Chapter Summaries

Ye Lin battled endless monsters in the big black dog’s domain, but left after his Jade Talisman alerted him that Li Xiaoyao and the others needed help. The dog realized Ye Lin was the first person who might free it and hurried off to find him.

• Ye Lin repeatedly cut down waves of monsters, but the domain suppressed his cultivation and the monsters kept returning.
• Ye Lin received a message through his Jade Talisman and left the domain to help Li Xiaoyao and the others.
• The big black dog realized Ye Lin had disappeared and worried that its mocking had driven away its chance to escape.
• The big black dog vanished to search for Ye Lin and bring him back.

A seventh-level Golden Immortal Buddhist cultivator demanded that Li Xiaoyao, Gu Qingzhi, and Bao Xiaotou surrender their barrier and return his junior brothers’ belongings, but they refused. The monk then joined four sixth-level Golden Immortals in a formation and prepared to break through their defenses.

• The Buddhist cultivators outside the barrier accused Li Xiaoyao and the others of killing three junior brothers and threatened them.
• The seventh-level Golden Immortal monk offered to leave peacefully if they returned the belongings, while claiming the deaths could be forgiven.
• Bao Xiaotou rejected the offer and taunted the monk, boasting that his big brother would deal with them.
• The monk abandoned his peaceful manner and ordered four sixth-level Golden Immortal cultivators to form up around him.
• A golden Buddha manifestation filled the sky with light and chants as the monk shouted for the barrier to break.

Ye Lin arrived as the emerald barrier shattered and found Li Xiaoyao and Gu Qingzhi facing four Buddhist cultivators. He attacked their leader, who retaliated with Buddha Kingdom in the Palm.

• The young man's golden palm shattered the emerald barrier, and his four sixth-layer Golden Immortal subordinates advanced on Li Xiaoyao and the others.
• Li Xiaoyao and Gu Qingzhi guarded their companions while the young man walked toward the village to investigate the barrier.
• Ye Lin appeared and asked why the young man had attacked his friends, then struck the four subordinates and sent them flying.
• Ye Lin drew the Blooddrinking Sword of the Fallen Emperor and attacked the young man with Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Sword Art, Thunder Break.
• The young man split Ye Lin's thunderous Sword Qi with his golden palm and invoked Buddha Kingdom in the Palm.

Ye Lin fought Illusion's End, a seventh-level Golden Immortal of the Myriad Dharma Buddhist Sect, and forced him to retreat with the Eye of Heavenly Punishment. Ye Lin let him go, acknowledging they were evenly matched, as others called for their senior brother to wait.

• Illusion's End used Buddha Kingdom in the Palm to attack Ye Lin, but Ye Lin countered with his sword arts and vanished into a gale.
• Ye Lin struck Illusion's End from behind with the Eye of Heavenly Punishment, destroying his left shoulder and severing his arm.
• Illusion's End introduced himself as a monk of the Myriad Dharma Buddhist Sect and fled in a burst of golden light.
• Ye Lin chose not to pursue Illusion's End, judging that neither could defeat the other and that he could not stop him from escaping.
• Others called out for their senior brother to wait for them.

Ye Lin killed the Buddhist cultivators threatening Gu Qingzhi and agreed to guard her group for ten years. Big Black Dog appeared as a projection and begged Ye Lin to free his sealed true body, but Ye Lin refused.

• Ye Lin crushed the four fleeing Buddhist cultivators after Gu Qingzhi's group explained how they had provoked them.
• Ye Lin agreed to guard Gu Qingzhi and the others for ten years in case more powerful enemies arrived.
• Big Black Dog appeared as a projection that only Ye Lin could see and revealed that his true body was sealed nearby.
• Big Black Dog asked Ye Lin to break the seal, but Ye Lin rejected him and walked away.

The black dog tried to persuade Ye Lin to free him by boasting about his past, but Ye Lin demanded a demonstration first. The dog taught him half of the Grand Void Ashen Extinction Finger, leaving Ye Lin with a vision of its power.

• The black dog followed Ye Lin and bragged that even Primordial Unity Golden Immortals had not been worthy to meet him.
• Ye Lin decided to make the black dog prove his worth before helping him.
• The black dog chose to teach Ye Lin the Grand Void Ashen Extinction Finger, withholding the rest until Ye Lin freed him.
• The black dog described the art as a postcelestial low-grade technique that could erase an opponent and every trace of their existence.
• Ye Lin closed his eyes and saw a towering figure before whom the three thousand laws bowed and the myriad Great Daos sank into oblivion.

The black dog showed Ye Lin the Grand Void Ashen Extinction Finger and explained its immense power and cost, convincing Ye Lin that its claims were credible. When Ye Lin asked who had sealed someone so powerful, the black dog refused to answer and urged him to come rescue him before his projection vanished.

• The black dog demonstrated the Grand Void Ashen Extinction Finger, whose power left Ye Lin unable to move.
• The black dog explained that the art could kill a ninth-level Golden Immortal at great mastery but would drain its user completely.
• Ye Lin became mostly convinced of the black dog's origins but asked why anyone could have sealed him.
• The black dog avoided answering and urged Ye Lin to rescue him before his projection dissipated.

Ye Lin negotiated with the trapped Big Black Dog, who agreed to reward his companions for helping break the formation. The dog then recognized Luo Yao as a member of a rare and powerful race and urged her to say “Great River” so he could regain his freedom.

• Ye Lin bargained with the Big Black Dog and introduced Bao Xiaotou and the others as potential helpers.
• Bao Xiaotou and the others offered their skills, and the Big Black Dog promised each of them a stroke of fortune once he was free.
• The Big Black Dog noticed Luo Yao in Shangguan Wanyu’s arms and recognized her as a member of the Profound Sea True Ripple race.
• The Big Black Dog approached Luo Yao and urged her to say “Great River” to release him.

Ye Lin prepared to help the black dog, whose projection was fading, and learned that speaking or even thinking of powerful beings’ names could bring deadly karma. He warned Gu Qingzhi and the others to forget the name the black dog had mentioned.

• Luo Yao threatened to have Great River throw the black dog away, and the frightened dog hid behind Ye Lin.
• Ye Lin agreed to help the black dog and sent three clones into the village before setting off with the others.
• The black dog recognized Ye Lin’s perfected One Breath Becomes Three Purities and warned him that speaking the names of powerful beings could draw disastrous karma.
• Ye Lin erased the name from his thoughts, then covered Gu Qingzhi’s mouth when she began to repeat it and told everyone to forget it.

Ye Lin brought his companions to the black dog’s sealed location, where the dog explained that the formation could only be broken from outside. Bao Xiaotou could not decipher the complex formation, so the black dog locked its cores in place and ordered them to smash those cores before he lost control.

• Ye Lin and the others reached the black dog’s sealed location, and the dog explained that the formation’s flaw lay outside and outlined the four directions for the group.
• Ye Lin razed the forest, revealing the formation beneath it.
• Bao Xiaotou examined the formation with his Compass and concluded that its layers were too complex for him to break.
• Ye Lin took the east position, Bao Xiaotou the west, Li Xiaoyao the north, and Gu Qingzhi the south, while the black dog occupied the center.
• The black dog locked the formation cores in place and ordered the four of them to attack from their positions and destroy them by force.

Bao Xiaotou and Ye Lin battered the grand formation until Ye Lin broke its final defenses with the Hand of Heaven. A black dog escaped, releasing a vast demonic aura that forced everyone to retreat.

• Bao Xiaotou discovered that the figure inside the formation had stopped its operation and fixed its formation eyes in place, then attacked them with brute force.
• Bao Xiaotou and Ye Lin continued striking the weakening formation as the voice inside urged them to hurry.
• The black dog warned that it could hold the formation for only three more breaths, so Ye Lin used the Fortune Invincibility Method and the Hand of Heaven.
• Ye Lin's golden palm shattered the formation's last defenses, and the remaining formations broke apart.
• The black dog shot into the sky and unleashed a vast demonic aura, causing Ye Lin and the others to retreat.

Ye Lin learned that the Big Black Dog was the Black Emperor, who offered to train him in repayment for being freed from a seal. The Black Emperor joined Ye Lin’s group as they headed toward a village free of tribulation aura.

• The Black Emperor asked Ye Lin how much Fortune his invincibility method had consumed, and Ye Lin saw that the palm strike had cost him 2.3 billion Fortune.
• The Black Emperor warned Ye Lin that relying on Fortune-powered methods could cloud him and offered to train his combat skills.
• Ye Lin accepted the offer and asked the dog’s name, and the dog introduced himself as the Black Emperor.
• The Black Emperor explained that his cultivation had vanished and followed Ye Lin for protection, offering training in return.
• Ye Lin led the group toward a village and noticed it had no tribulation aura, marking it as a cultivation site.

The Black Emperor gave Bao Xiaotou and Wang Tian formation and pill manuals to study, then turned his attention to Gu Qingzhi’s zither Dao. He reassured her that he did not desire her and treated cultivators as insects, and Gu Qingzhi accepted his explanation without anger.

• The Black Emperor criticized Bao Xiaotou’s formation skills and sent him the Complete Compendium of Formations.
• Bao Xiaotou initially dismissed the manual, but was surprised by its contents and sat down to study it.
• The Black Emperor gave Wang Tian the Complete Compendium of the Pill Dao and praised his attitude and talent.
• The Black Emperor asked Gu Qingzhi about her zither Dao and reassured her that he was not coveting her beauty.
• Gu Qingzhi smiled and accepted the Black Emperor’s explanation without taking offense.

The Black Emperor rewarded Gu Qingzhi with a zither piece and Ye Lin with the complete Grand Void Ashen Extinction Finger, then offered to retrain Ye Lin in the Dao of the sword. He insisted Ye Lin abandon his current cultivation and techniques, leaving Ye Lin intrigued by the promise of doubling his combat strength in a thousand years.

• The Black Emperor gave Gu Qingzhi a profound zither piece to study.
• The Black Emperor told Shangguan Wanyu that caring for Luo Yao was her greatest opportunity, and Shangguan Wanyu was left baffled.
• The Black Emperor transmitted the complete Grand Void Ashen Extinction Finger to Ye Lin.
• The Black Emperor criticized Ye Lin for cultivating too many paths and offered to personally train him for a thousand years.
• The Black Emperor told Ye Lin to discard his current cultivation and techniques and focus solely on the Dao of the sword.

Black Emperor offered to create a strengthening plan for Ye Lin after identifying the flaws in his scattered cultivation. Ye Lin remained wary but was tempted by the offer, unwilling to reincarnate and risk losing his panel.

• Black Emperor told Ye Lin he could tailor a cultivation plan for him, though the process might take a thousand years and involve hardship.
• Ye Lin recognized that his cultivation had become scattered and that he relied almost entirely on the Nine Heavens Profound Thunder Sword Art in battle.
• Ye Lin recalled that the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar had proposed reincarnation as a solution, but he had refused because he feared losing his panel.
• Black Emperor told Ye Lin to stop guarding against him and insisted that he had no reason to scheme against him.

Ye Lin refused Black Emperor’s suggestion to take the giant tree’s vitality because Gu Qingzhi had promised to protect its transformation for ten years. After the ten years passed, Gu Qingzhi sensed the tree was about to take form, but a commotion erupted in the village.

• Ye Lin inspected the giant tree and declined to take its vitality, citing his promise to respect its transformation.
• Black Emperor approved of Ye Lin’s principles and occasionally expounded the Dao to him as the others absorbed the treasures he had given them.
• Li Xiaoyao left the village alone before Black Emperor could give him treasures suited to his Dao of Strength.
• Ten years passed, and Gu Qingzhi opened her eyes, sensing that the giant tree was ready to take form.
• A tremendous boom shook the village as an unidentified man shouted that a brat had stolen his supreme treasure and could not escape.

Ye Lin confronted a seventh-layer Golden Immortal who had injured Li Xiaoyao and demanded the boulder Li Xiaoyao found. Ye Lin drove the man off and returned to the village, where he questioned what the boulder was.

• Li Xiaoyao carried a massive boulder into the village and told Ye Lin that a man had tried to steal it.
• A black-robed seventh-layer Golden Immortal demanded the boulder, and Ye Lin challenged him over injuring Li Xiaoyao.
• Ye Lin summoned the Eye of Heavenly Punishment and struck the fleeing man, blasting a hole through his abdomen and damaging his dantian.
• The injured man fled and vowed to remember the grudge, while Ye Lin returned to Li Xiaoyao and asked what the boulder was.

Li Xiaoyao discovered a stone containing a remnant of the Strength Dao, and the Black Emperor gave him the divine bone hidden inside. The Black Emperor began planning Ye Lin’s transformation and said he would need far more valuable resources than Ye Lin currently possessed.

• Li Xiaoyao told Ye Lin that he had felt drawn to the massive stone, and the Black Emperor recognized its Strength Dao resonance.
• The Black Emperor told Li Xiaoyao to smash the stone, revealing a divine bone marked with golden runes, which he gave to Li Xiaoyao.
• Gu Qingzhi stood guard as the true spirit of vegetation underwent its heavenly lightning tribulation.
• The Black Emperor advised Ye Lin to gather as many resources as possible and asked to inspect his Spatial Ring.
• After examining the ring, the Black Emperor returned it and told Ye Lin that its contents were mostly trash and insufficient for a complete transformation.

After Gu Qingzhi helped the newly transformed being complete its tribulation, Ye Lin’s group prepared to leave. The Black Emperor asked Ye Lin about his ambitions and, satisfied by his answer, considered whether to guide him toward the summit of the Great Dao.

• Bao Xiaotou, Wang Tian, Li Xiaoyao, and Shangguan Wanyu offered Ye Lin their Spatial Rings, but he declined them.
• The lightning tribulation ended, and life force restored vitality to the barren plain as Gu Qingzhi arrived.
• Ye Lin confirmed everyone was present and led the group away from the area.
• Wang Tian said the group had enough plant essences for his pill formulas and planned to study them after they returned.
• The Black Emperor told Ye Lin he had five hundred years to gather resources before a fifteen-hundred-year period of remaking him, then asked whether he aspired to the summit of the Great Dao.
• Ye Lin declared that his Dao was to become strong enough to live freely, without being bullied or judged by anyone.

Black Emperor promised to help Ye Lin pursue his ambition and gave him a list of rare resources to obtain within one hundred years, offering to train him and his companions. Ye Lin accepted the gamble, memorized the list, and left as chaos loomed in the Demon-Monster Realm after the demons and monsters moved most of their forces away.

• Black Emperor told Ye Lin he would help him and said Ye Lin needed overwhelming strength to achieve his ambition.
• Black Emperor wrote down the Heavenly Heart Flower, Earth Lotus Grass, and Blood Prison Stone, marked their locations, and ordered Ye Lin to obtain them within one hundred years.
• Black Emperor said he would gather other resources and improve Ye Lin's companions' strength before leading them away.
• Ye Lin memorized the list, burned the paper, and departed from the area.
• The chapter noted that the Demon-Monster Realm was nearing chaos because the demons and monsters had transferred most of their forces elsewhere.