Chapter Summaries

After escaping the Dark Zone, Lu Ren pursued the Jade Emperor, Tathagata, and the Queen Mother of the West along the Path to Ascension. Their exhausting race continued for over ten thousand years without any of the dangers Huang Gong had warned about appearing.

• Lu Ren confirmed that the sinister Celestial Immortal had become trapped in the Dark Zone, abandoned the pursuit, and returned to the Path to Ascension.
• After nearly half a year of nonstop travel, Lu Ren caught up with the Jade Emperor, Tathagata, and the Queen Mother of the West, who repeatedly tried to outpace him.
• Tathagata suggested killing Lu Ren, but the Jade Emperor dismissed the idea, while the Queen Mother of the West argued that their past killings of humans would eventually bring them into conflict with him.
• Lu Ren wondered whether Tongtian had perished in the Dark Zone as the four continued racing forward together.
• Over ten thousand years, the travelers encountered strange lifeforms and several temporary resting places, but none of the dangers Huang Gong had warned Lu Ren about.

Lu Ren reached the end of the Path to Ascension and found a colossal city called Border City, where newcomers waited for officials before entering its main road. When Chen Chi tried to approach the city and join its army without credentials, a junior officer attacked him.

• Lu Ren saw that countless Paths to Ascension converged on Border City and realized that powerful beings had carved them through the void.
• Lu Ren waited with other Late Celestial Immortals for two years, watching armored military formations pass along the main road.
• A Celestial Immortal Pinnacle explained that newcomers without status would court death by entering the main road before an official arrived.
• Chen Chi left the Path to Ascension and headed toward Border City, declaring that he wanted to join its army and fight foreign demons.
• The junior officer demanded Chen Chi's credentials, then attacked him after learning he had just emerged from the Path to Ascension.

Lu Ren and the other cultivators learned that those who reached Border City through the Path to Ascension were considered stowaways and would be killed without identification. A sect-connected cultivator offered to arrange their entry for ten thousand high-quality Spirit Crystals each.

• Four soldiers used a military formation and the city’s killing intent to destroy Chen Chi’s Dao Fruit and Spirit Soul.
• Lu Ren realized the Paths to Ascension were difficult for Border City to locate and recalled that a Golden Immortal and a True Phoenix seemed to know about them.
• A middle-aged cultivator explained that Path travelers were stowaways, and Border City soldiers killed anyone without identification because Extraterrestrial Demons had once infiltrated the city.
• The armored female Celestial Immortal Pinnacle asked whether the group could enter Border City safely, and the middle-aged cultivator said his sect’s seniors could provide identification.
• Lu Ren asked the price, and the middle-aged cultivator demanded ten thousand high-quality Spirit Crystals for entry and identification.

Lu Ren and the other cultivators waited at the end of Path to Ascension, witnessing the immense traffic of Celestial Immortals through Border City and hoping to enter. After nearly ten more years, a golden thread arrived, and Zhu Chengzi presented Manager Liu with a jade slip from his father.

• The cultivators watched Border City’s gates handle vast numbers of Celestial Immortals, while Spirit Halberd estimated that the city might hold hundreds of millions.
• Lu Ren continued cultivating and gained Shamanic Path insights from the System, discovering that he still had room to advance.
• After nearly ten years, Zhu Chengzi spotted a golden thread branching off the Border City roadway and told the gathered cultivators it was their only chance to enter.
• Manager Liu arrived before the group, and Zhu Chengzi presented him with a jade slip from Zhu Tiancheng.
• Manager Liu read the jade slip, recognized Zhu Chengzi as Zhu Zuotang’s son, and praised his cultivation and prospects.

Lu Ren and the other cultivators paid Manager Liu to enter Border City through a teleportation passage, then registered for identity cards. Lu Ren saw the city’s strange blend of ancient, modern, and futuristic life and learned that he had arrived at the End of the Universe.

• Manager Liu charged the cultivators ten thousand Spirit Crystals each and opened a mirror passage into Border City.
• Zhu Chengzi and an armored woman entered the passage first, prompting the rest of the hesitant cultivators to follow.
• Lu Ren emerged in a walled plaza inside Border City and received a system prompt announcing his arrival at the End of the Universe.
• The cultivators completed registration and received identity cards, while an official warned them to keep the cards safe and suggested they seek work through the Conscription Division.
• Lu Ren left the registration courtyard and saw Border City’s crowded streets, towering buildings, flying structures, high-speed trains, and varied residents.

Lu Ren arrived in Border City and learned that its powerful cultivators made even Celestial Immortal Pinnacle experts seem like beginners. Cao Dejing offered him low-paying labor and then a security job, leaving Lu Ren considering how to make a living.

• Lu Ren realized the Myriad Immortals Alliance had only brought him to Border City and would require more Spirit Crystals for further services.
• Ao Li told Lu Ren he had visited Border City with his father, though the True Dragon Clan had little influence there.
• Cao Dejing introduced himself as a labor-placement agent and showed Lu Ren jobs for miners, cart pullers, and artifact refiners.
• A cultivator protested being offered garment work until a purple-haired agent demonstrated power beyond the Celestial Immortal Pinnacle and explained Border City's cultivation hierarchy.
• The cultivator who had arrived with Lu Ren followed the purple-haired agent to learn about the garment job.
• Cao Dejing offered Lu Ren a security position and gave him his Communication Talisman after Lu Ren said he would consider it.

Lu Ren explored Border City, discovering how its immense formation suppressed the power of Divine Script and Celestial Immortals. At the War Armor Path, a woman invited him to become a blacksmithing apprentice at Bingjia Dao.

• Cao Dejing gave Lu Ren his communication code and went to speak with Spirit Halberd while Lu Ren wandered off.
• Lu Ren explored Border City and learned that its buildings were protected by powerful concealment formations and that Divine Script could not safely be copied.
• Lu Ren perceived the city’s formation patterns and the colossal divine tree at their source, then embarrassed himself by testing his strength in the street.
• Lu Ren found the War Armor Path plaque and admired its distinctive Divine Script until a woman called down to him from a window.
• The woman learned that Lu Ren had just arrived and followed the path of Body Refinement to Sainthood, then offered him a blacksmithing apprenticeship at Bingjia Dao.

Lu Ren entered Bingjia Dao, where its owner Huang Yayu recruited him as a blacksmith’s apprentice and explained the Profound Immortal realm. After Huang Yayu showed him to a surprisingly spacious room, Lu Ren was left wondering at the building’s interior.

• Lu Ren accepted Huang Yayu’s invitation to stay at Bingjia Dao and discovered its collection of powerful weapons and armor.
• Huang Yayu introduced herself as a mid-rank Weapon Forger and judged that Lu Ren’s physique made him suited to blacksmithing.
• Lu Ren asked about the Grand Celestial Immortal realm, and Huang Yayu explained that it was another name for Profound Immortal, created between Celestial Immortal and Golden Immortal.
• Huang Yayu assigned Lu Ren a room upstairs and told him to begin work early the next day.
• Lu Ren entered a room far larger than the building’s exterior suggested and reacted with surprise.

Lu Ren began learning artifact refinement at the Bingjia Dao shop, where Huang Yayu introduced him to Fire Grandfather, an intelligent Innate Truefire and the shop’s ancestral spirit. Fire Grandfather recognized the Bai Clan’s Moon Wheel commission, and Lu Ren greeted him as a junior.

• Lu Ren considered how valuable the shop was, then cultivated overnight but gained no proficiency and went to sleep.
• Huang Yayu brought Lu Ren to the rear courtyard to teach him basic artifact refinement.
• Lu Ren saw the ancient furnace’s pale golden flame and learned that Huang Yayu called it Fire Grandfather, an intelligent Innate Truefire.
• Huang Yayu fed a stone to Fire Grandfather and said the shop had received a commission for a Moon Wheel from the Bai Clan.
• Huang Yayu introduced Lu Ren as her newly recruited apprentice smith, and Lu Ren respectfully greeted Fire Grandfather.

Lu Ren helped Huang Yayu forge an artifact and received the Elementary Artifact Crafting True Method, which he quickly read and gained a faint insight into. He revealed his Witch God Physique to operate the enlarged bellows, while Huang Yayu prepared the furnace and Lu Ren noticed the runes on her body.

• Fire Grandfather tested Lu Ren with the Primordial Fire, and both praised each other's strength until Huang Yayu told them to get on with the work.
• Huang Yayu activated the furnace array and gave Lu Ren the Elementary Artifact Crafting True Method as a test of his aptitude for fire control.
• Lu Ren read the method in moments, but initially struggled to move the bellows and questioned Huang Yayu's low apprentice wages.
• Lu Ren unleashed his Witch God Physique and pulled the bellows with enough force that Fire Grandfather enlarged the furnace and bellows to fit him.
• Huang Yayu enlarged herself and began preparing materials for the furnace, and Lu Ren took note of the runes covering her body.

Lu Ren assisted Huang Yayu in forging a Moon Wheel and learned how the Bingjia Dao used manifested cosmic principles to turn an artifact into an Innate Spiritual Treasure. After spending half a year in the crafting space, he left with his earnings and the Intermediate Artifact Crafting True Method, ignoring Huang Yayu’s demands for more payment.

• Lu Ren worked the bellows as Huang Yayu melted the Moon Wheel’s materials, speeding up the process by at least thirty percent.
• Huang Yayu explained that Innate Spiritual Treasures required ancient forging methods, billions of hammer strikes, and a final step to reverse the innate.
• Huang Yayu forged the Moon Wheel for a month, then fused a crystal containing manifested cosmic principles into it, starting its transformation into an Innate Spiritual Treasure.
• Huang Yayu adjusted the crafting space and estimated that the Moon Wheel would take four or five years to finish transforming.
• After spending half a year in the crafting space, Lu Ren collected his Spirit Crystals and the Intermediate Artifact Crafting True Method, then left while Huang Yayu called after him to pay more.

Lu Ren explored Border City, discovered the cheap price of the artifact-crafting method Huang Yayu had sold him, and learned that the city was dominated by its border army and military industries. He flew to Changqing Ward to search for a place to live and was astonished by its futuristic, energy-powered skyscrapers.

• Lu Ren saw a shop advertising the Intermediate Artifact Crafting True Method for three hundred Spirit Crystals and cursed Huang Yayu for overcharging him.
• He bought books about Border City and cultivation, including an Elementary Divine Script Primer, then learned from the bookstore owner that most Celestial Immortals in the city served in the border army.
• The bookstore owner offered Lu Ren military recruitment and artifact-crafting opportunities, but Lu Ren decided to explore before choosing a livelihood.
• Lu Ren checked rental listings, followed a Celestial Immortal flight path, and reached Changqing Ward.
• Lu Ren marveled at Changqing Ward’s immense futuristic skyscrapers and energy-harvesting installations.

Lu Ren rented a cheap apartment in Changqing Ward, met his neighbor Wan Ling, and settled into life in Border City. After half a year of cultivation, he found that advancing his Shamanic Path toward Golden Immortal required far more Skill Points and Destiny Points than he possessed.

• Lu Ren rented an apartment in Changqing Ward and found its grim surroundings contrasted with a surprisingly well-equipped home and cultivation chamber.
• Lu Ren met Wan Ling, a mechanically modified Late Celestial Immortal who lived on the same floor, and learned about her fusion of machinery and immortal formation arts.
• Lu Ren reflected on how Celestial Immortals from the Path to Ascension struggled with their diminished standing in Border City.
• After half a year of settling in, Lu Ren checked the Status Panel and saw that advancing his Shamanic Path required 3,000 Skill Points and 50 Destiny Points.
• Lu Ren realized he had gathered only a little over 300 Skill Points and four Destiny Points, leaving him far from the advancement requirements.

Lu Ren used the system to enter the Shrouding the Heavens World, arriving on the Primordial Ancestral Star of the Primordial Era. His arrival triggered a world-shaking lightning tribulation, which he recognized as a Tribulation of Ascension.

• Lu Ren learned that Border City tolerated smuggling routes because its military needed recruits, though he suspected there was more behind the city's policies.
• The system found coordinates for Swallowing Starry Sky, Xuanhuang Great World, and Shrouding the Heavens, and Lu Ren chose Shrouding the Heavens.
• Lu Ren entered Shrouding the Heavens, where the system recorded his Cosmic Imprint and set a return cost of three Destiny Points.
• Lu Ren recognized the Primordial Ancestral Star as his surroundings, while a human sage panicked at the lightning filling the sky.
• Lu Ren understood that his power had triggered a Tribulation of Ascension, whose outcome would determine whether he ascended or perished.

Lu Ren began enduring an Emperor Tribulation that could transform his body and spirit, while Supremes across the universe took notice. A Feathered Azure Gold Sacred Spirit emerged from the Ancient Forbidden Ground and regarded Lu Ren as prey.

• Lu Ren arrived at a desolate star, and his Emperor Tribulation spread across the universe, drawing the attention of the forbidden-zone Supremes.
• Lu Ren faced the lightning with his Witch God Physique, and the tribulation began transforming his body and spirit.
• Lu Ren considered entering the Profound Immortal realm but decided to survive the tribulation before making plans for the dormant Supremes.
• A Great Perfection Sacred Spirit of Feathered Azure Gold emerged from the Ancient Forbidden Ground, startling the watching saints with his Supreme aura.
• The Feathered Azure Gold Sacred Spirit ignored Lu Ren and turned his gaze toward the Primordial Ancient Mine, treating Lu Ren as prey.

Lu Ren emerged from his Tribulation of Ascension as the White Tiger Supreme launched a Dark Upheaval, while the True Phoenix Supreme refused to join him. Lu Ren blocked the attack on humanity and prepared to test his strength against the White Tiger Supreme and the Evolving Cyan Gold Sacred Spirit.

• The White Tiger Supreme emerged from the Primordial Ancient Mine and urged the True Phoenix Supreme to join him in harvesting Lu Ren and the universe.
• The True Phoenix Supreme questioned whether sacrificing living beings could lead to immortality, then remained silent and declined to intervene.
• The White Tiger Supreme spared the True Phoenix Clan but reached toward the Eastern Wilderness to devour humans; Lu Ren stopped his power with a finger.
• Lu Ren emerged from the receding Tribulation of Ascension and set aside the converging Heaven's Will Imprint.
• Lu Ren declared he could kill the White Tiger Supreme and the Evolving Cyan Gold Sacred Spirit, then the Sacred Spirit attacked and Lu Ren met it with a punch as the White Tiger Supreme charged.

Lu Ren fought the White Tiger Supreme and the Celestial Tears Green Gold Sacred Spirit, defeating them with overwhelming force and revealing his strength to the watching restricted zones. He then turned his attention toward the silent restricted zones, where the Supremes held back from attacking.

• As the Supremes’ clash shook the universe, terrified beings fled or prayed, and some Great Sages and elderly Quasi-Emperors prepared to fight.
• Lu Ren struck the White Tiger Supreme with a single punch, shattering his claws and leaving him on the brink of death.
• The Celestial Tears Green Gold Sacred Spirit tried to retreat, but Lu Ren’s refined Falcon Fist overwhelmed him and blasted the second Supreme apart.
• Supremes watching from the restricted zones were shocked by Lu Ren’s combat power, and those considering a Dark Upheaval suppressed their plans.
• Lu Ren assessed his strength, located the restricted zones with his Hyperdimensional Perception, and watched as they fell silent.

Lu Ren defeated the White Tiger Supreme and the Celestial Tears Green Gold Sacred Spirit, then challenged the Supremes of the Primordial Ancient Mine. Two of its Supremes underwent ultimate sublimation and returned to their peak as a Purple-Gold Sacred Spirit and an Ancient Emperor, leaving the watching sages fearing for their survival.

• Lu Ren stopped the Heaven's Will Imprint from entering his body and celebrated receiving Skill Points for killing the White Tiger Supreme and the Celestial Tears Green Gold Sacred Spirit.
• Lu Ren traveled to the Primordial Ancient Mine and demanded that three Supremes emerge, or he would destroy the forbidden zone.
• The Primordial Ancient Mine's Supremes gathered their power, and a Purple-Gold Sacred Spirit volunteered to fight Lu Ren.
• A second Supreme emerged, and both Supremes underwent ultimate sublimation to restore their severed Dao Fruits and peak power.
• The Purple-Gold Sacred Spirit and the Ancient Emperor reappeared as peak Supremes, terrifying the Great Sages who witnessed their return.

Lu Ren refused to fuse with the Heaven's Will Imprint, drawing the greed of two Supremes who had undergone ultimate sublimation and of the forbidden zones. He fought the two Emperors in the void, remaining calm as he unleashed the two-hundredfold Zhou Tian Body Spirit Fist.

• The nameless Emperor and the Purple-Gold Sacred Spirit saw that Lu Ren still held the Heaven's Will Imprint and decided to kill him for it.
• The forbidden zones watched the two sublimated Emperors, hoping they would defeat Lu Ren and leave the Imprint behind.
• Lu Ren mocked the nameless Emperor by saying he might rank among the top hundred Emperors of all ages, prompting scorn from the forbidden zones.
• The two Supremes attacked Lu Ren, but he neutralized their techniques and left them alarmed by his strength.
• Lu Ren activated the two-hundredfold Zhou Tian Body Spirit Fist and struck back as the two Supremes released all their power.

Lu Ren killed two Supremes who had undergone ultimate sublimation, then surveyed the Nine Great Forbidden Zones and took their treasures while their residents stayed silent. The Supremes judged that only a united force of ten or twenty sublimated experts might be able to kill him.

• Lu Ren defeated the nameless Supreme and the Purple-Gold Sacred Spirit, killing both with his Zhou Tian Body Spirit Fist.
• Lu Ren collected the Purple-Gold Sacred Spirit's Divine Metal and gained Skill Points from the kills.
• Lu Ren assessed how many sublimated Supremes he could fight and decided to target the forbidden zones cautiously.
• Lu Ren searched the Nine Great Forbidden Zones, taking Elixirs of Immortality and Immortal Metal Divine Material without resistance.
• The Supremes in the forbidden zones feared confronting Lu Ren and estimated that ten or twenty of them would need to attack together to have a chance of killing him.