Chapter Summaries

Nie Lanxin recruited Dongfang Sheng to help her kill Ning Xiaochuan, while Ning Xiaochuan finished refining his ninth Figurative Divine Power Sword and followed Little Carrot to Returning Mountain. The Heavenly Emperor Blade revealed that Returning Mountain concealed terrifying dangers, leaving Ning Xiaochuan wary of Little Carrot’s intentions.

• Nie Lanxin persuaded Dongfang Sheng that Ning Xiaochuan had imprisoned a strand of her soul, and Dongfang Sheng agreed to help kill him.
• Lu Qingyuan traveled through the Ascension World under orders to eliminate Ning Xiaochuan.
• Ning Xiaochuan completed his ninth Figurative Divine Power Sword and advanced to the peak of the Fifth Step Heavenly Ladder Realm.
• Little Carrot led Ning Xiaochuan to Returning Mountain and tried to get him to release her, but he dragged her toward the ruins.
• The Heavenly Emperor Blade explained that Returning Mountain had once been a sacred land’s training ground and was sealed away because of its terrifying dangers, making Ning Xiaochuan suspect Little Carrot had lured him there deliberately.

Ning Xiaochuan learned that dawn was the safest time to enter Returning Mountain and waited outside while cultivating and sending beasts to search for treasures. He was surrounded by ten powerful young experts seeking the reward for his head, and he challenged them to decide who would attack.

• Ning Xiaochuan learned from the Heavenly Emperor Blade that Returning Mountain was safest at dawn, so he planned to enter the next day and spent the afternoon cultivating beneath a tree.
• Ning Xiaochuan sent the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon and five mystic beasts to search for Mysterious Medicine and spiritual treasures while Little Carrot complained about him.
• Lie Yunlong, Xie Yihan, and Yun Ji of the Burning Sword Sect arrived with killing intent, and Ning Xiaochuan recognized them as Fifth Step Heavenly Ladder Realm Sword Cultivators.
• Four experts from the Prince's Mansion and three other young-generation experts joined the attackers, surrounding Ning Xiaochuan as Dao cultivators sealed the area with a confinement formation.
• Yun Ji revealed that Dongfang Sheng had offered a Ninth Grade Profound Weapon for Ning Xiaochuan's head and said Ning Xiaochuan had been marked as a top-three target.
• Ning Xiaochuan suspected Nie Lanxin had helped locate him and calmly asked the gathered experts which of them wanted to take his head.

Ning Xiaochuan revealed overwhelming combat strength as he killed two Fifth Step Heavenly Ladder Realm experts and trapped the remaining young cultivators in the Eight Winds Erosion God Formation. Yun Ji rallied the survivors to attack, but Ning Xiaochuan prepared to face him with the formation supporting him.

• Lie Yunlong charged Ning Xiaochuan, who killed him with a sword strike after piercing his palm with a World Extinction Sword Wave.
• A Prince's Mansion scion attacked Ning Xiaochuan from atop a White Scale Two-Winged Ox, but Ning Xiaochuan broke his defensive array, killed the ox, and crushed the fleeing man with a black hand seal.
• Ning Xiaochuan sealed a thirty-mile area with three hundred and thirty-three array flags and activated the Eight Winds Erosion God Formation through his seven Thought Manifestations.
• Ning Xiaochuan told the trapped young experts that he would eliminate them because they had come to kill him.
• Yun Ji urged the survivors to attack together and sent his ancient sword at Ning Xiaochuan, who faced him with the formation's power.

Ning Xiaochuan used the Eight Winds Erosion God Formation to subdue eight young geniuses, then trapped Dongfang Sheng when he entered the formation. He confronted Nie Lanxin over her role in exposing his whereabouts, and she challenged him to a fight.

• Ning Xiaochuan overwhelmed Yun Ji, Xie Yihan, and Xiang Feiyu with the formation, then discovered Yun Ji possessed Sword Marrow and seized control of his consciousness.
• Ning Xiaochuan sensed two powerful auras approaching as he unleashed the formation against the eight trapped geniuses.
• Nie Lanxin and Dongfang Sheng arrived; Nie Lanxin revealed that Ning Xiaochuan had arranged the Eight Winds Erosion God Formation, and Dongfang Sheng entered it after she provoked him.
• Ning Xiaochuan revealed that the eight geniuses had become his Heart Slaves and ordered them to attack Dongfang Sheng inside the formation.
• Ning Xiaochuan confronted Nie Lanxin, accused her of revealing his whereabouts, and said he would no longer spare her for Lan Zhi's sake.
• Nie Lanxin said she wanted the ghost soul and challenged Ning Xiaochuan to see which of them could kill the other.

Ning Xiaochuan and Nie Lanxin fought to the death, and he killed her with World Extinction Without Sword after destroying her zither. As Nie Lanxin lay dying, she revealed she had wanted Ning Xiaochuan to beg her to spare him and others; she asked him to care for Nie Lanzhi.

• Ning Xiaochuan and Nie Lanxin agreed to keep their deadly grudge secret from Nie Lanzhi and began fighting.
• Nie Lanxin’s sound-wave attacks and Dragon Phoenix Treasure Wheel stopped Ning Xiaochuan’s nine battle swords and forced him to retreat.
• Ning Xiaochuan struck Nie Lanxin’s ancient zither with the White Bone Pearl, shattering it and cutting her face with a fragment.
• Ning Xiaochuan used World Extinction Without Sword to pierce Nie Lanxin’s heart, while fragments of the zither wounded his chest.
• Nie Lanxin told Ning Xiaochuan she had taken Little Hong and Little Ling'er and harmed Yu Ningsheng because she wanted him to beg her, then asked him to care for Nie Lanzhi before she died.

Ning Xiaochuan watched the female ghost merge with Nie Lanzhi’s body and awaken as the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen. She promised to repay his help by caring for Nie Lanxin as her younger sister, and Ning Xiaochuan began using his Mystic Water to help her soul and body reunite.

• At night, the female ghost entered Nie Lanzhi’s body in the Jade Crystal Ice Coffin, and a surge of Life Force healed the corpse as Ning Xiaochuan observed and comprehended the process.
• Dongfang Sheng escaped the Eight Winds Erosion God Formation badly injured, while the younger generation’s eight great experts pursued him.
• After the coffin’s light faded, the woman inside opened her eyes, and Ning Xiaochuan recognized her as the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen rather than Nie Lanxin.
• The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen offered to repay Ning Xiaochuan’s favor, and he asked her to acknowledge Nie Lanxin as her younger sister and care for her without revealing that her elder sister had died.
• The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen explained that she was still a living dead person whose soul and body had not fully reunited, and Ning Xiaochuan offered her five-colored Mystic Water to aid the process.

Ning Xiaochuan gave Five-Colored Profound Water to Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen and helped her resolve her doubts about challenging the Heavenly Emperor, whom she believed had killed her. After she withdrew to fuse her soul and body, Ning Xiaochuan put away her coffin and was confronted by Heaven's Gate Examination chief examiner Lu Qingyuan.

• Ning Xiaochuan supplied Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen with Five-Colored Profound Water, and she said it could speed up her fusion with her true body.
• Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen explained that she had mistaken Ning Xiaochuan for the Heavenly Emperor because they shared an aura and cultivated Heaven and Earth Profound Qi.
• The Heavenly Emperor Blade recounted a legend that the Heavenly Emperor had killed the woman he was to marry on the night he became a god.
• Ning Xiaochuan urged Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen to challenge her faith in the Heavenly Emperor, and she resolved to kill him if they met again.
• Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen entered a state of feigned death, and Ning Xiaochuan stored her Jade Crystal Ice Coffin in his Universe Pouch.
• Lu Qingyuan, one of the ten chief examiners for the Heaven's Gate Examination, emerged from the forest and locked killing intent onto Ning Xiaochuan.

Lu Qingyuan tried to kill Ning Xiaochuan during the examination, but a horde of Mystic Beasts gave Ning Xiaochuan a chance to flee toward Returning Mountain. After wounding Lu Qingyuan with a sword technique, Ning Xiaochuan escaped into the mountain as Lu Qingyuan hurled his Azure Hanta Pagoda after him.

• Lu Qingyuan accused Ning Xiaochuan of killing examinees and produced eight corpses as justification for executing him.
• The Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon and five powerful Mystic Beasts led a horde against Lu Qingyuan, allowing Ning Xiaochuan to flee with Little Carrot.
• Lu Qingyuan pursued Ning Xiaochuan, who headed for Returning Mountain, and used a talisman and an azure spear to catch up and block his path.
• Ning Xiaochuan counterattacked with his Figurative Divine Power Swords, then severed Lu Qingyuan's left arm with World Extinction Without Sword.
• Ning Xiaochuan rushed into Returning Mountain, and Lu Qingyuan enlarged the Azure Hanta Pagoda and launched it toward the mountain.

Ning Xiaochuan escaped Lu Qingyuan by fleeing into Returning Mountain, where he used Little Carrot’s ginseng leaves to heal and reunited with his Mystic Beasts. The chapter ended when Little Carrot discovered that the wall behind her was a blood-soaked tombstone.

• Lu Qingyuan’s severed arm crumbled after its blood was drained, so he decided to seize Ning Xiaochuan’s three-thousand-year-old golden ginseng to regrow it.
• Ning Xiaochuan fled into Returning Mountain, treated his injuries with a Mysterious Pill, and asked Little Carrot for two hairs that transformed into ginseng leaves.
• Ning Xiaochuan refined and swallowed the ginseng leaves, recovering half his strength while Little Carrot complained about his treatment of her.
• The five Mystic Beasts returned with twelve Universe Pouches filled with Mysterious Medicines and spirit treasures they had gathered.
• Little Carrot noticed blood flowing from the stone wall behind her and realized it was a tombstone.

Ning Xiaochuan and Little Carrot fled from two powerful ancient corpses in Returning Mountain, but the golden-skinned corpse pinned the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon beneath a tombstone. Ning Xiaochuan distracted the corpses with his Thought Manifestations, then drew the wounded dragon into the Mystic Beast Appraisal, where it began to recover.

• Little Carrot discovered that the stone wall was a bleeding tombstone, and the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon was badly wounded when it struck the tombstone and awakened the buried Daoist.
• Ning Xiaochuan fled with Little Carrot and the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon, but a golden-skinned corpse carrying the Tomb of Lei Yun Protector blocked their path while the Daoist caught up behind them.
• The golden-skinned corpse blasted the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon away and pinned it beneath its tombstone, while Little Carrot begged Ning Xiaochuan to save it.
• Ning Xiaochuan summoned the World Extinction Divine Monument, then created seven Thought Manifestations to lure the two ancient corpses away.
• Ning Xiaochuan could not remove the tombstone, so he used the Mystic Beast Appraisal to draw the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon into its newly formed Seventh Mystic Beast Palace, where life energy began healing it.

Ning Xiaochuan fled with Little Carrot after using his mind power to save the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon, but a spatial seal trapped them near an abandoned hall. As Ning Xiaochuan began recovering, Little Carrot’s distrust of humans gave way to affection for him.

• Ning Xiaochuan escaped the two ancient corpses with Little Carrot and explained that they had shattered his Thought Manifestations, gravely injuring his mind power.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Little Carrot were mysteriously drawn inside the boundary of the abandoned hall, while the ancient corpses could not cross the spatial seal.
• Ning Xiaochuan tested the seal and learned from the Heavenly Emperor Blade that it stretched distance so greatly that even flying dozens of miles left him in the same place.
• Ning Xiaochuan set up an array and began healing, while Little Carrot offered him a piece of her golden ginseng skin.
• Ning Xiaochuan accepted the ginseng skin and gave Little Carrot his robe, making her feel warm and reconsider her hatred of humans.

Ning Xiaochuan recovered from his injuries with golden ginseng while trapped by a formation on Returning Mountain. He explored the ruined Wind Cloud Great Hall’s past through his Seven Aperture God-Demon Heart Palace, then found Lu Qingyuan had fled rather than fulfill his boast.

• Ning Xiaochuan recovered more than half his injuries overnight and saw Lu Qingyuan approach the sealed ruined hall with Little Carrot.
• Lu Qingyuan demanded Ning Xiaochuan refine the golden ginseng into a Human-Grade Pill, but his attacks and attempts to cross the formation failed.
• Ning Xiaochuan explored the ruined Wind Cloud Great Hall and used his Seven Aperture God-Demon Heart Palace to glimpse a vision of fire, screams, and a dreadful sword light.
• Ning Xiaochuan returned to watch Lu Qingyuan cut off his other arm, but Lu Qingyuan had fled after failing to break the formation.

Trapped inside the abandoned hall, Ning Xiaochuan searched for a way out before cultivating in Returning Mountain and preparing to break through to the Heaven-Man Realm. He began condensing his Dao Origin, leaving the breakthrough in progress.

• Ning Xiaochuan searched the seal around the abandoned hall for a way out but found no nodes, while Little Carrot worried that he might eat her.
• Ning Xiaochuan reassured Little Carrot that he would not eat her, then resumed cultivating as she happily imagined their future together.
• Ning Xiaochuan summoned the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon, Two-Headed Stone Beast, and Tai Sui Beast to guard him while he refined the final Ninth Grade Profound Weapon battle sword.
• Ning Xiaochuan condensed all eighteen strands of World Extinction Qi and gathered his sword intent to attempt a breakthrough into the Heaven-Man Realm.
• Ning Xiaochuan sent the eighteen strands of World Extinction Qi and his vital essence toward the Martial Soul Sword Seal, beginning to condense a Dao Origin.

Ning Xiaochuan condensed an Illusory Dao Origin, becoming a half Heaven-Man while remaining below the Heaven-Man Realm. He entered the abandoned main hall to find Little Carrot and the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon, then encountered a strange Old Turtle in a Celestial Palace.

• Ning Xiaochuan failed to reach the Heaven-Man Realm but condensed an Illusory Dao Origin, while his Martial Soul Heavenly Venerable Seal advanced to the Fourth Step Heavenly Ladder Realm.
• Ning Xiaochuan learned from the Tai Sui Beast that Little Carrot and the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon had been inside the abandoned main hall for five days.
• Ning Xiaochuan used the Mystic Beast Appraisal to confirm the Six-Armed Tyrant Dragon was alive and followed its aura into the main hall.
• Ning Xiaochuan entered a vast, dark inner world, saw a divine statue and climbed heavenly stairs toward a Celestial Palace.
• Ning Xiaochuan reached the palace and met an aged Old Turtle, who called for its granddaughter after Ning Xiaochuan threatened to strip off its shell.

Ning Xiaochuan discovered that Little Carrot’s grandfather was the ancient turtle Mao, who knew of the World Extinction Path and initially accused Ning Xiaochuan of theft. After Ning Xiaochuan’s demonic aura frightened Mao into friendliness, Mao gave him a gourd of Nine Flowers Nectar, and Ning Xiaochuan began probing for more treasures.

• Little Carrot introduced the ancient turtle as her grandfather, Mao, who criticized Ning Xiaochuan for following the World Extinction Path and accused him of taking Little Carrot’s sword.
• Mao pulled the little white sword from Ning Xiaochuan’s Universe Pouch and returned it to Little Carrot, then asked which generation of the World Extinction Path Ning Xiaochuan belonged to.
• Ning Xiaochuan summoned a powerful female demon phantom and warned Mao not to insult the World Extinction Path, prompting Mao to change his tune and welcome him warmly.
• Mao offered Ning Xiaochuan a gourd of Nine Flowers Nectar and urged him to drink, while Little Carrot privately warned that her grandfather was exceptionally stingy and deceptive.
• Ning Xiaochuan inhaled the nectar’s mist, which strengthened his cultivation, but suspected that drinking it would put him to sleep for years and leave him vulnerable to Mao.
• After the demonic phantom vanished, Ning Xiaochuan thanked Mao for the gourd and asked whether he had anything else to give.

Ning Xiaochuan, Old Turtle, and Little Carrot left the sealed ruins after Old Turtle investigated the destruction of Returning Mountain and revealed its extraordinary power. Old Turtle took the sacred land away, while Ning Xiaochuan headed for Heaven’s Gate to become an Inner Disciple of Heavenly Emperor Mountain.

• Old Turtle explained that Feng Buyu had founded the sacred land and had been killed after it was destroyed ten thousand years earlier.
• Old Turtle crossed the seal effortlessly, and Little Carrot asked Ning Xiaochuan to promise to marry her when she grew to ten thousand years old; he agreed.
• Old Turtle broke the seal and shrank Returning Mountain into a box so it could take the sacred land away for further study.
• Ning Xiaochuan refused Old Turtle’s offer to inspect his spiritually connected treasure and flew away, while Old Turtle and Little Carrot departed through a gate of light.
• Ning Xiaochuan considered how Nine Flowers Nectar could help him cultivate a Supreme Body and headed toward Heaven’s Gate to pass the examination and become an Inner Disciple.

Ning Xiaochuan found Zi Hanyan in the Ascension World and healed her and the surviving cultivators with Five-Colored Profound Water. A mysterious Ghost Nurturer confronted him, claiming to have defeated several young kings, including Luo Wu, and arrived with two powerful ghost servants.

• Ning Xiaochuan followed Zi Hanyan’s Martial Soul Mark to a desert and broke the formation concealing her and four injured cultivators.
• Ning Xiaochuan used Five-Colored Profound Water to heal Zi Hanyan and the three surviving cultivators, then learned that a Heaven-Man Realm Ghost Nurturer had attacked them while seeking him.
• Zi Hanyan told Ning Xiaochuan that Luo Wu was entangled with a Heaven’s Chosen woman from the Prince’s Mansion and the mysterious Ghost Nurturer.
• The Ghost Nurturer appeared with two ghost servants resembling Black and White Impermanence, and the little Taoist nun identified him as the killer of Zi Hong and Qing Hua Zi.
• The Ghost Nurturer claimed he had defeated Dongfang Sheng, Dance Fairy, and Wang Mu Lin, and Ning Xiaochuan sensed that he intended to kill him.

Ning Xiaochuan and his allies confronted Yan Wen, a powerful heir of the Ghost Raising Family who suspected Ning had captured Orchid Fairy’s ghost. Yan Wen withdrew rather than risk facing them together, and Luo Wu explained that he had been building momentum to challenge the Heavenly Emperor Crown Prince and the Descendant of the Heavenly Emperor.

• Yan Wen pressured Ning Xiaochuan over Dongfang Sheng’s claim that Ning had killed Orchid Fairy, but Zi Hanyan blocked his aura with the Bronze Ancient Lamp.
• Ning Xiaochuan learned Yan Wen belonged to the ancient Ghost Raising Family, and Luo Wu arrived to challenge his boasts about the Yan Clan’s superiority.
• Yan Wen demanded Orchid Fairy’s ghost, while Ning Xiaochuan proposed that he, Luo Wu, and Jin Ling join forces against him.
• Yan Wen judged the odds too dangerous and escaped in a Ghostly Phantom Carriage before the group could attack.
• Luo Wu said Yan Wen had been defeating young experts to build momentum for challenging the Heavenly Emperor Crown Prince and the Descendant of the Heavenly Emperor, and Ning Xiaochuan asked how she would fare against him at her peak.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions prepared to leave the Heaven's Gate Examination as the factions gathered to receive the new Inner Disciples. At the examination’s end, rumors that Ning Xiaochuan had killed Nie Lanxin fueled hostility between Demon Moon Palace and the Ten Thousand Swords Palace, while Nie Lanzhi feared for her sister and Little Marquis.

• Luo Wu estimated she had an even chance against Yan Wen after his momentum was damaged, and said they had to keep him out of the top three.
• Jin Ling left after claiming Ning Xiaochuan and Luo Wu owed her a favor, and Luo Wu explained that Jin Ling’s interference had delayed her.
• Ning Xiaochuan denied reaching the Heaven-Man Realm or killing Nie Lanxin, and Luo Wu confirmed through her divine sense that he was only at the Fourth Step Heavenly Ladder Realm.
• Ning Xiaochuan, Luo Wu, and Zi Hanyan decided to leave the examination with their thirteen gathered Ten Thousand Swords Palace examinees.
• At the examination’s final gathering, the factions’ leaders discussed the new Inner Disciple rankings, while Sect Master Mu used the rumors about Ning Xiaochuan to turn Demon Moon Palace against the Ten Thousand Swords Palace.
• Nie Lanzhi worried that Little Marquis had killed her sister and prayed that both Nie Lanxin and Little Marquis would survive.

Ning Xiaochuan faced accusations that he had killed Nie Lanxin and claimed she was alive and recovering from wounds Dongfang Sheng had inflicted. Palace Lord Qin Yue confirmed Nie Lanxin was alive, while Ning Xiaochuan noticed her gaze seemed different when she briefly opened her eyes.

• Sect Master Mu challenged Ning Xiaochuan to reveal his cultivation, and Palace Lord Qin Yue questioned him about Nie Lanxin's death.
• Ning Xiaochuan denied killing Nie Lanxin and accused Dongfang Sheng of attacking and trying to violate her, then framing him.
• Dongfang Sheng tried to strike Ning Xiaochuan, but Sect Master Mu stopped him.
• Ning Xiaochuan brought out the Heart Nourishing True Cauldron and revealed Nie Lanxin inside a Jade Crystal Ice Coffin.
• Palace Lord Qin Yue confirmed Nie Lanxin was alive, and Nie Lanxin briefly opened her eyes to say her injuries had stabilized.
• Ning Xiaochuan noticed that Nie Lanxin's gaze seemed unlike the one he remembered, then watched her close her eyes again.