Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping gained the Kun Scale Gauntlets and learned about their powers, then received two other treasures that agreed to accompany him but not yet acknowledge him as their master. He headed upstairs to receive guidance from the Divine Sense left by the Flame Emperor as the treasures in the hall trembled in welcome.

• Xu Taiping learned that the Gauntlets were made from Kunpeng's shed scales and discovered their powers, including Reflection Power.
• Guard Xiye reminded Xu Taiping that he could choose two more treasures, and a pearl and a deity-faced mask flew into his Iron Gourd.
• Guard Xiye explained that the pearl and mask were willing to leave with Xu Taiping but wanted to observe him before acknowledging him as their master.
• Xu Taiping asked about his other reward, and Guard Xiye directed him upstairs to receive guidance from the Flame Emperor's Divine Sense.
• Xu Taiping climbed toward the fourth floor while Guard Xiye praised him, and the treasures in the hall began humming as if welcoming a being's arrival.

Xu Taiping met the Flame Emperor’s divine sense on the fourth floor and accepted a body-tempering origin law, knowing its inheritance bound him to repay the world before ascending. After enduring 108,600 punches in a slowed-down trial, he gained the Flame Emperor’s fist intent and asked how many punches the True Martial Great Emperor had taken.

• Xu Taiping entered an empty fourth-floor hall and found himself on a grassland where the Flame Emperor appeared as a shepherd.
• The Flame Emperor offered to fuse Xu Taiping’s True Dragon Divine Being Body and inner furnace with his inheritance, but warned that the divine pact required Xu Taiping to protect the world before ascending.
• Xu Taiping accepted the pact after learning that defending the righteous path and confronting calamities would repay the world, as the True Martial Great Emperor had done.
• The Flame Emperor challenged Xu Taiping to exchange fists, repeatedly shattering his body while urging him to punch faster and learn from the pain.
• After 108,600 punches, Xu Taiping sensed the Flame Emperor’s martial dao body-tempering origin law and asked how many punches the True Martial Great Emperor had received.

After the Chaotic Stars Assembly, Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu received Lesser Sky Demon Tokens and planned to meet again before entering the Taixuan Ghost Domain. Qu Ningshuang then approached Xu Taiping, determined to repay him for giving her the Ancient Sword Ten Thousand Edges.

• Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu joked about Xu Taiping taking the same number of punches as the True Martial Great Emperor, irritating Yan Xuanling.
• Chi Fan gave Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu Lesser Sky Demon Tokens that let them bypass restrictions on entering the Heaven-Demon Battlefield.
• Xu Taiping warned Lin Buyu about the dangers of the Taixuan Ghost Domain, but she insisted on going with him as a disciple of the Azure Profound Sect.
• Xu Taiping told Lin Buyu that Dugu Qingxiao and Xu Ziyan were safe and promised to take her to see them at the Bamboo Sea Dao Field.
• Qu Ningshuang stopped Xu Taiping and insisted that she owed him for giving her the Ancient Sword Ten Thousand Edges, while Lin Buyu privately questioned her eagerness to repay him.

Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu parted after she promised to return, and he realized how special she was to him. Lin Buyu reached the Three Corpses Cave’s Shaking Light Ruins, where she found Ancestor Peng Ju dying and faced Lin Qinggu, who intended to devour her.

• Xu Taiping explained that he had given Ten Thousand Edges to Qu Ningshuang on Elder Qu Shuang’s dying wish, and Qu Ningshuang left after vowing to remember his kindness.
• Lin Buyu declined Xu Taiping’s offer to escort her to the Three Corpses Cave and departed alone, promising to return after retrieving what belonged to her.
• Xu Taiping realized Lin Buyu was more special to him than his other companions and teleported to the Hemu Spirit Fields.
• Lin Buyu returned to Shaking Light Ruins and found Ancestor Peng Ju in his cultivation tower, where he warned her to run before the tower shattered.
• Lin Qinggu appeared under a crushing pressure and declared that, with Peng Ju dead, he could devour Lin Buyu; she confronted him defiantly.

After three months of seclusion, Xu Taiping received a message from Lin Buyan revealing that Lin Buyu was gravely wounded and fleeing to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield. Lin Buyan said Lin Buyu's life was in danger but claimed she had a way to save her.

• Xu Taiping tested his progress in the Flame Emperor's Fist Intent and realized it would take many years to fully comprehend it.
• Xu Taiping learned that Lin Buyu had not contacted him during his three months of seclusion and prepared to search for her.
• The Listening Wind Bracelet activated, and Lin Buyan told Xu Taiping that she and Lin Buyu had fled Three Corpses Cave after Ancestor Peng Ju died protecting them.
• Lin Buyan explained that Lin Qinggu had pursued Lin Buyu for several lifetimes and held two of her three souls and three of her seven spirits.
• Lin Buyan said she had taken Lin Buyu to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield for refuge and insisted she had a way to save her.

Xu Taiping learned that he had to reclaim Buyu’s captive remnant soul from Lin Qinggu before Lin Qinggu reached the Heaven-Demon Battlefield, and he discussed the rescue with his Azure Profound Sect companions. The group vowed to retrieve Buyu after addressing the Taixuan Ghost Domain, then celebrated Xu Taiping and Buyu’s success at the Chaotic Stars Assembly.

• Lin Buyan told Xu Taiping that Lin Qinggu held Buyu’s remnant soul and spirit, and warned him to reclaim them before the Three Corpses Cave’s teleportation array opened in about twenty years.
• Xu Taiping resolved to survive the Taixuan Ghost Domain and grow stronger so he could save Buyu.
• Xu Taiping told Dugu Qingxiao, Xu Ziyan, Blade Ghost, and Ping'an about Buyu’s situation, and they agreed that the Azure Profound Sect would help retrieve her soul.
• Xu Taiping revealed that he and Buyu had taken Chief and Second Seat at the Chaotic Stars Assembly, delighting his companions.

Xu Taiping reunited with his companions in the Yellow Springs and told them how he had rescued Bai Yu and captured the Yellow Origin Palace. Blade Ghost explained how Bai Yu and Ping'an’s techniques could counter the Taixuan Ghost Domain, then offered to confront the Half-Immortal behind the palace when they came for Xu Taiping.

• Xu Taiping explained that the Flame Emperor’s Fist Intent and Dragon Emperor Ao Yan’s technique had greatly improved his combat strength.
• Xu Taiping told Ping'an and the others that Bai Yu was recovering in his White Gourd after Xu Taiping captured the Yellow Origin Palace.
• Ping'an explained that Bai Yu had learned the Kun Feather Scripture from Sister Lingyue, and Blade Ghost said Bai Yu and Ping'an’s techniques could defeat powerful Ghost Creatures.
• Blade Ghost warned that the Yellow Origin Palace’s Half-Immortal would soon come looking for Xu Taiping and told him to use Old Daoist Huang’s talisman to summon him.
• Blade Ghost revealed that his cultivation had recovered to ninety percent and unleashed his aura, asking Xu Taiping to compare it with Kang Cangzi’s.

Xu Taiping and Old Daoist Huang discovered that Lady Jade Mother had regained her spiritual intelligence, and she agreed to join their coming trip to the Taixuan Ghost Domain. Six months later, the half-immortal backing the Yellow Origin Palace broke through the Bamboo Sea Dao Field’s barrier and demanded that Xu Taiping answer for harming one of its disciples.

• Xu Taiping and Old Daoist Huang discussed Senior Blade Ghost’s strength and worried that Lady Jade Mother remained asleep after helping them fight Dong Cangzi.
• Old Daoist Huang’s calls and repeated lightning strikes awakened Lady Jade Mother, who confirmed she had regained her spiritual intelligence but would need time to restore her strength.
• Lady Jade Mother agreed to accompany Xu Taiping and Old Daoist Huang to the Taixuan Ghost Domain, then returned to seclusion while they supplied her with spirit marrow stones and pills.
• Old Daoist Huang gave Xu Taiping a jade slip that would let him send voice transmissions to Senior Blade Ghost in the Yellow Springs when the Yellow Origin Palace’s half-immortal arrived.
• After six months of contemplating the Flame Emperor Fist Intent on Sea-Viewing Cliff, Xu Taiping saw the half-immortal break through the Bamboo Sea Dao Field’s barrier and demand an accounting.

Xu Taiping confronted the Yellow Origin Palace Half-Immortal at Sea-Viewing Cliff as the Bamboo Sea Grotto-Heaven’s protective formation began to fail. After the Half-Immortal attacked him, Xu Taiping summoned Senior Blade Ghost, whose strike split the enemy’s wave-blade and filled the grotto-heaven with blood-colored skies.

• Little Pig Demon Zhu Ping warned Xu Taiping that the Bamboo Sea Grotto-Heaven’s barrier was close to collapsing, while Xu Taiping said the Half-Immortal would avoid destroying Kang Cangzi’s dao field.
• Xu Taiping raised a black jade slip and claimed he had nothing to fear, prompting the Yellow Origin Palace Half-Immortal to break through the sky canopy and descend.
• Xu Taiping cut apart the Half-Immortal’s wave and sent blade qi toward his dharma aspect, but the attack dissipated before reaching it.
• The Half-Immortal struck Sea-Viewing Cliff with a blade made from a wave, sending Zhu Ping flying and forcing Xu Taiping to endure the attack.
• Xu Taiping called for Senior Blade Ghost, whose blade shadow emerged from the Pine and Bamboo Residence and split the Half-Immortal’s wave-blade in two.
• Blood-colored skies spread across the Bamboo Sea Grotto-Heaven before the Half-Immortal could react.

Blade Ghost trapped Qingzhouzi in his Infernal Blade Prison and overwhelmed him with its layers, forcing the Yellow Origin Palace half-immortal to offer a deal. Blade Ghost rejected the terms and opened the Sixth Layer, demanding more sincerity in exchange for lifting Bai Yu’s seal and returning the disciples’ Primordial Spirits.

• Blade Ghost trapped Qingzhouzi’s Dharma Aspect in the Infernal Blade Prison and unleashed its sealed cultivators and demonic beasts against him.
• Xu Taiping told Zhu Ping that the dark figures were Blade Ghost’s Blade Slaves as they damaged Qingzhouzi’s Dharma Aspect.
• Qingzhouzi threatened that their battle could harm Xu Taiping and Zhu Ping, but Blade Ghost advanced the prison to its third layer and pressed the attack.
• After Qingzhouzi destroyed one Blade Slave, he offered to lift Bai Yu’s seal if Xu Taiping released the Yellow Origin Palace disciples’ Primordial Spirits.
• Blade Ghost opened the Sixth Layer and rejected the exchange, demanding that Qingzhouzi show more sincerity.

Blade Ghost forced Qingzhouzi to release Bai Yu and exchange the Yellow Origin Palace disciples’ Primordial Spirits for stones before Qingzhouzi departed. Xu Taiping and Bai Yu prepared to enter seclusion for the Taixuan Ghost Domain, and sixteen years later Zhu Ping wondered if they would emerge that day.

• Blade Ghost ended his Blade Prison after Qingzhouzi offered more Soulfire Stones and Spirit Marrow Stones, then demanded that he release Bai Yu.
• Qingzhouzi shattered a Jade Jue to free Bai Yu, and Xu Taiping had Xiaohei return the Yellow Origin Palace disciples’ Primordial Spirits in exchange for a Qiankun Bag of stones.
• Qingzhouzi left after promising to compensate Kang Cangzi, while Blade Ghost told Xu Taiping that his Blade Domain let him threaten Qingzhouzi’s External Incarnation.
• Bai Yu thanked Xu Taiping for his rescue, accepted him as their eldest brother, and learned that he should continue cultivating the Kun Feather Scripture for the Taixuan Ghost Domain.
• Xu Taiping and Bai Yu agreed to focus on cultivation, and Zhu Ping proposed sealing off the Bamboo Sea Grotto-Heaven as they entered seclusion.
• Sixteen years later, a drunken Zhu Ping wondered whether Xu Taiping and the others would emerge from seclusion that day.

Zhu Ping watched Xu Taiping undergo a dramatic physical breakthrough at Sea-Viewing Cliff, where his merged body reached a thousand zhang and shattered the clouds with one palm. The strike unleashed enormous waves, and Zhu Ping explained that the sea was a Ruin Star refined by his master, whose seal protected the Bamboo Sea Dao Field and the Hemu Spirit Fields.

• Zhu Ping flew to Sea-Viewing Cliff on his Wine Gourd and watched Xu Taiping and his clone from the clouds.
• A powerful disturbance surrounded Sea-Viewing Cliff as Xu Taiping’s physical qi pressed down the sea and formed fierce winds.
• Xu Taiping’s Origin Beginning Clone merged with his true body, and his body grew to a thousand zhang tall.
• Xu Taiping struck the sky with his palm, shattering the clouds and shaking the Bamboo Sea Dao Field.
• The strike unleashed towering waves, and Zhu Ping explained that the sea was a Ruin Star refined by his master and sealed to keep it from sinking the Hemu Spirit Fields.

Xu Taiping tested his physical strength against the Vast Sea’s raging tides after his strike disrupted the seal, and punched back wave after wave until the sea calmed. He then turned his attention to the sky canopy above the Bamboo Sea Grotto-Heaven, leaving Zhu Ping alarmed by what he might do next.

• Zhu Ping warned Xu Taiping that the raging tides carried the power of the entire Vast Sea and could only be countered with pure strength.
• Xu Taiping stood his ground and met the incoming tides with the qi and blood power of his physique, while Zhu Ping retreated to safety.
• Xu Taiping’s golden fist shadows smashed and checked the second through fifth waves, astonishing Zhu Ping, who concluded Xu Taiping had reached the Heaven-Hunting Great Sage Realm.
• Xu Taiping continued punching until the tides retreated, then struck the sea with a final punch that carved a huge depression into it.
• Xu Taiping asked Zhu Ping why he had not told him about the sea as a place to practice punches, then struck toward the sky canopy above.

Xu Taiping spent the year tempering his physique and fist techniques against the Vast Sea’s raging waves while his companions drank through the year. As the group prepared to depart for the Taixuan Ghost Domain, Xu Taiping announced that he would first visit Three Corpses Cave to deliver a fist challenge letter.

• Xu Taiping practiced his punches against the Vast Sea’s raging waves, and Zhu Ping and Bai Yu resolved to cultivate harder after watching him.
• Xu Taiping sent his Origin Beginning Clone to study the Southern Bright Li Fire Sword while he continued training for the year he had left.
• Zhu Ping and Bai Yu drank for a year at Pine and Bamboo Residence and only realized how much time had passed when Ping'an, Old Daoist Huang, and Blade Ghost came to depart.
• Xu Taiping arrived in fresh Daoist robes and told the group that he would visit Three Corpses Cave before going to the Taixuan Ghost Domain.
• Xu Taiping said he would deliver a fist challenge letter to punish Three Corpses Cave for murdering Azure Profound Sect disciples.

Xu Taiping prepared to deliver a fist challenge letter to the Three Corpses Cave, bringing Bai Yu and Xiaohei while the others waited near an ancient Teleportation Array. At the Three Corpses Cave, Luo Hong emerged from seclusion stronger and vowed to kill Lin Buyu if he entered the Heaven-Demon Battlefield.

• Xu Taiping told his companions he would deliver the challenge letter himself and asked Bai Yu and Xiaohei to accompany him.
• Xu Taiping instructed Blade Ghost and the others to wait at an ancient Teleportation Array near the Three Corpses Cave.
• Half a month later, Luo Hong emerged from seclusion after severing his corpse and vowed to kill Xu Taiping in repayment for the punch that helped him.
• Xu San told Luo Hong that the Three Corpses Cave's leaders had secured a satisfactory quota for the Heaven-Demon Battlefield.
• Luo Hong said he would seek out Lin Buyu in the Heaven-Demon Battlefield and scatter her soul and spirit utterly.

Xu Taiping breached Three Corpses Cave and defeated Luo Hong and Xu San when they tried to stop him. He burned their bodies and primordial spirits with the legendary Southern Bright Li Fire Sword as the three Exalted Venerables rushed to intervene.

• Xu San warned Luo Hong that others were competing for the reward in Three Corpses Cave.
• Xu Taiping burst through the cave’s heaven-and-earth barrier, and Luo Hong and Xu San volunteered to confront him while the three Exalted Venerables watched.
• Luo Hong and Xu San recognized Xu Taiping, then attacked him together with their full strength using the Sun Wheel Heaven Strike Technique.
• Xu Taiping tore through their attack and seized Luo Hong and Xu San by their heads.
• Xu Taiping crushed their heads and struck their bodies with the Southern Bright Li Fire Sword, prompting Fuyao Venerable to recognize the legendary sword.

Xu Taiping attacked the Three Corpses Cave, overpowered its three Exalted Venerables, and publicly challenged the sect to a fist fight in three years over Buyu’s destroyed soul. After confronting Lin Qinggu and surviving the Three Corpses Cave’s Half-Immortal, he escaped, leaving the sect humiliated and the challenge set.

• Xu Taiping used Southern Bright Li Fire Swords, powerful punches, and the Mountain-Setting Fist to overwhelm Fuyao Venerable, Xuanque, and Danji, then burned them with the sword’s fire.
• Xu Taiping announced through a spirit mirror that he would issue a fist challenge to the Three Corpses Cave in three years, then split the Three Corpses Stele with his sword.
• The Three Corpses Cave Master attacked Xu Taiping, but Xu Taiping’s Origin Beginning Clone shattered his sunlike strike; Xu Taiping told Lin Qinggu to protect Buyu’s soul and caught Lin Qinggu’s saber slash with one hand.
• A Half-Immortal of the Three Corpses Cave struck at Xu Taiping, but Xu Taiping escaped with the Greater Sky Demon Token and vowed the challenge would remain unchanged.
• The Three Corpses Cave Master raged over the sect’s humiliation as Xu Taiping’s voice carried his three-year challenge throughout the Upper Realm.

Lin Qinggu and Pengzhi Ancestor accepted Xu Taiping’s three-year challenge, while discussing the Heaven-Demon Battlefield and the possible revival of the Demon Mother’s dharma body. In the Jumen Ruins, Wen Shu paid Liu San to inspect a Moonshadow Stone showing a mysterious treasure, then balked at Liu San’s demand for 3,000 Spirit Marrow Stones to lead him there.

• Lin Qinggu asked Pengzhi Ancestor why they had let Xu Taiping leave, and Pengzhi said stopping him would bring a backlash from the Heavenly Dao.
• Lin Qinggu planned to devour Xu Taiping after their three-year appointment, and Pengzhi said Lin Buyu’s remnant soul would ensure Xu Taiping kept it.
• Pengzhi told Lin Qinggu that the Sky Demon Teleportation Array was delayed because people awaited news of whether the Demon Mother’s sealed dharma body in the Taixuan Ghost Domain could revive.
• Pengzhi revealed that Lü Daoxuan, the former Azure Profound Sect master, had been a heavenly official of the Ancient Heavenly Court, but Lin Qinggu dismissed his chances against the Demon Mother.
• In the Jumen Ruins, Liu San sold Wen Shu a Moonshadow Stone deposit showing a blue-violet glow at Tuoluo Ridge, then offered to guide him there for 3,000 Spirit Marrow Stones.
• Wen Shu objected to Liu San’s demand for 3,000 Spirit Marrow Stones.

Xu Taiping and his companions waited at Tuoluo Ridge for Heavenly Lord Xuanbei and Daoist Fengzhu, while Wen Shu gathered Horse-Rat members to pursue a supposed treasure. After the two powerful seniors arrived, Xuanbei asked Xu Taiping about the cultivators approaching from the west.

• Liu San persuaded Wen Shu to pay three thousand Spirit Marrow Stones for information and lead him toward Tuoluo Ridge.
• Wen Shu summoned Horse-Rat members in Jumen Ruins, expecting three or four hundred people to gather.
• Xu Taiping explained to Bai Yu that they were waiting for Heavenly Lord Xuanbei and Daoist Fengzhu before using the repaired Ancient Teleportation Array.
• Bai Yu spotted nearly two hundred cultivators gathering west of Tuoluo Ridge, and Ping'an identified them as Horse-Rat members invited by Wen Shu to hunt for treasure.
• Daoist Fengzhu and Heavenly Lord Xuanbei arrived, and Xuanbei asked Xu Taiping about the cultivators to the west.

Xu Taiping used the Greater Sky Demon Token to open a passage from the Upper Realm to the Lower Realm, while he and his companions drove off the Horse-Rat members who tried to seize the apparent treasure. They vanished through the rift, leaving the Upper Realm cultivation world wondering where they had gone.

• Xu Taiping warned Heavenly Lord Xuanbei and Daoist Fengzhu that they might never return from the Lower Realm, and they joined him on the Teleportation Platform.
• Old Daoist Huang, Bai Yu, and Ping'an filled the Teleportation Platform with spirit marrow stones, and Xu Taiping activated it with the Greater Sky Demon Token.
• The Teleportation Platform opened a void rift to the Lower Realm as Ping'an warned that the Horse-Rat members were approaching.
• Wen Shu led more than three hundred Horse-Rat members to seize the supposed treasure, but Xu Taiping and his companions released their auras and hurled them back.
• Xu Taiping and his companions vanished through the void rift, and word of their disappearance spread through the Upper Realm.