Chapter Summaries

After mastering his five-layer Primordial Chaos World, Lin Heng set out with Ao Zhantian for the ancient ruins, where he hoped to find the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode. He joined the selected representatives from both sides, while the Lei Clan’s plans faltered after Firmament Hall sent Ling Wushuang instead of Duan Wuya.

• Lin Heng completed his training in the time spirit treasure and instructed his Good and Evil Avatars to avoid harming ascenders.
• Lin Heng left Situ Jiannan and Mei Chu to oversee Battle Heaven Pavilion, then traveled through a spatial passage with Ao Zhantian’s avatar.
• At the gathering near the ruins, the Thunder Punishment Saint Emperor and Fire Separation Saint Emperor worried that Lin Heng would not appear, then saw him arrive with Ao Zhantian’s avatar.
• Lin Heng, Ling Wushuang, and Makabaka stepped forward as Firmament Hall’s selected representatives.
• The Thunder Punishment Saint Emperor learned that Ling Wushuang had replaced Duan Wuya, and Ao Zhantian realized that his and Qin Hongmian’s plan had succeeded.

Lin Heng and the other experts reached the ancient ruins beneath the magma, where a transparent barrier blocked their way and rebounded a Primordial Chaos Heaven Stage cultivator’s attack. After Lei Yuxiao tried to make Lin Heng break it, Dijiang secretly gave Lin Heng authority to open the barrier, and Lin Heng planned to use the chance to tease Lei Yuxiao.

• Thirty-one representatives from the Eight Great Imperial Clans and the ascenders passed inspection and traveled to the ancient ruins beneath the magma.
• Lin Heng slowed down as the others rushed toward the ruins, and several experts crashed into an invisible barrier.
• A Water Race Primordial Chaos Heaven Stage expert struck the barrier, but his attack rebounded and injured him.
• Lei Yuxiao and Ling Wushuang tried to make each other break the barrier before Lei Yuxiao challenged Lin Heng to do it.
• Dijiang told Lin Heng he could open the barrier, and Lin Heng decided to play along with Lei Yuxiao’s challenge.

Lin Heng claimed his Woof Woof secret art could let people pass through the ancient ruins’ spatial barrier by squatting and barking. After Lei Guanglu proved it worked, the Eight Great Imperial Clans entered one by one, and Lei Yuxiao was left to follow.

• Lin Heng told Lei Yuxiao and the others that his Woof Woof secret art could get them through the barrier, then explained that they had to squat and bark.
• Lei Yuxiao accused Lin Heng of making fools of them and ordered Lei Guanglu to try the method.
• Lei Guanglu barked as Lin Heng kicked him through the barrier, proving the method worked.
• The experts from the Eight Great Imperial Clans squatted and barked in turn, and Lin Heng kicked each of them through.
• Lei Yuxiao reluctantly barked as Lin Heng kicked him into the barrier with far greater force than before.

Lin Heng led the ascenders and the Eight Great Imperial Clans through the barrier into the Heavenly Estate, then revealed that entry required enduring three strikes of Sword Qi. After the two sides agreed on who would enter first, a Primordial Chaos Heaven Stage cultivator from the Wood Clan stepped forward.

• Ling Wushuang volunteered to go first, but Lin Heng stopped him and used a secret technique to pass through the barrier, allowing the ascenders to follow.
• Lei Yuxiao accused Lin Heng of humiliating the Eight Great Imperial Clans, but Lin Heng and Ling Wushuang told him to leave if he was dissatisfied.
• Lin Heng and Ling Wushuang led everyone down to a glowing thatched cottage, where a voice announced that entrants had to withstand three strikes of Sword Qi.
• Ling Wushuang found a stele explaining that entrants had to go in one at a time, prompting the ascenders and the Eight Great Imperial Clans to negotiate who would enter first.
• Ling Wushuang and Lei Yuxiao agreed that one person from the Eight Great Imperial Clans would enter first and swear to wait for the others before searching for treasure.
• The two sides chose entrants starting with the lowest cultivation, and a Primordial Chaos Heaven Stage cultivator from the Wood Clan stepped forward first.

Lin Xuechen was struck by an unseen trial at the entrance to the Peach Garden Illusory Realm, prompting the leaders to suspect a soul-targeting illusion. Ling Wushuang sent Wuxin to attempt the trial next, and the chapter ended as Wuxin stepped onto the first stair.

• Lei Yuxiao chose Lin Xuechen to represent the Eight Great Imperial Clans in entering the ruins.
• Lin Xuechen stepped onto the first stair, saw something unseen, spat blood, and was thrown unconscious without visible wounds.
• Lei Yuxiao and Ling Wushuang suspected the Peach Garden Illusory Realm inflicted a soul attack when challengers climbed the stairs.
• Ling Wushuang selected Wuxin, a Primordial Chaos Heaven Stage cultivator from the Mortal World Inn, to attempt the trial.
• Wuxin accepted after Ling Wushuang promised him an expert's heart, then stepped onto the first stair and closed his eyes.

Wuxin endured the cottage’s trial and entered, encouraging the others, though many challengers failed. Lin Heng then faced a sword-qi illusion and easily shattered it, realizing that the Dao Realm he had learned in Battle Heaven Hall qualified him to enter the second Heavenly Estate.

• Wuxin withstood the pressure on the first three stairs, then entered the cottage after taking his fourth step, despite coughing up blood.
• Lei Yuxiao encouraged the challengers, but more than half of those ahead of Lin Heng failed the trial.
• Ling Wushuang told Lin Heng to attempt the trial and let the others proceed if he made it through.
• Lin Heng stepped onto the first stair and was transported into an endless starry space, where a voice proclaimed the vastness of the starry sky and the sword’s path.
• Lin Heng dismissed the incoming Sword Qi as a minor Dao and shattered it with a touch of his finger, recognizing his Battle Heaven Hall Dao Realm as his qualification to enter the second Heavenly Estate.

Lin Heng effortlessly passed the second stair’s Sword Qi trial and entered the third, impressing Ling Wushuang and alarming Lei Yuxiao. On the third stair, he faced Sword Qi rising from his heart and subdued it without striking, while Lei Yuxiao plotted to kill him.

• Lin Heng broke the second stair’s restrained Sword Qi with a finger and stepped onto the third stair in less than twenty breaths.
• Ling Wushuang was startled by Lin Heng’s speed, while Lei Yuxiao grew wary and began plotting to kill him.
• Lin Heng entered the third stair’s silent, star-filled space and felt invisible Sword Qi rise from his heart.
• Lin Heng closed his eyes and released an invisible pressure that bent and dissolved the Sword Qi.

Lin Heng stopped the ascenders from entering the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range, and his warning proved justified when the Eight Great Imperial Clans fled after losing Yue Han. Yan Xishan blamed Lin Heng, but Ye Feng and the other ascenders mocked him for rushing ahead without them.

• Lin Heng passed the third trial quickly and entered the Heavenly Estate, where he delivered Ling Wushuang and Lei Yuxiao's message to the cultivators waiting by the river.
• Yan Xishan led the Eight Great Imperial Clans across one bridge, while Ye Feng led the ascenders across the other, and both groups reached the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range.
• After reading the stele's invitation to search for treasures, the Eight Great Imperial Clans flew into the mountains, but Lin Heng stopped the ascenders from following.
• A scream came from the mountains, and the Eight Great Imperial Clans retreated without Yue Han.
• Yan Xishan accused Lin Heng of noticing the danger and failing to warn them, while Ye Feng and the ascenders mocked Yan Xishan for rushing ahead to claim the treasures.

Lin Heng led the ascenders into the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range and revealed that its dangers included both illusions and real presences. After the group searched a cave, they reached a rock garden where objects lay behind a flowing curtain of water.

• Lin Heng rebuked Yan Xishan for avoiding responsibility, then led Ye Feng and the ascenders into the mountain range.
• A huge ape attacked Lin Heng outside a cave, but Lin Heng shattered it with a light tap and revealed it was an illusion.
• Yan Xishan urged the Eight Great Imperial Clans to enter the range after realizing they had been fooled by the illusion.
• Lin Heng told Ye Feng that some presences among the nearby peaks were real, and the group searched the cave at their leisure.
• Lin Heng tried to use the system without success, caught up with the others, and found a rock garden with objects visible behind falling water.

Ye Feng and the ascenders agreed to give Lin Heng a share of the cave’s treasures, then found the Eight Great Imperial Clans fighting a captive Hunt Clan member. Yan Xishan accused Lin Heng of setting them up and threatened to settle the score after they left the ruins.

• Ye Feng proposed dividing the treasure among the five ascender factions and giving Lin Heng a separate share, and the others agreed.
• Ye Feng collected the cave’s six shares of treasure, and Lin Heng chose a bottle of ancient pills before the group finished dividing the rest.
• Lin Heng and the ascenders left the cave and saw the imperial clans battling an Ancient Three-Headed Mammoth, a Nine Netherworlds One-Eyed Beast, and a Heavenly Firmament Realm Hunt Clan member.
• Ye Feng and the others decided to watch the fight rather than intervene immediately, shocked to see a Hunt Clan member alive in captivity.
• Yan Xishan accused Lin Heng of deliberately setting up the imperial clans and colluding with the Hunt Clan, then threatened him.

Lin Heng and the ascenders avoided dangerous peaks and gathered modest treasures while the Eight Great Imperial Clans fought their way through the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range. After spotting Lin Heng’s surprise at a mountain, Yan Xishan led his people into its cave, and Ye Feng asked whether they should follow.

• Yan Xishan blamed Lin Heng for the Hunt Clan’s attack, so Lin Heng and Ye Feng mocked him and led the ascenders away from the battlefield.
• The Eight Great Imperial Clans rebuked Yan Xishan, then joined forces to defeat the Hunt Clan’s Heavenly Firmament expert and two other monsters.
• Lin Heng’s group found fourteen low-grade Primordial Chaos Spirit Treasures on a peak and divided them among six parties, with Ye Feng saving two for Ling Wushuang.
• Seeing the ascenders emerge from successful searches, the Eight Great Imperial Clans guessed that Lin Heng skipped three or four peaks and decided to search the largest peak ahead.
• Yan Xishan led the Eight Great Imperial Clans into a cave after interpreting Lin Heng’s surprised expression as a sign of treasure, and Ye Feng asked Lin Heng whether they should follow.

Lin Heng warned that Yan Xishan’s group had entered the most dangerous mountain in the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range, then led the ascenders to wait outside and prepare a defensive formation. Yan Xishan and three other experts escaped, but a Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm beast emerged from the cave, leaving the survivors facing a far greater threat.

• Lin Heng told Ye Feng that Yan Xishan’s group might need rescuing because their cave was the most dangerous place in the range.
• Lin Heng persuaded the ascenders to wait nearby, where they could save the Eight Great Imperial Clans if it was safe and use them to test future dangers.
• Lin Heng set up the All Four Seas Frozen defensive formation outside the cave.
• After a blast shook the mountain, Yan Xishan escaped, followed by three battered Heavenly Firmament Realm experts, and Ye Feng urged them to flee.
• A huge beast emerged from the cave, and the ascenders sensed that it had reached the Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm.

Lin Heng and the others fled when a Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm monster broke free of its cave and pursued them. A mysterious man killed it with one sword strike, then exchanged a knowing look with Lin Heng.

• Lin Heng trapped the monster in ice walls, but it broke through and escaped the cave.
• Lin Heng, Ye Feng, Yan Xishan, and the others fled as the monster chased them down.
• A man appeared from the void, and the monster abandoned its pursuit and tried to flee.
• The man killed the Heavenly Firmament Saint Realm monster with a single sword strike that destroyed its life force.
• The group returned to the man, who studied Lin Heng and nodded to him.

Tian Wu introduced himself and led Lin Heng and the others from the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range to a grassland trial. When Lin Heng stepped onto the grass, Tian Wu revealed that Dijiang had ordered every trial’s difficulty doubled for him, leaving Lin Heng to begin the ordeal with a bitter laugh.

• Tian Wu apologized for the monster attack, explained that the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range was his master's pet ground, and said he would take the group to the real trials.
• Tian Wu led the group out of the mountains and announced that their first trial was to cross a thirty-thousand-meter grassland on foot.
• Yan Xishan and the Eight Great Imperial Clans agreed to enter alongside the ascenders, and Ye Feng and Yan Xishan led both groups onto the grass together.
• A powerful gravitational force pressed down on Lin Heng as he stepped onto the grassland, but he forced himself upright.
• Tian Wu told Lin Heng that Dijiang had ordered every trial’s difficulty doubled for him, and Lin Heng took his first step with a bitter laugh.

Lin Heng struggled through the Heaven-Reaching Great Dao, enduring crushing pressure that suppressed his powers and forced him to keep moving after Yan Xishan was swallowed by the ground. He reached a wind-battered bridge and saw its planks begin to break behind him.

• Lin Heng stepped onto the grassland, where the pressure suppressed his Dao Realm and prevented him from drawing on his Primordial Chaos World.
• Lin Heng pushed himself forward despite exhaustion and watched Yan Xishan sink into the ground and disappear.
• Lin Heng renewed his resolve by thinking of his waiting family and companions, and Tian Wu realized he was strengthening his Dao heart and achieving a breakthrough.
• Lin Heng reached a cliff and spotted Ling Wushuang crossing a nearby bridge ahead of him.
• Lin Heng crossed a swaying bridge through fierce winds, then saw planks behind him shatter and fall into the valley.

Lin Heng crossed the collapsing bridge after witnessing Ling Wushuang fall into a fire dragon, and his calm focus triggered a breakthrough to the Primordial Chaos Profound Stage. He emerged in a cave with Yan Xishan and Ye Feng, where they realized the deaths they had witnessed were illusions, just as another trial participant appeared and wondered why they were still alive.

• Ling Wushuang fell from the bridge and was swallowed by a fire dragon, while Lin Heng pushed onward as the planks shattered behind him.
• Lin Heng entered a tranquil state while crossing the bridge, transforming the fifth layer of his Primordial Chaos World and breaking through to the Primordial Chaos Profound Stage.
• Lin Heng reached the end of the bridge and appeared in a cave with Yan Xishan and Ye Feng, who were surprised he had survived.
• Lin Heng, Yan Xishan, and Ye Feng realized that the deaths they had seen on the grassland and bridge were illusions designed to test their willpower.
• Ye Feng noticed Lin Heng's breakthrough, and Yan Xishan and Ye Feng silently struggled with their envy before another figure appeared and asked why the three of them were still alive.

Lin Heng and the others gathered in the cave before Tian Wu sent them into the Trapped Beast Maze, the second half of the first stage’s trial. After spending five days exploring every route, Lin Heng found only dead ends and realized the maze was aging him and suppressing his powers, leaving him to consider Tian Wu’s warning that appearances could be deceiving.

• Ling Wushuang and Lei Yuxiao learned that Lin Heng, Ye Feng, and Yan Xishan had survived, and Ye Feng handed Ling Wushuang the group’s extra share from the Hundred Illusions Mountain Range.
• After the remaining participants arrived, Tian Wu announced the Trapped Beast Maze trial and revealed fourteen entrances.
• Ye Feng, Yan Xishan, and Lin Heng entered the maze in arrival order, and Tian Wu privately warned Lin Heng that what he saw might not be real.
• Lin Heng spent five days exploring the maze’s branching paths, but every route ended in a dead end.
• Lin Heng discovered that he had aged and could no longer use his cultivation or world power, then wondered whether the wall before him was not truly a dead end.

Lin Heng escaped the Great Dao Labyrinth by following the Dao Realm in his heart and learned that its aging trial could kill those who failed to escape. He entered the lotus pond to claim a treasure, but discarded a snow-white shield and continued searching for the Heavenly Estate Master's personal treasure.

• After spending four hours at a dead end, Lin Heng closed his eyes, sensed water flowing through his inner world, and followed it through the labyrinth walls.
• Tian Wu watched Lin Heng pass through the walls and praised him for fusing his Dao Realm with his Primordial Chaos World.
• Lin Heng emerged first, and Tian Wu explained that everyone had received the same hint but that those who failed to escape before dying of old age would die in the labyrinth.
• Tian Wu sent Lin Heng to the lotus pond and told him the Heavenly Estate Master had left a personal treasure there that no one had claimed.
• Lin Heng found a snow-white shield that absorbed his attack, judged it to be only a Second-Class Primordial Chaos Spirit Treasure, and tossed it back into the pond.
• Lin Heng continued searching the lotus pond while Tian Wu watched each item he retrieved with growing disappointment.

Lin Heng chose a rust-covered longsword from the lotus pond, though he could find no sign of its power. Lei Yuxiao and Ling Wushuang later passed the maze and each chose a treasure, while Lin Heng realized Tian Wu had let him make far more choices than the others.

• Lin Heng searched the lotus pond and, after Tian Wu hinted at the rust-covered longsword, chose it as his reward.
• Lin Heng spent two days examining and feeding energy into the longsword, but discovered only that it absorbed energy without limit.
• Lei Yuxiao and Ling Wushuang emerged from the maze, and Lin Heng greeted them before Tian Wu told them they could each choose only once from the pond.
• Ling Wushuang chose a Second-Class Primordial Chaos Spirit Treasure shield, while Lei Yuxiao took a short saber and mocked Lin Heng's rusty sword.
• Lin Heng realized he had been allowed to make dozens of choices, and Lei Yuxiao walked away after insisting his saber was better than Lin Heng's sword.

After surviving the maze, Lin Heng and the others reached the foot of Heavenly Mountain, where guardian Rushou announced a bare-handed climb with their cultivation sealed as the next trial. The inheritance baptism offered as a reward convinced the challengers to stay, and the Eight Great Imperial Clans began discussing how they might use the climb to kill Lin Heng.

• Tian Wu told the eleven survivors that everyone else had died in the maze and sent them toward the next trial.
• Lei Yuxiao led the Eight Great Imperial Clans away first, and Ling Wushuang then led Lin Heng and the other Ascenders toward the mountain.
• Rushou identified himself as guardian of the Heavenly Mountain trial and ordered the challengers to climb to its summit with their cultivation sealed and their bare hands.
• Lei Yuxiao asked about the reward, and Rushou said successful climbers would receive an inheritance baptism, prompting the hesitant challengers to reconsider withdrawing.
• The challengers split into groups to discuss climbing together, while the Eight Great Imperial Clans considered using the trial to kill Lin Heng.