Chapter Summaries

Wutai Sect and Xuanjia Gate arrived in Tianbao City and settled on Welcome Guest Peak ahead of Tianbao Supreme Sect’s selection. Sang Yanping explained the selection and warned the disciples to avoid trouble as they prepared for the coming weeks.

• Sang Yanping led the group into Tianbao City and warned them to mind their conduct and protect Wutai Sect’s reputation.
• Cheng Yingsong received the group at Tianbao Supreme Sect’s mountain gate and guided them to guest rooms on Welcome Guest Peak.
• Sang Yanping and Chu Jinyun reunited with Fu Shoushan and Shi Ziyu, whose sects had also arrived for the selection.
• Chen Qing cultivated with a Fine Grade Gang Quenching Pill, then joined the others for a meal at the sect’s dining hall.
• Sang Yanping told the disciples that the selection would begin in roughly half a month, explained that those under thirty could receive preferential treatment, and warned them to treat the city’s five great Millennial Families with caution.

Chen Qing met several elite disciples, learned that the selection’s first round might take place in the Tianbao Tower and admit only one hundred candidates, and traded for a Surging Wave Crystal. He used it to advance the Xuanming True Water Art to its fifth layer and form Guishui True Gang, leaving him ready to temper the rest of his Guishui True Qi before fusing his three True Gangs.

• Shen Xiuyong brought Chen Qing to meet Qiao Hongyun, Shang Lujing, Wang Bo, and Zhuo Xiaoyun, who exchanged rumors about tensions among sects and a Millennial Family’s interest in the selection.
• Shang Lujing shared that the first round would likely involve the Tianbao Tower and admit only one hundred candidates, prompting the group to discuss the severe competition.
• The group held a trading gathering, where Chen Qing paid Zhuo Xiaoyun nearly two hundred thousand taels of silver for her Surging Wave Crystal.
• Chen Qing cultivated with the Surging Wave Crystal for three days and advanced the Xuanming True Water Art to its fifth layer, forming Guishui True Gang.
• Chen Qing resolved to temper all his remaining Guishui True Qi into Gang before fusing it with his other two True Gangs.

As Chen Qing prepared to enter Tianbao Supreme Sect’s selection, he resolved to conceal his strongest abilities while securing a place in Xuwang Mountain. The sects drew lots for the two-day trials, and Deng Ziheng and Gong Nansong discussed which young disciples might have the potential to become True Disciples.

• Chen Qing learned that Tianbao Supreme Sect’s Four Great Veins and five Millennial Families were entangled in the Xuwang Mountain selection, so he planned to hide his edge and reveal only enough strength to advance.
• Sang Yanping met Fu Shoushan, Granny Frost, and Shi Ziyu at the Hall of Gathering Heroes, where Deng Ziheng announced that the selection would take place in Tianbao Tower over two days, with ten people entering at once.
• Sang Yanping drew a lot marked two, placing his sect’s disciples in the second day’s batch, while Fu Shoushan drew the first day.
• Deng Ziheng met Gong Nansong and confirmed that Tianbao Tower was ready for the selection.
• Deng Ziheng named Wu Anren, He Shuang, Tian Pingning, Zhu Ming, Luo Qianjue, Qiao Hongyun, and Chen Qing among the promising candidates, and said Wu Anren and He Shuang might have a chance to reach True Disciple potential.

The Hundred Sect Selection began at Tianbao Tower, where Chen Qing swiftly cleared the combat trials and resisted the seventh level’s illusions. He reached the staircase to the eighth level as the selection continued.

• Elder Deng Ziheng explained the Tianbao Tower rules, and disciples from the first batches entered while their results appeared on the Tianbao Tablet.
• He Shuang reached the ninth level, and Wu Anren later broke through to the tenth as the rankings took shape.
• Ye Qingyi failed at the third level, Xiao Bieli reached the fifth, and Zhu Yu remained the strongest performer from the Ten Thousand Poisons Swamp prefectures.
• Chen Qing entered the tower, defeated the first three levels’ puppets, and climbed quickly enough to rise to around eightieth place on the tablet.
• Chen Qing passed the seventh level’s meditation trial by remaining undisturbed through illusions of his mother, past enemies, failure, and power, and the stairs to the eighth level appeared.

Chen Qing passed the Tianbao Tower’s eighth-floor assessment and finished twenty-ninth on the Tianbao Tablet, drawing attention from rival sects and the Tianbao Supreme Sect. A sudden Patriarch’s Will struck him inside the tower, leaving him mentally exhausted and prompting the Sect Leader and Li Yujun to investigate the mysterious fluctuation.

• Chen Qing reached the seventh floor, rising to forty-third place and impressing the Wutai Sect and rival sects.
• On the eighth floor, Chen Qing instantly comprehended the incomplete Zhoutian Xingyuan Art, but a burst of Purple Glow from the tower’s seventy-second floor struck his Sea of Consciousness.
• Jiang Lishan sensed the Patriarch’s Will and concealed his suspicions from Li Yujun, who later ordered a secret inquiry into the selection’s contestants.
• Chen Qing reached the eighth floor and climbed to twenty-ninth place, while Ruan Wenzhu decided that he must be killed.
• Chen Qing was teleported out mentally exhausted, and he resolved that his ranking would let him enter Xuwang Mountain without attracting excessive attention.

After the Tianbao Tower selection, Chen Qing learned that a mysterious Purple Light had opened his Sea of Consciousness before he reached the True Origin Realm. As the Wutai Sect elders prepared to leave, Nie Shanshan chose to stay and join the Tianbao Supreme Sect's Outer Sect, while Chen Qing resolved to keep his new power secret and investigate it later.

• Deng Ziheng announced the final rankings, congratulated the hundred selected disciples, and promised gifts to all participants; Chen Qing ranked twenty-ninth, while Shi Ziyi, Fang Rui, Nie Shanshan, and Yan Yaoyang failed to qualify.
• Tianbao City's great clans surrounded the highest-ranked geniuses with invitations, and news spread that unsuccessful candidates could still join the Tianbao Supreme Sect's Outer Sect; Shi Ziyi, Fang Rui, and Yan Yaoyang considered the offer.
• Sang Yanping told Chen Qing and Shen Xiuyong about the old conflict between Wutai Sect and Chaoyang Sect, including the death of Chaoyang Sect's True Origin Realm master, then gave them forty Gang Quenching Pills to divide.
• Nie Shanshan told Chu Jinyun she had decided to remain in Tianbao City and enter the Outer Sect, and Chu Jinyun accepted her choice and promised that Guishui Institute would remain her support.
• Chen Qing meditated and discovered that his three True Gangs had fused and that the Purple Light had opened his Sea of Consciousness; he decided to conceal it and search the Tianbao Supreme Sect's Scripture Repository for answers.

Li Yujun suspected that a powerful disturbance in Tianbao Tower might be connected to the Patriarch's Legacy and ordered a discreet investigation of the selected geniuses. Chen Qing joined Xuwang Mountain as an Inner Sect-level disciple, learned how Contribution Points and tower challenges worked, and began weighing the competition for resources ahead.

• Li Yujun told Luo Ziming about the strange ripple of will she had sensed and ordered him to secretly investigate the top-ranked selection candidates.
• Nie Shanshan stayed behind to join Tianbao Supreme Sect's Outer Sect as the other Wutai Sect disciples returned home.
• Deng Ziheng welcomed the hundred successful candidates to Xuwang Mountain, issued them identity tokens with one thousand Contribution Points, and explained their initial benefits.
• Huang Changming guided Chen Qing toward his residence and described the sect's Nine Inner Peaks, including the secluded Hidden Peak and its protection for residents' families.
• Chen Qing reviewed the Outer Sect exchange catalog and learned that missions and Tianbao Tower challenges could earn Contribution Points, with tower rewards encouraging fierce competition over future rankings.

Chen Qing settled into his residence on Xuwang Mountain, researched the Sea of Consciousness and the mysterious Purple Light, and learned that He Shuang had become a True Origin Realm elder’s personal disciple. After deciding to deliver the letter entrusted to him by He Yuzhou, he reached the Shen Residence to meet its Third Elder, Shen Qianshan.

• Huang Changming showed Chen Qing his lavish residence, and Chen Qing declined the offer of servants.
• Chen Qing spent fifty Contribution Points to study texts on the upper floors of the Cultivation Insights repository, where he learned that a mental imprint could endure and attach itself to an object.
• Chen Qing met a beautiful woman reaching for the same book, then hurried out before another hour’s fee was charged.
• Shen Xiuyong told Chen Qing that He Shuang had become Gong Nansong’s personal disciple and advised him to build connections and conserve Contribution Points.
• Chen Qing prepared to deliver He Yuzhou’s letter concerning the old ties between Wutai Sect and the Shen Family, then traveled to the Shen Residence in Tianbao City.
• Shen Liang welcomed Chen Qing into the residence and said Shen Qianshan was there.

Chen Qing visited the Shen Family, where Shen Qianshan praised his promise and gave him a thousand Contribution Points, while Shen Xinwen and Shen Xinyue judged him differently. At Myriad Phenomena Hall, Chen Qing examined Inner Sect resources and discovered the steep prices and requirements for powerful pills and martial arts.

• Shen Liang brought Chen Qing to the Shen Family residence, where two young masters dismissed his background and compared him unfavorably to their True Disciple brother-in-law.
• Shen Qianshan welcomed Chen Qing, received He Yuzhou's letter, explained the status of True Disciple Candidates, and gifted him a token containing one thousand Contribution Points.
• Shen Xinyue questioned the size of Shen Qianshan's gift, while Shen Qianshan explained that he wanted to preserve the Shen Family's ties with Wutai Sect and invest in promising talent; Shen Xinwen spoke favorably of Chen Qing.
• Chen Qing went to Myriad Phenomena Hall and considered the tasks available for earning Contribution Points, then requested the Inner Sect Illustrated Catalog.
• Chen Qing found that the Nine Revolutions True Return Pill cost six thousand points and that the peerless spear technique Hundred Strikes of the Prairie Fire cost eighteen thousand points and required mastery of three spear techniques' force.

Chen Qing exchanged Contribution Points for an Earth Core Fire Lotus and cultivated the Chiyang Burning Heart Art until he formed Li Fire True Gang. As other disciples climbed Tianbao Tower and established their rankings, Chen Qing finally left seclusion to earn points for the final metal-element treasure he needed.

• Chen Qing spent eighteen hundred Contribution Points on an Earth Core Fire Lotus and returned to Xuwang Mountain to cultivate.
• Wu Anren reached the twenty-eighth floor of Tianbao Tower, setting a benchmark that other disciples struggled to match.
• He Shuang also reached the twenty-eighth floor, while Luo Qianjue, Qiu Qixing, and Shang Lujing reached the twenty-seventh; Zhuo Xiaoyun reached the twenty-sixth.
• Elders Deng Ziheng and Gong Nansong discussed the top disciples and noted that Chen Qing had been cultivating instead of challenging the tower.
• Half a month later, Chen Qing advanced the Chiyang Burning Heart Art to its fifth level and formed Li Fire True Gang, completing four True Gangs.
• Chen Qing decided to climb Tianbao Tower to earn Contribution Points for Essence of Sharp Metal and set out for the tower.

Chen Qing climbed Tianbao Tower, defeating increasingly formidable puppet guardians while the Purple Glow in his mind reacted to the tower. He cleared the twenty-fifth floor and paused to recover, with the tower’s upper floors and the Purple Glow’s origin still ahead of him.

• Wu Anren received an invitation from True Disciple Lu Chenming, recognized it as a challenge to his True Disciple Candidate status, and decided to attend.
• Chen Qing entered Tianbao Tower and cleared the twelfth through twenty-second floors, earning the first-clear Contribution Points.
• Chen Qing defeated the skilled saber puppet on the twenty-third floor, and the Purple Glow in his mind trembled as he approached the stairs.
• Chen Qing overcame the coordinated saber and hammer puppets on the twenty-fourth floor by beginning to fuse his two spear arts.
• Chen Qing broke the Three Talents Formation on the twenty-fifth floor by destroying the spear puppet first, then defeated the remaining puppets.
• Chen Qing sensed his spear art improving and the Purple Glow growing more active, then sat down to restore his True Gang before continuing.

Chen Qing defeated a Gang Strength Mid-stage puppet on Tianbao Tower’s twenty-sixth floor, drawing attention to his True Martial Seal and earning enough Contribution Points to exchange for the Essence of Geng Metal. After leaving the tower, he planned his next cultivation steps and was visited by Shen Xiuyong and Qiao Hongyun.

• Chen Qing used the True Martial Seal and his spear techniques to defeat the twenty-sixth-floor puppet, then stopped rather than risk exposing his fused True Gang on higher floors.
• Shan Jiwen sensed Chen Qing’s True Martial Seal, secretly obtained his dossier, and decided to keep a close eye on him.
• Chen Qing noticed his Purple Glow respond to the tower’s summit, left the tower ranked twenty-fourth among the new disciples, and exchanged Contribution Points for the Essence of Geng Metal and Gang Quenching Pills.
• Deng Ziheng and Gong Nansong discussed Chen Qing’s tower result, while Shang Lujing reconsidered him as a potential ally and asked Wang Bo to invite him to another gathering.
• Chen Qing returned to his courtyard to prepare for secluded cultivation, where Shen Xiuyong and Qiao Hongyun arrived to congratulate him.

Chen Qing formed Geng Metal True Gang and, after an initial failed attempt, fused all five elements into Five Elements True Gang, bringing him closer to Gang Strength Mid-stage. Meanwhile, competition at Xuwang Mountain intensified as Wu Anren, He Shuang, and Luo Qianjue reached the twenty-ninth floor.

• Shen Xiuyong and Qiao Hongyun warned Chen Qing that Lu Chenming had used brutal defeats of other challengers to intimidate True Disciple Candidates, and Chen Qing resolved to strengthen himself.
• At Wutai Sect, He Yuzhou celebrated Chen Qing and Shen Xiuyong’s selection by Xuwang Mountain, while Li Baichuan declined to personally mentor a newly discovered disciple with Nine Form Root Bones.
• He Yuzhou announced that he would enter seclusion to attempt a breakthrough and entrusted sect affairs to Sang Yanping.
• Chen Qing cultivated Geng Metal True Gang, then guided the five True Gangs into a generating cycle and successfully formed Five Elements True Gang.
• Wu Anren, He Shuang, and Luo Qianjue each reached the twenty-ninth floor, intensifying the competition among Xuwang Mountain’s geniuses.

Chen Qing went to Falling Star Slope to gather valuable materials and test his Five Elements True Gang. After killing a Stone Lion Beast and collecting its Meteorite Cores and essence blood, he heard a fierce battle nearby and turned toward the noise.

• Chen Qing chose Falling Star Slope as a place to gather materials and test his Five Elements True Gang, while Liu Wu decided not to pursue him and focused on improving his own cultivation.
• Chen Qing reached Falling Star Slope and killed a Stone Armored Antlered Deer with a spear strike powered by Five Elements True Gang, then harvested its antlers and essence blood.
• Chen Qing traveled deeper, practiced controlling his Five Elements True Gang, and used the Formless Art to disguise it as Star Primordial Gang.
• A Stone Lion Beast attacked Chen Qing near a meteorite crater, but he eventually pierced its exposed neck and killed it after a fierce battle.
• Chen Qing collected the Stone Lion Beast's Meteorite Cores and heart essence blood, then heard the sounds of a fierce battle nearby and looked toward them.

Chen Qing discovered a nest containing three Golden Feather Eagle eggs and a thirty-year Crimson Sun Spirit Ginseng, then faced competing claims from Thunderclap Hall and Yidao Nunnery. As the groups fought over the treasure, Chen Qing joined Fu Chunsheng’s side and attacked Zeng Xiuzhu.

• Chen Qing avoided a fight over Bai Family corpses and spent the next several days gathering herbs, ore, and a Stone Lion Beast’s Meteorite Core around Falling Star Slope.
• Chen Qing spotted a badly wounded Golden Feather Eagle and followed it to a cliffside nest containing three eggs and a thirty-year Crimson Sun Spirit Ginseng.
• Wang Yang and Zeng Xiuzhu of Thunderclap Hall arrived and claimed the nest, then Fu Chunsheng and two Yidao Nunnery fighters appeared and contested their claim.
• Chen Qing proposed dividing the eggs among the three parties and negotiating over the ginseng, but Wang Yang and Fu Chunsheng began approaching the nest while secretly preparing to fight.
• Wang Yang attacked Fu Chunsheng with Thunderclap Fire Seeds as Zeng Xiuzhu rushed for the nest, and Fu Chunsheng called on Chen Qing to join him against Thunderclap Hall.
• Chen Qing agreed and struck at Zeng Xiuzhu with the Nine Heavens Thunder Finger, turning the struggle over the treasure into a chaotic battle.

Chen Qing defeated Fu Chunsheng and the other combatants at Falling Star Slope, killed the wounded Zeng Xiuzhu, and claimed their valuables. He returned to his courtyard with spoils worth more than six thousand Contribution Points and began assessing his gains.

• Fu Chunsheng overwhelmed Wang Yang with his two sword momenta, while Zeng Xiuzhu killed one Yidao Nunnery fighter before Fu Chunsheng wounded her and drove her into a rock wall.
• Chen Qing killed the remaining curved-saber fighter when he attempted a surprise attack, then confronted Fu Chunsheng over their agreement to divide the treasures.
• Fu Chunsheng initially suppressed Chen Qing, but Chen Qing revealed his Eight Extremes Vajra Body and Five Elements True Gang and killed him with a powerful spear thrust.
• Chen Qing confirmed Wang Yang was dead, ended Zeng Xiuzhu's life, collected the Crimson Sun Spirit Ginseng, Golden Feather Eagle Eggs, and other valuables, and dissolved the corpses with Corpse Dissolving Water.
• Chen Qing returned to his courtyard after nightfall and estimated that his spoils from Falling Star Slope were worth more than six thousand Contribution Points.

Chen Qing exchanged his spoils from Falling Star Slope for Contribution Points, bought a superior spear and pills, and raised a Golden Feather Eagle chick while focusing on cultivation. At a gathering with Shang Lujing and the others, he learned that rankings and stipends were at stake as powerful rivals advanced, but he declined to join their missions so he could keep cultivating.

• Chen Qing identified Crimson Refining Fire Copper and Violet Firmament Thunderclap Seeds among his spoils, then chose the largest Golden Feather Eagle Egg to keep and the other two to exchange.
• Chen Qing exchanged eagle eggs and other materials at Myriad Phenomena Hall for 6,590 Contribution Points, bought pills, and purchased the High-grade Treasure Weapon Diancang at Divine Weapon Pavilion.
• Chen Qing began raising the Golden Feather Eagle egg and secluded himself to cultivate Five Elements True Gang and Mountain Splitting Thunder Spear; the egg hatched, and its chick grew rapidly after he fed it Bone Strengthening Pills.
• Chen Qing visited Shang Lujing's gathering, where the group discussed Tian Pingning's breakthrough, Wu Anren's prospects, Huo Qiushui's contact with him, and the coming rankings that would affect Contribution Point stipends.
• Chen Qing declined Shang Lujing's invitation to join a mission team so he could focus on cultivation, then traded Wang Bo twenty Contribution Points for two bottles of Tiger Soul Bone Tempering Pills.

Chen Qing helped Nie Shanshan obtain Contribution Points and Pulse Protecting Pills, then cultivated until he mastered Mountain Thunder Momentum and neared a breakthrough to Gang Strength Mid-stage. After hearing that Kong Yi'an had died, Chen Qing was summoned by Luo Ziming, who questioned him about unusual events in Tianbao Tower before inviting him to join the Nine Heavens Vein; Chen Qing refused and suspected Luo's test was connected to Purple Light.

• Chen Qing lent Nie Shanshan three hundred Contribution Points and bought her a bottle of Pulse Protecting Pills so she could pursue a breakthrough.
• After two months of cultivation, Chen Qing reached the Extreme Realm in Mountain Splitting Thunder Spear, combined mountain momentum with Thunder Momentum, and came close to breaking through to Gang Strength Mid-stage.
• Chen Qing learned that Kong Yi'an had died in an ambush during a sect mission, leaving only ninety-four names on Xuwang Mountain's ranking stele.
• A Nine Heavens Peak disciple summoned Chen Qing to meet Elder Luo Ziming, who questioned him about unusual experiences during the seventh- and eighth-floor Tianbao Tower trials.
• Chen Qing denied noticing anything unusual, rejected Luo Ziming's invitation to join the Nine Heavens Vein, and suspected the interrogation was related to Purple Light.

Chen Qing broke through to Gang Strength Mid-stage and decided to reveal enough of his strength to earn the sect’s support while keeping his greatest secrets hidden. As the June deadline neared, Wu Anren and He Shuang reached the Tianbao Tower’s thirtieth floor, and Chen Qing arrived at the tower to test his own progress.

• Chen Qing used a Fine Grade Gang Quenching Pill to break through to Gang Strength Mid-stage and advance to the Sixth Layer of Five Elements True Gang.
• Chen Qing resolved to show the Supreme Sect his potential without exposing his Five Elements True Gang or the Purple Light.
• As the June deadline approached, Wu Anren and He Shuang reached the Tianbao Tower’s thirtieth floor, while other leading geniuses failed to pass the twenty-ninth.
• Chen Qing finished consolidating his cultivation and went to the Tianbao Tower, where he greeted Xiao Bieli and inspected the rankings.
• Qiu Qixing and Luo Qianjue emerged after failing to reach the thirtieth floor, leaving Wu Anren and He Shuang as Xuwang Mountain’s only clear True Disciple Candidates.
• Huo En praised Wu Anren’s achievement and discussed the difficult path to becoming a True Disciple, while regretting that He Shuang had already become Old Man Gong’s disciple.

Chen Qing advanced through the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth floors of Tianbao Tower, defeating coordinated mid-stage puppets and a late-stage Outer Gang puppet. His rise to sixteenth place shocked the plaza and drew the elders’ attention as he remained inside, apparently preparing to challenge the twenty-ninth floor.

• Elder Feng, Deng Ziheng, and Gong Nansong discussed the selected disciples and singled out Wu Anren and He Shuang as promising candidates.
• Chen Qing broke the twenty-seventh-floor puppets’ battle formation and defeated them, raising his recorded floor count from twenty-six to twenty-seven.
• Chen Qing endured the late-stage puppet’s blows on the twenty-eighth floor and destroyed its core with a spear strike.
• Chen Qing cleared the twenty-eighth floor, and the stone stele showed him in sixteenth place, prompting astonishment among disciples and elders.
• Elder Huo En requested Chen Qing’s information, while Deng Ziheng, Gong Nansong, and Elder Feng focused on the tower as Chen Qing remained inside, seemingly set to attempt the twenty-ninth floor.