Chapter Summaries

Lu Hongtu assessed the danger facing Thousand Peaks Forest as Two Injections Country’s armies advanced, while Shuang Ling and Du Tiechuan prepared for a decisive battle. At No Thief Valley, Sun Lingtong and Ning Zhuo used a stolen identity to raid the transport convoy and discovered it carried Xuanyuan Nine Crafts Platforms.

• Lu Hongtu learned that the Three Generals Camp had captured Dice Bone Mountain and worried that the defecting Dice Bone Demon God might expose the secret convoy ambush.
• Shuang Ling told Du Tiechuan that she had made six thousand Mountain Treading Wheels and expected transport supplies and Mechanical Platforms to speed production.
• Sun Lingtong and Ning Zhuo watched the convoy enter No Thief Valley, where Gu Ya, Wu Hen, Diao Ye, and other Thousand Peaks Forest fighters launched an ambush.
• Floating Clouds Zi and Mountain Peak Zi joined the battle to protect the convoy, while both sides’ forces fought fiercely and suffered heavy casualties.
• Sun Lingtong and Ning Zhuo used a stone sphere disguised as Old Monster Stone to steal supplies from the convoy’s Mechanism Vehicles.
• Ning Zhuo recognized that the stolen cargo included Xuanyuan Nine Crafts Platforms, each a Nascent Soul Level Mechanical Platform.

Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong looted a Two Injections Country convoy during the second ambush, stealing Shuang Ling’s mechanical platforms and supplies. After evading Shuang Ling’s tracking ritual through the void, they reached Azure Sky Mountain, where they found a small harvest of formed Void Crystals and realized the Golden Halberd Army might soon arrive.

• Ning Zhuo identified three mechanical platforms among the convoy’s cargo, including a Xuanyuan Nine Crafts Platform, a Mystic Palace Gear Platform, and a Giant Spirit Shaping Platform.
• Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong used Old Monster Stone to strip the convoy of its treasures, helping trigger a rout and weakening the Two Injections Country forces.
• Old Monster Stone took the escort official’s Storage Bag from Chen Lingfeng, then escaped underground as the escort official retreated and the ambush ended.
• Shuang Ling learned that her platforms and materials had been stolen, then used a Star Concealing Shadow ritual to try to locate Old Monster Stone, but the ritual failed and injured her.
• Sun Lingtong noticed tracking starlight on the Storage Bag, so Ning Zhuo kept the Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon moving through the void until the tracking faded.
• Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong emerged at Azure Sky Mountain, found Void Crystals in Azure Sky Pool, and deduced that the Golden Halberd Army might soon reach the area.

Gao Cuo and Sword Old One concealed a powerful Evil God Bone beneath Azure Sky Pool, but Shuang Ling’s Starfall Heavenly Punishment struck the pool while Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong were there. Sun Lingtong absorbed the revealed bone marrow into her Emptiness Seal and escaped with Ning Zhuo, but she collapsed after the ordeal.

• Gao Cuo admitted that he had left the unformed Void Crystals at Azure Sky Mountain intact because a mature Void Crystal concealed an Evil God Bone, which he planned to extract later.
• At Azure Sky Pool, Sun Lingtong found a mature Void Crystal that neither she nor Ning Zhuo could excavate, while Shuang Ling used Starfall Heavenly Punishment to target Ning Zhuo through Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon.
• Ning Zhuo sensed that the Void Crystal offered their only chance of survival, and he and Sun Lingtong sheltered beneath it as the starfall struck.
• The Void Crystal cracked and revealed the Evil God Bone; the ensuing clash of National Power and spatial forces destroyed the crystal and bone, leaving the bone marrow behind.
• Sun Lingtong drew the Evil God Bone Marrow into her Emptiness Seal, greatly strengthened her theft technique, and piloted Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon through the void to safety.
• Sun Lingtong praised her own success, then spat blood and fainted.

Ning Zhuo used the Fetal Breath Spirit Boat, Stone Skin, and the Dice Bone Demon God's dojo to stabilize Sun Lingtong's void injuries, while Shuang Ling reported that Old Monster Stone had survived her attack and might be at the Transformation Spirit Level. Sun Lingtong awoke fully recovered and revealed that absorbing the Void Evil God's marrow had greatly strengthened her Emptiness Seal and spatial abilities.

• Ning Zhuo forced the Fetal Breath Spirit Boat into its fetal breath state and used its power to spread Stone Skin over Sun Lingtong, but void fissures continued to threaten him.
• Ning Zhuo summoned the Dice Bone Demon God, whose Dice Dojo helped suppress the void fissures as Sun Lingtong's Stone Skin thickened and his injuries stabilized.
• Shuang Ling realized Old Monster Stone had survived her Starfall Heavenly Punishment Technique, suspected he had reached the Transformation Spirit Level, and reported the military intelligence to Du Tiechuan.
• Sun Lingtong contacted Ning Zhuo after waking, and Ning Zhuo removed the Stone Skin once he confirmed Sun Lingtong had recovered.
• Sun Lingtong demonstrated that her transformed Emptiness Seal had strengthened her theft techniques and other abilities involving space.

After surviving the void calamity, Sun Lingtong and Ning Zhuo returned to Three Generals Camp, where Ning Zhuo funded its military expenses and they began repairing the damaged Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon. Meanwhile, news that Old Monster Stone had withstood a Spirit Transformation-level attack spread through the Thousand Peaks Forest alliance, transforming criticism into praise as Sun Gan ordered his army to go around Azure Sky Mountain.

• Sun Lingtong failed to crack the Nascent Soul Level Storage Bag, whose official and military restrictions were beyond her current strength.
• Ning Zhuo returned to Three Generals Camp, gave Liu Er one hundred thousand Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and began repairing the Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon with Sun Lingtong.
• At Dragon King Mountain, Chen Lingfeng and other cultivators denounced Old Monster Stone for taking the spoils of war, but Lu Hongtu shared intelligence proving Old Monster Stone had endured a Spirit Transformation-level attack.
• Chen Lingfeng and the other cultivators reversed their criticism and praised Old Monster Stone, while Lu Hongtu redirected the gathering to discuss how to deal with the four invading armies.
• After learning that Old Monster Stone was at Spirit Transformation Level and had disappeared near Azure Sky Mountain, Sun Gan ordered his army to go around it.

Ning Zhuo replenished his Mechanism Puppets before the Three Generals Camp came under a poison-based attack by Tu Ming, Diao Ye, and Wu Lan. Unable to complete a defensive array as the assault escalated, Liu Er led the camp out in formation, with Ning Zhuo helping resist the poison fog as they retreated.

• Ning Zhuo used three Mechanical Platforms to produce forty-eight Mechanism Puppet prototypes, restoring his forces to more than their previous strength.
• Diao Ye sent corrosive poison fog toward the camp, while Wu Lan attacked cultivators trying to set up a Static Array; Guan Hong drove Wu Lan back as Liu Er and Zhang Hei fought the poison fog.
• Tu Ming unleashed Ten Thousand Snakes Venom Stream, forcing Liu Er to halt the array and order the Three Generals Camp to attack while retreating.
• Liu Er formed the army into a Triangular Arrow Formation, with Guan Hong and Zhang Hei strengthening its Array Eyes and Ning Zhuo taking the center.
• The Three Generals Camp charged down the mountain as Liu Er reinforced the army and Ning Zhuo summoned a fierce wind to resist the poison fog.

The Three Generals Camp fought off Diao Ye, Wu Lan, and the Poisonous Liquid Serpents until Tu Ming unleashed a poison that devastated the soldiers. Across the other mountains, Thousand Peaks Forest’s planned attacks trapped the Golden Halberd Army, suppressed the Red Flower Camp, and threatened to overwhelm the Barbarian Demon Camp, while hidden observers prepared to intervene.

• Zhang Hei used Army at the Borders to disperse the poisonous mist and hold back the Poisonous Liquid Serpents, but Wu Lan’s heart poison killed soldiers until Guan Hong struck him down and Tu Ming rescued him.
• Tu Ming released Rotten Flesh Sores, which caused the soldiers and the three generals to develop rapidly spreading, corrosive sores that their healing methods could not suppress.
• Gu Ya revealed the current Elephant King, who charged into the Golden Halberd Army’s formation and drove Sun Gan from the front to the center.
• Di Lu’s moonlit domain hooked away the Red Flower Avatar twice, leaving Mu Lan to recognize that the Azure Moon Ancient God’s power was suppressing the Red Flower Battle Array.
• Ju Bing’s mountain boars battered the Barbarian Demon Camp while Xu Dali fought Ju Bing, and hidden observers decided it was time to act.

Ding Pi and Jia Wan turned the tide at Bristle Pig Giant Wood Mountain, saving Xu Dali’s forces and devastating Ju Bing’s herd, while Ju Bing escaped. At Dice Bone Giant Wood Mountain, Shen Qinghe drove off Tu Ming, and Ning Zhuo’s mechanism army helped the Three Generals Camp kill Wu Lan as Diao Ye withdrew.

• Ding Pi and Jia Wan joined Xu Dali’s battle, using a giant iron pot and Ding Pi’s knife to slaughter most of Ju Bing’s mountain pig herd.
• Ju Bing reverted to his original form, knocked Xu Dali aside, and retreated; Ding Pi let him escape after Jia Wan revealed their plan had already crippled the herd.
• Ning Zhuo refused to deploy his mechanism army while his Mechanism Ring warned him against fighting alone, despite Liu Er and the other generals urging him to act.
• Shen Qinghe appeared above the Three Generals Camp, used the Careless Finish Finger to suppress Tu Ming’s poison-art magic power, and pursued him from the battlefield.
• Ning Zhuo sent his mechanism army after Wu Lan and used Five Elements Spells to keep him surrounded until Meng Yehu killed him with the Nether Slaughter Claw.

Ning Zhuo helped the Three Generals Camp defeat Wu Lan and Diao Ye, then left to join Mu Lan’s Red Flower Camp. Arriving in the middle of its desperate battle, he summoned the Dice Bone Demon God, shocking the Azure Moon Ancient God.

• Ning Zhuo killed Wu Lan, while Diao Ye blew himself up after Guan Hong blocked his attack and was left with a badly poisoned arm.
• Shen Qinghe returned without capturing Tu Ming and delivered Du Tiechuan’s order for the Three Generals Camp to withdraw and join the main battle.
• Ning Zhuo decided to seek battle merit with the Red Flower Camp and crushed Mu Lan’s talisman to teleport to her army.
• Mu Lan’s Red Flower Camp struggled against Di Lu and the Azure Moon Ancient God’s moonlight arrows, while a Nascent Soul cultivator and his myna watched under orders to let the camp suffer losses but preserve Mu Lan.
• Ning Zhuo appeared on the battlefield, summoned the Dice Bone Demon God, and expanded its Dao Field against the Azure Moon Dao Field, leaving the Azure Moon Ancient God stunned.

Ning Zhuo and Mu Lan led Red Flower Camp through a desperate battle, in which Mu Lan’s Red Heart Swan Arrows drove off the Azure Moon Ancient God and killed Di Lu. As Red Flower Camp withdrew toward Wood Wheel Town, the current Elephant King revealed that the Golden Halberd Army had been wiped out and demanded the Elephant Vein Enrichment Pill.

• The Dice Bone Demon God’s weakened Dao field combined with Ning Zhuo’s and Red Flower Camp’s defenses, while Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong tried to hold Di Lu back as Mu Lan formed the Red Flower Battle Array.
• Ning Zhuo used his Earth Element Spleen Temple to bind Di Lu with Sand Shackles Stone Locks, then delayed him with Mechanism Puppets until the Red Flower Avatar was complete.
• The Azure Moon Ancient God defeated the already injured Dice Bone Demon God, who returned to Ning Zhuo’s wrist as a badly damaged bracelet.
• Mu Lan fired the Red Heart Swan Arrow from the Red Phoenix Bow, shattering the Azure Moon Ancient God’s crescent moon and forcing him to retreat, then killed Di Lu with a second arrow before collapsing.
• Ning Zhuo and Zhang Chongyi treated Mu Lan as Red Flower Camp withdrew under new military orders, while Ning Zhuo noticed Three Generals Camp and Barbarian Demon Camp near Wood Wheel Town but no Golden Halberd Army.
• At Dragon King Mountain, the current Elephant King announced that the Golden Halberd Army had been wiped out and demanded the Elephant Vein Enrichment Pill, with Sun Gan held captive at his feet.

Ning Zhuo recovered with the Red Flower Camp after their victory, then learned that the Golden Halberd Army had been annihilated. After Marshal Du summoned him, a Nascent Soul cultivator divined that Ning Zhuo's powerful fortune was rootless and mostly spent.

• Mu Lan woke and credited Ning Zhuo's aid for helping the Red Flower Camp survive, while promising to report his military merits.
• Ning Zhuo visited the Three Generals Camp, where the generals learned that the Golden Halberd Army and its commander Sun Gan had been destroyed by the current Elephant King and Gu Ya.
• Ning Zhuo considered how to strengthen his body enough to use the Brave Warrior Return Technique, then prioritized rebuilding his depleted mechanism army and taught Sun Lingtong to make Mechanism Puppets.
• A messenger summoned Ning Zhuo to Marshal Du, who praised him for subduing the Dice Bone Demon God and asked Song Ji to calculate his fortune.
• Song Ji told Ning Zhuo that his strong fortune was rootless and that more than half had already been consumed, most likely by subduing the Dice Bone Demon God.

Ning Zhuo failed to obtain medicinal pills from Du Tiechuan, but he strengthened his body while Du’s forces built the Dragon Shadow Nine Pillars Review Stand. After a military parade revealed that Du was preparing to use a powerful trump card for the coming battle, the army anticipated his move at Iron Flow Plains.

• Ning Zhuo recalled the benefits of his immense but declining luck, while Song Ji confirmed that his external luck was unusually strong and recently nourished.
• Ning Zhuo asked Du Tiechuan to let him exchange battle merit for medicinal pills, but Du refused and ordered Song Ji to investigate the Dice Bone Demon God’s intelligence.
• Song Ji questioned the Dice Bone Demon God, and Ning Zhuo later returned to camp, where Liu Er warned that Du might eventually settle accounts over their actions.
• Ning Zhuo cultivated his physical body using Sun Lingtong’s method, repaired Yuan Dasheng and Meng Yehu, and grew much stronger over several days.
• Du Tiechuan’s forces built the Dragon Shadow Nine Pillars Review Stand, then held a military parade that subjected the troops to waves of invisible power.
• After the parade, Ning Zhuo and other commanders inferred that Du Tiechuan planned to use his trump card at Iron Flow Plains.

Du Tiechuan began selecting armies for his Iron Flow Plains assault through increasingly grueling military reviews, prompting soldiers to seek heavy armor and use a forbidden technique to improve their defenses. Ning Zhuo bought four hundred suits for the Three Generals Camp, but Mu Lan then demanded some for the Red Flower Camp and called him “husband,” leaving him caught between her and Liu Er.

• Du Tiechuan announced five rounds of military reviews to select the main force that would use Iron Flow Plains to attack Thousand Peaks Forest.
• The Three Generals Camp performed poorly in the second and third reviews, and the soldiers learned that the forbidden Iron Skin Flesh Armor Technique could help them endure the inspections.
• Generals rushed to buy scarce, expensive full-body heavy armor from the quartermaster so their soldiers could use the forbidden technique.
• Ning Zhuo spent nearly half his assets to buy four hundred suits of heavy armor for the Three Generals Camp.
• Mu Lan confronted Ning Zhuo, called him “husband,” and asked for some of his armor for the Red Flower Camp, while Liu Er watched anxiously.

Ning Zhuo proposed merging the Red Flower Camp and Three Generals Camp because their heavy armor quota covered only some soldiers, but Liu Er hesitated over losing his independent command. Ning Zhuo sought the White Jade Camp’s unused quota, while Shuang Jing separately told Liu Er that Du Tiechuan had deliberately engineered the shortages to consolidate control over the armies.

• Ning Zhuo suggested that the Three Generals Camp merge some soldiers into the Red Flower Camp until the battle ended; Mu Lan approved, but Liu Er asked for time to consider it.
• Mu Lan left with Ning Zhuo to buy the Red Flower Camp’s heavy armor quota, while Liu Er worried that merging would prevent him from earning credit independently and then decided to seek Shuang Jing’s help.
• Ning Zhuo asked Shuang Jing for the White Jade Camp’s unused heavy armor quota, and Shuang Jing concealed Liu Er’s arrival by sending Ning Zhuo into an inner chamber.
• Liu Er asked Shuang Jing to transfer the White Jade Camp’s quota to the Three Generals Camp, citing its past aid to the Red Flower Camp.
• Shuang Jing told Liu Er that Du Tiechuan had intentionally limited the heavy armor quotas to force armies to merge and shed troops, then use Iron Flow Plains to eliminate weaker forces and draw the survivors closer to him.

Liu Er refused Shuang Jing’s demand to bring the Three Generals Camp and Ning Zhuo under the White Jade Camp, accepting humiliation rather than betray his strategist. He told Ning Zhuo how persecution and his mother’s sacrifice shaped his resolve to create a refuge where mixed-blood people could live freely.

• Shuang Jing demanded that Liu Er merge the Three Generals Camp into his White Jade Camp and persuade Ning Zhuo to join, in exchange for help obtaining heavy armor.
• Liu Er rejected Shuang Jing’s demand and accepted thirty slaps, after which Shuang Jing sent him away without offering help.
• Ning Zhuo emerged from Shuang Jing’s tent and caught up with Liu Er, who reassured him that he did not regret refusing to betray him.
• Liu Er recounted how villagers and cultivators had persecuted him for his mixed blood and how his mother died protecting him from a sacrifice.
• Liu Er revealed his aspiration to create a refuge where mixed-blood people could live without ridicule, exclusion, or oppression.

Ning Zhuo received Jade Steel Heavy Armor and Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence from Lin Bufan, then brought the armor to Mu Lan at the Red Flower Camp. Mu Lan revealed her own good news by giving him Tang Jifeng’s Hundred-Armed Arhat Armor, which delighted him.

• Liu Er accepted Ning Zhuo’s proposal and said he wanted the Three Generals Camp to leave the Red Flower Camp and eventually establish itself independently.
• Ning Zhuo told Sun Lingtong that Liu Er’s ambition moved him and made him want to support Liu Er, but he agreed that saving his mother had to come first.
• Sun Lingtong warned Ning Zhuo about a hidden cultivator, and Lin Bufan revealed himself with a genuine token and delivered Jade Steel Heavy Armor and Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence.
• Lin Bufan recounted how he had helped Ning Jiu Fan secure the Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence, then declined Ning Zhuo’s request to join the coming battle and departed.
• Ning Zhuo brought the Jade Steel Heavy Armor to Mu Lan, who inspected it and gave him Tang Jifeng’s Hundred-Armed Arhat Armor.

Ning Zhuo tested the Hundred-Armed Arhat Armor, mastered its Golden Moon Zen Wind Fist, and lent it to Sun Lingtong to study. He returned to the Three Generals Camp to oversee the Iron Skin Flesh Armor Technique, where Chen Zhi alone remained standing through the painful fusion.

• Mu Lan gave Ning Zhuo the Hundred-Armed Arhat Armor, and he traveled to a desolate mountain range to test it.
• Ning Zhuo adapted to the armor’s six mechanism arms and combined three formations and spells into the Golden Moon Zen Wind Fist.
• Sun Lingtong begged to try the armor, so Ning Zhuo lent it to her before returning to the Three Generals Camp.
• Ning Zhuo told Liu Er that heavy armor was available, then observed elite soldiers begin the Iron Skin Flesh Armor Technique.
• Liu Guan Zhang helped soldiers who could not endure the pain, and Chen Zhi was the only one still standing when the process ended.

Ning Zhuo refined the Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence into a Fire Aspect Heart Temple, gaining a powerful but exhausting boost to his vitality. Meanwhile, Lu Hongtu’s allies argued over whether to attack Wood Wheel Town, and Lord Long introduced him to two Soul Devouring Sect Ghost Cultivators sent to support the alliance and capture Ning Zhuo alive.

• Ning Zhuo predicted that Du Tiechuan would provide support for soldiers cultivating the Iron Skin Flesh Armor Technique, and the quartermaster’s office issued helpful pills, talismans, and array discs that night.
• Ning Zhuo returned to a deserted valley, borrowed Mu Lan’s Golden Blade, removed his heart, and refined the Ten Thousand Year Fire Essence with Sun Lingtong’s help to create a Fire Aspect Heart Temple.
• Ning Zhuo placed the Heart Temple in his chest and discovered that it greatly increased his strength and vitality, though using its power left him exhausted and hungry.
• At the Council Hall, cultivators pressed Lu Hongtu to attack Wood Wheel Town before Du Tiechuan’s army completed its preparations, but Lu Hongtu warned that Du Tiechuan would draw them into an ambush.
• Lu Hongtu left the council meeting and visited Lord Long, who introduced him to Heaven Frost and Earth Ash, Soul Devouring Sect Ghost Cultivators assigned to support the alliance and capture Ning Zhuo alive.

Lu Hongtu and Lord Long prepared the Thousand Peaks Forest alliance for Du Tiechuan’s decisive battle, while Lu Hongtu failed to secure Flourishing Weakness Young Master’s help at an affordable price. At Wood Wheel Town’s military parade, Ning Zhuo assessed his growing capabilities as the armies prepared for war.

• Lu Hongtu learned that the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts wanted to capture Ning Zhuo and cooperated with Lord Long’s effort to encourage conflict between them and Old Monster Stone.
• Lu Hongtu and Lord Long discussed Du Tiechuan’s Iron Flow Plains military method and considered hiring Flourishing Weakness Young Master to attack the enemy commander again.
• Flourishing Weakness Young Master demanded fifty times his previous payment in advance, refusing alternatives, and Lu Hongtu returned without securing his services.
• Lu Hongtu asked four Mountain Gods to serve as the alliance’s main force against the Iron Flow Plains method, offering double compensation for their losses.
• At the Wood Wheel Town military parade, Ning Zhuo rode with the Three Generals Camp and reviewed his cultivation, abilities, and remaining weaknesses.

Ning Zhuo reviewed his accumulated treasures and mechanical creations, then joined Du Tiechuan’s army as it prepared to invade Thousand Peaks Forest. Du Tiechuan unleashed the military art Iron Flow Plains with the power of Two Injections Country’s dragon vein, turning the army into a torrent of steel that charged toward the forest.

• Ning Zhuo assessed his treasures, magical artifacts, resources, and mechanical forces, and resolved to stay humble and keep improving.
• Du Tiechuan delivered an oath-taking address beneath the Military Parade Platform and used three Military Arts to empower the assembled army.
• Du Tiechuan drew on Two Injections Country’s dragon vein through the Dragon Shadow Nine Pillars Review Stand, enduring the resulting tribulation lightning as the platform began to collapse.
• Du Tiechuan unleashed Military Art—Iron Flow Plains, covering the soldiers in heavy armor phantoms and binding them into a torrent of steel.
• Du Tiechuan led the advancing army toward Thousand Peaks Forest, where the iron torrent smashed through a mountain without slowing.