Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng watched the academy battle unfold and let Ma Guang’s reckless use of an imperial weapon bring Mo Wen’s intervention. After the crowd dispersed, Chen Changsheng gathered his injured companions and asked what they had to say about their defeat.

• Chen Changsheng told Kong Xuan he had anticipated Ma Guang’s likely misconduct and said Kong Xuan’s fighters were unworthy opponents.
• Ma Guang summoned a Bronze Small Cauldron and attacked the immobilized Xu Hu, but Mo Wen stopped the imperial weapon and restrained Ma Guang.
• Mo Wen confiscated Ma Guang’s weapon and assigned punishments to the students who had disrupted order, while sparing Chen Changsheng this time.
• Chen Changsheng sent Kong Xuan away but ordered him to leave the injured Hua Feng behind; Kong Xuan warned Chen Changsheng before departing with Yang Jian and the others.
• Hu Tudou awakened Hua Feng and the other injured students, and Chen Changsheng reassured them that they had fought well before asking what they had to say about losing.

Chen Changsheng lectured the young cultivators after their defeat, then set Tu Yi in motion to draw the Demon and God Races into a confrontation with Mountain and River Academy. He urged the missing Sour Scholar to act soon, while the scholar and Wu Li struggled to complete a secret art before a lightning tribulation.

• Chen Changsheng told Xu Hu and the other defeated students that surviving and protecting their allies mattered more than winning a single fight, then sent them to confinement to reflect.
• Chen Changsheng criticized Jiang Ruyan and the Ice Emperor for their past failures, and ordered Hu Tudou and Ye Yongxian to spend several days in confinement as well.
• Chen Changsheng explained to Tu Yi that the Demon and God Races would use the academy's punishments as a reason to pressure Mountain and River Academy, and told him to protect Ma Guang and the others.
• Chen Changsheng told Tu Yi that Wang Hao's identity could help draw the Demon and God Races into the dispute, and said he intended to resolve the conflict without fighting.
• Chen Changsheng urged the absent Sour Scholar to move faster, while the Sour Scholar asked Wu Li about their incomplete secret art and warned they could not delay because of the approaching lightning tribulation.

Wu Li recovered from his inner demon after Nalan Xingde urged him to keep living for Chen Changsheng and those he had lost. At Mountain and River Academy, Chen Changsheng explained why Xu Hu and the others were being confined and warned Qian Ya that the Demon Court could ruin her over her purchase of Black Market Points.

• Nalan Xingde reminded Wu Li that Chen Changsheng still needed him and urged him to keep living despite fearing the endless path ahead.
• Wu Li accepted Nalan Xingde's words, reaffirmed his resolve, and rapidly healed from his wounds.
• Qian Ya asked Chen Changsheng to help Xu Hu and the others, but he explained their confinement would keep them out of the political fallout from Xu Hu's death and the academy's battles.
• Chen Changsheng warned Qian Ya that she had angered the Demon Court by buying up Black Market Points and driving up their price.
• Chen Changsheng explained that the Demon Court could crash the Points market, wipe out Qian Ya's investment, and bring punishment from the God of Wealth Lineage.

Chen Changsheng taught Qian Ya how speculative trading could create wealth from claims to something that did not yet exist. He warned that greed could inflate such a market into a bubble that would eventually burst and devastate the Cultivation World.

• Qian Ya worried that Demon Court would crash the Point exchange rate and leave her unable to recover her investment, while Chen Changsheng explained how the academy’s limited supplies could make the losses worse.
• Chen Changsheng promised to teach Qian Ya the highest form of making wealth: getting people to trade paper claims and creating wealth from nothing.
• Chen Changsheng used a future spirit herb as an example, explaining how buyers could resell ownership rights for rising prices without ever seeing or cultivating the herb.
• Qian Ya recognized the enormous profits and catastrophic risks of trading claims to a nonexistent future asset.
• Chen Changsheng explained that rising prices and greed could keep the speculative commodity climbing until the Cultivation World could no longer bear the cost and the bubble burst.

Chen Changsheng began explaining how the Path to Wealth could be used in the Cultivation World, but a grand arrival at Mountain and River Academy interrupted him. Meanwhile, Yue Ying confronted Su Wan'er about the missing Chef Immortal and then challenged a masked man she suspected was Chen Changsheng, leaving his identity unconfirmed.

• Chen Changsheng told Qian Ya that the Path to Wealth could help as well as harm people, before eight powerful men carried in a Bronze Coffin.
• Qian Ya identified the arrival as the Great Strength Donkey Clan Ancestor, and Chen Changsheng put on a mask and took her to watch a grand show.
• Hu Tudou sensed her elder sister and brother-in-law had arrived, and Bai Ze arranged for her Divine Sense to help Chen Changsheng while keeping his identity concealed.
• Yue Ying questioned Su Wan'er about the disappearance of the Chef Immortal, but Su Wan'er said she neither knew nor wished to tell her anything.
• Chen Changsheng, masked and accompanied by Qian Ya, blocked Yue Ying's path; she said he resembled an old acquaintance and asked to see his face.

Yue Ying confronted Chen Changsheng over his familiar face and name, while Mo Wen convened a gathering to discuss Ma Guang’s punishment and disputes involving the Academy’s students. The meeting ended with the powerful figures wondering who had kicked Qian Ya into the courtyard, since no one had detected the second person.

• Chen Changsheng removed his mask, and Yue Ying recognized his striking resemblance to an old acquaintance but threatened to make him regret using that name and face.
• Mo Wen told the gathered leaders that Ma Guang’s use of an Imperial Weapon warranted expulsion, prompting objections from the Bronze Coffin and Yue Ying.
• Mo Wen settled disputes over attacks on Feiyun and Hu Yan, and the Peacock Clan accepted responsibility for Kong Xuan’s role while asking that Ma Guang be spared.
• Qian Ya appeared in the courtyard and relayed that Number One Spring Under Heaven should decide Xu Hu’s matter, then hurried away.
• The gathered leaders realized Qian Ya had appeared without being detected and wondered who had kicked her into the courtyard.

Chen Changsheng tested Mountain and River Academy’s response to Xu Mao’s case, then confronted the Drunken Scholar, who suspected he was the Undertaker and vowed to defend the academy. The Drunken Scholar revealed he was preparing a work that might one day challenge Chen Changsheng, who agreed to wait for it.

• Mo Wen declared that the academy would consider only Number One Spring Under Heaven’s suggestions for punishing Xu Mao, its successor.
• Chen Changsheng told Qian Ya that Supreme Sage’s two Direct Disciples and Old Pen held the academy’s true power behind the scenes, while Mo Wen kept it running.
• The Drunken Scholar appeared and questioned Chen Changsheng about wearing a mask and whether he was the Undertaker.
• Chen Changsheng escaped the Drunken Scholar’s golden characters with a puppet and challenged him to use his Signature Skill.
• The Drunken Scholar recalled the wars and the Master’s defeat, then vowed to protect the academy and said his unfinished work might one day challenge Chen Changsheng.
• Chen Changsheng agreed to wait for the Drunken Scholar’s work and warned him not to present him with worthless scraps.

Chen Changsheng told Qian Ya that Drunken Scholar's return to form would benefit Mountain and River Academy, then began teaching her practical lessons. At the academy, Mo Wen expelled Ma Guang and confiscated the Great Strength Donkey Clan's imperial weapon, while Xu Mao suspected his son had been targeted and set out to investigate Perfect Young Master.

• Chen Changsheng explained Drunken Scholar's troubled past to Qian Ya and took her to the Mission Hall to teach her useful skills.
• Xu Mao proposed that Mountain and River Academy confiscate the Great Strength Donkey Clan's imperial weapon for three hundred years, but the Bronze Coffin's occupant refused.
• Mo Wen expelled Ma Guang for attacking a fellow student and ordered the academy to confiscate the imperial weapon, while sparing Ma Guang's cultivation.
• Mo Wen defied the Great Strength Donkey Clan's threats and said its members could reclaim the weapon by defeating everyone on the Ascension Ladder.
• The Peacock Clan representative warned the Great Strength Donkey Clan Ancestor about his failing lifespan and said Little Bright King planned to visit the clan.
• Xu Mao and Yue Ying discussed Perfect Young Master and went to investigate the Confinement Room, where Xu Mao revealed that Hu'er might have been targeted.

Xu Mao warned Yue Ying that Xu Hu had been chosen by Teacher and would inevitably be drawn onto the Deathward Path, while Yue Ying feared for their son. At the Mission Hall, Chen Changsheng revealed his plan to use the Demon Race’s internal conflicts and the youngsters as bait to divide the enemy.

• Xu Mao told Yue Ying that Xu Hu had likely been targeted, possibly by Teacher, and that no one could prevent him from entering the Game.
• Xu Mao explained that Teacher would make Xu Hu willingly walk the Deathward Path, and Yue Ying vowed to take his place.
• Xu Mao said he would confirm Teacher’s identity after meeting the cook at the inn.
• At the Mission Hall, Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that disguising his identity too carefully would only make Xu Mao more suspicious.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Bai Ze to approach the Great Strength Donkey Clan and some Old Demon Races.
• Chen Changsheng planned to use the youngsters as bait, then exploit the Demon Race’s internal conflicts to divide its factions.

Xu Mao and Yue Ying realized that the Cook in Mountain and River Academy’s Confinement Room was their former Teacher, and that Xu Hu’s encounter with him had placed their son on a dangerous path. Ten days later, Chen Changsheng prepared to observe an approaching lightning tribulation and sent Ye Yongxian to find something he needed.

• Xu Mao scolded Xu Hu during a visit to the Confinement Room, while Yue Ying brought their son a handmade undergarment and urged him to get along with his friends.
• After leaving the academy, Xu Mao told Yue Ying that the fox demon in the Confinement Room was the Cook they knew and that Teacher was behind the secret moves at the academy.
• Xu Mao explained that he had searched for Su Wan'er to test his suspicions, and that his precautions had inadvertently brought Xu Hu into contact with Teacher.
• Ten days later, Hua Feng, Hu Tudou, and the other Outer Courtyard disciples were released, and Chen Changsheng told them that a lightning tribulation was approaching.
• Chen Changsheng said he planned to observe someone else's tribulation and gave Ye Yongxian a slip of paper with instructions to find something the next day.

Chen Changsheng assigned his allies tasks to prepare for the lightning tribulation and a major reform, while explaining why he needed to send the younger generation into a turbulent era. Ten days later, he gave Xu Hu and the others instructions to train under their masters, leaving Xu Hu to study with Old Pen.

• Chen Changsheng asked Ye Yongxian to find the main ingredient for Ancient Pills within three months, then told Hua Feng to absorb his recent lessons and prepare for the coming era.
• Chen Changsheng told Qian Ya to manage her Points before the Demon Court's counterattack and sent Hu Tudou to search for the White-Haired Sword God.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he needed to resolve the lightning tribulation and reform the world, and Hu Tudou agreed to help despite the danger.
• Ten days after Xu Hu and the others left the Confinement Room, Chen Changsheng ordered them to cultivate under their masters and await his next order.
• Chen Changsheng told Xu Hu to learn from Old Pen so he could integrate his abilities and improve his combat experience.

Chen Changsheng advised Hu Yan and Feiyun on their cultivation, then learned from Nalan Xingde that the Three Thousand Zhou faced ancient enemies who had sealed the Heavenly Dao. He agreed to handle the immediate problems first while Calamity remained missing and Wu Li continued searching for his homeland.

• Chen Changsheng told Hu Yan that the Tushan Fox Clan's cultivation path suited her and promised her a technique from the Supreme Sage's collection if she made progress.
• Chen Changsheng explained that Feiyun had to live out his current life before attempting the second transformation of the Heavenly Silk Nine Transformations.
• Chen Changsheng pressed Nalan Xingde about why he had been summoned, and Nalan Xingde said the world would need him to lead after the lightning tribulation was resolved.
• Nalan Xingde revealed that the Three Thousand Zhou had ancient enemies who sealed the Heavenly Dao and pursued Chang Sheng, and that Zhang Bairen had died opening the lightning tribulation.
• Chen Changsheng decided to address the current problems first, while Calamity remained absent and Wu Li had yet to find the former Ten Thousand Mountains.
• Nalan Xingde said Wu Li had fought Little Immortal Elder for three days over the location of his homeland, ending in a draw.

Chen Changsheng learned that Nalan Fuyao planned to exploit the world’s weakened state, then visited Little Bright King to collect information about passing the Thunder Tribulation. He left after learning Little Bright King’s method was imperfect, while Little Bright King prepared to entrust the future to his younger sister.

• Nalan Xingde gave Chen Changsheng a Jade Slip containing a preliminary method for repairing the foundation and revealed that Nalan Fuyao was among the coming enemies.
• Chen Changsheng assessed the world’s weakened state and said Nalan Fuyao would be difficult to defeat.
• After Ye Yongxian and Hu Tudou returned to Mountain and River Academy, Hu Tudou brought back a rusty Iron Sword, and Chen Changsheng left the academy.
• Chen Changsheng visited Little Bright King at the Demon Court and asked for the method he had used to pass the Thunder Tribulation.
• Little Bright King handed Chen Changsheng a Jade Slip, and Chen Changsheng agreed not to pursue his earlier motives, telling him to continue his plan.
• Little Bright King said he had wronged his master and hoped his younger sister would lead the coming era.

Chen Changsheng explained to Hua Feng why Mountain and River Academy’s cultivators were risking their lives to investigate lightning tribulations for all living things, then began refining the long-awaited Vajra Glass Pill. He left Hua Feng resolved to honor the Sages’ sacrifices as she learned that he had prepared the pill’s rare ingredients for an extraordinarily long time.

• Chen Changsheng returned and began refining pills with Hua Feng assisting, explaining that Mountain and River Academy’s cultivators planned to undergo lightning tribulations to investigate them.
• Chen Changsheng told Hua Feng that the academy’s cultivators were blazing a path for all living things and that their sacrifices could spare others from having to explore it themselves.
• Hua Feng vowed not to let the Sages’ sacrifices go to waste, and Chen Changsheng showed her the rare ingredients for the Vajra Glass Pill.
• Chen Changsheng revealed that Yong Xian had retrieved Five-Colored Glass Mother from Hell Volcano and said he had been preparing to make the pill since before Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li was born.

Chen Changsheng refined Vajra Glass Pills to help his companions face lightning tribulations, while Hua Feng rejected the pill meant for him and chose to earn success himself. After Mountain and River Academy announced that its Nine True Disciples would undergo tribulations, Chen Changsheng emerged with three pills and Hua Feng gathered the others to speak with them.

• Chen Changsheng explained the Vajra Glass Pill and planned to distribute a batch of five, but Hua Feng refused his share as charity and left the decision to him.
• Three months later, Mountain and River Academy announced that its Nine True Disciples would publicly undergo lightning tribulations in a month, drawing the Nine Regions’ major powers to the academy.
• Chen Changsheng emerged from seclusion and gave Hu Tudou three pills, assigning one to Hu Tudou, one to Yong Xian, and the last to the academy.
• Hua Feng called Xu Hu and the others aside, saying he had something to tell them.
• Yong Xian praised Chen Changsheng’s pill-refining skill and teased his soft heart, while Hu Tudou told him to follow orders.

Chen Changsheng struggled to decide who should receive the limited Vajra Glass Pills, while remembering the unresolved rift with Chen Shisan. Hua Feng and the others agreed to compete for the final pill, leaving Chen Changsheng to witness their contest.

• Ye Yongxian headed toward the Inner Courtyard, and Hu Tudou reflected on how much Chen Changsheng had to carry.
• Chen Changsheng recalled past losses and questioned whether Chen Shisan blamed him, as he looked at the rusted Iron Sword found at Thirteen's abandoned residence.
• Hua Feng's group discussed who should receive the remaining Vajra Glass Pill, and Qian Ya withdrew from the competition.
• Su Wan'er proposed that they compete before the first person underwent a lightning tribulation, with the winner taking the pill.
• Xu Hu insisted that a contender must defeat everyone at once, and the group agreed to place the pill with Chen Changsheng and ask him to witness the contest.
• Chen Changsheng accepted the arrangement and said he looked forward to their battle.

Tu JiaoJiao rejected Ye Yongxian, while the Supreme Sage’s junior sister prepared to cross the lightning tribulation and asked the Drunken Scholar to save some of her disciples. Chen Changsheng and the Drunken Scholar arranged for Ye Yongxian to protect Jiang Ling and Tu JiaoJiao, leaving their future in his hands.

• Tu JiaoJiao rejected Ye Yongxian’s courtship and dismissed his warning about the lightning tribulation.
• The Supreme Sage’s junior sister told the Drunken Scholar she would cross the tribulation and revealed that Ye Yongxian had given her a Vajra Glass Pill.
• The junior sister asked the Drunken Scholar to beg Chen Changsheng to save one or two disciples, and he promised to do so before marrying her after the tribulation.
• Chen Changsheng met with the Drunken Scholar and Ye Yongxian, then sent Ye Yongxian away while discussing who would survive the tribulation.
• Chen Changsheng said Jiang Ling and Tu JiaoJiao would survive because Ye Yongxian would handle their protection, and he explained that Ye Yongxian pursued Dao partners sincerely.

Chen Changsheng shared three cups of bitter wine with Drunken Scholar before the scholar departed, then watched Mountain and River Academy’s Direct Disciples begin their lightning tribulations. The first disciple, Du Ke, struggled to survive as Chen Changsheng prepared his grave.

• Chen Changsheng explained to Drunken Scholar how his path differed from living only in the present, and the two shared wine for the past, present, and future.
• Drunken Scholar said the final cup should be for Chen Changsheng, then left with firmer steps.
• The next morning, seven of Mountain and River Academy’s nine Direct Disciples appeared as cultivators gathered to watch the academy undergo its lightning tribulation.
• Du Ke used his lightning arts against the first wave of the tribulation, drawing admiration from the observers.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that Du Ke’s lightning arts could help against the weaker strikes, but his poor foundation likely would not carry him through.
• Chen Changsheng carved a gravestone for Du Ke, naming him a Direct Disciple of Mountain and River Academy.

After Du Ke died in the Three Nine Thunder Tribulation, Chen Changsheng prepared to honor him and sent Bai Ze to ensure the fallen pioneers were not forgotten. Meanwhile, Ye Yongxian held Tu JiaoJiao and Jiang Ling captive to study the tribulation, claiming he had the academy’s permission and could not save their fellow disciples.

• Du Ke endured six batches of lightning before the remaining bolts struck together and killed him in the Thunder Sea.
• Chen Changsheng restored Du Ke’s body and identified the trial as a Three Nine Thunder Tribulation, while wondering whether more powerful tribulations existed.
• Chen Changsheng gave Bai Ze a puppet wearing a tear-marked mask to act as the Undertaker and warned that he would personally punish anyone who showed ingratitude.
• The second Direct Disciple prepared to face the thunder tribulation as Chen Changsheng watched the sky.
• Ye Yongxian restrained Tu JiaoJiao and Jiang Ling, explaining that he had permission to take them and that he wanted them to study the tribulation.
• Tu JiaoJiao demanded that Ye Yongxian help her master and fellow disciples survive, but he said no one could save them before understanding the tribulation.

Ye Yongxian explained that the Thunder Tribulation threatened even the Supreme Sage and that the fallen Direct Disciples had failed despite their mastery of many Great Daos. At Mountain and River Academy, Chen Changsheng promised to protect Sun Yuqing as she prepared to face the tribulation.

• Ye Yongxian told Tu JiaoJiao and Jiang Ling that their master's Thunder Tribulation was likely fatal and that the Supreme Sage was trapped by the same ordeal.
• Ye Yongxian revealed that he had undergone the Thunder Tribulation nine times and failed each time.
• The seven Mountain and River Academy Direct Disciples fell to the tribulation, leaving the eighth grave empty and the Academy's hopes focused on the Supreme Sage's disciple.
• Chen Changsheng and Sun Yuqing discussed how strong foundations and bodies might help Jiang Ling and Tu JiaoJiao survive the first stage, and Yuqing explained that she had sent them away to protect the most promising disciples.
• Sun Yuqing admitted she feared failing and parting from her senior brother, and Chen Changsheng promised to stand guard and seize a chance of life for her.
• Sun Yuqing tore open the void and entered it to face the Thunder Tribulation as powerful beings gathered nearby.