Chapter Summaries

Ye Xuan killed Feng Zhi by extinguishing her Life Lamp, and Chen Changsheng refused Ancestor Phoenix’s demand to intervene. Outside the black mist, Meng De confronted the shaken cultivators and warned Yin Jie to control his actions.

• Ye Xuan extinguished Feng Zhi’s Life Lamp, killing her before she could use Rebirth Through Fire.
• Wang Hao stopped Ancestor Phoenix from entering the black mist, and Chen Changsheng insisted that everyone had to abide by the Rules.
• Ancestor Phoenix left after Chen Changsheng explained that Feng Zhi’s extinguished Life Lamp made her death irreversible.
• Li Changsheng questioned Meng De about Feng Zhi’s death, and Meng De rebuked him for treating the certain-death game lightly.
• Meng De urged everyone, including the senior cultivators, to suppress their obsessions and warned Yin Jie that he would find someone to deal with him if Yin Jie could not control himself.

Meng De challenged the prodigies’ willingness to risk their lives, and Ancestor Bai Ze explained why experienced cultivators acted cautiously. The group began to reconsider their approach to the second trial after learning that Feng Ran had avoided its dangers.

• Meng De argued that strong people valued their lives and criticized the prodigies for risking certain death for empty fame.
• Ancestor Bai Ze agreed that high-level cultivators acted cautiously to protect their lives and keep their methods from being exposed.
• Ancestor Bai Ze explained that the peaceful cultivation era had left younger prodigies unprepared for the dangers of the Cultivation World.
• Ancestor Bai Ze scolded Sword Come and the others for entering the second trial despite their poor showing in the Cosmic Black Hole trial.
• Ancestor Bai Ze pointed out that Feng Ran had encountered no danger and had neither contacted the group nor started a livestream.

Ancestor Bai Ze explained why Feng Ran’s group had hidden and advised the prodigies to preserve their lives according to their circumstances. Li Changsheng learned that the Dao Protectors had secretly manipulated events in Bewitching Valley, and the Li family Ancestor agreed to stop pushing them into danger.

• Ancestor Bai Ze said Feng Ran’s group had hidden so they could strike after the others wore each other down, and he explained that prodigies should act according to their means.
• Ancestor Bai Ze warned Sword Come and the others against risking their lives unnecessarily, while Yin Jie reflected on his rash actions as Meng De’s Dao Protector.
• The Li family Ancestor admitted he had to fight for a place in the Ancestral Tomb, and Ancestor Bai Ze revealed that he had brought the group to Bewitching Valley to protect them and find Yin Jie.
• Ancestor Bai Ze disclosed that he had known about Sword Come’s secret plotting, and Li Changsheng realized the Dao Protectors had been controlling events behind the scenes.
• The Li family Ancestor agreed to stop pushing the prodigies deeper into danger after Meng De exposed their plans, leaving Li Changsheng privately determined to get even.

Chen Changsheng recovered Feng Zhi's body and forced Xuan Hai to let him take it, while Chi Ling stayed behind to avenge her. Xuan Hai attacked Chi Ling, and their battle raged through the black mist.

• Chen Changsheng found Feng Zhi dead, placed her body in a parasol tree coffin, and told Chi Ling that she could stay and fight but would forfeit the Virtual World's final reward.
• Chen Changsheng crushed Xuan Hai's head against his throne until Xuan Hai admitted that Chen Changsheng's reasons were greater, then left with Feng Zhi's coffin.
• Xuan Hai attacked Chi Ling after Chen Changsheng departed, and Chi Ling faced him without using a treasure.
• Chi Ling and Xuan Hai fought amid the Corpse Tide as their attacks destroyed the undead below.
• Xuan Hai gathered corpse qi into his bone saber and cleaved the enormous flaming phoenix in two.

Yuan Yi revealed himself as a Child of the Forbidden Ground and attacked the Buddhist Sect survivors at the second checkpoint. After Xuanjing died and Lin Yao was sent away, Zen Master Xingyun realized other Forbidden Ground experts were also hunting the scattered challengers.

• Chi Ling fought fiercely with a bone-blade wielder while Wang Hao watched and decided Chen Changsheng could handle the array.
• Zen Master Xingyun destroyed a Ghost King with Buddhist techniques, then collapsed from exhaustion as Lin Yao caught him.
• Yuan Yi appeared with the corpses of a Buddhist Quasi-Emperor and Xuanjing, whose shattered golden body and pierced Sea of Bitterness left him dying.
• Xuanjing warned Lin Yao to flee, and he died after expressing approval of Lin Yao’s efforts; Zen Master Xingyun sent Lin Yao away to find the other geniuses and Dao Protectors.
• Yuan Yi reminded Zen Master Xingyun that he had intervened in a battle against a Desperate Valley expert less than a hundred thousand years earlier and revealed that other Forbidden Ground experts were attacking the scattered challengers.
• After an explosion signaled that the other attacks had begun, Yuan Yi prepared to fight Zen Master Xingyun and asked whether he could change the outcome of their old battle.

Liu Yidao warned Long Ji and Bie Chen that Xu Qianzhui and the other supposedly righteous sects were ruthless, capable adversaries who had already been contending with Sir. He revealed that methods from the Eighteen Levels of Hell had mysteriously vanished and that Yuan Yi’s forces had faced unexplained problems, leaving the cause unclear.

• Xu Qianzhui and Ruan Su Xian left as the battle continued in the black mist, while Long Ji and Bie Chen discussed the changed state of the world.
• Long Ji and Bie Chen summoned Liu Yidao to ask about the current era and Xu Qianzhui’s group, and Liu Yidao refused to join any opposition to Sir.
• Liu Yidao warned them that Xu Qianzhui and the other righteous sects were as ruthless as the Forbidden Ground and would kill them if they went too far.
• Liu Yidao explained that Xu Qianzhui’s group had been contending with Sir, and that around forty percent of the methods in the Eighteen Levels of Hell had vanished during their transfer.
• Liu Yidao added that Yuan Yi had secretly made moves after the Dark Turmoil, and that a major problem arose when he recently mobilized his people.

Liu Yidao took Long Ji and Bie Chen to witness the Chang Sheng Epoch’s silent purge of exposed Hidden Pieces and tainted factions. They saw the overlords eliminate targets with overwhelming force, and learned the purge was far more ruthless than a Dark Turmoil.

• Liu Yidao explained that the Forbidden Ground’s purge had destroyed many of his, Yuan Yi’s, and his second master’s Hidden Pieces, and said he was staying under his master’s protection.
• Liu Yidao, Long Ji, and Bie Chen sent clones through a Teleportation Array to a Small World where the Chang Sheng Epoch’s overlords had gathered.
• Wang Zhigao ordered an Immortal King Ninth Grade cultivator to destroy the Zhang Family, then erased a bright point from the epoch map; Liu Yidao revealed that the cultivator and family had been his Hidden Pieces.
• Lu Mingyu identified an unusual bloodline as a Bloodline Immortality method, and Yin Jun Lin assigned the Academy and Daoist Sect to handle its spread across two Great Worlds while Xu Qianzhui ordered the news contained.
• Liu Yidao told Long Ji that the purge’s forces had overwhelmed two Quasi-Emperor experts and explained that the overlords struck with enough strength to leave targets no chance to resist.

Liu Yidao explained that Wang Zhigao’s authority as Jade Emperor came from rules Sir established, and that the purge and dangerous checkpoints were part of a struggle between Sir’s plans and the Chang Sheng Epoch’s leaders. Bie Chen and Long Ji learned that interfering without Sir’s permission could bring overwhelming forces down on them.

• Liu Yidao told Bie Chen and Long Ji that the Chang Sheng Epoch had unified under rules that made Wang Zhigao its most powerful man during a crisis.
• Liu Yidao explained that the leaders’ purge targeted villains and Hidden Pieces who might otherwise help Sir, while living guards were needed to make the checkpoints dangerous for prodigies.
• Liu Yidao said Ancestor Phoenix’s anger over Feng Zhi’s death discouraged opposition, and that the Divine Beast lineage could unite against anyone who challenged them.
• Liu Yidao explained that Lu Mingyu represented Sir’s will, protected Phantom, and acted as a buffer between Sir and the leaders of the Chang Sheng Epoch.
• Liu Yidao warned Bie Chen and Long Ji that if they entered the conflict without Sir’s permission, powerful factions could send an overwhelming force to kill them.
• Bie Chen and Long Ji fell silent as they considered the strength of Wang Zhigao, Lu Mingyu, and the Phoenix Empress.

Wang Zhigao confronted Liu Yidao about his vast network of powerful friends, but the Three Teachings and Lu Mingyu vouched for him, and he was told to help Chen Changsheng. Meanwhile, Chen Changsheng returned from the black mist with five coffins and assigned Liu Yidao to deliver the bodies to their sects.

• Wang Zhigao questioned Liu Yidao about his more than three hundred thousand influential connections, and Liu Yidao insisted they were friends rather than conspirators.
• Xu Qianzhui, Ruan Su Xian, Bai Zhi, and Lu Mingyu vouched for Liu Yidao, so Wang Zhigao spared him and directed him to assist Chen Changsheng.
• Inside the black mist, Yuan Yi destroyed Old Monk Xingyun's golden Buddha body and left as a Quasi-Emperor lightning tribulation appeared.
• Chen Changsheng collected the broken Buddha statue and Relics, then emerged from the black mist with five coffins and gave two Virtual Worlds to Wang Hao to distribute.
• Wang Hao sent Liu Yidao to deliver the bodies to their sects, and Liu Yidao learned that the dead included Zen Master Xingyun, Zen Master Hui'an, and Liao Xing, Baleful Shadow's Dao Protector.

Wang Hao explained that Chen Changsheng had given Yuan Yi a powerful meteorite, then warned Liu Yidao about the thirty million he had once entrusted to him. As old prodigies prepared to break through and fight for the Virtual World's opportunity, Feng Ran and the younger generation fled the black mist, while Long Aotian's Second Uncle unleashed his full power.

• Wang Hao told Liu Yidao that Yuan Yi had received a meteorite from Chen Changsheng, which Desperate Valley had learned to use to its fullest.
• Wang Hao reminded Liu Yidao of the thirty million and questioned whether he had followed his instructions, but Liu Yidao said those ideas suited Wang Hao, not necessarily him.
• Grand Preceptor Pang said Dao Protectors had to break through to the Quasi-Emperor Realm because powerful enemies were coming, then began his tribulation as Feng Ran fled and warned Li Changsheng about the other Dao Protectors.
• Li Changsheng and the others escaped the outskirts as the Li family Ancestor, Ancestor Bai Ze, and Yin Jie prepared to undergo tribulations and compete for the Virtual World's opportunity.
• Long Aotian urged his Second Uncle to pursue his own path, then ran toward the black mist's outskirts while his Second Uncle released his fifth-level Quasi-Emperor cultivation.

Mo Bai and his Dao Protector confronted Yuan Yi in the Valley of the Dead while the Ink Ruler held back Yuan Yi’s array. In the tribulation clouds, Li Qiong and Shi Yue began Quasi-Emperor tribulations, setting up a comparison between veteran cultivators and those raised in the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System.

• Mo Bai and his Kirin companions killed a sixth-heaven Quasi-Emperor ambushing them in the Valley of the Dead, then sensed a stronger foe deeper inside.
• Yuan Yi appeared and pursued Mo Bai, but Mo Bai’s Dao Protector struck him with the Ink Ruler and stayed behind to fight.
• The experts identified the newcomers as the Moon Eater Demon Lord and Li Qiong Heavenly Venerate, while Wang Hao and Shi Yue discussed their plans to become good people again.
• Li Qiong and Shi Yue triggered tribulations to advance from the seventh to the eighth heaven of the Quasi-Emperor realm.
• Long Bo noted the unprecedented gathering of tribulations and proposed testing veteran cultivators against those who had followed the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System from the start.

As Shi Yue, Li Qiong, and other experts entered a massive lightning tribulation, Chen Changsheng explained that surviving it could help cultivators transform into Bitter Sea Great Emperors. He revealed that the method depended on changes made to Epoch Heaven's Mandate, but Yun Ya Zi's clone questioned whether Chen Changsheng had been powerful enough to alter it.

• Shi Yue, Li Qiong, and the other experts flew toward the tribulation clouds, while cultivators from the Pill Epoch and Chang Sheng Epoch gathered to watch.
• Chen Changsheng estimated that about forty percent of those undergoing the tribulation would survive and explained that the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System offered greater power at a steep cost.
• Chen Changsheng told Dream and the other experts that becoming a Bitter Sea Great Emperor required withstanding lightning infused with Epoch Heaven's Mandate.
• Daoist Sage questioned why lightning tribulations in the Chang Sheng Epoch differed from those in other epochs, and Chen Changsheng said Zhang Bairen had discovered that Heaven's Mandate could be changed.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he had studied Heaven's Mandate with insight gained from Hua Feng's Merge with the Dao, but Yun Ya Zi's clone challenged his ability to alter Epoch Heaven's Mandate.

Chen Changsheng explained how Ao Chuang altered the Epoch Heaven's Mandate to create Quasi-Emperor tribulations and revealed that they produced valuable Thunder Tribulation Liquid. He left Lu Mingyu anticipating a chance to collect the liquid, while the other experts realized Chen Changsheng had concealed its existence for a hundred thousand years.

• Chen Changsheng explained that Ao Chuang infiltrated and altered the Epoch Heaven's Mandate, causing it to send stronger thunder tribulations against powerful cultivators.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that Thunder Tribulation Liquid formed within thunder tribulations and said the Sword God had once used it to survive until the Reincarnation War.
• The experts questioned the Forbidden Grounds about their Thunder Tribulation Liquid, and the Reincarnation Forbidden Ground said its supply was gone and directed them to Chen Changsheng.
• Chen Changsheng admitted he had kept the liquid's existence secret so others would not gain an advantage collecting it.
• Chen Changsheng quietly told Lu Mingyu that he could collect Thunder Tribulation Liquid during a future breakthrough to the Bitter Sea Great Emperor Realm.

Chen Changsheng explained that the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System’s missing secret was a soul formed when a mutated True Spirit produced a special origin that merged with the Divine Sense Realm. He revealed that Lu Mingyu had undergone the mutation and was nearing the threshold of producing a special origin, and confirmed that he had found a reliable method to create one.

• The True Dragon pressed Chen Changsheng to reveal what let Zhang Bairen become a powerful Bitter Sea Great Emperor, and Chen said the secret was tied to the Sword God’s invincibility.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Sword God’s soul came from a mutated True Spirit producing a special origin that merged with the Divine Sense Realm.
• Chen Changsheng said the Sword God, Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li, Miao Shi, and Lu Mingyu were the only people he knew to have undergone the mutation.
• Chen Changsheng told Lu Mingyu that his recent research had brought him close to producing a special origin, though Lu Mingyu had not noticed the change.
• Dream asked whether Chen Changsheng had found a reliable way to produce the special origin, and Chen Changsheng confirmed that he had.

Chen Changsheng offered his Soul Cultivation Method to the victor of the second trial and was honored by the gathered experts as their Imperial Tutor. In the black mist, Yuan Yi attacked the trapped prodigies, but Zhang Ling arrived with the Heaven-Piercing Talisman and an unknown companion.

• Chen Changsheng explained that special origins fused with Divine Sense Realm to form souls, then offered his Soul Cultivation Method and other soul-cultivation methods as rewards for the second trial.
• Chen Changsheng said he wanted the Bitter Sea cultivation system passed down, and the Confucian Sage and the other powerful figures bowed to him.
• Yuan Yi emerged from the black mist after defeating Mo Bai's Dao Protector, while the remaining prodigies stayed near the gap and fought to hold off the creatures.
• Yuan Yi appeared before the prodigies with Lin Yao's head, knocked Long Aotian down, and stomped him despite his Thousand-Scale Armor.
• Zhang Ling charged in from the passage with the Heaven-Piercing Talisman and an unknown companion, explaining that he entered because nobody outside would accept the Virtual World qualification.

Jiang Shan and the others stopped Yuan Yi after the second trial ended, and Bai Zhi revived Lin Yao. At the center of the black mist, Chen Changsheng heard Mo Bai challenge Baleful Shadow’s ranking and proposed a rematch to decide the prize.

• Jiang Shan told Yuan Yi that the second trial had ended, and the Daoist Sage immobilized him so Jiang Shan could reclaim the item.
• Bai Zhi used a seal, Buddha Light, and Lin Yao’s remaining Divine Sense to revive him, then teleported the group to the center of the black mist.
• Chen Changsheng heard Mo Bai argue that Baleful Shadow’s five-breath lead should not decide the ranking because Baleful Shadow was badly injured.
• Baleful Shadow defended his victory and claimed he could still defeat Mo Bai, so Chen Changsheng proposed that they fight again for the prize.

Chen Changsheng explained how the soul could awaken a powerful state that greatly increased a cultivator’s strength, then revealed two soul cultivation methods. He left the group facing a choice between a method verified by Jade Emperor Zhang Bairen and his own unproven backup plan.

• Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow refused to fight over the trial’s reward, so Chen Changsheng invited everyone to sit and judged the trial’s losses and survivors.
• Chen Changsheng offered each victor a consolation prize of soul-related cultivation insight, explaining that they lacked the talent to comprehend it themselves.
• Chen Changsheng described a special soul state that could let cultivators fight across a major realm and said battles on the brink of death could trigger it.
• Chen Changsheng said Martial Fanatics were especially likely to briefly enter the state when staking everything on a final move.
• Chen Changsheng produced two soul cultivation methods, one verified by Jade Emperor Zhang Bairen and the other an effective but uncertain backup plan.

Chen Changsheng let Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow choose between two soul cultivation methods, then split the rewards between them according to their close performances. As he prepared to leave, Baleful Shadow asked him to explain the soul method, apparently seeking help for Li Changsheng and Sword Come as well.

• Mo Bai chose the unverified soul method because he did not want to follow someone else's path, while Baleful Shadow chose the method verified by the Jade Emperor to save time.
• Chen Changsheng gave Baleful Shadow the verified method because he had arrived first, and gave Mo Bai the other method because their performances had been nearly equal.
• Mo Bai accepted Chen Changsheng's decision, and Baleful Shadow praised his fairness despite privately doubting he could beat Mo Bai again.
• Li Changsheng and Sword Come begged Chen Changsheng for hope of obtaining soul methods in future rewards, and he told them new methods would appear before they reached the Quasi-Emperor Ninth Heaven.
• Baleful Shadow asked Chen Changsheng to explain how to cultivate the soul method, prompting Chen Changsheng to realize that he was trying to win favor with Li Changsheng and the others.

Chen Changsheng explained how the soul method let cultivators enter a powerful but unstable state, outlining its dangers and the limits of earlier practitioners. He said Immortal Emperor may have solved the problem of sustaining the state, leaving everyone stunned by the possibility of his complete enhancement.

• Mo Bai asked Chen Changsheng to explain how to cultivate the soul method, and Chen Changsheng agreed to teach him and Baleful Shadow.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the soul method made a cultivator’s True Spirit produce a substance that merged with Divine Sense Realm and boosted their strength without the bodily side effects of pills or blood-burning arts.
• Chen Changsheng said that activating the special state required extraordinary talent and warned that battle injuries could become fatal after the state ended.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that the state lasted at most half a breath in his research, and he had no solution to its instability.
• Chen Changsheng suggested Immortal Emperor might be able to sustain the state through an entire battle and said Immortal Emperor appeared to enhance every aspect of his strength.

Chen Changsheng explained that Lu Mingyu was close to perfecting control over his special state and might be preparing to challenge powerful figures for the title of Number One Under Heaven. He then taught Mo Bai about soul cultivation, revealing that Chen Feng had once touched the soul’s threshold while visualizing a painting of Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li.

• Chen Changsheng told Sword Come and the others that Lu Mingyu was nearing completion of his special state and might have a strong chance of defeating experts who switched to the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm System.
• Lu Mingyu denied that he intended to fight everyone, but refused to spar with Primordial Qilin unless he entered the Bitter Sea Emperor Realm or Lu Mingyu reached the Bitter Sea Great Emperor realm.
• Chen Changsheng explained that visualization alone did not cultivate the soul, but said that a painting of Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li had helped someone accidentally touch the soul’s threshold.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that Chen Feng, whom he nicknamed the Sword Master, had touched the soul’s threshold while visualizing the painting and briefly activated a special state.