Chapter Summaries

Lu Yun arrived at the practical combat assessment hall and received deferential treatment after others saw his B+ Martial Talent grade. With two hours before the test began, he decided to cultivate instead of resting, and his system triggered a 200-fold increase in Primordial Fist experience.

• Other contestants noticed Lu Yun’s B+ Martial Talent grade and speculated about his strength.
• A staff member told Lu Yun the assessment would begin in two hours and guided him to the Grade B rest area.
• Lu Yun entered a private room and reflected on how treatment depended on strength.
• Lu Yun decided to cultivate the Primordial Fist before the assessment, and his system granted him 200 bonus experience.

Lu Yun learned the rules for the practical assessment in Netherworld Valley, chose a saber to carry, and entered the teleportation array. He arrived at the assessment location, but had not yet seen what awaited him there.

• Lu Yun reached the early Sea-Opening Realm and learned that the assessment would rank contestants by how many exotic beasts they hunted.
• He read that candidates were expected to stay in Netherworld Valley’s outer region and carry a personal weapon.
• Lu Yun picked up an Ancient Moon Elephant-Trunk Saber and channeled his spiritual energy into it, revealing its unusual qualities.
• Lu Yun joined the contestants gathered in the hall and followed a uniformed man into the teleportation array.
• The array activated, and Lu Yun opened his eyes in a changed environment.

Lu Yun entered the valley to hunt exotic beasts and test his strength, quickly killing a third-tier beast at a lake. He collected its beast core and continued toward the valley’s depths to find stronger prey and improve his Thousand Mountains Saber Technique.

• Lu Yun teleported into a vast valley and headed straight for its depths in search of high-tier exotic beasts.
• At a mist-covered lake, a third-tier exotic beast emerged and threatened to eat Lu Yun.
• Lu Yun attacked with the Ancient Moon Elephant-Trunk Saber, severing the beast’s claw and tail before killing it with Windwing Shatters Clouds.
• Lu Yun checked his attributes and found that the fight had raised his Thousand Mountains Saber Technique proficiency to lv8 15%.
• Lu Yun retrieved the beast core from the corpse and raced farther into the valley.

Lu Yun entered the valley’s inner area, where examiners watching the assessment dismissed his chances of survival. He defeated a fourth-tier Windchasing Tiger and made it carry him up to inspect a towering cliff.

• Lu Yun’s sensor marked a third-tier exotic beast, and chief examiner Lei Tian and the other examiners watched him race toward the valley’s inner area before turning their attention to another contestant.
• Lu Yun stopped beneath a towering cliff and was attacked from above by a fourth-tier Windchasing Tiger.
• Lu Yun calmly dodged the tiger’s repeated attacks until he maneuvered in front of it and struck its head with the Ancient Moon Elephant-Trunk Saber.
• The wounded Windchasing Tiger begged for its life and offered to serve as Lu Yun’s mount.
• Lu Yun spared the tiger for the moment and ordered it to carry him up to inspect the cliff.

Lu Yun entered a cliff cave and slaughtered sixteen fifth-rank Netherworld Wolves, raising his Thousand Mountains Saber Technique proficiency and reaching the Sea-Opening Peak Realm. The examiners watched the battle in disbelief, and chief examiner Lei Tian decided to report Lu Yun’s power to Martial Dao Alliance headquarters.

• Lu Yun and the Windchasing Tiger entered a dark cave, where they encountered sixteen fifth-rank Netherworld Wolves.
• Lu Yun sent the frightened Windchasing Tiger back to the cave entrance and charged the wolves with his Ancient Moon Elephant-Trunk Saber.
• Lu Yun killed the Netherworld Wolves with the Thousand Mountains Saber Technique, gaining experience until he beheaded the final three.
• Lu Yun checked his status and saw his saber technique proficiency rise above his fist technique as his strength reached the Sea-Opening Peak Realm.
• The examiners watched Lu Yun’s battle in shock, and Lei Tian resolved to report what happened to Martial Dao Alliance headquarters.

Lu Yun killed the sixth-rank Netherworld Wolf chieftain, greatly increased his saber technique experience, and claimed its beast core. After his achievements during the assessment drew the attention of the Martial Dao Alliance Headquarters, chief examiner Lei Tian ordered him to return to the hall, where Lu Yun expected to learn why they had summoned him.

• Lu Yun waited in a cave for an approaching sixth-rank Netherworld Wolf, which accused him of killing its subordinates and attacked.
• The Netherworld Wolf caught Lu Yun's saber and counterattacked, but Lu Yun used thirty-three layers of amplification to overwhelm it.
• Lu Yun killed the Netherworld Wolf chieftain with a blow to the head, triggering a 300x critical hit that raised his Thousand Mountains Saber Technique experience.
• Lu Yun took the chieftain's beast core and realized his feats had made it impossible to keep his true strength hidden.
• After Lu Yun left the cave and summoned the Windchasing Tiger, his communicator received Lei Tian's message ordering him to return to the hall because Martial Dao Alliance Headquarters representatives had arrived.

After Lu Yun returned from Netherworld Valley, Eastern King Gu Yuanwei met him and confirmed his extraordinary talent and strength. Gu Yuanwei announced the Martial God’s appointment of Lu Yun as Grand Lord of Humanity’s Ninth District, then took him to the Unfixed Pagoda for the final assessment.

• Lu Yun returned to the hall, where Gu Yuanwei introduced himself as the Martial Dao Alliance representative and shook Lu Yun’s hand.
• Gu Yuanwei sensed Lu Yun’s cultivation and recognized him as a prodigy, while Lu Yun reflected on the gap between their strength.
• Gu Yuanwei told Lu Yun that the Martial God had appointed him Grand Lord of Humanity’s Ninth District, but wanted him to complete the Unfixed Pagoda test first.
• Lu Yun agreed to take the test, and Gu Yuanwei traveled with him by supersonic spacecraft to the Unfixed Pagoda.

Lu Yun arrived at the Unfixed Pagoda with Gu Yuanwei and reunited with Chu Lingxue, where Dugu Mingjun challenged his standing with pointed remarks. Gu Yuanwei proposed a wager over who would climb highest, and Dugu Mingjun asked what was at stake.

• Lu Yun arrived at the Unfixed Pagoda with Gu Yuanwei, attracting attention from the gathered cultivators.
• Chu Lingxue recognized Lu Yun and was surprised that he had passed the earlier assessments and arrived with the Eastern King.
• Dugu Mingjun approached Chu Lingxue and taunted Lu Yun for being personally escorted by Gu Yuanwei.
• Gu Yuanwei identified Dugu Mingjun as the Western King's nephew and proposed betting on who would climb highest in the tower.
• Dugu Mingjun accepted the challenge in principle and asked Gu Yuanwei what he wanted to wager.

Gu Yuanwei and Dugu Mingjun wagered valuable treasures before the Unfixed Pagoda assessment began. The Pagoda Spirit explained the challenge and sent each contestant into a separate trial, where Lu Yun faced a virtual opponent matching his strength.

• Gu Yuanwei offered a bottle of Water-Rhyme Spirit Pills as his wager, and Dugu Mingjun staked ten Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones.
• The Unfixed Pagoda began the assessment, and the Pagoda Spirit explained that contestants had to defeat opponents matching their strength across nine floors.
• The Pagoda Spirit transported each contestant to a separate space, leaving Lu Yun alone in a gray haze.
• A black-armored virtual opponent appeared before Lu Yun with Sea-Opening Perfection Realm strength and attacked him.
• Lu Yun exchanged saber strikes with the opponent, realized they were evenly matched, and began building power with thirty-threefold amplification.

Lu Yun defeated the first-floor opponent, unlocking a 1000x critical strike multiplier, then faced two simulated Early Star-Gathering Realm warriors on the second floor. As their attacks trained his Primordial Unity Fist, he broke through to the Mid-Star-Gathering Realm and prepared to counterattack.

• Lu Yun killed the black-robed opponent and gained enough saber experience to trigger the system’s 1000x critical strike multiplier.
• The Pagoda Spirit announced that Lu Yun had passed the first-floor trial and transported him to the second floor.
• Two simulated Early Star-Gathering Realm warriors attacked Lu Yun, matching his speed and forcing him onto the defensive.
• Lu Yun rapidly improved his Primordial Unity Fist through repeated critical strikes as his cultivation bottleneck began to loosen.
• Lu Yun broke through to the Mid-Star-Gathering Realm and charged at the two attackers instead of dodging.

Lu Yun advanced through the Unfixed Pagoda, defeating increasingly strong opponents until six Mid-Star-Gathering Realm black-clad men attacked him on the fourth floor. He broke through to the Late-Stage Star-Gathering Realm while fighting them.

• Lu Yun defeated two Early-Star-Gathering Realm black-clad men with one punch and advanced to the third floor.
• Lu Yun quickly defeated three Mid-Star-Gathering Realm opponents and was sent to the fourth floor.
• Dugu Mingjun defeated two opponents on the second floor and believed he was the first examinee to reach the third floor, while dismissing Lu Yun as eliminated.
• Lu Yun discovered six Mid-Star-Gathering Realm black-clad men waiting on the fourth floor and used his saber to hold them back.
• Lu Yun gained Thousand Mountains Saber Technique experience, broke through his Mid-Star-Gathering Realm bottleneck, and advanced to the Late-Stage Star-Gathering Realm.

Lu Yun advanced to the Star-Gathering Complete Realm while trying to find a way to defeat eighteen equally strong opponents on the tower's fifth floor. He prepared to face them after his sudden enlightenment transformed his power.

• Lu Yun reached the Late-Stage Star-Gathering Realm and killed the six men in black on the fourth floor.
• Lu Yun entered the fifth floor, where eighteen men in black appeared, each at the Late-Stage Star-Gathering Realm.
• Lu Yun realized that neither the Thousand Mountains Saber Technique nor the Primordial Unity Fist alone could handle the opponents and began contemplating how to combine them.
• The system detected that Lu Yun was creating a martial technique and granted him repeated martial technique experience, triggering a 1000x critical hit.
• Lu Yun's cultivation surged past the Star-Gathering Peak Realm to the Star-Gathering Complete Realm, and the system unlocked Phase Five: 2000x Critical Hit Amplification.
• Lu Yun sensed his newfound strength and prepared to fight the eighteen men in black.

Lu Yun defeated the pagoda’s trials with ease, advanced to the Star-Gathering Complete Realm with two stars, and reached the eighth floor. His name appeared on the stone stele as he prepared to face the trial that had stopped Baili Yuchen.

• Lu Yun killed all eighteen black-clad men on the fourth floor, and a second star formed in his dantian, advancing him to the Two-Star Stage of the Star-Gathering Complete Realm.
• The woman in red realized that Lu Yun had passed the trial she had set to Hell difficulty and could not believe he had reached the fifth floor.
• Lu Yun swiftly killed the fifth floor’s thirty-two Star-Gathering Peak Realm opponents and continued climbing through the pagoda.
• Lu Yun reached the eighth floor, where Baili Yuchen had once been stopped, while the stone stele outside displayed his name and drew the crowd’s attention.
• Lu Yun sensed the energy around him and braced for the formidable battle ahead.

Lu Yun fought the black-clothed man on the Unfixed Pagoda’s eighth floor, testing his strength against an opponent with three spiritual power stars. After nearly dying to the man’s Falling Star Sword, Lu Yun escaped and received a surge in Primordial Fist experience that strengthened his spiritual power.

• The man in black appeared on the eighth floor and revealed that he had condensed at least three spiritual power stars, compared with Lu Yun’s two.
• Lu Yun and the man in black exchanged attacks, and Lu Yun’s relentless saber strikes gradually began to suppress his opponent.
• The man in black unleashed Falling Star Sword, trapping Lu Yun with a force that left him unable to move as countless swords rushed toward him.
• Lu Yun detonated his acupoints to break free and retreat from the sword net.
• The system awarded Lu Yun 20,000 Primordial Fist experience, raising the technique from lv225 29% to lv237 32% and strengthening his spiritual power.

Lu Yun defeated the weakened man in black after reaching three stars, then gained another star and advanced to the Unfixed Pagoda’s ninth floor. Outside, the crowd celebrated his unprecedented achievement, while Dugu Mingjun remained unaware of Lu Yun’s progress.

• Lu Yun discovered that he had reached three stars and attacked the man in black while his spiritual power was depleted.
• Lu Yun struck the man in black, severely injuring him, and the system increased Lu Yun’s fist proficiency and strength to four stars.
• The Unfixed Pagoda transported Lu Yun to the ninth floor, and the monument outside updated his progress.
• The crowd on Bluestone Square reacted in shock as rumors spread that Lu Yun had achieved an SSS+-ranked talent result.
• Dugu Mingjun failed the third-floor trial and confidently assumed that Lu Yun had not even passed the first floor.

Lu Yun reached the ninth floor of the Unfixed Pagoda and met the one-armed elder Qing Yuanzi, who revealed that he was Baili Yuchen’s master and had lived for 499 years. Lu Yun accepted Qing Yuanzi as his master, and Qing Yuanzi passed the Heavenly Sword Art into his sea of consciousness.

• Lu Yun followed a voice to a study on the ninth floor, where he found a powerful one-armed elder waiting for him.
• The elder told Lu Yun he was 499 years old and that Baili Yuchen had failed a mission despite being the Martial God.
• The elder revealed that he was Baili Yuchen’s master and had arranged for the Unfixed Pagoda’s location to be revealed after Baili Yuchen failed.
• The elder said Lu Yun might have a chance to complete the mission, then asked him to become his disciple.
• Lu Yun accepted and bowed to Qing Yuanzi, who passed the Heavenly Sword Art into his sea of consciousness.

Lu Yun learned that the Heavenly Sword Art could lead beyond the Star-Gathering Realm, while Qing Yuanzi warned him how difficult it was to master. After the system converted his experience points and raised the art to level six, Lu Yun claimed he could master its first seven levels and asked to demonstrate.

• Qing Yuanzi explained that the Heavenly Sword Art was created by Ziyun and described the realms beyond the Star-Gathering Realm.
• Qing Yuanzi warned Lu Yun that the Heavenly Sword Art was extremely difficult, recounting how he had reached only its sixth level and Baili Yuchen only its fifth.
• The system converted Lu Yun's experience points, leaving him with the Heavenly Sword Art at level six.
• Lu Yun told Qing Yuanzi he was slightly stronger than Baili Yuchen and could master the first seven levels.
• Qing Yuanzi handed Lu Yun a Falling Leaf Azure Edge Sword and invited him to demonstrate his comprehension.

Lu Yun mastered the Heavenly Sword Art in moments and used its seventy-sixth move to trigger a breakthrough into the Nirvana Realm. Qing Yuanzi watched in shock as his new disciple’s talent surpassed even his expectations.

• Lu Yun practiced the Heavenly Sword Art with extraordinary skill, and his sword art experience surged as the system triggered critical hits.
• Qing Yuanzi watched Lu Yun’s aura and swordsmanship grow stronger, recognizing him as a peerless prodigy.
• Lu Yun unleashed the seventy-sixth move, Shadow Doppelgänger, and tore open space with his sword, astonishing Qing Yuanzi.
• Lu Yun endured the raging gale winds as spiritual energy stars condensed in his sea of qi and dantian until he reached the Nirvana Realm.
• Lu Yun celebrated his breakthrough, and Qing Yuanzi realized that Lu Yun had truly comprehended the Heavenly Sword Art.

After learning Unfixed Pagoda’s history from Qing Yuanzi, Lu Yun hurried underground to reinforce the chains holding the recovering Thunderclap Venom Xun Python. His sudden departure through a spatial rift left Eastern King Gu Yuanwei and the others alarmed, and they followed him below.

• Qing Yuanzi praised Lu Yun’s extraordinary talent and revealed that he had learned Unfixed Pagoda’s secrets as a disciple of Mirror Moon Sect’s sect master Ouyang Jie.
• Qing Yuanzi explained that a Mirror Moon Sect predecessor built Unfixed Pagoda and created a restriction to suppress enemies, then recounted the calamity that befell the sect.
• After hearing the story, Lu Yun set off to reinforce the chains binding the beast beneath the pagoda, which Qing Yuanzi said had been growing stronger.
• Lu Yun appeared on Bluestone Square, saw the crowd waiting for him, and opened a spatial rift to leave without speaking to them.
• Eastern King Gu Yuanwei sensed trouble, jumped through the still-open rift, and led others in following Lu Yun underground.

Lu Yun followed the Thunderclap Venom Xun Python’s disturbances to the Unfixed Pagoda’s underground abyss and found the beast bound by chains. He entered the confinement to stop it, but its power already blasted him back as it struggled to break free.

• Lu Yun crossed the underground palace, passed the lifelike corpses of ancient cultivators, and hurried toward the abyss’s core.
• Lu Yun reached the cavern sealed by a pale green barrier and saw the Thunderclap Venom Xun Python bound by enormous chains.
• The Thunderclap Venom Xun Python broke another chain and threatened Lu Yun, claiming it had recovered part of its cultivation.
• Lu Yun used Qing Yuanzi’s method to pass through the barrier and entered the cavern to trap the beast.
• Lu Yun attacked the python’s tail, but its aura blasted him away, revealing its terrifying strength even while restrained.