Chapter Summaries

Li Jinhuang let Hong Batian leave after learning about his contract with Ye Lin, then allowed Li Xiaoyao to pass through the checkpoint as well. After waiting several thousand years without another challenger, Li Jinhuang gave up, and the five people who had reached the end of the Emperor Road continued cultivating together.

• Li Jinhuang questioned Hong Batian about Ye Lin, saw their master-servant contract, and ordered Hong Batian to leave.
• Hong Batian escaped the vortex and began cultivating with the figures waiting beyond it.
• A thousand years later, Li Xiaoyao tried to sneak up on Li Jinhuang, but Li Jinhuang noticed him and told him to leave.
• Li Xiaoyao entered the vortex, while Li Jinhuang reflected that he had let Ye Lin's associates pass to owe his little brother a favor.
• After several thousand years without another challenger, Li Jinhuang gave up waiting; Ye Lin, Sword Venerable, Liu Bai, Hong Batian, and Li Xiaoyao cultivated together at the end of the Emperor Road.

Primordial Unity Golden Immortals gave up on the Emperor Road after reaching the thirteenth stage and began cultivating. At the Star River Cosmos border, Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable faced three visiting peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortals demanding repayment of a debt they claimed his ancestor owed.

• A contemporary Primordial Unity Golden Immortal stopped at the thirteenth stage, and the others also abandoned the Emperor Road and began cultivating.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable saw warships enter the Star River Cosmos again as the Heavenly Dao's power battered them without effect.
• Three peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortals approached Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable and praised him as a descendant of the Nine Suns Sacred Venerable.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable summoned his old friends and confronted the visitors as they demanded that he repay his ancestor's debt.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable produced a golden Jade Talisman and said he would verify the debt with his ancestor before agreeing to repay it.

Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable used the Jade Talisman’s Great Luo aura to make the gathered experts back down. He then bought all the treasures they had brought and departed, leaving them confused about why they had come.

• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable began channeling immortal power into the Jade Talisman, and the foreign experts hurried to claim their accusations about Nine Suns Sacred Venerable had only been jokes.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable stopped channeling power and put away the talisman after saying there was no need to trouble his ancestor over a trivial matter.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable invited the experts to do business, and the burly man displayed a collection of treasures for trade.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable agreed to pay ten million Law Source Stones for each treasure and sent a Spatial Ring to complete the purchase.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable vanished, leaving the experts staring at one another and unable to remember why they had come.

Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable drove the visiting powerhouses away, but knew they would return, while the Star River Cosmos recovered after a devastating reckoning. With only a thousand years left before the Emperor Road closed, Sword Venerable reached the threshold of transcendence and set out to face the Great Luo Lightning Tribulation.

• The visiting powerhouses abandoned their investigation and left the Star River Cosmos after Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable frightened them.
• Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable examined his cracked Jade Talisman, accepted that it could only delay the threat, and vanished into the River of Time.
• The Star River Cosmos’s cultivators launched a counteroffensive, and a thousand years later the surviving races restored order and began rebuilding their populations and territories.
• With the Emperor Road nearing its closure, Sword Venerable touched the threshold of transcendence and left alone to attempt the Great Luo Lightning Tribulation.

Sword Venerable left the Star River Cosmos to face the Daluo Golden Immortal lightning tribulation in the Boundary Sea, while Ye Lin reached the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm. Ye Lin wished Sword Venerable well and began wondering where the secret of transcendence in One Breath Becomes Three Purities lay.

• The Primordial Unity Golden Immortals watched Sword Venerable depart and silently hoped he would survive his tribulation.
• Sword Venerable left the Star River Cosmos with a sword in hand and entered the Boundary Sea to face the Daluo Golden Immortal lightning tribulation.
• Ye Lin opened his eyes at the end of the Emperor Road and realized he had reached the peak of the Primordial Unity Golden Immortal realm.
• Ye Lin noticed Sword Venerable was missing, calculated that he had gone ahead to attempt a breakthrough, and wished him success.
• Ye Lin judged that he could not safely attempt the Zenith Heaven tribulation yet and wondered where One Breath Becomes Three Purities concealed the secret of transcendence.

Ye Lin pondered how One Breath Becomes Three Purities could lead to Transcendence while refusing to use a Dao Fruit, as the Emperor Road neared its end. Sword Venerable returned after nine hundred years and confirmed that he had reached the Zenith Heaven realm without relying on a Dao Fruit.

• Ye Lin considered the uses of One Breath Becomes Three Purities and rejected the option of swallowing a Dao Fruit to become a Daluo Golden Immortal.
• Hong Batian resisted the temptation of the Dao Fruits, while Liu Bai and Li Xiaoyao remained unmoved by them.
• Nine hundred years passed, leaving only a hundred years before the Emperor Road disappeared.
• Sword Venerable emerged from the Starry Sky, appearing like an ordinary mortal whose presence the Primordial Unity Golden Immortals could not sense with their divine sense.
• Sword Venerable told the Primordial Unity Golden Immortals that he had entered the Zenith Heaven realm and wished them success in following him.

After more than nine hundred years on the Emperor Road, Ye Lin discovered the Three Corpse Severance Method but chose to pursue the more difficult path of attaining the Dao through laws. When the Emperor Road disappeared, he returned to the starry sky ready to test his strength and prepare for the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.

• Ye Lin understood that One Breath Becomes Three Purities derived from the Three Corpse Severance Method, which could lead to sainthood by severing three corpses.
• Ye Lin weighed the Three Corpse Severance Method against attaining the Dao through laws and chose to become strong through his own laws.
• Ye Lin resumed cultivating through the final hundred years of the Emperor Road and planned to challenge everyone on the Hundred Heroes Ranking before asking the Sword Venerable for advice.
• The Emperor Road vanished, and Ye Lin let the Heavenly Traverse Pearl disappear because it would be useless to him after he reached the Daluo Golden Immortal realm.
• The Dao Fruit returned to the origin of the Heavenly Dao, and Ye Lin returned to the starry sky.

After stabilizing his peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortal cultivation, Ye Lin went to challenge the Hundred Heroes Ranking and prepare for a future breakthrough to Daluo Golden Immortal. He entered the ranking to face Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord, who was startled by how much Ye Lin’s cultivation had advanced.

• The Primordial Unity Golden Immortals watched Emperor Road vanish, then returned to the River of Time to resume their slumber.
• Ye Lin stabilized his peak Primordial Unity Golden Immortal cultivation and decided to challenge the Hundred Heroes Ranking before seeking Sword Venerable’s guidance.
• Ye Lin arrived at the Hundred Heroes Ranking and saw that his name occupied every place from twentieth downward, with Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord in nineteenth.
• Ye Lin entered the ranking and faced Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord, who recognized him and reacted with surprise at his peak cultivation.
• Ye Lin summoned Azure Frost and prepared to fight Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord.

Ye Lin challenged the Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord again, confident that he could defeat him this time. After countering the Devil Lord's first attack with a feint and a surprise slash, Ye Lin surrounded him with countless strands of Sword Qi.

• Ye Lin asked the Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord how many of his swords he could withstand and sent the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar aside.
• The Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord unleashed his Blood Baleful Qi and absorbed Ye Lin's opening Sword Qi with the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar.
• Ye Lin appeared behind the Devil Lord, then used an incarnation to evade his palm strike.
• Ye Lin attacked from behind, forcing the Devil Lord to block with the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar before shattering the Sword Qi.
• As the Devil Lord began to threaten Ye Lin, countless strands of Sword Qi appeared around him.

Ye Lin attacked the Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord inside the blood-red space, forcing him to unleash his power while Ye Lin kept evading his attacks. The Devil Lord suspected Ye Lin knew his transformation had a time limit and challenged him to decide the victor in one move, offering to count the trial as passed if Ye Lin refused.

• The Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord activated the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar to shield himself from Ye Lin’s Sword Qi.
• Ye Lin appeared behind the Devil Lord and mocked him for hiding, provoking him into releasing his full aura and shattering the Sword Qi.
• The Devil Lord sealed the blood-red space and repeatedly attacked, but Ye Lin evaded him instead of fighting head-on.
• The Devil Lord realized Ye Lin might know about the time limit on his state and guessed he had fought Ye Lin on the Emperor Road.
• The Devil Lord challenged Ye Lin to settle the fight in one move, saying he would count the trial as passed if Ye Lin lacked the courage.

Ye Lin fought the Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord inside the jar’s space and defeated him with the Grand Void Space-Rending Sword. The Devil Lord vanished after praising Ye Lin’s swordsmanship and asking him to provide food and lodging.

• The Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord gave up trying to catch Ye Lin, knowing he could not stop him from hiding and deducing time.
• Ye Lin emerged and agreed to fight, recalling that he had accepted the Devil Lord’s challenge on the Emperor Road and won.
• The Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord used the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar to pull Ye Lin and his vital essence toward it.
• Ye Lin’s Grand Void Space-Rending Sword broke through the jar’s suction, and his successive sword strikes destroyed the Devil Lord’s arm, legs, and body.
• Reduced to a head, the Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord praised Ye Lin’s sword and vanished along with the jar’s phantom.

Ye Lin climbed the Hundred Heroes Ranking at astonishing speed, defeating each opponent and drawing the attention of cultivators watching the rankings. After reaching tenth place, he entered the next challenge and recognized the cloaked opponent as the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable, whom he had seen on the Emperor Road.

• Ye Lin defeated a woman wielding a white Long Sword and advanced through the rankings, passing the Heaven-Devouring Devil Lord at twentieth place.
• Cultivators gathered around the Hundred Heroes Ranking and watched Ye Lin’s name surge upward, discussing whether he could reach first place.
• Ye Lin reached tenth place and noted that the remaining Primordial Unity Golden Immortal opponents would be increasingly difficult to kill.
• Ye Lin entered the ninth-place challenge, where Great Suns filled the space and the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable appeared.
• Ye Lin recognized the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable from the Emperor Road.

Ye Lin battled the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable, who attacked him with Great Sun Laws in a space under his control. Ye Lin used his speed to evade and disrupt the Venerable’s rhythm, leaving their fight unresolved.

• The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable sent rays formed from the ultimate Great Sun Laws at Ye Lin, who blocked and cut them apart with Sword Qi.
• The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable continued probing Ye Lin, but Ye Lin counterattacked with the Grand Void Space-Rending Sword and disrupted his rhythm.
• The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable smashed Ye Lin’s Sword Qi with a palm strike and transformed into a Great Sun.
• Ye Lin dodged the Venerable’s beams at high speed while the battlefield grew hotter.
• The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable warned Ye Lin that the space was his domain and urged him to attack, while Ye Lin kept using his speed to evade.

Ye Lin was trapped in a false world created by the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable's Great Sun laws, where his attacks could not reach the hidden opponent. After finding a way out, he passed the first trial and earned the right to fight the Sacred Venerable.

• The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable warned Ye Lin to make a move, but Ye Lin's sword strikes vanished into the false space.
• Ye Lin realized the Great Sun laws had trapped him and moved rapidly through the space to evade the Sacred Venerable.
• The space collapsed, and Ye Lin found a crack that led him into a desolate desert.
• Ye Lin recognized that the previous world and the Sacred Venerable he had seen there were illusions formed by interwoven laws.
• The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable appeared and told Ye Lin he had passed the first trial and qualified to fight him.

Ye Lin fought the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable after condemning his prearranged trap as bandit logic. Ye Lin killed him with a concealed all-out third sword and proceeded to the next stage.

• Ye Lin refused to humor the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable and declared that three swords would settle the fight.
• Ye Lin's first sword surrounded the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable with Sword Qi, which he melted by transforming into a Great Sun.
• Ye Lin's second sword cleaved the Great Sun in two, but the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable began to fuse back together.
• Ye Lin unleashed his Karmic Fire Red Lotus as his third sword, and its flames consumed the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable.
• Ye Lin entered the next stage, noting that he had held back with his first two swords before striking at full strength with the third.

The Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable realized Ye Lin had used his promise to kill him in three swords to control the fight and defeat him. Ye Lin then met the black bear guarding the next stage, who called himself Long Aotian and challenged him to attack.

• After Ye Lin left, the Radiant Sun Sacred Venerable recognized that Ye Lin had used the first two sword strikes as bait before delivering the real third strike.
• Young prodigies gathered around the Hundred Heroes Ranking and admired Ye Lin, whose name had reached eighth place.
• Ye Lin encountered a black bear and asked whether it guarded the stage.
• The black bear identified himself as Long Aotian, claimed he had once roamed the world by that name, and told Ye Lin to attack.

Ye Lin fought Black Bear with Azure Frost and used his sword to sever the bear’s paw. Black Bear transformed into a colossal flaming bear and injured Ye Lin in return, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Ye Lin ignited Purgatory Ice Flame and attacked Black Bear with his sword.
• Ye Lin severed Black Bear’s paw, and Black Bear recognized Azure Frost as an acquired spirit treasure.
• Black Bear grew into a hundred-zhang flaming bear and used his aura to hinder Ye Lin’s movements.
• Ye Lin poured his Chaos power into Azure Frost and unleashed a powerful sword strike.
• Black Bear’s clash with Ye Lin shattered space, and Black Bear stared at his bleeding palm.

Ye Lin found the hidden Void Walker and recognized him from his history, recalling how the old man and a black bear had remained devoted to each other through hardship. The account ended with the black bear guarding the Void Walker’s grave for countless eras before disappearing into the Star River Cosmos.

• Black Bear searched for Ye Lin after Ye Lin vanished from his perception.
• Ye Lin sensed a barrier, slashed through it with Azure Frost, and entered a hidden space.
• Ye Lin told the old man he recognized him as the Void Walker, not Black Bear or Long Aotian.
• Ye Lin recalled how the Void Walker had raised an ordinary wounded black bear despite mockery and hardship.
• The black bear became a Primordial Unity Golden Immortal, stayed with the Void Walker until his death, and later disappeared after guarding his grave for countless eras.

Ye Lin discovered the dead old man behind Black Bear’s trial and learned that Black Bear had stayed loyal to him. After refusing to exploit the old man’s presence to win, Ye Lin returned to the battlefield to face Black Bear in a fair fight, and Black Bear launched the first attack.

• Ye Lin found the Void Walker hidden behind a barrier and learned that he had chosen death so he would not become a burden to Black Bear.
• The Void Walker declared that Ye Lin had passed the trial, and Black Bear found Ye Lin at the hidden space.
• Ye Lin restored the barrier and told Black Bear he would settle their victory and defeat in person rather than use the old man to win.
• Black Bear left, saying the old man had never been a burden and that he would teach Ye Lin a lesson.
• Ye Lin and Black Bear returned to the battlefield, where Black Bear charged and brought his massive fist down toward Ye Lin.

After Hong Batian, Li Xiaoyao, and Liu Bai failed to enter the Hundred Heroes Ranking, Ye Lin defeated Black Bear and advanced to eighth place. He then faced Snow Velvet, who was Aunt Xue, as onlookers expected him to keep climbing.

• Hong Batian, Li Xiaoyao, and Liu Bai left after failing to make the Hundred Heroes Ranking.
• An unseen observer watched the ranking from a distant place.
• Black Bear conceded defeat to Ye Lin and disappeared after confirming that Ye Lin had passed.
• Ye Lin advanced to eighth place, drawing admiration from the young prodigies gathered before the ranking.
• Ye Lin saw Snow Velvet, who was Aunt Xue, and she marveled that a junior had reached such heights.