Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping used thunderflame-infused Great Sage Fist to destroy Dragon Ghost after the ghost’s scales repeatedly blocked his attacks. The onlookers realized Xu Taiping might have mastered the thunderflame himself, and Xiahou You of Three Sovereigns Dao Palace confronted Huang Jinpeng.

• Dragon Ghost destroyed Xu Taiping’s thunderflame bird with dragon breath, leaving Xu without the large mass of Three-Origin True Fire.
• Xu Taiping blocked Dragon Ghost’s next breath with his Mysterious Origin Avatar, then used the Endless Horizon Step to strike from above.
• Dragon Ghost’s scales intercepted Xu Taiping’s Baxia Form and Raging Thunder Form, but Xu’s thunderflame-wrapped fists burned through the scales and battered the dragon’s head.
• Xu Taiping gathered the force of thousands of punches into one blow, shattered Dragon Ghost’s head, and burned its fragments away with thunderflame.
• Mu Yun realized Xu Taiping could integrate thunderflame into the Great Sage Fist, while Huang Jinpeng dismissed the feat as luck.
• Xiahou You of Three Sovereigns Dao Palace warned the people of Youyun Prefecture to silence Huang Jinpeng.

Xu Taiping fought the Dragon Ghost Remnant, but the Headless Ghost used its dragon tendon to bind him and seal part of his true essence. As Ghost Kings surrounded him, Xu Taiping relied on his Mountain-Bearing Form to withstand their attacks, though his blood qi was running low.

• Mu Yuchen asked Mu Yun about Xiahou You of the Three Sovereigns Dao Palace, and Mu Yun said Huang Jinpeng would likely behave himself.
• Xu Taiping cut the Dragon Ghost Remnant in two with his Thunder Soul Blade, but the Headless Ghost stitched it back together with blood-colored threads.
• The Headless Ghost drew the Dragon Ghost's tendon out and used it to bind Xu Taiping, slowing his true essence and pinning him in place.
• Xu Taiping used the Mountain-Bearing Form to push against the tendon, but its ends burrowed into the ground and kept him trapped.
• More than a dozen Ghost Kings attacked Xu Taiping, and his Bull Demon phantom blocked their blows while Mu Yun, Mu Yuchen, and Ji Ye watched with concern.

Xu Taiping broke free of the Ghost Kings’ assault by revealing an ancient inherited true intent in his fist technique. He then struck the Headless Ghost with a thunderflame-wreathed Bull Demon punch, sending it crashing across the snowfield.

• Liu Qingyuan dismissed Xu Taiping’s chances and ordered Guangyuanzi to warn the Azure Profound Sect and demand Xu Taiping’s body-tempering method.
• Dozens of Ghost Kings overwhelmed Xu Taiping’s Mountain-Bearing Form and shattered the Bull Demon apparition protecting him.
• Xu Taiping summoned a three-headed, six-armed Bull Demon apparition and blasted the Ghost Kings backward with a vast storm of golden fist shadows.
• Guangyuanzi recognized ancient inherited true intent in Xu Taiping’s punch, while Liu Qingyuan’s expression turned livid.
• Xu Taiping covered the thousand-armed Bull Demon apparition in purple thunderflame and sent the Headless Ghost tumbling through the snowfield with one punch.

Xu Taiping battled the Headless Ghost, whose rapid healing, control over dead ghosts, and newly revealed blade domain turned the fight against him. As Xu Taiping was gradually overwhelmed by the Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts, Xiahou You feared his strength might not be enough to escape.

• At Xiahou Qingyuan's residence, Xiahou You recognized Xu Taiping's punch as proof that he had comprehended the Demon Ancestor's true intent.
• Xu Taiping's punch sent the Headless Ghost flying but drained his qi and blood, while the ghost quickly healed its wounds.
• Xu Taiping drew the Thunder Soul Blade and killed the Qingmian Ghost and the controlled Ghost Kings, but the Headless Ghost healed and grew a long-haired skull.
• The Headless Ghost drew a rusty blade and unleashed its blade domain, Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.
• Xu Taiping cut down the attacking ghosts, but new, stronger ghosts that learned his moves kept appearing, gradually suppressing him.
• Xiahou Qingyuan recognized the ghost's blade domain, while Xiahou You worried that Xu Taiping might not be able to overcome it.

Xu Taiping fought the ghosts inside the Headless Ghost’s Blade Domain while Xiahou Qingyuan doubted he could overcome its greater power. He revealed that he had been holding back, then broke the domain with a Hundred-Foot Blade Domain, astonishing the spectators.

• Xiahou Qingyuan told Xiahou You that Xu Taiping had mastered the Eight-Zhang Blade Domain, while the Headless Ghost wielded a Hundred-Foot Blade Domain.
• A ghost struck Xu Taiping as he fought, and Xiahou Qingyuan warned that his True Essence and Qi and Blood would eventually run out.
• Xiahou You remembered Xu Taiping’s earlier courage and began hoping he could still prevail.
• Xu Taiping’s blade grew more ferocious as he cut through the ghosts while secretly gathering power.
• Xu Taiping wiped out more than half the ghosts with one stroke and unleashed a dragon-shaped Blade Qi that shattered the Headless Ghost’s domain.
• Yun Shiliu and Elder Zhang realized Xu Taiping had comprehended the Hundred-Foot Blade Domain in less than a year.

Xu Taiping battled the Headless Ghost inside his blade domain, killing hundreds of ghosts and severing the Headless Ghost’s head. The Headless Ghost’s power multiplied after the beheading, expanding his ghost domain and leaving Xu Taiping surrounded by a thousand-foot Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts.

• Yun Shiliu watched Xu Taiping’s blade domain and said she had awakened early for an unrelated reason, while the Pockmarked Elder warned that approaching ghost kings left Xu Taiping little time.
• The Headless Ghost unleashed hundreds of ghosts into Xu Taiping’s blade domain, but Xu Taiping activated his Dragon Whale Physique and cut down many of them with astonishing speed.
• Xu Taiping’s downward slash cleaved through the ghosts shielding the Headless Ghost and severed his head.
• The Headless Ghost’s body rose again, and his ghostfire ruptured Xu Taiping’s dragon-shaped blade domain as his Night Parade of a Hundred Ghosts expanded severalfold.
• Guangyuanzi explained that the Headless Ghost doubled in strength each time his head was severed and declared that Xu Taiping could not win unless he destroyed the blade domain.

In Thousand Mechanisms City, Gongshu Chi and Gongshu Bai pledged support for Xu Taiping as the Headless Ghost’s horde seemed poised to overwhelm him. Xu Taiping unleashed Mountain Spirit and thunderflame to destroy the Headless Ghost, then challenged everyone to meet him on the tower’s Ninth Layer.

• Zhai Mo, Yuzhu, and Gongshu Nanxing grew angry after Guangyuanzi explained the Eight Views Dao Palace’s decision, while Gongshu Chi urged patience and promised to rally support for Xu Taiping.
• Gongshu Bai and Gongshu Chi decided Thousand Mechanisms City would publicly support Xu Taiping.
• As the Headless Ghost’s summoned ghosts swarmed him, Xu Taiping questioned whether the ghost had revealed all its strength and prepared to use his final blade-domain power.
• Xu Taiping unleashed Mountain Spirit, pinning the Headless Ghost and its ghosts to the ground and weakening their blade domain.
• Xu Taiping struck with thunderflame, destroying the Headless Ghost and its horde, then declared that he awaited everyone on the Ninth Layer of the Mysterious Wasteland Tower.

After Xu Taiping defeated two Ghost Kings, cultivators and sects across the Five Heavens pledged forces and resources to help him ascend the Mysterious Wasteland Tower. Three months later, Xu Taiping returned from training on the ninth layer and learned that the Nine Abysses had blocked the allied cultivators below the fifth layer, so he prepared to wait and cultivate.

• Mu Yun, Ji Ye, and Mu Yuchen celebrated Xu Taiping's victory, and the Eight Views Dao Palace agreed to send elite disciples to the tower.
• Fang Mou announced that the Three Sovereigns Dao Palace would send eighteen personal disciples, while leaders and sects across the Five Heavens pledged thousands of cultivators to assist Xu Taiping.
• Mu Yun pledged Guangling Pavilion disciples to the expedition, and Gongsun Chi and Gongshu Bai offered Thousand Mechanisms City's rings and Spirit Refining Realm disciples.
• Giant Deer City and other cities in Mysterious Wasteland Heaven pledged their rings and cultivators, and Gongsun Chi ordered preparations for the Nine Abysses' counterattack.
• After training for three years on the ninth layer, Xu Taiping admitted he still could not defeat the Ghost Kings in the snowfields.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that the Nine Abysses had kept the allied cultivators below the fifth layer, and Xu Taiping decided to cultivate while waiting for them.

Fairy Lingyue updated Xu Taiping on preparations for the Mysterious Wasteland Tower and several developments outside it. Xu Taiping agreed to release the other cultivators from the Azure Dragon Token after the ninth layer and planned to seek the Withered Stone Sea’s resources after reaching the twelfth layer, while learning that his senior siblings had entered the tower and asking whether they had sent word.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that cultivators from the Five Heavens would swear upon the Azure Dragon Token and enter the ninth layer together once three hundred outsiders reached the eighth layer, and Xu Taiping agreed to release them afterward.
• Fairy Lingyue reported that Sect Master Zhao Qian had gathered nearly all the materials needed to plant the Earth Fruit, and Xu Taiping learned the missing materials and a breakthrough pill ingredient could be found in the Withered Stone Sea.
• Xu Taiping said he would go to the Withered Stone Sea with Fairy Lingyue after reaching the tower’s twelfth layer and slaying the evil god in his shadow.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that Dugu Qingxiao, Jiang Zhi, and Zhao Linglong had entered the Mysterious Wasteland Tower two months earlier; Zhao Linglong had gone first, and the sect master later sent the other two to find her.
• Xu Taiping asked Fairy Lingyue whether his senior siblings had sent any news from the tower.

Xu Taiping learned that the Blade Ghost needed a Bloodrock Soulfire Stone to open the third layer of the Infernal Blade Prison, where he could test himself against a Great Sage Realm saber cultivator. Three years later, Xu Taiping wounded the sealed opponent and greatly improved his physique and Blade Domain before the Blade Ghost called him out of seclusion.

• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that his two senior sisters and Second Senior Brother had reached the third layer of the Mysterious Wasteland Tower and gained fortuitous opportunities.
• The Blade Ghost asked Xu Taiping to obtain a Bloodrock Soulfire Stone so he could open the third layer of the Infernal Blade Prison and let Xu Taiping test his skills against a powerful saber cultivator.
• Fairy Lingyue identified Ye Chensha and Gu Qingcheng as Xiahou Qingyuan and Xiahou You, siblings of the Xiahou Clan of Jade Balance Mountain, which held Bloodrock Soulfire Stones.
• Three years later, Xu Taiping fought the chained old saber cultivator in the third layer and cut off one of his arms with a powerful strike.
• Fairy Lingyue and the Blade Ghost observed that Xu Taiping had advanced his physique to the Ultimate Realm of the Dragon Whale Physique and greatly strengthened his Blade Domain.
• The Blade Ghost congratulated Xu Taiping and called him out of seclusion because people outside were waiting for him to climb the tower.

Xu Taiping learned that Nine Abysses Demon Cultivators had infiltrated True Martial Heaven and were targeting him, so Zhao Qian gave him the Mountain Lord Token to hide at Forget-Me-Not Peak. As Xu Taiping traveled there with Bai Yu, he asked why so many cultivators had advanced through the Mysterious Wasteland Tower, and Bai Yu said Mysterious Wasteland Heaven’s people and soldiers had paid for it with their lives.

• Zhao Qian gave Xu Taiping a jade slip listing cultivators who had reached the Mysterious Wasteland Tower’s eighth layer, including Dugu Qingxiao, Jiang Zhi, and Zhao Linglong.
• Zhao Qian secretly warned Xu Taiping that Nine Abysses Demon Cultivators had infiltrated True Martial Heaven and were targeting him.
• Zhao Qian advised Xu Taiping to hide his true body at Forget-Me-Not Peak and gave him the Mountain Lord Token, making him lord of Cloud Cottage Mountain’s Peak of Remembrance.
• Xu Taiping flew toward Forget-Me-Not Peak on Bai Yu’s back and asked why so many cultivators had reached the Fantasy Tower’s seventh layer.
• Bai Yu told Xu Taiping that the people and soldiers of Mysterious Wasteland Heaven had paid for their progress with their lives.

After learning the heavy price Mysterious Wasteland Heaven’s cultivators paid to hold back the Nine Abysses, Xu Taiping arrived at Forget-Me-Not Peak and was welcomed as its new Mountain Lord. Before entering the Mysterious Wasteland Tower, he chose to visit Mysterious Wasteland Heaven and see the world they were fighting to protect.

• Bai Yu told Xu Taiping that Mysterious Wasteland Heaven’s cultivators had attacked Nine Abysses strongholds to limit the Demon Seeds entering the tower, suffering many deaths in the process.
• Bai Yu brought Xu Taiping and sleeping Ping'an to Forget-Me-Not Peak, where the sword spirits Longyuan and Chengying recognized Xu Taiping and welcomed him as the new Mountain Lord.
• More than a hundred immortal swords welcomed Xu Taiping, who realized Ninth Uncle had left the peak and its swords to him.
• Fairy Lingyue assured Xu Taiping that Forget-Me-Not Peak was safe for cultivation and urged him to enter the tower while she and the others handled matters outside.
• At the Bronze Gates, Xu Taiping chose to open the gate to Mysterious Wasteland Heaven and stepped through to see the world for himself.

Xu Taiping roamed Mysterious Wasteland Heaven and discovered the devastation left by the Nine Abysses. Using an Azure Dragon Token, he witnessed Gongshu Nanxing refusing treatment to preserve her strength, then saw Zhai Mo vow to avenge his fallen comrades.

• Xu Taiping saw the mutilated bodies of Mysterious Wasteland Heaven’s people, including children, and resolved that the Nine Abysses’ Demon Seeds were humanity’s enemies by nature.
• Four Azure Dragon Tokens appeared before Xu Taiping, and he discovered that holding one let him appear before its named owner.
• Xu Taiping watched Gongshu Nanxing refuse an enchanted robe because it would weaken her Divine Soul, despite the demonic wound disfiguring her face.
• Xu Taiping silently bowed to Gongshu Nanxing and her mother, then used another token to leave the room.
• Xu Taiping appeared in an ancestral hall, where Zhai Mo told Yuzhu that the memorial tablets belonged to all his friends and vowed to repay their blood debt.

Xu Taiping discovered Elder Zhang enduring a dangerous needle ritual to prepare for the Mysterious Wasteland Tower, but arrived too late to stop the final needle. He entered the tower and learned that Huang Jinpeng and the Eight Views Dao Palace disciples had already gone ahead to challenge the Ninth Layer without him.

• Xu Taiping found Elder Zhang undergoing a painful ritual in which runes entered his body through silver needles, and Elder Zhang insisted on continuing despite the risk of his soul being scattered.
• Xu Taiping tried to warn Elder Zhang through the Azure Dragon Token, but Elder Zhang had passed out and Elder Song inserted the final needle.
• Xu Taiping watched Elder Zhang awaken in agony, then vowed to see him inside the Mysterious Wasteland Tower and entered through the Bronze Gate.
• Xu Taiping arrived in the tower and met Gu Qingcheng, who told him that disciples of the Eight Views Dao Palace and Huang Jinpeng with more than a dozen cultivators had entered the Ninth Layer early to challenge the Snow Woman without him.

Xu Taiping entered the Ninth Layer alone to rescue the cultivators who had gone ahead, despite the Eight Views Dao Palace’s attempt to test him. His allies watched through Spirit Mirrors as he faced the Snow Domain’s ghosts.

• Gu Qingcheng warned Xu Taiping that the Eight Views Dao Palace had let its disciples go ahead to test him, but Xu Taiping insisted on rescuing them and then expelling them from the tower.
• Xu Taiping greeted Chu Yinan, Mu Yun, Ji Ye, and Mu Yuchen, who had come to support him.
• Xu Taiping said he would prove that strength could overcome the schemes and ghosts of the Ninth Layer, and refused to wait for Gu Qingcheng’s senior brothers.
• Xu Taiping pushed open the Bronze Gate and entered the Ninth Layer without using the Five-Life Pearl’s power to return.
• Gu Qingcheng and the others left the tower to watch through Spirit Mirrors, while Ji Ye feared Xu Taiping could not defeat stronger ghosts alone and Mu Yun remained hopeful.

Xu Taiping confronted the Eight Views Dao Palace disciples in the Snow Domain after saving them from the Snow Woman’s blizzard, but they insisted he stay out of their hunt. He agreed not to interfere unless asked and warned them about the Ghost Kings’ ability to imprison souls.

• Mu Yun, Ji Ye, and Mu Yuchen watched the Spirit Mirror as Xu Taiping charged through the Snow Woman’s Frost Blades and scattered the blizzard.
• The Eight Views Dao Palace disciples blocked Xu Taiping and claimed they had trapped the Snow Woman, telling him not to take credit for their kill.
• The square-faced disciple warned Xu Taiping to stay away from their planned hunts for the Dragon Ghost, Headless Ghost, and Ghost Kings.
• Xu Taiping agreed not to intervene unless the disciples asked him to act.
• Xu Taiping warned the disciples that Ghost Kings could imprison their divine souls and torment them unless someone rescued them.

The Eight Views Dao Palace disciples and their allies defeated the Snow Woman, Dragon Ghost, and Headless Ghost with formations and a sword array. Xu Taiping agreed to hand over the Azure Dragon Token if they killed a ghost of his choosing, then selected Old Smoky Ghost, whom he had fought before.

• The Eight Views Dao Palace disciples and their allies trapped the Snow Woman in a formation and burned her until she dissolved into snowmelt.
• At Jade Balance Mountain, Xiahou Qingyuan and Xiahou You discussed Xu Taiping’s decision to let the other cultivators remain on the ninth layer.
• The Eight Views Dao Palace disciples, Huang Jinpeng, and their allies killed the Dragon Ghost and Headless Ghost with a thousand-zhang sword shadow.
• Huang Jinpeng demanded that Xu Taiping hand over the Azure Dragon Token, and Xu Taiping agreed on the condition that they kill a ghost he chose.
• Xu Taiping selected Old Smoky Ghost, whom he remembered as one of the Ghost Kings who had tormented him during his previous stay in the Snow Domain.

The Eight Views Dao Palace schemed to take Xu Taiping’s Azure Dragon Token if its disciples killed Old Smoky Ghost, while observers at Azure Profound Sect worried about the wager. Huang Jinpeng and the other sword cultivators trapped Old Smoky Ghost in a formation, as Xu Taiping watched and considered his next move.

• At the Eight Views Dao Palace, Liu Qingyuan and Guangyuanzi agreed that Xia Qi’s group could defeat Old Smoky Ghost and planned to claim Xu Taiping’s Azure Dragon Token if they did.
• At Azure Profound Sect, Zhao Linglong, Jiang Zhi, Dugu Qingxiao, and Zhao Qian watched the confrontation and discussed whether Xu Taiping could lose the token.
• Huang Jinpeng led a group of cultivators toward Old Smoky Ghost, prompting the ghost to raise his head and release a powerful aura.
• Xu Taiping observed that the ghost creatures reacted to the direction of a cultivator’s aura and recognized Old Smoky Ghost’s tobacco scent.
• Huang Jinpeng and the other sword cultivators drove their swords into the ground to form a trap around Old Smoky Ghost, who smashed his smoking pipe against the ground.

Xu Taiping watched as Old Smoky Ghost was trapped and repeatedly wounded by the Eight Views Dao Palace's Immortal-Trapping Sword Formation. The chapter ended with Old Smoky Ghost inhaling his pipe tobacco, regrowing his arms, and transforming into a giant as he threatened Xia Qi and the others.

• Old Smoky Ghost's pipe sparks were swept away by the Immortal-Trapping Sword Formation, which severed his pipe-holding arm when he attacked Huang Jinpeng.
• Xu Taiping recognized the formation's strength but understood that Old Smoky Ghost's pipe was the source of his real danger.
• Xia Qi and the other Eight Views Dao Palace disciples reinforced the formation, forcing Old Smoky Ghost to his knees before he struggled back to his feet.
• Xia Qi used the Immortal-Trapping Sword to sever Old Smoky Ghost's other arm, while Mu Yun and Mu Yuchen believed the Ghost King was near defeat.
• Old Smoky Ghost inhaled the tobacco from his pipe, grew more than a hundred feet tall, regrew both arms, and threatened to kill Xia Qi and the others.

Old Smoky Ghost resisted the Immortal-Trapping Sword Formation and grew stronger each time he smoked, forcing Xia Qi to gamble on a decisive strike. Xia Qi slashed at him with the Immortal-Trapping Sword just as Old Smoky Ghost blew smoke toward the sword light.

• Old Smoky Ghost transformed the smoke from his nostrils into enormous arms and struck the formation, injuring several sword cultivators and nearly destabilizing it.
• Huang Jinpeng rallied the cultivators and stabilized the Immortal-Trapping Sword Formation while Xia Qi prepared to attack.
• Xia Qi wielded the Immortal-Trapping Sword and brought the formation's sword qi down on Old Smoky Ghost, who caught it with four smoke arms.
• Old Smoky Ghost smoked again and lifted the sword qi, shocking Xia Qi and the formation's defenders with his growing strength.
• Xia Qi chose to risk a single decisive strike, drew the Immortal-Trapping Sword with the disciples' power, and slashed at Old Smoky Ghost as he blew smoke toward the blade.