Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Ye Qiu returns to the Great Dao Academy after seeing Ye Rudí and the others off. Both the Star Master and Great Dao Master briefly sense him, prompting him to wonder whether they are waiting for his bloodline to awaken or for his Lightning Tribulation.
• At the Pill Hall, Liu Xifeng greets Ye Qiu with an elaborate kowtow. Li Qingfeng and the elders say they smashed up the Ye Clan on Ye Qiu’s behalf and insist that he is their sworn brother.
• Grateful for their support, Ye Qiu leaves them a more complete version of the Tai Xuan Breathing Technique and Profound Pill formulae.
• Liu Xifeng also reveals the Creation Divine Needle formula Ye Qiu gave him. The Pill Hall elders recognize the immense value of all three gifts and pledge to stand with Ye Qiu against the Gong Family.
• Hearing that Gong Family members have come to target Ye Qiu—and that more are on their way from the Divine Race—Li Qingfeng orders the Pill Hall’s people to gather in Great Dao City. If the Gong Family attacks, he is prepared to plunge Central Province into chaos.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu remains alert to the powerful figures watching him, but his attempt to contact Brother Snake fails while the latter is still shedding.
• Liu Xifeng shows himself to be pragmatic and eager to secure his place with Ye Qiu’s allies; the rare formula he receives convinces him he chose correctly by abandoning the Ye Clan.
• Li Qingfeng and the elders shift from grateful recipients of Ye Qiu’s help to fiercely committed protectors. Their joking claims of brotherhood become a serious pledge of loyalty, while Liu Xifeng eagerly echoes their resolve.

Themes

• Loyalty and reciprocal generosity: Ye Qiu rewards those who stood by him, and the Pill Hall answers by making his safety its cause.
• Pragmatism and survival: Liu Xifeng’s willingness to bow and change sides reflects his instinct to align with the stronger, wiser choice.
• Escalating conflict: The Pill Hall’s readiness to confront the Gong Family signals that protecting Ye Qiu could destabilize all of Central Province.

Key plot points and events

• After learning of Ye Qiu’s powerful techniques and rare treasures, people speculate that he must have backing from the Jiang Clan or another major force. Ye Qiu himself is unaware of—and unconcerned by—these assumptions.
• A Lightning Tribulation aura has locked onto Ye Qiu but remains inactive. Its prolonged presence leaves him restless, so he spends the time absorbing Divine Crystals, strengthening his cultivation, and studying the Great Heaven Creation Palm. He approaches the Third Level of Creation.
• Ye Qiu visits the Star Pavilion during its grand quarterly auction. There, Qi Mu appraises Ye Qiu’s Jade-Green Hall, a three-story structure carved from one piece of Spirit Jade and inscribed with a formation that gathers Spiritual Qi. Qi Mu estimates it could be worth at least twenty million.
• Ye Qiu agrees to auction the hall. When Qi Mu mentions his commission and reminds Ye Qiu of an unpaid debt, Ye Qiu brings in his companions, who reveal that they also possess valuable halls—some even better than his.
• Qi Mu suspects the group found the halls in the Tomb of the God King. Ye Qiu confirms it, but Qi Mu pretends not to believe him, reasoning that Ye Qiu would never disclose the truth if it were real.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu remains focused on his cultivation and treats the looming tribulation with impatient humor. He also shows a practical, opportunistic side by deciding to sell a treasure he can safely reveal.
• Qi Mu is sharp, commercially minded, and playful. He values his friendship with Ye Qiu, but still insists on his commission and the money Ye Qiu owes him. His tactful denial of the tomb’s origins shows good judgment.
• Ye Qiu and Qi Mu trade teasing remarks over the debt and the auction terms, while their companions share their surprise at Qi Mu’s perceptiveness.

Significant themes

• Appearances, power, and reputation: Others infer that Ye Qiu must have powerful connections because of his exceptional abilities and possessions.
• Uncertainty and patience: The inactive tribulation creates tension precisely because Ye Qiu must wait for an unknown threat.
• Practicality and discretion: Ye Qiu chooses to sell a treasure that is difficult to trace to its source, while keeping more identifiable items hidden.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu agrees to let Qi Mu auction the seized palaces alongside the other treasures, in exchange for a halved commission.
• Qi Mu rushes to prepare the auction, which could strengthen his authority as Chief Pavilion Master and prove himself to his rivals.
• Ye Qiu and his companions attend the crowded auction. Gong Qingxue watches Ye Qiu but holds back because his unusually long-lasting Great Dao Domain protects him.
• Gong Qingxue’s companion, Nangong Yue, says her brother will arrive the next day and offers to have him help deal with Ye Qiu.
• Li Zhenzhen explains that Nangong Yue is a direct descendant of the Nangong Family, one of the Six Great Divine Clans, and a Holy Master’s granddaughter. She then reveals that her own maternal grandfather is powerful enough to defeat Nangong Yue’s grandfather.
• Li Zhenzhen warns that Nangong Yue’s maternal family, the Lou Family, is not merely a Divine Clan but is known as the First Divine Clan, whose ancestors fought alongside the Great Dao Master.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu accepts Qi Mu’s bargain and remains curious about the auction, but becomes more wary after learning the power and status of his potential opponents.
• Qi Mu treats the auction as a critical test of his leadership, personally overseeing preparations.
• Gong Qingxue remains hostile toward Ye Qiu but recognizes that his Great Dao Domain makes attacking him difficult.
• Nangong Yue is proud and contemptuous, belittling Gong Qingxue’s family and showing interest in Ye Qiu. Her hostility toward Li Zhenzhen hints at a prior personal conflict.
• Li Zhenzhen reveals more of her own formidable family background. She warns Ye Qiu about Nangong Yue while making clear that her influence gives her confidence.

Significant themes

• Reputation and deception: Ye Qiu reflects that acting against others’ expectations can catch them off guard, and that revealing too much may make people less likely to believe you.
• Power and protection: Ye Qiu’s Great Dao Domain deters his enemies, while family lineage and political connections shape the balance of power.
• Ambition and status: The auction is both a commercial event and a test of Qi Mu’s authority; the characters’ family ranks likewise determine their confidence and influence.

Key plot points and events

• The Star Pavilion auction begins with Qiu Yun as auctioneer. Ye Qiu recognizes her, and Chen Luolan reveals that her mother was once the Pavilion’s top auctioneer.
• Qiu Yun opens with a spectacular Purple Crystal Jade palace, carved from one enormous block and equipped with a five-floor gravity formation for cultivation. Its price climbs rapidly.
• Nangong Yue, representing the powerful Nangong Family of Divine Province, bids eighteen million. Her reputation intimidates the other bidders, so the palace sells for less than it might have.
• Nangong then claims the next palace—the Flame Palace—for eleven million. Her repeated, aggressive bids discourage competition and disrupt the auction.
• Qiu Yun becomes increasingly frustrated as the room falls silent. When Nangong attempts to claim a third palace uncontested, someone suddenly bids twenty million, interrupting her.

Character developments

• Qiu Yun proves both charismatic and sharp-witted: she entertains the crowd, builds suspense, and adapts her auction strategy. Her composure gives way to anger as Nangong undermines the sale.
• Nangong Yue is established as wealthy, entitled, and accustomed to using her family’s influence to get her way. She openly pressures the bidders and shows little concern for Qiu Yun’s objections.
• Ye Qiu recognizes Qiu Yun and briefly worries she might tease him, while observing the social dynamics around the auction.
• Wu Xiaokai and Yuan Gang are eager to acquire the palaces, but Nangong’s interference frustrates them; Wu Xiaokai especially hopes the bidding will raise the price.

Significant themes

• Wealth and power shape fairness: Nangong’s family name silences potential competitors, letting her buy valuable items cheaply.
• Public display and persuasion: Qiu Yun uses spectacle, timing, and presentation to build excitement and maximize bids.
• Privilege and intimidation: Nangong’s behavior shows how influence can function as an implicit threat, even without an explicit threat being voiced.

Character interactions

• Qiu Yun playfully rebuffs a man who says he came only to see her, warming the crowd before the auction.
• Ye Qiu and Chen Luolan share a brief exchange about Qiu Yun’s past at the Star Pavilion.
• Qiu Yun and Nangong Yue clash as Nangong’s bids disrupt the auction; Qiu Yun challenges her conduct, while Nangong insists that anyone can bid against her.
• The chapter ends with an unknown bidder challenging Nangong’s control of the room with a twenty-million offer.

Plot and events

• Chen Luolan bids twenty million for an auction item, apparently trying to drive up Nangong Yue’s price. Nangong Yue withdraws, then demands proof Chen can pay, citing Star Pavilion’s rules and warning that the incident could damage its reputation.
• Chen Luolan has no money of her own to show. Ye Qiu quietly gives her a Storage Ring containing more than enough value in rare Divine Crystals. Chen presents it, silencing Nangong Yue and turning the confrontation in her favor.
• The auction resumes with a five-hundred-year Blood Ganoderma, but Nangong Yue’s mocking bid discourages buyers and prompts several people to leave.
• Li Zhenzhen steps in, vows to outbid Nangong Yue on every item, and begins doing so. Her defiance draws the departing audience back to watch the escalating clash.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Luolan shifts from being trapped by Nangong Yue’s challenge to confidently confronting her, thanks to Ye Qiu’s support. She holds Ye Qiu’s hand afterward and jokes that her mother will not hit him again.
• Ye Qiu quietly helps Chen Luolan with the funds, revealing his resources and loyalty. He is also caught between Chen Luolan and Li Zhenzhen, both of whom take hold of his hands.
• Nangong Yue uses her influence to intimidate bidders and disrupt the auction, but is checked first by Chen Luolan’s proof of funds and then by Li Zhenzhen’s open challenge.
• Li Zhenzhen becomes the auction’s most outspoken opponent of Nangong Yue. She pays to win items and publicly insults both Nangong Yue and the Nangong Family. She even threatens to have Ye Qiu gouge out Nangong Yue’s eyes, leaving him awkwardly silent.
• Qiu Yun is relieved when Chen Luolan produces the money but remains anxious about the auction’s failure and the consequences for its organizer, Qi Mu.

Themes

• Power and intimidation: Nangong Yue’s family status chills the bidding and drives customers away.
• Defiance and solidarity: Chen Luolan and Li Zhenzhen resist Nangong Yue, with Ye Qiu’s quiet assistance helping turn the balance.
• Public reputation: The dispute threatens Star Pavilion’s credibility, while the auction becomes less about selling items and more about a public contest of pride.

1. Key plot points and events

• The hall falls silent when Li Zhenzhen, a member of the powerful Dianqian Divine Clan, provokes Nangong Yue. Gong Qingxue warns Nangong that Li is baiting her, but Nangong decides to respond.
• During the auction, Nangong and Li start a bidding war over a worthless scrap of iron. Li boasts that she can outspend her rivals and threatens to beat Nangong and her grandfather, Lou Bandao—a renowned Holy Master and vice dean of the Great Dao Academy.
• Gong Qingxue confronts Li over her arrogance, but Li trades insults with her. Nangong and Gong appear to join forces against Li.
• Li urges auctioneer Qiu Yun to bring out every remaining treasure. When Qiu Yun offers the collection for 800 million, Li declares she will buy it all. Nangong and Gong raise the price, eventually bidding 1.5 billion.
• Li walks onto the platform, appearing utterly confident, then reveals she is actually poor and cannot afford the bid. She says her threats were only bravado and claims the rivals can slap her—but quips that her face is worth 1.5 billion. She concludes by declaring everything she said was “bullshit.”

2. Character developments

• Li Zhenzhen performs confidence and defiance to provoke her opponents, but her final confession exposes the performance as a bluff. Her humor and shameless retreat turn the confrontation into farce.
• Nangong Yue moves from anger to a calculated attempt to trap Li with an exorbitant bid, seemingly convinced she has gained the upper hand.
• Gong Qingxue backs Nangong and openly challenges Li, though her anger rises as Li repeatedly insults her.
• Wu Xiaokai worries that Li is making a reckless financial commitment, but she brushes off his concerns.

3. Significant themes

• Pride and provocation: The auction becomes a public contest of status and face rather than a genuine effort to buy valuable goods.
• Power and wealth: The characters’ reputations and wealthy backers shape how others perceive them, even before any money changes hands.
• Bluff and performance: Li’s confident threats prove to be a deliberate act, revealing the gap between appearance and reality.
• Humor and absurdity: The chapter’s escalating insults and extravagant bids culminate in Li’s comic retraction.

4. Character interactions

• Li targets Nangong with taunts and threats, while Gong Qingxue steps in to defend her and becomes a second target of Li’s insults.
• Nangong and Gong exchange knowing looks as they raise the price, suggesting they believe they have cornered Li.
• Li dismisses Wu Xiaokai’s financial concerns and uses her exchange with Qiu Yun to turn the auction into a public spectacle.
• The crowd watches first in shock and admiration, then in stunned silence as Li admits she was bluffing.

Plot points and events

• Li Zhenzhen reveals that her apparent anger was a bluff, laughing as she wins her contest with Nangong Yue. The crowd is stunned, and Nangong Yue is humiliated.
• Li Zhenzhen secures compensation for helping the Star Pavilion’s auction earn a record one and a half billion. When Nangong Yue cannot immediately pay the billion she owes, Li warns that the Star Pavilion can collect from the Nangong Family.
• To settle the debt, Nangong Yue sells the auction items back to the Star Pavilion for one billion—accepting a seven-hundred-million loss. She pays the remaining five hundred million and leaves with Gong Qingxue and the others.
• Qiu Yun gives Li Zhenzhen half of the five hundred million, rewarding her for her role in the auction’s success.
• With the conflict over, Qiu Yun restarts the auction. The returned halls sell briskly, including several belonging to Ye Qiu’s companions.
• During bidding for Ye Qiu’s Jade-Green Hall, Ji Ke raises the price to thirty-one million. Ye Qiu declines to compete, and Ji Ke mocks him as broke.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zhenzhen proves herself mischievous, bold, and shrewd, turning the standoff into a lucrative victory. She teases Ye Qiu by promising he can live like a king beside her, then joking that he is worth only five million.
• Nangong Yue shifts from confidence to fury and finally reluctant submission, choosing a costly settlement rather than bringing shame on her family.
• Gong Qingxue and the Gong Family members surrender their valuables to help cover Nangong Yue’s debt, though they raise only five hundred million.
• Qiu Yun recognizes Li’s contribution and shares the proceeds with her, then smoothly resumes the auction.
• Ye Qiu is impressed by Li but resists being drawn into her plans. He also wisely backs down when Ji Ke makes the bidding prohibitively expensive.
• Ji Ke’s Protector silently judges his behavior, suggesting that Ji Ke has misread the situation while Ye Qiu has handled it sensibly.

Significant themes

• Cleverness over force: Li Zhenzhen wins through bluffing, timing, and social pressure rather than direct confrontation.
• Public reputation and family honor: Nangong Yue pays a steep price to avoid exposing the Nangong Family to a humiliating debt dispute.
• Money and leverage: The auction’s enormous sums shape relationships, decisions, and status.
• Humor amid tension: Li’s teasing and Ye Qiu’s dry reactions puncture the scene’s high-stakes atmosphere.

Key plot points and events

• The auction ends successfully, and Ye Qiu’s group collects their earnings. Li Zhenzhen receives three million from Qi Mu as a thank-you fee; her total take is nearly three hundred million, far exceeding everyone else’s.
• Back at Great Dao Academy, the group prepares for the Divine Province Grand Selection, which begins the next day. The top thirty contestants will earn a chance to travel to Divine Province and compete for recognition.
• Ye Qiu, already granted special permission to go, heads to the Great Dao Tower to strengthen himself, still troubled by the Firmament’s threatening attention.
• He finds a powerful stranger in white who has just broken the record of Ye Qiu’s earlier feat. The stranger identifies himself as Nangong Ao and says he has come to kill Ye Qiu, offering to spare him if he survives three punches at the Creation Realm.
• Ye Qiu attacks first and badly injures Nangong Ao with two punches. Nangong Ao abandons his promise and reveals his true power: he has reached the Divine Gate.
• Nangong Ao’s punch cannot harm Ye Qiu, stopped by a mysterious force. Ye Qiu counters with a devastating blow to Nangong Ao’s throat. Though seriously wounded, Nangong Ao survives and flees; Ye Qiu pursues him with Blood-red Wings.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zhenzhen remains blunt and business-minded, accepting payment rather than thanks. Qi Mu is deeply grateful to her for saving his auction.
• Ye Qiu shows dramatically greater strength than his record-breaking phantom suggested. He remains calm in the face of Nangong Ao’s threats and responds decisively, then pursues him rather than letting him escape.
• Nangong Ao begins arrogant, confident that his strength lets him kill Ye Qiu easily. Ye Qiu’s attacks shatter that confidence, forcing him to unleash his hidden Divine Gate cultivation and flee.
• Ye Qiu’s companions focus on cultivation in hopes of earning places in the Divine Province Grand Selection.

Significant themes

• Strength and hidden potential: Ye Qiu’s actual combat power far exceeds what Nangong Ao inferred from the Tower’s recorded feat.
• Arrogance and reversal: Nangong Ao’s confidence collapses when Ye Qiu withstands his attack and wounds him.
• Ambition and opportunity: The Grand Selection represents a chance for young cultivators to reach Divine Province and advance their standing.
• Unresolved danger: The Firmament’s attention and Nangong Ao’s attempted assassination keep Ye Qiu under threat even as the selection approaches.

Key plot points and events

• After severely wounding Nangong Ao in the Great Dao Tower, Ye Qiu pursues him but cannot catch him. Nangong Ao escapes by using his superior command of spatial power.
• Ye Qiu returns to the tower, breaks Nangong Ao’s record, and repeatedly surpasses his own limits by fighting himself and consuming Pills, Law Crystals, and Divine Crystals. He learns several powerful abilities and discovers that combining them greatly amplifies their strength.
• By dawn, Ye Qiu senses the mysterious presence watching him growing stronger alongside his cultivation. Suspecting it is tied to a future Lightning Tribulation, he heads back toward his courtyard.
• At Wu Xiaokai’s courtyard, Ye Qiu finds Wu badly beaten by Nangong Yue, who is demanding the Great Sun Guiding Technique. She also harms Wu’s Blood Python Tiger and knocks away Luo Ling and Lin Xiaoyu when they try to intervene.
• Wu refuses to surrender the technique despite Nangong Yue’s threats. Just before her lethal strike lands, Ye Qiu pulls him clear and confronts her.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu becomes stronger through relentless training and experimentation, while remaining alert to the threat of Nangong Ao and the mysterious presence in the sky. He steps in to protect Wu Xiaokai.
• Wu Xiaokai shows courage and loyalty by refusing to yield the Great Sun Guiding Technique, even under torture and the threat of death.
• Nangong Yue is revealed as arrogant and vindictive, using her Demigod strength to disregard local rules and bully those weaker than her.
• Luo Ling and Lin Xiaoyu try to defend Wu but are quickly overwhelmed by the gap in power.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu and Nangong Ao’s conflict continues as a pursuit, though Nangong Ao escapes.
• Nangong Yue targets Wu Xiaokai, while Gong Qingxue assists her by keeping Luo Ling and Lin Xiaoyu from intervening.
• Ye Qiu arrives just in time to save Wu and directly challenge Nangong Yue.

Significant themes

• Power versus justice: Nangong Yue claims that rules and fairness mean nothing when someone has enough power; Wu’s resistance and Ye Qiu’s intervention challenge that cruelty.
• Growth through adversity: Ye Qiu turns danger and pressure into opportunities to improve.
• Loyalty and defiance: Wu refuses to betray what he is protecting, even at terrible personal cost.
• Uncertainty and looming danger: The presence tracking Ye Qiu foreshadows a growing threat that has yet to strike.

Key plot points and events

• Nangong Yue mocks Ye Qiu and demands that he kneel, apologize, and surrender the Great Sun Guiding Technique, threatening to kill everyone in the courtyard.
• Ye Qiu responds by repeatedly slapping her, overwhelming her demigod power with his Great Dao Domain and formidable strength. He leaves her badly injured and unable to stand.
• Gong Family members attack to protect Nangong Yue, but their assaults cannot move Ye Qiu. He retaliates, killing several demigods with his fists and Broken Saber, including through the Thirteen Forms of God Breaking.
• Gong Qingxue warns that Nangong Ao will avenge them. Ye Qiu challenges them to summon him, then pursues the fleeing group and wounds another member as they escape with Nangong Yue.
• Wu Xiaokai, Luo Ling, and Lin Xiaoyu follow Ye Qiu. They are battered but alive. As the group charges onward, the Great Dao Academy’s bell rings: the Grand Selection of Divine Province has begun.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu openly rejects the authority and status of the Divine Race and Holy Master’s descendants, choosing to fight rather than submit to a threat. His confidence and willingness to risk deadly consequences are unmistakable.
• Nangong Yue shifts from smug certainty to shock, rage, and helplessness when Ye Qiu’s attacks defeat her power.
• Wu Xiaokai initially questions whether they acted too recklessly, but Ye Qiu’s defiance strengthens his resolve to keep fighting.
• Gong Qingxue and the Gong Family move from attacking Ye Qiu to fleeing when they realize they cannot stop him.

Significant themes

• Defiance against privilege: Ye Qiu refuses to be intimidated by lineage, rank, or the Divine Race’s reputation.
• Power and underestimated potential: Though still in the Creation Realm, Ye Qiu proves capable of overpowering demigods.
• Retaliation and survival: Ye Qiu frames his violence as a response to being treated as prey and threatened with death.
• Escalating consequences: His victory comes at the cost of provoking powerful enemies, just as the Divine Province selection begins.

Character interactions

• Nangong Yue taunts Ye Qiu and dares him to strike; he answers with a relentless assault.
• The Gong Family tries to defend her, but Ye Qiu’s domain and counterattacks overwhelm them.
• Gong Qingxue threatens Ye Qiu with Nangong Ao’s vengeance; Ye Qiu dares them to bring him.
• Wu Xiaokai questions Ye Qiu’s impulsiveness, then rallies behind him as they pursue the fleeing group.

Plot points and events

• The Great Dao Academy rings its Dao Bell to summon everyone for the Divine Province Grand Selection. Crowds from across Central Province gather, eager to see the contest and its many prodigies.
• Before the event begins, the Gong Family arrives in disarray: its members are bloodied and frightened, with Gong Qingxue leading them and dragging an injured young girl.
• Ye Qiu pursues them into the Martial Arena. He kills Gong Family members brutally and presses the attack, using his Blood-red Wings and the Thirteen Forms of God Breaking.
• Protected by the Great Dao Domain, Ye Qiu can disregard their attacks and shows no sign of tiring. The Gong Family members weaken as the fight continues, leaving them unable to confront him safely. The battle remains unresolved at the chapter’s end.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu is portrayed as relentless and fearless. Knowing his protection may not last, he intends to kill the Gong Family members before they can retaliate, accepting that consequences no longer matter.
• Gong Qingxue leads the battered Gong Family group and angrily confronts Ye Qiu, but he ignores her and continues attacking.
• The gathered Central Province crowd, including young members of the Ye Clan who hate Ye Qiu, reluctantly admires him for standing up to Divine Province.

Significant themes

• Resistance to oppression: Ye Qiu’s pursuit challenges the longstanding power imbalance between Divine Province and Central Province.
• Pride and humiliation: The crowd sees his defiance as a rare chance for Central Province to hold its head high.
• Desperation and consequences: Ye Qiu believes the Gong Family would kill him regardless of whether he surrendered, so he chooses decisive violence over fear.
• Power’s temporary advantage: Ye Qiu’s current protection lets him dominate, but its limits make the confrontation urgent.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu and the Gong Family are locked in open, lethal conflict; he refuses to heed Gong Qingxue’s challenge.
• The crowd reacts with fear at his brutality but also admiration for his defiance.
• Ye Clan youths reveal their conflicted feelings: they resent Ye Qiu, yet acknowledge his actions are making Central Province proud.

Plot points and events

• Gong Qingxue challenges the Great Dao Academy’s Grand Martial Officer to intervene, using Nangong Yue’s prestigious family connections to pressure him.
• Ye Qiu argues that Gong Qingxue and her companions are outsiders to the Central Province branch, and says he had previously held back out of respect for the Academy’s rules.
• He points to the injured Central Province disciples and accuses the Divine Province group of attacking and humiliating them simply “because it was fun.” The crowd’s shared anger grows, while the Grand Martial Officer remains silent rather than oppose them.
• Ye Rudí unexpectedly sides with the Divine Province group, offering them pills and berating Ye Qiu. He hopes to win their favor before moving to Divine Province.
• Ye Qiu immediately attacks Ye Rudí. His speed and strength overwhelm Ye Rudí’s Sword Qi, and he pounds him across the arena, ending with a heavy blow to the chest that makes Ye Rudí spit blood.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu presents himself as both a formidable fighter and a defender of Central Province’s mistreated disciples. He uses the crowd’s grievances to make the Grand Martial Officer’s position untenable.
• The Grand Martial Officer recognizes the injustice and privately sympathizes with Central Province, but feels unable to act openly.
• Ye Rudí reveals his self-interest and willingness to betray Central Province for future advantage in Divine Province.
• Gong Qingxue relies on Nangong Yue’s status to intimidate the authorities, but her leverage is weakened by the crowd’s outrage.

Themes

• Abuse of power and impunity: The Divine Province visitors have treated Central Province disciples as disposable.
• Justice versus institutional powerlessness: The Academy’s officer understands the wrong but feels constrained by political consequences.
• Loyalty and self-interest: Ye Rudí chooses personal advancement over solidarity with his home province.
• Collective resentment: Ye Qiu’s words turn individual suffering into shared anger.

Character interactions

• Gong Qingxue threatens the Grand Martial Officer with the consequences of Nangong Yue’s injury; Ye Qiu counters by emphasizing the group’s outsider status and the harm they caused.
• Ye Qiu appeals to the injured disciples and the crowd, drawing the Grand Martial Officer and Central Province’s grievances into the conflict.
• Ye Rudí publicly insults Ye Qiu and supports Gong Qingxue’s group; Ye Qiu responds with a rapid, overwhelming physical assault.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu overwhelms Ye Rudí, then unleashes a devastating saber strike that appears to cleave the void. Though only at the Third Level of Creation, he manifests Divine Light Shaking the Body, a phenomenon associated with grasping the Mysteries of the Divine.
• Ye Rudí is unable to escape the strike, but Ye Jiangshan intervenes and carries him to safety. Ye Qiu senses a strange, powerful aura from Ye Jiangshan, though it vanishes before he can confirm its source.
• Ye Jiangshan orders Ye Qiu to stop. Ye Qiu relents, striking Liu Xiu instead, then turns his attention to Gong Qingxue and the other Divine Province visitors, who have stayed rather than retreat.
• Nangong Ao arrives, radiating overwhelming killing intent. It causes weaker onlookers to collapse—but then abruptly withdraws, seemingly in fear.
• Ye Qiu challenges Nangong Ao to fight to the death.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu demonstrates a dramatic advance in power and insight, fusing his understanding of blade techniques and the Thirteen Forms of God Breaking into a transcendent strike. He remains defiant, but chooses not to attack Ye Jiangshan after sensing something unusual about him.
• Ye Rudí is badly beaten and rescued by Ye Jiangshan.
• Ye Jiangshan reveals unexpected strength or a concealed power, leaving Ye Qiu suspicious about his true level.
• Ji Ke insists Ye Qiu must have absorbed the God King’s Divine Source; his Protector dismisses him as mistaken.
• Gong Qingxue, Nangong Yue, and their allies expect Nangong Ao to avenge them and threaten Ye Qiu. Their confidence falters when his killing intent retreats.
• Li Zhenzhen warns Ye Qiu to flee, but he refuses.
• Ye Qiu’s restraint toward Ye Jiangshan contrasts with his open hostility toward his other opponents, especially Nangong Ao.

Significant themes

• Transcending limits: Ye Qiu’s divine manifestation at the Creation Realm challenges accepted boundaries between mortal and divine power.
• Hidden strength and uncertainty: Ye Jiangshan’s concealed aura raises questions about appearances and the true power of those present.
• Pride and defiance: The Divine Province group refuses to retreat, while Ye Qiu answers their threats with a direct, life-or-death challenge.
• Power as a turning point: The sudden retreat of Nangong Ao’s killing intent reverses the scene’s expectations and hints that Ye Qiu’s presence—or something around him—may be more formidable than anyone anticipated.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu confronts Nangong Ao and Nangong Yue after the crowd demands his death. Nangong Yue threatens to torture him, so Ye Qiu attacks her, brutally breaking her hand and beating her until she is near death.
• Ye Qiu challenges Nangong Ao, then pins Nangong Yue beneath his foot and threatens to kill her unless Nangong Ao acts.
• When Gong Qingxue and the others protest, Ye Qiu unleashes a newly developed version of the Thirteen Forms of God Breaking. By stacking all thirteen slashes into one rising, wave-like strike, he surpasses the technique’s former limits and defeats three Gong Family Demigods, killing one outright.
• Gong Qingxue recognizes the threat Ye Qiu poses, but Nangong Ao does not intervene; the crowd suspects he is afraid.
• As Ye Qiu presses down on Nangong Yue’s skull, the Grand Martial Officer warns that killing her could bring disaster on Ye Qiu and the Great Dao Academy. Xiao Qingsong arrives and orders Ye Qiu to stop, citing the prohibition on fighting to the death outside the Life and Death Stage.
• Ye Qiu realizes that Xiao is prioritizing the rules and political consequences over protecting him. The chapter ends with Ye Qiu feeling disappointed in his dean.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu displays overwhelming brutality and confidence, but also a major advance in his martial understanding: his stacked blade technique surpasses its previous limits. His final reaction reveals hurt and disillusionment beneath his defiance.
• Nangong Yue shifts from making threats to being helplessly beaten and used as leverage against her brother.
• Nangong Ao, introduced as a celebrated and exceptionally talented fighter, fails to respond to Ye Qiu’s challenge and appears frightened.
• Gong Qingxue recognizes that Ye Qiu may be powerful enough to threaten even her, and looks to Nangong Ao as their only hope.
• Xiao Qingsong appears as an authority figure but retreats behind institutional rules when Ye Qiu needs support, damaging Ye Qiu’s trust in him.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Ye Qiu’s strength overturns the crowd’s expectations and leaves even prominent fighters wary.
• Rules versus justice: The academy’s rules are invoked to stop the violence, but their selective use exposes the limits of institutional protection.
• Political influence: Nangong Yue’s lineage and connections make her potential death a matter of power and consequence, not simply conduct on the arena floor.
• Disappointment and betrayal: Ye Qiu’s deepest wound is not the opposition’s hostility, but discovering that someone he trusted will not stand by him.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu answers Nangong Yue’s threats with violence and uses her as leverage to force Nangong Ao to respond.
• His attack on the Gong Family turns the confrontation into a demonstration of his growing power, frightening Gong Qingxue and stunning the crowd.
• The Grand Martial Officer and Xiao Qingsong try to restrain Ye Qiu by warning of the consequences and invoking the rules.
• Ye Qiu’s silence toward Xiao’s order marks a rupture in their relationship: he does not openly rebel, but his confidence in Xiao and the academy is gone.

Plot points

• Wu Xiaokai protests that Nangong Yue tried to kill the academy disciples, insisting that the academy should uphold its rules and protect them.
• Xiao Qingsong tells Ye Qiu to let the matter go. Though Ye Qiu appears to comply, his smile signals that he feels betrayed: he will repay Xiao’s past help this time, but may not forgive him again.
• Just as Ye Qiu is leaving, three Divine Fire Realm elders arrive and use their overwhelming pressure to restrain him. Nangong Ao joins them, and the Nangong elders accuse Ye Qiu of attacking Yue without cause. They demand his expulsion and invoke the authority of Master Lou.
• Gong Lei arrives with Lou Tianqi, Lou Bandao’s grandson. Tianqi backs the demand, saying his sister was unjustly beaten and that his grandfather will not let the matter end.
• Faced with the Lou family’s power, Xiao Qingsong abandons his defense of Ye Qiu. He believes he cannot oppose the Holy Master or protect Ye Qiu without endangering himself and the academy.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu reflects on how deeply he values loyalty and his place in others’ hearts. He is willing to accept losses for those he cares about, but not to be treated as a fool. His quiet compliance with Xiao’s request is a repayment, not a sign that he thinks the decision is fair.
• Wu Xiaokai voices the disciples’ anger and sense of injustice, but falls silent when Ye Qiu signals him not to continue.
• Xiao Qingsong is torn between academy rules and the threat posed by powerful families. His retreat shows both his limits and his fear of what defying the Lou family could cost.
• Xiao Qingyu recognizes that her grandfather is calculating, but understands that his position leaves him few safe choices. Li Zhenzhen openly condemns that calculation.
• The Nangong and Gong families use their influence to pressure the academy, while Lou Tianqi’s arrival makes that pressure decisive.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and betrayal: Ye Qiu’s willingness to sacrifice for others has limits; what wounds him most is not loss, but discovering where he stands in someone’s heart.
• Power over justice: Academy rules and fairness prove fragile when powerful families intervene.
• Powerlessness and compromise: The chapter frames weakness as a condition that forces people to abandon what they believe is right, even when they recognize the injustice.

Key plot points and events

• Lou Tianqi arrives, effectively stopping Dean Xiao Qingsong from acting. Xiao withdraws rather than protect Ye Qiu, while Wu Xiaokai angrily accuses him of abandoning Ye.
• Lou heals the gravely injured Nangong Yue with a pill. She begs him not to kill Ye Qiu; Lou promises only that Ye will not die easily.
• Three elders attack Ye Qiu, but his Great Dao Domain withstands their pressure and even a full-strength strike. Gong Lei’s Qi Sword also shatters against it.
• Lou Tianqi attacks with the Lou family’s Kirin Seed, yet cannot break through Ye Qiu’s domain. Impressed by Ye’s extraordinary potential, Lou nevertheless decides he must be eliminated before he can grow stronger. He orders the others to keep Ye sealed until the domain fades.
• As Gong Lei moves to seal Ye, Ye Jiangshan unexpectedly steps forward to confront him, ending the chapter with a defiant “It’s me!”

Character developments

• Ye Qiu remains composed under overwhelming attacks. His domain proves far more powerful than his cultivation level suggests, revealing extraordinary potential.
• Xiao Qingsong retreats into helpless silence, damaging Ye Qiu’s faith in him.
• Wu Xiaokai openly challenges the Dean for failing to defend Ye.
• Lou Tianqi shifts from ignoring Ye to recognizing him as a potentially legendary rival, but decides fear of Ye’s future outweighs admiration.
• Ye Jiangshan faces Gong Lei without his former fear, showing anger, resolve, and a striking new confidence.

Character interactions and themes

• Nangong Yue’s plea for Ye’s life contrasts with Lou’s cold determination to destroy him.
• Xiao’s inaction strains his relationship with Ye and prompts Wu Xiaokai’s accusation.
• Ye Jiangshan’s unexpected intervention directly challenges Gong Lei and hints at a personal history involving Gong Lei and Wen Xi.
• Themes: betrayal and disillusionment, loyalty and courage, the danger of untapped potential, and the difference between admiration and mercy.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Jiangshan unexpectedly steps forward to protect Ye Qiu, openly defying Gong Lei, the Divine Race, and the powerful families backing them.
• The Ye Clan and Ye Zong demand that he kneel and apologize to Gong Lei. Ye Jiangshan refuses and curses Ye Zong.
• When Ye Zong attacks, Ye Jiangshan repels him without moving, severely crushing his fist and revealing his immense, long-hidden strength.
• Ye Tongtian realizes Ye Jiangshan’s apparent stagnation was deliberate: since Wen Xi’s death, he had concealed his power and endured for ten years, waiting for this moment.
• Ye Jiangshan rejects the consequences for the Ye Clan, declaring that he ceased to consider Ye Tongtian his father—or himself a member of the clan—after being urged to abandon Wen Xi and submit to the Gong Family.

Character developments

• Ye Jiangshan is revealed as powerful, controlled, and driven by years of grief and resentment. His stand for Ye Qiu also exposes the pain behind his long silence and apparent rejection of his son.
• Ye Qiu is stunned by his father’s intervention and strength, and begins to see that Ye Jiangshan’s true nature may be very different from the weak, uncaring man he seemed.
• Ye Tongtian recognizes his past advice helped cause the family rupture and that he misunderstood Ye Jiangshan’s apparent loss of talent.
• Ye Rudí, who had looked down on Ye Jiangshan and planned to discard him, is shaken by his strength. Liu Xiu is equally shocked.

Significant themes

• Long endurance and concealed strength: Ye Jiangshan’s years of apparent weakness were a deliberate wait, not defeat.
• Family loyalty and betrayal: He rejects clan obligations because he believes his own family abandoned him and Wen Xi.
• Dignity versus submission: Ye Jiangshan refuses to live as a “dog” for powerful people, even at the cost of his clan’s safety.
• Grief and revenge: His defiance is rooted in Wen Xi’s suffering and death, and in the loss of their unborn daughter.

Character interactions

• Ye Jiangshan protects Ye Qiu despite their estrangement, while Ye Qiu watches in disbelief.
• He defies Ye Zong and humiliates him in battle, shocking the entire Ye Clan.
• He confronts Ye Tongtian over the advice that, in his view, betrayed Wen Xi and destroyed their father-son relationship.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Tongtian realizes that Ye Jiangshan had rejected the Ye Clan ten years earlier. His attempts to make his son endure and sacrifice personal feelings for the Lineage only deepened the harm between them.
• Gong Lei mocks Ye Jiangshan’s plans and assumes he is no threat. Ye Jiangshan reveals he has not come merely to fight: he has come to die, after waiting ten years for this reckoning.
• Ye Jiangshan’s aura rises to the peak of the Divine Gate Realm, then breaks through into the Divine Fire Realm. He attacks Gong Lei to avenge Wen Xi, whom Gong Lei once gravely injured.
• Their first clash shocks the onlookers: Ye Jiangshan overwhelms Gong Lei, shattering his fist. Ye Jiangshan’s power then climbs to the second and third levels of Divine Fire.
• Gong Lei draws a powerful Azure Sword, but Ye Jiangshan breaks its attack, disarms him, and smashes his arm. He continues advancing and battering Gong Lei.
• Ye Qiu senses the cost of Ye Jiangshan’s escalating strength: his father is burning through his own life.

Character developments

• Ye Jiangshan is revealed as a man driven not by loyalty to the Clan but by love, grief, and a decade-long desire to avenge Wen Xi. His apparent coldness toward Ye Qiu gives way to visible tenderness and regret, even as he resolves to sacrifice himself.
• Ye Qiu begins to understand his father anew. His resentment softens as he recognizes the affection beneath Ye Jiangshan’s former cruelty and sees the longing for their lost closeness.
• Ye Tongtian finally understands that his advice to suppress pride and personal grief became a source of guilt and estrangement.
• Gong Lei shifts from contemptuous confidence to rage and humiliation as Ye Jiangshan proves far stronger than he expected.

Significant themes

• Family and regret: Years of choices made “for the family” can create lasting wounds, while affection may remain beneath estrangement.
• Love, grief, and revenge: Ye Jiangshan’s attack is powered by his devotion to Wen Xi and the pain he has carried for ten years.
• Sacrifice and self-destruction: His strength comes at the price of his life, making vengeance inseparable from a willingness to die.
• Underestimation and reversal: Gong Lei’s confidence collapses when the man he once humiliated surpasses him.

Character interactions

• Ye Tongtian’s realization reframes his past relationship with Ye Jiangshan as one shaped by misplaced demands and unrecognized pain.
• Ye Jiangshan and Ye Qiu share a silent but pivotal moment: Ye Jiangshan’s tenderness awakens something in his son, though neither speaks.
• Ye Jiangshan confronts Gong Lei directly, turning a decade of humiliation and grief into a relentless assault.
• The watching cultivators—including Lou Tianqi—initially dismiss Ye Jiangshan, then react with astonishment as his power rises and Gong Lei is repeatedly driven back.

Plot points and events

• Ye Jiangshan overwhelms Gong Lei, a Divine Fire Realm cultivator who once humiliated him, despite Gong Lei unleashing his full power.
• Gong Lei calls on three elders for help. With Lou Tianqi’s permission, they join him, leaving Ye Jiangshan facing four Divine Fire Realm opponents.
• Instead of backing down, Ye Jiangshan recalls Gong Lei’s cruel words from ten years earlier and reveals that he intends to die in this fight. He burns his Essence Blood and life soul, creating a blazing Great Furnace and driving his power even higher.
• Meanwhile, Ye Rudí’s accumulated Sword Qi erupts uncontrollably. The swords and Imperial Sword Qi he absorbed begin assimilating his body and mind, turning him into a sword. He realizes Ye Jiangshan’s “art” was actually a method of forging him as its material. His father cannot intervene.
• The chapter ends with Ye Jiangshan addressing Gong Lei: the sword he has spent ten years honing is meant for him.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Jiangshan has transformed from the helpless servant Gong Lei once scorned into an overwhelmingly powerful fighter. His victory is fueled by long preparation, but he is willing to sacrifice his life to complete his purpose.
• Gong Lei is reduced from arrogant master to a terrified, battered man. His old insults return as a direct reckoning, and he depends on Lou Tianqi and the elders to survive.
• Ye Rudí emerges as an extraordinary talent, recognized by Ye Zong and rewarded with rare Imperial Essence Blood. But his rapid growth comes at a horrifying cost: he is being consumed and reforged by the Sword Qi within him.
• Ye Qiu recognizes that Ye Jiangshan is burning through his life and tries to react, but is too late. Liu Xiu attempts to help Ye Rudí and is driven back by the Sword Qi; even Ye Tongtian and Ye Zong cannot approach.

Significant themes

• Revenge and reversal: Gong Lei’s past contempt is answered by Ye Jiangshan’s present dominance.
• Sacrifice and the cost of power: Ye Jiangshan burns his life to reach his strength, while Ye Rudí’s extraordinary talent threatens to erase him.
• Fate, agency, and transformation: Ye Rudí discovers that he was treated not as a swordsman learning a technique, but as material being forged into a weapon.
• Preparation and delayed payoff: Ye Jiangshan’s decade of work culminates in the “sword” he has made for Gong Lei.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Jiangshan reveals the purpose behind his ten-year plan: he has turned himself into a furnace and Ye Rudí into the material for forging a Blood-Refined Sword.
• As Ye Rudí is consumed by the furnace, Liu Xiu rushes to intervene. Ye Jiangshan kills her, and she realizes too late that his apparent devotion to her and her son was part of his plan to protect Ye Qiu from the coming catastrophe.
• The Blood Sword emerges with power comparable to an innate Divine Artifact. Ye Jiangshan uses it to kill the red-, black-, and white-robed elders in swift, devastating strikes.
• He then turns on Gong Lei, disabling him and inflicting repeated wounds while denying him the chance to fight back. Ye Jiangshan frames the ordeal as payback for the humiliation and cruelty Gong Lei inflicted on him years earlier.

Character developments

• Ye Jiangshan is revealed as a father who planned to sacrifice his clan—and ultimately his own son—to avenge Wen Xi and forge a weapon powerful enough to confront his enemies. His grief has hardened into ruthless resolve.
• Ye Rudí is exposed as the unwitting culmination of that plan: his Xiantian Sword Body and the resources invested in him made him the sword’s material.
• Liu Xiu dies understanding that she and her son were tools in Ye Jiangshan’s long game, while Ye Tongtian and Ye Zong recognize that the Ye Clan’s fate was decided long ago.
• Gong Lei, once the powerful tormentor, is reduced to helpless terror as Ye Jiangshan takes control of the encounter and exacts revenge.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and vengeance: Ye Jiangshan has spent ten years preparing to answer past atrocities, accepting horrific costs along the way.
• The corruption of love: A father’s devotion becomes inseparable from manipulation and sacrifice; Ye Jiangshan’s protection of Ye Qiu contrasts with his treatment of Ye Rudí.
• Power and humiliation: The chapter reverses the old power dynamic, making Gong Lei experience the helplessness he once inflicted on Ye Jiangshan.
• Irreversibility: Characters recognize that the crucial decisions—and the catastrophe facing the Ye Clan—cannot be undone.

Character interactions

• Ye Jiangshan’s treatment of Ye Rudí and Liu Xiu exposes the gap between his outward care and his hidden purpose.
• Liu Xiu’s final realization contrasts with Ye Jiangshan’s emotional detachment, which he attributes to Wen Xi’s death.
• Ye Jiangshan’s confrontation with Gong Lei is deliberately personal: he taunts him with the same arrogance and cruelty Gong Lei once displayed, turning the duel into public retribution.