Chapter Summaries

Si Ming confronted Song Taiping in the Hall of Mental Cultivation after using the emperor as bait, then learned that the second prince had three other Spirit Transformation experts and was attacking the third prince’s residence. Song Taiping urged him to abandon his contract, leaving Si Ming to decide whether to keep fighting or return to his employer.

• Si Ming drew Song Taiping out from the roof by pretending to attack the emperor, then identified him as the Celestial Master of the Mysterious Capital.
• Song Taiping said the emperor was alive but had lost his senses and could neither move nor speak.
• Si Ming prepared to fight, but Song Taiping offered him better terms to join the second prince.
• Song Taiping revealed that the second prince had three more Spirit Transformation experts and was attacking the third prince’s residence that day.
• Song Taiping argued that Si Ming’s contract was canceled if the third prince died, and Si Ming fell silent to consider the offer.

Si Ming defeated Song Taiping in their clash, but Song used the emperor’s death to frame the third prince and provoke him into staying. Si Ming attacked Song again, while Song’s usual defense was undermined by the saber force filling the palace.

• Si Ming challenged Song Taiping and struck him with a powerful slash that Song redirected through his horsetail whisk, damaging the Hall of Mental Cultivation.
• Song Taiping admitted he was no match for Si Ming, and Si Ming prepared to leave as alarms sounded and experts approached.
• Song Taiping sent retained saber force into the emperor, then shouted that the third prince had murdered him, hoping to implicate the prince and delay Si Ming.
• Si Ming drowned out Song’s accusation by declaring that the second prince and Song had murdered the emperor, then prepared to destroy the corpse and evidence.
• Song Taiping provoked Si Ming into attacking again, but the saber force filled the area and drove away the Primal Qi that Song relied on for defense.

Si Ming fought Song Taiping in the ruined palace, drove him off, and left amid the chaos. Meanwhile, Han Kun surrounded Han Hao’s residence with his allies and demanded his surrender, leaving the Third Prince under overwhelming pressure.

• Si Ming overwhelmed Song Taiping with a succession of saber strikes, while the guards could not intervene and the Hall of Mental Cultivation was reduced to ruins.
• Si Ming shouted through the palace that the Second Prince and the Celestial Master of the Mysterious Capital had murdered the sovereign, drowning out the Second Prince’s attempt to blame the Third Prince.
• Song Taiping used a powerful Daoist technique against Si Ming, then fled by merging with a great peng phantom; Si Ming soon left the palace as well.
• Han Kun’s forces surrounded Han Hao’s residence, where Gu Changtian and Miao Yunli’s pressure pinned down those unable to resist.
• Han Hao questioned how Han Kun had concealed the backing of five Spirit Transformation experts, and Han Kun explained that years of preparation had given him the advantage before demanding Han Hao surrender.

Han Hao revealed that he had used a listening device hidden in Han Kun’s cat to learn his plans and deliberately lured him into a confrontation. When Gu Changtian and Miao Yunli moved to attack, Xiao Xuan intervened and challenged them to settle the fight in three moves, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Han Hao admitted that he had cheated in childhood games and used a listening device hidden in Han Kun’s black cat to uncover his plans.
• Han Hao explained that he had knowingly followed Han Kun’s trap to create a chance to capture him and overcome the imbalance between their forces.
• Gu Changtian attacked Han Hao, but an unseen hand destroyed his Sword Qi, and Han Kun yielded the fight to Senior Xiao.
• Xiao Xuan appeared, identified himself as the governor of a small border country, and faced Gu Changtian and Miao Yunli.
• Xiao Xuan said the battle would be over in three moves, while Gu Changtian and Miao Yunli refused to treat their attack as a friendly duel.

Su Yingbo rushed his dying wife, Ai Qing, to the overcrowded Royal Central Hospital and forced the doctors to prioritize her treatment. Ai Qing urged him not to threaten anyone and apologized for being unable to give him a child.

• Su Yingbo carried Ai Qing into the emergency room and demanded that the doctors save her.
• The doctors protested that the hospital was overwhelmed with injured patients and that Ai Qing seemed beyond saving.
• Su Yingbo threatened the staff, and a chief physician persuaded him to keep only three skilled doctors for Ai Qing’s treatment.
• Ai Qing asked Su Yingbo not to take his anger out on others, and he promised to stop threatening the doctors.
• Ai Qing apologized to Su Yingbo for being unable to give him a child.

Ai Qing was gravely injured after falling during an argument with her father, and Su Yingbo pleaded with the doctors to save her as they rushed her into emergency treatment. While he waited, Si Ming asked him to restore order in the city, but Su Yingbo refused in anger over the soldiers whose fighting had led to Ai Qing’s injury.

• The doctors examined Ai Qing and told Su Yingbo that her weakness and pregnancy made her injuries exceptionally difficult to treat.
• Ai Qing urged Su Yingbo not to blame the doctors and reminded him of his duty to protect others.
• Su Yingbo kowtowed to the doctors and begged them to save Ai Qing, and they promised to use every means available.
• The doctors took Ai Qing into the emergency room and prepared to use Physician Yan’s needles to sustain her life.
• Si Ming asked Su Yingbo to stop the Imperial Army soldiers from fighting, but Su Yingbo refused and said he wanted them to suffer.
• Si Ming reminded Su Yingbo that civilians could be hurt, just as Ai Qing had been.

After the political struggle ended, Su Yingbo remained consumed by grief over Ai Qing’s death, while Yan Jinghong entered his sealed room to try to reach him. The chapter ended with the cause of Ai Qing’s death still unresolved as Su Yingbo blamed himself for losing his temper.

• Xiao Xuan defeated two Spirit Transformation masters, and Han Hao seized the throne while capturing Han Kun.
• Han Hao crippled Han Kun and sentenced him to life in Bashidi Prison, where he would have to wear a mask.
• Si Ming and his companions attended Ai Qing’s funeral, while Su Yingbo stayed sealed inside his room and refused to respond.
• Yan Jinghong dissolved the barrier and entered Su Yingbo’s room to try to help him face his grief.
• Su Yingbo’s parents mourned Ai Qing, and Su Yingbo blamed himself for failing to control his temper.

After Ai Qing’s funeral, Su Yingbo remained isolated in his grief until the Nether Master revealed that he had engineered her death and offered to revive her through soul research. Su Yingbo faced a choice between attacking the murderer and accepting his deal.

• Yan Jinghong emerged from Su Yingbo’s room and decided to give him seven more days before dragging him out by force.
• After the funeral, Su Yingbo stayed in a room surrounded by photographs of Ai Qing, where his longing made the figures in them move.
• The Nether Master appeared before Su Yingbo, and the sight of him prompted Su Yingbo to remember suspicious details surrounding Ai Qing’s death.
• Su Yingbo accused the Nether Master of arranging the events that led to Ai Qing’s death and prepared to attack him.
• The Nether Master claimed he could revive Ai Qing by restoring her divine soul and cited past experiments as evidence.
• Su Yingbo condemned the Nether Master for killing his wife and using her as leverage, while the Nether Master left the decision to make a deal to him.

Su Yingbo faced the Nether Master's offer to bring his wife back, while Si Ming and Murong Qing investigated the Heaven-Defying Society's silence and suspected its real target was elsewhere. The chapter ended with them warning the newly enthroned Han Hao to alert the Nation of Valor, as he explained his plans to weaken imperial power.

• The Nether Master blamed Su Yingbo for refusing Yan Jinghong's disciple and argued that Su Yingbo had chosen weakness by yielding to threats.
• The Nether Master pressed Su Yingbo to choose between saving his wife by helping cause chaos in France or refusing and accepting her loss, but Su Yingbo rejected the kidnapper's oath and defended his desire to protect those close to him.
• Si Ming and Murong Qing reasoned that the Heaven-Defying Society had not attacked because France's Divine Pillar might be a decoy, with the Nation of Valor or Germany as its true target.
• Si Ming decided to ask Han Hao to warn the Nation of Valor, and he and Murong Qing went to the palace to meet him.
• Han Hao apologized for keeping them waiting and said he planned to eliminate aristocratic privileges and weaken imperial power rather than adopt grand imperial forms of address.

After Han Hao offered Si Ming a lead on the Primordial Non-Empty True Scripture, Si Ming considered how the cultivation method might improve his slow Internal Cultivation. Si Ming and Murong Qing also discussed Han Hao’s apparent resolve to strip the nobles of their privileges, recognizing that the struggle could bring widespread bloodshed.

• Si Ming accepted Han Hao’s account of a strange phenomenon at the site where the founding emperor found the Primordial Non-Empty True Scripture and considered investigating it.
• Murong Qing explained the Daoist School’s Five Primordial Stages, and Si Ming concluded that the scripture might strengthen his Internal Cultivation.
• Si Ming assessed Han Hao’s self-discipline and past, then reasoned that taking the throne was likely only one step toward his larger goal.
• Murong Qing observed that Han Hao intended to strip the nobles of their privileges, and Si Ming warned that the ensuing conflict could be bloody.
• Si Ming decided that he and Murong Qing should avoid intervening directly in France’s political struggle, though they could ask Senior Uncle Xiao to help.

Si Ming and Murong Qing received miniaturized Profound Armor and tested their new equipment before traveling with He Qichang to the ruins near his former home, Maohuang Village. He Qichang revealed that the Vicious Q​​i Evil Spider had slaughtered the villagers, likely while searching for a divine cultivation manual.

• Si Ming received a spatial bracelet containing the miniaturized Vermilion Bird Profound Armor, while Murong Qing received a scabbard for her Black Tortoise Armor.
• Si Ming and Murong Qing tested their armor’s deployment and storage, and Si Ming invited He Qichang to visit the ancient ruins.
• He Qichang identified Maohuang Village as his former home and explained that its people had migrated there to guard something.
• The three passed a French military cordon with Han Hao’s authorization and followed He Qichang to a concealed cave near the village’s ancestral shrine.
• He Qichang said the Vicious Q​​i Evil Spider had killed the villagers and agreed that it probably came seeking a divine cultivation manual.
• He Qichang explained that he had survived because a hunting injury delayed his return, and that his mother had died when he was young.

Si Ming, Murong Qing, and He Qichang discovered the Primordial Non-Empty True Scripture in a cave, but a mysterious figure appeared and forced them into a game. They were transported to a ruined town beneath two moons, and they began assessing how to return.

• He Qichang explained that his Demon Race bloodline came from his village's mixed Human and Demon Race ancestry.
• The damaged stele projected the Primordial Non-Empty True Scripture, including cultivation methods and martial techniques, into the cavern.
• A humanoid figure of light appeared, mocked the three, and announced a game judged by how much they entertained it.
• Si Ming attacked the figure, but it reformed and activated a ring of light that transported Si Ming, Murong Qing, and He Qichang away.
• The three found themselves in a dilapidated town beneath two moons, and Si Ming and Murong Qing considered how they might return to the Sea Continent.

A boy and Jinyu tried to survive in a Spirit Domain far more dangerous than expected, but a Stone Dweller overwhelmed them and left the boy badly wounded. He refused to use the strange mark over his heart to escape because it came from the person he intended to avenge.

• A boy and Jinyu hid from a half-mechanical wolf and realized the Spirit Domain's monsters were far stronger than they had expected.
• The boy urged Jinyu to leave with her Realm-Breaking Stone, but she refused to abandon him.
• A Stone Dweller attacked them, displaying the severed heads of their teammates, and the boy convinced Jinyu to flee while he held it off.
• Jinyu struck the Stone Dweller with flaming Sword Qi and ran, while the boy blocked its chain and challenged it.
• After fighting for ten minutes, the wounded boy collapsed and refused to use the mark over his heart because he would not accept help from the person he sought revenge against.

Si Ming rescued a young man, killed a Stone Dweller, and survived being swallowed by the Mechanical Sandworm King. The young man identified the region as the Barbarian Continent and explained that martial artists used Martial Forms, leaving Si Ming and his companions seeking answers about the unfamiliar world.

• Si Ming stopped the Stone Dweller from killing the young man, resisted its curse, and killed it by twisting its neck.
• Murong Qing and He Qichang teased Si Ming about frightening the young man with his reaction to the monster.
• The young man warned Si Ming, Murong Qing, and He Qichang that the five-star Mechanical Sandworm King was approaching and urged them to summon their Martial Forms.
• Si Ming asked about Martial Forms, and the young man said they were common knowledge in the Barbarian Continent.
• The Mechanical Sandworm King swallowed Si Ming, but he blasted through its inner wall, tore open its belly, and emerged unharmed.

Si Ming, Murong Qing, and He Qichang learned that the Barbarian Continent was a barren land overrun by Yao Qi, where people relied on Martial Forms granted by Soul Artifacts. After Xu Zhengyi described his world and its powers, the group tested whether their own weapons were Soul Artifacts.

• Murong Qing treated Xu Zhengyi's wounds, and he introduced himself and learned the names of his three benefactors.
• Xu Zhengyi said he had never heard of the Glazed Temple or the Heavenly Martial Alliance, and Si Ming suspected they were in another part of the Barbarian Continent.
• Xu Zhengyi explained that the Netherworld Insect Princess and her black insects had devastated the continent, leaving its people dependent on nutrient paste.
• Xu Zhengyi said people obtained Martial Forms through contact with Soul Artifacts, while he lacked Spirit Roots and had been promised a Medal Knight Martial Form by a priest.
• Murong Qing showed Xu Zhengyi the Moon God's Tear, which he identified as a divine weapon but not a Soul Artifact, and Si Ming presented the Wheel-Turning King Sword and the Crimson Scorpion Evil Saber for him to examine.

Xu Zhengyi received the seventh-grade Arhat Martial Form from the Wheel-Turning King Sword and told Si Ming about his enemy, whose village sacrifice coincided with the Remote Heaven Society severing the Four Heavenly Divine Pillars. Xu Zhengyi explained that they were trapped in a Spirit Domain ruled by an Artifact Spirit, so the group needed to defeat its domain lord or find a Realm-Breaking Stone to escape.

• Xu Zhengyi accepted the Arhat Martial Form from the Wheel-Turning King Sword, which raised his cultivation and healed his injuries.
• Xu Zhengyi revealed that his brother-in-law had sacrificed their village, including Xu Zhengyi's sister, to gain power and become celebrated as a savior.
• Xu Zhengyi said the massacre had occurred 108 days earlier, and Si Ming and Murong Qing connected that date to the Remote Heaven Society severing the Four Heavenly Divine Pillars.
• Xu Zhengyi explained that the Black Tide had changed cultivation on this side of the Barbarian Continent, leaving Soul Arts as the effective path.
• Xu Zhengyi told Si Ming and the others that an Artifact Spirit had created the Spirit Domain and become its domain lord, trapping them inside.

Si Ming, Murong Qing, He Qichang, and Xu Zhengyi traveled to a village whose residents might know how to find the spirit domain's powerful lord. They arrived to find the village under attack by a huge horde of monsters.

• Xu Zhengyi explained that the domain lord was at least six stars and that they would need to find and confront it to escape the spirit domain.
• Si Ming reassured Murong Qing and helped her keep pace by holding her hand, and the two secretly flirted as they traveled.
• Xu Zhengyi led the group toward a village whose residents had refused to share information, saying they awaited the Child of Mixed Blood who would destroy the domain lord.
• Si Ming and Murong Qing realized He Qichang might be the Child of Mixed Blood, but he pointed out that the village was being attacked by a huge horde of monsters.

Si Ming and He Qichang saved a village from half-mechanical monsters, and the villagers identified He Qichang as the prophesied Child of Mixed Blood who could wield the Demon Blade Art. The village chief said they must grow stronger before facing the Spirit Domain’s lord, though He Qichang worried they could not remain trapped there for long.

• Murong Qing spotted half-mechanical monsters attacking a village, and Si Ming and He Qichang rushed to help its defenders.
• Si Ming smashed the monsters with his fists while He Qichang discovered that Demon Blade: Moon Eclipse could kill their souls, driving the surviving creatures to flee.
• The village chief recognized He Qichang’s Demon Blade Art and mixed-blood descent, then explained a prophecy that someone like him would free the village from the Spirit Domain.
• The village chief said Si Ming could not harm the domain lord without Yao Qi, and that He Qichang needed to grow stronger before challenging it.
• He Qichang agreed to help the villagers but asked where the domain lord was, while warning that he and his companions could not stay there indefinitely.

He Qichang and Murong Qing gained Martial Forms from the village’s mysterious statue, and the village chief offered to teach them the Dragon Fetus Meditation Method. Si Ming failed to gain the statue’s recognition and instead searched it by touch, provoking its spiritual will.

• The village chief brought Si Ming and the others to a statue that had appeared from the sky and filled the Spirit Domain with Yao Qi.
• He Qichang touched the statue and obtained a third-grade Martial Form whose true form was Qiongqi, though he could not yet use it.
• Si Ming received no response from the statue, but Murong Qing gained its recognition and obtained the Black Tortoise Martial Form.
• The village chief offered He Qichang and Murong Qing the Dragon Fetus Meditation Method so they could learn to use their Martial Forms.
• Si Ming complained that the statue had denied him the Vermilion Bird Martial Form, closed his eyes, and felt over the statue despite its hostile spiritual will.

Si Ming taunted a village’s divine statue until it granted him and then advanced his Martial Form, while arguing that people should rely on themselves rather than gods or saviors. The chapter ended with Si Ming agreeing to teach Xu Zhengyi martial arts.

• Si Ming mocked the statue and challenged the village chief’s belief that it had protected the village, arguing that the villagers had saved themselves.
• The statue granted Si Ming the Little Drill Wind Martial Form, then advanced it into Jingxi Ghost after he complained about its weakness.
• Si Ming decided not to pressure the statue for another advancement and turned back to Xu Zhengyi.
• Xu Zhengyi knelt and begged Si Ming to teach him martial arts, and Si Ming agreed.