Chapter Summaries

Xiao Liang joined a five-person team led by Luo Dongbao for an expedition to the Ancient Battlefield Ruins. After Luo Dongbao revealed a map to an unexplored area hidden behind poisonous miasma, the group agreed to depart at once.

• Xiao Liang met the white-robed cultivator Qin Long at Storm Tower and introduced himself under the false name Ghost Shadow.
• Guan Qiu, Guan Lin, and Yu Guang joined the group, and Xiao Liang demonstrated Ghost Shadow Step to establish his scouting role.
• Luo Dongbao arrived as the mission leader and explained that he had obtained a map to an undeveloped area of the Ancient Battlefield Ruins.
• Luo Dongbao showed the group the map and said it included a method for passing through the poisonous miasma.
• The group accepted the expedition, and Luo Dongbao announced they would set out immediately on rented Spirit Horses.

Xiao Liang and the exploration team rode toward the Ancient Battlefield Ruins, where Luo Dongbao revealed the history of Heavenly Sun Mountain and demanded most of any treasure they found. The group reached the charred wasteland, and Xiao Liang began the expedition wary of Luo Dongbao and curious about the silent Qin Long.

• Luo Dongbao explained that the Ancient Battlefield Ruins were the former grounds of Heavenly Sun Mountain, destroyed in its final battle against the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern.
• Luo Dongbao demanded ninety percent of the finds and first choice of items, citing his leadership and Heavenly Mechanism Map.
• Yu Guang and the Guan siblings objected to Luo Dongbao's terms, but Yu Guang eventually agreed after Luo Dongbao argued that the team could explore the area themselves after the two-month mission.
• Xiao Liang suspected Luo Dongbao had recruited weaker cultivators to secure a larger share and wondered why Qin Long had stayed silent.
• The team left the Yan Kingdom highway and arrived at a hill overlooking the thousand-li charred wasteland of the Ancient Battlefield Ruins.

Luo Dongbao led Xiao Liang and the others across the Ancient Battlefield to a range of mountains covered in poisonous miasma. He revealed that they would enter through flooded burrows, leaving the group to prepare as the flood arrived.

• Luo Dongbao had the group dismount their Spirit Horses and continue on foot into the Ancient Battlefield.
• Xiao Liang warned Qin Long about an ambush, and Qin Long killed a Black-Scaled Python with a swift sword strike.
• The group fought several demonic creatures, including a Bronze-Armored Zombie, whose corpse core Xiao Liang secretly saved for Pandora.
• Luo Dongbao identified the miasma-shrouded mountains as their destination and explained that the burrows nearby were filled with poisonous miasma.
• Luo Dongbao revealed that floodwater would fill the burrows and let the group pass beneath the miasma, just as a muddy flood surged toward them.

Xiao Liang and Luo Dongbao's exploration party reached the hidden inner region of Heavenly Sun Mountain, where they found signs of ancient buildings. As the group climbed toward the ruins, a huge Mechanical Puppet awakened and attacked Luo Dongbao.

• Xiao Liang and the others swam through the ground mole's tunnels, escaped the poisonous miasma, and climbed into the inner region.
• Xiao Liang found a broken azure jade tile, and Luo Dongbao recognized it as evidence of possible Heavenly Sun Mountain ruins.
• Luo Dongbao led the six explorers up the mountain while they cleared a path through the vegetation.
• A concealed Mechanical Puppet awakened, revealed its metal body, and turned toward the exploration party.
• The Mechanical Puppet hurled a bronze halberd at Luo Dongbao as he stopped to speak.

A guardian puppet attacked Luo Dongbao and the expedition members, forcing them to abandon the mission and flee. Xiao Liang escaped while the puppet pursued Qin Long, who was left fighting it.

• The guardian puppet shattered Luo Dongbao's iron ring blade and struck Yu Guang, revealing its strength as a peak first-rank puppet.
• Guan Qiu and Guan Lin used Light Body Talismans to flee, while Luo Dongbao tried to persuade the others to fight by offering a larger share of the profits.
• Qin Long and Yu Guang refused to fight alongside Luo Dongbao, and Xiao Liang quietly prepared to escape.
• Luo Dongbao used a defensive bronze bell to survive the puppet's attack, then fled up a rock wall.
• Yu Guang and Qin Long retreated, and Xiao Liang escaped using Ghost Shadow Step.
• The puppet retrieved its bronze halberd and pursued Qin Long, whose sword sounds and mana fluctuations suggested she had begun fighting it.

Xiao Liang escaped the exploration party and continued up Heavenly Sun Mountain with Pandora, where they searched the ruined sect buildings for resources. He found two jade slips, learned the Heavenly Yang Demon-Subduing Hand, and left the chapter eager to improve his new technique.

• Xiao Liang decided that Luo Dongbao’s flight had ended the exploration mission and chose to keep climbing the mountain alone.
• Xiao Liang dressed Pandora in a black robe and had her carry him over the strange plants toward the summit.
• Xiao Liang spotted Heavenly Sun Mountain’s sect buildings and directed Pandora to land outside them.
• Xiao Liang and Pandora searched the ruined residences, collecting more than a thousand Spirit Stones and valuable artifact-refining materials.
• Xiao Liang found jade slips containing the Heavenly Yang Demon-Subduing Hand and the Beast-Taming Art, then memorized the combat spell.
• Xiao Liang tested the Heavenly Yang Demon-Subduing Hand, denting a stone slab, and judged that he needed more practice to master its force.

Xiao Liang and Pandora reached the Earthfire Hall, where a defensive formation powered by earthfire blocked entry. After Qin Long called him out and mentioned a true inheritance inside, Xiao Liang revealed himself and asked if she knew how to enter.

• Xiao Liang identified the ruined building as the Earthfire Hall and suspected it contained valuable artifacts.
• Xiao Liang tested the hall’s barrier with stones and watched them burn to ash, then concluded it was likely sustained by natural earthfire veins.
• Pandora sensed someone approaching, so Xiao Liang hid with her behind the ruins.
• Qin Long arrived and called for the hidden cultivator, claiming the Earthfire Hall might contain a true inheritance of Heavenly Sun Mountain.
• Xiao Liang revealed himself to Qin Long and asked whether she knew how to open the hall.

Qin Long revealed that she held Earthfire Hall’s formation control token and explained how she had obtained it, persuading Xiao Liang to help explore the hall. The three entered together, while an unseen observer was left outside as the doors closed.

• Qin Long used an ancient jade talisman to disable Earthfire Hall’s barrier and open its bronze doors.
• Qin Long told Xiao Liang that she had inherited the token from a Heavenly Sun Mountain cultivator and had exhausted the guardian puppet’s energy.
• Qin Long said Pandora’s presence gave her a powerful sense of danger and asked Xiao Liang to help explore the hall.
• Xiao Liang agreed to enter with Qin Long, insisting they stay within three steps of each other, and Pandora followed them inside.
• The formation restored itself and the doors closed, leaving a concealed watcher outside.

Xiao Liang and Qin Long explored the apparently empty Earthfire Hall and found the remains of an ancient Daoist beside its enormous furnace. When Pandora tried to loot the remains and broke them apart, the Daoist’s eyes ignited with corpse-fire, and he demanded Xiao Liang’s body.

• Xiao Liang and Qin Long entered Earthfire Hall and found it grand but seemingly free of traps and guardians.
• Xiao Liang and Qin Long discovered a withered Daoist seated before the furnace, while Pandora confirmed that no other remains were in the hall.
• Qin Long left Xiao Liang to handle the remains, and he sent Pandora to take the Daoist’s belongings.
• Pandora failed to remove the whisk or meditation cushion, then kicked the Daoist’s remains apart and sent the upper half flying toward Xiao Liang and Qin Long.
• The Daoist’s eyes opened and corpse-fire flared as he recognized Xiao Liang’s Blood Nightmare Technique and demanded his fleshly body.

Hundred Tribulations Daoist tried to possess Qin Long, and Xiao Liang used her inheritance to summon Sun True Fire against him. As the fire began gathering, Xiao Liang’s spiritual power, blood essence, and lifespan drained away, while Hundred Tribulations Daoist remained confident he would fail.

• Hundred Tribulations Daoist’s green fire entered Qin Long and began taking over her body, but her special physique and spirit-strengthening technique briefly restored her control.
• Qin Long gave Xiao Liang the Heavenly Sun Mountain inheritance and urged him to use its Sun True Fire spell to destroy the spirit body.
• Hundred Tribulations Daoist tried to persuade Xiao Liang to protect him with promises of becoming his disciple, but Xiao Liang pretended to agree while preparing the spell.
• Pandora used Qin Long’s spirit sword to smash through the Earthfire Hall ceiling, allowing sunlight to shine on Xiao Liang as he formed the hand seals.
• Xiao Liang drew on his spiritual power, blood essence, and lifespan to gather fire from the sunlight while Hundred Tribulations Daoist suppressed Qin Long and expected Xiao Liang to die before summoning Sun True Fire.

Xiao Liang invoked a strange hymn that drew an overwhelming blessing, restoring his body while flooding it with vitality. He burned his lifespan and blood essence to form Sun True Fire, leaving Hundred Tribulations Daoist facing a catastrophic explosion as a phantom sun expanded over the mountain.

• Xiao Liang’s manic laughter gave way to an ancient hymn that caused Hundred Tribulations Daoist to sense a gaze from beyond the hall.
• A chaotic, supreme existence blessed Xiao Liang, restoring his withered body and pouring excessive vitality into him until his flesh began to burst.
• Xiao Liang burned his lifespan and blood essence to guide the sunlight into a wisp of Sun True Fire.
• Hundred Tribulations Daoist realized Xiao Liang’s growing Sun True Fire could explode and destroy the mountain peak and its surroundings.
• Sunlight dimmed across dozens of miles, and Yu Guang and the Guan Family siblings sensed the approaching disaster.
• Guan Qiu used his eye technique and saw an illusory sun expanding at a terrifying speed.

Xiao Liang struggled to control the unstable Sun True Fire as it drained his mind, forcing Hundred Tribulations Daoist to bargain for his life. The chapter ended with Xiao Liang laying down a strict, word-for-word Heavenly Oath that left the old ghost unable to spot an obvious loophole.

• Outside Earthfire Hall, Luo Dongbao saw the terrifying phenomenon and fled down the mountain.
• Xiao Liang’s Sun True Fire grew to the size of a human head as his vitality ebbed and a black mark appeared behind his ear.
• Hundred Tribulations Daoist offered to vent the fire and serve Xiao Liang for one hundred years in exchange for his survival.
• Qin Long confirmed that a Golden Core cultivator could swear an unbreakable Heavenly Oath, while warning Xiao Liang about loopholes.
• Xiao Liang demanded that Hundred Tribulations Daoist swear specific terms protecting him and requiring obedience, and the old ghost struggled to find a way around them.

Xiao Liang forced the Hundred Tribulations Daoist to swear a Heavenly Oath and leave Qin Long’s sea of consciousness. After containing the Sun True Fire and protecting Qin Long, Xiao Liang realized that drawing power from an apocalyptic world had left a strange black mark and an uncertain price.

• Xiao Liang threatened the hesitant Hundred Tribulations Daoist until he swore a Heavenly Oath, with Qin Long exposing his attempts to evade its terms.
• Xiao Liang ordered the Hundred Tribulations Daoist out of Qin Long’s sea of consciousness, and the old ghost emerged as a ball of green fire before revealing the Five-Element Violet-Gold Furnace.
• The Hundred Tribulations Daoist taught Xiao Liang a fire-refining art, and Xiao Liang stored a thread of Sun True Fire essence in his dantian.
• Xiao Liang tossed the remaining Sun True Fire into the furnace, then shielded the weakened Qin Long from the explosion.
• Qin Long thanked Xiao Liang for saving them, while Xiao Liang noticed a strange black mark behind his ear and feared the cost of borrowing power from an apocalyptic world.

Xiao Liang recalled the terrifying Chaos deity whose power had saved him and worried about the mark it left behind. He forced the Hundred Tribulations Daoist to surrender his hidden spatial artifact and discovered the treasures stored inside.

• Xiao Liang remembered glimpsing the Chaos deity and feared its mark might eventually draw its attention to him.
• Qin Long apologized for giving Xiao Liang the Golden Crow Sun-Refining Divine Art, while the Hundred Tribulations Daoist warned that Xiao Liang might have become a powerful being's pawn.
• Xiao Liang ordered the Hundred Tribulations Daoist to hand over the Earthfire Hall's treasures.
• The Hundred Tribulations Daoist revealed the Heaven-Earth Bracelet hidden among his remains and removed its ownership restriction.
• Xiao Liang opened the Heaven-Earth Bracelet and found it filled with glittering treasures.

Xiao Liang divided Hundred Tribulations Daoist’s vast treasure hoard equally with Qin Long, choosing to follow his conscience despite her protests. Qin Long revealed her true beauty and said that, by Yan Kingdom’s martial-world rules, she would offer herself in marriage if she could not repay his life-saving grace.

• Xiao Liang decided that keeping a clear conscience mattered more than secretly taking most of Hundred Tribulations Daoist’s treasure.
• Xiao Liang brought out the Heaven-Earth Bracelet’s entire hoard and proposed that he and Qin Long split it equally.
• Hundred Tribulations Daoist cursed at Xiao Liang over the division and plunged his Golden Core into the empty bracelet.
• Qin Long thanked Xiao Liang and questioned why he had given her so much, while he said it did not sit right with him to keep more.
• Qin Long revealed that her ordinary appearance was a disguise and showed Xiao Liang her swordsmanship with the Luoshui sword.
• Qin Long pointed her sword at Xiao Liang, then smiled and said she would offer herself in marriage if she could not repay his life-saving grace.

At a roadside tea stall, a retired martial expert and a Martial World Storyteller discuss three young heroes who have brought down Yan Wuxu’s allies and driven the general into hiding. Yan Kingdom posts wanted notices for the trio, and the Fire Ghost Freak enters the capital after objecting to his nickname.

• The old tea stall owner knocks the burly man’s broadsword and the richly dressed young man’s treasured sword out into the rain with two abacus beads.
• A Martial World Storyteller recognizes the owner’s Sand-Shifting Shadow technique and explains that three young experts have defeated notorious sects backed by Great General Yan Wuxu.
• The storyteller says Yan Wuxu ranks third on the Divine Weapon Manual but has been hiding in his manor since the three heroes rose to fame.
• Imperial Guards post wanted posters offering rewards for the Mystic Sound Divine Sword, Flying Demoness, and Fire Ghost Freak.
• The Fire Ghost Freak pins a soldier from afar, tears down his poster, knocks the soldier unconscious, and slips into the capital as guards raise the alarm.

Xiao Liang and Qin Long prepared to confront Yan Wuxu, whose forces had murdered Qin Long’s family and pursued her for her exceptional talent. After revealing the full extent of her vengeance, they set out to face him openly.

• Xiao Liang teased Pandora for drinking bloodberry juice, and the Hundred Tribulations Daoist explained that she had absorbed a Deep Sea Blood Crystal.
• Qin Long and Xiao Liang discussed their feelings for each other, while Xiao Liang reflected on the vast difference between their cultivation levels.
• Qin Long revealed that Yan Wuxu’s martial sect had slaughtered her family after they refused to hand her over.
• Xiao Liang explained that he had exposed himself at the city gates to warn Yan Wuxu that they were coming.
• Qin Long vowed to kill Yan Wuxu openly, and Xiao Liang burned the wanted poster as they prepared to attack the Grand General’s Manor.

Captain Zhao refused the middle-aged scholar’s offer to leave the dangerous defense of Yan Wuxu’s manor, then led his troops toward an explosion and was crushed by Xiao Liang’s tank. Inside the tank, Xiao Liang taught Qin Long and Pandora to operate it, while Qin Long wondered how it could see outside and whether they had hit something.

• A middle-aged scholar warned Captain Zhao that guarding Yan Wuxu’s manor was dangerous and offered to have someone replace him, but Captain Zhao refused.
• An explosion and screams drew Captain Zhao toward a guarded intersection, where he mounted his horse and charged ahead with a great axe.
• Xiao Liang’s iron-armored tank appeared in the street, and Captain Zhao’s axe barely scratched it before the tank crushed him and his horse.
• Inside the tank, Xiao Liang consulted a driving manual while teaching Qin Long and Pandora to operate the vehicle.
• Qin Long took the driver’s seat, felt the tank jolt, and asked how it observed the outside and whether they had hit something.

Xiao Liang drove a tank he had obtained from the Lighthouse Organization into the royal capital to help Qin Long fight, crushing the Imperial Guards’ defenses. The tank smashed through the checkpoints outside the Grand General’s Estate as the defenders fled in panic.

• Xiao Liang activated the tank’s cameras, and Qin Long tried to pry open the display panel to discover how it worked.
• Xiao Liang recalled that he had traded Spirit Stones for the tank and weapons at the Lighthouse Organization, where he had also helped activate runes that purified viruses.
• Qin Long drove the tank through arrows and crossbow fire while Xiao Liang ordered Pandora to fire the cannon, destroying two pavilions and the troops inside.
• The tank’s machine guns cut down the approaching Imperial Guards, but several generals tried to stop it with wooden stakes and iron chains.
• Xiao Liang ordered the tank to accelerate, and Qin Long drove it through the barricades and checkpoints outside the Grand General’s Estate.
• The Imperial Guards lost heart and fled, shouting that the armored monster could not be stopped.

After learning that intruders had overwhelmed his forces, a middle-aged scholar sought Yan Wuxu’s support and was ordered to hold them back while Yan Wuxu finished refining his spirit artifact. Xiao Liang, Qin Long, and Pandora destroyed the Grand General’s Manor gates, where the scholar confronted them.

• The middle-aged scholar killed Captain Zhao’s deputy with a ghostly hand after hearing that the intruders had defeated the Ironclad Guards.
• The scholar visited Yan Wuxu, who said his spirit artifact would be finished that day and ordered him to delay the intruders.
• The scholar suggested Yan Wuxu could claim the King of Yan’s throne, while secretly coveting the Essence-Absorption Technique.
• Xiao Liang, Qin Long, and Pandora drove their tank to the Grand General’s Manor, and Pandora fired a shell that destroyed its gates.
• The middle-aged scholar approached the trio and asked why they had attacked, while Xiao Liang said Yan Wuxu deserved to die and prepared to fight.