Chapter Summaries

Chen Shi and his allies established a refuge on Ganyang Mountain as the first sunless night brought demons across the Western Ox Continent. As people and defenders rallied around the hope left in the Heavenly Court, the chapter ended with Yulingzi leaving his own message on its mural.

• Chen Shi, Hu Feifei, and their allies evacuated Xinxiang County’s people to Ganyang Mountain, where Hu Feifei moved the county yamen and organized the refuge.
• Chen Shi found Zhuge Jian’s message in the Lesser Heavens and added, “Where there is hope, there is a future!” before witnessing the first night without the sun.
• The Ganyang Mountain Lord appeared and drove back yin energy with sunlight from his temple, while marine demons overran Xinxiang Provincial City and attacked the coast.
• The Red Mountain Empress defended Gongzhou’s shores as Yutian City’s talisman masters built branch temples, and Yutian City regained his resolve after reading Chen Shi’s mural message.
• Daoist Zhen Tian used his fading remnant to illuminate Mount Taihua, while Yulingzi and Daoist Changying led Qingyang Palace’s forces to rescue people and subdue nearby ghosts and gods.
• Yulingzi entered the empty Lesser Heavens and left a message on the mural, declaring that he would retain the fragrance of a chivalrous soul even in death.

Li Tianqing returned to Qingzhou and led Red Mountain Hall’s talisman masters in defeating the ghost army, then left a message in the Lesser Heavens confirming he was alive. After reading messages from other Heavenly Court members, Chen Shi set out with Zhu Shutai to find the resurrected Huaxia Gods and restore Godmother.

• Liu Dingchen led Qingzhou’s remaining soldiers to defend the city as ghosts and ghost deities charged toward its walls.
• Li Tianqing arrived and led Red Mountain Hall’s talisman masters in destroying the attacking ghosts with the Spirit Banner Ten Absolute Array.
• Li Tianqing summoned Lord Guan the Righteous and Brave and cut the thousand-zhang ghost deity into four pieces, saving Qingzhou.
• Li Tianqing left a message in the Lesser Heavens, where he read Cheng Qi’s reply and learned that other Heavenly Court members were still alive.
• Chen Shi read the messages left by Heavenly Court members and decided to search for temples that could help resurrect the Huaxia Gods and restore Godmother.
• Zhu Shutai agreed to accompany Chen Shi, who offered incense to Godmother before departing with him.

Yang Bi helped the Upper Realm evade detection during the merging of the Yin and Yang Worlds, then persuaded three ancestors to hunt Zhong Wuwang. As Xinxiang County began rebuilding under Chen Tang’s care, Chen Shi traveled with Xiaoduan and Black Pot to a deserted village and searched for survivors.

• Yang Bi synchronized the Upper Realm’s void realms with the merging worlds, while the Sky Listeners detected no anomalies.
• Wen Wuyu reported the blank records to Zhong Wuwang, who realized someone was guiding the Thirteen Noble Families and ordered his companions to retreat.
• Yang Bi identified Zhong Wuwang as the bearer of the Innate Dao Embryo and sent Fei Zichong, Yan Weizhong, and Gu Tong to kill him.
• Lei Qu and craftsmen from Tianchi Kingdom arrived at Mountain Lord Peak to help Chen Tang and Hu Feifei rebuild Xinxiang County.
• Chen Tang learned that Chen Shi had left with Black Pot and Scholar Zhu, and that Huo Dou had stayed behind with Wu Qingyu.
• Chen Shi, Xiaoduan, and Black Pot reached a village filled with ghosts and corpses; after Black Pot devoured the ghosts, Chen Shi called out for survivors.

Chen Shi found the village godmother dying after failing to protect her people, then followed a shepherd ghost to Fengyang Manor and discovered Lord Fengyang’s ghosts were devouring people. After Xia Tianjie tried to turn him away, Chen Shi struck Lord Fengyang with his iron rod and split Fengyang Manor apart.

• Chen Shi found the wounded wisteria godmother, restored her roots, and offered incense, but she extinguished it because she had lost the will to live.
• Black Pot chased off several ghosts, and Chen Shi followed their shepherd to seek an audience with Lord Fengyang.
• As they traveled beside the Dejiang River, Chen Shi learned that Lord Fengyang’s livestock ate people and that his Soul-Returning Lotus fields were planted with souls.
• Chen Shi recognized Xia Tianjie at Fengyang Manor and learned that Lord Fengyang was the Xia family’s ancestor.
• Chen Shi confronted Xia Tianjie about the villages being devoured, refused to leave, and attacked Lord Fengyang with his Heavenly Fire Realm and black iron rod.

Chen Shi fought the Xia family ghosts and gods at Fengyang Manor, destroying much of their forces while Scholar Zhu urged him to kill without mercy. The battle ended when Xia Shichang tried to take Fairy Xiaoduan hostage, but she sent him into the moon’s deadly Sword Qi.

• Scholar Zhu praised Chen Shi’s attack on the Xia family and urged him to kill more fiercely.
• An elderly Xia family member attacked Chen Shi with a golden-brick treasure, but Chen Shi melted it with his Dao field and killed him with the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler.
• Xia family ghosts and gods charged Chen Shi, who killed dozens using his iron ruler, Dao field, silk umbrella, and Nether Springs Wandering Dragon Sword.
• Chen Shi used the Heaven and Earth Transformation domain and the Zhou Tian Grand Ceremony to crush more Xia family ghosts and gods, leaving the survivors terrified.
• Xia Shichang seized Fairy Xiaoduan and threatened to kill her, but she broke his fingers and lifted him toward the moon.
• The moon’s formless Sword Qi struck Xia Shichang at a height of eighty li and turned him into a mist of blood.

Chen Shi confronted Xia Tianjie after defeating the Xia family’s forces and challenged his justification for sacrificing ordinary people to the Thirteen Noble Families’ plans. Xia Tianjie attacked Chen Shi, but Chen Shi used Heaven and Earth Transformation to evade him and killed him with the Nether Spring Wandering Dragon Sword.

• Xia Shichang was hurled beyond the heavens by Fairy Xiaoduan, and the Xia family’s ghosts and gods fled as Black Pot, the wooden cart, and Chen Shi’s enchanted weapons pursued them.
• Xia Tianjie explained that the Thirteen Noble Families had spent six thousand years taking control of the Underworld and preparing to overthrow the forces behind the coming calamity.
• Chen Shi challenged Xia Tianjie’s belief that the deaths of ordinary people were an acceptable price, but Xia Tianjie declared the noble families a divine clan and dismissed common lives as expendable.
• Xia Tianjie revealed that he had killed the spirit who stole his primordial yang, restored his cultivation, and planned to exploit the strain Chen Shi faced while controlling his flying weapons.
• Xia Tianjie attacked with Peerless Dragon, but Chen Shi’s Heaven and Earth Transformation widened the distance between them and ruined the attack.
• Chen Shi’s Nether Spring Wandering Dragon Sword pierced Xia Tianjie repeatedly, and Xia Tianjie died after recognizing the gap between them.

Chen Shi learned from Fairy Xiaoduan that earlier eras had suffered similar solar calamities, then tracked a newly emerged mountain after punishing a ghost that had eaten children. He reached a surviving town and learned that the mountain had risen six days earlier and held a temple called the Jade Pivot King Lingguan Fire Mansion.

• Chen Shi reflected that Tianjie had died because a small gap in cultivation and understanding could become decisive in battle.
• Fairy Xiaoduan told Chen Shi that the misty moon had preceded the sun’s corruption in her era, and Chen Shi pieced together the calamities of the prehistoric, True King, and present eras.
• Chen Shi discovered that a ghost guarding a lotus field had eaten children, and Black Dog burned the ghost to ashes.
• Chen Shi compared the terrain with Granny Sha’s Underworld Geography Map and the West King’s Jade Seal, found a newly emerged mountain, and set out toward it with Xiaoduan, Black Dog, the wooden cart, and the canopy.
• Underworld Commander Xia Xiude learned that Chen Shi had killed the Xia family’s people and ordered underworld runners to search for him.
• Chen Shi reached a town beside the new mountain, where a Feathered Robe Daoist told him the mountain had risen six days earlier and contained the Jade Pivot King Lingguan Fire Mansion.

Chen Shi and Daoist Yu searched for the Jade Pivot King Lingguan Fire Mansion as a ring of demon transformations engulfed Fusheng Town. Chen Shi found the hidden temple and learned that its Lingguan guarded the Jade Emperor’s gate, just as dozens of demon seeds rushed toward him.

• Chen Shi left Black Pot to protect Fusheng Town and set out with Daoist Yu to find the Jade Pivot King Lingguan Fire Mansion.
• Several demon domains bloomed around Fusheng Town, transforming plants and people, until Black Pot suppressed the changes and Empress Shi Ji joined it to defend the town.
• Chen Shi and Scholar Zhu suspected the demon transformations were aimed at King Lingguan, and Chen Shi followed Daoist Yu toward the mountain where the temple was hidden.
• Chen Shi used transformed leaves to search the mountain, found the temple’s concealed talisman seals, broke through them, and entered the fire mansion.
• Chen Shi discovered five hundred Lingguan shrines and a couplet identifying King Lingguan as the Jade Emperor’s chief general.
• Black Pot and Empress Shi Ji sensed dozens of demon seeds heading for Chen Shi, who stood inside the temple before the revelation that King Lingguan guarded the Jade Emperor’s gate.

Chen Shi bestowed divinity on King Lingguan, who awakened early and emerged to fight the demon seeds threatening the mountain. As King Lingguan battled the swarm, Chen Shi struck at a distant observer, who stopped his Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler and announced that they had been discovered.

• Chen Shi used the West King's Jade Seal to appoint the Fire Mansion Lingguan Heavenly General as the God of All Heavens Guardian and offered incense at the shrines.
• Daoist Yu spotted a giant fiery eye behind the central shrine, and King Lingguan accused Chen Shi of bringing too few sacrifices before awakening.
• A towering demon seed attacked and spread its demonic influence, causing Daoist Yu's face and Chen Shi's eyes to begin blooming into petals.
• King Lingguan emerged from the mountain, killed the demon seed, and charged into the arriving swarm, cutting down the monsters with his golden whip and wind-fire wheel.
• Little Tuan sensed someone watching from afar, and Chen Shi sent the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler toward the figure.
• An unseen voice stopped the ruler and said that they had been discovered, then called for them to leave.

Chen Shi and his allies defeated a powerful intruder who had triggered demon transformations around King Lingguan’s fire palace, but the enemy escaped. King Lingguan revealed that Despair Slope’s immortals had once shattered the gods’ golden bodies, and promised to help when Chen Shi revived the Empress.

• Chen Shi used the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler, Heaven and Earth Transformation, Scholar Zhu, and Hanged Ghost to severely wound the old man who had been blocking the ruler.
• The old man escaped with the youth after Chen Shi destroyed the demon seeds he dropped, leaving Chen Shi to suspect they belonged to the Thirteen Noble Families.
• King Lingguan absorbed the demons’ souls, strengthened his fire palace, and spread sunlight across the mountain to give nearby people hope.
• King Lingguan told Chen Shi that Despair Slope’s immortals had destroyed the gods’ golden bodies and that the Empress had ordered the gods to sink their dao fields and await awakening.
• Chen Shi said he intended to revive the Empress, and King Lingguan promised to lead his five hundred brothers to help when she returned.

The boy-faced elder recovered from his injuries and learned that Chen Shi had drawn the attention of the underworld, while Chen Shi arranged for Fusheng Town to seek shelter and considered Despair Slope’s campaign against the Huaxia temples. Scholar Zhu told Chen Shi how repeated examination failures, political oppression, and defeat by the Thirteen Noble Families had driven him to despair and suicide.

• The boy-faced elder escaped with Wuxie, healed himself with an immortal pill, and sent underworld officials toward Chen Shi after learning they were hunting him.
• Chen Shi ordered Daoist Yu to move Fusheng Town and nearby villages to safety, then departed with Black Dog and the wooden cart as King Lingguan remembered how the lingguans had sacrificed themselves to protect the people.
• Chen Shi and Scholar Zhu suspected that the boy-faced elder belonged to Despair Slope and discussed its possible plan to destroy the temples of Huaxia deities.
• Scholar Zhu explained that he had used the Zhu surname to declare the True King's bloodline remained, but failed the provincial examination fourteen times despite his cultivation and studies.
• Scholar Zhu recounted fighting his way into Western Capital, only to be suppressed by the Nine Halls of True Kings and defeated by the ancestors of the Thirteen Noble Families.
• Scholar Zhu told Chen Shi that he had lost all hope and eventually hanged himself, warning him not to sympathize with the Thirteen Noble Families.

Chen Shi interpreted Laozi’s teachings on desire and non-desire, using them to perceive the true nature of the Immortal Capital and weaken the Three Corpses God. As he continued searching the desolate villages for newly grown mountain peaks, a horse-faced Yin messenger recognized him from a portrait.

• As snow began to fall, Scholar Zhu taught Chen Shi about observing the Dao through desire and non-desire, while Fairy Xiaoduan warned him against following Zhu’s interpretation.
• Chen Shi and Fairy Xiaoduan wagered that if he mastered the Three Corpses Realm without slaying the Three Corpses, she would let him look at her; if he failed, their engagement would end.
• Chen Shi entered a state of meditation and understood how desire and non-desire could work together to reveal the mysteries of Yin and Yang.
• Chen Shi visited the Immortal Capital with Peng Ju, Peng Zhi, and Peng Jiao, perceiving its pleasures and inhabitants as manifestations of desire and causing the Three Corpses God to flee in alarm.
• Chen Shi continued searching empty villages for newly grown mountain peaks and encountered a horse-faced Yin messenger escorting the villagers’ souls, who recognized him from a portrait.

Chen Shi raced toward the Yue Wang Temple as Underworld forces attacked him and Black Pot, while a demon master also moved to corrupt the temple. As the battle converged on the temple, Chen Shi sent Little Xiaoduan to intercept Xia Xiude’s dragon carriage, and Fairy Xiaoduan took control to turn the dragons’ scales against them.

• Chen Shi learned from the little Yakshas that a Yue Wang Temple had appeared near Shenmu County, while more Underworld messengers followed his cart.
• Scholar Zhu recounted Yue Wumu’s history as Chen Shi traveled toward the temple, and Xia Xiude sent forces to intercept him.
• Wuxie and his master headed for the Yue Wang Temple to plant a Demon Seed as Xia Xiude’s forces attacked Chen Shi with Heavenly Spirit Lamps.
• Black Pot fought the Underworld messengers with a crescent-moon blade and hook-swords, while Scholar Zhu used the Ram Horn Heavenly Spirit Lamp to help Chen Shi escape.
• Scholar Zhu held off the pursuing messengers and urged Chen Shi to awaken Yue Wumu, but Chen Shi saw the Demon Seed blooming around the temple.
• Chen Shi summoned Little Xiaoduan against Xia Xiude’s dragon carriage, and Fairy Xiaoduan took control, sending the dragons’ scales back into them and knocking the carriage off course.

Chen Shi fought through the attackers while Fairy Xiaoduan overwhelmed Underworld General Xia Xiude, then reached Yue Wang Temple to awaken its foreign deity. The chapter ended with Chen Shi entering the temple beneath its inscribed couplets.

• Fairy Xiaoduan froze Xia Xiude’s Imperial Bright World Governance Art and broke through his defenses, while the Hanged Ghost scholar kept the underworld guards occupied.
• Chen Shi fled the closing demonic domains with the West King’s Jade Seal as Wuxie pursued him and attacked with a golden immortal’s arts.
• Chen Shi formed the Spirit Banner Ten Absolute Array and struck Wuxie with Luo Tian Descent, then pierced his heart, broke his neck, and killed him with a finger to the brow.
• Chen Shi reached Yue Wang Temple and entered beneath the couplets about peace under heaven and Heaven and Earth righteous qi.

Chen Shi awakened King Yue in the Yue Wang Temple, where the pacifier demon Great Emperor defeated Daoist Ji after he attacked with the Profound True Golden Court Immortal Scripture. King Yue vowed to protect Lingzhou as the Western Ox Continent continued melting into the Underworld, and Chen Shi left hoping the coming dawn would save the crops and villagers.

• Chen Shi offered incense in the Yue Wang Temple, and the battle spirit of the Beiwei Army swept away the overlapping demonic domains as golden wings formed within the shrine.
• Daoist Ji entered the demonic domain to find Wuxie, discovered his disciple's corpse, and killed a demon seed that challenged him.
• Daoist Ji saw that Chen Shi had awakened the deity in the temple and attacked it with the Profound True Golden Court Immortal Scripture.
• The pacifier demon Great Emperor wielded the iron spear, shattered Daoist Ji's golden court, and killed him after their battle escalated.
• The pacifier demon Great Emperor promised to protect Lingzhou's people and prevent guilty ghosts and lost souls from trespassing.
• Chen Shi left the temple, saw the weakened crops in the surrounding villages, and hoped sunlight at dawn would allow them to grow again.

Xu Yinglong learned that Chen Shi had killed Xia Xiude and that Zhong Wuwang had wounded three ancient ancestors, while Chen Shi reached Qinghe Town and reunited with Situ Wen. The chapter ended when Chen Shi felt his scar burn and sensed a splitting pain in his skull as he looked toward a bloodied beggar.

• Xu Yinglong explained to Xu She how the Xu family planned to benefit from the merger of the Yin and Yang Worlds by expanding its power in the Underworld.
• Ghost messengers told Xu Yinglong that Chen Shi had killed Xia Xiude and that two Despair Slope experts had died in Shenmu County.
• Xu Yinglong and Xu She welcomed Yan Weizhong, Gu Tong, and Fei Zichong, who had been injured while pursuing Zhong Wuwang.
• Situ Wen worked with Luban Gate disciples to build a new hub in Qinghe Town and complained to Chen Shi about hunger and the county magistrate's abuses.
• Chen Shi killed the Shenmu County magistrate with the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler and told Situ Wen he had found a sunlit refuge at Yue Wang Temple.
• Chen Shi felt his scar burn and a sharp pain in his skull, then turned his gaze toward a bloodied beggar nearby.

Chen Shi suspected the wounded beggar Er Niu was connected to the nearby Innate Dao Embryo and escorted him from Qinghe Town to his father’s grave. Er Niu revealed himself as Zhong Wuwang of Despair Slope, and the two began a battle over Chen Shi’s Innate Dao Embryo.

• Chen Shi recognized that his head scar’s pain signaled an Innate Dao Embryo nearby, while the wounded Er Niu claimed to be from Qinghe Town and refused Chen Shi’s questions about his cultivation.
• Chen Shi supported Er Niu out of town and toward the graves, probing him about his sect and arguing over the new cultivation path and the ownership of divine embryos.
• At Zhong Yin’s grave, Er Niu unleashed the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler, which expanded into a miles-wide pillar that shielded Qinghe Town from the battle.
• Er Niu revealed that he was Zhong Wuwang of Despair Slope and that he held Chen Shi’s Innate Dao Embryo.
• Chen Shi attacked with the Spirit Banner Ten Absolute Array, but Zhong Wuwang’s divine embryo shattered it; Chen Shi then summoned the West King’s Jade Seal and struck with the power of the Western Ox Continent.

Chen Shi used the West King's Jade Seal to battle the badly wounded Zhong Wuwang, who escaped after repeated attempts to flee failed. Zhong Wuwang shook off the pursuing ancestors but discovered Chen Shi had stolen the Yin Yang Sun Moon Ring along with his earlobe, while Chen Shi planned to use the treasure to overcome challenges in his cultivation.

• Chen Shi struck Zhong Wuwang with the West King's Jade Seal, and Zhong Wuwang countered with the Yin Yang Sun Moon Ring before escaping.
• Chen Shi repeatedly intercepted Zhong Wuwang's Earth, Fire, Water, and Lightning Evasion techniques and attacked the wounds left by the three family ancestors.
• Zhong Wuwang fled across Lingzhou, and Yan Weizhong, Gu Tong, and Fei Zichong pursued him before he escaped across several provinces.
• Zhong Wuwang realized the Yin Yang Sun Moon Ring and part of his left earlobe were missing, recalling that Chen Shi had grazed his ear during their fight.
• Chen Shi revealed Zhong Wuwang's earlobe and the stolen ring in his palm and resolved to use the artifact to aid his cultivation.

Chen Shi used the Yin Yang Sun Moon Ring to deepen his understanding of Yin Yang Qi, and his dao field expanded while he remained in a state of comprehension. As the Xu family celebrated the merger of the Yin and Yang Worlds, his dao field blocked Lingzhou City’s gates and humiliated the Xu family, prompting its ancestors to summon further help.

• Chen Shi mastered the Yin Yang Sun Moon Ring’s Dao patterns, manifested a small world from Yin Yang Qi, and expanded his dao field as he comprehended its transformations.
• The Black Pot and Situ Wen led the people of Qinghe Town to settle near Yue Wang Temple, then the Black Pot rode the wooden carriage away while Chen Shi continued to follow in his trance.
• Xu Yinglong learned that Chen Shi was outside Lingzhou City and recognized that his expanding dao field was eclipsing the Xu family’s Void Realms and making the Hibiscus Tree bloom.
• Xu She challenged Chen Shi’s dao field, but Chen Shi’s field overwhelmed his, and Xu Feilong was gravely injured after matching his understanding of Yin Yang Qi.
• The Xu ancestors withdrew from Chen Shi’s dao field and urged Xu Yinglong to summon more ancestors, while the Black Pot returned from buying medicine and discovered that Chen Shi had blocked the Xu family’s gates.

Black Dog watched Chen Shi hold off the Xu family for twelve days while he remained absorbed in Dao comprehension, then secretly took him away from Lingzhou. When Xu family ghosts and deities attacked their cart, Black Dog defeated them, and Chen Shi finally awakened near an ancient temple.

• Black Dog learned that the Xu family treated gate-blocking as a formal challenge and watched its members fail one by one to break Chen Shi's Yin Yang Dao Field.
• The Xu family grew increasingly desperate over twelve days, and several members planned to kill Chen Shi, but found that he and his wooden cart had already disappeared.
• Black Dog used its domain to sneak Chen Shi and the cart out of Lingzhou, then fought off Xu family ghosts and deities who pursued them.
• Black Dog wielded the Heaven Measuring Iron Ruler to crush the attackers and steer the cart toward a nearby ancient temple.
• Chen Shi awoke from his Dao comprehension as the cart neared the ancient temple.