Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Li’s Second Grade strength surprises the Extreme Sea Demon Emperor, who vows to kill him before he can reach the First Grade.
• Jiang Li draws on the Black-and-Yellow Sacred Chariot and activates Myriad Spirits Enter the Body, while the Demon Emperor counters with his kunpeng manifestation and First Grade peerless art, Kunpeng Intent.
• Great Xia’s previously unseen national fortune appears as a colossal Fortune Dragon. It joins Jiang Li and becomes a dragon-headed saber, empowering his Human Emperor Physique.
• Jiang Li answers the Demon Emperor’s attack with Blood-Stained Mountains and Rivers of a Fallen Kingdom. At the peak of the clash, his full power—fortune, chariot, and martial-divine-body blessing combined—sends the Demon Emperor flying through the Space Channel to Immortal Ridge.
• Jiang Li chooses not to pursue, recognizing that the Demon Emperor could be more dangerous outside Great Xia, where its laws restrain him.
• Wounded and alarmed by Jiang Li’s strength and caution, the Demon Emperor prepares to re-enter Great Xia and kill him. Instead, Wang Yu, the Longevity Martial Emperor, arrives and confronts him with One Hand Blots Out the Sky.

Character developments

• Jiang Li reveals power far beyond what his rank suggests, as well as strategic restraint: he wins the exchange but does not recklessly follow the Demon Emperor into hostile territory.
• The Extreme Sea Demon Emperor shifts from shock to murderous resolve. He recognizes Jiang Li as a potential rival to—and perhaps greater than—the Longevity Martial Emperor, and fears that Jiang Li may survive long enough to mature.
• Wang Yu steps in as Great Xia’s formidable protector, appearing calm but unusually cold toward the Demon Emperor.
• Zheng Yue recognizes the Fortune Dragon as the first visible manifestation of Great Xia’s national destiny.

Significant themes

• Power and potential: Jiang Li’s Second Grade status belies strength capable of wounding a First Grade Demon Emperor.
• National fortune and collective identity: The Fortune Dragon embodies destiny accumulated through heaven, earth, and the people, and can be wielded through Jiang Li’s Human Emperor Physique.
• Restraint as strength: Jiang Li’s decision not to pursue shows that judgment matters as much as force.
• Fate and agency: The passage contrasts Jiang Li’s command of fortune with the Azure Fox Demon King’s tragic inability to escape the nature and fate imposed on her.

Character interactions

• Jiang Li and the Extreme Sea Demon Emperor trade escalating attacks, each recognizing the other’s power; the Demon Emperor’s fear of Jiang Li’s future intensifies after being wounded.
• Zheng Yue and the military figures witness the Fortune Dragon, though Zheng Yue alone identifies it as national fortune.
• Wang Yu arrives between the Demon Emperor and Great Xia, taking over the confrontation just as the Demon Emperor is about to charge back in.

Key plot points

• After learning that Jiang Li has gone through the Magic City Space Channel into the Beast World, Longevity Martial Emperor decides not to pursue him, though he worries Jiang Li may provoke the Flood Dragon Clan before the Heavenly Origin Grand Meeting.
• Jiang Li, disguised as Demon King Qi Tian, travels to the North Sea with Youqiong Xuanji. He is seeking the First Grade treasure Xuanji mentioned, hoping to find a weapon to replace the shattered Heavenly Demon Slaying Saber.
• At the ruined Youqiong capital, Jiang Li drives off the occupying beasts and enters a hidden passage beneath the city. There they find the Earth Dragon Black Emperor Gold, an ore enriched by centuries of Dragon Vein energy and the Youqiong Kingdom’s National Fortune.
• Xuanji cuts his palm to unlock the ore. The kingdom’s National Fortune spirit enters him, while Jiang Li’s Linhai Dragon Spirit swallows the Dragon Vein spirit. Jiang Li stores the ore in his Inner Universe.
• Jiang Li chooses not to take the National Fortune remaining within Xuanji, recognizing that the prince has already lost his homeland and family.
• As they emerge, a dragon-aura-bearing Second Grade Demon King confronts them. Jiang Li invokes the Great Sage Divine Aspect and swings its staff at the challenger.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Li continues to grow in power and confidence, using his aura and Mental Power to dominate beasts without needing to fight them directly. He also shows restraint by leaving Xuanji’s remaining National Fortune untouched.
• Youqiong Xuanji is grieving the destruction of his homeland, but helps Jiang Li recover its hidden legacy. He is astonished by Jiang Li’s ability to overpower the Dragon Vein spirit.
• Longevity Martial Emperor recognizes Jiang Li’s dangerous tendency to seek trouble, but trusts him to act independently rather than chase after him.
• The final encounter pits Jiang Li’s casual defiance against a Second Grade Demon King’s dragon might; the chapter ends as Jiang Li attacks.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Jiang Li’s strength allows him to control the ruins and claim the treasure, yet the North Sea remains dangerous.
• Legacy and loss: The ore embodies the Youqiong Kingdom’s long history and fortune, now all that remains of Xuanji’s homeland.
• Restraint amid conquest: Though Jiang Li takes the ore, he declines to strip Xuanji of the last part of his kingdom’s legacy.
• The need for a fitting weapon: Jiang Li’s search reflects a practical weakness in his otherwise formidable combat abilities.

Key plot points and events

• After Jiang Li ends the SS-Class Beast Tide at Linhai, Qin Miaoyu and the others see the ruined battlefield on satellite footage. Military officers learn that Jiang Li has advanced to Second Grade and killed a Second Grade ancient pureblood Demon King.
• Jiang Li returns to the Magic City battlefield, then heads to the Northwest Battlefield to ask Zhao Xuandu to forge him a weapon using rare Second Grade materials.
• At Flame Mountain, two Great Grandmasters intercept Jiang Li as he approaches the restricted military site. Once he identifies himself, battlefield commander Lu Hu confirms his identity and is stunned to learn he is already Second Grade.
• Lu Hu leads Jiang Li underground to Zhao Xuandu’s furnace. After Zhao finishes hammering a piece of metal, Jiang Li reveals that his material is the corpse of a Second Grade Demon King with Demon Emperor Bloodline. Zhao, initially skeptical, becomes intensely excited.

Character developments

• Jiang Li is established as vastly stronger and more accomplished than before: he has reached Second Grade, moves faster than aircraft, and has slain a powerful Demon King. He also shows respect for military protocol by waiting for his identity to be confirmed and asking after Zhao rather than using his Mental Power to locate him.
• Qin Miaoyu feels the widening gap between herself and Jiang Li, recognizing that even her utmost effort may not let her catch up.
• Zhao Xuandu shifts abruptly from dismissive and busy to eager and captivated when he learns the value of Jiang Li’s materials.
• Lu Hu and the officers are visibly awed by Jiang Li’s youth, status, and rapid advancement.

Character interactions

• Qin Miaoyu, Yun Fei, and Ren Siyue react to Jiang Li’s victory; Ren Siyue wonders whether he also saved them during the Dongxing Village incident.
• Jiang Li negotiates with Zhao by phone, persuading him to meet through the promise of Second Grade materials.
• The Flame Mountain guards initially treat Jiang Li as a potential threat, then respectfully verify his identity. Lu Hu personally escorts him to Zhao’s underground forge.
• Zhao’s professional interest turns into near-disbelief and excitement when Jiang Li identifies the Demon King corpse.

Significant themes

• Rapid growth and unequal ambition: Jiang Li’s rise leaves those around him struggling to keep pace, especially Qin Miaoyu.
• The scale of power: His victory and breakthrough reshape the military’s understanding of him and the threat posed by the beast lairs.
• Respect and protocol amid strength: Despite his immense power, Jiang Li cooperates with military procedures and treats Zhao with courtesy.
• Power as material value: The Demon King’s corpse is both proof of Jiang Li’s achievement and an extraordinary resource for forging.

Plot points and events

• Beneath Flaming Mountain, Jiang Li reveals the corpses of three Second Grade Demon Kings: the Little Kun Emperor, Crane Official, and Tu Shan Guanguan, a pure-blood Nine-Tailed Sky Fox. Their bodies and blood are extraordinarily valuable for research, medicine, and weapon forging.
• Zhao Xuandu is overwhelmed by the materials, especially the Little Kun Emperor’s Demon Emperor blood and Tu Shan Guanguan’s five-colored blood. He agrees to help Jiang Li forge weapons but admits he may not be skilled enough to use the materials well.
• Jiang Li refuses to hand the corpses over to the Martial Emperor Hall, though he offers to share some materials for research if Zhao helps him.
• Jiang Li then reveals a First Grade material, Earth Dragon Black Emperor Gold. Its quality convinces Zhao that his own forging ability is far from sufficient.
• Hearing Zhao’s private doubts through his mind-reading ability, Jiang Li proposes learning weapon forging himself. Zhao dismisses the idea, insisting Jiang Li lacks even the basic knowledge.
• Zhao gives Jiang Li the Profound Heaven Forging Record and sets a challenge: forge a Fifth Grade weapon within ten days. Jiang Li raises the stakes, claiming he can forge a Fourth Grade weapon in just one day.

Character developments

• Jiang Li remains confident and independent, guarding his treasures from powerful institutions. Rather than accept Zhao’s limitations, he decides to take matters into his own hands.
• Zhao Xuandu shifts from exhilaration at seeing priceless materials to anxiety about ruining them. His pride and expertise lead him to challenge Jiang Li, partly expecting him to fail.
• Lu Hu silently reacts with disbelief as Zhao and Jiang Li treat the remains of Demon Kings as if they were merely ordinary materials.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance: Jiang Li would rather learn forging himself than surrender control of his resources.
• The value and danger of power: The rare materials could transform Great Xia’s medicine and weapons, but their worth makes them vulnerable to political and institutional claims.
• Confidence versus expertise: Zhao trusts years of specialized training; Jiang Li counters with bold ambition and a willingness to try.
• Knowledge and hidden advantage: Jiang Li’s ability to hear Zhao’s thoughts lets him understand the real obstacle and respond strategically.

Character interactions

• Zhao’s excitement and caution contrast with Jiang Li’s calm, practical attitude toward the corpses.
• Jiang Li refuses Zhao’s suggestion to involve the Martial Emperor Hall but offers a compromise: Zhao can help him and share in research.
• Zhao tries to dissuade Jiang Li from forging, then turns the disagreement into a test. Jiang Li accepts—and makes the challenge far more ambitious.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Li challenges Elder Zhao Xuandu to teach him forging by promising to make a Fourth Grade weapon in one day. If he succeeds, Zhao must share all his knowledge and inheritances; if he fails, Jiang Li will give him three Second Grade Demon King remains.
• Zhao accepts, provides his forging chamber, materials, and a blueprint, and gives Jiang Li even more material than the task requires.
• Using the Yellow Book to learn the Profound Heaven Forging Record, Jiang Li masters its ten methods and promptly forges a top-quality Fourth Grade Demon-Slaying Saber—in just one hour.
• Zhao is stunned and suspects Jiang Li had prior experience, but Jiang Li insists he had never forged before. Zhao agrees to pass on his methods, notes, insights, and inheritance, though he must consult his own master first.
• Jiang Li keeps the saber as his first creation and jokes that the age gap explains Zhao’s reaction.

Character developments

• Jiang Li confirms that the Yellow Book lets him acquire complex skills with extraordinary speed. His confidence grows into playful pride as he embraces his identity as a once-in-a-generation genius.
• Zhao Xuandu, initially certain Jiang Li will fail, is forced to revise his assumptions. He is impressed and humbled, though Jiang Li’s teasing leaves him exasperated.

Themes

• Exceptional talent and rapid learning: Jiang Li’s seemingly impossible mastery challenges ordinary ideas about skill and experience.
• Knowledge, inheritance, and mentorship: Zhao’s expertise becomes something he is willing to pass on after witnessing Jiang Li’s ability.
• Humor and generational pride: Jiang Li celebrates his achievement by provoking Zhao, turning a serious test into comic banter.

Character interactions

• Jiang Li and Zhao begin with a wager that establishes Zhao’s skepticism and Jiang Li’s confidence.
• Zhao supplies the tools and materials fairly, then watches in disbelief as Jiang Li uses them with practiced precision.
• After the forging, Zhao questions Jiang Li’s background and ultimately offers his teachings; Jiang Li responds with self-congratulation and jokes that deepen Zhao’s frustration.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Li finishes forging three more supreme-quality Fourth Grade Demon-Slaying Sabers, bringing his total to four. Zhao Xuandu is stunned: the repeated success makes it clear that Jiang Li’s forging ability may surpass his own.
• Jiang Li asks Zhao to send the sabers to Qin Miaoyu in Linhai. When Zhao objects that the materials belong to the Martial Emperor Hall, Jiang Li hints that he might trade the remaining Demon King remains to the Three Ministries. Zhao quickly agrees to arrange their delivery.
• Zhao gives Jiang Li a quiet tea room for study, hoping he can learn enough to forge a Second Grade weapon before the Heavenly Origin Grand Meeting. Jiang Li, however, is already considering a First Grade weapon.
• Using the Yellow Book, Jiang Li rapidly memorizes vast amounts of forging knowledge and masters the Nine Levels of the Four Symbols Spirit God Forging Method. He realizes the method likely has a tenth level and that Zhao withheld its core.
• Jiang Li studies the requirements for higher-grade weapons: Third Grade weapons need a compatible smith’s martial path, while Second Grade weapons require rare divine materials. His Demon King remains and earth dragon black emperor gold provide the basis for an ambitious design.
• He completes a blueprint for a First Grade weapon: Demon Saber: Azure Fox.

Character developments

• Jiang Li demonstrates extraordinary forging talent, strategic bargaining, and an ability to exploit the Yellow Book’s accelerated learning. His knowledge grows from basic weapon-making to the principles behind divine weapons, and his ambition leaps beyond Zhao’s expectations.
• Zhao Xuandu shifts from skepticism to awe and cautious cooperation. He recognizes Jiang Li’s ability but remains wary of what he might do with the Demon King remains and doubtful that he can forge at the highest levels.
• Jiang Li’s distrust of the Martial Emperor Hall is clarified: he resents its treatment of ordinary people as expendable and its failure to stop powerful families from pursuing their own interests, though he distinguishes this from the Hall’s comparatively generous benefits.

Significant themes

• Talent and ambition: Jiang Li’s achievements repeatedly exceed what established experts consider possible.
• Power, resources, and bargaining: Rare materials and Demon King remains are sources of leverage, while powerful weapons can transform a martial artist’s strength and confidence.
• Institutional hypocrisy and sacrifice: Jiang Li condemns elites who profit and scheme while ordinary fighters bear the cost of war.
• Knowledge and hidden truths: Jiang Li’s mastery reveals that the forging method has more to it than Zhao disclosed, suggesting that important knowledge is being withheld.

Character interactions

• Jiang Li and Zhao trade pointed remarks over ownership of materials and the Demon King corpses; Jiang’s veiled threat prompts Zhao to arrange prompt delivery.
• Zhao supports Jiang’s study by lending him a quiet room and offering future help, though he privately doubts Jiang can reach Second Grade forging.
• Jiang’s comments about the Martial Emperor Hall’s benefits lead into his broader criticism of its leadership and the powerful families it tolerates.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Li aims to forge a First Grade weapon. Since he lacks the rare, naturally cultivated divine treasures normally required, he plans to use the Four Symbols Spirit-Infusion Method to turn a Pseudo-First Grade weapon into a Spirit Artifact by binding a First Grade soul to it.
• His materials include the Azure Fox Demon King’s remains and soul, along with other powerful demon materials. The Azure Fox’s soul is an ideal match for the saber made from her remains—but she is Jiang Li’s enemy and is unlikely to submit willingly.
• Jiang Li begins processing the Demon Kings’ remains and takes over Zhao Xuandu’s forge. Zhao doubts that Jiang Li has truly mastered the method, but reluctantly gives him the forge and warns that failure will destroy the materials.
• Jiang Li demonstrates mastery of the forging arts: he summons the Vermilion Bird Spirit God to smelt the materials, then uses the Azure Dragon Scale Striking Method to shape and fuse them.
• His exceptional strength shatters one of Zhao’s long-used forging hammers, but Jiang Li simply replaces it and continues. The chapter ends with him completing a flawless, mirror-smooth weapon blank marked by dragon-scale patterns.

Character developments

• Jiang Li displays confidence, technical mastery, and intense focus, moving from ambitious student to a highly capable forger. He remains clear-eyed about the risk that the Azure Fox may refuse spirit infusion.
• Zhao Xuandu shifts from skepticism to astonishment when he hears Jiang Li manifest the perfected Vermilion Bird Spirit God. His reaction suggests that Jiang Li’s skill surpasses even his own.

Significant themes

• Mastery and ambition: Jiang Li pursues a near-impossible First Grade weapon through exceptional skill and an unconventional method.
• Power and consent: A weapon’s strength may depend on a soul’s willing, compatible bond, raising the central problem of forcing an enemy’s spirit into a weapon.
• The cost of creation: Forging risks valuable materials and equipment, while the maker’s strength can itself endanger the process.

Character interactions

• Jiang Li teases Zhao Xuandu and challenges him to wager; Zhao refuses, wary of losing.
• Zhao warns Jiang Li about the consequences of failure, while Jiang Li assures him he knows what he is doing.
• Their exchange contrasts Zhao’s caution and disbelief with Jiang Li’s confidence, culminating in Zhao’s stunned recognition of Jiang Li’s skill.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Li completes the forging of Demon Saber: Azure Fox. He sharpens its edge with the Black Tortoise Netherwater method, then opens it through the White Tiger method, fighting a vision of a white tiger and infusing the blade with powerful Killing Intent.
• The saber becomes an advanced pseudo-First Grade weapon. Though not yet a true First Grade weapon, it is strong enough to make Jiang Li confident he could seriously injure the Extreme Sea Demon Emperor in another encounter.
• Jiang Li enters the Human Emperor Banner and speaks to the dormant soul of Tu Shan Qingyan, the Azure Fox Demon King. He explains that the angel’s demands and the ensuing Exotic Beast Tide caused the Yellow Origin Kingdom’s fall.
• He argues that people may be swept along by fate, but need not accept defeat. Tu Shan Qingyan counters that Heaven—not the angel—determines events, and predicts Great Xia will suffer the same fate as her kingdom.
• Jiang Li declares that he will resist Heaven if necessary. Though he initially assumes his speech has failed, Tu Shan Qingyan eventually asks what he wants. He invites her to inhabit his saber and promises to show her that fate can be challenged. She agrees, saying she wants to see that day.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Li advances as a forger and grows more confident in his power, but also reveals a reflective, defiant view of fate. His earnest speech is undercut by his private admission that he is trying to imitate heroic protagonists.
• Tu Shan Qingyan shifts from indifference and fatalism to cautious willingness. Her agreement does not mean she believes Jiang Li; she wants to witness whether he can prove his claim.
• Their exchange moves from Jiang Li speaking to an unresponsive captive soul to a tentative partnership: she may enter his saber, while he offers her a reason to keep watching the world.

Significant themes

• Craft and power: Jiang Li’s weapon grows stronger through disciplined, successive stages of forging.
• Fate versus agency: Tu Shan Qingyan sees Heaven’s will as inevitable; Jiang Li insists that even if defeat or death comes, he will choose how to meet it.
• Regret and time: Jiang Li reflects on missed chances, lost people, and how quickly circumstances can change.
• Hope through witness: Tu Shan Qingyan’s decision to continue is grounded not in faith, but in the desire to see whether resistance is possible.

Plot points and events

• Tu Shan Qingyan’s soul enters the saber forged from her remains, completing its transformation into the First Grade spiritual artifact Demon Saber: Azure Fox. Jiang Li bonds with it through a mental imprint.
• Jiang Li vows not to let Qingyan down. They become trusted partners, united in battle.
• Planning further equipment, Jiang Li discovers he lacks supplementary materials. The Military Department quickly gathers them, drawing on other institutions’ supplies and signaling its willingness to align itself with Jiang Li.
• Jiang Li forges Great Xia Alone, a roughly 100,000-jin black-gold Treasure Staff of Pseudo-First Grade. Unlike Azure Fox’s cutting power, it overwhelms defenses with force and causes internal damage.
• He also makes the Linhai Battle Armor, a peak Second Grade suit combining the Little Kun Emperor’s hide, ancient fox materials, and Earth Dragon Black Emperor Gold.
• Zhao Xuandu examines the staff and confirms its rank. It would be third on Great Xia’s Divine Weapon Ranking, behind the Longevity Sword and the superior Pseudo-First Grade Zheng Yin Spear.
• Jiang Li gives the remaining materials to be divided among Zhao Xuandu, the Martial Emperor Hall, and the Military Department, then returns home exhausted to sleep.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Li and Tu Shan Qingyan form a lasting bond of mutual trust: she acknowledges him as her master, and he promises loyalty in return.
• The Military Department shifts toward Jiang Li, seeing his rapid rise as a potential alternative source of strength to the Martial Emperor Hall.
• Zhao Xuandu is awed by Jiang Li’s forging success. He eagerly appraises Great Xia Alone, while Jiang Li teases him by making him catch its immense weight before explaining the staff’s rank.

Significant themes

• Trust and partnership: Jiang Li’s bond with Qingyan turns a weapon into a loyal companion.
• Innovation and rising power: Jiang Li’s remarkable forging expands his arsenal and changes how Great Xia’s institutions assess him.
• Political realignment: The Military Department’s resource support reflects a growing willingness to stake its future on Jiang Li.
• Strength through complementary tools: Azure Fox excels at cutting, while Great Xia Alone delivers overwhelming force and armor provides protection.

Summary

Ji Xiangwang receives intelligence that Jiang Li has rapidly grown stronger and may have killed a First Grade Demon King. Though the claims seem unbelievable, Ji believes them because of Jiang Li’s extraordinary rise. He regrets failing to seize Jiang Li’s secret and concludes that the Ji Family must kill him before he becomes an even greater threat. A mysterious, star-eyed figure urges Ji to abandon Great Xia and join the Great Sages, but Ji agrees only if Jiang Li is killed. Since that cannot be done openly for now, they begin discussing a careful plan around the upcoming Heavenly Origin Grand Meeting.
With twenty-nine days until the meeting, Jiang Li looks for a battlefield where he can help and gain more lifespan. After checking on his sister, Jiang Qi, and confirming that Beihe City is safe, he learns that the Rong Kingdom battlefield is under pressure. The long, exposed front is defended by Great Xia’s forces and several powerful families, including the Ji and Ye. Jiang Li decides to reinforce it and travels there in his Black-and-Yellow Sacred Chariot.
At the battlefield, Martial Venerable Ye Tian is battling a Third Grade Golden-Feathered Divine-Crowned Eagle King while human fighters are being overwhelmed nearby. Members of the Ji Family watch without helping, leaving Ye furious and vowing to report them. He turns the illnesses caused by the Blood Extermination Demonic Poison into powerful martial arts: Invincible Fat Punch launches the Eagle King away, and Thunderclap Gout Kick leaves it writhing in pain and badly injured. The techniques are devastating to the enemy but also inflict great pain on Ye himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Xiangwang recognizes that he is no longer Jiang Li’s equal and becomes increasingly determined to destroy him. His alliance with the mysterious figure remains conditional.
• Jiang Li is focused on protecting Great Xia and strengthening himself, but the Ji Family’s betrayal is becoming a direct concern.
• Ye Tian shows both formidable skill and deep resentment toward the Ji Family for abandoning besieged martial artists.
• The Ji Family and Ye Tian are openly at odds on the battlefield, while the mysterious figure pressures Ji Xiangwang to defect from Great Xia.
• Jiang Li and Jiang Qi are connected through his quiet check on her training and the protection arranged around her.

Significant themes

• Rapid growth and fear of power: Jiang Li’s rise unsettles both his enemies and the established balance of power.
• Loyalty and betrayal: Ji Xiangwang weighs defection, while the Ji Family’s refusal to aid fellow defenders exposes its self-interest.
• Sacrifice and pain: Ye Tian’s techniques turn his own suffering into strength, underscoring the personal cost of defending others.
• A widening conflict: The weakening boundary between worlds and the many space channels suggest that the battlefield’s dangers—and the political divisions within Great Xia—are escalating.

Key plot points

• Martial Venerable Ye Tian continues to fight the Golden-Feathered Divine-Crowned Eagle King, using a technique strengthened by the agony of an old poison that once nearly destroyed him. The eagle is badly hurt, but onlookers from the Ji Family mock Ye Tian rather than help.
• When a fourth-grade martial artist questions their inaction, Ji Yuanhua claims the Ji Family must guard the defensive line. He intimidates Yu Cheng, who quickly pledges obedience despite his sympathy for the Ye Family.
• The eagle’s cry awakens the Sülder Bear King, another third-grade Beast King. Its arrival turns the battle sharply against the defenders.
• Ye Tian demands Ji Yuanhua’s aid and threatens to report him to the Martial Emperor Hall. Ji Yuanhua refuses, sarcastically praising Ye Tian and insisting he cannot abandon his post.
• Unable to retreat while his family remains exposed, Ye Tian orders them behind the defensive line and uses the Stone-Forming Secret Art to withstand both Beast Kings’ attacks. The bear’s overwhelming gravity-powered blow shatters his defense and hurls him into a crater, leaving him near death.
• As the two Beast Kings move in to finish him, Ji Yuanhua again refuses to intervene. He privately welcomes the prospect of the Ye Family’s destruction, hoping the Ji Family can dominate Qin Province and seize its resources.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Tian is shown as both formidable and self-sacrificing: despite his fury and peril, he stays to protect his family’s retreat.
• Ji Yuanhua reveals that political ambition outweighs duty or the survival of Great Xia’s defenders. He uses his authority to silence Yu Cheng and knowingly leaves Ye Tian to die.
• Yu Cheng retreats from his moral concern once threatened, choosing his family’s safety and political compliance over helping the Ye Family.
• The Ye Family’s warriors call out to Ye Tian with grief and familial devotion, underscoring their close ties and his importance to them. A young Ji Family member asks whether they should help, but Ji Yuanhua dismisses the idea.

Significant themes

• Duty versus self-interest: The Ji Family disguises its ambition as defense of Qin Province while abandoning the people in immediate danger.
• Sacrifice and family loyalty: Ye Tian risks his life so the Ye Family can withdraw.
• Corruption and political opportunism: Ji Yuanhua treats a potential national disaster as a chance to eliminate a rival and consolidate power.
• Endurance through suffering: Ye Tian’s past pain has become a source of strength, though even his hard-won power may not be enough against two Beast Kings.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Li arrives just as two third-grade Beast Kings are about to kill the badly wounded Martial Venerable Ye Tian. He shields Ye Tian, kills both Beast Kings with one blow each, and heals Ye Tian before entrusting him to the Ye Family.
• Turning to the battlefield, Jiang Li slaughters nearly ten thousand exotic beasts in fifteen minutes. Ji Yuanhua, unnerved by the display and aware of his family’s conflict with Jiang Li, abruptly returns to the Ji Family’s headquarters.
• Jiang Li then confronts a gigantic Black Tortoise rising from beneath the snowy mountains. The second-grade creature has been absorbing Great Xia’s earth-vein energy and claims it had an agreement with Ji Xiangwang to avoid conflict.
• Rejecting the Tortoise’s appeal, Jiang Li fights through its gravitational field and formidable defenses. He defeats it with the Sea-Calming divine ability, extracts its enormous Demon Core, and leaves the corpse for the Martial Emperor Hall.
• The chapter ends with Jiang Li discovering that the Tortoise had lived for 108,209 years.

Character developments

• Jiang Li demonstrates overwhelming strength, composure, and loyalty to Great Xia. He shows mercy and practical care toward Ye Tian, but no sympathy for creatures that have attacked Great Xia.
• Ye Tian survives but is gravely injured and must recover under the Ye Family’s care.
• Ji Yuanhua shifts from confidence at Ye Tian’s apparent defeat to fear and caution when Jiang Li appears.
• The Black Tortoise is revealed as intelligent, powerful, and long-lived, but its claims of neutrality fail to persuade Jiang Li; when overmatched, it pleads to withdraw.

Themes and character interactions

• Protection and vengeance: Jiang Li rescues Ye Tian and avenges Great Xia’s losses by wiping out the invading beasts.
• Territory and sovereignty: Jiang Li rejects the idea that an old agreement with Ji Xiangwang can legitimize the Tortoise’s cultivation on Great Xia’s land.
• Power and its limits: The Tortoise’s earth-based abilities and nearly impenetrable shell make it formidable, but Jiang Li’s strength and divine techniques prevail.
• Key interactions: Jiang Li comforts and heals Ye Tian; his clash with Ji Yuanhua is indirect but shapes the latter’s retreat; and his confrontation with the Tortoise centers on competing claims of agreement, territory, and responsibility for the slaughter.

Key plot points and events

• The North Sea Black Tortoise has been killed. Ji Xiangwang suspects Jiang Li, who is near Qin City and has a long-standing feud with the Ji Family. Fearing Jiang Li might retaliate, Ji calls powerful families and financial dynasties to rally support, arguing that the Longevity Martial Emperor would defend them collectively.
• At Martial Emperor Hall, Zheng Yue learns Jiang Li has reached the Rong Kingdom Battlefield. She sends Xu Guangcheng to seek reconciliation and, if necessary, stop him. The Longevity Martial Emperor is in seclusion, leaving Zheng Yue to manage the crisis.
• Jiang Li has exterminated the aberrant beasts on the battlefield. Sensing a dangerous First Grade presence beyond the Space Channel, he wisely withdraws rather than risk facing it.
• Jiang Li finds other martial artists looting the battlefield while the Ye Family—who had fought the beasts—stands nearby. He orders the Ye Family to collect all the resources and warns that looting his spoils violates Military Department law.
• When the scavengers protest and invoke their service to Great Xia, Jiang Li lifts twenty of them into the air, strips away their armor and stolen goods, and destroys the martial foundations of seven who challenge him. He threatens to kill anyone who continues provoking him.

Character developments

• Jiang Li displays both caution and overwhelming confidence: he avoids an unknown enemy beyond the Space Channel, but deals ruthlessly with those he considers opportunists. He rejects appeals to conventional morality and openly embraces his freedom to act as he wishes.
• Ji Xiangwang shifts from confidence in his political connections to anxiety over Jiang Li’s possible retaliation, and begins mobilizing powerful interests for protection.
• Zheng Yue is increasingly strained by the burden of governing Great Xia and containing Jiang Li’s growing influence. She tries to prevent an outright confrontation by sending Xu Guangcheng.
• The looters reveal their entitlement and hypocrisy: they ignored the Ye Family’s struggle but claim moral credit and patriotic service when challenged.

Significant themes

• Power and accountability: Jiang Li’s immense strength lets him enforce his own judgment, raising questions about whether law can constrain the powerful.
• Moral blackmail and hypocrisy: The scavengers use patriotic duty to justify taking resources, while Jiang Li rejects their moral appeal and punishes them.
• Political influence versus personal power: Ji Xiangwang tries to make the Ji Family’s survival a matter of protecting all elite families, while Jiang Li’s individual strength threatens that strategy.
• Caution amid growing power: Jiang Li’s retreat from the Space Channel shows that confidence does not mean recklessness.

Character interactions

• Ji Xiangwang privately weighs Jiang Li’s possible retaliation and contacts influential families in response.
• Zheng Yue consults a Hidden Martial Guard and orders Xu Guangcheng to negotiate with Jiang Li before attempting to restrain him.
• Jiang Li rewards the Ye Family’s battlefield sacrifice by granting them the spoils, while confronting and punishing the looters who had stood aside.
• The looters appeal to Jiang Li’s sense of reason and patriotism; he dismisses their claims and uses his power to silence them.

Plot points and events

• After defeating the threat to the Ye Family, Jiang Li helps the injured Martial Venerable Ye Tian, who thanks him for saving his life and family.
• Ye Tian confirms that the Ji Family has long oppressed the Ye Family and that Ji Yuanhua deliberately left him to die. He accepts that the families can no longer coexist.
• Jiang Li promises to settle the score and takes Ye Tian to Qin City in his Black-and-Yellow Sacred Chariot, whose extraordinary speed and cultivation-enhancing power astonish him.
• Jiang Li drives the chariot through the gates of the Ji Family estate. He confronts family head Ji Xiangwang and uses mental power to seize Ji Yuanhua.
• Jiang Li accuses Ji Yuanhua of abandoning a fellow Great Xia Martial Venerable on the Rong Kingdom Battlefield. Ji Yuanhua denies wrongdoing, while privately plotting revenge; Jiang Li can hear his thoughts.
• Ji Xiangwang argues that Jiang Li’s actions violate the law and warns that the Martial Emperor Hall and Great Xia’s authorities could punish him. Jiang Li ignores the warnings and, after Ji Xiangwang tries to intervene, kills Ji Yuanhua with his mental power.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Li remains respectful toward Ye Tian, but his anger at the Ji Family is uncompromising. His growing power—and willingness to act outside legal channels—makes him a formidable, unpredictable force.
• Ye Tian shifts from gratitude to resolve: having survived the Ji Family’s betrayal, he recognizes that reconciliation is impossible.
• Ji Xiangwang stays composed and relies on legal and political arguments rather than pleading, but becomes increasingly alarmed as Jiang Li refuses to back down.
• Ji Yuanhua tries to present himself as innocent while secretly resenting Jiang Li. His performance fails, and he is killed.
• The contrast between Jiang Li’s straightforward defiance and Ji Xiangwang’s calculated appeals to law defines their confrontation.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and vengeance: Ji Yuanhua’s abandonment of Ye Tian turns long-running hostility into an irreversible feud.
• Power versus law: Ji Xiangwang invokes institutions and legal authority, but Jiang Li’s superior strength allows him to disregard them.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Jiang Li repays Ye Tian’s earlier kindness by protecting him.
• The cost of unchecked power: Jiang Li’s killing of Ji Yuanhua delivers immediate justice in his eyes, while risking serious consequences for himself and Great Xia’s order.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Li effortlessly defeats Ji Xiangwang’s attacks, showing how vastly he has surpassed the Ji Family patriarch. Earlier, he killed Ji Yuanhua, a Martial Venerable of the Ji Family.
• Jiang Li accuses Ji Yuanhua of conspiring with the Beast Army to trap Ye Tian, and Ji Xiangwang of colluding with a Second Grade Demon King. Ji Xiangwang denies the charges and threatens to appeal to the Longevity Martial Emperor.
• When Ji Xiangwang cannot defeat Jiang Li or bring himself to leave, Jiang Li attacks him directly, declaring that neither the Ji Family nor its allies can intimidate him.
• Xu Guangcheng intervenes, warning that killing Ji Xiangwang could provoke powerful financial clans and reclusive martial experts. Jiang Li remains undeterred, saying he will stop only if the Martial Emperor himself appears.
• As Jiang Li strikes again, a second, black-clad Xu Guangcheng appears and intercepts the blow. The clash destroys the Ji residence. The first Xu tells Ji Xiangwang to flee, and Ji Xiangwang finally escapes.
• Jiang Li turns to confront the two Xu Guangchengs and activates his Great Sage Equal to Heaven martial divine body.

Character developments

• Jiang Li displays overwhelming strength and confidence, moving from restraint to open threats when Ji Xiangwang persists. He is willing to challenge Great Xia’s entrenched power structures, though he admits he cannot defeat the Longevity Martial Emperor.
• Ji Xiangwang loses his composure as his attacks prove useless. His pride and anger give way to humiliation and hatred, and he retreats when told he cannot be saved.
• Xu Guangcheng reveals that he has been present since the fight began and attempts to mediate, balancing concern for political stability with an understanding of Jiang Li’s strength. The appearance of a second version of him introduces a surprising new element.

Significant themes

• Power and changing hierarchies: Jiang Li’s strength has overturned the old assumption that a Martial Venerable is beyond challenge.
• Justice versus political privilege: Jiang Li frames the Ji Family’s influence as protection for wrongdoing, while Xu warns that attacking it could destabilize Great Xia.
• Pride and consequences: Ji Xiangwang’s refusal to accept defeat escalates the confrontation and ultimately leaves him with no choice but to flee.
• Restraint and escalation: Jiang Li initially allows Ji Xiangwang to attack, but repeated defiance pushes him toward lethal force.

Character interactions

• Jiang Li repeatedly taunts Ji Xiangwang, provoking his anger while exposing his helplessness.
• Ji Xiangwang invokes the Martial Emperor and the Ji Family’s service to Great Xia; Jiang Li counters with accusations of betrayal and challenges him to report the matter.
• Xu Guangcheng tries to persuade Jiang Li to stop, citing the wider political fallout. Jiang Li rejects the warning but acknowledges the Martial Emperor as someone he cannot beat.
• The second Xu Guangcheng physically protects Ji Xiangwang, prompting Jiang Li to shift his attention from the fleeing patriarch to the two versions of Xu.