Chapter Summaries

Lord of Nine Tours explained the Dou Qi Plane’s decline and helped Jiang Lin absorb the Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind to forge a Wind Spirit Root. As the Nine-Touring Secret Realm began to fade, he urged the Nine-Touring Great Sparrow to leave with Jiang Lin and revealed that Pei Xuan’s Ghost might know an easier way to become a Dou Di.

• Lord of Nine Tours told Jiang Lin that the Dou Qi Plane had declined after its ancestral emperor and the plane embryo perished, and urged him to cultivate and open the world.
• Lord of Nine Tours transformed the Nine-Touring Wind Master’s law projection into the wind seed and gave the Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind to Jiang Lin.
• Jiang Lin absorbed the wind seed and used his Dou Qi Furnace and twelve bone wings to refine it into a Wind Spirit Root.
• Lord of Nine Tours told the Nine-Touring Great Sparrow that its descendants had gone extinct and encouraged it to leave the collapsing secret realm with Jiang Lin.
• The Nine-Touring Great Sparrow asked how Jiang Lin could become a Dou Di without Source Qi, and Lord of Nine Tours said the Ghost within him might lead them to an easier method.

Jiang Lin reforged the Twelve Bone Wings using the Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind and endured a prolonged Heavenly Dao Lightning tribulation that refined his body and replenished the artifact. The Lord of Nine Tours suspected the Dou Qi Plane had become unusually active because someone might have activated the Blood Refinement Emperor Array, while Jiang Lin completed the Twelve Wind Spirit Wings.

• Jiang Lin began forging the Twelve Bone Wings with the Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind and rare materials inside the Nine-Touring Secret Realm.
• The Lord of Nine Tours explained Jiang Lin’s unusual soul and spiritual-artifact cultivation, and warned that the Dou Qi Plane could descend into chaos if the Blood Refinement Emperor Array was uncovered or activated.
• After seven days, lightning struck Jiang Lin, who absorbed and refined the Heavenly Dao Lightning as the Lord of Nine Tours described the tribulation as compensation for missing steps in his cultivation.
• The Lord of Nine Tours suspected that someone had already activated the Blood Refinement Emperor Array because the Dou Qi Plane was unusually active.
• After three more days of lightning, Jiang Lin summoned twelve streaks of light that formed the completed Twelve Wind Spirit Wings.

Jiang Lin completed the Twelve Wind Spirit Wings, broke through to Two-Star Dou Emperor, and agreed to escort the Nine-Touring Great Sparrow beyond the Dou Qi Plane. The Lord of Nine Tours placed the sparrow’s spirituality inside one of Jiang Lin’s wings before sending him out of the collapsing Nine-Touring Secret Realm.

• Jiang Lin discovered that the Twelve Wind Spirit Wings gave him exceptional spatial perception and speed, and realized the Heavenly Dao Lightning had advanced him to Two-Star Dou Emperor.
• The Lord of Nine Tours asked Jiang Lin to protect the Nine-Touring Great Sparrow and take him to Tianpeng Immortal Domain if Jiang Lin eventually transcended the world.
• The Lord of Nine Tours revealed that the Nine-Touring Great Sparrow was the Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind itself and placed his spirituality inside one of Jiang Lin’s wings.
• The Lord of Nine Tours expelled Jiang Lin from the Nine-Touring Secret Realm as its vortex began to collapse, while the Withered Fusang Tree remained behind.
• The Nine-Touring Great Sparrow emerged as a small sparrow on Jiang Lin’s shoulder and explained that Fusang Wood might eventually appear in the Dou Qi Plane.

Jiang Lin learned why the Nine-Touring Sparrow had abandoned its identity as the Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind and discovered that Pei Xuan was an Extraterritorial Demon. As Jiang Lin left the collapsing Void Sea for the Dou Qi Continent, the Nine-Touring Sparrow demonstrated the Nine Tours secret art, accelerating him beyond what his body could handle.

• The Nine-Touring Sparrow explained that it had shed the unique Nine-Touring Fuyao Wind identity to escape the Dou Qi Plane’s restrictions, leaving it with little power but the freedom to transcend.
• Pei Xuan and the Nine-Touring Sparrow argued over their strength and origins, and the Nine-Touring Sparrow identified Pei Xuan as an Extraterritorial Demon.
• Jiang Lin asked whether they could leave the Void Sea, and the Nine-Touring Sparrow warned him not to approach the dangerous Void Heaven Wall.
• Jiang Lin flew back toward the Dou Qi Continent while the Nine-Touring Sparrow controlled his Twelve Wind Spirit Wings and used the Nine Tours secret art to double his speed repeatedly.
• Jiang Lin begged Lord Nine to stop when the increasing speed proved too much for his body.

Jiang Lin returned toward the Dou Qi Continent at extreme speed after learning more about the Nine-Touring Technique and the possible link between Danqizi and the assembled Dou Qi World. At Jia Nan Academy, Xiao Yi Xian reached five-star Dou Wang, and she agreed to visit the Black Seal Auction with Gu Xun'er after hearing that rare poisonous materials had appeared.

• The Nine-Touring Sparrow used its secret art to multiply Jiang Lin's speed until he reached his limit cruising state, while explaining that the Nine-Touring Technique could push a body toward its personal maximum speed.
• Jiang Lin reflected on the Lord of Nine Tours, Danqizi, and the possibility that Danqizi's world-forging ambitions were connected to the Dou Qi World's assembled state, then continued toward the Dou Qi Continent.
• At Jia Nan Academy, Xiao Yi Xian broke through to five-star Dou Wang as the Moonlit Finale Umbrella suppressed the dangerous toxins in her Calamity Poison Body.
• Yao Tianhuo explained that Xiao Yi Xian's ability to absorb high-grade poisonous materials had fueled her rapid cultivation, though the academy's supply of those materials was nearly exhausted.
• Yao Tianhuo told Xiao Yi Xian that a seventh-grade poison flower had appeared at the Black Seal Auction and that academy teachers had obtained a sixth-grade poison fruit.
• Gu Xun'er invited Xiao Yi Xian to visit the Black Seal Auction with Zi Yan, and Xiao Yi Xian accepted.

Gu Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan went to the Black Seal Auction while Xiao Yan woke from a dream after absorbing the Fallen Heart Flame. He reached Nine-star Dou Wang and planned to strengthen his foundation, though Yao Chen warned that catching up with Jiang Lin would be difficult.

• Gu Xun'er invited Xiao Yi Xian to the Black Seal Auction, and Zi Yan joined them, noting that Xiao Lan was trying to break through.
• Xiao Yan woke underground after dreaming that a seductive figure had helped him absorb the Heavenly Flame, and Yao Chen explained that he had stopped Xiao Yan from making a worse mistake with Cai Lin.
• Xiao Yan examined his condition and told Yao Chen that absorbing the Fallen Heart Flame had brought him to Nine-star Dou Wang, with much of its energy stored for future cultivation.
• Yao Chen approved Xiao Yan's decision to suppress his cultivation rather than rush into Dou Emperor, and Xiao Yan connected this to Jiang Lin's unusually solid foundation.
• Yao Chen told Xiao Yan that Jiang Lin might skip the Nine Transformations and Half-Saint stages, making it difficult for Xiao Yan to surpass him before Dou Saint.

Yao Chen explained how Half-Saint fit into the Dou Qi cultivation system as Xiao Yan headed out of the Underground Magma World. When Xiao Yan sensed something drawing him deeper, he chose to wait for Jiang Lin rather than risk exploring, leaving the magma world’s possible secrets for when they were stronger.

• Yao Chen explained that Half-Saint was a later-developed stage that some powerful bloodline heirs could skip, while Jiang Lin’s Spiritual Artifact system had made his foundation unusually solid.
• Xiao Yan sensed a pull from deep within the magma world, and Yao Chen suggested it might come from the smaller Fallen Heart Flame Jiang Lin had left behind.
• Xiao Yan considered investigating but grew wary of the dangers and decided to return to the Sky Burning Artifact Forging Tower and wait for Jiang Lin.
• Yao Chen recalled that Jiang Lin had seemed unusually silent when he first entered the magma world, suggesting he had sensed unknown risks and chosen not to investigate recklessly.
• Xiao Yan agreed that even if Dou Di ruins lay below, they were not worth risking his life for at his current strength, and resolved to explore later when stronger.

Xiao Yan left Jia Nan Academy to find Gu Xun'er at the Black Seal Auction, where the Thunder Clan’s Lei Jie and Lei Lie tested whether the absent Spirit Artisan would return. The auction drew Xiao Yan, Gu Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan together, and ended with Xiao Yan eyeing the lots and asking Yao Chen whether he could auction another map fragment.

• Xiao Yan emerged from the Sky Burning Artifact Forging Tower after devouring the Fallen Heart Flame and decided to seek Gu Xun'er at the Black Seal Auction.
• Xiao Yan learned that Gu Xun'er had gone to Black Seal City, then flew toward the Black Corner Great Plain.
• Lei Jie and Lei Lie discussed the Spirit Artisan’s disappearance and planned to use the Blood Alliance to gain more territory if he did not return.
• At the auction, Gu Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian, and Zi Yan considered buying lots with Soul Pills, while Gu Xun'er joked about using the Spirit Artisan’s name for credit.
• The auction began with valuable items, including an Imperial Pill and Purple Sky Thunder Stone, and Xiao Yan arrived hoping to trade for better wings and asking whether he could auction another map fragment.

Xiao Yan watched a mysterious growth-capable map fragment trigger negotiations over a share of the Black Corner Region’s Soul Tax. The auction became a contest among powerful figures, and Xiao Yan was stunned when the black-robed man beside him spoke as a Dou Zun.

• After Xiao Yan won the Purple Sky Thunder Stones, the Black Seal auctioneer presented a mysterious fragment made from material capable of growth.
• Xiao Yan suspected the fragment had come from a stolen Life Artifact, but Yao Chen reminded him that Magic Cores and other materials could also grow.
• Yao Chen warned Xiao Yan that hidden experts had gathered, including Su Qian, Ling Ying, and Han Feng, and advised him not to pursue the fragment.
• The seller demanded ten percent of the Black Corner Region’s Soul Tax, prompting Elder Qing Hai of the Western Regions Soul Hall to counter with five percent.
• Gu Xun'er, Zi Yan, and Xiao Yi Xian realized the auction was a public contest among powerful figures, while Gu Xuan identified the fragment as part of an ancient Dou Artifact.
• Lei Jie accepted the five-percent offer but said the seller could not be trusted, leaving Xiao Yan shocked that the man beside him was a Dou Zun.

At the Black Seal Auction, Gu Xun'er and the major factions became involved in a dispute over an eighth-tier Jade Scale Fruit, while Xiao Yan remained beside the Thunder Clan brothers. After the auction, Gu Xun'er revealed she planned to return to the Gu Realm and help Xiao Yan deal with Han Feng; as Xiao Yan reunited with her, the Thunder Clan withdrew after identifying the group’s powerful connections, but more Dou Zuns appeared outside the city.

• Lei Jie agreed to let Jia Nan Academy witness the mysterious fragment’s sale in Spirit Artisan’s Martial Uncle’s name, and the auctioneer awarded it to an unnamed bidder.
• Gu Xun'er bid against Han Feng for the Jade Scale Fruit and threatened him, but Hun Ling’s intervention made Han Feng back down and ended the dispute.
• After the auction, Gu Xun'er told Xiao Yi Xian and Zi Yan that she might soon return to the Gu Realm and wanted to deal with Han Feng before leaving.
• Xiao Yan met Gu Xun'er outside the auction and told her he had broken through to Nine-star Dou Wang.
• Lei Jie identified Gu Xun'er as a descendant of the Gu Clan and withdrew with Lei Lie to report their findings.
• A Gu Clan Dou Zun watched the Thunder Clan brothers leave, while a black-clad woman and a masked man waited on the city wall and questioned whether Dou Zuns had become common.

Jiang Lin reunited with Xiao Yan and the others, then learned that Gu Xun'er was being pressured to return to her clan over a marriage proposal from the powerful Lei Dong. As Gu Xun'er struggled to find a way to refuse without endangering Xiao Yan, Hun Ke'er suggested Jiang Lin pose as her boyfriend, leaving him stunned.

• Jiang Lin reunited with Xiao Yan, Zi Yan, Xiao Yi Xian, and Gu Xun'er on their way back to Jia Nan Academy.
• Jiang Lin noticed Gu Xun'er had a powerful new guard and asked why she needed to return to her clan; Gu Xun'er explained that someone had proposed marriage to her.
• Xiao Yan vowed to fight for Gu Xun'er, but Gu Xun'er warned that the other party was a Dou Saint from a powerful clan and that violence could make things worse for Xiao Yan.
• Jiang Lin realized Gu Xun'er needed a way to reject the proposal without provoking the other clan or exposing her feelings for Xiao Yan.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow and Pei Xuan suggested Jiang Lin could withstand the pressure if Gu Xun'er claimed she liked him, and Hun Ke'er agreed that his Spirit Artisan identity could help delay the matter.

Hun Ke'er arranged for Gu Xuan to take the Theory of Destiny Artifacts back to the Gu Clan and brought Gu Xun'er and the others to Jia Nan Academy. After criticizing Zi Yan’s cultivation, Jiang Lin promised to develop a Life Artifact suited to her, inspired by the Nine-Touring Great Roc’s Exotic Wind.

• Hun Ke'er gave Gu Xuan a Soul Jade Slip and told her to show the Theory of Destiny Artifacts to the Gu Clan Leader while keeping Gu Xun'er’s experiment undisturbed.
• Gu Xuan left, and Hun Ke'er led Jiang Lin, Gu Xun'er, Xiao Yi Xian, Zi Yan, and Xiao Yan back to Jia Nan Academy.
• Hun Ke'er gave Xiao Yi Xian the Jade Scale Fruit and told Gu Xun'er she no longer needed to suppress her realm.
• Hun Ke'er called Zi Yan’s progress unimpressive compared with Jiang Lin and the others, prompting Zi Yan to demand that Jiang Lin treat her as a mount with dignity.
• Jiang Lin said he had new ideas for a Life Artifact to improve Zi Yan’s potential and told her to prepare materials when the time was right.

Jiang Lin and his companions set out for the Ancient Sea Secret Realm, where the Nine-Touring Sparrow revealed that it held separate realms for cultivators of different strengths and was a graveyard for Dou Saints. The group continued toward the secret realm with its true nature still unclear, as the Nine-Touring Sparrow challenged Jiang Lin to face the world’s deepest secrets.

• Hun Ke'er agreed with Jiang Lin’s plan, and the group prepared to leave for the Ancient Sea Secret Realm before it opened in less than two months.
• Jiang Lin brought Xiao Lan along after the Nine-Touring Sparrow helped him activate Xiao Lan’s bloodline and refine the remaining medicinal power in his body, allowing him to reach Dou Wang.
• The group departed Jia Nan Academy aboard the Gale Wyvern King, and Hun Ke'er explained that cultivators above Dou Emperor would be diverted or endangered by the secret realm’s spatial rules.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow told Jiang Lin that the Ancient Sea Secret Realm contained different planes for different cultivation realms, and that stronger cultivators faced more dangerous enemies.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow revealed that the secret realm was a Dou Sheng Graveyard where Dou Saints could not escape, then urged Jiang Lin to explore the world’s ultimate secrets.

Jiang Lin and Hun Ke'er arrived at the Western Regions Soul Hall, now renamed Sacred Soul Hall, and learned how it planned to sell families the service of turning ancestors into protective Sacred Souls. The chapter left the group confronting a business model that tied families to Sacred Soul Hall through the costs and risks of raising their ancestors.

• Jiang Lin and Hun Ke'er arrived at the Western Regions Soul Hall, where Elder Qing Hai welcomed them and led them inside.
• Elder Qing Hai showed the group the lavish temple-like headquarters and explained that the Soul Hall was becoming Sacred Soul Hall.
• Elder Qing Hai described plans to turn departed ancestors into Sacred Souls that could protect families, while Jiang Lin explained that the process involved forging them into Soul Artifacts.
• Elder Qing Hai warned that poorly raised Sacred Souls could become evil spirits, giving Sacred Soul Hall the right to capture and destroy them.
• Jiang Lin explained how the cost of Soul Pills and purification could bind families to Sacred Soul Hall like borrowers trapped by a loan.

Jiang Lin’s group arrived at the Deep Sea Soul Hall in the Vast Ancient Sea, where Hun Ke’er explained how the powerful clans oppressed the three Ancient Sea races. They met the Merfolk King, Azure Venerable, and began learning the Water Evasion Art before entering the seawater outside.

• Xiao Yan recognized the Sacred Soul Project as a system for extracting labor, and Jiang Lin hurried the group away from Elder Qing Hai.
• Hun Ke’er led Jiang Lin’s group through a spatial teleportation array to the Deep Sea Soul Hall, a stronghold in Azure Sun Deep-Sea City.
• Hun Ke’er explained that the Merfolk, Shark, and Whale clans were weak and oppressed, and that their Half-Saints had been captured for artifact refinement.
• Azure Venerable, the Nine-star Dou Zun Merfolk King, knelt before Hun Ke’er and the others and offered them food.
• Hun Ke’er gave the group a Soul Jade Slip containing the Water Evasion Art, then revealed Azure Venerable could sense her ancestor’s soul sword inside Junior Aunt Ke’er’s body.

Jiang Lin and the others reached the Merfolk Divine Hall ahead of the Ancient Sea Secret Realm’s opening and settled into a palace prepared by the Merfolk Race. Their first meal turned into an unexpected discovery of valuable edible resources—and even energy-rich tableware—before Jiang Lin offered the merfolk artifact-forging and pill-refining services in exchange.

• Jiang Lin gave Xiao Yan and the others Water Evasion Beads, which helped them use the Water Evasion Art to move freely in the deep sea.
• Jiang Lin and Hun Ke'er debated whether Exotic Light existed, with Jiang Lin insisting that theory should be tested in practice.
• Azure Venerable welcomed the group to the Merfolk Divine Hall and led them to their residence and a banquet of Ancient Sea World specialties.
• Xiao Yan discovered that the merfolk foods contained gentle, valuable energy, and the others began sampling them.
• Jiang Lin mistook a white jade plate for food and ate it, prompting Zi Yan to try the plates as well.
• Jiang Lin offered to forge high-tier Dou Artifacts, while Xiao Yan and Yao Chen offered to take pill-refining commissions for the Merfolk Race.

After the group cultivated in the Coral Palace, Jiang Lin visited Xiao Yi Xian and helped her refine the Jade Scale Poison Fruit. As they grew closer, Xiao Yi Xian pointed out that Hun Ke'er’s paired Nether God Jade Pendant might carry personal significance, leaving Jiang Lin wondering whether he and Ke'er had a childhood betrothal.

• Yao Chen and Jiang Lin’s different pills let Xiao Yan and the others cultivate quickly while tempering and repairing their foundations.
• After the Azure Venerable’s special meal, the group cultivated in the Coral Palace while Hun Ke'er went to learn about the Ancient Sea.
• Jiang Lin visited Xiao Yi Xian and offered to help her refine the Jade Scale Poison Fruit so she could reach Nine-star Dou Wang.
• Xiao Yi Xian questioned Jiang Lin about Hun Ke’er’s Nether God Jade Pendant and suggested Ke'er might be his childhood betrothed.
• Jiang Lin recalled Ke'er saying their seniority was complicated, then began circulating a cultivation technique with Xiao Yi Xian and kissed her.

Jiang Lin and Xiao Yi Xian grew closer while he helped her cultivate, and their companions advanced during a month of preparation in Merfolk City. The Ancient Sea Trial team finished preparing, with several members approaching or reaching the Dou Emperor realm.

• Jiang Lin and Xiao Yi Xian teased each other, shared their feelings, and agreed to wait until he could take her to meet his mother before taking their relationship further.
• Jiang Lin helped Xiao Yi Xian refine the Jade Scale Fruit and use an Imperial Pill, rapidly raising her cultivation.
• Zi Yan and Xiao Yan searched Merfolk City for treasures, Gu Xun'er focused on cultivation, and Yao Chen began refining pills for the Merfolk royal family.
• Over the following month, Jiang Lin awakened Xiao Lan's bloodline, Xiao Yi Xian and Gu Xun'er reached nine-star Dou Wang, and Zi Yan advanced to four-star Dou Emperor.
• Jiang Lin reached three-star Dou Emperor, Xiao Yan prepared to break through to Dou Emperor, Cai Lin remained at the peak of nine-star Dou Emperor, and Hun Ke'er continued advancing.
• The Ancient Sea Trial team completed its final preparations.

Hun Ke'er gave Jiang Lin a mysterious fragment and warned him not to place it in his Spirit Body Space, while the Nine-Touring Sparrow and Pei Xuan reacted with fear. She then briefed Jiang Lin and his companions on the dangers and rewards of the Ancient Sea Secret Realm before leading them toward it.

• Hun Ke'er gave Jiang Lin a mysterious fragment meant to guide him toward something inside the Ancient Sea Secret Realm, and she said its true identity was not what she had first believed.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow warned Jiang Lin not to put the fragment in his Spirit Body Space, saying that doing so could kill them, while Pei Xuan admitted that the fragment frightened him because he did not know what it was.
• Hun Ke'er warned Jiang Lin's companions that the secret realm's heavy Void Water, scarce energy, powerful monsters, and strange sights would make it dangerous for them.
• Hun Ke'er explained that the secret realm could yield Source of Life, pill formulas, and artifact blueprints, and could forge a Glass Foundation for those who gathered enough Source of Life.
• Jiang Lin told Xiao Yan that a human surnamed Xiao had cleared the secret realm thousands of years earlier, then revealed that the man had sacrificed his entire clan a thousand years later.
• Jiang Lin and the others prepared to leave with Hun Ke'er and discuss the secret realm on the way.

Jiang Lin and his companions entered the Ancient Sea Trial through the Dragon Gate, but he emerged alone in a desert where powerful illusions attacked him. After killing the false companions, he learned that the secret realm had targeted him for deeper levels and that his mysterious fragment could let him bypass the rules.

• Azure Venerable opened the Dragon Gate with the Merfolk Ocean Scepter, and Hun Ke'er explained the dangers and rules of the Ancient Sea Trial.
• Hun Ke'er warned Jiang Lin to watch above him, and Jiang Lin led Xiao Yan and the others through the abyssal wall.
• Jiang Lin and the group emerged in a desert beneath a blood-red sun, then flew toward nearby ruins.
• At the ruins, Jiang Lin realized his companions were illusions and killed them, absorbing their bodies to restore and slightly increase his cultivation.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow explained that Jiang Lin had been targeted for higher levels of the secret realm and that his mysterious fragment might let him defy the rules.