Chapter Summaries

Jiang Ning returned to Luoshui County and visited his former teacher, Wang Jin, at Blue-Wave Martial Academy. He revealed that he had created a fist art surpassing supreme arts and demonstrated it for Wang Jin, who was left unable to grasp its mysteries but proud of his disciple.

• Jiang Ning entered Luoshui County, where a gate soldier recognized him as the Luo River King.
• Jiang Ning visited Blue-Wave Martial Academy and found Wang Jin practicing alone in the rear courtyard.
• Jiang Ning told Wang Jin he had created a fist art above supreme arts, naming it Five Animals Fist.
• Jiang Ning explained that he wanted to demonstrate the art so Wang Jin could judge whether it lived up to the Five Animals Fist name.
• Jiang Ning performed the fist art, and Wang Jin saw that it had transcended his understanding while feeling proud to be Jiang Ning's teacher.

Jiang Ning gave Wang Jin the Five Animals Fist and tested the Kunpeng Transformation, discovering that one wingbeat carried him 108,000 li to Lishui Palace. He resolved to strengthen his cultivation to face the Grotto-Heavens and other threats, then meditated in the River of Time before returning to Marquis Dongling's Residence to sleep.

• Jiang Ning imparted the Five Animals Fist's principles to Wang Jin, who practiced the technique and felt its powerful effects on his body and organs.
• Jiang Ning tested the Kunpeng Transformation and crossed 108,000 li in a single wingbeat, arriving at Lishui Palace.
• Jiang Ning reviewed the threats facing him and resolved to advance his Spiritual Altar Illumination of the True Self Method and Indestructible Vajra Body.
• Jiang Ning meditated in the River of Time, absorbing True Spirit Light and raising his method's progress to 14.87%.
• Jiang Ning returned to Marquis Dongling's Residence and went to sleep, planning to pursue the Heavenly Immortal realm and the three-hundredth step of the Celestial Ladder.

Jiang Ning perfected the Spiritual Altar Illumination of the True Self Method, gathered enough source points for its next breakthrough, and used them to reach toward the River of Time. He returned to his body after touching its barrier and suffering immense pain, leaving him aware of the river’s terrifying power.

• Jiang Ning completed the Spiritual Altar Illumination of the True Self Method after ten days of cultivation and prepared to gather the source points needed for his next breakthrough.
• Jiang Ning collected Ashina's latest shipment in Heavenly Gate City and consumed its ores, herbs, and spiritual plants until his source points reached 2131.7.
• Jiang Ning spent two thousand source points to break through the method and sent his consciousness ascending toward the River of Time.
• Jiang Ning touched the invisible membrane separating him from the river’s waters and endured unbearable pain as its golden grains struck him.
• Jiang Ning's consciousness fell back into his body, where he found himself unharmed but still felt lingering pain in his fingertips.

After breaking through to the eleventh limit-breaking of the Spiritual Altar Illumination of the True Self Method, Jiang Ning tested his strengthened spiritual power on the Celestial Ladder and stood firm on its three-hundredth step. The Upper Yang Inner Landscape rewarded him with an Immortal Flower whose golden dust greatly advanced his cultivation methods and skills.

• Jiang Ning completed the eleventh limit-breaking of the Spiritual Altar Illumination of the True Self Method, bringing his spiritual strength to the level of a Heavenly Immortal and improving the Fish in the River trait.
• Jiang Ning entered the Upper Yang Inner Landscape and climbed the Celestial Ladder with far less difficulty than on his previous attempt.
• Jiang Ning endured the pressure on the three-hundredth step, received the descending will of the Inner Landscape Grounds, and heard the lingering declarations of past Shangyang Immortal Sect Heavenly Immortals.
• Jiang Ning proclaimed that he would attain the Heavenly Immortal realm, and the Inner Landscape Grounds granted him one Immortal Flower for ascending three hundred steps.
• Golden dust from the Immortal Flower nourished Jiang Ning’s Immortal Tree, raising its height to forty-five feet and substantially increasing experience in his cultivation methods and skills.

Jiang Ning absorbed the Immortal Flower on the three-hundredth step of the Celestial Ladder, transforming his immortal tree and improving his skills and Source Points. He returned to the wilderness and began cultivating the Indestructible Vajra Body, with enough Source Points to prepare for its next breakthrough.

• Jiang Ning absorbed the Immortal Flower, strengthening his Primordial Spirit and causing his immortal tree to grow from about three zhang to eleven zhang.
• Jiang Ning saw his cultivation skills improve substantially and confirmed he had accumulated 2,471.3 Source Points.
• Jiang Ning left the Celestial Ladder and found no opportunity resonating with him on the Dao Lecture Platform.
• Jiang Ning returned to the wilderness, decided to continue training there, and began cultivating the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Immortal Lord Xuan'e and several ancient immortals debated how to handle the Luo River King, deciding to unleash newly awakened gods to provoke the Martial Saint. Meanwhile, Jiang Ning continued cultivating toward a breakthrough, and Linglong appeared on Luo Water Lake.

• Immortal Lord Xuan'e told the gathered immortals that the Luo River King posed a greater future threat than the uncertain fate of the Martial Saint.
• Qingshan proposed three ways to deal with the Luo River King, and Xuan'e chose to contact newly awakened gods and use them to force the Martial Saint to reveal himself.
• Jiang Ning trained his Indestructible Vajra Body, gained experience, and watched its progress approach full completion.
• After three more days of cultivation, Jiang Ning saw his Indestructible Vajra Body reach 95.87% progress and anticipated breaking through soon with his accumulated Source Points.
• Linglong walked across the mist-covered surface of Luo Water Lake under the moonlight.

Jiang Ning intercepted the Black Lotus Matriarch at his former home in Luoshui County and learned that a being above the Immortal realm had ordered her to attack his hometown and possibly kill him. The Black Lotus Matriarch revealed that the mysterious being wielded azure water-path power, and she acknowledged how vastly Jiang Ning had grown stronger.

• The Black Lotus Matriarch arrived in Luoshui County under orders to slaughter the town, but refused to attack Jiang Ning's hometown and went to his former residence instead.
• Jiang Ning sensed a powerful presence near Luoshui County, rushed back, and found the Black Lotus Matriarch in his courtyard.
• Jiang Ning subdued the Black Lotus Matriarch and identified her after she revealed herself as the Black Lotus Holy Mother.
• The Black Lotus Matriarch explained that a being above the Immortal realm had summoned her and ordered her to attack Jiang Ning's homeland and attempt to kill him.
• The Black Lotus Matriarch described the being's azure immortal light and connection to the path of water, but could not identify their Grotto-Heaven.
• Jiang Ning asked how she compared him to his former self, and the Black Lotus Matriarch said he was more than a hundred times stronger than a year earlier.

Jiang Ning ordered Black Lotus to guard Luoshui County and secretly watched her settle into his old home, clean it, and fall asleep without revealing anything unusual. The next morning in the Royal Capital, Lü Yi told him that Xiao Wuque had arrived with news of a major event.

• Jiang Ning told Black Lotus to live in Luoshui County and guard the city, and she chose his former home.
• After Jiang Ning vanished, he hid within the third layer of space to observe Black Lotus as she cleaned the house, bathed, and went to sleep.
• Jiang Ning watched Black Lotus through the night but found nothing unusual, though he wondered why she looked so much like someone.
• The next morning in the Royal Capital, Lü Yi told Jiang Ning that Xiao Wuque had come because something major had happened.
• Jiang Ning asked where Xiao Wuque was, and Lü Yi said he was in the front hall.

After learning that Su'nan Commandery City and the Sword-Washing Pool had been massacred, Jiang Ning used his Heavenly Eye to investigate both scenes. He traced the city’s killer to a woman in a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land and began searching for the Sword-Washing Pool’s killer, leaving his next move unresolved.

• Xiao Wuque told Jiang Ning that hundreds of thousands of people in Su'nan Commandery City and more than three thousand members of the Sword-Washing Pool had died overnight.
• Jiang Ning sent out his Primordial Spirit and used his Heavenly Eye to examine Su'nan Commandery City, where he determined that the victims had been killed at the level of their souls.
• Jiang Ning followed the victims’ threads of karma to a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land and saw a holy-looking woman he identified as the city’s killer.
• Jiang Ning scanned the distant Sword-Washing Pool and found its members beheaded without spilling blood, a method distinct from the massacre in Su'nan Commandery City.
• Jiang Ning began searching for the person responsible for the Sword-Washing Pool massacre.

Jiang Ning found and killed the Blood God’s manifestation in a cavern by the East Sea, then raced between the Starry Eighty-One Isles to destroy the evil gods’ lairs. He left the islands with Yingzhou as his next target.

• Jiang Ning traced the Sword-Washing Pool murderer to an underground cavern and learned the man called himself the Blood God.
• Jiang Ning resisted the Blood God’s attack on his blood and destroyed his body with a powerful punch.
• Jiang Ning tracked the Blood God’s other hiding places to the Starry Eighty-One Isles and destroyed a lair beneath the Raging Tide Sect’s main hall.
• Jiang Ning destroyed another idol and killed the woman who approached him, then warned the sect disciples that their sect master’s body had been seized by an evil god.
• Jiang Ning identified Yingzhou as his next destination.

Jiang Ning destroyed the Blood God’s lingering presence on Yingzhou, but an immortal named Xuanqing struck him across worlds and forced him to retreat. Afterward, Xuanqing and Shuiyun discussed Jiang Ning’s strength and the danger he might pose if he reached the Martial Saint realm, while Jiang Ning recovered and considered the threat of the coming return to the Primordial Era.

• Jiang Ning raced to Yingzhou and destroyed the statue hiding the Blood God’s final aura, then escaped before the island’s grand array could activate.
• Xuanqing manifested from another world and struck Jiang Ning with a finger that crossed worlds.
• Jiang Ning met Xuanqing’s attack with his Five Animals Fist, was wounded, and fled across the sea.
• Xuanqing and Shuiyun concluded that Jiang Ning could match a true immortal and might eventually become a Martial Saint, then agreed to consult other immortals.
• Jiang Ning healed in an ancient forest and realized that the immortals’ restrictions might weaken when the ten domains reunited and the Primordial Era’s environment returned.

Jiang Ning measured his strength against immortals, then saved two children from being sacrificed to the Blood God and destroyed its idol in Xiushui Village. He continued hunting the Blood God’s remaining idols and confronted its central manifestation in the Western Wasteland.

• Jiang Ning concluded that his battle prowess outside a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land rivaled a Perfected Immortal’s and considered how many shackles remained before he could reach the Martial Saint realm.
• Jiang Ning arrived at a Cangzhou fishing village just as its chief prepared to sacrifice two children, and he stopped the ceremony and destroyed the Blood God Idol beneath the Cang River.
• The village chief admitted the village had worshipped the evil god despite reporting it, then took responsibility for past sacrifices and killed himself; Jiang Ning healed the children and told the villagers to report any future danger to the Inspection Office.
• Jiang Ning destroyed another Blood God statue in a valley and headed toward the last location he had left for last.
• In the Western Wasteland, the Blood God gathered blood threads around an amber statue to form a body, but Jiang Ning arrived and declared that the conflict would end.

Jiang Ning destroyed the Blood God and learned that a powerful Immortal with Primordial Yellow energy had ordered its actions. After avenging the Martial Saint, he sensed another target still remained.

• Jiang Ning used the Solar Scripture to burn away the Blood God’s manifestation and absorbed its divine points and Authority of Blood.
• Jiang Ning entered the Ruins of Return through the Blood God’s authority and confronted the Blood God in its blood lake.
• The Blood God revealed that a male Immortal with Primordial Yellow light had ordered it, and Jiang Ning suspected the Immortal came from the Primordial Yellow Grotto-Heaven.
• When the Blood God demanded an oath before sharing more, Jiang Ning stripped away its authority and destroyed it completely.
• Jiang Ning returned to the desert, saw the divine statue crumble into powder, and fixed his gaze on the distance, sensing one more target.

Jiang Ning witnessed the mass deaths in Su'nan City and watched the corpses being burned before returning to Lishui Palace to cultivate. He advanced the Indestructible Vajra Body and gained the Golden Body Dharma Aspect, a power he recognized as greater than the Ten-Zhang Golden Body.

• Jiang Ning surveyed Su'nan City and saw soldiers collecting the dead for burial in two enormous pits.
• Jiang Ning watched the soldiers burn the corpses and urged the general to handle the disaster properly because Su'nan City was the Martial Saint's hometown.
• Jiang Ning returned to Lishui Palace, suppressed his anger, and resumed cultivating the Indestructible Vajra Body.
• Jiang Ning cultivated through the day and night until the Indestructible Vajra Body reached 100 percent.
• Jiang Ning spent Source Points to break through, advancing the technique to the Tenth Limit-Breaking and gaining the Golden Body Dharma Aspect trait.
• Jiang Ning examined the new trait and realized it granted the powerful ability Dharma Aspect Heaven and Earth.

Jiang Ning broke all forty-five shackles in his five organs, greatly strengthening his vitality, but stopped before attempting the dangerous Skull Shackles. He then visited Xiao Wuque at the Inspection Office to ask about the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau’s ability to oversee all under heaven.

• Jiang Ning rejected spending Source Points to upgrade his traits and used his strengthened body to break the nine shackles in his heart.
• Jiang Ning discovered that the elemental qi in his kidneys could break their shackles, then continued severing shackles throughout his five organs.
• Jiang Ning broke all forty-five Five-Organ Shackles, causing his five energies to merge and his vitality and strength to improve.
• Jiang Ning examined the nine Skull Shackles but decided not to challenge them after reaching his limit.
• Jiang Ning met Xiao Wuque at the Inspection Office, reported that the culprit at Sword-Washing Pool had been dealt with, and asked whether an item let the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau oversee all under heaven.

Jiang Ning visited the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau with Xiao Wuque to learn how its star disc monitored the realm, declaring that he intended to command the realm. Blind Elder and Xiao Wuque suspected Jiang Ning might have reached the same impossible Martial Saint realm as Xiao Wuque’s master, while the star disc revealed that Jiang Ning had vanished from its detection.

• Jiang Ning asked Xiao Wuque to take him to the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau so he could inspect its method of monitoring the realm.
• Blind Elder recognized Jiang Ning’s concealed heavenly secrets and said that an Ice Coffin-like item had hidden him from other masters of the Dao of heavenly secrets.
• Jiang Ning declared that he intended to command the realm, leaving Blind Elder and Xiao Wuque shocked by the implication that he might have reached the Martial Saint’s realm.
• Blind Elder introduced his disciple Ning Caier and showed Jiang Ning the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc, which represented living beings as stars and could not detect Jiang Ning.
• Blind Elder explained that only great immortals, Jiang Ning, and the Martial Saint had escaped the disc’s detection, and he confirmed Xiao Wuque’s suspicion that Jiang Ning might have reached that same realm.

Jiang Ning decided to move the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc to Lishui Palace and use it to watch over the realm, despite the danger of exposing the treasure. When the disc left the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau, its aura changed day into night and alerted powerful forces across the Nine Provinces, including a Nine Heavens lord who ordered Wang Yu to seize it.

• Jiang Ning examined the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc and learned that the bureau had detected the Su'nan Commandery City and Sword-Washing Pool tragedies but could not respond in time.
• Jiang Ning asked the Blind Elder to bring the disc to Lishui Palace so he could use it to prevent further tragedies, and the Blind Elder agreed to support him.
• The Blind Elder arranged to stay at Lishui Palace with his disciple Ning Caier, whose exceptional Spiritual Wisdom he praised.
• The Blind Elder shrank the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc and carried it out of the bureau, causing its aura to resonate with the Heavenly Dao and turn day into night across the sky.
• The disc's appearance drew attention and greed from across the Nine Provinces, while a Nine Heavens lord ordered Wang Yu to seize it.
• Wang Yu warned that the Imperial Preceptor, Xiao Wuque, the Blind Elder, a mysterious paper-figure expert, and especially Jiang Ning could threaten the attempt.

Jiang Ning confronted Wang Yu, who demanded that the Astronomical Bureau return the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc to the Nine Heavens. Jiang Ning crushed Wang Yu and his attendants without harming bystanders, then left to find whoever was directing them.

• Jiang Ning sensed the Heavenly Dao Will descending over the Royal Capital because of the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc and realized Wang Yu was only a pawn sent ahead.
• Wang Yu arrived with two attendants and claimed the Nine Heavens had a rightful claim to the disc, threatening the Astronomical Bureau if it refused to hand it over.
• Jiang Ning rejected the Blind Elder's offer to fight and pinned Wang Yu into the ground with one hand.
• Jiang Ning struck Wang Yu's two attendants with simultaneous punches, sending them into the earth while avoiding harm to nearby townsfolk.
• Jiang Ning told the Blind Elder and Xiao Wuque to guard the scene, then vanished to find the person behind Wang Yu.

Jiang Ning defeated a direct descendant of Yu Emperor on the nine-tiered tower and took him captive. He returned to the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau and demanded an Immortal Medicine from the Nine Heavens in exchange for the Imperial Prince’s life.

• Jiang Ning confronted the young man on the tower, who revealed that he was an Imperial Prince and a direct descendant of Yu Emperor.
• The young man revealed his Nine-Cauldron Divine Body and attacked Jiang Ning with power linked to the Yu Cauldron.
• Jiang Ning stopped the Imperial Prince’s punch, broke his bones, and subdued him with forces lodged in his chest and forehead.
• Jiang Ning brought the captive back to the Heavenly Surveillance Bureau, where the old blind man recognized the Yu Cauldron and Wang Yu remained trapped.
• Jiang Ning released Wang Yu and ordered him to tell the Nine Heavens to provide an Immortal Medicine for the Imperial Prince’s life.

After defeating Yu Jiuxiao, Jiang Ning questioned him about the Nine Heavens and the Grotto-Heavens probing the Martial Saint. Yu Jiuxiao revealed several factions’ involvement but refused to disclose his mission before leaving the Upper Three Heavens.

• Wang Yu climbed out of the crater, promised to report the matter to the Nine Heavens, and left with his unconscious attendants.
• Jiang Ning told Yu Jiuxiao to behave, learned his name, and challenged his claims about his strength and status.
• Yu Jiuxiao said several Grotto-Heavens, including Dragon Pearl Grotto-Heaven and Dark Nether Grotto-Heaven, had taken part in probing the Martial Saint.
• Jiang Ning questioned the Nine Heavens’ claim of staying out of worldly disputes, pointing out that Yu Jiuxiao had seized the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Disc.
• When Jiang Ning asked what tasks Yu Jiuxiao had been given before leaving the Upper Three Heavens, Yu Jiuxiao refused to answer.