Chapter Summaries

After breaking through to Gu King with Di Xin and Qin Mingyue, Long Xuan revealed his Boundary-Breaking Gu and led them out of the isolated world. He returned to find Xuanyuan Imperial City in ruins as the Xuanyuan Empire collapsed and the Great Jin Empire’s war plunged the Central Land into chaos.

• Long Xuan and Di Xin discussed Qin Mingyue’s musical cultivation, and Long Xuan admitted he had a way to leave but would wait until he reached Gu King.
• Long Xuan, Di Xin, and Qin Mingyue entered seclusion, and Long Xuan and Qin Mingyue broke through to Gu King three months later.
• Long Xuan revealed his Boundary-Breaking Gu and left to find Di Xin, while Qin Mingyue angrily realized he had kept their means of escape secret.
• Three days later, Long Xuan returned to find Xuanyuan Imperial City destroyed after the Xuanyuan Imperial House had been killed by a curse tied to his false name.
• The Xuanyuan Empire fell into factional warfare, while the Great Jin Empire conquered territory with its puppet army and faced a coalition of Central Land nations.

Long Xuan unearthed a hidden chamber in Xuanyuan City, then killed two Gu Kings who tried to rob him. After learning that the Tu Clan possessed the Demon-Slaying Saber, whose Frenzied Demon Blade Intent could advance his Blade Gu, he set out for the Tu Household disguised as Old Yang.

• Long Xuan found a hidden chamber beneath Xuanyuan City and took its treasures, drawing the greedy attention of Old Yang and Old Zheng.
• Old Yang and Old Zheng attacked Long Xuan, but his Gold-Eating Insects devoured their Gu Insects and killed them.
• Long Xuan captured Old Yang's escaping soul, searched it, and learned that the Tu Clan held the Demon-Slaying Saber and would host a birthday banquet in seven days.
• Long Xuan decided to attend the Tu Clan banquet disguised as Old Yang and left Xuanyuan City.

Long Xuan infiltrated the Tu Household’s birthday banquet disguised as Old Yang and searched its core for the Demon-Slaying Saber. After finding evidence of the Tu Clan’s brutal Gu refinement but not the saber, he decided to seize it by force, while Long Kun’s disguised Long Family forces hesitated over whether to attack.

• Long Xuan arrived at the Tu Household’s banquet disguised as Old Yang, gave a thousand-year spirit herb, and met the patriarch, Tuo Liang.
• Long Xuan recognized a disguised Long Family Gu King among the guests, then used Earth Escape to infiltrate the Tu Household’s restricted core and search for the Demon-Slaying Saber.
• Long Xuan found pregnant women being used to refine Blood Corpse Gu, ended their suffering, and searched the remaining chambers without finding the saber.
• Long Xuan concluded that a Tu Clan Gu King must be carrying the Demon-Slaying Saber and decided to attack the Tu Household.
• Long Kun discussed the planned attack with his subordinate but delayed action because the Tu Household possessed numerous Gu King-level puppets.

Tuo Gang tried to force the gathered Households into the Tuo Alliance, but Long Xuan exposed the Tu Household’s crimes and attacked. He crippled the Tu Clan’s leadership and brought down the banquet hall, leaving the Gu Kings emerging from the rubble.

• Tuo Gang announced the Tuo Alliance and used the surrounding puppet army to pressure the banquet guests into joining.
• Long Kun and Long Li discussed rallying forces against the Tu Clan, while planted minor Households stood up to join the alliance.
• Long Xuan entered, accused the Tu Household of refining Gu with living people, and showed guests recorded evidence of its atrocities.
• Long Xuan’s intervention disrupted the puppets, and his strike with twenty golden dragons killed three Tu Clan Gu Kings and crippled Tuo Liang.
• The banquet hall collapsed beneath the gathered Gu Kings, who survived and climbed out of the rubble.

Long Xuan wiped out the Tu Household at Tuo Gang’s birthday banquet, then considered joining the Dragon-Teng Empire in exchange for rare Gu advancement materials. After the Dragon Emperor accepted his conditions, Long Xuan agreed to travel to the Central Region alone.

• Long Xuan sent his puppet army to slaughter the Tu Clan cultivators and fought Tuo Gang, who revealed he was a Late-Stage Gu King.
• Long Xuan activated the Curse Seal Gu, overwhelmed Tuo Gang despite his lower realm, and killed him and his escaping soul with Tribulation Lightning.
• Long Xuan collected the Demon-Slaying Saber and the Tu Household’s valuables, while the remaining guests looted the estate and attacked the surviving Tu Clan members.
• Long Kun and Long Li pursued Long Xuan and invited him to join the Dragon-Teng Empire, offering to gather the materials on his list.
• Long Xuan agreed to join if the Dragon Emperor accepted his conditions, and Long Kun confirmed the Dragon Emperor’s approval.
• Long Kun explained that the Thatch Gu House could not transport Gu Kings and that he could not escort Long Xuan, so Long Xuan would have to travel to the Central Region alone.

Long Xuan decided to leave the war-torn Dragon-Teng Empire and spent his journey developing a Reincarnation Pill formula to draw Life-Forming Lightning and upgrade his Tribulation Gu. After gathering a single batch of rare ingredients, he began refining the pill, with success essential to avoid further delays.

• Long Kun told Long Xuan that Central Region forces would join Gu Emperor City in attacking the Gambling God, and Long Xuan chose to leave for the Central Region using a remaining Cross-Domain Teleportation Array.
• The Dragon Emperor recognized Long Xuan as the genius behind several inventions and considered appointing him War Command Clan Elder once he reached the Mid-Stage Gu King realm; he also suggested Long Yuyao take Long Xuan as her consort.
• While traveling inside the Heaven-Swallowing World Toad, Long Xuan decided to create a Reincarnation Pill using the Reincarnation Tree as a material so its creation would summon Life-Forming Lightning for his Tribulation Gu.
• Long Xuan completed the Reincarnation Pill formula after three months, then set out to gather its ingredients.
• After two months of searching, Long Xuan gathered enough materials for one batch and began refining the pill on a desolate mountain, knowing he could not afford to fail.

Long Xuan completed the Reincarnation Pills but was badly injured by Life-Forming Lightning, while Qin Mingyue was seized during her music sermon by a mysterious hand believed to belong to the Nine-Fingered Zither Demon. After learning Qin Mingyue was taken to another world, Long Xuan used their glowing fate-bound chess piece to confirm she was safe and thriving.

• Long Xuan successfully refined three Reincarnation Pills and survived Life-Forming Lightning, which left Tribulation Gu badly injured and triggered Water Bear Gu's advancement condition.
• Fairy Miaoyin, also known as Qin Mingyue, preached seven-note-scale music in Luo City, and some longtime music-path cultivators went mad after realizing their studies had followed an incomplete path.
• A spatial rift opened above Luo City, and a giant hand seized Qin Mingyue before vanishing; witnesses speculated that the hand belonged to the Nine-Fingered Zither Demon.
• Long Xuan dreamed of Qin Mingyue playing for an old woman, then discovered a defective Reincarnation Pill and conceived a plan to make an incurable Reincarnation Poison for Calamity Poison Gu.
• Half a month later, Long Xuan reached Luo City and learned Qin Mingyue had been taken by a void-shattering expert; her fate-bound chess piece shone brightly, reassuring him that she was safe and doing well.

Long Xuan arrived in Black Tortoise City after the Great Jin Empire had captured it and discovered that its Teleportation Arrays had supposedly been destroyed ahead of an imminent siege. He learned that the Cross-Domain Teleportation Array was repairable and joined a secret escape plan, but Guo Tianren intended to kill the would-be escapees and take their wealth.

• Long Xuan entered Black Tortoise City and learned that the Black Tortoise imperial family was preparing to retake it, while the Great Jin Empire had disabled the city's Teleportation Arrays and sealed the gates.
• Guo Tianren let the crowd inspect the damaged arrays, and Long Xuan recognized that the Cross-Domain Teleportation Array had suffered only minor damage.
• Liu De privately offered Guo Tianren two billion Spirit Stones to help him escape through the array, and Long Xuan revealed himself and demanded to join the deal.
• Guo Tianren agreed to let Liu De and Long Xuan come to the teleportation hall that night, while concealing his plan from them.
• Guo Tianren told Zhang Wenshan that he would use the hall's formation to kill the escapees and seize all their valuables.

Long Xuan discovered Guo Tianren’s trap in the Teleportation Hall, killed him and his allies, and raced to repair the Cross-Domain Teleportation Array while his five clones held off Black Tortoise City’s Gu Kings. Outside the city, the Black Tortoise Empire’s advance force recognized the battle’s potential to weaken their enemy, and its crown prince hoped to recruit Long Xuan.

• Guo Tianren revealed the Cross-Domain Teleportation Array was a fake and had Liu De killed, then tried to ambush Long Xuan when he arrived.
• Long Xuan destroyed the Hall-Guarding Formation’s Formation Base, summoned five Gu King clones, and killed Guo Tianren and Zhang Wenshan’s group as they tried to flee.
• With city Gu Kings gathering outside, Long Xuan began repairing the array while his clones blocked the hall entrance and fought off the attackers.
• Long Xuan’s Life-Forming Lightning killed a charging Gu King, drawing the greed of dozens more who rushed into battle to seize his power.
• The Black Tortoise Empire’s advance force watched from outside the city, identified Long Xuan as the Long Family genius, and the crown prince hoped to recruit him.

Long Xuan escaped Black Tortoise City through the Cross-Domain Teleportation Array, leaving its Gu Kings badly injured and unable to pursue him. After arriving in the Central Region, he entered the Qian Clan's Ten-Thousand Medicines Pavilion and learned that its Pill Exchange Conference offered Longevity Spring, which he needed to advance his Tea Gu.

• Long Xuan struck the pursuing Gu Kings with twenty Divine Dragons, then used Gold-Eating Insects to stop Jin Zidan, who severed his own legs to escape them.
• Long Xuan and his clones fled through the Cross-Domain Teleportation Array, and he destroyed the array at the destination to prevent pursuit.
• The Black Tortoise Empire's crown prince learned that seven Gu Kings had died and the rest were wounded, then ordered an immediate siege for the next day.
• Long Xuan explored the Central Region city and entered the Qian Clan's Ten-Thousand Medicines Pavilion, where he discovered rare spirit medicines and heard about its Pill Exchange Conference.
• Long Xuan learned that the conference offered Longevity Spring, a Heaven-grade Spirit Medicine, and used a fake Fourth-Grade Alchemist badge to gain entry to the third floor.

Long Xuan brought a Heaven-Defying Pill to the Ten-Thousand Medicines Pavilion’s Pill Exchange Conference to trade for Longevity Spring. After the pill stunned the gathered alchemists, Long Xuan denied that he had refined it, and Pavilion Master Qian Pangzi offered to complete the exchange.

• Long Xuan entered the pavilion’s third floor, where rare spirit medicines and numerous alchemists filled the conference hall.
• Long Xuan approached the Longevity Spring counter and learned that only a pill of equivalent value could be traded for it.
• Long Xuan presented a Heaven-Defying Pill and explained that it had drawn Life-Extinguishing Lightning and could raise a Gu cultivator’s aptitude by one grade.
• The alchemists recognized the pill, and Qian Pangzi confirmed that it matched the Qian Clan Merchant Association’s records of a Heaven-Defying Pill.
• Long Xuan claimed he had found the pill on a corpse rather than refining it, and most of the gathered Gu Kings accepted his explanation.
• Qian Pangzi introduced himself as the Pavilion Master and offered to exchange the Heaven-Defying Pill for Longevity Spring.

At the Pill Exchange Conference, Long Xuan and a mysterious black-robed man competed to trade pills for the Ten-Thousand Medicines Pavilion's Longevity Spring. Long Xuan offered his Bone-Regenerating Blood-Fusing Pill, drawing attention to his possible identity as its creator, while Qian Pangzi considered how to secure the pill for his clan.

• A black-robed Peak Gu King interrupted Long Xuan's trade offer and offered two Inheritance Pills for the Longevity Spring.
• The black-robed man revealed that the Inheritance Pills contained the memories of Dan Qing and Lu Tong, making Qian Pangzi consider accepting the trade.
• Long Xuan countered with a Bone-Regenerating Blood-Fusing Pill and a Heaven-Defying Pill, explaining that the former could grant a new body without consuming a possession attempt.
• Qian Pangzi recognized the Bone-Regenerating Blood-Fusing Pill from the Western Region Alchemy Competition and asked whether Long Xuan had created it.
• Long Xuan denied being the pill's creator by pointing out that his appearance differed from the alchemist at the competition, and Qian Pangzi chose not to expose his suspicions.

At the Pill Exchange Conference, Long Xuan competed with a black-robed man to trade for the Qian Clan Merchant Association’s Longevity Spring, revealing increasingly rare pills. The chapter ended with Qian Pangzi trembling as he examined Long Xuan’s Reincarnation Pill, which had drawn Life-Forming Lightning.

• The black-robed man offered a Nine-Turn Great Restoration Pill and three Inheritance Pills for the Longevity Spring, prompting Qian Pangzi to choose his offer over Long Xuan’s Bone-Regenerating Blood-Fusing Pill.
• Long Xuan interrupted the trade and revealed that he had a Reincarnation Pill that had drawn Life-Forming Lightning.
• Long Xuan explained that the Reincarnation Pill let a dying person reincarnate with their memories, resetting their lifespan and number of body possessions.
• Long Xuan handed the pill to Qian Pangzi, who activated the Golden Eye and began checking whether it was genuine.

Qian Pangzi traded the Reincarnation Pill for Long Xuan’s Longevity Spring, but the Blade King stole the pill and triggered a citywide battle that plunged Medicine City into chaos. Long Xuan looted the Ten-Thousand Medicines Pavilion amid the disorder, while the Blade King and the black-robed man each swallowed a half of the pill after suffering mortal wounds.

• Qian Pangzi’s Golden Eye backlash convinced him the Reincarnation Pill was genuine, and he handed Long Xuan the Longevity Spring in exchange for it.
• The Blade King tore open the roof, severed Qian Pangzi’s arm, and stole the Reincarnation Pill, drawing Medicine City’s Gu Kings into a bloody battle.
• Long Xuan watched the city descend into fighting and looting, then disguised himself and killed the looters in the Ten-Thousand Medicines Pavilion to take its spirit herbs.
• The Blade King escaped with half the pill, swallowed it despite his grave injuries, and died while refining its medicinal power.
• The black-robed man revealed that he had stolen the other half of the pill but had sustained a fatal blade wound, so he swallowed it in hopes of surviving.

The Saber King reincarnated in the womb but discovered that swallowing half a Reincarnation Pill had left him with only half of every memory, making his cultivation techniques unusable. Meanwhile, Long Xuan’s Tea Gu advanced, and he reached Dragon Emperor City, where he recognized the Dragon-Teng Empire’s expansion as similar to the Far West Long Family’s.

• The Saber King tried to absorb innate qi in the womb but found he remembered only half of each cultivation technique and could use none of them.
• The Saber King realized his twin brother had awakened consciousness too and attacked him, believing he was the black-robed man who had taken the other half of the Reincarnation Pill.
• Long Xuan inspected the medicines he had looted from the Myriad Medicine Pavilion, gave Shou Luo Chun leaves to the Medicine Gu, and prepared the remaining tea for the Tea Gu.
• Two months later, the Tea Gu advanced to the fourth rank and awakened the Defense Aura, which enhanced a Gu Insect’s defense.
• Long Xuan arrived at Dragon Emperor City and learned how the Long Family had seized Slaughter City and expanded into the Demon Night Forest.
• Long Xuan compared the Dragon-Teng Empire’s conquest and territorial growth to the Far West Long Family’s earlier expansion.

Long Xuan completed the fourth level of the Ten Absolutes Scripture while secluded in Dragon Emperor City, and its creation summoned the ninth-ranked Rebirth Lightning. The chapter ends as Long Xuan prepares to face the tribulation and Long Dan realizes he is responsible for the citywide anomaly.

• Long Dan welcomed Long Xuan to Dragon Emperor City and told him that Long Xiaoyao had gone with the Dragon Emperor to investigate a dangerous ruin.
• Long Xuan spent three months in seclusion studying the Long Family's cultivation techniques and devising five kinds of five-attribute Mutated Spiritual Power for the fourth level of the Ten Absolutes Scripture.
• Long Xuan completed the fourth level, triggering Rebirth Lightning over Dragon Emperor City.
• The Dragon Emperor and Long Xiaoyao recognized the lightning as a tribulation caused by the creation of a heaven-defying cultivation technique.
• Long Dan traced the anomaly to the palace he had arranged for Long Xuan and realized Long Xuan had created the cultivation technique.