Chapter Summaries

Lin Taichu faced the third trial’s order to leave Chaotian Gate but chose to keep investigating the Spirit Devouring Gu and rescue its victims. After speaking with Qianlong, he headed toward a graveyard that might reveal the Gu’s weakness.

• After recovering at the Spirit Vein convergence point, Lin Taichu heard that his third trial was to leave Chaotian Gate, but decided he could not abandon the imprisoned puppets or his investigation.
• Lin Taichu avoided the breeders’ hidden stone houses and traveled to Qianlong’s valley to seek help.
• Qianlong revealed that he had stayed in Chaotian Gate to use the Spirit Devouring Gu’s power to grow strong enough to avenge his wife.
• Qianlong warned Lin Taichu that he could not defeat the breeders alone, but offered to help if Lin Taichu faced danger he could not handle.
• Lin Taichu refused to leave and headed deeper into Chaotian Gate, hoping a graveyard might hold clues to the Spirit Devouring Gu’s weakness and the breeders’ whereabouts.

Lin Taichu uncovered the scale of the Spirit Devouring Gu breeders’ crimes at the Graveyard and followed a token to their core stronghold. There, he urged the powerful Angels and Demons to abandon the Gu Worms, but they rejected him and threatened him.

• Lin Taichu searched the Graveyard and found that the cultivators buried there had been drained of their Soul Power by Spirit Devouring Gu.
• Lin Taichu discovered a black token on a human cultivator’s corpse and followed its guidance toward Chaotian Gate’s depths.
• Lin Taichu reached the breeders’ stronghold, where dozens of altars held high-level Spirit Devouring Gu and powerful Angels and Demons stood guard.
• Lin Taichu warned the assembled cultivators that the Gu Worms would corrupt and drain them, and urged them to rely on their own cultivation.
• A high-level demon and a high-level Angel dismissed Lin Taichu and ordered him to leave, threatening him if he spoke again.

Lin Taichu tried to destroy the Spirit Devouring Gu culture vessels, but Qianlong stopped him to protect Chaotian Gate. Lin Taichu accepted Qianlong's challenge and fought him, though Qianlong appeared to have the advantage.

• Lin Taichu decided the only way to stop the Spirit Devouring Gu from harming more cultivators was to destroy the culture vessels.
• Lin Taichu attacked the central stone altar with Nanming Lihuo, but Qianlong appeared and blocked the strike.
• Lin Taichu challenged Qianlong after he refused to let the culture vessels be destroyed, and Qianlong offered to let him proceed if he won.
• Qianlong attacked Lin Taichu with a black Soul Power whip, and Lin Taichu slowed it with icy energy before counterattacking.
• Qianlong repelled Lin Taichu's dagger strike and criticized his technique as Lin Taichu continued trying to find an opening.

Lin Taichu challenged Qianlong, but Qianlong destroyed his Spirit Vein and killed him. After passing the second trial, Lin Taichu returned to the moment Qianlong had killed Bai Yu, giving him a chance to defeat Qianlong before he grew stronger.

• Lin Taichu poured his remaining Soul Power into the Purple Gold Gourd and attacked Qianlong with ice and fire, but Qianlong overpowered him and left him gravely wounded.
• Qianlong destroyed Lin Taichu's Spirit Vein and Soul Power foundation, killing him, then cast his corpse into the Graveyard.
• An ancient voice declared that Lin Taichu had passed the second trial and explained that the next trial was to defeat Qianlong after starting over.
• Lin Taichu returned to Chaotian Gate's trial grounds just after Qianlong had killed Bai Yu.
• Lin Taichu recognized this as his best chance to defeat Qianlong before he entered Hell and gained power from the Spirit Devouring Gu.

Lin Taichu fought Qianlong to stop him from falling further into Hell and protect cultivators from the Spirit Devouring Gu. Both were badly weakened in their clash when Angels of Chaotian Gate arrived at the trial ground.

• Lin Taichu used the Purple Gold Gourd’s Nanming Lihuo and Icy Qi to challenge Qianlong, relying on speed and technique to evade his attacks.
• Qianlong pressed Lin Taichu with his Black Long Sword and Sword Qi, while Lin Taichu countered with alternating ice and fire as trial cultivators gathered to watch.
• Lin Taichu poured his remaining Soul Power into the Purple Gold Gourd and sent an ice-and-fire barrier against Qianlong’s black palm print.
• The collision left Lin Taichu bloodied and nearly powerless, while Qianlong was also wounded and weakened; both prepared to continue fighting.
• Several cultivators led by low-ranking Angels of Chaotian Gate arrived after sensing the battle’s fluctuations.

Lin Taichu survived his confrontation with Qianlong, who honored their agreement and left to recover. In the Void, Xuanqing revealed that he had repeatedly rewound time to guide Lin Taichu through Chaotian Gate’s trials, then awaited Lin Taichu’s question about why.

• Lin Taichu wounded Qianlong in the shoulder and was struck down, leaving both fighters gravely weakened.
• Qianlong admitted defeat, stabilized Lin Taichu’s vitality, and promised to stop using the Spirit Devouring Gu and spare his Ascension Opportunity for now, though he still intended to seek revenge after growing stronger on his own.
• The low-ranking Angels arrived as Qianlong left to heal, and Lin Taichu’s consciousness faded into darkness.
• Lin Taichu awoke in the Void, where Xuanqing identified himself as the guardian of Chaotian Gate and confirmed that he had controlled the first two trials.
• Xuanqing explained that he had repeatedly reversed time after Lin Taichu’s failures, allowing him to retry until he defeated Qianlong and completed the trial.
• After seeing images of his many timelines, Lin Taichu asked Xuanqing why he had done it, and Xuanqing looked at him without answering.

Xuanqing revealed that Chaotian Gate had become a nest of Gu Worms and tasked Lin Taichu with returning to its early days to stop the infestation. He explained that the Gu Worms’ root was the founder Tiandaozi, whose fate Lin Taichu still needed to uncover.

• Xuanqing told Lin Taichu how Gu Worms spread through Chaotian Gate, corroded Cultivators, and transformed some into Angels and Demons.
• Xuanqing explained that Lin Taichu had passed the third trial by staying to investigate and destroy the Gu Worm Culture Dish instead of leaving.
• Xuanqing opened a gate of light showing Chaotian Gate in its early days and asked Lin Taichu to return there and eliminate the Gu Worms.
• Lin Taichu accepted the task, and Xuanqing revealed that Tiandaozi, the sect’s founder, was the Gu Worms’ root.
• Lin Taichu asked Xuanqing where Tiandaozi was.

Lin Taichu returned to the past with his strength intact and infiltrated Heavenly Dao Hall to reach Tiandaozi, the source of the Gu Worms. Unable to break through the sealed stone door, he hid nearby and saw Tiandaozi emerge from seclusion, boasting of a method to greatly increase the worms’ cultivation and spirit herb yield.

• Xuanqing sent Lin Taichu into the past and told him to find Tiandaozi and clear the Gu Worms from his body or kill him.
• Lin Taichu arrived at Chaotian Gate in peak condition and learned that its cultivators regarded the soil-enriching Gu Worms as a heavenly gift.
• Lin Taichu bypassed the guards at Heavenly Dao Hall and entered through a window, but the array-sealed stone door to Tiandaozi’s quarters repelled his Soul Power.
• Lin Taichu overheard two cultivators say Tiandaozi was studying ways to cultivate the Gu Worms more efficiently.
• When the stone door’s array weakened, Lin Taichu hid nearby as Tiandaozi emerged and announced that his new method could increase spirit herb yields at least threefold.

Lin Taichu warned Tiandaozi that the insects at Chaotian Gate were Gu Worms and proved they tried to consume a cultivator’s Soul Power. Tiandaozi remained suspicious of Lin Taichu, who attacked him with Nanming Lihuo to force him to purge the Gu Worms.

• Lin Taichu confronted Tiandaozi in Heavenly Dao Hall and warned him that the insects he had brought to Chaotian Gate were Gu Worms that would turn cultivators into puppets.
• Lin Taichu showed Tiandaozi that a Gu Worm abandoned spiritual herb roots to pursue Soul Power, then offered himself for an experiment.
• Lin Taichu let a Gu Worm burrow into his arm and sensed it searching his meridians for Soul Power; he restrained it and forced it out, where it shriveled and died.
• Tiandaozi confirmed the Gu Worm’s greed for Soul Power but continued to distrust Lin Taichu and demanded to know who he was.
• Lin Taichu summoned the Purple Gold Gourd and attacked Tiandaozi with Nanming Lihuo, intending to subdue him and purge the Gu Worms inside him.

Lin Taichu failed to persuade Tiandaozi to let him remove the Gu Worms, and the two parted as enemies. Seeking another way to prevent an outbreak, Lin Taichu set out for Chaotian Gate’s hidden Gu Worm nest.

• Lin Taichu clashed with Tiandaozi in Heavenly Dao Hall, then explained that Gu Worms were eroding Tiandaozi and offered to remove them without harming his cultivation.
• Tiandaozi rejected Lin Taichu’s claim that he came from the future, forbade him from interfering in Chaotian Gate’s affairs, and ordered guards to watch him and investigate the spirit herb fields.
• After Lin Taichu left, Tiandaozi detected a black wisp of Gu Worm aura in his dantian and found it draining his spiritual energy and eroding his meridians.
• Lin Taichu considered the spread of Gu Worms and recalled Xuanqing’s claim that their hidden nest bred high-level Gu Worms.
• Lin Taichu decided to destroy the Gu Worm nest and headed toward Chaotian Gate’s hidden back mountain.

Lin Taichu infiltrated the Gu Worms' lair by finding and disabling the guarding formation, then discovered the Mother Gu and confronted its powerful protectors. The fight at the altar began as he attacked one of the three core cultivators with Nanming Lihuo.

• Lin Taichu sneaked through the back mountain and located the formation protecting the Gu Worms' lair.
• Lin Taichu found the formation eye and began dismantling it, drawing the attention of two guards.
• Lin Taichu injured both guards and broke through the barrier before they could stop him.
• Lin Taichu entered the valley and found countless Gu Worms, the remains of their victims, and a jade box containing the Mother Gu.
• Three core cultivators confronted Lin Taichu at the altar, and he used the Purple Gold Gourd to attack one with Nanming Lihuo.

Lin Taichu defeated three guards and exposed the Mother Gu, but Tiandaozi stopped him before he could destroy it. Lin Taichu vowed to return, then learned in the Void that his first reincarnation had failed and he still had two chances.

• Lin Taichu used an ice-and-fire attack to defeat the two weaker cultivators, then wounded the black-robed cultivator in a dangerous exchange.
• After the black-robed cultivator struck him down, Lin Taichu used his last Soul Power to shatter the jade box and expose the Mother Gu.
• Lin Taichu tried to strike the Mother Gu, but Tiandaozi appeared and scattered his attack.
• Tiandaozi rejected Lin Taichu's plea to destroy the Mother Gu, fearing the loss of his research and Chaotian Gate's spirit herb production.
• Lin Taichu vowed to return and purge the Gu Worms, then heard in the Void that his first reincarnation had failed and he had two chances left.

After returning to the beginning of the crisis, Lin Taichu tried a new approach: help Tiandaozi overcome his cultivation bottleneck so he would no longer depend on Gu Worms. He earned Tiandaozi’s trust and set out to cleanse the Spirit Veins, where Gu Worm traces were already taking root.

• Lin Taichu began his second cycle and spent three days stabilizing his cultivation before approaching Heavenly Dao Hall.
• He offered to help Tiandaozi break through his bottleneck using a heart method that could dissolve stagnation in spiritual energy.
• Tiandaozi tested the method, felt his spiritual energy steady, and authorized Lin Taichu to cleanse the Spirit Veins with two Core Disciples.
• Lin Taichu gathered supplies and led the two Core Disciples to the place where the Spirit Veins converged, sensing dense Gu Worm traces deep within them.

Lin Taichu cleared the sinister yin energy from Chaotian Gate’s Spirit Vein and earned Tiandaozi’s trust as a guest elder. After he helped contain a Gu Worm rampage, he reported its likely cause to Tiandaozi, leaving the Sect Master concerned about the danger of breeding Gu Worms.

• Lin Taichu used a Spirit Gathering Array Disk, Spirit Clearing Grass, and Soul Power to clear the Spirit Vein of sinister yin energy and hidden Gu Worms.
• Tiandaozi inspected the purified Spirit Vein, appointed Lin Taichu a guest elder, and gave him authority over the Spirit Veins and spirit herb fields.
• Over the next month, Lin Taichu managed the Spirit Veins and helped Tiandaozi cultivate while quietly steering him away from relying on Gu Worms.
• When low-level Gu Worms went berserk at a breeding site, Lin Taichu kept the alarm from interrupting Tiandaozi’s seclusion, fetched Gu-Removing Pills, and rushed to help.
• Lin Taichu used Nanming Lihuo and the pills to kill the rampaging Gu Worms and treat the injured Cultivators.
• Lin Taichu told Tiandaozi that excessive sinister yin energy had likely caused the Gu Worms to go berserk, and Tiandaozi reacted with anger and concern.

Lin Taichu helped Tiandaozi break through to the Saint Realm and persuaded him that Gu Worms remained a threat despite their benefits. Tiandaozi ordered Chaotian Gate to destroy the Gu Worms, and Lin Taichu reached the nest as its high-level Gu Worms grew restless.

• Lin Taichu warned Tiandaozi about the dangers of Gu Worms, and Tiandaozi ordered the breeding sites cleaned and their populations controlled.
• Lin Taichu brought Tiandaozi a Millennium Spirit Ginseng and guided him to cultivate in a Spirit Gathering Array.
• Tiandaozi broke through to the Saint Realm, then sensed the Gu Worm aura still feeding on his spiritual energy and agreed the Gu Worms had to be eliminated.
• Tiandaozi ordered all breeding sites shut down and tasked Lin Taichu with clearing the Gu Worms while he tried to remove them from his own body.
• Lin Taichu used Tiandaozi's token to reach the bamboo forest, where the high-level Gu Worms in the nest had begun to stir.

Lin Taichu led Chaotian Gate disciples into the Gu Worm lair to enforce Tiandaozi’s order, but the black-robed cultivators refused to surrender their Gu Worms. Lin Taichu began fighting them while buying time for Tiandaozi to arrive.

• Lin Taichu used Tiandaozi’s token to open the formation barrier and entered the valley with dozens of Chaotian Gate disciples.
• Lin Taichu confronted the black-robed cultivators, who rejected the order to hand over their Gu Worms and threatened the disciples with their sinister qi.
• Lin Taichu stalled for time, warning that Tiandaozi would soon arrive, while the black-robed cultivators prepared to fight.
• Lin Taichu ordered the Chaotian Gate disciples to retreat, then destroyed a stone altar with Nanming Lihuo as the black-robed cultivators pursued them.
• Lin Taichu dodged the leading black-robed cultivator’s attack and countered with Nanming Lihuo and Icy Qi from the Purple Gold Gourd.

Lin Taichu failed to draw the black-robed Cultivators away from the altar, but Tiandaozi arrived after removing his Gu Worm and used his Saint Realm power to seize the Mother Gu. The black-robed Cultivators were left in despair as Tiandaozi’s confrontation with them continued.

• Lin Taichu tried to lure the black-robed Cultivators away from the altar, but their leader realized his plan and ordered them to return and guard the Mother Gu.
• Lin Taichu failed to reach or destroy the jade box as the black-robed Cultivators blocked his approaches and deflected his Nanming Lihuo.
• Tiandaozi arrived with his Gu Worm removed and offered the black-robed Cultivators one last chance to surrender the Mother Gu and close their breeding sites.
• The leading black-robed Cultivator refused and argued that the Gu Worms had benefited Chaotian Gate, so Tiandaozi struck down two Cultivators with Golden Sword Qi.
• When the leading Cultivator tried to release the Mother Gu, Tiandaozi intercepted his attack and seized the jade box.

Tiandaozi destroyed the Gu Worms’ lair and assigned Lin Taichu to clear the remaining breeding sites and treat infected cultivators. Lin Taichu learned that Nanming Lihuo Grass could be refined into pills to remove Gu Worms safely, and the search for the herb remained ahead.

• Tiandaozi ordered the black-robed cultivators to cooperate in removing their Gu Worms and forbade them from cultivating Gu Worms again.
• Tiandaozi used Saint Realm power to destroy the Gu Worms’ lair, and Lin Taichu ordered the investigation and elimination of all other breeding sites.
• Lin Taichu promised the black-robed cultivators he would help remove their Gu Worms, and they agreed to obey.
• Tiandaozi gave Lin Taichu the sealed Mother Gu and explained that Saint Realm power would cripple weaker cultivators if used to purge their Gu Worms directly.
• Tiandaozi said Nanming Lihuo Grass could be refined into pills to gradually kill and expel the Gu Worms with less harm.

Lin Taichu helped Chaotian Gate eradicate its Gu Worm infestation, then Tiandaozi used the Guardian’s Space Mark to send him back to his original world. Lin Taichu arrived at the old Chaotian Gate and found it had become a peaceful school devoted to learning and self-cultivation.

• Lin Taichu led Chaotian Gate’s disciples in destroying every Gu Worm breeding site and rescuing cultivators who had been corrupted.
• After the Gu Worms were eliminated, Tiandaozi told Lin Taichu that he could activate the Guardian’s Space Mark to return him to his original world.
• Tiandaozi opened a Space Passage with a Teleportation Array, and Lin Taichu traveled through it under Tiandaozi’s protection.
• Lin Taichu arrived at the old site of Chaotian Gate in his original world and found its spiritual energy pure and its Gu Worms gone.
• Lin Taichu saw that Chaotian Gate had become a school where disciples studied knowledge and cultivated their minds rather than pursuing cultivation and ascension.

Lin Taichu reached Luofeng City and discovered that its curse suppressed cultivators’ strength and gradually weakened them. After resting at an inn, he prepared to buy supplies and leave, while the town’s curse continued to drive its trapped cultivators into conflict.

• Lin Taichu entered Luofeng City and found his cultivation suppressed from Half-Saint to Foundation Establishment by the city’s curse.
• Two cultivators at a tea stall explained that the curse weakened anyone who stayed, eventually reducing them to mortals.
• Lin Taichu rented a room from a White-haired Old Man, who warned him not to fight or use power above Foundation Establishment inside the inn.
• That night, Lin Taichu watched two weakened cultivators fight over a Clear Dew Herb and concluded the curse was twisting their minds as well as suppressing their cultivation.
• On the third morning, Lin Taichu headed to the market to buy dried rations and Healing Pills before leaving Luofeng City.