Chapter Summaries

Peng Li explained Zhang Qingyuan’s new responsibilities as a leading cultivator in the South Sea and warned that Daoist Ming Shui’s Death Seclusion could affect the region’s stability. Zhang Qingyuan accepted an invitation to the South Sea cultivation convention, then hosted Peng Li while awaiting his match with Liang Long.

• Zhang Qingyuan realized that his True Essence Late Stage strength made him one of the South Sea’s leading defenders against the Sea Clan.
• Peng Li reassured Zhang Qingyuan that cultivators could retreat from an overwhelming Sea Clan attack and explained the alliance’s warning system and bounties.
• Peng Li warned that the Sea Clan might take advantage of Daoist Ming Shui’s Death Seclusion, though Cloud Water Sect’s strength and Tianheng Island’s Spirit Stone Vein helped protect the South Sea.
• Peng Li invited Zhang Qingyuan to the South Sea cultivation convention, where powerful cultivators would divide spheres of influence and resolve disputes, and Zhang Qingyuan agreed to attend.
• Zhang Qingyuan invited Peng Li to stay on the Moon Liên Islands, where Peng Li benefited from their discussions of cultivation and waited to watch Liang Long’s match with Zhang Qingyuan.

Zhang Qingyuan sparred with Liang Long above a desolate island, meeting the True Essence Eighth Layer Late-Stage cultivator’s opening punch without giving ground. Liang Long recognized Zhang Qingyuan’s perfectly balanced, transformed Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, and both men unleashed their full auras as their battle continued.

• Liang Long opened the sparring match with a powerful punch that crossed the distance toward Zhang Qingyuan.
• Zhang Qingyuan met Liang Long’s punch head-on, and the collision sent both fighters retreating hundreds of zhang without either gaining the upper hand.
• Peng Li was shocked that Zhang Qingyuan could contend with an opponent a major realm above him.
• Liang Long identified Zhang Qingyuan’s transformed and balanced Three Treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, which let him contend with stronger cultivators even without a Martial Skill.
• Liang Long and Zhang Qingyuan released their full auras, turning their sides of the sky into surging seas of True Essence Qi before charging at each other again.

Zhang Qingyuan and Liang Long fought at tremendous speed above the storm-tossed sea, with Zhang using Wind Intent and his movement technique to overcome Liang Long’s speed advantage. Zhang exploited an opening to land a powerful palm strike, sending Liang Long flying after his Eight-Sided Mirror blocked the blow.

• Zhang Qingyuan and Liang Long clashed above the sea, their attacks clearing the clouds and shaking the surrounding sky and water.
• Peng Li recognized that Zhang Qingyuan’s mastery of Wind Intent and movement technique let him match Liang Long’s speed despite being a cultivation layer lower.
• Liang Long threw a powerful punch, but Zhang Qingyuan used a mysterious displacement technique to pass through its path and appear beside him.
• Zhang Qingyuan struck Liang Long’s chest with a thunderous palm while Liang Long was unable to recover his momentum.
• Liang Long summoned his Eight-Sided Mirror to block the palm, but the impact sent him flying backward.

Zhang Qingyuan defeated Liang Long in a friendly spar, then reflected on how he had absorbed Liang Long’s combat experience during their fight. He also explained that the finishing move, Time Passing in a Flash, came from his failed attempt to develop Buddha Kingdom in Palm and genuinely used spatial power.

• Liang Long conceded defeat after Zhang Qingyuan beat him by half a move, and Zhang Qingyuan cautioned that Liang Long might have had more powerful techniques in a life-or-death battle.
• Liang Long and Peng Li teased each other before bidding Zhang Qingyuan farewell several days later.
• Zhang Qingyuan returned to the island and considered how the Great Evolution Technique had helped him learn from Liang Long’s experience during their spar.
• Zhang Qingyuan recalled that his final technique, Time Passing in a Flash, had emerged from his failed attempt to create Buddha Kingdom in Palm.
• Zhang Qingyuan recognized that Time Passing in a Flash used genuine spatial power, unlike his earlier technique based on Wind Intent and speed.

After assessing his strength and concluding that further seclusion would bring little improvement, Zhang Qingyuan prepared to explore the Thick Earth Sect’s treasure ground for resources and better pill recipes. He delayed his expedition to gather intelligence about the deep sea and the Sea Clan, then reviewed the information his subordinates collected.

• Zhang Qingyuan judged that his combat strength had grown enough to challenge powerful True Essence cultivators, but that his cultivation progress had slowed and his existing pill recipes had lost effectiveness.
• Zhang Qingyuan decided to seek resources in the Thick Earth Sect’s treasure ground, whose destination lay in the deep sea.
• Zhang Qingyuan ordered his subordinates to collect accounts of deep-sea travel and sent people to Tianheng Island to obtain information about the Sea Clan.
• Over the next three months, Zhang Qingyuan’s subordinates gathered travel records and returned with Jade Slips containing information and analyses about the Sea Clan.
• Zhang Qingyuan opened the compiled intelligence and fell silent.

The Sea Clan prepared to return to their ancestral homeland after learning that a Human Ancestor Rank expert had entered Death Seclusion. The Third Prince committed to war, leaving the clan poised for a massive campaign against humanity.

• A Sea Clan tribe endured a devastating Black Storm, protected by the Divine Ancestor’s power.
• The tribe’s old Priest urged Aguna, its strongest warrior, to join the Third Prince’s forces and avenge the Sea Clan.
• The Third Prince announced that 163 tribes had answered his summons, giving the Sea Clan an army of more than a hundred thousand.
• A Sea Clan member questioned whether the campaign was too hasty, warning that other Human Ancestor Rank experts might intervene.
• The Third Prince rejected retreat as an option and vowed to make the Sea Clan great again.

The Third Prince confided his fears about humanity’s overwhelming strength to the Grand Priestess, then explained his plan to exploit human infighting and reclaim the Sea Clan’s homeland. The Grand Priestess supported him and offered to open a place where he could train troops and uncover human cultivation secrets.

• After the others left, the Third Prince recalled his years among humans and the despair he felt at their vast power.
• The Grand Priestess comforted the Third Prince and reminded him that the Ancestor Spirit had named him the Son of Destiny.
• The Third Prince resolved to avoid provoking the Cloud Water Sect, target weaker human forces, and exploit conflicts among the larger powers.
• The Third Prince planned to use the Sea Clan’s unity, human cultivation knowledge, and resources from the sea to grow stronger and eventually reclaim their homeland.
• The Grand Priestess pledged to support the Third Prince and said she would open a newly loosened place for training and searching for human cultivation secrets.

After six months navigating the dangerous deep sea in search of the location on the Thick Earth Sect's Treasure Map, Zhang Qingyuan continued to fight powerful Sea Beasts and gather treasures. He rewarded Little Fire for retrieving spoils, while his cultivation and body refining advanced toward their current limits.

• Zhang Qingyuan killed a gigantic Sea Beast with a sword strike and landed on its floating corpse.
• He reflected on the storms, hidden Sea Beasts, and other dangers that had made his six-month deep-sea journey difficult.
• Zhang Qingyuan sent Little Fire and Little White underwater to search the corpse and promised Little Fire the beast as a feast, along with pills.
• He assessed how fighting Sea Beasts and consuming their essence had strengthened his cultivation and body, while their materials had brought him a valuable harvest.
• Zhang Qingyuan sensed that the gains from further tempering were beginning to diminish.

Zhang Qingyuan found Sky Tide Fine Gold while traveling through the dangerous Deep Sea Zone, but he still had not reached the treasure location after half a year. His suspicions about the map and Liu Daoyan remained unresolved as he continued exploring.

• Little Fire and Little White brought Zhang Qingyuan a football-sized piece of Sky Tide Fine Gold taken from a reef cave guarded by a sea beast.
• Zhang Qingyuan reflected on how the Deep Sea Zone’s dangers had strengthened him and on the Sea Clan’s primitive tools, brutal tribal conflicts, and unusually small numbers of young adults.
• Zhang Qingyuan wondered whether the Thick Earth Sect had a connection to the Sea Clan and questioned whether Liu Daoyan had tampered with the incomplete treasure map.
• Zhang Qingyuan left the area after Little Fire devoured the sea beast’s corpse and continued searching for the treasure site.

Zhang Qingyuan discovered that the Sea Clan had gathered on the island containing the Thick Earth Sect’s inheritance treasure, and learned they planned to use it to strengthen their elites before attacking the South Sea. He left the island to report the coming invasion to the Cloud Water Sect, but the treasure’s discovery by the Sea Clan left him facing a serious obstacle.

• Zhang Qingyuan arrived above a great island and saw a huge number of young Sea Clan gathering there.
• After leaving the island and returning several days later, Zhang Qingyuan used a soul-searching technique on a Sea Clan youth and learned that the Third Prince was assembling an army to attack the South Sea.
• Zhang Qingyuan decided he would report the invasion to the Cloud Water Sect, trusting that the sect could prepare to defend its influence.
• Zhang Qingyuan learned from the youth’s memories that the Sea Clan had turned the island into a trial ground containing the Thick Earth Sect treasure.
• Zhang Qingyuan discovered that the Third Prince planned to send elite Sea Clan into the trial ground to strengthen them before their counterattack against the Human Race.

Zhang Qingyuan infiltrated the Sea Clan disguised as one of their own and learned how the Third Prince had strengthened their civilization through sweeping reforms. He planned to enter the Warrior Assembly, reach the Thick Earth Sect's Inheritance Secret Treasury, and look for a chance to eliminate the Third Prince.

• Zhang Qingyuan disguised himself as a Sea Clan member and gathered information from the crowded plaza.
• He learned that the Third Prince had introduced cultivation methods, resource exchanges, and reforms that had brought the Sea Clan greater prosperity and strength.
• Zhang Qingyuan concluded that the Third Prince had learned these reforms from human civilization and recognized him as a formidable enemy.
• He learned that the core of the Thick Earth Sect's Inheritance Secret Treasury remained unopened and planned to seize its treasures.
• Zhang Qingyuan left the plaza to find an identity for the Warrior Assembly, intending to earn entry to the secret treasury and possibly kill the Third Prince.

Zhang Qingyuan disguised himself as a Sea Clan warrior, secured eighty-ninth place in the Warrior Assembly, and entered the Trial Holy Land while wondering why the Third Prince had never appeared. Unbeknownst to him, Zamuhe arranged to track and kill him inside the Secret Realm.

• Zhang Qingyuan defeated Aguna in the arena and kept a withdrawn persona to avoid attracting attention.
• He placed around the bottom of the top hundred, then deliberately lost a later match and finished in eighty-ninth place.
• After the Warrior Assembly ended, Zhang Qingyuan entered the Trial Holy Land with the other qualified Sea Clan members and set aside his questions about the absent Third Prince.
• Zamuhe watched Zhang Qingyuan enter the passage and told Lie to help him exact revenge for Zhang Qingyuan defeating his younger brother Zamuduo.
• Lie said he had marked Zhang Qingyuan with Honey Bone Powder so his White Butterfly could track him, and Zamuhe promised a reward for the kill.

Zamuhe vowed to punish the Sea Clan warrior who defeated his younger brother, then entered the Trial Holy Land with two lackeys. Zhang Qingyuan arrived in a hidden formation, uncovered its treasure, and found several Origin Spirit Pills.

• Zamuhe threatened small-tribe warriors into losing to his younger brother so the younger man could qualify for the Trial Holy Land.
• An emaciated lowly citizen defeated Zamuhe's younger brother, prompting Zamuhe to swear revenge once they entered the Trial Holy Land.
• Zamuhe entered the Trial Holy Land through a space vortex with two newly recruited lackeys as onlookers discussed his grudge.
• Zhang Qingyuan emerged in a forest, recognized its illusion as a Thick Earth Sect trapping formation, and located its node.
• Zhang Qingyuan broke through the illusion, found a jade bottle on a stone table, and recognized its contents as Origin Spirit Pills.

Zhang Qingyuan used three Origin Spirit Pills to break through to the True Essence Seventh Layer Late Stage, then resolved to reach the hidden trove’s core region. As he prepared to seek information from the Sea Clan, Zamuhe arrived and angrily confronted the Sea Race youth Zhang had disguised himself as.

• Zhang Qingyuan refined three Origin Spirit Pills over three days and broke through to the True Essence Seventh Layer Late Stage.
• Zhang Qingyuan lamented that the Sea Clan had taken many treasures from the hidden trove and decided to seek the untouched core region.
• Zhang Qingyuan realized he lacked information about how to reach the core and planned to question other Sea Clan members.
• Zhang Qingyuan sensed several Sea Clan auras approaching, resumed his disguise as a gaunt Sea Race youth, and concealed the traces around him.
• Zamuhe crashed down before Zhang Qingyuan and roared that he had finally found the lowly citizen he intended to punish.

Zhang Qingyuan killed Zamuhe and his two followers, then searched Zamuhe’s memories and learned that the Third Prince was attacking the formation in the Secret Realm’s core region. He flew toward the core region to keep the hidden treasury from falling into Sea Clan hands.

• Zamuhe and his two followers attacked Zhang Qingyuan, but he crushed them in a few moves and choked Zamuhe unconscious.
• Zhang Qingyuan used a Secret Technique to search Zamuhe’s memories, then burned his corpse.
• Zhang Qingyuan learned that the Third Prince was leading an assault on the loosening formation in the core region.
• Zhang Qingyuan headed toward the core region because he wanted to reach the hidden treasury before the Sea Clan.

The Third Prince and the High Priest broke through the defenses of a Human Race inheritance treasury, only for Zhang Qingyuan to appear and attack them. The chapter ended with Zhang Qingyuan confronting the two Sea Clan leaders.

• The Third Prince questioned why the Human Race had built its trial treasury deep in Sea Clan territory, and the High Priest said she did not know.
• The Third Prince refused to hear more about Queen Mother's death and vowed to use the Human Race's inheritance methods against them.
• The Sea Clan broke the treasury's protective formation, releasing a yellow light and an unknown Dao Essence that suggested a great treasure lay inside.
• Zhang Qingyuan appeared and killed several Sea Clan guards with a sudden sword attack.
• The High Priest blocked Zhang Qingyuan's strike and dragged the Third Prince back, while the Third Prince demanded to know how Zhang Qingyuan had arrived.
• Zhang Qingyuan mocked the Sea Clan for breaking into the treasury and then asking why its owner had returned.

Zhang Qingyuan fought the Sea Clan High Priest while explaining to the Third Prince that strength, rather than justice, governed the conflict between humans and the Sea Clan. He overwhelmed the High Priest and cracked his scepter, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Zhang Qingyuan told the Third Prince that the Sea Clan’s suffering arose from its weakness and that strength determined who prevailed.
• The High Priest blocked Zhang Qingyuan’s opening sword strike with his scepter, but Zhang Qingyuan pressed the attack and drove him backward.
• Zhang Qingyuan said he respected the High Priest’s efforts to strengthen the Sea Clan but would still kill an opposing force that threatened humanity.
• The Third Prince listened as Zhang Qingyuan rejected hatred and appeals for justice, arguing that defeat came from insufficient strength.
• Zhang Qingyuan struck the High Priest’s scepter with a powerful Sword Light, cracked it, and sent the High Priest flying more than a hundred zhang.

Zhang Qingyuan's resolve to become strong deepened his Dao Heart as he fought the Sea Clan's High Priest and Third Prince. The High Priest sacrificed herself to break Zhang Qingyuan's sword attack and open an escape route for the Third Prince.

• Zhang Qingyuan reflected on the Sea Clan's suffering but reaffirmed that strength was necessary to avoid being controlled by the strong, and his Dao Heart advanced.
• The High Priest shattered her scepter to unleash a powerful Light Pillar, then fled with the Third Prince while warning him that Zhang Qingyuan was too dangerous to confront.
• Zhang Qingyuan used Spark Burns Nine Heavens to overwhelm the Light Pillar and send a vast sword strike after the fleeing pair.
• The High Priest sent the Third Prince toward a space vortex with a Jade-colored Armor Fragment, then charged into Zhang Qingyuan's attack and self-destructed to shatter its Sword Momentum.

Zhang Qingyuan tried to kill the Third Prince after the High Priest sacrificed herself, but the prince escaped through a space vortex with the help of a jade armor relic. Zhang Qingyuan fled the Sea Clan Hinterland and entered the palace, where he found a jade box containing a mysterious earth-yellow object.

• The High Priest self-destructed to open a path for the Third Prince, and Zhang Qingyuan pursued him through the shattered void.
• Zhang Qingyuan’s sword strike broke the Third Prince’s jade armor shield and wounded him, but the impact sent him into the space channel before the vortex collapsed.
• Zhang Qingyuan realized the Third Prince might have survived and hurried to leave before stronger Sea Clan forces arrived.
• Zhang Qingyuan collected the cracked Space Conch left by the High Priest and escaped across the battle-ravaged region.
• Zhang Qingyuan entered the undefended palace and found a jade box emitting an earth-yellow glow and mysterious power.

Zhang Qingyuan escaped the Secret Realm with a sealed jade box and evaded the Sea Clan’s three-month search as he neared the South Sea. Just as he thought he was clear of danger, a devastating beam struck at him.

• Zhang Qingyuan took the rune-sealed jade box from the great hall and fled the Secret Realm.
• The Sea Clan ruler ordered every tribe to search for Zhang Qingyuan after learning that the Third Prince had nearly died.
• For three months, Zhang Qingyuan avoided the Sea Clan’s blockades by disguising himself using Zamuhe’s memories.
• Near the edge of the Sea Clan’s territory, Zhang Qingyuan sensed danger and used a movement technique to evade a beam that shattered space and carved a vast rift through the sea.