Chapter Summaries

Wang Zhifan agreed to establish the Martial Venerable Hall in Heavenly Origin City after learning that the Demon Realm was gradually strengthening its invasion through a cross-realm method. Meanwhile, six players debated how to survive the dangerous instance, with one Xia Kingdom player arguing against hiding and relying entirely on the powerful local NPCs.

• Qingyangzi urged Wang Zhifan to establish the Martial Venerable Hall and train disciples, and Wang Zhifan agreed after Qingyangzi, Zhenxuzi, and Huayangzi explained the need to prepare for the invasion.
• Zhenxuzi revealed that the Demon Realm was sending demonfolk into the Calamity Realm in stages to contaminate it and strengthen its ability to deploy stronger forces, while the three Sages were occupied defending the Boundary-Protecting Grand Formation.
• The three Daoists arranged a hall, funding, and other support for Wang Zhifan, who spent the night helping plan its construction as the war continued.
• By the second day, Heavenly Origin City remained prosperous after defeating the demonfolk outside its walls, while human forces fought invasions elsewhere.
• In an inn, a short Asian player reported that the monsters were powerful and widespread and suggested staying in the rear, while the young Xia Kingdom player argued that hiding could trigger the instance's countermeasures and urged the players to assist the NPCs.

The players split over whether to confront the instance’s threats or play it safe, while Wang Zhifan oversaw the founding of Martial Venerable Hall and left disciple recruitment to Qingyangzi. A Xia Kingdom player followed the recruitment notices to the hall, where he spotted Wang Zhifan and prepared to approach him.

• Lu Daizi rejected the cautious players’ plan and left, while the Xia Kingdom player and the freckled white woman also departed to pursue their own course.
• Wang Zhifan’s Martial Venerable Hall was completed, and Qingyangzi arranged to recruit young disciples across the Daoist Sect’s cities.
• The Xia Kingdom player investigated the city’s recruitment notices and learned that established Daoist schools would not accept someone his age.
• He went to Martial Venerable Hall hoping to connect with a powerful local NPC, with the freckled white woman still following him.
• At the hall, he saw Wang Zhifan observing the recruitment and prepared to ask him for advice.

Wang Zhifan arranged for two players to join Xuanzhenzi’s demon-slaying squad after the sunglasses-wearing player learned that Wang was the Martial Venerable. As Qingfeng Jushi arrived seeking instruction in painting, a horned woman approached from the sky.

• A Xia Kingdom player asked Wang Zhifan for help joining the Martial Venerable Hall, but Wang revealed that he was its master and refused to take him as a disciple.
• Wang invited the strange white female player to join them and brought both players to Xuanzhenzi.
• Xuanzhenzi agreed to include the two players in his demon-slaying squad, and the Xia Kingdom player realized Wang was truly the Martial Venerable.
• Wang told the players he would contact them when the squad was ready, then watched them leave the hall.
• Qingfeng Jushi arrived with Confucian scholars to seek instruction in Wang’s Image-Imprinting Technique as a horned young woman flew toward the hall.

Wang Zhifan demonstrated his Image-Imprinting Technique to Qingfeng Jushi and five Confucian painting masters, then welcomed Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade, who gave him a Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant. After accepting the gift, he learned she needed powerful twin blades and went to check the Pitch-Black Tower’s weapon list for a suitable pair.

• Wang Zhifan used the Image-Imprinting Technique to create a lifelike image of Qingfeng Jushi and the five Confucian scholars, leaving them astonished.
• Wang Zhifan welcomed Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade and heard her explain that she had come to congratulate him, repay his help, and thank him for his Azure Dragon True Spirit painting scroll.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade offered Wang Zhifan a Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant, and he accepted after she showed him that her clan had another identical one.
• Wang Zhifan learned that Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade needed a pair of blades strong enough to withstand her current power, and offered to help find them.
• Wang Zhifan went underground to inspect the Pitch-Black Tower’s weapon list and considered pairing two identical Excellent-grade blades.

Wang Zhifan gave Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade four elemental Elf Blades, then began testing one hundred prospective disciples with trials inside the Black Towers. The youths entered the illusion-based trials, while Wang Zhifan monitored their progress and waited for the few hesitant candidates to decide.

• Wang Zhifan showed Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade four Excellent Tier Elf Blades and explained their fire, ice, lightning, and wind effects.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade took the sabers to test them outside Heavenly Origin City.
• After Xuanzhenzi reported that one hundred youths had passed the bone-feeling test, Wang Zhifan led them to the underground palace for a second trial.
• Wang Zhifan directed the youths into the Black Towers, explaining that the bronze doorway held a vast world and that the trial would determine whether he accepted them as disciples.
• Nearly all the youths entered the tower and began individual illusion trials designed to test their courage, resourcefulness, perseverance, and combat talent.
• Wang Zhifan watched the trials from outside while a nervous boy and a cautious girl waited to see what happened to those who entered.

Wang Zhifan used the Black Towers to test the youths seeking to become his disciples, dismissing those who failed and studying their trial performances for hidden strengths. He accepted three youths, including Qin Quan, and the first group finished the selection with his standards raised.

• A green-clad youth was eliminated after falling from the mountain path, and Wang Zhifan refused his request for another chance.
• The remaining youths entered the Black Towers, where Wang Zhifan monitored their trials and evaluated their actions.
• Qin Quan cleared the trial by adapting his tactics and knocking a stronger demon off a cliff, so Wang Zhifan accepted him as his first disciple.
• Wang Zhifan later accepted the quick-witted slight youth and the richly dressed young woman, who defeated her demon through superior combat skill.
• After the first group finished emerging from the Black Towers, Wang Zhifan had selected three disciples in total.

Wang Zhifan received the Confucian Sect’s Book of the Junzi, welcomed Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade back from testing her new swords, and held a second round of disciple trials with altered challenges. By evening, he had gathered around fifty disciples and planned to recruit about two hundred, using the Black Towers to train them.

• Wang Zhifan told the six Confucian scholars that he could not teach them his mysterious painting technique, let them take the group portrait, and received the Book of the Junzi as a gift.
• Wang Zhifan sealed the Book of the Junzi in the main hall’s bookshelf and cultivated the Pure Yang True Art with help from the Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade returned two spirit blades to Wang Zhifan, kept the fire- and lightning-element swords, and left to practice with them.
• Wang Zhifan ran the second batch of youths through different Black Tower trials than the ones their elders had described, and most failed while a few passed.
• Wang Zhifan accepted around fifty disciples by evening and planned to recruit about two hundred, with the Black Towers handling much of their training.

Wang Zhifan began teaching his fifty disciples while continuing to cultivate, but Qingyangzi revealed that the Demon Realm was preparing a catastrophic invasion. After learning that the attack could come within a month and might include Demon Lords, Wang Zhifan returned to the Martial Venerable Hall and encountered He Kuang outside.

• Wang Zhifan advanced the Pure Yang True Art to Lv2 overnight and reviewed the gains from cultivating with the Coiling Dragon Jade Pendant.
• Wang Zhifan welcomed his disciples, explained their cultivation choices, and approved Liu Luoying, Qin Quan, and Huang Feihe's initial plans.
• Wang Zhifan organized the disciples into groups and used instructional spaces in the Black Towers to teach them while he cultivated and handled occasional questions.
• Qingyangzi told Wang Zhifan that divination predicted a massive Demon Realm invasion within a month to a month and a half, possibly followed by Demon Lords.
• Wang Zhifan left Qingyang Palace feeling uncertain about the coming catastrophe and found He Kuang waiting outside the Martial Venerable Hall.

Wang Zhifan accepted He Kuang as a disciple and sent him into the Black Tower to train against a replica of Venerable Dragon Mountain. With the Demon Realm’s invasion only a month away, Wang Zhifan resumed cultivation while his other disciples studied their techniques.

• He Kuang admitted he had come to seek the Martial Venerable’s guidance, and Wang Zhifan invited him into the hall.
• He Kuang realized Wang Zhifan was the Martial Venerable, knelt, and was accepted as his disciple despite Wang Zhifan’s warning that he might offer little help with spear cultivation.
• Wang Zhifan explained the Black Tower’s training challenge and sent He Kuang inside, reflecting that the coming catastrophe left little time to recruit more disciples.
• Wang Zhifan returned to cultivating the Pure Yang True Art and planned to improve his techniques before the Demon Realm’s army arrived.
• While Wang Zhifan’s other disciples studied technique foundations in the Black Tower, He Kuang encountered a replica of Venerable Dragon Mountain and prepared to fight it.

Wang Zhifan secretly monitored a strange female player during a demonfolk extermination mission, then rushed to Desolation-Breaking Mountain when a Demon Venerable appeared. The woman reached him first, leaving her intentions—and the coming confrontation—unresolved.

• Wang Zhifan sent a clone to watch Xuanzhenzi’s team and investigate the suspicious freckled female player as they traveled to Desolation-Breaking Mountain.
• Xuanzhenzi and the Daoists attacked the demonfolk, while the male player fought with a machine gun and the woman drained enemies with her crimson gaze.
• Wang Zhifan’s clone saw the woman consume a demonfolk corpse, but she noticed the surveillance and switched to attacking with her lollipop.
• A blood formation summoned a Demon Venerable, which seized and ate a fleeing Daoist as Xuanzhenzi ordered the others to retreat.
• Wang Zhifan arrived to confront the Demon Venerable, but the female player suddenly rushed in front of him.

Wang Zhifan and an anomalous white woman fought the Demon Venerable at Desolation-Breaking Mountain, where the woman badly wounded it before Wang Zhifan uncovered and killed its true body. He allowed the woman to feed on the corpse and considered recruiting her for the coming Demon Realm invasion.

• The Demon Venerable attacked everyone with its many arms, but the anomalous white woman charged in and latched onto its back, sucking at its brains.
• Wang Zhifan told the Daoists to retreat and let the woman fight, while the Demon Venerable cut off half its own head to escape her.
• The Demon Venerable grew into a towering Many-Limbed Giant, and the young Xia Kingdom player and Xuanzhenzi fled as Wang Zhifan sensed danger near the evil pattern.
• Wang Zhifan smashed through the giant's limbs and entered the bloody glow, where he killed the Demon Venerable's hidden true body.
• The giant body collapsed after the Demon Venerable died, and Wang Zhifan let the anomalous white woman feed on the corpse while considering recruiting her.

After the Demon Venerable’s defeat, Wang Zhifan learned of a coming war conference and prepared for the Demon Realm invasion alongside Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade. He brought her into the Pitch-Black Tower and summoned a Demon Venerable illusion for her to fight.

• Huayangzi arrived at Desolation-Breaking Mountain, accepted the White Woman as an ally, and told Wang Zhifan to attend a resistance conference in Shuyue City seven days later.
• Heavenly Origin City recognized the White Woman and the young Xia Kingdom player as members of the Martial Venerable Hall.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade visited Wang Zhifan, discussed the invasion and conference, and canceled their planned spar so they could preserve their strength.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade and Wang Zhifan agreed to compete over how many Demon Venerables they killed once the invasion began.
• Wang Zhifan showed Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade the Pitch-Black Tower and summoned an illusion of a Demon Venerable, which she eagerly charged to fight.

Wang Zhifan guided his disciples’ cultivation while Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade continued growing stronger in the Black Towers. He broke through the Pure Yang True Art to Lv3 and formed the initial Pure Yang Battle Body, then asked Dragon Girl to massage him as they went to the inner hall, possibly bringing their relationship closer.

• Liu Luoying demonstrated that she had gained entry into the Pure Yang True Art, and Wang Zhifan told her to strengthen her foundation before learning the next stage.
• Wang Zhifan reassured Qin Quan about his slow progress in the Wind-Thunder Heaven-Treading Art and promised to create a dangerous space in the Black Towers for disciples to study the intent of wind and thunder.
• He Kuang announced that he had advanced from the fourth to the sixth level of Xiantian, so Wang Zhifan sent him into the Black Towers to fight several restrained Demon Venerables until he regained his composure.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade returned from her daily battle with the Demon Venerable, and Wang Zhifan noticed that her aura had grown more solid.
• Wang Zhifan’s Pure Yang True Art reached Lv3, raising his attributes and forming the initial Pure Yang Battle Body.
• Wang Zhifan asked Dragon Girl to use her clan’s bone-setting methods to massage him, and they walked together toward the inner hall.

Wang Zhifan strengthened his Limitless Golden Body Technique before preparing to leave for a conference in Shuyue City with Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade. After entrusting the Martial Venerable Hall to his disciples and affiliated players, he set out for the True Void Hall to meet Zhenxuzi and Huayangzi.

• Wang Zhifan completed a medicinal bath, found that the Limitless Golden Body Technique had greatly strengthened his Protective Golden Light, but had not increased his attributes.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade brought Wang Zhifan clean water, and he washed and dressed before joining those gathered to see him off.
• Wang Zhifan checked He Kuang's injuries and entrusted him with looking after the disciples while he attended the conference.
• Wang Zhifan asked the three affiliated players to help oversee the Martial Venerable Hall and promised to share important information after his return.
• Wang Zhifan and Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade flew to the True Void Hall to meet Zhenxuzi and Huayangzi before traveling to Shuyue City.

Wang Zhifan and Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade arrived in Shuyue City for the coming assembly and explored its remarkable Book Mountain Pavilion and bustling streets. While shopping, Wang Zhifan unexpectedly reunited with Zhang Siqian, who had recently married.

• Wang Zhifan, Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade, Zhenxuzi, and Huayangzi reached Shuyue City and landed atop Book Mountain Pavilion among powerful guests from many factions.
• Qingfeng Jushi welcomed the gathered guests and assigned attendants to guide them to their rooms in Book Mountain Pavilion.
• Wang Zhifan discovered that the Book Attendant used spatial power to transport guests, while Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade learned that Mieyue Aotian had not arrived.
• Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade and Wang Zhifan left the pavilion and spent an hour sightseeing and shopping in Shuyue City.
• Wang Zhifan recognized Zhang Siqian while shopping and learned that the young Confucian scholar had recently married.

Wang Zhifan and the Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade attended a breakfast gathering before the conference, where they met the Moon-Extinguishing Clan’s leaders and Wang Zhifan promised to protect the clan during the coming war. Qingfeng Jushi then brought Wang Zhifan to a secluded gateway, where the Confucian Sect’s Master summoned him to discuss something important.

• Wang Zhifan and the Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade joined Huayangzi and Zhenxuzi for breakfast in the Confucian Sect’s grotto-heaven.
• The Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade introduced Wang Zhifan to Mieyue Aotian and two other Moon-Extinguishing Clan leaders, and Wang Zhifan promised to help the clan survive the war.
• Wang Zhifan and the Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade learned from Qingfeng Jushi that the conference would begin at noon.
• Qingfeng Jushi led Wang Zhifan into a secluded cave and showed him an ink-wash gateway to the Confucian Sect’s Master.
• Wang Zhifan stepped through the gateway to meet the Master, who had important information to tell him.

Wang Zhifan learned from the teacher that more than two hundred hostile visitors from beyond the realm would join the Demon Realm’s invasion. At the gathering, the teacher unveiled the Demon-Sealing Ranking, which would record contributions and provide powerful rewards and battlefield support.

• The teacher told Wang Zhifan that over two hundred enemies from beyond the realm would invade alongside the Demon Realm army.
• Wang Zhifan discussed the warning with Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade and Qingfeng Jushi, then met other gathering attendees before the assembly began.
• The teacher announced the Demon-Sealing Ranking, which would record demon-sealing contributions and reward the top hundred, top ten, and first-ranked cultivators.
• Zhenxuzi, Mieyue Aotian, and Huayangzi discussed their hopes of earning a place on the ranking while Wang Zhifan listened calmly.
• The teacher explained that the Demon-Sealing Ranking could conceal itself, share intelligence, and provide cultivators with limited emergency travel and escape abilities.

After attending the conference, Wang Zhifan returned to the Martial Venerable Hall, resumed his disciples’ training, and reviewed his growing strength. He then told three player companions that about two hundred hostile players would arrive with the Demon Realm army, leaving them to consider how those enemies could belong to a separate, overlapping instance.

• Master outlined war preparations, including a medical facility, an elite strike force, and formations, then let attendees cultivate in the ancient battlefield for up to three days.
• After the three-day cultivation period, Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade returned to the Canglan Ancient Sea while Wang Zhifan teleported to the Martial Venerable Hall.
• Wang Zhifan gave his disciples gifts and access to the Black Towers, approved He Kuang’s request to learn the Pure Yang True Art, and assessed his progress in the Limitless Golden Body Technique.
• A Xia Kingdom player and two other players arrived, and Wang Zhifan warned them that around two hundred hostile players would appear alongside the Demon Realm army.
• The island-nation player suggested the hostile players belonged to a separate instance with an opposing objective, and Wang Zhifan agreed that overlapping instances could explain their presence.

Wang Zhifan briefed his Martial Venerable Hall allies, examined the Demon-Sealing Ranking and its merit system, and decided to keep a low profile rather than compete aggressively for first place. He then exchanged messages with Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade and began a body-tempering medicinal bath.

• Wang Zhifan decided that his group would withhold intelligence from the three outsiders until they proved they were allies, and the others agreed to keep it confidential.
• Wang Zhifan showed the three players the Demon-Sealing Ranking and explained its functions before they left to gain combat experience with the Demon-Slaying Squad.
• Wang Zhifan checked the rankings, reviewed how merits were awarded and deducted, and found himself in 131st place with 284 points.
• Wang Zhifan decided not to expose his full strength to chase the ranking rewards, since revealing the Perfect One Ability could bring dangerous countermeasures.
• Wang Zhifan exchanged messages with Moon-Extinguishing Dragon Blade, then organized his materials and began a body-tempering medicinal bath.

Wang Zhifan assessed his disciples' progress and tested them with combat, demonstrations, and advice tailored to their chosen techniques. He sent them to the Black Towers to continue cultivating, while several disciples struggling with the Wind-Thunder Heaven-Treading Art were redirected to other techniques.

• Wang Zhifan sent He Kuang into the Black Towers for a dangerous assessment against a weakened Demon Venerable.
• Liu Luoying fought Wang Zhifan's Dream Self avatar, lost after becoming careless, and passed after Wang Zhifan warned the disciples about feints and hidden schemes.
• Wang Zhifan advised Qin Quan to set aside the Wind-Thunder Heaven-Treading Art and switch to the Limitless Golden Body Technique, then sent him to the Black Towers.
• Huang Feihe demonstrated his emerging understanding of wind and thunder, passed his assessment, and went to cultivate in the Black Towers.
• Wang Zhifan assessed the remaining disciples, redirecting most who had not progressed in the Wind-Thunder Heaven-Treading Art and testing the others with avatars, physical trials, and technique demonstrations.