Chapter Summaries

Tao Yu and Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Ba Fenghan were surrounded in Luoyang by a formidable group of Wagang and Dugu Clan experts intent on killing Tao Yu before he could recover. Tao Yu refused to flee and prepared to fight as the attackers charged.

• Xu Ziling regretted releasing Xu Shiji after Shen Luoyan and the others turned against them, while Tao Yu warned him about trusting beautiful women.
• Tao Yu sensed several powerful enemies nearby and called them out, bringing Huang Gongcuo, Li Mi, Dugu Feng, You Chuhong, and other fighters into view.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling recognized the attackers and realized the lineup was likely assembled to assassinate Wang Shichong, though Tao Yu was now their target.
• Tao Yu asked the three young men to take him to the item they had promised after the fighting, then declared he would face the attackers.
• Huang Gongcuo launched roof tiles at Tao Yu as Li Mi and Dugu Feng joined the assault, while You Chuhong and the Twin Fiends attacked Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Ba Fenghan.

Tao Yu defeated the fighters who had encircled him, killing Li Mi and Dugu Feng before routing their allies. The battle ended with Huang Gongcuo, You Chuhong, and the remaining attackers beaten, and the survivors fleeing or surrendering.

• Tao Yu used his Deified Heaven and Earth Great Shift to turn aside Huang Gongcuo and Dugu Feng's attacks and neutralize Li Mi's strike.
• Tao Yu used Chronostasis to decapitate Li Mi, then killed Dugu Feng with another sudden attack.
• Tao Yu killed the fleeing Twin Fiends of Changbai with fragments from Dugu Feng's skull and struck Huang Gongcuo from behind, sending him flying in a spray of blood.
• Tao Yu used his voice and palm force to knock You Chuhong and Dugu Feng to the ground.
• The remaining fighters dropped their weapons and fled or surrendered, while Xu Ziling and the others watched in shock.

Tao Yu’s overwhelming victory over the Wagang and Dugu Clan leaders left Luoyang in turmoil and made people believe the mysterious killer was Shi Zhixuan. After the group rescued Fu Junyu and learned what they could from Shangguan Long, Tao Yu asked her to teach him the Swordplay of the Sword.

• Tao Yu let Ba Fenghan kill Shen Luoyan and Xu Shiji, while the fleeing Wagang forces were intercepted by Wang Shichong’s soldiers.
• Ouyang Xiyi found the battlefield and mistook Tao Yu for Shi Zhixuan; Tao Yu accepted the identification and left with Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and the others.
• Rumors spread through Luoyang that Shi Zhixuan or a disguised new grandmaster had killed Li Mi, Dugu Feng, and other experts, while Qu Ao had been crippled.
• Shangguan Long revealed information about Fu Junyu before Kou Zhong killed him, and Fu Junyu arrived after the Demonic Sect released her.
• Tao Yu asked Fu Junyu to teach him the Swordplay of the Sword.

Tao Yu mastered and Deified the Yi Jian Shu, awakening a sword intent that revealed his Grandmaster Realm to Fu Junyu and the others. He then joined Kou Zhong and the group at Jingnian Zen Temple to seek the Jade Bi of He, using a detailed floor plan supplied by Wang Shichong.

• Tao Yu impressed Fu Junyu by anticipating her moves with the Yi Jian Shu, then Deified the art and merged its sword intent into his Grandmaster Realm.
• Tao Yu's sword intent made Fu Junyu recognize him as a Grandmaster and caused Ba Fenghan's Zhan Xuan Sword to hum.
• Tao Yu proposed that the group retrieve the Jade Bi of He before heading south to pay their respects to Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's mother.
• Kou Zhong brought Tao Yu and Fu Junyu to Jingnian Zen Temple and showed them a detailed floor plan Wang Shichong had provided.
• Kou Zhong explained that Wang Shichong wanted the Jade Bi of He to disappear because it could never choose him.

Tao Yu and his companions approached Jingnian Zen Temple to seize the Jade Bi of He, but Tao Yu sensed danger and discovered Zhang Sanfeng had arrived to oppose those choosing the jade’s master. Tao Yu joined Zhang Sanfeng, while Kou Zhong and the others prepared to seek the Jade Bi of He.

• Xu Ziling and Kou Zhong discussed stealing the Jade Bi of He, and Tao Yu promised to teach them a secret technique to improve their aptitudes.
• Tao Yu sensed danger inside Jingnian Zen Temple and stopped Kou Zhong from entering.
• Tao Yu and his companions heard Zhang Sanfeng and Ning Daoqi arguing over who had the right to choose the Jade Bi of He's master.
• Tao Yu realized Zhang Sanfeng had drawn a powerful gathering of guards and told Kou Zhong and the others to search for the Jade Bi of He without touching it with Longevity True Qi.
• Tao Yu announced himself as the Ming Cult's Thirty-First Generation Master and arrived to assist Zhang Sanfeng.
• Tao Yu exchanged greetings with Ning Daoqi and Zhang Sanfeng, who recognized that Tao Yu came from another world.

Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng entered Jingnian Zen Temple to borrow the Jade Bi of He, then Tao Yu fought the Four Great Monks while Zhang Sanfeng faced Ning Daoqi and Liao Kong. Tao Yu defeated two monks and pressed the remaining pair as the other fighters watched in disbelief.

• Tao Yu told Zhang Sanfeng that Zhang Wuji had become the thirty-fourth leader of the Ming Cult and mastered the Nine Yang Divine Skill.
• Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng agreed to borrow the Jade Bi of He, while Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling stole it and drew the temple monks away.
• Tao Yu charged the Four Great Monks and used his extraordinary speed and Seven Stars Unite to knock two of them out of the fight.
• Tao Yu feinted with another attack, then used the Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword and Yi Jian Shu to badly injure the two remaining monks.
• Zhang Sanfeng faced Ning Daoqi and Liao Kong as they and the temple monks watched Tao Yu continue fighting.

Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng forced the Four Great Monks to stop fighting and left Jingnian Zen Temple with the Jade Bi of He. Tao Yu absorbed its power to awaken a new talent, choosing the Big Dipper as its direction.

• Shi Feixuan watched Tao Yu overwhelm the monks while Zhang Sanfeng fought Ning Daoqi and Liao Kong.
• Liao Kong offered the Jade Bi of He to end the battle, and Tao Yu accepted it before withdrawing with Zhang Sanfeng.
• Tao Yu refused Shi Feixuan’s request to hear about the World Beyond the Heavens and departed with Zhang Sanfeng.
• Tao Yu reunited with Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Fu Junyu, and Ba Fenghan, then examined the Jade Bi of He and explained the Abyss to Zhang Sanfeng.
• Tao Yu absorbed power from the Jade Bi of He and received a Shattered World Heart, directing his new talent toward the Big Dipper.

Tao Yu and his companions headed south by river after taking the Jade Bi of He, while the wounded Buddhist masters considered seeking Song Que’s help against the outsiders. On the boat, Song Shidao reported rumors targeting Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng, and Tao Yu sensed Zhu Yuyan approaching on a fast boat.

• Tao Yu absorbed the shattered Jade Bi of He and told Kou Zhong that he could travel between most fragment worlds because his world had not yet been fully dragged into the Abyss.
• Tao Yu, Kou Zhong, and their companions prepared to take Song Shidao to the valley, while Tao Yu’s refined true energy left the injured Four Great Monks unable to recover quickly.
• At Jingnian Zen Temple, Shi Feixuan and the surviving leaders discussed the danger posed by Tao Yu and considered setting aside their differences to recruit Song Que.
• On a riverboat bound for Yangzhou, Song Shidao told Tao Yu that Wang Shichong had killed Li Tianfan, absorbed the Wagang army, and that rumors branded Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng as Outer Realm Demons seeking the Evil Emperor’s Relic.
• A crewman reported that a fast boat was approaching, and Tao Yu recognized the familiar aura of Zhu Yuyan, whom he had previously infused with his true essence.

Zhu Yuyan brought the Yin Gui Sect to negotiate with Tao Yu’s group, hoping to cooperate against their common enemy. After Tao Yu asked the others for their views, Zhang Sanfeng agreed to hear them out, and the sect was invited aboard.

• Zhu Yuyan led Wanwan, Wen Caiting, and Bai Qing'er toward Tao Yu’s vessel to seek negotiations.
• Wen Caiting suggested teasing Tao Yu, but Zhu Yuyan warned her not to provoke him.
• Tao Yu asked Zhu Yuyan why she had followed them, and she proposed cooperation while acknowledging her sect was weaker.
• Tao Yu asked Zhang Sanfeng and the Twin Dragons whether they objected to talks.
• Zhang Sanfeng said they could negotiate, and Tao Yu invited the Yin Gui Sect aboard.

Tao Yu negotiated an alliance with the Yin Gui Sect and learned that Shi Shaojian, a member of the dangerous Luck Stealer Alliance, had brought them news of the Abyss. He planned to use his new ties to the Demonic Sect to prepare for and draw out the Luck Stealers.

• Tao Yu agreed to discuss cooperation with Zhu Yuyan and proposed exchanging support for martial arts manuals.
• Tao Yu offered to publicly join the Holy Sect, explaining that he had led the Ming Cult in another world.
• Zhu Yuyan told Tao Yu that Shi Shaojian, a self-proclaimed master of Zombie Fist from another world, had warned the Yin Gui Sect about the Abyss.
• Tao Yu recognized Shi Shaojian as part of the Luck Stealer Alliance, whose members could trigger disasters to gain rewards and might be seeking allies.
• Tao Yu decided to use his position in the Demonic Sect to prepare for the Luck Stealers and lure them out.

Tao Yu negotiated with Zhu Yuyan for access to the Yin Gui Sect’s techniques, offering to keep Shi Zhixuan from obtaining the Holy Sarira and to answer questions about the Abyss. After demonstrating his strength, he secured the Great Heavenly Demon Technique and other manuals, then set out to study them with his companions.

• Tao Yu told Zhu Yuyan that their interests aligned in keeping the Holy Sarira from Shi Zhixuan and asked to study the Yin Gui Sect’s techniques.
• Wen Caiting offered to teach Tao Yu a mutually beneficial dual-cultivation technique, and Tao Yu asked to inspect its manual along with the Great Heavenly Demon Technique.
• Tao Yu offered to stop Shi Zhixuan from taking the Holy Sarira and answer questions about the Abyss in exchange for the manuals.
• Tao Yu revealed that his group had taken the Jade Bi of He and displayed sword intent that made Zhu Yuyan recognize his strength had grown.
• Zhu Yuyan agreed to the exchange and left Tao Yu the Great Heavenly Demon Technique and several other manuals.
• Tao Yu checked the manuals with his Spiritual Sense, kept the Great Heavenly Demon Technique aside, and asked his companions to study the texts with him.

Tao Yu translated and absorbed the Longevity Art, then Deified it and merged it with Beidou and the Nine Yang Divine Skill. His power and energy recovery increased dramatically, and he considered how to fund a second Deification as Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling wondered if he had become an immortal.

• Tao Yu translated the Longevity Art with Zhang Sanfeng, and the group spent half a month studying its principles.
• Zhang Sanfeng explained why the art's strict requirements and alarming early symptoms had prevented most people from mastering it.
• With Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling's permission, Tao Yu absorbed the Longevity Art and combined its knowledge with his other cultivation arts.
• Tao Yu Deified the Longevity Art for 50,000 Wish Power, merging it with Beidou and the Nine Yang Divine Skill and gaining twenty-two streams of True Essence.
• Tao Yu demonstrated his increased strength and rapid energy recovery, then discovered that a second Deification would cost twelve million Wish Power.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling asked if Tao Yu had become an immortal, while Tao Yu decided to ask the wealthy young woman how much he could get for selling part of his Scripture Repository shares.

Tao Yu prepared to leave his secluded valley and pursue the Luck Stealer Alliance and Yang Gong's Treasury, while Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling planned to test their progress in the wider world. When Tao Yu reached Yangzhou, he heard that villages were being attacked by the Living Dead and that people blamed him as an Outer Realm Demon.

• Tao Yu explained how he had fused techniques into his Grandmaster Force Field and advanced the Heaven and Earth Great Shift to its seventh level.
• Tao Yu decided to go to Yangzhou, then seize Yang Gong's Treasury and make a move against the Luck Stealer Alliance.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling agreed to seek challenges beyond their daily sparring, while Zhang Sanfeng and Song Shidao stayed behind with Fu Junyu.
• Tao Yu traveled to Yangzhou and heard armed men say that the Living Dead had struck another village and that people blamed the Outer Realm Demon.

Tao Yu questioned the Yin Gui Sect about the Living Dead, Shi Shaojian, and the changing balance of power, then planned to lure his enemies together by announcing a journey to Chang'an. He left to choose secret techniques after the sect’s women teased him about his abilities.

• Tao Yu entered Yangzhou and learned that Living Dead outbreaks had appeared there, then used a secret signal to gain entry to the Yin Gui Sect’s outpost.
• Tao Yu asked Wen Caiting about the Living Dead and Shi Shaojian, and Wen Caiting described the outbreaks, the growing accusations against Tao Yu, and the shifting alliances among the realm’s powers.
• Wen Caiting told Tao Yu that Shi Shaojian was investigating Shi Zhixuan and had found An Long, while the Yin Gui Sect’s Sect Master had already gone to Bashu.
• Tao Yu ordered the Yin Gui Sect to spread word that he would take the Twin Dragons upstream through Shu toward Chang'an to claim the treasure and draw his enemies together.
• Tao Yu rejected Wen Caiting’s advances and asked for the secret techniques, but Bai Qing’er’s remark about helping him last longer angered him.

Tao Yu subdued Bai Qing'er, returned from the Martial World, and reported the Luck Stealer Alliance and Han Ya's death to Sun Shiyu. Sun Shiyu prepared to visit the new world with him, then challenged him to show off his improved skills.

• Tao Yu implanted a taming seed in Bai Qing'er and ordered her to tell the Twin Dragons that he would be gone for five days.
• Tao Yu returned to the Real World from Yangzhou and learned from Sun Shiyu that Han Ya, the New Frontier's Manager of External Affairs, had gone missing.
• Tao Yu told Sun Shiyu he had found information about the Luck Stealer Alliance, and she arranged for him to come to her villa.
• Tao Yu reported his encounter with the alliance in Martial World 03 and revealed that he had obtained a third talent by activating a World Heart fragment.
• Sun Shiyu praised Tao Yu for wiping out the group and said she would accompany him to the new world; she then challenged him to demonstrate his new skills.

Tao Yu learned more about Sun Shiyu’s family troubles and the value of his Scripture Repository shares, then secured a major reward for bringing the Great Tang martial arts system to the Floating City. He used his growing Vow Power to attempt the second Deification of the Longevity Art.

• Tao Yu told Sun Shiyu about the Great Tang’s martial arts system and its rumored limit of Shattering the Void.
• Sun Shiyu warned Tao Yu that the Sun Family faced restricted matters and that he should keep developing the New Frontier in case her family had to abandon the Real World.
• Sun Shiyu told Tao Yu that his Scripture Repository dividends had already exceeded a million Vow Power and that his shares could gain value as the internal-energy system spread.
• Tao Yu offered to handle the remaining Luck Stealers while Sun Shiyu provided his reward in advance for discovering the Great Tang system.
• Tao Yu received more than ten million Vow Power and spent a huge amount to Deify the Longevity Art a second time.

After his second Deification, Tao Yu gained a deeper unity with nature and spent five days refining his abilities before meeting with the Redemption guild. He learned that Earth had its own Reincarnators and that their records hinted at a legendary monkey from an extraordinarily powerful world.

• Tao Yu restrained the energy surge during his second Deification and discovered that his transformed abilities could bring forth chaos with a single strike.
• Tao Yu planned to use fivefold Wish Power acceleration to cultivate and familiarize himself with his abilities over the next five days.
• A mechanically modified representative invited Tao Yu to join Redemption and explained its contacts and information-sharing across Pioneer Zones.
• The representative told Tao Yu that Earth had Reincarnators and that Earth’s New Frontiers were also caught in an apocalyptic crisis.
• Tao Yu asked about Earth’s records, and the representative described a monkey who could leap a hundred and eight thousand li and wielded a five-ton weapon.

After meeting Earth's Reincarnators, Tao Yu considered the wider state of the worlds before visiting the Thieves Guild and learning that the Morning Sun Society was under mounting pressure. He stayed out of the brewing conflict, leaving the Society’s fate uncertain.

• Tao Yu reflected on Earth’s fall to the Abyss and the possibility of encountering other Reincarnators, then focused on growing stronger in the Tang Dynasty world.
• Tao Yu visited the Thieves Guild’s bar and demanded a Senior Partner assassination bounty, but the bartender refused.
• Tao Yu seized two cloaked men, took them to the Nightwatcher hall to check for bounties, and released them after finding none.
• Tao Yu gathered reports that Gu Qiu and the Morning Sun Society were facing pressure from Inner City families and attacks from rival factions.
• Tao Yu concluded that the Society was struggling but not yet on the verge of destruction, and decided not to get involved.

Tao Yu returned to Yangzhou and found the city collapsing under a mass outbreak of the Living Dead. He fought through the streets to lead survivors toward the city gate, while allies organized an evacuation by boat and Bai Qing'er set out to guide him to them.

• Tao Yu returned to Yangzhou five days after leaving and found zombies overrunning the streets as soldiers and civilians fought for survival.
• Tao Yu began smashing through the zombies with his Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword and rallied survivors to follow him toward the city gate.
• Du Fuwei, Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, Zhang Sanfeng, Song Shidao, and others organized boats, inspections, and an evacuation at Yangzhou's canal port.
• Kou Zhong and the others suspected Shi Shaojian and his allies had caused the outbreak, while Li Zitong joined the evacuation effort.
• The group heard Tao Yu calling out from inside the city, and Bai Qing'er volunteered to use her ability to guide him toward the docks.

Tao Yu helped defend Yangzhou from the Living Dead, displaying the destructive power of the Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword while refugees escaped by boat. After seven days of organizing the evacuation, he watched the final boat leave and prepared to move on, unconcerned that people might blame him and Zhang Sanfeng for Yangzhou’s fate.

• Bai Qing'er told Tao Yu that a mole in the Yin Gui Sect had triggered the Living Dead outbreak and that infected people had spread throughout Yangzhou.
• Tao Yu unleashed a powerful attack with the Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword, clearing a vast stretch of street and sending survivors and exhausted soldiers toward the docks.
• Tao Yu fought the remaining zombies until Kou Zhong, Xu Ziling, and Ba Fenghan arrived, then learned that refugees were escaping by boat under strict screening.
• Over seven days, Tao Yu and the others organized Yangzhou’s evacuation, and Tao Yu watched the last refugee boat depart.
• Tao Yu thanked Du Fuwei, Li Zitong, and Yun Yuzhen, while Du Fuwei warned that the world might blame Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng for what happened in Yangzhou.
• Tao Yu dismissed others’ opinions and said he had acted as he wished and wanted only to keep a clear conscience.