Chapter Summaries

Zhao Xing learned that the Rahu King, the Heaven Derivation King, and the Ling De King had cleared him and Long Xiao of wrongdoing, making the Divine Might Army’s stand against the Black Dragon Army widely known. Back at City 98, Zhao Xing returned to the Great Dream Academy and began the fourth Heavenly Craft Hall trial, where he fought through the formation’s earth and wind challenges.

• Tian Yan told Zhao Xing that the Rahu King, the Heaven Derivation King, and the Ling De King had jointly ruled that he and Long Xiao were innocent, with no merit penalty.
• The ruling spread across the war zones, warning powerful armies against bullying weaker forces and making Zhao Xing and the Divine Might Army famous.
• Zhao Xing returned to City 98, where he advised Han Bing and Wang Ji, then dismissed the others and secretly entered the Great Dream Academy.
• Zhao Xing began the Heavenly Craft Hall’s fourth stage, the Six Harmonies Yin Yang Formation, and used Divine Swift Guard to pass its earth tribulation.
• When the formation unleashed its wind trial, Zhao Xing cast Netherwind of the Fiend to shield the Octagonal Underground Palace and continue climbing.

Zhao Xing endured a simulated future in the Heart Questioning Platform’s Fear Trial and escaped by rejecting his fear of losing his foreknowledge. Back in the underground palace, he used the Fate Soul Pill reward to raise his Fate Soul to Sixth Rank and advance several spells.

• Zhao Xing failed to break through Fire Fiend Pass, claimed three Earthly Fiend Pills, then was injured by the Heart Questioning Platform and expelled from the Great Dream Academy.
• Zhao Xing led three thousand soldiers toward Wen Shaoyang but was ambushed by the Flying Bear Army, lost his warship in a crash, and guided his troops through the Ape Barbarian Army’s encirclement.
• Zhao Xing returned to the battlefield as Fire Dragon Pass fell, then endured defeats and the deaths of Chen Shijie and Long Xiao before returning to the Ten Thousand Laws Palace with worsening headaches.
• Zhao Xing realized that fear of losing his foreknowledge had trapped him in an illusion, defeated the True Self Straw Puppet, and passed the Fear Trial to earn a Fate Soul Pill.
• Zhao Xing swallowed the Fate Soul Pill, raised his Fate Soul from early Seventh Grade to early Sixth Rank, advanced Netherwind of the Fiend and Sleep Bug Art, and gained high-level Heaven’s Eye Art.

After consuming the Fate Soul Pill, Zhao Xing explored the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and learned several useful techniques, including fate-reading and divination arts. He began cultivating in dreams, then Chen Shijie arrived at the Marching Hall and called him up from underground for an unspecified task.

• Zhao Xing examined his strengthened Fate Soul and reflected on how it could improve his control over spells and help him learn the True Self Straw Puppet.
• Zhao Xing entered the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion, where the Dark Bird Guardian allowed him to browse its first five floors.
• Zhao Xing studied the pavilion’s books and learned the Great Evolution Aura Observation Technique, Tortoise Coin Divination, the Book of Celestial Observation, and Five Finger Heavenly Mandate.
• Zhao Xing practiced his new arts and realized he could cultivate in dreams through his growing understanding of Great Dream Spring and Autumn.
• Chen Shijie came to the Marching Hall, learned from Han Bing that Zhao Xing was resting underground, and sent him a message to get up.

Zhao Xing joined a council discussing an attack on Soul Offering Pass and proposed cooperating with the Illusory Nether Army, while negotiations over additional allies remained unsettled. He practiced turtle-shell divination and read signs of great fortune for Long Xiao, though he did not know what would bring it.

• Zhao Xing learned that Captain Liao planned to attack Soul Offering Pass, and he warned that the army lacked enough Priests to fight the Sacred Spirit Royal Court effectively.
• Xia Jing proposed inviting the Illusory Nether Army, and the commanders agreed to contact Nangong Ye, whose request to bring allies from two other armies complicated negotiations.
• Zhao Xing asked Jiang Ming for spirit turtles, and Jiang Ming sent him a boatload of turtle-type exotic beasts.
• Zhao Xing refined turtle shells and practiced divination until he could read auspices and improved his Fire Refined Turtle Divination to Intermediate Seventh-Turn.
• Long Xiao asked Zhao Xing for a fortune reading, and Zhao Xing found dense cracks signifying great fortune on Long Xiao's shell.

Long Xiao broke through to the middle Heavenly Dipper realm, while Zhao Xing's divinations warned him of dangers ahead for Chen Shijie and the allied armies. After organizing the six armies' supply network at Tonghuo City, Zhao Xing discovered ghosts stealing crops and sent his Soul Capturing Straw Figures to seize them.

• Long Xiao broke through the Seventh Grade bottleneck, reached the middle Heavenly Dipper realm, and thanked Zhao Xing for predicting his good fortune.
• Zhao Xing's divinations confirmed the alliance talks would succeed and suggested Chen Shijie might face danger in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven; the attempt broke Zhao Xing's fingers.
• Zhao Xing mastered the intermediate Omen Observation Method and organized Tonghuo City as the six armies' main supply hub, assigning troops to protect fields and water sources.
• Morik and Qi Yuanzi planned a raid on Tonghuo City, targeting its crops with the Five Ghosts Transporting Method.
• Zhao Xing sensed a dark aura near Tonghuo City, found ghosts carrying off crops in the northern fields, and ordered his Soul Capturing Straw Figures to attack them.

Zhao Xing’s Soul Capturing Straw Figures repelled a ghost assault on Tonghuo City, prompting Liu Tianning to offer to teach him the True Self Straw Man Art. After Liu Tianning arrived, Zhao Xing reported that Bewitching Arrays were blocking two supply routes, and Liu Tianning said Zhao Xing could break them.

• Zhao Xing used a thousand Soul Capturing Straw Figures and Netherwind of the Fiend to defeat Qi Yuanzi and Morik’s ghost attack, while Lin Yuan and the city’s priests helped finish off the ghosts.
• Zhao Xing pursued Qi Yuanzi and Morik, destroyed Qi Yuanzi’s traps, but failed to calculate their exact escape route.
• Zhao Xing reported the battle to Liu Tianning, who was impressed by his Straw Man Art and offered to send a clone to teach him the True Self Straw Man Art.
• Liu Tianning arrived in Tonghuo City while Zhao Xing was away escorting supplies, then met him after Zhao Xing returned.
• Zhao Xing told Liu Tianning that high-level Bewitching Arrays were disrupting two supply routes, and Liu Tianning said Zhao Xing could break them.

Liu Tianning trained Zhao Xing to navigate high-level Bewitching Arrays and master the True Self Straw Man Art so he could keep the supply lines to Soul Offering Pass open. As the front-line armies faced mounting pressure and Zhao Xing struggled to complete the five-art fusion, Liu Tianning offered one final demonstration before his clone disintegrated.

• Liu Tianning ordered materials prepared for a high-level Bewitching Array and summoned thirty-two Eighth Rank Priests, while Zhao Xing warned his staff that Anping Road and Nanxiang Road were unsafe for supply transport.
• Zhao Xing received the Military Realm mission to maintain supplies for six armies, and he decided to continue rather than withdraw despite the danger and mounting merit losses.
• Liu Tianning built a high-level Bewitching Array at the southern drill grounds and taught Zhao Xing how to pass through it and practice the True Self Straw Man Art.
• Zhao Xing mastered the Five Arts Unity on November thirteenth, while his staff kept supplies moving through detours using the Saturation Transport Method despite enemy attacks.
• By December fifth, Zhao Xing had failed the five-art fusion 19,873 times and lost more than fifty thousand merit; Liu Tianning announced that his clone would disintegrate after one final demonstration.

Zhao Xing learned the Ten Thousand Laws Straw Puppet from Liu Tianning and used it to lead supply convoys through the Bewitching Array on Anping Road. After Zhao Xing’s forces broke through the array, Qi Yuanzi recognized the danger and urged Morik to retreat.

• Liu Tianning demonstrated how to form the True Self Straw Puppet, and Zhao Xing succeeded in uniting five Straw Man Arts into the Ten Thousand Laws Straw Puppet.
• Zhao Xing told Liu Tianning that he had mastered the art, then refined three puppets and ordered supply convoys to return to Anping Road and Nanxiang Road.
• Zhao Xing convened the front-line commanders, who agreed to watch the routes and strike Soul Offering Pass’s reinforcements if the opportunity arose.
• Zhao Xing led the convoy fleet into Anping Road’s Bewitching Array and ordered the warships’ Fire Crossbow Camp to bombard its hidden aerial formation anchors.
• Zhao Xing’s fleet destroyed the formation anchors and emerged from the Bewitching Array, leaving Morik shocked and Qi Yuanzi warning him to retreat before they were surrounded.

Zhao Xing’s logistics support helped the Six Armies Alliance break through Soul Offering Pass, but he urged the army not to pursue too far. After learning that allied armies had split over plans to advance and that he had earned over 520,000 military merit, he recommended resting and preparing for a possible Golden Feather Royal Court counterattack.

• The Six Armies Alliance bombarded Soul Offering Pass for weeks while Zhao Xing supplied its siege forces, until the barrier finally collapsed on December 29 and Nether Soul ordered a retreat.
• Zhao Xing warned Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and Xia Jing against pursuing too deeply, then collapsed from exhaustion and slept for nearly five days.
• Chen Shijie told Zhao Xing that the Illusory Nether, Beginning Origin, and Primal Glory Armies had broken away after a dispute over continuing the pursuit toward Spirit Turtle Territory.
• Chen Shijie reported that he, Long Xiao, and Xia Jing had each surpassed one million military merit, and Zhao Xing received 525,400 military merit for supplying Soul Offering Pass.
• Zhao Xing advised the commanders to rest, watch for a possible Golden Feather Royal Court counterattack, and exchange military merit for Yin Spirit quotas.

After Soul Offering Pass fell, Zhao Xing cultivated, considered his future plans, and watched the war shift toward a truce as powerful experts arrived to enforce the new boundary. He returned to the Ten Suns Grotto Heaven, where Emperor Jing’s rewards began, and a golden beam carried Zhao Xing and three comrades toward the Heaven’s Heart Palace.

• Ling De King collected two seventh-grade divine weapons after Rahu King lost their wager over when Soul Offering Pass would fall, while Heaven Derivation King speculated that a truce was near.
• Zhao Xing cultivated at Soul Offering Pass, assessed his military standing and the coming eras, and resolved to advance cautiously rather than risk himself in later battlefields.
• Qi Yuan Army, Yi Yue, and Nangong Ye lost over a thousand troops attacking Spirit Turtle City, and Yi Yue publicly blamed Liao Rulong and Wen Shaoyang while praising Zhao Xing.
• After rumors of a truce spread, Liu Tianning and Li Yuanzhen arrived with powerful forces and established a boundary; the armies halted their fighting and began withdrawing.
• Zhao Xing returned to the Ten Suns Grotto Heaven, where Emperor Jing’s rewards began, and a golden beam summoned Zhao Xing, Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and Yu Ziqi to the palace in the sky.

Zhao Xing received his marquis title, rewards, and promotion to a sixth-rank post, then arranged to exchange his fief for land near the East Sea. After receiving the dynasty’s luck cleansing, he returned to Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard to inspect the changes from his promotion.

• Zhao Xing was named Marquis Yuan Rang and received land, ceremonial gifts, Azure-Eyed Dragon Lions, and a Qilin Flying Boat for his military service.
• Zhao Xing celebrated with friends and discussed fief exchanges with Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and Xia Jing; all four chose land near the East Sea.
• Yang An appointed Zhao Xing a Senior Sixth Rank Army Protector Commandant, while Chen Shijie and Long Xiao received command positions.
• Zhao Xing received the National Dynasty Luck Cleansing, and the Luck Golden Dragon strengthened his luck and lifespan without improving his cultivation.
• Zhao Xing returned to Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard and opened his panel to inspect the effects of his promotion.

After reaching Evolution Four, Zhao Xing assessed his cultivation and examined the fortunes of Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and Xia Jing, warning them that great fortune would bring great disaster. He decided to recruit Liu Tianning to help seize the spiritual wonders and treasures expected to emerge in Ten Suns Grotto Heaven, then flew to meet him.

• Zhao Xing saw that his luck had risen to Evolution Four and reviewed his realm, spells, and recent progress at Soul Offering Pass, including the turtle slaughter that earned him the nickname Turtle-Slaying Maniac.
• After Chen Shijie, Long Xiao, and Xia Jing completed their promotions, Zhao Xing used the Great Evolution Qi Observation Art to assess their fortunes and warned them of coming fortune and disaster.
• Xia Jing, Long Xiao, and Chen Shijie discussed Zhao Xing's prediction, and Xia Jing considered consulting his aunt and her family's physiognomist.
• Zhao Xing recalled that Ten Suns Grotto Heaven would soon produce valuable spiritual wonders and treasures, but that the court and powerful families would compete fiercely to claim them.
• Zhao Xing decided that Liu Tianning's strength, rank, and position made him the best partner for entering the important regions of Ten Suns Grotto Heaven.
• Zhao Xing used the Earth Mirror to request an audience with Liu Tianning, received permission, and flew toward the Ten Thousand Laws Palace.

Zhao Xing visited Liu Tianning at Ten Thousand Laws Palace, demonstrated his progress, and persuaded him to form a top-tier Grotto-Heaven exploration group. After meeting Princess Youruo and learning of her history with Liu Tianning, Zhao Xing discovered another old acquaintance was seeking his master and realized powerful people were gathering because Heavenly Spirit Essence would soon erupt in Ten Suns Grotto Heaven.

• Zhao Xing examined Liu Tianning's advanced straw puppets, then passed his teacher's test by forming four True Self Straw Puppets.
• Zhao Xing persuaded Liu Tianning to take on a top-tier Grotto-Heaven exploration assignment and reserve places in the research group.
• Princess Youruo intercepted Zhao Xing with her Seven-Colored Dragon Phoenix Cloud Brocade, gave him a sixth-rank Dragon Soul Jade, and asked him to bring her to Liu Tianning.
• Liu Tianning emerged from the mist to stop Princess Youruo from pressuring Zhao Xing, then invited her inside while Zhao Xing left.
• Murong Qing arrived aboard a Magnolia Flying Boat to visit Liu Tianning, but Zhao Xing told her to return in three days.
• Back at Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard, Zhao Xing concluded that powerful visitors had come because Heavenly Spirit Essence was about to erupt and decided to warn Xia Jing.

Zhao Xing secured control of a top exploration team and recruited trusted companions as the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven approached a major upheaval. On March 10, the suns vanished until one remained, spiritual phenomena erupted, and the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven was elevated to a blessed land.

• Zhao Xing accepted Liu Tianning’s invitation to join the unrestricted top exploration team and became its deputy head, then reserved places for Chen Shijie and Long Xiao.
• Xia Jing visited Zhao Xing with an explorer slot, learned Zhao Xing was already a Senior Explorer, and accepted a place on Zhao Xing’s team; Zhao Xing also agreed to recruit Ji Ziyun.
• Ji Ziyun met Zhao Xing, and they agreed to set out on March 10 with Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao.
• Gao Ming delivered Emperor Jing’s rewards, including a Qilin Flying Boat and a chariot pulled by Azure-Eyed Dragon Lions, which Zhao Xing quickly subdued.
• On March 10, the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven’s suns vanished one by one, spiritual pillars appeared, its entrances were sealed, and the Agricultural Supervisorate declared it a blessed land.

Zhao Xing and his companions witnessed Ten Suns Grotto Heaven’s advancement unleash a devastating explosion, then harvested life-enhancing fruits from a fallen Giant Spirit Tree in the Inverted Peak Mountain Range. Meanwhile, the Military Realm sealed the grotto heaven’s entrances, leaving a noble heir seeking a way inside through Marquis Mingwu.

• Zhao Xing gathered his companions after Ten Suns Grotto Heaven’s restrictions were announced, but a lightning strike transformed a floating mountain into a volcano that exploded and shattered nearby peaks.
• Ji Ziyun returned with Long Xiao and described strange visions, while Zhao Xing identified the apparent infant-fruit tree as an Illusion Demon Vine and explained the dangers of the grotto heaven’s advancement.
• Long Xiao and Mountain Cat found a fallen Giant Spirit Tree, and Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie cleared poisonous plants before harvesting six purple lingzhi mushrooms and eighteen fruits.
• Zhao Xing distributed the fruits after Xia Jing tested one, and the group gained increased lifespan, vitality, and bone strength while leaving the weaker Rank Five fruits for Mountain Cat.
• Soldiers blocked the Martial Accomplishment Marquis’s Heir Apparent from entering Ten Suns Grotto Heaven, so he learned the entrances were guarded under orders from Rahu King, Ling De King, and Heaven Derivation King.
• The steward told the Martial Accomplishment Marquis’s Heir Apparent that his father had provided a calling card for Marquis Mingwu, and the heir went to a pleasure boat while the steward worried about his future.

With Liu Tianning entrusting Zhao Xing to manage a top-tier Exploration Team, Zhao Xing granted a Senior Explorer slot to Xin King's son and uncovered a trove of Millennium Cold Crystals. After the Military Realm imposed Explorer submission missions, Zhao Xing led his companions to search for Spiritual Elegance and found the valley where Fire in Water appeared.

• Yi Yue, Qi Yuan Army, and Nangong Ye learned from Wei Hong that Liu Tianning had given Zhao Xing control of more than half the slots in a top-tier Exploration Team, so they planned to ask Zhao Xing for places.
• Xin King Liu Yong asked Zhao Xing to give his youngest son a Senior Explorer slot, and Zhao Xing agreed to fetch him from Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard.
• Zhao Xing joined Chen Shijie and Ji Ziyun beneath a waterfall, where they found and salvaged more than three hundred Millennium Cold Crystals.
• The Military Realm issued Explorer submission requirements, and Zhao Xing told his companions to search for Spiritual Elegance instead of ordinary treasures.
• Zhao Xing followed Ji Ziyun's report of Fire in Water to a steaming valley, where the group found the extraordinary hot spring.

Zhao Xing discovered that Lingxiu Hot Springs could strengthen fire-element luck and successfully absorbed their fire luck using a method from the Great Evolution Scripture. After Liu Tianning assigned Ji Zixuan and Murong Xue to join Zhao Xing’s group, the two women arrived at Locust Willow Courtyard, where he prepared to lead them.

• Zhao Xing explained that the Lingxiu Hot Springs contained Fire Luck Spiritual Elegance and led Long Xiao, Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, and Ji Ziyun down to bathe.
• Zhao Xing concealed the valley and used the Fire Luck Qi Refining Method while soaking, draining the fire luck from a small hot spring within an hour.
• Princess Youruo confronted Liu Tianning over Murong Qing’s visit, then persuaded him to approve Ji Zixuan for the investigation group as well as Murong Xue.
• Liu Tianning contacted Zhao Xing, told him to take Ji Zixuan and Murong Xue with him, and Princess Youruo asked him to look after her niece.
• Zhao Xing warned his companions that two well-connected women were coming, and they discussed how to accommodate them while continuing to absorb the hot spring’s energy.
• Ji Zixuan and Murong Xue arrived together at Eighteen Locust Willow Courtyard, greeted Zhao Xing, and accepted his invitation inside.

Zhao Xing discovered Cloud Sea Mystic Peak and led his companions through its Heavenly Gate, where he used the grotto-heaven’s power to advance his Five Finger Heavenly Mandate. His deductions revealed a possible hidden portal and a vision of himself fighting Blood Spirit Venerable, leaving him suspecting the Profound Heaven Sect had caused the ten suns in his previous life.

• Zhao Xing investigated Ji Zixuan and Murong Xue, then gathered fire fortune at Lingxiu Hot Spring and found Cloud Sea Mystic Peak on his map.
• Zhao Xing’s group waited for the thirty-six peaks to form a Heavenly Gate, while Ji Dan’s divination suggested someone had taken the opportunity meant for him.
• Zhao Xing led Xia Jing, Chen Shijie, and Ji Ziyun through the Heavenly Gate and focused its power on advancing Five Finger Heavenly Mandate.
• Zhao Xing used Ten Suns Grotto Heaven as the basis for his deductions, glimpsed a mysterious possible tenth portal, and sensed the three kings in the Hundred Soldiers Pagoda.
• Zhao Xing’s vision showed him fighting Blood Spirit Venerable, leading him to suspect the Profound Heaven Sect had caused the ten suns in his previous life.

Zhao Xing deduced that the Profound Heaven Sect might have influenced the Liang King’s rebellion, then perfected three high-ranked spells inside the Heavenly Gate and sealed away his dangerous memories. After the group emerged with new abilities, Zhao Xing destroyed four strange peaks to keep others from using the Heavenly Gate and prepared to leave the Inverted Peak Mountain Range.

• Zhao Xing speculated that the Profound Heaven Sect had once controlled Ten Suns Grotto Heaven and may have emboldened the Liang King, then cut off the threads of heavenly spying and sealed his memories.
• Liang Ruohai’s attempt to divine Zhao Xing’s identity triggered a terrible backlash, costing him his right arm, both legs, and much of his lifespan; Ji Dan ordered the flying ship to turn back and vowed revenge on his rivals.
• Blood Spirit Venerable sensed a powerful backlash linked to the Spirit-Suppressing Underground Palace but failed to identify Zhao Xing, who had concealed himself and returned from the Heavenly Gate.
• Long Xiao created the Divine Firmament Sword Art, Chen Shijie improved his spells, Xia Jing mastered powerful defenses, Ji Ziyun gained less, and Mountain Cat returned able to command lightning.
• Zhao Xing, Chen Shijie, and Long Xiao destroyed four of Cloud Gate’s Thirty-Six Strange Peaks, then Zhao Xing decided to leave the area and choose between the Midnight Sea and Pengli Marsh.

Zhao Xing chose to take Ji Zixuan and Murong Xue to South Clarity Garden, where he planned to seize lesser treasures while avoiding the crowded eastern region. After destroying the Lingxiu Hot Spring to conceal its traces, his group arrived near their destination and spotted an approaching Blood Shadow Boat.

• Zhao Xing used fortune readings to choose the Midnight Sea for his main group while his Straw Man Clone waited with Ji Zixuan and Murong Xue at Lingxiu Hot Spring.
• Zhao Xing reviewed the Earth Mirror's regional information and selected South Clarity Garden, then summoned eight clones to join him.
• Zhao Xing had all nine Ten Thousand Laws Straw Puppets use Five Elements Earth Splitting to destroy Lingxiu Hot Spring, shocking Murong Xue and Ji Zixuan.
• Zhao Xing assigned Ji Ziyun to pilot the flying boat and Murong Xue to keep watch as they traveled toward South Clarity Garden.
• Murong Xue spotted a Blood Shadow Boat approaching, and Ji Ziyun asked how many people were aboard so they could decide whether to handle it themselves.