Chapter Summaries

Li Bufan confronted phantasms of a brilliant past life and a happy family, then rejected them in favor of forging his own martial path. He passed Heart Questioning Bridge, perfected the Hibernating Dragon Sleeping Pill Skill, and reached the Trial Forest, where Wang Mingxuan was waiting.

• Li Bufan saw a phantasm in which his previous life had made him a celebrated scientist, but he rejected it as unlike his real self.
• Li Bufan faced an idyllic vision of life with Lin Zhiyan, Yun Niang, He Wanxing, their children, and a grown-up Li Ping'an, and recognized it as a false dream.
• Li Bufan resolved to pursue a real future through martial arts, and the Hibernating Dragon Sleeping Pill Skill reached Perfection.
• Li Bufan shattered the phantasm, crossed Heart Questioning Bridge, and sensed that his spiritual cultivation had improved.
• Li Bufan continued along the path to the Trial Forest and found Wang Mingxuan and several others waiting there.

Li Bufan met Wang Mingxuan and Zheng Haonan at the Trial Forest after passing the Heart Questioning Bridge. After Zheng Haonan tested Li Bufan’s strength, the three entered the forest together to learn what the trial involved.

• Wang Mingxuan introduced himself to Li Bufan and asked about his cultivation and knowledge of the Trial Forest.
• Zheng Haonan arrived, recounted how he saw through the bridge’s illusion, and asked to test Li Bufan’s strength.
• Li Bufan met Zheng Haonan’s powerful grip with his Iron Wall Skill and Five Elements Cultivation Body, then used Primal Chaos Qi to force Zheng Haonan to retreat half a step.
• Zheng Haonan acknowledged Li Bufan’s strength, and the two exchanged introductions.
• Wang Mingxuan led Li Bufan and Zheng Haonan toward the Trial Forest entrance, where more than twenty other Warriors had gathered.

Li Bufan, Zheng Haonan, and Wang Mingxuan cut their way through the Trial Forest’s Hundred Forests Array, only to be ambushed by regenerating Blood Thorn Vines. Li Bufan spotted where the vines originated, and the three charged toward their main body.

• Li Bufan adapted to the Trial Forest’s gravity as Wang Mingxuan explained that the forest’s test was expected to be simple.
• The Hundred Forests Array activated, and Li Bufan, Zheng Haonan, and Wang Mingxuan cut down the Iron Birch trees in their path.
• After the three cleared several hundred paces of trees, the ground shook and Blood Thorn Vines burst out to attack them.
• Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan severed vines, but the vines regenerated, so Li Bufan searched for their main body.
• Li Bufan traced the vines southeast, and the three charged in that direction as the vines attacked more fiercely.

Li Bufan and his companions joined other challengers in fighting the Blood Thorn Vines after Wang Mingxuan revealed their reckless destruction had triggered the forest’s killing formation. Li Bufan found and destroyed the vine’s core, ending the assault, and the bell announcing the Inheritance Hall’s opening rang through the forest.

• Wang Mingxuan admitted that his group’s widespread destruction had turned the Trial Forest into a killing formation, and the three joined the other challengers under attack.
• Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan attacked the Blood Thorn Vine’s main stalk while the others shielded them, but its rapid regeneration prevented them from destroying it.
• Li Bufan observed that vines closest to the main stalk regenerated fastest and used that pattern to locate the core.
• Li Bufan forced a path through the vines, hurled the Azure Scale Saber into the bluish-gold core, and retrieved it as the vines collapsed.
• The bell signaling the Inheritance Hall’s opening rang, and Wang Mingxuan announced that the challengers had passed the Trial Forest’s test.

Li Bufan survived the gray puppet’s assault on the group and entered the Inheritance Hall, where he found a lone Black Crystal Stone instead of the expected cultivation inheritances. When he touched it, darkness erupted and a torrent of information flooded his mind.

• Wang Mingxuan identified the palace as the core of Myriad Laws Cave and described the inheritances said to be inside.
• A gray humanoid puppet struck down the warrior who opened the doors, then overwhelmed the group when they attacked it.
• Li Bufan dodged the puppet’s attacks until everyone else had fallen unconscious, then cautiously passed it and entered the Inheritance Hall.
• Li Bufan found a floating Black Crystal Stone in the otherwise empty hall and reached out to touch it.
• The Black Crystal Stone released boundless darkness and sent a vast torrent of information into Li Bufan’s mind.

Li Bufan received Old Man Seven Killings’ life experiences and the complete Greedy Wolf Five Forms inheritance from the Black Crystal Stone in the Myriad Laws Cave. After treating the unconscious martial artists outside the Inheritance Hall, he waited for Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan to awaken while studying the first form.

• Li Bufan endured the torrent of information and learned that the Myriad Laws Cave was a test created to pass on Old Man Seven Killings’ legacy.
• Li Bufan discovered how Old Man Seven Killings rose from an ordinary soldier to the first Peak Master of Blade Peak and developed the five forms of the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique.
• Li Bufan received the spirit grade high rank Greedy Wolf Saber Technique and realized the entrance puppet had recognized the aura of his Po Jun Saber Technique.
• Li Bufan stored the Black Crystal Stone and left the Inheritance Hall, finding Zheng Haonan, Wang Mingxuan, and the other martial artists unconscious but alive.
• Li Bufan treated the injured martial artists and kept watch over Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan while recovering and studying Chaos of Rivers and Mountains.

After recovering from the puppet’s attack, Li Bufan, Zheng Haonan, and Wang Mingxuan left the Inheritance Hall without revealing that Li Bufan had already obtained its inheritance. Other explorers entered the hall afterward, found it empty, and eventually abandoned the clearing.

• Zheng Haonan woke and reminded Wang Mingxuan that he had vowed never to return to Tianxiang Tower, but Wang persuaded him to let the vow go.
• Wang Mingxuan apologized to Li Bufan for bringing him into danger, and Zheng Haonan promised to help him anywhere in Qi State.
• Li Bufan urged the group to leave, and Zheng Haonan warned Wang Mingxuan that the puppet could kill them if they provoked it again.
• Wang Mingxuan agreed to retreat, and the three left the clearing without testing the motionless puppet.
• Other Warriors woke and either fled or cautiously entered the Inheritance Hall, where they found only an empty black stone platform.
• The remaining explorers searched the hall, found no trace of the inheritance, and left in disappointment.

After parting from Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan, Li Bufan secluded himself to study the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique and gained an initial grasp of its intent. He resumed exploring the secret realm as rumors spread about the puppet riot and the empty Inheritance Hall.

• Li Bufan told Wang Mingxuan and Zheng Haonan that he had passed out after the puppet struck him and had not investigated the Inheritance Hall.
• Zheng Haonan and Wang Mingxuan decided to continue exploring, while Li Bufan parted ways with them to attend to personal matters.
• Li Bufan found a hidden cave and studied the five forms of the Greedy Wolf Saber Technique, focusing on merging Chaos of Rivers and Mountains with his Po Jun saber intent.
• Li Bufan’s Greedy Wolf Saber Technique reached Initiation, and he left the cave to continue exploring the secret realm.
• Li Bufan heard Warriors discussing the puppet riot at the Myriad Laws Cave and the empty Inheritance Hall, and felt relieved that the rumors might spare him trouble.

After discovering he ranked 57th in the Starry Sky Secret Realm, Li Bufan encountered the injured Zhao Zhiqing being pursued by Zhou Hong over a rare spiritual herb. He chose to stand between them, and Zhou Hong attacked him.

• Li Bufan checked his token and saw that his ranking was 57th with 1000 points, likely earned by destroying the Blood Thorn Vine's core.
• Li Bufan reflected on his disadvantage in the realm because he lacked the information and guidance available to scions of established families.
• Li Bufan recognized the badly injured Zhao Zhiqing fleeing through the forest and stepped in to help her in repayment for Zhao Pojun's kindness.
• Zhou Hong confronted them and demanded Zhao Zhiqing's Cold Jade Ice Heart Grass, threatening to kill them both.
• Zhao Zhiqing warned Li Bufan that Zhou Hong had opened three primary meridians and urged him to escape, but Li Bufan stayed and asked about her injuries.
• Zhou Hong mocked Li Bufan and suddenly attacked him.

Li Bufan defeated Zhou Hong with his concealed strength, then tortured him for information about the Starry Sky Secret Realm. He treated Zhao Zhiqing’s injuries and kept watch while she recovered, planning to question Zhou Hong again.

• Li Bufan revealed his Meridian Connecting Realm cultivation and broke Zhou Hong’s arm before striking him down with a barrage of Surging Waves Palm attacks.
• Li Bufan offered to spare Zhou Hong in exchange for information, but Zhou Hong demanded Zhao Zhiqing’s Cold Jade Ice Heart Grass and Li Bufan’s loyalty instead.
• Li Bufan stabbed Zhou Hong repeatedly with the Azure Scale Saber to force him to answer, but Zhou Hong passed out before revealing anything.
• Li Bufan applied Trauma Ointment to Zhou Hong’s wounds and told himself he would question him again after he recovered.
• Li Bufan gave Zhao Zhiqing healing pills, and she sat down to recover while he watched over her and planned his next interrogation.

After recovering, Zhao Zhiqing agreed to travel with Li Bufan and told him about a land of extreme cold in the Starry Sky Secret Realm. They planned to head there, while Li Bufan woke Zhou Hong to question him.

• Zhao Zhiqing recovered most of her strength, and she and Li Bufan exchanged thanks for his rescue and his past connection to her father.
• Zhao Zhiqing proposed traveling together and offered to share what she knew about the secret realm; Li Bufan readily agreed.
• Zhao Zhiqing described a land of extreme cold in the secret realm’s northwest, where she had found Cold Jade Ice Heart Grass before Zhou Hong followed and attacked her.
• Li Bufan agreed to travel with Zhao Zhiqing to the land of extreme cold, hoping to find useful treasures and opportunities.
• Li Bufan reopened Zhou Hong’s wound to wake him and warned him to speak if he wanted to avoid further consequences.

Li Bufan treated Zhou Hong’s injuries and learned of the Molten Lava Cave from a map of the Starry Sky Secret Realm. After taking the map and expelling Zhou Hong, he joined Zhao Zhiqing on the journey to Ice Wind Valley.

• Li Bufan used medicine and the Spring and Autumn Needle Technique to treat Zhou Hong, who agreed to reveal valuable locations in the secret realm.
• Zhou Hong explained that he had been headed for the Molten Lava Cave but had taken a wrong turn and encountered Zhao Zhiqing in the icy region.
• Zhou Hong handed Li Bufan his Lineage’s map, which marked the Molten Lava Cave, Ice Wind Valley, and other resource and danger sites.
• Li Bufan took Zhou Hong’s map, shattered his Assessment Token, and sent him out of the secret realm.
• Zhao Zhiqing declined a share of Zhou Hong’s points, and Li Bufan’s ranking rose from 57th to 24th.
• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing set off toward Ice Wind Valley as Li Bufan continued contemplating his saber technique.

Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing traveled into the frozen lands, where she explained the region’s dangers and they pressed on toward the inner region. After they encountered a powerful Demon Beast, an enormous creature emerged from a forest of ice pillars.

• Li Bufan deflected Zhao Zhiqing’s questions about his rapid cultivation progress, and they exchanged information about the capital’s Lineages and the frozen lands.
• Zhao Zhiqing guided Li Bufan through the outer region, where he gathered several cold-resistant herbs.
• In the middle region, Zhao Zhiqing explained the frozen lands’ four regions and warned that Demon Beasts inhabited the inner region.
• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing crossed into the inner region, where intense cold, slick ice, and thick mist made travel dangerous.
• A savage roar sounded from nearby ice pillars, and an enormous Demon Beast emerged.

Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing encountered a Spirit Opening Realm Snow Vulture Tiger in the frozen wasteland. Li Bufan killed it with one saber strike, but the attack drained the True Qi in his three primary meridians.

• Zhao Zhiqing identified the attacking beast as a Spirit Opening Realm Snow Vulture Tiger and stayed back because her injuries had not healed.
• Li Bufan dodged the tiger’s attacks and wounded it with the Po Jun Saber Technique, but its icy True Qi and tough body limited the damage.
• Li Bufan struck the Snow Vulture Tiger’s ribs with seven layers of force from the Surging Waves Palm, sending it crashing into an ice pillar.
• Li Bufan unleashed his Chaos of Rivers and Mountains saber intent and charged at the tiger as it made another pounce.
• Li Bufan split the Snow Vulture Tiger in half with a single slash, exhausting the True Qi in his three primary meridians.
• Zhao Zhiqing stared in shock at Li Bufan’s victory.

After Li Bufan recovered from killing the Snow Vulture Tiger, Zhao Zhiqing explained the Demon Beast cultivation realms to him. She suspected the tiger had guarded a Cold Marrow Bud, so they searched deeper into the forest of ice pillars for the herb.

• Zhao Zhiqing gave Li Bufan a Qi Replenishing Pill and stood guard while he meditated to recover.
• Li Bufan thanked Zhao Zhiqing and asked her to explain the Spirit Opening Realm and other Demon Beast cultivation realms.
• Zhao Zhiqing described the Demon Beast realms and their equivalents among martial artists, from Spirit Opening Realm through Demonic Core Realm.
• Zhao Zhiqing reasoned that the Snow Vulture Tiger might have guarded a Cold Marrow Bud, and Li Bufan proposed they split it if they found it.
• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing went deeper into the forest of ice pillars to search for the Cold Marrow Bud.

Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing found and harvested two Cold Marrow Buds in a Snow Vulture Tiger's nest, then discovered signs of a second, larger tiger and hurried away. They continued deeper into the extreme cold, where Zhao Zhiqing used a warming pill to keep going as the temperature dropped further.

• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing found two Cold Marrow Buds beside the Snow Vulture Tiger's nest and carefully harvested them.
• Zhao Zhiqing realized that two Cold Marrow Buds suggested more than one Snow Vulture Tiger might inhabit the area.
• Li Bufan spotted larger claw prints, and he and Zhao Zhiqing concluded that a stronger second tiger could be nearby and retreated at once.
• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing left the tiger's corpse behind and followed Zhao Zhiqing's map deeper into the land of extreme cold.
• After Zhao Zhiqing began struggling against the cold, she swallowed a pill from her Lineage that restored her strength for several hours.
• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing continued onward and crossed into an even colder area.

Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing ventured into the blizzard’s unknown depths, where Zhao had to turn back as the cold overwhelmed her Crimson Sun Pill. Li Bufan discovered an Azure Cold Pond and a mysterious crystal reacted to its water, unleashing a devastating cold that began freezing him.

• Li Bufan and Zhao Zhiqing pushed beyond the route on Zhao’s Lineage map, but Zhao’s Crimson Sun Pill nearly ran out, so she stopped while Li Bufan continued alone.
• Li Bufan sensed a powerful Vital Energy fluctuation and found a still, unfrozen Azure Cold Pond surrounded by an unnatural calm.
• Li Bufan tested the pond with his true qi, but it vanished into the water without a reaction.
• The crystal from Huaiyuan County shook in Li Bufan’s Storage Bag and glowed toward the pond, so he took it out to investigate.
• The crystal drew azure cold qi and pond water toward itself, began turning icy blue, and unleashed extreme cold that rapidly froze Li Bufan’s body.

Li Bufan survived three days frozen in the cold pool by entering deep hibernation and slowly refining its icy Vital Energy, opening two meridians. After recovering, he activated the transformed crystal, which absorbed his True Qi and sent a torrent of information into his mind.

• The cold pool drained away, exposing an ice-jade platform and a glowing ice-blue orb as Li Bufan remained trapped in three feet of ice.
• The Hibernating Dragon Sleeping Pill Skill preserved Li Bufan’s life while the Five Elements Heaven Skill slowly assimilated the freezing Vital Energy.
• After three days and nights, Li Bufan shattered the ice and discovered that he had opened the Hand Yangming Large Intestine Meridian and the Hand Shaoyang Triple Burner Meridian.
• Li Bufan picked up the crystal, now almost entirely ice-blue, and fed it his Five Elements True Qi.
• The crystal absorbed Li Bufan’s True Qi, blazed with light, and sent a vast torrent of information into his mind.

Li Bufan learned the first art of the Ice Prism Seven Kills Technique and cultivated it in the frigid core, greatly accelerating his cultivation before taking the Mysterious Ice Pearl and leaving. He headed back toward Zhao Zhiqing, unaware that removing the pearl had begun melting the frozen land.

• Li Bufan studied Hundred Rivers Return to Sea and chose to cultivate it in the core region rather than immediately search for Zhao Zhiqing.
• After many attempts, Li Bufan mastered the art’s initial circulation and combined it with the Five Elements Heaven Skill to absorb icy Vital Energy at a greatly increased rate.
• Li Bufan stopped cultivating when the influx strained his meridians and body, and recognized that he urgently needed a stronger Body Tempering Technique.
• Li Bufan connected with the ice-blue pearl, identified its engraved name as Mysterious Ice, and stored it with the Inheritance Crystal.
• After Li Bufan took the Mysterious Ice Pearl and left, the land’s cold source vanished and its ice began to melt; he headed toward the outer region and Zhao Zhiqing.

Li Bufan left Ice Wind Valley with the Mysterious Ice Pearl, claimed first place in the assessment rankings, and traveled to search for the Molten Lava Cave. He found its concealed entrance and reached an enormous underground cavern filled with flowing magma, eager to explore.

• Li Bufan returned to the place where he had parted from Zhao Zhiqing, found no trace of her, and continued toward the outer region.
• After leaving the extreme cold land, Li Bufan checked his Assessment Token and discovered that he had reached first place with ten thousand points.
• Li Bufan set out for the Molten Lava Cave, cultivating his martial skills as he searched for its location.
• Using the map and his senses, Li Bufan found the cave entrance hidden beneath vines at the foot of a crimson stone mountain.
• Li Bufan prepared himself and descended through the hot passage into a vast cavern with a river of boiling magma.