Chapter Summaries

Mu Chen and Luo Li faced Ji Xuan’s hunting alliance on the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast’s territory, where Mu Chen revealed he had prepared an ambush. After Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast cub blood drenched the alliance, seven members of Mu Chen’s Hundred Spirits Retinue emerged and joined him.

• Qiu Beihai taunted Mu Chen and Luo Li as Ji Xuan’s alliance surrounded them in the Black Demon Forest.
• Ji Xuan accused Mu Chen of leading the alliance to the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast’s territory to use the beast against them.
• Mu Chen played along with Ji Xuan’s accusation while secretly watching the distant horizon.
• Jade bottles burst above the alliance and drenched Ji Xuan and his followers in blood from a Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast cub.
• Yang Hong recognized the blood, and the alliance panicked at the prospect of attracting the adult beast.
• Seven Quasi-Kings from the Northern Spiritual Academy greeted Mu Chen as members of his Hundred Spirits Retinue.

Mu Chen exposed how Ji Xuan’s alliance had been infiltrated and lured the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast toward the gathered warriors. Ji Xuan drove it off with the cry of an Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle, while Mu Chen recognized the source of his power.

• Ji Xuan realized Zhou Yuan and six other supposed allies were spies planted by Mu Chen, while Mu Chen threw the cub’s Spirit Beast Essence at the adult Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast.
• The enraged beast charged toward the alliance, sending its members fleeing as Mu Chen led Luo Li and his companions into the woods.
• Ji Xuan ordered his followers to hold their ground and used a cry infused with the might of the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle to frighten the beast into retreating.
• The alliance cheered Ji Xuan as a hero, and Mu Chen emerged from the woods and praised his performance, recognizing the ancient beast’s power.

Mu Chen exposed Ji Xuan’s possession of the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle, turning the alliance against him, then used poison to cripple most of Ji Xuan’s forces. The fight continued with Ji Xuan’s army badly weakened and Mu Chen still in control of the encounter.

• Mu Chen revealed that Ji Xuan had subdued the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle, prompting the gathered fighters to suspect Ji Xuan had obtained it in the ancient Spirit Treasury.
• Ji Xuan realized Mu Chen had provoked suspicion against him, then tried to rally his alliance and urged them to attack together.
• Mu Chen openly threatened the alliance with revenge, leaving its members convinced they had no choice but to fight.
• As Ji Xuan led the charge, Mu Chen asked whether he had taken anything to ward off poison; more than half the alliance collapsed after being poisoned.
• Ji Xuan accused Mu Chen of using a despicable trick, while Mu Chen reasoned that poison and other outside objects were fair tools in the spiritual-energy plane.

Mu Chen used Sorrowful Crisp Breeze to incapacitate Ji Xuan and the other kings, then tricked Qiu Beihai into swallowing Corrosive Poison Water. After the poison spread among the fallen fighters, Mu Chen revealed that he had visited the world beyond the Dark River.

• Mu Chen explained that he had used Sorrowful Crisp Breeze, which left Ji Xuan and the other kings unable to move.
• Qiu Beihai seized Mu Chen’s porcelain bottle, believing it contained an antidote, and swallowed the Corrosive Poison Water inside.
• Qiu Beihai died as the liquid corroded his insides, while Mu Chen pretended he had handed over the wrong antidote.
• The shattered spatial Spirit Artifact spilled Corrosive Poison Water over the fallen fighters, dissolving several of them.
• Ji Xuan recognized the lethal liquid, and Mu Chen said he had been to the world beyond the Dark River.

Mu Chen slaughtered the survivors of the Corrosive Poison Water disaster while thousands of Spirit Road youths arrived to witness his overwhelming power. He killed the Twin Kings of the Shi Family and charged at Ji Xuan, whose hidden darkness continued to grow.

• Ji Xuan threatened Mu Chen with the wrath of the Five Great Academies, but Mu Chen blamed Qiu Beihai for the Corrosive Poison Water deaths.
• Fang Zhong, Yan Xiao, Yan Ling, Zhou Ling, Wu Yingying, and thousands of Spirit Road youths reached the battlefield and witnessed the aftermath of Mu Chen's attack.
• Mu Chen began killing the remaining survivors, leaving only a handful alive as Ji Xuan struggled to retreat.
• Mu Chen killed three kings, then confronted Shi Jingtian and Shi Hao; he refused Shi Hao's plea to spare his brother and struck down both Shi brothers.
• Mu Chen turned toward Ji Xuan and charged at him as darkness deepened within Ji Xuan's eyes.

Mu Chen’s attack on Ji Xuan prompted a Supreme from the Holy Spirit Academy to intervene, while the Five Great Academies’ leaders watched the disastrous Spirit Road Trial unfold. The chapter ends with the Holy Spirit Academy’s Supreme launching an attack in the hall after seeing Ji Xuan in danger.

• Mu Chen redirected his attack toward Ji Xuan, but a powerful figure emerged from space and separated them, then cleared the Corrosive Poison Water from the battlefield.
• The scene rewound to the great hall, where the Five Great Academies’ Supremes and elders watched Mu Chen’s schemes and Ji Xuan’s setbacks on a screen.
• The observers saw Qiu Beihai unleash Corrosive Poison Water, killing himself and more than a hundred members of the alliance.
• The Holy Spirit Academy called for the battle to be stopped because many of its selected students had died, but Zhu Tian argued that the trial had no rules requiring intervention.
• The Holy Spirit Academy’s Supreme saw Mu Chen ambush Ji Xuan and unleashed spiritual energy in the hall, preparing to intervene.

Wu Tian intervened to halt Mu Chen’s fight with Ji Xuan, while the Five Great Academies’ experts weighed their competing interests. Outside the Spiritual Road, an opponent called for Mu Chen’s execution, and the author’s note clarified changes to the trial timeline and Luo Li’s pursuit.

• Wu Tian arrived with the Mirror of Judgment and ordered Mu Chen to stop attacking Ji Xuan.
• Mu Chen put away his staff, explaining that Ji Xuan had powerful protection and could not easily be killed in the Spiritual Road.
• Luo Li and Mu Chen’s allies stood beside him, and Wu Tian warned him not to act recklessly.
• Ji Xuan urged Wu Tian to kill Mu Chen, but Wu Tian ignored the demand while Mu Chen threatened Ji Xuan again.
• In the ancient hall outside the Spiritual Road, a speaker accused Mu Chen of breaking the rules and proposed executing him.
• The author’s note said Mu Chen’s trial lasted one year instead of two and that Luo Li’s pursuit had been changed.

The Five Great Academies debated punishing Mu Chen for the losses he caused on the Spirit Road, while Elder Zhu Tian fought the Holy Spirit Academy’s proposal. As the vote threatened to strip Mu Chen of his trial qualification, Elder Zhu Tian revealed that Mu Chen’s father was a powerful Sovereign who might be backed by an Earth Sovereign.

• Elder Zhu Tian furiously rejected the white-robed Holy Spirit Academy man’s accusations and blocked his proposal to remove the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy from the Five Great Academies.
• The white-robed man shifted the debate to the losses caused by Mu Chen and proposed expelling him from the Spirit Road, while the Azure Heaven Spiritual Academy Sovereign supported a lesser punishment.
• The Holy Spirit Academy and Azure Heaven Spiritual Academy voted to expel Mu Chen, the Ten Thousand Phoenix Spiritual Academy and Wu Ling Academy abstained, and Elder Zhu Tian hesitated over the Northern Heavens vote.
• A Northern Heavens warrior brought Elder Zhu Tian information about Mu Chen’s background, prompting him to reveal that Mu Chen’s father, Mu Feng, ruled the Hundred Spirit Continent as a Seventh Grade Sovereign and might have an Earth Sovereign backing him.

The Five Great Academies debated Mu Chen’s punishment, weighing his father Mu Feng’s power against their own pride and unity. They voted to strip Mu Chen of his Level 3 Spirit Body, and Wu Tian prepared to announce the decision in the Spirit Road Plane.

• The Five Great Academies’ experts considered whether the Hundred Spirits Royal Clan had an Earth Sovereign backing it, but the white-robed man dismissed the claim as unproven.
• Zhu Tian proposed respecting Mu Feng’s status while still punishing Mu Chen, and the academies voted unanimously to strip Mu Chen of his Level 3 Spirit Body.
• Zhu Tian hoped to win Mu Chen over to Northern Heavens, while the white-robed man believed the punishment would leave Mu Chen unable to benefit much from the Spirit Road Empowerment.
• In the Spirit Road Plane, Wu Tian received a signal through the Mirror of Judgment and rose to announce the Five Great Academies’ decision.

The Five Great Academies accused Mu Chen of breaking the Spirit Road’s rules and ordered his Level 3 Spirit Body stripped, threatening his chance to compete for the Spirit Crown. Mu Chen refused their joint verdict, tore up the order, and openly defied the Supremes.

• Wu Tian announced that Mu Chen would lose three levels of his Spirit Body as punishment for killing over a hundred geniuses.
• Mu Chen stopped Tang Qian'er from challenging Wu Tian and asked what rules he had supposedly broken.
• Mu Chen declared that the Five Great Academies themselves were the Spirit Road’s rules and refused to accept their order.
• Five Supremes arrived, and the Holy Spirit Academy Supreme presented Mu Chen with their joint verdict.
• Mu Chen respectfully took the verdict, tore it into pieces, and defiantly rejected it.

Mu Chen rejected the Five Great Academies’ punishment and defied their Supremes before a vast crowd. When a Supreme attacked him, Mu Chen struggled against the overwhelming pressure, and the Supreme of Wanhuang Academy recognized signs of a Level 9 Spirit Body.

• Mu Chen denounced the Five Great Academies’ judgment and said he would rather be expelled from the Spirit Road than accept their punishment.
• The Supremes warned Mu Chen of the consequences, but he refused to yield or show gratitude for their supposed leniency.
• Zhu Tian and the Supreme of Wu Ling Academy fell silent as the crowd watched Mu Chen stand by his claim of innocence.
• The white-robed Supreme attacked Mu Chen with his aura and ordered him to kneel, leaving Zhou Yuan and others struggling under the pressure.
• Mu Chen forced himself to move against the Supreme’s oppressive aura, and the Supreme of Wanhuang Academy wondered whether he had a Level 9 Spirit Body.

Mu Chen unleashed his spirit power and revealed the nine-story Futu Ancient Pagoda, breaking through the plane’s restrictions and advancing into the Divine Soul Realm. The Sovereigns and youths watched in shock as his Spirit Soul Golden Figure formed above the pagoda.

• Wen Qingxuan recognized that Mu Chen had reached a Level 9 Spirit Body and wanted to fight him.
• The white-robed Sovereign tried to seize Mu Chen, but a column of spirit power erupted from him and knocked the Sovereign’s hand away.
• Mu Chen broke through the Pagoda God Art to its third realm, Pagoda Transformation, and summoned a nine-story ancient pagoda.
• Mu Chen drew on spirit-power crystals within his spiritual sea, using the pagoda’s power to break through the realms.
• Mu Chen formed a Spirit Soul Golden Figure above the Futu Ancient Pagoda and entered the Divine Soul Realm.

Mu Chen reached the Spirit Soul Realm ahead of the other Spiritual Road youths, but a mysterious hand erased the Holy Spirit Academy guardian and took him away. Luo Li understood his silent promise to return and remembered how he had entrusted her with his Blood-Colored Token.

• Mu Chen revealed that he had reached the Spirit Soul Realm, leaving the youths and Sovereigns stunned by his achievement.
• The Holy Spirit Academy guardian attacked Mu Chen, but a crystalline hand emerged from a spatial rift, erased the guardian from existence, and carried Mu Chen away.
• The frozen world resumed, and Zhu Tian, the other Sovereigns, and the surviving youths feared the power behind Mu Chen.
• Luo Li recalled Mu Chen silently telling her to wait for him as the mysterious hand took him away.
• More than half a month earlier, Mu Chen had promised Luo Li he would return and secretly placed his Blood-Colored Token in her hand.

After leaving the Spirit Road, Mu Chen returned to the Hundred Spirits Capital and learned that envoys from the Five Great Academies had come to recruit him. He and Mu Feng weighed their offers, while Mu Feng vowed to support the Northern Spiritual Academy against the Holy Spirit Academy.

• After the bloodshed, Ji Xuan was left furious and humiliated, while Luo Li ignored him and Mu Chen departed.
• In the final month of the Spirit Road Trial, Luo Li defeated Ji Xuan, Wen Qingxuan, Wu Ling, and the other contenders to claim the Spirit Crown and its Spirit Power Empowerment.
• Nearly two years later, Mu Chen returned to the Hundred Spirits Capital with the Mysterious Black Paper and Immortal Page, having awakened a fragment of A-Jing's thought and forced back a Sovereign.
• A palace guard told Mu Chen that envoys from the Five Great Academies had arrived and that Mu Feng had ordered him to come at once.
• Mu Chen and Mu Feng sent off the envoys without accepting an invitation, deciding to weigh each academy's sincerity and offers.
• After Mu Chen explained what had happened on the Spirit Road, Mu Feng cursed the Holy Spirit Academy and vowed to help the Northern Spiritual Academy challenge the Five Great Academies.

After hearing about Mu Chen’s Spirit Road journey, Mu Feng praised his son and asked what spirit beast he planned to refine. Mu Chen chose to stabilize his new Divine Soul Realm first, then entered Hundred Spirit Heaven to cultivate in seclusion and catch up with the Spirit Road’s strongest kings.

• Mu Feng praised Mu Chen and asked which spirit beast he would refine, but Mu Chen said he would stabilize his realm before choosing one.
• Mu Chen told Mu Feng he wanted to cultivate in Hundred Spirit Heaven because he needed to close the gap with the Spirit Road’s strongest kings before the Five Great Academies’ admissions.
• Mu Feng opened a rift to Hundred Spirit Heaven and sent Mu Chen inside.
• Mu Chen experienced the dense spiritual energy in the half-plane and began cultivating in the Level 9 Spirit Gathering Array his mother had prepared for him.

Mu Chen unlocked his Eight Spirit Veins and advanced his cultivation while studying the Immortal Record's remnant page in Hundred Spirit Heaven. After King Mu Feng found a Nine Nether Sparrow undergoing Nirvana in the Black Nether Abyss, Mu Chen prepared to go there before leaving for the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

• Mu Chen's cultivation revealed that he had unlocked eight Spirit Veins and possessed a nine-petaled Futu Ancient Pagoda.
• During his fifth month in Hundred Spirit Heaven, Mu Chen stabilized and improved his Divine Soul Realm cultivation, reached the second level as a Spirit Array Master, and studied the Immortal Page.
• A spiritual-energy bird delivered a message from Mu Feng, summoning Mu Chen from Hundred Spirit Heaven.
• King Mu Feng told Mu Chen that a Nine Nether Sparrow was undergoing Nirvana in the Black Nether Abyss.
• Mu Chen agreed to leave for the Black Nether Abyss soon, ahead of his departure for the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

Liu Jingshan emerged from years of seclusion after breaking into the Heaven Melting Realm, expecting to reclaim his ambitions, but his loud arrival provoked the royal city's defenses. He ended the chapter surrounded by elite forces and panicking as Liu Qingtian rushed to deal with the disturbance.

• Mu Feng received Liu Qingtian at court and asked him to make arrangements before accompanying him.
• A spiritual-energy eruption at the Liu family residence revealed that Liu Jingshan had broken through to the Heaven Melting Realm.
• Liu Jingshan announced his return and ordered his clansmen to summon Liu Qingtian, Liu Zong, and Liu Ming.
• Liu Qingtian heard Liu Jingshan's voice and hurried toward the residence, fearing the commotion would anger Mu Feng.
• The royal city's furious defense forces surrounded Liu Jingshan, who shrank back in alarm.

Liu Qingtian arrived to take charge of the crisis caused by his father Liu Jingshan, who had mistakenly believed his family was still in the Northern Spiritual Realm. Liu Qingtian killed his father, declared him an impostor, and the Liu family backed the cover story as Zhou Ye watched from the city wall.

• The garrison surrounded the Liu family residence and began arresting people, while Liu Jingshan panicked at the sight of powerful experts.
• Liu Qingtian arrived with the King's verbal order, and the garrison commander withdrew after requiring him to complete the proper paperwork.
• Liu Jingshan learned that he was in the Hundred Spirits Royal Capital and assumed Liu Qingtian had conquered the Northern Spiritual Realm.
• Liu Qingtian stabbed and killed Liu Jingshan, then announced that an impostor claiming to be a Liu ancestor had been put to death.
• Liu Yang tried to reach his grandfather, but Liu Mubai and the other Liu brothers insisted that Liu Jingshan had died years earlier and that the dead man was an impostor.
• Zhou Ye told an old companion that Liu Qingtian had sacrificed his father to demonstrate the Liu family's loyalty.

Mu Feng and Mu Chen led elite troops into the Black Nether Abyss to find the Nine Nether Sparrow as it recovered inside an active volcano. Mu Chen reached the creature and began talking with its avatar, ending with a bold claim that the entire continent belonged to him.

• Mu Feng dismissed Liu Qingtian from the mission and sent him to bury his father, then chose Duan Wei to accompany him and Mu Chen to the Northern Spiritual Realm.
• Mu Feng, Mu Chen, and their Heaven Melting Realm troops fought through spirit beasts and reached the Nameless Basin, where Duan Wei recognized signs of the Nine Nether Sparrow's immense power.
• Mu Chen went ahead alone to the volcano while Mu Feng reassured Duan Wei that his son had his own plan.
• Mu Chen blocked the Nine Nether Sparrow's attack with a spirit array, prompting the bird to appear as a small avatar and recognize him as a second-level Spirit Array Master.
• Mu Chen objected when the Nine Nether Sparrow called the Northern Spiritual Realm barren and declared that both the region and the entire continent belonged to him.

Mu Chen offered to help the Nine Nether Sparrow survive her Divine Transformation Tribulation and evolve into a Nine Nether Underworld Sparrow. He revealed the Northern Abyss Dragon Kun’s blood essence, which he had obtained through the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, and offered it to her.

• Mu Chen recognized the Nine Nether Sparrow’s clan and asked which form she was evolving toward.
• The Nine Nether Sparrow said she was striving to become a Nine Nether Underworld Sparrow and revealed that she had attempted evolution twice.
• Mu Chen pointed out that she had drained the life force of countless beasts for her tribulation and warned that her chances of surviving were poor.
• Mu Chen produced a crystal orb containing the Northern Abyss Dragon Kun’s divine beast blood essence and said it could help awaken her Undying Bird Bloodline.
• Mu Chen explained that the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy had provided the costly blood essence after he requested it, intending to use it to win over the Nine Nether Sparrow.