Chapter Summaries

Li Qiang searched Crushed Stone City for Zhao Hao and Mei Jingjing, then learned that a group including their enemy An Lang had headed toward the Frozen Plain. He traveled there with Hua Meiniang, Qin Xiaohuan, and Qin Bantong, survived a devastating Cold Gang using his evolving Billowing Essence Battle Armor, and ended up facing a pack of Qiaqia Ice monsters.

• Li Qiang found no sign of Zhao Hao and Mei Jingjing at the Peace Inn, then shouted across Crushed Stone City for Zhao Hao.
• Qin Bantong told Li Qiang that a group including An Lang had gone toward the Frozen Plain, so Li Qiang and his companions set out to investigate.
• Li Qiang tried to fly onto the Frozen Plain but was forced down by the Cold Gang overhead, and the group continued on foot in battle armor.
• A powerful Cold Gang struck the group, injuring Qin Xiaohuan, but Li Qiang took the lead and his Billowing Essence Battle Armor evolved as it withstood the force.
• Qin Bantong's attempt to dig a shelter drenched the group in muddy water, and Li Qiang recognized the approaching creatures as Qiaqia Ice monsters.

Li Qiang and his companions fled a herd of Qiaqia Ice monsters across the Frozen Plain, then found Hou Pijing defending Zhao Hao, Mei Jingjing, and three guardians of Rejuvenation Valley. After Li Qiang’s Heavenly Fire drove off the monsters, the reunited group exchanged gifts, and Hou Pijing was astonished to receive a Nirvana Pill.

• Li Qiang led Hua Meiniang, Qin Bantong, and Qin Xiaohuan in a desperate flight from the Qiaqia Ice, and their attacks briefly disrupted the pursuing monsters.
• The four took shelter in an ice trench as Cold Gang struck, survived a collapse, and spotted a defensive formation and fighting in the distance.
• Li Qiang recognized Hou Pijing fighting outside the formation, reunited with Zhao Hao and Mei Jingjing, and joined the battle.
• Li Qiang’s Heavenly Fire melted a Qiaqia Ice monster and frightened the rest into retreating, after which Zong Ming gave him a fire essence that had chosen him.
• Li Qiang distributed Law Treasures to the group and gave Hou Pijing a black ball that Hou recognized as a Nirvana Pill.

Li Qiang reunited with Hou Pijing and the Rejuvenation Valley guardians, learned that the Wrath of the Heavenly God lay beneath a mountain in Gusong Kingdom, and joined them in returning to the valley. There they met Mei Youbing and entered the Peach Blossom Array, while Qin Bantong hurried to send news of the relic to his clan; the chapter ended when someone emerged from the lodge and astonished Li Qiang.

• Hou Pijing eagerly accepted Li Qiang’s Nirvana Pill, which could greatly improve his chances of surviving tribulation.
• Guan Qi and Zong Ming worried that two missing guardians had not reached Crushed Stone City, then led the group toward Rejuvenation Valley as fighting broke out there.
• Hou Pijing revealed that Li Qiang’s actions in Gusong Kingdom had exposed a scheme involving the Wrath of the Heavenly God, a coveted treasure hidden in a barren mountain.
• The group encountered An Lang fleeing from battle, but a golden-armored expert rescued him and escaped their attacks.
• Mei Youbing welcomed Mei Jingjing and her companions at Rejuvenation Valley, while Hou Pijing introduced Li Qiang as his brother.
• Qin Bantong asked Guan Qi to lead him to the voice transmission array, and Li Qiang was astonished when someone came out of the lodge.

Li Qiang was captured after interrupting a plot to steal the Spirit Coil Sect’s pills and Jade Pupil Slip, then taken to Old Man Baihuang’s Shadow Castle with his cultivation sealed. As he was sent onward with a cage of prisoners, he learned they were being transported to Tanbang Star, where a major war was looming.

• Kaben told Mei Youbing that Tanbang Star’s kingdoms were nearing war over a vast Immortal Stone deposit and asked him to refine Death-Averting Pills for the Green Tribe.
• Li Qiang visited the voice transmission array and then followed Mei Jingjing into the Mei Household’s underground Alchemy Chamber.
• Li Qiang found Mei Jingjing bound in the pill-refining room with Mei Qu, Situ Yong, and An Lang, and threw her through the illusory wall as the chamber’s defenses activated.
• Li Qiang struck Mei Qu away from the teleportation array and secretly took the Jade Pupil Slip, but Situ Yong bound him with Soul-Shattering Golden Fingers and transported him with Mei Qu and An Lang.
• At Shadow Castle, An Lang sent Li Qiang to the Black Camp after beating him, and Li Qiang was placed in a cage with other prisoners.
• A fellow prisoner told Li Qiang that the captives were being sent to Tanbang Star, alarming him because he knew war was imminent there.

Li Qiang and his companions were transported to the Tante Kingdom’s Black Camp and forced into the Black Prison, where prisoners mined crystal ore under brutal conditions. After Li Qiang defeated the local boss’s men, he announced that he intended to take the boss’s place.

• Li Qiang helped the survivors leave the cage on Tanbang Star, gave Qiao Yuhong the false name Brother Muzi, and joined up with Han Jin, Wei Yuanqing, Zhao Zhi, and Lin Fenghe.
• The group was assigned to the fifth squad, and Li Qiang took a whip meant for Qiao Yuhong before they were sent underground.
• Li Qiang caught Qiao Yuhong as they fell through a shaft and helped Zhao Zhi and the others land safely beside a pool in the Black Prison.
• Han Jin learned that prisoners had to mine crystal ore for food and that the lawless prison was controlled by rival bosses; Li Qiang resolved to seize control and escape.
• A local gang demanded the newcomers’ belongings, but Li Qiang crushed the saber-wielder’s wrist and swiftly defeated two more attackers.
• The bald, scarred boss invited Li Qiang to join his group, and Li Qiang declared that he would become the boss instead.

Li Qiang seized control of Nashan’s district and rallied its prisoners to prepare an escape from the Black Prison. He organized a leadership team and supplied food and goods, then tried to investigate his sealed Nascent Soul and remembered the missing Fire Essence.

• Li Qiang took the Small Spine-Piercing Spear from One-Eyed Dragon’s man and forced One-Eyed Dragon and his followers to submit.
• Li Qiang told the district’s prisoners he would lead them out of the Black Prison, and the crowd rallied behind him.
• Li Qiang learned about the prison’s districts and scarce supplies, recruited Lin Fenghe and several officers, and assigned them military and logistical duties.
• Li Qiang produced stored food and necessities for Nashan and Tange, but postponed trading for crystal ore because other districts might rob them.
• Li Qiang examined his sealed Nascent Soul, failed to reach it or use his True Essence Power, and wondered where the Fire Essence had gone.

Li Qiang discovered that the Fire Essence was working to break the seal on his Nascent Soul, then treated injured prisoners and built their trust while learning about the Western Continent. After hearing that the Tante Kingdom was searching for him, he turned his attention to strengthening the prisoners’ force and finding a way to restore their strength.

• Li Qiang found the Fire Essence gnawing at the light curtain sealing his Nascent Soul and realized it might eventually free him.
• Li Qiang took Qiao Yuhong and Paben to the mining face, where he learned about the Western Continent and its rare sea agate.
• Li Qiang treated Ben and two Green Tribe prisoners, urged the prisoners to support one another, and accepted Ben as a follower.
• A prisoner announced that the Tante Kingdom was searching for Li Qiang, while Li Qiang’s allies outside the Black Prison pressured Old Man Baihuang to find him.
• Li Qiang asked Lin Fenghe and Nanadun about their troops and considered using cultivation methods to restore the prisoners’ strength.

Li Qiang gathered weapons and equipment samples as his companions agreed to sneak into the white devils’ base through a fire-pool passage. After waiting for an opening and recovering some True Essence Power, he led a surprise attack on the soldiers in the armory hall.

• Li Qiang explained that he needed weapon and armor samples to study and make their own equipment, then proposed capturing a white devil for intelligence.
• Li Qiang tested the fire-pool route, used defensive jade talismans to get Nashan, Zhao Zhi, and Kankanqi across, and led them up through the passages.
• The group found a ventilation opening overlooking an armory guarded by white-armored soldiers, retreated to wait, and discussed how to attack without alerting the base.
• While the others kept watch, Li Qiang used the Fire Essence’s power to break through the seal on his Nascent Soul and recover some True Essence Power.
• Zhao Zhi reported that only a few soldiers remained in the hall, so Li Qiang assigned each companion a target and led them down through the ventilation opening.
• Li Qiang sent Zhao Zhi, Kankanqi, and Nashan toward their assigned soldiers, then appeared before the three chatting soldiers as they scrambled for their weapons.

Li Qiang and his companions fought their way out of the armory, then fled through collapsing tunnels after he detonated the explosives. They reached an underground pool with no visible exit, and Li Qiang dove in to search for an underwater passage.

• Li Qiang and his companions fought the guards, captured a bearded soldier, and used explosives to escape through an overhead opening.
• Li Qiang detonated the explosives he had left in the armory, causing the passage to collapse as the group crawled away from rising heat and smoke.
• Nashan spotted another passage, and the group followed it until the bearded prisoner fled down a dangerous slope and fell to his death.
• Li Qiang led the others through a cavern to a pool, where Zhao Zhi found no exit and Li Qiang decided to search underwater.

Li Qiang explored the underground pool, collected rare crystals and medicinal ingredients, and refined pills that strengthened his companions. After the group found a way through the tunnels and emerged among the convict laborers, a short, skinny man recognized One-Eyed Dragon and challenged him.

• Li Qiang escaped a swarm of Shadow Heart Arrows, then returned underwater in the Billowing Essence Battle Armor and found powerful monsters, rare crystals, and medicinal ingredients.
• Li Qiang collected wall-cleft violet and crystal source water, along with an inlaid front stone, before returning to Nashan, Kankanqi, and Zhao Zhi.
• Li Qiang refined six pills in the tunnels, and Nashan, Kankanqi, and Zhao Zhi took them and gained renewed strength.
• Nashan led the group through the underground passages until Li Qiang found a thin cave wall and blasted a way out.
• Li Qiang, Nashan, Kankanqi, and Zhao Zhi emerged among convict laborers, where a short, skinny man recognized One-Eyed Dragon and insulted him.
• Li Qiang told the short, skinny man that he was One-Eyed Dragon's boss and invited him to speak directly to him.

Li Qiang returned to the district with weapons, pills, and plans to organize the convicts against the Black Camp, while the district bosses prepared to hand him and his companions over. As Li Qiang refined weapons and worked to break his restriction, a strange barrier trapped him inside his room and left Nanadun and the others unable to reach him.

• Bala let Li Qiang and his companions pass through his territory, and Li Qiang gave him food before returning to his district.
• Li Qiang reunited with Qiao Yuhong and gathered his allies, distributed armor and Spine-Piercing Spears, and put Nanadun in charge of military command.
• Li Qiang made Lesser Origin-Nurturing Pills that strengthened the fighters, while the pills caused several people to urgently run off and relieve themselves.
• A scout reported that district bosses were coming to arrest Li Qiang and his three companions under threat of a Black Camp massacre, so Nanadun fortified the passages.
• Li Qiang refined Black Prison Spears, arm shields, and other weapons, but when Nanadun tried to visit him, an unseen barrier blocked the doorway and trapped Li Qiang inside.

After breaking Situ Yong’s seals, Li Qiang led his followers to confront the Black Prison’s area bosses and won Wuya’s respect, but Black Camp soldiers attacked the gathering before he could bring the prisoners together. Li Qiang and his people fought back as prisoners fled the Great Open Area.

• Li Qiang chose to meet the gathered bosses and sent Nanadun to bring an armed squad to the Great Open Area while Lin Fenghe and Tange guarded their base.
• Li Qiang’s group confronted the prisoners’ thugs, and his followers drove them back with Spine-Piercing Spears when they threatened to charge.
• Wuya challenged Li Qiang, who withstood his powerful punch and demonstrated his own strength; the area bosses, including Bala, then agreed to follow Li Qiang.
• Black Camp soldiers attacked the Great Open Area with explosive projectiles, killing many prisoners and forcing the survivors to flee.
• Li Qiang ordered Nanadun to cover the retreat, while Wei Yuanqing’s Crystal Origin Bow destroyed Black Camp soldiers and Li Qiang charged into their ranks.

Li Qiang led the prisoners through a devastating fight against the Black Camp, then organized the Black Prison to prepare for another attack. While refining the Star-Absorbing Sword, he unexpectedly reached the Leaving the Body Realm and left his body to scout beyond the mountain.

• Li Qiang and Wuya helped the prisoners retreat after killing and wounding many Black Camp soldiers, while Wuya's Sharp Cone Cannon triggered a cavern collapse; Li Qiang captured commander Kade Baqi.
• Li Qiang gathered the prisoners' leaders, convinced them to resist, and reasoned from the Black Camp's urgent crystal trades that the Tante Kingdom would soon attack.
• Nashan, Bala, and the other bosses beat Kade Baqi during an interrogation, while the Black Prison organized its fighters and intensified training.
• Li Qiang refined the Star-Absorbing Sword, which vanished into silver mist after absorbing his True Essence Power.
• Li Qiang used the Inlaid Front Stone to replenish his strength, discovered he could leave his body, and traveled outside the mountain in spirit form.

Li Qiang discovered that Fu Shan and the others had arrived to rescue him, and he organized the prisoners to defend Black Prison as Black Camp's soldiers attacked. The fighting began in the passages while Fu Shan's group confronted a force of winged soldiers outside the mountain.

• Li Qiang's Primordial Spirit saw Fu Shan, Hou Pijing, and their companions near Black Prison before Fu Shan sensed it and startled him back into his body.
• Li Qiang told the prisoners that reinforcements were coming, ordered Nanadun and Lin Fenghe to organize the defenses, and took up a position in the pool hall.
• Fu Shan sent Hou Pijing into Black Camp and directed the other cultivation experts to surround the mountain while leaving its western side open.
• Black Camp's soldiers attacked the prisoners; Han Jin and Nashan led a counterattack, while Li Qiang destroyed the soldiers entering the pool hall by using their explosive bombs against them.
• Fu Shan's group met more than three hundred winged soldiers, and Hua Meiniang tortured their officer before Fu Shan killed him with a pointed finger.

Fu Shan and Hou Pijing overwhelmed Black Camp forces while Li Qiang rescued Nashan and Han Jin, but the Supreme Radiance Shuttle destroyed the enemy soldiers and left Li Qiang gravely weakened. The prisoners were freed as his friends gathered around him, unsure what had happened.

• Fu Shan used the Jun Heaven Great Drum and sang “The Great Wind Rises,” injuring the flying-wing soldiers and driving them to flee.
• Hou Pijing defeated more than seven hundred Black Camp soldiers in a cave and forced an overseer to guide him deeper into Black Prison.
• Li Qiang rescued Nashan and Han Jin, but the Supreme Radiance Shuttle annihilated the Black Camp soldiers in their passage.
• Fu Shan and his companions appeared at Black Camp headquarters, where Army Marshal Dede Chongmo ordered the troops to withdraw after learning Li Qiang was in Black Prison.
• Li Qiang returned to the pool hall and collapsed as prisoners celebrated their freedom, leaving his companions alarmed and uncertain about his condition.

Li Qiang reunited with Hou Pijing and Fu Shan in the Black Prison, but his brothers discovered that something was wrong with his cultivation. After the prisoners were fed and prepared for transport home, Li Qiang arranged for his companions to return to their homelands, leaving Qiao Yuhong tearfully facing their separation.

• Li Qiang learned that Wei Yuanqing had survived and told Tange that the eccentric man searching for a young man surnamed Li was his elder brother.
• Lin Fenghe recognized Li Qiang as the Tiger Might General, and Li Qiang revealed that Hou Pijing was his elder brother and the Sacred King of the Gusong Kingdom.
• Hou Pijing examined Li Qiang and summoned Fu Shan, who arrived with Zhao Hao, Hua Meiniang, and Mei Jingjing; Zhao Hao became Li Qiang's disciple, and Nashan insisted on following him as one too.
• Fu Shan supplied food for the prisoners, and the survivors ate before Fu Shan arranged transport to the teleportation point under an agreement with Marshal Dede Chongmo.
• Li Qiang sent Lin Fenghe back to the Gusong Kingdom with a recommendation for an audience with the emperor and arranged for Han Jin and Zhao Zhi to escort Qiao Yuhong home.
• As the prisoners departed in batches, Qiao Yuhong wept at the prospect of leaving Li Qiang, and Hua Meiniang comforted her while Mei Jingjing wondered who she was.

Hua Meiniang accepted Qiao Yuhong as her disciple, while Fu Shan and Hou Pijing discovered the Supreme Radiance Shuttle inside Li Qiang’s Nascent Soul and sealed it to protect him. After parting from Fu Shan’s group, Li Qiang and his companions entered a strange city in Bangqining Kingdom to search for sea agate.

• Hua Meiniang accepted Qiao Yuhong as her disciple, and Qiao Yuhong became close to Mei Jingjing.
• Fu Shan arranged for the people of Bangqining Kingdom to be teleported and invited Li Qiang and his companions to Sealed Fate Planet, but Li Qiang stayed to search for sea agate.
• Li Qiang gave Fu Shan a Nirvana Pill, and Fu Shan and Hou Pijing discovered the Supreme Radiance Shuttle within Li Qiang’s Nascent Soul.
• Fu Shan and Hou Pijing sealed the shuttle’s suction and warned Li Qiang not to use his True Essence Power recklessly until he had recovered.
• Fu Shan gave Li Qiang a Soul-Releasing Dragon Ring and directions to an ancient teleportation array before leaving with Hou Pijing and the others.
• Nanadun guided Li Qiang’s group into a crystal-built city, where Nashan startled a strange beast by pointing at it.

Li Qiang’s group settled in a Tanbang Continent city, met a delegation from the Ladu Kingdom, and struggled to pay for their meal before Paben led them to a black-market exchange. There, Tange reunited with his brother Tanda, who offered to help Li Qiang.

• Nanadun arranged lodging, but Li Qiang refused to stay underground, so the group celebrated their new freedom at an eating house.
• A delegation from the Ladu Kingdom arrived, and Li Qiang’s group watched its mistress enter while both groups shared the dining hall.
• The group tried local dishes, including wriggling worms, then discovered they had no local money and could not exchange their crystals with the waiter.
• The Ladu Kingdom’s Chief Steward Aji paid their bill at his mistress’s request, and Li Qiang sent Nanadun and Kankanqi to investigate the delegation and the Fan Kingdom.
• Paben led the group to an underground black market, where Tange reunited with his elder brother Tanda, who thanked Li Qiang for saving Tange.

Li Qiang reunited Tange with his brother Tanda at the Blue Clear Trading House and sought money and sea agate. After Paben found the man who had stolen his property and destroyed his family, Li Qiang attacked him and decided to confront the Banshou Trading House himself when it refused to surrender him.

• Tanda welcomed Tange and Li Qiang’s group into the Blue Clear Trading House, where he explained that he had fled the Grand Military Department after being framed and offered Tange a place helping him open a trading house.
• Tanda described three kinds of sea agate, and Li Qiang concluded that Mo Huaiyuan likely needed sea soul agate; Old Bantong later identified Li Qiang’s yellow heavy stone as a priceless treasure.
• Paben found Bu Jigong in the trading hall and learned that Bu Jigong had taken his property, married his wife, and sold his daughter.
• Paben charged at Bu Jigong, and Nashan faced the guards; Li Qiang arrived, beat Bu Jigong, and promised to help Paben.
• The Banshou Trading House refused to hand over Bu Jigong, so Li Qiang asked Tanda for its address and information, saying he would settle the matter himself.

Li Qiang gathered the escaped prisoners and his companions after learning that the Tante Kingdom had declared war on the Bangqining Kingdom. He led them to Great Gorge Mouth near Fengnan City, where they began establishing a new home and preparing to train as warriors.

• Paben begged Li Qiang to help him avenge his family, and Li Qiang assigned Zhao Hao to teach him while giving Tange a Lesser Origin-Nurturing Pill for Tanda.
• Tanda bought Li Qiang's Black Prison Spears for a high price, while an alarm announced war over a crystal mine between the Tante Kingdom and the Bangqining Kingdom.
• Li Qiang accepted Bala, Wuya, and eighty-one other escaped convict laborers into his group and decided to settle near Fengnan City and train them.
• Kankanqi took the group by flying board to Great Gorge Mouth, where Li Qiang announced that they would build a home together and become a strong team.
• Nanadun pointed out the mountains shielding the gorge from the hurricanes, and Li Qiang proposed that they explore the Sea of Wronged Souls.