Chapter Summaries

Lin Yuan proposed that the Ten Heavenly Lords make the Ten Ultimate Formation’s separate formations support one another instead of letting enemies defeat them one by one. After several failed experiments, they successfully transferred power between two formations and began connecting all ten.

• Lin Yuan pointed out that the Elucidation Sect could attack the formations one at a time, and suggested that nearby formations lend power or stabilize one under attack.
• The Ten Heavenly Lords considered the idea and chose Qin Wan’s Heaven-Absolute Formation and Zhao Jiang’s Earth Inferno Formation for their first test.
• Their initial attempts exploded, until Golden Light Holy Mother and Qin Wan realized the formations needed an origin mark to convert the power between them.
• After three days of experiments, the Heavenly Lords used a Supreme Clarity Formation Talisman to transfer power from the Earth Inferno Formation into the Heaven-Absolute Formation without a clash.
• Qin Wan confirmed the borrowed power worked, and the Ten Heavenly Lords began connecting all ten formations to share their strength.

Lin Yuan and the Ten Heavenly Lords completed a linked version of the Ten Ultimate Formation, allowing its formations to lend power to one another. After West Qi’s testers failed to break through, they stopped sending ordinary Qi Practitioners and prepared to bring in stronger experts.

• Qin Wan tested the linked Heaven-Absolute Formation and confirmed that power from the other nine formations could stabilize its weak points.
• Wen Zhong invited West Qi to test the Ten Ultimate Formation, and a Qi Practitioner entered the Heaven-Absolute Formation the next day.
• The Heaven-Absolute Formation borrowed power from the other nine formations, thwarting the tester’s attacks and forcing him to flee.
• Zhao Jiang’s Earth Inferno Formation borrowed power from the Ice Formation, defeating another West Qi tester with a combined attack.
• West Qi stopped sending ordinary Qi Practitioners, and Lin Yuan sensed a far stronger presence as Jade Clarity Immortal Light rose in the distance.

West Qi’s prepared Qi Practitioners tested the Ten Ultimate Formation, but the linked formations repeatedly overcame their countermeasures. Lin Yuan sensed a far greater danger among the Elucidation Sect’s watchers, and the next morning a Jade Clarity Immortal arrived to test Qin Wan’s Heaven-Absolute Formation.

• Qin Wan linked the Heaven-Absolute Formation with the Earth Inferno Formation and then the Wind Roar Formation, burning and battering a Qi Practitioner despite his countermeasures.
• Dong Quan used the Golden Light Formation and the Ice Formation to overcome a second tester’s Wind-Calming Banner, while West Qi’s other formation testers also failed.
• Qin Wan, Golden Light Holy Mother, and Lin Yuan discussed weaknesses in the linked formations and agreed that their sudden changes could still catch opponents off guard.
• Lin Yuan sensed a dangerous aura among the Elucidation Sect’s observers and warned his senior brothers to be careful the next day.
• A Jade Clarity-robed Immortal arrived the next morning and told Qin Wan that he had come to test the Heaven-Absolute Formation.

Lin Yuan saved Qin Wan from a deadly attack by rerouting the power of the Ten Ultimate Formation, changing Qin Wan’s predetermined death. He inherited Heaven-Severing Formation Insight and immediately saw flaws in the routes the Ten Heavenly Lords had painstakingly devised.

• A second-generation Elucidation Sect disciple entered the Heaven-Absolute Formation and used a jade mirror to expose its formation patterns.
• The Daoist repeatedly struck the southeastern formation node, forcing Qin Wan to channel power from the other nine formations while concealing an attack aimed at Qin Wan himself.
• Lin Yuan recognized the danger and ordered the other nine formations to cut their support, but the Daoist then launched his sword directly at Qin Wan.
• Lin Yuan used the linked Formation Talisman to reroute the nine streams of Dharma Power, allowing Qin Wan to move and evade the sword by a hair.
• Qin Wan withdrew from the damaged formation, and Lin Yuan received Heaven-Severing Formation Insight after changing Qin Wan’s predetermined death.
• Lin Yuan examined the linked formation’s power routes and told Qin Wan that several of them took the long way around.

Lin Yuan used his new formation insight to redesign the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation, and the Ten Heavenly Lords tested it when the Elucidation Sect attacked again. Zhao Jiang survived through the new auxiliary routes and position-shifting formations, while Lin Yuan gained further formation insight and immediately began planning another revision.

• Lin Yuan identified inefficient power routes and helped the Ten Heavenly Lords add auxiliary paths and temporary position-shifting patterns to the formations.
• The next day, an Elucidation Sect expert attacked Zhao Jiang in the Earth Inferno Formation with a treasure that suppressed Earthfire and a Formation-Breaking Ring that blocked the central support routes.
• Lin Yuan directed Zhao Jiang to use the eastern auxiliary route, allowing him to shift away from a killing strike and continue fighting.
• The Elucidation Sect experts failed to break the formation or kill Zhao Jiang and withdrew, triggering Lin Yuan's successful Fate Reversal and granting him Zhao Jiang's formation insight.
• Lin Yuan saw new possibilities for modifying the formations and told the Ten Heavenly Lords that the version they had just tested was already outdated.

Lin Yuan repeatedly improved the Ten Ultimate Formation as the Elucidation Sect attacked, turning the Ten Heavenly Lords’ trials into opportunities to strengthen his formation skills. After several Heavenly Lords survived their death tribulations, Guangchengzi decided the Twelve Golden Immortals would attack the formations together.

• Lin Yuan revised the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation so two Formation Eyes could move, and the Ten Heavenly Lords tested the new version.
• An Elucidation Sect cultivator suppressed Dong Quan’s Wind Roar Formation, but Dong Quan borrowed power from other formations, evaded a sword strike with a moving Formation Eye, and survived.
• Lin Yuan gained Wind Roar Formation Insight and developed further changes, helping Yuan Jiao, Golden Light Holy Mother, and Sun Liang survive their formation trials.
• The Ten Heavenly Lords recognized that Lin Yuan had become the one leading their formation updates, while the Elucidation Sect’s attacks continued to fail.
• Guangchengzi concluded that the Elucidation Sect was helping Lin Yuan improve the formations and ordered the Twelve Golden Immortals to attack them together.

The Twelve Golden Immortals entered the fully activated Ten Ultimate Linked Formation, but Lin Yuan’s shifting formations and coordinated defenses kept them from killing any of the Ten Heavenly Lords. After the Golden Immortals withdrew, Lin Yuan sensed that Bai Li, Yao Bin, Wang Bian, and Zhang Shao still faced deadly danger.

• The Twelve Golden Immortals arrived and entered several of the Ten Ultimate Formations at once.
• Lin Yuan coordinated the linked formations, shifting their cores and sharing power to protect the formation masters from the Golden Immortals’ attacks.
• The Twelve Golden Immortals struggled to break the formations while the Ten Heavenly Lords evaded attacks and survived through mutual support.
• The Golden Immortals withdrew without killing any of the Ten Heavenly Lords, and the Interception Sect disciples celebrated.
• Lin Yuan sensed lingering death threats over Bai Li, Yao Bin, Wang Bian, and Zhang Shao, especially the last two.

Lin Yuan coordinated the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation to rescue Bai Li, Yao Bin, Wang Bian, and Zhang Shao from the Twelve Golden Immortals’ attacks. With all ten formation masters alive and the enemy still trapped inside, Lin Yuan prepared to counterattack.

• Qin Wan gave Lin Yuan the central formation flag as West Qi’s Twelve Golden Immortals launched an assault focused on four formations.
• Lin Yuan redirected the formations’ power and helped Bai Li and Yao Bin evade their death nodes, triggering two successful fate reversals.
• As the enemy began destroying formation positions, Lin Yuan linked the Red Water Formation to the Heaven-Absolute Formation and moved Wang Bian to safety.
• Lin Yuan linked the Red Sand Formation to the Earth Inferno Formation, allowing Zhang Shao to escape the collapsing formation and survive.
• After the final fate reversal, Lin Yuan told the Ten Heavenly Lords that it was time to stop retreating and fight back.

After the Ten Heavenly Lords survived the Twelve Golden Immortals’ attack, Lin Yuan helped them compress the damaged Ten Ultimate Formation and force their opponents to retreat. He advanced to Early Profound Immortal, rose to first place in the secret-realm rankings, and learned that Zhao Gongming was coming to the front lines.

• Lin Yuan and the Ten Heavenly Lords contracted the Ten Ultimate Formation, trapping the Twelve Golden Immortals in a shifting mix of formations until they broke out and withdrew.
• Zhao Jiang and the other Ten Heavenly Lords celebrated that all ten had survived, and Qin Wan and Bai Li credited Lin Yuan with a share in their linked formation.
• Lin Yuan secluded himself, absorbed the ten formation Dao rewards, and broke through from Late True Immortal to Early Profound Immortal.
• Lin Yuan’s name climbed to first place in the Dragon Kingdom’s secret-realm rankings, pushing Chen Yue to second and drawing attention from the monitoring center.
• Wen Zhong told Lin Yuan that Zhao Gongming of Luofu Cave on Mount Emei was coming to the front lines.

Zhao Gongming arrived at the Shang Camp and challenged the Elucidation Sect after hearing of its pressure on the Intercepting Sect. Lin Yuan recognized Zhao Gongming as a high-value death-tribulation target, and the chapter ended with Zhao displaying his twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls before asking who would fight first.

• Wen Zhong told Lin Yuan that Zhao Gongming was coming to the Shang Camp, and Zhao soon arrived on his Black Tiger.
• Zhao Gongming praised the Ten Heavenly Lords and the Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island, then questioned Lin Yuan about his role in improving the Ten Ultimate Formation.
• Lin Yuan received a system prompt identifying Zhao Gongming as a high-value predetermined death-tribulation target with extremely deep involvement.
• Zhao Gongming went alone to the battlefield and challenged the Elucidation Sect, arguing that its members had no right to enter the conflict while barring the Intercepting Sect from doing so.
• Guangchengzi accepted Zhao Gongming's challenge, and Zhao summoned all twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls and asked who would fight first.

Zhao Gongming used his twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls to overwhelm the Elucidation Sect’s Golden Immortals and Twelve Golden Immortals, then withdrew after warning them not to bully the Intercepting Sect. That night, the Elucidation Sect disciples discussed seeking two Wuyi Mountain rogue cultivators, Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao, whose unusual treasure might counter the pearls.

• Zhao Gongming shattered an Elucidation Sect Golden Immortal’s attack with a Sea-Calming Pearl, then drove back two more Golden Immortals with his twenty-four pearls.
• Taiyi joined the battle, but Zhao Gongming’s successive waves of Sea-Calming Pearls forced him and the other Elucidation Sect fighters to defend and retreat.
• Zhao Gongming rebuked the Elucidation Sect for complaining about his magical treasures while using their own, and several more disciples joined the fight against him.
• Guangchengzi and other powerful disciples entered the battle, but Zhao Gongming kept them at bay before recalling his pearls and leaving without pursuing them.
• Zhao Gongming returned to the Shang Camp and said he had only meant to teach the Elucidation Sect a lesson, while Lin Yuan anticipated they would resort to schemes.
• That night, the Elucidation Sect disciples discussed asking Wuyi Mountain rogue cultivators Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao for help against the Sea-Calming Pearls.

Lin Yuan recognized Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao’s plan to use the Treasure-Dropping Coin against Zhao Gongming and went with his martial uncle to the battlefield. When Xiao Sheng used the coin to knock a Sea-Calming Pearl out of Zhao Gongming’s control, Lin Yuan charged at him to seize it.

• Zhao Gongming left the Shang Camp to answer West Qi’s challenge, and Lin Yuan persuaded him to come along because he sensed danger.
• Lin Yuan recognized Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao among the West Qi cultivators and suspected Xiao Sheng’s hidden treasure was the Treasure-Dropping Coin.
• Zhao Gongming’s Sea-Calming Pearls overwhelmed the initial attackers while Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao waited for an opening.
• Xiao Sheng used the Treasure-Dropping Coin to knock a Sea-Calming Pearl out of Zhao Gongming’s control.
• Lin Yuan rushed at Xiao Sheng with the Qingxuan Sword, declaring that he was robbing him.

Lin Yuan helped Zhao Gongming protect the twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls and turn Xiao Sheng’s Treasure-Dropping Coin against him. Two days later, Lu Ya arrived at the Shang Camp seeking Zhao Gongming, and Lin Yuan sensed a greater danger ahead.

• Lin Yuan distracted Xiao Sheng while Qin Wan trapped Cao Bao, giving Zhao Gongming time to reclaim the Sea-Calming Pearl.
• Lin Yuan interrupted Xiao Sheng’s attempt to use the Treasure-Dropping Coin again, allowing Zhao Gongming to seize it.
• Zhao Gongming kept all twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls and took the Treasure-Dropping Coin, while the Elucidation Sect’s planned attack failed.
• Back at the Shang Camp, Zhao Gongming praised Lin Yuan and showed him the captured treasure, but Lin Yuan sensed that Zhao Gongming’s death tribulation remained.
• Two days later, Lu Ya arrived at the Shang Camp and announced that he had come to meet Zhao Gongming, causing Lin Yuan’s unease to deepen.

Lu Ya appeared at the Shang camp, tested Zhao Gongming’s defenses without fighting directly, and left after claiming he had learned much. Lin Yuan sensed a hidden threat from him, and ten days later Zhao Gongming began experiencing headaches and exhaustion, suggesting Lu Ya’s attack had begun.

• Lu Ya arrived to meet Zhao Gongming, saying he had come in accordance with Heaven’s will.
• Lu Ya evaded Zhao Gongming’s Sea-Calming Pearls without counterattacking, then departed after saying he had learned much.
• Lin Yuan warned Zhao Gongming that Lu Ya’s behavior seemed suspicious and sensed danger targeting him.
• Zhao Gongming stayed at the Shang camp while Lin Yuan’s unease grew over the following days.
• On the tenth night, Lin Yuan sensed danger from Zhao Gongming’s tent and found him suffering from headaches, restlessness, and exhaustion.

Lin Yuan realized that Zhao Gongming was being targeted by a distant curse and asked Yao Bin to trace its source. Yao Bin found a soul-drawing force, and Lin Yuan prepared to amplify his search with the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation.

• Lin Yuan recognized Zhao Gongming’s fatigue and restlessness as signs of a curse and suspected Lu Ya’s visit had been meant to confirm its effects.
• Lin Yuan summoned Yao Bin, and the Ten Heavenly Lords gathered to help investigate the curse on Zhao Gongming.
• Yao Bin used a black banner to detect a concealed force drawing Zhao Gongming’s soul toward the northwest.
• Yao Bin said he could trace the force in three to five days, but Qin Wan suggested using a formation to speed up his search.
• Lin Yuan ordered the Ten Heavenly Lords to set up the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation to amplify the Soul-Sundering Formation and find the culprit that night.

Lin Yuan and the Ten Ultimate Linked Formation traced the curse on Zhao Gongming to Lu Ya’s hidden altar. They exposed the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows ritual and confronted Lu Ya, leaving him surrounded as Lin Yuan urged him to continue.

• Yao Bin used the Soul-Sundering Formation, amplified by the other nine formations, to locate the soul connection pulling at Zhao Gongming.
• When the curse intensified, Yao Bin traced its active aura while Lin Yuan sensed malice and helped pinpoint a concealed altar roughly twelve thousand li northwest.
• Zhao Gongming, Lin Yuan, Wen Zhong, the Four Sages of Nine-Dragon Island, and the Ten Heavenly Lords traveled to the mountains where the curse was coming from.
• The Golden Light Holy Mother exposed the concealment formation, and Zhao Gongming smashed it with his Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Pearls.
• The group found Lu Ya performing a ritual before an altar bearing a straw effigy inscribed with Zhao Gongming’s name, and Lin Yuan invited him to continue.

Lin Yuan and Zhao Gongming found Lu Ya worshipping a straw effigy designed to weaken Zhao Gongming’s soul, then fought him while the Ten Heavenly Lords blocked his escape. Zhao Gongming destroyed the altar, but Lin Yuan’s system began reassessing the death tribulation rather than confirming it had been lifted.

• Zhao Gongming confronted Lu Ya at the altar, and Lu Ya attacked when the Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Pearls rose.
• Lin Yuan coordinated with Zhao Gongming and the Ten Heavenly Lords, who used formations to block Lu Ya’s escape while Zhao Gongming struck him with the Sea-Calming Pearls.
• Lu Ya unleashed blazing fire and escaped after the Ten Heavenly Lords withdrew, while Zhao Gongming stayed behind to deal with the altar.
• Yao Bin explained how to dismantle the altar safely, and the group extinguished the lamps and destroyed the talismans before Zhao Gongming smashed the straw effigy.
• Lin Yuan’s system began reassessing Zhao Gongming’s predetermined death tribulation without yet confirming its removal.

After Lin Yuan helped Zhao Gongming break free from Lu Ya’s curse, he gained Daluo Combat Insight and Zhao Gongming’s gifts. He used the insight to break through to Early Golden Immortal, then learned that his teacher wanted to see him on Golden Turtle Island.

• Zhao Gongming recovered as Yao Bin confirmed that his soul had stabilized and its tether had been severed, and Lin Yuan received the Fate Reversal reward of Daluo Combat Insight.
• Zhao Gongming gave Lin Yuan a storage jade ring of cultivation resources and lent him a Sea-Calming Pearl to study.
• Lin Yuan entered seclusion and used Daluo Combat Insight to connect his combat techniques and refine the resources Zhao Gongming had given him.
• Lin Yuan broke through to Early Golden Immortal after a new insight into how he could have fought Nezha differently.
• Zhao Gongming told Lin Yuan to return to Golden Turtle Island with him because Lin Yuan’s teacher wanted to see him.

Lin Yuan explained to Tongtian how the Interception Sect’s loyalty could be exploited to draw more disciples into the Investiture of the Gods Calamity, and Tongtian named him a Dao Seed Candidate. The chapter ended with Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao heading to West Qi after hearing Zhao Gongming had nearly been cursed to death.

• Zhao Gongming recounted how Lin Yuan and the Ten Heavenly Lords had uncovered and stopped Lu Ya’s plot to kill him with the Nail-Head Seven-Arrows Book.
• Tongtian questioned Lin Yuan about repeatedly saving fellow disciples and asked what he thought of the Interception Sect’s future.
• Lin Yuan warned that the Interception Sect’s loyalty and willingness to send more disciples into danger could gradually wear it down, and said disciples should live to fight again.
• Tongtian gave Lin Yuan the Supreme Purity Guardian Sword Token and named him a Dao Seed Candidate of the Interception Sect.
• Zhao Gongming received word that Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao had left Three Immortal Island for West Qi.

Lin Yuan and Zhao Gongming joined the Three Cloud Sisters at the Shang camp, where Yunxiao declared their intent to challenge the Elucidation Sect with a formation. Lin Yuan warned them that Yuanshi, not the Twelve Golden Immortals, was the greater danger; the sisters proceeded, and Yunxiao completed the Nine-Twist Yellow River Formation.

• Zhao Gongming explained that Yunxiao, Qiongxiao, and Bixiao had come down the mountain after hearing Lu Ya nearly cursed him to death, and Lin Yuan went with him to West Qi.
• Bixiao praised Lin Yuan for helping the Intercepting Sect, while Yunxiao said the sisters intended to settle their rivalry with the Elucidation Sect through a contest of formations rather than fight to the death.
• Lin Yuan warned the sisters that Yuanshi could intervene if the Twelve Golden Immortals were humiliated, and Yunxiao promised they would not force themselves to oppose someone beyond the younger generation.
• The Three Cloud Sisters left the Shang camp the next day and chose a broad stretch between the armies to establish their formation.
• Yunxiao raised the Nine-Twist Yellow River Formation, and Lin Yuan judged it far more complex than the Ten Ultimate Formation.