Chapter Summaries

Ling Wuyuan listened as cultivators shared intelligence about an ancient ruin that Old Dust Kingdom’s Sovereign State had sought for centuries before war halted its search. The Blue Serpent Society later rediscovered the ruins, and Ling Wuyuan realized their secrets could provoke a major conflict among powerful factions.

• A burly man admired Ling Wuyuan’s composure and assumed his confidence came from the faction behind him, though Ling Wuyuan’s confidence came only from himself.
• A cultivator described two smooth, nearly indestructible metal passages inside the ancient ruins, and others added their own intelligence.
• The group pieced together how Old Dust Kingdom’s Sovereign State searched for the ruins for centuries, found their approximate location, and then lost the chance to explore them when war destroyed the nation and its allies.
• The Blue Serpent Society later uncovered clues, took over the search, and rediscovered the ruins after several decades.
• Ling Wuyuan considered the ruin’s history and the powerful factions gathering around it, suspecting its secrets could spark a prolonged war and might include a treasure that enabled advancement to the True Form Realm.

Ling Wuyuan decided to avoid getting involved in the ancient ruins and planned to leave after his meal. When a cultivator tried to take his dishes to provoke him, Ling Wuyuan set down his chopsticks and delivered a cold rebuke.

• Ling Wuyuan weighed the risks and rewards of the ancient ruins, then chose to detour and leave rather than take part.
• Ling Wuyuan focused on finishing his meal while other diners discussed the ruins and watched him warily.
• A cultivator from a private room stopped a restaurant attendant and demanded the two dishes meant for Ling Wuyuan.
• The attendant hesitated to hand over the dishes as the restaurant patrons watched to see how Ling Wuyuan would react.
• Ling Wuyuan wiped his mouth and told the provocateur that weakness was not a path to death, but weakness without self-awareness deserved death.

Ling Wuyuan killed a man with a lightning-fast sword strike after the man challenged his resolve over two dishes. The man’s powerful companion, identified as Qi Zhenhao of Qingyun Province, confronted Ling Wuyuan in fury.

• Ling Wuyuan burned a handkerchief to ashes and reached for his sword, making clear he intended to act.
• The man asked whether Ling Wuyuan would kill him over two dishes, and Ling Wuyuan drew his sword while seated and killed him with a strike no one could follow.
• The dead man’s companions and the restaurant’s patrons reacted with shock as the restaurant fell silent.
• A powerful surge of true qi and spiritual power erupted from the dead man’s private room.
• Qi Zhenhao confronted Ling Wuyuan, accusing him of being excessively ruthless over two dishes, while patrons identified Qi as one of Qingyun Province’s strongest Spirit Infusion Realm cultivators.

Ling Wuyuan answered Qi Zhenhao’s challenge by dismissing him and killing him with a single sword slash. He left Fragrant Tea Goose Tower, where the terrified diners and attendant stayed frozen until he was gone.

• Ling Wuyuan said he regretted not killing the man who had provoked him sooner, then announced he would kill Qi Zhenhao as well.
• Qi Zhenhao’s fury caused objects and Fragrant Tea Goose Tower to shake, but Ling Wuyuan vanished and reappeared before him with a sword raised.
• Ling Wuyuan’s swift vertical slash split Qi Zhenhao in half before he could react.
• Ling Wuyuan paid an elite crystal coin for the meal, called Qi Zhenhao a fool who was weak and lacked self-awareness, and left without looking at the others.
• After Ling Wuyuan left, Qi Zhenhao’s half-corpse collapsed, and the attendant fell and hid in a dark corner.

After killing two challengers at Fragrant Tea Goose Tower, Ling Wuyuan left the city and sensed a threat approaching from beyond the mountains. The street erupted into panic as he prepared to defend himself, and the ground began to tremble.

• Ling Wuyuan’s display of strength silenced the people at Fragrant Tea Goose Tower, leaving them impressed and relieved that they had not provoked him.
• As Ling Wuyuan walked toward the city gate, he sensed a danger capable of threatening his life and readied his true qi and longsword.
• The nearby pedestrians fled in terror, while the observers at Fragrant Tea Goose Tower could see no danger on the street.
• A man who had tried to recruit Ling Wuyuan wondered if the threat lay beyond the distant mountains, though he could see nothing amiss.
• The ground began to tremble.

As the tremors around Fragrant Tea Goose Tower intensified, Ling Wuyuan and the other cultivators saw a distant mountain range punched apart by an enormous force. The resulting earthquake devastated the city, and burning mountain fragments began hurtling toward it.

• The growing tremors and darkening sky alarmed the people in Fragrant Tea Goose Tower, who feared the powerful fighters were moving their battlefield closer.
• Other cultivators dismissed the idea, arguing that powerful figures had established battlefield boundaries to prevent collateral damage.
• An external force punched through a mountain range more than a hundred kilometers from the city, sending violent tremors across the area.
• The earthquake shook buildings down, cracked streets, and injured ordinary people despite the city’s protective reinforcements.
• Mountain fragments flew through the air at tremendous speeds, and smaller pieces became flaming meteors headed toward the city.

A colossal force smashed apart a mountain range and sent fragments hurtling toward a city, prompting cultivators to prepare to defend it. Ling Wuyuan ignored the falling debris and watched the still-approaching underground creature, staying in place despite sensing its immense danger.

• The shattered mountain range darkened the sky as flaming fragments streaked toward the city.
• High-level cultivators realized the debris could trigger devastating earthquakes and several Spirit Infusion Realm cultivators rose to intercept it.
• Ling Wuyuan judged that the mountain fragments could not harm him and showed no concern for the city’s residents.
• Ling Wuyuan sensed that the force which had destroyed the mountain range was still approaching at roughly five times the speed of sound.
• Though he remained vigilant and knew he could evade the creature, Ling Wuyuan stayed still because his sixth sense warned him not to move.

A colossal underground creature’s approach unleashed a continent-wide mud tsunami that overwhelmed Ling Wuyuan’s city, destroying its defenses and tearing open the ground beneath it. With the city collapsing and its residents in immediate danger, the cultivators could do little beyond rescuing civilians they could carry into the air.

• The approaching underground behemoth sent waves surging through the earth, pushing Ling Wuyuan’s city and the surrounding land more than ten kilometers from their original location.
• The mud tsunami overwhelmed the city-protecting grand formation and shattered it.
• Hundreds-of-meters-high mud waves breached the city walls and swept through the streets.
• Shifting soil opened and closed deep fissures across the city, swallowing and crushing buildings, livestock, and residents.
• The city’s cultivators tried to carry nearby civilians to safety, but none of them had enough power to stop the disaster.

Ling Wuyuan let the earth tsunami engulf him rather than risk destroying the city with [Abyssal Divine Speed], then endured being carried hundreds of kilometers by the colossal creature moving underground. Above, the survivors saw the creature’s passage had left a vast, burning chasm in its wake.

• Ling Wuyuan realized that striking the earth tsunami with [Abyssal Divine Speed] would destroy everyone nearby, so he chose not to attack.
• Ling Wuyuan closed his eyes and allowed the earth tsunami to engulf him, protecting himself with his true qi.
• A force too powerful for Ling Wuyuan’s true qi to stop carried him through mountains and mineral veins for hundreds of kilometers.
• The survivors and cultivators watching from high above saw the land reduced to ruins and a vast, lava-filled chasm left by the departing underground creature.

Ling Wuyuan survived the devastation caused by a colossal metal object racing underground and realized it was likely a moving ancient ruin. He remained baffled by its approach and wondered whether to leave or investigate.

• The underground entity generated hurricane-force winds and a molten chasm that killed nearly all the city's residents, leaving just over a thousand alive.
• The survivors searched for Ling Wuyuan and debated whether the destruction had been caused by powerful cultivators.
• Ling Wuyuan acted as a crash barrier and identified the entity as an enormous metal object.
• Ling Wuyuan observed that the ancient ruin moved at a constant speed, making him suspect it was moving under its own power.
• Ling Wuyuan wondered why the ruin had rammed into him and whether he should still leave.

Ling Wuyuan explored the colossal metal structure that had caught him and discovered it was made of enormous, precisely crafted passages resembling cannon barrels. Suspecting it was an ancient war weapon capable of firing the pillar of light he had seen, he avoided entering the barrel and continued investigating its origins.

• Ling Wuyuan decided to explore the ancient ruin after realizing that staying put had allowed him to understand what was happening.
• Ling Wuyuan found that interference rendered his psychic power ineffective, so he examined the moving structure with his senses and naked eyes.
• Ling Wuyuan discovered a metal passage over a thousand meters in diameter and recognized its etched patterns as resembling cannon rifling.
• Ling Wuyuan suspected the ruin was a colossal ancient war weapon and feared its barrels might fire an attack powerful enough to kill him.
• Ling Wuyuan examined more barrels and marveled at their astonishing craftsmanship, which he compared to the technology of the Thorn Civilization.
• Ling Wuyuan began wondering how he could find an entrance or exit, but soon discovered an even stranger sight.

Ling Wuyuan examined a colossal metal construct whose extraordinary defenses had resisted even his strongest attacks, then discovered it was still being eroded by an ancient force that had breached it. He recorded the discovery and ventured inside, realizing that obtaining the construct could give him power enough to rival the Dragon Beast Sea Ridge.

• Ling Wuyuan measured the construct's immense scar and concluded that its specially treated metal could withstand enormous physical, energy, and mental forces.
• He tried to damage the metal with brute strength and true qi but failed to leave a mark.
• Ling Wuyuan recorded images of the construct so Murong Yan, Yuan Yujun, and others could examine them later.
• He flew along the scar toward the construct's interior and avoided touching its cut surfaces after his sixth sense warned him he might die.
• Using Flawless Circle, Ling Wuyuan saw the construct trying to repair itself while an ancient attack continued to erode it.
• Ling Wuyuan realized that possessing the construct could make him powerful enough to rival the Dragon Beast Sea Ridge even without obtaining it.

Ling Wuyuan tested the force surrounding the metal canyon and discovered it contained an overwhelming Sword Intent. Though glimpsing it injured his mind and body, he managed to seal it away and hoped to learn from its profound mysteries.

• Ling Wuyuan sent a detached wisp of true qi toward the metal barrier, where a powerful force annihilated it on contact.
• Ling Wuyuan used [Abyssal Divine Speed] and [Flawless Circle] to observe the force and recognized it as an exceptionally intense will, likely Sword Intent.
• Ling Wuyuan glimpsed a vast sword light in his mind, which overwhelmed his defenses and caused severe mental and physical injuries.
• Ling Wuyuan surrounded himself with a sea of true qi mist and used his recovery and adaptation abilities to resist the Sword Intent and heal his cracked skin.
• Ling Wuyuan sealed the Sword Intent despite lasting injuries and considered its mysteries a chance to glimpse power beyond the [Heart Domain Realm].

Ling Wuyuan weighed the dangers of exploring the ancient ruin against the fortune he had already gained, then chose to press on. After testing the pale golden energy membrane with his hair and a piece of his own flesh, he passed through and found a ruined, highly technological metal complex.

• Ling Wuyuan considered retreating after gaining a fortune, but the ancient ruin's sudden halt prompted him to continue exploring.
• Ling Wuyuan reached a pale golden energy membrane and tested it with bloodied hairs, which passed through without resistance.
• Ling Wuyuan tested the membrane with a vitality-filled piece of flesh, then reattached it to his arm and confirmed the tissue had suffered no harm.
• Ling Wuyuan cautiously extended his arm through the membrane several times before walking inside.
• Ling Wuyuan saw a dilapidated complex of metal buildings and equipment, including flickering screens displaying unfamiliar text.

Ling Wuyuan explored an advanced ancient ruin and discovered a metal puppet that had likely slaughtered or scattered the experts from the various factions. The puppet treated him as no threat and resumed its patrol, leaving Ling Wuyuan bewildered.

• Ling Wuyuan saw the ruin's advanced technology and wondered if it came from a lost ancient civilization.
• Ling Wuyuan sensed a hidden presence among the ruins despite his other senses detecting nothing.
• The metal puppet revealed itself and absorbed fluorescent light from the ruins.
• Ling Wuyuan inferred that the puppet had recently killed powerful experts from the various factions and prepared to defend himself.
• Ling Wuyuan sensed that the puppet was safe as long as he did not provoke it, and it turned invisible and continued patrolling without attacking him.

Ling Wuyuan explored the ruins, discovered fossilized remains of their powerful, four-armed former inhabitants, and wondered who had destroyed them and what had happened to the missing cultivators. He then found a large group of fresh human corpses, whose surroundings suggested they had fought before dying.

• Ling Wuyuan surveyed the ruins and spotted a massive sword scar through the overhead barrier, which he recognized as the work of the powerful expert who had opened the ruin earlier.
• Ling Wuyuan examined shattered remains and armor fragments, concluding that the ruins had belonged to a technologically advanced race of tall, four-armed humanoids.
• Ling Wuyuan crushed one fossilized bone fragment with much of his strength and judged that the dead creatures may once have reached the [Divine Ability Realm] or [True Form Realm].
• Ling Wuyuan gathered the corpse and armor fragments while considering whether a human cultivator had taken control of the metal puppet and what had become of the other cultivators.
• Ling Wuyuan continued searching and found numerous fresh corpses of human cultivators who appeared to have fought before they died.

Ling Wuyuan found freshly killed cultivators in the ancient ruin and recognized that metal puppets had likely slaughtered them. He collected their belongings and cremated the corpses, resisting the chance to use heretical cultivation methods for now.

• Ling Wuyuan judged from the wounds and battle damage that metal puppets like the one he had seen killed the cultivators, while his instincts suggested other puppets were watching him.
• Ling Wuyuan considered exploiting the corpses with heretical methods but refrained, partly because he thought of Pei Yi and the others.
• Ling Wuyuan collected the dead cultivators’ spatial items and weapons, leaving their damaged Talismanic Gear behind.
• Ling Wuyuan burned the corpses with a blaze fueled by true qi, but the effort consumed nearly half his reserves and some bones would not burn.

Ling Wuyuan cremated dead cultivators inside the ancient ruins, reflected on transcending death, and continued exploring the metal fortress. Outside, factions learned their scouts had died, while the ruins’ movement caused catastrophic casualties and forced Yi Yunhe to reconsider his plans to found a nation.

• Ling Wuyuan cremated the dead cultivators and resolved to pursue the transcendence of life and death.
• Ling Wuyuan kicked the unburned bones into the metal ruins so demonic cultivators could not use them to forge artifacts, then continued exploring.
• Secret arts informed the Northern Domain factions that their explorers had died, but the fortress blocked their ability to learn where or how the deaths occurred.
• The ancient ruins’ movement caused more than one billion casualties across the regions it affected, with the Old Dust Kingdom facing grave danger.
• Yi Yunhe read reports of the devastation and set aside his plans for a coronation as he confronted the threat to his people.

Yi Yunhe worried that the upheaval near his territory could ruin his plans to establish a nation, and considered investigating it personally. He also regretted failing to find Ling Wuyuan, whom he hoped to capture to complete his cultivation and clear the path to the True Form Realm.

• Yi Yunhe reflected on the political burdens of founding a nation and the need to govern with more than brute force.
• Yi Yunhe decided he might have to visit the site of the upheaval himself because his subordinates lacked the strength to obtain difficult intelligence.
• Yi Yunhe recalled that he had found no information about Ling Wuyuan and wondered whether he had left the region.
• Yi Yunhe regretted not acting sooner to capture Ling Wuyuan, whose potential special physique might remedy his remaining shortcoming and help him reach the True Form Realm.

Ling Wuyuan scavenged valuable metal discs and other unknown technology from the surface of the ancient ruin, while learning that its invisible puppets classified him as a friendly unit but barred him from deeper areas. After about two hours, the ruin began descending underground, leaving him wary of what lay below.

• Ling Wuyuan searched a guarded metal tower and collected its durable metal discs, storing them in his many spatial items.
• Ling Wuyuan considered taking control of the ruin but recognized that the invisible puppets only allowed him to explore its surface.
• Ling Wuyuan avoided forcing his way into the deeper regions and continued scavenging discarded metal objects and floor tiles.
• Ling Wuyuan sensed the ancient ruin begin moving downward and grew wary of the depths below.