Recaps

After Gu Chen was confirmed as thirty-fifth on the Dragon Ranking, the Heaven and Earth Palace elders honored him while Gu Muyu doubted the result. Gu Mingheng challenged Gu Chen, who accepted by taking his place in the square, and the duel was about to begin.

• Liu Jingce stopped Gu Muyu from attacking Gu Chen and reminded her that she was in the Heaven and Earth Palace.
• Elder Ge and Liu Jingce praised Gu Chen’s achievement, and Liu Jingce, Elder Ge, and Shi Che bowed to him.
• Gu Chen returned the elders’ bow, while Gu Mingheng grew furious that Gu Chen had surpassed him.
• Gu Mingheng challenged Gu Chen to a duel and accused him of tampering with the Dragon Ranking.
• Gu Chen accepted the challenge by standing in the center of the square, and Gu Mingheng joined him as the crowd watched.

Gu Chen defeated Gu Mingheng with one finger, destroying the younger man's confidence, then faced Gu Muyu when she attacked to take him back to the Gu Family. Their clash left Gu Muyu injured and confirmed that Gu Chen had the strength of a Dragon Ranking expert.

• Gu Chen challenged Gu Mingheng to defeat him with one move, and Gu Mingheng unleashed the Gu Clan Demon-Subduing Art before charging at him.
• Gu Chen struck Gu Mingheng's forehead with one finger and sent him flying, while Gu Muyu's inner-force attack was brushed aside.
• Gu Muyu found Gu Mingheng physically unharmed but understood that Gu Chen's strike had shattered his confidence in the martial path.
• Gu Muyu declared that she would capture Gu Chen and take him back to the family, then attacked him with her Blood Dragon Heart Sutra.
• Gu Chen met Gu Muyu's palms with a fist, forcing her back and drawing blood from her mouth.

Gu Chen defeated Gu Muyu with Divine Sense and the Sword Control Technique, revealing immortal arts to the gathered onlookers. Gu Muyu was left trapped and unable to resist as Gu Chen explained that he could have killed her.

• Gu Chen struck Gu Muyu and forced her to draw her sword and use the Gu Family's Fierce Dragon Sword Technique.
• Gu Chen used qi manipulation to take Chen Shumeng's sword, then halted Gu Muyu's attack with a Divine Sense assault.
• Gu Chen cast the Sword Control Technique and split the sword into eight flying swords that surrounded Gu Muyu and shattered her momentum.
• Gu Muyu spat blood and surrendered to the pressure of the sword formation while the crowd watched in stunned silence.
• Gu Chen confirmed that he had used the Sword Control Technique and warned Gu Muyu that the swords could have pierced her heart.

Gu Chen defeated Gu Muyu with his flying swords and revealed that he had used less than thirty percent of his power, prompting her to recognize the gap between them. After humiliating Gu Mingheng and rebuking Gu Muyu, he threatened to visit Cao Miao’s family in Jingbei City.

• Gu Muyu guessed that Gu Chen practiced an immortal cultivation method, and he told her he had used less than thirty percent of his strength before she admitted defeat.
• Gu Chen recalled his sword and returned it to Chen Shumeng, then confronted the unconscious Gu Mingheng and called him a pitiful wretch who could not measure up to a discarded pawn.
• Gu Mingheng spat blood and fainted, while Gu Muyu accused Gu Chen of destroying him; Gu Chen argued that Gu Mingheng had destroyed himself through weakness and rebuked her for staying silent earlier.
• Gu Chen’s aura blasted Gu Muyu several meters across the ground, then he forced Cao Miao to reveal that the Cao Family was near Jingbei City.
• Gu Chen reminded Cao Miao that he had threatened to crush him and promised to visit the Cao Family personally if he went to Jingbei.

After forcing Gu Muyu to face his strength and resolve, Gu Chen declared he would go to the Gu Family and demand an explanation. Gu Muyu tried to turn the aristocratic families against him over the missing assembly resources, but Gu Chen dismissed the accusation and remained defiant.

• Gu Chen pointed out that he outranked one of the Cao Family’s Dragon Ranking seniors and said the ceremony still counted because a Gu Family member had made the ranking.
• Gu Chen told Gu Muyu he would go to the Gu Family and demand an explanation, threatening to abandon the Gu surname if he was not satisfied.
• Gu Chen recounted how he had defied threats from aristocratic families, survived the Land of Heaven and Earth, and reached the Dragon Ranking.
• Gu Muyu rejected Gu Chen’s challenge and urged Elder Liu and Elder Ge to subdue him, accusing him of taking the resources from the Aristocratic Family Assembly.
• Elder Ge said the matter had not been thoroughly investigated, while Gu Muyu accused him and Elder Liu of shielding Gu Chen.
• Gu Chen mocked Gu Muyu’s appeal, saying he had already become the aristocratic families’ common enemy and could not be intimidated.

Gu Chen admitted taking the Yellow Rock Grass but revealed he had refined it into pills for the prominent families. After he escaped, Elder Liu and Elder Ge recognized his generosity and condemned Gu Muyu’s accusations.

• Gu Chen admitted to Gu Muyu and Elder Liu that he had taken the Yellow Rock Grass from Leisurely Mountain.
• Elder Liu prepared to attack Gu Chen, while Gu Muyu urged him to kill the young man.
• Gu Chen offered compensation, tossed Elder Liu a bottle of Yellow Rock Pills, and fled toward the cliff after threatening to meet Gu Muyu in Jingbei City in half a month.
• Elder Liu stopped pursuing Gu Chen after discovering the bottle contained twelve Yellow Rock Pills, and he bowed to him.
• Elder Liu and Elder Ge explained how difficult the pills were to refine and realized Gu Chen had made them for the families, leaving the crowd impressed by his generosity.

After Gu Chen’s rise to thirty-fifth on the Dragon Ranking and the revelation that he knew an immortal cultivation method, the great families turned their attention toward him and Wang Gui’s legacy. The Yin Family received a lead pointing to Tong City just as Yin Linquan emerged from seclusion.

• Aristocratic scions apologized to Gu Chen for doubting him, while no one dared stop him as he left the Heaven and Earth Palace.
• News spread that Gu Chen had claimed thirty-fifth place on the Dragon Ranking, revealed himself as an alchemist, and used the Sword Control Technique against Gu Muyu.
• A bearded Luo Family elder ordered his clansmen recalled, reasoning that Gu Chen’s cultivation method might connect him to Wang Gui and the Heaven-Reaching Netherworld Art.
• Yin Binxuan’s subordinates reported that Wang Gui’s aura had appeared near Tong City, and Yin Binxuan prepared to act on the lead.
• Yin Linquan, the Yin Family’s second-ranked Dragon Ranking martial artist, emerged from the secret chamber in the council hall.

Yin Linquan ordered the Yin Family to stop searching for Wang Gui and focus on finding Gu Chen before he reached Jingbei City, convinced that the heavenly phenomenon confirmed rumors of an immortal cultivation method. Zhuge Wangyue also set out to find Gu Chen in West Dan City, seeking both the method and revenge for the insult at Starfall Cliff.

• Yin Linquan emerged from seclusion and told Yin Binxuan to recall the Yin Family members investigating Wang Gui.
• Yin Linquan explained that Gu Chen's feats and the nine-dragon phenomenon pointed to an immortal cultivation method, and warned that rival families would pursue him.
• Yin Linquan ordered the Yin Family to investigate Gu Chen's whereabouts and find him before he reached Jingbei City.
• Zhuge Wangyue asked Zhuge Xiu for the task of finding Gu Chen, then left the Zhuge estate for West Dan City.
• Zhuge Xiu sent an elder and other Zhuge Family members to search for Gu Chen as well.

Gu Chen absorbed the Dragon Ranking’s fortune of heaven and earth and broke through to the Peak Revolving Illumination Realm, greatly increasing his true qi and Divine Sense. When a crowd of martial artists gathered around the mountain, he fled through the air, and they pursued him.

• Gu Chen reflected that the Six Great Families, the Mystery Gate, and the Heaven and Earth Palace might understand the arts of fortune and have their own plans.
• Gu Chen used the Spirit Gathering Array and Heaven and Earth Creation Art to absorb spiritual qi and break through the bottleneck to the Peak Revolving Illumination Realm.
• Gu Chen examined his expanded meridians and increased true qi, then spread his Divine Sense across a radius of a thousand meters and sensed people nearby.
• Gu Chen shattered the mountain wall, emerged into the air, and told the gathered martial artists to catch up if they wanted trouble with him.
• The martial artists saw Gu Chen glide away and chased after him in a crowd.

After reaching the peak of the Revolving Illumination Realm, Gu Chen sped toward the Heaven and Earth Forest while aristocratic families pursued him for his cultivation method. He killed eight pursuers to warn the others, then left for the forest unchallenged.

• Gu Chen headed toward the Heaven and Earth Forest to seek treasures and materials for his damaged Dragon Scale Sword as pursuers from aristocratic families fell behind.
• Eight martial artists caught up with Gu Chen and demanded his cultivation method, so he shattered a distant mountain peak to demonstrate his strength.
• Gu Chen killed the eight pursuers in moments and warned the arriving martial artists that anyone who pursued or provoked him would die.
• The remaining pursuers retreated, and Gu Chen continued toward the Heaven and Earth Forest, running several hundred li in half an hour.

Gu Chen fought his way toward the Heaven and Earth Forest, where the Shangguan Family confronted him and trapped him in their All-Heaven Dragon-Locking Formation. He broke the formation with a single attack, leaving Shangguan Yijun and his allies shocked.

• Gu Chen killed martial artists who tried to harm him as he traveled toward the Heaven and Earth Forest.
• Shangguan Yijun led more than thirty members of the Shangguan Family to block Gu Chen’s path, with grand elder Shangguan Qi at his side.
• Shangguan Yijun demanded Gu Chen surrender his cultivation inheritance and revealed that Gu Chen had entered the All-Heaven Dragon-Locking Formation.
• The Shangguan Family’s martial artists attacked, but Gu Chen’s azure light protected him from the formation’s effects and he sent the attackers flying.
• Gu Chen struck the formation’s core, blasted a deep pit into the ground, and shattered the formation.

Gu Chen defeated Shangguan Yijun and fought Shangguan Qi after rejecting his offer to trade for the Sword Control Technique. He overwhelmed Shangguan Qi with his true essence force, which invaded his meridians and left him struggling to control his own qi.

• Gu Chen pierced Shangguan Yijun's palm with a flying needle, then struck him down and left him badly injured.
• Shangguan Qi attacked Gu Chen and offered to let him leave in exchange for the Sword Control Technique.
• Gu Chen rejected the deal and caught Shangguan Qi's Tiger Roar True Qi attack in his palm, crushing it.
• Shangguan Qi charged into close combat, but Gu Chen countered his attacks and drove true essence force into his body.
• Gu Chen's true essence force spread through Shangguan Qi's meridians and dantian, leaving him unable to control his qi as he tried to flee.

Gu Chen killed Shangguan Qi and Shangguan Yijun, then confronted the growing crowd of pursuers who had come for his cultivation method. He revealed the ancient tome and set it alight, leaving the pursuers facing the prospect of losing the prize they had chased him for.

• Gu Chen easily defeated Shangguan Qi, explained that he had grown stronger since the Dragon Ranking was set, and stomped him to death.
• Gu Chen questioned Shangguan Yijun about how the pursuers had found him, then killed him when he refused to answer.
• Gu Chen let the remaining Shangguan Family martial artists flee and waited as more than forty pursuers gathered around him, with the crowd eventually nearing a hundred.
• Gu Chen summoned a flame in his hand, revealed the ancient tome the pursuers wanted, and tossed it into a pit for anyone to claim.
• When no one dared approach, Gu Chen counted down and flicked the flame into the pit, setting the dry branches and the tome alight.

Gu Chen tricked his pursuers into a deadly fight over a burned text, then headed for the Heaven and Earth Forest. Zhuge Wangyue arrived too late to stop the massacre, discovered the text was only a copy of Modern Prose, and mobilized the jade-pendant holders to intercept Gu Chen.

• Gu Chen left his pursuers to battle over the supposed cultivation text and continued toward the Heaven and Earth Forest.
• Zhuge Wangyue arrived at the bloodied pit and watched a Murong Family swordsman claim the burned text before killing the man and taking it.
• Zhuge Wangyue discovered the text was a copy of Modern Prose, found two Zhuge Family martial artists dead, and demanded to know where Gu Chen had gone.
• A wounded martial artist told Zhuge Wangyue that Gu Chen had headed toward the Heaven and Earth Forest.
• Zhuge Wangyue pursued Gu Chen and used his jade pendant to summon others to intercept him before he entered the forest.

After learning that Zhuge Wangyue had alerted the great families to his route, Gu Chen ambushed him before reaching the Heaven and Earth Forest. The two faced off over their old grudge at Starfall Cliff, with Zhuge Wangyue vowing to kill Gu Chen.

• Zhuge Wangyue sent a message urging experts to intercept Gu Chen at the Heaven and Earth Forest, and Yin Linquan and others hurried there.
• Gu Chen discovered the jade pendant could receive messages and realized it had revealed his location to the Shangguan Family.
• Gu Chen concealed himself beside a hill and attacked Zhuge Wangyue as he raced alone toward the forest.
• Gu Chen struck Zhuge Wangyue several times, damaging his dantian and forcing him to spit out blood, but Zhuge Wangyue remained able to fight.
• Gu Chen brought up their score from Starfall Cliff, and Zhuge Wangyue declared that he would kill him.

Gu Chen used his Three-Flame Fan and overwhelming true qi to defeat Zhuge Wangyue’s sword techniques and reveal the gap between immortality cultivation and martial arts. He then unleashed a stream of fire that engulfed Zhuge Wangyue.

• Zhuge Wangyue charged Gu Chen with his sword, but Gu Chen used his Three-Flame Fan to shatter his attack and blast him away.
• Zhuge Wangyue rose and unleashed his strongest move, One Sword Comes from the West, but Gu Chen countered with the fan’s flames and broke his sword technique.
• Zhuge Wangyue questioned how Gu Chen could defeat his techniques, and Gu Chen said that he cultivated immortality while Zhuge Wangyue followed the martial path.
• Gu Chen demonstrated a spell with the Three-Flame Fan, then sent a stream of fire at Zhuge Wangyue.
• The flames swallowed Zhuge Wangyue, and he became a man of fire despite trying to protect himself with internal energy.

Gu Chen killed Zhuge Wangyue and continued toward the Heaven and Earth Forest. After finding the corpse, Wei Fenghua concluded that Gu Chen had grown stronger through the immortal cultivation method and urged the noble families to unite against him.

• Gu Chen taunted Zhuge Wangyue, then smashed his head against the ground and killed him with his sword.
• Gu Chen put away the Three-Flame Fan and charged toward the Heaven and Earth Forest.
• Wei Fenghua and three Wei Family martial artists found Zhuge Wangyue's charred corpse and identified Gu Chen as the killer.
• Wei Fenghua concluded that Gu Chen had grown stronger by using the Land of Heaven and Earth's abundant spiritual energy and called for the noble families to capture him together.
• Gu Chen heard Wei Fenghua warn others through a jade pendant, then heard Wei Fenghua tell Patriarch Zhuge that the situation had changed.

Wei Fenghua reported Zhuge Wangyue’s death to the powerful families, and Yin Linquan concluded that Gu Chen had killed him with an ambush and an immortal cultivation spell. As the families set out to intercept Gu Chen, he reached the Heaven and Earth Forest, still uncertain why they were so determined to keep him out.

• Wei Fenghua told the families that Zhuge Wangyue was dead, and Zhuge He demanded to know who had killed him.
• Yin Linquan identified Gu Chen as the killer and reasoned that he had used a fire spell from an immortal cultivation art.
• Wei Fenghua revealed that Gu Chen appeared uninjured, prompting Yin Linquan to suggest he had ambushed Zhuge Wangyue.
• Zhuge He and the other family heads ordered Wei Fenghua to track Gu Chen and resolved to intercept and kill him.
• Gu Chen listened to their exchange through the jade pendant, assessed the danger of facing the powerful pursuers, and hurried toward the Heaven and Earth Forest.
• Gu Chen arrived at the Heaven and Earth Forest, still wondering why the families were so intent on stopping him from entering.

Gu Chen entered the Heaven and Earth Forest, fought his way deeper, and found only one demonic crystal despite killing many beasts. As night fell, a man appeared above the trees and called for Gu Chen to come out, though Gu Chen did not recognize his voice.

• Gu Chen entered the forest and killed five Sharp-Beaked Crows that were feeding on a Gale Wolf.
• Gu Chen traveled deeper, killed numerous demonic beasts, and found a single demonic crystal in a Wilderness Hyena's corpse.
• Gu Chen wondered why the beasts rarely had demonic crystals and why he had found no heavenly materials or earthly treasures.
• Gu Chen continued into the forest after nightfall, pursued by others, and encountered increasingly dangerous beasts.
• A man standing atop a tall tree shouted for Gu Chen to come out and promised to spare his life, but Gu Chen did not recognize his voice.

Gu Chen met Nan Wuhen, an eighth-ranked Dragon Ranking expert who offered protection in exchange for the immortal cultivation method. Nan Wuhen revealed he had only three years to live and wanted the method to extend his life, but Gu Chen distrusted his promises and judged that the method would bring danger to any family that possessed it.

• Nan Wuhen tracked Gu Chen to the edge of Dragon Spine Mountain and warned him that entering the mountain would mean certain death.
• Nan Wuhen offered to protect Gu Chen and bring him into the Nan Family if Gu Chen shared the immortal cultivation method.
• Gu Chen recognized Nan Wuhen as the Dragon Ranking’s eighth-ranked fighter from twenty years earlier, and Nan Wuhen claimed he now sought the top spot.
• Nan Wuhen admitted his body was decaying and he had at most three years left, then said he wanted the cultivation method to prolong his life.
• Nan Wuhen promised to confront Yin Linquan, make Gu Chen head of the Nan Family, and help him deal with the Gu Family.
• Gu Chen rejected Nan Wuhen’s assurances as untrustworthy and concluded that the cultivation method would invite the greed of the entire Land of Heaven and Earth.

Gu Chen pretended to agree to Nan Wuhen’s offer while staying wary of his attempt to subdue him. When Gu Chen insisted on visiting Dragon Spine Mountain, Nan Wuhen revealed that the Land of Heaven and Earth had original inhabitants beyond the mountain and that the immortal cultivation technique came from there.

• Gu Chen told Nan Wuhen that he could not join the Nan Family because of his feud with Nan Zhutong, and Nan Wuhen offered to let him decide Nan Zhutong’s fate.
• Gu Chen pretended to accept Nan Wuhen’s offer, then repelled Nan Wuhen’s attempt to seize his wrist with true qi.
• Gu Chen asked to enter Dragon Spine Mountain, but Nan Wuhen warned him about the powerful Heaven and Earth Beasts and the forbidden Endless Sea beyond it.
• Nan Wuhen claimed that the Land of Heaven and Earth had original inhabitants whose cultivation surpassed the martial artists’ realm, and that the ancient families had driven them beyond Dragon Spine Mountain or negotiated with them.
• Nan Wuhen revealed that the immortal cultivation technique that caused bloodshed more than ten years earlier had come from Dragon Spine Mountain.

Gu Chen learned that the Heaven-Reaching Netherworld Art had been deliberately released from beyond Dragon Spine Mountain and decided to enter the forbidden range despite Nan Wuhen’s warnings. He gave Nan Wuhen the Fire Summoning Technique, and Nan Wuhen successfully produced a small flame.

• Nan Wuhen told Gu Chen that no one who had crossed Dragon Spine Mountain had returned, including three top Dragon Ranking experts.
• Gu Chen decided to enter the Dragon Spine Mountain Range, saying that something there had been drawing him in and that he had to go.
• Nan Wuhen warned Gu Chen that the journey meant almost certain death, but Gu Chen said their agreement still stood.
• Gu Chen recited the Fire Summoning Technique as an advance deposit for their cooperation.
• Nan Wuhen used his inner breath to summon a small flame on his fingertip, then asked Gu Chen in a trembling voice whether he had summoned it.

Gu Chen entered Dragon Spine Mountain Range after demonstrating a spell to Nan Wuhen and securing his cooperation. Nan Wuhen stayed behind, staged signs of a fight and an injury, and waited for Wei Fenghua's group to arrive.

• Nan Wuhen repeatedly practiced Gu Chen's Fire Summoning Technique until his inner breath was greatly depleted.
• Gu Chen refused to teach Nan Wuhen the Sword Control Technique for now and entered Dragon Spine Mountain Range, intending to save his father afterward.
• After Gu Chen disappeared, Nan Wuhen realized Gu Chen had taken advantage of their cooperation but decided to trust him and planned to work with him against Yin Linquan and the others.
• Nan Wuhen wrecked the forest, wounded himself with a branch, and sat down to regulate his breathing.
• Wei Fenghua and the others arrived about twenty minutes later and found the slain demonic beasts scattered across the ground.

Nan Wuhen revealed that Gu Chen had escaped into the forest’s depths, and Yin Linquan failed to find him after venturing in among the beasts. More Dragon Ranking experts arrived to wait outside while Gu Chen pushed toward Dragon Spine Mountain and the Endless Sea, passing valuable treasures without stopping.

• Wei Fenghua found Nan Wuhen injured at the site of a battle and learned that Gu Chen had escaped into the forest’s depths.
• Yin Linquan arrived, questioned Nan Wuhen, then entered the forest but returned wounded without finding Gu Chen.
• Yin Linquan said Gu Chen could identify the Heaven and Earth Beasts’ vital points and conceal himself, and decided to wait outside.
• Zhuge He, Wei Junzhi, and Fan Huaiwen arrived, bringing half of the top thirty on the Dragon Ranking to the area.
• Gu Chen encountered stronger beasts and increasingly valuable treasures as he continued toward Dragon Spine Mountain and the Endless Sea without stopping to collect anything.

Gu Chen fought and killed a powerful Tiger-Faced Bear near Dragon Spine Mountain, then realized he needed to rely on spells as well as martial techniques against demon beasts. After successfully using the Emperor's Ultimate Strike, he continued onward and reached the foot of Dragon Spine Mountain.

• After battling a pair of twin giant pythons, Gu Chen fought the Tiger-Faced Bear and was wounded as it blinded one eye.
• Gu Chen used the Sword-Splitting Technique to create sixteen Dragon Scale Swords and eventually killed the Tiger-Faced Bear.
• Exhausted, Gu Chen rested and reconsidered how to fight demon beasts, recognizing that his usual martial-artist tactics were insufficient.
• Gu Chen chose to practice the Emperor's Ultimate Strike and succeeded at using the spell on his first attempt.
• Gu Chen continued toward Dragon Spine Mountain and arrived at its foot after daylight had fully broken.