Chapter Summaries

Zhang Wan fled the upheaval around the Abyssal Treasure Sea and chose to watch events from Chuan County of Qiu Kingdom. There, his rapid rise alarmed the local martial forces and prompted Qiu Kingdom’s seven True Core powers to plan his assassination.

• Zhang Wan abandoned the idea of staying near the Abyssal Treasure Sea and piloted his flying ship to Chuan County, intending to follow news from a safer distance.
• The martial forces of Chuan County feared Zhang Wan’s revealed Ninth Level Prenatal cultivation and debated whether to relocate, submit to the Xuan Gu Branch Temple, or seek help from Qiu Kingdom’s True Core powers.
• The seven great True Core powers of Qiu Kingdom decided to send three True Core experts to ambush Zhang Wan and kill him before he reached the True Core realm.
• A True Core expert found Zhang Wan’s cave abode at the Xuan Gu Branch Temple empty, so the sects planned to wait for him there and escalate to a full mobilization if their first attempt failed.

Zhang Wan revealed his True Core cultivation to the seven sects of Qiu Kingdom, forcing them to recognize Xuan Gu Branch Temple as an equal power. He began expanding the branch temple by screening Rogue Cultivators and considered strengthening its ties to the Jade Bone Sect, ending as he prepared to contact Old Ancestor Jade Bone.

• Zhang Wan used three first-grade True Core magical artifacts to fight the seven sects’ True Core cultivators, then negotiated with them after they accepted him as Qiu Kingdom’s eighth True Core power.
• News of Zhang Wan’s breakthrough spread, and Rogue Cultivators gathered in Chuan County hoping to join Xuan Gu Branch Temple.
• Zhang Wan set up the Heart-Questioning Formation and accepted applicants who passed its test without revealing the nature of ungrateful wolves.
• Zhang Wan considered transferring Prenatal martial artists from the Jade Bone Sect to support Xuan Gu Branch Temple, but worried about distance, resentment, and weakening the sect’s own foundation.
• Zhang Wan took out the sealed communication jade slip to tell Old Ancestor Jade Bone that he had advanced to True Core and discuss other matters.

Zhang Wan prepared to purge traitors from the Jade Bone Sect with Old Ancestor Jade Bone’s help while using the two-year delay to pursue a Dharma Aspect breakthrough. After inspecting high-yield crop seeds and learning how catastrophic the Abyssal Treasure Sea had become, he stayed in seclusion and found that he had enough experience points to attempt the breakthrough.

• Zhang Wan contacted Old Ancestor Jade Bone, revealed his True Core breakthrough, and agreed with him on a trap to purge the Jade Bone Sect’s traitors when Zhang Wan returned.
• Zhang Wan focused on cultivation, then inspected the high-yield mortal crop seeds collected by the Xuan Gu Branch Temple and planned to obtain the farming inheritance from established Dharma Aspect forces.
• Zhang Wan read reports of at least four Void God Realm martial artists and more than two hundred Void Glimpse Realm martial artists fighting over the Bright Light Divine Mansion, with seven nearby martial cities destroyed.
• Zhang Wan abandoned his plan to visit the Abyssal Treasure Sea after learning that the fighting had also devastated nearby mortal kingdoms.
• After another half year of seclusion, Zhang Wan checked his system panel and saw that breaking through to the Dharma Aspect Realm required 1,400 experience points, which he could afford.

Zhang Wan broke through to the Dharma Aspect Realm, strengthened his natal magical artifact, and upgraded three martial skills. After secretly collecting inheritances from many sects, he set out to rob True Core powers for cultivation resources before returning to the Jade Bone Sect.

• Zhang Wan left the Xuan Gu Branch Temple and broke through to the Dharma Aspect Realm in a secluded cave, gaining a foundation far beyond that of ordinary newly advanced Dharma Aspects.
• Zhang Wan evolved the restrictions in the Great Sun Source Heart and chose to strengthen its cultivation-assistance abilities instead of adding new ones.
• Zhang Wan tested his new power, then spent 1,900 experience points to raise Five Elements Divine Concealment, Crimson Sun Following Wind Movement Skill, and Great Sun Five Elements Melting Furnace True Body to low-grade Dharma Aspect level.
• Zhang Wan infiltrated Dharma Aspect sects, collected more than two hundred complete inheritances and thousands of incomplete ones, and abandoned his attempts at the most heavily defended sects.
• After half a year, Zhang Wan stopped collecting inheritances and transformed into Ye Shengtian to rob and extort True Core powers for cultivation resources.

Zhang Wan used the alias Ye Shengtian to plunder True Core powers and seize resources from Dharma Aspect sects whose patriarchs had died, then returned to Qiu Kingdom as the Martial World descended into chaos. He found the seven sects preparing to unite and seeking to bring him into their alliance.

• Zhang Wan suppressed True Core powers as Ye Shengtian, taking their cultivation resources while avoiding direct clashes with Dharma Aspect experts.
• Zhang Wan raided several unguarded Dharma Aspect powers after their patriarchs died at the Abyssal Treasure Sea, then ended his plundering and headed back toward the Jade Bone Sect.
• Dozens of other ruthless plunderers and the deaths of Dharma Aspects intensified conflict among martial powers, while the Sacred Origin Sect kept the chaos from fully spreading into the mortal realm.
• Zhang Wan returned to Qiu Kingdom and saw signs of devastation along the way, though the region itself had not yet been overtaken by the turmoil.
• The seven sects of Qiu Kingdom joined forces to prepare for the coming chaos and contacted the Xuan Gu Branch Temple in hopes of bringing Zhang Wan into their alliance.

Zhang Wan arranged protection and a gradual merger for the Xuan Gu Branch Temple before leaving Qiu Kingdom with its young martial artists for the Jade Bone Sect. Meanwhile, the Jade Bone Sect faced mounting pressure as Old Ancestor Jade Bone’s apparent decline stirred rival sects and divided its members, setting the stage for Zhang Wan’s return.

• Zhang Wan negotiated with Qiu Kingdom’s seven sects, offering to repair their True Core artifacts at cost in exchange for their protection of the Xuan Gu Branch Temple.
• Zhang Wan told Yue Ni and the Xu Family Patriarch that he would leave, planned to merge the branch temple into the Jade Bone Sect, and installed a low-grade True Core formation at its headquarters.
• Zhang Wan departed for Wu Kingdom with more than twenty young people from the Xuan Gu Branch Temple, traveling cautiously because of the unknown Dharma Manifestation behind the Heavenly Talent Gu Raising Formation in Ming Kingdom.
• Old Ancestor Jade Bone learned of Zhang Wan’s True Core breakthrough and agreed to cooperate with his plan to purge the Jade Bone Sect and prepare for the transfer of authority.
• As reports spread that Old Ancestor Jade Bone’s strength and vitality were declining, Wu Kingdom’s five great sects mobilized to divide the Jade Bone Sect, while its members split between staying, fleeing, and selling the sect for a place elsewhere.

Zhang Wan returned to the Jade Bone Sect as a True Core cultivator, ending the sect’s succession crisis and preparing to take control. After the sect recognized him as Supreme Second Elder, he and Old Ancestor Jade Bone executed more than twenty disciples who had plotted to sell out the sect.

• Old Ancestor Jade Bone spent two years identifying traitors while Zhang Wan brought disciples from the Xuan Gu Branch Temple back to Wu Kingdom.
• Zhang Wan entered the Jade Bone Sect with his True Core aura revealed, stunning the Prenatal martial artists and bringing joy to the loyal disciples.
• Old Ancestor Jade Bone and Zhang Wan explained their plans and histories to the sect’s Prenatal martial artists, and Zhang Wan was named Supreme Second Elder.
• The Enforcement Hall brought more than twenty traitors before the council, where Zhang Wan declared them guilty of betraying the sect.
• Zhang Wan extracted and destroyed the traitors’ souls, then had their valuable corpses taken away for the sect’s use.

Zhang Wan and Old Ancestor Jade Bone discussed how to secure the Jade Bone Sect’s position after Zhang Wan’s breakthrough, including facing Wu Kingdom’s five sects and bringing Xuan Gu Branch Temple under their control. Zhang Wan offered an inferior Martial Intent Pill to recruit an Innate expert willing to defend the distant branch for twenty years.

• Zhang Wan handed the Houtian traitors over to the Enforcement Hall after establishing his authority by killing more than twenty Innate experts.
• Zhang Wan and Old Ancestor Jade Bone planned to use three True Core-grade low-rank dharma artifacts to answer tests from Wu Kingdom’s five sects at Zhang Wan’s celebration banquet.
• Zhang Wan and Old Ancestor Jade Bone agreed to develop Xuan Gu Branch Temple as a branch and rely partly on Qiu Kingdom’s seven sects to protect it and gather news from the Abyssal Treasure Sea.
• Zhang Wan and Old Ancestor Jade Bone discussed which Innate experts could be sent to Xuan Gu Branch Temple, considering its dangers and the need for willing, capable people.
• Zhang Wan offered an inferior Martial Intent Pill to any Innate expert who would station at Xuan Gu Branch Temple and defend it for twenty years, leaving Old Ancestor Jade Bone to expect fierce competition for the reward.

Zhang Wan reunited with his family and old acquaintances after twenty years away, finding that time had changed them and many of his friends had died. He stayed with his aging parents, helped Zhang Lingshu advance her cultivation, and sent Li Wenxing and Wan Yunfei into seclusion to attempt breakthroughs.

• Zhang Wan reunited with Zhang Changlin, Lin Yue, Zhang Lingshu, and Zhang Yan, resolved to spend his parents’ remaining years with them, and met Zhang Yan’s children.
• Zhang Wan gave his family treasures, visited the graves of Li Sanjian and Wan Xing'er, and paid respects to Wang Yue, Li Guannian, and other deceased acquaintances.
• Zhang Wan gave Li Wenxing and Wan Yunfei three Prenatal Pills each and sent them into seclusion to attempt breakthroughs.
• Zhang Wan learned that Xu Hui had formed his own faction and that Zhao Qixin had reached the Prenatal Triple realm.
• Zhang Wan guided Zhang Lingshu through her bottleneck to the Second Level Prenatal realm and allowed Zhao Qixin to join their lessons on the Crimson Sun Fist.

Zhang Wan taught Zhang Lingshu and Zhao Qixin the Bronze Iron Body and planned to develop a cultivation path for them from his own method. At the celebration of his advancement to True Core, he clashed with hostile leaders of the Blazing Fire Sect and Mountain Moving Hall, and the dispute turned into a fight.

• Zhang Wan passed the Bronze Iron Body to Zhang Lingshu and Zhao Qixin, intending for them to cultivate it alongside the Crimson Sun Fist.
• Zhang Wan planned to derive a cultivation method for the two women from the Great Sun Five Elements Melting Furnace Cultivation, especially to benefit his second sister, Zhang Lingshu.
• The Jade Bone Sect hosted Zhang Wan's True Core celebration, attended by cultivators from the other five Wu Kingdom sects and more than a thousand Prenatal martial artists.
• Zhang Wan chatted with the visiting True Core cultivators, while Blazing Sun True Person and Mountain Peak True Person showed open hostility toward him.
• Zhang Wan traded insults with Blazing Sun True Person and Mountain Peak True Person, and the three came to blows as the other True Core cultivators watched.

Zhang Wan fought Blazing Sun True Person at the Jade Bone Sect and proved too fast and durable for the stronger True Core cultivator to defeat. After their stalemate, Zhang Wan later ambushed Blazing Sun True Person in secret and left him badly injured.

• Zhang Wan used three low-grade True Core magical artifacts to battle Blazing Sun True Person, while Mountain Peak True Person watched without joining in.
• Zhang Wan revealed his self-created Crimson Melting Body, alarming the gathered True Core cultivators, who feared his potential.
• Zhang Wan and Blazing Sun True Person exchanged several hundred blows but neither could defeat the other, so they stopped fighting.
• Less than two days later, an unknown attacker ambushed Blazing Sun True Person on his way back to the sect and beat him into a pig's head, leaving him to recover for more than half a year.

Zhang Wan and Old Ancestor Jade Bone agreed to an alliance with the Five Sects after discussing the danger in the Abyssal Treasure Sea, and Zhang Wan held his True Core celebration. He then assigned inferior Martial Intent Pills to Ji Ci and Huang Jue and turned his attention to strengthening himself before the Heavenly Talent Gu was cultivated.

• Zhang Wan saw that the Five Sects already knew about the Abyssal Treasure Sea disturbances and agreed with Old Ancestor Jade Bone to join their proposed alliance.
• Zhang Wan shared his insights into reaching the True Core realm at his celebration, which then ended as the guests departed.
• Zhang Wan and Old Ancestor Jade Bone selected Ji Ci and Huang Jue to receive inferior Martial Intent Pills and sent them to Xuan Gu Branch Temple.
• Zhang Wan returned to his cave dwelling, where Old Ancestor Jade Bone had directed spiritual energy from the high-grade spiritual vein to support his cultivation.
• Zhang Wan planned to improve his cultivation, artifact-refining, and Spirit Devouring Demonic Flame before the Heavenly Talent Gu was cultivated within five years.

Zhang Wan strengthened the Jade Bone Sect and guided its Innate cultivators while waiting for news of the conflict over the Bright Light Divine Mansion. He learned that Fei Qian had survived and reached the Dharma Aspect Realm, and hoped the coming battle would leave him time to cultivate.

• Zhang Wan cultivated, studied artifact refining, and practiced making artifacts while avoiding injuries that could leave him vulnerable.
• Li Wenxing and Wan Yunfei reached the Innate realm, and Zhang Wan assigned them to guard his cave abode and tend spiritual fields.
• Zhang Wan taught his second younger sister and other sect cultivators, recording his guidance in the Inheritance Hall for others to consult.
• A year after Zhang Wan returned to the Jade Bone Sect, Dark Hall intelligence revealed that Fei Qian had survived the Bright Light Divine Mansion and reached the Dharma Aspect Realm.
• Zhang Wan learned that experts had fought their way into the core of the Bright Light Divine Mansion, where its inheritance and a decisive battle awaited, and hoped the Sacred Origin Sect's Void-God expert would survive long enough for him to cultivate further.

Zhang Wan completed the Great Sun Flame Blade and strengthened his combat arts, then received news that the True Martial Old Ancestor had returned gravely wounded from the Abyssal Treasure Sea. The warning left him wary of the Thousand Corpse Sect, which seemed to conceal an opponent capable of fighting him.

• Zhang Wan used experience points to raise his artifact-refining arts and refine six artifacts into Low-grade Dharma Aspect artifacts.
• Zhang Wan transformed Mixed Yang Sword Finger into the Low-grade Dharma Aspect saber art Mixed Yang Saber Palm and deduced Great Sun Furnace Refining Spirit Method to the same level.
• Zhang Wan finished refining the Great Sun Flame Blade, tested its formidable power, and returned it to his dantian to nourish it.
• Zhang Wan planned to accelerate the Demonic Flame Furnace's transformation into a Low-grade Dharma Aspect artifact.
• The Thousand Corpse Sect informed the sects that the True Martial Old Ancestor had returned seriously wounded from the Abyssal Treasure Sea, prompting Old Ancestor Jade Bone to seek Zhang Wan's counsel.
• Zhang Wan reflected that the Thousand Corpse Sect had tracked the True Martial Old Ancestor's return and sensed that it concealed an existence capable of fighting him.

Zhang Wan attended a meeting of the Six Sects of Wu Kingdom to discuss the grievously wounded True Martial Old Ancestor, while growing more suspicious of the Thousand Corpse Sect’s hidden strength and origins. The sects feared that the Old Ancestor’s death would trigger a war that could leave Wu Kingdom’s powers as cannon fodder.

• Zhang Wan suspected the Thousand Corpse Sect had concealed its strength and might have helped put the True Martial Sect in the spotlight, but he chose to maintain their shared public facade.
• Representatives of the Six Sects gathered at the Thousand Corpse Sect to discuss the True Martial Old Ancestor’s serious injuries and the threat they posed to the region.
• Zhang Wan saw that Withered Mother True Person was secretly at the peak of the eighth True Core level and carried an incomplete Corpse Seal that blended demonic and righteous qi.
• Zhang Wan considered whether the Thousand Corpse Sect was a hidden successor to the Corpse Demon Sect and worried over other crises, including the trapped experts inside Bright Light Divine Mansion.
• The assembled sects feared that the Yuan Clan, Sword Heart Dao, and Lan River Thirteen Alliances would invade if the True Martial Old Ancestor died, leaving Wu Kingdom’s True Core powers vulnerable to becoming cannon fodder.

After the Six Sects formed a fragile alliance, Zhang Wan secretly traveled to True Martial Sect to act on an idea that could preserve the balance of power. He found True Martial Old Ancestor near death and entered his cave residence after waiting a month.

• The Six Sects agreed to share intelligence and face outside threats together, though everyone expected the alliance might break when the stakes became serious.
• Old Ancestor Jade Bone told Zhang Wan to flee Wu Kingdom if disaster struck so Jade Bone Sect could be rebuilt around him.
• Zhang Wan decided he might replace True Martial Old Ancestor and secretly left Jade Bone Sect for True Martial Sect.
• Zhang Wan slipped through True Martial Sect's protective formation and sensed that True Martial Old Ancestor was gravely wounded and nearing death.
• After waiting outside the cave residence for a month, Zhang Wan entered it using Five Elements Divine Concealment.

Zhang Wan infiltrated the True Martial Old Ancestor’s cave, sealed him, and used his corpse, memories, and a magical artifact to impersonate him and take control of the True Martial Sect. Back at the Jade Bone Sect, Zhang Wan suspected the Thousand Corpse Sect had secretly influenced the True Martial Old Ancestor’s rise, while he waited to gather enough experience points to advance his cultivation.

• Zhang Wan used Five Elements Divine Concealment and his newly perfected Soul Seal to ambush and completely seal the severely injured True Martial Old Ancestor.
• Zhang Wan tampered with the True Martial Old Ancestor’s life tablets and soul lamps, searched his memories, and refined his corpse and dissipating soul power into a humanoid magical artifact before the old man died.
• Zhang Wan disguised himself as the True Martial Old Ancestor, reassured the sect’s True Core cultivators, and then secretly returned to the Jade Bone Sect.
• The Thousand Corpse Sect informed Zhang Wan that the True Martial Old Ancestor’s injuries had stabilized, prompting Zhang Wan to suspect it had planted spies and arranged the damaged breakthrough treasure that the old man had found.
• Zhang Wan resolved to reach the Second Level Dharma Aspect but lacked the experience points needed to deduce his cultivation formula and break through.

Zhang Wan broke through to the Second Level of Dharma Aspect and went to the Ming Kingdom, where the Heavenly Talent Gu was nearing completion. He watched twelve Dharma Aspects gather around three developing Gu as Extreme Cold Old Demon confronted the others over how they would be divided.

• After recording his theories about the Experience Point System, Zhang Wan accumulated over seven hundred experience points while signs of unrest emerged in the Wu Kingdom.
• Zhang Wan spent six hundred experience points to deduce the Second-Level cultivation formula and break through, then discussed the Heavenly Talent Gu Raising Formation with Old Ancestor Jade Bone.
• At Old Ancestor Jade Bone's suggestion, Zhang Wan left the Jade Bone Sect, disguised himself, and traveled to the Ming Kingdom.
• Zhang Wan sensed the Heavenly Talent Gu's fragrance and secretly followed several Dharma Aspects toward the center of the Ming Kingdom.
• Twelve Dharma Aspects gathered around three developing Heavenly Talent Gu, and Extreme Cold Old Demon used his Sixth Layer Dharma Aspect aura to challenge the others over their division.

Twelve Dharma Aspects fought over the three Heavenly Talent Gu nurtured in Ming Kingdom, while Zhang Wan watched from hiding. The battle left Old Ancestor Pagoda-Holding and Extreme Cold Old Demon under attack, and Zhang Wan wary of their revealed strength.

• Old Ancestor Pagoda-Holding overpowered the other Dharma Aspects in an aura clash, but the ten weaker ones remained determined to seize the Heavenly Talent Gu.
• Extreme Cold Old Demon grew murderous as he recalled that he had funded the formation and needed the Gu to extend his nearly ended lifespan.
• Zhang Wan observed from a distance, found Ming Kingdom devoid of life, and moved farther away to avoid the coming battle.
• Four days later, the three Heavenly Talent Gu matured, and all twelve Dharma Aspects attacked to capture them.
• The other ten Dharma Aspects turned on Old Ancestor Pagoda-Holding and Extreme Cold Old Demon, triggering a chaotic battle that shook the land.
• Zhang Wan assessed the combatants’ revealed techniques, judged the two strongest beyond his current reach, and hid even deeper.

The battle for the Heavenly Talent Gu ended with Extreme Cold Old Demon and Ghost Sea Old Ancestor escaping with one Gu each after Extreme Cold unleashed a devastating soul attack and destroyed his body. Zhang Wan pursued Extreme Cold, killed him, and claimed the Gu, his dissolving Dharma Aspect, and his storage bag before returning toward the Ming Kingdom battlefield.

• Old Ancestor Pagoda-Holding wounded two Dharma Aspect experts, seized a Heavenly Talent Gu, and fled, leaving Extreme Cold Old Demon surrounded by ten opponents.
• Zhang Wan watched from a distance as the ten experts attacked Extreme Cold Old Demon and judged that Old Ancestor Pagoda-Holding would benefit most from the battle.
• Extreme Cold Old Demon unleashed a powerful soul attack, escaped with his Dharma Aspect, and detonated his body; he and Ghost Sea Old Ancestor each seized one Heavenly Talent Gu and fled.
• Zhang Wan chased Extreme Cold Old Demon and killed him after he had exhausted his strength, taking his Heavenly Talent Gu, dissolving Dharma Aspect, and storage bag.
• Zhang Wan preserved the Extreme Cold Dharma Aspect and headed back toward the Ming Kingdom battlefield, where nine Dharma Aspect experts remained.