Chapter Summaries

Yang Zhen fled from a Golden Core Realm beast, then realized it was a Profound Beast and the second-layer world's Realm Treasure. He returned to the valley as the beast was about to attack Ning Yiling and her junior sister.

• Ning Yiling and her junior sister fought the beast, but its strength overwhelmed them.
• Ning Yiling unleashed her sect's ultimate art, summoning an azure luan, and collapsed as her junior sister shielded her.
• Yang Zhen ran away, then suspected the beast was a Profound Beast whose Hundred Breaks Crystal Core could greatly benefit a cultivator.
• Yang Zhen returned to find the two women helpless before the beast and shouted for it to let Ning Yiling go.

Yang Zhen returned to save Ning Yiling and Ding Xun'er from a powerful Profound Beast, then fought it alone so they could escape. The women watched from nearby as Yang Zhen gained the upper hand, revealing that he was still alive.

• Yang Zhen recognized the creature’s confusion as a sign that it was a Profound Beast and told Ning Yiling and Ding Xun'er to leave.
• When the Profound Beast attacked Ding Xun'er, Yang Zhen intercepted it and used his Ancient Elephant Lightning Defense Body and sword to fight back.
• Yang Zhen persuaded Ning Yiling and Ding Xun'er to leave, but they watched from a hillside, where they discussed Yang Zhen and the supposedly chivalrous young master.
• Yang Zhen dodged the Profound Beast’s attacks, then stabbed it in the rear and clung to it as it thrashed.
• Ding Xun'er cried out that Yang Zhen was still alive, and Ning Yiling rejoiced; Yang Zhen stopped when he heard them.

Yang Zhen destroyed the profound beast and claimed the Hundred Breaks Crystal Core, triggering a violent upheaval in the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda. As cultivators were expelled and the Imperial Preceptor predicted the nine realms would merge, Hua Youyue and Tan Fengl​​ie realized Yang Zhen was still inside.

• Yang Zhen poured his True Essence into the Startling Thunder Sword, destroyed the profound beast, and took the Hundred Breaks Crystal Core.
• The Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda shook violently as Origin Qi surged, alarming cultivators inside and outside it.
• Hua Youyue and Tan Fengl​​ie discussed the upheaval as a Great Jiang flying ship arrived carrying the Imperial Preceptor.
• The Imperial Preceptor revealed that his attempt to foresee the changes had cost him his eyes and predicted another upheaval in half an hour, when the nine realms would become one.
• The pagoda expelled its cultivators, but Hua Youyue noticed Yang Zhen had not come out, and the Imperial Preceptor laughed that this changed fate in an unexpected way.

Yang Zhen was trapped inside the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda as its nine realms merged, and he shattered his meridians and Spirit Root to resist being expelled. Outside, Hua Youyue and the others learned he had less than a thirty percent chance of surviving, then his wooden identity token broke.

• Yang Zhen endured repeated destruction and healing of his meridians to remain inside the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda as the nine realms merged.
• Yang Zhen shattered his Spirit Root to weaken the Pagoda’s force expelling him, and his wooden identity token broke as the world transformed.
• Yang Zhen realized the other cultivators might have left and found himself unable to move amid the upheaval, then saw a transparent coffin with someone inside.
• The Imperial Preceptor told Hua Youyue that Yang Zhen had less than a thirty percent chance of surviving, while Ku Toutuo dismissed his predicament as the will of heaven.
• Ning Yiling and Ding Xun'er recalled being thrown out of the Pagoda while they were with Yang Zhen, and the gathered cultivators cheered when they heard his wooden token had broken.

After Yang Zhen's identity token broke, everyone believed he had died inside the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda, while Hua Youyue hoped he might still be alive. Three days later, a marriage proposal for Hua Youyue brought by the Great Jiang Kingdom overshadowed the pagoda's strange phenomena, but Yang Zhen was revealed to be alive inside, with a newly restored golden Spirit Root.

• Ku Toutuo and others took Yang Zhen's broken identity token as proof of his death, while Hua Youyue questioned the Great Jiang Kingdom's Imperial Preceptor about his possible fortune.
• The Imperial Preceptor remained in Raging Fire City for three days as strange forces surrounded the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda and blocked everyone from approaching it.
• The Great Jiang Kingdom's Imperial Preceptor announced that Xiao Ji would succeed him and proposed that Xiao Ji marry Hua Youyue.
• As Raging Fire City focused on the coming proposal, reports of a naked young man near the pagoda and its continuing heavenly light went largely unnoticed.
• Yang Zhen recalled shattering his Spirit Root to remain in the pagoda, then seeing a woman inside a crystal coffin as the Hundred Breaks Crystal Core restored his Spirit Root in golden form.
• Yang Zhen looked up at the woman in the coffin and asked how he could get out.

Yang Zhen recovered from his injuries inside the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda, witnessed the fairy lady unleash a sword strike that destroyed heaven and earth, and emerged with the technique engraved in his Spirit Sea. Back in Raging Fire City, he learned that the imperial preceptor of the Great Jiang Kingdom planned to arrange Hua Youyue’s marriage and decided to intervene.

• Yang Zhen healed, advanced to the ninth level of the Lesser Vehicle Realm, and gathered treasures inside the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda.
• Yang Zhen failed to move or store the fairy lady’s coffin, promised to return for her, and then collapsed after a sudden blow to the head.
• Yang Zhen witnessed the fairy lady destroy heaven and earth with a sword strike, and the technique remained engraved in his Spirit Sea.
• Yang Zhen awoke outside the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda, stole two articles of clothing, and returned to Raging Fire City.
• Yang Zhen heard that the imperial preceptor of the Great Jiang Kingdom planned to arrange Hua Youyue’s marriage and left the teahouse in anger.

The imperial preceptor of the Great Jiang Kingdom brought Xiao Ji to the Hua Household to propose marriage to Hua Youyue, while she worried about the proposal and wondered whether Yang Zhen had died in the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda. The chapter ended with Hua Jingshan asking the gathered guests and elders for their opinions on the match.

• Princess Changfeng welcomed the imperial preceptor of the Great Jiang Kingdom, and Lan Fangyue and Ding Keqi also arrived to greet him.
• Hua Youyue told Huanhuan that she had not fallen for Yang Zhen but believed he might have stopped the marriage proposal if he were there.
• A servant summoned Hua Youyue to the assembly hall, where the Hua Household's elders and guests had gathered with Xiao Ji and the imperial preceptor.
• Hua Jingshan asked everyone in the assembly hall what they thought of Xiao Ji's marriage proposal.

The Hua Household debated Xiao Ji’s proposal to marry Hua Youyue, and Yang Zhen arrived to object. The chapter ended with Yang Zhen and Xiao Ji trading insults in the council hall.

• Hua Jingshan and the clan elders discussed Xiao Ji’s proposal, while the Third Clan Elder urged them to settle the marriage without waiting for Hua Youyue.
• Hua Youyue entered the council hall, and Hua Jingshan assured her that her wishes would be respected.
• Xiao Ji asked whether anyone objected to his marriage proposal, expecting the assembled elders to remain silent.
• Yang Zhen entered and objected, shocking the Hua Household because they had believed he died in the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda.
• Yang Zhen confirmed his identity and traded insults with Xiao Ji.

Yang Zhen opposed Xiao Ji’s marriage proposal to Hua Youyue, but Xiao Ji challenged him to compare their betrothal gifts, expecting an easy victory. Yang Zhen appeared to withdraw, then accepted the contest and hinted that his prepared treasures would make the outcome far from certain.

• Hua Jingshan and the Third Elder ordered Yang Zhen to stop interfering, while Xiao Ji offered him a chance to prove his sincerity and strength.
• Xiao Ji proposed comparing betrothal gifts, and Hua Youyue worried that Yang Zhen could not match the lavish gifts brought by the imperial preceptor.
• Yang Zhen berated Xiao Ji for choosing betrothal gifts instead of competing in talent, cultivation, or knowledge, then turned as if to leave.
• Xiao Ji accused Yang Zhen of using a feigned retreat to escape the contest, and Yang Zhen returned and accepted, proposing that the loser call the winner Grandpa.
• Yang Zhen privately recalled the treasures in his rings and felt confident that he had prepared enough to compete.

Yang Zhen accepted Xiao Ji’s wager and countered his Heavenly Spring Dew with a jar of Colorful Cloud Dew, which he used to gargle. Elder Yao revealed the liquid’s identity and value, leaving Xiao Ji stunned and demanding another round.

• Xiao Ji agreed to wager everything he carried and call the winner grandfather, then presented a bottle of Heavenly Spring Dew.
• Yang Zhen said he could not produce anything as valuable, then pulled out a battered jar and mocked Xiao Ji’s offering as trash.
• Yang Zhen gargled with the jar’s seven-colored liquid and spat it into the air, prompting Elder Yao to dive forward and catch it in a jade bottle.
• Elder Yao scolded Yang Zhen for wasting Colorful Cloud Dew and declared that a mouthful was worth fifty bottles of Xiao Ji’s Heavenly Spring Dew.
• Xiao Ji staggered back in disbelief and insisted Yang Zhen must have gotten lucky, demanding another round.

Xiao Ji presented Hua Youyue with a Seven-Star Spirit Awakening Pill, claiming it offered a seventy percent chance of opening her Spirit Sea. Yang Zhen dismissed the pill and offered Hua Youyue a bite of his cucumber-like item, leaving the hall’s elders and Princess Changfeng urging her to eat it and Xiao Ji asking his master what it was.

• Yang Zhen’s Colorful Cloud Dew stunned the council hall, while Xiao Ji opened another box and revealed a Seven-Star Spirit Awakening Pill.
• Xiao Ji offered the pill to Hua Youyue, explaining that it could help her open her Spirit Sea and cultivate Divine Sense power.
• Yang Zhen criticized the pill’s odds and pain, then urged Hua Youyue to bite the cucumber-like item he was holding.
• Elder Yao, Princess Changfeng, and the grand elder urgently told Hua Youyue to take a bite, while Xiao Ji asked the imperial preceptor what Yang Zhen had brought.

Yang Zhen casually ate a Holy Spirit Root, helping Hua Youyue awaken her Divine Sense, then consumed a huge Jade Lingzhi and unexpectedly broke through to the Golden Core Realm. He offered the Third Clan Elder a piece of the Jade Lingzhi in exchange for learning a song from him.

• The Third Clan Elder recognized the cucumber Yang Zhen was eating as a Holy Spirit Root, and Hua Youyue swallowed the remainder.
• Hua Youyue opened her Spirit Sea, awakened Divine Sense, and thanked Yang Zhen.
• Yang Zhen began eating a huge Jade Lingzhi, prompting the Third Clan Elder to beg him for a piece.
• Yang Zhen burped and abruptly broke through to the Golden Core Realm.
• Yang Zhen offered the Third Clan Elder a piece of Jade Lingzhi if she learned a song from him.

Yang Zhen gave the third elder a song to sing in exchange for jade lingzhi, and her absurd catlike performance left the Hua Household and the Great Jiang Kingdom’s imperial preceptor stunned. The imperial preceptor suddenly collapsed after coughing up blood, while Yang Zhen slipped away with some of Xiao Ji’s betrothal gifts.

• The first and second elders recalled the third elder’s reputation as the Soul Singer and discussed her possible breakthrough while the first elder offered his rare Jade Dragon Tea.
• The third elder asked Yang Zhen if he meant his offer, and he passed her a song through his Divine Sense before demanding jade lingzhi in return.
• The third elder asked to change the song, but Yang Zhen kept eating the jade lingzhi as the elders mistook her distress for signs of an impending breakthrough.
• At the elders’ urging, the third elder performed the song by meowing and acting like a cat, causing everyone to spray their tea in shock.
• The Great Jiang Kingdom’s imperial preceptor became entranced, then spat blood and collapsed as Xiao Ji rushed to help him.
• Yang Zhen took two handfuls from Xiao Ji’s betrothal gifts and headed for the exit, denying responsibility for the imperial preceptor’s collapse.

After fleeing Raging Fire City, Yang Zhen lured a group of Golden Core Realm desperadoes into a valley and used his formation plates to frighten them. He activated a six-star formation and attacked the pale-faced scholar, trapping the group with him.

• Yang Zhen escaped Raging Fire City as Golden Core Realm experts pursued him, hoping to seize his treasures and storage ring.
• Yang Zhen hid beneath the turf in a valley, then emerged when his pursuers searched for him.
• Yang Zhen revealed dozens of volatile formation plates, terrifying the pale-faced scholar and the other desperadoes into holding still.
• Yang Zhen laughed and charged the pale-faced scholar, causing the others to scatter.
• A six-star formation formed a barrier around the valley, and Yang Zhen punched at the pale-faced scholar.

Yang Zhen used a six-star formation to defeat and rob the White-Faced Scholar and the other Golden Core cultivators who had come after him. After forcing them to reveal their techniques and treasures, he left them covered in medicinal powder, while two old men watched and decided to follow him.

• Yang Zhen activated a six-star formation and defeated the White-Faced Scholar with the Startling Thunder Sword and a rock.
• Yang Zhen captured the other Golden Core cultivators, tied them up, and stripped them of their clothes.
• Yang Zhen threatened the captives with medicinal powder until they volunteered their cultivation methods, martial techniques, and other valuable knowledge.
• Yang Zhen tossed the powder over the captives before leaving, and they cursed him from inside the formation.
• Two old men who had watched the fight decided to follow Yang Zhen because they believed he carried something valuable.

Yang Zhen used the spoils from his escape to find a recipe for a Dantian Stabilizing Pill, then built a pressure-cooker-like furnace and began refining the five-star pill. Two old men watched in disbelief as he attempted the task with no prior pill-refining experience, and the curly-haired man vowed to eat two trees if Yang Zhen succeeded.

• Yang Zhen reviewed the items he had taken and used the stars to confirm the direction of the East Sea before reading the pill-refining grandmaster's notes.
• Yang Zhen found a recipe for a five-star Dantian Stabilizing Pill to settle his newly formed Golden Core and decided to refine it.
• Yang Zhen fashioned a pressure-cooker-like furnace from six-star refined iron, while a curly-haired old man and Old Gu watched from a distant tree and criticized his artifact-making.
• Yang Zhen prepared the ingredients, heated the furnace over a campfire, and added most of them to the water inside.
• The curly-haired old man protested Yang Zhen's attempt to refine a five-star pill, while Old Gu doubted he could succeed and the curly-haired man wagered he would eat two trees if he did.

Yang Zhen accidentally refined high-grade five-star pills in his pressure cooker, drawing the attention of Old Gu and Old Man Chi, who argued over whether he should learn artifact crafting or alchemy. After dismissing both masters, Yang Zhen left with his cooker and pills.

• Old Gu and the curly-haired old man expected Yang Zhen’s pressure cooker to explode, but its release valve safely vented steam and a refreshing fragrance.
• Old Gu recognized the cooker’s pressure control as an ingenious artifact, while Old Man Chi identified Yang Zhen’s pills as top-grade five-star pills.
• The two old men charged toward Yang Zhen, who threw unstable formation disks at them and ate the pills from the cooker.
• Old Gu and Old Man Chi restricted Yang Zhen and argued over his talent until Yang Zhen broke free and picked up his pressure cooker.
• The old men tried to recruit Yang Zhen as an artifact crafter or Alchemist, but he challenged their abilities and walked away.

Yang Zhen met Old Gu and Old Man Chi, learned that the Overseas Trial would test candidates seeking discipleship in Qishan Grotto-Heaven, and rejected their offer to join. He headed for the East Sea intending to rob the trial’s gifted participants and become the Pirate King.

• Yang Zhen traded boasts with Old Gu and Old Man Chi, then asked them for directions to the shores of the East Sea.
• Old Gu and Old Man Chi gave Yang Zhen tokens and explained that candidates had to pass three trials and survive the Eastern Sea Abyss to qualify for discipleship in Qishan Grotto-Heaven.
• Yang Zhen learned that Qishan Grotto-Heaven was led by a Half-Sage and recruited talented artificers and alchemists, but refused to become one of its disciples.
• Yang Zhen told the old men he planned to join the Overseas Trial because its gifted candidates would carry valuable goods, then declared himself the future Pirate King.

Yang Zhen traveled toward the East Sea after leaving the Hua Household and learned that his Golden Core had grown unusually large. In Xiushan City, he sought a flying boat and went to answer questions to earn passage aboard a powerful merchant ship.

• The Two Elders Gu and Chi discussed Yang Zhen, Hua Youyue, and their upcoming visit to Raging Fire City.
• Xiao Ji decided to attempt Star Shattering, admitted Yang Zhen might outmatch him, and prepared to visit the Two Elders Gu and Chi.
• Yang Zhen traveled for over ten days, ate many treasures, and discovered his Golden Core had grown to the size of a fist.
• In Xiushan City, Yang Zhen exchanged unneeded items for supplies and asked about flying boats bound for the East Sea.
• A trading-house attendant told Yang Zhen about a powerful merchant flying boat whose leader offered free passage to those who answered three questions, and Yang Zhen asked to go meet her.

Yang Zhen reached the crowd gathered for Big Sis’s questions and mocked their difficulty before stepping up to answer. He split the question plaque in two with the Startling Thunder Sword, leaving only the character “Dry!” visible.

• Yang Zhen followed the attendant’s directions, found the crowd, and turned down a seller’s question slips.
• The seller explained that Big Sis’s restricted questions had defeated every contestant so far.
• Yang Zhen renamed the seller’s slips “Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Exams” and joined the crowd.
• Yang Zhen mocked the contestants with a sarcastic saying about trying and stupidity.
• Yang Zhen struck Young Master Niu’s plaque with the Startling Thunder Sword and split it, leaving half of the character for “sweat” that read “Dry!”