Chapter Summaries

Jiang Lu and the other cultivators arrived at the beast arena as the Five Domains Heaven's Chosen Competition began. The representatives drew the first-round match order, and the tournament was ready to proceed.

• Jiang Lu admired the arena and settled into Crimson Reed Domain's private box with her companions.
• Jiang Lu spotted banners bearing her name, and Qin Yaner explained that sect supporters raised banners to encourage their disciples.
• The Shaking Heaven City Lord announced the tournament's three rounds and opened the Heaven's Chosen Individual Tournament.
• Ye Qingluan and the representatives from the other four domains went to the judges' seats to draw the battle order.
• The five representatives drew the spirit stones for the first round, which would pair fifty contestants into twenty-five one-on-one matches, then returned to their private boxes.

Lin Zhixu fought Qin Che in the Prodigy Individual Tournament, overcoming Qin Che’s swift attacks with solid defense and powerful counters. He defeated Qin Che and advanced, while Jiang Lu watched and cheered from the stands.

• Xiao Longfei announced Lin Zhixu of the Crimson Reed Domain and Qin Che of the Ling Shuo Domain as the first-round opponents.
• Qin Che launched a swift opening attack with his silver crescent blade, but Lin Zhixu blocked it with his Heaven-Piercing Halberd.
• Lin Zhixu pressed Qin Che with broad, forceful halberd strikes while Qin Che relied on nimble movement and blade feints.
• After dozens of exchanges, Lin Zhixu wore Qin Che down and struck as Qin Che faltered.
• Lin Zhixu shattered Qin Che’s defense with a powerful halberd blow, and Xiao Longfei declared him the winner.
• Jiang Lu and the people around her cheered for Lin Zhixu.

Jiang Lu watched the tournament’s Golden Core battles and learned from Ye Qing to control her wandering attention through a chess game. After the disciples reviewed their defeats, Liu Qingqing complained to Jiang Lu about Fu Yao pressuring her not to surrender in the competition.

• Jiang Lu studied the tournament matches and reflected on how combat experience strengthened the cultivators competing in them.
• After nearly two months of matches, Zhang Xingchu, Dou Yiqing, and Wen Xi secured the top three places in the individual arena competition.
• While playing chess with Ye Qing, Jiang Lu lost focus because of outside noise, and Ye Qing used spiritual power to settle her mind and warned her against divided attention.
• Jiang Lu completed the chess game, thanked Ye Qing for his instruction, and joined Ye Qingluan and the disciples as they reviewed their battles.
• Liu Qingqing told Jiang Lu that Fu Yao had pressured her not to surrender, and Fu Yao explained that she had warned Liu Qingqing to put aside her pampered frailty.

Jiang Lu calmed herself by playing Go with Ye Qing before joining the twelve contestants on the Heaven's Chosen Ranking stage. The competition rules banned her from using the Divine Soul Banner, but she confidently prepared to fight with Qianming instead.

• Jiang Lu comforted Liu Qingqing after Fu Yao left, then hurried to the chess room to seek coaching from Ye Qing.
• Jiang Lu played several games of Go with Ye Qing until the arena drums announced the start of the final competition.
• Ye Qing told Jiang Lu to go, and she took her seat among the twelve Heaven's Chosen from the Five Domains.
• Jiang Wenxu watched Jiang Lu while the contestants sized one another up on the platform.
• The rules allowed contestants to use their full strength but prohibited Jiang Lu from using her Divine Soul Banner.
• Jiang Lu decided she could rely on Qianming, whose blade still carried violet-gold lightning from the God-Refining Domain.

Liu Qingqing and Bu Yi fought for hours in a nearly powerless, embarrassing match before Liu Qingqing remembered her sword techniques and knocked Bu Yi off the platform. Afterward, Bu Mingxuan blamed his disciples for indulging Bu Yi, then defended his training to Zhao Youqi, who challenged his explanation about opportunity.

• Liu Qingqing and Bu Yi exchanged weak physical attacks, each mistaking the other's poor fighting for a chance to win.
• The spectators and the disciples watching grew embarrassed and exhausted as the two fought for hours without using spiritual energy.
• Liu Qingqing gathered spiritual energy into her sword and blasted Bu Yi off the platform with Sword Qi.
• The referee declared Liu Qingqing the winner, and Bu Yi crouched below the platform in tears.
• Bu Mingxuan scolded his disciples for spoiling Bu Yi, then told Zhao Youqi that a Stellar Body required patience and opportunity.
• Zhao Youqi scoffed at Bu Mingxuan's appeal to opportunity.

Jiang Lu faced Chen Cheng in the tournament and overwhelmed the Music Cultivator with Qianming’s lightning-charged sword techniques. Chen Cheng was knocked out of the arena, and Jiang Lu advanced.

• Bu Mingxuan agreed to plan for the Ascension Passage after the tournament, while he and others believed Jiang Lu’s fortune and Chaos Spirit Root could help open it.
• Liu Qingqing returned from her match victorious, and Xiao Longfei announced that Jiang Lu would face Chen Cheng.
• Jiang Lu and Chen Cheng took the arena, where Jiang Lu revealed Qianming’s powerful sword spirit and lightning aura.
• Chen Cheng attacked with invisible sound blades, but Jiang Lu countered with lightning and sword intent that cracked the arena.
• Jiang Lu defeated Chen Cheng in three exchanges, sending her and her damaged bonded artifact crashing beneath the arena.

Jiang Lu defeated Chen Cheng in three moves and returned to her seat as the crowd celebrated. The third match began with Jiang Wenxu and Mu Xiaoqing exchanging attacks, and their fight remained underway.

• Jiang Lu won her match against Chen Cheng, then helped her to her feet and accepted her concession.
• Jiang Lu returned to her seat, where Liu Qingqing praised her and blushed at a stray thought.
• The referee announced the third match between Jiang Wenxu of the Azure Tide Domain and Mu Xiaoqing of the Xuancheng Domain.
• Mu Xiaoqing opened the fight by placing formation stones and attacking Jiang Wenxu with ice spikes and silver threads.
• Jiang Wenxu countered with lightning that shattered Mu Xiaoqing's formation and forced her to evade a lightning blade.
• Jiang Wenxu summoned bolts of lightning around his Staff as Mu Xiaoqing's fight continued.

Jiang Wenxu narrowly defeated Mu Xiaoqing, whose injuries revealed that she was suffering backlash from refusing to give up on her master. Liu Qingqing then challenged Lü Wenjie, but he knocked her off the arena almost immediately.

• Jiang Wenxu defeated Mu Xiaoqing after their spiritual powers clashed, and both fighters were badly injured.
• You Xi discovered signs of rupturing in Mu Xiaoqing's meridians and realized she was suffering backlash, while the Jade Void Sect's Grand Elder waited to learn what had happened.
• The referee announced that Lü Wenjie would face Liu Qingqing, and Jiang Lu and Fu Yao doubted Liu Qingqing could win against the far stronger opponent.
• Liu Qingqing charged at Lü Wenjie, who sent her flying off the arena with a burst of spiritual power.
• The referee declared Lü Wenjie the winner, and spectators anticipated his upcoming match against Jiang Wenxu.

You Xi and Zhao Hezhi fought in the fifth match of the Heaven's Chosen Competition, with You Xi using her flute music to disrupt his attacks and pressure him across the arena. The battle remained unfinished as Zhao Hezhi struggled against her sound waves.

• Liu Qingqing lost to her opponent in one move, then leaned on Jiang Lu and Fu Yao as they helped her back to her seat.
• The steward announced the fifth match between You Xi of Xuancheng Domain and Zhao Hezhi of Desolate Qian Domain.
• Zhao Hezhi charged at You Xi and summoned a golden hammer phantom, but her flute music shattered it with powerful sound waves.
• Zhao Hezhi used Startling Wind Thunder to send three pursuing streams of spiritual power at You Xi, who dispersed them with layers of sound-wave barriers.
• You Xi struck the nodes of Zhao Hezhi's spiritual power with sound blades, disrupting his attack and forcing him to retreat.

You Xi defeated her opponent with sound-wave techniques, and Jiang Lu studied how to counter them before Fu Yao faced Gu Tong in the sixth match. Gu Tong's strength and endurance overwhelmed Fu Yao, leaving Jiang Lu to prepare for the body cultivator's style of combat.

• You Xi won the fifth match after her sound waves exhausted and staggered her opponent.
• Jiang Lu analyzed how airflow carried You Xi's sound-wave attacks and began deducing a counter.
• Fu Yao and Gu Tong entered the arena, where Gu Tong opened with a powerful strike and Fu Yao tried to attack his weak points.
• Gu Tong's Blacksteel Guard Mirror blocked Fu Yao's blades, and he forced her into close combat with his heavy attacks.
• Gu Tong defeated Fu Yao with Mountain-Splitting Slash after her spiritual power ran low.
• Jiang Lu gave Fu Yao a pill, and Fu Yao warned her to fight body cultivators from a distance.

Jiang Lu watched the tournament matches and prepared tactics for her next opponent before facing Jiang Wenxu. She immobilized him with a swiftly drawn talisman, leaving the match poised for her follow-up attack.

• Lü Wenjie and You Xi fought in the seventh match, and You Xi won.
• Jiang Lu assessed the remaining competitors and concluded that Wen Rui was too strong for her to defeat.
• Wen Rui won the eighth match against Gu Tong, and Jiang Lu was matched against Jiang Wenxu in the ninth.
• Jiang Lu drew an Immobilization Talisman in midair and froze Jiang Wenxu before his spell could take effect.

Jiang Lu defeated Jiang Wenxu with an Immobilization Talisman and her Third Layer of the Golden Core cultivation, securing a place in the top three of the Heaven's Chosen Ranking. The venue reeled at her hidden abilities as she left the arena after the referee declared her victory.

• Jiang Lu immobilized Jiang Wenxu with a talisman, overwhelmed him with spiritual pressure, and kicked him out of the arena.
• The crowd realized Jiang Lu could draw talismans in the air and had reached the Third Layer of the Golden Core.
• Crimson Reed Domain disciples questioned Ye Qing about Jiang Lu's breakthroughs and talisman skills, but he admitted he had not known either.
• Jiang Lu reflected that her swift victory had secured a top-three ranking, then landed below the arena as Jiang Wenxu lamented his defeat.
• Liu Qingqing and Fu Yao praised Jiang Lu, and the referee declared her the winner of Match Nine.

After the arena rounds, the top three contestants were left unranked, and Jiang Lu told Ye Qing about what she had learned while the disciples reviewed the battles. The elders announced that the next team trial would take place in the dangerous Hunting Secret Realm, leaving the competitors anxious and uncertain.

• The referee announced that Jiang Lu, Wen Rui, and You Xi would not receive fixed rankings after the arena rounds.
• Jiang Lu told Ye Qing everything she knew, and he cautioned her to understand and master her cultivation arts instead of learning them superficially.
• Shi Yan used the Recording Stone to review the arena battles and explain how Crimson Reed Domain's disciples could better face body cultivators.
• Ye Qing began explaining the dangers of different secret realms before Ye Qingluan arrived with several grave-faced elders.
• Ye Qingluan announced that the next team trial would be held in the Hunting Secret Realm, and a disciple asked what kind of place it was.

Ye Qingluan explained the Hunting Secret Realm trial, where survival, opportunities, and the Stellar Stone would determine the competition. Ye Qing revealed that the powerful domains were using the trial to seek a way to open the Ascension Passage, and Jiang Lu traveled with her team toward the realm.

• Ye Qingluan announced that the Hunting Secret Realm was a deadly trial where surviving hunts brought rewards, and obtaining the Stellar Stone meant taking first place.
• Ye Qingluan explained that the competition also depended on individual opportunities and how many disciples from each domain remained, while teleporting out would end a participant’s tournament eligibility.
• Jiang Lu privately wondered whether the powerful domains had a hidden reason for sending the Heaven’s Chosen into danger, and Ye Qing confirmed they hoped this generation could open the Ascension Passage.
• Ye Qing warned Jiang Lu to conceal her abilities, stay with Fu Yao and the team, and remember that the Heaven-Piercing Mystic Mirror would reveal their actions and words.
• Several days later, Jiang Lu traveled with Ye Qing toward the Hunting Secret Realm entrance, carrying Qianming on her back.

Jiang Lu and the other Heavenly Prodigies formed a life-and-death contract with the Hunting Secret Realm and entered through its lightning-wreathed gate. Jiang Lu awoke with her companions in a peaceful sea of flowers, where Fu Yao warned them not to trust what they saw.

• The Spirit Boats reached the Hunting Secret Realm’s entrance above the Soul-Eating Sea, where judges gathered the sixty-two Heavenly Prodigies and explained the dangers and rules.
• The head judge summoned five secret-realm discs and guided the cultivators in forming contracts that could transport them out if they chose to retreat or faced mortal danger.
• The gate unleashed its power, and the Heavenly Prodigies were pulled inside as elders watched them disappear.
• Ye Qing returned to his chamber, resolved to plan for Jiang Lu’s future and the hardships she would face after completing the trials.
• Jiang Lu awoke among her senior brothers and sisters in a vast sea of flowers, and Fu Yao warned them to stay alert and not be deceived by their surroundings.

Jiang Lu recognized the synchronized swarms as Ghost-Head Bees and helped Fu Yao’s group conceal their auras so they could escape the flower sea. Just as they neared its edge, a giant Ghost-Head Bee struck Fu Yao’s protective barrier.

• Jiang Lu sensed the bees’ wingbeats synchronizing, warned the group, and helped them discover the swarms were gathering around them.
• Fu Yao identified the bees’ strange appearance, while Jiang Lu recognized them as Ghost-Head Bees and warned everyone of their poisonous danger.
• Jiang Lu gave the group Breath-Concealing Talismans, and Fu Yao led them in the direction Liu Qingqing instinctively chose.
• A human-sized Ghost-Head Bee emerged from its nest and led a swarm toward the group as they headed for the edge of the flower sea.
• Jiang Lu sensed danger and stopped, and Fu Yao threw up a protective barrier just before a figure slammed into it.

Jiang Lu and Fu Yao’s group were trapped by a Ghosthead Bee Queen and its swarm, so they fought back with fire and Jiang Lu’s spiritual-power support. Cutie and Chi Li returned after searching for Ghostly Charm Flowers, leaving the group poised to use them to escape.

• The Ghosthead Bee Queen cracked the protective barrier, and Fu Yao led the group into a fight when the Ghost-Head Bees surrounded them.
• Jiang Lu used oil hemp leaves with the disciples’ fireballs to burn down bees, while Fu Yao split the group between attacking the queen and holding off the swarm.
• Jiang Lu sent Cutie and Chi Li to search for Ghostly Charm Flowers, then joined Fu Yao and four others in attacking the queen and struck at the bee waist beneath its wings.
• As the disciples’ spiritual power began to run low, Jiang Lu replenished their energy and healed their wounds by converting spiritual energy into light-attributed power.
• Jiang Lu’s spiritual-energy vortex swept bees into it, helping the group hold its defenses until Chi Li and Cutie returned.

Jiang Lu used a Ghostly Charm Flower to repel the Ghost-Head Bees and led the disciples safely out of the swarm. The Secret Realm Spirit then declared that they had cleared the stage and rewarded each of them with a Millennium Snow Ginseng.

• Jiang Lu brought out the Ghostly Charm Flower, whose scent stopped the Ghost-Head Bees from attacking.
• Yun Shu recognized the flower, and Jiang Lu explained that the bees detested its scent and that Chi Li had found it nearby.
• Jiang Lu carried the flower through the swarm, and the Ghost-Head Bees scattered to make way while the disciples followed safely.
• Jiang Lu and the disciples left the sea of flowers and entered a white space, where the Secret Realm Spirit announced that they had passed the stage.
• The Secret Realm Spirit gave each disciple a Ninth-Rank Millennium Snow Ginseng, and Jiang Lu stored hers in her space.

Jiang Lu and the others entered a dark cave stage and discovered they were walking in circles. When the glowing blue crystals attacked them, Jiang Lu sent Chi Li to burn them, exposing pits in the cave wall.

• Jiang Lu suspected the secret realm was made up of successive trials, and Fu Yao led the group onward through the cave.
• Jiang Lu recognized an X she had drawn on the wall and realized the group had been circling without encountering an array.
• Screeching sounds and flying stones attacked the group, and Yun Shu healed Zhou Min after a stone struck her.
• Fu Yao identified the blue crystals as the source of the attacks, but their red projectiles pierced her protective barrier and blocked the group's path.
• Jiang Lu asked Chi Li to inspect the wall, and Chi Li's flames scorched the blue crystals, making them fall and revealing pits in the rock.

Jiang Lu's group discovered they were trapped inside a giant creature, surrounded by corrosive blue insects and liquid. Jiang Lu urged them to break out through the creature's weakest point, and the group prepared to attack it together.

• Jiang Lu and the others found themselves in a fleshy cavern whose walls pulsed like a giant beast's body as blue insects crawled out of the rocks.
• The blue insects attacked, and the disciples fought them, spilling corrosive blue liquid across the ground.
• Jiang Lu identified the liquid as acid and proposed breaking out through the creature's stomach, citing Sun Wukong's escape from the Python Demon in Journey to the West.
• Jiang Lu warned the group that the blue liquid was poisonous, and Superior Cleaning Talismans revealed that it had already corroded their robes.
• Jiang Lu pointed out the direction of the strongest pulse as the creature's weakest point, and the disciples gathered their spiritual power to attack.