Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chu killed Zhou Jingshan and accepted Mo Li’s offer to examine the White Rainbow Sword Art. He discovered a hidden map pointing to the Secret of Heaven on the Yellow Wind Plain, where the story’s next mystery awaited.

• Zhou Jingshan told Zhang Chu that the Demonic Cult might be hiding on the Yellow Wind Plain, where Returning Geese Academy once stood, and Zhang Chu killed him for 140000 Merit Points.
• Mo Li and the White Deer Academy disciples thanked Zhang Chu for saving the Academy, and Mo Li invited him to examine its Library Pavilion.
• Mo Li showed Zhang Chu the White Rainbow Sword Art, which could lead to Jade Liquid Perfection and the Sword Bone if united with the other three arts.
• Zhang Chu found a hidden beast-hide map inside the scroll, and Mo Li recognized its marked location as the Yellow Wind Plain and its signature as the Academy patriarch Zhu Yu’s.

Zhang Chu uncovered that the Demonic Cult’s true target was an Underground Palace beneath Returning Geese Academy, where the Secret of Heaven might reveal the truth behind Desert Dao Academy’s destruction. After securing White Deer Academy’s inheritance and leaving its disciples in hiding, he traveled to Yellow Wind Plain and encountered the Sand Scorpion Cult.

• Mo Li recognized the patriarch’s writing on the map fragment, and Zhang Chu deduced that it marked an Underground Palace beneath Returning Geese Academy.
• Zhang Chu and Mo Li concluded that the Demonic Cult had targeted the Secret of Heaven and might have breached the ancient formations protecting Returning Geese Academy.
• Zhang Chu cleared the Academy’s remaining poison, and Mo Li closed White Deer Academy’s gates and entrusted him with the White Rainbow Sword Art and an Academy jade token.
• Wu Qingfeng and the other core disciples volunteered to accompany Zhang Chu, but he ordered them to stay behind and rebuild the Academy.
• Zhang Chu traveled to Yellow Wind Plain and spotted members of the Sand Scorpion Cult gathered in the distance.

Zhang Chu learned that the Demonic Cult was using captured Martial World experts in a blood sacrifice beneath Returning Geese Academy, and he headed for the ruins. As imprisoned experts faced imminent sacrifice, Zhang Chu’s voice challenged the Demonic Cult guards.

• Zhang Chu restrained a group of Dark Strength Realm bandits with Spiritual Power and learned that the Demonic Cult was close to breaching the Twelve Linked Sandstorm Array.
• The bandits revealed that the Demonic Cult had captured Martial World experts to nourish a black demonic flower, and their leader died from Zhang Chu’s Spiritual Power.
• Zhang Chu flew through the sandstorm toward the ruins of Returning Geese Academy.
• Imprisoned Martial World experts heard Demonic Cult warriors boast that three Golden Boy lords were guarding the prison and would use the demonic flower to refine Golden Cores and claim Desert Dao Academy’s inheritance.
• As the prisoners despaired and the guards mocked them, Zhang Chu’s voice dismissed the pill-refining boys’ strength.

Zhang Chu infiltrated the Demonic Cult’s Sacred Flower Heavenly Prison and effortlessly killed its guards before destroying the underground prison with one palm. The chained Righteous Path experts survived in a lone cage, stunned by his overwhelming power.

• Zhang Chu emerged inside the dungeon as Demonic Cult guards and imprisoned Righteous Path experts reacted to his arrival.
• The Mount Hua elder, an elderly Kunlun man, and other captives urged Zhang Chu to flee and warned him about the guards and poison.
• Demonic Cult guards attacked Zhang Chu with poison, but he used Spirit Silence to kill more than a dozen True Gang Realm guards with a single command.
• Zhang Chu unleashed Myriad Things Extinction · Covering the Sky, obliterating the underground prison and leaving only the captives’ cage intact.
• A middle-aged captive recognized Zhang Chu and trembled as he exclaimed that it was him.

Zhang Chu freed the Righteous Path experts imprisoned at Yellow Wind Plain, then confronted and killed two of the Medicine Dao Master's Golden Boys. He took the jade token marked “East” that they dropped.

• Zhang Chu shattered the iron cages and freed the poisoned Righteous Path experts, who recognized and thanked him.
• Two Golden Boys emerged from beneath the earth and confronted Zhang Chu over his attacks on the Demonic Cult.
• Zhang Chu revealed that he had killed the Dao Child at Desolate Manor, enraging the Golden Boys.
• The Golden Boys transformed using the Reverse Chaos Yin Yang Undying Ascend to Immortality Art and attacked Zhang Chu with poison.
• Zhang Chu countered with Heavenly Toad Undying, Samsara, and Heaven Covering, erasing both Golden Boys and earning merit points.
• Zhang Chu collected the jade token marked “East” that fell after their deaths.

Zhang Chu rescued more captives and learned that the Demonic Cult was sacrificing Righteous Path disciples to weaken the Twelve Linked Sandstorm Array. After annihilating an escort with one Heaven Covering strike, he approached the array, whose final barrier and array eye remained intact.

• The Kunlun sect leader told Zhang Chu that many captives had been taken to the Twelve Linked Sandstorm Array and begged him to save them.
• Zhang Chu flew above Yellow Wind Plain and spotted a Demonic Cult convoy escorting Righteous Path cultivators.
• Zhang Chu used Heaven Covering to crush the escort and its captors, earning Merit Points and freeing the prisoners.
• Mo Xingzhou of the Qinglian Sect explained that the Demonic Cult had sacrificed captives to erode the array and said a bluish stone was its array eye.
• Zhang Chu walked toward the Twelve Linked Sandstorm Array despite Mo Xingzhou's warning.

Zhang Chu broke the Twelve Linked Sandstorm Array and uncovered an ancient Underground Palace whose doors required four jade tokens. He exposed Mo Xingzhou as the third Golden Boy, but the Golden Boy’s confidence faltered when Zhang Chu denied being poisoned and revealed that the missing North token was not lost.

• Zhang Chu destroyed all twelve sandstorm tornadoes with one palm, revealing an ancient Underground Palace built into the mountainside.
• Mo Xingzhou pointed out four keyholes in the stone doors, and Zhang Chu showed that two of his jade tokens matched them.
• Zhang Chu accused Mo Xingzhou of poisoning him and identified him as the third Golden Boy.
• Mo Xingzhou shed his disguise, revealed his Bone Law Realm strength and a black South jade token, and claimed Zhang Chu was doomed by the secret poison.
• Zhang Chu said he had never been poisoned and asked who had said the North jade token was missing.

Zhang Chu killed the Third Golden Boy with a single palm strike and took the South Jade Token. At the Underground Palace gate, he discovered that the fourth groove was shaped for a different key and recognized it as the slot for the True Martial Temple Token.

• The Third Golden Boy attacked Zhang Chu with poison mist and demonic power, but Zhang Chu killed him with one palm strike.
• Zhang Chu claimed the South Jade Token and prepared to open the Underground Palace with the East, West, and South tokens.
• The three jade tokens fit the first three grooves in the stone gate, but the gate remained shut because the fourth groove was empty.
• Zhang Chu and the others noticed that the fourth groove differed from the others and was likely made for a separate token.
• Zhang Chu recognized the fourth groove’s shape as belonging to the True Martial Temple Token.

Zhang Chu opened the Great Desert Ancestor’s Underground Palace with a True Martial Temple token, but found it empty except for the words “Red Mountain,” written in his master’s hand. He sent the Righteous Path members away and realized his Merit Points were sufficient to merge martial arts.

• Zhang Chu fitted his True Martial Temple token into the fourth groove, opening the stone gate to the Underground Palace.
• Zhang Chu led the others through the corridor to a vast chamber, where they found an empty jade platform and no treasures or manuals.
• Zhang Chu recognized the carved words “Red Mountain” as his master’s handwriting and inferred that his master had visited Yellow Wind Plain and taken what the palace once held.
• Zhang Chu told the Righteous Path members to leave and recover, and the Kunlun sect leader and Mount Hua elder obeyed before departing with the others.
• Zhang Chu awakened the Merit System and found that his Merit Points were enough to merge martial arts.

Zhang Chu fused Heavenly Toad Undying Divine Skill, Divine Phoenix Strike, and Silent God Art into the South Bright Longevity Technique, then perfected its first two layers with Merit Points. He began strengthening the third layer, leaving the divine art’s final transformation unfinished.

• Zhang Chu used one million Merit Points to fuse the three supreme arts into the South Bright Longevity Technique.
• Zhang Chu discovered that the new technique greatly increased his lifespan, vitality, and ability to regenerate from severe injuries.
• Zhang Chu spent 200,000 Merit Points perfecting the first layer, Xuanxi, which gave him formidable bodily defense and rapid recovery.
• Zhang Chu spent 400,000 Merit Points perfecting the second layer, Nine Feathers, which fused his offensive power and Spiritual Power into nine mind-power blades.
• Zhang Chu ordered the third layer strengthened with all his might.

Zhang Chu fused the third layer of the Southern Bright Undying Heavenly Art, gained the Eternal Undying Heaven vision, and pondered the mysteries of the Underground Palace. As he prepared to seek more martial arts and Merit Points at the Western Regions Sky Patrol Guard headquarters, Tu Xiong and Li Gang reported that Sun Sky Patrol Guard had gone missing.

• Zhang Chu spent 800,000 Merit Points to complete the third layer, Immortal, and gained an undying body and inexhaustible mind power.
• Zhang Chu awakened his third vision, Eternal Undying Heaven, and judged that only a Daoist Scripture Realm powerhouse could threaten him.
• Zhang Chu returned to the Underground Palace and wondered how the old man had obtained the jade plaques and what hidden danger lay beneath it.
• Zhang Chu decided to seek supreme arts and Merit Points at the Western Regions Sky Patrol Guard headquarters.
• Tu Xiong and Li Gang rushed into the Underground Palace and told Zhang Chu that Sun Sky Patrol Guard had gone missing.

Zhang Chu learned that Sun Youwei and her guard had vanished while traveling to the Western Regions Sky Patrol Guard garrison, and he ordered an expanded search. Shen Xuan identified the Horse Gang as the Western Regions Border Circuit’s most vile force, leaving Zhang Chu questioning what kind of group they were.

• Li Gang reported that Sun Youwei and her trusted guard had disappeared without a trace on their way to the garrison.
• Zhang Chu concluded that a hidden force in the Western Regions might be responsible and ordered the Sky Patrol Guard to search the official road, Gobi caves, and abandoned relay stations.
• Shen Xuan, commander of the Western Regions Border Circuit Sky Patrol Guard, came to meet Zhang Chu.
• Shen Xuan named the Horse Gang as the most vile evil force in the Western Regions Border Circuit, and Zhang Chu questioned whether they were horse bandits.

Zhang Chu learned that the Horse Gang ruled the Three-Region Intersection and that the Heavenly Evil Cult had powerful backing in the Western Regions. After discovering a fight involving the Yellow Sand Two Saints, he declared that he would sweep the demons from the region.

• Shen Xuan told Zhang Chu that the Horse Gang controlled the Three-Region Intersection and had powerful leaders and numerous members.
• Zhang Chu ordered Shen Xuan to take him to the Three-Region Intersection, then followed a lead to an abandoned ancient relay station.
• At the relay station, Zhang Chu and Shen Xuan found the Yellow Sand Two Saints attacking Shen Qinglan, Liao Chen, Chiyangzi, and Zhou Yuan.
• Shen Xuan explained that the Yellow Sand Two Saints were linked to the Heavenly Evil Cult, which he believed had a backer within the Imperial Court.
• Zhang Chu laughed off the threat of the Heavenly Evil Cult and its backers and announced that they would sweep demons from the Western Regions.

Zhang Chu effortlessly killed the Yellow Sand Two Saints and learned that Sun Youwei had been taken to the Heavenly Evil Cult’s base at Ghost Cry Gorge. Despite warnings about its defenses and its Bone Law Realm guardian, Copper Refining Man, Zhang Chu prepared to go there.

• Zhang Chu killed the Yellow Sand Two Saints with ease after they attacked Shen Qinglan and his companions.
• Zhang Chu forced the surviving swordsman to reveal that the Qing Tian Bandit had captured Sun Youwei and taken her to Ghost Cry Gorge.
• The swordsman identified Ghost Cry Gorge as a Heavenly Evil Cult branch base guarded by its branch master, Copper Refining Man, before Zhang Chu killed him.
• Shen Xuan and the four rescued experts warned Zhang Chu that Ghost Cry Gorge was dangerous and difficult to attack.
• Chiyangzi explained that Copper Refining Man had once commanded Great Ling’s Border Army and had reached the Bone Law Realm through body-tempering arts.

Zhang Chu entered Ghost Cry Gorge alone to attack the Heavenly Evil Cult branch and find Sun Youwei. After silently killing the sentries, he confronted the enormous Copper Refining Man, who refused to answer his questions.

• Shen Xuan warned Zhang Chu about the Copper Refining Man and possible Imperial Court backers, but Zhang Chu ordered him to seal the gorge exits while he went inside alone.
• Shen Qinglan and three others followed Zhang Chu into Ghost Cry Gorge, while Shen Xuan led the Sky Patrol Guards to block both exits.
• Zhang Chu sensed the gorge’s hidden sentries and traps, then killed all six sentry posts without raising an alarm, earning over six hundred thousand Merit Points.
• Zhang Chu reached the branch’s central plaza and asked the Copper Refining Man where Sun Youwei was.
• The Copper Refining Man revealed his immense size and Bone Law Realm pressure, identified Zhang Chu, and dismissed his strength; Zhang Chu challenged him to fight.

Zhang Chu discovered that Copper Refining Man had transformed Ghost Cry Gorge into a Purgatory Alchemy Cauldron that drained the vitality of everyone inside. Copper Refining Man revealed that he had used the Heavenly Evil Cult as cover and lured Zhang Chu here to become his greatest medicinal primer, as the gorge began draining Zhang Chu's life force.

• Zhang Chu felt his vitality draining as Gray Mist and strange flowers spread through Ghost Cry Gorge.
• Zhang Chu recognized the gorge as an Alchemy Cauldron, and Copper Refining Man revealed he had spent years turning it into the Purgatory Alchemy Cauldron.
• Copper Refining Man revealed that he was a Golden Boy under the Medicine Dao Master and dismissed the other supposed Twelve Golden Boys as unworthy medicinal dregs.
• Copper Refining Man explained that Sun Youwei's disappearance and the events surrounding the female Sky Patrol Guard had been arranged to lure Zhang Chu into the gorge.
• Copper Refining Man revealed that he had used the Heavenly Evil Cult as cover while draining the vitality of people sent to his branch as medicinal ingredients.
• Copper Refining Man declared Zhang Chu the greatest medicinal primer, and the gorge's Gray Mist began draining Zhang Chu's vitality at an accelerating pace.

Zhang Chu revealed that he had never been poisoned and used the South Bright Longevity Technique to resist Copper Refining Man’s toxins and furnace-like domain. He defeated Copper Refining Man’s force attribute with Nine Feathers, leaving him mortally wounded and questioning the power of Zhang Chu’s attack.

• Copper Refining Man tried to refine Zhang Chu, but Zhang Chu revealed his vitality and activated the South Bright Longevity Technique’s Immortality.
• Zhang Chu unleashed the Eternal Undying Heaven phenomenon, suppressing the gorge’s toxins and Weird Flowers and Grass.
• Copper Refining Man revealed his powerful force attribute and claimed his body had been tempered in the Dān lú for three years.
• Copper Refining Man charged at Zhang Chu, who answered with Nine Feathers, sending nine Heavenly Sabers through his fist and body.
• Copper Refining Man’s body broke apart under the attack, and he struggled to understand how Zhang Chu possessed such power.

Zhang Chu destroyed the Copper Refining Man and wiped out the Heavenly Evil Cult’s forces in Ghost Cry Gorge, earning a vast amount of merit. Shen Xuan and the others arrived to find the gorge in ruins and bowed to Zhang Chu as the Dao Venerable.

• Zhang Chu killed the Copper Refining Man, whose body turned to ash as the gray poison dissipated.
• Zhang Chu swept through Ghost Cry Gorge and killed the Heavenly Evil Cult’s hidden fighters and fleeing agents.
• Zhang Chu used Heaven Covering to slaughter the gathered enemies and destroy the gorge’s mechanisms and poison formations.
• Shen Xuan, Shen Qinglan, Zen Master Liao Chen, and the other Righteous Path experts arrived and were shocked by the destruction.
• Shen Xuan and the others bowed to Zhang Chu and addressed him as the Dao Venerable.

Zhang Chu found and rescued Sun Youwei in the collapsed gorge, where she revealed that the Horse Gang and Heavenly Evil Cult had colluded to poison people and planned to seize the Western Regions as the Spirit Emperor neared death. Zhang Chu sent Sun Youwei away to recover and ordered a map of the Three-Region Intersection as he prepared to target the Horse Gang.

• Zhang Chu sensed a faint living presence in the ruins and searched the collapsed gorge despite Shen Xuan's warning.
• Zhang Chu found the badly wounded Sun Youwei trapped in a narrow crack and used the South Bright Longevity Technique to stabilize her.
• Sun Youwei warned Zhang Chu that the Horse Gang and Heavenly Evil Cult had joined forces, spread Gray Mist poison, and planned to swallow the Western Regions while the Spirit Emperor was dying.
• Shen Xuan, Shen Qinglan, Chiyangzi, and Liao Chen reacted to the threat, and Liao Chen gave Sun Youwei a Life-Prolonging Pill.
• Zhang Chu said he would target the Horse Gang and ordered his companions to take Sun Youwei back and draw him a Three-Region Intersection Map.

After Zhang Chu destroyed the Heavenly Evil Cult branch at Ghost Cry Gorge, the Righteous Path sects and the Sky Patrol Guard prepared for the Horse Gang’s threat. Sun Youwei recovered under Zhang Chu’s healing, while the headquarters received the battle report and struggled to believe his victories.

• Shen Xuan arranged the aftermath at Ghost Cry Gorge and sent a detailed report of Zhang Chu’s battle to Western Regions Sky Patrol Guard headquarters.
• Liao Chen, Chiyangzi, and Zhou Yuan warned their sects that the Horse Gang had joined forces with the Heavenly Evil Cult, prompting a Righteous Path defensive effort.
• Shen Xuan brought the injured Sun Youwei to a border outpost, ordered its defenses reinforced, and placed her in a sealed chamber.
• Shen Qinglan stayed to care for Sun Youwei, and Zhang Chu used the South Bright Longevity Technique to heal her completely.
• Shen Zonglin presented the battle report at headquarters, where Sun Dai and Wang Yanqing doubted that Zhang Chu had defeated the Copper Refining Man and wiped out the Ghost Cry Gorge branch alone.