Chapter Summaries

Shen Qian discovered that the Azure Soul Pearl could help temper his Mental Power, then encountered Xu Nian and three Plum Garden disciples waiting in ambush. Trapped in Xu Nian’s life-and-death domain and unable to kill his opponents, Shen Qian put away his saber, leaving his next move unclear.

• Shen Qian recognized the Azure Soul Pearl’s patterns as related to Mental Power and stored the bead before leaving.
• Shen Qian found dozens of dead Mountains and Seas powerhouses near the door and suspected that Xu Nian had survived.
• Xu Nian, Guo Zhouyuan, Ji You, and Nie Han ambushed Shen Qian and revealed a concealed formation spanning ten kilometers.
• Shen Qian killed Nie Han with a saber strike, but Nie Han reformed unharmed as Xu Nian’s domain let the three disciples exchange life and death.
• Shen Qian identified Xu Nian’s domain as a fusion of his formation and the supreme Dao of life and death, then put away the Mountain River Saber.

Shen Qian’s Marquis-level avatar broke Xu Nian’s Life-and-Death Formation and killed Nie Han, while Xu Nian devoured Ji You and Guo Zhouyuan to transform into a terrifying giant. The chapter ended with Xu Nian reaching power that rivaled or exceeded an ordinary Golden Immortal-level Marquis.

• Xu Nian’s formation trembled as Shen Qian’s avatar descended in flames, broke the domain, and killed Nie Han.
• Shen Qian’s avatar hurled its halberd at Ji You, but Xu Nian intercepted it and saved Ji You at great cost.
• Shen Qian revealed that the cold-faced Marquis was his avatar, leaving Xu Nian and Guo Zhouyuan stunned.
• As Shen Qian’s flames threatened to consume him, Xu Nian absorbed ghost flames and bones, grew into a three-headed giant, and devoured the wounded Ji You.
• Xu Nian seized and ate Guo Zhouyuan, then broke through to power rivaling or surpassing an ordinary Golden Immortal-level Marquis.

Shen Qian's avatar battled Xu Nian, whose corpse-built giant and self-consuming transformation overwhelmed him. Shen Qian then awakened the Ten Directions Creation Body, reached the peak of Taiyi Golden Immortal power, and killed Xu Nian.

• Xu Nian revealed that his life-and-death domain drew strength from countless victims and attacked Shen Qian's avatar as a bone giant.
• Shen Qian's avatar fought back with Heavenly Nether, severed Xu Nian's arm, and damaged his soul, but Xu Nian's shrieks gave him time to retreat.
• Xu Nian devoured his own limbs and heads to transform into a smaller, more powerful form, then pierced Shen Qian's avatar and tore away pieces of its flesh.
• Shen Qian's avatar lured Xu Nian toward him, and Shen Qian broke through his Mental Power restraints to activate the Ten Directions Creation Body.
• Shen Qian's power rose to roughly the peak of a Taiyi Golden Immortal, and he froze Xu Nian before shattering him into fragments.

After defeating Xu Nian, Shen Qian learned that his dying words hinted at a secret in the ruined Underworld, but his attempt to leave the Great Wilderness World failed. Marquis Ling Tian appeared, revealed that he wanted the secret King of Jiangling had left within Shen Qian, and Shen Qian launched an attack rather than surrender.

• Xu Nian's remnant soul vanished after muttering about the End of the Yellow Springs, the Nine Kings, and the destruction of everything.
• Shen Qian gathered the possessions of the fallen Mountains and Seas powerhouses and entered the door with his avatar, but they remained in the Great Wilderness World as the door disappeared.
• Shen Qian called out the hidden figure, and Marquis Ling Tian, Qiao Tianliang, appeared.
• Marquis Ling Tian explained that the Chaos Stones were only a trigger and that the secret King of Jiangling left behind was hidden within Shen Qian.
• Marquis Ling Tian admitted he had intended for Xu Nian to bring Shen Qian's body back, and Shen Qian's avatar attacked him with Heavenly Nether.

Shen Qian’s attempt to defeat Marquis Ling Tian failed as Ling Tian’s mastery of space overwhelmed his attacks and escape plans. Shen Qian escaped through the River of Time using the Chaos Bell, while Ling Tian vanished in pursuit.

• Shen Qian attacked Marquis Ling Tian, but Ling Tian used precise control of space to make the halberd strikes miss.
• Marquis Ling Tian rearranged the battlefield, imprisoned Shen Qian’s avatar, and disrupted the system’s escape plans as Shen Qian fled.
• Shen Qian tried to use the Time River Snail, but Marquis Ling Tian sealed it and revealed that he had anticipated Shen Qian’s plan to summon Jiang Huan.
• Shen Qian used the Chaos Bell to vanish through time, and Marquis Ling Tian recognized the path to the River of Time and disappeared after him.
• Shen Qian’s avatar remained trapped in a spatial cage on the deserted battlefield.

Shen Qian fled Marquis Ling Tian through the River of Time and learned the secrets of King of Jiangling’s artifact-forging prowess. He emerged in the post-Cataclysm modern era, in Lucheng before its destruction.

• Marquis Ling Tian followed Shen Qian into the River of Time, where Shen Qian tried to escape him.
• Marquis Ling Tian revealed that King of Jiangling was a Destined Great Artifact Master who refined his body into a Star Soldier with nine and a half apertures.
• Shen Qian learned that King of Jiangling rose to prominence during the spiritual energy resurgence and had not been an ancient figure.
• Shen Qian found a vortex in the River of Time and entered it before Marquis Ling Tian, who touched it just after him.
• Shen Qian arrived in a modern city after the Cataclysm and recognized it as Lucheng, which had been destroyed more than a decade earlier.

Shen Qian hid from Marquis Ling Tian in Lucheng, but Ling Tian devastated the city to force him out. Candle Dragon appeared to protect Shen Qian and swallowed Ling Tian along with nearly half of Lucheng, leaving the city’s fate uncertain.

• Shen Qian used King Taiyi’s Invisibility Talisman to hide in Lucheng, where he realized he had arrived fourteen years in the past.
• Marquis Ling Tian searched Lucheng, then attacked the city with spatial rifts and destructive sound waves to force Shen Qian to reveal himself.
• Shen Qian ordered Lucheng’s City Lord to evacuate the residents and used formation flags to seal the spreading rifts.
• Marquis Ling Tian trapped Shen Qian in a spatial cage, but Candle Dragon descended and broke it apart.
• Shen Qian called Candle Dragon Brother Snake and ordered it to kill Marquis Ling Tian, who resisted its attacks by dispersing damage through his domain.
• Candle Dragon froze Marquis Ling Tian and swallowed him along with nearly half of Lucheng.

Shen Qian learned from Candle Dragon about ancient Great Emperors and the possibility of beings beyond Emperor-level before reuniting with Gao Wenyuan in the past. Gao Wenyuan revealed that Qiao Tianliang was Marquis Ling Tian in this era.

• Candle Dragon showed Shen Qian that Qiao Tianliang remained trapped in its domain and explained that it would slowly refine him.
• Candle Dragon told Shen Qian about several Great Emperor-level figures, the Witch Clan’s plan to revive the Witch Emperor, and the possibility that Pangu and Nuwa had surpassed Emperor-level.
• Candle Dragon gave Shen Qian a scale he could burn to summon it, then vanished as Shen Qian left for Jing City.
• Shen Qian reunited with Gao Wenyuan at an abandoned gas station and told him that Candle Dragon had swallowed Qiao Tianliang.
• Gao Wenyuan explained that he had been unable to intervene because he was preventing Qiao Tianliang from going berserk, then revealed that Qiao Tianliang was Marquis Ling Tian in this era.

Gao Wenyuan explained that King Zhouyi had used the Dao of fate to steal Qiao Tianliang’s fate and create Marquis Ling Tian as an independent agent, then revealed that King Zhenbei had died after entering the door at Earth’s Core City. Shen Qian was left questioning King Zhouyi’s aims and wondering how much his own teacher knew about him.

• Gao Wenyuan told Shen Qian that Qiao Tianliang had once harbored killing intent toward Liu Changqing and had later been replaced through the power of causality.
• Gao Wenyuan explained that Qiao Tianliang was an independently thinking agent of King Zhouyi, whose control of causality had also disabled Shen Qian’s Time River Snail.
• Gao Wenyuan said King Zhouyi was bound by limits, including an oath to the White Emperor not to harm humanity for two hundred years, and that humanity had needed him to remain alive.
• Gao Wenyuan revealed that King Zhenbei had entered the door at Earth’s Core City to save King Yanling and the others and never returned; Wu Wei had concealed his death to prevent unrest.
• Shen Qian reconsidered Wu Wei’s efforts to preserve humanity’s strength, then asked Gao Wenyuan what King Zhouyi wanted and wondered how much his teacher knew about his secrets.

Shen Qian learned from Gao Wenyuan that traveling through the River of Time could make others bear its deadly rejection, and received advice on advancing his cultivation. After Gao Wenyuan warned him to avoid time travel, King Zhouyi prepared to use a long-preserved pawn.

• Shen Qian told Gao Wenyuan about the opened doors, the Witch Clan, and the Human Race’s situation, while Gao explained that he had to guard Ten Thousand Years Mountain, which held hundreds of Golden Immortals.
• Gao Wenyuan advised Shen Qian to temper his Origin Energy with Star Power, use the Myriad Manifestations Tower, and reduce his trips into the River of Time.
• Gao Wenyuan revealed that the River of Time’s rejection could harm people around Shen Qian, showing him how his mother, Wang Xiaojuan, had suffered in his place.
• Shen Qian accepted Gao Wenyuan’s warning and departed, while Gao urged him not to shoulder every burden himself.
• King Zhouyi watched a chessboard crack and told a newly arrived figure that he was ready to use them.

Shen Qian returned from the destroyed Great Wilderness World and emerged through Mountain City's A-rank door, where martial artists had been mourning the 231 experts believed dead. After giving a partial account of the mission, he faced a gathering of Wang Hou whose arrival left him fearing trouble.

• Shen Qian reunited with his avatar, collected the relics and spoils, and left the Great Wilderness World through its door.
• At the Southwestern War Zone headquarters, Yao Jinyang and other martial artists kept vigil before the closed A-15 door, mourning the 231 Mountains and Seas experts believed to have died.
• The A-15 door activated, and Shen Qian emerged alone, astonishing the gathered martial artists.
• Shen Qian told Yao Jinyang that Xu Nian and the others had used Stellar Descent to kill Zhu Yan and destroy the Great Wilderness World, but he withheld how he survived and other details.
• Marquis of Qingcheng, Marquis Yidao, Marquis Qin Zhao, Duke of Yanshan, and other Wang Hou appeared, and Shen Qian grew wary of the situation.

At a public inquiry, Shen Qian denied betraying the human race and accused Xu Nian and his allies of murdering the other survivors, then challenged Duke of Yanshan. Duke of Yanshan and three other marquises revealed their true bodies, and Duke of Yanshan crushed Shen Qian beneath the phantom of Yan Mountain as Shen Qian refused to submit.

• Marquis of Qingcheng questioned Shen Qian about the accusation that he had plotted to kill Xu Nian, Guo Zhouyuan, Nie Han, and nearly fifty Mountain Sea Martial Artists.
• Shen Qian said he had helped the teams fight Zhu Yan, that Xu Nian and the others fled without warning him, and that they had murdered the surviving experts before Duke of Yanshan's disciples ambushed him.
• Shen Qian released a marquis-level aura and told Han Chi and the other marquises to attack if they intended to capture him.
• Duke of Yanshan revealed his true body and announced that he would personally take Shen Qian into custody, while Marquis of Qingcheng and Marquis Yidao tried to stop him.
• Marquis Zhaoyuan, Marquis Qin Zhao, and Marquis of Jidi also revealed their true bodies, and Duke of Yanshan pinned Shen Qian beneath the phantom of Yan Mountain.
• Shen Qian refused to submit and insulted Duke of Yanshan, who sent the mountain range crashing down on him.

Jiang Huan rescued Shen Qian and confronted Duke of Yanshan’s faction, while Wu Jun began a long-suppressed breakthrough to Wang Hou. Jiang Huan then revealed that he and his senior brothers were experimental subjects, and that their teacher had waited two hundred years for Shen Qian.

• Jiang Huan arrived and destroyed Han Chi’s domain with his black spear, freeing Shen Qian.
• Jiang Huan nearly killed Jun Buping with a single spear throw, but Jun Buping survived and reverted to human size.
• Han Chi surrounded Jiang Huan with three other Wang Hou, but Jiang Huan revealed that Wu Jun had come as backup.
• Wu Jun crushed Jun Buping’s attack and began breaking through to Wang Hou, astonishing the Wang Hou present.
• Jiang Huan explained that Wu Jun had suppressed his breakthrough because their teacher wanted them to pursue the Peak Realm.
• Jiang Huan told Shen Qian that they were all experimental subjects and that their teacher had waited two hundred years for him.

Shen Qian pieced together that Gao Wenyuan and his senior brothers had been preparing him to pursue the Ten Apertures Body and the ultimate secrets of martial arts, and Jiang Huan gave him records of their Forbidden Domain breakthroughs. Meanwhile, Wu Jun completed his Wang Hou breakthrough and began opening Heaven’s Gate, reaching fourteen layers and continuing onward.

• Shen Qian inferred that humanity’s limits and the senior disciples’ difficult paths were part of a plan to prepare him, and he recognized Gao Wenyuan as one of his Dao Protectors.
• Jiang Huan gave Shen Qian a jade slip detailing breakthroughs into the Forbidden Domain, including the experiences of Jiang Huan and Wu Jun.
• Jiang Huan explained that his Nine Forbidden body was as tough as a Star-Class Weapon and gave him precise control over his power.
• Wu Jun formed the Crown of Wang Hou, then stepped onto a blood-stained staircase to open Heaven’s Gate directly.
• Wu Jun opened fourteen layers of Heaven’s Gate, matching Marquis Ling Tian’s record, and continued forward as the corpse-filled starry phenomenon began to boil.

Wu Jun advanced through seventeen Heaven Gates and became Marquis Youming, forcing Duke of Yanshan and the other hostile Marquis-level powerhouses to retreat. After the crisis, Wu Wei explained to Shen Qian why he had waited to intervene and began recounting the factions among the Marquis-level powerhouses, tracing their conflict to humanity’s response to a looming threat.

• Wu Jun crossed seventeen Heaven Gates, took the title Marquis Youming, and changed the balance of power enough for Han Chi and the others to withdraw.
• Jiang Huan told Shen Qian that Teacher had arranged their timely arrival, and that Golden Tower Marquis had also appeared.
• Marquis of Qingcheng asked Shen Qian to recount the events in the Great Wilderness World to the Marquis Council and warned him not to act impulsively against Duke of Yanshan.
• Wu Wei arrived and asked to speak with Shen Qian alone, explaining that he had been maintaining the balance and had informed Golden Tower Marquis.
• Wu Wei began explaining the Marquis-level factions, saying their divisions arose after the First-Generation Nine Kings disappeared and that humanity’s guiding principle in the Nine Kings’ era had been to end war through war.

Shen Qian learned from Wu Wei about the Divine Emperor Palace, its opposition to those who fought the myriad races, and the factional divisions among humanity’s Wang Hou. Wu Wei affirmed that he would stand with humanity and warned Shen Qian that the Sea of Learning would open in five months and pose extreme danger to him.

• Wu Wei explained that earlier generations of powerful martial artists had sacrificed themselves beyond Earth’s borders, and that their losses helped fuel later factional struggles.
• Wu Wei described the Divine Emperor Palace, its members and ties to the Thousand Stars Society; Shen Qian connected it to the Hundred Kings Hall and the Star Council.
• Shen Qian asked which side Wu Wei supported, and Wu Wei said he would stand wherever humanity was if its survival was at stake.
• Wu Wei told Shen Qian that the Sea of Learning would open in five months and warned that this opening would be especially dangerous for him.

Wu Wei explained the Sea of Learning’s origins, dangers, Nine Seas, and knowledge-based Literary Positions to Shen Qian, who realized his system might absorb the realm’s knowledge. Shen Qian left the discussion understanding how several senior martial artists’ Literary Positions suited their paths.

• Wu Wei told Shen Qian that the Sea of Learning was an ancient, uncontrollable secret realm containing a wisp of Chaos Power, and warned him to keep the secret.
• Wu Wei described the Nine Seas, including the rare and perilous Middle Sea where King of Jiangling had nearly died after finding Chaos Power.
• Wu Wei revealed that the Sea of Learning was made of boundless, evolving knowledge, and Shen Qian wondered whether his system could absorb it all.
• Wu Wei explained that Literary Positions were refined collections of knowledge formed naturally or left by sages, and that their power depended on their rank and field.
• Wu Wei explained that Liu Changqing’s Seven-Star Situ Literary Position required education and enlightenment, while Shen Qian’s teacher had mastered a higher-ranking position aligned with his Dao.
• Wu Wei described Ling Xiao’s five-star Sword Envoy Literary Position and Shi Dingyan’s six-star Vice Censor Literary Position, which helped absorb knowledge.

Wu Wei explained the dangers and rules of entering the Sea of Learning, warning Shen Qian that enemies could kill him there without a chance of revival. Shen Qian chose to go anyway and began planning for the five months before the expedition.

• Wu Wei explained that high-star Literary Positions were rare and revealed that King Zhouyi possessed a Literary Position of at least eight stars.
• Wu Wei told Shen Qian that entrants entered the Sea of Learning as soul-body projections, whose strength and recovery were limited, and warned that Shen Qian's many enemies could target him there.
• Shen Qian decided to seize the opportunity despite the danger and asked Wu Wei for an additional entry slot for his Wang Hou clone, which Wu Wei granted.
• Jiang Huan and Wu Jun discussed their Literary Positions with Shen Qian, and Wu Jun urged him to return to Jing City before the expedition.
• Shen Qian said he had a plan for the five months ahead and resolved to keep a low profile while preparing.

Shen Qian’s Old Days team finished clearing the Mirror Domain and discovered another set of Dao Patterns for him to study. Back on Earth, Shen Qian planned to take an extended vacation before entering the Sea of Learning, leaving Zheng Guangxi in charge during his absence.

• Shen Qian learned that Li Muyi and the team had eliminated the remaining Shadow Tribe royal family experts and cleared the palace.
• Shen Qian studied and memorized the Dao Patterns found in the ruins, which he believed could help reveal the secret behind the gates.
• Shen Qian reviewed the Old Days team’s rapid rise and record of completing missions without casualties.
• Shen Qian announced that he would take an extended vacation and appointed Zheng Guangxi to act as captain while he was away.
• Mu Ziyan teased Li Muyi about her feelings for Shen Qian, and Li Muyi blushed as she watched him leave.

Shen Qian reunited with Ding Yi in North Capital, met her father, and agreed to an engagement, then learned that the Sea of Learning might be where the Azure Lotus Buddha Lord fell. He left for Jing City with Jiang Xuan, planning to see his parents and visit the Sky-Reaching Tower before entering the Sea of Learning.

• Shen Qian woke beside Jiang Xuan, invited her to return to Jing City with him, and left her behind as she confessed she missed him.
• Shen Qian met Ding Anbai, recognized him from their past encounter, and followed his warning to keep quiet before greeting him as Dad.
• Shen Qian and Ding Yi tentatively agreed to marry a year later, and Ding Yi said the Numinous Lady had recovered part of her fragmented soul.
• Ding Yi relayed the Numinous Lady's warning that the Sea of Learning might be where the Azure Lotus Buddha Lord fell and that Shen Qian should restrain his curiosity there.
• Ding Yi warned Shen Qian that powerful Mountains and Seas martial artists would enter the Sea of Learning seeking a high literary rank.
• Shen Qian and Jiang Xuan traveled toward Jing City as he considered visiting his parents and the Sky-Reaching Tower, then focused on the jade slip and his next cultivation choice.