Chapter Summaries

Zhuang Lingyun revealed that she had brought sixty-six Little Match Pros and thirty Little Match Pro Maxes to the Primordial God Realm, alarming the other Young Ancestors. The Ancestor of Tianji Peak urged the group to make their upcoming battle against the High-Level Heavenly Vault look convincing, and the seven Young Ancestors left to explore.

• Zhuang Lingyun admitted she carried Little Match Pros for safety, then produced sixty-six of them at the Ancestor of Tianji Peak's request.
• After Ling Fei asked whether she had brought Little Match Pro Maxes, Zhuang Lingyun revealed she had thirty, shocking Jia Yu, He Qiang, and the others.
• The Ancestor of Tianji Peak told the Young Ancestors to make their fight against the High-Level Heavenly Vault convincing, even if they had to lose.
• The Young Ancestors discussed their eagerness to fight, and the Ancestor of Tianji Peak sent Ling Fei and the other six to explore the Primordial God Realm and meet Yunfei's disciples.
• A round object fell from Zhuang Lingyun, but she and Ling Fei explained it was only a harmless snapper.

The High-Level Heavenly Vault gathered its Quasi-Immortal Emperors for the next battle, with powerful clans sending representatives to avenge their losses. Nalan Haohuan and the Jin Tian Immortal Clan siblings privately planned to avoid fighting, but the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor warned them to do their duties.

• Quasi-Immortal Emperors discussed the expected fighters, including Gu Hanyu, Nalan Haohuan, and two members of the Jin Tian Immortal Clan.
• Gu Hanyu arrived secretly and boasted that he would avenge his younger brother, Gu Hanfei.
• Nalan Haohuan worried that his father had sent him to die and resolved to find a way home alive.
• Xiao Xukun and Xiao Luxia planned to slack off, but the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor overheard them and ordered them to fight seriously.
• Nalan Haohuan challenged the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor to send him home, but the Ancient Ancestor instead told him to fulfill his duty.

Gu Hanyu prepared to avenge the Gu Family’s humiliation by challenging Hua Ziyang, while the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor warned him not to underestimate the opposition. The Ghost Dragon Clan’s Gui Yanjun and a powerful black dragon arrived to join the coming battles, leaving the High-Level Heavenly Vault confident in their strength.

• Gu Hanyu told the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor that he had come to avenge the Gu Family, not merely his younger brother Gu Hanfei, and promised to defeat Hua Ziyang.
• The Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor warned Gu Hanyu about the opposing side’s strength and claims of hidden power, but Gu Hanyu dismissed those claims as a deliberate bluff.
• The Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor met a black dragon and Gui Yanjun above an ancient mountain range in the Seventeenth Layer Heavenly Vault.
• The black dragon announced that Gui Yanjun, the Ghost Dragon Clan’s foremost Quasi-Immortal Emperor of his generation, would fight in the Quasi-Immortal Emperor battle.
• The black dragon said he would fight at the Immortal Emperor level if the Immortal Venerable held such a battle, and vowed to kill any opponent.

The Black Dragon and Gui Yanjun discussed the coming battles and the Black Dragon’s elder brother’s meeting with Dao Wushuang. The Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor then met a blind Dao-robed youth from the Ancient Formation Clan, who agreed to fight in the coming war.

• The Black Dragon vowed to target the Sacred Dragon Emperor’s children in the Immortal Emperor War, while Gui Yanjun planned to kill Sacred Dragon Clan members in the Quasi-Immortal Emperor Battle.
• The Black Dragon explained that his elder brother had gone to meet Dao Wushuang to test himself and improve, not simply to claim the title of greatest throughout history.
• The Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor found a Dao-robed youth concealed in a flower-filled valley and learned that an Ancient Formation Clan ancestor had awakened.
• The youth explained that he had removed his eyes after being deceived in love and said he would fight for the Ancient Formation Clan.
• The Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor welcomed the youth’s participation and trusted his formation skills to defeat the opposing side’s cultivators.

Three months after the Immortal King Battle, the Imperial Alliance’s Quasi-Immortal Emperors entered a new contest on the Tiangang Continent: a Fortress Battle. Ye Bufan and He Qiang found their forces scattered among separate fortresses, and the battle was set to begin in three days.

• The Emperor Lord rallied fifty thousand Quasi-Immortal Emperors to fight with pride and led them to the Tiangang Continent.
• Space Law scattered the emperors among eight fortresses, where Ye Bufan arrived at Heaven's Fortress with more than six thousand others.
• Golden rules revealed that the sides had to capture all eight opposing Fortress Flags, while conquered fortresses faced punishment and strict restrictions governed support and formation arrays.
• He Qiang realized that Ling Fei, Hua Shuheng, Jia Yu, Zhuang Lingyun, Ye Bufan, Huang Xuan, and Jia Duobao had been separated, and suspected the rules targeted Kaoshan Sect.
• The battle rules vanished and announced that the Fortress Battle would begin in three days.

The Imperial Alliance struggled to find the formation switches in its eight fortresses before the battle, while the High-Level Heavenly Vault activated all of its own defenses and mocked them. He Qiang and Ling Fei found switches for the Universe and Yellow Fortresses, and Nangong Wentian traded insults with the High-Level Heavenly Vault cultivators outside the Yellow Fortress as the battle drew near.

• The Imperial Alliance searched its eight fortresses for their hidden formation switches while the High-Level Heavenly Vault activated all eight of its defensive formations.
• He Qiang found the deeply concealed switch in the Universe Fortress after nearly two days of searching and activated its defensive formation.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault cultivators mocked the Imperial Alliance outside its fortresses, but Ling Fei guided the Yellow Fortress to its switch and activated its defense.
• Nangong Wentian mocked the cultivators outside the Yellow Fortress with jokes about their insults and called them 249s, making them furious.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault cultivators left, threatening to settle matters during the fortress battle the next day.

As the truce ended, two Imperial Alliance fortresses remained without defensive formations, and the High-Level Heavenly Vault forces launched their assault on Cosmic Fortress. The battle began with Xiao Luxia targeting Zhuang Lingyun and Gui Yanjun choosing Han Que as his opponent.

• Nangong Wentian mocked the High-Level Heavenly Vault cultivators outside Yellow Fortress, then asked Ling Fei whether the other fortresses had found their formation switches.
• Ye Bufan's Heaven's Fortress and the Mysterious Fortress found their switches, bringing the total to four activated formations; Earth Fortress and Desolate Fortress found theirs by the deadline, but Cosmic Fortress and Hong's Fortress did not.
• At Hong's Fortress, Hua Shuheng and the Imperial Alliance's emperors prepared to fight to the death, while Young Ancestors of Gouyuan Peak and Tianji Peak apologized for failing to find the switch.
• Several thousand High-Level Heavenly Vault cultivators surrounded Cosmic Fortress, where Gui Yanjun and Xiao Luxia confronted the Imperial Alliance forces.
• Gui Yanjun ordered the High-Level Heavenly Vault forces to attack, and the Imperial Alliance's Quasi-Immortal Emperors charged to meet them.
• Xiao Luxia claimed Zhuang Lingyun as her opponent, while Gui Yanjun chose Han Que after seeing his strength in battle.

Han Que and Wang Xuan joined forces against Gui Yanjun and self-detonated after realizing they could not defeat him, but he survived unharmed. The Imperial Alliance’s emperors counterattacked in grief as Gui Yanjun mocked them and the battle remained overwhelmingly in the High-Level Heavenly Vault’s favor.

• Gui Yanjun badly wounded Han Que and overwhelmed his Immortal Slaying Art, Imperial Fist, sword embryo, and treasured pagoda.
• Wang Xuan helped Han Que to his feet, and the two imperial heirs resolved to defend the Imperial Court together.
• Han Que and Wang Xuan seized Gui Yanjun and self-detonated, declaring that the Imperial Court would never yield.
• Their deaths drove the Imperial Alliance’s emperors to counterattack, while Zhuang Lingyun continued fighting Xiao Luxia near the Fortress Flag.
• Gui Yanjun reappeared unharmed, revealed that he had allowed the two heirs to grab him, and taunted the battlefield’s survivors.

The Immortal Alliance’s emperors used self-detonation to make the High-Level Heavenly Vault’s forces hesitate, but Gui Yanjun turned the battle back in their favor by grievously wounding them. After Gui Yanjun interrupted Zhuang Lingyun’s staged fight with Xiao Luxia and called her ugly, she vowed to make sure he would not leave intact.

• A woman from an ancient race seized a High-Level Heavenly Vault Quasi-Immortal Emperor and self-detonated, killing him and making the opposing forces wary of the Immortal Alliance’s emperors.
• Gui Yanjun rampaged through the battlefield, wounding Immortal Alliance emperors and undermining their ability to self-detonate without harming their allies.
• Ao Kun watched Gui Yanjun and vowed to wipe out every Ghost Dragon Clan Immortal Emperor on the battlefield.
• Gui Yanjun intervened in Zhuang Lingyun and Xiao Luxia’s staged fight, struck Zhuang Lingyun hard enough to make her bleed, and sent Xiao Luxia away.
• After Gui Yanjun called Zhuang Lingyun an ugly woman, she angrily challenged him to leave the battlefield in one piece.

Zhuang Lingyun revealed her overwhelming strength, defeated Gui Yanjun, and broke his Ghost Dragon Seal with her own Mystic seal. After Gui Yanjun escaped using the Ghost Dragon Flash and continued insulting her, Zhuang Lingyun sent out a Little Match to track him down.

• Zhuang Lingyun attacked Gui Yanjun and battered him, forcing him to transform into his true Ghost Dragon form.
• Gui Yanjun unleashed the Ghost Dragon Seal, but Zhuang Lingyun's Mystic seal shattered it and struck him with her soul power.
• Zhuang Lingyun pinned Gui Yanjun beneath her foot, but he kept insulting her and escaped with the Ghost Dragon Flash.
• Zhuang Lingyun produced a Little Match and ordered it to locate, track, and annihilate Gui Yanjun.

Zhuang Lingyun used Little Match to drive Gui Yanjun from the Cosmic Fortress, but the weapon pursued him as he fled. After Zhuang Lingyun collapsed from the effort, both sides converged on her over the Fortress Flag, and she agreed to surrender it if Xiao Luxia first made her allies withdraw.

• Zhuang Lingyun activated Little Match, forcing Gui Yanjun to flee the Cosmic Fortress as the weapon tracked him through repeated uses of Ghost Dragon Flash.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault emperors assumed Gui Yanjun would reach the fortress’s defenses and turned their attention to seizing the Fortress Flag from Zhuang Lingyun.
• Zhuang Lingyun vomited blood and fell from the sky, and the Kaoshan Sect Young Ancestor caught her.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault emperors surrounded Zhuang Lingyun while the Imperial Alliance emperors gathered around her to protect her.
• Xiao Luxia demanded the Fortress Flag and promised to withdraw, and Zhuang Lingyun agreed on the condition that Xiao Luxia first made the others retreat.

Zhuang Lingyun persuaded the Imperial Alliance’s Emperors to leave the Cosmic Fortress as Xiao Luxia took the Universe Flag. Little Match destroyed the High-Level Heavenly Vault’s Cosmic Fortress, killing Gui Yanjun and its five hundred Quasi-Immortal Emperor guards.

• Xiao Luxia ordered the High-Level Heavenly Vault’s Emperors to withdraw, while Zhuang Lingyun assured the Imperial Alliance’s Emperors that the Cosmic Fortress would not fall.
• Xiao Luxia took the Universe Flag and left the fortress, then saw an explosion and mushroom cloud rise from its direction.
• Gui Yanjun fled from Little Match to the High-Level Heavenly Vault’s Cosmic Fortress, where he escaped inside the defensive array.
• Little Match broke through the defensive array and exploded inside the fortress, flattening it and killing Gui Yanjun and the five hundred Quasi-Immortal Emperor guards.
• Xiao Luxia and the High-Level Heavenly Vault’s Emperors returned to find the fortress destroyed, while Zhuang Lingyun faintly smiled.

After Little Match destroyed the High-Level Heavenly Vault's Cosmic Fortress and killed Gui Yanjun and five hundred Quasi-Immortal Emperors, the battle was declared a draw. Zhuang Lingyun was celebrated by the Imperial Alliance, and she confirmed that she belonged to the Black Hand Organization.

• Xiao Luxia realized Zhuang Lingyun had anticipated Gui Yanjun's retreat and used Little Match to destroy the fortress, then told the surviving Emperors that the battle was a draw.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault's Emperors wanted to attack the Imperial Alliance, but Xiao Luxia said the rules kept both sides in place until a conquering side emerged.
• A notice declared both sides defeated in a draw and exempt from punishment, leaving the High-Level Heavenly Vault's forces unable to reinforce other fortresses.
• The Imperial Alliance's Emperors cheered Zhuang Lingyun for preventing their defeat, and the Young Ancestor of Kaoshan Sect helped her to her feet.
• Zhuang Lingyun confirmed she was from the Black Hand Organization and joked that she had never clubbed anyone from behind, prompting the Emperors to tease her.
• Zhuang Lingyun recalled her ancestor saying that clubbing people from behind settled the karma of all beings and thought she finally understood.

After Little Match was banned, the High-Level Heavenly Vault army prepared to attack Hong's Fortress, where Hua Shuheng and the Imperial Alliance awaited them. As the enemy arrived, Hua Shuheng took on the three expedition leaders at once and declared that they would have to defeat him to claim the Fortress Flag.

• The Ancient Ancestors banned Little Match after it destroyed the Cosmic Fortress, prompting the High-Level Heavenly Vault to swear revenge.
• Nalan Haohuan led the assembled army from Hong's Fortress toward the Imperial Alliance, though he privately feared the coming battle.
• At Hong's Fortress, Jinjin fretted about dying while Hua Shuheng resolved to hold off the enemy's strongest fighters.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault army arrived, and Hua Shuheng attacked Shu Tianhao, Dongfang Yue, and Gongsun Liyue before they could speak.
• Hua Shuheng challenged the three leaders to defeat him if they wanted the Fortress Flag.

Hua Shuheng overwhelmed Shu Tianhao, Dongfang Yue, and Gongsun Liyue at Hong's Fortress while the Imperial Alliance fought the High-Level Heavenly Vault. Nalan Haohuan was still riding toward the battle on an ordinary horse, and Hua Shuheng learned that Gongsun Liyue belonged to the Heavenly Mandate Daoist Academy.

• Hua Shuheng attacked Shu Tianhao, Dongfang Yue, and Gongsun Liyue together, quickly injuring Shu Tianhao and smashing apart Dongfang Yue's mountain seal.
• Jinjin rallied the Imperial Alliance, then dodged a blue-robed Quasi-Immortal Emperor's attacks while taunting him across the battlefield.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault's elders complained that Nalan Haohuan was still traveling on horseback, leaving Shu Tianhao and the others without his help.
• Hua Shuheng continued to dominate the three opponents, while Gongsun Liyue held the line and suffered fewer injuries than Shu Tianhao and Dongfang Yue.
• Gongsun Liyue told Hua Shuheng she belonged to the Heavenly Mandate Daoist Academy, and he recognized her as one of Dao Wushuang's people.

Hua Shuheng fought Gongsun Liyue after she unleashed the strength she had been ordered to conceal, defeating her in a fierce battle. With Hong's Fortress losing ground despite his victory, Nalan Haohuan finally appeared and claimed he had been patrolling the rear.

• Hua Shuheng saw that Gongsun Liyue had been holding back, and she revealed her full strength before challenging him with her Immortal Sword.
• Gongsun Liyue sent Shu Tianhao and Dongfang Yue away from the duel, but Hua Shuheng struck them down when they tried to leave.
• Hua Shuheng and Gongsun Liyue fought fiercely for an hour, until his heaven-piercing fist imprint defeated her and badly damaged her sword.
• Gongsun Liyue warned Hua Shuheng that Hong's Fortress was still likely to lose as the Imperial Alliance's Quasi-Immortal Emperors were being overwhelmed.
• Nalan Haohuan suddenly appeared on horseback, and when Shu Tianhao and Dongfang Yue questioned his late arrival, he claimed he had been patrolling the rear.

Nalan Haohuan faced Hua Shuheng in a battle over the Fortress Flag, but secretly begged him to help stage a defeat so he could survive the battlefield. Hua Shuheng learned that Nalan Haohuan was Nalan Qingqing’s brother and agreed to play along, while the watching Ancient Ancestors grew furious at Nalan Haohuan’s defiance.

• Nalan Haohuan was forced to the battlefield by the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor and admitted he feared the Immortal Venerable’s punishment.
• Hua Shuheng challenged Nalan Haohuan for the Fortress Flag and struck him with a powerful punch, which Nalan Haohuan easily blocked with his War Halberd.
• Nalan Haohuan secretly told Hua Shuheng about his father’s neglect and asked him to stage a long fight before letting him retreat as if badly injured.
• Hua Shuheng warned Nalan Haohuan that the powerful observers could hear his voice transmissions, but Nalan Haohuan openly defied the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor.
• Hua Shuheng recognized Nalan Haohuan as Nalan Qingqing’s brother and realized that Nalan Haohuan was genuinely powerful despite having no desire to fight.

Nalan Haohuan and Hua Shuheng fought while their allies joined in, but the battle remained a tense stalemate. At Hong's Fortress, Jinjin revealed his overwhelming strength by defeating a Quasi-Immortal Emperor, then faced two more opponents as he proclaimed his invincibility.

• The Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor ordered Gongsun Liyue and the others to join Hua Shuheng and Nalan Haohuan's fight, prompting Nalan Haohuan to complain but obey.
• Nalan Haohuan secretly told Hua Shuheng to take it easy and planned to escape, while both sides held back and Shu Tianhao and Dongfang Yue eventually withdrew with severe injuries.
• The Imperial Alliance struggled at Hong's Fortress, where Jinjin suddenly wounded the cyan-robed Quasi-Immortal Emperor who had been chasing him.
• Jinjin used the Hua Clan Secret Art—Chicken Fist to defeat the cyan-robed Quasi-Immortal Emperor and boast that he was Hua Yunfei's named disciple.
• Two Quasi-Immortal Emperors from the High-Level Heavenly Vault charged Jinjin after his declarations of invincibility.

The battle at Hong's Fortress dragged on until reinforcements from the High-Level Heavenly Vault arrived, revealing that the Universe Fortress had fallen. Outnumbered and surrounded, Hua Shuheng accepted that Hong's Fortress was lost as Nalan Haohuan urged him to surrender the Fortress Flag to save the Imperial Alliance's defenders.

• Jinjin fled from three Quasi-Immortal Emperors, using his movement techniques to evade them while the Ghost Phoenix Race Ancient Ancestor recognized the race's arts in his fighting style.
• Hua Shuheng, Nalan Haohuan, Gongsun Liyue, Shu Tianhao, and Dongfang Yue continued battling at Hong's Fortress for five days as the Imperial Alliance's fighters grew injured and exhausted.
• A vast force of Quasi-Immortal Emperors arrived from other fortresses, and Xiao Luxia's presence revealed that the Cosmic Fortress had joined the assault.
• Gu Hanyu and Xiao Xukun arrived with the reinforcements, confirming that the Universe Fortress had fallen under He Qiang's defense.
• The High-Level Heavenly Vault's forces surrounded Hong's Fortress and Hua Shuheng, leaving the Imperial Alliance at a severe disadvantage.
• Nalan Haohuan urged Hua Shuheng to hand over the Fortress Flag so the Imperial Alliance's emperors could survive, and Hua Shuheng looked down at their despairing faces.

Gu Hanyu revealed that he had killed He Qiang and displayed his severed head to humiliate the Imperial Alliance. Hua Shuheng finally confronted Gu Hanyu, making clear that he intended to avenge his companion.

• Gu Hanyu told the Imperial Alliance that everyone from the Universe Fortress had died, and Hua Shuheng realized He Qiang was among them.
• Gu Hanyu displayed He Qiang’s severed head on the Gu Family flag and bragged that he had killed and desecrated him.
• The Imperial Alliance’s emperors condemned Gu Hanyu, while Sima Yan defended the act and Xiao Xukun remained silent.
• Hua Shuheng broke his silence and challenged Gu Hanyu after Gu Hanyu taunted him.
• Hua Shuheng told Gu Hanyu that he had humiliated his companion and that he had chosen how he would die.