Chapter Summaries

During the artifact-refining trial, Xue Kai forged a high-grade Spirit Treasure while Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu struggled to improve their lesser artifacts. As the trial neared its end, Chen Changqing still had not refined anything, and Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu remained unable to raise their artifacts' grades.

• The black-robed elder, the young Arhat, the Daoist, and the Beast Taming Sect cultivator each forged Low-Grade Spirit Treasures, while a Heavenly Secret Pavilion cultivator made a high-grade magic treasure.
• Xue Kai of the Divine Fire Sect forged a high-grade Spirit Treasure longsword, earning the crowd's admiration and confidence that he would place first.
• Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu worried that their mid-grade and low-grade magic treasures, respectively, would leave them out of the third trial, while Chen Changqing continued to sunbathe without refining an artifact.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu urged Chen Ye to keep trying, and both returned to artifact refinement as Xue Kai dismissed their chances.
• Two months later, Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu had failed to improve their artifacts, and most of the other cultivators had stopped refining.

Chen Changqing extracted the Great Accomplishment results of his Artifact Refining Chapter and began refining an artifact with only three days left in the trial. As the crowd mocked him for heating and hammering ordinary iron, he declared that he would show them true artifact refinement.

• Xue Kai asked the Humanoid Puppet to announce the second trial results early, but it said the trial would end in three days.
• Chen Changqing received the Artifact Refining Chapter's idle cultivation results and gained profound knowledge of artifact refinement.
• Chen Changqing approached a furnace, opened its earthfire spiritual vein, and tossed in several materials.
• Xue Kai mocked Chen Changqing, who challenged him to witness true artifact refinement.
• Chen Changqing heated ordinary iron and began hammering it, leaving Xue Kai and the others baffled and amused.

Chen Changqing ignored the other candidates' mockery and began hammering ordinary iron, unknowingly displaying the highest principles of artifact refinement. As his work revealed signs of the Great Dao, the Humanoid Puppet began to hope he could inherit its master's legacy.

• Chen Changqing started hammering ordinary iron, and the Humanoid Puppet recognized that his craft aligned with the Artifact Refining Chapter's highest philosophy.
• The Humanoid Puppet recalled that Chen Changqing had never studied artifact refinement and wondered if he could become its master's successor.
• After half a day of hammering, Chen Changqing's strikes gave the iron a strange radiance and gradually refined its shape, stunning Xue Kai.
• The black-robed elder, the Arhat, the Daoist, Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, and Chen Ye each sensed a deeper principle in Chen Changqing's seemingly simple hammering.
• The Humanoid Puppet realized Chen Changqing was forging principles and laws rather than merely shaping iron, and marveled at his ability.

Chen Changqing finished forging an ordinary-looking saber blank, then used a powerful hammer technique to transform it into a low-grade magical artifact. The Humanoid Puppet recognized the saber’s perfection and the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, while the watching cultivators were left stunned.

• Chen Changqing quenched the crude saber blank he had forged after a day and night of hammering.
• Xue Kai and the other cultivators mocked Chen Changqing, while the Humanoid Puppet recognized the blank’s perfectly unified structure as Return to Mundane.
• Chen Changqing summoned his hammer and struck the saber repeatedly, causing its surface to become translucent and radiant.
• The Humanoid Puppet recognized Chen Changqing’s strikes as the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique and rejoiced that the master had found a successor.
• Chen Changqing’s hammering transformed the ordinary iron saber into a low-grade magical artifact, stunning Xue Kai, Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, Chen Ye, and the other cultivators.

Chen Changqing used the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique to forge ordinary iron into a Quasi-Immortal Artifact, leaving the witnesses stunned. After fifty strikes, he stopped as the effort began to exhaust him.

• Chen Changqing kept hammering the long blade, raising it from a magical artifact to a low-grade magical treasure.
• The black-robed elder praised his method, while Xue Kai and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu struggled to believe what they were seeing.
• At thirty strikes, the blade became a Low-Grade Spirit Treasure, and continued hammering raised it through the Spirit Treasure ranks.
• On the fiftieth strike, Chen Changqing transformed the blade into a Quasi-Immortal Artifact and stopped, visibly pale from the effort.
• The crowd stared in disbelief at the finished blade.

Chen Changqing stunned everyone by forging a Quasi-Immortal Artifact from ordinary iron and won first place in the second round. As the Humanoid Puppet prepared to lead the finalists onward, Chen Changqing gave the saber to Chen Ye and revealed that it could change forms.

• Chen Changqing silenced Xue Kai by revealing a Quasi-Immortal Artifact saber forged from ordinary iron, while the Humanoid Puppet recognized the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique behind his achievement.
• The Humanoid Puppet ended the second round, declared Chen Changqing the clear first-place winner, and announced that the top ten would advance to the third round.
• Chen Ye and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu were eliminated, but Xuanyuan Xiaoyu took comfort in Chen Changqing continuing to pursue the Heavenly Monarch's inheritance.
• After the Humanoid Puppet allowed the contestants to keep their forged artifacts, Chen Changqing gave his Quasi-Immortal Artifact saber to Chen Ye.
• Chen Changqing demonstrated that the saber could change forms, transforming it into a fist guard.

Chen Changqing gave Chen Ye a form-changing Quasi-Immortal Artifact before the Humanoid Puppet began the third trial. The contestants learned they had to climb a ten-floor Trial Tower, starting from the first floor, to compete for the final inheritance.

• Chen Ye accepted Chen Changqing’s Quasi-Immortal Artifact, which transformed into gauntlets suited to his fighting style.
• The Humanoid Puppet teleported Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye out because they had not passed the second trial, then led the remaining ten contestants to the third trial site.
• The Humanoid Puppet summoned an ancient Bronze Treasure Pagoda called the Trial Tower and explained that contestants had to defeat each floor’s Tower Guardian to advance.
• The Humanoid Puppet explained that the Tower Guardians ranged from the Qi Nourishing Realm on the first floor to the Tribulation Transcendence Realm on the tenth, and warned that they surpassed ordinary cultivators of their realms.
• Chen Changqing asked if contestants could start on the floor matching their cultivation, but the Humanoid Puppet said everyone had to begin on the first floor.

The cultivators began challenging the Bronze Treasure Pagoda and discovered that its Gatekeepers could defeat opponents of much higher cultivation. After the other contestants fell short, Chen Changqing remained the only one who had yet to enter the tower.

• A Nascent Soul Late Stage Rogue Cultivator entered the tower but was expelled after failing to pass the sixth floor.
• A Spirit Transformation cultivator reached the seventh floor, was defeated, and warned everyone that the Gatekeepers could challenge across realms.
• Xue Kai and the other cultivators attempted the tower; Xue Kai fell at the seventh floor, while the black-robed elder narrowly passed the eighth before losing at the ninth.
• An Arhat from the Great Thunder Sound Temple and a late-stage Spirit Transformation middle-aged Daoist from the Dao Sect both stopped at the eighth floor, while the Beast Taming Sect's arrogant man and the remaining contestants fell at the sixth or seventh.
• The other nine contestants had challenged the tower, leaving Chen Changqing as the only one who had not entered.

Chen Changqing entered the trial tower and quickly defeated the Gatekeepers on its first four floors. After passing the Foundation Establishment-level Gatekeeper, he continued toward the higher floors while everyone outside watched to see how far he would go.

• Xue Kai urged Chen Changqing to enter the trial tower, and Chen Changqing silenced him with an icy glare before stepping inside.
• Chen Changqing defeated the first-floor Qi Nourishing boy by shattering his sword with two fingers.
• Chen Changqing let the second-floor Body Refining Gatekeeper strike him, then sent him flying with the rebound of his own body.
• Chen Changqing endured the third-floor Qi Refining cultivator’s spells and defeated him with a casual hand chop.
• Chen Changqing bypassed the fourth-floor Foundation Establishment Gatekeeper’s shield with a sword ray and continued onward.

Chen Changqing rapidly cleared the Trial Tower’s first eight floors, shocking the watching cultivators and reaching the ninth floor. There, he faced a powerful Spirit Transformation Realm Gatekeeper and began his counterattack with the Heavenly Thunder Sword.

• Chen Changqing defeated the fifth-floor Gatekeeper with Rainbow Light First Appears and broke through the sixth-floor Golden Core Gatekeeper’s divine ability with Palm Lightning.
• He cleared the seventh floor before Xue Kai could finish predicting his defeat, then defeated the eighth-floor Gatekeeper with the Heaven-Collapsing Style of the Heavenly Emperor Divine Fist.
• The crowd and Xue Kai were stunned when Chen Changqing reached the ninth floor, while the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect elder predicted that he would fail there.
• The ninth-floor Gatekeeper attacked with a powerful sword strike, and Chen Changqing summoned the Heavenly Thunder Sword and unleashed the Heaven-Slaying Sword Drawing Technique.

Chen Changqing swiftly defeated the ninth-floor Gatekeeper and reached the Trial Tower’s final floor, leaving everyone outside convinced he might claim the inheritance. On the tenth floor, he faced a conscious Tribulation Transcendence Realm Gatekeeper who tested his resolve and connection to artifact refinement.

• Chen Changqing defeated the Spirit Transformation Gatekeeper on the ninth floor, while the observers mistakenly thought the floor’s fading light meant he had failed.
• The tenth floor lit up, confirming Chen Changqing had cleared the ninth floor and eliminating the others’ chance to compete for the inheritance.
• The Humanoid Puppet transported the other trial participants out of the Secret Realm, and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye guessed Chen Changqing had remained inside to obtain the inheritance.
• The eliminated participants waited outside the Secret Realm, hoping to seize a treasure if Chen Changqing emerged with one.
• Chen Changqing entered the tenth floor, found a vast golden platform floating in a chaotic void, and sensed the immense aura of its Tribulation Transcendence Realm Gatekeeper.
• The old Gatekeeper told Chen Changqing that reaching the final floor showed he had touched his master’s Dao of artifact refinement, then stressed the need for resilience against overwhelming power.

Chen Changqing faced the gatekeeping old man on the Trial Tower’s tenth floor, where the old man tested him with the Forging Dao hammer and increasingly powerful strikes. Their battle continued after Chen Changqing reversed one of the old man’s hammer forces back toward him.

• The old man told Chen Changqing to defeat him and attacked with the first strike of the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, nearly breaking through Chen Changqing’s body-refining defense.
• Chen Changqing countered the old man’s second hammer strike with the Heavenly Emperor Divine Fist and the third with the Immortal Execution sword technique.
• Chen Changqing withstood thirty-four hammer strikes as the two fought fiercely across the tenth floor.
• The old man unleashed Soul Forging, a strike carrying a deeper forging intent, and Chen Changqing answered with Immortal Execution: Dao Reversal.
• Chen Changqing’s sword technique briefly twisted the floor’s time and space, redirecting the hammer force toward the old man, who met it with his own hammer and caused an enormous explosion.

Chen Changqing faced the Gatekeeper’s final hammer strike on the trial tower’s tenth floor and defeated him with his own attack and two Spirit Transformation avatars. The Gatekeeper confirmed that Chen Changqing had passed before disappearing, while the Humanoid Puppet celebrated outside the tower.

• The old man praised Chen Changqing’s resilience and raised his black sledgehammer to deliver his final strike, which targeted the foundations of Chen Changqing’s cultivation.
• Chen Changqing summoned two avatars carrying Immortal Artifacts and attacked alongside them with Immortal Execution, Spirit-Slaying Tribulation, and Immortal-Burying Melody.
• The three attacks shattered the hammer shadow and overwhelmed the old man, leaving him illusory and close to dispersing.
• The old man congratulated Chen Changqing for passing the trial and disappeared.
• The Humanoid Puppet saw the tenth-floor radiance dim and excitedly realized that Chen Changqing had cleared the trial.

After passing the Trial Tower’s three trials, Chen Changqing met Ouye Tiangong, an immortal-grade artifact refiner who had died trying to forge a treasure beyond Immortal Artifacts. Ouye Tiangong granted him the complete Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique and his artifact-refining insights, then revealed a top-grade Immortal Artifact hammer as another inheritance.

• Chen Changqing passed all three trials and followed the Humanoid Puppet through a gateway to meet Ouye Tiangong.
• Ouye Tiangong explained that he had sought to forge a treasure beyond Immortal Artifacts using Primordial Chaos Mother Qi, but heavenly punishment destroyed his body and Dao.
• Ouye Tiangong gave Chen Changqing the complete thirty-six forms of the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique along with his lifelong artifact-refining insights.
• Ouye Tiangong revealed a black hammer that Chen Changqing recognized as a top-grade Immortal Artifact.

Chen Changqing obtained Ou Ye Tiangong’s artifact-refining inheritance and the Haotian Hammer, while the Humanoid Puppet chose to remain behind in the collapsing Secret Realm. Outside, Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye waited for him, aware that the failed trial participants were poised to attack when he emerged.

• Ou Ye Tiangong explained the Haotian Hammer’s power, offered Chen Changqing advice about the Dao of artifacts, and vanished after passing on his inheritance.
• Chen Changqing stored the thirty-six forms of the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique and the Haotian Hammer, then set the system to cultivate the technique and comprehend Ou Ye Tiangong’s insights while idle.
• The Humanoid Puppet congratulated Chen Changqing but said it would remain in the Secret Realm to accompany Ou Ye Tiangong after Chen Changqing left.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu assured Chen Ye that Chen Changqing would obtain the inheritance, recalling his success in the trials.
• Chen Ye warned Xuanyuan Xiaoyu that the participants who had been expelled were waiting nearby, and she feared they would attack Chen Changqing for the inheritance.

Chen Changqing emerged from the Secret Realm with the Heavenly Monarch Inheritance, only to be surrounded by cultivators demanding his treasures. After Xue Kai threatened Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, Chen Changqing stepped in and declared that everyone who had wronged his wife would die.

• Chen Changqing emerged from the Secret Realm, and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and Chen Ye asked whether he had obtained the Heavenly Monarch Inheritance.
• The black-robed elder, Xue Kai, and other cultivators surrounded Chen Changqing and demanded he hand over his inheritance and treasures.
• Chen Changqing confirmed that he had obtained the inheritance and mocked Xue Kai when he demanded to see it.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu tried to make the crowd back down by invoking her status as the Third Princess of the Nine Provinces Divine Dynasty, but they refused to yield.
• Xue Kai insulted Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and attacked her with a fire dragon, which Chen Changqing cut apart with Sword Qi.
• Chen Changqing shielded Xuanyuan Xiaoyu and told the crowd that they would all die for daring to touch his wife.

Chen Changqing attacked Xue Kai after he threatened Xuanyuan Xiaoyu, then killed him despite his protective artifacts and fire techniques. The other cultivators, who had planned to seize Chen Changqing’s inheritance, were left frightened by his strength.

• Chen Changqing rushed at Xue Kai, shattered his high-grade spiritual artifact shield with his physical strength, and struck him with a punch.
• Xue Kai survived because his Quasi-Immortal Artifact Body Protection Mirror absorbed the blow, then unleashed Divine Fire Burning Heaven with a Quasi-Immortal Artifact sword.
• Chen Changqing countered Xue Kai’s fiery Sword Qi with samadhi true fire and Vermilion Bird true fire, destroying the attack with a punch.
• Chen Changqing struck Xue Kai again, blasting apart his body and primordial spirit, and received 15,000 AFK points for killing an early-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• The black-robed elder and the other cultivators who had planned to seize Chen Changqing’s inheritance grew fearful after witnessing his power.

Chen Changqing killed the half-step Tribulation Transcendence elder from the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect, terrifying the cultivators who had tried to besiege him. As they fled, he unleashed his Sword Domain and prepared to show them the inheritance he had gained in the Secret Realm.

• Chen Changqing shattered the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect elder’s sword gale and protective shield, then crushed his body and Primordial Spirit.
• Chen Changqing received 25,000 AFK Points for killing the half-step Tribulation Transcendence cultivator.
• The Arhats, the Beast Taming Sect cultivator, the Dao Sect Daoist, and the remaining Spirit Transformation cultivators panicked and fled.
• Chen Changqing spread his Sword Domain to hinder the fleeing cultivators and challenged them to look at his Secret Realm inheritance.

Chen Changqing used the Haotian Hammer to slaughter the cultivators trapped in his Invincible Sword Domain. After killing the Beast Taming Sect man and the Great Thunder Sound Temple Arhat, he left no one inside the domain alive.

• Chen Changqing summoned the Haotian Hammer, whose pressure suppressed everyone caught in his Sword Domain.
• Chen Changqing killed an early-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator and a mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivator with the hammer.
• Chen Changqing killed the Beast Taming Sect man after destroying his beast souls and mount.
• Chen Changqing ignored the Arhat’s attempt to capture and convert him, then killed the Arhat with the Haotian Hammer.
• Chen Changqing executed the remaining cultivators in his Invincible Sword Domain, including a middle-aged Daoist, while the cultivators outside watched in fear.

After Chen Changqing slaughtered the cultivators who attacked him, he and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu continued toward the Xuanyuan Clan's Ancestral Land. They reached God Burial Mountain, one of the Nine Great Forbidden Lands, where Xuanyuan Xiaoyu revealed the ancestral land was located.

• Chen Changqing killed the attacking cultivators, looted their storage artifacts, and showed Chen Ye the Haotian Hammer he had obtained in the Secret Realm.
• Chen Changqing and Xuanyuan Xiaoyu said goodbye to Chen Ye and continued their journey together.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu acted restrained around Chen Changqing, who reassured her that the slain cultivators had deserved their fate.
• Xuanyuan Xiaoyu led Chen Changqing to God Burial Mountain, and he recognized it as one of the Nine Great Forbidden Lands.
• Chen Changqing learned that the Xuanyuan Clan's Ancestral Land was inside God Burial Mountain.