Chapter Summaries

Cao Bing advanced deep into Divine Mountain Cave, enduring escalating attacks on his will while remaining unharmed. Outside, Abelial grew suspicious that the cave might lead safely to Divine Mountain and ordered Chi to enter after Cao Bing.

• Cao Bing took roughly a thousand steps into the darkness, where the willpower assault became severe enough to threaten even powerful Immortals.
• Abelial watched Cao Bing’s Life-Bearing Lamp remain bright and steady, showing no sign that Cao Bing had been injured or endangered during his first hour inside.
• Abelial worried that Cao Bing might reach Divine Mountain first and claim its treasures, but he was too afraid to enter the cave himself.
• Abelial ordered Chi, his strongest subordinate in the Illusory Void Secret Realm, to enter Divine Mountain Cave.
• Chi asked Abelial to care for his family, then leaped into the cave.

Abelial learned that Chi had been nearly incapacitated by the Divine Mountain cavern’s strange assault and had found no trace of Cao Bing. Fearing Cao Bing had reached the treasures first, Abelial entered the cavern himself and was immediately struck by the force affecting his consciousness.

• Chi entered the Divine Mountain cavern on Abelial’s orders, suffered severe injuries from its assault, and fled unconscious.
• Abelial revived Chi with healing potions and questioned him about what he had encountered.
• Chi reported that he had found no sign of Cao Bing, and Abelial suspected Cao Bing had gone deeper into the cavern.
• Abelial prepared his defensive treasures and backup arrangements, then entered the Divine Mountain cavern.
• The cavern’s force overwhelmed Abelial’s soul-defense treasure and drove him to one knee, though he was not immediately severely injured.

Cao Bing reached 5,125 steps in the Divine Mountain cave before retreating to 4,500 steps to temper his consciousness, devoting nearly all his attention to resisting the assault. Abelial pushed onward despite the danger, suffered a catastrophic collapse of consciousness, and escaped only barely alive.

• Cao Bing reached 5,125 steps but judged the willpower assault too dangerous to endure and retreated to 4,500 steps.
• Cao Bing withdrew his consciousness from the Stellar Transformation world and reduced control of his Time Seal Clones so he could focus on tempering his consciousness.
• Abelial, unable to find Cao Bing, took another step despite the damage the consciousness assault had already caused him.
• The doubled assault shattered Abelial's willpower and nearly extinguished his consciousness, but he escaped the cave with his last trace of awareness.
• Abelial fell into a coma with severe, possibly lasting damage to his memory, comprehension, and talent.

Abelial was left comatose after the Divine Mountain cave shattered much of his consciousness, prompting his teacher, Venerable Zhong Lian, and ancestor, Venerable Du Mie, to rush to him. The two Venerables tried to seize nearby explorers from the Illusory Void Secret Realm, but a more powerful figure intervened and stopped them.

• Abelial entered the Divine Mountain cave, suffered severe consciousness damage from the will within, and fell into a coma after escaping.
• The flame in an ancient bronze lamp dwindled, and Venerable Zhong Lian appeared before it before traveling to the Illusory Void Secret Realm.
• Venerable Zhong Lian pulled unconscious Abelial from the secret realm, and Venerable Du Mie examined him and declared his consciousness shattered and his future prospects crippled.
• Venerable Zhong Lian and Venerable Du Mie began using their powers to seize explorers near the Divine Mountain for questioning.
• An unknown figure appeared and nullified the two Venerables' combined divine abilities, telling them to remain calm.

Venerable Liu Ye and Dark Flame Venerable stopped Venerable Zhong Lian and Venerable Du Mie from forcibly interfering with the Illusory Void Secret Realm. Liu Ye then left, hoping Junior Brother Cao Bing would obtain the thing inside.

• Venerable Liu Ye challenged Zhong Lian and Du Mie for forcibly extracting people from the Illusory Void Secret Realm.
• Zhong Lian explained that his disciple had suffered grievous injuries and argued that Liu Ye had no authority over the secret realm.
• Liu Ye summoned Dark Flame Venerable, lord of the Dark Flame Universe Kingdom and an authority over the secret realm.
• Dark Flame Venerable asked Zhong Lian and Du Mie to stop interfering, and they agreed to investigate by sending subordinates inside instead.
• Liu Ye departed and privately reflected that Cao Bing would have to obtain the thing inside the secret realm himself.

Cao Bing spent three hundred years enduring the Divine Mountain cave’s assaults and increased his consciousness limit to 5,995 steps. He deliberately rushed to that limit to force a breakthrough, leaving his consciousness battered but repeatedly restored under the extreme pressure.

• Cao Bing endured three hundred years of darkness and consciousness assaults, advancing his limit from 5,125 to 5,995 steps.
• Cao Bing’s consciousness condensed into a five-inch figure that grew more solid under the cave’s raging winds and waves, though it remained just short of six inches and a breakthrough.
• Cao Bing decided the pressure was insufficient and shot from his position at the 5,500th step toward the 5,995th step.
• Cao Bing collapsed to one knee upon reaching his limit, as the sudden increase in pressure battered his consciousness figure and repeatedly swept away part of its body.
• Cao Bing’s consciousness figure restored itself after each impact, continuing to withstand the destructive assaults.

Cao Bing endured the Divine Mountain Cave’s will assault until his consciousness awakened a blade-like power, allowing him to pass the 6,000th step. He completed the first trial and met the mysterious Lord of the Withered Willow, who revealed that he was a dead Universe Master.

• Cao Bing’s consciousness avatar repeatedly shattered and re-formed until it unleashed a blade light that split the waves of consciousness and strengthened his will.
• Cao Bing rose and advanced through Divine Mountain Cave, passing the 5,996th step and reaching the 6,000th step without being hindered by the will assault.
• The cave transformed into a peaceful landscape, and an unfamiliar old man congratulated Cao Bing for passing the first trial.
• Cao Bing leaped away and drew his blade when the old man appeared beside him, then demanded to know who he was.
• The old man called himself Lord of the Withered Willow, and Cao Bing realized he was a Universe Master from an unknown race.
• Lord of the Withered Willow told Cao Bing not to fear him because he was already dead.

Cao Bing met Lord of the Withered Willow, who revealed that he had died countless epochs ago and offered Cao Bing his relics and inheritance. The offer required Cao Bing to pass another trial: make the supreme treasure Evil Skull Peak acknowledge him as its master, or die.

• Lord of the Withered Willow told Cao Bing that he was a remnant of consciousness left behind after his death, and Cao Bing stayed wary of him.
• Lord of the Withered Willow offered Cao Bing his relics and inheritance, and Cao Bing cautiously asked whether there were more trials.
• Lord of the Withered Willow explained that Cao Bing’s next trial was to make Evil Skull Peak acknowledge him as its master.
• Lord of the Withered Willow warned Cao Bing that failure would mean certain death, regardless of his talent, status, or clones.

Cao Bing learned that Evil Skull Peak was damaged but remained a formidable supreme treasure whose ownership trial could kill him if he failed. Lord of the Withered Willow then revealed that his former friend Master of Green Ring betrayed him, leaving him mortally wounded and forcing him to hide his inheritance in the Illusory Void Secret Realm.

• Lord of the Withered Willow warned Cao Bing that Evil Skull Peak devoured anyone who failed its ownership trial, though its damaged state had made the trial less difficult.
• Lord of the Withered Willow explained that Evil Skull Peak had fallen to Top-grade supreme treasure level but could rival a Peak supreme treasure if wielded fully.
• Cao Bing asked what Lord of the Withered Willow expected in return for the inheritance, and the old remnant said his unfulfilled wishes were beyond Cao Bing for now.
• Lord of the Withered Willow recounted that he and Master of Green Ring had risen from Immortal-level beings to Universe Masters together.
• Lord of the Withered Willow said Master of Green Ring ambushed him after he was injured in a secret realm, worsening his wounds and damaging Evil Skull Peak.
• Lord of the Withered Willow explained that he fled into the Illusory Void Secret Realm to avoid endangering his clan and left behind his consciousness and inheritance.

Lord of the Withered Willow asked Cao Bing to avenge him if he ever became a Universe Master and to look after the Withered Willow Clan when strong enough. Cao Bing agreed to try claiming Evil Skull Peak, relying on support from Chaos City Lord, who explained why he had not entered the secret realm to retrieve the relics.

• Lord of the Withered Willow told Cao Bing that becoming a Universe Master and killing Master of Green Ring was unlikely, but asked him to protect the Withered Willow Clan if he gained enough strength.
• Cao Bing promised to help the clan if he could and agreed to attempt acknowledging Evil Skull Peak as his master.
• Cao Bing consulted Chaos City Lord through the Virtual Universe and reported his meeting with Lord of the Withered Willow.
• Chaos City Lord revealed that he had monitored Lord of the Withered Willow in the Illusory Void Secret Realm but had avoided entering because doing so would cause the realm and its intruders severe backlash.

Cao Bing began claiming Evil Skull Peak after Lord of the Withered Willow explained the mountain’s dangers and revealed its core at the summit. The process began with a violent Killing Intent assault, which Cao Bing struggled to resist.

• Lord of the Withered Willow warned Cao Bing that Evil Skull Peak’s Killing Intent could consume his consciousness during the lengthy claiming process and taught him how to proceed.
• Lord of the Withered Willow revealed that the Divine Mountain was Evil Skull Peak and that its core lay at the summit, then Cao Bing set off to claim it.
• Cao Bing reached the summit, found the purple crystal skull, and placed a drop of blood carrying his Soul Seal on its forehead.
• The purple light swallowed Cao Bing as his Soul Seal began merging with the core, then scarlet light and a powerful Killing Intent assaulted his consciousness.
• Cao Bing briefly succumbed to the urge to kill but regained his reason as the assault filled his senses with the sounds and images of battle.

Cao Bing endured the pure Killing Intent inside Evil Skull Peak while his Soul Seal slowly tried to claim it, but he realized that simply suppressing the force would eventually overwhelm him. He decided to activate one of his Time Imprint avatars to release his murderous aura.

• Cao Bing struggled against Evil Skull Peak's overwhelming Killing Intent as the master-recognition process began.
• Lord of the Withered Willow explained that the process could take a hundred to a thousand years, then his fading consciousness disappeared.
• After ten years, Cao Bing's Soul Seal had claimed less than one-tenth of Evil Skull Peak, and the Killing Intent within him had grown harder to suppress.
• Cao Bing concluded that he needed to release his murderous aura rather than keep resisting it.
• Cao Bing decided to weaken part of his consciousness and activate a Time Imprint avatar to vent his Killing Intent.

Cao Bing sent a Time Seal Clone to Cangniao Star to travel to the Outer Territory Battlefield and vent the Killing Intent from Evil Skull Peak. With most of his consciousness diverted, he could neither suppress the Killing Intent nor fight at full strength, leaving him conspicuous as he joined a transport bound for the battlefield.

• Cao Bing arrived at Cangniao Star, and his clone’s overwhelming Killing Intent frightened the World Lord assigned to receive him.
• Cao Bing found the gathering plaza alone while Immortal Army Lords mocked his conspicuous Killing Intent and predicted he would die quickly.
• Cao Bing waited until an Immortal summoned one hundred World Lord-level experts for transport to the Outer Territory Battlefield.
• The Immortal warned Cao Bing to restrain his Killing Intent, but Cao Bing shook his head, unable to control it, and the Immortal dismissed him as courting death.

Cao Bing and the other recruits received their military ranks and were sent to the Seventh Battlefield’s O26 Base. His overwhelming Killing Intent startled the base guards, and an experienced Immortal captain personally led the World Lord team into camp.

• The Immortal Army Lord announced the authority-granting ceremony, and the Virtual Universe assessed the recruits’ combat strength.
• Cao Bing alone among the hundred World Lords earned the rank of World Lord War General.
• The Immortal Army Lord led the recruits through the spatial passageway to O26 Base on the Seventh Battlefield.
• Cao Bing’s Killing Intent alarmed the white-armored guards, whose captain warned them not to provoke him.
• The Immortal captain assigned the Domain Lords and Cosmic-level fighters to escorts and personally led Cao Bing’s World Lord team into the military camp.

Cao Bing arrived at Base 026’s World Lord camp, where his uncontrollable Killing Intent frightened away the elite squads that might have recruited him. Bound by military rules to join a group before reaching the battlefield, he decided to take over a weaker World Lord squad until he completed his military merit mission and could act freely.

• The Immortal God brought Cao Bing and the other recruits to Base 026’s World Lord camp and announced that a World Lord War General had arrived.
• An Immortal Army Lord asked Cao Bing to restrain his aura, but Cao Bing said he could not and coldly stared him down.
• The camp’s squads avoided recruiting Cao Bing because his Killing Intent made him dangerously conspicuous on the battlefield.
• Cao Bing realized that military regulations required him to join the main force or an elite squad before heading to the front lines.
• Cao Bing considered his one-billion military merit assignment and the far greater five-hundred-thousand-billion requirement from the Virtual Universe Company’s life-and-death trial.
• Cao Bing decided to seek out a weaker World Lord squad, use its support to reach the battlefield, and leave once he completed his military mission.

Cao Bing joined a weak World Lord squad so he could use its members while pursuing his military merit mission on the Outer Territory Battlefield. After ordering them to prepare for departure in five days, he spent the time in his room resisting the Killing Intent and was ready to set out when the deadline arrived.

• Cao Bing used his immortal consciousness to select the five-member World Lord squad number 1346485512, whose strongest member was a level-nine World Lord Mental Master.
• Cao Bing intimidated the squad into accepting him and submitted an application to join through the Virtual Universe's military system.
• Cao Bing ordered the squad to rest and prepare for five days, then left them to return to his room and resist the Killing Intent.
• Five days later, Cao Bing opened his scarlet eyes, with a faint bloodthirsty glint in them.

Cao Bing took a disguised squad to the Outer Territory Battlefield, where he ordered their ship to head for the Shattered Star Belt. After a fifteen-day journey, they arrived at the dangerous battlefield, and Cao Bing continued his struggle against Killing Intent.

• Cao Bing boarded a D5-class spaceship with his squad and left the military camp, reflecting on the base's defenses and wishing to place one beside Earth.
• Cao Bing used the alias Feilian and ordered Six Wings and the other squad members to take them to the Shattered Star Belt.
• Six Wings tried to question Cao Bing's choice, but Cao Bing's Killing Intent silenced him, and the squad began the journey through the Dark Universe.
• After about fifteen days, the spaceship reached the Shattered Star Belt, a light-year-wide region of fragments from a planet destroyed in an ancient battle.

A squad of four Mora Race Immortals trapped a human team and hypnotized them with their voices. Just as the humans were about to be devoured, an unknown attacker destroyed one Mora Immortal and turned the others’ attempted escape into a desperate flight.

• A Human Race Immortal led four World Lords in fleeing a Mora Race Immortal, but three more Mora jellyfish appeared and surrounded them.
• The Mora Immortals’ seductive voices overwhelmed the World Lords and began to break down the captain’s resistance.
• As the first Mora jellyfish prepared to devour the humans, an unknown voice challenged it and one Mora Immortal exploded, its Life Imprint shattered.
• The first Mora jellyfish shouted for its companions to run, but a powerful Killing Intent enveloped the surrounding starry sky.

Cao Bing turned the tables on the Mora Race jellyfish attacking the Human Race squad and killed three of them almost instantly. He destroyed the last jellyfish’s body with two slashes and struck again before its remaining Life Imprints could reform it.

• Cao Bing’s Killing Intent terrified the Mora Race jellyfish, and he killed two of the three fleeing jellyfish in an instant.
• Cao Bing explained his disgust for the Mora Race and said he had never intended to let any of its Immortals escape.
• Cao Bing caught up with the final jellyfish as it formed a lightning net to defend itself.
• Cao Bing’s first slash tore through the net and damaged the jellyfish, while his second slash shattered its body into blood mist.
• Cao Bing delivered a third slash before the jellyfish’s remaining Life Imprints could reform its body.

Cao Bing slaughtered the Mora Race Immortals who had threatened a Human Race squad, then returned to his spacecraft after deciding the Shattered Star Belt offered too little challenge and too few military merits. He learned that several more distress signals had arrived and set out to investigate, unconcerned that they might be a trap.

• Cao Bing judged the Shattered Star Belt's alien races too weak to satisfy his Killing Intent or help him reach his military merit target.
• Cao Bing left after rescuing a Human Race squad, whose captain told the others that Cao Bing had killed the four Mora Race Immortals surrounding them.
• Six Wings reported that the spacecraft had received several distress signals from coordinates more than three million kilometers away.
• Cao Bing dismissed the possibility of a trap and decided to investigate the distress signals.