Chapter Summaries

Cactus visited Diamond after apparently defecting from the Deity Society, while Luren and Ling Zhi were destroyed by the entity in Cactus’s ring. The chapter ended with Diamond questioning Cactus about what had happened as the ring began to move again.

• Cactus slipped into Diamond’s apartment complex and searched for her friend’s home, while Luren secretly followed her.
• Cactus’s ring attacked Luren, destroying his clone and Ling Zhi’s consciousness before the clone crumbled to ash.
• Cactus arrived at apartment 1206, where Diamond recognized her and rejoiced that she was alive.
• Diamond questioned Cactus about her reported death and defection, but Cactus avoided answering and held out her palm as the black ring began twisting.

Luren visited Ling Zhi and agreed to let her dangerously strengthen him so he could help the Deity Society. Meanwhile, Cactus returned to Chen Sheng with a clone that granted him an enormous supply of Soul Power, leaving him ready to transform his blood and begin cultivating a secret art.

• Luren told Ling Zhi that his clone guarding Diamond had died, and she offered to strengthen him by taking control of his body and multiplying his Celestial Being Cells at the risk of killing him.
• Luren accepted Ling Zhi's dangerous offer after learning that Xu Jian was undergoing the same strengthening.
• Cactus told Diamond that Chen Sheng had cured her, that she had left the Deity Society, and that she wanted Diamond to help her find people with hereditary diseases.
• Diamond agreed to help Cactus contact prospective recruits and said he would speak with the Deity Society's leaders if the black ring had no side effects.
• Chen Sheng reviewed Chou Mao's report, suspected the Deity Society's quiet resistance concealed something, and warned Chou Mao and his partner to stay alert.
• Cactus gave Chen Sheng Xiao Hei's clone, which supplied seventy percent of Soul Power and left him able to begin transforming his blood and attempting to transform his organs.

Chen Sheng completed his blood modification, endured its agonizing aftermath, and accidentally shook the Holy Church Base before leaving. Elsewhere, Luren’s Celestial Being Cells transformed his ability as he clung to thoughts of Ling Zhi, while Ling Zhi stayed beside Xu Jian as his own enhancement grew more painful.

• Cactus thanked Chen Sheng for the Soul Power she had brought him, and Chen Sheng gave her an iron token to protect her.
• Chen Sheng began modifying his blood to remove its adaptability to lightning, enduring severe pain as the displaced lightning strained his muscles, bones, organs, and blood vessels.
• After completing the modification, Chen Sheng struck the ground in agony and shook the Holy Church Base; he told the alarmed members that his training had caused the disturbance and left.
• Luren endured the Celestial Being Cells’ assault by focusing on Ling Zhi, and he sensed that his existence-based ability was beginning to transform.
• Ling Zhi stayed beside Xu Jian and monitored his condition as his Celestial Being Cells grew stronger, while Xu Jian asked about Luren and Ling Zhi said she had not been watching him.

Chou Mao and Mao XianSheng captured twenty-two targets and brought them to Chen Sheng, who absorbed them to increase his Soul attribute. Chen Sheng warned and accepted the two men as his subordinates, then planned to rest before cultivating the Wither Bloom Scripture.

• Chou and Mao XianSheng sensed that their unusually successful capture operation might conceal danger, so Chou ordered stricter precautions for future missions.
• Chen Sheng added a Soul attribute to his status panel and saw that it measured 2.5.
• Chou Mao and Mao XianSheng brought twenty-two captured targets to Chen Sheng, and Xiao Hei absorbed them, raising Chen Sheng's Soul to 3.7.
• Chen Sheng offered rewards to the Holy Church members and accepted Chou Mao and Mao XianSheng as subordinates after warning them that serving him could be dangerous.
• Chen Sheng agreed to the disciples' requests, then stayed at the base to rest before cultivating the Wither Bloom Scripture.

Chen Sheng cultivated the Wither Bloom Scripture, discovering that the withered state accelerated his physical growth and improved his control. Meanwhile, Luren awakened his power and left to face the organization’s people, while Ling Zhi directed the fleeing Shandian toward help.

• Chen Sheng repeatedly drove his body into withering and blooming, completing one transformation and realizing that lightning tempered him much faster while he was withered.
• Luren survived the Celestial Being Cell’s growth, intensified his presence until people collapsed, then left to deal with the organization’s people after Ling Zhi warned him to stop.
• Xu Jian sensed that Luren had succeeded, while Ling Zhi urged Xu Jian to focus on recovering from the Celestial Being Cells’ effects.
• Shandian raced through Bianchuan City’s commercial street to escape Chou, who was closing in on him.
• Ling Zhi told Shandian to leave through a side intersection because someone would meet him, and he followed her directions.

Luren captured Chou and questioned him about the Holy Church, but Chou revealed that his identity token contained a bomb controlled from the Holy Church Base. The countdown passed without effect, until thunder and a blaze of light darkened the sky.

• Chou cornered Shandian in an old street, defeated him, and prepared to take him away while watching for an ambush.
• Luren appeared, took Chou’s token, restrained the Holy Church operatives, and brought Shandian back to help interrogate Chou.
• Chou identified himself as one of the Holy Church’s Twelve Holy Envoys and explained that his token would trigger a bomb if he failed to report in time.
• Luren dismissed the threat and ordered Shandian to kill the other operatives and bind Chou as Chou counted down to the detonation.
• The countdown ended with no apparent explosion, but thunder rolled in and the sky darkened as Luren and Shandian looked toward the approaching light.

Chou used the modified token to call down lightning that killed Luren’s clone and badly burned Shandian, while the real Luren fled through the thunderstorm. The lightning eventually struck Luren too, and Chou carried him away alive to face Black Tortoise.

• Luren ordered Shandian to escape with him, but lightning struck Luren’s clone and reduced it to ashes.
• Shandian froze in terror, then was struck by lightning and left charred as Chou retreated from him.
• The real Luren fled through the storm as lightning destroyed his clones, then escaped the thunderclouds and cursed the Holy Church and Black Tortoise.
• The lightning followed Luren beyond the storm’s apparent edge and left him barely alive in a crater.
• Chou found Luren alive, carried him away, and said he would keep him alive until Lord Black Tortoise got what he wanted.

After Ling Zhi told Xu Jian how Luren died, Xu Jian revealed his transformed Illusion and Space abilities and persuaded her to join him in standing above the world. At the Holy Church Base, Chen Sheng continued cultivating the Wither Bloom Scripture while waiting for Chou to report on his captured prisoners.

• Ling Zhi recounted Luren's death and pleaded with Xu Jian to flee rather than provoke the Holy Church and the black-robed man.
• Xu Jian showed Ling Zhi that his Illusion and Space powers had advanced, creating lethal effects across the manor and restoring the staff he had injured.
• Xu Jian invited Ling Zhi to join him in changing the world, and she accepted.
• Chen Sheng practiced transitioning between the Wither and Bloom states, shortening his cycle to two hours as his attributes increased.
• Chen Sheng waited for Chou's report about captured prisoners, including a high-ranking Deity Society member, and then welcomed familiar visitors into the cave.

Chen Sheng absorbed the Celestial Being Cells from seven captives, including Deity Society experts Shandian and Luren, and continued trying to cultivate the Wither Bloom Scripture. Meanwhile, Cactus and Diamond met another prospective Deity Society recruit in Century Park, and Cactus prepared to approach him.

• Chou brought Chen Sheng seven unconscious captives, including Luren and Shandian, and Chen Sheng ordered the Holy Church to pause attacks and focus on tracking the Deity Society's leaders.
• Xiao Hei absorbed the captives' Celestial Being Cells, raising Chen Sheng's Soul Power to 4.7 and leaving Luren near death.
• Chen Sheng tried to control Power Molecules while cultivating the Wither Bloom Scripture but failed to move them, then resumed practicing.
• In Century Park, Cactus spun on a fitness disc while Diamond complained about helping her contact recruits and recalled that Liu Dehui had been found dead.
• Cactus spotted a frail prospective recruit by the lake, then shrank to half the height of the weeds as she approached him.

Cactus and Diamond continued secretly helping Chen Sheng by using Xiao Hei to cure people, while Xu Jian gathered the remaining Deity Society members to plan a counterattack against the Holy Church. Xu Jian revealed that he was waiting for a young woman to lead them to the organization’s headquarters.

• Cactus shrank, hid in a middle-aged man's pocket, and helped Xiao Hei restore his health before returning to Diamond for their next target.
• Members of the Deity Society gathered at Ling Zhi's manor, where Xu Jian saw that only twelve of the society's roughly forty members had answered his summons.
• Xu Jian told the gathering that the Holy Church had been capturing their members and curing their hereditary diseases, but the treatment erased their Celestial Being Cells.
• Xu Jian said he would find the Holy Church's leader and seize the cure, and the assembled members showed readiness to join him.
• When asked if he had found the Holy Church's headquarters, Xu Jian said someone would lead them there and asked a young woman whether the two traitors had contacted her.

After the Deity Society discovered Cactus and Diamond’s betrayal, Xu Jian captured them and forced Cactus to lead him to the Holy Church’s leader. Cactus tricked him into traveling to Tropical Rainforest Park, where activating the Black Tortoise Token alerted Chen Sheng.

• Ling Zhi identified Cactus as the traitor connected to the Holy Church’s leader, and Xu Jian transported the Deity Society members to capture her and Diamond.
• Diamond and Cactus tried to flee, but Xu Jian’s group found them, and Xu Jian restrained Diamond with spatial power.
• Xu Jian threatened to kill Diamond unless Cactus led him to the Holy Church’s leader, so Cactus gave him a false location.
• Xu Jian transported the group to Tropical Rainforest Park, where Cactus mocked him for falling for the trick.
• Xu Jian attacked Cactus, and lightning erupted as the Black Tortoise Token activated; elsewhere, Chen Sheng opened his eyes.

Xu Jian led the Deity Society to capture Cactus and extract the location of the Holy Church, but Chen Sheng arrived, rescued her, and wiped out nearly the entire group with a single attack. Xu Jian fled using his Space Authority, but Chen Sheng caught and killed him, leaving Cactus safe and the Holy Church’s location known.

• Xu Jian blocked Cactus’s thunder with his spatial power, exhausted the Black Tortoise Token, and had Ling Zhi invade Cactus’s mind to learn the Holy Church’s location.
• Chen Sheng appeared, freed Cactus from Xu Jian’s illusion, and agreed to save her friend Diamond.
• Chen Sheng flicked his finger and unleashed a storm of thunder and wind that swept away the Deity Society members, leaving the injured Xu Jian alive.
• Xu Jian tried to escape with his Space Authority, but Chen Sheng caught up with him and overcame his spatial and illusion attacks.
• Xu Jian attempted to teleport away again, but Chen Sheng seized his head and killed him.

After absorbing the Deity Society members, Chen Sheng’s Soul Power more than doubled, allowing him to modify his organs and begin mastering the Wither Bloom Scripture. He successfully directed Power Molecules into his heart, and the chapter ended with him checking the panel to confirm the technique had worked.

• Chen Sheng fed Xu Jian’s body to Xiao Hei, absorbed the energy from the Deity Society members, and raised his Soul Power to 10.2.
• Chen Sheng killed the surviving Deity Society members with lightning, then returned to Cactus and gave her the Black Tortoise Token before heading back to the Holy Church Base.
• Chen Sheng entered his soul-consciousness state and modified his organs to better withstand lightning, completing the changes related to Strength and Constitution.
• Chen Sheng practiced the Wither Bloom Scripture and learned to control a small portion of the Power Molecules leaving his body.
• Chen Sheng directed the remaining controllable Power Molecules into his heart, intensifying its beat and blood flow, then saw that the technique had worked on the panel.

Chen Sheng upgraded the Wither Bloom Scripture, learned to store strength in his body, and tested its power with his other transformations. He reached eighty thousand attributes and spent the night building toward the scripture’s five stored portions before Xiang Li and the Venerable Elder made their move.

• Chen Sheng used 100 Skill Points to upgrade the Wither Bloom Scripture to level one, enduring a violent transformation that let him switch between Withered and Bloom States in less than a second.
• Chen Sheng practiced absorbing outside energy in the Withered State and successfully stored one portion of power within his body.
• Chen Sheng released the stored strength, doubled his attributes, then used Thunder Water Dual Authority and Black Tortoise Transformation to raise them to around eighty thousand.
• Chen Sheng tested his power by splitting the clouds with a hand blade, and the resulting shockwave flattened the surrounding forest.
• Chen Sheng returned to cultivating, intending to store five portions of power and continue strengthening his Soul Power with Chou Mao before Xiang Li and the Venerable Elder acted.

Chen Sheng cultivated after storing five portions of power, gaining immense strength while preparing to raise his Soul Power and Thunder Breathing. In Kyoto, Xiang Li began injecting Nuclear Cells into his body to develop a nuclear-fusion technique, but the procedure left his body in worsening danger.

• Chen Sheng assessed the power stored in his body, then used Xiao Hei to absorb a new batch of captured targets and raise his Soul Power to 12.2.
• Chou Mao and the Holy Church members struggled under the pressure radiating from Chen Sheng, delivered the targets, and quickly left the cave.
• Chen Sheng focused on cultivation, expecting Thunder Breathing to reach its next level soon, while worrying that conflict between Venerable Elder and Li Wuji could erupt before the Celestials awakened.
• Xiang Li began an experiment at the Force Sect headquarters, injecting Nuclear Cells created through Venerable Elder's Heart Power authority so he could attempt to simulate nuclear fusion within his body.
• Xiang Li's body showed dying blood, cell damage, and injured organs after the injection, and the monitors turned increasingly red until danger alerts appeared across the room.

Xiang Li survived the first stage of his Nuclear Cells treatment and ordered preparations for the second stage. Meanwhile, Chen Sheng brewed a potent Spirit Seed Soup, upgraded Thunder Breathing to level three, and provoked a gathering storm as he endured its purple lightning.

• The researchers watched Xiang Li’s body deteriorate, but the old man in the white coat stopped an emergency shutdown and chose to trust him.
• Xiang Li’s condition stabilized, his damaged tissues regenerated, and he awoke before ordering preparations for the second injection stage.
• Chen Sheng drank a soup brewed from Spirit Seeds and traveled deep into the rainforest to find a mountain peak for his breakthrough.
• Chen Sheng upgraded Thunder Breathing, causing violet lightning and thunderclouds to gather above him.
• Chen Sheng endured the purple lightning and taunted the storm to strike harder, prompting the Thunder Essence in the clouds to intensify.

Xiang Li visited Li Wuji to urge him to surrender before the coming fight, while Phoenix discovered that his presence had ruined Li Wuji’s courtyard. In the West China rainforest, Chen Sheng survived two hours of transformed lightning and gained a massive increase in strength, then returned to his base to replenish his power and continue cultivating.

• Xiang Li went to Li Wuji’s courtyard and warned that the human side would lose if they fought, urging Li Wuji to consider the people under his command and surrender.
• Phoenix sensed Xiang Li’s killing intent inside the house, then discovered that the courtyard’s plants had withered and its insects had died after he left.
• Li Wuji dismissed Phoenix’s fears about a conflict and told her to focus on training before asking her to clean up the courtyard.
• Chen Sheng endured two hours of purple lightning in the West China rainforest without injury as the Wither Bloom Scripture repaired his body.
• Chen Sheng checked his status and found that his Strength and Constitution had each risen by a thousand points while his Agility had increased by more than nine hundred.
• Chen Sheng returned to his base, changed clothes, and began replenishing his stored power before continuing to cultivate.

Chen Sheng sent Cactus away to keep her safe, then secretly ordered Xiao Hei to protect her. After Xiao Hei revealed Chen Sheng’s concern, Cactus regained her spirits and headed toward Bianchuan City.

• Chen Sheng reached his optimal state after leveling up, asked Vermillion Bird for news from Kyoto, and resumed cultivating in the cave.
• Cactus visited Chen Sheng to give him the Soul Power she had collected, and he absorbed it.
• Chen Sheng told Cactus their debt was settled and ordered her to leave, despite her tearful pleas to stay by his side.
• Cactus returned the Black Tortoise Token and left the cave, so Chen Sheng charged Xiao Hei’s clone with Thunder and secretly sent it to protect her.
• As Cactus walked toward Bianchuan City, Xiao Hei told her Chen Sheng had ordered it to protect her and that he did not truly want her in danger.
• Cactus realized Chen Sheng still cared for her, stopped crying, and cheerfully continued toward the city.

Xiang Li and the Venerable Elder prepared a coordinated operation to seize control of the Martial Arts Association and subdue Li Wuji’s allies before the Celestials awakened. Xiang Li sent his forces after the sect and Holy Church leaders, then resolved to capture and kill Chen Sheng for Zhao Zhenfeng and Xiang Zilong’s deaths.

• Xiang Li completed the second stage of Nuclear Cell absorption, met the Venerable Elder, and learned that the Celestials’ seals were weakening and the enhancement drugs were ready for final use.
• The Venerable Elder controlled a researcher and used him to spread mental control through the Martial Arts Association, gathering information on Li Wuji’s followers and restricting their movements.
• Xiang Li assembled the nine strongest Force Sect members and assigned teams to subdue Li Wuji’s allies across the sects and Holy Church.
• Xiang Li ordered Sun Sheng and Sun Cheng to capture Vermillion Bird and Black Tortoise, while he prepared to confront Sun Yihe and Li Wuji.
• Xiang Li reviewed Chen Sheng’s records, concluded that Chen Sheng had killed Zhao Zhenfeng, and vowed to make him suffer for Zhao Zhenfeng and Xiang Zilong.

Venerable Elder’s thought seeds spread through Kyoto as Li Wuji and his allies prepared to counter Xiang Li’s operation. Vermillion Bird was sent to West China to protect Chen Sheng from a powerful force, while Sun Yihe deployed seven of his doubles and sat down to play chess with Li Wuji.

• Venerable Elder’s controlled followers spread thought seeds through the Martial Arts Association, sects, government departments, and Kyoto residents, while the seeds made ordinary people avoid the outskirts.
• Sun Yihe stopped Zhang Yu and Vermillion Bird’s gathering at YiHe Sect and ordered them to keep the affected guests confined until dawn.
• Li Wuji told Vermillion Bird to go to West China and protect Chen Sheng, warning that the Sun Family Brothers, Azure Dragon, and White Tiger were also heading there to kill him.
• Vermillion Bird departed for West China, and Sun Yihe revealed seven younger doubles before sending them in different directions.
• Sun Yihe invited Li Wuji to play chess while they waited for Xiang Li, and Li Wuji accepted.