Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou discussed Daoist Hongjun and the Three Heavenly Venerables with Divine Lord Zhenyuan, then shared techniques that might help overcome the Golden Core Technique’s weaknesses. Intrigued by the possibility of transforming a Golden Core into an Infant, Divine Lord Zhenyuan decided to seek new techniques in the Great Han Dynasty.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan explained Daoist Hongjun’s Three Corpses Severing Technique and suggested Zhang Xuezhou ask the Emperor Lord which of the Three Heavenly Venerables might help him.
• Zhang Xuezhou remembered his need for the Purple Cloud Palace, wrote it and Hongjun’s name on a bamboo slip, and recorded his efforts to connect and communicate between the two worlds.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Divine Lord Zhenyuan that his urgent concern was removing Cynomorium’s suppression of his cultivation and Law Power.
• Zhang Xuezhou described the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique and Infant Transformation Technique, prompting Divine Lord Zhenyuan to consider how they could address the Golden Core Technique’s weaknesses.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan concluded that a third technique was needed to fuse the methods and decided to travel east to seek techniques from the Hundred Schools of Thought.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan left Kunlun to study the Confucian teachings, while Zhang Xuezhou examined his damaged demon wings and prepared for the Centennial Pact. At Western Kunlun, Zhang Xuezhou found the Imperial Lord amid his ruined palace and heard about the devastating blow that had left only his chair intact.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan dismissed the Supi builders and flew east to study the Confucian School’s techniques.
• Zhang Xuezhou noticed his demon wings had injuries and considered repairing Venerable Lei’s Technique Within the Clouds.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered how to defeat the Yedie River Holy Land’s combatant and returned to Western Kunlun.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the Heavenly Court halls and found Cai Ma standing before the Imperial Lord in a ruined palace.
• The Imperial Lord recalled that Hongjun had entered the Heavenly Court and that their clash had destroyed everything except his chair.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Western Kunlun and discussed his stalled cultivation and the Centennial Pact with the Sovereign. The Sovereign advised him to exploit opportunities while guarding against opponents’ tricks, and he swallowed the hairy monkey after it urged Zhang Xuezhou to use dirty tactics.

• Zhang Xuezhou told the Sovereign that he had spent the past few years cultivating in the Great Han Dynasty but remained in the Divine Ability Realm.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked for more Nine Treasures Wine to help him break through, but the Sovereign refused to take the Empress’s medicinal ingredients.
• The Sovereign explained that Centennial Pact challenges involved protecting or taking an object, and warned Zhang Xuezhou to seek chances to win rather than fight Cai Ma’s way.
• Zhang Xuezhou welcomed the idea of sneak attacks, while the Sovereign warned him to guard against opponents using the same tactics.
• A hairy monkey emerged from the Sovereign and urged Zhang Xuezhou to use dirty tricks, so the Sovereign turned it into a pill and swallowed it.

Zhang Xuezhou told the Imperial Lord about the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique, prompting the Imperial Lord to question its origins. After learning the Centennial Pact challenge was to protect a cup from their opponents, Zhang Xuezhou left Cai Ma to face the front while he went to change clothes.

• Zhang Xuezhou described the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique, and the Imperial Lord questioned whether the Northern Kuru Continent's cultivators could have created it.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed that the technique's true origin was uncertain, and the Imperial Lord dismissed him and Cai Ma after thinking it over.
• Cai Ma explained that their Centennial Pact test was to stop opponents from taking a cup placed on the Imperial Lord's chair, and said the opponents were waiting at the Kunlun Ruins.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Cai Ma to hold the front while he changed clothes, then used the Kunlun Sacred Land's relocation device to disappear.
• Cai Ma noticed that Zhang Xuezhou's seven lifespan halos had vanished.

The empress hosted the forces gathered for the Centennial Pact and announced that they would all enter Kunlun’s Secret Land together to compete for a cup in the main hall. As the contestants prepared to enter, Ao Li tried to advise Ao Sheng and Ao Moang, but Ao Sheng refused to follow orders.

• The empress welcomed the gathered forces in the Kunlun Ruins, where Li Jing, Daoist Randeng, Hongku, Demon King Feiyu, Ao Li, and others took their seats.
• Li Jing asked to meet Kunlun’s holy sons and maidens, but the empress refused and challenged the guests to retrieve a cup from Kunlun’s main hall.
• The empress ordered all the forces to enter the secret land together and declared that only first place mattered; Li Jing accepted after seeing Daoist Randeng agree.
• Daoist Randeng reminded the contestants to obey the limits on the treasures they carried, while their leaders warned them to stay together.
• Ao Li told Ao Sheng and Ao Moang to cooperate, but Ao Sheng rejected his advice as the contestants prepared for the competition.

Zhang Xuezhou encountered a group of formidable Centennial Pact contestants in the Western Kunlun secret realm and tried to use disguises and a trap to gain an advantage. His attempt to incapacitate Rong'erjia was interrupted when the Fire Worship Sect contestant withdrew and was pulled away.

• Zhang Xuezhou spotted Ao Sheng, Rulai, Buddha Son Shigong, and other powerful contestants, then fled to seek a place to ambush them.
• A tall mirror illuminated the secret realm and revealed the contestants’ movements, so Zhang Xuezhou disguised himself as an old caretaker in a weaving room.
• Zhang Xuezhou directed Rong'erjia toward the main hall and lured him inside by offering to teach him how to read the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches Dial.
• Zhang Xuezhou lit Five-Step Bewitching Smoke and told Rong'erjia it was a damp firelighter, leaving the man dazed and bleeding.
• Rong'erjia declared that he was withdrawing from the Fire Worship Sect, and a rope pulled him out of the weaving room before Zhang Xuezhou could strike him.

Cultivators entered Kunlun Sacred Land for the Centennial Pact, where an unknown old immortal used tricks to eliminate contestants. As the empress and her guests watched the contest, Ao Li recognized the troublemaker as someone who seemed like Dongfang Shuo, and the empress realized Zhang Xuezhou had returned.

• Rong'erjia of the Fire Worship Sect was eliminated soon after entering Kunlun Sacred Land, making the remaining contestants suspect an attacker was among them.
• The Immortal Court cultivators confronted senior brother Rulai about his age and eligibility, then gave him directions to Kunlun's peach orchard.
• Another contestant was eliminated after being knocked out by poisonous smoke, prompting the Ten Thousand Fox King to accuse the old immortal of deliberately harming people.
• The empress defended the dangers of Kunlun Sacred Land, while Daoist Randeng said the eliminated cultivator had been careless.
• Ao Li thought the old immortal looked familiar and said he resembled Dongfang Shuo, leading the empress to realize Zhang Xuezhou had returned.

Zhang Xuezhou tricked Zhu Qiaoqiao, then challenged two Immortal Court cultivators at the Heavenly Court’s horse-grazing grounds and defeated Hu Wenchang in an arm-wrestling contest. He offered to trade sips of Water of Eternity for clothes, prompting the cultivators to produce robes as Li Jing watched in alarm.

• Zhang Xuezhou poisoned Zhu Qiaoqiao with Five-Step Bewitching Smoke and tied her up, leaving him twelve competitors to deal with.
• At the horse-grazing grounds, Zhang Xuezhou met two masked Immortal Court cultivators seeking directions to the Heavenly Court’s main hall and challenged them to a contest.
• Hu Wenchang arm-wrestled Zhang Xuezhou, but Zhang endured the struggle until Wenqing admitted defeat for them.
• Zhang Xuezhou drank Water of Eternity to restore his shriveled arm, then offered to trade a sip for fine clothes.
• Hu Wenchang and Wenqing brought out robes to trade, while Li Jing sprang to his feet before the water screen in the Kunlun Ruins.

Li Jing conceded after Wang Wenqing and Hu Wenchang were poisoned, while Hongku increasingly suspected the disguised “old immortal” was Zhang Xuezhou, Kunlun’s holy son. The old immortal eliminated Hongye and then encountered Buddha Son Shigong, leaving the next confrontation poised to begin.

• Li Jing conceded the Immortal Court’s match, and Daoist Randeng advised him to treat Wang Wenqing and Hu Wenchang with furnace ash.
• Hongku suspected the old immortal was Zhang Xuezhou because his poisons and tactics seemed familiar, and he considered how Zhang might have become Kunlun’s holy son.
• The old immortal wore Hu Wenchang’s clothes, ambushed Hongye at close range, and eliminated him.
• The empress withheld an answer when Zhalatu and others asked whether the old immortal was Kunlun’s holy son, while Daoist Randeng weighed the risks of the Western Sect winning.
• The old immortal encountered Buddha Son Shigong in the peach orchard.

Zhang Xuezhou encountered Buddha Son Shigong in Kunlun's peach orchard and claimed that eating an Elixir of Immortality had made him look old. Shigong learned that Zhang had guided Immortal Court cultivators to the main hall and worried that the Centennial Pact might end before he could explore further.

• Zhang Xuezhou found Buddha Son Shigong eating a peach in the orchard and approached him.
• Zhang reminded Shigong that they had met before, and Shigong recognized him despite his aged appearance.
• Zhang blamed his appearance on eating an Elixir of Immortality, and Shigong explained that it had once been the Heavenly Court's most precious pill.
• Zhang told Shigong that he had stayed in Kunlun for years without being discovered, and Shigong agreed that the area was largely deserted.
• Zhang explained that he had traded directions to Kunlun's main hall for clothes from two masked Immortal Court cultivators, making Shigong anxious that the Centennial Pact could end soon.

Buddha Son Shigong teamed up with Zhang Xuezhou and brutally eliminated several contestants, while Daoist Randeng tried to understand Shigong’s motives and considered how the Western Sect’s rival factions might exploit the gathering. The water screen then revealed Dharma Master Hongyi entering Kunlun’s ruined Heavenly Court main hall.

• Buddha Son Shigong defeated Ao Moang, and Ao Moang told Daoist Randeng that Shigong had attacked him without explanation while Zhang Xuezhou stood alongside him.
• Buddha Son Shigong badly injured Demon King Baoya, prompting the Ten Thousand Fox King to rescue him as Daoist Randeng worried about the Western Sect’s internal rivalries.
• Ao Sheng defeated Qing Twenty-Seven, and the empress sent the bluebird demon out of the secret realm.
• The water screen showed Dharma Master Hongyi entering the ruined Heavenly Court main hall, where a great bronze chair and its glass lamp remained.

Dharma Master Hongyi found and claimed the glazed cup token, but when he tried to escape, a woman in white confronted him and he mysteriously withered and died. The secret land announced his death as the woman fled.

• Dharma Master Hongyi discovered the glazed cup token on a bronze chair in a collapsed area and took it.
• He hurried toward a teleportation device, hiding the token in his sleeve when someone else was about to arrive.
• A woman in white appeared, recognized the token, and threatened him while counting down.
• Dharma Master Hongyi released curse insects and tried to activate the teleportation device, but his body withered as the woman counted.
• Dharma Master Hongyi died, the glazed cup rolled into the grass, and the woman in white fled as the secret land announced his death.

After Cai Ma killed Dharma Master Hongyi with a Fate Technique, the spectators accepted that the Centennial Pact was a deadly contest with no obligation to show mercy. They then identified the serpent demon fighting Ao Sheng as the Kunlun Holy Son and suspected the old immortal was Zhenyuanzi.

• Hongku watched Dharma Master Hongyi die after Cai Ma used a Fate Technique, while Li Jing and Daoist Randeng realized how dangerous her power was.
• Daoist Randeng urged the Empress to make Cai Ma show restraint, but the Empress asked whether he would show Cai Ma mercy in a fight.
• Hongku could not challenge the rules, and the eliminated Ten Thousand Fox King and Zhalatu took comfort in avoiding further danger.
• Ao Li pointed out the serpent demon binding Ao Sheng and suggested he was the Kunlun Holy Son.
• Li Jing proposed that the old immortal was Zhenyuanzi, the foremost Human God of Kunlun's current generation.

Zhang Xuezhou and Buddha Son Shigong reached the Jade Pool Palace, where Zhang hoped to use its formations to restrain his companion. After a lightning formation trapped Zhang, Primordial Lady Bixia freed him and promised to deal with Shigong.

• Zhang Xuezhou led Buddha Son Shigong to the palace complex and suggested they search through separate gates.
• Buddha Son Shigong entered the left gate while Zhang Xuezhou entered the right, hoping to find a formation that could hold Shigong.
• A lightning formation trapped Zhang Xuezhou and struck him repeatedly until Primordial Lady Bixia arrived and shut it down.
• Primordial Lady Bixia asked who Zhang Xuezhou wanted to deal with, and he explained that Buddha Son Shigong had entered through the left gate.
• Primordial Lady Bixia promised to keep Buddha Son Shigong from leaving easily while Zhang Xuezhou went to handle the others.

Zhang Xuezhou discovered that the Glazed Glass Cup had been stolen from Kunlun's main hall and tracked the masked contestant from Xieluosi River Holy Land to Brocade Palace. He identified her as Kong Ning and gained the upper hand in their fight, leaving her struggling to counterattack.

• Cai Ma reported that curse insects had overrun Kunlun's main hall and the Glazed Glass Cup was missing.
• After hearing that Ao Sheng had conceded, Zhang Xuezhou deduced that the flying contestant might have taken the cup and searched Weaving Maiden Workshop and Brocade Palace.
• Zhang Xuezhou found the masked contestant interrogating flower yao in Brocade Palace and attacked her with the Fish Intestine Sword.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized the contestant as Kong Ning and struck her with his fists, overwhelming her Three-Colored Radiant Light defenses.
• Kong Ning transformed into her giant black bird yao body, and Zhang Xuezhou transformed into a three-zhang-tall human body before striking at her again.

The Empress and the gathered guests watched several fights through a suspended mirror as Ao Sheng protested his defeat and Zhang Xuezhou fought Kong Ning. The view then revealed Buddha Son Shigong chasing and fondling imperial consorts at the Jade Pool, leaving the Empress visibly enraged.

• Ao Sheng accused Ao Li of costing him victory, but Ao Li explained that Jiang Qi’s snake form had been overpowering him.
• The Empress silenced Ao Sheng by asking about his injured waist, and he invoked Celestial Venerable Yuanshi to convince her he was not worth eating.
• The Empress turned the suspended mirror to Zhang Xuezhou fighting Kong Ning in the Brocade Palace’s flower garden, while the guests watched and commented.
• Demon King Feiyu conceded for Kong Ning after Zhang Xuezhou forced her to yield, and the Tongtian Rope bound and carried her away.
• The Empress found Buddha Son Shigong chasing and fondling imperial consorts at the Jade Pool, and her expression changed with anger.

The Empress tried to punish Buddha Son Shigong after his misconduct in the Jade Pool, but he counterattacked and destroyed her vermilion hairpin and Daoist Randeng’s glass lamp. Daoist Randeng then offered to concede that Buddha Son Shigong could no longer fight, leaving the Empress to consider his elimination.

• Daoist Randeng and Li Jing pleaded with the Empress to spare Buddha Son Shigong, but she sent her vermilion hairpin into the Jade Pool to punish him.
• Daoist Randeng used his glass lamp to shield Buddha Son Shigong from the hairpin, and the Empress scolded the Western Sect for failing to discipline him.
• Buddha Son Shigong revealed a black core and counterattacked, causing an explosion that damaged the Empress’s hairpin and shattered Daoist Randeng’s glass lamp.
• The Empress rose in anger after losing control of her weapon, while Daoist Randeng insisted Buddha Son Shigong’s counterattack had been involuntary.
• Daoist Randeng told the Empress that Buddha Son Shigong had little strength left and offered to acknowledge his elimination from the competition.

Zhang Xuezhou learned that Jiang Qi had defeated Ao Sheng and that Pu'er Ladi had returned the Glazed Glass Cup, securing victory for the Fire Worship Sect. After the Imperial Lord urged him to conceal his identity, Zhang Xuezhou donned the Seal-Bearing Divine Robe and a mask, ready to rejoin the gathering.

• Zhang Xuezhou realized he had fought the wrong opponent and began searching for Rulai and the Fire Worship Sect's holy envoy.
• Zhang Xuezhou found Jiang Qi at Jade Wave Lake and learned that Jiang Qi, aided by Sha Li, had defeated Ao Sheng while guarding the palace.
• The Imperial Empress announced that Pu'er Ladi had returned the Glazed Glass Cup and ranked the Fire Worship Sect first, Zhang Xuezhou second, and Buddha Son Shigong third.
• The Imperial Lord gave Zhang Xuezhou the Seal-Bearing Divine Robe, a golden mask, and cloud-treading shoes so he could hide his identity at the gathering.
• Zhang Xuezhou put on the robe and mask, and the Imperial Lord praised his imposing appearance.

Zhang Xuezhou learned the outcome of Kunlun’s Centennial Pact gathering, where Pu'er Ladi took first place and Zhang’s cunning performance made him a feared contender. As Kunlun prepared to host the next round at Spirit Mountain, Daoist Randeng was pressed to decide how to treat the still-living Buddha Son Shigong, who had the Empress’s vermilion hairpin lodged in him.

• Pu'er Ladi burned most of Hongyi’s curse insects, found the Glazed Glass Cup, and left Kunlun Sacred Land with first place.
• Rulai ate too many Drunken Peaches and collapsed in the peach grove while Zhang Xuezhou heard the chaotic gathering’s results in the Kunlun Ruins.
• Wang Wenqing, Hu Wenchang, and the other defeated participants acknowledged Zhang Xuezhou’s skill, while Li Jing worried that the Immortal Court would struggle against Kunlun.
• The Empress concluded Kunlun’s round and appointed Xuannü to represent Kunlun at the Western Sect’s gathering.
• Daoist Randeng asked the Empress what to do about Buddha Son Shigong, and Li Jing warned that the hairpin wound could spread unless treated swiftly.
• Daoist Randeng took out a monk’s saber and hurried away to make a decision about Buddha Son Shigong’s injury.

Zhang Xuezhou prepared Cai Ma to lead their group at Spirit Mountain and the Soaring Heavens, while assessing the mystery behind his vanished lifespan halos. The chapter ended with Daoist Randeng flying away with unconscious Rulai and the screaming Buddha Son Shigong.

• Zhang Xuezhou dismissed Buddha Son Shigong's injury as treatable and refused to acknowledge Kong Ning, who left after saying she had mistaken him for someone else.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Cai Ma to prepare for Spirit Mountain and coached her to use her reputation and his concealed identity to deter opponents.
• Cai Ma revealed that Zhang Xuezhou had once shown seven Fate Technique halos, and Zhang Xuezhou suspected the Myriad Longevity Fruit had caused the defect.
• Zhang Xuezhou promised to seek Myriad Longevity Fruit for Cai Ma if she became a reliable partner.
• Daoist Randeng flew out of the Kunlun Ruins carrying unconscious Rulai and the screaming Buddha Son Shigong, then sped away on his Law Treasure.