Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Dragon explains [Fate] as the combination of a person’s fixed destiny and changeable fortune. Fortune can help someone advance, but if it outgrows their destiny, the imbalance may bring disaster.
• Dragon says the Chief of the Attendant Hall and the Four Great Grandmasters have broken free of Fate’s limits. For ordinary people, however, Fate is both a boundary and a protection: it prevents beings from the heavens from entering the mortal world without disrupting it.
• Wang Ping connects this idea to his own experiences. He suspects that the Destiny he spends to obtain new identities is fortune, and that repeatedly gaining fortune while having a lowly destiny explains why his identities have led to sudden danger and death.
• Dragon clarifies that Wang Ping’s recent involvement in Chen Luoyan’s affair was not Fate twisting his will. It was a Transcendent’s staged “grand play,” likely arranged with Book Mountain’s Heavenly Book. People whose roles end may die when their allotted fortune is exhausted.
• Wang Ping recognizes the name of Chen Luoyan’s manual—the Six Desires Heaven’s Free Attainment Method—as a clue linking Book Mountain to Daoist Nun You’s lineage and the Immortal Sect.
• Suspecting Chen Luoyan is central to Book Mountain’s plan, Wang Ping decides to find her and investigate before the threat develops further.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping moves from alarm at the power of Fate to seeing it as a possible trial and protection. He also realizes his own pattern of accumulating fortune may be endangering him. Once he recognizes the Immortal Sect’s influence, he becomes alert and decisive.
• Dragon acts as Wang Ping’s guide, explaining Fate and the Heavenly Book while admitting that Book Mountain’s latest scheme remains unclear. He agrees the matter should be reported to the Chief.
• Wang Ping and Dragon discuss the limits and benefits of Fate, then analyze the staged play and its likely connection to Book Mountain. Wang Ping’s decision to pursue Chen Luoyan turns their discussion into a plan of action.

Significant themes

• Destiny versus agency: Fortune can change, but destiny sets limits—unless someone can break free of Fate.
• Protection within constraint: Fate restricts mortals, yet also shields them from beings too powerful to enter their world safely.
• Power and its cost: Excess fortune can overwhelm a weak destiny, while the Heavenly Book’s ability to make written events happen carries a fatal price for its owners.
• A game of survival: Wang Ping recognizes that he has been drawn back into the Immortal Sect’s dangerous schemes and adopts the rule of striking first rather than waiting for the threat to reach him.

Plot points and events

• During flood season on the Heaven-Crossing River, the exceptionally lucky young official Ye Chao spots an injured woman falling from the sky and rescues her.
• The woman is Chen Luoyan, a cultivator suffering from a Love-Poison Technique. It is rapidly overwhelming her and can only be dispelled through sexual union. Because of her rare cauldron physique, doing so would cost her half her cultivation—and grant the partner a powerful boost.
• Chen, losing control, turns first to Ye Chao, who is attracted to her but pretends to resist. Wang Ping arrives, recognizes Ye Chao’s extraordinary True Spiritual Root, and interrupts them. When Chen reaches for Wang instead, he knocks her unconscious and orders Ye Chao to come with him.
• Ye Chao tries to escape by jumping into the river. Wang nearly catches him, but a wild Daoist intervenes with a sword attack, allowing Ye Chao to disappear in the current.
• Wang recognizes that Ye Chao’s escape was aided by an unusual convergence of fate: the river, timing, and people all seemed to favor him. He identifies the force as the Fate-Gazing Flesh-Bone Mirror and concludes that Ye Chao is the protagonist at the center of Book Mountain’s unfolding events.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chao is introduced as charming, privileged, and extraordinarily fortunate. Though he has no Immortal Dao training, he possesses a legendary True Spiritual Root. His instincts turn to escape when confronted by Wang, but luck—and outside intervention—saves him.
• Chen Luoyan is disciplined and devoted to cultivation, but the poison strips away her control and forces her to confront the possible loss of her chastity and hard-won power.
• Wang Ping is perceptive and decisive: he sees Ye Chao’s potential, takes charge of the crisis, and refuses Chen’s advances. His attempt to detain Ye Chao is thwarted by the Daoist’s intervention.
• The scene contrasts Ye Chao’s apparent vulnerability with the protection his fate provides, while Wang’s strength and insight cannot overcome that unseen advantage.

Significant themes

• Fate and protagonist status: Ye Chao’s luck appears to be more than chance; events themselves bend to protect him.
• Power and potential: Wang’s formidable martial strength contrasts with Ye Chao’s untrained state, while Ye Chao’s True Spiritual Root hints at immense future potential.
• Cultivation and sacrifice: Chen’s poison creates a desperate choice in which survival may mean losing half her cultivation and changing another person’s fortunes.

Plot points and events

• Wang Ping defeats the Wine-Sword Wanderer with a single strike, survives his flying sword, and keeps it. The attacker is knocked unconscious and swept downstream.
• Wang Ping realizes that the world is reacting against him and that he has been pulled into a scripted story. By rescuing Chen Luoyan—the woman meant to become protagonist Ye Chao’s fated opportunity—he has taken the villain’s role and may provoke Ye Chao’s future revenge.
• Chen Luoyan wakes, thanks Wang Ping for saving her, and tries to contact her sect for help with the Elysian Lust Poison. Her message receives no reply.
• Wang Ping uses the Morgue’s Deity Possession to borrow the Blissful Old Immortal’s abilities and remove the poison from Chen’s Spirit Sense, though the abrupt cure makes her faint again.
• Wang Ping discovers that possessing Ye Chao at the same time overwhelms the hostile fate surrounding him. With Ye Chao’s fortune backing him, he can divine the protagonist’s location.
• Ye Chao emerges from the river vowing revenge and fantasizing about “rescuing” Chen Luoyan. Wang Ping finds and captures him, storing him inside the Six-Desire Demon Banner.

Character developments

• Wang Ping shifts from reacting to the story’s strange forces to deliberately exploiting them. He recognizes Ye Chao’s protagonist status as a source of powerful fortune and forms a plan to control the game rather than follow its script.
• Chen Luoyan regains enough clarity to recognize Wang Ping as her brother-in-law and appreciate his rescue, but remains weakened and dependent on him after her sect fails to respond.
• Ye Chao is introduced as self-righteous and possessive: he imagines revenge as noble rescue while treating Chen as someone he might keep as a concubine. His confidence in his destiny is abruptly undercut when Wang Ping captures him.

Significant themes

• Fate versus agency: The story’s apparent script casts Wang Ping as a villain and Ye Chao as a destined hero, but Wang Ping tests—and manipulates—the forces behind those roles.
• Protagonist privilege: Ye Chao’s unusually strong fortune lets him overcome obstacles, yet it does not protect him from Wang Ping’s direct strength.
• Satire of genre conventions: Wang Ping recognizes familiar romance and revenge tropes, while Ye Chao’s “heroic” intentions expose the selfishness beneath them.
• Power and control: Possession, poison, and captivity shape the characters’ choices, with Wang Ping increasingly taking control of both the plot and its supposed protagonist.

Character interactions

• Wang Ping dismisses the Wine-Sword Wanderer’s attack, defeats him, and claims his sword.
• Chen thanks Wang Ping for saving her, while his blunt warning not to take advantage of her embarrasses and irritates her.
• Wang Ping cures Chen without her consent, prioritizing the larger situation over her immediate comfort.
• Ye Chao’s imagined revenge and rescue are cut short when Wang Ping locates and captures him.

Chapter Summary: “From This Moment On, I’m Going to Take Off!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After capturing Ye Chao, Wang Ping hides in a nearby cave and enters the Six-Desire Demon Banner. He realizes that Fate repeatedly creates complications to help Ye Chao escape, including attracting powerful Loose Immortals nearby.
• Wang Ping discovers that Ye Chao has been awake and pretending to be unconscious. He also detects the Fate-Gazing Flesh-Bone Mirror embedded in Ye Chao’s breastbone.
• The Dharma Treasure has been responsible for shaping the previous “grand dramas” by responding to Ye Chao’s wishes, though it steadily consumes its master’s Fate. Ye Chao’s Fate is so powerful that he has endured the damage far better than the Soulfall Master.
• Wang Ping devises a plan to exploit Ye Chao’s Fate without paying the price of using the Flesh-Bone Mirror. He uses the demonic head from the Six-Desire Demon Banner to place Ye Chao in an illusion based on Wang Ping’s own perspective.
• Through this illusion, Wang Ping intends to indirectly make use of Ye Chao’s wish-granting ability while Ye Chao remains the one bearing the Dharma Treasure’s costs.
• The plan succeeds, and Wang Ping activates the Ye Chao experience card, gaining the blessings of Ye Chao’s extraordinary Fate and effectively becoming the “Child of Destiny” expected by Book Mountain.
• Inside the cave, Wang Ping finds a skeleton holding the Heaven-Deceiving Grand Art, a technique capable of hiding one’s aura—including the presence of Dharma Treasures—and altering appearance and physique.
• He creates a cover identity: Ye Chao supposedly killed Tiger of the Attendant Hall in self-defense, disguised himself as Tiger, and infiltrated the Attendant Hall. Wang Ping plans to use this explanation to conceal the fact that he has replaced Ye Chao.
• Carrying the unconscious Chen Luoyan, Wang Ping leaves the cave, confident that he can now exploit Book Mountain’s arrangements while avoiding its obligations.
• Meanwhile, Book Mountain’s Sect Master senses a change in the heavenly secrets and worries that something has happened to Ye Chao. He asks the patriarch, Xuan He, to investigate.
• Xuan He, who is connected to the Eight Trigrams Furnace, divines that Ye Chao is alive and has merely narrowly escaped danger. Believing the Child of Destiny is progressing as intended, he decides to release an additional opportunity to help Ye Chao overcome future dangers.
• Xuan He looks forward to benefiting from Ye Chao’s eventual success, hoping it will help him advance within his sect and compete for his master’s inheritance.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping becomes significantly more calculating and ambitious. Rather than merely surviving, he now plans to completely replace Ye Chao and profit from Book Mountain’s cultivation of the Child of Destiny.
• He demonstrates increasing confidence in manipulating Fate, Dharma Treasures, and other people while avoiding their negative consequences.
• Ye Chao is reduced to a tool in Wang Ping’s scheme. Though he retains the Flesh-Bone Mirror and its immense Fate, he is mentally controlled through illusion and forced to bear the associated risks.
• Book Mountain’s Sect Master becomes suspicious when the heavenly pattern deviates from expectations, showing that the sect is actively monitoring Ye Chao.
• Xuan He is revealed to be deeply invested in Ye Chao’s success. He sees the Child of Destiny as a resource whose eventual achievements may improve his own position and help him compete for succession.

Significant Themes

• Exploiting Fate: Wang Ping turns the protagonist’s destiny into a resource, benefiting from Ye Chao’s luck while transferring the costs back onto Ye Chao.
• Identity and Deception: The chapter centers on Wang Ping constructing a convincing false identity and using disguise, illusion, and Fate to rewrite the apparent truth.
• Power Without Responsibility: Wang Ping explicitly intends to collect Book Mountain’s rewards while avoiding the dangers and duties connected to being its chosen protagonist.
• The Cost of Destiny: Ye Chao’s extraordinary Fate grants him protection and opportunity, but the Flesh-Bone Mirror consumes him in exchange for its power.
• Manipulation and Grand Design: Both Wang Ping and Book Mountain attempt to control the course of events, but neither fully understands how the other’s plans have changed.
• Narrative Role Reversal: Wang Ping seeks to take over the role of the “main character,” turning the expected hero into an unwitting instrument.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Ye Chao: Wang Ping examines Ye Chao’s body, confirms the presence of the Flesh-Bone Mirror, and uses the demonic head to trap him in an illusion. Their relationship becomes one of captor and exploited source of Fate.
• Wang Ping and the demonic head: Wang Ping commands the demonic head to control Ye Chao, demonstrating his growing mastery of the Six-Desire Demon Banner.
• Wang Ping and Chen Luoyan: He retrieves the unconscious Chen Luoyan and carries her away as he begins his new identity and escape.
• Book Mountain Sect Master and Xuan He: The Sect Master requests help after sensing changes in Fate. Xuan He reassures him that Ye Chao is safe and decides to provide the supposed Child of Destiny with an additional opportunity.
• Xuan He and his ambitions: Xuan He views Ye Chao’s continued development as a means to strengthen his own standing and eventually compete for his master’s inheritance.

Plot points and events

• After rescuing Chen Luoyan, Wang Ping meets Dragon, who warns that Fate may have interfered while Wang was pursuing Ye Chao. Dragon had briefly lost track of him after fighting a Loose Immortal.
• Wang reveals that he captured Ye Chao in the Six-Desire Demon Banner and explains that he plans to use Ye Chao’s identity to infiltrate Book Mountain. He attributes his unusually strong fate to his talent, and Dragon accepts the explanation.
• Dragon urges Wang to grow stronger before attempting the infiltration. He explains that most Martial Grandmasters cannot match Loose Immortals, but the Attendant Hall’s Grandmasters can fight them thanks to superior transformation methods.
• Dragon gives Wang the newly compiled Five-Weapon Sacred Lord, a dangerous method for refining five weapons into the body’s organs. Mastery can grant one, three, or ultimately five Divine Weapons.
• As Dragon describes how risky and time-consuming the first weapon fusion is, Wang immediately fuses the Dragon-Head Executioner with his lungs. Dragon is stunned by his apparent success on the first try.
• Wang privately reveals that it actually took him more than 120 attempts, but Qi Suppression made the injuries easy to recover from. He also wonders why Fate’s supposed favor, while he is using Ye Chao’s experience card, did not make the process easier.
• The chapter ends with Chen Luoyan waking after her long unconsciousness.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping continues concealing his abilities and methods, presenting his success as innate talent. He is ambitious and quick to test new techniques, but his resilience and repeated attempts make a hazardous process manageable.
• Dragon shifts from suspicion to excitement when he learns Wang has captured Ye Chao and may infiltrate Book Mountain. Proud of the Attendant Hall’s legacy, he teaches Wang its signature method and is shocked by Wang’s apparent breakthrough.
• Dog challenges Wang’s claim of instinctive talent. Dragon backs Wang up with a clearly self-serving story about having felt the same thing, leaving Dog questioning his own supposed genius.
• Chen Luoyan’s awakening closes the chapter and signals a return to the consequences of the earlier rescue.

Significant themes

• Talent, effort, and hidden advantages: Wang’s “instinct” masks repeated trials and an ability to recover from injuries quickly.
• Fate and its limits: Wang’s attempt to replace Ye Chao raises questions about whether a protagonist’s fortune transfers with the identity—or can overcome practical obstacles.
• Power and lineage: Martial strength depends not only on rank but on inherited techniques, especially the Attendant Hall’s transformation method.
• Risk and ambition: The Five-Weapon Sacred Lord promises extraordinary power, but its dangerous process demands persistence and a willingness to endure harm.

Chapter Summary: Fate’s Favor

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Luoyan awakens after being rescued from the aphrodisiac poison. Her cultivation and chastity remain intact, and she realizes Wang Ping cured her by tapping her brow.
• She discovers that Wang Ping’s slap left a mark on her face, but she reluctantly admits that it helped save her from losing control.
• After learning that Wang Ping’s brother-in-law rescued her and her cousin, Chen Luoyan begins questioning her master’s intentions. She suspects that her “tribulation” was deliberately arranged by the Book Mountain sect master.
• She concludes that her master likely intended for Ye Chao, the supposed Child of Destiny, to take advantage of her and form a karmic bond with Book Mountain.
• During a communication with the sect master, Chen Luoyan hides Wang Ping’s involvement, claiming she cannot remember what happened. She does this to protect him, believing her master might target him.
• The sect master attempts to pressure her into revealing the truth by offering the cultivation resources needed for her cousin’s technique, the Six Desires Heaven’s Free Attainment Method.
• Chen Luoyan reveals only that her cousin’s husband saved them and that he is a Transcendent with a karmic connection to Book Mountain.
• Misinterpreting her words, the sect master concludes that the Child of Destiny killed Wang Ping, impersonated him, and is now planning to enter Book Mountain under his identity.
• Believing his original scheme has succeeded through an unexpected route, the sect master proposes that Chen Luoyan become Dao companions with the “brother-in-law” after he joins the sect, leaving her shocked and confused.

Character Developments

• Chen Luoyan: Becomes more suspicious, cautious, and independent. She sees through her master’s probing and recognizes that he may have manipulated her life for a larger plan. Despite feeling embarrassed and resentful toward Wang Ping, she acknowledges his role in saving her and chooses to protect him.
• Book Mountain’s sect master: Revealed as an extremely calculating figure who has planned around the Child of Destiny for years. He views Chen Luoyan as a tool and is willing to manipulate her emotions and relationships to achieve his goals. His misunderstanding of Wang Ping’s identity shows both his confidence and the limits of his deductions.
• Wang Ping: Though absent from the direct conversation, his influence dominates the chapter. His ability to cure Chen Luoyan, defeat or drive back Blissful Old Immortal, and disrupt the sect master’s fate-based plans establishes him as a powerful and unpredictable figure.
• Ye Chao: His role as the presumed Child of Destiny becomes more mysterious. The sect master assumes he survived and is impersonating Wang Ping, though this is based entirely on flawed deductions.

Significant Themes

• Fate versus human choice: The sect master attempts to arrange everyone’s actions according to a predetermined fate, but Wang Ping’s intervention disrupts the plan.
• The limits of divination: Powerful figures cannot calculate the destinies of Wang Ping or those connected to him, suggesting that their Fate is unusually strong or concealed.
• Manipulation and free will: Chen Luoyan realizes she was treated as bait in her master’s scheme, prompting her to resist his control.
• Misunderstanding and dramatic irony: The sect master interprets incomplete information as confirmation that his plan worked, while readers understand that his conclusions are likely wrong.
• Gratitude and moral loyalty: Chen Luoyan chooses to conceal Wang Ping’s role because he saved her, showing that gratitude outweighs her personal embarrassment and resentment.
• Identity and impersonation: The chapter introduces the possibility that the Child of Destiny has assumed another person’s identity, though this remains the sect master’s speculation.

Character Interactions

• Chen Luoyan and Madam Su: Madam Su cares for Chen Luoyan after her rescue and notices her injuries. Her innocent comments unintentionally heighten Chen Luoyan’s embarrassment.
• Chen Luoyan and Wang Ping: Their direct interaction is recalled rather than shown. His slap and mysterious healing leave her conflicted—angry and humiliated, yet aware that he saved her.
• Chen Luoyan and the sect master: Their communication is a battle of concealment and probing. The sect master asks leading questions, while Chen Luoyan carefully withholds information to protect Wang Ping.
• The sect master and Chen Luoyan’s cousin: The cousin’s survival becomes an important clue. The sect master realizes that her survival proves an unknown powerful person intervened.
• The sect master and the presumed Child of Destiny: The sect master believes the Child of Destiny has manipulated events brilliantly, when in reality his deductions are based on a chain of mistaken assumptions.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dragon sends the Golden-Eyed Eagle to inform the capital about Wang Ping’s progress. He expects the chief to visit Wang Ping personally, since Wang Ping mastered the Martial God Illustrated Manual in only three days and entered the Hall of Mastery alongside the Five-Weapon Sacred Lord.
• Dragon privately doubts that Wang Ping could become a Martial Grandmaster within the half-month required for the eagle’s message to reach the capital, though he jokes that he would eat his Dragon-Head Executioner if it happened.
• After driving Wang Ping away for unclear reasons, Dragon reflects bitterly that the chief will probably summon him back to the capital, ending his brief freedom.
• Wang Ping returns to the area outside Longxing County and finds the Grass Market thriving again. He then visits the camp where Liu Ye and Wu Xintai are training the Blackheads.
• Wang Ping is pleased with the group’s discipline, though he recognizes that they are not yet comparable to a real army. He gives Liu Ye the Myriad-Blade Spirit Chariot, a powerful treasure that can command the elements when operated by an array of people.
• The treasure will allow the Blackheads to reclaim land, become self-sufficient, and avoid suppression by the imperial court. Wang Ping leaves the group in Liu Ye’s care.
• Liu Ye misunderstands Wang Ping’s intentions, believing he is secretly building power while concealing his ambitions. He plans to recruit more Blackheads throughout Shu Region and eventually forms the “Beggar-Survival Army” in honor of their past and Wang Ping’s aid.
• Back at the county yamen, Wang Ping sees Madam Su studying the Six Desires Heaven’s Free Attainment Method and tries to avoid her.
• Chen Luoyan secretly summons Wang Ping and offers him the Inner Landscape Scripture, a Book Mountain secret art that accelerates the process of drawing out Kan and filling Li, allowing one to refine true self and eventually cultivate magical power.
• However, her master requires Wang Ping to become Dao companions with Chen Luoyan in exchange for the scripture. Chen is visibly humiliated and distressed by the proposal, leaving Wang Ping stunned and bewildered.

Character Development

• Wang Ping: Continues to advance at an astonishing rate in martial arts, though he remains modest about his abilities. He demonstrates compassion and practical leadership by arranging a secure future for the Blackheads rather than abandoning them. He also remains uninterested in actually becoming a rebel king, viewing the title as merely a political formality.
• Dragon: Reveals a mixture of admiration, disbelief, and frustration toward Wang Ping’s rapid progress. He also regrets that his freedom will likely end when the chief recalls him to the capital.
• Liu Ye: Becomes increasingly devoted to Wang Ping and takes responsibility for organizing the Blackheads. However, he badly misreads Wang Ping’s intentions, interpreting his actions as the beginning of a long-term rebellion.
• Wu Xintai: Remains puzzled by Wang Ping’s contradictory status as both an imperial Golden Cavalry Guard and the supposed rebel leader of Shu Region.
• Chen Luoyan: Reluctantly delivers the Inner Landscape Scripture despite intense embarrassment. Her emotional reaction suggests she feels trapped by her master’s demand and has no genuine desire to pursue the arrangement.
• Madam Su: Continues studying the dangerous or troublesome cultivation method, contributing to Wang Ping’s anxiety about his complicated relationships.

Significant Themes

• Misunderstanding and unintended consequences: Wang Ping intends merely to protect and settle the Blackheads, but Liu Ye interprets his actions as preparation for a future uprising.
• Loyalty and gratitude: The Blackheads and Liu Ye remain deeply devoted to Wang Ping because he gave them a chance to survive and prosper.
• The contrast between reputation and reality: Wang Ping is publicly known as a rebel king but personally has no intention of rebelling. His imperial affiliation further complicates everyone’s understanding of him.
• Rapid cultivation and destiny: Wang Ping’s extraordinary progress causes others to wonder whether he may soon reach the Martial Grandmaster realm, reinforcing his role as an unusually gifted protagonist.
• Comedy through romantic and political absurdity: The chapter repeatedly contrasts Wang Ping’s serious attempts at practical problem-solving with the absurd misunderstandings surrounding him, culminating in Chen Luoyan’s “test” requiring Dao companionship.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Dragon: Dragon praises and marvels at Wang Ping’s progress while teasing him about the chief’s impending visit. Their exchange also reveals Dragon’s impending return to confinement.
• Wang Ping, Liu Ye, and Wu Xintai: Wang Ping thanks them for training the Blackheads and entrusts Liu Ye with the Myriad-Blade Spirit Chariot. Liu Ye shows complete loyalty, while Wu Xintai remains confused by Wang Ping’s contradictory identity.
• Liu Ye and the Blackheads: Liu Ye encourages the Blackheads to keep training and inspires them with the vision of building a powerful force. Together they adopt the name “Beggar-Survival Army.”
• Wang Ping and Chen Luoyan: Chen secretly offers Wang Ping a priceless cultivation scripture, but the required condition—that they become Dao companions—leaves both the situation and Wang Ping deeply uncomfortable.
• Wang Ping and Madam Su: Their interaction is indirect; Wang Ping sees her studying a cultivation manual and attempts to avoid another troublesome entanglement.

Plot points and events

• Wang Ping realizes Book Mountain believes he is the chosen hero, Ye Chao, and has offered him the Inner Landscape Scripture—on the condition that Chen Luoyan become his Dao companion.
• Chen, pressured by her sect and promised help for her cousin, reluctantly prepares to comply. Wang rejects the arrangement and simply seizes the jade slip, destroying the artifact’s manifested guardian with a burst of overwhelming speed and power. Chen is accidentally injured in the process.
• Wang releases Chen from the Six-Desire Demon Banner and treats her injuries. She is relieved that she has not had to sacrifice herself and takes his restraint as evidence of his good character.
• Madam Su arrives at an awkward moment, but Wang remains unruffled, and she is reassured. Afterward, she and Wang share an intimate moment before he begins studying the scripture.
• While reciting the Inner Landscape Scripture, Wang discovers that its vibrations match his heartbeat. By directing his Spirit Sense into his body, he sees his organs transform into an inner world: his heart becomes an island containing the Heart Ape, and his other organs take on distinct landscapes.
• Wang realizes that “Drawing Out Kan and Filling Li” requires retrieving the Ruyi Divine Treasure Iron from the dragon palace within his kidneys to complete the Heart Ape’s Divine Ability.

Character developments

• Wang Ping shows audacity and confidence, prioritizing the scripture over Book Mountain’s elaborate matchmaking scheme. He also demonstrates some consideration by healing Chen and giving Madam Su his cloak. His study reveals a new path toward cultivating the Inner Landscape.
• Chen Luoyan moves from shame and dread to relief and gratitude when Wang refuses to take advantage of her. She remains concerned about the consequences of his defiance and tries to explain the situation to Madam Su.
• Madam Su appears trusting and secure in her relationship with Wang. Her affection is reinforced by his small gesture of giving her his cloak.

Themes

• Cleverness and opportunism: Wang bypasses the test’s intended conditions and takes the scripture directly.
• Duty versus personal will: Chen’s distress reflects the pressure her sect places on her in the name of its plans.
• Trust, restraint, and appearances: Chen interprets Wang’s actions as honorable, while the comic misunderstanding with Madam Su underscores the gap between appearances and reality.
• Self-discovery through cultivation: The scripture turns Wang’s attention inward, revealing his body as a spiritual landscape and exposing the next step in his advancement.

Character interactions

• Wang directly rejects the proposed arrangement with Chen, then injures and heals her during the struggle for the jade slip.
• Chen warns Wang that her master may retaliate and later tries to clarify the scene to Madam Su.
• Madam Su responds to Wang with warmth rather than suspicion; their intimacy is followed by Wang’s considerate gift of his cloak.
• Wang’s final interaction is with the Inner Landscape Scripture itself: by listening to its rhythm and following it inward, he discovers the Heart Ape and the secret of the next cultivation stage.

Key events

• After learning the secret of “Drawing Out Kan and Filling Li,” Wang Ping realizes that mastering the Qi-Manifesting Technique also requires the Inner Landscape Scripture to reveal and refine the body’s five elements.
• He struggles to control the Heart Ape, a manifestation of unruly thoughts. Repeated attempts to catch it exhaust him, while the Heart Ape’s distractions repeatedly restore its energy.
• Wang Ping concludes that fighting it with Spirit Sense alone is futile. He suspects the other three elements—metal, wood, and earth—may help balance the water and fire involved in the Heart Ape.
• He draws the metallic energy from his lungs into his heart. It strips away much of the Heart Ape’s demonic appearance and forms a ring that catches and pins it. The Dragon-Head Executioner, a weapon fused into his body, strengthens the ring and forces the Heart Ape to submit.
• Wang Ping discovers that struggling with the Heart Ape also accelerates the Dragon-Head Executioner’s refinement. The Immortal and Martial paths are reinforcing each other, potentially helping him reach Martial Grandmaster sooner.
• Meanwhile, Book Mountain’s sect master worries that Wang Ping has become unexpectedly powerful and may be entangled with the Demonic Path or Martial Dao. He plans to bring Wang Ping into Book Mountain and start a prepared “demonic tribulation” early—but is interrupted by the arrival of Brahma Cultivators.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping moves from frustration and exhaustion to insight, using a broader understanding of the five elements to overcome the Heart Ape. He is increasingly confident in his unusual combination of Immortal and Martial cultivation, and hopes to acquire another suitable weapon.
• The Heart Ape shifts from evasive and seemingly untamable to temporarily subdued by the lung-metal ring and Dragon-Head Executioner, though its continued resistance keeps the process active.
• Book Mountain’s sect master becomes suspicious and possessive of Wang Ping, viewing him as Book Mountain’s carefully cultivated Child of Destiny and fearing rival factions may claim a share of his fate.
• The chapter also implies an important connection between Wang Ping’s martial training and his spiritual cultivation: the Dragon-Head Executioner restrains the Heart Ape, while the Heart Ape’s struggle helps refine the weapon.

Significant themes

• Cultivation through integration: the chapter links the five-element Inner Landscape Scripture with the Five-Weapon Sacred Lord martial technique, suggesting the Immortal and Martial paths can complement each other.
• Mastering the mind: subduing the Heart Ape requires not only force but resistance to distraction, impatience, and stray thoughts.
• Knowledge and gatekeeping: Wang Ping’s progress depends on uncovering hidden methods that powerful sects keep behind layers of secrecy.
• Destiny and rivalry: Book Mountain treats Wang Ping as a planned asset, while the possibility of Demonic, Martial, or other powers becoming involved threatens its control.

Key plot points

• Vice Minister Li Wenzheng confronts the Reputation Bureau about Wang Ping, whom he blames for the deaths of his son, Li Yiran, and Xu Bingzheng—and for thwarting the Imperial Academy’s plans.
• The Bureau can only speculate about Wang Ping’s resurrection. Its official believes it involved a Divine Weapon Spirit, and, under pressure from Li Wenzheng, gives him Wang’s location in Longxing County.
• Li hires Ji Wuhen, the Overlord Spear and third on the Weapon Ranking, to assassinate Wang. Ji demands a large reward and a custom Divine Weapon from the Imperial Academy; Li agrees.
• Li then introduces Master Kongzhi, a strange-looking practitioner of Unorthodox Arts whom Ji suspects may be a Transcendent. Kongzhi uses a mantra to transport Ji to the Shu Region in three days.
• Li secretly tells Kongzhi to follow Ji: if Ji kills Wang, Kongzhi should kill Ji; if Ji fails, Kongzhi should attack Wang himself. In return, Li promises temples for Kongzhi’s order in the capital.
• As Kongzhi heads toward the Shu Region, the master of Book Mountain intercepts him, condemning the Brahma Cultivators for secretly crossing the Eight Trigrams Furnace.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Wenzheng shifts from grieving father to calculating conspirator. He exploits the Bureau’s obligations, offers Ji patronage, and plots to use both Ji and Kongzhi while concealing his true intentions.
• Ji Wuhen is ambitious and mercenary, but wary of Wang’s reputation and resurrection. Li’s offer—and especially the promise of rapid transport—wins him over.
• Master Kongzhi presents himself as an Awakened One, with two alternating faces and voices. He agrees to Li’s scheme, though his remark that Ji has “a Buddha’s heart” hints at his own interpretation of the mission.
• The Reputation Bureau elder resists involvement but yields Wang’s location when Li pressures him through his grandson’s future.
• The chapter ends with a sudden confrontation between Kongzhi and the master of Book Mountain, widening the conflict beyond Li’s personal revenge.

Significant themes

• Revenge and political power: Li’s grief becomes a motive for covert violence, backed by his official influence.
• Ambition and transactional loyalty: Ji accepts a dangerous assignment in exchange for wealth, status, and a Divine Weapon.
• Hidden identities and uncertain allegiances: Kongzhi’s shifting appearance and Li’s double-crossing plans make trust precarious.
• The supernatural and the limits of knowledge: Wang’s resurrection and the competing powers of Divine Weapons, Unorthodox Arts, and Brahma Cultivators remain mysterious.

Key events

• Master Kongzhi confronts the head of Book Mountain, whose Dharma Power clashes with Kongzhi’s and darkens the sky over Great Shun’s capital.
• Kongzhi reveals his formidable status as an Awakened One of the Brahma Kingdom. The head, outmatched, summons the true Daoist Xuan He through an incense stick.
• Kongzhi exposes Xuan He’s long-running fraud: all three supposed heads of Book Mountain were Xuan He, who used the position to smuggle Dharma Treasures and launder Dharma Coins.
• Rather than fight or expose Xuan He, Kongzhi bargains for a share of the Child of Destiny’s fate and permission to send more Brahma disciples into the Eight Trigrams Furnace.
• The two agree to manipulate the Child of Destiny. Xuan He will arrange a demonic tribulation to sever the youth’s ties to the Demonic Path; Kongzhi will intervene, take him as a disciple, and break his martial arts to sever his Martial Dao ties. The youth will then be sent to Book Mountain.
• After the bargain, Xuan He privately plans to exploit Kongzhi, hoping the Child of Destiny will kill or weaken him. He remains convinced that his own larger scheme is secure.

Character developments and interactions

• Daoist Xuan He is revealed as the real identity behind Book Mountain’s three successive heads. He is corrupt, calculating, and focused on keeping his Furnace-Watching position and control of the Child of Destiny. Though initially pressured by Kongzhi, he quickly turns the agreement into an opportunity to use him.
• Master Kongzhi proves powerful and politically shrewd. He has investigated Xuan He in advance and uses the threat of exposure to secure access to the furnace and a share of the Child of Destiny’s fate. His courteous manner conceals his willingness to manipulate the youth.
• Their encounter shifts from a supernatural standoff to a transactional alliance. Both men flatter and accommodate one another outwardly while privately treating the other as a tool.

Significant themes

• Competing spiritual systems: The Immortal Sect cultivates “Truth,” while the Brahma Kingdom cultivates “Rank,” grounding their rivalry in fundamentally different beliefs.
• Corruption and institutional blame: Xuan He exploits the Furnace-Watching office and the custom of blaming whoever currently holds a post.
• Manipulation of destiny: Both men see the Child of Destiny less as a person than as a source of power, and plan to reshape his loyalties through engineered crises.
• False cooperation: The bargain is built on mutual advantage, concealed motives, and the expectation that each party may betray the other.

Plot points and events

• On New Year’s Eve, Wang Ping realizes his Debt-Free Talent is available again after he repays the debt for borrowing Divine Intent. He cannot borrow the full Drawing Out Kan and Filling Li technique, but determines that three more days of cultivation should let him fully subdue his Heart Ape.
• He avoids rushing the final stretch, celebrates New Year’s with Madam Su, then returns to meditation. After three days, he borrows the power needed to bring the Heart Ape under control, completing the metal-energy Golden Circlet that binds it.
• Wang Ping tries to send the Heart Ape to the Dragon Palace in his kidney-water, but it cannot overcome the resistance or reach the underwater Divine Iron. He instead directs it to his liver’s peach orchard, reasoning that the liver’s wood energy can nourish the heart’s fire. Progress is slow because he has not fused a weapon into his liver.
• Settling the Heart Ape causes the Dragon-Head Executioner, fused into his lungs, to advance into a low-grade Divine Weapon. Its emergence triggers a brief, incomplete first stage of physical transformation.
• The weapon reveals its warfare ability, Law Contract: if it draws a target’s blood, the target is bound to a contract and must obey the wielder, with the degree of compulsion depending on the target’s will.
• Sensing someone’s sharp Divine Intent nearby, Wang Ping refuses to expose himself. He sends a paper figure to investigate while keeping his real body safe and notifying Dragon at the county yamen.
• The figure finds Ji Wuhen, third on the Weapon Ranking and wielder of the Overlord Spear. Ji admits that Vice Minister Li Wenzheng hired him to kill Wang, but says he has no intention of carrying out the job. Instead, he proposes that Wang act as bait while Ji attacks from within, so they can kill a Loose Immortal together.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping shows growing discipline: he resists impatience, uses New Year’s festivities to settle his mind, and approaches cultivation methodically. His caution also remains strong; rather than risk confronting an unknown presence, he investigates remotely and prepares backup.
• Ji Wuhen is revealed to be shrewder and more cautious than his straightforward appearance suggests. Though tempted by Li’s offer, he distrusts the circumstances and suspects he is being used as expendable bait. He seeks an alliance with Wang instead.
• Madam Su shares a peaceful New Year’s celebration with Wang, briefly grounding him before his return to cultivation. Dragon remains Wang’s potential support if the encounter turns dangerous.
• The interaction between Wang and Ji begins with mutual wariness: Ji’s covert meeting and blunt admission alarm Wang, while Ji’s proposal reframes him from apparent assassin to potential ally.

Significant themes

• Patience and self-mastery: Wang must resist distraction as well as physical and spiritual obstacles; the final stage of his effort is especially vulnerable to impatience.
• Cultivation through understanding and integration: The five elements, body apertures, and fused weapons work together, and progress in one area reveals how to advance another.
• Power and specialization: The Dragon-Head Executioner’s ability complements Wang’s fast, wound-focused fighting style, illustrating how a weapon can amplify its wielder’s natural strengths.
• Caution, trust, and political manipulation: Both Wang and Ji act defensively amid uncertain motives, while Li Wenzheng’s assassination scheme appears to exploit Ji rather than simply employ him.

Plot points and events

• Ji Wuhen proposes that Wang Ping help kill a Loose Immortal who is supposedly targeting him. Wang Ping considers the risk, encouraged by Dragon’s strength and the protection of his Child of Destiny trial.
• Ji describes the target as a monk with both a man’s and a woman’s face. Wang recognizes the sign of the Desire-Realm Celestial Body and concludes the monk is a Brahma Cultivator who has infiltrated the Immortal Sect’s territory.
• Wang agrees to cooperate, reasoning that killing an enemy Brahma Cultivator is less likely to bring consequences than killing one of the Immortal Sect’s own. Ji proposes staging an assassination so the monk will reveal himself.
• Wang judges Ji’s plan inadequate: the infiltrator may be far more powerful than an ordinary Loose Immortal. He suspects the monk is actually working with Book Mountain and intends to rescue Wang after a staged attack, thereby forming a karmic bond and claiming some of Wang’s Child of Destiny Fate.
• Wang decides to play along with Ji’s plan while keeping Dragon’s strength secret. They agree that Ji will attack him at midnight the following day.
• The chapter then reveals that Master Kongzhi has been observing them through a Radiant Mirror. He identifies Wang’s Desire-Realm Celestial Body and is delighted by the chance to gain more Fate through their connection.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping remains cautious but increasingly opportunistic. He turns Ji’s proposal into a possible chance to kill a powerful infiltrator and acquire valuable treasures, while concealing his true suspicions and resources.
• Ji Wuhen approaches Wang with a straightforward ambush plan, unaware that Wang believes he has misread the monk’s real intentions.
• Master Kongzhi sees Wang as a valuable source of Fate, not simply as a target. His pleasure at discovering their shared connection reveals that he intends to cultivate their relationship for the Brahma Kingdom’s benefit.
• Wang and Ji agree to cooperate, but their understanding of the situation differs sharply; Wang plans to use the arrangement as cover for his own strategy.

Significant themes

• Competing moral systems: The Immortal Sect treats weaker beings as resources, while the Brahma Kingdom claims that killing them sooner is compassionate because it enables reincarnation. The chapter presents the Brahma creed as a disturbing inversion of mercy.
• Fate as a resource: Both Book Mountain and Master Kongzhi seek to benefit from Wang’s exceptional destiny, turning his status as Child of Destiny into an object of political and spiritual competition.
• Deception and uncertainty: Wang, Ji, and Kongzhi each interpret the same events differently, and Wang’s cautious plan depends on assumptions he cannot verify.
• Opportunity amid danger: Wang views the threat not only as a risk but as a possible route to power, especially through acquiring the enemy’s Dharma Treasures.

Plot points

• Wang Ping tells Dragon everything about the powerful Brahma Cultivator, including his suspicions that the man is after Wang Ping’s [Fate] and depends heavily on ritual implements and Dharma Treasures.
• Dragon explains that the cultivator may be as strong as a Martial Grandmaster. He recalls that a Divine Ability user once fought Dragon God Temple’s Great Grandmaster, Zen Master Longshu, and was only driven away when the Supreme Grandmaster intervened.
• Dragon initially believes they cannot win. He explains that a Grandmaster’s strength comes from using a Divine Weapon to achieve [Seeing God], fusing bodily vitality and Divine Intent into [Astral Force]. The process is dangerous: remaining in that state too long can damage the body, so a true Grandmaster must keep himself [Unbroken].
• Wang Ping reveals that he already possesses a Divine Weapon: the Dragon-Head Executioner, formerly Dragon’s own blade. Shocked, Dragon teaches him the God-Communing Secret Art, which allows him to resonate his essence, vitality, and spirit with a Divine Weapon and attempt [Seeing God].
• Wang Ping renews his case for attacking the Brahma Cultivator, pointing out his ties to Vice Minister Li Wenzheng and the Imperial Academy, and the danger he could pose to the Attendant Hall. Dragon agrees the threat should be dealt with.
• Dragon reveals the full set of five Divine Weapons he has forged for the Five-Weapon Sacred Lord, manifesting them as dragon-patterned armor and a horse. Wang Ping is astonished by the display.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Ping proves increasingly resourceful and bold: he proposes a plan to strip the cultivator of his tools, then presses Dragon to act despite the risks. His possession of a Divine Weapon shows he is advancing unusually fast, even before reaching Grandmaster status.
• Dragon shifts from caution to willingness to fight once Wang Ping highlights the political threat. Wang Ping’s unexpected achievement also privately unsettles Dragon, though he hides his amazement behind a dismissive front.
• Their relationship remains trusting and frank: Wang Ping openly shares his suspicions, while Dragon explains the martial path and offers practical instruction. Their exchange also has a humorous edge, especially in Dragon’s strained attempts to act unimpressed.

Significant themes

• Power and its foundations: Transformations of body and spirit alone are not enough; the Divine Weapon is central to Grandmaster strength.
• Risk and mastery: [Seeing God] offers immense power but can destroy the body unless the practitioner remains [Unbroken].
• Talent, innovation, and tradition: Wang Ping’s unconventional progress challenges the usual sequence for becoming a Grandmaster.
• Political danger and decisive action: The cultivator’s connections make him more than a personal enemy, pushing Dragon to act before the threat grows.

Chapter Summary: “Express Delivery Arrives at the Door”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping leaves the county town at night and travels through the wilderness toward Changle Commandery, deliberately making his movements look suspicious so that the Brahma Cultivator will follow him.
• Using the Fate-Gazing Flesh-Bone Mirror, Wang Ping relies on fate to arrange events according to his plan, with Ye Chao serving as his cover identity and apparent sacrifice.
• Dragon secretly follows Wang Ping from a distance, completely concealing his presence. Wang Ping reflects on Dragon’s philosophy of martial arts: victory matters more than strength, and survival, ambushes, poison, and any other effective method are all valid.
• Ji Wuhen suddenly attacks Wang Ping with a supersonic spear thrust coordinated with bone-shaking sound waves. Wang Ping narrowly deflects the spear, suffering only a wound to the ear.
• Wang Ping pretends to be terrified and changes his appearance into Ye Chao, claiming to be an innocent member of the Ye Household rather than “Tiger” of Attendant Hall. He secretly urges Ji Wuhen to continue the attack so that the Brahma Cultivator will reveal himself.
• Ji Wuhen adapts to the deception and continues attacking, inflicting several wounds while maintaining the appearance of a genuine assassination attempt.
• Just as Ji Wuhen appears ready to kill Wang Ping, Kongzhi descends from above and shields Wang Ping with Buddhist light. He then immobilizes Ji Wuhen with another Buddhist spell.
• Kongzhi claims that he happened to pass by and save Wang Ping out of compassion. After pretending to calculate their fate, he announces that they share a karmic master-disciple connection and asks Wang Ping to become his disciple.
• Wang Ping outwardly responds with surprise and delight, but inwardly realizes that Kongzhi’s behavior confirms his deduction: Kongzhi can be killed. The “fated” target has finally delivered himself into position.

2. Character Developments

• Wang Ping demonstrates increasing skill in manipulation, improvisation, acting, and strategic planning. He survives Ji Wuhen’s lethal opening attack, convincingly performs fear and desperation, changes identities mid-battle, and keeps his composure while waiting for Kongzhi to expose himself.
• Dragon is established as an exceptionally experienced martial expert, capable of completely concealing himself even from Spirit Sense. His teachings reveal a pragmatic and unconventional understanding of combat.
• Ji Wuhen appears as a highly capable assassin whose attack combines speed, sound, and precision. However, he is briefly confused by Wang Ping’s unexpectedly convincing performance before choosing to cooperate with the deception.
• Kongzhi is revealed as arrogant and contemptuous of martial artists and body cultivators. His false display of compassion and fabricated karmic connection show that he is confident, manipulative, and predatory.
• Wang Ping’s inner confidence grows: rather than reacting blindly to danger, he treats the encounter as a carefully staged trap and recognizes the moment when fate has placed Kongzhi within reach.

3. Significant Themes

• Victory over strength: Dragon’s philosophy emphasizes that martial arts are fundamentally about winning, not becoming stronger. Survival and effective tactics are more important than honor or direct confrontation.
• Deception and performance: The battle is as much psychological as physical. Wang Ping uses false identities, staged panic, and emotional acting to manipulate both Ji Wuhen and Kongzhi.
• Fate as a weapon: Wang Ping trusts the Fate-Gazing Flesh-Bone Mirror to guide events toward his desired outcome, turning seemingly dangerous circumstances into opportunities.
• Contempt and hierarchy: Kongzhi’s disdain for martial artists and body cultivators reflects the Brahma Kingdom’s spiritual hierarchy, while also exposing his arrogance and prejudice.
• Predator becoming prey: Kongzhi believes he is rescuing and controlling a helpless target, but Wang Ping has deliberately lured him into a vulnerable position.

4. Character Interactions

• Wang Ping and Dragon: Their relationship is shaped by Dragon’s pragmatic martial teachings. Wang Ping applies those lessons by relying on ambushes, misdirection, and survival rather than direct strength.
• Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen: Their apparent fight is a coordinated deception. Wang Ping secretly directs Ji Wuhen to continue the assassination, while Ji Wuhen adjusts his attacks to make the performance believable.
• Wang Ping and Kongzhi: Kongzhi pretends to be a compassionate savior and offers to become Wang Ping’s master. Wang Ping pretends to be honored and grateful, while privately recognizing Kongzhi as the intended enemy and preparing for his eventual elimination.
• Kongzhi and Ji Wuhen: Kongzhi treats Ji Wuhen as an obstacle, effortlessly immobilizing him with Buddhist magic after shielding Wang Ping.

Chapter 110 Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping, disguised as Ye Chao through the Heaven-Deceiving Grand Art, formally becomes Kongzhi’s disciple. He obediently performs the required rites, convincing Kongzhi that the disguise is genuine.
• Kongzhi offers to teach him one of the four branches of Brahma cultivation:
  • Pacification, for divination and avoiding calamity
  • Augmentation, for blessings and longevity
  • Magnetization, for summoning divine blessings
  • Subjugation, for suppressing demons
• Wang Ping rejects every option because none can directly make him immortal. Kongzhi pretends to lose his temper, strikes him three times with a ruler, and then offers the supposedly genuine immortal-making technique, the Heavenly Book of Sovereign Desire Realm Assimilation.
• Kongzhi claims that giving Wang Ping this true method will end their master-disciple karmic bond. Wang Ping accepts it but immediately requests protection, pretending concern that assassins might steal the inheritance.
• Exploiting Kongzhi’s greed, Wang Ping persuades him to lend him four powerful Dharma artifacts:

Wind-Thunder Demon-Subduing Pestle

Sumeru Vajra Umbrella

Muni Pearl

Dragon-Elephant Vajra Wheel

• Each artifact Wang Ping receives causes Kongzhi to consume more of Ye Chao’s fate through the Fate-Gazing Flesh-Bone Mirror. The real Ye Chao, trapped within Wang Ping’s banner-space, is rapidly deteriorating, with his flesh beginning to decay.
• Kongzhi believes he has made a profitable investment: he has consumed roughly one-third of Ye Chao’s fate and expects to reclaim the artifacts once Ye Chao dies.
• Suddenly, the fate Kongzhi stored in his Sea of Consciousness shatters and disappears. He realizes Wang Ping has deceived him.
• Wang Ping escapes while carrying the immobilized Ji Wuhen. Kongzhi is left stunned as a divine general riding a dragon appears overhead and attacks him with a blade capable of striking down immortals.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping demonstrates exceptional cunning and shameless opportunism. He willingly sacrifices Ye Chao’s remaining fate in order to weaken Kongzhi and obtain several top-tier weapons.
• He maintains the appearance of a naïve, greedy disciple while carefully manipulating Kongzhi’s desires.
• Kongzhi becomes increasingly complacent. His belief that Wang Ping is helpless and doomed blinds him to the possibility of deception.
• Kongzhi’s greed is exposed: he values the fate he consumes more than the artifacts he lends, believing the transaction guarantees him a future breakthrough.
• Ye Chao continues to suffer physically and spiritually, functioning as the source of the fate Kongzhi consumes and as an expendable sacrifice in Wang Ping’s scheme.
• Ji Wuhen, previously immobilized, is finally rescued or carried away by Wang Ping during the escape.

Significant Themes

• Deception and disguise: Wang Ping’s flawless transformation allows him to infiltrate Kongzhi’s plans and exploit his assumptions.
• Greed and overconfidence: Kongzhi mistakes apparent generosity for a guaranteed victory and fails to recognize that his “investment” may be a trap.
• Exploitation of fate: Both Book Mountain and the Brahma Cultivators treat the Child of Destiny as a resource, though they exploit it in different ways.
• Sacrifice for advantage: Wang Ping coldly accepts Ye Chao’s suffering because it allows him to acquire strength and undermine Kongzhi.
• Predator becoming prey: Kongzhi believes he is consuming Wang Ping’s fate, but the situation reverses when Wang Ping takes Kongzhi’s treasures and escapes.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping performs the role of obedient disciple while repeatedly challenging Kongzhi’s teachings by asking whether they can produce immortality.
• Kongzhi alternates between false kindness and staged anger, using the ruler’s blows to consume fate while pretending to discipline his new disciple.
• Wang Ping flatters Kongzhi and frames each request for another artifact as a practical necessity, successfully manipulating him into surrendering all four weapons.
• Their apparent master-disciple relationship is revealed as a mutual deception: Kongzhi intends to reclaim the artifacts after Wang Ping’s death, while Wang Ping plans to use them against him.
• The chapter ends with Kongzhi finally recognizing the betrayal, just as the dragon-riding divine general launches an overwhelming attack.

Chapter Summary: “Using Martial Arts to Defeat Immortals!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Ping witnesses Dragon, a Martial Grandmaster, launch a surprise attack on Kongzhi, a powerful Brahma Cultivator and Loose Immortal.
• Dragon uses his Divine Weapon armor, Hidden Nether Helm, Vermilion Dragon Greaves, and Coiling Dragon Formation-Breaking Saber to unleash his ultimate technique, the Unmatched Slash.
• Moving nearly at light speed across three kilometers, Dragon severely wounds Kongzhi, cutting his neck and coming close to decapitating him.
• Kongzhi survives and rapidly heals, revealing that he is far stronger than an ordinary Loose Immortal. He summons a vast Buddhist temple formed from chants, Buddha-light, golden lotuses, and Brahma power.
• Dragon begins a second assault, using his dragon steed and armor to move at over one hundred times the speed of sound. His saber repeatedly cuts through the temple’s protective Buddha-light and interrupts Kongzhi’s attempts to counterattack.
• Dragon accelerates even further, possibly reaching three to five hundred times the speed of sound, and crashes into the temple like a flaming meteor, completely destroying it.
• Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen are thrown through the air by the impact. Watching the battle, Wang Ping begins to hope that martial arts may truly be capable of defeating immortal cultivators.

Character Developments

• Wang Ping demonstrates strategic planning by coordinating Dragon’s ambush and using the armor fragment as a signal. He also uses the Sumeru Vajra Umbrella to protect himself and Ji Wuhen from the enormous shockwaves.
• Wang Ping becomes increasingly aware of the vast gap between his own power and Dragon’s. Dragon’s ordinary speed exceeds Wang Ping’s maximum effort, leaving him awed by the capabilities of Martial Grandmasters.
• Ji Wuhen partially breaks free from Kongzhi’s Body Binding technique. He realizes that Wang Ping had deliberately concealed the existence of Dragon and feels tricked into joining a dangerous assassination attempt.
• Ji Wuhen is forced to recognize that he is now involved in a life-and-death struggle and cannot simply escape without risking Dragon and Wang Ping’s retaliation.
• Dragon is revealed as a highly experienced and disciplined warrior. Although his first strike fails to kill Kongzhi, he remains calm and immediately analyzes the enemy’s strength and defenses.
• Dragon’s confidence is tempered by caution: he recognizes that Kongzhi is an exceptional opponent and recalls that even stronger Great Grandmasters may surpass him.
• Kongzhi remains calm despite his injury and initially responds with Buddhist composure, healing himself through cultivation techniques. As Dragon repeatedly dismantles his defenses, however, Kongzhi loses his composure and even curses aloud.
• Kongzhi correctly realizes that Wang Ping’s apparent role as a controlled Child of Destiny is a deception. He suspects that Book Mountain, or Xuan He Daoist acting through it, has secretly arranged the trap.

Significant Themes

• Martial arts versus immortal cultivation: The chapter directly explores whether physical martial power, speed, and weapon mastery can overcome supernatural spells and immortal techniques.
• Speed as overwhelming force: Dragon’s extreme acceleration turns his attacks into nearly unavoidable killing blows. His speed prevents Kongzhi from completing spells or escaping.
• Preparation and hidden trump cards: The ambush succeeds because Dragon conceals his presence, builds momentum before attacking, and uses the saber’s ability to break through immortal mana.
• The limits of immortality: Kongzhi’s healing and powerful defenses make him extraordinarily difficult to kill, but his immortal techniques are not invincible when faced with the right martial counter.
• Deception and political intrigue: Kongzhi begins to suspect that the apparent manipulation of Wang Ping by Book Mountain conceals a larger plot against him.
• Awe before greater power: Wang Ping’s observations emphasize the immense hierarchy of strength, from his own abilities to Martial Grandmasters, Great Grandmasters, and legendary divine techniques.

Character Interactions

• Wang Ping reprimands Ji Wuhen for being overly optimistic and warns him that Dragon may still lose against Kongzhi.
• Wang Ping threatens Ji Wuhen with continued involvement, making clear that escape would only invite future pursuit.
• Dragon and Kongzhi exchange brief assessments of one another’s abilities. Dragon acknowledges Kongzhi’s unusual durability, while Kongzhi praises Dragon’s saber, weapon, and martial arts.
• Kongzhi’s frustration grows as Dragon’s rapid attacks repeatedly shatter his temple and interrupt his spells.
• The chapter ends with Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen watching Dragon’s final devastating charge, united by the possibility that Dragon can defeat the immortal cultivator.

Chapter 112 Summary: The Ultimate of Martial Dao

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kongzhi activates the Vajra Great Illuminating Mantra, transforming the area around him into a sacred temple. The technique amplifies his Dharma power, accelerates his recovery, and weakens enemies through curses.
• Dragon counters Kongzhi’s advantage with overwhelming speed. Moving at roughly one hundred times the speed of sound, he uses the Coiling Dragon Formation-Breaking Saber to resist the temple’s curses and repeatedly strike Kongzhi.
• Dragon’s movement is powered by the Vermilion Dragon Greaves, allowing him to continue accelerating while preserving his Divine Intent. Unlike Wang Ping, he can change direction and think clearly at extreme speed, though he needs time to build momentum.
• Dragon shatters Kongzhi’s sacred temple with a meteor-like charge. Kongzhi appears to be losing, but Dragon’s Grandmaster intuition warns him that continuing the fight in this way will lead to his death.
• Dragon abruptly changes direction and unleashes a second devastating attack at approximately one thousand times the speed of sound. The resulting explosion creates a massive crater, melts the surrounding landscape, and sends shockwaves as far as Longxing County.
• Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen witness the destruction and realize that this level of power cannot be achieved through physical strength alone. They initially assume the battle is over, but both Dragon and Kongzhi emerge alive.
• Kongzhi reveals that he had attempted to use the Embrace Division Secret Art to summon the power of Great Brahma and the Mighty Heavenly Dragon Arhat. Dragon’s slash interrupted the ritual and damaged Kongzhi’s Desire Realm Heavenly King Aspect.
• Kongzhi analyzes Dragon’s five treasures: his helmet, leg armor, saber, armguards, and breastplate. He recognizes that their combined effect allows Dragon to endure and exploit extreme speed, but also concludes that Dragon’s ultimate attack has effectively been neutralized now that its mechanics are understood.
• Dragon declares that Kongzhi has only seen the older, lesser form of Great Shun’s Martial Dao. He announces that Martial Dao has undergone profound development over the past sixty years.
• Dragon then reveals a new technique, “Manifesting Divine Transcendence—Heavenly Blade Unmatched Slash.” The attack freezes even Kongzhi’s Spirit Sense and transports his perception to a solitary, impossibly high mountain peak, suggesting that Dragon’s sword technique has reached a realm resembling a divine ability.

Character Developments

• Dragon: Demonstrates extraordinary combat judgment, speed, and adaptability. Rather than blindly pursuing greater speed, he trusts his Grandmaster intuition and interrupts his own attack when he senses danger. After Kongzhi exposes the weakness of his extreme-speed strategy, Dragon reveals that he possesses an even more advanced and unexpected martial technique.
• Kongzhi: Remains calm and analytical despite suffering serious damage. He successfully destroys Dragon’s chance to build another thousandfold-speed attack and carefully deduces the functions of all five of Dragon’s treasures. However, he is visibly shocked when Dragon produces a technique that appears to transcend ordinary Martial Dao.
• Wang Ping: Gains a clearer understanding of the limits of physical cultivation. He abandons the idea of reaching one thousand times the speed of sound through his body alone after witnessing the catastrophic consequences of Dragon’s attack.
• Ji Wuhen: His confidence in the strength of future Martial Grandmasters is shaken. Having fought genuine Grandmasters before, he realizes that Dragon’s destructive power is far beyond what he previously believed Martial Dao could achieve.
• Dragon and Kongzhi: Both recognize that the battle has entered a decisive phase. Kongzhi believes Dragon’s main advantage has been exposed, while Dragon intends to prove that his true strength has not yet been revealed.

Significant Themes

• The evolution of Martial Dao: The chapter emphasizes that Martial Dao is no longer confined to its traditional limits and may have developed techniques comparable to divine abilities.
• Speed versus versatility: Dragon’s extreme speed gives him overwhelming offensive power, but Kongzhi’s broader range of cultivation techniques and Dharma abilities allows him to adapt and counter it.
• Knowledge as a weapon: Once Kongzhi understands Dragon’s treasures and attack patterns, Dragon’s chances of repeating his previous strategy decline sharply. The battle demonstrates how revealing one’s abilities can be dangerous.
• Instinct and combat awareness: Dragon’s intuition, developed through the Grandmaster realm, proves more reliable than ordinary perception and saves him from continuing a potentially fatal attack.
• The boundary between human skill and divinity: Dragon’s final sword technique appears to manifest an entirely separate reality or domain, challenging the belief that martial artists cannot wield powers comparable to divine abilities.

Character Interactions

• Dragon and Kongzhi engage in a battle of escalating counters: Dragon destroys Kongzhi’s temple and interrupts his summoning ritual, while Kongzhi analyzes Dragon’s equipment and prevents him from easily repeating his ultimate charge.
• Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen observe the battle from a distance, reacting with shock and gaining new perspectives on the heights Martial Dao can reach.
• The chapter ends with Dragon confronting Kongzhi through his newly unveiled Heavenly Blade Unmatched Slash, leaving the outcome of their battle unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “Twenty-Four of Heaven and Earth, Twenty-Four Gods of the Human Body!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Kongzhi initially dismisses Dragon, believing that most of Dragon’s strength comes from his five Divine Weapons and that Dragon himself is only a First Tribulation martial artist.
• Dragon reveals that he has reached the Second Layer of Tribulation Transcendence, forcing Kongzhi to reevaluate him.
• Dragon explains the martial-art concept of Seeing God: the human body contains “Twenty-Four Gods” corresponding to Heaven and Earth’s Twenty-Four Seasonal Qi. By perceiving these inner gods, martial artists can use Divine Intent to recreate aspects of Heaven and Earth.
• Dragon unleashes his ultimate technique, Heavenly Blade Unmatched Slash, painting a colossal snowy mountain and blade-like peak into reality through Divine Intent. The attack targets Kongzhi’s consciousness and threatens to destroy his Sea of Consciousness.
• Kongzhi counters with the Brahma Kingdom’s supreme True Word, [Emptiness], one of the Six-Character True Words. Its power erases form, sensation, and conditioned phenomena, completely shattering Dragon’s manifested heavenly blade.
• Both combatants suffer from the clash, but Dragon is left nearly powerless. Kongzhi believes victory is secured and prepares to kill him, seize his Divine Weapons, and continue pursuing his larger objectives.
• However, Dragon’s Sun-Roosting Heartguard Armor has been secretly absorbing the damage endured throughout the battle. Its Heart-Guard Mirror reaches its limit and releases all that accumulated energy.
• Dragon activates the armor’s final effect: “When the armor shatters, the sun rises!” The Divine Weapon explodes in a blinding white radiance, illuminating Kongzhi as he flees.
• Although Dragon could not defeat Kongzhi through martial technique alone, the armor’s accumulated power reverses the situation. The chapter ends by declaring Dragon the winner.

Character Developments

• Dragon: Revealed to be far more advanced than Kongzhi assumed. He demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of martial cultivation, Divine Intent, and the relationship between the human body and Heaven and Earth. Though his ultimate slash is defeated, his composure and concealed strategy allow him to triumph through the Heartguard Armor.
• Kongzhi: His arrogance is shaken when he realizes Dragon has achieved a level comparable to higher Tribulation Transcendence cultivators. He uses the powerful True Word [Emptiness], but his confidence returns too quickly, leading him to overlook the true function of Dragon’s breastplate. His retreat shows that he recognizes the danger too late.

Significant Themes

• Martial Dao versus Immortal cultivation: The chapter contrasts Dragon’s martial path, based on Divine Intent and inner bodily mysteries, with Kongzhi’s cultivation, Dharma power, and True Words.
• The correspondence between humanity and Heaven and Earth: Dragon argues that the human body contains reflections of Heaven and Earth’s Three Powers, Five Elements, and Twenty-Four Qi, suggesting that mortals possess hidden cosmic potential.
• Appearance versus true ability: Kongzhi mistakes Dragon’s armor for a simple defensive treasure and misunderstands Dragon’s cultivation level. The battle emphasizes that hidden functions and deeper principles matter more than surface impressions.
• Reality and illusion: Dragon’s Divine Intent can turn mental imagery into an influence on reality, while Kongzhi’s [Emptiness] can erase forms and phenomena altogether. Their clash explores whether a creation is “real” if it can affect consciousness and the physical world.
• Arrogance and underestimation: Kongzhi repeatedly underestimates Dragon, while Dragon remains calm and exploits this misconception.
• Victory through endurance and preparation: Dragon loses the direct contest of techniques but wins by allowing his Heart-Guard Mirror to accumulate the battle’s destructive force.

Character Interactions

• Dragon challenges Kongzhi’s understanding of martial cultivation, explaining the principles of Seeing God, Divine Intent, and the Twenty-Four Gods of the body.
• Kongzhi mocks Dragon’s claim that a martial artist can “paint Heaven and Earth,” but Dragon answers by demonstrating the Heavenly Blade Unmatched Slash.
• Their techniques directly oppose one another: Dragon’s manifested mountain and blade represent the power to create and impose form, while Kongzhi’s [Emptiness] negates form and sensation.
• After defeating Dragon’s slash, Kongzhi assumes he has won and moves to escape with the intention of killing Dragon later. Dragon then reveals the hidden purpose of his armor, turning Kongzhi’s apparent victory into a humiliating retreat.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Dragon unleashes the ultimate technique of the [Sun-Roosting Heartguard Armor], sacrificing the armor in a massive explosion of white radiance and flame. The attack devastates a thousand-mile area and seriously injures Kongzhi by flooding his body with destructive flame-light.
• Dragon disappears after the attack, leaving Kongzhi to assume that he has either died or become incapable of fighting.
• While Kongzhi attempts to suppress his internal injuries, Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen return to the battlefield and ambush him.
• Kongzhi initially believes they are merely pawns in a larger scheme involving [Book Mountain], Xuan He, and Wang Ping’s supposed identity as the Child of Destiny. He underestimates them and decides not to retreat.
• Kongzhi summons the [Desire Realm Heavenly King Aspect], fusing the sacred Buddha form with his body to suppress Dragon’s lingering attack and prepare for battle.
• Ji Wuhen reveals his true strength. Entering the [Seeing God] state, he refines his qi and blood into Astral Force and throws the Overlord Spear with tremendous power. The spear pierces Kongzhi’s chest and pins him to the ground.
• Kongzhi realizes too late that his injuries and arrogance have caused him to misjudge the situation. He suspects that [Fate] may be influencing events but refuses to believe his superior cultivation can be overcome.
• Wang Ping approaches with the Dragon-Head Executioner. Using the immortal art [Time-Stealing Thief], he removes the time required for his saber strikes, making the attacks appear instantaneous. Kongzhi is repeatedly wounded without being able to perceive or defend against the blows.
• Kongzhi correctly identifies that Wang Ping is not truly the Child of Destiny but a Marauder Cultivator, likely using both [Time-Stealing Thief] and [Technique-Stealing Thief] to conceal his identity.
• Wang Ping explains the limitations of [Time-Stealing Thief]: he can steal only a few instants, and the technique cannot ordinarily support attacks powerful enough to kill. However, the upgraded Divine Weapon Dragon-Head Executioner compensates for this weakness.
• Wang Ping activates the Divine Weapon’s [Law Contract], a curse-like ability that forces its target to obey a command. Kongzhi believes he can resist or dispel it, especially because the two saber wounds are not severe enough to support an extreme command.
• Wang Ping gives the command: “Take a shit.” The chapter ends with Kongzhi’s stunned disbelief and a comedic bodily reaction.

Character Developments

• Dragon demonstrates his willingness to sacrifice himself and his armor to inflict a devastating, mystery-based attack. Although his fate remains uncertain, his strike severely changes the battle.
• Kongzhi suffers a major reversal. His confidence and contempt for Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen lead him to remain instead of retreating. His injuries, damaged perception, and overconfidence leave him vulnerable, while he gradually realizes that Wang Ping has concealed far greater abilities than expected.
• Ji Wuhen reveals that his apparent weakness was misleading. His mastery of [Seeing God], Astral Force, and the Overlord Spear allows him to severely injure Kongzhi when the latter is already compromised.
• Wang Ping exposes more of his hidden power and tactical creativity. Rather than relying on raw strength, he combines a Divine Weapon, stolen time, and a bizarre but effective law-based command to control the battle.

Significant Themes

• Overconfidence and miscalculation: Kongzhi’s arrogance causes him to underestimate his wounded opponents and reject the safer option of retreat.
• Hidden strength and deception: Wang Ping’s false identity as the Child of Destiny conceals his true techniques and motives, while Ji Wuhen also hides the extent of his abilities.
• Mystery versus physical force: Dragon’s attack emphasizes that Divine Weapon mysteries can harm cultivators far more profoundly than ordinary physical injuries.
• Fate versus individual power: Kongzhi senses that destiny may be turning against him but insists that overwhelming cultivation should allow him to escape it.
• Strategy over strength: The outmatched protagonists exploit timing, deception, specialized techniques, and Kongzhi’s injuries rather than confronting him directly.
• Humor amid deadly conflict: The absurd final command sharply contrasts with the chapter’s destructive battle and turns Kongzhi’s apparent dominance into humiliation.

Character Interactions

• Dragon’s sacrifice leaves Kongzhi badly wounded but temporarily gives him confidence that the danger has passed.
• Kongzhi mocks Wang Ping and Ji Wuhen, assuming they are insignificant pawns and demanding that Xuan He reveal himself.
• Ji Wuhen answers Kongzhi’s contempt with a powerful spear attack that pins him down.
• Kongzhi focuses on Wang Ping as the supposed main threat, only to be repeatedly struck by attacks he cannot perceive.
• Wang Ping confirms Kongzhi’s deduction that he is concealing his identity and techniques, then uses [Law Contract] to impose the humiliating command that ends the chapter.