Chapter Summaries

Su Zhan fused five principles into a manifestation and attacked the clone in the Core Space. It broke through five of the clone’s seven barriers, but the remaining defenses held as the fusion began to destabilize.

• Su Zhan proposed fusing five principles, and the Chat Group warned that the strain and calculations would be immense.
• Su Zhan combined earth, thunder, true fire, life, and poison principles into a powerful manifestation.
• The clone raised seven principle barriers to defend itself.
• Su Zhan’s manifestation punched through five barriers in one blow.
• The clone pushed the wind and thunder barriers to their limits, slowing Su Zhan’s fist as the five-principle fusion grew unstable.

Su Zhan baited the clone into diverting its attention, allowing the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock to sever three chains and strip away the clone’s spatial defense. The clone forged the remaining chains into a giant sword and swung at Su Zhan.

• Su Zhan leaped over the Wind-Thunder chains and sent the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock toward the Grotto-Heaven Heart.
• Su Zhan compressed five Principles into a destabilizing sphere, forcing the clone to release three chains to protect the grotto-heaven’s core.
• The Shadow Thousand Silk Lock severed the chains controlling space, wind, and darkness, weakening the clone and removing its physical-attack defense.
• Su Zhan revealed that the sphere had been a feint, while the clone turned its remaining chains into a black sword and attacked him.

Su Zhan defeated the Black Demon Sect Sect Master's clone with Five Elements Return to Origin and searched its soul for the Sect Master's weaknesses and a way to remove the chains on the Grotto-Heaven Heart. He learned the Sect Master was a weakened Second Level Martial Emperor with a damaged soul, and discovered the chains were contracts that could be undone by a simple method.

• Su Zhan's Five Elements Return to Origin shattered the clone's sword and pierced its chest.
• Su Zhan suppressed the clone and used Soul Search while the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat blocked its counterattack.
• Su Zhan learned that the Sect Master was a Second Level Martial Emperor whose unstable foundation and damaged soul left him unable to recover fully for three months.
• Su Zhan found that the chains binding the Grotto-Heaven Heart were contracts between the Sect Master and the Grotto-Heaven Core, mediated by power.

Su Zhan killed the clone that controlled the contract binding the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven, freeing its heart and allowing the damaged realm to heal. He received an instruction manual from the Grotto-Heaven Heart and prepared to study it before the Yuan Household members arrived.

• Su Zhan used Soul Search to find that the clone was the contract's executor, then erased it with five Principles.
• The clone's death shattered the ten remaining black chains, and the Grotto-Heaven Heart and Core Space began repairing themselves.
• Su Zhan dismissed his Five-Method Fusion Dharma manifestation after the battle depleted his Law Power reserves.
• Su Zhan touched the Grotto-Heaven Heart and received organized information about the Grotto-Heaven and its builder.
• Su Zhan withheld the information from the Ancient Life Tree and prepared to study it before the Yuan Household members came down.

Su Zhan discovered that the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven was an ancient prison, and that breaking its black chains had begun to revive the being sealed beneath its core. He kept the danger from the Yuan Household for now, and Elder Yuan Ji arrived as the sphere repaired itself.

• Su Zhan read the grotto-heaven's instruction manual and learned that its final function was the First Seal · Demon-Suppressing Lock.
• Su Zhan sensed a living presence beneath the sphere and learned from Nine Heavens Divine Lightning and [Thunder Emperor Divine Seat] that the Yuan Household's bloodline had served as the seal's medium.
• Su Zhan realized the entity had been considered dangerous even by a second-level Martial Emperor, but decided not to warn the Yuan Household while the seal remained intact.
• Elder Yuan Ji descended into the Core Space and froze when he saw the glowing Grotto-Heaven Heart sphere.

Yuan Ji reconnected the Yuan Household’s bloodline to the Grotto-Heaven Core, restoring the inheritance and purifying the grotto-heaven. Su Zhan learned that the Principle Tempering Chamber could accelerate cultivation but had only enough Spiritual Qi for three uses, and Yuan Ji opened its door.

• Yuan Ji activated the Grotto-Heaven Core with his bloodline, restoring the Yuan Household’s inheritance and improving the grotto-heaven’s Spiritual Qi and air.
• The Yuan Household members knelt and celebrated their return to their ancestors’ legacy while Su Zhan recalled the seal’s warning that its holder might have to sacrifice his life.
• Su Zhan considered using the Principle Tempering Chamber to strengthen himself before the sealed entity awoke.
• Yuan Ji warned Su Zhan that the chamber consumed a tenth of the grotto-heaven’s Spiritual Qi reserves per use and could be activated only three times.
• Yuan Ji infused the western stone door with his bloodline power, opening the Principle Tempering Chamber.

Su Zhan used the Principle Tempering Chamber’s first activation to help Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon and Ancient Life Tree break through their bottlenecks. The two breakthroughs expanded his control over poison and strengthened his Withering and Flourishing Power.

• Su Zhan assessed the chamber’s rich Five Elements power and assigned its three activations to the group members according to their needs.
• Su Zhan began the first activation by directing power to Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon and Ancient Life Tree.
• Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon completed the eighth page, expanding Su Zhan’s poison perception and control to three thousand zhang.
• Ancient Life Tree split its Withering and Flourishing leaf into two, allowing Su Zhan to wield both extremes against living beings below Martial King.

Su Zhan completed three rounds of tempering, strengthening his defenses, Shadow Thousand Silk Lock, Blazing Dragon Venerate, and Nine Heavens Divine Lightning. After learning that the seal had only six months of power left, he prepared to leave the Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven and confront the Black Demon Sect Master.

• Su Zhan completed the first round of tempering and gained at least twenty percent more overall strength.
• The Immovable Wisdom King Wall gained adaptive defenses, while the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock expanded to three thousand independently thinking threads.
• The Blazing Dragon Venerate’s true fire gained white flames that could corrode Principle shields, and the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning advanced to the Triple Dragon stage.
• Yuan Ji told Su Zhan that the grotto-heaven’s administrative authority had been partially restored and showed him a warning that the seal had only seventeen percent of its power remaining.
• Su Zhan estimated the seal would collapse in six months and decided to return outside to deal with the Black Demon Sect Master.
• Su Zhan ordered Yuan Ji to open the teleportation exit, saying he was going to collect a debt.

Su Zhan traveled alone through the Demon Sea toward the Black Demon Sect, intent on attacking its injured Sect Master before he recovered. He flew openly through the toxic sea mist, and large shapes began moving beneath the water nearby.

• Su Zhan activated the teleportation array after telling Yuan Ji to keep the grotto-heaven sealed if he failed to return.
• Su Zhan arrived at the Demon Sea and learned from the Cultivation Methods that its waters were filled with dense Demonic Energy and deadly poisons.
• Su Zhan chose to fly directly toward the Black Demon Sect rather than conceal himself, reasoning that its Sect Master’s soul had not yet healed.
• Su Zhan used Nine Heavens Divine Lightning’s Purple-Gold Lightning to charge through the blood mist while the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer’s Canon absorbed its toxins.
• After several minutes of flight, Su Zhan sensed enormous dark shapes swimming beneath the sea at nearly his speed.

Su Zhan crossed the Demon Sea and confronted the demonized sea beasts, then stopped before the Black Demon Sect's Sect-Protection Grand Formation. He planned to slip through its patrol gaps and reach the Sect Master before the thirty-six Martial King guardians could raise an alarm.

• Su Zhan suppressed the largest demonized sea beast with the Immovable Wisdom King Wall and used lightning to disable others as he flew past.
• After another half hour of flight, Su Zhan reached a boundary where the Demonic Energy grew much denser.
• Shadow Thousand Silk Lock detected the Sect-Protection Grand Formation and reported that thirty-six Martial King-level guardians protected its seabed nodes.
• Su Zhan chose to avoid alerting the guardians, and Shadow Thousand Silk Lock proposed guiding him through the patrol gaps between nodes.
• Su Zhan agreed to try the route while Shadow Thousand Silk Lock spread three thousand threads ahead to mark the timing.

Su Zhan crossed twelve layers of formation nodes without triggering an alarm, using the Nine Heavens Divine Lightning to escape a closing light screen. He reached a reef and spotted a massive floating complex roughly sixty miles ahead.

• Su Zhan followed the Shadow Thousand Silk Lock’s route through the first six formation layers, narrowly avoiding the patrolling light screens.
• At the seventh layer, Su Zhan used the Three-Dragon Stage: Limit Flash to clear a passage whose window had unexpectedly shrunk.
• Su Zhan crossed the remaining layers with increasingly smooth movements and launched himself through the final gap using the Immovable Wisdom King Wall.
• Su Zhan landed on a reef with a damaged shoe and saw a purple-black complex of halls and towers floating above the sea ahead.

Su Zhan confronted the Black Demon Sect Sect Master's divine sense projection in the Demon Sea and learned that the Sect Master had turned the sea and its refined Demonized Sea Beasts into weapons. As the creatures surrounded him, Su Zhan considered how to fight without revealing his evolved techniques and called on the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon to handle the poisoned sea.

• Su Zhan found the Black Demon Sect Sect Master's divine sense projection waiting for him beneath a reef.
• The Sect Master accused Su Zhan of destroying his clone, taking his Mustard Seed Grotto-Heaven, and using Soul Search on his elders, then threatened to kill him.
• Su Zhan deduced that the Sect Master had not recovered enough to attack him directly, and the Sect Master revealed that the Demon Sea was his weapon and domain.
• The black sea churned with refined Demonized Sea Beasts bearing Demonic Energy brands linked to the Sect Master's divine sense.
• Su Zhan held back the Blazing Dragon Venerate and Nine Heavens Divine Lightning to conceal his methods, then asked the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon whether it could handle the sea's toxins.

Su Zhan used the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon to seize control of the Demon Sea's poison and repel the Sect Master's attacks. The Sect Master's projection vanished, but the black buildings ahead activated with purple-black runes.

• Su Zhan released the Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon, causing the demonized sea beasts to halt and submit as their toxins came under his control.
• Su Zhan spread the Shennong Domain across the sea and began absorbing the demonic poison in the water.
• The Sect Master sent waves of seawater filled with fragments of his malice at Su Zhan, but the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat purified them and the Immovable Wisdom King Wall shielded him.
• Su Zhan warned the Sect Master that his wounded soul could not sustain the projection, which then shrank into a ball of light and disappeared after promising to wait for him.
• The purple-black runes on the black buildings ahead lit up after the Sect Master's projection vanished.

Su Zhan entered the black sect headquarters after the Sect Master opened the formation and invited him to a banquet. As he approached the main hall, he discovered the headquarters was built around a river of concentrated Demonic Energy, while resentful souls in the doors were drawn to his divine canon.

• Su Zhan concluded that the Sect Master wanted to settle the fight quickly and flew to the headquarters.
• Eight hundred black-armored warriors saluted Su Zhan as Li Wusheng introduced himself and led him toward the main hall.
• Su Zhan sent his threads underground and learned that a river of liquid Demonic Energy ran beneath the headquarters and converged below the main hall.
• As Su Zhan passed through the hall's doorway, the carved faces turned toward him and the resentful souls inside tried to escape toward his Myriad Poisons Divine Farmer's Canon.

Su Zhan faced the Black Demon Sect Master in the sect headquarters, where the underground river’s Demonic Energy weakened several of Su Zhan’s Principles. The Sect Master prepared to fight on his home ground, leaving Su Zhan estimating his strength at the sixth or seventh level of Martial King.

• Su Zhan entered the hall and saw the Black Demon Sect Master’s aged true body seated at the table.
• The Sect Master said he wanted to fight Su Zhan and challenged him to consider how much of his fused Principles he could use inside the sect.
• The Sect Master cracked the floor, flooding the hall with Demonic Energy from the underground river.
• Su Zhan found that the Demonic Energy weakened his lightning and fire, restricted the Ancient Life Tree, strengthened his poison technique, and left his defensive wall unaffected.
• Su Zhan estimated that the Sect Master’s home-ground advantage left him fighting at roughly the sixth or seventh level of Martial King.

Su Zhan faced the injured Sect Master, enduring his Martial Emperor-level attacks and countering with fire and poison. The Sect Master’s barrier withstood Su Zhan’s punch, and he began to sweep away the poison coating.

• The Sect Master unleashed oppressive might, but Su Zhan’s Immovable Wisdom King Wall let him resist it.
• The Sect Master shattered the spirit lamps and attacked Su Zhan from all directions with black cords of light.
• Su Zhan emerged from the rubble with a shallow wound, while his cracked Immovable Wisdom King Wall began to repair itself.
• Su Zhan crossed the hall in a single step and struck the Sect Master’s Qi barrier with a fire-wrapped punch.
• Su Zhan coated the barrier with a poison orb, and the Sect Master moved to wash the poison away with Demonic Energy.

Su Zhan broke through the Sect Master's Qi barrier with Principle-Corroding Poison and lightning, but the Martial Emperor swiftly struck him and broke three ribs. As the Sect Master approached, Su Zhan recalled that his soul was still injured from their previous encounter.

• Su Zhan corroded the Sect Master's Qi barrier with poison, then pierced a gap with Nine Heavens Divine Lightning and shattered the barrier with his fist.
• The Sect Master evaded Su Zhan's blow and jabbed him beneath the ribs, breaking three ribs and sending him through a palace pillar.
• Su Zhan assessed the damage as the Ancient Life Tree began repairing his bones.
• Nine Heavens Divine Lightning and Blazing Dragon Venerate warned Su Zhan that their strength could not overcome the gap between a Martial King and a Martial Emperor.
• Su Zhan told the Chat Group that the Sect Master's soul remained injured from the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat's attack.

Su Zhan used the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat’s soul attack against the Sect Master, exploiting a fissure he had discovered during the Soul Search. The Sect Master’s attack missed, and the pursuing stream of violet-gold light continued seeking the crack in his soul.

• The Sect Master prepared to strike Su Zhan with a Martial Emperor-level curved blade, while Su Zhan’s ribs had mostly healed.
• The Thunder Emperor Divine Seat spoke through Su Zhan and sent a violet-gold ball of light toward the Sect Master’s soul.
• The ball broke through the Sect Master’s Law Power and cracked his mental barrier at the precise location of the fissure in his soul.
• The Sect Master cried out, and his curved blade missed Su Zhan and split the ground behind him.
• Su Zhan released a stream of violet-gold light that changed direction to evade the Sect Master’s defenses and pursue the fissure in his soul.

Su Zhan aggravated the Sect Master's soul fissure with the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat, forcing him to retreat and recover inside a black cocoon. The Sect Master then bound himself to the Black Demon Sect Headquarters' core formation, drawing on its Power of Principle as his strength began to recover.

• The Thunder Emperor Divine Seat's purple-gold energy entered the fissure in the Sect Master's soul, worsening his injury and making him retreat into a black cocoon.
• Su Zhan and the Sect Master paused to recover while the Sect Master recognized the Thunder Emperor Divine Seat's attack from their previous encounter.
• The Sect Master activated the Black Demon Sect Headquarters, drawing its halls, runes, and liquid Demonic Energy into a formation around himself.
• The Sect Master emerged armored in liquid Demonic Energy and connected to the headquarters, raising his strength toward the second level.

Su Zhan realized the Sect Master drew power from the headquarters and could not be killed while bound to it, so he began destroying its structures and power nodes instead. After severing two of the sixteen links, he continued toward the next node while the Sect Master watched helplessly from outside the great hall.

• The Sect Master formed a black sphere reflecting the headquarters and declared that he could not be killed in his own home.
• Su Zhan recognized that the Sect Master depended on the headquarters’ underground rivers and decided to demolish its power sources rather than attack him directly.
• Su Zhan destroyed the northeastern tower and used art-corroding poison to disable its underground river power node, snapping the first link to the Sect Master.
• Su Zhan flew to the southern basement, defeated the headquarters’ automatic defenses, and disabled the second power node.
• The Sect Master felt his power diminish again and stopped chasing Su Zhan as he continued across the headquarters toward another node.