Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The young master of Chao Sect decides to win favor with the mysterious and powerful figure in Private Room No. 18. He assumes Chen Qiu’s interest in the auction is a chance to form a valuable connection.
• The first auction item is a set of three Trait Jade Slips: Fourfold Casting, Fivefold Casting, and Sixfold Casting. Chen Qiu realizes these are exactly the traits he needs to complete most of the

Heavenly Dao Trait Set, “Thousand-Hand Guanyin.”

• Chen Qiu begins bidding and raises the price to 1.35 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. The young master, believing Chen Qiu is intentionally interested in the items, dramatically raises the bid to 2 million in order to purchase them as a gift.
• Chen Qiu continues bidding, eventually pushing the price to 15 million. The young master is forced to spend nearly all the Spirit Stones he brought, but Chen Qiu stops bidding once the price exceeds his expectations.
• The young master wins the traits for 15 million Spirit Stones and sends them to Chen Qiu as a “return gift” for the earlier fruit platter. Chen Qiu accepts the gift, crushes the Trait Jade Slips, and absorbs them, gaining the three traits without paying for them.
• The next auction item is Edict Regular, a trait that once helped Chen Qiu greatly. Chen Qiu bids 110,000 Spirit Stones to prevent it from going unsold, but numerous participants immediately compete for it. It ultimately sells for 1.8 million.
• Another trait, Spirit Stone Supply, is auctioned for 9 million Spirit Stones. Chen Qiu considers the price unreasonable, but the buyers secretly possess the seemingly useless trait Eternal Qi Refinement, which allows endless cultivation within the Qi Refining Realm. Combined, the two traits can turn their young master into a steady source of Spirit Stones.
• The buyers flee the auction house immediately after purchasing the trait to avoid being targeted.
• Jiang Buping recognizes the potential combination and recalls a former cultivator who reached Qi Refinement Layer 90,000 through a similar trait combination, becoming nearly invincible—until the traits were stripped from him during a time of chaos.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Qiu remains calm, confident, and detached. He is willing to spend heavily for traits he genuinely needs, but he quickly recognizes when an opponent has reached their financial limit and chooses to let them pay the inflated price. His overwhelming confidence comes from having already challenged the Heavenly Dao itself.
• The Chao Sect young master begins as an optimistic schemer hoping to use a modest purchase to curry favor with a powerful senior. His plan spirals out of control, revealing his inexperience, impulsiveness, and concern for appearances. Though devastated by the 15-million-Spirit-Stone loss, he still tries to frame it as a respectful gift.
• Fat Dragon acts as Chen Qiu’s commentator and advisor. He correctly predicts that the young master’s behavior will end badly and views him as someone whose luck and fate have already run out.
• Jiang Buping demonstrates extensive knowledge of unusual trait combinations and past cultivators. His memories add historical perspective and foreshadow the instability of the coming era.

3. Significant Themes

• Miscommunication and unintended consequences: The young master mistakes Chen Qiu’s bidding for a sign of admiration or interest, while Chen Qiu interprets the young master’s behavior as pointless provocation. Their conflicting assumptions create the central comedic conflict.
• The value of traits depends on synergy: Traits that appear useless or overpriced can become extraordinarily valuable when paired with a compatible ability, as shown by Spirit Stone Supply and Eternal Qi Refinement.
• Luck, fate, and opportunity: Characters repeatedly attribute success or disaster to fate. The young master’s reckless decisions appear to mark the end of his luck, while the anonymous buyers seize a rare opportunity.
• Power and status: Chen Qiu’s confidence reflects his belief that no worldly background or sect can threaten him. Wealthy or influential forces still matter to others, but he views them as insignificant compared with the Heavenly Dao.
• The fragility of invincibility: Jiang Buping’s story shows that even someone who seems impossible to kill can fall when the world enters chaos and their advantages are taken away.

4. Character Interactions

• The young master tries to impress Chen Qiu by competing against him in the auction, but Chen Qiu deliberately allows him to win at an absurd price.
• Fat Dragon and Chen Qiu discuss the young master’s motives and conclude that he is merely making trouble, with Fat Dragon predicting that he may eventually be killed.
• The young master sends an attendant to deliver the purchased traits and a carefully worded message of gratitude to Chen Qiu. Chen Qiu accepts the items without offering any response.
• Chen Qiu’s bid on Edict Regular is motivated by sentimental attachment to a former “old friend,” though the auction crowd quickly proves that the trait remains highly desirable.
• Jiang Buping discusses the newly purchased Spirit Stone Supply trait with the Bai Family’s young lady and connects it to a legendary past example, emphasizing both the potential and impermanence of extraordinary trait combinations.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• During the auction, Jiang Buping becomes absorbed in memories from thirty thousand years earlier, recalling the destruction of the Twelfth-Rank Immortal Realm and the deaths of his former companions.
• He remembers Qidan, a legendary Qi Refinement cultivator with an exceptionally powerful physical body and the Rainbow Trait “Rise at Every Step.” Qidan could withstand the Void directly, but his traits were stripped after he refused to become a Heavenly Dao lackey. He then died instantly because his basic Qi Refinement body could not endure the dense spiritual energy of the Twelfth-Rank Immortal Realm.
• After Qidan’s death, Jiang Buping surrendered to the Heavenly Dao and helped destroy the Mocking Heaven Sect. However, he was later captured, tortured in Mocking Heaven Hall, and barely escaped by sacrificing an arm and sending out his divine soul.
• He rebuilt his body and began a new life, eventually changing his name from Jiang Taiping to Jiang Buping to distance himself from his past and his feelings of humiliation.
• Jiang Buping now seeks to reclaim his original body, which contains many of his former traits. Doing so would restore much of his peak power but would also draw the Heavenly Dao’s attention and force him to choose between resisting it or becoming its lackey again.
• The Bai Family’s young lady, whom Jiang Buping has kidnapped, tells him that Chen Qiu does not truly care for her and will not risk himself to rescue her. Jiang admits that kidnapping her was largely an experiment and that he is accustomed to failure.
• Elsewhere, the mistress of the Wei Prince’s Residence enjoys the auction after successfully annexing the Qi Sect. Chen Qiu had killed the Qi Sect’s master, allowing the Wei Prince’s forces to overwhelm the sect and seize its remaining resources.
• The auction’s final item is unexpectedly revealed to be a permanent Rainbow Trait Jade Slip, causing nearly every major private room to begin automatic bidding.
• The trait is revealed as “World Tree.” It summons a special spiritual plant that produces fruits; each fruit increases cultivation progress by 10%, with harvests possible as often as every six months under sufficiently dense spiritual energy.
• Chen Qiu immediately decides to acquire it. He believes the Void, with its limitless and extremely dense spiritual energy, would be the ideal place to grow the World Tree. He is prepared to spend up to 1.8 billion Spirit Stones—and even consider forcibly taking it if necessary.
• Jiang Buping also recognizes the trait’s value, viewing it as extraordinarily powerful for early-stage cultivation, though less useful once cultivators reach their limits.

2. Character Developments

• Jiang Buping is portrayed as deeply traumatized, conflicted, and burdened by guilt. Though he once chose survival by serving the Heavenly Dao, he remains haunted by the deaths of his friends and by their lack of condemnation toward him.
• His confidence is largely a façade. He claims to be the strongest person present, yet the Bai Family’s young lady correctly observes that he constantly appears anxious and fearful.
• Jiang’s desire to reclaim his old body is divided between ambition and dread: regaining it would restore his power, but it would also place him directly in the Heavenly Dao’s path.
• The Bai Family’s young lady demonstrates perceptiveness and emotional composure. She sees through Jiang’s manipulation and accurately identifies the fear underlying his behavior.
• Chen Qiu is shown to be powerful, decisive, and practical. Unlike Jiang, he is willing to act immediately when he identifies an opportunity, and he views the World Tree as potentially transformative for both himself and the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• Fat Dragon reacts with astonishment to the appearance of a Rainbow Trait at auction, humorously acknowledging his lack of experience with such treasures.
• The Wei Prince’s mistress gains confidence and satisfaction after avenging herself against the Qi Sect and expanding her faction’s power.

3. Significant Themes

• Survival versus integrity: Jiang’s choice to become a Heavenly Dao lackey allowed him to live, but it left him with lasting guilt and shame.
• The cost of power: Traits grant extraordinary abilities, yet they can be stripped away, revealing how fragile power built upon external gifts truly is.
• Trauma and fear: Formerly fearless cultivators may become cautious and psychologically damaged after surviving catastrophic events.
• Ignorance as happiness: Jiang envies ordinary cultivators who remain unaware of the Heavenly Dao’s cycles of destruction. Their ignorance allows them to pursue opportunities without understanding the larger danger.
• Cycles of destruction: The rise of another Twelfth-Rank Immortal Realm may trigger the Heavenly Dao’s awakening and repeat the tragedy of thirty thousand years ago.
• Identity and self-reinvention: Jiang’s name change from Jiang Taiping to Jiang Buping represents an attempt to sever himself from a painful past, though he has not truly escaped it.
• Resource-based cultivation and opportunity: The World Tree represents an unprecedented shortcut to advancement and may alter the balance of power among the story’s factions.
• Appearance versus reality: Jiang presents himself as ruthless and powerful, while internally he is indecisive and afraid; similarly, the seemingly ordinary auction hides a world-shaking final item.

4. Character Interactions

• Jiang and the Bai Family’s young lady engage in a restrained but revealing conversation. She challenges his belief that Chen Qiu cares for her, while Jiang admits that the kidnapping was a calculated gamble rather than a confident plan.
• She asks about his relationship with Jiang Taiping, forcing him to confront his former identity. Jiang denies knowing the name, despite being Taiping himself.
• Their discussion exposes Jiang’s emotional conflict: he threatens to kill her if Chen Qiu does not arrive, but his words also reveal that he wants Chen Qiu to come and may secretly hope to be stopped.
• The Bai Family’s young lady compares Jiang to Chen Qiu, observing that Chen Qiu possesses a fearless presence that Jiang lacks. Jiang is unable to refute the criticism.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon react together to the Rainbow Trait’s appearance, with Fat Dragon expressing shock and Chen Qiu quickly recognizing its strategic importance.
• The Wei Prince’s mistress’s actions are indirectly linked to Chen Qiu, whose elimination of the Qi Sect master enabled her to destroy and absorb the Qi Sect.

Chapter Summary: “Do You Know the Big Shot in This Private Room?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jiang Buping examines the Rainbow Trait Jade Slip being auctioned. The trait creates a World Tree that produces cultivation-enhancing fruits, but its effectiveness is greatly reduced in a Lower-Grade Immortal Realm. Its ideal environment is the Void, where powerful factions can cultivate it at full strength.
• Jiang realizes that Chen Qiu may be the only person in the Tidal Immortal Realm capable of entering the Void, making the World Tree particularly valuable to him. He wonders whether he should reveal himself so Chen Qiu’s group will remember that they still have a “hostage.”
• Bidding for the Rainbow Trait rises rapidly, eventually surpassing 600 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. Private Room No. 18, occupied by Chen Qiu and his companions, remains the only room openly signaling that it can continue bidding.
• The auction house repeatedly verifies the wealth of the bidders, shocking everyone in attendance. The enormous bids convince many people that the occupants of Private Room No. 18 are extraordinary figures from a higher-grade Immortal Realm.
• The young president of the Heaven and Earth Auction watches the bidding triumphantly. He deliberately chose to auction the Rainbow Trait in the Tidal Immortal Realm rather than selling it in a richer Sixth- or Seventh-Grade Immortal Realm. His goal is not maximum profit from this item, but to use the auction’s fame to destroy the standing of rival auction houses and establish a monopoly.
• The Rainbow Trait is finally sold to Chen Qiu’s group for 618 million Spirit Stones, setting the highest auction price in the Tidal Immortal Realm and making it the first Rainbow Trait ever publicly auctioned there.
• After the auction, Chen Qiu encounters the arrogant young master who had insulted him when they first entered the city. The young master now realizes that Chen Qiu is connected to the mysterious, immensely wealthy patrons in Private Room No. 18.
• Fat Dragon humiliates the young master by explaining that the fruit platter he received earlier was not a reward or favor, but deliberate mockery. He also reveals that the three Trait Jade Slips the young master gave them were accepted only because Chen Qiu would otherwise have taken them himself.
• The young master understands that his attendant altered the wording of the message from “reward” to “bestowal,” causing him to misunderstand the insult as a gesture of goodwill. Fearing that his father would abandon him rather than provoke Chen Qiu, he decides to return home and avoid further trouble.
• Chen Qiu returns to Mocking Heaven Hall and uses its teleportation array, despite the million-Spirit-Stone activation cost.
• He activates the World Tree trait and plants the sapling in the Void outside Mocking Heaven Hall. The tree is connected to the hall, allowing him to harvest its fruits remotely and move it safely whenever the hall relocates.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates immense wealth, restraint, and confidence. He treats the 618 million Spirit Stone purchase as expensive but worthwhile and remains completely indifferent to the young master’s attempts to impress or intimidate him.
• Jiang Buping becomes more aware of Chen Qiu’s exceptional status. He recognizes that Chen Qiu may possess unique access to the Void and may be the ideal person to use the Rainbow Trait.
• The Heaven and Earth Auction’s president is portrayed as ambitious, strategic, and willing to sacrifice short-term profit for long-term dominance. He views the Rainbow Trait as a tool for transforming his auction house into the only major auction house in the region.
• The arrogant young master undergoes a humiliating reversal. His earlier confidence and condescension collapse into fear and regret once he realizes that the “country bumpkins” he mocked are far more powerful and wealthy than he imagined.
• Fat Dragon continues acting as the group’s blunt and mischievous spokesman. He exposes the young master’s misunderstanding and takes pleasure in mocking him while still effectively ending the conflict.
• Badan, though absent from the present events, gains further legendary stature through discussion of his miraculous recovery from Immortal Cancer and rise to become Barbarian Race patriarch.

Significant Themes

• Appearances versus reality: The young master misjudges Chen Qiu’s group based on their appearance and suffers because he assumes they are insignificant.
• Wealth and power: The auction demonstrates how financial resources reflect—or create—political influence and prestige. Chen Qiu’s ability to spend 618 million Spirit Stones marks him as an extraordinary figure.
• Strategic sacrifice: The auction president willingly accepts a lower selling price in exchange for publicity, reputation, and control of the auction market.
• Humiliation and social reversal: Those who flaunt status can quickly become embarrassed when confronted by someone genuinely powerful.
• Long-term investment: Chen Qiu’s purchase is not merely an extravagant expense; the World Tree may eventually repay the cost through its cultivation fruits.
• Hidden strength: Chen Qiu’s group deliberately maintains an obscure identity, while their actions continually reveal that they possess overwhelming resources and connections.

Important Character Interactions

• Jiang Buping silently considers Chen Qiu’s possible connection to the Void and feels neglected because Chen Qiu has not come to “rescue” him.
• The Heaven and Earth Auction president questions his subordinates about Private Room No. 18 and links its occupants to Badan because the Barbarian Race patriarch treated them with unusual respect.
• Fat Dragon directly confronts the young master, explaining the true meaning behind the earlier fruit platter and the three Trait Jade Slips.
• The young master and his childhood sweetheart discuss whether to inform his father. He concludes that his father would likely sever ties with him rather than offend Chen Qiu.
• Chen Qiu’s companions help him return to Mocking Heaven Hall, where he successfully plants the World Tree and discovers its useful connection to the hall.

Chapter Summary: “Human Immortal Abode”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu reflects on the three main ways he can increase his cultivation:
  1. Conventional cultivation through techniques, Spirit Stones, and spiritually rich locations such as Mocking Heaven Hall.
  2. The World Tree, whose fruits can increase his cultivation progress.
  3. His Heavenly Dao Trait Set, which grants cultivation progress when he kills opponents of the same cultivation level.
• His greatest obstacle is the lack of time before the Ascension Gathering. He wishes for a treasure or secret realm capable of accelerating the passage of time, but such items do not appear to exist in either the lower realm or Immortal Realm.
• After planting the World Tree in Mocking Heaven Hall, Chen Qiu returns with his followers to Central Province City, spending a million Spirit Stones on teleportation.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon visit a rice noodle roll shop, humorously comparing the food and its price with those in the lower realm.
• While walking through the city, Chen Qiu hears a storyteller recounting Badan’s reputation. He learns that Badan is one of the Tidal Immortal Realm’s strongest Heavenly Immortal Peak cultivators and a leading candidate to reach the True Immortal realm.
• At Stall Street, Chen Qiu tries to find overlooked treasures using his Fiery Eyes and Golden Pupils Trait, but the high-level stall owners are too knowledgeable for him to find any bargains.
• He unexpectedly discovers a Sevenfold Casting Trait Jade Slip. The seller also possesses Eightfold Casting. Chen Qiu purchases both for a combined 1.1 million Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• With these traits, along with the three Multifold Casting traits he already obtained at auction, Chen Qiu completes the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Heavenly Dao Trait Set. It allows him to cast any spell a thousand times without additional cost.
• No Heavenly Dao Edict appears, revealing that Chen Qiu is not the first person in the Tidal Immortal Realm to obtain this trait set. He also realizes that Heavenly Dao Edicts are much harder to trigger in the Immortal Realm.
• The scar-faced seller explains that Thousand-Hand Guanyin is difficult and expensive to collect and is largely ineffective in the Human Immortal, Earth Immortal, and Heavenly Immortal realms because it only affects spells, not their signature techniques.
• Badan invites Chen Qiu and his group to stay at the Barbarian Race’s courtyard, which the Barbarian Race had seized from the Demon Race rather than purchased.
• Chen Qiu studies an information jade slip explaining the cultivation systems of the Immortal Realm, especially Human Immortal Abodes and Earth Immortal Mounts.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu becomes increasingly aware of the gap between his Seventh Layer of Tribulation Transcendence cultivation and the powerhouses of the Immortal Realm. He recognizes that his combat ability currently depends heavily on his numerous puppets.
• He gains a clearer understanding of the limits of his abilities and the importance of reaching higher realms before the Ascension Gathering.
• Completing the Thousand-Hand Guanyin Trait Set significantly improves Chen Qiu’s spellcasting potential, though its practical usefulness is limited at his current stage.
• Chen Qiu’s mood improves greatly after obtaining the two missing traits so effortlessly. His satisfaction makes him unusually tolerant and carefree.
• Fat Dragon continues to provide comic relief through his blunt opinions about Immortal Realm food, prices, and the Barbarian Race’s living arrangements.
• Badan is established as a highly respected Heavenly Immortal Peak cultivator and a generous ally of Chen Qiu’s group.
• The scar-faced stall owner is shown to be practical rather than greedy. He knowingly sells the traits for their reasonable market value instead of gambling on an unusually high auction price.

Significant Themes

• The importance of time: Chen Qiu has several paths to power, but none can compensate for the urgent shortage of time before the Ascension Gathering.
• Luck and opportunity: His completion of the Thousand-Hand Guanyin set occurs through an unexpected coincidence rather than careful planning, illustrating how major opportunities can appear suddenly.
• The limits of power across realms: Techniques that are overwhelmingly strong in lower realms may become ineffective as cultivation advances. Thousandfold spellcasting is powerful before Human Immortal but cannot affect the defining techniques of higher realms.
• Foundation versus combat power: Human Immortal Abodes, Earth Immortal Mounts, and Heavenly Realms are presented as foundational techniques focused on survival, recovery, transportation, and development rather than direct offense.
• Trust and vulnerability: Human Immortal Abodes are safe from external attacks but fragile from within, making betrayal by invited friends or relatives especially dangerous.
• Social customs and factional strength: The Ascension Gathering creates a lively, crowded marketplace where powerful cultivators personally operate stalls, while the Barbarian Race’s enormous size and influence shape how they live and travel.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon share a casual meal and joke about the high price and mediocre quality of Immortal Realm rice noodle rolls.
• Chen Qiu listens to a storyteller discuss Badan, indirectly deepening his understanding of Badan’s status.
• Chen Qiu conducts unusually straightforward transactions with the scar-faced stall owner, purchasing Sevenfold Casting and Eightfold Casting without haggling or suspicion.
• The neighboring stall owner teases the scar-faced man for selling the traits far below the auction price, prompting the seller to defend his decision as practical and reasonable.
• Badan invites Chen Qiu and his companions to stay with the Barbarian Race, reinforcing their friendship and the Barbarian Race’s hospitality.
• Fat Dragon jokes with Badan about the Barbarian Race occupying a small courtyard despite their enormous size, while Badan explains that the giants themselves sleep outside the city in their own abodes.
• Chen Qiu later shares his informational jade slip with Fat Dragon, allowing his companion to learn about the Immortal Realm’s unique cultivation techniques.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• During the three-day trading period before the Ascension Gathering, Chen Qiu and the Mocking Heaven Sect explore Central Province City. The group splits up according to personal interests, including visiting brothels, browsing stalls, and sampling Immortal Realm cuisine.
• Chen Qiu spends two days listening to cultivators discuss Dao and Trait combinations in a teahouse, gaining insight while recognizing that everyone conceals their most important abilities.
• When the Ascension Gathering begins, nearly ten thousand cultivators from 198 teams enter a secret realm through a teleportation gate.
• The Gathering is announced to last three days:
  1. Masked Banquet
  2. Peach Banquet
  3. Climb the Ascension Path
• Participants are randomly assigned temporary identities. Little Handsome reveals that the secret realm’s artifact spirit has developed consciousness and wants to join the future Artifact Spirit Clan. In exchange, it secretly allows Chen Qiu and the Mocking Heaven Sect to obtain favorable identities.
• Chen Qiu agrees to accept the artifact spirit and arranges for all special identities to be assigned to his sect. He himself receives “Immortal in the Furnace,” which grants immunity to Samadhi True Flame.
• The first day requires teams to pass through nine elimination stages before reaching the Masked Banquet. The first stage is an idiom-guessing charades competition.
• Chen Qiu represents the Giant Team alongside Badan’s Barbarians, while Fat Dragon serves as their performer. Chen Qiu mysteriously answers every idiom correctly, apparently because the secret realm’s artifact spirit supplies the answers.
• The opposing team initially scores seven points to Chen Qiu’s ten, but Fat Dragon then repeats the same simple actions—sitting cross-legged and nodding—for every idiom. Chen Qiu correctly interprets each absurd answer, including “Nine Deaths, One Life,” “riding a horse to view flowers,” and “Burning Impatience Trait.”
• The opposing captain becomes convinced that the Giant Team cheated and angrily threatens to report them, but the stage simply declares the Giant Team victorious.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Remains cautious and pragmatic, initially treating the Gathering as an opportunity to broaden his horizons rather than pursue rewards. Once he learns of the artifact spirit, he eagerly embraces the advantage and begins exploiting the secret realm’s hidden “backdoor.” His confidence and shamelessness increase as he realizes the Gathering effectively favors him.
• Little Handsome: Demonstrates initiative and cunning by communicating with the secret realm’s artifact spirit and negotiating its entry into the Artifact Spirit Clan. He becomes the bridge between Chen Qiu and the artifact spirit.
• The artifact spirit: Develops from a hidden administrator into a potential future ally. Its isolation and excitement at joining a wider community reveal a desire for companionship and belonging.
• Mocking Heaven Sect disciples: Initially confused by their sudden good fortune, they quickly recognize that Chen Qiu has once again activated an unexpected advantage and suppress their excitement to avoid drawing attention.
• Badan: Shows concern over his team’s apparent lack of special identities, but continues trusting Chen Qiu and enthusiastically supports his participation.
• Fat Dragon: Functions as the team’s performer and unintentionally becomes the source of increasingly ridiculous but successful guesses.
• The opposing captain: Starts confident and competitive, then becomes confused, frustrated, and finally enraged as Chen Qiu repeatedly answers faster than him and Fat Dragon’s meaningless gestures somehow produce correct answers.

3. Significant Themes

• Cheating versus “legitimate” advantage: The Gathering claims to ensure fairness, but Chen Qiu’s secret relationship with the artifact spirit gives him an enormous hidden advantage. The chapter humorously questions whether exploiting loopholes counts as cheating when the system itself permits it.
• Bureaucracy and loopholes: The secret realm’s rigid rules can be manipulated because they forbid specific methods rather than anticipating every possible exploit. Chen Qiu’s success reflects the recurring idea that cleverness can overcome formal restrictions.
• Luck and favoritism: Other factions attribute their lack of special identities to bad luck, unaware that Chen Qiu has effectively monopolized the available advantages.
• Comedic absurdity: The sacred, ten-thousand-year Ascension Gathering is undermined by bizarre identities, strange contestants, charades, and Fat Dragon using one identical gesture to represent completely unrelated idioms.
• Community and belonging: The artifact spirit’s desire to join the Artifact Spirit Clan introduces a warmer theme beneath the comedy: even an ancient secret-realm intelligence longs for connection and recognition.

4. Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Weird Buddha joke about Weird Buddha’s frightening appearance, with Chen Qiu noting that he nonetheless blends into the eccentric crowd.
• Little Handsome privately informs Chen Qiu about the artifact spirit and negotiates its future membership in the Artifact Spirit Clan.
• Chen Qiu and Badan discuss their teams’ special identities, though Chen Qiu deliberately avoids revealing the full extent of his advantage.
• Chen Qiu’s sect members silently recognize that their leader has arranged another extraordinary benefit for them.
• The opposing captain challenges Chen Qiu before the competition, questioning why Badan trusts a human enough to send him forward. Chen Qiu responds confidently that his name will soon be impossible to forget.
• During the contest, the opposing captain becomes increasingly exasperated by Chen Qiu’s impossible accuracy and Fat Dragon’s nonsensical gestures, ultimately accusing the team of cheating after their decisive victory.

Chapter Summary: “Cheating? I Never Cheat.”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After the first-round victory, Fat Dragon explains that he and Chen Qiu can coordinate perfectly because they are “biological brothers from different fathers and mothers” whose hearts are linked. The defeated Press On Team captain accepts this explanation, though he remains suspicious about how Chen Qiu could also understand his other teammates.
• The first round rewards Giant Team with Blue Trait Jade Slips, while Chen Qiu receives an additional one as the outstanding performer. Eliminated teams are sent to the spectator stands but remain eligible for the later Masked Banquet.
• The second round transforms the arena into two corridors filled with Samadhi True Flame. Five representatives from each team must cross them, with the team achieving the lowest combined time winning. The flame ignores cultivation and defensive abilities, inflicting only overwhelming pain.
• The Gu Sect initially appears unbeatable because its cultivators constantly endure pain from Gu insects living inside their bodies. Their team completes the course in 537 breaths.
• Chen Qiu reveals that several of his Mocking Heaven Sect disciples possess the rare “Immortal in the Furnace” identity, which completely negates the flame’s effects. One after another, five members of his team reveal this same identity, including Chen Qiu himself. Giant Team wins easily and receives Purple Trait Jade Slips, with Chen Qiu again named outstanding performer.
• The third round requires five representatives to destroy highly durable defensive puppets. The Myriad Puppet Sect, experts in puppet cultivation, destroys its five puppets in only 109 breaths and appears certain to win.
• Chen Qiu responds by sending out five disciples who each possess the “Peach Immortal” identity. Each has a flat peach capable of instantly destroying puppets. The five peaches eliminate the opposing team’s advantage, allowing Giant Team to win again. They receive Spirit Stone rewards, and Chen Qiu is once more declared the outstanding performer despite barely participating directly.
• Other teams, especially the Press On Team, the Gu Sect, and the Myriad Puppet Sect, become convinced that Chen Qiu is cheating. The repeated coincidence of all five Immortal in the Furnace identities and all five Peach Immortal identities belonging to Giant Team appears impossible.
• Chen Qiu denies cheating, internally reasoning that the secret-realm artifact spirit—the true authority over the event—has pledged loyalty to him and is simply giving him privileged access. He considers this a reasonable favor rather than cheating.
• As the fourth round is about to begin, Jiang Buping is confused because his Identity Card failed to produce a special identity. He is then stunned when Chen Qiu appears before him as the opposing team.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Qiu becomes increasingly confident and openly exploits his privileged control over the secret realm. He remains calm while his team repeatedly produces miraculous advantages, refuses to explain himself, and even accepts the title of outstanding performer without personally doing much of the work.
• Badan shifts from confidence to astonishment. He initially believes the Barbarian Race’s pain tolerance will secure victory, but the Gu Sect’s expertise proves superior. After Chen Qiu reveals the special identities, Badan realizes that Giant Team’s victories are practically guaranteed and begins to suspect that Chen Qiu is blatantly manipulating the competition.
• The Gu Sect leader changes from smug confidence to disbelief and frustration after losing in the pain-endurance challenge. His anger intensifies because his team is defeated in its greatest area of expertise.
• The Myriad Puppet Sect master begins the third round certain of victory but is left speechless when five Peach Immortals instantly destroy his team’s puppets. His shock mirrors the Gu Sect’s earlier humiliation.
• The Press On Team captain remains resentful toward Chen Qiu after elimination. He gradually moves from suspicion to near certainty that Chen Qiu is cheating, though repeated unbelievable results eventually make him resigned and comparatively less shocked by later revelations.
• Jiang Buping becomes confused and concerned when his Identity Card does not function, then startled when he encounters Chen Qiu in the upcoming round.

3. Significant Themes

• Favoritism and hidden authority: The chapter reveals that apparent luck may actually be the result of Chen Qiu’s relationship with the secret realm’s artifact spirit. The event’s visible rules are less important than the unseen authority controlling them.
• Luck versus manipulation: Giant Team’s repeated acquisition of every special identity suited to a round exposes how impossible “good luck” can become when the system is being influenced behind the scenes.
• Expertise overturned by unfair advantages: Both the Gu Sect and Myriad Puppet Sect are defeated in fields where they should dominate, emphasizing how absolute special abilities can render cultivation, experience, and specialization meaningless.
• Pain and endurance: The Samadhi True Flame challenge highlights how different cultivation paths shape their practitioners. Barbarian body cultivators endure pain through physical training, while Gu cultivators live with constant internal suffering.
• Humor through denial: Chen Qiu’s insistence that he “never cheats,” despite overwhelming evidence, creates the chapter’s central comedic contradiction. His calm denial contrasts with everyone else’s growing disbelief.
• Power beyond conventional rules: The chapter suggests that Chen Qiu’s true advantage is not combat strength but control over the mechanisms governing the gathering.

4. Character Interactions

• The Press On captain questions the explanation for Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon’s perfect coordination, creating an early comedic misunderstanding.
• Badan praises Chen Qiu after the first round and repeatedly reacts with shock as Chen Qiu’s hidden advantages are revealed.
• The Gu Sect leader exchanges polite but competitive words with Badan before demonstrating his team’s superior pain tolerance, then angrily accuses Giant Team of cheating after losing.
• Chen Qiu calmly interrupts Badan’s intention to personally endure the flames and instead sends out the Immortal in the Furnace disciples.
• The Myriad Puppet Sect master confidently challenges Badan, only to watch Chen Qiu’s Peach Immortals destroy the puppets instantly.
• Spectators from the eliminated teams bond indirectly through shared suspicion of Chen Qiu, with the Press On captain and Gu Sect leader recognizing that Giant Team’s results are impossibly abnormal.
• The chapter ends with Jiang Buping encountering Chen Qiu directly, setting up the fourth-round confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “Are You Mocking Me?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu and Badan are teleported to an Azure Stone Plaza occupied by Jiang Buping and the kidnapped Bai Family young lady.
• Jiang Buping angrily mocks Chen Qiu for pretending not to recognize him, accusing him of indifference toward the woman’s kidnapping. Chen Qiu admits internally that he recognized both Jiang and the woman, but had avoided confronting him because Jiang was too powerful and Chen Qiu possessed Jiang’s corpse.
• Jiang reveals that Calamity Day will occur in one thousand years, correcting his initial claim that it would arrive in one year. This gives Chen Qiu far more time to prepare for the Heavenly Dao’s awakening.
• The fourth trial is a dice-bluffing game. Jiang hopes to defeat Chen Qiu and resolve his long-standing frustration at never having beaten the former Mocking Heaven Sect master. Chen Qiu wins effortlessly because all six of his dice are wild ones, earning the Giant Team victory and extra Human Prodigy Fortune.
• Jiang and Chen Qiu discuss Jiang’s past, his guilt over becoming a Heavenly Dao lackey, and his uncertainty about whether to reclaim his corpse. Recovering it would restore most of his strength but force him to choose between death and serving the Heavenly Dao again.
• Chen Qiu accurately analyzes Jiang’s motives: Jiang has avoided reclaiming the corpse because he fears death but also wishes to atone for his past. Jiang admits Chen Qiu’s interpretation is correct.
• Jiang implies that if Chen Qiu becomes strong enough and is willing to oppose the Heavenly Dao, they may stand on the same side during Calamity Day. He refuses to “carry the banner,” leaving that responsibility to Chen Qiu.
• During the fifth through ninth trials, Chen Qiu’s team wins overwhelmingly. Chen Qiu uses disciples with special identities, including “Sea Immortal,” to defeat opponents whose natural advantages should have made victory nearly impossible.
• The Giant Team becomes the only team to clear the ninth trial and gains priority for the Masked Banquet. The other teams realize that all forty-five special identities were concentrated within Chen Qiu’s team, making the victories look like deliberate cheating rather than luck.
• Chen Qiu uses two Supreme Cultivation Cards from the trial rewards, raising his cultivation to the Seventh Layer of Tribulation Transcendence at 80.5% progress.
• The Masked Banquet begins as the Azure Stone Plaza travels through the Void. Chen Qiu recognizes that they have left the Tidal Immortal Realm and passed beyond its Heavenly Dao Shackles.
• In a parallel scene, the injured Seventh Prince hides in Mystic Heaven Province after being betrayed by a companion who coveted a supreme treasure. Unable to contact his master, he prepares to face the danger alone.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu remains calm, calculating, and pragmatic. He prioritizes survival and long-term preparation over promises or emotional obligations, but he demonstrates exceptional insight into Jiang Buping’s psychology.
• Jiang Buping shifts from mocking hostility to cautious respect. He recognizes that Chen Qiu is not the reincarnation of the former Mocking Heaven Sect master, but shares some of that predecessor’s cleverness. Seeing Chen Qiu as someone outside the Heavenly Dao’s control gives Jiang hope that Calamity Day may be resisted.
• Jiang Buping’s dilemma becomes clearer: he wants to die opposing the Heavenly Dao and atone for his past, yet instinctive fear of death prevents him from reclaiming his corpse and restoring his former strength.
• Badan grows increasingly accustomed to Chen Qiu’s overwhelming methods. Rather than questioning each victory, he accepts that following Chen Qiu allows the team to dominate the secret realm.
• The Bai Family young lady remains composed and becomes more outspoken, sarcastically questioning why powerful figures such as Jiang would kidnap someone weak like her.
• The secret-realm artifact spirit, a little girl, is revealed to have deliberately arranged favorable conditions for Chen Qiu. She wants to impress him and gain his approval, while Little Handsome plans to help her escape afterward.
• The Seventh Prince is shown to be resourceful and loyal to his master. Although betrayed and isolated, he is more concerned about preserving the treasure intended for his master than about his own survival.

Significant Themes

• Hope against overwhelming fate: The revelation that Calamity Day is a thousand years away transforms despair into a limited but meaningful opportunity for preparation.
• Free will versus Heavenly Dao control: Jiang’s tragedy centers on whether he will again submit to the Heavenly Dao or choose resistance and death. Chen Qiu’s existence as someone beyond its control introduces a crucial variable.
• The burden of leadership: Jiang expects Chen Qiu to become strong enough to carry the resistance’s “banner,” while Jiang himself admits he is unwilling or unsuited to lead.
• Guilt, atonement, and fear of death: Jiang’s hesitation over retrieving his corpse reflects his conflict between remorse, responsibility, and the desire to continue living.
• Strategic deception and unfair advantage: The dice game and later trials emphasize bluffing, hidden abilities, and exploiting rules rather than relying solely on raw strength.
• History repeating itself: Jiang compares Chen Qiu to the former Mocking Heaven Sect master, suggesting that old conflicts and personalities may be resurfacing in a new form.
• Betrayal and survival: The Seventh Prince’s predicament reinforces the dangerous, opportunistic nature of the wider world.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Jiang Buping: Their exchange moves from provocation and hostility to mutual recognition. Jiang sees Chen Qiu as a possible ally, while Chen Qiu understands Jiang’s trauma and indecision.
• Jiang Buping and the Bai Family young lady: Jiang treats her kidnapping as insignificant and even calls it an “honor,” while she responds with dry sarcasm, creating a humorous contrast to the grave discussion surrounding Calamity Day.
• Chen Qiu and Badan: Badan repeatedly looks to Chen Qiu for guidance and becomes convinced that Chen Qiu’s team can overcome any trial.
• Jiang Buping and the former Mocking Heaven Sect master: Jiang’s memories reveal a complicated resentment. He claims the former master’s indifference helped drive him toward becoming a Heavenly Dao lackey, though he also grudgingly respects the man’s intelligence.
• The artifact spirit and Little Handsome: They cooperate behind the scenes to manipulate the trials in Chen Qiu’s favor, hoping to secure Chen Qiu’s satisfaction and eventually escape the secret realm.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The Seventh Prince of Great Xia, severely wounded and pursued by enemies, hides in a cave. Knowing he is likely to die, he conceals a storage ring containing a supreme treasure meant for his master, Chen Qiu, and leaves behind a piece of clothing as a clue.
• He rushes out to draw the pursuers away but is immediately attacked by lethal flying swords. Expecting to die in a dignified “Ten Thousand Swords Returning to the Heart,” he instead gets rescued by the ancestors of the Buddhist Sect and Azure Mountain Palace.
• The two rescuers recognize the “Mock” character on his clothing and realize that he is Chen Qiu’s long-lost disciple. They become excited at the prospect of earning a reward from Chen Qiu.
• A young master from the Qi Clan attempts to reclaim the Seventh Prince, claiming that he has no sect and that the “Mock” character proves nothing. The Buddhist ancestor rejects this argument and threatens the Qi Clan with the consequences of offending the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• The Seventh Prince confirms that he is Chen Qiu’s disciple but admits that he has no sect token because both he and his master forgot about it. The Buddhist and Azure Mountain ancestors decide to protect and treat him.
• While caring for the Seventh Prince, the two ancestors debate what reward to request from Chen Qiu. They eventually consider asking to become disciples of the Mocking Heaven Sect, believing its protection would make them nearly untouchable.
• Meanwhile, inside the Ascension Gathering’s secret realm, Chen Qiu and his group arrive at a vast plaza surrounded by mysterious, rainbow-lit peach blossoms. The first-day event, the Masked Banquet, begins.
• Participants are given masks that conceal their faces and alter their voices, then randomly scattered. Teams must find all their members before entering the banquet, where food and spirit beasts can trigger immortal opportunities.
• Because of the secret realm’s artifact spirit, Chen Qiu can see through the masks. He quickly gathers his team, earning the first-place reward. Jiang Buping is deliberately prevented from clearing the stage first, despite correctly finding his teammate, but is eventually recognized as the second-place team.
• Chen Qiu receives a direct 20% increase in cultivation progress, raising him to the eighth layer of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, along with additional trait-draw opportunities.
• Once inside the banquet, Chen Qiu consumes a spirit fruit and receives three possible rewards: more cultivation progress, a Purple Trait Jade Slip for a chosen profession, or a Cave Abode Grade-Raising Stone. He immediately chooses cultivation progress.
• Realizing the banquet’s fruits can rapidly increase his strength, Chen Qiu begins consuming them as quickly as possible. Other teams also rush to seize the opportunities, while those still searching for teammates grow increasingly anxious.

2. Character Developments

• Seventh Prince: Demonstrates loyalty, intelligence, and preparation in the face of death by hiding a treasure for Chen Qiu. His desperate survival also reveals that, despite accepting the possibility of a dignified death, he still strongly desires to live and explore the wider world.
• Buddhist Sect Ancestor and Azure Mountain Palace Ancestor: Their cautious opportunism turns into enthusiastic support once they realize the Seventh Prince’s identity. They begin viewing him as a valuable connection to Chen Qiu and even dream of joining the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• Chen Qiu: Displays growing influence and authority. The secret realm’s artifact spirit openly favors him, allowing him to gain an unfair advantage. He remains focused on cultivation and exploits the banquet’s rewards with ruthless efficiency.
• Jiang Buping: Shows confidence in his tracking ability and expects to win quickly, but becomes furious when the artifact spirit deliberately rejects his correct answer. His resentment toward Chen Qiu and the Mocking Heaven Sect’s “cheating” deepens.
• Qi Clan young master: Attempts to rely on legalistic reasoning and wealth to reclaim the Seventh Prince, but is intimidated when confronted with the Mocking Heaven Sect’s reputation.

3. Significant Themes

• Loyalty and master-disciple bonds: The Seventh Prince’s hidden treasure and final thoughts about Chen Qiu emphasize his devotion to his master.
• Reputation and borrowed authority: The Mocking Heaven Sect’s name alone is powerful enough to deter enemies and attract powerful allies, even when the Seventh Prince lacks official proof of membership.
• Opportunism and political calculation: The Buddhist and Azure Mountain ancestors initially observe the battle before acting, deciding whether the potential reward outweighs the risk.
• Cheating and favoritism: The artifact spirit blatantly assists Chen Qiu, turning the competition into an unfair contest and provoking Jiang Buping’s anger.
• Cultivation as resource accumulation: Chen Qiu treats the banquet as an opportunity to maximize cultivation gains, prioritizing direct progress over rare but less immediately useful rewards.
• Dignity versus survival: The Seventh Prince initially accepts a heroic death, yet eagerly embraces rescue, showing the tension between a cultivator’s ideals and the instinct to continue living.

4. Character Interactions

• The Seventh Prince respectfully appeals to the Buddhist and Azure Mountain ancestors after they rescue him, while they interrogate him about his identity and connection to Chen Qiu.
• The Qi Clan young master offers the rescuers spirit stones in exchange for the Seventh Prince, but the Buddhist ancestor dismisses the offer and warns him against provoking the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• The Buddhist and Azure Mountain ancestors discuss the possibility of asking Chen Qiu to accept them as disciples, revealing their desire for stronger backing and status.
• Jiang Buping repeatedly insists that the masked Bai Family young lady is his teammate, only to be denied by the biased artifact spirit. After Chen Qiu wins first place, Jiang Buping bitterly acknowledges the result and enters the banquet.
• Chen Qiu casually remarks on Jiang Buping’s speed, while Jiang Buping responds sarcastically and avoids further interaction, clearly frustrated by Chen Qiu’s unfair advantage.

Chapter Summary: Land of Eternal Life

Key Plot Points and Events

• At the Ascension Gathering’s banquet, Chen Qiu rapidly consumes nearly all the spirit fruits while the Mocking Heaven Sect and Badan’s group deliberately leave them for him.
• Jiang Buping refuses the banquet’s opportunities, prioritizing the question of whether he truly wants his original body back and what identity he will assume in the coming war.
• Jiang Buping discusses love, suffering, and the possibility of making the Heavenly Dao destroy itself through emotion. The Bai Family’s young lady explains that her former feelings for Chen Qiu were admiration rather than genuine love.
• Chen Qiu’s spirit fruits raise his cultivation to Tribulation Transcendence Peak, 820.5%. He realizes he cannot ascend within the Void, but after leaving and undergoing the Ascension Tribulation, he should directly reach the Eighth Layer of Human Immortal.
• Fat Dragon reveals that the grilled meat he consumed increases cultivation gained through “special methods,” especially his dual-cultivation technique.
• The banquet ends with roughly thirty percent of the participants satisfied, particularly Badan and the Mocking Heaven Sect disciples. Everyone then waits ten hours for the next day’s Peach Banquet.
• During the waiting period, cultivators display their cave abodes and compare their grades. Badan’s enormous Giant’s House is already sixteenth-grade and may eventually rise to twenty-second-grade. Chen Qiu privately considers these comparisons childish because his own Mocking Heaven Hall vastly surpasses them.
• Meanwhile, an aged silver-haired man enters the Nine Great Lands of Inheritance in the frozen Boundless Ice Wastes. He announces that only a thousand years remain before his time is up.
• The old man is revealed to be Liu Changqing, the former sect master of the Mocking Heaven Sect. He explains the history of his resurrection attempts, his failure to escape the Land of Heavenly Imprisonment, and his creation of the Nine Great Lands as a backup plan—the “Land of Eternal Life.”
• Liu Changqing reveals that he spent many lifetimes observing Chen Qiu and secretly helped him recover his memories and encounter the Mocking Heaven Sect’s inheritance. He eventually concluded that Chen Qiu was the successor he had been searching for.
• The chapter ends with Liu Changqing recalling Chen Qiu’s many reincarnations, especially his frustrating abandonment of sword cultivation and eventual success as a powerful spell cultivator.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates his extreme appetite and increasingly overwhelming cultivation potential. He remains pragmatic and confident, dismissing status competitions and focusing on rest after obtaining enormous benefits.
• Jiang Buping: Continues wrestling with his identity and the decision to reclaim his body. His conversation leads him to consider whether even the Heavenly Dao might possess emotional weaknesses.
• Bai Family’s young lady: Shows emotional maturity, recognizing that her former attraction to Chen Qiu was dependence and admiration rather than love. She accepts her situation calmly.
• Fat Dragon: Gains a major boost to his unusual cultivation method through the grilled-meat opportunity, while Chen Qiu begins considering how to help him find another cultivation partner.
• Liu Changqing: Is revealed as a long-lived, calculating former sect master who has endured resurrection failure, physical decay, and imprisonment. Despite his frustration with Chen Qiu’s choices, he deeply admires Chen Qiu’s perseverance and regards him as the ideal successor.

Significant Themes

• Immortality and its cost: The chapter questions whether endless life is truly desirable when it requires imprisonment, decay, or separation from the world.
• Choice, regret, and reincarnation: Jiang Buping reflects on the desire to undo mistakes, while Liu Changqing’s account of Chen Qiu’s repeated lives shows how different choices shape destiny.
• Perseverance versus talent: Liu Changqing values Chen Qiu because he repeatedly rises from terrible circumstances through determination rather than relying solely on advantages.
• The burden of power: Chen Qiu’s immense strength places him beyond ordinary human relationships, while the discussion of love suggests that status and power may prevent genuine emotional connection.
• Legacy and succession: Liu Changqing’s long-term efforts center on finding someone capable of carrying on the Mocking Heaven Sect’s purpose and confronting the Heavenly Dao.
• The Heavenly Dao as an enemy: The characters continue searching for weaknesses in the vast, seemingly unequal force governing their world.

Character Interactions

• Jiang Buping and the Bai Family’s young lady have a philosophical conversation about regret, love, suffering, and the emotional limitations of powerful beings.
• Chen Qiu later speaks with Fat Dragon about the nature of the grilled-meat opportunity and its benefits.
• Xiong Gao reports the cave-abode dispute to Chen Qiu, who reacts with amused indifference.
• Liu Changqing’s retrospective narration establishes his hidden connection to Chen Qiu: he observed Chen Qiu across multiple lives, covertly aided his development, and ultimately chose him as the Mocking Heaven Sect’s successor.

Chapter Summary: “Peach Banquet”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter opens with an elderly Liu Changqing completing his autobiography, titled Liu Changqing’s Autobiography: The First Sect Master of the Mocking Heaven Sect. He reflects that his story is not truly over and that he will now act more as an observer.
• Liu sits by the sea with Old Cao and Xian Yi, though the two seem unaware of his presence, creating an eerie yet peaceful scene.
• More than a decade has passed in Great Xia Kingdom. The Boundless Desert has been transformed into a fertile oasis, while the kingdom uses the former desert’s underground flames to resist the advancing cold from the Boundless Ice Wastes.
• Chen Qiu’s legend has begun to fade from public discussion, though older generations still remember his overwhelming dominance and long for news of his continued adventures.
• The Wang Family head in Fortune City has grown wealthy because of the development of the Boundless Desert. He remains unable to leave Great Xia but hopes his intelligent son may one day carry his accumulated Fierce Baleful Wood into the wider world.
• The Demon Race has submitted to Great Xia and now coexists peacefully with humans. One former Demon Race Sky Prodigy has become a tour guide, showcasing demon culture and trying to distinguish his people from the mindless Sea Clan.
• The Ascension Gathering’s second event, the Peach Banquet, begins. The Azure Stone Plaza travels through the Void and arrives in a strange forest of gigantic peach trees.
• Each participant receives three opportunities to pick peaches:
  • Green Peaches: safest, offering low-grade opportunities but a small chance of misfortune.
  • Purple Peaches: greater rewards but higher danger.
  • Rainbow Peaches: high-grade opportunities with a 70% chance of misfortune.
  • Black Peaches: extremely dangerous, with only a 0.1% chance of a top-grade opportunity.
• The first participant to pick a Rainbow Peach contracts Immortal Cancer, revealing that “misfortune” means this terrifying Heavenly Disease.
• Chen Qiu discovers that the peach outcomes are not genuinely random. Their surfaces cycle through predetermined words such as “opportunity,” “nothing,” and “misfortune.” By using a special peach leaf, he can see the timing of these cycles and identify the precise moments when a peach will yield an opportunity.
• Chen secretly guides Badan, Fat Dragon, and the others to successfully harvest Rainbow Peaches. They pretend to have suffered misfortune so other participants will not realize what is happening.
• Chen observes the three Black Peaches but refuses to pick them because their opportunity appears only once in a thousand cycles and would require risking Immortal Cancer or using Yin Emperor Fortune.
• An old man attempts to reach the Black Peaches in hopes of extending his life. The peach tree repeatedly grows beyond his reach, apparently preventing anyone from picking them prematurely. Chen concludes that the Black Peaches may effectively be reserved for him.
• Other participants eventually begin noticing Chen’s group repeatedly targeting Rainbow Peaches, threatening to expose their advantage.

Character Developments

• Liu Changqing: Fully embraces his role as an observer and historian, preserving his experiences through his autobiography. His continued presence beside people who cannot perceive him suggests a transition beyond ordinary existence.
• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates his usual resourcefulness and receives yet another advantage from the secret realm. He initially feels embarrassed by the “cheating,” but quickly decides it would be foolish not to use it. He also acts protectively and strategically toward his companions.
• Badan: Initially frightened by the risk of Immortal Cancer, he regains confidence after realizing Chen can predict safe opportunities. His trust in Chen is absolute.
• Fat Dragon and Chen’s companions: Move from hesitation to enthusiastic participation once Chen reveals the hidden mechanism of the peaches.
• The Wang Family head: Has become a wealthy but contented local figure, valuing his homeland over greater power or status. His thoughts turn toward his son and the possibility of a future beyond Great Xia.
• The Demon Race Sky Prodigy: Has abandoned his former challenge against Chen Qiu and now works to preserve and promote demon culture within the new human-demon society.
• The old man at the Black Peaches: Represents a desperate cultivator willing to gamble with his remaining life for one final chance at immortality.

Significant Themes

• The passage of time and fading legends: Chen Qiu’s influence remains enormous, but younger generations know him only as a distant figure from history.
• Civilization and adaptation: Great Xia survives through massive engineering projects, migration, and cooperation between humans and demons.
• Luck versus predetermined fate: The Peach Banquet appears to test luck, but Chen discovers that each outcome is fixed in advance, suggesting that “fortune” cannot alter events already determined.
• Life, risk, and desperation: Participants must decide whether potential opportunities justify risking Immortal Cancer. The old man’s actions highlight the desperation of those nearing the end of their lives.
• Cheating and advantage: Chen’s ability to read the peaches gives him an overwhelming edge, continuing the story’s theme of his extraordinary ability to exploit loopholes and hidden rules.
• Legacy and storytelling: Liu Changqing’s autobiography and the public’s memories of Chen Qiu emphasize how history preserves heroes even as direct knowledge of them fades.

Character Interactions

• Old Cao and Xian Yi converse casually by the sea while unknowingly ignoring Liu Changqing, creating a strange relationship between companionship and separation.
• The Wang Family head reflects on Chen Qiu’s past assistance and wonders how Chen’s life is progressing beyond Great Xia.
• Badan consults Chen about whether to risk picking peaches. Chen gives him precise instructions, and Badan follows them without question.
• Chen quietly coordinates his entire group’s peach selections, while they conceal their successes by pretending to have drawn misfortune.
• Chen notices and evaluates the old man’s attempt to seize a Black Peach, but the strange peach tree itself prevents the attempt.
• The growing attention from other participants foreshadows conflict, as Chen’s group can no longer remain completely unnoticed.

Chapter Summary: “I Wonder Whether Senior Needs a True Immortal Cultivator”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fat Dragon casually argues that those who have already contracted Immortal Cancer have little left to fear from picking more Rainbow Peaches. His words inspire another afflicted cultivator to gamble again.
• The cultivator picks two more Rainbow Peaches. Although he suffers another misfortune, his final pick grants him six strands of Fortune of the Yin Soul, giving him hope of eventually curing his Immortal Cancer.
• Fat Dragon and the Mocking Heaven Sect members use their three peach-picking chances. Most choose “cultivation progress +100%,” while Badan chooses Heavenly Realm Grade-Raising Stones.
• By pooling the stones obtained by his clansmen, Badan raises his Heavenly Realm grade to thirty-eight, making him nearly unrivaled among Heavenly Immortal Peak cultivators.
• Chen Qiu alone can pick the special Black Peaches, which were apparently created specifically for him by the secret realm’s artifact spirit. He successfully obtains three opportunities without encountering misfortune.
• Chen Qiu chooses “cultivation progress +300%” three times, gaining a total of 900% cultivation progress. His cultivation rises from Tribulation Transcendence Peak to a level that will eventually allow him to reach the Earth Immortal Eighth Layer, bringing him close to Heavenly Immortal and eventually True Immortal.
• The Peach Banquet ends. More than one thousand cultivators have contracted Immortal Cancer, while others attempt to sell their Fortune of the Yin Soul to leave resources for their descendants.
• During the twelve-hour wait before the final event, “Climb the Ascension Path,” Chen Qiu realizes he cannot participate because he has not yet reached Heavenly Immortal Peak.
• Badan asks Chen Qiu for a strand of Yin Emperor Fortune, offering to serve him forever in exchange. Chen Qiu agrees, effectively ensuring Badan’s breakthrough to True Immortal after the gathering.
• Badan explains that becoming a True Immortal requires extremely rare conditions, including a permanent Rainbow Trait and the corpse of a True Immortal as a catalyst. This explains why so many Heavenly Immortal Peak cultivators remain unable to advance.

Character Developments

• Fat Dragon unintentionally becomes a source of hope for Immortal Cancer victims. His reckless attitude changes how others view their situation, though he himself does not realize the significance of his words.
• The young cultivator with Immortal Cancer moves from despair to renewed hope after obtaining six strands of Fortune of the Yin Soul. His fate remains uncertain, but he now has a possible path to survival.
• Badan becomes dramatically stronger by concentrating his clan’s rewards into his own cultivation. His actions reflect strategic leadership rather than simple selfishness, since strengthening him benefits the entire Barbarian Race. He also deepens his loyalty to Chen Qiu by asking to serve him permanently.
• Chen Qiu gains an enormous increase in cultivation and becomes even closer to reaching True Immortal. His special treatment by the secret realm confirms his extraordinary status and suggests that the artifact spirit is actively favoring him.
• The Wei Prince and the Peaceful Prefecture Patriarch reveal a more intimate relationship. The Wei Prince is exhausted by political responsibility and wishes to retire, while her lover hopes to cultivate enough to take her place. Their playful argument also exposes jealousy, affection, and mutual dependence.
• Jiang Buping sees through the apparent “luck” behind Chen Qiu’s success and suspects that the secret realm’s artifact spirit has consciously chosen to favor him.

Significant Themes

• Despair and irrationality: Immortal Cancer victims are initially terrified, but the feverish competition causes many to ignore the danger and gamble anyway. The chapter shows how crowds and heightened emotions can overwhelm rational judgment.
• Luck versus hidden influence: Chen Qiu’s repeated success appears impossibly lucky, but Jiang Buping recognizes that it is likely the result of the artifact spirit deliberately supporting him.
• Strength and resource allocation: Badan’s decision to consolidate rewards into his own power emphasizes the importance of concentrating strength when leading a vulnerable race or faction.
• Hope amid fatal circumstances: Even a nearly incurable disease can seem survivable when a small possibility appears. The afflicted cultivators cling to six strands of Fortune of the Yin Soul despite the overwhelming odds against finding the remaining three.
• The difficulty of advancement: The gap between Heavenly Immortal Peak and True Immortal is portrayed as vast. Rare innate traits, powerful catalysts, and extraordinary opportunities are necessary to cross the threshold.
• Power, favoritism, and destiny: The secret realm appears designed for Chen Qiu, reinforcing his role as someone favored by the Heavenly Dao or by forces beyond ordinary cultivation logic.

Character Interactions

• Fat Dragon’s conversation with the suspicious cultivator directly inspires the latter to risk further peach picks.
• The rescued cultivator thanks Fat Dragon sincerely, while Fat Dragon remains confused because he believes the man has gained little and may still die.
• Chen Qiu’s success is observed by the Gu Sect master, the Press On Team captain, Jiang Buping, and the Bai Family’s young lady, all of whom react to his overwhelming advantage in different ways.
• The Wei Prince and the Peaceful Prefecture Patriarch exchange teasing remarks about family life, cultivation, and a fairy who once repaid a favor, revealing both their romantic bond and their humorous marital tension.
• Badan approaches Chen Qiu directly and requests Yin Emperor Fortune. Chen Qiu grants it without hesitation, creating a stronger master-servant relationship and preparing Badan to become a True Immortal.

Chapter Summary: “Climb the Ascension Path”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The final event of the Ascension Gathering, Climb the Ascension Path, begins after twelve hours of waiting.
• The participants are transported to an enormous staircase in the Void containing 1,024 steps, each step functioning as a checkpoint with its own obstacle.
• The first person to reach the summit earns the sole Ascension opportunity, allowing a Heavenly Immortal at peak cultivation to break through directly to the True Immortal Realm.
• Additional rewards are distributed according to position:
  • Steps 2–10: a selectable Supreme Grade Red Trait.
  • Steps 11–50: a Heavenly Realm Grade-Raising Stone.
  • Steps 51–100: a Supreme Cultivation Card.
• Participants may skip steps by overcoming especially difficult obstacles. The rankings are displayed publicly and update in real time.
• Chen Qiu’s first obstacle requires him to fight up to 1,022 puppets at the Tribulation Transcendence Peak Realm. He chooses the maximum difficulty and instantly destroys all of them using his powerful techniques.
• As a result, Chen Qiu skips almost the entire staircase and arrives directly at Step 2, taking first place. Only the final step remains between him and victory.
• Rather than immediately finish, Chen Qiu descends to find Badan and the others, intending to help them secure valuable rewards.
• Badan clears his own initial challenge and reaches Step 1,010, believing he has performed exceptionally well. He is stunned when he discovers that Chen Qiu has already reached Step 2.
• Other participants react similarly. Ji Wuba, Chao Tiange, and Jiang Buping rank behind Chen Qiu, while Badan is only fifth despite his impressive progress.
• Jiang Buping becomes so discouraged by Chen Qiu’s overwhelming advantage that he gives up and lies down to sleep.
• The Gu Sect Master and weaker participants search the starting plaza for hidden mechanisms or teleportation routes, assuming that climbing all 1,024 steps normally would be impossible.
• The Press On Team’s captain reflects on Chen Qiu’s earlier claim that his name would soon become impossible to forget, now suspecting that Chen Qiu may be the mysterious senior whom Badan respects and fears.
• Fat Dragon reaches Step 1,021 and realizes that the event has effectively become another one-man performance by Chen Qiu. However, after noticing Mocking Heaven Sect disciples ahead of him, he becomes determined not to be outperformed by his own juniors.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu once again demonstrates an absurd gap between his abilities and those of the other contestants. His “cheat” for this event allows him to turn a supposedly grueling challenge into an almost immediate victory.
• Despite having no need for the Ascension opportunity himself, Chen Qiu remains focused on securing rewards for Badan, his allies, and the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• Badan displays both immense strength and loyalty. He clears a difficult challenge independently but remains willing to let Chen Qiu take the glory so that Chen Qiu’s authority and dignity are preserved.
• Jiang Buping accepts that Chen Qiu’s overwhelming advantages make competition meaningless. His decision to sleep reflects both humor and his growing weariness with the burden of the Heavenly Dao’s impending awakening.
• The Gu Sect Master becomes increasingly resigned to Chen Qiu’s dominance and recognizes that ordinary effort cannot overcome such overwhelming backing.
• The Press On Team captain develops a new understanding of Chen Qiu, suspecting that he is not merely a talented junior but a hidden and terrifying senior figure.
• Fat Dragon remains comic relief but also reveals a strong competitive pride, especially when competing against the disciples under his supervision.
• Little Handsome is thrilled to experience the secret realm as a participant rather than merely as an artifact spirit.

Significant Themes

• Overwhelming power and unequal competition: The event is designed as an arduous trial, but Chen Qiu’s abilities completely invalidate its intended difficulty.
• Connections and backing versus individual effort: Jiang Buping’s joke that “cultivation depends on connections” reflects the chapter’s central irony: Chen Qiu’s allies benefit from his extraordinary support, while other contestants are reduced to spectators.
• Loyalty and mutual trust: Badan’s willingness to let Chen Qiu arrange the final result shows his deep respect and confidence in Chen Qiu.
• Reputation and hidden identity: Several characters begin to suspect that Chen Qiu is the mysterious power behind Badan, reinforcing the growing legend surrounding him.
• Escaping reality: Jiang Buping’s fondness for sleep is connected to his inability to solve the threat of the Heavenly Dao’s awakening, presenting sleep as a humorous but poignant form of avoidance.
• The absurdity of cultivation trials: The event is presented as a monumental “ascension path,” yet Chen Qiu’s performance transforms it into an almost effortless shortcut.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Badan coordinate their progress, with Chen Qiu planning to secure the top position while helping Badan and their allies obtain rewards.
• Badan’s thoughts show that he prioritizes Chen Qiu’s dignity, even imagining that he should conceal his own strength if he somehow approached the summit first.
• Jiang Buping reacts sarcastically to Chen Qiu’s instant advancement, treating it as proof that connections matter more than effort.
• The Gu Sect Master and other weaker contestants search for alternative methods together, hoping to bypass the challenge through intelligence rather than strength.
• The Press On Team captain reinterprets his past conversation with Chen Qiu after witnessing his performance, deepening his respect and suspicion.
• Fat Dragon encourages the Mocking Heaven Sect disciples before competing against them himself, turning the event into a humorous internal rivalry.
  The chapter ends with Chen Qiu in first place at Step 2, while the rest of the contestants struggle far below and prepare for the next obstacles.

Chapter Summary: “Heavenly Tribulation, Approaching!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu descends from the upper levels of the Ascension Path to find Badan, Little Handsome, Fat Dragon, and the other Mocking Heaven Sect members.
• Through Little Handsome, he communicates with the secret realm’s artifact spirit and learns that he may clear trials on behalf of members of the Giant Team, but not outsiders.
• The Level 999 trial, “Escape from Certain Death,” allows challengers to skip levels based on the number of same-level puppets they defeat.
• Chen Qiu exploits this trial to reorganize his allies:
  • Most Giant Team and Mocking Heaven Sect members are sent to Level 51 to obtain Supreme Cultivation Cards.
  • Little Handsome is also placed at Level 51.
  • Badan is sent to Level 2, the highest level possible through the trial.
• Badan independently completes the final trial and reaches the summit, causing the Ascension Path to close. All challengers are rewarded according to their positions and given ten breaths to leave.
• Chen Qiu receives a Supreme-Grade Red Trait Jade Slip and selects “Fairy’s First Night.”
  • The trait continuously grants him good fortune.
  • Its Supreme-Grade effect strengthens that fortune.
  • Because he did not obtain it from an actual fairy, it carries none of its usual restrictions.
• After everyone exits the secret realm, an enormous Heavenly Tribulation suddenly gathers over Central Province City.
• Badan initially assumes the tribulation is his True Immortal Tribulation and boldly prepares to face it. He urges Chen Qiu to take his clansmen and escape.
• Chen Qiu reveals that the tribulation is actually his own Ascension Tribulation. He places the Mocking Heaven Sect disciples and Barbarian Race members inside his Minor World for protection.
• Chen Qiu prepares to withstand an unprecedented tribulation formed from multiple breakthroughs, his extraordinary foundations, and the Heavenly Dao’s power.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates strategic intelligence and selflessness by sacrificing the summit opportunity and optimizing rewards for his allies instead of claiming everything himself.
• He gains the powerful Supreme-Grade Fairy’s First Night trait, improving his future luck and potentially aiding his advancement.
• His cultivation has reached the Tribulation Transcendence Peak Realm with 1720.5% progress. Once absorbed, it could carry him as high as the Earth Immortal Eighth Layer.
• Chen Qiu’s extraordinary foundation is revealed: his tribulation combines the Ascension Tribulation, Earth Immortal Tribulation, multiple minor-realm tribulations, and the power of his exceptional cultivation techniques and treasures.
• Badan successfully reaches the summit and becomes a Pseudo-True Immortal. His loyalty toward Chen Qiu is emphasized when he publicly calls him “Senior” and worries about his safety.
• Badan also experiences an amusing reversal when he discovers that the terrifying tribulation is not his own but Chen Qiu’s.
• Ji Wuba abandons his lingering resentment toward Chen Qiu after witnessing the overwhelming scale of Chen Qiu’s tribulation. He accepts that being defeated by someone so far beyond ordinary standards is not shameful.

Significant Themes

• Selflessness and leadership: Chen Qiu prioritizes the advancement of his entire faction rather than maximizing his own reward.
• Strength beyond appearances: Although Chen Qiu appears to possess only Tribulation Transcendence Peak cultivation, the scale of his Heavenly Tribulation reveals that his true potential and foundation are vastly greater.
• The burden of extraordinary talent: Chen Qiu’s overwhelming foundation causes the Heavenly Dao to produce a tribulation far beyond normal standards, suggesting that exceptional power invites extraordinary danger.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Badan’s reverence and willingness to protect Chen Qiu reflect the immense debt he feels toward the person who helped him reach the summit.
• Hope for miracles: Even cultivators who fear and resent Chen Qiu begin hoping that he survives, illustrating humanity’s instinctive admiration for the weaker side facing impossible odds.

Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu works through Little Handsome to communicate with the secret realm’s artifact spirit.
• He coordinates with Fat Dragon, Little Handsome, Badan, and the other Giant Team members to distribute them to advantageous levels.
• Chen Qiu tells Badan that he must complete the final trial himself, trusting him to reach the summit.
• After the tribulation forms, Badan loudly urges Chen Qiu to flee and protect the Barbarian Race, believing Chen Qiu is in danger from his supposed True Immortal Tribulation.
• Chen Qiu corrects Badan’s misunderstanding and places him and the others inside his Minor World.
• The watching cultivators, including Ji Wuba, reassess Chen Qiu’s power and begin viewing him as a figure capable of achieving an impossible miracle.

Chapter Summary: “Who the Fuck Isn’t a Thunder Player?!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu undergoes an unprecedented Third-Grade World-Extinguishing Thunder Tribulation near Central Province City during the Ascension Gathering.
• The spectators are divided between concern for Chen Qiu’s survival and fear that the tribulation will destroy their homes and businesses.
• Inside the Minor World, the group watches anxiously. Moon, a young-looking artifact spirit who has actually lived for over one hundred thousand years, worries about Chen Qiu.
• The first Thunder Tribulation strikes Chen Qiu directly. Although it appears to leave him unharmed, he admits that it hurts and realizes the tribulation will be extremely dangerous.
• He survives the next several strikes using:
  • The

Thousand-Hand Guanyin Heavenly Dao Trait Set

• Hundreds of Golden Light Protections
• The Heavenly Secrets Umbrella
• Numerous spirit treasures, talismans, Traits, and vast amounts of Merit Value
• By the seventh and eighth tribulations, Chen Qiu is severely wounded. Little Ant helps absorb part of the attacks, but Chen Qiu collapses into a crater, covered in blood and barely alive.
• The spectators conclude that he cannot possibly survive the ninth and final strike. Even the Gu Sect Master and the Press On Team captain express regret at the apparent end of Chen Qiu’s life.
• Chen Qiu awakens before the ninth tribulation descends. More concerned with being seen in a pathetic state than with his own survival, he forces himself out of the crater and prepares to fight back.
• He unleashes his strongest technique, Three Thousand Thunder Motions, condensing countless lightning arcs into a Thunderball.
• Mocking the tribulation, Chen Qiu charges directly into the ninth strike, declaring that he is also a lightning user.
• The collision disperses the tribulation clouds across hundreds of miles. Chen Qiu remains standing afterward, ragged but alive, shocking everyone watching.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates extraordinary endurance, preparation, and pride. Despite being pushed to the brink of death, he refuses to appear defeated before the crowd. His final counterattack shows that he is not merely surviving through defensive resources—he can also directly overpower or neutralize a higher-grade tribulation.
• Moon is revealed to be highly intelligent and socially perceptive despite her innocent appearance. She deliberately arranged challenging opponents in the secret realm so Chen Qiu would recognize the value of the special identities she gave him. She also develops an immediate romantic attachment to Little Handsome.
• Little Handsome quickly becomes enamored with Moon and openly seeks Fat Dragon’s blessing. His attraction comes partly from Moon being the first female artifact spirit he has met and partly from her support for establishing an Artifact Spirit Clan.
• Fat Dragon acts as both Chen Qiu’s loyal confidant and the group’s comic voice. He objects to Little Handsome’s apparently inappropriate behavior toward Moon, then becomes awkward when her true age is revealed. Later, he tries to reassure everyone about Chen Qiu’s possible death by mentioning the Yin Realm, only to realize that even Chen Qiu’s soul might be destroyed.
• Badan provides an expert assessment of the tribulation’s danger. His initial confidence in Chen Qiu turns into genuine anxiety because the tribulation is far beyond what Chen Qiu should be able to endure.
• Jiang Buping recognizes the tribulation as a Third-Grade Heavenly Tribulation, something that should only appear in a higher-grade Immortal Realm. He is impressed by Chen Qiu’s foundation and briefly believes he is about to witness the fall of a peerless genius.
• The Press On Team captain reveals respect and gratitude toward Chen Qiu. Although Chen Qiu eliminated him in the Ascension Gathering, he remembers that Chen Qiu still allowed the team to share in later opportunities.

Significant Themes

• Defiance against overwhelming fate: Chen Qiu refuses to accept that the tribulation’s superior scale guarantees his defeat. His final attack turns survival into an act of rebellion.
• Pride and public image: Chen Qiu’s concern about being seen injured or humiliated adds humor but also reveals how strongly he values his reputation and legendary status.
• Preparation versus raw strength: Chen Qiu survives through accumulated Traits, treasures, Merit Value, and strategic defenses, but ultimately wins attention by unleashing his own overwhelming technique.
• The limits of conventional judgment: Experts repeatedly calculate that Chen Qiu should die, yet his unusual foundation and abilities invalidate their expectations.
• Loyalty and recognition: Even former opponents and distant spectators come to hope that Chen Qiu survives, showing how his conduct in the Ascension Gathering has earned widespread respect.
• Freedom and new beginnings: Moon’s escape from the secret realm and her hope of joining the future Artifact Spirit Clan contrast with Chen Qiu’s life-or-death struggle, emphasizing the possibilities opened by his influence.

Important Character Interactions

• Little Handsome embraces Moon and immediately confesses his affection. Fat Dragon criticizes him, but Moon reveals that she is vastly older than she looks and reciprocates his feelings.
• Moon reflects on how carefully she supported Chen Qiu in the secret realm, ensuring that her contributions would be memorable rather than unnoticed.
• Badan explains the escalating danger of the tribulation to the others and later desperately urges Chen Qiu to rise.
• Fat Dragon attempts to comfort the group by saying Chen Qiu could return from the Yin Realm, while Badan warns that the tribulation may destroy even his soul.
• The Gu Sect Master and the Press On Team captain discuss whether Chen Qiu can survive, with the captain defending Chen Qiu’s generosity and character.
• Jiang Buping explains the extraordinary nature of a Third-Grade Heavenly Tribulation and compares Chen Qiu’s situation with his own past achievements.
• Chen Qiu’s final exchange is with the tribulation itself: rather than passively endure the ninth strike, he challenges it directly and answers thunder with thunder.

Chapter Summary: “The Sixth Plan: Promised Land Plan!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu survives the extraordinarily powerful World-Extinguishing Thunder Tribulation, becoming the first person in Tidal Immortal Realm—and across all affiliated Lower-Rank Continents—to pass a Third-Grade Heavenly Tribulation with a mortal body.
• At the final moment, he abandons the Body-Magic Conversion trait, returns to being a spell cultivator, and counters the ninth tribulation with his strongest attack, the Thunderball. His ants and vast Merit Value absorb the remaining force.
• The Heavenly Dao announces Chen Qiu’s achievement throughout Tidal Immortal Realm and rewards him with:
  • The Heavenly Dao Supreme Purple Immortal Cave Abode
  • The Heavenly Dao Supreme Purple Immortal Mount
  • The Heavenly Dao Supreme Purple Qi Comes from the East
  • One thousand Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones
• Chen Qiu discovers that his permanent cultivation speed has risen to 3,120 times normal speed, primarily because his Supreme-Grade trait Far-Reaching Fame has been amplified by the Heavenly Dao Edict spreading his name across tens of thousands of continents.
• While Chen Qiu remains temporarily paralyzed by the lightning, Jiang Buping approaches. Rather than attack, Jiang examines him and admits that Chen Qiu is far more powerful than expected.
• Jiang reveals the secret of the Mocking Heaven Sect’s seven emergency plans. The sixth, the Promised Land Plan, was an extreme strategy designed to kill the Heavenly Dao by preventing new high-level Immortal Realms from forming.
• The plan called for massacring every realm from the Twelfth-Rank Immortal Realm down to the Sixth-Grade Immortal Realms before the Heavenly Dao awakened. Without a new Twelfth-Rank Immortal Realm to devour every thirty thousand years, the Heavenly Dao would eventually die from its injuries.
• The plan’s brutality caused the other powerful realms to unite against the Mocking Heaven Sect and become Heavenly Dao lackeys. A female elder leaked the plan, preventing the sect from carrying it out through surprise attacks. The Mocking Heaven Sect was ultimately destroyed.
• Chen Qiu rejects the plan, not because he considers it entirely wrong, but because its results would take hundreds of thousands or millions of years. He prefers solving immediate problems rather than relying on distant consequences.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu demonstrates overwhelming talent, tactical creativity, and resilience by surviving a tribulation far beyond his apparent cultivation level. His victory establishes him as a legendary “monster” whom other cultivators fear and hope to ally with.
• Despite his success, Chen Qiu remains practical and self-aware. He understands that his apparent calm after the tribulation is only because his body and spiritual energy have been completely numbed.
• His growing fame becomes a major source of strength, making his former plan of personally spreading his name unnecessary. However, he recognizes that cultivation speed alone will not determine his future strength; after reaching Immortal Emperor, he will need combat-related traits, treasures, and techniques.
• Jiang Buping is shown to be less hostile toward Chen Qiu than expected. His attachment to the Mocking Heaven Sect is tied to his faith and sense of purpose rather than simple hatred or loyalty. He admits that he would lose his reason to live if the sect disappeared.
• Jiang also reveals his conflicted view of the former Mocking Heaven Sect Master: he considers that leader ruthless and extreme, yet acknowledges that the Promised Land Plan was strategically brilliant.
• Chen Qiu is contrasted with the former sect master. He is similarly formidable but less ruthless and more focused on practical, immediate solutions.

Significant Themes

• Power and reputation: Chen Qiu’s fame directly increases his cultivation speed, showing that reputation is not merely social influence but a measurable source of power.
• The cost of salvation: The Promised Land Plan presents a moral dilemma: destroying countless realms and civilizations could eventually free the world from the Heavenly Dao, but at the cost of unimaginable lives and karmic sin.
• Immediate action versus distant strategy: Chen Qiu favors solving present dangers, while the Promised Land Plan requires sacrificing the current age for a future generations may never see.
• Defiance against fate and heaven: Chen Qiu’s survival and attitude reflect the chapter’s larger theme of resisting the Heavenly Dao, even when its true nature and weaknesses remain unknown.
• Moral ambiguity: The Mocking Heaven Sect is neither portrayed as wholly righteous nor purely evil. Its members sought to save the world but were willing to commit atrocities to do so.
• Hope and adaptability: Chen Qiu believes every problem has a corresponding solution. Even if direct confrontation with the Heavenly Dao is impossible, he trusts that a viable method can eventually be discovered.

Character Interactions

• The spectators react to Chen Qiu’s survival with fear, awe, and admiration. Many immediately conclude that he is destined to become an unstoppable figure and consider aligning themselves with him.
• Chen Qiu and Jiang Buping converse while Chen Qiu is vulnerable. Chen Qiu maintains a calm façade and keeps Jiang talking until his paralysis ends, subtly protecting himself from a possible attack.
• Jiang praises Chen Qiu’s foundation and compares him favorably to the former Mocking Heaven Sect Master, while also emphasizing that Chen Qiu lacks the former leader’s cruelty.
• Their exchange evolves from wary observation into a discussion of the Mocking Heaven Sect’s history, the Heavenly Dao’s cycle of destruction, and the philosophical difference between their approaches to overcoming catastrophe.
• The chapter ends with Chen Qiu calmly accepting the Heavenly Dao’s overwhelming power while affirming his determination to find a way to defeat or circumvent it.

Chapter Summary: “Nine Lives of the Cat”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After surviving the Heavenly Tribulation, Chen Qiu returns to his Minor World and briefly asks Star Dipper to prepare food before collapsing from exhaustion and suppressed injuries.
• Fat Dragon dramatically catches him and panics, though the others remain confident that Chen Qiu is not in serious danger. Star Dipper goes to the Celestial Palace to check on him.
• Jiang Buping is annoyed that Chen Qiu leaves without saying goodbye. He sends the “Bai Family’s young lady” back to her family while considering whether to reclaim his own corpse later.
• The chapter explains that history is rewritten every thirty thousand years, erasing the truth about the Mocking Heaven Sect and the ancient World-Destroying War. If the sect’s history were known, powerful realms would destroy it before it could rise again.
• The Heavenly Tribulation devastates part of Central Province City, destroying a section of the city wall and roughly one-twentieth of its buildings.
• The Central Province City Lord promises compensation for destroyed shops and residences. His apparent generosity is also a strategic business move: he wants Central Province City to gain a reputation as a trustworthy neutral “witness” for major transactions.
• The City Lord plans to preserve the ruined area as a tourist attraction using an illusion formation that recreates Chen Qiu’s Heavenly Tribulation. He even considers hosting a yearly event modeled after the Ascension Gathering, using Chen Qiu’s trial as its finale.
• Three days later, news of Chen Qiu’s feat spreads throughout the Tidal Immortal Realm, making his name more famous than the Ascension Gathering itself.
• Chen Qiu wakes after three days of sleep and medicine and begins examining the rewards from his journey. He finds Jiang Buping’s corpse in his storage ring but decides it is not useful enough to have served as a Heavenly Tribulation shield.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates immense strength by surviving the Third-Grade Heavenly Tribulation, but the ordeal leaves him exhausted. His injuries are manageable, and he remains practical, immediately evaluating the usefulness of his gains after waking.
• Fat Dragon: Shows extreme attachment to Chen Qiu, reacting as though Chen Qiu has died. His recurring fantasies about mourning Chen Qiu reveal both comedic absurdity and genuine fear of losing him.
• Jiang Buping: Maintains his arrogance as a Half-Step Immortal Emperor. He considers most people beneath his notice, cares primarily about Chen Qiu, and remains focused on retrieving or dealing with his own corpse.
• Central Province City Lord: Reveals himself as an exceptionally clever and opportunistic administrator. He transforms a disaster into a chance to improve the city’s reputation, attract visitors, and associate Central Province City with Chen Qiu’s future prestige.
• The strategist: Becomes increasingly impressed—and overwhelmed—by the young City Lord’s unconventional ideas. He begins considering retirement, believing his son can eventually replace him.
• Wei Prince: Remains composed and sharp, deflecting the Peaceful Prefecture Patriarch’s intrusive question about her age with humor and dignity.
• July Cat: Experiences the chapter’s most tragic development. She recovers memories revealing that she is not merely blessed with “Nine Lives of the Cat,” but is truly immortal and cursed by the Heavenly Dao.

July Cat’s Revelation

• July Cat explains that her former master, Xiao Yue, died after being infected by the Heavenly Dao’s curse while staying with her. July Cat unknowingly caused the death because of her hidden Cursed Physique.
• Anyone who remains near her for too long is destined to die under the curse. Every eighteen reincarnations, her memories are erased, ensuring she repeatedly forgets the curse and forms attachments that end in tragedy.
• The Heavenly Dao granted her immortality as a punishment, forcing her to repeatedly watch loved ones die and then recover enough memories to understand that she was responsible.
• July Cat believes the curse can only be removed by escaping the Land of Heavenly Imprisonment and breaking free of the Heavenly Dao’s control. She now avoids everyone, refusing to approach even those who leave her food.
• Her grief and isolation have replaced her former laziness and casualness. Though she observes the world, she feels unable to participate in it.

Significant Themes

• The price of power: Chen Qiu’s victory brings fame but also physical exhaustion and destruction to the surrounding city.
• Turning disaster into opportunity: The City Lord’s response shows how clever leadership can transform destruction into economic and political advantage.
• Erased history and hidden truth: The Heavenly Dao’s rewriting of history protects the world from panic while concealing the true threat posed by the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• Immortality as punishment: July Cat’s endless reincarnation is not a blessing but a curse designed to inflict loneliness and repeated grief.
• Isolation and guilt: July Cat withdraws from others to protect them, sacrificing companionship because she believes closeness inevitably leads to death.
• Reputation and legacy: Chen Qiu’s Heavenly Tribulation is already becoming historical and commercialized, while Central Province City seeks to attach itself to his future rise.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu briefly interacts with Fat Dragon and Star Dipper before collapsing, while Fat Dragon’s exaggerated reaction highlights his emotional dependence on Chen Qiu.
• Jiang Buping dismisses Badan and the others after being separated from them, revealing his contempt for anyone outside his immediate interests.
• The Central Province City Lord reassures his strategist that his compensation plan is financially sustainable and explains how it will strengthen the city’s reputation.
• The Wei Prince and the Peaceful Prefecture Patriarch exchange a humorous conversation about her age, showing her composure and his lack of tact.
• July Cat observes the distant traces of Chen Qiu’s Heavenly Tribulation while reflecting on Xiao Yue, linking Chen Qiu’s current fame to her own painful past.
• Chen Qiu’s post-battle examination of Jiang Buping’s corpse reinforces his pragmatic and occasionally irreverent attitude toward the extraordinary events surrounding him.

Chapter Summary: “Absolute Attribute: Defense Negation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After surviving the Third-Grade Heavenly Tribulation, Chen Qiu awakens after only three days and receives doubled rewards due to the Green Trait “Edict Regular.”
• His rewards include:
  • The

Purple Immortal Cave Abode

• The

Purple Immortal Mount

Purple Qi Comes from the East

• Two thousand Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones
• An additional complete Purple Immortal Set, with every item at the Heavenly Dao Apex, twelfth grade.
• Chen Qiu decides to reserve the extra equipment for the Mocking Heaven Sect member who first breaks through to the Human Immortal realm.
• A celebratory banquet is held in the Celestial Palace. During it, Chen Qiu confirms that his cultivation has risen to Earth Immortal Eighth Layer, an enormous leap from his previous Tribulation Transcendence cultivation.
• Feeling the summons of his Sword Cultivator Puppet in the Great Xia Kingdom, Chen Qiu announces that the sect will return there in three days. The disciples become extremely excited at the prospect of returning home in glory and visiting their families and former disciples.
• The sect members leave for Central Province City to purchase Immortal Realm specialties and gifts. Chen Qiu remains alone in the Minor World, reflecting on his past, his old subordinates, and the development of the sect.
• Little Handsome has successfully founded the Artifact Spirit Clan, though Chen Qiu becomes suspicious of his supposedly reliable character after noticing his flirtation with Moon despite previously claiming affection for Little Beauty.
• Chen Qiu examines the Trait Draw opportunities accumulated from his rapid breakthroughs. Nine Human Fortune Draws automatically merge into a single Earth Fortune Draw, which offers ten rewards, from which he may select six.
• He spends a precious thread of Peerless Fortune of Heaven’s Chosen to maximize his luck. The resulting reward list contains several extraordinary items, including three unique-tier rewards.
• Chen Qiu immediately identifies the following as essential choices:

Absolute Attribute: Defense Negation

Heavenly Dao Architecture: Treasure-Eating Spirit Tree

Heavenly Dao Supreme Treasure: Soul-Devouring Thunder Garment

• He then considers the remaining options, including Black Traits, the White Trait Bundle, and other high-level rewards.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu grows more powerful and approaches the Heavenly Immortal realm, while becoming increasingly aware that each major cultivation milestone unlocks new storylines and hidden secrets.
• His strategic thinking develops as he evaluates how each reward could benefit his sect, his future cultivation, and his ability to survive increasingly powerful Heavenly Tribulations.
• He displays generosity by saving his duplicate Purple Immortal Set for a future sect member and permitting the disciples to spend freely on gifts for their families.
• Chen Qiu’s attachment to the Great Xia Kingdom becomes clearer. Although he has no immediate family or remaining enemies there, he still feels connected to Windward City and suspects that the Mocking Heaven Sect’s origins conceal unresolved mysteries.
• His vengeful nature is emphasized: he claims that he cannot remember many things, but never forgets grudges, preferring to settle revenge immediately.
• Little Handsome advances from an Artifact Spirit into the founder of a new clan, but Chen Qiu begins questioning his honesty and romantic reliability.
• The Mocking Heaven Sect disciples show that, despite years in the Immortal Realm, they remain emotionally attached to their homeland and families.

Significant Themes

• Power and progression: Chen Qiu’s dramatic cultivation increase and accumulating Trait Draws demonstrate the accelerating scale of his power.
• Homecoming and recognition: The sect’s excitement about returning to Great Xia reflects the desire to return home after achieving success and prove how far they have risen.
• Resourcefulness and preparation: Chen Qiu carefully evaluates rewards according to his unique circumstances, especially the usefulness of the Treasure-Eating Spirit Tree in the spiritual-energy-rich Void.
• Luck and risk: The chapter explores the tension between chance and control. Chen Qiu is frustrated when his nine draws merge automatically, but the resulting Earth Fortune Draw turns out to be extraordinarily valuable.
• Hidden potential: Rewards that may seem ordinary to others can become immensely powerful when combined with Chen Qiu’s abilities, resources, and surroundings.
• Found family and sect loyalty: Chen Qiu regards the Mocking Heaven Sect as his family, while the disciples view him as the source of their prosperity and security.
• Humor amid cultivation seriousness: Chen Qiu’s complaints about automatic synthesis, his desire to select every reward, his suspicion of Little Handsome, and his extravagant attitude toward luck add a comedic tone.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon: Fat Dragon greets Chen Qiu enthusiastically after his recovery, organizes the celebration feast, and helps lead the sect members to Central Province City.
• Chen Qiu and the Mocking Heaven Sect: Chen Qiu announces the return to Great Xia, prompting an emotional and exuberant response from the disciples. He also allows them to leave the Minor World to buy gifts and supplies.
• Chen Qiu and the sect maidservants: The maidservants participate in the banquet with food, music, and dancing, reflecting how much livelier the sect has become under Xiong Gao’s administration.
• Chen Qiu and Little Ant: Chen Qiu considers raising Little Ant further by feeding it more demonic beasts, valuing its Absolute Immortality attribute despite its small size.
• Chen Qiu and Little Handsome: Chen Qiu supports Little Handsome’s creation of the Artifact Spirit Clan but privately questions his character after observing his apparent romantic shift from Little Beauty to Moon.
• Chen Qiu and the Heavenly Dao system: The automatic merging of his draws causes brief panic and frustration, but the resulting Earth Fortune Draw rewards him with unprecedented opportunities.

Central Development

The chapter ends with Chen Qiu examining the ten rewards from the Earth Fortune Draw. The most important discovery is Defense Negation, an Absolute Attribute that allows every attack he makes to ignore protective spiritual energy, defensive treasures, formations, and similar protections, striking the enemy’s physical body directly. Alongside the Treasure-Eating Spirit Tree and Soul-Devouring Thunder Garment, it promises a major increase in Chen Qiu’s offensive strength, resource generation, and defensive ability as he prepares to return to Great Xia and uncover the next secrets of the Mocking Heaven Sect.

Chapter Summary: “Do You Think I’m Stupid Too?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Qiu selects his Ascension Gathering rewards: the three mandatory Unique-grade rewards, the White Trait Bundle, Voidwalking, and the Human Sovereign Banner. He rejects options that are incompatible with his cultivation path or too costly to use.
• The White Trait Bundle gives him nearly 100,000 traits, but several cause severe side effects, including mental impairment and grotesque physical mutations. Chen Qiu begins destroying the harmful traits one by one with Self-Destruct Trait.
• After more than two hours and thousands of explosions, he clears the problematic traits and returns to his normal appearance. The spectacle shocks the cultivators of Central Province City, who cannot understand how his power has risen so quickly.
• Using Absolute Invisibility from A Leaf Blinds the Eye, Chen Qiu searches for Fat Dragon and the others. He discovers that they are being followed by a group connected to a young woman from a higher-grade Immortal Realm.
• The young woman, Ji Ruyue, has deliberately used Chen Qiu’s reputation as an excuse to avoid a marriage arranged by her family. Her prospective husband is an extremely powerful but mentally unstable man who kills her other suitors.
• Chen Qiu confronts Ji Ruyue and forcibly takes her into his Minor World. When three Heavenly Immortal Peak guards attack him, his newly acquired Absolute Attribute Defense Negation causes his basic Lightning-Channeling Arts to bypass their defenses and kill them instantly.
• Realizing how overwhelmingly powerful he has become, Chen Qiu imprisons Ji Ruyue at the back mountain of the Mocking Heaven Sect. He seals her voice when she threatens him, then takes advantage of her earlier claim that she wants him as a husband.
• The chapter ends in the Sixth-Grade Immortal Realm, where Ji Ruyue’s mother, Ji Xiaohua, is confronted by the father of her arranged fiancé. The man angrily accuses the Ji Family of humiliating his son and warns that he may no longer be able to restrain the Wei Family’s retaliation.

Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: His power increases dramatically after the Ascension Gathering. He gains a massive collection of traits, absolute defense negation, powerful invisibility, and improved defenses through Thunder Garment. His first battle after the upgrades reveals that he severely underestimates his own strength.
• Chen Qiu’s attitude: He remains pragmatic and irreverent. He is irritated at being dragged into Ji Ruyue’s marriage dispute but quickly turns the situation to his advantage. His confidence grows as he realizes even basic attacks can kill peak Heavenly Immortal experts.
• Ji Ruyue: She is revealed to be manipulative and carefree, using powerful men to eliminate rivals or troublesome figures while avoiding marriage. Although she appears young and innocent, she is extremely strong and politically protected.
• Ji Xiaohua: Ji Ruyue’s mother uses placation and family rhetoric to calm the Wei Family, repeatedly promising that Ruyue will return. She appears outwardly casual but is clearly nervous about the Wei patriarch’s anger.
• The Wei patriarch: He is deeply frustrated by his son’s obsession with Ji Ruyue. Though powerful and protective, he is exhausted by constantly cleaning up after his son and restraining his desire to destroy the Ji Family.
• The Wei family’s eldest son: He is characterized as powerful, combat-experienced, and mentally unstable or simple-minded. His obsessive love for Ji Ruyue makes him easy for her to manipulate.

Significant Themes

• Power beyond conventional understanding: Chen Qiu’s strength has advanced so far that ordinary cultivators cannot accurately assess or comprehend it. His basic techniques can instantly kill the strongest figures of the Tidal Immortal Realm.
• The danger of overwhelming opportunities: The White Trait Bundle grants enormous benefits but also creates serious side effects and forces Chen Qiu to endure tedious, dangerous cleanup.
• Unintended consequences: Chen Qiu gains an enemy without provoking anyone, simply because Ji Ruyue uses his name as part of her plan to avoid marriage.
• Manipulation and political marriage: Ji Ruyue treats powerful suitors as tools, while the Ji and Wei Families view marriage as a political alliance. Personal affection, family power, and coercion are deeply intertwined.
• Misjudging one’s own strength: Chen Qiu initially believes he must retreat from the three Heavenly Immortal Peak guards, only to discover that his casual attacks completely overwhelm them.
• Family loyalty versus frustration: The Wei patriarch despises how Ji Ruyue treats his son but continues restraining himself out of concern for his son’s feelings.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Qiu and the spectators: The spectators debate how he rose from Tribulation Transcendence Peak to Earth Immortal Eighth Layer and why his attacks possess Heavenly Immortal-level power, creating fear and uncertainty around him.
• Chen Qiu and Ji Ruyue: Their encounter begins as a conspiracy investigation but quickly becomes a confrontation. Chen Qiu punishes her for dragging him into her problems, while Ji Ruyue’s earlier claim that she admires him becomes an ironic source of leverage.
• Chen Qiu and the three guards: The guards reveal their Heavenly Immortal Peak cultivation and attack him, but his defense-negating lightning kills them effortlessly.
• Ji Xiaohua and the Wei patriarch: Their tense conversation exposes the long-running conflict between the families. Ji Xiaohua tries to delay the Wei Family with promises, while the patriarch openly threatens retaliation.
• The Wei patriarch and his son: Although the son is powerful, his obsession and naïveté force his father to repeatedly intervene. The patriarch considers him both a source of pride and a constant burden.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Wei Ergong announces that he has attained “complete enlightenment” and decides to travel to the Tidal Immortal Realm to defeat Chen Qiu, believing he must do so for Ji Ruyue.
• His father, the Wei Family Patriarch, initially indulges him but orders an investigation into Chen Qiu. The report reveals that Chen Qiu rose from a First-Grade Continent to the Earth Immortal Eighth Layer in just over ten years, survived multiple higher-grade Heavenly Tribulations, and possesses extraordinary potential.
• Fearing that Chen Qiu could become a future calamity, the Patriarch immediately tries to recall Wei Ergong. When he discovers that his son has blocked all communication, he personally travels to find him, bringing a treasured night pearl as a possible apology or offering.
• The Patriarch explains the Wei Family’s secret ancestral lesson: their family rose to prominence after helping a dying Heavenly Immortal Peak expert, proving that Sky Prodigies can grow at terrifying speeds and should not be offended lightly.
• Meanwhile, Chen Qiu chooses the Rainbow Human Sovereign Banner over the dangerous “Wild Ideas” trait, which would have caused him to split into countless hostile versions of himself. He later discovers and purchases the White Human Emperor Banner, a supreme treasure that can restore its power once all White Traits are recovered.
• Wei Ergong confronts Chen Qiu in Central Province City, claiming that Ji Ruyue ordered him to kill Chen Qiu. He proposes a supposedly fair duel, suppressing his cultivation to Chen Qiu’s Earth Immortal Eighth Layer and standing ten li away.
• Chen Qiu’s ordinary attack instantly overwhelms Wei Ergong, forcing him to reveal his true cultivation at the True Immortal Peak. Wei Ergong unleashes his powerful Martial Emperor Phantom, but Chen Qiu counters with the Body Integration Killing Art and defeats him head-on.
• Chen Qiu discovers that Wei Ergong is severely wounded but alive. After questioning him, he realizes Wei Ergong is not genuinely motivated by love for Ji Ruyue; he is simply obsessed with sleeping with her and has been manipulated because of it.
• Rather than killing him, Chen Qiu brings Wei Ergong into his Minor World and allows him to pursue Ji Ruyue. Wei Ergong emerges believing he has achieved enlightenment and declares that he will no longer let others use him as a weapon.
• The Wei Family Patriarch arrives in panic, assuming his son has died. After seeing Wei Ergong alive and apparently “grown,” he becomes emotional and proudly approves of his son’s new attitude.
• Chen Qiu is horrified by the father’s interpretation of events and firmly clarifies that he did not teach Wei Ergong to force himself on women.

2. Character Developments

• Wei Family Patriarch: Shifts from irritation and indulgence to genuine fear after learning about Chen Qiu’s background and potential. His family history makes him especially cautious around Sky Prodigies. Despite being perceptive about threats, he proves morally questionable and overly approving of Wei Ergong’s newfound aggression.
• Wei Ergong: Begins as a blindly devoted, easily manipulated son who treats Ji Ruyue’s orders as absolute. After losing to Chen Qiu, he recognizes that he has been used, but his “enlightenment” is crude and centered on unchecked lust rather than emotional maturity.
• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates overwhelming combat strength, defeating a True Immortal Peak expert while remaining largely unharmed. He also shows strategic judgment by rejecting a dangerous trait, acquiring the White Human Emperor Banner, sparing Wei Ergong, and turning the confrontation into an absurd lesson.
• Fat Dragon: Acts as Chen Qiu’s outspoken companion and criticizes the White Human Emperor Banner’s seemingly useless price. He is shocked by both Chen Qiu’s purchase and Wei Ergong’s bizarre behavior.
• Ji Ruyue: Though absent from most of the chapter, she remains the indirect cause of the conflict, having allegedly manipulated Wei Ergong into targeting Chen Qiu.

3. Significant Themes

• The danger and potential of Sky Prodigies: Chen Qiu’s rapid rise confirms the Wei Family’s belief that seemingly weak geniuses can become catastrophic threats if not handled carefully.
• Manipulation and blind devotion: Wei Ergong allows himself to be weaponized because of his obsession with Ji Ruyue, exposing the danger of following another person without independent judgment.
• Power versus intelligence: Although Wei Ergong possesses far greater cultivation than Chen Qiu, his poor judgment causes him to lose. Chen Qiu’s superior skill, techniques, and tactical decisions are more important than cultivation level alone.
• The absurdity of “enlightenment”: Wei Ergong mistakes the realization that he has been manipulated for genuine wisdom, replacing one extreme form of foolishness with another.
• Family values and moral distortion: The Wei Patriarch’s pride in his son’s transformation highlights how warped family honor and power can become when strength is valued above ethics.
• Choices and consequences: Chen Qiu’s rejection of “Wild Ideas” reflects his preference for practical power without destructive drawbacks, while Wei Ergong’s choices show how personal obsessions can lead to disastrous consequences.

4. Character Interactions

• The Wei Patriarch and his confidant discuss Chen Qiu’s threat and the Wei Family’s hidden history, revealing the Patriarch’s fears and cautious leadership.
• Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon joke and argue over the White Human Emperor Banner before Chen Qiu recognizes its true value and purchases it.
• Chen Qiu and Wei Ergong begin with a supposedly honorable duel, but Wei Ergong abandons his promise after realizing Chen Qiu’s overwhelming strength.
• After defeating Wei Ergong, Chen Qiu questions him about his feelings for Ji Ruyue and exposes that his motivation is lust rather than love.
• Chen Qiu brings Wei Ergong and the Wei Patriarch together in the Minor World. The father misinterprets Wei Ergong’s crude realization as admirable maturity, while Chen Qiu privately recognizes the ethical absurdity of the situation.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After Chen Qiu defeats Wei Ergong, the Wei Family father and son reconcile emotionally. The Wei Family Head thanks Chen Qiu for sparing and reforming his son, offering him a treasured night pearl.
• The night pearl turns out to have no special ability beyond shining, amusing and disappointing Chen Qiu, though he accepts it as a potentially valuable rarity.
• Chen Qiu prepares the Mocking Heaven Sect to return to the Great Xia Kingdom. The Brown Bear Clan is especially excited to return to the Boundless Desert and show how much stronger they have become.
• On their journey, Wei Ergong reveals that he is attracted not only to the Ji Family’s second young lady but also to other members of the Ji Family. His father initially celebrates his newfound assertiveness, then realizes Wei Ergong may have merely shifted from being submissive to becoming excessively reckless and lustful.
• News of Chen Qiu’s complete victory over a True Immortal Peak cultivator spreads throughout the Tidal Immortal Realm. Major powers debate whether to resist his potential unification or submit, despite knowing that opposing him may be futile.
• Badan learns of Chen Qiu’s achievement and reflects on how rapidly Chen Qiu has surpassed him. Although somewhat discouraged, he is reassured that he and Chen Qiu are allies.
• Jiang Buping analyzes Chen Qiu’s battle and identifies the likely use of an extremely rare “Absolute Attribute” that ignores defensive techniques and strikes an opponent’s true body.
• Before leaving, Chen Qiu receives an urgent message: the Seventh Prince has been badly injured after obtaining a treasure for him. Chen Qiu travels to Mystic Heaven Province, learns that members of the Qi Clan attacked the prince, and orders the Mocking Heaven Sect disciples to eliminate the clan.
• The Seventh Prince presents Chen Qiu with a Pink Trait called “More Is Better,” which strengthens spells and cultivation techniques according to the number of traits the user possesses. Because Chen Qiu has accumulated many traits, he realizes the ability is extraordinarily powerful and may dramatically enhance his strongest techniques.
• Chen Qiu promises to reward the Seventh Prince, planning to give him numerous Supreme Cultivation Cards and seek opportunities suited to sword cultivators.
• The Buddhist Sect Patriarch and Azure Mountain Palace Patriarch request to join the Mocking Heaven Sect rather than receive material rewards. Chen Qiu accepts them as Outer Disciples and assigns them to protect the Seventh Prince.
• The Seventh Prince is formally given an Inner Disciple Token. The two patriarchs receive sect tokens containing rules and communication tools.
• Fat Dragon reports that the Qi Clan has been destroyed, joking that they eliminated all seven possible Qi Clans before clarifying that only the actual clan was destroyed.
• Chen Qiu orders everyone to regroup and offers to transport the two new disciples back to the Mystic Heaven Continent if they wish.

2. Character Developments

• Chen Qiu: Demonstrates increasing authority and confidence. He is now recognized as the strongest figure in the Tidal Immortal Realm, yet remains practical and humorous. His discovery of “More Is Better” significantly increases his potential power and reinforces his overwhelming growth.
• Wei Ergong: Shows a dramatic psychological change after Chen Qiu’s intervention. He is no longer obediently controlled by others, but his behavior swings toward arrogance and uncontrolled desire, suggesting that his recovery is incomplete.
• Wei Family Head: Becomes deeply grateful to Chen Qiu and relieved by his son’s transformation. However, he begins to realize that Wei Ergong may have traded one extreme for another.
• The Seventh Prince: Reveals strong loyalty and affection toward Chen Qiu. Despite his injuries and relatively modest cultivation, he risks himself to obtain a treasure for his master and seeks only Chen Qiu’s strength and recognition, not personal rewards.
• Badan: Moves from viewing Chen Qiu as a promising junior to sincerely acknowledging him as a senior whose strength has surpassed his own.
• Jiang Buping: Shows his analytical expertise by recognizing the nature of Chen Qiu’s defense-ignoring technique. His confidence in supporting Chen Qiu’s future struggle against the Heavenly Dao grows.
• Buddhist Sect and Azure Mountain Palace Patriarchs: Their long association with the Mocking Heaven Sect evolves into formal allegiance. They willingly accept subordinate positions to remain part of Chen Qiu’s faction.

3. Significant Themes

• Rapid growth and overwhelming power: Chen Qiu’s victory over a much stronger True Immortal demonstrates the extraordinary speed of his rise and changes the political balance of the realm.
• Loyalty and recognition: The Seventh Prince’s gift symbolizes sincere devotion, while the two patriarchs’ request to join the sect shows that shared experiences can create bonds stronger than formal affiliation.
• Parent-child relationships: The Wei Family Head’s emotional reaction highlights parental relief and pride, while the humor surrounding Wei Ergong’s behavior explores the difficulty of guiding someone through personal change.
• Opportunity and preparation: The Seventh Prince’s escape from the Land of Heavenly Imprisonment is presented as the result of both luck and readiness; opportunities matter only when someone is prepared to seize them.
• Power, fear, and political submission: Chen Qiu’s strength forces the realm’s major factions to choose between resistance and surrender, raising questions about the cost of preserving inherited power.
• The unpredictability of treasures: The useless night pearl contrasts with the immensely valuable “More Is Better” trait, emphasizing that appearances and expectations often differ from true worth.

4. Character Interactions

• The Wei Family Head warmly thanks Chen Qiu and gives him the night pearl, creating a humorous exchange over whether the pearl has any value beyond illumination.
• Wei Ergong’s conversations with his father reveal his shift from submissive behavior to excessive boldness, while his father alternates between approval, confusion, and concern.
• Badan and Jiang Buping each react to Chen Qiu’s victory from their own perspectives: Badan emotionally acknowledges Chen Qiu’s superiority, while Jiang Buping technically analyzes the method behind it.
• Chen Qiu reprimands the Seventh Prince for risking his life over a treasure but also recognizes his disciple’s loyalty and resolves to support his future cultivation.
• The Seventh Prince’s interaction with Chen Qiu is defined by humility and devotion; he wants only for his master to grow stronger.
• The Buddhist and Azure Mountain patriarchs appeal to Chen Qiu for membership, and Chen Qiu accepts them while entrusting them with the Seventh Prince’s protection.
• Fat Dragon’s exaggerated report about destroying multiple Qi Clans provides comic relief and reflects the Mocking Heaven Sect’s increasingly overwhelming and ruthless reputation.