Chapter Summaries

Du Tiechuan’s steel-torrent military art drove Two Injections Country’s heavy-armored main force through Thousand Peaks Forest, while the allied army tried and failed to stop it with mountains. The torrent continued its advance after destroying three mountain gods’ domains.

• Mountain Peak Zi, Floating Clouds Zi, Shen Qinghe, Zhu Xuanji, and Lin Bufan watched the steel torrent advance, while Lin Bufan worried that Zhu Xuanji might draw him into the war.
• Xu Dali’s weakened Barbarian Demon Camp and several other armies fell behind as Ning Zhuo and the heavy-armored main force surged ahead under Iron Flow Plains.
• Lord Long urged Lu Hongtu to stop the torrent before it strengthened Two Injections Country’s advantage, and Lu Hongtu ordered the mountain gods to act.
• Red Sleeve Immortal used Moving Mountains to place Green Pine Giant Wood Mountain before the torrent, but Green Pine Mountain God’s Dao Field failed to halt it and he retreated.
• Red Sleeve Immortal brought White Stone Giant Wood Mountain into the torrent’s path, and the mountain was destroyed despite White Stone Mountain God’s Rolling Stone Shakes Mountain Technique.
• Iron Deer Mountain God attacked the torrent from the side in the form of an enormous iron deer, but the current battered it into fragments and crushed them to powder.

The Two Injections Country army smashed through the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts’ Ghost Gate and continued toward Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain, while Ning Zhuo deepened his understanding of Iron Flow Plains. Lu Hongtu’s scheme then revealed that the Vanguard Army had been displaced into the steel torrent’s path, leaving Du Tiechuan facing a choice that could devastate his forces or his allies.

• Purple Jade Mountain God used the steel flood to transform his shattered mountain into violet motes, which poisoned the soldiers and drained their strength until Du Tiechuan replenished the army with National Power Bricks.
• Heavenly Frost and Earth Ash opened a Ghost Gate, but the steel torrent forced its way through and destroyed it, trapping twenty percent of the army in the Underworld and driving the Twin Ghosts to flee.
• Lu Hongtu promised that his plan would inflict a devastating blow regardless of Du Tiechuan’s choices, as the army advanced toward Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain.
• Ning Zhuo contemplated Iron Flow Plains during the advance and increased the number of soldiers whose presence, thoughts, and emotions he could sense.
• Lu Hongtu revealed the Two Injections Country Vanguard Army directly in the steel torrent’s path, and Du Tiechuan’s deputy warned that turning aside was necessary to avoid slaughtering their allies.

Du Tiechuan ordered Iron Flow Plains to advance through the Vanguard Army, whose soldiers chose sacrifice over weakening the main force by fighting back. Inspired by their cry of “Kill the Traitors,” the heavy-armored army surged forward, overcame the Ginseng Beard Dragon King’s resistance, and toppled Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain.

• Du Tiechuan ordered Iron Flow Plains to continue advancing despite the Vanguard Army blocking its path.
• The Vanguard Army’s main general deliberately let its battle formation collapse, then urged his officers to accept their deaths rather than weaken the main force by resisting.
• The main general died in his son’s arms, and his son led the Vanguard Army in shouting “Kill the Traitors” as Iron Flow Plains crushed their camp.
• Ning Zhuo joined the heavy-armored soldiers’ cry, deepening his understanding of the Iron Flow Plains military doctrine as their morale soared.
• Du Tiechuan led the heavy-armored main force through the Ginseng Beard Dragon King’s attacks and into Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain, which toppled after fewer than ten breaths.

Du Tiechuan and Ginseng Beard Dragon King fought a devastating battle after Iron Flow Plains toppled Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain. Du Tiechuan drove the wounded Dragon King underground, then established a fortified camp and ordered his army to destroy its temples and believers.

• Du Tiechuan ordered Iron Flow Plains to crush Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain, and Ginseng Beard Dragon King emerged to attack the advancing army with Great Kun Breath.
• Du Tiechuan wounded Ginseng Beard Dragon King with two powerful sword strikes, while the Dragon King's breath devastated the heavy-armored main force and broke Iron Flow Plains' military formation.
• Du Tiechuan summoned the Two-Headed Badger and fought Ginseng Beard Dragon King within its Earth Dragon Nest domain.
• Du Tiechuan combined sword and military arts into Tiangang Slashing Sky Thunder, severely wounding Ginseng Beard Dragon King and forcing it to flee underground.
• Du Tiechuan broke the Dragon King's domain, established a fortified military camp, and ordered his commanders to destroy the Dragon King's temples and believers.

After the Two Injections Country’s army began recovering from the battle, Ning Zhuo helped Liu Er and Zhang Hei capture Ginseng Dragon Whiskers with his Five Elements Spells. He then set off separately in the Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon, as Sun Lingtong urged Old Monster Stone to make his entrance.

• The army paid for spiritual liquid and pills as officers and soldiers removed the Iron Skin Flesh Armor Technique, while Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong reflected on the battle and Ning Zhuo resolved to focus more on cultivation.
• Two Golden Core commanders argued over a Ginseng Dragon Whisker, prompting the commander-in-chief’s residence to order the army to recover battlefield spoils for military merit.
• Ning Zhuo, Liu Er, and Zhang Hei searched the battlefield and found a Golden Core Ginseng Dragon Whisker rooted beneath rubble.
• Ning Zhuo tested spells on the whisker, then used three Five Elements Spells to weaken it so Zhang Hei could cut it down and Liu Er could seal it.
• Ning Zhuo taught Liu Er and Zhang Hei his spells before separating from them to investigate, and Sun Lingtong called for Old Monster Stone to make his entrance.

Lu Hongtu watched the allied camp weaken as cultivators left to plunder the battlefield, then organized an attack on Two Injections Country’s following troops. Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong abandoned their plan to impersonate Old Monster Stone after the Mechanism Ring warned them, while Du Tiechuan’s forces killed cultivators scavenging the battlefield and Du Tiechuan finally began treating his injuries.

• Lu Hongtu let cultivators leave camp to seek battlefield spoils despite Chen Lingfeng’s objections, then heard the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts explain the value of Dragon Vein Runes and discussed attacking Two Injections Country’s following troops with those who remained.
• Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong planned to enter the battlefield using Old Monster Stone’s identity, but the Mechanism Ring painfully tightened, warning them to abandon the plan because both Du Tiechuan and Ginseng Beard Dragon King might target him.
• Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong returned to Liu Er and Zhang Hei and spent three days harvesting Ginseng Dragon Whiskers instead of impersonating Old Monster Stone.
• Luo Xiwei tried to take Ginseng Dragon blood from beneath shattered rocks, but Du Tiechuan’s forces killed him and other battlefield scavengers with North Sea Rapid Freeze Light and Death Farewell Life Departure Fire.
• Du Tiechuan dismissed the reports of the killings as unimportant, gave up trying to lure out Old Monster Stone, and began treating his injuries.

Ning Zhuo completed three new Mechanical Creations while the war between Two Injections Country and the Thousand Peaks Forest Alliance shifted around competing commanders and a weakened Dragon King. The chapter left Lord Long refusing to trade the Life Sea Dragon Spring and Zhao Xi eyeing the army’s spoils of war after discovering Liu Er led the battle merit rankings.

• Xu Dali’s Barbarian Demon Camp suffered heavy losses while forming the Iron Bucket Formation, and Zhao Xi refused to intervene, choosing to hurry to the Frontline Camp instead.
• Ning Zhuo built the Golden Scale Strangling Saw Serpent and tested its cutting power, then worked through the night to finish a set of seven Rolling Lightning Ball Cages and a Rooting Drilling Hammer.
• Liu Er and Guan Hong praised Ning Zhuo’s Mechanism Art talent after he showed them his three new Mechanical Creations.
• Lord Long left the Dragon King Temple to take command of the allied army, then tried to hire Flourishing Weakness Young Master, who demanded the Life Sea Dragon Spring as payment.
• Zhao Xi reached the Two Injections Country Frontline Camp, learned that Du Tiechuan remained in seclusion, and took charge as overseer.
• Zhao Xi saw that Liu Er topped the battle merit rankings and resolved to obtain battle merits from the spoils of war.

Shuang Jing investigated Liu Er’s top battle ranking and discovered that Ning Zhuo’s coordinated spells and mechanisms let Liu Er and Zhang Hei harvest Ginseng Dragon Whiskers efficiently. Shuang Ling explained the method’s strengths, then approved Shuang Jing’s plan to use the quartermaster to pressure Ning Zhuo into handing over the mechanisms.

• Shuang Jing investigated Liu Er’s battle merits and watched Liu Er and Zhang Hei use three mechanisms to immobilize and capture a Ginseng Dragon Whisker.
• Shuang Jing concluded that Ning Zhuo had designed the strategy and reported his findings to Shuang Ling.
• Shuang Ling identified the mechanisms’ arrays and talismans as spells tailored to counter Ginseng Dragon Whiskers, and said she could not reproduce them or spare time to do so.
• Shuang Jing proposed asking the quartermaster to pressure Ning Zhuo to hand over the mechanisms, and Shuang Ling approved his plan.

Ning Zhuo reflected on how travel and practical experience had changed him, then declined to meet Shuang Jing, who tried to use the quartermaster to punish the Three Generals Camp. Overseer Zhao Xi intervened, exposing the scheme, and Shuang Jing realized Ning Zhuo had prepared a trap for him.

• Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong discussed improving the Rooting Drilling Hammer, and Ning Zhuo recognized that practical solutions mattered more than pursuing Mechanism Art for its own sake.
• Ning Zhuo told Sun Lingtong that their journey had broadened his outlook and that he felt happy to face their goals together.
• Ning Zhuo declined Shuang Jing's invitation, while Shuang Jing recruited the quartermaster and bribed him to punish the Three Generals Camp over its battlefield-cleaning mechanisms.
• The quartermaster demanded Ning Zhuo's arrest at the camp gates, and Zhang Hei struck down two soldiers before Liu Er shielded him from the quartermaster's attack.
• Overseer Zhao Xi arrived, slapped the quartermaster and denounced his abuse of office, while Shuang Jing fled and realized Ning Zhuo had set a trap.

Ning Zhuo assured Zhao Xi that he would eventually dissolve his marriage engagement to Mu Lan, then asked for National Power Bricks and a rare cultivation talisman in exchange for his Mechanical Creations. Zhao Xi agreed to help obtain the talisman and outlined the army’s plans, while Liu Er pledged battle merit to help Ning Zhuo secure it.

• Liu Er thanked Zhao Xi for intervening after Shuang Jing’s trouble, and Zhao Xi questioned Ning Zhuo about his marriage to Mu Lan.
• Ning Zhuo said his lineage could not move to Two Injections Country and that he would separate from Mu Lan when the time was right, reassuring Zhao Xi and Liu Er.
• Ning Zhuo requested National Power Bricks and a cultivation aid, so Zhao Xi offered to arrange the Three Walls Intersecting Treasure Talisman from the royal treasury in return for a gift.
• Zhao Xi told Ning Zhuo and Liu Er to earn battle merit by striking nearby strongholds, while keeping Dragon King Giant Wood Mountain contained under Du Tiechuan’s strategy.
• Liu Er thanked Ning Zhuo for connecting him with Zhao Xi and promised to contribute his battle merit toward obtaining the talisman.

Zhao Xi strengthened the Three Generals Camp by securing Ning Zhuo’s Mechanical Creations for the army, while Lord Long took command of the Thousand Peaks Forest alliance and ordered preparations for an attack. With Zhao Xi’s intelligence in hand, Liu Er, Guan Hong, Zhang Hei, and Ning Zhuo debated their next target but had not chosen one by the chapter’s end.

• Zhao Xi removed the quartermaster, then arranged for Ning Zhuo to lend three Mechanical Creations that greatly accelerated the army’s Ginseng Dragon Whisker harvest and boosted the Three Generals Camp’s reputation.
• The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts displayed three treasures and tried to recruit cultivators to retrieve them, but Lord Long returned, took the alliance’s main seat, and ordered everyone to prepare to attack the enemy Frontline Camp.
• The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts realized Lord Long had thwarted their plan to use treasure hunters to create Death-Offering Ghosts and discussed how to capture Ning Zhuo for their second mission.
• Xu Dali arrived at the Frontline Camp grievously wounded after the Barbarian Demon Camp was annihilated, while Zhao Xi reorganized returning forces and more soldiers chose to join Liu Er’s command.
• Zhao Xi sent secret military intelligence to Ning Zhuo, and Liu Er, Guan Hong, Zhang Hei, and Ning Zhuo considered several strategic targets before postponing their decision.

Zhao Xi sent the Three Generals Camp to secure a battlefield treasure, and Ning Zhuo persuaded Liu Er, Guan Hong, and Zhang Hei to attack Ten Mile Burning Forest first. The camp broke through the forest’s defenses and drove back its first waves of demonic beasts, while its defenders searched for the Fire in Wood.

• At a military council, the generals agreed to guard the Dragon-Shaped Talisman, but Zhao Xi revealed he had already ordered the Three Generals Camp to march and rebuked the officers who objected.
• The Three Generals Camp reached Ten Mile Burning Forest, where its leaders chose the site as a safer first target than the more valuable Thousand Vine Talisman Corridor.
• Luo Chen and his deputies prepared to withdraw with portable treasures, but decided to find the Fire in Wood first so they could justify leaving the forest.
• After resting, Liu Er led the frost-protected army into the forest, and the soldiers fought off a swarm of Fire Velvet Rats with Zhang Hei’s military art.
• Flame Flow Fairy sent Scarlet Refinement Mayflies against the black-water soldiers, forcing Zhang Hei to expend more military power before she withdrew her forces.

Zhu Xuanji sent Lin Bufan to secretly protect Ning Zhuo as the Three Generals Camp marched on Ten Mile Burning Forest. The camp survived layers of fire defenses but was trapped by Yan Jin’s bell attack, and Ning Zhuo prepared to intervene.

• Zhu Xuanji gave Lin Bufan intelligence about Ning Zhuo’s march and ordered him to protect Ning Zhuo’s life and freedom; Lin Bufan set off for Ten Mile Burning Forest.
• The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts learned that the Three Generals Camp had left the main camp, but chose to remain near the frontline after receiving an offer to pursue three treasures with Red Sleeve Immortal.
• The Three Generals Camp advanced through Ten Mile Burning Forest after the Fire Velvet Rats and Scarlet Refinement Mayflies retreated, then endured a fire canopy that Liu Er, Guan Hong, and Zhang Hei broke with their military arts.
• As the camp struggled through more fire curtains, Yan Jin struck a great bronze bell with the Heavenly Craft Forging Sound Score, causing the soldiers’ gear to crack and their bodies to suffer internal bleeding.
• Ning Zhuo identified the bell as the source of the attack and judged that the generals could not destroy it without risking Luo Chen’s assault, so he summoned his Mechanism Puppet army.

Ning Zhuo led his Mechanism Puppets against Yan Jin and the Flowing Flame Immortal Maiden, using the battle to test his newly increased strength while Luo Chen searched for Fire in Wood. The Three Generals Camp advanced as the enemy defenses faltered, and Ning Zhuo prepared another attack on Yan Jin and the great bell.

• Ning Zhuo left the Three Generals Camp with six hundred Mechanism Puppets, while Liu Er, Zhang Hei, and Guan Hong warned him to protect himself.
• Gao Cuo and Sword Old One discussed using a forged Fire in Wood to distract Luo Chen, while Lin Bufan arrived above Ten Mile Burning Forest and Luo Chen detected the real Fire in Wood.
• Ning Zhuo reached Yan Jin and the Flowing Flame Immortal Maiden without being intercepted, but Yan Jin's bell shattered or distorted more than five hundred of his Mechanism Puppets.
• Ning Zhuo attacked with water torrents, earth giants, and golden sword-finger light, piercing Yan Jin's defensive shield and boring a hole through the great bell.
• The Three Generals Camp advanced as the Flowing Flame Immortal Maiden struggled to maintain the defenses, while Luo Chen told Yan Jin he had not yet secured Fire in Wood.
• Ning Zhuo released three hundred Mechanism Puppets, formed the Light Body Swift Wind Array, and prepared to strike Yan Jin with golden light and a giant meteorite.

Ning Zhuo used his military power and Five Elements Spells to defeat and capture Yan Jin, while Liu Guan Zhang's army killed Flowing Flame Immortal Maiden and seized the Vermillion Bird Incense Burner. The three generals secured the formation and set out for the Fire Crown Divine Fir, expecting Ning Zhuo to investigate Luo Chen's disappearance there.

• Ning Zhuo's attacks shattered Yan Jin's Magical Treasure Great Bell, and he bound and sealed the wounded Golden Core cultivator, capturing him alive.
• Sun Lingtong reflected on Ning Zhuo's burdens and resolved to stay beside him and help him find happiness as he traveled.
• Liu Er identified the fire curtain's weaknesses, and Guan Hong and Zhang Hei helped break through the defenses and kill Flowing Flame Immortal Maiden.
• The three generals found the Vermillion Bird Incense Burner underground but could not control the Forest Protection Array, so Liu Er ordered them to seal it and support Ning Zhuo.
• Liu Er reasoned that Ning Zhuo would likely investigate the Fire Crown Divine Fir because Luo Chen had not appeared, and the three generals headed there to meet him.

Ning Zhuo joined the Three Generals Camp before the Fire Crown Divine Fir, where Luo Chen fought them but planned to retreat. The Fire Crown Divine Fir revealed itself as the Fire Crown God and trapped both armies in its Dao Field, leaving the Three Generals Camp crowned in flames and forcing Luo Chen to fight on.

• Ning Zhuo waited for the Three Generals Camp to arrive, and the group found Yan Jin captured beside him.
• Liu Er persuaded Yan Jin to urge Luo Chen to withdraw, but Luo Chen refused and challenged the army.
• Luo Chen battled the Three Generals Camp with fire dragons and a thunder stag, then gained power from a fire crown and fought Ning Zhuo and the generals together.
• Luo Chen ended the fight and tried to retreat, but the Fire Crown Divine Fir revealed itself as the Fire Crown God and summoned a flaming dharma body.
• The Fire Crown God opened its Dao Field, crowned the entire Three Generals Camp in flames, and threatened to burn Luo Chen unless he helped defeat them.

The Fire Crown Divine Fir trapped the Three Generals Camp in its Dao Field, where Luo Chen’s attacks drove the army toward defeat. Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong stole the Divine Fir’s accumulated incense offerings, causing the Dao Field to vanish and leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• The Fire Crown Divine Fir spread its Dao Field, forcing the Three Generals Camp, Luo Chen, and Yan Jin to endure its burning fire crowns.
• Luo Chen used the Seven Stars Step to kill nearly two hundred soldiers, while Liu Er struggled to understand the Dao Field and Lin Bufan watched from above.
• Yan Jin revealed that the Fire Crown Divine Fir had vast incense offerings, giving Ning Zhuo an idea for turning the battle around.
• Ning Zhuo secretly gave Sun Lingtong part of his body, and she used the Ten Thousand Miles Swimming Dragon to reach an underground temple and steal the incense offerings.
• The Fire Crown Divine Fir’s Dao Field disappeared, and Sun Lingtong declared that she had stolen all its incense offerings.

Ning Zhuo’s forces captured Ten Mile Burning Forest after Sun Lingtong stole the Fire Crown Divine Fir’s incense offerings, and Lin Bufan took the Fire in Wood. Ning Zhuo replenished his Mechanism Puppets and learned more about divine power, but after waiting three days for Lin Bufan, he received a messenger and letter from Overseer Zhao Xi instead.

• Sun Lingtong’s theft of the public incense offerings weakened Luo Chen and the Fire Crown Divine Fir, allowing Ning Zhuo and the Three Generals Camp to press their attack.
• Zhang Hei pierced Luo Chen with the Black Serpent Spear, and Luo Chen escaped as a Nascent Soul while the Three Generals Camp surrounded the Fire Crown Divine Fir.
• Lin Bufan seized the Fire in Wood during the battle, and Gao Cuo and Sword Old One secretly pursued him as the Three Generals Camp took control of Ten Mile Burning Forest.
• Ning Zhuo replenished his Mechanism Puppets and used the incense offerings in his Fire Aspect Heart Temple to help the Dice Bone Demon God recover.
• The Dice Bone Demon God explained how incense offerings became divine power and warned Ning Zhuo against cultivating the path of a god.
• After waiting three days for Lin Bufan, Ning Zhuo received a messenger of Overseer Zhao Xi and a reply letter.

Lin Bufan fought Gao Cuo’s powerful illusions while Ning Zhuo received the Three Walls Intersecting Treasure Talisman and used it to accelerate his cultivation. After the Three Generals Camp began its assault on the Thousand Vine Talisman Corridor, the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts prepared to ambush Ning Zhuo.

• Gao Cuo attacked Lin Bufan with seven illusory clones and engulfed him in purple-black fog, trapping him in a distorted battlefield.
• Ning Zhuo received the Three Walls Intersecting Treasure Talisman from Zhao Xi and found that it let him cultivate with the Three Suns Taiyuan Art at more than a hundred times his previous efficiency.
• Ning Zhuo searched near Ten Mile Burning Forest when Lin Bufan failed to return, but he found no trace of him and went back to the Three Generals Camp.
• The Three Generals Camp marched to the Thousand Vine Talisman Corridor and broke through its defenses before Ning Zhuo proposed sending his mechanism army to attack along the passage.
• The Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts watched Ning Zhuo operate away from Liu Guan Zhang and planned to ambush him once he was far enough from the others.

Lin Bufan survived Gao Cuo’s illusion attack after Red Sleeve Immortal intervened, and Zhu Xuanji urged them to hurry to the Three Generals Camp because the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts had gone to capture Ning Zhuo. As Ning Zhuo’s forces advanced through the Thousand Vine Talisman Corridor, the Twin Ghosts’ ambush began, leaving him defending against a crushing ice meteor.

• Gao Cuo used Shadow Misdirection Kill against the injured Lin Bufan, but Red Sleeve Immortal broke his illusion and forced him to retreat.
• Red Sleeve Immortal captured Lin Bufan, then brought him to Zhu Xuanji, who told him the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts were attacking the Three Generals Camp to capture Ning Zhuo.
• Ning Zhuo’s mechanism army advanced through the Thousand Vine Talisman Corridor while Liu Guan Zhang followed with the Three Generals Camp.
• Three Snow Bone Rakshasas ambushed Ning Zhuo, but he evaded them and used Tree World Descent to drive them back.
• Ning Zhuo recognized the Netherfire Blazing Purgatory surrounding the Three Generals Camp and warned Liu Guan Zhang that the Heaven and Earth Twin Ghosts had arrived.
• A white ice meteor struck toward Ning Zhuo, who countered with wood spells and raised a reinforced wall of trees.