Recaps

Ye Zhi Qiu defeated Li Daoyi in a sword contest despite having far lower cultivation, then explained that Li Daoyi lacked focus and relied too much on flashy techniques. As Ye Zhi Qiu prepared to leave, Xuan Wudao invited him to the Wuji Sect and revealed that he knew Chen Changan.

• Ye Zhi Qiu and Li Daoyi exchanged powerful sword strikes as onlookers debated their Sword Intent and combat strength.
• Li Daoyi entered the unity-between-man-and-sword realm to prepare a full-strength attack, while Ye Zhi Qiu criticized how long he took and countered with a simple strike.
• After the barrier was removed, everyone saw Ye Zhi Qiu standing victorious and Li Daoyi half-kneeling.
• Li Daoyi asked where he had gone wrong, and Ye Zhi Qiu said he lacked focus and depended too much on flashy techniques.
• Li Daoyi accepted his defeat, and Xuan Wudao stopped Ye Zhi Qiu from leaving and invited him to the Wuji Sect, saying he knew Chen Changan.

Chen Changan arrived in Nine Nether Ravine to investigate a bead for Luoshen Palace and learned a troubling story about the Nine Nether Great Emperor’s wife and adopted sons. He decided to visit Nine Nether Palace to uncover what really happened.

• Xuan Wudao revealed that he knew Chen Changan and persuaded the Wuji Sect to bring Ye Zhi Qiu into their fold.
• Chen Changan and Da Huang reached Nine Nether Ravine, where the locals ignored them but did not drive them away.
• Chen Changan proved his identity as Luoshen Palace’s Palace Master to the disciples stationed at the address Luo Yiyi had provided.
• The disciples reported that a thousand years earlier the Nine Nether Great Emperor had killed his young wife after she allegedly had affairs with dozens of his adopted sons.
• Chen Changan questioned the rumor’s credibility after learning that dozens of the adopted sons had vanished and the Nine Nether Great Emperor had remained in seclusion for nearly a thousand years.
• Chen Changan decided that he and Da Huang would need to visit Nine Nether Palace.

Chen Changan went to Nine Nether Palace to ask Nine Nether Great Emperor about the pearl he had given his beloved wife. Nine Nether Great Emperor’s pressure failed to affect Chen Changan or Da Huang, and his reaction to the question suggested someone else had sought the pearl too.

• Chen Changan sent the Luoshen Palace disciples back and went with Da Huang to Nine Nether Palace.
• Chen Changan invoked his master Mu Yunyao’s name, prompting Nine Nether Great Emperor to end his seclusion and let him in.
• Nine Nether Great Emperor questioned Chen Changan about Mu Yunyao, then unleashed his pressure, which neither Chen Changan nor Da Huang was affected by.
• Chen Changan asked where the pearl Nine Nether Great Emperor had given his beloved wife was, and Nine Nether Great Emperor asked if he had come for it too.
• Chen Changan wondered whether Nine Nether Great Emperor’s young wife had also been after the pearl.

Chen Changan learned that the Nine Nether Great Emperor had lost the Fetal Pearl to a woman who deceived him, and that a mysterious force had been behind her. After leaving the Nine Nether Palace with Da Huang, Chen Changan was left wondering who wanted the pearl and why.

• Chen Changan questioned the Nine Nether Great Emperor about his wife and the Fetal Pearl, learning that the pearl had originally belonged to the emperor and that he alone could use it.
• The Nine Nether Great Emperor revealed that his wife’s associates had eluded a thousand years of investigation and had caused his people to lose their lives.
• Chen Changan realized the woman had looked like the emperor’s long-dead love, A'yi, and asked whether he had delayed ascending to wait for her reincarnation.
• After Chen Changan and Da Huang left, the Nine Nether Great Emperor looked at A'yi’s portrait and recalled how he had married her lookalike, who had taken the pearl as part of a scheme.
• Da Huang wondered whether someone had used the pearl or wanted it for Chen Changan, but Chen Changan concluded that someone with ulterior motives had targeted it.

Chen Changan returned to Luoshen Palace after someone stole a Fetal Pearl, then spent two years searching for clues before heading to the Peak of Taihua for the Earth Ranking Contention War. Along the way, a stranger demanded that Chen Changan hand over Da Huang, and Da Huang angrily refused.

• Chen Changan told Luo Yiyi that the stolen Fetal Pearl had left no clues, and she said he could remain Luoshen Palace's hands-off Palace Master while she watched for news.
• Chen Changan left Luoshen Palace with Da Huang and asked Luo Yiyi to contact Wang Tianji at the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion if she found reliable information.
• Two years later, Chen Changan heard reports of Chen Yunxuan, Ye Zhi Qiu, and Li Qiye's feats as the Earth Ranking Contention War approached, along with news that entrants needed to pass a test stele to reach the Peak of Taihua.
• After finding no clues about the remaining pearls, Chen Changan decided to travel to the Peak of Taihua with Da Huang.
• A stranger's granddaughter, Yun Shuang, wanted Da Huang, and her great-grandfather ordered Chen Changan to hand him over; Da Huang angrily challenged them.

Chen Changan and Da Huang left after Da Huang struck down an old man who tried to take him, while Yun Shuang was too frightened to move. At Peak of Taihua, candidates struggled to understand the Testing Stone Tablet’s unexplained qualification rules, and the chapter left them comparing the results of those who passed.

• Chen Changan told Da Huang to bite the old man who demanded his dog, and Da Huang slapped the old man flying.
• Da Huang spared Yun Shuang, and she remained frozen until Chen Changan and Da Huang left.
• At Peak of Taihua, frustrated candidates repeatedly failed the Testing Stone Tablet and complained that its test had not been announced.
• A burly man punched the tablet, but its reflected force injured him fatally.
• Two candidates passed with three-star combat strength, leaving the crowd puzzled about how the tablet judged qualification.

People gathered at Peak of Taihua learned that the Testing Stone Tablet judged contestants by realm-specific combat power, while Chen Changan waited and questioned how the crowded Earth Ranking Contention War would unfold. Nie Haotian and Ye Beiming stepped forward to test themselves, setting up a contest between self-proclaimed geniuses.

• People speculated that the tablet required a minimum combat-power rating for each cultivation realm, and noticed that qualified contestants bore colored marks on their foreheads.
• After a month of testing, hundreds of millions had failed, while people estimated that hundreds of thousands had qualified and the Earth Ranking Contention War could draw millions.
• Chen Changan arrived at Peak of Taihua with Da Huang, declined to test his combat power, and suspected the barrier would mark the start of the contest.
• Top powers arrived, and a Carefree Sect disciple failed the test while Supreme Realm cultivators qualified with four-star combat power.
• People explained that combat power measured strength against others at the same cultivation level, and Nie Haotian and Ye Beiming volunteered to take the test.

Chen Changan approached Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun to make them settle their old bet, drawing the attention of the gathered experts. The chapter left the bet unresolved as Chen Changan called on Gu Tianyuan to witness it.

• Nie Haotian and Ye Beiming tested at the fourth level of the Void Glimpse Realm with Seven Star combat power, and Nie Haotian beat a Six Star opponent in a spar.
• Nie Pengju tried the Testing Stone Tablet himself, but it rejected his test because he was too old.
• Chen Changan went to Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun and demanded that they settle their old bet in front of the crowd.
• The Wuji Sect's sect master greeted Chen Changan respectfully, and Chen Changan addressed him as Little Gu.
• Chen Changan reminded Gu Tianyuan that he had witnessed the bet and asked the gathered men to confirm it.

Chen Changan’s identity and influence became known to the Central Heaven Domain as powerful figures and factions paid him respect. He settled his old bet with Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun, while Changsun Xixue watched from afar, afraid to approach him.

• Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun panicked when Chen Changan pressed them to settle their bet, as onlookers wondered who he was.
• Hua Wulei arrived with the Luoshen Palace disciples and addressed Chen Changan as their Palace Master, then the Qingyun Sect also paid him respect.
• The Heavenly Sword Emperor arrived, called Chen Changan his master, and said his Sword Dao Domain had taken shape under Chen Changan’s guidance.
• Chen Changan offered to let Nie Pengju and Ye Liuyun repay their debt by owing him a favor, and both agreed after he promised not to make them turn against their families.
• Changsun Xixue watched Chen Changan from the crowd, recalling Changsun Wuwo’s warning that nobody in the Great Profound Realm could afford to provoke him.
• Onlookers spotted Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao arriving.

Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao arrived and greeted Chen Changan, revealing their close ties to him before taking the combat test. Both had reached the second level of the Supreme Realm, and the Testing Stone Tablets erupted in prolonged golden light, leaving their results unknown.

• Gu Xian'er called Chen Changan her Young Master, while Gu Fengyao called him Brother Changan, shocking the onlookers.
• Chen Changan told Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao to test their combat power, and they walked to separate Testing Stone Tablets.
• The crowd discovered that both women had reached the second level of the Supreme Realm.
• Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao touched the tablets, which shook violently and burst with golden light.
• As the golden light persisted, Chen Changan wondered whether they had surpassed nine stars.

Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao stunned the crowd with combat-power scores of eighty and eighty-one stars, prompting a Yunling Palace prodigy to challenge them after scoring ten stars himself. Chen Changan intervened, and the confrontation escalated when Yunling Palace’s Deputy Palace Master confronted him.

• Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao received scores of eighty and eighty-one stars, shocking everyone at the test.
• A peak ninth-stage Supreme Realm prodigy from Yunling Palace tested at ten stars and became angry at the comparisons to Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao.
• The Yunling Palace prodigy demanded a fair fight, but Chen Changan stopped Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao and told him to wait for the Earth Ranking.
• Chen Changan mocked the prodigy, and he and Da Huang argued over whether Chen had insulted the Qilin by comparing the man to a dog.
• Yunling Palace's Deputy Palace Master challenged Chen Changan's right to discipline the prodigy, and Chen asked what would happen if he did it anyway.

Chen Changan had Big Yellow Dog defeat the Yunling Palace Deputy Palace Master, silencing the crowd before testing continued. A powerful golden light then revealed Li Qiye, ranked fifth on the Human Ranking, whose cultivation had reached the Supreme Realm.

• The Yunling Palace Deputy Palace Master challenged Chen Changan, who pointed to Big Yellow Dog as enough to deal with him.
• Big Yellow Dog struck the Deputy Palace Master and sent him flying, stunning the onlookers with his strength.
• The testing continued, and the crowd reacted to several contestants earning high combat-strength ratings.
• A brilliant golden light drew everyone's attention, and Chen Changan recognized the person behind it as Li Qiye.
• The crowd gathered around Li Qiye's testing stele and marveled that his cultivation had reached the first level of the Supreme Realm.
• The golden light began to fade as spectators debated Li Qiye's rapid rise.

Li Qiye tested at eighty-nine stars of combat power and revealed that Chen Changan was his master, astonishing the crowd with another link between Chen Changan and the Human Ranking's top five. Chen Changan welcomed Li Qiye, introduced him to Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao, and sensed Chen Yunxuan and Ye Zhi Qiu approaching while Wu Mingdao remained absent.

• Li Qiye tested at eighty-nine stars of combat power, impressing the crowd despite being only at the first level of the Supreme Realm.
• Li Qiye recognized Chen Changan as his master and knelt before him, prompting the crowd to realize that the Human Ranking's third, fourth, and fifth had ties to Chen Changan.
• Chen Changan praised Li Qiye's rapid progress in cultivation and asked whether he had reached the stage of forgetting emotion; Li Qiye said he was nearing the stage of embracing emotion.
• Chen Changan introduced Li Qiye to Gu Xian'er and Gu Fengyao, calling Gu Xian'er his maid and Gu Fengyao his fiancée.
• Chen Changan sensed Chen Yunxuan and Ye Zhi Qiu approaching but could not detect Wu Mingdao, who appeared to be absent from the Earth Ranking Contention War.

Chen Yunxuan and Ye Zhi Qiu took the combat test and earned ninety-nine and one hundred stars, joining Chen Changan’s other associates as the top five on the Human Ranking. With the Earth Ranking Contention War approaching, Chen Changan urged them to prepare to hold the top five places.

• Chen Yunxuan and Ye Zhi Qiu arrived and greeted Chen Changan as their Ancestor and Master, then went to test their combat power.
• Ye Zhi Qiu scored ninety-nine stars, while Chen Yunxuan scored one hundred, astonishing the onlookers.
• Chen Changan gathered the five prodigies, who met one another and confirmed they were all on the same side.
• Chen Yunxuan told Chen Changan that the Chen Family was developing well, and Chen Changan asked the five to prepare for the Earth Ranking.
• Five days passed, and the three-year mark arrived.

The Earth Ranking Contention War began as qualified contestants entered the barrier around Peak of Taihua and faced crushing pressure. Chen Yunxuan and his companions raced ahead, but stopped after reaching about a third of the way up as the pressure intensified.

• Contestants who had passed the stone stele test entered the barrier, where hundreds of thousands of them fell to their knees under overwhelming pressure.
• Chen Changan urged Chen Yunxuan and his companions to enter, and all five withstood the barrier’s pressure.
• Chen Yunxuan challenged Ye Zhi Qiu, Li Qiye, and the others to race up Peak of Taihua, then dashed ahead before they could start.
• The five moved far faster than the struggling contestants, while Chen Changan said the pressure would grow stronger as they climbed.
• After reaching about a third of the way up, Chen Yunxuan and the others stopped as the increasing pressure made it hard to breathe.

Chen Yunxuan and the others cultivated under the Peak of Taihua’s pressure, each breaking through before continuing toward the summit. Chen Changan entered the Heavenly Dao’s barrier with ease, leaving the spectators wondering how he could pass through.

• Chen Yunxuan and Ye Zhi Qiu reached their limits halfway up the Peak of Taihua, and Chen Yunxuan suggested cultivating under the pressure.
• Chen Yunxuan, Ye Zhi Qiu, Li Qiye, Gu Xian'er, and Gu Fengyao cultivated, while people below followed their example.
• After more than half a month, Chen Changan revealed that all five had advanced by one minor level and were continuing upward.
• Chen Changan decided to enter the barrier to experience its pressure and walked straight through it.
• The spectators failed to enter the barrier and speculated that Chen Changan might be the Heavenly Dao.

Chen Changan quickly reached Peak of Taihua, then left with Da Huang rather than wait years for the others to finish the Earth Ranking. After Wan Shitong brought news from Wang Tianji pointing west, Chen Changan set out to search there for the Fetal Pearls.

• Chen Changan reached Peak of Taihua without feeling pressure and learned the pressure would make reaching the top difficult for Chen Yunxuan and the others.
• Chen Changan decided not to wait for the others and left Peak of Taihua with Da Huang to continue searching for the pearls.
• Wan Shitong told Chen Changan that Wang Tianji had directed him to search in the west and said the Ancestor seemed grave about the search.
• Wan Shitong named the Temple of Heavenly Sounds as the western place he knew best and described it as powerful and reclusive.
• Chen Changan thanked Wang Tianji through Wan Shitong, then set off west with Da Huang.

Big Yellow Dog and Chen Changan challenged an old monk who was preaching Buddhism outside a brothel to prove his compassion by entering it to help the women there. The monk hesitated, and Chen Changan pressed him to sacrifice himself for the greater good, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Big Yellow Dog argued with the old monk for trying to stop him from entering the brothel and claimed he wanted to help the women there.
• Chen Changan challenged the old monk to enter the brothel and save its occupants, prompting the gathered crowd to accuse him of hypocrisy.
• The crowd's distrust devastated the old monk, who had come to spread Buddhism and establish a temple in the western frontier.
• Big Yellow Dog dared the old monk to go to the brothel with him, and Chen Changan reframed the act as a sacrifice that would demonstrate Buddhist compassion.
• The old monk praised Chen Changan's kindness and considered recruiting him, but Chen Changan demanded that the monk enter the brothel to spread the Dharma.

Chen Changan led Monk Zhengyuan to a brothel under the pretense of saving suffering women and spreading Buddhism. After paying for a private room and summoning the brothel girls, Chen Changan sent them to entertain Monk Zhengyuan and Da Huang, leaving Zhengyuan panicked as the performance began.

• Chen Changan convinced Monk Zhengyuan that entering a brothel would let him save suffering women and bring honor to Buddhism.
• Chen Changan led Monk Zhengyuan and Da Huang to the brothel, where the madam recognized Zhengyuan and welcomed them after Chen Changan paid a thousand taels of gold.
• Chen Changan ordered the madam to summon all the brothel's best girls to their private room.
• When the girls arrived, Chen Changan said he was only there to watch and assigned them to entertain Da Huang and Monk Zhengyuan.
• Monk Zhengyuan turned pale as the girls rushed toward him, and Chen Changan told him to begin his performance.

Chen Changan spent three days watching Monk Zhengyuan succumb to the brothel’s pleasures, then questioned him about a clear, hard bead. Zhengyuan identified it as Buddhism’s Sacred Buddha Sarira, which Chen Changan said had originally belonged to him.

• Chen Changan persuaded Monk Zhengyuan to endure the brothel girls’ advances as a way to understand suffering and save people.
• Over three days, Zhengyuan gave in to the girls and became more eager to join in, while Chen Changan and Da Huang watched.
• Chen Changan sent the girls away and asked Zhengyuan whether he could save all living beings from suffering.
• Chen Changan described a clear, hard bead with no energy fluctuations, and Zhengyuan said it was the Sacred Buddha Sarira enshrined at the Temple of Heavenly Sounds.
• Chen Changan told Zhengyuan that the Sacred Buddha Sarira had originally belonged to him.

Chen Changan challenged Monk Zhengyuan over Temple of Heavenly Sounds claiming the Sacred Buddha Sarira and condemned the monks’ failure to help suffering people. Zhengyuan began questioning his own conduct, while Chen Changan left the brothel with Da Huang after learning the Fetal Pearl’s whereabouts.

• Chen Changan told Monk Zhengyuan that the Sacred Buddha Sarira was not Temple of Heavenly Sounds’ property and questioned why it had appeared only seven thousand years ago.
• Monk Zhengyuan admitted he was an ordinary monk from Arhat Temple, not Temple of Heavenly Sounds.
• Chen Changan challenged Zhengyuan to name real ways Buddhism had helped the poor and other people in distress, beyond recruiting them into the faith.
• Zhengyuan recognized that he had mainly tried to persuade suffering people to join Buddhism and had not otherwise helped them, but blamed his own lack of understanding.
• Chen Changan told Zhengyuan to act on compassion rather than merely preach it, then left the brothel with Da Huang.
• Zhengyuan watched them go and worried that Chen Changan had not paid the bill, since he had no money.

Chen Changan intervened when monks from Great Yin Temple tried to take a seven-day-old baby from his mother, healing her and striking down one of the monks. After learning that Buddhism forced every newborn within a hundred li to be sent to the temple, he demanded to know what happened to families who refused.

• Several monks demanded a newborn from his mother, and one struck her when she tried to reclaim the baby.
• Chen Changan healed the injured woman and stopped another monk from attacking her.
• Chen Changan struck the monk who defended taking the baby, then condemned the monks as shameless bandits.
• The woman explained that Great Yin Temple required every newborn within a hundred li to be sent there and punished those who refused.
• Chen Changan asked how Buddhism dealt with people branded as sinners for refusing.

Chen Changan rescued a baby from monks who had taken children for the Great Yin Temple, then learned they were sending the children to the Holy Buddha of Temple of Heavenly Sounds. The villagers realized the monks had deceived them, and Chen Changan was left with growing suspicion about the children’s fate.

• Chen Changan immobilized the monks, took a baby from them, and returned the child to its mother.
• The mother and father decided to sell their belongings and leave rather than let the monks take their child again.
• Chen Changan killed two monks who refused to answer and forced another to reveal that the stolen children were sent to the Holy Buddha of Temple of Heavenly Sounds.
• A woman confronted the surviving monk, accusing the monks of lying about the children becoming monks.
• The villagers became enraged after hearing the monks’ confession and feared for their children’s safety.

Chen Changan gave oppressed townspeople two King Tier cultivation manuals and urged them to grow strong enough to defend themselves before he left to destroy Great Yin Temple. He razed the temple with Sword Qi and departed before the townspeople arrived, leaving them to honor their unnamed benefactor.

• Chen Changan refused to go to Great Yin Temple at first and told the townspeople that they had to rely on themselves or leave to escape oppression.
• When the townspeople asked how ordinary people could grow stronger, Chen Changan gave them two King Tier cultivation manuals and said he would destroy Great Yin Temple.
• Chen Changan and Da Huang reached Great Yin Temple, heard revelry inside, and Chen Changan destroyed it from outside with countless strands of Sword Qi.
• The townspeople, inspired by the manuals and Chen Changan's words, gathered to fight, but arrived after he had left and found Great Yin Temple reduced to ruins.
• The townspeople vowed to cultivate and repay their benefactor, then decided to paint and enshrine his portrait.

Chen Changan and Da Huang discovered that Temple of Heavenly Sounds had forced millions of laborers to build a giant golden Buddha, leaving countless workers dead. They killed the monks overseeing the labor and destroyed the statue, then Chen Changan told the freed workers he had no intention of sparing the Holy Buddha.

• Chen Changan and Da Huang found blood beneath the ground near Temple of Heavenly Sounds and realized the area held only monks and signs of mass deaths.
• Chen Changan and Da Huang saw monks forcing laborers to build a giant golden Buddha and throwing a collapsed worker onto a mountain of corpses.
• Chen Changan killed the monk in charge, while Da Huang killed the other overseers.
• Chen Changan destroyed the unfinished golden Buddha with Sword Qi, freeing the laborers from their work.
• The freed laborers warned Chen Changan that the Holy Buddha would take revenge, but Chen Changan said he never planned to spare him.