Hundred Lifetimes Reincarnation trial with a breakthrough to Early Six Star Dou Sheng and a vast improvement in alchemy. After he asked the tree to release the other seekers, he faced the Soul Clan and other groups in its space.

• Xiao Ming completed a month-long trial that spanned a hundred reincarnations, reaching Early Six Star Dou Sheng and becoming confident he could refine a Grade Nine Golden Pill.
• Zi Yan and Qing Lin awakened after advancing by a minor level, and Zi Yan complained that Xiao Ming had never married her in their reincarnations.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree sent Xiao Ming, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin out of its trunk and showed them visions of the other groups’ trials.
• Xiao Ming asked the Bodhi Ancient Tree to release the trapped seekers, and the tree expelled them through spatial fissures.
• The Heavenly Court members rejoiced at seeing Xiao Ming, while Hun Feng, Hun Yu, and the other Soul Clan members feared meeting their enemy.

Xiao Ming confronted the Soul Clan members inside the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s space and had Qing Lin swiftly eliminate them. When the tree released nearly thirty Bodhi Seeds, Xiao Ming gathered them and distributed several among the Heavenly Court, leaving the others empty-handed.

• Gu Xun'er and Gu Qing Yang recognized Xiao Ming’s overwhelming strength, and the gathered cultivators respectfully greeted him.
• Xiao Ming identified Hun Feng and Hun Yu as threats, then ordered them to die; Qing Lin erased them and their companions before they could self-destruct.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree released nearly thirty Bodhi Seeds, and the cultivators rushed to seize them.
• Xiao Ming summoned all the Bodhi Seeds into his palm and thanked the Bodhi Ancient Tree.
• Xiao Ming gave several seeds to the Heavenly Court members to divide and promised to place three more in the Merit Pavilion, while the other cultivators regretted not joining the organization.

The Ancient Clan arrived at the Snake People Race's Barracks to find Xiao Ming, and their Four-Winged Unicorn Beasts defeated Yin Shi and the Snake-People guards. Xiao Ming confronted Gu Qing Yang, revealing himself to be a seventeen-year-old Dou Zong and a Seven-Rank Alchemist, leaving the Ancient Clan commander wary of taking the Tou She Ancient God Jade from him.

• Yin Shi and the Snake-People guards tried to stop the Ancient Clan visitors from entering the Barracks, but their Four-Winged Unicorn Beasts knocked them down and injured them.
• Gu Qing Yang and a companion discussed Xiao Ming's reputation and the task assigned to them by the Ancient Clan elders.
• Xiao Ming, Medusa, Zi Yan, and Xiao Yi Xian emerged from the cavern, and Xiao Ming stopped Medusa from challenging the visitors.
• Xiao Ming recognized the visitors as members of the Ancient Clan and confronted Gu Qing Yang in midair without using wings.
• Gu Qing Yang introduced himself as the Great Commander of the Black Annihilation Army, and Xiao Ming revealed that he was a Seven-Rank Alchemist.
• Gu Qing Yang realized Xiao Ming was a seventeen-year-old Dou Zong and worried that taking the Tou She Ancient God Jade from him would be difficult.

Elder Tong Xuan arrived after Gu Xun'er summoned him and learned that Elder Gu Yun had disappeared, while Xiao Ming discovered the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s Evil Tree Spirit had been expelled from the Tree Spirit Space but remained entangled with it. The Evil Tree Spirit then emerged in a strange form and attacked Elder Tong Xuan, beginning a battle outside the tree.

• Elder Tong Xuan appeared through a spatial passage, and Gu Xun'er explained that Elder Gu Yun had disappeared a month earlier.
• Elder Tong Xuan praised Xiao Ming for helping Gu Xun'er escape the illusion and wondered what had happened to Elder Gu Yun.
• A black-robed figure with a mixed aura emerged from another spatial passage, and Elder Tong Xuan recognized traces of Elder Gu Yun and the Bodhi Ancient Tree in it.
• The black-robed figure attacked Elder Tong Xuan, who fought back as a battle erupted before the Bodhi Ancient Tree.
• Xiao Ming showed the Bodhi Ancient Tree Sapling to the Bodhi Ancient Tree and learned that its Good Tree Spirit had expelled the Evil Tree Spirit but remained entangled with Dou Di Resentful Energy.

Xiao Ming lured the Evil Tree Spirit out with the Bodhi Ancient Tree Sapling while Elder Tong Xuan fought the Strange Figure outside. The Bodhi Ancient Tree defeated and captured its evil counterpart, leaving Elder Tong Xuan alive and the battlefield restored.

• Xiao Ming realized the Bodhi Ancient Tree Sapling could lure out the Evil Tree Spirit, and the Bodhi Ancient Tree agreed to the plan.
• Elder Tong Xuan fought the Strange Figure, whose attacks and sudden surge of power overwhelmed him.
• Gu Qing Yang and the others watched Elder Tong Xuan lose, while some people fled and Qing Lin asked Xiao Ming whether they would help.
• Xiao Ming left the fight to the Bodhi Ancient Tree, which unleashed its power and destroyed the Strange Figure's body.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree revealed the Evil Tree Spirit, restrained it with vines, and restored the battlefield.

Xiao Ming agreed to purify the Evil Tree Spirit after the Bodhi Ancient Tree promised him half of its Tree Spirit to help his soul break through to the Emperor Realm. As he battled the spirit’s illusions and refined its resentment, Elder Tong Xuan concluded that Gu Yun was likely dead and withdrew the Ancient Clan from the area.

• The Bodhi Ancient Tree revealed that the Evil Tree Spirit could contend for control of its true form, then urged Xiao Ming to purify it in exchange for half of its Tree Spirit.
• Xiao Ming accepted the offer, explained the potential soul breakthrough to Zi Yan and Qing Lin, and began purifying the Evil Tree Spirit with his Heavenly Flames.
• The Evil Tree Spirit trapped Xiao Ming in repeated illusions, but he broke free each time; the Bodhi Ancient Tree replenished his strength and helped suppress the spirit.
• Xiao Ming’s flames and the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s Clear Qi began expelling the Evil Tree Spirit’s Dou Di Resentment and destroying its remaining consciousness.
• Elder Tong Xuan told Gu Qing Yang that Gu Yun had likely met with disaster, then sent the Ancient Clan group away and suggested delivering a message to the Heavenly Court.

Xiao Ming received half of the purified Tree Spirit’s Soul Power from the Bodhi Ancient Tree and entered the Green Crystal Halo to refine it. As he absorbed the Soul Ocean’s power with Heavenly Flames, his soul steadily approached the Emperor Realm.

• After half a month, the Bodhi Ancient Tree purified the Evil Tree Spirit into a Green Crystal Halo.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree split the halo, absorbed one half, and gave the other half to Xiao Ming.
• Xiao Ming thanked the Bodhi Ancient Tree and entered the halo, finding himself in a vast Soul Ocean.
• Xiao Ming formed a massive soul phantom and used Heavenly Flames to refine the Soul Power drawn from the ocean.
• As Xiao Ming absorbed the refined power, his soul grew stronger and approached the Emperor Realm.

After breaking through to an Emperor Realm Soul, Xiao Ming prepared to leave the Bodhi Ancient Tree’s space with Zi Yan and Qing Lin. The Bodhi Ancient Tree declined to go with them but awakened the Bodhi Tree Sapling’s sentience before vanishing underground, and Xiao Ming set off for the Heavenly Court.

• Xiao Ming awakened his Emperor Realm Soul, gaining power that let him rival an Eight Star Dou Sheng, and learned that two and a half months had passed.
• Xiao Ming asked the Bodhi Ancient Tree to come with him, but it refused and instead helped the Bodhi Tree Sapling awaken its sentience.
• The Bodhi Ancient Tree sent Xiao Ming, Zi Yan, and Qing Lin out of its space, then sank underground and disappeared.
• Xiao Ming put away the sapling, tore open space, and led Zi Yan and Qing Lin toward the Heavenly Court.

Xiao Ming returned from the Bodhi Ancient Tree and spent time with his family while arranging the Bodhi Hearts and deciding that the Heavenly Court would hold the Pill Gathering. Six months later, his second daughter was born, and he received an Invitation Letter from the Ancient Clan.

• Xiao Yi Xian told Medusa she had chosen Xiao Wen for a boy and Ke'er for a girl, and Xiao Ming returned and praised the name Ke'er.
• Xiao Ming recounted his journey to the Bodhi Ancient Tree and gave Medusa a Bodhi Heart, while planning how to use the remaining hearts to cultivate others.
• Xiao Ming decided the Heavenly Court would hold the Pill Gathering as scheduled, and news of the event spread across the continent.
• Xiao Ming gave a Bodhi Heart to Elder Huo, while Zi Yan gave hers to Su Qian, and he selected Xiao Shan and two other Xiao Family Members to receive Bodhi Hearts.
• Xiao Ming created a space rich in Heaven and Earth Energy in Wu Tan City, then spent six months in the Central Plains and reached the Six Star Dou Sheng Mid-stage.
• Xiao Yi Xian gave birth to another daughter, and Xiao Ming received an Invitation Letter from the Ancient Clan a few days later.

Xiao Ming received an invitation from the Ancient Clan but chose to delay visiting until he had grown stronger. After collecting medicinal ingredients from Heavenly Court, he took Zi Yan to the Void Thunder Pool to absorb Black Demonic Lightning.

• Xiao Ming examined the Ancient Clan's invitation and suspected the clan was investigating the Soul Clan's destruction of the Spirit Clan.
• Xiao Ming postponed his visit to the Ancient Realm and asked Xuan Kongzi about the medicinal ingredients gathered for him.
• Xuan Kongzi reported that Heavenly Court had collected ingredients for ten Mysterious Pills and three Golden Pills, and promised to deliver them.
• Xiao Ming left Holy Pill City with Zi Yan and crossed the Void Space toward the Void Thunder Pool.
• Xiao Ming led Zi Yan through the thunder sea and used his lightning control to clear a path through the Black Demonic Lightning.

Xiao Ming and Zi Yan found the sentience-awakening Nine Profound Golden Lightning in the Void Thunder Pool, and Xiao Ming drew in Spirit Qi to help it awaken so he could claim it while it was weakened. As the Golden Thunder Dragon endured a violent backlash, the Black Demonic Lightning sacrificed itself to steady it, leaving its body dimmer even as its eyes gained Spirit Qi.

• Xiao Ming and Zi Yan reached the Nine Profound Golden Lightning, which had taken the form of a massive Golden Thunder Dragon deep in the Void Thunder Pool.
• The awakened dragon attacked them, but Xiao Ming shattered its lightning strike with Soul Power and subdued it with his Soul Domain.
• Xiao Ming gathered dense Spirit Qi around the dragon, then withdrew with Zi Yan to encourage it to undergo Spirit Gathering.
• The Nine Profound Golden Lightning began developing intelligence, suffering violent internal explosions as traces of Spirit Qi appeared in its eyes.
• The Black Demonic Lightning charged into the dragon to ease its backlash, strengthening the Spirit Qi in its eyes while making its golden body grow dimmer.

Xiao Ming removed the destructive power from the failing Nine Profound Golden Lightning and helped it successfully gather a spirit. He and Zi Yan returned to Ancient Dragon Island, where the elders learned Zhu Kun was alive and some began considering a move for the Ancient Tuoshe Jade.

• Xiao Ming extracted the Nine Profound Golden Lightning’s destructive power, sealed it inside Ling, and helped the weakened dragon gather a spirit.
• The newly intelligent Nine Profound Golden Lightning fixed its gaze on Xiao Ming as he left to rejoin Zi Yan.
• Xiao Ming and Zi Yan returned to the Ancient Void Dragon Clan, stirring excitement because Zi Yan had come back to Ancient Dragon Island.
• Zi Yan told the elders that she and Xiao Ming had encountered Zhu Kun beneath Jia Nan Academy, and she allowed several elders from his era to leave Dragon Island to visit him.
• The elders returned with an inclination toward seizing the Ancient Tuoshe Jade, apparently after Zhu Kun had told them something.

Xiao Ming began refining a Ninth Grade Mysterious Pill, the Thunder Tribulation Pill, using the medicinal ingredients gathered by Zi Yan and the Nine Profound Golden Lightning. After combining the lightning with more than ten thousand ingredients, he left the vast mixture to fuse in his cauldron, a process expected to take one or two months.

• Zi Yan delivered the medicinal ingredients Xiao Ming needed and worried that the Ancient Void Dragon Clan elders might attack the Ancient Races.
• Xiao Ming announced that he would refine the Thunder Tribulation Pill and asked that he not be disturbed.
• The small white snake released the Nine Profound Golden Lightning, which became a Golden Thunder Dragon in the sky.
• Xiao Ming used his Emperor Realm Soul to crush the Thunder Dragon and turn it into golden liquid.
• Xiao Ming processed more than ten thousand medicinal ingredients and combined their essences with the golden liquid in his cauldron.
• Xiao Ming closed his eyes and waited as the pill's ingredients fused, a process expected to take one or two months.

Xiao Ming completed a Ninth Grade Mysterious Thunder Tribulation Pill and consumed it to strengthen his cultivation. After a ten-day Energy Tide, he emerged as a Middle-Stage Seven Star Dou Sheng, strong enough to exchange moves with Hun Tiandi and Gu Yuan.

• Xiao Ming finished refining the Thunder Tribulation Pill, suppressed its Pill Lightning, and caught it when it tried to escape.
• Xiao Ming swallowed the pill, and its violent Lightning Power surged through him as Black Flame refined it into Dou Qi.
• The energy from Xiao Ming’s breakthrough formed a Heaven and Earth Tide above the mountain peak, astonishing the watching Ancient Void Dragons and Hei Qing.
• After the Energy Tide dissipated, Xiao Ming emerged from the crater and sensed that he had reached the Middle-Stage Seven Star Dou Sheng realm.
• Xiao Ming judged that his strength now allowed him to exchange a few moves with Hun Tiandi and Gu Yuan.

After reaching Early Eight-Star Dou Sheng, Xiao Ming stopped consuming Mysterious Pills and kept three Ninth Grade Mysterious Pills. Meanwhile, Zi Yan learned that the Stone Clan had vanished like the Spirit Clan, leaving the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan to suspect the Ancient Clan or Soul Clan and hope the missing Tou She Ancient God Jade could still be recovered.

• Xiao Ming refined pills for another six months, consumed one Mysterious Pill, and reached Early Eight-Star Dou Sheng, but sensed that further pills would have little effect.
• Zi Yan returned to the Ancient Dragon Clan's Deliberation Hall and asked what their investigators had discovered about the Stone Clan's disappearance.
• Zhu Li reported that the Stone Realm was silent and lifeless, with no trace of its millions of inhabitants, and suspected the Ancient Clan or Soul Clan was responsible.
• The elders agreed that a hidden mastermind behind the Spirit Clan and Stone Clan disappearances might still leave the Taixu Ancient Dragon Clan a chance to find the Tou She Ancient God Jade.
• The elders relaxed at the thought of Xiao Ming's rapid growth and praised their decision to accept him as their son-in-law.