Chapter Summaries

Shen Zhui gathered valuable spoils after defeating the Sect Alliance experts and discussed concealing his rapid rise in rank with Lu Yuanwei. On returning to the Canglan River frontier, he publicly confirmed that he had broken through into the Divine Ability Realm, shocking Earth Hall.

• Shen Zhui discovered that his nine yakshas had grown stronger and examined the Heavenly Phenomenon Pearl, evil-god artifacts, and Divine Eye Clan skin he had acquired.
• Zi Xuan explained the treasures’ origins and values, warned Shen Zhui to hand the evil-god artifacts over to Heaven's Heart Hall, and identified the Divine Eye Clan skin as potentially worth a low-grade Tier 5 Divine Weapon.
• Shen Zhui checked his Merit Points and learned that the Black Robe Cultivator had earned him more than four million for the cultivator’s crimes and strength.
• Lu Yuanwei told Shen Zhui to conceal his Divine Ability Realm breakthrough and defer publicly claiming Captain rank, and Shen Zhui agreed.
• Shen Zhui returned to the Canglan River border city with Wang Long and the others and went to Earth Hall to report what had happened.
• When a Titled Colonel asked if he had reached the Divine Ability Realm, Shen Zhui confirmed that he had, stunning everyone in Earth Hall.

After announcing his breakthrough to the Divine Ability Realm, Shen Zhui returned to Falling Snow Peak and strengthened his standing among his allies and subordinates. He sold two treasures, then learned that a rare Divine Eye Clan skin could fetch over ten billion High-grade Spirit Stones at auction, with the next auction in three days.

• Powerful figures questioned Shen Zhui about his battle and military merit, but he left without answering beyond confirming his breakthrough.
• Lu Yuanwei, Zhao Xing, Yun Duo, Hulian Lie, Cheng Xin, Lin Ze, and others reacted to Shen Zhui’s advancement, while Xia Hong raged over the failure of his plans and the loss of Jiang Tao and his secret line.
• Shen Zhui returned to Falling Snow Peak, where his subordinates welcomed him, and he chose to announce his cultivation to raise morale and deter enemies while keeping his military merit and techniques secret.
• Shen Zhui informed Wei Wenhe that Wang Long and the others were safe, then gave the Soul-Snatching Bell and Dark Flame Demon God statue to Lu Yuanwei, receiving 670 million High-grade Spirit Stones and some military merit.
• Shen Zhui showed Yun Shan the Divine Eye Clan’s Vertical Eye Skin, and Yun Shan recommended auctioning it for a likely price exceeding ten billion High-grade Spirit Stones.
• Yun Shan told Shen Zhui that the next auction would begin in three days.

Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan attended the four great merchant associations’ virtual auction, where Shen Zhui witnessed the wealth and power of experts from across the Liang Kingdom. The auction reached Shen Zhui’s Divine Eye Clan Runic Skin, which opened at one hundred billion High-grade Spirit Stones.

• Shen Zhui trained his Earth Clone in the Overlord Divine Fist, while Zi Xuan reminded him that the joint auction was beginning.
• Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan used a Reception Dao Tablet to enter Myriad Treasure City’s spiritual-sense auction and saw thousands of powerful guests gathered there.
• Yun Shan opened the auction with Jue Ru essence blood, which sold for eight hundred billion High-grade Spirit Stones, far beyond Shen Zhui’s means.
• The auction offered many costly treasures, and Shen Zhui waited for his Divine Eye Clan Runic Skin to be presented so he could bid on soul-strengthening items.
• Yun Shan introduced Shen Zhui’s complete Runic Skin, which held the spatial insights of a Seventh-tier Divine Ability expert, with a starting price of one hundred billion High-grade Spirit Stones.

Shen Zhui sold the Divine Eye Clan Runic Skin for fifty billion High-grade Spirit Stones and won two auction treasures, including the Thunder Soul Ruyi Zi Xuan had urged him to buy. After they left the auction, Zi Xuan revealed that the Ruyi was actually a Fifth-tier Peak divine weapon battleship.

• Yun Shan auctioned the complete Divine Eye Clan Runic Skin, and it sold for fifty billion High-grade Spirit Stones.
• Shen Zhui failed to win several soul-nourishing treasures before Zi Xuan told him to bid for the Thunder Soul Ruyi.
• Shen Zhui won the Thunder Soul Ruyi for six billion High-grade Spirit Stones and later bought five Five-turn Glazed Divine Soul Pills for 41.5 billion.
• Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan returned to his residence, where a Divine Ability Realm courier delivered their purchases and remaining spirit stones.
• Zi Xuan examined the Thunder Soul Ruyi and told Shen Zhui it was actually a Fifth-tier Peak divine weapon battleship.

Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan uncovered and activated a Tier 5 peak-grade wind-and-lightning warship, and Shen Zhui realized Zi Xuan was a woman concealing her identity. After claiming the warship, he began cultivating with a Five-turn Glazed Divine Soul Pill, whose fragrance advanced his Thousand Silk Divine Art.

• Zi Xuan broke through the Thunder Soul Ruyi's restrictions, revealing a powerful Tier 5 peak-grade warship forged from Wind-Lightning Ruyi Stone and Origin Pearls.
• Shen Zhui helped Zi Xuan recover, then realized the force within her had not stripped away her disguise and concluded that she was truly a woman.
• Zi Xuan explained how to claim the warship, and Shen Zhui recited its genuine activation incantation to gain control of it.
• Shen Zhui decided to keep the warship, stored it back in its small Ruyi form, and went to the underground Secret Chamber to cultivate.
• Shen Zhui took out a Five-turn Glazed Divine Soul Pill, and its medicinal fragrance advanced his Thousand Silk Divine Art, giving him a sixth strand of divine sense.

Shen Zhui absorbed the Five-turn Glazed Divine Soul Pill, advanced his divine soul and Thousand Silk Divine Art, and completed his seven great clones. After watching Gu Chenxing kill Xi Feihu in two strikes, Shen Zhui arrived at Windwalk Hall, where Commandery Colonel Pang Tong confronted him.

• Shen Zhui forcefully absorbed the Five-turn Glazed Divine Soul Pill, breaking through to the Third-tier Divine Ability Realm and gaining the tenth strand of divine sense.
• Shen Zhui formed his Water Element Clone and Fire Element Clone and raised both to the First-tier Divine Ability Realm, completing his seven great clones.
• Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan watched Gu Chenxing kill Xi Feihu with two strikes, prompting Shen Zhui to assess the dangerous strength of the Ciyun World’s fighters.
• Shen Zhui explained that he was ranked outside the top hundred and had only one known Inheritance Mansion left to find.
• Shen Zhui arrived at Windwalk Hall and answered Pang Tong’s taunt that he had brought a woman along by telling Pang Tong it was none of his business.

Shen Zhui drove Pang Tong away with a show of overwhelming will, then followed Lu Yuanwei’s orders to seek the remaining inheritance mansions in Ciyun World. He reached Immortal Crane City and met Zhang Hairui, who began explaining why command of the city was a miserable assignment.

• Pang Tong tried to intimidate Shen Zhui, but Shen Zhui’s Dragon Might will injured him and forced him to leave Windwalk Hall with the three Titled Colonels.
• Shen Zhui told Lu Yuanwei that his seven avatars were ready, and Lu Yuanwei ordered him to search for the remaining Inheritance Mansions and return before the final Divine Ability Realm inheritance opened.
• Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan traveled toward Immortal Crane City, where they learned that Lan Chenguang, Zhang Hairui, and Wu Guangzhi led the forces stationed there.
• Shen Zhui reviewed his seven avatars’ progress and found that their cultivation, Divine Ability Secret Methods, and weapons could make them formidable alone or in the Five-God Sealing Formation.
• Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan entered the Wu'an Army camp in Immortal Crane City, where Zhang Hairui welcomed Shen Zhui and began complaining about his command assignment.

Shen Zhui used Zhang Hairui’s troops to hunt demonic cultivators for Merit Points, then entered an inheritance mansion and received the Buddhist Jialuo Seal. His trial triggered a violent upheaval across the Ciyun World, centered on Immortal Crane City.

• Zhang Hairui assigned Zhang Ao and five hundred soldiers, including ten Divine Ability Realm experts, to follow and protect Shen Zhui.
• Shen Zhui led the force in capturing demonic cultivators, killed them for Merit Points, and prepared to investigate one of four suspected inheritance sites.
• Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan entered a mansion and met the inheritance left by Jialuo, a disciple of Ciyun Venerable, who offered the Jialuo Seal to anyone who survived his final will-strike.
• Shen Zhui endured Jialuo’s strike and inherited the twelve-form Jialuo Seal, including its first form, the Great Strength Vajra Seal.
• The inheritance space expelled Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan, a monk saw a divine statue collapse, and the Ciyun World began shaking as World Power erupted from Immortal Crane City.

Immortal Crane City’s upheaval revealed the Ciyun Venerable’s inheritance, while its barrier expelled Fourth-tier experts and barred stronger outsiders from entering. As the eligible factions gathered before the Inheritance Mansion, its guardian revealed that the Ninth-tier Venerable’s inheritance would go to only one person and that the palace would self-destruct if a Venerable interfered; the Fighting Venerable then appeared as a Divine Weapon Puppet.

• Immortal Crane City shook, and a spatial force teleported Fourth-tier Divine Ability experts out of the city across the competing factions.
• Lu Yuanwei, Lan Hai, and Lu Guangshan learned that a barrier blocked experts above the Fourth tier from entering, and Lu Yuanwei told Shen Zhui to wait at the encampment.
• After the tremors subsided, tens of thousands of eligible experts entered Immortal Crane City and advanced toward the center in five formations.
• The factions reached a suspended palace, where a golden figure announced that the Ciyun Venerable had been a Ninth-tier Venerable and that only one inheritor could claim his legacy.
• The golden figure warned that the palace would destroy itself if a Venerable tried to force entry, then the Fighting Venerable appeared as a golden Divine Weapon Puppet.

Fighting Venerable revealed Ciyun Venerable’s treasures and announced that candidates had to decipher the Exquisite Chess Game to earn prizes and entry to the second trial. Shen Zhui began studying the game with Zi Xuan and his seven clones, while the other factions learned its rules.

• Fighting Venerable displayed forty-nine treasures that candidates could win by passing the first trial, including a Fighting Vajra refining method and a Tier 5 Divine Weapon.
• Marquis Wu'an and Tianjue appeared in the Ciyun World and pledged not to interfere with the inheritance, while Marquis Wu'an claimed he could protect it alone.
• Fighting Venerable revealed that the first trial was deciphering Ciyun Venerable’s Exquisite Chess Game, and that each of its forty-nine solutions earned a treasure and one entry quota to Zen Heart Hall.
• Thousands of experts tried the chess game, but most quickly gave up after finding it too difficult and mentally exhausting.
• Lu Yuanwei told Shen Zhui that the army’s experts could not guide him and urged him to use his seven clones to search for solutions.
• Shen Zhui’s seven clones began studying the game, while Shen Zhui and Zi Xuan sat down to comprehend it together.

Shen Zhui accelerated his Exquisite Chess deductions with Awakening Time, reaching nearly halfway through a difficult solution while advancing his cultivation and divine sense. As the factions competed to solve the forty-nine paths, Shen Zhui left camp with Xiao Huo, seeking more Merit Points.

• Shen Zhui learned the basics of Exquisite Chess in half an hour, astonishing Zi Xuan, who explained that the game contained forty-nine solutions of different difficulty levels.
• Fighting Venerable announced that more than five hundred people had found correct paths and warned that only the first solver of each path would qualify for the next trial.
• Shen Zhui used all his Merit Points on Awakening Time and rapidly advanced his deduction, eventually taking a ninth-ranked solution to 49,000 steps.
• Studying the game increased Shen Zhui's Thousand Silk Divine Art to twenty-eight strands and advanced his true body and seven avatars to the Second Stage Divine Ability Realm.
• Lu Yuanwei and other Great Zhou leaders reviewed the rankings, discussed ways to hinder the Sect Alliance, and heard Xia Hong mock Shen Zhui's absence from the leading group.
• Shen Zhui called Xiao Huo and left the camp with him after deciding that he needed a huge amount of Merit Points.

Shen Zhui and Fighting Vajra Xiao Huo hunted demonic-path cultivators around Immortal Crane City, earning enough Merit Points for Shen Zhui to rapidly advance his chess comprehension. After cracking the ninth solution in the Exquisite Chess Game, Shen Zhui rushed toward the Chessboard Barrier to claim the Origin of Space Bead.

• Shen Zhui and Xiao Huo searched the area for demonic-path experts and began targeting isolated groups while Xiao Huo subdued them for Shen Zhui to finish.
• Xiao Huo shattered a four-layer formation and incapacitated four cultivators, earning Shen Zhui two million Merit Points from the capture.
• Shen Zhui and Xiao Huo continued their raids for more than seventeen hours, and Shen Zhui accumulated seventeen million Merit Points by killing twenty-eight demonic-path Divine Ability Realm experts.
• At Blood Red Fortress, the Liuhuo Envoy praised Xing Sen of Fayan Sect for reaching forty-three thousand steps, while Wu'an Army leaders sent more treasures to their chess-game contestants.
• Shen Zhui used eleven million Merit Points to comprehend the Exquisite Chess Game, completed all one hundred and eight thousand steps of the ninth solution, and headed for the Origin of Space Bead.

Shen Zhui entered the Chessboard Barrier and solved the ninth solution of the Exquisite Chess Game in a single attempt, earning the first slot for the second trial and the Origin of Space Bead. His achievement stunned Immortal Crane City and devastated Xing Sen, who had been leading that solution.

• Shen Zhui proved his identity as a Divine Might Colonel and passed through the forces guarding the Chessboard Barrier.
• Shen Zhui entered the Wu'an Army's camp, where Zhang Hairui opened a passage into the barrier for him.
• Shen Zhui rapidly solved the Exquisite Chess Game, reaching eighty thousand moves and drawing Fighting Venerable's attention.
• Shen Zhui completed all 108,000 moves of the ninth solution, imprinting the chessboard's patterns onto his soul.
• Fighting Venerable announced Shen Zhui as the first to solve the ninth solution and awarded him a second-trial slot and the Origin of Space Bead.
• Xing Sen learned that Shen Zhui had beaten him to the ninth solution, spat blood, and struggled to accept his loss.

Shen Zhui completed the ninth solution of the Exquisite Chess Game, claimed the Origin of Space Bead, and became the focus of the factions inside and outside Immortal Crane City. After the factions returned to their camps, he chose to put off studying the treasure and asked Zi Xuan to lend him Xiao Huo so he could continue eliminating demons.

• Fighting Venerable announced that Shen Zhui had completed the ninth solution, shocking Hui Ke, Pang Tong, Jiang Cheng, and the experts across Immortal Crane City.
• Jiang Nian silenced students who dismissed Shen Zhui's achievement, while Purple Extreme Daoist called for Shen Zhui to be eliminated and Gu Chenxing showed interest in fighting him.
• Shen Zhui received the Origin of Space Bead, and the Great Zhou border armies gathered to protect him when Purple Extreme Daoist asked whether killing a slot holder could transfer the slot.
• Heavenly Absolute Venerable rejected a full-scale war and ordered a hidden agent in Wu'an Army to deliver a God-Slaying Lightning to kill Shen Zhui.
• After the opposing forces withdrew to their camps, Shen Zhui heard Zi Xuan explain the bead's uses, set it aside, and asked to borrow Xiao Huo so he could resume hunting demons.

Qiao Fang received the parts for the God-Slaying Lightning and set out to kill Shen Zhui, while Shen Zhui hunted demonic cultivators with Xiao Huo to accumulate Merit Points. The chapter ended as Qiao Fang located Shen Zhui and began assembling the weapon.

• Qiao Fang secretly learned that his master had assigned him to kill Shen Zhui with the God-Slaying Lightning, then received three Storage Rings containing its components.
• Shen Zhui left the camp with Xiao Huo, found groups of Divine Ability cultivators, and began killing demonic experts to accumulate Merit Points.
• Qiao Fang learned Shen Zhui was outside the camp, then flew out aboard a Skeleton Warship with the weapon components.
• Shen Zhui and Xiao Huo continued hunting near Linglong Tower, raising his Merit Points above twenty million and evolving five Earthwalker Yakshas into Skywalker Yakshas.
• Xiao Huo detected a Third-tier Divine Ability Wu'an Army expert approaching, and Qiao Fang locked onto Shen Zhui and began assembling the God-Slaying Lightning.

Shen Zhui survived Qiao Fang’s attempt to kill him with the God-Slaying Lightning and destroyed Qiao Fang’s warship, but a mysterious figure then appeared in his mind and tried to make him its servant.

• Shen Zhui realized Qiao Fang’s Skeleton Warship was pursuing his true identity after the Mysterious Sky Bronze Mirror shattered, and he fled with Xiao Huo.
• Qiao Fang chased Shen Zhui, killed several cultivators in his path, and used an earth-element technique to prepare a shot from the God-Slaying Lightning.
• Shen Zhui summoned the Ruyi Warship and survived the God-Slaying Lightning’s blast, though the impact injured him.
• Shen Zhui charged back at Qiao Fang in the Ruyi Warship, and Qiao Fang self-detonated inside the Skeleton Warship as the collision struck.
• Shen Zhui learned that the Skeleton Warship’s master had died, then a figure bearing Rule Power appeared in his mind and demanded that he become its servant.

Shen Zhui resisted a Venerable-level soul attack hidden in the Skeleton Warship, then learned that the Heavenly Absolute Venerable of Tian Jue Sect had orchestrated the ambush. After returning to the Wu'an Army camp with Zhang Hairui, Shen Zhui resolved to retaliate against Tian Jue Sect and began deducing his second breakthrough method.

• Shen Zhui used the Blood Origin Divine Armor, his golden pagoda, and his Martial Dao Will to destroy the Heavenly Absolute Venerable's divine sense hidden in the Skeleton Warship.
• The Heavenly Absolute Venerable told the Liuhuo Envoy and the Blood Red Fortress Master that his attempt to make Shen Zhui a Soul Servant had failed.
• Shen Zhui revealed that his Earth Clone had approached the Skeleton Warship while his true body remained hidden, then vowed to eliminate Tian Jue Sect's experts.
• Zhang Hairui and the army's Staff Bearer arrived, heard Shen Zhui's full account, and brought him back to the Wu'an Army camp.
• Shen Zhui joked with Zi Xuan before returning to the Dragon Head Warship and beginning to deduce his second breakthrough method.

Marquis Wu'an Zhao Xing punished Blood Red Fortress for its failed assassination of Shen Zhui, while more inheritors solved the Exquisite Chess Game and claimed its treasures. Shen Zhui returned to the Dragon Head Warship after making progress on several solutions and asked Zhang Hairui to open the Chessboard Barrier.

• Marquis Wu'an Zhao Xing crushed a Seventh-tier Divine Ability cultivator at Blood Red Fortress and warned Heavenly Absolute Venerable not to target Shen Zhui again.
• Heavenly Absolute Venerable was reprimanded by the other Venerables and ordered to stop interfering in Immortal Crane City's affairs.
• Ling Xin solved the forty-ninth difficulty and received the Dragon Soaring Zen Staff, while twenty-seven more inheritors soon claimed solutions and treasures.
• Zi Xuan told Shen Zhui that Fighting Venerable would not let her enter the Chessboard Barrier, and she urged him to take the treasures for her.
• Shen Zhui used his Merit Points to complete three solutions and make progress toward the first-ranked solution, then returned to Zhang Hairui's Dragon Head Warship.
• Shen Zhui asked Zhang Hairui to open the Chessboard Barrier, and several experts rushed toward it when they saw him.

Shen Zhui solved the fifteenth and thirteenth Exquisite Chess Game challenges in succession, earning two divine weapons while drawing attention from allies and rivals. After the Black Demon also received a treasure, Shen Zhui reentered the barrier to tackle the fourth challenge.

• Zhang Hairui learned Shen Zhui was not attempting the seventh difficulty and wished him success, knowing Marquis Wu'an had acted to protect him.
• Shen Zhui completed the 108,000-move fifteenth solution, received the Mountain-Flipping Seal, and left its second trial slot available for another solver.
• Xia Hong ordered Dai Bei and Jiang Cheng to secure the fifteenth difficulty’s slot, while Lu Yuanwei, Pei Tong, and Cheng Jiao discussed Shen Zhui’s success and the danger posed by the Sect Alliance.
• Shen Zhui reentered the Chessboard Barrier and, half an hour later, completed the thirteenth solution, receiving the Blazing Fire Cauldron.
• The Black Demon completed the third difficulty and received the Purple Bamboo Clone Technique and Tianlan Purple Bamboo, then taunted Shen Zhui.
• Shen Zhui ignored the Black Demon and entered the barrier again to attempt the fourth challenge.

Shen Zhui solved the second-ranked chess puzzle and received the essence blood of the fierce beast Hui, leaving only the first-ranked treasure unclaimed. He told Lu Yuanwei and the other officials he would attempt the final solution, asking them to take responsibility if his effort caused trouble.

• As thousands entered the Chessboard Barrier, Wu'an Army officials discussed the race for the remaining treasures and Lin Ze's progress on the first solution.
• Shen Zhui completed the second solution and received Hui's essence blood, astonishing the other contestants and the four major factions.
• Shen Zhui returned to the Dragon Head Warship, where Lu Yuanwei praised him and the King Liang's Estate faction withdrew its Spiritual Sense projections.
• Lu Yuanwei explained that Lin Ze, Fang Wen, Liu Ping, and a Sect Alliance expert were among the leading contenders for the first-ranked treasure.
• Shen Zhui offered to try solving the first difficulty and asked the officials to take responsibility if he caused trouble.