Chapter Summaries

Jiang Ping An learned to control the Myriad Poison Seven Star Insect and survived an assassination attempt when Jin Lin killed the Golden Core assassin. After Ma Wei was identified as the likely culprit, the chapter ended with news that he had been poisoned to death.

• Jiang Ping An quickly learned the insect-control technique, claimed the merchant association discount card, and controlled the Myriad Poison Seven Star Insect.
• Jin Lin joined Jiang Ping An outside the shop and killed a Golden Core assassin who attacked him.
• Jiang Ping An sensed Ma Wei watching from a teahouse and sent the insect toward him before the Enforcement Team took Jiang Ping An and Jin Lin to the Prefect Residence.
• Xia Qing warned Jiang Ping An that the assassination might be linked to the Spirit Terrace Kingdom and offered him protection.
• An Enforcement Team member reported that Ma Wei, a Vast Mist Sect disciple, had been poisoned to death in the teahouse.

Jiang Ping An sparred with Jin Lin at the Back Mountain, first matching his brute strength and then using the Limitless Fist to redirect his attacks. Jin Lin unleashed the Myriad Gold Body and sent Jiang Ping An flying, leaving him shaken by the gap between their strength.

• Xia Qing learned that Ma Wei had been killed and went with the Enforcement Team to inspect the teahouse, while Jin Lin suspected Jiang Ping An was responsible.
• Jin Lin offered Jiang Ping An an alibi, and the two went to the Back Mountain to spar as Jiang Ping An secretly stored the Myriad Poison Seven Star Insect.
• The watching youths gathered as Jiang Ping An and Jin Lin exchanged powerful blows, with Jiang Ping An relying on brute strength at first.
• Jiang Ping An used the Limitless Fist to redirect Jin Lin's attacks and briefly put him at a disadvantage.
• Jin Lin released the Myriad Gold Body's metal energy and struck Jiang Ping An hard enough to send him flying more than ten meters.

Jiang Ping An learned that the Vast Mist Sect might target him over his suspected role in Ma Wei’s death, so he began studying Thunder Flash. The remaining tournament geniuses were assigned instructors, and Jiang Ping An’s instructor was revealed to be Wang Ren, the famed Former Prefect of Black Wind County.

• Jin Lin praised Jiang Ping An’s combat strength, and Jiang returned to his room to study Thunder Flash.
• Xia Qing warned Jiang that the Vast Mist Sect would arrive in five days and might kill him based on suspicion alone.
• Jiang tried building Thunder Flash’s lightning patterns, but the currents repeatedly shocked him and destroyed the paper he used to study them.
• Xia Qing assigned the thirteen remaining geniuses to powerful instructors, while she took Yun Huang to train.
• An old stableman offered to instruct Jiang, and Feng Yuchen mocked him before his instructor slapped him and identified him as Wang Ren, the former prefect who had repelled Spirit Terrace Kingdom’s invasion.

Wang Ren explained ancient cultivation techniques to Jiang Ping An and learned that Jiang Ping An wanted to become an Immortal to revive his parents and protect himself. The chapter ended with Wang Ren revealing that a law-infused injury left him only days to live, and Jiang Ping An resolved to remember the rare medicine that might help him.

• Wang Ren took Jiang Ping An aside and asked why he cultivated, then changed his view after Jiang Ping An explained his reasons for seeking immortality.
• Wang Ren offered to guide Jiang Ping An and explained how ancient Cultivators trained both body and spirit, including the risks and advantages of dual cultivation.
• Jiang Ping An suspected that the resource-intensive Earth Accumulation Art was also an ancient cultivation technique.
• Wang Ren coughed up blood and revealed that a Mystic Fire Law injury from fighting Spirit Terrace Kingdom's forces had left him only a few days to live.
• Wang Ren said Ice Crystal Grass was the only medicine that could treat his injury, and Jiang Ping An silently resolved to obtain it if he found it.

Jiang Ping An was badly injured when Zhou Feng of the Vast Mist Sect seized his tournament spot, but Xia Qing and Wang Ren stopped Zhou from killing him. Two months later, Meng Jing returned and offered to help Jiang Ping An reclaim the spot, while he resolved to handle Zhou Feng himself.

• Jiang Ping An learned that Zhou Feng had arrived from the Vast Mist Sect and challenged him over Ma Wei's death and his tournament spot.
• Zhou Feng defeated Jiang Ping An with two sword attacks, leaving him severely injured and taking his place in the tournament.
• Xia Qing demanded evidence before allowing Zhou Feng to kill Jiang Ping An, and Wang Ren invoked Great Xia's laws as he helped Jiang Ping An up.
• Jiang Ping An returned to cultivating and recovering, while Zhou Feng left with the tournament spot and a claim to his resources.
• Two months later, Meng Jing returned and offered to help Jiang Ping An take back his spot, but Jiang Ping An said he would resolve the matter himself.

Jiang Ping An received Meng Jing’s resources and Wang Ren’s legacy before leaving for Nether King City, where he planned to seek Ice Crystal Grass and a cure for the Mystic Fire Law. As the young geniuses prepared to depart, Zhou Feng challenged Jiang Ping An and proposed becoming Meng Jing’s Dao Companion, but she rejected him harshly.

• Meng Jing gave Jiang Ping An half the resources in her Storage Ring, and he fed her a Heavenly Profound Pill before she began refining it.
• Jiang Ping An thanked Wang Ren for his guidance, and Wang Ren gave him a Storage Bracelet containing cultivation techniques and Saint Body Blood while warning him about the Ninth Princess.
• Jiang Ping An accepted Wang Ren as his master and resolved to search Nether King City for Ice Crystal Grass or a cure for the Mystic Fire Law.
• The young geniuses gathered to board the Abundant Wealth Merchant Guild’s Flying Boat to Nether King City, and Jiang Ping An told Meng Jing to keep the pills secret.
• Zhou Feng introduced himself as a Vast Mist Sect genius, claimed he could defeat Jiang Ping An, and offered to become Meng Jing’s Dao Companion; Meng Jing called him trash.

Meng Jing defended Jiang Ping An from Zhou Feng as the geniuses boarded a month-long voyage to Nether King City. In his room, Jiang Ping An duplicated his Saint Body Blood, absorbed one drop, and gained a dramatic increase in strength along with the ability to see through objects.

• Meng Jing insulted Zhou Feng and left with Jiang Ping An, prompting Zhou Feng to swear he would find a chance to kill her.
• Xia Qing explained the month-long voyage, distributed room plaques, and summoned the top ten geniuses to a meeting.
• Jiang Ping An bowed farewell to Wang Ren as the Flying Boat departed, then went to his room and took out the Saint Body Blood.
• Jiang Ping An poured the blood into the Treasure Accumulation Basin, which multiplied one drop into eleven.
• Jiang Ping An absorbed one drop, opened ten acupoints, and suppressed his urge to break through into the Blood Core Realm.
• After cultivating for half a day, Jiang Ping An found his strength and speed had greatly increased and discovered that his right eye could see through barriers and walls.

Jiang Ping An reflected on his mysterious right eye, continued strengthening his body, and learned about the flying boat’s gambling-stone area after Meng Jing lost a hundred thousand spirit stones. Seeing a Black Stone that caught his attention, he asked its price, and the manager offered it for eight hundred thousand spirit stones.

• Jiang Ping An considered his right eye’s growing powers, then used Saint Body Blood to open ten more acupoints and set a goal of reaching one hundred before condensing a Blood Core.
• Meng Jing came to Jiang Ping An in tears after losing a hundred thousand spirit stones gambling on stones, and told him Zhou Feng had found an ancient weapon fragment worth over three million.
• Meng Jing led Jiang Ping An to the gambling-stone area, where he learned Mother Stones could not be inspected with Mental Power or Divine Sense.
• Jin Lin greeted Jiang Ping An, while Feng Yuchen mocked him for being badly wounded; Meng Jing rebuked Feng Yuchen and Jiang Ping An ignored him.
• Jiang Ping An noticed something among the rubble and asked about a half-man-sized Black Stone; after the manager claimed it might contain a valuable Black Flame Firestone, he quoted a price of eight hundred thousand spirit stones.

Jiang Ping An used Meng Jing’s spirit stones to buy a Black Stone and cut it open, revealing a powerful fire-element treasure. The discovery drew Yun Huang from her room as black flames erupted at the gambling counter.

• Jiang Ping An spotted three points of light in the Black Stone and bargained its price down to 670,000 spirit stones despite Meng Jing and Jin Lin’s warnings.
• Meng Jing lent Jiang Ping An the spirit stones, and Zhou Feng mocked him for spending a woman’s money before the stone was cut on the spot.
• Jiang Ping An’s first cut revealed only a pitch-black interior, prompting the onlookers and Zhou Feng to ridicule him.
• Jiang Ping An’s second cut struck something inside the stone, releasing intense heat and strange black flames that caught the attention of the cultivators.
• Yun Huang sensed the powerful fire-element energy, left her room, and searched for its source.

Jiang Ping An cut a valuable Black Flame Firestone and gave it to Xia Qing in exchange for the Ninth Princess’s protection. As he continued cutting the Mother Stone, another powerful burst of flame erupted, leaving the crowd stunned.

• Jiang Ping An cut an egg-sized Black Flame Firestone from the Mother Stone, and the manager sealed it before its heat could damage the Flying Boat.
• Yun Huang offered three and a half million spirit stones for the firestone but admitted she could not pay immediately, so Jiang Ping An considered the manager’s cash offer instead.
• Xia Qing offered three and a half million spirit stones and said she was buying the firestone for Yun Huang; Jiang Ping An declined payment and asked to repay her earlier kindness by giving it to her.
• Xia Qing accepted the gift and promised that no one would bully Jiang Ping An as long as he did not make mistakes, while Zhou Feng realized he could no longer target him.
• Jiang Ping An resumed cutting the Mother Stone despite the manager’s claim that another Black Flame Firestone was extremely unlikely, and a second surge of flame erupted.

Jiang Ping An cut a Fire Lotus Enlightenment Seed from the stone after finding two Black Flame Firestones, and Xia Qing and the gambling stone manager competed to buy it. He refused to sell the treasure and said he wanted to give it to Xia Qing, leaving her stunned.

• Jiang Ping An sold the second Black Flame Firestone to the manager for one million spirit stones while Meng Jing counted the payment.
• Jiang Ping An continued cutting the stone, and the manager promised him an expensive stone if he found a third Black Flame Firestone.
• A strange fragrance and fluctuation emerged from the stone, and Xia Qing split it open to reveal a Fire Lotus Enlightenment Seed.
• Xia Qing explained the seed's power to aid enlightenment, and she and the manager offered protection in exchange for buying it.
• Jiang Ping An refused to sell the seed and said he wanted to give it to Xia Qing, surprising her.

Jiang Ping An gave the Fire Lotus Enlightenment Seed to Xia Qing in gratitude for Great Xia’s protection, then left to copy it. Jealous Zhou Feng gambled five million spirit stones on an Ancient Battlefield ore, found nothing, and watched Meng Jing win a Water Spirit Stone.

• Jiang Ping An chose Xia Qing over the Abundant Wealth Merchant Guild, lent her the Fire Lotus Enlightenment Seed for an hour, and deepened his understanding of Limitless Fist and Thunder Flash.
• Jiang Ping An cut away the remaining stone, found nothing else, and left with the seed, intending to copy it rather than study it.
• Meng Jing demanded the Ancient Battlefield ore she believed the manager had promised her, but he refused; Zhou Feng then bought the five-million-spirit-stone ore himself.
• Zhou Feng cut the ore into pieces and found no treasure, losing his spirit stones and other possessions.
• Meng Jing laughed at Zhou Feng and cut open the stone the manager had given her, uncovering a Water Spirit Stone worth thirty thousand spirit stones.

Jiang Ping An cultivated with the Fire Lotus Enlightenment Seed while building a cautious alliance with Xia Qing, who sought to win his loyalty. After weeks of progress, he arrived at Nether King City and was met with a dismissive remark about his amazement at the city.

• Jiang Ping An duplicated the Fire Lotus Enlightenment Seed, used one to inscribe a Thunder Flash Rune, and gave Xia Qing a seed.
• Xia Qing drew Jiang Ping An close, named herself his sister, and gave him one million spirit stones and Body Cultivator insights to secure his loyalty.
• Jiang Ping An recognized Xia Qing’s calculated kindness but accepted their mutual usefulness and continued cultivating for the Great Xia Secret Technique.
• Over twenty days, Jiang Ping An inscribed ten Thunder Flash Runes and nearly mastered the second level of Limitless Fist.
• Meng Jing told Jiang Ping An she had condensed five Thunder Flash Imprints, then took him to see Nether King City.
• Jiang Ping An marveled at the city’s vast Flying Boats, floating buildings, and enormous flood dragon before someone from the Vast Mist Sect called him a bumpkin.

Xia Qing defended Jiang Ping An from Zhou Feng and brought Black Wind County's geniuses to the competition grounds, where Yun Huang swiftly defeated a challenger. Zhou Feng left vowing revenge, while Jiang Ping An gained a competition spot and drew attention as a supposedly weak opponent.

• Zhou Feng insulted Jiang Ping An, and Xia Qing slapped him, declared him her little brother, and warned him not to insult Jiang again.
• Xia Qing flew Jiang Ping An and the other geniuses to the competition grounds, while Zhou Feng left, determined to seek revenge against Xia Qing and Jiang Ping An.
• Xia Qing's group arrived at the plaza, where the white-haired old man welcomed them and other contestants reacted to Black Wind County's roster of powerful geniuses.
• Wan Chen challenged Yun Huang, who overwhelmed him with her Divine Phoenix power and continued on with the group.
• Meng Jing warned Jiang Ping An that others might mistake his quiet expression for weakness, while he claimed he was not strong.

Jiang Ping An learned about the Hundred Counties Tournament’s three rounds and began studying a wide-area technique to overcome the disadvantage Body Cultivators faced in the second round. The tournament then began in Nether King City, where Ming Chen appeared to open the Nether King Secret Realm.

• Meng Jing explained that the first two rounds would take place in the Nether King Secret Realm: the first tested contestants’ ability to resist temptation, and the second ranked them by how many demon beasts they killed.
• Jiang Ping An fed Little White and the Myriad Poison Seven Star Insect, then chose the Sandstorm Burial technique from Wang Ren’s cultivation books to prepare for the second round.
• After two days of cultivation and preparation, the Hundred Counties Tournament began with more than a thousand contestants gathered in the plaza.
• Contestants discussed Black Wind County’s powerful geniuses and criticized the Ninth Princess for driving away the Vast Mist Sect Sword Cultivator to make room for someone else.
• Ming Chen appeared before the contestants, used the power of laws to raise their saluting arms, and addressed them as the future pillars of Nether King Province.

The Genius Competition began its first test, Knocking Dao Asking Heart, which challenged contestants to resist illusions of their deepest desires. Jiang Ping An entered the secret realm and, while studying his technique, was confronted by a vision of his long-lost family.

• Ming Chen announced that the competition’s top ten would receive an opportunity to seek the Nether King Inheritance and explained the rules of the one-hour test.
• Jiang Ping An entered the secret realm and studied “Sandstorm Burial” in a chaotic white space.
• Meng Jing encountered an illusion of Woodhead and their quiet life together, while Jin Lin imagined becoming patriarch of his family.
• Jiang Ping An saw his mother, father, and Tiger Girl in their village, ate a familiar rabbit dish, and wept.

Jiang Ping An lingered in an illusion of his parents before choosing to leave and continue his path, emerging from the Nether King Secret Realm at the exact moment the trial ended. His arrival saved him from elimination as Ming Chen announced that everyone still trapped inside had failed the First Trial.

• A white-clad cultivator from Qinghai County emerged first, followed by Yun Huang, who said she burned her illusion away with a spell, and Zhou Feng.
• More than half an hour into the trial, Meng Jing escaped by recognizing that the youth in her illusion was not Woodhead, then asked Xia Qing whether Jiang Ping An had emerged.
• Feng Yuchen suggested Jiang Ping An was trapped by an illusion of fulfilled desires, while Meng Jing and Xia Qing worried that he would not escape in time.
• Jiang Ping An prepared a meal for his parents, told them he would keep pursuing immortality and avenge Flat Water County, then said farewell and left the illusion.
• Jiang Ping An emerged as the hourglass ran out, and Ming Chen announced the end of the First Trial, eliminating everyone who had not come out.

After Jiang Ping An passed the First Trial, Ming Chen began the Second Trial, a one-hour contest to kill demonic beasts that would leave only fifty geniuses. Jiang Ping An entered the rune-made secret realm, where his right eye revealed its structure, and faced a giant black wolf.

• Ming Chen eliminated the geniuses who had failed to exit the First Trial in time and explained that the test measured their resolve.
• Ming Chen announced that the Second Trial would rank the remaining geniuses by the number of demonic beasts they killed, and he distributed jade slips to track their scores.
• Zhou Feng identified Yun Huang and the person following the Ruthless Path as his main rivals, while Xia Qing encouraged Jiang Ping An and Jin Lin to prioritize their safety.
• The geniuses entered the secret realm, where Jiang Ping An saw that the landscape and space were formed from runes.
• A giant black wolf attacked Jiang Ping An, who dodged its pounce and struck its stomach, sending it flying without killing it.

Jiang Ping An fought off waves of conjured black wolves while deliberately keeping his ranking near fiftieth place. Outside the secret realm, Xia Qing noticed his repeated rises and falls on the leaderboard and suspected he was hiding his true strength.

• Jiang Ping An killed successive black wolves and used Sandstorm Burial to trap larger groups while other participants were eliminated.
• The leaderboard showed Fang Xing in first place with hundreds of kills, and Xia Qing identified him as a powerful Soul Cultivator from Black Wind County.
• More than half the competitors were eliminated, leaving fewer than one hundred as Jiang Ping An cultivated behind a shifting barrier of quicksand.
• Jiang Ping An decided to withdraw once he reached fiftieth place, keeping his strength concealed.
• Xia Qing noticed Jiang Ping An repeatedly rising and falling around fiftieth place, and Zhang Lingmin realized he might be deliberately controlling his ranking.

Jiang Ping An’s deliberate score control placed him fiftieth, forcing him to face a top-ten genius in the next round. After the second-round rankings and draws were finalized, Zhou Feng became Jiang Ping An’s first opponent and eagerly anticipated defeating him.

• Jiang Ping An stopped at fiftieth place and left the secret realm, unaware that the bottom ten would face the top ten; Xia Qing scolded him after learning Meng Jing had not explained the rule.
• Wan ChunGuo delivered the Fourth Prince’s warning to Xia Qing, who vowed to kill her fourth brother.
• Meng Jing finished in the top ten, and Xia Qing explained the forgotten rule to her; Meng Jing apologized to Jiang Ping An for his difficult draw.
• Fang Xing took first place, Yun Huang second, and Zhou Feng third as the second round ended.
• Ming Chen announced the third round and conducted the draw, which paired Jiang Ping An with Zhou Feng in the first match.
• Zhou Feng celebrated the pairing and planned to kill Jiang Ping An with a single sword strike.