Chapter Summaries

Su Tao’s golden light overwhelmed the attackers, draining Quasi-Saint experts and leaving the three Imperial Sovereigns unable to stop it. As the slaughter continued, Su Cheng activated the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty’s ancestral Identity Token to summon a powerful phantom.

• Su Tao’s golden light shattered the attacks and swallowed Quasi-Saint experts, draining their life force, cultivation, and Primordial Spirits.
• A fourth-level Quasi-Saint burned his essence blood and Primordial Spirit to escape, but the golden light caught and killed him.
• Terrified experts fled, while the three Imperial Sovereigns attacked the golden light without effect.
• Su Cheng realized everyone would die unless Su Tao was stopped and took out the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty’s ancestral Identity Token.
• Su Cheng tore away the sealing talismans and activated the token, which contained a one-use phantom of the dynasty’s sixth-level Quasi-Saint founder.

Su Tao was overwhelmed by three ancestral phantoms summoned by Su Cheng, Yi Han, and Jingxin. Gravely wounded by the first two attacks, he faced the Buddha’s descending palm with little ability to evade.

• Su Cheng activated his Identity Token and summoned a Heavenward Imperial Dynasty ancestor, whose palm shattered Su Tao’s counterstrike and wounded him severely.
• Yi Han opened a sealed jade box and summoned the Chaos Ancestral Dragon, whose breath struck Su Tao and began dissolving his flesh.
• Jingxin shattered a Jade Talisman and summoned a colossal Buddha, who brought a devastating palm down on the weakened Su Tao.

Su Tao revealed that he had stayed to unleash a forbidden art that burned everything he possessed for power. As black flames consumed him, his cultivation surged to Quasi-Saint Seventh Heaven, freezing the world.

• Su Cheng, Yi Han, and Jingxin condemned the gravely wounded Su Tao and attacked him together.
• Su Tao laughed and revealed that he had deliberately waited for them, despite knowing they had hidden reserves.
• Su Cheng ordered the others to kill Su Tao, but Su Tao began burning his blood, Primordial Spirit, cultivation, fortune, and body.
• Su Tao's aura surged through Quasi-Saint Sixth Heaven and broke into Quasi-Saint Seventh Heaven, stopping the world around him.

Su Tao reached the Seventh Heaven of the quasi-Saint realm after the black flames consumed the deaths around him, then destroyed the three ancestral phantoms and killed Su Cheng, Yi Han, and Jingxin. Standing above the slaughtered battlefield, he welcomed the Heavenly Punishment and declared that the Heavenly Dao was merely another’s creation.

• Su Tao healed within the black flames, absorbed the Buddhist light imprint, and rose to the Seventh Heaven of the quasi-Saint realm.
• Su Tao shattered the three Sixth Heaven ancestral phantoms with a single palm strike.
• Su Tao drained Su Cheng of his life, cultivation, and soul, leaving him a dried corpse.
• Su Tao devoured Yi Han and Jingxin with the black flames after preventing them from escaping or resisting.
• Su Tao stood over the dead and welcomed the descending Heavenly Punishment, calling the Heavenly Dao another’s handiwork.

After severing himself from fortune and reaching the seventh Quasi-Saint level, Su Tao understood that the world was a prison and that he could now leave it. He spared Ye Lin and set off for the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty, planning to sacrifice the remaining three imperial dynasties.

• Su Tao realized the Heavenly Dao was the prison's fabricated consciousness and that fortune cultivation kept its practitioners trapped.
• Ye Lin watched Su Tao's power grow and feared he could no longer escape if Su Tao attacked.
• Su Tao asked why Ye Lin was not running, and Ye Lin calmly replied that they were friends.
• Su Tao chose not to attack Ye Lin, finding him mysterious and amusing.
• Su Tao announced he would confront the ruler of the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty and sacrifice the remaining three imperial dynasties, offering Ye Lin their treasure vaults.

After the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty’s Emperor and powerful fighters died, its collapse unleashed looting and slaughter across the realm. Su Tao went to confront an old man while Ye Lin headed for the sealed treasury, hoping to claim its treasures and the Saint’s comprehension.

• The Emperor’s death severed the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty’s fortune, and its surviving powerhouses fled as they realized the Evil Demon might still be alive.
• With order gone, robbers and Evil Cultivators rampaged through the cities, sacrificing inhabitants and plundering treasures.
• Su Tao arrived in the Imperial Capital, sighed at the place tied to painful memories, and went to get an explanation from an old man.
• Ye Lin headed for the treasury, intent on taking its contents and especially the Saint’s comprehension.
• Experts failed to break the treasury’s grand formation; some fled for their lives while others stayed to keep trying.

Ye Lin watched the formation protecting the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty’s treasure vault, judging that it would weaken as the dynasty’s fortune dispersed. After five days, a curious woman approached him and questioned his belief that the formation would break.

• Ye Lin found the ruined imperial halls and saw cultivators unsuccessfully attacking the treasure vault’s formation.
• Ye Lin reasoned that the formation depended on the dynasty’s fortune and decided to wait for it to weaken instead of attacking.
• Ye Lin watched the formation for days and noticed its light dimming as different groups of cultivators tried and failed to break it.
• A petite woman in white approached Ye Lin and asked what he had been watching.
• Ye Lin told the woman he was waiting to see when the formation broke, and she questioned whether staring at it would make it break.

Su Tao asked Ye Lin to take his daughter with him when he left the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm, offering him access to the other regions’ and dynasties’ treasuries in return. Ye Lin had not yet answered when Su Tao offered to guide him to the Central Region as well.

• Su Tao introduced his daughter to Ye Lin and shattered the grand formation, killing the cultivators before it.
• Su Tao told his daughter to build a relationship with Ye Lin and leave with him, explaining that he would stay behind because of his past sins.
• Ye Lin entered the treasury and took all its treasures, then returned to Su Tao.
• Su Tao offered to take Ye Lin to the other three regions’ and three imperial dynasties’ treasure vaults if Ye Lin took his daughter with him.
• Su Tao offered to guide Ye Lin to the Central Region and help him claim a territory of his own.

Ye Lin agreed to help Su Tao take his daughter, Su Qing, out of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm, while Su Tao reflected on his past and his loss of ambition. Ye Lin realized he had about ten years left in the realm, and Su Tao planned to spend that time touring its regions with him.

• Su Tao asked Ye Lin to help take Su Qing out of the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm, and Ye Lin agreed while leaving the method to him.
• Su Tao introduced his daughter as Su Qing and said her name had been his late companion’s final wish; he claimed the old man had killed himself, though Ye Lin did not believe him.
• Ye Lin calculated that he would leave the secret realm in about ten years, and Su Tao said they had enough time to tour the three regions and the Central Region.
• Ye Lin asked why Su Tao had spared the Heavenward Imperial Dynasty, and Su Tao said he had sacrificed the Great Frost Imperial Dynasty to grow strong enough to confront the old man.
• Su Tao said he had lost his desire to cultivate after learning the truth and wondered whether anyone could surpass a Saint or escape the Heaven and Earth Cage.

Ye Lin, Su Tao, and Su Qing descended onto a populated island in a Bagua-shaped archipelago and explored its settlement. A green-robed young man approached them, while Su Tao wondered who he was.

• Su Tao suggested that the three of them land on the islands to rest, and Ye Lin and Su Qing agreed.
• The three descended through the clouds and landed on the largest island, where Su Qing picked up a spiral shell.
• Su Tao led Ye Lin and Su Qing through a coconut grove and onto a path leading to houses and stalls.
• A green-robed young man approached the strangers, greeted them, and said they must have come from afar.
• Su Tao asked the young man who he was.

Su Tao, Ye Lin, and their companions arrived at Eight Trigrams Island, where Bai Xiaosheng explained that the island was controlled by the Three Great Sects. When Bai Xiaosheng’s sister was seized over a debt, Su Tao rescued her after his daughter asked him to help.

• Bai Xiaosheng identified the place as Eight Trigrams Island and told Su Tao that the Three Great Sects controlled it.
• Three burly men dragged Bai Xiaosheng’s sister away over a debt, and they kicked Bai Xiaosheng down when he tried to stop them.
• Bai Xiaosheng begged Su Tao to save his sister, offering his knowledge of the island in return.
• Su Tao gave the leading man three crystalline beads, and the men fled with them.
• Bai Xiaosheng thanked Su Tao and kowtowed after his sister was freed.

Su Tao, Ye Lin, and Su Qing followed Know-All to an auction hosted by the Three Great Sects after Su Tao dismissed the value of the event. They settled into the crowded plaza to watch, though Su Tao expected little from the auction.

• A burly man explained to his two lackeys that he had fled because the outsiders seemed powerful, then planned to give one bead to Young Master and hide the other two.
• Su Tao credited Su Qing’s kindness for sparing the three men, while Ye Lin remarked on her character.
• Know-All invited Su Tao, Ye Lin, and Su Qing to the Three Great Sects’ auction, and Su Tao agreed to attend.
• Know-All led the three through a busy town to a packed plaza, where they sat down to watch the auction.

An auction began in the Cloud Heaven Secret Realm, where the first treasure, the supreme-grade sword Dark Tide, drew fierce bidding. A middle-aged cultivator won it for nine hundred thousand, and the auction moved on to a blade of grass.

• The old man introduced the auction and presented Dark Tide, a water-affinity sword forged from Deep Sea Mystic Iron.
• Ye Lin dismissed the sword, Su Tao nearly dozed off, and Su Qing watched the auction with excitement.
• A burly man and a young man in green competed for Dark Tide before a middle-aged cultivator bid eight hundred thousand.
• The burly man raised the price to eight hundred and fifty thousand, but the middle-aged cultivator won with a bid of nine hundred thousand.
• The old man unveiled the second item, a blade of grass.

At an auction, a middle-aged woman won a three-thousand-year-old Purple Cloud Grass after outbidding a white-haired old man who needed it to prolong his life. The auction then introduced a Fire Origin Pill that could boost fire-element cultivation and offer a chance to comprehend the Laws of Fire.

• The old man explained that consuming the Purple Cloud Grass could grant ten thousand years of cultivation without damaging one's foundation.
• The white-haired old man and a middle-aged woman repeatedly raised their bids for the grass.
• The middle-aged woman won the Purple Cloud Grass for 140,000 Fortune Stones, and the white-haired old man left the square in despair.
• The auction continued, and the old man introduced a Fire Origin Pill made from earthfire essence.

The auction sold a Fire Origin Pill, Heavenly Meteoric Iron, and a damaged sword manual before bidding on a Phoenix Feather began. The feather’s price passed two million fortune stones, with a richly dressed middle-aged man and a white-haired old woman still competing.

• A black-robed bidder bought the Fire Origin Pill for 4.2 million fortune stones and vanished into the crowd.
• A wiry old man purchased the Heavenly Meteoric Iron for 1.8 million fortune stones.
• A middle-aged sword cultivator won the damaged Nameless Sword Art for 310,000 fortune stones.
• The auctioneer presented a Phoenix Feather said to offer a chance at phoenix bloodline and the power of nirvana.
• Bidding for the Phoenix Feather rose past two million, leaving a middle-aged man in fine robes and a white-haired old woman as the final bidders.

The auction’s sixth treasure, the Phoenix Feather, went to an eerie old woman after she outbid a middle-aged man. The final treasure was revealed to be a chained, beautiful woman, whose appearance startled Ye Lin when he examined her with the Origin Eye Technique.

• An old woman outbid a middle-aged man with a bid of three million fortune stones and claimed the Phoenix Feather.
• The middle-aged man stopped bidding, and the old woman left the hall without anyone daring to follow her.
• The auctioneer introduced the final treasure, and two maids brought a chained woman onto the stage.
• Su Qing cried out at the sight of the woman, while Su Tao admired her briefly and Ye Lin recognized something familiar about her.
• Ye Lin activated the Origin Eye Technique, saw the woman’s true appearance, and exclaimed in shock.

Ye Lin agreed to help Su Tao send his daughter out of the secret realm after learning she had a Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan connection, and negotiated to bring another woman out as well. He agreed to protect Su Tao’s daughter for ten thousand years, while the auction continued at a low price.

• Ye Lin recognized the woman’s true form as a seven-colored toad and realized she belonged to the Heaven-Devouring Toad Clan.
• Ye Lin agreed to take Su Tao’s daughter out and asked if he could bring the other woman out too.
• Su Tao misunderstood Ye Lin’s motives, but Ye Lin explained that the woman shared a clan with his elder brother.
• Su Tao sensed saintly intent in the woman’s bloodline and offered to send her out if Ye Lin protected his daughter for ten thousand years.
• Ye Lin accepted the terms and advised Su Tao to have his daughter befriend the woman.
• The auction began, but the bidding for the woman remained low.

Ye Lin bid five hundred thousand fortune stones for a shackled woman at an auction, while the auction-house young master recognized his group and schemed to exploit their valuable beads. The bidding was pushed to one million, and the young master beat the burly man who had made the inflated bid.

• Ye Lin offered five hundred thousand fortune stones for the shackled woman, silencing the auction crowd.
• The young master recognized Ye Lin's group from the bead they had given his men and ordered the burly man to raise the price.
• The young master explained that the beads were worth five million fortune stones each and planned to get more from Ye Lin's group after the auction.
• The burly man bid one million for the woman, shocking the auction hall.
• The young master punched and kicked the burly man for bidding one million instead of raising the price more carefully.

A young auctioneer scolded his burly accomplice for driving bidders away, then took over and sold the woman to Ye Lin for three million Fortune Stones. The auctioneer celebrated the unexpected windfall as Ye Lin went to complete the transaction.

• The young man beat the burly man for jumping straight to a one-million bid and nearly ruining their plan.
• Ye Lin’s group bid two million, and the young man cautiously raised the price to two million one hundred thousand.
• Ye Lin bid three million, and the young man decided not to raise the price further.
• The auctioneer declared the woman sold to Ye Lin for three million Fortune Stones and celebrated the high price.
• The old man respectfully invited Ye Lin to complete the transaction, and Ye Lin went with him.

Ye Lin refused to pay three million fortune stones for the captive woman, and Zhao Dingding stepped in to settle the deal with him. Ye Lin traded an unidentified pill for her and left with her, while Zhao Dingding kept the pill.

• Ye Lin reached the rear of the auction and told the old man he had no fortune stones to pay for the woman.
• The old man surrounded Ye Lin with the auction house's people, but Zhao Dingding arrived and ordered him to leave.
• Zhao Dingding offered to release the woman in exchange for five beads like the one Ye Lin had seen Su Tao give away.
• Ye Lin said he had no beads and handed Zhao Dingding an unidentified pill instead.
• Zhao Dingding accepted the pill and let Ye Lin take the woman.