Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Xu Qingyang suspects Ye Feng and his companions are luring him into a trap at the Five Elements Dao Arena. He agrees to go, but first demands that they hand over all their rings. They comply, hoping to reclaim them after killing him, and Xu Qingying collects the rings.
• Xu Qingyang, Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying enter the arena, a ruined Buddhist site associated with Ksitigarbha. They see a worn stele bearing his vow: “Until hell is empty, I vow not to become a Buddha!”
• Across a golden lake, Chen Gong and the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion group spot valuable medicinal herbs beneath a pagoda. Xu Qingyang warns them that the lake is dangerous and the herbs may be bait.
• The group dismisses his warning as jealousy. Zhao Churan privately trusts Xu Qingyang’s judgment, but Chen Gong rushes across the water before she can stop him. A Flood Dragon erupts from the lake and attacks him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang reveals himself as crafty and cautious: he turns Ye Feng’s apparent invitation into an opportunity to seize the group’s rings, then warns others about the lake.
• Ye Feng masks his anger to preserve the murder plan, privately promising that Xu Qingyang will suffer later.
• Xu Qingying is delighted by the rings, while Qin Guanyu and Su Zilian recognize Xu Qingyang’s cleverness.
• Zhao Churan shows independent judgment and doubts her companions’ dismissal of Xu Qingyang. Chen Gong’s eagerness for treasure overrides caution, while Zhao Chenghuang and the others accuse Xu Qingyang of ulterior motives.

Significant themes

• Cunning and hidden motives: Both the Ye family’s invitation and the apparent treasures conceal danger.
• Greed versus caution: The lure of rare treasures drives Chen Gong to ignore a warning.
• Trust and misjudgment: Xu Qingyang offers genuine advice, but most of the group assumes he is acting out of envy.
• Buddhist legacy: The arena’s imagery and Ksitigarbha’s vow establish a sacred, ancient atmosphere against which the deadly lake unfolds.

Key plot points and events

• A Grotto-Heaven Realm flood dragon attacks the group crossing the lake, badly injuring Chen Gong and threatening Zhao Churan and the others.
• Chen Gong uses a Blazing Fire Pill to boost his cultivation and unleashes the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion’s forbidden Seven-Star Spirit-Sealing Art. The flood dragon easily destroys his attack and captures him, claiming the pagoda’s treasures belong to Ksitigarbha.
• Chen Gong begs Xu Qingyang for help. Xu initially holds back, and Xu Qingying and Su Zilian criticize Chen Gong for ignoring his warning. Ye Feng then tries to shame Xu into intervening, hoping the battle will weaken him.
• Xu defeats the flood dragon with the Grotto-Heaven Technique Dragons Beneath Heaven, a Scarlet Dragon attack that overwhelms the enemy through bloodline suppression. He also kills several more flood dragons and a Black Water Buffalo guarding the lake.
• Xu takes the twin buddha seal heavenly flower and crimson flame flower, then enters the Buddhist Pagoda. The plaque’s rule changes, allowing only those “bound to my Buddha” to enter. Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying get in, while Chen Gong, Zhao Churan, and Ye Feng’s group are excluded.
• Frustrated by being barred, Ye Feng refuses to accept the outcome. Zhao Chenghuang then spots a Formation Platform, hinting at another possible opportunity.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang proves far stronger than the others expected, calmly defeating multiple powerful lake guardians. He explains that the White Tiger King taught him Dragons Beneath Heaven, resolving his companions’ confusion.
• Chen Gong shifts from confidence in his forbidden art to desperation when it fails; after Xu saves him, he respectfully thanks him.
• Zhao Churan tries to protect Chen Gong and later pleads with Xu on the Thousand Mechanisms Pavilion’s behalf. She accepts that they must seek another opportunity when the pagoda bars them.
• Ye Feng reveals his manipulative intent: he invokes Xu’s father to provoke him, hoping to exploit any loss of strength. Xu recognizes the scheme and privately resolves to make him pay.
• Xu Qingying and Su Zilian defend Xu’s decision not to rescue Chen Gong, emphasizing that Chen Gong ignored his warning.

Significant themes

• Power and humility: Chen Gong’s secret technique is no match for the flood dragon, while Xu’s strength changes the balance of the encounter.
• Consequences of ignoring warnings: Chen Gong’s predicament follows his refusal to heed Xu’s earlier caution.
• Manipulation and rivalry: Ye Feng uses moral pressure as a tactic in his conflict with Xu.
• Fate and spiritual worthiness: Entry to the pagoda depends on a changing inscription, separating those admitted from those left outside.
• Opportunity and exclusion: Though Xu claims the lake’s treasures and enters the pagoda, the others must confront the limits placed on their access.

Key events

• Chen Gong’s group finds a Formation Platform outside the Buddhist Pagoda, and Ye Feng follows them.
• Inside the Pagoda, Xu Qingyang discovers that the first floor’s eight inscribed steles describe the Eight Dragon Tribes. They merge into the Human World Stele, which can boost combat strength up to seven times; the golden light entering Xu Qingyang helps him control it.
• Xu Qingyang reunites with Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying. The group climbs to the ninth floor, finding no obstacles or treasures on the lower levels.
• On the ninth floor, Xu Qingyang tests the space with a sword strike. Treasures then appear: a crimson lamp, staff, prayer beads, and Buddhist seal. Xu Qingying nearly touches them, but Xu warns her to stop.
• Qin Guanyu tests the staff with her beetle technique, triggering the Buddha statue and a powerful formation infused with Buddhist Dao.
• The Desolate Tower upgrades and grants Xu Qingyang an invincible Buddhist Dao mode. He removes the Buddhist Dao power, then uses the Formation Spear to destroy the formation.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang remains cautious and perceptive, recognizing that the ninth floor’s apparent treasures are likely part of a trial. His abilities impress the others when he overcomes the Buddhist-powered formation.
• Qin Guanyu is alert to danger and tests the staff, but is astonished by Xu Qingyang’s command of Buddhist power.
• Xu Qingying shows eagerness to claim the treasures but obeys Xu’s warning. Su Zilian and Xu Qingying react with admiration and excitement after he breaks the formation.
• The group works cooperatively: Qin Guanyu warns Su Zilian, while Xu Qingyang protects Xu Qingying from triggering the trap.

Significant themes

• Caution in the pursuit of power: Attractive treasures may conceal dangerous tests.
• Unexpected abilities and hidden support: Xu Qingyang’s success depends both on his own skill and the Desolate Tower’s timely upgrade.
• Trust and teamwork: The group relies on warnings and cooperation as they face an unfamiliar threat.

• The Buddhist legacy: Once the formation left by Ksitigarbha breaks, the Buddha statue shatters and reveals a golden Śarīra. A figure of Buddha image will appears, identifying himself as Monk Yixing, a disciple of Ksitigarbha who has waited for someone tied to him by fate. He offers his legacy to Xu Qingyang, who refuses, confident that his Heavenly Books already hold ample inheritances.
• A buried history and a shared obligation: Monk Yixing reveals that, a hundred thousand years ago, the gods of the Five Elements Dao Arena and the wider Kunlun Realm were suppressed and sealed by an unknown power—possibly to turn Kunlun into a prison. He suspects the Five Elements Dao Arena may be where the gods were sealed. Before disappearing, he urges the group to take the Buddhist artifacts, and his image’s final gift helps all four companions advance in cultivation. The group accepts that this boon gives them a karmic obligation to investigate the mystery.
• Leaving the pagoda: Xu Qingyang takes the Dharma Staff and Śarīra; Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying collect the remaining Buddhist treasures. Su Zilian notes that ancient records say nothing about the gods’ sealing. Xu Qingyang reasons that, if the account is true, the event may have been deliberately erased from history.
• Ye Feng’s ambush: At a nearby Formation Platform, the group finds Chen Gong, Zhao Churan, Ye Feng, and others trying to break a formation based on the primordial eight trigrams. Xu Qingyang says he can handle it, but Ye Feng assumes he has obtained valuable treasures in the pagoda and springs a trap, raising eighteen Crimson Flame Pillars around him. Ye Feng dismisses Qin Guanyu’s warning about Azure Waves Academy, relying on the backing of the War God Academy and his family.
• Xu Qingyang’s response: Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying threaten Ye Feng, while Chen Gong and the others prepare to intervene. Xu Qingyang effortlessly destroys all eighteen pillars with one punch, appears before Ye Feng, and stomps him beneath his foot, mocking his weakness.
  Character developments and interactions: Xu Qingyang’s refusal of the legacy reinforces his self-confidence, while his acceptance of Monk Yixing’s gift—and the artifacts—binds him and his companions to the unresolved history. Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying show loyalty and protectiveness, openly confronting Ye Feng on Xu’s behalf. Ye Feng’s greed and overconfidence drive his ambush, but his trap proves no match for Xu Qingyang.
  Themes: The chapter introduces hidden history, erased truths, and the burden of karmic ties. It also contrasts inherited power with personal strength, and builds tension between the group’s shared mission and the escalating conflict with Ye Feng.

Plot points and events

• Xu Qingyang reveals he spared Ye Feng to see what the Nanyang Ye Family’s fighters could do. Ye Feng attacks with the Heavenly Demon Art, but Xu Qingyang’s fist destroys its demonic mountains.
• Ye Feng summons the Ye Family ancestor’s Dharma manifestation, confident it will kill Xu and force him to surrender his treasures. Xu instead uses the Human World Stele to raise his aura to the peak of the Grotto-Heaven Realm and his combat strength to the Inscription Realm.
• Xu’s sword shatters the manifestation’s shield and destroys the manifestation itself. He then kills Ye Feng and the other Ye Family experts.
• Xu returns to the Formation Platform and disables its formation, but the surroundings abruptly transform into a desolate, yin-filled mountain with strange flowers and a sword tomb. A stele identifies the place as Great Nether Mountain and warns visitors not to proceed.
• Qin Guanyu calls Great Nether Mountain an ominous place, while Chen Gong adds that the Thousand Mechanisms Codex identifies it as the birthplace of True Lord Yitian.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang’s overwhelming strength is confirmed: he defeats a formidable ancestral manifestation and remains composed throughout Ye Feng’s threats.
• Ye Feng’s confidence turns to disbelief and defeat; his reliance on the ancestor’s power proves futile.
• Qin Guanyu, Chen Gong, and the others are stunned by Xu’s ability, with Chen judging him even stronger than the White Tiger King. Zhao Churan feels admiration and romantic excitement, while Zhao Chenghuang regrets having spoken disrespectfully to Xu earlier.
• Qin Guanyu and Chen Gong offer different accounts of Great Nether Mountain, prompting Xu to question whether its ominous reputation conceals a deeper secret.

Significant themes

• Power and hubris: Ye Feng’s threats and confidence collapse before Xu’s superior strength.
• Reputation versus reality: Xu’s demonstrated abilities surpass even the celebrated White Tiger King’s, while the mountain’s ominous legends may disguise its true nature.
• Mystery and discovery: The hidden mountain, sword tomb, and link to True Lord Yitian introduce a new enigma for the group.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Qingyang and his companions climb Great Nether Mountain to investigate its connection to True Lord Yitian and the ancient sealing site.
• In the Sword Mound, the Crimson Flame Ancient Lamp flies from Su Zilian to a Heavenly Sun Tree. The tree rapidly grows and floods the area with fiery light, causing the ground to crack and an ancient aura to emerge.
• A second glazed-bronze Formation Platform rises from underground. Xu Qingyang’s Dharma Staff lands on it, triggering its response and releasing a girl in a red dress.
• The girl introduces herself as Luo Qianyu, a former young sovereign of the Luo Clan from a hundred thousand years ago. She recounts that the Devil Race allied with mysterious forces beyond Kunlun, devastating the realm. Great Emperor Pangu sacrificed himself, and the invaders—and Kunlun’s defenders—were ultimately sealed.
• Luo Qianyu warns that opening the Formation Platform means the Devil Race and mysterious forces may eventually escape. Xu Qingyang immediately strengthens the seals with formations and the Buddhist Great Dao.
• A demonic projection appears and challenges the group. Xu Qingyang destroys it with the Red Sparrow Sword.
• The True Spirit Bead inside Qin Guanyu flies into the alluring flower. Luo Qianyu identifies it as the Blood Demon Pearl, warning that it can release a Demonic Spirit Clone of Blood Demon.

Character developments

• Xu Qingyang takes decisive responsibility for containing the threat. Luo Qianyu is impressed by his rare command of both formations and the Buddhist Great Dao.
• Luo Qianyu shifts from a mysterious, aloof figure to a source of crucial historical knowledge—and delivers a new warning about the Blood Demon Pearl.
• Qin Guanyu asks about the fate of the ancient enemies and is alarmed to learn the danger may return. The revelation that the bead within him is the Blood Demon Pearl puts him at the center of the new threat.
• Su Zilian, Xu Qingying, Chen Gong, and Zhao Churan share the group’s shock at the revelation that the ancient enemies could emerge again.

Character interactions

• Xu Qingyang questions Luo Qianyu about the ancient seal; she identifies him as the “destined one” after learning Monk Yixing informed him.
• Qin Guanyu presses Luo Qianyu for details about the Devil Race and mysterious forces.
• Xu Qingyang protects the group by resealing the Sword Mound and destroying the demonic projection.
• Luo Qianyu recognizes Qin Guanyu’s bead and explains its danger, leaving the group with an urgent new concern.

Significant themes

• Ancient history resurfacing: The present-day characters uncover a conflict that shaped Kunlun a hundred thousand years earlier.
• Power and responsibility: Xu Qingyang uses his abilities not merely to fight but to contain a threat to the entire realm.
• Fragile containment: The old seals can be disturbed, and even a successful defense may not prevent future danger.
• Hidden danger: An object carried by Qin Guanyu is revealed to be tied to the very demonic forces they are trying to suppress.

Key plot points and events

• The group realizes Qin Guanyu’s “True Spirit Bead” is actually the Devil Race’s Blood Demon Pearl. Xu Qingyang deduces that Mu Qingyu used Qin as an unwitting scapegoat to release Demon Spirit and conceal his own identity.
• Demon Spirit appears in a blood-red robe and attacks with demonic flowers. Xu Qingyang absorbs and refines them instantly using the Great Dao Primordial Chaos Art, astonishing the others.
• Demon Spirit’s roar sends Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, Xu Qingying, and others flying and injures them. Xu Qingyang retaliates with “Three Swords” and “Three Thousand Great Daos,” but Demon Spirit destroys the attacks.
• Xu Qingyang then uses “Four Swords” and “Lone Boat Immortal’s Bow.” Its immortal phantom overwhelms Demon Spirit’s Heavenly Demon Pattern and wounds her.
• As Demon Spirit charges again with a black demonic saber, Xu Qingyang reveals his golden Sword Martial Soul. Swords rise from the Sword Mound to gather around it, suggesting his power has surpassed Emperor Rank.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang remains confident against a formidable foe, protects his sister and fiancée, and demonstrates powerful abilities—including an apparently elevated Sword Martial Soul.
• Qin Guanyu learns she was manipulated by Mu Qingyu and vows revenge. She and the others are shocked by Xu Qingyang’s strength.
• Demon Spirit initially mocks Xu Qingyang, but his attacks prove capable of injuring her.
• Luo Qianyu recognizes the danger Demon Spirit poses to the Kunlun Realm and warns Xu Qingyang not to underestimate her.
• Su Zilian and Xu Qingying are injured by Demon Spirit’s attack, then cheer Xu Qingyang after he wounds her. Their close bond with him fuels his anger and resolve.

Significant themes

• Deception and betrayal: Mu Qingyu exploits Qin Guanyu’s trust and leaves her to bear the consequences.
• Protective loyalty: Xu Qingyang’s fury at the danger to his loved ones drives his response.
• Power and overconfidence: Demon Spirit’s confidence is challenged by Xu Qingyang’s unexpected abilities.
• Escalating threat: Despite being an avatar trapped in the secret realm, Demon Spirit remains dangerous, with the fate of the Kunlun Realm potentially at stake.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Qingyang defeats Demon Spirit by using both his supreme-grade Sword Martial Soul and Vermilion Bird Martial Soul. The two attack through her defenses and destroy her, though she warns that the Devil Race will target him when it breaks free.
• The Desolate Tower tells Xu Qingyang that space law is nearby. Because pursuing it could be dangerous, he urges Qin Guanyu, Su Zilian, and Xu Qingying to leave.
• After some hesitation, Qin Guanyu escorts the women and the other companions away. Luo Qianyu stays, offering her knowledge of Great Nether Mountain.
• Xu Qingyang and Luo Qianyu find a formation of twelve stone figures. Luo suspects it is a Nine-Star Conjunction Formation, possibly built by a mysterious faction to keep the sealed Spirit Race from escaping.
• Xu Qingyang senses that the space law is inside, analyzes and breaks the formation, then takes the law. An angry voice identifies the formation as the work of the Immortal Hall and threatens to kill him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang reveals a second Martial Soul, astonishing everyone; his True Dragon Martial Soul remains undisclosed. He is confident in his abilities and determined to pursue the space law despite the danger.
• Su Zilian and Xu Qingying show their concern and admiration for Xu Qingyang, but leave when he insists. Qin Guanyu reluctantly accepts that they cannot help him.
• Luo Qianyu remains with Xu Qingyang out of curiosity and to assist. She is surprised by how easily he breaks the formation and casually dismisses her concern about guards.
• Demon Spirit’s defeat establishes Xu Qingyang as a serious threat to the Devil Race.

Significant themes

• Power and hidden potential: Xu Qingyang’s multiple Martial Souls and formation skills exceed others’ expectations.
• Protection and sacrifice: He sends his loved ones away to spare them the danger, while choosing to face it himself.
• Ancient mysteries and looming conflict: The formation links the sealed Spirit Race, a mysterious faction, the Immortal Hall, and the Devil Race—suggesting greater struggles ahead.

Plot points

• The golden-robed Immortal Hall expert, Xue Qinglu, admits that the Immortal Hall—and other Heavenly Court forces—colluded with the Devil Race a hundred thousand years earlier.
• The Desolate Tower upgrades and activates Spirit Transformation Invincible Mode for Xu Qingyang. He kills Xue Qinglu with a single sword strike, stunning Luo Qianyu.
• Xu confirms that he has obtained the Space Law and intends to leave. When a violet glow reveals a Sky-Devouring Peng attempting to break through to eighth rank, he decides to make it his mount.
• Xu and Luo find the Peng in a cave. After Xu breaks its formation, the creature is struck by tribulation lightning and left badly injured.
• The Peng mistakes Xu for food and attacks, hoping to gain the strength to become an eighth-rank beast. Xu easily slaps it away and asks whether it still wants to eat him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang reveals a dramatic increase in power, dispatching Xue Qinglu effortlessly. His confidence and ambition show again in his plan to tame a notoriously untamable beast.
• Luo Qianyu learns more about the Heavenly Court’s past betrayal and is astonished by Xu’s strength. She warns him about the Peng, follows him anyway, and later teases the creature after Xu defeats it.
• The Sky-Devouring Peng shifts from proud predator to helpless target after its failed breakthrough and Xu’s counterattack.
• Xu and Luo’s contrasting attitudes—his bold certainty and her cautious concern—give way to playful banter as the Peng’s arrogance collapses.

Significant themes

• Power and reversal: Supposedly formidable figures can be swiftly humbled by someone stronger.
• Ambition and audacity: Xu aims not merely to survive the encounter but to claim a powerful, supposedly untamable beast.
• Betrayal and hidden history: Xue Qinglu’s confession points to a deep, longstanding conspiracy against Kunlun.

Plot points and events

• Xu Qingyang forces the Sky-Devouring Peng to choose between serving him and dying. It submits, and Xu places a Divine Soul Mark in its consciousness to prevent betrayal.
• To prove its loyalty, the Peng gives Xu a small green tree it calls the Ancient Tree of Life. The Desolate Tower identifies it as a seedling of the even rarer Divine Tree of Life, a treasure capable of rapidly restoring grievous injuries. Xu promises to help the Peng reach eighth rank and names it Tuntun.
• Xu, Luo Qianyu, and Tuntun leave the God-Burial Mountain Secret Realm. Qin Guanyu has stayed behind, both to await Xu and to deal with Mu Qingyu. She plans to accompany Xu to the Azure Waves Academy, where he is to become dean.
• The group visits the City Lord’s Estate, but finds it deserted. Suspecting Mu Qingyu may be hiding there, they leave the hall—and are trapped when formations suddenly seal the area.
• Mu Qingyu appears with more than a dozen allies. Qin accuses him of deceiving her into bringing the Devil Race’s Blood Demon Pearl into the secret realm. Xu urges her to hold back so they can learn the truth about Mu’s ties to the Devil Race. Mu responds with a threat, claiming they are already doomed.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Qingyang demonstrates his growing power and authority by subduing Tuntun, securing a rare healing treasure, and calmly directing the confrontation with Mu Qingyu.
• Tuntun shifts from defiance to fearful obedience, then tries to earn Xu’s favor by offering the tree. It is delighted to learn its master is to lead the Azure Waves Academy.
• Qin Guanyu is relieved that Xu returns unharmed, but her anger at Mu’s betrayal remains intense. She agrees with Xu that they should confront the City Lord’s Estate before leaving.
• Mu Qingyu reveals open hostility and appears prepared for the group’s arrival, using a formation and armed allies to trap them.

Significant themes

• Power and loyalty: Tuntun submits under threat, with the Divine Soul Mark ensuring its obedience.
• Ambition and reward: Xu promises to help Tuntun advance in return for its service and loyalty.
• Betrayal and hidden allegiance: Qin’s accusation raises questions about Mu Qingyu’s connection to the Devil Race.
• Escalating danger: The group’s return from the secret realm leads directly into an ambush, setting up a confrontation and investigation.