Recaps

Chen Fan reached the forty-fifth Ancient City and accepted a trial against six initial Spirit Refinement prodigies. Though he seemed outmatched at first, he appeared behind two sword cultivators with his blade at their throats.

• Chen Fan and his companions left Mu Yunshui and the younger Immortal Palace disciples behind and continued along the trial road.
• At the thirty-seventh Ancient City, Chen Fan met a mid Spirit Refinement old man who had abandoned hope of finding the Gods and Devils Wall and let the group pass without tribute.
• At the forty-fifth Ancient City, three Human Emperor-level powerhouses demanded tribute or that Chen Fan defeat six initial Spirit Refinement prodigies to pass.
• Chen Fan drew his sword and accepted the challenge, while Dugu Han agreed not to interfere and warned the elders to obey the rules.
• The six prodigies attacked together, breaking several of Chen Fan's Nine Palaces Sword Formation phantoms and pressing him into a disadvantage.
• Two sword cultivators appeared to sever Chen Fan's sword and pierce his throat, but his body was only an afterimage, and Chen Fan appeared behind them with his sword at their throats.

Chen Fan overwhelmed the Ancient City's six Spirit Refining Stage challengers with his speed and sword techniques, leaving the three Emperor-level judges stunned. As they rushed to stop the trial and save the six, Chen Fan's nine swords were poised to strike.

• Chen Fan wounded two sword cultivators with a lightning-fast attack, while the Ancient City's three Emperor-level judges chose to keep watching the trial.
• Dozens of cultivators gathered and watched as Chen Fan attacked the six Spirit Refining Stage standouts again.
• The six standouts formed a Six Harmonies Formation, but Chen Fan's figure and sword vanished from sight.
• Chen Fan reappeared where he had vanished, with nine purple-gold swords before him, and warned the six that he had never left.
• The three Emperor-level judges recognized that Chen Fan's visible figure was an afterimage and rushed to halt the trial and save the six standouts.

Chen Fan defeated six Spirit Refinement prodigies with Nine Swords Into One, then left the Ancient City with Dugu Han. At the forty-ninth city, the City Lord barred the Nine Palaces Sect from entering and provoked Chen Fan, setting the stage for a confrontation.

• Chen Fan broke the Six Harmonies Formation with Nine Swords Into One, and the three city lords stopped the fight after recognizing his potential.
• Dugu Han and Chen Fan departed, and witnesses spread word of Chen Fan’s victory across the Ancient Immortal Road.
• Chen Fan and Dugu Han passed through the forty-seventh and forty-eighth cities as they approached the forty-ninth city before Thunder Mountain.
• The forty-ninth City Lord declared that the Nine Palaces Sect and dogs were forbidden entry, drawing crowds from both cities.
• The City Lord mocked the Nine Palaces Sect and demanded that Dugu Han crawl in and roll out, while Chen Fan challenged his understanding of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams.

Chen Fan and Dugu Han challenged the two Ancient Cities before Thunder Mountain, provoking the Eight Trigrams Sword Sect and its gathered prodigies. Chen Fan demanded that all thirty-plus opponents attack him together as the group prepared to begin the challenge.

• Chen Fan rebuked the city lord, and Dugu Han broke the city lord's Divine Sense pressure and declared that Chen Fan had come to challenge the pass.
• The city lord mocked Chen Fan's chances, while the lord of the Fiftieth City arrived with other Emperor-level powerhouses and belittled the Nine Palaces Sect.
• Dugu Han and the Eight Trigrams Sword Sect's city lord argued over the origins and strength of their sword arts, and Dugu Han praised the future strength of his master, Nine Palaces Elder.
• Chen Fan and Dugu Han mocked the city lords, prompting more than thirty Initial Spirit Refinement Stage prodigies to gather and taunt Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan remained calm and ordered the gathered prodigies to attack him together.

Chen Fan challenged the prodigies guarding the city and revealed overwhelming speed and swordsmanship, killing one with a single strike. He then dragged the thirty remaining Spirit Refining Stage prodigies from the sky, leaving them crashing toward the ground.

• The city’s Human Emperor-level leaders ordered five prodigies to test Chen Fan while they watched for Dugu Han’s possible scheme.
• Chen Fan used Nine Palaces Footwork to evade the five prodigies’ attacks and cut one’s throat with a single sword strike.
• Chen Fan explained that he had attacked openly, but the prodigies had been unable to follow his speed.
• Chen Fan sent crystalline threads skyward and pulled all thirty remaining prodigies down from the air.

Chen Fan confronted thirty-four early-stage Spirit Refining prodigies from two Ancient Cities, using the battle to restore his severed Dao. After revealing his incomplete Life and Death Reincarnation Dao and Nirvana Sword Intent, he unleashed a massive sword strike against them all.

• Chen Fan used the Divine Silkworm Seal to drag the prodigies together, then attacked Liu Wan, the Eight Trigrams Sword Art cultivator.
• Liu Wan countered with the Eight Trigrams Sword Tone, and Chen Fan shattered its soundwaves with a single strike.
• Dugu Han explained to Bald Bird that Chen Fan had come to make his severed Dao whole, not to claim a victory or ranking.
• The prodigies freed themselves and surrounded Chen Fan, who revealed his incomplete Dao and declared that he would fight them at full strength.
• A Human Emperor-level powerhouse realized Chen Fan was mending his Dao through battle and warned the prodigies not to meet it head-on.
• Chen Fan formed a vast black-and-white sword from his Life and Death Reincarnation Dao and slashed it down across all the prodigies.

Chen Fan fought Liu Wan, a red-sword woman, and dozens of prodigies in the Ancient City, restoring half of his severed Great Dao before the city lord disrupted his battle. After refusing to yield, Chen Fan unleashed the Nine Palaces Footwork and sent nine equally powerful figures to attack his opponents.

• Chen Fan’s black-and-white sword strike engulfed more than thirty prodigies, but Liu Wan and the red-sword woman broke through the flames and joined him in battle.
• Chen Fan fought Liu Wan and the woman through dozens of exchanges, and their intense duel helped all three advance their understanding of the Dao.
• The city lord ordered the other prodigies to attack, breaking Chen Fan’s battle and injuring him while Liu Wan and the woman grew exhausted.
• The city lord gave Heaven-Replenishing Pills to Liu Wan and the woman, who quickly recovered and joined the remaining elites in another assault on Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan opened his vertical eye, restored part of his Life and Death Reincarnation intent, and used the Nine Palaces Footwork to surround his opponents with nine figures.
• Chen Fan’s nine figures attacked at once, and one elite was killed by a sword strike before Liu Wan and the others could respond.

Chen Fan used Nine-Nine Restoration to kill all thirty-five elites in the Ancient City, while Dugu Han held off the city’s Human Emperor powerhouses. Chen Fan and his companions continued toward Thunder Mountain, as Mu Yunshui’s group learned of his victories and approached the final two cities.

• Chen Fan unleashed Nine-Nine Restoration, killing twenty-seven elites in three cycles while Dugu Han blocked the Human Emperor powerhouses’ attacks.
• Chen Fan killed the wounded Liu Wan and the woman, leaving none of the thirty-five elites alive.
• Dugu Han challenged the furious city lords, who withdrew rather than fight him, then led Chen Fan, Bald Bird, and Little Golden Monkey onward.
• Mu Yunshui and Immortal Palace’s three Dao Protectors heard that Chen Fan had forced his way through the forty-fifth city and wondered how he would fare against the final two cities.
• The group crossed three more Ancient Cities, and a Dao Protector expected Chen Fan’s party to still be stuck outside the forty-eighth city.

Mu Yunshui and the Immortal Palace Dao Protectors learned that Chen Fan had defeated thirty-five outstanding talents in Forty-Ninth City, then left for Thunder Mountain with his reputation transformed. Chen Fan began climbing the mountain to seek enlightenment, with Little Golden Monkey joining him as Dugu Han sensed the monkey carried a familiar aura.

• Mu Yunshui and the three Immortal Palace Dao Protectors entered Forty-Ninth City and learned Chen Fan had defeated thirty-five talents while Dugu Han held off the two City Lords.
• Human Emperor experts confirmed Chen Fan had overwhelmed Liu Wan and another Eight Trigrams inheritor using powerful arts and repairing his severed Great Dao through battle.
• Mu Yunshui and the Dao Protectors passed the final two Ancient Cities, while Mu Yunshui reflected that Chen Fan had surpassed them.
• Chen Fan and his companions reached Thunder Mountain, where Dugu Han warned him not to underestimate the other talented cultivators seeking enlightenment there.
• Chen Fan leapt up Thunder Mountain, and Little Golden Monkey grabbed his robe and climbed with him.
• Chen Fan placed Little Golden Monkey on his shoulder and promised to take it away if the lightning became too much, while Dugu Han remarked that the monkey's aura seemed familiar.

Chen Fan and Mu Yunshui waited on Thunder Mountain for the semiannual thunderstorm, while Chen Fan wondered why Qin Xian'er had bypassed the mountain. When the storm began, the prodigies prepared to fight for the few places beneath the Enlightenment God Tree.

• Chen Fan reached Thunder Mountain, found no trace of Qin Xian'er, and sat where the lingering lightning essence was strongest.
• Chen Fan sat beside a Western Desert monk and tempered the Chaos Qi he was shaping into a sword sheath.
• Mu Yunshui arrived, asked Chen Fan about Qin Xian'er, and sat beside him after learning she had not come to Thunder Mountain.
• Below the mountain, Dugu Han stopped Bald Bird from provoking the Immortal Palace Dao Protectors, warning that Chen Fan should avoid making enemies.
• At dawn, the thunderstorm began, and Chen Fan, Mu Yunshui, and the other prodigies rose as killing intent spread across the mountain.

Chen Fan and Mu Yunshui endured the Divine Soul-attacking lightning as the Enlightenment God Tree descended on Thunder Mountain. When prodigies rushed to claim the places beneath it and attack them, Chen Fan and Mu Yunshui fought back, and the tree took root with ten prayer mats appearing beneath it.

• Chen Fan warned Mu Yunshui that the lightning threatened cultivators' Divine Souls, and she deflected a bolt with her sword.
• The lightning intensified across Thunder Mountain, killing unprepared prodigies as Chen Fan, Mu Yunshui, and the monk defended themselves.
• The lightning-formed Enlightenment God Tree descended, and the prodigies charged toward the place where it would take root.
• Chen Fan and Mu Yunshui fought off the attacking cultivators, and Chen Fan killed a Body Connection cultivator.
• The Enlightenment God Tree took root and ten prayer mats woven from electric light appeared beneath it.

Chen Fan fought through the chaos beneath the Enlightenment God Tree and secured a meditation cushion for Mu Yunshui, then confronted the War Clan siblings Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge as they blocked his path. The chapter ended with Chen Fan unleashing his Taiji diagram and challenging the siblings head-on.

• Chen Fan dodged a Monster Beast's attack and led Mu Yunshui toward the cushions, cutting a path through the battling prodigies.
• Chen Fan pushed Mu Yunshui onto a cushion, then blocked a hidden assassin's divine technique and killed him with Sword Qi.
• Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge emerged from hiding and began slaughtering prodigies as they fought for the cushions.
• Chen Fan charged toward the path guarded by the War Clan siblings despite Mu Yunshui's warning.
• Zhan Chuge and Zhan Yuewu recognized Chen Fan and attacked him, while he invoked his Taiji diagram and declared that he did not need their acknowledgment.

Chen Fan defeated Zhan Chuge and Zhan Yuewu in the fight for the meditation cushions beneath the Enlightenment God Tree and claimed one for himself. After two days of fighting, all ten cushions were occupied, and a month later the lightning stopped as the prodigies continued comprehending the Dao in peace.

• Chen Fan fought Zhan Chuge and Zhan Yuewu at once, using his speed and sword techniques to drive them back.
• Chen Fan bound Zhan Yuewu's banner, broke her golden boot, and then battered Zhan Chuge away from the meditation cushion.
• Chen Fan claimed a cushion and began comprehending the Dao as Mu Yunshui joined him.
• Zhan Chuge and Zhan Yuewu returned to the battle and seized two cushions, while the monk from the Western Desert also advanced toward one.
• Two days later, prodigies occupied all ten meditation cushions, and a month later the lightning stopped.

Chen Fan continued his enlightenment beneath the Thunder Enlightenment God Tree as the War Clan siblings waited to confront him and Mu Yunshui moved to protect him. When the tree vanished, Chen Fan seized and pulled down all its remaining blue radiance, surrounding himself with an overwhelming Dao resonance.

• Chen Fan’s Great Dao, vitality, Life and Death Reincarnation realm, and Nirvana Sword Intent gradually recovered and took shape beneath the divine tree.
• Several months later, as the Enlightenment God Tree faded, talents began leaving their meditation cushions, while Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge stayed to confront Chen Fan.
• Mu Yunshui approached Chen Fan and told the War Clan siblings she would repay his past kindness, despite Zhan Chuge warning her not to harm relations between their factions.
• The Enlightenment God Tree exploded into blue radiance, and Chen Fan opened his eyes as his cushion and lightning protection vanished.
• Chen Fan used his taiji diagram and a hand seal to seize the escaping radiance and pull it down from the clouds, enveloping himself in powerful Dao resonance.

Chen Fan forcibly retained the Enlightenment God Tree’s blue radiance and used it to restore most of his severed Dao, enduring hours of immense pressure. After his comprehension ended, the War Clan siblings attacked, and Chen Fan countered them before pursuing the fleeing prodigies down Thunder Mountain, leaving the Dao Protectors below stunned.

• Chen Fan used the Divine Silkworm Seal to retain the Enlightenment God Tree’s blue radiance and refined it while comprehending the Dao.
• The gathered prodigies expected the Heavenly Dao to punish Chen Fan, but no lightning struck, and they watched him endure the radiance for hours.
• Chen Fan reconnected most of his severed Dao before reaching his limit and releasing the blue radiance back into the sky.
• Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge attacked Chen Fan as the radiance escaped, but he blocked their strikes and counterattacked with a powerful sword strike.
• Chen Fan pursued the War Clan siblings and dozens of prodigies down Thunder Mountain, while Mu Yunshui watched in shock.
• The Dao Protectors below Thunder Mountain saw dozens of prodigies flee down the mountain and stood stunned.

Chen Fan drove the prodigies from Thunder Mountain with a devastating sword strike and learned that the road ahead held powerful rivals seeking the Gods and Devils Wall. He left the mountain with Little Golden Monkey, prepared to settle accounts with the hostile Dao Protectors.

• Chen Fan unleashed his final, nearly strength-draining sword strike, injuring some prodigies and forcing the rest to flee Thunder Mountain.
• Chen Fan sensed that the blue radiance from the Enlightenment God Tree had nearly mended his Great Dao, bringing him closer to the Spirit Refining Stage.
• Mu Yunshui warned Chen Fan that powerful older-generation prodigies, including Jian Tianmo and Holy Son Cai Teng, awaited farther along the Ancient Immortal Road in search of the Gods and Devils Wall.
• Mu Yunshui left with the Immortal Palace's three Dao Protectors, while Little Golden Monkey emerged from Chen Fan's robes with several times more golden runes covering its body.
• Chen Fan descended the mountain with Little Golden Monkey to meet Dugu Han and Bald Bird as the War Clan siblings and other Dao Protectors watched him hostilely.

Chen Fan fought the War Clan siblings while Dugu Han confronted guardians who had been sent by his former junior brother, Liu Tianxiao. The guardians withdrew as Chen Fan continued to press his attack, and onlookers fled, warning that he must never be provoked.

• The guardians accused Chen Fan of killing the prodigies, but Bald Bird and Little Golden Monkey pointed out that the War Clan siblings had killed even more.
• Chen Fan challenged the guardians and attacked Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge, trading blows with them and gaining the upper hand.
• A guardian tried to stop Chen Fan, but Dugu Han struck him down with the Nine Palaces Sword Formation.
• Dugu Han revealed that Liu Tianxiao had sent the guardians to kill him and vowed to settle their old and new debts.
• A War Clan guardian called for the fighting to end, but Chen Fan ignored him and continued attacking the War Clan siblings.
• Cultivators watching from afar fled, declaring that Chen Fan must never be provoked.

Chen Fan defeated Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge, then learned the War Clan possessed a damaged sword sheath that might be connected to one in his Storage Ring. The War Clan offered to lend it for one year if he traveled with them, but Chen Fan rejected the terms and resumed attacking the siblings.

• Chen Fan drove Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge back while Dugu Han blocked the War Clan's guardians from intervening.
• Dugu Han stopped Chen Fan from killing Zhan Yuewu and revealed that the War Clan had a damaged sword sheath from the Ancient Immortal Court.
• Chen Fan agreed to spare the siblings while Dugu Han demanded the sword sheath, and Bald Bird suggested borrowing it for fifty years.
• The War Clan refused the fifty-year loan, then offered to lend the sheath for one year if Chen Fan traveled with them.
• Chen Fan rejected the offer and slashed at Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge again.

Chen Fan fought Zhan Chuge and Zhan Yuewu while Dugu Han kept the War Clan guardians at bay. The War Clan elder revealed an ancestral sword sheath that reacted to Chen Fan’s matching sheath, and the battle ended with Chen Fan holding a blade to one guardian’s throat.

• Chen Fan defeated Zhan Chuge and blocked the siblings’ attempt to retreat as Dugu Han refused the War Clan’s demand to stop.
• The War Clan elder drew a sword from an ancestral sheath, and both it and the sheath in Chen Fan’s Storage Ring trembled toward each other.
• Dugu Han demanded to inspect the sheath, but the elder attacked him, and their clash left them evenly matched.
• The War Clan guardians rushed to rescue Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge while Chen Fan used Nine Palaces Footwork to surround the siblings with nine figures.
• After the guardians struck at Chen Fan’s illusory figures, Chen Fan appeared behind them and pressed his blade to one guardian’s throat.

Chen Fan wounded a War Clan Dao Protector but could not overcome his formidable vitality, as the two sword sheaths began fusing into an ancient treasure. Dugu Han confronted the Dao Protectors while Little Golden Monkey unleashed a dazzling golden radiance.

• Chen Fan struck the War Clan Dao Protector across the throat, but the wounded elder healed and charged at him.
• Dugu Han battled the War Clan elder while the other Dao Protector rescued Zhan Yuewu and Zhan Chuge, who joined the attack on Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan's sword sheath and the War Clan elder's sheath flew together and began fusing, drawing the attention of the watching Dao Protectors.
• Dugu Han stripped the War Clan elder's sword of its power and wounded him, while Chen Fan discovered that no one could move the merging sheaths.
• The War Clan Dao Protectors cornered Chen Fan, but Dugu Han appeared to confront them as Little Golden Monkey released a tremendous golden light.

Little Golden Monkey underwent an ancestral reversion, killed the War Clan’s Dao Protectors, and tore the fused sword sheath free. Bald Bird and Dugu Han recognized its resemblance to a legendary Monkey King, whom Dugu Han named Equal to Heaven, or the God of War.

• Little Golden Monkey transformed into a huge, blood-eyed golden monkey and killed the War Clan’s two Dao Protectors, while the other Dao Protectors fled.
• Bald Bird urged Little Golden Monkey to take the sword sheath, but it roared at him before turning to claim it.
• Little Golden Monkey gripped the fused sword sheath and, after a struggle, tore it free and flew back toward Chen Fan and the others.
• Bald Bird and Dugu Han compared Little Golden Monkey to a Monkey King from legends about the war between immortals and demons.
• Dugu Han recalled that ancient records called the Monkey King Equal to Heaven, or the God of War.

Chen Fan and his companions discussed ancient figures whose stories resembled myths from Chen Fan’s world, then considered evidence that the ancient war between immortals and demons had left a vast historical mystery. Little Golden Monkey fell unconscious, and after examining the newly restored sword sheath, Dugu Han warned Chen Fan never to use it on the Ancient Immortal Road.

• Chen Fan recounted a myth from his world, and Bald Bird identified Tang Xuan, Marshal Tianpeng, Sand Monk, and the Monkey King as real figures from the ancient era whose lives differed from the tale.
• Bald Bird said the Monkey King had been suppressed by Tathagata Buddha and Amitabha Buddha before escaping, after which the war between immortals and demons began and records vanished for tens of thousands of years.
• Chen Fan described seeing a shattered Immortal Court and ancient corpses in the void, prompting Bald Bird and Dugu Han to wonder what had destroyed the immortals and demons.
• Little Golden Monkey fell unconscious after losing its ability to fly, and Chen Fan and Dugu Han found that its Divine Soul was weak but recovering.
• Bald Bird noticed that the restored sword sheath was missing a red stone, and Dugu Han found it could shatter a Nine Palaces formation pattern before warning Chen Fan never to use it on the Ancient Immortal Road.

Chen Fan and his companions crossed the desolate Ancient Immortal Road and reached a vast Marketplace controlled by the Hell Sect. As they investigated the unusual presence, Chen Fan worried that the Qin Clan might be rushing toward a way to teleport Xian'er back to Earth.

• Dugu Han warned Chen Fan that using the transformed sword sheath on the fragile Ancient Immortal Road could destroy it, so Chen Fan stored it away.
• Chen Fan, Dugu Han, and Bald Bird traveled for seven days and found a bustling Marketplace where they recognized former Heavenly Prodigy Battlefield cultivators.
• Dugu Han identified the Marketplace's guards as members of the Hell Sect, and he and Bald Bird wondered why the secretive force had gathered there in such numbers.
• Chen Fan urged the group to find Xian'er, concerned that the Qin Clan's haste meant something was wrong.
• Bald Bird suddenly wondered whether the Qin Clan intended to take Xian'er and teleport back to Earth.

Chen Fan learned that the Qin Clan was searching the Ancient Immortal Road for a way to return to the Earth Cultivation World and retrieve an immortal formation disk. After failing to locate the clan, he prepared to return to Earth, but the Bald Bird arrived with alarming news that the world was finished.

• Dugu Han explained that Qin Xian'er's mother had taken the Qin Clan's immortal formation disk to the Earth Cultivation World, and that Ye Qingyang had once pursued it.
• Chen Fan suspected that Ye Qingyang might have been an incarnation of the Fat Daoist and feared the Qin Clan would discover his identity and threaten Chen Jingjing and the others.
• Dugu Han said the Qin Clan had brought three late-stage Spirit Refinement protectors, and Chen Fan decided to find them and return to Earth.
• Chen Fan and Dugu Han searched the Marketplace for the Qin Clan but found only a report that its members had passed through more than a month earlier.
• The Bald Bird returned with borrowed divine mineral materials and announced that the Earth Cultivation World was finished.

Chen Fan learned that the Hell Sect was preparing to reach the Earth Cultivation World, then chose to enter Immortal River City despite the dangers there. He found Qin Xian'er’s aura among the city’s gathered elite talents.

• Bald Bird told Chen Fan that the Hell Sect was gathering materials for a Teleportation Array aimed at the Earth Cultivation World.
• Chen Fan worried that the Earth Cultivation World could not withstand the Hell Sect and Qin Clan, and decided to find Qin Xian'er for answers about their plans and the world breach.
• Bald Bird explained that Immortal River City drew powerful cultivators seeking the Gods and Devils Wall, and Chen Fan chose to go there despite the risks.
• After a month of travel, Chen Fan and Dugu Han reached Immortal River City, where Dugu Han urged Chen Fan to use the Nine Palaces Token if danger came.
• Chen Fan sensed Jian Tianmo, Holy Son Cai Teng, Fei Fengxuan, Dugu Ghost Sword, and finally Qin Xian'er within the city.