Chapter Summaries

Ye Chen defeated Yuan Hengying and Zhuang Fei in the Heavenly Dream Battle Hall and emerged as the final survivor. After the Flowing Cloud Sect elders learned that he had injured both fighters, Heavy Mountain Gate's Grand Elder confronted him about the missing Hong Qianjun.

• Yuan Hengying and Zhuang Fei unleashed their ultimate moves, but Ye Chen countered their attacks and knocked them off the platform with Supreme Surging Cloud.
• Ye Chen concluded that the earthfire had sent Yuan Hengying and Zhuang Fei out rather than killing them, and he considered the consequences of killing disciples of their powerful sects.
• Yuan Hengying and Zhuang Fei emerged from the light gate injured and kept quiet about their defeat.
• Ye Chen emerged last, surprising the watching sects, and confirmed to the Flowing Cloud Sect elders that he had injured Yuan Hengying and Zhuang Fei.
• Heavy Mountain Gate's Grand Elder confronted Ye Chen and demanded to know whether he had seen Hong Qianjun.

Heavy Mountain Gate attacked Flowing Cloud Sect while accusing Ye Chen of murdering Hong Qianjun, and the sect elders clashed in the desert. Ye Chen armed his fellow elders with treasures, then took Zhu Mei’s sword and faced Heavy Mountain Gate’s Outer Sect Grand Elder.

• The Grand Elder of Heavy Mountain Gate tried to seize Ye Chen, but the Grand Elder of Flowing Cloud Sect intervened and their attacks collided.
• The elders of both sects charged into battle, and Ye Chen gave a Low-Grade Treasure Spear to the Fourth Elder and a treasure blade and dagger to the Seventh Elder and Ninth Elder.
• Heavy Mountain Gate’s Outer Sect Grand Elder attacked Ye Chen, who evaded him until Zhu Mei threw him the Hidden Fragrance Sword.
• Ye Chen used Whirlwind and Scattered Clouds to break the Outer Sect Grand Elder’s eighteen kicks, then leaped up and slashed down with the Hidden Fragrance Sword.

Ye Chen astonished the battlefield by gravely wounding Heavy Mountain Gate’s Outer Sect Grand Elder and then holding off three elders, becoming famous throughout the Nine Kingdoms. After the three elders used Crimson Flare Fusion Bombs, Ye Chen remained uninjured, and the fight continued with Heavy Mountain Gate desperate to kill him.

• Ye Chen struck down Heavy Mountain Gate’s Outer Sect Grand Elder with a single sword, inspiring the Flowing Cloud Sect elders to renew their assault.
• Heavy Mountain Gate sent three Outer Sect Elders after Ye Chen, but his Whirlwind and Scattered Clouds sword move wounded one and forced all three to retreat.
• Ye Chen pressed his advantage with Surging Cloud Swordplay, driving the three elders back and drawing praise from the watching sects.
• One of the elders threw a Crimson Flare Fusion Bomb, but Ye Chen landed safely and challenged them to try again.
• The three Heavy Mountain Gate elders detonated two more bombs; Ye Chen avoided their centers, and the spectators suspected his defense came from Low-Grade Treasure Armor.

Ye Chen helped Flowing Cloud Sect fight Heavy Mountain Gate, but its elders were losing ground despite his attacks. Southern Luo Sect's Grand Elder intervened with an Azure Dragon Token, forcing Heavy Mountain Gate's Grand Elder to order a halt.

• Ye Chen defeated Heavy Mountain Gate elders and learned that Purple Sun Sect planned to stop Flowing Cloud Sect from rising again.
• Heavy Mountain Gate and Flowing Cloud Sect exchanged explosive weapons, killing elders on both sides as Heavy Mountain Gate gained the advantage among the Inner Sect Elders.
• Ye Chen ambushed a Heavy Mountain Gate Inner Sect Elder with his Heart-Piercing Sword, then rushed to aid another Flowing Cloud Sect elder under attack.
• Southern Luo Sect's Grand Elder entered the battle and demanded that both sides stop, but a Heavy Mountain Gate elder rejected her intervention.
• Southern Luo Sect's Grand Elder displayed the Azure Dragon Token, and Heavy Mountain Gate's Grand Elder ordered his sect to cease fighting.

After the desert confrontation, the Southern Luo Sect Grand Elder used the Azure Dragon Token to end the dispute and revealed that she had intervened to protect Ye Chen. Back at the Flowing Cloud Sect, Ye Chen traded his ancient land treasures for vast Spirit Stone reserves and began cultivating the Grand Dark Art after reflecting on his battles.

• The Southern Luo Sect Grand Elder invoked the Azure Dragon Token to stop the Heavy Mountain Gate from pursuing revenge, and the sects departed from the Heavenly Dream Ancient Land.
• Elder Long told the Flowing Cloud Sect Grand Elder that she had acted to protect Ye Chen, while warning him to keep the Azure Dragon Token’s significance from the sect’s lower ranks.
• Ye Chen and the Flowing Cloud Sect survivors returned home, where the sect’s higher-ups held a meeting that night.
• Ye Chen exchanged his treasures, including two Earth-Grade Mid-Tier manuals, for Spirit Stones worth about four hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Ye Chen spent several days absorbing his battle experience, then began cultivating the Grand Dark Art.

Ye Chen spent a month cultivating the Grand Dark Art and Shadow Splitter Lightness Skill, then told the Flowing Cloud Sect’s elders and Sect Master Luo Xinglie that he intended to leave the Heavenly Wind Kingdom for training. He remained determined to travel beyond the sect despite their concerns, promising to return if the Flowing Cloud Sect faced calamity.

• Ye Chen struggled to cultivate the Grand Dark Art, then spent the following month practicing it at night and the Shadow Splitter Lightness Skill by day.
• Ye Chen demonstrated that he could create two True Qi figures with half his attack power and reflected on his progress in both skills.
• Ye Chen went to the Flowing Cloud Great Hall and told the Inner Sect Elders he wished to leave the Heavenly Wind Kingdom for training.
• The Grand Elder and Fourth Elder tried to persuade Ye Chen to stay, while Ye Chen said he would attend the Hidden Dragon Rankings tournament.
• Luo Xinglie explained that Ye Chen could inherit the sect leadership, but Ye Chen reaffirmed his decision to train and promised to return if the sect faced great calamity.

Ye Chen left Flowing Cloud Sect and his family to train beyond the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, determined to pursue greater strength. He set out alone after learning that his mother, Shen Yuqing, was pregnant, leaving his parents to watch him disappear beyond Luocheng City.

• Ye Chen told Luo Xinglie and Flowing Cloud Sect's elders that he had decided to leave, and they accepted that they could not hold him back.
• Luo Hanshan, Zhu Mei, and Xu Jing met Ye Chen and spoke with him about his reputation and the upcoming Hidden Dragon Rankings competition.
• Ye Chen returned to the Ye Family, where Shen Yuqing and Ye Tianhao opposed his plans until his resolve persuaded them to let him go.
• Ye Chen learned that Shen Yuqing was pregnant again and wondered whether his training journey would keep him away for years.
• The next morning, Shen Yuqing and Ye Tianhao saw Ye Chen leave through Luocheng City's northern gate without looking back.

Ye Chen crossed the Devil's Great Grassland, reached Gale Wind City, and relaxed at the Jinhua Grand Restaurant after displaying his strength against a Green Fire Wolf. A city battalion captain and Zhu Lieyang, an intelligence elder of the Purple Sun Sect, arranged to track him, leaving Ye Chen unaware that his enemies had found him.

• Ye Chen cultivated beside a campfire on the Devil's Great Grassland and killed an attacking Green Fire Wolf with one punch.
• Ye Chen entered Gale Wind City, where soldiers recognized his likeness to a portrait and arranged to have him watched.
• Ye Chen checked into a first-class room at the Jinhua Grand Restaurant and rested in a hot bath.
• The battalion captain reported Ye Chen's arrival to Zhu Lieyang, who ordered him to keep watching and threatened him if Ye Chen escaped.

Ye Chen discovered that Purple Sun Sect was monitoring him and left Gale Wind City, where Zhu Lieyang followed him into a sparsely populated area. Ye Chen exposed Zhu Lieyang’s pursuit and confronted him, suspecting he was a Purple Sun Sect elder disguised as a wandering martial artist.

• Ye Chen examined the Dragon Spring Sword, ate demon beast dishes, and overheard soldiers discussing their payment for monitoring him.
• Ye Chen cultivated the sixth level of the Grand Dark Art, replacing his Pure Jun True Qi with stronger Grand Xuan True Qi.
• Zhu Lieyang learned Ye Chen had left Gale Wind City, paid the soldiers’ captain far less than promised, and pursued him while awaiting Hunting Hall reinforcements.
• Ye Chen sensed Zhu Lieyang following him and led him away from the city before confronting him with a True Qi afterimage and blocking his escape.
• Ye Chen accused Zhu Lieyang of being a Purple Sun Sect elder in disguise and drew the Dragon Spring Sword when Zhu Lieyang denied it.

Ye Chen killed Zhu Lieyang and fled across the Devil's Great Grassland, where he fought a powerful Black-Crowned Giant Python before being cornered by three Purple Sun Sect Hunting Hall Masters. Just as they moved to kill him, a mysterious protector struck down one of the pursuers with lightning.

• Ye Chen killed Zhu Lieyang, took his Storage Spirit Ring, and fled before the Purple Sun Sect's reinforcements arrived.
• The Black-Crowned Giant Python blocked Ye Chen's path, and he wounded it with Heart-Piercing Sword until it fled.
• Thunderclap Hermit watched Ye Chen's fight from the clouds and revealed that Xian Yunzi had asked him to protect Ye Chen.
• Three Purple Sun Sect Hunting Hall Masters caught up with Ye Chen, who used Heart-Piercing Sword to stop one of their attacks.
• Ye Chen told the Hunting Hall Masters that an expert was protecting him, and a lightning strike descended from the sky and blasted the gloomy middle-aged man into ash.

Thunderclap Hermit rescued Ye Chen from three Purple Sun Sect martial artists and explained the power of True Essence and the history behind the sects’ feud. He urged Ye Chen to seek experience and a higher-grade cultivation art as Ye Chen resolved to pursue opportunities beyond the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.

• Thunderclap Hermit killed the three Late Primal Origin Realm pursuers with lightning, then landed beside Ye Chen and accepted his thanks.
• Thunderclap Hermit told Ye Chen that Purple Sun Sect’s Supreme Elder Liehuo had reached the Mid Star Extremity Realm and had likely colluded with Nine Nether Sect remnants against Wuyunzi.
• Thunderclap Hermit showed Ye Chen his True Essence and explained why Star Extremity Realm experts vastly outclassed Primal Origin Realm martial artists, citing Empress Xuan as a rare exception.
• Ye Chen strengthened his resolve to leave the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and seek experience after hearing about Empress Xuan’s achievements and Thunderclap Hermit’s warning about wasting his youth.
• Thunderclap Hermit advised Ye Chen to obtain a higher-grade cultivation art by the middle or late Primal Origin Realm, explaining that his Earth-Grade Mid-Tier art had slowed his own breakthrough.

Ye Chen crossed the Falling Goose River and entered the Five Poisons Mountain Range, where he encountered a group facing a deadly Five-Colored Toad. The toad attacked as the middle-aged man was knocked aside, leaving his son and two guards about to be swallowed when Ye Chen intervened.

• Thunderclap Hermit warned Ye Chen to protect his cultivation methods and left him to handle minor troubles on his own.
• Ye Chen crossed the Falling Goose River on a tree trunk, using pills to replenish his True Qi and fighting off whirlwinds and Demon Beasts along the way.
• Ye Chen identified the mountain range as the Five Poisons Mountain Range and entered its miasma-filled depths.
• Ye Chen found a group confronting a Five-Colored Toad, which swallowed a guard and poisoned two others with its blood.
• The toad ensnared Zheng Xuan and attacked the graceful woman, while its poisonous Demonic Energy knocked Zheng Xuan’s father aside.
• Ye Chen cut through the Five-Colored Toad’s tongue as it dragged Zheng Xuan and two guards toward its mouth.

Ye Chen rescued Lin Qingmei and her party from a Five-Colored Toad, treated Lu Zhengde’s poisoning, and escorted them back to Black Rock City. After he learned that the Huang Family was threatening the Lin Family over a sword-forging method, he confronted Elder Lu as the elder attacked him.

• Ye Chen killed the Five-Colored Toad, gathered its Inner Core, and helped purge some of Lu Zhengde’s poison before allowing the group to use the beast’s materials for an antidote.
• Ye Chen escorted Lin Qingmei, Lu Zhengde, and the surviving guards out of the Five Poisons Mountain Range and accompanied them to the Lin Family in Black Rock City.
• While Ye Chen cultivated at the Lin Family, the Huang Family’s patriarch and Elder Lu pressured Lin Tiemu to surrender the Cold Iron Sword forging method and threatened Lin Qingmei.
• Ye Chen intervened when Elder Lu tried to seize Lin Qingmei, then learned about the Huang Family’s conflict with the Lin Family.
• Elder Lu attacked Ye Chen with a Black Evil Palm, and Ye Chen drew the Dragon Spring Sword to meet him.

Ye Chen killed Elder Lu, left Black Rock City, and discovered an ancient map fragment pointing toward a red-marked location beyond the Falling Goose River. He boarded the Sea Beast to pursue it, while two young martial artists who also knew of the map set out after the same possible ruin.

• Ye Chen killed Elder Lu when the elder tried to seize Lin Qingmei, and Huang Jian withdrew his people after Lin Tiemu ordered him to leave.
• Ye Chen left Black Rock City the next morning and, three days later, examined Elder Lu's Storage Spirit Ring and found a damaged map marking a location near the Falling Goose River.
• Ye Chen decided to investigate the red dot and traveled to Linjiang City, where he boarded the Southern Merchant Guild's Sea Beast.
• Two young men confronted Huang Jian about Elder Lu's death, then revealed they had remembered the map's destination and planned to search for a ruin there.

Ye Chen traveled aboard the Southern Merchant Guild’s Sea Beast and learned about the powers of Star Extremity Realm experts. The voyage reached Chaoyang Kingdom, where the Sea Beast was overtaken by the winged expert Black Crow Taoist, who asked to rest aboard.

• Ye Chen learned that the Sea Beast was a Puppet Sect invention licensed to the Southern Merchant Guild by the Black Dragon Empire’s royal family.
• After ten days of travel, the Sea Beast entered Chaoyang Kingdom, and Captain Xu Changjian warned passengers to be cautious around powerful experts.
• At Prince Zhao Kang’s request, Xu Changjian explained how Star Extremity Realm experts could shape True Essence, create True Essence fire, and burn their essence to strengthen attacks.
• Ye Chen spotted a winged figure flying toward the Sea Beast at tremendous speed, and the figure landed on its prow.
• Xu Changjian identified the newcomer as Black Crow Taoist, who asked to rest aboard the Sea Beast, and Xu welcomed him.

Ye Chen and the Southern Merchant Guild’s Sea Beast traveled north along the Falling Goose River, passing powerful experts and learning the history of Sky-Trench Gorge. As they neared the gorge, its five-hundred-year-old Sword Intent struck Ye Chen especially hard, leaving him bleeding on the deck.

• The Black Crow Taoist joined the voyage, then flew off to fight another Star Extremity Realm expert after fire blazed from a distant mountain.
• Xu Changjian explained that the Black Crow Taoist belonged to the Soaring Demon Sect and used its Black Crow Grand Art as the two experts’ battle shattered a mountain.
• After twenty days of cultivation, Ye Chen advanced the Grand Dark Art to its eighth level as the Sea Beast continued toward Sky-Trench Gorge.
• Xu Changjian told the travelers that the Battle King had split Heavenly Pillar Peak with one sword strike five hundred years earlier, creating Sky-Trench Gorge.
• Residual Sword Intent enveloped the Sea Beast near the gorge, causing Ye Chen to cough blood as Xu Changjian warned that entering the gorge could destroy even a Star Extremity Realm expert’s soul.

Ye Chen discovered that the Sword Intent in Sky-Trench Gorge drew the broken sword in his Storage Spirit Ring, strengthening his suspicion that it had belonged to the Battle King. After reaching Three Rivers City, he joined Lin Yue at a gathering of young experts, where Murong Qingcheng arrived.

• Ye Chen recognized the Sword Intent in Sky-Trench Gorge as having endured for five hundred years, and the broken sword in his Storage Spirit Ring trembled and struck its spatial barrier as the Sea Beast passed the gorge.
• Ye Chen resolved to investigate Sky-Trench Gorge once he was strong enough, then disembarked at Three Rivers City and searched the crowded city for an inn.
• Ye Chen met Lin Yue in the inner city, learned that he was attending a gathering of Hidden Dragon Rankings experts, and agreed to go with him.
• Lin Yue introduced Ye Chen as the Nine Kingdoms' number one young expert, and Qi Shaofeng welcomed him after hearing he had defeated Yuan Hengying.
• Gao Yuan disparaged Ye Chen and the Nine Kingdoms, then Murong Qingcheng arrived at the gathering.

Ye Chen attended Qi Shaofeng’s gathering, where he correctly predicted Zhao Gang would defeat Cheng Feng and clashed verbally with Gao Yuan. Lin Yue stepped up to fight Gao Yuan, who revealed his Lightning True Qi as their duel began.

• Murong Qingcheng arrived at Qi Shaofeng’s gathering, and Lin Yue told Ye Chen about her rank and strength.
• Zhao Gang and Cheng Feng sparred, and Ye Chen predicted Zhao Gang would win by exploiting a gap in Cheng Feng’s attacks.
• Zhao Gang defeated Cheng Feng, proving Ye Chen’s analysis correct and silencing Gao Yuan’s mockery.
• Gao Yuan challenged Ye Chen and Lin Yue to a spar, and Lin Yue accepted before Ye Chen could respond.
• Gao Yuan activated his Lightning True Qi as he faced Lin Yue in the open space.

Ye Chen intervened when Gao Yuan nearly defeated Lin Yue, then faced Gao Yuan’s full-powered lightning attacks himself. He cleaved apart Gao Yuan’s Thunderous Onslaught with the Dragon Spring Sword, leaving the spectators stunned.

• Gao Yuan attacked Lin Yue with lightning-enhanced punches, while Lin Yue countered with earth True Qi and a giant tripod technique.
• Lin Yue’s giant True Qi tripod shattered under Gao Yuan’s lightning fist, and Lin Yue was badly injured.
• Ye Chen intercepted Gao Yuan’s next punch and split its lightning fist with the Dragon Spring Sword.
• Gao Yuan unleashed his full strength, splitting his lightning punch into two fists and then forming Lightning Armor.
• Gao Yuan’s Thunderous Onslaught sent a meteor-like bolt, electric arcs, and debris at Ye Chen, who cleaved the attack in two with one sword stroke.

Ye Chen revealed Minor Success Sword Intent and defeated Gao Yuan with one strike. Murong Qingcheng then fought Wei Renjie, whose Blade Intent could not overcome her seventh-layer Demonic Force Field, and the exchange ended with Wei Renjie conceding.

• Gao Yuan formed three lightning barriers, but Ye Chen pierced them with one sword strike and defeated him.
• Ye Chen told Lin Yue that he had reached Minor Success Sword Intent after gaining insight from the Battle King’s Sword Intent at Sky-Trench Gorge.
• Murong Qingcheng faced Wei Renjie, and Lin Yue explained that her Demonic Sky Art could create a force field while Wei Renjie had comprehended Blade Intent.
• Wei Renjie attacked with Blade Qi, but Murong Qingcheng’s seventh-layer Demonic Force Field twisted and shattered his strikes.
• Wei Renjie conceded defeat after recognizing he could not break through Murong Qingcheng’s force field, while Ye Chen considered the strengths and cultivation speed of their arts.