Chapter Summaries

Sikong Jing prepared the Crescent Moon Lineage to leave the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family’s territory, while Ling Mi'er and her family helped defeat the Straight Wind Lineage. After the First Elder and the others found no clues at Evil Crescent River, Sikong Jing departed for the Heaven-Soaring Giant Continent, still seeking his parents.

• Sikong Jing removed the demon aura from the Crescent Moon Lineage’s beasts and arranged for the lineage to escape the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family’s reach.
• Ling Mi'er, Ling Zhijing, Ling Jianpu, Luo Guangmang, and Bian Fei arrived in the Crescent Moon Wasteland and helped Ling Zhixin crush the Straight Wind Lineage; its leaders were captured and the rest were killed.
• Ling Mi'er and Ling Zhixin told Ling Zhijing’s wife that Sikong Jing was not Jianxing but the son of Ling Xiaotian and Sikong Ding, and Ling Zhixin said they would wait for Sikong Jing’s arrangements.
• Luo Guangmang reported that Ling Dongwei had changed his orders for the Straight Wind Lineage, suggesting Sikong Jing had already won against him.
• The First Elder and the others took Sikong Jing from the Straight Wind Palace Complex to the Heaven-Soaring Giant Continent after finding no clues at Evil Crescent River.

As Sikong Jing traveled toward the Heaven-Soaring Giant Continent, the Crescent Moon Lineage began fleeing to the Seal Sovereign Empire’s Desolate Sea Region. Meanwhile, Eighth Princess Jun Guqiao arrived at the Cangyu Demon Sect and demanded that its chief sect master receive her.

• Sikong Jing’s orders led the Crescent Moon Lineage and demonic beasts to prepare to leave the Crescent Moon Sea Region for the Desolate Sea Region.
• Luo Guangmang used Ling Zhisui to send Ling Dongwei a false explanation for his delay, buying the fleeing group more time.
• Luo Guangmang led the Crescent Moon Lineage to rendezvous with the demonic beasts and travel through the Crescent Moon Sea Region during a troop handover.
• Luo Guangmang told Bian Fei and Bian Xin that following Sikong Jing offered them a future chance for revenge.
• Jun Guqiao arrived at the Cangyu Demon Sect, and after its leaders came out to receive her, she demanded that the chief sect master appear.

Jun Guqiao used Jun Guxian’s death as a pretext to attack the Cangyu Demon Sect, while Old Madam Bai joined her to destroy the sect. As the island’s visitors panicked, Jun Yisui trusted that his future son-in-law could handle the threat, only for the young disciple to object to being called Princess Fennel’s future husband.

• Jun Guqiao accused the Cangyu Demon Sect of hiding Grand Sect Master Teng Bahun and ordered her forces to seize its people.
• Zhan Hu, Forged Rock, and Joy Soul fought off Jun Guqiao’s Super Divine Martial experts as Ying Sanmeng invoked the sect’s Army-Slaying Formation and warned her that attacking the Five-Seal War General’s sect was treason.
• Jun Guqiao accused the sect of betraying the Seal Sovereign Empire and summoned Old Madam Bai, who blamed the sect for Jun Guxian’s death and vowed to destroy it.
• Visitors on Cangyu Island panicked when the activated Army-Slaying Formation blocked their escape, while Jun Yisui assured them the sect could handle the attack.
• A young Cangyu Demon Sect disciple asked Jun Yisui to stop calling him his future son-in-law, saying he and Princess Fennel were only friends.

The Cangyu Demon Sect used a Demonic Puppet from Gods and Devils Island Prison to kill Old Madam Bai during Jun Guqiao’s attack. Teng Yue explained the sect’s tactic to Jun Yisui, who realized the Demonic Puppet was part of the sect’s hidden foundation.

• Jun Yisui offered to help Teng Yue fight Old Madam Bai, but Teng Yue said the Cangyu Demon Sect needed to prove it could defend itself.
• Old Madam Bai attacked Ying Sanmeng and the Cangyu Demon Sect’s fighters as Jun Guqiao demanded revenge for Jun Guxian.
• Forged Rock used a tiny stone to bring Heavy Rock and a disheveled prison convict to the battlefield, then charged at Old Madam Bai with support from Zhan Hu, Ying Sanmeng, and Joy Soul.
• A Demonic Puppet emerged from the Desolate Sea Absolute Formation, killed the convict, and struck Old Madam Bai, whom Forged Rock finished off with a punch.
• Forged Rock warned Jun Guqiao and her followers that the Cangyu Demon Sect would destroy those who sought its destruction.
• Teng Yue told Jun Yisui that the Demonic Puppet punished escaped prisoners, revealing how the sect had used the convict to draw it into the battle.

After the Demonic Puppet killed Old Lady Bai, Jun Yisui explained that the Seal Sovereign Emperor would let the Sea-Chasing line and Golden Seal Bai Family clash while a war with the Dark Sea Divine Wind Kingdom loomed. The Cangyu Demon Sect temporarily survived Jun Guqiao’s retreat, and Sikong Jing’s actions continued to strengthen the sect and its allies from afar.

• Teng Yue explained that Sikong Jing had enabled the Cangyu Demon Sect to use the Demonic Puppet, and Jun Yisui predicted its appearance would delay Jun Guqiao’s assault.
• Jun Yisui told Teng Yue that the Seal Sovereign Emperor would not stop Jun Guqiao because the Golden Seal Bai Family needed to vent its fury and the Sea-Chasing line would defend the sect.
• Jun Yisui warned that the Dark Sea Divine Wind Kingdom was preparing a major offensive centered on the Desolate Sea Region, and urged the Cangyu Demon Sect to prepare for the coming war.
• Jun Guqiao cried out in anger over Old Lady Bai’s death and retreated, while visitors departed and rumors spread that the Cangyu Demon Sect faced destruction.
• Jun Yisui received word that Jun Feihong had brought the Evil Seal Patriarch’s essence blood to Jun Yiji, giving him another reason to protect the Cangyu Demon Sect.

Sikong Jing arrived at the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Hall disguised as Ling Jianxing and waited several days before being sent to the Imperial Hall Stairway. There, direct descendants and branch-family members treated him with contempt, and a young man ordered him to kneel.

• Sikong Jing reached the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Hall with the Grand Elder after nearly a month of spatial transmission.
• The Grand Elder left Sikong Jing in a small hall, where he waited three days without an audience and wondered whether the family head was testing him over the Crescent Moon Lineage.
• On the fifth day, Ling Yuyue introduced herself as the family head's eldest granddaughter, gave Sikong Jing clothes, and took him to the Imperial Hall Plaza before leaving him there.
• Sikong Jing noticed that his blue Bright Moon Branch robes made him stand out among the golden-robed direct descendants and red-robed Blazing Sun Branch members.
• A young man questioned Sikong Jing about his merit, then ordered him to kneel as several experts stepped forward behind him.

Sikong Jing entered the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Hall square, where his calm admission that he had killed Ling Dongwei's daughter silenced the crowd and made people wary of confronting him. Above, Ling Dongchuan and the elders discussed exploiting Sikong Jing's sword comprehension and Imperial Bloodline before trading him to Ling Dongwei.

• Sikong Jing disclosed that he had killed Ling Dongwei's daughter, causing the crowd to fall silent and members of Ling Dongwei's branch to confront him.
• Sikong Jing asked where to queue, ignored the threats against him, and walked toward the Imperial Hall stairs as people made way.
• The youth and surrounding onlookers said Sikong Jing was unlikely to live long and decided not to provoke him for now.
• Ling Yuyue told her grandfather, Ling Dongchuan, that Sikong Jing was arrogant and failed to respect his status as a branch member.
• The elders urged Ling Dongchuan to hand Sikong Jing over to Ling Dongwei, while the Grand Elder proposed first extracting the value of Sikong Jing's Nine Swords comprehension and Imperial Bloodline.

Sikong Jing stepped onto the Imperial Hall Steps without a token, unaware to the watching crowd that Clan Head Ling Dongchuan had arranged for him to face the steps as an enemy. As the killing pressure began to rise, Sikong Jing sensed the trial was meant to make him beg for mercy.

• Ling Dongchuan ordered the guards to let Ling Jianxing onto the Imperial Hall Steps without giving him a Steps Token.
• Sikong Jing bypassed the queue and stepped onto the stairs, choosing to face the danger rather than delay his mission to rescue his parents.
• The gathered descendants realized Sikong Jing had no token and anticipated that the steps would crush him with their full pressure.
• An elder recounted how powerful challengers had failed at the 350th and 887th steps, and predicted Sikong Jing would not reach 400.
• Ling Yuyue asked what would happen if Sikong Jing refused to beg for mercy, and Ling Dongchuan said they would let him die or find a way to exploit him.
• Sikong Jing sensed the Heaven-Soaring killing intent on the first step and realized it would intensify with every stair to force him to yield.

Sikong Jing climbed the Imperial Hall Stairway without a token, using its killing intent to complete the Heaven-Soaring Tenth Sword and understand the formation. At the four-hundred-and-eightieth step, he began constructing his own stairway token.

• Sikong Jing decided to forge a stairway token by comprehending the formation and used the stairway's killing intent to complete the Heaven-Soaring Tenth Sword.
• The crowd mocked Sikong Jing and expected the stairway's negative forces to overwhelm him, while the Grand Elder recognized that he was comprehending its power.
• Sikong Jing climbed steadily, using the stairway's pressure to temper his spirit shadows until all three reached the Divine Venerable Realm.
• Sikong Jing assessed that his true qi would limit him to around the five-hundred-and-twentieth step, then completed the Heaven-Soaring Tenth Sword at the four-hundred-and-fiftieth step.
• At the four-hundred-and-eightieth step, Sikong Jing comprehended the formation's essence and began constructing an identical formation in his human-channel dantian to create a stairway token.

Sikong Jing used the stairway formation to conceal his beast-bloodline dantian and climbed to the five-hundred-and-twenty-sixth step, pushing his Heaven-Soaring Imperial Bloodline to its limit. His unprecedented achievement shifted opinion in the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family, but Ling Dongchuan still planned to privately pressure him while publicly welcoming him.

• Sikong Jing completed the Stairway Token and discovered that the formation concealed his beast-bloodline dantian beneath the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Bloodline.
• Sikong Jing climbed past the five-hundred-and-twentieth step, tempering his true qi under the pressure, until blood burst from his body at the five-hundred-and-twenty-sixth step.
• The Imperial Hall Plaza’s younger generation admired Sikong Jing, while older members recognized that his talent made suppressing him politically risky.
• The elders debated whether to treat Sikong Jing with courtesy or force him to submit, and Ling Dongchuan decided to follow the original plan while making a public show of welcoming him.
• Ling Dongchuan descended the stairs, intending to appear courteous to the crowd while privately warning Sikong Jing.

Ling Dongchuan confronted Sikong Jing over hiding the Crescent Moon Lineage and demanded that he bring them to the Heaven-Soaring Giant Continent. Sikong Jing refused, and Ling Dongchuan offered him two choices before forcing him two steps higher on the stairway.

• Ling Dongchuan asked Sikong Jing why he had not received a stairway token and demanded an explanation for the Crescent Moon Lineage's disappearance.
• Sikong Jing admitted that he had hidden the lineage because he did not trust Ling Dongchuan to protect them from Ling Dongwei.
• Ling Dongchuan promised to protect the lineage and ordered Sikong Jing to contact them, but Sikong Jing said he had severed every means of contact.
• Sikong Jing said he would fight for the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family, but not specifically for Ling Dongchuan.
• Ling Dongchuan offered Sikong Jing a choice between finding the lineage for direct-descendant treatment or being handed over to Ling Dongwei.
• Ling Dongchuan moved Sikong Jing from the 526th step to the 528th and told the onlookers that Sikong Jing wanted to climb higher.

Sikong Jing used a token he had made himself to neutralize the Imperial Hall Stairway’s pressure and climbed to the Heaven-Soaring Main Hall. He revealed his creation to Ling Dongchuan and asked for a third choice, leaving the family head and elders stunned.

• Ling Dongchuan returned to the main hall and waited for Sikong Jing to kneel, while Ling Yuyue asked to make him her male consort for the sake of his bloodline.
• Sikong Jing activated the true-energy token he had crafted, causing the stairway’s opposing pressure to vanish and his injuries to stop worsening.
• Sikong Jing climbed the remaining steps with ease, prompting onlookers to assume Ling Dongchuan had secretly given him a Stairway Token.
• Ling Dongchuan denied giving Sikong Jing a token, but decided to let him reach the hall and deal with him afterward.
• After Sikong Jing reached the hall, Ling Dongchuan accused him of stealing a token, and Sikong Jing revealed that he had made one himself.
• Sikong Jing dispersed the token and asked Ling Dongchuan to give him a third choice because his value was great.

Sikong Jing used his stairway formation insight and claimed the Heaven-Soaring Emperor’s essence blood to secure a third choice from Ling Dongchuan. Ling Dongchuan sent him to the Scripture Repository’s nineteenth floor to force him to solve its martial mysteries.

• Sikong Jing revealed that he had comprehended the stairway’s formation laws and demanded a third choice, citing his value to the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family.
• Ling Dongchuan examined Sikong Jing and sensed an exceptionally pure Heaven-Soaring Imperial Bloodline.
• Sikong Jing claimed the Heaven-Soaring Emperor’s essence blood had struck him when the Imperial Legacy Battlefield shattered, and asked to be recognized as direct line.
• Ling Dongchuan offered to elevate Sikong Jing to the direct line and stop pursuing the Crescent Moon Lineage if he made great contributions.
• Ling Dongchuan ordered guards to take Sikong Jing to the nineteenth floor of the Scripture Repository so he could solve its martial problems.

Ling Dongchuan imprisoned Sikong Jing in the Scripture Repository to force him to restore its damaged scriptures or bring the Crescent Moon Lineage to the Heaven-Soaring Giant Continent. Sikong Jing planned to use the task to gain the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family’s protection, provoke conflict with Ling Dongwei, and find a way to rescue his parents, then focused on the damaged azure jade wall’s Army-Slaying Formation.

• Ling Dongchuan and the elders decided to provoke Ling Dongwei by exaggerating Ling Jianxing’s importance, arranging special training for him, and hunting the Crescent Moon Lineage.
• Ling Dongchuan announced that Ling Jianxing had astonishing talent and would enter seclusion, while allowing the misunderstanding about the Stairway Token to persist.
• A Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family guard sealed Sikong Jing inside the nineteenth floor and told him he could leave only after restoring its damaged scriptures or bringing the Crescent Moon Lineage to the continent.
• Sikong Jing planned to make Ling Dongchuan value and protect him, drive Ling Dongwei toward war, and use the ensuing chaos to enter the void-rift world and rescue his parents.
• Sikong Jing searched the damaged scriptures for the Heaven-Soaring Emperor’s martial path but found nothing, then returned to study the damaged azure jade wall’s powerful Army-Slaying Formation.

Sikong Jing discovered that the damaged formations on the green jade stone wall formed the opening stance of the Nine Heavens-Breaking Army-Slaying Diagram, and began studying how to repair it. He received more materials from the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family, while Ling Dongchuan and the Fifth Elder discussed his work and Ling Dongwei.

• Sikong Jing identified the damaged opening stance as the Nine Heavens-Breaking Army-Slaying Diagram and realized it could be repaired by studying the Nine Heavens Emperor's martial path.
• Sikong Jing tried to simulate Nine Heavens attacks against the formation, then decided he needed to strengthen his knowledge of Army-Slaying Formations.
• Sikong Jing requested Army-Slaying Formation fundamentals and Green Jade Stone Bricks from the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family, and a guard brought him materials while urging him to study an easier part of the wall.
• Sikong Jing asked the guard about the green jade stone wall, the Imperial Path Three Islands, and the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family's main branch; the guard answered some questions before sealing the nineteenth level again.
• Sikong Jing examined the supplied Army-Slaying Diagrams, martial fundamentals, and war chessboard, then immersed himself in study.
• Ling Dongchuan told the Fifth Elder that the family could kill Sikong Jing after using him, and noted that Sikong Jing's focus on the Nine Heavens-Breaking Army-Slaying Diagram might waste time before asking about Ling Dongwei's reaction.

Ling Dongwei planned to seize Ling Jianxing and use him to draw Void Energy, while Sikong Jing continued studying the Break Nine Heavens Army-Slaying Formation. Seeking stronger martial arts, Sikong Jing absorbed the Nine Heavens Blood Devour Magic Beast’s essence blood and saw a vision of its battle with the Nine Heavens Emperor.

• Ling Dongchuan ordered his people to avoid discussing Ling Jianxing with Ling Dongwei and to provoke him if the chance arose.
• Ling Dongwei told Old Madam Ling to wait before seeking revenge for Yitian, then learned from Ling Zhonghuang that the Divine Flood Dragon’s soul had been restored at great cost in Void Energy Crystals.
• Ling Dongwei considered turning the unconscious Ling Yuman into a Void Energy absorber and vowed to capture Ling Jianxing, take Ling Dongchuan’s position, and use ferocious beast souls to earn the Flame Prison Heavenly Emperor’s reward.
• After hearing that Ling Yitian was returning with two conquered ferocious beast souls, Ling Dongwei ordered his third son to work with Gan to capture Sikong Jing alive.
• Sikong Jing studied the army-slaying formation for ten days, then absorbed some of the Nine Heavens Blood Devour Magic Beast’s essence blood and witnessed its battle with the Nine Heavens Emperor.

Sikong Jing advanced his study of the Nine Heavens-Breaking Army-Slaying Formation while restoring incomplete manuals on the Hall of Hidden Tomes’ nineteenth floor. After revealing his progress to Ling Dongchuan, he asked for fierce beast inner cores or soul remnants needed to restore more manuals.

• Sikong Jing studied the Blood Devour Magic Beasts’ essence blood and used what he learned to continue deducing the Nine Heavens-Breaking Army-Slaying Formation.
• Over a month, Sikong Jing restored many incomplete manuals while studying Army-Slaying Formations, imperial bloodline wills, and the beasts in the Ten Thousand Beasts Heavenly Prison.
• Sikong Jing claimed he had restored forty percent of the manuals and showed the guard several Green Jade Stone Bricks, persuading him to contact Ling Dongchuan.
• Ling Dongchuan and the elders inspected Sikong Jing’s restored manuals and confirmed that he had made substantial progress.
• Sikong Jing said he intended to restore all the manuals and asked Ling Dongchuan for fierce beast inner cores or remnants of fierce beast souls.

After Sikong Jing demonstrated his ability to restore the incomplete codex, Ling Dongchuan agreed to use him to disrupt one of Ling Dongwei’s ferocious beast soul plans and test his connection to the Flame Prison Heavenly Emperor. Sikong Jing left the Scripture Repository with the First Elder and Fifth Elder, arriving at Frost-Defying Continent.

• Sikong Jing reasoned that Ling Dongchuan might use his request to sabotage Ling Dongwei’s plan involving ferocious beast souls.
• Ling Dongchuan and the elders concluded that destroying a ferocious beast soul could reveal how closely Ling Dongwei dealt with the Flame Prison Heavenly Emperor.
• Ling Dongchuan agreed to let Sikong Jing observe a powerful vicious beast’s soul, and Sikong Jing brought the Nine Heavens-Breaking Army-Slaying Diagram along.
• After a month in the Scripture Repository, Sikong Jing left with the First Elder and Fifth Elder and traveled by spatial formation to Frost-Defying Continent.

Sikong Jing entered the Black Frost Desolate Land to find the Flying Star Giant Ape’s remnant soul, while the Grand Elder and Fifth Elder hoped to use him against Ling Dongwei and shift the blame onto him. Inside, Sikong Jing recognized Red Wind Old Monster and discovered that the second Super Divine Martial expert was the Imperial Envoy from Blood Evil Valley.

• The Grand Elder placed a restraining seal in Sikong Jing’s spirit platform and sent him alone into the Black Frost Desolate Land to investigate its vicious beast soul.
• Sikong Jing identified the soul as a Flying Star Giant Ape’s remnant and reasoned that the Grand Elder and Fifth Elder wanted him to sabotage Ling Dongwei’s plan while making him take the blame.
• The Grand Elder and Fifth Elder discussed whether Sikong Jing knew about the plan, but decided to use him to test Ling Dongwei and keep the Flame Prison Heavenly Emperor from blaming them.
• Sikong Jing recognized Red Wind Old Monster as one of the Super Divine Martial experts working to subdue the Flying Star Giant Ape’s remnant soul.
• Sikong Jing heard Red Wind Old Monster speak to the Imperial Envoy and realized the second expert was the Blood Evil Valley envoy he had encountered before.

Sikong Jing confronted Red Wind Old Monster and a Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family member while they tried to conquer the Flying Star Giant Ape's remnant soul. He claimed the clan head had sent him to seize the vicious beast soul, and the Imperial Envoy attacked after recognizing him as the dangerous Ling Jianxing.

• Sikong Jing recalled his earlier encounter with Red Wind Old Monster in Blood Evil Valley as he watched the same man conquer another vicious beast soul.
• The Imperial Envoy revealed that he belonged to the Heaven-Soaring Imperial Family, while Red Wind Old Monster lamented that his sect had been destroyed and blamed Sikong Jing.
• Red Wind Old Monster continued using a formation to conquer the Flying Star Giant Ape's soul inside a cracked stone-pillar Heavenly Pattern Treasure Artifact.
• The Flying Star Giant Ape's remnant soul emerged and begged for help when Sikong Jing appeared from the black smoke.
• Sikong Jing identified himself as a member of the Crescent Moon Lineage, and the Imperial Envoy mistook him for Ling Jianxing.
• Sikong Jing claimed the clan head had sent him to take a vicious beast soul, and the Imperial Envoy launched a full-force attack after warning Red Wind Old Monster that Sikong Jing had slain a Super Divine Martial expert.