Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “A Tiny Bit of Shock”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Yuan realizes that Han Chang’s Primordial Demon Pill can serve as the demonic sacred artifact needed to condense the Primordial Unity Divine Pill. Rather than relying on luck in the Heaven-Piercing Tower, Chen Yuan now plans to kill Han Chang and extract the pill from his body.
• After refining the third Seven-Kill Stele Fragment, Chen Yuan and Wen Rou thoroughly search the former headquarters of the Blood Shadow Nether-Kill Sect. They find little of value beyond the ancient killing-intent runes, which Wen Rou copies for future study by formation masters.
• Chen Yuan and Wen Rou part ways. Chen continues exploring the tower, while Wen Rou remains behind to improve the Skywind Rain-Listening Tower’s records.
• Chen hears a familiar voice and discovers Yue Ling’er being pursued by Lu Jingyuan of the Lu Clan. Lu Jingyuan flees upon seeing Chen, but Chen pursues him and mocks his former Hidden Dragon Ranking position.
• Chen defeats Lu Jingyuan effortlessly. His Maudgalyayana Hell-Piercing Arrow shatters Lu’s sword qi, and his Blood Fiend saber techniques overwhelm Lu’s defenses. Chen ultimately kills him with the Red Lotus Karma-Cutting Blade, cutting him in half and taking his Heaven-and-Earth Bag.
• Yue Ling’er is deeply shocked by the difference between Chen Yuan’s combat ability and Lu Jingyuan’s. Although both are in the True Condensation Realm, Chen destroys a former ranking prodigy in only a few moves.
• Yue Ling’er then tells Chen that Gu Linchuan is trapped and being besieged at another sect ruin. Chen immediately follows her to rescue him.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan: Becomes increasingly calculating and ruthless. He views powerful competitors as sources of valuable treasures and has already begun planning to obtain Han Chang’s Primordial Demon Pill. His combat strength has risen sharply after fusing with the third Seven-Kill Stele Fragment, allowing him to challenge even Origin Pill Realm martial artists.
• Wen Rou: Shows practical resourcefulness by preserving the ancient killing-intent runes despite lacking formation knowledge. She also recognizes Chen Yuan’s habit of plotting and exploiting opportunities.
• Yue Ling’er: Gains a firsthand lesson in the brutality and disparity of martial combat. Her sheltered experience and innate talent have not prepared her for Chen Yuan’s decisive killing style, but she demonstrates initiative by seeking help for Gu Linchuan.
• Lu Jingyuan: His pride and confidence collapse when confronted by Chen Yuan. Despite his past status as a Hidden Dragon Ranking talent and his Half-Step Origin Pill cultivation, he is decisively killed.
• Gu Linchuan: Is placed in danger after becoming trapped in a powerful formation. His strength remains formidable, but his wandering-cultivator background and the enemies’ greed leave him vulnerable.
• Fang Zhibai: Emerges as the leader of the group attacking Gu Linchuan. As the seventeenth-ranked Hidden Dragon prodigy of the Heaven-Defying Sword Pavilion, he seeks revenge against Gu and covets Gu’s five Heavenly Weapon swords.

Significant Themes

• Power disparity among equals: The chapter emphasizes that cultivation realm alone does not determine strength. Chen’s foundation and techniques let him annihilate someone of the same realm who once ranked among the martial world’s elite.
• Predatory competition: The Heaven-Piercing Tower is portrayed as a place where both ruins and people are sources of opportunity. Chen sees Han Chang as a “walking” treasure vault, while Fang Zhibai targets Gu Linchuan’s weapons.
• Ruthlessness versus conventional martial conduct: Lu Jingyuan believes defeated opponents should be allowed to retreat to avoid future conflict, whereas Chen rejects this tradition and kills decisively once he has acted.
• The rise of a new generation: The exceptional strength of the current Hidden Dragon Ranking prodigies makes older rankings less meaningful, reinforcing the chapter’s sense that a turbulent age of competition is approaching.
• Experience and awakening: Yue Ling’er’s shock reflects her transition from sheltered observation to a more realistic understanding of the martial world.

Character Interactions

• Chen Yuan and Wen Rou part amicably but maintain contact through secret techniques; Wen Rou remains wary of Chen’s schemes.
• Chen humiliates and confronts Lu Jingyuan after rescuing Yue Ling’er, refusing to let him escape merely because he withdrew.
• Yue Ling’er becomes both witness to Chen’s overwhelming strength and the person who brings him news of Gu Linchuan’s crisis.
• Gu Linchuan is being attacked by Fang Zhibai and several others while trapped inside a formation, setting up Chen Yuan’s next confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “Do You Think You Deserve It?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Linchuan’s five Heavenly Weapon longswords make him a more tempting target than Chen Yuan. Fang Zhibai uses the pretext of avenging a Heaven-Defying Sword Pavilion disciple, Duan Mingzhen, but his real goal is to seize Gu Linchuan’s swords.
• Chen Yuan examines Lu Jingyuan’s belongings and discovers that he possesses few treasures and no Divine-Artifact Avatar. Yue Ling’er explains that the Lu Clan’s Slaying Flood Dragon Sword avatars are extremely rare because Flood Dragon bones are extinct. Lu Jingyuan had already used his one avatar in his youth.
• Yue Ling’er reveals that Lu Jingyuan targeted her because of the longstanding hostility between the Lu Clan and the Misty Rain Alliance, both powerful forces in Lan Prefecture.
• Chen Yuan, Yue Ling’er, and the Human-Skin Evil Book locate Milantuo Temple, an ancient Esoteric Sect ruin. The book senses that the temple may contain additional supreme mantras related to Chen Yuan’s Nine-Character Esoteric Truth Mantra.
• At the temple, Fang Zhibai and ten others have trapped Gu Linchuan with a Vajra formation. Fang offers to spare Gu if he cripples his own dantian, but Gu openly denounces the hypocrisy behind the demand.
• Chen Yuan destroys the Vajra statue powering the formation, freeing Gu Linchuan. Gu immediately wants to fight Fang Zhibai.
• Fang attempts to negotiate a temporary truce, arguing that exploring the ruin is more important than settling old grudges. He also warns that Chen Yuan needs to conserve strength and gather treasures for future confrontations with powerful enemies.
• Gu Linchuan briefly accepts the logic of postponing revenge, but Chen Yuan rejects Fang’s proposal. He argues that Gu discovered the ruin first and that Fang’s group has no right to share its treasures.
• Chen Yuan launches an attack, inspiring Gu Linchuan to join him. The chapter ends as the battle begins: Chen confronts Fang’s strongest fighters, while Yue Ling’er handles the weaker minor-force cultivators and Rogue Cultivators.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan: Demonstrates his increasingly aggressive and uncompromising nature. Rather than prioritize caution or negotiation, he favors eliminating threats immediately and monopolizing the ruin. He also continues seeking opportunities to expand his arsenal and cultivation.
• Gu Linchuan: Remains proud, hot-tempered, and fiercely protective of his weapons and dignity. He recognizes the need to consider Chen Yuan’s larger situation but ultimately follows Chen Yuan’s lead and prepares to settle his humiliation by force.
• Yue Ling’er: Provides important political and historical context regarding the Lu Clan and Misty Rain Alliance. Although inexperienced in actual combat, she possesses a strong foundation and is trusted to deal with the weaker enemies.
• Fang Zhibai: Revealed as calculating and hypocritical. He disguises his desire for Gu Linchuan’s swords as righteous revenge, then quickly abandons that stance when Chen Yuan arrives and the balance of power shifts.
• Lu Jingyuan: His poor reserves and lack of a Divine-Artifact Avatar make Chen Yuan view him as wasteful and mediocre. His pursuit of Yue Ling’er also highlights the feud between their factions.
• Human-Skin Evil Book: Becomes more useful and proactive by identifying Milantuo Temple and suggesting the presence of further Esoteric Sect mantras.

Significant Themes

• Greed disguised as righteousness: Fang Zhibai’s claims of revenge conceal his desire for Gu Linchuan’s Heavenly Weapons.
• Strength and entitlement: Chen Yuan rejects the idea that weaker opponents deserve access to a ruin discovered by Gu Linchuan, emphasizing that power determines who can claim opportunities.
• Pragmatism versus vengeance: Fang argues for delaying personal conflicts in favor of survival and treasure hunting, while Chen Yuan insists that unresolved enemies are dangerous and should be eliminated immediately.
• Factional conflict: The hostility between the Lu Clan and Misty Rain Alliance demonstrates how old political rivalries influence actions within the Heaven-Piercing Tower.
• Resource scarcity and waste: The rarity of Divine-Artifact Avatars, especially the Lu Clan’s Flood Dragon-based weapon avatars, highlights the value of limited cultivation resources.
• Alliance and loyalty: Chen Yuan’s arrival saves Gu Linchuan, and Gu responds by trusting Chen Yuan’s judgment and fighting beside him.

Character Interactions

• Yue Ling’er explains Lu Jingyuan’s motives and the feud between her alliance and the Lu Clan to Chen Yuan.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book alerts Chen Yuan to the importance of Milantuo Temple, strengthening their unusual master-and-artifact dynamic.
• Fang Zhibai pressures Gu Linchuan to surrender and later tries to manipulate Chen Yuan and Gu by appealing to strategic interests.
• Gu Linchuan recognizes Chen Yuan as a timely rescuer, though Chen humorously rejects the nickname “Timely Rain.”
• Chen Yuan encourages Gu to abandon caution and attack, turning Gu’s suppressed anger into immediate action.
• Chen assigns the weaker opponents to Yue Ling’er while personally targeting Fang Zhibai’s strongest allies, setting up the next major confrontation.

Chapter Summary: “The Worthless and the Defeated”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A chaotic battle erupts outside Milantuo Temple between Chen Yuan’s group and the faction seeking to kill Gu Linchuan and seize his five Heavenly Weapon swords.
• Gu Linchuan reveals his true strength by wielding all five swords simultaneously, each paired with a powerful sword art. He immediately overwhelms Fang Zhibai, proving that his sword Dao exceeds even that of elite Heaven-Defying Sword Pavilion disciples and some Origin Pill Realm elders.
• Yue Ling’er holds her own against several rogue cultivators and minor-faction martial artists, demonstrating that her strong foundation compensates for her lack of battle experience.
• Chen Yuan dominates Shen Wugui, Feng Tiande, and Ying Yuanzhen. His power appears significantly stronger than it was outside the Heaven-Piercing Tower.
• Chen Yuan targets Feng Tiande first with his Hell-Piercing Chain Arrows, forcing Shen Wugui and Ying Yuanzhen to abandon their attacks to rescue him.
• He then severely injures Ying Yuanzhen with the Red Lotus Karma-Cutting Blade and overwhelms Shen Wugui with the Gouli Bloodflame God-Burning Seal. All three are quickly placed in mortal danger.
• Feng Tiande attempts to flee, abandoning his allies, but Chen Yuan pursues and wounds him with another volley of arrows.
• Desperate, the three opponents summon their sects’ Divine-Artifact Avatars: the Nine Nether Demon Sword, Heavenly Feather Treasure Fan, and Luotian Primordial Unity Bell.
• Zhang Xuanzhong of the Divine Firmament Sect arrives with reinforcements. He mocks Chen Yuan and agrees to confront him, prompting Shen Wugui and Feng Tiande to withdraw their Divine-Artifact Avatars.
• Zhang Xuanzhong challenges Chen Yuan over his use of the Divine Firmament Evil-Slaying Sword, accusing him of stealing the Divine Firmament Sect’s secret art. Chen Yuan dismisses Zhang and the others as weak and cowardly.
• Just as Zhang prepares to attack with his thunder sword, Milantuo Temple’s gate opens. A darkness resembling a black hole emerges, releasing a powerful suction force that begins dragging everyone inside.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan: Demonstrates overwhelming combat superiority, defeating three powerful opponents with ease and forcing them toward desperate measures. His confidence and disdain for weaker opponents remain prominent, though Zhang Xuanzhong’s arrival earns his first trace of seriousness.
• Gu Linchuan: Reveals himself as an extraordinary sword master. His mastery of five Heavenly Weapons and multiple sword arts surpasses Fang Zhibai’s and even rivals senior Origin Pill Realm experts.
• Fang Zhibai: Experiences shock and humiliation after being instantly suppressed by Gu Linchuan, realizing that the rogue cultivator’s sword attainments exceed his own.
• Yue Ling’er: Shows clear growth by resisting multiple enemies alone. Although inexperienced, her formidable foundation allows her to stand against opponents from weaker backgrounds.
• Feng Tiande: Displays speed and tactical caution but abandons his allies when the battle turns against them. His attempted escape fails, and he is injured by Chen Yuan.
• Shen Wugui and Ying Yuanzhen: Initially cooperate against Chen Yuan but are quickly overwhelmed. Their reliance on Divine-Artifact Avatars reveals their desperation. Ying Yuanzhen is especially embarrassed by his inability to defeat Chen Yuan despite his Daoist heritage.
• Zhang Xuanzhong: Enters as a confident rival and potential equalizer. His resentment toward Chen Yuan centers on the stolen or appropriated Divine Firmament sword art, and he intends to restore his sect’s reputation.

Significant Themes

• True strength versus status and background: Gu Linchuan’s achievement as a rogue cultivator exposes the limitations of established sects and prestigious lineages.
• Individual mastery versus borrowed power: Chen Yuan and Gu Linchuan rely primarily on their own cultivation and understanding, while their enemies increasingly depend on Divine-Artifact Avatars.
• Cowardice and unstable alliances: The coalition against Chen Yuan collapses under pressure, especially when Feng Tiande attempts to flee and leaves his companions exposed.
• Pride and humiliation: Fang Zhibai, Ying Yuanzhen, and Zhang Xuanzhong all struggle with the realization that Chen Yuan or Gu Linchuan may surpass figures from their supposedly superior sects.
• Unpredictable danger: The sudden opening of Milantuo Temple changes the battlefield entirely, suggesting that the ruins themselves may pose a greater threat than the martial artists fighting outside.

Important Character Interactions

• Gu Linchuan’s sword assault completely suppresses Fang Zhibai, reversing their expected power dynamic.
• Yue Ling’er fights independently while Chen Yuan takes on Shen Wugui, Feng Tiande, and Ying Yuanzhen.
• Shen Wugui and Ying Yuanzhen are forced to protect Feng Tiande from Chen Yuan’s arrows, temporarily sacrificing their offensive advantage.
• Feng Tiande’s attempted retreat causes resentment from Shen Wugui and Ying Yuanzhen, who view him as selfish and foolish.
• Zhang Xuanzhong verbally confronts Chen Yuan, accusing him of stealing the Divine Firmament Sect’s sword art. Chen Yuan responds by insulting Zhang and the other combatants as “worthless fools.”
• Before Zhang and Chen Yuan can begin their next confrontation, Milantuo Temple’s mysterious suction force interrupts everyone and drags the combatants toward the dark entrance.

• The temple pulls the group inside: After Chen Yuan breaks the Vajra statue, Milantuo Temple’s formation activates and drags nearly everyone into a dim chamber. A chant orders each person to choose one of many inscribed gates and enter, supposedly to remove their karmic hindrances. When a martial artist tries to retreat, hidden Buddha statues kill him, making clear that the group has no way back. The statues are also moving closer, putting everyone under time pressure.
• The gates offer different challenges and rewards: Shen Wugui and the others choose gates depicting Vajras, apparently judging them less dangerous than gates bearing greater Buddhist figures. Chen Yuan consults the Human-Skin Evil Book, which claims that a gate’s difficulty corresponds to the power of the cultivation technique earned by overcoming it. It recommends a Bodhisattva gate for Chen Yuan to pursue the Nine-Character Esoteric Truth Mantra, a sword-bearing Wisdom King gate for Gu Linchuan, and a Vajra gate for Yue Ling’er.
• The group divides: Yue Ling’er says she will follow Chen Yuan’s instructions, as her master ordered her to do, and Gu Linchuan likewise trusts his judgment. Wary of the Evil Book but willing to gamble on its advice, Chen Yuan sends Yue Ling’er through a Vajra gate and Gu through the sword-bearing Wisdom King gate. He chooses the Bodhisattva gate himself, seeking the more valuable technique despite the greater risk.
• Chen Yuan faces the trial: Inside, a strange green Bodhisattva statue awakens and unleashes radiant Buddhist power and a chant. The chant suppresses Chen Yuan’s spiritual power and twists his perception, making him believe his killing karma is so great that he should kill himself to atone. The Source of Killing Intent breaks its hold, but the statue suddenly appears right in front of him and strikes at his head. The chapter ends with Chen Yuan in immediate danger.
  Character developments and interactions: Chen Yuan demonstrates strategic resolve and appetite for high-risk rewards, while remaining skeptical of the Evil Book and keeping his trump cards in reserve. Gu Linchuan’s trust in Chen Yuan deepens, and Yue Ling’er follows his lead out of loyalty to her master’s instructions. Their cooperation contrasts with the other martial artists’ cautious choice of safer-looking gates.
  Themes: The scene explores the tension between ambition and survival, the burden of karma and violence, and the danger of trusting an apparently knowledgeable but potentially deceptive guide. It also frames Buddhist power as both a physical threat and a force capable of manipulating the mind.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yuan faces the most dangerous opponent he has encountered in Heaven-Piercing Tower: a bodhisattva statue whose Sanskrit chants suppress the mind and whose attacks are devastating.
• Using his Blood Fiend techniques, bow, and the Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art, Chen Yuan identifies the Buddhist light’s weak point and destroys the statue, though he is injured and exhausted.
• The statue’s golden lotus pedestal contains a piece of Spirit-Nurturing Jade. It records the Tara Mother Obstacle-Breaking Karma-Subduing Mantra, a secret art that attacks an opponent’s mind by burdening them with the weight of their karma.
• Chen Yuan realizes that mental power is a growing weakness: both this mantra and the Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art consume it heavily. He needs a way to cultivate his mental strength.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book asks for the human skin Chen Yuan had promised as a reward. Chen Yuan denies making any such promise, then criticizes the book for failing to warn him about earlier dangers. He eventually reassures it that the reward may still come if it continues to help.
• Rather than leave through the newly revealed doorway, Chen Yuan stays to recover and prepare to learn the mantra.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yuan proves resourceful under pressure, combining force with the Qi-Watching Art to overcome an enemy whose power comes from its core rather than its stone body. He also shows himself to be a calculating negotiator, using praise and promised rewards to keep the Evil Book cooperating.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book is eager for a human skin and easily manipulated by the hope of receiving one. It resents Chen Yuan’s treatment but remains compliant, repeating the same tactic it once used to manipulate Guan Tianming.
• Their exchange is a contest of manipulation: Chen Yuan accuses the book of endangering him, while the book silently recognizes that he is stringing it along just as it once strung along others.

Significant themes

• Mental strength as a battlefield: The mantra can briefly overwhelm an opponent’s will, making mental resilience decisive in combat.
• The burden of violence and karma: The statue’s chants force Chen Yuan to confront the psychological weight of his killings.
• Manipulation and self-interest: Both Chen Yuan and the Evil Book use promises and deception to pursue their own goals.
• Preparation amid danger: Chen Yuan prioritizes recovery and acquiring another technique before advancing further.

Chapter Summary: “I Want Your Sword”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Yuan restores his mental power and gains an initial understanding of the Tara Mother Obstacle-Breaking Karma-Subduing Mantra, a Buddhist mental technique that strengthens as his mental power grows.
• He enters the core area of Milantuo Temple, only to find it transformed into a dark, maze-like network of passages rather than the orderly Buddhist complex he expected.
• Attempts to break through the walls fail because powerful formations repel his attacks.
• Chen Yuan discovers a hall filled with the mutilated corpses of more than a hundred Milantuo Temple monks. The bodies have been preserved by the temple’s formations, but their flesh and bones rapidly crumble when touched.
• The corpses appear to have slaughtered one another in a state of unnatural madness. The Human-Skin Evil Book explains that Milantuo Temple once used the power of the Ancient Dipankara Buddha to preserve corpses from decay.
• Chen Yuan explores several more halls and finds similar scenes of savage internal massacre, suggesting that the temple’s destruction was widespread and mysterious.
• He obtains a valuable gem-encrusted prayer wheel that produces calming Buddhist chants and accelerates mental-power recovery.
• Chen Yuan encounters Shen Wugui, the first fellow traveler he has found inside the maze. Shen possesses an intact Heavenly Weapon, the Demon-Subduing Vajra, while also carrying the powerful Nine Nether Demon Sword.
• Chen Yuan demands the Nine Nether Demon Sword, promising to spare Shen if he hands it over. Shen refuses and attempts to flee.
• Shen discovers that the hall’s rear door leads only to a stone wall, revealing that the halls are effectively traps or dead ends.
• Chen Yuan attacks Shen with the Red Lotus Karma-Cutting Blade, then follows with Buddhist techniques that exploit the natural suppression of demonic arts by Buddhist martial arts. Shen is rapidly overwhelmed.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan demonstrates greater control over his mental power and expands his mastery of Buddhist techniques. His recovery tools and newly cultivated mantra improve his endurance in the dangerous temple.
• His investigation shows that he is observant and analytical: he recognizes the unusual preservation of the corpses, notices the distorted spatial structure, and deduces that Shen entered the hall later than he did.
• Chen Yuan becomes increasingly pragmatic and ruthless. Rather than forming an alliance with Shen, he immediately targets the Nine Nether Demon Sword and takes advantage of Shen’s isolation.
• Shen Wugui displays caution and strategic awareness. He understands that fighting Chen Yuan directly is disadvantageous and tries to escape instead.
• However, Shen’s confidence in using the maze to escape collapses when he discovers that the hall is a dead end. His inability to use the environment effectively leaves him vulnerable.

Significant Themes

• Corruption and madness: The mass slaughter of the monks suggests that Milantuo Temple was destroyed by a force capable of driving people into bestial violence.
• Distortion of sacred order: A temple associated with Buddhist inheritance and compassion has become a chaotic maze filled with corpses, implying that something fundamentally twisted its original structure and purpose.
• The limits of brute force: Chen Yuan cannot simply destroy the maze’s walls; progress requires caution, investigation, and understanding of the formations.
• Power and possession: The Nine Nether Demon Sword is valuable because it can be used without the strict bloodline or technique restrictions of many other divine weapons, making it a highly desirable prize.
• Buddhism versus demonic power: Chen Yuan’s Buddhist techniques naturally counter Shen Wugui’s demonic arts, giving Chen Yuan a decisive advantage in their confrontation.
• Preservation versus destruction: The temple’s formations preserve bodies and relics across millions of years, but this preservation only maintains their outward state while their vitality and value have already vanished.

Character Interactions

• Chen Yuan consults the Human-Skin Evil Book, which provides historical knowledge about Milantuo Temple and explains the preservation of the corpses.
• Chen Yuan and Shen Wugui negotiate briefly. Shen appeals to the absence of a personal grudge and proposes that they avoid wasting strength in the dangerous temple.
• Chen Yuan counters by demanding Shen’s Nine Nether Demon Sword, making clear that he values the weapon more than maintaining peace.
• Shen attempts to escape rather than fight, but the maze traps him. Chen Yuan exploits the situation and launches a powerful combination of demonic and Buddhist attacks.
• The chapter ends with Shen Wugui cornered and heavily suppressed by Chen Yuan’s Buddhist mantras, setting up the continuation of their battle.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yuan overwhelms Shen Wugui, defeating the Nine Nether disciple’s demonic techniques with his combined Buddhist, Daoist, and demonic powers.
• Shen Wugui tries to escape using a blood-and-demonic-qi illusion, but Chen Yuan sees through it. Chen’s reference to their past encounter reveals that Shen had mistaken Chen Yuan for someone else during the earlier events at the Ninefold Tower of Myriad Forms.
• Chen Yuan subdues Shen Wugui with Tara Guanyin’s Buddhist mantra, then kills him with Bloodsea Tidecall before he can activate the Nine Nether Demon Sword’s Divine-Artifact Avatar. Chen takes the sword avatar and Shen’s belongings.
• After recovering his mental strength with the Prayer Wheel, Chen Yuan follows the sound of battle and finds Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er fighting Fang Zhibai and Feng Tiande.
• Zhang Xuanzhong arrives and proposes a truce: he has partly decoded an array diagram and believes he can guide them out of Milantuo Temple if they work together to break its nodes.
• Chen Yuan agrees. The group follows Zhang to a weak point in the array and attacks it together, overcoming its backlash and collapsing the first node.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yuan demonstrates overwhelming versatility and control, defeating Shen Wugui without needing to use his collected Divine-Artifact Avatars. He is pragmatic about alliances but remains wary of Zhang Xuanzhong, while confident enough to accept the risk.
• Shen Wugui shifts from a direct assault to a desperate escape, but his tricks and last-resort weapon fail. He dies before he can use the sword avatar.
• Zhang Xuanzhong proves his value through his array expertise and takes the lead in organizing a temporary alliance. His relief at Chen Yuan’s cooperation shows how much he depends on Chen’s strength.
• Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er are locked in combat with Fang Zhibai and Feng Tiande; Chen Yuan’s arrival changes the balance and helps bring the fighting to a halt.
• The former opponents cooperate cautiously, with both Chen Yuan and Zhang Xuanzhong holding back during the attack because neither fully trusts the other.

Significant themes

• Power and adaptability: Chen Yuan’s mastery of multiple paths lets him counter opponents who rely on specialized techniques.
• Trust and self-interest: The group forms an alliance not out of friendship, but because escaping the deadly array requires cooperation.
• Ingenuity and strength: Zhang’s knowledge identifies the array’s weakness, while the group’s combined force is needed to exploit it.
• Survival over rivalry: Faced with being trapped indefinitely, even hostile combatants are willing to pause their conflict and work together.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yuan and Zhang Xuanzhong’s group cooperate to destroy the formation’s nodes. Though Zhang considers turning against Chen Yuan, he holds back because they still need Chen Yuan’s strength.
• Ying Yuanzhen joins them, shifting the balance toward Zhang’s group, but the party continues working together. Zhang is also puzzled that Shen Wugui has not appeared.
• At the final node, the group breaks through into Milantuo Temple’s grand hall. There they find two ancient monks restraining a grotesque, half-scaled monster.
• The monks claim an otherworldly demon caused the temple’s massacre and ask the newcomers to kill it. They offer treasures and techniques as a reward.
• Chen Yuan and Zhang Xuanzhong both suspect the story is a trap. Zhang deduces that the temple’s strange formations were designed to seal the danger inside and keep outsiders out—not to guide visitors toward rewards.
• As the monster convulses and the monks urge them to act, Feng Tiande ignores Chen Yuan and Zhang’s warnings and attacks, apparently motivated partly by the treasure boxes.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yuan remains cautious, drawing on past experience with sealed and deceptive entities. He refuses to trust the monks’ convenient account.
• Zhang Xuanzhong shows perceptiveness and restraint: he recognizes the contradictions in the monks’ story by studying the formations, and continues cooperating with Chen Yuan while their interests align.
• Fang Zhibai and the others are excited by the apparent rewards, while Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er look to Chen Yuan for guidance.
• Feng Tiande acts impulsively and greedily, charging the monster despite warnings from both Chen Yuan and Zhang.
• The two monks present themselves as victims seeking release, but their motives remain suspect; the chapter ends before the consequences of Feng’s attack are revealed.

Significant themes

• Caution versus temptation: the promise of easy treasures encourages rash action, while experience and careful reasoning suggest danger.
• Appearances and deception: the monks’ story may conceal the truth, and even apparently benevolent rewards can be bait.
• Cooperation under pressure: Chen Yuan and Zhang Xuanzhong maintain a fragile alliance because neither can safely proceed alone.
• Containment and consequence: the formations appear to exist for a reason—to keep a dangerous force trapped.

Chapter Summary: “Aberration”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Tiande, a late-blooming disciple of the Divine Feather Sect, decides to act first and seize one of the treasures offered by two apparently Buddhist monks. Knowing he cannot compete directly with stronger figures such as Chen Jiutian or Zhang Xuanzhong, he plans to take advantage of the others’ inevitable infighting and escape into the formation maze.
• Feng attacks the central monster with countless golden feathers, unintentionally disrupting the balance restraining the two hidden monsters.
• The “monks” are revealed to be disguises. One monster has blue-gray scales, a single horn, and enormous physical strength; the other is a grotesque humanoid mass of flesh resembling coiled intestines. The central figure is revealed to have been an old monk using his own power to suppress them.
• Feng is immediately immobilized by the flesh monster, which seals his blood and qi. The scaled monster then bites off his head, killing him instantly. The gathered martial artists recognize that his greed and rashness caused his death.
• The monsters attack the remaining cultivators. The scaled monster targets Chen Yuan and proves nearly impervious to his attacks, while the flesh monster drains and dissolves the true qi and blood qi of anyone it touches.
• Chen Yuan, Gu Linchuan, Yue Ling’er, Zhang Xuanzhong, Fang Zhibai, and Ying Yuanzhen attempt to resist, but the monsters’ overwhelming strength forces them onto the defensive.
• Chen Yuan orders a retreat into the maze, but the flesh monster extends its body underground and seals the entrance, trapping everyone inside.
• Chen Yuan uses the Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art to search for the scaled monster’s weakness, but its black power devours part of his spiritual energy and causes him severe pain. The monster becomes interested in Chen Yuan’s unusual abilities and declares its intention to eat him.
• Chen Yuan’s strongest techniques still fail to injure the scaled monster. Meanwhile, Ying Yuanzhen is badly weakened after the flesh monster drains his qi and blood, forcing him to prepare his Divine-Artifact Avatar for survival.
• At the chapter’s climax, the abbot of Milantuo Temple finally acts. Burning his own body and life force, he unleashes radiant Buddhist power that forms the image of a Buddha seated on a white, golden-striped tiger.

Character Developments

• Feng Tiande is characterized as calculating and desperate, aware that his limited talent makes every opportunity crucial. However, his ambition becomes recklessness: he acts without properly understanding the situation and pays for it with his life.
• Chen Yuan demonstrates composure and leadership by recognizing that the monsters cannot be fought directly and ordering a retreat. His powerful techniques and special abilities are shown to be insufficient against the scaled monster, emphasizing the widening gap between him and the ancient beings.
• Gu Linchuan fights alongside Chen Yuan with his Icefire Polar Swords, but even his Heavenly Weapons only leave superficial marks.
• Ying Yuanzhen is shown to be the weakest of the group under pressure, becoming severely drained by the flesh monster and preparing to rely on his Divine-Artifact Avatar.
• The abbot of Milantuo Temple shifts from passive observer to sacrificial combatant. His final action suggests both immense hidden strength and a willingness to burn away his remaining life force to protect the others or confront the monsters.
• The two monsters are revealed as ancient, imprisoned aberrations that have not tasted flesh and blood for over ten thousand years. They view the present cultivators as inferior “lower-realm ants” and potential sacrifices.

Significant Themes

• Greed and recklessness: Feng Tiande’s death illustrates the danger of acting on desire without understanding the true nature of a situation.
• The limits of cultivation and power: Even source power, Heavenly Weapons, and advanced martial techniques barely affect the ancient monsters, highlighting their terrifying superiority.
• Deception and hidden identities: The monks’ apparent forms conceal both the monsters and the suppressive role of the central figure.
• Sacrifice: The abbot’s self-burning Buddhist technique introduces the possibility that survival will require giving up one’s life force.
• Predation and hierarchy: The monsters see the cultivators as food and inferior beings, reinforcing the chapter’s theme of brutal power imbalance.
• Cooperation under crisis: Formerly divided factions must confront a common threat, though distrust remains evident as Chen Yuan waits to see whether Zhang Xuanzhong and the others will reveal their Divine-Artifact Avatars.

Important Character Interactions

• Feng Tiande acts independently, expecting Chen Jiutian and Zhang Xuanzhong’s rivalry to prevent them from pursuing him.
• Chen Yuan clashes directly with the scaled monster, whose immunity to his Buddhist mantra and blood-based attacks exposes the limits of his current strength.
• Gu Linchuan supports Chen Yuan with his twin swords but is unable to damage the monster meaningfully.
• Zhang Xuanzhong, Fang Zhibai, and Ying Yuanzhen jointly confront the flesh monster, yet are forced into retreat as it drains their energy.
• The scaled monster becomes particularly interested in Chen Yuan after detecting both his source power and the Son of Heaven Qi-Watching Art.
• The abbot’s final intervention changes the battlefield dramatically, ending the chapter with the promise of a major confrontation between Buddhist power and the two ancient aberrations.

Plot points and events

• The abbot of Milantuo Temple, having survived for ten thousand years by sharing power with the two monsters, makes one final sacrifice. His Buddhist-light tiger pins them down and tears out the sources of their strength.
• Chen Yuan, Zhang Xuanzhong, and the others destroy those sources. The scale zombie and corpse-shedding immortal disintegrate, as does the abbot, whose fading spirit reveals that Heaven-Piercing Tower is a trap and everyone inside is being used as a sacrifice.
• The abbot vanishes before the group can learn more. His warning raises further questions about who set the trap and what the sacrifice is for.
• With the danger gone, the survivors turn on one another over the genuine treasures the monsters had used as bait. Zhang Xuanzhong launches a surprise attack on Chen Yuan and urges his Daoist allies to help kill him.
• Chen Yuan counters Zhang Xuanzhong, while Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er engage Fang Zhibai and Ying Yuanzhen. Chen Yuan takes on Zhang and Ying himself. As he releases a deadly aura of death and killing intent, Zhang orders a retreat.

Character developments and interactions

• The abbot is revealed as a long-suffering guardian who preserved his life by drawing on the monsters’ power. He gives his life to help defeat them and deliver a crucial warning.
• Chen Yuan acts decisively in the battle and swiftly counters Zhang’s betrayal. He also assigns Yue Ling’er to support Gu, judging that she lacks the experience to handle Ying alone.
• Zhang Xuanzhong shifts from cooperation to aggression as soon as the shared threat is gone, motivated by the prospect of treasure and confidence in his allies. Chen Yuan’s stronger reserves frustrate him.
• Ying Yuanzhen briefly hesitates but sides with Zhang, choosing his Daoist affiliation over his earlier rivalry with him or his enmity toward Chen.
• Gu Linchuan fights fiercely despite the strain on his body. Yue Ling’er follows Chen Yuan’s direction and joins Gu against Fang.
• Feng Tiande is singled out as the exception who failed to cooperate sensibly during the crisis.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden purpose: The monsters’ identities and the abbot’s warning recast the tower’s dangers as part of a larger trap.
• Sacrifice and endurance: The abbot’s millennia-long survival culminates in a final act that saves the others.
• Fragile alliances and greed: Cooperation lasts only while everyone faces a common enemy; the treasure immediately revives factional conflict.
• Power and judgment: Chen Yuan’s tactical decisions and strength contrast with Zhang Xuanzhong’s overconfidence, while Yue Ling’er’s inexperience shows that power alone does not guarantee effective action.

Plot and events

• Chen Yuan unleashes the Nine Deaths Netherworld Slash, converting ninety percent of his life force into Netherworld death intent. The blow shatters Ying Yuanzhen’s defensive formation and Zhang Xuanzhong’s Violet Firmament sword attack, severs Zhang’s left arm, and gravely wounds Ying.
• Nearly drained, Chen chooses to finish Ying first. Ying activates the Luotian Primordial Unity Bell, whose overwhelming power traps Chen and threatens to crush him.
• Yue Ling’er intervenes with the Rosy Cloud Heaven-Mending Net. Its restraining power binds the bell, canceling its threat long enough for Chen to kill Ying.
• Zhang flees, but Chen hits him with a Maudgalyayana Hell-Piercing Arrow, worsening his injuries. Meanwhile, Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er defeat Fang Zhibai.
• Fang makes a desperate final attack with the Startling Cloud Sky-Surpassing Sword. Gu tells Chen to pursue Zhang and reveals a supreme Sword Intent hidden in his brow. Combining it with his five Heavenly Weapon swords, Gu breaks through Fang’s Divine-Artifact Avatar.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yuan proves willing to spend nearly all his life force to turn the battle, but carefully weighs his remaining options. He saves his one-use secret art for Zhang rather than wasting it on Ying’s artifact.
• Yue Ling’er overcomes her frustration at being treated as a burden. By using her artifact at a crucial moment, she directly enables Chen’s victory over Ying.
• Gu Linchuan shows confidence in his own strength and concern for Chen’s priorities, urging him to continue after Zhang. His concealed Sword Intent reveals a formidable reserve of power.
• Zhang Xuanzhong, once proud and defiant, loses his nerve after Chen’s slash and runs. Ying Yuanzhen fights defensively but is killed when his bell is restrained. Fang Zhibai, faced with defeat, makes a last stand that Gu counters.

Significant themes

• Power has a cost: Chen’s strongest technique consumes most of his life force, while the fighters’ artifact attacks also drain their remaining energy.
• Teamwork and mutual trust: Yue’s timely support and Gu’s assurance let Chen focus on the most dangerous fleeing opponent.
• Hidden strength and self-worth: Yue asserts that she can contribute, while Gu reveals that his abilities exceed what he has shown.
• Pride versus survival: Zhang’s confidence collapses under pressure, whereas Chen and his allies continue to act decisively despite their injuries and depleted reserves.

Chapter Summary: Divine Firmament Edict

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Linchuan unleashes a devastating sword strike empowered by immense Sword Intent. The attack shatters Fang Zhibai’s Cloud-Shocking Sky-Soaring Sword and cleaves Fang in two, but leaves Gu Linchuan severely drained and near death. Yue Ling’er rushes to save him with qi- and blood-restoring pills.
• Zhang Xuanzhong, badly injured, flees through the maze with Chen Yuan in pursuit. His despair deepens as he realizes that his defeat reflects not only physical failure but also the collapse of his confidence and ambitions.
• Cornered, Zhang Xuanzhong reveals the Divine Firmament Edict, a Divine-Artifact Avatar capable of summoning widespread Tribulation Lightning. He threatens mutual destruction but secretly has no intention of activating it.
• Zhang admits defeat and attempts to negotiate. He tells Chen Yuan that Luo Lie, Luo Shisanlang, and Lu Chuanshan are trapped in the Endless Immortal Palace, hoping Chen will abandon the pursuit to rescue them.
• Chen Yuan mocks Zhang’s cowardice, arguing that Zhang’s inability to risk his life proves that his ambition and courage have been destroyed. He predicts that Zhang will eventually be surpassed within the Divine Firmament Sect.
• Chen Yuan reveals the Nine Nether Demon Sword, confirming that Shen Wugui was killed and that his Divine-Artifact Avatar was seized. Zhang is horrified to learn that Shen’s death was far worse than he had imagined.
• Chen uses the Tara Mother Obstacle-Breaking Karma-Subduing Mantra to overwhelm Zhang’s mind. Before Chen can kill him, the Human-Skin Evil Book warns him to keep Zhang alive.
• Chen severs Zhang’s arm, taking the Divine Firmament Edict, then destroys Zhang’s dantian and renders him unconscious.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book explains that Chen can use the Soul-Seizing Drum to shatter Zhang’s soul and extract the memories connected to the Violet Firmament Demon-Slaying Sword. The Divine Firmament Evil-Slaying Sword’s aura will supposedly attract the relevant soul fragments.
• Chen restores his spiritual power with pills and the Prayer Wheel, then carries Zhang back into the great hall to begin the next stage of his plan.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan: Demonstrates overwhelming combat ability, psychological insight, and ruthless practicality. Rather than kill Zhang immediately, he adapts when the Human-Skin Evil Book reveals a way to obtain the Violet Firmament Demon-Slaying Sword. He remains cautious about absorbing another person’s memories and skeptical of Zhang’s cultivation insights.
• Zhang Xuanzhong: His physical defeat is accompanied by a total collapse of confidence. Once an arrogant top-ranked prodigy aspiring to surpass the leading Daoist geniuses, he becomes desperate, negotiates, and threatens mutual destruction without the courage to follow through. Chen’s criticism suggests that this defeat may permanently damage his future.
• Gu Linchuan: Reveals extraordinary hidden strength and fortune by defeating Fang Zhibai, but the effort nearly kills him. His victory establishes him as a powerful yet vulnerable combatant.
• Yue Ling’er: Acts quickly to protect and stabilize Gu Linchuan, showing concern and practical loyalty.
• Shen Wugui: Though absent, his fate becomes clearer: Chen Yuan killed him and took the Nine Nether Demon Sword, making Shen’s defeat a major source of Zhang’s shock and fear.
• Human-Skin Evil Book: Continues to behave unpredictably but provides crucial strategic information. Its knowledge may allow Chen to acquire the Violet Firmament Demon-Slaying Sword.

Significant Themes

• Courage versus cowardice: Zhang’s defeat is portrayed as a failure of spirit as much as strength. Possessing a powerful weapon means little if its wielder lacks the will to use it.
• The consequences of failure: Zhang’s overly smooth rise has left him unable to recover from a major setback, suggesting that untested pride can collapse under pressure.
• Power and hidden trump cards: Multiple characters possess decisive weapons or abilities, but victory depends on timing, endurance, and willingness to act.
• Identity and memory: Chen worries that absorbing Zhang’s memories could threaten his own identity, raising concerns about the boundaries between knowledge, inheritance, and selfhood.
• Pragmatism over honor: Chen does not simply execute his enemy; he preserves Zhang for the information and cultivation benefits his soul may provide.

Character Interactions

• Chen Yuan and Zhang Xuanzhong: Their confrontation is both physical and psychological. Zhang tries to intimidate and bargain, while Chen exposes his fear and destroys his remaining confidence before incapacitating him.
• Chen Yuan and Yue Ling’er: Yue’s earlier assistance in blocking the Luotian Primordial Unity Bell is used by Zhang as part of his argument that Chen lacks protection against the Divine Firmament Edict.
• Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er: After Gu’s decisive attack on Fang Zhibai, Yue immediately tends to his near-fatal injuries.
• Chen Yuan and the Human-Skin Evil Book: Their relationship is tense and master-servant-like. Chen distrusts the book’s sudden interventions, but still relies on its specialized knowledge to pursue the Violet Firmament Demon-Slaying Sword.

Plot points and events

• Chen Yuan returns to the hall with the defeated Zhang Xuanzhong and finds Gu Linchuan barely alive after using his Sword Intent. Chen Yuan helps him absorb medicine, and Gu gradually recovers.
• Gu explains that an ancient swordsman’s spiritual imprint gave him a powerful Sword Intent capable of confronting a Divine-Artifact Avatar. This was his first time using it, and the strain nearly killed him.
• Chen keeps Zhang Xuanzhong alive long enough to extract the Violet Firmament Demon-Slaying Sword art from his mind. He uses the Soul-Seizing Drum to shatter Zhang’s soul, then gathers the scattered memories. The drum is badly damaged and can be used only once more.
• With their enemies defeated, Chen distributes the remaining treasures according to each companion’s needs. He keeps the Buddhist cultivation art and notes that he has already gained two Divine-Artifact Avatars as valuable trump cards.

Character development and interactions

• Gu Linchuan reveals both the source and cost of his exceptional Sword Intent. Though shaken and physically depleted, he remains devoted to swordsmanship and dismisses the idea of pursuing other cultivation paths.
• Chen Yuan shows practical judgment and confidence: he recognizes Gu’s recklessness, uses the Soul-Seizing Drum to obtain Zhang’s technique, and carefully allocates the spoils rather than claiming everything for himself.
• Yue Ling’er is relieved by Gu’s recovery and surprised by Chen’s generosity. She trusts him, as does Gu, and accepts the treasures he selects for her.
• Chen gives Gu the prayer beads, Golden Mandala Flower, and one formation plate to aid cultivation; Yue receives the attack-reflecting mirror, Acala thangka, and the other formation plate for protection. Chen keeps the Spirit-Nurturing Jade’s Buddhist art, which suits his broad cultivation practice.
• Gu and Yue worry that Chen is taking too little. He reassures them that his other gains—and their help in the battle—make the division fair.

Significant themes

• Personal power versus reliance on weapons: Gu’s Sword Intent confirms the idea that true masters ultimately depend on their own strength, not Divine Weapons.
• The cost of power: Gu’s near-fatal exhaustion and the Soul-Seizing Drum’s deterioration show that powerful techniques and artifacts carry serious risks.
• Trust and generosity: Chen’s fair, needs-based distribution strengthens the companions’ mutual confidence and highlights the value of cooperation.
• Opportunity and inheritance: Gu’s encounter with the vanished swordsman demonstrates how extraordinary inheritances can transform a martial artist, even when they come with little guidance.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Chen Yuan openly offers Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er their share of the treasures, they accept without hesitation.
• The group searches Milantuo Temple again but finds little else of value. Most of the remaining halls have already been looted or destroyed, and the group leaves lesser techniques behind for future explorers.
• Chen Yuan informs Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er that Luo Lie and the others are trapped inside Endless Immortal Palace. The three immediately depart through the temple’s maze to rescue them.
• While traveling, Chen Yuan consults the Human-Skin Evil Book about Endless Immortal Palace. He learns that it was founded by fanatics obsessed with immortality, whose experiments created monstrous and unnatural beings.
• Despite its dangerous reputation, Endless Immortal Palace possessed extraordinary expertise in formations, artifact forging, mechanisms, life-and-death techniques, gu insects, and beast taming. Its knowledge and abilities were important enough that the Human Race Alliance allowed it to join the construction of the Heaven-Piercing Tower.
• Unlike many other forces, Endless Immortal Palace moved its entire foundation into the tower, leaving almost no surviving records in the outside world after the tower’s destruction.
• Chen Yuan assesses his available trump cards, including the remaining Greedy Wolf Demonic Qi, four Divine-Artifact Avatars, and his swords. He decides to conceal the Divine Firmament Edict whenever possible to avoid drawing the Divine Firmament Sect’s attention.
• During the journey, Chen Yuan studies Milantuo Temple’s powerful cultivation method, Secret Treasury Realm Sumeru Freedom Visualization.
• After traveling across numerous land fragments for nearly a day, Chen Yuan, Gu Linchuan, and Yue Ling’er arrive outside Endless Immortal Palace.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan becomes increasingly cautious and strategic. He evaluates the strengths and limitations of his treasures, determines which trump cards should be used first, and plans to hide his connection to the Divine Firmament Edict.
• Chen Yuan also gains a deeper understanding of the Secret Treasury Realm Sumeru Freedom Visualization, recognizing its immense potential and considering cultivating it in seclusion later.
• Gu Linchuan remains committed to his sword cultivation and has no interest in taking on unrelated techniques.
• Yue Ling’er similarly focuses on her existing path and plans to bring the Vajra cultivation method back for other Misty Rain Alliance disciples rather than use it herself.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book provides crucial historical knowledge about Endless Immortal Palace, emphasizing both its horrifying nature and its extraordinary accomplishments.
• The former abbot of Milantuo Temple is presented as an example of how personal character and resolve shape one’s Visualization: his steadfast and fearless nature produced the White Tiger Contemplation.

Significant Themes

• The pursuit of immortality and its corruption: Endless Immortal Palace demonstrates how the desire for eternal life can drive people into madness, monstrous experimentation, and moral transgression.
• Power and restraint: Chen Yuan possesses several devastating weapons and artifacts, but survival depends on using them selectively and keeping some abilities hidden.
• The value of foundations: Cultivation methods are portrayed as more important than individual martial skills because they contain the potential to generate many powerful techniques.
• Individuality in cultivation: The Visualization method reflects a cultivator’s personality, experiences, understanding of martial arts, and other cultivation paths. Its final form cannot be separated from the practitioner’s character.
• Danger and opportunity: Endless Immortal Palace is both a place of extreme peril and a possible source of unparalleled treasures, knowledge, and techniques.
• Legacy and preservation: The group leaves lesser techniques behind for future explorers, showing that not every treasure must be claimed when it is no longer useful to them.

Character Interactions

• Chen Yuan openly distributes Milantuo Temple’s treasures to Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er, and both accept, demonstrating their straightforward relationship and mutual trust.
• Chen Yuan warns Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er about Luo Lie’s group being trapped, prompting their immediate cooperation in the rescue mission.
• Chen Yuan questions the Human-Skin Evil Book, which responds with detailed information about Endless Immortal Palace and its history.
• Chen Yuan trusts Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er to keep his most dangerous secrets, particularly his possession of the Divine Firmament Edict and related techniques.
• The group travels together in preparation for entering the mysterious and dangerous Endless Immortal Palace.

Chapter Summary: “Endless Immortal Palace”

• Chen Yuan arrives at the enormous, ominous Endless Immortal Palace with Gu Linchuan and Yue Ling’er. The palace’s blood-colored tiles, gaping entrance, and grotesque statues make it clear that this ruin is unusually dangerous.
• Wen Rou explains that the palace’s interior spaces have shifted. More than a hundred martial artists entered a newly revealed area, apparently a spirit-beast palace, and many were badly mutilated. Several survivors remain trapped behind a formation, including Chen Yuan’s friends Luo Lie and Lu Chuanshan, Cui Xuanye, and others. Cui Xuanye has been using the palace’s formations to keep them alive, but no one knows how long he can manage.
• Ming Zhong of Vajra Prajna Temple arrives in a panic, asking whether Tian Hai, a monk from the allied Dragon Blessing Temple, is still trapped. He demands answers from Wen Rou, provoking her anger over Vajra Prajna Temple’s usual contempt for informants.
• Chen Yuan steps in to protect Wen Rou when Ming Zhong threatens her. The two nearly come to blows, but Qingchenzi of Yellow Court Abbey intervenes, urging everyone to set aside their quarrels and focus on rescuing those inside.
• Chen Yuan accepts Qingchenzi’s appeal and backs down. Ming Zhong offers payment for information, but Wen Rou provides what she knows for free: Tian Hai is trapped with the others, wounded and badly poisoned; Jingyuan Daoist, whom Qingchenzi seeks, was last seen unharmed and helping Cui Xuanye control the formation.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Chen Yuan shows loyalty to Wen Rou and his trapped friends, standing up to Ming Zhong while remaining willing to de-escalate for the sake of rescue.
• Wen Rou asserts her independence and pushes back against the disrespect she has faced from Vajra Prajna Temple. With Chen Yuan’s support, she is more confident in confronting Ming Zhong.
• Ming Zhong is driven by anxiety and responsibility for Tian Hai, though his blunt approach worsens tensions. He eventually makes a grudging concession by offering payment.
• Qingchenzi acts as a calm mediator. He appeals to Chen Yuan’s concern for his friends and Ming Zhong’s duty to Tian Hai, redirecting the group toward cooperation.

Significant Themes

• Cooperation amid danger: The trapped martial artists’ survival depends on people overcoming rivalries and working together.
• Respect and power: Wen Rou challenges the assumption that an intelligence-gatherer can be treated as a subordinate, while Chen Yuan condemns bullying disguised as authority.
• Loyalty and obligation: Ming Zhong’s concern reflects both personal responsibility toward Tian Hai and the alliance between their temples.

Chapter Summary: “Joining Forces”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After learning that Tian Hai has been poisoned and may be in danger, Ming Zhong immediately prepares to enter the Endless Immortal Palace.
• Qingchenzi persuades Ming Zhong and Chen Yuan to join forces, emphasizing that their goal is to rescue people rather than seek treasures. The people they want to save are together inside the palace, so cooperation improves their chances.
• Qingchenzi invites other martial artists to accompany them. Many accept because the group is led by several powerful young talents and because entering together offers both safety and the opportunity to explore the palace.
• Han Chang arrives with a seductive woman and asks to join the group. Ming Zhong distrusts him because of his demonic background and notorious willingness to act for personal gain.
• Qingchenzi allows Han Chang to enter but warns him not to sabotage the rescue mission. The group decides it is safer to keep Han Chang under observation than to let him act independently.
• Chen Yuan recognizes the woman accompanying Han Chang as the same person who had shown hostility toward him outside the Heaven-Piercing Tower. He does not confront her, but remains suspicious and alert.
• Chen Yuan, Ming Zhong, Qingchenzi, and Han Chang lead the other martial artists into the Endless Immortal Palace. The entrance contains spatial formations that shift them into an enormous grassland-like interior chamber.
• They encounter a grotesque Man-Handed Python, a monster formed by combining a spirit beast with human body parts. Ming Zhong kills it easily, believing the palace’s beasts may not be very powerful.
• Chen Yuan points out that the creature was probably a weak, isolated beast. The stronger monsters must be responsible for trapping Luo Shisanlang, Lu Chuanshan, and the others.
• As the group advances, they find many dead or skeletal beasts. Some died after being trapped for ten thousand years, while others escaped damaged formations and became crazed from starvation.
• The group eventually hears fighting and discovers hundreds of powerful, grotesque beasts attacking a formation surrounding a partially collapsed palace. The monsters possess genuine heavenly power, including abilities comparable to the Shangguan Clan’s powerful Ice-Soul technique.

Character Developments

• Ming Zhong is shown as fearless, impulsive, and reliant on overwhelming physical strength. His eagerness to act contrasts with Qingchenzi’s caution. He also displays strong hostility toward demonic figures such as Han Chang.
• Qingchenzi emerges as a calm, diplomatic leader. He successfully unites people from different factions, manages the threat posed by Han Chang, and keeps the group focused on rescuing the trapped martial artists.
• Chen Yuan demonstrates sharp judgment and heightened perception. He identifies the hidden hostility of Han Chang’s companion and correctly deduces that the first python was unusually weak rather than representative of the palace’s true dangers.
• Han Chang remains sinister and untrustworthy. Though he presents himself as a cooperative ally, his past attack on Chen Yuan and his connection to the Primordial Demon Palace suggest that he may be pursuing ulterior motives.
• Wen Rou chooses to remain outside because gathering information is more important to her than personally entering the dangerous palace.

Significant Themes

• Cooperation amid factional conflict: Daoists, Buddhists, orthodox martial artists, and demonic practitioners temporarily unite because rescue and survival require collective strength.
• Trust and hidden motives: Han Chang’s inclusion highlights the difficulty of working with someone whose goals may conflict with the group’s mission.
• The dangers of pursuing immortality: The Endless Immortal Palace’s beast-taming experiments have produced horrific creatures, showing how the pursuit of longevity can become morally corrupt and destructive.
• Appearances versus reality: The weak Man-Handed Python creates a false impression of safety, while Chen Yuan recognizes that the true threats lie deeper inside.
• Consequences of isolation and starvation: The beasts’ ten-thousand-year confinement has transformed them into desperate, violent predators.

Character Interactions

• Qingchenzi mediates between Ming Zhong and Chen Yuan, convincing both to cooperate.
• Ming Zhong openly challenges Han Chang, refusing to accept his claim that they once fought together.
• Qingchenzi permits Han Chang to join but warns him that betrayal will be punished.
• Chen Yuan silently watches Han Chang’s companion, recognizing her concealed hostility without provoking a confrontation.
• Chen Yuan’s analysis of the Man-Handed Python briefly challenges Ming Zhong’s confidence, while Qingchenzi supports Chen Yuan’s reasoning and urges the group onward.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yuan’s group finds Luo Shisanlang, Lu Chuanshan, Cui Xuanye, Chu Hongshang, and others trapped in a ruined palace, using a partially restored ancient formation to hold back mutated beasts.
• Qingchenzi, Ming Zhong, Han Chang, Chen Yuan, and the other newcomers join the fight and quickly kill many of the weaker creatures.
• Luo Lie’s group warns them to stop: the beasts’ blood is feeding a far more dangerous creature underground. A gigantic, dragon-like monster erupts from the ground, devours two martial artists, and grows stronger.
• Cui Xuanye explains that the “Torch Dragon” is a completed experiment created by Endless Immortal Palace’s Beast-Taming Hall master, who fused himself with the creature. Chen Yuan argues that it is only a monster imitating the legendary Torch Dragon.
• Qingchenzi organizes a temporary alliance. He and Cui Xuanye activate the Heavenly Profound Nine Extremes Dragon-Binding Formation; Ming Zhong is assigned to draw the monster’s attention, while Chen Yuan and Han Chang prepare to attack from the front and the others strike from behind.
• Ming Zhong is thrown back by the monster, but the rear assault draws its attention just as the formation activates. Han Chang launches his Myriad Demons Return-to-Origin Sword. The battle is only beginning.

Character developments and interactions

• Qingchenzi demonstrates decisive leadership and earns the group’s cooperation by proposing a practical plan and urging them to set aside their grudges.
• Ming Zhong’s toughness and courage are clear, though even his formidable body cannot withstand the Torch Dragon’s tail.
• Chen Yuan shows his strength by swiftly killing a mutated beast, and his discernment by recognizing that the Torch Dragon is a failed imitation rather than a true primordial being.
• Cui Xuanye’s formation expertise proves essential, while his earlier collaboration with Jingyuan Daoist helped the trapped group survive.
• Han Chang fights openly alongside the others, but Chen Yuan distrusts his unusually ordinary behavior and suspects he is hiding a scheme.
• The various factions—normally divided by rivalry and suspicion—cooperate against a shared threat.

Significant themes

• Ambition and the limits of human achievement: Endless Immortal Palace’s attempt to recreate a primordial being produced a powerful but imperfect monster.
• Power’s cost and danger: Killing the lesser beasts unintentionally feeds the Torch Dragon, while the monster grows stronger by consuming people.
• Cooperation amid distrust: Survival requires enemies and rivals to work together, even as suspicion—especially Chen Yuan’s toward Han Chang—remains.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Han Chang and Chen Yuan attack the Torch Dragon together. Chen Yuan unleashes a greatly enhanced Maudgalyayana Hell-Piercing Arrow, using his three Seven-Kill Stele Fragments and Netherworld Blood-Fiend Power. The arrow pierces the Torch Dragon’s eye, while Han Chang’s sword strike is repelled.
• Qingchenzi and Cui Xuanye tighten the Heavenly Profound Nine Extremes Dragon-Binding Formation, and the group joins the assault. The weakened Torch Dragon and its fused master are overwhelmed by the formation and their attacks.
• Han Chang suddenly breaks into the formation and tries to steal a seven-colored bead embedded in the old Beast-Taming Hall master’s forehead. Chen Yuan recognizes his betrayal and knocks Han Chang’s sword aside with an arrow, but Meiniang retrieves the bead with her red threads.
• The bead is revealed as the Life-Transmutation Pearl, the power core sustaining the Torch Dragon, the exotic beasts, and the Beast-Taming Hall itself. Its removal causes the beasts and the hall’s surrounding space to collapse.
• The group flees through newly opened spatial passages. Han Chang claims the pearl as payment for helping, but Meiniang keeps it and escapes through a different passage, leaving him stranded and furious.
• Chen Yuan enters another passage and emerges in a pool of water beside a dense primeval forest.

Character developments

• Chen Yuan demonstrates the increased power of his arrow technique and sharp judgment: he watches Han Chang closely, identifies the attempted theft, and intervenes. He also recognizes something familiar in Meiniang’s power.
• Han Chang reveals that his cooperation was partly self-serving: he planned to take the pearl. His confidence turns to humiliation when Meiniang outmaneuvers him and escapes with it.
• Meiniang is revealed to be far more capable and independent than she had seemed. She had concealed her strength and used Han Chang to help secure the pearl, then abandoned him.
• Qingchenzi and Cui Xuanye coordinate the formation under pressure, while Ming Zhong’s distrust of Han Chang is confirmed.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and self-interest: Han Chang exploits the group, but Meiniang turns the deception against him.
• The danger of greed: The pearl’s removal brings down the entire Beast-Taming Hall, forcing everyone to flee.
• Appearances versus reality: The Torch Dragon is a failed creation sustained by the hall’s core, while the apparently compliant Meiniang is secretly powerful.
• Cooperation and trust: The group’s united attack succeeds, but Han Chang’s actions undermine their coordination and endanger everyone.

Character interactions

• Chen Yuan and Han Chang fight side by side against the Torch Dragon, but Chen Yuan later acts against Han Chang’s attempt to steal the pearl.
• Qingchenzi and Cui Xuanye work together to maintain the formation, while Ming Zhong openly condemns Han Chang’s actions.
• Meiniang first assists Han Chang, then takes the pearl for herself, prompting his furious accusation as she escapes.
• Before entering the passages, Chen Yuan warns the others that they may be separated and that the destinations are unknown.

Chapter Summary: “Gu”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Yuan enters a strange primeval forest within the Endless Immortal Palace and realizes it is the Myriad Gu Hall, an enormous ecosystem designed to breed countless rare Gu insects.
• He encounters a Man-Faced Spider devouring crimson mutant insects, confirming the area’s dangerous and highly developed Gu ecology.
• Chen Yuan seeks information about the Blood Spirit Sky-Eyed Moth, a rare Gu insect needed—alongside his Six-Winged Golden Cicada—to refine the Blood Spirit Heaven-Rending Gu.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book explains that the moth may still exist in the Myriad Gu Hall, probably in its central region. It warns that the moth’s poison can dissolve flesh, metal, and jade, while its Sky Eye can pierce even Heavenly Weapons.
• Chen Yuan also asks about the Life-Transmutation Pearl that Han Chang sought in the Beast-Taming Hall. The book explains that it can extend life, restore vitality, regenerate limbs, and reconstruct bodies, and may have sustained the Beast-Taming Hall’s fused master.
• Chen Yuan notices that Qin Wuye’s jade token has grown brighter and warmer since entering the Heaven-Piercing Tower, leading him to suspect that Qin Wuye’s hidden opportunity lies on the tower’s upper levels.
• While moving deeper into the Gu-rearing grounds, Chen Yuan discovers a Miao Borderlands woman surrounded by thousands of mosquito-like Gu insects. Her Flame Seven-Spotted Ladybug burns many of them, while Chen Yuan destroys the rest with Netherworld Blood-Fiend Power.
• The woman remains suspicious of Chen Yuan, associating Central Plains cultivators with deception because of Han Chang’s apparent rescue attempt and hidden pursuit of treasure.
• When Chen Yuan suddenly fires an arrow, she believes he has attacked her. Instead, he kills a dangerous crimson, one-horned beetle lurking behind her, its poisonous blood producing smoke.

Character Developments

• Chen Yuan demonstrates caution, confidence, and growing strategic awareness. Despite possessing strong resistance to poison, he remains careful because the Gu insects are extinct or unknown outside the palace.
• His interest in the Blood Spirit Sky-Eyed Moth reveals his continuing pursuit of powerful Gu-based cultivation and refinement techniques.
• Chen Yuan’s treatment of the Human-Skin Evil Book shows that he has forced it into obedient usefulness. He is still severe with it but no longer needlessly punishes it when it gives an honest answer.
• The Human-Skin Evil Book has become both an encyclopedia and a cautious adviser. It fears Chen Yuan’s death because it could remain trapped in the palace indefinitely.
• The Miao Borderlands woman is shown to be capable, experienced, and wary. Her survival from the first wave of dangers in the Endless Immortal Palace and mastery of the Flame Seven-Spotted Ladybug establish her strength.

Significant Themes

• Ancient ingenuity and artificial ecosystems: The Endless Immortal Palace is portrayed as a collection of self-contained worlds supported by vast spatial and environmental formations.
• Danger concealed within abundance: The Myriad Gu Hall contains rare treasures and extinct species, but nearly every living thing within it is poisonous or lethal.
• Trust and suspicion: The woman’s distrust of Chen Yuan reflects the tension between Central Plains cultivators and Miao Gu practitioners, while Han Chang’s deceptive behavior has reinforced her wariness.
• Power and survival: Knowledge, preparation, and specialized abilities are essential in an environment where even seemingly minor insects can kill.
• Uncovering ancient opportunities: The changing jade token suggests that Chen Yuan is gradually approaching Qin Wuye’s hidden legacy or inheritance.

Character Interactions

• Chen Yuan consults the Human-Skin Evil Book about the Blood Spirit Sky-Eyed Moth and the Life-Transmutation Pearl, treating it as a source of ancient knowledge.
• He encounters the Miao Borderlands woman after assisting her indirectly by killing the remaining mosquito-like Gu insects attacking her.
• Their first conversation is tense: she accuses Central Plains people of being deceptive, while Chen Yuan objects to being compared to Han Chang.
• Their tension peaks when Chen Yuan draws and fires his bow without warning. The apparent attack turns out to be a rescue, as he kills a poisonous beetle behind her, leaving their relationship uncertain but potentially improved.

Key plot points

• Long Yao nearly falls victim to a camouflaged Scarlet Blood Armor Gu, but Chen Yuan saves her. She recognizes him from his fight against five Hidden Dragon Ranking talents.
• Chen proposes they team up: he will help her collect useful gu insects, and she will help him search for the rare Blood Spirit Sky-Eyed Moth. They head toward the center of the Myriad Gu Hall.
• Long Yao reveals she has a blood feud with the Gu God Sect. Before the trial, she killed every member of its younger generation qualified to enter the tower, leaving the sect with no participants.
• Using a drop of Chen’s blood and vitality as bait, Long Yao lures out and captures a Blood-Winged Celestial Star Butterfly. Its presence increases the chance that the sought-after Blood Spirit Sky-Eyed Moth may also be nearby.
• Long Yao explains that the Gu Path is a profound tradition of understanding and mastering another kind of life—not the crude, wicked practice outsiders imagine.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yuan shows strength and composure, readily trusting Long Yao with his blood and accepting her expertise. He also avoids pressing her about her personal feud.
• Long Yao shifts from guarded gratitude to a cooperative partnership. Her knowledge of gu insects is matched by formidable combat skill and intense hostility toward the Gu God Sect.
• Their abilities complement one another: Chen protects them with Buddhist techniques, while Long Yao uses her gu knowledge and silken restraints to capture the butterfly.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and complementary strengths: Chen’s power and Long Yao’s expertise make their search more effective.
• Prejudice and misunderstood traditions: Long Yao challenges the Central Plains’ view of gu arts as inherently wicked, presenting the Gu Path as a natural discipline rooted in life, evolution, and an ancient pact between kinds of beings.
• Power, vengeance, and conviction: Long Yao’s eradication of the Gu God Sect’s eligible young members reveals both her formidable abilities and the depth of her grievance.