Chapter Summaries

Chu Qing reunited with Madam Shi and the others after escaping the restricted zone, then rested and discussed the dangerous attempt to establish a bridgehead at Mirror Moon Lake. Madam Jin began analyzing the evil bead, while Madam Shi claimed the God-Demon Path would become the New Realm’s only path.

• Madam Shi and Chu Qing reached safety near the valley stronghold with the bead, and Madam Shi confirmed that Madam Jin and the others had returned safely.
• Chu Qing told Madam Shi that he had entered the restricted zone to trigger his next calamity and explained that the scripture he had given her came from one.
• Madam Jin arrived, comforted Chu Qing, and watched over him as he slept for seven or eight hours.
• After waking, Chu Qing discussed the failed bridgehead attempt at Mirror Moon Lake with the women, and Madam Jin said she could analyze the bead and forge it into a yang-attribute exotic treasure.
• Chu Qing told Madam Jin to keep any treasure she made for herself and asked Yu Ji why she had chosen the God-Demon Path.
• Madam Shi declared that the God-Demon Path would become the New Realm’s only path, leaving Chu Qing doubtful and asking her why.

Chu Qing and Madam Shi discussed the future of the Gods and Devils Path and agreed to face the coming struggle over the orthodox tradition together. After Chu Qing taught the women the rest of the Qi Ming Star scripture, Madam Jin’s candle flame empowered the Fire Pit, briefly cleansing the surrounding soil and revealing the scripture’s potential to create safe strongholds in forbidden zones.

• Madam Shi explained why she believed the resource-efficient Gods and Devils Path would outlast other cultivation paths, and declared her intention to lead a struggle over the orthodox tradition with Chu Qing’s help.
• Madam Shi said she had completed every path Chu Qing had given her and was organizing the Gods and Devils Path into simpler realms and methods.
• Chu Qing taught the four women the rest of the Qi Ming Star scripture, and Madam Shi, Zuo Yan, Consort Mei, and Madam Jin tested their ability to recite it.
• Madam Jin recited the full scripture, causing its candle flame to fall into the Fire Pit and turn its flames golden, while unseen things screamed in the darkness.
• The Fire Pit’s golden flames transformed the surrounding black soil into ordinary soil for more than a meter deep, but the darkness reclaimed it after the effect ended.
• Madam Jin concluded that the scripture could help establish safe strongholds deep in forbidden zones, while Madam Shi remained silent and frowning.

Chu Qing and the others discussed how to strengthen their mobile Fire Pit and traveled deep into the restricted zone to investigate a Lost One. They reached the lake where the Lost One wandered, and Chu Qing stepped down to study him.

• Chu Qing, Madam Jin, and Madam Shi discussed how often they could condense fire seeds and agreed that strengthening a stronghold would require a steady supply.
• Madam Shi proposed that Chu Qing refine or empower their mobile Fire Pit, and the group decided to test it using a stronger fuel source.
• Zuo Yan and Consort Mei brought the bronze war chariot and its Fire Pit into the restricted zone, where the group fed it evils and monsters until its light dwindled to barely more than ten meters.
• Madam Jin condensed two fire seeds while Madam Shi and Chu Qing each condensed one during the journey.
• The group reached a lake where an old man circled with a fishing rod, and Madam Shi identified him as the Lost One they had encountered before.
• Chu Qing stepped down from the chariot to study the Lost One while the others prepared themselves.

Chu Qing and his companions fought a Lost One from the Heavenly Court’s Thunder Department, who guarded a taut fishing line and unleashed devastating thunderfire. After they withdrew, Heavenly Court offered a way to awaken him in exchange for a favor and answers to several questions, which Chu Qing accepted.

• Chu Qing learned that the Lost One belonged to the Heavenly Court’s Thunder Department, but the man could remember only that he had to guard the lake.
• Chu Qing tried to pull the Lost One’s fishing rod, provoking him into attacking with powerful thunderfire.
• Madam Jin, Madam Shi, Zuo Yan, and Consort Mei joined Chu Qing, and together they fought the Lost One until Chu Qing ordered a retreat.
• The Lost One chased them for nine li before turning back, and Chu Qing entered the Square Inch Gathering to consult Heavenly Court.
• Heavenly Court offered a method to forcibly awaken the Lost One in exchange for a favor and several answers, and Chu Qing agreed.

Chu Qing used the Heavenly Court’s secret technique to briefly restore the Thunder Department Lost One’s senses and question him, learning about his family and the mysterious blood he was fishing for. After the Lost One returned to the Fire Pit, Chu Qing and Madam Shi hauled up a dark yellow pearl and fled the restricted zone as evil creatures swarmed toward it.

• Chu Qing used the Heavenly Court’s hand seals and secret technique to restore the Thunder Department Lost One’s clarity long enough to question him.
• The Lost One identified former Sons of Heaven, explained why he had entered the restricted zone, and asked Chu Qing to find his wife’s descendants on the Baxia Continent.
• The Lost One revealed that he was fishing for Cang Tian Blood or Tyrant Blood, then asked to be put into the Fire Pit before darkness consumed him again.
• Madam Jin, Consort Mei, and Zuo Yan used the Fire Pit to temper the chariot while Chu Qing and Madam Shi pulled the fishing rod from the lake.
• Chu Qing and Madam Shi hauled up a dark yellow pearl, and the evil creatures rushed toward it.
• Chu Qing and Madam Shi threw the pearl onto the chariot, which sped toward the edge of the restricted zone.

Chu Qing reached the edge of the Restricted Zone with a powerful war chariot that burned away the darkness, then learned from the Heavenly Court that the blood he had recovered was extraordinarily valuable Tyrant Blood. The Heavenly Court offered one hundred favors for it but refused to name its owner, saying it did not dare.

• The warriors at the Restricted Zone’s border watched Chu Qing’s moving Fire Pit drive back darkness and burn the earth pale as the war chariot passed.
• After Madam Jin, Consort Mei, and Zuo Yan finished chanting and took guard, Chu Qing and Madam Shi examined the sphere of blood.
• Chu Qing learned that the sphere was Tyrant Blood, which could grant its owner’s wisdom and experience or strengthen someone’s body and bloodline.
• The Heavenly Court told Chu Qing that Tyrant Blood had been used to deduce and refine thousands of paths, and offered one hundred favors for the drop.
• When Chu Qing asked who had owned the blood, the Heavenly Court said the owner had died challenging the Azure Heaven, then admitted it did not dare say more.

Chu Qing used Tyrant Blood to deduce the third stage of his Mountain Water Path, Emperor Seat, and awakened with a clear cultivation framework. He planned to gather divine weapons and imperial thrones first, leaving the difficult task of obtaining an Innate God and Demon's essence blood for later.

• Heavenly Court warned Chu Qing that Tyrant Blood and Vault of Heaven Blood were both terrifying, and that using Vault of Heaven Blood could bring great terror.
• Chu Qing and Madam Shi agreed to use Tyrant Blood once each, and Chu Qing used his share to deduce his Mountain Water Path.
• Tyrant Blood's wisdom produced many cultivation plans, but Chu Qing fused their knowledge into the framework he had personally built.
• Chu Qing awoke after less than a minute, having exhausted his Spirit and Energy, and learned that his third stage was Emperor Seat.
• Chu Qing discovered that forging his Emperor Seat required twelve thousand divine weapons, three hundred and sixty-five imperial thrones, and an Innate God and Demon's essence blood, so he planned to obtain the first two before tackling the last.

Madam Shi used Overlord Blood to gain one thousand and one transforming forms, each of which could serve as another life, while Chu Qing’s Profession Slot imprinted the Mountain Water Path. Emperor Seat inheritance. The group prepared to seek more Overlord Blood, but Madam Shi stopped them to prepare a trump card.

• Madam Shi used Overlord Blood and transformed through one thousand and one flawless God and Demon forms.
• Madam Shi explained that each form could keep fighting after another form died, though she would eventually have to face one thousand and one Innate Gods and Demons to advance further.
• Chu Qing’s Profession Slot imprinted the Mountain Water Path. Emperor Seat inheritance, whose promotion required divine weapons, armor, a throne, and God and Demon blood.
• Chu Qing, Zuo Yan, Consort Mei, and Madam Jin decided to seek more Overlord Blood so they could use it themselves.
• Madam Jin prepared to drive the chariot deeper into the forbidden zone, but Madam Shi stopped her and said she needed to prepare a trump card.

Madam Shi and the others strengthened their chariot with hundreds of fire seeds before entering the forbidden zone to search for the Tyrant Blood. At the first lake, Madam Shi escaped a spirit-like chain, and Chu Qing descended into the darkness with the Fire Pit guiding him as chains reached for him.

• Madam Shi repeatedly transformed into a Gods and Devils form and condensed fire seeds, while Madam Jin sealed the chariot's Fire Pit power.
• Consort Mei and Zuo Yan used fire seeds to reinforce the chariot, and the group entered the forbidden zone to find the Tyrant Blood.
• The group reached the lake where the Ninth Princess had been betrayed, and Madam Shi transformed into a Mermaid-form God and Demon to explore it.
• Madam Shi escaped the lake after the Fire Pit's light helped her evade a spirit-like chain that wanted to bind her.
• Chu Qing entered the lake, repelled its darkness with the Enlightenment Star Scripture, and sank toward the depths as chains reached for him.

Chu Qing freed a self-aware chain from the lake and learned it had once imprisoned the master of Tyrant Blood. The chain warned him about seeking Tyrant Blood and Azure Blood before leaving him a scripture about the sun, whose flaws puzzled him.

• Chu Qing pulled the chains from the lake, but the Fire Pit and Zuo Yan’s Moonlight Saber could not damage them.
• Chu Qing questioned the chains, which revealed that Heaven had used them to imprison the Tyrant and that Tyrant Blood had given them wisdom.
• The chain warned Chu Qing that Tyrant Blood could not be found through deliberate searching and that Azure Blood would corrupt him, then gave him a box containing information about the sun.
• Chu Qing found a four-hundred-line scripture in the box, whose first three hundred and sixty lines matched his Enlightenment Star Scripture while the remaining lines were awkward to recite.

Chu Qing discovered that Ba Liuli had preserved an incomplete scripture linked to Liuli, then left the restricted zone after spending several days with Madam Jin and the others. He found the Eternal Night Empire and neighboring empires expanding Fire Pits deep into the restricted zone, and a martial artist challenged him for standing idle.

• Consort Mei found Ba Liuli's note explaining that the scripture's first 360 lines were correct and the rest were flawed, while Chu Qing realized it was connected to a future meeting with Liuli.
• Chu Qing agreed to stay several days with Madam Jin and the others, and they planned to strengthen the war chariot Fire Pit, refine Madam Jin's strange treasure, and establish a deeper base in the restricted zone.
• Chu Qing left on the sixth day, while Madam Shi, Madam Jin, Zuo Yan, and Consort Mei began producing kindling and refining the war chariot Fire Pit.
• Chu Qing headed toward Stone Ridge Mountain, reflecting on his progress and his idea of using calamities to alter history.
• Chu Qing found Fire Pits and martial artists extending more than three thousand meters into the restricted zone across the empire's borders.
• A martial artist spotted Chu Qing and demanded to know his level and why he was not hunting evil things.

Chu Qing learned that empires across the continent had launched a campaign to clear the forbidden zone, then gave a group of frightened martial artists Evil corpses to fuel their Fire Pits. After he left, a New Realm commander warned the gathered martial artists about the Divine Court Law Net and said Chu Qing was even more terrifying.

• Chu Qing questioned the kneeling martial artists and learned that more than ten thousand empires had joined the campaign to clear the forbidden zone.
• Chu Qing left and returned dragging dozens of Evil and monster corpses, which he gave to the martial artists as Fire Pit fuel.
• Han Xuanzi asked Chu Qing's name and vowed to repay him, while the New Realm commander arrived and mistook the kneeling group for worshippers.
• After Han Xuanzi explained what Chu Qing had done, the commander warned the martial artists about the Divine Court Law Net and its ability to twist cognition.
• The commander declared Chu Qing more terrifying than the Divine Court Law Net, leaving the martial artists asking why.

A New Realm expert described Chu Qing’s brutal history and warned the crowd that even powerful experts could die from his killing intent. The crowd realized they had survived berating Chu Qing only because they were fighting the Forbidden Zone, though the expert was unsure.

• A New Realm expert claimed Chu Qing could kill even another New Realm expert with a glance.
• The expert recounted how Chu Qing slaughtered thousands before reaching the First Limit and later killed hundreds of thousands after failing to find the person who had incited accusations against him.
• The expert explained that Chu Qing exterminated aristocratic families that tried to suppress him and refused to submit to the Divine Court Law Net.
• The expert described how Chu Qing slaughtered an Imperial Capital and nine main cities, while gods and devils knelt before him and were killed.
• The crowd trembled at Chu Qing’s reputation, and Han Xuanzi suggested they survived insulting him because they had been fighting the Forbidden Zone.

Chu Qing learned that the Heavenly Court had ordered humanity to fight in the forbidden zones and warned the Princess that it far surpassed the Divine Court Law Net. As he left the Imperial Capital, the Princess told him that Miss Heaven had been claiming to be the Undefeated Demon God, and Chu Qing decided to investigate the myth.

• Chu Qing visited the ruined Imperial Capital, where the Princess explained that Yue Manlou and a powerful expert had destroyed it in battle.
• The Princess told Chu Qing that a Heavenly Court envoy had ordered humanity to send martial artists into the forbidden zones, and the Divine Court Law Net had obeyed.
• Chu Qing explained that the Heavenly Court was far more powerful than the Divine Court Law Net and said it might be Heaven's spokesperson.
• Chu Qing gave the Princess contact methods for Madam Shi and other experts who could help her forces in the forbidden zones.
• As Chu Qing departed, the Princess warned him that Miss Heaven had been claiming to be the Undefeated Demon God, and Chu Qing resolved to look up the myth in his records.

Chu Qing investigated the Undefeated God and Demon and discovered a legend linking its creation to Sixty-one Liuli. At the Martial Academy, its leader invited him to join the continent-wide alliance, but Chu Qing left the offer undecided.

• Chu Qing searched the Martial Academy's books and learned that the Undefeated God and Demon had been suppressed in the Endless Sea after feeding on Gods and Devils.
• Chu Qing read an unofficial history claiming Sixty-one Liuli created the Undefeated God and Demon by forging its bones and a blessed land, and he wondered how the Liulis were connected.
• Chu Qing searched for more records about Liuli and Sixty-one Liuli but found none, then encountered the man in power at the Imperial Martial Academy.
• The man in power invited Chu Qing to join the Martial Academy alliance and help represent its younger generation against the Heavenly Court.
• Chu Qing considered the alliance's potential as a force of his own but told the man he would think about joining.

Chu Qing returned to Stone Ridge Mountain and learned that Tang Wuming and Daughter of Stonemason Xu were studying how incense-tempered statues became gods, while Zhao Hongxiu had gathered a powerful following by offering martial paths. He inspected the mountain and its growing earth veins, then learned that Yue Manlou had fought a self-proclaimed Great Emperor and disappeared into a forbidden zone.

• The black-robed authority holder reported that Chu Qing had refused to join their side for now, and his contact urged that he be recruited to oppose Heavenly Court.
• Chu Qing returned to Stone Ridge Mountain, found statues of Tang Wuming, Sima Zhao, and Daughter of Stonemason Xu in a temple, and heard that worship had turned earlier statues into weak gods capable of granting believers' wishes.
• Tang Wuming and Daughter of Stonemason Xu explained that they had made statues of themselves to test whether they could become gods, and Chu Qing told them to continue their research and report the results.
• Chu Qing visited his altered peaks, where animals offered him prey, then learned from Zhao Hongxiu that Yue Manlou had fought a self-proclaimed Great Emperor and that their whereabouts remained unknown.
• Zhao Hongxiu told Chu Qing that she had organized thousands of New Realm cultivators to build earth veins and won over many experts by offering them access to more than three hundred martial paths.

Chu Qing discovered that the new stone-statue gods created avatars for their makers and fulfilled believers’ wishes by spending incense offerings. He proposed creating many specialized wild gods to compete with the Divine Court Law Net, and he and his allies began planning a large-scale experiment.

• Zhao Hongxiu told Chu Qing that thousands of experts had gathered to learn the paths he had shared, and Chu Qing ordered her to prepare them for a coming fight and gather weapons and armor.
• While waiting for Tang Wuming’s news, Chu Qing used the Peak of Mountains Method to taint mountains, accelerating the spread of his power.
• Tang Wuming’s white dove reported that a god had been born, and Chu Qing went to the temple, where Tang Wuming, Sima Zhao, and Daughter of Stonemason Xu explained that the stone statues had become their avatars.
• Chu Qing tested how the statues used incense offerings and discovered that they spent accumulated power to answer believers’ prayers, then resumed gathering offerings.
• Chu Qing proposed creating specialized wild gods, including Land Gods and Medicine Gods, and Tang Wuming, Sima Zhao, and Daughter of Stonemason Xu urged him to gather millions of people for the experiment.

Chu Qing gathered tens of thousands of New Realm experts and promised to honor Zhao Hongxiu’s agreements, asking what they could offer him in return. When they answered that they could bring him slaughter, he pointed to a white streak racing toward the gathering and ordered them to kill him.

• Tang Wuming and Sima Zhao set out to recruit more ordinary people for their plans to create avatars and establish a new divine court.
• Chu Qing returned to Stone Ridge Mountain to continue infusing mountains, but Zhao Hongxiu told him that the experts who had joined them wanted his personal confirmation of her promises.
• Chu Qing told Zhao Hongxiu to have the Three-legged Golden Toads fed secret medicines so they would produce Golden Toad Money, and she reported that the mountain’s beasts were growing smarter.
• Tens of thousands of New Realm experts and over a thousand Top Experts gathered on the mountain, and Chu Qing pledged to provide them paths and secret transmissions.
• When the experts offered loyalty, Chu Qing rejected it and accepted their offer of slaughter instead.
• Chu Qing pointed at a white streak racing toward the gathering and ordered the experts to kill him.

Great Emperor Sima Qingshan arrived at Stone Ridge Mountain to kill Chu Qing and reclaim his dignity, but found tens of thousands of New Realm experts standing with Chu Qing. After Sima Qingshan overwhelmed their strongest fighters and fought Chu Qing to a standstill, Chu Qing abandoned secret legacies and charged him with pure strength.

• Sima Qingshan arrived at Stone Ridge Mountain and prepared to kill Chu Qing, seize a beauty, and rebuild his Imperial Palace.
• Tens of thousands of New Realm experts formed ranks and shouted their intent to kill Sima Qingshan, who tried to suppress them and demand their worship.
• More than a thousand elite experts attacked Sima Qingshan, but his King's Descent: Emperor Treads the Abyss wounded them and shocked the gathered fighters.
• Chu Qing attacked Sima Qingshan with enhanced mountains and rivers, then summoned a future version of himself and unleashed multiple secret legacies.
• Sima Qingshan countered Chu Qing's techniques and fought him through the sky and ground, claiming that Chu Qing could not match him.
• Chu Qing tore off his tattered clothes and charged Sima Qingshan with a punch, while Sima Qingshan answered with King's Descent: Emperor's Violent Fist.

Chu Qing defeated Sima Qingshan in a brutal contest of strength and endurance, destroying his skull and shattering his remains. He ordered the New Realm experts to dispose of the corpse and left them intimidated by his power.

• Chu Qing and Sima Qingshan abandoned their secret arts and traded devastating blows, repeatedly healing from their injuries.
• As their regeneration slowed, Chu Qing seized Sima Qingshan and smashed their heads together until Sima Qingshan's skull began to break.
• Sima Qingshan pleaded for mercy, but Chu Qing continued until his skull exploded and then battered his corpse into scattered golden bones.
• Chu Qing ordered the New Realm experts to feed Sima Qingshan's flesh to beasts, boil his bones, and scatter the bone powder.
• The New Realm experts obeyed Chu Qing and lowered their heads, afraid of his brutal strength.