Chapter Summaries

Lu Heng asked Lei Ying for a detailed Beast Region map and intelligence on eighth-rank medicinal ingredients, then paid him with a seventh-grade pill to secure the restricted information. Lei Ying returned with the Heavenly Silk Cloud Map and two message slips, leaving Lu Heng ready to inspect the materials.

• Lu Heng questioned Lei Ying about nearby clans, and Lei Ying described the cautious Qingluan Clan and the more open Nine Netherworld Python Clan as potential trading partners.
• Lu Heng requested a detailed map of clan territories and dangers, along with rumors about eighth-rank medicinal ingredients.
• Lu Heng offered Lei Ying a seventh-grade Azure Profound Barrier-Breaking Pill as payment, and Lei Ying eagerly agreed to fetch the confidential materials.
• Lei Ying returned with the Heavenly Silk Cloud Map, revised six months earlier to show more than a hundred clans, and two crimson Message Jade Slips.

Lu Heng traveled to Withered Blood Ridge to search the Nine Netherworld Python Clan’s outer territories for rare treasures and medicinal ingredients. At Blackstone Market, he found a severed root of nine nether earth dragon vine and began negotiating with its seller.

• Lei Ying gave Lu Heng a map and jade slips containing information about treasures and clan elders before Lu Heng left Ten Thousand Beasts City.
• Lu Heng learned that the Nine Netherworld Python Clan’s outer tribes operated black markets and changed course for Withered Blood Ridge.
• Lu Heng disguised himself as a peak Dou Emperor and entered Blackstone Market.
• Lu Heng spotted a severed root of nine nether earth dragon vine at a stall and tried to buy it along with a piece of cold iron.
• Greenhide demanded two intermediate-or-higher sixth-grade Imperial Pills for the root, while nearby snake-person mercenaries stopped to watch the haggling.

Lu Heng swept through the Nine Netherworld Pythons' outer territory, trading high-grade pills for rare treasures and using spatial power to deter anyone who tried to rob him. After a month, he had gathered valuable ingredients and turned his attention to the Skeleton Mountain Range, where the ancient Dou Sheng Creation's ruins were hidden.

• Lu Heng used spatial power to force Green-Skinned Ghost to exchange the black ore and nine nether earth dragon vine root for an Imperial Pill.
• Lu Heng avoided the Nine Netherworld Pythons' dangerous Main Branch and traveled through the outer territory in search of rare goods.
• Lu Heng spent a month trading pills with vassal tribes and black markets, using Spatial Lockdown against those who tried to rob him.
• Lu Heng collected Eighth-Rank herbs and materials, then left the increasingly wary tribes before attracting the Main Branch's attention.
• Lu Heng studied Lei Ying's map and chose the Skeleton Mountain Range, site of Creation's ancient Dou Sheng ruins, as his next destination.

Lu Heng explored the Skeleton Mountain Range and found an Earth Marrow Jade Bone Fruit guarded by a Bone-Armored Giant Lizard. After subduing the beast and collecting the fruit and its tree, he gave the lizard a Beast-Nurturing Pill, then furrowed his brow as he prepared to leave.

• Lu Heng flew to the Skeleton Mountain Range to search its death-energy-rich terrain for treasures.
• Lu Heng sensed unusual vitality in a nearby valley and found an Earth Marrow Jade Bone Fruit growing from a giant skull.
• A Bone-Armored Giant Lizard emerged and attacked Lu Heng, who pinned it down with spatial force.
• Lu Heng harvested the three fruits and transplanted the tree into his storage jade pendant.
• Lu Heng gave the subdued lizard a Beast-Nurturing Pill, then furrowed his brow as he was about to leave.

Lu Heng watched a Riftland Berserker Bear and a Netherworld Poison-Patterned Python fight over an immature Dragonblood Scarlet-Gold Ganoderma, intending to claim the herb once it ripened. The two beasts inflicted severe wounds on each other, but their battle continued as the ganoderma neared maturity.

• Lu Heng sensed two mid-stage Eighth-Rank magical beasts fighting in a basin and concealed himself nearby.
• He identified the combatants as a Riftland Berserker Bear and a Netherworld Poison-Patterned Python, both battling over a Dragonblood Scarlet-Gold Ganoderma.
• Lu Heng realized the ganoderma needed nearly half an hour to mature and waited, hoping the beasts would weaken each other.
• The python stabbed the bear's neck with its venomous tail hook, and the bear retaliated by wrenching the python's jaws apart.

Lu Heng snatched the matured Dragonblood Scarlet-Gold Ganoderma from two battling eighth-rank magical beasts, then tested his newly comprehended Dharma Body prototype against them. He killed both beasts but was left severely drained, and began recovering after the phantom dissipated.

• The Dragonblood Scarlet-Gold Ganoderma matured, and Lu Heng used a Jade Knife to take it before the Riftland Berserker Bear and Netherworld Poison-Patterned Python could reach it.
• The enraged beasts attacked Lu Heng, who summoned a Five-Color Wheel that weakened the bear and dispersed the python's poisonous mist.
• Lu Heng manifested his yin-yang five elements dharma body prototype, whose immense pressure pinned both beasts to the ground.
• Lu Heng's Golden Light Slash severed the heads of the Riftland Berserker Bear and Netherworld Poison-Patterned Python.
• Lu Heng dismissed the dharma body, nearly collapsed from the energy drain, and recovered some strength by circulating the Five Spirits Chaos Art.

Lu Heng harvested the Magic Cores and blood essence from two Eighth-Rank beasts, then fled the ravaged basin before the Beast Region's experts arrived. Huang Xuan found no clear trail but concluded that the destruction was beyond an ordinary Dou Zun's power.

• Lu Heng cut the Magic Cores from the berserker bear and giant python, refined their blood essence, and stored the treasures for Han Xue and Xiao Yi Xian.
• Lu Heng swallowed an Azure Spirit Energy Recovery Pill and escaped through the woods using the Water Cloud Step.
• A Qingluan Clan elder, a Mad Lion Clan Dou Zun, and a Heaven-Piercing Sword Tiger Clan elder reached the basin and found the two beasts dead and their treasures taken.
• A Nine Netherworld Python Clan elder arrived and demanded to know who had killed the python.
• Huang Xuan arrived, searched the area with his soul power, and declared that the destruction could not have been caused by an ordinary Dou Zun.

Lu Heng escaped the Skeleton Mountain Range’s factions after killing two magical beasts and settled in a hidden underground cavern to refine the bear’s blood essence. He began absorbing its earth energy, while the factions spread the alarm and sealed off the mountains in search of him.

• Huang Xuan ordered the factions to seal spatial fluctuations around the Skeleton Mountain Range and report any suspicious human Dou Zun.
• Lu Heng recovered from the battle, kept the Dragonblood Scarlet-Gold Ganoderma and two Magic Cores, and searched for a secluded place to settle.
• Lu Heng found a dry cavern beneath a bone cliff and concealed his aura with a Five Elements Isolation Array.
• Lu Heng removed a small amount of the Riftland Berserker Bear’s blood essence, burned away its savage malice, and began refining its earth energy with the Five Spirits Chaos Art.

Lu Heng refined the berserk bear’s blood essence and continued cultivating, while Xiao Yan reached Five-Star Dou King and prepared to graduate from Jia Nan Academy. Yao Chen urged Xiao Yan to travel to the Central Plains, and Xiao Yan joined Hu Jia and Wu Hao on their way to the graduation ceremony.

• Lu Heng absorbed the berserk bear’s blood essence, strengthening his body, and continued cultivating in hopes of breaking through.
• Xiao Yan revealed his Five-Star Dou King strength, and Yao Chen praised his progress after three years at Jia Nan Academy.
• Xiao Yan and Yao Chen discussed the dormant Fallen Heart Flame and accepted that Xiao Yan could not obtain it at the Inner Academy.
• Yao Chen advised Xiao Yan to seek greater opportunities in the Central Plains and told him to find Feng Xian at Starfall Pavilion.
• Xiao Yan left the Back Mountain to complete his graduation paperwork and met Hu Jia and Wu Hao, who urged him to hurry to the ceremony.

After graduating from the Inner Academy, Xiao Yan planned to return to Wutan City and visit his father before traveling to the Central Plains. As he left Jia Nan Academy, he unexpectedly encountered his cousin Xiao Yu and Xueni.

• Hu Jia and Wu Hao discussed how Lu Heng had inspired earlier Inner Academy elites to cultivate fiercely, and Xiao Yan said he had barely known Lu Heng in Wutan City.
• At the graduation ceremony, Great Elder Su Qian gave the graduating students their records and cautioned Xiao Yan to be careful in the Central Plains.
• Hu Jia left for the Outer Academy, while Wu Hao chose to spend six more months with the Enforcement Team; Xiao Yan said they would meet again.
• Xiao Yan packed his belongings, told Yao Chen he planned to visit his father in Wutan City, deregistered at the Deacon Hall, and headed through the Outer Academy toward its gates.
• Xiao Yu and Xueni recognized Xiao Yan near the Martial Arts Arena, and he greeted them.