Chapter Summaries

After escaping the forces hunting them, Jiang Chen gave the injured Tianyun Sect disciples Fifth-tier supreme-grade Rejuvenation Pills he had refined. He planned to recover with them before striking back at Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect.

• Jiao Fan and Jie Changsheng ordered their forces to keep searching for Jiang Chen, while some hired geniuses left the operation and others stayed for revenge or the bounty.
• Jiang Chen led Tang Long and the others to a secluded place to rest after they had escaped their pursuers.
• Jiang Chen revealed that he was an Alchemist and gave the injured disciples his Fifth-tier supreme-grade Rejuvenation Pills, which quickly eased their pain.
• Jiang Chen said they would rest for a day, then make Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect pay for their actions.
• Jiang Chen gave each disciple a bottle of ten more pills for self-defense, startling Lu Shi with their value.

Jiang Chen and the Tianyun Sect disciples reached the Misty Mountain Range, where Long Qingyao explained that a Tenth-order Array Master’s inheritance lay beyond it. As Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect forces pursued them, the group entered the deadly fog and became scattered, leaving only Long Qingyao beside Jiang Chen.

• Jiang Chen gave the recovering Tianyun Sect disciples top-grade Fifth-order Rejuvenation Pills, and they later set out to seek more opportunities.
• Long Qingyao identified the Misty Mountain Range and described the dangers and the trials guarding the Tenth-order Array Master’s inheritance.
• Jiao Fan and a large force from Taiyuan Sect, Yinluo Sect, and other factions caught up with Jiang Chen’s group, so Jiang Chen led the Tianyun Sect disciples into the mountain fog.
• Elder Xie pursued Jiang Chen into the Misty Mountain Range, where the thick fog separated the cultivators and Refined Corpses and Demonic Beasts attacked them.
• Jiang Chen destroyed the Refined Corpses in his path, while he and Long Qingyao stayed together by tying their hands with a rope.

Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao were surrounded by a horde of Demonic Beasts led by a Fifth-order Peak beast, and Jiang Chen fought to protect them both. After wounding the leader, he saw it charge at Long Qingyao and unleashed a powerful shock wave to break free from the beasts attacking him.

• Jiang Chen warned Long Qingyao that a large group of Demonic Beasts, including a Fifth-order Peak beast, was approaching them.
• About two hundred Demonic Beasts surrounded Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao, and they fought back as the beasts attacked.
• Jiang Chen used Demonization and the Demonic Soul Blade to cut down many beasts, then injured their leader with an enhanced saber strike.
• The Demonic Beast leader redirected its attack toward Long Qingyao while the other beasts kept Jiang Chen occupied.
• Jiang Chen unleashed a costly shock wave that sent the surrounding Demonic Beasts flying as the leader attacked Long Qingyao.

Jiang Chen saved Long Qingyao from the Demonic Beast leader, then used an empowered Flame Rain to kill the leader and the surrounding beasts. Exhausted and injured, he decided they needed to find a concealed place to rest.

• Jiang Chen took the Demonic Beast leader's claw strike while shielding Long Qingyao, and his Inner Armor kept the blow from causing worse injuries.
• Jiang Chen told Long Qingyao to activate heat-resistant Sixth-order Spirit Talismans while he prepared a powerful Flame Rain.
• Long Qingyao activated the Water Shield and Adamantine Shield, and Jiang Chen unleashed Flame Rain strengthened by Sky Annihilation Strike.
• The flames killed the surrounding Demonic Beasts and their leader, but Jiang Chen collapsed and spat out blood from exhaustion.
• Jiang Chen swallowed healing pills and absorbed blood qi from the beasts, then told Long Qingyao they needed to find a safe place to rest.

Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao hid in a cave to recover from their injuries, where they acknowledged their feelings and agreed to be together. Long Qingyao revealed that her parents were powerful elders of the Formless Sect, and Jiang Chen vowed to earn their approval.

• Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao hid in a hastily dug cave and used pills and spirit stones to recover from their injuries.
• Long Qingyao worried over Jiang Chen, then kissed him to thank him for saving her.
• Jiang Chen confessed that he liked Long Qingyao, and they agreed to be together as Dao companions.
• Long Qingyao told Jiang Chen that she came from the Formless Sect and that her Martial Saint Realm parents might oppose their relationship.
• Jiang Chen vowed to cultivate hard and win Long Qingyao's parents' approval, then asked her to kiss him again, prompting her to pull away.

Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao ambushed and killed a group of enemies in the Misty Mountain Range, then left before another team found the bodies. Li Yun identified Jiang Chen as the killer and chose to regroup with Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect members before confronting him.

• Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao hid from a group of enemies and planned a coordinated ambush.
• Jiang Chen shot five Martial King Realm geniuses with Nebula Arrows as Long Qingyao used Gravity Talismans to pin down the group.
• Jiang Chen struck the immobilized enemies with a fireball and blade aura, collected their storage bags, absorbed their blood-qi power, and left with Long Qingyao.
• Li Yun and another team found the charred bodies, and Li Yun recognized the Nebula Arrows as Jiang Chen's.
• Li Yun agreed to regroup with the other Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect members before trying to kill Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao reunited with the Tianyun Sect disciples after escaping the Misty Mountain Range and found the entrance to a Tenth-order Array Master's inheritance trial. Jiao Fan pursued them into the trial hall, where an array teleported Jiang Chen's group away, leaving Jiao Fan behind to search for them.

• Jiao Fan regrouped with the Taiyuan Sect and other survivors, while the Yinluo Sect's secret killings remained unknown to them.
• Jiang Chen and Long Qingyao left the Misty Mountain Range and reunited with Tang Long and the Tianyun Sect disciples, who had all survived by avoiding other groups and using Rejuvenation Pills.
• Long Qingyao identified a stone gate as the entrance to the Tenth-order Array Master's trial, and the gate opened when Jiang Chen's group approached.
• Jiao Fan spotted Jiang Chen's group and led nearly two hundred pursuers toward them, forcing them to flee through the stone gate.
• Jiang Chen's group entered a hall with a Trial Teleportation Point, and the array transported them to the trial passage.
• Jiao Fan and his followers reached the empty hall, and Jiao Fan ordered them to search for Jiang Chen's group.

Jiang Chen cleared the first trial of the Tenth-order Array Master's inheritance and overcame a trap set by Pond Demons in the second. He opened the passage to the next trial and continued onward to pursue the inheritance.

• Jiao Fan and Jie Changsheng led the remaining group into the teleportation array after learning that clearing the trials could grant the Array Master's inheritance.
• Jiang Chen entered a hall filled with stone puppets, learned the chess rules, and defeated the array's opponent to clear the first trial.
• Jiang Chen appeared in a verdant landscape and saw dozens of beautiful women beckoning him toward the water.
• Jiang Chen used his soul force to break the illusion and recognized the women as Pond Demons preparing to attack him.
• Jiang Chen killed the Pond Demons with his Cangyue Saber, absorbed their blood-qi power, and opened the passage to the next trial.

Jiang Chen passed the five formation trials and received the Heavenly Master Dao inheritance from Xu Dinghan’s remnant imprint. The inheritance warned him that Dark Nether might target him, leaving him wary of the danger that came with his new prize.

• Jiang Chen studied the formation materials and broke the first four formations, unlocking more jade slips as he progressed.
• Jiang Chen carefully deciphered the fifth formation and completed all the trials.
• Jiang Chen entered the teleportation formation and met Xu Dinghan’s remnant imprint, which passed on its inheritance before dissipating.
• Jiang Chen opened the box and read Xu Dinghan’s jade tablet, learning that Dark Nether might have ambushed the Tenth-order Array Master to seize the Heavenly Master Dao.
• Jiang Chen vowed to avenge Xu Dinghan if Dark Nether attacked him, but resolved not to provoke the organization before he was strong enough.

Jiang Chen emerged from the trial and found Tang Long and the other Tianyun Sect disciples captured by the Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect. He rescued them and fought back, then unleashed the second stage of Sky Annihilation Strike against Jiao Fan and Jie Changsheng as they used their strongest weapons and talismans.

• Jiang Chen left the inheritance chamber after completing the trial in eight days and found the eliminated participants gathered outside.
• Jiao Fan and Jie Changsheng confronted Jiang Chen while their followers held Tang Long, Lu Shi, and the other Tianyun Sect disciples hostage.
• Jiang Chen used a Soul Attack to disarm the captors, then freed Tang Long and the others with his blade.
• Jiang Chen activated the first stage of Sky Annihilation Strike and blocked the attackers with two Magic Dragon Hands before striking back alongside Lu Shi and the other disciples.
• Jiang Chen entered a demonic state and cut through the enemy ranks, forcing Jie Changsheng and Jiao Fan to use Sixth-order Spirit Talismans and a fifth-order spear.
• Jiang Chen activated the second stage of Sky Annihilation Strike and formed a massive black blade above himself.

Jiang Chen overwhelmed the Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect forces, killed their leaders, and absorbed power from the battlefield to break through to Martial King Realm, Fourth Level. He left the surviving disciples fleeing while the Tianyun Sect began collecting the spoils.

• Jiang Chen shattered the enemies’ combined attacks with Demonic Soul Slash, killing more than a dozen geniuses and wounding many others.
• Jiang Chen killed Li Yun and then pursued Jie Changsheng, Jiao Fan, and the other Taiyuan Sect and Yinluo Sect disciples.
• Jiang Chen killed Jie Changsheng, Jiao Fan, and the remaining enemies from both sects, while about twenty disciples from other forces escaped.
• Jiang Chen absorbed blood-and-qi power from the corpses and broke through to Martial King Realm, Fourth Level.
• Tang Long and the Tianyun Sect disciples congratulated Jiang Chen, who told them to clean up the battlefield and assess the spoils.

Jiang Chen and the others waited for Long Qingyao after dividing the spirit medicines seized from their enemies. Long Qingyao emerged safely with two formation diagrams, while Jiang Chen kept his Tenth-order Array Master inheritance secret.

• Jiang Chen and the others inventoried their spoils, set aside half the spirit medicines for the sect, and divided the rest among themselves, giving Jiang Chen the largest share.
• Two days later, Long Qingyao emerged from the trial, and Jiang Chen told her that several disciples had died.
• Long Qingyao said she had deciphered the first two stages and obtained a third-order and a fourth-order formation diagram, but had failed to solve the third formation of the third stage.
• Jiang Chen claimed he had left the trial early without breaking its first formation and concealed that he had inherited Xu Dinghan's formation techniques.
• Jiang Chen recalled that Dark Nether had likely attacked Xu Dinghan, while Long Qingyao lamented that no one else had obtained the inheritance.

Jiang Chen and the Tianyun Sect survivors returned from the Wind and Cloud Secret Realm, where most of the entrants had died and Jiang Chen had killed disciples from several factions. When the Taiyuan Sect, Yinluo Sect, and others demanded that Tianyun Sect hand him over, Jiang Chen defended his actions by invoking the secret realm’s rules and the Taiyuan Sect’s agreed Life and Death Battle.

• Long Qingyao accepted a share of the spoils after Tang Long, Lu Shi, and the others urged her to honor Jiang Chen’s decision.
• Jiang Chen and the Tianyun Sect group explored the secret realm, gathered spirit medicines, and avoided further attacks before the two-month trial ended.
• Jiang Chen and the other survivors returned to the teleportation altar, where the factions discovered that only a little over three hundred of the thousand entrants had emerged.
• Escaped geniuses accused Jiang Chen and the Tianyun Sect of killing disciples from the Taiyuan Sect, Yinluo Sect, and other factions.
• Yan Ming, Luo Tian, and other faction leaders surrounded the Tianyun Sect and demanded that Jiang Chen and the other disciples be handed over.
• Jiang Chen argued that the dead had attacked his group for a bounty, reminded Yan Ming that the Taiyuan Sect had agreed to a Life and Death Battle, and denounced the factions for seeking revenge outside the secret realm.

Li Xingyun revealed that Tianyun Sect had summoned reinforcements, bringing the forces threatening them to a tense standoff. Yan Ming proposed that Jiang Chen face three of his moves to settle the conflict, leaving Jiang Chen to respond.

• Li Xingyun launched a signal and revealed he had secretly summoned Tianyun Sect experts as reinforcements.
• Three Martial Emperor Realm experts and numerous Martial King Realm experts arrived, giving Tianyun Sect four Martial Emperors on the scene.
• Liu Shilong of Lihuo Sect arrived and taunted Yan Ming, urging him to pursue the conflict.
• Yan Ming proposed that Jiang Chen withstand three moves from him in exchange for ending the dispute and allowing Tianyun Sect to leave safely.
• People from Taiyuan Sect's camp pressured Jiang Chen to accept Yan Ming's challenge.

Jiang Chen agreed to take one strike from Yan Ming to prevent Tianyun Sect from fighting the other forces, wagering his life against fifty million spirit stones. He survived Yan Ming’s powerful attack and won the wager, leaving Yan Ming and the Taiyuan Sect to withdraw.

• Li Xingyun refused Yan Ming’s demand that Jiang Chen take three strikes, but Jiang Chen offered to take one strike in exchange for fifty million spirit stones.
• Yan Ming and the other forces gathered the spirit stones, and Liu Shilong agreed to hold them as an intermediary.
• Jiang Chen stepped forward to take Yan Ming’s strike, while Tianyun Sect’s experts watched for anyone attempting a sneak attack.
• Yan Ming attacked with Thousand Collapse Giant Palm, and Jiang Chen used Magic Dragon Hand empowered by the Sky Annihilation Strike Secret Art to block it.
• Jiang Chen detonated Magic Dragon Hand, breaking Yan Ming’s attack; the blast injured Jiang Chen and sent both men flying, but Jiang Chen survived.
• Yan Ming acknowledged the wager, warned Jiang Chen to be careful in the future, and led the Taiyuan Sect members away.

After surviving Yan Ming’s full-powered strike, Jiang Chen saw the hostile forces withdraw and returned to Tianyun Sect, where he recovered and became renowned for his achievements. Several days later, a True Disciple came to his courtyard to look for him.

• Yan Ming refused to continue the conflict, and the forces seeking Jiang Chen’s death left after Taiyuan Sect withdrew.
• Jiang Chen warned Luo Tian that he would settle accounts with Yinluo Sect, and Luo Tian left with his people.
• Liu Shilong gave Jiang Chen fifty million spirit stones before leading Lihuo Sect away.
• Jiang Chen and the Tianyun Sect disciples returned safely from the Wind and Cloud Secret Realm, which would never open again after Jiang Chen obtained its inheritance.
• Jiang Chen recovered at Tianyun Sect as his deeds spread, and a True Disciple came to call on him.

Jiang Chen met He Yun and other visitors from the He Family, who brought him a reward for his role in the Yin Corpse Sect’s extermination. The visit revealed his past contribution to Tianyun Sect’s leaders and left the He Family considering a marriage alliance with him.

• A True Disciple told Jiang Chen that visitors from the royal capital wanted to see him, and Jiang Chen went with him to the main hall.
• Jiang Chen met He Yun, He Yushi, Tianyun Sect’s leaders, and other disciples in the main hall.
• He Yun thanked Jiang Chen on behalf of the Great Zhou Dynasty for helping exterminate the Yin Corpse Sect’s remnants and presented him with fifty million spirit stones and pills.
• Li Xingyun and the others learned that Jiang Chen had made his contribution more than half a year earlier, before joining Tianyun Sect.
• He Yun explained that the He Family had sought Jiang Chen out because they admired his potential and were considering a marriage alliance with him.
• Jiang Chen thanked He Yushi for handling the reward on his behalf.

Jiang Chen rejected He Yun’s offer to betroth He Yushi to him, reaffirmed his relationship with Long Qingyao, and gave the He Family valuable pills to smooth things over. After leaving Tianyun Sect, he met Mo Qingyan at the Mission Hall to post a mission connected to the Yinluo Sect.

• He Yun proposed that Jiang Chen and He Yushi become engaged, but Jiang Chen refused, explaining that he already loved someone.
• He Yushi learned that Jiang Chen’s partner was Long Qingyao, who confirmed that she and Jiang Chen were together.
• Jiang Chen gave He Yun top-grade Fifth-tier Golden Essence Pills and gave He Yushi True Essence Pills and a King Breaking Pill, easing the He Family’s displeasure.
• After spending ten more days at Tianyun Sect refining pills, Jiang Chen left and met Mo Qingyan at the Mission Hall.
• Jiang Chen told Mo Qingyan he wanted to post a mission, intending to pursue revenge against the Yinluo Sect.

Jiang Chen paid the Mission Hall to post a bounty on Yinluo Sect disciples and elders, then replenished his wealth by selling spoils and pills. He began hunting Yinluo Sect members himself, while mercenaries soon attacked a squad of the sect’s disciples.

• Jiang Chen offered five hundred million spirit stones as a deposit for a bounty targeting Yinluo Sect members, and Mo Qingyan agreed to post the mission for a twenty percent commission.
• Mo Qingyan posted the bounty, prompting mercenaries to organize and hunt Yinluo Sect disciples for rewards.
• Jiang Chen sold his unused spoils in the Black Markets and his refined pills at trading houses, earning spirit stones to rebuild his wealth.
• Jiang Chen concealed his face and set out to hunt Yinluo Sect members himself.
• Three Martial King Realm mercenaries and their companions surrounded a squad of Yinluo Sect disciples and attacked them for the bounty.

Mercenaries and Jiang Chen slaughtered Yinluo Sect disciples under a bounty, forcing the sect to retreat behind its defenses. Luo Tian suspected Jiang Chen and placed a one-hundred-million-spirit-stone bounty on his head, drawing mercenaries’ attention to the new mission.

• Mercenaries ambushed and killed Yinluo Sect disciples across Beihai Prefecture, collecting their identity tokens for the bounty.
• Jiang Chen killed more Yinluo Sect disciples, including two Martial King Realm elders, while the sect suffered hundreds of casualties.
• Luo Tian ordered Yinluo Sect disciples to stay inside the sect as its leaders discussed the attacks and suspected Jiang Chen or the Tianyun Sect.
• Luo Tian paid Mo Qingyan for a one-hundred-million-spirit-stone bounty on Jiang Chen, and the Mission Hall announced the mission to widespread excitement among mercenaries.