Chapter Summaries

Meng Chuan and the monks traveled to Mount Sumeru to find the Dharma Realm’s root and escape the Primordial Pearl Umbrella. At the mountain’s foot, Meng Chuan suspected Liaoyuan had been replaced by a Heavenly Demon, then learned that climbing Mount Sumeru brought crushing gravity.

• Liaohai told Meng Chuan that Mount Sumeru supported the Dharma Realm and that the Primordial Pearl Umbrella was somewhere on the mountain, so the group set out to search.
• Meng Chuan questioned Liaohai about Demonic Infection; Liaohai explained that Shaolin’s department handled such incidents and confirmed it was dealing with the infected Eighteen Arhats of Bestowing Longevity Temple.
• As rain and mist thickened on the approach, Meng Chuan and Liaochen suspected the Dharma Realm’s master could not leave a certain place and that an insider was guiding them toward the mountain.
• Meng Chuan secretly warned Liaochen to stay at the foot of Mount Sumeru, and they concluded that Liaoyuan had been flayed by a Heavenly Demon while scouting in the cave.
• At the mountain, Meng Chuan sensed something at the summit and tested its increasing gravity; Liaoqing explained that reaching the top required bearing 88.88 million jun of gravity.

Meng Chuan climbed Sumeru Mountain with Liaoyuan and suddenly attacked him, revealing the hidden Heavenly Demon. The demon survived and launched a spiritual assault on Meng Chuan, leaving their battle underway.

• Meng Chuan decided to climb Sumeru Mountain, and Liaoyuan volunteered to accompany him so he could guide the group afterward.
• Liaochen and Liaoqing revealed that they suspected Liaoyuan was a Heavenly Demon because he acted unlike himself and had not used Martial Will to resist the soul-pulling golden light.
• Liaochen, Liaoqing, and Liaohai resolved to protect themselves at the mountain’s foot, while Liaochen prepared to climb after Meng Chuan and Liaoyuan.
• As they climbed through the rain and intensifying gravity, Meng Chuan abruptly struck Liaoyuan with a massive, lightning-wreathed blow and followed it with a barrage of punches.
• Liaoyuan transformed into a gigantic demonic presence, asked how Meng Chuan had seen through his disguise, and attacked his mind with oppressive spiritual intent.

Meng Chuan and Liaochen defeated the towering Vaisravana Shell on Sumeru Mountain, but discovered that the Primordial Pearl Umbrella at the summit was the true core of the Dharma Realm and that a hidden Heavenly Demon still controlled it. As they descended, Meng Chuan found a possible way to withstand the summit’s crushing pressure by training his body on the mountain, but his remaining mental power might not last long enough.

• Meng Chuan fought Great Hearing, shattered the Vaisravana Shell, and ordered Liaochen to overcome his fear and join the battle.
• Meng Chuan realized the defeated Vaisravana was only a shell after the Primordial Pearl Umbrella at Sumeru Mountain’s summit swallowed a fragment of his mental strength.
• Meng Chuan and Liaochen concluded that the Heavenly Demon inside the umbrella had likely killed Liaoyuan, then left the mountain to avoid its draining pressure.
• Meng Chuan reasoned that his Flower of Bone and Flower of Flesh traits could help him endure the summit’s pressure, but would not make him strong enough to fight freely.
• Meng Chuan realized that training under Sumeru Mountain’s pressure might strengthen his body, then worried that his depleted mental power could not sustain the plan.

Meng Chuan borrowed the monks’ mental energy to repeatedly temper his body under Sumeru Mountain’s pressure until he could withstand the summit and believed he had a ninety-percent chance of defeating the demon. He charged toward the peak as the Umbrella Demon revealed its true form and challenged him.

• Meng Chuan discovered that the Dragon Demon could refine Liaoqing’s mental energy for his use, and he persuaded the three monks to risk lending him theirs.
• After the monks agreed, Meng Chuan cycled between climbing Sumeru Mountain and replenishing his mental energy, eventually tempering his body enough to endure the summit’s crushing pressure.
• Meng Chuan said his chances of defeating the Umbrella Demon had risen to ninety percent, and the monks agreed to wait partway up the mountain in case the demon tried to flee.
• After recharging from the monks, Meng Chuan grew to fifteen meters tall and charged up Sumeru Mountain, smashing through the mounting pressure.
• At the summit, the Umbrella Demon manifested through the Primordial Pearl Umbrella, shifting between demonic and Buddha-like faces before mocking Meng Chuan as he approached.

Meng Chuan pushed through the demonic force field inside the Primordial Pearl Umbrella and slaughtered Snake Mang while overpowering the crushing pressure. He advanced on Snake Kui and Snake Ring, wielding Snake Kui’s severed tail as a whip as the two demons recoiled in fear.

• The Heavenly King of Great Hearing remained trapped inside the Primordial Pearl Umbrella and looked forward to serving Mountain Whisper and earning glory for its clan.
• Meng Chuan reached the umbrella’s summit, shattered the demonic barrier, and charged inside under the crushing pressure.
• Snake Kui, Snake Ring, and Snake Mang ambushed Meng Chuan, but their attacks failed to injure him.
• Meng Chuan seized Snake Mang and tore the Great Demon in half with his enhanced strength.
• Meng Chuan approached Snake Kui and Snake Ring while using Snake Kui’s severed tail as a whip.

Meng Chuan reached the center of the umbrella and found a powerful Buddha-head demon guarding the Primordial Pearl Umbrella. After transforming with the Dao Heart, he survived its attacks and struck its eye with Dao Heart Demon Seeding True Qi, beginning to corrupt the creature from within.

• Meng Chuan killed Snake Kui and Snake Ring with a whip made from the snake demons’ bodies.
• At the center of the umbrella, Meng Chuan discovered a golden-red presence on a black lotus throne and realized it was likely an avatar of a powerful Great Demon.
• Meng Chuan refined the Dao Heart into his body, transformed into a towering demon form, and charged toward the presence.
• A colossal Buddha head emerged from the clouds, swallowed the sky, and narrowly missed Meng Chuan with a bite that erased a vast stretch of ground.
• Meng Chuan endured the Buddha light and stabbed the Buddha head’s eye with Dao Heart Demon Seeding True Qi.
• The Buddha head’s eye cracked as the true qi spread through it, causing its gilded face to rot and collapse.

Meng Chuan destroyed the Great Buddha Head inside the corrupted Dharma Realm and returned to the Demon Nest with the Primordial Pearl Umbrella. After the monks recovered and mourned Liaoyuan, Meng Chuan tested the umbrella and concluded that obtaining the Heavenly King of Great Hearing’s Incense Divine Power and Buddhist recognition might let him inherit the Dharma Realm.

• Meng Chuan used Star-Destroying to destroy the Great Buddha Head, while the Dragon Demon swallowed its fleeing aura and Meng Chuan seized the Primordial Pearl Umbrella.
• Meng Chuan returned to the real world, where he recovered and joined the monks in finding Liaoyuan’s remains; Liaochen wrapped them in his kasaya and promised to take them home.
• Meng Chuan and the three monks set out to find the Temple, and he explained that he had defeated the Great Buddha Head inside the umbrella and kept it as spoils.
• Meng Chuan tested the bronze umbrella with Demon Seeding True Qi and mental strength, briefly opening it to reveal Little Sumeru Divine Mountain and Northern Kuru Continent.
• Meng Chuan concluded that he needed the Heavenly King of Great Hearing’s Incense Divine Power and Buddhist recognition to fully control the umbrella, and possibly inherit the Dharma Realm.

Meng Chuan’s group found the Temple beneath the lava and discovered that Crimson Malice was draining an Arhat’s Incense Divine Power. Meng Chuan and Liaohai confronted Crimson Malice, and Meng Chuan began to overwhelm the demon with his aura as the battle started.

• Meng Chuan’s group found demonized dwarves converting Incense Divine Power at an altar and learned the dwarves were valuable if captured alive.
• Meng Chuan discovered the Temple lay beneath the lava and took Liaohai down to confront Crimson Malice while Liaochen and Liaoqing prepared to capture the dwarves.
• Crimson Malice refined the stolen Dharma power of Dragon-Subduing Arhat and planned to leave with its uncle before human forces arrived.
• Liaohai accidentally exposed their presence, prompting Crimson Malice to attack with jade-green flames.
• Meng Chuan entered the hall, extinguished the flames with lava, and unleashed an overwhelming aura against Crimson Malice.

Meng Chuan killed Crimson Malice in the Dragon-Subduing Arhat Temple, then accepted the Arhat’s invitation into his crumbling Dharma Realm. There, he learned that his body was held back by the human realm’s dimensional barrier and asked the weakened Arhat for help.

• Crimson Malice used the Dragon-Subduing Arhat’s combat skills to fight Meng Chuan, but Meng Chuan countered its grappling and overwhelmed it with his fist techniques.
• Meng Chuan blasted apart the Arhat skin-shell, trapped Crimson Malice’s true body in a cage of fire dragons, and killed it.
• The Dragon-Subduing Arhat’s aura drew Meng Chuan’s soul into its Dharma Realm, where he realized an invisible dimensional barrier kept his body from following.
• Meng Chuan resolved to pursue the Transcendence Trait to break the human realm’s dimensional limits and enter other realms with his body and soul.
• Inside the ruined Arhat Hall, Meng Chuan found the Dragon-Subduing Arhat nearly drained of power and learned that black tentacles from Mountain Whisper had severed the Dharma Realm from the Saha World.
• Meng Chuan asked the weakened Dragon-Subduing Arhat for a favor.

Meng Chuan left the Demon Nest after defeating Crimson Malice and learned that the Dragon-Subduing Arhat needed the Dragon-Subduing Jade Pendant to help trap Fang Jianxing. Back at Shaolin, he planned his return to Yong'an and his trip to the Jin Region, while Chi Yan secretly coveted the power of destruction.

• Meng Chuan learned that the Dragon-Subduing Arhat was too weak to draw Fang Jianxing into the Dharma Realm without the Dragon-Subduing Jade Pendant, and the arhat sealed the dome for three months before sending him back.
• Meng Chuan returned from the Demon Nest with Liaohai and Liaochen, reported Crimson Malice's death to the Fengdeng City Garrison, and left the remaining demons to them.
• Chi Yan decided that obtaining Meng Chuan's power of destruction could let him rise to godhood, while a mirror watched Meng Chuan's group near Shaoshi Mountain and chose not to attack.
• Meng Chuan met Huijue at Shaolin, accepted his offer to travel together to Yong'an, and received a warning that government officials would question him about the mission.
• Meng Chuan returned to Moon Terrace Garden, received fifteen Pulse-Moistening Spirit Pills, submitted his mission for 360 special merit points, and reviewed his training plans and spoils.

After surviving the Demon Nest, Meng Chuan reported Liaoyuan’s death to Monk Wulou and learned more about the Primordial Pearl Umbrella and Mountain Whisper’s corruption of Northern Kuru Continent. He kept the umbrella, received Shaolin’s original Muscle-Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing manuals, and continued cultivating as he approached another fist art’s Limit Break.

• Chen Qiushui saw that Meng Chuan had returned safely from the Demon Nest and completed his mission.
• Meng Chuan met Monk Wulou, a Shaolin Martial Heavenly King and Eastern Alternate Guardian, who questioned him about Liaoyuan’s death.
• Meng Chuan recounted the mission and revealed that he had killed Chi Yan’s split soul from inside its demonic body; Monk Wulou said the feat merited the maximum reward for a third-tier Great Demon.
• Bai Bao explained that Mountain Whisper had infected the gods of Northern Kuru Continent and recognized the Primordial Pearl Umbrella as an artifact once possessed by the Heavenly King of Great Hearing.
• Monk Wulou offered to exchange the umbrella for a third-grade treasure, armor, or Zhenwu, but Meng Chuan chose to keep it.
• Bai Bao gave Meng Chuan the original Muscle-Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing manuals, and after a week of practice Meng Chuan used Morning and Evening Enlightenment to Limit Break Shaolin Long-Brow Fist.

After breaking the limit of Long-Brow Fist, Meng Chuan considered its effects and advanced his Buddhist training, passing Bai Bao’s examination and receiving a spiritual cultivation method. Bai Bao then revealed that Mountain Whisper’s true body could destroy humanity if it crossed into their world, making its swift suppression essential.

• Meng Chuan gained the Longevity Brows trait from breaking the limit of Long-Brow Fist and decided to submit the ordinary technique to the authorities through Uncle Bai.
• Meng Chuan observed that breaking the limit had boosted his Muscle-Tendon Transformation and Marrow Cleansing proficiency, and he planned to have Bai Bao test his Buddhist understanding.
• Jueming joined Meng Chuan and Bai Bao for pumpkin porridge, where Bai Bao tested Meng Chuan’s understanding of Buddhist principles through questions about the meal.
• Bai Bao judged Meng Chuan ready to study the Medicine Master Pure Six Faculties Perception Method and gave him three days to enter its gate.
• Bai Bao told Meng Chuan that Abbot Xuan Mou was using the unripe Buddhist fruit to eliminate Taihang’s demons, so the Dragon Flower Tree was off-limits for now.
• Bai Bao explained that Mountain Whisper was a sentient Divine Mountain over a million zhang tall, and that its arrival from the Cosmic Realm could overturn humanity.

Meng Chuan learned more about how beings crossed between the human world and the Cosmic Realm, then prepared for his eventual return to Yong'an while helping Jueming improve his skills. After the Red Li Demon Nest cleanup, he and the Shaolin monks checked their battle merits, where Liaoqing unexpectedly outscored Liaochen and Liaohai.

• Bai Bao explained that Mountain Whisper and most Ultimate Darkness sent mental power into the human world while their true bodies remained in the Cosmic Realm, and that Great Sages could cross realms with special preparation.
• Meng Chuan told Bai Bao he planned to return to Yong'an with Grandmaster Huijue before New Year's Day, and Bai Bao warned him to be careful after he left Shaolin.
• Meng Chuan tested Jueming's aura-observation skills and began teaching him the Longevity and Peaceful Joy Method.
• The Red Li Demon Nest was cleared of its remaining Heavenly Demons, and Meng Chuan's battle merits were tallied after his extensive fighting there.
• Meng Chuan joined Liaochen, Liaohai, and Liaoqing for a feast and then checked their battle merits with them.
• Liaohai showed fourteen thousand merits and Liaochen showed seventeen thousand, but Liaoqing revealed a score of seventeen thousand nine hundred and twenty, leaving the other two monks cursing in frustration.

Meng Chuan learned advanced staff techniques from Shi Nan and spent battle merits on resources to strengthen himself. He discovered that the Dragon Demon had gained a brow-eye attack that converted his mental power into energy resembling demonic qi, leaving him wary that others might discover it.

• Meng Chuan revealed he had earned 41,800 battle merits, stunning Liaohai, Liaochen, and Liaoqing, then left to train and buy Upper-Rank water-element Heavenly Demon Cores.
• Shi Nan taught Meng Chuan how to shift grips and combine attacks with a staff, then sparred with him until his forms became more fluid.
• Meng Chuan reflected that mastering unity between man and weapon could help prepare him for the Morning Dawn Martial Exercise and its Grandmaster-level opponents.
• After receiving a delivery and spending ten thousand battle merits, Meng Chuan summoned the recovered Dragon Demon and asked it to demonstrate its newly opened brow eye.
• The Dragon Demon fired a dark purple beam that silently destroyed a boulder, and Meng Chuan recognized its energy as resembling the demonic qi from the Dharma Realm.
• Meng Chuan recalled the Dragon Demon and realized the beam was his mental power transformed by the brow eye, though its demonic appearance could expose him to danger.

Meng Chuan tested Dragon Demon's new Deconstructing Divine Poison, received water-element cores to feed it, and drove his earth-element fist through Limit Breaking in the cultivation room. After cultivating a Buddhist perception method and advancing his Five Elements core trait, he prepared to leave Shaoshi Mountain with Grandmaster Huijue.

• Meng Chuan named Dragon Demon's corrosive mental-power beam Deconstructing Divine Poison and decided to save it for decisive attacks because using it drained his mental energy.
• Meng Chuan opened his delivery from the Merit Armory and fed Dragon Demon six water-element cores he had purchased with battle merits.
• Meng Chuan took Jueming to the cultivation room and said he would soon return home for a visit as the New Year approached.
• Meng Chuan pushed the Mountain-Collapsing Earth-Shaking Fist through sixty-six repetitions, achieved Limit Breaking, gained the Earth Peak Dharma Body, and raised his total qi and blood to more than 28,000 points.
• Meng Chuan practiced the Medicine Master Pure Six Faculties Perception Method, increased its proficiency to six percent, and concluded that it could not gain a Trait through Limit Breaking.
• Meng Chuan infused the new earth Trait into the Five Elements Wheel, paid the cultivation-room bill in cash, and told the old monk he would return home with Grandmaster Huijue.

Meng Chuan made a breakthrough in staff mastery and martial principles while preparing to leave Shaoshi Mountain for home. His improved understanding of heaven and earth generated 2,800 points of qi and blood, pushing him past 30,000 and into the late stage of the Martial Arts Expert realm.

• Meng Chuan practiced his staff, reached the final realm of the Dianjin Finger, and advanced his understanding of weapon combat.
• Meng Chuan considered merging the mountains of martial principles in his Inner Landscape but decided to keep training before attempting Recognition of Heaven and Earth.
• Meng Chuan's deeper perception of heaven and earth gathered Yuan Qi and produced 2,800 points of qi and blood, filling twenty-eight stars.
• Meng Chuan tested his increased speed in the forest and concluded that, below the Fourth Limit, no one could catch him.
• Meng Chuan summoned his Star Armor and saw that it now protected his vital areas down to the middle of his thighs.

Meng Chuan met Liaohuo, the newly advanced Shaolin Grandmaster known as Extreme Path Dragon Elephant, before leaving Shaoshi Mountain. Liaohuo’s challenge awakened Meng Chuan’s fighting spirit, and their confrontation began as Liaohuo revealed his Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation.

• Meng Chuan spent the night meditating on how to advance his martial arts before Huijue told him Liaohuo wanted to meet.
• Meng Chuan followed Huijue to the Mountain Gate Hall, where Liaohuo waited, and hurried ahead so he would not miss lunch at home.
• Meng Chuan leaped down to the hall, landing hard enough to crack the ground, then saluted Liaohuo as he sensed the Grandmaster’s will to fight.
• Liaohuo unleashed his Dragon Elephant Momentum, forming a massive elephant of True Gang that advanced on Meng Chuan.
• Meng Chuan stood firm as the elephant passed through him, then faced Liaohuo as the Grandmaster invoked the true Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation.

Meng Chuan challenged Liaohuo to three moves to test a grandmaster’s True Gang, enduring two attacks and discovering that True Gang could distort perception and be resisted with a steadfast will. Liaohuo’s third punch blasted Meng Chuan from the mountain, but Huijue found him alive and healing in the valley.

• Liaohuo announced his lineage and challenged Meng Chuan to test his strength, while Meng Chuan agreed to withstand three moves.
• Meng Chuan faced Liaohuo’s first two attacks, surviving the fist intent and elephant-foot strike before realizing that True Gang distorted what he perceived.
• Meng Chuan gathered surrounding qi into his Five Aggregates Chaotic Fist, but Liaohuo’s True Gang blocked it and his third punch shattered Meng Chuan’s defenses.
• Liaohuo’s punch sent Meng Chuan flying from Shaoshi Mountain, and Huijue rushed to the valley and found him alive, with his wounds healing.

Meng Chuan survived Longxiang’s three punches and returned to Yong'an, where he recovered and reflected on how the fight had strengthened his Martial Will. As New Year's Day approached, enemies began plotting against him, while Meng Chuan woke on the final day of 2125 and prepared to ask Principal Sui about his progress.

• Meng Chuan recovered from Longxiang’s blows, vowed to repay him with three hundred punches at next year’s Morning Dawn Martial Exercise, and left Shaoshi Mountain with Huijue.
• Liaochen, Liaohai, and Liaoqing discussed Meng Chuan’s return and his plan to challenge Longxiang again, while students at Northern United University spread exaggerated stories about the fight.
• Meng Jiaolong and Yang Yuelian eagerly anticipated seeing Meng Chuan, while Fang Jianxing followed his route toward Yong'an and Feng Ying'er accepted Li Xiao’s order to target him there.
• The Divine Lord ordered Li Xiao to eliminate human Martial Dao geniuses, and Li Xiao pledged to obey in exchange for the promise of eternal life.
• Meng Yongzhi and Xue Na let the exhausted Meng Chuan sleep, and he woke on the final day of 2125 after recovering from his injuries.
• Meng Chuan examined how the fight had strengthened his Martial Will and expanded his Martial Inner Landscape, then decided to ask Principal Sui whether he could learn Divine Arts and Peerless Techniques.

Meng Chuan reunited with Luo Guanyun for New Year’s Eve and began learning the Shiva Elephant Washing secret art, while Luo Guanyun and Ren Ping prepared for the birth of their child. The chapter left Meng Chuan concentrating on forming an Elephant God manifestation as the Spirit-Cleansing Flower strengthened his mind.

• Meng Chuan celebrated New Year’s Eve with Xue Na and Meng Yongzhi, then welcomed Luo Guanyun home and discussed his fight with Dragon Elephant and the upcoming competition.
• Luo Guanyun told Meng Chuan to visit the next day to learn Shiva Elephant Washing, and Meng Chuan watched fireworks while making wishes for his family, his plans against Fang Jianxing, and victory over Dragon Elephant.
• Luo Guanyun and Ren Ping watched Meng Chuan from their home, discussed Ren Ping’s pregnancy, and chose the name Luo Feng for their son.
• The next morning, Meng Chuan visited Luo Guanyun and Ren Ping, discussed the plan to lure Fang Jianxing into a trap, and began learning the second volume of Shiva Elephant Washing.
• Luo Guanyun gave Meng Chuan a Spirit-Cleansing Flower to help him form an Elephant God manifestation, and Meng Chuan began visualizing it while refining the flower’s medicinal power.