Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu fought through the golden ferocious apes to reach his badly wounded substitute, then killed their Dark-Gold Ferocious Ape leader. He decided to abandon the substitute’s damaged body and recover its Divine Soul.

• Ximen Zhanpeng fled after Chen Mu forced him back, and Chen Mu climbed away as the golden ferocious apes approached.
• Chen Mu knocked the apes off the rock face and reached the cave where Talisman-Robed Chen Mu was trapped and gravely injured.
• Chen Mu attacked the Dark-Gold Ferocious Ape with his Hypermetabolism Fist and killed it after a fierce fight.
• Chen Mu absorbed the blood-colored mist from the ape and gained many Profound Mystery Fragments.
• After examining his substitute’s severe injuries, Chen Mu decided to give up its body and recover its Divine Soul.

After restoring his Divine Soul, Chen Mu discovered that his double might have a True Body Grotto-Heaven trial of its own and found a way to store the double’s body inside his storage ring. A week later, he prepared to ambush the two Heavenly Court divine sons who had hunted his double, while still needing to complete his own trial.

• Chen Mu reunited his Divine Soul with his original body and noticed a second, paler blood-colored mist that might mark his double’s trial.
• Chen Mu used his storage ring from within his body to absorb and store the double’s flesh.
• Chen Mu left the cave, found that the ferocious apes had fled, and vowed to make the two Heavenly Court divine sons pay for hunting his double.
• A week later, Chen Mu ate ferocious beast meat by a stream and felt his body and foundation improving.
• Chen Mu decided to attack the two divine sons that night, planning to use his wilderness survival skills against them.

Chen Mu lured Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu into a wolf pack’s attack and ambushed them as they tried to escape. Ximen Zhanpeng was left half-dead and surrendered to Chen Mu.

• Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu planned to attack a wolf pack for profundity fragments the next day.
• Chen Mu framed them by leaving a dead wolf cub outside their cave, drawing the pack into an attack.
• Ximen Zhanpeng and Han Zishu fled up a rocky slope, but falling rocks forced them to jump down.
• Chen Mu ambushed Ximen Zhanpeng in midair, beat him to the ground, and drove back the wolves that attacked him.
• Ximen Zhanpeng recognized Chen Mu and begged for mercy.

Chen Mu killed Ximen Zhanpeng despite his Death Substitution Talisman, then turned to Han Zishu after the wolf pack retreated. He spared her for now, intending to use her to test the True Body Grotto-Heaven’s trial rewards, and left her under his control.

• Chen Mu killed Ximen Zhanpeng a second time after the divine son revived with a Death Substitution Talisman.
• Chen Mu absorbed the profound-mystery fragments from Ximen Zhanpeng’s corpse and took his storage treasure.
• The Silver Wolf King called off the wolves and retreated when Chen Mu approached.
• Chen Mu rejected Han Zishu’s pleas and explanations but offered to spare her if she obeyed him.
• Han Zishu agreed, and Chen Mu warned her not to feign affection as he planned to use her as a test subject.

After spending over two months in the True Body Grotto-Heaven, Chen Mu and Han Zishu hunted a God Level fierce tiger for profound mystery fragments. Chen Mu wounded the beast and gained the upper hand, but the fierce tiger was still alive.

• Han Zishu grew stronger and accumulated profound mystery fragments while surviving in the True Body Grotto-Heaven with Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu sent Han Zishu to lure a giant fierce tiger toward their hiding place, and the beast nearly caught her as she fled.
• Chen Mu recognized the fierce tiger as a God Level beast and chose to risk attacking it rather than abandon Han Zishu.
• Chen Mu leapt onto the tiger, battered its head, and endured its attacks until it rammed into a tree and collapsed.
• Chen Mu slashed open the tiger's belly with his stone knife, leaving it badly wounded but still capable of fighting.

After defeating a ferocious tiger, Chen Mu waited for Han Zishu to return and claim its Profound Mystery Fragments. Han Zishu completed the trial and faced a choice of eight rewards, including a World Seed that Chen Mu wanted for his plan to create his own plane.

• Chen Mu killed the ferocious tiger, then roasted and ate its meat to recover from his injuries.
• Han Zishu returned at night and absorbed the Profound Mystery Fragments above the tiger's corpse.
• Chen Mu revealed that he had expected Han Zishu to come back and urged her to inspect the trial rewards.
• A golden light enveloped Han Zishu, and the grotto-heaven offered her eight rewards from which she could choose one.
• Chen Mu recognized a World Seed among the rewards and considered how it could help him create his own plane.

Chen Mu completed the True Body Grotto-Heaven trial and claimed two divine rewards before returning to the Kunlun Secret Realm. After repairing his stand-in puppet, he chose to enter the Ninth Grotto-Heaven to find Elder Ming.

• Han Zishu chose a spherical object as her reward and was teleported out of the True Body Grotto-Heaven.
• Chen Mu hunted a Quasi-God Level snow bear, filled both trial mist clusters, and completed the trial twice.
• Chen Mu took a World Seed and a True Body divine herb, then returned to the entrance of the Kunlun Secret Realm.
• Chen Mu reviewed his recording and learned that Han Zishu had entered the Second Grotto-Heaven.
• Chen Mu stored the snow bear paws and repaired his stand-in puppet to nearly eighty percent of its former condition.
• Chen Mu entered the Ninth Grotto-Heaven to look for Elder Ming and face its Divine Soul trial.

Chen Mu entered the Yang Soul Grotto-Heaven, where he had to use his Divine Soul to build a safe area and survive the blazing heat. After finding his substitute puppet and beginning to prepare for the trial, he discovered Innate Runes hidden in the spiritual materials.

• Chen Mu arrived in the Yang Soul Grotto-Heaven and learned he had three days of protection to gather materials and build a safe area more than ten li across.
• Chen Mu hurried through the fiery world toward his substitute puppet, gathering valuable spiritual materials while avoiding a giant flame worm.
• After five days, Chen Mu found his substitute puppet, who had built a safe area roughly five zhang across during the protection period.
• Chen Mu rested inside the safe area, processed materials, and planned to search for Elder Ming while considering how formations, runes, and pill-refining techniques could tame the environment.
• Chen Mu discovered naturally formed Innate Runes in some of the spiritual materials.

Chen Mu studied Innate Runes in the Yang Soul Grotto-Heaven, found Elder Ming, and learned that expanding a safe zone beyond five kilometers brought a siege by flame creatures. He built his own safe zone and triggered the attack, which began as the chapter ended.

• Chen Mu spent more than half a month studying spiritual materials and Innate Runes, then crafted a rune staff to protect himself from the grotto-heaven’s hazards.
• Chen Mu searched for eight days and found Elder Ming, who had built a safe zone and was slowly progressing through the trial.
• Elder Ming told Chen Mu that flame creatures besieged cultivators who expanded their safe zones beyond five kilometers, and that powerful creatures carried Innate Runes.
• Chen Mu established a nearby safe zone exceeding five kilometers in radius and waited for the flame creatures to attack.
• Nearly a hundred flame creatures approached, and Chen Mu activated the Eight Gates Dunjia Array to strike them with lightning.

Chen Mu completed the Yang Soul Grotto-Heaven trial after six months of studying its flame creatures, then chose a World Seed while his substitute took a Divine Source Stone. Back at the secret realm’s entrance, he was attacked by a Divine Maiden of the Heavenly Court and saw Mingye facing Han Zishu.

• Chen Mu spent six months luring flame creatures into his arrays, studying their innate runes and improving his Divine Soul, array, talisman, and pill-refinement skills.
• Chen Mu told Elder Ming he planned to leave and arranged to meet him at the secret realm’s entrance two years later.
• Chen Mu built a separate array for his substitute, and the two completed the Yang Soul Grotto-Heaven trial.
• Chen Mu chose a World Seed from the rewards, while his substitute chose a Divine Source Stone.
• Chen Mu returned to the secret realm’s entrance and blocked a sword strike from a Divine Maiden of the Heavenly Court.
• Chen Mu saw Mingye confronting Han Zishu, who had ordered the Divine Maiden to attack him.

Chen Mu rescued Mingye and fought Han Zishu and Jiang Xueqiao, using his divine spear and summoned forces to overwhelm the two goddesses. Han Zishu unleashed her Starfall Wrathful Stone to break their encirclement, destroying one of Chen Mu’s Heavenly Stems War Soldiers as she and Jiang Xueqiao escaped.

• Han Zishu and Jiang Xueqiao attacked Mingye, but Chen Mu drove them back with Mechanical Storm and brought Mingye to safety.
• Mingye told Chen Mu she had fought the goddesses for over a month while waiting for a chance to escape.
• Chen Mu fought Han Zishu and Jiang Xueqiao with the Wentian Divine Spear, countering their divine skills and sword attacks.
• Han Zishu hurled the Starfall Wrathful Stone at Chen Mu, forcing him to stop its immense impact with both hands.
• Chen Mu summoned his Ten Heavenly Stems War Soldiers, Dharma Aspect True Bodies, and Specter Legion to trap and attack the goddesses.
• Han Zishu used Starfall Wrathful Stone again, wrecking one War Soldier and allowing herself and Jiang Xueqiao to break free.

Chen Mu and Mingye defeated Han Zishu after Jiang Xueqiao escaped, then took their treasures and spent over a month cultivating. They agreed to enter separate grotto-heavens and reunite in six months.

• Jiang Xueqiao decided to flee, and Mingye ambushed Han Zishu as she tried to escape.
• Jiang Xueqiao escaped the secret realm, but Han Zishu was overwhelmed by Chen Mu and Mingye and died beneath Mingye's dagger.
• Chen Mu took Han Zishu's round stone and other treasures, destroyed the lotus magic treasure's artifact spirit, and searched Ximen Zhanpeng's storage ring.
• Chen Mu and Mingye absorbed saint pills and saint herbs for over a month, reaching stronger levels of cultivation.
• Chen Mu and Mingye agreed that Mingye would enter the True Body Grotto-Heaven and Chen Mu the Reincarnation Grotto-Heaven, then meet again in six months.

Chen Mu entered the Reincarnation Grotto-Heaven, where he had to send one hundred thousand Yin Souls into the Nether River within a year. After reuniting with his substitute puppet, he used Mingye’s advice to lure a thousand Yin Souls into the river and began preparing an illusion array to speed up the task.

• Chen Mu learned that he could use only Yin-type energy and had one year to guide one hundred thousand Yin Souls into the Nether River.
• Chen Mu reunited with his substitute puppet after three days and realized that earning two rewards would require him to guide two hundred thousand Yin Souls before meeting Mingye in six months.
• Chen Mu used an illusion technique to stir the obsessions of more than a thousand Yin Souls and lead them to the Nether River.
• Chen Mu cast his illusion into the river, drawing the Yin Souls in to be reincarnated.
• Chen Mu returned to the forest, gathered spiritual materials, and prepared to build a large illusion array because he could not guide the river to the Yin Souls as Mingye could.

Chen Mu built illusion routes to speed up delivering Yin Souls, then spent months contemplating the Great Dao of Reincarnation while waiting for his agreed meeting with Mingye. He completed the trial alongside his substitute and chose a World Seed and a Nether Spring Source, hoping the source could help his plane become a higher plane.

• Chen Mu constructed two long illusion formation routes that drew Yin Souls toward the Nether River, expecting them to let both bodies complete the trial quickly.
• While the routes gathered Yin Souls, Chen Mu contemplated reincarnation and considered how his intelligent computer might help spread knowledge of the Profound Mystery of Chaos.
• Chen Mu prepared a thousand Yin Souls for himself and his substitute so both could finish the trial near the time he had agreed to meet Mingye.
• Chen Mu and his substitute guided the Yin Souls into the Nether River and each received a set of divine objects after surpassing one hundred thousand delivered souls.
• Chen Mu chose a World Seed and a Nether Spring Source, judging that the tiny spring might eventually help his plane evolve into a higher plane.

After securing two divine objects, Chen Mu entered the Second Grotto-Heaven with Mingye and prepared for its dangerous trial, where their powers were sealed and they had to cross a monster-filled mountain range. After spending more than two months adapting to ordinary bodies, Chen Mu led Mingye and his puppet double into the Nimble Mountain Range.

• Chen Mu chose to nurture the Nether Spring Source with metallic substances, took two divine objects with his double, and returned from the trial.
• Chen Mu reviewed the recording rune, then entered the Second Grotto-Heaven with Mingye and his puppet double to avoid the Fourth Grotto-Heaven, where Ye Beihen was.
• Chen Mu and Mingye learned that the Nimble Grotto-Heaven sealed their energy and Soul Power and required them to cross a dangerous mountain range using combat techniques alone.
• Chen Mu suspected Han Zishu had left the trial early after failing to cross the mountains, and he and Mingye spent more than two months adapting their techniques to ordinary bodies.
• Chen Mu set out for the Nimble Mountain Range with a stone spear and dagger, telling Mingye to follow him while his puppet double guarded her.
• Chen Mu raced through the forest, evaded ferocious beasts, and slowed down so Mingye and his puppet double could keep up.

Chen Mu and Mingye crossed the dangerous Nimble Mountain Range using Chen Mu’s martial skills and mechanical ingenuity, completing the Nimble Grotto-Heaven trial in just over a month. The seven divine objects that appeared around Chen Mu confirmed his suspicion that Han Zishu had not completed the trial.

• Chen Mu killed a giant python with Five Elements Collapse Fist and continued through the Nimble Mountain Range with Mingye.
• Chen Mu and Mingye camped for the night, shared roasted boar, and took turns keeping watch.
• Facing a vast swamp, Chen Mu made reinforced travel shoes so they could cross it without taking a month-long detour.
• Chen Mu and Mingye crossed the swamp safely, then overcame more treacherous terrain with Chen Mu’s wilderness knowledge and mechanical techniques.
• Chen Mu and Mingye completed the Nimble Grotto-Heaven trial after crossing the range in just over a month, and seven divine objects appeared around Chen Mu.

Chen Mu and Mingye claimed divine treasures in the Nimble Grotto-Heaven, then entered the Destruction Grotto-Heaven to continue their trials. Chen Mu began searching for his substitute puppet, planning to meet Mingye afterward, and used his newly developed Fire-Treading Meteor spell to travel quickly across the hostile world.

• Mingye chose a World Seed, and Chen Mu and his substitute puppet each took one of the remaining divine treasures before they teleported out.
• Chen Mu saw through the image-recording rune that more than twenty people had entered the secret realm and that the White Turtle had advanced to the Fifth Grotto-Heaven.
• Chen Mu and Mingye entered the Fourth Grotto-Heaven, where Chen Mu learned that he had one year to kill a million demons or destroy a demon castle.
• Chen Mu discovered he could summon his Specter Legion and Five Elements War Soldiers, then set out to find his substitute puppet before locating Mingye.
• Chen Mu used Fire-Treading Meteor to fly across the desolate world and stopped in a secluded valley to rest.

Chen Mu searched the Destruction Grotto-Heaven for Mingye, then tracked an Abyss Devil Race Sage and seized an opening to attack him. After the Sage transformed into a woman and claimed not to be from the Devil Race, Chen Mu wounded her but noticed her blood was red.

• Chen Mu reunited with his double and continued searching for Mingye, leaving marker runes and using communication spells to help them find each other.
• Chen Mu spotted an Abyss Devil Race Sage controlling demons and followed him to learn his methods before striking.
• A demon army routed the Sage’s forces, and Chen Mu pursued the fleeing Sage, killing the two Saint Level demons escorting him.
• The Sage transformed into a beautiful woman and claimed she was not from the Devil Race, but Chen Mu struck her down.
• Chen Mu saw that the wounded woman’s blood was red and realized something was amiss.

Chen Mu discovered that Zhou Xinle was a Heart Devil Fox who had disguised herself as an Abyss Devil, and he agreed to help her recover while keeping her close. Five days later, he sensed Mingye approaching after finding one of his marks.

• Chen Mu checked his mind for Heart Demon influence, then questioned Zhou Xinle about her disguise.
• Zhou Xinle explained that she came from the Thousand Illusions Demon Realm and used a Heart Demon Emperor's Demon Seed to imitate the Abyss Devil aura.
• After Zhou Xinle identified Baxia as White Turtle, Chen Mu believed her enough to heal her and invite her to travel with him until she recovered.
• Chen Mu made a formation disc to carry Zhou Xinle and his substitute puppet, then continued searching for Mingye.
• Five days later, Chen Mu sensed Mingye nearby and waited in his cave for her to arrive.

Chen Mu planned to destroy a demon castle so he, Mingye, and Zhou Xinle could complete the Destruction Grotto-Heaven trial, then spent more than a month preparing siege weapons and arranging demon crystals. With the preparations complete, the attack was set to begin the next morning.

• Chen Mu told Mingye that Zhou Xinle was a member of the Heart Devil Fox Race and secretly explained her connection to the White Turtle.
• Chen Mu explained that attacking a demon castle was the surest way for their group of fewer than eight to pass the trial, despite the Half-God Level lord and trained army inside.
• Chen Mu chose a low-lying castle with only one approach, detailed his plan, and sent Mingye and Zhou Xinle to gather spiritual materials.
• More than a month later, Chen Mu finished preparing about twenty siege cannons with help from the Ten Heavenly Stems War Soldiers and Mingye.
• Chen Mu embedded red crystals in the cannons and arranged the remaining crystals in a formation, then announced that the group would attack the castle the next morning.