Chapter Summaries

Xuanzhi’s Same-Boat Chain shattered five barriers and earned Double Grade A, while the Xiahou siblings continued wondering which Chenglong Heaven clan was targeting the Dongfang Clan. Just as Dongfang Yuejian was about to explain that Xu Taiping had not arrived, a Dragon Chariot descended, carrying Jiang Xuanfeng and another figure.

• Xiahou You and Xiahou Qingyuan discussed whether the Fu Household and Chenglong Heaven’s great clans were suspicious of targeting the Dongfang Clan.
• Xuanzhi placed his Same-Boat Chain on the stone stele, and its sword light broke five barriers, reaching two thousand five hundred zhang.
• Elder Lu declared Xuanzhi eligible for Double Grade A, and the Xiahou siblings speculated about Xu Taiping’s possible ranking and the clan’s suspected collusion.
• Elder Lu asked whether the Dongfang team’s third cultivator had arrived, and Dongfang Yuejian began to answer that he had not.
• A dragon roar announced the arrival of a Dragon Chariot pulled by four true dragon phantoms, and Xiahou Qingyuan recognized Jiang Xuanfeng aboard it.

Xu Taiping arrived at the Dragon-Slaying Assembly in disguise and revealed himself to Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi. After Elder Lu confirmed their Same-Boat Chains belonged to one team, Xu Taiping faced doubts about his identity and produced two heads from his White Gourd to prove it.

• Jiang Xuanfeng brought Xu Taiping down from the Dragon Chariot, then left him to deal with Elder Lu and the registration rules.
• Xu Taiping said he was there to register and presented his Same-Boat Chain, then revealed himself as the black-robed man on Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi's team.
• Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi recognized Xu Taiping, while the Xiahou siblings and the assembled cultivators reacted with astonishment at his survival.
• Fu Kui challenged Xu Taiping's identity, but Elder Lu verified that his Same-Boat Chain matched Dongfang Yuejian's and Xuanzhi's.
• When cultivators continued to question whether he was really Xu Taiping, he summoned two human heads from his White Gourd onto the platform.

Xu Taiping proved his identity at the Profound Elixir Palace by presenting evidence tied to Du Heng’s ambush, and the palace confirmed he could enter the rankings with Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi. The chapter ended as Elder Lu placed Xu Taiping’s Same-Boat Chain on the ranking stele to reveal its spiritual power.

• Xu Taiping turned over the two heads and revealed they belonged to Du Heng’s Dharma Protector Elders, but Jiang Jiuxuan challenged their authenticity.
• Xu Taiping summoned a ghostly face that proved to be the divine soul of a Three Corpses Cave elder, convincing the crowd that the heads were genuine.
• Xiahou You rebuked Jiang Jiuxuan for continuing to question Xu Taiping’s identity, and Jiang Jiuxuan’s father pressed him back into his seat.
• Elder Lu confirmed Xu Taiping’s identity and announced him as the final entrant in the rankings alongside Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi.
• Elder Lu placed Xu Taiping’s Same-Boat Chain on the dragon claw of the ranking stele as the gathered cultivators watched.

Xu Taiping’s Same-Boat Chain produced sword qi that reached 4,360 zhang, earning him heaven’s mandate and alarming the aristocratic clans competing in the Dragon-Slaying Assembly. Xiahou Qingyuan and Xiahou You noticed Chu Hanshi’s disdainful reaction and suspected the Chu Household concealed considerable power.

• Elder Lu placed Xu Taiping’s Same-Boat Chain on the stele, and its sword qi pierced barriers up to 4,360 zhang before bursting apart.
• Elder Lu announced that Xu Taiping qualified for heaven’s mandate, prompting despair among the aristocratic clan disciples seeking rankings.
• Xiahou Qingyuan said Xu Taiping’s strength left the other teams little chance of winning first place at the Dragon-Slaying Assembly.
• Xiahou Qingyuan examined the Spirit Mirror and noticed that Chu Hanshi showed disdain rather than despair after Xu Taiping’s result.
• Xiahou You and Xiahou Qingyuan suspected the Chu Household was powerful and might be connected to the effort to stop Xu Taiping.

As Elder Lu announced the Dragon-Slaying Assembly rankings, three Nine Abysses demon cultivators arrived and invoked the Demon Mother’s Edict, making the assembly’s championship decide the Heaven-Demon War. Xu Taiping protected Elder Lu as Jiang Xuanfeng reluctantly accepted the demons’ right to compete, and the edict named the first three Nine Abysses entrants.

• Elder Lu announced that Xu Taiping’s Dongfang Clan team had taken first place and began listing the remaining rankings.
• Three Nine Abysses demon cultivators appeared on the Dragon-Suppressing Platform, and the Demon Mother’s Edict declared that the winner of the assembly would decide the Heaven-Demon War.
• Xu Taiping recognized the edict as the one Su Chan had requested at the True Martial Sword Champion Assembly a century earlier.
• When Elder Lu challenged the demons’ right to participate, they caused blood mist to burst from him, and Xu Taiping used the Blade of Guicang to help Jiang Xuanfeng dispel the attack.
• Jiang Xuanfeng warned the demons not to harm Profound Elixir Palace disciples, and the edict named Demon Emperor Li Yezhu, Demon Emperor Qing He, and Heartless Demon Emperor as the first three Nine Abysses entrants.

The Dragon-Slaying Ranking allowed three Demon Emperors of the Nine Abysses to join the assembly, then announced lavish rewards to secure human cultivators’ participation. As the teams prepared to compete for ranking positions, Wuxin challenged Xu Taiping for the chief spot.

• The Demon Mother's Edict named Li Yezhu, Qing He, and Wuxin as participants, alarming the spectators with the Nine Abysses’ three Demon Emperors.
• The Ranking Spirit permitted the three Demon Emperors to enter if their Same-Boat Chain placed in the top three during the ranking ascension.
• The Ranking Spirit added rewards for the human teams that won the Heaven-Demon War, including gold essence stone, mystic origin metal essence, and a chance for the human chief to comprehend at the Heaven-Ascending Platform.
• Xiahou Qingyuan and Xiahou You realized the new opportunity could help Xu Taiping comprehend a Heavenly Dao Edict.
• Wuxin greeted Xu Taiping and declared that they would compete for the chief position in the ranking ascension.
• Xiahou Qingyuan worried the Nine Abysses’ strength could give them the chief position, while Xiahou You trusted Xu Taiping and his companions to contend.

The cultivators watched Heartless Demon Emperor and Qing He Demon Emperor test their Same-Boat Chains in the Ranking Ascension, each falling short of Xu Taiping’s team’s score. As Li Yezhu’s turn began, Xiahou You and Xiahou Qingyuan discussed her past battles and the Kindling Sword.

• Jiang Xuanfeng placed Heartless Demon Emperor’s Same-Boat Chain on the stele, and its sword light rose three thousand zhang before bursting.
• Qing He Demon Emperor’s sword light reached two thousand five hundred and one zhang, leaving the Nine Abysses team needing Li Yezhu to reach at least three thousand seven hundred zhang to take first place.
• Xiahou You said she doubted Li Yezhu could surpass two thousand five hundred zhang, and Xiahou Qingyuan agreed that the Nine Abysses’ earlier results were not enough.
• Jiang Xuanfeng accepted Li Yezhu’s Same-Boat Chain and approached the stele as Xiahou You recalled that Li Yezhu had once been their most troublesome opponent on the Tenth Layer.
• Xiahou You asked Xiahou Qingyuan about his past fight with Li Yezhu and the Kindling Sword, and he insisted its sword spirit no longer controlled him.

Li Yezhu’s sword raised the Nine Abysses’ combined result above Xu Taiping’s group, giving the Nine Abysses first place in the Ranking Ascension. As the Dragon-Slaying Assembly approached, Xu Taiping learned that the Lotus Eye had predicted great fortune from taking second place.

• Li Yezhu’s sword broke through the runic barriers to a height of three thousand eight hundred and forty zhang, surpassing Xu Taiping’s group when combined with the Nine Abysses’ other results.
• Xiahou Qingyuan warned Xiahou You that the human cultivators’ chances had fallen and offered to take her back to Jade Balance Mountain, but she hinted at using the Xiahou bloodline’s divine intent.
• Jiang Xuanfeng announced the Nine Abysses as first and the Dongfang Clan as second in the Ranking Ascension.
• Li Yezhu taunted Xu Taiping, and Demon Emperor Qing He threatened to fight him in the secret realm despite Dongfang Yuejian’s warning.
• Xu Taiping asked the Lotus Eye why it had made him remove a bead from the Same-Boat Chain, and it explained that first place foretold misfortune while second place promised great fortune.

After studying the Dongfang Household ancestor’s notes, Xu Taiping learned that the clue to the complete Shangqing Mysterious Origin Avatar Art led to Xuanchengzi’s former cultivation ground, possibly in Outer Heaven. With the Dragon-Slaying Assembly approaching, he opened the second Divine Soul Mark to prepare for the contest.

• Dongfang Yuejian and Master Xuanzhi discussed Xu Taiping’s growing reputation and the danger posed by those who had hired Upper Realm cultivators to intercept him.
• Xu Taiping told Blade Ghost that the ancestor’s notes described a shattered star claimed by the Daoist great cultivator Xuanchengzi as a cultivation ground.
• Blade Ghost recognized Xuanchengzi as the Taiyi Sect’s founder and recalled that the sect had once been near the Zen Meditation Sect.
• Xu Taiping decided to investigate the Taiyi Sect after ascending to Outer Heaven, but put the matter aside until after the Dragon-Slaying Assembly.
• Xu Taiping explained the assembly’s contest to the Lotus Eye, then opened the second Divine Soul Mark within the golden lotus.

Xu Taiping watched the memories of two orphaned brothers who survived an attack on their Academy and used pot-bottom ash to draw a Deity-Summoning Talisman. After remembering their teacher and the children who were taken, the brothers prepared to summon a deity and seek revenge.

• Xu Taiping saw a younger boy escape with two bowls of pot soot while servants beat his older brother and set a guard dog on him.
• Three years later, the brothers used sacks of pot-bottom ash to draw a Deity-Summoning Talisman in their mud-walled courtyard.
• The older brother told the younger that their teacher, Teacher Red Carp, had been killed, their Academy burned, and their friends abducted and sacrificed to the Demon Dragon.
• The younger brother remembered Teacher Red Carp and said he missed the Academy, while the older brother reminded him they had survived to avenge their teacher and friends.
• The brothers resolved to begin their Deity-Summoning Technique.

Xu Taiping watched visions recorded in a divine soul mark and saw two brothers attempt the Deity-Summoning Technique, which ended with Gu Yang burned to death after Gu Yu broke focus. He suspected the later visions were connected to the Dragon-Slaying Assembly and the Immortal Burial Ruins, but the final vision revealed a silver dragon that noticed him watching.

• Gu Yang and Gu Yu swore an oath and began the Deity-Summoning Technique, but illusions tested their resolve.
• Gu Yu rushed toward an illusion of their teacher, and when it shattered, Gu Yang was engulfed in flames and died.
• Xu Taiping considered whether the brothers were connected to the upcoming Dragon-Slaying Assembly, then set aside the first vision and viewed the next three scenes of a mossy well, a bare elm, and a vast lake.
• Xu Taiping opened the final vision and saw a mountain-sized silver dragon sprawled across a lake.
• The silver dragon opened its blazing eyes and addressed Xu Taiping for spying on it.

Xu Taiping entered the River of Time to confront the silver dragon after Lotus Eye explained how the Demon-Suppressing Coffin and Kunwu Sword could return him to the same moment. The silver dragon destroyed Xu Taiping’s dragon whale physique with a single glance, and Xu Taiping prepared to try again with a Great Sage Realm physique.

• Lotus Eye told Xu Taiping that the erased scene still left a trace in the River of Time and that he could use it to challenge the silver dragon repeatedly.
• Xu Taiping activated the Demon-Suppressing Coffin with Demon Emperor Jiao’s heart apertures and used the Kunwu Sword to enter the Ice Lake scene.
• Xu Taiping climbed out of the buried coffin and faced the silver dragon in its Dao Field.
• The silver dragon opened its eyes and destroyed Xu Taiping’s dragon whale physique with a single glance, returning him to the coffin.
• Xu Taiping realized he needed to try again with a Great Sage Realm physique.

Xu Taiping entered the Silver Dragon's Lair with a Great Sage Realm physique and confronted the silver dragon's devastating eye-based attacks. Trapped between two crushing forces of mountain spirit power, he used the cauldron-lifting technique to halt them and believed he could eventually overcome the pressure.

• Xu Taiping raised his Dragon Whale Physique to the Great Sage Realm and emerged from the Demon-Suppressing Coffin, finding that the lair's bitter wind could no longer harm him.
• Xu Taiping rushed toward the silver dragon and saw its opened eyes unleash a blade-like gaze that severed his bull demon phantom.
• Xu Taiping punched through a Frost Giant Axe summoned by the silver dragon and flew closer to it.
• As the silver dragon closed its eyes, Xu Taiping was caught between two immense forces of mountain spirit power and tried to resist them with the Ancestral Sage Fist's Mountain-Bearing Bearing.
• Xu Taiping applied the cauldron-lifting technique to halt the crushing forces and resolved to adjust his strength and breathing until he could overcome them.

After the silver dragon's Heaven-Cleaving power killed Xu Taiping, he returned from the River of Time and learned that enduring it could trigger a dangerous backlash against the dragon. He resolved to keep trying and entered the frozen lake again to challenge the silver dragon.

• The silver dragon increased the mountain spirit power of its Heaven-Cleaving attack, and Xu Taiping's body burst apart under the pressure.
• Xu Taiping returned to the Demon-Suppressing Coffin and learned from the Lotus Eye that little time had passed in reality, though repeated trips consumed divine essence and divine soul power.
• Xu Taiping told the Lotus Eye he had endured the Heaven-Cleaving power for five or six breaths and planned to keep practicing until he found a weakness.
• The Lotus Eye explained that if a true dragon failed to close its eyes within the time it took to brew a cup of tea, its Heaven-Cleaving power could backlash and blind it or burst its eyeballs.
• Xu Taiping re-entered the River of Time, opened the Demon-Suppressing Coffin, and sprinted toward the silver dragon using the Star-Transposing Step.

Dongfang Yuejian secured the clan elders’ support and their promise to keep their descendants in line while she entered the Immortal Burial Ruins for the Dragon-Slaying Assembly. After a violent eruption from Xu Taiping’s Dragon-Trapping Tower, he assured her and Xuanzhi he was unharmed, then showed the Lotus Eye and Blade Ghost what had happened in the River of Time.

• Dongfang Yuejian reassured the clan elders that Xu Taiping would join her and Master Xuanzhi at the Dragon-Slaying Assembly.
• Dongfang Su promised to manage the Dongfang Household while Dongfang Yuejian was away, and Dongfang Yan warned the elders to restrain their descendants.
• The clan elders pledged to keep their branches in line, and Dongfang Yuejian vowed that she, Xu Taiping, and Master Xuanzhi would pursue the Chief’s seat.
• Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi heard a tremendous boom from the Dragon-Trapping Tower and feared something had gone wrong with Xu Taiping’s cultivation.
• Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi that he was unharmed, then displayed what had happened in the River of Time to the Lotus Eye and Blade Ghost through the Moonshadow Stone.

Xu Taiping broke the Silver Dragon’s Heaven-Cleaving power and strengthened his Great Sage Realm physique before joining the teams gathered at Cloud-Plucking Summit for the final test ahead of the Buried Immortal Ruins. There, he wagered a transferable top-three reward against the Heartless Demon Emperor in a test of whose physique could withstand the Innate Gang Wind.

• Xu Taiping endured the Silver Dragon’s Heaven-Cleaving power until its eye burst, raising his Great Sage Realm physique by another stage.
• Two days later, eighteen teams gathered at Cloud-Plucking Summit, where the Profound Elixir Palace used the dangerous Innate Gang Wind as a final test before the Buried Immortal Ruins.
• Fu Kui explained that the wind was meant to weed out cultivators unfit to enter the ruins, and the teams began using magic power to defend themselves.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor challenged Xu Taiping to compare their physiques, and Xu Taiping wagered a transferable item from the Ranking Ascension rewards.
• Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor stood unscathed through the fierce wind while the other cultivators struggled to withstand it.

Xu Taiping agreed to withstand the Profound Elixir Palace’s full mountain-and-river spiritual qi turned into innate gang wind, preparing for his first clash with the Nine Abysses at the Dragon-Slaying Assembly. At the Dragon-Suppressing Platform, Chu Xiaoxiao and Lu Yun and Lu Wen watched the summit through an illusory image as the assembly’s waiting period began.

• Jiang Xuanfeng told Xu Taiping that the Heavenly Journey Ancestor wanted to test how much gang wind his physique could endure, and Xu Taiping said he could withstand the palace’s full force.
• Jiang Xuanfeng warned Xu Taiping that the palace would soon turn all its mountain-and-river spiritual qi into innate gang qi and sweep it over Cloud-Plucking Summit.
• The gang wind struck Xu Taiping hard enough to cause a trace of pain, while other cultivators struggled to resist it, so he asked Jiang Xuanfeng to avoid hitting those behind him.
• Xu Taiping focused on using his qi and blood to counter the gang wind, beginning his first clash with the Nine Abysses at the assembly.
• At Spring Rain Pavilion, Chu Xiaoxiao, Lu Yun, and Lu Wen watched the summit on the illusory image, and Chu Xiaoxiao explained that the teams and demon cultivators had to wait before the assembly began.

Lu Yun, Lu Wen, and Chu Xiaoxiao watched the cultivators endure the deadly Gang Wind atop Cloud-Plucking Summit as Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor prepared to test their physiques. Chu Xiaoxiao wagered her entire fortune on Xu Taiping, just as a much fiercer gale began.

• Lu Wen and Chu Xiaoxiao explained that the Gang Wind was the final trial before the Dragon-Slaying Assembly and reassured Lu Yun that Xu Taiping could withstand it.
• The cultivators on Cloud-Plucking Summit began using magic power against the Gang Wind, while Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor continued to endure it without doing so.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor challenged Xu Taiping to compare their physiques, and Xu Taiping accepted and wagered the rewards for the Ranking Ascension's top three places.
• Chu Xiaoxiao discovered that cultivators were taking bets, then wagered all five hundred thousand of her Gold Essence Coins on Xu Taiping winning.
• Lu Yun and Lu Wen declined Chu Xiaoxiao's offer to join her bet, and a fiercer gale began as Chu Xiaoxiao anticipated the contest's outcome.

Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor endured repeated blasts of innate Gang Qi on Cloud-Plucking Summit without using magic power. As a Dragon Sucking Water phenomenon gathered mountain and river spiritual Qi above Profound Elixir Palace, Chu Xiaoxiao feared the ensuing storm would injure them both.

• Fierce winds on Cloud-Plucking Summit shattered five cultivators' Body-Protecting Golden Light, while Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor withstood the gust without using magic power.
• Lu Yun explained that the summit's preliminary trial was meant to make cultivators with insufficient cultivation withdraw, and Chu Xiaoxiao said Xu Taiping had never lost a challenge he had accepted.
• A stronger gust extinguished at least half the cultivators' Body-Protecting Golden Light before their magic power restored it, while Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor again endured the winds unaided.
• Mountain and river spiritual Qi rose from Dragon-Suppressing Platform toward Cloud-Plucking Summit, where Chu Xiaoxiao sensed a dragon-shaped cloud drawing in Profound Elixir Palace's spiritual Qi.
• Lu Yun identified the phenomenon as Dragon Sucking Water and warned that its innate Gang winds would rain down across the immortal mansion, striking Cloud-Plucking Summit first.
• Chu Xiaoxiao feared Xu Taiping and the Heartless Demon Emperor could both be injured, while Lu Wen thought they would stop relying on their bodies and she replied that they might not.

Xu Taiping faced the dragon-shaped storm at Cloud-Plucking Summit without using magic power, then revealed his Crimson Scales Fire Dragon body to destroy the giant dragon of innate gang qi. He returned to human form as the heavens and earth fell silent.

• Chu Yu and a Zhu Family elder warned the cultivators that the dragon-shaped cloud would unleash deadly innate gang qi, and the cultivators prepared their treasures and abilities.
• Xu Taiping’s qi and blood protected Dongfang Yuejian and Xuanzhi as the storm’s innate gang qi rained down.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor revealed his Demon God Body and attacked the descending qi dragon, but it swallowed and destroyed the upper half of his body.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor accused Xu Taiping of conspiring with the Profound Elixir Palace, and Xu Taiping charged the qi dragon with his fist.
• Xu Taiping transformed into a Crimson Scales Fire Dragon, struck the qi dragon back, and tore it apart as his flames burned away its innate gang qi.
• Xu Taiping returned to human form and descended to the ground.