Chapter Summaries

Chen Changsheng explained that the wager would test whether humanity would unite against the Dark Turmoil or succumb to self-interest, as factions placed their stakes. At the eighteenth floor, the prodigies broke the Buddhist wall and discovered Dharma Master Cong Xin, whose Zen Staff seal began to fail.

• Chen Changsheng challenged the Holy Ruins Forbidden Ground's Dao Protector to accept a wager, and named the Four Realms Land as Chen Xiao's stake.
• The factions and Forbidden Grounds placed their wagers on the map as Chen Changsheng explained that the contest depended on whether humanity's compassion or selfishness prevailed.
• Chen Changsheng told Cui Hao Yu that the cultivators had rejected a single commander because that approach would cause more deaths.
• Heng Tian and the other prodigies broke the eighteenth-floor Buddhism Wall and found the white-robed Dharma Master Cong Xin seated beside a Zen Staff.
• Cong Xin revealed that the Zen Staff was his seal, drove the prodigies back with a Buddhist invocation, and warned them to flee before he was freed.
• Heng Tian immediately fled as the Zen Staff's suppression weakened.

As factions wagered over whether to rescue Ruan Su Xian or kill the Child of the Forbidden Ground, their Dao Protectors fought over whether sacrificing one person could save countless lives. After seeing the conflict through the Profound Light Mirror, Ruan Su Xian accepted her master's decision and prepared to leave Xu Qianzhui and the others.

• Heng Tian and the other prodigies fled the eighteenth level but were blocked by a Buddhism Wall, while Chen Xiao and his group escaped upward.
• Zhang Bairen demanded Follow the Heart's Water Book Fragment, but Follow the Heart refused, and Zhang Bairen left after injuring him.
• A man in the Water Realm learned that the Water Book was being contested and set out to face the other claimants.
• Wudang Mountain's Dao Protector defended the wager to sacrifice Ruan Su Xian to kill the Child of the Forbidden Ground, and Cui Hao Yu challenged him to battle.
• Chen Changsheng showed the contestants the outside events through the Profound Light Mirror, and Ruan Su Xian told Xu Qianzhui she agreed with her master's choice and would go no farther with them.

Ruan Su Xian explained that the painful deaths of the righteous were part of the path they had chosen, and Chen Xiao and Xu Qianzhui resolved to keep fighting. As the geniuses faced one another, Follow the Heart emerged from the Buddha Pagoda, while Wang Hao took an interest in Xuan Xin.

• Ruan Su Xian told Xu Qianzhui and Chen Xiao that forcing others to die for righteousness was also inhumane, then left to fight the Children of the Forbidden Ground.
• Chen Xiao said their elders would soon face the same deadly battles, then went to save people and kill enemies; Xu Qianzhui joined him.
• On the fifteenth floor, Ling Dao challenged the righteous factions, and Zhao Wu of Qingcheng Mountain argued that the Forbidden Ground offered no better fate than death.
• On the eighteenth floor, Follow the Heart emerged after ten thousand years and unleashed a blood-red Bitter Sea Phenomenon around the Buddha Pagoda.
• Atop the mountain, Cui Hao Yu fought three Dao Protectors without falling behind, and Chen Changsheng redirected Wang Hao's interest toward Xuan Xin.

Chen Changsheng and Wang Hao discussed Follow the Heart’s attempt to combine Buddhism and demonic cultivation, then watched events unfold inside the Buddha Pagoda. Liu Yidao lost his escape route and attacked Jun Lin, leaving them trapped together as enemies closed in.

• Chen Changsheng said Follow the Heart might develop into a powerful cultivator, though his path of Buddhist-demonic integration was dangerous.
• Chen Changsheng and Wang Hao discussed how Chen might eventually oppose the Four Heavenly Emperors’ group, while Wang Hao changed the subject to Jun Lin and Liu Yidao.
• Liu Yidao tried to escape by transferring into a flesh-and-blood avatar outside the Buddha Pagoda, but Wang Hao destroyed it.
• Liu Yidao prepared to fight alongside Jun Lin, then suddenly slashed Jun Lin’s right leg and claimed his grandfather had ordered it.

Jun Lin and Liu Yidao descended to the fifteenth level, where the prodigies fought Follow the Heart as the Blood Sea Phenomenon appeared. The battle ended in a devastating explosion, and Liu Yidao re-formed from a lump of flesh before Chen Changsheng questioned someone about the punishment inflicted on him.

• Liu Yidao told Jun Lin that his blade wound would not heal because it carried blade intent and a technique meant to break his leg, then agreed to go fight Ruan Su Xian's enemies.
• On the fifteenth level, Ruan Su Xian recognized Follow the Heart's Brahma sound, and the prodigies attacked him while fighting the Children of the Forbidden Ground.
• Follow the Heart's Bitter Sea Phenomenon killed seven prodigies, and he crushed Liu Yidao into a mist of blood with a single attack.
• Liu Yidao held Follow the Heart for one breath from within the Blood Sea Phenomenon, giving Jun Lin, Chen Xiao, Xu Qianzhui, and the other prodigies time to unleash their strongest attacks.
• The resulting explosion destroyed the Buddha Pagoda and buried everyone beneath the aftershock; Liu Yidao re-formed from a lump of flesh and cried out in pain as Chen Changsheng challenged someone nearby.

Chen Changsheng confronted the middle-aged man over the Water Book, then learned why Follow the Heart had slaughtered the prodigies: he hoped to forge a survivor strong enough to face the coming Great Calamity. After Follow the Heart left, Chen Changsheng explained his extreme approach to Cui Hao Yu and attended to the injured Liu Yidao.

• Chen Changsheng argued with the middle-aged man, and Wang Hao intervened before they fought; the competition was postponed until it resumed in the Water Realm three months later.
• Wang Hao took the half-dead Jun Lin, while the other Dao Protectors collected their prodigies and the defeated factions left to choose replacements.
• Chen Changsheng demanded the Water Book Fragment from Follow the Heart, who said he killed to prepare the living for the Great Calamity by testing whether any prodigy could defeat him.
• Chen Changsheng recognized Follow the Heart's plan to act as a whetstone, spared him, and accepted an item before Follow the Heart vanished.
• Cui Hao Yu questioned Follow the Heart's extreme methods, and Chen Changsheng explained that such figures arose because the Chang Sheng Epoch lacked anyone guiding its direction.
• Liu Yidao cried out in pain, and Chen Changsheng told Cui Hao Yu to bring him over before remarking that Liu Yidao had used his Great Dao to counter Follow the Heart's Integration of Buddha and Demon.

Chen Changsheng explained that Follow the Heart's Buddhist mark would torment Liu Yidao unless he changed or countered it, then had him drain Chen Xiao's excess Qi and Blood. At Mountain and River Academy, Xu Qianzhui urged Yan Ziyu to commit the academy's full strength to the approaching Great Calamity, even at the cost of its legacy.

• Chen Changsheng told Liu Yidao that Follow the Heart's mark would either convert him into a good person, torment him until death, or require him to study Buddhism to dissolve it.
• Chen Changsheng stabilized Liu Yidao, ordered him to drain Chen Xiao's excess Qi and Blood, and sealed Chen Xiao again once his body returned to normal.
• Chen Changsheng gave Liu Yidao a Jade Slip and left, while Liu Yidao asked Cui Hao Yu to teach him and wondered if he had swordsmanship talent.
• Yan Ziyu used a great scholar's article to help Xu Qianzhui recover, then offered to ask their Master to treat him.
• Xu Qianzhui urged Yan Ziyu to stake all of Mountain and River Academy's strength, including his own, on the Great Calamity, and Yan Ziyu warned him about sacrificing the academy's legacy.

Xu Qianzhui challenged Yan Ziyu over Mountain and River Academy’s reluctance to sacrifice its legacy to fight the Dark Turmoil, then declared he would follow his own path. Elsewhere, Jun Lin refused Wang Hao’s offer to help him master the Double Pupils, leaving Wang Hao unsure how to strengthen him.

• Xu Qianzhui argued that preserving the Sages’ legacies and leaving room to retreat could doom the fight against the Dark Turmoil, while Yan Ziyu defended Mountain and River Academy’s position.
• Xu Qianzhui told Yan Ziyu he would follow neither Senior Changsheng’s forceful approach nor Yan Ziyu’s faith in human nature, and Yan Ziyu encouraged him to walk his own path.
• Wang Hao treated Jun Lin’s injuries and told him that many Heaven’s Chosen had died and at least fifteen worlds’ worth of territory would go to the Forbidden Grounds.
• Wang Hao offered to teach Jun Lin to master the Double Pupils, but Jun Lin refused, saying they belonged to the Supreme Heavenly Emperor’s lineage and should be returned.
• Wang Hao accepted Jun Lin’s decision but admitted he had no clear way to help him grow stronger without the Double Pupils.

Wang Hao told Jun Lin that the Water Book could give him a path to greater strength, but warned that cultivating it came with a deadly price. Meanwhile, Chen Changsheng and Zhang Bairen prepared to forge a sword sheath from Bright Immortal Rock to face the Dark Turmoil.

• Wang Hao said Jun Lin should seek the Water Book at the Book of Wonders Competition and promised he could help him obtain it.
• Wang Hao explained that the Water Book had once helped the Water Tribe rise to power, but its Path of Heavenly Abandonment brought every Water Tribe Clan Leader to a bad end.
• Wang Hao told Jun Lin he could still achieve much by following the Righteous path, though it would take longer.
• Chen Changsheng told Zhang Bairen that the Water Book Fragment was secure and that they had come to handle another matter.
• Chen Changsheng gave Zhang Bairen Bright Immortal Rock and said he planned to use it to forge a sword sheath for the coming Dark Turmoil.

Chen Changsheng prepared a Bright Immortal Rock sword sheath for the Sword Spirit and set out with Zhang Bairen toward a Forbidden Ground and the Great Shang Dynasty, anticipating Jian Fei’s return and seeking retribution for Chen Xiao. In Avici World, Cui Hao Yu explained two ways to address Chen Xiao’s dangerously overpowered body, and Chen Xiao questioned the risks of the second method.

• Chen Changsheng told Zhang Bairen that he would forge the Sword Spirit a Bright Immortal Rock sheath and wait for the qualified wielder to appear.
• Chen Changsheng sensed that Jian Fei was about to return after his connection to the Golden Silkworm Gu reappeared.
• Chen Changsheng said Cui Hao Yu could guide Chen Xiao and that he would deal with Chen Xiang, then set off with Zhang Bairen toward a Forbidden Ground by way of the Great Shang Dynasty.
• Cui Hao Yu assessed Chen Xiao’s body and offered either to reduce its power so Chen Xiao could undergo Embryonic Transformation and Bone Exchange, or to temper it with Great Dao laws.
• Chen Xiao rejected abandoning his Physical Body Saint path and asked whether any law could be drawn into his body for tempering.

Cui Hao Yu warned Chen Xiao that tempering his body with Great Daos would brand others’ Laws into him and cut off his Path to Longevity as a Bitter Sea cultivator. He also revealed that Liu Yidao carried Follow the Heart’s Great Dao imprint and that Senior Changsheng might be deliberately letting Liu Yidao pursue a dangerous path.

• Cui Hao Yu told Chen Xiao that finding the right Great Daos to temper his body was difficult and that Senior Changsheng might refuse to help because the method was a Dead End Road.
• Cui Hao Yu explained that body tempering would permanently imprint Great Daos into Chen Xiao’s flesh, preventing him from comprehending a Great Dao of his own and ending his Bitter Sea cultivation path.
• Cui Hao Yu revealed that Follow the Heart had planted his Great Dao imprint in the group during the Buddha Pagoda battle, interfering with their ability to comprehend Laws.
• Cui Hao Yu told Liu Yidao that his imprint was especially deep because he had merged with Follow the Heart, and that Senior Changsheng’s protections were suppressing its painful effects.
• Cui Hao Yu warned Liu Yidao that pursuing the Great Way of Buddhism would lead him onto the Dead End Road of Demon Buddha Unity, and suggested Senior Changsheng might be letting him take that path intentionally.

Cui Hao Yu warned Chen Xiao that Great Dao body tempering would prevent him from advancing through the Bitter Sea System and could eventually leave him trapped at a bottleneck with no way to extend his life. Chen Xiao chose body cultivation anyway because it offered the fastest path to strength within three thousand years, leaving Liu Yidao worried about his decision.

• Cui Hao Yu explained that his methods had fused with Liu Yidao's brand, so cutting it away would kill Liu Yidao either now or after the brand stabilized.
• Cui Hao Yu told Chen Xiao that Great Dao body tempering had closed off the Bitter Sea System and would force him onto the domineering, life-limiting path of body cultivation.
• Cui Hao Yu warned Chen Xiao that bottlenecks could consume precious time and explained that the Bitter Sea System might take at least ten thousand years to surpass his achievements.
• Chen Xiao asked which path could make him strongest within three thousand years, and Cui Hao Yu said body cultivation was the fastest but could eventually halt his progress.
• Liu Yidao urged Chen Xiao to reconsider, but Chen Xiao said he was thinking clearly and remained set on his choice.

Chen Xiao accepted Cui Hao Yu’s sword Dao and committed to the Dead End Road, while Chen Changsheng confronted Yin Qi over the dangers facing the younger generation. The chapter ended with Yin Qi defending the need for Jun Lin and the others to face real trials as the Era of Chaos approached.

• Chen Xiao asked Cui Hao Yu to implant his sword Dao, and Cui Hao Yu warned that there would be no turning back.
• Yin Qi thanked Yin Emperor for removing an imprint from Heng Tian, while Kong Xuan discussed the Book of Wonders Competition and the Water Realm immortal king.
• Chen Changsheng entered and reprimanded Yin Qi for failing to visit after his return, then learned that Qi Xianglan’s lineage came from the Wu Zhiqi Clan.
• Chen Changsheng challenged Yin Qi for making Wang Hao Jun Lin’s Dao Protector and allowing Chen Xiao to take the Dead End Road.
• Yin Qi argued that the younger generation needed to face genuine danger because their elders might die, and Chen Changsheng left in silence.

Chen Changsheng explained to Zhang Bairen why he would not interfere with the younger generation facing their own Dead End Roads. In the Chang Sheng Epoch, Tu JiaoJiao persuaded Ye Yongxian to let their son Yu Er join the Golden Age Gathering, and Ye Yongxian agreed to protect him.

• Zhang Bairen warned Kong Xuan to govern well or face his wrath, then caught up with Chen Changsheng in the void.
• Chen Changsheng told Zhang Bairen that the younger generation had to find their own way through the Dead End Roads, and Zhang Bairen advised him to go with the flow.
• Tu JiaoJiao urged Ye Yongxian to let Yu Er enter the Golden Age Gathering, eventually asking him to do it for her sake.
• Ye Yongxian freed Yu Er from the Longevity Bloodstone and announced that he would join the Golden Age Gathering with Ye Yongxian as his Dao Protector.

Ruan Su Xian faced blame from Wudang Mountain disciples after his failed mission, while Liu Yidao learned that Wang Hao had arranged for Bai Zhi to reform him. Wang Hao and Ye Yongxian clashed in the Water Realm until Heavenly Emperor Chang Sheng intervened, then they flew into the void to continue their fight, leaving Chang Sheng to question Cui Hao Yu about his identity.

• Ruan Su Xian heard Outer Sect Disciples condemn him for his failure, then walked away without responding to their accusations.
• Liu Yidao begged Wang Hao to remove Chen Changsheng's mark, but Wang Hao said he could not and revealed his wager with the Buddhist Kingdom over Bai Zhi reforming Liu Yidao.
• Wang Hao sensed an enemy approaching, and Cui Hao Yu drew his sword as Wang Hao and Ye Yongxian began fighting in the Water Realm.
• Heavenly Emperor Chang Sheng separated Wang Hao and Ye Yongxian and warned them not to damage the Water Realm before the Book of Wonders Competition.
• Wang Hao and Ye Yongxian agreed to fight in the void, while Chang Sheng asked Cui Hao Yu whether he belonged to the Cui Family from the Five Surnames Seven Realms.

Chen Changsheng’s incarnation met with Heavenly Emperor Chang Sheng, who explained that his generation intended to end the Chang Sheng Epoch’s inherited grudges without making Chen Changsheng bear the burden. Chen Changsheng then gathered more than a hundred young cultivators for a lesson, where he began acknowledging the karmic debts he owed them.

• Heavenly Emperor Chang Sheng thanked Cui Hao Yu for helping the Chang Sheng Epoch and asked him to protect its younger generation when necessary.
• Cui Hao Yu said he could not interfere, and Heavenly Emperor Chang Sheng explained that his generation would end its old grudges and leave a spotless world for those who came after.
• After Heavenly Emperor Chang Sheng left, Chen Changsheng emerged from the earth in a paper incarnation and summoned the cultivators to a lesson.
• More than a hundred people, including several Children of the Forbidden Ground, gathered as Chen Changsheng began teaching and set rules for asking questions.
• Chen Changsheng explained that he was teaching to repay karmic debts and told Zhao Wu Yu that he had killed Zhao Wu Yu’s father, who had blocked his path.

Chen Changsheng taught the gathered prodigies that lasting strength depended on finding convictions strong enough to face danger without wavering. As the final showdown approached, Baturu and Wei Junjie discussed whether Chen Changsheng could disrupt the Dark Turmoil and become the Chang Sheng Tribulation.

• Chen Changsheng silenced Zhao Wu Yu and began teaching the prodigies why they needed to understand their reasons for drawing their swords.
• Ku Mu asked whether cultivators needed a reason to fight, and Chen Changsheng explained that convictions mattered more as the path grew lonely and dangerous.
• Long Ji said the Forbidden Ground's grace and teachings motivated its cultivators, and Chen Changsheng questioned whether those beliefs could sustain them through repeated battles for their lives.
• Chen Changsheng urged the prodigies to find what they truly desired so they would not grow timid before battle.
• Baturu and Wei Junjie discussed Chen Changsheng's apparent effort to sort out the factions and worried that he might interfere with the Dark Turmoil three thousand years later.
• Wei Junjie said the Dark Turmoil could not be stopped, while Baturu wondered whether Chen Changsheng was fated to be the Chang Sheng Tribulation.

Baturu and Wei Junjie questioned whether the pursuit of Chang Sheng had any meaning, then joined Chen Changsheng’s lesson. Chen Changsheng argued that justice depended on steadfast conviction and challenged Liu Yidao to experience mortal life for himself, leaving Liu pondering a fragment of insight.

• Baturu told Wei Junjie that powerful cultivators seemed bound to a few fates and wondered whether their pursuit of Chang Sheng had any meaning.
• Wei Junjie reflected on his own long life and joined Baturu in listening to Chen Changsheng’s lesson.
• Yan Yusheng asked whether justice was destined to prevail and whether the Forbidden Grounds should join the Golden Age Gathering, and Chen Changsheng answered that victory depended on people holding fast to their principles.
• Liu Yidao claimed his convictions were firm, but Chen Changsheng said he had not yet experienced the trials of mortal life and urged him to learn Buddhist teachings.
• Chen Changsheng left, and Liu Yidao turned his words over in his mind, feeling that he had grasped a fragment of something important.

Chen Changsheng and Chen Mengjie decided to open a medical clinic to treat Heaven's Pride injured in the Battle of the Buddha Pagoda. As Chen Changsheng began teaching Chen Mengjie how to run it, he insisted that healers should charge wealthy patients fairly so other practitioners could make a living.

• Chen Mengjie examined the Heaven's Pride and warned that their hidden wounds could become fatal if left untreated.
• Chen Mengjie proposed opening a clinic to treat the injured and gather spiritual herbs, and Liu Yidao offered to use his knowledge of the Water Realm to attract wealthy patients.
• Chen Changsheng struck Liu Yidao for trying to profit from the injured, then agreed to open the clinic with Chen Mengjie and teach her the Myriad Ages Medical Scripture.
• Chen Changsheng ordered Jun Lin, Liu Yidao, and the others to build a house, then made a sign reading “Cure Any Sickness.”
• Chen Changsheng taught Chen Mengjie to charge consultation fees, explaining that free treatment for the wealthy could unfairly burden other healers and discourage people from studying medicine.

Chen Changsheng taught Chen Mengjie that a healer must protect herself while helping others, and she began treating patients. Her first diagnosis was that Ling Dao had a violent pulse and would die within three hundred years, leaving him and the surrounding prodigies shocked.

• Chen Changsheng explained to Chen Mengjie that healers in the Cultivation World had to protect themselves from those they treated, and she realized how to practice medicine in the chaotic world.
• Chen Mengjie began receiving patients, and Baturu urged Ling Dao to seek treatment so he could learn techniques from Chen Changsheng.
• Ling Dao went to Chen Mengjie's clinic, where she examined his pulse and wrote a long prescription.
• Chen Mengjie told Ling Dao that his pulse indicated premature death and that he would die within three hundred years if untreated, shocking him and the other prodigies.