Chapter Summaries

Zhang Qingyuan spent several years in seclusion, consolidating his gains and reaching the Peak Eighth Layer, while preparing for a possible Sea Clan invasion. He then sought a path to comprehend Gold Element power, but learned that the Golden Extremity Sect tightly guarded its inheritance, leaving him with few options.

• Zhang Qingyuan worried about the Sea Clan's forces and the possibility that the Third Prince would recover and seek revenge, but judged that his strength would let him protect himself unless Cave True cultivators intervened.
• Zhang Qingyuan spent several years in seclusion, using the Great Evolution Technique and abundant resources from the Moon Liên Islands to stabilize his cultivation and reach the Peak Eighth Layer.
• Zhang Qingyuan gathered Metal Attribute techniques and martial arts through his subordinates, but failed to glimpse the threshold of Gold Element power.
• Zhang Qingyuan questioned Yang Yuyan about the Golden Extremity Sect and prominent Gold Element cultivators in Yuzhou.
• Yang Yuyan explained that few cultivators followed the Metal Attribute path and that the Golden Extremity Sect guarded its inheritance so fiercely that Zhang Qingyuan saw almost no way to obtain it.

Zhang Qingyuan learned that the Jin Family had once been known for its Gold Element inheritance, but it had been destroyed a thousand years earlier. As Yang Yuyan suggested he seek knowledge beyond Yuzhou, a message arrived announcing that the Sea Clan had invaded and war had begun.

• Zhang Qingyuan asked Yang Yuyan whether any Yuzhou force still chiefly cultivated the Gold Element.
• Yang Yuyan explained that the Jin Family had inherited Metal Attribute techniques but was annihilated in a calamity a thousand years ago.
• Zhang Qingyuan realized the Golden Extremity Sect would not share its inheritance and asked whether Yang Yuyan knew where the Jin Family's inheritance remained.
• Yang Yuyan suggested he search beyond Yuzhou, including in Haizhou or other continents.
• Zhang Qingyuan received a Messaging Talisman and learned that the Sea Clan had invaded and the war had begun.

After the Sea Clan overran the border islands, twelve-year-old Er Gou tried to keep his little sister Xiao Cao alive among the ruins of their captured town. When a Sea Race Strongman caught them, Er Gou shielded Xiao Cao as the warrior brought down his harpoon.

• The Sea Clan attacked the border islands, killing residents and reducing towns to ruins.
• Er Gou and Xiao Cao hid beneath debris for three days after their mother concealed them and disappeared.
• Er Gou comforted hungry Xiao Cao and promised they would survive and find their mother.
• Er Gou led Xiao Cao through the ruins to search for food, but a Sea Race Strongman spotted them.
• Xiao Cao fell and injured her ankle, and Er Gou covered her as the Sea Race Strongman swung his harpoon at them.

Zhang Qingyuan rescued Er Gou and his sister from a Fishman Monster while scouting a Sea Clan invasion, then confronted a large gathering of Sea Clan troops in the ruined town. Er Gou resolved to pursue cultivation and protect his family, while Zhang Qingyuan prepared to avenge the town’s dead.

• Zhang Qingyuan killed the Fishman Monster with a streak of Sword Qi, saving Er Gou and Xiao Cao.
• Er Gou realized an Immortal had saved them and vowed to become one so he could protect his family.
• Er Gou collected a glowing harpoon spike, three black pills, and two unknown fruits from the monster’s belongings before leading Xiao Cao away.
• Zhang Qingyuan flew through the ruins, killing patrolling Sea Clan soldiers and reflecting on the destruction of the town and the invasion.
• A sea beast alerted the Sea Clan to Zhang Qingyuan’s presence, and hundreds of soldiers, warriors, and Priests gathered around him.
• Zhang Qingyuan stepped into the assembled Sea Clan forces, intending to pay tribute to the town’s dead with their lives.

Zhang Qingyuan slaughtered the Sea Tribe Soldiers attacking the island and reflected on how cultivation had given him the strength to resist being controlled by others. The Sea Clan Priest attacked him with a powerful thunderbolt, but the chapter ended as the frozen thunder was shattered.

• Zhang Qingyuan cut down hundreds of Sea Tribe Soldiers with sword shadows and a sweep of his sleeve.
• Zhang Qingyuan resolved to keep growing stronger so no one could control his fate as easily as an ant's.
• The Sea Clan Priest rushed to the town and attacked Zhang Qingyuan with a massive pillar of thunderlight from his azure staff.
• The thunderlight stopped in midair, and a clear sound shattered the silence.

Zhang Qingyuan killed the Sea Clan Priest, discovered that his scepter could greatly amplify power while draining life, and cleared the island of the remaining Sea Clan. At a gathering of Zhoushan’s True Essence Realm cultivators, he listened as they argued over how to respond to the invasion while he considered the danger behind the Sea Clan’s unusual strength.

• Qing Xuan crushed the Sea Clan Priest’s attack, and Zhang Qingyuan appeared and killed him with a single strike.
• Zhang Qingyuan examined the sinister scepter, found that it devoured Spiritual Sense and seemed to drain life, and noticed that the Priest’s corpse had been emptied of life force.
• Zhang Qingyuan stored the scepter, cleared the island of the remaining Sea Clan members, and flew away.
• Hu Qianjun urged the Zhoushan cultivators to strike back against the Sea Clan, while others warned that leaving their defenses would expose their own territories.
• Zhang Qingyuan presided over the heated meeting but remained silent as he considered the Sea Clan’s abnormal strength.

The Zhoushan Area cultivators agreed to attack the Sea Clan headquarters on Xiansha Island, with Zhang Qingyuan setting the assault for half a month later. Zhang Qingyuan privately warned Yang Yuyan that the attack might be a trap, but said the Sea Clan forces had to be dealt with before he was transferred to the main front.

• Hu Qianjun persuaded the gathered cultivators to strike Xiansha Island, arguing that destroying the Sea Clan leadership and supplies would cripple their forces.
• The Zhoushan Area cultivators reached a consensus and looked to Zhang Qingyuan for the final decision.
• Zhang Qingyuan ordered everyone to gather their forces and prepare to attack Xiansha Island in half a month.
• Yang Yuyan found Zhang Qingyuan at a cliff and asked why he seemed troubled.
• Zhang Qingyuan told Yang Yuyan that the Sea Clan might be setting a trap, but he intended to attack so the Zhoushan Area would be safer if he were sent to the main front.

The Sea Clan prepared an ambush at Xiansha Island, while Zhang Qingyuan led more than a thousand Zhoushan elites on a surprise attack against its headquarters. The chapter ended as the six Magic Ships’ formation blasts struck the island’s defenses.

• A Sea Clan leader learned that Human Race cultivators were assembling to attack Xiansha Island and ordered preparations to ensure the ambush succeeded.
• Over half a month, Zhoushan forces gathered more than a thousand elites and set out aboard six Magic Ships.
• The Human Race force slipped past Sea Clan patrols and reached a point a hundred li from Xiansha Island.
• Zhang Qingyuan ordered the attack, and the ships’ formations fired powerful beams at the island.
• Xiansha Island’s Light Curtains rose to block the beams, and the collision shook the surrounding sea and islands.

Human cultivators launched a surprise attack on Xiansha Island, and Zhang Qingyuan watched the battle while waiting for the Sea Tribe’s experts to respond. The Sea Clan Priests and warriors finally emerged to fight the True Essence Realm cultivators, checking the human advance.

• Human cultivators breached Xiansha Island’s defenses and spread across the island, while Zhang Qingyuan focused on the battles among the True Essence Realm cultivators.
• Zhang Qingyuan wondered why the Sea Tribe’s experts had not appeared, then effortlessly destroyed an Ice Cone Technique aimed at him.
• Zhang Qingyuan killed the Sea Clan Sacrificial Disciple who had attacked him with a Spiritual Sense technique.
• Sea Clan Priests and battle masters emerged from their camp and engaged the human cultivators, slowing their advance and raising the morale of the Sea Clan warriors.
• Zhang Qingyuan surveyed the battlefield with his Spiritual Sense and wondered whether the Sea Clan’s response was part of a backup plan.

Zhang Qingyuan realized the Sea Clan’s apparent weakness concealed a trap when a barrier sealed Xiansha Island and a powerful Sea Clan expert appeared. As the humans faced being trapped with a Ninth Layer enemy, Hu Qianjun betrayed them by stabbing Kuang Yudao, leaving their chances of resistance greatly reduced.

• Zhang Qingyuan sensed that the Sea Clan’s forces were too few and searched Xiansha Island, but found no hidden warriors.
• A blood-red barrier rose around Xiansha Island, trapping everyone inside as a powerful Sea Clan figure appeared and declared that the human experts would become his nourishment.
• Kuang Yudao identified the figure as a True Essence Ninth Layer or stronger expert, and cultivators who tried to escape were burned to ashes by the barrier.
• Kuang Yudao urged the True Essence Realm cultivators to unite, but Hu Qianjun stabbed him from behind with a blood-red spear.
• Two True Essence Eighth Layer cultivators attacked Hu Qianjun and drove him back, but Kuang Yudao was left gravely weakened and unable to fight.

Kuang Yudao’s defeat devastated the Human Race cultivators’ morale, and Elder Dao Yan and another veteran attacked Hu Qianjun for betraying them. The Ninefold Sea Clan Expert saved Hu Qianjun and unleashed a deadly assault on the elders, leaving the Human Race cultivators to rally for a desperate defense.

• Kuang Yudao’s injuries caused the Human Race forces to lose ground, while the White-Robed Elder and Elder Dao Yan decided to risk their lives and attack Hu Qianjun.
• The Ninefold Sea Clan Expert appeared beside Hu Qianjun, crushed both elders’ attacks, and sent them flying with severe injuries.
• Hu Qianjun praised his master and urged him to kill the Human Race cultivators, while Elder Dao Yan condemned him as a traitor.
• The Ninefold Sea Clan Expert unleashed his Peak Grand Priestess aura and sent Blood-Colored Divine Light toward the injured elders.
• Elder Dao Yan and the other veteran summoned their Natal Magic Treasures to defend themselves, and nearby True Essence Realm cultivators called for everyone to attack together.

Zhang Qingyuan ambushed the Sea Clan’s Peak Grand Priestess during her assault on the True Essence cultivators, severing one of her arms but failing to kill her. He faced the wounded opponent warily as he realized she was likely at the Ninth Stage Mid-phase.

• The True Essence cultivators attacked the Sea Clan member’s river of blood, but she overwhelmed them and sent the wounded Elder Dao Yan and another man crashing down.
• As the Sea Clan member moved to kill them, Zhang Qingyuan struck from hiding with a spatially severing sword attack.
• The Peak Grand Priestess of the Sea Clan dodged enough to survive, but lost an arm and was then bombarded by tens of thousands of sword shadows.
• The cultivators below recognized Zhang Qingyuan and stared in shock at his attack on the powerful Sea Clan opponent.
• Zhang Qingyuan held back from pursuing and judged that his ambush had failed because the Grand Priestess was stronger than he had expected.

Zhang Qingyuan killed Hu Qianjun for betraying humanity, then faced a Sea Clan Expert whose transformation unleashed a familiar and terrifying blood-colored power. The transformed enemy overwhelmed Zhang Qingyuan in their opening clash, leaving him injured and driven back.

• Hu Qianjun tried to escape while Zhang Qingyuan watched the blood-colored clouds, but Zhang Qingyuan killed him with a strike of Sword Qi.
• The Sea Clan Expert emerged from the blood-colored clouds in a savage, armored form, terrifying human and Sea Clan cultivators across Xiansha Island.
• Zhang Qingyuan recognized the creature’s ominous Aura from the ruin in the Land of Silence that Burning Heaven Sword Yan Wusheng had encountered.
• The transformed Sea Clan Expert attacked Zhang Qingyuan with a claw, and Zhang Qingyuan blocked it with his Sword Pellet and immortal sword.
• The creature shattered the resulting Energy Impact and charged again; Zhang Qingyuan blocked its blood-light strike but was blasted back, bleeding.

Zhang Qingyuan struggled against a transformed Sea Clan Expert whose strength rivaled the True Essence Ninth Layer Mid-phase, while the watching cultivators realized how powerful he was. After enduring the enemy’s relentless attacks, Zhang Qingyuan seized an opening with his newly created sword formation.

• The Sea Clan Expert overwhelmed Zhang Qingyuan with rapid attacks, leaving him injured despite the healing power of his Wood Life Intent.
• Zhang Qingyuan concluded that he needed to exploit an opening and land a decisive strike before the Sea Clan Expert could recover.
• The cultivators below, including Elder Dao Yan and Kuang Yudao, watched in shock as Zhang Qingyuan held his own against the far stronger opponent.
• The Sea Clan Expert charged like a blood-colored spear, and Zhang Qingyuan met the attack by merging five sword shadows into a powerful sword formation.
• The collision sent both fighters flying back and left the Sea Clan Expert briefly unable to gather his next force, creating an opening for Zhang Qingyuan.

Zhang Qingyuan summoned Little Fire to ambush and restrain the exhausted Sea Clan expert, then struck with Buddha Kingdom in Palm. The Sea Clan expert was trapped and ground away inside the palm’s domain, while Little Fire escaped badly injured.

• Zhang Qingyuan called on Little Fire, who had been hiding nearby, to attack the Sea Clan expert from behind.
• Little Fire wrapped his body around the Sea Clan expert and endured severe injuries to keep him restrained.
• Zhang Qingyuan unleashed Buddha Kingdom in Palm, enclosing the Sea Clan expert and the surrounding space.
• Little Fire escaped as the palm’s domain swallowed the Sea Clan expert and gradually ground him away.

Zhang Qingyuan killed the strange Sea Clan Expert and helped the human cultivators defeat the Sea Clan invasion. He searched the enemy headquarters and found Dragon Saliva Incense, his greatest reward, while the battle’s aftermath left him exposed to widespread attention.

• Zhang Qingyuan and Little Fire discussed the slain Sea Clan Expert’s eerie resemblance to an enemy Little Fire had faced in the past.
• Zhang Qingyuan flew to the Sea Clan’s Golden Camp as the stunned cultivators below cheered his victory.
• The Sea Clan army’s morale collapsed, and the human cultivators routed it, killing many and forcing the survivors to surrender.
• Zhang Qingyuan searched the Sea Clan headquarters and claimed battle spoils, including the precious Dragon Saliva Incense.

Zhang Qingyuan looted the Sea Clan Expert’s headquarters on Xiansha Island and left after the sea tribe’s defeat ended the immediate threat to the Zhoushan Area. His strength and rapid cultivation became public knowledge after the battle, while the main conflict shifted to the front around Tianheng Island.

• Zhang Qingyuan collected Dragon Saliva Incense, other valuable treasures, and Spirit Stones from the Sea Clan Expert’s headquarters.
• Zhang Qingyuan left Xiansha Island after the sea tribe was defeated and the island’s blood-colored formation was broken.
• Zhang Qingyuan considered the continuing threat at Tianheng Island and worried about the Moon Liên Islands and Zhoushan Area while he was away.
• Zhang Qingyuan’s battle on Xiansha Island became widely known, revealing his Peak Eighth Layer cultivation and strength against stronger opponents.

News of Zhang Qingyuan’s feats at Xiansha Island spread across Yuzhou, restoring his reputation and making cultivators recognize him as a peerless genius with True Essence Ninth Layer strength. The revelation drew the attention of rivals and interested parties, while Yan Kuangtu and Zhang Meng each swore to settle old grudges with him.

• News of Zhang Qingyuan’s battle at Xiansha Island spread through the South Sea and Yuzhou, eclipsing years of obscurity and reviving his reputation as the greatest genius beneath Qi Yiming.
• Yuzhou cultivators recognized that Zhang Qingyuan had defeated a True Essence Ninth Layer opponent while at the Peak Eighth Layer, and speculation grew about his strength after breaking through.
• Yan Kuangtu read the report, suppressed his anger, and vowed to surpass Zhang Qingyuan and trample him beneath his feet.
• Zhang Meng learned of Zhang Qingyuan’s strength at Tianmu Peak and blamed him for taking what Zhang Meng believed should have been his.
• The news attracted the attention of interested parties, and dark currents began to surge.

After digesting his gains from the battle at Xiansha Island, Zhang Qingyuan prepared to break through to the True Essence Ninth Layer by using Dragon Saliva Incense to strengthen his Divine Soul. Meanwhile, the Sea Clan renewed its assault on Tianheng Island, leaving the wider war poised to intensify.

• Zhang Qingyuan returned to the Moon Liên Islands, secluded himself, and spent a month consolidating his cultivation after the battle at Xiansha Island.
• Zhang Qingyuan realized his Peak Eighth Layer bottleneck was close to breaking, but chose to refine Dragon Saliva Incense before attempting advancement.
• Zhang Qingyuan burned the Dragon Saliva Incense and cultivated the Taiyi Spirit Refining Technique for three months, gradually strengthening his Divine Soul and divine sense.
• The Sea Clan gathered over a million forces and attacked Tianheng Island, breaching its protective formation through a blood sacrifice of one hundred thousand warriors.
• Two Half-step Cave True elders of the Cloud Water Sect destroyed the blood-sacrifice formation and killed the Grand Priestess, forcing the wounded Sea Clan to retreat.
• The Sea Clan received further reinforcements, amassed over a million additional soldiers, and prepared for another attack as blood-colored storm clouds covered its encampment.

Zhang Qingyuan broke through to the True Essence Ninth Layer while refining the Dragon Saliva Incense and learned that war was gathering at Tianheng Island. He used the remaining time before the sect’s summons to refine Breath Soil and push his cultivation higher.

• Cloud Water Sect sent a Cave True Great Power elder to command Tianheng Island and gathered its South Sea forces against the Sea Clan.
• Zhang Qingyuan broke through to the True Essence Ninth Layer after his Divine Soul was strengthened by the Dragon Saliva Incense.
• Zhang Qingyuan learned of the looming war at Tianheng Island and decided to improve his strength before answering the sect’s summons.
• Zhang Qingyuan began refining his remaining Breath Soil, consuming many Mid-grade Spirit Stones and one High-grade Spirit Stone.