Chapter Summaries

Lu Xingshi learned that Dongfang Huan had acquired the Flying Armor Sect’s Mechanical Puppet and was seeking revenge for his mother’s death. Dongfang Huan blamed him as the Manor Lord of Sword Forging Manor, and Lu Xingshi negotiated for the Flying Armor Sect’s inheritances before agreeing to face him.

• Lu Xingshi considered borrowing Dongfang Huan’s Mechanical Puppet to study how it adapted to martial arts and enhanced them.
• Dongfang Huan arrived at Sword Forging Manor in Golden Armor and accused Lu Xingshi of killing his mother.
• Lu Xingshi explained that he and Dongfang Huan had both been brought into the Secret Realm from the Mortal World, but Dongfang Huan insisted he had inherited the Crown Prince’s identity.
• Dongfang Huan recounted how the Manor Lord of Sword Forging Manor had helped destroy the Flying Armor Sect and lured Dongfang Huan’s mother to her death.
• Lu Xingshi asked Dongfang Huan to give him the Flying Armor Sect’s inheritances before killing him, and Dongfang Huan agreed to swear that he would provide them.

Lu Xingshi defeated and killed Dongfang Huan, then questioned the truth about Sword Forging Manor’s past and suspected the Xiaqu King was behind a larger scheme. Meanwhile, the Xiaqu King received a report of Dongfang Huan’s latest attacks and planned to direct him toward another major sect.

• Dongfang Huan attacked Lu Xingshi with his Mechanical Puppet, but Purple Star Emperor returned much of the damage and left Dongfang Huan mortally wounded.
• Lu Xingshi told Dongfang Huan that he was a substitute rather than the true Xiaqu Young Master, and Dongfang Huan died before he could respond.
• Lu Xingshi took Dongfang Huan’s golden armor and suspected someone had fabricated or manipulated the story about Sword Forging Manor’s role in Flying Armor Sect’s destruction.
• Lu Xingshi considered the Xiaqu King a likely plotter and decided to stay at Sword Forging Manor while watching for the king’s next move.
• The Xiaqu King read a letter reporting that Dongfang Huan had destroyed Singing Sword Sect and planned to steer him toward Flowing Remains Sect.

After the Xiaqu King launched an invasion under the pretext of avenging his son, Lu Xingshi and his companions defeated his forces and captured him. Lu Xingshi learned that the king knew about the Mortal World and planned to interrogate him for his secrets.

• The Xiaqu King invaded Sword Forging Manor, claiming Lu Xingshi had killed his son, and ordered his soldiers to attack.
• Wang Cai used the Heavenly Time Sword Chest to fire on the Xiaqu soldiers while Zhu Yan deflected their arrows, causing the army to flee or fall.
• After Wang Cai ran out of bullets, the Xiaqu King attacked Lu Xingshi, but Zhu Yan beat him down until Lu Xingshi intervened.
• The Xiaqu King revealed that Xuan Chan Sect had told him about the Mortal World, helping him realize his son had been replaced.
• Lu Xingshi treated the battered king and said he would torture and interrogate him rather than let him die.

After the Xiaqu King and Young Master died, turmoil spread across the martial world, and Lu Xingshi collected Peerless Divine Arts until hundreds of martial artists tried to seize them from him. After Wang Cai slaughtered the attackers, Lu Xingshi sensed the Secret Realm’s crisis approaching and considered forging a Divine Weapon of his own.

• The Xiaqu King’s revelations showed that Xiaqu Kingdom had destroyed the Flying Armor Sect to prevent it from becoming a neighboring kingdom, and he had killed its Sect Master’s daughter while seeking the Enemy of Ten Thousand Mechanical Puppet.
• The deaths of the Xiaqu King and Young Master plunged Xiaqu Kingdom into a succession struggle that escalated into chaos across the martial world, while Lu Xingshi gathered many Peerless Divine Arts.
• The Six Swirl Island Lord, Wu Family Head, As-You-Wish Society Leader, and hundreds of martial artists surrounded Lu Xingshi and demanded his Divine Arts and Heavenly Time Sword Chest.
• Lu Xingshi refused to surrender, and Wang Cai used the modified Heavenly Time Sword Chest to kill the attackers and gained the Imperial Shooting skill.
• Lu Xingshi sensed the Secret Realm’s time was nearing and wondered whether he could forge a Divine Weapon for his Son of Heaven Destiny, perhaps using the Gu King as its core.

Lu Xingshi killed the people who challenged him after the Secret Realm collapsed, claimed the Divine Weapon Human Power, and began studying it. Elsewhere, Li Xuandao secured control of a reset Secret Realm, while Liao Lan received the Qi Observation secret art instead of controlling one.

• Lu Xingshi warned the survivors to leave, then Zhu Yan and Wang Cai killed attackers before Lu Xingshi slaughtered the remaining crowd and drove off hidden onlookers.
• A Divine Weapon emerged from the collapsing Secret Realm and tried to escape, but Lu Xingshi caught it and claimed Human Power through his Innate Trait All Grass as Soldiers.
• Lu Xingshi learned that Human Power worked with the Heavenly Crafting Compendium and began studying the Divine Weapon while Wang Cai finished his ritual.
• Li Xuandao emerged with Emperor Pingyang and controlled the reset Secret Realm, which he intended to use as a safe territory and resource base.
• Liao Lan complained that he had gained the perfected Qi Observation secret art rather than control of a Secret Realm, then resolved to use it to identify traitors.

Lu Xingshi traveled to Black Forest Stockade to obtain the Divine Weapon associated with Zi Wei Dou Shu and rented a thatched hut while waiting for an opportunity to find it. Just as he settled in, an alarm sounded and he learned that Blood Bats were approaching.

• Lu Xingshi entered Black Forest Stockade in disguise and avoided drawing attention to himself.
• The brokerage owner tried to charge Lu Xingshi an exorbitant rent, but Lu negotiated it down to one hundred copper coins a month.
• Lu Xingshi took the key to an ordinary thatched hut and waited, expecting his Mandate of Heaven Attribute to lead him to the Divine Weapon.
• Deafening gong strikes sounded, and someone warned the stockade’s residents to take shelter because Blood Bats were coming.
• Lu Xingshi wondered what Blood Bats were as he prepared to go outside.

Lu Xingshi and Ta Li Na took shelter from a swarm of Blood Bats, whose mutations had made them dangerous carriers of Blood Poison. After Ta Li Na left the breached hut, Lu Xingshi captured a bat and decided she was the likelier clue to a Divine Weapon opportunity, but he first needed to drive the swarm away.

• Ta Li Na explained that thousands of mutated Blood Bats could pierce True Qi, spread lethal Blood Poison, and find people outside shelters.
• A corpse crashed through the hut, and Blood Bats poured inside; Ta Li Na killed one with her axe while Lu Xingshi destroyed several with a Locust Stone.
• Ta Li Na chose to leave the hut, while Lu Xingshi captured a Blood Bat and discovered that it produced Bat Guano in his farming management game.
• Lu Xingshi let the Blood Bats swarm over him, confident they could not harm him, and judged Ta Li Na more likely than the bats to be connected to a Divine Weapon opportunity.
• Lu Xingshi resolved to find a way to drive away the Blood Bats before they killed the potential clue.

After the Blood Bats left Black Forest Stockade, Lu Xingshi negotiated with Ta Li Na to join Vajra Sect’s planned secret plunder of the stockade. He learned Vajra Sect was seeking a Divine Weapon that could help it rise to power, and agreed to wait three days before the operation.

• Lu Xingshi drove off the Blood Bats, and Black Forest Stockade’s residents emerged after waiting to ensure the swarm had gone.
• Ta Li Na praised Lu Xingshi’s skills and later visited him at night to recruit him for a plan to plunder Black Forest Stockade’s wealth.
• Lu Xingshi challenged Ta Li Na’s proposed division of the spoils, then agreed to join after reasoning that Vajra Sect might eliminate its hired accomplices.
• Ta Li Na told Lu Xingshi to remain at the stockade until she returned in three days.
• Ta Li Na reflected that Vajra Sect’s real aim was to seize a Divine Weapon and use its martial arts inheritance to produce a Son of Heaven Destiny.

Lu Xingshi accompanied Ta Li Na and other Vajra Sect fighters to raid the Chen Clan, which was suspected of possessing a Divine Weapon. When Chen Tian killed the other attackers and Ta Li Na turned on Lu Xingshi, Lu Xingshi crushed her and struck Chen Tian down, leaving the Divine Weapon’s identity and location unresolved.

• Ta Li Na assigned Lu Xingshi to help ambush Chen Liu Shi as the group split up to attack the Chen Clan.
• Ta Li Na confronted Chen Jing at the brightly lit Chen residence, while Lu Xingshi noticed Chen Jing’s reaction confirmed the clan had a treasure.
• Lu Xingshi deliberately failed to help Ta Li Na, and Chen Jing and Chen Liu Shi exploited the apparent discord between them.
• Chen Tian arrived after killing the masked saber wielder, the old man with the short spear, and the dancer, prompting Ta Li Na to propose joining forces with Lu Xingshi.
• Lu Xingshi revealed he wanted the Divine Weapon, crushed Ta Li Na when she attacked him, and backhanded Chen Tian without killing him.

Lu Xingshi killed Chen Tian and claimed Heavenly Garment, greatly strengthening his Purple Star Emperor trait. He followed the retreating Blood Bats toward their habitat while the Vajra Sect withdrew, and a disciple unknowingly abandoned an opportunity to head north.

• Chen Jing and his wife tried to save Chen Tian, but Lu Xingshi crippled him, killed him, and took Heavenly Garment from his clothes.
• Heavenly Garment transformed into a Royal Robe on Lu Xingshi and upgraded his Purple Star Emperor trait, which he examined and found could grow stronger through Auxiliary Stars and his faction.
• As the Blood Bats retreated from their losses, Lu Xingshi followed them to investigate their habitat and considered the opportunity his Heavenly Mandate had revealed.
• A Vajra Sect elder recognized Lu Xingshi, backed down, and ordered the sect to withdraw rather than risk angering him.
• A Vajra Sect disciple felt drawn north but chose to obey the withdrawal order, unknowingly giving up an opportunity in that direction.

Lu Xingshi uncovered a Defective Divine Weapon beneath the Blood Bat spring and found an ancient cave containing a giant skeleton stripped of the Heavenly Garment. He concluded Chen Tian had taken the garment and decided to visit the Vajra Sect after leaving the Great Abyss to seek the inheritance linked to the Ruby Heart.

• Lu Xingshi dug up a humanoid Ruby Heart that powered the blood spring, then used True Qi to kill the Blood Bats that attacked him.
• Lu Xingshi explored an artificially excavated cave and found grotesque monster carvings and a giant skeleton whose Heavenly Garment had been taken.
• Lu Xingshi identified Chen Tian as the likely person who had stripped the Heavenly Garment from the skeleton and connected the corpse to the Vajra Sect.
• Lu Xingshi examined the ancient skeleton and suspected its owner had cultivated the Martial Arts Method associated with the Ruby Heart.
• Lu Xingshi decided to visit the Vajra Sect after leaving the Great Abyss, hoping to obtain the missing inheritance.

Lu Xingshi visited the Vajra Sect, examined its incomplete inheritance, and agreed to restore it in exchange for several days to search the mountain gate. Meanwhile, Li Xuandao refused a Da Jin envoy’s request for troops and suggested he seek Lu Xingshi’s help, leaving the envoy to wait for the wandering Prince of Yan.

• Jia Ba'er welcomed Lu Xingshi to the Vajra Sect and hosted a banquet, where Lu Xingshi explained that he sought an inheritance connected to the matter at Blood Bat's.
• Lu Xingshi examined the Vajra Sect’s body-tempering manual and determined that its inheritance was incomplete and contained flaws.
• Jia Ba'er asked Lu Xingshi to restore the Vajra Sect’s inheritance, and Lu Xingshi agreed if he could stay several days to search the mountain gate for what he sought.
• Jia Ba'er agreed to cooperate with Lu Xingshi and considered bringing the Vajra Sect under the protection of the Yan Kingdom.
• A Da Jin envoy asked Li Xuandao to lend troops to restore his country, but Li Xuandao refused and directed him to ask Lu Xingshi for help instead.
• The Da Jin envoy hesitated because Lu Xingshi was rarely in the Yan Kingdom, while Li Xuandao hoped Lu Xingshi would continue wandering away from the Capital.

Jia Ba'er accepted Lu Xingshi’s demolition of the Vajra Sect’s buildings in exchange for enormous compensation, while Lu Xingshi investigated the sect’s Founding Ancestor Statue for clues about the cavern. After finding the statue unusually light, Lu Xingshi got Jia Ba’er’s permission to dismantle it and inspect what was inside.

• Jia Ba'er dismissed an elder’s complaints about the Vajra Sect’s destruction and reminded him that Lu Xingshi had paid lavishly for the damage.
• Jia Ba'er revealed that Lu Xingshi had already given him a million-tael banknote and arranged for the Grandmasters’ tablets to be moved to the ruined Main Hall.
• Lu Xingshi examined the Founding Ancestor Statue and suspected it was connected to the statues in the cavern and the Vajra Sect’s first-generation Grandmaster.
• Lu Xingshi lifted the statue, found it one-third lighter than expected, and asked Jia Ba'er for permission to dismantle it.
• Jia Ba'er agreed after Lu Xingshi promised to provide a replacement statue or help have one carved, and Lu Xingshi began taking it apart.

Lu Xingshi recovered the Divine Weapon Sea of Bitterness from the Vajra Sect's founding grandmaster statue and promised Jia Ba'er he would leave behind any martial arts inheritance he found. While they searched the Second Generation Grandmaster's portrait for clues, the Da Jin envoy prepared to leave Great Song for the Yan Kingdom to seek troops.

• Lu Xingshi joined the ruby heart to the scarlet lotus, completing the Divine Weapon Sea of Bitterness, and explained that it had caused the Vajra Sect's burly physiques and the Blood Bats.
• Jia Ba'er let Lu Xingshi take Sea of Bitterness, then learned Lu Xingshi intended to keep searching the Vajra Sect for its original martial arts inheritance.
• Lu Xingshi promised to learn any inheritance he found and leave the original for the Vajra Sect, while warning Jia Ba'er that it might not be on their grounds.
• Lu Xingshi suspected the Second Generation Grandmaster's portrait might hold a clue, so Jia Ba'er took it down and handed it to him, but the portrait seemed ordinary.
• The Da Jin envoy, having gathered intelligence about Lu Xingshi and the Yan Kingdom, left Great Song's Capital to seek troops from Yan.

Luo Lin refused a Jin Kingdom envoy’s request to borrow Yan Kingdom’s troops, offering Lu Xingshi’s aid instead and giving the envoy a martial arts inheritance for him. After the envoy left to seek help from Qi Kingdom, Yan’s officials discussed Jin’s contempt for martial arts and turned to managing Eastern Ridge’s Secret Realms.

• Luo Lin told the Jin Kingdom envoy that Yan Kingdom could not lend troops, though Lu Xingshi could be borrowed, and warned that Lu Xingshi’s strength deterred other kingdoms.
• The envoy rejected Luo Lin’s offer and accepted that Yan could not provide troops, but presented Treasure Raft to Transcend the World as a gift for Lu Xingshi.
• Luo Lin accepted the painting and again urged the envoy to seek Lu Xingshi’s help against those with Son of Heaven Destiny, but the envoy chose to travel to Jiangnan instead.
• After the envoy departed, Pei Ming, Luo Lin, Tian Fu, and Song Can criticized Jin Kingdom’s reverence for literature and suppression of martial arts.
• Pei Ming reported that Lu Xingshi was at Vajra Sect, while Luo Lin ordered the officials to track Eastern Ridge’s Secret Realms and resource sites.

After returning to Eastern Ridge, Lu Xingshi completed the first stage of his self-created Golden Citadel Jade Emperor method and began using Yan Kingdom’s National Luck to strengthen himself and his people. The chapter leaves Yan Kingdom growing stronger as Great Song and Qi Kingdom ally against it, while Lu Xingshi expands the method’s reach by boosting food supplies.

• Lu Xingshi returned to Eastern Ridge, received the World Crossing Treasure Raft inheritance from Luo Lin, and learned that the Jin Kingdom envoys had failed to borrow troops or recruit many soldiers.
• Lu Xingshi completed the first stage of Golden Citadel Jade Emperor, a cultivation method fueled by Heavenly Mandate and National Luck, and planned further stages involving a matching divine weapon and Son of Heaven Destiny.
• Lu Xingshi promoted the Golden Book Jade Scroll throughout Yan Kingdom, tying cultivators’ enhancements to their service and merits while adding cultivation assessments to the promotion system.
• Luo Lin, Pei Ming, Tian Fu, Tian Jian, and Song Can grew much stronger through the Golden Book Jade Scroll, and Luo Lin regained a middle-aged appearance.
• Great Song and Qi Kingdom set aside their conflict and allied against Yan Kingdom after seeing its soldiers gain strength, while the Golden Book Jade Scroll’s popularity drew more people into Yan Kingdom.
• Lu Xingshi increased Yan Kingdom’s food supply to support the method’s demanding cultivation and secure another source of leverage over its practitioners.

Yan Kingdom launched a major invasion of Qi and Song, using its powerful armies to push both countries toward ruin. Liao Lan weighed escape against resistance, while Li Xuandao prepared to force Qi into an alliance and considered a desperate strike against Lu Xingshi.

• Liao Lan learned that Yan Kingdom had seized three Qi cities and considered surrendering or fleeing, but concluded he could neither safely submit nor escape through Song Country.
• Liao Lan decided he could only do his best to resist as Tian Fu and Tian Jian advanced against Qi.
• Li Xuandao learned that Pei Ming and General Song Can were leading thirty thousand Yan troops toward the capital and assessed the threat posed by their superior forces.
• Li Xuandao considered a joint Song-Qi attack on Eastern Ridge to force Yan's armies to turn back, with a direct assault on Lu Xingshi as a last resort.
• Li Xuandao concluded that Liao Lan would refuse an alliance unless pressured, and planned to use Yan's advance to force him to cooperate.

Lu Xingshi discussed Song and Qi’s approaching forces and his plans to bring Yan Kingdom’s martial world under state control. After agreeing to capture the enemy’s experts, he promised Jin Country troops after Yan unified Song and Qi, intending to use Jin as a route beyond the desert.

• Murong Xuan told Lu Xingshi that Song and Qi had sent troops toward Tongzhou and that Li Xuandao and Liao Lan were gathering martial experts.
• Lu Xingshi rejected preserving an independent martial world, but agreed to capture useful experts after Murong Xuan argued that they could serve Yan Kingdom in other fields.
• Murong Xuan announced that an envoy from Jin Country had arrived, and Lu Xingshi agreed to meet him because Jin had provided the Treasure Raft to Transcend the World.
• The Jin Country envoy asked to borrow troops after Yan Kingdom defeated Song and Qi, and Lu Xingshi asked whether the envoy could guide an army across the desert.
• After the envoy claimed he had a Sand Map showing a safe route, Lu Xingshi promised to send troops and planned to use Jin Country as a foothold for expansion.

Lu Xingshi accepted Li Xuandao’s challenge to meet at Leaping Carp Gorge in three days, knowing that either choice would serve the enemy’s plans and deciding to end the threat himself. As he prepared, he considered how the accelerating spiritual energy recovery and future Secret Realms might help him grow stronger.

• Lu Xingshi recognized that Li Xuandao’s challenge was an open conspiracy, but concluded he had to act because the enemy’s armies were ravaging Yan Kingdom.
• Lu Xingshi rejected Luo Lin’s suggestion that someone else take his place and ordered him to publicize the duel at Leaping Carp Gorge to steady the front lines.
• Lu Xingshi practiced boxing and noted that his growing power was forcing the world’s spiritual energy recovery to accelerate.
• Lu Xingshi considered modifying his traits through code data and concluded that controlled Secret Realms, especially the first Blessed Land and Cave Heaven, could provide the comparisons he needed.
• Lu Xingshi wondered when Blessed Lands would appear and hoped they would emerge after Yan Kingdom’s unification.

At Leaping Carp Gorge, Lu Xingshi easily killed Li Xuandao and Liao Lan, claiming their divine weapons and martial inheritances. After he destroyed a Grotto-heaven Ancestor’s spying projection, the injured ancestor resolved to unite the Cave Heavens against him before he could ascend the throne.

• Li Xuandao and Liao Lan prepared their families and subordinates for defeat, then brought Lu Xingshi their martial inheritances and promised not to surrender because of their Son of Heaven Destiny.
• Lu Xingshi agreed to spare their families and subordinates, collected the inheritance records, and invited them to attack together.
• Li Xuandao and Liao Lan summoned their divine weapons and unleashed their ultimate moves, but Lu Xingshi flattened them and the area with one punch, then took Bi Yi and Brocade Pattern.
• Lu Xingshi detected and destroyed a Grotto-heaven Ancestor’s projection, then considered purging the Cave Heavens for monitoring him.
• The injured Grotto-heaven Ancestor decided to contact the other Cave Heaven ancestors and join forces to kill Lu Xingshi or destroy his foundation before he became emperor.