Chapter Summaries

During the Painful Sleeping Lotus trial, Zhou Leng used the pain to deepen his understanding of the Sea-Calming Formula and glimpsed a cosmic tsunami that transformed his true qi. After the trial ended, he learned that the next challenge, the Avalanche Mountain Range, threatened even Innate warriors with deadly avalanches and freezing, spell-like winds.

• Zhou Leng and the others sat on the Painful Sleeping Lotuses, and a Giant wizard intensified the pain with mist that made the needles pierce and churn their flesh.
• Zhou Leng circulated the Sea-Calming Formula through the pain and gained a vision of a cosmic tsunami crushing a planetary island, which changed his true qi and gave him a new insight into the technique.
• Zhou Leng opened his eyes to find that everyone else had finished and waited for him; he thanked the Examiner for allowing him to keep cultivating instead of breaking his legs.
• The Examiner announced the Avalanche Mountain Range as the third trial, and Shanhe Xiangmu warned Zhou Leng about avalanches, flying rocks, and Terrifying Wind colder than minus one hundred degrees.

Zhou Leng and his companions began the Giant Clan’s deadly Avalanche Mountain trial, battling extreme cold, hurricane winds, flowing snow, and falling rocks as they climbed. They pushed uphill together, but an avalanche struck their route.

• Shanhe Xiangmu explained that the Avalanche Mountain trial demanded bare outer layers and exposed participants to lethal cold, fierce winds, and magical beasts.
• Zhou Leng, Zhang Xinglie, Shanhe Xiangmu, Shanhe Yuan, Molten Hammer, and Black Barrel formed a wind-breaking formation as they approached and began climbing the mountain.
• Zhou Leng urged the group to accelerate uphill rather than struggle slowly through the deep, flowing snow, and everyone supported the plan.
• Shanhe Xiangmu spotted rolling boulders, and the group dodged them before finding a shattered, frozen giant corpse in their path.
• An avalanche shook the mountain, and Shanhe Yuan ordered everyone to retreat and find cover among the rocks.

Zhou Leng and his companions endured two avalanches while climbing the mountain, and Shanhe Yuan injured himself diverting a giant snowball from the group. They took shelter in a hidden cave, where Shanhe Yuan recovered with Zhou Leng’s Beast Medicine Fruit and shared his uncertainty about belonging to either the Giant World or the human world.

• Zhou Leng and the group survived an avalanche and continued climbing despite the worsening wind and thin air.
• When another avalanche struck, Zhou Leng rescued the injured Molten Hammer, and Shanhe Yuan knocked a giant snowball off course to save the group.
• Zhang Xinglie led everyone to a sheltered slope, where Shanhe Yuan rested and recovered from his injuries.
• Shanhe Yuan discovered a sealed cave, and the group took shelter inside to eat and rest.
• Zhou Leng gave Shanhe Yuan a Beast Medicine Fruit, which helped him recover as the group discussed his life among the Giants.
• Shanhe Yuan told the group he did not know where he belonged, since Giants treated him as a human and humans treated him as a Giant.

Zhou Leng and the others were trapped underground when an earthquake opened a frozen passage believed to belong to the Frost Giants. As they explored it, they encountered a group of demons and prepared to attack, with Zhou Leng ordering them to capture one alive.

• Shanhe Yuan, Zhang Xinglie, and Zhou Leng shared how they coped with feeling out of place, while Molten Hammer advised living in the present.
• An earthquake collapsed the cave entrance and dropped everyone into a vast underground passage covered in ice.
• Shanhe Yuan identified the passage as possibly belonging to the vanished Frost Giants, and the group chose to search for another exit rather than clear the rubble.
• Molten Hammer led the group through the freezing, slippery passage as they slowly adapted to the conditions.
• The group heard demons ahead, moved cautiously toward a cross-shaped passage, and came face-to-face with a demon party.

Zhou Leng and the others defeated eight demons, but their discovery of Black Snow Cards led them to suspect the Ice Snow Divine Cult had engineered their fall into the cavern. The group concluded that the demons and cultists were excavating a Frost Giant Tomb whose defenses would weaken during the Stone-Back Festival.

• Zhang Xinglie stunned the demons with his Lion's Roar Technique, allowing Zhou Leng to kill the Prayer while the others attacked.
• Shanhe Xiangmu tore apart a Humpback Horse Demon, and Shanhe Yuan killed a Pain Maiden as the group fought the remaining demons.
• Zhou Leng and Shanhe Yuan killed the Tumor Warriors, whose bodies exploded with corrosive poison and disease that wounded the fighters.
• The six survivors treated their injuries, searched the demons' belongings, and found Black Snow Cards associated with the Ice Snow Divine Cult.
• Zhou Leng and the others linked the cult's actions and the unnatural earthquake to their entry into the cavern, then identified the passage as a Frost Giant Tomb being excavated while its defenses weakened for the Stone-Back Festival.

Zhou Leng and his companions captured Ice Snow Divine Cult followers and learned that they were aiding Frost Hand in the Avalanche Mountain Range. After Jade Wing blocked their escape with poison spells, the group encountered a larger enemy force led by a black dragon.

• Zhou Leng's group defeated twelve demons and orcs, then interrogated a horned demon who said they served Lady Xi Yan and were helping Lord Frost Hand.
• The group decided to use the captives' knowledge to leave the cave, but a detection spell swept through the passage and a green dragon named Jade Wing confronted them.
• Jade Wing announced that Frost Hand was coming, then escaped the group's attack and filled the passage with toxic swamps, poisonous vines, and spell traps.
• Zhou Leng's group fled to find another route, but ran into more than thirty demons and Orcs accompanied by a black dragon.
• Shanhe Yuan claimed the black dragon as his opponent and cursed at it in Draconic.

Shanhe Yuan killed a Black Dragon and held off four Force-Generating Stage demons while Zhou Leng and the others fought through the enemy ranks. Under pressure from waves of spells and attackers, Zhou Leng broke through to the Body-Refining Late Stage, and the chapter ended with Shanhe Yuan charging the four demons after killing their dragon leader.

• Shanhe Yuan defeated Black Dragon in the first clash, and the demons and Orcs fled until reinforcements arrived.
• Zhang Xinglie realized the enemy forces had infiltrated months earlier and were now advancing to the Force-Generating Stage.
• Shanhe Yuan told his teammates to fall back and fought the new Black Dragon and four Force-Generating Stage demons alone, while Shanhe Xiangmu joined Zhou Leng, Zhang Xinglie, Molten Hammer, and Black Barrel in defending themselves.
• The enemy's warlocks and shamans overwhelmed the group with spells, and Shanhe Xiangmu tried to break through to reach them with a steel pillar.
• Zhou Leng broke through to the Body-Refining Late Stage and killed an Orc, while the group continued fighting under heavy attack.
• Shanhe Yuan killed the Force-Generating Stage Black Dragon, then charged the four remaining demons as they retreated in fear.

Shanhe Yuan and his companions fought the Ice Snow Divine Cult’s forces, but Frost Hand arrived and demanded that Zhou Leng stay behind. As Zhou Leng accompanied Frost Hand toward the Frost Giant tomb, he learned they sought a divine artifact and believed he was fated to find it.

• An Innate Puppet repeatedly struck Shanhe Yuan, who kept standing to shield Zhou Leng and the others until Jade Wing ordered the fighting to stop.
• Frost Hand arrived and revealed that he had been searching for Zhou Leng because Zhou Leng had killed one of his disciple’s minions.
• Shanhe Xiangmu and the others stood between Frost Hand and Zhou Leng, but Zhou Leng agreed to stay if his companions could safely leave and pass the Giant Trial.
• Frost Hand teleported the five companions to the Avalanche Plateau and gave Zhou Leng a crystal ball showing their progress.
• Frost Hand told Zhou Leng that his followers sought their god’s artifact in the Frost Giant tomb, where three demigods’ lingering power had defeated their preparations.
• Frost Hand said Zhou Leng was fated with their god, and Zhou Leng began searching his memories for a connection to ice and snow.

Zhou Leng agreed to investigate the Frost Giant tomb after Frost Hand explained the Ice Snow Divine Cult’s beliefs and history. He crossed the Extreme Cold Ice Palace’s freezing corridor unharmed and reached through its gates, leaving his next trial unresolved.

• Frost Hand told Zhou Leng that retrieving the Ice Snow Divine Cult’s token would prove his affinity, while any failure would mean he had none.
• Jade Wing offered Zhou Leng a Dragon Clan martial arts manual in exchange for Emerald Crown’s frozen corpse, but they could not arrange a way to store it.
• Frost Hand recounted his investigation of the tomb, the Armor King’s reign, and how his subordinates had failed to pass the palace.
• Frost Hand offered to recommend Zhou Leng as a high priest if he survived and gave him a cold-resistance potion.
• Zhou Leng entered the corridor, passed the frozen creatures without harm, and reached through the palace gates.

Zhou Leng entered the Armor King's tomb and was saved from its Demigod Power by the Ice Wings, receiving a blessing from the Armor King's phantom before being sent back to Avalanche Plateau. Meanwhile, Zhang Xinglie and the surviving trial-takers mourned the losses and began discussing the Ice Snow Divine Cult, while Lou Feiqiong believed Zhou Leng had died.

• Zhou Leng examined the murals depicting the Armor King's life and found an image of a twelve-winged being delivering the Ice Wings to the Frost Giant.
• Zhou Leng entered the tomb hall, where Demigod Power froze him, but the Ice Wings glowed and melted the ice away.
• The Armor King's phantom asked Zhou Leng whether he was the Ice God's envoy, listened to his explanation, and sent divine light into and around him.
• Jade Wing and Frost Hand left the tomb, and Frost Hand revealed that the worlds could become part of Demon Prison after the Ten Realms War.
• Zhou Leng reappeared on Avalanche Plateau and ran through the storm toward the arena, regretting that he had gained no treasure but relieved to be alive.
• Zhang Xinglie asked Black Barrel to gather information on the Ice Snow Divine Cult, while Shanhe Yuan, Shanhe Xiangmu, and Molten Hammer offered to join him; Lou Feiqiong mourned Zhou Leng, believing he had died.

Zhou Leng returned alive from the trial and advanced through three elimination battles, while Shanhe Yuan avenged his fallen comrades in a death duel. Zhou Leng’s next opponent was Shanhe Yuan, whom he wanted to test himself against despite knowing he was outmatched.

• Shanhe Yuan challenged a Giant to an Eternal Grudge Death Duel after the Giant insulted his fallen comrades, then brutally defeated him.
• Zhou Leng returned, said Giant ancestors’ heroic souls had saved him, and reunited with his team.
• The Examiner announced that 1,724 trial-takers would compete for the final 100 places among the 200 recipients of Ancestor’s Protection.
• Zhou Leng drew number 247 and defeated a Swollen-Belly Ox Demon, then won two more battles to enter the top 200.
• Zhou Leng’s fourth-round opponent was Shanhe Yuan, and Zhou Leng said he wanted to test his newly advanced Body-Refining Late Stage strength.

Zhou Leng lost to Shanhe Yuan in the trial but advanced through the losers' bracket and earned a place among the top two hundred. As the group headed to the Ancestral Mausoleum, they discussed Ancestor's Protection, Giant status, and the dangers of obtaining a Dragon-Blood Extraordinary Body.

• Zhou Leng challenged Shanhe Yuan, but Shanhe Yuan's reach, Martial Dao skill, and Mountain-Subduing River Battle Art overwhelmed him, and Zhou Leng conceded the match.
• Zhou Leng defeated an ordinary Giant by repeatedly striking the same spot on its leg, then finished it with Chaotic Cloud-Ladder Stomp.
• Zhou Leng and Molten Hammer advanced through the Losers' Bracket into the top twenty, while Black Barrel failed to qualify.
• The examiner announced that the top two hundred had earned Ancestor's Protection and led them toward the Ancestral Mausoleum, where Zhou Leng noticed the group included additional quota holders.
• Shanhe Yuan explained how Ancestor's Protection quotas and Giant status could be obtained, while Molten Hammer said a Dragon-Blood Extraordinary Body required soaking in a Dragon Blood Pool or finding a Lava Demon Dragon.

The group discussed Headless Gods and traveled aboard a Sky-Sea Ship while Zhou Leng asked Shanhe Yuan how he mastered the Mountain-Subduing River Battle Art. Shanhe Yuan explained that his conviction had grown from childhood humiliation, then revealed that his parents had divorced because his human mother could not endure life in the Giant World.

• Zhang Xinglie and the others explained how martial artists obtained Headless Gods, while Molten Hammer recalled humans digging up the Steel Dwarves’ ancestral graves.
• The group boarded a Sky-Sea Ship and discussed Ancestor’s Protection and their experiences in the Giant Trial.
• Zhou Leng asked Shanhe Yuan how he mastered the Mountain-Subduing River Battle Art, and Shanhe Yuan said he had fused his will and conviction into his attacks.
• Shanhe Yuan explained that insults against his parents had once driven him to fight to prove their love and the legitimacy of his birth.
• Shanhe Yuan revealed that his parents had divorced after his human mother returned to Ru City because she could not endure the harsh Giant World, and he said his father recovered by returning to his usual life.

Zhou Leng and his companions arrived at the Ancestral Mausoleum to receive Ancestor’s Protection, discussing battle arts and learning about Li Shenkong’s complete Starry Sky Inheritance along the way. At the Demigod Wall, Zhou Leng recognized a carving of the Armor King as Shanhe Yuan voiced his ambition to one day join the ancestors depicted there.

• Zhou Leng, Zhang Xinglie, and Shanhe Yuan exchanged battle arts, and Zhou Leng practiced until his true qi reached the feat of exhaling breath three zhang.
• Shanhe Yuan revealed that Li Shenkong had obtained a complete Starry Sky Inheritance from a major starry-sky sect.
• The group arrived at the Ancestral Mausoleum, where Shanhe Yuan explained the prospects of Ancestor’s Protection and Molten Hammer asked about the taste of the ashes.
• Liang Baiyin greeted Zhou Leng and walked with him, making plans to seek Elder Song’s Martial Dao guidance together.
• The group reached the Demigod Wall, where Zhou Leng recognized the Armor King among the carvings and encouraged Shanhe Yuan’s hope of joining them one day.

Zhou Leng and the others ate ashes at the Giants’ Demigod Wall ceremony, where the hallucinogenic effects exposed them to Giant ancestral memories and awakened the ancestors’ blessing. The Armor King’s power singled Zhou Leng out for a Demigod blessing, and his body began to expand as the golden light faded.

• Zhou Leng translated the ceremony’s instructions, and he, Liang Baiyin, Zhang Xinglie, and their companions ate the ashes mixed with water and glutinous rice flour.
• The ashes caused vivid hallucinations and ancestral memories, while the Giants and other visitors danced and sang before the Demigod Wall.
• The Demigod statues first lit up partially, then the Armor King’s central statue shone brightly and triggered golden Ancestor’s Protection throughout the sanctuary.
• A golden pillar formed over Zhou Leng, and the Giant elders realized he had received the Armor King’s Demigod blessing.
• As the blessing faded, Zhou Leng’s body expanded and tore through his clothes while Liang Baiyin lay limp beside him.

Zhou Leng endured Ancestor's Protection and awakened the Giant Physical Extraordinary Body, then received the title of Frost Giant Grand Duke and the rewards that came with it. Shanhe Tianyue sensed extraordinary potential in him and said he could attempt the Giant Ancient Road if he defeated Shanhe Yuan.

• Zhou Leng's body grew to over three meters as Ancestor's Protection remade him, awakening the Giant Physical Extraordinary Body and revealing visions of ancient Giants.
• After the protection ended, Shanhe Tianyue named Zhou Leng the Frost Giant Grand Duke, and Giants and other guests thanked him for inviting His Majesty the Armor King.
• Shanhe Tianyue offered Zhou Leng a territory, a mineral vein, a Dragon Skull upon reaching Innate, and a standard salary; Zhou Leng asked that his investiture remain quiet.
• Shanhe Tianyue examined Zhou Leng's physique and sensed an extraordinary power fusing with his Giant Physical Extraordinary Body.
• Shanhe Tianyue told Zhou Leng to defeat Shanhe Yuan before he could attempt the Giant Ancient Road, where Star Giants once walked.

Zhou Leng returned to the Dwarf Embassy and studied how the Giants’ power had transformed his body before refining it through the Standing Elephant Chapter. He shrank to two meters and twenty centimeters and reached the chapter’s limit, leaving his body far denser and stronger.

• Zhou Leng learned from Shanhe Tianyue that he could shrink after absorbing the Giants’ power, while Liang Baiyin arranged to stay at the Dwarf Embassy and attend the investiture ceremony with him.
• Zhou Leng examined his transformed body and found spiral muscles, double-layered bones, a crossbar sternum, Qi-Blood Heart Armor, and strengthened organs.
• Zhou Leng practiced the Standing Elephant Chapter and unlocked its true, moving sequence after completing its thirty-sixth cycle of the twelfth stance.
• Zhou Leng repeatedly performed the Standing Elephant Chapter, compressing his body until he reached two meters and twenty centimeters and the chapter’s limit.
• Zhou Leng’s muscles reached the density of iron, his teeth exceeded tungsten steel in density, and his exhaled breath punched through a cracked window.

After Zhou Leng’s body shrank and grew denser through training, Shanhe Yuan advised him to focus his stipend on Dragonblood Medicine and Treasure Ore Medicine to strengthen his foundation. The group discussed the Ten Realms Youth War, and Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie decided to aim for next year as Zhou Leng pursued condensing his Giant Physical Extraordinary Body.

• Zhou Leng emerged from his ruined room with a smaller, stronger body, demonstrated that his qi could cut a hanging sheet of paper, and learned Zhang Xinglie had reached the Force-Generating Stage.
• Shanhe Yuan explained the benefits of Dragonblood Medicine and the two kinds of Treasure Ore Medicine, then advised Zhou Leng to choose only medicines that strengthened his body.
• Shanhe Yuan decided to train his Martial Will in the Demon Spirit Tower, while Shanhe Yuan, Shanhe Xiangmu, and Molten Hammer planned to enter this year’s Ten Realms Youth War.
• Zhou Leng said he would miss this year’s Youth War while condensing his Giant Physical Extraordinary Body, and he and Zhang Xinglie agreed to aim for next year.
• Zhou Leng and his companions attended his simplified investiture ceremony at the Giant Royal Court, where Liang Baiyin helped with preparations, and later joined a Giant banquet.

After the sanctuary banquet, Zhou Leng prepared to leave the Dwarf Embassy and received valuable gifts and information from Jax. The next morning, he set out for the Giant garrison with Dwarf and Giant escorts, joined by Liang Baiyin and her uncle.

• At the banquet, Zhou Leng and Shanhe Yuan finalized the Giants' stipend, and the group returned to the Dwarf Embassy to prepare for departure.
• Jax visited Zhou Leng with Dragon Clan and Giant medicines and Star Spiral Shells, promised to share information about the Dragon-Blood Extraordinary Body, and revealed that some Twin Horns members traded with the Demon-Worshiping Cult.
• Zhou Leng inspected Jax's gifts and studied the stars, noticing the ring of stars that marked the entrance to the Sea of Myriad Stars.
• The next morning, Liang Baiyin and her uncle asked to travel with Zhou Leng, and Zhou Leng agreed after warning Liang Baiyin not to act recklessly.
• Zhou Leng departed with Dwarf and Giant cavalry for the Giant garrison, while Liang Baiyin rode beside him and watched martial arts videos with him on his Great Earth Lizard.

Zhou Leng traveled safely back to Ru City with Liang Baiyin and Zhang Xinglie, then told Deng Zhijue about obtaining the Giant Physical Extraordinary Body and requested access to Martial Guard files to investigate the Demon-Worshiping Cult. Deng Zhijue agreed to seek authorization and warned Zhou Leng about growing threats, while revealing that Chang Luan had left Ru University after his father tried to steal Zhou Leng’s resources.

• Liang Baiyin shared her private short videos with Zhou Leng, then chatted with the team about Martial Dao and great-family affairs during their journey through the Giants' territory.
• The group reached the Water Continent Demon City base, and Liang Baiyin traveled with Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie by bus toward Ru City before parting from them.
• Zhou Leng returned to Ru University and told Deng Zhijue that he had obtained the Giant Physical Extraordinary Body and encountered the Ice Snow Divine Cult and Frost Hand.
• Zhou Leng asked to investigate Demon-Worshiping Cult members, and Deng Zhijue agreed to apply for secondary Martial Guard authorization while warning him of worsening attacks and rival cults.
• Deng Zhijue discussed the deadly struggle over the Headless God, rumors about Dongjun's Six Volumes, and the possibility of obtaining the Headless God through the Martial Guard Department.
• Deng Zhijue revealed that Chang Luan and his father had tried to divert Zhou Leng's resources to Chang Luan, and that he had reported them, leading to their removal from Ru University.