Chapter Summaries

Shen Changchuan learned that the Ancient Sword Sect had encountered Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants near Juetian Valley, far from Soul-Severing City, and suspected the report might be a trap. After finding an old treasure map that pointed to the same area, he decided to investigate and prepare for the journey.

• Shen Changchuan learned how the Righteous Alliance planned to limit Demonic Cultivator raids by controlling human settlements and strategic locations.
• Shen Changchuan learned that Gu Xuanqing and the Ancient Sword Sect had suffered heavy losses from Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants near Juetian Valley and had withdrawn to regroup.
• Shen Changchuan worried that the distant report might be a trap set by the Demonic Path Alliance.
• Shen Changchuan found an old treasure map pointing to the wilderness near Juetian Valley and recalled obtaining it from Shi Miaoqing's Storage Bag.
• Shen Changchuan decided to investigate Juetian Valley and use the time before the next attack to strengthen his combat abilities.

Shen Changchuan asked Roaming Dragon to help him choose a top-tier second-rank spell to strengthen his combat ability before the trip to Juetian Valley. Though Roaming Dragon warned that training would hinder his cultivation progress, Shen remained resolute, and his master gave him a jade slip listing the spells he could choose from.

• Shen Changchuan asked Roaming Dragon for a top-tier second-rank spell, and Roaming Dragon warned him about the spells’ difficulty and the risk to his cultivation progress.
• Shen Changchuan decided to cultivate one, believing he needed stronger methods after discovering his weaknesses in his fight against Qiu Kunsheng.
• Shen Changchuan recalled that relying on repeated Azure Wood Sword Light attacks consumed too much mana and left him vulnerable in prolonged battles.
• Roaming Dragon accepted Shen Changchuan’s decision and handed him a jade slip containing the top-tier second-rank spells he could choose from.

Shen Changchuan chose three techniques to cultivate despite Roaming Dragon’s doubts, then spent half a year training in seclusion. The chapter left him completing the Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword and displaying its immense power outside Soul-Severing City.

• Roaming Dragon reconsidered his doubts about Shen Changchuan’s decision to cultivate spells early and waited for him to choose techniques.
• Shen Changchuan chose the Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword, the Thousand Shadow Azure Sword Rain Art, and the Golden Body Tyrant Art.
• Roaming Dragon was disappointed when he learned Shen Changchuan planned to cultivate all three techniques at the same time.
• Shen Changchuan returned to his rented cave abode, arranged his newly acquired techniques alongside spells he had bought, and began secluded cultivation.
• After half a year, Shen Changchuan unleashed a devastating sword strike in a deserted valley outside Soul-Severing City and completed the Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword.

After half a year of cultivation, Shen Changchuan perfected the Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword and grew stronger, though his other spells remained unfinished. Once he left the valley, a middle-aged man and his reluctant son Xingzai entered to search for valuables.

• Shen Changchuan tested the perfected Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword and judged its power second only to his divine ability.
• He reflected that the Thousand Shadow Azure Sword Rain Art had reached minor accomplishment and the Golden Body Tyrant Art had only just begun, while his cultivation advanced to the early seventh level of the Out-of-Body Realm.
• Shen Changchuan practiced his spells and battle tactics above the valley until sunset, then left.
• After Shen Changchuan was gone, a middle-aged man in a gray robe checked the area and urged his son Xingzai to search the valley for valuables.
• Xingzai feared that a powerful cultivator might still be nearby, but his second uncle pushed him onward and promised that the search could make them rich.

Second Uncle and Xingzai, two low-level Rogue Cultivators, explored a valley where a powerful figure had demonstrated a sword art. Second Uncle retrieved a stone bearing a trace of the sword’s aura, and the pair left with the discovery concealed.

• Second Uncle urged Xingzai to explore the valley, hoping they could seize an opportunity to rise from their lowly status.
• Xingzai entered the valley but fled back, saying its sword-like aura made him feel as if the world and his body were being split apart.
• Second Uncle insisted on investigating the valley himself, but he and Xingzai were driven back by the overwhelming aura.
• Second Uncle revealed a bloodied hand holding a black stone marked by a fine sword slash.
• Second Uncle placed the stone in a jade box, told Xingzai to keep it secret, and the two quickly left.

Shen Changchuan sensed how the Progress Bar Panel’s perfection-trait experience deepened his understanding of wood-element and sword spells, then returned to prosperous Soul-Severing City. He found Gu Xuanqing’s message announcing that the campaign against Juetian Valley would begin in three days.

• Shen Changchuan realized that accumulated perfection-trait experience could improve his comprehension and lower the threshold for cultivating spells of the same system.
• Shen Changchuan returned to Soul-Severing City, where growing stability had brought more cultivators and prosperity.
• Shen Changchuan collected rare spell inheritances from the market administrator and went back to his rented cave residence.
• Shen Changchuan found Gu Xuanqing’s message stating that the campaign against Juetian Valley was prepared and would depart in three days.
• Shen Changchuan recalled that the campaign had been delayed while its organizers sought a way to counter the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants, and that the reclusive Demonic Cultivator clan had not left.

The Ancient Sword Sect arrived at Juetian Valley to destroy the Li Family, whose Demonic Cultivators had used the pass to attack Luoyan City. Jian Wuhen repelled the Li Family’s opening attack, leaving Shen Changchuan reflecting on the strength he must gain before the Centennial Grand Competition.

• Gu Xuanqing led the Ancient Sword Sect’s flying ship to Juetian Valley and ordered the disciples to land and form defensive positions.
• A voice from the valley identified the attackers as the Li Family and sent a giant hand of cloud and mist toward the ship.
• Jian Wuhen slashed the giant hand apart with a sword strike.
• Shen Changchuan recalled his cultivation exchanges with Jian Wuhen and recognized that he was currently no match for him.
• Shen Changchuan considered the Centennial Grand Competition ten years away and resolved to grow strong enough to contend for its top ten.

Shen Changchuan realized the Centennial Grand Competition would pit him against far more powerful cultivators, so he resolved to refine the Void-Escaping Gu and develop a spatial sword strike to overcome his realm disadvantage. As the battle against the Demonic Cultivators erupted, he killed an assassin who ambushed him.

• Shen Changchuan judged that ten years would leave him behind seasoned competitors and resolved to gain an edge through the Void-Escaping Gu and a spatial sword strike.
• Jian Wuhen charged into the fog to fight the hidden Demonic Cultivator, while Demonic Cultivators surged from the valley.
• Gu Xuanqing ordered the Ancient Sword Sect disciples to attack, and the two sides clashed across the battlefield.
• Shen Changchuan flew toward the battle, but a Demonic Cultivator assassin appeared behind him and stabbed at his head.
• Shen Changchuan evaded the attack, struck the assassin's mental sea with divine sense, and cut him in two with an emerald sword gleam.

Shen Changchuan killed a renowned Demonic Cultivator who tried to ambush him, shifting the battlefield in the Ancient Sword Sect’s favor. A ninth-level Demonic Cultivator attacked him, but the Ouyang Family head intervened and revealed himself as another hidden ninth-level combatant on the Ancient Sword Sect’s side.

• Shen Changchuan killed Black Shadow with a single sword strike and took his Storage Bag, frightening the Demonic Cultivators who witnessed it.
• Gu Xuanqing and the Ancient Sword Sect cultivators seized the opening and drove the Demonic Cultivators back.
• The Demonic Cultivators recognized Shen Changchuan as a bounty target and rallied when a ninth-level Out of Body Demonic Cultivator attacked him with a giant black hand.
• The Ouyang Family head appeared beside Shen Changchuan and destroyed the giant black hand with a single punch.
• Shen Changchuan thanked Senior Ouyang, who told him that he might have been able to defeat the attacker himself.

The Ouyang Family head joined the battle at Juetian Valley, drawing away a ninth-level Demonic Cultivator, while Shen Changchuan faced three Demonic Cultivators whose combined attack rivaled that level. Shen Changchuan broke the black-sun wheel’s lock and launched the Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword at them.

• The Ouyang Family head reflected on Shen Changchuan’s potential, then flew out to fight the ninth-level Demonic Cultivator.
• The two ninth-level cultivators clashed and took their battle into the cloud-shrouded sky, allowing the surrounding fighting to resume.
• Gu Xuanqing pressed Li Changzun to surrender, but Li Changzun revealed that he had prepared another move.
• Three Demonic Cultivators joined forces to form a black-sun wheel and charged at Shen Changchuan with power comparable to a ninth-level Out of Body Realm cultivator.
• Gu Xuanqing was forced back by Li Changzun and worried that Shen Changchuan would be overwhelmed.
• Shen Changchuan shattered the wheel’s qi-lock and raised his hand to unleash the Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword.

Shen Changchuan blocked the Mulan Brothers’ combined attack with a perfected second-tier top-grade spell, forcing the three demonic cultivators to recognize his strength. The brothers had been hired by the Li Family to kill him over the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant, but they resolved not to underestimate him again.

• Shen Changchuan’s sword spell collided with the Mulan Brothers’ combined attack and forced them back over a hundred zhang.
• The Mulan Brothers realized Shen Changchuan had used a perfected second-tier top-grade spell powerful enough to match a ninth-level Out of Body Realm attack.
• The eldest Mulan Brother identified Shen Changchuan as the renowned prodigy of the Tiannan Region, while the second brother recalled the Li Family’s conflict over the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant.
• The brothers’ mission was to hunt Shen Changchuan after the Li Family hired them, hoping to seize the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant he sought.
• The third Mulan Brother argued that Shen Changchuan’s lower cultivation realm still left him at a disadvantage, but the second brother warned them to remember that Shen Changchuan had reportedly killed Qiu Kunsheng.

Shen Changchuan overwhelmed the Mulan Brothers after breaking their combined-attack technique and judged them unworthy opponents. He launched a colossal fire dragon at the weakened brothers as he moved to finish the battle and claim the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant.

• The Mulan Brothers dismissed doubts about Shen Changchuan and prepared to attack him again.
• Shen Changchuan struck as the brothers began merging their auras, and his Green Wood Cloud-Piercing Sword blasted them backward and broke their combined state.
• Shen Changchuan concluded that the brothers were merely early eighth-level Out-of-Body Realm cultivators once their secret technique was disrupted.
• Shen Changchuan formed a seal and summoned a vast sea of flames that became a colossal fire dragon rushing toward the three brothers.

Shen Changchuan killed the Mulan Brothers with Flame Dragon Burning World and took their Three Spirits Unity Technique, while the demonic forces’ battle line collapsed. As Li Changzun fled toward Juetian Valley, Shen Changchuan pursued him to claim the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant.

• Shen Changchuan used Flame Dragon Burning World to overwhelm the Mulan Brothers, then cut down all three as they struggled against the flames.
• Shen Changchuan found the Three Spirits Unity Technique in the eldest brother’s Storage Bag and considered how it might help him fuse spells and develop Space Slash.
• Li Changzun realized that no one present could stop Shen Changchuan, and demonic cultivators began fleeing as the battle line collapsed.
• Li Changzun ordered the Li Family to retreat and fled toward Juetian Valley.
• Shen Changchuan pursued Li Changzun, determined to obtain the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant.

Shen Changchuan dodged a deadly spatial strike from the Li Family’s Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant King, though the attack killed Ancient Sword Sect disciple Qin Chuan. Gu Xuanqing identified the attacker and explained its terrifying power, leaving Shen Changchuan wary of the danger still hidden within the Li Family.

• Shen Changchuan sensed danger and used a movement spell to evade an invisible spatial strike, which pierced Qin Chuan’s chest and killed him.
• Li Changzun realized Shen Changchuan had escaped the attack and led the Li Family’s Demonic Cultivators into the mists of Juetian Valley.
• Shen Changchuan examined Qin Chuan’s fatal wound and concluded that the Li Family possessed a Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant capable of wielding spatial power.
• Gu Xuanqing identified the attacker as a Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant King and explained that it had awakened ancient beast bloodline power and could threaten even an early-stage Spirit Wandering Realm cultivator.
• Gu Xuanqing said their information indicated the Li Family had last raised an Ant King three hundred years earlier.

The Ancient Sword Sect’s forces discovered that the Li Family could wield a weapon capable of unleashing an attack infused with spatial power, threatening their assault on Juetian Valley. Shen Changchuan identified limits to the weapon, so Gu Xuanqing chose to press on, while Jian Wuhen praised Shen Changchuan and looked forward to his performance in the Immortal Sect Grand Competition.

• Gu Xuanqing realized the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant King’s spatial attack could make an assault on Juetian Valley extremely dangerous.
• Shen Changchuan explained that the attack came from a weapon made from a Gu insect’s corpse, not a living insect, and that its aura seemed to disappear after one strike.
• Gu Xuanqing decided to continue the battle after considering that the attack could be sensed and dodged and might be a one-use weapon.
• Jian Wuhen and the head of the Ouyang Family returned from their high-altitude battle, and the Ancient Sword Sect’s forces won the mid-level and ground fighting.
• The head of the Ouyang Family worried that the Li Family might possess more spatial-attack weapons, while Jian Wuhen praised Shen Changchuan and anticipated his future performance.

After learning that Shen Changchuan had mastered a perfected top-tier second-rank sword spell, Jian Wuhen urged him to enter the Immortal Sect's Centennial Grand Competition. Shen Changchuan remained cautious about his chances and resolved that success depended on refining the Void-Escaping Gu.

• Jian Wuhen learned that Shen Changchuan's sword strike had displayed a perfected top-tier second-rank spell and eagerly wished to witness it, though he refused to challenge someone two cultivation levels below him.
• Shen Changchuan said he might not qualify for the Immortal Sect's Grand Competition because he was only at the seventh level of the Out-of-Body Realm.
• Jian Wuhen insisted that Shen Changchuan would participate and said he looked forward to his performance.
• Gu Xuanqing and others praised Shen Changchuan's potential to represent the Tiannan Region at the competition, drawing astonished and admiring attention from the crowd.
• Shen Changchuan privately judged that he would need to refine the Void-Escaping Gu and integrate its spatial power into his spells to stand out at the competition.

Gu Xuanqing persuaded the cultivators to continue attacking Juetian Valley after Shen Changchuan promised to share Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants and their cultivation methods. After five days, they broke the Li Family’s Mountain Protection Array and prepared to assault the valley’s core without using exhausted Qi Induction Realm disciples as scouts.

• Jian Wuhen expressed interest in the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant King, and Gu Xuanqing argued that its spatial attack could be evaded and that the Li Family’s strength had limits.
• Gu Xuanqing proposed a plan for attacking Juetian Valley, and Shen Changchuan promised to cultivate Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants for the others and share the inheritance they found.
• Over five days, the cultivators dismantled the Mountain Protection Array’s nodes, suffering casualties from Li Family sneak attacks.
• The Mountain Protection Array collapsed, and Gu Xuanqing ordered the exhausted Qi Induction Realm disciples and followers to withdraw.
• Gu Xuanqing proposed that the Out of Body Realm cultivators attack the Li Family’s core directly, and everyone agreed.

With Juetian Valley under attack and the Li Family’s Mountain Protection Array broken, Li Changzun faced the likely destruction of his clan. He explained that he had pursued Shen Changchuan because the Bright Universe Gu Scripture might let the Li Family preserve its Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants after leaving the valley.

• Li Family disciples reported that the Mountain Protection Array had fallen, the Red-Browed Old Devil had fled, and the Ancient Sword Sect was breaking through the valley’s defenses.
• Li Changzun saw that the depleted Li Family could no longer stop the advancing ninth-level Out of Body cultivators led by Jian Wuhen and Ouyang Family Head.
• Li Changzun admitted that he had underestimated Shen Changchuan’s combat strength, helping cause the Li Family’s defeat five days earlier.
• Li Changzun insisted that his larger plan had been necessary because abandoning Juetian Valley without another way to cultivate the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant would doom the clan.
• Li Changzun revealed that he had sought to capture Shen Changchuan for the remnant pages of the Bright Universe Gu Scripture, which might enable the Li Family to breed Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant Kings on a large scale.

The Li Family’s plan to capture Shen Changchuan and seize the Bright Universe Gu Scripture failed, leaving them facing destruction. As their enemies breached Juetian Valley, Li Changzun made a desperate move, and Shen Changchuan’s group discovered a vast forest made from living human corpses.

• The Li Family concluded that the Gu Control Secret Technique could not command Flying Spirit-Splitting Ants and plotted to seize Shen Changchuan’s remnant pages of the Bright Universe Gu Scripture.
• Li Changzun realized Shen Changchuan had defeated the Li Family’s preparations and decided to stake everything on one desperate gamble.
• Li Changzun told the gathered Li Family members he had a way to avert their crisis, then suddenly attacked them, filling the hall with blood.
• Shen Changchuan’s sword beam shattered a formation’s light screen and exposed a forest of corpses fused with bizarre, blood-leaved trees.
• The cultivators saw that the corpses were still alive and shrieking in torment, and condemned the Li Family’s use of humans as seeds.

Shen Changchuan and the allied cultivators discovered a forest of hundreds of thousands of people transformed into living corpses, and he destroyed it with a powerful sword spell. They reached Juetian Valley’s central hall expecting a fight, only to find the Li Family’s Out of Body Realm leaders dead and drained of their vital essence.

• Shen Changchuan and the others recognized the corpse forest as evidence of demonic cultivation tied to Gu insects and the Flying Spirit-Splitting Ant.
• Shen Changchuan unleashed the Thousand Shadow Azure Sword Rain Art, annihilating the corpse trees and the living corpses fused into them.
• Shen Changchuan urged the group to pursue the Li Family before they could escape, and the forces advanced through Juetian Valley with little resistance.
• The allied cultivators gathered in Juetian Valley’s central hall, wary because the Li Family had offered almost no resistance and its core cultivators had not appeared.
• Shen Changchuan and the others found the Li Family’s Out of Body Realm members dead in the hall, their bodies withered and drained of vital essence.