Chapter Summaries

Lin Qing rescued Clear-Fate Sect disciples from danger while rushing toward the sect gate, then joined the gathered cultivators as they sought a way to obtain Kunxu Immortal Sect identities. The assessment required enough people to activate, so news spread throughout the secret realm and cultivators began heading to the gate.

• Lin Qing used Yaoshuang to reach a Clear-Fate Sect disciple who had called for help and killed the cultivator threatening her.
• Lin Qing spent the next half day responding to messages and rescuing disciples across the secret realm.
• At the sect gate, Lin Qing told Ling Shu and the others that he had not yet found a way to obtain an identity.
• A disciple from a superpower announced that the assessment required a certain number of participants to activate.
• Cultivators spread the news through their Communication Tokens, drawing most of the secret realm's inhabitants toward the sect gate.

The Kunxu Immortal Sect’s entry assessment began when the gathered cultivators activated its Jade Stairway and artifact spirit. As the pressure eliminated climbers and awarded tokens by age, cultivation, and strength, Lin Qing continued upward while most of his companions finished their assessments.

• The Kunxu Immortal Sect’s Jade Stairway appeared, and its artifact spirit announced the assessment and the five ranks of identity tokens.
• Lin Qing told the disciples of the three sects to proceed, then climbed behind them as the stairway’s pressure grew stronger.
• The artifact spirit began evaluating those who fell back or were expelled, awarding outer disciple and inner disciple tokens according to their performances.
• Ling Shu received an inner disciple token, while other early climbers received outer disciple tokens and waited in the plaza.
• Mu Yao and Xue Ling each received inner disciple tokens, leaving only Lin Qing and Yang Jingchuan among Lin Qing’s known companions still climbing.
• Lin Qing stopped climbing leisurely after the other disciples of the three sects had been eliminated, while a few cultivators had already disappeared into the clouds above.

Yang Jingchuan told Lin Qing that the disguised cultivator ahead of them was Ren Wudi, the long-dominant first-ranked Young Lord and a Late Divine Realm cultivator. Yang Jingchuan and Tao Tao were eliminated, while Lin Qing remained in the mist as the plaza realized many contestants were still climbing.

• Zhou Ming confronted a speaker who mocked his performance, but Chen Bin stepped in to defend the speaker and Zhou Ming backed down.
• Yang Jingchuan spotted the green-clad cultivator ahead and told Lin Qing that he was Ren Wudi, a Late Divine Realm expert who had held first place on the Young Lords Ranking for over fifty years.
• Lin Qing and Yang Jingchuan continued climbing, and Yang Jingchuan was eventually eliminated and awarded a Direct Disciple Token.
• Tao Tao was eliminated at nearly the same time as Yang Jingchuan, prompting another commotion in the plaza.
• The crowd learned that Lin Qing was still climbing, then a terrified voice pointed out that more than twenty people had been ahead in the mist.

Lin Qing raced ahead on the Heavenly Stairway and received a Dao Child Token after the spiritual-energy giant announced his startling age and cultivation. His identity and talent were exposed to the plaza, leaving the crowd fearing the danger awaiting him when the secret realm opened.

• After Ling Xuanyao and other ranked cultivators emerged with Direct Disciple Tokens, Lin Qing continued climbing through the mist, leaving Ren Wudi and the others behind.
• Lin Qing stopped when the stairway’s pressure ceased increasing and considered whether formations made the path seem endless.
• The spiritual-energy giant awarded Ren Wudi a Sequence Disciple Token for his late Ninth Tier cultivation and seven-star strength.
• The secret realm shook as the giant announced that a twenty-one-year-old at Peak Eighth Tier had earned a Dao Child Token, but it skipped the strength rating.
• The crowd realized the recipient was likely Lin Qing and feared that his extraordinary talent would make him a target for pursuit and slaughter.

Lin Qing received a Dao Child Token after quickly completing the Heavenly Stairway assessment, then agreed to spar with Ren Wudi. He defeated Ren Wudi’s strongest technique with his Fire Will and Wind Will before the two exchanged respectful greetings.

• Lin Qing caught a Dao Child Token thrown from the clouds and left the Heavenly Stairway as the Spirit Giant continued announcing the results.
• Lin Qing ignored the plaza’s stares and approached the three sects’ disciples, but Ren Wudi called out and challenged him to a spar.
• Lin Qing and Ren Wudi agreed to exchange one move each, and Ren Wudi revealed his Metal Domain and mastery of Will.
• Ren Wudi unleashed Thousand Swords: Dustless as Lin Qing used Windfire: Burning the Plains, which destroyed the sword phantom and every spiritual-energy sword.
• Lin Qing told Ren Wudi he had let him win, and Ren Wudi admitted that Lin Qing’s battle strength surpassed his own.

After leaving the mountain gate, Lin Qing broke through to the Divine Realm aboard the Flying Vessel. He agreed to let the others travel independently and brought them to the Scripture Repository before they set off.

• Lin Qing and the others left the mountain gate aboard Qing Yao's Flying Vessel, while Ren Wudi's senior brother asked where Lin Qing had gone and urged Ren Wudi to help capture him.
• Lin Qing released his suppression of Selfless Oblivion and separated his primordial spirit from his body, successfully reaching the Divine Realm.
• Ling Shu asked whether Lin Qing needed help in the Secret Realm, and Xue Ling proposed that the disciples travel together without relying on his protection.
• Lin Qing revealed his primordial spirit, reassured the group of his strength, and told them to contact him if they faced danger.
• The Flying Vessel reached the Scripture Repository, where Lin Qing proposed they enter before the others went their separate ways.

Lin Qing led the disciples into the Scripture Repository and discovered that his Dao Child Token gave him unrestricted access. He collected its highest-tier cultivation arts and steles, leaving him with control over the Kunxu Immortal Sect’s treasures.

• Lin Qing directed two rogue cultivators to the Kunxu Immortal Sect’s mountain gate to obtain identity tokens before entering the Scripture Repository.
• The Repository recognized Lin Qing’s Ninth-Tier cultivation and Dao Child Token, granting him access to every floor.
• Lin Qing learned that disciples used Merit Points to exchange for jade slips and offered to retrieve anything his companions could not afford.
• Lin Qing found that his Dao Child Token opened the Repository’s protected compartments without spending Merit Points.
• Lin Qing stored the eighth-floor cultivation arts and will-cultivation steles, then took the Tenth- and Eleventh-Tier cultivation arts from the upper floors.

Lin Qing helped the disciples exchange for jade slips, then warned them to find him when the secret realm exit opened before setting out to search the realm. He discovered a hidden cave abode and met the disciple who had been teleported there, who told him he had found a diary.

• Lin Qing exchanged the disciples’ chosen jade slips without accepting their Spirit Stones, and they split into teams to explore the secret realm.
• Lin Qing told the disciples to come find him when the exit opened so he could keep them safe from the superpowers.
• After the disciples left, Lin Qing searched the secret realm with his divine sense and investigated places that blocked it.
• Lin Qing broke through a Ninth Tier array on a small mountain and entered a concealed cave abode.
• The disciple inside attacked Lin Qing before recognizing him, then revealed that he had found a diary.

Lin Qing read a diary that revealed a Heavenly Tribulation had destroyed the Kunxu Immortal Sect after a mysterious piece of wood sprouted in its Forbidden Ground. He found the super forces breaking into that Forbidden Ground and appeared among them, where someone warned him they planned to capture him.

• Lin Qing read the diary and learned that the Kunxu Immortal Sect's seniors had died when lightning struck after a mysterious piece of wood sprouted.
• Lin Qing reunited a rescued disciple with the others, then continued searching the secret realm and answering calls for help.
• Lin Qing sensed the super forces breaking an Eleventh Tier formation in the Kunxu Immortal Sect Forbidden Ground.
• Lin Qing teleported into the underground space, alarming the gathered cultivators, some of whom coveted his silver robe.
• An anxious divine-sense Voice Transmission warned Lin Qing that the super forces wanted to capture him.

Lin Qing confronted nearly thirty Ninth-Tier cultivators who intended to capture him, then overpowered their leader and used a brutal Soul Search Technique on him. He assured Ren Wudi that his senior brother would survive, though the man was left laughing like an idiot.

• Ren Wudi warned Lin Qing that the cultivators planned to capture him, but Lin Qing asked them what they intended to do after catching him.
• A Ninth-Tier Peak cultivator threatened Lin Qing and attacked him with Sword Intent, but Lin Qing remained unmoved.
• Lin Qing unleashed violent gale winds that injured the weaker cultivators, then rushed the attacker and crippled him.
• Ren Wudi pleaded with Lin Qing to spare his Ninth-Tier Peak senior brother, and Lin Qing promised the man would not die.
• Lin Qing brutally used the Soul Search Technique on the cultivator, leaving him alive but laughing foolishly.

Lin Qing crippled the Ninth-Tier Peak cultivator who had tried to harm him, then agreed to temporarily cooperate with the Central Continent forces to explore the forbidden ground. After the group broke the entrance formation and entered a dark passage, they discovered that their divine senses and spiritual power were suppressed.

• Lin Qing gouged out the Ninth-Tier Peak cultivator’s eyes, crippled his cultivation, and challenged the gathered cultivators to decide how to deal with him.
• The Qianyuan Heavenly Palace cultivator proposed joining forces to search for the treasure, and Lin Qing accepted a temporary cooperation to enter the forbidden ground.
• Lin Qing joined the Divine Realm cultivators in breaking the entrance formation, using the others to help test the dangerous route ahead.
• Lin Qing forced a fawning cultivator to enter the pitch-black passage first, then followed with the group.
• Inside the passage, the cultivators lost access to their divine senses, and they discovered that their spiritual power was suppressed as well.

Lin Qing and the cultivators explored the Kunxu Immortal Sect’s dark, power-suppressing corridor as he learned more about the sect’s history. A trap triggered a deadly arrow volley, and the group retreated after realizing their information about the forbidden ground’s mechanisms was unreliable.

• Lin Qing considered the limits of spiritual power and willpower against his physical strength as the group entered the corridor.
• Lin Qing examined carvings that recorded the Kunxu Immortal Sect’s rise, its calamity fifty thousand years earlier, and Old Turtle’s legendary history.
• The party pressed deeper into the dark corridor, where spiritual power weakened and the leaders grew careless.
• The person at the front triggered a floor tile, setting off mechanisms that fired volleys of arrows from both walls and killed cultivators.
• A Ninth-Tier Peak cultivator from Qianyuan Heavenly Palace ordered the group to retreat, but voices from behind warned that the way was blocked.

Lin Qing guided himself and the surviving cultivators through an arrow-filled passage in the Kunxu Immortal Sect Forbidden Ground, where a carved pattern at a fork triggered a sudden vision. He found himself reliving his life as a food delivery rider and went to reunite with his parents.

• Lin Qing saw the passage walls closing in and pushed deeper into the tunnel while dodging arrows.
• Fewer than forty cultivators survived the arrow-rain zone, and the group continued through winding passages until reaching a T-junction with a carved circular pattern.
• Lin Qing looked at the pattern, and the scene shifted to a deserted suburban crossroads where he worked as a food delivery rider.
• Lin Qing flew to the coastal city the next day and found the place where his parents lived.
• Lin Qing greeted his approaching parents outside their rented home.

Lin Qing resisted a powerful illusion that showed him visiting his parents, then found the other cultivators trapped in it. He carried Ren Wudi to a junction and continued alone into the shifting passages.

• Lin Qing visited his parents in the illusion, shared a meal with them, and said goodbye before breaking free.
• Lin Qing recognized the illusion's mental attack and used Selfless Oblivion to keep it from affecting him.
• Lin Qing found the other cultivators frozen in the passage, including Ren Wudi, who was crying.
• Lin Qing carried Ren Wudi to a junction as the passage behind them narrowed, then chose another route and left the trapped cultivators behind.
• Lin Qing followed the right-hand wall through the branching, shifting passages, using a maze-navigation method despite the passages changing.

Tao Tao and her senior brother pushed against the crowd through a passage filled with arrows, but he was gravely wounded protecting her. He urged her to escape, then killed himself to force her onward, leaving Tao Tao devastated.

• Tao Tao and her Ninth Tier senior brother turned back toward the passage’s depths after realizing there was no way out through the retreating crowd.
• The pair fought their way through the arrow rain, with her senior brother deflecting arrows that Tao Tao could not evade.
• After they escaped the arrows, Tao Tao saw that her senior brother had lost his left arm and suffered several mortal wounds while protecting her.
• Her senior brother told Tao Tao to catch up to the others and survive, but she begged him to get up and protect her.
• Her senior brother pushed Tao Tao away and struck his own brow, leaving her crying out in the passage.

After her senior brother died, Tao Tao traveled alone through the forbidden ground, where Lin Qing captured her and forced her to scout the way. They reached a torchlit stone chamber, but a falling boulder sealed the passage behind them.

• Tao Tao mourned her senior brother, put away his remains, and continued deeper into the forbidden ground alone.
• Tao Tao navigated many traps and became lost before Lin Qing grabbed her from the darkness and ordered her to lead the way.
• Tao Tao tried to seduce Lin Qing, but he rebuked her and kicked her clear of a falling boulder.
• Lin Qing and Tao Tao proceeded through the passage, with Tao Tao scouting ahead and Lin Qing saving her from another boulder.
• Tao Tao and Lin Qing entered a spacious stone chamber, where a boulder crashed down and sealed the exit.

Lin Qing subdued four stone statues with the Dao Child Token and used their weapons to open a passage into a vast underground space. As he and Tao Tao explored with the statues, several figures emerged from behind a boulder.

• Four statues attacked Lin Qing, and Tao Tao searched the chamber for a mechanism.
• Tao Tao discovered that the weapons fit recesses in the chamber walls, while Lin Qing used the Dao Child Token to take control of the statues.
• The statues placed their weapons into the recesses, opening a wall into a large underground space.
• Lin Qing named the statues Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain, and they followed him and Tao Tao through the stone forest.
• Lin Qing stopped Tao Tao and signaled the statues to halt when several figures appeared from behind a boulder.

Lin Qing faced four Ninth-Tier Peak disciples who tried to take Tao Tao from his side, and sent his stone-statue puppets to fight them. As the battle turned against the four disciples, one of them lost an arm.

• Four Ninth-Tier Peak disciples confronted Lin Qing, and Tao Tao chose to stay beside him rather than join her senior brother, Yuwen.
• Yuwen threatened Tao Tao, while a Qianyuan Heavenly Palace disciple demanded that Lin Qing surrender.
• Lin Qing ordered the stone statues Wind, Forest, Fire, and Mountain to fight the four disciples, and Fire sent the Qianyuan disciple crashing into a boulder.
• The disciples struggled against the statues’ different fighting styles, then retreated and joined forces at Yuwen’s command.
• The statues coordinated their attacks, and Fire struck the already-injured Qianyuan disciple, severing his arm.

Lin Qing killed the remaining pursuers, parted ways with Tao Tao, and continued searching the forbidden land for its supreme treasure. He found a colossal tree inside a hidden valley and began inspecting the surrounding cave abodes, where Forest crushed a human thigh bone.

• Lin Qing killed the four pursuers with Mountain, then told Tao Tao to leave and directed her to see whether Ren Wudi would take her out.
• Lin Qing left Tao Tao and Ren Wudi behind and continued through the core area, defeating Ninth-Tier cultivators from super factions and taking their Storage Rings.
• A day later, the Dao Child Token led Lin Qing to an entrance inside a mountain body, where he found a vast valley and a colossal tree he believed was the supreme treasure.
• Lin Qing chose to inspect the caves around the valley before approaching the tree, but Forest stepped on and crushed a human thigh bone near one cave.

Lin Qing searched the Kunxu Immortal Sect’s ruined forbidden ground, collecting Void-Returning Realm bone powder, useful cave treasures, and records about the Twelfth Tier. After learning that the Twelfth Tier was called the God Venerable Realm, he finished exploring the caves and went to try the giant tree himself.

• Lin Qing collected bone powder from fallen Eleventh Tier experts and considered using its void nature to modify Yaoshuang.
• Lin Qing searched the mostly intact cave dwellings and gathered spiritual plants, weapons, pill furnaces, and other useful items.
• Lin Qing found stone tablets containing the Kunxu Immortal Sect’s theories about the Twelfth Tier, including the Dharma Image and God Venerable Realm.
• Lin Qing found no records about the giant tree, then finished exploring the caves and went beneath it to try it himself.