Chapter Summaries

Chen Yan found the remains of countless Snow Wives and learned that the primordial world had repeated its tragic cycle before the Old Man appeared to guide the villagers to safety. As Cheng Zizhen chose to stay with Chen Yan, he confronted the Old Man, who revealed himself as the Founding Lord of Great Xia and Chen Yan’s fellow traveler.

• Chen Yan resisted the immense presence beneath the Ice River and continued forward despite the villagers’ despair.
• He found Snow Wife’s corpse in the ice, confirmed they were going in the right direction, and realized the primordial world had cycled through countless Snow Wives’ failed attempts.
• Chen Yan reached a mountain of Snow Wife corpses blocking the way, and the Old Man arrived with a boat to carry the villagers to shore.
• Cheng Zizhen returned after leaving and asked to stay near Chen Yan, who promised to take her to Great Xia.
• The Old Man sat atop the Corpse Wall and identified himself as the Founding Lord of Great Xia, the Lord of Body Tempering Martial Arts, and Chen Yan’s fellow traveler.

Chen Yan met the Lord of Body Tempering, who revealed that he had turned Slaughter Village into a repeating experiment to study Great Xia’s future and offered to guide Chen Yan in creating his own Martial Dao. Chen Yan rejected his help and questioned the old man’s failures and past, but found himself trapped in the Lord’s courtyard with no way out.

• The Lord of Body Tempering explained that he had modeled Great Xia on Slaughter Village to gather data about possible futures.
• The old man said Chen Yan should create an Origin Space before establishing his second realm, then offered to teach him how to perfect his Martial Dao.
• Chen Yan questioned why Ancient God Beasts still remained in Great Xia and whether the old man had killed the Lord of Qi and Blood.
• Chen Yan refused the old man’s guidance, arguing that his own Martial Dao could erase Malice.
• The Lord of Body Tempering left Chen Yan alone in the courtyard and promised to give him time to reconsider.
• Chen Yan tried to leave and then struck the courtyard, but the old man’s power kept him trapped.

Chen Yan refused Lord Xia’s offer to become his disciple and broke another limit, prompting Lu Xunyang to pull him and the others out of the Dream Abyss Third Layer. After claiming his Path Cutting Points, Chen Yan left Lord Xia behind, while Jiang Yuan learned that Chen Yan had taken first place in the exam leaderboard.

• Chen Yan manifested his 207th Extreme Stripe and told Lord Xia that breaking limits was his answer to the offer of apprenticeship.
• Lu Xunyang tore open the barrier and rescued Chen Yan, Sanjin, and Cheng Zizhen despite Lord Xia’s furious attempt to stop him.
• As Chen Yan left the Dream Abyss Third Layer, he declared that his Red Heart was his master and began absorbing the Path Cutting Points awarded for clearing the trial.
• At the College Entrance Exam site, Jiang Yuan told faction leaders that Chen Yan was trapped in the Third Layer with five Fei Yi and had lost his Quitting Token.
• Jiang Yuan saw Chen Yan listed in first place with 5.82 billion points and cursed in shock.

Chen Yan escaped the Ice River but remained trapped in the Dream Abyss Third Layer as Lord Xia tried to interfere with his Will Martial Dao. With Lu Xunyang holding Lord Xia back, Chen Yan raced north toward the Sun Seeking Tower, thrilled by the battle and determined to grow stronger.

• Sanjin and Cheng Zizhen thanked Chen Yan as golden light from the Sun Seeking Tower began drawing them away from the Ice River.
• Lord Xia pursued Chen Yan and tried to keep him in the Dream Abyss Third Layer, while Lu Xunyang told him to head north to the Sun Seeking Tower and break through to Layer 252.
• Lu Xunyang confronted Lord Xia’s colossal form, buying Chen Yan time to flee across the collapsing land.
• Chen Yan celebrated the chance to fight and vowed to become strong enough to reshape heaven and earth.
• Chen Yan raced toward the Sun Seeking Tower as its tip appeared on the horizon.

Chen Yan entered the Sun Seeking Tower from the Dream Abyss Third Layer, determined to grow strong enough to challenge Lord Xia and avenge Snow Wife. As he raced through the early floors, Sanjin climbed even faster, leaving the watching examinees stunned by her ascent.

• Chen Yan entered the Sun Seeking Tower while still trapped in the Dream Abyss Third Layer, and Sanjin arrived in the real world and followed him inside, blaming herself for his danger.
• Chen Yan used his Path Cutting Points to obtain two Newborn Ascension Treasure Medicines, then began climbing while resolving to prove that willpower surpassed Horizontal Refinement.
• Chen Yan cleared the first fifty floors with ease and defeated the young Lord Xia incarnation on the 51st floor with a single slap.
• Outside the tower, Military Martial examinees defended Chen Yan against an Aristocratic Alliance examinee who mocked him, and one of them punched the heckler.
• Sanjin's light raced past the 75th floor and reached the 81st, astonishing the crowd and drawing Shen Youning's attention.

Chen Yan followed Lu Xunyang’s advice to pursue the Immortal Body by breaking his limits, then climbed the Sun Seeking Tower using only physical strength. As Chen Yan’s points surged and the outside world watched anxiously, Shen Yiwei prepared to cultivate in seclusion while Chen Xiyuan feared Chen Yan might survive and expose her.

• Lu Xunyang warned Lord Xia that his actions resembled those of an Ancient God and argued that Chen Yan could obtain the Immortal Body by reaching 216 Extreme Stripes.
• On the eighty-fifth layer, Lu Xunyang’s youthful avatar urged Chen Yan to break his limits, and Chen Yan planned to climb using only his physical strength.
• Chen Yan easily defeated tower opponents, climbed past the 130th layer, and used his points to buy a Qi and Blood Medicine while building his Origin Divine Body.
• Outside the secret realm, Chen Yan’s points rose to 6.5 billion, alarming Xiaoyang City as rumors spread about his danger in the Dream Abyss Third Layer.
• Shen Yiwei decided to cultivate in seclusion and pursue greater strength, while Chen Xiyuan feared Chen Yan might return and First Elder Chen Qi might uncover her actions.

Jiang Yuan confronted Yu Sixian in the hospital while Chen Yan pushed himself through the Sun Seeking Tower, breaking his limits until Immortal Aura emerged. The aura pierced the Malice Barrier, and Lu Xunyang concluded that Chen Yan’s will matched his own as Chen Yan continued climbing toward the Immortal Body.

• Jiang Yuan mocked Yu Sixian for using a thousand puppets to kill an Ancient God Beast, including his own master, and Yu Sixian vowed to fight Chen Yan if he survived the College Entrance Exam Secret Realm.
• Chen Yan battled Lu Xunyang on the one hundred and thirty-fifth floor without using his other abilities and solidified his two-hundred-and-eighth Extreme Stripe.
• Chen Yan kept fighting as his strength failed, and golden-red Immortal Aura appeared around him while he broke another limit.
• Zhu Lili, Zhang Luobai, and Yu Changsheng sensed the Immortal Aura, while Sanjin rushed toward the upper floors, determined to save Chen Yan.
• Chen Yan defeated the floor’s Lu Xunyang and climbed onward, and Lu Xunyang told Lord Xia that Chen Yan’s will could stand shoulder to shoulder with his.

While Chen Yan broke through his limits inside the Sun Seeking Tower, memories of his childhood guilt over nearly losing Chen Yu fueled his struggle toward the Immortal Body. Lu Xunyang celebrated Chen Yan’s breakthrough, but the Old Man’s remarks and the Immortal Aura spreading beyond the tower left the contest’s outcome uncertain.

• Chen Yan remembered being punished by Chen Yuxu after Chen Yu fell, and how he had knelt all night because he could not forgive himself.
• As Chen Yan pushed through the trial, his Extreme Stripes rose past two hundred and fourteen, and Lu Xunyang watched from the Ice River while the Old Man challenged his confidence.
• The Old Man recalled that Lu Xunyang had gained the Immortal Body while near death, and Lu Xunyang explained that he had survived a battle with an Ancient God Beast.
• Chen Yan reached the two hundred and fifteenth Extreme Stripe and broke his limits seventy-two times, surpassing Lu Xunyang’s feat and drawing a delighted laugh from him.
• Immortal Aura poured through the Malice Barrier and out of the Sun Seeking Tower, prompting the watching Examinees to try to comprehend it as members of the Aristocratic Alliance argued over who could do so.

Chen Yan endured the collapse of his will after learning that Lu Xunyang had mistakenly believed he created the Immortal Body, then rekindled his resolve and formed a Will Divine Body. He established a new martial realm, the Establishing Realm, and ended by challenging Zulian Hen to witness his Will Path surpassing the old Martial Dao.

• Lord Xia revealed that Lu Xunyang, not he, had created the Immortal Body, and that multiples of seventy-two Extreme Stripes had never guaranteed one.
• Lu Xunyang realized his teachings had led Chen Yan to exhaust himself pursuing 216 Extreme Stripes, while Chen Yan continued climbing the Sun Seeking Tower in agony.
• Young Lu Xunyang appeared before Chen Yan and admitted that he had created the Immortal Body, but Chen Yan recalled his sister’s words and found the will to keep fighting.
• Chen Yan declared that immortality came from will, and an Origin Divine Body formed behind him from his Immortal Aura.
• Chen Yan established the Establishing Realm, proclaiming that will could make the body, Qi and Blood, and Psionic Power immortal.
• Chen Yan’s Will Divine Body addressed Zulian Hen and challenged him to see how it stood above his Martial Dao.

Chen Yan established the Will Path and risked his failing body to pursue true Immortality, while Yu Changsheng sensed the new Martial Dao during his trial. Yu Changsheng rejected Chen Yan as his true enemy and confronted the image of Chen Changyuan instead.

• Chen Yan's Will Divine Body grew stronger as he fought Lu Xunyang, whose trial form was shattered by Chen Yan's final punch.
• Chen Yan admitted he feared death but continued climbing toward the High Command, resolved to seek Immortality through his will.
• The old man declared Chen Yan would fail, then sensed the Will Path surge again with the birth of its two hundred and fifteenth Extreme Stripe.
• Yu Changsheng reached the two hundred and fifteenth floor, sensed a new power, and guessed that a new Martial Dao had appeared.
• On the two hundred and sixteenth floor, Yu Changsheng dismissed the conjured Chen Yan as unworthy of being his enemy.
• The figure transformed into Chen Changyuan, whom Yu Changsheng recognized as the enemy he truly needed to defeat.

Chen Changyuan and others sensed the emergence of a New Martial Dao, while Jiang Yuan’s two personalities fought over his body. In Yunmeng City, Chen Qi revealed his formidable power, dealt with Hu Zeyuan, and left to witness Chen Yan becoming Qin Prefecture’s top scholar.

• Chen Changyuan realized Shen Yiwei had stepped into the New Martial Dao and began trying to enter the Yan Realm.
• Jiang Yuan’s personality that had sensed the Will Path erupted as Yu Siyuan fought to keep control of their body, frightening the nurse.
• Chen Qi, Chen Yuxu’s great-grandfather, examined information about Zhuang Ang, Shen Yiwei, and Chen Yan while visiting the family.
• Hu Zeyuan demanded money from Chen Yuxu, but Chen Qi subdued him and held the nearby Military Martial experts in place.
• Chen Qi invited Chen Yuxu to Xiaoyang to watch Chen Yan become Qin Prefecture’s top scholar, then manifested a Headless Giant and departed as Chen Yuxu refused to go.

Chen Yan fought between his will to reach immortality through death and his True Self’s refusal to die, advancing his Body Tempering Path as he climbed the Sun Seeking Tower from the Dream Abyss. Sanjin sensed his presence and followed him, but Chen Yan reached the 190th floor and stopped breathing while declaring that he had wanted to end the suffering of all beings, not his own life.

• Lu Xunyang explained to the old man that Chen Yan’s will and True Self were battling, with Chen Yan’s refusal to die making his True Self fight harder.
• Chen Yan climbed the Sun Seeking Tower, forged 224 Extreme Stripes, and advanced his Body Tempering Path to the Origin Realm with 999 True Dragon Patterns and 157 illuminated True Dragon Phases.
• Observers saw Sanjin and an unidentified climber reach the upper floors, while Shao Hengyang reported that he had not found Chen Yan.
• Sanjin sensed Chen Yan’s Immortal Aura on the 189th floor and realized he was in the Dream Abyss Third Layer, then followed the aura upward.
• Chen Yan defeated the 190th-floor Gatekeeper, sat down in the gray world, and stopped breathing after saying he wanted to end the suffering of all beings, not his own life.

Chen Yan died after awakening True Immortality, and his body began fusing with the Will Divine Body as forces pulled him back from death. Sanjin tried to revive him with a costly healing medicine, while others witnessed his name vanish and reappear on the exam leaderboard.

• Chen Yan died in the Dream Abyss, and True Immortality descended as his Will Divine Body began merging with his body.
• Sanjin found Chen Yan’s body emerging from the Malice Barrier and desperately tried to wake him.
• Xia Qi sensed Chen Yan’s death and the failure of his reprieve, then felt an unknown force interfering with his Ancestral Soul’s attempt to save him.
• Chen Xiyuan celebrated when Chen Yan vanished from the leaderboard, but his name reappeared with a score of 11.53 billion.
• Chen Qi arrived in Xiaoyang City and discussed Chen Yan’s uncertain fate with Zhang Ting.
• Sanjin spent her Path Cutting Points on a Moon-level Healing Treasure Medicine for Chen Yan, then asked Zhu Lili to lend her points.

Sanjin and Zhu Lili tried to revive Chen Yan with Healing Spirit Medicine while Chen Yan slowly recovered inside his Will Divine Body. Meanwhile, Yu Changsheng prepared to escape Chen Changyuan’s control, and Sanjin carried Chen Yan out of Sun Seeking Tower as Qiu Changji watched.

• Zhu Lili defeated the one hundred and ninetieth-floor Gatekeeper and gave Sanjin a Returning Life Spirit Medicine for Chen Yan.
• Sanjin used the medicine on Chen Yan, while Chen Yan’s Will Divine Body slowly restored his dead body and he reviewed his cultivation inside the Saint Breaking Realm.
• Yu Changsheng examined his new Yan Realm abilities and prepared to escape Chen Changyuan’s control with help from the Ji Family and Xun Ting.
• Qiu Changji reached the one hundred and ninetieth floor, saw Chen Yan’s body, and considered taking the valuable Moon-level medicine before Sanjin’s killing intent drove him away.
• Sanjin wrapped Chen Yan and the medicinal aura in Qi and Blood, then flew out of Sun Seeking Tower with him.

After Chen Yan emerged from the Sun Seeking Tower seemingly dead, Sanjin and the gathered examinees tried to revive him while Cheng Zizhen recounted how he had saved them in the Dream Abyss. Zhu Lili revealed that Chen Yan had used Immortal Aura to break through the Malice Barrier and pass the trial, leaving Yu Changsheng quietly growing more hostile.

• Xu Di, Shen Youning, Shao Hengyang, Shang Yunwu, and others grieved over Chen Yan, while Sanjin insisted he was not dead and begged them to save him.
• Cheng Zizhen arrived, and the examinees let her approach after learning Chen Yan had never exposed her as an Ancient God Beast.
• Shen Youning and examinees from the Military Martial Guard, Aristocratic Alliance, and Town Martial Division contributed healing Treasure Medicine, which Sanjin used on Chen Yan.
• Cheng Zizhen described how Chen Yan had rescued Sanjin and others in the Dream Abyss, though seals prevented her from revealing its deepest secrets.
• Zhu Lili said Chen Yan had comprehended Immortal Aura, torn through the Malice Barrier, and successfully passed the Dream Abyss Third Layer; Xu Di declared that Chen Yan had never lost.
• An Yunnan claimed the Immortal Aura belonged to him, while Yu Changsheng learned the truth and became increasingly hostile.

Sanjin and the others revived Chen Yan with Healing Spirit Medicine, and he used Time Seeds to recover and strengthen his abilities while watching Yu Changsheng climb the Sun Seeking Tower. After sensing danger, Chen Yan left the cave under concealment and attacked Qiu Changji.

• Sanjin took Chen Yan to a cave and used Healing Spirit Medicine to revive his body while Shen Youning, Shao Hengyang, Xu Di, and Li Qingyuan helped guard him.
• Chen Yan awakened, crushed Time Seeds to accelerate his recovery, and raised his mastery of Illusory Wave Abyss Domain and his Protective Rune.
• Chen Yan watched Yu Changsheng fight a Fei Yi on the 252nd floor and learned that combining the Xun Ting Thunder Spirits with it could create a Moon-level D Heaven and Earth Thunder Spirit.
• Chen Yan finished recovering, told Sanjin and the others that he had returned stronger, then vanished using his Protective Rune's concealment.
• Chen Yan attacked Qiu Changji in a wooded area, kicking him into a hill that exploded on impact.

Chen Yan returned from the dead and confronted Yu Changsheng, who had unleashed the Blood Drawing Formation to refine tens of thousands of Examinees into Blood Pills. Chen Yan revealed his vast Origin Space and overwhelmed Yu Changsheng in battle, leaving the fight ongoing.

• Chen Yan killed Qiu Changji, who had been waiting to claim Chen Yan's body and Treasure Medicine.
• Yu Changsheng released the Myriad Prison Nether Thunder and formed a Blood Drawing Formation that trapped the Examinees and began to drain their lives.
• Yu Changsheng attacked Zhang Luobai and Zhu Lili, while Chen Yan arrived and killed An Yunnan after An Yunnan begged him for help.
• Chen Yan opened his Origin Space, revealing the magnificent Yunmeng City, and stepped in to confront Yu Changsheng.
• Chen Yan smashed through Yu Changsheng's thunder attacks and drove him back with repeated punches and Exploding Saint Light Orbs.
• Yu Changsheng seized Chen Yan and demanded to know whether he had hit enough, but Chen Yan broke free, struck him down, and said he had not had enough.

Chen Yan overcame Yu Changsheng’s Sword Realm and defeated him, revealing his Immortal Body as Yu Changsheng’s plans collapsed. The two Fei Yi then arrived with an Ancient Beast Horde, bringing a new threat to the tens of thousands of Examinees.

• Yu Changsheng unleashed Chen Changyuan’s Sword Realm and attacked Chen Yan, but Chen Yan met his sword with a punch amplified by his Yan Realm.
• Chen Yan used a Protective Rune to close in on Yu Changsheng and fought him at close range, eventually kicking him to the ground.
• Chen Yan’s wounds healed through Will’s Immortality, revealing his Immortal Body and astonishing the watching Examinees.
• Yu Changsheng accused Chen Changyuan of failing to kill Chen Yan’s family, then two Fei Yi appeared and joined him.
• The two Fei Yi summoned an Ancient Beast Horde that charged toward Chen Yan and the Examinees.

Chen Yan revealed that he had never truly planned to escape and defeated Yu Changsheng after exposing his hidden identity as Bing Yi. He stripped away Yu Changsheng’s newly awakened power and declared himself the Lord of Will, leaving Yu Changsheng confronted with the Ultimate of the World.

• Yu Changsheng transferred control of the Xun Ting Grand Formation to Chen Yan, and Chen Yan ordered the examinees to quit the secret realm and attack Yu Changsheng outside.
• The examinees began leaving, but Chen Yan revealed that his and Sanjin’s Quitting Tokens had already been destroyed and said he wanted Yu Changsheng’s Myriad Prison Nether Thunder.
• Chen Yan resisted Yu Changsheng’s Xun Ting and struck him and the two Fei Yi, revealing that he had refined a Xun Ting Thunder Spirit and was also Bing Yi.
• Yu Changsheng advanced his Yan Realm under the force of his unwillingness and attacked Chen Yan, but Chen Yan snapped his fingers and stripped away Yu Changsheng’s newly awakened Martial Dao power.
• Chen Yan defeated Yu Changsheng and the two Fei Yi, then identified himself as the Lord of Will and the Ultimate of the World.

After Yu Changsheng’s attack on the examinees was exposed, the outside world learned that Chen Yan had awakened an Immortal Body and remained inside the exam to fight alone. Chen Yan killed a Fei Yi and left Yu Changsheng powerless and broken as Yu Changsheng raged at his existence.

• Examinees accused Yu Changsheng of using Chen Changyuan’s Sword Realm and a lightning Formation to slaughter them, and Zhang Ting’s forces learned that An Yunnan and Qiu Changji had died.
• Shang Yunwu told the assembled leaders that Chen Yan had returned, suppressed Yu Changsheng, and awakened an Immortal Body, shocking Zong Heng, Chen Changyuan, and the military elders.
• Chen Qi rebuked Steward Hu for overlooking Chen Yan and scolded Chen Xiyuan, then realized Chen Yan had destroyed his Quitting Token and stayed in the Dream Abyss Third Layer.
• Shang Yunwu realized Chen Yan had stayed behind to let the others escape, while people outside feared he would face Chen Changyuan and two Fei Yi alone.
• Chen Yan erased one Fei Yi with his will, while Yu Changsheng lay shattered and raved that he could not understand why Chen Yan had been born too.