Chapter Summaries

Shen Qian led his companions to confront Fang Fan and the Spirit Witch Clan Great Protector, revealing that Fang Fan was No. 56 in the Hundred Kings Hall. The Great Protector activated a forbidden formation and challenged Shen Qian to appraise his pill, while Shen Qian calmly waited for the flames to rise.

• Shen Qian claimed his higher authority in the Hundred Kings Hall had revealed the group’s identities and warned them that Fang Fan was linked to No. 56; Qu Bai recalled No. 56’s possible connection to Marquis Tuodong.
• Lin Sanmo attacked Fang Fan when he appeared, and Fang Fan admitted he had planned to toy with them before escaping toward the crater; Shen Qian persuaded the group to follow him together.
• At the crater, Shen Qian identified Fang Fan as No. 56 and faced the seemingly resurrected Spirit Witch Clan Great Protector, who raised his power to the Eighth Heaven of Mountain Sea.
• The Great Protector summoned pale green flames with a forbidden Witch Clan formation and offered Shen Qian a pill made from mutilated bodies to appraise.
• Though Bai Fei urged the group to act, Shen Qian waited for the flames to grow stronger before responding.

Shen Qian revealed his overwhelming speed and killed the Spirit Witch Clan Great Protector and Fang Fan, destroying No. 56’s consciousness fragment. After driving his companions away from the formation, he prepared to use the Shennong Cauldron to refine an avatar, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Shen Qian explained that the formation consumed power as fuel, while the Great Protector used Wu Yi’s and Qin Xiaoke’s remains to create two stars and began drawing Mu Ziyan into it.
• Shen Qian vanished at a speed that Lin Sanmo recognized as the second lock of the Divine Forbidden, then appeared above the Great Protector and killed him with one saber strike.
• Fang Fan burned his flesh and origin force to flee, but Shen Qian intercepted him, killed him, and destroyed his Mental Core with Shadow Blade.
• No. 56’s consciousness fragment emerged from Fang Fan’s corpse, questioned Shen Qian’s strength, and was shredded by Shen Qian’s saber.
• Shen Qian took Fang Fan’s spatial ring and used it to extinguish the flames clinging to him, then sent Qu Bai, Lin Sanmo, and the others away.
• Shen Qian summoned the Shennong Cauldron amid the flames and prepared to refine an avatar, determined not to fail.

Shen Qian forged a Marquis avatar from the Fire God's Destiny Bone, King Yan Jiang Zhi's heart, Sky-Mending Stone, and many other rare materials. After enduring the dangerous process of splitting his Mental Core, he successfully gave the new body a portion of his soul, creating a second self.

• Shen Qian used the Shennong Cauldron and the Spirit Witch World's flames to refine the Fire God's Destiny Bone into a complete skeleton with supplementary materials.
• Shen Qian added King Yan Jiang Zhi's heart and Sky-Mending Stone to fuse the conflicting Marquis materials, then incorporated the Ox God's ancient bloodline as he formed the avatar's body.
• Shen Qian gave the avatar an unfamiliar, handsome face and completed a body with the foundation of the Mountains and Seas stage.
• Shen Qian split his Mental Core to create a second self, nearly dying from the pain before Eighth Senior Sister's peach and Shennong's incantation helped stabilize and repair the divided cores.
• Shen Qian sent one half of his Mental Core into the avatar, which opened its eyes and spoke in unison with him.

Shen Qian used the Hundred Herbs Scripture to guide his clone along Emperor Yan Shennong’s Skyforged Dao, helping it break through to the Wang Hou realm and restoring his own damaged Mental Core through their connection. As the newly ascended clone and Shen Qian looked into the desolate starry sky, they noticed something there.

• Shen Qian summoned the Hundred Herbs Scripture and directed his clone to follow Emperor Yan Shennong’s alchemy path.
• The clone comprehended the scroll, entered the Mountains and Seas through the Dao Sea, and began advancing along the Skyforged Dao.
• As the clone’s first transformation progressed, its seven-colored energy restored nearly half of Shen Qian’s damaged Mental Core.
• The clone reached the end of the thirty-zhang Dao and took the final step into the Wang Hou realm, triggering a second transformation that strengthened both its body and Shen Qian’s Mental Core.
• After the gray mist dispersed, the clone revealed its overwhelming Wang Hou power, and it and Shen Qian looked toward the desolate starry sky after the clone noticed something.

Shen Qian’s avatar reached Wang Hou, but the Hundred Herbs Scripture’s lingering will tempted him onto a dangerous path, forcing him to halt its cultivation. After escaping the Spirit Witch World with his companions, he left them questioning his strength and resolving to catch up.

• Shen Qian saw a staircase toward the starry sky, but the Hundred Herbs Scripture’s lingering will nearly drew him onto it until the system awakened and freed him.
• Shen Qian realized the Scripture’s path might have corrupted Emperor Yan, so he stopped his avatar’s cultivation and tested its Wang Hou power before concealing it.
• Shen Qian assembled nine Secret Keys with Lin Sanmo and the others, opening a portal to the Nine Kings Secret Realm and leading them through it.
• Mu Ziyan questioned Shen Qian’s sudden strength and knowledge, but Cao Yi and Qu Bai argued that he had saved them and deserved to keep his secrets.
• Lin Sanmo, Qu Bai, Sha Bi, Bai Fei, Cao Yi, and Mu Ziyan each entered the portal, determined to catch up with Shen Qian or strengthen themselves.

Shen Qian entered the Nine Kings Secret Realm and sought the King of Jiangling, while chaos erupted outside as powerful figures learned that several heirs might have died. He finally found the King of Jiangling waiting at the broken bridge.

• Shen Qian led six companions into the Nine Kings Secret Realm, then entered last to search for the King of Jiangling.
• Gao Zhengjie announced that Wu Yi was dead, Qin Ba confronted Qin Zun over Qin Xiaoke, and Count Qianhuan reported that Mu Ziyan's life force was perilously weak but strengthening.
• King Zhouyi told Wu Wei that the River of Time had changed and that the King of Jiangling had died long ago, then said the remaining entrants should be safe because someone else had inherited his secret-realm legacy.
• Shen Qian found that the places where he had met King Zhenbei and King Taiyi were empty, and guessed that the secret realm distributed its treasures and encounters among entrants.
• Shen Qian reached the broken bridge in the palace's deepest area, found the King of Jiangling waiting there, and bowed respectfully.

Shen Qian received King of Jiangling’s Eye of Truth, an ability that let him see through spiritual energy and observe people, but the king’s projection vanished before explaining how to strengthen it. After leaving the secret realm, Shen Qian learned that Lin Sanmo had received two kings’ inheritances and wondered whether the realm selected inheritances according to each person’s suitability.

• King of Jiangling explained that he had created the Eye of Truth to see through hidden things and granted Shen Qian its seed.
• Shen Qian used the Eye of Truth to perceive the secret realm’s spiritual energy and recognize that King of Jiangling’s projection was about to dissipate.
• King of Jiangling’s projection vanished before explaining how Shen Qian could nurture the Eye of Truth, leaving him to investigate its growth himself.
• Shen Qian considered trading martial inheritances that did not suit him for practical benefits before the secret realm forced him to leave.
• Shen Qian emerged and learned that Cao Yi had met King Lintian, Sha Bi had met King Wushi, and Lin Sanmo had received inheritances from both King Zhenbei and King Qianwu.
• Shen Qian suspected the secret realm matched inheritances to visitors and felt aggrieved that he had received only King of Jiangling’s inheritance.

The Nine Heavens Battlefield closed, and its final rankings revealed Shen Qian in first place with 67,200 Nine Heavens Tokens, far ahead of Lin Sanmo. After learning that the rankings were announced, Shen Qian and the others prepared to leave the Nine Kings Secret Realm, while Shen Qian secretly brought his hidden clone along.

• After Qu Bai, Mu Ziyan, and Bai Fei emerged from the Nine Kings Secret Realm, they compared their inheritances, and Shen Qian learned that others had encountered the Nine Kings he had missed.
• The Nine Heavens Battlefield closed, forcing its surviving contestants out as Cao Qian grabbed an ancient longsword from a ruin before leaving with Cao Wen.
• The Divine Pillar announced the final rankings: Mu Ziyan placed seventh, Lin Sanmo second, and Shen Qian first with 67,200 Nine Heavens Tokens.
• Wu Wei saw Shen Qian's victory but worried that Fang Fan was missing and that trouble was brewing among the powerful figures outside.
• Shen Qian and the others discussed exchanging their tokens, then entered the teleportation gate; Shen Qian concealed his clone with an Invisibility Talisman and followed them out.

After returning from the Nine Heavens Battlefield, Shen Qian and the other six survivors faced a gathering of Wang Hous who questioned them about the Spirit Witch World. Their testimony cleared Shen Qian of directly killing Qin Xiaoke and Wu Yi, but Marquis Qin Zhao continued to suspect him and treat him as an enemy.

• Shen Qian returned with Lin Sanmo and the others, where he recognized several Wang Hous and learned that Marquis Liegu, Marquis Qin Zhao, and Duke Tianning harbored hostility toward him.
• Earl Pingyang identified the gray-robed Heavenly Swordsman as Lin Sanmo's master and warned Shen Qian that the deaths of Qin Xiaoke and Wu Yi had left him under suspicion.
• Wu Wei presided over a public questioning, and the seven survivors recounted how Fang Fan and the Spirit Witch Clan had trapped them in the Spirit Witch World before they escaped through the Nine Kings Secret Realm.
• Marquis Qin Zhao challenged the survivors' account and suggested that Shen Qian might have disguised himself as the killer of Qin Xiaoke and Wu Yi.
• Lin Sanmo defended Shen Qian, saying his techniques differed from the killer's and that he had saved their lives, but Marquis Qin Zhao remained suspicious of Shen Qian's apparent foreknowledge.

After Marquis Tuodong was implicated in Fang Fan’s suspicious rise, Shen Qian faced accusations from Marquis Liegu and Duke Tianning over Wu Yi’s death and the Spirit Witch World incident. When Duke Tianning called for an investigation, Shen Qian challenged him to judge a punch and attacked him, giving the Duke an apparent excuse to strike back.

• Wu Wei revealed that Fang Fan had been an unknown orphan recommended to the competition by Marquis Tuodong, prompting King Zhouyi to agree to locate Tuodong.
• Marquis Liegu accused Shen Qian of causing Wu Yi’s death, and Shen Qian admitted killing Wu Yi’s bonded demon beast but defended the battlefield’s rules.
• Wu Wei shielded Shen Qian from Marquis Liegu’s aura, then Duke Tianning accused Shen Qian and Fang Fan of conspiring against human geniuses and called for a formal investigation.
• Shen Qian asked whether Duke Tianning believed he could defeat the Spirit Witch experts, then declared that he had a punch for the Duke to judge.
• Shen Qian flew toward Duke Tianning’s enormous face, shocking the onlookers and giving the Duke an apparent justification to attack him.

Shen Qian shattered Duke Tianning’s wind-and-cloud manifestation with Extreme Fist, then faced a group of nobles seeking to seize or attack him. As Wu Wei and others tried to protect Shen Qian, Marquis Liegu broke through the standoff, and Tantai Qin stepped in to confront him.

• Shen Qian used Extreme Fist to pierce Duke Tianning’s giant wind-and-cloud hand and smash his manifestation, stunning the crowd.
• Duke Tianning arrived in person and attacked Shen Qian, but Wu Wei blocked him and declared that the matter would end there.
• Marquis Zhaoyuan, Earl Aurora, and Marquis Qin Zhao moved against Shen Qian, while Marquis Wu Ding, Earl Pingyang, Earl Luoshen, and Count Qianhuan stopped them.
• Marquis Liegu, Gao Zhengjie, lunged for Shen Qian while the other nobles were occupied, but Tantai Qin intercepted him with her sword.

Tantai Qin defended Shen Qian from Marquis Liegu and wounded him, but Duke of Yanshan arrived and intervened in the dispute over Shen Qian. As Duke Tianning attacked Shen Qian, Jiang Huan appeared, revealed as Shen Qian’s long-awaited eldest senior brother and a Mountain Sea who had reached the Apex.

• Tantai Qin stepped between Shen Qian and Marquis Liegu, then wounded Marquis Liegu with a single sword strike.
• Tantai Qin refused Han Chi’s order to withdraw, saying she had a responsibility to protect Shen Qian as his mentor.
• Han Chi proposed that Shen Qian’s case be handed to the Martial Law Department, and Wu Wei realized Han Chi and Duke Tianning had coordinated.
• Duke Tianning bypassed Wu Wei and attacked Shen Qian with his true body while Marquis Liegu kept Tantai Qin from intervening.
• Jiang Huan burst through a spatial rift, shattered Duke Tianning’s attack with a spear, and greeted Shen Qian as his little junior brother.
• Duke Tianning recognized that Jiang Huan had reached the Apex.

Shen Qian watched Jiang Huan fight Duke Tianning and learned that Jiang Huan had reached the legendary Mountains and Seas Peak Realm. After King Zhouyi settled the conflict and Han Chi withdrew, Shen Qian reflected on his own path and wondered when Gao Wenyuan would return.

• Jiang Huan challenged Duke Tianning and drew him into a Marquis Domain to fight.
• Wu Wei explained that the Mountains and Seas Peak Realm represented an unexplored limit of the realm, and Shen Qian pondered what that meant for his own cultivation.
• Jiang Huan seriously injured Duke Tianning, who fled rather than risk his life, confirming Jiang Huan's strength below the Marquis Realm.
• Earl Lishui, Marquis Canglang, Earl Kunhu, and Marquis Mobei arrived to support Shen Qian's side, making Duke of Yanshan hesitate.
• King Zhouyi ordered the Martial Arts Department to resolve Shen Qian's case and said he would investigate the Spirit Witch Clan's scheme and issue an arrest warrant for Marquis Tuodong.
• Han Chi withdrew, and Shen Qian looked toward the stars, missing Gao Wenyuan while taking comfort in Jiang Huan's presence.

After the Nine Heavens Competition, Wu Wei explained that the Kings and Marquises were divided over the severed path to becoming Martial Kings, while Jiang Huan revealed fragments of his ancient past and his connection to Shen Qian. Jiang Huan departed, and Shen Qian faced two groups waiting for him below, leaving him unsure which way to go.

• Ma Gongzuo announced the competition's closing arrangements and warned everyone not to reveal the foreign race conspiracy or the Kings and Marquises' dispute.
• Wu Wei questioned Shen Qian about the competition, and Shen Qian vaguely attributed his escape from the Spirit Witch World to guidance from the King of Jiangling.
• Wu Wei explained that the path to becoming a Martial King had been severed, creating divisions among the Kings and Marquises, and suggested Shen Qian's pinnacle might offer another way forward.
• Wu Wei told Shen Qian to wait before exchanging his Nine Heavens Tokens, then left him to meet Jiang Huan.
• Jiang Huan revealed that he had been awakened from a long slumber, had gaps in his memories, and believed Big Shot Gao had held Jing City for two hundred years waiting for Shen Qian.
• After Jiang Huan left to guard the northeast, Shen Qian saw a girl in white and the Jiangzhong Military University group waiting for him on opposite sides.

After the Nine Heavens Competition, Shen Qian parted from Ding Yi, learned that Marquis Tuodong had vanished overseas, and returned to Jiangzhong to inspect Ninth Company. He tested his strength in the Martial Arts Simulator and discovered his combat power had risen to nearly eighty thousand despite being only at Mountain Sea First Stage.

• Shen Qian proposed marriage to Ding Yi, who accepted but said they should wait and warned him that she did not like the moon before leaving.
• The Nine Heavens Competition rankings named Shen Qian the champion, while the official explanation blamed the interrupted livestream on fluctuations in origin energy.
• Shi Dingyan and Ling Xiao told Shen Qian that Marquis Tuodong had disappeared overseas and warned him to stay alert.
• Shen Qian returned to Jiangzhong, where Lin Tong reported that Ninth Company had expanded and nearly two hundred soldiers had become Beginner Martial Artists.
• Shen Qian used the Martial Arts Simulator to test himself, defeated the lava giant in 1.9 seconds, and recorded average combat power of 76,599 and peak combat power of 79,237.

Shen Qian tested his own and his Wang Hou clone’s combat power, learning that the clone’s readings exceeded the simulator’s reliable range. He then received gifts from other commanders and learned that Ninth Company had been promoted to a Special Company under his command.

• Shen Qian reviewed the Combat Power Value chart and recalled Shi Dingyan and Ling Xiao explaining how the Mountain Sea Realm tempered a martial artist’s foundation and how literary ranks could expand their Dao.
• The simulator’s version of Shen Qian defeated the lava giant with one punch and recorded an average combat power of 91,333.
• Shen Qian sent his Wang Hou clone into the simulator; the clone used Marquis Domain and flames to split the lava giant, producing an error-filled reading with an average combat power of 117,485.
• Zhu Yinhong arrived at Ninth Company with congratulatory gifts and asked Shen Qian to speak with her privately, while Meng Hai and Xu Sanguang arrived with gifts of their own.
• Military officials announced that Shen Qian had earned promotion to Legion Commander and that Ninth Company would become a Special Company authorized for ten thousand personnel and battalion-equivalent treatment.

Shen Qian received his promotion to company commander and Marquis Wu Ding’s mysterious wine jar, then returned to Jiangzhong Military University to enter the temporary treasury with Earl Pingyang and Yu Shouyi. The chapter ended as he began inspecting the higher-priced treasures available for exchange.

• Li Dashan delivered Shen Qian’s promotion gifts, including a commander’s uniform, a Universe Token, B-grade Psionic Armor, an A-grade sword, and a wine jar from Marquis Wu Ding.
• Zhu Yinhong warned Shen Qian that Luxu Battalion would soon return to deployment, and the celebration at Ninth Company continued late into the night.
• Shen Qian spent several days consolidating his strength, then sent Great Sage into a nearby restricted area with martial arts resources worth about twenty million.
• Yu Shouyi told Shen Qian that Earl Pingyang had recovered one billion worth of resources from the Qin Guang Family and that the temporary treasury exchange had opened.
• Earl Pingyang and Yu Shouyi accompanied Shen Qian into the treasury’s consciousness space, where they began examining the available treasures.
• Shen Qian passed over the early low-priced items and stopped at a treasure costing five hundred Nine Heavens Tokens.

Shen Qian inspected the Nine Heavens Competition treasury and weighed several rare treasures, including the Celestial Palace Spirit Stone and the Ancestral Dragon Inverse Scale. He ended with the suspicion that Wu Wei and Marquis Wu Ding had arranged matters so he could safely claim the scale.

• Shen Qian learned that a Martial Practice Token cost five hundred Nine Heavens Tokens, then passed over the ordinary exchange items and the SS-Class Dragon Slayer because he preferred his Mountain River Saber.
• Earl Pingyang urged Shen Qian to consider the Celestial Palace Spirit Stone, explaining that it had belonged to King Yanling and might help him meet the requirements for her Mental Power inheritance; Shen Qian listed it as a preliminary choice.
• Shen Qian examined the Ancestral Dragon Inverse Scale, which came with Wu Wei's handwritten insights, but Earl Pingyang warned that its heavenly lightning could overwhelm ordinary Mountain Sea Martial Artists without Jade Pond Immortal Water.
• Shen Qian recalled the unknown liquid Marquis Wu Ding had sent him and wondered whether Wu Wei and Marquis Wu Ding had coordinated to help him obtain the Ancestral Dragon Inverse Scale.

Shen Qian exchanged Nine Heavens Tokens for the Ancestral Dragon Inverse Scale, King Yanling’s Celestial Palace Spirit Stone, rare potions, and Martial Practice Tokens before a vast celestial aberration appeared across China. As he wondered whether it foretold a catastrophe like the Seven Stars Aligned, Wu Wei’s cultivation insights revealed that the Forbidden Domain had nine levels.

• Shen Qian chose the Ancestral Dragon Inverse Scale and Celestial Palace Spirit Stone, then exchanged his remaining tokens for rare potions and Martial Practice Tokens.
• Earl Pingyang and Yu Shouyi abruptly left the consciousness space after receiving an urgent alert, and Yu Shouyi urged Shen Qian to certify as a Mountain Sea Martial Artist.
• Shen Qian saw black mist and vast storm clouds spread across the sky, then learned from Shi Dingyan that a similar phenomenon had preceded the Seven Stars Aligned and Ten Gates Opening.
• Shen Qian used the Eye of Truth to see 108 stars pulsing in a strange pattern and later found the black mist had grown denser despite official claims that the anomaly was passing weather.
• Shen Qian received his exchanged treasures and watched Wu Wei’s jade-slip recording, which explained that the Forbidden Domain had nine levels called the Nine Forbidden.

Shen Qian learned from Wu Wei how the Divine Forbidden Locks multiplied a martial artist’s strength and why reaching Nine Forbidden could rival the Wang Hou realm. He resolved to advance his body, Mental Power, and Origin Energy together, then prepared to cultivate with a spirit stone containing King Yanling’s spell inheritance.

• Wu Wei explained that breaking Divine Forbidden Locks in the body, Origin Energy, or mind increased combat strength, and that few Mountain Sea martial artists broke more than three.
• Wu Wei described the Nine Kings’ strengths and said King of Jiangling had been able to kill each of the other eight kings alone.
• Wu Wei proposed that the first generation Nine Kings had blocked the path to Wang Hou to prevent later generations from pursuing a doomed path.
• Wu Wei explained that Wang Hou advancement fixed a martial artist’s limits, while reaching Nine Forbidden in the Mountain Sea Realm could lead to Mountain Sea Apex; Jiang Huan was the first to reach it.
• Shen Qian decided to raise all three fields to the First Restriction’s limit, starting with his Mental Power that night and training his body in a restricted zone the next day.
• Shen Qian took out King Yanling’s Celestial Palace Spirit Stone and prepared to seek her spell inheritance, Word of Law.