Chapter Summaries

Chen Fan disguised himself to convince Pu Zhongyu that he was not the real Chen Fan, but her visit made him abandon his plan in Yan Capital City. After he fled, Pu Zhongyu decided to keep watching for the real Chen Fan.

• Pu Zhongyu confronted Chen Fan, but he removed his mask and used flame intent to persuade her that he was only a decoy.
• Pu Zhongyu withdrew her suppression and left after concluding that the Embroidered Garment Tower had used Chen Fan as bait.
• Chen Fan suspected someone was watching him and decided to leave Yan Capital City rather than wait for Seamless Gate assassins.
• Chen Fan bid Ye Wushuang farewell and told him to take Xiaoxi, Yun Xin, and the others to hide at the Martial Academy in the prefectural city.
• Pu Zhongyu returned to the flying vessel and told the young Daoist that the Chen Fan she found was fake, but she insisted the real Chen Fan would eventually appear.

Chen Fan was ambushed by five Seamless Gate Grandmasters near the Yuan Shang Secret Realm, but Cheng Caiying intervened and drove them back. Gate Master Long arrived to confront her, and Chen Fan learned that the Crown Prince had ordered Cheng Caiying to protect him, leaving him wary of the prince’s unexplained interest in him.

• Chen Fan noticed several people following him as he left Yan Capital City and continued toward the Yuan Shang Secret Realm.
• Five Seamless Gate Grandmasters revealed themselves, and Chen Fan prepared to fight them near the secret realm.
• A hidden attacker struck the five Grandmasters and sent them flying, then Cheng Caiying appeared and shielded Chen Fan.
• Gate Master Long arrived and accused Cheng Caiying and the Embroidered Garment Tower of using Chen Fan as bait.
• Cheng Caiying told Chen Fan that the Crown Prince had ordered her to protect him, and Chen Fan wondered why the Crown Prince cared so much about him.

Chen Fan lured five Seamless Gate Grandmasters away from Cheng Caiying and fought them near the Yuan Shang Secret Realm. After unleashing his Berserk strength, he killed all five and left the confrontation with the Dragon Gate Master unresolved.

• Chen Fan ran from the Dragon Gate Master while five Seamless Gate Grandmasters pursued him, and Cheng Caiying stayed behind to face the Dragon Gate Master.
• Chen Fan stopped to confront the pursuers and shrank his body to evade most of their coordinated saber attack.
• Chen Fan unleashed the Profound Yang Fire Spirit and struck the five men with his Thunder-Slaying Sword, killing two and badly wounding the others.
• The ninth-level branch master counterattacked and forced Chen Fan back, while the two surviving eighth-levelers regrouped behind him.
• Chen Fan activated his Berserk state and rushed the three men as a blood-colored bolt of lightning, killing the branch master and both remaining Grandmasters.

Chen Fan killed the Seamless Gate experts guarding Earth Tower and returned to watch Cheng Caiying battle Sect Master Long. As Cheng Caiying summoned a powerful Son of Heaven Sword, Sect Master Long recognized it and demanded to know her connection to the Great Qian Imperial House.

• Chen Fan used Berserk to kill three more Seamless Gate experts, secured Earth Tower, and took their corpses before heading toward Cheng Caiying’s battle.
• Pu Zhongyu and a young man in feathered robes watched the distant battle from a flying boat and wondered at the force they had sensed.
• Chen Fan secretly approached Cheng Caiying and Sect Master Long, observing that the two ninth-realm experts were injured and that Cheng Caiying was trying to withdraw.
• Sect Master Long identified Cheng Caiying as a master of Saber Intent and attacked her with a massive ghost claw when she warned him not to push her further.
• Cheng Caiying crushed a golden token and summoned a golden Son of Heaven Sword, shattering Sect Master Long’s ghost claw and prompting him to question her ties to the Great Qian Imperial House.

Cheng Caiying wounded Master Long with the Son of Heaven Sword, and Chen Fan seized the chance to kill him and flee. Near the Yuan Shang Secret Realm, Gu Tian of the Spirit God Dao Sect stopped Chen Fan with a divine sense attack, and Pu Zhongyu confronted him about hiding his lightning intent.

• Cheng Caiying struck Master Long with the Son of Heaven Sword, leaving him badly injured.
• Chen Fan attacked Master Long in his Berserk state, killed him, took his remains and treasures, and escaped without revealing his identity to Cheng Caiying.
• Chen Fan fled toward the Yuan Shang Secret Realm, ate Blood Spirit Flowers, and felt his slaughter intent draw close to perfection.
• Gu Tian of Sun-Eating Peak, Spirit God Dao Sect, blocked Chen Fan's path, identified his alien bloodline, and attacked him with divine sense as he tried to flee.
• Pu Zhongyu appeared before Chen Fan and challenged him for concealing that he had grasped lightning intent.

Chen Fan tried to hide his identity from Pu Zhongyu, but she recognized him after he revealed Lightning Intent and trapped him with her Dao Domain. He admitted he was Chen Fan, then swore that he was not a Star Sect disciple and had no connection to Pu Zhongfu or the Star Sect demoness, leaving Pu Zhongyu confused.

• Pu Zhongyu caught up with Chen Fan after he revealed Lightning Intent while fleeing the Seamless Gate assassin.
• Pu Zhongyu used her Dao Domain to restrain Chen Fan and demanded that he swear a Heavenly Dao oath proving he was not Chen Fan.
• Chen Fan crushed a Vanishing Trail Talisman, but Gu Tian used a jade object to prevent it from teleporting him away.
• Gu Tian offered to take Chen Fan to the Spirit God Dao Sect for soul-searching, so Chen Fan admitted his identity to Pu Zhongyu.
• Chen Fan swore that he was not a Star Sect disciple, had never met the Star Sect demoness before the Underground Palace, and had never seen Pu Zhongfu.
• Pu Zhongyu's Dao Domain dispersed as she listened, and she stared at Chen Fan in confusion.

Pu Zhongyu and Gu Tian decided to take Chen Fan to the Spirit God Dao Sect for a soul search, so he used his Berserk divine ability to escape toward the Yuan Shang Secret Realm. Pu Zhongyu and Gu Tian pursued him, and the chapter left Chen Fan facing Gu Tian’s enormous golden bell after he struck back against Pu Zhongyu’s Dao Domain.

• Gu Tian persuaded Pu Zhongyu that Chen Fan might have circumvented his Heavenly Dao oath, and she agreed to have the Spirit God Dao Sect search his soul.
• Gu Tian sent a Yuan-Locking Ring toward Chen Fan and ordered him to surrender, but Chen Fan refused because he feared his secrets would be exposed.
• Chen Fan activated Berserk, tore through Pu Zhongyu’s Dao Domain, and fled toward the Yuan Shang Secret Realm.
• Gu Tian used a talisman to slow Chen Fan, allowing Pu Zhongyu to catch up, but Chen Fan swallowed an Explosive Yuan Pill and wounded her by breaking through her Dao Domain again.
• Gu Tian called on a golden bell that expanded and descended over Chen Fan as he continued his escape.

Chen Fan used an unstable three-concept sword attack to break through Pu Zhongyu’s Dao Domain and escape into the Yuan Shang Secret Realm, where he recovered from his injuries with a heaven-grade pill. He planned to take the seventh-level assessment before facing his pursuers again.

• Chen Fan fused lightning, fire, and killing concepts into his sword, detonating it and blasting Pu Zhongyu and Gu Tian away, though the explosion badly injured him too.
• Chen Fan reached the Yuan Shang Secret Realm entrance and passed through its fixed doorway despite Gu Tian’s Space-Locking treasure, while Pu Zhongyu and Gu Tian arrived too late to stop him.
• Chen Fan appeared in the secret realm’s main hall and swallowed the Essence-Breaking Calamity-Expelling Pill to heal his severe injuries.
• After half a day of recovery, Chen Fan confirmed he had come to complete the seventh-level assessment and decided to delay leaving until he could grow stronger.

After recovering from his severe injuries, Chen Fan entered the Yuan Shang Secret Realm’s seventh-level trial and defeated its black-armored swordsman with one slash. His strength triggered a hidden core-level challenge, which transported him to a strange, oppressive hall with no apparent exit.

• Chen Fan spent half a month recovering in the Yuan Shang Secret Realm and replenishing the blood he had lost.
• The Star Spirit warned Chen Fan that the seventh-level trial was unusual and advised him to wait, but Chen Fan entered it anyway.
• Chen Fan killed the seventh-level black-armored swordsman with a single strike from his spirit blade.
• A Möbius-shaped sculpture activated and announced that Chen Fan had met the preliminary conditions for a core-level challenge.
• Chen Fan entered a white-light gateway and arrived in a vast hall filled with enormous patterned pillars, where a barrier blocked the far door.

Chen Fan defeated four seventh-layer swordsmen by using Berserk after their fused sword techniques overwhelmed him. He reached the ultimate trial site, where a divine-consciousness incarnation identified him as the third examinee and said the grounds were meant to cultivate peerless swordsmen.

• Chen Fan discovered that four seventh-layer swordsmen could fuse their sword arts and intents, overpowering his attacks despite his Thunder-Slaying Sword.
• After half an hour of struggling, Chen Fan used Berserk and defeated the four swordsmen with one slash.
• Chen Fan passed through the barrier and entered a sealed hall filled with sword manuals and a raised platform bearing a jade box.
• A phantom appeared before Chen Fan and said it was an incarnation of the trial's creator's divine consciousness.
• The phantom told Chen Fan that the Yuan Shang Geng-62 Trial Grounds cultivated peerless swordsmen and that Chen Fan was the third examinee to reach the ultimate trial site.

Chen Fan learned that the Sword Seed could only be absorbed by a swordsman whose sword intent resonated with at least one hundred carvings on the wall, and that mastering the Dao was tied to advancing beyond the tenth level. Unwilling to remain trapped for years while comprehending sword intent, he tried to force his way to the Sword Seed and was cut by its invisible sword qi.

• Chen Fan questioned the guardian about the ultimate trial and learned that he had to gain the Sword Seed's recognition to approach it.
• The guardian explained how sword intent, Dao domains, and comprehending a complete Dao related to advancement into the Fish-Leap Realm and Longevity.
• The guardian revealed that the walls held 1,024 strands of sword intent and the bookshelves contained 186,000 sword manuals, and that Chen Fan needed to resonate with at least one hundred strands to absorb the Sword Seed.
• After the guardian vanished, Chen Fan failed to break through the exit and realized that comprehending sufficiently strong sword intent could take a long time.
• Chen Fan attempted to withstand the Sword Seed's sharp aura by force, but its sword qi tore through his robe and wounded his exposed skin.

Chen Fan failed to seize the sword seed because its sword qi nearly destroyed his hand, so he turned to comprehending the sword marks in the Yuan Shang Secret Realm. After a year of study and cultivation, his martial arts and intents had advanced greatly, but he still had not comprehended sword intent and remained trapped in the realm.

• Chen Fan used Berserk to approach the sword seed, but its sword qi stripped the flesh from his hand, forcing him to retreat and heal with the Life Pearl.
• Chen Fan examined the stone wall and discovered sword marks containing the Intent of Slaughter and the Intent of Flame, then began studying the flame-related sword intent.
• Chen Fan spent a year examining the sword marks and reference sword arts without comprehending sword intent, while his idle-trained martial arts advanced.
• Chen Fan completed the Intent of Flame and Intent of Slaughter, advanced Ninefold Thunder Blade, and began idle-training Blazing Sun Flame Sword, Thunderfire Sword, and Thunderfire Slaying Sword.

After three years trapped in the Yuan Shang Secret Realm, Chen Fan had greatly strengthened his techniques but still could not comprehend sword intent or approach the sword seed. He remained isolated and increasingly desperate, with no clear way to escape.

• Chen Fan spent a year failing to approach the sword seed and grew increasingly anxious about being trapped.
• After two more years, Chen Fan's True Technique reached the eighth layer, while several other martial arts and secret arts advanced to their limits.
• Chen Fan realized his fused intent techniques were crude and unstable compared with the coordinated fusion used by the four trial swordsmen.
• Chen Fan estimated that his strength could challenge ordinary ninth-layer martial artists, but lamented that strength could not free him from the room.
• Chen Fan worried about his family and friends and the danger posed by Pu Zhongyu, then returned to the sword wall and admitted he could not continue this way.

Chen Fan spent ten years in the Yuan Shang Secret Realm practicing every sword technique he could find, refining his martial arts and steadily deepening his understanding of the sword. By the end, he had comprehended his own Myriad Swords Sword Intent and walked toward the sword seed without activating the Embroidered Garment spiritual radiance.

• Chen Fan realized that his idle cultivation talent could help him master sword techniques, so he began cultivating the basic manuals in the secret realm.
• He mastered more than a hundred sword techniques in one day, then gradually moved on to increasingly advanced sword arts while comparing them with the sword intents on the wall.
• Over ten years, Chen Fan let go of his anxiety about leaving and focused on swordsmanship, eventually learning every technique among the more than one hundred thousand manuals.
• Chen Fan realized his True Technique had made little progress toward the ninth level, but his cultivation had become more refined and his will stronger.
• When Chen Fan stood up, the sword intents on the stone wall responded to him, and he walked toward the sword seed without activating the Embroidered Garment spiritual radiance.
• Chen Fan revealed that he had naturally comprehended his own Myriad Swords Sword Intent after mastering the sword arts and observing the sword intents for nearly ten years.

After absorbing the Sword Seed, Chen Fan’s Myriad Swords Sword Intent neared the Domain of Dao, and the Yuan Shang Secret Realm granted him access to new areas. In the Divine Abilities Hall, he was offered Yuan Shang’s supreme swordsmanship divine ability and witnessed a vision of a golden swordsman splitting heaven and earth.

• Chen Fan absorbed the Sword Seed, which transformed him into a Sword Dao Physique and drove his Myriad Swords Sword Intent close to the Domain of Dao.
• The sword marks in the sealed room gathered into Chen Fan, and he left the trial room after ten years of cultivation.
• Chen Fan passed the Yuan Shang Secret Realm’s special assessment, gained higher authorization, and received three golden Black Bird Feathers.
• Chen Fan entered one of the newly opened passages and arrived at the Divine Abilities Hall.
• A mysterious figure told Chen Fan he could learn Yuan Shang’s supreme swordsmanship divine ability and showed him a vision of a golden-armored swordsman splitting heaven and earth.

Chen Fan learned the Primordial Sword and began cultivating its Fire Saint Sword, then entered the Battle Hall to test his strength. The chapter left him beginning the first Transcendent Mortal Realm trial.

• Chen Fan recovered in the Divine Abilities Hall and learned that the Primordial Sword required mastering and fusing the Four Saint Swords.
• Chen Fan began auto-cultivating the Fire Saint Sword, whose first level would take him three months to perfect, and decided he needed Spirits of All Things to comprehend water and earth.
• Chen Fan left the Divine Abilities Hall and wondered whether later trials in the Yuan Shang Secret Realm would teach him other Divine Abilities.
• Chen Fan entered the Battle Hall, where trial battles against projections of geniuses offered rewards and sparring practice.
• Chen Fan started the first Transcendent Mortal Realm trial, confident that his strength could overcome its opponent.

Chen Fan defeated the Battle Hall’s first trial but was killed by the second trial’s strange, illusion-wielding opponent. Afterward, he entered the Enlightenment Hall and began to experience its Dao-filled starry realm.

• Chen Fan defeated the tin-staff monster in the first Battle Hall trial and received a golden Black Bird Feather.
• Chen Fan faced a black-clad creature that absorbed his fire attack, manipulated his perception, and killed him before he could use Berserk.
• Chen Fan learned he had to wait a month before trying the Battle Hall again, then left with his golden feather.
• Chen Fan entered the Enlightenment Hall using his reward of three days of enlightenment and sat on its meditation cushion.
• Chen Fan’s consciousness entered a vast starry realm where each star represented a Dao, and several stars drew him toward them.

After three days in the Enlightenment Hall, Chen Fan improved several intents and developed a powerful prototype Sword Domain reinforced by his Sword Seed. He left to claim his rewards and return to the outside world, while Star Spirit was astonished to see him alive after his three-year disappearance.

• Chen Fan awakened from his enlightenment and discovered that his Ice and Wind intents had broken through to Unity.
• Chen Fan formed a prototype Sword Domain, then used the sword intents stored in his Sword Seed to make it far more solid.
• Chen Fan dismissed the Sword Domain after briefly maintaining it because it consumed too much True Essence and mental energy.
• Chen Fan decided to exchange his rewards and leave, resolving to avenge his family and friends if they had been persecuted.
• Star Spirit saw Chen Fan enter the great hall and exclaimed that he had vanished for three years and was still alive.

Chen Fan learned that only a little over three years had passed outside while he completed the trial, and Star Spirit taught him the later layers of the Stellar Body Tempering Art. Star Spirit revealed that he was a remnant of Zhongli Haocang, the Star Sect’s last Sect Master, and entrusted Chen Fan with visiting several marked locations before imprinting the Star God's Seal in his sea of consciousness.

• Chen Fan learned from Star Spirit that just over three years had passed outside during his trial and that he had gained access to the Divine Abilities Hall and Enlightenment Hall.
• Star Spirit taught Chen Fan the later layers of the Stellar Body Tempering Art, and Chen Fan began cultivating it automatically while postponing the star-pattern inscriptions.
• Star Spirit revealed that he was an incomplete remnant of Zhongli Haocang, the last Sect Master of the Star Sect, whose sect had been destroyed after drawing the Great Qian Emperor’s and Spirit God Dao Sect’s attention.
• Star Spirit showed Chen Fan several marked locations across Great Qian where he needed to visit contingencies left behind by Zhongli Haocang.
• Star Spirit imprinted a seal called the Star God's Seal, the Star Sect sect leader’s spiritual seal, into Chen Fan’s sea of consciousness.

Chen Fan accepted Star Spirit's offer to become the new sect master of the Star Sect after learning the Star God Seal's powers and the secrets of the Star Hall. He exchanged his Black Bird Feathers for a spirit sword, Primordial Earth, and a Concealment Talisman, then left the Yuan Shang Secret Realm.

• Star Spirit revealed that the Star God Seal would conceal Chen Fan's identity, protect him from divine sense attacks, and constrain Star Sect disciples bound by blood oaths.
• Star Spirit explained that the Star Hall was a damaged Dao artifact fragment that Chen Fan could refine with the Star God Seal after cultivating the Spirit Tempering Art to the fourth level.
• Chen Fan agreed to become Star Sect's sect master and help Star Spirit with his tasks when he grew strong enough, while keeping some suspicion of Star Spirit.
• Chen Fan exchanged one golden Black Bird Feather for a top-grade spirit sword and two for the heaven-grade spirit of all things, Primordial Earth, which he absorbed.
• Chen Fan used his final Black Bird Feather to obtain a reusable Concealment Talisman, activated it, and left the Yuan Shang Secret Realm.