Chapter Summaries

Fairy Lingyue received Kunwu and took Zhao Linglong and her companions into the River of Time to seek the Sword Ancestor, while Xu Taiping and the others entered the fourth layer of the Dream Realm ahead of schedule. They faced Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s Tianxing Great Slaughter Formation, and Lin Buyan offered her paper figures to help probe it.

• Fairy Lingyue received Kunwu from Dream Master Nangong Yu and said Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable was not their only opponent.
• After Nangong Yu left to send Xu Taiping and the others into the fourth layer, Fairy Lingyue rode with Zhao Linglong and her companions on Dragon Emperor Cangzhou’s breath into the River of Time to invite the Sword Ancestor.
• Nangong Yu sent Xu Taiping and the others into the fourth layer, where Xu Taiping’s great deductive power still gave no response.
• Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s edict power eroded the Dream Realm, and the Tianxing Great Slaughter Formation filled the ruins with mist and deadly auras.
• Lin Buyan offered sixteen divine-power paper figures to probe the formation, and Lady Jade Mother confirmed that her plan could work.

Xu Taiping and his allies fought Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s Tianxing Magic Formation, with Lin Buyan drawing its attacks and Dugu Qingxiao using Grain in Ear to seal its killing power. Xu Taiping found the formation’s life gate and moved everyone there, but Yuqiu warned that its life and death gates were only a breath apart as a giant black palm descended.

• Lin Buyan entered the Tianxing Magic Formation and repeatedly used Borrowing Life to survive Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s black palm attacks while Xu Taiping searched for its life gate.
• Dugu Qingxiao joined Lin Buyan and used Grain in Ear’s Sword Seed to seal the black palm shadows, though one seal broke and Lin Buyan had to shield him with another life.
• Nangong Yu’s edict power failed, exposing the group, and Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s qin note severely wounded Lin Buyan and Dugu Qingxiao.
• Xu Taiping found the formation’s life gate and used Form- and Shadow-Transposition to move everyone there before Yuqiu’s sound attack destroyed the ruins.
• Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable warned that the life and death gates were only a breath apart, and a gigantic black palm shadow descended as Xu Taiping told everyone to follow him.

Xu Taiping used the Lotus Eye to lead Lady Jade Mother, the Old Daoist, Dugu Qingxiao, and Lin Buyan through the shifting life gates of Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s Tianxing Magic Formation. As they neared escape, Yuqiu intensified his attacks, and Lady Jade Mother warned the Old Daoist to fight without restraint in the coming battle.

• Xu Taiping sealed a death gate with his life-bound Demon-Sealing Sword and the Spring Character Edict, restoring it as a life gate.
• Xu Taiping continued divining the formation’s life gates while Dugu Qingxiao and Lin Buyan used their sword seeds to counter the heavenly punishment.
• Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable unleashed gales and thunder, but Lady Jade Mother transformed the attack into healing rain and Xu Taiping brought Dugu Qingxiao and Lin Buyan to their position.
• Xu Taiping nailed another formation node in place as Yuqiu’s purple killing power battered the Old Daoist’s edict-infused robe until it cracked.
• Xu Taiping said they were nearly through the formation, and Lady Jade Mother warned the Old Daoist to fight with all his strength in the coming battle.

Xu Taiping's group neared their escape from the Tianxing magic formation as the blood pearls revealed terrifying power and a sacred presence began to descend. The Old Daoist broke through the formation in his transformed body and confronted Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable by revealing himself as Demon Ancestor Chimang.

• Nangong Yu reported that Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable had broken through layers of the dream realm, awakening the blood pearls formed from Su Chan and Heaven-Gate Rogue Person.
• Xu Taiping led the group through six life gate formation nodes and sealed another death gate while Nangong Yu warned that a blood pearl was cracking and releasing an aura stronger than Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable's.
• Nangong Yu said Dragon Emperor Cangzhou had sealed the blood pearl in the second dream layer, but a sacred oppressive force descended from the hollow above Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable.
• Lady Jade Mother and the Old Daoist recognized the approaching being and agreed that the Old Daoist would stop Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable from summoning him.
• The Old Daoist transformed into a thousand-zhang physique, endured the Tianxing power, broke out of the magic formation, and announced himself as Demon Ancestor Chimang.

The Demon Ancestor overwhelmed Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable, who was drawing power from the blood pearls, and badly injured him. Just as Dugu Qingxiao hoped Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable could be killed before the blood pearls were fully released, Yuqiu broke his Ancient Qin to seal the space around himself, including the opening overhead.

• Dugu Qingxiao and Lin Buyan learned that the old Daoist was the Demon Ancestor, and Lady Jade Mother explained that he had been reborn with diminished power.
• The Demon Ancestor revealed that his earlier punches had only warmed him up, then struck Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable with a powerful blow.
• Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable countered with the full power of his edicts, but the Demon Ancestor emerged unscathed while Yuqiu was badly injured.
• The Demon Ancestor kept attacking until a punch shattered half of Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable's body, prompting Dugu Qingxiao to hope the fight would end the Heaven-Treading Contest.
• Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable broke the Ancient Qin and sealed the space within ten zhang of himself, including the opening overhead.

Xu Taiping and the others tried to stop Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable from summoning a powerful figure, while the Demon Ancestor battered the annihilation seal trapping him. Xu Taiping joined the Demon Ancestor and slowed the seal’s recovery, then offered him Hidden Immortal Wine in exchange for learning his fist technique.

• The Demon Ancestor’s punches shook the annihilation seal, while Lady Jade Mother realized Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable was drawing power from the other two Blood Pearls to summon someone.
• Xu Taiping found the remaining life gate formation nodes, and he, Lady Jade Mother, Dugu Qingxiao, and Lin Buyan attacked Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable, but their edict powers could not damage the seal.
• The Demon Ancestor explained that his pure qi-and-blood punches could break the seal, while Lady Jade Mother warned that the summoned figure’s arrival was unavoidable and that absorbing both Blood Pearls would leave them less than five percent chance of victory.
• Xu Taiping manifested his ultimate dao true dragon divine being body and sent his Origin Beginning Clone to punch the seal, slowing the healing of its cracks.
• Xu Taiping tossed Hidden Immortal Wine to the Demon Ancestor as tuition for learning his fist technique.

Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor used Hidden Immortal Wine to break Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s glazed-glass seal, and the Demon Ancestor revealed his Heaven-Questioning Fist. After Yuqiu was struck into blood mist, a candle-flame-like golden light appeared, and even the Demon Ancestor’s strongest punch could not extinguish it.

• Xu Taiping gave the Demon Ancestor Hidden Immortal Wine, and their attacks cracked the glazed-glass pillar as Dream Master Nangong Yu warned that Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable had consumed the Blood Pearl’s power and Dragon Emperor Cangzhou’s seal had broken.
• The Demon Ancestor drank fifteen jars of Hidden Immortal Wine, discovered it restored his qi and blood, and unleashed his Heaven-Questioning Fist to shatter most of the pillar.
• Xu Taiping watched the Demon Ancestor repeat the fist technique, while the Demon Ancestor struck Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable and destroyed the remaining edict pillar.
• Lady Jade Mother recognized that Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable’s hidden trump card had arrived as a speck of golden light appeared in the blood mist.
• The Demon Ancestor punched the golden light, but it remained alight.

The Demon Ancestor used his punches to teach Xu Taiping while they both held back the power gathering inside a golden pillar of light. When the pillar’s hidden figure reacted, the Demon Ancestor identified him as the Jade Emperor.

• The Demon Ancestor repeatedly struck the blood mist and golden light, and Lady Jade Mother realized he was imparting his art to Xu Taiping.
• Xu Taiping entered the Empty and Still Realm of the Dao Heart, understood the Demon Ancestor’s intent, and began matching his punches with a newly vital fist force.
• Nangong Yu reported that the blood pearl in the second layer of the dream realm had shattered, and Lady Jade Mother warned that someone was coming.
• The golden light became a pillar wrapped in blood-colored threads, and Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor punched together to slow its growth and suppress its power.
• The Demon Ancestor provoked the figure within the pillar, then called him the Jade Emperor, leaving Dugu Qingxiao stunned.

Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor tried to stop the Jade Emperor from absorbing the power of the Blood Pearls, while the Jade Mother and Lin Buyan assessed their chances. After drinking Xu Taiping’s remaining Hidden Immortal Wine, the Demon Ancestor weakened the golden pillar, but the Jade Emperor’s blood-qi silhouette absorbed nearly all the scattered threads and began to descend amid a surge of terrifying power.

• Dugu Qingxiao learned that the figure inside the golden pillar was the former Jade Emperor, and Lin Buyan and the Jade Mother explained that only Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor could damage his protective edict.
• Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor repeatedly struck the golden pillar, stopping its blood-red threads from gathering and forcing the Jade Emperor to choose between absorbing the Blood Pearls and revealing himself.
• The Jade Mother told Dugu Qingxiao that the Jade Emperor could wield at least forty percent of his peak strength if he revealed himself at that moment.
• When the Jade Emperor began drawing power from the other dream-realm layers, Xu Taiping gave the Demon Ancestor his fifteen remaining jars of Hidden Immortal Wine.
• The Demon Ancestor drank the wine, regained at least forty percent of his former combat power, and struck the pillar hard enough to disperse more than half its blood-red threads.
• The golden pillar burst apart, and the Jade Emperor’s blood-qi silhouette absorbed nearly all the remaining threads as heaven and earth changed color under the surging aura.

Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, Lin Buyan, Dugu Qingxiao, and Jade Mother attacked the Jade Emperor, but he overcame their combined powers and revealed his true form. He explained that he had sent shadows of his divine sense into other realms and planned to destroy Shangqing before ascending to seize control of the Jade Void Heavenly Court.

• The Demon Ancestor and Xu Taiping were driven back as Lin Buyan, Dugu Qingxiao, and Jade Mother attacked the Jade Emperor with their edicts and abilities.
• Dugu Qingxiao's sword rain and Lin Buyan's hurricane were nullified, but Jade Mother broke the Jade Emperor's Body-Fixing Edict with a phantom of Mount Buzhou.
• The Jade Emperor cleaved Mount Buzhou apart and revealed a face pieced together from Heaven-Gate Rogue Person, Su Chan, and Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable.
• The Jade Emperor confirmed that the three figures were born from his divine soul, and the Demon Ancestor explained that he cultivated by planting and harvesting shadows across different realms.
• Jade Mother asked why the Jade Emperor remained in Taiqing Paradise after evading the Great Void Calamity, and he said his true opponents were the old immortals in the Jade Void Immortal Realm.
• The Jade Emperor revealed that he intended to destroy Shangqing, collapse those immortals' Dao foundations, and ascend to command the Jade Void Heavenly Court.

Jade Mother and her allies attacked the Jade Emperor after he demanded that she withdraw from the Heaven-Treading Contest. Xu Taiping broke through the Emperor’s barrier and struck with a powerful blade technique, prompting the Jade Emperor to use the word “Seal.”

• Jade Mother rejected the Jade Emperor’s offer to let bygones be bygones and sent hundreds of Flying Swords at him, which he split with a Geng Metal sword strike.
• The Jade Emperor enveloped Xu Taiping’s group in Pre-Heaven Gengjin Sword Gang, and Lin Buyan used his flute to form layers of protective mountains that the sword gang soon crushed.
• Jade Mother summoned a gourd that absorbed the Jade Emperor’s sword gang, clearing the space around the group.
• The Demon Ancestor and Xu Taiping punched the Jade Emperor’s invisible barrier, and Xu Taiping broke through it with a dragon-headed human body.
• Xu Taiping’s Origin Beginning Clone slashed at the Jade Emperor with a blade technique that divided yin and yang, and the Jade Emperor raised his palm and said, “Seal.”

Xu Taiping and his allies attacked the Jade Emperor’s Seal Character Art while Jade Mother explained how his seal law severance and annihilation edicts worked. The Demon Ancestor’s blows finally caved in the barrier, but the Jade Emperor’s annihilation sphere grew more powerful, leaving Xu Taiping uncertain whether Jade Mother could stop it.

• Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor struck the Jade Emperor’s invisible barrier, and the Demon Ancestor’s fist power increased against its resistance at the cost of his origin vitality.
• Lin Buyan, Dugu Qingxiao, and Jade Mother joined the assault, creating flaws in the barrier as the Jade Emperor revealed a sphere of annihilation power.
• Jade Mother explained that the Jade Emperor’s annihilation edict grew stronger in response to the killing power blocked by his seal law severance edict, and said she would handle it while the others broke the seal.
• The Demon Ancestor poured out his qi and blood and caved in the barrier with a punch, after which Xu Taiping and the others attacked it with all their strength.
• The Jade Emperor’s annihilation sphere doubled in size as the attacks continued, and Xu Taiping worried that Jade Mother might not be able to stop its heaven-extinguishing power.

The Demon Ancestor, Xu Taiping, and their allies struggled against the Jade Emperor’s Golden Crow while Jade Mother used Nangong Yu’s teleportation to evade its attack. Jade Mother revealed how the Jade Emperor’s edict could be countered, then summoned tribulation lightning and identified a window to strike him.

• The Jade Emperor sent a Golden Crow after the Demon Ancestor, Dugu Qingxiao, and Xu Taiping, and their attacks briefly drove it back.
• Xu Taiping used Sealed Domain against the Golden Crow, but its flames overpowered his domain before Jade Mother called Nangong Yu to teleport everyone away.
• The Golden Crow crashed into the sea and exploded, while the Jade Emperor accused Jade Mother of knowing his edict’s weakness.
• Jade Mother explained that the Heaven-Extinguishing Edict depended on opponents’ attacks and vanished when they disappeared, then returned with the Sword Case.
• Jade Mother formed a tribulation cloud that struck the Jade Emperor, and she told the others he could use no more than five edict powers and could not immediately reuse the Heaven-Extinguishing Edict.

Xu Taiping and his allies broke the Jade Emperor’s Heaven-Severing Edict and wounded him, but his other edicts kept them at bay. After the Lotus Eye revealed a new danger, Xu Taiping warned everyone to withdraw their edicts.

• Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, and Jade Mother combined their attacks to break the Jade Emperor’s Heaven-Severing Edict, allowing the Demon Ancestor to strike him.
• The Jade Emperor used his Annihilating Heaven Edict to repel Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor, then trapped them by crushing the stretches of heaven and earth around them.
• Dugu Qingxiao and Lin Buyan took Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor’s places in the Jade Emperor’s grasp, while Xu Taiping and his allies attacked the Jade Emperor’s vital points and wounded him.
• As the Demon Ancestor, Dugu Qingxiao, and Lin Buyan continued fighting under Jade Mother’s tribulation lightning, Xu Taiping used the Lotus Eye to complete a deduction.
• Xu Taiping warned Jade Mother, Fairy Buyan, Second Senior Brother, and Lord Demon Ancestor to withdraw their edicts because the Jade Emperor could wield the edicts of the Sanxuan Realm as well as the Origin of the Great Dao Edict.

Xu Taiping and his allies fought the Jade Emperor, whose Void Heaven Edict placed him beyond their attacks while he drained Dugu Qingxiao’s Yellow Springs Edict. Dugu Qingxiao urged them to attack him to stop the drain, but Jade Mother warned that her countermeasure would leave them no chance of winning, and Xu Taiping asked the Demon Ancestor for another weakness.

• The Jade Emperor struck Dugu Qingxiao through his Yellow Springs Blood Moon, while Xu Taiping’s Taihao slash broke through the Jade Emperor’s Annihilation Edict but failed to hit him.
• The Demon Ancestor identified the Jade Emperor’s Great Dao Edict as Void Heaven, which hid his true location in the Sanxuan Realm’s void heaven.
• The Jade Emperor drew Yellow Springs Power from Dugu Qingxiao and revealed that he meant to claim the Yellow Springs Edict.
• Dugu Qingxiao told Xu Taiping and the others to attack him to stop the Jade Emperor from using his body as a passage to the Yellow Springs.
• Jade Mother admitted she could counter the Void Heaven Edict but warned that doing so would leave them unable to win, and Xu Taiping asked the Demon Ancestor for a weakness.

As Dugu Qingxiao fought the Jade Emperor’s extermination edict, Xu Taiping used the Lotus Eye’s great deduction to search for a way to save him and find the edict’s weakness. Xu Taiping realized Karma Reversal could connect Dugu Qingxiao’s sword to the opening and urged his second senior brother to strike.

• The Demon Ancestor explained that the edict merged its void and reality positions at the instant it killed, while Lady Jade Mother urged Xu Taiping to consider using Dugu Qingxiao’s sacrifice to expose the Jade Emperor’s weakness.
• Xu Taiping rejected choosing between saving Dugu Qingxiao and finding the edict’s opening, then forcibly activated the Lotus Eye’s great deductive power.
• Dugu Qingxiao warned everyone that the edict’s opening might appear when it killed him, released his Red Lotus sword seeds, and used the foundation of his Dao essence to seal the Yellow Springs Entrance.
• The Jade Emperor challenged the group’s resolve by asking whether Dugu Qingxiao’s life was worth a chance to reveal his weakness, but Xu Taiping’s deduction succeeded and showed him the Karma Reversal saber design.
• Xu Taiping realized the vision connected Dugu Qingxiao’s blood moon and sword seeds to the edict’s opening, activated Karma Reversal, and urged his second senior brother to strike without restraint.

Xu Taiping and his allies wounded the Jade Emperor and Jade Mother planted a curse inside him, but Dugu Qingxiao was gravely injured in the fight. When the Jade Emperor returned to attack Xu Taiping, Jade Mother revealed that her curse was a Life-and-Death Mutual Annihilation Curse and began dispersing her own Dao essence.

• Xu Taiping urged Dugu Qingxiao to keep fighting, and Dugu's sword seeds pierced and gravely wounded the Jade Emperor.
• Xu Taiping sealed the falling Jade Emperor with the Dragon-Trapping Tower, but the Jade Emperor broke free from the tower and Jade Mother's flying-sword cage before escaping into the Void Heaven.
• Jade Mother revealed that she had planted a spell seal inside the Jade Emperor, while Nangong Yu said she had sent Dugu Qingxiao out of the dream realm but could not tell if he had survived.
• Xu Taiping confirmed to Jade Mother that he could use Karma Reversal, though he could not freely decree the Jade Emperor's death.
• Jade Mother sensed the Jade Emperor returning to attack Xu Taiping and revealed that her Concentric Curse was a Life-and-Death Mutual Annihilation Curse.
• Jade Mother drank the spirit water from her Jade Bottle and began dispersing her Dao essence.

Jade Mother explained that her death would break her edict, while Jade Emperor's attacks grew stronger as he tried to stop her from dissipating her Dao. Xu Taiping, Lin Buyan, and the Demon Ancestor worked together to locate and repel Jade Emperor, who finally revealed himself and declared that even with a tenth of his power he was stronger than them.

• Jade Mother warned Xu Taiping that her death was the sole weakness of her edict, and Xu Taiping shielded her with the Heaven-Prisoning Edict when Jade Emperor attacked.
• Jade Mother told Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, and Lin Buyan to hold off Jade Emperor until she finished dissipating her Dao, and Xu Taiping used the Lotus Eye to predict his attacks.
• Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor intercepted Jade Emperor as he attacked Fairy Buyan, and Lin Buyan struck him with her edict.
• Xu Taiping used three divine arrows to interrupt Jade Emperor's attack on the Dragon-Trapping Tower, while the Demon Ancestor and Lin Buyan forced him to withdraw his Heaven-Extinguishing Edict.
• Jade Emperor emerged from the void heaven and claimed that even with only a tenth of his combat power, he remained beyond their strength.

Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, and Lin Buyan fought the Jade Emperor while the Jade Mother tried to disperse half her Dao. After the Jade Emperor absorbed the blood-qi power from the sealed blood pearls and began breaking the dream realm, the Jade Mother told Xu Taiping to reverse karma and help Xiaoyu open the fifth layer to seal him inside.

• The Jade Emperor attacked the Jade Mother and trapped Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor in edict-powered waves, but the Demon Ancestor sank the sea ship and broke the edict within them.
• Xu Taiping and the Demon Ancestor tried to stop the Jade Emperor's sword strike; Xu Taiping's Origin Beginning Clone sacrificed itself to hold the sword light while the Demon Ancestor and Lin Buyan attacked.
• The Jade Mother told the three that her Dao dispersal would soon backlash against the Jade Emperor, and Xu Taiping used Tracing Light to push the sword light back.
• The Jade Emperor opened a hole in the sky canopy, absorbed the blood-qi power from the blood pearls, and used it to begin shattering the dream realm.
• The Jade Mother ordered Xu Taiping to reverse karma and help Xiaoyu open the fifth layer of the dream realm to seal the Jade Emperor inside.

Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, and Lin Buyan faced the Jade Emperor as his strength and control of the Sanxuan Realm’s edicts overwhelmed their efforts. The dream realm shattered, leaving the three to confront him amid a new onslaught of fireballs and Flame Giants.

• Xu Taiping broke through the Jade Emperor’s barrier with the Taihao Edict, but the Jade Emperor shattered his blade force and knocked him and the Demon Ancestor and Lin Buyan away.
• The Demon Ancestor judged that the Jade Emperor had regained seventy to eighty percent of his peak combat power through the blood qi of Heaven-Gate, Su Chan, and Yuqiu Heavenly Venerable.
• Xiaoyu warned Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, and Lin Buyan that the dream realm was about to break and that only they could fight the Jade Emperor.
• Jade Mother dispersed half her Dao, reducing the Jade Emperor’s combat power by only thirty percent, while cracks spread across the sky canopy.
• The sky canopy shattered, leaving Xu Taiping, the Demon Ancestor, Lin Buyan, and the gravely wounded Nangong Yu facing the Jade Emperor above Flame Mountain.
• The Jade Emperor summoned falling fireballs and Flame Giants, and the Demon Ancestor urged Xu Taiping and Lin Buyan to prepare for battle.