Chapter Summaries

Shi Mengduo and Hu Dong'an were caught in a devastating ambush that destroyed the reef island and killed Hu Dong'an. Though Shi Mengduo survived, badly wounded and with his magic treasure shattered, another sword attack struck him and forced him to unleash a counterattack.

• Shi Mengduo sensed danger and raised his defenses, but the ambush explosion annihilated Hu Dong'an and severely injured him.
• The explosion vaporized the reef island and nearby seawater, leaving a vast void and a deep pit in the sea.
• Shi Mengduo's Mysterious Blood Mirror shattered, and he realized his strength had fallen to less than one-tenth of its former power.
• An attacker launched a powerful sword strike at Shi Mengduo while he was threatening his assailants.
• Shi Mengduo summoned a Blood Colored Flood Dragon to clash with the sword, and the collision reopened space rifts.
• The clash triggered Shi Mengduo's internal injuries, making him spit blood into the sea.

Zhang Qingyuan killed the badly wounded Half-step Cave True Shi Mengduo with a series of powerful attacks, ending their battle. Afterward, he resolved to complete the Five Elements Great Dao by comprehending the Gold Element so he could challenge Cave True cultivators.

• Zhang Qingyuan exploited Shi Mengduo's weakened state and used Earth Covering Seal to raise the seabed and crush him with Earth Element Power.
• Shi Mengduo forced out the last of his strength and summoned nine Blood-Colored Stars to break through Zhang Qingyuan's attack, worsening his injuries.
• Zhang Qingyuan struck with Buddha Kingdom in Palm, overwhelming Shi Mengduo's Blood-Colored Grinding Disc and battering him with Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water powers.
• Zhang Qingyuan's Sword Pellet pierced Shi Mengduo's head and erased his consciousness, killing him.
• Zhang Qingyuan reflected on how difficult it had been to defeat a wounded Half-step Cave True and resolved to complete the Five Elements Great Dao by mastering the Gold Element.

After killing two Blood Demon Sect Cultivators, Zhang Qingyuan found and secured a hidden Secret Realm containing an Intercontinental Teleportation Array. He planned to cultivate there for several years, and his spoils included a precious Gold Element Treasure despite the battle damage to the cultivators’ storage items.

• Zhang Qingyuan looted the two Blood Demon Sect Cultivators, burned their corpses, and concealed the traces of the battle.
• After ten days of searching, Zhang Qingyuan discovered a hidden Secret Realm inside a rocky reef, where he found an Intercontinental Teleportation Array.
• Zhang Qingyuan decided to use the Secret Realm as a base for a few years and set up a hidden Alert Formation around the reef.
• Zhang Qingyuan inspected the damaged storage items and recovered five High-grade Spirit Stones and supplies worth around three or four thousand Mid-grade Spirit Stones.
• Zhang Qingyuan discovered a precious golden Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure that resonated with the Metal Element Law and produced sharp Gengjin Qi.

Zhang Qingyuan refined a Gold Element treasure into his Sword Pellet, restoring a trace of its Spirit Artifact might and deepening his Metal Element comprehension. After three years, he emerged with a newly strengthened weapon and another powerful trump card.

• Zhang Qingyuan recognized that the Gold Element treasure could help repair his Sword Pellet and improve his understanding of the Metal Element Law.
• Zhang Qingyuan used a Spirit Gathering Array and the Sword Pellet to refine and devour the treasure over the first two years.
• The Sword Pellet crossed the threshold to Half-Spirit Artifact power and later killed a returning late ninth stage Blood Demon Sect survivor with one strike.
• Zhang Qingyuan's Metal Element comprehension advanced to the threshold of intent, and after three years he emerged above the reef, pleased with his gains.

After three years of seclusion, Zhang Qingyuan broke through to the Ninth Stage middle stage, improved the Sword Pellet, and created a powerful sword formation. He left his hidden reef for the Moon Liên Islands, while two cultivators raced through the South Sea to confront him.

• Zhang Qingyuan consumed nine High-grade Spirit Stones and broke through to the Ninth Stage middle stage.
• He mastered the Four High-grade Dharma Treasures as a sword formation and created a technique rivaling Buddha Kingdom in Palm.
• Zhang Qingyuan decided to return to the Moon Liên Islands and concealed the reef and its Intercontinental Teleportation Array.
• He recorded the reef’s location on a Jade Slip and departed toward the horizon.
• Two cultivators raced through the South Sea, and the emaciated junior worried that confronting Zhang Qingyuan would make them villains; the leader told him not to worry.

Luo Wenmu and the Emaciated Man traveled to the Moon Liên Islands to recruit Zhang Qingyuan on behalf of a Senior Disciple Brother. Luo Wenmu dismissed Zhang Qingyuan’s reputation and arrived expecting him to comply, while the Emaciated Man worried that his companion would offend him.

• Luo Wenmu told the Emaciated Man that Zhang Qingyuan should join their faction and claimed he was no match for their Senior Disciple Brother.
• Luo Wenmu reflected on his powerful family backing and cultivation, and looked down on Zhang Qingyuan for his humble origins.
• Luo Wenmu dismissed reports that Zhang Qingyuan had defeated a stronger opponent, believing the stories were exaggerated or based on dishonest tactics.
• The Emaciated Man recognized that Luo Wenmu resented being sent to recruit Zhang Qingyuan and hoped the visit would not turn hostile.
• Luo Wenmu and the Emaciated Man reached the Moon Liên Islands and descended toward Zhang Qingyuan's Dojo.

Zhang Qingyuan returned to the Moon Liên Islands and learned that Luo Wenmu had waited a month to recruit him into the sect’s factional struggle. After Zhang refused, Luo threatened him, and Zhang unleashed a terrifying aura in response.

• Luo Wenmu learned that Zhang Qingyuan was absent and decided to wait one month for him on the Moon Liên Islands.
• Zhang Qingyuan returned, learned about Luo Wenmu’s visit from Zhang Changyang, and invited Luo and his companion to the great hall.
• After hearing Luo’s invitation, Zhang Qingyuan refused to join the Steadfast Faction’s struggle and asked the visitors to leave.
• Luo Wenmu threatened Zhang Qingyuan with his True Essence Ninth Layer aura, but Zhang shouted, “Get lost!” and unleashed an overwhelming aura of his own.

Zhang Qingyuan effortlessly drove Luo Wenmu away after refusing his recruitment, then wondered why the sect had sent such an arrogant envoy. Several days later, a message about the sect left him shaken.

• Luo Wenmu attacked Zhang Qingyuan, but Zhang Qingyuan's aura and gaze overwhelmed him and sent him crashing out of the great hall.
• The Emaciated Man stopped Luo Wenmu and led him away from the Moon Liên Islands after apologizing to Zhang Qingyuan.
• Zhang Qingyuan reassured Zhang Changyang that he could handle further trouble and said he would challenge the Senior Disciple Brother if provoked again.
• Zhang Changyang warned Zhang Qingyuan that the situation seemed strange, and Zhang Qingyuan agreed that Luo Wenmu's mission made little sense.
• Zhang Qingyuan sent a Messaging Talisman to a well-informed Senior Brother, then nearly dropped the reply after reading it while speaking with Yang Yuyan.

Zhang Qingyuan learned that Ye Han, a once-overlooked disciple who had returned with extraordinary strength, was challenging the faction of the Senior Disciple Brother over a thirty-year pact. He suspected Ye Han might be a protagonist shaped by a larger destiny and feared that the Cloud Water Sect would be drawn into coming conflicts.

• Yang Yuyan asked Zhang Qingyuan about his strange reaction, and he explained that news from inside the sect had caught his attention.
• Zhang Qingyuan learned that Ye Han had returned after more than twenty years away, reached the True Essence Ninth Layer, and become a True Disciple under the Heavenly Thunder Peak Master.
• Ye Han challenged the Senior Disciple Brother’s followers, renewing a thirty-year pact that left the Senior Disciple Brother with no easy choice.
• Zhang Qingyuan heard Ye Han’s history of hardship and rise from obscurity, which had made him a prominent figure in the Cloud Water Sect.
• Zhang Qingyuan wondered whether Ye Han was a protagonist guided by world destiny and concluded that conflicts around him could threaten the sect’s peace.

Over two years, Zhang Qingyuan advanced his cultivation and gathered Gold Element inheritances, reaching the Meaning of Geng Metal but finding no clear path to greater mastery. He chose to remain in Yuzhou for now, then received an unexpected request for aid.

• Zhang Qingyuan used pills from Li Tianchou’s Storage Bag to reach the peak of Ninth Stage Mid-phase.
• Zhang Qingyuan traded with small Yuzhou lineages for Gold Element techniques and ancestral insights, and comprehended the Meaning of Geng Metal.
• Zhang Qingyuan found that Yuzhou offered little guidance beyond the level of Intent, while the Golden Extremity Sect guarded its inheritance.
• Zhang Qingyuan decided to wait in Yuzhou rather than use the Deep Sea Region Teleportation Array to travel to the Outer Continent.
• Zhang Qingyuan received an unexpected letter requesting aid.

In Yuantian Realm, Liu Zhouwu, Zhao Yuanyang, and Shen Hongzhou were trapped by deadly black shadows, and Liu urged his former students to escape while he held them back. Zhao and Shen believed That Person would come to their aid, but they had to survive the shadows’ renewed attack first.

• Liu Zhouwu, injured and exhausted, told Zhao Yuanyang and Shen Hongzhou to call him Senior Brother and proposed staying behind to let them escape.
• Zhao Yuanyang and Shen Hongzhou refused to abandon Liu, remembering his instruction and insisting they would face the danger together.
• Liu explained that the sect could not send help without violating an alliance pact, and he doubted they could withstand the attacks for long.
• Zhao said he had sent a talisman for aid and was certain That Person would come if the request reached him; Shen Hongzhou agreed, and Liu recalled That Person’s extraordinary rise in strength.
• Black shadows swept across the horizon and attacked the three men, swallowing the protective light curtains they raised.

Zhang Qingyuan traveled to the Yuantian Realm after learning that Zhao Yuanyang, Headmaster Liu, and others were trapped there, while investigating the realm’s recent changes. He reached the entrance and found a cultivator attacking Ye Han.

• The chapter described the Yuantian Realm’s trials, treasures, dangers, and the massive light pillar that had recently appeared at its entrance.
• Zhang Qingyuan received a request for aid because Zhao Yuanyang, Shen Hongzhou, Headmaster Liu, and others were trapped in a dangerous place within the realm.
• Zhang Qingyuan headed for the Dragon Prison Mountain Range, worrying that the realm’s changes would attract dangerous cultivators as well as reveal a Strange Treasure.
• Zhang Qingyuan traveled discreetly through the forest, gathered intelligence, and formed a general picture of the recent changes before reaching the entrance.
• A middle-aged cultivator shouted at Ye Han and struck at him with a powerful palm attack as Zhang Qingyuan approached.

Ye Han fought and killed Ma Quanzhang, a Wind and Cloud Ranking cultivator who came seeking revenge for his son. After collecting Ma Quanzhang’s belongings, Ye Han entered the Yuantian Realm.

• Ma Quanzhang attacked Ye Han, and the two clashed before onlookers recognized them as Wind and Cloud Ranking figures.
• Ye Han exploited an opening in Ma Quanzhang’s attack and struck him hard with a golden-lit punch.
• Ye Han pursued the wounded Ma Quanzhang and pierced him with a True Essence spear, killing him.
• The spectators discussed Ye Han’s victory and whether Zhang Qingyuan also deserved a place on the Wind and Cloud Ranking.
• Ye Han collected Ma Quanzhang’s belongings and entered the Yuantian Realm.

Lu Longcheng and Yin Tianjun entered the Yuantian Realm after observing Ye Han’s battle, while Zhang Qingyuan resolved to avoid the turmoil and slipped into the realm himself. Inside, You Xiaosheng rescued Zhao Yuanyang and reflected on how far a former fellow disciple had surpassed him.

• Yin Tianjun questioned Lu Longcheng about why he had not challenged Ye Han, and Lu Longcheng declared that he would kill Ye Han if they met in the Yuantian Realm.
• Lu Longcheng entered the Yuantian Realm with several followers, drawing astonished comments from the spectators about the prominent cultivators gathering there.
• Yin Tianjun also vanished into the realm, while Zhang Qingyuan emerged from concealment, recognized the danger posed by the powerful arrivals, and decided to rescue his target and leave quickly.
• Zhang Qingyuan used his concealment technique to enter the Yuantian Secret Realm unnoticed.
• You Xiaosheng rescued the exhausted Zhao Yuanyang, who recognized him as a former Inner Sect prodigy and thanked him.
• You Xiaosheng reflected that despite years of diligent cultivation, he had fallen far behind a fellow disciple whose astonishing achievements had surpassed his own.

You Xiaosheng rescued Zhao Yuanyang and his injured companions in the transformed Yuantian Realm, then agreed to travel with them and recover. Meanwhile, Zhang Qingyuan appeared amid a standoff over ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Milk, where the others warned him away from the treasure.

• You Xiaosheng recalled how Zhang Qingyuan’s steady improvement had pushed him to resume diligent cultivation, and he used the Star Dou Yi Art to divine that the Yuantian Realm held great danger or opportunity.
• You Xiaosheng encountered Zhao Yuanyang, Liu Zhouwu, and Shen Hongzhou fighting a horde of Demonic Creatures, then slew the horde’s leader and drove the creatures away.
• Zhao Yuanyang told You Xiaosheng that he and his companions had entered the transformed region after completing five trials, while You Xiaosheng had experienced only three.
• You Xiaosheng proposed that the group travel together, hide somewhere secluded, and recover, and Zhao Yuanyang accepted.
• Zhang Qingyuan appeared in an underground cavern among people facing off over ten-thousand-year-old Spirit Milk, and one of them warned him not to interfere.

Zhang Qingyuan arrived at a cave where several cultivators were disputing a pool of Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk, and they turned on one another while pretending to attack him and a weaker cultivator. The three powerful rivals revealed that each had planned to betray the others, leaving their clash underway.

• Old Smoker proposed dividing the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk among those present, while the Scar-faced Big Man and Poison Rouge argued to exclude Zhang Qingyuan and the weaker cultivator.
• The Scar-faced Big Man, Poison Rouge, and Old Smoker agreed to join forces and attacked, prompting the True Essence Sixth Layer cultivator to flee toward the cave entrance.
• The three redirected their attacks toward one another: the Scar-faced Big Man and Poison Rouge struck at Old Smoker, who counterattacked the Scar-faced Big Man with his enlarged smoking pipe.
• A flashback revealed that the Scar-faced Big Man and Poison Rouge had secretly agreed to ambush Old Smoker, while each of the three intended to betray the others and claim the treasures alone.

Zhang Qingyuan watched four cultivators betray and kill one another over the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk, then killed the final survivor himself. He left the four corpses behind and reflected that he was far kinder than they were.

• The Scar-faced Big Man and Old Smoker ambushed each other, leaving both badly wounded.
• Poison Rouge struck Old Smoker while he was injured and killed him, then claimed she would take the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk.
• The True Essence Sixth Layer Cultivator, who had pretended to flee, emerged from concealment and killed Poison Rouge with a poisoned spike.
• The Sixth Layer Cultivator began celebrating, but Zhang Qingyuan killed him with a swift strike.
• Zhang Qingyuan withdrew his hand and remarked that the human heart was more sinister than he had thought.

Zhang Qingyuan absorbed a pool of Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk, stabilized his cultivation, and broke through to the late ninth stage. After sensing a hidden danger in the Yuantian Realm, he resolved to find Zhao Yuanyang and the others and leave.

• Zhang Qingyuan stripped the four corpses of their belongings and burned them to ashes.
• Zhang Qingyuan entered the pool of Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk and absorbed its spiritual energy for seven days.
• Zhang Qingyuan broke through to the late ninth stage, strengthening his True Essence, spiritual sense, and body.
• Zhang Qingyuan sensed a great terror within the Yuantian Realm and decided to find Zhao Yuanyang and the others before leaving.
• Zhang Qingyuan was transported out of the trial space and realized the Ten Thousand Year Spirit Milk had served as both its reward and exit condition.

After completing a trial in the changed Yuantian Realm, Zhang Qingyuan used Zhao Yuanyang’s token to track a signal west. Elsewhere, Ye Han defeated a group of Huangtian Cult remnants and moved to kill their leader despite the man’s warning of an approaching upheaval.

• Zhang Qingyuan found the Yuantian Realm’s gloomy skies unlike the intelligence he had gathered and suspected the realm had changed.
• Zhang Qingyuan used Zhao Yuanyang’s plea-for-aid token to sense a direction to the west and flew toward it.
• Several Black Robe Figures surrounded Ye Han and demanded that he hand over an item and join them.
• Ye Han identified the Black Robe Figures as Huangtian Cult remnants and broke their combined attack with his spear technique, wounding their leader.
• Ye Han overwhelmed the leader with a True Essence attack, ignored his plea for mercy, and struck him down.

Lu Longcheng killed a Nine Lands Cave Heaven Secret Disciple and broke into Crimson Gold Daoist’s ancient cave dwelling, discovering an inheritance tied to the Golden Extremity Sect. He planned to use it to strengthen his family’s standing within the sect.

• Lu Longcheng killed the Nine Lands Cave Heaven Secret Disciple and mocked his opponent’s weakness.
• Lu Longcheng complained that his grandfather had stopped him from challenging Cloud Water Sect’s geniuses, and his attendant suggested he could fight Ye Han in the Yuantian Realm.
• Lu Longcheng and his attendants spent several days breaking the cave dwelling’s defensive array with a Grandmaster Level Formation Breaking Talisman.
• Lu Longcheng searched the cave dwelling and found a Jade Slip identifying its former master as Crimson Gold Daoist, an ancient Gold Element Lineage cultivator.
• Lu Longcheng decided Crimson Gold Daoist’s inheritance could complete the Golden Extremity Sect’s inheritance and boost the Lu Family’s influence.