Recaps

Chen Qiu broke through to Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer and gained a Trait that expanded his divine sense, while Scholar explained the dangers of reaching Golden Core. As the group traveled toward the Boundless Ice Wastes, the Zhang Clan plotted to capture White Robe, Ji Taiping left on a mission, and the travelers arrived in Fat City at Scholar’s insistence.

• Chen Qiu reached Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer, chose the Mutual Reinforcement Trait, and used his expanded divine sense to target Lightning-Channeling Arts accurately.
• Scholar explained the resources, risks, and grades involved in breaking through to Golden Core, and Fat Dragon learned that no one in Great Xia was known to possess a Fifth-Grade Golden Core.
• Chen Qiu and his companions set out toward the Boundless Ice Wastes and detoured around Qiang Province because Sword Flight was forbidden there.
• The Zhang Clan Head learned that White Robe was alive and ordered his subordinates to gather information and prepare to capture him before others discovered his secret to attaining Nascent Soul.
• Ji Taiping received an order to mediate a war among the Hundred Kingdoms, told Ji Renjian to remain in Capital Province, and ordered the deaths of storytellers who praised White Robe.
• Scholar brought Chen Qiu and the others to Fat City in Fat Prefecture, promising to show them a great treasure.

Chen Qiu and his companions visited Fat City, learned about the Second Heavenly Dao Beauty and the wealthy Qu Qi, then entered the Boundless Ice Wastes to seek an inheritance. Meanwhile, Qu Qi’s family prepared for his return and the Prodigy Rankings, while the Qu Family’s Supreme Elder secretly resented him and revealed that his own lifespan was nearly exhausted.

• Scholar showed Chen Qiu and Fat Dragon the Second Heavenly Dao Beauty, whose husband would achieve a perfect pill success rate, and explained that Qu Qi had married five Heavenly Dao Beauties suited to Dharma cultivators.
• Chen Qiu and his companions left Fat City and reached the Boundless Ice Wastes, where they headed toward the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance Secret Realm.
• Ji Taiping told the Qu Family patriarch that Chen Qiu had obtained the Tenfold Casting Trait Jade Slip, and the patriarch agreed to pursue it while Ji Taiping left to quell unrest.
• Sect Master Qiu reported that thieves had stolen the Dragon Vein Stones from the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect, and the Qu Family patriarch urged him to recover them for Qu Qi’s planned treasure.
• Qu Qi traveled back from the Boundless Ice Wastes aboard a luxurious flying vessel and dismissed the group he saw heading toward the inheritance as overconfident.
• The Qu Family’s Supreme Elder revealed that his lifespan was nearly exhausted and vowed to kill Qu Qi if he ever reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

Chen Qiu entered the Inheritance Secret Realm to pursue the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance, while Scholar recovered memories revealing that Great Xia’s Imperial Preceptor had manipulated his past and was now targeting Ji Taiping. Chen Qiu accidentally reached the Formation Cultivator Continent instead of the underwater island, passed the first trial, and learned that the inheritance’s elders were waiting to bring him back.

• Chen Qiu sent Scholar and the others into the Minor World and entered the Inheritance Secret Realm, where Scholar’s Sword Bone unlocked memories of the Imperial Preceptor’s schemes involving Ji Renjian and Ji Taiping.
• Chen Qiu entered the Dharma Cultivator trial and bought a copy of Shrinking Earth to Inches so he could cross the sea without consuming his own spiritual qi.
• After teleporting across the sea for nine hours, Chen Qiu reached an island and discovered the fortune-telling old man there.
• The old man told Chen Qiu that the island belonged to the Formation Cultivator Continent and that the Dharma trial’s actual island lay deep beneath the sea, but confirmed Chen Qiu had passed the first trial.
• Chen Qiu gave the old man two thousand Spirit Stones, then shared food and conversation with him while waiting for the elder who could take him back.

Chen Qiu passed the first two trials of the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance, using the Slippery as an Eel trait to survive ten thousand puppets. He destroyed all ten thousand puppets in the third trial instead of identifying the one hundred traitors, leaving the gatekeeper exasperated as the next result remained unannounced.

• Chen Qiu passed the first trial and said goodbye to the fortune-telling old man, promising to treat him to roast goose when they met again.
• The gatekeeper began the second trial, and Chen Qiu used the Slippery as an Eel trait to teleport through the puppets’ attacks until the five hours ended.
• The fortune-telling old man explained that Chen Qiu could have passed by finding a safe position, then the gatekeeper confirmed his success and carried him back across the Forbidden Sea.
• Chen Qiu entered the third trial, where he had to destroy one hundred traitor puppets while both Shrinking Earth to Inches and Slippery as an Eel were prohibited.
• Chen Qiu unleashed thousands of Lightning-Channeling Arts and Demonic Flames, destroying all ten thousand puppets before they could attack.
• The gatekeeper told Chen Qiu that only the traitor puppets’ attacks could harm him, then collected the destroyed puppet fragments without announcing the trial’s result.

Chen Qiu passed the fourth trial by reaching Foundation Establishment in a dream after losing his memories, then cleared the fifth trial by outmaneuvering the gatekeeper elder with his traits, a wraith, and a formation plate. He obtained the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance.

• Chen Qiu entered the Heart Trial, lost his memories, and returned to life as a mortal in a dream.
• Chen Qiu chopped wood for twenty-nine days, then awakened a Trait, formed a gang of little beggars, and fought local bullies while cultivating.
• Chen Qiu reached Foundation Establishment within a year in the dream and passed the fourth trial.
• Chen Qiu learned that the fifth trial required surviving ten thousand puppets, but the gatekeeper elder replaced them after Chen Qiu had destroyed them.
• Chen Qiu summoned a Golden Core wraith, revealed his Traits and a powerful formation plate, and forced the gatekeeper elder to concede the trial.
• Chen Qiu cleared all five trials and obtained the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance.

Chen Qiu cleared the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance, gaining Heavenly Dao Fortune and instruction in divine sense techniques before the old gatekeeper died. He returned to the Minor World with a Nascent Soul Pill and records of Golden Core grades, and discovered that he already met several prerequisites for the legendary Tenth-grade Golden Core.

• The Heavenly Dao announced that Chen Qiu had obtained the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance, making him famous across Great Xia and inspiring other cultivators to try the inheritances again.
• The old gatekeeper took Chen Qiu to see Old Cao, then taught him divine sense defenses, attacks, and spell techniques inside his Sea of Divine Sense.
• The old gatekeeper died after passing on the inheritance, leaving Chen Qiu a Nascent Soul Pill that could help him form at least a Fourth-Grade Golden Core.
• Old Cao gave Chen Qiu records of Golden Core grades and explained that the Heavenly Dao Fortune could help him pursue higher grades.
• Chen Qiu returned to the Minor World and learned that forming a Tenth-grade Golden Core required rare materials and conditions, several of which he already possessed.

Chen Qiu decided to postpone the Prodigy Rankings Competition and pursue a Tenth-grade Golden Core, revealing his Nascent Soul Body, Heavenly Dao Foundation, and Rainbow Trait to Scholar and Fat Dragon. He began advancing his cultivation and gained the Revival Wind trait, ending the chapter at the Eighth Level of Foundation Establishment with only 251 Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pills remaining.

• Chen Qiu calculated the materials needed for a Tenth-grade Golden Core and decided to forgo the upcoming Prodigy Rankings Competition until he gathered them all.
• Chen Qiu revealed that he had a Nascent Soul Body, a Heavenly Dao Foundation, and a Rainbow Trait, then asked Scholar to help him obtain another Nascent Soul Body through the Sword Cultivator Inheritance.
• Chen Qiu told Scholar that experiencing great rises and falls was a hidden condition for passing the Sword Cultivator Inheritance, and Scholar agreed to cooperate while Chen Qiu helped restore his cultivation.
• Chen Qiu used 334 Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pills to advance to the Seventh Level of Foundation Establishment and selected the Revival Wind trait, which restored a small amount of spiritual energy when attacks injured him.
• Chen Qiu consumed another 500 Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pills to reach the Eighth Level of Foundation Establishment, leaving 251 pills and feeling confident he could overwhelm other cultivators of the same realm.

Chen Qiu advanced his cultivation, learned Sword Flight, and received Fierce Baleful Wood needed for a Tenth-grade Golden Core. After Chen Qiu gave Zhao Dezhu advice about the Body Cultivator Inheritance, Zhao Dezhu planned to awaken Zhao Yishi’s fighting spirit, though he worried his scheme might make Zhao Yishi even more timid.

• Chen Qiu chose the Rebirth from Death Trait, then abandoned his perpetual-motion plan because Slippery as an Eel teleported him whenever he was attacked.
• Scholar taught Chen Qiu Sword Flight, and Chen Qiu and his companions returned to Fat City, where they discussed repairing the Mocking Heaven Sect.
• Fat Dragon brought Chen Qiu 512 Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pills, which Chen Qiu absorbed to raise his Foundation Establishment Eighth Layer cultivation to 86.3%.
• Zhao Yishi arrived in Fat City aboard a flying boat with Zhao Dezhu, and Fierce Baleful Wood fell beside Chen Qiu’s breakfast stall.
• Zhao Dezhu gave Chen Qiu a storage ring full of Fierce Baleful Wood, and Chen Qiu told him that intense fighting spirit was a key to clearing the Body Cultivator Inheritance.
• Zhao Dezhu decided to stage a disaster to stir Zhao Yishi’s fighting spirit, but worried the plan could make his timid disciple even more afraid of battle.

Chen Qiu attended Fat City’s auction seeking Trait Jade Slips, where Ning Taiping publicly tried to use him as a stepping stone to build his reputation. After Ning Taiping won the right to forge a treasure during his Golden Core breakthrough, Chen Qiu learned he planned to use a Second-Grade Golden Core and began eyeing him as a source for one of the materials he needed.

• Fat Dragon reported that Fierce Baleful Wood was ordinary heating material and that the rare Eight Desolations Fruit had no effect, while Chen Qiu learned that two Trait Jade Slips would be auctioned that night.
• Ning Laiping mocked Chen Qiu outside the auction, believing he needed Ning Taiping to forge a treasure, and Ning Taiping publicly called Chen Qiu out in the hall to build momentum for himself.
• Ning Wuping outbid Fat Dragon for the Forging Aptitude and Forging God traits, while an unknown bidder won the qualification to have Ning Taiping forge a treasure during his breakthrough for 12,300 Spirit Stones.
• Chen Qiu learned that Ning Taiping planned to break through using a Second-Grade Golden Core and realized the Golden Core could serve as one of the materials he needed for his Tenth-grade Golden Core.
• Ning Taiping began preparing to break through at Furnace Peak, while Fat Dragon recognized that he had staged the public humiliation and extravagant auction bid to boost his reputation.

Chen Qiu used the Blazing Seven-Kill Formation Plate to slaughter Ning Taiping, Ning Wuping, and the gathered artifact cultivators after they mocked and provoked him. He left Furnace Peak in ruins, returned to the Mocking Heaven Sect’s Minor World to restore his spiritual energy, and realized he needed an artifact cultivator.

• Ning Wuping publicly mocked Chen Qiu, and the crowd joined in until Ning Taiping completed his Golden Core breakthrough and forged a supreme treasure.
• Chen Qiu activated the Blazing Seven-Kill Formation Plate, trapping Furnace Peak and killing Ning Wuping, Ning Taiping, the Golden Core guardian, and the other gathered cultivators.
• Chen Qiu collected the Golden Core cultivators’ storage rings, then killed a woman, her attendant, and the Ning Clan members who tried to stop him.
• Chen Qiu erected a sign at the ruins crediting the Mocking Heaven Sect and returned to the Fat City inn to receive his Heavenly Dao Cultivation Pills.
• Chen Qiu entered the Minor World, restored his spiritual energy by stabbing himself, and realized he needed an artifact cultivator.

After destroying the Ning Clan, Chen Qiu helped Scholar replace his bones with the Sword Bone and commissioned an artifact cultivator to make a spiritual-energy-restoring armguard. Meanwhile, a young Brown Bear’s successful Spirit Rice harvest undermined his plans to unite the Demon Race and invade Great Xia.

• Chen Qiu absorbed his Heavenly Dao pills, assessed his gains from the Furnace Peak massacre, and learned that news of the Ning Clan’s destruction was spreading across Fat Prefecture.
• The Fat City Lord decided not to pursue Chen Qiu, while Scholar told Chen Qiu that the Sword Bone could restore his ability to walk and resume cultivation.
• Scholar replaced his bones with the Sword Bone in the Minor World and regained the ability to walk, though he still needed to clear the toxins in his Dao Foundation.
• Chen Qiu brought artifact cultivator Li Jia outside Fat City and had him forge an armguard that restored Chen Qiu’s spiritual energy by piercing him with needles.
• A young Brown Bear celebrated growing Spirit Rice in the desert and declared plans to conquer Xuzhou, but his clan questioned why they needed to invade when they already had plenty of food, and he leaped into the sand in despair.

Chen Qiu chose new traits and gathered storage rings before the Heavenly Dao announced simultaneous Evil Race Invasions across the four frontier regions. After learning Golden Core cultivators could not act, he returned to the Boundless Ice Wastes and noticed Evil Race members rushing toward a Fierce Baleful Wood tree, even attacking their own.

• A young Brown Bear reflected on his plan to build a Demon Race army and decided he had to achieve something as a transmigrator.
• Chen Qiu selected the Nightmoon Wolf Demon and True and False traits, then had Li Jia remove restrictions from his storage rings.
• Stars fell as the Heavenly Dao announced Evil Race Invasions in the Boundless Ice Wastes, Boundless Desert, Boundless Snow Mountains, and Boundless Sea.
• Chen Qiu fled toward the Capital City, but returned to the Boundless Ice Wastes after an edict barred Golden Core cultivators from acting or being attacked.
• Chen Qiu reached the battlefield and saw Evil Race members charging toward a Fierce Baleful Wood tree, with some turning their weapons on their own kind.

Chen Qiu discovered that the Evil Race was invading Great Xia to seize Fierce Baleful Wood, then unleashed his full power to slaughter the invaders in the Boundless Ice Wastes. As Evil Race forces poured through a teleportation array, he blocked its exit and killed every warrior emerging from it.

• Chen Qiu followed an Evil Race member carrying Fierce Baleful Wood to a meteorite formation that served as a teleportation array, then confirmed the invaders were obsessed with the wood.
• Chen Qiu drew the Evil Race away from himself by scattering Fierce Baleful Wood, then gathered it back and concluded that it was a rare treasure to them.
• Chen Qiu attacked the Evil Race with Thunder Dragons and Demonic Flames, repeatedly teleporting across the battlefield and wiping out the front ranks while Fat Prefecture cultivators retreated.
• The Evil Race withdrew from the Boundless Desert, Boundless Sea, and Boundless Snow Mountains, concentrating its forces at the Boundless Ice Wastes as a Nascent Soul led hundreds of thousands of warriors through another circle of light.
• Chen Qiu reached the teleportation array and killed every Evil Race warrior that emerged, while Scholar deduced that the invasion was focused on obtaining Fierce Baleful Wood.

Chen Qiu ended the Evil Race Invasion by slaughtering over a hundred thousand enemies, then discovered an Evil Race storage ring that might contain another Nascent Soul Body. He returned to Mountain-Cleaving City to have a shopkeeper break its restriction while planning to gather materials for a Tenth-grade Golden Core.

• The Heavenward Sect master lamented that Chen Qiu belonged to Mocking Heaven Sect, while Zhao Yishi said he was content as a green leaf and was expelled after admitting he wanted a woman.
• Chen Qiu and his allies overwhelmed the Evil Race at the teleportation array, and the Heavenly Dao declared Great Xia victorious after Chen Qiu killed over a hundred thousand enemies.
• Chen Qiu found an injured Evil Race member turning to ashes and took his storage ring, then realized the member had likely cleared the heretical cultivator inheritance and obtained a Nascent Soul Body.
• Chen Qiu chose the permanent Edict Regular trait and an extra trait-selection opportunity from his first-place reward, then headed to Mountain-Cleaving City with Scholar.
• The shopkeeper began studying the Evil Race storage ring's unfamiliar restriction while Chen Qiu cultivated nearby.
• In the Capital Qu Clan, Qu Qi raged over losing the Dharma Cultivator Inheritance, while the Supreme Elder hoped someone would break the restrictions of heaven and earth so he could attain the Nascent Soul.

Chen Qiu reached Foundation Establishment Peak Great Perfection and recovered a Nascent Soul Body and a Heaven's Chosen Token from an Evil Race storage ring. After choosing the trait A Thread Between Life and Death, he survived a Ten Thousand Poisons Sect ambush and killed its leader, but his Sea of Divine Sense was nearly destroyed.

• The Qu Family's Supreme Elder lamented that he had little time left to reach the Nascent Soul realm while Qu Qi grew jealous of Chen Qiu's fame.
• Chen Qiu finished absorbing cultivation pills, reached Foundation Establishment Peak Great Perfection, and received a Second-Grade Golden Core and Nascent Soul Body from the opened Evil Race storage ring.
• Chen Qiu found a Heaven's Chosen Token and two pieces of Fierce Baleful Wood, then asked the shopkeeper to break the restrictions on nine more storage rings.
• The Ten Thousand Poisons Sect Master tracked Chen Qiu to the abandoned temple and struck him with a divine-sense attack, nearly destroying his Sea of Divine Sense.
• Chen Qiu's A Thread Between Life and Death trait kept him alive, and a Golden Core Peak Lightning-Channeling Art killed the Ten Thousand Poisons Sect Master; Scholar retrieved the leader's Golden Core.
• Scholar told Chen Qiu that he needed a Spirit-Replenishing Pill from the Star-Dipper Sect to repair his divine-sense damage.

Chen Qiu sought a Spirit-Replenishing Pill for his damaged divine sense, but learned that the Star-Dipper Sect could refine one only after its Earthfire problem was solved. He entered the underground sea of fire, found and took the Eight-Petaled Fire Lotus causing its violence, and brought it into his Minor World, where its purpose remained unknown.

• Chen Qiu traveled to the Star-Dipper Sect with Scholar and Fat Dragon to seek a pill, and the First Elder explained that their Earthfire had grown dangerously violent.
• Chen Qiu agreed to investigate the Earthfire, then entered the fire well with Scholar and Fat Dragon while the sect prepared to relocate and concealed news that its Patriarch had died.
• Chen Qiu spent hours teleporting through the underground sea of fire until he found an Eight-Petaled Fire Lotus at its deepest point.
• Chen Qiu forced his way through the flames, placed the Fire Lotus in his Minor World, and watched the surrounding Earthfire calm down.
• Chen Qiu, Scholar, and Fat Dragon regrouped in the Minor World, where the Fire Lotus shone like a sun, but none of them knew what it was or how to use it.

Chen Qiu resolved the Star-Dipper Sect’s Earthfire crisis, recovered his damaged divine sense, and recruited Liu Zide and the Wang Family head to help him buy supplies in Fat Prefecture. On the way, he entered the Heaven-Sea Fishing secret realm, upgraded his fishing rod to Green grade, and began catching fish for rewards.

• Chen Qiu returned to the Star-Dipper Sect, where its sect master celebrated the Earthfire’s calm and gave him three Spirit-Replenishing Pills that restored his divine sense.
• Chen Qiu visited Liu Zide in Fortune City and persuaded him and the Wang Family head to help purchase Fierce Baleful Wood and Eight Desolations Fruit in Fat Prefecture.
• Chen Qiu passed through Mountain-Cleaving City, discovered the Heaven-Sea Fishing secret realm, and entered with Fat Dragon and the others.
• Chen Qiu caught a White Fish, defeated three Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer fishman monsters in the first stage, and upgraded his rod to Green grade.
• Fat Dragon and Scholar also cleared the first stage, while Scholar's younger brother failed; Chen Qiu then caught a Green Fish worth three Spirit Stones.

Chen Qiu advanced through every stage of the fishing secret realm, using his overwhelming Lightning-Channeling Art to defeat the increasingly powerful fishman monsters and upgrade his fishing rod to pink. After discovering a hidden eighth stage and catching a Heavenly Dao Detoxification Pill, he gave it to Scholar to cure his poison and help him pursue the Sword cultivator Inheritance.

• Chen Qiu caught enough fish to upgrade his rod through green, yellow, blue, purple, red, and gold, while defeating the fishman monsters in each stage with his Thunder Dragons.
• Chen Qiu obtained Trait Jade Slips from red fish and Eight Desolations Fruit from gold fish, then defeated two Golden Core fishman monsters in the seventh stage using two Self-Destruct Traits.
• Chen Qiu discovered a hidden eighth stage after upgrading his rod to pink and learned that he could still pursue a rainbow-grade fishing rod.
• Chen Qiu caught a pink fish that transformed into a Heavenly Dao Detoxification Pill, which Scholar identified as a pill capable of curing all poisons.
• Chen Qiu gave the pill to Scholar and told him to recover his Dao Foundation and seize the Sword cultivator Inheritance.

Chen Qiu finished the secret realm with seven Second-Grade Golden Cores, bringing him enough to meet the requirements for a Tenth-grade Golden Core, then helped Scholar prepare to claim the Sword cultivator Inheritance. As Scholar entered the inheritance trial, Fat Dragon suspected Scholar’s younger brother was the Imperial Preceptor, though the man’s silence left the accusation unresolved.

• Chen Qiu caught seven Rainbow Fish that became Second-Grade Golden Cores, obtained a Rainbow Fishing Rod he could take out of the secret realm, and left with his companions when the realm closed.
• Chen Qiu counted ten Second-Grade Golden Cores in total and took Scholar to Fat Prefecture, where Scholar used a Heavenly Dao Detoxification Pill to clear toxins from his Dao Foundation and demonstrated his Azure Lotus Sword Formation.
• Chen Qiu accompanied Scholar into the Boundless Ice Wastes and explained hidden tricks about the Sword cultivator Inheritance before Scholar entered its secret realm.
• Chen Qiu waited outside the inheritance realm while Fat Dragon roasted goose and Chen Qiu fell asleep beside the fire fueled with Fierce Baleful Wood.
• Fat Dragon accused Scholar’s younger brother of being the Imperial Preceptor and laid out a theory about his plans for Scholar, then reconsidered after noting their shared Bloodline Trait.

Chen Qiu completed the Sword cultivator Inheritance and began forging a Golden Core with the materials he had gathered. His breakthrough surpassed the expected tenth grade, leaving him with a Twelfth-Grade Golden Core and a baffling new problem to sort out.

• Fat Dragon guessed that the Imperial Preceptor had secretly been shaping Ji Renjian and Ji Taiping’s relationship to make Scholar the foremost sword cultivator.
• Ji Renjian reassured Ji Taiping that the Imperial Preceptor had foretold he was her destined husband, while the Zhang Clan Patriarch planned to capture White Robe after the Prodigy Rankings.
• The Flower-Offering Sect Master told the Great Elder that a palace figure had ordered them to torment the Walking Celestial Maiden, who secretly bore a black Otherworld Flower in her Dao Foundation.
• Scholar repeatedly entered the Inheritance Secret Realm and finally cleared the Sword cultivator Inheritance, giving Chen Qiu a third Nascent Soul Body.
• Chen Qiu began his Golden Core breakthrough, but his Golden Core kept spinning after reaching ten cloud patterns and drew in the Eight-Petaled Fire Lotus, consuming six Eight Desolations Fruits along the way.
• Chen Qiu discovered that his Golden Core had twelve cloud patterns and told his companions it was a Twelfth-Grade Golden Core.

Chen Qiu entered the Golden Core Realm with a Twelfth-Grade Golden Core, and the Heavenly Dao proclaimed him a Heavenly Dao Saint after a vast auspicious sign healed people across Great Xia and the Hundred Kingdoms. As he prepared to travel to the Capital City for the Prodigy Tournament, news of his achievement spread, while the Heavenward Sect reduced Zhao Yishi’s resources.

• Chen Qiu tested his Golden Core and discovered its immense power and a divine sense range of one hundred and thirty li, while Scholar explained its exceptional advantages.
• Chen Qiu found that the Nine-Heavens Divine Sense Formation protected his Sea of Divine Sense and prepared to learn the Heart-Piercing Thorn spell.
• The Heavenly Dao proclaimed Chen Qiu’s Heavenly Dao Peak Golden Core, granted him doubled fortune, and caused an auspicious sign that healed people across Great Xia, the Hundred Kingdoms, and the surrounding forbidden lands.
• The Heavenly Dao named Chen Qiu a Heavenly Dao Saint and opened the Great Xia Merit Rankings, placing him first with 9.8 billion Merit Value and granting him protection that destroyed the Wraiths he carried.
• Chen Qiu and his companions masked themselves and went to Fat City to stabilize his cultivation before traveling to the Capital City for the Prodigy Tournament.
• News spread that Chen Qiu had formed a Fifth-Grade Golden Core, while the Heavenward Sect Master told Zhao Yishi that the sect would reduce his resources to support other disciples.

After entering the Golden Core Realm, Chen Qiu gained the Prodigy's Son Trait and discovered that his Heavenly Dao-powered lightning spells could devastate a vast area. He and his companions reached the Capital City to enter the Prodigy Rankings, while July Cat was caught in the destruction of her underground home and reborn again.

• The Heavenward Sect Master told Zhao Yishi that the elders had lost hope in him but promised to help him reach the Golden Core Realm.
• Qu Qi raged over Chen Qiu forming a Fifth-Grade Golden Core, while the Qu Family Head explained how difficult higher-grade cores were to forge.
• Chen Qiu stabilized his cultivation, chose the Prodigy's Son Trait, and used its power to enhance a future Heavenly Dao Spirit Treasure.
• Chen Qiu tested his Heavenly Dao Lightning-Channeling Art, blasting a huge crater into the wilderness and accidentally destroying July Cat's underground home.
• Chen Qiu learned that Golden Core cultivation advanced slowly without pills or Spirit Stones, then traveled with Scholar and his group toward the Capital City.
• Chen Qiu and his companions entered the brightly lit Capital City at night to participate in the Prodigy Rankings the next day.

Chen Qiu arrived in the Capital City for the Prodigy Rankings Competition, intending to gather heavenly treasures in the secret realm and forge a Heavenly Dao Spirit Treasure. As the competition was about to begin, he was introduced to the crowd as its first major contender, while a member of the Liu Family vowed to avenge her sister.

• Chen Qiu entered the Capital City with Scholar and Fat Dragon, after arranging for the shopkeeper who could break storage-ring restrictions to wait in his Minor World.
• Qu Qi received heavenly treasures and other resources from his father for the competition, while the Qu Family Supreme Elder considered seeking Chen Qiu's favor by revealing the family's plans.
• Chen Qiu and his companions stayed at an inn, then went to the plaza north of the city, where he took a front-row seat and decided to keep his companions inside his Minor World.
• Chen Qiu returned the Heavenward Sect Master's storage ring of Fierce Baleful Wood, but Zhao Dezhu insisted he keep it, and the two chatted while the plaza filled with spectators.
• A young Liu Family woman confronted Chen Qiu and vowed to avenge her sister, whom Chen Qiu recognized as someone he had killed at Furnace Peak.
• The ceremony began, and the announcer introduced Chen Qiu as the first leading contender, praising his Heavenly Dao Golden Core and his slaughter of more than a hundred thousand members of the Evil Race.

Chen Qiu entered the Prodigy Secret Realm, where the rules changed to a single-elimination contest for one Peerless Prodigy and the strongest Heavenly Dao Spirit Treasure. After easily defeating his first opponent while trying not to kill him, Chen Qiu watched the contest continue as the Warhammer Sect vowed to kill the Liu Family prodigy who had tortured and slain one of its disciples.

• Chen Qiu received a secret message from the Qu Family Supreme Elder revealing that Qu Qi's storage ring held materials for forging supreme spell cultivator treasures, and Chen Qiu accepted the chance to take them.
• The Heavenly Dao announced that the Prodigy Secret Realm would select one Peerless Prodigy, and Chen Qiu entered after storing Scholar and the others in his Minor World.
• The secret realm assigned the contestants to 108 arenas and gathered their spirit-treasure materials; Chen Qiu saw that his Rainbow Fishing Rod was among the materials at the central arena.
• Chen Qiu defeated his Foundation Establishment opponent with a weakened Lightning-Channeling Art, nearly killing him despite trying to hold back.
• A Liu Family prodigy tortured and killed a Warhammer Sect disciple, prompting the Warhammer Sect Master to order the sect's elders and disciples to descend on Capital Province and kill her.

Chen Qiu crushed his opponents in the Prodigy Secret Realm, defeating a Golden Core devil cultivator and destroying the arena to overwhelm the Liu Family prodigy and the remaining competitors. He earned the title of Peerless Prodigy, while the Seventh Prince fled before he could use his signature sword strike, and Chen Qiu turned his attention to the reappearing heavenly treasures.

• The Warhammer Sect's sect master announced that he would attack after the contestants left the Capital City, while Chen Qiu's injured opponent stabbed himself until Chen Qiu finished sending him out of the secret realm.
• Chen Qiu erased the Golden Core devil cultivator's wraiths with his Heavenly Dao Saint power, then knocked him out with Heart-Piercing Thorn.
• The Liu Family prodigy sent dozens of clones after Chen Qiu, but Chen Qiu's Thunder Dragons obliterated her and destroyed her arena.
• Chen Qiu summoned tens of thousands of Thunder Dragons to bombard the remaining arenas, forcing most contestants to leave; Great Xia's Seventh Prince survived the attack but fled before Chen Qiu struck again.
• Chen Qiu was proclaimed Peerless Prodigy by the Heavenly Dao Edict, and he noticed the heavenly treasures had reappeared.