Chapter Summaries

Yang Ling confronted Zhu Xiu over his ambush and the Blackwood Snake-Gall Fruit, then forced him to reveal his past and demanded White Bone Cave manuals. Zhu Xiu denied having the manuals and offered the contents of a treasure vault behind him instead.

• Yang Ling threatened to have Little White burn Zhu Xiu unless he explained himself and compensated Yang Ling for the ambush.
• Zhu Xiu revealed that he was Zhu Bufan, a former Upper Fourth Rank Grandmaster whose Martial Way Furnace and qi and blood had been destroyed during the Great Dream Dynasty's campaign against White Bone Cave.
• Zhu Xiu explained that he had hoped to use a fifteen-hundred-year-old Blackwood Snake-Gall Fruit to restore his flesh and blood, but Yang Ling had consumed all thirteen fruits.
• Yang Ling demanded White Bone Cave's Dongting Nine-Character True Scripture, White Bone Origin Spirit Method, and Great Flying Sword Technique.
• Zhu Xiu claimed he had no Martial Way manuals and offered Yang Ling the rare flowers and herbs in the treasure vault behind him.

Yang Ling killed Zhu Xiu after realizing White Bone Cave might still shelter powerful survivors, including a First Rank Land Immortal. Zhu Xiu’s ashes formed the White Bone Origin Spirit Method, leaving Yang Ling to suspect that first-class internal skills were limited in number and costly to pass on.

• Yang Ling concluded that Zhu Xiu, the Bone Demon King, and the White Bone Elder might be guarding White Bone Cave’s dying First Rank Land Immortal.
• Yang Ling ordered Little White to attack Zhu Xiu and refused his offers of herbs and the White Bone Origin Spirit Method.
• Zhu Xiu’s mental defenses failed, and Little White’s Fire Flood Dragon Breath incinerated him.
• Zhu Xiu’s ashes gathered into a manual titled White Bone Origin Spirit Method, which Yang Ling took.
• Yang Ling suspected that powerful cultivators could extract their internal skills only by permanently giving them up, making first-class skills fixed and exceptionally precious.

Yang Ling obtained and learned the White Bone Origin Spirit Method, discovering that its powerful Mental Power gains came with steep losses to other attributes. He decided to cultivate it toward Entering the Hall and Room, then sat down to test whether his cultivation speed had increased after reaching Fifth-Rank Minor Grandmaster.

• Yang Ling reasoned that Martial Way Manuals could be extracted through methods beyond burning remains, though he suspected strict conditions kept the process from causing chaos.
• Yang Ling learned the White Bone Origin Spirit Method and saw that its stages increased Mental Power while reducing Strength and, at its supernatural stage, other attributes as well.
• Yang Ling calculated that the method could raise his Mental Power from 400 to 740 by reaching Entering the Hall and Room, and weighed the risks of its severe attribute costs.
• Yang Ling recalled Lu Yunchen's claim that advancing to Fifth Rank increased cultivation speed and decided to test how much faster he could now train.
• Yang Ling had Little White guard him, sat cross-legged, and began meditating on the White Bone Origin Spirit Method.

Yang Ling advanced the White Bone Origin Spirit Method to mastery through practice, boosting his mental power, then entered the flooded passage to confront the figure in the coffin. The giant introduced as Luo Wendao emerged, and Yang Ling inspected his formidable attributes.

• Yang Ling gained 20 experience points per hour after reaching fifth-rank minor grandmaster and raised the White Bone Origin Spirit Method to first glimpse of the door.
• Yang Ling cultivated for 24 hours, gained 480 experience points, and concluded that mental power limited how long most martial artists could cultivate each day.
• The White Bone Origin Spirit Method reached mastery through practice, raising Yang Ling's mental power to 460, but he decided not to pursue its next stage through cultivation alone.
• Yang Ling ordered Little White to guard the passage and entered the underground palace's flooded passage.
• The coffin exploded, and Yang Ling saw the giant Luo Wendao emerge and checked his attributes.

Yang Ling confronted Luo Wendao in the hidden cavern and killed him after learning how dangerous the White Bone Elder might be. As the stone door to the White Bone Dao Palace began to open, Yang Ling hid Luo Wendao’s remains and escaped into the water.

• Yang Ling assessed Luo Wendao’s weakened state and concluded that his own equipment, skills, and mental strength gave him the advantage.
• Luo Wendao attacked Yang Ling, but Yang Ling evaded his punches and wounded his neck with two Instant Slashes.
• Yang Ling repeatedly struck Luo Wendao’s existing neck wound while avoiding his attacks, and Luo Wendao offered to bargain for his life.
• Luo Wendao began to enter his Second Form, so Yang Ling landed six Instant Slashes and severed his head.
• The stone door to the White Bone Dao Palace began to open, and Yang Ling stored Luo Wendao’s remains in the Green Dragon Ring before diving into the water.

Yang Ling escaped the White Bone Dao Palace and later acquired Luo Wendao’s Yin-Tempering Body-Refining Art, but its requirement that Mental Power be below 3 made it impossible for him to cultivate. He found valuable pills among Pan Hui’s belongings and began using them in hopes of advancing the White Bone Origin Spirit Method.

• Yang Ling and Little White escaped the collapsing passage and fled the island, while Yang Ling sensed that the White Bone Elder was watching him.
• Two days later, Yang Ling had Little White burn Luo Wendao’s remains, which produced the Yin-Tempering Body-Refining Art.
• Yang Ling discovered that the art required 30 Strength and Mental Power below 3, so he stored it and planned to offer it to Zhao De or Yun.
• Yang Ling searched Pan Hui’s hide pouch and found two million taels in Great Dream Dynasty Silver Notes and twenty-four Blackwater Treasure Whale Pills.
• Yang Ling swallowed pills that randomly granted experience to his Internal Skills, first benefiting Divine Ape Visualization and then Great Grade Azure Dragon Force.
• Yang Ling took another pill, hoping its experience would advance the White Bone Origin Spirit Method toward Perfected Skill and 80 Mental Power.

Yang Ling used the last Blackwater Treasure Whale Pill to perfect the White Bone Origin Spirit Method, greatly increasing his mental power. He returned to the mine and told the Divine Ape Spirit Body about Zhu Xiu and Luo Wendao, learning that Zhu Xiu’s ashes had passed on a bone-burning inheritance.

• Yang Ling consumed the Blackwater Treasure Whale Pills, and the final pill advanced the White Bone Origin Spirit Method to perfected skill, raising his mental power to 540.
• Yang Ling restored his strength with free attribute points, then returned to shore and went back into the Red Fire Iron Ore mine.
• The Divine Ape Spirit Body noticed Yang Ling’s stronger martial way kindling and asked about the Spirit Medicine Garden.
• Yang Ling told the Divine Ape Spirit Body about Pan Hui, Zhu Xiu, Luo Wendao, and the White Bone Origin Spirit Method.
• The Divine Ape Spirit Body explained that Yang Ling had received Zhu Xiu’s bone-burning inheritance because Zhu Xiu had been a Fourth-Rank Grandmaster and had perfected the method to transcendent saint.

Yang Ling learned how Martial Way Manuals could be inherited from the dead or burned out by living Fourth-Rank Grandmasters, and realized the method explained how sects passed down their techniques. The Divine Ape Spirit Body identified Zhu Wudi and the White Bone Divine Lord as surviving threats, then agreed to seek a way to accompany Yang Ling to claim the White Bone Cave’s inheritance.

• Yang Ling learned that Fourth-Rank Grandmasters could burn Martial Way Manuals from their bodies, with the cost depending on the furnace’s grade and the manual’s quality.
• The Divine Ape Spirit Body explained that sects used burned manuals to earn contribution points and fund cultivation, allowing their legacies to endure.
• The Divine Ape Spirit Body identified the presence Yang Ling sensed as Zhu Wudi, Zhu Xiu’s father, and warned that the White Bone Divine Lord might also still be alive.
• Yang Ling proposed reporting the White Bone Cave’s survivors to the Zhao State, but the Divine Ape Spirit Body told him to keep the discovery secret and promised to go with him once it found a way off Fire Flood Dragon Island.

Yang Ling and the others chose to remain on Fire Flood Dragon Island as Zhao State and the Rong Tribe began developing it. The discovery of a valuable blood essence ore deposit brought the island’s importance into focus, and Zhao State prepared to send a Human Immortal to oversee it.

• Minister Kong told the young Iron Clothes Constables they could return to the Capital or stay on Fire Flood Dragon Island for at least three years.
• Lu Xiangdi, Wang Baozhu, Sun Jiayi, Yang Yi, and Zhang Wei chose to stay, and Yang Ling agreed to help bring more of their associates to the island.
• Zhang Wei explained that sects were planning to relocate to Fire Flood Dragon Island as a base for exploring distant waters.
• Miners discovered a blood essence ore deposit, and Yang Ling hurried to the site.
• Lu Yunchen explained that blood essence ore improved pill quality, while Yun Buchuan said its discovery would likely bring a Human Immortal to oversee the island within three days.

Yang Ling learned that an unprecedented deposit of blood essence ore had been found on Fire Flood Dragon Island and resolved to mine it. The Zhao State claimed authority over the deposit’s distribution, leaving the other powers waiting for negotiations.

• Zhao Zheng and Yang Ling approached the newly discovered pit while Lu Yunchen kept Zhang Wei and the others away from it.
• Xu Wuji explained that blood essence ore could greatly improve pills and was considered the foundation of a nation.
• Yan Jiuling asked how the ore would be divided, and Xie Jinjia offered the four first-rate sects five percent to share.
• The middle-aged layman and Master Yunmu described the ore’s hazards: it evaporated in air, caused illusions, and could escape after mining.
• Veteran Mine Gang members confirmed the deposit was unprecedented in all history, alarming the powerful figures present.
• Minister Kong asserted that the Zhao State would decide the distribution, despite Li Ting and the Rong Tribe’s minister seeking a share.

Minister Kong pressed the Mine Gang to begin extracting blood essence ore before Zhao State and the Rong Tribe settled their claims, and Yang Ling was assigned to help open the mine. As the Divine Guard Office instance approached, Yang Ling reassured his companions and warned them to avoid provoking powerful NPCs when its rules were revealed.

• Minister Kong told Xie Jinjia and the Mine Gang to open the mine quickly and prioritize extracting blood essence ore while negotiations continued.
• A Mine Gang elder recruited Yang Ling to help develop the mine, and the middle-aged layman ordered him to set aside his other duties and obey.
• Yang Ling discussed the upcoming Divine Guard Office instance with Zhang Wei, Lu Xiangdi, and the others, who feared it might lack team matchmaking.
• Yang Ling reassured his companions that the instance would likely involve taking assignments from NPCs and choosing suitable tasks.
• Yang Ling warned the group that provoking a powerful NPC could raise the instance's difficulty, just as it could on Fire Flood Dragon Island.
• A red announcement appeared in the Divine Realm Chat Channel titled “Intermediate instance Divine Guard Office: Details and taboos.”

Yang Ling organized a party for the Divine Guard Office instance and entered with Lin Caiyi and the others. He was assigned as the commander of their group in the Beheading Hall, then learned that Hall Master Ji had summoned him to a meeting.

• Players across the regions reacted to the instance's deadly rules, and Yang Ling agreed to form a party with Lin Caiyi, Zhang Wei, and their companions.
• Yang Ling invited fewer than a hundred trusted players, ignored strangers' offers to join, and declined Li Fengxian's proposed plan.
• At midnight, Yang Ling and his party entered the Divine Guard Office instance and appeared in a martial training courtyard.
• Yang Ling learned he was the Divine Guard Commander of Human Division Group Three, while Lin Caiyi and the others had been assigned as its divine guards.
• A Divine Guard called out that Hall Master Ji wanted Yang Ling at a meeting.

Yang Ling learned about Beheading Hall’s commanders and discovered that Ji Tianming had become its hall master. Ji Tianming called the commanders together to hunt Fourth Rank remnants of White Bone Cave, and Yang Ling wondered whether he could use his knowledge of their whereabouts for a reward.

• Xia Heng explained Beheading Hall’s hierarchy and warned Yang Ling about the temperamental commander of Human Division Group One and the dangers facing Group Three.
• Yang Ling learned that Zhao De had become a Human Immortal, then joined the other commanders at the Affairs Courtyard.
• Ji Tianming arrived as Beheading Hall’s hall master, and Yang Ling recognized his sworn brother, now a Third Rank expert.
• Ji Tianming announced a mission to capture Fourth Rank remnants of White Bone Cave and offered a 1,500-year-old Blackwood Snake-Gall Fruit for each head.
• Yang Ling wondered whether Zhu Xiu and Luo Wendao were hiding on the island and what reward he might earn by reporting their location.

Yang Ling joined a Divine Guard Office meeting where commanders volunteered to hunt White Bone Cave’s injured Fourth Rank remnants, then discovered that Hall Master Ji Tianming was his sworn brother from another instance. Ji assigned Yang Ling to accompany Hu Shuying and Xia Heng on a beheading mission, and Yang Ling asked about White Bone Cave’s current situation.

• Yang Ling concealed his knowledge of White Bone Cave’s hiding place and warned that his new Human Division recruits could not handle Fourth Rank experts.
• Hu Shuying volunteered her group to behead one remnant, while the Heaven and Earth Divisions took responsibility for the other three.
• Ji Tianming dismissed the commanders, recognized Yang Ling as his sworn brother, and criticized his slow cultivation.
• Ji Tianming told Yang Ling that Zhao Chongxu had reached Upper Fourth Rank at a remarkably young age and said he would train Yang Ling himself.
• Ji Tianming assigned Yang Ling to hunt a White Bone Cave remnant with Hu Shuying and Xia Heng, and promised him rare herbs to strengthen his Martial Way Kindling.
• Yang Ling asked Ji Tianming about White Bone Cave’s current situation.

Yang Ling told Ji Tianming that the White Bone Divine Lord might still be alive and gave him a map to investigate, hoping to gain a reward. After Ji Tianming left to report the intelligence, Yang Ling triggered an SSS-rank hidden quest tied to the Divine Guard Office’s pursuit of the White Bone Divine Lord.

• Ji Tianming explained that the Great Dream Dynasty had destroyed White Bone Cave after its First Rank Land Immortal disappeared, killing its remaining disciples and forcing some experts to guard the Abyssal Beast Cavern.
• Yang Ling asked about Zhu Xiu and Luo Wendao, and Ji Tianming confirmed that they were White Bone Cave remnants who had escaped the Divine Guard Office.
• Yang Ling told Ji Tianming that the White Bone Divine Lord might be recovering elsewhere and claimed to know his location; Ji Tianming said the intelligence could earn him rare materials but risked his position if it proved false.
• Yang Ling gave Ji Tianming a map, and Ji Tianming agreed to report the lead under his own name and split any reward with Yang Ling if it proved true.
• Ji Tianming sent Yang Ling to discuss a beheading assignment with Hu Shuying and Xia Heng, urging him to build a battle record and explaining that the Divine Guard Office offered first-class martial arts in exchange for merit.
• Yang Ling triggered the SSS-rank hidden quest “White Bone Divine Lord's Dead End” and realized he might receive both Ji Tianming’s share of the reward and a Divine Domain quest reward.

Yang Ling and Hu Shuying planned to capture Mou Sen, a White Bone Cave remnant sheltered in the Great Underworld Temple, while Yang Ling urged them to arrest Shi Tianlong as well. Hu Shuying postponed her decision until the next day, and Yang Ling took the new recruits to the Mission Hall to consider assignments before a possible journey.

• Hu Shuying told Yang Ling and Xia Heng that Mou Sen was hiding under the alias Liaochen in the Great Underworld Temple's Vajra Martial Hall, where Shi Tianlong was its hall master.
• Hu Shuying proposed investigating and arresting everyone implicated in the Great Underworld Temple's protection of Mou Sen, but Xia Heng claimed an old injury and left.
• Yang Ling argued that Shi Tianlong should be arrested and questioned for sheltering White Bone Cave remnants, while Hu Shuying cautioned that they lacked proof and postponed the decision until the next day.
• Yang Ling visited the Mission Hall with Lin Caiyi and the other recruits and suggested they choose suitable missions or spend a month training.

Yang Ling browsed the Divine Guard Office’s mission catalog and discovered powerful grade A missions, while Lin Caiyi and the others selected tasks suited to their abilities. The next day, Yang Ling prepared to join Hu Shuying’s decapitation mission, but Ji Tianming summoned him separately to discuss the Abyssal Beast Cavern.

• Yang Ling examined the mission catalog, coveted the rewards for killing Hidden Sword Manor’s young master and capturing a Flying Flame Azure Dragon cub, and learned that grade A, level one missions were restricted to officials of Fourth Rank or above.
• Lin Caiyi and the others chose missions suited to their strength, while some decided to avoid missions and use the instance for cultivation.
• Yang Ling arrived at the Human Division’s main courtyard and told Hu Shuying he would not bring his untrained subordinates on the decapitation mission.
• Hu Shuying said Xia Heng had gone into seclusion and assigned Yang Ling command of the Second Squad for the mission.
• As Yang Ling and Hu Shuying prepared to depart, Ji Tianming appeared and summoned Yang Ling to discuss his trip to the Abyssal Beast Cavern with the three deputy hall masters.

Yang Ling accompanied Hu Shuying to the Great Underworld Temple to capture the injured Mou Sen, who had been poisoned with Immortal’s Fall. Mou Sen’s strength suddenly surged during the fight, and after grievously wounding Hu Shuying, he turned on Yang Ling.

• Ji Tianming told Yang Ling that the Department Master was verifying his information about the White Bone Divine Lord and promised to prepare rare herbs for Yang Ling from half the reward.
• Yang Ling and Hu Shuying entered the Vajra Martial Hall disguised as a married couple, where they found the wounded Mou Sen waiting for them.
• After three hours of prayer, Mou Sen recognized them as Divine Guard Office agents, and Hu Shuying revealed that he had been poisoned with Immortal’s Fall and weakened by earlier injuries.
• Mou Sen said Hall Master Shi had given him the tea that carried the poison, while Hu Shuying refused to explain and attacked him with Yang Ling.
• Mou Sen’s strength and agility surged to 999 points, and he sent Hu Shuying flying with a devastating palm strike before telling Yang Ling he was next.

Yang Ling confronted Mou Sen, who revealed that he was a lower fourth-rank Grandmaster backed by a third-rank expert from the Great Underworld Temple. Yang Ling unleashed eight Instant Slashes but failed to kill him; Mou Sen fled, then suddenly returned to attack Yang Ling and the wounded Hu Shuying.

• Mou Sen revealed that Shi Tianlong had been called away by a third-rank expert from the Great Underworld Temple and threatened to eliminate Yang Ling.
• Yang Ling distracted Mou Sen by mentioning that the Divine Guard Office had found Zhu Xiu and the others, then donned his armor and unleashed eight Instant Slashes.
• Mou Sen's wound healed, and Yang Ling realized that Mou Sen's regeneration and toughness had kept him alive.
• Mou Sen fled the Vajra Martial Hall, while Yang Ling checked on the severely injured Hu Shuying.
• After Hu Shuying warned that Mou Sen would be difficult to find, Mou Sen returned and lunged at them.

Yang Ling endured Mou Sen’s Mysterious Yin Heart-Rending Palm by relying on his Divine Weapon Armor and blood lock effect, then launched a sudden all-in counterattack. As Shi Tianlong delayed going to the Vajra Martial Hall, Yang Ling left Mou Sen’s neck nearly severed and kept attacking.

• Mou Sen overwhelmed Yang Ling with icy palm strikes, kicked the gravely injured Hu Shuying aside, and concluded that Yang Ling was only at the top upper fifth rank.
• Mou Sen weakened his strikes to avoid damaging the Heavenly Wolf Divine Weapon Armor, while Yang Ling guessed at his greed and relied on his blood lock effect to survive.
• Shi Tianlong told his senior brother that he needed to visit a commandery princess at the Vajra Martial Hall, but agreed to wait until a kettle boiled.
• Mou Sen’s palm strike emptied Yang Ling’s health points, triggering the blood lock effect and restoring him to 17,100 health points.
• Yang Ling unleashed eight consecutive Instant Slash strikes at Mou Sen’s neck, nearly severed it, and continued attacking with his other techniques.