Chapter Summaries

Qin Hao pursued Shi Youbing after defeating him, but Shi Youbing used Mystic Gate Earth Escape to flee the Heaven-Class cultivation plaza. He escaped into the Earth Character plaza, leaving Qin Hao unable to continue the fight under Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain’s rules.

• Qin Hao used Near at Hand, Far Away to catch up with Shi Youbing, who then activated Mystic Gate Earth Escape and plunged underground.
• Qin Hao sensed Shi Youbing’s Earth Laws and pursued him with a barrage of Sword Shadows.
• Shi Youbing pushed his Earth Laws to the limit, broke through to Second-Order Perfection, and tried to escape the plaza.
• A Sword Shadow struck Shi Youbing and wounded him, but he burst into the Earth Character cultivation plaza before Qin Hao could finish him.
• Shi Youbing threatened Qin Hao from a distance, while Qin Hao accepted that the rules barred him from pursuing him outside the plaza.

After defeating Shi Youbing and taking the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber, Qin Hao began preparing for the Azure Flame Grand Tournament. At the Shi Family estate, Ancestor Yanshi learned of Shi Youbing’s defeat and reacted with fury.

• Qin Hao entered the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber as the people in Heaven-Class Plaza marveled at his recent victories and predicted his reputation would spread through Holy City.
• Qin Hao assessed the chamber’s abundant Origin Laws and Soul Power, then planned to strengthen his Little Sword Martial Soul, improve his Laws, and refine his sword techniques before the tournament.
• Qin Hao named his defensive sword technique Watertight Defense and summoned his Time Doppelganger to study the Time Laws while he trained his Martial Soul, Destruction Laws, Vitality Laws, and sword moves.
• At the Shi Family estate, an Elder told Ancestor Yanshi that Qin Hao had defeated Shi Youbing and taken the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber.
• Ancestor Yanshi erupted in anger and demanded confirmation of the news.

Ancestor Yanshi learned that Qin Hao had defeated Shi Youbing and discovered Qin Hao possessed an Azure Flame Sect Inner Disciple Token. He decided the Shi Family could use Qin Hao’s loved ones to force him to surrender it.

• A Shi Family Elder reported that Qin Hao had defeated Shi Youbing, taken the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber, and left him severely injured.
• Ancestor Yanshi rejected the Elder’s suggestion to seize Qin Hao on the Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain, fearing retaliation from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion and Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
• A Shi Family Guard presented intelligence revealing Qin Hao’s humble origins and Yellow Tier First Grade Martial Soul, which led Ancestor Yanshi to suspect Qin Hao had found an extraordinary opportunity.
• Ancestor Yanshi learned Qin Hao had passed the Azure Flame Heavenly Stairway’s Inner Gate test and earned an Azure Flame Sect Inner Disciple Token.
• Ancestor Yanshi decided the Shi Family should seize Qin Hao’s family and fiancée to force him to hand over the token.

Ancestor Yanshi ordered the Shi Family to prepare to seal off Tianshui City and annihilate Qin Hao’s clan, while he checked on Shi Youbing’s condition. After three days of cultivation, Qin Hao advanced his laws and Martial Soul, then used the Sparring Stone to improve his sword techniques.

• Ancestor Yanshi learned that Mu Ziqing was Qin Hao’s fiancée and, because Elder Shuixian protected her, ordered the Shi Family to seal off Tianshui City and target the Qin family and Myriad Phenomena Hall.
• Ancestor Yanshi projected his aura through a Jade Slip while the Shi Family Elder and the golden-armored man agreed to follow his orders.
• Qin Hao cultivated in the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber for three days, advancing his Destruction Laws to the Second-Order and his Vitality Laws to the First-Order.
• Qin Hao discovered that his Little Sword Martial Soul had reached the Ninth Grade of the Mystic Tier.
• Qin Hao channeled his True Essence into the Sparring Stone to try to improve Shadowless Trace and Watertight Defense.

Qin Hao used the Sparring Stone to practice Shadowless Trace, which it recorded as a High-Rank Secret Technique, and studied how to combine its Sword Shadows into a stronger attack. Meanwhile, Shi Youbing recovered from his wounds with a pill from Ancestor Yanshi and vowed to meet his expectations.

• Qin Hao demonstrated Shadowless Trace to the Sparring Stone, and its young figure classified the move as a High-Rank Secret Technique.
• Qin Hao learned that each practice session allowed only one technique, then attacked the young figure with Shadowless Trace.
• The young figure copied Qin Hao's move and merged its Sword Shadows into a powerful strike, prompting Qin Hao to rethink how to combine his own Sword Shadows.
• Qin Hao attacked again, eager to make every Sword Shadow merge into one.
• Shi Youbing recovered from the damage caused by the Destruction Laws, thanked Ancestor Yanshi for the pill, and promised not to disappoint him.

After Shi Youbing lost to Qin Hao, Ancestor Yanshi planned to take Qin Hao’s Azure Flame Sect Inner Gate Disciple Token by threatening his friends and family. As Qin Hao remained unaware, a powerful enemy arrived above the Myriad Phenomena Hall.

• Ancestor Yanshi told Shi Youbing that Qin Hao held an Azure Flame Sect Inner Gate Disciple Token and explained his plan to threaten Qin Hao’s loved ones.
• Ancestor Yanshi ordered Shi Youbing to stay in seclusion, then secretly left for the Southern Reach.
• Sea Ancestor and Stone Ancestor reflected on the Myriad Phenomena Hall’s growth and wondered how Qin Hao and the others were preparing for the Azure Flame Grand Tournament.
• Heaven and Earth darkened as a dense surge of Origin Laws descended, and Sea Ancestor and Stone Ancestor sensed a powerful enemy approaching.

Ancestor Yanshi sealed Myriad Phenomena Hall inside a Black Flame Grand Formation and confronted its leaders. He revealed that he had come to punish Qin Hao for killing members of the Shi Family and taking their treasures, and threatened to make Qin Hao watch the hall’s people die.

• Black flames spread from the Main Peak and enclosed all of Myriad Phenomena Hall, killing disciples who touched the barrier.
• Sea Ancestor struck the membrane but was injured, and he and Stone Ancestor recognized its Darkness and Flame Laws as two Ninth-Order Origin Laws.
• Sea Ancestor and Stone Ancestor addressed the unseen intruder, while Sea Ancestor warned that Venerable Hun Yan and True Person Ling Yuan could intervene.
• Ancestor Yanshi appeared above the hall and declared that even Venerable Hun Yan and True Person Ling Yuan could not break his Black Flame Grand Formation.
• Ancestor Yanshi named Qin Hao as the reason for his attack, accusing him of killing Shi Family members and stealing their treasures, then vowed to make him witness the hall’s destruction.

Ancestor Yanshi sealed the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City to force Qin Hao to face him. He left Qin Yuntian gravely wounded and threatened to kill the Qin family after capturing Qin Hao.

• Ancestor Yanshi's Ninth-Order Origin Laws array trapped everyone inside the Myriad Phenomena Hall, and Sea Ancestor and Stone Ancestor said they could not break it.
• Sea Ancestor realized Ancestor Yanshi was one of the Shi Family's three ancestors, while Stone Ancestor feared he would attack the Qin Family in Tianshui City.
• Ancestor Yanshi sealed Tianshui City and appeared in the Qin Family Head's Residence before Qin Xiongfeng and other Qin members arrived.
• Ancestor Yanshi struck Qin Yuntian with one palm, severely damaging his dantian and Meridians and causing his cultivation to plummet.
• Ancestor Yanshi vanished after threatening to kill the Qin family once he had captured Qin Hao.

After a mysterious expert injured Qin Yuntian and sealed Tianshui City, the Myriad Phenomena Hall elders stabilized his shattered Martial Soul but found that two Origin Laws were slowly killing him. The chapter ended with Qin Yuntian having six months to a year to live, while the Fifth Elder hoped Qin Hao might save him.

• Qin Yuntian told Qi Yuelan that the mysterious expert had come because of Qin Hao, while his injuries caused his cultivation to keep falling.
• The Third Elder and Fifth Elder arrived and said they could not break the formation sealing Tianshui City or contact the Myriad Phenomena Hall.
• The Fifth Elder found that the expert had damaged Qin Yuntian's Dantian and meridians, left two eroding Origin Laws inside him, and shattered his Martial Soul.
• The Third Elder used three Heaven Soul Pills entrusted to her by Qin Hao to stabilize Qin Yuntian's Martial Soul and stop his cultivation from falling at the Meridian Opening Ninth Layer.
• The Fifth Elder warned that the Origin Laws would consume Qin Yuntian within six months to a year, and said Qin Hao might still find a way to remove them.

Qin Hao learned the second form of Shadowless Trace, named it Yellow Springs Road, and began testing his strength while training for the Azure Flame Grand Tournament. Meanwhile, Ancestor Yanshi plotted to use the sealed-off Qin Family and Myriad Phenomena Hall to pressure Qin Hao, leaving Shi Youbing to find a discreet way to deliver the threat.

• Qin Yuntian ordered the Qin Family locked down and worried that Qin Hao was in danger, while his injuries worsened under the Darkness Laws and Flame Laws.
• Qin Hao successfully performed Shadowless Trace’s second form, named the strike Yellow Springs Road, and resolved to master it before using the Sparring Stone again.
• Qin Hao summoned a third-level Venerable Martial Realm opponent with two Third-Order Origin Laws and began sparring in the Cultivation Chamber.
• Ancestor Yanshi told Shi Youbing that Qin Hao held the Azure Flame Sect Inner Disciple Token and gave him a Crystal Ball recording the blockades of the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City.
• Shi Youbing tried to go to Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain to show Qin Hao the Crystal Ball, but Ancestor Yanshi rebuked him and warned that exposing the threat would damage the Shi Family’s reputation.

Ancestor Yanshi and Shi Youbing planned to use threats against Qin Hao’s family and allies to force Qin Hao to help Shi Youbing in the Azure Flame Grand Tournament. Shi Youbing’s messages went unanswered while Qin Hao cultivated in seclusion, and Qin Hao’s Watertight Defense reached minor mastery.

• Shi Youbing proposed keeping Qin Hao alive and making him help earn tournament points before killing him, and Ancestor Yanshi agreed to threaten Qin Hao’s loved ones if he refused.
• Shi Youbing bought Qin Hao’s Message Jade Slip contact and sent him a threat, but Qin Hao did not reply because he had cut off outside contact during secluded cultivation.
• Shi Youbing repeatedly messaged Qin Hao and considered going to Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain, but stayed away and cultivated at the inn instead.
• With two and a half months until the Azure Flame Grand Tournament, Qin Hao used the Sparring Stone to improve Watertight Defense after a month and a half of training.
• Qin Hao’s Watertight Defense reached minor mastery and could withstand an all-out attack from a Third-Layer Venerable of the Venerable Martial Realm.

Qin Hao practiced Watertight Defense in the Sparring Stone and evolved it into a stronger Sword Move called Gap-Seeking. He later mastered Gap-Seeking, Shadowless Trace, and Yellow Springs Road, greatly increasing his combat strength before the Azure Flame Grand Tournament.

• The Sparring Stone classified Qin Hao's Watertight Defense as a First-Grade Defensive Divine Ability, then demonstrated how to expand and compress its Sword Net.
• Qin Hao studied the technique, created a three-hundred-meter Sword Net, and compressed it to around sixty meters before naming the evolved move Gap-Seeking.
• Qin Hao spent the rest of the Sparring Stone session practicing Watertight Defense and Gap-Seeking, then spent a month consolidating his mastery.
• With a month and a half left before the Azure Flame Grand Tournament, Qin Hao used the Sparring Stone again to practice Shadowless Trace, but developed no new move.
• Qin Hao consolidated his insights into Shadowless Trace and Yellow Springs Road, then used them to fight a Fourth-Layer Venerable on equal terms and kill him.

Qin Hao made major gains during three months of cultivation and prepared for the Azure Flame Grand Tournament. In Holy City, Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng reunited and heard news of powerful Heaven-Piercing Tower challengers as they awaited their old companions.

• Qin Hao improved his sword moves, Origin Laws, and Little Sword Martial Soul, then resumed training with one month left before the Azure Flame Grand Tournament.
• Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng arrived in Holy City, reflected on Mu Ziqing’s progress, and wondered how Qin Hao and Chen Jianqing were doing.
• Jian Changfeng recalled that Chu Xu had disappeared after entering a Death Land, and the two companions went upstairs to gather information over a meal.
• Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng overheard that Yan Dai had cleared the Heaven-Piercing Tower and that Qiao Chuyu, a mysterious woman from the Western Region, had reached tenth place on the Potential Rankings.

Jian Changfeng and Zhuge Hong learned about hidden experts and heard how Qin Hao had risen to twenty-seventh on the Potential Rankings in the Holy City. Shi Youbing grew furious as the crowd praised Qin Hao, while Jian Changfeng and Zhuge Hong realized Qin Hao had reached the city and made a name for himself.

• Zhuge Hong told Jian Changfeng that Qiao Chuyu came from the hidden Ancient Martial Gate and described how a Half-Step Creation Great Expert's youngest disciple had defeated him in one move.
• A burly man recounted Qin Hao's rapid progress through the Heaven-Piercing Tower and his killing of Teng Jinshui, a Core Disciple of the Spirit-Scolding Sect.
• The burly man revealed that Qin Hao ranked twenty-seventh on the Potential Rankings after defeating Shi Youbing and forcing him to flee with a Divine Ability.
• Shi Youbing listened from a nearby table, grew livid, and restrained himself from attacking the burly man because of the Holy City's rules.
• Jian Changfeng and Zhuge Hong learned that Qin Hao was in the Holy City and had already become famous there.

Jian Changfeng and Zhuge Hong arrived in the Holy City and contacted Qin Hao, while Shi Youbing recognized them as Qin Hao’s fellow disciples and approached them. Qin Hao left Heaven-Piercing Azure Mountain to meet his friends, but Shi Youbing confronted them at the Heavenly Extremity Inn before Qin Hao arrived.

• Jian Changfeng sent Qin Hao a message after learning that Zhuge Hong had arrived in the Holy City.
• Shi Youbing overheard them discussing Qin Hao and recognized them as his fellow disciples.
• Qin Hao received Jian Changfeng’s message, decided to take a break from training, and headed for the Heavenly Extremity Inn.
• Shi Youbing approached Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng, and his pressure overwhelmed their auras.
• A bystander recognized Shi Youbing, and Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng realized he was the genius Qin Hao had defeated.

Shi Youbing waited at the Inn for Qin Hao, intending to settle their old score, while Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng tried to warn him off. Qin Hao arrived displaying far greater strength than he had three months earlier, and he spotted Shi Youbing seated with his friends.

• Shi Youbing confronted Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng and asked whether they had contacted Qin Hao.
• Jian Changfeng received a message from Qin Hao, and Shi Youbing decided to wait for him.
• Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng wondered why Shi Youbing dared challenge Qin Hao again.
• Qin Hao arrived at the Inn, astonishing the onlookers with his formidable Origin Laws.
• Qin Hao greeted Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng, then noticed Shi Youbing seated across from them.

Qin Hao met Shi Youbing at the Heavenly Extremity Inn and initially thought he had come to provoke him. Shi Youbing threatened Qin Hao’s father and the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City, forcing Qin Hao to follow him upstairs.

• Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng greeted Qin Hao and warned him that Shi Youbing had waited at the inn to see him.
• Shi Youbing envied Qin Hao’s progress in the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber, and Qin Hao said he was strong enough to kill him.
• Shi Youbing told Qin Hao that someone wanted to see him and headed for the third floor.
• Shi Youbing secretly threatened to destroy the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City and kill Qin Yuntian if Qin Hao refused to follow.
• Qin Hao restrained his killing intent, told Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng to wait, and went upstairs after Shi Youbing.

Qin Hao confronted Shi Youbing and learned that Ancestor Yanshi had sealed off the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City three months earlier, threatening his family and allies to force him to cooperate. Ancestor Yanshi demanded Qin Hao’s Azure Flame Sect Inner Gate Disciple Token and help getting Shi Youbing into the Azure Flame Tournament Top 100, and Qin Hao offered the token while vowing retribution if anyone was harmed.

• Qin Hao confronted Shi Youbing at the Heavenly Extremity Inn and wounded him with the Setting Sun Sword while demanding to know where Ancestor Yanshi was.
• Shi Youbing revealed that Ancestor Yanshi had sealed the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City with the Black Flame Grand Formation three months earlier, then showed Qin Hao scenes of the siege, including Qin Yuntian being gravely wounded.
• Qin Hao saw that the Crystal Ball showed his father and allies in danger, but held back from killing Shi Youbing to avoid provoking their deaths.
• Shi Youbing contacted Ancestor Yanshi, who appeared and demanded Qin Hao’s Azure Flame Sect Inner Gate Disciple Token and help getting Shi Youbing into the Azure Flame Tournament Top 100.
• Qin Hao produced the token and offered it to Ancestor Yanshi, warning that he would make the Shi Family pay ten-thousandfold if the Myriad Phenomena Hall or Tianshui City suffered harm.

Ancestor Yanshi forced Qin Hao to cooperate with Shi Youbing by threatening the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City, then promised him rewards while warning him not to resist. After leaving, Qin Hao’s Time Doppelganger vowed to destroy the Shi Family, while Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng noticed his barely contained rage.

• Ancestor Yanshi threatened to kill everyone in the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City unless Qin Hao accepted his terms, and Shi Youbing took Qin Hao’s Azure Flame Sect Inner Gate Disciple Token.
• Ancestor Yanshi promised to make Qin Hao a Shi Family guest Elder after the tournament, but Qin Hao turned and left without agreeing to submit.
• Shi Youbing claimed the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber for himself, and Ancestor Yanshi warned him to strengthen himself and remain wary of Qin Hao.
• Qin Hao’s white-clad Time Doppelganger left the Sword Martial Soul Cultivation Chamber and vowed to destroy the Shi Family and Ancestor Yanshi.
• At the Heavenly Extremity Inn, Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng saw Qin Hao descend with fury barely contained.

Qin Hao told Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng that Ancestor Yanshi had sealed the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City inside the Blackwater Grand Formation. He asked Elder Shuixian for help through Mu Ziqing, but Mu Ziqing did not respond, leaving him to wait for his Time Doppelganger to reach the Hundred Immortals Palace.

• Qin Hao led Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng to a private room and told them Ancestor Yanshi had sealed the Myriad Phenomena Hall and Tianshui City with Ninth-Order Origin Laws.
• Jian Changfeng tried to confront the Shi Family, but Qin Hao stopped him and explained that doing so would put him in danger.
• Qin Hao rejected Jian Changfeng's suggestion to expose Ancestor Yanshi, fearing it would endanger the sealed city and sect, and decided to seek Elder Shuixian's help.
• Qin Hao gave Zhuge Hong and Jian Changfeng Storage Spirit Rings with Spirit Stones so they could cultivate before the Azure Flame Grand Tournament.
• Qin Hao sent a message to Mu Ziqing, received no response, and waited for his Time Doppelganger to reach the Hundred Immortals Palace.