Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chu overwhelmed the sea gathering’s attackers, killing numerous martial artists and then defeating Beiming Xue with a single palm. As the remaining leaders recognized the danger, Fisherman Saber urged Northern Frontier Rogue and Chi Xue to join forces against him.

• Northern Frontier Rogue, Chi Xue, and Fisherman Saber challenged Zhang Chu and prepared to attack him over the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven inheritance.
• Zhang Chu summoned a golden Heavenly Saber and killed a peak Daoist Canon expert with one strike.
• Dozens of martial artists attacked Zhang Chu together, but his rippling power stopped and disintegrated them.
• Beiming Xue confronted Zhang Chu with his Frost Heaven Sword Domain, but Zhang Chu’s Godslayer palm shattered his sword and killed him.
• Fisherman Saber called on Northern Frontier Rogue and Chi Xue to join forces and kill Zhang Chu.

Zhang Chu defeated Fisherman Saber, then dismantled the Three Talents Absolute Formation and killed Northern Frontier Rogue, Chi Xue, and Qian Ji. With the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven rift closing behind him, he asked the remaining people whether they wanted to live or die.

• Zhang Chu evaded Fisherman Saber's attacks, seized his blade, and killed him with a palm strike.
• Northern Frontier Rogue recruited Chi Xue and Qian Ji to activate the Three Talents Absolute Formation against Zhang Chu.
• Zhang Chu used Godslayer to break the formation and kill Northern Frontier Rogue, then pursued and killed the fleeing Chi Xue and Qian Ji.
• The onlookers froze in fear as Zhang Chu stood before them and asked whether they wanted to live or die.

After Zhang Chu defeated three Extreme of Strength Realm experts, Wei Shanhe warned him that Great Red Heaven had engineered the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven crisis to lure martial artists into a trap and undermine Zhang Chu. Wei revealed that the Academy Master had divined Spirit Emperor would likely die on the fifteenth, leaving only seven days before the realm plunged into chaos, and urged Zhang Chu to return to Zhongzhou.

• Zhang Chu faced the surviving martial artists and spared them after Wei Shanhe warned that killing them might fulfill Great Red Heaven's scheme.
• Wei Shanhe told Zhang Chu that the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven's failing defenses were likely forced by an outside power to draw the gathered martial artists into a trap.
• Wei Shanhe explained that the Academy Master had divined Spirit Emperor would likely not survive the fifteenth, and Great Red Heaven was preparing to exploit the realm's ensuing chaos.
• Wei Shanhe warned that slaughtering the gathered martial artists could make Zhang Chu appear allied with the Demonic Cult and prevent him from uniting forces against Great Red Heaven.
• Zhang Chu learned it was the eighth, leaving seven days, and Wei Shanhe urged him to return to Zhongzhou before Spirit Emperor's predicted death.

News spread that Zhang Chu had slain numerous Extreme of Strength experts in the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven, making him the focus of growing attention as the Zhongzhou Academy Opening-of-Books Grand Ceremony approached. The chapter ended with factions gathering at the academy and Zhang Chu already on his way, as rumors of danger and a possible clash surrounded his arrival.

• A gray-robed informant confirmed that Zhang Chu had killed the Northern Frontier Rogue, Chi Xue, Qian Ji, and other powerful fighters, prompting three men to predict he would attend the academy ceremony.
• Across the realm, reports of Zhang Chu's killings spread, while a young Pei Family member publicly denounced him and drew warnings about the family's interest in him.
• Travelers heading to Zhongzhou Academy discussed the Spirit Emperor's grave illness, the political stakes of the ceremony, and Zhang Chu's expected appearance.
• By August twelfth, Mo Town had filled with visitors who speculated that Zhang Chu's secrets would attract powerful figures seeking his opportunities.
• The crowds converged on Zhongzhou Academy as Zhang Chu traveled toward it, with many expecting his arrival to spark a bloody storm.

Zhang Chu and Song Li took a hidden trail through the Hengduan Mountains and sought shelter from a storm in the strange Yeyu Village. They spent the night in an old man's house as unexplained sounds began wandering outside, leaving them alert to whatever the village concealed.

• Zhang Chu and Song Li traveled through the Hengduan Mountains to reach Zhongzhou Academy before the fifteenth, while Zhang Chu used the quiet journey to reflect on his gains from the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven.
• During a storm, Zhang Chu and Song Li found Yeyu Village, whose old stone stele and name stirred a vague memory in Zhang Chu.
• An elderly villager let them shelter in his house and warned them not to go outside or pay attention to any sounds after dark.
• Song Li pointed out that the village's houses appeared maintained, yet the empty street had no lights, footprints, cart ruts, or hoofprints.
• As Zhang Chu and Song Li rested, a slow scraping sound wandered outside, and the oil lamp flickered in the still room.

Zhang Chu and Song Li endured a night in Yeyu Village while a heel-less presence tested the carved threshold, then discovered at dawn that the village road had changed and its stele now read “Death.” Zhang Chu stepped onto the new road and found it led through mist to a vast desert road marked “Yellow Springs Road.”

• Song Li heard something circling the house, and Zhang Chu explained that a carved mark across the threshold seemed to keep it outside.
• A strange presence knocked, and Zhang Chu opened the door to find no one there but a heel-less half-footprint in the mud.
• Zhang Chu and Song Li waited through the night, and Song Li discovered at dawn that the village road no longer led back to the mountain forest.
• Song Li saw that the stele’s “Yeyu Village” inscription had changed to “Death,” and Zhang Chu stepped onto the gray-white road.
• Zhang Chu’s Spiritual Power revealed a vast road beneath yellow sand, where a stone pillar bore the words “Yellow Springs Road.”

Zhang Chu and Song Li followed Yellow Springs Road through Yinxu, where they discovered signs of earlier travelers and reached a stone bridge that demanded each person leave something behind to cross. Zhang Chu stepped onto the bridge and pressed his hand against it, leaving a palm print as his chosen offering.

• Zhang Chu confirmed that Yellow Springs Road was real, and Song Li recalled an ancient text describing the road and an Underworld Ferry.
• Zhang Chu and Song Li examined the white sea-buckthorn lining the road and found faint traces of blood in the soil.
• They encountered a motionless phantom, which Zhang Chu identified as a residual illusion left by someone who had traveled the road.
• They reached a stone bridge whose inscriptions said that each person crossing had to leave behind one cherished or regretted thing.
• Zhang Chu explained that the bridge marked the village's boundary and that an offering was required to cross, then stepped onto the bridge and pressed his hand against it.

Zhang Chu and Song Li crossed the Underworld Ferry and learned that it had once been called Underworld Heaven, with a crucial part of its structure hidden at Zhongzhou Academy. They emerged in the Academy’s forbidden grounds, where Chen Jingyi met them and offered to lead Zhang Chu to the Master.

• Zhang Chu pressed a palm print onto the bridge, awakening a response, then led Song Li through the darkness into a hall where a middle-aged man was waiting.
• The man showed Zhang Chu a blueprint of the ferry and revealed its original name, Underworld Heaven, and that its missing core part was in Zhongzhou Academy.
• The man explained that Yeyu Village predated the Academy and that the Master had reinforced the route; Zhang Chu learned the Opening Book Ceremony would begin the day after tomorrow.
• Zhang Chu and Song Li left through the corridor and arrived in the Academy’s outer courtyard, which Song Li recognized as resembling the Master’s residence and the Academy’s forbidden ground.
• At the bamboo building, Zhang Chu examined a formation mark before Chen Jingyi appeared, introduced herself, and invited him to meet the Master in the Great Hall.

Zhang Chu learned from the Academy’s elder that the Underworld Heaven Ferry beneath the Scripture Lecturing Platform might be tied to the Spirit Emperor’s fate, and agreed to attend the Opening Book Ceremony. The next morning, as he and Song Li approached the Academy, a powerful young man from the Pei Family arrived on horseback.

• Zhang Chu met the Academy’s elder, who explained that the underground ferry resonated with the bridge at Yeyu Village and required Zhang Chu’s spiritual power to activate it.
• The elder said the ferry’s core restrictions might be connected to the Spirit Emperor’s fate and told Zhang Chu to ask the Master for answers.
• Zhang Chu agreed to go to the Scripture Lecturing Platform for the Opening Book Ceremony at noon the next day, then left with Song Li to find lodging.
• On the morning of the fourteenth, Zhang Chu and Song Li walked toward Zhongzhou Academy as rumors spread about the ceremony and the Pei Family.
• A young Pei Family man arrived at the Academy’s gate on horseback, displaying the aura of someone at the Extreme of Strength.

At Zhongzhou Academy, Zhang Chu confronted Pei Yuanzhao, who confirmed that Pei Yuan had died after choosing a fatal path and warned that people were waiting for Zhang Chu to leave the Academy. Zhang Chu realized that the Pei Family was only one of several forces watching him, and he expected the aftermath of the ceremony to bring bloodshed.

• Pei Yuanzhao arrived at Zhongzhou Academy, where Mr. Xu reminded him that the academy would remain uninvolved in private grudges during the Opening Book Ceremony.
• Zhang Chu told Song Li that the Pei Family was making a public show of its intentions and entered the academy with her.
• Wei Shanhe told Zhang Chu that Pei Yuanzhao was meeting with several lineage family heads in the eastern side hall.
• Pei Yuanzhao asked Zhang Chu about Pei Yuan's death, accepted his answer, and warned him that people were waiting for him to leave the Academy.
• Zhang Chu told Song Li that multiple forces were watching him and predicted that the aftermath of the ceremony would run with rivers of blood.

At Zhongzhou Academy’s Opening Book Ceremony, He Chongshan and other leaders accused Zhang Chu of colluding with the Demonic Cult and being Dugu Weiwo’s successor. Zhang Chu killed He Chongshan in the hall and challenged the gathered crowd, while the Daoist Sect’s mountain masters prepared to support him.

• The academy opened its ceremony as representatives of Zhongzhou’s major lineages, the Daoist Sect, and the Imperial Clan gathered to enter the grand hall.
• He Chongshan accused Zhang Chu of associating with Poison Dao Master Ding Yi, and other speakers suggested Zhang Chu was connected to Dugu Weiwo and the Demonic Cult.
• Tian Chengzong and a swordsman in white added accusations that Zhang Chu had infiltrated the Daoist Sect and the Imperial Court’s Sea Patrol Guard.
• Zhang Chu stood and asked He Chongshan whether he had called him a Demonic Cult mole, then killed him with a single attack.
• The crowd erupted in condemnation as Tian Chengzong and others confronted Zhang Chu, while Xu Yuanzhen signaled the Daoist Sect’s mountain masters to hold back.
• Zhang Chu laughed at the accusations and dared anyone unafraid of death to step forward.

Zhang Chu defeated the martial artists who attacked him in the Great Hall, killing several powerful fighters and forcing the survivors to retreat. Pei Yuanfeng arrived and asked him to end the conflict, but Zhang Chu accused him of orchestrating the attack and refused to stop.

• Tian Chengzong rallied the gathered martial artists against Zhang Chu, who invited them to attack together.
• Tian Chengzong attacked first, but Zhang Chu shattered his saber and struck him down.
• Dozens of martial artists attacked Zhang Chu, who blocked their assault and cut down many of them.
• The White-Clothed Swordsman urged the survivors to keep fighting, but Zhang Chu killed him with a single palm strike.
• Pei Yuanfeng arrived and asked Zhang Chu to spare the remaining fighters, and Zhang Chu accused him of arranging the attack and rejected his demand.

Pei Yuanfeng revealed that he had reached the Extreme of Strength Perfection and challenged Zhang Chu, who answered with the Return to Ruins Power and the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven’s Godslayer technique. After Zhang Chu wounded and drove Pei Yuanfeng back, Pei Yuanfeng began using his two-hundred-year-old Great Burial move.

• Pei Yuanfeng’s aura crossed into the Extreme of Strength Perfection, and Xu Yuanzhen and True Man Songchang recognized how close he was to the Yin-Sealing Realm.
• Pei Yuanfeng demanded that Zhang Chu stop fighting, but Zhang Chu refused and manifested the dark golden Return to Ruins Power.
• Zhang Chu’s palm strike forced Pei Yuanfeng to retreat half a step, prompting Pei Yuanfeng to unleash his full aura and attack with the Great Luo Heavenly Hand.
• Zhang Chu identified and struck the weak point in Pei Yuanfeng’s Qi-blade web, then shattered his stone palm with Godslayer and wounded his hand.
• Pei Yuanfeng acknowledged Zhang Chu’s strength and began performing his two-hundred-year-old technique, the Great Burial.

Pei Yuanfeng used the Great Burial Style against Zhang Chu, but Zhang Chu’s Three Godslayer Styles shattered the attack and damaged Pei Yuanfeng’s meridians. As Pei Yuanfeng accepted defeat and the crowd began to flee, the Song King appeared and asked Zhang Chu to spare the Pei Family Patriarch.

• Pei Yuanfeng formed the Great Burial Style and warned Zhang Chu that the strike would compress everything in its path.
• Zhang Chu met Pei Yuanfeng’s palm with the Three Godslayer Styles, and their clash destroyed the Great Hall and sent people flying.
• Zhang Chu’s palm weakened Pei Yuanfeng’s technique and damaged his meridians, forcing him to admit defeat.
• Pei Yuanfeng asked Zhang Chu to let the matter end after his death, while the frightened crowd began to retreat.
• The Song King arrived and asked Zhang Chu to spare Pei Yuanfeng, saying the patriarch could not die yet.

King Song arrived at the Academy, defended Zhang Chu against accusations, and offered him two Seven Limits steles in exchange for joining his side. When Zhang Chu refused to cooperate with the Heavenly Evil Cult and rejected King Song’s pressure, the Old Celestial Master and the Master of Zhongzhou Academy appeared to intervene.

• King Song entered the hall, and Yang Guang and the assembled factions bowed to him.
• King Song dismissed the accusations against Zhang Chu and offered him two Seven Limits steles in exchange for cooperation.
• Zhang Chu refused to ally with the Heavenly Evil Cult but offered to trade for the steles, prompting King Song’s Deep Robe Attendants to threaten him.
• King Song revealed his Extreme of Strength Pinnacle power and pressured Zhang Chu to choose his side.
• Zhang Chu challenged King Song’s attempt to force his choice, and the Old Celestial Master and the Master of Zhongzhou Academy arrived to protect him.

King Song left the Academy after admitting he had wanted to test Zhang Chu and believed the young man might surpass him in ten years. Master explained that King Song sought Zhang Chu’s help because he held two Seven Limits Steles, knew a clue to the third, and sensed Zhang Chu’s secrets; Zhang Chu then went to question the Old Celestial Master.

• The Old Celestial Master intervened when King Song pressured Zhang Chu, and King Song acknowledged that Zhang Chu might surpass him in ten years.
• Master redirected King Song to the Academy’s courtyard, and King Song departed with his two Deep Robe Attendants.
• The Old Celestial Master confirmed Zhang Chu had used seventy percent of his strength in the confrontation.
• Master told Zhang Chu that King Song possessed two Seven Limits Steles and a true clue to the third, and that he needed Zhang Chu as a trusted ally before the Spirit Emperor’s death brought chaos.
• Master urged Zhang Chu to remember why he had rejected King Song’s partnership, and Zhang Chu left determined to uncover the truth and confront those who sought to kill him.
• Zhang Chu turned toward the waiting Old Celestial Master, intending to ask him about the steles.

Zhang Chu learned from the Old Celestial Master that the Seven Limits were keys to an ancient gate and received a silk map pointing beyond the Underworld Heaven Ferry, where answers about the gate and his missing master Huang Xugu awaited. He went to the Prince's Mansion to confront Pei Yuanfeng, but found Pei absent and encountered someone unexpected.

• Zhang Chu told the Old Celestial Master that the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven had been dismantled and linked its core structure to the Underworld Heaven Ferry.
• The Old Celestial Master revealed that the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven had once been a gate, the Seven Limits were its keys, and the Source Cult guarded it while factions within were being corrupted by the power beyond it.
• The Old Celestial Master gave Zhang Chu a silk map to the far side of the Underworld Heaven Ferry and confirmed that Huang Xugu had traveled there carrying the Fate Character Stele.
• Zhang Chu decided to settle matters with Pei Yuanfeng before investigating the ferry and traveled to Zhongzhou's Prince's Mansion after nightfall.
• Zhang Chu entered the Prince's Mansion undetected, sensed no trace of Pei Yuanfeng, and recognized a familiar person in a side courtyard.

Zhang Chu overheard Zen Master White Eyebrow deliver Living Buddha’s crimson lotus seed and plans to a disguised elder in Song Prince’s Mansion, then followed the elder into a hidden underground city. There he found the Sickness Stele and confronted a powerful guard who confirmed Pei Yuanfeng was inside, before Zhang Chu struck first.

• Zhang Chu secretly watched Zen Master White Eyebrow meet a cyan-robed elder and discuss Living Buddha’s plan to use Red Mountain’s Fire and a crimson lotus seed to help Song Prince.
• The elder opened a concealed passage, and Zhang Chu discovered that Song Prince’s Mansion hid an underground city shielded from his Spiritual Power.
• Zhang Chu followed the elder underground and found the Sickness Stele in a great hall, where its aura powered a grand array.
• A moon-white-robed Extreme of Strength confronted Zhang Chu, who asked about Pei Yuanfeng and Living Buddha’s intentions.
• The newcomer confirmed Pei Yuanfeng was in the mansion but refused to let Zhang Chu see him, and Zhang Chu attacked before he could finish speaking.

Zhang Chu confronted Shen Yangui in the underground Great Hall and broke the formation surrounding the Sickness Stele, only to discover that the formation had also sealed its power. After withstanding the released sickness and touching the stele, Zhang Chu waited for Shen Yangui’s reinforcements to arrive.

• Zhang Chu tested Shen Yangui with a palm strike, then caught his sword and injured him while demanding to know where Pei Yuanfeng was.
• Shen Yangui revealed that Pei Yuanfeng was secluded in a chamber beneath the Great Hall and activated the formation around the Sickness Stele.
• Zhang Chu recognized the formation’s underlying logic from Source Cult formations and struck the stele’s base, breaking the formation eye.
• Shen Yangui revealed that the formation had also sealed the Sickness Stele, releasing black mist that sought a living host.
• Zhang Chu repelled the sickness with his dark golden power, read the stele’s inscription, and touched it as it began to awaken.
• Zhang Chu told Shen Yangui he had touched the stele to find Pei Yuanfeng and watched another aura approach the Great Hall.

Zhang Chu confronted King Song’s four hidden experts in the underground Great Hall after breaking the formation and revealed that he had fused the powers of three Seven Limits Steles. He killed Zhao Fentian, Tie Hengshan, and Liu Wuhen, then overwhelmed Shen Yangui and declared that they were not worthy of sharing his realm.

• Tie Hengshan, Zhao Fentian, and Liu Wuhen emerged alongside Shen Yangui and challenged Zhang Chu in the Great Hall, while Shen Yangui revealed that Pei Yuanfeng was below.
• Zhang Chu activated the powers of three Seven Limits Steles, shocking the four experts with his strength.
• Zhao Fentian attacked Zhang Chu, who snapped his saber and killed him with a palm strike.
• Tie Hengshan clashed with Zhang Chu, who pierced his shoulder with Godslayer and killed him.
• Liu Wuhen tried to attack Zhang Chu’s spiritual root, but his Dao Embryo reflected her assault and he killed her with a palm strike.
• Shen Yangui expected Zhang Chu to be exhausted, but Zhang Chu revealed his immense Spiritual Power, struck him down, and declared that the four experts were unworthy of sharing his realm.