Chapter Summaries

Shen Changchuan recognized Shi Mengting among the inheritance trial participants and assessed the danger she posed, though he believed his growing strength and trump cards might let him resist her. He then surveyed the other representatives and felt an unexplained familiarity with the young man from the Ancient Moon Divine Dynasty.

• Shen Changchuan recalled how he had defeated Shi Mengting at the Elephant Mountain Sect Ruins by using the Void-Escaping Gu and his master's Jade Talisman, and judged that she would likely overpower him in a fair fight.
• Shi Mengting noticed Shen Changchuan aboard his vessel, but neither of them spoke or made a move.
• Shen Changchuan considered using the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu, a Sheng-Yuan Pill, and his spatial techniques to contend with Shi Mengting if they fought again.
• Shen Changchuan observed the representatives from Hundred Flowers Immortal Valley, the Divine Wood Sect, and the Ancient Moon Divine Dynasty.
• Shen Changchuan noticed that the black-robed young man from the Ancient Moon Divine Dynasty seemed to recognize him and felt strangely familiar.

Shen Changchuan and five other young cultivators entered the Ancient Inheritance trial after six Peak Spirit Wandering Realm leaders opened the portal with their tokens. They arrived in a white, mist-filled space, where Shen Changchuan concealed how little the transport had affected him and wondered whether he had an unusual advantage.

• Shen Changchuan studied the other top powers and noticed Gu Changbai, the unfamiliar leader of the Ancient Moon Divine Dynasty.
• The six Peak Spirit Wandering Realm leaders brought out their tokens and joined their power to open the Ancient Inheritance trial.
• Shen Changchuan and the five other participants gathered in the field and were swallowed by a spatial rift.
• Shen Changchuan landed in a white, chaotic space and used a secret technique to steady his spiritual sense.
• Shen Changchuan pretended to suffer like the others and wondered why the journey had affected him less.

After the inheritance trial left the gathered prodigies waiting in an unknown space, Shi Mengting attacked Shen Changchuan to settle their past grudge. Shen Changchuan used the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu to raise his aura to the late Ninth Level of Out-of-Body Realm and launched the first strike.

• The prodigies recovered and discussed the mysterious trial, whose details vanished from participants’ memories after they left.
• Shi Mengting declared that she would settle her personal grudge before the trial began and unleashed her peak Out of Body Realm aura.
• Shi Mengting accused Shen Changchuan of nearly killing her at the Elephant Mountain Sect Ruins and revealed that she had ordered hidden agents to have demonic cultivators attack him.
• Shen Changchuan calmly met her threat and used the Golden Wind Jade Dew Gu to raise his cultivation aura from the peak of the Eighth Level to the late Ninth Level of Out-of-Body Realm.
• Shen Changchuan crossed the distance in an instant and punched toward Shi Mengting’s head, triggering her sense of danger.

Shen Changchuan and Shi Mengting clashed with attacks infused with the Power of Space, unleashing a devastating surge of energy. The collision cracked space and sent destructive force sweeping across the battlefield, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Shen Changchuan threw a punch infused with the Power of Space, alarming the watching prodigies and reminding Shi Mengting of their previous battle.
• Shi Mengting recognized Shen Changchuan's spatial power but trusted her reforged Sky-Controlling Bracelet and her own improved control over spatial energy.
• Shi Mengting formed a vast vortex of magical power and attached the Power of Space to her palm before meeting Shen Changchuan's punch head-on.
• Shen Changchuan's fist and Shi Mengting's palm collided, draining the surrounding world of color and sound.
• The collision cracked space and unleashed destructive energy that swept outward like a tsunami.

Shen Changchuan and Shi Mengting unleashed a clash powerful enough to tear space, and both recognized how much the other had improved since their battle a year earlier. They drew back, wounded but evenly matched, while Shi Mengting resolved that Shen Changchuan had to die before he grew stronger.

• The onlookers were driven back by the energy storm, and the Divine Wood Sect youth identified the combatants’ power as the Power of Space.
• Shen Changchuan and Shi Mengting were blasted more than a thousand zhang apart, ending their clash in a deadlock.
• Shen Changchuan assessed Shi Mengting’s greatly strengthened Power of Space and paused his attack, his fist wounded but healing under the Eternal Wood Scripture.
• Shi Mengting recognized Shen Changchuan’s rapid cultivation and improved control of the Power of Space, despite her injured hand.
• Shi Mengting concluded that Shen Changchuan’s talent made him a future threat and intensified her resolve to kill him.

A black-clad youth from the Ancient Moon Divine Dynasty stopped Shen Changchuan and Shi Mengting from resuming their fight, insisting they protect the Ancient Inheritance trial. When a staircase appeared and the assessment began, the others set off, leaving Shen Changchuan and the black-clad youth behind.

• The black-clad youth used his Mysterious Power to separate Shen Changchuan and Shi Mengting and warned them not to disrupt the trial.
• Shi Mengting weighed the danger of fighting both youths, then asked the black-clad youth his identity with a sweet smile.
• Shen Changchuan sensed something familiar about the black-clad youth but kept his thoughts to himself.
• A white-jade staircase appeared over a vast abyss, and a mechanical voice ordered everyone to begin the assessment.
• The Divine Wood Sect youth, Shi Mengting, Monk Wu Hua, and the woman from Hundred Flowers Immortal Valley stepped onto the stairs, leaving Shen Changchuan and the black-clad youth behind.

Shen Chong revealed himself to Shen Changchuan and explained that he had taken the Zhou Clan’s place in the Ancient Inheritance trial. As they climbed the white-jade stairs, he told Shen Changchuan that the trial held a chance to transcend and become immortal, leaving them to continue toward the assessment.

• Shen Chong changed his appearance to reveal himself to Shen Changchuan, then explained that he had taken the Zhou Clan’s hard-won trial spot to spite the Zhou family and First Madam.
• Shen Chong and Shen Changchuan set aside questions about the Zhou Clan’s schemes and headed up the white-jade stairs toward the Ancient Inheritance trial.
• Shen Chong told Shen Changchuan that the trial was created by a mighty figure to choose an inheritor and contained an opportunity to ascend and transcend the world.
• Shen Chong recounted rumors linking the trial to the feud between the Heavenly Demon Sect and the Jade Clarity Immortal Sect, as well as the destruction of the Elephant Mountain Sect.
• Shen Chong explained that his teacher had learned of the chance at transcendence from the trial’s hidden controller and had survived as a conscious remnant soul thanks to an opportunity he gained there.

Shen Changchuan learned that the Ancient Inheritance might involve a chance at immortality and transcendence, but focused on completing the test and claiming its reward. After he entered an unchosen gateway, Shen Chong stayed behind to pay respects to a senior in the void.

• Shen Changchuan reeled at Shen Chong's revelation about the inheritance and its connection to immortality, transcendence, and the feud between the Jade Clarity Immortal Sect and the Heavenly Demon Sect.
• Shen Changchuan calmed himself and decided to concentrate on the test and the opportunities ahead rather than distant secrets of ascension.
• Shen Changchuan and Shen Chong reached a platform with six spatial gateways, four of which were dimmed, and heard the command to choose one and enter.
• Shen Changchuan chose a pale-blue gateway that appeared unused and stepped inside.
• Shen Chong straightened his clothes, bowed toward the empty void, and announced that outer disciple Shen Chong paid respects to Senior.

Shen Changchuan discovered that he was trapped in a realistic trial illusion as a poor cowherd boy, then found a way to return his consciousness to his own body. He woke in the trial’s white space, where a wooden puppet reacted in shock.

• Shen Changchuan awoke in the body of a starving cowherd boy and recalled entering the Ancient Inheritance trial through a spatial vortex.
• He tested whether he had transmigrated by meditating and saw his Progress Bar Panel, confirming his original body still existed and his consciousness was in an illusionary realm.
• Shen Changchuan followed his awareness deep into his mind and leapt toward a faint tremor.
• The illusion shattered, and Shen Changchuan’s consciousness returned to his own body in the pure white space.
• A wooden puppet stared at Shen Changchuan and exclaimed that his return was impossible.

Shen Changchuan passed the Ancient Inheritance assessment and learned that the sentient puppet had once intended to pass its master's inheritance to Xuan Daoji. The puppet declared that Shen Changchuan was suited to inherit the legacy and revealed that his future master was the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor.

• Shen Changchuan returned from the assessment illusion, and the puppet questioned how he had overcome the enigma of the womb.
• Shen Changchuan explained that he recognized the illusion and tried to find a way out, leaving the puppet amazed by his achievement.
• The puppet said it had planned to pass its master's inheritance to Xuan Daoji, but Shen Changchuan's arrival changed that plan.
• Shen Changchuan recognized Xuan Daoji as the Jade Clarity Immortal Sect's Dao Child and resolved to face him in the future.
• The puppet solemnly revealed that its master, Shen Changchuan's future master, was the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor.

Shen Changchuan learned that the inheritance trial was created by the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor, an Immortal Realm supreme who cultivated the Great Dao of Reincarnation. The Puppet Automaton explained why Shen Changchuan was chosen and revealed the severe risks of the Dao, leaving the inheritance’s purpose uncertain.

• Shen Changchuan reacted with disbelief when the Puppet Automaton identified the inheritance’s master as the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor.
• Shen Changchuan questioned why an Immortal Realm inheritance had appeared in the Cultivation World and why it had chosen him.
• The Puppet Automaton explained that Shen Changchuan was special because he had avoided the Veil of Reincarnation.
• The Puppet Automaton described how reincarnation cultivators sent divided souls into other worlds to cultivate and bring back their gains after transcending.
• The Puppet Automaton explained that reborn divided souls lost their memories and that failing to transcend could permanently cost the cultivator a portion of their divine soul origin.

Shen Changchuan learned that losing part of his soul's origin could cripple his cultivation and require decades or precious treasures to repair. The Puppet Automaton explained the immense cost and dangers of reincarnation, leaving Shen Changchuan reflecting on how countless gifted cultivators had perished pursuing that path.

• The Puppet Automaton explained that Shen Changchuan's missing soul fragment made breakthroughs difficult and would take thirty to fifty years to heal naturally.
• The Puppet Automaton described how rare treasures that restore the soul's origin could strengthen spiritual sense and improve comprehension of the Great Dao, making them coveted by powerful cultivators.
• The Puppet Automaton warned that reincarnation could leave ordinary cultivators unable to recover their severed soul's origin, while immortals could face thousands of years of recovery.
• Shen Changchuan compared the difficulty of returning to the pinnacle with the repeated reincarnations of Fang Han and Haotian God, and considered how few chances ordinary cultivators had.
• The Puppet Automaton said its master's reincarnation path absorbed the pinnacle Dao Fruits of different worlds, but countless peerless talents had died attempting the path to the heavens.

The Puppet Automaton explained that Shen Changchuan had passed a simulated reincarnation assessment by breaking free of its illusory realm, something no candidate had managed before. Because Shen could apparently retain his memories through reincarnation, the Puppet Automaton declared him uniquely suited to inherit the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor’s legacy.

• The Puppet Automaton explained that the assessment simulated reincarnation in an illusory world and that transcending it qualified a candidate for the inheritance.
• The Puppet Automaton revealed that no one had ever fully transcended the simulated world before Shen Changchuan.
• The Puppet Automaton marveled that Shen Changchuan had ignored the Veil of Reincarnation and asked how he had done it.
• Shen Changchuan suggested that the assessment space might have malfunctioned, but the Puppet Automaton dismissed his worry and affirmed that it had to obey a qualified successor.
• The Puppet Automaton judged Shen Changchuan the best possible heir because he could carry his memories and cultivation knowledge into reincarnation.

Shen Changchuan learned that Xuan Daoji had nearly ascended within the Void-Reality Illusion Realm despite being only at the Qi Induction Realm, then realized he might inherit the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor’s entire assessment space. His excitement turned to fury when Ba Gong revealed that the treasury had been emptied, leaving Shen Changchuan demanding an explanation for the Enlightenment Stone and Xuan Daoji’s secret technique.

• Ba Gong explained that cultivators pursuing the Great Dao of Reincarnation faced a nearly impossible path and began treating Shen Changchuan as his little master.
• Shen Changchuan asked about Xuan Daoji, and Ba Gong said the Immortal Sect Dao Child had reached the end of the Void-Reality Illusion Realm and come within one step of ascension while at the Qi Induction Realm.
• Shen Changchuan imagined inheriting the assessment space’s treasures and surpassing the Immortal Sect Dao Child and other rivals.
• Ba Gong revealed that the inheritance space’s stores had been emptied by past assessments and a break-in roughly three thousand years earlier.
• Shen Changchuan demanded to know how the Enlightenment Stone and Xuan Daoji’s fortuitous secret technique had come from the inheritance space if its treasury was empty.

Shen Changchuan learned that the Inheritance Space had no treasury and that its dwindling World Origin Power could no longer provide rewards. Ba Gong showed him the woman in white who had nearly drained that power, and Shen Changchuan recognized her.

• Shen Changchuan angrily accused Ba Gong of hiding the Inheritance Space’s treasures, but Ba Gong explained that the rewards had been created from World Origin Power rather than drawn from a treasury.
• Ba Gong said a woman in white had broken into the Inheritance Space thousands of years earlier, taken nearly all its remaining World Origin Power, and left it unable to offer future rewards.
• Shen Changchuan accepted the loss, apologized to Ba Gong, and asked about the woman in white and whether Ba Gong had an image of her.
• Ba Gong projected the woman’s image, and Shen Changchuan recognized her with shock.

Shen Changchuan recognized the woman in white as the Nameless Female Corpse he had seen revived in Golden Wind Valley nearly ten years earlier. Realizing she might be an upper-realm immortal whose power could endanger the Tiannan Region, he resolved to become stronger.

• Ba Gong asked Shen Changchuan whether he knew the woman in white, and Shen Changchuan said he had seen her before.
• Shen Changchuan recalled witnessing the Nameless Female Corpse awaken in a Golden Wind Valley secret realm, draw down the wrath of heaven and earth, and vanish into the void.
• Shen Changchuan recognized the woman in Ba Gong's image as the same Nameless Female Corpse and wondered why an upper-realm immortal had come to the mortal world and fallen into slumber.
• Shen Changchuan considered whether the Corpse Refining Sect's founding ancestor had found the woman injured or had been used by her to hide and recover.
• Shen Changchuan feared that a battle involving the woman and other supreme experts could destroy the Tiannan Region, and he resolved to gain greater strength.

After learning of the dangers and mysteries surrounding the Inheritance Space, Shen Changchuan resolved to grow strong enough to control his own fate. He arranged rewards for Shen Chong and then prepared to reenter the Void-Reality World to master the Power of Space.

• Shen Changchuan set aside his doubts about the white-clothed woman and committed himself to cultivating more quickly.
• Shen Changchuan asked Ba Gong how many Out of Body Realm Secret Techniques could still be refined into reality and ordered it to cancel most assessment rewards.
• Shen Changchuan made an exception for the black-clad young man, directing Ba Gong to give him the refining-falsehood-into-truth method as his reward.
• Ba Gong explained that the black-clad young man seemed connected to a candidate from several hundred years earlier who had created a reincarnation-like secret technique.
• Shen Changchuan dismissed his questions about the past and asked Ba Gong to let him enter the Void-Reality World again to comprehend the Power of Space.

After spending over a hundred years cultivating in the Void-Reality Illusion Realm, Shen Changchuan returned to reality having personally mastered the Power of Space. He used the remaining World Origin Power to make that mastery real, and his spatial techniques advanced as his strength surged.

• Shen Changchuan emerged from the Void-Reality Illusion Realm exhausted after experiencing more than a hundred years of cultivation in just over a month.
• Inside the illusion realm, Shen Changchuan had reached peak Spirit Wandering Realm cultivation before devoting eighty years to mastering the Power of Space.
• Shen Changchuan contacted Ba Gong and used the remaining World Origin Power to solidify his mastery of the Power of Space in reality.
• Shen Changchuan's Void-Stepping Technique and Space Gold Thorn Technique reached perfection, while his progress in creating Space Slash accelerated.
• Shen Changchuan demonstrated the Power of Space by producing a sharp edge that seemed to cut through space, then reflected that he could defeat his former self within thirty to fifty moves.

Shen Changchuan reflected on the limits of his newly grasped Power of Space and decided to focus on advancing his cultivation. After consuming a Sheng-Yuan Pill, he broke through to the Ninth Level of Out-of-Body Realm and neared the level’s early-stage peak.

• Shen Changchuan recognized that his grasp of the Power of Space was too weak to make him invincible, especially against stronger Spirit Wandering Realm cultivators.
• Shen Changchuan concluded that he could not improve his spatial power further for now because the Enlightenment Stone aura on the Jade Platform had been exhausted.
• Shen Changchuan swallowed the Sheng-Yuan Pill given to him by the founder and refined its medicinal power in seclusion.
• Shen Changchuan broke through the peak of the Eighth Level of Out-of-Body Realm and continued refining the pill’s remaining power.
• Shen Changchuan reached close to the peak of the early Ninth Level of Out-of-Body Realm and ended his secluded cultivation, pleased with his progress.

After reaching the Ninth Level of the Out-of-Body Realm, Shen Changchuan planned to build up his strength and knowledge before attempting the Reincarnation Dao Ancestor’s inheritance. He learned how the other examinees were faring and decided the inheritance trial space had to keep running to avoid drawing the attention of Mystic Core Realm experts.

• Shen Changchuan planned to pursue the Joint Grand Competition and postpone the reincarnation inheritance until after advancing to the Spirit Wandering Realm.
• Shen Changchuan decided to accumulate spells and other skills so he would have more knowledge to rely on after reincarnating into another world.
• Ba Gong reported that two examinees had been eliminated, one youth had become a martial alliance leader, and Shen Chong and the Heavenly Demon Sect woman had entered immortal cultivation.
• Shen Changchuan considered removing the other examinees and shutting down the trial space, but feared that the change would alert the Mystic Core Realm experts guarding it.
• Shen Changchuan decided the inheritance trial space had to continue running so the experts would not suspect he had obtained its inheritance.