Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu gathered Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid from powerful root nodes in Seeking Wood Cave Heaven before Yan Hong warned him that the Spirit Race Old Ancestor was attacking their scattered group. Yan Hong’s party chose to move toward Chen Mu, leaving their next encounter unresolved.

• Chen Mu froze the Spirit Race members in an underground settlement and extracted Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid from a thick Seeking Wood root.
• Chen Mu found a deeply buried root node and extracted nearly a jin of spirit liquid, then continued searching for more.
• Yan Hong contacted Chen Mu through the Earth Fiend Array Flag and urgently called for help after several Grandmasters disappeared.
• Yan Hong’s group realized the Spirit Race Old Ancestor was picking off their scattered allies, and Yan Hong refused to abandon them and flee to the surface.
• Liu Qingyan suggested that Yan Hong’s party head toward Chen Mu, and Yan Hong agreed.

Yan Hong and the Great Xuan Grandmasters fought Ling Huan underground, relying on the Earthly Fiend formation to withstand his attacks. Ling Huan killed Zhou Zheng with a Spirit Weapon, revealing that he had been holding back and intended to lure the scattered Grandmasters into a trap.

• Yan Hong and Yan Zhengyang were ambushed by Ling Huan, who wounded them before they could form the Earthly Fiend formation.
• Yan Hong, Liu Qingyan, Hou Cheng, Wei Shuxian, Yan Zhengyang, and the other Grandmasters coordinated through the formation to defend against Ling Huan's attacks.
• Ling Huan tested the formation, then targeted its weaker members and forced the group to fight defensively as the cavern collapsed around them.
• Zhou Zheng heard the battle, chose to join Yan Hong's group, and entered the formation with his Earth Fiend Array Flag.
• Ling Huan used an emerald-green branch to shatter Zhou Zheng's defense and kill him in one strike, revealing that he had been luring the scattered Grandmasters into a trap.

Chen Mu arrived as Yan Hong's group faced defeat and revealed strength equal to Ling Huan's, the Spirit Race Old Ancestor. Their clash exposed Ling Huan as a Celestial Being whose power was restricted by Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, leaving the two nearly evenly matched.

• Yan Hong realized Ling Huan had lured her scattered Grandmasters into a trap and prepared to use her escape talisman as Yan Zhengyang urged her to flee.
• Chen Mu arrived with an Earth Fiend Array Flag and blocked Ling Huan's attack, driving him back with a light strike.
• Chen Mu revealed his identity and exchanged several blows with Ling Huan, whose attacks tore open rifts in space.
• Yan Hong recognized Chen Mu as the man who had entered under the name Mu Chen, while Chen Mu sensed that Ling Huan was a Celestial Being weakened by the cave world's restrictions.
• Ling Huan grew solemn as Chen Mu proved capable of matching him, despite Chen Mu being in the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Chen Mu fought Ling Huan alongside Yan Hong’s group, forcing the Spirit Race Old Ancestor to retreat into the Seeking Wood before he could be captured. After collecting the group’s Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, Chen Mu agreed to escort them to other teams in exchange for sixty catties in total.

• Chen Mu attacked Ling Huan with the Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, while Yan Hong formed the Earthly Fiend axe with the other Grandmasters and struck at Ling Huan from behind.
• Ling Huan summoned Seeking Wood roots to overwhelm the Earthly Fiend axe and attack Yan Hong’s group, but Chen Mu shattered the roots and left Ling Huan visibly weakened.
• Ling Huan struck Chen Mu once more, then merged with the Seeking Wood roots and escaped before Chen Mu could catch him.
• Yan Hong thanked Chen Mu for saving her group, and Chen Mu explained that he had hoped to join forces with them against Ling Huan after strengthening his Martial Body.
• Chen Mu demanded the group’s Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, and Yan Hong and the others handed over about two catties.
• Yan Hong offered the group’s future gains in exchange for Chen Mu escorting them to other teams, and Chen Mu demanded sixty catties of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid; Yan Hong accepted.

Cheng Zu sought Ling Wuqi’s permission to let Great Xuan’s feud with Chen Mu play out when Chen Mu emerged from Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, where several Blood Exchange Realm experts were preparing to ambush him. Inside the cave heaven, Jiang Han’s group encountered Yan Hong’s diminished party as they weighed whether to attack another Spirit Race settlement.

• Ling Wuqi killed a Tier Seven fish demon with one finger, then greeted Cheng Zu, who asked about Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and the unusual Chen Mu.
• Ling Wuqi recognized that multiple Blood Exchange Realm experts were gathering to target Chen Mu when the Void Tide opened the way out three months later, and considered whether Listening Tide Cliff should intervene.
• Jiang Han’s group spotted a large Spirit Race settlement but hesitated to attack because the Spirit Race Old Ancestor had already killed three of their Grandmasters.
• Jiang Han sensed approaching people and confirmed they were not Spirit Race.
• Jiang Han greeted Princess Yongning Yan Hong and noticed that her group had suffered heavy losses, prompting her to consider joining forces for the attack.

Yan Hong and Jiang Han negotiated an alliance to attack a large Spirit Race settlement, and Chen Mu demanded a share after revealing his identity. The combined group reached the settlement and saw its defenders raise an array powered by the Seeking Wood Main Branch.

• Jiang Han and Yan Hong discussed their losses and agreed to join forces to attack a large settlement, settling on shares of forty-two percent for Yan Hong’s party and fifty-eight percent for Jiang Han’s.
• Chen Mu demanded one-third of the spoils, introduced himself as Cold North, Chen Mu, and stunned Jiang Han’s party with his reputation and aura.
• Jiang Han accepted Chen Mu’s demand, and the two parties followed him toward the settlement with more than forty Grandmasters.
• The group reached a vast settlement on a Seeking Wood Main Branch, where the defenders activated an array that enveloped it in emerald light.

Jiang Han, Yan Hong, and their allied Grandmasters attacked a powerful Spirit Race settlement, but its formation withstood their assaults. Chen Mu shattered the formation with one finger, leaving Chieftain Ling Feng and the other observers stunned.

• Ling Feng calmed the Spirit Race settlement and ordered its people to prepare for an attack as Jiang Han, Yan Hong, and their allies approached.
• More than twenty Grandmasters struck the Seeking Wood Formation, but the emerald light screen held against their attacks.
• Ling Feng and over a hundred Spirit Race elites gathered their power into a gigantic spiritual blade, which clashed with Yan Hong’s Earth Fiend blade.
• Chen Mu explained that the two enormous attacks lacked condensed power, then stepped up and pierced the formation with one finger, shattering the void and killing nearby Spirit Race people.
• The Seeking Wood Power surged back toward Chen Mu, but he retreated and dispersed it with a casual palm strike, shocking Jiang Han, Yan Hong, Ling Feng, and the others.

Chen Mu and the allied Grandmasters battered down the Spirit Race settlement’s formation and defeated its defenders before Ling Huan appeared. After the settlement fell, Chen Mu claimed its Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and divided it according to the groups’ arrangement.

• Yan Hong gathered nearly thirty Grandmasters’ strength into an Earthly Fiend Seal, but it failed to break the formation, while Chen Mu’s focused Qiankun Fingers pierced the barrier and pressured Chief Ling Feng and the defenders.
• Jiang Han, Yan Hong, and the other Grandmasters kept attacking as Chen Mu struck repeatedly; on his forty-ninth finger, the formation foundations broke and the light curtain shattered.
• Jiang Han’s forces charged into the settlement, and Yan Zhengyang and two other Grandmasters killed the fleeing Ling Feng while the allied forces overwhelmed the Spirit Race defenders.
• Jiang Han and the Grandmasters gathered at a spring containing Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, and Chen Mu extracted seventy-two catties and divided it into three portions.
• Chen Mu gave one portion to Jiang Han’s group to distribute, kept the other two, and counted twenty-four catties toward Yan Hong’s group’s payment while noting they still owed him thirty-six catties.

Chen Mu used his vast supply of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid to advance his Qian Kun Martial Body from Major Accomplishment to Perfection. Having reached the endpoint of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, he stood ready to pursue the Blood Exchange Realm.

• Yan Zhengyang advised Yan Hong to befriend Chen Mu, and Yan Hong said she would gather Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and repay the favor she owed him.
• Chen Mu left with fifty-seven jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, having claimed the shares from his own and Yan Hong's groups.
• Chen Mu hid in an underground cavern near the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven's outskirts and used his remaining body-tempering materials to build experience.
• Chen Mu swallowed fifteen jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, raising his experience above the twelve-thousand-point requirement for an upgrade.
• Chen Mu used the System Panel to temper and cleanse his marrow, advancing his Qian Kun Martial Body to Perfection and shattering the space in his palm with a squeeze.

After reaching Perfection in the Qian Kun Martial Body, Chen Mu realized he could overwhelm the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven’s settlements and considered advancing to the Marrow Cleansing limit before attempting to kill Ling Huan. Meanwhile, Shen Borui and Long Shaochang’s combined party encountered Ling Huan, whose first attack was broken by their Vast Sea Grand Formation.

• Chen Mu found that his Perfection-level Qian Kun Martial Body had increased his physique and Astral Force by nearly thirty percent, making him stronger than Ling Huan in a direct fight.
• Chen Mu concluded that killing Ling Huan would require trapping him before he could retreat to the Core Region, and he considered cultivating his Martial Body to the Marrow Cleansing limit.
• Chen Mu learned that reaching the limit required one hundred thousand experience points, which he could obtain by gathering about two hundred jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid from large settlements.
• Shen Borui and Long Shaochang led twenty-seven Grandmasters from the Pure Sea Palace and Vast Sea Pavilion through the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and discovered a large Spirit Race settlement.
• Ling Huan attacked a Pure Sea Palace Grandmaster with a jade-green hand formed from Seeking Wood Power, prompting Shen Borui, Long Shaochang, and their companions to activate the Vast Sea Grand Formation.
• The Vast Sea Grand Formation shattered Ling Huan’s jade-green hand and freed the targeted Grandmaster.

Ling Huan revealed that the Spirit Race had a second Blood Exchange Realm expert, Ling Ji, and the two overwhelmed the Pure Sea Palace and Vast Sea Pavilion Grandmasters. Shen Borui and Long Shaochang broke their formation so the group could flee, leaving Ling Huan and Ling Ji to hunt them down.

• Ling Huan emerged from the Seeking Wood behind the group and killed a Vast Sea Pavilion Grandmaster with his Seeking Wood Heart Branch.
• Ling Ji revealed himself as the Spirit Race’s newly ascended Blood Exchange Realm Spirit Ancestor and attacked the Grandmasters with wood dragons.
• Shen Borui and Long Shaochang led the Grandmasters in a Vast Sea formation, but Ling Huan’s Sacred Tree Blossom petals began breaking through their defenses.
• Shen Borui and Long Shaochang decided the group had to scatter and flee, then unleashed Vast Sea and Sky to shatter the wood dragons and flower petals.
• More than twenty Grandmasters fled in different directions as Ling Huan and Ling Ji pursued them, each killing a fleeing Grandmaster.

After learning that two Spirit Ancestors had appeared in Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, the scattered Grandmasters began seeking allies while Chen Mu continued gathering Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, unaware of the danger. Chen Mu encountered the fleeing Fang Yuan, learned what had happened, and remained confident he could face the two Spirit Ancestors as Fang Yuan urged him to seek reinforcements.

• A surviving Pure Sea Palace Grandmaster told Yan Hong and Jiang Han that two Spirit Ancestors had emerged, so they decided to seek another group and prioritize safety.
• Word spread among the factions that the Pure Sea Palace and Vast Sea Pavilion groups had been shattered, while Ling Huan and Ling Ji continued attacking other groups.
• Chen Mu kept exploring alone and collected more than twenty jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid before sensing a familiar Grandmaster nearby.
• Fang Yuan fled after Ling Huan and Ling Ji crushed his group, then nearly used his hidden life-saving measures when Chen Mu appeared in his path.
• Fang Yuan told Chen Mu that two Spirit Ancestors were attacking the Grandmasters and urged him to gather with other groups.
• Chen Mu explained that one Spirit Ancestor was newly advanced and said he was confident he could defeat the pair, leaving Fang Yuan uneasy.

Chen Mu followed Fang Yuan to a large Spirit Race settlement and chose to test his Qian Kun Martial Body against its defenses. He shattered the settlement’s formation with one punch and left the settlement in ruins, while the two Spirit Ancestors never appeared.

• Fang Yuan told Chen Mu about a large settlement on the Seeking Wood Upper Branch, and agreed to lead him there.
• Chen Mu concealed himself as he followed Fang Yuan, hoping to draw out Ling Huan and Ling Ji, but neither Spirit Ancestor appeared.
• Fang Yuan pointed out the settlement and suggested Chen Mu infiltrate it to weaken its formation, but Chen Mu walked straight toward it.
• The Seeking Wood Formation activated, and Chen Mu struck its curtain with a Heaven and Earth Wheel Seal, tearing open a huge hole.
• Chen Mu sent a giant fist seal crashing into the settlement, crushing buildings and Spirit Race members and leaving a massive imprint in the Seeking Wood foundation.

Chen Mu overwhelmed a Spirit Race settlement, destroying its formation and killing fleeing Spirit Race members while Fang Yuan watched in awe. Ling Huan and Ling Ji chose not to confront Chen Mu directly, and Chen Mu left the ruined settlement with a bottle of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid.

• Chen Mu repeatedly smashed the settlement’s formation until it shattered, then entered as Fang Yuan followed.
• Ling Huan killed a fleeing Grandmaster and met Ling Ji, who reported that the Nine United Tribe had been breached.
• Ling Ji suggested joining Ling Huan to attack Chen Mu, but Ling Huan refused and chose to target the other invaders instead.
• Chen Mu killed an aged Spirit Race member carrying Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and took a bottle containing fifteen jin.

Chen Mu gathered more than a hundred pounds of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and continued onward with Fang Yuan. Elsewhere, Grandmasters joined forces to search for other groups and discussed Chen Mu’s astonishing strength, while Superior Zonggang learned that Chen Mu had faced both Ling Huan and the Blood Shadow Tower Master without being overcome.

• Fang Yuan gave Chen Mu thirteen pounds of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, and Chen Mu offered him three pounds in return, though Fang Yuan declined.
• Chen Mu invited Fang Yuan to continue traveling with him for safety, and they set off together.
• Jiang Han, Yan Hong, Hong Shida, Superior Zonggang, and their groups agreed to find and gather with the other Grandmasters amid fears that Seeking Wood Cave Heaven might hold more Spirit Ancestors.
• Superior Zonggang learned that Chen Mu had fought Ling Huan without falling behind and had survived the Blood Shadow Tower Master's assassination, leaving him stunned by Chen Mu's power.

After gathering over two hundred jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, Chen Mu withdrew with Fang Yuan to cultivate rather than keep plundering. He began preparing to temper his Qiankun Martial Body beyond Perfection, toward the limit of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

• Chen Mu and Fang Yuan spent nearly half a month raiding Spirit Race settlements, collecting over two hundred jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and many spiritual items.
• Chen Mu decided to stop plundering and find a secluded place to refine the spirit liquid, and Fang Yuan agreed to stand guard.
• Ling Huan sensed that Chen Mu had retreated but chose to focus on the Grandmaster forces gathered outside the Seeking Wood Grand Array.
• Chen Mu led Fang Yuan to the edge of Seeking Wood Cave Heaven, dug deep underground, and settled into seclusion.
• Chen Mu checked the System Panel, saw his Qiankun Martial Body at Perfection, and prepared to pursue the limit of the Marrow Cleansing Realm.

Chen Mu consumed more than two hundred jin of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid and Earth Spirit Fruits to gather enough experience for the System Panel to begin Limit Marrow Cleansing. After nearly a month of tempering, his marrow transformed into Jade Marrow, and Fang Yuan sensed the terrifying power Chen Mu released.

• Chen Mu swallowed Earth Spirit Fruits and vast amounts of Seeking Wood Spirit Liquid, suppressing the surging vitality and spiritual power with his Martial Dao Will and tempered body.
• Chen Mu accumulated over one hundred thousand experience points and used the System Panel to control the power in his body and temper his marrow.
• Chen Mu spent nearly a month undergoing Limit Marrow Cleansing as his golden marrow gradually transformed into translucent Jade Marrow.
• Chen Mu opened his eyes after the tempering ended, and his Astral Force shattered the void around him and shook the earth.
• Fang Yuan felt Chen Mu's sudden pressure from above and wondered whether Chen Mu had entered the Blood Exchange Realm.

Chen Mu reached the limit of the Marrow Cleansing Realm and set out with Fang Yuan to confront the Spirit Race. They arrived as more than a hundred Grandmasters were locked in a stalemate against the Spirit Race’s defended settlement.

• Chen Mu completed his breakthrough to the limit of the Marrow Cleansing Realm, gaining a physique stronger than even the Blood Exchange Realm’s ordinary limits.
• Chen Mu concluded that the Seeking Wood Cave Heaven could not support a breakthrough into Blood Exchange and decided to deal with the Spirit Race before leaving.
• Chen Mu told Fang Yuan he planned to test the two Spirit Ancestors again, and Fang Yuan agreed to accompany him.
• Yan Hong, Jiang Han, Hong Shida, Superior Zonggang, and other Grandmasters attacked the Spirit Race settlement’s formation while Ling Huan, Ling Ji, and the Spirit Race defended it.
• The formation held firm under Ling Huan’s command, leaving both sides in a stalemate that the Grandmasters could not maintain indefinitely.

Chen Mu arrived at the battle at Seeking Wood Cave Heaven and revealed a dramatic increase in strength by smashing through Ling Ji’s attack and the formation’s light screen. The chapter ended with Chen Mu’s fist crushing Ling Ji and sending him crashing through the settlement.

• Ling Huan conserved his strength while controlling the Seeking Wood Grand Array and watched for Chen Mu’s arrival.
• Chen Mu and Fang Yuan reached the battlefield, where the assembled Grandmasters recognized Chen Mu and Yan Hong welcomed his support.
• Ling Ji crossed the formation’s light screen to test Chen Mu, while Ling Huan let him engage.
• Ling Ji attacked with Wood Spirit Derivation, sending Azure Dragons toward Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu shattered the Wood Dragons with a bodily charge, broke through the formation’s light screen, and struck Ling Ji, whose body smashed through buildings.

Chen Mu shattered the Seeking Wood Grand Array’s defenses and revealed strength that could match a Heaven-Human Level expert, then fought Ling Huan while the other Grandmasters attacked the settlement. The battle left the Spirit Race’s defenses on the brink of collapse, though Chen Mu and Ling Huan’s duel remained unresolved.

• Chen Mu broke through the Seeking Wood Grand Array and nearly crushed Ling Ji with a single strike, stunning the gathered Grandmasters.
• Ling Huan drew on the array’s full Power of Heaven and Earth and struck Chen Mu, but their clash created a Void Fissure and proved Chen Mu could match Heaven-Human Level strength through his physique alone.
• Chen Mu attacked Ling Huan again, and the two exchanged powerful strikes that repeatedly shattered the void as the battle continued above the settlement.
• Yan Hong urged the gathered Grandmasters to attack while Chen Mu held Ling Huan and most of the array’s power at bay, and Jiang Han led the renewed assault.
• Superior Zonggang concluded that Chen Mu had likely pushed the later Body-Tempering realms to their limits, then joined Hong Shida in attacking the settlement.