Chapter Summaries

Meng Chuan and Northern United University entered the Level One Huangsha 011 Demon Nest, where Shang Ruyi explained the dangers and led them toward their camp. On the way, the students learned about powerful Heavenly Demons and the champions who had defeated them.

• Shang Ruyi briefed the students on the Merit Jade Talisman, his rescue range, and the need to act cautiously before leading them into the Demon Nest.
• Meng Chuan crossed the passage into a vast, scorching desert and used his Flower of Flesh ability to keep sand out of his nose.
• Shang Ruyi explained that the super-large Demon Nest was suited to the trial but that demonic qi and sandstorms could endanger the students.
• A soldier warned the group that Heavenly Demons could swarm in uncleared areas and described Nine-Tails, a powerful Great Demon killed by Guardian Lu.
• Meng Chuan reflected on the strength of Lu Ang, Heavenly King Sui, and Great Chu's Great Sages as the soldier urged the students to help clear lesser Heavenly Demons.

Meng Chuan learned how the Demon Nest worked, studied the rewards for hunting Heavenly Demons, and prepared to explore with his Yong'an Campus companions. He left the camp focused on earning merit and finding resources for cultivation and his family.

• Shang Ruyi explained that the Demon Nest disabled advanced technology, warned the students to avoid storm-ravaged regions, and urged them to travel in groups.
• Meng Chuan decided to scout near the camp for two days before hunting Heavenly Demons deeper inside the Demon Nest.
• At the quartermaster's, Meng Chuan learned the merit values for different Heavenly Demons and the costs of medals and cultivation resources.
• Meng Chuan considered using future merit to buy Pulse-Moistening Spirit Pills and life-extending treasures for his family and master.
• Meng Chuan and the Yong'an Campus group left the camp together to explore the area.

Meng Chuan led Yong'an Campus’s team into the Sharp Peak Stone Formation to scout for an Upper-Rank Heavenly Demon and assess it as a hunting ground. He killed several Sand Scorpions and helped the team defeat a larger wave without casualties, then led them deeper into the formation.

• Wu Hong asked She Yu when their group would move out, but She Yu told him to join people from other campuses because Shang Ruyi had warned her to keep her distance from him.
• Meng Chuan led the team into the Sharp Peak Stone Formation, where they encountered and easily killed several Lower-Rank Heavenly Demons.
• Meng Chuan warned the team that an Upper-Rank Heavenly Demon might be present, arranged them in a formation, and activated his Purple Qi Armor as they advanced.
• A flying mid-rank Sand Scorpion attacked, and Meng Chuan killed it with one punch, collected its True Spirit and valuable materials, and sensed that the Merit Jade Talisman had recorded his merit.
• A swarm of fewer than twenty Sand Scorpions attacked; Meng Chuan killed two of the strongest while the rest of the team defeated the others without casualties.
• After resting and reorganizing, Meng Chuan and the team continued toward the depths of the Sharp Peak Stone Formation.

Meng Chuan explored Huangsha 011 with the others and killed an enormous Demon-Eyed Spider, an upper-rank Heavenly Demon, after discovering it was stronger than the Demon Nest guide suggested. He collected its valuable materials, improved his Five Thunders Striking the Peak, and set off with Chu Yanlong to scout the Wave Rock area.

• Meng Chuan hunted Heavenly Demons while practicing his fists, then sensed a powerful creature concealed behind a huge sandstone formation.
• Chu Yanlong identified the creature as an upper-rank Heavenly Demon and warned Meng Chuan to run, but Meng Chuan charged into the dust and discovered it was a gigantic Demon-Eyed Spider.
• Meng Chuan fought the spider with his Tiger Soul spear, Grim Battle Armor, and Bing Fire Yang Thunder, then killed it with a powerful punch and a strike to its brain.
• Meng Chuan extracted the spider's True Spirit and eight valuable eyes, and the group cleared out nearby sand scorpions before counting their gains.
• Meng Chuan's Five Thunders Striking the Peak advanced to the proficient level, while the others returned to camp to recover.
• Meng Chuan and Chu Yanlong finished scouting the area, parted from the returning group, and headed toward Wave Rock.

Meng Chuan entered the Wave Rock Area and fought a powerful crab-like Heavenly Demon that ambushed him from behind granite. He overtook She Yu in battle merits, but his hard-fought battle against the regenerating demon was still undecided.

• Yong'an's group returned to camp with a large haul, and Xu Qingfeng and the others checked their merit totals alongside the other schools.
• Meng Chuan's merits rose from 101 to 168, moving him ahead of She Yu after he discovered and struck a powerful crab-like Heavenly Demon.
• The crab demon counterattacked with earth and demonic-energy techniques, while Meng Chuan dodged, broke its force field, and tore off one of its claws.
• Meng Chuan fought the crab demon with Demon Seeding True Qi and tried to build Huntian momentum, but the demon kept regenerating as their battle dragged on without either gaining the upper hand.

Meng Chuan destroyed a powerful crab demon with Star-Destroying, then hunted more demons and broke River-Splitting Palm’s limit. Back at camp, his merit total surpassed She Yu’s, and he planned to earn far more on his next outing.

• Meng Chuan used Star-Destroying to annihilate the crab demon, then collected its True Spirit and nearby demon materials despite losing its valuable heart.
• On his way back, Meng Chuan killed lower- and middle-rank demons, defeated a sandworm with River-Splitting Palm, and broke the martial art’s limit to acquire Cold Vortex.
• Meng Chuan added Cold Vortex to the Five Skandhas Universe Method and considered how to expand his collection of attack effects and martial arts.
• At Northern United University’s camp, Meng Chuan checked the Merit Jade Talisman and saw that he had earned 202 merit points, overtaking She Yu’s 160.
• Meng Chuan resolved to pursue more merit points the next day while his companions praised his strength; Wu Hong regretted that he had nearly made a bet against him.

Meng Chuan hunted alone on the fourth day of the trial and found a sleeping upper-tier Mingran in a cavern. He struck first by hurling Tiger Soul into its eye, but its corrosive sand mist caught him as he tried to escape.

• Shang Ruyi encouraged Wu Hong to keep working toward living up to the Fierce Tiger King title.
• Meng Chuan’s battle merits reached 588, and he prepared to hunt alone after learning Chen Xuan likely led the rankings.
• Chu Yanlong warned Meng Chuan that Chen Ke had died while hunting alone, and Meng Chuan promised to be careful.
• Meng Chuan found a sleeping Mingran in a cavern, judged its strength and rewards, and decided to attack it.
• Meng Chuan hurled Tiger Soul into Mingran’s right eye and ran, but Mingran struck him with corrosive sand mist, leaving him stumbling and weak.

Meng Chuan killed the upper-rank Heavenly Demon Mingran after enduring its strange spiritual energy and exploiting his superior movement and lightning attacks. He searched Mingran’s lair for treasure and found an underwater cave containing Void Heavenly Demon cores and a strange humanoid skeleton.

• Meng Chuan resisted Mingran’s strange energy with the help of his Dragon Demon, Daoxin, and a Cloud Water Pill, then fought back and wounded the pursuing monster.
• Meng Chuan used Evil-Warding Divine Thunder and repeated attacks to cripple Mingran, then killed it and retrieved its valuable pearl.
• Meng Chuan harvested nearby Heavenly Demons, recovered Tiger Soul from Mingran’s pool, and discovered an underground river leading deeper into the cave.
• Meng Chuan swam through the underground river into a hidden cave and found Void Heavenly Demon cores, scattered scales, and crystals.
• Meng Chuan examined a partly decayed humanoid skeleton with demonic features, found no information about it in the Demon Nest Guide, and decided to keep searching for treasure.

Meng Chuan discovered murals in Huangsha 011 suggesting Great Brahma was a demon worshipped by Heavenly Demons, though another entity might be the true object of their worship. He continued hunting toward Crystal Cave as his battle merits soared, while Chen Xuan found a similar mural and recognized that the Demon Nest contained a Temple.

• Meng Chuan found a second python pearl and humanoid remains in Mingran’s lair, then studied faded murals depicting figures worshipping a four-faced god resembling Great Brahma.
• Meng Chuan considered whether Great Brahma was a Demon God, but left the cave uncertain and continued hunting through Huangsha 011.
• Meng Chuan spent two sleepless days killing upper Heavenly Demons and gathering loot, while Chen Xuan explored a different route through the Demon Nest.
• Meng Chuan found more worship murals, including one showing Great Brahma outside a palace while a formless figure sat on its throne, and suspected that figure was the true object of worship.
• Meng Chuan headed toward Crystal Cave with two days left in the trial, while Northern United University students watched his battle merits approach four thousand and discussed his lead.

Meng Chuan got caught in a sandstorm, lost his way, and encountered a crocodile-man while searching for a route back. After killing it and using its scattered remains as bait, he sensed another crocodile-man approaching and began tracking it.

• Meng Chuan emerged from the Crystal Cave with a superior Gravel Demon core and a large crystal, then fled an approaching sandstorm.
• He ran alongside a massive Sand Scorpion ancestor during the storm and realized afterward that he had strayed from the trial route.
• While following the wind, Meng Chuan ambushed a crocodile-man, wounded it, and followed it in hopes of finding its tribe.
• The crocodile-man deliberately led Meng Chuan astray, so Meng Chuan crushed its neck, cut its body into pieces, and spread them as bait.
• Meng Chuan cultivated while Dragon Demon and Daoxin guarded him, then sensed a crocodile-man taking the bait and began tracking it without disturbing it as it gathered the remains.

Meng Chuan followed a crocodile-man to its settlement and discovered the monsters performing a ritual that used their blood to mark his location. After the ritual exposed him, he slaughtered the crocodile-men and their leader, and a distant curtain of light revealed what seemed to be another world.

• Meng Chuan followed a crocodile-man to a ruin where a growing crowd of crocodile-men gathered around their leader.
• The crocodile-men cut their scales and used their blood and demonic energy in a ritual that formed an image of Meng Chuan and marked him with green light.
• Meng Chuan abandoned stealth and killed the crocodile-men, using Tiger Soul, his martial arts, and a golden lotus of Bing Fire Yang Thunder.
• Meng Chuan defeated the crocodile-man leader in close combat and wiped out the entire settlement.
• The altar absorbed the fallen crocodile-men's blood, and a distant beam of green light became a curtain that revealed another world.

As the seven-day Demon Nest trial ended, Meng Chuan remained inside, following a mirage toward a mysterious Temple tied to Great Brahma. Northern United University secured first place, while Shang Ruyi left with the other students after Sui Chunqiu assured him that Meng Chuan had a contingency measure.

• Meng Chuan followed the mirage toward the sacred mountain and Temple, determined to uncover the secrets of Great Brahma and the crocodile demon men.
• Xu Qingfeng left the Demon Nest and saw Meng Chuan's battle merits reach 5,671, while Wu Hong reflected on his growth and accepted Shang Ruyi's guidance.
• Shang Ruyi and Lan Caixia discussed Meng Chuan's exceptional endurance, his Horizontal Training Sacred Body, and his prospects in the Martial Dao.
• The four-school rankings were finalized, with Northern United University taking first place at 11,008 battle merits, more than half earned by Meng Chuan.
• Shang Ruyi told Sui Chunqiu that Meng Chuan was still missing inside the Demon Nest, and Sui Chunqiu said he had left a contingency measure on him.
• Shang Ruyi led the other Northern United University students away, leaving Meng Chuan as the only trial participant still inside.

Meng Chuan reached the Buddha Court and witnessed a vision of Great Brahma corrupted by the Heavenly Demon. Great Brahma explained his nature and plight before granting Meng Chuan a fortune that strengthened his spiritual foundation, leaving it condensed like Blue Stone.

• Meng Chuan climbed a mountain that grew taller as he ascended and reached the floating Buddha Court above the clouds.
• The palace triggered an illusion in which Buddhist teachings collapsed under black mist, and Meng Chuan saw Great Brahma appear amid chaos.
• Great Brahma told Meng Chuan that he was a form manifested by living beings after nirvana, with only a wisp of obsession remaining, and that a portion of his soul sought the person with the greatest Brahma wisdom.
• Meng Chuan asked how he could help, and Great Brahma told him to keep living and rely on himself to shatter illusion and prove truth.
• Great Brahma transported Meng Chuan into a blue jade lotus bud, where he comprehended its Sanskrit inscriptions and strengthened his spiritual foundation until it became like Blue Stone.

Trapped inside a lotus-wall illusion, Meng Chuan strengthened his spiritual foundation and created a new hardbody technique by merging the four Duo-Mo techniques with the Great Brahma Form. He named it the Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique as Principal Sui’s Golden Crow safeguard fought off the encroaching darkness.

• Meng Chuan’s spiritual foundation reached the Blue Stone grade, and he sensed a raging creature battering the lotus bud from outside.
• Meng Chuan began merging Duo-Mo Iron Body, Iron Arm, Iron Leg, and Iron Crotch into a single hardbody technique as the lotus bud shook and black mist seeped inside.
• Principal Sui’s safeguard manifested as a three-legged Golden Crow, which burned away the black mist and held back the illusion’s force.
• Meng Chuan visualized the Great Brahma Form and used it to connect the four techniques’ principles, transforming his body and expelling impurities.
• Meng Chuan named his new method the Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique, and his panel recorded its limit-breaking trait as Four-Faced Four-Aspect Illuminating Arhat Body.

Meng Chuan escaped the illusion and found himself trapped in a Temple, where he met Xun San, the Divine Dragon Great Sage. Xun San explained that Temples let powerful Heavenly Demons steal and convert human faith, and began clarifying Great Brahma’s destruction.

• Meng Chuan’s Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique formed with Great Brahma’s blessing, and he considered visiting Shaolin to deepen his Buddhist martial principles.
• Meng Chuan awoke in a dark great hall filled with grotesque Arhat statues and faint azure light, then found that he could not reach the exit.
• The azure light became an old Daoist who moved Meng Chuan to a concealed mountain valley and asked about his connection to Great Brahma.
• Meng Chuan learned that the old Daoist was Xun San, the Divine Dragon Great Sage and former Southern United University principal.
• Xun San told Meng Chuan that Temples were built by Heavenly Demons to steal and convert faith, and that Great Brahma had been destroyed.

After the Divine Dragon Great Sage explained Great Brahma’s fall and the Temple’s role in a future human counteroffensive against the Heavenly Demons, Meng Chuan returned to Fengtian and reported what he had learned to Luo Guanyun. Great Chu planned to convert infected temples into Martial Shrines, while Meng Chuan was told he would inherit Great Brahma’s core legacy after signing a Bone Slip wondrous artifact.

• The Divine Dragon Great Sage told Meng Chuan that corrupted humans served the demonic path by stealing faith for the Heavenly Demons, and that Great Brahma had perished protecting him.
• The Divine Dragon Great Sage said Meng Chuan might restore Great Brahma by reaching Divine Connection through Fist and Foot Combat Arts, then explained that the Temple could let Grandmasters enter the Heavenly Demon Realm.
• The Divine Dragon Great Sage carried Meng Chuan from the Demon Nest to Fengtian, where Sui Chunqiu told him to rest and meet at the office the next morning.
• Meng Chuan called Luo Guanyun from the school hotel and recounted his encounter with the Divine Dragon Great Sage and the Temple.
• Luo Guanyun explained that Great Chu would convert infected temples into Martial Shrines and that Meng Chuan would receive Great Brahma’s core legacy after signing a Bone Slip wondrous artifact.

After learning more about the Heavenly Demons and the Temple, Meng Chuan signed a Bone Slip confidentiality oath and received Principal Sui’s explanation of secret arts and Traits. Sui promised to teach him Boiling Flame and hinted that Meng Chuan’s Trait might one day help him become a Great Sage, while revealing his own planned breakthrough.

• Meng Chuan reflected that the Heavenly Demons were draining the human world’s power and resolved to strengthen himself to protect it.
• She Yu called Meng Chuan and addressed him as brother, but he ignored her after she admitted defeat.
• Meng Chuan visited Principal Sui, discussed meeting the Divine Dragon Great Sage, and signed the Bone Slip oath to keep Temple matters secret.
• Principal Sui promised to teach Meng Chuan the Boiling Flame secret art and explained how secret arts could lead to Divine Arts and Peerless Techniques.
• Sui explained that Traits could develop side effects or new powers as their users grew stronger, and encouraged Meng Chuan by comparing his Trait to the Divine Dragon Great Sage’s.
• Principal Sui told Meng Chuan that he planned to attempt a breakthrough sometime next year and asked him to keep it secret.

Meng Chuan returned to United University, received Boiling Flame from Sui Chunqiu, and prepared to resume training after the trip. He began practicing Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique and made a small breakthrough as his body resonated with Great Brahma’s dharma form.

• Sui Chunqiu passed Meng Chuan the Boiling Flame method and advised him to study it after reaching the Second Limit.
• Li Zhenyue struggled to cultivate the Supreme Celestial Immortal Method, then watched and liked Meng Chuan’s Five Elements Fist video.
• Meng Chuan returned to Li Mountain, learned that Old Fang’s child wanted to thank him, and discovered that Li Zhenyue had followed his short-video account.
• Meng Chuan reviewed his credits and planned to try a class with a newly hired Third Great Limit martial arts master from the Xingyi Sect.
• Meng Chuan began training with Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique, guided his qi and blood through visualization of Great Brahma, and advanced the method from 1% to 2%.

Meng Chuan advanced his body-tempering training, gathered credits, and spent time with his friends before entering Shang Ruyi’s Tiger Form Imagery World. There, a colossal tiger killed him with one blow, leaving his spiritual foundation badly shaken.

• Meng Chuan found that Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique strengthened his physique and let him resume Four Gates Combined Training, and he planned to teach the technique to his master.
• Meng Chuan exchanged Heavenly Demon materials for credits, passed twenty thousand points, and planned to prepare resources for his journey to Wudang and thank Grandmaster Zhao Shousui.
• Meng Chuan joined Xu Qingfeng and the others for a barbecue, shared what he could about the Demon Nest, and declined Chen Jingyi’s invitation to visit her afterward.
• Three days later, Meng Chuan entered the Imagery World through Shang Ruyi’s Tiger Form Mark and encountered a gigantic tiger in the wilderness.
• The tiger struck Meng Chuan down, and the blow nearly cracked his Blue Stone Foundation, forcing him to take a Cloud Water Pill to recover.

Meng Chuan broke through to the fourth layer of Dao Heart Demon Seeding, refined his bones with Blood Qi, and discovered that Essence of Blood Qi improved his aura. He set his sights on reaching the Second Limit and visiting Wudang Mountain, while also deciding to confront a Taiji Fist Hall in Jiang City.

• Meng Chuan considered using Cloud Water Pills to befriend Shang Ruyi’s tiger incarnation and learn from it.
• Meng Chuan advanced Dao Heart Demon Seeding to the fourth layer and compressed the surge of Blood Qi into Essence of Blood Qi that refined his bones.
• Meng Chuan’s aura and Rising Yang and Lifting Sinking Momentum strengthened, and he realized Essence of Blood Qi could improve his aura.
• Meng Chuan decided to spend merit points and credits on spirit pills to advance faster, with reaching the Second Limit as his priority.
• Meng Chuan practiced Five Thunders Striking the Peak and imagined projecting its thunder beyond his body after reaching the Second Great Limit.
• Meng Chuan planned to visit Wudang Mountain for a core hard-body method and to confront the Taiji Fist Hall in Jiang City that had slandered him online.