Chapter Summaries

Chu He looked through an Abyss Gate and clashed gazes with a powerful demon, then questioned the Fire Prison Twin-Headed Dog about the demons and the gate. He learned the gate housed a terrifying existence and sent the dog beneath a lightning sphere.

• Chu He peered through the Abyss Gate, and his gaze met that of a powerful demon whose eyes he forced shut with golden flames, while the lesser demons in the abyss were destroyed.
• The demon in the abyss withdrew its power and hid, while another great demon decided to abandon Sixth Ancestor for the time being and vanished.
• Chu He asked the Fire Prison Twin-Headed Dog about the demons, and it explained that they came from the Demon Realm and had fought a devastating war against the Wild Realm in the previous era.
• The Fire Prison Twin-Headed Dog identified the door as an Abyss Gate, explaining that each gate represented a Demon Realm tribe and sheltered a terrifying existence.
• Chu He tossed the Fire Prison Twin-Headed Dog beneath a lightning sphere on the third floor.

Chu He reflected on his interest in finding more demons, then learned that Hong Ancestor had attained the Dao Realm and fielded Zhao Yuling’s question about his strength. Meanwhile, the Scorpion Clan discovered that the Seventh Ancestor had not answered their calls, and the Third Ancestor appeared instead.

• Chu He decided not to use the Abyss Gate as bait for demons and went fishing, caught a goat, and enjoyed a meal with music and stories.
• Two years later, Zhao Yuling told Chu He that Hong Ancestor had broken through to the Dao Realm after receiving his borrowed power.
• Zhao Yuling asked Chu He what realm he had reached, and he replied that he was only a tiny bit stronger than the crippled alien Dao Venerable.
• The current Scorpion Clan patriarch visited the Seventh Ancestor’s cave to report the Human Clan prodigy’s rise in the rankings, but received no answer.
• The Scorpion Clan elders gathered and considered opening the cave, when the Third Ancestor appeared and asked what they were doing.

Scorpion Clan's Third Ancestor set out to investigate the missing Seventh Demon and handle the Human Clan prodigy as upheaval devastated the East Cang Domain's core region. Beneath the Willow Tree, Chu He learned from the trapped door that the world was about to be eroded, but the door could not identify the source.

• Scorpion Clan's Third Ancestor found Seventh Demon absent but its life pearl intact, then left to investigate and deal with the Human Clan prodigy.
• Surviving Great Saints from the Dao Venerable clans entered a forbidden mountain, and its beast-like maw shut behind them a few days later.
• Black mist poured from the mountain, withered all living things in its path, and spread through the core region before finally stopping while remaining dense.
• Chu He used the Divination Plate and saw an omen of misfortune, while Zhao Yuling and Lin Xueling continued cultivating without alarm.
• Chu He questioned the trembling door, which warned that the world would be eroded and said he could learn more by entering the inheritance ground of a Heaven-Treading Expert.

Chu He searched the mysterious door and learned that its altar led to Nine Realms Mountain. After capturing the Scorpion Clan's Third Ancestor, he learned that the Heavenly Stele had misled the Scorpion Clan about his strength, and he welcomed the prospect of more foreign races coming to him.

• Chu He forced his gaze into the door's collapsing small world and discovered an altar leading to Nine Realms Mountain.
• Chu He left the damaged door and continued preparing for his next stage of cultivation while keeping watch over Liangchuan.
• Chu He fed the Scorpion Clan's Third Ancestor the treasures taken from its body and imprisoned it in the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.
• The Scorpion Clan's Seventh Ancestor and Third Ancestor worried that their Eldest Brother might also fall into Chu He's hands because the Heavenly Stele concealed his strength.
• Chu He praised the Heavenly Stele for drawing foreign races toward him and for not recording his name.

Chu He established Old Master's Academy outside Lin City and invited potential students, selecting ten youths who arrived first. He began their lessons by assigning their seniority and giving each student a copy of the Three Character Classic, while the invited infants and latecomers missed their chance.

• Chu He built and concealed Old Master's Academy outside Lin City, then sent invitations to potential students across the Xia Clan Territory.
• A youth practicing swordsmanship received an invitation and decided to investigate, while many other recipients ignored theirs or remained uncertain.
• After one day, Chu He kept the first ten students to arrive and caused every remaining invitation to burn away without fire.
• Chu He gathered the ten youths, recorded their names and class ranks, and established Gu Daofan as eldest senior brother and Qian Qianlong as second disciple.
• Chu He handed each student a copy of the Three Character Classic and began the first lesson.

Chu He trained the students at Old Master Academy with Dao-infused books and special supplies, helping them improve while preparing them to compete for the rankings. Three years later, Lin Lingxue and Lin Tian entered the Heavenly Talent Ranking, and Chu He welcomed the attention their low placements would attract.

• Chu He had his students recite from his books while mind-awakening incense helped them study, and several students improved their cultivation before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Chu He prepared more teaching materials and special spring water, then spent the following years teaching the students and having them practice music for his entertainment.
• Three years later, Zhao Yuling told Chu He that Lin Lingxue and Lin Tian had entered the Heavenly Talent Ranking.
• Zhao Yuling complained that Chu He was absent from the Strongest Ranking, but Chu He said he did not want to be ranked.
• Chu He saw that Wang Tengfei stood at sixty-ninth place, Lin Lingxue at ninety-eighth, and Lin Tian at ninety-ninth on the Heavenly Talent Ranking, and said their low placements would draw more hatred.

Hong Ancestor and the Human Clan’s Great Sages worried that their ranked heavenly talents would attract danger, while realizing how far beyond them the East Cang Domain’s strongest powers were. The Mad Rhino Clan learned that its Holy Son had lost his ranking and decided to hunt down the Human Clan, claiming their new spots as its own opportunity.

• Kongming Great Sage and the Human Clan’s other leaders discussed the rankings, fearing the Human Clan’s three listed heavenly talents would draw hostile attention.
• Hong Ancestor explained that the alien Dao Venerable he had nearly slain with the senior’s borrowed power had been formidable, revealing the senior’s strength still fell short of the Strongest Ranking.
• Hong Ancestor urged the Human Clan to grow stronger and survive the dangerous era.
• A Mad Rhino Clan powerhouse reported that the clan’s Holy Son had lost his Heavenly Book, and the patriarch demanded to know which race had taken his place.
• Xi Li reported that two Human Clan members had appeared at ninety-eighth and ninety-ninth on the Heavenly Talent Ranking.
• The Mad Rhino Clan patriarch ordered his people to find the Human Clan quickly and seize the opportunity represented by its three ranked talents.

The Scorpion Clan patriarch reported the Third Ancestor and Seventh Ancestor missing to the First Ancestor, who promised to investigate after leaving seclusion. Meanwhile, Chu He met Xuan Yan, a Dao Venerable seeking Human Clan disciples, and agreed to arrange a trial with rewards for the clan’s young people.

• The Scorpion Clan patriarch worried over the missing Third Ancestor and Seventh Ancestor and told the First Ancestor they had gone to trouble the Human Clan but had not returned.
• The First Ancestor said he knew about the matter and would investigate once he left seclusion.
• Chu He arrived in Liangchuan and met Xuan Yan, who said he had come to find disciples and take on apprentices.
• Xuan Yan asked Chu He to bring out talented Human Clan youths so his two juniors could compete with them.
• Chu He agreed to arrange a trial for qualifying Human Clan disciples of any age, and Xuan Yan produced a pile of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures as rewards.

Xuan Yan organized a heavenly genius trial in Liangchuan, while Chu He and the Human Clan's Great Saints helped draw in contestants. As powerful dragon and tiger mounts arrived carrying young competitors, Xuan Yan suspected that a formidable Dao Venerable was behind the Human Clan’s unusual control over them.

• Xuan Yan arranged a trial ground in Liangchuan and placed treasures at its stages to attract heavenly geniuses.
• Chu He added several dozen treasures, and his disciples memorized their locations while trusting his rewards more than the conspicuous prizes.
• The Human Clan's Great Saints arrived, and Zhao Yuling reassured them through Chu He's voice transmission, leading them to join the event and help preside over it.
• Xuan Yan grew suspicious when the Great Saints showed no concern about gathering the young contestants despite having no apparent connection to Chu He.
• Two Saint Venerable Ninth Layer dragons arrived carrying a young man and woman, followed by a Saint Venerable Ninth Layer White Tiger carrying a teenage boy.
• Xuan Yan concluded that a powerful Human Clan Dao Venerable had likely tamed the mounts and worried that the Dragon Clan might retaliate if it learned what had happened.

Xuan Yan watched the Human Clan aptitude test and was stunned as ordinary youths repeatedly lit four and five pillars, surpassing the Heavenly Humans he had brought. After learning the names of the Old Master Academy disciples and seeing three more young talents arrive, he abandoned his plan to take them back and decided to treat the visit as a normal exchange.

• The Human Clan youths began the aptitude test, and Xuan Yan's two young companions each lit five pillars.
• Several ordinary Human Clan youths lit four pillars, making Xuan Yan suspect the testing device was faulty.
• Ten Old Master Academy disciples, including Gu Daofan, Qian Qianlong, and Xu Qingran, lit five pillars and shocked Xuan Yan and his companions.
• Xuan Yan realized the ten disciples were not among the three talents on the Heavenly Talent Ranking and concluded the branch might have even stronger youths.
• Xuan Yan watched three young people descend from dragon tigers, grew uneasy about judging their abilities, and decided to make the visit a normal exchange.

Lin Lingxue, Lin Tian, and Wang Tengfei revealed six-pillar aptitude at the trial, stunning Xuan Yan and crushing the Heavenly Human Clan juniors. After Chen Wei opened one of Chu He's books, its Dao rhythm sent him into a profound state and began awakening his bloodline a second time, leaving Zhang Fengxia to realize why the Dao Ancestor had urged them to take the books.

• Lin Lingxue, Lin Tian, and Wang Tengfei each lit six pillars, then claimed three of Chu He's treasures alongside Old Master Academy students.
• Xuan Yan's two juniors chose Chu He's books, and Xuan Yan warned the Human Clan Great Sages to kill the two dragons before departing with them.
• Xuan Yan comforted his juniors after they fell behind in the later checkpoints, while Chen Wei explained that reading Old Master's books had helped the academy students clear the trials.
• Chen Wei opened his book and read aloud, causing Dao rhythm to appear as Xuan Yan formed a barrier around him.
• Xuan Yan recognized the unusual Dao rhythm, and Zhang Fengxia saw that Chen Wei was nearing a Bloodline Second Awakening and realized the Dao Ancestor had wanted them to secure the books.

Chen Wei awakened his bloodline a second time and rose to ninety-sixth on the Heavenly Talent Ranking, but Xuan Yan's celebration was interrupted by the arrival of the Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor. Believing Xuan Yan had captured members of his clan, the First Ancestor pursued him to use him as leverage in a deal with the Heavenly Human Clan, and the chapter ended as their battle began.

• Chen Wei awakened his bloodline a second time and entered the Heavenly Talent Ranking at ninety-sixth place.
• Xuan Yan silenced Chen Wei when the Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor appeared and recognized him as a powerful Dao Venerable.
• The Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor deduced that Xuan Yan had captured members of his clan while protecting a Human Clan talent.
• Xuan Yan fled with Chen Wei and Zhang Fengxia, but the First Ancestor pursued and intercepted them.
• Xuan Yan resisted the First Ancestor's attempt to capture him alive, and their powers clashed as black mist overwhelmed his sea of flames.

Xuan Yan and his juniors escaped Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor when their Dao books summoned a golden phantom that struck it. Chu He then caught Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor in his Golden Fishing Net and subdued it with his Dharma Aspect Golden Body, while his fishing rod hooked a large fish.

• Xuan Yan's domain failed to protect Chen Wei and Zhang Fengxia, but their Dao books opened and summoned a golden phantom that punched Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor away.
• Xuan Yan collected the books and fled with Chen Wei and Zhang Fengxia as Chu He sensed the books opening and cast his Golden Fishing Net toward them.
• Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor pursued Xuan Yan, but Chu He's net caught it and suppressed its domain as it struggled to break free.
• Chu He's Dharma Aspect Golden Body appeared and struck Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor's head repeatedly, leaving it unconscious and cracking its body.
• Chu He's golden figure picked up the net with Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor trapped inside, while Chu He hooked a large fish and began pulling it from the water.

Xuan Yan fled after witnessing a human capture Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor, while Chu He imprisoned the First Ancestor in the Demon Suppressing Pagoda. With four Dao Venerables powering the World Suppressing Cauldron, Lin City’s transformation accelerated, and Chu He waited for more prey so he could advance his cultivation.

• Xuan Yan sensed the danger in Liangchuan and fled with two juniors, concluding that even the Heavenly Human Clan's First Ancestor could not challenge the power there.
• Chu He brought the unconscious Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor to the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, where Scorpion Clan's Seventh Ancestor and Third Ancestor were already imprisoned beneath thunderballs.
• Chu He sealed Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor and fed it pills, and the other imprisoned Dao Venerables explained that it would be repeatedly tortured by lightning but kept alive.
• Scorpion Clan's First Ancestor saw Zhu Gang and the other captives suffering in the Thunder Prison and learned that Chu He provided healing treasures and occasional vacations.
• Chu He observed the World Suppressing Cauldron generating fortune and power with four Dao Venerables beneath the lightning, accelerating Lin City's transformation.
• Chu He sat beside the World Suppressing Cauldron with a book and his Fishing Rod, hoping more prey would arrive so he could enter secluded cultivation and break through the Dharma Aspect Golden Body.

Over ten years, Chu He grew stronger while Lin Commandery flourished, and Xia Yuan recovered and reached the Emperor Venerable Realm. The Scorpion Clan remained unaware of what had happened to its missing ancestors and decided to conceal their absence.

• Chu He reached four hundred years of age, advanced his cultivation, and kept fishing as his catches dwindled.
• Xia Yuan emerged from seclusion after breaking through into the Emperor Venerable Realm, and Meng Yi celebrated his recovery.
• Chu He kept promising students off the Heavenly Talent Ranking by sending them to train in a small world, wary of attracting powerful clans.
• The Scorpion Clan patriarch learned that the First Ancestor had not returned in ten years and heard that the Xili Clan and Turtle Crane Clan might also have lost Old Ancestors.
• The Scorpion Clan patriarch ordered the others to keep the First Ancestor's disappearance secret.

As the East Cang Domain’s laws stabilized, Chu He and Little Turtle went out to fish and ended up running a stall in a border city. A young girl traded a sachet for a secret manual and hurried away, leaving Chu He waiting for more customers.

• Human Clan prodigies grew stronger and ventured beyond Liangchuan to seek resources, finding that the Dao Venerables of the East Cang Domain did not intervene in their battles.
• Chu He observed that the East Cang Domain’s changes were nearing their limit, while the world remained oppressive beneath a layer of sludge.
• Chu He left to fish as he walked, bringing Little Turtle, whose cultivation was nearing a breakthrough to the Dao.
• Chu He set up a stall in a busy border city and waited for a destined customer to appear.
• A young girl gave Chu He a mandarin-duck sachet, took the Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms manual, and fled despite his calling after her.

Chu He received a bottle of Creation Crystals and used the Demon Suppressing Pagoda’s third floor to feed and heal the beasts he had tortured with lightning for ten years. After a probing force searched for Zhu Gang and left, Chu He prepared to meet the powerful visitor behind it.

• Chu He checked in at the Book Repository and received a bottle of more than three hundred Creation Crystals to help him cultivate the Seventh Turn of the Nine Transformations Golden Body Technique.
• Chu He released the beasts from the Thunder Prison World, gave them food and healing pills, and helped them digest as they recovered from ten years of lightning strikes.
• A probing force entered the Demon Suppressing Pagoda, searched around Zhu Gang, and departed after Chu He concealed the area with an illusory restriction.
• Chu He asked Zhu Gang whether it had an Old Ancestor, but Zhu Gang denied it and mourned the end of its rise to power.
• Chu He left the Demon Suppressing Pagoda and prepared to welcome the powerful visitor he expected to arrive.

A foreign race emerged from the black mist in the East Cang Domain and devoured the observers who approached it. In Lin City, Chu He helped his goldfish leap through the Dragon Gate, while the spectacle spurred several unborn children to race to be born first.

• The black-mist creature recovered its strength, seized and ate several foreign-race observers, and decided to retrieve its treasure after feeding.
• Chu He discovered that the goldfish had nearly attained the Dao, then poured hot tea into its tank to help it regain its momentum after it collapsed mid-leap.
• Chu He had the World Suppressing Cauldron suppress the goldfish’s aura, letting Lin City’s residents witness the golden Dragon Gate and auspicious phenomena without the dangerous pressure.
• Chu He noticed pregnant women in Lin City gathering themselves as their unborn children responded to the spectacle, and he sent a jade pendant into the World Suppressing Cauldron as a reward.
• The goldfish leaped toward the Dragon Gate as many infants were born at once, with half arriving too early and crying as they were eliminated from the race.

A goldfish transformed into a divine dragon in Lin City, while the Dragon Clan sent the Heavenly Human Clan a threatening invitation to its Dragon Son ceremony. Chu He then sensed a fierce battle between a Three-Clawed divine dragon and a demonic creature several domains away.

• The goldfish crossed the Dragon Gate and transformed into a divine dragon, while a little girl in Lin City won the Jade Token and the city's residents benefited from the Dao resonance.
• Xuan Yan read the Dragon Clan's invitation, which demanded that the Human Clan and Heavenly Human Clan talents attend a Dragon Son ceremony in three years or face the consequences.
• Xuan Yan told the Heavenly Human Clan's leaders that their chance of survival might lie with the Human Clan, recalling the powerful golden figure he had seen there.
• About half a month later, Chu He sensed a battle and appeared near the fighting, where a golden Three-Clawed divine dragon clashed with a black, fish-headed creature surrounded by demonic qi.

Chu He captured a Three-Clawed Dragon and a demon after they fought in the wilderness, then brought them to the Demon Suppressing Pagoda. He began questioning the demon about where it came from and its companions.

• Chu He watched the dragon and demon battle from concealment, recording their fight as he prepared food and tea.
• Chu He warned the fighters, then revealed himself and trapped them both with a Golden Fishing Net.
• Chu He struck the captured dragon and demon, sealed them in the Universe Pouch, and repaired the ravaged landscape.
• Chu He returned to Lin City and took the dragon and demon to the Demon Suppressing Pagoda.
• Chu He placed the dragon beneath the lightning pillars and interrogated the demon about its origins, companions, and their strength.