Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chen found that the treasures in the Water Mansion had lost their essence and could not be retrieved because the Innate Water God's body was protected by a powerful law barrier. After collecting enough Experience Points to upgrade his Wood Authority, he began devouring the barrier's laws, gradually weakening it while Tu Shan Qing and Tiger Strength Great Immortal watched.

• Tu Shan Qing and Zhang Chen discovered that the cave's innate treasures had been drained of their essence, leaving only ordinary objects.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal struck the barrier around the Innate Water God's body twice, but it repelled him, and the Great Sovereign Demon King explained that it was formed from the god's Dao Rhyme and surpassed the Twelfth Order.
• Zhang Chen collected the Experience Points around the platform and upgraded his Wood Authority, gaining Rooted to the Earth, a revival ability that did not grant him the lifespan he sought.
• Zhang Chen pressed his palm to the barrier and used his Innate Mosquito mouthpart to devour its laws and energy.
• After Zhang Chen weakened the barrier over several days, Tiger Strength Great Immortal warned Tu Shan Qing never to offend him.

Zhang Chen upgraded Wood Authority to let him convert vegetation's life force into lifespan, then reached the Innate Water God's corpse with Tiger Strength Great Immortal and Tu Shan Qing. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaohua killed Ma Jia and joined the battle aboveground, while Shen Liang realized the underground tomb was in danger.

• Zhang Chen spent one hundred billion points to upgrade Wood Authority, gaining the ability to seize vegetation's life force and convert it into lifespan.
• The barrier vanished, and Zhang Chen assigned the Innate Water God's feet to Tu Shan Qing before agreeing to split the rest with Tiger Strength Great Immortal.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal's blade shattered against the corpse, and Zhang Chen sensed that the Innate Water God's body was still alive despite its missing soul.
• Zhang Xiaohua appeared in the battlefield, ripped out Ma Jia's heart, and crushed it after he pleaded for mercy.
• Zhou Qiucheng attacked Zhang Xiaohua as the battle's balance shifted, while Shen Liang sensed that the tomb's formation had slowed and feared the others had reached its core.

As the Yellow Heaven Dao slaughtered the Shen Family above, Shen Liang allowed the massacre to continue while gaining power from the fallen disciples. In the Water God Great Tomb, Zhang Chen used the Immortal Slaughtering Sword to cut the Innate Water God's body, and Tiger Strength Great Immortal offered to take over when the blade reached bone.

• Gu Mingyue warned Zhang Xiaohua that Tiger Strength Great Immortal had entered the Water God Great Tomb, and Zhang Xiaohua ordered the Yellow Heaven Dao to kill the Shen Family disciples and activate their formation.
• Shen Liang withdrew from the fight and let the massacre proceed, absorbing an unseen aura from each fallen Shen Family disciple as his cultivation climbed toward the Eleventh Order.
• Chen Zhifei froze and shattered the Old Madam of the Shen Family, while Zhou Qiucheng questioned Shen Liang's decision to stand aside.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal failed to damage the Innate Water God's body, so Zhang Chen brought out the Immortal Slaughtering Sword and cut into its calf.
• Tu Shan Qing drank the Innate Water God's blood as Zhang Chen chopped through its flesh, and Tiger Strength Great Immortal collected blood in a jar.
• When Zhang Chen's blows slowed against the Innate Water God's bones, Tiger Strength Great Immortal asked to wield the sword himself.

Zhang Chen, Tiger Strength Great Immortal, and Tu Shan Qing harvested the Innate Water God's blood and divided its body after Tiger Strength Great Immortal's strike broke the Immortal Slaughtering Sword. They left with their shares, while Zhang Chen doubted that the Innate Water God's remains would make Tiger Strength Great Immortal's breakthrough to the realm of Fruit straightforward.

• Tiger Strength Great Immortal used the Immortal Slaughtering Sword to sever the Innate Water God's legs, and Tu Shan Qing swallowed them while Zhang Chen and Tiger Strength Great Immortal collected its blood.
• Zhang Chen and Tiger Strength Great Immortal each claimed one jar of blood, while Tu Shan Qing settled for licking up the blood left on the wounds.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal struck the Innate Water God's head, snapping the Immortal Slaughtering Sword; Zhang Chen explained that the blade had been repaired and its joint was weak.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal used the sword tip to cut off the Innate Water God's head and split its body, and Zhang Chen and Tiger Strength Great Immortal divided the remains while Tu Shan Qing lapped up residual blood.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal hoped the Innate Water God's body would help him reach the Twelfth Order and the realm of Fruit, but Zhang Chen doubted that the breakthrough would be easy.

Zhang Chen, Tiger Strength Great Immortal, and Tu Shan Qing escaped the Innate Water God's tomb, then plotted to trap Zhang Xiaohua when he arrived. Zhang Xiaohua survived the Weak Water and found a passage into the crystal altar, unaware that the others were preparing a trap for him.

• Tu Shan Qing devoured the Innate Water God's remaining blood while Zhang Chen and Tiger Strength Great Immortal surveyed the tomb and worried about the missing soul.
• Zhang Chen, Tiger Strength Great Immortal, and Tu Shan Qing encountered Zhang Xiaohua and planned to lure him into the altar and kill him with Water Bear Insects.
• Zhang Xiaohua entered the tomb through Shen Liang's space channel, fell into the Weak Water, and survived because of his Water Virtue Star Lord divine position.
• Zhang Chen, Tiger Strength Great Immortal, and Tu Shan Qing withdrew into the tomb and decided to put on a show for Zhang Xiaohua.
• Zhang Xiaohua reached the crystal altar, recognized Zhang Chen and the others inside, and found the passage entrance after failing to break through the Crystal Stone.

Zhang Chen and Tiger Strength Great Immortal trapped Zhang Xiaohua in the Water God’s tomb and unleashed Water Bear Insects against him. As the insects tore into Zhang Xiaohua, he begged for mercy, and Zhang Chen hesitated over whether to spare him.

• Zhang Xiaohua followed Zhang Chen and the others to the Inner Coffin, mistook their staged opening for a gateway to the Water God’s true burial ground, and rushed inside.
• Zhang Chen revealed that they had already taken the Water God’s fortune and divided up the corpse, then blocked the exit with Tiger Strength Great Immortal and Tu Shan Qing.
• Zhang Xiaohua revealed his Eleventh Order power and attacked Zhang Chen, but Tiger Strength Great Immortal met his strike, sending the group tumbling into the passage and toward the Weak Water.
• Zhang Chen summoned Water Bear Insects, sealed the passage, and closed the nearby Space Channels, leaving Zhang Xiaohua trapped with the insects.
• The Water Bear Insects devoured Zhang Xiaohua’s body and repeatedly revived after his attacks, while he failed to break through the sealed passage and begged Zhang Chen to spare him.
• Zhang Chen questioned whether Zhang Xiaohua would have spared him in the same position, as Tiger Strength Great Immortal and Tu Shan Qing watched him hesitate.

Zhang Chen and his companions escaped the Water Bear Insects after they devoured Zhang Xiaohua, then searched for a way out of the tomb’s formation. Tiger Strength Great Immortal’s attack triggered the formation’s overwhelming cold, and Zhang Chen proposed finding and suppressing its core, though he did not understand formations.

• Zhang Chen refused to spare Zhang Xiaohua, and the Water Bear Insects devoured the Eleventh Order cultivator while Zhang Chen froze and contained the insects.
• Zhang Chen, Tiger Strength Great Immortal, and Tu Shan Qing crossed the weak water and searched the formation for an exit.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal grew into a giant and struck the formation barrier, triggering a wave of cold that froze him.
• Zhang Chen absorbed the cold energy and freed Tiger Strength Great Immortal, then used his Water Authority to neutralize the descending mist.
• Zhang Chen explained that they needed to locate and suppress the Formation Core, but fell silent when Tiger Strength Great Immortal asked how he would find it.

Zhang Chen escaped the Water God’s formation with Tiger Strength Great Immortal and Tu Shan Qing, then discovered Shen Liang was letting the Shen family be slaughtered to absorb their power. Zhang Chen’s Devouring Eye revealed an Innate Sacred Being awakening within Shen Liang, leaving him alarmed and seeking the Great Sovereign Demon King’s explanation.

• Zhang Chen used the Great Sovereign Demon King to locate eighteen moving energy nodes, then slowed and halted the formation with the Ocean Stabilizing Divine Pearl, Suppression Talismans, and Measuring Heaven Ruler.
• Zhang Chen teleported out with Tiger Strength Great Immortal and Tu Shan Qing and returned to the battle at the Shen family.
• Zhang Chen noticed Shen Liang stood idle as Yellow Heaven Dao’s forces killed Shen family disciples, while each death strengthened Shen Liang.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal refused to attack Shen Liang, admitting that an inexplicable terror warned him against it.
• Zhang Chen used the Devouring Eye and saw blue aura from the dead Shen family disciples enter Shen Liang, feeding an awakening Innate Sacred Being within him.
• Zhang Chen asked the Great Sovereign Demon King to explain the innate radiance gathering inside Shen Liang.

Shen Liang awakened as the Innate Water God’s true spirit and unleashed a devastating attack across Jinling City, forcing Zhang Chen and others to flee. After discovering that its body had been stolen from the great tomb, the enraged Innate Water God threatened to destroy the city.

• The Great Sovereign Demon King explained that the Innate Water God had hidden its true spirit across the Shen family bloodlines, and Shen Liang reached the Eleventh Order as the spirit awakened.
• Shen Liang attacked the entire battlefield, while Zhou Qiucheng and Chen Zhifei joined forces to resist him and protect Jinling’s citizens.
• Tiger Strength Great Immortal warned Zhang Chen and Tu Shan Qing that the Innate Water God could recover to the Twelfth Order, then fled; Zhang Chen gave Tu Shan Qing a Suppression Talisman and escaped with him to Chongzheng Academy.
• Zhou Qiucheng and Chen Zhifei continued fighting Shen Liang as the Yellow Heaven Dao’s gods fled and the battle shattered Jinling’s formation.
• The Innate Water God sensed that its body was missing, flew into the great tomb, and found the altar and coffin empty.
• The Innate Water God roared that it would destroy Jinling City unless its body was returned, as black clouds and deadly lightning gathered overhead.

After the Innate Water God’s attack on Jinling City ended, Zhang Chen brought his family to shelter at Chongzheng Academy and learned that the Shen Family had been exterminated. Zhou Qiucheng, gravely weakened by the battle, told Zhang Chen the news, and Zhang Chen concealed his own involvement.

• The Exquisite Pagoda absorbed the lightning as the Innate Water God’s battle in Jinling City raged, then returned to Chongzheng Academy after the storm ended.
• Zhou Qiucheng announced that classes would resume, and Zhang Chen went to the Back Mountain to reassure Zhang Shi and the Three Little Ones.
• Zhang Chen told his family that the Shen Family had likely been destroyed and warned them that Jinling City would descend into chaos.
• Zhou Zhen arranged rooms for Zhang Chen’s family and then led Zhang Chen to see Zhou Qiucheng.
• Zhou Qiucheng, chilled and weakened by the battle, told Zhang Chen that the Shen Family had been exterminated; Zhang Chen pretended to be shocked and said he had ended his marriage arrangement long ago.

Zhang Chen learned that the Innate Water God had badly wounded Zhou Qiucheng before fleeing Jinling City, and he decided to remain at Chongzheng Academy under Zhou’s protection. As bloody chaos engulfed the city, Zhang Chen encountered Shen Ling, who remained unaware that her family had fallen.

• Zhou Qiucheng told Zhang Chen that he had driven back and sealed the Innate Water God, but its divine ability had left him gravely injured and chilled by a power he could not easily dispel.
• Zhang Chen decided to stay at Chongzheng Academy, where Zhou Qiucheng could protect him, and planned to strengthen himself by dealing with the Innate Water God's remains and exploring the Exquisite Pagoda.
• The next morning, Zhou Zhen told Zhang Chen that fighting had raged in Jinling City throughout the night, and Zhang Chen sensed that the city had become a river of blood.
• Zhang Chen and Zhou Zhen headed toward the Exquisite Pagoda as students climbed the mountain, while Zhang Chen reflected on how the city's upheaval might change the fortunes of the privileged families.
• Shen Ling and Jiang Nan arrived at the academy unaware of the Shen family's downfall, and Shen Ling boasted that she would marry Gao Qiu in three months.

The Shen family was exterminated by the Yellow Heaven Dao, leaving Shen Ling devastated as rival forces seized the family’s holdings. Zhang Chen learned that the Yellow Heaven Dao was hunting those tied to Zhang Xiaohua’s death, then saw Zhang Gaoqiu face Chai Wenji’s anger over his unresolved engagement to Shen Ling.

• Lai Changrong told Shen Ling that the Yellow Heaven Dao and Demon Race had destroyed the Shen family, while other groups were taking its assets.
• Shen Ling collapsed after hearing that her family had been slaughtered, and Zhou Zhen carried her to shelter while Zhang Gaoqiu entered the Exquisite Pagoda without helping.
• Tu Shan Qing told Zhang Chen that Zhang Gaoqiu had become involved with Chai Wenji and that the Yellow Heaven Dao was searching Jinling City for Zhang Xiaohua’s killers.
• Tu Shan Qing said Tiger Strength Great Immortal had fled to the Great Wilderness after the Yellow Heaven Dao pursued him with methods left by the Grand Worthy Teacher.
• Zhang Chen examined the Exquisite Pagoda but found no clues, then overheard Chai Wenji reproach Zhang Gaoqiu for failing to end his engagement to Shen Ling before the Shen family fell.

Zhang Chen discovered that he could extend his lifespan by absorbing vitality from trees, especially when he used Time Law to accelerate their growth. The next morning, he saw Shen Qiu being beaten by nobles who had once benefited from the Shen family, while Zhou Zhen stopped the attack but offered little real support.

• Chai Wenji and Zhang Gaoqiu discussed how to make Shen Ling bring up breaking off their engagement, and Zhang Chen left after hearing their plan.
• Zhang Chen tested his Wood Authority and Time Law on trees, gaining ten days of lifespan from a tree he had accelerated by sixty years.
• He absorbed ten years of lifespan from trees, realized he could harvest only some of each tree's vitality and return later, then went home and wondered whether he could share life force with his family.
• The next morning, Zhang Chen and Zhou Zhen found Cao Dou and other nobles beating Shen Qiu over the Shen family's fall from power.
• Zhou Zhen made the nobles leave and promised to help Shen Qiu if they attacked again, while Zhang Chen doubted that Zhou Zhen truly intended to defend him.

Zhang Chen secretly devoured the Innate Water God's body and head beneath the Exquisite Pagoda, gaining fifteen billion points and sending the skull into the Blood Sea. He then considered how to strengthen himself and settled on upgrading Sun Charcoal Fire.

• Zhang Chen realized the Exquisite Pagoda could suppress the Innate Water God's aura, then had pangolins dig a passage beneath it.
• Zhang Chen used the Measuring Heaven Ruler to resist the pagoda's suppression and devoured the Innate Water God's body and head with the Innate Mosquito's mouthparts.
• The Blood Sea origin drew Zhang Chen to cast the Innate Water God's skull into the Blood Sea.
• Zhang Chen checked his Golden Finger Interface and found he had fifteen billion points.
• Zhang Chen reviewed his skills and settled on Sun Charcoal Fire as the one to upgrade.

Zhang Chen spent skill points to advance Sun True Fire and several other abilities while planning how to strengthen himself against the dangers of the Innate Water God and Evil Beings. After Golden Light of the Righteous God erased the curse in his soul, the curse unexpectedly returned from within his Primordial Spirit.

• Zhang Chen upgraded Sun Charcoal Fire to tenth-order Sun True Fire, leaving him with fourteen billion skill points.
• Zhang Chen decided to prioritize long-term growth and survival, then upgraded his Spiritual World skill to reach the Fourth Heaven.
• Zhang Chen raised Golden Light of the Righteous God to the Sixth Order, gaining the ability to suppress tenth-order Evil Beings in sealed containers.
• Zhang Chen upgraded Golden Light of the Righteous God to the Seventh Order, gaining the ability to dispel curses up to the Tenth Order.
• Golden Light of the Righteous God dissolved the Curse Power in Zhang Chen's soul, but the curse reappeared from within his Primordial Spirit.

Zhang Chen upgraded several skills while struggling to purge the curse rooted in his soul, but the curse survived and he lacked the points to strengthen his golden light further. He improved his Soul Hooking Chains and Nine Bends Yellow River Rune Formation, then turned to consider his remaining affordable skills.

• Zhang Chen upgraded the Golden Light of the Righteous God to the Eighth Order, gaining the ability to break curses, suppress Tenth Order Evil Beings, and control the light's size, but the curse in his soul regrew after being cleansed.
• Zhang Chen realized he lacked the twenty billion points needed for the next upgrade and worried that the curse exceeded the Tenth Order and might also threaten others who had entered the Emperor's Daughter Great Tomb.
• Zhang Chen declined to upgrade Dragon Qi, Body Transformation Blood River, Water Authority, and several other skills because of their cost or limited usefulness.
• Zhang Chen upgraded Soul Hooking Chains to the Fourth Order, gaining the ability to lock a hooked soul away permanently, but decided to save his remaining points rather than upgrade it again.
• Zhang Chen upgraded the Nine Bends Yellow River Rune Formation to the Fifth Order, doubling its range to two thousand four hundred meters, then considered Time Acceleration, Sun True Fire, and Cold Qi Source.

Zhang Chen spent 11 billion skill points to improve Time Acceleration and raise Sun True Fire to the Eleventh Order, gaining a spiritually aware flame capable of serving as a vessel for his Primordial Spirit. He left his cave with greater confidence against powerful foes but remained troubled by the curse mark in his soul.

• Zhang Chen upgraded Time Acceleration to the Third Order, allowing it to accelerate an item's time by two jiazi years per activation.
• Zhang Chen weighed the risks of upgrading Sun True Fire, then spent 10 billion points to raise it to the Eleventh Order.
• Zhang Chen discovered that Sun True Fire had gained spirituality and could hold his Primordial Spirit, and he speculated that it might eventually give birth to a Golden Crow.
• Zhang Chen sensed that the Eleventh-Order Exquisite Pagoda could no longer suppress his Sun True Fire, then left his cave and had the pangolin cover the mountain path.
• Zhang Chen worried about the unknown curse mark in his soul and lamented that even the Great Sovereign Demon King did not know its origin.

Zhang Chen met Liu Ji amid the chaos in Jinling City and gave him the blood of the Innate Water God, warning him to refine it safely. Liu Ji revealed that the Yellow Heaven Dao had ordered him to investigate and seize control of the Shen Family Great Tomb’s formation, while a new Tenth Order Po Jun Star expert was coming to Jinling City.

• Zhang Chen found Tu Shan Qing studying a mural that resonated with the eyeball in his palm, then left the Exquisite Pagoda to check on Liu Ji.
• Zhang Chen returned to his courtyard, recognized Liu Ji’s cloth strip at the gate, burned it, and waited for Liu Ji to arrive.
• Liu Ji came to the courtyard and accepted the blood of the Innate Water God, agreeing to refine it into an Yin Spirit rather than risk creating a bloodline.
• Liu Ji told Zhang Chen that the Yellow Heaven Dao had ordered him to enter the great tomb and investigate its formation after Zhang Xiaohua’s life lamp went out.
• Liu Ji warned Zhang Chen that a new Tenth Order expert with the Po Jun Star divine position was coming to Jinling City and advised him to leave if he could.

Zhang Chen warned himself to prepare for revenge from the Pacifying Border King and began purifying the Immortal Slaughtering Sword with Sun True Fire in the Elixir Furnace. After Fox Immortal NanNan confronted him over Zhang Xiaohua’s death, Zhang Chen denied killing him and sent her to find a secluded courtyard in Jinling City.

• Liu Ji warned Zhang Chen that Zhao Lie, the Po Jun Star, was a formidable opponent and that the Pacifying Border King might seek revenge for Zhang Xiaohua’s death.
• Zhang Chen placed the half-section of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword in the Elixir Furnace and used Sun True Fire to cleanse the imprints contaminating it.
• Zhang Chen replenished the Elixir Furnace with mana and Innate Qi, then sealed in its escaping heat with the Suppression Talisman.
• Fox Immortal NanNan confronted Zhang Chen and accused him of breaking his promise to spare Zhang Xiaohua.
• Zhang Chen denied killing Zhang Xiaohua and instructed Fox Immortal NanNan to find him a secluded courtyard in Jinling City.

Zhang Chen returned to the academy, rejected Zhang Gaoqiu’s scheme involving Shen Ling, and visited Zhou Qiucheng, whose soul was still afflicted by the Innate Water God’s ice curse. Three days later, Zhang Chen reforged half of the Immortal Slaughtering Sword’s tip and recognized it from ages past.

• Zhang Chen ignored the scholars tormenting Shen Qiu and went to the Exquisite Pagoda, where Tu Shan Qing warned him that Yellow Heaven Dao was investigating Zhang Xiaohua’s death and trying to enter the Great Tomb.
• Zhang Gaoqiu told Zhang Chen that Shen Ling had miscarried after the Shen Family’s destruction, then urged him to pursue her and help Zhang Gaoqiu win Chai Wenji in exchange for wealth and influence; Zhang Chen refused and called him shameless.
• Zhang Chen returned to the courtyard and found Zhou Qiucheng’s Frost Power worsening despite the Treasure Pagoda’s help; Zhou Qiucheng said he hoped to break the curse by proving the Dao Yang Spirit.
• Zhang Chen cultivated for three days, then used the Measuring Heaven Ruler to suppress the Sword Qi released from the Elixir Furnace and retrieved half of a sword tip.
• Zhang Chen used the Immortal Slaughtering Sword’s control incantation to contain its Killing Intent and recognized the half-sword tip as something he had known in ages past.