Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping merged the more than six hundred strands of sword intent gathered by Xu You and awakened a sword intent connected to the Heavenly Dao of Shangqing. As the Demon Mother’s clone unleashed a massive attack, Xu Taiping named his answering strike Awakening of Insects and sent a brilliant sword light through the demon’s blow.

• Xu Taiping’s Frost Slays All Grass sword intent absorbed the more than six hundred strands from Xu You, drawing him into the Empyrean Void Realm.
• Bai Yu, Nangong, Dongfang Yuejian, Lü Daoxuan, and Zhao Qian witnessed Xu Taiping’s transformed sword intent, and Lü Daoxuan explained that it connected to the Heavenly Dao of Shangqing.
• The Demon Mother gathered Thousand Demon Hands into one enormous hand, opened a vertical pupil in its palm, and sent it crashing toward Xu Taiping.
• Xu Taiping opened his eyes as the heavens fell silent, then named his attack Awakening of Insects.
• A dazzling sword light burst forth and pierced the brilliant radiance of the Demon Mother’s blow.

Xu Taiping’s stored swords shattered the Demon Mother’s Thousand Demon Hands and repeatedly pierced her clone, weakening it until she detonated the clone and trapped everyone in Great Void Power. As their auras were devoured, Xu Taiping revealed a sword strike he called the Taiping Sword, honoring Xu You’s sacrifice.

• Xu Taiping’s hundreds of sword-light streaks broke through the Demon Mother’s Thousand Demon Hands and pierced her true form repeatedly, draining her demon seed power.
• The Demon Mother detonated her weakening clone, engulfing Xu Taiping and the other cultivators in absolute darkness with Great Void Power.
• Xu Taiping’s sword-light streaks failed to escape the shadow, and the Demon Mother declared that her Great Void Power would devour everyone.
• As the shadow began consuming their auras, Xu Taiping reassured the group and revealed a sword strike named the Taiping Sword in honor of Xu You.

Xu Taiping destroyed the Demon Mother's clone and broke open the Taixuan Ghost Domain, freeing the Azure Profound Sect after sixty years. A phantom bronze gate appeared in True Martial Heaven, offering the sect and its allies passage to the Shangqing Upper Realm, while Xu Taiping prepared to give everyone a gift.

• Xu Taiping used his sword to annihilate the Demon Mother's clone and pierce the sky canopies of the Taixuan Ghost Domain and True Martial Heaven.
• The Azure Profound Sect sword cultivators celebrated their freedom, and Lü Daoxuan explained that their inheritance’s shackles had been undone.
• A phantom bronze gate appeared above True Martial Heaven, and Lü Daoxuan revealed that the True Martial Great Emperor had promised the sect a gate to the Shangqing Upper Realm.
• The Azure Profound Sect’s land and former mountain gate began ascending toward the Land of Chaos in Outer Heaven, and Lü Daoxuan offered places there to the cultivators who had helped them.
• Xu Taiping took out the Sky Demon Token and announced that he had a great gift for everyone in the Lower Realm.

Xu Taiping opened a passage from Zhenwu to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield and announced that the Five Heavens could travel there freely for lost legacies and techniques beyond the Heaven Shocking Realm. As the Azure Profound Sect and Taixuan Sect Ruins ascended, he warned cultivators that the battlefield was dangerous, while Yun Shiliu took responsibility for managing access.

• Zhu Huai and Yun Shiliu explained to Chen Hao that Xu Taiping’s Greater Sky Demon Token could open a lasting passage to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield, where Lower Realm cultivators could gain powerful legacies.
• An azure pillar pierced the sky, opening True Martial Heaven’s passage to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield, and Xu Taiping sent Yun Shiliu a Sky Demon Token on his Human Sovereign Sword.
• Yun Shiliu accepted responsibility for selecting cultivators and preventing Nine Abysses spies from entering Zhenwu’s army.
• The land containing the Taixuan Ghost Domain and Azure Profound Sect rose into the sky, and Zhu Huai said Taixuan could establish itself openly in the Shangqing Realm.
• Xu Taiping addressed Zhenwu’s Five Heavens, announced that they could travel freely to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield, and warned them about its dangers.

Xu Taiping showed the cultivators of True Martial Heaven the last stand of the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army’s veterans before the Azure Profound Sect entered the Upper Realm. After Zhang Moyan asked to join the fight, Xu Taiping and the sect arrived safely, where Lü Daoxuan reported that their strength was rapidly recovering.

• Xu Taiping revealed footage of fewer than a hundred Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army veterans fighting the demons, leaving Zhang Moyan and the cultivators of True Martial Heaven grief-stricken and indignant.
• The Taixuan Sect Ruins passed through the Bronze Gate, and Xu Taiping told everyone he would await them on the Heaven-Demon Battlefield.
• Zhang Moyan asked Zhang Tianze to take her to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield, and he told her to prepare with him for the next six months.
• Xu Taiping confirmed that the Azure Profound Sect had safely entered the Upper Realm and found no dangers nearby.
• Lü Daoxuan told Xu Taiping that the sect’s injuries were healing and that after six months of training, its cultivators would have at least Dao Integration Realm fighting strength.

Xu Taiping and the others prepared to settle the Taixuan Sect Ruins on Nether Luo Ruin Star, while Blade Ghost explained that Xu Taiping’s breakthrough brought him closer to joining the fight against the Demon Mother. Xu Taiping then asked whether he could travel to Yanggu Heaven to challenge Dong Cangzi.

• The Old Palace Master of Danyuan Palace suggested settling the Taixuan Sect Ruins on Nether Luo Ruin Star, and Xu Taiping sent the Human Sovereign Sword ahead to guide the way.
• Dugu Qingxiao, Blade Ghost, and Old Daoist Huang emerged from the Dragon-Trapping Tower, and Dugu Qingxiao reunited with Lü Daoxuan and Zhao Qian.
• Xu Taiping told Blade Ghost that he had reached the half-step half-immortal realm, possibly because his Origin Beginning Clone had endured a lifetime of mortal trials in the Lower Realm.
• Blade Ghost explained that killing the Demon Mother was the key part of Shangqing’s Heaven-Treading Contest and would earn the winner the right to ascend into heaven.
• Xu Taiping asked Blade Ghost whether he could go to the Imperial City of the Great Qian Kingdom in Yanggu Heaven and challenge Dong Cangzi.

Ninth Madam, Heavenly Lord Xuanbei, and Daoist Fengzhu discussed Kang Cangzi’s wager on Xu Taiping and realized Xu had reached the Half-Step Half-Immortal Realm. They feared Dong Cangzi would prepare for Xu or disappear, but Xu contacted Ninth Madam to ask where Liu Dong Cang was.

• Ninth Madam asked how Xu Taiping had obtained five Sky Demon Tokens, and Daoist Fengzhu explained that Kang Cangzi was backing Xu to strengthen his faction against Heavenly Crow.
• Daoist Fengzhu said Kang Cangzi’s real aim was to help Xu claim a Half-Immortal Seat as a battle general, and he and Heavenly Lord Xuanbei realized Xu’s final sword strike had reached the Half-Step Half-Immortal Realm.
• Heavenly Lord Xuanbei said Xu’s Origin Beginning Clone had completed its Dao Heart in the Lower Realm, apparently helping Xu pass his Heart Demon Tribulation.
• Daoist Fengzhu warned that Dong Cangzi, Kang Cangzi’s former disciple, would stand between Xu and the Half-Immortal Seat, and Ninth Madam revealed that Dong Cangzi had demanded Liu Dong Cang’s death in the coming contest.
• Ninth Madam received a message from Xu Taiping asking for Liu Dong Cang’s current whereabouts.

Jiang Fu and the others learned from Ninth Madam that Xu Taiping had survived the Taixuan Ghost Domain disaster and slain the Demon Mother Clone, though Black Prison withheld part of its information. The chapter ended with Jiang Suxue wondering whether Xu Taiping had actually perished and Black Prison was concealing it to sell more details.

• Ninth Madam told Xu Taiping that finding Liu Dong Cang would cost extra, while Daoist Fengzhu called her a money-grubber.
• Jiang Suxue showed Jiang Fu, Yun Jiuyi, and Xiao Huang an image of the Taixuan Ghost Domain opening onto another sky, and they wondered whether Xu Taiping and the Demon Mother Clone were alive.
• Jiang Fu paid Ninth Madam three hundred thousand spirit marrow crystals for details about Xu Taiping and the Demon Mother.
• Ninth Madam confirmed that Xu Taiping was alive and had slain the Demon Mother Clone, then showed an image of the Demon Mother's body shattering beneath Xu Taiping's True Dragon Divine Being Body.
• Yun Jiuyi noticed that the image had been edited, and Ninth Madam said Black Prison would release the remaining information later without charging more.
• Jiang Fu suspected Black Prison was hiding something, and Jiang Suxue wondered whether Xu Taiping had died and Ninth Madam was concealing it to sell information.

Xu Taiping learned that the Land of Chaos believed him dead as the Taixuan Sect Ruins completed their protective barrier on Nether Luo Ruin Star. He and the Azure Profound Sect prepared for his coming conflict with a half-immortal and their return to the Three Corpses Cave, while Ninth Madam reported that Black Prison had found Liu Dong Cang.

• Xu Taiping asked Zhu Ping to keep his survival secret after learning that rumors said he had died with the Demon Mother Clone.
• The Taixuan Sect's first mountain-protecting barrier on Nether Luo Ruin Star rose around the ruins.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost agreed that the death rumor could keep Liu Dong Cang off guard, and Blade Ghost said he might delay receiving the Yama Inheritance until Xu Taiping's challenge.
• Lü Daoxuan and Dugu Qingxiao told Xu Taiping they would accompany him to retrieve Lin Buyu's soul from the Three Corpses Cave after recovering for three months.
• Ninth Madam contacted Xu Taiping through the Black Prison Token and said they had found Liu Dong Cang.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost investigated the Jade Appraisal Pavilion in Dan Mountain Red Water Ruins while searching for Liu Dong Cang. After witnessing a girl being dragged inside and sensing powerful cultivators approaching, they decided to conceal their identities and turn the Pavilion’s scheme against its agents.

• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost arrived at the Jade Appraisal Pavilion and suspected Liu Dong Cang might be hiding there, but chose to investigate cautiously.
• A tattered girl tried to call for help, but two shop assistants silenced her and dragged her into the Pavilion.
• Xu Taiping secretly left a strand of Divine Sense on the girl, and he and Blade Ghost agreed to follow that clue without revealing their identities.
• Blade Ghost sensed two Dao Integration Origin Opening Realm cultivators outside and three Dao-Integration Heavenly Communion Realm cultivators inside approaching them.
• Two young-looking cultivators confronted Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost as terrifying pressures surrounded them.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost accepted the Jade Appraisal Pavilion cultivators’ invitation, then were ambushed in the courtyard. After the pair were knocked down, Blade Ghost transformed into a hurricane to escape, but three more attackers launched spells at him.

• The pale-faced cultivator and Jin Wuming apologized to Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost, then lured them inside with an offer of ancient porcelain.
• Jin Wuming shut the pavilion doors while the pale-faced cultivator led Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost into the back courtyard.
• Three cultivators appeared and joined the pale-faced man and Jin Wuming in surrounding the pair before attacking them.
• Jin Wuming broke Xu Taiping’s arm and struck him across the waist, while the pale-faced man knocked Blade Ghost down.
• Blade Ghost grabbed Xu Taiping, transformed into a hundred-zhang hurricane, and sent the pale-faced man and Jin Wuming flying.
• The pale-faced man called on Bai Xuan, Sun Han, and Yue Yuan, who fired spells and divine abilities at Blade Ghost’s hurricane.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost let the Jade Appraisal Pavilion capture them so they could get into the mine and find Liu Dong Cang. After enduring torture and humiliation to preserve their disguises, they were sent to work in the mine, where Blade Ghost planned to confront Liu Dong Cang once they learned where he was.

• Sun Han spared Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost from the flames after White Face argued that they could be useful as mine laborers.
• Xu Taiping charged White Face to distract the Jade Appraisal Pavilion after Blade Ghost’s killing intent nearly exposed them, and Jin Wuming and the elderly cultivator beat and pinned him down.
• White Face tormented Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost, demanding that they submit and kowtow to the Pavilion members.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost pretended to surrender, and White Face ordered them sent to the mine while making their release depend on their performance.
• Blade Ghost told Xu Taiping he intended to kill Liu Dong Cang once they discovered his whereabouts, and Xu Taiping agreed not to stop him.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost were taken toward a mine with other prisoners, where Flame Guard Zhu Yan tried to recruit them for an escape. After Zhu Yan’s attempt was stopped, Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost revealed they had suspected him and the guards were monitoring him, leaving Zhu Yan stunned as Blade Ghost challenged his identity.

• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost discussed the Jade Appraisal Pavilion’s restraints and wondered what Liu Dong Cang sought in the mine.
• Zhu Yan introduced himself as a Flame Court Guard investigating disappearances and proposed breaking free at the final checkpoint to attract help.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost appeared to agree, but when Zhu Yan broke his restraints and tried to call for help, Sun Han stabbed his throat.
• White Face accused Zhu Yan of being overheard, ordered him sent straight into the mineshaft, and covered the carriage again.
• Xu Taiping told Zhu Yan that they knew the guards were monitoring him, while Blade Ghost said Zhu Yan did not seem like a Flame Court member and used Secret Voice Transmission.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost learned from Zhu Yan that the Jade Appraisal Pavilion's owner, Liu Dong Cang, had been sending missing cultivators into Mine Mountain. Blade Ghost realized the mine was likely a primordial Divine Being Clan mass burial tomb, and Zhu Yan's description of its monsters seemed to confirm Blade Ghost had encountered them before.

• Zhu Yan explained that the Jade Appraisal Pavilion changed owners about twenty years earlier, after which cultivators began disappearing from the Ruin Market.
• Zhu Yan said the new owner, a powerful cultivator surnamed Liu, had likely sent the missing cultivators to Mine Mountain.
• Zhu Yan described Mine Mountain's deep shafts and the powerful monsters within, which grew more numerous farther underground.
• Blade Ghost deduced that Liu Dong Cang was excavating a mass burial tomb of the primordial Divine Being Clan, whose remains could contain immense divine power.
• Blade Ghost asked whether the mine's monsters resembled formless ghostly shadows, and Zhu Yan was surprised that Blade Ghost knew of them.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost decided to enter the mine shafts to seek a Divine Emperor-level inheritance and lure Liu Dong Cang out. After arriving, they learned Lu Yu’s group had reached the tomb but lost all its mine slaves, and Luo Wei ordered Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan to go down with them.

• Zhu Yan told Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost that the mine shafts held powerful monsters and that digging had stopped after the workers neared a possible lair.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost agreed to enter the mine shafts to seek the inheritance and create a chance to draw Liu Dong Cang out.
• Luo Wei’s carriage brought Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan to the mine site, where bloodied cultivators emerged from the shafts.
• Lu Yu told Luo Wei that his group had reached thirteen thousand zhang and nearly entered the tomb, but all their mine slaves had died.
• Luo Wei said he had three available mine slaves, and Lu Yu ordered all three—Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan—to join the next descent.

Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan were taken by the Jade Appraisal Pavilion toward the central mine shaft, which Zhu Yan warned was likely being used to feed slaves to demonic creatures. After Lu Yu knocked down Zhu Yan’s escape attempt, Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost attacked him together.

• Jin Wuming kicked Blade Ghost down and stamped Xu Taiping’s head into the dirt after Xu Taiping charged him.
• Lu Yu ordered Jin Wuming and Luo Wei to bring Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan to the mine, promising release if they reached the bottom and found what the Jade Appraisal Pavilion sought.
• Zhu Yan told Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost that the deepest central shafts were the most dangerous and that slaves were sometimes sent down to feed demonic creatures.
• Zhu Yan tried to break his restrictions, but an enormous force slammed him down, and Lu Yu pulled him to his feet.
• Lu Yu headed for the central shaft and began to threaten Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost, but they attacked him together and sent him stumbling backward.

Lu Yu threw Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan into the mine shaft as sacrifices, while Luo Wei and Jin Wuming planned to use mine slaves to reach a Divine Being Clan tomb. Inside the shaft, Blade Ghost and Zhu Yan fought black-mist hounds, while Xu Taiping stood unharmed beside a mural and the monsters treated him with apparent friendliness.

• Lu Yu pinned Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan, then ordered them thrown into the mine shaft alongside the captured mine slaves.
• Xu Taiping secretly told the young cultivator he had met before to pretend she did not know him and promised he would find her later.
• Luo Wei and Jin Wuming sealed the shaft and discussed how sacrifices would lull the monsters; Luo Wei revealed they sought the Divine Being Clan's inheritance below.
• Blade Ghost and Zhu Yan dodged the black-mist hounds inside the shaft, and Blade Ghost smashed one apart with a punch.
• Zhu Yan spotted Xu Taiping suspended beside a mural and realized the hounds were not attacking him and seemed friendly toward him.

Xu Taiping discovered that his true dragon divine being body could command the tomb-guarding beasts in the mine, allowing him and Blade Ghost and Zhu Yan to survive the attack. After the group drove off an outside cultivator’s inspection, Xu Taiping led them toward the bottom of the shaft to plan how to lure Liu Dong Cang there.

• Xu Taiping used the Lotus Eye to realize his divine being body might explain why the black-mist dogs treated him affectionately.
• Xu Taiping revealed his true dragon divine being body, and hundreds of vicious dogs stopped attacking and obeyed his command to sit.
• Blade Ghost and Xu Taiping agreed to seize the inheritance item and lure Liu Dong Cang into the tomb-guarding beasts’ reach.
• Zhu Yan recognized Xu Taiping and realized that he planned to hunt Liu Dong Cang and challenge Half-Immortal Kang Cang.
• When a cultivator outside the shaft searched inside with divine sense, Xu Taiping ordered the dogs to ram the entrance cover, then led Blade Ghost and Zhu Yan down the shaft.

Lu Yu, Luo Wei, and Jin Wuming watched Xu Taiping and the other two descend the sealed mine shaft, tracking their progress with a black jade slip. The trio broke through the monsters at three thousand zhang but disturbed another group near five thousand, leaving their descent stalled.

• The shaft cover shook as the people below fought, so Lu Yu reinforced the second layer of the seal with mountain spirit power and rocks.
• Lu Yu explained that the three could reach five thousand or even eight thousand zhang if they survived the monsters, and Luo Wei and Jin Wuming considered summoning Young Master Liu.
• Lu Yu used a black jade slip to reveal the trio's positions and determined that they had reached three thousand zhang, where lion- and tiger-shaped monsters blocked their way.
• Luo Wei recounted how he had captured Xu Taiping and the other two, and Lu Yu suggested they were exceptionally capable fighters who had underestimated Luo Wei.
• Xu Taiping and the others broke through the barrier at three thousand zhang and continued downward, but they stirred more monsters as they neared five thousand zhang, slowing their progress.

Xu Taiping and his companions descended deeper into the tomb well, using his strange influence over the guardian beasts to make their progress look like a fierce struggle. At eight thousand zhang, Blade Ghost unleashed his sealed aura and challenged the beasts to attack his Protective Blade Qi, setting off a tremendous clash.

• Jin Wuming and Luo Wei urged Lu Yu to contact Liu Dong Cang after Xu Taiping and his companions descended seven thousand zhang.
• Lu Yu reported their progress to Liu Dong Cang, who asked which mine shaft they were in.
• Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Zhu Yan descended to eight thousand zhang, where a herd of elephant-shaped guardian beasts approached.
• The elephant herd leader affectionately approached Xu Taiping, and Xu Taiping decided they needed to make the encounter appear more dangerous to the Jade Appraisal Pavilion.
• Blade Ghost released his sealed aura and formed a Protective Blade Qi barrier, while Xu Taiping ordered the guardian beasts to break through it.
• The guardian beasts charged Blade Ghost’s barrier, making the Tomb Well tremble violently.