Chapter Summaries

Sword Pride and Zhong Shan fought Third Brother and his red-robed assistant for jade tablets in the first round of the Inheritance of Tinder. As their battles raged across Yin and Yang Realms Mountain, Shen Qitian arrived with another group.

• The Lord of Netherworld Heaven teleported Sword Pride and Zhong Shan to Yin and Yang Realms Mountain, where they had to collect three jade tablets to pass the first round.
• Zhong Shan chose an open area beside a swamp and deliberately made a fire to draw opponents to them.
• Third Brother and his red-robed assistant confronted Sword Pride and Zhong Shan, each pair preparing to fight for their jade tablets.
• Sword Pride battled Third Brother with his massive Black Sword, while Zhong Shan used Blessing the Common People to turn the surrounding land into raging swamps against the red-robed man.
• Another group discovered the battle, and Zhong Shan recognized its assistant as Shen Qitian.

Zhong Shan trapped the red-robed man in a swamp and survived Shen Qitian’s devastating surprise attack by using a Shadow Clone. The chapter ended with Zhong Shan emerging unharmed, leaving Old Seven and the red-robed man stunned.

• Shen Qitian and the Demon Seed Youth hid and watched Zhong Shan fight the red-robed man inside the swamp.
• The red-robed man activated his divine seal, escaped the swamp, and surged toward the Emperor Realm.
• Shen Qitian summoned the Purple-Gold Dragon-Patterned Staff and struck Zhong Shan with Calming the Sea, blasting him into a deep pit.
• Sword Pride, Old Seven, and the red-robed man saw Shen Qitian flee, while Old Seven also escaped to avoid their anger.
• Sword Pride approached the pit, and Zhong Shan revealed that the body struck by Shen Qitian had been a Shadow Clone.
• Zhong Shan walked out of nearby rubble unharmed and startled Old Seven and the red-robed man.

Zhong Shan faced Lin Zhen, who used a treasure to turn golden beans into a hundred Emperor Realm Golden Armor Warriors. After Zhong Shan broke their formation, he revealed that he could use the same technique, leaving Lin Zhen confronted by a hundred figures identical to Zhong Shan.

• Zhong Shan asked Lin Zhen about Se Kong, and Lin Zhen said Se Kong was his apprentice-nephew and threatened to kill Zhong Shan.
• Lin Zhen scattered golden beans and used seals and True Words to summon a hundred Emperor Realm Golden Armor Warriors.
• Zhong Shan evaded the warriors’ attacks until they formed a formation and unleashed a powerful golden energy that tore his clothes and shattered mountains.
• Zhong Shan broke the warriors’ formation and severed one warrior’s arm, then told Lin Zhen that he could use Scattering Beans into Soldiers too.
• Zhong Shan scattered ordinary stones and summoned a hundred black-robed figures identical to himself, shocking Lin Zhen.

Zhong Shan defeated Lin Zhen by using Shadow Clones to outmatch his Golden Armor Warriors and strike from his shadow, then Sword Pride overwhelmed Old Three with a massive Sword Intent. Zhong Shan and Sword Pride took Old Three’s jade tablet and pursued Old Seven.

• Zhong Shan’s Shadow Clones matched and surpassed Lin Zhen’s Golden Armor Warriors, shocking Lin Zhen by reproducing his secret formation.
• Zhong Shan emerged from Lin Zhen’s shadow and killed him, then collected the hundred Immortal Beans left behind by the Golden Armor Warriors.
• Zhong Shan called to Sword Pride, who unleashed a powerful Sword Intent and defeated Old Three, shattering his golden saber.
• Zhong Shan questioned why Sword Pride had held back, and Sword Pride admitted he had been testing Zhong Shan’s assistant while hoping to spar with Zhong Shan.
• Sword Pride took Old Three’s jade tablet and flew with Zhong Shan toward the direction Old Seven had gone, leaving Old Three behind.

Zhong Shan and Sword Pride encountered Han Jiguang and Demon Lord Cang Lan while pursuing Old Seven, and Sword Pride reunited with the Ice Soul Divine Sword. The chapter ended with Sword Pride explaining that he had abandoned his former life and reincarnated to escape a sword path that had made him its slave.

• Zhong Shan and Sword Pride found Old Seven surrounded by Han Jiguang and Demon Lord Cang Lan, who forced Old Seven to surrender his jade plaque.
• Han Jiguang trapped Zhong Shan and Sword Pride in an Aurora Crystal Wall, but Zhong Shan passed through it and Sword Pride shattered it from within.
• Demon Lord Cang Lan asked Sword Pride why he had abandoned the Ice Soul Divine Sword and committed suicide despite being the foremost sword cultivator.
• Sword Pride took the Ice Soul Divine Sword, awakened ten colors of radiance from it, and returned it to Cang Lan.
• Sword Pride explained that he had reincarnated to escape dependence on the sword and cultivate a sword path of his own.

Sword Pride challenged Demon Lord Cang Lan and the Ice Soul Divine Sword, fighting them for a day despite being at a disadvantage. After his heavy sword shattered, Sword Pride reached a new realm and prepared to continue the duel with a willow branch, declaring that anything could become a sword.

• The Ice Soul Divine Sword rejected Sword Pride’s criticism, and Demon Lord Cang Lan challenged him to prove his sword path in battle.
• Sword Pride and Demon Lord Cang Lan fought across the sea while Zhong Shan and Han Jiguang watched from a distance.
• After a day of combat, Sword Pride’s heavy sword shattered, and Demon Lord Cang Lan appeared to have the advantage despite suffering an injury.
• Sword Pride gained enlightenment, summoned a willow tree, and fashioned an ordinary branch into a sword.
• Sword Pride told Demon Lord Cang Lan that every blade of grass and every tree could serve as a peerless sword, then invited him to continue fighting.

Sword Pride defeated Demon Lord Cang Lan and taught him that a sword cultivator should rely on Sword Intent rather than a divine weapon, prompting Cang Lan to surrender the Ice Soul Divine Sword and two jade tablets. Zhong Shan received the sword and, after resisting its influence during the wait for the second trial, used a Shadow Clone to carry it.

• Sword Pride stopped Demon Lord Cang Lan's Ice Soul Divine Sword with an ordinary willow branch and explained that Cang Lan relied too heavily on the weapon.
• Demon Lord Cang Lan thanked Sword Pride, surrendered the Ice Soul Divine Sword, and gave him two jade tablets before leaving with Han Jiguang.
• Sword Pride gave the Ice Soul Divine Sword to Zhong Shan, warned him that it could enslave its wielder, and could not reclaim it when Zhong Shan refused to return it.
• Zhong Shan and Sword Pride left Yin and Yang Realms Mountain with four jade tablets, passing the first trial ahead of the second trial six days later.
• After the Ice Soul Divine Sword tempted Zhong Shan to test it, Zhong Shan had a Shadow Clone carry it so its influence would affect the clone instead.

After passing the first trial, Zhong Shan and Sword Pride searched Yin and Yang Realms Mountain for treasures in NanGong Sheng’s test of luck. When their search yielded little, Zhong Shan proposed raiding NanGong Sheng’s residence, which Sword Pride said was hidden behind a powerful illusion formation.

• NanGong Sheng announced that the four surviving groups had passed the strength trial and would spend ten days finding his treasures, with the group that found the most earning the inheritance.
• Zhong Shan and Sword Pride entered Yin and Yang Realms Mountain, divided up to search, and agreed that any treasure Zhong Shan found would belong to him.
• After a day of searching, Zhong Shan’s Shadow Clone found a golden bowl buried a thousand meters underground, and Sword Pride praised Zhong Shan’s extraordinary luck when they met again.
• Zhong Shan suggested searching NanGong Sheng’s residence for the treasures, but Sword Pride explained that a powerful illusion formation concealed it.
• Zhong Shan insisted that Sword Pride take him to see the residence despite the formation.

Zhong Shan entered NanGong Sheng’s Yin Yang Reincarnation Array and found the Blood God Palace, where he tried to seize its Taiji Diagram. NanGong Sheng confirmed Sword Pride as the next Heaven Lord, then revealed that he had become an immortal and warned that a great calamity threatened Netherworld Heaven.

• Outside Yin and Yang Realms Mountain, NanGong Sheng watched the trial site while Zhong Shan followed Sword Pride to the Yin Yang Tree and entered the hidden array alone.
• Inside the Blood God Palace, Zhong Shan rushed toward the Taiji Diagram but was blasted back by its Azure Light.
• NanGong Sheng arrived, withdrew the array, and questioned Zhong Shan, who explained that his cultivation technique let him enter.
• NanGong Sheng confirmed Sword Pride as his successor and said he would pass on the Inheritance of Tinder in ten days.
• NanGong Sheng revealed that he had become an immortal and had to leave soon because Heaven and Earth rejected him.
• NanGong Sheng warned Sword Pride and Zhong Shan that a great calamity could destroy Netherworld Heaven, as powerful beings were growing stronger from Primordial Purple Qi.

Zhong Shan left Netherworld Heaven carrying the Ice Soul Divine Sword and the Taiji Diagram, which he gave to Mud Bodhisattva for a formation intended to connect the Yin and Yang Realms. Ten years later, Zhong Shan prepared to wage war in the Chaotic Zone, while the Great Radiance Imperial Dynasty considered launching its own campaign.

• NanGong Sheng gave Zhong Shan the Taiji Diagram, and Zhong Shan left Netherworld Heaven with it and the Ice Soul Divine Sword before Sword Pride was announced as the next Heavenly Lord.
• NanGong Sheng became an immortal and passed the Heavenly Lord's inheritance to Sword Pride, while news that Zhong Shan had obtained Netherworld Heaven's two supreme treasures spread across the Divine Continent.
• Zhong Shan delivered the Taiji Diagram to Mud Bodhisattva, who revealed that it could serve as the formation eye for a great formation meant to connect the Yin and Yang Realms.
• Zhong Shan ordered the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty to issue a Declaration of War and prepare to march from Guangling City the next day.
• Han Jiguang's two crown princes urged him to seize the Chaotic Zone and attack the Eight Great Imperial Dynasties while the Great Radiance Imperial Dynasty's army remained strong.

Han Jiguang appointed Han Wei to invade the Chaotic Zone while Zhong Shan began the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty’s own campaign to conquer it. The Great Zheng armies marched in six directions, and the Chaotic Zone’s rulers began investigating the unexpected threat.

• Han Jiguang accepted his ministers’ advice to attack before the Eight Great Imperial Dynasties could unite and appointed Han Wei marshal of three million soldiers.
• Zhong Shan reached the Emperor Realm’s third level, and his Shadow Body discovered a rare mutation called the Reincarnation Eye.
• Zhong Shan addressed the Great Zheng army in Guangling City and ordered six legions to seize territory across the Chaotic Zone.
• Lin Xiao, Ying Lan, Yi Yan, Corpse Mister, Shui Wuhen, and Shui Jing led their forces from Guangling City in different directions.
• The Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty’s declarations of war reached the Chaotic Zone, provoking its rulers to order investigations into Zhong Shan and his marshals.

Zhong Shan’s commanders conquered surrounding dynasties with their armies, while Corpse Mister unleashed a Zombie Legion that spread through enemy camps. Reports of the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty’s commanders and forces terrified the Eight Great Imperial Dynasties, leaving one court shaken after a captured zombie infected a man who attacked the emperor.

• Lin Xiao, Yi Yan, and Mister Shui Jing advanced through enemy territories, while Shui Wuhen led the Zhong Family Army against successive dynasties.
• Ying Lan formed the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array with two million people and swept enemy cities with a vast sandstorm.
• Corpse Mister infected an enemy officer, then rang his bell and turned the military camp into a zombie horde that advanced as the Zombie Legion.
• Scouts reported the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty’s campaigns to the Eight Great Imperial Dynasties, whose courts reacted with alarm at commanders including Yi Yan and Mister Shui Jing and at Ying Lan’s array.
• A southern dynasty’s scout brought a zombie into the Imperial Court, where it broke free and bit a guard; after the scout and emperor killed the zombies, the court remained terrified.

The Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty’s six armies rapidly conquered territory across the Chaotic Zone, drawing the attention of Han Wei and the Divine Continent’s rulers. Zhong Shan dismissed Gu Qian You’s concerns about Ying Lan’s advance as the Great Zheng’s rise became the focus of fortune dynasties across the land.

• The six Great Zheng armies swept through the Chaotic Zone, while Corpse Mister’s Zombie Legion and Ying Lan’s Eight Gates Golden Lock Array became especially feared.
• Han Wei learned that Zhong Shan had established the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty and sent word to the Great Venerate Imperial Family to oppose it together.
• Gu Qian You warned Zhong Shan that Ying Lan was advancing too quickly, but Zhong Shan trusted her formation and protections.
• The Great Yong, Yongle, Great Tang, and Spring Autumn Imperial Dynasties were established by Gu Zheng Yi, Gu Xuan, Gu Taizong, and Gu Zhantian.
• News of Zhong Shan’s Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty spread across the Divine Continent, prompting rulers to turn their attention toward the Chaotic Zone.

Ying Lan led her army to Lin Gui City, where the Great Venerate Emperor tricked Crown Prince Han Wei into ambushing her while secretly leaving the city undefended. Ying Lan turned the trap against Han Wei, destroyed his army, and captured Lin Gui City.

• Ying Lan halted at the border of the Great Venerate Imperial Dynasty and ordered her army to rest before attacking.
• Crown Prince Han Wei agreed to help the Great Venerate Emperor by blocking Ying Lan's retreat, while the emperor secretly planned to let their armies fight without committing his own troops.
• Ying Lan attacked Lin Gui City, and Crown Prince Han Wei's three million soldiers emerged from hiding after seeing the city's signal.
• Ying Lan saw that Lin Gui City was nearly empty and sent a sandstorm from the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array against Han Wei's ambushing army.
• Ying Lan's army killed Crown Prince Han Wei and forced his soldiers to die, surrender, or flee, then captured Lin Gui City with fewer than fifty thousand casualties.

After Han Wei died in battle against the Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty, Zhong Shan worried that Ying Lan might face Han Jiguang and decided to send her another warning. Han Jiguang held back from retaliating, but his brother Han Chuang arrived with a powerful divine seal and introduced Forget Dust, who claimed to know Zhong Shan’s fatal weakness.

• Zhong Shan learned Han Wei had died and decided to write Ying Lan another letter warning her to stay in the Chaotic Zone.
• Han Jiguang rejected calls to avenge Han Wei immediately, citing Zhong Shan’s dangerous strength and the need to choose the right moment.
• Han Chong urged Han Jiguang to kill Ying Lan, but Han Jiguang rebuked him and insisted they must not provoke Zhong Shan until they could strike decisively.
• Han Chuang arrived and revealed that his cultivation and divine seal had raised his strength to the Emperor Realm.
• Han Chuang introduced his junior fellow disciple Forget Dust, who claimed he understood Zhong Shan and knew his fatal weakness.

Forget Dust revealed Zhong Shan’s weakness to Han Jiguang, then clashed with Zhong Xuan, his estranged nephew. After Ying Lan defeated the Great Venerate Imperial Dynasty, the Frost Ice Army advanced toward the Chaotic Zone, prompting Zhong Shan and his commanders to rush to her aid.

• Forget Dust told Han Jiguang that Wei Yinglan was Zhong Shan’s greatest weakness and offered to identify Zhong Shan’s base.
• Forget Dust met Zhong Xuan in the mountains; they fought evenly before Zhong Xuan flew away.
• Zhong Shan learned that the Great Radiance Imperial Dynasty’s Frost Ice Army was heading south and sent Ying Lan a warning not to leave the Chaotic Zone.
• Zhong Shan’s growing foreboding drove him to leave Guangling City and hurry toward Ying Lan.
• After Ying Lan conquered the Great Venerate Imperial Dynasty, she received conflicting letters from Forget Dust and Zhong Xuan and marched north to meet the Frost Ice Army.
• Yi Yan and Lin Xiao received Ying Lan’s message, abandoned their sieges, and redirected their armies to assist her.

Ying Lan defeated and annihilated the Frost Ice Army, but Han Jiguang attacked her army in revenge and destroyed the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array. As Han Jiguang cornered Ying Lan, Zhong Shan raced north toward the battle.

• Han Yi reported that the Frost Ice Army had been annihilated, the Crown Prince was dead, and the advanced Eight Gates Golden Lock Array had overcome the World Illusion Nether Spring.
• Ying Lan retreated toward the Chaotic Zone with her battered army after using the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array and a blood-sacrifice technique to defeat the Frost Ice Army.
• Han Jiguang caught up with Ying Lan, rejected her warning about losing Great Zheng's fortune, and attacked her army with overwhelming force.
• Han Jiguang broke through the Eight Gates Golden Lock Array and killed hundreds of thousands of soldiers, leaving Ying Lan cornered.
• Zhong Shan's Shadow Body hurried north, driven by an increasingly ominous premonition.

Han Jiguang defeated Ying Lan’s forces and tried to use her to lure Zhong Shan out. Ying Lan shattered her Nascent Soul rather than become a hostage, and Zhong Shan arrived as she was dying, summoned the Kill Breaker Wolf King, and rushed to find Mud Bodhisattva for a way to save her.

• Han Jiguang destroyed Ying Lan’s Golden Armor Warriors and sealed her inside an Aurora Crystal Wall, intending to use her to threaten Zhong Shan.
• Ying Lan detonated her Nascent Soul to keep Han Jiguang from using her as a hostage, and Han Jiguang withdrew the Aurora Crystal Wall too late to stop her from dying.
• Zhong Shan reached Ying Lan and caught her as she fell, then summoned the Kill Breaker Wolf King while focusing on saving her.
• At the Imperial Court, Zhong Shan sensed Ying Lan’s Nascent Soul had shattered and flew out of the Eternal Life Hall, calling for Mud Bodhisattva.

Zhong Shan tried to save Ying Lan after she self-detonated her Nascent Soul, but Mud Bodhisattva told him she could only be preserved as a ghost. Ying Lan died in Zhong Shan’s arms, and his grief awakened the Reincarnation Eye and darkened the heavens.

• Zhong Shan rushed to Mud Bodhisattva and learned that Ying Lan could not be saved, so Mud Bodhisattva taught him to form a Yin Gathering Soul Collection Grand Array.
• Zhong Shan’s Shadow Body built the array on the battlefield, used its Yin Qi to preserve Ying Lan’s soul, and gave her the Ten Halls handkerchief.
• As Ying Lan’s body vanished, she asked Zhong Shan for a kiss, and he kissed her while mistaking her for his late wife, Wei Kui Er.
• Ying Lan disappeared completely, and Zhong Shan roared as Lethal Qi erupted from him and forced open his Reincarnation Eye.
• Black Qi formed a huge eye in the sky, dark clouds covered the battlefield, and the heavens changed.

Zhong Shan cultivated the Reincarnation Eye as Han Jiguang escaped, then learned that Wei Yinglan had died and vowed revenge. He declared war on Han Jiguang and the Great Radiance Imperial Dynasty, and his threat to slaughter those who supported them spread across the world.

• Zhong Shan completed the Reincarnation Eye, frightening Kill Breaker Wolf King and forcing Han Jiguang to retreat.
• Han Jiguang told Han Chuang that Wei Yinglan had died after self-detonating her Nascent Soul, and Forget Dust fled, warning that Zhong Shan would take revenge.
• Half a month later, Zhong Shan issued a Declaration of War against Han Jiguang, threatening to exterminate his clan and kill anyone who served, befriended, or aided him.
• The Great Zheng Imperial Dynasty's army swept through the Chaotic Zone as the Declaration of War spread to powers across the world, including the Yongle Imperial Dynasty and the Great Li Heavenly Dynasty.