Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan used the relentless waves of the second trial to refine an old ruler technique, combining it with other techniques until he created the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler. The chapter left him having unleashed the new technique across the sea, while Qingtan continued to gain strength from the trial.

• Qingtan adapted to the second trial’s nonstop waves and grew much stronger, while Xiao Yan gained little physical benefit from them.
• On the tenth day, Xiao Yan recalled the unfinished ruler technique he had created on the Path of Reincarnation and reshaped it using the waves’ movements.
• Xiao Yan combined the wave imagery with the Six Harmonies Wandering Ruler and the Light Wind Void Flame Slash, raising the technique to the level of a Divine Art.
• Xiao Yan incorporated another forgotten Dou Technique, gathered the ruler afterimages into one strike, and cleaved a vast gash across the sea with the Flame Splitting Wave Ruler.

Xiao Yan perfected a ruler technique powerful enough to approach a Divine Ability while he and Qingtan survived fifteen days of fighting Ice-Bone Spirit Pythons in Tianling's trial. After recovering, they entered the Third Trial separately, where Qingtan faced a graceful figure with her own face.

• Xiao Yan's final ruler strike combined his ruler technique with Flame Splitting Wave Ruler, astonishing Tianling with its Divine Ability-level power.
• Xiao Yan continued refining the technique against Ice-Bone Spirit Pythons, naming its defensive and offensive forms Six Harmonies Wandering Ruler and Flame Splitting Wave Ruler.
• Xiao Yan and Qingtan completed fifteen days of fighting, with Xiao Yan reaching the pinnacle of Sixth-Rank Supreme and Qingtan advancing to Third-Rank Supreme and grasping the basics of the Ice Crystal Divine Art.
• Tianling restored the mountain peak and told Xiao Yan and Qingtan to recover before attempting the Third Trial.
• After cultivating for nearly a day, Xiao Yan awoke in a vast white space with Qingtan and Tianling gone.
• Qingtan also found herself alone in the white space, where a graceful figure identical to her appeared.

Xiao Yan faced his own image, Lin Dong, and Mu Chen in the Nine Nether Secret Realm’s third trial. He held off their attacks and escaped Mu Chen’s God-Slaying Array, but the trial’s outcome remained unresolved.

• Xiao Yan saw three opponents appear: a Flame Emperor resembling his future self, Lin Dong, and Mu Chen.
• Xiao Yan charged Lin Dong and knocked him back with a blow from the Xuan Heavy Ruler.
• The Flame Emperor and Mu Chen attacked Xiao Yan, while the Flame Emperor and Lin Dong joined forces to keep him from pursuing.
• Mu Chen trapped Xiao Yan in the God-Slaying Array and fired a powerful beam at him.
• Xiao Yan countered the beam with the Great Flame Divine Orb, then used Primordial Heaven-Transforming Light and the Universe Ancient Formation to break down the array.

Xiao Yan faced Mu Chen, the Flame Emperor, and the Martial Ancestor as they summoned powerful Dharma Bodies and launched a coordinated attack. After his Golden Crow Nether-Flaming Art was overwhelmed, Xiao Yan revealed the enormous black tiger of the Four Fiends Spirit.

• Xiao Yan broke Mu Chen’s Spiritual Array by scanning it with Soul Force.
• Mu Chen, the Flame Emperor, and the Martial Ancestor summoned their respective giant Dharma Bodies.
• Xiao Yan summoned his flame emperor body, but found its spirits unresponsive and its power weaker than expected.
• The Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen attacked Xiao Yan together with three powerful techniques.
• Xiao Yan’s Golden Crow Nether-Flaming Art briefly delayed their attacks before he summoned a giant black tiger with the Four Fiends Spirit.

Xiao Yan used his hidden Four Fiends Spirit to disrupt the Flame Emperor, Mu Chen, and the Martial Ancestor’s combined attack, but the three opponents repeatedly increased their strength. He countered their assaults and prevented the Martial Ancestor from taking a lethal hit, then faced the trio after they reached the peak of the eighth-rank Supreme level.

• Xiao Yan used Evil Tiger Reverses Yin and Yang to throw the trio’s Spiritual Power into chaos and dispel their combined attack.
• The Flame Emperor, Mu Chen, and the Martial Ancestor raised their strength from the peak of the sixth rank to the peak of the seventh rank, while Xiao Yan used his Clan Mark to reach the seventh-rank Supreme level.
• Mu Chen struck Xiao Yan with two Seven Suns Heaven-Cutting Staffs, and Xiao Yan blocked them with Six Harmonies Wandering Ruler.
• Xiao Yan attacked the Martial Ancestor with Flame Splitting Wave Ruler and Demon Flame Thousand Stars, but the Flame Emperor’s Fire Lotus shielded the Martial Ancestor.
• Xiao Yan countered the Flame Emperor’s pursuing Fire Lotus with one of his own, while the trio’s strength surged to the peak of the eighth-rank Supreme level.

Xiao Yan summoned his soul clone and Origin Spirit Clone and unleashed several powerful attacks against the Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen. They each countered his strikes, leaving Xiao Yan poised to use his final trump card, Mortal Annihilation.

• Xiao Yan summoned his mutated soul clone and Origin Spirit Clone to help him fight the three Eighth-Rank Supremes.
• The Origin Spirit Clone attacked the Flame Emperor with the Five Seals United and a lightning-infused divine soul flame.
• The soul clone sent the Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Sword toward the Martial Ancestor, while Xiao Yan's true body fired a beam of flame at Mu Chen.
• The Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen each blocked or reflected Xiao Yan's attacks, and the assaults dissipated.
• Xiao Yan revealed the slender needle of Mortal Annihilation, his final trump card.

Xiao Yan unleashed Mortal Annihilation against the Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen after they advanced to Earth Supreme. The needle shattered their attacks before bursting into a starry sky that engulfed all three and vanished.

• Xiao Yan condensed Mortal Annihilation, exhausting himself as the Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen broke through to Earth Supreme.
• Mu Chen formed two powerful clones, while the three opponents prepared their strongest attacks against Xiao Yan’s needle.
• The Flame Emperor, the Martial Ancestor, and Mu Chen launched a Fire Lotus, an Ancestral Symbols beam, and the Immortal Divine Finger at Mortal Annihilation.
• Xiao Yan’s silver needle shattered Mu Chen’s finger and dispersed the Martial Ancestor’s beam before breaking against the Flame Emperor’s Fire Lotus.
• The needle’s fragments transformed into a starry sky that engulfed all three opponents, extinguished the Fire Lotus, and vanished into the void.

After passing the Nine Nether Secret Realm’s third trial, Xiao Yan learned that the Flame Emperor was a manifestation of the Great Thousand World’s will, the Sky-Ranking. The world’s will revealed that a coming calamity could only be stopped if Xiao Yan grew powerful enough, but Xiao Yan resisted being given the task.

• Xiao Yan defeated the three figures with Mortal Annihilation, and the Flame Emperor restored his strength, helping him break through to Seventh-Rank Supreme.
• The Flame Emperor explained that the third trial tested whether Xiao Yan could defeat himself, but he had faced manifestations of the world’s power instead.
• The Flame Emperor told Xiao Yan that transcending Saint Grade required leaving a true name on the Sky-Ranking, the Great Thousand World’s will.
• The world’s will revealed that a calamity would strike in a few hundred years and that the three people who were meant to oppose it would no longer appear.
• The world’s will asked Xiao Yan to grow strong enough to stop the calamity, but Xiao Yan objected that he was only an ordinary Supreme.

The World Will told Xiao Yan that the Extraterritorial Evil Clan threatened the Great Thousand World and explained why it could not confront them directly. It also revealed that an unknown outsider was manipulating destiny power, leaving Xiao Yan without a clear way to identify or stop the culprit.

• The World Will persuaded Xiao Yan that he would have to help avert the coming calamity, then explained that using its full power would destroy the Great Thousand World.
• The World Will identified the Extraterritorial Evil Clan as a powerful race from beyond the Great Thousand World that had already seized half its territory.
• The World Will revealed that the Alien Demons Xiao Yan had fought were only a minor branch of the Extraterritorial Evil Clan, prompting Xiao Yan to worry about the Dou Qi Continent's vulnerability.
• Xiao Yan asked whether the World Will could remove the destiny power affecting him, Qingtan, and the others, but the World Will said it could not safely act against it.
• The World Will said an unseen person was manipulating destiny power and was probably from outside this world, but likely not from the Extraterritorial Evil Clan.

Xiao Yan learned that the chaotic power of fate within him could be escaped only by breaking free of the World Will, a path that came with severe costs. The World Will revealed that heaven and earth were already rejecting Xiao Yan, and he learned that his arrival from a Lower Plane was not the cause.

• Xiao Yan asked the World Will whether he could escape the mastermind manipulating his fate, and the World Will said it could free him from fate's influence.
• The World Will explained that cultivators bound to its system could not surpass it and that breaking free would remove their cultivation limit but make cultivation far harder.
• The World Will warned that leaving its protection would prevent Xiao Yan from cultivating a Supreme Dharma Body and that heaven and earth were already weakening his Flame Emperor Body.
• Xiao Yan asked whether his rejection came from being a Lower Plane cultivator, and the World Will said he was unusual for another, unexplained reason.

The world's will reshaped Xiao Yan's Supreme Sea into the Fortune Green Lotus, allowing him to overcome a major barrier to reaching Earth Supreme and granting him powerful healing. It then revealed the birth of the universe and instructed him to observe and remember it.

• Xiao Yan accepted that the world's will had singled him out for rejection by heaven and earth.
• The world's will explained that Xiao Yan's Supreme Sea could not merge with his flesh, which would prevent him from breaking through to Earth Supreme.
• The world's will shattered and remade Xiao Yan's Supreme Sea as the Fortune Green Lotus, which greatly increased his spiritual power and could heal grievous wounds.
• Xiao Yan formed a Ten-Colored Fire Lotus with far less spiritual power than before and realized he could rival an Earth Supreme in spiritual power.
• The world's will vanished and told Xiao Yan to observe and record what he saw.
• Xiao Yan watched a point of light explode and form celestial spheres, recognizing the birth of the universe.

After witnessing the universe’s birth in the Nine Nether Secret Realm, Xiao Yan was expelled with Qingtan and discovered that the experience had nearly exhausted his vitality. Back in seclusion, he used the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol and Profound Origin Pills to restore himself and replenish the Life Spirit Flame.

• Xiao Yan summoned his clones to observe the universe’s birth, but the strain forced him to close his eyes and the scene disappeared.
• Xiao Yan and Qingtan returned to the entrance, where Xiao Yan found his Dou Qi, Soul Force, and vitality severely depleted, leaving him with fewer than ten years to live.
• Tianling congratulated Xiao Yan and Qingtan on passing the Nine Nether Secret Realm and told them to reflect in seclusion before accepting missions.
• Xiao Yan used their Supreme Spiritual Liquid to obtain materials for Qingtan’s Supreme Dharma Body and lent her another hundred thousand.
• Xiao Yan entered his Heavenly Tomb, used the Life and Death Ancestral Symbol to restore his vitality, and fed the remaining Profound Origin Pills to the Life Spirit Flame.

Xiao Yan spent nearly a year in the Heavenly Tomb transforming the Demon Fury Nine Arts by fusing them with techniques from the Dou Qi Continent and the Great Thousand World. He emerged with greatly strengthened abilities, including a more powerful Mortal Annihilation, though he could no longer fully unleash that move with his current strength.

• Xiao Yan notified Qin Wan'er through the Nine Nether Token that he was entering seclusion, then began cultivating in the Heavenly Tomb.
• Xiao Yan planned to enhance the Demon Fury Nine Arts by drawing on techniques and cultivation methods from the Dou Qi Continent and the Heavenly Profound Continent.
• Xiao Yan found a new way to improve the Demonic Lotus Burial Step by using spiritual power released through its footwork to condense spiritual seals.
• Xiao Yan spent nearly a year transforming most of the Demon Fury Nine Arts, raising them to the level of Divine Abilities while advancing to the peak of the Seventh-Rank Supreme Realm.
• Xiao Yan strengthened Eight Extremes Collapse and refined Mortal Annihilation with a trace of the Primordial Beginning's essence, but discovered he could no longer execute Mortal Annihilation in full.

Xiao Yan joined Qin Wan'er and three Seventh-Rank Supremes for a scouting mission to the Dragon God Ruins, a site on the Divine Beast Continent believed to hold the inheritance of the Dragon Emperor. Qin Wan'er explained that seven teams were investigating the ruins, whose barrier allowed only those below Earth Supreme to enter.

• Xiao Yan finished refining pills, checked on Qingtan cultivating her Supreme Dharma Body, and left to meet Qin Wan'er for a mission.
• Xiao Yan met Qin Wan'er and three Seventh-Rank Supremes, and the group discussed his strength and rapid progress.
• Qin Wan'er told Xiao Yan that their mission was to scout the Dragon God Ruins on the Divine Beast Continent.
• A teammate explained that a True Dragon Skeleton fragment and unusual Spiritual Power fluctuations had revived rumors that the ruins were emerging.
• Qin Wan'er said the ruins were linked to the Dragon Emperor, a Heavenly Sovereign, and that seven teams were investigating, including one led by Mo Jiu Jie.

Xiao Yan traveled with Qin Wan'er and the Nine Nether Sparrow group toward the Dragon God Ruins, sharing his ruthless approach to auctions and rival factions. His companions grew wary of him, while Xiao Yan welcomed the distance as he planned to explore the ruins alone and keep whatever he found.

• Qin Wan'er led Xiao Yan and the others through a Teleportation Spirit Array toward the Divine Beast Continent after explaining that Mo Jiu Jie had been deployed.
• Xiao Yan predicted the usual auction conflicts and advised Qin Wan'er to bait a rival into overpaying for unwanted items.
• Xiao Yan explained that he would kill rivals and take their possessions if they competed with him, leaving the group uneasy.
• The others kept their distance during the journey, and Xiao Yan felt relieved because he intended to separate from them and explore the Dragon God Ruins alone.

Xiao Yan arrived in Sun-Moon Town with Qin Wan'er and the others ahead of the Dragon God Ruins, hoping to find a suitable Quasi-Sacred Artifact and useful treasures despite his limited wealth. While his companions prepared for an auction, he went to browse the town’s street stalls for items he could afford.

• Xiao Yan and his companions reached Sun-Moon Town, where Qin Wan'er gathered intelligence about a major auction scheduled for the following day.
• Qin Wan'er offered to bid on items for Xiao Yan, who asked her to look for things related to Spiritual Arrays and warned her not to bid on any valuable treasure connected to the Dragon God Ruins.
• Xiao Yan left the lodgings alone to browse the town’s street stalls instead of attending the auction.
• Xiao Yan found vendors selling battered antiques that they claimed might be connected to the ruins, as well as Divine Arts and other practical items offered by people short on Supreme Spiritual Liquid.

Xiao Yan found a medicine cauldron and a Heart Demon Pill formula at a marketplace stall. After learning that the pill could imitate the lesser heart demon state of the Thunder God Palace’s Peerless Heart Demon Scripture, he wondered whether the stallholder was connected to the Thunder God Palace.

• Xiao Yan bought an antique medicine cauldron from a stallholder who admitted he had taken the wares from his family.
• Xiao Yan examined the stall’s pill formulas and became curious about the Heart Demon Pill scroll.
• The stallholder said the pill temporarily increased combat strength without side effects by inducing a pseudo-heart demon state.
• The stallholder explained that the Peerless Heart Demon Scripture had three levels and that the Heart Demon Pill reproduced only the lesser state.
• Xiao Yan considered the pill’s potential and wondered whether the stallholder was from the Thunder God Palace.

Xiao Yan bought a Heart Demon Pill formula and a jade fragment that reacted to his Demon Sword, then refined five pills before investigating the fragment. It revealed a blood-soaked battlefield projection featuring a figure whose power rivaled that of a heavenly sovereign.

• Xiao Yan bought the Heart Demon Pill formula for three hundred and fifty thousand drops of Supreme Spiritual Liquid and took the stallholder's trinkets for free.
• Xiao Yan returned to his lodgings, entered the Heavenly Tomb, and refined five Heart Demon Pills from the herbs he had bought.
• Xiao Yan examined the white jade fragment because the Demon Sword in his body had reacted to it.
• The Demon Sword released blood fiendish aura into the fragment, revealing blood-red threads and projecting a gruesome battlefield.
• Xiao Yan saw an indistinct blood-red figure on the battlefield and sensed that it was far stronger than Tianhuang, perhaps nearing the heavenly sovereign level.

Xiao Yan inherited Blood Battle King's Self-Sacrificing Demon Fist and learned more about the Demon Sword's power. After hearing about Qin Wan'er and the others' clash with Myriad Beast Mountain and the Kunpeng Tribe's purchase of a Dragon God Ruins key, he chose to conserve his strength and watch events unfold.

• Xiao Yan faced Blood Battle King's test, was struck into a cloud of blood mist, and received the Self-Sacrificing Demon Fist and Blood Battle King's fist intent.
• Xiao Yan learned that Blood Battle King had nearly become a Heavenly Sovereign and concluded that the Demon Sword might threaten even one.
• Xiao Yan returned to find Qin Wan'er and the others upset after the young master of Myriad Beast Mountain harassed them and drove up auction bids.
• Qin Wan'er told Xiao Yan that someone from the Kunpeng Tribe had bought the Dragon God Ruins key for thirty million drops of Supreme Spiritual Liquid.
• Xiao Yan advised the group to avoid the key, monitor the situation, and rest in preparation for the Dragon God Ruins.

Xiao Yan warned Qin Wan'er to watch Myriad Beast Mountain and studied a costly high-level Heaven-Grade Spiritual Array diagram. He believed he could deploy it to face Ninth-Rank Supremes while keeping his true strength hidden.

• Xiao Yan told Qin Wan'er to have her scouts monitor Myriad Beast Mountain and the Kunpeng Tribe in case the Myriad Beast Mountain young master retaliated.
• Qin Wan'er gave Xiao Yan the Spiritual Array diagram, explaining that interference at the auction had driven its price above ten million drops of Supreme Spiritual Liquid.
• Qin Wan'er said the diagram contained one of the strongest high-level Heaven-Grade Spiritual Arrays and urged Xiao Yan to study it without overexerting himself.
• Xiao Yan absorbed the diagram's information and noticed its power seemed greater than a Heaven-Grade Spiritual Array, though he could not determine why.
• Xiao Yan decided the array would help him deal with Ninth-Rank Supremes while concealing his strength, and believed his Spiritual Power reserves could support deploying it.