Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu arrived at the Kunlun Dao Discussion, where the world’s Celestial Being experts had gathered to discuss the future of martial arts. His effortless passage through shattered space astonished them, and he asked the gathered seniors to share their insight into the path ahead.

• Gu XiaoChen waited atop Kunlun Mountain as Blood Exchange Realm figures discussed his strength and the approaching Dao Discussion.
• Gongyang Yu arrived by cleaving through the sky, and he and Gu XiaoChen spoke of Chen Mu’s example on the martial path.
• Teng Xuanjing, Sikong Rui, Zhang Chen, Mo Zun, and the Profound Heaven Dao Lord joined the gathering, while the Celestial Beings wondered whether Chen Mu would attend.
• Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun arrived from the Seven Mysteries Sect, and Teng Xuanjing asked whether Chen Mu would come.
• Chen Mu crossed the heavens through spatial fissures and reached the summit, astonishing the Celestial Beings with his physique.
• Chen Mu greeted the gathered experts and asked to discuss the future path of martial arts with them.

At the Kunlun Dao Discussion, Chen Mu demonstrated his overwhelming martial cultivation and clarified the path of Blood Exchange, revealing that he had reached Blood Exchange Perfection. He left the gathered experts with a difficult road toward the Divine Realm, while inviting them to develop the martial path further.

• Chen Mu arrived at Kunlun Mountain by shattering the void, then carved “Kunlun Dao Discussion” into the summit stone with his finger.
• Chen Mu explained that Blood Exchange had Initial Accomplishment, Major Accomplishment, and Perfection, and that cultivating all Martial Blood to crimson gold marked Blood Exchange Perfection.
• The Heaven Lake Island Master revealed his Blood Exchange Major Accomplishment, and Chen Mu explained that advancing required powerful heart-soul force, Heaven-Human cultivation, resources, and a trace of Undying Aura of Light.
• Chen Mu disclosed that his own cultivation had reached Blood Exchange Perfection and explained that reaching the Divine Realm required pushing Blood Exchange to its absolute limit.
• The experts discussed searching the Great Wilderness for heart-soul methods and treasures, while Chen Mu shared his martial insights with them so they could refine and advance the Body-Tempering Martial Dao.

At the Kunlun Dao Discussion, Chen Mu’s martial exchanges revealed his Heaven-Human Level mastery as he defeated one Celestial Being Realm expert after another. The chapter ended as Gongyang Yu unleashed a saber strike that returned Qiankun to Primal Chaos, and Chen Mu answered with a strike that created Qiankun from Primal Chaos.

• Old Ancestor Nanhua Teng Xuanjing challenged Chen Mu, who crushed his Kun Earth palm and left the summit’s experts stunned by his Heaven-Human Level attainment.
• Sikong Rui and several other Celestial Being Realm experts exchanged single moves with Chen Mu, but he countered each martial path and forced them to retreat.
• Chen Mu recognized that Old Ancestor Nanhua’s apparent trace of the Time Dao was only an empty appearance, not its true substance.
• Gongyang Yu stepped forward and used his saber to erase the essences of heaven and earth, cleaving from Qiankun’s terminus toward Primal Chaos.
• Chen Mu met Gongyang Yu’s strike with a saber stroke that opened Primal Chaos and created Qiankun, setting the opposing paths against each other.

At the Kunlun Dao Discussion, Gongyang Yu and Gu XiaoChen each tested their ultimate saber and sword paths against Chen Mu, revealing profound mysteries of Primal Chaos and the void. Chen Mu defeated both and left the gathered experts contemplating new paths, while his understanding of the Void Dao continued to grow.

• Gongyang Yu clashed with Chen Mu using his Primal Chaos saber, lost the exchange, and was praised for opening an Ultimate Realm for the saber path.
• Gu XiaoChen stepped forward and revealed his unfinished Eighth Absolute Sword, Shattering Void, which pierced through Chen Mu's saber strike.
• Chen Mu caught Gu XiaoChen's sword between his bare hands, shattered it, and pulled him clear of the collapsing void.
• Chen Mu explained that Gu XiaoChen's sword had touched on the Void Dao but had not yet mastered void power, and he acknowledged that a perfected version could threaten him.
• Chen Mu gained Void Dao experience as the gathered experts reflected on the clash, while Gu XiaoChen recognized that strength of body could also shake the void.

At the Kunlun Dao Discussion, Gu XiaoChen displayed the profound Void Dao, and Chen Mu defeated Heaven Lake Island Master in a contest of physiques. Six Paths Alliance Master Mo Zun then outlined how the Soul Dao underlay martial arts, leaving the gathered experts to reconsider cultivation and Chen Mu’s extraordinary foundation.

• Gu XiaoChen’s Void-Shattering Sword left most martial artists unable to comprehend it, while Gongyang Yu and Gu XiaoChen acknowledged each other’s contributions to the saber and sword paths.
• Chen Mu pressed down Heaven Lake Island Master’s Sky Supporting Seal with one palm, shattered the space between them, and defeated him without being harmed.
• Mo Zun revealed that he had developed a dangerous Soul Dao attack and proposed that Artistic Conception and the Power of Heaven and Earth were secondary benefits of strengthening the Soul Dao.
• Mo Zun explained that awakening and tempering the Soul Dao could underpin breakthroughs through the Mysterious Pass, Marrow Cleansing, Blood Exchange, and later cultivation.
• Mo Zun suggested Chen Mu had forged his exceptional foundation by enduring the utmost tempering during each breakthrough, and Chen Mu accepted that Mo Zun’s theory had merit.

At the Kunlun Dao Discussion, Mo Zun revealed his mind-and-soul technique, and Chen Mu examined the Great Wilderness secret art behind it. Profound Heaven Dao Lord then demonstrated his understanding of Time Dao and struck Chen Mu with the Light and Shadow Finger, leaving him swallowed by a collapsing void.

• Mo Zun explained the Soul Separation Secret Method, which condensed a damaged wisp of his mind and soul into a needle that could disrupt an opponent.
• Chen Mu borrowed Mo Zun's demon-hide secret art, discovered it described the Soul Splitting Great Method and its Soul Splitting Puppet, and judged it useless to him.
• Profound Heaven Dao Lord told Chen Mu that Heaven Calculator had gained insight after witnessing Chen Mu pacify Kyoto and might reach the Celestial Being Realm after his seclusion.
• Profound Heaven Dao Lord revealed his complete Yin-Yang Dao and transformed it into an understanding of Time Dao.
• Profound Heaven Dao Lord used the Light and Shadow Finger to strike Chen Mu, then withdrew as a void collapse swallowed Chen Mu's figure.

Chen Mu emerged unharmed from the collapsed void after facing the Profound Heaven Dao Lord’s Light and Shadow Finger, and gained his first insight into the Time Dao. The Kunlun Dao Discussion ended with Chen Mu recognized throughout the martial world as unrivaled under heaven.

• Chen Mu walked out of the collapsed void uninjured, and the Profound Heaven Dao Lord acknowledged the gulf between their strength.
• Chen Mu reflected on the Profound Heaven Dao Lord’s Time Dao technique and saw the System Panel record the Time Dao as an available Source Path.
• Chen Mu checked his Void Dao progress and noted that his experience had reached 341 points toward the required 1,000.
• Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun discussed the Five Absolutes and recognized Chen Mu as the foremost martial artist of the age.
• Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying watched Chen Mu from a side peak and felt relief and admiration as his reputation was established.
• At the Kunlun Dao Discussion in Great Xuan Calendar year 1439, Chen Mu overwhelmed the heroes and became recognized as unrivaled under heaven.

After the Kunlun Dao Discussion, Chen Mu departed the summit and accepted an invitation to visit the Joyful Union Sect, whose sect master Mu Qingyi welcomed him. The chapter ended with Chen Mu seated calmly in the sect’s hall, while his companions and the sect’s elders attended him.

• The Heaven Lake Island Master and Profound Heaven Dao Lord praised Chen Mu’s insights, bade him farewell, and left Kunlun Mountain.
• Chen Mu sent a farewell message to Yin Heng and Qin Mengjun, then joined Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue after they finished comprehending Yin-Yang Evolves Time.
• Chen Mu traveled with the two sisters to the Joyful Union Sect and learned from Hua Nongyue that the sect had moved its main base from Cold North to Zhong Province.
• Chen Mu recognized Hou Lingling, asked after Xiao Lian, and declined her offer to summon Xiao Lian from Kyoto.
• Mu Qingyi welcomed Chen Mu into the Joyful Union Sect and led him to a hall, where he calmly took his seat among the attendants and elders.

Chen Mu visited the Joyful Union Sect, assessed its Human Desires Path, and learned why its disciples struggled to advance to the Celestial Being Realm. Mu Qingyi then revealed the sect’s Great Wilderness secret art, the Soul Refining Art, and handed its demon-hide scroll to Chen Mu.

• Mu Qingyi welcomed Chen Mu with spirit tea and arranged for Su Qianqian and the other Joyful Union disciples to perform a dance of human desires.
• Chen Mu watched the dance without being stirred and explained that the Joyful Union Sect’s path could lead toward the Ultimate Realm but was difficult to pursue without losing one’s way.
• After the disciples withdrew, Mu Qingyi told Chen Mu about the Joyful Union Sect’s sealed Great Wilderness secret art and its need for special spiritual objects.
• Mu Qingyi revealed that the secret art was the Soul Refining Art and explained that she had used its principles to separate Hua Nongyue and Hua Nongying.
• Mu Qingyi gave Chen Mu the demon-hide scroll, and he opened it to see the words “Soul Refining Art.”

Chen Mu obtained the Soul Refining Art from Mu Qingyi and agreed to protect the Joyful Union Sect’s inheritance and help her search for her missing master in the Great Wilderness. Back at the Seven Mysteries Sect, he began cultivating the art, discovered that its first step did not suit his Qian Kun Martial Body, and found that the System Panel was still accumulating experience for it.

• Chen Mu studied the Soul Refining Art and concluded that only cultivators with the Undying Aura of Light could safely practice it, while the System Panel recorded the art and its three layers.
• Mu Qingyi asked Chen Mu to preserve the Joyful Union Sect’s inheritance and accompany her into the Great Wilderness to search for Ye Junhong; Chen Mu agreed to both requests but postponed the expedition for at least three to five years.
• Chen Mu stayed at the Joyful Union Sect, where Hua Nongying and Hua Nongyue chose to remain and cultivate in seclusion rather than return with him to the Seven Mysteries Sect.
• Chen Mu returned to the Seven Mysteries Sect and entered its forbidden grounds to begin studying the Soul Refining Art.
• Chen Mu failed to condense Supreme Yang Blood Fire because the method required a Supreme Saint Barbarian Body rather than his Qian Kun Martial Body, but the System Panel showed that the art’s experience had increased to 49 points.

After two years of seclusion, Chen Mu watched Heaven Calculator reach the Celestial Being Realm, but Heaven Calculator died from a terrible backlash after divining a coming calamity and warning that survival lay in the Great Wilderness. At the Seven Mysteries Sect, Xu Hongyu broke through the Mysterious Pass and became a Marrow Cleansing Grandmaster, leaving her to receive congratulations from across the sect.

• The Profound Heaven Dao Lord sensed Heaven Calculator attain Heaven and Earth United and welcomed his advancement to the Celestial Being Realm.
• Heaven Calculator peered into the karma of heaven and earth, suffered a devastating backlash, and warned the Profound Heaven Dao Lord to beware of a great calamity and seek survival in the Great Wilderness before dying.
• Xu Hongyu made her fifth attempt to break through the Mysterious Pass while Chen Mu and Xiao He watched from the Bamboo Forest.
• Xu Hongyu passed the Heaven and Earth Pass, entered the Grandmaster Realm, and forged her Martial Body with Chen Mu's help.
• Chu Jingsu, Meng Danyun, Liu Tong, Qi Zhiyuan, and other Seven Mysteries Sect elders congratulated Xu Hongyu, who thanked them.

Xu Hongyu prepared to return to Jade Commandery with Chen Yao, Chen Yue, and Xiao He, while Chen Mu stayed behind to continue cultivating. Before they departed, he revealed that an ominous, unexplained danger seemed to be approaching, though he vowed to protect the world if disaster struck.

• Xu Hongyu told Chen Mu she wanted to return to Jade Commandery, and he gave her a Qiankun Stone capable of killing Grandmasters and withstanding Blood Exchange Realm attacks.
• Chen Mu gave Chen Yao a protective Qiankun Stone necklace and encouraged her to meet her maternal relatives and grandfather.
• Chen Mu told Xu Hongyu that his growing soul power had brought an increasingly strong premonition of an unknown danger beyond ordinary disasters.
• Xu Hongyu, Chen Yao, Chen Yue, and Xiao He left the Seven Mysteries Sect for Jade Commandery after Chen Mu saw them off at the mountain gate.

Chen Mu used Primal Chaos Qi to cultivate the third layer of the Soul Refining Art, then tempered his mind and soul with Primal Chaos Fire until he formed a complete Undying Divine Soul and reached the Half-Step God Realm. His Celestial-Human Resonance expanded across much of Jade Province, and he sensed something in the depths of Sha County.

• Chen Mu cultivated in the forbidden ground for a year until the Soul Refining Art reached four thousand experience points.
• Chen Mu used the System Panel to cultivate the third layer, combining Blood Fire, Heavenly Fire, and Primal Chaos Qi to form Primal Chaos Fire.
• Chen Mu tempered the last unrefined portion of his mind and soul with Primal Chaos Fire, completing his Undying Divine Soul and reaching the Half-Step God Realm.
• Chen Mu perceived the Great Xuan World and its Grotto-Heavens from beyond the world, and realized that even the world would eventually decay under the Void Tide.
• Chen Mu expanded his Celestial-Human Resonance to ten thousand eight hundred li, then noticed something in the depths of Sha County.

Outside Yunlu Pass, Chen Yue and Xiahou Yan’s group defeated a Tier Seven Demon King, but Demonic Qi emerged from the desert and transformed the dying beast into a far more powerful demonized creature. The demonized beast attacked Xiahou Yan and sent him flying, leaving the group facing a new threat.

• Chen Yue, Xiahou Yan, Kang Naiwu, Liang Xiao, and the other Protectors joined forces to defeat a Tier Seven Demon King beast of burden, with Chen Yue grievously wounding it using the Azure Traversal Sword.
• As Kang Naiwu moved to finish off the dying beast, Xiahou Yan warned him, and a black cloud of Demonic Qi burst from beneath a sand dune.
• The Demonic Qi swallowed the wounded beast, entered its body, healed its injuries, and turned its eyes pitch-black as it became demonized.
• The demonized beast charged Xiahou Yan and struck with overwhelming force, blasting him dozens of zhang away and making him spit blood.

Chen Yue used the Seven-Colored Mystic Jade to kill a demonized Demon King pack beast and helped the injured disciples prepare to return to Yunlu Pass. A greater wave of demonic qi then overwhelmed the group, but Chen Mu’s will appeared and reached across the desert to seize the sands.

• The demonized pack beast severely wounded Xiahou Yan, Kang Naiwu, and Liang Xiao, then charged at Chen Yue.
• Chen Yue resisted the beast’s demonic pressure and used the Seven-Colored Mystic Jade to unleash Chen Mu’s Qiankun Palm Seal, crushing it.
• Xiahou Yan and the others recognized Chen Mu’s Qiankun Power and agreed they needed to report the demonic qi to the sect.
• Chen Yue sent Wen Yuan to Yunlu Pass while she prepared to escort the injured disciples back.
• Blackened sand spread near Wen Yuan, and sinister laughter suppressed the thoughts of Chen Yue and the others.
• Chen Mu’s righteous aura broke the darkness, and a vast hand formed from the twisting heavens and surging sands reached across the desert.

Chen Mu suppressed a Ninth Rank Heavenly Demon in the desert and rescued Xiahou Yan and the others from its hidden influence. After sending them to safety at Yunlu Pass, he headed into the sea of sand to investigate the upheaval.

• Chen Mu used his will and the Power of Heaven and Earth to capture the Heavenly Demon and stop it from escaping through disintegration.
• Chen Yue, Xiahou Yan, and the others returned to Yunlu Pass, where Chen Mu transported them to the walls in an instant.
• Chen Mu expelled the Heavenly Demon's hidden dim light from Xiahou Yan, Kang Naiwu, Liang Xiao, and Wen Yuan, then healed Xiahou Yan's injuries.
• Chen Mu told Chen Yue to return to the sect and consolidate her gains before attempting to break through the Mysterious Pass.
• Chen Mu vanished from Yunlu Pass and surged into the sea of sand to handle the desert upheaval.

Chen Mu discovered that the disorder beneath Sha County was caused by the Ancient Demon Clan and forcibly descended into its sealed Earth Abyss. After destroying the demonized Heavenly Demons guarding it, he tore open a path toward the Bottom of Earth Abyss.

• Chen Mu crushed a Ninth Rank Heavenly Demon that claimed no one could stop what was coming, then looked beneath Sha County and found an apocalyptic sea of Demonic Qi.
• Chen Mu controlled the chaotic earth veins and descended through the sand into the Sha County Earth Abyss.
• Five demonized Heavenly Demons attacked Chen Mu, and he destroyed four with a single punch and the Heaven and Earth Cycle.
• Chen Mu forced open a fissure into the deeper Earth Abyss and stepped inside to discover what lay at its bottom.

Cang and the ancient Heavenly Demons prepared a Creation Great Array in the Earth Abyss beneath Sha County to contact the Ancestor Realm, but Chen Mu’s arrival threatened their plans. After the world’s laws blocked a True Demon from crossing through the array, the presence promised to lend aid if necessary, leaving Cang confident as Chi and Wu went to confront Chen Mu.

• Cang ordered Chi and Wu to intercept Chen Mu, whose strength he judged to be at least the Below God Fourth Rank.
• Cang recalled that he, Chi, and Wu had survived the ancient war, hidden beneath Sha County, and spent years preparing to contact the Ancestor Realm.
• Cang commanded more than twenty Ninth Rank Heavenly Demons to sacrifice Demonic Qi into the Creation Great Array.
• A thread of aura from the Ancestor Realm entered the vortex, but the world’s will rejected it and forced it to withdraw.
• The True Demon beyond the vortex told Cang that it could not cross over yet but would lend aid if the situation became critical.

Chen Mu confronted the Ancient Demon Clan’s Tenth Rank Heavenly Demons in the Sha County Earth Abyss and revealed the overwhelming power of his Undying Divine Soul. After killing Heavenly Demon Wu, he stopped Heavenly Demon Chi’s escape with a Primal Chaos True Word, leaving Chi shattered and exposed.

• Chen Mu challenged the Ancient Demon Clan in its Earth Abyss refuge, and Heavenly Demon Chi emerged to warn him away.
• Chen Mu attacked Chi, whose Creation Demon Lotus resisted his strike until Chen Mu transformed his power into Primal Chaos and began crushing it.
• Heavenly Demon Wu ambushed Chen Mu from behind with a Creation Demon Spear, but Chen Mu caught and shattered it before killing Wu with a soul-infused punch.
• Heavenly Demon Chi tried to flee after witnessing Wu’s death, but Chen Mu struck him with the Primal Chaos True Word, shattering his demonic form and knocking him out of the Demonic Qi.

Chen Mu killed Heavenly Demon Chi and reached the deepest layer of the Earth Abyss, where he discovered a Creation Great Array surrounding a mysterious vortex. After revealing the demons guarding it, he confronted Heavenly Demon Cang, who merged with more than twenty Ninth Rank Heavenly Demons and grew stronger.

• Chen Mu annihilated Heavenly Demon Chi's scattered demon body and soul, killing the Tenth Rank Heavenly Demon.
• Chen Mu charged through the Earth Abyss and reached its forbidden final layer, where he found a vast formation embodying the Creation Path.
• Chen Mu's System Panel revealed the Creation Path as a newly available Source Path, alongside the Void Path and Time Dao.
• Chen Mu slashed open the black curtain covering the formation and revealed a gray vortex guarded by Heavenly Demon Cang and more than twenty Ninth Rank demons.
• Heavenly Demon Cang said the world would fall under his race's rule, then absorbed the surrounding Ninth Rank demons and transformed into a more powerful Zhang Liu Demon Body.