Chapter Summaries

Jiang Lin learned that the Ancient Sea Secret Realm was tied to the Cosmic Creation Emperor Cauldron and escaped its isolated sixth-realm trial by cutting through space with the Cauldron fragment. He returned to the desert world and reached Arid Lotus Town, where he sought a map to find Xiao Yi Xian and the others.

• The Nine-Touring Sparrow explained that the secret realm’s nine layers were trials and that Jiang Lin had entered a separate sixth realm too early.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow revealed that Jiang Lin’s fragment came from the Cosmic Creation Emperor Cauldron, whose damaged body sustained the Ancient Sea Secret Realm.
• Jiang Lin used the Twelve Wind Spirit Wings and the Emperor Cauldron fragment to tear through space and escape the isolated realm.
• Jiang Lin flew across the desert, found a Sea Clan outpost, and realized he needed to locate Xiao Yi Xian and the others.
• At Arid Lotus Town, Jiang Lin asked an Origin Race shopkeeper for a world map and offered to grant him a wish in exchange for help obtaining one.

Jiang Lin bought a map of the Origin Qi Continent and learned how the Ancient Sea Trial’s Source Crystals, Glass Body, and Fire Seeds worked. After he met Shi Lei, a former Stone Race elder who mistook him for a Spirit Clan junior, Shi Lei gave him a quest to deliver information about a hidden treasure to the Stone Race.

• Jiang Lin paid an Origin Race elder three Source Crystals for a map and discovered that he could produce Source Crystals himself.
• Jiang Lin studied the continent’s regions and trial rules, then set out to find Xiao Yan and the others before the sixth trial.
• The Origin Race elder guessed that Jiang Lin belonged to the Spirit Clan after Jiang Lin jokingly claimed to be from the Tou She Clan.
• The elder introduced himself as Shi Lei, a former Stone Race member, and spoke of the Stone Race’s longstanding friendship with the Spirit Clan.
• Shi Lei gave Jiang Lin a scroll about a treasure and commissioned him to deliver it to the Stone Race in exchange for a Super-Tier Battle Method.

Jiang Lin learned how Super-Tier Battle Methods let Dou Emperors exceed the usual nine-star limit and realized they might inspire a broader system of extra realms on the Dou Qi Plane. After discovering that Shi Lei could reach sixteen-star Dou Huang strength, Jiang Lin accepted his commission and took the method and Soul Jade Slip.

• Shi Lei explained that Super-Tier Battle Methods let Origin Qi Continent cultivators surpass the Nine-Star Dou Emperor Peak without breaking through to Dou Zong, and Jiang Lin compared them to Transcendental Artifact Forging.
• Jiang Lin considered whether Spiritual Artifact methods could work in the Origin Qi Continent, then imagined adding extra minor or major realms throughout the Dou Qi Plane’s cultivation system.
• Shi Lei said Super Dou Huangs rarely revealed their full strength because their explosive energy was difficult to replenish, and he disclosed that his peak was Super-Tier Seventh Star, or sixteen-star Dou Huang.
• Jiang Lin understood why Hun Ke'er had warned him against using techniques that temporarily raised his realm, since doing so could expose him to opponents whose true strength was concealed.
• Jiang Lin accepted Shi Lei’s commission and took the Super-Tier Battle Method and Soul Jade Slip.

Jiang Lin considered whether the Origin Race and the nine cities were draining the Dou Qi Plane of Source Qi, but the Nine-Touring Sparrow’s hint led him to suspect Origin Province was a cauldron created by the Cosmic Creation Emperor Cauldron. After killing and refining a Sea Clan squad, he set out for Sacred Fire City to investigate the nine cities and their true relationship with the Origin Race.

• Jiang Lin left Old Shi Lei’s shop with a scroll about the Stone Race and a Soul Jade Slip containing a Super-Tier Battle Method, then reflected on how the nine cities controlled the flow of Source Beasts.
• Jiang Lin and Pei Xuan debated whether the Origin Race were parasites stealing Source Qi from the Dou Qi Plane, until the Nine-Touring Sparrow suggested the word “cauldron.”
• A mantis shrimp Sea Clan member struck Jiang Lin from behind with a bone hammer, and Jiang Lin defeated the attackers, caught their fleeing Dou Emperor, and refined the squad into Source Crystals and Spirit Stones.
• Jiang Lin concluded that Origin Province might be the refining core of the Cosmic Creation Emperor Cauldron and that the nine cities might be either parasites or protective walls.
• Jiang Lin decided to visit the nine cities and investigate their relationship with the Origin Race, then headed toward Sacred Fire City.

Jiang Lin traveled to Sacred Fire City, learning more about the Origin Race, Fire Seeds, and the city’s powerful rulers along the way. After reaching the colossal city, he planned to contact its upper ranks and search for Xiao Yi Xian and the others.

• Jiang Lin hunted source beasts on his journey and learned from the Nine-Touring Sparrow that the Origin Race might be connected to successful Fire Seed trial-takers and that only nine could exist at once.
• Pei Xuan pointed out that their group had nine members, while the Nine-Touring Sparrow said he did not need a Fire Seed and left his reasons unexplained.
• After roughly a week, Jiang Lin reached Sacred Fire City and suspected that Shi Lei might have been a former Fire Seed trial-taker who chose to remain behind.
• Jiang Lin bought a ranking scroll and learned that Emperor Xuan, Dragon Emperor, and Cloud Emperor led Sacred Fire Domain’s strongest experts, while Shi Lei was comparable in strength to the fourth-ranked Rock Emperor.
• Jiang Lin declined to search further for a Green Lotus Core Flame and headed into Sacred Fire City to find a way to contact its upper ranks.

After entering the Ancient Sea World, Xiao Yan and the others found themselves without Jiang Lin and struggled to understand their surroundings. They reached Arid Lotus Town, where a shopkeeper recognized their clans and asked how they knew a Spirit Clan youth.

• Xiao Yan and the others awoke in a desert without Jiang Lin, and Xiao Yi Xian found a note explaining the Ancient Sea World's conditions.
• The group learned that Dou Qi was scarce, felt intense pressure that made flight difficult, and traveled toward a nearby town while Xiao Lan scouted from above.
• They captured and killed a snake-person Source Beast after it reacted violently to Cai Lin, then continued toward signs of human activity.
• Xiao Lan guided the group to Arid Lotus Town, where they visited the Stone Shop to ask Shi Lei about Origin Cauldrons.
• Shi Lei sensed Heavenly Flames in Xiao Yan, identified Gu Xun'er as a Gu Clan member and Xiao Yan as a Xiao Clan member, then asked about their relationship with a Spirit Clan youth.

Xiao Yan and the others learned from Shi Lei that Jiang Lin had gone to Sacred Fire City, then received a map, the Mystic Qi Cauldron, and advice about surviving the trial. Shi Lei urged them to seek help in Sacred Fire City, including the Emperor for Xiao Yan and Gu Xun'er and the Dragon Emperor for Zi Yan.

• Zi Yan claimed that Jiang Lin was her mount, and Gu Xun'er asked Shi Lei about the Spirit Clan member he had encountered.
• Shi Lei told them Jiang Lin had left Arid Lotus Town for Sacred Fire City about two days earlier, after Shi Lei witnessed him destroy a Sea Clan squad.
• Xiao Yan and the others confirmed that Shi Lei had met Jiang Lin, introduced themselves as allies of the Ancient Eight Clans, and learned about the Origin Qi Continent's long-lived inhabitants.
• Shi Lei gave the group a map of the Sacred Fire Domain and the Mystic Qi Cauldron, and explained that Origin Cauldrons predated the Universe Cauldron.
• Shi Lei revealed that they could leave without Fire Seeds at the cost of some energy, then advised them to seek help from an Emperor and the Dragon Emperor in Sacred Fire City.

Xiao Yan’s team refined Source Beasts into Source Crystals, used them to strengthen their members, and defended Xiao Yan during his breakthrough to Dou Emperor. In Sacred Fire City, Jiang Lin learned about the Origin Artifact Conference and registered as an eighth-tier Artifact Forger.

• Xiao Yan discovered that the Mystic Qi Cauldron and Heavenly Flames greatly increased Source Crystal yields, then shared the crystals among his team.
• Xiao Yan absorbed a Source Crystal and broke through to Dou Emperor while Cai Lin and the others guarded him from nearby Sea Clan teams and attacking Source Beasts.
• Xiao Yi Xian’s poison gas weakened the Source Beasts’ crystal yields, but Xiao Yan still refined more than sixty Source Crystals and prioritized distributing them to the team’s weaker members.
• Gu Xun’er and Xiao Yi Xian approached their breakthroughs as the team continued toward Sacred Fire City.
• Jiang Lin learned that Cloud Emperor was holding an Origin Artifact Conference and told the gatekeeper he was an eighth-tier Artifact Forger.

Jiang Lin entered the Sacred Fire Artifact Academy after Poison Emperor Xiong Mu recognized his connection to the Stone Emperor, Shi Lei. He met the Cloud Emperor and recognized her as someone from the Gu Clan, leaving both of them startled.

• A guard and the gathered crowd doubted Jiang Lin's claim that he was an eighth-rank Artifact Forger until Poison Emperor Xiong Mu introduced himself and spoke with him.
• Jiang Lin told Xiong Mu that Shi Lei had sent him, then identified Shi Lei as the Stone Emperor, prompting Xiong Mu to escort him into the academy.
• Xiong Mu explained that Jiang Lin's connection to Shi Lei let him meet the academy dean, the Cloud Emperor, and led him to the lake at the academy's center.
• Jiang Lin flew to the island palace using his Twelve Wind Spirit Wings and met the veiled Cloud Emperor.
• Jiang Lin recognized the Cloud Emperor as being from the Gu Clan, and her expression changed.

Jiang Lin met Gu Yun, the Cloud Emperor, and learned that the Origin Qi Continent housed remnants of many top races from the Dou Qi Plane, including a Spirit Clan legacy. Gu Yun went to ask Emperor Xuan to search for Jiang Lin’s companions, then revealed that someone from the Xiao Clan had arrived.

• Jiang Lin recognized Gu Yun’s origins, and she inferred that he belonged to the Spirit Clan.
• Gu Yun explained how the top races had left forces across the Origin Qi Continent and said the last Spirit Emperor had died a century earlier, leaving a legacy for Jiang Lin to inherit.
• Jiang Lin asked Gu Yun to help locate his separated friends and clarified that they were not this cycle’s stay-behinds.
• Jiang Lin mentioned that a Gu Clan companion resembled Gu Yun, and Gu Yun reacted with a complicated expression without explaining further.
• Gu Yun left Jiang Lin at her residence and went to the City Lord’s Manor to seek Emperor Xuan’s help, announcing that someone from the Xiao Clan had arrived.

Emperor Xuan and Cloud Emperor learned that the Spirit Clan and other outsiders had entered the Ancient Sea Secret Realm, then faced a Source Tide stronger than expected. As the Nine Provinces prepared for battle, Jiang Lin appeared atop the Sacred Fire Imperial Pass and watched the defenders fire energy cannons at the approaching beasts.

• Cloud Emperor told Emperor Xuan that members of the Xiao, Spirit, and Gu Clans, a dragon clan, and a Seven-Colored Heaven Swallowing Python had entered the realm, but Emperor Xuan doubted the newcomers would stay.
• The first Source Tide began, and Emperor Xuan and Cloud Emperor went to the Sacred Fire Imperial Pass as war drums sounded and a black storm advanced.
• Emperor Xuan realized the Spirit Clan had likely abandoned the realm because the Source Tide had grown stronger, while the Spirit Clan's sacrifices and Jiang Lin's place in its plans were revealed.
• Emperors across the Nine Provinces prepared for a Source Tide at least thirty percent stronger than before, with no human trial participants present.
• Jiang Lin quietly climbed onto the Sacred Fire Imperial Pass, introduced himself to Poison Emperor Xiong Mu, and asked how the defenders would handle the approaching Source Beasts.
• Xiong Mu said the defenders would bombard the beasts with cannons, and Jiang Lin watched energy cannons blaze across the sky.

Jiang Lin learned that the Source Beast tides would grow stronger with each pulse and that Tou She Ancient God had once altered the Ancient Sea Secret Realm. Pei Xuan recalled that Tou She Ancient God had taken materials from the realm to refine pills, suggesting he had left behind a Source Pill.

• Jiang Lin watched the Sacred Fire Imperial Pass repel fourth-grade Source Beasts while allowing some to enter the regions behind it.
• Xiong Mu explained that later Source Beast pulses would grow stronger, eventually bringing sixth-grade beasts, though each pulse's aggression weakened after reaching its peak.
• The Nine-Touring Sparrow revealed that the Ancient Sea Secret Realm once had nine worlds and that Tou She Ancient God had merged its fifth and sixth realms to delay their collapse.
• Jiang Lin speculated that Tou She Ancient God had left pure Source Qi for later generations, possibly in the Ancient Emperor's Cave Mansion.
• Pei Xuan recalled that Tou She Ancient God had taken something from the Ancient Sea Secret Realm to refine pills and concluded he had likely left behind a Source Pill.

After the first Energy Tide ended, Jiang Lin proposed using his companions’ abilities and Heavenly Flames to create an eighth-tier Origin Bullet capable of destabilizing Source Beasts and blasting into Origin Province. Emperor Xuan agreed to gather resources and search for Jiang Lin’s companions, while Jiang Lin planned to use the weapon to force Source Qi to descend and open a route back to the Dou Qi Plane.

• Jiang Lin reasoned that Tou She Ancient God might have refined an Emperor-grade Origin Pill, while the Nine-Touring Sparrow told him that Nine Origins Heaven downgraded Source Qi before it was upgraded within the Dou Qi Plane.
• After the Energy Tide subsided, Xiong Mu warned Jiang Lin that another wave was expected in three months, though it might arrive sooner.
• Jiang Lin told Gu Yun and Xuan Ji that Xiao Yi Xian could destabilize Source Beasts’ energy bodies, and he offered to develop an Origin Bullet that could reach the eighth tier with enough Source Crystals and fire seeds.
• Xuan Ji trusted Jiang Lin, promised to provide resources, and sent Dou Huangs to search nearby domains for Jiang Lin’s companions.
• Jiang Lin explained to Gu Yun that Xiao Yan’s Heavenly Flames, the fire seeds, and Xiao Yi Xian’s ability could create a massive explosion that would downgrade Source Qi and open a path back to the Dou Qi Plane.

Jiang Lin proposed sinking the Origin Qi Continent through the Ancient Sea Secret Realm’s layers to reach the Dou Qi Plane, and won Xuan Ji’s support with evidence of a seventh-tier Origin Crystal. After Xuan Ji mobilized the Sacred Fire Legion to search for Jiang Lin’s friends, he learned that Xiao Yan and the others had already found the fire seed.

• Jiang Lin told Gu Yun, Xuan Ji, and Dragon Emperor Hong Lan that the Ancient Sea Secret Realm had nine layers and proposed blowing up the fire seed so the entire Origin Qi Continent could descend toward the Dou Qi Plane.
• Jiang Lin explained that the continent could overlap with lower layers and cited Tou She Ancient God’s fusion of secret realms as precedent, while Hong Lan admitted she knew nothing about it.
• Jiang Lin showed the group a seventh-tier Origin Crystal, convincing Xuan Ji that the plan was credible and giving him evidence to persuade the other provinces.
• Jiang Lin asked Xuan Ji and the others to find Xiao Yi Xian and his other friends, and Xuan Ji mobilized the Sacred Fire Legion while taking the Origin Crystal to contact other provincial leaders.
• Jiang Lin received a hundred thousand Origin Crystals and began cultivating, then learned that Xiao Yan and the others had found the fire seed deep in the desert.

Jiang Lin studied the Origin Qi Continent’s Source Artifact System and explained how it differed from Life Artifacts and Spiritual Artifacts. After Gu Yun recognized the potential of his Destiny Artifact theory, Jiang Lin revealed that he had studied a Dao Pattern that could help their plan.

• Gu Yun explained that Fire Seeds came from Fire Origin Crystals, but the Sacred Fire Domain had separated the seeds and placed them in secret realms as trial treasures.
• Jiang Lin reached Four-star Dou Huang after cultivating with Source Crystals and spent half a month mastering the foundations of Gu Yun’s Source Artifact System.
• Jiang Lin concluded that Source Artifacts drew on Heaven-and-Earth Spirit Tempering and could bear Dao Patterns only at the seventh rank, while their power depended on rare materials from Origin Province.
• Xuan Ji showed Jiang Lin the peak seventh-rank Heavenly Profound Heavy Sword, whose Mountain Breaker Dao Pattern split a mountain and made Jiang Lin wary of the Source Artifact System.
• Gu Yun praised Jiang Lin’s Life Artifact System and Destiny Artifact theory, then bowed to him as a Great Artifact Forging Grandmaster.
• Jiang Lin drew the Pure Lotus Dao Pattern, which had the traits Energy Purification and Energy Gathering, and said it could help their plan.

Jiang Lin learned that the Soul Craftsman had advanced Soul Artifacts to the ninth tier and began to uncover the mystery behind his own unusual soul and Divine Essence Spirit Fire. Nine-Touring Sparrow connected Jiang Lin’s creation to a stolen Fire Origin Crystal, leaving Jiang Lin intrigued by the people responsible and the danger to the Ancient Sea Secret Realm.

• Gu Yun gave Jiang Lin the forbidden Outline of Soul Artifacts, which bore Hun Tianjiang’s notes and a hidden message from the former Spirit Emperor.
• Jiang Lin told Gu Yun that the Soul Craftsman had developed ninth-tier Soul Artifacts and that Jiang Lin was his student.
• Nine-Touring Sparrow explained that Jiang Lin’s soul and Divine Essence Spirit Fire were extraordinary and suggested that Jiang Lin had been artificially created.
• Nine-Touring Sparrow deduced that someone had removed a Fire Origin Crystal from the Ink Soul Domain a thousand years earlier, and Jiang Lin linked the theft to the Thunder Clan and the Emperor Cauldron fragment.
• Nine-Touring Sparrow warned that the Ancient Sea Secret Realm’s collapse would make everyone emperors, and Jiang Lin said he was beginning to like the madmen behind the plan.

Jiang Lin reunited with Xiao Yan and the others in Sacred Fire City, explained the fire seeds, and proposed using specially forged Source Artifacts for a dangerous new plan. On Lakeheart Island, Gu Xun'er learned that Gu Yun was her biological aunt, while a burly stranger dragged Xiao Yan into a room.

• Jiang Lin met Xiao Yan and the others, whose cultivation had advanced after they obtained a fire seed in the Sacred Fire Domain.
• Jiang Lin recognized the fire seed's structure as resembling the Super Sea Heart Flame and explained that fire seeds were temporary Heavenly Flames that could not be subdued.
• Jiang Lin proposed the Origin Bullet plan, using Source Artifacts to help Xiao Yan fuse thirteen Heavenly Flames, and gave the group Source Crystals to cultivate.
• Gu Yun revealed herself to Gu Xun'er and asked about her mother; Gu Xun'er said she had never met her, and Gu Yun embraced her as her aunt.
• A burly man dragged Xiao Yan into a dim room, where Xiao Yan nervously said, “Senior... men aren't allowed either.”

Xiao Yan let Xuan Ji draw his blood to test whether he descended from the Xiao Clan, receiving ten thousand Source Crystals and a promise of an immense opportunity if the test confirmed his lineage. At the Sacred Fire Artifact Academy, Zi Yan revealed that Xuan Ji had half Xiao Clan blood and shared a rumor about his parentage.

• Xuan Ji asked whether Xiao Yan belonged to the Xiao Clan and offered him an immense opportunity if a blood test confirmed it.
• Xuan Ji drew blood from Xiao Yan with a huge needle, and Xiao Yan left the manor pale and weak with ten thousand Source Crystals.
• Zi Yan teased Xiao Yan about looking as if he had sold himself, then explained that Hong Lan had spoken to her about dragons and her inheritance.
• Zi Yan revealed that she was a dragon, and Xiao Yan guessed that she was an Ancient Void Dragon.
• Zi Yan told Xiao Yan that Xuan Ji had half Xiao Clan blood and was rumored to be Xiao Xuan's illegitimate son.

Xuan Ji used Xiao Yan’s essence blood to awaken the Imperial Blood Coffin, a Source Artifact forged by his mother, Ling Jiu, to refine Xiao Clan Imperial Blood. Jiang Lin discovered the coffin and warned Xuan Ji that refining its blood would kill the woman inside.

• Xuan Ji opened the Imperial Blood Coffin and poured Xiao Yan’s essence blood over Ling Jiu’s body to nourish her faint spiritual light.
• Xuan Ji recalled how Ling Jiu had sacrificed herself in the Ancient Sea Secret Realm and left plans for the Xiao Clan, including research materials that he passed to a Thunder Clan youth a thousand years earlier.
• Xuan Ji reflected that Ling Jiu had forged the Imperial Blood Coffin from herself as its core material, intending it to refine pure Xiao Clan Imperial Blood for a descendant.
• Jiang Lin entered the underground structure after sensing a pull toward the coffin and recognized its unusual nature through his Spiritual Eye.
• Jiang Lin warned Xuan Ji not to use Ling Jiu’s remnant soul to refine Imperial Blood, or he would kill her.

Jiang Lin examined Ling Jiu’s Imperial Blood Coffin and discovered that it had preserved a chance to revive her while refining Purest Imperial Blood. After learning Ling Jiu’s history and that she would not want to be saved at the blood’s expense, Jiang Lin offered to modify the coffin and refine the blood himself, leaving the way to save her unresolved.

• Jiang Lin recognized the Imperial Blood Coffin as an incomplete prototype of his Divine Essence Spirit Body and identified the bloodlines inside, including Xiao Xuan’s divine-grade Imperial Blood.
• Xuan Ji told Jiang Lin that Ling Jiu had died two thousand years earlier and explained the events involving the Soul, Spirit, and Xiao clans.
• Jiang Lin concluded that Ling Jiu’s remnant soul had survived in the coffin and that she had deliberately preserved it as fuel for refining Purest Imperial Blood.
• Xuan Ji said Ling Jiu would refuse rescue if it required abandoning her final wish to refine the blood.
• Jiang Lin agreed to help refine the Purest Imperial Blood by modifying the coffin and said Ling Jiu would provide the answer to why his method could work better.