Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping learned that Lin Buyan had been chosen for the Heaven-Treading Contest, which would begin in ten years, and Fairy Lingyue revealed clues about Taiqing Paradise and the Great Void Calamity. She explained that the Ancient Heavenly Court fell in an internal conflict over whether to confront the calamity or abandon Shangqing and Sumeru.

• The Old Daoist promised to tell Xu Taiping about his past if they survived the Heaven-Treading Contest.
• A pillar of golden light chose Lin Buyan, surprising her and the others, while Fairy Lingyue lamented that she could not join Xu Taiping.
• Duan Tianya urged the unchosen cultivators to keep preparing, and the Heavenly Dao Edict announced that the contest would begin in ten years.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that she had found clues in Taiqing Paradise and that the Heaven-Treading Contest might help resolve the Great Void Calamity.
• Three months later, Fairy Lingyue explained that the Ancient Heavenly Court had been destroyed by an internal dispute: the Jade Mother's faction wanted to confront the calamity, while the Jade Emperor's faction wanted to abandon Shangqing and Sumeru and rebuild the Heavenly Court.

Fairy Lingyue revealed that the Spiritfolk Clan used the Spirit Bone Steles and the succession of races to keep the Great Void Calamity asleep and raise their realm, a method later adopted by Taiqing's Heavenly Court. Xu Taiping's victory over the Nine Abysses and the Demon Mother had disrupted Taiqing's plan, and Lin Buyu asked whether the Great Void Calamity would now awaken early.

• Fairy Lingyue explained that the Jade Emperor abandoned the Ancient Heavenly Court and rebuilt it in Taiqing Paradise, leaving Shangqing and Sumeru to bear the Great Void Calamity through cycles of racial destruction and replacement.
• Fairy Lingyue revealed that the Spiritfolk Clan of the Xuankong Realm had once ascended with its world after discovering how to control the Great Void Calamity.
• Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu identified the Spirit Bone Steles as the means by which the Spiritfolk Clan accelerated succession among the Divine Being Clan, the Dragon Clan, and the Human Race.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that the Spiritfolk Clan used the sleeping Great Void Calamity's power to raise its realm, and that Taiqing's Heavenly Court was repeating the same method.
• Fairy Lingyue said Xu Taiping's victory over the Nine Abysses and the Demon Mother had shattered Taiqing's plan, and Lin Buyu asked whether the Great Void Calamity would awaken early.

Fairy Lingyue explained how winning the Heaven-Treading Contest could delay the Great Void Calamity, while Lady Jade Mother revealed the Jade Emperor’s massacre and an ancient way to resist the calamity. Jade Mother said the old method might be possible again if the Heavenly Court were reforged, and she led Xu Taiping to see what the Ancestral Dragon had left for him.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu that winning the Heaven-Treading Contest could raise Shangqing’s rank and delay the Great Void Calamity for up to a hundred years.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that the Jade Emperor had erased memories of the Heavenly Court Civil War, leaving the Immortal Officials unable to recover their greatest combat power until their memories were restored.
• Lady Jade Mother appeared and revealed that the Jade Emperor had massacred the Immortal Officials who opposed his plan to flee to Taiqing Paradise, while she saved some by sending them into the Lower Realm.
• Lady Jade Mother said the Ancient Heavenly Court had found a way to delay the Great Void Calamity by hundreds of thousands of years, but using it again would require restoring the Heavenly Officials and reforging the Heavenly Court.
• Lady Jade Mother told Xu Taiping she could help him win the Heaven-Treading Contest and invited him to see what the Ancestral Dragon had left for him.

Xu Taiping and his companions opened the door to the Ancestral Dragon’s hidden Scripture Repository, where they encountered the Ancestral Dragon. The Ancestral Dragon learned that the Dragon Clan’s fortune had been severed and asked who was responsible.

• Fairy Lingyue explained that she had left Xu Taiping clues after he rescued Immortal Elder Wuji and found the Heavenly King's Skull.
• Lady Jade Mother summoned Dragon Emperor Cangzhou and arranged for him and herself to enter the room first, with Xu Taiping following and Fairy Lingyue and Lin Buyu at the rear.
• Xu Taiping opened the door, entered the room, and used Thousand-Zhang Seal Domain to dispel the invisible pressure and reveal the Scripture Repository.
• Cangzhou explained that the repository held archives of many races, and Lady Jade Mother suggested it might contain a way to overcome the Great Void Calamity.
• The Ancestral Dragon appeared and asked Cangzhou whether the Dragon Clan’s fortune had been extinguished; Cangzhou confirmed it had been severed.
• The Ancestral Dragon calmly asked which race had extinguished the Dragon Clan’s fortune.

Xu Taiping and the others learned from the Ancestral Dragon about the Dragon Clan’s fate, the Spiritfolk Clan’s role in raising the Great Void Calamity, and the need to preserve their great domain’s inheritance. The Ancestral Dragon then prepared to reveal a method for restraining the calamity that he had discovered beyond the domain.

• Xu Taiping told the Ancestral Dragon that the Human Race had mastered the heavens’ origin edicts and ascended to the Immortal Realm, and the Ancestral Dragon said he had foreseen the Dragon Clan’s destruction.
• The Ancestral Dragon explained that he had traveled beyond the domain and discovered clues about the Great Void Calamity, while dragons could enter other great domains without being treated as Otherworldly Heavenly Demons.
• Xu Taiping and Lady Jade Mother confirmed that the Spiritfolk Clan used destruction and rebirth within their great domain to rear the Great Void Calamity, and the Ancestral Dragon said the Mystic Azure Spirit Domain might surpass the Immortal Domain.
• The Ancestral Dragon said that ascended beings, including himself, were concerned with the Mystic Azure Spirit Domain, but urged Xu Taiping and the others to safeguard their great domain’s inheritance.
• The Ancestral Dragon revealed that he had left a strand of divine sense to share a method for restraining the Great Void Calamity, then told everyone to listen.

The Ancestral Dragon explained that the Great Void Calamity was a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao Edict, “taking from excess to replenish deficiency,” and led Xu Taiping and the others to consider how the cultivation world had deprived mortals of fortune and vitality. Xu Taiping concluded that the realm’s fortune was not finite; the cultivation world had weakened because fewer people were striving for it.

• The Ancestral Dragon told Xu Taiping and the others that the Great Void Calamity came from the Heavenly Dao Edict and appeared when a domain’s balance was disrupted.
• Xu Taiping recalled the suffering he had witnessed among mortals and asked whether the cultivation world had taken too much from ordinary people.
• The Ancestral Dragon challenged Lady Jade Mother to consider whether Shangqing’s decline stemmed partly from its cultivation world’s excessive plundering of mortal bones and common people.
• Lady Jade Mother acknowledged that very few mortals had ever entered the cultivation world, but argued that this was the natural order.
• Xu Taiping declared that the Great Domain’s fortune and vitality were not finite and said Shangqing had weakened because fewer people were striving for them.

Xu Taiping and the others learned from the Ancestral Dragon that the Great Void Calamity was Heavenly Retribution for cultivators monopolizing the world’s fortune, and that restoring opportunity to all living beings was the Great Dao as it originally was. With the Heaven-Treading Contest approaching and little time to change the cultivation world, the Ancestral Dragon gave them inheritances to address what they lacked.

• Xu Taiping concluded that the Great Void Calamity was Heavenly Retribution, and the Ancestral Dragon confirmed that the calamity would erase any group that monopolized a realm’s fortune.
• Lin Buyu and Fairy Lingyue acknowledged how cultivators had marginalized mortals and seized the world’s grotto-heavens and blessed lands.
• The Ancestral Dragon explained that the calamity would renew the world for ordinary beings and that it would also destroy the Nine Abysses if they treated the realm’s inhabitants the same way.
• Xu Taiping proposed returning the heavens to all living beings, and the Ancestral Dragon called this the Great Dao as it originally was.
• Jade Mother grasped the Ancestral Dragon’s teaching and showed signs of breaking through to the Ascension Realm.
• After Xu Taiping and the others noted the difficulty of reforming the cultivation world before the Heaven-Treading Contest, the Ancestral Dragon summoned golden inheritances for them.

The Ancestral Dragon gave Xu Taiping, Lin Buyu, and Fairy Lingyue secret opportunities and advised Xu Taiping on strengthening his edict powers. After dismissing the others, he revealed that Xu Taiping needed to reach the Ascension Realm’s Ultimate Realm within ten years, leaving Xu Taiping doubtful.

• The Ancestral Dragon offered three Golden Pearls, explaining that he had prepared the opportunities for Xu Taiping, Lin Buyu, and Fairy Lingyue, who could join the Heaven-Treading Contest despite not being Heaven’s Chosen.
• Fairy Lingyue, Lin Buyu, and Xu Taiping each took a pearl and agreed to keep their opportunities secret from everyone, including one another.
• The Ancestral Dragon told Xu Taiping to cultivate in the Scripture Repository and explained that he should use external treasures to bring his origin edict powers to their fullest.
• The Ancestral Dragon sent Lin Buyu, Fairy Lingyue, and Lady Jade Mother to other cultivation rooms, then told Dragon Emperor Cangzhou that dragons could be born again if Shangqing and the great domain survived.
• After Cangzhou left, the Ancestral Dragon warned Xu Taiping that the Heaven-Treading Contest would be harder than he expected and told him to reach the Ascension Realm’s Ultimate Realm within ten years; Xu Taiping questioned whether he was joking.

Xu Taiping learned that his side needed an Ultimate Realm Ascension Realm expert to win the Heaven-Treading Contest, and the Ancestral Dragon offered him three hundred years of secluded cultivation. Half a year later, the Azure Profound Sect reunited at Moon Perching Pavilion, where Liang Zhu announced she wanted to win the Golden Scale Assembly to send Xu Taiping and the others off to the contest.

• The Ancestral Dragon warned Xu Taiping that an Ultimate Realm Ascension Realm expert was essential to victory and offered to freeze time so Xu Taiping could cultivate for three hundred years.
• Xu Taiping asked whether the other Heaven's Chosen could join him, but the Ancestral Dragon said the time-freeze power could sustain only him.
• The Ancestral Dragon explained that winning the Heaven-Treading Contest could prevent Taiqing Paradise from unleashing the great void calamity, and Xu Taiping promised to try to restore the world's laws if his side won.
• Half a year later, Lü Daoxuan, Zhao Qian, Meng Qingqiu, and the others gathered at Moon Perching Pavilion after the Azure Profound Sect returned to Cloud Cottage Mountain and helped restore order.
• Liang Zhu insisted that she wanted to enter the Golden Scale Assembly and win its championship to give Lü Daoxuan, Zhao Linglong, and Xu Taiping a send-off for the Heaven-Treading Contest.

Xu Taiping supported Liang Zhu’s wish to compete in the Golden Scale Assembly, and Dugu Qingxiao agreed after hearing why preserving her youthful spirit mattered. The group decided to travel together to watch the assembly, while Xu Taiping introduced century-aged Hidden Immortal Wine.

• Liang Zhu asked Dugu Qingxiao to let her enter the Golden Scale Assembly, and Xu Taiping granted his permission.
• Xu Taiping explained that Liang Zhu’s sincere youthful spirit was worth protecting, and Lü Daoxuan and Dugu Qingxiao agreed.
• Dugu Qingxiao told Liang Zhu not to treat victory as the only goal, and Xu Taiping reminded her that the journey itself was cultivation.
• Lin Buyu suggested attending the Golden Scale Assembly together, and the others agreed to travel from the Azure Profound Sect to Youyun Heaven.
• Xu Taiping poured Hidden Immortal Wine that Ping'an had brewed from an ancient recipe and stored in Moon Perching Pavilion for over a hundred years.

Xu Taiping entered seclusion in the Ancestral Dragon's Scripture Repository to prepare for the Heaven-Treading Contest. The Ancestral Dragon revealed the Golden Pearl’s contents and entrusted Xu Taiping with treasures and weapons, then used his power to halt time and left the rest to him.

• Blade Ghost brought Heavenly Lord Xuanbei and Daoist Fengzhu to the Moon Perching Pavilion, where they asked to join the Azure Profound Sect and celebrated with Hidden Immortal Wine.
• Several days later, Xu Taiping told Fairy Lingyue and Lin Buyu he would enter a ten-year seclusion, and they promised to protect the tower and await him.
• Xu Taiping entered the Ancestral Dragon's Scripture Repository and opened the Golden Pearl, releasing a golden mist containing the auras of edicts, true dragon power, and martial dao origin laws he had cultivated.
• Xu Taiping realized the Golden Pearl’s contents could help unite his powers and laws into a single stream, the path toward the ultimate realm of ascension.
• The Ancestral Dragon revealed treasures for the Heaven-Treading Contest, including a fragment of the Heaven-Flipping Seal, and told Xu Taiping to use them to amplify his powers.
• The Ancestral Dragon said he would expend all his power to halt time within the world, leaving Xu Taiping to proceed alone.

After a century of seclusion in the Scripture Repository, Xu Taiping completed his cultivation with the Ancestral Dragon’s True Dragon power and prepared to carry Shangqing’s legacy forward. He reviewed the fused edicts, powers, and combat techniques he had gained before leaving the Repository.

• Xu Taiping’s aura surged as the River of Time began flowing again, and the Ancestral Dragon praised his strength before entrusting Shangqing’s legacy and the lives of several generations to him.
• The Ancestral Dragon’s aura dissipated after promising to welcome Xu Taiping in person if he preserved Shangqing’s legacy and eventually ascended.
• Xu Taiping summoned two Origin Beginning Clones, which reported four fused Great Dao edicts and the treasures suited to wielding them.
• The second Origin Beginning Clone reported three fused True Dragon powers and the treasures that could wield them.
• Xu Taiping reviewed his divine being blood oath power, which let his combat strength rise until his origin blood ran out, and his martial Dao techniques, whose sword, blade, and punch forces could grow without end.

Xu Taiping completed the reforging and cultivation of his treasures, then spoke with the awakened Ancient Heavenly Venerable about the Great Void Calamity and the coming Heaven-Treading Contest. The Ancient Heavenly Venerable offered to help him in the contest and proposed using the Heaven-Flipping Seal to merge the Lotus Eye with the Blade of Guicang.

• Xu Taiping examined the reforged Blade of Guicang and Heaven-Flipping Seal, whose power had grown to a level that could threaten ascension's ultimate realm.
• The Heaven-Flipping Seal flew from Xu Taiping's hand, and the Ancient Heavenly Venerable awakened from his long slumber.
• Xu Taiping told the Ancient Heavenly Venerable about the Taixuan Ghost Domain, the Nine Abysses Demon Mother, and the approaching Heaven-Treading Contest.
• The Ancient Heavenly Venerable revealed that he and the Heaven-Flipping Seal had survived a Great Void Calamity after slumbering for a million years, and offered to help Xu Taiping win the contest.
• The Ancient Heavenly Venerable suggested using the Heaven-Flipping Seal to mediate a merger between the Lotus Eye and the Blade of Guicang, and the Lotus Eye deduced that the method might work.

Xu Taiping fused the Blade of Guicang with the Heaven-Flipping Seal in his Lotus Eye, gaining an edict that could reverse cause and effect to strike an enemy before they realized it. He agreed to dissolve his lifebound contract after the Heaven-Treading Contest and asked the Ancient Heavenly Venerable to protect the Azure Profound Sect for one jiazi; after leaving seclusion, he revealed his formidable aura to Lin Buyu, Lady Jade Mother, and Dragon Emperor Cangzhou.

• Xu Taiping and the Ancient Heavenly Venerable fused the Blade of Guicang and the Heaven-Flipping Seal within Xu Taiping's Lotus Eye, granting him the Karma-Reversal Edict.
• The Ancient Heavenly Venerable warned Xu Taiping that the edict consumed immense edict and divine power, and asked him to dissolve their lifebound contract if he won the Heaven-Treading Contest.
• Xu Taiping agreed to release the Ancient Heavenly Venerable from the contract after ascending and asked him to protect the Azure Profound Sect for one jiazi; the Ancient Heavenly Venerable accepted.
• Xu Taiping left seclusion and reunited with Lin Buyu, Lady Jade Mother, and Dragon Emperor Cangzhou, whose physiques had reached the Great Sage Realm.
• When Lady Jade Mother asked about his cultivation, Xu Taiping revealed an aura like a full-power strike from a Void Insight Realm powerhouse, delighting the three observers.

Xu Taiping left for the Golden Scale Assembly after promising to watch Liang Zhu compete for the chief's title, while preparing to hear how non-Heaven's Chosen could join the Heaven-Treading Contest. Liang Zhu and Xu Chengling reached a sword-intent stalemate before a chaos demonic beast burst through the blood-red sky and attacked them.

• Xu Taiping refused to skip the Golden Scale Assembly and left with Lin Buyu on Xiaohei after learning that Nangong Yu had found a way for others to enter the Heaven-Treading Contest.
• At the Golden Scale Assembly, Liang Zhu fought Xu Chengling, whose Three Emperors Sword broke through her defenses and drove her back.
• Liang Zhu unleashed her still-unformed Great Dao Life-Bound Flying Sword, shattering Xu Chengling's sword intent and forcing their sword wills into a deadlock.
• A chaos demonic beast shaped like a whale and covered in eyes burst through the blood-red sky and lunged at Liang Zhu and Xu Chengling.

Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu arrived at the Golden Scale Platform just as the chaos whale demon was about to swallow it, and Xu Taiping froze and destroyed the beast. With the danger over, Xu Chengling and Liang Zhu resumed their business, while Xu Taiping joined Lü Daoxuan and the others.

• The chaos whale demon imprisoned the gathered cultivators, knocked back four golden scale flood dragons, and swallowed the Golden Scale Platform with Xu Chengling and Liang Zhu on it.
• Lü Daoxuan and the others tried to break the demon’s imprisoning power, while Dugu Qingxiao prepared to guide Xu Chengling and Liang Zhu’s divine souls to Yellow Springs.
• Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu arrived on Xiaohei, piercing the chaos whale demon’s head and breaking cracks in its imprisoning power.
• Xu Taiping used a string of bells to freeze the Golden Scale Pool, the demon, and its power of chaos, then Xiaohei swallowed the demon’s shattered fragments.
• Xu Taiping told Xu Chengling and Liang Zhu to continue, then joined Lü Daoxuan and the others as Xu Ziyan brought Lin Buyu over.

Xu Taiping used the Lotus Eye to identify who was behind the Chaos Demon Mother while Liang Zhu and Xu Chengling resumed their fierce contest. Liang Zhu defeated Xu Chengling and declared her support for the Heaven-Treading Contest, but a black shadow appeared beneath her, and Xu Taiping recognized Crow Heavenly Venerable.

• Xu Taiping activated the Lotus Eye and discovered familiar figures connected to the Chaos Demon Mother's appearance.
• Liang Zhu and Xu Chengling fought with increasing force, and their final clash left both bloodied before Liang Zhu rose again.
• Fairy Lingyue and Lü Daoxuan told Xu Taiping that Nangong Yu's A Dream of Yellow Millet could draw allies and enemies into a dream realm to fight Taiqing Paradise's powerful cultivators.
• Lü Daoxuan revealed that he had forged Heavenly Craft to the Ultimate Dao Realm.
• Liang Zhu used her body as a sword to break Xu Chengling's Three Emperors Sword Formation, knock him off the platform, and proclaim her support for Xu Taiping and the others.
• A black shadow appeared beneath Liang Zhu, and Xu Taiping recognized Crow Heavenly Venerable and condemned him.

Xu Taiping confronted Crow Heavenly Venerable, who tried to stop the Heaven-Treading Contest by threatening to unleash thousands of Chaos Demonic Beasts. Crow carried out the threat, and Xu Taiping stood atop Xiaohei with a Stringless Bow as the beasts descended.

• Xu Taiping used Heaven-Prisoning to imprison and compress an octopus-shaped Chaos Demonic Beast into a black bead.
• Lü Daoxuan, Fairy Lingyue, Yun Shiliu, and Youyun Prefecture’s forces gathered around the Golden Scale Platform as rifts opened overhead.
• Crow Heavenly Venerable revealed he wanted Xu Taiping to withdraw from the Heaven-Treading Contest, warning that defeat would ruin Shangqing Cultivation World’s inheritance.
• Xu Taiping accused Crow Heavenly Venerable of sacrificing his Dao Heart by agreeing to a bargain with the Taiqing Heavenly Court.
• Crow Heavenly Venerable opened the rifts and released thousands of Chaos Demonic Beasts, while Xu Taiping drew a Stringless Bow atop Xiaohei.

Xu Taiping used powerful Edict abilities to destroy thousands of Chaos Demonic Beasts and defeat Crow Heavenly Venerable, then learned information about Taiqing Paradise’s plans. At a celebration for Liang Zhu, Xu Taiping met with Lü Daoxuan, Kang Cangzi, and the Old Daoist and asked whether they knew Chu Tianque.

• Xu Taiping fired a five-colored arrow that multiplied and destroyed thousands of Chaos Demonic Beasts, while Xiaohei swallowed their remains.
• Xu Taiping combined two Edict powers to slash through the void and cleave Crow Heavenly Venerable in half, then had Xiaohei swallow him and demanded to discuss Taiqing Paradise’s three Heaven-Treaders.
• At a banquet celebrating Liang Zhu as Golden Scale Champion, Kang Cangzi and the Old Daoist privately asked Lü Daoxuan what Xu Taiping had learned from Crow Heavenly Venerable.
• Lü Daoxuan said Xu Taiping planned to treat the information as true for now and perform another divination before the Heaven-Treading Contest.
• Xu Taiping met Lü Daoxuan, Kang Cangzi, and the Old Daoist in a sealed side room and asked whether they knew the Taiqing figure Chu Tianque.

Xu Taiping learned that Heaven-Gate Rogue Person was a powerful Taiqing Heaven-Treader and gathered his allies’ cultivation and combat details to prepare for the contest. That night, he began using the chaos demonic beast remains in the Dragon-Trapping Tower’s Scripture Repository.

• The Old Daoist identified Heaven-Gate Rogue Person as Chu Lingyue’s Senior Brother and the traitor who helped Taiqing Heavenly Court kill Zuoxing, and estimated his combat power had reached the Ascension Ultimate Realm.
• Xu Taiping asked Kang Cangzi, the Old Daoist, and Lü Daoxuan to share their cultivation and methods so he could use heavenly secrets to deduce the contest’s dangers, and they gave him divine soul marks.
• Xu Taiping examined their marks, was astonished by their strength, and praised Lü Daoxuan’s sword strike and the elders’ preparations.
• Xu Taiping summoned Lin Buyan, Nangong Yu, and Zhao Linglong to help with his deduction.
• That night, Xu Taiping decided to use the chaos demonic beast remains, and Xiaohei opened its maw.