Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping and the others defeated Zhao Mou’s summoned crows and saw the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord behead him, but Zhao Mou survived by transforming his blood and ambushed Xu Taiping. Zhao Mou trapped them both in a Black Crystal Barrier and declared that he would take over Xu Taiping’s body.

• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord destroyed Zhao Mou’s green bamboo swords, and Lou Shiyi drove Zhao Mou into a pit with a spear thrust.
• The Pearl Relic House Master stripped away Zhao Mou’s Dark Crystal Armor, allowing the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord to behead him, but Zhao Mou’s blood turned into deadly Profound Demon Crows.
• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord cut down the crows with flaming sword light, while the Pearl Relic House Master rebuked him for underestimating Zhao Mou’s Creation Power.
• As Xu Taiping prepared to give the Kunwu Sword to the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord, Zhao Mou emerged from a drop of blood and punched through Xu Taiping’s Golden Bell Talisman.
• Zhao Mou trapped himself and Xu Taiping inside a Black Crystal Barrier, which the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord could not break with his sword.

Xu Taiping faced Zhao Mou inside the black crystal barrier and killed him with a concealed counterattack after Lotus Eye demanded his help to investigate the Primordial Lord. The chapter ended with Lotus Eye sending Xu Taiping a divine soul mark containing its deduction about the being behind Zhao Mou.

• Zhao Mou tried to tempt Xu Taiping into becoming a demon seed, but Xu Taiping resisted and strengthened his body with qi and blood.
• Lotus Eye told Xu Taiping to kill Zhao Mou and touch the demon seed, and asked him to hand over his Gold Essence Coins in exchange for investigating the Primordial Lord.
• Zhao Mou struck Xu Taiping repeatedly, revealing overwhelming speed and strength while the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord prepared to break the barrier.
• Xu Taiping used All Beings Are Equal to slow Zhao Mou, then shattered his head with a Baxia strike and engulfed him in thunderflame.
• Lotus Eye sent Xu Taiping a divine soul mark containing its deduction about Zhao Mou's Primordial Lord.

Xu Taiping received Lotus Eye’s warnings about the powerful Demon Seed and the dangers of using the Kunwu Sword or Ghost Gods Diagrams before confronting it. As Lotus Eye exhausted its power and bid him farewell, Xu Taiping refused to accept that they would part, and Lotus Eye promised to help him ascend one day.

• Lotus Eye warned Xu Taiping to wait until just before facing the Demonic Beast to open the Divine Soul Mark, since it contained three thousand possible futures.
• Lotus Eye told Xu Taiping not to give the Kunwu Sword to the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord or use the Ghost Gods Diagrams, explaining that either could awaken or attract the Demon Seed.
• Lotus Eye urged Xu Taiping to press on because he was already entangled in the karma surrounding the Kunwu Sword.
• Lotus Eye said it had exhausted its stored power and bid Xu Taiping farewell, hoping to see him in the True Martial Sword Champion arena rather than the Wilderness.
• Xu Taiping refused to accept their parting, and Lotus Eye promised to help him tread the clouds and ascend to heaven.

Xu Taiping recovered after defeating Zhao Mou, and his words helped the Pearl Relic House Master emerge from his heart demon. Before Xu Taiping could say he wanted to stay, the gravely injured Zhang Yu escaped the barrier and revealed his surprise at hearing Zhao Mou had become a demon.

• Xu Taiping woke and reassured the Pearl Relic House Master that Zhao Mou's transformation into a demon had severed his ties to humanity.
• The Pearl Relic House Master cast off his guilt, while Cloud Crane True Lord and the others praised Xu Taiping's talent and joked about helping him reach the Heaven Questioning Realm.
• Xu Taiping began to say that he wanted to stay, but Zhang Yu stumbled out of the barrier and interrupted him.
• Great Elder Lou offered Zhang Yu Spirit Marrow Liquid, but Zhang Yu stopped him and said he was dying.
• Cloud Crane True Lord and the Pearl Relic House Master asked Zhang Yu what had happened inside, and Zhang Yu reacted with astonishment when he heard Zhao Mou had become a demon.

Zhang Yu reported that the First-Level Barrier had broken, the Tree Demon was nearing awakening, and Zhao Mou had crippled him with a Marrow-Draining Talisman. With the barrier requiring seven cultivators to repair and Xu Taiping seemingly too weak to enter, Xu used the All Beings Are Equal ability and offered to prove himself.

• Zhang Yu explained that a Neither-Human-Nor-Beast Demonic Beast broke the First-Level Barrier after gravely wounding Qu Shuang and Zhuo Buming, who retreated to the second layer.
• Zhang Yu revealed that Zhao Mou had laid a Marrow-Draining Talisman at the exit, which turned his left leg to charcoal.
• The Pearl Relic House Master apologized to Zhang Yu, who urged him to press on despite his injuries.
• Zhang Yu warned that repairing the First-Level Barrier required at least seven cultivators, while Xu Taiping could not safely enter because he was only in the Spirit Refining Realm.
• Xu Taiping declared that he could enter the barrier and used All Beings Are Equal on the Pearl Relic House Master, offering to be tested.

Xu Taiping insisted on entering the barrier to help repair its first layer, despite the elders’ warnings about the demonic beasts and the demon seed. He proved his strength by using the All Beings Are Equal Bracelet to weaken the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord and knock him off his feet.

• Xu Taiping decided to enter the barrier and reviewed the powerful treasures he could use if his life was at stake.
• The Pearl Relic House Master and Cloud Crane True Lord tried to dissuade Xu Taiping, warning that the barrier’s demonic beasts were numerous and dangerous.
• Xu Taiping argued that waiting for the demonic beast to awaken was a gamble and asked the Pearl Relic House Master to test his fist.
• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord offered to test Xu Taiping and said he could enter the barrier if he knocked him back half a step.
• Xu Taiping activated the All Beings Are Equal Bracelet and struck the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord with the Ancestral Sage Fist, sending him flying backward.

Xu Taiping demonstrated that his Buddhist treasure could suppress an opponent's cultivation to match his own, then agreed to enter the barrier with the others. Zhang Yu gave him the Great Sage Armor before refusing Liberation by Violence and accepting his death, leaving his fortune to future cultivators.

• Xu Taiping explained that All Beings Are Equal could match his cultivation to a single opponent's and showed the group his Shurangama Sutra scroll.
• Cloud Crane True Lord and the Pearl Relic House Master told Xu Taiping to follow behind them and promised him the largest piece of breathing earth they retrieved.
• Zhang Yu recognized Xu Taiping's Ancestral Sage Fist and gave him the Great Sage Armor, which he said could block a full-force strike from a Heaven Questioning Realm cultivator.
• As Zhang Yu's body turned to charcoal and began to shatter, the Pearl Relic House Master urged him to use Liberation by Violence.
• Zhang Yu refused, saying he would leave his share of the Heavenly Dao's fortune for future generations, and bade everyone farewell.

Xu Taiping and the others entered the third barrier to reach its formation node, learning about the human soldiers whose remains had become skeleton demonic soldiers. They arrived at Thatched Cottage Village and discovered a patrol charging toward them, forcing Cloud Crane True Lord to order everyone to hide.

• After Zhang Yu shattered into charcoal, the Pearl Relic House Master gathered his remains, and the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord asked Xu Taiping to scatter his ashes where Songyu had fallen.
• Xu Taiping urged the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord to explain himself to Songyu, and the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord promised to tell him the reason if the time came.
• Cloud Crane True Lord and Great Elder Lou explained that the third barrier held over thirty thousand Skeleton Demonic Soldiers made from human soldiers who had fought the demonic beast for years.
• Cloud Crane True Lord teleported the group to Thatched Cottage Village and directed them to reach Falling Cloud Slope, where the formation node and entrance to the second barrier lay.
• Xu Taiping recognized Jade Bone Grass on the hillside, and Cloud Crane True Lord explained that it had been planted in an attempt to shelter the soldiers’ remnant souls.
• A Golden Skeleton Demonic Soldier and over a hundred Skeleton Blood Soldiers charged down the hillside, and Cloud Crane True Lord warned everyone to hide before they attracted the Skeleton Demonic General.

Xu Taiping and the others watched a skeleton patrol near Thatched Cottage Village and learned that they had to avoid revealing their True Essence while crossing the Third Level barrier. A village formation disguised as an accident crushed three Blood-Bone Soldiers, leaving the group free to continue toward the teleportation array.

• Xu Taiping asked why the skeleton patrol would not enter Thatched Cottage Village, and Cloud Crane True Lord explained that the village’s formations would destroy intruders.
• Pearl Relic House Master warned that skeleton soldiers could sense cultivators’ Spiritual Power and that revealing their True Essence could draw the entire army.
• Cloud Crane True Lord explained that the group could usually pass safely by waiting for a patrol to leave one of the nine entrances.
• Three Blood-Bone Soldiers crossed the village bridge, where falling leaves, a protruding stone, and a rolling millstone caused the village entrance formation to grind them down.
• Cloud Crane True Lord and Xu Taiping prepared to continue toward the teleportation array and rendezvous with Qu Shuang and the other seniors.

Xu Taiping learned that the damaged Blood-Bone Soldier was searching for the Treading the Sea Army’s banner, and discovered that the army’s memorial stone and flagpole still stood nearby. Cloud Crane True Lord explained that attempts to approach them had always attracted an army of powerful demonic beasts, leaving Xu Taiping to consider the danger surrounding the relics.

• Cloud Crane True Lord led the group toward Falling Cloud Slope and explained that the Blood-Bone Soldier was harmless because its Blood Core had been crushed.
• Little Ping'an told Xu Taiping that the Blood-Bone Soldier kept repeating a vow to General Ran and asking where the Treading the Sea banner was.
• Cloud Crane True Lord and the Pearl Relic House Master described Old General Ran’s memorial stone, which bore more than thirty-eight thousand soldiers’ names, and the flagpole beside it.
• Great Elder Lou recalled the flagpole, and the others said it bore the words “Treading the Sea,” identifying the army’s name.
• Xu Taiping learned that attempts to approach the flagpole and memorial stone had always drawn an army led by Black Crystal Bone-level demonic beasts.

Xu Taiping learned that the flagpole beside the Treading the Sea Army stele might be a command flag, then became trapped at Falling Cloud Slope when a Demonic Beast attacked and summoned thirty thousand Skeleton Demonic Soldiers. With the barrier entrance sealed and the group surrounded, Xu Taiping asked the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord to take him to the stele so he could try raising the flag.

• Xu Taiping suspected the flagpole could command the Treading the Sea Army, and the Pearl Relic House Master and Cloud Crane True Lord explained that others had reached the same conclusion but could not awaken the corrupted soldiers.
• Xu Taiping resolved to help the Treading the Sea Army’s fallen souls if he could, and he saw the Blood-Bone Soldier’s broken body appear to kowtow to him.
• At Falling Cloud Slope, Cloud Crane True Lord opened the entrance to the barrier’s second layer, and the group discussed how the barrier’s unknown maker had sacrificed themself to trap the Demonic Beast.
• A scarlet hand burst through the cloud entrance and attacked Cloud Crane True Lord, but the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord severed it before Cloud Crane sealed the opening.
• The severed hand summoned all demons, drawing thirty thousand Skeleton Demonic Soldiers to Falling Cloud Slope and trapping the group.
• Xu Taiping asked the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord to escort him to the Treading the Sea Army stele so he could try raising its command flag.

Xu Taiping and Li Daoyan charged toward the hillside of Jade Bone Grass as the Blood Hand gathered tens of thousands of skeleton soldiers around them. Xu Taiping broke through a unit of Golden Skeleton Demons, but a Black Crystal Skeleton Demon attacked him with a freezing domain.

• Xu Taiping drank a flask of Hidden Immortal Wine, restored his strength, and raced toward the Jade Bone Grass hillside with Li Daoyan following.
• Cloud Crane True Lord tried to send Xu Taiping back with a wind talisman, but Xu Taiping continued onward and told him to hold the entrance.
• The Pearl Relic House Master and Great Elder Lou explained that the Blood Hand had ordered three Black Crystal Skeleton Demons to gather over thirty thousand skeleton soldiers around them.
• A Golden Skeleton Demon split Xu Taiping's protective qi, but Xu Taiping used a Buddha-lit saber strike to destroy it and cut through its unit.
• A Black Crystal Skeleton Demon spearman leaped out and attacked Xu Taiping, spreading a freezing domain across the surrounding area.

Xu Taiping fought the black crystal skeleton demon and its cavalry on the hillside, using Hidden Immortal Wine, his Raging Flood Dragon Physique, and blade techniques to withstand their attacks. With Cloud Crane True Lord’s Cloud Talisman shielding him from the frost, Xu Taiping used a clone to draw the demon’s spear strike and appeared above it to attack its back with Baxia.

• Xu Taiping used All Beings Are Equal to block the black crystal skeleton demon’s spear, then drank Hidden Immortal Wine and raised his physique to the Raging Flood Dragon Physique.
• Xu Taiping unleashed Dragon-Slaying and forced the demon backward, but a charge by over a hundred skeleton horsemen shattered his blade qi thunderclap and sent him flying.
• The demon’s Frost Heaven Demon Seed froze Xu Taiping’s leg and began chilling his qi and blood until Cloud Crane True Lord sent him a fire Cloud Talisman.
• Xu Taiping met the demon’s hundreds of frost-covered spear shadows with a slash that created hundreds of blade shadows, then used his Mysterious Origin Avatar to deceive the demon.
• Xu Taiping used Star-Transposing Step to appear above the black crystal skeleton demon and struck its back over the heart with Baxia.

Xu Taiping charged a skeletal cavalry formation alone, exhausted himself holding it back, and accepted the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord’s help to reach the Treading the Sea Army’s flagpole. His call awakened a soldier from the Jade Bone Grass, who answered that the Treading the Sea Army was there.

• Xu Taiping shattered a Black Crystal Skeleton Demon’s armor with a punch but failed to destroy the Blood Core, while Cloud Crane True Lord and the others recognized the strength of his Martial Dao cultivation.
• A thousand skeletal riders charged Xu Taiping with a battle-intent spear, and he met their formation alone with the Raging Thunder Form, briefly suppressing their advance before exhausting his strength.
• Over three hundred flying swords struck the skeletal formation and drove it back, giving the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord time to reach Xu Taiping.
• Xu Taiping refused the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord’s offer to keep him safe and asked to be sent to the Treading the Sea Army’s flagpole; the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord transported him there.
• Xu Taiping grasped the flagpole and repeatedly called for the Treading the Sea Army, awakening a soldier among the Jade Bone Grass, who answered that the army was there.

Xu Taiping called the fallen Treading the Sea Army souls from the Jade Bone Grass, but Cloud Crane True Lord said they had not truly awakened. As the Blood Hand’s power strengthened the Skeleton Soldiers and their twenty-thousand-strong main force arrived, the others moved to seal the expanding blood cloud.

• Xu Taiping’s battle intent drew more Treading the Sea Army souls from the Jade Bone Grass, but they stood motionless and unresponsive.
• Cloud Crane True Lord explained that only battle intent sufficient to mobilize the Four Armies could truly awaken the fallen soldiers.
• The Blood Hand became a blood cloud and ordered the Skeleton Soldiers to charge, strengthening them with black crystal and demonic qi.
• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord’s sword attacks clashed with the Skeleton Soldiers’ formation, which broke through his Sword Shadow.
• Cloud Crane True Lord sensed at least twenty thousand Skeleton Soldiers arriving, and their battle intent scattered the summoned souls and trampled the Jade Bone Grass.
• The Pearl Relic House Master asked Great Elder Lou to guard the passage while he and Cloud Crane True Lord went to seal the blood cloud.

Xu Taiping used Hidden Immortal Wine to summon three Mysterious Origin Avatars and revive the Treading the Sea Army’s battle intent, but the black crystal demon seed broke free and unleashed the Skeleton Soldiers. The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord exchanged places with a Skeleton Soldier to protect Xu Taiping and raised a sword city as the enemy formations closed in.

• The Pearl Relic House Master and Cloud Crane True Lord weakened the blood cloud’s influence, giving Xu Taiping a chance to act.
• Xu Taiping drank a jar of Hidden Immortal Wine and summoned three Mysterious Origin Avatars, who helped restore the Treading the Sea Army’s battle intent and the Jade Bone Grass.
• The black crystal demon seed broke through the restraints of the Pearl Relic House Master and Cloud Crane True Lord, then drove the Skeleton Soldiers to attack.
• The Skeleton cavalry broke through the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord’s sword shadows and sent him flying, while a larger formation surged toward Xu Taiping.
• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord used Form- and Shadow-Transposition to reach Xu Taiping, then invoked Sword-Opening City and stood atop the city’s walls.

Xu Taiping awakened the souls of the Treading the Sea Army’s fallen soldiers while the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord held off the Skeleton Soldiers with his Sword City. The restored army charged under Xu Taiping’s banner and shattered the enemy formation.

• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord’s Sword City held back the Skeleton Soldiers, but the Silver-Armored Skeleton Demonic General repeatedly broke through its defenses and damaged it.
• Xu Taiping connected with the souls of the thirty thousand fallen soldiers through the battle banner, matching the enemy’s battle intent and awakening the names on the Stone Stele.
• Xu Taiping called out the soldiers’ names, summoned their spirits, and unfurled the Treading the Sea Banner.
• Xu Taiping led the thirty thousand soldiers in a charge against the Skeleton Soldiers, whose formation collapsed under their attack.

Xu Taiping and the Treading the Sea Army overwhelmed the Skeleton Soldiers, while Cloud Crane True Lord and the Pearl Relic House Master captured a blood cloud that transformed into a Profound Demon Crow. Xu Taiping asked them to keep it alive as he turned to finish off the remaining Skeleton Demonic Generals.

• The Treading the Sea Army shattered the Skeleton Soldiers' formation, leaving only three Black Crystal Skeleton Demon Generals and a handful of Golden Skeleton Soldiers.
• Cloud Crane True Lord regretted risking Xu Taiping's life, while the Pearl Relic House Master urged him to believe the Human Race would win.
• Xu Taiping asked Cloud Crane True Lord and the Pearl Relic House Master to bring the struggling blood cloud down to him instead of destroying it.
• The Pearl Relic House Master forced the blood cloud to the ground, where the Treading the Sea Army pierced it and a flying sword pinned it after it transformed into a gigantic Profound Demon Crow.
• Xu Taiping thanked the elders, asked them to keep watch over the Profound Demon Crow, and ordered the Treading the Sea Army to charge the remaining Skeleton Demonic Generals.

Xu Taiping and the Treading the Sea Army defeated the Black Crystal Skeleton Demonic Generals, and Ran Yi used the army’s blood-burning battle intent to break the Primordial Lord’s demon power. After the soldiers entrusted Xu Taiping with their battle memories and a request to honor them, Fairy Lingyue told him he could open the Divine Soul Mark Lotus Eye.

• Xu Taiping called on the Treading the Sea Army, but their battle intent could not break the Black Crystal Barrier protecting the Skeleton Demonic Generals.
• Ran Yi ordered the thirty thousand soldiers to burn their blood qi, then charged the barrier with a flaming blade strike that shattered it and destroyed the Black Crystal and Golden-Bone Skeleton Demonic Generals.
• Ran Yi thanked Xu Taiping for letting him deliver the final blow, then returned to Jade Bone Grass along with his soldiers and vowed that the army would fight for Xu Taiping until their divine souls burned away.
• Ran Yi left the army’s hundred years of battle records in the Stone Stele and asked Xu Taiping to erect it beside the sea if he survived and defeated the Demonic Beast.
• Xu Taiping accepted the soldiers’ charge as their Jade Bone Grass became a blade tassel on his Water-Cutting Blade.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that the army’s battle records would help Lotus Eye select the most accurate image, so he could open the Divine Soul Mark Lotus Eye now.

Xu Taiping explained how the Treading the Sea Army's battle intent and burning Qi and Blood had countered the Ten Abysses Primordial Lord's Demon Seed power. Inspired by their resolve, the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord broke through to the Sword Immortal Realm, while Qu Shuang warned that the Primordial Lord was about to awaken and urged the others to flee and warn the world.

• Xu Taiping explained to the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord and the others how the Treading the Sea Army had discovered that burning Qi and Blood could counter the Demon Seed power.
• The Azure-Eyed Evil Lord understood his Master's lesson about remembering his mortal origins, and the Sword Qi in his Qi Sea stirred.
• The Profound Demon Crow escaped its restraints, but the Azure-Eyed Evil Lord released a sword strike that pinned it to the hillside and broke through to the Sword Immortal Realm.
• Great Elder Lou destroyed the Blood Hand emerging from the cloud at Falling Cloud Slope with a spear strike.
• Qu Shuang warned Pearl Relic and Cloud Crane that the Primordial Lord was about to awaken and told them to leave the Golden Court Grotto-Heaven and alert the world.