Chapter Summaries

Shen Zhui hid near the Heavenly Doctor Palace after stealing the Medical Texts, jade brush, and inkstone, while Cui He searched Spring Pavilion for the thief. As the first trial neared its end, Shen Zhui moved to assassinate Cui He and entered the pavilion when Cui He was left alone.

• Cui He discovered that an impostor had taken the Heavenly Doctor Palace treasures and had the four remaining Divine Ability cultivators killed.
• Shen Zhui examined the Medical Texts, jade brush, and inkstone, then hid nearby instead of using his Sacred Word Token to leave.
• Cui He searched Spring Pavilion for three days without finding Shen Zhui, while the number of True Script Phantom Beasts continued to fall.
• Shen Zhui learned that Jiang Tianming, Chen Qingshan, and Lan Chenguang had earned treasures, then decided the first trial was ending and prepared to strike Cui He.
• Shen Zhui used his Earth Clone to find a safe route toward Cui He and waited until Cui He sent everyone out of the pavilion.
• Shen Zhui entered the pavilion after Cui He was left alone.

Shen Zhui disguised himself as Cui He's younger brother and ambushed him, destroying his body and pursuing his escaping divine soul. Before Shen Zhui could finish the kill, the first trial ended and everyone was teleported to Great Xia Palace City.

• Cui He guarded the tower with a Fifth-tier Spider Silk Formation, but Shen Zhui detected it and withdrew to plan another approach.
• Shen Zhui transformed into Cui Wen, used Cui He's childhood name to earn his trust, and lured him out of the tower.
• Shen Zhui, Fighting Vajra Xiao Huo, and the Two-Headed Dragon Eagle ambushed Cui He, destroyed his body, and forced his divine soul to flee.
• Shen Zhui surrounded Cui He's divine soul with seven avatars and pursued him as the Black White Guards and Cui Clan disciples rushed to help.
• The rules froze everyone in Spring Pavilion and announced that the True Script Phantom Beast had been killed and all adventurers would be teleported to Great Xia Palace City.

Shen Zhui killed Cui He during the teleportation into the second trial, then claimed Cui He's surviving treasures and learned that the trial centered on reaching and defending Great Xia Palace City. With the city five hundred li away and a three-year countdown underway, Shen Zhui set out toward it.

• Shen Zhui used the Merit Barrier to send a golden sword through the teleportation pillar and kill Cui He, whose clan mistakenly believed his soul had dispersed during the transfer.
• Cui Wen found Cui He's Dragon Pattern Official Robes and ownerless Black White Guards, then led the Cui Clan away with the items.
• Shen Zhui inspected Cui He's surviving belongings and found sixteen Fifth-tier Divine Weapons, including the God Annihilation Cannon, ten Fortune Coins, and over one hundred and forty-seven thousand World Stones.
• The rules announced that one hundred billion True Script Phantom Beasts would attack Great Xia Palace City after three years, while adventurers could earn rewards by helping its human residents.
• Shen Zhui learned that Great Xia Palace City was five hundred li away and traveled toward it aboard the Flowing Light Flying Ship.

Shen Zhui explored the sealed walls of Great Xia Palace City, then withdrew from the crowds after meeting two people with extraordinary fortune. In a secluded mountain cave, he absorbed the Medical Texts and gained the Sacred Word Divine Ability Revive the Dead, though its use came with limits.

• Shen Zhui found that no one could enter Great Xia Palace City by force, flight, or burrowing, and declined Liu Yiyi's request to share his spot.
• Shen Zhui noticed Wang Jingwen's nearly all-purple fortune and gave up his quiet vantage point for him.
• Shen Zhui grew wary of the karmic risks and possible breakthrough facing his Lotus Dao Fruit, then flew to a secluded mountain to absorb the Medical Texts.
• Shen Zhui absorbed the Medical Texts and formed the Medical Sacred Word Revive the Dead, which could resurrect those below the Divine Ability Realm or restore bodies to stronger people whose souls remained.
• Shen Zhui discovered that the ability required intact souls and had a cooldown that depended on the target's strength and his own cultivation.

After seven days of failed attempts to enter the palace city, Shen Zhui investigated the God Shocking Formation and discovered that his Merit Barrier could overcome its Rule Power. The chapter ended with Shen Zhui’s hand passing through the city wall.

• Shen Zhui questioned Jiang Liu and learned that no adventurer had entered the palace city, while the gathered factions were organizing for the challenges ahead.
• Shen Zhui met Lan Chenguang in the Marching Hall, revealed his identity, and asked him to keep his presence secret.
• Lin Ze explained that the God Shocking Formation was weakening so slowly that Divine Ability cultivators might not enter for two years, leaving little time before the True Script Phantom Beasts attacked.
• Shen Zhui tested the wall with himself and his companions, but its Venerable-level Rule Power repelled them.
• Shen Zhui activated his Merit Barrier, spent Merit Points to counter the Rule Power, and successfully put his hand through the city wall.

Shen Zhui waited until the palace city’s examination began, then chose to solve the Lightning Incomplete Game rather than risk entering early or attempt the harder Time and Space games. After awakening his comprehension, he placed the first lightning piece, beginning to alter the game before any other adventurer had made progress.

• Shen Zhui decided not to spend all his Merit Points crossing the city wall and waited for the examination to begin.
• Jiang Nian visited his master, who selected a chess piece to set the palace city’s entrance question.
• The palace walls revealed nine incomplete Exquisite Chess Games, and the rules explained their origins, difficulty levels, rewards, and eventual entry deadline.
• Shen Zhui examined the games, chose the Lightning Incomplete Game as the path he could solve fastest, and brought out his true body and Lightning Element Clone.
• Shen Zhui entered an awakened state and placed the first lightning piece, subtly changing the game before any other adventurer had completed a step.

Shen Zhui solved the Lightning Element Incomplete Chess Game and entered the Great Xia Cave Heaven, where he explored a strange version of Shangqiu City. After the black- and white-clothed youths reset his experience, Shen Zhui returned to the city with no memory of the first loop and resumed investigating its inhabitants and the Gongcheng Mansion.

• Shen Zhui completed the lightning chess game, opened a thunder portal, and entered the city while the black- and white-clothed youths noticed his arrival.
• Shen Zhui awoke on a street in Shangqiu City, learned that the Gongcheng Mansion lay west, and found that everyone he questioned gave the same answer.
• After Shen Zhui asked thousands of questions, the Black-clothed Youth appeared and made the city's residents repeat, "You've asked so many times. Are You Sick?"
• The White-clothed Youth questioned Shen Zhui's persistence, then waved his hand and returned time to him before Shen Zhui fainted.
• Shen Zhui awoke again without remembering the first encounter, noticed that every resident possessed Ninth Stage Acquired Realm origin-energy, and headed toward the Gongcheng Mansion while sending out Spirit Power Incarnations to investigate.

Shen Zhui entered Gongcheng Mansion, gained command of three hundred soldiers, and marched with Gongcheng Zi Jin’s army to Black Wind Ridge to hunt demons. After Zi Jin punished him for an accidental death and the black wind separated his unit from the main force, Shen Zhui faced forty Spirit Bridge Peak King-level Fierce Beasts whose auras rivaled the Divine Ability Realm.

• Shen Zhui learned that Gongcheng Mansion recruited capable warriors to fight the Black Wind Demon and entered the mansion seeking a position.
• Jiang Tianming and Lan Chenguang discussed their progress on the Incomplete Chess Games and hoped Shen Zhui could join them.
• Gongcheng Zi Jin appointed Shen Zhui a Third-rank Zan Niao and assigned him three hundred soldiers to help protect Shangqiu City’s outskirts.
• After two soldiers died during the march into Black Wind Ridge, Zi Jin blamed Shen Zhui and raised his promotion requirement from twenty great demons to forty.
• Shen Zhui strengthened his remaining soldiers and reorganized their formation, but the black wind separated them from Zi Jin’s main force.
• Forty King-level Fierce Beasts appeared in the black wind, each at Spirit Bridge Peak with an aura like a Divine Ability expert.

Shen Zhui completed a dangerous demon-slaying trial, protecting most of his soldiers from forty Yayu and earning promotion to fifth-rank Scholar-Official. After receiving a residence and command of five hundred soldiers, he discovered that his former troops had grown stronger overnight, while Zi Jin warned that everyone in the city would continue to improve.

• When his soldiers ignored orders to stay silent, Shen Zhui killed two of them, and the others resumed obeying him.
• Shen Zhui shielded the remaining soldiers from the Yayu’s Soul Rending Sound, then killed all forty beasts with his Thunder Art.
• At daybreak, Zi Jin confirmed that Shen Zhui had completed the mission and questioned him about killing the disobedient soldiers.
• Left General Wang Yi promoted Shen Zhui to fifth-rank Scholar-Official and awarded him a western-city residence, supplies, and command of five hundred soldiers.
• Shen Zhui found that his 297 surviving soldiers had reached the Xiantian Realm and the ten Shangzao had advanced to Peak Xiantian.

Shen Zhui learned how the Sacred Word Secret Realm’s ranks, soldiers, and currency worked, then rapidly advanced by completing demon-slaying missions. After a month of rising through the official ranks and building his forces, he spotted a Third-tier Divine Ability expert who appeared to be an outside entrant.

• Shen Zhui discovered he had to pay stipends to his officers and that outside pills could not improve the soldiers, while his True Word Arts still worked in the secret realm.
• Shen Zhui began taking demon-slaying missions and was promoted to seventh-rank Duke Official on his tenth day, then to eighth-rank Gong Cheng on his nineteenth day.
• Shen Zhui spent his days fighting demons, and by the thirtieth day he had led one thousand five hundred soldiers to defeat more than seventy Jade Spiders.
• Shen Zhui returned to Shangqiu City and spotted a Third-tier Divine Ability expert dressed in animal hide, realizing that someone else had entered the secret realm.

Shen Zhui observed Zhou Qi get imprisoned for breaking Shangqiu City's rules, then tracked new adventurers and learned Zhou Qi had been demoted after challenging Zi Jin. The chapter left Shen Zhui waiting to meet Zhou Qi while admiring the strengthened Dragon Patterned Golden Sword.

• Shen Zhui watched Zhou Qi repeatedly receive the same information, then saw the imperial guards imprison him for using illusion arts on a commoner.
• Shen Zhui returned to Gongcheng Mansion and considered how adventurers' entry order and endgame results affected their starting ranks and missions.
• Seven days later, Shen Zhui had risen to Ninth-rank Wudafu and learned that fourteen more adventurers had appeared; Zhou Qi had been released and assigned as a Shang Zao.
• Zi Jin told Shen Zhui that Zhou Qi had challenged him for promotion, so Zi Jin had him beaten and kept him at the Shang Zao rank.
• Shen Zhui examined his Dragon Patterned Golden Sword, strengthened with twelve Dragon Scales, as Zi Jin brought Zhou Qi before him.

Shen Zhui promoted Zhou Qi after collecting rare treasures from him, then assessed how official ranks and stronger armies would shape the Great Xia Academy trial. Confident his powerful allies and weapons could carry him past the coming mission bottlenecks, he headed to Yan Hui’s mansion.

• Shen Zhui questioned Zhou Qi about his past misconduct and offered him a chance to earn merit by supplying rare treasures.
• Zhou Qi gave Shen Zhui two Fourth-tier Divine Weapons, Starfall Iron, and a Yellow Jade Thumb Ring in exchange for a promotion.
• Shen Zhui promoted Zhou Qi to fourth-rank Middle Geng and ordered Gongcheng Zi Jin not to hinder him.
• Shen Zhui reasoned that later trial missions would demand powerful armies, though his own trump cards could let him advance quickly.
• Shen Zhui left his residence and went to Eastern City Shang Zao Yan Hui’s mansion.

Shen Zhui persuaded Wang Yi to arrange a Level Twelve mission from Yan Hui and accepted the dangerous task of killing one hundred Seventh-tier Divine Ability demons in the Ten Thousand Demon Marsh within a month. As Shen Zhui headed there to investigate the mission, a veiled woman and a group led by Xia Feng also set out for the marsh, suspecting that it concealed a major problem.

• Shen Zhui asked Wang Yi to help him obtain a mission above his rank, and Wang Yi agreed to test him by challenging two Sixth-tier guards.
• Shen Zhui used his Black White Guards and Two-Headed Dragon Eagle to knock the guards out of the arena, convincing Wang Yi to take him to Yan Hui.
• Yan Hui issued Shen Zhui a Level Twelve mission to kill one hundred Seventh-tier Divine Ability great demons in the Ten Thousand Demon Marsh within a month, warning that failure would cost him two ranks.
• Shen Zhui studied the Sacred Word Token's descriptions of two centipede demons, prepared for the mission, and flew toward the marsh aboard the Ruyi Warship.
• A veiled woman left Yangdi City to hunt fifth-tier vicious beasts, while Xia Feng led eleven companions toward the Ten Thousand Demon Marsh and warned them to stay alert.

Shen Zhui reached the Ten Thousand Demon Marsh and was assigned to eliminate the water demons at Jiaolong Lake, despite his urgent mission to slay Seventh-tier demons. With forty imperial guards sent along, he arrived above the lake and was immediately attacked by an Eight-tentacled Water Monster.

• Shen Zhui found the legion’s hidden base in the marsh and met the Great Shu Chang, who asked him to clear the water demons around Jiaolong Lake.
• The Great Shu Chang tasked Shen Zhui with killing three hundred and fifty Origin Realm water demons and the Eighth-tier demon dragon, and Shen Zhui negotiated for forty imperial guards.
• Tian Yi teleported Shen Zhui and the forty guards to Jiaolong Lake, where the demon dragon’s lair lay on two islands at the lake’s center.
• An Eight-tentacled Water Monster attacked Shen Zhui, who learned its abilities through the Sacred Word Token and ordered the guards to fight.

Shen Zhui found a way to use his Water Clone as bait so the Silver Armored Imperial Guards could kill water monsters outside the lake, then joined forces with Wang Jingwen to hunt them. When Xia Feng and twelve others arrived, Shen Zhui disguised himself and Wang Jingwen, planning to make the newcomers work for them.

• Shen Zhui used his Water Clone to lure water monsters above the surface, where the forty Silver Armored Imperial Guards could kill them with a coordinated strike.
• Wang Jingwen arrived at Jiaolong Lake, recognized Shen Zhui, and asked to travel with him; Shen Zhui agreed.
• Wang Jingwen proved powerful against the water monsters, and Shen Zhui's Fighting Vajra rescued him when several saber-toothed fish monsters overwhelmed him.
• Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen discussed their remaining mission materials and prepared to head toward the island at the lake's center.
• Shen Zhui noticed Xia Feng and twelve others approaching, then had Wang Jingwen disguise himself as a Gongcheng official and changed into Wudafu robes himself.

Shen Zhui posed as a high-ranking official to recruit Xia Feng and the other Dayuan Prefecture disciples into his demon-extermination mission at Jiaolong Lake. After Luo Shubei proved his strength by killing an Eight-tentacled Water Monster, Shen Zhui assigned the group a mission to eliminate 153 water demons.

• Luo Shubei discovered that Jiaolong Lake’s unusually heavy water strengthened water cultivators and suppressed other elements.
• Xia Feng and his companions spotted Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen leading forty Silver Armored Imperial Guards and assumed the group’s demon hunt was an opportunity to gain a mission.
• Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen feigned reluctance to involve the newcomers, prompting Xia Feng to ask to help with the demon hunt.
• Shen Zhui summoned an Eight-tentacled Water Monster as a test, and Luo Shubei killed it with the divine weapon Huantian Ruler.
• Shen Zhui assigned Xia Feng’s group to clear 153 Sixth-tier Divine Ability water demons within a thousand li of Jiaolong Lake in exchange for merit and a greater opportunity.

Shen Zhui recruited Xia Feng and his companions to help complete his missions in Ten Thousand Demon Marsh by promising that Great Shu Chang would assess their merits. As they set out for the island in the middle of Jiaolong Lake, Shen Zhui told Wang Jingwen about his missions and strength, and Wang Jingwen promised to share any trouble or rewards with him.

• Shen Zhui warned Wang Jingwen that he could not trick the same adventurers repeatedly, then declined to recruit Liu Yiyi, a cautious Gongcheng from Yangdi City.
• With Xia Feng and the others' help, Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen cleared the remaining water demons, leaving only the Demon Dragon on the island in the middle of the lake.
• When Xia Feng and his companions expected immediate rewards, Shen Zhui promised that Great Shu Chang would assess their merits after the mission, and Xia Feng persuaded them that they had found a valuable chain quest.
• Shen Zhui agreed to let the twelve companions join, pointed out the island and the Azure Water Centipedes, and emphasized that he and Wang Jingwen would lead the mission while merit would reflect each person's contribution.
• Shen Zhui planned to use the adventurers to complete both missions, then explained his missions and battle strength to Wang Jingwen on the way to the island; Wang Jingwen said they would share any benefits and hardships.

Shen Zhui led the group across the island, where Xia Feng and the other young masters fought off hundreds of Stone-Scaled Snake Demons while Shen Zhui stayed behind the Silver Armored Imperial Guards. At the inner lake, the Demon Dragon revealed itself, and Shen Zhui realized it was actually a Yinglong.

• Shen Zhui guided the group through the island and directed the Silver Armored Imperial Guards to protect him and Wang Jingwen when hundreds of Stone-Scaled Snake Demons emerged.
• Xia Feng and the other young masters defeated the snake demons while Shen Zhui admired their treasures and persuaded Wang Jingwen that taking the items would help the Border Army.
• Shen Zhui led the group east to the Demon Dragon's lair, where weapons forged from the lake's water attacked them.
• Xia Feng and the others attacked the lake and briefly suppressed it, but twelve pillars of water blasted them away as the Dragon Pattern Stone Pillars activated.
• A dragon rose from the lake amid storms and earthquakes, and Shen Zhui recognized it as a Yinglong.

Shen Zhui realized the Demon Dragon was Yinglong and discovered that the eighteen Dragon Pattern Stone Pillars weakened it when destroyed. As Xia Feng and the others fought their way toward the pillars, Yinglong regained its eighth-tier strength and prepared to sacrifice itself, leaving Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen to flee.

• Shen Zhui recognized the Demon Dragon as an eighth-tier Yinglong and watched Xia Feng's group face its devastating Origin Domain.
• Shen Zhui directed the adventurers toward the eighteen Dragon Pattern Stone Pillars, then drew Yinglong's attention by revealing a trace of his Yinglong blood essence.
• Xia Feng led the others to destroy the pillars, while they used precious Divine Weapons to blast through Yinglong's water demons and withstand its attacks.
• As six pillars fell, Yinglong's strength dropped from Divine Ability Realm eighth-tier to seventh-tier, and it weakened further as the adventurers continued their assault.
• When Yinglong reached fifth-tier, it declared that the Dragon Clan's soul was never a slave, restored its aura to eighth-tier, and began swelling; Shen Zhui warned Wang Jingwen to run.

Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen survived the Dragon Pattern Stone Pillar’s explosion, then disguised their injuries and staged a dramatic attempt to die so the adventurers would keep them alive. The chapter ended with Xia Feng offering them a golden sword and pills to restore their combat strength and continue the mission.

• Wang Jingwen carried Shen Zhui away from the island as the Dragon Pattern Stone Pillar exploded, leaving Shen Zhui’s arm badly injured and Wang Jingwen overheated.
• Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen recovered with Blood Origin Crystal Cores, then watched the eleven adventurers return alive but battered.
• Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen worsened their injuries and disguised their cultivation before meeting Xia Feng and the others.
• Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen pretended to attempt suicide, persuading Xia Feng and the others that they had to stay alive to finish the mission.
• Shen Zhui claimed they could not continue without restored strength, prompting Meng Cheng to suggest giving them supplies.
• Xia Feng approached Shen Zhui and Wang Jingwen with a golden sword and pills, asking whether they could use rare treasures.