Chapter Summaries

Ding Ling returned from the Everlasting Youth Valley, continued cultivating and governing, and decided to abdicate in favor of Xiao Feng. Xiao Feng reluctantly accepted after Ding Ling explained that he was preparing to ascend, leaving the transfer of power set for three days later.

• Ding Ling and Li Canghai descended the Sky Ladder, which vanished beneath the restored stone stele after they left the Everlasting Youth Valley.
• Ding Ling returned to Luoyang with the South Heaven Gate plaque and discovered that it was too powerful and difficult to carry or refine, so he stored it in the Imperial Study.
• Ding Ling guided Li Canghai, Li Qinglu, Zhong Ling, and Mu Wanqing in their cultivation while he finished reading the tenth batch of books and advanced his Martial Furnace progress to 50%.
• Ding Ling summoned Xiao Feng and offered him the throne, praising his ability and arguing that his Khitan origins did not make him unfit to rule.
• Xiao Feng accepted after Ding Ling said he would ascend and announced that he would abdicate in three days.

Ding Ling abdicated in favor of Xiao Feng, then ascended from the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils World and chose Wind and Cloud as his next destination. After he left, Xiao Feng secured the Sky Ladder against troublemakers, while Ding Ling’s companions stayed behind to cultivate and await his return.

• Ding Ling abdicated after three days, retired to Chang'an as Grand Emperor with his consorts, and told them he would soon leave for the upper realm.
• When unrest stirred among surrounding nations, Ding Ling warned that he could return to punish rebels, and Xiao Feng and Xiao Yuanshan were impressed by his support.
• Ding Ling completed his missions, opened the Sky Ladder at the Ten Mile Ancient Pavilion, chose Wind and Cloud, and entered that world after exchanging for a Genuine Rank 2 Pill.
• After Ding Ling ascended, Qin Qiong and Li Xunhuan also climbed the Sky Ladder, while Zhong Ling, Mu Wanqing, Li Qinglu, and Li Canghai returned to Chang'an to cultivate.
• Xiao Feng investigated schemes against the Great Ming Empire, restricted access to the Sky Ladder, and used divine archers to stop Ascenders from stirring up disorder.

Ding Ling arrived in the Wind and Cloud world after a collision during his ascension and set out for Lingyun Grotto to claim its opportunities. Along the way, he activated the Path of Glory and maximized the Human Emperor Breathing Method and Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, whose sudden physical gains left him desperately hungry.

• Ding Ling awoke in a forest after colliding with a mysterious black light during his ascension, then surveyed the area and rode east toward a household.
• Ding Ling activated the Wind and Cloud world's Path of Glory and chose the World's Finest path.
• Ding Ling set Lingyun Grotto as his destination, hoping to reach it before players disrupted the world and its powerful figures emerged.
• Ding Ling maximized the Human Emperor Breathing Method, gaining charm and an imposing aura of imperial righteousness.
• Ding Ling maximized the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, gaining inner force, strength, constitution, and defense, but its rapid growth left him nearly fainting from hunger.
• Ding Ling caught a spotted deer, drank its blood, and ate its raw meat to replenish his energy.

Ding Ling’s Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill left him dangerously hungry as his strength, constitution, and defense continued rising, forcing him to slaughter beasts and buy Great Medicine. After arriving in a city ruled by the Underworld Society, he met Lu Yi, lord of the Hero King Manor, who offered to sell him more medicinal materials.

• Ding Ling awoke to find a tiger attacking his two Ferghana Horses, killed it with Six Meridian Divine Sword, and healed the horses with Longevity Supreme Qi.
• Ding Ling realized the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill had raised his strength, constitution, and defense by nine points each and was still improving them, so he ate hundreds of beasts to ease his extreme hunger.
• Ding Ling rode east to a city marked by the Underworld Society and bought fifty stalks of Great Medicine with one hundred taels of gold, but the herbs could not satisfy his depleted body.
• Manager Wang reported Ding Ling’s purchase to Lu Yi, lord of the Hero King Manor, who caught up with Ding Ling and asked whether he had more gold to buy the manor’s medicinal materials.

Ding Ling accepted Lu Yi’s invitation to the Hero King Manor, where Lu Yi tried to poison him and steal his Storage Bag. Ding Ling exposed the scheme, defeated Lu Yi and his people, and left Lu Yi terrified.

• Ding Ling followed Lu Yi to the Hero King Manor to buy medicinal herbs.
• Lu Yi served Ding Ling poisoned tea and planned to force him to surrender his Storage Bag.
• Ding Ling attacked Lu Yi with ice shards, but Lu Yi’s sword could not penetrate his protective shield.
• Ding Ling used the Life and Death Talisman to torment Lu Yi, then used a sound attack to incapacitate Lu Yi’s son and guards.
• Ding Ling spared the maid and used the Tianshan Six Sun Palm to end Lu Yi’s torment.
• The achievement notice revealed that Manager Wang had told Lu Yi about Ding Ling’s Storage Bag, prompting Lu Yi’s plot to poison and control him.

Ding Ling forced Lu Yi to hand over Hero King Manor’s Great Medicine, then consumed it to recover from his hunger and weakness. After reading the manor’s library, he learned that Lu Yi sent the oldest medicines to Xiong Ba and left with his knowledge and martial arts foundation improved.

• Ding Ling demanded Hero King Manor’s Great Medicine, and Lu Yi obeyed while fearing the ice shard inside him.
• Ding Ling drank the poisoned tea unharmed, while a dog that licked it died and Lu Lian received an Achievement Medal for being intimidated.
• Lu Yi’s servants brought hundreds of medicinal plants, and Ding Ling ate them until his hunger and weakness subsided.
• Lu Yi revealed that he sent five- and six-hundred-year-old Great Medicine to Xiong Ba, and Ding Ling asked to see the library.
• Ding Ling read more than ten thousand books, mastered the available martial arts manuals, and increased his furnace-body progress to 51%.

Ding Ling found the Hero King Manor’s hidden treasury, mastered its secret techniques, and forced Lu Yi and Lu Lian to obey him. As he prepared to leave for Leshan Giant Buddha, Lu Yi warned that the Underworld Society might already be coming after him.

• Ding Ling tormented Lu Yi with the Life and Death Talisman until Lu Lian revealed the hidden entrance to the Hero King Manor’s treasury.
• Ding Ling took the Hero King Sword, mastered the Hero King Swordplay and Hero King Manual, and learned three other First-Rate secret manuals.
• Ding Ling marked Lu Lian with the Life and Death Talisman and ordered him to serve, then made Lu Yi pledge the Hero King Manor’s intelligence network to him.
• Ding Ling suppressed Lu Yi’s pain and demanded that the manor gather intelligence, Great Medicine, and secret manuals for him.
• Ding Ling consumed medicinal wine and Great Medicine, prepared to leave for Leshan Giant Buddha, and learned from Lu Yi that the Underworld Society might be approaching after Lu Yi reported his Storage Bag to Xiong Ba.

Ding Ling took the Ice Soul from the Hero King’s corpse and escaped the shrine’s Blood Fiend resentment with his Buddhist energy and Upright Qi. As he left the Hero King Manor, the Tianchi Twelve Fiends confronted him, and he killed Iron Broom Immortal by reflecting the man’s attack back at him.

• Ding Ling used Dragon Capture Skill to pull the Ice Soul from the Hero King’s mouth, causing the corpse to crumble into ashes.
• Ding Ling considered the Hero King’s strength and the shrine’s life-gathering terrain, which might have allowed the Hero King to revive.
• Ding Ling washed the Ice Soul and stored it, then dispersed the Blood Fiend resentment with his Buddhist energy and Upright Qi.
• Ding Ling left the manor and mounted a Ferghana Horse as three leaders and their red-clad men confronted him, demanding to see Lü Yi.
• Iron Broom Immortal attacked Ding Ling from behind, but Ding Ling’s Star Shift redirected the iron broom and killed him with his own strike.

Ding Ling killed Iron Broom Immortal, Dog King, Xi Bao, and their companions, then absorbed their Inner Force and learned the Howl God Manual. He continued east toward the Leshan Giant Buddha and Lingyun Grotto to seek the Ten Styles of Martial Arts, while managing the hunger caused by the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.

• Ding Ling defeated the group with his sonic arts and Six Meridian Divine Sword, killing them and earning achievement medals for intimidating Iron Broom Immortal, Dog King, and Xi Bao.
• Ding Ling absorbed Inner Force from the corpses, increased his True Force Value to 23, and reflected on how the Heavenly Longevity Everlasting Youth Skill could draw force from the dead.
• Ding Ling found the Howl God Manual on Dog King's corpse and instantly mastered it, gaining attribute increases and a powerful new sonic art.
• Ding Ling rode east toward the Leshan Giant Buddha and Lingyun Grotto to learn Wu Wudi's Ten Styles of Martial Arts.
• As the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill continued to raise his attributes, Ding Ling stopped along the way to eat meat and buy medicinal wine and medicine to ease his growing hunger.

Ding Ling refused Bu Jingyun’s demand for the Ice Soul, and the two fought on the road. Ding Ling defeated Bu Jingyun and took a scroll of Saint Spirit Swordplay, leaving Bu Jingyun downed beside Kong Ci’s coffin.

• Ding Ling encountered Bu Jingyun, who carried Kong Ci’s coffin and demanded the Ice Soul to preserve her corpse.
• Ding Ling refused to hand over the Ice Soul, and Bu Jingyun set down the coffin before attacking with Cloud Dispelling Palm.
• Ding Ling countered with Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms, defeated Bu Jingyun’s first attack, and seized a fallen scroll with Dragon Capture Skill.
• Ding Ling recognized the scroll as Saint Spirit Swordplay and put it in his Storage Bag.
• Bu Jingyun attacked again, but Ding Ling shattered his Cloud Dispelling Palm with Void Palm and knocked him down with White Rainbow Palm Force.

Qin Shuang intervened to save Bu Jingyun from Ding Ling, then offered the Tianshuang Fist manual in exchange for Bu Jingyun’s life. The group reached a secluded pavilion, where Qin Shuang began writing out the complete martial art for Ding Ling.

• Qin Shuang rushed in and took Ding Ling’s White Rainbow Palm Force to protect Bu Jingyun, suffering severe injuries.
• Qin Shuang apologized for Bu Jingyun’s attack and pleaded with Ding Ling to spare his junior brother.
• Ding Ling agreed to spare Bu Jingyun in exchange for Qin Shuang’s Tianshuang Fist manual.
• Qin Shuang carried the coffin and supported the unconscious Bu Jingyun as they left, while onlookers discussed Ding Ling’s strength and identity.
• At a secluded pavilion, Ding Ling gave Qin Shuang writing supplies, and Qin Shuang began recording the Tianshuang Fist’s techniques and cultivation formulas.

Ding Ling mastered Qin Shuang’s Tianshuang Fist and the Saint Spirit Swordplay, while Qin Shuang learned that Xiong Ba had withheld most of the fist’s techniques and that Kong Ci’s twin sister, Ding Ning, was in Nameless God Palace. Ding Ling rode on, sensing that the Saint Spirit Swordplay might have a twenty-third move.

• Ding Ling instantly brought the Tianshuang Fist’s internal and external formulas to full level, then told Qin Shuang that the art was missing six moves.
• Qin Shuang lamented Xiong Ba’s betrayal and watched Ding Ling leave, wondering at his extraordinary talent.
• Qin Shuang found Ding Ling’s note revealing that Kong Ci’s twin younger sister, Ding Ning, had been planted as a maid in Nameless God Palace.
• Ding Ling received achievement medals for intimidating Bu Jingyun and Qin Shuang and earning Qin Shuang’s recognition.
• Ding Ling read a scroll and mastered the Saint Spirit Swordplay through Sword Twenty-Two, sensing that a Sword Twenty-Three might exist.

Ding Ling reached Lingyun Grotto at the Leshan Giant Buddha and entered in search of its treasures, while players outside celebrated him as their champion. Deep inside, he encountered a fierce-looking man who challenged his right to be there.

• Ding Ling traveled east to the Leshan Giant Buddha and learned that players and local Natives had flooded into Lingyun Grotto, where the Fire Kirin had killed many of them.
• Ding Ling left his horse at a nearby farmstead, pushed through the crowd, and entered the grotto using Lingbo Microstep.
• Players outside identified Ding Ling as their strongest Outsider and invoked his reputation to stand up to the local Natives.
• Ding Ling traveled more than a dozen li through the twisting grotto without finding the Blood Bodhi or Snow Drinking Saber.
• A powerful, fierce-looking man confronted Ding Ling and questioned his courage, and Ding Ling replied by asking why the man could enter when he could not.

Ding Ling defeated Dugu Ming in Lingyun Grotto and tortured him into revealing the Dragon Subduing Divine Leg. After learning and mastering the technique, Ding Ling refined the gathered energy into Longevity True Water, bringing his True Force Value to 24.

• Dugu Ming confronted Ding Ling and demanded that he surrender the opportunity he had found in Lingyun Grotto.
• Ding Ling reflected Dugu Ming's Dragon Subduing Divine Leg with Star Shift, then subdued him with One Finger Shooting Zen and the Life and Death Talisman.
• Ding Ling eased Dugu Ming's torment and forced him to recite and demonstrate the Dragon Subduing Divine Leg.
• Ding Ling mastered the Dragon Subduing Divine Leg after one demonstration and gained its inner force and physical attributes.
• Ding Ling refined the gathered primordial energy into Longevity True Water, raising his True Force Value to 24.

Ding Ling killed Dugu Ming after draining his Inner Force, then fought Shi Wuzun, Unrivaled City's protector, who came to avenge the young city lord. Ding Ling overwhelmed Shi Wuzun with the White Rainbow Palm Force and Dragon Subduing Divine Leg, leaving him battered and demanding to know who he was.

• Ding Ling's aura shocked Dugu Ming, and he absorbed Dugu Ming's Inner Force before killing him with the Heart Shattering Palm.
• Shi Wuzun arrived, found Dugu Ming dead, and demanded that Ding Ling return to Unrivaled City for judgment.
• Shi Wuzun attacked Ding Ling with Buddha's Palm, but Ding Ling used Star Shift to rebound his attacks.
• Ding Ling's White Rainbow Palm Force shattered Shi Wuzun's palm force and crushed the bones in one of his arms.
• Ding Ling struck Shi Wuzun with Slaying Dragon to Seek Dao, overwhelming his Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage and hurling him into the passage wall.
• Ding Ling approached the injured Shi Wuzun, who asked who he was and how someone so young had become so powerful.

Ding Ling absorbed Shi Wuzun’s cultivation, killed him, and found a map of Lingyun Grotto and the Buddha’s Palm manual among his belongings. After instantly mastering Buddha’s Palm, Ding Ling’s power increased, and he continued onward with new knowledge of the grotto and its dangers.

• Ding Ling absorbed Shi Wuzun’s Inner Force, gained two minor cultivation stages, and intimidated him.
• Ding Ling used the Canhe Finger to kill Shi Wuzun and took two scrolls from him.
• Ding Ling escaped through the passage and discovered that one scroll mapped part of Lingyun Grotto, including the Fire Kirin’s location.
• Ding Ling read the second scroll and instantly mastered Buddha’s Palm, raising his True Force Value to 27 points.
• Ding Ling learned the art’s difficult cultivation requirements and decided to search the corpses of enemies for manuals and treasures.

Ding Ling encountered the Fire Kirin in Lingyun Grotto and saw Ice Emperor freeze the beast before the Heaven's Gate disciple challenged him. Ding Ling unleashed Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage against Ice Emperor's Snow Blood Claw, and their techniques collided in the passage.

• Ding Ling traveled through Lingyun Grotto, avoiding other experts as he searched for Blood Bodhi and martial arts techniques.
• Ding Ling encountered the Fire Kirin as it charged through a passage, then fled to avoid fighting it.
• Ice Emperor appeared, froze the Fire Kirin with his cold energy, and introduced himself as a disciple of Di Shitian under Heaven's Gate.
• Ding Ling asked Ice Emperor to part peacefully, but Ice Emperor refused and attacked him.
• Ding Ling countered with Great Perfection Buddha's Palm, amplified by Fused Strength, while Ice Emperor unleashed Snow Blood Claw.
• Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage and Snow Blood Claw collided repeatedly in the passage.

Ding Ling defeated Ice Emperor with Buddha’s Palm, claimed the dead Fire Kirin’s corpse, and pursued Ice Emperor through Lingyun Grotto. He left Ice Emperor fleeing as Xiong Ba and Child Emperor watched the growing crowd of powerful fighters with alarm.

• Ding Ling’s Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage overwhelmed Ice Emperor’s Snow Blood Claw and forced him to flee.
• Ding Ling found the Fire Kirin dead, stored its corpse in a Storage Bag, and followed Ice Emperor’s trail.
• Ding Ling caught up to Ice Emperor, who questioned his Buddha’s Palm and astonishing lightness kung fu, and earned a D-Rank Achievement Medal for breaking Ice Emperor’s pride.
• Xiong Ba and Child Emperor witnessed Ding Ling pursuing Ice Emperor and agreed that Lingyun Grotto had become too dangerous.

Xiong Ba and Child Emperor discovered that powerful unknown martial artists were active in Lingyun Grotto and decided to seek information and an alliance. Meanwhile, Ice Emperor fled deeper into the grotto with Ding Ling pursuing him, until they encountered someone approaching.

• Xiong Ba ordered the Underworld Society to keep a low profile and told Child Emperor to question the Outsiders about the mysterious experts and Heaven's Gate.
• Xiong Ba and Child Emperor examined the battle traces left by Ice Emperor and Ding Ling and realized the fighters' power far surpassed their own.
• Child Emperor proposed that Xiong Ba investigate the imposing young man and consider marrying him to You Ruo; Xiong Ba began to seriously consider the alliance.
• Ice Emperor rushed deeper into a dark passage while Ding Ling pursued him and repeatedly broke his Snow Blood Claw attacks with Buddha's Palm.
• After about half an hour, Ice Emperor and Ding Ling saw someone walking toward them from ahead in the passage.

Ding Ling fought the Ice Emperor and Divine General, then fled when their combined attacks began overwhelming his Buddha’s Palm. He escaped into the Fire Kirin’s dwelling and found a strange magma pool at its center.

• Divine General arrived and joined the Ice Emperor against Ding Ling, revealing that he had joined Heaven's Gate ahead of the expected events.
• Ding Ling used Ten Thousand Buddhas Paying Homage to battle both Great Grandmasters, but their frost and Fire Thunder attacks began destroying his defenses.
• Ding Ling withdrew and fled, while the Ice Emperor and Divine General pursued him.
• Ding Ling followed his map to the Fire Kirin’s dwelling and entered its vast cavern.
• Ding Ling found a red-and-black magma pool circling in a Taiji pattern and used Mechanism Art, formation techniques, and Feng Shui Art to identify a crucial point.