Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng passed Xizi’s trial after surviving the lightning dragon’s self-destruction, earning the approval of the eleventh guardian. Dijiang warned him that the final guardian, Houtu, would be both powerful and hostile because Lin Heng’s inheritance meant Mu Chen could never return.

• Lin Heng used Origin Devouring to strengthen his lightning qilin, but Xizi’s lightning dragon severed its connection to him and self-destructed, destroying the qilin and injuring Lin Heng.
• Lin Heng realized Xizi had concentrated his power to trigger the explosion, then told Xizi that the attack had not used up his full strength.
• Xizi acknowledged Lin Heng’s advantage and approved him to proceed to the next trial.
• Lin Heng returned to the palace hall, where Dijiang told him Houtu was the final guardian and could use both the Origin of Earth and the Netherworld Origin.
• Dijiang explained that Houtu’s devotion to Mu Chen made her resent Lin Heng, whose inheritance of the Heavenly Estate meant Mu Chen could not return.

Lin Heng entered Dijiang's temporal spirit treasure to develop a technique for fusing the eight great Powers of Origin, hoping to gain an edge against Houtu. His first attempt nearly failed, so he considered practicing with only two Origins at a time.

• Dijiang estimated that Lin Heng had only a ten percent chance of defeating Houtu, but Lin Heng claimed she was the one with that chance.
• Lin Heng demonstrated that his eight great Powers of Origin could begin to fuse and mutate, impressing Dijiang despite the strain on his mental power.
• Dijiang gave Lin Heng a temporal spirit treasure with a time flow a hundred million times faster so he could cultivate for the fourth trial.
• Lin Heng meditated for three days, then began studying the fusion of the eight Origins while Dijiang secretly watched over him.
• Lin Heng's first attempt stalled when the Origins resisted each other and nearly went out of control, prompting him to consider fusing only two at a time.

Lin Heng worked to fuse the Powers of Origin while Situ Jiannan expanded the Battle Heaven Pavilion and planned new sect grounds across the Nine Heavens. As Mei Aoxue searched the Third Heaven for a site, Qin Hongmian confronted her and pleaded for her to return to the Mortal World Inn.

• Lin Heng began fusing the Powers of Origin of Water and Wood inside the time spirit treasure and sensed they might merge.
• Situ Jiannan recruited tens of thousands of screened powerhouses and planned Battle Heaven Pavilion sect grounds in the Third, Second, and First Heavens.
• Situ Jiannan assigned Mei Aoxue to find sites for the new grounds, and she selected a mountain range in the Third Heaven.
• Qin Hongmian caught up with Mei Aoxue and asked her to return to the Mortal World Inn, but Mei Aoxue kept her distance.

Mei Aoxue rejected Qin Hongmian’s attempt to bring her back to the Mortal World Inn and declared her loyalty to Battle Heaven Pavilion. When Qin Hongmian considered killing her, Lin Heng’s Good and Evil Doppelgangers arrived to confront Qin Hongmian.

• Qin Hongmian tried to persuade Mei Aoxue to return, but Mei Aoxue said she had joined Battle Heaven Pavilion willingly and would not betray it.
• Qin Hongmian offered to have Venerable Qingyi remove Mei Aoxue’s binding oath, but Mei Aoxue refused and said she belonged to Battle Heaven Pavilion in life and death.
• Mei Aoxue sensed Qin Hongmian’s killing intent and prepared to fight rather than surrender.
• Lin Heng’s Good and Evil Doppelgangers arrived and positioned themselves beside Mei Aoxue.
• The Good Avatar politely asked whether Mei Aoxue had offended Qin Hongmian, while the Evil Avatar challenged Qin Hongmian to fight him.

Mei Aoxue defused a confrontation between the Battle Heaven Pavilion and Qin Hongmian, while Lin Heng mastered a fusion of three Origins before entering Houtu’s fourth trial. Houtu mistook Lin Heng for Mu Chen at first, then greeted him with open hostility when she realized who he was.

• The Good and Evil Doppelgangers confronted Qin Hongmian for trying to recruit Mei Aoxue, but Mei Aoxue explained the misunderstanding and the Good Avatar let Qin Hongmian leave.
• The Evil Avatar warned onlookers that no one in the Nine Heavens could bully a member of the Battle Heaven Pavilion.
• Inside Dijiang’s time spirit treasure, Lin Heng fused the Origins of Water and Wood, then spent hundreds of thousands of years learning to fuse the Origins of Water, Wood, and Earth.
• Dijiang told Lin Heng to display overwhelming power to earn Houtu’s acknowledgment, then took him to the fourth trial.
• Lin Heng entered Houtu’s realm and greeted her, but Houtu became hostile after realizing he was not Mu Chen.

Lin Heng faced Houtu’s trial by fighting her Twelfth Grade Sovereign clone without using Eternal Ages. He trapped and injured the clone with attacks combining several origins, but Houtu’s clone declared that his strongest strike had fallen short.

• Houtu demanded that Lin Heng kill her conscious clone or be killed by it, and forbade him from using Eternal Ages.
• Lin Heng and Houtu’s clone tested their Origin of Earth against each other, and Lin Heng gained a slight advantage.
• Lin Heng collapsed the ground beneath the clone, flooded the pit, and bound her with vines before freezing her in ice.
• Lin Heng fused the Origins of Water and Wood and hurled the combined energy into the pit, where it exploded as the clone broke free.
• Houtu’s clone emerged badly wounded and told Lin Heng that his attack was his limit and that he would get no further chance.

Lin Heng overcame Houtu’s clone by fusing the Origins of Wood, Water, and Earth, forcing Houtu to intervene and concede defeat. After Lin Heng claimed victory under the Heavenly Estate’s rules, Houtu accepted him as her master.

• Houtu’s clone trapped Lin Heng between shifting mountains and a crushing barrier of the Origin of Earth, while Lin Heng realized he could not afford a battle of endurance.
• Lin Heng revealed the Origins of Wood, Water, and Earth and fused them into a three-colored sphere despite Houtu’s doubts.
• Lin Heng’s three-Origin attack broke through the barrier and shattered the thousand-zhang mountain, forcing Houtu to shield her clone with a vortex of the Origin of Earth.
• Lin Heng accused Houtu of intervening with power beyond the Twelfth Grade Sovereign, and Houtu admitted she had broken the rules and declared him the winner.
• Lin Heng invoked Mu Chen’s rules for the Heavenly Estate, and Houtu knelt and greeted him as her master.

After Lin Heng passed the Heavenly Estate guardians’ trials, Mu Chen’s remnant soul revealed the truth about his conflict with Primordial Chaos and warned him to beware of fate. Mu Chen asked Lin Heng to deliver a sachet to Yue Yao when he reached the upper realm.

• Lin Heng gained the approval of all twelve guardians, and Dijiang directed him to Mu Chen’s Starry Universe Palace.
• Mu Chen’s remnant soul appeared and shared memories showing that he had delayed completing his universe to question whether becoming a Life Sovereign was truly the end of cultivation.
• Mu Chen revealed that he and Primordial Chaos debated their different Daos through a contest of souls, which ended with Mu Chen’s soul destroyed.
• Mu Chen told Lin Heng that each person must follow their own Dao and warned him that Primordial Chaos would not hinder him, but that he must beware of fate.
• Mu Chen gave Lin Heng a sachet for Yue Yao and asked him to tell her that he had failed her in this life.

Lin Heng asked Dijiang about the upper realm and learned that ascenders had to endure a million years of ordinary labor before settling there, while talented cultivators faced danger from jealous rivals. Dijiang warned that Lin Heng would be hunted for possessing Mu Chen’s inheritance and explained that Lin Heng’s developing universe could become a Heaven-Grade Universe, making him a target.

• Lin Heng asked Dijiang about the upper realm, and Dijiang described its harsh laws, where newly ascended cultivators could only walk and had to spend a million years chopping trees and hunting in the Archaic Land.
• Dijiang explained that cultivators who showed threatening talent could be murdered by rivals who had abandoned efforts to improve themselves.
• Dijiang warned Lin Heng that Venerable Qingyi and the Lei Clan Ancestor might spread news of his inheritance from Mu Chen, putting him in danger throughout the upper realm.
• Lin Heng asked where the upper realm’s other inhabitants came from, and Dijiang connected them to parallel planes such as the foreign race’s world.
• Dijiang explained the four grades of universes and said Lin Heng’s universe could become Heaven-Grade because he possessed the eight great Powers of Origin, making upper-realm cultivators eager to eliminate him.

Dijiang explained why Primordial Chaos favored Hongjun and warned Lin Heng that the upper realm would be hostile to him. Back at the Battle Heaven Pavilion, Lin Heng arranged its leadership and rules for after his ascension, then entered seclusion to prepare for the Cosmic Spirit Realm.

• Dijiang told Lin Heng that Hongjun had once been capable of reaching Primordial Chaos's level but had fallen short after becoming entangled in worldly affairs.
• Dijiang warned Lin Heng that he would need ruthless methods to survive in the upper realm, where many powerful figures wanted him dead.
• After returning to the Battle Heaven Pavilion, Lin Heng told its leaders that he was nearing a breakthrough to the Cosmic Spirit Realm and named Sun Yuan as his successor, with Mei Aoxue and Situ Jiannan taking supporting roles.
• Lin Heng established eight rules for the Battle Heaven Pavilion to prevent its disciples from causing trouble and to maintain peace in the Nine Heavens.
• Lin Heng agreed to attend the pavilion opening in the First Heaven and gave Situ Jiannan most of his stored possessions before entering seclusion the next day.

After spending hundreds of millions of years observing his Primordial Chaos World develop, Lin Heng reached Cosmic Spirit Realm Great Perfection and prepared to ascend after the Battle Heaven Pavilion’s First Heaven opening. The ceremony began with the unexpected arrival of the Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi, leaving their intentions uncertain.

• Lin Heng watched the Demon Race and then the Human Race emerge in his Primordial Chaos World, whose inhabitants’ growth strengthened him until he reached Cosmic Spirit Realm Great Perfection.
• Dijiang explained that Lin Heng’s heaven-grade Primordial Chaos World could develop on its own and eventually create parallel spaces, giving him strength to protect himself in the upper realm.
• Lin Heng left seclusion, summoned Situ Jiannan and the others, and set the Battle Heaven Pavilion’s First Heaven opening ceremony for one month later before spending time with Liu Ling'er, Miao Shanrou, and Lin Miaoyin.
• At the opening ceremony, more than a hundred thousand people gathered as Lin Heng and the Battle Heaven Pavilion’s leaders stood before them.
• As Situ Jiannan prepared to begin the ceremony, the Lei Clan Ancestor appeared uninvited, followed by Venerable Qingyi, prompting discussion about the factions’ past grudges with the Battle Heaven Pavilion.

The Battle Heaven Pavilion opened amid challenges from the Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi, who questioned Lin Heng’s claim that it would safeguard the Nine Heavens. Lin Heng intimidated them with Eternal Ages, and the Lei Clan Ancestor proposed a contest called A Moment of Life and Death.

• The Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi arrived at the opening ceremony with gifts, and Lin Heng declared that the Battle Heaven Pavilion belonged to neither the imperial clans nor the Ascenders.
• After the ceremony, the Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi challenged Lin Heng to prove the pavilion’s strength.
• Lin Heng invited them to test him, then revealed Eternal Ages and unleashed Kunpeng’s oppressive might, causing the Lei Clan Ancestor to sit back down.
• Sun Yuan taunted the two men for backing away, and the Lei Clan Ancestor proposed a refined contest instead of a fight.
• The Lei Clan Ancestor suggested playing A Moment of Life and Death, noting that Lin Heng had reached the Cosmic Spirit Realm.

Lin Heng accepted the Lei Clan Ancestor’s contest to create life, and their beasts fought in a condensed space. Lin Heng’s Five-Clawed Golden Dragon killed the ancestor’s Heaven-Howling White Tiger in one exchange, leaving Venerable Qingyi to question whether they had underestimated Lin Heng.

• The Lei Clan Ancestor proposed that he and Lin Heng create beasts for fifteen minutes and let them fight to the death, prompting Sun Yuan to mock his supposed literary contest.
• Lin Heng accepted the challenge and entered a condensed space with the Lei Clan Ancestor as Venerable Qingyi started the hourglass.
• Lin Heng and the Lei Clan Ancestor used accelerated time and Cosmic Spirit Realm abilities to nurture a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon and a Heaven-Howling White Tiger.
• The two beasts fought, and the Golden Dragon knocked the White Tiger away while losing several scales from its tail.
• After taking a step, the White Tiger turned illusory and died, stunning the Lei Clan Ancestor and the onlookers.
• Venerable Qingyi asked whether the Lei Clan Ancestor had held back, then concluded that Lin Heng’s Primordial Chaos World and personal strength exceeded their expectations.

Lin Heng defeated the Lei Clan Ancestor’s beast, then used the Ascension Formation to leave the Nine Heavens for the upper realm. After arriving, he struggled against its immense gravity but managed to stand on his first day, astonishing the scholar sent to receive him.

• Lin Heng’s Five-Clawed Golden Dragon defeated the Lei Clan Ancestor’s Heaven-Howling White Tiger, and Venerable Qingyi withdrew without competing.
• Lin Heng let the Battle Heaven Pavilion’s opening celebration continue for three days, then prepared the Ascension Formation ten days later.
• More than two hundred thousand disciples lent Lin Heng their power of wishes, and he bid farewell to his friends and Liu Ling’er before ascending.
• Lin Heng arrived on a white jade platform in the upper realm, where intense gravity forced him to his knees.
• Lin Heng repeatedly tried to stand until he succeeded, surprising the scholar, who sensed that Lin Heng had reached Cosmic Spirit Realm Great Perfection.

After ascending, Lin Heng struggled with the world’s immense gravity and learned that Hongjun had arranged for him to live in the Grotto-Heaven Bamboo Forest. There, Dijiang explained that Lin Heng had to cut Azure Spirit Ghost Bamboo to convert his Power of Origin into Origin Cosmic Power.

• Lin Heng admitted his identity to Liu Yuansheng, who revealed that Hongjun had warned his disciples not to covet Lin Heng’s inheritance.
• Liu Yuansheng took Lin Heng to the Grotto-Heaven Bamboo Forest and showed him the newly built thatched hut where he would live and cut one bamboo stalk each day.
• Lin Heng struck Azure Spirit Ghost Bamboo with a sickle, but the bamboo knocked it back and injured his hand.
• Lin Heng summoned Dijiang, who identified the bamboo and explained that Lin Heng’s Power of Origin had not yet converted into Origin Cosmic Power.
• Dijiang told Lin Heng that he would complete the conversion when he could cut the Azure Spirit Ghost Bamboo with the sickle in one stroke.

Lin Heng learned about the Four Seas and Eight Wastelands and decided to train in the most dangerous region after transforming his Power of Origin. He received Mu Chen’s former sword and began chopping Azure Spirit Ghost Bamboo, while Hongjun heard of his plans and praised his resolve.

• Dijiang explained that the Eight Wastelands were a perilous training ground where ascenders competed for a chance to enter the Four Seas, and recalled how Mu Chen had fought his way through them.
• Lin Heng decided to head to the Eight Wastelands after converting his Power of Origin into Origin Cosmic Power, and Dijiang returned to the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode.
• Lin Heng checked in at the Grotto-Heaven Bamboo Forest and received the Peach Blossom Spring Annihilation Sword, which Mu Chen had once wielded.
• Lin Heng resolved not to use Eternal Ages until he had fought his way out of the Eight Wastelands, then spent eight hours chopping through one stalk of Azure Spirit Ghost Bamboo and fell into an exhausted sleep.
• Liu Yuansheng told Hongjun that Lin Heng planned to carve a path through the Eight Wastelands, and Hongjun praised him as worthy of Mu Chen’s inheritance.

The Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi plotted to force Hongjun to send Lin Heng to the Land of the Eight Desolations once he advanced beyond the Cosmic Spirit Realm. After half a year of training, Lin Heng neared a breakthrough and asked Dijiang where to go next, leaving with a recommendation to enter the dangerous Heavenly Punishment Ghost Domain.

• The Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi discussed Lin Heng’s ascension and Hongjun’s protection, then decided to gather allies to pressure Hongjun after Lin Heng broke through beyond the Cosmic Spirit Realm.
• Lin Heng spent half a year adapting to gravity in the Grotto-Heaven Bamboo Forest, improving his bamboo-chopping speed and converting about seventy percent of his Power of Origin into Origin Cosmic Power.
• Lin Heng stopped signing in after the forest’s rewards weakened and estimated that he would complete his energy conversion and advance his cultivation within a few months.
• Lin Heng told Dijiang he wanted to seek the most dangerous place to grow stronger before the Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi attacked him.
• Dijiang recommended the Heavenly Punishment Ghost Domain in the Western Celebratory Demon Sea, where his former master had carved a path into the Four Seas.

Dijiang explained the dangers and rules of the Heavenly Punishment Ghost Domain, and Lin Heng decided to travel there without relying on protection from Dijiang. After transforming his Universe Origin and reaching the verge of a breakthrough, Lin Heng discovered that he could not break through inside the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode.

• Dijiang told Lin Heng that Dasiwoba had made the Heavenly Punishment Ghost Domain a dangerous land where undead hunted Ascenders, but his strict rules also made it a refuge from pursuers.
• Lin Heng decided to enter the Heavenly Punishment Ghost Domain after breaking through, and refused Dijiang's offer to protect him on the journey.
• Lin Heng spent a month and a half converting his Power of Origin into Origin Cosmic Power, completing the transformation of his Universe Origin and greatly increasing his strength.
• Lin Heng stopped chopping Azure Spirit Ghost Bamboo and went into the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode to focus on breaking through.
• Lin Heng returned to the Grotto-Heaven Bamboo Forest when he could not break through inside the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode, and Dijiang hinted that the two places differed in a way that prevented it.

Lin Heng broke through to the Dao Universe Realm by creating a Heavenly Dao for his universe, drawing the attention of the Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi. As they moved to have him sent to the Archaic Land, Hongjun warned Primordial Chaos about their plan.

• Lin Heng left the Peach Garden Heavenly Abode, recognized the guidance of the Dao laws, and began his breakthrough in the Grotto-Heaven Bamboo Forest.
• Lin Heng formed a Heavenly Dao based on following one's true heart, completing the initial construction of his universe and reaching the Dao Universe Realm.
• The Lei Clan Ancestor and Venerable Qingyi sensed Lin Heng's breakthrough and resolved to petition their master to send him to the Archaic Land.
• Hongjun went to the Primordial Chaos Heavenly Palace and told Primordial Chaos that Hermoz had gathered more than thirty senior and junior brothers to demand Lin Heng be sent to the Archaic Land.

Hongjun reported Hermoz's actions to Hongmeng and was instructed to leave Lin Heng's affairs to him. After Lin Heng broke through to the Dao Universe Realm, he decided to leave the Southern Spirit Sacred Sea in three days, while Hermoz prepared to intercept him.

• Hongjun told Hongmeng that Hermoz and the Eastern Victorious Divine Sea were pursuing Mu Chen's inheritance, and Hongmeng said Lin Heng needed challenges to grow.
• Hongjun told Hermoz that Lin Heng would go to an Archaic Land within a month of breaking through to the Dao Universe Realm, without naming which one.
• Hermoz arranged for his men to intercept Lin Heng on every route out of the Southern Spirit Sacred Sea, determined to obtain Mu Chen's inheritance.
• After three days and nights, Lin Heng's Heavenly Dao and lesser Daos took shape, and he broke through to the Dao Universe Realm.
• Dijiang congratulated Lin Heng and explained that leaving Hongjun's protection would let him begin his journey through the Four Seas and Eight Wastelands.
• Lin Heng decided to depart in three days and planned to sort through his sign-in rewards for useful treasures, especially a flying treasure.