Chapter Summaries

A force of death warriors secretly raised by the Beitang Imperial Clan marched on Meng Family Village while Meng Zhao was away, knowing the mission could cost them their lives. As they struggled with fear and doubts about their families’ fate, they rallied themselves to continue the attack.

• More than a dozen fighters with temporarily enhanced Grandmaster-level combat power headed toward Meng Family Village after causing unrest in Lingwu City.
• A young warrior asked Brother Tang whether they could survive and see their families again, and Brother Tang warned that the mission was likely to be deadly.
• One warrior questioned the Beitang Imperial Clan’s promises, warned that Meng Zhao might retaliate, and urged the group to consider the Meng Family’s influence in the Northern Lands.
• Brother Tang told anyone unwilling to proceed that withdrawing would put their relatives in immediate danger.
• A warrior reminded the group that they had once been condemned men and urged them to accept the risk for their families, restoring their resolve to carry on.

More than a dozen Grandmaster-level attackers were annihilated by the Five Elements Grand Array at Meng Family Village, prompting Xie Wanzhi and the Beitang Imperial Clan to recognize Meng Zhao’s defenses. Meanwhile, Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng traveled beyond Heaven Pass toward the Arctic Ice Plains, where Meng Zhao examined the strange Deathly Qi in the land.

• More than a dozen Grandmaster-level fighters attacked Meng Family Village and were trapped and killed by its Five Elements Grand Array, suffering only minor injuries to a few farmers before they could reach the family’s key figures.
• Xie Wanzhi abandoned his schemes against the Meng Family and resumed secretly guarding it, while the Beitang Imperial Clan realized the array had destroyed a valuable force prepared for its operation.
• Meng Zhao’s complete chain of defensive arrays, powered by the Heaven-Illuminating Divine Mirror, remained hidden as a far more powerful safeguard than the rudimentary array that had just activated.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng journeyed beyond Heaven Pass toward the Arctic Ice Plains, where Meng Zhao observed that the barren soil lacked spiritual vitality and that the wild grass carried Deathly Qi.
• Zhao Rulíng explained that Deathly Qi’s ability to sustain life was an adaptation to the Arctic Ice Plains’ altered laws, and Meng Zhao concluded that the region was difficult for the Human Dao Imperial Dynasty to govern.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng discussed why the Central Plains had never conquered the Arctic Ice Plains before a flock of black-winged hawks attacked. Meng Zhao sent Flood Dragon Little Nine to feed on them, hoping the harsh land might help it transform into a heavenly dragon.

• Zhao Rulíng asked whether Meng Zhao would conquer the Arctic Ice Plains if he founded a new dynasty, and Meng Zhao considered why even past emperors had not managed it.
• Zhao Rulíng explained that the Arctic Ice Plains were governed by natural selection, where humans and ferocious beasts struggled to survive.
• Meng Zhao released Flood Dragon Little Nine as tens of thousands of black-winged hawks descended upon them.
• Flood Dragon Little Nine killed and devoured the hawks while Meng Zhao explained that it had undergone two bloodline temperings and might transform into a heavenly dragon.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng traveled deeper into the Arctic Ice Plains after Flood Dragon Little Nine routed a flock of flying eagles. They reached the frozen wilderness and continued toward a You Clan tribe that might hold clues to the Supreme Scepter, while Meng Zhao reflected on the resilience of the Hundred Clans’ survivors.

• Flood Dragon Little Nine devastated the flying eagles, and Zhao Rulíng used his victory to explain the power of individual martial strength.
• Zhao Rulíng told Meng Zhao about the You Clan and their unusual Nether Transformation ability, then chose a small tribe as their first destination because it held information about the Supreme Scepter.
• Meng Zhao agreed to follow Zhao Rulíng’s plan and set a three-month limit for searching before they would return to Lingwu City to pursue Nangong Yao’s Human Dao Supreme Divine Artifact.
• After Flood Dragon Little Nine finished eating, Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng crossed into the ice-and-snow region of the Arctic Ice Plains.
• Meng Zhao considered the harshness of the frozen homeland and became wary of the strength and resilience of the Hundred Clans’ survivors.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng entered the Arctic Ice Plains to investigate the Supreme Scepter and the You Clan, while each pursued his own concerns about the Hundred Clans. They explored a small You Clan settlement and left impressed by its people’s abilities and the human race’s advantage in numbers.

• Meng Zhao worried that Arctic Ice Plains experts might evade human fortune’s suppression before the human race’s strength recovered, while Zhao Rulíng sought the Supreme Scepter to disrupt the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord’s plans.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng secretly entered a You Clan settlement of just over three thousand people, hidden in an ice valley.
• Meng Zhao examined the You Clan’s twelve ice wells, which could form an array with the strength of a peak Great Grandmaster, and observed their livestock and tamed wolves.
• Meng Zhao asked Zhao Rulíng to compare You Clan warriors with Divine Continent troops, and Zhao Rulíng judged the You Clan superior in a small battle but uncertain against much larger human forces.
• Meng Zhao concluded that the human race’s population and battle formations helped it rise above the Hundred Clans.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng infiltrated the You Clan Chief’s home to learn about the Supreme Scepter and captured him for questioning. The chief initially denied knowing anything, but Zhao Rulíng revealed that they knew his family’s lineage and pressured him to speak.

• Meng Zhao reasoned that the human race’s immense population gave it a decisive advantage over the Hundred Clans.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng decided to question the You Clan Chief, whom they believed knew the most about the Supreme Scepter.
• Zhao Rulíng knocked out the You Clan Chief and a You Clan Woman during their affair, then brought the chief to an empty room and woke him.
• The You Clan Chief recognized Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng as humans and judged that resisting them would be futile.
• Zhao Rulíng demanded information about the Supreme Scepter, but the You Clan Chief claimed he was too insignificant to know anything.
• Zhao Rulíng revealed that the chief’s lineage had once produced a Great Emperor and warned him that further deception would cost him his life.

The chief of the You Clan Tribe told Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng that the Supreme Scepter was an unfinished artifact made with contributions from only sixty-seven clans. Meng Zhao then questioned whether it could still command or suppress those clans, leaving its potential threat unresolved.

• The chief explained that the Supreme Scepter was meant to unite the Hundred Clans but remained unfinished because only sixty-seven clans agreed to contribute their metals, blood essence, and fortune.
• Zhao Rulíng argued that powerful clans would never accept a ruler holding the scepter, while Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng reasoned that the Hundred Clans remained divided.
• The chief revealed that the You Clan had been the first to support the plan, but had sacrificed its geniuses and clan fortune without completing the artifact.
• Meng Zhao asked whether the half-finished scepter could still command or suppress the sixty-seven clans that had contributed to it.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng learned that someone might be rebuilding the Supreme Scepter with the blood essence and clan fortune of the Thirty-Three Clans. Meng Zhao sought to learn when the scepter last appeared, hoping to study the ancient Great Demon God's Dao Fruit, while the You Clan chief hesitated over his answer.

• The You Clan chief explained that the Supreme Scepter had once commanded the fortune of sixty-seven clans but had long vanished, though someone might now be gathering the resources to complete it.
• The chief said the ancient Great Demon God's Dao Fruit could let the scepter forge itself from refined gold, genius blood essence, and clan fortune.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng considered how difficult it would be to gather powerful blood essence and steal clan fortune, recalling how a Qingqiu beauty's attempt to seize human fortune had destroyed her and weakened her clan.
• Meng Zhao asked when the Supreme Scepter had last appeared and who had held it, hoping to study the Great Demon God's Dao Fruit.
• The You Clan chief hesitated as he regarded Meng Zhao's unusual features and recognized him as a human with exceptional divine bloodline and talent.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng learned that the Supreme Scepter was last associated with the vanished Huai Queen and might lie somewhere in the Arctic Ice Plains. The You Clan chief offered to connect them with the Tiantian Clan, whose members could uncover information about the Huai Clan, if they helped resolve his tribe’s conflict with them.

• The You Clan chief said the Supreme Scepter had been entrusted to the Huai Queen, who later vanished after an ambush, and that legends placed the scepter where she fell.
• Zhao Rulíng asked about Huai Clan settlements, and the You Clan chief described how the Arctic Ice Plains’ harsh conditions had left the clan sparse and declining.
• The You Clan chief revealed that a powerful Tiantian Clan Tribe nearby threatened his people and offered to direct Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng to them for help learning about the Huai Clan.
• Zhao Rulíng explained that the Tiantian Clan’s four-eared members cultivated an ability suited to gathering secrets and intelligence, and noted that the clan had risen from a minor tribe to a great power.

Zhao Rulíng and Meng Zhao learned how a six-eared Tiantian prodigy had transformed his clan’s power by creating the Heaven and Earth Probing Technique. Zhao Rulíng judged that the absent Six-Eared Listener of Heaven was a Person of Destiny, but considered Meng Zhao an even greater threat to the Hundred Clans.

• Zhao Rulíng questioned the You Clan Tribe's lord about how the Tiantian Clan had gained such an overwhelming martial advantage.
• The lord explained that a six-eared prodigy had combined the Six-Eared Divine Connection Method with the Heaven Listening Method to create the Heaven and Earth Probing Technique, strengthening the Tiantian Clan.
• The lord said Six-Eared Listener of Heaven had gone deep into the Arctic Ice Plains to cultivate and that only Tiantian clansmen with four ears could use the technique.
• Zhao Rulíng recognized Six-Eared Listener of Heaven as a Person of Destiny and reflected that the Hundred Clans might hold other such figures.
• Zhao Rulíng concluded that Meng Zhao was even more formidable because his potential had no apparent limit.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng traveled to the Tiantian Tribe to investigate the Huai Clan and the Supreme Scepter, while Meng Zhao also hoped to learn about the Heaven and Earth Probing Technique. The Tiantian clansmen welcomed them and identified Meng Zhao as a divine child because of his unusual bloodline, leaving him to ask what the title meant.

• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng decided to visit the Tiantian Tribe rather than wait for the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord.
• Meng Zhao erased the You Clan Tribe leader’s memories of them, and the two followed his directions to the Tiantian Tribe.
• The Tiantian chief detected Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng despite their concealment and sent two clansmen to invite them as guests.
• The two Tiantian clansmen reacted to Meng Zhao with envy and admiration, prompting Zhao Rulíng to ask why they treated him differently.
• A Tiantian clansman explained that Meng Zhao was called a divine child because his bloodline inherited the power of ancient Gods and Devils.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng learned how rare bloodlines and physiques arose among the Hundred Clans and discovered that the Tiantian Tribe had a formidable population and roster of experts. Their findings left them alarmed by the Hundred Clans’ potential threat and questioning whether the human race’s foundations could withstand it.

• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng learned that special physiques and bloodlines among the Hundred Clans could stem from ancient Gods and Devils, powerful ancestors, or rare chance.
• The two followed the Tiantian toward their tribe and learned it had more than eighty thousand clansmen, including a chieftain nearing the Supreme Heavenly Being Path, three Great Grandmasters, and eight Grandmasters.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng felt relieved that humanity’s ancient foundations, human fortune, and Human Dao Supreme Divine Artifact restrained the foreign races.
• Meng Zhao blamed Calculates All Beings and Beitang Gong for weakening human martial fortunes without considering the Hundred Clans’ threat.
• Meng Zhao wondered whether spreading martial arts to everyone could have addressed the problems that led Calculates All Beings to pursue a martial era of decline, but he recognized that it might have caused another kind of decline.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng learned how Six-Eared Listener of Heaven’s secret art had strengthened the Tiantian Clan and saw the tribe’s prosperity firsthand. A Tiantian clansman revealed that Six-Eared had studied under Lord Heaven Burial, leaving the two visitors startled by the name.

• Two Tiantian clansmen explained the Listening Heaven Probing Earth Secret Art’s benefits and limitations to Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng observed the Tiantian Tribe’s lively people and flourishing districts, including clansmen processing a Grandmaster ice bear.
• Meng Zhao praised the Tiantian Tribe’s vitality and predicted that its standing among the Hundred Clans would grow.
• A Peak Grandmaster Tiantian said Six-Eared Listener of Heaven had been raised by nine elders and later studied under Lord Heaven Burial.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng were stunned by the name Lord Heaven Burial.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng learned why Heaven Burial had chosen his provocative title and discovered his extraordinary origins and cultivation. Meng Zhao concluded that Heaven Burial sought to challenge Heaven to refine himself, rather than manipulate the Arctic Ice Plains' fortune.

• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng speculated that Heaven Burial's title referred to the Divine Continent's Heavenly Dao, not the Arctic Ice Plains'.
• The younger Heaven Listener explained that Heaven Burial was born into the Longbo Clan with an indestructible vajra physique and studied the Sixteen-Foot Golden Body under a monk from within the passes.
• The younger Heaven Listener said Heaven Burial had vowed to endure beyond Heaven and Earth, taking his title as a declaration that he would either be buried by Heaven or bury it.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng considered the Longbo Clan's physical power and the significance of Heaven Burial possessing a supreme Buddhist martial art thought lost within the passes.
• Meng Zhao reconsidered his suspicion, deciding that Heaven Burial had chosen his name to challenge Heaven and hone himself, not to gain the Arctic Ice Plains' favor.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng met Feng Ling, chief of the Tiantian Tribe, and learned that the Hundred Clans tracked and assassinated human prodigies to weaken their rivals. The chapter ended with Meng Zhao recognizing why so many people had tried to kill him.

• Meng Zhao asked Tiantian about Heaven Burial’s strength, and Tiantian said Heaven Burial had reached the Dao Seed realm and was invincible among those of the same realm.
• Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng entered the Tiantian Tribe’s central hall and met its chief, Feng Ling.
• Feng Ling recognized Meng Zhao as the famed Dragon King and explained that the Hundred Clans gathered intelligence about Divine Land’s talents.
• Feng Ling revealed that the Hundred Clans dispatched or hired assassins to kill promising human prodigies before they could become threats.
• Meng Zhao sighed that the revelation explained why so many people had tried to assassinate him.

Feng Ling revealed that the Dragon Clan among the Arctic Ice Plains’ Hundred Clans descended from Ying Zheng and regarded Meng Zhao as one of their own because of his True Dragon bloodline. Meng Zhao questioned whether Ying Zheng had created the clan as part of a larger scheme to protect humanity, and asked Feng Ling about the Dragon Clan’s attitude toward the human race.

• Feng Ling told Meng Zhao that the Hundred Clans had not targeted him because the Dragon Clan had blocked attacks against him, while Shen Tianci had faced several assassination attempts.
• Feng Ling explained that Ying Zheng had created a lineage of dragon-blooded descendants among the Hundred Clans, which eventually developed into the Dragon Clan, where two True Dragons still lived.
• Zhao Rulíng asked how the Dragon Clan had originated, and Feng Ling recounted the story that Ying Zheng had fathered children with women from many races.
• Meng Zhao doubted that Ying Zheng had acted out of lust and considered whether he had established the Dragon Clan for a hidden purpose.
• Meng Zhao asked Feng Ling what attitude the Dragon Clan had held toward humanity and campaigns against Divine Land.

Feng Ling explained the Dragon Clan’s ambiguous stance toward humanity and told Meng Zhao that his bloodline could make him highly valued among them. Meng Zhao dismissed thoughts of taking control of the clan and instead speculated that Ancestor Dragon Ying Zheng had created it to guard or claim the Supreme Scepter.

• Feng Ling said Meng Zhao could learn the Dragon Clan’s true attitude toward humanity by visiting its territory, where his True Dragon Physique would give him standing.
• Zhao Rulíng and Feng Ling suggested that Meng Zhao’s bloodline could bring him romantic fortune among the Dragon Clan, whose members prized powerful bloodlines.
• Meng Zhao considered the Dragon Clan’s strength and imagined bringing it under his command, but concluded that his lineage, lack of authority, and insufficient power made it unrealistic.
• Meng Zhao recalled the Supreme Scepter and wondered whether Ancestor Dragon Ying Zheng had established the Dragon Clan to prevent the artifact from threatening humanity and to seize it for the clan.

Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng told Feng Ling they sought information about the Huai Clan and the Supreme Scepter, then explained that the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord might be trying to seize it. Feng Ling reconsidered his hostility but remained concerned that the ancient power could help the Palace Lord claim the artifact.

• Meng Zhao asked Feng Ling for guidance, and Zhao Rulíng watched him closely as Feng Ling invited them to speak freely.
• Meng Zhao explained that they had visited the You Clan Tribe to learn about the Huai Clan and Huai Queen, hoping to investigate the Supreme Scepter’s location.
• Feng Ling angrily accused Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng of seeking the Hundred Clans’ foundation and unleashed his powerful aura.
• Meng Zhao suppressed Feng Ling’s aura and described the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord’s actions, ancient inheritance, and interest in the Supreme Scepter.
• Feng Ling recognized the Palace Lord as the cause of the battle that had destroyed several tribes and considered the danger that his ancient methods could let him claim the artifact.

Feng Ling weighed Meng Zhao’s warning about the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord and kept the Supreme Scepter’s secrets from him and Zhao Rulíng, wary of their influence and the Tiantian Clan’s interests. Meng Zhao reaffirmed that he would help prevent the Palace Lord from claiming the scepter, leaving Feng Ling to consider how to prepare the Hundred Clans.

• Feng Ling recalled that the Supreme Scepter might date back to the Ancient Times and suspected the Heavenly Demon Palace had long investigated its secrets.
• Feng Ling told Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng that the Supreme Scepter was an internal matter for the Hundred Clans and that humans should not interfere.
• Zhao Rulíng considered capturing Feng Ling for information, but Meng Zhao secretly urged him to stand down because the Arctic Ice Plains held dangerous experts.
• Meng Zhao resolved to stop the Heavenly Demon Palace Lord from obtaining the scepter, fearing he could unite the Hundred Clans and attack the Northern Lands.
• Feng Ling apologized for taking a guarded position, and Meng Zhao offered the two men’s help in thwarting the Palace Lord.

Feng Ling agreed to enlist Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng’s help and revealed that the Huai Clan had no connection to the Supreme Scepter. He pointed them toward the powerful Divine Wood Clan as the best source for finding the Huai Clan, while Meng Zhao pressed him about the Scepter’s whereabouts.

• Feng Ling set aside his apparent hostility and agreed to accept Meng Zhao and Zhao Rulíng’s aid, offering information about the Supreme Scepter in return.
• Feng Ling explained that the Huai Clan had dwindled to a small, isolated clan after suffering in the Arctic Ice Plains, and that the Tiantian Tribe did not know its location or where the Huai Queen fell.
• Feng Ling said the Divine Wood Clan, an ancient Green Emperor’s subordinate with a close history with the Huai Clan, was the best lead for finding them.
• Meng Zhao concluded that seeking the Huai Clan would not help locate the Supreme Scepter and asked Feng Ling whether the Scepter had revealed its whereabouts.