Chapter Summaries

Fang Qingyu strengthened his body and mastered the World Scorching Flowing Blade while preparing to leave for the Hidden Dragon Program in Shangjing. Over noodles, Lin Kang warned him about a former recruit whose ambition and resentment led to disaster, and Fang Qingyu assured him he would stay true to his path.

• Fang Qingyu raised his Immoveable Wisdom King Technique and Incinerate Calamity Body to Lv.3 and Lv.4, increasing his golden body to 40.
• Fang Qingyu spent his remaining five skill points to raise World Scorching Flowing Blade to Lv.3 and demonstrated its power by melting Alloy Stake Targets and damaging the reinforced wall.
• Fang Qingyu gave Old Jiao and Lu Chen Blood Essence Crystals and fate orbs, then pushed them to resume their training under Jiang Wei's supervision.
• Lin Kang took Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei to a street-side noodle stall and told them how Chen Feng's recklessness and resentment in Shangjing had cost his team lives and ruined his foundation.
• Lin Kang warned Fang Qingyu not to let ambition, resentment, or tempting shortcuts distort his purpose, and Fang Qingyu assured him he would remember why he had taken up the blade.

Fang Qingyu said goodbye to his Qingjian City companions and traveled with Jiang Wei to Shangjing to join the Hidden Dragon Program. Wei Banmeng brought them to a skyscraper in the city center and revealed that the program’s destination was a Blessed Land.

• Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei said farewell to Lin Kang, Duan Ling, Qin Hui, Qi Hao, Old Jiao, and Lu Chen before leaving Qingjian City for Shangjing.
• Wu Yan arrived at the bureau hoping to see Fang Qingyu, then called him and learned Fang Qingyu had forgotten to tell him about the trip.
• Fang Qingyu reflected on leaving Qin Hui in charge, Old Jiao and Lu Chen’s breakthroughs, his World Scorching Flowing Blade reaching Transcendent, and the bureau’s failure to find He Manhe.
• Wei Banmeng picked up Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei at Shangjing International Airport and drove them to a guarded skyscraper in the city center.
• Wei Banmeng led them through a private elevator and explained that there was a third type of force field before welcoming them to the Blessed Land.

Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei arrived at Dragon Abyss Pavilion’s Blessed Land, where Wei Banmeng explained that the Hidden Dragon Program’s candidates were mostly heirs of powerful Shangjing schools and clans. After Fang Qingyu met his fellow Dragon Abyss Pavilion participants and saw the pavilion’s formidable young martial artists training, he spotted a familiar Crimson Name in the corridor.

• Wei Banmeng brought Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei into Dragon Abyss Pavilion’s independent Blessed Land and explained how its stored environment differed from ordinary force fields.
• Wei Banmeng told Fang Qingyu that more than a hundred Hidden Dragon Program candidates came from thirty-three schools or clans with Blessed Lands, and that she had arranged his stay as protection.
• Wei Banmeng showed Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei their courtyard and the pavilion’s enormous training ground, where more than a hundred young martial artists trained.
• Chu Kuanglan and Lu Jiuyuan enthusiastically praised Fang Qingyu’s victories over Sikong Zhen and the red-headed, white-bodied beast before Wei Banmeng sent them back to training.
• After they took the elevator back to the corridor, Fang Qingyu noticed a familiar Crimson Name and stopped in his tracks.

Fang Qingyu reunited with Zhao Feng and learned that Jiang Wei had received temporary eligibility for the Hidden Dragon Program. Yan Shouzheng explained that he wanted Fang Qingyu to help Wei Banmeng find a Source Quality Tide in the Abyss and agreed to help them advance their Divine Weaponry, leaving Fang Qingyu eager to seek a similar power for his Dragon Sparrow Slayer of Calamity.

• Fang Qingyu recognized Zhao Feng from Chenfeng Martial Hall, and Zhao Feng explained that Tomorrow Mountain had received Hidden Dragon Program slots and that he would enter the Abyss.
• Fang Qingyu completed his registration, and the staff revealed that Jiang Wei had also received temporary eligibility; both registered for the program.
• Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei returned to Bamboo Creek Courtyard and found Yan Shouzheng waiting there; he confirmed that he had applied for Jiang Wei's slot.
• Yan Shouzheng explained that a rare Source Quality Tide in the Abyss could help Divine Weaponry advance, and asked Fang Qingyu to help Wei Banmeng find one in exchange for mutual assistance.
• Fang Qingyu agreed to help, and Jiang Wei showed him a webpage comparing the Source Quality Tide to a Heavenly Flame, prompting him to consider finding Exotic Lightning to strengthen his Dragon Sparrow Slayer of Calamity.

Fang Qingyu and the other Hidden Dragon candidates learned the Abyss’s nature and the program’s rules, including its generous rewards and a contest to establish a Special Squad. The meeting ended with rivals already targeting Fang Qingyu as the candidates prepared to remain on standby for the Abyss entrance to open.

• Fang Qingyu met Wei Banmeng, Chu Kuanglan, and Lu Jiuyuan, and Wei Banmeng explained that her Divine Weaponry, Black Chi, still needed the Source Quality Tide to complete its transformation.
• A military officer explained that the Abyss was a chaotic rift between the real world and the Fate Ghost dimension, and announced rules forbidding infighting and requiring candidates to reach the teleportation point within ten minutes of a summons.
• The officer promised each candidate a Great Sun Tier martial art and monthly supplies, then announced that the three strongest candidates to reach the Martial Path Grandmaster realm within three months could establish a Special Squad.
• Wei Banmeng explained the Special Squad’s autonomy, resources, authority, and access to Shangjing’s Martial Performance Wall, intensifying Fang Qingyu’s interest in winning the contest.
• After the meeting, numerous candidates fixed hostile and challenging gazes on Fang Qingyu, while Chu Kuanglan, Lu Jiuyuan, and Wei Banmeng prepared to face their rivals in the Abyss.

Fang Qingyu chose the Bamboo Shadow Body Tempering Manual and followed Wei Banmeng into a secret underground training ground beneath Dragon Abyss Pavilion, where a vast swarm of Life Spirits offered him a way to earn money. As Fang Qingyu began slaughtering the monsters for skill points, a concealed dark-gold presence watched him from a distant crack.

• Fang Qingyu chose the Bamboo Shadow Body Tempering Manual from the Martial Method Pavilion to complement his existing body-hardening skills, while Jiang Wei exchanged her reward for Meditation Flower resources.
• Wei Banmeng led Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei to a secret underground facility after saying her master had approved their entry, and she warned them to keep the place secret.
• Fang Qingyu discovered a vast underground space filled with Life Spirits, and Wei Banmeng explained that it was a training ground where he could kill monsters for money as long as he avoided the restricted area.
• Fang Qingyu charged into the Life Spirit swarm and slaughtered monsters with his blade, thunder, and tribulation fire, rapidly gaining skill points as Wei Banmeng supervised.
• A concealed dark-gold title marker appeared in a distant crack and silently watched Fang Qingyu fight.

Fang Qingyu returned from the underground Training Ground and used his skill points to strengthen his cultivation methods and perfect World Scorching Flowing Blade. He fused it with Thunder Strike Eight Slashes into a new technique, Thunder Blaze World Burner Slash, and left Jiang Wei stunned by the power he displayed.

• Fang Qingyu withdrew from the Training Ground with Wei Banmeng and Jiang Wei after slaughtering Life Spirits and collecting their corpses; a dormant title deep in a shadowy rift flickered and growled.
• Wei Banmeng took charge of the materials and warned Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei to keep the day’s events secret, while Jiang Wei gave Fang Qingyu her Federation-issued Profound Grade Meditation Flower.
• Fang Qingyu spent skill points to advance Nine Heavens Primordial Contemplation Method and Crimson Bright Nine Revolutions Tribulation Jade Scripture to their third levels.
• Fang Qingyu perfected World Scorching Flowing Blade, then used skill points to fuse its true intent with Thunder Strike Eight Slashes.
• Fang Qingyu formed the new Thunder Blaze World Burner Slash and returned to awareness with dark-gold thunderfire glowing in his eyes, scorching the courtyard and shocking Jiang Wei.

Fang Qingyu fused his blade techniques into the Thunder Blaze World Burner Slash and learned about True Martial Intent, ancient Great Sun Tier techniques, and Source Quality Tides. After choosing a movement technique and agreeing to seek thunder and darkness Source Quality Tides with Wei Banmeng, he began training to pursue Movement Technique True Intent.

• Fang Qingyu discovered that his compendium had fused Thunder Strike Eight Slashes and World Scorching Flowing Blade into the Thunder Blaze World Burner Slash, then discussed True Martial Intent with Jiang Wei.
• Jiang Wei explained the differences between Martial Method Intents and the lasting value of Hard-Body Technique True Intent, while Fang Qingyu planned to pursue both hard-body and movement technique mastery.
• Fang Qingyu chose Startling Swan Shadow Steps, but Jiang Wei warned that it lacked the potential of a true ancient Great Sun Tier movement technique.
• Wei Banmeng gave Fang Qingyu her notes on Source Quality Tides, describing how they formed in dangerous natural phenomena and were difficult to capture.
• Fang Qingyu and Wei Banmeng agreed to seek thunder and darkness Source Quality Tides for their weapons, and Fang Qingyu began training in Startling Swan Shadow Steps.

Fang Qingyu and his companions entered the Hidden Dragon Program’s Lawless Land and traveled through its storm-lashed wilderness to Anvil Fortress. After securing rooms, Wei Banmeng chose the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea as their first destination, and the group prepared to set out the next morning.

• Fang Qingyu trained relentlessly for two days, impressing Chu Kuanglan, Lu Jiuyuan, and Wei Banmeng with his rapid progress.
• An urgent alarm summoned Fang Qingyu, Jiang Wei, Wei Banmeng, Chu Kuanglan, and Lu Jiuyuan to the portal, which sent them into the Lawless Land.
• Wei Banmeng consulted her map and led the group toward Anvil Fortress, where Fang Qingyu defeated several low-tier Life Ghosts along the way.
• The five entered Anvil Fortress, rented three rooms, and gathered in Fang Qingyu’s room to discuss their plans.
• Wei Banmeng recommended exploring the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea first because it suited Fang Qingyu and was less likely to draw rival teams.
• The group agreed to buy supplies at the Merit Exchange the next morning before heading to the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea.

Fang Qingyu and his companions left Anvil Fortress and crossed the storm-ravaged wilderness to reach the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea. Before entering, they ambushed and killed the five modified practitioners who had been following them, then prepared to venture into the purple storm.

• Wei Banmeng explained that Anvil Fortress housed both faction teams and desperate criminals, and warned the group not to trust strangers.
• Li Zheng warned Wei Banmeng that someone was watching them, and Fang Qingyu identified several modified practitioners as their pursuers.
• The five exchanged for supplies and left Anvil Fortress, enduring the Abyss’s violent weather as they traveled toward the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea.
• The group reached the edge of the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea and saw its immense purple clouds, lightning, and scorched terrain.
• Fang Qingyu directed his companions to attack their five pursuers, and Wei Banmeng, Old Chu, and Lu Jiuyuan killed them within moments.
• Fang Qingyu and the others regrouped and stepped into the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea.

Fang Qingyu led the team through the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea, using Night Visit to locate hidden fate ghosts, but they found no Lightning Source Essence Tide in the Core Zone. After retreating toward the outskirts, he decided to test his body against a direct lightning strike, and a powerful bolt hit him as his companions watched.

• Wei Banmeng organized the team’s formation, and Fang Qingyu guided them through the storm while the others killed the fate ghosts he detected.
• The group endured hours of dangerous travel and reached the Core Zone, but found no sign of a Source Quality Tide.
• Wei Banmeng ordered the team to withdraw, and they rested near the edge of the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea.
• Fang Qingyu wondered whether his body could withstand natural lightning and told his companions he wanted to try facing a direct strike.
• Wei Banmeng warned Fang Qingyu about the risks and removed his Lightning-Chasing Lizard reverse scale before he stepped forward to prepare.
• A powerful bolt of lightning struck Fang Qingyu and swallowed him in blinding white light.

Fang Qingyu survived a direct lightning strike in the Thunderstorm Cloud Sea and returned to Anvil Fortress, where Lei Pojun threatened him over the Lightning Source Essence. After receiving warnings about deaths in the Abyss and learning the secondary entrance would remain open for 48 hours, Fang Qingyu’s group planned to explore the Eternal Silence Pool before leaving to recover; meanwhile, Deep Blue Heavy Industries decided to court him.

• Fang Qingyu endured a lightning strike by withstanding part of its force and guiding the rest into the ground, then caught the Lightning Python Scales Wei Banmeng threw to him.
• Fang Qingyu and his companions returned safely to Anvil Fortress, where Lei Pojun demanded that Fang Qingyu give up any claim to the Lightning Source Essence, but Fang Qingyu ignored him and walked past.
• Fang Qingyu proposed that the group rest overnight and set out for the Eternal Silence Pool, where Wei Banmeng hoped to find the Dark Source Quality.
• The group received federal notices that a secondary Abyss entrance would remain open for 48 hours and that two Hidden Dragon Program trainees had died near Wailing Rift Valley.
• Fang Qingyu’s group agreed to explore the Eternal Silence Pool the next morning, then leave through the secondary entrance to rest and resupply.
• At Starfire Fortress, Mr. Donald ordered Uncle Fu to investigate Fang Qingyu’s needs and arrange for Deep Blue Heavy Industries to win him over.

Fang Qingyu led his exhausted team through the Eternal Silence Pool to find Darkness Source Quality condensing in a cavern, but spotted twelve hidden opponents near it. He pulled his companions into cover and declared that they would seize the source rather than withdraw.

• Fang Qingyu recovered in Anvil Fortress while Wei Banmeng gathered supplies for the trip to the Eternal Silence Pool, and the group departed despite Lei Pojun watching them.
• Fang Qingyu and his companions crossed the icy Scorched Rock Wilderness, descended into the Eternal Silence Pool, and fought off lurking Fate Ghosts along the way.
• The five reached a deep cavern and found Darkness Source Quality forming inside a dark vortex.
• Fang Qingyu spotted three groups of hidden opponents totaling twelve people and warned his companions before they could approach the source.
• Fang Qingyu pulled Wei Banmeng, Chu Kuanglan, Lu Jiuyuan, and Jiang Wei behind cover, then told his team to seize the Darkness Source Quality.

Fang Qingyu seized the Source of Darkness by placing Wei Banmeng’s Mystic Flood Dragon Twin Blades against it, then obliterated the Butcher with a devastating slash when the factions challenged him. The other factions fled, leaving Fang Qingyu’s group alone to guard the blades while they transformed.

• As more factions gathered around the Source of Darkness, Wei Banmeng explained that the Mystic Flood Dragon Twin Blades would need protection while they absorbed the source and transformed.
• Mo Chen, the Butcher, and representatives of several other factions emerged and surrounded the Source of Darkness with Fang Qingyu’s group.
• Fang Qingyu took Wei Banmeng’s twin blades, rushed to the Source Core, and began the absorption while ordering the others to leave or die.
• When the Butcher attacked, Fang Qingyu unleashed a lightning-and-fire slash that annihilated him and carved a molten chasm through the cavern.
• Mo Chen, Stone Zhenyue, Duan Jingyi, and the other factions retreated after witnessing Fang Qingyu’s power.
• Fang Qingyu told Wei Banmeng to stand guard while the Mystic Flood Dragon Twin Blades continued transforming.

Fang Qingyu and his companions escaped Eternal Silence Pool after the Mystic Flood Dragon Twin Blades absorbed the Source of Darkness, and Donald ordered Deep Blue Heavy Industries to court Fang Qingyu after hearing of his strength. Back at Dragon Abyss Pavilion, Fang Qingyu spent his skill points improving his martial arts before Wei Banmeng told him that Yan Shouzheng wanted to see him.

• Wei Banmeng recognized Fang Qingyu's True Martial Intent, and Jiang Wei questioned how he could use a Martial Path Grandmaster-level technique before joking that he was the one with a problem.
• The Mystic Flood Dragon Twin Blades consumed the Source of Darkness and transformed, after which Wei Banmeng led Fang Qingyu, Jiang Wei, Chu Kuanglan, and Lu Jiuyuan out of Eternal Silence Pool.
• Donald learned that Fang Qingyu had defeated Butcher with one slash and ordered Uncle Fu to investigate him and offer Deep Blue Heavy Industries' support.
• The five companions returned from the Abyss to Dragon Abyss Pavilion, where Wei Banmeng took Chu Kuanglan and Lu Jiuyuan to report to Yan Shouzheng while Fang Qingyu and Jiang Wei went to their courtyard.
• Fang Qingyu used eight skill points each to advance Thunder Swift Cloud Steps and Baji Quan to Lv.4 at the Training Ground.
• Wei Banmeng arrived at the Training Ground and told Fang Qingyu that Yan Shouzheng was looking for him.

After returning from the Eternal Silence Pool with the Source of Darkness, Fang Qingyu received access to the Dragon Abyss Pavilion’s martial methods and selected two ancient techniques. At dinner with his companions, he heard that a Blood River disaster had devastated Yuexi Fortress and that rumors pointed to ruins near the Wall of Sighs.

• Fang Qingyu asked Yan Shouzheng for a large number of martial methods, and Yan granted him the highest access to the Martial Method Pavilion’s martial-artist collection.
• Fang Qingyu chose the Nine Hells Mountain Shatterer Fist and Thunder Abyss, then registered the ancient techniques to take with him.
• Chu Kuanglan invited Fang Qingyu, Jiang Wei, Lu Jiuyuan, and Wei Banmeng to dinner, where they celebrated their return from the Abyss.
• Chu Kuanglan and Lu Jiuyuan told Fang Qingyu that Bai Hong had been badly injured while trying to seize a Wind Element Source at the Wailing Rift Valley.
• Lu Jiuyuan and Wei Banmeng explained that a Blood River had flooded back near the Wall of Sighs, devastating Yuexi Fortress and injuring several Chosen of God.
• Chu Kuanglan and Lu Jiuyuan described rumors of ruins near the Wall of Sighs, and Fang Qingyu realized he should ask Jiang Wei about the Abyss.

Fang Qingyu learned that a living god might be hidden in the Abyss, while Lei Pojun was ordered to avoid him. During an emergency deployment, Fang Qingyu and other Hidden Dragon Program members encountered an enormous Life Spirit swarm and took shelter in a lava cavern, where they were left trapped as the swarm poured over the mountain.

• Jiang Wei warned Fang Qingyu that the Abyss's ruins were too dangerous to explore, then offered to reveal one location once he reached minor mastery in the Formless Heart Sutra.
• When Fang Qingyu asked about hidden dangers in the Abyss, Jiang Wei asked whether a living god counted.
• Lei Zhenyue ordered Lei Pojun to stay away from Anvil Fortress and Fang Qingyu, sending him instead toward Ash Outpost.
• An urgent alarm summoned Fang Qingyu, Jiang Wei, Chu Kuanglan, Lu Jiuyuan, and Wei Banmeng to the Abyss, where they headed for Dingyuan Station through a scorched, sulfurous wasteland.
• Fang Qingyu spotted a vast Life Spirit swarm advancing like a wave of earth and led the group and other fleeing participants toward a cavern in a lava hill.
• The Hidden Dragon Program members crowded into the cavern as the swarm engulfed the mountain, and the screams of those left outside abruptly ceased.

Fang Qingyu and the others survived a massive Rock Nest Army Ant swarm by defending a cave entrance, with Shi Yuan holding the rock structure and Fang Qingyu fighting at the bottleneck. After the swarm passed, Jiang Wei sensed that a strange command-like aura near the Wall of Sighs came from something close to death, and Fang Qingyu agreed to investigate.

• Shi Yuan opened his shelter to Fang Qingyu and the other competitors, then identified the attacking Life Spirits as Rock Nest Army Ants.
• When the ants began breaking through the cave walls, Fang Qingyu ordered Shi Yuan to create a narrow opening so they could funnel the attackers into a defensible passage.
• Fang Qingyu held the entrance with Thunder Abyss while Wei Banmeng, Chu Kuanglan, and Lu Jiuyuan guarded the inner line, and Shi Yuan stabilized the cave as the battle continued for hours.
• The swarm stopped pouring into the cave, and Fang Qingyu emerged to confirm that the ant tide had moved toward the Wall of Sighs.
• Fang Qingyu consumed a Blood Essence Crystal and raised Thunder Abyss to mastery as the survivors gathered materials and recovered.
• Jiang Wei sensed that a strange aura had summoned or commanded the swarm and was close to death, so Fang Qingyu agreed to follow it with her.

After defeating a Life Spirit swarm, Fang Qingyu and his companions followed it to the dying Rock Nest Mother Queen, whose death opened an Abyssal ruin. They waited for the first rush of Life Spirits and martial practitioners to enter before heading into the darkness themselves.

• The exhausted survivors offered Fang Qingyu the valuable Life Spirit materials, and he accepted them before leaving with Jiang Wei, Wei Banmeng, Chu Kuanglan, and Lu Jiuyuan.
• Fang Qingyu suspected the ant swarm was responding to a summons and led his group after it, where they saw other Hidden Dragon Program members and learned that Martial Saints and Apostles avoided the unstable Abyss.
• The group reached the basin and witnessed the Rock Nest Mother Queen collapse and dissolve, leaving behind the entrance to a ruin.
• The ant swarm and gathered martial practitioners rushed into the ruin, but Fang Qingyu held his group back until the initial chaos subsided.
• Fang Qingyu led his companions into the ruin, and darkness swallowed them.

Fang Qingyu and his companions fought through the ant swarm to reach the ruin’s core, where he stunned the battlefield by blasting a Chosen of God aside with one strike. He stopped just short of claiming the core to ask Wei Banmeng how to use it, then swallowed it after Tie Zhan told him to.

• Fang Qingyu led Wei Banmeng, Chu Kuanglan, Lu Jiuyuan, and Jiang Wei through the ant-filled passages toward the ruin’s core.
• Fang Qingyu’s arrival frightened Mo Chen and the Mysterious Yin Society, clearing a path through the battle.
• The group reached the cavern, where Tie Zhan and several Chosen of God fought the Rock Nest Army Ants over the Dark Purple core.
• Fang Qingyu charged the altar and sent the Blazing Chosen of God flying with a single Thunder Blaze World Burner Slash.
• Fang Qingyu stopped near the core and asked Wei Banmeng how to use it, leaving the gathered fighters stunned.
• Tie Zhan told Fang Qingyu to eat the core, and Fang Qingyu swallowed it.