Chapter Summaries

Ning Xiaochuan passed the Heaven Reaching Bridge Fourth Level after strengthening his body and defeating its fire-wielding guardian. Outside the bridge, Zhang Linshan tried to have him punished by accusing him of practicing the Blood Devouring Demon Art, but Yu Qianqian and the World-Shaking Vice-Dean challenged his claims.

• Ning Xiaochuan cultivated on the Heaven Reaching Bridge, then returned to its Fourth Level after reaching the Divine Body Sixth Level and raising his physical strength to the Divine Body Ninth Level.
• Ning Xiaochuan defeated the white-robed guardian with his lightning sword and passed the Fourth Level, earning the best result among new students in three hundred years.
• Instructors and Vice Deans gathered at the bridge, and Zhang Linshan accused Ning Xiaochuan of killing students; Ning Xiner and Nie Hai rejected his account.
• Zhang Linshan claimed Ning Xiaochuan practiced the Blood Devouring Demon Art, but a Cloud Alliance disciple reported that the relevant corpses had disappeared.
• Yu Qianqian arrived with the World-Shaking Vice-Dean and accused Zhang Linshan of framing Ning Xiaochuan; Zhang Linshan claimed he had witnesses.
• The World-Shaking Vice-Dean demanded that Zhang Linshan produce his witnesses.

Ning Xiaochuan passed the fifth level of the Heaven Reaching Bridge by unlocking hidden potential through the Demon Sword and World Extinction Qi. He challenged the sixth level, barely escaped its qilin attack by surrendering, and left injured but determined to return.

• Yan Vice-Dean called for Ning Xiaochuan to face the Enforcement Team, while Yu Qianqian and the World-Shaking Vice-Dean insisted Zhang Linshan should be judged as well.
• Ning Xiaochuan endured the fifth white-robed man's Earth Element attacks until the Demon Sword and World Extinction Qi awakened his hidden potential and destroyed the stone mountain and his opponent.
• The fifth white-robed man declared that Ning Xiaochuan had passed the trial and reached talent ranked Once in Four Centuries, and Ning Xiaochuan continued to the sixth level.
• Ning Xiaochuan challenged the sixth white-robed man, who transformed into a fiery-red qilin and warned that he could kill him instantly.
• Ning Xiaochuan surrendered as the qilin pounced, but its claw tore flesh from his back before it stopped attacking and promised to face him again.

Ning Xiaochuan and Zhang Linshan were brought before Heavenly Emperor Academy’s Enforcement Hall after forty-one students died in the clash. Zhang Linshan accused Ning Xiaochuan of being a Demon Sect member, and Spirit Void Venerable arrived to use the Time-Space True Mirror as the inquiry continued.

• Ning Xiaochuan left the Heaven Reaching Bridge wounded, reunited with Ning Xiner, and was taken to the Enforcement Hall with Zhang Linshan.
• Enforcement captain Han Fu condemned the deaths while concealing his prior knowledge of the Cloud Alliance’s plan.
• Zhang Linshan blamed Ning Xiaochuan for the deaths and claimed he had used the Blood Devouring Demon Art.
• Ning Xiaochuan denied the accusation, and World-Shaking Vice-Dean challenged Han Fu to demand evidence.
• Zhang Linshan called for Spirit Void Venerable to verify his claim, and she arrived and summoned the Time-Space True Mirror.

Spirit Void Venerable used the Time-Space True Mirror to question whether Ning Xiaochuan had cultivated the Blood Devouring Demon Art, and her testimony turned the Enforcement Hall’s suspicion into greed for his supposed superior art. Ning Xiaochuan concealed the Demon Sword’s power by inventing the Northern Darkness Divine Art and left the assembled martial artists believing his story.

• Spirit Void Venerable showed the scene of Ning Xiaochuan absorbing Zhang Linshan’s blood qi and profound qi, but argued that the absence of a Blood Devouring Cloud meant Ning Xiaochuan had not used the Blood Devouring Demon Art.
• Han Fu halted the Enforcement Team’s attempt to take Ning Xiaochuan for execution, while the gathered martial artists grew eager to learn his supposedly superior art.
• Ning Xiaochuan claimed he had cultivated the Northern Darkness Divine Art and invented a story about a mysterious teacher surnamed Zhuang.
• Ning Xiaochuan quoted the teacher’s parables about the Northern Darkness and rivers flowing into the sea, and Spirit Void Venerable explained them as a principle of absorbing others’ power.
• Ning Xiaochuan praised Spirit Void Venerable’s insight and declared that the Northern Darkness Divine Art could make its cultivator invincible beneath heaven.

Ning Xiaochuan’s trial for killing forty-one academy students became a power struggle among the academy’s leaders. The Vice Dean of the Three Masters Martial Academy presented Fuyao Great Heart Nourisher’s token, securing a reduced punishment for Ning Xiaochuan while Zhang Linshan was punished and expelled.

• Han Fu argued that Ning Xiaochuan should be punished, while World-Shaking Vice-Dean defended his actions as self-defense and Yan Vice-Dean blamed him for the conflict.
• The Vice Dean of the Three Masters Martial Academy arrived and threatened to cut off the Enforcement Team’s supplies unless it treated Ning Xiaochuan fairly.
• Yan Vice-Dean proposed crippling Ning Xiaochuan’s hands and breaking Zhang Linshan’s legs, but the Three Masters Martial Academy’s Vice Dean demanded a lighter punishment.
• The Vice Dean revealed Fuyao Great Heart Nourisher’s Jade Token, and Han Fu ordered Zhang Linshan’s legs broken and expelled him while Ning Xiaochuan lost his five-day Celestial Palace qualification and was sentenced to one year of reflection.
• The Vice Dean took Ning Xiaochuan away, and the others accepted the ruling because of Fuyao Great Heart Nourisher’s authority.

Ning Xiaochuan learned that he had survived the Enforcement Hall’s judgment because he was a valuable piece in a larger political struggle, then returned to Three Masters Martial Academy and discovered how Yue Wuyang and the Cloud Alliance controlled Heavenly Emperor Academy. Yu Qianqian asked him to help shatter Yue Wuyang’s legend, and Ning Xiaochuan agreed to do his utmost.

• Ning Xiaochuan told the crippled Zhang Linshan that they were pawns in a struggle between regimes, then secretly planted World Extinction Sword Qi in him to kill him within three months.
• Spirit Void Venerable sped away from Heavenly Emperor City, and the Vice Dean explained that she had mastered time and space and that Ning Xiaochuan’s potential might rival hers.
• The Vice Dean revealed that Sword Pavilion Marquis had asked him to protect Ning Xiaochuan and warned that the mansion’s internal factional strife made Heavenly Emperor City dangerous until Ning Xiaochuan passed the seventh level of the Heaven Reaching Bridge.
• Yu Qianqian explained that Jade Ripple Great Emperor controlled the Heavenly Emperor Academy students through Yue Wuyang, supported by the empire’s two strongest military forces and Yue Wuyang’s reputation as a young Martial Venerable.
• Yu Qianqian asked Ning Xiaochuan to help destroy Yue Wuyang’s legend and the Cloud Alliance, and Ning Xiaochuan agreed to work hard toward that goal.

Ning Xiaochuan entered the Ghost Dream Wildlands to hunt Mystic Beasts and improve his cultivation, while Yu Qianqian set out after him. After defeating a Two-Headed Stone Beast, he discovered that the Mystic Beast Appraisal could subdue it and help it grow.

• Ning Xiaochuan trained in the Seven-Colored Shift above Furnace Mountain, reaching the Rainbow Three Movement Body before leaving for the Ghost Dream Wildlands.
• Ning Xiaochuan told Ning Xiner he planned to train in the wildlands for at least three months, and Yu Qianqian hurried after him despite Ning Xiner wanting to join her.
• After traveling two hundred li into the wildlands, Ning Xiaochuan fought and defeated a Two-Headed Stone Beast with the World Extinction Sword Wave.
• The Stone Beast turned into light and entered Ning Xiaochuan's Mystic Beast Appraisal, where it greeted him as its master and was named Xiao Shuang.
• Ning Xiaochuan discovered that the Mystic Beast Appraisal's First Mystic Beast Palace could help Xiao Shuang cultivate and potentially increase its grade.

Ning Xiaochuan tested the Mystic Beast Appraisal, hunted a black python to strengthen his cultivation, and advanced his Rainbow Shift. In a gorge, the Red Little Dragon unearthed a Tai Sui Beast Cub, which attacked Ning Xiaochuan and fought the Two-Headed Stone Beast.

• Ning Xiaochuan summoned the Two-Headed Stone Beast with the Mystic Beast Appraisal, and the Red Little Dragon borrowed the device and rode the beast into the Ghost Dream Wildlands.
• The Red Little Dragon tried to swallow the Mystic Beast Appraisal, but Ning Xiaochuan pulled it from its throat and scolded it.
• Ning Xiaochuan killed a black python and absorbed its blood qi, then used the Rainbow Shift four times to climb a cliff and improve his technique.
• The Red Little Dragon dug a qilin-headed beast out of a gorge's rocks, and the cub grew enormous and attacked Ning Xiaochuan.
• Ning Xiaochuan summoned the Two-Headed Stone Beast to fight the cub, recognized it as a Tai Sui Beast Cub, and realized the Red Little Dragon had provoked it by dragging it from the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan subdued the Tai Sui Beast Cub and traveled deeper into the Ghost Dream Wildlands with the Red Little Dragon. He encountered Xie Mengyao, Jin Quexi, and Yue Mingsong surrounded by Mystic Beasts and began fighting his way toward them.

• Ning Xiaochuan wounded the Tai Sui Beast Cub, collected its blood, and captured it inside the Mystic Beast Appraisal.
• Ning Xiaochuan and the Red Little Dragon crossed the Ghost Dream Wildlands, evading a gigantic flying creature and cultivating as they traveled.
• Ning Xiaochuan heard a battle and found Xie Mengyao, Jin Quexi, and Yue Mingsong fleeing a horde of Mystic Beasts summoned by flute music.
• Li Jinming abandoned the other three and fled alone, leaving Jin Quexi, Xie Mengyao, and Yue Mingsong surrounded.
• Ning Xiaochuan arrived as the Mystic Beasts attacked and charged into the horde, cutting down beasts as he advanced toward the three students.

Ning Xiaochuan rescued Jin Quexi, Xie Mengyao, and Yue Mingsong from a flute-controlled beast horde and fought through hundreds of mystic beasts. After reaching the peak of the Divine Body Sixth Level, he faced the Pied Piper, a native of the Emperor Ruins who declared the academy students invaders and threatened to kill them.

• Ning Xiaochuan reached his friends, protected them with a sword formation, and used Profound Meridian Reconnecting Elixir to stabilize their injuries.
• Ning Xiaochuan fought his way into the beast horde, killing and devouring mystic beasts as his cultivation surged.
• Ning Xiaochuan unleashed a widespread lightning attack that killed more than forty beasts and wounded over a hundred, flattening the nearby forest.
• The Pied Piper stopped playing his flute and flew toward Ning Xiaochuan on a black eagle, vowing to kill him and sacrifice him to his clan's ancestors.
• Jin Quexi identified the Pied Piper as an Emperor Ruins native and Great Wizard, while he called the academy students invaders and threatened to hang their heads at Heavenly Emperor City.

Ning Xiaochuan defeated the Pied Piper but could not stop him from escaping, then learned that other powerful natives had entered the Ghost Dream Wildlands. Yue Mingsong explained that the group had come to investigate the ominous Hundred Ghosts Parade at Night near the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest, leaving Ning Xiaochuan wondering whether an ancient Heavenly Emperor was buried there.

• Ning Xiaochuan used Little Red's dragon armor and sword to overpower the Pied Piper, who revealed his Thousand Thread Jade Maple Tree body and escaped into the forest after being wounded.
• Ning Xiaochuan killed a violent ape but abandoned his pursuit when more mystic beasts appeared, then fled with Jin Quexi, Yue Mingsong, and Xie Mengyao.
• At a lake, Ning Xiaochuan pulled Li Jinming's corpse from the water and deduced that a fighter at the Divine Body Ninth Level or higher had killed him.
• Yue Mingsong said the Heavenly Principles Society had sent seven students to investigate the Hundred Ghosts Parade at Night, and the Pied Piper had killed three of them.
• Yue Mingsong explained that the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest was an ancient graveyard said to hold the tomb of the Heavenly Emperor.

After Ning Xiaochuan saved Jin Quexi from a fiery broken sword, he and Yue Mingsong set out to investigate the native experts gathering at the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest. Jin Quexi and Xie Mengyao headed back to the Heavenly Emperor Academy to report the danger in the Ghost Dream Wildlands.

• Yue Mingsong told Ning Xiaochuan that a strange celestial phenomenon had appeared over the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest and drawn dangerous natives to the area.
• Ning Xiaochuan removed the Crimson Broken Sword from Jin Quexi's chest and used Martial Venerable Blood to heal her wound while Yue Mingsong's peeping earned him sword strikes.
• Jin Quexi and Xie Mengyao prepared to return to the academy, while Ning Xiaochuan decided to investigate the tomb forest with Yue Mingsong.
• Ning Xiaochuan asked Jin Quexi to repay him for the Martial Venerable Blood, and she agreed to pay once they left the Ghost Dream Wildlands.
• Jin Quexi and Xie Mengyao headed for the outskirts as Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong advanced deeper into the Ghost Dream Wildlands.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong ventured into the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest, where they encountered dangerous supernatural forces and a pursuing Nether Knight. As they escaped, Yue Mingsong recognized the Mystic Beast Appraisal and asked to examine it.

• Ning Xiaochuan killed an indigenous warrior at the edge of the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest, and Yue Mingsong gave him a Nine Yang Evil-Dispelling Pearl to protect against the forest’s chill and Foul Qi.
• Ning Xiaochuan agreed to refine aphrodisiac vigor-strengthening pills for Yue Mingsong in exchange for a Nine Yang Evil-Dispelling Pearl, then continued deeper into the forest.
• After night fell, Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong encountered a Human-Eyed Raven and found that the forest’s mysterious force had disrupted their sense of direction.
• A Nether Knight attacked Yue Mingsong, but Ning Xiaochuan blasted it back and summoned the Two-Headed Stone Beast to carry them away as the knight pursued them.
• Yue Mingsong noticed the Mystic Beast Appraisal in Ning Xiaochuan’s hand and asked to inspect it, recognizing its artifact-refining techniques.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong discovered that the mountain beyond the river was likely the Heavenly Emperor's tomb and used the Tai Sui Beast Cub to burrow beneath it. They reached the deadly Blood Realm, where a powerful warrior formed from blood qi attacked them as they tried to escape.

• Yue Mingsong examined Ning Xiaochuan's Mystic Beast Appraisal, identified it as a likely Super Profound Weapon, and failed to persuade him to sell it.
• When the Hundred Ghosts Parade at Night appeared, Yue Mingsong used his Yin-Yang Diagram to lead Ning Xiaochuan toward the Yin-Yang Convergence Ground.
• The pair saw Nether creatures streaming across bridges toward a cave, while indigenous martial artists guarded the river; Ning Xiaochuan sensed a Worldly Detachment Realm expert among them.
• Yue Mingsong's Bronze Mirror exploded when he examined the mountain, leading him to conclude it was probably the Heavenly Emperor's tomb, and Ning Xiaochuan summoned the Tai Sui Beast Cub to burrow beneath it.
• Underground, Yue Mingsong recognized the blood-red soil as the Blood Realm and warned Ning Xiaochuan that they must retreat.
• A warrior formed from blood qi appeared and pursued Ning Xiaochuan, Yue Mingsong, and the Tai Sui Beast Cub as they fled.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong fled into a Corpse Cave while pursued by a Blood Fiend General and Elder Wu. Ning Xiaochuan devoured the Blood Fiend General, broke through to the Divine Body Seventh Level, and left Elder Wu injured but still fighting.

• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong escaped into a Corpse Cave as the Blood Fiend General killed four native martial artists and pursued them inside.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong disguised themselves in bone garments, but the Blood Fiend General recognized them, and Elder Wu blocked their path.
• Ning Xiaochuan devoured the Blood Fiend General with the Demon Sword and absorbed its blood qi.
• Ning Xiaochuan broke through to the Divine Body Seventh Level and formed his seventh divine ability, Cloudglow Return Essence Qi.
• Elder Wu tried to attack Ning Xiaochuan while he was suppressing the blood qi, but Ning Xiaochuan repelled him and struck him with nine consecutive palms.
• Elder Wu recovered enough to attack Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong again.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong fought their way through Nether Knights but were pursued by a powerful female corpse, a former Heavenly Emperor Academy student dead for two hundred years. Ning Xiaochuan split her with the Demon Sword, then discovered her blood had been absorbed by the Mystic Beast Appraisal.

• Yue Mingsong used his Sky Pillar to knock down Elder Wu, and Ning Xiaochuan killed him with lightning.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong were surrounded by ten Nether Knights and a female corpse who had once been a student of the Heavenly Emperor Academy.
• The female corpse injured Yue Mingsong, and Ning Xiaochuan fled with him on the Two-Headed Stone Beast while fighting the Nether Knights.
• The female corpse tore apart Yue Mingsong’s Yin-Yang Diagram and forced Ning Xiaochuan to face her as the Nether Knights blocked their escape.
• Ning Xiaochuan summoned the Demon Sword and split the female corpse in two, after which her blood dripped onto and was absorbed by the Mystic Beast Appraisal.

Ning Xiaochuan subdued the female corpse and her Nether Knights with the Mystic Beast Appraisal, then learned from Yue Mingsong what the yin fiends represented as they continued through the Corpse Cave. Meanwhile, Heavenly Emperor Academy forces entered the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest to investigate and eliminate native experts.

• Ning Xiaochuan discovered that the Mystic Beast Appraisal had absorbed the female corpse and was healing her, while the short blade in her chest continued battling her Martial Heart Palace.
• The short blade’s demonic sounds lured Ning Xiaochuan toward it, but he resisted and realized the blade and the female corpse had been locked in battle for more than two hundred years.
• Ning Xiaochuan returned the female corpse to the Mystic Beast Appraisal, and the ten Nether Knights turned into streams of light and joined her there as guardians.
• Ning Xiaochuan woke Yue Mingsong, who explained that Nether Knights, Blood Fiend Generals, Nether Soldiers, and Corpse Fiends arose from different wills in dead bodies.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong rode deeper into the Corpse Cave as it opened into a vast field of coffins and piled corpses.
• Han Fu, Xiao Cheng, and other Heavenly Emperor Academy forces entered the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest to investigate the reported heavenly sign and exterminate native experts.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong encountered a deadly illusion-filled pool in the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest, then reached an Underground Forest guarded by native martial artists. Ning Xiaochuan killed two guards and faced the remaining three.

• Ji Hanxing reached the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest with the Dragon Elephant Divine Martial warriors and entered alone while Zuo Jinfeng went to summon aid.
• Yue Mingsong mistook a corpse for a Heavenly Emperor relic in a pool, and Ning Xiaochuan used lightning to free him from the attacking corpses.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong escaped the pool as the corpses pursued them briefly before returning to the water.
• The pair encountered five native martial artists guarding an Underground Forest, and Yue Mingsong urged Ning Xiaochuan to fight them.
• Ning Xiaochuan killed two native martial artists with Seven-Colored Shift and his brow's gleam, leaving the other three stunned.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong escaped a horde of Blood Fiend Generals after Yue Mingsong tore down the Blood Realm Gate, then realized native experts were using an ancient artifact to build an army against Heavenly Emperor Academy. While trying to find their way out of the tomb, they encountered eight maddened Academy students, including Yu TianDi.

• Ning Xiaochuan held off three native experts while Yue Mingsong slipped into the Underground Forest and retrieved a massive iron gate panel.
• Blood Fiend Generals and an enormous Blood Fiend Dragon poured out of the forest, forcing Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong to flee through the night.
• Yue Mingsong revealed that he had torn down the Blood Realm Gate and explained that an Eighth Grade Yin Yang Furnace could transform Yin fiends into Blood Fiend Generals.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong concluded that native Witch King-level figures planned to use the fiend army to attack Heavenly Emperor City, so they set out to warn the Academy.
• The pair encountered eight bloodied Heavenly Emperor Academy students attacking one another, including Yu TianDi, and Yue Mingsong threw Nine Yang Evil-Dispelling Pearls at them.

After Ji Hanxing found Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong, she brought them to a valley where hundreds of Heavenly Emperor Academy students were suffering from Foul Qi, Yin Fiend energy, or Corpse Poison. She protected Ning Xiaochuan from Xiao Cheng and urged him to help save the students.

• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong learned from Yu TianDi that many academy students and leaders had entered the Heavenly Emperor Tomb Forest, and they worried that others might have lost control as well.
• Ji Hanxing intercepted Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong, demanded they come with her to treat afflicted students, and compelled them to follow.
• Ji Hanxing brought them to a black valley, where hundreds of students lay incapacitated and academy leaders struggled to suppress the corrupting energies.
• Xiao Cheng recognized Ning Xiaochuan and threatened him over the Cloud Alliance’s dead, but Ji Hanxing intervened and insisted that saving the students came before their feud.
• Xiao Cheng backed down and left without attacking Ning Xiaochuan.