Chapter Summaries

Lin Qin crossed the first level’s Gravity Corridor, gathering treasures and killing Fiends who tried to stop him. After reaching the thousandfold gravity at the corridor’s end, he entered the second level, a vast maze shrouded in fog.

• When the restriction at the gate dissipated, Lin Qin waited as others rushed in and died, then entered the corridor and withstood its hundredfold gravity.
• Lin Qin collected Sovereign's Might, an Earth Soul Fruit, and an Earth Origin Fruit from treasure chambers, killing the Fiends who tried to seize them.
• As gravity increased, Lin Qin continued steadily while other travelers struggled, and he collected Earth God Gold from another chamber.
• Lin Qin opened the fifth treasure chamber’s restricted door and took an Abyss Fruit after defeating the three Seven-Star Fiends who rushed inside.
• At the corridor’s end, Lin Qin passed the struggling Shi Feng, Qing Zhu, and Lie Yun, opened the door, and stepped into the second level’s maze.

Lin Qin fought his way through a poisonous, shifting maze filled with rats and deceptive attackers, but found no exit. After five days, he chose a passage at a twelve-way intersection and discovered that the maze had changed behind him.

• Lin Qin entered the maze, found that its gray fog was poisonous, and covered his mouth before pressing on.
• Lin Qin fought through waves of poisonous rats, then chose a passage at a fork and passed a wounded man whose attacker soon killed him.
• Lin Qin killed a Six-Tailed Spirit Fox disguised as a woman and struck down a Seven-Star Fiend who tried to ambush him.
• Lin Qin continued through the maze, killing hostile people and creatures as he searched for an exit.
• On the fifth day, Lin Qin chose a passage at a twelve-way intersection, and the intersection vanished behind him as the maze rearranged itself.

Lin Qin explored the shifting Maze, met trapped fiends who described years of fruitless searching, and helped a scholar map its patterns before killing him when his supposed exit proved to be a dead end. He declined to join a gathering of long-trapped inhabitants and continued onward.

• Lin Qin met an old man who said he had been trapped in the Maze for eight thousand years and warned that its exit could not be found.
• Lin Qin subdued a deranged Six-Star Fiend who attacked him for his knife, then heard her lament that she had been trapped for three thousand years.
• A Seven-Star Fiend told Lin Qin the Maze changed every hundred years and that its next rearrangement would come in thirty years.
• Lin Qin helped an old man map the Maze, but when the old man's predicted exit led to a dead end, Lin Qin killed him after he attacked.
• Lin Qin found a gathering place of long-trapped inhabitants and refused the old man's offer to stay.

Lin Qin studied the Maze’s resets, recording their patterns and identifying anchors that let him calculate where its exit would appear. He found the correct room and determined that the exit would open briefly on the third breath of the next reset.

• Lin Qin observed the Maze reset and began recording how its walls, patterns, and passages changed.
• After studying multiple resets, Lin Qin recognized mathematical rules in the transformations and used them to predict passages.
• Lin Qin encountered a deranged Six-Star Fiend and later refused an old man’s invitation to join a gathering place.
• Lin Qin saw enormous green eyes watching him from the mist during a reset, then witnessed a deeper transformation that revealed unchanging anchors.
• Lin Qin found eight anchors and calculated that their convergence point marked the exit, which briefly appeared in a hexagonal room during a reset.
• Lin Qin calculated the exit’s timing: it would appear for one breath on the third breath after the next reset began.

Lin Qin defeated the three puppets guarding the exit from the Maze, claimed a flask of golden Sovereign's Might, and entered the third level, the Hall of Trials. There, the stone statue challenged him to a fight, and their battle began.

• Lin Qin waited for the reset, then faced three peak Seven-Star Fiend puppets that blocked the door.
• Lin Qin cut down all three puppets with his blade.
• Lin Qin took the jade flask of Sovereign's Might from the stone platform and climbed the staircase to the third level.
• Lin Qin entered the Hall of Trials, where the statue announced that he had to defeat it to continue.
• Lin Qin blocked the statue's greatsword strike and countered with a slash toward its head.

Lin Qin defeated the stone statue in the Earth Temple’s final trial and was appointed Earth Sovereign’s emissary, receiving the soul-defending Sovereign Artifact Immovable. He emerged onto the wasteland as the temple vanished, carrying Earth Sovereign’s promise to seek him out once he became a Paragon.

• Lin Qin shattered the stone statue with a single slash after breaking its greatsword.
• Earth Sovereign appeared and declared Lin Qin qualified to become his Chief Sovereign’s emissary.
• Earth Sovereign gave Lin Qin the soul-defending Sovereign Artifact Immovable, which formed a barrier in his sea of consciousness.
• Lin Qin accepted his duty as Earth Sovereign’s emissary without asking what he would be required to do.
• Earth Sovereign told Lin Qin to cultivate until he became a Paragon, then sent him out of the temple.
• Lin Qin appeared on the wasteland among the survivors as the Earth Temple disappeared into the void.

Lin Qin secluded himself in a barren mountain to temper his body until it reached the level of a Sovereign Artifact. After enduring a painful transformation between human and dragon forms, he emerged with physical strength beyond divine artifacts.

• Lin Qin found an isolated stone chamber and began refining his body with divine power.
• His bones, muscles, and blood transformed as black dragon scales and spikes repeatedly appeared and vanished.
• Lin Qin endured the transformations until his body settled into its new form.
• Lin Qin tested his strength with an unassisted punch that blasted a deep mark into the stone wall.

Lin Qin returned from Hell to the Yulan Continent and reunited with Aileen in Dragon Rock Territory. He said his true body could not stay long and would have to return to Hell.

• Lin Qin used the Earth Sovereign's envoy token to arrange teleportation from Heavenly Pillar Prefecture to the Yulan Continent.
• Lin Qin arrived at the Arctic Ice Plains, where Hodan greeted him respectfully, then flew south.
• Lin Qin crossed the continent and reached Dragon Rock Territory, where he found Aileen waiting in a small town.
• Lin Qin and Aileen reunited, and Lin Qin told her his true body would soon need to return to Hell.

Lin Qin spent three quiet days with Aileen in Dragon Rock Territory before visiting Beirut in the Dark Forest. After sharing wine and discussing his return to the peaceful Yulan Continent, Lin Qin headed back toward Aileen.

• Lin Qin stayed in Dragon Rock Territory with Aileen for three days, watching the valley together.
• Lin Qin told Aileen he was going to visit Lord Beirut and flew north to the Dark Forest.
• Lin Qin entered the forest and met Beirut beneath an ancient tree.
• Beirut praised Lin Qin's strength, and the two drank wine while talking about Lin Qin's return to the Yulan Continent.
• Lin Qin left the Dark Forest and flew back toward the light in the stone building at Dragon Rock Territory.

Lin Qin returned to Dragon Rock Territory and spent a quiet day at home with Aileen, sharing meals and enjoying the peaceful valley. He promised to stay longer this time, leaving them together beneath the moonlight.

• Lin Qin returned to Dragon Rock Territory after dark and ate dinner with Aileen.
• Before dawn, Lin Qin watched the sunrise, and Aileen joined him on the steps.
• Lin Qin made breakfast, and he and Aileen decided to spend the day at home.
• Lin Qin washed the dishes, carved Aileen a wooden bird, and watched her read in the sunlight.
• That night, Lin Qin told Aileen she had worked hard and promised to stay longer.

Lin Qin returned to Dragon Rock City and learned that Aileen was pregnant. He promised to protect her and their unborn child, while Aileen reflected on how she had once thought they would never have children.

• Lin Qin read Soros's report and discussed Dragon Rock Territory's growth with Aileen.
• Lin Qin took Aileen's hand and told her he had returned.
• Aileen told Lin Qin she was pregnant and said she had sensed the life inside her the day before.
• Lin Qin asked when they would be able to see the baby, then urged Aileen to rest and leave more of the territory's affairs to Soros.
• Aileen said she had thought they would never have children, and Lin Qin gently stroked her hair.

Lin Qin and Aileen shared a quiet evening together as they anticipated the birth of their child. Lin Qin ended the night feeling that he had one more person to cherish.

• Lin Qin asked Aileen what she wanted to name their child, and she suggested Lin An for a boy and Lin Nian for a girl.
• Soros and Hosen postponed official business after Soros saw that Lin Qin and Aileen were sharing a private moment.
• Aileen cooked Lin Qin’s favorite dishes, and they ate dinner together at the manor.
• Lin Qin and Aileen talked in bed about their child and how they would raise him.
• Lin Qin thanked Aileen for giving him a child, and they nestled together beneath the moonlight.

Lin Qin reunited with Wharton and learned how Odin had killed Wharton’s son Theodore and humiliated the Baruch Empire. Confident in Lin Qin’s near-Paragon strength, Wharton asked him to avenge Theodore, and Lin Qin began planning to kill Odin’s son Cecil and Odin himself.

• Soros told Lin Qin that Odin’s forces had killed Theodore, forcing Wharton to cede three border cities after Beirut intervened.
• Wharton recounted his grief over Theodore and explained that he had endured Odin’s crimes because the Baruch Empire needed an emperor.
• Lin Qin revealed that he was one step away from Paragon and promised to kill Odin.
• Wharton told Lin Qin about Theodore’s love of swords and the wooden sword buried beside him.
• Lin Qin reviewed intelligence on the Odin Empire, identified Cecil as the one who had planned Theodore’s ambush, and resolved to kill him before confronting Odin.

Odin learned that Lin Qin Baruch had returned from Hell and dismissed him as no threat. Lin Qin attacked Odin’s palace and confronted him, declaring that he had come to take his life.

• A black-robed Highgod told Odin that Lin Qin Baruch had returned to the Baruch Empire.
• Odin dismissed Lin Qin as a threat and ordered that he be sent to join Theodore if he came to the palace.
• Lin Qin blasted apart the palace gates and part of the surrounding wall.
• Odin rushed outside and saw Lin Qin standing at the edge of the crater.
• Lin Qin declared that he had come to take Odin’s life, and Odin formed two black scimitars from Death Divine Power.

Lin Qin confronted Odin at his palace while searching for Cecil, then killed Cecil for his role in Theodore Baruch’s death. Odin attacked Lin Qin in grief and rage, and Lin Qin raised his hand to meet him.

• Lin Qin asked Odin where Cecil was, then struck Odin from the air and drove him into the palace floor.
• Lin Qin spotted Cecil trying to escape through a side hall and walked over to him.
• Lin Qin seized Cecil and killed him, saying Cecil’s orders did not matter.
• Odin climbed from the pit, saw Cecil’s death, and charged Lin Qin with death divine power.
• Lin Qin turned toward Odin and raised his right hand.

Lin Qin defeated Odin and slaughtered his followers at the imperial palace. He left Odin’s death clone in the Netherworld alive, then had Wharton execute Odin’s wind divine clone in revenge for Theodore.

• Lin Qin caught Odin’s attack, crushed his arm, and trapped the palace within his Blackstone Space.
• Lin Qin identified himself to Odin, forced him to his knees, and learned that Odin’s death clone was in the Netherworld.
• Lin Qin killed four Highgods individually and crushed the remaining sixty-nine God-level experts with his gravitational field.
• Lin Qin gave Wharton an iron sword bearing Theodore Baruch’s name and told him to extract Odin’s Godhead with it.
• Wharton killed Odin’s wind divine clone in revenge for Theodore, and Lin Qin and Wharton flew away.

Linley returned to Dragonblood Castle and learned that Odin had killed George and forced Reynolds to kill Yale. Wharton revealed that Lin Qin had already killed Odin’s Wind Element clone, and Linley reunited with his eldest brother.

• Linley reunited with Wharton, Reynolds, and the others at Dragonblood Castle, then asked where Yale and George were.
• Reynolds told Linley that Odin had killed George and controlled Yale into murdering his family before Reynolds ended Yale’s suffering.
• Wharton told Linley that Lin Qin had killed Odin’s Wind Element clone, Cecil, and more than eighty God-level subordinates, while Odin’s death clone escaped to the Netherworld.
• Linley went to Dragon Rock Territory and reunited with Lin Qin, who said he had avenged Theodore as a member of the Baruch Clan.

Lin Qin cared for Aileen throughout her nearly three-year pregnancy, and their son’s birth led him to comprehend the final mystery of the Laws of the Earth. He reached Paragon and ended the chapter beside Aileen, holding her hand.

• Lin Qin tended to Aileen during her pregnancy while Soros managed Dragon Rock Territory and the Baruch Empire expanded into former Odin Empire lands.
• After nearly three years, Aileen gave birth to a son at the Lord's Manor.
• As the baby grasped his finger, Lin Qin comprehended Vitality and fused all six profound mysteries of the Laws of the Earth.
• Lin Qin's Earth Godhead emerged, and he reached Paragon, gaining the power of will and the ability to tear open space.
• Lin Qin handed the baby to the midwife and told Aileen he had broken through; she congratulated him.

Beirut revealed that Lin Qin’s status as an Earth Paragon made him a candidate to become a Lower Sovereign, and Lin Qin agreed to join Beirut in support of the Yulan Continent. Beirut brought him to the eighteenth floor of the Graveyard of the Gods, where he prepared to pass on the Black Tortoise’s Earth Sovereign Spark.

• Lin Qin sensed Beirut approaching Dragon Rock Territory and sent Aileen inside with their infant son, Lin An.
• Beirut explained that Lin Qin’s mastery of the Laws of the Earth had earned him willpower and offered him the Black Tortoise’s Earth Sovereign Spark.
• Lin Qin agreed to travel with Beirut, leaving Aileen behind after she wished him well.
• Beirut told Lin Qin that he had kept the Four Divine Beasts’ Sovereign Sparks, and that Bluefire and Beirut had refined the Fire and Wind sparks.
• Beirut retrieved the Earth Sovereign Spark from a sealed cavern beneath the South Sea and took Lin Qin through the Gate of Space to the Graveyard of the Gods’ eighteenth floor.

Beirut told Lin Qin how he rescued the Four Divine Beasts’ corpses from Augusta and entrusted him with the Earth Sovereign Spark. After Lin Qin became a Chief Sovereign, he returned to Dragon Rock Territory and reunited with Aileen and Lin An.

• Beirut described how he pulled the Four Divine Beasts’ corpses into the Yulan Plane before Augusta could claim their Sovereign Sparks.
• Beirut gave the Earth Sovereign Spark to Lin Qin, who merged it with his Earth Sovereign Divine Clone and became a Chief Sovereign.
• Lin Qin sensed the Spark’s immense Willpower, and Beirut explained that it combined with his Paragon Willpower to make him a formidable opponent.
• Beirut and Lin Qin left the Eighteenth Layer and flew back to Dragon Rock Territory.
• Lin Qin arrived at the Lord’s Manor and reunited with Aileen and their infant, Lin An.