Chapter Summaries

After the First Trial ended, Chen Lin learned that completed tasks sent cultivators straight into the Second Trial and discovered that task-related searches could be discussed without violating the rules. Gu Tianhan told him that yearning dust came from everlasting vines, and Chen Lin left Dream Illusion City planning to search Huqiu for it.

• Yang Tian vanished after finishing his task, and Su Qinglian described the items he had chosen as the others considered what his task might have required.
• Chen Lin brought the others through the River of Nether and, a year later, met Gu Tianhan in Dream Illusion City, where he learned that yearning dust was released by everlasting vines under unknown conditions.
• Chen Lin agreed to refine False Pills for Gu Tianhan in exchange for the information, showed him a drawing of the Rubik's Cube, and accepted an offer to ally in the next trial.
• Chen Lin used his Guaranteed Hit to produce perfect False Pills, gave twenty to Gu Tianhan, and learned that Yu Gongyuan and many other cultivators had left Dream Illusion City to pursue their tasks.
• Chen Lin decided to search Huqiu for yearning dust first, then investigate the sky rift and Rubik's Cube or return to the Seven-Star Realm and seek the everlasting vine in the Shadow Scholar's Secret Realm.

Chen Lin found that Huqiu had vanished after transforming into a primordial-tier tiger, then gathered information about the Ascension Trial while searching the Core Region for his task targets. With half his time gone and no leads, he returned to the cave linked to his Wooden Ring, where the mysterious woman was still waiting.

• Chen Lin learned from Huang Qingyu that Huqiu had turned into a tiger and left, and that the Everlasting Vine had likely returned to its body.
• Chen Lin questioned Huang Qingyu about the trial, learning that Elder Beitang and the Seven Passions Sect's Supreme Elder had left seclusion and that many tasks involved searches, exploration, or hunting anti-spirit cultivators.
• Chen Lin explored the Goose-Feather Well, found it stripped of its treasures, and began posting bounties for the mimic, Yearning Dust, and the tiger that had been Huqiu.
• Chen Lin spent three years searching across the Core Region without finding his targets, then decided to return to the Seven-Star Realm and seek destiny-related items in the River of Destiny.
• Chen Lin activated the Wooden Ring and was transported to the cave, where he confronted the mysterious woman who had told him to return once he could use it.

Chen Lin questioned the rope-bound woman about the Lake-Fishing Old Man, the Ascension Trial, and ways to complete his tasks. She explained how to find sky rifts and offered a strand of spiritual charm in exchange for an item from the Abandoned Land, but Chen Lin remained wary after learning its dangers and the woman’s uncertain claims.

• Chen Lin learned that the Lake-Fishing Old Man had trapped the woman in her domain and that she knew the Ascension Trial had begun earlier than expected.
• The woman tried to persuade Chen Lin to reveal his trial task and stay with her, but he refused and found that the cave’s barrier blocked his escape.
• Chen Lin asked about the Six-Eared Square Tower and sky rifts, and the woman told him that sky rifts lay in the River of Rules and offered spiritual charm for a favor.
• The woman asked Chen Lin to retrieve an item from the Abandoned Land, describing its dangers, its lifespan cost, and a supposed way to leave by shouting “Open Sesame” at a cliff.
• Chen Lin questioned the woman about entering the Abandoned Land and learned that the Murmuring Voice could summon cultivators there, though he remained alarmed that its inhabitants might wield supernatural power.

Chen Lin obtained a spiritual charm from the Slender Woman in exchange for retrieving the Rivers and Mountains Sword within sixty years, then traveled to the Netherworld to search for his children and descendants. He found Chen Xuanjiu in a city on the ninth level and learned that the Undying True Lord and most of the family elders had left to complete their Ascension Trial tasks.

• The Slender Woman gave Chen Lin a spiritual charm and information about the Rivers and Mountains Sword, requiring him to retrieve it within sixty years.
• Chen Lin traveled through the River of Nether toward the Seven-Star Realm, intending to search for his children and investigate whether Gu Siming was the Lake-Fishing Old Man.
• Chen Lin reached the ninth level of the Netherworld, met Ling Chengwang, and agreed to help find an Exquisite Treasure Chest in exchange for first pick and a Peak Creation Pill for her.
• Chen Lin traced his bloodline to a city and recognized Chen Xuanjiu as a descendant of Chen Fan.
• Chen Xuanjiu confirmed Chen Lin's identity and explained that the Undying True Lord and most elders had left to complete their Ascension Trial tasks.

Chen Lin helped his descendants, killed the Double-Faced Ghost King, and broke a seal at the end of a tributary of the River of Nether. He claimed the four Exquisite Treasure Chests’ contents and agreed to let Ling Ziyu travel with him as they continued their search.

• Chen Lin gave the Chen Family the treasures they requested and killed the Double-Faced Ghost King and the Ghostly Creatures in his palace.
• Chen Lin and Ling Ziyu reached a sealed tributary of the River of Nether, where she explained that she had been trapped for three thousand eight hundred years and could not complete her trial tasks.
• Chen Lin destroyed the seal’s nine array cores and revealed a strange statue that continuously poured out the river’s water.
• Chen Lin tested the statue, drew over four Exquisite Treasure Chests, and found a large metal fragment, variegated crystal marrow, a Black Broken Saber, and an Outspoken Bird Talisman.
• Chen Lin gave Ling Ziyu the variegated crystal marrow and Outspoken Bird Talisman, then agreed to let her stay with him as he continued searching.

Chen Lin obtained the Open Heavens secret art, uncovered a side quest to resurrect the Flower Goddess, and found evidence linking her essence to Wanhuagu Valley and the Seven Realms Flower. After returning to the Seven-Star Realm, he learned the Boundary River had vanished and suspected the Lake-Fishing Old Man had concealed it from the Heavenly Dao.

• Chen Lin absorbed the Open Heavens inheritance from the metal fragments and discovered the broken saber could grow back its missing tip.
• Chen Lin triggered a side quest to resurrect the Flower Goddess, and Grass recognized Wanhuagu Valley's aura on the statue.
• Chen Lin struck the statue with the God-Slaying Seal, causing it to bloom, while Grass cut off its flowers and exposed a Space Node.
• Chen Lin examined a withered petal from beyond the Space Node, recognized the Seven Realms Flower's aura, and decided not to pursue the resurrection quest or destroy the petal.
• Chen Lin returned with Grass and Ling Ziyu to the Seven-Star Realm and learned that the Boundary River, its connecting points, and the Nightmare Realm had vanished from his perception.
• Chen Lin concluded that the Lake-Fishing Old Man had concealed the Boundary River to keep the Heavenly Dao's will from reaching it.

Chen Lin searched the Rivers of Rules for the Sky Rift and gathered Flower Goddess petals, but grew suspicious that someone was guiding him toward them. In the River of Karma, he encountered Nian Kong, who tried to recruit him into opposing the Heavenly Dao, and was left weighing the monk’s claim about the Trial Assembly.

• Chen Lin found Nitian City’s elders and deacons gone, supplied the remaining disciples with their requested items, and left a letter before departing.
• Chen Lin entered the River of Life with Grass; its pure energy helped her grow stronger and break through, while Chen Lin found fruits that restored his heart origin essence.
• Chen Lin found a Flower Goddess petal in the River of Life, then obtained more petals in the Rivers of Destiny, time, space, and power, convincing him that someone had arranged their discovery.
• Chen Lin entered the murky River of Karma and decided to leave, but Nian Kong appeared and urged him to join the Buddhist Sect in resisting the Heavenly Dao.
• Chen Lin rejected Nian Kong’s recruitment, and Nian Kong asked why the Trial Assembly was being held on such an enormous scale.

Chen Lin heard Nian Kong’s case against the Heavenly Dao but chose to delay joining the Anti-Spirit Cultivators while he weighed the risks. After receiving a flower petal and locations of sky rifts, he found an invisible rift in the River of Destiny and sealed it.

• Nian Kong told Chen Lin that the weakening Heavenly Dao sought to strengthen the origin pool and suppress those who resisted her, then invited him to join the Anti-Spirit Cultivators.
• Nian Kong explained that Heavenly Monarch seats offered some freedom from the Heavenly Dao’s rules, and Chen Lin decided to observe before choosing a side.
• Nian Kong gave Chen Lin a Buddhist Prayer Bead, a Jade Slip containing five sky-rift locations, and a Flower Goddess petal; Chen Lin hid the bead and realized the Heavenly Dao’s trial tasks seemed tailored to his past and abilities.
• Chen Lin followed the Jade Slip to an invisible sky rift in the River of Destiny and used the Slender Woman’s spiritual charm, Yin-Yang runic inscriptions, and his orange heart aperture to seal it.

Chen Lin returned to the secret realm, reunited with Yuheng, and obtained yearning dust from the blood-red vine. The Heavenly Dao then denied him entry to the next trial after he missed its undisclosed deadline, leaving him convinced it was targeting him over his contact with the Anti-Spirit Cultivators.

• Chen Lin used the Wordless Celestial Book to locate the secret realm and discovered that Yuheng was actually Quiet Fire, now a true realm completion cultivator.
• Yuheng explained how she had gained the Shadow Scholar's inheritance and said Tianxuan and the others had died.
• Chen Lin smashed the Hexagonal Tower, forced the blood-red vine to hand over yearning dust, and triggered the prompt confirming he had completed two tasks.
• The Heavenly Dao gave Chen Lin ten breaths to choose whether to enter the next trial, then treated his continued questions as a refusal and stopped responding.
• The vine left to complete its own task, and Yuheng entered the damaged tower, retrieved what she needed, and cleared the stage.
• Chen Lin realized the Heavenly Dao had deliberately stalled him and flew into the tower, uncertain how to avoid being forced toward the Anti-Spirit Cultivators.

Chen Lin forcibly broke the divine curse sealing his destiny heart aperture and evolved it into the Lake of Talent, where he experienced the lives of people from his past. Zhenyangzi revealed that Chen Lin had been an accidental target of the Anti-Spirit Cultivators’ summoning, urged him to join their faction, and left him with a decision to make; Chen Lin’s talent ability advanced to Ten Attempts One Hit.

• Chen Lin returned to the Star Ruins, chose to prepare for exploring the Abandoned Land, and later spent two years trying to evolve his destiny heart aperture.
• Chen Lin used the God-Slaying Seal to break the aperture’s divine curse, transforming his talent origin into the Lake of Talent as torrents of other people’s destinies swept him into their lives.
• Chen Lin experienced the lives of Zhao Zhengyuan, Qian Li, Qin Lingyu, and many others, nearly losing himself in their memories before recovering.
• Zhenyangzi told Chen Lin that the Anti-Spirit Cultivators had summoned people from beyond the Heavenly Dao’s reach, but Chen Lin had been an unintended target who became a variable beyond their control.
• Zhenyangzi invited Chen Lin to return to his seat of Destiny and join the Anti-Spirit Cultivators, but Chen Lin withheld his answer until he could hear their plan.
• Chen Lin regained control of the Lake of Talent and discovered his ability had become Ten Attempts One Hit.

Chen Lin entered the Abandoned Land, lost his supernatural powers and most of his belongings, and struggled to survive on a grassland while following a river. After two months without finding a settlement, he spotted two monkeys being pursued by four riders.

• Chen Lin tested his ascended talent and confirmed it could guarantee one success in ten properly performed attempts, though using it consumed a large amount of talent energy.
• Chen Lin entered the Abandoned Land with Grass, but the journey stripped away his powers and destroyed most of his supplies; he landed on a grassland and could not release her from the grotto-heaven.
• Chen Lin followed a river for a month, surviving on water while avoiding wolf packs, and reasoned that supernatural areas or altered time might explain how trapped cultivators survived.
• Chen Lin continued along the river for another month, catching fish and shrimp, digging up roots, and killing a wolf with the Open Heavens Saber.
• Chen Lin saw two monkeys riding the lead horse of a group pursued by four armed riders, then hid rather than interfere.

Chen Lin rescued Tutu from the Black Eagle Guard and learned that the boy was an imperial prince of the fallen Yue Country. After hiding from the search party and traveling for half a month, Chen Lin and Tutu crossed into a snow-covered landscape on their way toward the Sixth District.

• Chen Lin pulled the injured Tutu from the river and agreed to take him along in exchange for information about the area and the Rivers and Mountains Sword.
• Tutu revealed that the Black Eagle Guard had eight hundred members and used eagles to search, so Chen Lin dug a concealed burrow where they hid from the pursuing riders.
• After ten days underground, Chen Lin learned that Tutu was an imperial prince of Yue Country, which Black Eagle Country had conquered six months earlier, and that Tutu and his Second Uncle had escaped captivity using the Disguise Art.
• Tutu removed his disguise and promised to teach Chen Lin the Disguise Art as Chen Lin questioned him about the mysterious regions.
• Chen Lin and Tutu traveled for half a month without encountering another search party, then crossed low mountain ridges into a snow-covered landscape.

Chen Lin and Tutu entered the Sixth District, where Tutu explained its dangers, strange paths, and history before they reached a snowy settlement. There, they encountered Yuan Zhimeng working off a debt at an inn, and Chen Lin learned she might soon be forced to entertain clients.

• Tutu revealed that he had brought Chen Lin into the Mysterious District to escape pursuit and explained that it brought misfortune to those who stayed.
• Chen Lin agreed to forgive Tutu in exchange for maps of Yue Country and other regions, while Tutu promised to help him find the Rivers and Mountains Sword.
• Tutu described the Sixth District's five strange paths, and Chen Lin learned that the Fifth Path's glowing tower was connected to the cries for help heard by Blind Girl.
• Chen Lin and Tutu traveled through the snow for a day and entered a small settlement after Tutu paid a gatekeeper with a White Crystal Stone.
• At the Number Seven Inn, Chen Lin discovered that the server was Yuan Zhimeng, who asked to borrow Crystal Coins to repay her debt.
• The Female Proprietress told Chen Lin that Yuan Zhimeng owed five purple crystals and would have to entertain clients if her debt reached seven.

Chen Lin learned about martial cultivation in the Mysterious District, paid to free Yuan Zhimeng, and obtained Yue Country techniques from Tutu. Discovering that the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens might connect to the Shadow Scholar’s legacy, he also learned of an Outer Heaven treasure and the Ascension Trial, while Yuan Zhimeng remained unsure what to do.

• Chen Lin learned from Tutu that martial artists in the Mysterious District could develop internal energy and true qi, then received five purple crystals from him.
• Chen Lin paid Feng Sanniang five purple crystals to ransom Yuan Zhimeng and learned that Black Eagle Country had placed a bounty on Tutu.
• Tutu copied three Yue Country techniques for Chen Lin, including the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens, which had seven forms matching the Seven Major Laws.
• Yuan Zhimeng brought Chen Lin breakfast, and he told her that the Ascension Trial had begun and that she would face its consequences if she returned to the Star Ruins.
• Tutu revealed that Yue Country’s royal records described an Outer Heaven treasure and a Destined Person, leading Chen Lin to suspect the Shadow Scholar had arranged the inheritance.
• Yuan Zhimeng told Chen Lin that an inner demon and a murmuring voice had brought her into the Abandoned Land, leaving her uncertain about her next move.

Chen Lin struck a deal with Feng Sanniang to make a hundred baskets of Mother Steamed Buns in exchange for passage to Xuelian City, while he continued developing his Spirit Infusion Realm and martial skills. After the ingredients arrived, he made the buns before Feng Sanniang and the inn’s owner, whose reactions showed that Chen Lin’s technique carried an extraordinary artistic conception.

• Yuan Zhimeng traded Chen Lin a Secret Order for his promise to take her out of the Fourth Tier, and Chen Lin told her and Tutu about the danger posed by Black Eagle Country’s bounty hunters.
• Chen Lin offered Feng Sanniang a hundred baskets of Mother Steamed Buns in exchange for taking their group to Xuelian City, and she accepted.
• Chen Lin learned the local language and discovered that his Spirit Infusion Realm enhanced the power of the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens, while he could not use his previous internal-energy cultivation here.
• Feng Sanniang brought Chen Lin into the kitchen after the ingredients arrived, introducing the inn’s owner, who had come to watch and escort him to Xuelian City.
• Chen Lin made a hundred baskets of buns, drawing Feng Sanniang, the owner, and the others into their comforting artistic conception before his voice brought them back.

Chen Lin negotiated with Qin Ziwang to travel to Lotus City, then encountered Gleiter and Lu Jiuxuan at the inn and asked them to help locate a valley near Wujing City. Lu Jiuxuan told him the valley had vanished years ago.

• Qin Ziwang praised Chen Lin's buns, introduced himself, and agreed to arrange their journey to Lotus City while deciding to watch Chen Lin cautiously.
• Chen Lin told Tutu and Yuan Zhimeng that they would leave the inn, and both agreed to travel with him.
• Chen Lin recognized the two new guests as Gleiter and Lu Jiuxuan, and Gleiter asked him to use his favor to request Bai Yujing's forgiveness.
• Gleiter offered Chen Lin the Sun-Swallowing Earthworm's Evolution Method for money, and Chen Lin asked him and Lu Jiuxuan to help find a valley near Wujing City.
• Lu Jiuxuan identified the valley Chen Lin sought as the location of the Exit and said it had vanished years ago.

Chen Lin learned that the valley route might be a dead end, then watched a fight break out at the inn after Gleiter attacked Feng Sanniang. Qin Ziwang arrived and fought Gleiter, whose strange power failed when a jade-white finger emerged from Qin Ziwang’s forehead and destroyed his dagger.

• Lu Jiuxuan told Chen Lin that he and Gleiter had found no way out of the valley, and Chen Lin took a map of the route.
• Qin Ziwang left for the Number Eight Inn, while Gleiter identified him as the Alien Creature Reaper and warned Chen Lin about him.
• Gleiter broke Feng Sanniang’s saber and killed Xiao Liuzi before trading blows with Feng Sanniang, who fled outside.
• Qin Ziwang returned and attacked Gleiter with his Soft Sword, while Chen Lin followed Lu Jiuxuan’s advice and stayed out of the fight.
• Gleiter stabbed an eyeball-like protrusion with his dagger and became immune to Qin Ziwang’s sword strikes, but Qin Ziwang’s forehead split open and a jade-white finger melted the dagger, leaving Gleiter convulsing.

After leaving the Number Seven Inn with Qin Ziwang, Chen Lin and his companions evaded the Black Eagle Guard and reached Xuelian City. They sought a Yue Country contact at the Silver Needle Tailor Shop, where the proprietress recognized Chen Lin—or thought she had—and demanded to know why they had come.

• Lu Jiuxuan took the injured Gleiter and left the inn after Qin Ziwang agreed not to kill him, while Chen Lin chose to stay with Qin Ziwang.
• Qin Ziwang carried the unconscious Feng Sanniang out of the inn and took Chen Lin, Tutu, and Yuan Zhimeng toward Xuelian City in his carriage.
• Yao Yu and the Black Eagle Guard stopped the carriage, but a gold-embroidered figure ordered them to let Qin Ziwang pass.
• After reaching Xuelian City, Chen Lin asked Tutu about a Yue Country contact, and Tutu led him and Yuan Zhimeng to the Silver Needle Tailor Shop.
• Tutu presented his Identity Token to the receptionist, but the proprietress focused on Chen Lin and insisted they had met before.

Chen Lin, Tutu, and Yuan Zhimeng confronted Liu Xu, whose past ties to Yue Country and the Exquisite Princess Consort remained uncertain. After Tutu revealed a jade pendant containing the second half of a cultivation technique, the dispute turned violent, but Chen Lin negotiated a truce and received the technique booklet from Liu Xu.

• Tutu identified himself as a Yue Country prince and asked Liu Xu for help, but she refused because her agreement with Fu Qingyun had expired.
• Yuan Zhimeng suggested Liu Xu might be the Exquisite Princess Consort, but Liu Xu denied being a clone and refused to serve Yue Country.
• Tutu revealed that his jade pendant held the second half of Liu Xu's cultivation technique, prompting Liu Xu to order her receptionists to surround the group.
• Commander Jin arrived to protect Tutu, but Liu Xu formed a seven-colored Blood Sword that shattered his broadsword; Tutu then absorbed the Blood Sword with his small sword.
• Chen Lin proposed a truce and asked for the cultivation technique linked to the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens, and Liu Xu agreed and gave him the booklet.

Chen Lin negotiated to escort Tutu to the Fifth Path in exchange for a cultivation technique, payment, and Liu Xu’s guidance. After studying the technique for three months, he learned it was linked to the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens and the Open Heavens Dharmic Formula, then obtained the technique’s moonlight-projected general outline with Liu Xu.

• Chen Lin agreed to escort Tutu to the Fifth Path for the technique and a promise of payment, while Liu Xu agreed to work for Yue Country for at most five years as an intelligence agent.
• Liu Xu showed Chen Lin and Yuan Zhimeng her unusual exquisite crystal and described her hazy memories and cultivation of seven types of inner energy.
• Chen Lin agreed to share stories about his past in exchange for Liu Xu teaching him the cultivation technique, but his stories did not restore her memories.
• Chen Lin realized the technique, the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens, and the Open Heavens Dharmic Formula were related, and he trained with Liu Xu for three months.
• When the moonlight met the required conditions, Chen Lin used Tutu’s Jade Pendant to reveal the technique’s text, which Liu Xu copied and identified as its general outline.