Chapter Summaries

Chen Shi and the boat girl traveled through the Underworld to his Primordial Palace, where they discovered his wealth of offerings and the fate of forgotten ghosts. The chapter ended with them hiding from monsters as Chen Shi’s Lower Corpse God, Peng Ju, emerged outside.

• Chen Shi and the boat girl saw the dangers of the volcanic range, and Black Pot used a stove and salt to carry them through the Underworld to Chen Shi’s Primordial Palace.
• A little Yaksha claimed Chen Shi owed it three years of wages, and Chen Shi paid it with paper money from his Treasure Tree.
• The boat girl explained that Primordial Palaces without offerings faded away, and Chen Shi saw forgotten ghosts’ palaces collapsing across the Heavenly Streets.
• The little Yaksha rushed Chen Shi, the boat girl, and Black Pot into the rear hall as night fell and monsters appeared.
• Chen Shi saw a monstrous creature with his own face emerge from the front hall, and the boat girl identified it as his Lower Corpse God, Peng Ju.

Chen Shi learned how to resist his Three Corpses God, explored the Immortal Capital, and followed a Red-haired Ghost to a mysterious Primordial Palace. The Three Corpses God captured him and his companions for a night of revelry, while Chen Shi suspected the palace belonged to another living Underworld Judge.

• The little Yaksha explained that Chen Shi could weaken the Three Corpses God by cultivating the Pure Yang method, and Chen Shi repaid its guidance with money from his treasure tree.
• Chen Shi and the boat girl explored the Immortal Capital, where ghosts and monsters pursued revelry and labor while people died around them.
• Chen Shi spotted a Red-haired Ghost and followed it through the winding Heavenly Street to a Primordial Palace, despite the boat girl's warnings that they would not return in time.
• Chen Shi's Three Corpses God caught him, the boat girl, and Black Pot, then took them to a brothel and tried to tempt them into indulgence.
• Chen Shi reasoned that the Red-haired Ghost's Primordial Palace had belonged to a living person of unusual status, possibly another Underworld Judge, and the boat girl said the ghost had once led a group to hunt them.

Chen Shi investigated the heavily guarded Primordial Palace where his mother was imprisoned and discovered a giant Huo Dou protecting it. After the Young Master ordered the Red-haired Ghost to hunt him, Madam Ling Su recognized Chen Shi and offered to take him to Chen Yindu’s Primordial Palace.

• Chen Shi learned that the Underworld General and Judge had died and the Benevolent Lord had disappeared amid a long-running upheaval in the underworld.
• Chen Shi and the boat girl found Horse-Face Underworld Officers guarding his mother’s Primordial Palace, where a giant Huo Dou awoke when Chen Shi’s Five Thunder Talisman flashed.
• The Red-haired Ghost calmed the Huo Dou and reported the disturbance to the Young Master, who ordered him to seal Chen Shi’s Primordial Palace and watch for Chen Shi’s Three Corpses God.
• Madam Ling Su recognized Chen Shi and the boat girl, who fled to the Yang World, then learned that Chen Yindu had died and joyfully set out for his Primordial Palace with Chen Shi and the Black Pot.
• Chen Shi asked Madam Ling Su whether she was his grandmother, and she denied it while wondering who Chen Yindu’s lover had been.

Chen Shi visited Chen Yindu’s Primordial Palace in the Underworld but found his grandfather missing, then learned more about the young master Wei Yue and his influence. Determined to rescue his mother, Chen Shi used Abode Borrowing to enter the young master’s estate in the bodies of little night-demons.

• Madam Ling Su told Chen Shi about her past with Chen Yindu and explained why she had left him, then brought Chen Shi to his Primordial Palace.
• Chen Shi found the palace filled with paper-effigy beauties and offerings but learned that Chen Yindu had not returned.
• Madam Ling Su warned Chen Shi about the young master, Wei Yue, and revealed that his father was the Underworld adjudicator Wei Ling.
• The boat girl identified Madam Ling Su as the former Celestial Master’s wife and joined Chen Shi in staying at Chen Yindu’s palace.
• Chen Shi cast Abode Borrowing, sending himself, the boat girl, and Black Pot into the bodies of little night-demons in the young master’s estate.

Chen Shi and Black Pot overheard Hall of Yama commanders arguing over the missing Benevolent Lord and Wei Yue’s plans for the King Yama throne, then accidentally spread the accusation throughout the Underworld through the little imps. Back in Chen Yindu’s Primordial Palace, Chen Shi realized Meng Banshan was in danger and set out with Black Pot to try to save him.

• Chen Shi searched the Young Master’s Primordial Palace for the little imp possessed by the boat girl while he and Black Pot helped the chaotic imps deliver food to Yulan Hall.
• Chen Shi overheard commanders urging Wei Yue to support Wei Ling’s claim to the vacant King Yama throne, while Meng Banshan accused the Yan family of eliminating the Benevolent Lord’s supporters and plotting to seize the Underworld.
• Chen Shi concluded that the Yan family planned to install Wei Ling as King Yama and then put Wei Yue in control, and he warned Black Pot that Meng Banshan would likely be killed.
• Chen Shi’s discussion was overheard by hundreds of little imps, who fled the palace and spread rumors that Wei Yue had rebelled against the Benevolent Lord.
• After Chen Shi and Black Pot returned to Chen Yindu, Chen Shi decided to follow Meng Banshan and save him if they could.

Chen Shi followed the Sky Listeners to a hidden ambush in the Yang World, then witnessed Meng Banshan being attacked in the Underworld. When Chen Shi realized the battle was a trap meant to draw out the Benevolent Lord’s former allies, twelve Void Refining realms closed in around them.

• Chen Shi and Black Dog followed Sky Listeners into the Yang World and discovered forty-two people and twelve powerful emptinesses waiting in an ambush.
• Chen Shi returned to the Underworld and saw Meng Banshan’s chariot attacked by underworld attendants and several Underworld Generals.
• Chen Shi held Black Dog back as Meng Banshan’s attendants fell and three former judges—Wang Fu, Jia Yuan, and Zhu Shun—arrived to rescue him.
• Chen Shi warned the judges that they might be entering an encirclement, but Meng Banshan revealed that the battle was staged to lure out the Benevolent Lord’s surviving allies.
• Twelve Void Refining realms cut through the Yin and Yang Worlds and surrounded Chen Shi, Black Dog, Meng Banshan, and the judges.

The Yan family besieged the three judges to seize control of the Hall of Yama, but the Tablet Engraver Du Yiran intervened and killed several Yan family experts. Chen Shi recognized Du Yiran’s power and went to meet him at the quarry, where Du Yiran acknowledged Chen Yindu as his scoundrel grandson.

• The Yan family activated a vast locking array and attacked Wang Fu, Jia Yuan, and Zhu Shun, while Wei Yue watched with the Red-haired Ghost.
• The Fire Judge, Earth Judge, and seventeen underworld marshals joined the Yan family assault, and the three judges fought back against the overwhelming siege.
• A stone tablet fell beside Chen Shi and recorded Yan Shiji’s death; Du Yiran carved names on more tablets, causing other Yan family experts to die as their tablets landed.
• Yan Qinghu attacked Du Yiran in the Yang World, but Du Yiran’s carving killed him, and the Fire Judge led the surviving Yan forces in retreat after recognizing Du Yiran’s Great Ascension stage power.
• Chen Shi asked Wang Fu to watch the fallen tablet, then hurried to the quarry and introduced himself to Du Yiran, who told him to call him Grandpa Du.

Chen Shi met Du Yiran, who explained that the Thirteen Noble Families had replaced most of the Ten Yama Kings and that he was too old to oppose them. After Chen Shi left for the Underworld, Du Yiran ate one of his ginseng fruits and regained the vitality and appearance of his youth.

• Chen Shi thanked Du Yiran for saving him, and Du Yiran warned that the Yan family would return once they discovered the limits of his gravestones.
• Du Yiran revealed that the Thirteen Noble Families had taken control of most of the Yama halls and described the bargain Chen Yindu had made to keep Black Dog safe in exchange for Chen Shi's Mother remaining safe.
• Du Yiran explained how a strange book entered his body during a battle in the Underworld and how his gravestones gained a reputation for bringing death.
• Du Yiran told Chen Shi he was retiring and asked him to keep his whereabouts secret, while Chen Shi left him several ginseng fruits before departing with Black Dog to find the three judges.
• After Chen Shi and Black Dog left, Du Yiran ate a ginseng fruit, and his vitality surged until he regained the strength and appearance of his twentieth year.

Chen Shi reunited with the three Underworld judges, learned that the Thirteen Noble Families had toppled the Ten Yama Kings, and discovered that offerings had caused a second little temple to appear. The judges revealed that the True King Era ended after an Immortal Calamity, leaving Chen Shi questioning whether anyone could ascend normally.

• Chen Shi returned to the Underworld but found the three judges and Yan Shizong’s gravestone gone; the judges later tracked him to the Primordial Palace and brought the monument.
• Wang Fu, Jia Yuan, and Zhu Shun entered Chen Shi’s little temple to offer incense, and their worship caused a second, unstable temple with another divine shrine to appear.
• The judges told Chen Shi that the Thirteen Noble Families had amassed power in the Underworld and that the Ten Yama Kings and nearly all the judges had fallen.
• Chen Shi said the Benevolent Lord had reincarnated and promised to take the judges to her after his other business was finished.
• The judges explained that an Immortal Calamity had ended the True King Era, possibly triggered by an ascension or the discovery of a prehistoric foreign immortal.
• Jia Yuan asked Chen Shi whether he thought heaven and earth were normal and whether cultivators could truly ascend through ordinary cultivation.

Chen Shi learned more about the True King Era’s alien immortal calamities and cultivated in Chen Yindu’s Primordial Palace before preparing to rescue his mother. He and Black Pot reached the dark street behind Young Master Wei Yue’s Primordial Palace, where a host of ghost-gods waited to confront them.

• Jia Yuan, Zhu Shun, and Wang Fu told Chen Shi that prehistoric cultivators had mutated into Sui and that Sky Listeners from Despair Slope had spread rumors that ascension caused evil-transformation.
• Wang Fu was drawn into Chen Shi’s small temple while helping him cultivate, and the temple purified his divine power and strengthened his golden body.
• Chen Shi learned that ghost-gods were tracking his location, had Wang Fu bind his Three Corpses Gods, and set out with Black Pot to rescue his mother.
• Wang Fu, Jia Yuan, and Zhu Shun captured the ghost-gods pursuing Chen Shi and Black Pot as they crossed the Immortal Capital.
• Chen Shi and Black Pot reached the dark Heavenly Street behind Young Master Wei Yue’s Primordial Palace, where ghost-gods surrounded them and called Chen Shi a criminal.

Chen Shi fought through the underworld errand runners on the heavenly bridge to reach Young Master Wei Yue’s Primordial Palace and free his mother. Chi Yan and Grandpa Du joined the battle, and the chapter ended with Chen Shi opening the palace doors and stepping inside.

• Chen Shi enlarged the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler and charged along the heavenly bridge with Black Pot, breaking through the underworld errand runners’ blockade.
• Young Master Wei Yue revealed that the darkness was a prison made for Chen Shi, while his forces attacked Chen Shi and Black Pot with Boy Heavenly Spirit Lamps.
• Chi Yan abandoned Young Master Wei Yue and helped Chen Shi, then Grandpa Du arrived and fought off the underworld errand runners around the sleeping Huo Dou.
• Chen Shi reached the Primordial Palace, used Madam Ling Su’s restraining talisman to open its doors, and entered to save his mother.

Chen Shi searched the Primordial Palace for Mother, whose grief had trapped her in memories of his life and death. He found her soul in a memory of their reunion in a sea of fire, and Mother appeared before him as he promised to take her home.

• Chen Shi entered the Primordial Palace and saw Mother's Three Corpses God sunk in grief.
• He searched rooms replaying Mother's memories of his birth and childhood, but could not find her in them.
• Chen Shi opened endless doors showing the moment of his death and Mother grieving over his corpse.
• He heard Mother say, “Xiao Ten, Mother has finally found you,” and opened a door onto her soul searching for him through a sea of fire.
• Mother appeared behind Chen Shi, embraced him, and he held her as he said he would take her home.

Chen Shi rescued his mother from the Underworld and fought his way out with the help of the three judges, the Black Pot, and Empress Shi Ji. He escaped to the Northern Ice Plains, while the awakened Huo Dou pursued him and the red-haired ghost was captured and executed after trying to rescue the boatman.

• Du Yiran and the three judges fought off the underworld officials as more forces arrived, and Chen Shi emerged carrying Empress Shi Ji to help break through the encirclement.
• Empress Shi Ji absorbed the Earth Judge’s White Bone Whip and much of his power, but underworld officials’ Heavenly Spirit Lamps incapacitated her and forced Chen Shi to shelter her in his temple.
• Chen Shi and his allies broke free of the heavenly bridge; the Black Pot carried Chen Shi away, while the three judges escaped into the Immortal Capital and the red-haired ghost went to rescue the boatman.
• Underworld officials removed the talisman from the Huo Dou, which awakened and set off in pursuit of Chen Shi; Chen Shi and the Black Pot reached the Northern Ice Plains and headed for Xinxiang.
• The red-haired ghost reached the prison and killed two yakshas while trying to free the boatman, but Wei Yue had him beheaded at the Ghost-Beheading Platform.
• The boatman and boat girl reunited in the Yang World and celebrated their supposed great merit for helping Chen Shi rescue his mother.

Yang Bi ordered Wei Yue to stop pursuing Chen Shi and exposed a Despair Slope spy in Chen Shi’s Primordial Palace. As Chen Shi and Black Pot fled across the Northern Ice Plains, the Huo Dou caught up, and Chen Shi’s mother stepped forward to face it.

• Yang Bi told Wei Yue to recall his troops and treat Chen Shi’s mother kindly, then explained that the Yan family needed to focus on gaining control of the Hall of Yama.
• Yang Bi revealed that Despair Slope had infiltrated the Immortal Capital and identified the small yaksha in Chen Shi’s Primordial Palace as its spy, who escaped with help from the Sky Listeners.
• Wei Yue submitted to Yang Bi’s authority and went to the Yang World to intercept the Huo Dou before it reached Chen Shi.
• Chen Shi and Black Pot ran through the night toward Xinxiang, while Chen Shi tended Black Pot, his mother, and the injured Empress Shi Ji.
• The Huo Dou’s terrifying presence disoriented Chen Shi, and it struck Wei Yue aside as he tried to stop it.
• Chen Shi’s mother appeared before Chen Shi and Black Pot, told the Huo Dou that it had found its son and she had found hers, and gently touched its lowered head.

Chen Shi and his mother escaped the underworld with Huo Dou’s help, while Chen Tang waited anxiously at home. Chen Tang’s wife, Wu Qingyu, awakened and recognized him, reuniting their family after eleven years apart.

• Wei Yue realized Huo Dou was protecting Chen Shi’s mother, ordered the bailiffs to release its chains, and fled when the beast scattered them.
• Huo Dou showed Chen Shi memories revealing that Chen Tang had once bargained with her: he would raise her cub, Black Pot, while she guarded Chen Shi’s mother.
• Huo Dou vanished into the underworld, and Chen Shi continued toward home with his mother and Black Pot after the pursuit ended.
• Chen Tang waited in Huangpo Village, keeping busy and cultivating his wife’s Golden Core while worrying about Chen Shi and longing for her to awaken.
• When Chen Shi returned, Wu Qingyu took Chen Tang’s hand and spoke to him, and the reunited couple welcomed their son home.

Chen Shi settled into his new routine of teaching cultivation in the Lesser Heavens while Li Tianqing lured his Li Family pursuers through deadly places to study their techniques. After defeating Li Qianyun and the others, Li Tianqing declared that he would rebuild the Li Family and hurried toward Ganyang Mountain.

• Chen Shi lectured scholars and officials on cultivation methods in the Lesser Heavens, then proposed holding examinations to select talent for Red Mountain Hall.
• Black Dog trained through the night in the Underworld, while Wu Qingyu advanced rapidly in her cultivation and Chen Shi worried about Li Tianqing’s whereabouts.
• Li Tianqing led the Li Family pursuers through dangerous regions and observed their techniques until he found flaws in their moves, including Li Qianyun’s Minor Tribulation Fortune Dispelling Art.
• At Jiangyuan Ancient City, Li Tianqing defeated the Li Family experts one by one without killing them, then challenged Li Qianyun to a duel across a hundred li.
• Li Tianqing pierced Li Qianyun with Sword Qi, warned her not to pursue him, and declared that he would destroy the corrupt Li Family and rebuild it before heading toward Ganyang Mountain.

Li Qianyun learned that the Li Family had spared Li Tianqing as a fallback while sending her to the Upper Realm to cultivate. At Huangpo Village, Yang Bi visited Chen Shi and explained that the Thirteen Noble Families had secured the other nine Courts of Yama; he began to explain their plans, starting with the True King’s tribulations and ascension.

• Li Xiaozai told Li Qianyun that her defeat exposed her weaknesses and sent her to the Upper Realm to receive guidance from the Li ancestors.
• Li Xiaozai told Li Xiaogan that he had spared Li Tianqing as a fallback to preserve the Li Family if its plans failed.
• At Huangpo Village, Yang Bi arrived to visit Chen Shi, passing the villagers, Zhong Kui, Tie Chi, Nannan, and the other strange residents.
• Yang Bi told Chen Shi that the Thirteen Noble Families would stop pursuing him and had already taken control of nine Courts of Yama.
• Yang Bi explained that he intended to help Wei Ling become the new Yama and later pass the position to Wei Yue, then began describing the True King’s tribulations and ascension.

Chen Shi learned that the True King had sealed immortality and erased the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms, while Yang Bi explained the Thirteen Noble Families’ plan to challenge Despair Slope. Yang Bi returned to the ancestors in the Upper Realm, and Chen Shi’s family later discussed his new bodily changes and the possibility of marrying the white-robed female immortal.

• Chen Shi questioned Yang Bi about the True King’s decision to seal immortality and delete the Tribulation Crossing and Ascension realms, and Yang Bi recounted the calamities and the collapse of the True King Era.
• Yang Bi revealed that the Thirteen Noble Families had spent millennia gathering power, taken control of the Ten Yama Kings, and planned to fight Despair Slope during the coming eternal night.
• Chen Shi condemned the families’ selfish rule, while Yang Bi promised to leave him alone for now and declared that he would return to defeat the rebels if the families won.
• Chen Shi and Chen Tang wondered whether ancient Ascension Realm cultivators still lived and whether the True God’s third eye might close during the predicted eternal night.
• Yang Bi returned to the Upper Realm and reported to the thirteen ancestors, whose bodies were entwined with strange flesh, that he had settled matters with the Ten Yama Kings and placated Chen Shi.
• After Chen Shi experienced repeated bodily changes, Chen Tang told him he had grown up and could take a wife, then suggested the white-robed female immortal might become his wife.

Chen Shi reunited with Li Tianqing, helped him study the True King Era’s cultivation techniques, and revealed to Yang Bi that he had independently surpassed the usual limits of Spirit Transformation and understood how to shatter the void. Yang Bi left after challenging Chen Shi to test himself against him upon reaching Body Integration, warning him that the True Kings’ path could lead to the Calamity of Annihilation.

• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing reunited in Huangpo Village, compared their recent adventures, and drowned their romantic sorrows in watered-down wine.
• Chen Shi copied the True King Era’s cultivation system and guided Li Tianqing as he studied its techniques and spell arts.
• After Wei Ling’s enthronement as the Fifth Yama, Yang Bi learned that Chen Shi’s primordial spirit was nearing one zhang six and went to investigate his cultivation.
• Yang Bi overheard Chen Shi explain the Book of Changes to the white-robed female immortal and then asked how Chen Shi could advance without a divine embryo or True God’s bestowal.
• Chen Shi revealed that his primordial spirit had surpassed one zhang six and explained that shattering the void meant removing the barriers between the body and heaven and earth.
• Yang Bi challenged Chen Shi to test himself against him upon reaching Body Integration and warned him about the Calamity of Annihilation.

Chen Shi investigated Despair Slope and learned about the Divine Descent realm while waiting for news of his uncle Chen Wu. He joined Yutian City’s sacrifice to share the insights, but the descent became extraordinarily powerful before Yutian City emerged close to advancing to Void Refining.

• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing decided to use Gathering Immortals Tower’s records to track Chen Wu’s movements and possibly locate Despair Slope.
• Chen Tang, Granny Sha, Green Goat, Hu Xiaoliang, and officials in the Lesser Heavens explained the Divine Descent realm and its brief but profound insights to Chen Shi.
• Chen Shi traveled to Gaoshan County and persuaded Yutian City and Cold Mountain Rogue to let him join Yutian City on the altar for the sacrifice.
• Cold Mountain Rogue summoned the true god, and Yutian City’s divine embryo ascended while Chen Shi tethered part of his spirit to it.
• The divine descent grew far beyond what Yutian City’s second-rank divine embryo should have caused, and the descending divine embryo nearly shifted toward Chen Shi before returning to Yutian City.
• Yutian City awakened and told Cold Mountain Rogue that he seemed ready to break through to the Void Refining Realm.