Chapter Summaries

Shen Changchuan learned that Gu Xuanqing’s group had encountered Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants near Jue Tian Valley and considered whether the distant location was a trap. After finding that his Treasure Map pointed to the same area, he decided to investigate and began planning preparations for the journey.

• Shen Changchuan learned how the Demonic Path Alliance used wilderness and human settlements to conduct guerrilla attacks, while the Righteous Path Alliance sought to restrict their movement by securing settlements.
• Gu Xuanqing told Shen Changchuan that the Ancient Sword Sect party had suffered heavy losses to Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants near Jue Tian Valley and had withdrawn to regroup.
• Shen Changchuan suspected the distant mission might be a trap because the Demonic Path Alliance knew of his influence on the war.
• Shen Changchuan recalled a Treasure Map he had taken from Shi Miaoqing years earlier and found that it pointed to wilderness near Jue Tian Valley.
• Shen Changchuan decided to investigate the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants and use the time before the next attack to strengthen himself.

Shen Changchuan asked You Longzi for a Second Order Top Grade spell to strengthen his combat ability before the journey to Jue Tian Valley in half a year. Despite his Master's warning that cultivating one could delay his progress toward the sect's Centennial Grand Competition, Shen Changchuan stood by his decision, and You Longzi gave him a Jade Slip listing the spells he could choose from.

• Shen Changchuan sought out You Longzi and requested a Second Order Top Grade spell.
• You Longzi explained that such spells were difficult to master and could hinder Shen Changchuan's cultivation, then asked whether he was certain.
• Shen Changchuan resolved to cultivate one because his fight with Chou Kunsheng had exposed the limits of his ordinary spells and his costly reliance on Azure Wood Sword Light.
• You Longzi accepted Shen Changchuan's choice and handed him a Jade Slip containing the Second Order Top Grade spells in his possession.

Shen Changchuan chose two Second Order Top Grade spells and a body-tempering secret art despite You Longzi’s misgivings, then devoted himself to secluded cultivation. Half a year later, he successfully cultivated the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword and demonstrated its tremendous power outside Soul Severing City.

• You Longzi reconsidered his doubts about Shen Changchuan’s decision and trusted that his talented disciple had his own reasons.
• Shen Changchuan chose the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword, the Thousand Shadow Azure Cang Sword Rain Art, and the Golden Body Hegemonic Body Technique, disappointing You Longzi.
• Shen Changchuan left with the three Jade Slips and resolved to prove his choice through results rather than explanation.
• Shen Changchuan returned to his temporary Cave Abode and began intensive secluded cultivation of his chosen arts and other spells.
• After half a year, Shen Changchuan demonstrated the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword outside Soul Severing City, cleaving the sky and valley with azure sword light.

Shen Changchuan perfected the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword after six months of cultivation, greatly improving his strength and stabilizing his cultivation at the initial stage of the Out of Body Stage Seventh Layer. After he left the valley, Second Uncle pushed Xingzai to explore it in hopes of finding treasure.

• Shen Changchuan tested his perfected Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword and judged its power second only to his Divine Abilities.
• He reflected that the Thousand Shadow Azure Cang Sword Rain Art had reached only lesser mastery and that he had barely begun the Golden Body Hegemonic Body Technique.
• Shen Changchuan’s cultivation stabilized at the initial stage of the Out of Body Stage Seventh Layer, and he estimated he could reach the Out of Body Stage ninth level within ten years.
• He practiced his spells and techniques above the valley until sunset, then left.
• After Shen Changchuan departed, Second Uncle emerged from the vegetation with Xingzai and urged him to search the valley for treasure.

Second Uncle and Xingzai, two low-level cultivators recruited to guard settlements in the Nanyue Kingdom, investigated a valley where a Great Figure had demonstrated the Dharma. They fled after feeling its sword-like force, but Second Uncle took a bloodied black stone bearing a faint sword scar and planned to study it.

• Second Uncle urged Xingzai to explore the valley, arguing that they needed to seize opportunities to rise above their lowly station.
• Xingzai entered the valley but returned, frightened by a force that made him feel as if the world had been split apart by a sword.
• Second Uncle dismissed Xingzai's fear and went with him to inspect the valley, but they were overwhelmed by its momentum and tumbled down the mountainside.
• Second Uncle revealed a bloodied black stone with a faint sword scar in his palm and said it held a trace of the Great Figure's demonstrated Dharma.
• Second Uncle stored the stone in a jade box, warned Xingzai to tell no one, and hurried away with him.

Shen Changchuan returned to Soul Severing City after cultivating the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword and gained a deeper understanding of how perfected spell traits accumulated cultivation insight. At his cave abode, he learned from Gu Xuanqing that the campaign against Jue Tian Valley would depart in three days.

• Shen Changchuan sensed that accumulated perfected Trait experience subtly improved his comprehension of Wood Element and Sword Element spells.
• Shen Changchuan returned to a more prosperous and stable Soul Severing City and collected rare spell inheritances from the Marketplace administrator.
• Shen Changchuan found Gu Xuanqing's message announcing that the campaign against Jue Tian Valley would depart in three days.
• Shen Changchuan recalled that the campaign had been delayed while Gu Xuanqing's side searched for a way to counter the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant, and that the reclusive Devil Cultivator Family had not fled.

Ancient Sword Sect arrived at Jue Tian Valley to destroy the Li Family, and Jian Wuhen shattered the family’s opening attack with a single sword strike. Watching him, Shen Changchuan felt the pressure of the Centennial Grand Competition ten years away and knew he had to grow strong enough to surpass rivals like Jian Wuhen.

• Gu Xuanqing led the Ancient Sword Sect’s flying ship to Jue Tian Valley and ordered the disciples to land in formation.
• A Li Family cultivator gathered the valley’s mist into a giant hand and sent it crashing toward the ship.
• Jian Wuhen struck from the ship and sliced the black mist hand apart with a powerful sword light.
• Shen Changchuan reflected on his growing friendship with Jian Wuhen and recognized that he was currently no match for him.
• Shen Changchuan considered the powerful rivals awaiting him at the Centennial Grand Competition and resolved to catch up and surpass them.

Shen Changchuan assessed the gap he faced in the upcoming Immortal Sect Centennial Grand Competition and resolved to develop a space-powered attack to overcome stronger opponents. As the battle against the Devil Cultivators began, he killed an assassin who ambushed him.

• Shen Changchuan realized that many competitors would have higher cultivation and years of experience, but remained determined to pursue the top ten by refining the Void Escape Gu and creating a slash imbued with Space Power.
• Jian Wuhen flew into the mist to fight the hidden Devil Cultivator as Devil Cultivators poured out of the valley and clashed with the Ancient Sword Sect.
• Gu Xuanqing ordered the Ancient Sword Sect disciples to attack, and the battle spread across the ground and sky.
• Shen Changchuan flew toward the melee, but Shadow suddenly attacked him from behind with a black spike.
• Shen Changchuan evaded the strike, shattered Shadow's consciousness with a Spiritual Sense attack, and cut him in two with an emerald sword radiance.

Shen Changchuan killed the Devil Cultivator Tian Bofei, shifting the aerial battle in the Ancient Sword Sect’s favor until the Devil Cultivators rallied against him. As an Out of Body Stage ninth level Devil Cultivator attacked, Senior Ouyang appeared and destroyed the blow, revealing another hidden combatant on the expedition.

• Shen Changchuan killed the ambusher Tian Bofei and took his Storage Bag, terrifying the nearby Devil Cultivators.
• Gu Xuanqing and the Ancient Sword Sect cultivators pressed their advantage as the Devil Cultivators retreated.
• A Devil Cultivator revealed Shen Changchuan’s identity and the kill-on-sight orders, rallying the enemy to attack him.
• An Out of Body Stage ninth level Devil Cultivator sent a black giant hand toward Shen Changchuan.
• Senior Ouyang appeared beside Shen Changchuan and shattered the giant hand with an Azure Blue Fist.

The Ouyang Family Patriarch fought an Out of Body Stage ninth level Devil Cultivator while Shen Changchuan faced a three-man team wielding a combined attack powerful enough to rival that realm. Shen Changchuan broke their energy lock and began a counterattack with the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword.

• The Ouyang Family Patriarch sensed Shen Changchuan was dangerous and wondered whether his appearance signaled the recovery of the Tiannan Domain.
• The Ouyang Family Patriarch charged into battle against an Out of Body Stage ninth level Devil Cultivator, drawing the fight into the clouds.
• Gu Xuanqing resumed fighting Li Changzun, who revealed that he had prepared another move.
• Three Devil Cultivators attacked Shen Changchuan with a Black Sun Wheel formed from their combined spiritual powers.
• Shen Changchuan shattered the Black Sun Wheel's energy lock with his vital energy and sword momentum, then unleashed the Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword.

Shen Changchuan blocked the Mulan Three Brothers’ combined attack with a perfect Second Order Top Grade spell, shocking the Devil Cultivators who had underestimated him. The brothers prepared to take him seriously as their hired mission to kill him continued.

• Shen Changchuan’s sword light collided with the Mulan Three Brothers’ combined attack and forced them back.
• The eldest brother recognized Shen Changchuan’s attack as a perfect Second Order Top Grade spell with power comparable to the Out of Body Stage ninth level.
• The brothers recalled that the Li family had hired them to kill Shen Changchuan and had targeted him for his pursuit of their Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants.
• The short, fat Old Three argued that Shen Changchuan’s Seventh Layer realm still put him at a disadvantage against them.
• The tall, thin second brother warned his brothers not to underestimate Shen Changchuan, who was rumored to have killed Chou Kunsheng.

Shen Changchuan shattered the Mulan Three Brothers’ combined attack with a second Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword and judged them unworthy opponents. He then launched a fire dragon at the weakened brothers to end the fight and claim the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant.

• Old Three doubted the reports of Shen Changchuan’s strength, but the eldest ordered the brothers to attack before the fight dragged on.
• Shen Changchuan struck with another Jade Wood Piercing Cloud Sword before the Mulan Three Brothers could finish combining their auras.
• The brothers’ merged attack collided with Shen Changchuan’s sword, blasting them away and breaking their Combined Attack Secret Art.
• Shen Changchuan appeared before the weakened brothers and decided to end the fight after assessing the flaws in their secret art.
• Shen Changchuan formed a seal and summoned a vast sea of flames that shaped itself into a fire dragon aimed at the three brothers.

Shen Changchuan killed the Mulan Three Brothers, seized their Three Spirits Unity Technique, and drove the Devil Cultivators into retreat. As the battlefield collapsed, he set his sights on Li Changzun and the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant.

• Shen Changchuan burned the Mulan Three Brothers with Blazing Dragon Burning World and cut them down as they struggled to escape.
• Shen Changchuan found the Jade Slip containing the Three Spirits Unity Technique and considered how its principles could help him combine spells and develop a future Space Slash.
• Li Changzun realized that Shen Changchuan’s strength had turned the battle against the Devil Cultivators, and the invited Devil Cultivators began fleeing.
• Li Changzun ordered the Li Family to retreat toward Jue Tian Valley as the Righteous Path side pursued the fleeing Devil Cultivators.
• Shen Changchuan fixed his gaze on Li Changzun, intending to take the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant.

Shen Changchuan evaded a deadly spatial attack from the Li Lineage’s Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant Ant King, though the strike killed Ancient Sword Sect disciple Qin Chuan. Gu Xuanqing identified the Ant King and explained its terrifying power, leaving Shen Changchuan facing a much greater danger than he expected.

• Gu Xuanqing warned Shen Changchuan as he sensed danger, and Shen used his Movement Technique to evade an invisible spatial strike that killed Qin Chuan.
• Li Changzun realized Shen had escaped the Ant King's attack and ordered the Li Lineage Devil Cultivators to retreat into Jue Tian Valley.
• Shen examined Qin Chuan's fatal wound and concluded the attack carried Space Power that he could not withstand.
• Gu Xuanqing told Shen that the strike came from a Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant Ant King, a rare creature said to be able to kill early Spirit Wandering realm cultivators.

The Ancient Sword Sect’s forces discovered that the Li family had a weapon made from a Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant King that could unleash an attack carrying Space Power. Shen Changchuan identified limits to the weapon, and Gu Xuanqing chose to continue the assault; after their side won the battles, Jian Wuhen praised Shen Changchuan and looked forward to his performance in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition.

• Gu Xuanqing realized the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant King’s Space Power attack made the assault on Jue Tian Valley far more dangerous and considered retreating.
• Shen Changchuan told Gu Xuanqing that the attack came from a weapon made from a Gu worm’s corpse, not a living Gu worm, and that its aura vanished after it fired.
• Gu Xuanqing decided to press on because the attack might be limited and could be dodged.
• Jian Wuhen and the Ouyang Family Patriarch returned from the upper battlefield, and the Ancient Sword Sect’s side won the battles across the battlefield.
• The Ouyang Family Patriarch worried that the Li family might have more Space Power trump cards, while Jian Wuhen praised Shen Changchuan and anticipated his performance in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition.

Jian Wuhen became eager to see Shen Changchuan’s perfected sword technique and predicted that he would enter the Immortal Sect’s Centennial Grand Competition. Shen Changchuan received praise from those around him but privately concluded that he needed to refine the Void Escape Gu to compete with the greatest prodigies.

• Jian Wuhen learned that Shen Changchuan had mastered a perfected Second Order Top Grade sword-element technique and longed to witness it, but refused to challenge him because of their difference in cultivation.
• Shen Changchuan modestly questioned whether he could qualify for the Immortal Sect’s Centennial Grand Competition as an Out of Body Stage Seventh Layer cultivator.
• Jian Wuhen insisted that Shen Changchuan would participate, drawing astonished reactions from those who understood the competition’s scale.
• Gu Xuanqing and others praised Shen Changchuan’s potential to represent Tiannan Domain at the competition.
• Shen Changchuan decided he needed to obtain and refine the Void Escape Gu to have a real chance of standing out at the competition.

Gu Xuanqing and the other cultivators agreed to continue attacking Jue Tian Valley after Shen Changchuan promised to share the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants and their rearing and control methods. Five days later, they broke the Li Lineage’s Mountain Protection Array and prepared to advance without the exhausted Qi Gathering disciples.

• Jian Wuhen argued that careful Out of Body Stage cultivators could evade the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant King’s Space Power attack, and Gu Xuanqing laid out a plan to support the assault from the perimeter.
• Shen Changchuan promised to raise Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants for the others if possible and let them copy the Li Lineage’s inheritance, including methods for rearing and controlling the ants.
• After five days of dismantling Formation nodes, the cultivators broke Jue Tian Valley’s Mountain Protection Array, though the work had cost the Qi Gathering disciples casualties and left them exhausted.
• Gu Xuanqing ordered the Qi Gathering disciples to withdraw and proposed that the Out of Body Stage cultivators advance together into the Li Lineage’s stronghold.
• Jian Wuhen, Patriarch Ouyang, Shen Changchuan, and the others agreed to press forward themselves rather than use the disciples to scout for traps.

As the Ancient Sword Sect broke through Jue Tian Valley’s defenses, Li Changzun faced the likely destruction of his clan and reflected on why he had risked everything to capture Shen Changchuan. He remained convinced that Shen’s Gu methods and the Ming Huan Gu Jing fragment could preserve the Li Family’s Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant lineage after they abandoned the valley.

• Li Family disciples reported that the Mountain Protection Array had fallen, the Crimson-Browed Old Devil had fled, and the enemy was advancing into Jue Tian Valley.
• Li Changzun learned that the Ancient Sword Sect forces, led by Jian Wuhen and the Ouyang Patriarch, had shattered the valley’s defenses and were close to overrunning the Li Family.
• Li Changzun admitted that he had underestimated Shen Changchuan’s strength, causing the Li Family’s defeat five days earlier.
• Li Changzun insisted that capturing Shen Changchuan could secure rewards, powerful allies, and the Ming Huan Gu Jing fragment needed to preserve the family’s lineage beyond Jue Tian Valley.
• Li Changzun believed Shen Changchuan’s Gu Control Secret Art and Industrial Gu Breeding method could let the Li Family mass-produce Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants and cultivate Ant Kings capable of challenging Spirit Wandering realm cultivators.

The Li family had lured Shen Changchuan to Jue Tian Valley to seize his Ming Huan Gu Jing fragment, but his strength had ruined their plans and left the clan facing destruction. As enemies broke through the formation, Li Changzun made a final move, revealing a vast forest of living corpses fused with blood-red trees.

• The Li family discovered that the Gu Control Secret Art could not make the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ants breed, so they targeted Shen Changchuan and the Ming Huan Gu Jing fragment he carried.
• Li Changzun's plans to kill Shen Changchuan failed, and Shen's strength drove the Li family to the brink of annihilation.
• With enemies approaching, Li Changzun promised his clan a final gamble that could save and empower the family, but said they would have to give something in return.
• Li Changzun abruptly killed the Li family members gathered in the great hall, spraying blood throughout it.
• Shen Changchuan and the advancing cultivators broke through a formation and saw a vast forest of living people fused with grotesque trees.

Shen Changchuan destroyed the forest of corpses in Jue Tian Valley and led the forces toward the Li family’s central hall. There, they found the Li family’s Out of Body Stage leaders dead and drained of their essence, leaving the source of their deaths unclear.

• Shen Changchuan and the others discovered hundreds of thousands of people fused into corpse trees, apparently connected to the Flying Sky Spirit Breaking Ant.
• Shen Changchuan unleashed the Thousand Shadow Azure Cang Sword Rain Art, destroying the corpse trees and the living corpses within them.
• Shen Changchuan urged the others to pursue the Li family, and the attacking forces converged on Jue Tian Valley’s central hall with little resistance.
• Shen Changchuan and the others found the Li family’s high-ranking Out of Body Stage clansmen dead in the hall, their bodies shriveled as if their essence had been drained.