Chapter Summaries

Xiao Xiujing and his companions discussed the deaths of Liu Changji and Liu Changgong and the prospects of breaching Huo Xia Patriarch's traveling palace. Qiao Yan argued that the palace might contain the Sūtra of Receiving Life or divine monster remains, then Xiao Xiujing gave him an item and warned him to be careful around Chen Heng.

• A blue-robed youth apologized to Xiao Xiujing for bringing Liu Changji and Liu Changgong into their group, while a woman rebuked him and the hall erupted into an argument.
• Qiao Yan condemned the Liu brothers for entering the traveling palace without telling Xiao Xiujing, then urged the group to stop arguing over whether the brothers had sold the map scroll.
• Xiao Xiujing reconsidered his suspicions after Qiao Yan pointed out that the other great clans likely had their own maps, and he reassured the blue-robed youth.
• Xiao Xiujing worried that the traveling palace might hold only ruined remains, while Qiao Yan argued that it could contain the Sūtra of Receiving Life or the remains of innate divine monsters.
• After discussing the palace's restrictions and their rivals, Xiao Xiujing recognized Qiao Yan's concern about Chen Heng and gave him an item for protection, warning him not to act recklessly.

Xiao Xiujing gave Qiao Yan the Lunar Wheel Mirror to aid his plan to eliminate Qiao Rui, while Chen Heng continued his secluded cultivation. After reaching Purple Mansion's second layer, Chen Heng used his last Yellow Pool Pill to dissolve half the turbid substance in his Origin Spirit, then turned to the One True Dharma Realm for his next step.

• Xiao Xiujing gave Qiao Yan the Lunar Wheel Mirror and its command formula after learning that Qiao Yan intended to target Qiao Rui for the Mishan Qiao Clan.
• Qiao Yan pledged loyalty to Xiao Xiujing and hinted that he might one day control the Xiao family estate.
• Chen Heng spent two and a half years in seclusion, reached Purple Mansion's second layer, and used Yellow Pool Pills to work toward the third layer.
• Chen Heng swallowed his last Yellow Pool Pill and dissolved about half the turbid substance in his Origin Spirit, greatly increasing his True Qi.
• With no more pills available, Chen Heng ended his seclusion and entered the One True Dharma Realm through the Golden Cicada.

After two years and six months of seclusion, Chen Heng left his mountain to test his improved cultivation and swordsmanship, entrusting Qiao Rui’s safety to protective talismans and the World-Escaping Shuttle. He headed into the failing grotto-heaven, where a group of cultivators discussing the hunt for Qiao Rui and Chen Heng learned that Chen Heng might soon appear.

• Chen Heng concluded that further seclusion would bring little benefit and decided to seek dangerous opponents to temper his swordsmanship before the grotto-heaven collapsed.
• Chen Heng gave Qiao Rui talisman jades to conceal her aura and left a strand of the World-Escaping Shuttle’s divine intent to protect her.
• Chen Heng told Qiao Rui to stay inside and cultivate, then flew away from the mountain.
• Qiao Rui resolved to cultivate harder after Chen Heng departed.
• A young cultivator urged the purple-robed Ninth Brother to pursue Qiao Rui and Chen Heng, but Ninth Brother said they had been missing for two years and promised to act if they appeared.

Chen Heng appeared before the Xie cultivators and killed the young cultivator after the man attacked him and trapped him briefly with a bell. Chen Heng uncovered the man’s secret blood-relative-killing cultivation art, then pursued the fleeing purple-robed man and his companions as they sought help from Qiao Yan and Xiao Xiujing.

• The young cultivator pressed the purple-robed man to help find Qiao Rui, hoping to win Xiao Xiujing’s favor, and the purple-robed man boasted that his trump card could rival Chen Heng’s Sword Talisman.
• Chen Heng arrived, and the young cultivator attacked him with Fire Serpents before trapping him inside the Jade-Covering Compassion Light Dharma Bell.
• The purple-robed man and the two female cultivators fled while Chen Heng smashed the bell, wounded the young cultivator, and killed him with the Avici Sword.
• Chen Heng searched the young cultivator’s belongings and Mind Image, learning that he had secretly slaughtered blood relatives to practice the Yellow Register Five Elders Flying Heaven Ritual.
• Chen Heng pursued the fleeing cultivators as the purple-robed man asked whether Qiao Yan and Xiao Xiujing had received their messages; Qiao Yan was on his way, but Xiao Xiujing had not replied.

Chen Heng confronted Xie Mou and two women after overhearing them discuss their plans, learning that an underground palace beneath the temporary palace still held undiscovered fortunes. He killed one woman and wore Xie Mou down in battle, then used red fog and Talisman Artifacts to create an opening for a sudden sword strike.

• Xie Mou warned two women to keep quiet about abandoning their dead clansman, then boasted that he could make Chen Heng suffer if pursued.
• Chen Heng appeared and learned from Xie Mou that an underground palace beneath the temporary palace remained unexplored.
• Xie Mou attacked Chen Heng while the two women fled, and Chen Heng killed the woman escaping to the left with Yin-Eroding Red Water.
• Chen Heng battled Xie Mou, broke through most of his defensive ring, and gradually forced him to exhaust his True Qi.
• Chen Heng concealed himself in red fog and distracted Xie Mou with Talisman Artifacts before a sword light suddenly struck from an unknown direction.

Chen Heng killed Xie Mou, seized his Thunder Marsh Stones, and continued hunting the cultivators who had targeted him. After killing a fleeing Senior Sister and confronting more than a dozen Purple Mansion Senior Adepts, he unleashed the Innate Great Sun Divine Light; Qiao Yan arrived afterward to find a terrifying scene.

• Chen Heng decapitated Xie Mou, then crushed his Origin Spirit after the Mountain-Sinking Seal broke the pearl protecting it.
• Chen Heng searched Xie Mou's Sleeve Pouch and found two hundred Thunder Marsh Stones, then told the World-Escaping Shuttle he would continue testing his sword against his enemies.
• Chen Heng pursued a female cultivator until she stopped to beg for mercy, then severed her arm and forced her to keep fleeing toward reinforcements.
• When more than a dozen cultivators arrived, Chen Heng killed the woman and declared that he needed no Sword Talismans to defeat them.
• Chen Heng unleashed the Innate Great Sun Divine Light, swallowing the attackers' techniques in a vast golden-red blaze.
• Qiao Yan arrived less than a quarter of an hour later and was nearly overcome by fear at the scene.

Chen Heng slaughtered most of Qiao Yan’s forces and fought off Qiao Yan and the Lunar Wheel Mirror, whose spatial attacks could not pin him down. He detonated Thunder Marsh Stones to destroy the remaining cultivators, then captured the weakened mirror as it tried to escape.

• Qiao Yan arrived with reinforcements and watched Chen Heng kill two more cultivators, while the last two survivors fled.
• Qiao Yan summoned a golden-armored divine general, but Chen Heng destroyed it and then fought Qiao Yan and his companions.
• Qiao Yan called on the Lunar Wheel Mirror, which attacked Chen Heng with freezing divine light but failed to hit him as he used spatial transference.
• Chen Heng reappeared among Thunder Marsh Stones and triggered their thunder and fire, obliterating Qiao Yan and every other cultivator nearby.
• The weakened Lunar Wheel Mirror tried to escape, but Chen Heng appeared and seized it.

Chen Heng killed Qiao Yan and his companions with thunder marsh stones, subdued the damaged Lunar Wheel Mirror, and tested his strength against Yin He. He then waited on a cliff, intending to seek allies and compete for the Grotto-Heaven’s opportunities.

• Chen Heng used the World-Escaping Shuttle to detonate ninety thunder marsh stones near Qiao Yan, killing him and his companions and damaging the Lunar Wheel Mirror.
• Chen Heng subdued the Lunar Wheel Mirror with the Deep Void Demon-Subduing Sword Talisman, and its spirit agreed to acknowledge him as master while warning that Xiao Fang’s restriction remained.
• Chen Heng repelled Yin He’s attack with the Innate Great Sun Divine Light, then left after sensing another cultivator approaching.
• Ji Yuetan arrived and reproached Yin He for letting Chen Heng escape, but Yin He refused to pursue him, and Ji Yuetan also withdrew.
• Chen Heng settled on a stone cliff and told the World-Escaping Shuttle that he was waiting for someone and intended to compete for the Grotto-Heaven’s opportunities.

Chen Heng allied with Shen Cheng to resist the aristocratic clans and compete for the underground palace in the Flowing Fire Grand Transformation Grotto-Heaven. Shen Cheng gave Chen Heng a talisman to suppress the Lunar Wheel Mirror, and Chen Heng prepared to meet him at the Traveling Palace.

• Chen Heng welcomed Shen Cheng and agreed to join forces against the aristocratic clans.
• Shen Cheng explained that refining all four Water-Fire Wells would open another route into the underground palace, and asked Chen Heng to guard his well while he completed the refinement.
• Chen Heng agreed to meet Shen Cheng at the Traveling Palace five days later, where Shen Cheng expected to need two months to finish refining his well.
• Shen Cheng gave Chen Heng a Five-Direction Spirit-Suppressing Talisman to restrain the Lunar Wheel Mirror and offered to remove its magical restriction after they left the grotto-heaven.
• Chen Heng recovered his True Qi, practiced his Mystery Art, instructed Qiao Rui, and then set out for the appointed meeting.

Chen Heng arrived at the Flowing Fire Grand Transformation Grotto-Heaven to join Shen Cheng and the others defending the Water-Fire Well, but He Manzi challenged his reputation and fought him. Chen Heng defeated He Manzi without seriously injuring him, and He Manzi responded with exhilarated admiration.

• Chen Cheng welcomed Chen Heng to Bright Virtue Hall, where several cultivators resented the new arrival sharing in the Water-Fire Well’s benefits.
• He Manzi challenged Chen Heng, doubting his reputation and demanding to test his abilities.
• Chen Heng and He Manzi exchanged flying-sword attacks, and He Manzi used his Kaiyang Fire to repel Chen Heng’s Avici Sword.
• Chen Heng and He Manzi continued their duel in the sky as Shen Cheng told Shen Ming that He Manzi would lose.
• Chen Heng’s golden-red light swept away the clouds and defeated He Manzi, who narrowly avoided being killed.
• He Manzi accepted the defeat with wild joy and praised Chen Heng for finally appearing.

Chen Heng and He Manzi ended their duel by exchanging Sword Dao techniques, and Chen Heng later agreed to help Shen Cheng seek a hidden Daoist scripture beneath the Traveling Palace. After Chen Heng and Shen Cheng’s alliance defeated several great-clan Refinement Masters, more than a dozen streaks of traveling light approached Xiao Xiujing’s secluded cultivation site.

• He Manzi asked Chen Heng how he had struck unseen, and Chen Heng explained the Force of Concealing Form and Shadow before He Manzi shared a technique for switching sword force between gang and threads.
• Chen Heng meditated in a side hall, then followed Red-Brow Daoist through a concealed passage to meet Shen Cheng at a Water-Fire Well.
• Shen Cheng revealed that the Underground Palace might contain a Daoist book used by Huo Xia Patriarch and invited Chen Heng to help seek it in exchange for a share.
• Shen Cheng said the Underground Palace might also hold a boon connected to an Innate Divine Monster, and Chen Heng left the well.
• Chen Heng joined Shen Cheng’s group in driving off Yin He, Ji Yuetan, and other Refinement Masters who attacked Bright Virtue Hall, killing several of their allies.
• More than a dozen streaks of traveling light arrived at Yiluo Hall while Xiao Xiujing was cultivating in seclusion.

Yin He and Ji Yuetan sought Xiao Xiujing’s Water-Fire Well to enter the Underground Palace, but Xiao demanded sixty percent of their gains. Xiao then recruited Ji Yuetan to kill Chen Heng, and months later Chen Heng felt the Grotto-Heaven tremble and realized the awaited moment had arrived.

• Yin He bribed Xie Liang with Crimson Yi Pills to learn about Xiao Xiujing and the Water-Fire Well, then brought Ji Yuetan to seek access to the Underground Palace.
• Xiao Xiujing demanded sixty percent of their gains, and Yin He reluctantly signed the Spirit Contract before leaving in anger.
• Xiao Xiujing told Ji Yuetan he knew of Heavenly Disc True Lord’s orders to kill Chen Heng and offered cultivation resources in exchange for Chen Heng’s head.
• Ji Yuetan showed Xiao Xiujing a precious pearl and iron disc, confirmed his cultivation could withstand attacks, and agreed to pursue Chen Heng.
• Months later, Chen Heng felt Bright Virtue Hall tremble and recognized that the awaited moment had come.

Chen Heng and the other cultivators entered the underground palace through the opened Water-Fire Wells, which scattered them across its ruined regions as the Flowing Fire Grand Transformation Grotto-Heaven began to collapse. Chen Heng opened a sealed palace while He Manzi attacked Liu Lingzheng and Wang Dian near an octagonal tower.

• Shen Cheng gathered the cultivators at Bright Virtue Hall and asked them to help him claim a heterodox Daoist scripture in exchange for keeping any other treasures they found.
• The four Water-Fire Wells transported the cultivators into different parts of the underground palace, and the grotto-heaven cracked as Qiao Rui watched from hiding.
• Chen Heng found a palace guarded by restrictions, but a giant ape and a host of strange beasts attacked him as he approached.
• He Manzi killed a flock of strange birds near an octagonal tower, then ambushed Liu Lingzheng and Wang Dian when they arrived.
• Chen Heng withdrew his True Qi from a massive pillar, causing the palace restrictions to fade and its doorway to open.

Chen Heng broke into the palace’s fourth level, found Qi Lingzi’s legacy and three precious pieces of yellow dragon gallbladder, then was trapped by Ji Yuetan after leaving. Ji Yuetan prepared to fight him at close quarters, but Chen Heng welcomed the challenge.

• Chen Heng broke the palace’s restrictions and searched its four levels, collecting talisman coins, cultivation materials, and other useful items.
• Chen Heng entered a hidden chamber and found Qi Lingzi’s skeleton, a letter, and three Jade Caskets.
• Chen Heng read Qi Lingzi’s letter and discovered that the three strange stones were yellow dragon gallbladder, rare earth-aligned Essences of the Innate Five Elements.
• Chen Heng stored the yellow dragon gallbladder and Qi Lingzi’s remains, then left the palace after deciding that one piece would suffice for his cultivation needs.
• Ji Yuetan trapped Chen Heng with the Magnetic Crow Pearl and revealed that he had prepared to stop him from returning to the palace.
• Chen Heng told Ji Yuetan there were no formidable magic prohibitions in the palace and asked whether he still intended to fight at close quarters.

Chen Heng defeated Ji Yuetan and Xiao Yi after surviving the True Proclamation Heavenly Disc’s suppression of magical power, then used their resources to complete his Tai Su Jade Body and reach the Mystery Realm’s ninth layer. He left the Underground Palace preparing to continue his cultivation.

• Ji Yuetan activated the True Proclamation Heavenly Disc, stripping everyone nearby of their magical power and artifacts, and charged Chen Heng with his bodily cultivation.
• Chen Heng revealed his completed Tai Su Jade Body, overpowered Ji Yuetan in close combat, and killed him after ordering him to kneel.
• Xiao Yi tried to calculate the Tai Su Jade Body’s Bond Object and attack Chen Heng, but Chen Heng killed him and took his belongings.
• After the disc’s suppression faded, Chen Heng collected the two cultivators’ resources and absorbed their spiritual essence, reaching the Mystery Realm’s ninth layer.
• Chen Heng summoned the World-Escaping Shuttle and reflected that the resources he gained should help him approach the peak of the ninth layer.

After reaching the ninth level of the Mystery Realm, Chen Heng manifested the Tai Su True Form and gained the Heaven-Bestowed Divine Ability Thousand Changes and Myriad Transformations. He headed to help Shen Cheng contend for the Huo Xia Patriarch’s Dao scripture, but arrived to find a fierce battle underway and rescued one of Shen Cheng’s supporters to learn what had happened.

• Chen Heng reached the ninth level of the Mystery Realm, manifested the Tai Su True Form, and learned that he had obtained the Thousand Changes and Myriad Transformations Divine Ability.
• Chen Heng tested the ability by transforming into a Bifang, other divine monsters, and Qiao Rui, while the World-Escaping Shuttle could not detect any flaws.
• Chen Heng traveled through the Underground Palace to help Shen Cheng contend for the Dao scripture left by the Huo Xia Patriarch.
• Chen Heng arrived at a battle around a nine-level palace, where Shen Cheng, He Manzi, Liu Guan, and other cultivators fought over the remaining sealed levels.
• Chen Heng sent a wounded Yellow-Clad Cultivator fleeing from his pursuer, killed the pursuing great-clan disciple, and used the World-Escaping Shuttle to transport them away.
• Chen Heng asked the Yellow-Clad Cultivator what had happened during the past few days and how the situation stood.

Chen Heng intervened in the battle over the Great Purification True Art, using a false form and Thunder Marsh Stones to devastate Xiao Xiujing’s forces and save Shen Cheng’s alliance. After the surviving enemies fled or were defeated, Shen Cheng’s group offered Chen Heng first choice of the treasures on the Palace’s eighth layer.

• The yellow-robed cultivator told Chen Heng that Shen Cheng had obtained the Great Purification True Art but was losing ground against Xiao Xiujing and the great clans.
• Chen Heng went to the battlefield, secretly coordinated with Shen Cheng, and helped him use Six Jia Spirit-Traveling Qi to trap their opponents.
• Xiao Yi appeared with what seemed to be Chen Heng’s severed head, prompting Xiao Xiujing to lower his guard and announce Chen Heng’s death.
• Chen Heng’s false form vanished, and the Thunder Marsh Stones disguised as the head exploded, killing Sima Mingye and two great-clan Refinement Masters while severely wounding Xiao Xiujing.
• Xiao Xiujing escaped, and Shen Cheng, Zhao Tong, and Shen Ming defeated or drove off the remaining enemy cultivators.
• Shen Cheng proposed that Chen Heng choose first among the treasures on the Palace’s eighth layer, and Zhao Tong and the others reluctantly agreed.

Chen Heng claimed the Ninth-Phoenix essence blood from the Palace’s Eighth Layer and planned to use it to strengthen his Tai Su Jade Body. After the cultivators broke into the Ninth Layer, they encountered the Grotto-Heaven Spirit, who struck the ground and caused the entire Grotto-Heaven to begin collapsing.

• Chen Heng used Yin-Eroding Red Water to break the Eighth Layer’s restrictions, and the cultivators congratulated him on claiming its treasure.
• Chen Heng found a cauldron of Ninth-Phoenix essence blood and stored it in his Sleeve Pouch, while two cultivators took the hall’s Azure Dragon Pillars.
• Zhao Tong attacked the Ninth Layer’s restrictions, and Junior Sister Yu led the cultivators in breaking its Small Five Elements Array.
• The Red-Brow Daoist worried about retaliation from the Aristocratic Clans, but He Manzi said the sect leaders had intended the conflict as a contest between factions.
• After the array collapsed, the cultivators found an old man in crimson robes, whom Shen Cheng identified as the Grotto-Heaven Spirit.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit struck the ground with his staff, shattering space and shaking the realm as a cultivator cried that it was sinking ahead of time.

As the Flowing Fire Grand Transformation Grotto-Heaven began to collapse, True Lord Ding intervened, subdued its spirit, and took the grotto-heaven into his gourd for the Jade Dawn School. After the cultivators returned to Crane-Cry Mountain, True Lord Ding invited Chen Heng and Qiao Rui to attend his lectures and carried them away with him.

• The grotto-heaven spirit allowed the unstable Flowing Fire Grand Transformation Grotto-Heaven to sink, while Shen Cheng and Zhao Tong evacuated their groups from the Underground Palace.
• Chen Heng found Qiao Rui amid the destruction, but True Lord Ding halted the catastrophe and offered the grotto-heaven spirit a place as a blessed-land spirit under Wang Ruyi.
• True Lord Ding transported the cultivators back to the Present World, then shrank the grotto-heaven and absorbed it into his Five-Colored Gourd.
• Xie Yu held back Wang Dian from accusing He Manzi, and Liu Guan urged Wang Dian to accept the defeat and let the matter end.
• True Lord Ding selected Chen Heng for several days of lectures and extended the invitation to Qiao Rui before carrying them away.

During the journey in True Lord Ding’s Bronze Palace, Chen Heng prepared to strengthen his Sword Dao before the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace selection. Qiao Rui departed with a Qiao Clan relative after learning her family dispute would be settled without bloodshed, while True Lord Ding offered Chen Heng a chance to become a retainer to Zhang Taichu if he entered the Upper Sect.

• Chen Heng studied a Daoist text and concluded that mastering Body and Sword as One was his best way to improve his chances in the Dragon Palace selection.
• A Daoist woman from the Qiao Clan arrived to take Qiao Rui, and True Lord Ding persuaded her to give him a reward for bringing Qiao Rui aboard.
• Qiao Rui told Chen Heng that Qiao Wendun would be exiled and Qiao Jingyi would resign, then asked whether she could meet him again for Dao Arts guidance.
• The Daoist woman departed with Qiao Rui, and Chen Heng thanked True Lord Ding for protecting him.
• True Lord Ding asked Chen Heng whether he would cultivate in Zhang Taichu’s blessed land and become his retainer if he entered the Upper Sect.