Chapter Summaries

Ning Qi learned from Old Daoist Baishan about the coming revival of Spirituality, the True Martial Inheritance, and the dangerous methods Ancient Saints used to survive. After Ning Qi returned to the True Martial Sect, Baishan urged the True Mystery Sect to cultivate hard and maintain good ties with them.

• Old Daoist Baishan told Ning Qi that Spirituality would fully revive in about a year and that the True Martial Hall might provide him with a Martial Saint Method.
• Ning Qi resolved to strengthen his foundations and study the Martial Saint Method, while Old Daoist Baishan explained how Ancient Saints survived through reincarnation, self-sealing, and bloodline inheritance.
• Ning Qi learned that Old Daoist Baishan and Baoshu used reincarnation, and that the Heaven Chopping Martial Saint’s lineage had continued through bloodline inheritance.
• Ning Qi thanked Old Daoist Baishan and left, while Baishan promised to have Daoist Sects send him Daoist Scriptures.
• Dragon Mountain Daoist led the True Martial Sect party away from True Mystery Mountain, and Baishan told the True Mystery Sect Real Persons to build good ties with them.
• Old Daoist Baishan promised to seek opportunities for the three Real Persons and offered a great fortune to anyone who reached Heaven-Human Completion within a year.

The Ancient Saints’ return and the coming Spirituality Revival threw the world into turmoil, while the Beast Emperor challenged the Great Yan Martial Saint over the Northern Barbarians. Back at True Martial Mountain, Ning Qi revealed the looming changes and began working with Blade Demon to investigate the Heaven-Earth Anomaly and deduce a Martial Saint Method.

• The Beast Emperor suppressed a million troops on the Northern Barbarians–Great Flame battlefield and demanded that the Great Yan Martial Saint answer for driving his people onto the grasslands, but the Martial Saint did not appear.
• Ning Qi told Luo Wentian and the True Martial Sect that Spirituality Revival would occur in a year and that Ancient Saints would compete to redraw the world’s spheres of influence.
• Ning Qi revealed his true identity to Blade Demon and explained the Ancient Saints’ return, the coming Spirituality Revival, and the risks of studying the Heaven-Earth Anomaly.
• Blade Demon agreed to help Ning Qi deduce a Martial Saint Method, trusting him and accepting the danger involved.
• Ning Qi explained his plan to combine Spirituality extracted from the Yu King Pearl with Heaven and Earth Power, then began the experiment with Blade Demon.

Ning Qi tested synthesized Spiritual Qi on Blade Demon and discovered a poisonous force within it that drained lifespan and vitality, then resolved to find a way to filter it out. Meanwhile, the Great Yan Martial Saint took over Li Yanwu’s body and emerged as Li Yanwu to defend the Great Flame.

• Ning Qi used the Yu King Pearl to synthesize Spiritual Qi and guided Blade Demon in refining it, observing how it transformed into Spiritual Power.
• A hidden force in the Spiritual Power caused Blade Demon to age rapidly, but Ning Qi helped him reverse the Secret Method and expel it before it killed him.
• Ning Qi concluded that the force consumed lifespan and vitality, and he vowed to identify and remove it while helping Blade Demon recover.
• As the Beast Emperor threatened Liang Province and the Great Flame, the Great Flame’s leaders begged the Great Yan Martial Saint for help in the Martial Saint Ancestral Temple.
• The Great Yan Martial Saint asked Li Yanwu to give up his body, and Li Yanwu agreed after embracing the ancestor he believed to be his father.
• The Great Yan Martial Saint emerged in Li Yanwu’s body and declared himself the Great Yan Martial Saint—Li Yanwu.

Li Yanwu returned as the Great Flame Martial Saint and drove the Beast Emperor’s Northern Barbarians out of Liang Province, then negotiated territories for other returning Ancient Saints. As more Martial Saints awakened and Ning Qi’s experiments neared a critical stage, Qin Yun finally awakened.

• General Shenyu killed Northern Barbarian cavalrymen, triggering a battle at Zhenbei Heroic Pass.
• Li Yanwu appeared, defeated the Beast Emperor and Treasure Tree Buddha, and ordered the Northern Barbarians to leave Great Flame.
• Listening Wind Old Man helped settle the dispute, and Li Yanwu demanded that the Beast Emperor surrender as many soldiers as Great Flame had lost.
• Ning Qi discussed the shifting balance of power with Luo Wentian and Dragon Mountain Daoist, and asked them to watch for the Blood Emperor Gu.
• The Crimson Sun Martial Saint and Black Marsh Martial Saint emerged, and Li Yanwu granted each territory in exchange for peace.
• Qin Yun finally awakened at the Bright Martial Pavilion.

Qin Yun awakened and returned to True Martial Mountain, where Dragon Mountain Daoist forgave him and his fellow disciples welcomed him home. After reconciling with Ning Qi and witnessing his Martial Saint Power, Qin Yun began guarding the Scripture Pavilion, while Ning Qi continued investigating Spiritual Power until news arrived that the True Martial Hall had emerged.

• Dragon Mountain Daoist forgave Qin Yun for his past actions and ordered him to guard the Scripture Pavilion for three years.
• Ye Qinghe and the other disciples welcomed Qin Yun back, and Ning Qi greeted him as his Eighth Senior Brother.
• Qin Yun apologized to Ning Qi for his past jealousy, and Ning Qi urged them to focus on the True Martial Sect’s future.
• Ning Qi demonstrated his Martial Saint Power to Qin Yun, then gave him a Heaven Piercing Pill.
• Qin Yun moved into the Scripture Pavilion, while Ning Qi and Blade Demon continued experimenting with Spiritual Power and its poisonous substances.
• News spread throughout the world that the True Martial Hall had emerged.

The True Martial Hall appeared on a mist-shrouded island in the Black Sand Sea, and the True Martial Sect set out to claim the inheritance it believed connected to its origins. When Ning Qi and Dragon Mountain Daoist arrived, rival sects wary of their claim moved to block their path.

• A mysterious island emerged in the Black Sand Sea, and the Azure Sea Sword Sect entered it before reporting that the True Martial Hall lay within.
• Ning Qi, Luo Wentian, and Dragon Mountain Daoist connected the hall to the True Martial Underground Palace and prepared an expedition to seek its Martial Saint inheritance.
• Liu Jindao was pursued by rival forces after they learned he had entered the True Martial Hall, and he died amid the ensuing battle.
• Ning Qi and Dragon Mountain Daoist arrived with True Martial Sect disciples and saw rival Heaven-Human experts fighting over access to the island.
• The Black-Robed Saber Wielder and White-Browed Elder politely invited Dragon Mountain Daoist to their ships, while the surrounding sects watched and waited for his response.

Dragon Mountain Daoist defeated two Heaven-Human Ranking experts who tried to stop the True Martial Sect, then led his disciples through the White Mist to Mist Island. The group found True Martial Hall and a stele announcing an examination for its inheritance, and Dragon Mountain Daoist led them inside.

• Dragon Mountain Daoist rejected the Black-Robed Saber Wielder and the White-Browed Elder, then overwhelmed them with his Heaven and Earth Power when they threatened the True Martial Sect.
• Ning Qi judged the White Mist to be a powerful formation and suggested the disciples use the True Martial Sect’s martial arts to find their way through it.
• Ning Qi studied the White Mist’s Mysterious Power, gained insights into formations, and reached Mist Island after the other disciples had gathered there.
• Dragon Mountain Daoist and the disciples saw the palaces and True Martial Hall, while Ning Qi sensed a powerful force in the hall’s inscription.
• Ye Qinghe found a stele stating that those who passed True Martial Hall’s examination could obtain the inheritance, and Dragon Mountain Daoist led the group toward the hall.

Ning Qi passed the True Martial Hall’s nine comprehension trials, learning powerful martial arts and reaching the Small True Martial Seal. He accepted the nine battle trials and defeated the first eight turtles, but the ninth opponent appeared as a Martial Saint Giant Turtle.

• The group entered the True Martial Hall and split among three portals according to their cultivation realms.
• Dragon Mountain Daoist was separated from Ning Qi and began studying the Yin-Yang Fist under an hourglass time limit.
• Ning Qi quickly passed the comprehension chambers, learned the Small True Martial Seal, and received the chance to continue for the other half of the inheritance.
• Ning Qi accepted the Heaven-Human Battle Nine Trials and defeated the first eight increasingly powerful giant turtles.
• A hundred-zhang Giant Turtle appeared as Ning Qi faced the ninth battle trial.

Ning Qi fought a Martial Saint-level Giant Turtle in the final trial, injured it before it fled, and was granted the Martial Saint-level True Martial Inheritance. In the Scripture Pavilion, he studied the Martial Saint methods and a secret art for alleviating Spiritual Qi’s poisonous substances, then asked the Hunchbacked Elder what those substances were.

• Ning Qi battled the Martial Saint-level Giant Turtle, using the Small True Martial Seal and Myriad Swords Return to Origin to injure it.
• The Giant Turtle began gathering strength for a decisive attack but fled after reacting to an unseen presence, and Ning Qi wondered whether he had passed the trial.
• A voice confirmed that Ning Qi had passed both sets of nine trials and could receive the Martial Saint-level True Martial Inheritance.
• Ning Qi entered a vast Scripture Pavilion, where the Hunchbacked Elder explained that he had earned only the Martial Saint-level inheritance and showed him the Martial Saint methods.
• Ning Qi studied the True Martial Scripture and learned how Martial Saints cultivated Dharma Power through their five organs and the Five Elements.
• The Hunchbacked Elder revealed a secret art for alleviating Spiritual Qi’s poisonous substances, and Ning Qi asked what those substances were.

Ning Qi learned from the Hunchbacked Elder that the Life Poison had merged with Spiritual Qi, afflicted the Martial Saints, and exacted a deadly backlash when discussed. Outside the True Martial Hall, Dragon Mountain Daoist defended the True Martial Sect from accusations that it had seized the inheritance, until a powerful newcomer demanded an explanation.

• The Hunchbacked Elder told Ning Qi that the Life Poison was an inescapable Rule Poison that consumed lifespan and Spiritual Souls, and explained how the Martial Saints had developed a secret art to lessen its effects.
• The Hunchbacked Elder endured severe backlash, said he could reveal more after Ning Qi reached the Martial Saint realm, and restored the Yu King Pearl so Ning Qi could carry away the Scripture Pavilion’s texts.
• Outside the True Martial Hall, martial artists suspected the True Martial Sect had obtained the inheritance when the mist expelled its entrants and sealed the ruin.
• Ye Qinghe led the True Martial Sect disciples toward Jade Serpent Island, but hostile martial artists accused the sect of monopolizing the inheritance.
• Dragon Mountain Daoist emerged, denied obtaining the inheritance, and defeated Old Man Purple Sword with the Yin-Yang Fist when the swordsman tried to provoke a confrontation.
• Luo Fu Swordmaster accused Dragon Mountain Daoist of passing the comprehension trial, but a distant voice declared that Dragon Mountain Daoist was unworthy of answering and demanded an explanation from him instead.

Ning Qi emerged from the True Martial Hall and found Old Taoist Longshan and the True Martial Sect under attack from Crimson Sun Martial Saint. After Ning Qi killed Luo Fu Swordmaster, Black Fiend Saber Sovereign, and White Eyebrow Superior, he battled Crimson Sun Martial Saint and began unleashing a far greater display of sword power.

• Crimson Sun Martial Saint arrived and injured Old Taoist Longshan, then threatened to kill the True Martial Sect disciples unless Heavenly Sword Real Person appeared.
• Black Fiend Saber Sovereign revealed that Ning Qi remained inside the mist, and Crimson Sun Martial Saint decided to wait for him.
• Ning Qi emerged riding a White True Dragon, healed Old Taoist Longshan, and used Heaven Swords to kill Luo Fu Swordmaster, Black Fiend Saber Sovereign, and White Eyebrow Superior.
• Crimson Sun Martial Saint attacked Ning Qi with a Golden Crow summoned from his Great Sun Compass, but Ning Qi's White Dragon overpowered it.
• Ning Qi declared that anyone who insulted his master must die, gathered Heaven and Earth Power, and invoked Myriad Swords Return to Origin.

Ning Qi overwhelmed Crimson Sun Martial Saint in battle, but Heaven Chopping Martial Saint intervened and ended the fight. As the True Martial Hall revealed itself as a gigantic turtle, Ning Qi realized the turtle had chosen a new owner for the Great Sun Compass.

• Ning Qi used ten thousand Heaven Swords to suppress Crimson Sun Martial Saint, then struck him with Innate Divine Sword Qi and beat him until he lost an arm and the Great Sun Compass.
• Heaven Chopping Martial Saint emerged from the mist and stopped the fight, ordering Crimson Sun Martial Saint to end it.
• Ning Qi denied taking the Great Sun Compass while Crimson Sun Martial Saint demanded it back.
• The mist withdrew to reveal that the supposed island and True Martial Hall were a gigantic turtle rising from the sea.
• The Giant Turtle addressed Heaven Chopping Martial Saint as an old friend, while Ning Qi concluded that it had chosen a new owner for the compass.

Ning Qi returned the True Martial Hall inheritance to the True Martial Sect, seized control of Crimson Sun Martial Saint’s Great Sun Compass, and began developing a method to filter Life Poison with Blade Demon. Meanwhile, Ancient Saints took renewed interest in the sect, and Old Daoist Baishan considered visiting True Martial Mountain.

• The Giant Turtle supported Ning Qi before sinking beneath the Black Sand Sea, and Heaven Chopping Martial Saint ended the dispute while Crimson Sun Martial Saint warned Ning Qi about the Great Sun Compass.
• Ning Qi brought Dragon Mountain Daoist and the others back to Bright Martial Pavilion, where he revealed the True Martial Inheritance and shared martial arts texts and the Nine Three Into One secret art.
• Ning Qi removed Crimson Sun Martial Saint’s imprint from the Great Sun Compass and claimed the fire-aligned treasure, while Crimson Sun Martial Saint resolved to wait for Sister Purple Moon before seeking revenge.
• Ning Qi gave Blade Demon the Martial Saint methods and the technique for weakening Life Poison, then began experimenting with him to develop the Life Poison Filtration Method.
• Ancient Saints investigated Ning Qi and the True Martial Sect, while Old Daoist Baishan wondered whether Ning Qi could become a crucial variable and considered visiting True Martial Mountain.

Old Daoist Baishan warned Ning Qi that Spirituality Revival would enlarge the world and threaten White Ape because of his Spirit Beast bloodline, while Ning Qi continued developing a way to filter Life Poison. At the Crimson Sun Sect, Purple Moon Martial Saint awakened and learned that Crimson Sun Martial Saint had lost an arm.

• Old Daoist Baishan visited Ning Qi, praised his Enlightenment Tea, and saw that Ning Qi had removed the Great Sun Compass's imprint.
• Old Daoist Baishan warned Ning Qi that Purple Moon Martial Saint might seek revenge for Crimson Sun Martial Saint, though Heaven Chopping Martial Saint was keeping the Ancient Saints in check for now.
• Old Daoist Baishan explained that Spirituality Revival would restore and enlarge the world, transform potential treasures, and awaken Spirit Beasts whose bloodlines could be endangered by Life Poison.
• Ning Qi considered how to help White Ape and Zhuang Chen safely benefit from Spirituality Revival, then continued deducing a Life Poison Filtration Method using Myriad Paths Intent.
• Purple Moon Martial Saint arrived at the Crimson Sun Sect, saw Crimson Sun Martial Saint's severed left arm, and asked what had happened to him.

Ning Qi created the Myriad Paths Nirvana Method, allowing him to purify Spiritual Qi and remove its Life Poison, while planning to strengthen his foundation before the Spirituality Revival. Meanwhile, Lan Yiyi escaped her execution at the Southern Border Ancestral Land by leading a revolt, and fought her way out as the land erupted into battle.

• Crimson Sun Martial Saint and Purple Moon Martial Saint agreed to conceal their grudge against Heaven Sword and wait for the Spirituality Revival to ambush him.
• Ning Qi refined a wisp of Spiritual Qi with his Myriad Paths Intent, formed the Nirvana Origin Fire, and successfully burned away its Life Poison.
• Ning Qi named his technique the Myriad Paths Nirvana Method, concluded that he needed more Spirituality before advancing, and shared a night of drinking with the Blade Demon.
• Ancient Saints returned and claimed territory across the Great Flame Dynasty, while Martial Arts Sects began shifting their allegiance toward them.
• Hong Yan and the Southern Border Alliance prepared to force Lan Yiyi to reveal the missing half of her lifespan, but she refused and used the moment to break free when her allies attacked.
• Lan Yiyi and her supporters fought through the Southern Border Ancestral Land as she fled, taking advantage of the Gu God's slumber and the removal of her tracking mark.

Ning Qi and Qin Yun rushed to save Lan Yiyi after her Shared Fate Gu signaled that she was in mortal danger. They arrived just in time to destroy the Southern Border Alliance force surrounding her, and Lan Yiyi was reunited with Qin Yun.

• Ning Qi sensed the aura he had left on Lan Yiyi erupt, and Qin Yun hurried to the Seeking Dao Institute, begging him to save her.
• Ning Qi and Qin Yun flew toward the Ten Thousand Mountains as Qin Yun explained that the Southern Border Gu God had likely raised Lan Yiyi as a sacrifice connected to the Blood Emperor Gu.
• Lan Yiyi escaped into the depths of the Ten Thousand Mountains and realized the Southern Border Alliance had manipulated events to force her toward them.
• Hong Yan and the Southern Border Alliance surrounded Lan Yiyi and demanded the location of the other half of her lifespan, then attacked when she refused to cooperate.
• Ning Qi and Qin Yun arrived on the White True Dragon, and the dragon quickly slaughtered the surrounding Southern Border experts.
• Ning Qi told Lan Yiyi that he had not revealed the Shared Fate Gu to Qin Yun, and Lan Yiyi blushed as she reunited with Qin Yun.

After revealing that the Gu God might be Lan Yiyi’s blood relative, Ning Qi led her and Qin Yun to the Southern Border Ancestral Land and attacked its defenses. The Gu God survived the destruction and appeared before them, calling Lan Yiyi his daughter.

• Lan Yiyi agreed to join True Martial Sect, then warned Ning Qi that the Gu God planned to use her Life Essence to reach the Flawless Martial Saint Realm.
• Ning Qi examined Lan Yiyi’s blood and Secret Method, suspected she and the Gu God were blood relatives, and brought her and Qin Yun to the ancestral land.
• Ning Qi surrounded the ancestral land with a White Mist formation and destroyed its guards and Ancestral Hall with Heaven Swords.
• The Gu God emerged alive from the ruins, and Lan Yiyi felt a powerful Bloodline resonance with him.
• The Gu God called Lan Yiyi his daughter and said his efforts to cultivate her had not been wasted.

Ning Qi fought the Gu God after learning that the man was Lan Yiyi’s father and had forged a Geng Metal Spirit Body by fusing with the Metal Devouring Gu. Though the Gu God survived Ning Qi’s Innate Divine Sword Qi, Ning Qi exposed the spirit body’s weakness and summoned the Yu King Pearl and Great Sun Compass to unleash two True Dragons against him.

• The Gu God revealed that Lan Yiyi was his daughter and demanded that Ning Qi hand her and Qin Yun over, but Ning Qi refused and identified a golden skeleton inside the Gu God’s body.
• Ning Qi and the Gu God exchanged attacks, and Ning Qi used Innate Divine Sword Qi to destroy the Gu God’s flesh while leaving his golden skeleton intact.
• Lan Yiyi recognized the skeleton as the result of the Gu God fusing with the Metal Devouring Gu, and the Gu God named it his Geng Metal Spirit Body and demanded Lan Yiyi’s Life Essence to perfect it.
• Ning Qi judged that the spirit body lacked resilience despite its hardness, then summoned the Yu King Pearl and Great Sun Compass.
• The Yu King Pearl empowered the White Dragon as the Great Sun Compass formed a Crimson Flame True Dragon, and the two dragons advanced together against the Gu God.

Ning Qi defeated Gu God and refined his body into a Geng Metal Spirit Skeleton, adding a third Five Elements treasure to his plans for advancing when the Spirituality Revival arrived. With Lan Yiyi freed and reunited with Qin Yun, Ning Qi learned how Southern Border Life-Bound Gu were awakened and asked where Gu God’s Secret Method came from.

• Ning Qi used the Water-Fire Twin Dragons to overpower Gu God, trap him, and slowly refine away his imprint while preserving his Geng Metal Spirit Skeleton.
• Ning Qi took the Spirit Skeleton and considered how it, the Yu King Pearl, and the Great Sun Compass could help him reach the Third Realm Martial Saint during the Spirituality Revival.
• Lan Yiyi thanked Ning Qi for killing Gu God, and Ning Qi teased her and Qin Yun about her one day calling him Ninth Junior Brother.
• Ning Qi searched the ruined Southern Border Ancestral Land, then asked Lan Yiyi how Southern Border Life-Bound Gu were inherited and awakened.
• Lan Yiyi explained that a coming-of-age ritual and Southern Border bloodline awakened each person’s Gu, and offered Ning Qi the Baptism Secret Technique.
• Ning Qi asked Lan Yiyi where the Secret Method given to Gu God by the Gu God Cult had originated.

Ning Qi left the ruined Southern Border Ancestral Land after suspecting someone had planted the Gu God’s secret method, then returned to True Martial Mountain with Lan Yiyi and Qin Yun. The North Suppressing King arrived on behalf of the Great Yan Martial Saint and granted the True Martial Sect an expanded territory around True Martial Mountain.

• Ning Qi erased traces of the battle in the Southern Border Ancestral Land and departed with Lan Yiyi and Qin Yun, while a Black-Robed Person later investigated the ruins and vowed to find those responsible.
• Ning Qi returned to True Martial Mountain with Lan Yiyi and Qin Yun, and announced that Lan Yiyi would join the True Martial Sect.
• Luo Wentian told Ning Qi that the North Suppressing King had arrived to designate territory for the True Martial Sect on behalf of the Great Yan Martial Saint.
• Ning Qi met the North Suppressing King, agreed to place the territory around True Martial Mountain, and accepted the additional land the Great Yan Martial Saint had included as a gesture of goodwill.