Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping fought off Crow Heavenly Venerable’s remote attacks until Heaven-Hunting Great Sage arrived and revealed that he had escaped the invisible brand’s poison curse. Xu Taiping’s ability to sense the brand shocked both Heavenly Venerable figures, and he explained that it appeared after he saw the Heavenly Gate and was struck by Black Light.

• Xu Taiping blocked Crow Heavenly Venerable’s first sword strike with the Human Sovereign Sword, then stopped another with his saber.
• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage arrived and shattered Crow Heavenly Venerable’s sword shadow with a punch.
• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage told Xu Taiping that Xu’s fist intent had filled a flaw in his Dao heart, freeing him from the brand’s poison curse and restoring his Heavenly Official seat.
• Crow Heavenly Venerable tried to plant doubts in Xu Taiping’s Dao heart, but Xu said the brand had not yet bewitched him.
• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage was stunned when Xu Taiping said he could sense the brand and showed him where it was on the back of his neck.
• Xu Taiping told Heaven-Hunting Great Sage that the brand appeared after he saw a vision of the Heavenly Gate and was struck by Black Light.

Heaven-Hunting Great Sage explained that Xu Taiping could perceive the brand because his mortal bone made him immune to its restraints, while Crow Heavenly Venerable had become its incarnation. After warning Xu Taiping not to fight the brand’s allies before assimilating his inheritance, Heaven-Hunting Great Sage drove Crow Heavenly Venerable away, and a familiar voice told Xu Taiping to stay where he was.

• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage realized Xu Taiping’s mortal bone allowed him to sense the brand and remain free of its influence.
• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage explained that the brand acted like an inherited heart demon, and that Crow Heavenly Venerable willingly followed it.
• Crow Heavenly Venerable’s divine-sense phantom attacked Heaven-Hunting Great Sage’s restrictions and accused him of bewitching Xu Taiping.
• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage warned Xu Taiping not to fight the brand’s allies before assimilating his half-immortal inheritance, then called him his younger brother.
• Heaven-Hunting Great Sage clashed with Crow Heavenly Venerable and vanished with him, while a familiar voice told Xu Taiping to stay in that realm until it came to fetch him.

Xu Taiping contacted Ninth Madam while waiting for Heavenly Lord Cangzhu to arrive, reporting the fate of Dong Cangzi and Crow Heavenly Venerable and asking her to watch over the Azure Profound Sect and Buyu. Heavenly Lord Cangzhu arrived aboard the Abyssal Pavilion and revealed his past service in the Heavenly Court, but said he did not know why it vanished.

• Xu Taiping told Ninth Madam that he had obtained the Half-Immortal inheritance and asked her to inform the Azure Profound Sect that his return would be delayed.
• Xu Taiping reported that the Heaven-Hunting Great Sage had destroyed Dong Cangzi and expelled Crow Heavenly Venerable from the realm.
• Xu Taiping asked Ninth Madam to protect the Azure Profound Sect and alert him if the Three Corpses Cave moved toward the Heaven-Demon Battlefield; she promised Black Prison would keep watch.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu arrived aboard the Abyssal Pavilion, which Xu Taiping recognized as an Immortal Boat traveling through the chaotic realm.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that they had once served together as Heavenly Officials and that several secluded powers had belonged to the Heavenly Court.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu said the Heavenly Court had vanished, leaving ruins and corpses, and began to suggest that someone might still know why.

Heavenly Lord Cangzhu explained the Abyssal Pavilion’s losses and revealed how Heavenly Official Taibai discovered the half-immortal brand and a way to remove it. Xu Taiping learned that he might be able to use that method, then questioned how powerful the First-generation Five Emperors had been and whether the brand was connected to the Demon Mother.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that the Heavenly Court’s disappearance led to centuries of conflict and the loss of most of the Abyssal Pavilion’s eighty-one legacies.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu said the Heaven-Hunting Great Sage had told him that Xu Taiping noticed the brand on his body and promised to keep it secret.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu explained that Heavenly Official Taibai had discovered the brand, taught others to visualize it, and left a removal method that required someone able to sense the brand unaided.
• Xu Taiping asked whether the brand had influenced Zhao Xuantan and the Five Emperors, and Heavenly Lord Cangzhu said several Divine Generals were likely affected but the First-generation Five Emperors were not.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu said the First-generation Five Emperors could rival the Human Sovereign at its peak, and Xu Taiping asked whether the half-immortal brand was closely connected to the Demon Mother.

Xu Taiping reached the Abyssal Pavilion to hide from the being behind his half-immortal brand and begin finding a way to remove it. Meanwhile, the Azure Profound Sect celebrated his success, but Blade Ghost worried the brand could doom him, and the sect prepared to confront Three Corpses Cave over Lin Buyu.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that a being greater than the Demon Mother seemed to control the half-immortal brand and that reclaiming the Heaven-Demon Battlefield was the only path to finding clues about it.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu explained that the Abyssal Pavilion had concealed itself from the being's perception and urged Xu Taiping to remove the brand using Heavenly Official Taibai's method.
• Heavenly Lord Xuanbei and Daoist Fengzhu reported that Xu Taiping was safe, had obtained the half-immortal inheritance, and was expected to finish refining it in half a month; Dugu Qingxiao offered Zhao Qian and Lü Daoxuan a chance to pursue Yama inheritances.
• Blade Ghost secretly told Ping'an about Xu Taiping's brand and warned him to keep the matter from everyone, including Bai Yu, because he feared Xu Taiping would suffer Zhao Xuantan's fate.
• After learning the Heaven-Demon Battlefield passage near Three Corpses Cave would open in a month, the Azure Profound Sect resolved to act over Lin Buyu's remnant soul, but Blade Ghost told them not to inform Xu Taiping yet.

Xu Taiping arrived at the Abyssal Pavilion to take the Thirteenth Seat and learned that his journey through the Scroll of Time had restored three missing seats and brought back five divine generals. As the Abyssal Pavilion prepared to enter the Chaos Death Domain, Heavenly Lord Cangzhu said Xu Taiping needed to inherit the Thirteenth Seat's legacy before he could learn how to remove his Spell Seal.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu welcomed Xu Taiping to the Abyssal Pavilion, where its assembled members greeted him as the new Thirteenth Seat.
• Chongtai, Junqian, and Tang Qu returned as the Fifth, Sixth, and Tenth Seats and thanked Xu Taiping for recovering their bodies and legacies.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu revealed that Ni Zhao had prepared places for the divine generals in the Abyssal Pavilion, and five generals from the Scroll of Time greeted Xu Taiping.
• When Xu Taiping asked to remove his Spell Seal before taking his place, Heavenly Lord Cangzhu said inheriting the Thirteenth Seat's legacy was crucial to removing it.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu ordered the divine generals to steer the Abyssal Pavilion into the Chaos Death Domain and asked the seats to guard Xu Taiping while he inherited the legacy.

Heavenly Lord Cangzhu revealed that Ni Zhao foresaw Xu Taiping as a possible Thirteenth Seat and willingly died to preserve the Human Race’s sole glimpse of hope. As the Abyssal Pavilion approached the Chaos Death Domain, Cangzhu explained that Xu Taiping needed a Divine Dao Inheritance to remove the half-immortal brand.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that Ni Zhao foresaw a young general called the Thirteenth Seat defeating the Nine Abysses forces, prompting the Abyssal Pavilion to seek a successor.
• Xu Taiping vowed to fight in the coming Heaven-Demon War, whether or not he was the Thirteenth Seat Ni Zhao had seen.
• Nine Abysses pursuers attacked the Abyssal Pavilion, and Cangzhu authorized Divine General Qi Zhou to use the Haotian Mirror to destroy the ordinary demon seeds.
• Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that the Abyssal Pavilion would grant him the Thirteenth Seat’s inheritance upon reaching the Chaos Death Domain.
• Cangzhu explained that Divine Dao Inheritances relied on incense offerings and that using a Great Dao Inheritance to remove Xu Taiping’s brand would make it hide elsewhere in his body.

Xu Taiping entered the Chaos Death Domain and began receiving the Thirteenth Seat’s inheritance from the Haotian Mirror. He pulled the golden inheritance out of the mirror and swallowed it, then struggled to contain the power as the other seat holders stabilized it.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that his renown could provide the incense power needed to use a Divine Dao inheritance.
• The Abyssal Pavilion entered the Chaos Death Domain, where the Nine Abysses Demon Seeds could not approach.
• The Haotian Mirror summoned a golden figure, and Xu Taiping pulled it out despite the mirror’s attempts to hold it back.
• Xu Taiping swallowed the inheritance, releasing a Half-Immortal-level aura and countless golden seal-script characters.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu and the other seat holders steadied Xu Taiping’s power, allowing the inheritance to return to him as he recognized it as the Thirteenth Seat’s Divine Dao inheritance.

Xu Taiping received the Thirteenth Seat’s inheritance of time and merged its origin power with his Nascent Soul, giving it a godhead. His Nascent Soul began releasing far more divine power than he could control, and Heavenly Lord Cangzhu realized Xu Taiping had an extraordinary supply of incense offerings.

• Xu Taiping reviewed the inheritance’s three time powers and planned to send his Origin Beginning Clone into the Jiazi Pot to cultivate.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping to merge the golden halo, the inheritance’s origin power, with his Nascent Soul to grant it a godhead.
• Xu Taiping merged with the halo almost instantly, astonishing Heavenly Lord Cangzhu and Nine Seats Zhushā.
• Xu Taiping’s Nascent Soul refined incense offerings into divine power, which nourished his physique and Primordial Spirit.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu warned Xu Taiping to save the divine power to remove his brands, but Xu Taiping could not stop his Nascent Soul from releasing more.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu marveled at the vast amount of incense-offering power Xu Taiping possessed.

Xu Taiping learned the Brand Removal Method, located the hidden brand on the back of his neck, and began drawing out and burning away its black energy. After the Cloud Platform rose less than twelve days later, Heavenly Lord Cangzhu found Xu Taiping looking weak and asked how the removal had gone.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu taught Xu Taiping the Brand Removal Method and hid the Cloud Platform in the sea of clouds while the others stood guard.
• Xu Taiping examined Heavenly Official Taibai's instructions and learned that the brand's location shifted for anyone who knew of it without knowing where it was.
• Xu Taiping repeatedly cut open the back of his neck until he spotted the golden spell seal, then used the Torch Dragon Ring to reverse time and cut it away.
• Black energy poured from Xu Taiping's wound, and his Origin Beginning Clone seized it with Southern Bright Li Fire and began burning it away.
• Several days later, the Cloud Platform rose before twelve days had passed, and Heavenly Lord Cangzhu found Xu Taiping weak and asked how it had gone.

Xu Taiping completely removed the Half-Immortal brand, and Heavenly Lord Cangzhu confirmed that no remnants remained. As Xu Taiping prepared to consolidate his inheritance in the Abyssal Pavilion, Cangzhu suggested that he might not be anyone's reincarnated form.

• Xu Taiping burned away the Half-Immortal brand, and Heavenly Lord Cangzhu used the Three Origins Purity-Removing Method to confirm it was completely gone.
• Xu Taiping asked whether Heavenly Official Taibai had truly perished, and Cangzhu said the evidence suggested he had but he could not be certain.
• Xu Taiping offered to remove Cangzhu's suppressed brand after consolidating his cultivation, and Cangzhu agreed to show him his cultivation site in the Abyssal Pavilion.
• Cangzhu warned the pavilion's seats about Nine Abysses killers in the Land of Chaos and explained why several members lived at the pavilion.
• Xu Taiping invited Cangzhu to visit the Azure Profound Sect, and Cangzhu said he believed Xu Taiping was not anyone's Reincarnated Form.

Xu Taiping learned that Three Corpses Cave’s passage to the Heaven-Demon Battlefield would open soon and rushed to make contact with the outside world. He arrived in the right Star Domain just in time for the Sword Inquiry over Lin Buyu’s remnant soul.

• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu told Xu Taiping that only thirteen days had passed and that Three Corpses Cave’s passage would open in three days.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu used the Haotian Mirror to help Xu Taiping send a message through his Black Prison Token and warned him of a powerful half-immortal backing Three Corpses Cave.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu explained that Xu Taiping could absorb Chaos Qi and create Great Dao Edicts after breaking free of the half-immortal brand.
• Ninth Madam told Xu Taiping that the passage would open the next day and that the Azure Profound Sect and Three Corpses Cave had scheduled a Sword Inquiry, wagering a Demon Mother Clone’s finger bone against Lin Buyu’s remnant soul.
• Xu Taiping learned that the Abyssal Pavilion was entering Three Corpses Cave’s Star Domain and was relieved that he had arrived in time for the Sword Inquiry.

Xu Taiping used the Jiazi Pot to raise his cultivation to four-inch Void Insight before the Abyssal Pavilion Immortal Boat reached the Ziwei Star Domain’s barrier. He chose to proceed alone toward the Three Corpses Cave and explained to Heavenly Lord Cangzhu that an invisible brand, not the Shangqing Edict, restricted Void Insight cultivators from acting.

• Xu Taiping received Ninth Madam’s messages about the Azure Profound Sect’s planned sword inquiry against the Three Corpses Cave and realized his master had withheld the news while he consolidated his inheritance.
• Xu Taiping’s Origin Beginning Clone returned from sixty years in the Jiazi Pot with his cultivation raised to four-inch Void Insight, and its insights merged into Xu Taiping.
• The Abyssal Pavilion Immortal Boat struck the Ziwei Star Domain’s barrier, which Heavenly Lord Cangzhu identified as a half-immortal’s defense.
• Xu Taiping declined Heavenly Lord Cangzhu’s offer to accompany him and said he would go alone as a disciple of the Azure Profound Sect.
• Xu Taiping told Heavenly Lord Cangzhu that removing the invisible brand revealed it—not the Shangqing Edict—restricted Void Insight cultivators from taking action.

Xu Taiping used his enhanced Lotus Eye deductions to locate a demon seed near the Abyssal Immortal Boat, and Heavenly Lord Cangzhu destroyed it with the boat’s Heavenly Annihilation power. As Xu Taiping hurried toward Fuyao Ruin Star for the Sword Inquiry, he discovered Qu Chao Ci and Fairy Ning Shuang fighting Bai Chan, Jing Xuan, and Xie Wangyan.

• Xu Taiping told Heavenly Lord Cangzhu that his powers were free of restrictions and deduced that a demon seed was three hundred li west of the Abyssal Immortal Boat.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu ordered the Abyssal Pavilion’s Divine Generals to unleash Heavenly Annihilation power, which revealed and destroyed the demon seed.
• Heavenly Lord Cangzhu praised Xu Taiping’s deduction and said he would join the other seats to watch the Sword Inquiry against Three Corpses Cave.
• Xu Taiping rode Xiaohei through the Ziwei Star Domain toward Fuyao Ruin Star and learned from Ninth Madam that the Sword Inquiry had not yet begun.
• Xu Taiping recognized Qu Chao Ci and Fairy Ning Shuang ahead, then detected them fighting Bai Chan, Jing Xuan, Xie Wangyan, and the others from Ningchan Cave.

Xu Taiping watched Qu Chao Ci and Qu Ningshuang battle Ningchan Cave over Ancient Sword Ten Thousand Edges, then boarded Taisu Valley’s Immortal Boat after learning the situation. As Qu Chao Ci defied Xie Wangyan, a powerful woman from Ningchan Cave rebuked her and shook the Star River Sword Formation.

• Xu Taiping sent Xiaohei to Taisu Valley’s Immortal Boat while Qu Ningshuang drove Xie Wangyan back and collapsed from exhaustion.
• Qu Chao Ci raised the Star River Sword Formation to shield Taisu Valley’s cultivators and rogue cultivators from Ningchan Cave’s attacks.
• Jing Xian warned Qu Chao Ci not to interfere, and Qu Chao Ci accused Ningchan Cave of attacking Qu Ningshuang to seize Ancient Sword Ten Thousand Edges.
• Xie Wangyan threatened Qu Chao Ci and demanded that she hand over Qu Ningshuang, but Qu Chao Ci denounced Ningchan Cave and said Taisu Valley would not associate with it.
• A woman from Ningchan Cave shouted at Qu Chao Ci, and the force of her voice made the Star River Sword Formation flicker.

Xu Taiping secretly protected Qu Chao Ci and helped Qu Ningshuang’s desperate sword strike cripple Xie Wangyan and his companions, while Qi Wuyan shattered the attack and knocked Qu Ningshuang unconscious. Xu then urged Qu Chao Ci to provoke Qi Wuyan, and the chapter ended with Qu Chao Ci challenging her to attack.

• Xu Taiping secretly shielded Qu Chao Ci from the divine soul attack and told her he would help drive Ningchan Cave away.
• At Xu Taiping’s urging, Qu Ningshuang unleashed Ten Thousand Edges True Release, and Xu amplified her strike until it badly wounded Xie Wangyan, Jing Xian, and Bai Chan.
• Qi Wuyan destroyed the remaining sword light with Star Shattering and sent Qu Ningshuang flying, while Xu Taiping secretly ensured Qu Ningshuang only lost consciousness.
• Qi Wuyan demanded that Qu Chao Ci hand over Qu Ningshuang and the rogue cultivators, but Xu Taiping shielded Qu Chao Ci from her pressure.
• Xu Taiping told Qu Chao Ci to anger Qi Wuyan and force her to attack, so Qu Chao Ci insulted Ningchan Cave and challenged Qi Wuyan to kill her.

Qu Chao Ci used Xu Taiping’s Mountain-Moving Star-Transporting Edict to overwhelm Qi Wuyan, who escaped after her True Body was destroyed. Xie Wangyan and the others from Ningchan Cave then vanished, and Qu Chao Ci turned the edict against their fleeing Immortal Boat.

• Xu Taiping instructed Qu Chao Ci to recite the Shangqing Edict, and her first Starfall Boulder struck Qi Wuyan as she attacked.
• Qu Chao Ci repeatedly summoned Starfall Boulders to block Qi Wuyan’s attacks and smash her True Body.
• Qi Wuyan broke free and fled, but Qu Chao Ci’s edict-powered Starfall Boulders destroyed her True Body, allowing her Nascent Soul to escape.
• Xu Taiping deliberately let Qi Wuyan’s Nascent Soul go to avoid starting a blood feud between Taisu Valley and Ningchan Cave.
• Xie Wangyan and the others from Ningchan Cave vanished from their Immortal Boat, and Qu Chao Ci angrily unleashed the edict again.

Xu Taiping helped Qu Chao Ci defeat Ningchan Cave, killing Xie Wangyan but sparing Bai Chan and Jing Xian at Qu Chao Ci’s request. He then traveled with Qu Chao Ci toward the Shaking Light Ruins, where his Lotus Eye warned him that Three Corpses Cave was plotting something around the sword inquiry.

• Xu Taiping used Qu Chao Ci’s flying sword to kill Xie Wangyan, then stopped the attack on Bai Chan and Jing Xian when Qu Chao Ci asked him to spare them.
• Bai Chan and Jing Xian led the surviving Ningchan Cave cultivators away, and Xu Taiping concealed himself from the powerful figures watching Qu Chao Ci’s Immortal Boat.
• Qu Chao Ci told Xu Taiping that Three Corpses Cave had sealed the Shaking Light Ruins and required invitations for entry, so he agreed to travel there with her.
• Qu Chao Ci revealed that she knew her father was the Heaven-Hunting Great Sage and asked Xu Taiping not to mention him to her mother.
• As the Immortal Boat neared the Shaking Light Ruins, Xu Taiping’s Lotus Eye grew hot and showed him a Divine Soul Mark, confirming his suspicion that Three Corpses Cave was plotting during the sword inquiry.

Taisu Valley’s Immortal Boat passed through the restrictions surrounding the Shaking Light Ruins and headed for the Sword Inquiry Platform, where Xu Taiping spotted Luo Hong among the Three Corpses Cave cultivators. Heavenly Lord Hanjian and Lady Bixiao joined Qu Chao Ci, but neither detected Xu Taiping, who remained concealed aboard the boat.

• Taisu Valley’s Immortal Boat passed through six layers of restrictions, while Xu Taiping reassured Qu Chao Ci that Ten Thousand Edges was protecting Qu Ningshuang’s injuries.
• Xu Taiping recognized Luo Hong among the Three Corpses Cave cultivators and learned that Luo Hong had survived the Chaotic Stars Assembly and severed a corpse.
• Qu Ningshuang identified the Sword Inquiry Platform, and Xu Taiping confirmed that they had arrived.
• Heavenly Lord Hanjian and Lady Bixiao boarded the Immortal Boat, where Lady Bixiao praised Qu Chao Ci for helping Qu Ningshuang and offered to speak to her master on Qu Chao Ci’s behalf.
• Heavenly Lord Hanjian sensed a powerful presence aboard the boat but found nothing when he searched, and the Immortal Boat continued toward the Sword Inquiry Platform with Xu Taiping concealed.

Xu Taiping learned that the Three Corpses Cave planned to sacrifice the spectators in an Immortal-Subduing Formation and blame the Azure Profound Sect. As the sect’s seven Peak Lords arrived to demand justice for Lin Buyu, Xu Taiping prepared to overturn the Three Corpses Cave’s scheme.

• Xu Taiping told Qu Chao Ci that the Three Corpses Cave had taken Lin Buyu and held her remnant soul, and explained that the Azure Profound Sect had come to rescue her.
• At the Shaking Light Ruins, Xu Taiping learned from the Lotus Eye’s divination that the Three Corpses Cave intended to use an Immortal-Subduing Formation to sacrifice the spectators and frame the Azure Profound Sect.
• Meng Qingqiu arrived on the Sword Inquiry Platform and demanded an accounting for her disciple Lin Buyu.
• Seven more Azure Profound Sect Peak Lords landed on the platform, their sword intent and killing power silencing the watching cultivators.
• Qu Ningshuang admitted she could not match the seven, and Lady Bixiao remarked that she had never witnessed purer sword intent or killing power.