Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuan used the Crimson Blood Blade to kill Yang Chenguang and two other Fifth Order martial artists from the seven-man team. He pursued the three survivors as they fled in different directions, determined to leave none of them alive in Ink Abyss.

• Yang Chenguang and two teammates attacked Zhang Yuan from both sides, but Zhang Yuan killed Yang Chenguang with the Crimson Blood Blade and evaded the pincer attack.
• Zhang Yuan struck down one of the Fifth Order martial artists after the man’s teammate abandoned him and fled.
• Zhang Yuan caught the fleeing teammate who had witnessed the divine weapon and killed him after evading his hidden weapons.
• With four of Yang Chenguang’s seven-man team dead, the three remaining Fifth Order martial artists fled in different directions.
• Zhang Yuan used the Red-Eyed Crow’s eyes to locate another opponent and gave chase.

After killing most of Yang Chenguang’s team, Zhang Yuan encountered a lynx that could be contained by the Divine Nest but had no vacant chamber for it. He returned from Ink Abyss without Dao Merit, then received a summons from Wei Long, which he suspected concerned Yang Chenguang’s death.

• Zhang Yuan finished killing the last enemy he had pursued, collected the man’s Source Essence and longsword, and returned to the site of his ambush.
• He reflected on defeating Yang Chenguang’s team and continued into Ink Abyss in search of Dao Merit.
• A lynx appeared and triggered a prompt identifying it as a containable genetic entity, but Zhang Yuan let it go because all six Divine Nest chambers were occupied.
• Zhang Yuan spent the Source Essence from his kills upgrading the Divine Nest and fed the seven seized mystic weapons to the Crimson Blood Blade, which then fell dormant.
• After finding no Dao Merit, Zhang Yuan returned to Approaching Immortals Hamlet and planned to go back to Ink Abyss the next day.
• The following morning, Zhang Yuan received a Talisman Letter and hurried to meet Wei Long, suspecting the summons concerned his killing of Yang Chenguang.

After the Xia Ruins Heavenly King Hall stripped Zhang Yuan of his Guardian Deity General title, Wei Long reassured him that he could keep cultivating in the Martial Pavilion and advised him to apply for an Outer Guardian position. Zhang Yuan registered and continued hunting in Ink Abyss, aware that the Yang Family might target him in the selection.

• Wei Long told Zhang Yuan that he had lost his Guardian Deity General title but could remain in the Martial Pavilion until his term expired.
• Wei Long explained the Outer Guardian position and suggested Zhang Yuan register for the upcoming selection, which had three openings.
• Zhang Yuan applied at the Merit Hall on the first day of registration and learned that martial artists of any rank could compete.
• Zhang Yuan hunted in Ink Abyss and harvested two Baleful Infants while news spread that he had killed two more Yang Family experts, including Yang Chenguang.
• Rumors spread that the Yang Family would target Zhang Yuan during the Outer Guardian selection, and Zhang Yuan continued exploring Ink Abyss to earn Dao Merit for refining Qilin Pills.

Zhang Yuan upgraded the Divine Nest to the Sixth Level, then spent most of his accumulated Dao Merit commissioning Qilin Pills to advance his Six Harmonies Qilin Body. He left seclusion ahead of the Outer Guardian selection and tested his strength, reaching an eighteenfold enhancement.

• Zhang Yuan trapped a Lizard Weird Monster with the Thousand Silk Net, extracted a Baleful Infant, and exchanged it for 175 Dao Merit.
• The Divine Nest advanced from the Fifth Level to the Sixth Level, opening a new nest chamber that could house another host body.
• Zhang Yuan spent nearly all his Dao Merit commissioning Qilin Pills from a 530-year-old Qilin Grass.
• After receiving ten pills, Zhang Yuan refined four over twenty days of secluded cultivation and advanced his Six Harmonies Qilin Body.
• With the Outer Guardian selection two days away, Zhang Yuan activated the Black Giant Ant's ability and raised his enhancement to eighteenfold.

Zhang Yuan pushed his Black Giant Ant enhancement to twentyfold by training the Six Harmonies Qilin Body, then arrived at Chessboard Peak for the Outer Guardian selection. As the matches began, he received a secret warning that the Yang family had arranged for a Sixth Order Expert to target him.

• Zhang Yuan reached twentyfold strength enhancement but suffered bleeding when his body could not withstand the strain, then dismissed the Black Giant Ant's power.
• Zhang Yuan concluded that the Six Harmonies Qilin Body had raised the enhancement limit and felt confident about the coming selection.
• Zhang Yuan traveled to Chessboard Peak, joined the other candidates, and waited as the Martial Pavilion began the selection with public match-drawing.
• Zhang Yuan helped a young Dao Child who stumbled, and the boy secretly passed him a note warning him to beware of the Yang family and a Sixth Order Expert.
• Zhang Yuan realized that the Yang family intended to kill him during the selection and had greater influence than he had expected.

Zhang Yuan entered the Outer Guardian selection trials determined to test himself against a Sixth Order Expert, but his first two opponents conceded or fell quickly. After three straight wins, the trials paused for the night, with the final result left for the next day.

• Zhang Yuan watched the early duels and resolved not to concede if he faced a Sixth Order Expert.
• Li Xinan conceded to Zhang Yuan before their second-round duel, and the adjudicator declared Zhang Yuan the winner.
• Zhang Yuan won his next match and advanced to the third round.
• Zhang Yuan finished his third match in two exchanges, bringing his record to three straight wins.
• The Martial Pavilion elder ended the day's trials and announced that the final result would be decided tomorrow.

On the second day of the Upper Scene Heaven Martial Pavilion’s Outer Guardian selection, Zhang Yuan was matched against Yue Yihe, a Sixth Order expert secretly sent by the Yang family. Zhang Yuan withstood Yue Yihe’s first killing punch, but Yue Yihe attacked again with even greater force.

• Zhang Yuan recognized Yue Yihe’s concealed Sixth Order cultivation and accused him of entering the selection to target him.
• Yue Yihe revealed his sharp aura, challenged Zhang Yuan, and acknowledged his Six Harmonies Qilin Body.
• Zhang Yuan activated Black Giant Ant Power and met Yue Yihe’s heavy punch with the Mountain Shattering Style of the Great Stele Shattering Hand.
• The collision drove Zhang Yuan back three steps while cracking the stone platform beneath Yue Yihe.
• Yue Yihe resolved to cripple Zhang Yuan and launched a second, stronger punch.

Zhang Yuan used his perfected movement technique and powerful palm strikes to defeat Yue Yihe and knock the Sixth Order Expert from the arena. Humiliated and convinced Zhang Yuan had cheated, Yue Yihe demanded that the Martial Pavilion Elder investigate.

• Yue Yihe tried to end the fight quickly, but Zhang Yuan evaded his punch and struck him with the Cloud Dispersing Stance, forcing him to retreat to the platform's edge.
• Yue Yihe recovered and treated Zhang Yuan as an equal opponent, but Zhang Yuan launched a relentless attack with the Mountain Splitting Stance.
• After taking Zhang Yuan's successive palms, Yue Yihe stepped into empty air and was knocked out of the arena.
• Yue Yihe returned to the platform and asked the Martial Pavilion Elder to investigate Zhang Yuan for using prohibited means.

Zhang Yuan passed an inspection that cleared him of cheating, while Yue Yihe was expelled for his false accusation. Zhang Yuan went on to win the Guardian competition and later emerged from closed-door cultivation with his Six Harmonies Qilin Body near major completion.

• Yue Yihe insisted on an investigation, and Zhang Yuan agreed to be examined for prohibited pills, artifacts, and talismans.
• Two Upper Scene Heaven mages confirmed Zhang Yuan had not cheated, so the Martial Pavilion elder expelled Yue Yihe and awarded Zhang Yuan Yue Yihe's Dao Merit as compensation.
• Yue Yihe surrendered his Identity Token and left the sect, while spectators recognized Zhang Yuan's strength.
• Zhang Yuan won the remaining matches and secured the position of Outer Guardian of the Upper Scene Heaven Martial Pavilion.
• Zhang Yuan collected his new Identity Token and more than three thousand Dao Merit, then refined his remaining Qilin Pills in closed-door cultivation.
• Zhang Yuan emerged with his Six Harmonies Qilin Body near major completion.

After breaking through to a new limit in the Six Harmonies Qilin Body, Zhang Yuan searched Ink Abyss for a rare Lynx and learned from Wei Long that it was a Gray-Toothed Lynx. Wei Long also revealed that the Yang family had been punished for interfering with Zhang Yuan’s duel, but warned that they would hold a grudge against him.

• After a month of secluded cultivation, Zhang Yuan reached a new limit with the Black Giant Ant’s strength boost and punched the air with twenty-twofold power.
• Zhang Yuan rested for three days, then returned to Ink Abyss to search for the Lynx he wanted as his seventh possession, but could not find it.
• Zhang Yuan asked Wei Long about the rare beast, and Wei Long identified it as a Gray-Toothed Lynx and gave him a copy of the Mo Yuan Rare Beast Compendium.
• Wei Long told Zhang Yuan that someone had tampered with the duel name slips and that the sect had punished those responsible.
• Wei Long warned that the Yang family had paid for its actions but would hold Zhang Yuan responsible, and Zhang Yuan accepted the warning while remaining determined to face them.

Zhang Yuan used a Fire-Eared Rabbit as bait to trap and subdue a Gray-Toothed Lynx with his Thousand Silk Net. He absorbed the beast into his Divine Nest, gaining the Beginner Warbeast host body.

• A Long-Haired Fox approached the trapped Fire-Eared Rabbit but fled when it sensed danger.
• A Gray-Toothed Lynx pounced at the rabbit and was caught in Zhang Yuan's Golden Silk Net.
• Zhang Yuan struck the trapped Gray-Toothed Lynx until it feigned submission.
• Zhang Yuan activated the Divine Nest and absorbed the Gray-Toothed Lynx, adding a Level 1 Gray-Toothed Lynx host body to his status.

Zhang Yuan bonded with the Gray-Toothed Lynx and began raising it as his seventh warbeast before setting out to register it at Upper Scene Heaven. On the return journey through Ink Abyss, Yue Yihe ambushed him, but a sudden wave of terror struck the Sixth Order Expert just as he prepared to attack.

• Zhang Yuan activated the Gray-Toothed Lynx as his seventh host, and it obediently bonded with him.
• Zhang Yuan fed the Gray-Toothed Lynx Fire-Eared Rabbit and Rock Antelope meat, then decided to keep it outside the Divine Nest to help it grow.
• Zhang Yuan set off for Upper Scene Heaven to register the Gray-Toothed Lynx as a beast pet, with the Red-Eyed Crow scouting overhead.
• Zhang Yuan and the Gray-Toothed Lynx detected a hidden presence near the gorge, and Yue Yihe emerged to confront him.
• Yue Yihe drew his high-grade mystic weapon and prepared a powerful strike, but he suddenly felt overwhelming terror.

Zhang Yuan killed the Sixth Order Expert Yue Yihe with the Crimson Blood Blade and collected the rewards from his remains. He fed Yue Yihe’s mystic sword to the blade, stored the other spoils, and invested the Source Essence in the Gray-Toothed Lynx.

• Yue Yihe died before he could draw his sword, and Zhang Yuan gained 5,380 Source Essence.
• The Crimson Blood Blade asked Zhang Yuan for a reward, so he offered it Yue Yihe’s longsword.
• Yue Yihe’s longsword surrendered and revealed half of the Startling Feather Swordplay, but the Crimson Blood Blade devoured it.
• Zhang Yuan found healing pills, a bronze token, and 70,000 taels of Gold Bills in Yue Yihe’s pouch, then stored them and burned his clothes.
• Zhang Yuan poured all the Source Essence into the Gray-Toothed Lynx, planning to raise it to Fifth Level.

Zhang Yuan registered the Gray-Toothed Lynx at the Martial Pavilion and met Yuan Zishan, who offered him a Guardian Escort position to protect him from the Qian Capital Yang Family. He rejected her proposal and left her furious, knowing he had made another powerful enemy.

• Zhang Yuan registered the Gray-Toothed Lynx as his tamed pet and received a Beast Taming Token.
• Yuan Zishan met Zhang Yuan outside the Martial Pavilion and invited him to talk at a teahouse.
• Yuan Zishan offered Zhang Yuan five hundred Dao Merit for the Gray-Toothed Lynx, but the lynx snarled and Zhang Yuan refused.
• Yuan Zishan warned Zhang Yuan that the Qian Capital Yang Family had issued a kill order and offered him a Guardian Escort position, double treatment, and a possible chance to enter the Divine Realm.
• Zhang Yuan mocked Yuan Zishan about her father being her uncle by marriage, and she stormed out after threatening that he would regret refusing her.

Zhang Yuan ambushed and wiped out a Martial Pavilion team backed by the Qian Capital Yang Family in Ink Abyss. He intended to keep hunting the Yang family’s forces whenever they entered the Great Canyon.

• A ten-man team of Fourth and Fifth Order Martial Artists slaughtered Dragon-Headed Crocodiles in Ink Abyss and collected their valuable hides and back sinews.
• Zhang Yuan ambushed the team with lethal arrows, then fought the survivors in the thickets and killed them with the Taotie Saber.
• Zhang Yuan fed the Gray-Toothed Lynx Source Essence, advancing it to Level Three and making it a high-grade battle beast.
• Zhang Yuan discovered one wounded martial artist was still alive, learned that he recognized him, and killed him before he could plead for mercy.
• Zhang Yuan identified the team as a Yang Family-backed force and resolved to target the family’s forces in Ink Abyss.

Zhang Yuan harvested the spoils after ambushing two Yang family teams in the Ink Abyss, then was summoned by Wei Long. The sect ordered him to spend a year reflecting at Repentance Peak, and he accepted rather than leave Upper Scene Heaven.

• Zhang Yuan discovered that one slain man's heart was on the right side, then laid both corpses to rest and fed the crocodile meat to the Gray-Toothed Lynx and Red-Eyed Crow.
• Zhang Yuan stored the remaining crocodile meat and hides, sacrificed the leftover remains, and returned to Upper Scene Heaven.
• Two days later, Zhang Yuan wiped out a second Yang family team in the Ink Abyss, suffering minor injuries before returning to Approaching Immortals Hamlet to recover.
• After receiving a Talisman Letter from Wei Long, Zhang Yuan went to the Martial Pavilion, where Wei Long confronted him about the missing Yang family teams and the sect's response.
• Wei Long told Zhang Yuan that the sect had ordered him to reflect at Repentance Peak for one year or leave Upper Scene Heaven, and Zhang Yuan agreed to go.

Zhang Yuan began his year of punishment in a forbidden cave on Repentance Peak, where he arranged comfortable supplies and devoted himself to solitary cultivation. The chapter left him with a stronger foundation and a calmer, more settled understanding of the martial path.

• Zhang Yuan entered a forbidden cave on Repentance Peak and was ordered by a Discipline Hall disciple to remain there for one year.
• After cleaning the cave, Zhang Yuan settled into its solitude and bought daily necessities and medicinal meals from a Dao Child using Dao Merit.
• Zhang Yuan practiced the Mixed Origin Heavenly Astral Righteous Art, Army Breaker Saber Technique, Six Harmonies Qilin Body, and Great Stele Shattering Hand day after day.
• Zhang Yuan’s cultivation improved, and he used his isolation to settle his heart, reflect on what he had learned, and strengthen his foundation.

After a year of reflection on Repentance Peak, Zhang Yuan returned to the Martial Pavilion with his cultivation advanced to the late stage of the Fifth Order. Wei Long hired him to guard Mo Huaian on a three-to-six-month journey, and Zhang Yuan met his new charge after taking a few days to rest.

• Zhang Yuan ended his year of secluded cultivation on Repentance Peak, reached the late stage of the Fifth Order, and was released from his punishment.
• Zhang Yuan returned to the Martial Pavilion, where the disciples recognized him and Wei Long welcomed him back.
• Wei Long asked Zhang Yuan to accompany and protect Mo Huaian on a journey, offering ten Dao Merit per day for a mission lasting three months to half a year.
• Zhang Yuan accepted the Guardian Mission, exchanged Dao Merit for medicinal pills, and returned to his residence in Approaching Immortals Hamlet.
• Zhang Yuan spent three days resting before Mo Huaian arrived.

Zhang Yuan began his journey as Guardian of the Dao to Mo Huaian, a young True Disciple leaving Upper Scene Heaven for the first time. They set out with Zhang Yuan’s Gray-Toothed Lynx and made camp as Mo Huaian learned wilderness skills from him.

• Wei Long introduced Mo Huaian to Zhang Yuan, who agreed to protect him on his travels.
• After Zhang Yuan left, Mo Huaian told Wei Long that he sensed heavy Blood Fiend Qi around Zhang Yuan, and Wei Long urged him to trust Zhang Yuan and follow his lead.
• Zhang Yuan bought travel supplies, then met Mo Huaian at the mountain gate the next morning and rode out with him.
• Zhang Yuan summoned his Gray-Toothed Lynx, which startled the horses before joining the party as their guide.
• At night, Zhang Yuan made camp while Mo Huaian asked him to teach basic wilderness survival skills.

Zhang Yuan and Mo Huaian shared a campfire meal before continuing their journey to patrol villages and defend the Dao. They arrived at Zhang Family Village, where Mo Huaian asked the village chief whether anything eerie had been troubling the villagers.

• The Gray-Toothed Lynx brought Zhang Yuan an antelope, and Zhang Yuan quickly roasted lamb for himself and Mo Huaian using Primordial Chaos True Fire.
• Mo Huaian praised Zhang Yuan’s cooking, and the two grew closer over dinner with the Gray-Toothed Lynx.
• Zhang Yuan and Mo Huaian set out the next morning and reached a small village as evening approached.
• The villagers fled indoors at the sight of the Gray-Toothed Lynx, and Zhang Yuan suggested leaving it outside when they entered villages.
• Zhang Dashan introduced himself as the chief of Zhang Family Village, and Mo Huaian asked whether anything eerie had been causing trouble there.