Chapter Summaries

After recovering from his injuries, Meng Chuan prepared to learn the Baxia Heaven-Supporting Skill and began its one-time inheritance through the Seal of Xuanwu. The inheritance drew him into an unknown dimensional space, where he arrived alone and wondered whether Martial Dao Venerables could bring objects into spaces they opened within their bodies.

• Meng Chuan considered asking Sect Leader Chen about grinding down the True Martial Thunder Qi in his Sea of Consciousness, then left it untouched for the time being.
• After three days of recovery, Meng Chuan found that his internal injuries had healed and his organs and Armor-Clad Skill had grown stronger.
• Wang Ye delivered Meng Chuan's Tiger Saliva Jujube, and Jack teased Wang Ye about his visit to a massage parlor despite his claim to be unmoved by temptation.
• Meng Chuan put the jujube away for a future attempt to create Blood Hard Qigong and decided to wait for another Morning and Evening Enlightenment.
• Meng Chuan activated the Seal of Xuanwu and followed its inheritance into an unfamiliar dimensional layer, where he manifested his body but could bring nothing else with him.

Meng Chuan entered the underwater world of the Baxia Mark and waited for the colossal, chained Baxia to pass on its skill, observing the sea and time change around them. After enduring an unknown stretch of time, he sensed a coming change when a foul, rusty odor reached him at the surface.

• Meng Chuan explored the underwater world and discovered that an immense, living Baxia was bound by colossal chains.
• Meng Chuan swam to Baxia’s head, but the creature stayed motionless and gave no sign of teaching him the skill.
• Meng Chuan watched the sea undergo cycles of growth and decay, waited beside Baxia, and contemplated whether its chains held up the sky.
• After estimating that he had spent over a week in the world and that his spiritual power was running low, Meng Chuan sensed that a major change was approaching.
• Meng Chuan surfaced and caught a stench of rot and rust on the sea breeze.

Meng Chuan witnessed Baxia’s world fall to a crimson Heavenly Demon while learning the Baxia Heaven-Supporting Skill, then emerged with the Transcendence trait and sought answers from Chen Tuan and Lu Ang. The chapter left him realizing humanity faced threats beyond Ultimate Darkness and beginning to report what he had seen.

• Meng Chuan watched demonic qi invade Baxia’s world as Baxia rose from the sea, fought off the invaders, and tried to hold the sky together.
• A deep-crimson Heavenly Demon shattered the world and overwhelmed Meng Chuan’s consciousness, forcing him out of the Black Tortoise Mark with his Sea of Consciousness drained.
• Meng Chuan recovered, received the Baxia Heaven-Supporting Skill and the Transcendence trait, and wondered whether Baxia’s eight chains were the Eight Bindings.
• Meng Chuan called Sect Leader Chen Tuan, learned Chen Tuan was away on business related to the coming attack on Mountain Whisper, and described Baxia’s world being destroyed.
• Meng Chuan called Lu Ang and asked whether Heavenly Demons stronger than Ultimate Darkness could destroy a world, then began recounting what he had witnessed.

Meng Chuan learned from Lu Ang that humanity’s martial arts strengthen the human realm’s dimensional barrier against Shanghao and the Heavenly Demons, and that the struggle could end in humanity’s destruction if invasion outpaces progress. He resolved to grow strong enough to help save the world, while Lu Ang hinted that next year would bring a major change offering both danger and opportunity.

• Meng Chuan asked Lu Ang about the Crimson Demon God and learned that ancient martial ancestors, including Patriarch Zhang Sanfeng, remained in the Heavenly Demon Realm fighting for humanity.
• Lu Ang explained that Shanghao had caused Primordial Qi to vanish and that humanity’s martial cultivation raised the human realm’s dimensional strength to keep the Heavenly Demons out.
• Meng Chuan learned that the Eighth Great Limit could strengthen the human realm, but that humanity was locked in a tug-of-war with Shanghao and had nowhere else to flee.
• Lu Ang said Great Sage Zhao was nearing the Eighth Great Limit and might rival Ultimate Darkness, while further advancement could bring practitioners close to the Demon Gods’ power.
• Meng Chuan resolved to protect Yong'an and the human world himself, and Lu Ang revealed that the human world might undergo earth-shaking changes next year.

Meng Chuan kept the confidential plans for the Morning Dawn Martial Exercise secret and focused on cultivating Baxia Heaven-Supporting Skill and breaking through Qingming Dragon-Locking Body. After two days of intense practice, his bones began undergoing a violent transformation, leaving his breakthrough in progress.

• Lu Ang told Meng Chuan that Great Chu planned to hold a worldwide genius tournament next year and warned him to keep it confidential.
• Meng Chuan told Luo Guanyun about the coming threat and they agreed to conceal Demon Seeding True Qi until they were strong enough to reveal it safely.
• Meng Chuan began cultivating Baxia Heaven-Supporting Skill and raised it from beginner proficiency at one percent to ten percent in a single session.
• Meng Chuan summoned the fully matured Dragon Demon and prepared to pursue the final Limit Breaking of Qingming Dragon-Locking Body.
• Meng Chuan spent two days training without leaving the valley, and his bones began shifting and churning as the Dragon-Locking Body approached its breakthrough.

Meng Chuan’s body completed a terrifying transformation after the Qingming Dragon-Locking Body underwent Limit Breaking, granting him control over his bones and changing the Dragon Demon. He tested the Dragon Demon’s new physical power, then examined his upgraded Flower of Bone and the merged Flower of Bone and Flesh mark.

• Meng Chuan’s skeleton twisted and reshaped through the night before his body stabilized, leaving him leaner and weighing several tons.
• Meng Chuan summoned the Dragon Demon and discovered it had gained mass, nearly doubled in size, and developed bone spurs, clouds, and scarlet eyes.
• Meng Chuan controlled the Dragon Demon in the valley, where its roar and attacks destroyed the waterfall, but he recalled it after the strain rapidly depleted his spiritual power.
• Meng Chuan considered using the Dragon Demon as a surprise weapon and hiding his black bead artifact in its mouth for a combined attack.
• Meng Chuan reviewed the Flower of Bone’s new effects and revealed that its mark had merged with the Flower of Flesh into the Flower of Bone and Flesh.

Meng Chuan combined the Flower of Bone with Liberation to test the limits of his strength and defense, then asked Zhao Shousui to explain how Daoist teachings governed blood, bones, and flesh. Zhao began describing how the soul coordinated the body, giving Meng Chuan principles for uniting his martial methods before he left Wudang.

• Meng Chuan tested the Flower of Bone, finding that it could reshape his bones into weapons and armor but offered limited value on its own.
• Meng Chuan combined the Flower of Bone with the Flower of Flesh’s Liberation, reaching a maximum liberation of 420% and striking the Nine Dragons Pool with enough force to clear its water.
• Meng Chuan covered his twenty-meter-tall liberated body in bone armor and other defenses, then withdrew the transformation and resumed training.
• Meng Chuan visited Zhao Shousui and recited a passage from the Huangting Inner Landscape Essence Transformation Scripture, asking how its teachings governed blood, bones, and flesh.
• Zhao Shousui explained that the soul had to coordinate the body and described how spiritual power and dreams reflected the soul’s activity.

Meng Chuan learned from Zhao Shousui how the body and spiritual foundation supported the soul, and why taking the physical body into soul-based worlds was theoretically impossible. After Zhao Shousui sent him away, Meng Chuan considered strengthening his physique until it could keep pace with his soul and planned to ask Sect Leader Chen Tuan about completing Dragon Meditation.

• Zhao Shousui explained that the body nourished the soul, spiritual foundation fueled the Spirit Fire, and the body could not accompany the soul into other worlds without abandoning the path to becoming a Grandmaster.
• Meng Chuan considered using Traits to strengthen his physique enough to travel with his soul into safe worlds where time stood still, while continuing to cultivate his spirit.
• Zhao Shousui explained that completing Dragon Meditation sublimated the soul and improved comprehension, then warned Meng Chuan against overthinking theories and sent him away.
• Meng Chuan returned to his room and found Dragon Meditation at Level 3 (98%), unchanged for a week.
• Meng Chuan planned to ask Sect Leader Chen Tuan about Dragon Meditation, Zhenwu Thunder Qi, and the Demon-Sweeping Divine Ability when he returned the next day.

Meng Chuan visited Chen Tuan to learn about otherworldly refugees and the human world's struggle against the Heavenly Demons, then asked how to use his Zhenwu Thunder. Chen Tuan judged that Meng Chuan could refine it into Demon-Subduing Thunder True Qi, leaving him ready to begin refining the powerful treasure.

• Meng Chuan developed a plan to combine his body-training techniques with Dragon Meditation and continued cultivating while aiming to complete the necessary methods.
• Meng Chuan met Chen Tuan at Purple Cloud Palace and shared intelligence from Guardian Lu before asking about Baxia, Black Tortoise, and otherworldly beings.
• Chen Tuan explained that Baxia and Black Tortoise came from the destroyed Hanhai world, and that remnant souls of other worlds had taken refuge in the human world.
• Chen Tuan said the Heavenly Demons would eventually threaten humanity and urged the younger generation to strengthen the human world, praising Great Sage Zhao's role in that struggle.
• Meng Chuan asked how to use his strand of Zhenwu Thunder, and Chen Tuan explained that refining it could turn his True Qi into Demon-Subduing Thunder True Qi.
• After hearing that Meng Chuan's Spring Eye was unusually large and had already mutated through his thunder and fire secret arts, Chen Tuan approved refining the thunder.

Meng Chuan learned the Yin-Yang Demon-Sweeping Heart Scripture and began training in the True Martial Demon-Subduing Nine Forms under Chen Tuan. After only sixteen repetitions, he entered the gate of the boxing art’s Initial Realm, astonishing Chen Tuan.

• Meng Chuan asked Chen Tuan about Dragon Meditation, and Chen Tuan explained ways to reach perfection through visualization of the Five Directional Divine Dragons.
• Meng Chuan decided to visualize his own Dragon Demon to strengthen his Sea of Consciousness and thanked Chen Tuan for his guidance.
• Chen Tuan taught Meng Chuan the Yin-Yang Demon-Sweeping Heart Scripture and the True Martial Demon-Subduing Nine Forms, explaining their stages and power.
• Meng Chuan memorized the heart scripture and practiced the Nine Forms’ nine Initial Realm moves as Chen Tuan corrected his technique.
• On his sixteenth repetition, Meng Chuan gained an insight and entered the gate of the Initial Realm, leaving Chen Tuan astonished.

Meng Chuan entered the gate of Wudang’s True Martial Demon-Subduing Nine Forms and learned from Chen Tuan about its purpose and the coming Grand Luotian Rite. He then devised a plan to lure Fang Jianxing into the Eighteen Arhats Dharma Realm in the Jin Region and kill him, though he still needed help from one of the Arhats to make the scheme work.

• Meng Chuan practiced the True Martial Demon-Subduing Nine Forms, entered the gate, and gained the Encountering Demons trait as his proficiency advanced.
• Chen Tuan explained that the Zhenwu Core methods’ foundations lay in the Imperial Venerable Dharma Realm, then told Meng Chuan that Wudang’s strike against Mountain Whisper was planned for New Year’s Eve.
• Meng Chuan decided to add the Nine Demon-Subduing Forms to his daily training and considered how its martial momentum could help him fight Heavenly Demons.
• Meng Chuan ruled out joining the Grand Luotian Rite but planned to use a trip to the Jin Region to draw Fang Jianxing into the Eighteen Arhats Dharma Realm and destroy him.
• Meng Chuan concluded that he needed to contact an uninfected or soon-to-fall Arhat beforehand and settle the details of his Dharma Realm trapping plan.

After reflecting on humanity’s relationship with heaven and earth, Meng Chuan turned his attention back to cultivation and completed a new Dragon Demon in his Sea of Consciousness. The new dragon strengthened his spiritual defenses, though the original Dragon Demon immediately tried to swallow its rival.

• Meng Chuan questioned the meaning of his core Trait, Eightfold Unbinding: Transcendence, and decided to seek further understanding after the Baxia Heaven-Supporting Skill reached Limit Breaking.
• While watching the stars, Meng Chuan reasoned that humanity grew stronger by intercepting heaven-and-earth Yuan Qi and could force heaven and earth to rise in dimension, but warned himself against letting such thoughts become an obsession.
• At dawn, Meng Chuan abandoned the idea that he might trigger Morning and Evening Enlightenment and began visualizing Dragon Demon No. 2 to complete Dragon Meditation.
• Meng Chuan guided Dragon Demon No. 2 in his Sea of Consciousness to swallow the three little yellow dragons and become a guardian around its Mysterious Iron walls.
• When Meng Chuan brought the original Dragon Demon into the Sea of Consciousness, it stared at its double, swallowed it, and was told that it was the capable general while No. 2 was only the gatekeeper.

Meng Chuan completed Dragon Meditation and used its refined mental defenses while tempering the Zhenwu Thunder in his Sea of Consciousness. The Spring Eye mutated into a source of Demon-Subduing Thunder True Qi, and Meng Chuan began using it to strengthen his martial arts, though his practice nearly wrecked Wang Ye’s courtyard.

• Meng Chuan assigned Daoxin to guard his Sea of Consciousness, completed Dragon Meditation, and concluded that the art could still support his martial arts despite reaching its endpoint.
• Meng Chuan spent three days refining the Zhenwu Thunder into his Spring Eye, which grew larger and transformed into a pool of lightning.
• Meng Chuan activated the mutated Spring Eye and produced Demon-Subduing Thunder True Qi, then tested its power alongside [Bing Fire Yang Thunder].
• Meng Chuan practiced the [True Martial Demon-Subduing Nine Forms] with the new True Qi and unleashed a forceful attack that left Wang Ye soot-covered and startled.
• Meng Chuan noticed his martial proficiency rising faster and reasoned that the Demon-Subduing Thunder True Qi made his Demon-Sweeping techniques more effective.

Meng Chuan studied Daoist scriptures and found a path to advance Five Thunders Striking the Peak, then entered the War Soul Space to learn the mad old Daoist’s transformation method. After withstanding the Daoist’s lightning attacks unharmed, he realized that drawing lightning into his body had to be led by his own heart.

• Meng Chuan decided to recover his spiritual power before returning to the War Soul Space to study the mad old Daoist’s Second State.
• Meng Chuan memorized the Purple Tenuity Mystical Capital Thunder True Scripture and discovered a path to break through Five Thunders Striking the Peak.
• Wang Ye asked Meng Chuan to explain his insights, but Meng Chuan refused, prompting Wang Ye to ask his master to teach him the Thunder Method.
• Meng Chuan entered the War Soul Space and walked through the mad old Daoist’s opening lightning strike, which his Thunder True Qi destroyed.
• Meng Chuan endured the old Daoist’s storm of lightning without injury and realized that his heart, rather than external lightning, had to lead the transformation method.

Meng Chuan studied the mad old Daoist’s thunder and awakened his own Heart Thunder, manifesting gold-white armor that nullified the Daoist’s attacks. He defeated the old Daoist with Golden Thunder and understood why his master’s Golden Thunder had been so deadly.

• Meng Chuan endured the old Daoist’s attacks while studying his Heart Thunder and gradually learned to draw thunder out from within himself.
• Meng Chuan’s Heart Thunder awakened, and he transformed into a gold-white manifestation that briefly caused the old Daoist to regain his senses.
• The old Daoist resumed attacking as though controlled by a fixed program, but his thunder techniques failed to affect Meng Chuan’s gold-white armor.
• Meng Chuan declared his Heart Thunder the ancestor of other thunder methods and struck the charging old Daoist with a golden thunder pillar.
• The old Daoist collapsed with a hole through his chest, and Meng Chuan realized Golden Thunder’s power lay in its nature as a force of slaughter.

After killing the mad old Daoist, Meng Chuan advanced Five Thunders Striking the Peak to perfection and mastered its power with greater control. He tested Final Liberation in the real world, realized he still needed the Flower of Blood to complete the body concert hall, and ended the chapter displaying his immense strength.

• Meng Chuan used White Lightning to heal himself, then reflected on the stamina cost of combining the Thunder of the Inner Heart with liberation.
• After defeating the mad old Daoist, Meng Chuan gained insights into Five Thunders Striking the Peak and practiced through the night, reaching perfection and gaining the Thunder Pupil trait.
• Meng Chuan absorbed nearly a thousand points of new qi-blood and activated Final Liberation with the Thunder of the Inner Heart, struggling to restrain its violent impulses.
• Meng Chuan realized that mastering his enhanced power required either improving Brahma Prison-Suppressing Technique or completing the body concert hall, for which he still needed the Flower of Blood.
• After cultivating through the night, Meng Chuan saw that 118 acupoints had been lit and demonstrated that his palm wind alone could pulverize gravel and form a crater.

Meng Chuan bid farewell to Wudang after nearly half a year and set out by plane for Shaolin, where he planned to study Buddhist martial arts and prepare to lure Fang Jianxing into a trap. As Meng Chuan departed, Zhao Shousui admonished Wang Ye for wavering in his cultivation, and Meng Chuan left the city after saluting Sect Leader Chen at the clouds on the horizon.

• Meng Chuan reflected on his growing strength and resolved to leave Wudang for the Zen Sect's ancestral court, the Jin Region missions, and the plans involving Fang Jianxing and the Grand Luotian Rite.
• Zhao Shousui and Wang Ye's group held Meng Chuan a farewell gathering; the others got drunk, and Zhao Shousui knocked Wang Ye, Jack, and Zhao Huanzhen unconscious when they tried to leave and fight.
• Over tea, Meng Chuan told Zhao Shousui he might take national missions in the Jin Region, and the two discussed the dangers surrounding the Grand Luotian Rite.
• Meng Chuan packed his belongings, bid farewell to his Wudang friends, and left for the airport, planning to fly directly to Shaolin without stopping at Shanhai.
• After Meng Chuan left, Zhao Shousui found Wang Ye studying the Thunder Method instead of focusing on Taiji and reprimanded him for his unsteady resolve.
• On his way to the airport outside Nine-Weir City, Meng Chuan looked back toward the clouds and saluted Sect Leader Chen as he departed.

After Sect Leader Chen Tuan sent Meng Chuan off from Wudang and promised the sect would protect him from harm by their own kind, Meng Chuan flew toward Shaoshi Mountain. A titled Venom Heavenly Demon disguised as Master Ma attacked him aboard the plane, revealing that Fang Jianxing had sent it to test Meng Chuan and obtain the Thunder Seed.

• Sect Leader Chen Tuan told Meng Chuan to carry forward the Zhenwu Core Method, offered further instruction after the Grand Luotian Rite, and promised Wudang would seek justice if someone from their own kind harmed him.
• Meng Chuan bowed farewell to Wudang and entered the city, while Venom—disguised as Master Ma—prepared to board the same flight and attack him.
• Fang Jianxing warned Venom to bring back Meng Chuan and his belongings if the possession failed, then revealed to himself that he was using Venom to test Meng Chuan and learn whether he possessed the Thunder Seed.
• Meng Chuan boarded his flight to Shaoshi Mountain, noticed Master Ma was on the same plane, and burned a flight attendant's note without reading it.
• Master Ma approached Meng Chuan under the pretense of apologizing, but Venom's slime failed to penetrate Meng Chuan's skin and the demon burst out of Master Ma's human shell.
• Meng Chuan recognized the attacker as a far more powerful Venom than the one he had encountered before.

Meng Chuan fought Venom, a Titled Heavenly Demon, after the demon began assimilating a passenger plane and endangering its passengers. Meng Chuan gained the upper hand, and Police Chief Xu arrived to finish Venom off and capture its True Spirit.

• Venom attacked Meng Chuan aboard a passenger plane and began assimilating the aircraft, putting the passengers at risk.
• Meng Chuan hurled Venom through the plane’s roof, drove the passengers away from the fight, and drew the demon into the air.
• Meng Chuan fought Venom with Thunder True Qi and his Imagery Realm momentum, eventually forcing the demon out of its spear form and keeping it on the defensive.
• Venom nearly struck Meng Chuan with an enormous axe, but Meng Chuan dodged and continued fighting amid the destruction.
• Police Chief Xu split Venom’s body with his saber and captured its escaping True Spirit.
• Meng Chuan bowed to Police Chief Xu, who praised him and explained that he had waited to intervene until the demonic qi threatened the terminal.

Meng Chuan defeated Venom at the airport, received special merit for the kill, and learned that Fang Jianxing had been watching the battle. After discussing the attack with Xu Jinqiu, he returned to the hotel with 50 special merit points and prepared for Fang Jianxing’s next move.

• Meng Chuan kept Venom’s true spirit after Xu Jinqiu helped end the fight, and police personnel collected the demon’s remains as civilians thanked Meng Chuan for protecting them.
• Meng Chuan reasoned that Fang Jianxing had sent Venom and had used Demon-Subduing Thunder True Qi to mislead him, while Fang Jianxing watched the battle through a mirror and grew excited by Meng Chuan’s golden thunder.
• Xu Jinqiu showed Meng Chuan evidence that Venom had possessed Hall Master Ma and tracked his movements, and he concluded that a powerful Great Demon was likely behind the attack.
• Meng Chuan thanked Xu Jinqiu, shared Wudang’s kung fu liquor with the operations team, and left several jars for Xu Jinqiu.
• The merit appraisal department credited Meng Chuan with 50 special merit points for killing Venom.