Chapter Summaries

Lu Leng fought swarms of soul beasts in the darkness, but discovered that they regenerated after being destroyed and that their bites filled his body with Darkness Element. He remained surrounded as the strange effect began obstructing the flow of his Soul Power.

• Lu Leng used his Zhan Luo Blade and Wind Scroll Remnant Thunder to kill waves of weak soul beasts, but more kept charging from every direction.
• Lu Leng unleashed Wrath of the Dark Demon Evil God and Three Thousand Thunder Movements, destroying thousands of soul beasts and briefly clearing the area.
• Lu Leng noticed that none of the slain soul beasts had left corpses, then tested one and watched it regenerate even after being cut apart.
• Lu Leng tried to search for a hidden controller with Spiritual Power, but could not use it in the darkness.
• Soul beasts bit Lu Leng's arm and thigh, leaving no visible wounds but making the areas stiff and cold.
• Lu Leng found that the bitten areas were filled with Darkness Element, which obstructed the flow of his Soul Power.

Lu Leng struggled against endless soul beasts and Darkness Elements until his Lightning Element and Soul Power were nearly exhausted. He discovered that the Darkness Element from the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger’s bead was resisting the invading darkness, allowing him to reclaim control of his body and begin a counterattack.

• Lu Leng used Lightning Element to kill soul beasts, but their numbers remained overwhelming and his limited power dwindled.
• As Darkness Elements invaded and controlled him, Lu Leng’s body weakened until the soul beasts immobilized him and he believed he was about to die.
• Lu Leng sensed the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger’s bead and found its Darkness Element resisting the darkness invading his dantian.
• Lu Leng joined forces with the bead’s Darkness Element, regained control of his dantian, and began controlling the Darkness Elements inside his body.
• Lu Leng opened his eyes with black light swirling in them and summoned the Zhan Luo Blade, now dark instead of crackling with lightning.

Lu Leng comprehended the Darkness Lock soul skill and used it to defeat the soul beasts in the darkness. After rescuing his companions, he discovered that at least half a year had passed and his Soul Power had risen to Rank 58.

• Lu Leng mastered the Darkness Element and used Darkness Lock to disable the soul beasts, then killed them all.
• Lu Leng emerged from the darkness and found Hu Liena, Ye Lingling, and the others suffering from Darkness Element erosion.
• Lu Leng treated Ye Lingling and the others, while Zi Nü revealed that she had devoured the Darkness Element and broken through Rank 50.
• Lu Leng estimated that at least half a year had passed because the barren trees had regrown their leaves.
• Lu Leng sensed that his Soul Power had reached Rank 58.

Lu Leng and his group reached the Forest of Nature after surviving the final trial, only to find a Spatial Barrier concealing a passage into another space. Zi Nü identified the dense Space Element within it, but the group did not yet know where entering would take them.

• Lu Leng and his group rested after the final trial, then traveled for seven days toward the Forest of Nature.
• Lu Leng and his group arrived at the forest and admired its enormous, seven-colored trees and vibrant plants.
• Zi Nü stopped the group before they entered and tested the strange boundary ahead.
• Lu Leng scanned the area with Spiritual Power and discovered a barrier that distorted and devoured his detection, while the Forest of Nature remained visible to the Eye of Delusion-Breaking.
• Zi Nü put her hand through the barrier, and it vanished from sight until she pulled it back unharmed; Lu Leng then threw a stone through, and it disappeared.
• Zi Nü concluded that the barrier held a Spatial Passage that would transport anyone entering it somewhere else, and Hu Liena asked where it led.

Lu Leng tried to comprehend a Spatial Passage that could let the group enter the Forest of Nature, while a blue-haired man sought help advancing his revenge against the Thunder God. The blue-haired man revealed that Lu Leng was already working to break the barrier and believed he could use him to carry out his plans.

• Zi Nü explained that Lu Leng could open a way through the Spatial Barrier by comprehending a Spatial Passage, and Lu Leng agreed to try.
• Lu Leng meditated at the barrier for several days while the others took turns keeping watch and cultivated in the unusually rich Soul Power.
• A purple-eyed woman told the blue-haired man that her husband would allow her to be his if the man could kill him, but she refused the man's dangerous conditions.
• The blue-haired man declared that he would avenge his wife and child by making the dead Thunder God pay for their deaths.
• The blue-haired man said someone was helping him find a way into the Forest of Nature, and the woman asked who it was.

Thunder Dragon explained his hatred of the Goddess of Nature and his plan to enter the Forest of Nature, where he hoped to reach his wife and child. He dismissed Zi Ji and Di Tian’s strength, while Zi Ji remained unable to persuade him to join their cause.

• Thunder Dragon told Zi Ji that the Thunder God's inheritor could clear the way into the Forest of Nature, allowing him to reach his wife and child, whom the Thunder God had sealed there after killing them.
• Thunder Dragon claimed his father had shattered the Goddess of Nature's godhood and said his own Thunder Dragon bloodline made him powerful enough to overcome the divine sense protecting the Forest of Nature.
• Thunder Dragon recalled that Thunder God had captured him during the God Realm War, made him a mount, and later brought him to the lower realm, but said his family's deaths outweighed any gratitude he felt.
• Zi Ji resented Thunder Dragon calling her a mongrel dragon but acknowledged his greater experience and knowledge of the God Realm.
• Thunder Dragon said gods could not interfere in lower-realm affairs and mocked Zi Ji's appeal to Di Tian and their unconscious Lord, leaving her furious and speechless.

Zi Ji confronted Thunder Dragon about his contempt for Di Tian, but learned that Thunder Dragon considered himself a traitor to the Dragon Clan. Meanwhile, Lu Leng improved his Spatial Concealment while studying the Forest of Nature’s barrier, and Ye Lingling and Hu Liena began an awkward conversation beside the campfire.

• Zi Ji challenged Thunder Dragon for insulting Di Tian, and Thunder Dragon said becoming a mount had made him a traitor to the Dragon Clan before telling her he would seek out Di Tian after destroying the Forest of Nature.
• Lu Leng demonstrated that studying the Spatial Barrier had improved his Spatial Concealment enough to hide an area within a ten-meter radius.
• Hu Liena noticed Lu Leng’s attention toward Ye Lingling and left dinner early to take watch outside.
• Ye Lingling joined Hu Liena by the bonfire, and the two roasted meat in silence before Hu Liena remarked that Ye Lingling’s grilling resembled Lu Leng’s.

Ye Lingling and Hu Liena shared stories about Lu Leng, and Hu Liena told Ye Lingling that she and Lu Leng were a good match, signaling that she was willing to give him up. After Hu Liena killed a soul beast that attacked Lu Leng, Ye Lingling went to her room weighed down by the meaning of their conversation.

• Ye Lingling recalled how Lu Leng helped her at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, while Hu Liena remembered their own past and regretted their mistimed feelings.
• Hu Liena described her bond with Lu Leng as little more than growing up together after she helped awaken his martial soul.
• Hu Liena told Ye Lingling that she and Lu Leng were a good match, and Ye Lingling understood that Hu Liena had chosen to give him up.
• A soul beast lunged at Lu Leng, but Hu Liena used her tail to knock it down and killed it with her blade.
• Xie Yue and Zi Nü briefly checked the commotion and returned to sleep, while Hu Liena told Ye Lingling to rest.

Ye Lingling told Hu Liena that she loved Lu Leng but could not protect him alone, and asked her to stay by his side and help him face future dangers. Hu Liena was moved by Ye Lingling’s trust and began to question whether she could share Lu Leng with someone else.

• Ye Lingling returned to Hu Liena and asked whether she could bear to give up Lu Leng.
• Ye Lingling explained that she wanted Hu Liena beside Lu Leng because his dangerous path would require more support than she could provide alone.
• Ye Lingling recalled how Hu Liena had protected Lu Leng during their journey through Death Canyon.
• Hu Liena realized Ye Lingling was not pitying her but trusting her to help Lu Leng grow safely.
• Hu Liena wavered as she wondered whether she could share Lu Leng with another woman.

Ye Lingling encouraged Hu Liena to pursue Lu Leng and shared how she had won his affection. After half a year studying the Spatial Barrier, Lu Leng developed a soul skill that would let the group enter it, and they prepared to continue after breakfast.

• Ye Lingling decided to accept Hu Liena as an ally rather than risk forcing Lu Leng to choose between them.
• Hu Liena admitted she still loved Lu Leng, and Ye Lingling told her that Lu Leng’s feelings might resemble his earlier feelings for Ye Lingling.
• Ye Lingling whispered her method of winning Lu Leng over, leaving Hu Liena embarrassed but determined to try it.
• After half a year studying the Spatial Barrier, Lu Leng concluded it had been created by a god and gained a deeper understanding of the Space Element.
• Lu Leng told Hu Liena, Ye Lingling, and Xie Yue that he had comprehended a soul skill that would let them pass through the barrier.
• Xie Yue urged the group to enter immediately, but Lu Leng finished eating first and asked how much everyone’s cultivation had improved during their nearly year-long stay.

After six months of studying the Spatial Barrier, Lu Leng led Hu Liena, Xie Yue, Ye Lingling, and Zi Nü through it into the Forest of Nature. They arrived in a vast, colorful landscape and met a small winged native who said he had been waiting for more than just them.

• Lu Leng and his companions shared their Soul Power levels, and he reassured Ye Lingling that her level fifty would be useful in the Forest of Nature.
• Lu Leng opened a Spatial Passage through the barrier, and the group entered the Forest of Nature.
• The group surveyed the enormous waterfall, severed river, seven-colored giant tree, and surrounding regions of different colors.
• A small, yellow-skinned, winged dwarf appeared and told Lu Leng he had been waiting for them, though he had not known they were coming and was waiting for others too.

Lu Leng and his companions entered the Forest of Nature and were led by Sia to the Seven-Colored Giant Tree, where seven native leaders prepared to begin something without explaining it. Outside the forest, Thunder Dragon learned they had passed through the Spatial Barrier and began devising another plan to stop them.

• Thunder Dragon learned that Lu Leng and his group had entered the forest, found the Spatial Barrier still intact, and decided he could not wait for them to complete the divine trial.
• Sia led Lu Leng, Ye Lingling, Hu Liena, Zi Nü, and Xie Yue through the forest toward the Seven-Colored Giant Tree as they admired its scenery.
• Lu Leng asked the dwarf his name, and Sia replied that he was someone Lu Leng already knew without explaining further.
• Sia brought the group into the tree's hollow, where six native leaders waited, including a woman Lu Leng recognized from the snow.
• After Sia took the seventh seat, the silver-clad woman said they should begin, and Lu Leng asked what they meant by asking who would go first.

Ye Lingling underwent the Forest of Nature’s divine assessment, whose crimson light transformed the forest and frightened its natives. She received Top-tier Eight Trials rather than the gold assessment Lu Leng had hoped for.

• The man in black told Lu Leng and the others to take the assessment or leave, and Lu Leng sent Ye Lingling to the seven-colored sapling first.
• Hu Liena and Xie Yue asked about the God’s Assessment, and Lu Leng explained how one could become a god.
• The sapling enveloped Ye Lingling in light that shifted through several colors before turning crimson, bathing the Forest of Nature in red.
• The natives knelt and begged the Goddess of Nature for forgiveness as the forest turned crimson.
• The red light faded, eight red flowers appeared on the sapling, and the man in black announced that Ye Lingling had received Top-tier Eight Trials.

The Seven-Colored Divine Tree gave Xie Yue a Black Level Five Trial and Zi Nü a Yellow Level One Trial, but it failed to assign Hu Liena any assessment. Lufiya admitted she had never seen the tree react this way, leaving Hu Liena’s eligibility unexplained.

• Lu Leng questioned why Ye Lingling had received eight trials instead of the nine he expected, while Ye Lingling worried that she might not be able to ascend to the God Realm with him.
• Lu Leng sent Xie Yue to the Seven-Colored Divine Tree, which granted him a Black Level Five Trial to protect the Forest of Nature from external invasions.
• Zi Nü received a Yellow Level One Trial, and Lu Leng accepted the result as consistent with her limited talent.
• Hu Liena went to the Seven-Colored Divine Tree after Zi Nü, but the tree briefly flickered and assigned her no trial.
• Lufiya said she did not know why the tree had failed to respond to Hu Liena and had never witnessed such a situation.

At the Forest of Nature, Hu Liena received no divine trial, while Lu Leng revealed that he already had one and was denied permission to stay freely. Lu Leng accepted a three-day limit and encouraged Ye Lingling to undergo her Eight Trials, then Sia led the group to their lodging.

• Hu Liena failed to qualify for any divine trial, leaving Lu Leng and the others confused.
• Lu Leng told Lufiya and the black-clad man that he already had a divine trial, and Lufiya allowed him to stay for only three days.
• Lu Leng asked to remain longer to investigate Ye Lingling's altered Eight Trials, but Lufiya refused and the black-clad man warned him to leave after three days.
• Hu Liena persuaded Lu Leng not to force the matter, and Sia led the group to their lodging.
• Ye Lingling offered to abandon her trial and return with Lu Leng, but Sia said her Top-tier Eight Trials concerned the Forest of Nature's fate.
• Lu Leng urged Ye Lingling to complete her trial and asked Xie Yue to protect the others before Sia brought them to a tree that served as a dwelling.

Lu Leng learned that Sia and the others were members of the hidden Elf Race and that Sia had been the Stone Man he spared on the Path to Heaven. Sia revealed that the Goddess of Nature had intervened to protect the elves and that the Seven-Colored Divine Tree had issued a will after a soul beast attacked their forest.

• Sia explained that the people belonged to the Elf Race, which had been sealed away for tens of thousands of years.
• Lu Leng claimed that a god had told him the Goddess of Nature was still remembered in the God Realm, prompting Sia to kneel and kowtow before the Seven-Colored Divine Tree.
• Sia revealed that he had been the Stone Man Lu Leng encountered on the Path to Heaven, and Lu Leng realized he had spared him.
• Sia explained that the Fia sisters and other hardships had tested those seeking entry to the Forest of Nature, and that the Goddess had ordered the sisters not to kill Lu Leng's group.
• Sia told Lu Leng that a year earlier an outside soul beast had attacked the Forest of Nature's Spatial Barrier, which the Seven-Colored Divine Tree repaired before issuing its first will since the elves sealed themselves away.

Lu Leng learned that the Goddess of Nature had ordered the Forest of Nature opened to humans and forbidden its trial overseers from killing them. He suspected the Goddess was deliberately guiding people toward an unknown goal, but could not determine her purpose; Sia also explained how the seven overseers divided the trials.

• Sia told Lu Leng that the Goddess of Nature's decree had allowed humans to enter the Forest of Nature and made the final Spatial Barrier trial possible.
• Sia described the powerful lightning-controlling dragon-type Soul Beast that had attacked them, and Lu Leng identified it as likely the Thunder Dragon.
• Sia revealed that all seven trial overseers had been forbidden to kill anyone, leading Lu Leng to suspect the Goddess was deliberately ushering humans toward an unknown objective.
• Lu Leng considered whether the Goddess of Nature was alive or dead and concluded he could not yet understand her purpose.
• Sia explained that Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai jointly oversaw the two paths of darkness and light, and that they were husband and wife.

Lu Leng and the others discussed their divine trials and the danger posed by possible invaders of the Forest of Nature. Lu Leng suspected Ye Lingling’s Eight Trials had been reduced from the Goddess of Nature’s intended Nine Trials, but the cause remained unknown.

• Sia explained that she and six other spirits each wielded one of the seven elements, and Lu Leng inferred that the Goddess of Nature was likely a First-Rank God.
• Lu Leng learned that Xie Yue, Ye Lingling, and Zi Nü had identical first trial missions to defend the Forest of Nature, despite receiving different trial grades.
• Lu Leng warned that the trials could draw factions from across the continent to attack the forest, and reasoned that the entrance might close once someone received the Goddess of Nature’s Nine Trials.
• Lu Leng said he suspected Ye Lingling was meant to receive the Goddess of Nature’s Nine Trials, but that something had caused her trial to become the Eight Trials.
• Hu Liena grew despondent after learning Lu Leng had the Thunder God’s Nine Trials, while Xie Yue worried that Yan might lose his place in Spirit Hall.

Lu Leng proposed using Spirit Hall to secure Death Canyon before the Forest of Nature drew more soul masters, while investigating Ye Lingling’s eightfold assessment. After returning to Spirit Hall with Hu Liena, he offered to handle the takeover himself when Bibi Dong said she could not help.

• Lu Leng outlined a plan to learn why Ye Lingling had an eightfold assessment and prepare for conflict by seeking Spirit Hall’s support.
• Lu Leng persuaded the group to use the brief window before news spread to have Spirit Hall take control of Death Canyon.
• Lu Leng and Hu Liena left the Forest of Nature and flew back to Spirit Hall, passing growing numbers of soul masters in Death Canyon.
• Lu Leng and Hu Liena met with Bibi Dong, who said sealing Death Canyon would be difficult and she could not join them because of an important matter.
• Lu Leng offered to take charge of securing Death Canyon himself.

Lu Leng organized Spirit Hall forces to seal off Death Canyon and sought Qian Daoliu’s help against a five-hundred-thousand-year Thunder Dragon. He revealed that he had received the Thunder God’s Trial and explained that Ye Lingling could receive the Nine Trials of the Goddess of Nature.

• Bibi Dong ordered everyone to obey Lu Leng as he led the operation, and Ghost Douluo and Chrysanthemum Douluo began gathering Spirit Hall combatants.
• Lu Leng went to the Worship Hall because he needed enough strength to restrain the Thunder Dragon so he could deliver the final blow and obtain its soul ring.
• Qian Daoliu sensed the divine aura on Lu Leng and learned that he had received the Thunder God’s Trial.
• Lu Leng explained that Ye Lingling could receive the Nine Trials of the Goddess of Nature, so he needed time to investigate and seal off Death Canyon.
• Lu Leng asked Qian Daoliu to help defeat the Thunder Dragon and protect Ye Lingling, Xie Yue, and the others during their trials.