Chapter Summaries

Lady Three-Flower advised Li Qingshan to strengthen his future grotto-heaven by integrating more Heavenly Dao conceptions, while he prepared to advance his cultivation before the coming battle with the Eternal Night Devil Palace. Li Qingshan gave Heishan a scripture to improve his power, remained wary of his hidden ambitions, and began studying Void Divine Gold to comprehend the Spatial Artistic Conception.

• Lady Three-Flower explained that Li Qingshan should broaden his conceptions before opening a grotto-heaven and recommended beginning with the Five Elements Artistic Conception.
• Lady Three-Flower warned Li Qingshan that Heishan seemed to be plotting something, and Li Qingshan noticed the gourd spirit had reached the late stage of Spirit Transformation.
• Li Qingshan gave Heishan the Heaven-Swallowing Primordial Spirit Scripture, while Heishan secretly hoped to grow strong enough to break free of their master-servant contract.
• Li Qingshan reasoned that the scripture could help him control Heishan and assessed his own combat strength as comparable to a half-step Void Refinement cultivator.
• Li Qingshan began studying sixth-rank Void Divine Gold to try to comprehend the Spatial Artistic Conception before the coming clash with the Eternal Night Devil Palace.

The Four Great Dharma Kings gathered in the Eternal Night Hall to assess the Demon-Extinguishing Alliance and the threat posed by Li Qingshan and Five Elements Ancestor. They recognized Five Elements Ancestor’s hidden strength and clone technique as a grave danger, while the Palace Master remained in seclusion.

• Dharma King Wuji warned that the Demon-Extinguishing Alliance had devastated demonic sects and asked how the Devil Palace would answer to its Palace Master.
• Dark Dharma King condemned Li Qingshan’s rapid rise, recounting how he had wounded him and urging the Dharma Kings to eliminate him.
• Dharma King Wuji agreed Li Qingshan should be killed if possible but said Five Elements Ancestor and the Alliance posed the greater threat.
• Dark Dharma King reported that Five Elements Ancestor had nearly mastered the Five Elements, manifested the beginnings of a Grotto-Heaven, and taken the Primordial Devil Immortal Map.
• Shadow Dharma King revealed that Five Elements Ancestor had a powerful Water-and-Wood clone that he could not defeat or trap quickly.
• Dharma King Wuji concluded that Five Elements Ancestor was near Void Refinement and that even he might not be able to keep him in a fight to the death.

Dharma King Wuji revealed the Star-Fixing Disk, a Heaven-Reaching Spirit Treasure that could locate the hidden Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm, and began using it to search for the realm. He ordered the other Dharma Kings to keep the Devil Palace quiet and prepare for a decisive assault once he found it.

• Dharma King Wuji revealed that the Star-Fixing Disk could divine the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm’s location and movements.
• Dharma King Wuji said the Devil Palace had an insider within the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm who could help him locate it.
• Dharma King Wuji ordered the Dharma Kings to restrain the Thirty-Six Devil Sects, avoid provoking the Demon-Extinguishing Alliance, and stockpile resources.
• Dharma King Wuji ordered the Dharma Kings to secretly watch Li Qingshan and eliminate him if they could do so without endangering the larger plan.
• The three Dharma Kings departed, and Dharma King Wuji poured his divine sense and magical power into the Star-Fixing Disk to begin divining the realm’s location.

After more than ten years of seclusion, Li Qingshan emerged with a newly comprehended Spatial Artistic Conception and concealed his increased strength. He visited Nalan Yue to demand the clues to a chance at Void Refinement, and she agreed only if he released her father’s Primordial Spirit.

• Li Qingshan comprehended the Spatial Artistic Conception and fused it into his Primordial Magnetic Heavenly Blade Artistic Conception.
• Li Qingshan used the Heaven-Deceiving Secret Record to disguise his cultivation as mid-stage Spirit Transformation before leaving seclusion.
• Li Qingshan sensed that the Demon-Extinguishing Alliance was peaceful and went to see the imprisoned Nalan Yue.
• Nalan Yue demanded that Li Qingshan release her father before she revealed the Void Refinement clues and threatened to destroy her soul if he refused.
• Li Qingshan placed Nalan Jie’s bound Primordial Spirit on the stone table, and Nalan Yue cried out when she saw him.

Li Qingshan verified Nalan Yue’s clues to an ancient ruin in the Endless Sea, then heard Han Feng describe a remarkably similar discovery by his own ancestor. The chapter ended with Li Qingshan wondering whether both families had uncovered the same ruins.

• Nalan Yue gave Li Qingshan a Golden Flame Token and a jade slip describing the ruins near the Eye of Return to Ruins, and he confirmed they were genuine.
• Nalan Yue said her ancestor believed the ruins belonged to an ancient human Void Refinement expert but had been unable to enter them.
• Su Changge and Han Feng arrived at the Ninth Peak, and Su Changge said Han Feng had an opportunity possibly connected to Void Refinement.
• Han Feng explained that his ancestor had found submerged ruins near the Eye of Return to Ruins, guarded by a Nine-Layer Golden Flame Formation, and invited Li Qingshan and Su Changge to explore them.
• Li Qingshan recognized that Han Feng’s account matched Nalan Yue’s clues and wondered whether their ancestors had discovered the same ruins.

Li Qingshan learned that Han Feng’s Golden Flame Token matched his own and that nine tokens could open the Nine-Layer Golden Flame Formation. After preparing for the dangerous journey, Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng reached the Endless Sea and arrived at the Endless Ancient City.

• Han Feng showed Li Qingshan and Su Changge his Golden Flame Token and explained that nine tokens could open the ruins when the golden flame stirred.
• Li Qingshan revealed his matching token, which he claimed to have found in the Devouring Devil Sect’s treasury, and the three planned to seek the ruins while avoiding other token holders.
• Li Qingshan reported their plan to the Five Elements Ancestor, who warned them about the Endless Sea and gave him a jade talisman to locate the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm.
• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng disguised themselves, left the Heavenly Abyss Secret Realm, and traveled west across the Primordial Devil Continent.
• The three reached the coast of the dangerous Endless Sea and saw the Endless Ancient City atop a towering cliff.

Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng rented a Heaven-Grade Treasure Ship in the Endless Ancient City and set sail for the Eye of Return to Ruins. They learned that many other powerful groups were heading there too, but Li Qingshan insisted they would pursue the inheritance and deal with any threats along the way.

• Li Qingshan and his companions entered the Endless Ancient City and chose the Seven Killings Ship Firm to rent a treasure ship.
• Li Qingshan rented a Heaven-Grade Treasure Ship for three months, using a demonic banner as collateral.
• The ship manager revealed that traffic to the Eye of Return to Ruins had increased and that a group led by at least three Spirit Transformation Venerables had recently rented a Ghost King-Grade Treasure Ship.
• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng boarded their ship and set sail toward the Eye of Return to Ruins.
• The three discussed how the news had spread and the many factions pursuing the ruins, while Li Qingshan vowed to obtain the inheritance and bury anyone who threatened them.

Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng sailed through the dangerous Endless Sea toward the Eye of Return to Ruins, where they discovered three other groups of cultivators had already arrived. Their next move remained uncertain as they assessed the powerful strangers.

• Su Changge steered the treasure ship through the Endless Sea as the three travelers avoided monstrous sea creatures and lethal spatial hazards.
• Li Qingshan used his Spatial Artistic Conception to stabilize the ship during chaotic law currents and deepened his spatial comprehension throughout the voyage.
• Su Changge killed the Whale King with one saber strike, driving away a group of devil-corrupted Giant Devil Whales.
• After a month at sea, the three reached the Eye of Return to Ruins and stopped several thousand miles from its enormous vortex.
• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng discovered three other treasure ships nearby: one carrying two late-stage Spirit Transformation women, one carrying three middle-stage Spirit Transformation elders, and one carrying a child at the peak of Spirit Transformation.

Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng met the other Golden Flame Token holders near the Eye of Return to Ruins while waiting for the Golden Flame Cave Abode to open. The arrival of the Formless Devil Sect and Great Black Heaven Temple brought all nine tokens together, and Treasure-Abundant Boy moved to open the way inside.

• Treasure-Abundant Boy visited Li Qingshan's ship, revealed that five Golden Flame Tokens had appeared, and learned Li Qingshan and Han Feng each held one.
• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng waited several days as the gathered factions kept their distance.
• On the seventh day, ships carrying the Formless Devil Sect and Great Black Heaven Temple arrived near the Eye of Return to Ruins.
• The Formless Devil Sect's Supreme Elder and the Great Black Heaven Temple's Black Buddha each revealed two Golden Flame Tokens, completing the set of nine.
• Formless Old Ancestor and Black Buddha tried to recruit Treasure-Abundant Boy, but he rejected them and flew above the Eye of Return to Ruins to open the cave abode.

The factions entered the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace after using the nine Golden Flame Tokens to open a gate through the Eye of Return to Ruins. At the palace’s dangerous entrance passage, Formless Old Ancestor ordered Han Feng to scout ahead, and Li Qingshan considered whether to reveal his strength.

• Treasure-Abundant Boy, Formless Old Ancestor, Black Buddha, Li Qingshan, Han Feng, and the other token holders activated the nine Golden Flame Tokens and opened a gate into the ruins.
• The factions entered the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace and passed through the Nine-Layer Golden Flame Formation using their tokens and human blood essence.
• Su Changge explained to Li Qingshan that Formless Old Ancestor and Black Buddha might have human or disguised bloodlines, which let them pass the formation’s test.
• The group reached a perilous white jade passageway, and Formless Old Ancestor demanded that someone scout it.
• Formless Old Ancestor singled out Han Feng, but Su Changge stepped forward to defend him as his subordinates pressed her.
• Li Qingshan considered striking Formless Old Ancestor and his allies, but hesitated to reveal his strength so early in the unknown ruin.

The cultivators began the Golden Flame Heart-Refining Path, where invisible heart-fire attacked their souls and tested their Dao Hearts. Li Qingshan discovered that the heart-fire nourished his Heavenly Dao Primordial Spirit, secretly devoured it as the others struggled, and approached the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace.

• Treasure-Abundant Boy entered the passage first and warned everyone that its Golden Flame Heart-Fire attacked the soul and could consume the unprepared.
• Black Buddha, the Three Elders of Black Evil, the Twin Sisters in White, and Formless Old Ancestor entered the passage using their own protections.
• Li Qingshan led Su Changge and Han Feng onto the path, where the heart-fire stirred visions and strained Su Changge and Han Feng.
• Li Qingshan found that the heart-fire strengthened his Primordial Spirit, then secretly used the Great Devouring Immortal Art to absorb it while pretending to struggle.
• The other cultivators suffered under the heart-fire as Li Qingshan's Primordial Spirit rapidly advanced toward the peak of Spirit Transformation and he neared the palace gates.

Li Qingshan and his companions entered the Five Elements Derivation Palace, where the group split up to explore its five halls. In the Earth Hall, they discovered three late Spirit Transformation puppets, while the Three Elders of Black Evil tried to make Li Qingshan’s group face them first.

• Treasure-Abundant Boy, Black Buddha, Formless Old Ancestor, and the Twin Sisters in White each claimed a different Five Elements hall, leaving the Earth Hall to Li Qingshan, Su Changge, Han Feng, and the Three Elders of Black Evil.
• Old Man Black Evil ordered Li Qingshan and his companions to enter the Earth Hall first, and Li Qingshan pretended to accept his suggestion.
• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng passed through the Earth Hall portal and found three late Spirit Transformation stone puppets linked by a formation.
• Old Man Black Evil mocked the young cultivators and urged them to test the puppets while he and the other elders watched for a weakness.

Li Qingshan and his companions pretended to struggle against the Rock Puppets while the Three Elders of Black Evil plotted to ambush them. Li Qingshan revealed his strength and began crushing the elders, leaving the third elder to face him alone.

• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng fought the three Rock Puppets while concealing their abilities.
• The Three Elders of Black Evil launched nine poisoned needles and their demonic treasures at the three cultivators from behind.
• Li Qingshan stopped the attacks with his Ten Thousand Magnetic Domain and rushed Old Man Black Evil.
• Li Qingshan shattered Old Man Black Evil's defenses with one punch and captured his Primordial Spirit with the Human Emperor Banner.
• Li Qingshan destroyed the second elder's Skull Blade and body with another punch, then suppressed his Primordial Spirit with the Human Emperor Banner.

Li Qingshan defeated the Three Elders of Black Evil and destroyed the three Rock Puppets in Earth Hall, then refined the Earth Artistic Conception Crystals to strengthen his Five Elements Artistic Conception. After the five side halls opened the central passage, the group faced the newly revealed core of the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace.

• Su Changge killed Third Elder of Black Evil, and Li Qingshan captured his Primordial Spirit in the Human Emperor Banner.
• Li Qingshan used the Five Elements Annihilation Sword to break the Rock Puppets’ formation core, then destroyed all three puppets.
• Li Qingshan absorbed three Earth Artistic Conception Crystals and advanced his Five Elements Artistic Conception.
• Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng returned to the front hall, where the other groups had gathered; Li Qingshan claimed the Three Elders of Black Evil had died protecting them.
• The five side halls connected, causing the central black-iron gate to open onto a dangerous passage leading into the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace’s core.

Han Feng and the others used the nine Golden Flame Tokens to summon a bridge across the shattered sea of clouds to the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace. They reached the sealed main hall, where the world carved into its doors appeared to be moving.

• The group saw the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace suspended within a dangerous sea of clouds, and Han Feng’s token responded to it.
• All nine Golden Flame Tokens flew together and formed a phantom token that created the Heaven-Reaching Golden Bridge.
• Treasure-Abundant Boy explained that the bridge offered token holders a temporary safe passage through the chaotic clouds.
• Formless Old Ancestor led the others across the bridge, and Li Qingshan crossed alongside Su Changge.
• The group arrived at the main hall’s towering closed doors and saw the stars, rivers, and mountains carved into them move.

Han Feng and the others entered the Golden Flame Heavenly Palace’s ancient medicinal Small World, where they absorbed Innate Primordial Qi and discovered rare spirit herbs. After the group split up to search for treasures, Hua Wu and Hua Yu revealed the identities of their rivals and asked Li Qingshan’s party to form an alliance.

• The fused token opened the palace gate, releasing Innate Primordial Qi that Li Qingshan and the others absorbed.
• The group discovered an ancient medicinal garden filled with rare spirit herbs and suspected that its plants were protected by formations.
• Treasure-Abundant Boy, Formless Old Ancestor, and Black Buddha split off in different directions, while Li Qingshan noticed a subtle exchange of divine sense between Formless Old Ancestor and Black Buddha.
• Hua Wu and Hua Yu introduced themselves as members of the Hundred Flowers Palace and privately asked to speak with Li Qingshan, Su Changge, and Han Feng.
• Hua Wu revealed that Treasure-Abundant Boy was likely not human and that Formless Old Ancestor and Black Buddha had joined the Eternal Night Devil Palace, then proposed an alliance with Li Qingshan’s party.

Li Qingshan and his companions formed a temporary alliance with Hua Wu and Hua Yu, then followed Han Feng’s Golden Flame Token toward the core inheritance. They entered the soul-burning Illusion Spirit Fire Sea by a safe path and encountered a rare medicinal fruit beside a fork in the trail.

• Li Qingshan agreed to a temporary alliance with Hua Wu and Hua Yu, and the six exchanged communication talismans.
• Han Feng used his Golden Flame Token to reveal three paths through the Illusion Spirit Fire Sea, and Li Qingshan identified the leftmost path as the safest.
• The six entered the sea of phantom flames and resisted its soul-attacking heat and illusions as they followed the golden thread.
• The path forked, and Hua Yu spotted a nine-thousand-year-old Seven-Orifice Fire Linglong growing along the right-hand path.

Li Qingshan saw through an illusion trap and led the group through a dangerous fissure when the Illusion Spirit Fire Sea’s safe path was disrupted. After they escaped, he suspected Han Feng was a blood descendant of the Golden Flame Heavenly Monarch and warned Su Changge to stay cautious.

• Li Qingshan exposed and destroyed the illusion and restriction trap disguised as a Seven-Orifice Fire Linglong, saving Han Feng from taking its bait.
• As the group neared the exit, the path destabilized and the Illusion Spirit Flames and heart-demon illusions surged; Li Qingshan identified interference from Formless Old Ancestor and Black Buddha.
• Li Qingshan found an unstable fissure through the formation, and the group followed his guidance through its hazards to reach the White Jade Plaza.
• Li Qingshan told Su Changge that Han Feng’s knowledge of the Golden Flame Token suggested he might be a blood descendant of the Golden Flame Heavenly Monarch, and she agreed to remain wary of him.

Li Qingshan protected Su Changge from Formless Old Ancestor’s attack and revealed strength powerful enough to make the peak Spirit Transformation cultivator retreat. Treasure-Abundant Boy then pointed out the Ice-Fire Heart-Refining Path leading to the Golden Flame Great Hall and entered its extreme-heat passage using defensive treasures.

• Su Changge accused Black Buddha of interfering with the Illusion Spirit Fire Sea, and Black Buddha challenged her to do something about it.
• Formless Old Ancestor attacked Su Changge, but Li Qingshan shattered his gray palm with a punch and forced him three steps back.
• Li Qingshan warned that anyone who tried to kill Su Changge would have to get past his fists, while Black Buddha and Formless Old Ancestor reacted with alarm.
• Treasure-Abundant Boy showed the group the paired ice and fire passages and explained that the final trial prevented flight and long-range spells.
• Treasure-Abundant Boy equipped the Mystic Earth Heart-Protecting Armor and Snow-Treading Traceless Boots, then entered the Extreme Heat Flame Path.

Li Qingshan and his companions crossed the Xuanming Ice Path, where he secretly absorbed the frost and the intertwined fire to temper his body. They reached the Golden Flame Great Hall, where the others prepared to enter and seek its inheritance.

• Black Buddha, Formless Old Ancestor, and their followers chose the Xuanming Ice Path, and Hua Wu, Hua Yu, Su Changge, Han Feng, and Li Qingshan followed.
• Li Qingshan secretly used the Great Devouring Immortal Art to refine the Xuanming frost and strengthen his body while appearing to struggle.
• In the region where ice and fire mingled, Li Qingshan absorbed both forces and used them to temper his body further.
• Hua Wu and Hua Yu led the group out of the passage, and they reached the Golden Flame Great Hall, where Treasure-Abundant Boy, Formless Old Ancestor, Black Buddha, and their followers were waiting.
• Li Qingshan meditated to consolidate the energy he had absorbed, while Treasure-Abundant Boy urged everyone to enter the hall and seek its inheritance.