Chapter Summaries

Jun Yao delivered Mei Gongxing’s mysterious seal to Elder Tai Su and discussed his future at Jadechen, while Elder Tai Su considered the Dao Court’s prospects. In Xudu Heaven, Chen Heng completed a breakthrough and formed a towering figure from jade smoke.

• Elder Tai Su recognized that Mei Gongxing had slowed the damage to Jun Yao’s lifespan and sent his disciple to fetch a Ginseng Fruit for him.
• Jun Yao delivered Mei Gongxing’s rough white seal and relayed his question about Elder Tai Su’s old plan with Crown Prince Changming at Zhuxiao Palace.
• Elder Tai Su crushed the seal, reflected on how it might help restore the Dao Court’s prestige, and invited Jun Yao to play go.
• Elder Tai Su asked whether Jun Yao aspired to inherit Jadechen’s Dao lineage, and Jun Yao said others would come after him to take the seat and bear the duty.
• Chen Heng completed his breakthrough in the Eastern Sea of Xudu Heaven and gathered jade smoke into a towering human figure.

After surviving the Tai Su calamity, Chen Heng cultivated in the Great Marsh Longevity Sin-Deliverance Grotto-Heaven for ten years and reached the Dragon-Tiger Furnace stage of Cavern Mystery. His breakthrough summoned a thunder tribulation, held back for now by the Grotto-Heaven’s barrier.

• Chen Heng sensed the changes in his Tai Su Jade Body and thanked Ao Yang for protecting him through the calamity.
• Ao Yang withdrew, while dragon maidens visited Chen Heng and he pondered the Dragon Palace’s intentions before deciding to focus on cultivation.
• Chen Heng secluded himself in the Grotto-Heaven and spent ten years harmonizing his yin and yang qi.
• Chen Heng formed a Dragon-Tiger Furnace above his lower abdomen’s Qi Sea and advanced to the first stage of Cavern Mystery.
• Chen Heng looked outside and saw thunder gather beyond the Grotto-Heaven’s barrier, then remarked that another portion of Chen Jade Pivot’s destined calamities was about to be erased.

Chen Heng endured the Little Pure Yang Thunder that accompanied his breakthrough, then entered the One True Dharma Realm to verify his cultivation path before beginning to refine the Innate Five Elements Essences. As Chen Jade Pivot sensed his tribulations diminish, he realized Chen Heng had reached the Cavern Mystery realm and decided to bring his son to his side.

• Chen Heng left the Great Marsh Longevity Sin-Deliverance Grotto-Heaven and deflected the Little Pure Yang Thunder with his sword.
• Chen Heng returned to the quiet chamber, recovered his True Qi, and spent three months checking every path in the One True Dharma Realm.
• Chen Heng released the five Innate Five Elements Essences and began refining them, starting with the mulberry dew before switching to the yellow dragon gallbladder.
• Chen Jade Pivot sensed that his tribulations had diminished and inferred that Chen Heng had reached the Cavern Mystery realm.
• Chen Jade Pivot decided to take action and keep Chen Heng by his side for instruction.

Chen Jade Pivot discussed his suspected human tribulation with Yue You and identified Chen Heng as the likely source. He rejected Yue You’s offer to seize Chen Heng directly, instead planning to use pawns to test the situation while preparing a decisive strike.

• Chen Jade Pivot dismissed Tao Shaojun after assigning her greater responsibility for disciplining the youngsters in Hongjing Heaven.
• Yue You warned Chen Jade Pivot that Tao Shaojun was ambitious and questioned his trust in her, but Chen Jade Pivot said no opponent could hurt him except himself.
• Chen Jade Pivot reflected that his human tribulation remained an obstacle to attaining the Celestial Immortal Dao Fruit, while Yue You recalled how Chen Xiangxian, Chen Yan, and Jun Yao had failed to become that tribulation.
• Yue You offered to capture Chen Heng, but Chen Jade Pivot said Yue You was not strong enough and declared that any eventual strike must be overwhelming.
• Chen Jade Pivot proposed using pawns to test Chen Heng, and a youth in a blue robe in Xudu Heaven suddenly tensed and smiled as if sensing something.

Xiao Liang accompanied his distant Xiao Clan relatives to deliver a Firefly Mother Shell, but revealed himself to Xuan Zheng True Person as Chen Jade Pivot. The Xiao Clan’s powerful members then roared in the sky, recognizing him as a demon and demanding to know why he had returned.

• Xiao Liang agreed to go with his younger brother Xiao Jing and the other outer-branch clansmen to the Xiao Clan grounds, despite his fear of the clan.
• The group arrived at the Xiao Clan’s island and entered a golden temple to meet Xuan Zheng True Person.
• Xiao Liang remained seated while the others bowed, then recognized Xuan Zheng True Person as Xiao Xuan Zheng and asked about his grandfather, Xiao Baozhen.
• Xiao Liang revealed that he had crippled Xiao Baozhen while fleeing the Pivot Dipper Sect and identified himself as Chen Jade Pivot.
• Xuan Zheng True Person recognized Chen Jade Pivot, and several voices in the sky roared at the demon for returning.

Chen Jade Pivot recruited clans, demon tribes, sect figures, and powerful allies to help eliminate his son Chen Heng, while negotiating with Xiao Weiyi over their shared interests. He arranged for Dao Lord Hunzhe and another powerful figure to intervene after Chen Heng left the Dragon Palace, then waited to see how Chen Heng would escape the trap.

• A rift and its thunderous winds damaged Xuan Zheng True Person's golden temple, and Chen Jade Pivot was transported to meet Xiao Weiyi after mocking the attackers who pursued him.
• Chen Jade Pivot asked Xiao Weiyi to help kill Chen Heng and offered information about a fragment of the Great Fuli Land Assembly of Demons Chapter Diagram; Xiao Weiyi agreed after consulting an aged voice.
• Chen Jade Pivot recruited allies among demon tribes, sects, and other powerful groups, while Xie Yingyuan's divine lightning destroyed one of his human puppets near Shouyang Mountain.
• Chen Jade Pivot arranged with Dao Lord Hunzhe to attack Chen Heng after he left the Dragon Palace Grotto-Heaven, and another powerful figure promised to help through a transformed swallow.
• Chen Jade Pivot told Yue You that his preparations would reveal the truth behind Chen Heng's human tribulation and wondered how Chen Heng would escape the Heavenly Net.

After thirty-two years of cultivation in the Great Marsh Longevity Sin-Deliverance Grotto-Heaven, Chen Heng reached the fifth realm of Sword Dao and decided to leave the Dragon Palace for Changying Court and the Four Courts Grand Competition. Ao Yang summoned Ao Zhongdu to discuss an important matter.

• Chen Heng reviewed his progress in the Maha Golden Book and saw that his cultivation and many Dao Arts had advanced during his years in the Grotto-Heaven.
• Chen Heng attained the third layer of the Tai Su Jade Body’s Origin Realm, the second layer of Cavern Mystery, and the fifth realm of Sword Dao, mastering Sword Qi Thunderclap.
• Chen Heng decided that further cultivation would bring little immediate benefit and resolved to return early to Changying Court for the Four Courts Grand Competition at Mount Qiyun.
• Ao Yang summoned Ao Zhongdu, who arrived jokingly asking whether another war was about to begin.
• Ao Yang chided Ao Zhongdu for his combative nature and called him over to discuss something important.

Ao Yang sent Ao Zhongdu to escort Chen Heng safely from the Dragon Palace to Changying Lower Court, warning him that the Aristocratic Clans might attack along the way. As Chen Heng traveled by sea and practiced the Nine Palaces Mystery One Jade Guideline, a sudden assault engulfed the escort in black mist.

• Ao Yang warned Ao Zhongdu to conceal his identity while escorting Chen Heng and cautioned that the Aristocratic Clans might strike during the journey.
• Ao Zhongdu agreed to escort Chen Heng, who was returning to Changying Lower Court for the Four Courts Grand Competition.
• Chen Heng meditated inside the carriage and refined the Nine Palaces Mystery One Jade Guideline into Nine Palaces Deity-Governing Qi.
• The Dragon Palace escort traveled across the sea toward Golden Court Mountain in Eastern Maitreya Province.
• Chen Heng sensed danger, but before he could activate his Sword Talismans, a tremendous crash and billowing black mist engulfed the sea.

Chen Heng and the Dragon Palace convoy were trapped inside a heaven-sealing formation that even the World-Escaping Shuttle could not escape. Realizing that the hidden enemy had prepared an overwhelming attack, Chen Heng warned his artifact spirits that he might die and urged them to flee if they found a chance.

• A black mist spread across the sky and sealed off the surrounding region, preventing Chen Heng and his companions from shifting away.
• The Five-Qi Cosmic Ring recognized the Six-Yin Turbidity-Stagnation Blurred-Light Great Formation and suspected that Pure Yang True Lords among the Aristocratic Clans had set it up to kill Chen Heng.
• Chen Heng used divination, concluded that the situation was unlikely to end peacefully, and told the World-Escaping Shuttle and the Five-Qi Cosmic Ring to leave if he died.
• Ao Zhongdu waited as the hidden enemy kept him and the Dragon Palace soldiers entangled, then formed a hand seal and sent his divine intent through the mist above the clouds.

Zhou Ji disguised himself as an old Daoist and broke the formation trapping Ao Zhongdu, revealing the forces gathered beneath the Coiled Serpent Venerable Victory Treasure Cauldron. As Zhou Ji moved to address the gathering, Dao Lord Hunzhe sensed him from the Blood River Sect and locked onto him across tens of millions of li.

• Ao Zhongdu realized that the Coiled Serpent Venerable Victory Treasure Cauldron had sealed him inside with forces from the Aristocratic Clans, the Southern Sea tribes, the Outer Dao Celestial Persons, the Mountain Lords of Luku, and Liu Tuo.
• Zhou Ji approached in disguise, and his arrival shattered the Six-Yin Turbidity-Stagnation Blurred-Light Great Formation.
• Liu Tuo asked Zhou Ji why he was interfering, and Zhou Ji claimed he had acted to curb evil and uphold good without giving his name.
• Zhou Ji noticed the gathering's sudden oppressive stillness and recognized the presence of a Dao Lord.
• Dao Lord Hunzhe rose from the Blood Lotus Platform and locked his aura onto Zhou Ji from the Blood River Sect.

Chen Jade Pivot deployed the combined power of the Six Demon Sects to seize or kill Chen Heng, convinced that the result would reveal whether Chen Heng was his human tribulation. Tong Xuan intervened to protect Chen Heng, and the confrontation escalated into a battle between Dao Lords.

• Chen Jade Pivot used the Six Sects’ collective fortune to raise his power and challenge the Heavenly Lord’s constraints.
• Dao Lord Hunzhe sensed the conflict and prepared to fight Tong Xuan, while Dao Lord Guangying Xuanyi and Weiling moved to confront the opposing side.
• Tong Xuan declared Chen Heng the disciple he had chosen and ordered Weiling to deal with Guangying Xuanyi.
• Ao Yang considered intervening, but Tong Xuan told him to watch rather than demean himself by joining the fray.
• Dao Lord Hunzhe abandoned his pursuit of Zhou Ji and challenged Tong Xuan to battle.

Great Virtue Patriarchs across the sects watched as Weiling and Guangying Xuanyi fought in the distant cosmos while Hun Zhe joined the clash. Their attention also turned to Chen Jade Pivot’s alignment with the Six Sects’ fortune, as rivalries and political tensions stirred.

• Weiling and Guangying Xuanyi fought far beyond Xudu Heaven, while Hun Zhe manifested a colossal Blood Demon and challenged them.
• Great Virtue Patriarchs across several sects sensed the battle, and Weiyu Dao Lord considered whether to intervene.
• Weiyu Dao Lord ordered a Daoist to give Yin Wuji the Primordial Dipper Mother Diagram for a month of study.
• At Three Enclosures Jade Cliff, a plain-robed Daoist urged the old woman to help Chen Jade Pivot eliminate Chen Heng, but she rebuked his motives.
• The old woman warned that the conflict in Law Sage Heaven had drawn in Dao Lords from the Mystery Schools and Six Sects, while the plain-robed Daoist noted that the Six Sects and Eight Schools might fall into discord.

Tong Xuan activated the Jadechen School’s Cosmic Thunder Pool, sending the Nine Provinces into alarm as he prepared to intervene in the conflict. Several powerful figures gathered to restrain him, and Weiling urged his senior brother not to go too far.

• On Yangrang Mountain, the old Daoist told Ancestor Fu Can that Tong Xuan was about to act.
• As Ao Yang prepared to help Weiling, Tong Xuan activated the Cosmic Thunder Pool at Xiaoming Great Marsh, unleashing a vast pillar of light and thunder across Eastern Maitreya Province.
• Great Virtues across the Nine Provinces and Four Seas sensed the Cosmic Thunder Pool, while Ao Yang recognized its danger.
• Weiling and Guangying Xuanyi stopped fighting beyond the heavens, and Hun Zhe retreated to Xudu Heaven, urging them to stop Tong Xuan.
• Tong Xuan said he would use overwhelming force to make an example of his opponents, but more than a dozen figures appeared to dissuade him.
• Weiling seized Tong Xuan’s sleeve and asked whether his response was too extreme.

Tong Xuan forced the gathered Dao Lords to agree not to bully Chen Heng, then silenced the Cosmic Thunder Pool and killed those inside the Coiled Serpent Venerable Victory Treasure Cauldron who had opposed him. The Dao Lords departed, leaving the Human Tribulation to Chen Jade Pivot, while Chen Heng and Ao Zhongdu mistook Zhou Ji’s explanation of the deaths for a display of his own power.

• Tong Xuan warned the Dao Lords that his Thunder Pool would punish anyone who used seniority to bully Chen Heng, and the Cosmic Thunder Pool roared in response.
• The sect leaders agreed to Tong Xuan’s demand, though Weiyu Dao Lord said Yin Wuji might meet Chen Heng while seeking medicinal ingredients and challenged Tong Xuan’s confidence in his disciple.
• The Profound Darkness Five Manifestations Dao Lord appeared and agreed on behalf of the Xiantian Demon Sect; Tong Xuan recognized that he had reforged the Heaven-and-Earth Demonic Intent Sword and then quieted the Thunder Pool.
• Tong Xuan vanished, and the people inside the Coiled Serpent Venerable Victory Treasure Cauldron burst into bloody mist; the Divine Control Sect’s old woman accepted that Liu Tuo would reincarnate.
• After the other Dao Lords left, the Profound Darkness Five Manifestations Dao Lord told Guangying Xuanyi that Jade Pivot must bring the Human Tribulation to its conclusion and would ultimately prevail.
• Chen Heng and Ao Zhongdu saw the deaths and stared at Zhou Ji, who claimed that his own heaven-reaching methods had killed the cultivators.

Zhou Ji rescued Chen Heng from the Coiled Serpent Venerable Victory Treasure Cauldron, while Taiwen Miaocheng Dao Lord took the cauldron and promised to return it in a month. After Chen Heng learned that an unnamed figure intended to test him before taking him as a disciple, he returned to Golden Court Mountain determined to enter the Four Courts Grand Competition and reclaim his place with honor.

• Ao Zhongdu accepted Zhou Ji's offer to handle the situation, and Zhou Ji broke Chen Heng out of the cauldron's inner world.
• Taiwen Miaocheng Dao Lord seized the Coiled Serpent Venerable Victory Treasure Cauldron and promised the Deer Tribe of the Southern Sea he would return it in a month.
• Great Sage Tianxuan told the Python Tribe's Clan Leader that the cauldron had only been borrowed, while the Clan Leader blamed Chen Jade Pivot for the losses in the Eastern Sea.
• Zhou Ji told Chen Heng that his rescuer wished to test him before taking him as a disciple, and Chen Heng vowed to remember the warning.
• Chen Heng returned to Golden Court Mountain and resolved to enter the Four Courts Grand Competition and return to Xiaoming Great Marsh as one of the Ten Great Disciples.

Two months after returning to Golden Court Mountain, Chen Heng praised Tu Shan Ge's progress in cultivating the Great Purification True Art and encouraged Tu Shan Ningning to consider the same path. As he withdrew to his quiet chamber, a fierce killing intent suddenly surged from within.

• Chen Heng inspected Tu Shan Ge's crimson True Qi and praised his rapid progress in the Great Purification True Art.
• Chen Heng reminded Tu Shan Ge that he had arranged for Shen Cheng to give him the scripture and urged him not to stand on ceremony.
• Chen Heng advised Tu Shan Ningning that she could cultivate the Great Purification True Art but should think carefully before choosing a side-door Dao Path.
• Tu Shan Ningning eagerly asked Chen Heng if she could seek his guidance, then happily left after he agreed.
• Chen Heng entered his quiet chamber, sensed a sharp killing intent, and took hold of a mutton-fat white Jade Casket.

Chen Heng used the secret formula to suppress the Avici Sword fragment and continued trying to awaken its lingering consciousness, while the Jadechen Four Academies prepared for the Four Courts Grand Competition. The chapter ended with the competition about to begin and Wei Yang and Jiang Tongyuan discussing their chances.

• Chen Heng wrapped the Avici Sword fragment in a Golden Light Great Talisman and meditated to suppress its savage killing intent.
• Chen Heng recalled that Jun Yao had given him the jade casket and a secret formula for awakening the consciousness within the Avici fragment.
• After persistent attempts, Chen Heng awakened the fragment’s lingering consciousness, which merged with the fragment he had obtained from Jun Yao.
• At Qingyang Court, Wei Yang waited for Jiang Tongyuan and discussed their chances in the Four Courts Grand Competition, acknowledging that Wei Daofu, He Lizi, and Shi You were formidable opponents.
• The bell rang through the Jadechen Four Academies, and Xiao Xiujing watched calmly as the Four Courts Grand Competition began.

Chen Heng entered the Four Courts Grand Competition, where the Jadechen School had replaced its usual examination with a formation trial requiring contestants to defeat three opponents and resist illusions. After passing, he reached Mount Qiyun as Wei Daofu watched his arrival, while Shi You and He Lizi also prepared to compete.

• The Jadechen School rang the bells to announce the competition, and disciples from the Four Courts set out for Mount Qiyun.
• A Feather-Robed Daoist Youth explained that contestants had to win three bouts inside a formation and then withstand illusions to enter the mountain.
• Chen Heng entered the formation, defeated three opponents in succession, and remained unmoved by its final illusion.
• Shi You left his chess game with a middle-aged Daoist to compete, while He Lizi prepared to take part as well.
• Chen Heng broke through the formation and arrived at Mount Qiyun, where Wei Daofu watched him emerge.

Chen Heng arrived at Mount Qiyun for the Four Courts Grand Competition, where his cultivation and reputation unsettled the other contestants. After the three-day formation trial ended, Elder Zou opened the competition and summoned the contestants to the jade platforms, where Lou Bing immediately challenged a seated cultivator.

• Chen Heng broke through the formation gate and reached Mount Qiyun, drawing wary attention from contestants who recognized his rise to Cavern Mystery cultivation.
• Wei Daofu warned his companions that Chen Heng was a dangerous opponent, while He Lizi advised his followers to avoid facing him.
• Elder Zou broke the mountain formation, ended the three-day trial, and announced that the competition would begin under rules forbidding Dharma Artifacts and secret talismans.
• Elder Zou summoned ten jade platforms, and the contestants took their places as disciples watched from below.
• After the Golden Talisman delivered the decree to begin, Lou Bing challenged a cultivator for taking a seat.

Sun Mo challenged Lou Bing over his place among the Ten Great Disciples, but Lou Bing defeated him with the Scripture of Preserving Light and Revealing the Profound. The competition continued as fewer disciples remained, while Chen Heng and Shen Cheng watched the rivalries between the sects and aristocratic clans unfold.

• Sun Mo accused Lou Bing of betraying him and challenged him before the gathered disciples, sending his spirit pets to attack.
• Lou Bing used his earth-element mystery art to withstand Sun Mo's spirit pets and then fought back with his Demon-Subduing Staff.
• Sun Mo unleashed the Nine-Phoenix Origin-Breaking Gang Battle, but Lou Bing's turbid yellow radiance eventually shattered and the nine-colored fire struck him.
• Lou Bing defeated Sun Mo, returned to the tenth jade platform, and received congratulations from Liu Xu for becoming one of the Ten Great Disciples.
• Chen Heng and Shen Cheng discussed the competition's stakes and the remaining veteran disciples as the field on Mount Qiyun dwindled.