Chapter Summaries

Lin Chen killed Li Yuan after proving that his transformed strength could overwhelm a Fourth Rank martial artist, then returned to camp and told Jia Nanzhu about his breakthrough. News of Lin Chen’s survival reached the Great Liang capital, where Kong Qifeng was summoned to hear important military intelligence.

• Li Yuan tried to flee toward Zhao Kingdom, but Lin Chen struck him with hidden flying knives, seized him, and burned him to ash.
• The Zhao Kingdom and Great Liang troops witnessed Lin Chen’s power and suspected that he was connected to Great Liang.
• Lin Chen returned to the Taizhou military camp, told Jia Nanzhu he had Fourth Rank strength, and revealed that he had slain Li Yuan.
• Lin Chen and Jia Nanzhu bid farewell to Ge Hongyi and left the military camp.
• Kong Qifeng received Ge Hongyi’s letter confirming Lin Chen was alive, then hurried to the Imperial Palace after a messenger summoned him about important military intelligence.

Yan Imperial Dynasty envoys arrived during the battle between Great Liang and the Han Country, killed hundreds with a single Sword Qi strike, and demanded that the Nine Kingdoms’ sovereigns appear before them. Lin Chen returned safely to Poyang County, reunited with his village and family, and planned to stay for a while.

• Xiao Yaojin fought with the Zhenbei Army until they broke the Han Country’s left wing, but six Yan Imperial Dynasty envoys arrived and ordered both armies to stop.
• When the armies kept fighting, a middle-aged envoy unleashed Sword Qi that killed hundreds of martial artists, prompting Xiao Pingyao and Han Country leaders to approach cautiously.
• The envoys demanded that every sovereign on the island come pay respects, and Lu Lixin persuaded them to go to the Han Country’s capital; the Han army withdrew with them.
• Xiao Pingyao decided to send an urgent report to the Liang court about the Yan Imperial Dynasty’s arrival.
• Lin Chen returned alive to Poyang County, where Zhao Canghu welcomed him and urged him to visit his parents.
• Lin Chen reunited with his elder brother and Chen Ting, held his infant niece Zhao’er, and took her home to meet her grandparents.

Lin Chen learned from Jia Nanzhu that powerful Martial Artists from the Yan Imperial Dynasty had arrived in the Nine Kingdoms, then traveled to Jiang Manor to meet Zhuang Min and his future in-laws. The chapter left Lin Chen visiting with Jiang Duanchao’s guests while Zhuang Min learned that his strength was nearing the Upper Grade and might soon surpass her husband’s.

• Lin Chen returned home, enjoyed his mother’s fermented fish, and reunited with his family.
• Jia Nanzhu showed Lin Chen Lord Kong’s letter about the Yan Imperial Dynasty’s Martial Artists, and Lin Chen explained the higher realms and the Yan Imperial Dynasty’s advantages.
• Lin Chen left for Raozhou Prefecture to see Instructor Yu and visit his future mother-in-law at Jiang Manor.
• Jiang Duanchao introduced Lin Chen to Uncle Zheng, Zheng Xiyin, Yang Qiu, Jiang Cheng, and Chu Xi, while Chu Xi recognized how far Lin Chen had surpassed her expectations.
• Zhuang Min heard that Lin Chen showed signs of nearing the Upper Grade and joked that her husband might lose to his future son-in-law.

Lin Chen returned the jade pendant to Zhuang Min, who told him it had come from a flower-loving senior and allowed him to keep it. At Jiang Manor, he revealed his Fourth Rank cultivation to Jiang Duanchao and fought him, leaving his father-in-law impressed and sore-handed.

• Lin Chen told Zhuang Min that the jade pendant had protected him from the Li Fire, and she explained its ability to sense rare flowers and herbs before letting him keep it.
• After seeing the guests off, Jiang Duanchao warned Lin Chen that powerful martial artists would target him and challenged him to prove his claim that Middle-Grade Martial Artists could not defeat him.
• At the Training Ground, Lin Chen revealed that he had reached the Fourth Rank, surprising Jiang Duanchao.
• Lin Chen struck Jiang Duanchao with the Heavenly Evolution Myriad Manifestations Destruction Palm, then overwhelmed him with the Wind Cloud Palm.
• Lin Chen ended the spar without injuring Jiang Duanchao, who concealed his reddened hands and dismissed him from the manor.

Lin Chen returned to Martial Path Mountain and began a new streak of challenges while Elder Du learned of his progress and registered him as his Core Disciple. As Gao Zeming prepared to bring Lin Chen to the Azure Ripple Sect, Murong Yan refused to meet the Jiuque Sect disciples, while Murong Xin agreed to go.

• Lin Chen resumed challenging on Martial Path Mountain, defeating Wei Yichen with the Azure Ripple Finger and continuing through several thousand battles over three days.
• The Martial Path Mountain steward reported Lin Chen's return and ranking to the Azure Ripple Sect, prompting Gao Zeming to inform Du Xiaofeng.
• Du Xiaofeng concealed Lin Chen's true achievements from Zhao Yulin and Elder Qu, then accepted Lin Chen as his Core Disciple and registered him at the Name Registration Hall.
• Du Xiaofeng instructed Gao Zeming to take Qin Yan and Gu Kong to bring Lin Chen back to the Azure Ripple Sect.
• Murong Shuang told Murong Yan and Murong Xin that their aunt wanted them to meet the young disciples from the Jiuque Sect; Murong Yan refused, and Murong Xin agreed to go.

Lin Chen strengthened his soul and refined his control over divine sense, while the countries gathered in Han Country faced a new political threat from Jialuo Sect’s promised arrival. The chapter left the balance among the Nine Kingdoms uncertain as Elephant Kingdom gained the backing of another force from the Yan Imperial Dynasty.

• Lin Chen reached the top twenty thousand on Martial Path Mountain, raising his Spirit Rank to 9.0, then practiced the Thousand Machine Divine Refining Technique with thirty-six flying knives.
• Lin Chen spent sixty thousand points to exchange for five Soul Tempering Fires, which improved his soul’s fine perception and allowed his divine sense to cut leaves with the flying knives.
• In Ice City, Fei Jun welcomed the visiting rulers and representatives, then showed his displeasure that Liang Kingdom, Elephant Kingdom, and Yan Kingdom had not sent their rulers by having three chairs removed.
• Yu Sanghua explained that Elephant Kingdom’s ruler had stayed away because Jialuo Sect had announced that its seniors would soon arrive.
• The gathered countries realized that Jialuo Sect could favor Elephant Kingdom, while Yu Sanghua took comfort in the sect’s assurance that Jiuque Sect was no threat.

Fei Jun subjugated the Nine Kingdoms, demanding territory and talented disciples for the Jiuque Sect, while news of the wider Yan Imperial Dynasty spread. The chapter ended with Fei Jun learning that the martial garden’s Garden Master was also in the Xiantian Realm after his junior brother returned injured.

• Fei Jun overwhelmed Yu Sanghua, crippled his right leg, and threatened the Nine Kingdoms while announcing that the Jiuque Sect would recruit disciples.
• Fei Jun claimed Zhao Kingdom’s Cloud Cauldron Mother Tree and ordered Great Liang to surrender Soaring Cloud City within seven days.
• News spread that the Nine Kingdoms were a small island within the vast Yan Imperial Dynasty, and that the Jiuque Sect would select disciples.
• Zhao Kingdom’s monarch abdicated, placing the kingdom under the Profound Nether Sect and its territory under the sect’s control.
• Fei Jun decided to prioritize other sites rich in Xiantian Energy, but his injured junior brother returned and revealed that the Garden Master was in the Xiantian Realm.

Fei Jun and Jiang Feng assessed the Martial Garden Master and the Nine Kingdoms’ abundant Xiantian Energy, while Yan Imperial Dynasty forces began invading and exploiting the kingdoms. After Wu Kingdom’s royal family was massacred and Yan Kingdom faced an approaching threat, Murong Yan decided to flee to Liang Kingdom rather than seek refuge with the Jiuque Sect in Han Country.

• Jiang Feng told Fei Jun that the Martial Garden Master was nearly a Xiantian Second Realm expert, and they guessed an outside expert had once guided him.
• Fei Jun planned to claim Soaring Cloud City, while Jiang Feng urged him to request Jiuque Sect reinforcements to secure the Nine Kingdoms’ Xiantian Energy.
• Several Yan Imperial Dynasty groups arrived, discussing taking native martial artists as miners and selling beautiful women.
• News spread that a Yan Imperial Dynasty martial artist had killed Wu Kingdom’s royal family after its Empress refused him, while rulers in Qi Kingdom and Zheng Kingdom also faced threats.
• Murong Xin offered to seek help from Jiuque Sect, but Su Qin reported that Yan Imperial Dynasty martial artists were heading for Yan Kingdom.
• Murong Yan rejected fleeing to Han Country and resolved to take her sisters to Liang Kingdom instead.

Lin Chen learned that Yan Imperial Dynasty sects were taking control of the Nine Kingdoms and returned to Martial Path Mountain to grow stronger. In Ice City, the sect leaders argued over dividing the Nine Kingdoms’ Xiantian Energy sources, while Han Country’s officials watched their homeland being carved up.

• Jia Nanzhu told Lin Chen that Yan Imperial Dynasty martial artists had subdued kingdoms across the region and might soon turn toward Great Liang.
• Lin Chen read a letter saying Jiuque Sect had invited only Yan Imperial Dynasty forces to a meeting in Ice City to redraw the Nine Kingdoms.
• Lin Chen resolved to enter Martial Path Mountain’s top ten thousand so he could contact the Azure Ripple Sect, then won eight hundred ranking battles in one day.
• At the Ice City meeting, Jialuo Sect secured the Elephant Kingdom, while Fei Jun’s claim that Jiuque Sect should control Han Country’s resources met resistance.
• The gathered sect leaders proposed dividing the Nine Kingdoms’ Xiantian Energy sources among themselves, and Han Country’s officials lamented that outsiders were carving up their homeland.

Lin Chen entered the top ten thousand on Martial Path Mountain and challenged Xing Youning of the Azure Ripple Sect to seek help for Great Liang. After Xing Youning learned Lin Chen had won ninety thousand consecutive battles, he agreed to admit defeat and report Lin Chen’s situation to the sect elders.

• Lin Chen reached rank ten thousand and chose to challenge Xing Youning, hoping to contact the Azure Ripple Sect without publicly relying on his token or identity.
• Xing Youning entered Martial Path Mountain and learned that Lin Chen had obtained an Azure Ripple Token, remained on an island in a Desolate Land, and had cultivated the Boundless Divine Aspect Art.
• Lin Chen told Xing Youning that sects from the Yan Imperial Dynasty, including the Jiuque Sect, Profound Nether Sect, and Jialuo Sect, threatened his homeland, and Xing Youning offered to report the matter to the elders.
• Xing Youning expected Lin Chen to admit defeat, but Lin Chen explained that surrendering would end his winning streak.
• After Lin Chen revealed that he had won ninety thousand consecutive battles, Xing Youning was shocked and volunteered to admit defeat and bring the matter to the sect.

Xing Youning reported Lin Chen’s rise on Martial Path Mountain and revealed that he had won ninety thousand battles in a row despite living on an overseas island. The Azure Ripple Sect’s elders agreed to help protect Lin Chen’s homeland and prepared to strengthen his Azure Ripple Token, while several elders began maneuvering to win him as a disciple.

• Xing Youning told the elders that Lin Chen had risen from rank forty thousand to the top ten thousand and had won ninety thousand consecutive battles.
• Qu Guanfu realized that Du Xiaofeng had outmaneuvered him and Zhao An by secretly securing Lin Chen as his Core Disciple.
• Xing Youning explained that Lin Chen lived on an overseas island where other sects threatened the local balance of power and his homeland.
• The elders agreed that Lin Chen’s demonstrated talent warranted the sect’s protection and told Xing Youning to obtain the number on his Azure Ripple Token.
• Xing Youning returned from Martial Path Mountain with the token number 7460, and Zhou Zhifeng promised the sect would reward him while ordering him to keep the matter secret.

Great Liang resisted Profound Nether Sect’s demand to seize Soaring Cloud City, and Pei Qingming wounded the Xiantian elder Liao Kai with the help of Great Liang’s martial artists. Four more Xiantian Martial Artists arrived as Emperor Liang Jing received a letter from Lin Chen, leaving Great Liang’s stand on the verge of a greater confrontation.

• Profound Nether Sect’s disciples demanded that Great Liang abandon Soaring Cloud City and disband Soaring Cloud Martial Arts Academy, but Kong Qifeng refused to yield the city.
• Pei Qingming arrived and fought Profound Nether Sect elder Liao Kai after Liao Kai demanded his Sword Will; Pei Qingming used Soaring Cloud Power to wound him.
• Kong Qifeng and two other First Rank Martial Artists attacked Liao Kai while Fang Funan, Yu Sanghua, and four elders burned their essence blood to strengthen Pei Qingming’s strike.
• Pei Qingming called for basic rights for Great Liang’s martial artists, but four more Xiantian Martial Artists arrived, and Emperor Liang Jing received a letter from Lin Chen intended for Kong Qifeng.
• Two figures approached Soaring Cloud City and announced Great Liang’s destruction as the city’s ancient walls collapsed.

Lin Chen appeared just as Pei Qingming was about to sacrifice his Sword Dao Will to stop five Xiantian Martial Artists from the Yan Imperial Dynasty. He demonstrated the Azure Ripple Finger and implied that he belonged to the powerful Azure Ripple Sect, leaving the attackers wary but the confrontation unresolved.

• Four more Xiantian Martial Artists arrived to aid Liao Kai, and they argued over who would claim Pei Qingming and his Sword Dao Will.
• Pei Qingming summoned the azure sword and prepared to detonate his Sword Dao Will, but Lin Chen appeared and asked him to leave the rest to him.
• Lin Chen struck the ground with the Azure Ripple Finger, shocking the onlookers and making the five Xiantian Martial Artists wary.
• Lin Chen identified the technique as one of the Azure Ripple Sect's three great techniques, and a spectator explained that attacking him could mean offending the sect.

Lin Chen faced the Xiantian powerhouses who dismissed his Azure Ripple Sect connection and mocked his claim that an elder would accept him as a Core Disciple. He activated the Azure Ripple Token to prove his words, and its power began to transform the sky above Soaring Cloud City.

• Liao Kai revealed that Lin Chen’s Azure Ripple Token only qualified him to take the Azure Ripple Sect’s entrance examination, and Zhang Xun warned that the token would not protect him from a secret attack.
• Pei Qingming urged Lin Chen to travel to the Azure Ripple Sect, but Lin Chen told Kong Qifeng that an elder had agreed to accept him as a Core Disciple.
• Zhang Xun and the other Xiantian powerhouses laughed at Lin Chen’s claim and threatened to kill him, arguing that the Azure Ripple Sect would regard it as a violation of its rules.
• Lin Chen took out the Azure Ripple Token and explained that he would prove his claim with facts.
• Lin Chen infused the token with Azure Ripple Energy, and it rose into the sky before releasing immense icy-blue light that flooded the firmament.

After the Azure Ripple Token summoned a celestial phenomenon, three Azure Ripple Sect elders declared Lin Chen under their protection, forcing the invading sects to withdraw from the Nine Kingdoms. As Lin Chen entered Soaring Cloud City, the Light of Great Liang stirred within him and he realized he was about to break through.

• The Azure Ripple Token filled the sky with Azure Ripple Energy, and three elders—Zhou Zhifeng, Mei Jingfeng, and Qu Guanfu—announced that Lin Chen was a Core Disciple and threatened anyone who harmed him or entered the lands he protected.
• Liao Kai and the other Xiantian Martial Artists apologized and announced that their sects would withdraw from the Nine Kingdoms.
• Lin Chen put away the token, and Pei Qingming praised him as the Nine Kingdoms' foremost figure while Kong Qifeng led them into Soaring Cloud City.
• Yu Sanghua acknowledged Great Liang's rising fortune, and news of the elders' declarations spread throughout the kingdom.
• At the entrance to the Soaring Cloud Martial Arts Academy, Lin Chen felt his blood and qi surge and told Kong Qifeng and Pei Qingming that he was about to break through.

Lin Chen’s rising prestige and martial cultivation triggered another breakthrough in Soaring Cloud Great Hall, while news of his connection to the Azure Ripple Sect reshaped how people across the Nine Kingdoms viewed him. Murong Yan turned back toward Yan Kingdom instead of visiting him, and the disturbance stirred a sealed abyss in western Great Liang, where something beneath the Black Mist repeated Lin Chen’s name.

• Lin Chen sensed his qi and blood surging, rushed to Soaring Cloud Great Hall, and began refining the golden crystals in his body as Lingxiao Energy gathered around him.
• Murong Xin learned that the Azure Ripple Sect far surpassed the Jiuque Sect and that Lin Chen’s new status could force sects across the Nine Kingdoms to seek his approval.
• Murong Shuang told Murong Xin that their little sister had chosen Lin Chen for who he was, while Murong Xin admitted she envied her judgment.
• Murong Yan decided to return to Yan Kingdom without visiting Lin Chen, fearing her arrival might cause Jiang Family’s young lady to misunderstand.
• The voices of the Azure Ripple Sect elders stirred the Black Mist in western Great Liang, but glowing Runes contained it as a middle-aged man worried that the disturbance might awaken what lay below.
• A name echoed beneath the Black Mist: Lin Chen.

Great Liang and the Upper Sect Alliance negotiated a new order for martial arts across the Nine Kingdoms, forming the Martial Path Alliance under Great Liang’s leadership. Zheng Kingdom was excluded, and Great Liang’s army soon marched east.

• Kong Qifeng and the Left and Right Prime Ministers negotiated with the Upper Sect Alliance, whose members initially resisted Great Liang’s demands.
• Yin Bowen persuaded the other Xiantian Martial Artists to accept Great Liang’s terms, and Blue Moon Valley and Jialuo Sect agreed to them first.
• The Upper Sect Alliance and Great Liang issued the Martial Path Prosperity Scroll, returning jurisdiction to the kingdoms and establishing the Martial Path Alliance in Great Liang.
• The Martial Path Alliance named seven vice-leaders, excluding Zheng Kingdom, whose martial artists accused Great Liang of targeting them and were arrested or driven away by other kingdoms.
• Three days later, Great Liang’s emperor offered sacrifices to his ancestors, and Great Liang’s one-hundred-thousand-strong army crossed eastward.

Great Liang destroyed Zheng Kingdom, while Lin Chen’s rise brought attention to his family and Lakeside Village. In the East Sea Region, the Annihilation Storm receded and sect representatives sailed out to collect promising recruits, including those eligible for the Azure Ripple Sect’s admission examination.

• Great Liang destroyed Zheng Kingdom in five days, and its army annihilated nearly all the Demonic Beasts that tried to flee.
• Yu Yongnian returned to Raozhou Prefecture and learned that the Prefect had come to visit him because of Lin Chen’s gratitude and growing fame.
• Zhao Canghu decided Lakeside Village’s land should not be sold, believing the village might be a blessed place that had produced Lin Chen.
• A Dragon King Ship sailed into the East Sea after the Annihilation Storm receded, as five top sects came to receive recruits they had selected.
• Hu Yunhua explained the newly exposed islands and the dangers of the Annihilation Storm to the visiting sect stewards.
• Gao Zeming concealed his interest in Lin Chen, while the Heavenly Sun Palace steward revealed that several nineteen-year-old recruits had reached Rank Two.

Gao Zeming arrived in Great Liang aboard the Dragon King Ship to collect Lin Chen, while Hu Yunhua accompanied him from the East Sea Divine Palace. At Soaring Cloud Martial Arts Academy, both stewards invited Pei Qingming to join their sects, but Pei Qingming refused and chose to seek the Return Ruin Sword Mound.

• The Dragon King Ship entered the area abandoned by the Annihilation Storm, and Gao Zeming used the Azure Ripple Token to guide the ship to Lin Chen's island.
• Fang Funan welcomed the ship at Great Liang's coast and learned that Gao Zeming had come from the Azure Ripple Sect to collect Lin Chen.
• Gao Zeming suppressed the Martial Path Alliance's eleven Xiantian elders at Soaring Cloud City before heading to the martial arts academy.
• Hu Yunhua recognized Pei Qingming's flawless Sword Dao Will and offered him a place in the East Sea Divine Palace, while Gao Zeming also invited him to join the Azure Ripple Sect.
• Pei Qingming declined both offers and said he intended to go to the Return Ruin Sword Mound.

Lin Chen emerged from seclusion after reaching the peak of the First Rank, though he failed to enter the innate realm because he lacked the water element. After reconnecting with the Azure Ripple Sect’s representatives and recounting his achievements on Martial Path Mountain, he went to visit Pei Qingming.

• Lin Chen’s breakthrough gave him four clear elemental energy phantoms and peak First Rank cultivation, but he could not complete the five elements and enter the innate realm.
• Gao Zeming and Hu Yunhua heard the great hall shake, then saw Lin Chen emerge from months of seclusion as a First Rank Martial Artist.
• Gao Zeming introduced Lin Chen to Hu Yunhua, Qin Yan, and Gu Kong, and Lin Chen solemnly thanked Qin Yan and Gu Kong for their help.
• Lin Chen told Gao Zeming, Qin Yan, and Gu Kong about contacting the sect and his rise into the top ten thousand on Martial Path Mountain, shocking them.
• Gao Zeming decided to take Lin Chen back to the Azure Ripple Sect without taking sides in the elders’ dispute, and Lin Chen left to visit Pei Qingming.