Chapter Summaries

After Suke Martial University’s freshmen defeated and injured Jiangzhong Military University students, Gao Song challenged the school to reclaim its honor, and Shen Qian learned the visitors had also been looking for Emperor Monkey. Shen Qian left without answering whether he would fight, then asked Wan Ning to investigate the East Sun Beast Fighting Arena and recruited Cheng Qingqing to cover for his plan.

• Gao Song healed hundreds of injured students, then rebuked them for letting Suke Martial University humiliate Jiangzhong Military University.
• Li Jiaqi told Shen Qian that Suke’s freshmen were extraordinarily strong, while Feng Manlin said they had also come looking for a monkey, likely Emperor Monkey.
• Zhao Keyi and Geng Qianqiu arrived with the unconscious Xiao Ye and explained that a Suke girl had badly injured him and narrowly beaten Zhao Keyi.
• Geng Qianqiu asked Shen Qian to take the final match when Suke returned in three days, but Shen Qian left without agreeing as students questioned whether he could win.
• Shen Qian asked Wan Ning to investigate the East Sun Beast Fighting Arena’s connection to Suke Martial University, then visited Cheng Qingqing and asked her to cover for his plan.

Shen Qian traveled to Suke Martial University and publicly challenged the school, planting a defiant stone stele in its plaza. After defeating two students with single strikes, he waited as the crowd and Suke’s powerhouses gathered, until the three students who had challenged Jiangzhong Military University arrived.

• Shen Qian’s absence from Jiangzhong Military University stirred outrage, while Yang Lingjie and Ouyang Fei wondered why he had taken leave.
• Shen Qian learned that Suke Martial University students owned East Sun Beast Fighting Arena and that the recent challenge had left Jiangzhong’s students seriously injured.
• Shen Qian entered Suke Martial University in formal military dress, planted a stele declaring his challenge, and called on the school to face him.
• Shen Qian knocked out an Intermediate Martial Artist and then an Advanced Martial Artist with single strikes, making the gathered students hesitate.
• Suke Martial University’s Mountains and Seas powerhouses arrived but did not intervene, and the crowd grew as news spread across campus.
• Qu Xiangyun, Lin Chen, and another student arrived, and Shen Qian recognized them as the main challengers from the previous day.

Shen Qian defeated Suke Martial University’s challengers with ease, then faced Qu Xiangyun, Earl Luoshen’s niece, as she challenged him with the Heavenly Sword. He refused to draw his saber, warning that he was afraid he might kill her, and left the crowd in an uproar.

• Shen Qian knocked Zhang Feng unconscious with one hand after Zhang Feng broke through and charged at him.
• Shen Qian exposed Li Qing’s Shadow Body with the Eye of the Mind, seized him, and dodged Duan Yuanlong’s attack before smashing the two men together until a professor intervened.
• Shen Qian learned that Qu Xiangyun was Earl Luoshen’s niece and decided not to be too harsh on her because of her aunt’s connection to him.
• Qu Xiangyun stepped forward for Suke Martial University’s honor and summoned the S-rank Heavenly Sword gifted by her aunt.
• Qu Xiangyun asked Shen Qian to draw his saber, but he refused and said he feared he might kill her.

Shen Qian defeated Qu Xiangyun at Suke Martial University, revealing a movement technique that baffled the watching experts. The university’s Principal sent Zhou Renlin to challenge him next, while Shen Qian waited beside the stone tablet.

• Qu Xiangyun unleashed a powerful strike with the Heavenly Sword, but Shen Qian blocked it with Mountains and Rivers and refused her offer to end the challenge.
• Shen Qian used an elusive movement technique to evade Qu Xiangyun’s attacks, break her wrist, and seize her throat, forcing her defeat.
• The Principal and a woman discussed Shen Qian’s victory and ordered senior students to challenge him, calling Bai Fei as well.
• Qu Xiangyun returned to the crowd, and Shen Qian resumed waiting beside his stone tablet as the arena fell silent.
• Zhou Renlin approached Shen Qian, declared that he would make him leave lying down, and grew wary when Shen Qian identified him from his information.

Shen Qian used the Mental Core’s pressure to defeat Zhou Renlin, then faced Cai Dongli and evaded her devastating saber strike. He began overwhelming her with punches and kicks, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Zhou Renlin felt Shen Qian’s overwhelming aura, charged him, and was knocked down by a single kick.
• Cai Dongli warned Shen Qian to draw his saber, but he remained still and gave only a dismissive-sounding response.
• Cai Dongli attacked with her A-Class Psionic Weapon and created a huge crater, but Shen Qian narrowly slipped past her saber without injury.
• Shen Qian told Cai Dongli she had lost and punched her, but her B-grade Battle Armor blocked the blow and limited her injuries.
• Shen Qian pursued Cai Dongli and battered her with a rapid barrage of attacks while she could not defend herself effectively.

Shen Qian defeated Cai Dongli and shattered her B-grade Battle Armor, leaving Suke Martial University stunned as he stood beside the stone monument. Bai Fei, a legendary fighter believed dead for two years, arrived and challenged Shen Qian to withstand one strike, leaving the plaza braced for the clash.

• Shen Qian overwhelmed Cai Dongli, broke through her Battle Armor with a punch, and stopped when Vice Principal Xu Jing intervened.
• Xu Jing carried the badly injured Cai Dongli to the school doctors while Suke Martial University students and professors reacted to Shen Qian's victory.
• A disheveled man carrying a rusted saber entered the plaza, and the professors recognized him as Bai Fei, who had been thought dead beyond the Gate.
• Bai Fei assessed Shen Qian, called him worthy, and revealed his saber by shaking the rust from its blade.
• Bai Fei announced that he would strike once and leave if Shen Qian could withstand it, as the plaza felt the danger of the coming attack.

Gao Wenyuan obtained the complete Primordial Body Refining Art and Primordial Spirit Refining Art from a prisoner beneath Ten Thousand Years Mountain by offering him food. At Suke Martial University, Shen Qian’s ordinary slash unexpectedly drew on the power of his Ten Apertures Body through his Mental Core and clashed with Bai Fei’s saber, leaving the crowd facing a devastating shockwave.

• Gao Wenyuan took over guarding Ten Thousand Years Mountain from King Zhouyi, who warned him that things had been unsettled.
• Gao Wenyuan entered the mountain’s depths and bartered hamburgers, fried chicken, and cola for a prisoner’s recitation of two complete cultivation arts.
• The prisoner deduced that a Perfected Physique might have appeared among humans, but Gao Wenyuan left without answering.
• At Suke Martial University, Bai Fei unleashed a dark saber slash that swallowed Shen Qian, while the crowd believed Shen Qian could not withstand it below Mountains and Seas.
• Shen Qian’s Mental Core linked the ten points where he had opened apertures, causing his strength to surge as the system attached his origin energy to an ordinary saber slash.
• Shen Qian’s azure-red blade light met Bai Fei’s dark slash, and the collision erupted into a destructive shockwave as the Mountains and Seas professors urged everyone to retreat.

Shen Qian defeated Bai Fei in a blade exchange during his challenge to Suke Martial University, and Bai Fei admitted losing by half a move. Principal Tian Liqing left Shen Qian’s stele standing as a monument and urged the students to learn from their defeat, while Shen Qian realized Tian had turned him into the school’s whetstone.

• Mountains and Seas experts contained the shockwaves as Shen Qian and Bai Fei’s clash carved a vast crater into the arena without moving either fighter.
• Bai Fei said Shen Qian had won by half a move, then left after promising to fight him again above the Nine Heavens when the year turned.
• Suke Martial University’s students and experts fell silent as they absorbed Bai Fei’s defeat and Shen Qian’s victory.
• Tian Liqing appeared and ordered Shen Qian’s stele to remain in place, straightening it and driving it deeper into the ground.
• Tian Liqing criticized the students for refusing to accept defeat, then rallied them to grow stronger and someday topple the monument.
• Shen Qian realized Tian Liqing had made the stele a challenge for Suke Martial University’s students and that they would now see him as their villain.

Shen Qian learned from Tian Liqing that Suke Martial University students had been manipulated into seeking revenge, and that the coming Step Nine Heavens competition would test him against hidden martial arts prodigies. After collapsing from exhaustion, Shen Qian woke to find his body drained and his combat strength unchanged, and he decided to investigate what had happened to him.

• Tian Liqing confronted Zhou Renlin and other Suke Martial University students for secretly inciting freshmen to seek revenge at Jiangzhong Military University, then placed them on probation and halved their resources and credits for a year.
• Tian Liqing told Shen Qian he had blocked Suke Martial University's communications to conceal Bai Fei's return and protect hidden strengths ahead of the Step Nine Heavens competition.
• Tian Liqing warned Shen Qian that the competition would include powerful contemporaries, possibly even martial artists who had reached Mountains and Seas, and urged him to fight without holding back.
• Tian Liqing admitted he also wanted Shen Qian to defeat the other universities' geniuses, especially those from Hua Martial University.
• Cheng Qingqing caught Shen Qian after he fainted from exhaustion and discovered that his body was nearly depleted.
• Shen Qian woke and found his body drained of Yuan Qi and strength, with his realm still around the fifth stage of Intermediate Martial Artist, so he set out to research the cause.

After waking from a two-day recovery, Shen Qian dismissed the scheduled rematch with Suke Martial University and went to the library to investigate methods of using opened orifices to increase strength. His research led him to ancient accounts of the Supreme Great Perfection Ten Directions Creation Body and the discovery that opening orifices might have originated as a secret method to improve cultivation talent.

• Shen Qian woke beside Cheng Qingqing, learned he had slept for nearly two days, and asked whether opened orifices could be used to boost strength.
• Shen Qian refused to attend the scheduled rematch with Suke Martial University, telling Ouyang Fei and Yang Lingjie that the other school would not come before heading to the library.
• Shen Qian used Yu Shouyi's access to enter the restricted Martial Arts Life Sciences section and spent the day studying ancient books and expert notes.
• Shen Qian read about the ten legendary Innate Perfected Bodies, including the Supreme Great Perfection Ten Directions Creation Body.
• Shen Qian found an account claiming that ancient humans devised a secret method inspired by that body to improve cultivation talent, and the method was opening orifices.

After learning that he may be the first martial artist to open all ten orifices, Shen Qian gained a powerful but costly last-resort ability. He accepted apologies from Jiangzhong Military University students, discussed Bai Fei with Qu Bai, and continued training as the Year-End Battle approached.

• Shen Qian concluded that his ten opened orifices might have formed the legendary Ten Directions Creation Body, though using its power left him severely weakened.
• Ye Shicong, Zhao Keyi, Geng Qianqiu, Xiao Ye, and other students apologized to Shen Qian after learning he had challenged Suke Martial University alone, and he agreed to accept their future challenges for a higher fee.
• Shen Qian warned Zhao Keyi and the others against imitating his challenge, claiming Suke Martial University had beaten him badly enough to require three days of recovery.
• Qu Bai revealed that he had fought Bai Fei before and believed Bai Fei had died beyond the Gate; Shen Qian said Bai Fei was nearly at the Mountains and Seas level.
• Shen Qian spent the next week training and working toward the Bronze Man Formation's Zen art and Heart Sutra requirements, then smashed Liu Changqing apart with a punch during physical testing.

Shen Qian reached the 9999 Kg physical-strength limit but found that his Intermediate Martial Artist-level Origin Energy could no longer strengthen his body, leaving him unable to advance toward his plan to Attain the Dao early. He posted the problem in the Hundred Kings Hall forum, offering a free answer or an at-cost pill refinement, and a woman searching for ingredients for the Seven Lives Pill began considering his question.

• Shen Qian raised his physical strength to 9999 Kg but discovered it would not increase further because his Origin Energy could no longer keep pace with his body.
• After consulting Shi Dingyan, Ling Xiao, and Wu Jun, Shen Qian realized that his Ten Apertures Body had reached an unprecedented bottleneck and that he could not simply break through to Mountains and Seas or Advanced Martial Artist.
• Shen Qian remembered the Hundred Kings Hall and published a forum post asking how a martial artist with 9999 Kg strength but insufficient realm could continue cultivating.
• A woman searching for ingredients for the Seven Lives Pill saw Shen Qian's post and began working on the question after noticing his offer to refine any pill at cost.

Shen Qian found Jiang Xuan working at Thunder Martial Arts Hall, defended her from Manager Lei, and bought the hall. As they walked by the river, Jiang Xuan was struck by a painful voice urging her to push open a “door,” leaving Shen Qian alarmed.

• After posting his offer in the Hundred Kings Hall, Shen Qian went out during the students’ three-day break and wandered into Thunder Martial Arts Hall.
• Shen Qian found Manager Lei pressuring Jiang Xuan to spar with male customers, broke Manager Lei’s hand, and learned Jiang Xuan had come to Jiangzhou and become a Beginner Martial Artist.
• Shen Qian arranged for Yuan You to buy Thunder Martial Arts Hall, then left with Jiang Xuan for a walk along the river.
• When Jiang Xuan quietly offered herself to Shen Qian, she suddenly suffered intense pain and said a voice was telling her to push open a “door.”

Shen Qian learned that Cheng Qingqing and Tantai Qin had both secretly investigated the sealed A-rank door at Jiangzhong Military University, deepening his suspicions about its importance and his own connection to the forces involved. After asking Old Hu how someone could strengthen Origin Energy when their body had grown too powerful, Shen Qian found a reply from Venus that sparked a bold idea.

• Old Hu told Shen Qian that Lin Qiaoyin, the woman he had never forgotten, was Ding Yi's mother, and said he had visited the old campus four times to investigate its sealed door.
• Old Hu revealed that he had seen Cheng Qingqing and Tantai Qin at the old campus, prompting Shen Qian to wonder what the two women sought and whether the door connected to the White-robed Man.
• Shen Qian asked Old Hu how someone could strengthen Origin Energy when their physical strength exceeded it, and Old Hu recalled a comrade who had faced the same problem after drinking dragon blood.
• Shen Qian searched the Hundred Kings Hall for a solution, but most replies required rare treasures, Kings, or harsh conditions.
• Venus suggested that Origin Energy could evolve ahead of time, and her reply gave Shen Qian a bold idea.

Shen Qian accepted a request to make a Seven Lives Pill and realized he could use the idle system to transform his Origin Energy into force without entering Mountains and Seas. He began the process and disappeared, leaving Jiangzhong Military University unable to reach him on the day of his military enlistment ceremony.

• A woman in the far north received Martial God's promise to deliver a Seven Lives Pill within ten days after she sent him her Ghost Jellyfish ingredient.
• Shen Qian reasoned that his powerful body and Mental Core might let him transform Origin Energy into force before reaching Mountains and Seas.
• Shen Qian activated the idle system with the objective of transforming Origin Energy into force, then lost consciousness as the system began searching for a path.
• Two days later, Jiangzhong Military University held its military enlistment assembly, but Shen Qian was missing and unreachable.
• Yu Shouyi and Li Le discovered that Shen Qian had not arrived for the ceremony, where he was expected to speak as the new recruit representative.

Shen Qian woke beside Tantai Qin in the desolate world beyond Jiangzhong Military University's A-Class Gate and learned that she had entered using a False Body. He reviewed his AFK records and discovered that he had opened his Dao in the Dao Sea, though the chapter ended before he understood what the shattered sky meant for his breakthrough.

• Shen Qian woke weak and depleted in a ruined landscape, where Tantai Qin told him they were beyond the Gate.
• Tantai Qin explained that Earl Pingyang had been present when Shen Qian opened a breach in the Gate's sealing formations, but could not follow them through; she had entered as a False Body.
• Tantai Qin said spatial turbulence had separated them and that she had found Shen Qian about an hour earlier.
• Shen Qian checked his AFK records and found that he had refined nine Ascension Origin Pills before breaking two formations and entering the Gate.
• Shen Qian read that he had entered the Dao Sea, stepped onto Tantai Qin's path, opened his Dao, and received the Dao Sea's power of guidance, then looked up at the shattered sky.

Shen Qian learned that the system had used the pulling force and Ascension Origin Pills to give him origin force before he reached the Mountains and Seas Realm, but the process left him too weak to fight. He and Tantai Qin fled through a ruined world that might be the Heavenly Court, only to be surrounded by thousands of Heavenly Soldiers and four silver-armored generals.

• Shen Qian read the AFK Record and learned how the system had transformed his vital energy into origin force, though the pulling force had left him severely weakened.
• Tantai Qin defeated a bronze-armored soldier, then she and Shen Qian fled when dozens more appeared; she carried him as they escaped.
• Shen Qian asked Tantai Qin about the world beyond the door, and she said she remembered the Underworld Reincarnation and Heavenly Court Immortal Gate, though her memories were incomplete.
• Tantai Qin identified the armored soldiers as Heavenly Soldiers and said there were ten million of them, while Shen Qian realized the ruined realm might be the Heavenly Court.
• Cloud and mist revealed at least ten thousand Heavenly Soldiers surrounding Shen Qian and Tantai Qin, led by four silver-armored generals, and Tantai Qin stood before Shen Qian and told him to stay close.

Shen Qian and Tantai Qin fought through the Heavenly Soldiers’ encirclement, and Tantai Qin burned her primordial qi and flesh to get them out. Afterward, they discussed the necklace and the Heavenly Generals before Tantai Qin pointed out a colossal Scale Weight on the horizon.

• Tantai Qin led Shen Qian against the Heavenly Soldiers, then entered the Extreme State when their overwhelming numbers blocked their escape.
• As her primordial qi ran out, Tantai Qin burned away her left arm and part of her right leg while Shen Qian helped clear their path; they escaped the formation and fled until she collapsed.
• Tantai Qin asked Shen Qian whether he had taken the star-shaped necklace at Plum Garden, and he revealed it in his palm.
• Tantai Qin told Shen Qian to keep the necklace and guessed the four Silver Armored Heavenly Generals had stayed back because they could not stop her.
• Tantai Qin pointed out a ten-thousand-zhang Scale Weight standing where the horizon turned black and white.

Shen Qian and Tantai Qin reached the Jade Pool Palace, where the Scavenger Li Sixi ambushed them and revealed his connection to Jiang Chengye. After Tantai Qin fought Li Sixi by burning her body, he regenerated himself in the contaminated Jade Pool and prepared to attack them again.

• Shen Qian and Tantai Qin climbed to the Jade Pool Palace and found the vast, polluted Jade Pool, where they located an arched bridge that appeared to be the exit.
• Li Sixi, a powerful Scavenger guarding the bridge, recognized Shen Qian and attacked; Shen Qian identified him as a former Jiangzhong Military University student connected to Jiang Chengye.
• Tantai Qin burned her body to enter a supreme state and fought Li Sixi, but both were left gravely injured.
• Li Sixi plunged into the Jade Pool, and Tantai Qin explained that its contaminated spiritual energy had transformed him into a Scavenger.
• Shen Qian realized he could absorb the Jade Pool's spiritual energy, but Li Sixi emerged with fully regenerated limbs and threatened to make him suffer.

Shen Qian absorbed the Jade Pool’s contaminated energy, reached Mountains and Seas without mutating, and overwhelmed Li Sixi. Carrying Tantai Qin forward, he cut through a vast Heavenly Soldier army and continued toward Jiang Chengye at the Heavenly Scale.

• Shen Qian absorbed the Jade Pool’s energy, resisted its contamination, and used his new strength to defeat Li Sixi.
• Shen Qian repeatedly battered Li Sixi into the Jade Pool, then took him and Tantai Qin as he headed toward the Heavenly Scale.
• Over thirty thousand Heavenly Soldiers and more than ten silver-armored Heavenly Generals surrounded Shen Qian, who charged into their formation with the Long River Saber.
• Shen Qian slaughtered most of the Heavenly Soldiers, drove the remaining forces into retreat, and continued toward Jiang Chengye.