Chapter Summaries

Wang Hao explained why he believed Chen Changsheng might still be alive and planned to wait for his return by monitoring Liu Yidao and other potential allies. At the Ten Thousand Races Academy, Long Aotian despaired over the cost of the Original True Understanding and found Feng Zhi already challenging students in an arena.

• Wang Hao told Zhang Zhen that he hoped Chen Changsheng was alive and believed the Children of the Forbidden Ground might be hidden allies prepared for Chen Changsheng's return.
• Zhang Zhen deduced that Wang Hao was monitoring Liu Yidao rather than risking direct involvement in Chen Changsheng's uncertain plans.
• Wang Hao said he would wait outside the game until he understood Chen Changsheng's intentions, while others in the Chang Sheng Epoch and Pill Epoch waited to act as well.
• Long Aotian exchanged Spirit Liquid and blood for Virtual Points but found that he was still far short of the thirty million needed to buy the Original True Understanding.
• Long Aotian went to the Ten Thousand Races Academy plaza and saw that Feng Zhi had already set up an arena and defeated several students.

Feng Zhi and Long Aotian made money by defeating challengers, while Li Changsheng and “Sword Come” planned to earn Virtual Points through alchemy and secretly selling Chaos Qi. Chen Changsheng watched their progress and praised Zhang Ling, who earned over three hundred Virtual Points teaching the Talisman Dao.

• Feng Zhi and Long Aotian set up arenas and swiftly defeated challengers at the Ten Thousand Races Academy.
• Li Changsheng rejected “Sword Come’s” idea of setting up an arena and proposed that he refine pills while “Sword Come” searched for Natural Treasures.
• Li Changsheng revealed that he wanted the Chaos Body Forging Method so he could carry Chaos Qi and sell it to the Virtual World, and he told “Sword Come” to keep their plan secret.
• Xiao Hei told Chen Changsheng that Li Changsheng and the others had not yet grasped how to use the Virtual World, while Chen Changsheng said Zhang Ling and Meng De were progressing quickly.
• Zhang Ling taught the Talisman Dao to junior disciples, then counted their talismans and found they had earned more than three hundred Virtual Points that day.

Chen Changsheng praised Zhang Ling for earning Virtual Points through teaching talisman-making, then confronted Meng De for studying cultivation methods instead of pursuing rewards. Meng De defended his approach and the value of the Virtual World's knowledge, leaving Chen Changsheng furious at his refusal to chase conventional success.

• Chen Changsheng praised Zhang Ling's clever way of earning Virtual Points and predicted that more students would come to learn talisman-making from him.
• Chen Changsheng entered Meng De's room and criticized him for studying cultivation methods instead of earning Virtual Points.
• Meng De said he lacked the ability and resources to compete with students backed by powerful families and factions, but did not consider his life inferior.
• Meng De explained that Imperial Tutor's world offered hope to everyone and argued that making the most of limited resources could also be success.
• Meng De called the Virtual World's vast knowledge its greatest treasure, and Chen Changsheng condemned him as beyond saving.

Chen Changsheng praised Meng De for facing hardship without chasing power, then explained why Long Aotian and his companions’ businesses would soon draw the academy’s attention. At the academy’s core, Xu Qianzhui uncovered a link between the new shop and Liu Yidao, and learned that Chen Changsheng was its owner.

• Chen Changsheng left Meng De after insulting his cultivation manuals, then told Bai Ze that Meng De’s resilience made him admirable.
• Chen Changsheng predicted that the academy would intervene in Long Aotian and his companions’ activities because their free classes, arena matches, and pill sales threatened the academy’s order and income.
• Chen Changsheng warned Bai Ze to keep a low profile, suspecting Xu Qianzhui was watching them, and said Ming Yu would soon deliver the Chaos Beast’s origin.
• Xu Qianzhui and an old man discussed strange activities by Long Aotian, Zhang Ling, and Li Changsheng, then Xu revealed that Liu Yidao had funded the shop they visited.
• Xu Qianzhui identified Chen Changsheng as the shop’s owner and recognized him as the real cause for concern.

Xu Qianzhui decided to handle Liu Yidao’s affairs in person while Li Changsheng and the others saw their business ventures collapse under academy and clan pressure. The group compared their punishments, and Zhang Ling revealed that his Teacher had ordered him to draw ten Heaven-Piercing Talismans within three years or face being thrown into Hundun.

• Xu Qianzhui declined the old man's offer to intervene, saying he would personally deal with Liu Yidao and speak to students such as Long Aotian afterward.
• Long Aotian and Feng Zhi's arena lost money after advanced Combat Skill teachers challenged them and beat them, while Li Changsheng's alchemy business was halted by reprimands from the academy and his clan.
• Li Changsheng and Sword Come complained about their punishments, including Sword Come losing his resource supply for two hundred years after taking planted spirit herbs.
• Zhang Ling explained that his Teacher had ordered him to draw ten Heaven-Piercing Talismans within three years, threatening to throw him into Hundun if he failed.

Xu Qianzhui questioned the students about the Virtual World, then confronted Chen Changsheng, whom he accused of impersonating the Imperial Tutor. He attacked Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze in the void, where their disguises broke and a colossal Dharma Idol appeared.

• Xu Qianzhui warned the students to report suspicious matters to their elders, but Li Changsheng refused to reveal the Virtual World.
• After Xu Qianzhui left, Li Changsheng argued that confessing would not spare them from punishment, while Sword Come worried about the consequences if the Virtual World caused trouble.
• Xu Qianzhui visited Chen Changsheng's shop and accused him of impersonating the Imperial Tutor.
• Xu Qianzhui bound Chen Changsheng and teleported him and Bai Ze into the void, then attacked them with the power of the Great Dao.
• The attack shattered Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze's disguises, and a colossal Dharma Idol appeared.

Chen Changsheng, disguised as Lu Mingyu, convinced Xu Qianzhui not to interfere with the Virtual World, while Xu grew suspicious that he resembled his deceased teacher. After Xu left, Chen Changsheng explained why revealing his identity would entangle the Academy, and he suspected Xu would investigate Liu Yidao.

• Xu Qianzhui withdrew his power from Chen Changsheng and agreed to let Long Aotian and the others test the Virtual World without Academy interference.
• Xu Qianzhui said Chen Changsheng resembled his teacher and admitted he wished his teacher were alive, then left to handle other matters.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that revealing his identity could force Xu and the Ten Thousand Races Academy into a conflict of loyalties.
• Chen Changsheng reasoned that Xu had likely realized he was not Lu Mingyu but could not be sure he was Chen Changsheng, whose death had seemed genuine.
• Chen Changsheng suspected Xu would investigate Liu Yidao, whom Xu might mistake for the source of the apparent deception.

Liu Yidao explained to Wei Guang and Shui Yue why he had kept a low profile and why he could not escape the restraints of his masters. He left them stunned by describing Wang Hao’s power and Teacher’s fearsome history.

• Liu Yidao sneezed after leaving the Heavenly Court and joked to Wei Guang and Shui Yue that people were always plotting against him.
• Liu Yidao said he had stayed hidden in the Chang Sheng Epoch because his masters watched him and powerful figures feared the consequences of killing him.
• Liu Yidao described Wang Hao’s history and reputation as the Number One Demon Cultivator Under Heaven.
• Liu Yidao recounted Teacher’s bloody deeds and titles, explaining that even Wang Hao feared him.
• Shui Yue fell silent after hearing Liu Yidao’s explanation and sympathized with his plight.

Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze planned a Virtual World mission to revive the Imperial Tutor, hoping it would drive participants to risk everything. Long Aotian, Meng De, and the others received the mission to find five hidden spiritual artifacts, which could bring the Imperial Tutor back to life.

• Long Aotian, Li Changsheng, Feng Zhi, and the others concluded that the Shopkeeper had spared Ten Thousand Races Academy and discussed how they could earn more Virtual Points.
• Chen Changsheng asked Bai Ze how to motivate the academy students and gave him a plan centered on reviving the Imperial Tutor.
• Bai Ze approved the plan, and Chen Changsheng told Jiang Shan to connect the Virtual World framework to the Chang Sheng Epoch and cooperate with the scheme.
• Bai Ze entered the plan into the Virtual World's backend and activated it with Chen Changsheng's approval.
• Meng De and the others received a mission explaining that the Imperial Tutor's spiritual essence had become five artifacts, and that gathering them at the Imperial Preceptor's Mausoleum might revive him.

Li Changsheng and Sword Come accepted a mission to gather the Imperial Tutor’s spiritual relics and revive him, while Chen Changsheng planned their first trial. Xu Qianzhui approved the students’ leave and contacted Senior Lu after suspecting an impostor had infiltrated the academy, with Liu Yidao possibly connected.

• Li Changsheng persuaded Sword Come that the mission to revive the Imperial Tutor was worth pursuing, and both agreed to become Chosen.
• Chen Changsheng rejected Bai Ze’s suggestion of an Underworld trial and planned to send the students through the Apricot Forest Realm to find the Medical Immortal and earn the title of Physical Body Saint before entering the Heavens Forbidden Ground.
• Xu Qianzhui approved Long Aotian, Meng De, and the others’ leave requests and ordered teachers to monitor them.
• Xu Qianzhui concluded that the person posing as Lu Mingyu was an impostor because he showed no sorrow when the Imperial Tutor was mentioned.
• Xu Qianzhui told Senior Lu that someone was impersonating him and that the Ten Thousand Races Academy had been infiltrated, adding that the matter might be connected to Liu Yidao.

Xu Qianzhui grew alarmed over Lu Mingyu’s disappearance and sought help while investigating Liu Yidao and the suspected Nether River Forbidden Ground. Meanwhile, Chen Changsheng revealed his role in the scheme, planned to draw Wang Hao and his ancestor into the affair, and resolved to pursue the Emperor Realm path.

• Xu Qianzhui told Jun Lin that he suspected the Nether River Forbidden Ground was behind Liu Yidao and the person impersonating Senior Lu, and Jun Lin agreed to guard the outside of the epoch while Xu investigated.
• Xu Qianzhui ended the call and contacted more old acquaintances because Lu Mingyu’s disappearance was too serious to handle with Jun Lin alone.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that Xu Qianzhui’s alarm and calls for help were part of the reaction he had expected after making Lu Mingyu disappear.
• Chen Changsheng planned to leave a clone in the shop, locate Ye Yu, and draw Wang Hao and his ancestor into the conflict.
• Chen Changsheng rejected cultivating the Water Book and said he intended to pursue the Emperor Realm, believing he had ample time to reach it.

Chen Changsheng left his shop with Bai Ze as Meng De and four young cultivators entered the Apricot Forest Realm to pursue a mission to revive the Imperial Tutor. The four agreed to seek information separately and promised to share it if one of them failed to complete the mission.

• Chen Changsheng knocked Bai Ze down for biting him, then grabbed it and vanished from the shop.
• Meng De entered the Apricot Forest Realm through the Ten Thousand Races Academy's Teleportation Array, determined to revive the Imperial Tutor.
• Long Aotian, Feng Zhi, Zhang Ling, and Li Changsheng debated whether to cooperate or compete for the chance to revive the Imperial Tutor.
• Li Changsheng insisted he would not yield the mission, explaining that his admiration for the Imperial Tutor made the opportunity too important to give up.
• Zhang Ling proposed that they search separately for information from the Medical Immortal and share what they learned if they failed, and the others agreed.

Sword Come used its scent-tracking ability to search for the Sage Emperor while Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze discovered Ye Yu and Ye Yongxian at an Array Core guarding Old Man Yao’s seal. Chen Changsheng confronted Ye Yongxian, who claimed his presence made the seal safer, leaving the danger unresolved.

• Sword Come breathed in scents from across the world and crossed the void in search of the Sage Emperor.
• Bai Ze sensed Ye Yu at an Array Core, and Chen Changsheng worried that Ye Yu and Ye Yongxian’s presence could destabilize Old Man Yao’s seal.
• Chen Changsheng warned Bai Ze that Old Man Yao would seek revenge on him and those close to him if he escaped.
• Inside the Array Core, Ye Yu tried to persuade his father, Ye Yongxian, to abandon Bloodline Immortality, but Ye Yongxian refused.
• Chen Changsheng and Bai Ze entered the barrier, and Chen Changsheng questioned Ye Yongxian about risking the seal.
• Ye Yongxian said Ye Yu had brought him there to suppress the Array Core and argued that his own presence made it safer.

Chen Changsheng confronted Ye Yongxian over his plan to claim Ye Yu’s body, but Ye Yongxian refused to back down. Ye Yu offered his own body to protect the rest of the Ye Clan, and Chen Changsheng rejected the sacrifice.

• Chen Changsheng learned that Ye Yongxian had knowingly stayed in the Array Core to conceal Chen Changsheng’s survival and protect the seal from others.
• Chen Changsheng demanded that Ye Yongxian spare Ye Yu, but Ye Yongxian insisted he needed a share in Chen Changsheng’s plans and would not abandon his pursuit of Bloodline Immortality.
• Chen Changsheng threatened to kill Ye Yongxian and announced he would return in three days, while Bai Ze tried to defuse the conflict.
• Ye Yu explained that Ye Yongxian had never intended to take over his body, but warned that other Ye Clan members could die if their ancestor repeatedly sought new hosts.
• Ye Yu offered his own body to keep Ye Yongxian from taking over other clan members, and Chen Changsheng refused.

Chen Changsheng refused Ye Yu’s plan to sacrifice himself, but Ye Yu intervened to protect his father, Ye Yongxian, and begged Chen Changsheng to spare him. Chen Changsheng withdrew, and Ye Yu burned his True Spirit and died; Ye Yongxian blamed Chen Changsheng and mourned his son.

• Chen Changsheng rejected Ye Yu’s proposal and attacked Ye Yongxian, with Bai Ze joining the fight.
• Ye Yu stepped between them, and Chen Changsheng’s Fishing Rod pierced Ye Yu while hooking Ye Yongxian’s phantom form.
• Ye Yu knelt and begged Chen Changsheng to spare his father, and Chen Changsheng withdrew the Fishing Rod and agreed not to attack Ye Yongxian.
• Ye Yu told Ye Yongxian he was returning the life and abilities his father had given him, then burned his True Spirit and died.
• Chen Changsheng accused Ye Yongxian of causing Ye Yu’s death, but Ye Yongxian blamed Chen Changsheng and said Ye Yu should have lived.

Chen Changsheng confronted Ye Yongxian over the cost of his ideals and then went to speak with Old Man Yao inside the Array Core. Old Man Yao predicted Chen Changsheng would eventually choose personal attachments over justice and explained why he preferred to remain sealed, leaving Chen Changsheng to consider the consequences of his actions against the Forbidden Grounds.

• Ye Yongxian challenged Chen Changsheng over the deaths caused by his pursuit of justice, and Chen Changsheng promised to protect those close to him.
• Chen Changsheng accepted Ye Yongxian's grudge but agreed to cooperate with him, then entered the depths of the Array Core.
• Chen Changsheng sent Bai Ze to guard the entrance and drank wine with Old Man Yao through the great cauldron.
• Old Man Yao argued that Chen Changsheng would eventually abandon justice to protect his loved ones, as Old Man Yao believed he himself had done.
• Old Man Yao said he stayed sealed because he feared the returning Master of the Netherworld Forest and Dream of the Pill Epoch, then questioned Chen Changsheng's destruction and expulsion of the Forbidden Grounds.

Chen Changsheng argued with Old Man Yao about dignity, freedom, and the deaths caused by their choices, then rejected the idea that time would make him compromise. He left the sealed Old Man Yao warning that Chen Feng would eventually kill him with a sword that stood above time.

• Chen Changsheng told Old Man Yao that every living being deserved respect, while Old Man Yao defended the Forbidden Ground's Dark Turmoil as a means of survival.
• Chen Changsheng threatened to kill Old Man Yao unless he knelt and called him grandfather, but Old Man Yao refused to yield despite the danger.
• Chen Changsheng accused Old Man Yao of demanding that others abandon dignity and freedom while clinging to his own, then explained that he grieved for the dead without regretting his path.
• Chen Changsheng said his departed friends stood beyond time and insisted that he would not compromise with time.
• Chen Changsheng predicted that Chen Feng would become a new Sword God and kill Old Man Yao after mastering a sword art that could sever everything.
• Old Man Yao denied that he could be killed, and Chen Changsheng left, reminding him that many supposedly impossible things had already happened.

Long Aotian and his companions tried to reach the Medical Immortal in the Apricot Forest Realm so they could learn the Sage Emperor’s whereabouts, but they were forced to seek another way. At the summit, Xu Qianzhui, Ruan Su Xian, and Chen Mengjie watched them through a Profound Light Mirror and decided to play along with the hidden enemy’s plans.

• Long Aotian demanded to see the Medical Immortal despite being healthy, but a powerful Great Shang Dynasty general stopped him from forcing his way into the clinic.
• Long Aotian told Li Changsheng why he had backed down, and Zhang Ling said they needed to find a clever way to reach the Medical Immortal.
• Long Aotian and Feng Zhi left to fight so one of them could become injured enough to qualify for treatment.
• Zhang Ling refused Li Changsheng’s offer to fight, explaining that he planned to find a stronger opponent and leave Li Changsheng with the chance to injure himself.
• Xu Qianzhui, Ruan Su Xian, and Chen Mengjie watched the group through a Profound Light Mirror, and Xu Qianzhui decided they should uncover the academy visitors’ purpose without alerting them.

Xu Qianzhui and Ruan Su Xian disguised themselves as young men and wagered on who could keep their identity hidden longest as they investigated Zhang Ling’s mysterious abilities. Meanwhile, Li Changsheng watched Long Aotian and Feng Zhi battle, then called his great-aunt for help.

• Ruan Su Xian told Xu Qianzhui and Chen Mengjie that Zhang Ling had learned talisman abilities Ruan Su Xian had never taught him, and that those abilities seemed to come from Ruan Su Xian’s own lineage.
• Xu Qianzhui and Ruan Su Xian decided to approach the younger generation under false identities and wagered that whoever was recognized first would buy everyone drinks.
• Long Aotian and Feng Zhi fought fiercely in the remote Apricot Forest Realm while Li Changsheng watched and worried about lacking powerful backing.
• Li Changsheng contacted his great-aunt and asked her to come to the Chang Sheng Epoch to support him.

Li Changsheng, Long Aotian, and Feng Zhi failed to draw the Medical Immortal out with their injuries and devised a new plan to find someone skilled in Medical Skills. After they scattered to seek a healer, a mysterious man and woman chose which of them to support.

• Li Changsheng called his great-aunt and secured her promise to come to the Chang Sheng Epoch within two months and help him.
• A healer at Apricot Forest Mountain easily treated Long Aotian and Feng Zhi, explaining that only grave injuries would likely bring the Medical Immortal to intervene.
• Li Changsheng, frustrated that healers had also cured his self-inflicted poisoning, asked Long Aotian and Feng Zhi to injure him but learned they could not safely control the severity.
• Feng Zhi proposed finding someone skilled in Medical Skills to calibrate their injuries, and the three scattered to search for a healer.
• A mysterious woman chose Li Changsheng, while the man chose Feng Zhi and said Chen Xiao would take Long Aotian.