Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping awakened the Great Sage Realm true dragon divine being body and matched the Demon Dragon's aura, but the Dragon Shadow clone then unleashed a frost-dragon assault. Xu Taiping prepared to answer with the first punch of the Demon Ancestor Heaven-Shaking Fist.

• The Dragon Shadow clone shattered the crimson-flamed Bull Demon Phantom with its second-stage Heaven-Opening Power and struck at Xu Taiping again.
• Xu Taiping erupted with crimson qi and blood, grew to the clone’s height, and revealed a half-human, half-dragon form.
• Xiahou Qingyuan identified Xu Taiping’s physique as the Great Sage Realm true dragon divine being body, and Zhu Huai and Jiang Cuicui explained that humans could cultivate it only with extreme difficulty and great fortune.
• The Dragon Shadow clone condemned Xu Taiping for taking the Dragon Clan’s physique and transformed its aura into a frost dragon that overwhelmed Xu Taiping’s aura.
• Xu Taiping resisted the pressure and prepared the first punch of the Demon Ancestor Heaven-Shaking Fist as a challenge to the True Dragon clone.

Xu Taiping faced the Demon Dragon's clone as its Heaven-Opening Ancient Fist grew from the second stage to the third, breaking through his Bull Demon Phantom and Demon Ancestor Phantom defenses. He finally completed a new stance, the Demon Race Heaven-Shaking Fist's Heaven-Touching Stance, which made the illusory world tremble and left Xiahou Qingyuan suspecting it was the Demon Ancestor's Martial Dao Origin Law.

• The Demon Dragon's clone shattered Xu Taiping's Bull Demon Phantom with successive second-stage Heaven-Opening Fist strikes, while the Demon Ancestor Phantom shielded him without moving.
• The monster raised its power to the third stage of the Heaven-Opening Fist and smashed the Demon Ancestor Phantom's arms away.
• Xu Taiping hesitated as he adjusted his fist stance, prompting Xiahou Qingyuan, Zhu Huai, and Jiang Cuicui to doubt whether he had mastered the new technique.
• The monster shattered the Demon Ancestor Phantom, and Xu Taiping stepped forward and shouted, "Demon Race Heaven-Shaking Fist, Heaven-Touching Stance!"
• The illusory world began to tremble, and Xiahou Qingyuan wondered whether Xu Taiping had invoked the Martial Dao Origin Law passed down by the Demon Ancestor.

Xu Taiping defeated the monster with the Demon Ancestor Heaven-Shaking Fist, which Zhu Huai and Jiang Cuicui recognized as a rare Martial Dao Origin Law. The Dragon-Suppressing Platform viewing ended before anyone learned what Ao Yan remembered or whether Xu Taiping claimed the bounty.

• Xu Taiping shattered the monster’s dragon-head phantom and dragon-headed asura physique with a single punch.
• Jiang Cuicui and Zhu Huai explained that Xu Taiping’s fist technique was the Demon Ancestor Heaven-Shaking Fist, a Martial Dao Origin Law that could help a martial artist break open the Heavenly Gate.
• The Dragon Clan’s Domain Power shattered, revealing Ao Yan’s dragon-shadow clone above a mass of writhing flesh and blood.
• As Xu Taiping approached, Ao Yan said that he finally remembered, but the Dragon-Suppressing Platform viewing abruptly ended.
• The spectators protested the cutoff, but Jiang Xuanfeng ordered them to leave, and Zhang Moyan predicted Xu Taiping would not accept more viewing requests after earning enough battle merit.

Xu Taiping confronted the Demon Dragon's clone, who challenged him to a future battle at Ten Thousand Islands Lake before escaping. As Xu Taiping approached the Blood Ancestor, it disguised itself as Teacher Red Carp to lure Gu Yu closer, but the real Teacher Red Carp and Gu Yang appeared and revealed themselves to Gu Yu.

• The Demon Dragon's clone recognized Xu Taiping from their battles in the River of Time and challenged him to fight at Ten Thousand Islands Lake.
• The Demon Dragon's clone fled, and the Dragon-Slaying Ranking told Xu Taiping and his companions to seal the Blood Ancestor to claim their reward.
• The Blood Ancestor took Teacher Red Carp's appearance and tried to persuade Gu Yu to remove the Demon-Dispelling Talisman from its back.
• Teacher Red Carp and Gu Yang's ghosts appeared before Gu Yu and stopped him from approaching the Blood Ancestor.
• Gu Yu recognized Teacher Red Carp and Gu Yang and called out to them through tears.

Gu Yu reunited with the ghosts of Teacher Red Carp and Gu Yang, then said farewell after resolving to protect others and stop blaming himself. He slew the Blood Ancestor’s remnant body, and the Dragon-Slaying Ranking awarded him, Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Xuanzhi an Immortal Burial Token to seek the Southern Heavenly Gate in the Immortal Burial Ruins.

• Gu Yu reunited with Teacher Red Carp and Gu Yang, who urged him to let go of his guilt and keep moving forward.
• Gu Yu promised to use his hands to save others and protect those dear to him, then bade farewell to the two ghosts as they vanished.
• Gu Yu turned to the Blood Ancestor’s remnant body and split it in two with a saber strike.
• The Dragon-Slaying Ranking Spirit announced that Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, Xuanzhi, and Gu Yu had earned an Immortal Burial Token for their joint victory.
• The Ranking Spirit granted the four permission to travel together to the Immortal Burial Ruins and seek the Southern Heavenly Gate of the Ancient Heavenly Court Ruins.

Xu Taiping's team learned that their reward included a clue to the dangerous Southern Heavenly Gate ruins and began planning a visit while preparing Gu Yu to survive it. Xu Taiping secretly resolved to investigate the ruins and sought a way to improve Gu Yu's combat strength.

• The Ranking Spirit awarded Xu Taiping's team nine thousand battle merits and a treasure map to the Southern Heavenly Gate, but warned that its ruins held dangers beyond the Dao Integration Realm.
• Dongfang Yuejian pleaded with Xu Taiping to take the team to the ruins, and Xu Taiping agreed to discuss the decision after returning while privately resolving to investigate.
• Xu Taiping saw that the map placed the Southern Heavenly Gate in the Land of Everlasting Night, and the team discussed the long journey there.
• Xuanzhi suggested using Xu Taiping's Dhyana Seal to speed Gu Yu's cultivation, while Dongfang Yuejian offered to set up a Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian he would find a way to prepare Gu Yu for the dangers and asked Blade Ghost whether he could spar with him.

Xu Taiping and his companions secured the Blood Ancestor’s seal and agreed to take Blood-Bone Cao Sixi back to Meiyuan Village. They found the village had been massacred decades earlier, but a mysterious courtyard appeared among the graves, and Cao Sixi rushed toward it, calling for his family.

• Gu Yu gave Xu Taiping the Demon-Dispelling Talisman containing the sealed Blood Ancestor, and Dongfang Yuejian explained that it needed monthly replacement and isolation from outside aura.
• Xu Taiping declined to form an alliance with the other Dragon-Slaying Persons, while Dongfang Yuejian went to speak with them.
• Gu Yu released Blood-Bone Cao Sixi from his Qiankun Bag, and Cao Sixi asked to visit his hometown before he died.
• Xu Taiping agreed to take Cao Sixi to Meiyuan Village, and Gu Yu, Dongfang Yuejian, and Master Xuanzhi accompanied them there that evening.
• Gu Yu revealed that bandits had massacred Meiyuan Village thirty or forty years earlier, but a lit courtyard appeared among the graves, and Cao Sixi ran toward it calling for Lady Yu and Afu.

Xu Taiping and his companions found Cao Sixi reunited with his wife and son, then Xuanzhi ferried the family onward. Afterward, Xu Taiping touched Cao Sixi’s crimson-glowing skull and saw Fairy Lingyue fleeing through ruins.

• Cao Sixi rushed into a lamplit courtyard, where Xu Taiping and the others found him sharing a meal with his wife, Lady Yu, and son, Afu.
• Cao Sixi begged the group to help his wife and son be reborn into a better life, and Xuanzhi offered to ferry all three souls.
• Xuanzhi delivered Cao Sixi, Lady Yu, and Afu into a golden vortex, causing the courtyard to vanish.
• Dongfang Yuejian picked up Cao Sixi’s crimson-glowing skull and handed it to Xu Taiping.
• Xu Taiping’s Lotus Eye showed him a bloodied woman fleeing through ruins, and he recognized her as Sister Lingyue.

After the Lesser Deductive Power linked the blood skull to Fairy Lingyue, Xu Taiping considered whether her search for the Ancient Heavenly Court ruins might connect to the ruins in the Immortal Burial Ruins. He realized the Soul-Merging Pill recipe box might offer another clue, but could not safely open it yet.

• Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian that the blood skull was unusual and asked her to set up the Spirit-Gathering Formation while he investigated.
• Inside the Dragon-Trapping Tower, Xu Taiping and the Lotus Eye discussed whether the Ancient Heavenly Court ruins Fairy Lingyue searched for could be the same ruins found in the Immortal Burial Ruins.
• The Lotus Eye explained that secret realms could have entrances in both the Upper Realm and the Lower Realm, making the connection possible.
• Xu Taiping recalled the jade box Fairy Lingyue had given him and explained that opening it could alert powerful Upper Realm cultivators because it contained the Soul-Merging Pill recipe.
• Xu Taiping considered asking Old Daoist Huang to sever the box's karma but noted that he had not awakened, and that the Blade of Guicang likely could not sever it with his current Divine Soul Power.

Xu Taiping used the jade box and blood skull to deduce that Fairy Lingyue had sent Immortal Elder Wuji toward the Southern Heavenly Gate, and he suspected the skull came from its ruins. He decided to investigate the ruins and seek information from the Blood Ancestor, while Dongfang Yuejian found a possible way to interrogate him.

• Xu Taiping used his lesser deductive power on the jade box and blood skull, revealing a vision of Fairy Lingyue and Immortal Elder Wuji fleeing a divine general.
• Fairy Lingyue sent Immortal Elder Wuji to the Southern Heavenly Gate to find a key while she held off the divine general at the Western Heavenly Gate.
• The Lotus Eye told Xu Taiping the deduction's karma might still be unfolding, so Immortal Elder Wuji could be at the ruins now; Xu Taiping suspected the blood skull came from there.
• Xu Taiping decided to visit the Southern Heavenly Gate ruins and discuss how to question the Blood Ancestor with Dongfang Yuejian and Master Xuanzhi.
• The next day, Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian about his suspicions, and she realized there might be a way to interrogate the Blood Ancestor.

Xu Taiping and his companions questioned the Blood Ancestor and Yuanlingzi about a blood skull, while Gu Yu continued cultivating toward the Heaven Gazing Realm. The captives demanded that they be released before revealing the skull’s origins, and Xu Taiping asked the Blood Ancestor to prove he had information worth trading for.

• Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Master Xuanzhi discussed Gu Yu’s rapid cultivation and decided to question the Blood Ancestor about the Southern Heavenly Gate ruins.
• Dongfang Yuejian used her Spring and Autumn Brush to cast a Spring Breeze Talisman in the Dragon-Trapping Tower, warming the room where Yuanlingzi and the Blood Ancestor were sealed.
• Xu Taiping showed the captives the blood skull, and Yuanlingzi and the Blood Ancestor reacted with surprise and recognized its importance.
• Yuanlingzi explained that he had sealed the skull inside a Blood Ghost with a self-destruct restriction, and Dongfang Yuejian and Xu Taiping recalled how helping Cao Sixi had allowed them to recover it intact.
• The Blood Ancestor and Yuanlingzi refused to reveal the skull’s origins unless they were released, so Xu Taiping demanded proof that the Blood Ancestor had information worth exchanging.

Xu Taiping and his companions questioned Yuanlingzi and the Blood Ancestor about the Southern Heavenly Gate Ruins, then used the Great Sun Golden Flame to pressure the Blood Ancestor into offering help. They left him trapped in the Dragon-Trapping Tower and decided they could explore the ruins without him if necessary.

• Yuanlingzi confirmed that the Blood Skeleton Head came from the Southern Heavenly Gate, a ruin of the Ancient Heavenly Court within the Immortal Burial Ruins.
• The Blood Ancestor said he had explored the entrance's outskirts through a wisp of Divine Intent and offered to guide them if they agreed to his terms.
• Dongfang Yuejian drew a talisman that exposed the Blood Ancestor to the Great Sun Golden Flame, and Xu Taiping and Xuanzhi joined her in pretending to leave for ten days or half a month.
• The Blood Ancestor panicked and said everything was negotiable, but Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Xuanzhi left the Dragon-Trapping Tower without answering.
• Xu Taiping said they could explore the Southern Heavenly Gate without the Blood Ancestor, and he, Xuanzhi, and Dongfang Yuejian judged that their powers would protect them there.

Xu Taiping and his companions helped Gu Yu improve his cultivation, then sent him into Blade Ghost’s Blade Domain for nine days of combat training. Gu Yu emerged feeling reborn, and Dongfang Yuejian stepped forward to test his blade.

• Xu Taiping said the group needed to strengthen Gu Yu within a month, and Master Xuanzhi used Buddhist chants to help him absorb spiritual power on the Jade Platform.
• Dongfang Yuejian explained that she wanted to travel through the Lower Realm’s Five Heavens before ascending, while Xu Taiping considered sending an Origin Beginning Clone with her.
• After twenty-seven days of cultivation, Gu Yu broke through to the Heaven Gazing Realm, but Xu Taiping took him into Blade Ghost’s Blade Domain to improve his combat strength.
• Nine days later, Gu Yu emerged from the Blade Domain with powerful Blade Intent and Blade Qi, and Xu Taiping asked who would test his blade.
• Dongfang Yuejian drew an Immortal Sword and volunteered to spar with Gu Yu.

Gu Yu asked Dongfang Yuejian to test his blade, and Xu Taiping insisted she use her full strength. After Dongfang overwhelmed Gu Yu’s attacks, he sacrificed his left eye to unleash a powerful counterstrike, which Dongfang met with a torrent of sword light.

• Gu Yu thanked Dongfang Yuejian for agreeing to test his blade, and Xu Taiping told her not to suppress her strength.
• Dongfang released her full sword cultivator aura and faced Gu Yu in the cave abode’s central clearing.
• Gu Yu attacked with his Thousand Kills Blade, but Dongfang’s sword techniques shattered his blade shadow and afterimages, leaving him injured.
• Xu Taiping explained that losing did not mean a blade cultivator was defeated, and Gu Yu used Shatter the Eye Aperture, sacrificing his left eye to strengthen his attack.
• Gu Yu’s blood-colored clones broke through Dongfang’s sword intent, but she unleashed a river of sword light and cried, “Roiling and swirling, pour forth a thousand li!”

Gu Yu shattered three apertures to unleash the Jade Shattering Art and the Thousand Kills Blade’s Earth-Killing Stance, forcing Xu Taiping to intervene and subdue his killing intent. After Gu Yu collapsed asleep, Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian prepared to enter the Dragon-Trapping Tower and ask the Blood Ancestor to accompany them to the Southern Heavenly Gate secret realm.

• Gu Yu shattered his Eye, Ear, and Nose apertures, then split Dongfang Yuejian’s sword intent with a strengthened slash and unleashed the Earth-Killing Stance.
• Xu Taiping used the Form- and Shadow-Transposition Technique to exchange places with Dongfang Yuejian, then broke apart Gu Yu’s blade force with a flash of blade light.
• Gu Yu regained his senses, apologized to Xu Taiping, and recalled Senior Blade Ghost’s warning that the self controlling killing intent would be stronger than the self controlled by it.
• Gu Yu collapsed asleep, and Xu Taiping explained that his Divine-Human Variant Bone would heal most of his injuries after a night’s rest.
• Xu Taiping asked Master Xuanzhi to watch over Gu Yu, then set off with Dongfang Yuejian to enter the Dragon-Trapping Tower and seek the Blood Ancestor’s divine intent.

Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian confronted the Blood Ancestor, who offered to guide them through the Southern Heavenly Gate Ruins in exchange for concessions. Xu Taiping refused his terms and used an Immortal Talisman-grade Great Sun Golden Flame Talisman to force him to submit, then arranged to house his wisp of divine intent in Master Xuanzhi’s Purple Gold Bowl.

• Yuanlingzi and the Blood Ancestor claimed they would not submit, while the Blood Ancestor offered to guide Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian for a wisp of divine intent and several Immortal Treasure-grade treasures.
• Xu Taiping rejected the Blood Ancestor’s conditions and told Dongfang Yuejian to replace the exhausted talisman with her Immortal Talisman-grade Great Sun Golden Flame Talisman.
• The new talisman scorched the Blood Ancestor and Yuanlingzi until the Blood Ancestor agreed to guide them without conditions if Xu Taiping removed it.
• Xu Taiping had Dongfang Yuejian take down the Immortal Talisman and asked Master Xuanzhi to lend him the Purple Gold Bowl to house the Blood Ancestor’s wisp of divine intent.
• Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian that he had never trusted the Blood Ancestor and could bring everyone out of the Southern Heavenly Gate Ruins without his help.

At the Profound Elixir Palace, spectators waited in vain for Xu Taiping’s team and instead watched the Nine Abysses Team. A new viewing image then showed the Heartless Demon Emperor and his companions forcing over a hundred thousand Yan Kingdom refugees into a dried-up lake, leaving Pang Zhong demanding to know their plan.

• The spectators at the Dragon-Suppressing Platform complained that they had seen too few teams, while Zhu Huai and the others in the Spring Rain Pavilion worried that Xu Taiping’s team had not appeared.
• Chu Xiaoxiao and the others saw that the final team was the Nine Abysses Team, and Zhang Moyan, Lu Rushuang, Zhu Huai, and Jiang Cuicui reassured them that Xu Taiping’s companions likely needed time to recover.
• Xiahou Qingyuan questioned whether Xu Taiping had truly sealed the Blood Demon Ancestor, leaving Xiahou You uncertain.
• A viewing image showed the Heartless Demon Emperor and his companions directing the Northern Garrison Army to drive Yan Kingdom refugees into a dried-up lake and shoot those who fell behind.
• After the refugees crowded into the lake, Pang Zhong told Upper Immortal Wuxin he had followed the order and demanded to know what the Heartless Demon Emperor intended to do.

The Heartless Demon Emperor persuaded Pang Zhong to sacrifice Yan Kingdom refugees in exchange for a century of peace for the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom. After the Northern Garrison Army slaughtered the refugees, an infant survived, and Pang Zhong prepared to kill it himself when his soldiers could not continue.

• Demon Emperor Li Yezhu pressured Pang Zhong for questioning Upper Immortal Wuxin, but the Heartless Demon Emperor intervened and offered a hundred years of peace in exchange for the refugees' lives.
• Pang Zhong accepted the bargain despite fearing eternal condemnation, and the Heartless Demon Emperor ordered him to have the Northern Garrison Army kill every refugee within an incense stick's time.
• Pang Zhong ordered the army to attack, and the soldiers slaughtered the unarmed Yan Kingdom refugees until the dried-up Great Lake ran red with blood.
• A blood-covered infant crawled from beneath a woman's corpse, and the Heartless Demon Emperor told Pang Zhong that no survivors could remain.
• When the soldiers looked to Pang Zhong, exhausted and unwilling to kill more, he drew his saber and said he would do the killing himself.

Pang Zhong carried out the massacre of Yan Kingdom refugees, allowing the Heartless Demon Emperor and his allies to summon the ancient Demon God Chitu from beneath the Great Lake. Meanwhile, Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Xuanzhi reached the entrance to the Southern Heavenly Gate Ruins and received an offer to let their journey be watched.

• Pang Zhong killed the infant to obey the Heartless Demon Emperor, while observers feared he had surrendered his true heart.
• The Heartless Demon Emperor, Demon Emperor Li Yezhu, and Qing He Demon Emperor used the corpses at the Great Lake to summon a primordial Demon God.
• Xiahou You identified the summoned being as Chitu and explained that the Flame Emperor had once slain him after Chitu killed several Human Sovereigns.
• Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian found the entrance to the Southern Heavenly Gate Ruins in the Land of Everlasting Night.
• The Battle Merit Ledger offered Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, and Xuanzhi thirty thousand battle merits if they allowed their journey to be watched.

Xu Taiping and his companions refused a Dragon-Slaying Ranking bounty that would let outsiders observe their journey to the Southern Heavenly Gate, then faced a blocked route up the volcano. After the local hunter abandoned them, Xu Taiping tried to use his powers to find a way through the restrictions.

• Xu Taiping rejected the thirty-thousand-merit bounty because allowing spectators could expose their hidden abilities and attract rivals.
• Gu Yu reported that the hunter would not guide them up the mountain, and the hunter refused even a higher price because three suns appeared in the sky.
• Xu Taiping failed to sense a safe path through the volcano's restrictions and learned that the hunter had left for Fire Sand Town.
• Xu Taiping told his companions he had thought of a way through and used his Left-Eye Lotus Pupil and True Intent of Lotus Root Broken, Yet Its Fibers Remain while probing the yin fire.
• Xu Taiping's Divine Soul perception burned away, but he saw threads connecting the yin fire to other things.