Chapter Summaries

Su Chen defeated Hong Xuan, who revealed Yuandu’s plans and the method for merging Professions before killing himself. After searching Hong Xuan’s room, Su Chen and the others prepared to confront Yuandu and respond to the Faceless God-Child’s destruction.

• Su Chen defeated Hong Xuan with a single axe strike, pleasing the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable and earning three months of doubled Profession development efficiency.
• Hong Xuan revealed that Yuandu had contacted his group and planned to kill Su Chen, Chong Jingtian, and Yingfeng’s senior figures, then transmitted the method for acquiring the Myriad Forms Profession.
• Su Chen discovered that Hong Xuan’s instructions about merging Professions concealed a danger, while the panel displayed safer requirements and reduced the number of successful fusions needed.
• Hong Xuan collapsed his mental core and died after Su Chen threatened the Hong Family, and Shi Yunzhou and Lu Kai accepted the outcome.
• Su Chen searched Hong Xuan’s room and found a World Tree branch, an iron token, and a crystal bead while Yuandu’s people were detained.
• Xia Hanshi and Shi Yunzhou planned to notify Chong Jingtian and investigate Yuandu, while Xia Hanshi considered using Su Chen’s precognition to locate other Strange God sacrifices.

After learning about the costly Life Burner Profession, Su Chen worked with Xia Hanshi to prepare for using his supposed predictive ability on stored Strange God power. His searches revealed no nearby followers, but he discovered that the Great Venerable’s buff dramatically improved his training.

• Xia Hanshi explained that Life Burner traded ten years of lifespan for entry and required a near-death awakening; Su Chen’s panel showed the Profession’s requirements and weakened one of them.
• Su Chen offered Xia Hanshi the Trampler Profession, and the two discussed its requirements while riding away from the cleanup site.
• Bu Siqi questioned Teng Liang about his strength, and Teng Liang grabbed and flung him to the ground.
• Su Chen told Xia Hanshi that consuming Strange God power might produce unclear or no visions, and Xia Hanshi agreed to let him try and grant access to records on other Strange Gods.
• Su Chen healed his injuries with an Azure Cloud Potion, collected records on five Strange Gods, and gave their followers’ Profession requirements to Priest.
• Su Chen sensed no Strange God followers in Yingfeng, then tested the Great Venerable’s buff and found that it doubled his body-tempering efficiency and improved his mental-power circulation.

Su Chen absorbed the Strange Gods' power from the artifacts and statues Xia Hanshi had gathered, seeing vague visions but no clear locations. Meanwhile, Qing Cang and his companions arrived at Scarlet Thunder Star, while Su Chen prepared to test the power he had collected.

• Su Chen reflected on how to please the Great Venerable and planned to learn more after Wu Chenpei returned.
• The Faceless chief priest learned that the God-Child had been destroyed and ordered the Faceless Ghost Believers to retreat; Chong Jingtian confirmed the withdrawal and learned from Yingfeng that Shi Yunzhou and Xia Hanshi had killed the infiltrator.
• Qing Cang arrived at Scarlet Thunder Star with Lan Hao, Lin Yue, and Wan Chen, and discussed the planet's Nether Mist, powerful natives, and Strange Gods.
• Su Chen met Teng Liang before entering a locked training room filled with Strange Artifacts and statues that Xia Hanshi had gathered.
• Su Chen absorbed the power from all the artifacts and statues, saw vague scenes of Black Pagoda Believers, and told Xia Hanshi he could not identify their location.
• While Xia Hanshi kept Su Chen under observation, Su Chen checked his panel and prepared to test the divine powers he had collected.

Su Chen tested how crimson, cunning fox, and dark plague powers affected Profession requirements, then learned about Profession fusion from Qin Qingfeng. He used cunning fox essence and Crimson Essence on Myriad Forms, gained guidance for its fusion requirement, and postponed pursuing Life Burner because of its lifespan cost.

• Su Chen found that crimson power reduced a Profession requirement, cunning fox power increased its difficulty in exchange for a reward, and dark plague power replaced it with a comparable requirement.
• After the Adjudication Office cleared him, Su Chen planned an order for using Strange God's Powers and regretted that black pagoda demands did not count as Profession requirements.
• Bu Siqi introduced Su Chen to Qin Qingfeng, who described accidentally fusing his mental and physical Professions while fighting Azurewind Wolves and suggested weakness might lessen the barriers to fusion.
• Su Chen used cunning fox essence to increase Myriad Forms' first requirement, then used Crimson Essence on its second requirement and received guidance because it could not be reduced further.
• Su Chen decided to attempt Profession fusion himself before using the guidance and deferred Life Burner because its requirement could cost him years of life.

Su Chen used faceless ghost and black pagoda essences on Life Burner, discovering that it might evolve into a Holy Profession if he obtained more black pagoda essence. Meanwhile, Yingfeng confronted Wu Chenpei with evidence of Yuandu’s plot against Su Chen, but news of the Royal Court’s arrival abruptly changed the balance.

• Su Chen erased Life Burner’s lifespan-burning qualification with faceless ghost essence and learned that black pagoda essence could begin its evolution into a Holy Profession, though he needed two more portions.
• Wu Chenpei and Chong Jingtian returned to Yingfeng, where Chong Jingtian led Wu Chenpei to a meeting with Yingfeng’s elders and showed him a recording of Hong Xuan’s failed attempt to kill Su Chen.
• Wu Chenpei watched Hong Xuan lose the duel, expose Yuandu’s secrets, and kill himself, leaving Yuandu vulnerable to Yingfeng’s accusations.
• Wu Chenpei erupted at Yingfeng and threatened to obstruct access to the ruins, but Jiang Shumo announced that a group claiming to represent the Royal Court had arrived.
• Wu Chenpei suppressed his anger and said Hong Xuan deserved to die after realizing the Royal Court’s arrival could alter the confrontation.

Chong Jingtian and the other Yingfeng rulers met Qing Cang’s Royal Court delegation and learned that Nether Mist had been shortening their lives. The visitors offered hope of restoring the lost lifespan, while their purpose for coming remained unknown.

• Wu Chenpei accepted Hong Xuan’s death as a temporary expedient and asked to help assess the Royal Court visitors, but Chong Jingtian kept him behind with Min Shengrui and Zhong Yanghui.
• Jiang Shumo reported that eighteen visitors had arrived, prompting the elders to suspect they had come for the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable and agree to conceal what they could.
• Chong Jingtian warned Su Chen to avoid showing himself, then went with Zhou Yanwu and Shi Yunzhou to meet the delegation outside the city.
• Qing Cang introduced himself as a disciple of the Bronze Ancient King and entered Yingfeng with his companions and guards.
• Chong Jingtian learned that the visitors’ Mist Cloaks kept Nether Mist out, and Qing Cang explained that the mist had cost the elders roughly half their lifespans but could be cleared.

Qing Cang demanded the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable's spirit and the people it had acknowledged, but refused to help stop the coming holy feast. While the Tribunal tried to stall him, Su Chen fused his Professions, advanced to Myriad Forms, and entered a stable fused state before Xia Hanshi arrived.

• Qing Cang told Chong Jingtian that he had come to retrieve the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable's spirit and take the two people it had acknowledged.
• Chong Jingtian revealed that the Stone Tablet and its spirit had been split, and Qing Cang agreed to wait for the other half while meeting the surviving acknowledged person and letting Wan Chen and the others try the spirit.
• Chong Jingtian reported Qing Cang's demands to the Tribunal, rejected Zhou Yanwu's suggestion that they leave Yingfeng, and ordered everyone to learn more while keeping Su Chen's situation and the vision of the three dragons secret.
• Su Chen used the Crimson Essence's guidance to fuse Wordspirit Lawlord and Calamity Envoy, then used the World Tree branch to stabilize the fusion and advance to Myriad Forms.
• Su Chen tested Myriad Forms' Fusion ability and entered the fused state again before Xia Hanshi appeared at the gravity chamber door.

Su Chen learned that Qing Cang and the Royal Court had come to take the Professional Spirit and bring him away, while refusing to help Scarlet Thunder Star against the Holy Feast. Xia Hanshi urged Su Chen to hide his potential and use his foresight to find the Holy Feast’s sacrificial site. Qing Cang then set out to meet Su Chen, considering him a possible disciple.

• Xia Hanshi told Su Chen that Qing Cang, an Eighth Rank professional, had arrived to claim the Professional Spirit and take recognized people away, but would not deal with the Holy Feast.
• Xia Hanshi warned Su Chen to conceal his three-dragon phenomenon and possible status as the Great Venerable’s chosen one, and asked him to search for the Holy Feast’s sacrificial site using his foresight.
• Su Chen tested his new Word Spirit ability by making Xia Hanshi stumble, then assessed the strength and reduced costs of his fused state.
• Qing Cang explained to Lan Hao, Lin Yue, and Wan Chen that he wanted to avoid force and give Scarlet Thunder Star’s people time to accept his offer.
• Wan Chen warned Qing Cang that others might learn of the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable, and Qing Cang led the group to meet Su Chen.

Su Chen met Qing Cang and the Royal Court visitors as they tested the local candidates’ compatibility with the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable and secured the spirituality for transport. After You Shan returned, she helped Su Chen touch his Life Fire, revealing that he had 123 years of life remaining.

• Qing Cang questioned Su Chen about his age, professions, and talents, then judged his dual ink jadeite talents insufficient for an offer.
• Qing Cang used a mechanical bottle to disguise Lin Yue, Lan Hao, and Wan Chen so they could enter the crimson mist; Lin Yue and Lan Hao manifested two dragons of spirituality, while Wan Chen manifested three and possessed mystic purple physical talent.
• Qing Cang compressed the spirituality into a small crimson crystal and agreed to accompany Chong Jingtian and the others to the ruins, giving them three days to prepare.
• You Shan returned, and Su Chen asked her to help him inspect his Life Fire; she guided him through a rune array after discovering he had condensed a mental core.
• Su Chen saw gray-white flames rising from his body and learned that he had 123 years of life remaining.

Su Chen completed the Life Burner Profession, gaining the ability to trade lifespan or flesh for strength and discovering its synergy with Trampler. As he prepared to leave Yingfeng for the ruins, Qing Cang summoned his master in secret.

• Su Chen touched his Life Fire with You Shan’s guidance, completed Life Burner’s second requirement, and agreed to take Ming Lin to the Royal Court if necessary.
• Su Chen used Cunning Fox Essence to raise Life Burner’s lifespan requirement to six times his age, which he still met, then took on the Profession.
• Su Chen received Life Burning and the additional reward Flesh as Fuel, then tested how burning his flesh combined with Trampler to increase his strength.
• Su Chen considered his potential strength against Senior Brother Teng Liang and the other Royal Court professionals, then began preparing supplies for his trip to the ruins.
• Qing Cang concealed his room with azure energy, bowed before a metal table, and summoned his master, who appeared as a little bronze figure.

Qing Cang’s group prepared to take Su Chen and the Tribunal expedition to the ruins, while Xia Hanshi secured a plan to gather Strange God’s Power for the coming Holy Feast. On the journey, Lan Hao gave Su Chen a Spirit Pressure Ring and hinted that Su Chen could become the chosen one by defeating Wan Chen.

• Qing Cang learned that he had obtained only half of the Professional Spirit and told his master he would investigate the junior brother’s ruins; he also discussed Wan Chen’s spirit dragons and possible discipleship for Su Chen.
• Lan Hao worried that Wan Chen’s three spirit dragons could make him the chosen one and decided to provoke Su Chen into challenging him as a way to test Wan Chen.
• Xia Hanshi demanded that Chong Jingtian arrange for Yuandu, Blazing Sun, and Tianqing to send their stored Strange God’s Power to the ruins, and Chong Jingtian agreed to secure their cooperation.
• Three days later, Chong Jingtian and Zhou Yanwu led the expedition, with Xia Hanshi, Jiang Shumo, You Shan, Su Chen, and Ming Lin among those departing for the ruins aboard Qing Cang’s spaceship.
• Lan Hao gave Su Chen his Spirit Pressure Ring, then suggested that Su Chen could resolve the Holy Feast crisis by overcoming three dragons.

Lan Hao tried to persuade Su Chen to challenge Wan Chen by revealing the stakes of the Morning Star Rank and the wider powers of the Dust Star Sea. Su Chen remained cautious, investigated the claims, and was drawn into a confrontation with Wan Chen when Lan Hao learned the challenge had been refused.

• Lan Hao told Su Chen that defeating Wan Chen could earn him the favor of three spiritual dragons and make him the chosen one, then described the Royal Court, the Five Great Sects, and the Bronze Ancient King.
• Lan Hao revealed that the Bronze Ancient King had sent a strand of his consciousness with Qing Cang and that the previous holder of the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable Profession had been the Ancient King's junior fellow disciple.
• Su Chen questioned Lan Hao's motives, tested the Spirit Pressure Ring, and learned from Old Xia that the spaceship would reach the ruins in about ten days.
• Su Chen told Xia Hanshi what Lan Hao had disclosed, and Xia Hanshi said Qing Cang's group was not on the Royal Court's side.
• After watching Su Chen spend days training instead of pursuing Wan Chen, Lan Hao confronted him and learned that Wan Chen had refused the challenge to avoid harming their friendship.
• Lan Hao took Su Chen to find Wan Chen, and they learned that Wan Chen was in the command room with Qing Cang, Lin Yue, and Chong Jingtian.

Lan Hao tried to use Su Chen to provoke Wan Chen into a challenge, but Wan Chen turned the scheme around and defeated Lan Hao. As Qing Cang explained why he could not stop the Holy Feast crisis, Su Chen asked to try combining with the spirits, and the chapter ended with him noticing Lan Hao’s healing ability and hearing about the Blue-Flame Immortal Bird.

• Lan Hao accused Wan Chen of refusing Su Chen’s challenge, but Wan Chen revealed that Lan Hao had wanted to challenge him and accepted Lan Hao’s challenge instead.
• Lan Hao realized he had been outmaneuvered but accepted the fight rather than back down.
• Qing Cang told Su Chen that Wan Chen was bound to win because he had developed more special classes, and then explained that the Nether Mist made the Holy Feast crisis impossible to resolve in time.
• Wan Chen defeated Lan Hao, leaving him badly wounded, while Su Chen asked Qing Cang for permission to try combining with the spirits.
• Lan Hao healed his wounds with green flames, and Lin Yue identified his ability as belonging to the Blue-Flame Immortal Bird.

Su Chen learned how holy professions were forged and why families guarded their requirements, while Wan Chen warned him that Lan Hao might seek revenge after they returned to the Bronze Church. Lan Hao secretly contacted the Royal Court and offered coordinates to the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable, while Su Chen learned more about the church’s leaders and Morning Star professionals.

• Lan Hao left after healing from his injuries, and Wan Chen joined Su Chen to explain that the Blue-Flame Immortal Bird was the Lan Family’s title and that its Phoenix was a holy profession.
• Wan Chen told Su Chen that Morning Star advancement could forge a holy profession from special professions, and that the Phoenix’s core ability allowed genuine rebirth from death.
• Wan Chen warned Su Chen that Lan Hao might cause trouble at the church, offered to help him, and gave him general information about the Bronze Church.
• Lan Hao entered the Nether Domain using four black cubes and contacted a blurry figure, offering the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable’s coordinates in exchange for help obtaining the profession’s recognition.
• Su Chen learned that the Bronze Church ruled thirty-seven inhabited stars, had two living Morning Star Rank professionals, and already had two candidates for the Morning Star chosen-one status.

Su Chen reached the ruins with the others as Qing Cang learned that they contained the damaged Morning Star artifact Scarlet Thunder Cauldron. The gate opened to a lethal barrier, and Qing Cang withdrew after failing to pass through it safely.

• Su Chen advanced his Cloud-Dragon Body-Tempering Method and Mirage-Sea Meditation Method to master level, bringing both Profession developments to 30%.
• Su Chen began practicing two new methods as the ship arrived at the ruins, where he saw the four cities' camp surrounding a sealed entrance.
• Qing Cang consulted his master, who identified the ruins as his junior brother's Scarlet Thunder Cauldron and then vanished after detecting a fragment of his junior brother's mind inside.
• The four cities' representatives used their keys to open the gate, revealing the Scarlet Thunder Cauldron's Sinfire Punishment Lightning barrier.
• Qing Cang explained that failed entrants were trapped in an exile zone and then went into the barrier to investigate, but returned coughing black smoke.

Su Chen and Xia Hanshi suspected each other of killing Lan Hao, only to learn that Lan Hao had wandered into the Nether Mist out of curiosity and returned safely. Su Chen later followed Lan Hao and discovered him secretly meeting Ni Chuan, who learned that Qing Cang was trying to overcome the Scarlet Thunder Cauldron’s Sinfire Punishment Lightning and that a Holy Feast was being prepared.

• Su Chen learned from Xia Hanshi that the four cities’ shipments of Strange God's Power would arrive over the next ten to twenty days, then returned to the spaceship to continue advancing his Profession.
• After Lan Hao went missing, Xia Jie questioned Su Chen, and Qing Cang organized a search while the groups from the four cities suspected one another.
• Su Chen and Xia Hanshi privately asked whether the other had killed Lan Hao, but Lan Hao soon returned alive and explained that he had gotten lost after exploring the Nether Mist.
• Qing Cang initially forbade the others from venturing into the mist, but Lin Yue went out anyway, and Qing Cang later tacitly allowed her and the others to make more trips.
• Su Chen secretly followed Lan Hao into the Nether Mist and watched him meet Ni Chuan, a senior officer of the Royal Court's Sect Guard Army.
• Lan Hao told Ni Chuan that Qing Cang was trying to overcome the Scarlet Thunder Cauldron’s Sinfire Punishment Lightning and warned that the Strange God's followers were preparing a Holy Feast.

Su Chen used Word Spirit to cripple Lan Hao, then forced him to reveal two Phoenix Holy Class Professions and their requirements. He let Lan Hao go and received a Punishing Thunder Potion from the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable, while learning that the Royal Court was secretly cooperating with the Lan Family.

• Ni Chuan gave Lan Hao more Nether Domain Stones and warned him that they should not meet again, while Su Chen secretly watched from a spatial interlayer.
• Su Chen used Word Spirit to inflict severe injuries on Lan Hao, then confronted him while disguised as a Strange God follower.
• Lan Hao revealed that the man he had met was a Royal Court commander in the Sect Guard Army and described the Lan Family’s dealings with the Royal Court.
• Su Chen forced Lan Hao to disclose the requirements for the Endurance Walker and Life Nourisher Professions, and the Great Venerable reduced some of their requirements.
• Su Chen searched Lan Hao’s belongings, used Word Spirit to check his answers, and left him with two recovery potions.
• Su Chen received a Punishing Thunder Potion from the Crimson Flame Thunder Venerable for severely injuring Lan Hao.

Su Chen learned more about his new Professions, warned Xia Hanshi that Lan Hao was colluding with the Royal Court, and discovered that Chong Jingtian had traded Scarlet Thunder Star's departing factions into a century of service to the Bronze Church. The chapter ended with Zhou Yanwu angrily refusing Chong Jingtian's deal.

• Su Chen used Faceless Ghost Essence to erase Tough Walker's fatal-injury requirement and considered how to obtain the Immortal Ancient Tree's sap.
• Lan Hao returned to the settlement, kept quiet about his encounter with Su Chen, and wondered whether the settlement's natives were allied with Strange God believers.
• Su Chen told Xia Hanshi that Lan Hao was colluding with the Royal Court, and Xia Hanshi agreed to consult Chong Jingtian about informing Qing Cang.
• Xia Hanshi revealed that Chong Jingtian had reached an agreement with Qing Cang thanks to Su Chen, and said Tianqing's Strange God's Power would arrive the next day.
• Zhou Yanwu confronted Chong Jingtian over a deal requiring departing factions to serve the Bronze Church unconditionally for a hundred years, then refused to accept it.

Chong Jingtian confronted Zhou Yanwu about their lack of leverage, while Su Chen learned how Strange God's power could alter profession requirements. After Qing Cang learned that Ni Chuan from the Royal Court had arrived, he called on his master, and an enormous damaged cauldron burst from the ruins.

• Chong Jingtian told Zhou Yanwu that Qing Cang had agreed to their deal because he favored Su Chen, and Jiang Shumo reported that Xia Jie had stopped Tianqing's transport ship.
• Xia Jie surrounded the ship over Strange God's power aboard, but Chong Jingtian explained the delivery, and Qing Cang allowed it to proceed.
• Wan Chen told Su Chen that Strange God's power could distort a profession's pseudo-spiritual perception, though using it was dangerous and could cause corruption.
• Chong Jingtian told Qing Cang he had seen Ni Chuan, a Royal Court figure, and Qing Cang suspected someone had revealed the ruins' location.
• Qing Cang knelt before the crimson-flame corridor and called for his master to help against the Royal Court arrival.
• The ground shattered as fire and lightning erupted, and a colossal, damaged red-gold cauldron rose from the ruins.

The Crimson Cauldron of Sinfire and Punishment Thunder emerged from the ruins, and the two halves of the Stone Tablet reunited into a spirit dragon. As the Ancient King prepared to let the candidates undergo the cauldron’s trial, Ni Chuan arrived and demanded that his son be allowed to compete for the Morning Star Rank spirit.

• Qing Cang summoned the enormous damaged cauldron, revealing the ruins’ true form and drawing the Bronze Ancient King’s attention.
• The Stone Tablet’s halves merged into a spirit dragon, and Martial Uncle Chi Yang’s remnant asked that the visitors be allowed to enter the cauldron and fulfill his last wish.
• Ni Chuan discussed Lan Hai’s secret offer with a young man, then rushed toward the cauldron after sensing its violent energy and the retreating Nether Mist.
• Qing Cang explained that candidates would have to pass Chi Yang’s scrutiny, while Wan Chen and Lin Yue prepared for the selection and Lan Hao remained uneasy.
• Ni Chuan confronted Qing Cang, invoked the agreement between the Royal Court and the Five Great Sects, and demanded that his son be allowed to face the spirit.