Chapter Summaries

Chen Yulin passed the third-grade Heavenly Venerable room, while the others chose their own challenges and Miao Jingkong entered the Nine-Turn Samsara Realm room ahead of Lin Heng. Before Lin Heng could take his turn, Dijiang revealed that his master also possessed many powerful physiques, leaving Lin Heng to wonder if the man had once had a system.

• Dijiang told Miao Jingkong that all five members of the Eight Great Imperial Clans would receive rewards according to their rankings.
• Chen Yulin passed the third-grade Heavenly Venerable room, and Dijiang announced that he had crossed three levels.
• Liuyun Lan chose the fourth-grade Heavenly Venerable room, while Lin Heng decided to attempt the Nine-Turn Samsara Realm room.
• Miao Jingkong rushed into the Nine-Turn Samsara Realm room before Lin Xiao could stop him, forcing Lin Xiao to choose the first-grade Heavenly Venerable room.
• Dijiang privately asked Lin Heng about his many physiques and said their master possessed numerous powerful physiques as well.

Lin Heng and the others completed their trials in Azure Feather Hall, with Lin Heng ranking first and entering the finest treasure room. Dijiang secretly allowed him to choose three treasures, leaving Lin Heng planning to use one choice to strengthen the Nether Ancestor Puppet.

• Liuyun Lan, Chen Yulin, Lin Xiao, and Miao Jingkong emerged from their trials, and Dijiang announced their results.
• Lin Heng cleared the Eighth-Transformation Samsara Realm room with ease and ranked first among the five contestants.
• Dijiang directed Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao to the ninth and tenth treasure rooms despite their rankings.
• Lin Heng found powerful treasures and Ninth-Grade Heavenly Venerable corpses in the first room, but could initially choose only one item.
• Dijiang privately told Lin Heng he could choose three items because his master had ordered him to favor people with multiple physiques.
• Lin Heng decided he could use one of his choices to refine the Nether Ancestor Puppet with a set of remains.

Lin Heng chose three treasures in the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode: a Heavenly Dipper Race skeleton to improve his Nether Ancestor Puppet, the Eight-Origin Heavenly Desolation Sword Formation, and a Dragon-Tiger Destruction Spirit Pill. As Lin Heng considered how to hide two treasures during the exit inspection, Lin Xiao and Miao Jingkong grew impatient and discussed taking his haul, but Liuyun Lan warned them against provoking Ao Zhantian.

• Lin Heng chose the Heavenly Dipper Race skeleton for his Nether Ancestor Puppet after weighing it against a faster Winged Race skeleton.
• Lin Heng spent a day and night studying manuals and chose the Eight-Origin Heavenly Desolation Sword Formation despite lacking the required swords.
• Lin Heng spent seven days choosing the Dragon-Tiger Destruction Spirit Pill, which could restore him to peak strength and grant him the Sound of Dragon and Tiger.
• Lin Heng realized he had to conceal two of his three treasures before the exit inspection.
• Lin Xiao and Miao Jingkong speculated about Lin Heng's treasures and considered joining forces to take them from him.
• Liuyun Lan warned Lin Xiao and Miao Jingkong that Ao Zhantian might retaliate if they harmed Lin Heng.

Lin Heng and the others entered the Battle Heaven Hall, where challengers faced trials on floors assigned according to their strength. On the seventy-third floor, Lin Heng met Tian Thirty-Two, who said he would attack using only half Lin Heng’s Source Power, and the trial began.

• Lin Heng chose the Dragon-Tiger Destruction Spirit Pill, and Dijiang led him and the others to the Battle Heaven Hall.
• Dijiang explained that each person would be assigned a floor by the teleportation array and could not leave until clearing the trial.
• Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao entered the hall first, then Lin Heng, Liuyun Lan, and Chen Yulin parted from them and teleported away together.
• Lin Heng arrived alone on the seventy-third floor, where he was told to defeat a Third-Turn Samsara opponent or knock away his weapon.
• Tian Thirty-Two appeared with the Heavenly Moon Sword and explained the safe rock, the weapon rules, and that he would use only half Lin Heng’s Source Power.
• Lin Heng took out the Sea-Burying Sword and agreed to begin the fight.

Lin Heng faced Tian Thirty-Two and was badly wounded by his mastery of the Law of Time, then returned to battle determined to understand his techniques. He discovered that Tian Thirty-Two combined the law with his weapon to pierce defenses with only half Lin Heng’s Source Power, but the reason remained unclear.

• Tian Thirty-Two attacked Lin Heng with time-based techniques, striking him repeatedly as Lin Heng fled to the boulder and accumulated hundreds of wounds.
• Lin Heng rested on the boulder and deduced that Tian Thirty-Two had used Time Acceleration, Time Deceleration, and Time Stasis without directly applying the Law of Time to him.
• Excited by the possibility of learning Tian Thirty-Two’s abilities, Lin Heng left the boulder and challenged him again.
• Lin Heng attacked with hundred-thousandfold Time Acceleration, but Tian Thirty-Two dodged and stabbed him from behind.
• Lin Heng sensed the flow of time changing with Tian Thirty-Two’s sword and realized he was combining a law with his weapon, though he could not explain how the strike overcame his armor and body with only half his Source Power.

Lin Heng and the others endured brutal trials in Battle Heaven Hall while Dijiang and the other guardians watched and discussed Lin Heng’s prospects. Dijiang decided Lin Heng would have to comprehend his own Dao intent to leave, as the great tribulation of the Longevity Realm approached.

• Lin Heng learned from his fight with Tian Thirty-Two that the opponent applied law to his sword and that his attacks carried a trace of Dao intent.
• Liuyun Lan and Chen Yulin were driven back by their opponents, while Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao were repeatedly beaten unconscious at tenfold difficulty before reaching safety.
• Dijiang, Zhu Rong, Gonggong, and Shebishi discussed whether Lin Heng could pass Tian Thirty-Two’s test and fulfill the role Master had chosen for him.
• Dijiang declared that Lin Heng could not leave Battle Heaven Hall unless he comprehended his own Dao intent, even if Tian Thirty-Two killed him.
• Dijiang hoped Lin Heng would emerge before the Longevity Realm’s approaching great tribulation, and Gonggong noted that time passed far more slowly inside Battle Heaven Hall.

After three thousand years in Battle Heaven Hall, Lin Heng had grown strong enough to fight Tian Thirty-Two on nearly equal terms, while Dijiang watched and adjusted the trial to push him further. Meanwhile, Liuyun Lan and the others continued to struggle, and at the Qian Yuan Sect, Sun Yuan admired the large-scale achievement Situ Jiannan had made while Lin Heng was away.

• Lin Heng fought Tian Thirty-Two across the prairie, using his improved Law of Time and initial Heavenly Dao Annihilation Realm to gain a slight advantage.
• Dijiang recognized Lin Heng as the person his master had told them to await and instructed Tian Thirty-Two to use his full Third-Turn Samsara Realm strength.
• Tian Thirty-Two’s stronger attack forced Lin Heng back, but Lin Heng answered with ninety-nine waves of azure sword energy before both fighters paused to recover.
• Dijiang judged Tian Thirty-Two unable to guide Lin Heng in Dao Realms and considered finding another mentor for him.
• Liuyun Lan and the others remained far behind Lin Heng, while Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao endured the harsher Battle Heaven Hall trial; Miao Jingkong eventually settled into taking one beating a day.
• At the Qian Yuan Sect, Sun Yuan praised Situ Jiannan for accomplishing something impressive in Lin Heng’s absence.

Situ Jiannan impressed Sun Yuan with the tens of thousands of disciples he had gathered and planned to forge an elite army for Lin Heng. Meanwhile, Yan Lan learned that Lin Heng had a time spirit treasure and decided to wait until Lin Heng founded his sect before taking revenge.

• Situ Jiannan explained that Lin Heng’s teaching-without-distinction principle had helped him and the four women recruit talented disciples from across the Ten Regions.
• Sun Yuan praised Situ Jiannan’s plan to train three thousand gifted Saint Realm disciples into a powerful army, and they agreed Lin Heng’s Dragon Race mount should lead it.
• Yan Chuan told Yan Lan that neither Lin Heng nor Situ Jiannan could be reached, and that Lin Heng had received only a time spirit treasure from Yan Lin.
• Yan Lan concluded Lin Heng was cultivating inside the treasure and resolved to wait for the sect’s founding before repaying the Fire Clan’s humiliation.

After 180,000 years of fighting Tian Thirty-Two, Lin Heng completed his Dao Realm attack, One Sword Separates Worlds, and demonstrated its overwhelming power. Tian Thirty-Two survived the encounter with Dijiang’s help, while Dijiang noted that Lin Heng’s cultivation had advanced slowly.

• Lin Heng thanked Tian Thirty-Two for serving as his practice partner while he developed One Sword Separates Worlds.
• Tian Thirty-Two challenged Lin Heng to demonstrate the completed technique, keeping his cultivation at Ninth-Turn Samsara against Lin Heng’s Seventh-Transformation Samsara Realm.
• Lin Heng used One Sword Separates Worlds, leaving Tian Thirty-Two overwhelmed by his Dao Realm and kneeling as his fighting spirit vanished.
• Dijiang intervened to keep Tian Thirty-Two from being destroyed by Lin Heng’s Dao Realm and ordered him to steady his Dao heart.
• Dijiang told Lin Heng that his cultivation had advanced little despite the 180,000 years they had spent in the Battle Heaven Hall.

Lin Heng confirmed that he understood the Heavenly Dao’s supremacy, then toured Battle Heaven Hall with Dijiang and saw how the four other challengers were faring. Dijiang brought Lin Heng to the hall’s highest level and began to explain Peach Garden Heavenly Abode and the Ancestral Witches.

• Dijiang tested Lin Heng’s understanding, and Lin Heng replied that all were ants beneath the Heavenly Dao.
• Dijiang explained that Battle Heaven Hall’s combatants were calibrated to challengers’ entry strength, then took Lin Heng to see the others.
• Lin Heng saw that Liuyun Lan was nearing the Heavenly Venerable Realm and that Chen Yulin had reached it, though both still struggled to win.
• Lin Heng found Miao Jingkong resting injured and Lin Xiao taking a beating, and learned that they had reduced their training to one daily fight after being frightened by their opponents.
• Dijiang took Lin Heng to Battle Heaven Hall’s top level and began answering his questions about Peach Garden Heavenly Abode and the Ancestral Witches.

Dijiang revealed the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode’s history and gave Lin Heng a fragment of its key, making him its nominal master. Lin Heng used his new authority to adjust the trials and offered Miao Jingkong a chance to escape.

• Dijiang told Lin Heng that the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode stood above the Nine Heavens and that the Eight Great Imperial Clans had failed to seize it from Green Mountain.
• Dijiang gave Lin Heng one fragment of the Heavenly Estate’s key and warned him to keep it secret until he was strong enough to stand above the Nine Heavens.
• Dijiang explained that Lin Heng was the Heavenly Estate’s nominal master and could decide how to manage the trials, though challengers still had to clear them to leave.
• Lin Heng lowered the challenges for Liuyun Lan and Chen Yulin, while making separate plans for Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao.
• After 180,000 years trapped in Battle Heaven Hall, Miao Jingkong despaired of escaping until Lin Heng appeared and offered him a chance to clear the trial and leave.

Lin Heng forced Miao Jingkong to accept his offer by letting Tian Ershisi badly injure him, then drew him into the Soul-Locking Pagoda. Within three days, Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao passed its trial and became Lin Heng’s servants while retaining their public identities.

• Lin Heng offered Miao Jingkong a chance to leave Battle Heaven Hall, but refused to explain how he had reached him.
• Miao Jingkong jumped off his rock to chase Lin Heng, and Tian Ershisi struck him down and trapped him beneath a storm of sword blades.
• Lin Heng promised to help Miao Jingkong leave the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode and reach the Heavenly Venerable Realm within a hundred years if he entered the Soul-Locking Pagoda.
• Over the next three days, Lin Heng made Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao pass the pagoda’s trial and become his servants.
• Lin Heng told Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao to keep their original identities and await his instructions through their mental connection.

After clearing Battle Heaven Hall, Lin Heng received powerful treasures and learned that Dijiang wanted him to be wary of trusting allies whose sects might turn against him. He returned to the Qian Yuan Sect stronger and prepared for the Eight Great Imperial Clans’ opposition to his sect’s founding.

• Liuyun Lan and Chen Yulin emerged from Battle Heaven Hall as Second-Grade Heavenly Venerables, then learned that Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao had cleared their harder trials even earlier.
• Dijiang announced that Lin Heng had won first place and awarded him Gods and Devils in One Thought, Five Elements Indestructible Armor, and Primordial Spiritual Qi.
• Lin Heng realized Dijiang had revealed his rewards to help him judge Liuyun Lan and Chen Yulin’s loyalty, then left Battle Heaven Hall after Dijiang urged him to recover the three scattered Heavenly Estates.
• On a nameless island, Liuyun Lan and Chen Yulin thanked Lin Heng and promised to attend the founding of his sect in a little over seven years.
• Lin Heng took Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao’s prizes and ordered them to report any plots by the Eight Great Imperial Clans before his sect’s founding.
• Lin Heng teleported back to the Qian Yuan Sect, confident that his increased strength would help him face the clans’ schemes.

After returning to the Qian Yuan Sect, Lin Heng learned that the Origin Soul Spirit was beginning to awaken and went to inspect it. He left the Origin Vein to seek information from the Eight Great Imperial Clans while Sun Yuan and Situ Jiannan prepared a stronger array.

• Lin Heng returned to the Qian Yuan Sect, and Sun Yuan was shocked by his improved cultivation and soul.
• Situ Jiannan told Lin Heng that the Origin Soul Spirit had briefly awakened and damaged much of the array protecting it.
• Lin Heng, Sun Yuan, and Situ Jiannan examined the sleeping Origin Soul Spirit, whose hidden energy could destroy the Ninefold Heaven.
• Sun Yuan said he had been unable to draw energy from the spirit, and Situ Jiannan suggested asking the Thirteen Factions what they knew about it.
• Lin Heng gave Sun Yuan a set of array flags to strengthen the defenses and left to question cultivators of the Eight Great Imperial Clans.

Lin Heng questioned Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao about the Origin Soul Spirit, rewarding Lin Xiao with a Fifth-Grade Heavenly Venerable Origin Treasure for his answers. He then learned that the Eight Great Imperial Clans planned to oppose his sect and kill him if he tried to establish a new faction.

• Lin Heng offered a Fifth-Grade Heavenly Venerable Origin Treasure to whoever could tell him the most about the Origin Soul Spirit.
• Miao Jingkong said Origin Soul Spirits appeared before great calamities, while Lin Xiao explained that their appearance had coincided with a past conflict over an opportunity to transcend the Nine Heavens.
• Lin Xiao described the Origin Soul Spirit's rumored uses: opening the Nine Heavens' seal, enabling soul ascension, and turning a mineral vein into a top-grade Origin Vein.
• Lin Heng gave Lin Xiao the treasure and promised both men abundant resources and a chance to reach the Ninth-Grade Heavenly Venerable realm if they served him faithfully.
• Lin Xiao reported that an envoy from the upper realm was coming to the Wood Clan over Lin Heng's affairs, and Miao Jingkong and Lin Xiao revealed the Eight Great Imperial Clans' oath to kill any promising ascender who tried to found a new faction.

Lin Heng learned that the Eight Great Imperial Clans planned to sabotage his sect’s founding and force him to join the ascenders of the five factions, so he resolved to answer their test with overwhelming strength. He organized seven thousand years of preparation to build a powerful sect, train its disciples, and bring his family and allies to the Ninefold Heaven.

• Lin Xiao and Miao Jingkong advised Lin Heng that the Eight Great Imperial Clans might be testing him and urged him to avoid showing too much strength, but Lin Heng rejected compromise.
• Lin Heng told Sun Yuan and Situ Jiannan that upper-realm envoys would try to disrupt the sect’s founding, and both men supported resisting the Eight Great Imperial Clans.
• Lin Heng ordered the sect to use seven thousand years inside the time spirit treasure to build an army of several thousand Nirvana Realm cultivators and more than a hundred Samsara Realm cultivators.
• Lin Heng told Sun Yuan to cultivate toward the Nine-Turn Samsara Realm so he could serve as the sect’s public expert at its founding.
• Lin Heng sent Situ Jiannan to bring his mother, Linglong, and the other women from the Ten Regions, then began supplying the disciples with resources and guiding their soul comprehension.

Seven years after Lin Heng’s transformation, the Battle Heaven Pavilion prepared for its founding ceremony as factions across the Ninefold Heaven chose whether to oppose or support it. Lin Heng led the assembled disciples in a defiant declaration as guests from the rival factions headed toward the Pavilion.

• Yan Tianxin ordered Yan Lan to provoke the Battle Heaven Pavilion and prevent Lin Heng from establishing a new ascender faction.
• Miao Baixue told Miao Jingkong to let the Fire Clan take the lead and avoid making an enemy of Lin Heng if they could not stop him.
• Lin Fang entrusted Lin Xiao with handling the Battle Heaven Pavilion matter and gave him a jade token to summon help if needed.
• Ao Zhantian instructed Liuyun Lan to ensure Lin Heng established the Pavilion and stayed safe, while Sikong Tianzhen told Chen Yulin to offer Lin Heng every possible assistance.
• The factions set out for the Battle Heaven Pavilion, where Lin Heng and his disciples gathered for the founding ceremony.
• Lin Heng raised his fist as tens of thousands of disciples shouted, “Who but us would dare battle the Nine Heavens!”

The Fire Clan arrived at the Battle Heaven Pavilion’s opening, where Yan Lan was shocked by the pavilion’s powerful lineup and tried to provoke its leaders. Chen Yulin and the Asura Island forces arrived in support, and Yan Lan finally said the Fire Clan would offer congratulations only if the pavilion met the Thirteen Factions’ requirements.

• Yan Lan saw Sun Yuan’s peak Ninth-Turn Samsara cultivation, Liu Ling’er and the other women, and a hundred first-transformation Samsara disciples, and he wondered how powerful Lin Heng might be.
• Situ Jiannan welcomed Yan Lan and the visiting sect leaders, but Yan Lan complained that Lin Heng had not received them personally.
• Liu Ling’er and Yue Linglong rebuked Yan Lan for slighting Lin Heng’s mother, and Yan Chuan tried to excuse his lord’s mistake.
• Chen Yulin arrived with Asura Island, the Firmament Hall, and their allied sects, and declared that Asura Island would not let the Battle Heaven Pavilion be bullied.
• Sun Yuan warned Yan Lan against making trouble, and Yan Lan said the Fire Clan would congratulate the pavilion only if it met the Thirteen Factions’ requirements.

The Battle Heaven Pavilion welcomed the Ninefold Heaven’s factions with a display of immense wealth and military strength, then declared that the Nine Heavens would submit to it. Yan Lan challenged Lin Heng to explain the pavilion’s arrogant claim.

• Liu Ling'er calmed Sun Yuan before he could clash with Yan Lan, and Situ Jiannan welcomed the visiting factions into the Battle Heaven Pavilion.
• Situ Jiannan summoned a guide of more than a hundred thousand Initial-Grade Chaos Spirit Treasure flying swords, stunning Yan Lan and the other guests.
• Sun Yuan and Liu Ling'er led the visitors past the pavilion’s imposing grounds, where Lin Heng’s sword-carved sect emblems intimidated the factions.
• The Battle Heaven Pavilion’s disciples assembled in ranks of three thousand Samsara Realm, twenty thousand Third Nirvana, and fifty thousand Second Nirvana disciples, shocking the visitors.
• Sun Yuan announced the pavilion’s founding and declared that the Nine Heavens would submit, prompting Yan Lan to demand that Lin Heng explain himself.

Sun Yuan confronted the Ninefold Heaven forces challenging Battle Heaven Pavilion’s opening and killed the Nine Bends Tower’s leader. With Yan Lan restrained by a Seventh-Grade Heavenly Venerable soul power, the Heaven-Battling First Squad trapped the tower’s remaining cultivators in a sword formation.

• Sun Yuan offered the Wind Sword Sect and Nine Bends Tower single combat or a group battle after their leaders demanded an explanation.
• When the Nine Bends Tower’s leader insulted Battle Heaven Pavilion, Sun Yuan seized him, while Time Reversal stopped Yan Lan from intervening.
• A Seventh-Grade Heavenly Venerable soul power restrained Yan Lan as Sun Yuan killed the Nine Bends Tower’s leader with his serpentine spear.
• Sun Yuan ordered the Nine Bends Tower’s remaining cultivators killed, and the Heaven-Battling First Squad formed the Heavenly Dipper Sword Formation around them.
• The Nine Bends Tower cultivators tried to flee, but unstable space prevented Teleportation and the flying swords enclosed them.