Chapter Summaries

Chen Changqing and the others entered a vast inner world and learned that the Second Trial required them to forge Dharma Artifacts within one year. The Humanoid Puppet revealed that time passed differently there, so Chen Changqing and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu agreed to continue without missing their outside commitments.

• Chen Changqing and the others followed the Humanoid Puppet through a curtain of light into a vast world.
• The Humanoid Puppet led them to a hall filled with furnaces, formation Runes, and artifact-refining materials.
• The Humanoid Puppet announced that the Second Trial tested artifact refining, giving them one year to forge Dharma Artifacts before ranking them by quality.
• Chen Changqing asked whether they could withdraw because he and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu needed to return for important competitions.
• The Humanoid Puppet explained that one outside day equaled two months in the realm, meaning one year there would take only six days outside.
• Chen Changqing asked Xuanyuan Xiaoyu if that schedule worked, and she agreed to continue.

The Humanoid Puppet gave the trial participants an Artifact Forging Chapter and one year to forge artifacts, leaving them to compete despite their different levels of experience. Chen Changqing used his AFK Cultivation System to master the book while lounging outside the hall, drawing mockery from the others.

• The Humanoid Puppet distributed copies of the Artifact Forging Chapter, allowed the participants to use the materials and furnaces, and began the one-year trial.
• A Divine Fire Sect cultivator, renowned for artifact forging, eagerly started selecting a furnace and materials, alarming the other participants.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye began studying the book after learning that Chen Changqing had never forged an artifact.
• Chen Changqing activated his AFK Cultivation System to cultivate the Artifact Forging Chapter after briefly reading it.
• As the other participants forged artifacts in the hall, Chen Changqing spent his days basking in the sun outside, prompting Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, Chen Ye, and the others to wonder or gossip about his inaction.

During the Second Trial's artifact-forging test, cultivators forged artifacts of varying grades while Chen Changqing spent the entire time relaxing. As the one-year deadline approached, Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu still could not improve their low-grade creations, leaving their chances of entering the Third Trial uncertain.

• The black-robed elder, the young arhat, the middle-aged Daoist, the Beast Taming Sect cultivator, and the Tianji Pavilion cultivator forged treasures, while Xue Kai of the Divine Fire Sect created a High-grade Spirit Treasure longsword.
• Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu worried that their Mid-grade and Low-grade Magic Treasures would leave them at the bottom of the rankings, while Chen Changqing continued to sunbathe and sleep instead of forging.
• Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu resumed forging in hopes of raising their artifacts' grades, but Xue Kai dismissed their efforts and placed his longsword on a jade platform to nurture it.
• After two more months, Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu had failed to improve their artifacts, and both lamented the difficulty of artifact forging.

Chen Changqing extracted the mastered Artifact Forging Chapter and, with only three days left in the Second Trial, began forging while the others mocked him. He declared he would show them true artifact forging, then heated ordinary iron and struck it with a hammer.

• Xue Kai asked the Humanoid Puppet to announce the Second Trial results early, but the examiner said the results would come in three days.
• Chen Changqing received the system notification that Artifact Forging Chapter AFK Cultivation had reached mastery and extracted its results.
• Chen Changqing rose and walked to a furnace as the crowd mocked him for starting to forge so late.
• Chen Changqing opened the earth-fire Spirit Vein, tossed materials into the furnace, and told Xue Kai he would show him true artifact forging.
• Chen Changqing heated ordinary iron and struck it with a massive hammer, leaving Xue Kai and the others bewildered.

With three days left in the Second Trial’s artifact-forging contest, Chen Changqing began hammering ordinary iron, and the Humanoid Puppet recognized that his work embodied the highest principles of artifact forging. As the iron changed under Chen Changqing’s steady blows, the onlookers sensed a deeper Dao in his craft, while the Humanoid Puppet began to hope that his master’s inheritance had found a successor.

• Chen Changqing ignored Xue Kai and the others’ mockery and began hammering ordinary iron, prompting the Humanoid Puppet to recognize that his work aligned with the highest essence of artifact forging.
• The Humanoid Puppet recalled that Chen Changqing had never studied the Artifact Forging Chapter and wondered whether he could become his master’s successor.
• After nearly half a day of hammering, Chen Changqing shaped the iron, drove out impurities, and gave it a faint, restrained sheen.
• Xue Kai dismissed the iron’s transformation as impossible, while the Sword Tomb elder, the Arhat, and the Daoist sensed sword principles, Buddha-nature, and the Great Dao in Chen Changqing’s blows.
• Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu wondered whether Chen Changqing was forging something other than a Dharma Artifact, and the Humanoid Puppet concluded that he was hammering principles and forging laws.

Chen Changqing forged an ordinary piece of iron into a saber blank, then used the Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique to awaken it into a Low-grade Magic Tool. The Humanoid Puppet recognized the technique and believed Chen Changqing had become its Master's successor.

• Chen Changqing spent a day and night hammering ordinary iron into a plain, unsharpened saber blank, drawing ridicule from Xue Kai and the other cultivators.
• The Humanoid Puppet saw that the saber blank contained perfectly unified Dao patterns and recognized it as an Artifact Embryo of Return to Mortal.
• Chen Changqing took up his hammer and used the Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique, striking the saber ten times with increasing force.
• The saber began emitting the aura of a Dharma Artifact and became a Low-grade Magic Tool, leaving Xue Kai, Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, Chen Ye, and the other cultivators stunned.

Chen Changqing used the Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique to refine ordinary iron into a Quasi-Immortal Artifact, leaving the observers stunned. After fifty blows, he reached his limit and stopped, while the blade’s new power and the secret behind his skill remained on display.

• Chen Changqing continued hammering the long blade, raising it from a Dharma Artifact to a High-grade Magic Tool and then a Low-grade Magic Treasure.
• Xue Kai rejected what he saw as impossible, while Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, Chen Ye, the black-robed elder, and the Humanoid Puppet reacted with shock and admiration.
• Chen Changqing’s thirtieth blow raised the blade to a Low-grade Spirit Treasure, and further strikes advanced it to a High-grade Spirit Treasure.
• Chen Changqing delivered fifty blows, transforming the blade into a Quasi-Immortal Artifact covered in Great Dao Runes.
• Chen Changqing stopped, pale from the effort, as the onlookers stared at the finished artifact in disbelief.

Chen Changqing won the Second Trial by forging a quasi-immortal artifact from ordinary iron, astonishing the crowd and silencing Xue Kai. After the Humanoid Puppet announced the rankings and advanced contestants, Chen Changqing gave his transformable artifact to Chen Ye.

• Chen Changqing revealed his quasi-immortal long saber, stunning the crowd and leaving Xue Kai speechless.
• The Humanoid Puppet ended the artifact-refining test, declared Chen Changqing first, and announced that the top ten would advance to the Third Trial.
• Chen Ye failed to qualify, while Xuanyuan Xiaoyu was eliminated and took comfort in Chen Changqing advancing.
• The Humanoid Puppet said contestants could keep their refined artifacts and led the qualifiers toward the Third Trial as the eliminated contestants prepared to leave the secret realm.
• Chen Changqing offered his quasi-immortal long saber to Chen Ye, then demonstrated that it could transform into a gauntlet.

Chen Changqing gave Chen Ye a shape-shifting Quasi-Immortal Artifact that could turn into gauntlets, and the Humanoid Puppet began the Third Trial by revealing the ten-level Trial Tower. The surviving contestants had to start at the first level, with the final inheritance determined by how far they advanced and how they defeated each Tower Guardian.

• Chen Ye accepted Chen Changqing’s shape-shifting Quasi-Immortal Artifact and thanked him for the gift.
• The Humanoid Puppet teleported Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye out because they had not passed the Second Trial.
• The Humanoid Puppet led Chen Changqing and the ten other successful contestants to an open area and summoned the Trial Tower.
• The Humanoid Puppet explained that contestants had to defeat each level’s Tower Guardian to advance, with guardians growing stronger from the Qi Nourishing Realm on the first level to the Tribulation Crossing Realm on the tenth.
• Chen Changqing asked whether contestants could begin at the level matching their cultivation, but the Humanoid Puppet required everyone to start at the first level.

The cultivators discovered that the Trial Tower’s guardians could defeat opponents with much higher cultivation, and most of the group failed to advance beyond the seventh or eighth floors. Chen Changqing remained the only one of the ten who had yet to enter, leaving everyone watching to see how far he would go.

• A Nascent Soul Late Stage rogue cultivator entered first but was expelled after failing to pass the sixth floor.
• An Early Stage Soul Transformation cultivator reached the seventh floor before its Violet Mansion guardian defeated him, and he warned the others not to underestimate the tower’s guardians.
• Xue Kai and the other cultivators attempted the tower and were defeated on the seventh floor or earlier.
• The black-robed elder of the Xuantian Sword Sect barely passed the eighth floor but was defeated by the God Transformation guardian on the ninth.
• An Arhat from the Great Thunderclap Temple and the middle-aged Daoist from the Daoist Sect each reached only the eighth floor, while the remaining challengers fell on the sixth or seventh.
• Chen Changqing was left as the only one of the ten who had not entered, and the others turned their attention to him.

Chen Changqing entered the Trial Tower and swiftly defeated the guardians on its first four floors, displaying strength far beyond their cultivation levels. He reached the fourth floor and passed its Foundation Establishment guardian, with the tower challenge still ahead.

• Xue Kai impatiently urged Chen Changqing to enter the Trial Tower, but Chen Changqing silenced him with a cold glance.
• Chen Changqing entered the tower and defeated the Qi Nourishing Realm boy on the first floor by shattering his sword with two fingers.
• Chen Changqing stood firm against the Body Tempering Realm guardian’s punch on the second floor and sent him flying with the force of his own body.
• Chen Changqing endured the Qi Refining Realm guardian’s spells on the third floor, then defeated him with a hand chop.
• Chen Changqing bypassed the Foundation Establishment guardian’s shield with a sword light and struck him between the brows.

Chen Changqing swiftly cleared the Trial Tower’s first eight floors, stunning the challengers watching outside. On the ninth floor, he faced a powerful God Transformation gatekeeper and drew the Heavenly Thunder Sword to unleash the Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique.

• Chen Changqing defeated the fifth-floor Core Formation gatekeeper with the Changhong Sword Technique and the sixth-floor Golden Core gatekeeper with Palm Thunder.
• Chen Changqing cleared the seventh floor before Xue Kai could finish predicting his defeat, leaving Xue Kai shocked.
• Chen Changqing crushed the eighth-floor gatekeeper’s physical attack with the Heavenly Emperor Divine Fist and reached the ninth floor.
• The black-robed elder of the Xuantian Sword Sect predicted Chen Changqing would fail against the ninth-floor gatekeeper, whose true strength rivaled Tribulation Transcendence.
• The ninth-floor God Transformation gatekeeper attacked with a powerful sword strike, and Chen Changqing drew the Heavenly Thunder Sword and unleashed the Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique.

Chen Changqing defeated the ninth-floor guardian and reached the Trial Tower’s final floor, while the other contestants were expelled from the secret realm. On the tenth floor, he faced a Tribulation Crossing Realm guardian who challenged him to prove his courage and resilience in artifact forging.

• Chen Changqing defeated the ninth-floor Spirit Transformation guardian, and the tenth floor of the Trial Tower lit up.
• The Humanoid Puppet expelled the other contestants from the secret realm after Chen Changqing advanced, ending their chance to claim the inheritance.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye realized Chen Changqing might have reached the final inheritance, while the eliminated contestants waited near the exit for him.
• Chen Changqing entered the tenth floor and found a hunched old man standing on a golden platform with a massive hammer.
• The old man revealed his Tribulation Crossing Realm aura and told Chen Changqing that artifact forging demanded resilience against power as immense as heavenly tribulation.

Chen Changqing faced the old man guarding the Trial Tower’s tenth floor and fought to withstand the Dao Forging Hammer’s increasingly powerful strikes. After enduring dozens of blows, he used Dao Reversal to redirect the old man’s Soul Forging strike back at him.

• The old man declared that Chen Changqing had to defeat him and attacked with the Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique, calling his weapon the Dao Forging Hammer.
• Chen Changqing endured the first strike with the Primordial Nine Revolutions Body Refining Technique, then countered the second and third strikes with the Heavenly Emperor Divine Fist and the Immortal Slaying sword styles.
• Chen Changqing and the old man fought fiercely, and Chen Changqing withstood thirty-four hammer strikes.
• The old man unleashed Soul Forging, and Chen Changqing answered with Dao Reversal, redirecting the hammer force toward its wielder.
• The old man swung his hammer to meet the redirected force, and the two hammer strikes collided in a powerful explosion.

Chen Changqing faced the Trial Tower’s gatekeeper on the tenth floor and defeated him with his true body and two avatars. The gatekeeper confirmed that Chen Changqing had passed the trial, and the Humanoid Puppet celebrated outside the tower.

• The old man praised Chen Changqing’s talent and prepared his final hammer strike, which targeted the Dao underlying Chen Changqing’s cultivation.
• Chen Changqing summoned two avatars wielding Immortal Artifacts and unleashed his strongest sword, spear, and qin attacks together.
• The three attacks shattered the hammer phantom and overwhelmed the old man, who congratulated Chen Changqing before dissipating.
• The tenth-floor light dimmed, and the Humanoid Puppet realized Chen Changqing had passed the trial.

After passing the Trial Tower’s three trials, Chen Changqing met Ouye Tiangong, an Immortal-grade Artifact Forger who had died while attempting to create a treasure beyond Immortal Artifacts. Ouye Tiangong gave Chen Changqing his inheritance and a Top-grade Immortal Artifact hammer.

• The Humanoid Puppet congratulated Chen Changqing for passing all three trials and led him through a doorway into a star-filled space.
• Chen Changqing met Ouye Tiangong, who revealed that he was an Immortal-grade Artifact Forger and the master of the secret realm.
• Ouye Tiangong explained that he had tried to combine his lifetime of forging knowledge with Chaos Mother Qi to create a treasure beyond Immortal Artifacts, but heavenly punishment destroyed him.
• Ouye Tiangong passed Chen Changqing the complete thirty-six forms of the Chaotic Wind Hammer Technique along with his lifelong artifact-forging insights.
• Ouye Tiangong gave Chen Changqing an ancient black hammer that Chen recognized as a Top-grade Immortal Artifact.

Chen Changqing received Ouye Tiangong’s artifact-forging legacy and the Haotian Hammer, then learned that the Humanoid Puppet would remain behind as the secret realm collapsed. Outside, Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye waited for him, aware that the failed trial participants were likely planning to attack when he emerged.

• Ouye Tiangong explained the power of the Haotian Hammer, passed his legacy to Chen Changqing, and vanished.
• Chen Changqing used AFK Cultivation to begin comprehending the Chaotic Gale Thirty-Six Hammers and Ouye Tiangong’s artifact-forging insights.
• The Humanoid Puppet told Chen Changqing she would remain in the secret realm to accompany her master as it collapsed, and Chen Changqing bowed to her.
• Outside the secret realm, Xuanyuan Xiaoyu assured Chen Ye that Chen Changqing would obtain the legacy and recalled his success in the trials.
• Chen Ye warned Xuanyuan Xiaoyu that the other participants were waiting nearby, and she feared they would attack Chen Changqing when he emerged.

Chen Changqing emerged from the secret realm with the Heavenly Lord’s inheritance, only to be surrounded by cultivators demanding his treasures. When Xue Kai attacked Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, Chen Changqing protected her and vowed to kill them all.

• Chen Changqing emerged from the secret realm and confirmed to Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye that he had obtained the inheritance.
• The black-robed elder, Xue Kai, and other cultivators surrounded Chen Changqing and demanded that he hand over his treasures.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu tried to drive the cultivators away by declaring that she was the Third Princess of the Jiuzhou Divine Dynasty, but the black-robed elder dismissed her claim.
• Xue Kai insulted Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and attacked her with a fire dragon after she struck at him.
• Chen Changqing destroyed the fire dragon with Sword Qi, stepped in front of Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, and declared that everyone who had threatened his wife had to die.

Chen Changqing attacked Xue Kai for striking Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and killed him with a fire-infused punch after overpowering his defenses and destroying his attack. The other cultivators, who had surrounded Chen Changqing to seize his inheritance, were left terrified by his strength.

• Chen Changqing charged Xue Kai with his physical strength, shattered his High-grade Spirit Tool shield, and punched him into the air.
• Xue Kai survived thanks to a protective Quasi-Immortal Artifact mirror, but Chen Changqing's punch severely wounded him and shattered the mirror.
• Xue Kai attacked with his natal true fire and a Quasi-Immortal Artifact sword, sending a Sword Qi fire dragon at Chen Changqing.
• Chen Changqing combined Samadhi True Fire and Vermilion Bird true fire in a punch, destroyed the fire dragon, and killed Xue Kai along with his Primordial Spirit.
• The black-robed elder of the Xuantian Sword Sect and the other cultivators who had planned to seize Chen Changqing's inheritance became afraid of him.

Chen Changqing effortlessly killed Xue Kai and a Half-step Tribulation Crossing elder from the Xuantian Sword Sect while defending Xuanyuan Xiaoyu. As his enemies fled, he spread his Sword Domain to trap them and challenged them to witness the secret-realm inheritance they had coveted.

• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye watched in amazement as Chen Changqing defeated the Spirit Transformation cultivator Xue Kai with one punch.
• The black-robed elder of the Xuantian Sword Sect attacked Chen Changqing with a Quasi-Immortal Artifact, but Chen Changqing shattered his sword attack and shield, crushed his neck, and destroyed his Primordial Spirit.
• Chen Changqing received a System reward for killing the Half-step Tribulation Crossing elder, terrifying the surrounding cultivators.
• The remaining cultivators panicked and fled, and Chen Changqing declared that anyone who threatened his wife would die.
• Chen Changqing spread his Sword Domain to slow the fleeing cultivators and challenged them to look at the inheritance he had obtained in the secret realm.