Chapter Summaries

Qin Hao reached the Holy City and saw how powerful its guards were when a Venerable who tried to skip the entry line was crushed and forced to wait. After paying to enter, Qin Hao learned that Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain was visible inside the city and headed toward the sacred land, hoping to improve his Laws before the Azure Flame Grand Tournament.

• Qin Hao arrived at the Holy City after two and a half years of travel and decided to visit Heaven-Piercing Sacred Land.
• An Elder from the Western Domain Group tried to fly past the entry line, but the south gate Commander used Ninth-Order Laws to slam him into the ground.
• The Elder got up and joined the back of the line, while Qin Hao and the other arrivals paid one High-Grade Spirit Stone each to enter.
• Inside the city, Qin Hao learned that the Mountain Peak was Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain, the only one of the Holy City's three sacred lands visible to outsiders.
• Warriors eager to cultivate for the Azure Flame Grand Tournament set off toward Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain, and Qin Hao hoped its Origin Laws would help him advance his Vitality and Time Laws.

Qin Hao learned that Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain offered 1,008 cultivation chambers with different costs and benefits, and that occupants had to defend them against challengers. After understanding the risks and rules, he sought information about the Heaven-Piercing Tower, which Han Xu had said was important for the Azure Flame Grand Tournament.

• Qin Hao approached Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain and marveled at its immense size and dense Origin Laws.
• Qin Hao read a stone stele explaining the mountain’s 1,008 chambers, their grades, features, and steep daily prices.
• Warriors explained that all chambers stayed occupied and that each occupant had to accept three challenges daily, risking the loss of their chamber or serious injury.
• Qin Hao concluded that he needed both sufficient Spirit Stones and strength to cultivate on the mountain, then looked for information about the Heaven-Piercing Tower.

Qin Hao visited the Heaven-Piercing Tower and learned how its trials tested combat skill while earning discounts at Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain. After discovering the immense cost of cultivating in a Heaven-Class Cultivation Chamber, he decided he would need to challenge the tower, though its higher floors demanded mastery of laws and a self-created Martial Skill.

• Qin Hao followed the crowd to the Heaven-Piercing Tower and saw its eighteen floors and shifting leaderboard.
• Wang Xiaoling offered Qin Hao a book about the tower, and Qin Hao learned that clearing floors earned discounts at Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain.
• Qin Hao calculated that he could not afford six months in a Heaven-Class Cultivation Chamber without a substantial discount, so he resolved to challenge the tower.
• Wang Xiaoling explained that clearing the first twelve floors required a Half-Step Law, the first fifteen required an Origin Law, and all eighteen required a self-created Martial Skill at least as strong as a Secret Technique.

Qin Hao studied Wang Xiaoling’s booklet on geniuses who had challenged the Heaven-Piercing Tower and learned that 132 eligible contestants had already cleared it. He left with a clearer sense of the Azure Flame Grand Tournament’s competition and how the tower’s later floors worked.

• Qin Hao read the historical list of tower conquerors and recognized the One-Armed Sword Saint and Venerable Hun Yan.
• Wang Xiaoling sold Qin Hao information about 132 eligible geniuses who had cleared the tower, and Qin Hao paid him a hundred High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Qin Hao learned that disciples from the Spirit-Scolding Sect and Spirit Martial Academy also trained on Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain, while many hidden geniuses were absent from the list.
• Qin Hao found Han Xu among those who had passed the tower’s Fifteenth Layer and judged their combat strength to be comparable.
• Wang Xiaoling explained that the tower’s first twelve floors held Monsters or Half-Step Venerables, floors thirteen through fifteen held First-Level Venerables, and floors sixteen through eighteen made challengers fight copies of themselves.

Qin Hao entered the Heaven-Piercing Tower and quickly cleared its first two floors, learning that each floor increased the number of opponents. He faced a hundred Level Four Mid-Stage tiger Monsters on the Third Floor and welcomed the greater challenge.

• Qin Hao learned from Wang Xiaoling that the Heaven-Piercing Tower's opponents became Venerables from the thirteenth floor and that challengers faced themselves after the fifteenth.
• Qin Hao asked the white-haired Elder about the requirements, then entered the tower and found himself on a plain facing a Level Four Mid-Stage tiger Monster.
• Qin Hao killed the tiger with his Sword of Destruction and cleared the First Floor.
• Qin Hao defeated three more tiger Monsters and cleared the Second Floor.
• Qin Hao saw a hundred Level Four Mid-Stage tiger Monsters appear for the Third Floor and smiled at the challenge.

Qin Hao cleared the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s Third Floor in only a few dozen breaths, astonishing Wang Xiaoling, who realized the feat could attract the attention of powerful factions. On the Fourth Floor, Qin Hao instantly killed a Level Four High Rank Flood Dragon Great Demon with one sword strike.

• Qin Hao slaughtered a hundred Level Four Mid-Stage giant tigers and cleared the Third Floor.
• Wang Xiaoling saw Qin Hao’s name appear on the plaque and decided to wait for more information he could sell to major powers.
• Qin Hao entered the Fourth Floor and identified its opponent as an Ancient Flood Dragon with a Divine Beast Bloodline.
• Qin Hao struck the Flood Dragon Great Demon once with the Sword of Destruction and cut it in two.

Qin Hao cleared the Fifth and Sixth Floors of the Heaven-Piercing Tower, defeating three and then a hundred Level Four High-Stage Flood Dragon Great Demons. Afterward, he recognized that his lack of wide-area attacks could leave him vulnerable in a chaotic melee and decided to train a skill that could hit multiple targets.

• Qin Hao cleared the Fourth Floor, and his name appeared on the Heaven-Piercing Tower plaque as Wang Xiaoling watched and praised his speed.
• Qin Hao entered the Fifth Floor and killed three Level Four High-Stage Flood Dragon Great Demons with his Sword of Destruction.
• Qin Hao faced a hundred Flood Dragon Great Demons on the Sixth Floor and killed them all while dodging their attacks.
• Qin Hao reflected that his attacks lacked wide-area coverage and decided to train a Martial Skill suited to fighting multiple opponents.

Qin Hao considered creating his own Area-of-Effect Martial Skill, then encountered a Level Four Peak Rank Winged Dragon on the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s Seventh Floor. After the Winged Dragon dodged his Sword of Destruction with its Movement Technique, Qin Hao decided to test Near at Hand, Far Away against it.

• Qin Hao realized he lacked an Area-of-Effect Martial Skill and resolved to create one himself, though he did not know where to begin.
• A Level Four Peak Rank Winged Dragon appeared on the Seventh Floor, and Qin Hao recognized that the later floors would hold increasingly dangerous numbers of them.
• Qin Hao attacked the Winged Dragon with Sword of Destruction, but it evaded the strike using its Movement Technique.
• Qin Hao decided the Winged Dragon was an ideal opponent for practicing Near at Hand, Far Away and used the technique as it charged at him.

Qin Hao honed Near at Hand, Far Away by fighting Black-Winged Wyverns, steadily increasing the distance he could Teleport. After defeating the three wyverns on the Eighth Floor, he prepared to face the hundred Black-Winged Wyverns in the Ninth Trial.

• Qin Hao pursued the Black-Winged Wyvern while repeatedly using Near at Hand, Far Away, improving his maximum Teleportation distance to fifteen meters before killing it with the Setting Sun Sword.
• Qin Hao began the Eighth Floor challenge and dodged the combined attacks of three Level Four Peak Rank Black-Winged Wyverns while continuing to train his Movement Technique.
• Qin Hao increased his casual Teleportation distance to fifteen meters and used his improved speed to kill all three Black-Winged Wyverns.
• Qin Hao completed the Eighth Trial and anticipated that the hundred Black-Winged Wyverns in the Ninth Trial would further improve his Movement Technique.

Qin Hao faced a hundred Black-Winged Wyverns on the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s ninth floor and tried to train Near at Hand, Far Away without relying on his other abilities. The wyverns formed a Heavenly Net designed to counter his movement, leaving him certain to lose unless he used his other powers.

• The elder in White Robes observed Qin Hao’s progress and anticipated that the ninth floor’s hundred Black-Winged Wyverns would challenge him.
• Qin Hao set aside his other techniques and relied only on Near at Hand, Far Away as the wyverns attacked from every direction.
• A Black-Winged Wyvern struck Qin Hao and disrupted his movement, but he forced the technique through and escaped the encirclement.
• The hundred wyverns arranged themselves in a Heavenly Net with eighteen meters between each one, covering Qin Hao’s possible escape routes.
• Qin Hao realized the formation countered Near at Hand, Far Away and that he would lose unless he used his other powers.

Qin Hao tried to escape the hundred Black-Winged Wyverns on the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s ninth floor by refining his Near at Hand, Far Away technique. After discovering he could change direction mid-teleport and reach one hundred and eight meters, he faced the Wyverns with a new possibility.

• Qin Hao realized the Wyverns’ Heavenly Net was too vast to escape with a single teleport, then figured he could chain teleports by circulating through the Cultivation Diagram in advance.
• Qin Hao successfully completed three uninterrupted teleports, covering fifty-four meters, but found his True Essence limited him to three jumps.
• Qin Hao repeatedly teleported as the Wyverns attacked, taking hits while refusing to use the Destruction Laws.
• Qin Hao sensed the Wyverns shifting to intercept him and changed direction midway through a teleport.
• Qin Hao’s altered teleport carried him one hundred and eight meters, astonishing and delighting him.

Qin Hao used Spatial Power to dramatically improve his teleportation, then began killing the Black-Winged Wyverns on the Ninth Floor. As other challengers failed, Qin Hao’s name appeared among the few who had reached the Tenth Layer.

• Qin Hao discovered that changing direction let Spatial Power pull him forward, increasing his teleportation distance to as much as 136 meters.
• Qin Hao used his improved movement to evade the Black-Winged Wyverns, then drew the Setting Sun Sword and began killing them.
• The White-Robed Elder watched Qin Hao’s breakthrough and praised his movement technique, hoping he would clear the Heaven-Piercing Tower.
• Challengers outside the tower described how difficult the upper floors were, while only three people were known to be stuck on the Tenth Layer.
• Qin Hao’s name appeared on the Jade Stone Plaque’s tenth line, surprising the stern young man watching it.

Qin Hao’s steady climb through the Heaven-Piercing Tower drew the attention of the Spirit-Scolding Sect’s Flying Fish Hall and other groups seeking exceptional talent. After learning that Qin Hao had defeated Han Xu, the observers decided to report him as a potential recruit, while Wang Xiaoling hoped to sell him information.

• Ke Cheng dismissed Qin Hao at first, but Qi Zhiyuan argued that his steady progress through the tower’s floors made him worth watching.
• Ke Cheng sent Qi Zhiyuan to investigate Qin Hao and He Kai to monitor the Jade Stone Plaque, then asked the tower master to let him view Qin Hao’s fights.
• The tower master refused Ke Cheng’s request, prompting the three Flying Fish Hall members to suspect that he was protecting Qin Hao’s strength from outsiders.
• He Kai reported that Qin Hao ranked first on the Southern Domain Group’s Hidden Dragon Ranking, cultivated several powerful techniques, and had defeated Han Xu, who had passed the Fifteenth Layer.
• Ke Cheng ordered the others to report Qin Hao to the Spirit-Scolding Sect headquarters, while Qin Hao’s arrival on the tenth floor made him a focus of attention in Heaven-Piercing Square.
• Wang Xiaoling celebrated Qin Hao’s reputation and hoped that, despite the crowd’s access to information about him, Qin Hao might still buy information from her.

After clearing the Ninth Floor of the Heaven-Piercing Tower, Qin Hao faced its Tenth-Floor Guardian, a powerful Half-Step Venerable, and used their battle to study Earth's Wrath. He sensed that the Guardian's Half-Step Gold Laws could suppress the Power of Heaven and Earth behind the ability, but the insight remained incomplete as their fight continued.

• Qin Hao cleared the first nine floors, advanced Near at Hand, Far Away, and prepared to face stronger opponents on the upper floors.
• The Tenth-Floor Guardian appeared in silver armor and attacked Qin Hao with a powerful Blade Laws strike.
• Qin Hao put away the Setting Sun Sword and met the Guardian's attack with Earth's Wrath, suffering a cut to his fist.
• Qin Hao realized the Guardian's Half-Step Gold Laws had weakened Earth's Wrath by suppressing the Power of Heaven and Earth it drew upon.
• Qin Hao charged again barehanded, and he and the Guardian continued battling in midair.

Qin Hao honed Earth's Wrath while fighting through the Heaven-Piercing Tower and discovered Borrowing Force to Repel Force, which let him draw on his opponents' laws to strengthen his attacks. He killed two of the three Eleventh Layer guardians, leaving one still standing.

• Qin Hao improved his speed and mastery of Earth's Wrath until he broke the Tenth Layer guardian's Great Saber and defeated him.
• Qin Hao began the Eleventh Layer challenge against three Half-Step Venerables and fought them using Earth's Wrath.
• When the spear-wielding guardian threatened him with Half-Step Water Laws, Qin Hao drew on those laws and killed him with one punch.
• Qin Hao realized Earth's Wrath had broken through into Borrowing Force to Repel Force, though he could not yet gather an opponent's laws completely.
• Qin Hao used the new technique to drain a guardian's Half-Step Gold Laws and killed him with a punch.

Qin Hao used Earth's Wrath to kill three Half-Step Venerables and discovered he could turn opponents’ Half-Step Laws against them. He fought through the Twelfth Layer as Zhuang Han failed on the Eleventh, then reached the Thirteenth Layer of the Heaven-Piercing Tower.

• Qin Hao killed three Half-Step Venerables and realized Earth's Wrath could borrow their Half-Step Laws to strengthen its attacks.
• Qin Hao fought a hundred Half-Step Venerables, killing more than seventy before deciding to use the Setting Sun Sword against the survivors.
• The crowd watched the Heaven-Piercing Tower as Zhuang Han emerged after losing on the Eleventh Layer.
• Zhuang Han believed he had reached the highest floor anyone managed that day, but white light appeared on the Thirteenth Layer and stunned him.

Zhuang Han learned that Qin Hao had reached the Thirteenth Layer of the Heaven-Piercing Tower and marveled at how far his former comrade had surpassed him. At the Tower Summit, the White-Robed Elder recognized Qin Hao’s three linked, powerful Divine Abilities and watched him test his defensive art against a Venerable.

• Zhuang Han saw Qin Hao’s name atop the Jade Stone Plaque after Qin Hao cleared the Twelfth Layer and entered the Thirteenth.
• Zhuang Han confirmed that Qin Hao was the same man he had fought beside in the Nether Demon World and was stunned by his growth.
• Zhuang Han learned that the Tower Master had refused factions’ requests to watch Qin Hao’s battles, then stayed with the crowd to follow his progress.
• The White-Robed Elder reflected that he had done what he could for Qin Hao by keeping the factions from observing him.
• The White-Robed Elder recognized that Qin Hao’s movement, offensive, and defensive Divine Abilities were connected and potentially of very high rank.
• Qin Hao tested the Great Heavenly Dipper Art against a First-Level Venerable on the Thirteenth Layer, and the White-Robed Elder watched closely.

As Qin Hao endured the Thirteenth Layer Guardian’s attacks with the Great Heavenly Dipper Art, the White-Robed Elder secretly guided him after benefiting from watching his techniques. Seeing waves collide and merge, Qin Hao realized he could redirect an enemy’s force, then faced an incoming Sword Shadow with a new idea.

• The White-Robed Elder watched Qin Hao repeatedly form Defensive Barriers and recognized the unusual power of his Divine Abilities.
• The White-Robed Elder decided to repay Qin Hao by subtly guiding him without letting him skip the Thirteenth Layer.
• Qin Hao fought the middle-aged Venerable, rapidly forming barriers as he became more proficient with the Great Heavenly Dipper Art.
• Qin Hao saw waves on a lake collide and merge, and realized his defense could yield and redirect force instead of relying only on hardness.
• Qin Hao let a Sword Shadow shatter his barrier, then raised his Treasure Sword as an invisible force acted on it.

Qin Hao used the Great Heavenly Dipper Art to learn the Force-Dissipating Way and turn enemy attacks back with the Backlash Way, then advanced through the Heaven-Piercing Tower. After defeating a hundred First-Level Venerables on the Fifteenth Layer, he reached the Sixteenth, drawing the attention of the Spirit-Scolding Sect.

• Qin Hao dispersed the middle-aged Venerable’s sword attack with the Great Heavenly Dipper Art and sent its force back, killing the guardian with the Backlash Way.
• The White-Robed Elder praised Qin Hao’s insight and watched him clear the Fourteenth Layer, then warned that the Fifteenth Layer’s hundred First-Level Venerables would challenge him.
• Qin Hao struggled against the hundred attackers on the Fifteenth Layer, then combined Near at Hand, Far Away, Earth's Wrath, the Setting Sun Sword, and the Destruction Laws to defeat them.
• Qin Hao cleared the Fifteenth Layer and reached the Sixteenth, while Ke Cheng urged the Spirit-Scolding Sect to watch his progress.

After Qin Hao passed the Fifteenth Layer, the Spirit-Scolding Sect and Spirit Martial Academy competed to recruit him, with the Spirit-Scolding Sect offering generous cultivation time in its Holy Land. On the Sixteenth Layer, Qin Hao faced an identical white-robed copy who matched his abilities and attacked him with his own techniques.

• Qi Zhiyuan told Ke Cheng that the Spirit-Scolding Sect’s hall master had offered Qin Hao membership and three months of cultivation in the Spirit-Scolding Holy Land.
• Ke Cheng, Qi Zhiyuan, and He Kai agreed to treat Qin Hao courteously, while Spirit Martial Academy also tried to recruit him with a less generous offer.
• Qin Hao confronted a white-robed duplicate on the Sixteenth Layer, and the two exchanged challenges.
• Qin Hao attacked with Near at Hand, Far Away and the Setting Sun Sword, but the duplicate used the Great Heavenly Dipper Art to weaken his strike and force him back.
• The duplicate used Qin Hao’s movement technique and launched a Destruction Laws sword attack at him.