Chapter Summaries

Li Hao defeated the Yellow-White Robed Youth and the elderly Demon Sheep Venerable, then returned to the Imperial Palace and detected Saint Child Xu Yuan hiding in the shadows. Xu Yuan attacked the Yu Emperor and fled, leaving Li Hao to pursue him.

• The Yellow-White Robed Youth tried to escape through Return to Emptiness Teleportation, but Li Hao pursued him, severed his arm, and killed him after extracting four divine abilities.
• Li Hao caught up with the fleeing elderly Demon Sheep Venerable and killed him after the old man’s Life-Sharing Chain failed to bind Li Hao.
• Li Hao recorded the four divine abilities on his panel, then killed the Yellow-White Robed Youth’s remnant after discovering he could imprison it with Heaven and Earth Power.
• Li Hao returned to the Imperial Palace, where he sensed Saint Child Xu Yuan concealed in the void and warned Li Muxiu not to approach.
• Saint Child Xu Yuan used Return to Emptiness Teleportation to redirect an attack toward the Yu Emperor, but Li Hao blocked it before Xu Yuan fled.

Li Hao defeated Saint Child Xu Yuan’s many avatars and nearly killed him, but a powerful figure from beyond the golden fissure intervened and tore Li Hao’s body apart. After reforming and rejoining the survivors, Li Hao left them safe, while the escape of his formidable enemy threatened future trouble.

• Li Hao trapped Saint Child Xu Yuan’s nine forms inside Heavenly Imprisonment Earth Severance and killed the avatars one by one.
• Saint Child Xu Yuan used his Jade Flute and Bird in a Cage divine ability, but Li Hao broke free and severed his hand.
• Saint Child Xu Yuan escaped through a golden fissure into the Immortal Dao, and Li Hao’s sword qi pursued him until a powerful figure shattered it and destroyed Li Hao’s body.
• Li Hao re-formed from his scattered blood, realized his enemy was beyond the Dao Inquiry Realm, and wondered whether the World of Sages lay beyond the Immortal Gate.
• Li Hao covered himself, reunited with the Yu Emperor, Li Muxiu, Xia Linglong, and the other survivors, and received their thanks for saving Great Yu.
• Li Tiangang joined the survivors before Li Hao, recognizing the enormity of what the youth had done.

After helping the Great Yu Dynasty survive the crisis, Li Hao asked to browse the Qian Dao Palace’s Dao Repository Hall. There, he recorded its manuals and began evolving them into new cultivation arts and dao domains.

• Li Hao examined the Yu Emperor and True Person Qin, then accepted thanks from the rescued martial experts and Imperial Clan members.
• Li Muxiu taunted Li Tiangang for once finding fault with Li Hao, while Li Tiangang silently watched his former son from afar.
• The Yu Emperor offered to make Li Hao inherit Great Yu’s new Dao lineage and gather incense for him, and Li Hao accepted while discussing the escaped Saint Child and the wider mortal world.
• Li Hao crossed the Qian Dao Palace’s Nine Gates of Heaven and met Qingjingzi and Mingyue Jian, who led him to the Dao Repository Hall.
• Li Hao used his divine sense to record the hall’s cultivation manuals, causing his panel to evolve them into supreme arts and dao domains.

Li Hao tested his forty-nine stacked Dao Domains against True Person Qin’s laws, then learned that Qin would forge the Qian Dao Palace into a sword for him. After Li Hao left to visit old friends and enter the Immortal Gate, the Yu Emperor revealed his identity as Chong Er and proclaimed him Great Yu Heavenly General and Eternal Guardian God.

• Li Hao left the Dao Repository Hall after comprehending forty-nine layers of Dao Domains and asked Qingjingzi and Mingyue Jian to take him to True Person Qin.
• Li Hao’s Dao Domains greatly weakened True Person Qin’s laws, though they could not block them completely, and True Person Qin helped Qingjingzi recover his shaken Dao Heart.
• Li Hao told True Person Qin he planned to visit old friends, enter the Immortal Gate to deal with the Saint Child, and later explore the world; True Person Qin offered to forge the Qian Dao Palace into a sword for him.
• Li Hao returned to the Imperial Palace, where the Yu Emperor confronted him about hiding that he was Chong Er and agreed to gather famous paintings and chess manuals for him.
• The Yu Emperor issued an edict recognizing Li Hao’s achievements, appointing him Great Yu Heavenly General, granting him a great province, and bestowing the title Eternal Guardian God.

Li Hao returned to Heaven's Gate Pass, learned that Old Feng had gone to the Lands of the Saints, and spent months cooking demons while advancing his Art Skills. After reaching the Eighth Dan bottleneck in cooking, he exchanged for and ate a Dao Comprehension Fruit to pursue Dao Hearing through cooking.

• Li Hao reunited with Ren Qianqian and Jiang Lichen, then learned that Old Feng had regained his senses and left for the Lands of the Saints.
• Li Hao heard that Ying Xiaoxiao and the Tea Stall Elder had gone to gather resentment, and told Jiang Lichen that the Imperial Palace had nearly been destroyed.
• Li Hao returned to the Demon Lake with Ren Qianqian, then exchanged merit for the Poetic Heart and Carving Heart, raising Poetry and Literature and Sculpting to Fourth Dan.
• Li Hao spent several months cooking demons for Heaven's Gate Pass while the provinces recovered from war and visitors came to see him.
• Li Hao filled his Path of Cooking experience to the Eighth Dan bottleneck, exchanged for a Dao Comprehension Fruit, and swallowed it.

After entering the Dao through cooking, Li Hao advanced to the Dao Inquiry Realm and strengthened his body with Dao Power. Meanwhile, Jiang Ziyan and the other Immortal Gate prodigies returned to Great Yu, where they learned that Li Hao had defeated six Dao Law Realm cultivators and discussed the perilous situation awaiting them back in the Lands of the Saints.

• Li Hao comprehended the essence of cooking, entered the Dao through cooking, and used the resulting mental state to advance the Path of the Physical Body to the ninth dan and reach the Dao Inquiry Realm.
• The Immortal Gate opened above the Imperial Palace, and Jiang Ziyan, Xia Yucheng, and sixteen other prodigies returned to Great Yu after a thousand years in the mortal world.
• Jiang Ziyan ordered the returning prodigies to obey Great Yu's laws and gave them five days to attend to their affairs.
• The Yu Emperor told Jiang Ziyan and the other imperial clansmen that Li Hao had slain six Dao Law Realm cultivators and forced their hidden backer to reveal himself.
• Jiang Ziyan and the others explained that they had to return to the Immortal Gate, where rival powers and enemies threatened the connections they had built.
• Jiang Ziyan told the Yu Emperor that two Sacred Lands would soon recruit Great Yu disciples, especially martial artists who had mastered an Extreme Realm.

The Yu Emperor agreed to the Immortal Gate taking disciples again after Jiang Ziyan and the others refused to remain in Great Yu, though they gave him treasures to help defend it. Chu Jiuyue invited Li Hao to the Imperial Capital, where he arrived with Ren Qianqian and was greeted by the Yu Emperor, who noted Li Hao’s rapid rise to the Dao Inquiry Realm.

• The Yu Emperor asked Jiang Ziyan and the others to stay and guard Great Yu, but Jiang Ziyan offered defensive treasures instead, and the group made clear they would return to the Immortal Gate.
• The Yu Emperor sent Chu Jiuyue to invite Li Hao to the Immortal Gate’s recruitment, and Li Hao agreed to visit the Imperial Capital after asking about the paintings he had commissioned.
• Chu Jiuyue stayed for Li Hao’s cooking, then Li Hao set out with Ren Qianqian and Jiang Lichen for the Immortal Gate.
• Members of the Ji Family heard that the Immortal Gate was taking disciples and decided to summon their promising young talents to compete for admission.
• Li Hao arrived at the Imperial Palace, where the Yu Emperor greeted him and was astonished that his cultivation had advanced to the Dao Inquiry Realm.

Li Hao visited the Yu Emperor, searched for Little White Fox, collected new painting and chess entries, and received the heavy Dao Palace Sword he named Merit and Fame. Three days later, the Immortal Gate opened above the Imperial Palace as Heavenly Prodigies gathered for recruitment.

• Li Hao asked the Yu Emperor about Little White Fox, but the Demon Suppression Division had found no trace of her.
• Jiang Ziyan told Li Hao that the sacred lands would recruit disciples in three days and explained the ranks available to those who mastered Martial Dao extreme realms.
• Li Hao gave the Yu Emperor 170 battle flags and cataloged works in the imperial treasury, gaining a piercing effect from the Earth Howling at the Moon Painting.
• Heavenly Prodigies from across the Nineteen Provinces gathered in the Imperial Capital to seek entry through the Immortal Gate.
• True Person Qin gave Li Hao the million-jin Dao Palace Sword, which Li Hao named Merit and Fame, and Li Hao agreed to enter the Immortal Gate.
• Three days later, the Immortal Gate opened above the Imperial Palace, drawing the attention of experts throughout the Imperial City.

The Immortal Gate opened in the Imperial City, and its four tests began admitting only those with exceptional strength and aptitude. After many Imperial Clan members and Ji Family prodigies entered, Li Hao finally approached the Ascension Ladder, where the Bone Reflection Mirror revealed that he was sixteen.

• Yu Zu announced the four tests for entering the Immortal Gate, and the experts set out the Bone Reflection Mirror, Extremity Dao Tablets, Dao Heart Tower, and Ascension Ladder.
• A Jiang Family prince failed the Dao Heart test, while three of the seven Imperial Clan challengers entered the Immortal Gate.
• Ji Xuanshen passed after activating two Extremity Dao Tablets and revealing a profound grade Dao Heart, and other Ji Family prodigies followed him inside.
• Qingjingzi and Mingyue Jian passed their tests, with Mingyue Jian's Dao Heart Tower test drawing calls from the Void Sacred Land to recruit him.
• Jiang Lichen entered after displaying the Heaven and Earth Meridian, an earth grade Dao Heart, and an innate special physique, while Ren Qianqian delayed her attempt to compose herself.
• Li Hao stepped toward the Ascension Ladder, and the Bone Reflection Mirror showed that he was sixteen years old.

Li Hao climbed the Ascension Ladder and revealed seven extreme realms, stunning the Immortal Gate’s representatives and ancestors. The Dao Heart Tower then failed to display his dao heart, prompting Yu Zu to wonder whether it surpassed the earth grade.

• Li Hao stepped onto the Ascension Ladder and activated the first four Extremity Dao Tablets as he climbed.
• Li Hao activated the fifth, sixth, and seventh Extremity Dao Tablets, leaving the Imperial City and Immortal Gate speechless.
• Ji Tianchao recognized Li Hao and remembered his third brother’s regret that the Ji Family had failed to keep him.
• Li Hao reached the Immortal Gate, while Ji Xuanshen and the other prodigies realized how far he had surpassed them.
• The Dao Heart Tower absorbed its purple light from Li Hao and remained still, leading Yu Zu to suspect Li Hao’s dao heart surpassed the earth grade.

Li Hao entered the Immortal Gate and was ambushed by the Void Saint, who sought to kill him over an alleged offense against the Void Sacred Land’s Saint Child. Though Li Hao’s body shattered and began to heal, he faced the Sage’s will again and countered it with a sliver of Heavenly Venerable Will.

• Yu Zu and the Heavenly Phoenix Sacred Land’s God Daughter argued over recruiting Li Hao as he prepared to enter the Immortal Gate.
• Li Hao bid farewell to Ren Qianqian, the Yu Emperor, Ji Tianchao, and the others before stepping through the gate.
• The Void Saint’s will attacked Li Hao inside the gate’s chaotic void, shattering his body as Yu Zu and the God Daughter realized the Void Sacred Land had arranged the assassination.
• The old man admitted that Li Hao had to die because he had offended the Void Sacred Land’s Saint Child, and Yu Zu intervened when the old man’s pressure injured Jiang Lichen.
• Li Hao’s Blood-Drop Rebirth restored his body, but the Sage’s will attacked again, so Li Hao borrowed a sliver of Heavenly Venerable Will and struck back.

Li Hao fought Void Saint’s avatar in chaotic space and discovered that Yang Saint’s Dao Saint’s Mark had been a scheme against the Ji Family. As Void Saint’s avatar attacked, Li Hao reached the Power Circulation Final Realm and transformed his blood into divine blood, but the enemy remained intent on killing him.

• Li Hao repeatedly restored his body and used his heavenly venerable will to sever Void Saint’s saintly will, but Void Saint’s avatar continued attacking him through the chaotic void.
• Li Hao activated Yang Saint’s mark for help, only to learn that Yang Saint had planned to use him against the Ji Family and readily let Void Saint kill him.
• Li Hao recovered his body and realized Yang Saint had been watching the Ji Family’s prodigies, then fought Void Saint’s avatar with his Dao domains, Merit and Fame Dao Sword, and body-tempering arts.
• As Void Saint’s avatar unleashed the Void Extinction Hand, Li Hao pushed his physical strength to its limit and triggered the Power Circulation Final Realm.
• Li Hao’s flesh transformed and his blood became divine blood, revealing a connection between humanity and the God Race, but Void Saint’s avatar declared that the transformation made Li Hao even more deserving of death.

Li Hao survived Void Saint’s attempts to kill him by hiding a single drop of divine blood until the Sage finally left, then escaped the void into the World of Sages. He woke in the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land after a woman named Qing Ying rescued him.

• Void Saint trapped, refined, and pursued Li Hao’s scattered divine blood, while Li Hao used concealment and repeated deceptions to make him believe he had been killed.
• Yu Zu and the God Daughter condemned the Void Sacred Land after the Immortal Gate’s fluctuations vanished, and Ji Xuanshen and the others believed Li Hao was dead.
• Void Saint guarded the remote void for ten years before leaving, convinced Li Hao had perished.
• Li Hao’s hidden golden thread escaped through a crack into the World of Sages, where he collapsed after absorbing Heaven and Earth Energy.
• An elderly man told Li Hao he was in the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land and that Qing Ying had brought him in and treated his injuries.

Li Hao recovered at the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land, where he helped Lin Shan Hai refine pills using his cooking skills and learned about Lin Qingying’s coming competition. The chapter left him still healing and staying in the sacred land as Lin Qingying left for morning practice.

• Li Hao learned he was in the Azure Wave Realm, then rested at the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land while slowly recovering from his injuries.
• Over the next month, Li Hao carved wooden figures and helped Lin Shan Hai refine three hundred batches of Spirit Gathering Pills with his ingredient-extraction technique.
• Lin Shan Hai offered Li Hao a position as his alchemy assistant and promised to teach him pill recipes, but Li Hao declined the offer.
• Lin Shan Hai told Li Hao that Lin Qingying would soon compete in the Sacred Land Sword God Battle for a place in the Lands of the Saints' Pride Battle.
• After the morning bell rang, Lin Qingying put away her sword and flew off to practice at the sacred land.

Li Hao discussed why Sages reincarnated to pursue the mysterious sixth extreme realm, then demonstrated his unusual herb-extraction technique to four advanced alchemists and grew closer to Lin Shan Hai’s circle. While playing Go with Shi Huajin, he caught a flash of insight into the Chess Dao.

• Lin Shan Hai told Li Hao that Sages reincarnated because the sixth extreme realm depended on an elusive state of mind that their accumulated knowledge could obstruct.
• Lin Shan Hai introduced Li Hao, under the alias Qing Feng, to Zhao Yingzhen, Shi Huajin, Sun Zhengshang, and Liu Dongting, who asked him to demonstrate his alchemical technique.
• Li Hao stir-fried medicinal herbs to extract their potency, impressing the alchemists, and agreed to help Shi Huajin refine an advanced pill in exchange for valuable calligraphy, paintings, or chess manuals.
• Li Hao became a trusted assistant to several advanced alchemists, while Lin Qingying sampled his pastries and acknowledged that they tasted good.
• Li Hao declined Shi Huajin’s offer to recommend him as an Intermediate Alchemist and, during a Go game with her, caught a flash of insight into the Chess Dao.

Li Hao advanced his Chess Dao to the seventh dan, used its spirit to break through the Sword Dao bottleneck, and reached the eighth dan with his own Sole Self Sword Intent. Back at Lin Shan Hai's Alchemy Courtyard, he criticized a flaw in Lin Qingying's sword practice, and she stopped to respond.

• Li Hao placed a decisive Go stone that broke Shi Huajin's momentum, and she conceded before asking him to extract ingredients for her pills.
• After preparing Shi Huajin's ingredients, Li Hao used Chess Dao Spirit Entry to raise his Sword Dao to the seventh dan, then added points to reach the eighth dan and named his Sword Intent Sole Self.
• Li Hao tried to advance his Sword Dao further but learned that he needed to choose a heart for Entering the Dao, so he considered how difficult the ninth dan would be.
• Li Hao returned to Lin Shan Hai's Alchemy Courtyard, gave Lin Shan Hai the Five Sounds Tea from Shi Huajin, and explained that she had asked him to call her Sister Shi.
• Li Hao watched Lin Qingying practice and said one of her sword strokes was too gentle and diffuse, prompting her to stop.

Li Hao delivered Dao Condensation Pills to Saintess Bian Ruxue and recognized her as the girl he had once known, but concealed his identity and left without reconnecting. Back at his courtyard, he resumed cultivating and sensed an unfamiliar power entering his body that he suspected was incense.

• Lin Qingying questioned how Li Hao had noticed a flaw in her sword practice, and he painted her sword stance to explain his observation.
• Lin Qingying checked Li Hao’s age with a Bone Reflection Mirror and offered to recommend him to the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land, but he declined.
• Over the following months, Li Hao recovered, rebuilt his meridians, restored and strengthened his Dao Inquiry cultivation, and gained renown among the sacred land’s alchemists by purifying medicinal ingredients.
• Shi Huajin sent Li Hao and Jiang Xiaohui to deliver Dao Condensation Pills to Saintess Bian Ruxue, whom Li Hao recognized from the mortal world.
• Bian Ruxue felt that Li Hao reminded her of someone she knew, but he denied they had met and left without revealing his identity.
• Li Hao returned to his courtyard, resumed cultivating, and sensed an unfamiliar power entering his body that he identified as possible incense.

Li Hao perfected his God Blood Dao Body while settling into life among the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land’s alchemists, though he remained focused on painting and his own path. As the Sword God Battle began, he joined Lin Shan Hai and Lin Qingying to watch the top Heavenly Prodigies compete.

• Li Hao explained how his Dao body let him absorb incense and Dao Power, while his physical strength reached its limit and his God Blood continued to grow stronger.
• Li Hao stayed close to Lin Shan Hai and turned down the opportunities his growing connections offered, choosing to keep painting and cultivating on his own terms.
• Lin Shan Hai and Li Hao discussed whether Li Hao should take advantage of the sacred land’s martial and alchemical resources, while Lin Qingying listened and reflected on her own Dao.
• After several more months, Li Hao filled his Divine Blood with Dao Power and formed a God Blood Dao Body, then focused more closely on the Painting Dao.
• The Sword God Battle began, and Lin Shan Hai invited Li Hao to accompany him and Lin Qingying to watch the Heavenly Prodigies compete.

Li Hao attended the Sword God Battle preliminary selection with Lin Shan Hai and the alchemists, where he began painting the three Half-Saints. As the selection started, Bian Ruxue felt an inexplicable familiarity with Li Hao’s drawing board.

• Lin Qingying went ahead to the Sword Ancestor Sacred Land, while Li Hao and Lin Shan Hai traveled there with Zhao Yingzhen, Shi Huajin, and other alchemists.
• Li Hao and the alchemists reached Saint Mountain and took floating seats as spectators learned that he was the renowned Qing Feng Alchemist.
• Lin Shan Hai pointed out the three Half-Saints and the gathered Saint Children and Saint Daughters, including Lin Qingying and Bian Ruxue.
• The Sword God Battle preliminary selection began with random one-on-one matches and arena-holder defense, and Mu Feng took the stage to defend it.
• Li Hao declined to join the alchemists’ betting and began painting the three Half-Saints, who recognized him as Qing Feng Alchemist and let him continue.
• Bian Ruxue heard the Half-Saints mention painting and felt a strange familiarity with Li Hao’s drawing board.

Li Hao painted the Half-Saints and the Sword God Battle, gaining vast Painting Dao experience while recording sword arts and movement techniques from the arena matches. After the battles ended, Ancestor Yao summoned him, leaving him to approach her.

• Li Hao painted all three Half-Saints, advanced his Painting Dao to Eighth Dan, and gave Ancestor Yao the group portrait and a solo portrait that moved her with its depiction of her hidden sorrow.
• Li Hao stopped painting the Half-Saints after Shan Ancestor warned him, then watched the arena matches and recorded numerous cultivation methods and Sword Intents.
• Li Hao followed Jing Feng’s matches as he won ten consecutive bouts and revealed three extreme realms to defeat a formidable opponent.
• Li Hao painted a vast scroll of the Ten Arena Stages, earning 762,892 Painting Dao experience; Ancestor Yao suggested displaying the finished work in the Sword Tower.
• After the preliminary battles ended, Ancestor Yao summoned Li Hao, and he told Lin Shan Hai he was going to meet her.