Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen tried every attack he could muster against the nine-story tower’s stone door, but it remained untouched. The Blood Jiangshi True Mansion Token and a mantra from True Person Budong finally caused a response, though the door had not opened yet.

• Qing Chen tested the stone door with Grudge Ghosts, White Bone Demon Soldiers, refined corpses, Demon General Pojun, qi and blood, Yellow Springs baleful intent, magic power, and his full-strength punch, but none affected it.
• After exhausting his methods, Qing Chen decided to use the Blood Jiangshi True Mansion Token despite fearing it might teleport him out and cost him the chance to find the Condensing Gold Fruit.
• Qing Chen infused the token with magic power and pressed it against the door, causing a recess to appear; placing the token inside produced no further change.
• Qing Chen recalled the runic incantation True Person Budong had taught him and began performing it, sending Esoteric Sect Lineage runes swirling around the door in resonance with the token.

Qing Chen spent one hundred thousand spirit stones to open a passage beyond the Nine-Story Tower’s stone door and entered a vast Martial Arts Stage. A golden light scanned him and announced the trial rules, leaving him wary of the challenge ahead.

• Qing Chen realized spirit stones might power the formation and fed them into it until he had spent one hundred thousand.
• A passage appeared beyond the stone door, and the dormant Old Meditation Cushion in Qing Chen’s dantian began to glow faintly.
• Qing Chen entered the passage and found himself on an immense Martial Arts Stage surrounded by spectral-blue flames and a towering stele.
• The stele fired golden light into Qing Chen’s Sea of Consciousness, ignoring his defenses.
• A mechanical voice identified Qing Chen as the 188,888th disciple attempting the trials and warned that he could use only one item per stage.

Qing Chen entered the Nine-Story Tower’s trial and fought its first opponent, the Flame-Patterned Monk, while carefully limiting the methods he revealed. After defeating him, Qing Chen advanced to the third layer, where he encountered a variety of monks.

• A mysterious voice called Qing Chen by name, and his exposed Spirit Artifacts and Talismans were pulled into his Storage Ring as the trial began.
• Qing Chen restrained himself from using his hidden weapons and artifacts, instead forming a blood tiger with Blood Qi Manifestation to fight a humanoid blaze.
• The blood tiger knocked the blaze back, revealing a late-stage Foundation Establishment Buddhist body cultivator called the Flame-Patterned Monk.
• Qing Chen used Blood Blades alongside the blood tiger’s attacks, weakening the Flame-Patterned Monk despite his angry protests.
• The Flame-Patterned Monk identified himself as Venerable Flameheart, vowed to repay the grudge, and dispersed into flames.
• Qing Chen advanced through the trial to the third layer, where he faced a variety of different monks.

Qing Chen defeated the second-floor guardian, Pure Water Venerable, and faced Venerable Tuyue on the third floor. He held back his hidden techniques while fighting at close range, then used the Blood Tiger to restrain Tuyue and opened a fierce attack.

• Qing Chen used the Blood Tiger, Blood Blades, and Dark Yin Sword to overwhelm Pure Water Venerable on the second floor.
• Qing Chen met Venerable Tuyue on the third floor and recognized that Tuyue’s strength was near Foundation Establishment Peak.
• Qing Chen relied on the Dark Yin Sword and Blood Tiger while avoiding powerful killing moves that might be copied by later guardians.
• Qing Chen chose close combat after Tuyue’s vajra pestle drove off the sword and his defenses blunted the Blood Blades.
• The Blood Tiger sacrificed its forepaws to seize Tuyue’s arm in its jaws, allowing Qing Chen to hammer Tuyue’s lower back and send Sword Qi toward his head.

Qing Chen cleared the third trial, became a full Inner Sect disciple, and chose to continue despite the risk. He defeated Venerable Sanmu in the fourth trial and faced Venerable Jinming, whose aura hinted at the Pseudo-Core realm.

• Qing Chen recovered under the golden light after defeating Venerable Tuyue and clearing the third trial.
• The trial voice promoted Qing Chen to a full Inner Sect disciple and offered him the choice to continue or stop, and he chose to continue.
• The golden light transformed the Blood Jiangshi True Mansion Token, giving Qing Chen a sense of connection to the Blood Jiangshi Branch Altar.
• Qing Chen fought Venerable Sanmu, countered his wood-element attacks with Demon Lotus Karmic Fire, and killed him after nearly an hour.
• Qing Chen restored his strength and began the fifth trial, where he encountered Venerable Jinming, a metal-element monk with an aura hinting at the Pseudo-Core realm.

Qing Chen defeated Venerable Jinming on the fifth layer after a grueling battle, then recovered and faced Arhat Fengchi on the sixth. Fengchi opened their encounter with a lightning-fast punch that Qing Chen barely blocked.

• Venerable Jinming overwhelmed Qing Chen with his Pseudo-Core physical strength, saber, and combat techniques.
• Qing Chen empowered himself with the Formless Demon God and summoned the Buddha's Wrath Wisdom King Ring-Pommel Saber to keep fighting.
• Qing Chen used Yellow Springs Baleful Intent to slow Venerable Jinming, then struck him with his saber and demon fire, clearing the fifth layer.
• Qing Chen recovered on the arena and was transported to the sixth layer, where he met the tranquil Arhat Fengchi.
• Arhat Fengchi rushed Qing Chen and punched at his face, and Qing Chen barely blocked the blow with his Golden Body Demon Aspect.

Qing Chen fought Arhat Fengchi, who ambushed him with a concealed spirit artifact and nearly overwhelmed him with refined body-cultivation techniques. After enduring hours of combat and studying Fengchi’s moves, Qing Chen used the Heartless Demon Aspect and Avīci Heartless Seal to defeat him, and golden light enveloped him.

• Arhat Fengchi ambushed Qing Chen with his high-grade Fist Gauntlets, injuring him before withdrawing and challenging him to continue fighting.
• Qing Chen summoned the Yin-Thunder Wings and counterattacked, but Arhat Fengchi evaded his strike and wounded him with the Dragon-Locking Unrestrained Heavenly Eagle Claw.
• Qing Chen activated twenty drops of Brahma Aperture Essence Blood and fought Arhat Fengchi for hours, using his speed advantage while learning his opponent’s combat techniques.
• Qing Chen deployed the Heartless Demon Aspect, disrupting Arhat Fengchi’s mind, then struck him with the Avīci Heartless Seal and shattered his arm and chest.
• Qing Chen finished off the severely wounded Arhat Fengchi, and golden light shot from the stone stele to envelop him.

Qing Chen used the Old Meditation Cushion’s golden light to transform more than three hundred Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and Yellow Springs Baleful Intent into a force that replenished and tempered him. After enduring the ordeal, he advanced his body cultivation and left with new confidence in his ability to face Fengchi.

• The Old Meditation Cushion drew more than three hundred Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and four bottles of Yellow Springs Baleful Intent from Qing Chen’s Storage Ring, then merged them into a surging force around him.
• Qing Chen endured alternating heat and cold as the force replenished his qi and blood, magic power, and divine sense while the Yellow Springs Baleful Intent tempered his body.
• Qing Chen discovered that his Immovable Wisdom King Heart Method had advanced and that he had mastered Unaffected by a Hundred Poisons and Golden Sinews and Silver Bones.
• Qing Chen tested his strengthened body and concluded that he could now face a False Core cultivator head-on without relying on a demon aspect secret technique.
• Qing Chen vowed that he could crush Fengchi in a rematch without using the Second Demon Aspect, the Heartless Demon Aspect.

Qing Chen chose to continue the Nine-Story Tower trials and defeated Thunderclap Arhat on the seventh floor after a prolonged battle. He was sent onward to face the eighth floor.

• Qing Chen rejected the offer to stop and accepted the tower's tempering of his Blood Jiangshi True Mansion Token, which gained a third blood-colored marking.
• Qing Chen arrived in a thunder pool and met Thunderclap Arhat, the seventh-floor guardian.
• Qing Chen fought Thunderclap Arhat hand to hand, then matched his Lotus-Silk Thundercloud Boots with his own Yin-Thunder Wings.
• After nearly two hours of fighting, Qing Chen outlasted Thunderclap Arhat and struck him down with his Buddha's Wrath Wisdom King Ring-Pommel Saber.
• Qing Chen cleared the seventh floor and advanced to the eighth.

Qing Chen faced the eighth-floor guardian, Jingyun Arhat, whose cloud techniques overwhelmed his first attacks and injured him. Qing Chen summoned both supreme-grade demon banners and formed an army around Jingyun Arhat, preparing to counterattack.

• Jingyun Arhat attacked Qing Chen with the Innate Five Qi Cloud-Repelling Palm and the battle art Black Clouds Bore Down on the City, Threatening to Crush It.
• Qing Chen's Buddha's Wrath Wisdom King Ring-Pommel Saber shattered against the cloud city, and his Avīci Heartless Seal briefly halted its advance as he was injured.
• Qing Chen summoned the Pojun Demon Banner and released Demon General Pojun, Giant Wolf Cavalry, White Bone Demon Soldiers, and Grudge Ghosts.
• Qing Chen discovered that the Di Jiang Demon Banner could also be activated inside the pagoda and released its forces, including Demon General Di Jiang.
• Qing Chen's two demon-banner armies formed battle formations around Jingyun Arhat, and Qing Chen directed them to attack.

Qing Chen and his forces defeated the exhausted Arhat Jingyun after a costly battle on the eighth floor, earning him promotion to true disciple. As he chose to accept a gift rather than risk the ninth trial, the Old Meditation Cushion suddenly urged him to attempt it.

• Qing Chen’s Demon Soldiers, Grudge Ghosts, and generals fought Arhat Jingyun for hours, suffering devastating losses as Jingyun’s cloud palms battered the Thousand-Demon Battle Formation.
• Qing Chen exploited Jingyun’s growing exhaustion and landed a sneak attack while Demon General Pojun sacrificed himself to create an opening.
• Arhat Jingyun fell, and Qing Chen cleared the eighth floor after losing most of his army, all six Giant Wolf Cavalry riders, and Demon General Pojun.
• The stone stele healed Qing Chen and promoted him from provisional to true disciple, then offered him the choice of risking the ninth trial or accepting a gift.
• Qing Chen decided to stop and accept the gift, but the Old Meditation Cushion flared inside his sea of qi and sent him the message, “Attempt... the... ninth... floor.”

Qing Chen chose to challenge the Ninth Trial after the meditation cushion urged him onward, and was transported into a chaotic realm before the Immovable Wisdom King Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva revealed that he intended to make Qing Chen his Dharma body, while Qing Chen tried to stay calm and learn more about his plans.

• Qing Chen decided to risk the Ninth Trial, believing the meditation cushion had led him to a great opportunity.
• Qing Chen challenged the Ninth Trial, and the tower shook as he was transported into a storm-filled realm.
• Qing Chen saw a massive Golden-Body Bodhisattva emerge from the clouds and appealed to the cushion for help.
• The Bodhisattva identified himself as the Immovable Wisdom King Bodhisattva and said Qing Chen was the perfect vessel for his Dharma body.
• Qing Chen reasoned that the Bodhisattva could not detect the cushion and questioned him about the Bodhi Spirit Body and its seals.

The Golden-Body Bodhisattva explained the Bodhi Spirit Body’s sealed potential before trying to kill Qing Chen, who answered with a desperate saber strike. Just as the Bodhisattva suppressed him, a beam of Nine-Colored Light pierced through the attack and struck the Bodhisattva between the brows.

• The Golden-Body Bodhisattva told Qing Chen that the Bodhi Spirit Body excelled at comprehending laws and that rare treasures could remove its seals and restore its full power.
• As the Golden-Body Bodhisattva prepared to strike, Qing Chen heard a fragmentary message urging him to draw his saber and slash.
• Qing Chen burned twenty drops of essence blood, activated his second demon aspect, and unleashed the Buddha's Wrath Wisdom King Ring-Pommel Saber.
• The Golden-Body Bodhisattva countered with the Five-Finger Vajra Prison and easily suppressed Qing Chen's saber strike.
• A beam of Nine-Colored Light burst from Qing Chen, pierced the Golden-Body Bodhisattva's palm, and struck between his brows, leaving him shocked and enraged.

Qing Chen defeated the Golden-Body Bodhisattva during the ninth trial and was promoted to one of the Twelve Holy Sons. The meditation cushion then suppressed the bodhisattva’s remaining power before a mysterious force teleported Qing Chen out of the trial space.

• Qing Chen used the nine-colored light’s attack on the Golden-Body Bodhisattva to strike with his monastic saber and launch a sustained assault.
• Qing Chen exhausted the Golden-Body Bodhisattva’s strength until his manifestation crumbled, while the bodhisattva warned that the Glazed Buddhist Domain would seek revenge.
• The stone stele announced that Qing Chen had passed the ninth trial and promoted him to one of the Twelve Holy Sons.
• The meditation cushion entered the stone stele and suppressed the Golden-Body Bodhisattva’s remaining power.
• A mysterious force teleported Qing Chen out, leaving him facing the swaying Nine-Story Tower.

Qing Chen obtained the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda and was registered as its Three-Luminary Authority Holder. He learned its permissions and wondered whether the mysterious, incomplete Grand Void Heavenly Secrets Permission truly came from the pagoda.

• The Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda transformed, shrank, and flew into Qing Chen's sea of qi.
• Qing Chen found the pagoda and a spinning nine-colored bead inside his sea of qi, then tried to refine the treasure.
• The pagoda sent information into Qing Chen's sea of consciousness and registered him as the Three-Luminary Authority Holder.
• Qing Chen learned that the pagoda granted spatial, guardian, trial, and incomplete Grand Void Heavenly Secrets permissions.
• Qing Chen rejoiced at his new permissions but questioned whether the mysterious Heavenly Secrets Permission came from the pagoda.

Qing Chen explored the Nine Luminaries Glazed Wisdom King Tower, discovering its vast storage space and medicinal fields as he considered how to use its other authorities. Guided by the Holy Son Token, he traveled through the Blood Jiangshi Secret Realm toward the Spring Night Ghost Grave, stripping valuable halls and treasures along the way.

• Qing Chen attributed his new status as wielder of three luminaries to the meditation cushion and celebrated his good fortune.
• Qing Chen discovered that the tower’s space authority contained an island with medicinal fields, then stored most of his valuables there.
• Qing Chen considered cultivating medicinal ingredients and learning alchemy, while deciding to save the tower’s other authorities for later.
• Qing Chen activated the Guiding Compass in his Twelve Holy Son Token and took a concealed route toward the Spring Night Ghost Grave.
• Qing Chen dismantled valuable halls and collected their contents, using the tower’s enormous storage space to carry them away.

Qing Chen reached a mountain of palaces while seeking the Condensing Gold Fruit and met Daoist Changxuan of the Dian Cang Sect, who warned him the palaces held no treasures. Qing Chen attacked and killed Daoist Changxuan, leaving him to absorb the man's power for his Pojun Demon Banner.

• Qing Chen arrived at the foot of a towering mountain crowned with palaces after several hours of travel.
• Daoist Changxuan told Qing Chen the palaces were empty and advised him to search elsewhere.
• Qing Chen ambushed Daoist Changxuan, damaged his spirit swords, and overwhelmed his defenses with his techniques.
• Daoist Changxuan tried to escape with a Blood Evasion Talisman, but Qing Chen intercepted him and struck his sea of qi.
• Qing Chen froze Daoist Changxuan, shattered his internal organs, and killed him.

Qing Chen killed Daoist Changxuan and used his remains to strengthen the Pojun Demon Banner and advance the Demon Lotus Karmic Fire. Following the Twelve Holy Sons Token through the eerily preserved mountain complex, he reached a dilapidated worship hall and found a kneeling clay statue beside a cenotaph and a wordless stele.

• Qing Chen absorbed Daoist Changxuan's corpse into the Pojun Demon Banner, forming a demon general and advancing the Demon Lotus Karmic Fire to the seventh turn.
• Qing Chen reflected on how the Nine-Story Tower's trials had strengthened his spell cultivation, body cultivation, and combat techniques.
• Qing Chen climbed toward the mountain peak, laying talismans and formations to guard against ambushes.
• Qing Chen blasted open the pristine temple doors and followed the Twelve Holy Sons Token through the looted buildings.
• Qing Chen entered a dilapidated worship hall and discovered a kneeling clay Daoist beside a cenotaph and a wordless stele.

Ding Buxing fought refined corpses in the Spring Night Ghost Grave and, following Elder Pan’s guidance, used the Spirit Rhinoceros Yin Tiger Art to kill their silver-armored leader. Elder Pan then revealed that Foundation Establishment cultivators were heading toward the Ghost Domain Medicine Garden as unwitting scapegoats, while Qing Chen had not come.

• Ding Buxing struggled against the Si Snake Puppet and other refined corpses while Elder Pan explained their abilities and the danger of being surrounded.
• Elder Pan advised Ding Buxing to use the Spirit Rhinoceros Yin Tiger Art and strike the Si Snake Puppet’s reverse scale beneath its armpit.
• Ding Buxing combined the Yin Tiger technique with the Ruyi Seal Spirit Talisman to break the puppet’s armor and kill it.
• Ding Buxing used his spirit talismans to kill the remaining refined corpses after they panicked at their leader’s death.
• Elder Pan told Ding Buxing that Foundation Establishment cultivators were heading toward the Ghost Domain Medicine Garden and were intended as scapegoats, then remarked that Qing Chen had not come.

Qing Chen completed the Moon-Worshipping Divine Cult’s sacrificial rite and entered the Spring and Autumn Ghost Grave Path. Meanwhile, Elder Shangshan led the Condensed Jade Sect group through the graveyard toward the Condensing Gold Fruit Tree, where they and rival sects were attacked by refined corpses.

• Qing Chen bowed before the Wordless Stele, presented his Twelve Holy Son Token, and cursed the clay Daoist statue as part of the required rite.
• The token opened a black gateway on the clay statue’s right index finger, and Qing Chen leaped into the Spring and Autumn Ghost Grave Path.
• Elder Shangshan warned Xu Jiuling and the others about the graveyard’s dangerous corpses and guided them along a roundabout route toward the Condensing Gold Fruit Tree.
• The Condensed Jade Sect group discussed the arrival of Blackwood Island and the Impermanence Sect and prioritized harvesting the ripening Condensing Gold Fruit.
• Seven or eight Gold-Armored and Silver-Armored Corpses emerged from the mist and attacked the Condensed Jade Sect group, while similar corpses surrounded the rival sects elsewhere.