Chapter Summaries

Chen Fan used the Sun-Covering Mirror to investigate the pendant, awakening Nai Liu’s powerful remnant soul, which he defeated with the Star God Seal. Nai Liu’s memories revealed the truth about his failed attempt to pass the Divine Court’s test, though the chapter left the sealed details of the test unknown.

• Chen Fan rejected the idea of approaching the pendant directly and prepared a divination ritual with the Sun-Covering Mirror.
• A remnant soul burst from the pendant and attacked Chen Fan, forcing its way into his sea of consciousness.
• Chen Fan used the Star God Seal to destroy the remnant soul and sealed its overwhelming soul power and chaotic memories for later.
• Chen Fan learned from Nai Liu’s memories that Nai Liu had ascended, failed the Divine Court’s test, and left the Jade Scepter with the Sand Clan.
• Chen Fan discovered that the Golden Goblet was merely an ordinary consolation prize, while the memories of the Divine Court’s test remained inaccessible.

Chen Fan used Nai Liu’s memories and the Jade Scepter to reach the Ascension Gate in Devil Gorge, where its guardian revealed that the gate no longer worked after Jianmu collapsed. The guardian also confirmed that Abyss’s corrosion destroyed the Ancient Wilderness Sect and Yuan Shang.

• Chen Fan learned that Nai Liu had used the Soul Nirvana Art to survive and left his treasures with the Sand Clan, then discovered that the Ascension Gate was in Devil Gorge.
• Chen Fan followed Nai Liu’s route through Devil Gorge and opened a hidden passage with the Jade Scepter.
• Chen Fan entered the passage and reached a hall containing the crimson Ascension Gate.
• The gate’s guardian appeared and told Chen Fan that Jianmu’s collapse had severed the connection between heaven, earth, and man, leaving the gate unable to fulfill its purpose.
• White Lord asked the guardian about the Ancient Wilderness Sect, and the guardian confirmed that Abyss’s corrosion had destroyed both the sect and Yuan Shang.

Chen Fan and White Lord learned that the Ancient Wilderness Sect Master Gu Huang died fighting an Abyssal Outer God to save Zi Shang, whose experiments with Abyssal power had triggered a premature calamity. The phantom revealed that the God-Defying Court first drew the Abyss’s attention, and left Chen Fan facing the possibility that the Abyss was restrained by unknown forces rather than lacking power.

• The phantom confirmed that Gu Huang perished while protecting Zi Shang from an Outer God, and White Lord learned that Zi Shang was the Yuan Shang Imperial Dynasty’s emperor and Gu Huang’s friend.
• The phantom explained that the God-Defying Court’s God King had tried to absorb Abyssal power, corrupting his race and drawing the Abyss’s attention to their world.
• After the God-Defying Court fell, Zi Shang took in its remnants and continued researching Abyssal mutations, including through the mortal kingdom he later established.
• The phantom said Zi Shang’s research brought on a great calamity early, prompting an Outer God to attack him and Gu Huang to sacrifice himself.
• The phantom warned that the Abyss might have been more powerful than it appeared and that unknown restrictions, not lack of strength, had kept it from conquering the world outright.

Chen Fan learned that Jianmu’s collapse had disabled the Ascension Gate and that a Jianmu Branch and an object from the Sun God Court might allow him to reach the Divine Court if he could restore the branch. He decided to use the Sun-Covering Mirror to ask heaven how to revive it, despite White Lord’s warning about the cost.

• Chen Fan reasoned that Emperor Yuan Shang’s research had alarmed the Abyss, and Ji suggested the Sun God King had acted to help Zi Shang.
• Ji explained that the Ascension Gate had lost its function after Jianmu collapsed, and said the Giant God Court’s destruction was connected to a forgotten fourth Divine Court.
• Ji said Chen Fan’s dead Jianmu Branch could not bridge to the Sun God Court without being revived, and that the Golden Goblet could serve as a coordinate if it was.
• Chen Fan left the Ascension Gate with White Lord and proposed using the Sun-Covering Mirror to ask heaven how to revive the Jianmu Branch.
• White Lord warned that the divination would require an immense sacrifice, but Chen Fan remained determined to reach the Sun God Court.

Chen Fan used the Sun-Covering Mirror to learn how to revive the Jianmu Branch, drawing the Heavenly Dao’s attention and revealing himself as a Child of Fate. After restoring the branch, he learned that Children of Fate were chosen to resist the Abyss, while Wen Bu awakened in a remote pool and vowed to kill him.

• Chen Fan deduced that going to the Sun God Court would bring great fortune, then used a costly ritual to learn how to revive the Jianmu Branch.
• The Heavenly Dao’s will briefly descended as the Sun-Covering Mirror consumed the Zhao clan ancestor’s corpse and Wen Bu’s corpse, and Chen Fan received the revival method directly in his mind.
• Wen Bu awakened at the bottom of a cold pool, realized Chen Fan was alive and that his body was gone, and swore vengeance.
• Chen Fan returned to the Ascension Gate with a revived Jianmu Branch bearing a green bud, and Ji identified him as a Child of Fate.
• Ji explained that the Heavenly Dao favored Children of Fate to help resist the Abyss, and Chen Fan understood why Chen Qingru and Chen Tiangan had treated him with such importance.

Chen Fan entered the Ascension Gate to establish the Sun God Court’s coordinates, then awoke in a vast, punishing hall where he could barely move. At the Sword Sect, his extinguished Lifebound Soul Lamp sparked fears that he was dead and threatened his place in the Plum Gathering.

• Chen Fan and Ji used the Jianmu Branch to activate the Ascension Gate, sending a crimson pillar of light over the Southern Cloud Desert.
• Chen Qingru told Chen Tiangan that Chen Fan’s Lifebound Soul Lamp had gone out, and Chen Tiangan ordered the Sword Sect to treat the news as a rumor.
• Chen Tiangan said the Sword Sect would wait until the final deadline before submitting its Plum Gathering direct-entry list, in case Chen Fan returned.
• Chen Fan awoke on a scorching metal floor in a vast hall, where crushing gravity kept him from standing and White Lord could not manifest.
• Chen Fan found that the hall’s spiritual energy accelerated his Origin Art, then decided to adapt to the gravity before approaching its only exit.

Chen Fan endured the hall’s crushing gravity and searing heat to strengthen his body, using Life Water to recover as he adapted. After advancing the Indestructible Vajra Body with Sourceblood Marrow, he continued training in the hall and reached its fifth level.

• Chen Fan released the White Emperor Armor and used Life Water to withstand the hall’s heat and gravity while his body-tempering arts progressed.
• After a month, Chen Fan had adapted enough to stand and walk briefly, and he completed the third level of the Indestructible Vajra Body and advanced the Stellar Body Tempering Art to the seventh level.
• Chen Fan swallowed Sourceblood Marrow and broke through to the fourth level of the Indestructible Vajra Body, becoming strong enough to exercise under the hall’s pressure.
• Chen Fan used more Sourceblood Marrow to keep advancing his Indestructible Vajra Body, reaching the fifth level in less than a month.

After refining more than a hundred portions of Sourceblood Marrow, Chen Fan adapted to his strengthened body and left the hall where he had been training. He reached the Sun God Court’s trial and entered its second round, where he faced Yang.

• Chen Fan’s Indestructible Vajra Body reached the sixth level, and after several more days of testing his strength, he prepared to leave the hall.
• Chen Fan used the sixth level of the Indestructible Vajra Body together with Berserk to push open the massive metal doors and step onto a high platform in the Sun God Court.
• Chen Fan followed the only path to an empty hall, where a golden-armored figure introduced himself as Yang and explained that defeating him would complete the second trial.
• Yang said the challenge would begin when Chen Fan entered the hall and that its difficulty would match Chen Fan’s strength.
• Chen Fan entered, and Yang formed a massive golden energy sword that reminded Chen Fan of the Primordial Sword.

Chen Fan entered the great hall and was overwhelmed by Yang, but learned that Yang’s power and sword techniques adjusted to match his own. After recovering, Chen Fan tested a weaker approach and discovered he could withstand Yang’s attack when he suppressed his power.

• Chen Fan confronted Yang with his full strength, but Yang mirrored his Fire Saint Sword technique and shattered Chen Fan’s right hand with a single strike.
• Chen Fan fled the hall as Yang cut off his lower body, and the Void-Escaping Wings carried him outside before Yang stopped attacking.
• Yang explained that Chen Fan was a Sun God Court “seed” because of the Sword Seed within him, and said the Court had left seeds to help resist the Abyss, among other reasons.
• Yang said his strength and sword techniques changed according to Chen Fan’s abilities, and Chen Fan recovered with Blood Crystals before reentering without his armor or secret arts.
• Chen Fan tested Yang’s attack with a mid-grade spirit sword near the hall’s exit, was knocked outside with only minor injuries, and realized how Yang’s strength worked.

Chen Fan repeatedly challenged Yang in the main hall, using their duels to improve his Four Saint Swords and endure Yang’s overwhelming skill. After half a year of progress and a cultivation breakthrough, Chen Fan remained unable to defeat Yang and worried that he might miss the coming Plum Gathering.

• Chen Fan realized Yang’s strength depended on the power Chen Fan displayed, so he stopped relying on ways to strengthen himself and repeatedly fought Yang to study his swordsmanship.
• Chen Fan used the Origin Pearl to recover between battles, then drank Water of Life directly when the Pearl’s power began to run low.
• Over the following months, Chen Fan’s progress in the Four Saint Swords slowed, as further improvement required advances in his four Dao domains.
• After half a year, Chen Fan’s cultivation reached the late tenth level, while his body tempering improved and he learned to withstand Yang for much longer.
• Chen Fan concluded that improving his Dao-domain realms was essential to defeating Yang and feared he would miss the Plum Gathering if he failed within the remaining year.
• Chen Fan entered the main hall again and asked Senior Yang to fight him once more.

Chen Fan repeatedly fought Yang but could not overcome the gap in their strength, and his anxiety over the approaching Plum Gathering made his attempts worse. After setting the gathering aside and focusing on the trial, Chen Fan realized the Primordial Sword might not require the fixed sequence of four strikes he had always followed.

• Chen Fan fought Yang repeatedly, endured longer than before, but lost blood and strength despite using the Origin Pearl to heal.
• Chen Fan tried to unleash the Primordial Sword but could not gather power under Yang's pressure, and his Four Saint Swords were limited by the Wind Sacred Sword's lower level.
• After Yang told Chen Fan his heart was in turmoil, Chen Fan stopped worrying about the Plum Gathering and focused on defeating him.
• Yang said the Primordial Sword was the only way for Chen Fan to win, then challenged his assumption that it required four consecutive strikes.
• Chen Fan realized he could use the sword art in a different way instead of following its fixed pattern.

Chen Fan fused the Four Saint Swords into the Primordial Sword and used its fourth level to overcome the Divine Court challenge. Yang declared the battle over and congratulated him, revealing that he had expected Chen Fan to need more than fifty years to reach this point.

• Chen Fan used an idle-training slot to create a technique that fused the Four Saint Swords, then refined his control after his first attempt destroyed a mid-grade spirit sword.
• Chen Fan mastered the first level and sparred with Yang, then spent a year developing a stable fusion through the fourth level.
• Chen Fan entered the hall and countered Yang's fifth-level Fire Saint Sword with the fourth-level Primordial Sword, shattering his mid-grade spirit sword as the strike reached Yang.
• Yang declared the challenge over and congratulated Chen Fan, explaining that he had expected Chen Fan to take more than fifty years to reach this level.

Yang gave Chen Fan an image of a sword strike that rapidly advanced his divine sense, Dao domains, and sword arts. Yang then sent him out of the deserted Sun God Court, where Chen Fan sensed the power of the Abyss at its highest point.

• Yang revealed that he had created the Primordial Sword and gave Chen Fan an image of a sword strike aimed at an evil shadow.
• The image expanded Chen Fan’s sea of consciousness and pushed his divine sense beyond the Infinite Realm.
• Chen Fan’s five Dao domains and his Four Saint Swords and fused sword art advanced to the peak of the third layer and perfected sixth layer, respectively.
• Yang explained that a hundred years had passed in Chen Fan’s perception, sealed the image in his sea of consciousness, and told him the Sun God Court’s situation was unusual.
• Yang sent Chen Fan out of the Sun God Court, where Chen Fan sensed the power of the Abyss at its highest point.

After clearing the Sun God Court’s trial, Chen Fan returned to the Southern Cloud Desert, where Ji completed his mission and left behind a Flame Essence. As Chen Fan headed out through Devil Gorge, dozens of Sand Clan members, including three Chang Sheng-level experts, confronted him.

• Chen Fan emerged from the Ascension Gate and told White Lord about his journey through the Sun God Court.
• The Ascension Gate burned black and was destroyed, and Chen Fan picked up the Jade Scepter left behind.
• Ji learned that Chen Fan had met someone called Yang, sensed the God King’s aura on Chen Fan, and chose to pass away, leaving behind a Flame Essence.
• Chen Fan put away the Flame Essence and left the ruin, realizing the Plum Gathering was likely nearing its end.
• Chen Fan detected hidden powerful auras in Devil Gorge and called them out, prompting dozens of Sand Clan members, including Jiumi and three Chang Sheng-level experts, to appear.

Chen Fan faced an ambush by the Sand Clan near the Ascension Gate and demonstrated how much stronger he had grown over two years. After he nearly killed their leader, the leader revealed a gray stone that made Chen Fan sense a threat to his life, then apologized and addressed him respectfully.

• The Sand Clan leader demanded to know what Chen Fan had done two years earlier, but Chen Fan denied knowing anything.
• A first-level Chang Sheng Sand Clan member charged Chen Fan, who defeated him with one sword strike.
• The Sand Clan leader attacked with a storm of wind and sand, and Chen Fan countered with Primordial Sword, leaving him gravely wounded.
• The Sand Clan leader produced a gray stone that triggered Chen Fan's instinctive sense of mortal danger, so Chen Fan stopped his attack.
• The Sand Clan leader healed himself and apologized to Chen Fan, calling him an honored human friend.

Chen Fan traded the Jade Scepter to the Sand Clan for a valuable Wind Dao orb after revealing that the scepter had caused the disturbance two years earlier. After leaving the Southern Cloud Desert, he contacted Chen Qingru, who revealed that his Lifebound Soul Lamp had gone out two years ago and that she and Father had believed he was dead.

• Chen Fan told Mipa that the Jade Scepter had taken him to a special place and swore that it had caused the disturbance two years earlier.
• Mipa offered Chen Fan a complete Wind Dao orb as payment for the Jade Scepter, and Chen Fan warned him that it might still yield nothing.
• Chen Fan accepted the orb and returned the Jade Scepter to Mipa, who welcomed him as a friend of the Sand Clan.
• After Chen Fan left, the Sand Clan members hurried into Devil Gorge to search for the place where the phenomenon had occurred.
• Chen Fan left the Southern Cloud Desert and contacted Chen Qingru, who told him that his Lifebound Soul Lamp had gone out two years earlier.

Chen Fan learned that he could still join the Plum Gathering’s third preliminary round and set out for Dragon Abyss Island after checking on the Sword Sect. On a detour to Cloud Lantern Mountain, he found Lingyun Sect devastated and its people imprisoned, then secretly reached his master and companions.

• Chen Qingru told Chen Fan that the Plum Gathering’s third preliminary round would begin in about a week on Dragon Abyss Island, and Chen Fan decided to return to the Sword Sect before going there.
• Chen Fan contacted Zhang Fan to reassure him, then diverted to Cloud Lantern Mountain and sensed a Longevity Realm expert nearby.
• Chen Fan found Lingyun Sect’s defenses destroyed and used the Star God Seal to locate his master and the others without confronting the expert.
• Chen Fan entered the rear mountain’s prison in secret and found Dong Guzhi, Ye Wushuang, and the others in poor condition.
• Dong Guzhi recognized Chen Fan, and Ye Wushuang greeted him as her son-in-law.

Chen Fan returned to the devastated Lingyun Sect, rescued its imprisoned survivors, and learned that three powerful outsiders had forced the sect to submit. He then confronted one of their leaders and struck him down, leaving Zhongli Hongyi astonished and relieved.

• Dong Guzhi told Chen Fan that three intruders had attacked Lingyun Sect, imprisoned the survivors, and used them as food for demon beasts despite knowing of Chen Fan’s connection to the sect.
• Chen Fan stored Ye Wushuang and the others in the Star Hall, then went to rescue Bao Tianyou, Lin Shiyu, and the other prisoners.
• A demon ape attacked Bao Tianyou’s son, but Chen Fan appeared, burned the beast to ashes, and healed the gathered survivors with the Origin Pearl.
• In the great hall, the lavishly dressed leader mocked Zhongli Hongyi and dismissed the threat posed by Chen Fan and the Heaven-Splitting Sword Sect.
• Chen Fan appeared behind the leader and pierced his chest with the Cold Edge Sword, setting him ablaze as Zhongli Hongyi recognized his rescuer.

Chen Fan returned to find the Lingyun Sect attacked and killed the invader despite his ties to the hidden Unfettered Alliance. He freed Zhongli Hongyi and learned that the two other attackers had left after searching for an inheritance site on Cloudrise Mountain.

• Chen Fan discovered that the young man he had stabbed survived because of his powerful life force, while the man's concealed Chang Sheng civet knocked Chen Fan back.
• Chen Fan learned the young man was responsible for attacking the Lingyun Sect and killing his subordinates, then destroyed the civet with Berserk and the Indestructible Vajra Body.
• The young man used a defensive Dao artifact and threatened Chen Fan with the Unfettered Alliance, but Chen Fan shattered the barrier with a Primordial Sword and killed him.
• Chen Fan collected the item left by the young man and reasoned that the Unfettered Alliance had not yet fully entered the world.
• Chen Fan released Zhongli Hongyi and learned that the two other attackers had left after being summoned, while the slain man had searched Cloudrise Mountain for a special inheritance site.

Chen Fan uncovered a possible link between the attack on Cloud Lantern Mountain and the Void Gate, then rescued Lingyun Sect from a demon-beast rampage and led the sect away. Aboard the fleet bound for Sword Sect, he examined his newly transformed spirits and considered deducing the missing part of the Divine Movement spell.

• Chen Fan suspected the Unfettered Alliance had attacked Cloud Lantern Mountain for its connection to the Void Gate and urged Zhongli Hongyi to leave with him.
• Demon beasts across Lingyun Sect went berserk after their master died, and Chen Fan slew them all with his Ten Thousand Swords Realm while sparing the sect's martial artists.
• Chen Fan sent his puppets and spell soldiers with Zhongli Hongyi to rescue the trapped disciples, concealed their whereabouts with the Sun-Covering Mirror, and led Lingyun Sect away from Cloud Lantern Mountain.
• On a flying ship bound for Sword Sect, Chen Fan found that his Boundless Realm divine sense had formed one true spirit and two split spirits, but learned they were too fragile to remain outside his body.
• Chen Fan realized his improved cultivation might let him deduce the missing corner of the Heavenly Scripture Fragment's Divine Movement spell.