Chapter Summaries

Chen Sanshi’s family hid in the mountains while Shengyun Sect cultivators hunted them, but Chen Duhe and his relatives killed the scout who found them. Chen Sanshi arrived and ordered the family to join the army because the mountains were no longer safe.

• Xu Wencai warned Chen Sanshi that the Comet Star threatened the Great Sheng Dynasty and would reach its target between the sixth and ninth of the third month.
• A wandering swordsman entered the Governor’s Mansion, where Ling Kui discovered the family members there were only Clone Talismans and ordered his followers to hunt down Chen Sanshi’s wives and children.
• At Fivefold Mountain, Chen Yunxi learned that an intruder was approaching, and Xie Fujun found Chen Duhe and tried to force him to reveal the family’s hiding place.
• Chen Duhe lured Xie Fujun into a trap, where a venomous snake, Ningxiang, the other women, and the spirit beasts weakened and killed him.
• Chen Sanshi arrived after clearing out nearby enemies and told his family to leave the mountains and follow the army.

Chen Sanshi escaped Ling Kui’s attack with his family, then hid them before heading to the Fei River front. As the court’s million-strong army and the rebels prepared for battle, he secretly planted Formation Flags across the battlefield, leaving the decisive clash imminent.

• Chen Sanshi drove off Ling Kui with a fire-infused strike and escaped aboard the Flying Boat, though Ling Kui’s strange True Energy eroded his blade and meridians.
• During the journey, Chen Sanshi corrected Chen Duhe’s belief that disrespect justified killing and promised to teach him martial arts if he did not harm innocents.
• Chen Sanshi disguised and concealed his family in Song Province, left them Sound Transmission Talismans, and departed for the Fei River front.
• At Baxian, Shan Liangcheng prepared the Heavenly Book Array while Prince Qin rejected a proposal to divide the court army and attack the rebels during their march.
• Chen Sanshi surveyed the enemy camps near Kunyang City and secretly planted 182 Formation Flags across a thousand-li radius using the Mystic Pearl.

As the million-strong Chang'an army approached Kunyang City, Chen Sanshi refused calls to withdraw and prepared the defenders for battle. The enemy began its assault by deploying the Six Ding Six Jia Golden Light Formation around the battlefield.

• Shangguan Haichang and Ming Qingfeng warned that Chang'an might be luring the defenders into a trap and urged Cao Huan to withdraw half the army, but Chen Sanshi declared that he would destroy the enemy and forbade further talk of retreat.
• Shangguan Haichang suggested that Chen Sanshi might be plotting against Cao Huan, but Cao Huan defended Chen and said he would remain at the front.
• Scouts reported that the enemy vanguard would reach Kunyang City within two hours, and the defenders took their positions while Huang Lao Jiu struggled to finish arranging the formation.
• Zhu Ming demanded that Prince Jin surrender, while Cao Huan denounced the Chang'an court and called on its soldiers to defect; Zhu Ming then returned to the army as its siege engines advanced.
• Shan Liangcheng confirmed that all two hundred thousand defenders were inside Kunyang City and summoned cultivators to raise eighty-one golden stone pillars, beginning the Six Ding Six Jia Golden Light Formation.

Shan Liangcheng’s Six Ding Six Jia Golden Light Formation strengthened the Chang'an army’s assault on Kunyang City, while Huang Lao Jiu activated the city’s defensive array. Chen Sanshi fought Ling Kui but was forced to retreat behind the barrier, where Huang Lao Jiu identified Ling Kui’s breathing technique as one of the most powerful in the martial world.

• Shan Liangcheng used the Mysterious Jade Golden Light Bamboo to activate the Six Ding Six Jia Golden Light Formation and strengthen the Chang'an army’s soldiers and siege engines.
• Huang Lao Jiu activated Kunyang City’s Mysterious Armor Xun Wind Formation just as the enemy reached the walls, allowing the defenders to repel attacks and strike back.
• Chen Sanshi fought off the attackers outside the city, but Ling Kui arrived and confronted him with the Yin Gui You Ming Sword.
• Ling Kui’s Yin Gui Ming River Breathing Technique weakened Chen Sanshi’s True Energy and corroded his spear, forcing Chen Sanshi to retreat behind the city’s defensive barrier.
• Huang Lao Jiu told Chen Sanshi that the Yin Gui Ming River Breathing Technique ranked sixth among tens of thousands of breathing techniques.

Chen Sanshi and Kunyang’s defenders repelled two sieges, but the imperial army’s stronger formations and dwindling Spirit Stones pushed the city toward defeat. After the defenders suffered heavy losses in a third assault, Shan Liangcheng halted the siege and began enclosing Kunyang City in a Tier 2 defensive array, leaving the city trapped.

• Huang Lao Jiu explained that Ling Kui’s Yin Gui Ming River Breathing Technique weakened opponents over time, while Ling Kui and the Shengyun Sect battered Kunyang’s City Protection Array.
• Huang Lao Jiu’s Wine Gourd aided the defenders, but the imperial army’s renewed bombardment drained Kunyang’s Spirit Stones and forced Huang Lao Jiu to contract the formation around the walls.
• Chen Sanshi evaded Ling Kui and killed two enemy cultivators, then helped protect Huang Lao Jiu until Huang Lao Jiu restored the full formation and isolated the imperial troops on the walls, ending the second siege.
• Huang Lao Jiu invited Chen Sanshi to join the Guiyuan Sect, but Chen Sanshi deferred his answer as both sides prepared for another attack.
• Shan Liangcheng’s army used lightning and fire enhancements in a two-day assault, inflicting severe losses on Kunyang before withdrawing; Ling Kui warned Shan Liangcheng that Chen Sanshi was nearing True Force Mid Stage.
• Shan Liangcheng halted the siege and used the Mysterious Jade Golden Light Bamboo to form an earthen defensive array around three sides of Kunyang City, trapping its defenders.

As the imperial army besieged Kunyang City, a secret letter exposed Chen Sanshi’s ties to Qing State and deepened division among the defenders. Chen Sanshi attacked Prince Qin’s rear base in Baxian, escaped after Ling Kui intervened, and the chapter ended with news that Emperor Longqing had emerged from seclusion.

• Shangguan Haichang and other officials urged Legitimate Emperor Cao Huan to withdraw from Kunyang City as the siege depleted the defenders’ supplies and morale.
• Shangguan Haichang revealed a secret letter claiming Chen Sanshi’s wife was Qing’s Princess Royal and his son was Qing’s Crown Prince, prompting Cao Huan’s allies to question Chen Sanshi’s loyalty.
• Shangguan Haichang visited Chen Sanshi to ask for his battle plan, but Chen Sanshi refused to explain and told him only that they could win if they fought.
• Chen Sanshi used a clone to remain in Kunyang City while flying to Baxian, where he attacked Prince Qin and fought Lu Ji and Nie Yuan.
• Ling Kui arrived to protect Prince Qin, and Chen Sanshi escaped after using techniques and talismans to break away.
• Prince Qin ordered his officials to move to the central army, then opened the capital’s secret letter and learned that Emperor Longqing had emerged from seclusion.

Prince Qin learned that Cao Kai had emerged from seclusion after establishing his foundation, while the defenders of Kunyang City split over the Emperor's order to withdraw part of the army. Cao Kai completed his breakthrough, learned that Great Sheng was near collapse, and flew toward Kunyang City with the Imperial Seal of State and the Seven Star Dragon Abyss Sword.

• Prince Qin announced that Cao Kai had successfully established his foundation, and the officials rallied to join the front lines.
• Shangguan Haichang urged the Legitimate Emperor to withdraw from Kunyang City, and Ming Qingfeng began evacuating most of the troops.
• Wang Zhi tried to stop the retreat, but Wei and Xu Wencai persuaded him to obey the imperial command and avoid internal strife.
• Cao Kai relived his life as his cultivation reached its final stage, then transformed his dharma mist into a dharma sea and achieved Foundation Establishment.
• Huang Hong told Cao Kai that Chen Sanshi and Prince Jin had advanced to the Fei River, leaving Great Sheng with only three provinces.
• Cao Kai gathered the Imperial Guards, Brocade Guard, and Western Depot forces, took the Imperial Seal of State and Seven Star Dragon Abyss Sword, and flew toward Kunyang City.

Chen Sanshi helped Kunyang City win a major victory, then advanced to Qi Refining Layer 6 as the imperial army paused before renewing its assault. He unleashed a devastating fire attack against the renewed advance, but Ling Kui and Emperor Longqing arrived to confront him.

• Shan Liangcheng’s schemes weakened the imperial army, and Chen Sanshi split its Vanguard Army, killing Minister of War Zhu Ming as Northern Liang troops counterattacked.
• Shan Liangcheng sealed the battlefield with the Thick Earth Barrier, cutting off the Northern Liang advance, but Chen Sanshi escaped before Ling Kui arrived and Kunyang’s defenders withdrew after inflicting heavy losses.
• Huang Lao Jiu helped stop the retreating defenders, though every Guiyuan Sect cultivator left Kunyang, and the remaining court troops grew fearful as the enemy paused its attacks.
• Chen Sanshi cultivated to Qi Refining Layer 6 and gained the Flame Manipulation Art’s Fire Magic effect.
• When Shan Liangcheng’s army resumed its assault, Chen Sanshi used the Flame Manipulation Art to burn through its formation, but Ling Kui attacked him and Emperor Longqing arrived.

Chen Sanshi faced Emperor Longqing and Ling Kui outside Kunyang City, suffered a severe injury, and escaped into the city with Huang Lao Jiu’s help. As Longqing’s army besieged the city, the retreating Guiyuan Sect cultivators and Cao Huan returned, while they pressed Huang Lao Jiu to reveal whether the upper sect had sent a hidden trump card.

• Emperor Longqing offered Chen Sanshi a chance to surrender, but Chen refused and fought him and Ling Kui while retreating toward Kunyang City.
• Longqing struck Chen down with the Seven Star Dragon Abyss Sword, but Chen escaped the killing blow using a clone and concealment techniques; Huang Lao Jiu blocked Longqing’s next strike with a talisman and helped Chen reach the city array.
• Longqing’s army withdrew after failing to break the City Protection Array, then began bombarding it day and night while Longqing ordered Ling Kui to pursue the Guiyuan Sect cultivators.
• Chen Sanshi concealed the severity of his injuries from the city’s defenders, while fear spread that Longqing had become an immortal; Huang Lao Jiu complained that the array was consuming his spirit stones.
• Qian Qiren and the fleeing Guiyuan Sect cultivators returned with Cao Huan and the officials, and Chen Sanshi allowed them into Kunyang City despite Wang Zhi’s suspicions.
• Cui Zichen and Qian Qiren questioned Huang Lao Jiu about the upper sect’s promised trump card, since Longqing had reached Foundation Establishment and their position had become desperate.

As the Imperial Seal battered Kunyang’s defenses and obscured Chen Sanshi’s mysterious energy, Chen Sanshi decided to abandon the city and move the battle to Bagong Mountain, but Cao Huan and his allies refused to trust him. Chen Sanshi left to bring his family from Songzhou, and the chapter ended with him returning to Kunyang alongside them as the city’s defenders prepared to flee.

• Huang Hong revealed the Imperial Seal, whose golden radiance weakened Kunyang’s City Protection Array, while Huang Lao Jiu repeatedly repaired it and helped Chen Sanshi recover.
• Chen Sanshi realized the Imperial Seal had suppressed his mysterious energy and devised a plan to leave Kunyang, reach Bagong Mountain, and rout the enemy with the Mystic Pearl.
• Chen Sanshi urged Cao Huan and the assembled officials to hold the city while he sought reinforcements, but Cao Huan, Qian Qiren, and Shangguan Haichang distrusted his plan and delayed him.
• Chen Sanshi secretly rode out of Kunyang and went to Luyi Village, where he told Ningxiang and Zhaozhao that they could no longer hide from the cultivators searching for his family.
• After Chen Sanshi’s departure was reported, Cao Huan ordered a retreat, and panic spread among Kunyang’s troops as they prepared to abandon the city.
• Chen Sanshi returned above Kunyang with his family, and Sun Li declared that they would live or die alongside the city.

Chen Sanshi left his family in Kunyang City and set out to find reinforcements, but instead gathered troops at Chibi and prepared to return to Fei Shui. After eight days of cultivation, he broke through to the True Force Mid Stage as the battle for Kunyang continued.

• Chen Sanshi persuaded the soldiers and officials in Kunyang to remain and defend the city, then left alone as the imperial army sealed it with a Thick Earth Barrier and began its assault.
• Emperor Longqing learned that Chen Sanshi had left his family behind and chose to wait for his return rather than pursue him.
• Chen Sanshi flew to Chibi, ordered Sima Yao and Dan Qunyu to lead twenty thousand troops toward Fei Shui, and met with Fang Qingyun, who revealed troubling news about the Guiyuan Sect and asked to accompany him.
• Chen Sanshi cultivated at Chibi for eight days, nearly lost control of his True Energy, then steadied his mind and awakened the final middle scene god.
• Chen Sanshi broke through to the True Force Mid Stage and gained the Burn Out effect, which scorched opponents’ mana and True Force during battle.

After reaching the True Force Mid Stage and awakening the Arrow Way divine ability, Chen Sanshi returned to the battlefield as Kunyang City neared collapse. His reinforcements arrived at Bagong Mountain, and he used Zhong Fan’s own flying sword as an arrow to kill him.

• Chen Sanshi advanced his archery to the Arrow Way divine ability, allowing anything he held to become an arrow, then flew toward the Fei River with Fourth Senior Brother.
• Chen Duhe used a Spirit Sealing Needle to help Qian Qiren kill Yuan Simiao, while his courage lifted the defenders’ morale and Xu Wencai coached him about becoming heir.
• Shan Liangcheng used the last of the enemy’s spirit stones to intensify the assault, and Huang Lao Jiu warned that Kunyang City’s formation could hold for only two more days.
• Chen Sanshi’s army and Cloud Top Palace’s cultivators arrived at Bagong Mountain in overwhelming numbers, forcing Zhong Fan to flee.
• Chen Sanshi caught Zhong Fan’s flying sword, drew it on his bow, and shot it through Zhong Fan’s heart.

Chen Sanshi’s forces captured Yongjia Prefecture and prepared to cross the river, while Emperor Longqing’s army broke Kunyang City’s defenses and began overwhelming its defenders. The chapter ended with Huang Lao Jiu revealing a talisman treasure that could open a way out, as Cao Zhi urged Qian Qiren to take Chen Sanshi’s family with them.

• Chen Sanshi’s troops captured Yongjia Prefecture after killing Zhong Fan, and Chen ordered them to prepare pontoon bridges for a midnight crossing.
• Sima Yao pledged the Sima Clan’s allegiance to Chen Sanshi, while warning his sons to flee with the clan’s young talents if the battle turned against them.
• Emperor Longqing learned Chen Sanshi had brought two hundred thousand troops and ordered the central and rear armies to face the Luojian River while Shan Liangcheng continued attacking Kunyang City.
• The Imperial Seal shattered Kunyang City’s protective array, and Sima Chi delivered Chen Sanshi’s challenge for the imperial army to withdraw and allow his forces to cross.
• Emperor Longqing refused the challenge and continued the siege; Kunyang’s defenders suffered heavy losses as their cultivators exhausted their strength.
• Huang Lao Jiu revealed a talisman treasure that could open a gate of life, and Cao Zhi told Qian Qiren to bring Chen Sanshi’s family along as they escaped.

Cao Huan rejected the Guiyuan Sect’s retreat and stayed to defend Kunyang City, while Chen Sanshi waited across the Luo Stream for the imperial army to make a move. The imperial court agreed to let Chen Sanshi’s forces cross as part of a trap, but Chen Sanshi recognized the danger and ordered his twenty thousand cavalry to cross anyway.

• Qian Qiren found the Chen family dependents missing, and Shangguan Haichang and Cui Zichen urged Cao Huan to flee Kunyang City.
• Wei Lan pleaded with Cao Huan to stay, and Cao Huan stood against King Yan, Cao Zhi, and the departing Guiyuan Sect cultivators to defend the city with its soldiers.
• Huang Lao Jiu used the Demon Sealing Nail to breach the Thick Earth Barrier, allowing the Guiyuan Sect cultivators to escape and see Chen Sanshi’s troops assembled across the Luo Stream.
• Chen Sanshi ordered Dan Qunyu to stage a retreat and Sima Chi to leak the news, prompting Emperor Longqing and Shan Liangcheng to plan a surprise attack on troops crossing the river.
• Emperor Longqing agreed to let Chen Sanshi’s army cross, and Chen Sanshi ordered his twenty thousand cavalry to cross the river.

Shan Liangcheng prepared a million-strong army to ambush Chen Sanshi’s supposed two hundred thousand reinforcements, while the defenders of Kunyang City struggled to hold out. As Chen Sanshi charged across the Pontoon Bridges under a strange storm, a booming voice declared that the Imperial Court had lost.

• Shan Liangcheng ordered the Imperial Court army to withdraw and form an ambush, while Emperor Longqing predicted that Chen Sanshi would cross to save Kunyang’s defenders.
• The cultivators of Guiyuan Sect learned that Cloud Top Palace had sent no reinforcements and that Chen Sanshi had only twenty thousand men, then saw an uncanny storm gather over the Fei River.
• Emperor Longqing had the Director of the Bureau of Astronomy executed after the official warned that the celestial signs were ominous.
• Prince Qin noticed that fewer enemy troops than expected had gathered across the river, but Shan Liangcheng dismissed them as a feint.
• Chen Sanshi’s troops charged onto the Pontoon Bridges as the Imperial Court army began withdrawing, and a voice boomed, “We have lost—”

Chen Sanshi unleashed the Great Wilderness Starfall formation, calling down a comet that devastated the imperial army and turned the Battle of Miaoshui River in his favor. As the million-strong court force collapsed, the besieged defenders of Kunyang City rallied and joined the counterattack.

• Lu Ji and Nie Yuan announced a crushing defeat at the front, triggering panic that shattered the court army’s formations.
• Shan Liangcheng identified Lu Ji as an informant and tried to salvage the battle while Prince Qin led the remaining troops against Chen Sanshi’s cavalry.
• Chen Sanshi activated the Three Enclosures and Twenty-Eight Mansions Heavenly Stars Array and used the Mystic Pearl to call down the Comet Star as Great Wilderness Starfall.
• The comet’s fragments crushed the court’s front ranks, and the ensuing panic brought down the million-strong army.
• The imperial assault on Kunyang City faltered as its troops fled; Xu Wencai and Cao Huan rallied the defenders to pursue them.
• Guiyuan Sect cultivators joined the battlefield as the offensive and defensive positions reversed.

As the imperial army collapsed amid the falling crimson stars, Chen Sanshi fought Emperor Longqing and Ling Kui in a desperate battle above the Luo Jian River and Bagong Mountain. He used the Burning Heaven Breathing Technique to wear them down, then forced Longqing to choose between taking a lethal strike and leaving Ling Kui exposed.

• The imperial army routed, while Lu Ji lost control to the Evil God Path and attacked everyone nearby.
• Chen Sanshi clashed with Ling Kui and Emperor Longqing, using his awakened Scenery Gods and Fire Element True Energy to reach True Force Mid Stage.
• Emperor Longqing’s Kang Jin Long extinguished Chen Sanshi’s vermilion-bird attack, and Longqing and Ling Kui’s combined assaults drove him into the Luo Jian River.
• Chen Sanshi’s Burning Heaven Breathing Technique caused his opponents’ True Force and dharma power to burn away, but Ling Kui’s Nether River True Force gradually suppressed him.
• After the fight shifted to Bagong Mountain and their powers were depleted, Chen Sanshi recovered enough strength for one final Unparalleled thrust.
• When Chen Sanshi challenged Longqing to die with him, Longqing dodged the spear, allowing it to pierce Ling Kui’s heart.

Chen Sanshi defeated Ling Kui and pursued the fleeing Emperor Longqing after the Great Sheng army collapsed. At Yanbian Village, Chen Sanshi confronted Cao Kai and seized control of the Seven Star Dragon Abyss Sword with a bead powered by the common people, then split the emperor in two.

• Chen Sanshi killed Ling Kui and fought Emperor Longqing, who escaped when his surviving forces arrived.
• The Imperial Court's army routed at Fei Shui, and its soldiers suffered heavy casualties or surrendered during the seven-day pursuit.
• Emperor Longqing and his followers fled across the Eastern Continent, but their search for food brought them to Chen Sanshi's hometown, Yanbian Village.
• Chen Sanshi and the Guiyuan Sect caught up with the fugitives, and Emperor Longqing used half the Great Sheng Dynasty's national fortune to attack him with the Seven Star Dragon Abyss Sword.
• Chen Sanshi's bead wrested control of the sword from Cao Kai, and Chen Sanshi killed Emperor Longqing with a single slash.

Chen Sanshi killed Emperor Longqing and Prince Qin, then negotiated with Cao Huan to return the army to Northern Liang while retaining the Dragon Abyss Sword and Imperial Seal. The realm was pacified, but Chen Sanshi and the Guiyuan Sect began maneuvering around the ancestral vein as the Northern Liang generals protested the planned withdrawal.

• Chen Sanshi destroyed Emperor Longqing’s remnant soul, survived Huang Lao Jiu’s appearance, and took the Imperial Seal.
• Chen Sanshi killed Prince Qin, and the Northern Liang Army and the Legitimate Emperor’s forces pacified Great Sheng while Guiyuan Sect struck at the rulers of the Three Kingdoms.
• Cao Huan and his ministers debated how to handle Chen Sanshi, but Cao Huan chose to meet him personally and negotiate.
• Cao Huan offered Chen Sanshi the Five Prefecture Land and left the Dragon Abyss Sword and Imperial Seal in his keeping; Chen Sanshi agreed to withdraw to Northern Liang in ten days after securing concessions on people’s livelihood.
• Chen Sanshi planned to contend with Guiyuan Sect over time, lure Huang Lao Jiu into using his single chance to act, and investigate how to destroy the ancestral vein.
• Northern Liang generals learned of the planned withdrawal and objected to giving up the Central Plains.

As Chen Sanshi prepared to withdraw the Northern Liang Army from the Central Plains, Fang Qingyun and Xu Wencai devised a plan to make him emperor, and the generals agreed to support it. After a three-day victory banquet, Chen Sanshi awoke to find the Northern Liang Army kneeling before him and a bright yellow robe on his shoulders.

• Fang Qingyun told Xu Wencai he planned to sacrifice himself to give Chen Sanshi a just cause to raise troops and secure national fortune, and Xu Wencai agreed to keep the plan secret.
• Xu Wencai opened his locked chest for the gathered generals, who approved its contents and agreed to make Chen Sanshi emperor at a victory banquet seven days later.
• Chen Sanshi recovered from his wounds and reviewed the Dragon Abyss Sword and Imperial Seal before attending the banquet in Baxian.
• Chen Sanshi told his generals that he still intended to withdraw the army, then drank with them until he fell asleep in the Main Military Tent.
• Chen Sanshi woke to find the tent empty and the Northern Liang generals kneeling in formation outside, whereupon a bright yellow robe was placed on his shoulders.