Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu tried to dispose of the Heaven-Bearing Gourd while the Qianji Sect searched Qingqiu Mountain for it. As the sect elders inspected the cultivators, Chen Mu discovered the gourd had somehow appeared inside Thousand Lantern City, leaving him with no time to explain its presence.

• Chen Mu abandoned a Stone Gourd four hundred li beneath Qingqiu Mountain, unaware it was the Heaven-Bearing Gourd the Qianji Sect sought.
• The Qianji Sect recovered the Demon Suppressing Needle's core artifact while Chen Mu continued slacking with the Qi Refining cultivators and working on Thousand Lantern City.
• Chen Mu postponed gathering more Demonic Energy Stones until the Qianji Sect elders left, but their search for the missing gourd continued for days.
• The Qianji Sect elders summoned the Qingqiu Mountain cultivators and inspected them with a White Jade Disk, so Chen Mu hid his Five Ghosts Bag inside Thousand Lantern City.
• Chen Mu sensed an immense presence in Thousand Lantern City and found the Stone Gourd among the ruins of a collapsed Wooden Tower as Yan Ming approached.

Chen Mu discovered that the Heaven-Bearing Gourd held Meng Qingchan, a former Qianji Sect High Merit seeking passage to the Outer Heaven Star. After their struggle ended in a stalemate, Meng Qingchan offered to cooperate and tempted him with Qianji Sect secrets, including the Dao Foundation Scripture.

• Chen Mu tried to secretly dispose of the Heaven-Bearing Gourd but found it had vanished and encountered Meng Qingchan, who threatened to kill him if he threw it away.
• Meng Qingchan introduced herself as a former Qianji Sect High Merit who had escaped suppression during the Celestial Change and wanted to leave the sect at the Outer Heaven Star.
• Chen Mu attacked the gourd with his Flood Dragon, Moon Blade, and Kuishui Yinlei, then burned away the Green Worm Gu Poison controlling him.
• Meng Qingchan resisted Chen Mu's Seven Emotions Flame with the gourd's defenses and said neither of them could force the other to comply.
• Meng Qingchan proposed cooperation and offered to share Qianji Sect inheritances, including the Artifact Creation Pivot and Dao Foundation Scripture.

Chen Mu accepted Meng Qingchan’s Jade Cicada Secret Manual in exchange for sheltering her, but suspected it was flawed and held off on cultivating it. After Meng Qingchan tampered with the Cave Heaven’s Shadow Pupil, Chen Mu used his Nightmare Victory Curse Method to threaten her into keeping quiet, and she offered to revise the manual after admitting she had deliberately left something out.

• Meng Qingchan offered Chen Mu the Jade Cicada Secret Manual in exchange for shelter in his Cave Heaven, and he agreed but failed to secure a contract with her.
• Chen Mu studied the manual, learned it could transform his Mud Ball Jade Seed into a Primordial Spirit Dao Seed, and decided to wait before cultivating it.
• While Chen Mu worked at Qingqiu Mountain, the Qianji Sect Elders completed the core of the Magical Prohibition and later departed to establish protections elsewhere.
• Chen Mu sensed Meng Qingchan tampering with the Shadow Pupil and rebuked her, then discovered his Nightmare Victory Curse Method had injured her Spirit God.
• Meng Qingchan promised to avoid exposing herself, then asked Chen Mu for the Jade Cicada Secret Manual so she could correct an omission she had deliberately made.

Chen Mu studied the complete Jade Cicada Dao Foundation Diagram but chose not to cultivate it until he reached the Qianji Sect, while preparations continued to send Dao Soldiers to the front lines. After arriving at the Diyin Sect, he learned that the Qianji Sect would screen everyone with a Bone-Illuminating Mirror before they entered the Heavenly Gate, and he feared it would expose the Heaven-Bearing Gourd.

• Chen Mu compared the complete Jade Cicada Dao Foundation Diagram with his Yin Spirit Embryo, recognized how their paths resembled one another, and decided not to trust the diagram enough to cultivate it yet.
• At Qingqiu Mountain, Mou Lian oversaw the Dao Soldier Contract ceremony, where Hu Buwei and Lu Han signed on as Taoshan Temple divided the Hundred Illusions Sect's Dao Merit shares.
• Chen Mu watched the ceremony and considered the growing power of his Tribulation Splitting Art, then planned to buy Five Aggregates Peaches before leaving Qingqiu Mountain.
• More than ten days later, Chen Mu arrived with Lu Han and the other Dao Soldiers at the Diyin Sect in Haizhou and learned they would travel to the Heavenly Gate by Shrink Ground and Move Form.
• Lu Han warned Chen Mu that the Qianji Sect would use Luofu Dao's Spirit-Connecting Bone-Illuminating Mirror to check for Demon remnants, and Chen Mu feared it was meant to detect the Heaven-Bearing Gourd.

Chen Mu and Taoshan Temple arrived at Qianji Sect’s lavish Market, where he learned that Luofu Dao’s Spirit-Connecting Bone-Illuminating Mirror might expose hidden Demons. Worried about the mirror, he hid Meng Qingchan’s Heaven-Bearing Gourd beneath layers of Demonic Energy Stone and Breath-Sealing Stones, while still suggesting that killing her might be safer.

• Hu Buwei and Nine Heads planned to shift suspicion onto Chen Mu, while Chen Mu independently considered framing Hu Buwei with Green Worm Gu Poison.
• Chen Mu and Taoshan Temple entered the Five Directions Inn and discovered that its courtyard opened into a vast Cave Heaven created with the Thousand Mile Household Law.
• Chen Mu questioned Meng Qingchan about whether the Bone-Illuminating Mirror could detect them and proposed killing her so her Heaven-Bearing Gourd could serve as a decoy, but she threatened to expose him.
• Chen Mu listened to rumors about the mirror and the evil cultivators it had already uncovered, growing increasingly uneasy.
• Chen Mu buried Meng Qingchan’s Heaven-Bearing Gourd beneath Demonic Energy Stone and Breath-Sealing Stones inside Thousand Lantern City Cave Heaven, then suggested that killing her would make them safer.

Chen Mu learned that Lü Yue may have orchestrated the Green Worm Gu disaster in Haizhou while preparing to hunt Meng Qingchan. Alarmed by the danger around Diyin Sect, he decided to abandon his plan to travel to the Heavenly Gate Star and seek another path.

• Diyin Sect hosted Haizhou Dao Soldiers and began rebuilding the Heavenly Gate Altar as Lü Yue prepared to screen them for Meng Qingchan.
• Chen Mu saw Qianji Sect’s damaged Warrior Dao Soldiers and resolved to kill Meng Qingchan once his Nightmare Victory Curse Method was perfected.
• Lü Yue learned that most Heaven-Bearing Gourds had been recovered and ordered a search for Meng Qingchan, suspecting she had manipulated him in the past.
• Meng Qingchan told Chen Mu that Lü Yue possessed her Plague Immortal Banner and may have caused the Green Worm Gu Poison disaster in Haizhou.
• Fearing Lü Yue’s power and the danger of remaining near Haizhou, Chen Mu chose not to go to the Heavenly Gate Star and considered traveling to Qiongzhou instead.

After Meng Qingchan revealed that reading the Jade Cicada Secret Manual had marked Chen Mu’s Jade Seed and made him vulnerable to Lü Yue, Chen Mu used the Seven Emotions Flame against her, but she dispersed into the Heaven-Bearing Gourd. Three days later, Chen Mu passed through the Heavenly Gate to Heavenly Gate Star without being detected.

• Meng Qingchan told Chen Mu that the Jade Cicada Secret Manual was transforming his Jade Seed and urged him to flee to Outer Heaven Star before Lü Yue discovered him.
• Chen Mu found a golden pattern inside his Jade Seed and attacked Meng Qingchan with the Nightmare Victory Curse Method and Seven Emotions Flame.
• Meng Qingchan turned to ash and warned Chen Mu that Plague Immortal Banners made escape through Haizhou impossible; Chen Mu realized she had manipulated him into leaving.
• Three days later, Chen Mu joined Lu Han and the others at Fuyang Mountain as the Heavenly Gate appeared, then passed its inspection without being detected.
• Chen Mu arrived on Heavenly Gate Star, saw its busy streets, and finally relaxed.

Chen Mu arrived safely at Heavenly Gate Star and secured a quiet room in Heavenly Pass City. He decided to cultivate the Jade Cicada Secret Manual while keeping Meng Qingchan and his secrets hidden, and planned to lie low until his Dao Foundation cultivation progressed.

• Chen Mu bribed the bald registrar for a better room, received supplies, and settled into East Wing Sixteen.
• After hearing the other Dao Soldiers discuss earning Dao Merit, Chen Mu considered how to establish himself at the Qianji Sect.
• Chen Mu checked Thousand Lantern City Cave Heaven and worried about Meng Qingchan’s recovery and the risk of her Qi Mechanism leaking out.
• Chen Mu examined his Jade Seed and confirmed the golden pattern from the Jade Cicada Secret Manual had not changed.
• Chen Mu used the Gray Wall to verify the manual’s entry and resolved to cultivate it, reasoning that its feedback would counter Meng Qingchan’s tampering.
• Chen Mu decided to hide among the other Dao Soldiers for now and make further plans after his Dao Foundation cultivation settled in.

Chen Mu attended Demon Slaying Alley lectures to learn about Outer Realm Demons and began reshaping his Jade Seed with Innate Qi to establish his Dao Foundation. He continued studying demon dissection by day and cultivating in Jiwei Courtyard by night.

• Chen Mu used the Three Yin Slaying Demon Technique to secretly bypass a Hook-beaked White Jade Snake’s Qi Mechanism, then pretended he could not dissect it.
• Chen Mu decided to keep attending Demon Slaying Alley lectures because they taught him about Outer Realm Demons and how to skin and dismantle them.
• Chen Mu reversed the River Chariot Divine Aperture, refined his Dharma power into nine streams of Innate Qi, and began reshaping his Jade Seed with the Jade Cicada Secret Manual.
• Chen Mu spent the following days memorizing demon traits and dissection methods at the lectures, then cultivated his Dao Foundation at night.

Chen Mu secretly cultivated the Jade Cicada Secret Manual while pretending to work at Xin Si Courtyard, then discovered that its teachings contained omissions and noticed his cultivation had left him visibly haggard. The chapter ended with him wondering when he had become so worn out.

• Chen Mu passed Steward Wu's test by skinning and dismantling a Hook-beaked White Jade Snake, earning a job at Xin Si Courtyard.
• Chen Mu used the work to conceal his cultivation, spending his free time reshaping the Jade Seed with Innate Qi.
• Chen Mu gained new Jade Cicada Secret Manual insights and realized Meng Qingchan had omitted details that could pose a hidden danger.
• Chen Mu spoke with Zhong Qing, who described exhausting work and warned Chen Mu not to damage his vital energy.
• Chen Mu saw his pale face and dark circles in the Fine Jade Window and was shocked by how haggard he looked.

Chen Mu recovered from vitality depletion caused by overusing Jade Seed Reshaping, then set limits on his cultivation and searched for affordable beast meat to replenish his supplies. At Demon Slaying Alley, he considered using the flesh of an Outer Realm Demon despite its dangerous Demon Poison.

• Chen Mu recognized that repeatedly exhausting and restoring his mana had depleted his vitality, so he stopped cultivating and recovered with rest, wine, soup, and pills.
• After his health returned, Chen Mu planned a controlled Jade Seed Reshaping regimen and reflected on Heavenly Gate Star’s unusual sky and the dangers of its other stars.
• Chen Mu found that beast meat in Heavenly Pass City was too expensive for his needs and decided to seek cheaper supplies in Demon Slaying Alley.
• After testing his limits, Chen Mu determined that he could safely Reverse Refine Innate Qi up to twelve times a day, though the outer city’s Earth Spirit Vital Qi allowed only five daytime sessions.
• Chen Mu examined the Hook-beaked White Jade Snake flesh in his work bucket and considered using it despite the Demon Poison in Outer Realm Demon meat.

Chen Mu failed to remove Demon Poison from White Jade Snake meat and learned that only the Southern Bright Lihuo Flame could purge it. After adjusting his cultivation and worrying about dwindling resources, he discovered that the Heaven-Bearing Gourd could produce Spirit Nurturing Wine in the Bottomless Pool, giving him a new source of nourishment.

• Chen Mu fed White Jade Snake meat to three Poison Dragon Scorpions, but each became violent and died, even after he tried treating the meat with Return Vitality Soup and the Bottomless Pool.
• Chen Mu asked Steward Wu how to remove Demon Poison, and Steward Wu told him only the Southern Bright Lihuo Flame in the Tian Gong Furnace could purge it.
• Chen Mu replaced Demon meat with Essence Pills, self-refined Foundation Cultivation Pills, and Golden Yuan Grain, but he had to pause cultivating his Heavenly Demon Body and worried his resources would last only a year.
• Chen Mu realized the Heaven-Bearing Gourd might contain a Demon's flesh-and-blood essence and placed it in the Bottomless Pool.
• Chen Mu used the Nine Revolutions Spirit Nurturing Spell and successfully produced Spirit Nurturing Wine from the Heaven-Bearing Gourd, then welcomed Meng Qingchan's continued stay in Thousand Lantern City.

On Heavenly Gate Star, Chen Mu used the Heaven-Bearing Gourd’s seemingly inexhaustible vital energy to advance his cultivation and sought more ways to exploit it before Meng Qingchan revived or left Thousand Lantern City. At Demon Slaying Alley, he handled an unusually slippery Hook-beaked White Jade Snake with his strengthened Ten Directions Hand and concealed his ability from Steward Wu.

• Chen Mu credited Meng Qingchan’s Heaven-Bearing Gourd with helping his Jade Cicada Secret Manual and Jade Seed Reshaping advance, then used extracted divine power to nourish his Heavenly Demon Body.
• Steward Wu assigned Chen Mu fifteen Hook-beaked White Jade Snakes instead of thirteen, promising ten Dao Merit each day, and Chen Mu agreed to the increased workload.
• A giant Hook-beaked White Jade Snake escaped its partitioned room, and Steward Wu leapt into action to subdue it.
• Chen Mu discovered that another snake in his bucket was playing dead and killed it with a blow from his Tier 3 Ten Directions Hand before Steward Wu noticed.
• Chen Mu considered practicing the Giant Spirit Mysterious Art and feeding the Five Ghosts Bag more blood and flesh essence so he could use the Heaven-Bearing Gourd’s vital energy before Meng Qingchan revived or left Thousand Lantern City.

Lü Yue pressed Lan Xiuzhu to send more Dao Soldiers to the front, while Chen Mu avoided the recruitment drive on Bian She Star to keep his Jade Cicada Secret Manual hidden. After more than two months of steady cultivation, Chen Mu advanced the Giant Spirit Secret Technique to Tier 9 and discovered that its Giant Spirit God had become a tangible, power-granting artifact.

• Lü Yue ordered Lan Xiuzhu to deploy more Dao Soldiers and continue the offensive against the Demons of Jiao Su Ninety-Five Stars.
• Chen Mu learned that Lü Yue was recruiting Dao Soldiers for Bian She Star, but decided not to enlist because confronting Lü Yue would endanger him.
• Zhong Qing chose to join the recruitment drive to earn Dao Merit, while Chen Mu continued working in Demon Slaying Alley and secretly cultivating.
• As the war intensified, Chen Mu processed more Hook-beaked White Jade Snakes each day and steadily advanced his Jade Seed Reshaping.
• Chen Mu's Giant Spirit Secret Technique reached Tier 9, and he found that the once-illusory Giant Spirit God had become a tangible artifact that continuously strengthened him.

Chen Mu learned that he and the others in Xin Si Courtyard had been conscripted to Bian She Star, where Lü Yue had once operated, and discovered that Star Lord Jiao Mu could find deserters anywhere on the star. With departure only three days away, Chen Mu decided to rush his Jade Cicada Secret Manual toward Tier 4 and considered using the Soul Seizing Yuan Returning Technique on his own Heavenly Demon Body to replenish his vitality.

• Steward Wu told Chen Mu that everyone in Xin Si Courtyard had been ordered to Bian She Star and warned that Star Lord Jiao Mu could track down deserters.
• At Hundred Herbs Tower, Chen Mu learned that the conscription was meant to guard reclaimed territory, that most Dao Soldiers from the Eighteen Stars of Heavenly Pass had been mobilized, and that Lü Yue had advanced into the Thirteen Stars of Heavenly Gate.
• Chen Mu heard that Star Lord Jiao Mu had retrieved every deserter and sent them to the frontline Dare-to-Die Camp, so he abandoned his plans to flee.
• Chen Mu resolved to raise his Jade Cicada Secret Manual to Tier 4 before leaving for Bian She Star, despite the severe strain the cultivation would place on his vitality.
• Chen Mu considered using the Soul Seizing Yuan Returning Technique to draw vitality from his own Heavenly Demon Body and accelerate his cultivation.

Chen Mu traveled from Heavenly Pass City to Tian Gong Camp on Bian She Star, where he began working in the Demon Dissolution Department and settled into a Green Jade Snail Shell residence. With Lü Yue absent and the camp relatively safe, he focused on recovering his vital energy and preparing to continue reforging his Jade Seed.

• Chen Mu finished raising the Jade Cicada Secret Manual to the fourth layer after three sleepless days, but depleted his vital energy and dimmed the Divine Embryo pearl in his Heavenly Demon Body.
• Chen Mu received his departure route through his yellow jade identity token and passed through the Heavenly Gate from Heavenly Pass City to Bian She Star.
• Tian Gong Camp assigned Chen Mu to process Hook-beaked White Jade Snakes for two days before he reached his Green Jade Snail Shell residence and slept.
• Chen Mu settled into a routine at the Demon Dissolution Department and learned that Lü Yue and his Black Armored Warriors had left Bian She Star.
• Chen Mu examined the golden Innate Qi produced by reforging his Jade Seed and discovered that his True Hearing range had expanded from twenty li to thirty li.

Chen Mu resumed cultivating his Dao Foundation after recovering at Bian She Star, where he judged his work and surroundings suitable for steady progress. Meanwhile, Lü Yue secretly completed Plague Immortal Formations across the Thirteen Stars of Heavenly Gate and prepared to use them to refine demons’ Origin Spirits.

• Chen Mu watched demon and mutant beast corpses arrive at Tian Gong Camp and carried a basket of them to the Demon Dissolution Department as part of his daily work.
• Chen Mu cleaned himself after work, replenished his vitality, and resumed Jade Seed Reshaping with the Jade Cicada Dao Foundation Diagram.
• Chen Mu concluded that Bian She Star offered a stable environment for cultivation, despite the demands of his Demon Dissolution Department duties.
• Han Ying reported that the Plague Immortal Formations had been set up across the Thirteen Stars of Heavenly Gate and asked whether Lü Yue would inform Elder Lan.
• Lü Yue told Han Ying to continue setting up formations at the Heavenly Pillar Eleven Star, explaining that Star Lord Jiao Mu had allowed the Plague Immortal Banner into the Vital Qi Well.
• Lü Yue anticipated using the Plague Immortal Method to refine demons’ Origin Spirits and cultivate a second Primordial Spirit.

Chen Mu’s cultivation of the Jade Cicada Secret Manual reached the fifth tier, and a Plague Immortal Banner unexpectedly appeared in his golden Qi. Meanwhile, Lü Yue discovered the banners’ cores were gone after he destroyed the Heavenly Gates, trapping the Celestial Stars with the Demons still inside.

• Chen Mu tested how golden sand Qi made two black armor bugs fight and devour each other, then considered learning plague-gu secret arts.
• Lü Yue learned Han Ying had placed all thirty-six Plague Immortal Banners inside the Vital Qi Wells and prepared to seal the Celestial Stars and release the Yellow Millet Plague Toxin.
• Chen Mu examined White Jade Snake meat and detected microscopic life within it, but could not destroy the organisms he suspected caused Demon Poison.
• Chen Mu advanced the Jade Cicada Secret Manual to tier five, and a Plague Immortal Banner emerged from his golden mist.
• Lü Yue destroyed the Heavenly Gates but found the Plague Immortal Banners’ cores missing, leaving the Celestial Stars sealed with Demons still inside, and blamed Meng Qingchan.

Chen Mu feared that Qianji Sect was searching for the Plague Immortal Banner, then learned the Heavenly Gate had been damaged and settled into cultivating on isolated Bian She Star. When Steward Wu and people across the camp suddenly collapsed with eerie smiles, Chen Mu realized the plague toxin had appeared despite the banner being hidden away.

• A Qianji Sect Elder used the Dao Soldier Contract to order everyone back to camp, and Chen Mu suspected the sect was searching for the Plague Immortal Banner.
• Chen Mu hid the banner inside Thousand Lantern City and listened for news, then learned the Heavenly Gate had been damaged rather than that Lü Yue had ordered a search.
• With the gate broken and the mountaintop cultivators occupied repairing it, Chen Mu decided Bian She Star was a safe place to cultivate.
• At the Demon Dissolution Department, Steward Wu demanded that Chen Mu process more demon beasts, and Chen Mu prepared to use the Nightmare Curse on him.
• Steward Wu suddenly collapsed with an eerie smile, and Chen Mu heard people falling throughout the camp as the Yellow Millet Plague Toxin spread.

Chen Mu discovered that Jade Cicada Qi Mechanism let him learn the Plague Immortal Method from the Plague Immortal Banner and began taking control of it. He tested his new ability on Steward Wu, removing a trace of plague aura while keeping him asleep, and left believing he could now resist Lü Yue’s plague toxins.

• On Heavenly Gate Star, Lü Yue explained that his Plague Immortal Formation had put the star’s creatures and Dao Soldiers to sleep, then ordered Han Ying to recover plague toxin pots on another star.
• At Tian Gong Camp on Bian She Star, Chen Mu worried that Lü Yue’s plague toxins threatened him and decided to seize control of the Plague Immortal Banner.
• Chen Mu’s mana and Qianji Talisman Seed passed through the banner, but Golden Sand Jade Cicada Qi made it flutter and transmit fragmentary Incantations.
• After days of feeding the banner Jade Cicada Qi Mechanism, Chen Mu received the Plague Immortal Method and its Plague-Making Gu-Refining Spells.
• Chen Mu used the banner to draw a trace of plague aura from Steward Wu, then suppressed Wu’s awakening with the Nightmare Curse and slipped away.