Chapter Summaries

After learning that most cultivators attempting the Daluo Golden Immortal tribulation had failed, Qin Huaian considered how deeper law comprehension could improve his chances of surviving it. Unable to rescue the besieged Violet Thorn Sacred Land yet, he traveled far from the Central Fire Sea and prepared a defensive formation, leaving himself protected as the secret realm’s temperature continued to rise.

• Qin Huaian reflected on Wei Hong’s news that nearly all the Immortal Venerable Great Perfection experts who had attempted the Daluo Golden Immortal tribulation had failed.
• Qin Huaian concluded that cultivators needed stronger or broader law comprehension to increase their chances of surviving the tribulation.
• Qin Huaian decided he could not yet save the besieged Violet Thorn Sacred Land and wondered whether the palace teleportation platforms would reopen after the crisis.
• Qin Huaian flew more than five hundred million li from the Central Fire Sea and repaired his damaged formation flags with materials from the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land cultivators’ Storage Rings.
• Qin Huaian planted the flags to form a fifth-tier defensive immortal formation around himself as the secret realm grew hotter.

Qin Huaian prepared a backup set of formation flags and brought Yellow Mountain Sword Venerable, Han Yunting, and Chen Shicheng out of the Small World artifact. After learning that the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land had killed one captured Yellow Mountain Sword Sect disciple, Qin Huaian vowed to make them pay, leaving Han Yunting worried he would challenge them.

• Qin Huaian refined a second set of flags for his fifth-tier defensive immortal array as the secret realm grew hotter under the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array.
• Qin Huaian released Yellow Mountain Sword Venerable, Han Yunting, and Chen Shicheng from the Small World artifact and greeted them.
• Han Yunting and Mu Qinghan realized Qin Huaian had escaped the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land and marveled at how powerful he had become.
• Han Yunting told Qin Huaian that five Yellow Mountain Sword Sect disciples had been captured, one had been killed, and one had disappeared.
• Qin Huaian promised to make the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land pay, and Han Yunting grew anxious that he would provoke the powerful sect.

Qin Huaian reunited with Han Yunting and the others, revealed that he had killed everyone at the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land base, and helped Han Yunting regrow his body with Nirvana Spirit Liquid. The chapter ended as the Central Fire Sea erupted in a blaze that pierced the heavens.

• Han Yunting urged Qin Huaian to postpone taking revenge on the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land until he was strong enough.
• Qin Huaian revealed that he had killed all the experts at the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land base, including three Great Perfection Immortal Venerables.
• Han Yunting asked about Qin Huaian's cultivation, and Qin Huaian said he had reached the middle stage of the Immortal Venerable Realm.
• Qin Huaian gave Han Yunting a drop of Nirvana Spirit Liquid, which began restoring his physical body.
• The Central Fire Sea erupted in a blaze that pierced through heaven and earth.

Qin Huaian watched the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array gather its power above the Central Fire Sea and explained that the ruined palace complexes were its main targets. Elsewhere, Senior Brother Jiang realized too late that his group was in danger, and a fireball engulfed their palace complex as they tried to flee.

• Qin Huaian saw nine white flames converge above the Grand Void Palace and form a massive fireball, while the World Tree Phantom inside him hungered for the Fire Origin.
• Qin Huaian told Han Yunting that the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array had activated and that the Secret Realm World was nearly as large as a great domain’s continent.
• After three days, countless fireballs burst from the enormous fireball and began striking the ruined palace complexes across the Secret Realm World.
• Qing'er told Senior Brother Jiang that Qin Huaian had warned the palace complexes were the array’s primary targets, and Senior Brother Jiang ordered his group to leave immediately.
• Senior Brother Jiang and the others tried to flee, but a fireball crossed the vast distance almost instantly and engulfed their palace complex and the surrounding area.

The Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array sealed the Secret Realm World beneath a fiery barrier and unleashed a devastating rain of fire. Qin Huaian sheltered Han Yunting and the others in his Small World, sustained his defensive array with Immortal Crystals, and cultivated the Fire-Attribute Law while the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land waited outside for a way in.

• A Late-stage Immortal Venerable escaped a fireball with a fifth-rank defensive immortal talisman, while his junior brother, sister, and other cultivators perished in the flames.
• Qin Huaian watched fiery streaks strike the palaces, then saw a membrane of flame enclose the Secret Realm World and rain fire across it.
• Qin Huaian warned Han Yunting and the others that his defensive array might fail, then drew them into his Small World.
• Qin Huaian scattered Immortal Crystals to sustain his defensive array and began cultivating the Fire-Attribute Law.
• At the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land encampment, a cultivator told Elder Hu that no spatial rift had appeared for a month, and Elder Hu ordered the report sent to the sect along with news that no one had escaped.

Zhao Gang and the other Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land leaders learned that the secret realm entrance had vanished, delaying Leng Xuanye’s hopes of advancing in Dao Fusion. They discussed the danger posed by Qin Huaian and the Sacred Lord’s preparations, while Leng Xuanye imagined becoming the sect’s first Daluo Golden Immortal.

• A messenger reported to Zhao Gang that nobody had emerged from the secret realm for a month and its entrance had disappeared.
• Leng Xuanye lamented losing access to the Taiji Yin-Yang Fish, and Zhao Gang and Qiu Yi urged him to be patient about Dao Fusion.
• The leaders recalled that many cultivators had died attempting the Daluo Golden Immortal tribulation, while Lingxiao Ke and Su Yu had succeeded.
• Zhao Gang hoped Qin Huaian had vanished with the secret realm, but Qiu Yi explained that Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land experts were waiting to ambush him at the entrance.
• Qiu Yi said the Sacred Lord had entered death-seclusion to prepare for the Daluo Golden Immortal tribulation, and Leng Xuanye imagined taking command of the sect if he advanced first.
• The messenger who had just left flew back into the great hall.

Zhao Gang learned of an expanding gray mist in the Violet Thorn Domain that swallowed cultivators and discussed the danger with Leng Xuanye. Their conversation ended when Duan Linchuan emerged from seclusion to begin his Daluo Golden Immortal tribulation, drawing the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land’s experts and Lingxiao Ke’s attention.

• A messenger told Zhao Gang that an expanding gray mist south of the Void Passage Plaza blocked divine sense and swallowed everyone who entered.
• Zhao Gang ordered Elder Chen to choose ten Immortal Venerable disciples to investigate, and Leng Xuanye asked to visit the mist himself.
• Zhao Gang warned Leng Xuanye of the danger, but Leng Xuanye said he would only enter if he found an opportunity and would not act recklessly.
• Duan Linchuan’s aura surged from a nearby mountain, and he flew toward the southern Violet Thorn Mountains as Zhao Gang, Qiu Yi, and other experts followed.
• Duan Linchuan stopped on a deserted peak beneath forming tribulation clouds, while Lingxiao Ke opened his eyes and looked toward him from afar.

A year after Duan Linchuan became a Daluo Golden Immortal, Leng Xuanye traveled to investigate a vast gray-mist region that swallowed everyone who entered it. He stopped fifty miles from its edge and waited to experience the mysterious heartbeat.

• Leng Xuanye learned that the gray mist had expanded over the past year, and that tens of thousands of cultivators who entered it had never returned.
• A heartbeat sounded, expanding the mist and causing fluctuations in nearby cultivators’ spiritual power and qi and blood that strengthened their bodies.
• Leng Xuanye heard that a binding artifact had failed to retrieve someone swallowed by the mist, but decided to approach its edge himself.
• Leng Xuanye discovered that the mist enhanced body-refinement techniques and stopped fifty miles from its boundary.
• After an hour, another heartbeat sounded as Leng Xuanye waited to see how it would affect him.

Leng Xuanye discovered that the heartbeat in the gray mist strengthened his body and helped him improve his body-refining technique, so he entered the mist seeking greater opportunities. Meanwhile, Changfeng drew closer to the heartbeat’s source and spotted a massive phantom on the horizon.

• Leng Xuanye felt the heartbeat stir his blood and qi, strengthen his body, and guide spiritual power through his meridians.
• Leng Xuanye used the heartbeat’s effects to adjust and improve his body-refining technique, realizing he might refine it to the Immortal Venerable realm.
• Over the following year, Leng Xuanye moved closer to the gray mist as his technique improved, while more cultivators entered the region.
• Leng Xuanye sent a jade slip to the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land cultivators for them to deliver to his master, then flew into the gray mist.
• Changfeng continued across the sea toward the heartbeat’s source and saw a massive phantom appear on the distant horizon.

Changfeng reached a colossal living heart in the sea and met a newly arrived cultivator, learning that tens of thousands had entered the Gray Mist Zone but nobody had found a way out. He warned the cultivator that the heart’s pulse could injure him, and the next heartbeat made the man spit blood.

• After nearly three months of flight, Changfeng reached a vast purple-black heart surrounded by crimson water.
• Changfeng encountered an early-stage Immortal Venerable who had just entered through the gray mist and asked about the outside world.
• The cultivator told Changfeng that the Gray Mist Zone had expanded over two years, drawing thirty to forty thousand cultivators, and that nobody had returned.
• The cultivator explained that people entered hoping the heartbeat would improve their body refinement, and Changfeng warned that it could be dangerous inside.
• A powerful heartbeat struck, and the cultivator sprayed blood.

Changfeng discovered that the enormous heart’s beat could optimize his body-refinement technique, and he entered an epiphany while cultivating in the blood sea. Meanwhile, Leng Xuanye reached the heart and believed his true opportunity had arrived.

• A heartbeat from the distant heart injured a cultivator, who learned from Changfeng that the vast wall was the heart itself.
• Changfeng left the cultivator and began refining his body above the blood sea, absorbing its potent blood and vitality power.
• Changfeng discovered that each heartbeat altered his technique’s energy flow in a way that improved body refinement.
• After a day of testing, Changfeng concluded the heartbeat could transform his technique and sank into the blood sea in an epiphany.
• Leng Xuanye arrived at the violet-black heart after months of flight and eagerly anticipated his opportunity.

After five years cultivating through the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array, Qin Huaian headed toward the Central Fire Sea as the array weakened and the Fire Origin drew closer. Two Immortal Venerable Great Perfection cultivators spotted him and decided to attack, hoping to seize a treasure they believed he had found.

• Qin Huaian reached the late stage of the fourth realm in his Fire-Attribute Law after five years of cultivation.
• He withdrew his Defensive Array and flew toward the Central Fire Sea, finding that the array had destroyed the ruined palaces along his route.
• As the giant fireball and the array's flames weakened, Qin Huaian paused about a hundred million li from the Central Fire Sea, where the fiery rain intensified.
• Two Immortal Venerable Great Perfection cultivators, Senior Brother Feng and Su, recognized Qin Huaian.
• Senior Brother Feng refused to avoid Qin Huaian and resolved to capture him for the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land and take the treasure he suspected Qin Huaian had found.

Qin Huaian encountered two cultivators who pretended to thank him but intended to capture him. When they ignored his warning and the gray-robed elder attacked, Qin Huaian flew forward to meet him.

• Senior Brother Feng and Junior Brother Bai agreed to capture Qin Huaian, confident that Feng’s wind laws would let him overcome Qin Huaian’s speed.
• Qin Huaian noticed the pair approaching the Central Fire Sea and prepared for trouble when they kept coming despite his warning.
• Feng claimed he and Bai belonged to the Red Maple Sect and said they wanted to thank Qin Huaian for helping people survive the array.
• Qin Huaian drew the Cangwu Sword and ordered them to stop when he realized their approach was a provocation.
• Feng accelerated toward Qin Huaian, and Qin Huaian unfurled his Golden Roc Wings and charged to meet him.

Qin Huaian fought off two cultivators from the Azure Water Sword Pavilion after Feng attacked him to seize an opportunity he suspected Qin had found in the palace complex. Qin killed both men and turned toward several more approaching cultivators.

• Qin Huaian overwhelmed Feng, a gray-robed peak Immortal Venerable, and killed him with Grand Void Birth and Extinction.
• A blue-robed cultivator arrived, saw Feng die, and fled when Qin Huaian pursued him.
• Qin Huaian beat the blue-robed cultivator, took his Storage Ring, and restrained his Primordial Spirit.
• The blue-robed cultivator revealed that he and Feng were from the Azure Water Sword Pavilion and that Feng had attacked to seize Qin Huaian's suspected opportunity.
• Qin Huaian killed the cultivator's Primordial Spirit with lightning, collected Feng's Storage Ring and treasures, and looked toward several more people flying over.

Qin Huaian met cultivators from the Heavenly Dao Sect, who thanked him for his warning about the formation and tried to recruit him while offering news about Yellow Mountain Sword Sect disciples. Qin Lu of the Joyous Union Sect then revealed that her sect had found Li Li, leaving Qin Huaian to consider the sects’ interest in his old connections.

• Qin Huaian hid the two Azure Water Sword Pavilion cultivators’ remains and waited for a group approaching through the weakened fire rain.
• Chen Nian introduced himself as the Heavenly Dao Sect’s representative and thanked Qin Huaian for warning cultivators to avoid the palace complexes.
• Chen Nian invited Qin Huaian to join the Heavenly Dao Sect, but Qin Huaian refused because he belonged to the Violet Thorn Sacred Land.
• Chen Nian said the Heavenly Dao Sect had found Yellow Mountain Sword Sect disciples and protected them from the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land.
• Qin Lu of the Joyous Union Sect said her sect had also found Yellow Mountain Sword Sect disciples and revealed that Li Li was staying with them.

Qin Huaian learned that Li Li had joined the Joyous Union Sect and would soon undergo her great ascension thunder tribulation. As the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array began to weaken, Zhu Yue of the Blazing Sun Sect confronted Qin Huaian over rumors that he had killed a Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land cultivator, but both men held back to pursue the Fire Origin.

• Qin Huaian asked Qin Lu about Li Li, and Qin Lu said Li Li had become an elder’s disciple in the Joyous Union Sect and would soon undergo her great ascension thunder tribulation.
• Zhu Yue arrived after advancing to the first stage of the Dao Fusion Realm and demanded to know whether Qin Huaian had killed Fellow Daoist Wu.
• Qin Huaian refused to answer respectfully, and Zhu Yue drew his saber and threatened to execute him.
• Qin Lu and Chen Nian urged Zhu Yue to wait because the grand array was ending, and Zhu Yue put away his saber rather than risk a prolonged fight.
• As the shrinking fireball signaled the array’s end, Zhu Yue asked whether anyone had seen Fellow Daoists Feng and Bai, while Qin Huaian and Zhu Yue both focused on claiming the Fire Origin in the Central Fire Sea.

As the Li Fire Heaven-Burning Grand Array ended, the fireball above the Central Fire Sea exploded, scattering a final wave of flames across the secret realm before the world rapidly turned cold. Qin Huaian survived the blast with Yin-Yang Rotation and sensed the fire-attribute origin growing stronger as the Central Fire Sea shrank.

• Qin Lu warned Qin Huaian that Zhu Yue had touched the threshold of Dao Fusion, then left with the Joyous Union Sect cultivators.
• Qin Huaian flew toward the center of the fire sea as the fire beams vanished, the fireball shrank, and the fire rain stopped.
• Cultivators sheltering in a damaged formation discussed how Qin Huaian’s information had helped them avoid the ruined palaces.
• The fireball above the Central Fire Sea exploded, and Brother Li led his companions to reinforce their formation against the scattered flames.
• After Qin Huaian blocked the final flames with Yin-Yang Rotation, the secret realm rapidly cooled while the Central Fire Sea shrank and the fire-attribute origin grew denser.

As the Central Fire Sea contracted, Qin Huaian raced toward Fire Origin and fought Zhu Yue, who tried to stop him. Qin Huaian escaped Zhu Yue and his allies, while they continued toward the shrinking sea to contest Fire Origin.

• The Central Fire Sea rapidly shrank as its Fire Origin aura intensified, and Qin Huaian headed toward its center with Chen Nian, Zhu Yue, Qin Lu, and the others racing there too.
• Zhu Yue blocked Qin Huaian and attacked him, but Qin Huaian's sword strike forced Zhu Yue back and made him suspect Qin Huaian had reached the Dao Fusion Realm.
• Seven or eight Immortal Venerable cultivators arrived to help Zhu Yue, and Zhu Yue accused Qin Huaian of killing cultivators from the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land.
• Qin Huaian feinted with a powerful sword strike, escaped the encirclement with his Golden Roc Wings, and flew toward the Central Fire Sea.
• Zhu Yue ordered his allies to watch the fire sea and block anyone who obtained Fire Origin, then flew toward it himself.

Qin Huaian reached the shrinking Central Fire Sea and saw an Immortal Venerable Great Perfection expert burn to death after entering it, while cultivators gathered around, suspecting the Fire Origin was inside. As the Central Fire Sea contracted to ten thousand li, news arrived that other fire seas had exposed rare Fire Crystal Stones.

• Qin Huaian flew toward the Central Fire Sea after escaping Zhu Yue, but saw an Immortal Venerable Great Perfection expert rush in and emerge engulfed in flames.
• The burning cultivator ignored Qin Huaian’s questions and died within ten breaths, prompting nearby cultivators to approach the fire sea cautiously.
• Qin Huaian spotted Chen Nian, Qin Lu, and Zhu Yue among the cultivators converging on the Central Fire Sea, and Zhu Yue refrained from confronting him.
• After half a day, the Central Fire Sea shrank to ten thousand li across as more than a hundred cultivators gathered around it.
• A cultivator announced that fire seas to the northwest and east had shrunk below a hundred li and exposed Fire Crystal Stones.

After Fire Crystal Stones were reported in the other fire seas, cultivators tested the Central Fire Sea and discovered that its flames could kill even powerful Immortal Venerables. The cultivators held back as the sea shrank, until someone spotted Fire Crystal Stones.

• Several early- and middle-stage Immortal Venerables left the Central Fire Sea to seek Fire Crystal Stones elsewhere, while Qin Huaian noticed the stronger cultivators stayed.
• An Immortal Venerable Great Perfection expert rushed toward the sea, prompting more than a dozen cultivators to follow, but he stopped short of entering.
• Five cultivators entered the flames and came back engulfed in fire; the gathered cultivators tried to extinguish them, but all five burned to death.
• The first cultivator to enter the sea quietly retreated, and the others grew wary of testing the flames again.
• As the Central Fire Sea shrank to less than a thousand li, someone shouted that Fire Crystal Stones had appeared.