Chapter Summaries

Fang Han investigated the source of the immense energy and eerie attacks at Emerald Plume Lake, enduring the lake’s assaults and mind-bending influence. After two days of searching, he found a Turtle Shell covered in writing, but an unseen force stopped him from reaching it and visions showed his body being cut in half.

• Fang Han discovered a black beast-shaped mark on his forehead and traced the nearest energy node to Emerald Plume Lake.
• Fang Han traveled to the lake, sensed its extraordinary energy, and plunged into its freezing, hostile waters.
• Fang Han endured the lake’s attacks with Azure Wood Invocation and reached the lakebed, where he found strange waterweeds with eyeball-like growths.
• Fang Han escaped repeated mental illusions by returning to Square Inch Space, then searched the lakebed for two days and nights.
• Fang Han found a cracked Turtle Shell covered in strange writing, but a tremendous force blocked him and visions showed his body severed at the waist.

Fang Han risked repeated attacks to take the mysterious Turtle Shell into Square Inch Space, triggering a surge of elemental energy from Heaven and Earth across Emerald Plume Lake. After absorbing some of it and rapidly strengthening his true qi, he turned his attention to the Turtle Shell inside his space.

• Fang Han used Azure Wood Invocation and his life force to recover after the Turtle Shell's invisible strike severed him at the waist.
• Fang Han repeatedly rushed toward the Turtle Shell, retreating into Square Inch Space to rebuild his body after each strike.
• Fang Han rested in Square Inch Space, then used all his strength to pull the Turtle Shell inside despite its resistance.
• The Turtle Shell's removal ended the eerie pressure on the lakebed and unleashed a torrent of elemental energy that made Emerald Plume Lake boil.
• Fang Han absorbed some of the energy, rapidly increased his true qi, and surfaced to survey the area as creatures gathered near the lake.
• Fang Han turned his attention to the Turtle Shell inside Square Inch Space.

Li Shun discovered that the tortoiseshell carried an unknown aura that resisted Mystic Yellow Qi and could not be brought into either world. As Fang Han pursued another primordial qi gathering point, he encountered a Grandmaster who invited him to talk.

• Li Shun tried to read the tortoiseshell’s writing with Mystic Yellow Qi, but the Qi shattered and the writing changed into another unreadable line.
• Li Shun realized the tortoiseshell’s unknown aura made it incompatible with the Great Qian and Martial Dao worlds, so he left it in Square Inch.
• Fang Han returned to the courtyard, where Ying showed him a drawing of the powerful enemy that had traced him from a primordial qi gathering point.
• Fang Han asked Ying about the tortoiseshell’s writing, then practiced [Emperor Fist] for three days before heading to the smallest gathering point near Vast Marsh City.
• Fang Han waited outside the villa district for ten days, then encountered an old Grandmaster who invited him inside for a talk.

Fang Han met Wen Ye to learn how Grandmasters gathered and used spiritual energy. Wen Ye demonstrated the power of the Grandmaster Realm, but Fang Han only frowned, leaving Wen Ye puzzled.

• Fang Han followed Wen Ye into his villa and learned that the old man had stored spiritual energy within his body for more than fifty years.
• Wen Ye explained that spiritual energy gathered in rare treasures and places, and that the Abyss-Nascent Method let Grandmasters retain it.
• Wen Ye revealed that Grandmasters wielded spiritual energy directly instead of converting it into true qi or astral qi.
• Wen Ye rose into the air and formed a lifelike three-headed beast from spiritual energy, but Fang Han frowned instead of showing awe.

Fang Han questioned Wen Ye about the spiritual energy stored in his body and suspected that someone was using grandmasters to preserve or increase the world’s dwindling energy. After Wen Ye asked him to protect his chosen successors, Fang Han agreed to save them once and gave Wen Ye a leaf of Cold Mountain Grass.

• Fang Han challenged Wen Ye’s method of gathering spiritual energy and learned that Wen Ye believed it could not be fully transformed into personal power.
• Wen Ye explained that he had gained his spiritual energy from an exotic beast in an ancient ruin and had spent decades tempering it within his body.
• Fang Han suspected that the world’s spiritual energy was depleted and that Long Xuanji might be using grandmasters to nurture what remained.
• Wen Ye told Fang Han that he planned to pass his spiritual energy to his successors and feared his enemies would attack them after his death.
• Wen Ye asked Fang Han to protect his successors if they were in danger, and Fang Han agreed to save them once before giving Wen Ye a leaf of Cold Mountain Grass.

Fang Han investigated the disappearance of deceased grandmasters’ bodies and confirmed that their graves were empty, strengthening his suspicion of a hidden force exploiting them. He then explored sites where Heaven-and-Earth energy gathered, but discovered that the world’s energy was being drained by an unknown source.

• Wen Ye told Fang Han that roughly 133 grandmasters were alive, and Fang Han asked what happened to grandmasters’ bodies after death.
• Fang Han secretly opened Qiu Du’s grave and found the coffin empty, then uncovered the same absence of remains in six other grandmasters’ graves.
• Fang Han concluded that someone was exploiting grandmasters both alive and dead, and he concealed his appearance while investigating further.
• Over the next month, Fang Han visited more than a dozen energy-gathering sites, challenged grandmasters, claimed strange beasts and spirit plants, and absorbed Heaven-and-Earth energy without practicing the Abyss-Nascent Method.
• Fang Han returned to Emerald Plume Lake and found its energy gone, realizing that an unknown force was draining energy throughout the Martial World.

Fang Han advanced to the Astral Qi Realm but was hunted by a group of Grandmasters and repeatedly ambushed when he returned to the Martial World. Li Shun paid ten strands of Mystic Yellow Qi to change Fang Han’s arrival point, returning him safely to Heavenly Eye City and suspecting the Heavenly Dao was behind the pursuit.

• Fang Han advanced to the Astral Qi Realm and was attacked by a hollow-eyed Grandmaster whose strike nearly killed him.
• Fang Han sensed several more Grandmasters closing in and escaped into Square Inch.
• After waiting three days, Fang Han returned to the Martial World but was ambushed by Grandmasters using a strange drumbeat, and his body was torn apart before he escaped again.
• Li Shun tried returning after seven days, but Grandmasters immediately converged on Fang Han, forcing him to withdraw once more.
• Li Shun paid ten strands of Mystic Yellow Qi to change Fang Han’s arrival point, and Fang Han reappeared safely at his home in Heavenly Eye City.
• Li Shun wondered whether the Heavenly Dao had controlled the Grandmasters hunting Fang Han.

Fang Han spent a year challenging Astral Qi martial artists to hone his Martial Dao, bringing him close to the grandmaster realm. After returning to Heavenly Eye City to rest, he learned that Lu Feng’s people had come to hunt down the Fang Family and saw the confrontation as his chance to advance.

• Fang Han concluded that martial divine abilities grew through life-and-death battles and began challenging martial artists from the Martial Arts Association’s list.
• Fang Han disguised himself under three identities and fought nearly every Astral Qi martial artist under heaven, sharpening his combat skills over the course of a year.
• Fang Han realized he was close to the grandmaster realm, returned to Heavenly Eye City, and rested at home with Ying.
• Lu Feng’s followers arrived at the courtyard seeking Fang Lie’s elder brother and blaming Fang Lie for offending Lu Feng’s son.
• Fang Han recognized the arrival of Lu Feng’s people as the opportunity he needed to advance.

Fang Han defeated the Lu Family’s attempt to intimidate him and went to the Lu Family to confront Lu Feng over Fang Lie’s abuse. After Lu Feng apologized and compensated the Fang Family, Fang Han asked Lu Feng and Luo You to fight him so he could take the final step into the Innate realm.

• Fang Han incapacitated the martial artists who attacked him and sent a message challenging Lu Feng to meet him in seven days.
• At the Lu Family, Fang Lie was brought before Lu Feng and Luo You, and Fang Han suddenly appeared in the hall.
• Fang Han declared that the dispute should be settled by victory and defeat, while Lu Feng presented his beaten son Lu Chuan and offered compensation and a public apology.
• Fang Han accepted Lu Feng’s settlement but revealed that he had come chiefly to challenge both Grandmasters and advance into the Innate realm.
• Lu Feng agreed to fight Fang Han alongside Luo You.

Fang Han challenged Lu Feng and Luo You to help him break through to the Grandmaster Realm, then fought both at once in the Lu Family martial arena. After they shattered his body, the Azure Wood Invocation rapidly healed him, and he demanded another round.

• Fang Han introduced himself and asked Lu Feng and Luo You to fight without holding back so he could reach the Grandmaster Realm.
• Lu Feng and Luo You unleashed their grandmaster pressure, but Fang Han broke through it and attacked them with two Emperor Fist techniques.
• Lu Feng suppressed Fang Han’s attack while Luo You and Lu Feng struck from opposite sides, forcing Fang Han to counter with Die for the State.
• The grandmasters’ blows shattered Fang Han’s bones and injured his organs as they blasted him through the air.
• The Azure Wood Invocation absorbed vitality through a vast vortex and healed Fang Han’s injuries while Lu Feng and Luo You watched.
• Fang Han recovered completely, smiled at the two grandmasters, and asked them to attack him again.

Fang Han recognized the Azure Wood Invocation’s power over ancient beasts and transformed into a giant shaman after Lu Feng and Luo You unleashed their divine abilities. As he prepared to devour their beastly phantoms, a vast face formed in the storm clouds above him.

• Lu Feng and Luo You summoned the ancient beast phantoms Hundun and Feitai, whose power overwhelmed the spectators and threatened Fang Han.
• Fang Han realized that the Azure Wood Invocation made him regard the beasts as prey, and his fear turned to excitement and greed.
• Hundun and Feitai attacked Fang Han with terrifying force, but their phantoms slipped beyond the grandmasters’ control.
• Fang Han chanted, drew in vastly greater vitality from heaven and earth, and grew into a ten-zhang giant as his body was rebuilt.
• Fang Han restrained the two beasts’ spiritual energy and reached to seize them, but a giant face appeared in the dark clouds above the Martial World.

Fang Han fought the enormous storm-cloud face that appeared over the Martial World and used Heavenly Dao Severed Qi from Great Qian to devour its manifestation. After swallowing the still-hungry black qi, he followed the direction it pulled him toward and sped away.

• Fang Han saw the giant face curse him with the word “die,” which drained his vitality and prevented him from replenishing it normally.
• Fang Han crushed the two illusory beasts, absorbed their scattered spiritual energy with Wu Peng's true body, and flew toward the face.
• Fang Han released Heavenly Dao Severed Qi, which devoured the storm clouds and destroyed the face's manifestation.
• Fang Han swallowed the enlarged Heavenly Dao Severed Qi, relying on his resistance and rapid healing to survive its attack from within.
• Fang Han sensed the qi's chosen direction and rode the wind away.

Fang Han tracked the source of the Heavenly Dao Severed Qi to an underground boundary between the Martial World and a thriving beast world, then lured out the hidden creature that had been watching him. He recognized it as Fei and beat it into submission, demanding to know whether it could speak human language.

• Fang Han followed the Heavenly Dao Severed Qi through the snow-covered mountains and found an underground boundary leading to a world inhabited by beasts.
• Fang Han sensed powerful beasts beyond the boundary and concluded that the beast world might be feeding on the Martial World.
• Fang Han pretended to cross into the beast world, then changed course and struck a hidden presence with Emperor Fist: Plowing the Courtyard.
• Fang Han forced the creature to reveal itself and recognized it as Fei, a one-eyed beast with an oxlike body and a serpentine tail.
• Fang Han overwhelmed Fei with punches, and the beast begged him to stop.
• Fang Han asked Fei whether it could speak human language and struck it again.

Fang Han forced Fei to reveal that the Martial World was Pasture Thirteen, a Demon Realm dependency where Martial Grandmasters unknowingly nurtured demonic infants. Fei identified Fang Han as a witch and explained that Long Xuanji had resisted the parasites before Bai Ze took him away; Fang Han then questioned Fei about the world's Heavenly Dao.

• Fang Han subdued Fei and learned that the Martial World was Pasture Thirteen, one of the Demon Realm's worlds for raising its offspring.
• Fei explained that Bai Ze's divine ability made demons parasitize Martial Grandmasters, eventually devouring them and taking their bodies.
• Fei revealed that Long Xuanji had resisted cultivating a divine ability, prompting Bai Ze to personally take him away.
• Fei told Fang Han that the Demon Race was afflicted by a severed lineage curse and that he recognized Fang Han as a witch.
• Fang Han asked Fei what had happened during the Severing Heaven and Earth, and Fei said the truth was unknown and the pasture had developed an independent Heavenly Dao.
• Fang Han began asking Fei how to control the world's Heavenly Dao will.

Fang Han questioned Fei about the Heavenly Dao Severed Qi and agreed to spare Fei’s homeland for a hundred years if Fei helped him control the Martial World. Fei led Fang Han into its carefully crafted grotto-heaven and began showing him how it could reveal the Heavenly Dao’s circulation.

• Fang Han asked whether Fei’s world had Heavenly Dao Severed Qi, and Fei warned that its fragile world could not withstand such a force.
• Fei feared Fang Han would devastate the Demon Race World, so Fang Han promised not to enter it for a hundred years if Fei cooperated with him in controlling the Martial World.
• Fang Han rode Fei out of the abyss and entered the grotto-heaven Fei had carved from the world using its innate divine ability.
• Fei enthusiastically described the grassland’s carefully chosen grass and contours, until Fang Han interrupted it with a blow to the head.
• Fei called out across the grassland, making the grotto-heaven’s sky and boundaries transparent and revealing traces of the Heavenly Dao’s circulation to Fang Han.

Fang Han negotiated with the Martial World's Heavenly Dao to borrow longevity through the Twelve Longevity Method. The Heavenly Dao demanded the world's scattered vital-essence gathering points as collateral, and Fang Han agreed to gather and nurture them.

• Fang Han decided to keep Fei alive as his intermediary rather than risk provoking the Demon Beast World.
• Fang Han used the Twelve Longevity Method to address the Heavenly Dao, while Fei repeated his words using his authority.
• The Heavenly Dao considered Fang Han's proposal to borrow longevity and asked about the transaction's terms.
• The Heavenly Dao demanded collateral and showed Fang Han hidden gathering points of vital essence across the Martial World.
• The Heavenly Dao explained that gathering and nurturing these points might help the Martial World escape the Demon Beast World's control, and Fang Han agreed to collect them.

Fang Han and Fei gathered the concentrations of Heaven and Earth's vital essence across the Martial World and sealed them in a separate space near Heavenly Eye City. Fei revealed that he saw Fang Han as a chance for change and hoped he would soon come to the Demon Race World.

• Fang Han pondered what drove the Great Qian World’s Lifespan Borrowing before riding Fei across the Martial World to gather its concentrations of vital essence.
• Fang Han and Fei subdued a scarred cliff whose illusion nearly killed Fang Han, while Fei endured its attacks with little harm.
• Fang Han gathered all the concentrations of vital essence and settled them on a plain near Heavenly Eye City.
• Fei carved out a separate space to contain the gathered essence, and Fang Han watched him reshape space without using Heaven and Earth's vital essence.
• Fei told Fang Han that he had lost hope for the stagnant Demon Race but now saw a chance for change and wanted Fang Han to come to the Demon Race World.

Fang Han negotiated with the Heavenly Dao to establish Lifespan Borrowing as an immutable rule of the Martial World, then borrowed two hundred years himself. He began spreading the method by appearing across the sky before martial artists and proclaiming the Dao of heaven.

• Fang Han used the sealed domain as collateral and spent seven days and nights negotiating the rules of Lifespan Borrowing with the Heavenly Dao.
• The Heavenly Dao granted Fang Han two hundred years and showed him that an ancient calamity had set a limit on human longevity.
• Fang Han completed the Martial World's first Lifespan Borrowing and considered the Square Inch Puppet's ability to preserve its state.
• Fang Han resolved to spread Lifespan Borrowing throughout the Martial World and establish his name for future generations.
• Fang Han manifested across the sky, drawing the attention of countless martial artists, and began proclaiming the Dao of heaven.

Fang Han revealed the Twelve Longevity Method, restoring youth to Martial Grandmasters and becoming the Martial World's center of faith. As Mystic Yellow Qi gathered in Li Shun's Square Inch Space, the Turtle Shell produced a strange energy that formed a doorway to an unknown world, leaving Li Shun deeply uneasy.

• Fang Han taught the Twelve Longevity Method, and Martial Grandmasters began borrowing years and regaining their youth.
• The rejuvenated grandmasters knelt before Fang Han, while his standing as the Martial World's unmatched figure became established.
• Li Shun calculated that the Martial World could generate nearly a hundred strands of Mystic Yellow Qi each year and considered how to use the growing supply.
• Mystic Yellow Qi stirred the ancient characters on the Turtle Shell, which peeled away and fused into a mysterious wisp of energy.
• Li Shun sealed the wisp with Mystic Yellow Qi, but it transformed into a dark doorway through which he glimpsed an unknown world.

Li Shun completed the first ring of the Square Inch Space, awakening a seven-colored figure that gave him greater control over his puppets and the ability to observe the Great Qian World through them. He left the mysterious Deep Profound Gate suppressed and resolved to seek future puppets that could gather Mystic Yellow Qi.

• Li Shun suppressed the Deep Profound Gate with Mystic Yellow Qi, deciding not to enter until he understood its dark aura.
• Li Shun used Mystic Yellow Qi to open the first ring of plots in the Square Inch Space, completing its circular outer expanse.
• The completed ring pulled Li Shun's consciousness into the central core, where a seven-colored figure appeared and embodied the first outline of his divine body.
• Li Shun discovered that puppets in the first ring could now act independently according to their former personalities and his advance plans.
• Li Shun used the remains of the Three Elders to observe Shangyu County through their faith, and watched Fang Xun Shrine's growing following through Fang Xun's eyes.
• Li Shun decided that future puppets should ideally be able to gather Mystic Yellow Qi so he could use them as eyes across worlds.