Chapter Summaries

Huang Chao became one of Jinling City's Six Decision-Makers, while Zhou Qiucheng emerged from seclusion because Chen Sanliang had challenged him to a debate of the Dao in one year. Zhang Chen refused to reveal what he knew of Chen Sanliang's teachings, and the chapter ended with him wary of Jiang Nan's growing contact with Zhou Qiucheng.

• Zhang Chen learned that Huang Chao had won a place among Jinling City's Six Decision-Makers and taken charge of Zhang Chen's district.
• Zhang Chen met Zhou Qiucheng at Chongzheng Academy after his teacher emerged from seclusion with frost still surrounding him.
• Zhou Qiucheng told Zhang Chen that Chen Sanliang had defeated academies across the South of the River Lands and sent a challenge letter demanding a debate in one year.
• Zhou Qiucheng asked Zhang Chen for flaws in Chen Sanliang's doctrines, but Zhang Chen denied knowing them and suggested asking the court for help.
• Zhang Chen saw Zhou Zhen bring Jiang Nan to meet Zhou Qiucheng and grew suspicious of her motives.

Jiang Nan became Zhou Qiucheng's personal disciple by offering him two Eight Treasures Heart-Locking Elixirs, while Zhang Chen discovered Shen Qiu's portrait in the Exquisite Pagoda and speculated about his strange transformation. After the Blood Control Technique absorbed enough blood from the northern battlefields to advance, Zhang Chen upgraded it to the Eighth Order and gained mastery of the Sound Wave Law.

• Zhou Zhen brought Jiang Nan to Zhou Qiucheng, who answered her scholarly questions.
• Jiang Nan offered Zhou Qiucheng two Eight Treasures Heart-Locking Elixirs in exchange for becoming his disciple, and he accepted her as his personal disciple.
• Zhang Chen found Shen Qiu depicted as a lifelike portrait on the Exquisite Pagoda's jade wall and sensed that Shen Qiu was still alive.
• Zhang Chen suspected Shen Qiu's grief over his family's destruction had helped him connect with the bizarre being in the painting, but his investigation revealed no secret.
• Zhang Chen learned that his Blood Control Technique had gathered enough experience from the northern lands to advance, then upgraded it to the Eighth Order and gained mastery of the Sound Wave Law.

Zhang Chen searched for a way to deal with the strange entities sealed in the Exquisite Pagoda and investigated why his imprisoned hand had stopped yielding Experience Points. The chapter left him facing a warning that Zhao Lie and Yellow Heaven Dao were moving against him, though Zhang Chen remained confident.

• Zhou Zhen told Zhang Chen that Jiang Nan had given Zhou Qiucheng two elixirs and become his personal disciple, while Zhang Chen denied having any serious grievance with her.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King explained that Zhang Chen could not easily summon the Exquisite Pagoda’s strange entities and suggested corrupting the pagoda with the Blood Sea, but Zhang Chen rejected the plan because it could harm Zhou Qiucheng.
• After more than a year passed without the imprisoned hand in Ice Hell producing Experience Points, Zhang Chen suspected its confinement was responsible and planned to test the theory with other strange entities.
• Zhang Chen tended the Soul Gathering Lamp and continued refining the God Smashing Whip in the depleted Third Heaven of the Spiritual World.
• Huang Chao warned Zhang Chen that Zhao Lie of Yellow Heaven Dao intended to attack him and might join forces with the Yangtze River Water God, but Zhang Chen dismissed the threat.

Yellow Heaven Dao demanded that Chongzheng Academy surrender Zhang Chen, but Zhou Qiucheng refused and prepared to defend the academy. Three days later, Gu Mingyue and Zhao Lie confronted Zhou Qiucheng at the Mountain Gate, and he challenged them to consider what would happen if they lost.

• Zhang Chen dismissed Huang Chao’s warnings and went to Chongzheng Academy, where Yellow Heaven Dao delivered a card demanding his surrender.
• Zhou Qiucheng refused to hand Zhang Chen over, ordered him to remain in the academy, and declared that he would crush Yellow Heaven Dao’s interference in Jinling City.
• Jiang Nan urged Zhang Chen to leave the mountain to spare the academy, but Zhang Chen rejected him and vanished using his escape technique.
• Three days later, Gu Mingyue arrived at Chongzheng Academy and asked Zhou Qiucheng to surrender Zhang Chen on Yellow Heaven Dao’s behalf.
• Zhou Qiucheng refused Gu Mingyue’s pressure, and Gu Mingyue called Zhao Lie from the clouds to join him against the dean.
• Zhou Qiucheng warned Gu Mingyue and Zhao Lie that if they lost, every Yellow Heaven Dao follower in Jinling City would have to leave.

Zhao Lie summoned a giant asteroid to force Zhou Qiucheng to choose between defending Jinling City and protecting Chongzheng Academy. As Zhou Qiucheng flew up to meet it, Zhang Chen burned the asteroid to ash with Sun True Fire.

• Gu Mingyue attacked Zhou Qiucheng while Zhao Lie tried to enter Chongzheng Academy and find Zhang Chen.
• Zhou Qiucheng merged with the Exquisite Pagoda and used its suppression power to repel Zhao Lie and hold off Gu Mingyue.
• After repeated attempts to break through, Zhao Lie summoned a ten-kilometer-wide asteroid to threaten Jinling City.
• Zhou Qiucheng transformed into the Exquisite Pagoda and enlarged it to intercept the falling asteroid, while Jinling’s citizens and the academy’s scholars panicked.
• Zhang Chen used the Measuring Heaven Ruler to send a flame into the asteroid’s path, and Sun True Fire reduced it to ash in a single breath.

Zhou Qiucheng captured Zhao Lie and drove Yellow Heaven Dao’s forces from Jinling City, crushing one family estate when its members refused to leave. Meanwhile, the mysterious Sun True Fire’s display drew attention from across the land, and Zhou Qiucheng resolved to continue toward Jinling despite the danger.

• The Sun True Fire burned the meteorite to ash and suppressed Gu Mingyue, who fled, while Zhou Qiucheng imprisoned Zhao Lie in the Exquisite Pagoda.
• Zhou Zhen urged his father to purge Yellow Heaven Dao from Jinling City, and Zhou Qiucheng ordered its cultivators and aristocratic families to leave within thirty breaths.
• When a Liu Family deity and others resisted, Zhou Qiucheng destroyed their estate with a single palm, prompting Yellow Heaven Dao forces to flee the city.
• Zhou Qiucheng hunted down those hiding in Jinling City and gave mortals connected to Yellow Heaven Dao one day to leave before going to reassure Zhang Chen.
• Far away, Zhou Qiucheng rejected his disciple’s suggestion to avoid Jinling, insisting that retreating from an unknown expert would flaw his Great Dao.
• Spies from across the land converged on Jinling City after witnessing the Sun True Fire’s power.

Zhang Chen’s Sun True Fire drew the attention of powerful figures across Kyoto, while Howling Sky Divine Lord recognized Zhang Chen’s aura and vowed to take revenge. Back in Jinling, Zhang Chen found Huang Chao unwilling to flee and learned that Zhou Qiucheng might be seeking a way to break free of the Exquisite Pagoda.

• Xie Xuan, Old Ancestor Peacock, Chai Zhu, and Zhong Xiang sensed Zhang Chen’s Sun True Fire and wondered about its source and power.
• Howling Sky Divine Lord recognized Zhang Chen’s aura, vowed to master the Sun Devouring True Scripture, and imagined confronting him before obeying the girl who kept him as a pet.
• Zhang Chen returned to his courtyard and found Huang Chao still in Jinling, where Huang claimed his Thousand Transformations methods could hide him from Zhou Qiucheng.
• Huang Chao refused to abandon his wealth and foundation, and Zhang Chen warned him to stay alive.
• Huang Chao warned Zhang Chen that Zhou Qiucheng might use Jinling’s wealth and faith to advance his physical body and escape the Exquisite Pagoda.

Zhang Chen rejected warnings to leave Jinling City and Chongzheng Academy, choosing to stay for the Exquisite Pagoda and Zhou Qiucheng’s coming debate. Five days later, Zhou Qiucheng gathered Incense Power to repair the pagoda, while Zhang Chen worried the Incense Divine Path might bring hidden dangers.

• Huang Chao warned Zhang Chen that Yellow Heaven Dao would retaliate against Jinling City and urged him to flee, but Zhang Chen refused and became intrigued by rumors of Yellow Heaven Dao’s God-Devil Great Tombs.
• Zhang Chen stayed in Jinling City to investigate the Exquisite Pagoda and await Zhou Qiucheng and Chen Sanliang’s debate, then spent the night comprehending the Heaven and Earth Laws.
• Jiang Nan urged Zhang Chen to leave Chongzheng Academy before Yellow Heaven Dao returned, but he dismissed her authority and continued into the Treasure Pagoda.
• Zhang Chen saw a new mural depicting Po Jun Star Zhao Lie and noticed that many people had left the academy, but he remained confident that Tiger Strength Great Immortal could protect him.
• On the fifth day, Zhou Qiucheng gathered Incense Power to nourish the Exquisite Pagoda, and the Great Sovereign Demon King explained that this could restore the treasure and raise Zhou Qiucheng’s power.
• Zhang Chen watched the pagoda’s Innate Restrictions begin repairing themselves and worried that the Incense Divine Path might expose it to Incense Poison.

Zhang Chen warned Zhou Qiucheng that the Incense Divine Path carried the danger of Incense Poison, but Zhou Qiucheng chose it anyway to protect Jinling City and his family. Half a year later, the Exquisite Pagoda had become a powerful Divine Path Magical Artifact, while the Great Sovereign Demon King sensed that the being sealed beneath it had grown stronger.

• Zhang Chen saw Zhou Qiucheng's statues replace temple idols throughout Jinling City as the city's incense offerings poured toward Chongzheng Academy.
• Zhou Qiucheng told Zhang Chen that he had chosen the Incense Divine Path because he expected to lose his Dao debate with Chen Sanliang and needed to protect his family and Jinling City.
• Zhou Qiucheng revealed that an ancient being sealed beneath the Exquisite Pagoda had given him the secret art for creating a divine incarnation.
• Zhang Chen explained that Incense Poison could corrupt a deity's thoughts and destroy their consciousness, but Zhou Qiucheng refused to abandon his only chance to escape his predicament.
• Half a year later, Zhang Chen found that the Exquisite Pagoda had transformed into a Divine Path Magical Artifact, and the Great Sovereign Demon King reported that the being sealed beneath it had grown stronger.

Zhang Chen and Great Sovereign Demon King discovered that the sealed demon was growing stronger by absorbing Incense Poison from the Exquisite Pagoda’s Divine Path power. Later, Zhou Qiucheng asked Zhang Chen to support his plan to marry Zhou Zhen to Jiang Nan, while Zhang Chen privately resolved to keep his distance from her.

• Great Sovereign Demon King explained that the demon beneath the Exquisite Pagoda was absorbing Incense Poison and might use the pagoda to escape or possess Zhou Qiucheng.
• Zhang Chen failed to locate the demon’s body but decided he would use Soul Hooking Plunder to mark it if it emerged.
• Zhang Chen found Zhou Zhen troubled because Zhou Qiucheng planned to arrange his marriage to Jiang Nan, though Zhou Zhen could not explain why he resisted.
• Zhou Qiucheng asked Zhang Chen what he thought of Jiang Nan and told him to persuade Zhou Zhen to accept the marriage.
• Zhang Chen agreed to support Zhou Qiucheng, then left thinking that he should stay away from Jiang Nan and her troubles.

Zhang Chen watched Shen Qiu emerge from seclusion with a mysterious speed ability and learned that Jiang Nan was due to marry Zhou Zhen. After Shen Qiu attacked a man who mocked him about Jiang Nan, he went to her courtyard and confronted her about his timing.

• Zhang Chen saw Jiang Nan speaking with Zhou Zhen and believed their marriage was approaching, while Shen Qiu remained in seclusion.
• Three months later, Shen Qiu emerged from the Exquisite Pagoda with an obscure aura and astonishing speed.
• A former lackey taunted Shen Qiu that Jiang Nan would marry next month, and Shen Qiu beat him unconscious with rapid attacks that left afterimages.
• Zhang Chen judged Shen Qiu's speed to be his main strength and considered how his Ice Domain and Sun True Fire could counter it.
• Shen Qiu went to Jiang Nan's courtyard and, when she returned, asked whether he had come out at the wrong time; Jiang Nan responded coldly.

Jiang Nan rejected Shen Qiu and chose to marry Zhou Zhen, while Shen Qiu publicly accused Zhou Zhen of taking her by force. Shen Qiu left the academy, and Zhou Zhen was left brooding over the humiliating confrontation.

• Jiang Nan told Shen Qiu their past vows no longer mattered and warned him to stop pursuing her.
• Zhang Chen prepared the Soul Gathering Lamp with Yellow Springs Water, hoping it could resolve Zhou Qiucheng’s crisis.
• Shen Qiu knelt at the Exquisite Pagoda and begged Zhou Zhen to give Jiang Nan back, implying that Zhou Zhen had coerced her.
• Jiang Nan arrived and declared that marrying Zhou Zhen was her own choice, then warned Shen Qiu to stop harassing her.
• Shen Qiu left the mountain, and Zhou Zhen summoned Zhang Chen to drink with him, admitting he had made a fool of himself.

Zhang Chen watched Zhou Zhen recover from his despair over Jiang Nan and Shen Qiu, but their wedding plans collapsed when Zhou Zhen caught them embracing. Zhou Zhen demanded that his father dissolve the engagement, while Jiang Nan began explaining that the embrace had been a farewell meant to send Shen Qiu away.

• Zhang Chen drank with Zhou Zhen after Zhou Zhen learned Jiang Nan had been involved with Shen Qiu, and Shen Qiu remained at the academy as rumors spread.
• Three days before the wedding, Zhou Zhen appeared reconciled with Jiang Nan and told Zhang Chen that Shen Qiu's feelings had been one-sided.
• Zhang Chen and Zhou Zhen saw Jiang Nan embrace Shen Qiu in a secluded pavilion, and Shen Qiu fled when Zhou Zhen shouted at them.
• Zhou Zhen beat Jiang Nan when she tried to explain, then told Zhang Chen he wanted to break off the engagement.
• Zhou Zhen demanded that Zhou Qiucheng end the engagement, but Zhou Qiucheng asked to hear Jiang Nan's account before deciding.
• Jiang Nan told Zhou Qiucheng that Shen Qiu had asked for one farewell embrace before leaving the academy, and she had agreed to prevent further trouble.

Zhou Qiucheng dismissed Jiang Nan’s misconduct and ordered Zhou Zhen’s wedding to proceed, while Huang Chao warned Zhang Chen that Yellow Heaven Dao planned to attack Zhou Qiucheng. Zhou Zhen secretly gave Zhang Chen a letter to deliver to his father after the wedding, and Zhang Chen ended the chapter cultivating as the Spiritual World grew desolate.

• Zhou Qiucheng defended Jiang Nan and insisted that Zhou Zhen marry her in three days, despite Zhou Zhen’s objections.
• Zhou Zhen drank himself unconscious with Zhang Chen, who took him back to the academy.
• Huang Chao warned Zhang Chen that Yellow Heaven Dao had discovered Zhou Qiucheng’s weakness and planned to move against him, but Zhang Chen refused to flee.
• Zhang Chen saw Jiang Nan preparing for the wedding, then received a letter from Zhou Zhen to deliver to Zhou Qiucheng after the ceremony.
• Zhang Chen entered the Spiritual World and found the Thirtieth Heaven withered and drained as the Elixir Furnace continued to churn.

Zhang Chen watched the Spiritual World Fourth Heaven collapse after its origin was drained, then entered the Fifth Heaven, where lethal Geng Metal Qi filled the world. He used Metal Escape to travel toward the Heaven Supporting Pillar and later continued cultivating his Primordial Spirit and Blood Sea Great Dao.

• Zhang Chen saw the Fourth Heaven crumble into the Space Tide and escaped to the Fifth Heaven with the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King warned Zhang Chen that Geng Metal Qi had filled the Fifth Heaven and killed nearly all life.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King scouted ahead and found that the Heaven Supporting Pillar, ten thousand li away, was the source of the Geng Metal Qi.
• Zhang Chen used his Metal Escape Technique to travel toward the Heaven Supporting Pillar, refusing to spend ten billion points to upgrade the technique.
• Zhang Chen meditated the next morning as his Heaven Reaching Jianmu grew and produced more Innate Qi, while he chose not to use the ascension liquid or pursue an Immortal Body yet.

Zhou Zhen fled his wedding to Jiang Nan, and Zhou Qiucheng revealed he had arranged the marriage to force his son away from danger as Chen Sanliang threatened the academy. Zhou Qiucheng gave Zhang Chen half his savings and urged him to leave Jinling City that night, leaving Zhang Chen stunned by his teacher’s preparations.

• Zhang Chen helped prepare for Zhou Zhen and Jiang Nan’s wedding while hearing guests discuss Chen Sanliang’s growing influence and the Demon Race’s invasion of South of the River Dao.
• Zhou Zhen failed to appear for the wedding ceremony, and a steward reported that he had taken off his wedding robes and gone down the mountain.
• Zhou Qiucheng postponed the wedding and had Jiang Nan escorted away as the guests realized Zhou Zhen had fled.
• Zhang Chen delivered Zhou Zhen’s letter to Zhou Qiucheng, who explained that he had forced the marriage to send Zhou Zhen away before Chen Sanliang’s threat could endanger him.
• Zhou Qiucheng asked Zhang Chen to look after Zhou Zhen, gave him half his savings, and told him to leave Jinling City that night.

Zhang Chen left Zhou Qiucheng’s room with the man’s fortune, while Jiang Nan accepted Huang Chao’s offer to take revenge on the Zhou father and son by bringing a black sphere into the Exquisite Pagoda. As Zhang Chen investigated Zhou Qiucheng’s disgraceful actions and sought information about the Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Great Sovereign Demon King suggested that a heavenly demon had corrupted Zhou Qiucheng’s mind.

• Zhang Chen carried Zhou Qiucheng’s chest away, then rejected Jiang Nan’s demand that he kill Zhou Zhen and marry her.
• Huang Chao offered to help Jiang Nan take revenge, and she agreed to carry his black sphere into the Exquisite Pagoda, where it dispersed into black qi.
• Zhang Chen found the chest filled with valuable jade, sent a letter to Xie Lingyun asking for help researching the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and entered the Spiritual World to meditate.
• Zhang Chen secretly listened as news spread that Zhou Zhen had fled his wedding and Jiang Nan had become a laughingstock.
• The Great Sovereign Demon King told Zhang Chen that a heavenly demon might have planted a Demonic Seed in Zhou Qiucheng and twisted his nature.

Zhang Chen learned of Chen Sanliang’s grievous injuries and traveled to the central World Pillar in the Fourth Heaven, where he found the source of the Geng Metal Qi. Great Sovereign Demon King revealed that the source was a scratch left by a supreme being, and Zhang Chen was left trying to comprehend the laws imprinted in it.

• Great Sovereign Demon King warned Zhang Chen that Zhou Qiucheng might be possessed by his remnant and urged him to find a way to let the demon devour it, but Zhang Chen could not restrain him.
• Zhang Chen heard that Chen Sanliang had been gravely injured in an assassination attempt involving eighteen Ninth Order divine beings, seven Tenth Order divine beings, and a forbidden artifact, before Tiger Strength Great Immortal rescued him.
• Zhang Chen traveled to the central World Pillar in the Fourth Heaven and avoided collecting its Divine Might because removing it could damage the pillar and cause the heaven to collapse.
• Zhang Chen found that the Geng Metal Qi stopped his Metal Escape Technique, then continued toward its source with his Sun True Fire protecting him.
• Zhang Chen discovered a vast ravine emitting Geng Metal Qi, and Great Sovereign Demon King explained that it was a scratch left by a being who had mastered the Innate Geng Metal Laws.
• Zhang Chen tried to sense the laws within the scratch but gained nothing.

Zhang Chen acquired Geng Metal Authority and used it to move safely through the Innate Geng Metal Qi, gathering golden sand as he continued toward the Heaven Supporting Pillar. After seven days, Bai Cang visited to request a Suppression Talisman and offered help against the Yellow Heaven Dao in exchange, then warned Zhang Chen about the danger of ancient forbidden artifacts.

• Zhang Chen used the Golden Finger to acquire Geng Metal Authority and realized that obtaining fire authority might grant him a great blessing.
• Zhang Chen discovered that Innate Geng Metal Qi turned to golden sand within five meters of him, and he began collecting the sand for Xie Lingyun and the Three Little Ones.
• Zhang Chen continued toward the summit, choosing to focus on gaining a Twelfth Order divine ability rather than upgrading Geng Metal Authority.
• Bai Cang, who had advanced to the Tenth Order, asked Zhang Chen for a Suppression Talisman and offered to use the Great Victory Dynasty's power against the Yellow Heaven Dao.
• Bai Cang told Zhang Chen that a forbidden artifact had nearly killed Chen Sanliang and explained that such ancient objects could threaten even Twelfth Order experts.

Zhang Chen collected the fourth portion of Divine Might, completing another stage of the Buzhou Seal and causing the Spiritual World Fourth Heaven to begin collapsing. He entered the Spiritual World Fifth Heaven, where he found a graveyard of Tenth Order cultivators and discovered signs that Emperor's Daughter had fought there.

• Zhang Chen gave Bai Cang a Suppression Talisman, asked about the Pacifying Border Prince's Mansion, and heard that its fate was waiting for the highest bidder.
• Zhang Chen collected the Fourth Heaven's Divine Might, adding the fourth portion to the Buzhou Seal and leaving the Heaven Supporting Pillar to corrode.
• Zhang Chen upgraded his Mind Realm to the Fifth Heaven and entered a world of black rain that his Yanluo Authority revealed was made of Fierce Ghosts.
• Zhang Chen killed Fierce Ghosts with his Golden Light of the Righteous God and discovered countless jade bones belonging to at least ten million Tenth Order powerhouses.
• Great Sovereign Demon King warned Zhang Chen of a lurking terror, so Zhang Chen concealed himself and gathered Experience Points.
• Zhang Chen sensed Emperor's Daughter's lingering aura and found a strip of cloth from her sleeve.