Chapter Summaries

Lu Ren learned that Kunlun cultivators used human essence blood to make talismans, then implanted the Tiger Demon Inner Core in his dantian to begin cultivating a qi seed. The chapter left him considering how the new energy organ would replenish itself.

• Lu Ren entered his Inner World, where Chen Xuzi taunted him and Xu Fu lamented his fate.
• Lu Ren tortured Chen Xuzi until he revealed that the Mingyang Sect’s Harmony Qi Talismans used the essence blood of ten people.
• Lu Ren grew angry at Kunlun’s cultivators and said they might all need to be purged, while Chen Xuzi claimed they would soon wield True Energy in daylight.
• Lu Ren examined the Tiger Demon Inner Core and considered using it to cultivate the true through the false, a path that might lead to the Dao Determination Realm.
• Lu Ren pierced his abdomen, placed the inner core in his dantian, and began cleansing its spiritual imprint so he could nurture it into a qi seed.
• Lu Ren wondered how the energy organ formed from the inner core would replenish itself.

Lu Ren absorbed the Tiger Demon Inner Core and investigated the possible true dragon beneath Changbai Mountain. After arranging a renewed exploration, he arrived at the northern military base and met Guardian Shi Yong.

• Lu Ren absorbed the Tiger Demon Inner Core and began erasing its spiritual imprint, while Kong Qiu revealed that he once knew where a true dragon's inner core had been left.
• Lu Ren told Li Qingling to recruit students for Falcon Fist and register for the national martial arts tournament, then accepted an invitation to teach at Shuzhou University.
• Lu Ren reviewed records of a cavern beneath Changbai Mountain and applied to resume the abandoned exploration mission.
• Three days later, Lu Ren traveled to the military base near Changbai Mountain, where he met Monk Shi Yong, the Northern Guardian.

Lu Ren exchanged blows with Monk Shi Yong, whose Acala-inspired Vajra Body matched his own formidable physique. During their fight, Lu Ren’s physique advanced to Tier 1, Level 3, and Shi Yong ended the spar before either had to unleash their full power.

• Monk Shi Yong praised Lu Ren’s reputation and asked to test his Ten Grounds Bodhisattva Dharma Appearance in a spar.
• Shi Yong explained how his Immoveable Wisdom King Vajra Body turned wrath into Acala’s power and attacked Lu Ren across the snowy ground.
• Lu Ren met Shi Yong’s punches head-on, and the two traded heavy blows that swept snow from the battlefield.
• Lu Ren’s physique broke through to Tier 1, Level 3, making his attacks faster and heavier as the fight continued.
• Shi Yong stepped back and ended the spar, acknowledging Lu Ren’s strength and noting how quickly he had caught up to decades of training.

Lu Ren led a small team into Changbai Mountain to investigate a possible entrance to the Heavenly Court, enduring extreme weather and a punishing trek to reach their destination. As the team rested in a cave, Lu Ren studied the map and worked on erasing the spiritual imprint in his Tiger Demon Inner Core, while Li Xi asked whether he believed a true dragon lay beneath the mountain.

• Monk Shi Yong urged Lu Ren to preserve his True Self as his strength grew, then left to recite Buddhist scriptures.
• Chen Feng introduced Li Xi, an archaeologist and granddaughter of Li Meng, as part of Lu Ren's Changbai Mountain expedition.
• Lu Ren's team flew into the mountains, then continued on foot through severe snow and cold after the helicopter had to land.
• Lu Ren carried Li Xi and used his Magnetic Field to help the team endure the journey, and they reached her mapped location after six hours.
• Lu Ren enlarged a cave with his sword so the team could camp, then studied coordinates pointing toward a possible Heavenly Court entrance in the stratosphere.
• Li Xi asked Lu Ren whether he believed a true dragon was beneath Changbai Mountain.

Lu Ren entered a dangerous underground passage beneath Changbai Mountain after Li Xi’s map and sonar equipment guided the team to a hidden cavern. He crossed into the Dragon Realm Secret Land and found that its stable passage remained open behind him.

• After the snowstorm ended, Chen Feng and the others installed the sonar equipment, and Li Xi used her grandfather’s map to identify a gentle route into the underground caverns.
• Lu Ren fractured the rocky ground with a stamp, opening a vast pit, then entered the caverns alone with oxygen gear and signal relays.
• Lu Ren followed the route downward through rising heat and thin air until he found a constructed opening filled with a dense Magnetic Field and signs of activity.
• The signal cut off when Lu Ren entered the opening, and Chen Feng determined that it led to a long-existing otherworldly space while Li Xi worried about Lu Ren.
• Lu Ren received a prompt identifying the Dragon Realm Secret Land, confirmed he could return through the passage, and looked out over its mountains, plains, and great river.

Lu Ren took the True Dragon’s Dragon Pearl, and his system blocked the dragon Ao Li’s attempt to possess him while absorbing the pearl’s energy. After four days of transformation, Lu Ren awoke with greatly increased strength and upgraded skills, leaving the Dragon Realm with his power at its current limit.

• Lu Ren reached the True Dragon’s skull and found its crimson Dragon Pearl inside its brain.
• Lu Ren grabbed the pearl, and Ao Li revealed himself and tried to parasitize Lu Ren’s body.
• Lu Ren’s system blocked Ao Li and dragged his spiritual entity into the Primordial Land, then converted the dragon energy into skill points and physical and spiritual enhancements.
• The system merged Falcon Fist and Phoenix Zenith Fist into Lu Ren’s Ten Grounds Golden Body Bodhisattva Path as his body transformed over four days.
• Lu Ren awoke, checked his Status Panel, and discovered his physique and spirit had reached First Rank, Sixth Level, while the Dragon Pearl had turned to dust.

Lu Ren discovered that the True Dragon Inner Core was merging with his body, then subdued Ao Li’s dragon soul in his Inner World and received a scripture from Subhuti. After the secret realm began recovering, Lu Ren tested his greatly increased strength and mastered his new power.

• Lu Ren found that his crimson True Dragon Inner Core was growing meridians and entered his Inner World after Ao Li was dragged there.
• Lu Ren bound Ao Li’s dragon soul, which remained irrational and could not be questioned, and decided to wait for it to calm down or erase it.
• Subhuti offered Lu Ren the Present Tathagata True Scripture in exchange for relief from the strain on his Spirit Soul power.
• Lu Ren memorized the scripture and loosened the Inner World’s restraints on Subhuti to balance his power’s expenditure and replenishment.
• Lu Ren tested his more than fourfold physical strength, crossed hundreds of meters in a step, and shattered a tree with an air fist before mastering his increased strength.

Lu Ren emerged from the Dragon Realm Secret Land with newly formed crimson wings and reported the realm’s value to his companions. Back in Shu Capital, he discovered that the Netherworld was beginning to overlap with the real world and hurried to take Li Qingling away.

• Lu Ren transformed into a winged form, tested his sharp crimson feathers, and used his Magnetic Field to hover and glide.
• Lu Ren left the Dragon Realm Secret Land and reunited with Chen Feng, Wang Yuan, and the others, then reported that further exploration would require substantial resources.
• After exploration began at Changbai Mountain, Lu Ren returned to Shu Capital two days later and encountered an armored man with powerful Blood Qi.
• The system informed Lu Ren that the Netherworld’s overlap with the real world had reached 9.7 percent.
• Lu Ren found Li Qingling practicing safely and told her to pack so they could leave.

As the Netherworld overlapped with reality, Lu Ren and Li Qingling became trapped among spirit entity ghosts and discovered that Chentai City had turned into a dead city. Lu Ren headed toward Lei Zhao’s battle, deciding to help him despite their earlier conflict.

• Li Qingling returned with her backpack, but Lu Ren said it was too late to leave as the Netherworld’s Magnetic Field consumed the surrounding area.
• Lu Ren saw spirit entity ghosts gathering around Li Qingling and killed them with his Magnetic Field and longsword, gaining Spirit Proficiency.
• Lu Ren and Li Qingling crossed into the Netherworld, where the asphalt road had become a dirt path and Chentai City appeared as a ghost domain.
• Lu Ren feared that Chentai City’s millions of residents, including Cao Jingde, Zhang Yan, and Chen Ling, had died.
• Lu Ren heard Lei Zhao fighting nearby and went to help, explaining that Lei Zhao served the country and people despite his flaws.

Lu Ren and Lei Zhao fought off Netherworld monsters and sheltered survivors at the Dragon Elephant Bedrock Style training grounds as the Netherworld overlapped with the real world. After Lu Ren easily killed Nurarihyon, they set out to search for more survivors while the threat of the Netherworld consuming the real world remained.

• Lei Zhao defeated and crushed an Asura while explaining that the training grounds’ Magnetic Field generator protected civilians from spectral ghosts.
• Lu Ren and Lei Zhao recognized that another realm had overlapped with their world, and they discussed the dark Nether City nearby.
• Lei Zhao invited Lu Ren to join the search for survivors, and Lu Ren sent Li Qingling into the protected training grounds.
• Lu Ren explained the Netherworld and Blood Qi Martial Dao to Lei Zhao, who became interested in the cultivation path.
• Lu Ren killed Nurarihyon with a single surprise strike, then joined Lei Zhao in searching for survivors as they moved toward Chentai City.

Lu Ren fought through a swarm of ghosts and discovered that the Crimson Dragon Inner Core could absorb the heat generated by his exertion. He then confronted the Snow Woman, whose sudden transformation left their battle unresolved.

• Lu Ren attracted and killed nearly ten thousand spirits and ghosts with his sword, increasing his proficiency.
• Lu Ren discovered that the Crimson Dragon Inner Core could absorb his body's excess heat.
• The Snow Woman appeared, explained that she had been swept into the world and wanted the power within Lu Ren, then suddenly attacked him.
• Lu Ren grabbed the Snow Woman and repeatedly smashed her into the ground, but she endured his blows and began transforming into a huge, clawed creature.

Lu Ren killed Snow Woman, destroyed a Yin Soldier army on the way to Chentai City, and encountered a dangerous presence watching from its gates. He returned with hundreds of survivors as Chinese forces opened a safe passage, while the overlap between the Netherworld and the real world began to recede.

• Lu Ren used his Fifth Extreme Unyielding Bodhisattva Avatar to kill Snow Woman and found the surrounding area devastated, with no survivors nearby.
• Lu Ren discovered a vast Yin Soldier army marching toward Chentai City and recognized Cao Jingde among its commanders.
• Lu Ren killed the army's commander and Cao Jingde, then slaughtered the Yin Soldiers until he reached Chentai City's gates.
• Lu Ren sensed the Great Resentful One watching from inside the city and retreated rather than investigate.
• Lu Ren returned with five or six hundred survivors to the Dragon Elephant Bedrock Style martial arts grounds, where Lei Zhao helped guide them toward arriving Chinese forces.
• The Netherworld's overlap with the real world lasted three days before gradually receding, leaving escaped spirits and ghosts to be cleared away.

After the Netherworld crisis, Lu Ren watched Spatial Rifts spread worldwide and warned that changing Magnetic Fields could disrupt modern electronics as ancient immortals and gods returned. He traded Ji Quanzhen a transformed body-refinement method for Celestial Muscle Jade Bone, leaving Ji questioning whether anyone else could cultivate it.

• The Shu Capital Netherworld incident receded, and the Security Administration Bureau established a Demon Hunting Branch to handle escaped spirits and ghosts.
• Lu Ren continued cultivating while gaming, and he promised Li Qingling a body-strengthening cultivation method if she mastered Falcon Fist or Phoenix Zenith Fist.
• As Spatial Rifts and spirit encounters spread across the world, Ji Quanzhen asked Lu Ren whether humanity should develop Kunlun or build spacecraft, and Lu Ren advised preparing both options.
• Lu Ren observed violent changes in the world's Magnetic Field and told Ji Quanzhen that modern precision electronics might soon fail without special materials.
• Ji Quanzhen urged Lu Ren to pass on martial arts, then offered him the Taoist body-refinement art Celestial Muscle Jade Bone in exchange for Lu Ren's Ten Grounds Golden Body Phoenix Bodhisattva Path.
• Ji Quanzhen cursed after seeing the transformed cultivation method, and Lu Ren said its wings appeared within his spiritual dharma form.

Lu Ren learned Celestial Muscle Jade Bone and the True Martial Great Emperor Body, strengthening his original form while coaching Li Qingling through the national martial arts tournament. After she qualified for the finals, Lu Ren traveled with her to the imperial capital, where he met Zhao Jiyou, an Enlightened Awareness Qi Refiner who served as a State Preceptor.

• Lu Ren mastered Celestial Muscle Jade Bone and the True Martial Great Emperor Body, and his physique and blood qi began to improve.
• Lu Ren revealed his original form to Li Qingling while training, then returned to human form after practicing with his wings.
• Lu Ren coached Li Qingling remotely through the tournament preliminaries, and she advanced to the finals with a decisive Phoenix Zenith Fist punch.
• Lu Ren gave Li Qingling a strand of energy from the Crimson Dragon Inner Core, which he confirmed was developing positively within her.
• Lu Ren and Li Qingling flew to the imperial capital, where Zhao Jiyou greeted Lu Ren and remarked on his progress toward a second Limit Breaker.

Zhao Jiyou asked Lu Ren to explore their Inner Worlds together, explaining that the path within it threatened to change who he was. Lu Ren learned more about the dangers and the rumored Boundless Land, then attended the National Martial Arts Tournament finals, where he sensed fighting intent from fellow judge Chen Hai.

• Zhao Jiyou invited Lu Ren to explore their Inner Worlds, but Lu Ren refused and heard that Zhao feared losing himself on the path within.
• Lu Ren questioned Subhuti about Shakya’s journey, and Chen Xuzi said Shakya might have reached the Boundless Land after Dao Determination.
• Chen Xuzi explained that a person who failed Dao Determination could cease to be their true self, leaving Lu Ren to ponder the danger of the path.
• Three days later, Lu Ren attended the National Martial Arts Tournament finals at the Bird's Nest as a judge representing the official side.
• Lu Ren noticed that Chen Hai, another Enlightened Awareness judge, looked at him with fighting intent.

Lu Ren spoke with Chen Hai about their Enlightened Awareness cultivation and Zhao Jiyou’s plans to explore a path in the Inner World. After the weeklong National Martial Dao Tournament ended, the organizers announced an exhibition match between Lu Ren and Chen Hai.

• Lu Ren and Chen Hai sized each other up and discussed their fist traditions and paths to Enlightened Awareness.
• Chen Hai revealed that he had reached the fifth step and been stuck before the second Limit Breaker for twenty years.
• Lu Ren and Chen Hai discussed Zhao Jiyou’s efforts to gather Enlightened Awareness Martial Daoists and his preparations for the Great Spirit World.
• The National Martial Dao Tournament ran for a week, and Li Qingling placed eighty-fourth among the nation’s top hundred Martial Daoists.
• The host announced an exhibition match between Lu Ren and Chen Hai, prompting an excited reaction from the audience.

Lu Ren and Chen Hai fought to a draw in a spectacular Clairvoyance-level match. As the crowd celebrated, a spatial passage opened in central Modu and monsters began attacking the city.

• Lu Ren and Chen Hai introduced themselves and discussed their spiritual avatars, including Chen Hai’s path through the Hundred Saints Fist.
• Lu Ren and Chen Hai exchanged powerful blows, devastating the martial arts platform while holding back enough to protect the spectators.
• Lu Ren and Chen Hai agreed to call their match a draw and left the platform to roaring applause.
• A spatial passage opened before a giant screen in central Modu, and air-raid sirens sent pedestrians toward nearby shelters.
• Green-skinned monsters poured through the passage, and one attacked a crowd before a young man charged it and was hurled into a storefront.

Lu Ren and the others rushed to Modu after an Orc army invaded major cities, and Lu Ren descended into the city to confront the Orcs. He rescued a wounded special operations officer and faced Renault as gunfire and artillery spread through the city.

• Lu Ren joined Chen Hai, Lei Li, Chen Changfeng, and Zhang Chang aboard an experimental hypersonic aircraft bound for Modu.
• The group learned that Orc armies had invaded major cities around the world and that civilians in Modu had suffered heavy casualties.
• Lu Ren jumped from the aircraft, spotted Orcs attacking civilians, and searched for a place to land.
• Renault threatened a woman and her child, then prepared to kill a wounded special operations officer who had tried to distract him.
• Lu Ren crashed into Renault, rescued the officer, stopped his bleeding, and then cut Renault down.

Lu Ren fought the Strong Orc invasion, rescued civilians alongside Zhang Chang, and killed the old orc guarding the spatial passage. A burst of scarlet light erased the battlefield and took Lu Ren away; he awoke in an unfamiliar landscape with a stranger beside him.

• Lu Ren questioned Renault, killed him, and slaughtered hundreds of Strong Orcs before clearing most of a district for rescue teams.
• Lu Ren flew to help Zhang Chang, who defeated a massive Strong Orc and refused to rest despite his age.
• Lu Ren reached the spatial passage and cut down the Strong Orcs protecting an old orc.
• Lu Ren killed the old orc, triggering scarlet light that erased the Strong Orcs and passage and carried him away.
• Lu Ren awoke in a landscape of mountains and grasslands, found his High-Frequency Vibration Sword missing, and turned toward a man who had spoken beside him.

Lu Ren met Guang Chengzi in the Great Spirit World, which the immortal claimed was Boundless Land, and learned that he sought the unique essence in mortal humans for cultivation. Suspecting Guang Chengzi planned to merge the Great Spirit World with reality, Lu Ren attacked him and overwhelmed his Mystical Arts with his vitality.

• Guang Chengzi brought Lu Ren to a restaurant in the Great Spirit World and described it as Boundless Land, where spiritual and material worlds overlapped.
• Guang Chengzi said he wanted Lu Ren’s help and explained that human bodies were valuable materials because mortal Spiritual Energy contained a trace of immortal essence.
• Guang Chengzi revealed that he had entered the mortal realm through Ancestor Chen Tuan's Dream-Wandering Method and used flesh and blood to form a spatial passage.
• Lu Ren recognized a system prompt identifying the place as the depths of the Great Spirit World and confronted Guang Chengzi about whether he had reached the Dao Determination Realm.
• Lu Ren attacked Guang Chengzi, whose Mystical Arts and spiritual assault failed against Lu Ren’s vitality and system protections.
• Lu Ren restrained Guang Chengzi with the Fifth Extreme Unyielding Bodhisattva Avatar and accused him of creating the Strong Orcs and planning to merge the Great Spirit World with reality.