Chapter Summaries

Zhou Leng arranged for powerful artifacts to be crafted, gained greater standing among the Eight-Tusked Mammoth Tribe, and discovered a dangerous Star-Destroying Bottle among his spoils. After a higher power destroyed the Calamity Envoy’s altar for searching for the bottle, Zhou Leng explored Crystal Dust’s virtual videos and began studying advanced martial and cosmic knowledge.

• Zhou Leng gave the Ice Snow Divine Cult Dense Stellar Cores and Giant Deity bone fragments for crafting a massive barbell, then paid for protective Demigod Artifacts.
• Zhou Leng traveled with the Eight-Tusked Mammoth Tribe, celebrated his advancement to Great Grandmaster, and became an elder with Mammoth Town and Mammoth Valley as his fief.
• Zhou Leng collected water from Mammoth Lake, found its Tree of Life growing rapidly, and discovered the sealed Star-Destroying Bottle among his spoils, which he entrusted to Big Yellow.
• The Calamity Envoy used an altar to search for the Star-Destroying Bottle, but an immense icy force destroyed the altar and killed nearly everyone nearby; the Calamity Envoy fled and abandoned the search.
• Zhou Leng explored Crystal Dust’s simulated videos, studied a Star Sovereign’s lesson, and began recording the advanced knowledge he found.

Zhou Leng studied Astral Pillcraft and began learning to operate the Star-Refining Furnace so he could treat Zhang Xinglie, then traveled to Xiong City to train. He activated the Planet Ball in the Martial Saint Martial Arts Hall and found that pushing it demanded more force as it spun faster.

• Zhou Leng studied Astral Pillcraft in the World Instrument, passed its theoretical examination with 63 points, and learned the Star-Refining Furnace’s basic controls.
• Zhou Leng returned to the Ancient River Research Institute, reviewed his messages, and arranged to attend the National Martial Dao Exemplary Figure ceremony and the Ancient River Sect Martial Dao Symposium.
• Zhou Leng planned future training at the Mother Tree, in Elephant Nation, and on the Martial Saint Battle Path, while arranging to meet Zhao Nandi in Xiong City.
• Zhou Leng ran nearly a thousand kilometers to Xiong City, reached speeds of up to 7.5 times the speed of sound, and called Chen Shouhu to authorize his use of Martial Saint equipment.
• Zhou Leng entered the Martial Saint Martial Arts Hall, tested its dumbbells, and activated the Planet Ball.
• Zhou Leng pushed the Planet Ball in the indicated direction and found that it required increasing force as it accelerated.

Zhou Leng comprehended Stellar Orbit Force while pushing the Planet Ball, then taught the technique to Li Tianyuan and the other Martial Saints. Outside the Martial Dao Association, Zhao Nandi and a group of women waited to meet him and were startled to see him leave surrounded by Martial Saints.

• Zhou Leng pushed the Planet Ball through its fifth stage and sensed a force that imitated the rotation of planets, strengthening his body as it circulated.
• Li Tianyuan saw Zhou Leng reaching the unprecedented fifth stage and summoned the Martial Saints of the Ancient River Sect to watch him cultivate.
• Zhou Leng cultivated through the night and into the following day until he opened the first strand of Stellar Orbit Force.
• Zhao Nandi and Liang Baiyin waited at home as women seeking contact with Zhou Leng gathered there, then led a convoy to the Martial Dao Association.
• Zhou Leng explained Stellar Orbit Force to Li Tianyuan and the other Martial Saints, who learned its circulation method and discussed it with him into the night.
• Zhao Nandi and the women waited outside the association, then watched Zhou Leng emerge surrounded by Martial Saints and quickly adjusted their appearance.

Zhou Leng reunited with Zhao Nandi and Liang Baiyin, then heard Zhao Nandi argue that Liang Baiyin would be a better wife and future matriarch than Xu Qingjin. He explained how his childhood with Xu Qingjin shaped his idea of marriage and challenged the assumptions behind Zhao Nandi’s advice.

• Zhou Leng greeted Zhao Nandi, Liang Baiyin, and their friends after the Martial Saints left, then went with the two women to Zhao Nandi’s home.
• Zhou Leng told Zhao Nandi and Liang Baiyin about his recent experiences, while Liang Baiyin listened with admiration.
• Zhao Nandi privately urged Zhou Leng to consider marrying Liang Baiyin, arguing that her background, abilities, and feelings made her a suitable partner and matriarch.
• Zhao Nandi admitted she would willingly marry Zhou Leng if asked, and he recalled how a childhood conversation with Xu Qingjin shaped his expectations for family life.
• Zhou Leng challenged Zhao Nandi’s view of marriage, suggesting that she treated family as a way to gain resources and believed ordinary people did not deserve marriage or happiness.

Zhou Leng explained to Zhao Nandi why his Martial Will made him unwilling to pursue marriage or family, while Liang Baiyin said she would wait for him to decay. At the World Ancient River Sect Martial Dao Symposium, Zhou Leng impressed Martial Saints from several nations with his skill and extraordinary physical strength.

• Zhou Leng told Zhao Nandi that resisting his Martial Will would halt his Martial Dao, and said that holding hands with Xu Qingjin preserved his humanity.
• Zhao Nandi asked Zhou Leng whether he would help Zhao Sheng leave behind a bloodline, then returned to the bedroom with Liang Baiyin; Liang Baiyin said she would wait for Zhou Leng to decay.
• Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong led their forces into the symposium, where they saw Zhou Leng explain his boxing methods and defeat Feng Delai in a match without true qi.
• Zhou Leng sparred with Martial Saints from several nations, and Crawford learned that Zhou Leng's Martial Will had reached the Diamond Realm.
• Feng Delai questioned Zhou Leng about his physical strength, and Zhou Leng said he could lift 750,000 tons without using other power; Wang Boxiong concluded that Zhou Leng was Xiong City's world.

The Treant Elder Council secretly agreed to make Zhou Leng an Ancient Crown while keeping the title confidential, as the Ancient River Sect’s symposium and Zhou Leng’s new government appointments reshaped the balance of power. Wang Zhenghua told Zhang Xinglie he was joining a near-suicidal effort to forge a better future and asked him to care for his family if he did not return.

• The Treant elders debated Zhou Leng’s appointment as Ancient Crown, then agreed to grant him the status secretly and turned to plans for facing the Calamity Envoy and Corpse King Throne.
• Zhou Leng hosted the three-day Ancient River Sect Martial Dao Symposium, and the Supreme Court named him a National Martial Dao Exemplary Figure and an Honor Court councilor.
• Zhao Cong realized Zhou Leng’s appointment placed him beyond the Zhao family’s reach and ended any prospect of another visit to the Ancient River Research Bureau.
• Wang Zhenghua met Zhang Xinglie, explained that Lü Yuanhao had entrusted him with money and asked him to look after his grandmother, then asked Zhang to care for his grandmother and younger brother if he did not return.
• Wang Zhenghua told Zhang Xinglie that he planned to join a dangerous effort to open a better path for future generations, and Zhang warned him not to make a mistake.

Wang Zhenghua urged Zhang Xinglie to join preparations against the Demon-Worshiping Cult, while Hu Yi vowed to join a miners’ attack on the Zhao Palace. On the flight to Ru City, Zhou Leng learned about powerful Zhao family fighters and received Wang Boxiong’s plan for his path to sainthood.

• Wang Zhenghua told Zhang Xinglie that the Demon-Worshiping Cult threatened humanity and asked him to help; Zhang Xinglie said he would think about it.
• Hu Yi learned that the mine was cutting workers’ pay and, angered by the Zhao family’s alleged crimes, declared he would join miners driving trucks into the Zhao Palace.
• The deputy captain stopped Hu Yi from taking a mining truck and sent him back to the dormitory, where Hu Yi muttered that he would take part if enough people joined.
• Zhou Leng asked Wang Boxiong about the strength of Zhao Tianji, Zhao Cong, Li Shenkong, and Zhao Hao, and learned that Zhao Hao could not be defeated short of sainthood.
• Wang Boxiong outlined a cultivation route for Zhou Leng’s ascent to sainthood and stressed that he should remove his Demon Brain during key stages; Zhou Leng agreed to avoid outside contact beneath the Bodhi Tree.
• Zhou Leng gave Wang Boxiong a Demon-Spirit Bag full of pills, and Wang Boxiong accepted it.

Zhou Leng and Xu Qingjin traveled to Mother Tree’s territory, where he learned that the Calamity Envoy was preparing to conquer Treant World and that the Treants were evacuating their people. Sky Beard arranged a private cultivation chamber for Zhou Leng and explained the powerful blessings and resources Mother Tree might grant him.

• The Huang-Meng Sect and the Hell Knights agreed to launch simultaneous attacks in the Dragon Nation and the Eagle Alliance.
• Zhou Leng brought Xu Qingjin to Mother Tree’s territory and learned that Demigod clones had joined the forces gathering to invade Treant World.
• Sky Beard explained that Mother Tree could resist the Calamity Envoy directly but was vulnerable to his many ways of attacking her, so the Treants were evacuating to other worlds.
• Zhou Leng promised to help the Treants who moved to the human world while prioritizing the Dragon Nation’s people and rules.
• Sky Beard told Zhou Leng that Mother Tree might grant him a divine ability, including the Tree God Clone, and that he would qualify for Life Divine Liquid after cultivating.
• Sky Beard led Zhou Leng and Xu Qingjin to a newly built treehouse on a main branch, where they would stay during Zhou Leng’s cultivation.

Zhou Leng cultivated in the Mother Tree’s tree hole, where its life divine liquid granted him three treant abilities and the donated star spiral shells greatly strengthened his body. He remained at Grandmaster peak while his physical strength continued to grow, and the treants waited to crown him with the Ancient Crown.

• After three days in Sky City, Zhou Leng left Xu Qingjin at the treehouse and began cultivating in the Mother Tree’s tree hole.
• Zhou Leng’s cultivation surged to Grandmaster peak in five days, prompting the Mother Tree to flood the hole with life divine liquid.
• The Mother Tree bestowed Light-Chasing Body, Power of Growth, and Self-Healing Power on Zhou Leng as the treant demigods performed a ceremony.
• Sky Sea asked the treants to donate high-energy spiral shells, and they gathered hundreds of millions beneath the Mother Tree.
• The shells flowed into Zhou Leng’s Stellar Void Bag and accelerated his Immortal Star Body, while his physical strength kept improving beyond the fourth day.
• The treant demigods dispersed except for three guards, while Zhou Leng continued cultivating and Xu Qingjin cultivated quietly in a distant treehouse.

Xu Qingjin waited beneath the Mother Tree as the Demonic Beast army approached, while Zhou Leng continued his transformation inside the tree hollow. Elsewhere, the Treants prepared for battle and Zhang Xinglie learned that Zhao He had arranged for his aunt to be captured and refined into a White Lake Lotus Fruit.

• Xu Qingjin reached Innate King after cultivating beneath the Mother Tree, then discovered the Demonic Beast army approaching and chose to remain beside Zhou Leng.
• The Treants and Giant Insects assembled for a decisive battle, and Chen Shouhu ordered efforts to disrupt the Calamity Army and gather resources for the Treants.
• Wang Boxiong and a Martial Guard captain discussed suspicious anti-fraud groups and decided to watch them quietly while preparing for the conflict in Treant World.
• Yang Mingyuan told Zhang Xinglie that his aunt's corpse had been sent to the Great Battlefield and refined into a White Lake Lotus Fruit, though their people had found and cremated her first.
• Yang Mingyuan revealed that Zhao He had been responsible for capturing Zhang Xinglie's aunt and that Zhao Cong was preparing to ascend into sainthood by forging the Corpse King Throne.

Zhang Xinglie resolved to become a Grandmaster so he could buy Zhou Leng more time to reach sainthood, while Li Yuanhe kept news of his father's capture from Zhou Leng. At the Mother Tree, Li Shenkong discovered Zhao Cong's treachery, and Zhao Cong coordinated the Demon-Worshiping Cult's plan to raise a Corpse King Throne and asked Rao Mingxian about drawing Zhou Leng into the cult.

• Zhang Xinglie told Yang Mingyuan he would return to Yunhua and advance to Grandmaster so he could win more time for Zhou Leng to ascend to sainthood.
• Li Yuanhe learned that the Demon-Worshiping Cult had captured his father, Li Linhan, and kept the news from Zhou Leng while he searched for them with Martial Guard friends.
• Li Shenkong used the Star-Slaying Sword to test Zhao Cong and confirmed that the sword detected Zhao Cong's malice; he later followed Zhao Cong in disguise.
• Zhao Cong met Rao Mingxian and learned that the cult was gathering corpses to build the Corpse King Throne while the Calamity Envoy planned to attack the Mother Tree using the Mother Insect's power.
• Zhao Cong asked Rao Mingxian whether he had considered drawing Zhou Leng out, demonizing him, and recruiting him into the Demon-Worshiping Cult.

Zhao Cong killed Rao Mingxian and ordered the Demon-Worshiping Cult to devise a way to eliminate Zhou Leng. After Zhao Tianji proposed a direct attack, Zhao Cong agreed to provide him with three Demigod Artifacts for the mission.

• Rao Mingxian told Zhao Cong that he could not safely lure Zhou Leng out from the Mother Tree, but Zhao Cong struck and killed him.
• Zhao Cong displayed Rao Mingxian’s belongings as evidence of alleged collusion with Zhou Leng and demanded that the cult find a way to target Zhou Leng.
• Shen Jun suggested consulting his teacher, Light of Redemption, who arrived with Zhao Tianji.
• Light of Redemption and Zhao Tianji assessed Zhou Leng’s strength and discussed killing him before he became more powerful.
• Zhao Tianji said he needed two Demigod Artifacts to kill Zhou Leng, and Zhao Cong promised him three.

Zhao Cong arranged a combined attack on Zhou Leng, while the war around the Mother Tree escalated as the tree withered and the Corpse King Throne rose. The Mother of Giant Insects then charged the Mother Tree with Void God power, and Zhou Leng opened his eyes within the tree.

• Zhao Cong recruited Zhao Tianji and other Great Grandmasters, including Light of Redemption, to ambush Zhou Leng as the Corpse King Throne rose, while Shen Jun advised Light of Redemption to warn Zhou Leng and was sent back to Ru City.
• The armies gathered around the Mother Tree as the Treant World’s defenses weakened, its healing power faded, and the tree’s leaves yellowed and withered.
• Song Juesi arrived and killed hundreds of Grandmasters and seven Demigod avatars, while Xu Qingjin cultivated inside the Mother Tree and reached the Bone Tempering Realm.
• The Calamity Envoy climbed the White Bone Stairway, caused the Corpse King Throne to rise, and invited the Ten Realms to compete for it.
• The Mother of Giant Insects charged the Mother Tree, shattered a Treant Grandmaster, and hurled a Demigod Treant away with her Void God power.
• Xu Qingjin looked toward Zhou Leng as he opened his eyes inside the Mother Tree.

Zhou Leng received four divine abilities and the Mother Tree’s branch while the Mother Insect and Mother Tree fought a devastating battle. After escorting Xu Qingjin to safety, he learned that Wang Boxiong wanted him to assist Lu Renqu with an operation against the Demon-Worshiping Cult.

• The Mother Insect fought through the Mother Tree’s roots and branches, while Demigods on both sides abandoned hope of attacking the Mother Tree.
• Zhou Leng awakened the personal divine abilities Light-Chasing Body, Power of Growth, Self-Healing Power, and Tree God Clone, and received a branch from the Mother Tree.
• Zhou Leng agreed to return to the battle after escorting Xu Qingjin to Shuizhou Base, then took her through the teleportation array and safely back to the Ancient River Research Institute.
• Zhou Leng read Wang Boxiong’s message instructing him to work with Lu Renqu on the Weed Removal operation targeting the Demon-Worshiping Cult and protect Lu Renqu.

Zhou Leng disguised himself as Guan Canglong and entered the Calamity Army camp to gather intelligence, but he launched a surprise attack on its commanders and troops. As he carved through the battlefield, he came to the aid of Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong, ending the chapter after killing the Sword of Innocence’s Blazing Flame Sword Demon avatar.

• Zhou Leng read messages from Shen Jun, Hu Yi, and Zhang Xinglie, then reviewed reports of the Demon-Worshiping Cult’s growing influence and the fighting at West Sea Demon City.
• Zhou Leng disguised himself as Guan Canglong, entered the Calamity Army camp using his cult tokens, and surveyed its forces and battlefield.
• Zhou Leng infiltrated a command post and killed the Four-Faced Duke and several Demon Grandmasters with Void-Splitting Finger Sword Qi.
• Zhou Leng fought his way through the camp as Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong led a human Grandmaster squad toward him, drawing a swarm of Demonic Beasts around them.
• Zhou Leng intercepted the Sword of Innocence’s Blazing Flame Sword Demon avatar and killed it by severing its wrists and head.

Zhou Leng charged across the battlefield with Sword of Innocence’s flaming greatswords, cutting through Demonic Beast forces while Demigod avatars debated what he was. After he rescued Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong’s unit, he continued toward other battle lines, leaving them unable to identify him.

• Zhou Leng used the flaming greatswords to cut through a Grandmaster unit and then charged into waves of Demonic Beasts as their commanders ordered them to stop him.
• A red-robed saint Demigod struck Zhou Leng with the Thunder of Divine Punishment, but his Void Mastery kept the lightning from reaching him.
• A Demigod Giant Insect’s poison attack was caught by leaves from a Treant Demigod and scattered into the Demonic Beast army.
• Zhou Leng reached Chen Shouhu and Wang Boxiong’s surrounded unit, then killed most of the more than two hundred Grandmasters who attacked him with a spinning ring of fire.
• The remaining Demonic Beast Grandmasters fled, and Zhou Leng ignored Chen Shouhu’s question before charging toward other battle lines.
• Chen Shouhu and the other Grandmasters speculated about Zhou Leng’s identity as they withdrew, while Chen Shouhu rejected the suggestion that the mysterious warrior was Zhou Leng.

Zhou Leng slaughtered more than twenty-six hundred Demonic Beast Grandmasters in one night, then returned to cultivating as the Treant Alliance Army and its enemies tried to identify the mysterious twin-swordsman. The Calamity Envoy finally attacked the Mother Insect, breaking the Mother Tree’s cage and leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Zhou Leng killed more than twenty-six hundred Demonic Beast Grandmasters and over a million Demonic Beasts, forcing the Demonic Beast army’s right flank toward collapse before the Treant Alliance ordered him to rest.
• Chen Shouhu told Li Shenkong and Zhao Cong about the mysterious twin-swordsman’s record, and Li Shenkong recognized sword techniques and a fighting aura resembling Zhou Leng’s.
• Zhao Tianji and Light of Redemption reviewed footage of the mysterious fighter and decided to focus on secretly killing Zhou Leng when he appeared at the struggle for the Corpse King Throne.
• Zhou Leng returned to the Mother Tree, assessed his increased strength, and cultivated his Immortal Star Body and other techniques while sensing a new force field forming around his body.
• The Calamity Envoy attacked the Mother Insect, causing the Mother Tree to sway as the Envoy shattered the tree-root cage around her.

The Calamity Envoy and Mother Insect attacked the weakened Mother Tree as the Demigod Treants and Giant Insects destroyed one another, while the armies began fighting over the Corpse King Throne. Zhou Leng headed for the throne, survived a coordinated ambush with his flaming greatswords, and pursued Zhao Tianji as someone escaped by teleportation.

• The Calamity Envoy used his divine power to weaken the Mother Tree, while the Star-Slaying Sword broke the protection around the Mother Insect.
• The Treant Demigods burned themselves out fighting the Giant Insects, and the surviving Treants charged the Demonic Beast army as the final battle began.
• Grandmasters from both sides rushed toward the Corpse King Throne, while Zhou Leng noticed the new Lush Root charging into battle and then set off for the throne.
• Light of Redemption warned Zhou Leng to be careful, but Zhao Tianji led a group of twelve Grandmasters in an ambush near the Bone Pagoda.
• Zhou Leng drew two flaming greatswords and cut down the attackers, while Zhao Tianji survived behind a Demigod Artifact and another ambusher escaped by teleportation.
• Zhou Leng accelerated toward Zhao Tianji after realizing he had blocked the swords.

Zhou Leng killed the masked Zhao Tianji, then was driven back by a host of Demigod avatars and caught in the Mother Tree's devastating clash with the Calamity Envoy. After surviving the blast, he charged into the Mother Tree's canopy while Li Shenkong and Zhao Cong led the Grandmasters up the Corpse King Throne.

• Zhou Leng slew Zhao Tianji with repeated blows from the flaming greatsword, and Li Shenkong recognized the dead masked man as Zhao Cong's associate.
• Zhou Leng found a demonized arm numbered 49 among the bones, then fled beneath the Mother Tree when more than twenty Demigod avatars came to confront him.
• The Demigod avatars cursed Zhou Leng from outside the Mother Tree's range, weakening him slightly as the Calamity Envoy confronted the Mother Tree inside its root-and-branch barrier.
• The Mother Tree unleashed a three-colored blast that devastated the battlefield, hurling Zhou Leng and the Demigod avatars away and killing or severely wounding countless fighters.
• After healing and taking pills and flesh, Zhou Leng ran up the Mother Tree and disappeared into its canopy, while Zhao Cong and Li Shenkong led the Grandmasters toward the Corpse King Throne.

Zhao Cong and Li Shenkong reached the first Corpse King Throne, where Li confronted Zhao Cong over his betrayal of humanity and tried to persuade him to return. Their argument exposed the Zhao family’s despair and Zhao Cong’s fall to demonhood, leaving Zhao Cong visibly shaken by Li’s final accusation.

• Li Shenkong fought off Demonic Beasts while Zhao Cong climbed to the first Corpse King Throne, and human Grandmasters battled the Demonic Beasts below.
• Li Shenkong confronted Zhao Cong about Xu Ming’s company, his secret visits to the Demonic Beast camp, his meeting with the Demon-Worshiping Cult, and his pursuit of the Star-Slaying Sword.
• Zhao Cong defended his betrayal by arguing that humans and Demons were fundamentally alike and that humanity might survive by submitting to the strong.
• Li Shenkong urged Zhao Cong to reject his father’s despair and return to humanity’s path, but Zhao Cong scoffed at the appeal.
• Li Shenkong accused the Zhao family of falling to demonhood and then killing Zhao Sheng in their hearts, causing Zhao Cong’s lips to tremble as green spread across his face.