Chapter Summaries

Luo Zheng and his companions arrived at the ruins where the Path of the Trial Taker began and met Wei Yulong and the Fallen Cloud Sect’s larger, stronger delegation. As the rival sect’s disciples mocked the Azure Cloud Sect, Luo Zheng struggled to focus on the altered way he perceived space after comprehending a trace of its laws.

• Shi Jingtian brought Luo Zheng, Hua Tianming, and Pei Tianyao from the teleportation platform into the ruins of an ancient palace.
• Wei Yulong arrived with nine Spirit Illumination Realm disciples from the Fallen Cloud Sect and highlighted the disparity between their delegation and Shi Jingtian’s.
• Wei Yulong and his disciples mocked the Azure Cloud Sect’s small group, especially Luo Zheng’s Innate Third Level cultivation.
• Shi Jingtian unleashed his aura against the Fallen Cloud Sect disciples, but Wei Yulong blocked most of it and dismissed their insults as idle talk.
• Luo Zheng remained dazed by his heightened perception of space, and the Fallen Cloud Sect disciples laughed at him.

Luo Zheng defended Azure Cloud Sect after Fallen Cloud Sect's disciples mocked him, and Hua Tianming accepted a challenge from their top disciple, Ye Qiu. As the two prepared to spar, Ye Qiu boasted about his Grandmastery of Sword Intent, drawing strange looks from Luo Zheng, Pei Tianyao, and Hua Tianming.

• Shi Jingtian said Luo Zheng had sensed the Space Rules during the journey, but Wei Yulong and Fallen Cloud Sect's disciples dismissed the claim.
• Luo Zheng called Fallen Cloud Sect's disciples useless and challenged them, provoking them to demand a spar.
• Hua Tianming stepped forward to face Fallen Cloud Sect's number-one disciple, Ye Qiu, before Ye Qiu could challenge Luo Zheng.
• Shi Jingtian promised Hua Tianming a Mid-Grade Immortal Artifact sword if he defeated Ye Qiu.
• Ye Qiu drew his Mid-Grade Immortal Artifact Dragon Abyss Sword and boasted that his Grandmastery of Sword Intent would decide the match.

Hua Tianming defeated Ye Qiu in a decisive sword duel, revealing the Azure Cloud Sect disciple’s Perfect Extreme Lightning Sword Intent and mastery of the Heavenly Sword. Shi Jingtian then challenged the Fallen Cloud Sect’s eldest disciple to face Luo Zheng, whose strength remained a mystery to them.

• Hua Tianming revealed his Perfect Extreme Lightning Sword Intent, surprising Ye Qiu, Wei Yulong, and the gathered disciples.
• Ye Qiu attacked with Flowing Water Swordplay, but Hua Tianming resisted its illusion and evaded it with Sword Step.
• Hua Tianming summoned Azure Heaven Force and heavenly lightning with the Heavenly Sword, overwhelming Ye Qiu’s Boundless Sea and knocking the Dragon Abyss Sword from his hand.
• Ye Qiu admitted defeat, and the Fallen Cloud Sect disciples fell silent after their strongest fighter lost.
• Shi Jingtian mocked Wei Yulong and suggested that the Fallen Cloud Sect’s eldest disciple spar with Luo Zheng to learn how he had defeated Hua Tianming.

The sects gathered for the Path of the Trial Taker, and Wei Yulong stopped Huo Xiaoting from challenging Luo Zheng after suspecting Luo Zheng was far stronger than his cultivation suggested. Cloud Hall opened the secret realm, and its disciples entered first as the other sects prepared to follow.

• Huo Xiaoting volunteered to challenge Luo Zheng, but Wei Yulong ordered him to preserve his strength for the trial.
• The disciples and leaders of Auspicious Cloud Sect, Colorful Cloud Sect, Mist Cloud Sect, and Cloud Hall arrived at the gathering.
• Luo Zheng explained to Hua Tianming that Cloud Hall was a powerful fourth-grade sect whose disciples had reason to be arrogant.
• Fei Han embedded more than two hundred Top Grade True Essence Stones into the gate and opened the Path of the Trial Taker.
• Fei Han sent Cloud Hall's disciples through the vortex first, and Luo Zheng stepped toward it with Pei Tianyao and the others.

Luo Zheng, Hua Tianming, and Pei Tianyao entered the Path of the Trial Taker, a ruined Ancient Sect world used by Cloud Hall for assessment. While Hua Tianming and Pei Tianyao set out, Luo Zheng stopped to study the shattered space, and Shi Jingtian revealed to Cloud Hall’s Elder Fei Han that Luo Zheng had also comprehended Perfect Sword Intent and visited Slaughter Sword Mountain.

• Pei Tianyao and Hua Tianming set off along the Path of the Trial Taker, while Luo Zheng stayed behind to examine the broken sky and comprehend its spatial cracks.
• Shi Jingtian and the other Sect Masters watched Luo Zheng standing at the entrance, and Wei Yulong compared his pause to Li Yifeng’s past lapse on the trial path.
• Wei Yulong told Fei Han that Hua Tianming had comprehended Perfect Sword Intent, prompting Fei Han to question how Hua Tianming could rank third in the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Shi Jingtian explained that Luo Zheng ranked first, had also comprehended Perfect Sword Intent, and had gained an opportunity greater than the Sword Washing Pool.
• Shi Jingtian inferred that Luo Zheng had entered Slaughter Sword Mountain, and Fei Han reacted with surprise at the value of that opportunity.

Luo Zheng studied the space fragments in the Path of the Trial Taker and discovered that he could move along the strange lines he saw. His unusual movement stunned the Sect Masters and Cloud Hall elders watching him.

• Fei Han promised to seek a Grand Mysterious Cloud Mist Pill for Luo Zheng if he made the Top Five, and Shi Jingtian was promised recognition for recommending him.
• Shi Jingtian realized Luo Zheng might be comprehending the Space Law, while Dragon Granny dismissed his claims as exaggeration.
• Fei Han noticed that Luo Zheng had finally moved, drawing the Sect Masters' attention back to the Trust Jade.
• Luo Zheng touched a short line in space and found that it moved him along its length without him moving his legs.
• Luo Zheng continued using the lines to glide short distances, unknowingly astonishing the watching Sect Masters and Cloud Hall elders.

Luo Zheng used his nascent understanding of the Space Law to navigate the Path of the Trial Taker, then fought off strange plants along the road. He reached a vast magma sea and found several disciples waiting at its edge.

• Fei Han explained that Luo Zheng used spatial flaws in the ruined world to imitate the Illusory God Steps, astonishing the watching sect masters.
• Luo Zheng abandoned his winding experiments and ran onward, choosing among the many forks in the road.
• A strange willow attacked Luo Zheng, but his Perfect Sword Intent shredded its branches and drove it away.
• Luo Zheng defeated or escaped several more attacking plants and emerged from the fork.
• Luo Zheng climbed a hill, saw an endless magma sea, and found several disciples waiting beside it.

Luo Zheng crossed the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea by leaping between its exposed stone platforms and used his Heavenly Devil Phantom Images to clear away fire essences. As a Crimson Fire Snake emerged ahead, Pang and the others held back to see how Luo Zheng would handle it.

• Pang ordered Luo Zheng to charge ahead when the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea ebbed, and Luo Zheng learned that stone platforms appeared along a path across it.
• Luo Zheng raced across the platforms, followed by Pang and three other disciples from the Mist Cloud Sect and Colorful Cloud Sect.
• Fire essences appeared on the platforms, and Luo Zheng sent six Heavenly Devil Phantom Images to destroy them and clear the way.
• Pang and the others followed behind Luo Zheng while letting him deal with the dangers ahead.
• A Crimson Fire Snake rose from the magma, and Pang stopped the others so they could watch Luo Zheng face it.

Luo Zheng evaded a Crimson Fire Snake by leaping across the stone pillars and reached a High Platform as the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea’s magma tide rose. He learned that the platform offered shelter between tides, while the four disciples who had refused to cooperate raced toward it with an enraged snake behind them.

• Luo Zheng used the Phoenix Flight Crystal and Dragon Scale power to leap over the Crimson Fire Snake’s attack and escape its pursuit.
• The Crimson Fire Snake turned on the Pang-named disciple and the other three disciples, forcing them to fight and flee.
• Luo Zheng noticed the magma tide rising and realized that High Platforms let martial artists wait safely until the tide receded.
• Luo Zheng reached a High Platform and learned from an injured disciple that others had killed two of the three Crimson Fire Snakes on the route.
• Luo Zheng saw the four disciples sprinting toward the platform as the magma tide approached the stone pillars, and watched from the edge.

The Pang-named disciple and three companions narrowly escaped the rising magma and reached the High Platform, where he blamed Luo Zheng for their ordeal and threatened him. Luo Zheng challenged his claim that strength ruled, but the others stopped them from fighting on the unstable platform, and Luo Zheng sat down to wait for the fire sea to ebb.

• A Colorful Cloud Sect disciple boosted the group’s speed, and another froze a short path across the magma so the four could reach the High Platform.
• The Pang-named disciple treated his junior brother’s burned foot with medicine and green salve.
• The Pang-named disciple accused Luo Zheng of causing their danger and threatened him with a spear, while Luo Zheng argued that their own plan to use him as bait had brought them trouble.
• Luo Zheng revealed his sword intent, and the martial artists and Colorful Cloud Sect disciples urged both men not to fight on the unstable High Platform.
• The Pang-named disciple put away his spear, and Luo Zheng sat apart to wait for the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea to ebb.

Luo Zheng crossed the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea with a group of martial artists as they raced toward the next High Platform. When a swarm of Fire Bat Devil Fish attacked, he saved a martial artist by severing one creature’s tail.

• As the tide receded, Luo Zheng and several martial artists left the High Platform, while the injured Mist Cloud Sect disciples stayed behind and the Colorful Cloud Sect women went on without them.
• The Pang-named disciple blamed Luo Zheng for his troubles and vowed revenge as Luo Zheng joined the other martial artists in crossing the fire sea.
• The group cooperated to defeat the creatures blocking their path, then spotted at least thirty or forty Fire Bat Devil Fish racing beneath the magma toward them.
• A Fire Bat Devil Fish attacked a martial artist whose saber could not cut its tail, and Luo Zheng drew his Flowing Light Longsword and severed it, saving the man from being dragged into the magma.

Luo Zheng and the other martial artists crossed the Fire Bat Devil Fish swarm and reached the second High Platform in the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea. He decided to enter its Hidden Trial Gate, but two Cloud Hall disciples barred his way, claiming only their people could challenge it.

• Luo Zheng severed a Fire Bat Devil Fish's tail and saved a martial artist, then helped the group fight through the swarm.
• A martial artist died in the lava, and the survivors pressed onward while one of them handed out Qi Recovery Pills.
• The group reached the second High Platform as the lava tide rose and learned that a Hidden Trial Gate lay on the nearby island.
• Luo Zheng chose to enter the Hidden Trial Gate, despite other martial artists' doubts about his cultivation.
• Two Cloud Hall disciples stopped Luo Zheng and said their people were challenging the gate, so he had no qualification to enter.

Luo Zheng confronted two Cloud Hall disciples who had barred martial artists from the Hidden Trial Gate, forcing them to let him pass. After one tried to attack him, Luo Zheng severed his arm and left the gathered martial artists stunned as he headed for the passage.

• A Cloud Hall disciple insulted martial artists from other sects and claimed they were unworthy of entering the Hidden Trial Gate.
• Luo Zheng grabbed the disciple and suspended him over the sea of flames, demanding to know whether he could enter the gate.
• The other Cloud Hall disciple agreed to stop blocking Luo Zheng, and Luo Zheng hauled the first disciple back onto the platform.
• The injured Cloud Hall disciple drew a dagger to attack, but Luo Zheng cut off his forearm and threatened to kill him if he spoke again.
• Luo Zheng sheathed his sword and walked toward the passage, leaving the gathered martial artists in awe.

After earning Fei Han’s praise, Luo Zheng entered the optional trial island in the Heavenly Burning Fire Sea. He discovered a swarm of unusually large Ghost Face Spiders and prepared to fight them.

• Fei Han praised Luo Zheng’s strength and insight, while Shi Jingtian admitted inwardly that he had never guided him.
• Dragon Granny praised Zhuo Bufan and disparaged Luo Zheng, prompting Shi Jingtian to defend his disciple.
• Luo Zheng crossed the passage to the island and followed a trail hacked through its jungle by earlier Cloud Hall disciples.
• Luo Zheng heard concealed rustling in the jungle but could not locate its source with his senses.
• Luo Zheng spotted fist-sized Ghost Face Spiders covering the trees and drew his Flowing Light Longsword as they advanced.

Luo Zheng escaped the Azure Cloud Sect disciples’ Twelve Earthly Branches Formation and discovered a barrier covering the valley cliff. He hid to observe the trial while observers outside argued about his chances against Zhao Xiaohua and the other disciples.

• Luo Zheng fought through a swarm of Ghost Face Spiders and reached a valley where twelve Azure Cloud Sect disciples were using a formation to kill them.
• Zhao Xiaohua ordered the formation to attack Luo Zheng after he challenged the disciples’ claim to the trial, and its Kan Wind Kill pursued him across the valley.
• Luo Zheng used Sword Step to evade the wind pressure until it lost sight of him and struck a cliff protected by a bright yellow barrier.
• Luo Zheng hid in the valley to watch the Azure Cloud Sect disciples and determine the trial’s purpose.
• Shi Jingtian, Fei Han, and Dragon Granny watched Luo Zheng’s image and debated his escape and his chances against Zhao Xiaohua.

After Zhao Xiaohua’s formation drove back the Ghost Face Spiders, he revealed the Hidden Trial Gate’s treasure-chest challenge on the cliff. A Cloud Hall disciple failed to reach even a Red Treasure Chest, but immediately tried again.

• Zhao Xiaohua’s Twelve Earthly Branches Formation killed the Ghost Face Spiders until the survivors retreated into the jungle.
• Zhao Xiaohua activated a mechanism that reshaped the cliff and revealed treasure chests arranged in five colored tiers.
• The white-clad young man explained that each person had one attempt and would be unable to climb again after falling.
• A Cloud Hall disciple tried to open a low Red Treasure Chest, but a gale from a nearby cave blew him off the platform.
• The disciple recovered without serious injury and charged toward the cliff again, determined to try once more.

Bai Li Hongfeng entered the cliff wall and began crossing its high platforms toward the treasure chests while the Cloud Hall disciples prepared to ambush him. He reached the first platform, where a violent wind was about to erupt.

• Zhao Xiaohua explained that anyone who fell from the cliff wall could not approach it again, and a Cloud Hall disciple was repelled when he tried to enter.
• Bai Li Hongfeng emerged from the jungle, dodged Zhao Xiaohua's spear and the other disciples' attacks, and slipped through the cliff's light curtain.
• Zhao Xiaohua ordered the twelve Cloud Hall disciples to form a formation and wait to attack Bai Li Hongfeng if he took a treasure chest.
• The Auspicious Cloud Sect's Sect Master identified the cloaked disciple as Bai Li Hongfeng, and Fei Han and the other elders discussed the treasure chests' past rewards.
• Bai Li Hongfeng leaped onto the first high platform as the Cloud Hall disciples prepared to attack if the wind blew him down.

Bai Li Hongfeng endured the gale and wind blades to open the Red Treasure Chest, then climbed to the second level and faced a blazing fire while pursuing the Blue Treasure Chest. Just as he reached for it after the flames stopped, he recoiled from a sudden attack.

• Bai Li Hongfeng used zigzag footwork to advance through the gale and evade wind blades until he opened the Red Treasure Chest.
• A shifting black object sprang from the Red Treasure Chest and drilled toward Bai Li Hongfeng's forehead, while the onlookers recognized it as a soul-strengthening treasure.
• Bai Li Hongfeng climbed to the second-level platform, where a blazing tongue of fire erupted from the cave.
• Bai Li Hongfeng crawled toward the Blue Treasure Chest under the protection of his azure Protective True Essence.
• When the flames stopped, Bai Li Hongfeng rushed for the Blue Treasure Chest, but he abruptly retreated just before touching it.

After Bai Li Hongfeng was forced off the high platform, Luo Zheng entered the trial’s light curtain and began climbing for the treasure chests. Zhao Xiaohua threatened him, while Luo Zheng endured the first platform’s attacks and drew Bai Li Hongfeng’s interest.

• A red-hot boulder burst from the cave, forcing Bai Li Hongfeng away from the Blue Treasure Chest and scattering the Cloud Palace disciples below.
• The Cloaked Kid glided from the cliff into the jungle, while Zhao Xiaohua abandoned the Twelve Earthly Branches Formation and vowed they would meet again.
• Luo Zheng entered the light curtain and taunted Zhao Xiaohua, who threatened to kill him; Fei Han then warned Shi Jingtian that Zhao Xiaohua belonged to the Southern King Zhao Family.
• Luo Zheng climbed toward the Red Treasure Chest and resisted the first platform’s gale with his physical strength.
• When the platform’s Wind Blades attacked, Luo Zheng used six regenerating Heavenly Devil Phantom Images to block them head-on.
• Bai Li Hongfeng watched Luo Zheng from the jungle and recognized that his technique was likely Saint-Ranked.

Luo Zheng claimed the Red Treasure Chest and absorbed its soul-strengthening substance before climbing toward the Blue Treasure Chest. He endured a blazing tongue of flame head-on, revealing his extraordinary body, and left Bai Li Hongfeng stunned by his strength.

• Luo Zheng opened the Red Treasure Chest, absorbed the black substance, and continued climbing toward the Blue Treasure Chest.
• Bai Li Hongfeng and the sect leaders watched as Luo Zheng reached the second stone platform and stood ready to face its flames.
• Shi Jingtian told Fei Han that Luo Zheng had a powerful body despite showing no signs of body refinement or astral essence.
• Luo Zheng let the tongue of flame engulf him, stopping it on the platform as golden runes appeared across his body.
• Luo Zheng found that the flame did not temper his Spirit Artifact Body as he had hoped, but he charged forward through it anyway.
• Bai Li Hongfeng watched Luo Zheng withstand the flames and recognized him as a monster.