Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng had Shi Qi practice his Basic Sword Art while he carved a sheath for Shi Qi’s wooden sword, then sent him chasing a snow rabbit. While Shi Qi ran, Chen Changsheng and Dugu shared his cooking, and Shi Qi felt encouraged by Chen Changsheng’s praise.

• Chen Changsheng gave Shi Qi a wooden sword sheath and asked him to practice the Basic Sword Art with a branch while he carved it.
• Chen Changsheng summoned a snow rabbit, and Shi Qi chased it after Chen Changsheng promised it would make a delicious meal.
• Chen Changsheng explained to Dugu that Shi Qi was a skilled cook, describing the noodles and stewed meat he had prepared.
• Dugu tasted Shi Qi’s broth and noodles and declared the noodles the best thing he had ever eaten.
• Shi Qi’s pursuit of the rabbit lifted his spirits as he remembered that Chen Changsheng had praised his progress.

Chen Changsheng realized that Shi Qi was born without the shackles other cultivators struggled to sever, but Dugu’s killing-focused sword dao clashed with Shi Qi’s kind nature. He explained that Shi Qi could cultivate the sword dao only through a path suited to his goodwill, leaving Dugu to understand why Shi Qi’s swordsmanship had worsened.

• Shi Qi’s sword qi stopped a snow rabbit, and Chen Changsheng praised his talent before trapping him in an illusion formation.
• Chen Changsheng explained his view of the three sword realms and concluded that sword cultivators had no distinct third realm; all cultivators sought to sever their shackles.
• Dugu reasoned that Shi Qi was born without shackles because he treated all things with goodwill, and Chen Changsheng praised his insight.
• Chen Changsheng told Dugu that Shi Qi could not follow his conventional sword dao because its powerful killing intent conflicted with Shi Qi’s kindness.
• Dugu understood that the killing intent in his sword dao had suppressed Shi Qi’s nature, causing his swordsmanship to grow worse.

Chen Changsheng recognized that Shi Qi could not follow the Great Dao of the Three Teachings, so he planned to guide him onto a sword path without slaughter. After revealing the wooden sword’s peerless sword qi, Chen Changsheng told Shi Qi to stop using swords until he was worthy to draw it.

• Chen Changsheng told Dugu he would teach Shi Qi a sword path without slaughter, and Dugu vanished after hearing his argument about the limitless Great Dao.
• Chen Changsheng released Shi Qi from the illusion array, examined the unharmed snow rabbit, and asked Shi Qi whether killing it was cruel.
• After they ate, Chen Changsheng gave Shi Qi a sword sheath and split the sky with a display of sword light to reveal the wooden sword’s power.
• Chen Changsheng claimed he knew Shi Qi’s master, the Number One Sword Cultivator Under Heaven, and said Shi Qi could see him once his swordsmanship improved.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Shi Qi not to use any sword until he was worthy to draw the divine weapon, and Shi Qi asked what to do if he encountered bad people.

Chen Changsheng persuaded Shi Qi to rely on a peach branch and his confidence instead of drawing the Killing Sword hidden in its sheath. He left Shi Qi believing he could defeat nearly anyone with the branch, while Chen Changsheng and Dugu discussed what might happen if Shi Qi eventually faced an enemy who forced him to draw his sword.

• Chen Changsheng told Shi Qi not to draw his sword against minor opponents and summoned a peach branch for him to use as a weapon.
• Chen Changsheng coached Shi Qi into casually swinging the branch, and Shi Qi released sword qi that cut a line through a distant boulder.
• Chen Changsheng convinced Shi Qi to practice ordinary sword techniques and reserve his master's Divine Weapon for a critical moment.
• Shi Qi agreed to keep the sword sheathed, then discovered the boulder had been split by his strike; Chen Changsheng vanished and assured him he would see his master again.
• Chen Changsheng told Dugu that he had placed the Killing Sword inside the Sword Sheath and that Shi Qi's confidence would likely keep him from drawing it.
• Chen Changsheng said that if Shi Qi ever met an enemy who forced him to draw the sword, his fate and ability to overcome the trial would determine what happened next.

Chen Changsheng persuaded Dugu to postpone drawing his sword against Dream and agreed that Shi Qi should grow by entering the mortal world. Meanwhile, Meng De challenged Li Changming on behalf of the Five Tigers Group, declaring that they would force the Pill Epoch’s powerful families to open the medicinal herb market.

• Dugu accepted Chen Changsheng’s arrangement after admitting he had lost by half a move.
• Chen Changsheng said Shi Qi should enter the mortal world and return after weathering its trials, and Dugu agreed.
• After three months of searching, Li Changsheng found Li Changming and asked him to help persuade the Pill Epoch’s factions to open the medicinal herb market.
• Li Changming refused, saying only the highest authorities of the two epochs could decide to open a passage and the market.
• Meng De challenged Li Changming on behalf of the Five Tigers Group and threatened to defeat the Pill Epoch’s aristocratic families and powerful clans until they opened the market.

Meng De challenged the Pill Epoch’s aristocratic clans to a battle beginning in three days, while Li Changsheng chose to stand with the Five Tigers Group rather than his family. As the clans’ leaders gathered to discuss the threat, the Wang Family Patriarch accused the Cui and Lu families of already being aligned with the Imperial Tutor.

• Meng De and Li Changming agreed that the Pill Epoch conflict would begin in three days and continue until one side surrendered or was killed.
• Li Changsheng refused to leave with Li Changming and declared that he would stand by what he believed was right, prompting Li Changming to leave in anger.
• Meng De said he would recruit graduates from the Ten Thousand Races Academy and fight for change, even if he died in the Pill Epoch.
• The Pill Epoch’s top powers gathered to discuss Meng De’s declaration, and Cui Xingye warned that the Five Tigers Group and Chang Sheng Epoch posed a grave threat.
• The Wang Family Patriarch accused Cui Xingye and the Lu Family of having ties to the Imperial Tutor and suggested Meng De’s challenge had powerful backing.

The Pill Epoch’s factions struggled to decide how to respond to the Chang Sheng Epoch’s medicinal herb market expansion and the stalled Epoch Passage. Wang Zhigao announced an agreement to let cultivators settle the matter as a private conflict, and Lu Jun told Zhang Ling that the two epochs could now fight to the death.

• The Wang Family Patriarch mocked the Lu Family and urged the Pill Epoch’s factions to follow the crowd, while Guan Ping said the Pill Epoch would follow the great families despite her displeasure at the Chang Sheng Epoch’s arrogance.
• Cui Xingye proposed letting the younger generation contend over the issue as a private grudge, with life and death left to fate and no factions allowed to pursue old accounts.
• Wang Zhigao arrived as the Jade Emperor and said the Chang Sheng Epoch agreed with Cui Xingye’s proposal; he added that the Immortal Emperor would stay out of the conflict while pursuing the title of Number One Under Heaven.
• Wang Zhigao said cultivators from both epochs could enter the fray under Cultivation World rules, and that the Chang Sheng Epoch’s participation would depend on the Pill Epoch’s attitude.
• Meng De told Zhang Ling there was no turning back, and Lu Jun appeared to announce that the epochs had agreed to fight and would battle to the death if neither side conceded.

Lu Jun confronted Li Changsheng’s group and revealed that the aristocratic clans had secretly placed Kill Orders on Li Changsheng. Long Aotian stayed behind to fight Lu Jun, and after an escalating contest of strength, he sent Lu Jun flying out of the Small World and pursued him.

• Lu Jun explained that his families had offered rewards for defeating the Chang Sheng Epoch and Divine Beast lineage prodigies, while secret Kill Orders targeted Li Changsheng.
• Lu Jun declared that he would accept the group’s challenge and demanded that one person stay behind to die whenever he caught them.
• Long Aotian stayed behind so Li Changsheng and the others could escape, then rejected Lu Jun’s offer to spare him if he left the Pill Epoch.
• Lu Jun and Long Aotian wrestled for strength, with Lu Jun’s Gold Muscle Jade Bone initially gaining the upper hand against Long Aotian’s dragon-man form.
• Long Aotian transformed again, broke free, punched Lu Jun through the mountains and out of the Small World, then pursued him through the barrier.

Long Aotian and Lu Jun fought a devastating battle, with Lu Jun using the Nine Apertures Mountains and Rivers Art to match Long Aotian’s physical strength and eventually destroying their Small World. Meanwhile, Li Changsheng explained that the great families’ Kill Order against them required broad support and could not be revoked through ordinary means.

• Lu Jun used the Nine Apertures Mountains and Rivers Art to summon mountains and draw on the Small World’s earth veins, turning the fight against Long Aotian into an even contest.
• Long Aotian and Lu Jun fought across the Small World until it split apart, then continued battling in the void as Lu Jun drew earth-vein power from a nearby world.
• In the Space Channel, Meng De asked Li Changsheng whether Long Aotian could defeat Lu Jun and what the Pill Epoch’s Kill Order meant for them.
• Li Changsheng explained that the Kill Order meant an all-out encirclement and suppression, and that killing its original issuers or seeking forgiveness would not revoke it.
• Li Changsheng said the Kill Order required approval from four of the Five Surnames, with support from at least half of the Ancestral Tomb and more than two-thirds of a family’s upper ranks.

After learning that the aristocratic families had issued a Kill Order, Meng De organized the group and chose Zheng Xuan as their target. He assigned Li Changsheng to find Zheng Xuan and bait him, while Zhang Ling prepared to trap him for a decisive attack.

• Li Changsheng explained that the Kill Order left little room for negotiation, and Meng De questioned how the aristocratic families had secured four votes in favor.
• Meng De offered everyone a chance to withdraw, then established that he and Li Changsheng would jointly command the group.
• Li Changsheng identified Zheng Xuan as the most arrogant young prodigy, and Meng De decided that killing him could disrupt the Kill Order's support.
• Meng De ordered Li Changsheng to find Zheng Xuan and a suitable lure within half a month, giving him three billion Divine Source for funding.
• Meng De tasked Zhang Ling with trapping Zheng Xuan and delivering concentrated attacks, and Zhang Ling promised a formation that could hold him for twelve hours.

Feng Ran revised the plan to kill Zheng Xuan, while Lu Jun and Long Aotian both suffered severe injuries after their battle. At the Endless Sea, Chen Changsheng and Lu Mingyu discussed why powerful cultivators should not have descendants, and Lu Mingyu traced the rise of the aristocratic clans to high-level cultivators and the Heavenly Dao Society.

• Lin Yao volunteered to hold off anyone coming to rescue Zheng Xuan for twelve hours, and Feng Ran admitted he doubted he could kill Zheng Xuan even with Zhang Ling's help.
• Feng Ran revised the plan so the others would withdraw after about eight hours if he had no confidence of killing Zheng Xuan, and asked them to bring his body back to the Chang Sheng Epoch if he died.
• Long Aotian burned his Essence Blood to escape Lu Jun, who stayed behind despite suffering injuries that shook his foundation.
• A mysterious figure stabilized Long Aotian's injuries and sent him flying toward a certain direction.
• At the Endless Sea, Chen Changsheng asked Lu Mingyu why he had not had a child, and Lu Mingyu said he believed descendants were unwise for cultivators like them.
• Lu Mingyu said his examination of the aristocratic clans' origins led him to blame the Heavenly Dao Society and high-level cultivators.

Lu Mingyu and Chen Changsheng discussed whether to reform the Heavenly Dao Society and eradicate the Pill Epoch’s aristocratic clans, weighing the harm of entrenched power against the risks of replacing the existing order. Chen Changsheng favored leaving the clans a path to survive and planned to consult Dream, while Lu Mingyu questioned whether either of them was ready to have descendants.

• Lu Mingyu told Chen Changsheng that the Heavenly Dao Society had to be reformed because long-lived ancestors had allowed the five great clans to become permanent powers.
• Chen Changsheng warned that bringing down the clans would impose heavy pressure and said the Wang Family could not be destroyed while he was an Immortal Emperor.
• Lu Mingyu raised the danger that descendants of powerful figures like himself and Guan Ping could become a new entrenched aristocracy.
• Chen Changsheng admitted he had hesitated over eliminating the clans, arguing that they had not rotted beyond repair even though their control prevented the Pill Epoch from changing.
• Chen Changsheng said he would leave the clans a way to live and discuss Dream’s decision with him, while worrying whether a new system could govern the Pill Epoch well.
• Chen Changsheng asked whether Lu Mingyu planned to have descendants, and Lu Mingyu replied that Chen Changsheng was not ready for children himself.

Chen Changsheng and Lu Mingyu discussed the pain of outliving their descendants and the search for a cure through longevity. Meanwhile, Mo Bai tried to escape a determined challenger in the Heavenly Lotus Sect’s Small World and was told to surrender the first trial’s reward.

• Lu Mingyu worried that his and Chen Changsheng’s long lifespans would make their offspring’s deaths unbearable, and Chen Changsheng explained that he too had struggled with the problem.
• Chen Changsheng said he was seeking longevity as a cure for the pain of parting, then became excited when a fish took his bait in the Endless Sea.
• In the Heavenly Lotus Sect’s Small World, Mo Bai asked why a woman had pursued him for half a month, and she said she wanted to become Number One Under Heaven by eliminating him.
• Mo Bai decided to admit defeat so he could leave and find Li Changsheng and the others, but the woman demanded the first trial’s reward.

Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow teamed up to stop Shangguan after she refused to let Mo Bai leave, but she survived their attacks and escaped. Exhausted, Mo Bai explained that she had been hounding him to compete for the title of Number One Under Heaven and leave the Chang Sheng Epoch.

• Mo Bai pleaded with the stunning woman to let him go, but she insisted he had to lose to her.
• Baleful Shadow arrived, and Mo Bai ordered him to help kill the woman.
• Mo Bai restrained her with the Great Dao Mantra while Baleful Shadow attacked, then Baleful Shadow's transformed Killing Intent and Mo Bai's Qilin form broke through her defenses.
• The woman escaped after Mo Bai's Light Arrow shattered part of her head, and she vowed revenge as Mo Bai collapsed from exhaustion.
• Baleful Shadow asked why Shangguan was pursuing Mo Bai, who explained she wanted to compete for Number One Under Heaven and drive him out of the Chang Sheng Epoch.

Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow escaped Heaven Lotus Sect territory after Mo Bai used his carved bow to defeat a woman, then investigated the fierce battle between Long Aotian and Lu Jun. Mo Bai concluded that Pill Epoch’s bounties were part of a wider contest with Chang Sheng Epoch, and the two prepared to help their allies.

• Mo Bai restored his strength by consuming thirty million jin of Divine Source and explained that his fifth arrow had exhausted his sea of suffering.
• Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow left the scene by Escape Technique, while Heaven Lotus Sect figures discovered their lingering auras and reported them.
• Baleful Shadow brought Mo Bai to the ruins of a battlefield and said Long Aotian had fought Lu Jun while covering Li Changsheng and the others’ retreat.
• Baleful Shadow urged Mo Bai to help their allies, and Mo Bai revealed he had already intended to act and showed him a map of the epoch.
• Mo Bai reasoned that Pill Epoch’s bounties followed a political contest with Chang Sheng Epoch, which had driven Pill Epoch’s factions to target them and implicate Li Changsheng and the Five Tigers Group.

Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow debated whether Meng De would target the Wang Family or Zheng Family, then chose to head for the Zheng Family. Meanwhile, Sword Come began its journey through Hundun Passage and was stopped by a huge black dog it recognized as its ancestor.

• Mo Bai argued that Meng De would target a Wang Family prodigy, while Baleful Shadow believed he would choose the arrogant Zheng Xuan.
• Mo Bai flipped a copper coin, and when it landed on heads, Baleful Shadow insisted they should go to the Zheng Family instead.
• Baleful Shadow explained that he had followed directions he disliked to find Mo Bai, and accused Mo Bai of being far luckier than him.
• Mo Bai and Baleful Shadow set off toward the Zheng Family, agreeing to kill Zheng Xuan if Li Changsheng and the others had not already targeted him.
• Sword Come began traveling through Hundun Passage toward the Pill Epoch, but an unknown creature boarded the ship.
• The creature revealed itself as a huge black dog, and Sword Come hugged its leg and called it Ancestor.

Xiao Hei redirected Sword Come toward helping the Chang Sheng Epoch and explained Chen Changsheng’s strategy of backing both epochs and their prodigies. He warned that information from the Pill Epoch had been sealed off, leaving Li Changsheng unable to alert Sword Come to the worsening situation.

• Xiao Hei sent the two Quasi-Emperor Dao Protectors away and said he would personally handle Sword Come’s affairs.
• Xiao Hei advised Sword Come that the Bai Ze Clan should support many contenders rather than seek supremacy, pointing to Chen Changsheng’s investments across both epochs.
• Xiao Hei told Sword Come to act as a timely rain by gathering people in the Chang Sheng Epoch to help those in dire straits, rather than trying to rescue them himself.
• Xiao Hei revealed that the situation had outgrown Sword Come’s original plan and that information across the Pill Epoch had been sealed, preventing Li Changsheng from contacting him.

Sword Come agreed to recruit prodigies from the Chang Sheng Epoch to help the Pill Epoch, while Chen Changsheng enlisted Kunpeng to guard the third trial's venue in the Endless Sea. Chen Changsheng announced that the third trial's reward would be one slot to leave the Pill Epoch, prompting Moon God to offer help to the Ten Thousand Years Bodhi Tree.

• Xiao Hei told Sword Come to recruit as many reinforcements as possible for the Pill Epoch and warned that the conflict could cost lives.
• Sword Come realized Li Changsheng and the others were in serious danger and wondered how to persuade other factions' prodigies to help.
• Chen Changsheng reunited with Kunpeng and asked it to help guard the third trial's venue and play with the participants.
• Chen Changsheng and Lu Mingyu reached the seabed, where Chen Changsheng explained that the third trial's reward would not have cultivation value.
• Chen Changsheng announced one slot as the third trial's reward, giving Heaven Dao Society members hope of leaving the Pill Epoch.
• Moon God offered to help the Ten Thousand Years Bodhi Tree obtain the slot, but the tree said Moon God needed it more.

The Moon God and Yun Ya Zi scrambled to find contenders after Chen Changsheng announced a prize spot for leaving the Pill Epoch, while Dugu revealed that he already had a promising sword Dao genius being guided by Chen Changsheng. Yun Ya Zi realized that everyone else had prepared for the competition and he alone had been caught off guard.

• The Ten Thousand Years Bodhi Tree refused to take human form, and the Moon God agreed to recruit Heavenly Lotus Sect disciples and other talents to compete for the spot.
• Yun Ya Zi cursed Chen Changsheng’s sudden announcement, and Dugu told him to choose a Pill Domain genius for the trial.
• Dugu warned Yun Ya Zi about the formidable contenders Mo Bai, Baleful Shadow, and Shangguan, whose crystal physique came from the Green Demon True Monarch’s lost art.
• Yun Ya Zi and Dugu recalled how Dugu broke the Green Demon True Monarch’s crystal physique, after which the True Monarch died by suicide.
• Yun Ya Zi asked Dugu to help find a winning contender, but Dugu refused because Chen Changsheng had already given him a spot and was guiding a sword Dao genius he had found eighteen years earlier.

Dugu refused to explain his agreement with Chen Changsheng, while Zheng Xuan prepared to travel to the Hundred Flowers World. There, Lin Yao and Feng Ran discussed Zheng Xuan’s plans and how Mister and the Supreme Sage had curbed the use of Cauldrons through contempt, as Zheng Xuan’s arrival drew near.

• Yun Ya Zi questioned Dugu about Chen Changsheng giving him a slot, but Dugu said their agreement was private and that Yun Ya Zi could not teach his disciple.
• Zheng Xuan ordered his people to find Baleful Shadow, then told his guards to prepare a Teleportation Array so he could go to the Hundred Flowers World.
• Feng Ran told Lin Yao that the Hundred Flowers World’s cultivators had been captured and that Zhang Ling was preparing a formation to transport them away.
• Lin Yao reported that Zheng Xuan would arrive within six days with two Immortal King Seventh Grade attendants, and he and Feng Ran discussed Zheng Xuan’s use of women as Cauldrons.
• Feng Ran explained that Mister and the Supreme Sage had discouraged cultivators from raising Cauldrons by scorn, since those who faced the Imperial Tutor’s contempt risked losing his guidance.