Chapter Summaries

Vincent tried to use a dinner with Zhao Nan to draw him into the Hyde Clan’s troubles, but Zhao Nan avoided getting involved and left the possibility of a future visit open. The chapter ended with Vincent understanding Zhao Nan’s position.

• Vincent gave Zhao Nan the Hyde Clan’s Purple Flame Secret Manual, and Zhao Nan read it before returning it and promising to teach Ace.
• Vincent invited Zhao Nan to dinner, hoping drinks would loosen his tongue and let Vincent ask for help with the family’s troubles.
• At dinner, Zhao Nan recognized Vincent’s attempts to get him drunk and kept drinking without agreeing to help.
• Zhao Nan ended the dinner because he had to attend to something early the next day, and Vincent accepted.
• Zhao Nan said he would visit the Hyde Clan after Ace completed his studies, and Vincent welcomed him.

Three years after leaving Hyde Ridge, Zhao Nan returned to Ernst Institute with the infant Shigu Boley and reflected on how his disciples had grown. He presented his old student token at the gate, where a guard questioned how long ago it had been issued.

• Zhao Nan stood outside Ernst Institute with Shigu Boley and checked his status and his disciples’ progress.
• Zhao Nan recalled rescuing Shigu and taking him as a disciple after Shigu’s parents died from their injuries.
• Zhao Nan decided to visit Linley and the others because he did not know how to care for an infant.
• Zhao Nan wondered whether he and his former roommates were still Ernst students, then approached the institute’s gate.
• A guard checked Zhao Nan’s token and remarked that it appeared to be four or five years old.

Zhao Nan returned to Ernst after five years away and went to find Linley and Ace. While Yale welcomed him at Linley’s dormitory, Reynolds went to the back hills to fetch the two disciples.

• Zhao Nan told the guard he had returned after five years away, entered Ernst, and found his old dormitory dusty and unoccupied.
• Zhao Nan went to Dormitory 1987, where Reynolds let him in and Yale greeted him respectfully.
• Zhao Nan asked Yale to summon Linley and Ace, and Yale sent Reynolds to find them in the back hills.
• Yale told Zhao Nan that Linley and Ace had kept their teacher’s name secret until they reached the Saint realm, as their senior brother had instructed.
• Reynolds reached the back hills and told Linley and Ace that Zhao Nan had come looking for them.

Zhao Nan reunited with Linley, Ace, and the others at Ernst Institute, then taught Ace the Purple Flame Secret Manual and trained his disciples for half a month. He left after promising to take them across the Yulan Continent once they were strong enough.

• Ace and Linley hurried to Dormitory 1987 after Reynolds said Zhao Nan had come to see them, and Ace reunited with his teacher.
• Sathius emerged from Ace and greeted Zhao Nan, startling Yale and Reynolds with his Saint-level strength.
• Zhao Nan reunited with Bebe, introduced Stone Drum as their junior, and took everyone to Bishui Paradise for a meal that cost eighty thousand gold coins.
• At Dormitory 1990, Zhao Nan told Ace that his father was safe and taught him the Purple Flame Secret Manual.
• Zhao Nan spent half a month training Linley and Ace and helping Sathius comprehend the laws, then announced he was leaving and promised to take them across the Yulan Continent when they were strong enough.

Zhao Nan returned to Misty Canyon and challenged Barker to find out why his strength had stalled while Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers had improved. He demonstrated the proper way to use Zhan Tiangang and continued testing Barker’s fighting skills.

• Zhao Nan watched Hogg spar with Barker and recognized that Hogg had mastered the Weight as Light as a Feather realm.
• Zhao Nan praised Gates, Hazer, and the other brothers, then asked Barker why his strength had not improved in more than three years.
• Zhao Nan challenged Barker and evaded his Zhan Tiangang with Sui Feng Liu Xu, explaining that the technique let him use the wind to dodge.
• Zhao Nan demonstrated Zhan Tiangang with a swift sword strike that barely pierced Barker’s chest, leaving Barker ashamed that he had not seen the attack.
• Barker charged Zhao Nan, who repeatedly tapped the swinging axe with his sword instead of meeting the attack head-on.

Zhao Nan defeated Barker in a sparring match, then discussed the Stone Drum and the Boley Clan with Hogg. Hogg revealed that Wharton’s bloodline concentration was sufficient and that he had planned to take him to the O’Brien Empire.

• Zhao Nan overwhelmed Barker in a sparring match and healed his injuries after Barker surrendered.
• Zhao Nan asked Barker about his performance, then sent Gates and the others to take him back to his room.
• Hogg praised Zhao Nan’s combat skills, and Zhao Nan explained that his high level let him wield greater strength.
• Zhao Nan told Hogg that the Stone Drum was the last surviving trace of the Boley Clan, the Tiger-Striped Warriors.
• Zhao Nan asked Hogg whether Wharton’s bloodline concentration had been tested, and Hogg confirmed it was sufficient.
• Hogg said he had planned to leave Misty Canyon with Wharton and take him to the O’Brien Empire if Zhao Nan had not appeared.

Zhao Nan entered repeated states of enlightenment and began comprehending the Laws of Fate, drawing Beirut’s attention as he neared godhood. He struggled to decide whether to become a Fate god or preserve his chance to follow the Four-Element Soul Mutation path to transcendence.

• After Hogg said Wharton would go to the O'Brien Empire, Zhao Nan entered a deep state of enlightenment, and Hogg sent Wharton to fetch Hazer and the others to guard him.
• Zhao Nan pondered questions about Fate, his transmigration, the system, and transcendence while absorbing the elemental essence of Misty Canyon for half a month.
• Beirut discovered Zhao Nan’s three divine beast bloodlines and watched from nearby after sensing that Zhao Nan might soon become a god.
• Zhao Nan weighed becoming a god through Fate against waiting to pursue Four-Element Soul Mutation, then asked the system whether it could share Soul Mutation.
• New questions about whether Fate had arranged his godhood and transcendence sent Zhao Nan into enlightenment again, while Beirut wondered if he could become a Median God of Fate in one step.

Zhao Nan let go of his fixation on whether fate had arranged his path, recovering as Hongmeng watched and took an interest in him. Still uncertain whether to pursue transcendence, Zhao Nan considered whether the Four Divine Beasts’ blood essences and Chief God’s Might could help him cultivate a Hongmeng Body.

• As Zhao Nan’s body and soul weakened, he remembered his former life and questioned his relentless pursuit of power.
• Zhao Nan accepted that he could not control whether fate had arranged his path, and his soul power recovered as his wounds healed.
• Beirut watched Zhao Nan recover, while Hongmeng observed from beyond the Coiling Dragon World and praised his ambition to command his own fate.
• Hongmeng sent Zhao Nan a cup of wine, then returned to drinking at his cottage.
• In Misty Canyon, Zhao Nan remained conflicted about becoming a God of Laws of Fate or waiting to pursue another path.
• Zhao Nan considered whether combining the Four Divine Beasts’ blood essences with the four types of Chief God’s Might could help him cultivate a Hongmeng Body and transcend.

Zhao Nan chose to become a Midgod in the Laws of Fate and successfully achieved External Godhood, receiving a welcome from Hongmeng as his soul split and his Fate Clone formed. After testing his new abilities, he learned that his breakthrough had taken only a month and a half and turned to Barker and the others.

• Zhao Nan broke through the Midgod bottleneck in the Laws of Fate, formed a Godhead, and chose External Godhood.
• Hongmeng welcomed Zhao Nan and gave him a cup of wine, after which the process split Zhao Nan's soul in two.
• Zhao Nan's external soul fused with the Godhead, and divine power from the Elemental Ocean formed his Fate Clone.
• Zhao Nan tested his Soul Space, Fate Divine Power, Law comprehension, and the divine power's effect on his original body.
• After a month and a half of cultivation, Zhao Nan opened his eyes and asked Hogg how long he had been in seclusion.

After Zhao Nan became a Midgod, Beirut summoned him and proposed training him so he could compete for a Sovereign Spark in the Necropolis of the Gods. The chapter ended with Beirut asking where Zhao Nan had learned about cultivation at the Saint-level.

• The Bark Five Brothers congratulated Zhao Nan on becoming a god, and he joked that they could invoke his name if other God-level experts troubled them.
• Beirut contacted Zhao Nan and invited him to meet on the mountain, where Zhao Nan greeted him respectfully.
• Beirut explained that Bebe was his descendant and that Linley and Bebe should continue traveling together.
• Beirut revealed that the Necropolis of the Gods held three Sovereign Sparks and offered to cultivate Zhao Nan so he could win one for him.
• Zhao Nan cautiously accepted Beirut's intentions, and Beirut asked where he had learned about Saint-level cultivation.

Zhao Nan explained his knowledge to Beirut, received instruction on the Seven Elemental Laws and a ring of cultivation resources, then returned to Misty Canyon and brought Hogg and the others to Ernst Institute. He revealed the Radiant Church’s role in Hogg’s wife’s death and promised support, leaving everyone gathered at Bishui Paradise after meeting Linley and the others.

• Zhao Nan told Beirut that he had learned magic and divine cultivation from a diary and book found in a Space Ring, and Beirut accepted the explanation and taught him about the Seven Elemental Laws.
• Beirut gave Zhao Nan a ring of cultivation resources, and Zhao Nan left for Misty Canyon, where he told Hogg and the others they would depart for Ernst Institute.
• Zhao Nan revealed the Radiant Church’s connection to Hogg’s wife’s death and promised to help Hogg and Linley take revenge on the church.
• Zhao Nan took Hogg, Wharton, and the Bark Five Brothers to Ernst Institute, where Linley, Ace, Sathius, Bebe, and the others greeted them.
• Zhao Nan brought everyone to Bishui Paradise for a meal, and Yale, George, and Leiluo left after dinner.

Zhao Nan revealed Hogg’s vengeance against the Kingdom of Fenlai and the Radiant Church, urging Linley to focus on training, while explaining the Hyde Clan’s bloodline to Ace. After settling his group in the O’Brien Empire and sharing his disciples’ talents, Zhao Nan went to War God Mountain, where the War God sent Fain to welcome him.

• Hogg told Linley and Ace that the Kingdom of Fenlai and the Radiant Church had been involved in his wife’s death, and Linley vowed to grow strong enough to help him take revenge.
• Zhao Nan warned Linley not to act recklessly and urged him to train, then told Ace to work hard to resolve his family’s property dispute.
• Ace confessed that he had taught his father, Vincent, how to awaken the Hyde Clan bloodline, and Zhao Nan explained that many Hyde Clan members lacked the Violet Flame Warrior bloodline and could not cultivate battle qi.
• Zhao Nan traveled to the O’Brien Empire with Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers, helped Hogg take Wharton to have his talent tested, and prepared a mansion.
• Zhao Nan shared the talents of his disciples, including Bebe, Sathius, and Olivier, then flew to War God Mountain.
• The War God sensed Zhao Nan’s arrival and ordered Fain to welcome him with the utmost care.

Zhao Nan forced War God O'Brien to become his servant and assigned him to protect Zhao Nan’s disciples. After leaving the O'Brien Empire, Zhao Nan searched the Chaotic Territory for Beirut’s Magic Stone Mine but could not decide how to claim it without raising questions.

• Fain escorted Zhao Nan beneath War God Mountain, where O'Brien explained that Beirut had told him to keep a low profile.
• Zhao Nan pressured O'Brien into swearing loyalty, promised him access to stronger Divine Sparks, and ordered him to protect Zhao Nan’s disciples.
• Zhao Nan told Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers that he was leaving, then instructed O'Brien to guard the Bark Five Brothers and Stone Drum.
• Zhao Nan sent his Fate Clone to the Ernst Institute and traveled to the Chaotic Territory alone.
• Zhao Nan found the Magic Stone Mine but could not think of a reasonable way to claim it, so he headed toward the Yulan Empire.

Zhao Nan toured the Yulan Empire while Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers destroyed the Radiant Church’s strongholds in the O'Brien Empire and planned to move against its territory. Linley and Ace set out for the Magical Beast Mountain Range, where Sathius sensed a powerful, familiar presence.

• Zhao Nan met Catherine above the Yulan Empire, teased her, and continued sightseeing while seeking a way into the Micro-plane containing the Magic Crystal Mine.
• Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers wiped out the Radiant Church’s strongholds in the O'Brien Empire, prompting Heidens to order the Church’s people to withdraw and Gilmer to travel toward the empire.
• Hogg decided to lead the Bark Five Brothers to the Chaotic Territory, while the War God arranged for Fain to protect Wharton and Stone Drum.
• Linley and Ace received permission to train and departed for the Magical Beast Mountain Range with Bebe and Sathius.
• Doehring Cowart warned Linley and Ace about dangers in the range, and Sathius sensed a familiar, powerful aura.

Zhao Nan used Fate-based illusions to train Linley, Ace, Bebe, and Sathius while explaining the Laws of Earth to Doehring Cowart. Meanwhile, Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers arrived in the Chaotic Territory and began planning how to establish themselves there.

• Sathius tricked Linley, Ace, and Bebe into expecting danger, so Zhao Nan trapped the group in Fate-based illusions as training.
• Zhao Nan told Doehring Cowart he had become a god through the Laws of Fate, then explained the Laws of Earth he had comprehended.
• Zhao Nan watched Bebe outmaneuver his illusory opponent and found Sathius fleeing three Purple-Striped Black Bears, so he ended the fight and began a three-month training regimen.
• Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers discussed how to establish themselves in the Chaotic Territory, and Gates warned that they would need supplies to govern any territory they seized.
• Hazer told Hogg that they could solve their shortage of food and supplies by taking them from their enemies.

Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers chose a gradual campaign to build a stable power base against the Radiant Church, following Zhao Nan’s advice to begin in the northern Chaotic Territory. They reached Black Earth City and prepared to make it their first target, with Black Shark offering to capture the city lord and take control of the army.

• Hogg chose Ankh’s gradual expansion plan, prioritizing the people’s support and breaking the Radiant Church’s influence rather than seizing territory rapidly.
• Zhao Nan advised the group to establish themselves near the Forest of Darkness and revealed that a Magic Crystal Mine in the area could supply Magic Crystal Cannons.
• Hogg and the Bark Five Brothers headed north while Zhao Nan stayed behind to cultivate after informing O'Brien.
• The group traveled through the war-torn Chaotic Territory and reached Black Earth City in less than a month.
• Hogg proposed taking impoverished Black Earth City as their first target, and Black Shark volunteered to defeat its city lord and seize control of the army.

Gates seized Black Earth City, killed its greedy lord and the lord’s son, and won the city’s soldiers and residents with his strength and reforms. After the city grew and expanded its army, Hogg ordered further expansion, and one of his brothers led troops toward Tu'er City.

• Gates entered Black Earth City and killed the fat lord and his son, then declared himself the city’s new lord.
• Gates demonstrated his power to the city’s 3,600 soldiers, promised them triple pay, and gained their allegiance.
• Gates announced that Black Earth City would stop collecting grain taxes, drawing residents and recruits into the city.
• Half a month later, Gates reported to Hogg that Black Earth City ruled over more than 700,000 people and had expanded its army to 9,000 soldiers.
• Hogg agreed to keep expanding the territory, and another half-month later Lord Dele prepared Tu'er City’s defenses as an army from Black Earth City approached.

Boone conquered Tu'er City for Black Earth City, while Zhao Nan unexpectedly comprehended the Laws of Life, Death, Fate, and Destruction. As his enlightenment deepened, he wondered whether combining the Four Edicts could create time.

• Boone marched on Tu'er City, rejected Dele’s attempted negotiation, and smashed open the city gate with his axe.
• Boone’s troops routed Tu’er City’s defenders, and Dele and the remaining soldiers surrendered.
• Zhao Nan watched the conquest and unexpectedly began comprehending the Laws of Life and Death, then sensed the powers of Fate and Destruction as well.
• Zhao Nan summoned his Fate Clone into his Consciousness Sea and fell into deeper enlightenment about all four Laws.
• Boone put Dele and the nobles on trial, then announced that Tu’er City and its surrounding territory would be incorporated into Black Earth City.
• Zhao Nan concluded that life was the beginning, death the end, fate the process, and destruction the final conclusion, then wondered if the Four Edicts combined could become time.

Zhao Nan’s enlightenment brought him close to comprehending the Laws of Time, but Hongmeng intervened to prevent him from damaging the Coiling Dragon World. After six months of training and growth, Zhao Nan approved a plan to challenge the Radiant Church and took Gates away for cultivation.

• Hongmeng disrupted Zhao Nan’s attempt to trace the Laws of Time, guiding him through a lifetime of questions and choices before his enlightenment ended with changes to his four rule pillars.
• Hongmeng explained that he had intervened because Zhao Nan’s comprehension of the Laws of Time could shatter space, and he wondered about the questions Zhao Nan had raised about world levels and the Three Thousand Great Daos.
• After learning he had been in seclusion for six months, Zhao Nan found that Hogg and Barker had reached human-form Saint-level, Gates neared a breakthrough, and Black Earth City’s territory, army, and population had grown.
• At a meeting, Boone argued that their strength justified founding a kingdom or empire, and Gates proposed using their teacher’s backing to provoke the Radiant Church into attacking them.
• Zhao Nan approved Gates’s plan, then took Gates away to train until he broke through to Saint level, leaving Hogg and the others to carry on without him.

Hogg and the Barker brothers planned the Ultimate Empire and recruited people to help govern it, while Linley returned to Ernst Institute and recounted his brutal training. Hazer delivered the empire’s request for Linley and Ace to help, and Linley told his friends he might leave the institute to assist them.

• Zhao Nan subjected Gates to Fate-based illusions and punishing fire magic while Hogg and the Barker brothers discussed founding an empire.
• Hogg and the others chose the name Ultimate Empire, and Hazer suggested recruiting capable administrators from Wushan Town and Linley’s acquaintances.
• Hogg agreed to gather people from Wushan Town, while Hazer accepted the task of visiting Ernst Institute to find Linley.
• Linley told Yale how the Fate Clone had forced him and his companions to fight up to twelve illusory opponents, and Doehring Cowart later had Linley and Ace begin learning carving.
• Hogg returned to Wushan Town, where Hillman, Hiri, and the residents agreed to travel with him to the Chaotic Territory.
• Hazer told Linley and Ace about the empire’s plans, and Linley later told Yale, George, and Reynolds that he and Ace might leave the institute to help govern it.