Chapter Summaries

Zhou Leng entered a hidden hall and was forced into a Divine Script trial, where he endured a million characters and strengthened his will. He then began the second trial, Disorderly Divine Melody, and found a way to withstand its growing effects.

• Zhou Leng took a Dust Demon Fruit after helping Zhao Le's group repel the Orcs, then continued through the passages and fought alongside Dwarf teams.
• Zhou Leng discovered a concealed downward passage leading to a hall filled with headless corpses, where an invisible force trapped him and the Sprite teacher appeared.
• The Sprite teacher sent Zhou Leng into the Divine Script trial, and he endured the pressure of a million rotating characters before collapsing and receiving a restorative droplet.
• Zhou Leng woke with his will strengthened, and the Sprite teacher began the second trial, Disorderly Divine Melody.
• Zhou Leng used Single-Mindedness and careful listening to adapt to the melody, but it intensified until his blood began to boil.

Zhou Leng endured the Disorderly Divine Melody trial and woke in an ancient reading room, where he discovered the sleeping Saint Corpse of High Earth Flower. After her attack was stopped by the Mountain Furnace Lineage emblem, he began searching through the decayed items around her.

• Zhou Leng endured the first two notes of the Disorderly Divine Melody, but collapsed when the Sprite added the third note; the Sprite later rewarded him with a drop of crystalline water.
• Zhou Leng woke in a reading room, found the motionless Orc High Earth Flower, and noticed a damaged Demon Spirit Bag and scattered belongings beside her.
• Zhou Leng used hook ropes and Bone Runes to try to pull the Demon Spirit Bag away from High Earth Flower, but her Saint Corpse attacked him when it moved a meter.
• Zhou Leng's Bone Rune barrier shattered, but the Mountain Furnace Lineage emblem General Great Furnace had given him made High Earth Flower stop her attack.
• Zhou Leng thanked High Earth Flower and sorted through the ancient pile of belongings, finding that most had decayed or broken apart.

Zhou Leng opened the bone jewelry box and survived the Eye of the Ancient God’s blood-red light, which evolved and strengthened his entire body. He read the High Earth Flower’s journals and learned that Mountain Furnace had summoned her to their first battlefield, but never arrived before the dwarven army pursued her.

• Zhou Leng opened the bone jewelry box, released its blood-red light, and collapsed as it entered his body.
• The Sprite healed Zhou Leng, who dreamed of the Eye of the Ancient God’s origin before waking unharmed.
• Zhou Leng discovered that his body had undergone a broad evolution, tested his new strength, and sensed his combat awareness nearing Minute Perception.
• Zhou Leng translated and read the High Earth Flower’s journals, learning how she and Mountain Furnace found the Eye of the Ancient God, awakened their races’ divine abilities, and fell in love.
• Zhou Leng learned that the High Earth Flower went to meet Mountain Furnace at their first battlefield, but he never appeared, and the dwarven army came after her.

After solving the mystery of Mountain Furnace and High Earth Flower’s letters, Zhou Leng left the Divine Script Academy and found Mountain Furnace’s Saint Corpse in the Ancient King’s Treasure. He reunited with Zhang Xinglie and the others, then stunned them by testing at nearly Zhang Xinglie’s Blood-Circulating Late Stage grip strength.

• High Earth Flower’s story revealed that she had mistaken Mountain Furnace’s letter because both of them had learned Divine Script incorrectly, and Zhou Leng realized the mystery was solved.
• Zhou Leng left the Divine Script Academy through a bronze door marked “Peak” and reached Mountain Furnace’s underground palace, where he saw the Saint Corpse and the golden treasure box.
• Zhou Leng reunited with Zhang Xinglie, Molten Hammer, and the others, who explained that teams had gained treasures and that contenders were using arm-wrestling to choose challengers for the platform.
• Zhang Xinglie said Dwarven battle armor could make Zhou Leng and him Dwarf Residents, and Zhou Leng learned that no one had claimed the Eye of the Ancient God in eight hundred years.
• Zhou Leng tested his grip at 672 kilograms, nearly matching Zhang Xinglie’s 678 and exceeding Molten Hammer’s 675, leaving the Dwarves astonished.

Molten Hammer replaced the stalled strength contest with a one-finger handstand challenge, and Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie proved among the strongest competitors. The top five were named the Five Elites of Grandfather Mountain, and the top twenty began ascending toward Grandfather High Platform.

• Zhou Leng asked Molten Hammer to end the stalemate, and Molten Hammer persuaded the crowd to compete in one-finger handstands.
• Zhou Leng, Zhang Xinglie, Lou Feiqiong, and Jax outlasted the other humans in the handstand contest, while Jax privately told Mark to investigate whether Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie were taking part in the Giant Trial.
• Molten Hammer raised the difficulty to one-finger squats, and Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie continued as competitors fell away.
• Molten Hammer ended the contest when five competitors remained and named them the Five Elites of Grandfather Mountain.
• Molten Hammer told the top twenty to attempt Grandfather High Platform, and an eager dwarf went first.

Zhou Leng opened the Ancient King's Palace barrier and obtained the Eye of the Ancient God, triggering the Ancient God's Blessing for everyone present. After the Dwarves secured the treasure and imposed a lockdown to keep its discovery secret, Zhou Leng stayed with Zhang Xinglie and the others at the Mountain Furnace Tribe's palace.

• Zhou Leng touched the golden barrier, which vanished as the Saint Corpse of Mountain Furnace appeared and reunited in death with High Earth Flower.
• Zhou Leng opened the golden treasure box, revealing the Eye of the Ancient God and releasing its blessing to everyone in the palace.
• The Dwarves agreed to return the Eye of the Ancient God to the Mountain Furnace Tribe, and Molten Hammer ordered a full lockdown to keep the news from the Orcs.
• Grandmaster Dwarves arrived, isolated and escorted the trial participants to Flame Furnace, and the Mountain Furnace Tribe took possession of the treasure.
• Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie stayed at the Mountain Furnace Tribe's palace, where they trained and spent time with the Dwarves.
• After breakfast the next morning, Tu Rong brought Mark and Jax to Zhou Leng's residence.

Jax apologized to Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie, offered compensation, and made peace with them by giving Zhou Leng a mysterious bone fragment and valuable Giant Trial information. Zhou Leng used the compensation to intensify his cultivation, and the chapter ended as a powerful dwarf entered the royal palace’s training grounds.

• Tu Rong apologized on Jax’s behalf for having the dwarves imprison Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie, and Jax offered them pills, treasures, and Orange Gold as compensation.
• Zhou Leng rejected money as sufficient compensation, so Jax gave him Giant Trial information and a mysterious bone fragment that might help him obtain a stronger Giant Physical Extraordinary Body.
• Zhou Leng accepted Jax’s apology, and he and Zhang Xinglie divided the compensation between them.
• Zhou Leng began consuming Origin-Replenishing Pills while cultivating, and he discovered that his body could absorb their medicinal power rapidly but that seven pills a day was his limit.
• Jax told his team not to target Zhou Leng again, while Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie trained at the royal palace the next morning.
• A black, thickset dwarf entered the training grounds with four Golden Hammer Warriors and laughed as he watched the cultivation.

Zhou Leng discussed his rewards and chances of obtaining the Giant Physical Extraordinary Body with Great Furnace. He chose Dragon Bone Medicine over custom inner armor, and Great Furnace began explaining a third reward.

• Great Furnace told Zhou Leng that the Giant Trial was dangerous and that the Dwarves could secure his entry but not guarantee Giant’s Protection.
• Zhou Leng learned that his impending Dwarf Duke title entitled him to enter the Giant Trial and choose attendants, allowing him to secure Zhang Xinglie a trial slot.
• Zhou Leng asked Great Furnace to guide him in choosing rewards, and Great Furnace named Divine Blood Magma as a reward he had to take after reaching the Innate Realm.
• Great Furnace offered Zhou Leng a choice between custom inner armor and Dragon Bone Medicine, explaining the medicine’s benefits for the trial and its dragon-like aura.
• Zhou Leng chose Dragon Bone Medicine, and Great Furnace began describing the third reward.

Zhou Leng chose the Ancient King's Array, Dragon Bone Medicine, and Divine Blood Magma as rewards, while the dwarves arranged to conceal his secrets and share his Divine Script knowledge with the Humanoid Alliance. After his secret investiture, he and Zhang Xinglie joined hundreds of dwarves in the Lava Hall for Ancestor's Protection.

• Zhou Leng chose the Ancient King's Array, Dragon Bone Medicine, and Divine Blood Magma, and Great Furnace arranged his Giant Trial and future access to the rewards.
• Great Furnace agreed to conceal the Eye of the Ancient God with a powerful sealing spell and contact Chen Changyi about Zhou Leng's highest-level Divine Script knowledge.
• Zhou Leng recalled Mountain Furnace and High Earth Flower's final moments, then typed and deleted a message in his offline chat.
• The dwarves held Zhou Leng's secret investiture ceremony and silenced those present; afterward Jax ordered the Trump Consortium team to keep the treasure trip secret and make Tian Wenhu bow his head.
• Lou Feiqiong warned her group not to reveal the secret, while Zhao Le and the others discussed Zhou Leng's title and possible rewards.
• Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie joined more than three hundred dwarves in the Lava Hall for Ancestor's Protection, where the priest told everyone to stand on the scorching floor.

Zhou Leng endured the Dwarves’ Ancestor’s Protection trial longer than anyone else and gained Steel Skin after recovering in the Life Spring. Three days later, he joined Chen Shouhu and the Demon City Army, preparing to leave the Royal Palace.

• Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie joined the Dwarves in chanting before the lava waterfall, then endured its scorching heat as other participants fainted and were carried away.
• Zhang Xinglie collapsed after thirty-seven minutes, while Zhou Leng remained standing alone until the glowing red power filled him and he fainted after three hours.
• Zhou Leng recovered in a hot spring over three days as the red and green lights rebuilt his skin, granting him the Dwarven divine ability Steel Skin.
• A Golden Hammer Warrior escorted Zhou Leng back to his courtyard and gave him a box of Dragon Bone Medicine; Zhou Leng learned that Chen Shouhu and the Demon City Army had arrived.
• Zhou Leng met Chen Shouhu, Molten Hammer, Zhang Xinglie, and the others, packed his belongings, and left with the group.

Zhou Leng secretly gave the 7th Division evidence of his Divine Script inheritance and chose to keep the knowledge and his identity confidential until he reached Grandmaster. After making a video and parting from Lou Feiqiong’s team and Zhang Xinglie, he left Shuizhou Base with Chen Shouhu for Ru City.

• Zhou Leng returned to Shuizhou Base aboard a Whistling Arrow Demonic Warplane and was escorted to a secure building for questioning by Chen Changyi.
• Zhou Leng told Chen Changyi he had memorized the pronunciations and full forms of twenty Divine Scripts, and requested that the information be contributed anonymously until he advanced to Grandmaster.
• Zhou Leng signed a confidentiality agreement and Demon Spirit Contract, then made a Divine Script video and submitted his learning notes and Orc materials to the Demon City Army.
• Zhang Xinglie told Zhou Leng that Lou Feiqiong and Zhao Le had protected him while he meditated in the Ancient King's Treasure, changing Zhou Leng’s view of Lou Feiqiong’s team.
• Zhou Leng and Zhang Xinglie discussed preparing for the Giant Trial, and Zhang Xinglie left for Xiong Capital with Chen Shouhu’s help.
• Zhou Leng left Shuizhou Base with Chen Shouhu in a military vehicle bound for Ru City as a Whistling Arrow Demonic Warplane flew north.

Zhou Leng received an invitation to the Staircase Second Lieutenant Combat Camp and learned about Shanhe Yuan’s extraordinary strength while traveling with Chen Shouhu. After returning to Ru City, Zhou Leng reunited with Xu Qingjin and met Deng Zhijue, who prepared to assess his abilities for the January midterm exam.

• Chen Shouhu invited Zhou Leng to join the Martial Arts Brigade, but Zhou Leng said he wanted to remain free, so Chen gave him an invitation to the Staircase Second Lieutenant Combat Camp.
• Chen Shouhu explained the camp’s competitive battles and told Zhou Leng that Shanhe Yuan had cleared the tougher Lieutenant Camp in one day.
• Zhou Leng said he was not afraid of Shanhe Yuan and asked Chen Shouhu for advice on fighting Giants before his upcoming Giant Trial; Chen taught him techniques during the ride.
• Zhou Leng returned to Ru City, met Xu Qingjin, and agreed to have dinner with her and share stories from the Dwarf World.
• Deng Zhijue told Zhou Leng his Young Eagle Program rewards were ready and agreed to wait until Zhou Leng advanced to Body-Refining before reporting them for an additional fifty percent.
• Deng Zhijue invited Zhou Leng to test his strength, techniques, and qi so he could estimate Zhou Leng’s January midterm ranking.

Zhou Leng demonstrated his improved combat skills, true qi control, strength, and recovery to Deng Zhijue and his classmates. Deng predicted he could place near the top ten in the midterm exam, and Zhou Leng prepared to attend the Second Lieutenant Camp.

• Deng Zhijue tested Zhou Leng’s strength, fighting technique, and true qi, praising his steady combat awareness and unusually refined control.
• Deng Zhijue told Zhou Leng to aim for the top ten in the upcoming midterm exam, potentially finishing behind Shanhe Yuan.
• At the class gym, Zhou Leng completed four sets of squats with a thousand-kilogram barbell, displaying Muscle Threading and recovering quickly by circulating his qi and blood.
• Deng Zhijue directed Zhou Leng to train at the Advanced Martial Arts Gym for true qi practice, and Zhou Leng revealed he had been invited to the Ladder Second Lieutenant Camp.
• Zhou Leng continued training with his classmates while Deng Zhijue reported his progress to Wang Boxiong and discussed exchanging Origin-Replenishing Pills for Body-Strengthening Pills.

Zhou Leng trained with advanced martial arts equipment under Deng Zhijue, impressing four senior students with his mastery of the True-Qi Rope forms. He then went on a snack-street date with Xu Qingjin and kept eating as they made their way from stall to stall.

• Deng Zhijue showed Zhou Leng the advanced martial arts equipment and taught him the twenty-one True-Qi Rope forms.
• Zhou Leng practiced the forms, and four Body-Refining Stage seniors wondered who he was and discussed recruiting him for the Ru University Hunting Team.
• Zhou Leng called Xu Qingjin, and they met at the school gate before taking a taxi to the snack street.
• Xu Qingjin and Zhou Leng shared stinky tofu and roujiamo, and Xu Qingjin blushed when Zhou Leng ate from the bite she had taken.
• After Xu Qingjin became full, Zhou Leng continued eating, ordering large quantities at several stalls as they walked along the street.

Zhou Leng returned from the Dwarf World, trained through the Land of Blades, and prepared to advance to the Body-Refining Stage. The chapter ended as he recited the Body-Refining Formula under Huang Jingqiu’s guidance.

• Zhou Leng told Xu Qingjin about his adventures and learned that she planned to study Divine Script, then he recounted the full story to Big Yellow beneath the Frost Giant Tree without triggering the magical prohibition.
• Zhou Leng organized his treasures, cultivated the Standing Elephant Chapter, and entered the Land of Blades, enduring 6,104 blades before losing consciousness.
• Zhou Leng recovered quickly, took an Origin-Embracing Pill and a Spirit-Concentrating Pill, and continued his training and routine while consuming a hundred Origin-Replenishing Pills over several days.
• Zhou Leng went to the meditation room with Huang Jingqiu and Deng Zhijue to prepare for his advancement to the Body-Refining Stage.
• Huang Jingqiu reviewed the advancement pills and instructed Zhou Leng to recite the Body-Refining Formula, which he began to do.

Zhou Leng completed an unusually powerful Body-Refining breakthrough, then entered the Sea-Calming Army’s Second Lieutenant Camp despite being only at the Early Body-Refining Stage. As Shi Lai showed him around, Zhou Leng spotted a familiar white-haired man in the training area.

• Zhou Leng began Body-Refining under Huang Jingqiu’s supervision, and his qi, blood, Original Demon Power, and other forces transformed his body through three cycles of expansion and compression.
• Zhou Leng drank the Flesh-Molding Potion and took the Great Restoration Pill and Aperture-Unblocking Pill, then rested while Huang Jingqiu monitored his recovery and instructed Deng Zhijue to teach him suitable hard arts later.
• After his realm stabilized, Zhou Leng reached the Early Body-Refining Stage, recuperated for several more days, and left for the Second Lieutenant Camp in Ru City.
• A soldier warned Zhou Leng that the camp was difficult to clear and would take at least half a month, but Zhou Leng entered with his invitation letter anyway.
• Corporal Shi Lai greeted Zhou Leng and began showing him around the camp, where Zhou Leng recognized a white-haired man dressed in black among the trainees.

Zhou Leng arrived at the Second Lieutenant Camp, where Elder Song welcomed him and warned him about its brutal training. After deciding to attempt the midterm assessment and force his way through the camp, Zhou Leng began warming up as veteran trainees gathered to test the new recruits.

• Song Juesi recognized Zhou Leng as the man who had saved his life, thanked him, and learned that Zhou Leng had come to join the Second Lieutenant Camp.
• Song Juesi warned Zhou Leng that the camp was dangerous, but Zhou Leng said General Chen Shouhu had sent him and proposed trying the camp for three days before reconsidering.
• Shi Lai explained the camp's five competitive tiers and warned Zhou Leng that veterans would join the new-recruit assessment to suppress their momentum.
• Zhou Leng collected his camp supplies, learned about the assessment stations, and spoke by voice call with instructor Li Yuanhe, his childhood friend.
• Wei Xianggan and other veteran trainees approached Zhou Leng before the assessment and confirmed that he was a first-year Body-Refining student.

Zhou Leng took part in the Combat Camp’s physical tests and stunned the trainees by winning the weighted run despite starting far behind. He began the obstacle run next, quickly widening his lead over Wei Xianggan.

• Wei Xianggan and the other West Sea Martial University trainees agreed to take the test after Zhou Leng’s challenge drew the trainees’ interest.
• Zhou Leng and four other trainees began a 5,000-meter run while carrying 2,000 kilograms of gravity.
• Zhou Leng adapted to the weight, passed the other runners, and finished first with a 100-meter lead over Wei Xianggan.
• The examiner announced that Zhou Leng had exceeded the standard, and the trainees’ doubts about faulty equipment were addressed by exchanging their training armor.
• Zhou Leng started the 10,000-meter obstacle run first and pulled farther ahead as Wei Xianggan chased him.

Zhou Leng dominated the first six Combat Camp tests, earning above-standard results in speed, strength, and brick smashing while Wei Xianggan and the West Sea Martial University students fell far behind. The group headed to the seventh test, Nine-Bend Flowing Water, where Wei Xianggan hoped to recover his standing and onlookers questioned whether Zhou Leng’s control could meet the standard.

• Zhou Leng won the 400-meter weighted lightness-art sprint after accelerating past Wei Xianggan and the other examinees.
• Zhou Leng lifted 4,312 kilograms without true qi and 10,762 kilograms with true qi, far surpassing Wei Xianggan’s results.
• Zhou Leng turned a red brick into fine powder without visibly changing it, earning an above-standard result in the brick-smashing test.
• The examiner led the group toward Nine-Bend Flowing Water as onlookers debated whether Zhou Leng could pass the final test.

Zhou Leng tackled the Nine-Bend Flowing Water test, using precise true-qi control and physical toughness to clear its escalating obstacles. Despite a hidden mechanism triggering an unavoidable attack at the Ninth Bend, he recovered the water spheres and finished the test.

• Zhou Leng practiced handling two masses of water and learned that impacts to his forearms or fingers could spill them.
• The first three examinees failed, while Wei Xianggan passed by steadily navigating the first eight bends and the Ninth Bend.
• Zhou Leng passed the early bends without spilling water, spinning the spheres through the gale and enduring the stones with his hardened body.
• Zhou Leng entered the Ninth Bend and steadily navigated its combined obstacles, including rolling cylinders, blinding flashes, fierce winds, stones, and giant fists.
• A hidden attack struck Zhou Leng while he jumped over a cylinder, but he righted himself, deflected stones, caught both water spheres, and walked out of the test.