Chapter Summaries

Xu Kun offered the Demon Sound Race a place alongside humanity, and Mo Chou agreed to persuade his people to join, though their settlement would require a decision from Lord Tianyan. After Mo Chou left, Xu Kun examined the Netherworld Ghost Fire’s soul-related powers and discovered that Soul Sea Summon had gained a risky way to summon a Netherworld creature to possess him.

• Mo Chou asked whether humanity could protect the Demon Sound Race from the Extermination Order, and Xu Kun said it could not promise safety but would treat them fairly and stand against anyone seeking to wipe them out on Blue Star.
• Xu Kun told Mo Chou that Lord Tianyan would decide how the Demon Sound Race would be settled, and Mo Chou agreed to do his best to persuade his people to join humanity.
• Xu Kun restored Mo Chou’s status as a racial trial participant and appointed another former S-tier participant as guardian of the Ink Jade Mine before Mo Chou left to consult his race.
• Xu Kun studied the Nether Communion trait and concluded that the Gates of the Underworld could summon dangerous Netherworld creatures and should be used cautiously.
• Xu Kun found that Soul Sea Summon had gained Netherworld Sacrifice, which let a creature possess him in battle in exchange for an offering and could drag his soul away if he failed to satisfy it.

Xu Kun examined his gains from fusing with Ma Shan’s Netherworld Ghost Fire and Shen-bao’s mirage bloodline, including his new SSS-tier Illusion-Shattering Divine Eyes. He could not yet use the ghostfire properly, but the chapter left him pondering the connection between his new talent, the Douzhan Martial Saint, and Uncle Yang’s Sky Eye.

• Xu Kun manifested a wisp of Netherworld Ghost Fire and realized its fusion rate would rise once his fire-element abilities recovered.
• Xu Kun checked his Karmic Debt and found that the baleful aura of the sea races had been cleared.
• Xu Kun’s Mirror Flowers, Water Moon talent advanced to SSS-tier and produced the Illusion-Shattering Divine Eyes entry.
• Xu Kun reviewed the talent’s ability to see through disguises, anticipate enemies, intimidate hostile targets, and potentially break restrictions.
• Xu Kun connected Illusion-Shattering Divine Eyes to the Douzhan Martial Saint’s abilities and Uncle Yang’s Sky Eye, then wondered how the two were related.

After absorbing the Netherworld Ghost Fire, Xu Kun learned that Burning Lamp regarded him as his martial nephew and told him to address the person waiting in the Imperial Capital as his future master. When the Demon Sound Race sought refuge with humanity, Burning Lamp decided to visit their territory himself and settle the matter.

• Xu Kun emerged from his ghost-fire absorption and discovered that Burning Lamp had been watching him unseen.
• Burning Lamp told Xu Kun to call him Martial Uncle and confirmed that a junior brother of Yuanshi Tianzun’s lineage was waiting for Xu Kun in the Imperial Capital.
• Xu Kun told Burning Lamp about Mo Chou and the Demon Sound Race’s vote to seek refuge with humanity, and Mo Chou asked him to arrange their settlement with Sky Eye.
• Burning Lamp chose to visit the Demon Sound Race’s territory in person, and Xu Kun gave him its location and warned Mo Chou to prepare for his arrival.
• Burning Lamp left Xu Kun a lamp and a scroll as gifts before vanishing.

Xu Kun examined the Spirit Coffin Lamp, a Demi-Supreme Divine Artifact that could nurture souls, and agreed to let Thor live inside it in exchange for helping restore Thor’s divine soul. He then discovered that Burning Lamp had also left him the Life-Death Talisman, a vicious hidden weapon technique that inflicted escalating pain without causing damage.

• Xu Kun lit the Spirit Coffin Lamp with Netherworld Ghost Fire and found that it could collect remnant souls, nurture souls, and protect them, while its light resonated with the Book of Life and Death.
• Thor admitted his damaged soul was complete and asked to move from Járngreipr into the lamp, promising to serve Xu Kun and help protect humanity if Xu Kun helped restore him.
• Thor explained that he could regain life through a suitable Dao body and identified the body of Dao Thunder Celestial Venerable as a candidate; Xu Kun agreed to seek it out later.
• Xu Kun opened the Spirit Coffin Lamp and let Thor move into it, then examined Burning Lamp’s scroll and learned the Life-Death Talisman technique inflicted cycles of escalating pain on its victims.

After leaving Yuanjue Cave, Xu Kun fell through a restriction and landed on Mount Lingjiu, where the Thirty-Six Caves and Seventy-Two Islands were attacking the palace. Plumsword, Zhu Jian, and their sisters rescued him and led the retreat toward Lingjiu Palace, but Old Wu and his reinforcements caught up as they crossed a dangerous chain bridge.

• Xu Kun learned the Life-Death Talisman techniques and recipes, then discovered he had been isolated atop Yuanjue Cave for two days and two nights.
• Thor told Xu Kun to let a restriction carry him down, and he landed on Misty Peak on Mount Lingjiu among Old Wu and the other attackers.
• Old Wu accused Xu Kun of helping a little monk who had taken away the Child Granny, and his group turned hostile after Xu Kun mentioned Sangtugong.
• Plumsword and Zhu Jian rescued Xu Kun from Old Wu's attack and brought him to Lan Jian and the surviving women of the Nine Heavens Nine Divisions.
• Xu Kun used his Dragon Binding Cord to save a woman who fell from the flight-ban bridge, then threw it out again as Old Wu and his reinforcements pursued them across the swaying chains.

Xu Kun helped the women of Lingjiu Palace escape across the iron chain bridge, then narrowly survived Old Wu and the attacking Cave Lords and Island Lords. After the women recognized his Life-Death Talisman and mistook his claim to have come from the heavens as proof he was a Holy Envoy, they begged him to save Lingjiu Palace before its formation failed.

• Xu Kun flung the Lingjiu Palace women across the bridge, but Cave Lord An used wind to send him falling as Old Wu pursued him.
• Plumsword and the other women cut the bridge, but Old Wu caught the chains in his jaws and pulled them taut, allowing the Cave Lords and Island Lords to advance again.
• Xu Kun climbed along the cliff, used the Dragon Binding Cord to swing toward the palace, and fell into the arms of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum.
• Cheng Qingshuang led the survivors into Lingjiu Palace and activated its grand formation while Plumsword explained that most members and leaders of the Eight Heavens Eight Divisions had died.
• Xu Kun revealed that he could condense a Life-Death Talisman, claimed he had come from the heavens, and was welcomed as the Holy Envoy.
• Old Wu threatened the women outside the formation, and Cheng Qingshuang asked Xu Kun to save Lingjiu Palace before the formation's one-day limit expired.

Xu Kun learned that Tianshan Child Granny had been taken toward Western Xia and that Lingjiu Palace faced a siege by Old Wu, the Cave Lords and Island Lords, and three powerful outsiders. Zhuo Bufan shattered Lingjiu Palace’s protective formation with a Saint-level sword strike, leaving the palace’s defenders exposed.

• Plumsword told Xu Kun that Tianshan Child Granny had been abducted during her recovery and had fled toward Western Xia with a little monk.
• Granny Yu explained that the Western Xia imperial consort, a Demi-Saint and enemy of Child Granny, had incited the rebellion against Lingjiu Palace.
• Zhuo Bufan, Jiao King Buping Daoren, and Cui Lvhua joined the attackers, each revealing a different reason for opposing Child Granny and Lingjiu Palace.
• Granny Yu and the other defenders agreed to prioritize getting Xu Kun out if the formation fell, while Xu Kun searched for a way to stop the attackers.
• Zhuo Bufan gathered the attackers’ weapons into his giant sword dharma form and unleashed his Invincible Sword Domain, breaking Lingjiu Palace’s formation.

Xu Kun immersed himself in meditation while Lingjiu Palace's defenders fought to hold back Buping Daoren, Cui Lvhua, Old Wu, and the invading forces. As the defenders were overwhelmed and Xu Kun remained out of the battle, his voice finally stopped the fighting and gave the wounded women hope.

• Xu Kun closed his eyes and asked the women to buy him time, while Granny Yu ordered the defenders to protect him as the enemy broke through the gate.
• Granny Yu used her speed and frost techniques to hold off Buping Daoren, but he summoned his Emperor Realm Avatar and crushed her in his claw.
• Cui Lvhua wounded Cheng Qingshuang, Fu Minyi, and Sister Shi, and Sister Shi died saving Cheng Qingshuang from a flying blade.
• Cheng Qingshuang took pills and unleashed a powerful ice attack, but Cui Lvhua survived by using her Hibiscus Flower Avatar, and Fu Minyi rescued Cheng Qingshuang from the counterattack.
• Old Wu struggled against Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum until Cui Lvhua struck the four sisters and shattered their domains, while Ha Daba slaughtered Lingjiu Palace's weaker defenders.
• Xu Kun spoke, making the assembled experts stop and drawing joyful reactions from Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum, Cheng Qingshuang, and Fu Minyi.

Xu Kun used Netherworld Sacrifice and arrived in the Underworld, where the Earth God of Mount Lingjiu guided him through a ghost market to the Platform of Nostalgia. Seeking a powerful soul to summon, Xu Kun headed for the Offering Altar and plunged into a crowd of enraged ghosts with the frightened Earth God.

• Xu Kun activated Netherworld Sacrifice and met the Earth God of Mount Lingjiu, who asked him for a spirit-stone tip before offering help.
• Xu Kun paid the Earth God an S-Tier Spirit Stone, and the Earth God took him through a ghost market to the Platform of Nostalgia.
• The Earth God explained that the Platform held human souls with their memories intact and described the souls' power levels and summoning costs.
• Xu Kun asked for a Saint-tier expert, but the Earth God said none could be found there and pointed out an Offering Altar that could summon experts below the Saint tier.
• Xu Kun insisted on reaching the Offering Altar, grabbed the Earth God when he hesitated, and ran into a crowd of ghosts that surrounded them.

Xu Kun reached the Offering Altar on the Platform of Nostalgia and used an S-Tier Spirit Stone to summon Emperor Realm ghosts willing to fight for offerings. He chose the powerful ghost Fan Kuai, paid him ten spirit stones, and prepared to take him along for a ten-minute battle.

• Xu Kun used the Book of Life and Death to scatter the ghosts blocking the mountain path, then put it away after the Mount Lingjiu Earth Deity warned it could attract powerful enemies.
• Xu Kun drove off the remaining ghosts with the Soul-Reaping Judge's Brush and escorted the Mount Lingjiu Earth Deity up to the Platform of Nostalgia.
• The Mount Lingjiu Earth Deity explained that the Offering Altar delivered offerings from the living to ghosts and that Xu Kun could use it to summon a powerful fighter.
• Xu Kun placed an S-Tier Spirit Stone on the altar, summoning more than thirty Emperor Realm ghosts who offered to fight for him.
• Xu Kun selected the Level 59, Rank 9 Max-Level Emperor Realm ghost Fan Kuai and agreed to pay ten spirit stones for ten minutes of battle because Xu Kun's soul could not support him longer.

Xu Kun summoned Emperor Realm ghost Fan Kuai’s power and fought Old Wu, Buping Daoren, and Cui Lvhua at Lingjiu Palace. As Fan Kuai struggled to defeat the last two opponents before his borrowed power ran out, Xu Kun said he had a way to deal with them.

• Fan Kuai possessed Xu Kun and lent him his Max-Level Emperor Realm strength, allowing Xu Kun to summon the Berserk Butcher avatar.
• Xu Kun fought Old Wu, Buping Daoren, and Cui Lvhua, but the three Emperor Realm experts began to suppress him.
• Fan Kuai took control of Xu Kun’s body and fought the three with the Dog-Butchering Saber Technique, driving Old Wu and Cui Lvhua back.
• The Life-Death Talismans afflicted Old Wu and the other Cave Lords and Island Lords, leaving them writhing in pain.
• Buping Daoren and Cui Lvhua realized Fan Kuai’s power was borrowed and tried to stall him, but Xu Kun said he had a way to deal with them.

Xu Kun and Fan Kuai destroyed their Dharma Avatars to cripple Buping Daoren and Cui Lvhua, allowing Xu Kun to bind them and plant Life-Death Talismans. Xu Kun then confronted Zhuo Bufan and began fighting the Emperor Realm expert with his own techniques.

• Xu Kun told Fan Kuai to destroy both enemy Dharma Avatars, and Fan Kuai embraced Buping Daoren and Cui Lvhua before making their avatars explode in midair.
• Xu Kun caught himself with his phoenix wings, bound Cui Lvhua with the Dragon Binding Cord, and pinned Buping Daoren with the Judge's Soul-Reaping Brush.
• Xu Kun planted a Wind Power Life-Death Talisman in Buping Daoren and an earth-element Life-Death Talisman in Cui Lvhua as she regained consciousness.
• Zhuo Bufan attacked Xu Kun, who revealed that he had planted Life-Death Talismans in Buping Daoren and Cui Lvhua.
• Xu Kun used Void Severance to break Zhuo Bufan's domain and wound him, then immobilized him with Trampling Strike and unleashed Blade Storm amid black foul winds.

Xu Kun defeated and captured Zhuo Bufan after a brutal battle, saving Lingjiu Palace. Fan Kuai prepared to leave after giving Xu Kun a summoning altar, then asked him to question Liu Bang about whether he had once intended to kill him.

• Xu Kun completely suppressed Zhuo Bufan in combat and forced the Emperor Realm swordsman to kneel.
• Xu Kun ordered Zhuo Bufan bound rather than killed, then walked back toward Lingjiu Palace as the others endured the Life-Death Talisman.
• Fan Kuai praised Xu Kun, waived the fee for any future assistance, and gave him an Offering Altar for summoning ghosts in the world of the living.
• Fan Kuai advised Xu Kun to bargain over spirit stones and warned him not to summon him again for a month while his soul recovered.
• Fan Kuai asked Xu Kun to ask his elder brother, the Han Emperor Liu Bang, whether he had ever intended to kill him.

Xu Kun dealt with the aftermath of Lingjiu Palace’s crisis, but his use of Netherworld Sacrifice and the Illusion-Shattering Divine Eyes left him weakened. The surviving divisions reunited, and when Xu Kun revealed his name and Haotian Pagoda ID, the women discovered that their revered Kun God was Xu Kun himself.

• Xu Kun recovered from his daze after Fan Kuai returned to the Netherworld, then nearly collapsed from the backlash of his abilities and took the throne in Lingjiu Palace.
• The women brought Old Wu, Ha Daba, Zhuo Bufan, Buping Daoren, Cui Lvhua, and the other captured conspirators before Xu Kun, while Cheng Qingshuang called for their execution.
• Sister Shi returned alive, and the other Lingjiu Palace divisions crossed back to reunite with their sisters and mourn the fallen.
• The women split into two groups arguing over whether Xu Kun or the Kun God deserved greater gratitude, and Cheng Qingshuang asked Xu Kun his name.
• Xu Kun revealed his name and Haotian Pagoda ID as Kun, leaving the Lingjiu Palace women and the captured men stunned.

Xu Kun revealed his identity and judged both Lingjiu Palace and its attackers, rejecting coercion and the slaughter of innocents. He offered to remove the Life-Death Talismans and asked Old Wu whether he would accept.

• Old Wu and the other attackers realized Xu Kun had come from above the firmament and bowed to him, while Lingjiu Palace celebrated his victory.
• Zhuo Bufan and Cui Lvhua admitted their mistakes and offered to accept punishment.
• Xu Kun acknowledged why the Thirty-Six Caves and Seventy-Two Islands had attacked, but condemned their killing of Lingjiu Palace’s women.
• Xu Kun explained that the Western Xia Tribe had engineered the conflict and said he opposed using Life-Death Talismans to force obedience.
• Xu Kun resolved to follow the King's Path and offered to remove the Life-Death Talismans, asking Old Wu if he was willing to obey.

Xu Kun promised the Mount Lingjiu forces relief from their Life-Death Talismans and used Yang Meridian Pills to win their trust. After helping Old Wu and the others, he turned to Zhuo Bufan and offered him a chance to choose his own course.

• Old Wu and the Mount Lingjiu forces pledged to follow Xu Kun if he could remove their Life-Death Talismans, and Xu Kun said Tianshan Child Granny or another person could do so.
• Xu Kun reassured the Lingjiu Palace maids, asked Plumsword to retrieve the stored pills, and sorted the Yang Meridian Pills from the Yin Bone Pills.
• Xu Kun released Old Wu, the Island Lords, Cave Lords, and their subordinates after they swore loyalty, then gave them Yang Meridian Pills to suppress their talisman pain.
• Xu Kun gave Buping Daoren and Cui Lvhua Yang Meridian Pills, then told Zhuo Bufan he would offer him a choice.

Xu Kun learned that Tianshan Child Granny was fighting Li Qiushui near the Qilian Mountains and flew to rescue her. He found the battle already raging, with Child Granny burning her origin to fight back against Li Qiushui’s Little Phaseless Avatar.

• Zhuo Bufan agreed to fight Tianshan Child Granny fairly and avoid harming innocents, so Xu Kun released him and his companions and promised to remove the Life-Death Talismans.
• A Luantian Division scout reported that Li Qiushui and Tianshan Child Granny were battling near the Qilian Mountains, while Xixia First-Rank Hall had also mobilized.
• Xu Kun sent Lingjiu Palace’s uninjured members to support the search and contain Xixia First-Rank Hall, then flew toward the Qilian Mountains alone.
• Xu Kun reached the battlefield and saw Li Qiushui’s Little Phaseless Avatar overpowering the weakened Tianshan Child Granny.
• Tianshan Child Granny burned her origin, summoned her lotus-seat avatar, and snapped one of Li Qiushui’s avatar’s arms.

Xu Kun witnessed Tianshan Child Granny and Li Qiushui fight to mutual devastation, ending in an explosion that nearly killed him. He found them alive amid the ruins, still quarreling over Wu Yazi and trying to recruit a little monk to their side.

• Tianshan Child Granny and Li Qiushui traded powerful techniques until their avatars were badly damaged and the surrounding land lay in ruins.
• Tianshan Child Granny collapsed her Pseudo Saint Domain and let Li Qiushui absorb her power, but Li Qiushui's Little Phaseless Avatar destabilized and exploded.
• Xu Kun fled on his phoenix wings, but the blast destroyed his wings and sent him crashing into the ruins.
• Di Qing countered the battle's shockwaves at Jade Gate Pass and ordered the soldiers to prepare for battle.
• Xu Kun returned to find the injured Tianshan Child Granny and Li Qiushui arguing over the little monk, Meng Gu, and Wu Yazi.
• The little monk declared that Wu Yazi loved his junior sister, making Tianshan Child Granny and Li Qiushui briefly unite to call him a liar.

Xu Kun arrived as Tianshan Child Granny and Li Qiushui lay gravely wounded after their fight, and learned that Wu Yazi had died after leaving behind the Zhenlong Chess Game. When the young monk revealed Wu Yazi’s ring and portrait, Wu Xingyun killed Li Qiushui and demanded to see the scroll.

• Xu Kun stopped Li Qiushui from reaching her sword and shattered the Life-Death Talisman Wu Xingyun fired at him.
• Wu Xingyun revealed that the Vault of Heaven Saint had foretold her calamity and intended for Xu Kun to take charge of Lingjiu Palace if she died.
• The young monk told Wu Xingyun and Li Qiushui that Wu Yazi had died after being poisoned and leaving his inheritance in the Zhenlong Chess Game.
• The young monk showed Wu Yazi’s Seven Treasure Ring and explained that Wu Yazi had left Li Qiushui a portrait because he felt he had wronged her.
• Wu Xingyun struck through Li Qiushui’s body, killing her, then ordered the young monk to put her down so she could inspect the portrait.

Wu Xingyun died after transferring her cultivation and fortune to the little monk, entrusting Lingjiu Palace to Xu Kun. Li Qiushui then revealed that the woman in Wu Yazi’s portrait was her sister Li Canghai, and the poem hidden in the painting began to reveal Wu Yazi’s feelings.

• Wu Xingyun recognized that the woman in the portrait was not Li Qiushui, then used the little monk’s North Sea Divine Art to pass on her power and name him the next sect master of the Free and Unfettered Sect.
• Wu Xingyun died, her remnant soul entered Xu Kun’s Spirit Coffin Lamp, and the little monk gave Xu Kun the Lingjiu Token.
• Li Qiushui revived after faking her death with the Turtle Breath Art and tried to take the portrait from Wu Xingyun’s body.
• Li Qiushui identified the woman in the portrait as her younger sister, Li Canghai, and Xu Kun revealed two lines of hidden poetry on the painting.
• The poetry formed an image of Wu Yazi, moving Li Qiushui to tears as the image began to reveal his true feelings.