Chapter Summaries

Cao Xie resolved to pursue power by rebuilding Great Sheng, while Chen Sanshi prepared for a long journey to Dragon Elephant City and discovered his Second Senior Sister Jiang Xiyue unconscious and frozen beside the pool. Jiang Qiongsu began treating her with the help of two matching jade pendants, leaving Chen Sanshi to step aside.

• Cao Xie planned to use rival sects to target Zhang Huaiqing and revealed to Rong Roujun his ambition to destroy Great Song and rebuild Great Sheng as an immortal dynasty.
• Chen Sanshi studied his senior brother’s compass, collected formations and supplies through Deng Wuchang and Dongfang Jingxing, and prepared to leave for Dragon Elephant City in five days.
• Chen Sanshi went to the pool to try absorbing the Red Lotus Karmic Fire and found Jiang Xiyue unconscious, badly injured, and covered in frost.
• Jiang Qiongsu used her jade pendant to connect with Jiang Xiyue’s matching pendant and began melting the frost before asking Chen Sanshi to step aside.

Chen Sanshi helped Jiang Qiongsu suppress Jiang Xiyue’s mysterious illness, then joined the Qingxu Sect’s expedition to Dragon Elephant City. Mu Chutai unexpectedly joined the journey as well and tried to get Jiang Xiyue’s attention, but she ignored him.

• Jiang Qiongsu asked Chen Sanshi to use his flames and a jade pendant to melt the ice around Jiang Xiyue and stabilize her illness, then asked him to keep its nature secret.
• Chen Sanshi warned Jiang Qiongsu about the danger he had learned of, and she said she would report it to their master before he rested for the night.
• The Qingxu Sect assembled more than six thousand cultivators for the journey to Dragon Elephant City, and Chen Sanshi set out with fifteen other Foundation Establishment cultivators and Jiang Xiyue.
• Mu Chutai persuaded Daoist Xuancheng to let him join the expedition, while other elders suspected he was fleeing an impending Holy Sect soul search.
• Aboard the Flying Boat, Mu Chutai demonstrated sword techniques to attract Jiang Xiyue’s attention, but she ignored him, and Chen Sanshi realized Mu wanted to teach her privately.

Chen Sanshi traveled with the Qingxu Sect toward Dragon Elephant City, where he learned about the border defenses and the demonic cultivators’ infiltration. At the Great Wall of Demon Suppression, disguised enemies ambushed the group, and Chen Sanshi and the others began fighting back.

• Mu Chutai tried to teach Jiang Xiyue swordsmanship, but she attacked him; Chen Sanshi blocked her strike and suffered frost damage.
• Jiang Xiyue later gave Chen Sanshi healing pills and said Mu Chutai deserved to die.
• The Flying Boat traveled toward Dragon Elephant City, and Chen Sanshi received frequent cultivation instruction from Mu Chutai.
• The Qingxu Sect disciples reached Sixue Dao and learned how the Great Wall of Demon Suppression prevented high-altitude flight and earth-escape.
• Jia Ziyan claimed demonic cultivators had begun a blood sacrifice and tried to divert the group, but Xue Xianrong exposed the deception and attacked.
• Chen Sanshi detected sha qi and struck the disguised demonic cultivators as more than two hundred enemies surged from the mountains.

Qingxu Sect disciples fought an ambush of demonic cultivators until Elder Xue Jingfeng and reinforcements arrived, forcing the attackers to retreat. As Chen Sanshi prepared to meditate aboard the departing warship, Cao Zhi recognized him despite his disguise.

• Chen Sanshi and the Qingxu Sect disciples fought the demonic cultivators, while Mu Chutai used his sword to kill several enemies and Chen Sanshi protected him from a Foundation Establishment attacker.
• The disguised Demon Suppression Division commander activated a formation that filled the battlefield with Malevolent Blood Energy, and the demonic cultivators gained the advantage as Jiang Xiyue restrained her fighting because of her injuries.
• A Golden Core cultivator named Zhong Wutai arrived and pursued Mu Chutai, but Elder Xue Jingfeng intervened and fought him as reinforcements from the Demon Suppression Division and Guiyuan Sect arrived.
• The demonic cultivators retreated, and the Qingxu Sect survivors boarded a warship for Dragon Elephant City after two of their Foundation Establishment disciples had died.
• As Chen Sanshi settled down to meditate, Cao Zhi called him Big Brother, and Chen Sanshi wondered how Cao Zhi had seen through his disguise.

Chen Sanshi arrived at Dragon Elephant City, learned how cultivators could earn Copper Coins toward Jade Dew of Creation, and began a compulsory search for demonic cultivators. After days without a lead, his squad found a trail into a poor village, where they questioned a starving woman holding a dying child.

• Cao Zhi suspected Chen Sanshi might be his disguised elder brother and said he would kill him regardless of whether the suspicion was correct.
• Chen Sanshi entered Dragon Elephant City, received his identity token, and learned that Jade Dew of Creation cost two thousand Copper Coins.
• Chen Sanshi spent three days patrolling Sixue Dao before setting out with Su Yang, Lu Zhiyong, and Qi Refining cultivators to search for demonic cultivators.
• After four fruitless days, the squad found demonic cultivators near a village and discovered that one had fled inside.
• Su Yang pursued the fugitive into a dilapidated house, where the cultivators found only a gaunt woman and a dying child.

Chen Sanshi hunted demonic cultivators in Sixue Dao while cultivating and deciphering a mysterious compass, but the search yielded fewer rewards over time. Two years later, he discovered an entire village whose residents had all died by suicide, suggesting the demonic cultivators had a larger scheme.

• Chen Sanshi exposed an Earth-Escaping demonic cultivator in a village, but the cultivator killed himself before the disciples could question him; afterward, a woman killed herself and her sick child, and Chen Sanshi buried them.
• Chen Sanshi hunted demonic cultivators with his fellow disciples for over a month, and the Blind Woman secretly gave him seventy Copper Coins.
• Over the next two years, Chen Sanshi cultivated, improved his formation skills, and continued hunting, while the war spread and demonic cultivators in Sixue Dao became harder to find.
• Chen Sanshi noticed Cao Zhi following him and flew toward Qingxu Sect disciples, where Lu Zhiyong told him that something was wrong with a village.
• Chen Sanshi and Lu Zhiyong found that every resident of the village had died by suicide, leading Chen Sanshi to suspect that the demonic cultivators had a purpose beyond sacrifices or cultivating demonic arts.

Chen Sanshi learned the Blood Burning Method from Mu Chutai and fused it with the Wind Splitting Seal to create Triple Blood Burning, then prepared to investigate the captives at Mingquan Lake. Before he could set out, he followed Jiang Xiyue after spotting Xue Xianrong’s group pursuing her, and they ambushed her with a giant ape.

• Mu Chutai taught Chen Sanshi the Blood Burning Method in exchange for a thousand-year-old Danzhu Leaf and other promised supplies.
• Chen Sanshi combined the Blood Burning Method with the Wind Splitting Seal, creating Triple Blood Burning, which greatly increased his flying speed at the cost of consuming blood essence.
• Chen Sanshi planned to investigate the demonic cultivator territory near Mingquan Lake and learned that Shangguan Siheng wanted to meet him.
• After seeing Jiang Xiyue head toward Star Peak Mountain with Xue Xianrong’s group following her, Chen Sanshi pursued them with Lu Zhiyong.
• Xue Xianrong’s group ambushed Jiang Xiyue with a Mountain-Moving Ape, and Xue began chanting to summon the Wutong God's shrine and expose her demonic nature.

Chen Sanshi led a group of disciples into the Demon Realm to investigate Mingquan Lake and search for captured cultivators, learning that Dugu Ao had recently attacked the area. After reaching Chongming City and beginning his inquiries, he spotted Shangguan Siheng fleeing through the city.

• Lu Zhiyong and Chen Sanshi’s group killed Xue Xianrong’s Mountain-Moving Ape, ruining Xue’s plans and driving him to accuse Lu and Jiang Xiyue of protecting demonic cultivators.
• Chen Sanshi and ten Qi Refinement disciples left Dragon Elephant City, crossed the Heaven-Reaching River, and entered the Demon Realm through White Bone Mountain before splitting up to investigate Mingquan Lake.
• While traveling toward Chongming City, Chen Sanshi learned that Dugu Ao had recently slaughtered cultivators near the city and heard how the Demon Realm’s Blood Tax forced families to surrender living people.
• Chen Sanshi entered Chongming City, bought most of the ingredients for a Nine Revolutions Blood Amber Pill, and planned to question the Blood Feather Division about captured Tianshui Continent cultivators.
• A commotion broke out in the city when Chen Sanshi saw Shangguan Siheng fighting through an encirclement and fleeing toward the gates.

Chen Sanshi agreed to help Dugu Ao gather resources in exchange for help rescuing the cultivators imprisoned in Chongming City, while the Slay Immortal Sect investigated whether dead villages were linked to mortals joining the war. He infiltrated the Blood Feather Division’s alchemy workshop, stole a spatial Alchemy Furnace, and prepared to use it to smuggle the prisoners out.

• Shangguan Siheng brought Chen Sanshi to meet Dugu Ao, who asked him to gather treasures and offered to help hold off the Golden Core Cultivator guarding the death cells.
• Shangguan Siheng told Chen Sanshi that dead villages might be connected to an earlier battle where mortals wielded blood-fiend Profound Energy, and asked him to deploy his soldiers if the threat returned.
• Chen Sanshi told the Qingxu Sect Disciples that they would attempt a prison break during Dugu Ao’s planned attack on Chongming City, then devised a way to carry the prisoners in an Alchemy Furnace.
• Chen Sanshi disguised himself as a demonic cultivator, killed the man delivering children to the alchemy workshop, and killed the old Daoist overseeing the furnace.
• Chen Sanshi disguised Lu Zhiyong as the old Daoist and told him to wait with the Alchemy Furnace until the signal, while Chen Sanshi headed to the death prison.

Dugu Ao protected Lu Shengzhi from Cao Zhi, while Chen Sanshi returned from a dangerous rescue mission with a greatly increased Copper Coin ranking. After mourning Zhao Qiao and recovering, Chen Sanshi sought a faster way to earn Copper Coins and decided to pursue the dangerous Little Witch Mountain mission, despite Dragon Elephant City offering only eight hundred fighters.

• Dugu Ao thwarted Cao Zhi’s attack, named his Spine Sword Dragonbone, and forced him to flee with a formation disk.
• Xue Xianrong’s group learned that Lu Shengzhi had gone missing during the Mingquan Lake rescue, but Chen Sanshi returned alive after Lu Zhiyong reported that Lu had stayed behind to cover their retreat.
• Chen Sanshi rose to third place on the Heavenly Dao Ranking, then ordered Zhao Qiao honored with a posthumous marquis title and burial at Wuhao Palace.
• After recovering and spending a month defending Star Peak Mountain, Chen Sanshi decided to capture Little Witch Mountain for its thousand-Copper-Coin reward.
• The steward told Chen Sanshi that Dragon Elephant City could provide only eight hundred cultivators to face the mountain’s Golden Core defender and four thousand demonic troops, but Chen Sanshi said he had enough manpower.

Chen Sanshi followed Cao Zhi to Yici Mountain, where he discovered that the Great Song Eighth Prince Zhao Xun was their target. He helped Zhao Xun survive Cao Zhi’s ambush, but Cao escaped, and Zhao invited Chen Sanshi to join Great Song.

• Chen Sanshi traded a thousand-year Blood Remaining Charcoal to Zhao Xun for Extreme Yin Cordyceps and realized that Cao Zhi was watching the Eighth Prince.
• Chen Sanshi waited at Yici Mountain until Cao Zhi and Baili Zhe followed Zhao Xun out, then warned Zhao and helped him flee toward the mountain.
• Chen Sanshi trapped Cao Zhi’s Golden Body puppet in a formation while Elder Deng and other corpse cultivators joined the battle.
• Cao Zhi used the Heaven and Earth Odd Gates talisman treasure to escape with the puppet, abandoning Baili Zhe, whom Zhao Xun captured and killed after learning of the Horse Groomer’s plot.
• Zhao Xun thanked Chen Sanshi, learned that he called himself Sun Yan, and invited him to join Great Song as an Immortal Marquis.

Chen Sanshi killed Xue Zhu and claimed his head, but Shentu Ye and Xue Xianrong’s group confronted him before he could leave with Jiang Xiyue. Xue Xianrong’s evil god statue triggered Jiang Xiyue’s demonic energy, and the chapter ended as she transformed before everyone’s eyes.

• Chen Sanshi defeated Xue Zhu, took his head and artifacts, and returned to Little Witch Mountain disguised as Lu Shengzhi.
• After the Tianyong City soldiers captured Little Witch Mountain, Shentu Ye challenged Chen Sanshi for Xue Zhu’s head, and Xue Xianrong’s group watched from the forest.
• Xue Xianrong summoned his father and revealed a wooden-carved evil god statue, whose purple mystic qi caused Jiang Xiyue to collapse in agony.
• Chen Sanshi destroyed the statue, but its eerie influence remained and caused Demonic Qi to emerge from Jiang Xiyue.
• Shentu Ye and Xue Xianrong’s group fought Chen Sanshi, while Jiang Xiyue’s hair turned white, her eyes were revealed as blood-red, and demonic patterns spread across her face.

Chen Sanshi escaped with the unconscious Jiang Xiyue and the Jade Dew of Creation as Dugu Ao killed Xue Xianrong, while the Heavenly Sects investigated the upheaval in Sixue Dao. At the Imperial Mausoleum, Zhao Rui admitted to following the demonic path for the sake of the common people and rebuilding Immortal Song, just as Cao Xie confronted the Corpse Cultivator Daoist Zuoqiu.

• Chen Sanshi carried Jiang Xiyue back to Dragon Elephant City, exchanged Xue Zhu's head for the Jade Dew of Creation, and left after learning that hundreds of thousands of corpses had vanished in Sixue Dao.
• Dugu Ao killed Xue Xianrong before Elder Xue Jingfeng could reach him, then vanished as Xue Jingfeng recognized his son had been silenced.
• Cao Xie, Yun Shuzi, and True Person Chunyang investigated the ruins at Little Witch Mountain and concluded that Zhao Rui might know what had happened.
• True Person Chunyang killed a Gold Tablet commander who insisted that the envoys go to the Imperial Mausoleum, and the three Nascent Soul Cultivators went there to confront Zhao Rui.
• Zhao Rui admitted that he had cultivated demonic arts and explained that he sought to restore order, protect the common people, and rebuild Immortal Song.
• Cao Xie spotted Daoist Zuoqiu in a black jade coffin and stepped forward to confront the Corpse Cultivator.

Zhao Rui’s imperial mausoleums trapped the Heavenly Sect envoys in a tribulation while Great Song and the demonic path overwhelmed Sixue Dao. Chen Sanshi returned to Qingxu Sect, recovered, and prepared to form his Golden Core as the war spread across Tianshui Continent.

• Zhao Rui awakened successive Great Song emperors as Corpse Puppets, using their rising power and the Nine Revolutions Heavenly Tribulation formation to make Cao Xie, True Person Chunyang, and Yun Shuzi bear the Nascent Soul tribulation.
• The nine Corpse Puppets fused into a Nascent Soul Corpse Cultivator, while hundreds of thousands of dead formed an army and the demonic path and Demon Suppression Division attacked Star Peak Mountain.
• Chen Sanshi fled Sixue Dao with Jiang Xiyue and Lord of Mount Tai, then returned to Qingxu Sect and recovered from his injuries with the Taiyi Qinghua Life-Death Flame.
• Chen Sanshi spent a year preparing to form his Golden Core and began the process in May of the twenty-fourth year of Tianwu.
• The aftermath revealed that Chunyangzi had died, Yun Shuzi had escaped grievously injured, Cao Xie had slain Daoist Zuoqiu, and Sixue Dao had fallen to the demonic path and Great Song’s expanding army.

Chen Sanshi sparred with Chen Duhe, learned that his son had become a weak incense deity, and stayed in the palace while preparing to locate and refine the Spirit Extinguishing Great Formation. In Kunxu, the orthodox sects appointed Cao Xie to establish Great Sheng and prepare an attack on Eastern Continent, but Li Guanfu demanded that they instead seek aid from Chen Lei, sparking Cao Xie's objection.

• Chen Sanshi sparred with Chen Duhe, demonstrated Mystic Spirit Six Arms, and advised him to remember that his incense power came from the people.
• Chen Duhe explained his plan to travel to the Cultivation World and build temples for the people, and Chen Sanshi agreed not to stop him.
• Chen Sanshi stayed with his family while studying arrays and preparing to destroy the Mount Mang Ancestral Vein by refining the Spirit Extinguishing Great Formation.
• At Kunxu, the Nascent Soul elders chose Cao Xie and the Cao Clan to establish Great Sheng and assigned Cao Xie to prepare to reclaim Eastern Continent.
• Cao Xie vowed to kill Chen Lei and reclaim the ancestral vein, but Li Guanfu arrived and proposed seeking Great Han's aid against the Blood Demon Army in exchange for leaving Eastern Continent alone.
• Cao Xie rejected Li Guanfu's proposal and argued that the orthodox sects should reclaim Eastern Continent and use its mortal armies against the Blood Demon Army.

Li Guanfu forced the Holy Sect to agree to an alliance with the Eastern Continent, while Chen Sanshi completed a third-rank formation and discovered where the Far North secret realm would appear. After hearing Kunxu’s demands, Chen Sanshi agreed to send Great Han troops to Tianshui on the condition that he choose their station.

• Li Guanfu threatened the Nascent Soul Cultivators and Huangfu Zhengze until the Holy Sect agreed to form an alliance with the Eastern Continent, though the agreement’s terms remained subject to discussion.
• Huangfu Zhengze told Chongxu Zhenren to follow their earlier plan and keep more of Chen Sanshi’s group alive and controllable.
• Chen Sanshi completed the Grand Unity Golden Light Formation, advanced his formation mastery to the third rank, and deciphered the compass’s directions for finding the Far North secret realm in Guangren Dao within two years.
• Chen Sanshi granted Shangguan Siheng an official rank and noble title to help him avoid the seal’s suppression, then received the Holy Sect’s request for Great Han to reinforce the righteous-demonic battlefield.
• Dongfang Jingxing read Kunxu’s terms, which demanded that Great Han later surrender the Eastern Continent or face Chen Lei’s cultivation being abolished, and Shangguan Siheng urged Chen Sanshi to send troops.
• Chen Sanshi agreed to send Great Han troops to Tianshui but insisted that he personally choose where they would be stationed.

Chen Sanshi agreed to send Great Han’s army into Tianshui while preparing to search for the Far North secret realm, then returned to Qingxu Sect and learned its elders were divided over resources and Supreme Elder Zhang Huaiqing’s leadership. The dispute escalated when Xue Jingfeng accused Jiang Xiyue of demonic cultivation and blamed her for his son Xue Xianrong’s death.

• Shangguan Siheng accepted Chen Sanshi’s condition that Great Han choose its own garrison location and promised to relay it to the Sacred Sect.
• Great Han mobilized more than 2.6 million troops for the campaign, and Chen Sanshi appointed commanders before giving Chen Yunxi a Hundred Beasts Scroll to keep her in the capital.
• Chen Sanshi returned to Qingxu Sect as Lu Shengzhi and attended a meeting where the elders argued over the sect’s border assignment and fourth-rank spirit vein.
• Several elders criticized Zhang Huaiqing’s leadership and resource decisions, including his support for True Person Yuling and Xu Taisu.
• Xue Jingfeng accused Jiang Xiyue of cultivating demonic arts and killing his son, claiming Xue Xianrong had exposed her before Dugu Ao silenced him.

Xue Jingfeng accused Jiang Xiyue of demonic cultivation, but after her tribulation he injured her by forcing her to endure a Demon-Expelling Incantation. Chen Sanshi and the others suppressed her ensuing demonic outburst, and True Person Yuling revealed the demonic seed inside Jiang Xiyue and sent her with Chen Sanshi to the Far North to seek a way to suppress it.

• Chen Sanshi and True Person Xuancheng explained that Jiang Xiyue had killed Zhao Rui only after he was injured by a battle between higher-realm cultivators, while True Person Yuling said Jiang Xiyue was in seclusion to form her core.
• Jiang Xiyue passed her nine-layer lightning tribulation without revealing Demonic Qi, but Xue Jingfeng trapped her in a Demon-Expelling Incantation and injured her when it showed no reaction.
• Zhang Huaiqing had Xue Jingfeng bound and taken to Siguo Cliff for punishment, then told Chen Sanshi to help Jiang Xiyue in Hundred Flowers Valley.
• Jiang Xiyue's Demonic Qi surged after Xue Jingfeng's spell, so Chen Sanshi, Jiang Qiongsu, and True Person Yuling activated the Nine Tribulations Earth-Quelling Formation and used the Yin-Yang Jade Pendant to suppress it.
• An unseen ally's fourth-rank talisman treasure helped them subdue Jiang Xiyue, and True Person Yuling treated her while she lay unconscious.
• True Person Yuling told Chen Sanshi that a conscious demonic seed inside Jiang Xiyue caused her power to rise and could seize her body, then gave him the Great Compassion Womb Soul Suppressing Bell and asked him to take Jiang Xiyue to the Far North.

Chen Sanshi prepared for the coming battle by acquiring rare materials, improving his skills, and mastering the Red Lotus Karmic Fire. At the end, Jiang Xiyue began to awaken from the ice imprisoning her beneath the hot spring.

• True Person Yuling offered Chen Sanshi a way to hide and cultivate in safety, but he refused and vowed to defend the Eastern Continent.
• Chen Sanshi selected Azure Dragon Ridge Scale Gold and the Great Void Star Forging Method at the Treasure Pavilion, then accepted Xu Taisu's Cloud Seal Demon Binding Silk in exchange for possibly repairing a damaged Tier 5 formation someday.
• Chen Sanshi sent his Dragon Abyss Sword and Bright Silver Spear to Zinan for tempering, then cultivated and advanced his alchemy, talisman-drawing, and sword qi skills to Tier 3.
• After learning that the Eastern Continent's 2.6 million troops were heading toward Guangren Dao, Chen Sanshi went to Hundred Flowers Valley and brought the Red Lotus Karmic Fire under control.
• Chen Sanshi discovered Jiang Xiyue beneath the hot spring, where her ice prison was cracking and she was beginning to awaken.

Chen Sanshi entered Myriad Aspect Mountain to search for an Azure Blood Hou and encountered a powerful Green Wood Demon disguised as Dugu Ao. Trapped in the demon’s marsh, Chen Sanshi threatened it with immortal fire and demanded a piece of Essence Wood.

• Chen Sanshi sent Qingniao and Baiyu to search for rare wood while he followed signs of the Azure Blood Hou to Thousand Snake Pool.
• A false Dugu Ao led Chen Sanshi deeper into the marsh, but Chen Sanshi spotted inconsistencies and smashed the illusion with the Sky Fiend Cauldron.
• The Green Wood Demon revealed itself and attacked Chen Sanshi with its vast network of demonic trees and roots, blocking his escape.
• Chen Sanshi realized the demon was a transformed great demon and used fire arts to defend himself, but could not escape its territory.
• Chen Sanshi revealed a trace of Upper Realm Immortal Fire and demanded Essence Wood, warning that he would burn the demon’s main body.
• Chen Sanshi surrounded the Green Wood Demon with Law-Devouring Cicadas coated in immortal treasure lamp oil and threatened to make them self-destruct.