Chapter Summaries

Li Yun treated the Meng Family Old Madam and helped Qiao Meng advance her cultivation while he refined his Nascent Heaven's Will. As the Provincial Capital selection approached, Li Yun prepared to leave with Zhao Gongnian.

• Li Yun told Qiao Meng he would enter the Grandmaster Duel selection, and she refused to take charge of the Meng Family; he offered to treat her grandmother instead.
• Li Yun gave the Meng Family Old Madam a pill that restored some vitality and warned her to stop trying to bind Qiao Meng to the family.
• Over two months, Qiao Meng opened all Three Hundred Sixty Apertures and began Aperture Refining, while Li Yun continued strengthening his Nascent Heaven's Will.
• Zhao Gongnian told Li Yun that the Provincial Capital selection began in half a month and arranged to take him there in three days.

Li Yun traveled to the Provincial Capital for the Grandmaster selection and met Zhou Yunhe, the True Martial Platform’s Half-Step Martial King. Zhou Yunhe cleared Li Yun of responsibility for the Wang Family’s destruction and his clash with Yan Shan, then asked how confident he was in the Grandmaster Duel.

• Li Yun and Zhao Gongnian left Sand City for the Provincial Capital, while Qiao Meng saw them off with concern.
• Martial Artists in the Provincial Capital discussed the coming selection and Li Fenghua’s arrival as a representative of the Yellow Martial Sect.
• Qin Chuan invited Li Yun to meet Zhou Yunhe, and Li Yun accepted despite Zhao Gongnian’s worries.
• Zhou Yunhe welcomed Li Yun at the True Martial Platform headquarters and explained that the Platform would not pursue the Wang Family or Yan Shan incidents.
• Zhou Yunhe said the Platform would publicly expose the Wang Family’s crimes and describe Li Yun’s actions as enforcing its law, then asked how confident Li Yun was in the Grandmaster Duel.

Li Yun met with Zhou Yunhe, claimed that most of the Grandmaster Duel’s top hundred would be no match for him, and received intelligence on the strongest contenders. After Li Yun left, Zhou Yunhe wondered whether Cangnan could finally make a name for itself in the competition.

• Zhou Yunhe asked Li Yun whether he could reach the Grandmaster Duel’s top hundred, and Li Yun said that eight or nine out of ten top hundred fighters probably could not defeat him.
• Zhou Yunhe explained how the Grandmaster Duel affected the standing and resources of Blue Star’s martial powers, then gave Li Yun a booklet about prominent Grandmasters.
• Zhou Yunhe named dangerous contenders including Ivanov, Miyamoto Shingen, Balan, and Sir Lancelot, while Li Yun listened and memorized their strengths.
• Zhou Yunhe asked how much strength Li Yun had used against Yan Shan, but Li Yun answered with a question of his own.
• After Li Yun left, Qin Chuan called him arrogant, and Zhou Yunhe said he suspected Cangnan could make a name for itself in the duel.

The True Martial Platform’s internal selection began in Cangnan, where 226 Grandmasters competed for six places in the Grandmaster Duel. Li Yun drew Zhao Tieshan as his opponent, while the first matches demonstrated the strength of Lin Canghai and Su Yao.

• Zhou Yunhe announced the selection rules and said six Grandmasters would represent Cangnan in the Grandmaster Duel.
• Li Yun drew lot number nine and learned that he would face Zhao Tieshan, head of the Iron Sword Sect.
• Lin Canghai defeated Lu Chuan with a single display of his overwhelming Grandmaster Will, and Lu Chuan conceded.
• Su Yao bound Liu Biao with her white silk and subdued him with the strange power of its flowers, forcing him to surrender.
• Zhao Gongnian warned Li Yun about Su Yao’s techniques, and Li Yun judged her skill interesting but not enough to trouble him.

Li Yun entered the Grandmaster Duel and defeated Zhao Tieshan with a single slash, confirming his overwhelming strength. The crowd watched in shock as Zhao accepted defeat and Li Yun calmly left the platform.

• Qiu Wuyi defeated Yun Zhonghe with a single thrust of Sword Qi, and Yun conceded.
• Li Yun assessed the Cangnan Grandmasters and decided they were no match for him.
• Li Fenghua faced Zhao Tieshan, who challenged him after criticizing his arrogance.
• Zhao Tieshan swung the Mountain-Splitting Form at Li Yun, but Li Yun’s single slash knocked away his sword and sent him flying off the platform.
• Zhao Tieshan admitted defeat, and Li Yun calmly sheathed his blade and left the platform.

After Li Yun defeated Zhao Tieshan with one slash, the first round ended and the Grandmasters gathered to assess the competition. That night, Yan Shan was found murdered with a single slash, and several Grandmasters accused Li Yun and demanded that he be detained before the next round.

• Li Yun's victory over Zhao Tieshan left the other Grandmasters wary, while Lin Canghai, Su Yao, and Qiu Wuyi each took an interest in his strength.
• The first round concluded with 110 Grandmasters advancing, and Li Yun and Zhao Gongnian reviewed potential opponents at the hotel.
• Qin Chuan summoned Li Yun and Zhao Gongnian to the True Martial Platform's Council Hall, where Zhou Yunhe announced that Yan Shan had been killed with one slash.
• Several Grandmasters pointed to Li Yun's strength and his conflict with the True Martial Platform as reasons to suspect him, then demanded he be detained and barred from the second round.
• Zhao Gongnian denied Li Yun's involvement and smashed the council table in anger at the accusations.

Li Yun agreed to the True Martial Platform's investigation into Yan Shan's murder, while warning that he would kill whoever framed him. Zhou Yunhe placed Li Yun under Qin Chuan's watch, then met him privately at his residence and asked what he made of the incident.

• Zhao Gongnian defended Li Fenghua in the Council Hall, citing his alibi and accusing other Grandmasters of trying to sabotage his selection chances.
• Zhou Yunhe asked Li Yun whether he accepted being the prime suspect, and Li Yun acknowledged the suspicion while threatening whoever had framed him.
• Zhou Yunhe ordered Qin Chuan to take Li Fenghua to the rear mountain and keep him under constant watch until the investigation was complete.
• Li Yun reassured Zhao Gongnian that the arrangement was fine, and Zhao stopped objecting.
• Qin Chuan took Li Yun to Zhou Yunhe's residence, where Zhou arrived and asked Li Yun what he thought had happened.

Li Yun and Zhou Yunhe discussed the murder of Yan Shan, then exchanged Spirit Transformation Cultivation Techniques from their respective collections. Their meeting ended when Qin Chuan reported that seven Grandmasters had been murdered.

• Zhou Yunhe told Li Yun he believed Yan Shan's killer was among the Grandmasters and suspected the killer planned to sabotage the selection.
• Li Yun agreed to exchange techniques with Zhou Yunhe in return for access to the True Martial Platform's Martial Armory.
• Li Yun selected forty-three techniques from the armory and traded Zhou Yunhe forty-three Spirit Transformation Cultivation Techniques from Myriad Wonders World.
• Qin Chuan rushed into the courtyard and told Zhou Yunhe and Li Yun that seven Grandmasters who passed the first selection round had been killed.

Li Yun was accused of murdering seven Grandmasters after someone imitated his Five Elements Absolute Prison, while unrest spread through the True Martial Platform. Inspector Li Qingyan suspended the selection and ordered Zhou Yunhe to find the killer within three days.

• Li Yun, Zhou Yunhe, and Qin Chuan found Chen Tianxing and seven Grandmasters dead, with five-element marks resembling Li Yun’s technique.
• Grandmasters gathered at the scene and accused Li Yun and Zhou Yunhe of conspiring to kill their rivals and purge critics of the True Martial Platform.
• Li Yun reasoned that the killer had deliberately framed him and meant to inflame resentment against Cangnan Headquarters.
• Martial King Inspector Li Qingyan arrived, dismissed the accusations as unproven, and suspended the selection matches.
• Li Qingyan ordered Zhou Yunhe to investigate and give everyone an explanation within three days, or be taken to Jade Capital Headquarters to answer for the failure.

Zhou Yunhe struggled to investigate the murders of Grandmasters, and the killer struck again, leaving him under pressure from Li Qingyan and the furious selection contestants. With only two days to catch the killer, Zhou Yunhe turned to Li Yun for help.

• Li Qingyan gave Zhou Yunhe three days to explain the first wave of murders, while Li Yun calmly maintained that he was innocent.
• Zhou Yunhe investigated the Grandmasters and the victims’ residences but found no clues, and the suspects refused to cooperate.
• Qin Chuan reported that ten more Grandmasters had been murdered in the same manner, bringing the death toll to eighteen.
• Li Qingyan silenced the angry crowd outside the True Martial Platform and gave Zhou Yunhe two days to solve the case or answer for it in Jade Capital.
• Desperate for a lead, Zhou Yunhe visited Li Yun and asked him for help.

Li Yun analyzed the killer’s motives and concluded that the murders were meant to force him out of Cangnan so an unknown group could exploit his connection to the Purple Moon Continent. Zhou Yunhe realized the plot might involve a mole and forces from outside China, and left to report it to Inspector Li Qingyan.

• Li Yun revealed that he had achieved Heaven's Will Spirit Transformation and could command a domain roughly five kilometers in radius.
• Zhou Yunhe told Li Yun that his investigation had failed to uncover the killer or evidence at the crime scenes.
• Li Yun argued that the killer’s goal was not merely to frame him but to force him to leave Cangnan.
• Zhou Yunhe inferred that the plot targeted Li Yun’s access to the Purple Moon Continent and suspected a mole within the True Martial Platform.
• Li Yun warned that an organization from outside Cangnan, possibly outside China, might be behind the killings.
• Zhou Yunhe left to report the threat to Inspector Li Qingyan, while Li Yun offered to help investigate.

Li Yun consolidated his newly achieved Heaven's Will Spirit Transformation while deciding not to climb the Martial Dao Ladder until the crisis had passed. Du Qingfeng then warned him that elders planned to hand him over to the Grandmasters, but Li Yun saw through the visit as a trap and attacked him.

• Li Yun sensed the world within five kilometers and felt the Martial Dao Ladder, but postponed climbing it to avoid drawing attention.
• Du Qingfeng secretly visited Li Yun and said elders had proposed handing him over to appease the surviving Grandmasters.
• Du Qingfeng urged Li Yun to flee, arguing that the True Martial Platform would sacrifice him to restore its authority.
• Li Yun questioned whether Zhou Yunhe knew of the visit and revealed that Zhou Yunhe had left the courtyard shortly before Du Qingfeng arrived.
• Li Yun called Du Qingfeng an insult and struck him with the Five-Colored Divine Light as Du Qingfeng reacted with horror and a strange smile.

Du Qingfeng framed Li Yun for attacking him, provoking nearly a hundred Grandmasters to attack. Li Yun shattered their wills with Heaven's Will, then turned his power on the fleeing Du Qingfeng.

• Du Qingfeng pretended Li Yun had tried to kill him and rallied the arriving Grandmasters against him.
• Zhou Yunhe tried to stop the crowd, but nearly a hundred Grandmasters attacked Li Yun together.
• Li Yun drew the Heaven-Slaying Treasure Blade and used Heaven's Will Spirit Transformation to break the Grandmasters' wills and send them flying.
• Inspector Li Qingyan watched from a distant platform and remarked that only a Martial King could withstand Li Yun's slash.
• Du Qingfeng tried to escape, but Li Yun formed a Wind Dragon from his blade qi to pursue him, and Du Qingfeng fell to the ground begging for mercy.

Du Qingfeng revealed that he had been coerced into framing Li Yun, but died from a poison planted in his body before he could expose those behind the scheme. Three masked Martial Kings arrived to seize Li Yun, and he killed one with a single slash before the other two escaped.

• Du Qingfeng confessed that someone had threatened his family and forced him to frame Li Yun, then died after poison blackened his body.
• Three masked Martial Kings appeared and demanded that Li Yun come with them, threatening to kill everyone in the courtyard.
• The leader injured Zhou Yunhe with a casual strike, and Li Qingyan arrived but could not face all three Martial Kings alone.
• As the leader finished counting down, Li Yun unleashed the Heaven-Slaying Treasure Blade with Heaven's Will and Sacred Will.
• Li Yun's slash killed one Martial King and leveled the courtyard, while the other two seized their companion's corpse and fled.

After Li Yun killed a Martial King and exposed the plot against him, Li Qingyan apologized for the True Martial Platform’s failure and revealed that the mysterious force behind the attack was the Divine Domain. The group left the True Martial Platform to discuss the threat in Li Qingyan’s secluded hut, where the Divine Domain’s reach remained a danger to Cangnan.

• Li Qingyan told the injured Grandmasters that Li Fenghua had been framed, postponed the selection, and promised an investigation and healing Pills.
• Li Qingyan took Li Yun and Zhou Yunhe to his secluded hut, gave Zhou Yunhe a healing pill, and apologized for failing to protect Li Yun and uncover Du Qingfeng’s plot.
• Li Yun reasoned that a hidden traitor inside the True Martial Platform and a powerful force beyond Cangnan were behind the attack.
• Li Qingyan revealed that the three Martial Kings came from the Divine Domain, a secretive organization that had resisted repeated attempts by national forces to destroy it.

Li Yun learned that Divine Domain was led by the mysterious King of All Gods and might have infiltrated China’s Martial Dao forces, but he remained confident he could evade them by retreating to the Purple Moon Continent. He then left the True Martial Platform for a secluded valley and began climbing the Martial Dao Ladder.

• Li Qingyan told Li Yun that an undercover agent had uncovered Divine Domain’s leader, the King of All Gods, before disappearing.
• Li Qingyan warned that Divine Domain might have infiltrated China’s Martial Dao forces and urged Li Yun to seek help if he was threatened.
• Li Qingyan decided to withhold the Divine Domain information from the Grandmasters until headquarters made a decision.
• Li Yun returned to the True Martial Platform with Zhou Yunhe, then slipped away unnoticed and traveled to Nameless Valley.
• Li Yun restored his True Qi, considered the Martial Dao Ladder, and took his first step onto it.

Li Yun climbed the Martial Dao Ladder and discovered that the heaven-and-earth intent flooding his mind could strengthen his Heaven's Will Spirit Transformation, body, and True Qi. By using the Gate of Myriad Wonders to slow the flood, he could reliably capture individual strains of intent, leaving him eager to spend his millions of points on more.

• Li Yun stepped onto the Martial Dao Ladder and endured the pressure of heaven and earth as an overwhelming flood of intent poured into his consciousness.
• Li Yun realized that the flood was too violent to comprehend safely and summoned the Gate of Myriad Wonders.
• The Gate activated a heaven-and-earth intent buffer, allowing Li Yun to capture a wisp of wind intent and strengthen his Heaven's Will Spirit Transformation, physique, and True Qi.
• Li Yun deduced that each captured wisp cost about ten thousand Myriad Wonders Points and began capturing mountain, water, wood, and cloud intent.

While the True Martial Platform searched for the missing Li Yun, he spent five days cultivating on the Heavenly Ladder and transformed Heaven's Will into his core will. He climbed past the Grandmaster Peak threshold and continued upward, still believing he had not reached his limit.

• Zhao Gongnian questioned Zhou Yunhe about Li Fenghua's disappearance, and Zhou Yunhe insisted the True Martial Platform had not detained him.
• Li Qingyan arrived, learned Li Yun was missing, and searched his quarters but found no sign of a departure or struggle.
• Li Yun spent five days capturing 342 wisps of heaven-and-earth will, merging them with Sacred Will and greatly strengthening his Heaven's Will.
• Li Yun tested his strength on the Heavenly Ladder, reached its tenth step at Grandmaster Peak, and then climbed beyond the Martial King threshold.
• Li Yun pressed on through the seventeenth step and prepared to climb higher despite his injuries.

After reaching the twenty-sixth step of the Heavenly Ladder, Li Yun returned from the valley and was ambushed by five Divine Domain Martial Kings who tried to recruit him. He killed three, drove off the other two, and headed toward the True Martial Platform with a corpse, determined to grow stronger and confront the Divine Domain again.

• Li Yun stopped at the twenty-sixth step of the Heavenly Ladder, recovered beside the stream, and left the valley.
• Five Divine Domain Martial Kings blocked Li Yun and offered him power and rank if he joined them.
• Li Yun rejected the offer and attacked, overwhelming the five Martial Kings with his strengthened Heaven's Will and blade.
• Li Yun killed three Martial Kings and forced the other two to flee.
• Li Yun took an intact corpse and sped toward the True Martial Platform, vowing that the Divine Domain would not escape next time.

Li Yun returned to the True Martial Platform with the corpse of a Martial King and revealed that he had killed three Divine Domain attackers. The corpse was identified as Chen Boxiong, a prominent figure in the True Martial Platform’s orbit, and Jade Capital Headquarters’ investigators arrived as the infiltration’s scale became clear.

• After five days of searching, Zhou Yunhe and Zhao Gongnian learned that Li Yun had returned with a dead Martial King’s body.
• Li Yun explained that three Divine Domain experts had tried to force him to join them, and he had killed three of the five attackers while the other two escaped.
• Li Qingyan removed the corpse’s bronze mask and recognized Chen Boxiong, a Grand Supreme Elder of the Eastern Cang Chen Family and Vice Academy Head of the Azure Dragon War Academy.
• Li Qingyan called for an immediate report to Jade Capital Headquarters, then learned its investigators had arrived.
• Jiang Wusheng entered the Council Hall with three other Martial Kings and asked about the corpse.