Chapter Summaries

Li Yun defeated the four deputy stronghold masters and revealed that he had killed both Water-Fire Demon Lords. He agreed to become the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold’s new master to protect its Water-Fire Wonderland, leaving the deputies wondering who he really was.

• Li Yun revealed that he had killed the Water-Fire Demon Lords three months earlier, and Si Huo and the other deputies begged him to spare them.
• Si Huo explained that neighboring strongholds were preparing to attack and proposed that Li Yun become their new stronghold master.
• Li Yun agreed to protect the stronghold because it contained a valuable Water-Fire Wonderland, on the condition that its Martial Dao resources went to him first.
• The four deputies accepted Li Yun’s terms, and he dismissed them to continue managing the stronghold while he cultivated.
• After returning aboveground, the deputies recovered from their fear and wondered who their new stronghold master really was.

The Water-Fire Devil Stronghold adjusted to its new chief, Lin Zishan, after learning he had killed the Water-Fire Demon Lords. When three rival factions arrived with over a thousand followers and five Spirit Transformation experts, Si Huo warned their leader that the stronghold’s new chief was not the Water Demon Lord.

• Si Huo advised Zhui Long and the other deputy chiefs not to pry into Li Yun’s origins, and the four announced the change of chief to the stronghold’s people.
• Over the next half month, the stronghold learned that its new chief was Lin Zishan from Western Mountain Commandery, who had killed the Water-Fire Demon Lords, and its people welcomed the prospect of a stronger leader.
• The Blood Saber Stronghold, Five Tigers Stronghold, and White Lady Stronghold arrived with over a thousand followers and five Spirit Transformation experts.
• Zhang Zhen, the strongest of the allied experts, sat on the chief’s throne and challenged the Water Demon Lord to appear.
• Si Huo told Zhang Zhen that the Water-Fire Demon Lords were dead and that Lin Zishan was the new chief, warning him that he might incur Lin Zishan’s wrath.

Li Yun appeared before Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen and four other Spirit Transformation Realm experts who had invaded the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold. After Zhang Zhen agreed to take one move from Li Yun in exchange for being allowed to leave, the two sides prepared to fight.

• Si Huo revealed that the Fire Devil Lord and Water Demon Lord were dead and that Lin Zishan had become the stronghold's new chieftain, but Zhang Zhen demanded to see him.
• A Fire Lotus appeared beneath Zhang Zhen, and Li Yun materialized from its flames on the chieftain's throne.
• Zhang Zhen apologized and said his group would leave, but Li Yun demanded compensation for the damage they had caused.
• Li Yun offered to let them go if they survived one move from him, and Zhang Zhen and the four other Spirit Transformation Realm experts stepped forward to face him.

Li Yun faced Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen and four other Spirit Transformation Realm experts, then countered their attacks with his Five Elements blade technique. The five experts’ attacks and spiritual intent vanished inside his Absolute Prison, leaving them frozen in terror.

• Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen and four Spirit Transformation Realm experts attacked Li Yun with their deadly martial arts.
• Li Yun drew his blade and unleashed five-colored Blade Qi that formed five Divine Dragons and enclosed the attackers in an Absolute Prison.
• Li Yun named his technique “Divine Martial, Five Elements Return to Origin, Absolute Prison Buries Heaven!”
• The Absolute Prison erased the five experts’ attacks and spiritual intent, leaving them unable to recover from their terror.

Li Yun defeated the five Spirit Transformation Realm attackers and accepted their offer to bring their three strongholds under his command. He left Si Huo and the others to rename and manage the newly united forces while he went off to cultivate.

• Li Yun's strike shattered his saber and left Zhang Zhen and the other four experts alive only because he had deliberately spared them.
• Zhang Zhen and the four experts knelt, offered compensation, and asked Li Yun to accept their strongholds into his command.
• Li Yun accepted their allegiance and told them to combine the four strongholds, choose a new name, and organize their people.
• Li Yun vanished before leaving the hall, and Si Huo explained that their chief left stronghold management to others so he could cultivate.
• Zhang Zhen and the other experts thanked Si Huo and promised to put their old grudges behind them.

At Seven Kill Stronghold, Huang Yiqi reacted furiously to news that Zhang Zhen and other chiefs had joined the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold. Kong Jun suspected the alliance was a secret plot against them, and the chapter ended with the two planning to send Zhang Zhen’s sworn enemy to test the allied strongholds.

• Huang Yiqi smashed his wine cup and table after learning that Zhang Zhen had joined the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold.
• Kong Jun suggested that the Water-Fire Demon Lords and Zhang Zhen had staged the events to unite against Seven Kill Stronghold.
• Huang Yiqi vowed to attack the allied strongholds that night, but Kong Jun urged him to proceed cautiously.
• Kong Jun proposed sending Zhang Zhen’s sworn enemy to test the alliance, and Huang Yiqi agreed.

Li Yun found that his True Qi had not advanced toward Emperor-Imperial Grade as much as he had hoped, so he decided to improve his Innate Aperture Refining technique. He delegated the strongholds’ merger to Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen and ordered him to gather as many Xiantian Aperture Refining techniques as possible.

• Li Yun cultivated past four hundred eighty apertures but found his True Qi had completed less than thirty percent of its transformation toward Emperor-Imperial Grade.
• Li Yun summoned Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen, who reported plans to build a new headquarters for the four merged strongholds.
• Li Yun told Zhang Zhen to handle the merger and construction independently, bringing problems to him only when necessary.
• Li Yun asked Zhang Zhen to gather numerous Xiantian Aperture Refining techniques, preferably rare and unusual ones.
• Zhang Zhen promised to gather at least a hundred techniques within three days, and Li Yun said that would not be enough.

Li Yun refined his self-created Xiantian Cultivation Technique using insights from hundreds of techniques and cultivated anew, transforming his True Qi into Imperial-Grade True Qi. Its emergence caused a faint tremor deep in the Crouching Dragon Mountains.

• Li Yun promised Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen a surprise that could improve his chances of becoming a Martial Dao Grandmaster, and Zhang Zhen eagerly agreed to help.
• Zhang Zhen rallied the Spirit Transformation Realm experts and the four strongholds to collect Xiantian Cultivation Techniques for Li Yun.
• Zhang Zhen delivered 287 techniques after two days, and Li Yun added them to the techniques Yun Huan had prepared, bringing his collection to nearly four hundred.
• Li Yun spent more than a hundred thousand Myriad Wonders Points raising the techniques and spent over a month absorbing their insights into his own technique.
• Li Yun cultivated his transformed technique anew for twenty days, losing more than sixty apertures' worth of True Qi as its quality rose.
• Li Yun achieved Imperial-Grade True Qi, and a faint tremor arose deep in the Crouching Dragon Mountains.

Li Yun achieved Imperial-Grade True Qi and tested the power of his newly created blade art. After deciding to celebrate, he went aboveground and heard fighting nearby.

• Across the Crouching Dragon Mountain Range, Martial Artists were startled by a brief disturbance that halted clashes between mountain strongholds.
• Li Yun realized that the Gate of Myriad Wonders had helped him create Imperial-Grade True Qi before he filled all Seven Hundred Twenty Apertures.
• Li Yun unleashed Five Elements Return to Origin, Absolute Prison Buries Heaven, and saw it form an imperial domain infused with Great Emperor Will.
• Li Yun considered the limits of his strength against a Martial Dao Grandmaster, then decided to celebrate his breakthrough with a drink.
• Li Yun went aboveground and heard martial techniques and weapons clashing nearby.

Li Yun discovered two powerful Seven Kill Stronghold experts spying on the battle between Zhang Zhen’s group and seven unfamiliar fighters. He threw the pair into the fight, exposing the hidden observers to all twelve combatants.

• Li Yun sensed two concealed late-stage Spirit Transformation Realm experts and used his Escape Technique to approach them unseen.
• The two men, Fifth Senior and Seventh Senior, discussed why the Water-Fire Demon Lords had not appeared and planned to capture Zhang Zhen’s group.
• Seventh Senior noticed Li Yun behind them, but Fifth Senior mistook his alarm for anger over the stutter jokes.
• Li Yun asked whether it was acceptable to mock one’s own brother, then grabbed both men and hurled them into the battle.
• The twelve fighters broke apart as Fifth Senior and Seventh Senior crashed into the clearing, battered and swollen.

Li Yun confronted the nine Spirit Transformation Realm experts who had attacked Water-Fire Devil Stronghold and revealed himself as its new chief. He bound them with vines and ordered them held until Seven Kill Stronghold's leader came to collect them.

• Bloodsea Demon Blade Zhang Zhen recognized Fifth Senior and Seventh Senior of Seven Kill Stronghold and realized they had organized the attack with Xie Chuanliu.
• Xie Chuanliu suspected that Water-Fire Devil Stronghold's young chief was a Martial Dao Grandmaster.
• Li Yun appeared, and Zhang Zhen and the other four Spirit Transformation Realm experts greeted him as their chief.
• The fifth chief claimed the attack was a misunderstanding, but Li Yun rejected his explanation and said the intruders would not leave.
• Li Yun summoned vines that suppressed the nine experts' True Qi and spirits, binding them so they could not escape.

At the Seven Kill Stronghold, Huang Yiqi learned that the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold had captured Fifth Senior and Seventh Senior and demanded a ransom. After Second Senior warned him that Lin Zishan might be a Martial Dao Grandmaster, Huang Yiqi revealed that he had secretly sheltered an injured Martial Dao Grandmaster for two years and went to ask for his help.

• A messenger delivered Lin Zishan’s letter demanding that the Seven Kill Stronghold come ransom Fifth Senior and Seventh Senior within an hour.
• Huang Yiqi ordered the stronghold to march against the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold, but Second Senior urged him to stay calm and consider Lin Zishan’s reported strength.
• Second Senior suggested that Lin Zishan might be a Martial Dao Grandmaster, and Sixth Senior realized that he may have truly killed the Fire Devil Lord and taken over the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold.
• Second Senior proposed seeking help from the Martial Dao Grandmaster he knew Huang Yiqi had hidden, and Huang Yiqi admitted he had secretly sheltered the injured expert for two years.
• Huang Yiqi left to explain the crisis to the hidden Martial Dao Grandmaster while his four brothers waited excitedly.

Huang Yiqi led Seven Kill Stronghold’s forces into Water-Fire Devil Stronghold after Zhang Zhen taunted them and invited them inside. When the captives were brought out, Fifth Senior warned them to flee because the enemy chief was too powerful, leaving Huang Yiqi furious.

• Zhao Xun challenged Water-Fire Devil Stronghold at its gates, but Xu Kun warned Huang Yiqi that the silence suggested a trap.
• Zhang Zhen appeared and mocked Huang Yiqi, saying Lin Zishan would not meet him and inviting him inside to see the captives.
• Huang Yiqi led the three hundred-odd warriors through the gates, confident that the Martial Dao Grandmaster following them would protect them.
• Seven Kill Stronghold’s forces reached the Righteous Gathering Hall, where Zhang Zhen brought out nine bound captives, including Fifth Senior and Seventh Senior.
• Fifth Senior urged Huang Yiqi and the others to run, and Huang Yiqi angrily told him to shut up.

Huang Yiqi led the Seven Kill Stronghold fighters in an attack on the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold, but Li Yun emerged and devastated them with one move. As Huang Yiqi pleaded for Elder He to intervene, Li Yun looked toward the night with anticipation.

• Huang Yiqi demanded that Lin Zishan surrender and ordered his fighters to attack the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold.
• Li Yun emerged from the Righteous Gathering Hall as Huang Yiqi turned his attack toward him.
• Li Yun used Five Elements Return to Origin to gravely wound Huang Yiqi and all three hundred-odd Seven Kill Stronghold fighters.
• Huang Yiqi recognized Li Yun as a Martial Dao Grandmaster and called for Elder He to save them.
• Li Yun looked into the night with eager anticipation.

Li Yun faced He Pingtian, a Martial Dao Grandmaster who agreed to fight him to repay Huang Yiqi for saving his life. He Pingtian drew his sword, and Li Yun took Huang Yiqi’s saber as his weapon before their battle began.

• He Pingtian appeared at the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold, and Zhang Zhen identified him as a Martial Dao Grandmaster from the Black and White Dynasty.
• Huang Yiqi asked He Pingtian to save him, and He Pingtian agreed to fight Li Yun in repayment for being rescued while gravely wounded.
• He Pingtian introduced himself and challenged Li Yun to a fight to the death, and Li Yun accepted as Lin Zishan, chief of the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold.
• He Pingtian drew his sword and asked where Li Yun’s weapon was, so Li Yun pulled Huang Yiqi’s saber from his hand.

Li Yun challenged He Pingtian and used his Five Elements saber technique to trap the Martial Dao Grandmaster in a self-contained prison. As they fought, He Pingtian realized Li Yun’s will came from his True Qi and suspected it was Imperial-Grade True Qi.

• Huang Yiqi cursed Lin Zishan for taking his saber, which Li Yun claimed as his weapon before facing He Pingtian.
• He Pingtian released Grandmaster Will, but Li Yun stood firm and attacked with Five Elements Return to Origin, Absolute Prison Buries Heaven.
• He Pingtian used Sword Points to the Firmament to crack the prison, while Li Yun was injured but noticed He Pingtian had not fully recovered from a serious wound.
• Li Yun and He Pingtian fought for nearly half an hour as the Five Elements prison steadily wore down He Pingtian.
• He Pingtian discovered that Li Yun’s will arose from his True Qi and suspected it was Imperial-Grade True Qi.

Li Yun and He Pingtian ended their battle after He Pingtian recognized Li Yun’s exceptional talent and chose to make peace. He Pingtian departed after asking Li Yun to spare the Seven Kill Stronghold, and Li Yun took Huang Yiqi’s precious saber as an apology.

• He Pingtian realized Lin Zishan was a Xiantian Martial Artist with Imperial-Grade True Qi, withdrew his sword, and conceded the battle.
• Li Yun pretended to resent He Pingtian for stopping, while Huang Yiqi begged him to keep fighting.
• He Pingtian praised Li Yun, settled his debt with Huang Yiqi, and privately asked Li Yun to spare the Seven Kill Stronghold.
• Li Yun nodded to He Pingtian, then accepted Huang Yiqi’s surrender and claimed his precious saber as an apology.

Huang Yiqi and the southeastern stronghold leaders pledged allegiance to Li Yun, allowing him to unify the region and establish the Eastern Splendor Stronghold while focusing on cultivation. He Pingtian later came to Li Yun with a request to stay with him for a while.

• Li Yun spared Huang Yiqi in exchange for the Heaven-Slaying blade, and Huang Yiqi fled the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold with his men.
• Three days later, Huang Yiqi returned with leaders from other southeastern strongholds and offered their allegiance to Li Yun.
• Li Yun accepted the leaders and left stronghold affairs to Huang Yiqi and Zhang Zhen while he continued cultivating.
• Over the next half month, the Water-Fire Devil Stronghold became the Eastern Splendor Stronghold and absorbed more than thirty strongholds across a territory of over three hundred li.
• Li Yun considered seeking more Innate Aperture Refining Cultivation Techniques, then met He Pingtian, who asked to stay with him for a while.

After three months of secluded cultivation, Li Yun reached the Perfection Realm of the Innate stage but remained determined to pursue Saint-Grade True Qi. He told He Pingtian that he had created his own technique to cultivate Imperial-Grade True Qi, leaving He Pingtian stunned.

• Li Yun emerged from seclusion after perfecting all Seven Hundred Twenty Apertures, though his True Qi remained Imperial Grade.
• He Pingtian invited Li Yun to drink, noticed his worry, and asked whether Spirit Transformation troubled him.
• Li Yun explained that he wanted to advance from Imperial-Grade True Qi to the legendary Saint-Grade True Qi.
• He Pingtian admitted he could not help Li Yun achieve Saint-Grade True Qi, but affirmed that the Martial Dao meant defying heaven.
• Li Yun told He Pingtian he had created his own technique by combining many Innate Aperture Refining techniques, and He Pingtian was left speechless.

Li Yun received the transcendent Mystic Heaven Aperture Refining Art from He Pingtian and mastered its mysteries, discovering its immense potential. He planned to combine it with his own technique, while agreeing to later guide He Pingtian’s friend’s junior.

• He Pingtian left after Li Yun’s account of his self-created Cultivation Technique unsettled him, and Li Yun continued refining ordinary techniques gathered by his subordinates.
• Seven days later, He Pingtian returned with the Mystic Heaven Aperture Refining Art, which he had obtained from an old friend in Bright Moon Commandery after a grueling journey.
• Li Yun recognized the technique as transcendent and learned that it required three hundred sixty opened apertures; he agreed to guide He Pingtian’s friend’s junior after succeeding in its cultivation.
• Li Yun returned to the Water-Fire Wonderland and raised the Mystic Heaven Aperture Refining Art to Perfection Realm and Limit Breaking.
• After two days of absorbing its mysteries, Li Yun realized the technique could produce Emperor-Grade or even Imperial-Grade True Qi and considered combining it with his own technique.