Chapter Summaries

The Malevolent Corpse lost his sight and Divine Sense after trying to inspect He Pingsheng, Wang Dun, and Han Houzhi through the River of Time, leaving Wei Tong convinced they were dangerous figures. He Pingsheng moved his family into Xin Baobao’s residence for protection, then went with Xin Baobao and Luo Bingyao to review the Dao Comprehension contest rules before the third round.

• The Malevolent Corpse told Wei Tong that He Pingsheng and Wang Dun’s timelines were concealed and that a ray of divine light from Han Houzhi’s future had blinded him and damaged his Divine Sense.
• He Pingsheng told his family to stay in his Magical Treasure’s space because he feared the Northern Rampart Kong Household, but Xin Baobao offered them a safer place at her residence.
• Xin Baobao explained that the contest rules for every remaining round had been posted and that the Dao Comprehension contest would last at least a hundred years.
• He Pingsheng agreed to let his family stay at Xin Baobao’s residence and urged them not to go out and to cultivate in seclusion.
• He Pingsheng, Xin Baobao, and Luo Bingyao went to the contest square, where they reviewed the strength, comprehension, and combat rounds and their point rules.

He Pingsheng, posing as Wang Dun, demonstrated how the Multicolored Array measured contestants’ blood and qi strength, while Kong Shengji mocked his result. The strength test began with Kong Shengji preparing to show off his eighth-grade talent.

• He Pingsheng and Luo Bingyao entered the third-round strength test after exchanging their tokens.
• Wei Tong explained that the Multicolored Array stripped away power other than blood and qi, then called He Pingsheng up to demonstrate.
• He Pingsheng’s Immortal Spirit Power attack registered 43, while his blood-and-qi attack registered 1,786,499 using about thirty percent of his strength.
• Kong Shengji dismissed He Pingsheng’s score as unimpressive, and Wei Tong told the contestants to begin their tests.
• Kong Shengji stepped forward and challenged Wang Dun to witness the strength of an eighth-grade genius.

At the Multicolored Array test, Kong Shengji’s blood-and-qi score fell far below He Pingsheng’s, and he accused him of cheating. Luo Bingyao and Han Houzhi then displayed impressive strength, while Wang Dun scored even higher and humiliated Kong Shengji, who was left unable to move.

• Kong Shengji struck the Multicolored Array twice, scoring 346,631 and then 342,371, and Wei Tong confirmed the array was functioning properly.
• Kong Shengji accused He Pingsheng of cheating, but He Pingsheng pointed out that his earlier test had not been official.
• Luo Bingyao scored 930,000 with her punch, and Han Houzhi followed with a score of 4,890,000.
• Wang Dun slapped the array and scored 5,567,439, proving He Pingsheng’s earlier result had not been fraudulent.
• Wang Dun spat on Kong Shengji twice and called him trash, while Kong Shengji found himself mysteriously unable to move.

During the third trial, He Pingsheng scored nearly five million and joined the leading contenders. Han Houzhi then privately warned He Pingsheng and Wang Dun that someone had tried to spy on their past and future through the River of Time, and suspected Wei Tong.

• Wei Tong urged the participants to take the test quickly as their scores and rankings appeared on their qualification tokens in real time.
• Xin Baobao scored over four million two hundred thousand, while Kong Shengji fell out of the top hundred as the contest continued.
• He Pingsheng struck the stone stele and scored four million nine hundred sixty thousand, taking second place just above Han Houzhi.
• After the test, Han Houzhi formed a barrier and asked He Pingsheng and Wang Dun whether they had noticed anything unusual.
• Han Houzhi said someone had entered the River of Time to spy on their past and future, and the three suspected Wei Tong.
• Han Houzhi warned that the spying implied the intruder coveted something, while Wang Dun said he and his junior brother had no need to worry.

Wang Dun pressed Wei Tong about who had spied on Han Houzhi’s timeline, and Wei Tong sent him away to confront the culprit. Wang Dun returned after killing the person, while the strength assessment resumed.

• Wang Dun asked Wei Tong whether he had spied on their timelines, and Han Houzhi clarified that he had never accused Wei Tong.
• Wang Dun demanded to know who had spied on Han Houzhi and taken his aura, while Wei Tong resisted the accusations and onlookers urged him to kill Wang Dun.
• Wei Tong sent Wang Dun out of the Grand Array to question the person responsible, and He Pingsheng chose to stay behind.
• Wang Dun returned and told Wei Tong that the culprit had refused to talk, so he had cut him down.

Wang Dun stunned the Grand Array by revealing that he had killed Li Mu’s Malevolent Corpse, then forced Kong Shengji to laugh until the matches ended. He gave the corpse to He Pingsheng for talisman paper and claimed he could not share his trial cards because they were bound.

• Wang Dun produced the Malevolent Corpse’s head, and Wei Tong confirmed that it belonged to a Great All-Encompassing Golden Immortal before fleeing.
• Wang Dun threatened Kong Shengji with a choice between fighting him and laughing until the matches ended, and Kong Shengji chose to keep laughing.
• Xin Baobao admitted she could not defeat Wang Dun, while Luo Bingyao praised her master and claimed he had once been known as one of the Twin Jades of the Human Race.
• Wang Dun gave He Pingsheng the Malevolent Corpse’s body to refine into Immortal Talisman Paper and explained that he had used a Supreme Unity Golden Immortal Trial Card to defeat it.
• He Pingsheng asked Wang Dun for trial cards, but Wang Dun said they were bound items that only he could use.

He Pingsheng declined to compete for the Nine Heavens Divine Apricot and focused on preparing to find Wen Buwan and Qiao Huizhu. At the Golden Feather Gathering, Daoist Dark Bone offered him a Heaven-Inlaying Pearl in exchange for completing the Heavenly Mystery Lineage’s Divine Ability, and the Primordial Purple Gold Staff began to tremble.

• He Pingsheng told Wang Dun he would not join the higher-level competition for the Nine Heavens Divine Apricot, choosing instead to cultivate and search for Wen Buwan and Qiao Huizhu.
• He Pingsheng, Wang Dun, Luo Bingyao, and the others left the strength test, while the stele showed Xin Baobao in first place and He Pingsheng among the contestants ranked in the twenties.
• Daoist Dark Bone approached He Pingsheng and asked to speak privately.
• Dark Bone explained that he wanted He Pingsheng to complete the Heavenly Mystery Lineage’s Heavenly Gang Eight-Tone Shield during the seventh-round comprehension competition.
• Dark Bone offered He Pingsheng a Heaven-Inlaying Pearl containing an empty portable world, and He Pingsheng’s Primordial Purple Gold Staff suddenly began to tremble.

He Pingsheng learned that Dark Bone’s Heavenly Mystery Lineage sought to perfect the Heavenly Gang Eight-Tone Shield to uncover a secret of the Standard Heavenly Gate Formation, and he accepted the task. He discovered the Heaven-Inlaying Pearl was a movable portal linked to a fixed place, then left Immortal Emperor City to use the Treasure-Gathering Basin elsewhere.

• He Pingsheng examined the Heavenly Gang Eight-Tone Shield and judged it nearly useless, while Dark Bone explained his lineage’s connection to the Black Tortoise Tribe and its hopes for the ability.
• He Pingsheng agreed to do his best to perfect the divine ability, and Dark Bone left him the black jade slip and a middle-grade Heaven-Inlaying Pearl.
• He Pingsheng discovered the pearl could open a two-way portal to a fixed space in the Immortal Realm within a single star cluster, and decided to enhance and duplicate it before letting the Primordial Purple Gold Staff consume one copy.
• Luo Bingyao told He Pingsheng that the Immortal Emperor had summoned Wang Dun to discuss important matters.
• He Pingsheng instructed Luo Bingyao, left Immortal Emperor City, and flew toward Wide-Eyed Immortal City in his Void Immortal Boat.

He Pingsheng enhanced the Heavenly Gang Eight-Tone Shield and Heaven-Inlaying Pearl, then returned to Immortal Emperor City for the Immortal Essence contest. Wang Dun delivered Li Mu’s answer about Qiao Huizhu’s whereabouts, revealing she was in the Nine Woods Immortal Domain of Everlasting Life Heaven.

• He Pingsheng enhanced the Heavenly Gang Eight-Tone Shield into a supreme-grade copy and a middle-grade copy, and upgraded the Heaven-Inlaying Pearl into two supreme-grade pearls whose portals could span the Immortal Realm.
• He Pingsheng returned to Immortal Emperor City and gave a supreme-grade Heaven-Inlaying Pearl to the Primordial Purple Gold Staff to absorb.
• The Immortal Essence contest began, and Wang Dun told He Pingsheng that the Immortal Emperor had compensated him and that he planned to leave after the combat strength competition.
• Wang Dun gave He Pingsheng a jade slip from Li Mu, which named the Nine Woods Immortal Domain in Everlasting Life Heaven as Qiao Huizhu’s location.
• Wang Dun warned He Pingsheng that reaching another heaven would require Supreme Unity Golden Immortal cultivation, deep mastery of Spatial Daoist Law, and the Spirit Roaming Taixu divine ability.

He Pingsheng learned how distant Everlasting Life Heaven was and received a star chart from Wang Dun before the fourth contest tested the contestants’ immortal essence. Xin Baobao could not produce a result with demonic energy, so Zhenyi awarded her the top score; He Pingsheng then lit 199 lamps using only one of his five dantians.

• Wang Dun explained the locations of the five heavens and gave He Pingsheng a star chart of the Great Horn Immortal Domain.
• Zhenyi, the Corpse of the Self avatar of Immortal Emperor Li Mu, began the immortal essence contest and instructed contestants to pour their energy into one of nine formations.
• Luo Bingyao lit more than 140 lamps, while Xin Baobao’s demonic origin energy lit none.
• Zhenyi gave Xin Baobao 100 points based on her previous first-place ranking and ranked everyone else starting from 99.
• He Pingsheng used only his water-attribute dantian yet lit 199 lamps.
• Xin Baobao told Luo Bingyao that she could comprehend the astral winds in the upcoming Dao comprehension round because they followed neither the Mystic Sect nor the Demonic Path.

He Pingsheng and the other contestants entered the Chaos Boundless Tower for the seventh contest, a century-long trial of comprehending Daoist laws under crushing astral winds. As the contestants began to rise according to their comprehension, Wang Dun shot two hundred zhang into the air, having understood the law beforehand.

• Luo Bingyao asked He Pingsheng to watch over her so she could hold on to her top-sixteen ranking, but he brushed her off.
• He Pingsheng, Wang Dun, and Xin Baobao discussed the Chaos Boundless Tower’s astral winds and whether they were the aura of chaos.
• Immortal Emperor Zhenyi announced that the comprehension contest would last a hundred years, with a time formation granting the contestants a thousand years inside the tower.
• He Pingsheng entered the tower with Xin Baobao and Luo Bingyao, and the closed tower intensified time and unleashed powerful astral winds.
• He Pingsheng offered the women more Moon Laurel Immortal Brew, then used a drop himself and began comprehending the Daoist laws.
• Wang Dun rose two hundred zhang above the others, explaining that he had already comprehended the law.

He Pingsheng focused on spatial comprehension and a demonic defensive ability during the seventh trial, placing around seventh or eighth. After the groups for the eighth trial were announced, he learned he would defend the fourth arena, while Luo Bingyao was assigned the fifteenth.

• He Pingsheng devoted most of his comprehension to the Spatial Great Dao, advanced two layers, and reached the tenth layer of the Golden Immortal Stage.
• He Pingsheng mastered the Severed Arm Survival divine ability and gave Dark Bone its high-grade Heaven Tier version.
• He Pingsheng finished the seventh trial at nearly six hundred zhang, while Wang Dun and Han Houzhi reached the top and Xin Baobao reached nine hundred and ninety-nine zhang.
• Dark Bone discovered the quality of the modified divine ability and thanked He Pingsheng.
• The contestants gathered at the square and learned that roughly six hundred participants had been split into sixteen groups for the Combat Strength Test.
• Luo Bingyao became the fifteenth arena defender, while He Pingsheng was assigned the fourth group and noted that Wang Dun was in the first.

He Pingsheng reviewed the combat test rules and prepared his family for the dangerous final rounds. When his Primordial Purple Gold Staff proved unusable, Xin Baobao offered its sheath as a temporary refuge, while Luo Bingyao learned that weapons would be prohibited in the matches.

• He Pingsheng, Luo Bingyao, and Xin Baobao learned how the arena defenders, seeds, and final rankings would be determined, then returned to Xin Baobao's residence.
• He Pingsheng warned Kong Jiaojiao, He Tianya, He Tianyu, He Yuqing, and the others to stay out of danger and tried to send them into his Primordial Purple Gold Staff.
• He Pingsheng discovered that the staff was still fusing with a Heaven-Inlaying Pearl and could not be used, including its Magical Treasure space.
• Xin Baobao offered the space inside her saber sheath as shelter, and He Pingsheng accepted before his family entered it.
• Luo Bingyao complained that she could not use He Pingsheng's staff, and He Pingsheng told her weapons would not be allowed in the matches.

The eighth trial’s arena-defender matches began, and He Pingsheng entered the first formation to face Ye Xiaodao. He defeated her after more than thirty exchanges, while Han Houzhi ended his own match with a single move.

• He Pingsheng noticed Ye Xiaodao defending the first arena and learned that Luo Bingyao was disappointed to face the Holy Maiden of the Western Mausoleum in her match.
• He Pingsheng promised to help Luo Bingyao raise her innate foundation to eighth grade and said he would confront the Xiling Household after the Golden Feather Gathering.
• Immortal Emperor Zhenyi began the matches one at a time, and He Pingsheng entered the illusory arena to fight Ye Xiaodao.
• He Pingsheng traded attacks with Ye Xiaodao for more than thirty rounds, then defeated her with one strike.
• Kong Shengji mocked He Pingsheng’s combat ability, but He Pingsheng ignored him.
• Han Houzhi killed his opponent with one move, stunning the spectators.

Xin Baobao swiftly defeated Tantai Tianyan, then Wang Dun faced Yao Kaidi, who loudly declared himself superior before surrendering. Yao Kaidi left the arena celebrated for his audacious flex.

• Xin Baobao defeated Tantai Tianyan with a single sweeping saber strike, and he conceded the match.
• He Pingsheng recognized Yao Kaidi as Daoist Fat Dragon from an earlier tournament and discovered that Yao Kaidi had a seventh-grade innate foundation.
• Wang Dun entered the formation to face Yao Kaidi, who claimed he had known He Pingsheng since Emperor Yu Star.
• Yao Kaidi declared that He Pingsheng could never defeat him in the arena, exciting the spectators and Wang Dun.
• Yao Kaidi announced that he surrendered, and Wang Dun praised his audacious flex as the crowd laughed.

The sixteen defenders all defeated their seeded challengers, including Luo Bingyao, who beat Xiling Tianxue after rejecting her plea for forgiveness. With no further challenges, Immortal Emperor Zhenyi called the advancing defenders to draw lots for the round of sixteen.

• Yao Kaidi met He Pingsheng, now using the name Wang Dun, and considered challenging him before He warned him away.
• Holy Son Tantai, Li Zijun, and Ao Xun won their matches, and Luo Bingyao faced Xiling Tianxue in the fifteenth group.
• Luo Bingyao rejected Xiling Tianxue's apology and offer to concede, then defeated her with the Heavenly Net Blood Saber Slash and her superior strength.
• Mao Yiwang won the sixteenth group's match, completing the defenders' sweep as every seeded challenger lost.
• Kong Shengji urged Xiling Tianxue to challenge Wang Dun, but she refused, and Immortal Emperor Zhenyi invited the sixteen winners to draw their opponents.

The contestants drew their first-round opponents, and Wang Dun, posing as He Pingsheng, was paired with Kong Shengji. Wang Dun killed Kong Shengji in one strike, advancing while Kong Shengji was eliminated and left humiliated.

• Kong Shengji drew Wang Dun as his opponent, while He Pingsheng drew his disciple Luo Bingyao.
• Luo Bingyao complained about facing her master and asked He Pingsheng for a reward if she surrendered, but he refused.
• Wang Dun entered the illusion formation against Kong Shengji, who boasted that he could withstand sixteen moves.
• Wang Dun swung the Death God's Scythe once and killed Kong Shengji, winning Match A.
• Wang Dun reminded the humiliated Kong Shengji that he still owed him fifteen moves, while the spectators praised Wang Dun and mocked Kong Shengji's elimination.

The tournament narrowed to four after He Pingsheng advanced when Ji Wuxin surrendered, while Han Houzhi, Xin Baobao, and Wang Dun won their quarterfinals. In the semifinal draw, Xin Baobao surrendered to Wang Dun, prompting Kong Shengji to accuse Wang Dun of buying off his opponents.

• Huo Zhengxu advanced when Huo Zhengnan surrendered, and Ji Wuxin, Xin Baobao, Han Houzhi, Dark Bone, and Xiling Tianchen won their respective matches.
• Luo Bingyao surrendered to He Pingsheng, and Xiling Tianchen defeated Ao Xun to complete the top eight.
• Ji Wuxin surrendered before fighting He Pingsheng, who advanced to the top four without a quarterfinal battle.
• Han Houzhi, Xin Baobao, and Wang Dun each won their quarterfinals with a single move, joining He Pingsheng in the final four.
• The semifinal draw paired He Pingsheng with Xin Baobao and Han Houzhi with Wang Dun, but Xin Baobao surrendered to Wang Dun.
• Kong Shengji accused Wang Dun of buying off his opponents after Xin Baobao surrendered.

After the crowd accused He Pingsheng of cheating, Xin Baobao explained that she had promised to surrender after losing a bet to Luo Bingyao, clearing He Pingsheng of suspicion. He Pingsheng then faced Han Houzhi and claimed he could defeat him with one Divine Ability, leaving both geniuses to enter the arena.

• Kong Shengji and other spectators accused He Pingsheng of cheating after Xin Baobao surrendered.
• Xin Baobao explained that she had promised Luo Bingyao to surrender after losing their bet, and Elder Peach Pink confirmed her account.
• Immortal Emperor Zhenyi ruled He Pingsheng's result valid and announced his Group B match against Han Houzhi.
• Han Houzhi said He Pingsheng might defeat him using a secret art, while He Pingsheng declared that one Divine Ability would be enough even without one.
• Han Houzhi rejected the claim and entered the arena; He Pingsheng followed, while Ji Wuxin doubted he could win without a secret art and He Pingsheng said he trusted his senior brother.

Wang Dun challenged Han Houzhi to withstand his supposedly unbeatable Divine Ability, then overwhelmed him with endless streams of attacks. Han Houzhi conceded after Wang Dun demonstrated that his other named techniques worked the same way.

• Wang Dun and Han Houzhi entered the Grand Array, where Wang Dun claimed he could defeat Han Houzhi with one Divine Ability.
• Wang Dun unleashed Gatling Palm, sending a relentless stream of palm imprints at Han Houzhi, who struggled to block them and could not escape.
• Han Houzhi admitted he would lose to Gatling Palm but asked Wang Dun to try another Divine Ability.
• Wang Dun used Gatling Fist and then Armor Vine Yin Finger, each producing another endless barrage of attacks.
• Han Houzhi declared that he had never seen such a shameless fighting style and conceded.