Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen nearly killed the Three Corpses Devil Lord before Sword Fool intervened, then recovered and entered his next match against Zhao Pan. He defeated Zhao Pan with his precise halberd technique, while Zhaoshenzi’s resentment toward him continued to grow.

• Qing Chen’s Nirvana Blood Rainbow pierced the Three Corpses Devil Lord’s Bone Shield, but Sword Fool stopped the killing blow and warned Qing Chen against excessive killing intent.
• Chan Master Xuanshan praised Qing Chen’s talent, while soldiers from the Fourth and Fifth Battalions celebrated his victory.
• Qing Chen apologized to Deputy Commander Xuanshan for failing to pull back, then withdrew to recover with a Fortune Talisman as Zhaoshenzi watched him with hatred.
• Gao Yuliang told Qing Chen that his next opponent was Zhao Pan, a Vajra Realm cultivator from the rear army’s Eighth Division.
• Qing Chen evaded Zhao Pan’s Mountain-Splitting Giant Axe and disrupted his defenses with precise halberd strikes.
• Qing Chen struck Zhao Pan’s waist with the halberd shaft and knocked him out of the arena.

Qing Chen advanced after defeating Zhao Pan, and the next selection round began with three powerful arena defenders. Ye Wushang challenged Jianyi True Person while Lingxu challenged Fierce-Eyed Vajra, leaving both fights underway.

• Qing Chen defeated Zhao Pan with his ji, advanced to the next round, and received Chan Master Xuanshan’s approving nod.
• Chan Master Wuxiang announced the roulette arena defense rules and the three commanders selected Jianyi True Person, Fierce-Eyed Vajra, and Qingpeng True Person as defenders.
• Ye Wushang challenged Jianyi True Person and attacked with an Azure Nether Sword Wheel, but Jianyi’s sword strike met his counterattack without settling the fight.
• Lingxu challenged Fierce-Eyed Vajra and hurled nine Mountain-Calming Treasure Seals at him.

Qing Chen watched the first round of arena battles and decided to wait for the strongest defenders to be replaced or worn down before challenging anyone. Jian Yi and Fierce-Eyed Vajra remained on their stages, while Wuxin won but spent considerable energy.

• Fierce-Eyed Vajra shattered Lingxu True Person’s seals and forced him to retreat as their fight began.
• Wuxin Dharma Master neutralized Qingpeng True Person’s attacks while Qing Chen decided to wait for a better chance to challenge.
• Jian Yi defeated Ye Wushang’s Azure Nether Heaven-Illuminating Sword Stele, and Ye Wushang left the stage without contesting the result.
• Fierce-Eyed Vajra overwhelmed Young Master Lingxu’s thunder arts and River-Overturning Seal, knocking him off the stage.
• Wuxin countered Qingpeng True Person’s Azure Peng Sky-Rending Strike and knocked him off the stage, but the effort left Wuxin pale.
• Jian Yi and Fierce-Eyed Vajra held their stages after the first round, and no one dared challenge them.

Wuxin Dharma Master recovered, won two consecutive challenges, and advanced, then named Qing Chen as the new Arena Defender. Qing Chen prepared to take advantage of Wuxin’s next move, while Zhaoshenzi saw the appointment as his chance to uncover Qing Chen’s secrets.

• Jian Yi and Fierce-Eyed Vajra advanced without challengers, while Wuxin conceded his arena after his strength failed to recover.
• Qingpeng True Person defeated a weakened Arena Defender, reclaimed his position, and secured advancement with two consecutive wins.
• Qing Chen watched the battles while waiting for Wuxin to act again, and Zhaoshenzi kept a malicious eye on him.
• Wuxin Dharma Master defeated a weakened Body Tempering cultivator, then beat two challengers to secure another place for the Central Army.
• Wuxin Dharma Master recommended Qing Chen as the new Arena Defender, and Zhaoshenzi recognized the opportunity he had been waiting for.

Qing Chen battled Young Master Lingxu on the arena, breaking through his lightning arts and overpowering his River-Overturning Seal before Lingxu transformed it into a thunder flood dragon. As Lingxu trapped him in a destructive lightning net, Qing Chen invoked the Blood Path and combined it with his Buddha-and-demon power for a decisive counterattack.

• Qing Chen charged through Young Master Lingxu’s Violet Heavens Startling Thunder Method and blocked the lightning with his halberd and armor.
• Qing Chen used Heavenly Severance to halt Lingxu’s River-Overturning Seal, then bound it with magnetic threads and disrupted Lingxu’s control.
• Lingxu fed the seal his essence blood and transformed it into a thunder flood dragon that drove Qing Chen backward with relentless attacks.
• Lingxu unleashed Thunder Prison: Strangulation, surrounding Qing Chen with a destructive net of lightning.
• Qing Chen invoked Blood Sea Spirit Attraction and gathered the Blood Path’s power alongside the ninth-level Wisdom King Suppressing the Prison technique before declaring, “Break!”

Qing Chen defeated Young Master Lingxu by tearing through his lightning attack and striking the River-Overturning Seal’s weak point. Before Qing Chen could fully recover, Zhaoshenzi challenged him and unleashed a fire domain, forcing Qing Chen to answer with his fused Third Demonic Aspect and full-power Sentient Beings Annihilation Seal; their collision cracked the arena’s barrier.

• Qing Chen tore apart Young Master Lingxu’s lightning net and struck the Thunder Flood Dragon’s reverse scale, shattering its form and sending Lingxu crashing from the arena.
• Qing Chen thanked Lingxu for yielding as the commanders and spectators reacted to his victory.
• During Qing Chen’s recovery period, Zhaoshenzi challenged him and summoned a vast glazed-fire domain and a powerful Scarlet-Gold Glazed Giant Seal.
• Qing Chen fused the Third Demonic Aspect with his body and formed the full-power Sentient Beings Annihilation Seal.
• Qing Chen and Zhaoshenzi’s attacks collided, producing a shock wave that cracked the arena’s restrictive barrier.

Qing Chen defeated Zhaoshenzi with the Sentient Beings Annihilation Seal, securing a place in the next round of the Individual Competition. He withdrew to recover his strength while the remaining matches continued, and Ye Wushang realized Qing Chen had held back during their earlier encounter.

• Qing Chen shattered Zhaoshenzi’s Great Sun Glazed Seal and gravely injured him, breaking the restriction barrier in the process.
• Qing Chen asked, “Who else?” but none of the challengers dared face him, and Chan Master Wuxiang declared that he advanced to the next round.
• Qing Chen returned to the Central Army Second Division’s camp, where Sun Wudi, Lin Changsheng, Xue Qingxia, Xin Bairen, Su Zixuan, and Wuxin Dharma Master regarded him with awe.
• Qing Chen entered his tent and absorbed spiritual energy from a mid-grade Fortune Talisman and high-grade spirit stones to replenish his strength.
• Ye Wushang watched Qing Chen and concluded that Qing Chen had not used his full strength when they fought earlier on Vajra Spirit Island.

Qing Chen prepared the Fourth Battalion for the Army Competition, where Lin Changsheng drew a match against Battalion Four. The two sides headed to the preparation area as the competition’s first battle approached.

• Gao Yuliang told Qing Chen that the Army Competition was beginning and confirmed the roster followed the required cultivation limits.
• Qing Chen ordered Lin Changsheng to muster the men and draw lots, while Lin Changsheng selected experienced officers and organized two thousand elite cultivators.
• Lin Changsheng led the Fourth Battalion to the drill ground, where Wei Ting had assembled the participating armies and activated the Myriad Armies Profound Mirror Formation.
• Lin Changsheng drew lot number sixty-one, making his battalion Battalion Sixty-One and assigning it to face Battalion Four.
• A Golden Core Early Stage commander from the Front Army regarded Lin Changsheng with contempt, and Lin Changsheng led his troops toward their preparation area without responding.

Battalions One and Sixty-Four began a Dao Soldier warfare screening exercise in the Desolate Wilderness Forest, where they tried to conceal their forces and detect the enemy. Battalion Sixty-Four gained the initiative with a three-pronged ambush that broke through part of Battalion One’s flank.

• The formation projected the Desolate Wilderness Forest battlefield onto a vast screen as Battalion One and Battalion Sixty-Four entered from opposite ends.
• Battalion One deployed its screening formations clumsily, while Battalion Sixty-Four established a somewhat stronger divine-sense obstruction field and steadier concealment.
• Lin Changsheng watched the battalions struggle and judged their coordination and combat experience inferior to the veteran forces of the Fourth Battalion.
• Battalion Sixty-Four sent three scout teams ahead, and one slipped behind a fern thicket beside Battalion One’s main force before relaying its position.
• Battalion Sixty-Four’s Golden Core commander ordered an attack, and three Banners launched formation strikes against Battalion One’s flank.
• Battalion One’s defenders hurriedly countered, but Battalion Sixty-Four’s ambush tore through part of their flank and caused many divine soul projections to disappear.

Camp One defeated Camp Sixty-Four after its commander sacrificed hundreds of soldiers to unleash a Fortune Talisman-enhanced Black Bird formation. Wei Ting then explained that camp rankings could earn cultivators extra years of immortal stipend and outlined how Great Jin’s merit system worked.

• Camp One’s commander sacrificed a five-hundred-person unit to buy time while he gathered his elite troops and activated a mid-grade Fortune Talisman.
• Camp One’s Black Bird Sea-Covering Formation devastated both sides’ vanguard forces, destroying Camp Sixty-Four’s raiding unit and Camp One’s own cannon fodder.
• Camp One’s commander led the remaining troops in an assault that broke Camp Sixty-Four’s disorganized defenses and annihilated its forces.
• The drill ground fell silent after Camp One won at the cost of roughly fifteen hundred projections, including five hundred of its own soldiers.
• Wei Ting announced rewards for outstanding camp performance and explained the immortal stipend, merit, and exchange system.

Lin Changsheng led Battalion Sixty-One through a carefully concealed flanking maneuver and unleashed a devastating strike against Battalion Four’s command center. With the enemy formation shattered and its morale collapsing, he ordered his troops to kill.

• Lin Changsheng concealed Battalion Sixty-One with scouts, talismans, formation flags, and curses while Battalion Four advanced less effectively.
• Using information gathered by his scouts, Lin Changsheng guided Battalion Sixty-One around Battalion Four’s main force and into position behind its flank.
• Lin Changsheng ordered Su Zixuan, Han Shi, and Yuwen Bujing to strike Battalion Four’s left wing, while Xu Jiuling’s group blocked reinforcements and Duan Tianya’s group guarded the flank.
• Battalion Sixty-One’s main force charged toward Battalion Four’s command center as its left wing collapsed.
• Lin Changsheng used a mid-grade Fortune Talisman and the Hanging Skull!-Army Breaker attack to destroy Battalion Four’s command center and devastate its defenders.
• Battalion Four’s formation unraveled and its morale collapsed, and Lin Changsheng ordered his troops to kill.

Battalion Sixty-One overwhelmed Battalion Four with a coordinated attack and won the unit competition with almost no losses. Qing Chen then competed in the Individual Competition, defeating three opponents but conceding to Fierce-Eyed Vajra, leaving him ranked second.

• Lin Changsheng directed Battalion Sixty-One as it encircled and annihilated Battalion Four, securing a decisive victory.
• The supervising instructor declared Battalion Sixty-One the winner, and spectators praised its coordination and minimal losses.
• The Individual Competition ended with nine cultivators advancing, including Qing Chen, while Zhaoshenzi and Ye Wushang failed to secure arena places.
• Qing Chen faced Fierce-Eyed Vajra in the Ranking Competition but conceded after failing to overcome his powerful defenses.
• Qing Chen defeated Qingpeng True Person, Wuxin Dharma Master, and Jian Yi, finishing in second place.

After placing second in the Individual Competition, Qing Chen received lavish rewards, including a High-Grade Fortune Talisman, and decided to seek leave to buy more resources. Chan Master Xuanshan denied his request because the army had canceled all leave amid approaching upheaval, so Qing Chen went to the Military Supply Depot to exchange his merits for treasures.

• Qing Chen received three thousand minor merits, ten Mid-Grade Fortune Talismans, and a High-Grade Fortune Talisman for his second-place finish.
• Qing Chen asked Chan Master Xuanshan for leave to visit Gouyu Prefecture, but Xuanshan said all leave was canceled until the ten-year training period ended.
• Chan Master Xuanshan offered to help Qing Chen obtain resources from outside the camp if Qing Chen paid the Spirit Stone costs himself.
• Qing Chen accepted the order and went to the Central Army's Military Supply Depot to exchange his merits.
• The clerk warmly congratulated Qing Chen on taking second place in the Individual Competition.

After placing second in the Individual Competition, Qing Chen browsed the military supply storehouse’s treasures but found his 3,300 minor merits could not buy the items he wanted. He left intending to seek out Chan Master Xuanshan instead.

• The storehouse clerk treated Qing Chen with fawning respect because of his recent accomplishments and favor with True Lords.
• Qing Chen inspected the storehouse’s cultivation arts, weapons, materials, and medicines through its appraisal formation.
• Qing Chen considered how a Nascent Soul Formation Pill or Inner Infant Pill could improve his breakthrough chances when combined with his spirit embryo fruit and demon lotus.
• Qing Chen concluded that his merits could not buy anything useful and left the storehouse to go to Chan Master Xuanshan.

After finding his minor merits insufficient to buy the resources he wanted, Qing Chen asked Chan Master Xuanshan for help. Xuanshan brought him before Chan Master Wuxiang, who approved of Qing Chen and invited him to make his request, leaving Xuanshan stunned by the costly list Qing Chen named.

• Qing Chen returned from the military supply depot and asked Chan Master Xuanshan to help him obtain Dragon Blood Grass, a Rising Sun Spirit Pill, and other resources.
• Chan Master Xuanshan took Qing Chen to a guarded stone hall to meet Chan Master Wuxiang, the Central Army's Guard Army Commander.
• Chan Master Xuanshan praised Qing Chen's performance and potential, then asked Wuxiang to help him find a way to purchase cultivation resources despite the cancellation of leave.
• Chan Master Wuxiang examined Qing Chen, praised his foundations and accomplishments, and invited him to speak freely because he was one of their own.
• Qing Chen requested Crimson Flame Sky Wings, Dragon Blood Grass, a Rising Sun Spirit Pill, asura flesh and blood, and essence of geng metal, shocking Chan Master Xuanshan with the expense.

Qing Chen requested rare materials, pills, and magic treasures from Chan Master Wuxiang, then paid for the exchange with spirit stones and valuable items. Wuxiang approved the deal, which would be completed within half a month.

• Qing Chen asked Chan Master Wuxiang for additional deep-sea sinking silver and twice the quantities of Dragon Blood Grass and Rising Sun Spirit Pills.
• Chan Master Wuxiang agreed to Qing Chen's requests and quoted prices, but Qing Chen said he lacked enough spirit stones.
• Qing Chen offered several rare treasures, including azure sky voidstone, and Chan Master Xuanshan reacted with astonishment.
• Chan Master Wuxiang accepted the treasures and a Lesser Nascent Soul Formation Pill as payment toward the requested goods, leaving Qing Chen forty thousand Middle-Grade Spirit Stones short.
• Qing Chen supplied the remaining spirit stones, and Chan Master Wuxiang said the exchange would be completed within half a month.

After the military competition, Lin Changsheng rejected offers to leave Qing Chen, while the army prepared for an imminent campaign. In a secret meeting, Xiao Canglan learned that Wu Gui had seized much of Lingnan Circuit and destroyed its Profound Mirror Sky-Hunting Bureau in Qiong Province.

• Lin Changsheng rejected attempts to recruit him, remaining loyal to Qing Chen as his master and leader.
• The army denied all requests for rest leave, signaling that the Gou Wu Whale Army was being kept ready for war.
• The Prison Suppression Mirror Lord reported that the Mirror-Holding Envoy of Qiong Province and his subordinates had been killed, leaving the local bureau paralyzed.
• Yue Hanshan reported that Tie Zhan controlled only five provinces, while Annan Province, Qiong Province, and Gui Province were nearly out of control.
• Xiao Canglan learned that Wu Gui had taken nearly half of Lingnan Circuit and now possessed combat strength comparable to a Spirit Transformation Venerable.

Xiao Canglan and the Prison Suppression Mirror Lord planned to send forces into the Lingnan Circuit and strengthen the Gou Wu Whale Army. Four and a half years later, Qing Chen defeated Fierce-Eyed Vajra in a shocking duel at the army’s drill grounds.

• Xiao Canglan ordered preparations to send a Southeastern Circuit army to Yazhou and draft 150,000 cultivators from the Gouwu Sea as reserves for the Gou Wu Whale Army.
• Four and a half years later, Qing Chen and Fierce-Eyed Vajra fought before cultivators gathered at the Gou Wu Whale Army’s drill grounds.
• Fierce-Eyed Vajra unleashed his Buddhist art, Fierce-Eyed Vajra-Buddha’s Wrathful Visage, and struck at Qing Chen with a giant golden Buddha palm.
• Qing Chen fused with his Third Demonic Aspect and used his annihilating death intent to pierce through the Buddha palm and Buddhist seal.
• Qing Chen’s halberd shattered Fierce-Eyed Vajra’s defenses and blasted him through the restriction screen into a crater.

After four and a half years of cultivation, Qing Chen reached peak Golden Core and upgraded his weapons and armor before defeating Fierce-Eyed Vajra in a spar. Fierce-Eyed Vajra handed over the high-grade Fortune Talisman he had wagered and left to heal, promising to challenge Qing Chen again.

• Qing Chen used Fortune Talismans and a Rising Sun Spirit Pill to advance from late Golden Core to peak Golden Core.
• Qing Chen paid an army supervisor grandmaster to incorporate Geng Metal into the Pojun Battle Halberd, awakening its damaged vitality, and exchanged his Dragon Robe in Battle Armor and deep-sea sinking silver for the Black Demon Blood Armor.
• Qing Chen defeated Fierce-Eyed Vajra, whose body was badly injured but began recovering through Buddhist essence.
• Fierce-Eyed Vajra admitted defeat, praised Qing Chen's strength, and gave him the high-grade Fortune Talisman they had wagered.
• Fierce-Eyed Vajra left to heal and vowed to challenge Qing Chen again after emerging from seclusion.

After defeating Fierce-Eyed Vajra, Qing Chen claimed a high-grade Fortune Talisman and was summoned by Tie Ming, who revealed that Wu Gui’s rebellion had plunged much of Lingnan Circuit into crisis. Tie Ming proposed an alliance with Qing Chen ahead of the Gou Wu Whale Army’s deployment to the region.

• Qing Chen reflected on the Black Demon Blood Armor’s potential and sensed that the high-grade Fortune Talisman could help him profit from the coming turmoil.
• Lin Changsheng and Qing Chen’s trusted followers praised him after his victory over Fierce-Eyed Vajra, and Qing Chen ordered them to return and organize the troops.
• Tie Ming summoned Qing Chen to Black Centipede Cliff and asked whether he remembered the three forces investigating his background.
• Tie Ming explained that Wu Gui and the Miao Gu Clans had seized nearly half the prefectures in Lingnan Circuit, prompting the Immortal Dynasty’s forces to prepare for intervention.
• Tie Ming praised Qing Chen’s strength and command abilities, then proposed that they form an alliance for mutual defense and offense.