Chapter Summaries

Lu Guan chose the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture, a Grotto-Heaven Method, and Chen Jingchou brought him to the Prince of Yan’s Residence to cultivate at the Cold Abyss Well. Lu Guan received the well and prepared to begin practicing, confident he could quickly advance to the Inner Landscape Realm.

• Chen Jingchou told Elder Jiang that Lu Guan had mastered the Celestial Person One Saber Slash and speculated that Lu Guan resembled the Prince of Yan.
• Lu Guan returned from the Heaven-Character Secret Vault and told Elder Jiang and Chen Jingchou that he had chosen the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture.
• Chen Jingchou invited Lu Guan to stay at the Prince of Yan’s Residence, explaining that the Prince of Yan wanted him to guard the Cold Abyss Well.
• Chen Jingchou showed Lu Guan the Cold Abyss Well and explained that its concentrated Qi of heaven and earth could aid cultivation, especially after reaching the Inner Landscape Realm.
• Lu Guan examined the solid fruit containing the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture and resolved to create a miracle in his cultivation.

Lu Guan studied how to condense Divine Thought and used his panel to overcome his difficulty, then discovered the Cold Abyss Well’s chilling Qi could temper it. He prepared to visualize his Dantian and open an Inner Landscape within his body.

• After Chen Jingchou left, Lu Guan studied the Inner Landscape Realm and learned that opening one required Divine Thought.
• Lu Guan tried to condense Divine Thought himself, but after two and a half days of failure, he used the panel to perfect the True Spirit Spirit Condensation Method.
• Lu Guan formed Divine Thought and used it to see inside his body and perceive the Qi flowing through the world around him.
• Lu Guan probed the Cold Abyss Well, felt its icy Qi nearly freeze his Divine Thought, and realized the well could temper it.
• Lu Guan decided to visualize his Dantian with Divine Thought and open an Inner Landscape within himself.

Lu Guan broke through to the Inner Landscape Realm, gaining the True Spirit Grotto-Heaven and two powerful mysteries. He wondered whether a realm between martial arts and cultivation had been erased before Chen Jingchou arrived and saw his breakthrough.

• Lu Guan used the panel’s simulated decades of cultivation to visualize the Five Viscera Gods and establish the inner landscape’s internal cycle.
• Lu Guan’s five currents of Qi condensed into a pill, forming the True Spirit Grotto-Heaven and advancing him to the Inner Landscape Realm.
• Lu Guan learned the grotto-heaven mysteries Mountain-Bearing Bones and Drink the Long River, which strengthened his body and continually restored his stamina.
• Lu Guan checked his new realm and lifespan, then breathed in heaven and earth’s Qi without needing food.
• Lu Guan suspected that a transitional realm between martial arts and cultivation had been erased and wondered whether Chen Jingchou had helped him survive the old ape’s attack.
• Chen Jingchou entered the courtyard, saw Lu Guan, and exclaimed that he had broken through.

After Lu Guan reached the Inner Landscape Realm, Chen Jingchou explained how that realm related to the Martial Dao and revealed the danger demons and fiends posed to humanity. The chapter ended with Lu Guan eager to test his new strength against Chen Jingchou.

• Lu Guan's breakthrough astonished Chen Jingchou and the other Inner Landscape Realm cultivators at the Prince of Yan's Residence.
• Chen Jingchou explained that Refining Essence into Qi was the true path to the Inner Landscape Realm, while Great Li's Martial Dao offered another route back to cultivation.
• Chen Jingchou revealed that Inner Landscape Realm Cultivation Methods came from demons and fiends, while cultivation Aristocratic Clans withheld the prerequisite methods.
• Chen Jingchou warned Lu Guan that demons and fiends dominated the world and swept across the land every hundred years, making Divine Treasury Realm cultivators vital to protecting humanity.
• Lu Guan showed his fighting spirit and challenged Chen Jingchou to test his newfound strength, and Chen Jingchou accepted with a mischievous grin.

Chen Jingchou and Lu Guan sparred after Chen Jingchou opened with a surprise punch, but Lu Guan’s Grotto-Heaven marvel let him withstand attacks and overwhelm Chen Jingchou. The fight left Chen Jingchou stunned by Lu Guan’s strength, while Lu Guan discovered that his body was tougher than he had expected.

• Chen Jingchou suppressed his cultivation to the Inner Landscape Realm First Layer and surprised Lu Guan with a punch.
• Lu Guan blocked the punch with the strength of [Mountain-Bearing Bones] and retaliated with Celestial Person One Saber Slash.
• Chen Jingchou used [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] to seal the surrounding Qi of heaven and earth and suppress Lu Guan’s saber attack.
• Lu Guan discarded his saber, rushed Chen Jingchou, and struck him in the face with a punch empowered by the Five Peaks.
• Chen Jingchou hit Lu Guan with [Primordial Unity Qi Palm], but Lu Guan took the Divine Ability head-on without injury.

Lu Guan defeated Chen Jingchou in their first-level Inner Landscape Realm spar by forcing him to stop holding back, then received cultivation guidance from him. A summons from the Prince of Yan ordered everyone to go to the Luo Residence because something had happened.

• Lu Guan admitted defeat before Chen Jingchou could abandon their fair spar and use his full strength.
• Chen Jingchou asked Lu Guan to keep fighting, but Lu Guan refused, and cultivators watching from the courtyard wall praised him for making Chen Jingchou come off worse.
• Chen Jingchou gave Lu Guan guidance on cultivating in the Inner Landscape Realm and told him that crossing realms downward was true immortal cultivation.
• A divine sense descended over the Prince of Yan's Residence and summoned everyone to the Luo Residence in the north of the city because something had happened.

After the Luo Household was massacred, You Province’s Demon Suppression officers identified an Ailao Mountain tiger demon as the killer and tracked it south of the city. Chen Jingchou prepared to pursue it, but Lu Guan had vanished.

• Chen Jingchou surveyed the slaughtered Luo Household and condemned the demons for killing more than a hundred people inside the city.
• The chief Pacification Commissioner ordered an investigation and the tiger demon’s death, while Lu Guan recognized Luo Tianshui among the corpses and suppressed his anger.
• A gray-robed man identified the killer as an Inner Landscape Realm tiger demon from Ailao Mountain, taking revenge on Luo Tianshui for killing one of its kind.
• A Prince of Yan’s Residence cultivator used Aura-Tracing Seal Script to locate the tiger demon three hundred li south of the city and shared its position with the Demon-Slaying Envoys.
• Chen Jingchou vowed to hunt the tiger demon and called for Lu Guan, then realized Lu Guan was no longer beside him.

Fourth Master Yin fled You Province City after killing a cultivator, but Lu Guan tracked him down and met his attack head-on. When Fourth Master Yin’s strike failed to move Lu Guan, Lu Guan grabbed his paw and prepared to punch him.

• Fourth Master Yin regretted killing only one cultivator in You Province City and hurried toward Ailao Mountain, fearing his father would choose him as food.
• Fourth Master Yin sensed a death mark approaching, transformed into a white tiger, and tried to flee, but Lu Guan caught up with him.
• Fourth Master Yin mistook Lu Guan for a newly advanced Inner Landscape cultivator and attacked him with a powerful tiger-paw strike.
• Lu Guan caught Fourth Master Yin’s blow with his arm, while Chen Jingchou and other You Province cultivators watched from above the clouds.
• Lu Guan seized Fourth Master Yin’s paw and swung a punch at his cheek.

Lu Guan used a cultivation simulation to advance to the Inner Landscape Realm Fourth Heaven while fighting Fourth Master Yin. He drove back the tiger demon’s ghost servants and prepared to overwhelm him with his superior strength.

• Lu Guan struck Fourth Master Yin hard enough to cave in part of his head, but the tiger demon recovered and fled after recognizing Lu Guan’s formidable Mystery.
• A hidden You Province cultivator bestowed [Blissful Wind] on Lu Guan, allowing him to catch Fourth Master Yin and block his escape.
• Fourth Master Yin summoned his Mystery, [Act as a Ghost Servant for a Tiger], surrounding himself with the spirits of his victims.
• Lu Guan simulated 432 years of Inner Landscape cultivation, reaching the Fourth Heaven before stopping as his Divine Thought approached its limit.
• Lu Guan unleashed the Fourth Heaven’s power, expanding the Five Sacred Mountains and blasting away the black fog while Chen Jingchou stared in disbelief.

Lu Guan defeated and killed Fourth Master Yin after breaking through to the Inner Landscape Fourth Heaven during their battle. The victory left Lu Guan with 1,080 years of extracted Cultivation.

• The spectators marveled at Lu Guan's mid-battle breakthrough, and the Pacification Commissioner learned that Lu Guan had joined the Demon-Slaying Envoys.
• Fourth Master Yin panicked as Lu Guan built momentum, then launched a desperate attack by burning his demon blood and directing his ghost servants.
• Lu Guan dropped his raised fist and used Celestial Person One Saber Slash to cut through the ghost servants and sever Fourth Master Yin's body.
• Fourth Master Yin begged Lu Guan to spare him and offered to serve as his mount, but Lu Guan killed him with another saber strike.
• Lu Guan extracted 1,080 years of effective Cultivation from Fourth Master Yin, bringing his remaining Cultivation to 1,835 years.

After Lu Guan killed Fourth Master Yin, he recovered the Sun-Obscuring Lock and declined Zuo Ai’s offer to become a garrison commissioner. Yin Jing confronted Wei Xianwu over its son’s death and secured a new Dharma Duel Arena, demanding that Lu Guan participate.

• Lu Guan retrieved the Sun-Obscuring Lock from Fourth Master Yin’s corpse and refused Zuo Ai’s offer to serve as You Province City’s garrison commissioner.
• A death mark on Lu Guan’s neck flared, while Yin Jing confronted Wei Xianwu at Ailao Mountain over its offspring’s death.
• Wei Xianwu challenged Yin Jing to fight, but Yin Jing proposed reopening the Dharma Duel Arena with the same territorial wager as before.
• Wei Xianwu accepted, concealing that the Prince of Yan was absent from You Province and that his show of confidence was a bluff.
• Yin Jing demanded that Lu Guan join the duel, intending to use demons to kill the Inner Landscape Realm cultivator.

Lu Guan exchanged a thousand years of Cultivation for a Dao Field and discovered it could simulate any Mystery he had personally encountered. He asked Chen Jingchou to use [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] on him, and the Dao Field recorded the Mystery after Chen Jingchou beat him down with [Heaven-Supporting Divine Palm].

• Lu Guan tried cultivating beside the Cold Abyss Well, but his panel did not respond to the location’s power.
• After recovering his Divine Thought, Lu Guan spent a thousand years of Cultivation to obtain the Dao Field.
• Lu Guan realized the Dao Field could simulate any Mystery he had personally encountered.
• Lu Guan asked Chen Jingchou to use [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] on him, and Chen Jingchou agreed.
• Chen Jingchou sealed Lu Guan’s connection to the Qi of heaven and earth, then struck him down with [Heaven-Supporting Divine Palm].
• The Dao Field formed the cloud-seal script for [Pacify Mountains and Rivers] from the incense smoke.

Lu Guan welcomed the chance to gain Cultivation by fighting demons after learning that the contest of magic had been moved forward. The cultivators of You Province rallied to prepare for the battle, while Sun Ying learned how powerful Lu Guan had become.

• Lu Guan decided to keep his demon marks and wait for Ailao Mountain's demons to seek revenge, planning to conceal his strength until they arrived.
• Elder Zuo gathered the city's cultivators and announced that Governor Wei had reported the once-in-a-century contest of magic had been moved forward.
• Elder Zuo explained the contest's history and stakes, and Lu Guan eagerly anticipated killing demons to gain Cultivation.
• Sun Ying noticed Lu Guan's strength, and Chen Jingchou told him Lu Guan had reached the Inner Landscape Fourth Heaven and killed an Inner Landscape Third Heaven tiger demon.
• The cultivators shouted that they would fight for You Province, and Elder Zuo joined their rallying cry.

Wei Xianwu gathered the You Province cultivators at Ailao Mountain to face Yin Jing and the yao forces in the arena of magical combat. The two sides joined their boards, revealing that the battle would be fought through a game.

• Wei Xianwu welcomed the You Province cultivators and bowed, asking them to risk their lives for the province.
• A Divine Treasury Realm tiger yao roared from afar, and Wei Xianwu brushed away its shock waves and struck back with a casual wave.
• Yin Jing arrived with more than thirty Inner Landscape Realm great yao, including the ape yao of Fruitless Cave.
• Yin Jing admitted that he had eaten an injured yao, and Second Master Yin agreed with his father.
• Wei Xianwu and Yin Jing brought out boards that merged into one, beginning the contest between the Divine Treasury and Inner Landscape realms.

Lu Guan learned that You Province had wagered its Spirit Treasure, the Heaven and Earth Chessboard, against the demons and was drawn into the chessboard realm to fight. When Second Master Yin appeared, Lu Guan suspected the demon king Yin Jing was directing him and decided to use a different technique.

• Chen Jingchou told Lu Guan that Governor Wei had offered the Earth Board to Yin Jing to secure the contest, where the first side to lose five matches would surrender its board.
• The Heaven and Earth Chessboard pulled Lu Guan into a realm of gray mist, where Wei Xianwu explained that he could direct only one person at a time.
• Lu Guan reasoned that a demon would seek him out and waited in the mist, expecting the mark he had kept to draw an opponent.
• Second Master Yin appeared and confronted Lu Guan, who judged the tiger demon to be around the Inner Landscape Seventh Heaven.
• Lu Guan suspected Yin Jing's Divine Thought was attached to Second Master Yin and chose to add points to Celestial Person One Saber Slash instead of the True Spirit Indestructible Scripture.

Lu Guan perfected Celestial Person One Saber Slash and used it against Second Master Yin, whose ghost servants he destroyed with Pacify Mountains and Rivers. After a voice urged Second Master Yin to exploit his superior demon body, he struck Lu Guan down, though the blow felt strangely ineffective.

• Lu Guan spent 371 years mastering Celestial Person One Saber Slash and tested its increased power with a slash.
• Second Master Yin revealed that Lu Guan’s saber had been a gift to Little Thirteen, and Lu Guan joked that he would use it to kill him.
• Second Master Yin summoned a horde of ghost servants, but Lu Guan used Pacify Mountains and Rivers to seal the Qi dynamics and destroy them with his saber technique.
• A voice in Second Master Yin’s mind told him to attack Lu Guan directly, so Second Master Yin charged through the saber light and struck him down.
• Second Master Yin noticed that his palm had not felt like it hit a person, but he dismissed his doubts and prepared to slap Lu Guan again.

Lu Guan feigned injury while fighting Second Master Yin, who also stalled because he dreaded being sent to help his eldest brother face a powerful cultivator. The two secretly held back and pretended to be near defeat, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Lu Guan used [Drink the Long River] to recover from his injuries while pretending to be close to death.
• Yin Jing ordered Second Master Yin to kill Lu Guan quickly and then help his eldest brother, but Second Master Yin dreaded facing the stronger opponent.
• Second Master Yin attacked Lu Guan, who met his blows with unexpected strength and eventually punched him flying.
• Lu Guan pretended to collapse, then struck Second Master Yin again when he approached, while Second Master Yin used the fight to delay leaving.
• Lu Guan realized Second Master Yin might be pretending to lose just as he was, and suspected the tiger demon was shirking his duty.

Lu Guan kept surviving Second Master Yin’s attacks until Yin Jing took over his son’s battered body and used Blood Burning to fight him. After several more rounds, the tiger demon’s body and Second Master Yin’s consciousness faded, while Lu Guan still refused to die.

• Lu Guan continued pretending to be near death as Second Master Yin grew suspicious and tried to flee.
• Yin Jing seized control of Second Master Yin’s demon body and discovered how gravely injured it was.
• Yin Jing fled from Lu Guan, then used Blood Burning to unleash his Law Techniques against him.
• Lu Guan feigned death but rose again, baffling Yin Jing and Second Master Yin.
• Yin Jing’s Essence Blood burned out, Second Master Yin’s consciousness faded, and Yin Jing lamented that Lu Guan had been only a little away from dying.

Lu Guan recovered after extracting cultivation from a tiger yao and turned Second Master Yin into a ghost servant, while Yin Jing sent more yao and demons after him. Three beasts converged on Lu Guan, who prepared to use them as bait for his next move.

• Lu Guan abruptly recovered after extracting 1,500 years of usable Cultivation from a Seventh Heaven tiger yao, leaving 1,962 years remaining.
• Yin Jing blamed Second Master Yin's death on his lack of Essence Blood and used the Earth Board to send more yao and demons into the battle.
• A White Jade Rhinoceros, a crimson python, and a spotted leopard each withdrew from a nearly defeated cultivator after receiving an unseen command.
• Lu Guan discovered that his Dao Field had copied a bloodline Mystery and turned Second Master Yin into a ghost servant, then concealed him.
• The three beasts gathered before Lu Guan, who grinned and silently told his panel to add points.

Lu Guan completed his breakthrough to the Inner Landscape Seventh Heaven and revealed his strength to the three demons sent to kill him. Yin Jing realized Lu Guan had likely feigned weakness to lure the demons into attacking, then ordered them to strike as Lu Guan faced them down.

• Lu Guan mastered the True Spirit Indestructible Dao Scripture and advanced to the Inner Landscape Seventh Heaven, reaching Late Inner Landscape Realm.
• Lu Guan resolved to carve out peace by killing demons and faced the three demons Yin Jing had summoned.
• Yin Jing and the demons were surprised to see Lu Guan healthy and at the Inner Landscape Seventh Heaven.
• Yin Jing concluded Lu Guan had feigned weakness to manipulate it into sending three demons, and planned to use their Mysteries to kill him.
• Yin Jing ordered the demons to attack, while Lu Guan smiled and declared their deaths were at hand.