Chapter Summaries

Nie Yun recited the Dao Race sacred canon Carefree Wandering and reached the peak of Heaven Level soul strength, while Tantai Lingyue revealed that she had to return to her family. As the Myriad Tide Thunder Sea collapsed the passage, Tantai Lingyue confessed her love and sent Nie Yun to safety before disappearing with the Spatial Cage Zone.

• Nie Yun understood the ancient Dao Race characters through his Heavenly Ear Master talent and recited Carefree Wandering, raising his soul to 999 gradients.
• Tantai Lingyue questioned how Nie Yun could read the sacred canon, and he explained his Heavenly Ear talent.
• Tantai Lingyue collected Daoist Diesheng's corpse, triggering the passage's collapse as the great tide of the Myriad Tide Thunder Sea arrived.
• Tantai Lingyue told Nie Yun she had to return to her family and warned him not to seek her out until he was strong enough.
• Tantai Lingyue confessed that she loved Nie Yun, then sent him out of the Spatial Cage Zone as she vanished with it.
• Nie Yun vowed to bring Tantai Lingyue back and declared that he loved her in both his Past Life and this life.

After Tantai Lingyue returned to her family, Nie Yun resolved to grow strong enough to help her stabilize her Dao Heart. Back at Huayun Sect, he prepared for the sect grand ceremony and learned why human cultivation rarely used Soul Force in battle.

• Nie Yun spent three days recalling Tantai Lingyue and decided to use their separation to increase his strength before helping her.
• Nie Yun returned to Huayun Sect, where Elder Dong told him the sect grand ceremony would be held in a week.
• Elder Dong admitted Tantai Lingyue had only borrowed his name as a master and that he knew nothing about her family.
• Nie Yun went to Lingxiao Peak and questioned Old Drunkard's teaching, which focused on combining physical strength and dharma power without using the soul.
• Old Drunkard explained that Soul Force could enhance combat only after reaching Earth Level Great Perfection, so the ancestor of Martial Dao Masters had designed human cultivation around breaking strength with strength.

Nie Yun struggled with Old Drunkard’s warning that his many Talents kept him from mastering any one of them, and he entered a month of seclusion to decide what to do. He finally emerged amid a surge of power that shook the Huayun Sect, leaving everyone to wonder whether he had succeeded in overcoming his dilemma.

• Old Drunkard advised Nie Yun to focus on a few Talents and master them, prompting Nie Yun to question whether he should abandon some of his twenty-six Talents.
• Nie Yun remained alone in the Formation Hall for a month, unable to bring himself to give up any of his Talents.
• Yi Qing and the others worried about Nie Yun’s prolonged seclusion, while the four great elders advanced rapidly with Old Drunkard’s help in the Spatial Cage Zone.
• Old Drunkard told everyone that Nie Yun’s insight might make him a peerless powerhouse or cause him to fall into ruin.
• The spiritual energy and ground throughout the Huayun Sect shook as a tremendous aura surged from the Formation Hall.
• Nie Yun flew out of the Formation Hall, dispersed the spiritual energy with a wave, and stopped the tremors.

After a month of seclusion, Nie Yun began fusing his dantians and saw his Main Dantian start transforming into its fourth form. He shared the Battle Soul Technique and other powerful martial arts with the New Huayun Sect, leaving its elders convinced that unifying the sects had been the right choice.

• Nie Yun explained to Old Drunkard that he planned to combine his many talents into a unique Dao rather than abandon them or focus on only one.
• After a month of cultivation, Nie Yun had brought the three escape dantians close to fusion, strengthened his Soul Force, and seen his Main Dantian take on a faint sky-blue hue.
• Nie Yun summoned the Grand Elders and Supreme Elders and taught them the Battle Soul Technique, which could greatly increase their combat strength.
• Old Drunkard urged Nie Yun to keep the technique exclusive to the sect leader, but Nie Yun said it was designed for humans and could not be cultivated by the Demon Race.
• Nie Yun declared that the sect would make martial arts openly available and instructed that the Battle Soul Technique, the Martial Dao Void Breaking Fist, and other arts be carved onto the martial arena stele.
• Nie Yun gave elders from the former nine great sects jade tablets containing powerful new combat techniques, and their resentment toward the merger faded.

After a month of seclusion, Nie Yun shared his martial arts insights with Huayun Sect and strengthened the disciples’ unity. Yi Qing found her mother’s notes about Soul Masters and deduced that Mishin Sect’s Sacrifice Ground might hold answers about Mi Hua and the Soul Master; Nie Yun agreed to investigate with her and Luo Qingcheng.

• Nie Yun distributed the ultimate moves he had created and began teaching Huayun Sect’s disciples, improving their strength and unity.
• Yi Qing brought Nie Yun her mother’s notebook, and he used the Heavenly Ear Qi to understand its Soul Race writing.
• Nie Yun learned that Yan Zhi was an ancient Soul Summoner, that Yi Qing’s mother Ming Xinlan had served her as a Soul Master, and that Mi Hua’s interrupted ritual could have made him Yan Zhi’s servant.
• Yi Qing deduced that Mishin Sect’s founder might be connected to demon people and Soul Masters, and that the sect’s Sacrifice Ground could contain clues about how Mi Hua captured Ming Xinlan.
• Nie Yun agreed to accompany Yi Qing to Mishin Sect’s Sacrifice Ground, and Luo Qingcheng asked to join them; he accepted.

Nie Yun searched the Mishin Sect for its hidden Sacrifice Ground, which could absorb the heroic spirits of the dead, and used the sect master's seal to track it. His search revealed the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor's left and right envoys in a separate space, and he brought Luo Qingcheng and Yi Qing after them.

• Nie Yun learned that the Mishin Sect's elders did not know where its Sacrifice Ground was, and Mi Hua refused to reveal its location.
• Nie Yun, Luo Qingcheng, and Yi Qing arrived at the Mishin Sect, where Elder Dong Ke recognized Nie Yun and led them into Mishin Great Hall.
• Nie Yun searched the sect with his powerful spirit but found no trace of the Sacrifice Ground.
• Elder Dong Ke explained that the sect's dead could have their heroic spirits drawn into the Sacrifice Ground, though even the elders did not know its location.
• Nie Yun used the Mishin Sect's Sect Master's Seal to trace the hidden site and spotted the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor's left and right envoys in another space.
• Nie Yun tore open space and led Luo Qingcheng and Yi Qing after the two envoys without alerting them.

Nie Yun, Luo Qingcheng, and Yi Qing entered Mishin Sect's Sacrifice Ground and discovered a sinister Heroic Spirit Blood Sea containing a series of trials. After Yi Qing defeated the first heroic spirit, a second floating bridge appeared, and the group continued toward the next pavilion.

• The Black and White Twin Fiends opened a passage into Mishin Sect's Sacrifice Ground, and Nie Yun followed them inside with Luo Qingcheng and Yi Qing.
• Nie Yun concluded the Twin Fiends had used another method to leave, then protected his companions as they entered the demonic Sacrifice Ground.
• Yi Qing and Luo Qingcheng fought the countless demon spirits, but Nie Yun destroyed them all with his Immortal Sound Master Talent.
• The three crossed the blood sea and reached a pavilion, where a golden-armored heroic spirit announced the Seven Floating Bridge Trials.
• Yi Qing defeated the first heroic spirit, causing a new floating bridge and pavilion to appear.
• Nie Yun led Luo Qingcheng and Yi Qing toward the second pavilion to continue the trials.

Nie Yun discovered that the Broken Wing Arrows were powered by dragon blood and sealed Soul Force, then refined stronger arrows of his own. After the three passed all seven pavilion tests, they reached an altar where the Black and White Twin Fiends were performing hand seals beneath a golden sphere.

• Luo Qingcheng passed the second pavilion’s spear test by breaking through the old man’s attack with three linked arrows.
• Nie Yun examined Luo Qingcheng’s Broken Wing Arrow, identified its dragon blood and sealed Soul Force, and used his Formation Master skill to refine stronger arrows.
• Luo Qingcheng tested one of Nie Yun’s arrows in the third pavilion and killed its guardian with a single shot.
• The three crossed seven bridges and defeated the pavilion guardians, with Luo Qingcheng’s arrows killing the final one.
• The three arrived inside a light membrane and saw the Black and White Twin Fiends forming hand seals toward an altar beneath a golden sphere that emitted powerful soul pressure.

Nie Yun watched the Black and White Twin Fiends use Vengeful Souls and a costly sacrifice to transform the Soul Gathering Spirit Pearl into pure soul power for the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor. He seized the pearl, stopped the twin fiends’ attack, and revealed his overwhelming power.

• Nie Yun sent Yi Qing and the other girl into the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion, then watched Black Fiend release Vengeful Souls and feed them into the pearl.
• White Fiend offered precious treasures to Lord Mishin, whose will purified the souls inside the pearl and transformed it into a reddish-gold sphere of pure soul power.
• Nie Yun realized the sacrifice was intended to strengthen the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor, while the twin fiends prepared to take the sphere back to him.
• Black Fiend reached for the sphere, but Nie Yun seized it and stored it in his Storage Dantian.
• The Black and White Twin Fiends attacked Nie Yun, but he froze them and their attacks with a shout, and they recognized him as Nie Yun.

Nie Yun questioned the Black and White Twin Fiends about the Soul Gathering Spirit Pearl, but learned no way to restore Yi Qing’s mother. He returned to the Huayun Sect and secretly set out with Old Drunkard and Thousand Illusions for the Demon Country to find the ninth Sect Master’s Seal.

• Nie Yun subdued the Black and White Twin Fiends and learned that the Soul Gathering Spirit Pearl purified souls using Mishin’s power and that the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor had slaughtered an entire domain to gather Vengeful Souls.
• Nie Yun knocked the Black and White Twin Fiends unconscious, stored them for Old Drunkard’s plan, and kept the Soul Gathering Spirit Pearl for his future nirvana.
• Nie Yun searched the Mishin Sect with Luo Qingcheng and Yi Qing but found no information about Soul Masters or a way to save Yi Qing’s mother.
• Old Drunkard told Nie Yun that he had nearly subdued the Eighteen Demon Emperors and needed the ninth Sect Master’s Seal from the Demon Country.
• Nie Yun taught martial arts at the Huayun Sect for three days, announced that he was entering seclusion, and secretly met Old Drunkard and Thousand Illusions in the Void Turbulence.

Nie Yun, Old Drunkard, and Thousand Illusions traveled through the Void Turbulence toward the Demon Country while discussing the Myriad Worlds of the Heavens, the ancient races, and the Spirit Realm. As they reached the tenth demon region, Nie Yun renewed his resolve to fulfill his promise to Tantai Lingyue.

• Nie Yun, Old Drunkard, and Thousand Illusions chose to enter the Demonfolk World through the Void Turbulence rather than use a monitored Demon Luo Nether Domain.
• Old Drunkard told Nie Yun and Thousand Illusions about the countless worlds and races of ancient times, including a race that wielded advanced machinery.
• Old Drunkard explained the Six Paths of Heaven and Earth and described the Spirit Race's extraordinary innate strength.
• Old Drunkard suggested that Tantai Lingyue might come from the Spirit Realm, and Nie Yun vowed not to retreat from his promise to her.
• Thousand Illusions announced that they had reached the tenth demon region, where the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor resided.

Nie Yun, Old Drunkard, and Thousand Illusions entered Saint Emperor City in disguise to seek the final Sect Master's Seal, which the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor had kept beyond the reach of even the Martial Dao Master. They began gathering information at the Nine Nether Pavilion.

• Old Drunkard explained how the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor had restored the tenth region and warned that attacking Saint Emperor City directly would risk losing the Sect Master's Seal.
• Thousand Illusions proposed that they enter the city in disguise, since visitors needed entry spirit talismans and flying was forbidden.
• The three disguised themselves as Blue-faced Demon People, landed outside the city, and paid three High-grade Spirit Stones for temporary residence talismans.
• Nie Yun and his companions entered Saint Emperor City and observed its peaceful streets, where demonfolk from rival races lived and traded together.
• Old Drunkard suggested finding lodging, drinking wine, and gathering information, and Nie Yun led the group into the Nine Nether Pavilion.

Nie Yun, Old Drunkard, and Thousand Illusions visited Nine Nether Pavilion to gather information and find a way into Saint Emperor Palace. They learned that a competition would let its top three enter the palace, giving them a possible route to the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor and the Sect Master's Seal.

• Nie Yun chose a public table at Nine Nether Pavilion so they could listen for useful information, and paid generously for the restaurant's finest food and Cloud Serpent Wine.
• Thousand Illusions explained that Saint Emperor Palace was an independent space controlled by the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor and that a single-use Saint Emperor Talisman was needed to enter unnoticed.
• Nie Yun proposed finding someone who could enter the palace and turning him into a puppet, but Old Drunkard warned them not to act rashly because the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor might be on guard.
• Nie Yun overheard two demon people discussing a competition whose top three contestants would be allowed into Saint Emperor Palace and personally empowered by the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor.
• Nie Yun, Old Drunkard, and Thousand Illusions realized that the competition could provide them a way into Saint Emperor Palace.

Nie Yun learned that the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor was holding the Strength God Competition, where the top three winners would enter the Saint Emperor Palace. He and his companions planned to use the contest to infiltrate the palace and steal the Sect Master's Seal, while Nie Yun prepared to disguise himself and compete.

• Nie Yun asked two Demon People about the Strength God Competition and learned that it tested physical strength without mana and offered its top performers an audience with the Saint Emperor.
• Nie Yun paid the Nine Nether Pavilion for lodging and detailed competition information so that he and his companions could remain in the imperial city and register.
• Nie Yun, Thousand Illusions, and Old Drunkard agreed that the competition offered a chance to enter the Saint Emperor Palace and locate the Sect Master's Seal, with Nie Yun relying on his physical strength to place highly.
• The waiter delivered a dossier listing the competition rules and formidable registered Demon People, including Yao Wushang, Qing Yan, and Bronze.
• Nie Yun dismissed the competitors as no threat and asked what the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor looked like, while Old Drunkard and Thousand Illusions warned that the ruler was powerful and mysterious.

Nie Yun, under the alias Qing Feng, entered the Strength God Competition after defeating a Nine Nether Pavilion elder in a test of physical strength. The Nine Nether Pavilion Master asked him to smuggle him into the Saint Emperor Palace in exchange for Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid, leaving Nie Yun to decide whether to accept.

• Nie Yun and Thousand Illusions suspected the Strength God Competition had a hidden purpose, but found no clues and spent three days cultivating.
• Nie Yun sent Old Drunkard and Thousand Illusions into the Purple Splendor Cave Mansion before leaving to compete.
• Mei Hu brought Nie Yun to meet the Nine Nether Pavilion Master and four elders, where he found injured competitors, including the Ironback Demon Person he had met before.
• An elder challenged Nie Yun to withstand one punch, but Nie Yun shattered the elder's bones with a single punch and passed the test.
• The Nine Nether Pavilion Master privately asked Nie Yun to take him into the Saint Emperor Palace so he could meet the Saint Emperor, offering Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid and warning that he could block Nie Yun from competing if he refused.

Nie Yun accepted a hundred jin of Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid from the Nine Nether Pavilion Master and refined it while secretly neutralizing its hidden Soul Imprint. After the Pavilion Master tried to control him, Nie Yun overpowered and bewitched him, learning that he planned to search the Saint Emperor Palace for the Nine Nether Clan’s Nine Nether Scepter.

• The Nine Nether Pavilion Master offered Nie Yun a hundred jin of Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid in exchange for taking him to see the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor, and Nie Yun agreed.
• Nie Yun sensed the hidden Soul Imprint in the liquid, devised a refining method, and absorbed the Golden Marrow Spirit Liquid while the Pavilion Master helped him.
• After refining the liquid, Nie Yun took the Pavilion Master's spatial spirit weapon and left for the Strength God Competition site by carriage.
• Nie Yun entered the spatial spirit weapon and demanded to know the Pavilion Master's true purpose at the Saint Emperor Palace.
• The Pavilion Master triggered his Soul Imprint, but Nie Yun burned it away and bewitched him.
• The bewitched Pavilion Master revealed that he sought the Nine Nether Scepter of the Nine Nether Clan.

Nie Yun learned that the Nine Nether Pavilion Master sought to recover the Nine Nether Scepter from the Saint Emperor Palace and obtained his map and infiltration method. He then registered for the Strength God Competition, where he found himself queued behind the powerful Yao Wushang.

• The Nine Nether Pavilion Master revealed that the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor had usurped the Nine Nether Clan and that he planned to recover the Nine Nether Scepter from the Saint Emperor Palace.
• Nie Yun questioned the Pavilion Master's account and considered how the Heavenly Demon Saint Emperor might be connected to Yun Xuan and the Netherworld Phoenix Clan.
• The Nine Nether Pavilion Master gave Nie Yun a jade tablet containing the treasure vault's location and infiltration method, and Nie Yun memorized it before knocking him unconscious.
• Nie Yun returned to his carriage, reached the Strength God Competition plaza, and registered under the name Qing Feng in the C-class strength-testing zone.
• Nie Yun joined the C-class queue and recognized Yao Wushang ahead of him as one of the Demon Race's strongest body cultivators.

Nie Yun watched Yao Wushang dominate the strength test, then stepped forward and was mocked for his slight build. When Yao Wushang attacked him, Nie Yun defeated him with one punch and asked whether he qualified to take the assessment.

• Yao Wushang scored more than twenty-eight thousand on the strength-testing seal, far surpassing everyone tested before him.
• Yao Wushang ridiculed the other contestants as they failed to match his score, and the crowd mocked Nie Yun when he approached the seal.
• A black-clothed demon person told Nie Yun to leave, while Yao Wushang also dismissed him as trash.
• Nie Yun rushed at Yao Wushang, and their fists collided.
• Nie Yun shattered the bones in Yao Wushang's arm and sent him crashing into a wall with one punch.
• Nie Yun asked whether he was qualified to take the assessment.

Nie Yun passed the first physical-strength examination with a score of 37,888 and joined the strongest candidates from all eight zones. As the next test began, he learned that placing in its top three would largely determine the rankings and help him secure entry to the Saint Emperor Palace.

• Nie Yun struck the strength-testing seal with threefold strength and scored 37,888, surpassing Yao Wushang's result.
• Yao Wushang recovered, asked Nie Yun to accept him as a little brother, and explained that bathing in blood from a Demon Person ruin had transformed his body.
• After the examinations ended, Nie Yun and Yao Wushang joined roughly fifty candidates who had scored above ten thousand.
• Nie Yun heard that Yao Wuhen had scored over fifty thousand and judged that his cultivation had likely reached the Dantian Acupoint Realm.
• An elder announced the meridian-endurance examination and said its top three would essentially decide the rankings.

Nie Yun entered a meridian endurance test in a sea of Blood Thunder Qi, which he recognized as a powerful resource for refining his body. As the other candidates failed or struggled to absorb it, Nie Yun drew the sea’s Blood Thunder Qi into a massive tornado, leaving the elders stunned.

• Yao Shang led the candidates through a doorway into the Void Turbulence and explained the rules of the meridian endurance test.
• Nie Yun recognized the sea’s violent spiritual qi as Blood Thunder Qi and began absorbing it with the Spirit Rhinoceros Body Refining Technique.
• The elders discussed the need for candidates to endure the Blood Thunder Qi for at least one hour as most contestants suffered shattered meridians and were pulled from the sea.
• Yao Shang and the second elder spotted Yao Wuhen, Yao Wushang, Qing Feng, and Qing Yan still cultivating in the sea.
• Nie Yun’s absorption formed an enormous tornado that swallowed the Blood Thunder Qi and swept the other remaining candidates onto shore.