Chapter Summaries

Shen Zhui led three Flowing Light Flying Ships and nine thousand Wu'an Army soldiers across the Canglan River to attack Liushan City, aiming to destroy its defenses, seize resources, and kill its experts. After Liushan City sent out Xiantian Realm disciples to probe his force, Shen Zhui ordered the God-Shattering Crossbows into action, and their first volley killed fourteen enemies.

• Shen Zhui briefed thirty Peak Xiantian experts on the objectives and assigned twelve Quasi-Commanders to be ready to lead assaults on Liushan City.
• Shen Zhui's forces reached Liushan City and discovered that its City Lord, Liu Chengxian, had five Spirit Bridge Realm experts defending it, including two at the peak and one with Colonel-Level combat strength.
• Shen Zhui sent Wang Long, Chen Feng, Zhou Yang, and Qin Wang toward the city's mines and Spirit Fields, prompting Liu Chengxian to dispatch two elders and troops to intercept them.
• Liu Chengxian and the other elders chose to send Xiantian Realm disciples to test Shen Zhui's strength, while Shen Zhui landed his ship and advanced with three thousand soldiers and more than twenty Xiantian Realm experts.
• Shen Zhui ordered Zhou Gang to prepare the God-Shattering Crossbows, and their first volley struck down fourteen of Liushan City's forty Xiantian Realm experts.

Shen Zhui’s forces overwhelmed Liushan City’s troops with God-Shattering Crossbows and split off units to attack the city’s ore veins and Spirit Field. When Liu Chengxian finally emerged to confront him, Shen Zhui used the Ten Great Cave Heavens and a lightning-fast saber strike to kill him in one blow, leaving Liushan City without its lord.

• Liu Chengxian and the White-robed Daoist watched God-Shattering Crossbows kill most of Liushan City’s deployed Xiantian experts, while Shen Zhui’s forces advanced against the city.
• Shen Zhui ordered his troops to encircle Liushan City’s soldiers and sent Wang Long, Chen Feng, Zhou Yang, and Qin Wang to attack the ore veins and Spirit Field.
• Liu Chengxian urged Elder Pu and Elder Duan to leave the city and fight Shen Zhui, but they refused, fearing a trap and the consequences of losing Liushan City.
• After arguing with the elders, Liu Chengxian flew out alone to confront Shen Zhui, who met him in midair.
• Shen Zhui reached Four Sound Speed, revealed the Ten Great Cave Heavens, and struck through Liu Chengxian’s defenses with the Falling Snow Saber Technique.
• Shen Zhui killed Liu Chengxian with a single strike and held the severed head of Liushan City’s lord.

Shen Zhui killed Liu Chengxian and attacked Liushan City, whose defenders learned his identity and called for reinforcements. After a demonic expert and Jian Shiliu set out toward the city, Shen Zhui broke its defensive barrier with Thunderlight Eyes, leaving his army to charge in.

• Shen Zhui killed Liu Chengxian in one move, displayed his head before Liushan City, and rallied his soldiers to demand surrender.
• Elder Pu and Elder Duan recognized Shen Zhui, ordered reinforcements, and tried to hold the city behind its defensive barrier.
• Shen Zhui learned that the Sect Alliance could dispatch a Divine Ability expert within half an hour, ordered his army to stand by, and began striking the barrier.
• A demonic-looking man in Dujiao City agreed to confront Shen Zhui, while Jian Shiliu also set out to claim Shen Zhui's head.
• Shen Zhui found that his saber strikes could not outpace the barrier's recovery, then pierced it with Thunderlight Eyes and sent the Flowing Light Flying Ship into Liushan City.

Shen Zhui captured Liushan City, ordered his troops to take prisoners and withdraw before a Divine Ability Realm reinforcements arrived, then faced an ambush by Jian Shiliu of the Wuji Sword Sect. Jian Shiliu revealed his thousand-sword technique and attacked Shen Zhui.

• Shen Zhui broke Liushan City's defensive formation, defeated its Spirit Bridge Realm defenders, and led his troops as they overwhelmed the city's resistance.
• Yun Wen warned Shen Zhui that capturing surrendered enemies brought greater rewards than killing them, so Shen Zhui ordered his soldiers to stop killing those who had laid down their arms and to collect prisoners and valuables.
• After Heaven's Heart Hall reported that a Divine Ability Realm expert was approaching from Dujiao City, Shen Zhui ordered the army to withdraw toward the Canglan River.
• Jian Shiliu ambushed Shen Zhui's Flowing Light Flying Ship with a powerful sword strike, but Shen Zhui used his defenses and Shadow Demon Leopard transformation to break the attack.
• Jian Shiliu identified himself as a sword cultivator from the Wuji Sword Sect, then summoned a thousand small golden swords and prepared to kill Shen Zhui.

Shen Zhui fought Jian Shiliu, a powerful Divine Ability Realm sword cultivator, and found that his strongest attacks could not overcome Jian Shiliu’s space-infused golden sword. As Jian Shiliu’s killing blow descended, Shen Zhui broke the seal on the God Slaying Saber and revealed its full power.

• Shen Zhui used the Wind Thunder Escape and Weak Water Shield to evade Jian Shiliu’s sword formation and block his concealed Third-tier golden sword.
• Shen Zhui opened his Ten Great Cave Heavens and summoned the Thunder Dragon’s Eye, while Jian Shiliu gathered his flying swords into a fifty-meter golden great sword.
• Shen Zhui exposed Jian Shiliu’s past murders and briefly disrupted him with the system’s Awakening Time, but Jian Shiliu recovered and used Golden Sword Slashes Void to destroy the Thunder Dragon’s Eye.
• Jian Shiliu’s golden great sword descended to kill Shen Zhui, who replaced his shield and blade with the sealed God Slaying Saber and poured his vital blood onto it.
• The God Slaying Saber broke its seal and reached Top Tier Third Rank as Shen Zhui completed the second layer of the Hidden Yuan Saber Art.

Shen Zhui killed Jian Shiliu, a Second Stage Divine Ability Realm sword cultivator, and then recovered in concealment while reflecting on his saber art and the system's changes. The Sect Alliance received a record of the battle and ranked Shen Zhui sixth on the Spirit Bridge Bounty List, recognizing his Titled Colonel-level battle prowess.

• Shen Zhui used the God Slaying Saber to split Jian Shiliu's body, then pursued and destroyed Jian Shiliu's fleeing divine soul with the Tower of the Void.
• An otherworldly man witnessed Jian Shiliu's death, judged Shen Zhui too dangerous to confront, and sent the battle record to the Sect Alliance.
• Shen Zhui hid in a tree hollow, recovered with the Blood Origin Crystal Core, and considered advancing his Hidden Yuan Saber Art and creating a third Falling Snow Saber Technique move.
• Shen Zhui saw that killing Jian Shiliu had raised his Merit Points to 1,400,000 and caused another change in the system.
• The Sect Alliance updated the Spirit Bridge Bounty List, placing Wu'an Army's Shen Zhui sixth and identifying his battle prowess as Titled Colonel level.

Shen Zhui remained hidden in the Gloomy Forest while the Sect Alliance’s Hundred-City Pursuit Order stirred forces on both sides of the Canglan River. After learning he was just short of Colonel-level military merits, he decided to hunt another Divine Ability Realm expert and asked Half Moon City to mobilize troops, leaving his allies stunned.

• Wu Henzi ordered Myriad Laws Demonic Sect disciples above the Spirit Bridge Realm to head for the Canglan River, while Daoist Youcheng failed to divine Shen Zhui’s whereabouts.
• The Sect Alliance’s pursuit order triggered a widespread search, and Wu'an Army cities mobilized in response to the gathering forces along the river.
• In Half Moon City, Hulian Lie, Yun Wu, Yun Feng, and Chen Chen worried over Shen Zhui’s disappearance and waited for him or the Colonel to make contact.
• Shen Zhui, disguised as a macaque, learned that he had earned 927,908 military merits and was less than 80,000 short of becoming a colonel.
• Shen Zhui contacted Yun Wu and asked Half Moon City to send troops—and ideally Colonel Cheng Xin or a Commandant—to help him kill another Divine Ability Realm expert and earn merits.

After Shen Zhui killed Jian Shiliu, Yun Duo organized Wu'an Army forces to cross the Canglan River and support him. Shen Zhui infiltrated Border City in disguise, killed its City Lord and two Spirit Bridge Peak experts, then escaped as reinforcements approached with over one million military merits.

• Yun Duo confirmed that Shen Zhui had killed the Second Stage Divine Ability Realm expert Jian Shiliu and ordered soldiers from White Cloud Peak's forty-five military cities to mobilize.
• Yun Duo invited commanders and Titled Colonels to cross the Canglan River, while Cheng Xin and Ye Tianming also led forces toward the opposite bank.
• Shen Zhui used Illusory God Dao to replace a Xiantian Realm disciple and entered Border City with the disciple's squad.
• Shen Zhui revealed himself in the City Lord's estate and killed Daoist Qingshui with the Town Prison Cage and other techniques.
• Shen Zhui killed two fleeing Spirit Bridge Peak elders, took their storage rings, and escaped as powerful enemies arrived.
• Shen Zhui learned that his military merits had reached one million and seventy thousand.

Shen Zhui earned enough military merits to qualify as a Titled Colonel while his attacks and Yun Duo’s advance set off a wider war along the Canglan River. As the Sect Realm mobilized against him and Lu Yuanwei faced blame for the chaos, Shen Zhui continued destroying cities.

• Shen Zhui confirmed that he had earned over a million military merits, then abandoned an opportunity to fight a Divine Ability Realm expert because several others were nearby.
• Yun Duo led his forces across the Canglan River, where he and Ye Tianming fought Daoist Fanjiang and Fuhai Daoist.
• Cheng Xin recognized Shen Zhui’s concealment as the real threat and marched toward the fighting as more Wu'an Army and Sect Realm experts joined the conflict.
• Shen Zhui ambushed four Spirit Bridge Realm experts leaving a fortified city, killed them, and struck the city with his Startling Thunder Seal.
• The violet-robed Saint of the Six Harmonies Sect ordered the Extreme Dao Sect Master to kill Shen Zhui before the war escalated.
• Officials confronted Lu Yuanwei at Windwalk Hall over the spreading conflict, and Lu Yuanwei told the Golden Armored Man to go save people.

Shen Zhui killed the City Lord of Shangjiang City, then realized a powerful enemy was tracking him and raced toward the Canglan River. Lu Yuanwei arrived in Windwalk Hall, rescued Shen Zhui from the Extreme Dao Sect Master, and forced the enemy to lose his right hand and bronze mirror.

• Shen Zhui killed the First-tier Divine Ability Realm City Lord of Shangjiang City and destroyed his soul with illusions and the Tower of the Void.
• Shen Zhui sensed danger following him, contacted Lu Yuanwei, and learned that a divine weapon was likely tracking his position.
• Shen Zhui used Wind Thunder Escape to race toward the Canglan River, escaping pursuing Divine Ability Realm cultivators and cutting through Wu Henzi's Demonic Extermination Domain.
• The Extreme Dao Sect Master used a bronze mirror and the Dao of Space to stop Shen Zhui just short of the riverbank.
• Lu Yuanwei arrived in Windwalk Hall, pulled Shen Zhui to safety, healed him, and used Word Is Law to force the Extreme Dao Sect Master's right hand and Mysterious Sky Bronze Mirror toward the palace.

Shen Zhui watched Lu Yuanwei seize the Mysterious Sky Bronze Mirror and learned how his master used influence and support to prevail in the Canglan River battle. After the Wu'an Army won, Shen Zhui received the mirror, was told to cultivate in seclusion, and returned to White Cloud Peak with substantial merits.

• Lu Yuanwei severed the golden-crowned Six Harmonies Sect Holy Son's bond with the Mysterious Sky Bronze Mirror, took the weapon, and departed with Windwalk Hall while the Holy Son and Extreme Dao Sect Master could only watch.
• Lu Yuanwei warned Shen Zhui to borrow strength, avoid arrogance, and stay out of the Divine Ability Realm battlefield as he healed on Windwalk Hall.
• Shen Zhui gave Hao Lihai a Blood Origin Crystal Core to repay his help, and the Canglan River battle ended with the Wu'an Army victorious and no Divine Ability Realm deaths on its side.
• Yun Duo praised Shen Zhui for killing two Divine Ability Realm cultivators, and Lu Yuanwei said Shen Zhui had earned enough merits to advance to Titled Colonel once the formal imperial process was complete.
• Lu Yuanwei gave Shen Zhui the Fourth-grade Mysterious Sky Bronze Mirror and ordered him to return to White Cloud Peak, cultivate in seclusion, and await news because another battle might be coming.
• Shen Zhui returned to White Cloud Peak with his personal guards and counted 2,400,000 Merit Points, wondering whether they could advance his Thunder God Art.

Shen Zhui advanced his Thunder God Art, gathered spoils from the campaign, and met Yu Ziqi, a once-renowned official whose cultivation had deteriorated. Yu Ziqi began telling him about the reassignment of officials across several provinces four years earlier.

• Shen Zhui studied the fourth level of Thunder God Art, mastered Thunder Dragon Swallows Sea, and raised the number of Thunderclap Lassos he could control to 2,999.
• Shen Zhui counted his spoils from Liushan City, including hundreds of thousands of High-grade Spirit Stones and Jian Shiliu’s valuable golden sword collection.
• Wang Long brought Yu Ziqi aboard the flying ship, and Shen Zhui recognized him as the former Nanyang Registrar who had once instructed him.
• Shen Zhui noticed Yu Ziqi’s unstable aura and weakened cultivation despite his past achievements in Nanyang.
• Yu Ziqi told Shen Zhui that many officials in Liangzhou, Qingzhou, and Jizhou had been removed and reassigned four years earlier.

Shen Zhui learned how the Destroying Sects and Temples campaign fractured its scholars and led to Yu Ziqi’s downfall. After Shen Zhui offered him a place at his side and pledged to help restore his cultivation, Yu Ziqi accepted and bowed to him as his lord.

• Shen Zhui explained that he saw Destroying Sects and Temples as a continuation of the Great Zhou’s divine-temple policy, while Yu Ziqi described the campaign’s radical and moderate factions.
• Yu Ziqi recounted how the radical faction suffered heavy casualties, Nanyang alone succeeded in Liangzhou, and he was demoted after its success.
• Wang Long told Shen Zhui that Yu Ziqi had lost his civil office, been framed by King Liang’s faction, and remained in the frontier as a weakened Vanguard Commander.
• Shen Zhui invited Yu Ziqi to serve beside him, offered to help restore his realm, and promised to treat him with the courtesy due a teacher.
• Yu Ziqi set aside his hesitation and bowed to Shen Zhui, declaring his allegiance.

Yu Ziqi explained how Shen Zhui’s Titled Colonel promotion could be delayed by King Liang’s influence in the Department of Ceremonies, though his achievements made the title inevitable. At the Department’s debate over Shen Zhui’s Martial Virtue, Lu Yuanwei called the Canglan River battle a great victory, and the assembly cleared Shen Zhui of fault on that point before Zhao Gongming interrupted the next discussion.

• Shen Zhui agreed to conceal Yu Ziqi’s recruitment after Yu warned that his appointment could attract trouble and advised him to keep a low profile.
• Yu Ziqi explained the five stages of granting a Titled Colonel rank and said King Liang’s faction could influence Shen Zhui’s title and the timing of his investiture.
• Officials in the Department of Ceremonies split over Shen Zhui’s Martial Virtue, with supporters citing his military achievements and opponents accusing him of past misconduct.
• He Guangzheng organized a point-by-point vote, and Zhao Gongming called on Lu Yuanwei to explain the Canglan River battle.
• Lu Yuanwei called the battle a great victory, and He Guangzheng ruled that Shen Zhui had rendered merit without fault there.
• As Xia Haiqing prepared to address the next accusation, Zhao Gongming interrupted him.

Zhao Gongming used the Dragon Gate Realm's records to clear Shen Zhui of blame for Li Zhang's death, but Xia Haiqing delayed Shen Zhui's Titled Colonel conferral until another hearing three days later. After Yu Ziqi advised him to wait and pursue Li Chengfeng through other investigators, Shen Zhui advanced his cultivation and began creating the third form of the Falling Snow Saber Technique.

• Zhao Gongming presented records from three Dragon Gate Realm divine statues, showing that Li Zhang had attacked Shen Zhui first, and the officials ruled that Li Zhang's death did not prove Shen Zhui was bloodthirsty.
• Zhao Gongming argued that Shen Zhui's offenses had been forgiven and his achievements warranted a title, while Xia Haiqing urged officials to postpone the conferral because Shen Zhui was too young and impulsive.
• The officials failed to reach the fifty-five-percent threshold for postponement, so He Guangzheng scheduled another discussion for three days later.
• Shen Zhui told Yu Ziqi that Xia Haiqing had obstructed his promotion, and Yu Ziqi explained that the delay gave Marquis Wu'an's and King Liang's sides time to maneuver before suggesting they contact others investigating Li Chengfeng.
• Shen Zhui advanced to the High-stage Spirit Bridge Realm, examined the growth of his Cave Heavens, and spent Merit Points to begin deducing the third form of the Falling Snow Saber Technique.

Shen Zhui developed the third form of the Falling Snow Saber Technique, testing countless variations until he named it Thunderclap. He then used it with the Formless Divine Skill to bypass a testing wall’s defenses, destroying it and calling Gao Sheng over.

• Shen Zhui realized his earlier forms of the Falling Snow Saber Technique needed a deeper fusion with the Power of Heaven and Earth of the metal element.
• Shen Zhui went to the Department of Martial Transmission and rented a high-grade cultivation room from Gao Sheng.
• Shen Zhui tested many versions of the third form, spending five hundred thousand Merit Points on Awakening Time before concluding that his strongest trial slash reached the Second Stage Divine Ability Realm.
• Shen Zhui named the third form Thunderclap, combining the Gold and Lightning Paths with Wind Thunder Escape and the Hidden Yuan Saber Art.
• Shen Zhui concealed his aura with the Formless Divine Skill and struck the testing wall, bypassing its barrier and breaking it apart.
• Shen Zhui called Gao Sheng and told him the cultivation room’s equipment had broken.

Shen Zhui destroyed a testing wall in the Department of Martial Transmission, then spent six days cultivating while the Department of Ceremonies deliberated over his title. On the morning of the final deliberation, he received a rapid stream of messages as the decision was revealed.

• Shen Zhui accidentally blasted apart a High-grade Cultivation Room’s testing wall, and Gao Sheng called officials to inspect the damage.
• Zhao Gongming reassured Shen Zhui that he should not condemn the entire Department of Ceremonies over those obstructing his title and told him to remain in the Department of Martial Transmission for six days.
• Yu Ziqi explained that the Department of Ceremonies would hold its final deliberation six days after the first and reported that three factions had contacted him about Shen Zhui’s overture.
• Shen Zhui trained for five days, ignored attempts to recruit or threaten him, and advanced his practice of the Overlord Divine Fist.
• Shen Zhui left the Department of Martial Transmission, awaited the final decision overnight, and received a flurry of messages when he released the restriction on his identity token.

Shen Zhui learned that the Department of Ceremonies had approved his promotion to Titled Colonel, though King Liang’s faction had tried to obstruct him. As he considered confronting Li Chengfeng and helping his adoptive family, Lin Ze arrived with a strange revelation about an old fugitive-hunting mission.

• The Department of Ceremonies narrowly approved Shen Zhui’s promotion, and Grand Master He Guangzheng proposed seven possible titles for Marquis Wu'an and the Human Emperor to consider.
• Yun Duo congratulated Shen Zhui, explained that Xia Jing had directed King Liang’s opposition, and described the concessions King Liang’s Estate had made to support Li Chengfeng’s promotion.
• Shen Zhui considered using his new rank to attack Guiyuan Sect and decided he needed to uncover evidence against Li Chengfeng before Li became a Titled Captain.
• Lin Ze visited Shen Zhui and asked him to reconsider the old mission to capture Wu Gu, noting that the fugitive’s crimes did not seem to justify the effort Lin had spent pursuing him.

Lin Ze told Shen Zhui why Wu Gu’s mission had earned an extraordinary reward, revealing that Heaven’s Heart Hall repeatedly raised the bounty despite no apparent change in Wu Gu’s strength. Their investigation suggested Wu Gu had used Divine Contracts to lure weaker comrades into the wilderness before killing them, and Lin Ze concluded that someone with power comparable to a Venerable must have erased the contracts’ protection.

• Shen Zhui questioned why Lin Ze had spent so much pursuing Wu Gu, and Lin Ze revealed that the mission had awarded him fifty thousand military merit.
• Lin Ze required Shen Zhui to sign a Divine Contract promising not to reveal their conversation before sharing the mission’s secrets.
• Lin Ze explained that Heaven’s Heart Hall had doubled Wu Gu’s reward four times in a month, raising the mission to Commander Level despite Wu Gu’s unchanged strength.
• Lin Ze described how a Taiqing Sect disciple divined Wu Gu’s location, allowing Lin Ze to find him and complete the mission.
• Lin Ze shared records showing that Wu Gu repeatedly took weaker companions outside the city, where they never returned with him.
• Lin Ze revealed that Wu Gu’s companions had likely signed Divine Contracts with him, then concluded that someone with power comparable to a Venerable had erased the contracts’ protection.

Lin Ze told Shen Zhui how he traced Wu Gu’s crimes to a possible Venerable’s Cave Mansion near Sishui River and invited him to investigate the entrance they had found. Shen Zhui agreed to prepare for the expedition by using Enlightenment Time to improve the Illusory God Dao.

• Lin Ze explained that Wu Gu had borrowed a sliver of Venerable-level power to weaken Divine Contracts, but the contract with his final High-stage Xiantian victim had remained strong enough for Heaven's Heart Hall to judge him a traitor.
• Lin Ze said his investigation pointed to a Venerable’s Cave Mansion near Sishui River, and a new Heaven's Heart Hall mission concerning three lake islands there confirmed his suspicions.
• Lin Ze revealed that he had found the entrance and asked Shen Zhui to join him; he had also arranged for Colonel Cheng Xin to accept the related Colonel Level mission without revealing the full story.
• Shen Zhui and Lin Ze agreed to share the expedition’s risks and gains as brothers, and set out to investigate the lake islands in two days.
• Shen Zhui decided to spend six hundred thousand Merit Points on Enlightenment Time to cultivate the Illusory God Dao before the expedition.