Chapter Summaries

Chen Fan discovered that the golden stone could absorb earth-element aura and produce vast amounts of Gold Essence, then refined a drop that greatly advanced his Burning Gold Scripture. As he recovered from the dangerous process, panicked servants outside his room reported that something had happened.

• Chen Fan considered Li Baimin's account of the Burning Earth Chapter and waited for news while studying the golden stone.
• Chen Fan used the Burning Gold Scripture to draw metal-element true essence from the stone, which began absorbing earth-element aura and forming Gold Essence.
• Chen Fan realized the stone could create Gold Essence at an extraordinary rate and concealed his guest room with a Concealment Array.
• The Gold Essence entered Chen Fan's palm and nearly tore apart his arm, so he repeatedly swallowed Pure Wood Essence to heal himself.
• Chen Fan refined the Gold Essence, advancing his Burning Gold Scripture from Foundation Establishment Late Stage to peak Golden Core Initial Stage and strengthening his body.
• Chen Fan heard panicked servants outside his room as a disturbance arose.

Chen Fan learned that the Burning Earth Art was believed to be in the outer regions and joined a group preparing to travel there. He waited by a Teleportation Array as cultivators gathered, then discovered that a powerful group of late Golden Core cultivators was being sent to a place that allowed entry only to those below that stage.

• Chen Fan kept the golden stone hidden and remained in the Li residence while Li Baimin searched for a way to leave the imperial city.
• Li Baimin reported that the Human Emperor and Spirit Refining Stage cultivators had gone to the outer regions, and that the city's main Teleportation Array had been sealed.
• Li Baimin later revealed that the Kingdom of Wu had information about the Burning Earth Art, which was believed to be in the outer regions, and that late Golden Core cultivators would soon be sent there.
• Chen Fan left the Li residence and waited beside a Teleportation Array outside the imperial city, where Nascent Soul cultivators also gathered.
• Three Spirit Refining Stage cultivators arrived with dozens of late Golden Core cultivators, including the Human Emperor's daughter and two ministers' sons.
• A Nascent Soul Realm cultivator explained that only those below the late Golden Core stage could enter the destination, then used Talismans to suppress his cultivation to that stage.

Chen Fan and the other cultivators crossed the border of the Kingdom of Wu in search of the Burning Earth Art, where Monster Beasts attacked those without the kingdom’s protection. After a young noble provoked Chen Fan and a blue-eyed woman showed surprise at him, Chen Fan watched the protected group leave and faced the choice of following through the dangerous passage.

• Three Spirit Refining Stage powerhouses warned the crowd to surrender the item they sought to the Human Emperor, then activated the Teleportation Array with Spirit Stones.
• Chen Fan teleported with the cultivators to the desert border, where Monster Beasts killed several travelers and turned their attention toward the newcomers.
• A Spirit Refining Stage powerhouse opened a passage through the city wall and marked the late Golden Core cultivators chosen by the Human Emperor with the character "Wu".
• Monster Beasts declared they would spare those marked by the Kingdom of Wu and target the unprotected cultivators, leaving Chen Fan concerned that using his hidden methods would attract attention.
• A young late Golden Core noble shoved and insulted Chen Fan, while another young powerhouse mocked him; a blue-eyed young woman glanced at Chen Fan with surprise before leaving with the protected group.
• Chen Fan chose not to retaliate, and some cultivators followed the protected group toward the passage while others stayed behind to wait for the fighting.

Chen Fan escaped the Monster Beasts’ attack on the cultivators, but a Nascent Soul Early Stage Monster Beast pursued him across the desert. After drawing it away from the others, Chen Fan stopped and prepared to strike with the little black coffin.

• Monster Beasts attacked cultivators without golden characters as Chen Fan and the others raced through their blockade into the desert.
• A Nascent Soul Early Stage Monster Beast singled out Chen Fan and chased him, ignoring other cultivators along the way.
• Chen Fan fled deeper into the desert, drawing the Monster Beast away from the crowd while the Human Emperor’s daughter and the remaining cultivators continued onward.
• The Monster Beast’s clanmates departed after hearing it had pursued a Golden Core youth, while the other cultivators assumed Chen Fan had been killed.
• Chen Fan stopped in a remote part of the desert, bound the little black coffin with crystalline threads, and unfurled his domain to lock the pursuing Monster Beast in place.

Chen Fan killed the Demon Race man with the small black coffin and reached a Marketplace where cultivators prepared for the secret realm’s opening. There, he suspected a fat cultivator was connected to the mysterious Fat Daoist before learning the secret realm’s location and secretly observing the assembled experts.

• Chen Fan used the Divine Silkworm Seal to open the small black coffin, whose pressure killed the Demon Race man, then fled across the desert.
• Chen Fan reached a dilapidated Marketplace and overheard cultivators discussing the ancient Soul Division Stage expert’s secret realm and the Burning Earth Art.
• Chen Fan heard a fat cultivator name several prominent arrivals and suspected the man was connected to the Fat Daoist he had met years earlier.
• The fat cultivator noticed Chen Fan and vanished from the Marketplace before Chen Fan could follow him.
• Chen Fan bought a spiritual herb to learn the secret realm’s location, then concealed himself near a mountain to watch the gathered experts.

Chen Fan learned that eighty-one entrances would lead thousands of cultivators into a deadly secret realm to seek the supreme treasure and the Burning Earth Art. As the realm opened, a curtain of light descended over Chen Fan and the others, preparing to transport them inside.

• Chen Fan saw cultivators from the Kingdom of Wu and other factions gather, each bearing a golden character that would protect them from death in the secret realm.
• A Spirit Refining Stage expert explained that the cultivators could attack anyone inside and warned them to find the supreme treasure and the Burning Earth Art.
• White Bone Old Devil asked whether cultivators could attack those of the same faction, and the expert confirmed that they could.
• Chen Fan decided to use the Golden Stone to cultivate the Burning Gold Scripture for two days before seeking treasure.
• At daybreak, the Human Emperor and three other experts opened the secret realm, and Chen Fan saw one of eighty-one streams of light descend as a curtain over his group.

Chen Fan was pursued by the Kite Eagle Clan and Kingdom of Wu cultivators after the princess revealed his location just before the secret realm opened. He fought through their ambush and raced for the entrance using the Nine Palaces Sword Art, which the Spirit Refining Stage elders recognized.

• A four-horned Kite Eagle Clan member asked the Kingdom of Wu cultivators about his missing clansman and threatened war if they had harmed him.
• The Kingdom of Wu princess appeared to see through Chen Fan's hiding place, then pointed him out as the secret realm entrance stabilized and entered first.
• The four-horned man and several Kingdom of Wu cultivators pursued Chen Fan, while two minister's descendants demanded his life-saving treasure.
• Chen Fan attacked the two young men and a late Golden Core Stage elder, then used an Eight Trigrams Sword Formation to speed himself toward the entrance and slow his pursuers.
• The Spirit Refining Stage elders recognized Chen Fan's Nine Palaces Sword Art.

Chen Fan entered the Vast Secret Realm, avoided provoking a powerful being beneath a lake, and traveled through the empty wilderness. On the third day, he encountered Demon Race cultivators forcing human captives to mine a forbidden land, where he suspected the Burning Earth Chapter might be hidden.

• Chen Fan entered the secret realm as the Kite Eagle Clan man and other cultivators pursued him through the gate.
• Several Spirit Refining Stage experts noted Chen Fan's mastery of the Nine Palaces Sword Art and wondered about his origins.
• Chen Fan discovered a tranquil lake and spoke with a terrifying existence beneath it, then flew away rather than risk a fight.
• After traveling for two days without finding anyone, Chen Fan detected a group of Golden Core late-stage humans, Demon Race cultivators, and Monster Beasts.
• Two Monster Beasts approached Chen Fan and ordered him to join the human captives mining a forbidden land for a supreme treasure, so he reconsidered attacking them.

Chen Fan was taken with other human cultivators to a cursed mountain where a golden page and powerful Spirit Treasures lay among the bones of previous victims. A humanoid Monster Beast forced the captives to climb the mountain, and the chapter ended with them facing the curse as unwilling fodder.

• Two Monster Beasts and a three-eyed Nascent Soul Realm Monster Beast captured Chen Fan and led him to a forest where human cultivators were being held.
• Chen Fan discovered a barren mountain surrounded by skeletons and battered weapons, with seven-star Spirit Treasures and a golden page hanging in an ancient tree.
• A humanoid Monster Beast appeared, its forehead covered in golden seals that let it keep human form despite its suppressed cultivation.
• The humanoid Monster Beast ordered the human captives to retrieve the golden page and Spirit Treasures, promising rewards if they obeyed.
• When one cultivator refused, the humanoid Monster Beast tormented him with its gaze until he agreed to climb the cursed mountain.

The Monster Beasts forced the cultivators toward an ancient tree whose curse dragged victims away and reduced them to bones. Chen Fan realized how the curse worked, erased the young master’s control mark, and rushed toward the summit as the Monster Beast young master advanced too.

• The three-eyed Monster Beast ordered three men to test the curse’s boundary, then killed them with corrosive True Qi when they refused to continue.
• The Monster Beast young master marked Chen Fan as a prospective servant, but Chen Fan sealed the mark with his Divine Soul.
• The four other cultivators chosen to approach the tree stepped forward, and the curse dragged two of them away to their deaths.
• The young master recognized how the curse worked and swept dozens of cultivators toward the summit with a hurricane.
• Chen Fan understood the curse, erased the red mark, and used Nine Palaces Footwork to race toward the summit.

Chen Fan stole the golden page from the ancient tree and revealed his strength as he fought through the Monster Beasts. He cornered the young lord of the Monster Beasts and ordered him to retrieve the Spirit Treasures in exchange for his life.

• Chen Fan used his Life and Death Reincarnation realm to resist the ancient tree’s curse, seized the golden page before the young lord of the Monster Beasts, and escaped downhill.
• The young lord ordered the Three-Eyed Monster Beast and the others to kill Chen Fan, but Chen Fan cut down several Monster Beasts with a single sword strike.
• Chen Fan shattered the Three-Eyed Monster Beast’s attack with Nirvana Sword Intent and wounded its claw while its attack failed to harm him.
• Chen Fan fought through the Monster Beast pack with his sword and an invisible fist, forcing the young lord to flee.
• Chen Fan caught the young lord with his sword at the throat and told him to retrieve all the Spirit Treasures if he wanted to live.

Chen Fan defeated and killed Yuan Chuge, the young master of the Red Gold Snake Clan, after Yuan refused to surrender his Spirit Treasures. Chen Fan collected all four treasures and flew away, only to discover that the golden page did not contain the Burning Earth Chapter.

• Chen Fan struck Yuan Chuge and demanded that he hand over every Spirit Treasure within a quarter-hour, threatening to kill his followers for each delay.
• Yuan Chuge revealed he was the Red Gold Snake Clan’s young master, dismissed his followers as servants, and tried to kill himself to leave the secret realm.
• Chen Fan stopped Yuan Chuge and attacked him with purple-gold sword shadows, while the Three-Eyed Monster Beast and the other Monster Beasts fled.
• Chen Fan killed Yuan Chuge, who vanished after vowing revenge, then picked up all four Spirit Treasures from the mountaintop.
• Chen Fan flew away with the golden page and realized it did not contain the Burning Earth Chapter.

Chen Fan gained the Azure Dragon Lotus Hand and four valuable Artifact Hearts, then witnessed a red-haired Golden Core cultivator defeat a Nascent Soul golden bull before leaving to cultivate. At the secret realm entrance, Yuan Chuge revealed that Chen Fan had taken a golden page from him and demanded to reenter the realm to kill him.

• Chen Fan learned that the golden page contained the profound Azure Dragon Lotus Hand and kept the Artifact Hearts from four spiritually depleted Spirit Treasures.
• Chen Fan decided to find a safe place to cultivate, but saw a red-haired youth battle a Nascent Soul Early Stage golden bull and drive it away.
• The red-haired youth tore open space with his halberd and pursued the fleeing bull, while Chen Fan left to raise his cultivation.
• At a secret realm entrance, a middle-aged Golden Core cultivator asked to enter again after losing his golden-character protection, and a scarlet-eyed Red Gold Snake Clan powerhouse let him return.
• Yuan Chuge emerged from the realm and told his ancestor that a human genius at the Golden Core Early Stage had defeated him.
• Yuan Chuge said Chen Fan had taken a golden page before he could identify it and demanded to reenter the realm, but his ancestor refused to let him go without protection.

Chen Fan discovered a cave filled with ancient metal-element essence and moved to harvest its golden stalactites. The Crown Prince of Li Guo and a group of Shu Mountain cultivators arrived, claimed the treasure, and demanded that Chen Fan hand it over.

• Chen Fan found a cave whose saturated metal-element essence had burst through its stone entrance, revealing golden stalactites formed over tens of thousands of years.
• Chen Fan decided to collect the cave’s treasures, hoping the essence would help him advance toward late Golden Core.
• A lightning-wielding man destroyed Chen Fan’s manifested hand and ordered him to leave, while Fei Fengxuan, Fei Chuchu, and other cultivators arrived.
• Chen Fan recognized that Fei Fengxuan and Fei Chuchu had joined Shu Mountain, which was supporting Li Guo in its war against Wu.
• Chen Fan refused to leave without the gold stones and began cutting the stalactites as the Crown Prince of Li Guo demanded that he bring them over as tribute.

Chen Fan challenged Li Lin, crown prince of Li Guo, over the goldstones and fought him with the Nine Palaces Sword Art. Li Lin shattered Chen Fan’s twin sword formations, but his criticism gave Chen Fan a sudden insight into how the sword art should be used.

• Chen Fan stored the goldstones, identified Li Lin, and dodged one strike of Purple Heaven Divine Lightning before another hit his Golden Thread Robe.
• Li Lin revealed that he had slain a Nine Palaces Sword Art inheritor and mocked Chen Fan, who answered by challenging his confidence in defeating the sword art itself.
• Chen Fan completed the opening stance of the Nine Palaces Sword Art and formed the Earth Territory and Celestial Plate Sword Formations to attack Li Lin.
• Li Lin destroyed both formations with Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, disrupted Chen Fan’s True Essence Power, and drew blood from him.
• Li Lin criticized Chen Fan for relying on incantations, saying the slain inheritor had performed every move seamlessly and from the heart, and Chen Fan began to grasp the implication.

Chen Fan abandoned the Nine Palaces Incantation and endured Crown Prince Li's overwhelming thunder attacks to transform his sword art through instinct. Though badly wounded and apparently near death, he emerged with a changed aura and kicked Li Lin from the clouds.

• Chen Fan used Nine Palaces Footwork without an Incantation and withstood Li Lin's three bolts of Purple Firmament Divine Thunder with the Golden Thread Robe.
• Li Lin dismissed Chen Fan's breakthrough attempt and unleashed three thunder-serpent bolts that devastated the forest and left Chen Fan gravely wounded.
• Fei Chuchu believed Chen Fan had crippled himself, but Fei Fengxuan sensed that Chen Fan had succeeded in transforming his sword art.
• Li Lin prepared a final divine bolt, but a figure emerged behind him and kicked him down from the clouds.

Chen Fan fought Crown Prince Li after gaining a deeper understanding of the Nine Palaces Sword Dao, and their battle intensified as Chen Fan refined his sword art. Crown Prince Li realized Chen Fan was using him as a whetstone.

• Chen Fan recovered with Pure Wood Essence and revealed a newly transformed sword stance that shocked Fei Chuchu and the Shu Mountain prodigies.
• Crown Prince Li attacked Chen Fan with Purple Firmament Divine Thunder, but Chen Fan evaded his strikes with the Nine Palaces Footwork.
• Chen Fan deployed the Earth Plate and Celestial Plate Sword Formations against Crown Prince Li's nine lightning flood dragons.
• Chen Fan and Crown Prince Li exchanged hundreds of blows, matching sword strikes against thunder-wreathed punches.
• After half an hour, Crown Prince Li realized Chen Fan was growing stronger by using him to temper his Nine Palaces Sword Art.

Chen Fan battled Crown Prince Li, who unleashed the Emperor's Seal and its golden dragon against him. Chen Fan broke through to a more advanced Nine Palaces Sword Art technique and struck at the dragon, leaving the clash unresolved.

• Chen Fan's sword momentum grew as he fought Crown Prince Li, who put away his lightning pearl and prepared the Emperor's Seal.
• Crown Prince Li summoned a golden dragon formed from Li's national fortune, and its divine pressure wounded Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan countered with One Sword, Ninefold, but the golden dragon shattered his Sword Qi and swept its tail toward him.
• Chen Fan used Yu Step to create nine figures around the dragon and pierced it with the Nine-Nine Restoration of the Nine Palaces Sword Art.
• Chen Fan gathered immense spiritual energy into his sword and brought it down toward the golden dragon.

Chen Fan destroyed the golden dragon tied to Li Guo’s national destiny, but the Crown Prince Li’s mysterious master intervened and ended the fight. After she warned that the Crown Prince Li could not defeat Chen Fan, Chen Fan attacked him from behind.

• Chen Fan shattered the golden dragon with a single sword strike, stunning the gathered prodigies.
• The mysterious woman restrained Chen Fan with a golden Spirit Treasure and ordered the Crown Prince Li to leave the fight.
• The Crown Prince Li revealed that the woman was his master, and she said he was no match for Chen Fan.
• The woman released Chen Fan and warned the Crown Prince Li that Chen Fan possessed a supreme treasure she feared.
• Chen Fan challenged the Crown Prince Li to the Prodigy Battlefield, but the Crown Prince Li demanded that Chen Fan surrender his treasure first.
• Chen Fan blurred from sight and thrust a sword from behind the Crown Prince Li as the mysterious woman cried out a warning.

Chen Fan abandoned his attempt to finish Prince Li when news spread that an ancient expert’s tomb, said to contain the Burning Earth Art, had been found. He headed toward the site as thousands of cultivators besieged its three powerful guardians.

• Chen Fan deflected the mysterious woman’s Vajra Rings and warned her not to interfere before preparing to use the Divine Silkworm Seal.
• A distant announcement revealed that the tomb and the Burning Earth Art had been found, so the mysterious woman took Prince Li and rushed toward the battle.
• Chen Fan recognized the announcer as the fat cultivator he had encountered at the Marketplace and used Nine Palaces Footwork to travel toward the tomb.
• The Shu Mountain prodigies set out for the tomb, while Fei Fengxuan vowed to defeat Chen Fan in the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Thousands of Human and Demon Race cultivators besieged the three Nascent Soul Late Stage guardians at the tomb, and one prodigy severed a guardian’s claw.