Chapter Summaries

After the Nine Heavens Battlefield advanced into a more powerful form and its monitoring system failed, the plaza learned of its new dangers and Shen Qian’s overwhelming strength. The revelations ended with Duke Tianning descending in fury over Shen Qian’s killing of Ning Zhaoyi.

• Wu Wei explained that the Nine Heavens Battlefield had entered a more advanced form after predetermined conditions were met, while its monitoring projection stopped working.
• Song Jinyao and the other eliminated Mountains and Seas reported that the battlefield had gained Three-Colored Giants, denser spiritual energy, Spiritual Energy Spring Eyes, and ancient treasures.
• Song Jinyao revealed that Shen Qian had killed Ning Zhaoyi after she forced Jiangzhong Military University students to fight the Three-Colored Giants.
• Song Jinyao said Shen Qian had also defeated Qin Xiaoke and Wu Yi, forcing Qin Xiaoke to surrender and pay one billion worth of resources, while Wu Yi escaped after Crimson Eye took a fatal blow.
• Marquis Wu Ding praised Shen Qian, while Qin Zun condemned him, and Duke Tianning appeared in the sky demanding to know where Shen Qian was.

Shen Qian confessed his unease about the path his growing responsibilities had set him on, then accepted that he had chosen to kill Ning Zhaoyi because he believed it was right. He broke through to the seventh stage of the Advanced Martial Artist realm, while Lin Sanmo entered the Seventh Heaven, found Wu Yi dead and Qin Xiaoke dying, and finally caught up with the blade-wielding Shen Qian.

• Shen Qian told Ding Yi that fame and responsibility had changed his life, and admitted he had chosen to kill Ning Zhaoyi despite knowing the risks.
• Ding Yi reassured Shen Qian that he had changed without taking the wrong path, and Shen Qian declared his defiance of Duke Tianning.
• The miniature Wugu Star surged with light, driving Shen Qian through three breakthroughs to the seventh stage of the Advanced Martial Artist realm.
• Lin Sanmo entered the Seventh Heaven and found Wu Yi dead, with his Mental Core shattered.
• Lin Sanmo found Qin Xiaoke mortally wounded; before she died, she managed to tell him who had attacked her.
• Lin Sanmo crossed the ruined landscape, caught up with the figure carrying a blade, and shouted Shen Qian's name.

Shen Qian discovered that the Seventh Heaven Gate had taken him to the Spirit Witch World, where he encountered Bai Fei and the gravely wounded Mu Ziyan. After Shen Qian defeated Bai Fei’s saber strike, Bai Fei and Sha Bi launched a coordinated attack against him.

• Shen Qian recognized the ruined landscape as the Spirit Witch World and found his original saber intent at the sealed entrance.
• Shen Qian found spent human array flags among a destroyed town’s ruins and was confronted by Bai Fei and the near-death Mu Ziyan.
• Bai Fei accused Shen Qian of bringing them to the Spirit Witch World and attacked him with his powerful saber strike.
• Shen Qian overpowered Bai Fei’s strike with Falling Leaf Slash and realized Bai Fei had lost access to his Dao in this world.
• Sha Bi ambushed Shen Qian with a hundred-zhang storm as Bai Fei unleashed a newly strengthened attack, and Sha Bi charged into the storm alongside it.

Sha Bi, Bai Fei, Cao Yi, and Mu Ziyan unleashed their strongest attacks against Shen Qian, who survived by revealing his Calamity Buddha form. Lin Sanmo stopped the ensuing clash and revealed that the Shen Qian the three had fought was a different person, whose severed arm had turned into a branch from the Ancient Tree of the Spirit Witch World.

• Sha Bi, Bai Fei, and Cao Yi joined Mu Ziyan in launching a world-shaking attack against Shen Qian, and Mu Ziyan sacrificed herself to fire a final arrow.
• Shen Qian survived the combined attack by emerging in his three-meter-tall Calamity Buddha form, leaving Sha Bi, Bai Fei, and Cao Yi despairing.
• As the three charged Shen Qian again, Lin Sanmo arrived carrying the injured Qu Bai and stopped them with a sword strike.
• Lin Sanmo told the three that the person they had fought was not Shen Qian, and said he had been chasing another Shen Qian moments earlier.
• Lin Sanmo showed them a dry branch that had been the other Shen Qian's severed arm, and Shen Qian recognized it as a vine from the Ancient Tree of the Spirit Witch World.

Shen Qian reunited with the other Nine Heavens geniuses in the Spirit Witch World and revealed that an impostor had been hunting them. After identifying the likely enemy as the Spirit Witch Clan’s Grand Elder, the seven survivors set out to confront him.

• Shen Qian recognized a severed vine as a branch of the Ancient Tree and learned that the fake Shen Qian had killed Qin Xiaoke and Wu Yi and shattered Mu Ziyan’s Mental Core.
• Bai Fei, Sha Bi, and Cao Yi explained how the impostor had ambushed them, and the group confirmed that the attacker’s saber and behavior differed from Shen Qian’s.
• Shen Qian revealed that they were in the Spirit Witch World, and he and the other five companions discovered that they were all members of the Hundred Kings Hall.
• Lin Sanmo and Shen Qian spotted Fang Fan approaching, and the group welcomed him as another survivor of the teleportation.
• Qu Bai and Shen Qian reasoned that the enemy might be the resurrected Spirit Witch Clan Grand Elder, and Lin Sanmo urged them to investigate.
• Shen Qian led the seven survivors toward the depths of the Spirit Witch World after a brief rest.

Shen Qian and the others found the Spirit Witch Clan Great Protector at the ruined source of life, where he revealed a ritual tied to a mysterious backer. The Great Protector’s power surged toward the Eighth Heaven of Mountain Sea, and he began using the Spirit Witch World itself as a cauldron to refine an unknown pill.

• Shen Qian led the group to a pit filled with rotting demon beast corpses, where they encountered the vine-bound Great Protector.
• Shen Qian identified the pit as the Death Gate and suspected its ravines formed the core of a formation.
• The Great Protector hinted that King Zhouyi could have tampered with the Nine Heavens Battlefield, then poured nine cups of wine into the earth.
• The Great Protector invoked his lord and rose to the peak of the Seventh Heaven of Mountain Sea, possibly nearing the Eighth Heaven.
• The Great Protector trapped the seven with vines and ignited dark green flames across the world, leading Shen Qian to realize the world was being used as an alchemical cauldron.

Shen Qian and the others summoned their Dao Projections to break through the Great Protector’s vines, but his green flames burned their power and forced them to retreat. The Great Protector revealed the Nine Revolutions God Creation Pill and began assembling the dead into dark stars, leaving the group to face his unfolding ritual.

• Shen Qian summoned his ten-zhang Blade Edge Dao Projection, and Lin Sanmo and the others followed by summoning their own Dao Projections.
• Shen Qian and the others cut through the Great Protector’s vines, but green flames scorched Shen Qian and depleted nearly one-fifth of his origin power in nine seconds.
• The Great Protector explained that the Nine Revolutions God Creation Pill was one of the Witch Clan’s forbidden alchemical arts.
• The Great Protector invoked the first three revolutions, gathering Wu Yi’s remains, Qin Xiaoke’s Mental Core, and Mu Ziyan’s corpse and Mental Core into three dark stars.

The Great Protector advanced the Nine Revolutions God Creation Pill while Shen Qian and the others sought a way to disrupt the array. Cao Yi, Sha Bi, and Bai Fei sacrificed themselves to throw the green flames into disorder, leaving the remaining four poised to make a final push.

• The Great Protector completed the third revolution, and Bai Fei tested whether his physical body could withstand the green fire without using origin force.
• Shen Qian explained that they could exploit the pill-refinement process’s chance of failure by disrupting the Great Protector’s rhythm, and Lin Sanmo understood that they would have to enter the array themselves.
• The Great Protector divided the group with a grid of green fire and targeted Cao Yi, whose Earl Minnan projection briefly resisted the flames before fading.
• Cao Yi charged into the Sea of Fire and unleashed Dawnbreaker, disrupting the flames; Sha Bi followed with Sea-Turner, and Bai Fei joined them with a single slash.
• The Great Protector turned Cao Yi into the fourth dim star, but the three sacrifices shattered one-third of the array flags, and the remaining four prepared to push forward.

Shen Qian and Lin Sanmo helped break the Spirit Witch Clan’s great formation and brought the Great Protector to the brink of death, while Qu Bai sacrificed himself to open their path. Before the Great Protector died, he revealed that the scheme had not accounted only for defeat, and Fang Fan appeared as a hidden threat.

• Cao Yi, Sha Bi, Bai Fei, Fang Fan, and Qu Bai entered the Sea of Fire one after another, and Qu Bai saluted Shen Qian before charging the Great Protector.
• Qu Bai unleashed his full power to break through the formation, allowing Lin Sanmo to strike the Great Protector with his sword, One.
• Shen Qian followed with a punch combining Calamity Buddha and the Arhat Fist Dao, leaving himself and the Great Protector gravely wounded.
• The Great Protector questioned why the human race produced such powerful geniuses, and Shen Qian answered that humans had shorter lifespans than the Witch Clan.
• The Great Protector revealed that the Nine Revolutions God Creation Pill scheme had been designed to seize human talent and that he had planned for failure.
• Fang Fan burst from the ground and appeared in midair, causing Shen Qian to recognize him in alarm.

Shen Qian discovered that Fang Fan was a traitor and that his body concealed No. 56, a Witch Clan envoy. Lin Sanmo sacrificed himself to kill the Spirit Witch Clan Great Protector and seemingly destroy Fang Fan, but Fang Fan recovered and reignited the formation, leaving Shen Qian trapped with him.

• Shen Qian tried to save Lin Sanmo after Fang Fan pierced his Mental Core, while Lin Sanmo and Shen Qian realized Fang Fan had impersonated Shen Qian and betrayed humanity.
• Fang Fan explained that he had accepted the Witch Clan's offer for the Nine-Turn Creation Pill, and Lin Sanmo prepared to use his final sword.
• Lin Sanmo's sword destroyed the Spirit Witch Clan Great Protector, then pierced Fang Fan and shattered his body before Lin Sanmo vanished.
• Shen Qian recognized that Fang Fan was actually No. 56, the Witch Clan envoy, and confronted him about his identity.
• No. 56 admitted Shen Qian would not be allowed to leave, then restored the green-flame formation as Shen Qian found he could not contact the golden sphere.

Fang Fan completed the Nine Revolutions God Creation Pill by sacrificing the Great Protector, then swallowed it and gained the talents and abilities of the other nine geniuses. As Fang Fan overwhelmed Shen Qian in battle, Shen Qian awakened a mysterious power that made him seem like a god.

• Fang Fan completed the ninth revolution by drawing the green flames into the Great Protector as Heaven’s Punishment descended and shattered the Spirit Witch World.
• Fang Fan survived the lightning with Body Condensation Pills, retrieved the seven-colored pill, and swallowed it after Shen Qian wounded him.
• The pill transformed Fang Fan into a monster and gave him the combined talents and techniques of the nine fallen geniuses, which he used to attack Shen Qian.
• Fang Fan explained that his enhanced life level could make him a future Heavenly Seal Martial King, while Shen Qian realized the scheme might involve an insider at Wang Hou’s level.
• Fang Fan drove Shen Qian into a corner, but retreated when starlight formed a mysterious pattern across Shen Qian’s body and his aura surged beyond its limits.

Shen Qian activated the Supreme Great Perfection Ten Directions Creation Body and overwhelmed No. 56, whose body was Fang Fan’s. As No. 56 resorted to self-destruction to exploit the form’s cost, Shen Qian ended the fight by destroying his head.

• Ten stars lit up on Shen Qian, revealing the legendary Ten Apertures Body and unleashing the Supreme Great Perfection Ten Directions Creation Body.
• Shen Qian’s aura surged as he absorbed spiritual energy, and he struck No. 56 with enough force to split the void.
• Shen Qian battered No. 56 with successive attacks, while No. 56 realized he could not win through ordinary combat.
• No. 56 tore off and detonated his arms to injure Shen Qian, forcing Shen Qian’s power and the risks of his transformation to escalate.
• As No. 56’s remaining body began to fail, he warned Shen Qian that this was not the end, and Shen Qian silenced him with a punch that destroyed his head.

After defeating Fang Fan, Shen Qian survived the blast but was left gravely injured and slowly losing his life force. No. 56 warned that the other nine geniuses had died and Shen Qian would face suspicion, before nine Secret Keys opened a gate that carried him to an unknown place.

• Fang Fan's self-destruction blasted Shen Qian into a crater, leaving him with a ruined body and a rapidly draining life force.
• Shen Qian drank Eighth Senior Sister's peach pulp porridge, which replenished some life force but only slowed its loss.
• No. 56 appeared as a remnant thought and explained that he had shared Fang Fan's consciousness, then warned Shen Qian that surviving alone would make him a suspect in the other nine geniuses' deaths.
• No. 56 said the lifeless Spirit Witch World would make the Wang Hous' investigation difficult and that Shen Qian could not freely reveal his secrets to clear his name.
• Shen Qian found nine Secret Keys, fitted them together to form a character, and opened a gate of light.
• Shen Qian stepped through the gate and arrived in a new place, where the sight before him stunned him.

As the Nine Heavens Battlefield remained cut off from the outside, the plaza learned that its Seventh Heaven was far more dangerous than expected and that the top-ranked contestants were missing. Marquis Liegu and Marquis Qin Zhao arrived with news that Wu Yi and Qin Xiaoke had died, leaving the deaths and Shen Qian’s fate unresolved.

• Tian Liqing thanked Earl Pingyang on behalf of Suke Martial University for Shen Qian’s sale of Nine Heavens Tokens, prompting other experts to offer thanks and easing pressure on Jiangzhong Military University.
• Ding Yi emerged from the Seventh Heaven and reported Four-Colored Giants, immense spiritual energy, ancient ruins, and broken swords bearing Immortal Martial Practitioner aura; she had not seen Shen Qian or anyone else on the Nine Heavens Ranking.
• Su Shiqian and several other contestants withdrew, describing similar dangers and reporting that they, too, had seen none of the ten ranked martial artists.
• Marquis Liegu, Gao Zhengjie, arrived on the beast Zheng and announced that his disciple Wu Yi was dead, saying he had come to learn whether Wu Yi had died in a fair fight.
• Marquis Qin Zhao, Qin Ba, struck Qin Zun and angrily revealed that Qin Xiaoke was dead and her spirit tablet had shattered.

At the Nine Heavens Competition, nobles learned that nine peerless geniuses had died and used the Heavenly Calculation to trace their deaths to Shen Qian. As they argued over how to deal with him, Shen Qian appeared before a palace marked “Nine Kings Secret Realm.”

• Qin Ba and Gao Zhengjie confirmed that Qin Xiaoke and Wu Yi had died less than a minute apart, and Count Qianhuan arrived to report Mu Ziyan's death.
• Earl Minnan, Marquis Xuanming, Marquis Yidao, Marquis Tuodong, and Marquis Wu Ding revealed the deaths of Cao Yi, Sha Bi, Bai Fei, Fang Fan, and Qu Bai; the Heavenly Swordsman arrived and was identified as Lin Sanmo's master.
• The Heavenly Swordsman used King Zhouyi's Heavenly Calculation with ten nobles to trace the dead geniuses' karmic connections, and they found Shen Qian entangled with their deaths.
• Wu Wei urged the nobles to wait for Shen Qian and promised an investigation, but Qin Ba and others demanded that the Marquis Council handle the case and supported sealing Shen Qian's cultivation.
• King Zhouyi and other powerful figures sensed a disturbance connected to the River of Time, while Shen Qian stood before a vast palace in the void and read the words “Nine Kings Secret Realm.”

Shen Qian explored the Nine Kings Secret Realm while his life force dwindled, receiving teachings from the first-generation kings but finding no way to save himself. At last, King of Jiangling revealed that he had a way to help Shen Qian and asked whether he had heard of the River of Time.

• Shen Qian entered the ancient palace in the Nine Kings Secret Realm and discovered that its spiritual mist restored his strength but could not replenish his life force.
• King Zhenbei taught Shen Qian the Extreme Fist, and King Taiyi showed him a path toward comprehending the Dao, but neither could answer his plea for help.
• Shen Qian met King Lintian, King Zhouyi, King Qin Guang, King Wushi, King Qianwu, and King Yanling, receiving martial arts and other teachings that could not save his life.
• As gray decay spread across his skin and his remaining time dwindled, Shen Qian continued searching for the final king at a broken bridge.
• King of Jiangling revealed that his projection had its own consciousness, said he could save Shen Qian, and asked whether Shen Qian had heard of the River of Time.

The King of Jiangling explained how to seek the River of Time and warned Shen Qian about its dangers, prompting Shen Qian to realize that the Dao Sea represented immortality. Shen Qian began breaking through his martial stages to reach the Dao Sea and enter the River of Time, determined to save others as well as himself.

• The King of Jiangling restored Shen Qian's injuries with river snails and explained that time and the River of Time existed.
• The King of Jiangling told Shen Qian that time lay above immortality, warned that crossing the River of Time could bring a heavy price and the rejection of an era, and offered to serve as Shen Qian's anchor home.
• After the King of Jiangling vanished, Shen Qian concluded that the Dao was immortal and identified the Dao Sea as the source of immortality.
• Shen Qian absorbed the Nine Kings Secret Realm's spiritual energy and advanced from the Seventh Stage to the Ninth Stage Advanced Martial Artist, slowing the withering of his Mental Core.
• Shen Qian resolved to enter the River of Time to save Senior Qu Bai, Lin Sanmo, and others, then pushed his cultivation toward another breakthrough.

Shen Qian broke through to Mountains and Seas and formed his own Heaven's Dao, reaching a height of seven zhang nine despite being only Mountain Sea First Stage. He then crossed the dangerous Dao Sea and plunged into the River of Time, where his fate remained unknown.

• Shen Qian formed his own Dao and underwent a transformation that strengthened his Origin Energy, body, and Mental Core.
• Shen Qian discovered that his Heaven's Dao stood seven zhang nine high, had a width of around ten zhang, and offered no branch paths.
• Shen Qian activated the system to cross the dangers above his Dao's height and reached the River of Time.
• Shen Qian jumped into the silent silver river, which swallowed him completely.

Shen Qian struggled through the River of Time and escaped into an unfamiliar ancient era, where a tribe mistook him for someone from the Five Great Clans. He headed with them toward their settlement, realizing the period was older than any history he knew.

• Shen Qian forced his way backward through the River of Time, nearly losing himself before a familiar voice helped him enter one of its images.
• He awoke in a pristine wilderness beside a tiger-sized tabby cat and suspected he had traveled far beyond his intended destination.
• A gray eagle with a body over a hundred meters long flew overhead, and Shen Qian checked his injuries and depleted supplies.
• More than a dozen people arrived, and their young woman recognized Shen Qian's speech as that of the Five Great Clans and invited him to their tribe.
• As Shen Qian traveled with the Great Moon people through Python Mountain, he learned they had lived there for centuries and realized he had arrived in an extremely ancient, unfamiliar era.

Shen Qian learned that he had traveled to an ancient era when gods still roamed the world and entered the impoverished Great Yue Clan’s territory. After meeting its wary clan chief and learning that Yue Lang would soon go to the Myriad Races Battlefield, Shen Qian suspected the battlefield might help him return to his own time.

• Shen Qian questioned Yue Sun about history and learned that humans revered Pangu, Fuxi, and Nuwa while living gods still appeared in the world.
• Shen Qian entered the Great Yue Clan’s valley, where Yue Sun revealed a large deer from her Spatial Spirit Artifact and drew the attention of the clan’s people.
• The Great Yue Clan Chief communicated with Shen Qian through Mental Power, recognized that he did not belong in that era, and allowed the clan to host him only until dusk.
• Yue Sun explained that Yue Lang was the clan’s Holy Son, had been chosen by an envoy of the Five Great Clans, and would soon travel to the Myriad Races Battlefield.
• Shen Qian connected the Myriad Races Battlefield to the ancient battlefield described by Shi Dingyan and began to hope it could return him to his own time.