Chapter Summaries

He Pingsheng reunited with Zhu Dong, an old acquaintance from the lower realm, and offered to take him to the Divine Realm to manage a divine herb garden. Zhu Dong accepted despite the service, risks, and likely permanent separation from the Immortal Realm.

• The Ice Jade Immortal Sect's patriarch recognized He Pingsheng as her young master and dissolved Zhu Dong's feud with the sect at his request.
• He Pingsheng revealed his true appearance to Zhu Dong, who recognized him as the legendary Senior He from the Bushel Mountain Tournament.
• He Pingsheng explained that he had intervened because he remembered Zhu Dong from their time in the Cultivation Realm.
• He Pingsheng offered to take Zhu Dong to the Divine Realm, where Zhu Dong would serve him and help cultivate Life Hawthorn Seed in a Lesser World.
• He Pingsheng warned Zhu Dong that the Divine Realm journey carried risks and would likely prevent him from returning to the Immortal Realm, but Zhu Dong accepted.

He Pingsheng returned to the Divine Realm after a long journey, bringing Wu Nana and Zhu Dong with him and preparing them to cultivate there. He then learned the Tao Household had agreed to have him and Tao Yaoyao pose as Dao companions for the grand competition, and asked whether they feared he would hold her back.

• He Pingsheng gave Yinpan Ying twelve Buddhist Path paintings and promised to bring everyone to the Divine Realm once he had influence there.
• He Pingsheng found Wu Nana in the Demonic Realm and gave her and Zhu Dong second-grade divine sparks, then raised their cultivation to the Primordial Unity Realm and helped them fuse with the sparks.
• He Pingsheng brought Wu Nana and Zhu Dong into the Divine Realm and placed them in the world inside his Primordial Purple Gold Staff, where he gave them divine meridians and cultivation techniques.
• After emerging from seclusion, He Pingsheng visited Tao Bifu at the All Come Commerce Association and asked about the grand competition.
• Tao Bifu told He Pingsheng that her lineage had agreed he and Tao Yaoyao would pretend to be Dao companions, and He Pingsheng asked if they feared he would hold Tao Yaoyao back.

He Pingsheng arranged to pose as Tao Yaoyao’s Dao Companion for the Peach Mountain Grand Competition, then cultivated until his cultivation and Divine Sense reached the Divine Lord Realm Second Layer. Learning Tao Bifu had died before the competition, he hurried toward the Tao Household and encountered the Lu Household Patriarch.

• Tao Bifu insisted that He Pingsheng pretend to become Tao Yaoyao’s Dao Companion, and he agreed after confirming that she knew how to keep his strength secret.
• He Pingsheng cultivated for six yuan, broke through to the Divine Lord Realm Second Layer, and later raised his Divine Sense to the same layer after another forty thousand years in seclusion.
• He Pingsheng returned to the All Come Commerce Association and learned that Tao Bifu had been slain about three yuan earlier.
• He Pingsheng obtained a map to Peach Mountain and set out for the Tao Household, intending to find Tao Yaoyao before the competition began.
• During his journey, He Pingsheng recognized the Lu Household Patriarch’s aura, and the Patriarch turned around and approached him.

He Pingsheng confronted the Lu Household Patriarch, revealed his identity, and struck him with the Primordial Chaos Supreme Dao Bell. The Patriarch survived the blow, but He Pingsheng attacked his sea of consciousness, and their fight continued.

• The Lu Household Patriarch questioned He Pingsheng, who mocked his lack of progress and revealed his true identity.
• The Patriarch tried to flee, but He Pingsheng disrupted the surrounding spatial laws and blocked his escape.
• The Patriarch offered to swear a Sovereign Oath and end their feud, but He Pingsheng condemned the Lu Household for betraying and attacking his lineage.
• He Pingsheng summoned the Primordial Chaos Supreme Dao Bell and promised to let the Patriarch go if he survived one strike.
• The bell shattered the Patriarch's defenses and smashed him into a valley, but he emerged alive and accused He Pingsheng of breaking his word.
• He Pingsheng attacked the Patriarch's sea of consciousness and reminded him that he had broken his own promise to spare He Pingsheng's lineage.

He Pingsheng killed the Lu Household patriarch with the Primordial Chaos Supreme Dao Bell and continued to Peach Mountain. At the Tao Household’s gate, he asked to meet Tao Yaoyao, who arrived and invited him to her Daoist Grounds.

• He Pingsheng borrowed one tenth of Gu Baiping’s divine power and crushed the Lu Household patriarch beneath the Supreme Dao Bell, confirming that his body and soul were destroyed.
• He Pingsheng collected seven rings from the battlefield and examined their wealth and techniques aboard his Flying Boat.
• He Pingsheng reached Peach Mountain, learned about the Tao Household’s decline and its standing as a six-star lineage, and restored his handsome appearance.
• He Pingsheng asked the Tao Household gatekeeper to summon Tao Yaoyao and identified himself as a second-layer Divine Lord.
• Tao Yaoyao came to the Mountain Gate and invited He Pingsheng to her Daoist Grounds to talk.

He Pingsheng heard how Tao Bifu died in the Tao Household’s feud with the Gongsun Household and tried to withdraw from the Peach Mountain Grand Competition. After Tao Yaoyao revealed that he had already been entered as her Dao Companion, he left anyway, only to be intercepted by a powerful group that appeared to belong to the Gongsun Household.

• Tao Yaoyao told He Pingsheng that her aunt, Tao Bifu, had died in a battle with the Gongsun Household, longtime enemies of the Tao Household.
• He Pingsheng said Tao Bifu’s death ended their deal and decided not to compete, unwilling to get involved in the Tao Household’s troubles.
• Tao Yaoyao told He Pingsheng that the Tao Household had already entered him as her Dao Companion and offered to become his nominal Dao Companion, but he refused and left.
• He Pingsheng flew toward Spring City, but seven cultivators intercepted him, including six Divine Venerables and a Divine Lord at the Twelfth Layer.
• One of the interceptors mocked He Pingsheng’s cultivation, and He Pingsheng suspected they were connected to the Gongsun Household.

He Pingsheng tried to leave Peach Mountain but was attacked by Gongsun Kunlun’s Divine Venerables over his meeting with Tao Yaoyao. Li Yueren stopped the attack and ordered He Pingsheng to compete for the Tao Household, leaving him unable to withdraw.

• Gongsun Kunlun confronted He Pingsheng about spending time in Tao Yaoyao’s cultivation grounds and blocked his departure.
• He Pingsheng denied having a relationship with Tao Yaoyao, but Gongsun Kunlun’s Divine Venerables attacked him when he tried to leave.
• He Pingsheng blocked a Divine Venerable’s palm with the Five Brigades Marching Umbrella as Gongsun Kunlun ordered his men to kill him.
• Tao Yaoyao and Li Yueren arrived, and Li Yueren drove the Gongsun Household’s group away before taking He Pingsheng back to the Tao Household.
• Li Yueren told He Pingsheng he had to compete for the Tao Household and promised an extra reward if he placed in the top nine.

He Pingsheng agreed to enter the Peach Mountain Grand Competition for the Tao Household and kill Gongsun Kunlun if he could, in exchange for the Shakyamuni divine fruit and the household’s support. After a lavish wedding staged to legitimize his participation, he and Tao Yaoyao privately reaffirmed that their Dao-companion relationship was only a transaction.

• Li Yueren warned He Pingsheng that the Gongsun Household was using Gongsun Kunlun’s supposed affection for Tao Yaoyao as a pretext to target the Tao Household, then asked him to place in the top nine and kill Gongsun Kunlun.
• He Pingsheng agreed after Li Yueren promised him the Shakyamuni divine fruit, resources, and protection from the Gongsun Household.
• Li Yueren announced that the Tao Household would hold a wedding ceremony for He Pingsheng and Tao Yaoyao in three days, and He Pingsheng reluctantly accepted.
• After the grand ceremony, He Pingsheng and Tao Yaoyao went to his cultivation grounds and privately reaffirmed that their union was only a transaction.
• He Pingsheng told Tao Yaoyao that his appearance was false and asked her to address him as a fellow Daoist, and she asked whether at least his name was real.

He Pingsheng examined Tao Yaoyao’s cultivation potential, agreed to stay with the Tao Household for ten years, and asked to study its formation texts. He gave Tao Yaoyao three heaven-tier supreme-grade manuals and warned her to keep them secret.

• Tao Yaoyao vowed she would not marry anyone else after their sham marriage, while He Pingsheng made clear he did not take the vow seriously.
• He Pingsheng used his Void-Piercing True Eye to see that Tao Yaoyao had opened twenty-four divine apertures, then concealed his own true number by claiming and displaying twenty-seven.
• Tao Yaoyao asked He Pingsheng to stay with the Tao Household for ten years for safety, and he learned that Senior Li Yueren was the Dao companion of the Tao Household’s ancestor.
• He Pingsheng asked to read the household’s formation texts, and Tao Yaoyao brought him hundreds of jade slips on formations.
• He Pingsheng gave Tao Yaoyao a heaven-tier supreme-grade fire cultivation technique and two heaven-tier supreme-grade fire divine abilities.
• He Pingsheng told Tao Yaoyao to keep the three secret manuals to herself and not pass them on.

He Pingsheng searched for a formation that could turn blood into souls, but found no answers from the classics, Gu Baiping, or Li Yueren. As the Peach Mountain Grand Competition began, he studied its rules and top contenders, then learned that the strongest, Shang Yong, cultivated blood-related powers.

• He Pingsheng searched formation texts for a way to turn blood into souls, but found nothing in his collections or Gu Baiping’s Jade Slips.
• He Pingsheng asked Gu Baiping and Li Yueren about the formation, but neither had heard of it.
• Ten years later, the Peach Mountain Grand Competition began, with forty-eight Lineages competing in round-robin matches for the final nine Shakyamuni Divine Fruits.
• Li Yueren explained the competition rules to He Pingsheng and Tao Yaoyao aboard their Flying Boat.
• Tao Yaoyao gave He Pingsheng a list of the nine strongest contestants, and he noticed that Shang Yong cultivated blood-attribute powers.

He Pingsheng and Tao Yaoyao traveled to Peach Mountain, where Tao Yaoyao explained the powerful figures among its lineages. Shang Yu visited the Tao Household and revealed herself to be He Pingsheng’s long-lost daughter, He Yuhong, leaving him asking how she became the Shang Household’s Eldest Young Miss.

• Tao Yaoyao told He Pingsheng about the Shang siblings, the Lan Household, and the rankings of Peach Mountain’s competitors.
• Li Yueren led the Tao Household’s group off their ship and to their courtyard on Peach Mountain.
• A disciple told Tao Yaoyao that Shang Yu had arrived and wanted to meet He Pingsheng.
• Shang Yu met He Pingsheng, recognized him despite his altered face, and knelt to greet him as her father.
• He Pingsheng recalled that Shang Yu had once been reborn as his daughter, He Yuhong, and asked how she had become the Shang Household’s Eldest Young Miss.

Shang Xihong asked He Pingsheng to beat Shang Yong in the Peach Mountain Grand Competition, and he agreed to make Shang Yong his final opponent. At the arena the next morning, Gongsun Kunlun challenged He Pingsheng to fight first.

• Shang Xihong explained that Shang Yong looked down on the Shang Household and asked He Pingsheng to beat him badly during the competition.
• He Pingsheng agreed to make Shang Yong his last match and gave Shang Xihong two Demonic Path divine abilities to cultivate.
• Tao Yaoyao questioned He Pingsheng about Shang Xihong and his Dao Companion, then asked why he would not kill Gongsun Kunlun for her patriarch.
• He Pingsheng arrived at the arena with the Tao Household, and the crowd discussed his ability to defeat stronger cultivators.
• Gongsun Kunlun challenged He Pingsheng to the first match, and Tao Yaoyao warned that he acted like a madman to hide his cunning.

At the Peach Mountain matches, He Pingsheng’s connection to Shang Xihong caused a commotion before he entered his first fight against Lan Miaotong of the Lan Household. He and Lan Miaotong stepped into a space-reinforced formation, where their match was about to begin.

• The host explained that opponents had to agree to each match, and the competitors began choosing whom to fight.
• Gongsun Kunlun challenged He Pingsheng, but Tao Yaoyao said they would consider it, while Shang Xihong told He Pingsheng that her brother had agreed to make their match the last one.
• Shang Xihong pounded He Pingsheng’s back and called him Daddy, prompting the crowd and the Shang Household’s Divine King to ask whether He Pingsheng was her biological father.
• He Pingsheng confirmed that Shang Xihong was his daughter, originally named He Yuhong, and said he would let her choose whether to remain with the Shang Household.
• After the host resumed the matches, He Pingsheng chose Lan Miaotong as his opponent, and they entered a formation containing a vast, rugged arena.

He Pingsheng fought Lan Miaotong, who expected to defeat him quickly despite their equal number of divine apertures and her much higher cultivation. He survived fifteen moves before conceding, leaving Lan Miaotong embarrassed by her failed prediction.

• He Pingsheng and Lan Miaotong introduced themselves, compared their twenty-seven divine apertures, and argued over how many moves he could endure.
• Lan Miaotong gave He Pingsheng seven attacks, and he absorbed each one while retreating three steps.
• Lan Miaotong used her earth abilities to send stone swords and a massive fist at He Pingsheng, who shattered the swords and broke through her attacks with sword qi.
• Lan Miaotong trapped He Pingsheng in her World of Rock and Earth, but he escaped and continued fighting.
• On the fifteenth move, Lan Miaotong knocked He Pingsheng down, and he conceded before joking that seven plus eight made fifteen.

He Pingsheng hid his full strength during his loss to Lan Miaotong, then learned more about Shang Yong’s dangerous blood Dao. Back at his lodgings, he agreed to hear Gongsun Kunlun’s apology and recognized that Gongsun wanted to arrange a match with him.

• Lan Miaotong defeated He Pingsheng after fifteen exchanges, and Li Yueren praised his performance and imagined him assisting Tao Yaoyao in the future.
• He Pingsheng told Shang Xihong that he had concealed his strength to avoid attracting powerful attention, while she asked how he would help her defeat Shang Yong.
• Shang Xihong explained that Shang Yong could make opponents’ blood boil without touching them, leaving He Pingsheng uncertain how to defend against the technique.
• After the day’s matches ended, Gongsun Kunlun visited He Pingsheng to apologize and offered to give him anything he had, but refused to promise him a Shakyamuni Divine Fruit.
• Gongsun Kunlun proposed that he and He Pingsheng fight the next day, and He Pingsheng decided to hoodwink him.

He Pingsheng persuaded Gongsun Kunlun to surrender in their match by promising to support his pursuit of Shang Yu. As the competition continued, He Pingsheng’s record matched Gongsun Kunlun’s, leaving the Gongsun Household worried about the standings before Gongsun Kunlun’s final match against Shang Yong.

• He Pingsheng learned that Gongsun Kunlun truly liked Shang Yu, then convinced him to surrender in their match to protect his chances with her.
• Gongsun Kunlun recognized He Pingsheng was manipulating him but agreed because he feared losing Shang Yu.
• At the competition, Gongsun Kunlun publicly conceded to He Pingsheng, drawing an uproar from the crowd.
• He Pingsheng won against ordinary disciples but lost to the top competitors, while his only win among them was Gongsun Kunlun’s forfeit.
• The Gongsun Household’s Fourth Elder warned that He Pingsheng and Gongsun Kunlun had the same record, and Gongsun Kunlun admitted he could not defeat Shang Yong in their upcoming final match.

Gongsun Kunlun learned that he needed to defeat Shang Yong to outrank He Pingsheng, while the Fourth Elder suggested Shang Yong might be persuaded to lose. He Pingsheng watched Shang Yong crush Yuan Benchen’s attack with the Great Dao of Blood, revealing how dangerous his opponent was.

• Gongsun Kunlun realized that if He Pingsheng lost to Shang Yong, they would tie on points and He Pingsheng would rank above him through their head-to-head result.
• The Fourth Elder told Gongsun Kunlun that He Pingsheng had twenty-seven Divine Apertures and urged him to find a way to beat Shang Yong.
• The Fourth Elder suggested that Shang Yong might agree to lose because the result would not change his ranking, and Gongsun Kunlun considered the idea.
• He Pingsheng chose to watch Shang Yong’s match against Yuan Benchen before selecting an opponent.
• Yuan Benchen attacked Shang Yong with an enormous black staff, but Shang Yong’s Great Dao of Blood made Yuan Benchen spit blood and weakened his strike.

He Pingsheng learned more about the Tao Household’s former Divine King Realm divine pet and prepared for his decisive match against Shang Yong. With the tournament’s top-nine rankings at stake, Shang Yong challenged He Pingsheng to enter the arena and settle the matter by strength.

• Tao Yaoyao explained that the Ape Tribe member had once been the Tao Household’s divine pet, but regained his freedom after their forefather fell and established his own Lineage.
• Shang Yong forfeited his match against Gongsun Kunlun, leaving Gongsun furious and drawing accusations that his household had arranged the result.
• Shang Xihong urged He Pingsheng to defeat Shang Yong quickly, since winning would expose his strength either way.
• He Pingsheng and Gongsun Kunlun won their remaining matches, bringing He Pingsheng to his final bout against Shang Yong.
• Gongsun Kunlun and the Gongsun Elders worried that Shang Yong might deliberately lose, while Shang Yong told He Pingsheng to surrender before He Pingsheng invited him into the arena.

He Pingsheng fought Shang Yong in the arena and defeated him with a single punch despite Shang Yong’s Blood Boiling ability. Shang Yong survived but was left at death’s door, while the stunned audience questioned how He Pingsheng had won so easily.

• He Pingsheng entered the arena to face Shang Yong as Tao Yaoyao worried about his safety and Shang Xihong voiced confidence in her father.
• Shang Yong used Blood Boiling, but the ability barely affected He Pingsheng.
• He Pingsheng surged forward with Sky-Piercing Wings and knocked Shang Yong unconscious with one punch.
• The audience erupted in disbelief, and Shang Household members rushed into the Formation to check on Shang Yong.
• A Shang Household Divine King confirmed Shang Yong was alive, and He Pingsheng said he had used only divine power.
• Shang Xihong celebrated He Pingsheng’s victory, and He Pingsheng told her not to joke about him living for ten thousand years.

The Gongsun Household debated whether to flee or find a way to kill He Pingsheng, fearing his strength and suspecting he might be hiding more divine apertures. After securing ninth place and arranging for Tao Yaoyao to claim his Shakyamuni Divine Fruit if he could not return, He Pingsheng prepared to face Shang Yong, who had come seeking a fair rematch.

• Divine King Gongsun and the Gongsun Household discussed He Pingsheng's revealed strength, while the Fourth Elder urged them to flee Peach Mountain and warned that He might be concealing his divine apertures.
• Divine King Gongsun dismissed the possibility that He Pingsheng had extraordinary hidden talent and ordered the household to devise a way to lure him into a trap.
• Tao Yaoyao told He Pingsheng that he had secured ninth place and could plant his Dao in a Shakyamuni Divine Fruit.
• He Pingsheng gave Tao Yaoyao half of a broken Jade Slip so someone could claim the fruit for him if he could not return, and told her to pursue marriage if she wished.
• A Tao Household disciple announced that Shang Yong had arrived to demand a fair fight, and He Pingsheng agreed to meet him.