Chapter Summaries

Lu Chenzhou entered Star-Plucking Tower and fought through hundreds of consecutive battles, surpassing Hong Tianxiang’s endurance record as spectators watched. After ten hours, he passed the 890th floor and continued into the 891st, leaving everyone wondering how far he could climb.

• Lu Chenzhou discussed his innate yang qi and body-tempering arts with the sword spirit, then hunted a demon outside Su City and gained progress toward opening the Fighting Realm gate.
• Lu Chenzhou arrived at Star-Plucking Tower, where Wang Hongdao and their companions welcomed him, while martial artists across Great Xia eagerly followed his challenge.
• Lu Chenzhou began climbing with his fists, defeated guardians from many Great Wilderness races, and collected rewards including Profound Iron ore and a battle-art jade slip.
• Lu Chenzhou reached the 700th floor and used his spear against a Tiandou Sect guardian, then obtained a Thunder-Listening Fruit on the 800th floor.
• Lu Chenzhou climbed for ten hours, passed the 888th floor to break Hong Tianxiang’s record, and continued past the 890th floor to the 891st.

Lu Chenzhou cleared the first thousand floors of the Star-Plucking Tower in one night, defeating the Death-Seeking Scholar and setting a record that drew attention across Great Xia and beyond. As the world reacted to his return, Wan Shixian prepared to challenge the eighth shackle.

• Lu Chenzhou fought through increasingly difficult floors, honed his Mountain God Demon-Subduing Fist, and reached the 1,000th floor after fourteen hours in the tower.
• Lu Chenzhou defeated the Death-Seeking Scholar with his knuckle blade and received the first two volumes of the Myriad Swords Art.
• Lu Chenzhou emerged from the tower to a stunned crowd, reunited with Rien, and was celebrated across Great Xia for clearing a thousand floors in one night.
• Major media outlets announced Lu Chenzhou's record and his entry into the Nations Rising Star Ranking, while Silver Bear and other prominent figures took notice.
• Wan Shixian reflected on the paths of the great heavenly sects and resolved to challenge the eighth shackle, risking death to advance his dao.

After climbing the Star-Plucking Tower, Lu Chenzhou exchanged most of his rewards for merit points and bought the Eight Dragon Sounds. He learned and began cultivating the Five Elements Mixed Qi Art, fused three treasures into his treasure qi, and left with stronger abilities and a new realization about Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, thunder, and rain.

• Lu Chenzhou catalogued his Star-Plucking Tower rewards, traded most of them for merit points, and purchased the Eight Dragon Sounds.
• Ding Sword taught Lu Chenzhou the Five Elements Mixed Qi Art and warned that mixing treasure qi could cause loss of control.
• Shangguan Xue explained that the Five Elements treasure qi needed to remain balanced, and Lu Chenzhou began cultivating the art.
• Lu Chenzhou fused Little Azure Dragon Grass with Blood Lotus Treasure Qi, creating Azure Lotus Treasure Qi and improving his healing.
• Lu Chenzhou fused Earth Origin Fruit with Yellow Dragon Treasure Qi, then refined Thunder-Listening Fruit into lightning treasure qi.
• Lu Chenzhou saw six types of treasure qi orbiting his golden core, gained a realization about Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, and increased his blood and qi beyond three hundred.

Lu Chenzhou visited Old Man Hanshan to learn Eight Dragon Sounds, a powerful sonic art with control and killing techniques. After learning zither theory, he mastered one technique in a single day, astonishing Old Man Hanshan.

• Lu Chenzhou saw that several prodigies, including Zhang Lingmiao, had cleared the 2,000th floor of the Fighting Realm and resolved to catch up within a month.
• Lu Chenzhou gave Shi Ruyu the Ape King Seal-Hanging Staff, and she accepted it with gratitude.
• Lu Chenzhou visited Du Men at Pingjiang Martial University and then traveled to Hanshan Temple to meet Old Man Hanshan and learn Eight Dragon Sounds.
• Old Man Hanshan taught Lu Chenzhou zither theory and explained the art's eight techniques, including the combined killing techniques Demon Sound Lingers and Ambush from Ten Sides.
• Lu Chenzhou unexpectedly mastered a technique after half a day, sending twenty-four phantom golden swords outward and leaving Old Man Hanshan speechless.

Lu Chenzhou claimed the Nations Rising Star No. 1 spot after clearing 2,050 floors, including defeating the Black-Clad Spear Demon in three strikes. A century-spanning Water Mansion trial was announced, and the Blood Duke resolved to have Lu Chenzhou killed before he could become a divine son.

• Old Man Hanshan gave Lu Chenzhou the ancient zither Ten Thousand Ravines Pine Wind and recognized him as Zen Master Wende’s inheritor.
• Lu Chenzhou rapidly climbed Star-Plucking Tower, then defeated Li Jue, the Black-Clad Spear Demon, with three spear techniques and passed the 2,000th floor.
• Lu Chenzhou continued to the 2,050th floor, stopped at a dangerous Wind Spirit Clan gatekeeper, and became Nations Rising Star No. 1.
• Lu Chenzhou learned that the first round of Wu Water’s trial would begin in three years, with later rounds requiring participants to reach the Sea Realm and then the Heaven Realm.
• The Blood Duke, convinced Lu Chenzhou threatened the Heavenly Dog Clan, decided that Lu Chenzhou had to die.

Tang Zheng and Gu Qianqian arranged to have Lu Chenzhou killed, while Ye Changkong gave him two divine weapon embryos. On the way back to Su City, Lu Chenzhou discovered that someone had impersonated Li Yu and was trying to take Li Yao, and he fought to protect her.

• Tang Zheng told Gu Qianqian that he had arranged for a death warrior to kill Lu Chenzhou, and Li Haocheng revealed that he had found the Saintess.
• Ye Changkong gave Lu Chenzhou the Yaksha Sea-Overturning Armor and the Mystic Heaven River-Severing Sword, which the sword spirit then inhabited.
• Lu Chenzhou spotted a flying car heading toward Tai Lake and, after Li Gui denied being in it, chased it down and damaged its engine.
• Lu Chenzhou found Li Yu and Li Yao inside the car, but Li Yu refused his offer to take them to safety.
• Lu Chenzhou struck Li Yu with the Heavenly Dragon Spinning Sword, exposing a twisted figure beneath her human-skin disguise, and moved to protect Li Yao.
• The Qiongqi Spirit carried Li Yao to the Xiangyun Ship as the twisted figure passed through Lu Chenzhou's barrier and pursued them.

Lu Chenzhou exposed and destroyed the Heart Demon that had possessed Li Yu, but learned that Li Yao had been targeted as a Saintess by an evil god. He took Yao'er as his disciple and placed her under Gongsun Ying's protection while Li Gui prepared to seek revenge.

• Lu Chenzhou used the Eight Dragon Sounds to reveal the creature possessing Li Yu, then drove it from his consciousness and destroyed its Heart Demon Clone.
• Li Haocheng reported his failure to Elder Jin, who told him to wait for another opportunity and warned him not to target Lu Chenzhou.
• At the police station, Lin Xia and Li Gui concluded that an evil creature resembling a Skin-Painter had killed Li Yu, and Lin Xia suspected Yao'er had been chosen as a Saintess.
• Lu Chenzhou took Li Yao as his first true disciple and promised to help her avenge her mother if she became a Grandmaster.
• Lu Chenzhou placed Yao'er in Gongsun Ying's care, while Li Gui began preparing to enter seclusion and join the police force.

Lu Chenzhou found the complete Tiger-Subduing Seal in Randuo Temple and advanced his Heart Sutra and mental attack. Three months later, Great Xia approved the Night Lamplighter System, and Lu Chenzhou learned that his master had returned.

• Lu Chenzhou defeated the Wolf-Head Monk in Randuo Temple, obtained the Silent Heart Buddha Beads, and found a transmission slip containing the complete Tiger-Subduing Seal.
• Lu Chenzhou advanced his Heart Sutra and Tiger-Subduing Seal, gaining a powerful mental attack, while Mingxin warned him that a young Living Buddha from Sakya Temple would join the trial.
• Chen Beiming proposed establishing the Night Lantern Bearers, and Wang Changming supported selecting young geniuses as Lamplighters and training them in Minor Realms.
• The Heavenly Kings approved the Night Lamplighter System after several days of discussion, while Wang Changming hoped Lu Chenzhou would be selected.
• Lu Chenzhou killed a Golden Thread Worm in the Hengduan Mountains with his Void-Piercing Sword Aura and learned that his master had returned.

Lu Chenzhou learned that his master, Wang Changming, would soon enter seclusion and that the Human Realm Lamplighters would recruit future leaders to defend civilization. After completing the Mountain God Demon-Subduing Fist, Lu Chenzhou unleashed a 250-ding martial killing move, startling Wu Zun.

• Wang Changming told Lu Chenzhou, Wang Xian, and Lin Xia about the Human Realm Lamplighters and warned them that Beichen Guijian and Blood Hidden Tower had betrayed humanity.
• Wang Changming said he would enter seclusion in three days and directed Lu Chenzhou to seek Mountain Lord Wu Long after completing the Mountain God Demon-Subduing Fist.
• Lu Chenzhou spent two days fighting the Mantis Demon without armor or weapons and brought the Mountain God Demon-Subduing Fist to completion.
• Lu Chenzhou tore apart the alloy training room and ordered a C9 alloy replacement after reaching 370 vitality.
• Lu Chenzhou performed the Divine Mountain Crush, and Wu Zun's wristband detected an energy level of approximately 250 ding.

Lu Chenzhou perfected the Mountain God Demon-Subduing Fist and learned its deeper principles from Wang Changming, then entered the Dao essence and grasped the Mountain Lord Quest Fist. He left the chapter having reached the beginner level of the fist art and described his insight as seeking the Dao for three hundred years before attaining it atop the mountains.

• Wu Zun was shocked by Lu Chenzhou's strength, and Lu confirmed he had perfected the Mountain God Demon-Subduing Fist.
• Lu Chenzhou examined the new divine seed's effects and visited Wang Changming to demonstrate the completed fist art.
• Wang Changming praised Lu, explained the path of the Dao and the related tiger-form arts, and demonstrated the Mountain Lord Quest Fist through Dao essence.
• Lu Chenzhou practiced with Wang Changming, Wang Xian, and Lin Xia, then comprehended the Mountain Lord's Dao and advanced the fist art to beginner level.
• Wang Changming asked what Lu had understood, and Lu answered, "Seeking the Dao for three hundred years, attaining it atop the mountains!"

Lu Chenzhou sought answers about the Dao from his master, old acquaintances, and the people around him, gaining new insight as the Martial Dao Tree grew. He left Su City with Brother Tiger, while Ye Gao and the Ancient God Church learned of his departure and began arranging an ambush.

• Wang Changming explained that the Mountain Lord Quest Fist carried traces of his grandmaster’s Dao realization, then told Wang Xian and Lu Chenzhou that he would enter the Candle Realm for secluded cultivation.
• Lu Chenzhou asked Wang Changming what he lacked to reach the Dao-Questing realm, and Wang Changming urged him to ask others and all things in the world before verifying his sincere Dao.
• Lu Chenzhou gave a Bright Wisdom Potion to his master’s villa attendant’s son, asked Yu Zheng about the Dao, and gained insight from Yu Zheng’s answer about his students.
• Lu Chenzhou visited Hong Fu, Brother Tiger, and Wang Jidao, then took the aging tiger out of its cage to see the world with him.
• Ye Gao considered selling the Ancient God Church information about Lu Chenzhou’s departure, while Gu Qianqian passed the news to Li Haocheng and proposed using the East Mountain King to attack him.

Lu Chenzhou traveled to Jiangnan seeking the Dao, defeating bandits and asking martial artists about their principles before settling by Yunmeng Marsh. Under pressure from a mysterious Black-Clad Heavenly King, he broke through to a new understanding of his Dao, while Tiger Bro survived the transformation brought on by Imperial Essence Dew.

• The Blood Duke and the Snowfield Demoness King separately set out to hunt Lu Chenzhou, while his senior sister and senior brother discussed his journey to seek the Dao.
• Lu Chenzhou defeated Zhang Dongshan and his companions after they ambushed him, then continued through Jiangnan asking people what the Dao was.
• Lu Chenzhou settled near Yunmeng Marsh with his Martial Dao Tree at ninety-nine zhang and concluded that he had to ask himself about his Dao.
• A mysterious black-clad man pressured Lu Chenzhou to join an effort to escape the human world, and Lu Chenzhou broke through to a Dao encompassing humanity and the world.
• Lu Chenzhou’s spiritual power rose to 300 Prajna, and he returned to find Tiger Bro hairless but alive after enduring the forty-ninth day of his transformation.

Lu Chenzhou advanced the Dark Tiger divine seed and proved his own Dao while staying in Yunmeng Marsh with the injured Brother Tiger. A month later, he was still cultivating in Yunmeng City as rival forces plotted around the threatened mortal world and the Blackwater Minor Realm.

• Lu Chenzhou healed Brother Tiger and practiced until his fist principles reached the realm of Dao, advancing his divine seed and creating the World King Path killing move.
• Wang Changming and the Northern Pacifying Heavenly King discussed Lu Chenzhou's successful test and his unprecedented breakthrough while still at the second breakthrough.
• Doctor Chen reported that Lu Chenzhou was in Yunmeng City, while Ye Gao ordered him to keep monitoring Lu and discussed the failed attempt to kill him.
• The River-Turning King told Qin Xiao and Qin Hui that Zhang Dongshan had died trying to rob Lu Chenzhou, and Qin Hui explained their plan to escape the doomed mortal world.
• Li Minghuang wondered why Lu Chenzhou had come to Cloud Dream Base City as the Black Fu King received an offer from Blood Heavenly Dog.
• After a month in Yunmeng City, Lu Chenzhou consumed an Infant Spirit Lotus Root he had found in Yunmeng Marsh and strengthened his Azure Lotus Treasure Qi.

Lu Chenzhou completed opening all his acupoints while the Li Family and Wei Jing’s Evacuation Faction regarded him as a possible Lampbearer. As Lu Chenzhou prepared to leave Cloud Dream City, serpentfolk demons arrived in Yunmeng Marsh with orders to kill him.

• Lu Chenzhou persuaded Ding Sword to teach Tiger Bro the Winged Tiger Stargazing Method, while refusing to swear a Dao oath to learn sword techniques.
• Li Minghuang and Li Minglan suspected that Lu Chenzhou was the Lampbearer and sent Li Mingju to approach him; Wei Jing warned Qin Hui that the Lampbearer plan targeted the Evacuation Faction.
• Lu Chenzhou sensed faint hostility from Li Mingju but let her leave, then opened his final acupoint and reached the limit of his true qi.
• Tiger Bro continued cultivating beneath the moon while Lu Chenzhou planned to return to Su City the next day.
• An eight-armed Demon King led a younger third-realm serpentfolk warrior and their troops into Yunmeng Marsh, ordering the young demon to kill Lu Chenzhou.

Lu Chenzhou repelled a demon invasion of Cloud Dream Base City and defeated the five-marked Lesser Demon King Black Wave with two punches before a trump card from Black Wave’s father intervened. After returning to Su City and cultivating in seclusion, Lu Chenzhou emerged as the New Year passed, just as Grandmasters from the Martial Arts Department came to invite him.

• Black Fu King sent Black Wave and an army of demons to Cloud Dream Base City to kill Lu Chenzhou, while Li Minghuang fought Black Wave’s eight-armed Demon King uncle outside the city.
• Ye Zhiqiu drew Black Wave away from the demon-hunting squad, and Lu Chenzhou entered the battle, using zither music and martial arts to defeat demons before facing Black Wave.
• Lu Chenzhou overwhelmed Black Wave with two powerful punches, but Black Fu King’s ten-armed phantom attacked before Vermilion Bird Sword Qi destroyed it and forced the demon army to retreat.
• Lu Chenzhou returned to Su City, began secluded cultivation, and remained out of public view while reports disputed whether he had truly beaten Black Wave with two punches.
• After the New Year, Yunquezi and Li Fanzhou visited Lu Chenzhou’s home to invite him to the Martial Arts Department, and Lu Chenzhou emerged from seclusion.

Lu Chenzhou celebrated his twenty-fifth birthday after breaking into the third realm, then perfected the Tiger Demon Tai Sui Method and renamed his Martial Dao Tree the World Tree. He discovered that a black spot continued to erode one of its leaves and traveled with Lin Xia and Wang Xian toward Dragon City, still wondering how to stop it.

• Yunquezi and Li Fanzhou congratulated Lu Chenzhou on entering the third realm and told him the Martial Arts Department was looking for him.
• Lu Chenzhou celebrated New Year's night with his family and friends, shared wishes for their futures, and reflected on his newly increased vitality and mental power.
• Lu Chenzhou perfected the Tiger Demon Tai Sui Method, gained its Divine Seed, and found that the Ding Sword had disappeared.
• Lu Chenzhou explored his inner landscape, read the sages' doubts about making it real, and renamed the Martial Dao Tree the World Tree.
• Lu Chenzhou found a persistent black spot eroding a leaf of the World Tree and left the inner landscape without finding a way to remove it.
• Three days later, Lu Chenzhou, Lin Xia, and Wang Xian flew toward Dragon City to meet Mountain Lord Wu Long and go to the Martial Arts Department, where Lin Xia and Wang Xian described their Daos and asked Lu Chenzhou about his.

Lu Chenzhou learned about the stages of Nine-Mountain True Astral Force and the paths to the Grandmaster Realm before beginning the Lu Wu Demon-Suppressing True Scripture. The chapter left him preparing to advance quickly toward the Grandmaster Realm while remaining alert to complications if he became a Lampbearer.

• Lu Chenzhou told Wang Xian and Lin Xia that his Dao was the world, and they warned that such a broad path would be difficult while encouraging him not to doubt his choice.
• At Dragon City Headquarters, Wu Long explained the stages of Nine-Mountain True Astral Force and contrasted Nine Mountains Returning to Seclusion with the Unbounded Heaven-Piercing Path.
• Wu Long showed Lu Chenzhou his Heaven-Piercing Immortal Armor, and Lu Chenzhou said he aimed to reach the Grandmaster Realm before turning thirty.
• Wu Long taught Lu Chenzhou the Lu Wu Demon-Suppressing True Scripture, which appeared on Lu Chenzhou's Martial Dao Tree at the first layer after three days.
• Wu Long warned Lu Chenzhou to be careful if he became a Lampbearer while Wang Tianwang was absent, and Lu Chenzhou thanked him before departing.

Lu Chenzhou received the Lamplighter Token and learned that his World Dao was tied to cleansing the evil gods’ influence from the world. After becoming a Candle Dragon Apostle, he was assigned to handle minor cases in the Jiangnan region as humanity faced divisions over how to resist the gods.

• The Northern Pacifying Heavenly King explained that the Stellar Law had contaminated the human world and that Lu Chenzhou would need to oppose the evil gods to advance his World Dao.
• The Northern Pacifying Heavenly King gave Lu Chenzhou a Lamplighter Token, and Lu Chenzhou vowed to become the light of the human world if its candlelight disappeared.
• The token named Lu Chenzhou Candle Dragon Apostle · Zero, and its contained will helped his Martial Dao Tree grow from one hundred zhang to one hundred and fifty zhang.
• The Northern Pacifying Heavenly King explained the Lamplighters’ authority and the resistance, evacuation, and surrender factions, warning that collaborators and threats to civilization would be dealt with.
• The Northern Pacifying Heavenly King assigned Lu Chenzhou minor cases in Jiangnan and allowed him to recruit up to ten reviewed Lamplighter Guards.

Lu Chenzhou explored the Lamplighter system and learned that the mysterious Seven Luminaries sword was available in its treasury. After Gongsun Ying sent him to arrest Ye Gao, Lu Chenzhou defeated him in public, leaving Ye Gao badly injured and unable to rise.

• Lu Chenzhou received Lamplighter benefits, tested the Candle Dragon Token’s storage, and found Seven Luminaries listed for 10,000 Candleflame.
• The Ding Sword revealed that Seven Luminaries had belonged to Li the Sword Immortal and urged Lu Chenzhou to save up for it.
• Lu Chenzhou continued training as the All-Nations Martial Arts Tournament approached, then agreed to lead Li Gui, Bai Miaomiao, and Zhou Ruoxue to arrest Ye Gao and detain the Ye Family.
• When Lamplighters arrived at the Ye estate, Ye Gao tried to flee and accused Lu Chenzhou of killing Ye Xiao before attacking him.
• Lu Chenzhou overpowered Ye Gao, shattered his Cloud-Mist Threaded Vestment, and sent him crashing through a house onto the street.

Lu Chenzhou captured Ye Gao and uncovered his ties to the Heartjoy Church and the Ancient God Church, while the Lamplighter Bureau recruited Zhou Ruoxue and Bai Miaomiao into his team. After gaining rewards and advancing his cultivation, Lu Chenzhou continued converting his true qi into true astral force.

• Lu Chenzhou defeated Ye Gao, sealed his martial power with Low-Grade Martial-Sealing Bracelets, and announced that the Investigation Bureau had arrested him and other members of the Su City Ye Family.
• Gongsun Ying’s interrogation forced Ye Gao to admit he was an honorary hall master of the Heartjoy Church and had leaked Li Yu’s whereabouts to the Ancient God Church through a contact from the Eternal Life Cult.
• Li Gui beat Ye Gao after learning of his betrayal, then apologized to the Investigation Bureau; Lu Chenzhou let him vent and thanked him for his help.
• Lamplighters across Great Xia witnessed the projection of Lu Chenzhou defeating Ye Gao, and the next day his Torchfire Token showed five torchfires as Zhou Ruoxue and Bai Miaomiao joined his team as Lamplighter Guards.
• Wang Xian told Lu Chenzhou that Ye Chen had reported his grandfather’s crimes and had been cleared, then gave him Great Spirit Fruits confiscated from Ye Gao.
• Lu Chenzhou refined the Great Spirit Fruits, exchanged the Little Demon King’s remains and weapons for battle merits, and advanced the Lu Wu Demon-Suppressing True Scripture as he continued cultivating toward full true astral force.