Chapter Summaries

Lu Lin defeated Ye Tianjian after learning that Sword Heart Clarity, rather than the flying swords, had revealed his identity. He killed Ye Tianjian, destroyed the Golden Core mark left on him, and then went to the corpse of the Pseudo Golden Body man.

• Ye Tianjian detonated a supreme-grade flying sword, but Lu Lin charged through the blast and seized another sword before defeating Ye Tianjian with a frost flood dragon and a punch.
• Ye Tianjian survived Lu Lin's punch with a Substitute Death Treasure and warned that a Golden Core True Person had marked him.
• Lu Lin swore to spare Ye Tianjian if he explained how he had recognized him, and Ye Tianjian revealed that his Sword Heart Clarity had sensed the hostility he associated with Lu Lin.
• Lu Lin pretended to offer Ye Tianjian's flying swords back, but Ye Tianjian sensed the danger and fled; Lu Lin caught him, stopped him from detonating his remaining swords, and killed him.
• Lu Lin caught and destroyed the Golden Core mark, while the Green Duckweed Sword Sect's Golden Core True Person sensed Ye Tianjian's death and vowed revenge.
• Lu Lin took Ye Tianjian's storage pouch and appeared beside the corpse of the young Pseudo Golden Body man.

Lu Lin reached the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground and hid among its mounds as cultivators gathered there. At the ruins of the Heavenly Demon Palace, Half-Demon leaders resolved to attack the burial ground, while the wolf-headed youth secretly prepared a mysterious scheme.

• Lu Lin buried the Pseudo Golden Body youth, wondered whether he might have become a mindless puppet without the Martial Dao Melting Furnace, and headed for the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground.
• Lu Lin sensed hidden observers among the burial mounds and concealed himself; Luo Siqing arrived, and other cultivators gathered over the next seven days.
• At the Heavenly Demon Palace ruins, a wolf-headed man killed the gaunt demonic cultivator as more than thirty Half-Demons assembled.
• The wolf-headed youth urged the Half-Demons to attack the Outer Realm Devils at the Ancestral Burial Ground, and Kui Yue and Feng Jing agreed they could face its powerful defenders.
• Kui Yue, Feng Jing, and the other Half-Demons set off for the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground, while the wolf-headed youth privately accepted that sacrifices would be necessary and revealed a strange six-winged centipede.

The Half-Demon prodigies charged into the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground and overwhelmed the Five Great Sects, while their strongest fighters engaged the sects’ Pseudo Golden Body experts. Lu Lin waited for an opening to ambush the Ice Blue Winged Youth, but the youth sensed him and counterattacked.

• The Half-Demon prodigies entered the burial ground, where the Heavenly Evil Sect sprung its killing formation and the Ice Blue Winged Youth broke through it, killing several sect cultivators.
• Xie Yue attacked the Ice Blue Winged Youth with a Pseudo Golden Body, and the two fought to a standstill.
• Fuling sent Du Mo into battle, Kui Yue intercepted him, and the wolf-headed youth and his Six-Winged Centipede engaged the other two Pseudo Golden Body experts.
• The Half-Demon prodigies overwhelmed the Heavenly Evil Sect’s defenders and battered the other sects’ formations as Lu Lin quietly moved toward the battle between Xie Yue and the Ice Blue Winged Youth.
• Lu Lin sprang from hiding to stab the Ice Blue Winged Youth in the neck, but the youth detected him and swept a blade of freezing astral wind toward him.

Lu Lin killed Feng Jing and fought alongside two Pseudo Golden Bodies against the transformed Xiaotian as the Five Great Sects gained the upper hand. An ancient array sealed the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground, and Xiaotian forced his attackers back before fleeing toward its depths.

• Lu Lin severed Feng Jing's wing, Xie Yue struck him, and Lu Lin beheaded him before collecting his golden luck with the Luck Bead.
• The Six-Winged Centipede attacked Lu Lin, but he cut its body in half; its two halves then merged into Xiaotian, transforming him into a heavily armored monster.
• Xiaotian wounded the Sacred Heart Pavilion Pseudo Golden Body, but Lu Lin and the Demonic Sect Pseudo Golden Body joined the fight and helped force him onto the defensive.
• Xie Yue killed several Half-Demon prodigies, and the remaining Half-Demons began to flee before an ancient array sealed the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground.
• The Five Great Sects launched a counterattack and slaughtered the demoralized Half-Demons, while Kui Yue questioned Xiaotian about the array.
• Xiaotian blasted Lu Lin and the two Pseudo Golden Bodies back, then fled toward the deepest part of the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground.

Lu Lin and the surviving cultivators were trapped in the Heavenly Demon Burial Ground as Xiaotian became the Corpse Skeleton Giant Wolf and slaughtered both Pseudo Golden Bodies. With the light barrier resisting every attack and the monster closing in, the sects risked their remaining forces and Array-Breaking Thunder Beads to escape.

• Lu Lin abandoned his pursuit of Xiaotian, killed several Half-Demon prodigies, and seized a Demonic Sect cultivator's Luck Bead.
• Lu Lin killed Kui Yue while she fought Du Mo, and the Luck Bead absorbed her golden luck.
• The burial mounds erupted and their remains fused around Xiaotian into the hundred-meter-tall Corpse Skeleton Giant Wolf, which tore apart the Sacred Heart Pavilion and Demonic Sect Pseudo Golden Bodies.
• The surviving cultivators failed to break the barrier, even after Lu Lin, Xie Yue, and Du Mo struck it with their strongest attacks.
• Fuling urged the Sacred Heart Pavilion to use its Array-Breaking Thunder Beads and ordered Du Mo and the martial artists to hold off the monster; the Heavenly Evil Sect also sent Xie Yue to fight.
• The Sacred Heart Pavilion threw its six remaining Array-Breaking Thunder Beads at the barrier as more than fifty martial artists charged the Corpse Skeleton Giant Wolf.

Lu Lin broke the gray light screen, escaped the trap, and prevented Qiao Feipeng from getting out, while Ye Aoxue slipped away using a disguise. When the Corpse Skeleton Giant Wolf pursued him, Lu Lin stopped fleeing, sacrificed flying swords for cultivation time, and launched a series of Martial Dao Scourge-enhanced attacks against it.

• Lu Lin used the Array-Breaking Thunder Beads and Martial Dao Scourge to break the light screen, allowing the trapped disciples to escape.
• Lu Lin blasted Qiao Feipeng back into the trap, but Ye Aoxue secretly escaped using a disguise technique.
• The Corpse Skeleton Giant Wolf broke free and chased Lu Lin, who fled until he realized he could not outrun it.
• Lu Lin stopped to fight and turned Ye Tianjian's flying swords into more than nine thousand years of cultivation time.
• Lu Lin struck the giant wolf's head nine times with Martial Dao Scourge, carving a large but rapidly healing gash in its bones.

Lu Lin killed Xiaotian and the Six-Winged Centipede, then spent time mining a spirit vein before meeting Luo Siqing as the Moyun Realm’s exit opened. He and Luo Siqing returned to Cuiyun Mountain, where five Golden Core True Persons watched the returning cultivators with grim expressions.

• Lu Lin used eleven sword strikes to kill Xiaotian and destroy the Six-Winged Centipede, collecting two golden Luck Glows before fleeing.
• Lu Lin searched for sect geniuses to obtain cultivation resources, but found them hidden; he exchanged Ye Tianjian’s remaining belongings for cultivation time and began mining the spirit vein.
• On the final day before the deadline, Lu Lin met Luo Siqing, who showed him three Luck Glows; he revealed a bead containing two silver and four purple Luck Glows.
• The exit vortex opened, and Lu Lin and Luo Siqing flew through it with the other returning cultivators.
• Lu Lin arrived at Cuiyun Mountain and saw five Golden Core True Persons watching the returnees with gloomy expressions.

After the Five Great Sects returned from the Outer Realm, they began searching for the unidentified prodigy who had fought like a Pseudo Golden Body. Lu Lin chose to pursue the dangerous Nine Heavens Thunder path to the Martial Dao Golden Body, and after Luo Siqing became the Blood Baleful Demon Sect’s Saintess, she brought him resources and a cultivation manual, suspecting his ambition remained unchanged.

• The Five Golden Core True Persons questioned the survivors, learned of a mysterious Immortal-cultivation prodigy, and resolved to investigate the Five Great Sects for his identity.
• Lu Lin considered two paths to the Martial Dao Golden Body and decided to seek a safe way to temper Nine Heavens Thunder while gathering other resources as a fallback.
• The Blood Baleful Demon Sect announced Luo Siqing as its new Saintess, and Lu Lin received one hundred catties of Blood Crystal as a reward.
• Luo Siqing returned to Jiuqing Peak and gave Lu Lin about five hundred Blood Qi Pills and one thousand catties of Blood Crystal, explaining she would exchange the remaining destiny in batches.
• Luo Siqing gave Lu Lin the Demon Sect’s Pseudo Golden Body Cultivation Method and asked whether he still intended to pursue the complete Martial Dao Golden Body.

Lu Lin learned that breaking the Mother Gu’s mark required either killing the protected Mother Gu or condensing a Martial Dao Golden Body, then obtained Luo Siqing’s help to travel beyond Yan Kingdom without alerting it. He entered Great Xia and reached Guangde City, where he found no martial artists despite the dynasty’s reputation as a haven for them.

• Luo Siqing told Lu Lin that only killing the Mother Gu or forming a Martial Dao Golden Body could remove his mark, and explained that thunder arrays, special treasures, or thunder-tempered artifacts could help control Nine Heavens Thunder.
• Luo Siqing revealed that she would travel to Great Xia for the Yu God Palace’s Ascension Assembly, and Lu Lin asked how he could safely travel outside Yan Kingdom.
• Luo Siqing created a formation that temporarily shielded Lu Lin from the Mother Gu’s sensing for up to two years.
• After Luo Siqing and True Person Youxuan left for Great Xia, Lu Lin departed the Thousand Mile Demon Mountain alone and traveled south.
• Lu Lin crossed into Great Xia, kept a low profile, and arrived at Guangde City.
• Lu Lin explored Guangde City and found cultivators and mortals everywhere but no martial artists.

Lu Lin learned that Yu God Palace had issued a Martial Slaughter Order and concealed his martial-artist identity after five cultivators attacked him. After hearing that Cangnan might descend into war when its aging Nascent Soul True Lord died, he agreed to join the Red Flame Sect as a guest elder to gain shelter and information.

• Lu Lin discovered that martial artists were taboo to discuss in a Great Xia city and realized he was being followed after asking about them.
• Five Foundation Establishment cultivators surrounded Lu Lin outside the city, claiming Yu God Palace had ordered all martial artists killed.
• Lu Lin defeated their magic artifacts, then let the cultivators believe he was an immortal cultivator who practiced body tempering.
• The cultivators explained that they had mistaken Lu Lin for a martial artist and told him about Yu God Palace's Martial Slaughter Order and the impending struggle over the Nascent Soul position.
• Lu Lin agreed to let the five cultivators recommend him for a guest elder position in the Red Flame Sect.

Lu Lin, disguised as Li Yan, joined the Red Flame Sect as a guest elder and traveled to Wanliu City to trade his golden Spirit of Luck for a treasure containing Nine Heavens Thunder. When nobody could offer such a treasure, he auctioned the Spirit of Luck and sold it for 1,600 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

• Lu Lin became a guest elder of the Red Flame Sect and learned from Qian Xun about the Wanliu City Foundation Establishment trade assembly.
• Lu Lin traveled to Wanliu City and entered the trade assembly after demonstrating his powerful aura.
• Lu Lin searched the trade fair for treasures containing Nine Heavens Thunder but found none.
• Lu Lin revealed his golden Spirit of Luck and offered it in exchange for a Nine Heavens Thunder treasure.
• When no one had such a treasure, Lu Lin auctioned the Spirit of Luck and sold it for 1,600 Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Lu Lin exchanged a Spirit of Luck for Spirit Stones, accumulated more than twenty-five thousand years of cultivation time, and joined a Red Flame Sect mission to hunt martial artists. He recognized Xia Qianyu among the fleeing martial artists, and the battle was interrupted by three cultivators who attacked the Red Flame Sect group and turned on Lu Lin.

• Lu Lin left Wanliu City with sixteen hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones, evaded would-be attackers, and returned to Red Flame Sect's Guest Elder Peak in Li Yan's appearance.
• Lu Lin absorbed the Spirit Stones to gain nineteen thousand two hundred years of cultivation time, bringing his total to twenty-five thousand seven hundred sixty years and two months.
• Qian Xun and Qian Gui recruited Lu Lin for a mission to intercept Xiantian Realm martial artists near Jiangfeng City, and the Red Flame Sect group pursued seven fugitives into the Shengfeng Mountain Range.
• Lu Lin recognized Xia Qianyu among the seven martial artists as the Red Flame Sect cultivators attacked and trapped them with an array.
• Three powerful cultivators arrived and attacked the Red Flame Sect group, killing one guest elder and injuring two others before the Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator targeted Lu Lin.
• Lu Lin knocked aside the flying sword, then pretended to be wounded and retreating as the attacker's Sword Qi cut his palm.

Lu Lin followed the cultivators who had rescued Xia Qianyu to their hidden destination, but a warning formation exposed him and a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators attacked. He disguised himself as Tang Yan and was spared after Xia Qianyu recognized and vouched for him.

• Qian Xun and the Red Flame Sect cultivators failed to stop the mysterious cultivators from escorting Xia Qianyu and the martial artists away, while Lu Lin slipped off to follow them.
• Lu Lin tracked the group for more than half a day and saw the cultivators reunite with Xia Qianyu and take her party aboard a flying boat.
• A warning formation alerted more than a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators to Lu Lin's presence, and they surrounded him and attacked.
• Lu Lin repelled their first assault, then used the Lightning-Chasing Antelope Light Sword to defend against their sword formation while Xia Qianyu watched.
• Xia Qianyu recognized Lu Lin's sword technique, revealed her identity, and vouched for him after he resumed his Tang Yan disguise.
• The Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator questioned Lu Lin, then withdrew the sword formation after Xia Qianyu confirmed his story.

Lu Lin accompanied Xia Qianyu and her allies to the hidden Divine Martial City, where he learned that her master was a complete Martial Dao Golden Body expert. After the City Lord emerged from seclusion, he attacked Lu Lin with Heavenly Flood Dragon Ten Kills, the ultimate art from the Mysterious Underworld Cold Flood Dragon Blood Aura Art.

• Lu Lin agreed to travel with Xia Qianyu and the immortal cultivators to Divine Martial City, hoping to learn about the Nine Heavens Thunder and the mysterious ties he sensed between them.
• The cultivators revealed the hidden entrance to Divine Martial City beneath an illusory mountain and led Lu Lin inside.
• Xia Qianyu told Lu Lin that Yu God Palace's Martial Slaughter Order had driven surviving martial artists into the city, where her master—a complete Martial Dao Golden Body expert—led them.
• Lu Lin entered the bustling city and met the Divine Martial City Lord, who had just emerged from seclusion.
• The Divine Martial City Lord suddenly attacked Lu Lin with Heavenly Flood Dragon Ten Kills, astonishing him because it came from the Mysterious Underworld Cold Flood Dragon Blood Aura Art.

Lu Lin learned that the Divine Martial City Lord, Yun Tan, was a descendant of Martial Saint Yun Zhe and that Cheng Ying had revealed Lu Lin possessed the Martial Saint’s inheritance. Yun Tan explained the conflict behind the Immortal sects’ rescue of martial artists and revealed a planned breakthrough that would test the dying Nascent Soul True Lord’s strength.

• The Divine Martial City Lord tested Lu Lin in combat, then brought him and Xia Qianyu’s group to a quiet courtyard and asked to speak with Lu Lin alone.
• Yun Tan revealed that Martial Saint Yun Zhe was his ancestor and that his sword Cheng Ying had recognized Lu Lin’s inheritance; Lu Lin admitted he had obtained it.
• Yun Tan explained that Taixuan Sect, Xuanji Hall, Ten Thousand Bones Sect, and Wusheng Pavilion were preserving martial artists to challenge Yu God Palace’s hold over the Nascent Soul True Lord position.
• Yun Tan said the old True Lord might be trying to suppress martial fortune to extend his life, while rival sects were testing whether he still had strength to intervene.
• Yun Tan revealed that the sects had ordered a talented martial artist in Divine Martial City to attempt a Martial Dao Golden Body breakthrough publicly one month later, leaving Lu Lin stunned.

Lu Lin learned about the Return Ruins and the ancient martial inheritances connected to the Golden Body, then waited in Divine Martial City for Zhao Wuji’s attempt to condense one. As Zhao Wuji’s transformation neared completion atop Tianyue Peak, Yu God Palace attacked with a giant cauldron.

• Yun Tan told Lu Lin that Zhao Wuji’s Golden Body Tempering Method came from an ancient inheritance in the Return Ruins, where an even higher martial realm might once have existed.
• Yun Tan revealed a secret teleportation array in Divine Martial City and explained that the Return Ruins’ Thunder Plateau contained treasures bearing Nine Heavens Thunder.
• Xia Qianyu showed Lu Lin around Divine Martial City and arranged lodging for him, and he asked her to call him Big Brother Tang.
• A month later, Lu Lin, Xia Qianyu, and the other martial arts kindling gathered by the teleportation array to watch Zhao Wuji attempt to condense his Golden Body on Tianyue Peak.
• Zhao Wuji’s golden transformation spread from his limbs and back toward his head, but Yu God Palace suddenly summoned a massive patterned cauldron and brought it crashing down on him.

Yu God Palace’s five Cauldron Holders attacked Zhao Wuji during his breakthrough, forcing the four allied sects to reveal their strength and activate a formation around Divine Martial City. Zhao Wuji was pulled clear of the five cauldrons’ combined strike as the formation’s four pillars of light rose into the sky.

• A black-robed woman of Ten Thousand Bones Sect appeared and used a giant bone palm to shield Zhao Wuji from the gaunt Yu God Palace Daoist’s Yu Emperor Cauldron.
• The Xia Emperor arrived with a second cauldron and faced the Taixuan Sect swordsman, while Xuanji Hall and Wusheng Pavilion revealed their representatives.
• The Xia Emperor summoned three more Cauldron Holders, bringing five Yu Emperor Cauldrons together to strike Zhao Wuji.
• The four sect leaders’ attacks failed to stop the five-cauldron strike, but the Taixuan Sect swordsman carried Zhao Wuji out of its path.
• The Ten Thousand Bones Sect woman called for the formation, and four pillars of light rose around Divine Martial City, bearing the four sects’ supreme treasures.

Yu God Palace’s five Cauldron Holders used the True Lord spiritual treasure River Painting Scroll to break the four sects’ formation and threaten Zhao Wuji’s breakthrough, but an outer-region True Lord intervened and drove them away. With the crisis over, Zhao Wuji completed his breakthrough and formed a Martial Dao Golden Body.

• The five Cauldron Holders repeatedly attacked the Four Poles Immovable Star Net Formation with their Yu Emperor Cauldrons while Zhao Wuji neared the completion of his Golden Body.
• The Cauldron Holders summoned the River Painting Scroll, whose vast river shattered the formation and left its defenders badly injured.
• A blurry figure wielding an ancient battle halberd appeared and struck the river back, revealing the power of an outer-region True Lord.
• The figure rebuked Xia Emperor, demanded that Yu Cheng appear, and ordered the sect experts to prevent Yu God Palace from producing another True Lord.
• The five Cauldron Holders withdrew, and the four sect experts resolved to contend for the vacant True Lord position after Yu Cheng’s death.
• Zhao Wuji broke through the final barrier, and his new martial Dao fortune strengthened the fortune of the world.

After Zhao Wuji broke through to Martial Dao Golden Body, the Four Great Sects prepared to enter the Return Ruins and sabotage Yu God Palace’s plan to capture a Thunder Spirit. Learning that the operation offered a chance to find Nine Heavens Thunder, Lu Lin decided to join it despite the danger.

• Zhao Wuji broke through to Martial Dao Golden Body, and the Taixuan Sect powerhouse ordered him to guide Divine Martial City’s juniors.
• The Four Great Sects agreed to send people into the Return Ruins to stop Yu God Palace from capturing the Thunder Spirit, and they ordered Divine Martial City to provide manpower.
• Lu Lin weighed the danger of the coming conflict and decided he needed to seek Nine Heavens Thunder rather than remain in hiding.
• Yun Tan told Lu Lin that the Ascension Assembly’s final round used genius cultivators as bait to lure out the Thunder Spirit for Yu Qing.
• Yun Tan explained that Golden Core and Martial Dao Golden Body experts could not safely enter the Return Ruins, while Pseudo Golden Body and False Core cultivators could.
• Lu Lin agreed to enter the Return Ruins, where the Four Great Sects planned to kill the Ascension Assembly’s contestants and seize the Thunder Spirit if it appeared.

Lu Lin joined the Four Great Sects' force as it entered the Return Ruins and reached Thunder Plateau, where they split into teams to hunt for Yu God Palace's cultivators and stop them from obtaining the Thunder Spirit. As the Taixuan Sect team encountered a strange thunder-and-fire sphere, Yang Bo ordered Lu Lin to investigate it.

• The Four Great Sects and Divine Martial City entered the Return Ruins from the north and crossed its dangerous ancient forest to reach Thunder Plateau.
• The force divided into four sect-based teams, and Lu Lin and Qin Chuan joined Yang Bo's Taixuan Sect group.
• A hidden group emerged after the teams departed, revealing that they had been waiting under orders from their old ancestor to ambush the Four Great Sects.
• Yang Bo's team crushed a flock of Lightning Birds and continued across the plateau, fending off further Thunder Beast attacks.
• Yang Bo halted the team before a huge sphere wrapped in silver lightning and crimson flames, then ordered Lu Lin to probe it.