Recaps

Shen Haoyue and the Pure Yang Sect martial artists formed the Pure Yang Demon Extinction Formation and prepared its strongest sword to kill Lin Bai. Lin Bai readied his sword formations and treasures as the sacred figure drew its blade, leaving the battle on the verge of a decisive clash.

• Shen Haoyue ordered the weakened Pure Yang Sect martial artists to form the Pure Yang Demon Extinction Formation, summoning a towering figure of sacred light.
• Shen Haoyue sensed that the formation could not be maintained for long, so he directed its power toward drawing the sword strapped to the figure's back.
• The formation drained the martial artists until they were reduced to skin and bones, but they continued pouring in their strength to support Shen Haoyue's attack.
• Lin Bai recalled his seven flying swords, raised the Taiji Two Forms Sword Formation as a defense, and judged the drawn sword a threat to his life.
• The sacred figure fully drew its sword and unleashed its mighty force against Lin Bai, who drew the demon sword and Heaven Measuring Ruler and released azure sword intent.

Lin Bai survived the Pure Yang Demon Extinction Formation’s sword and pressed Shen Haoyue to fight, while the Pure Yang Sect martial artists scattered to flee. Lin Bai pursued Shen Haoyue as Yi Wanyuan joined the chase, leaving the other fugitives hunted by Lin Bai’s flying swords.

• Lin Bai emerged with a severe shoulder wound but intact vitals after the formation’s sword shattered the Sea God Pearl’s defenses.
• Shen Haoyue ordered the Pure Yang Sect martial artists to scatter and flee, then escaped in another direction.
• Lin Bai sent his five flying swords after the fleeing martial artists and pursued Shen Haoyue himself.
• Shen Haoyue considered risking his life with his remaining treasures, but Lin Bai refused to let him go.
• Yi Wanyuan pursued Shen Haoyue, while Lin Bai’s sword qi struck down a fleeing Pure Yang Sect martial artist.

Shen Haoyue used forbidden pills to transform into a powerful four-armed monster and attacked Lin Bai’s Flying Sword. The Flying Sword was badly wounded, while more Lin Bais returned to the battle.

• Shen Haoyue swallowed dozens of forbidden pills, recovering his strength and transforming into a towering, four-armed monster.
• Shen Haoyue charged the Flying Sword, battered aside its Mount Tai Sword and Overlord Sky Halberd, and shattered its sword-light mountain and Sea God Pearl barrier.
• Shen Haoyue struck the Flying Sword in the chest, breaking much of its breastbone and making it spit blood.
• Shen Haoyue noticed that only one Lin Bai had returned and taunted him about the missing junior brothers and sisters.
• Two more Lin Bais arrived beside Lin Bai as the Flying Sword’s mastery of the Flying Sword Dao advanced.

Lin Bai fought the fiendish Shen Haoyue and realized the Lin Bai potion sustaining his strength would eventually fade. After his four flying swords returned, Lin Bai abandoned his unfinished Azure Lotus Sword Intent and unleashed his own Crimson Lotus Sword Intent, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Shen Haoyue battered Lin Bai with four fists, sending him flying despite his defense with the Heaven Measuring Ruler.
• Lin Bai used the Chaotic Seven Elements Sword Formation to evade Shen Haoyue and noticed that sword strikes had cracked Shen Haoyue’s skin and drawn inky-green blood.
• Lin Bai deduced that Shen Haoyue was attacking frantically because the Lin Bai potion’s effects would not last, but worried that waiting for them to fade could leave him weakened and unable to escape.
• Lin Bai’s four flying swords returned, and he considered how the Crimson Lotus Sword Immortal’s freewheeling sword inheritance did not suit him.
• Lin Bai replaced the Azure Lotus Sword Intent with his own Crimson Lotus Sword Intent and launched a scarlet strike at Shen Haoyue.

Lin Bai relentlessly attacked Shen Haoyue as the forbidden pill’s power waned, destroying his body and pursuing his escaping soul. Shen Haoyue’s remnant soul was trapped by Lin Bai’s seven flying swords, leaving him unable to escape.

• Shen Haoyue used a jade pendant to block Lin Bai’s sword strikes while the Reverse Seven Elements Sword Formation battered him.
• Lin Bai struck Shen Haoyue with the Heaven Measuring Ruler, smashing him into a massive pit as his forbidden pill’s power faded.
• Lin Bai destroyed Shen Haoyue’s physical body, but Shen Haoyue’s soul escaped as a streak of white light.
• Lin Bai sent his seven flying swords after Shen Haoyue’s remnant soul and sealed it within their formation.

Pure Yang Sect warriors found Shen Haoyue dead at the battlefield and began searching for his killer. Lin Bai returned to Azure Lotus Sect, where Pure Yang Sect had already launched an assault.

• Pure Yang Sect warriors arrived at the ruined battlefield and discovered Shen Haoyue's headless corpse.
• Prince Qin and the old man recognized Shen Haoyue and examined the crimson sword intent on his neck, suspecting a sword cultivator from outside the territory.
• Bo Guangxiang arrived and told the Pure Yang Sect warriors that Shen Haoyue had sent a rescue request, prompting them to search the surrounding area for the killer.
• Bo Guangxiang escaped the search and headed toward Azure Lotus Sect while the Pure Yang Sect warriors dealt with Shen Haoyue's corpse.
• Lin Bai returned to Azure Lotus Sect and found its defenses breached, its city ablaze, and its warriors fighting Pure Yang Sect forces.

After Shen Haoyue’s death, Li Siyuan identified Prince Qin as the likely killer while Pure Yang Sect’s young master welcomed the chance to become the next saint. Lin Bai learned through a captive’s memories that the Four Gloom Demon Palace had secretly mobilized forces to attack Ning'an City, and he watched the invasion begin.

• Li Siyuan concluded that Prince Qin had killed Shen Haoyue, and the young master in embroidered robes revealed that he expected to become Pure Yang Sect’s next saint.
• The young master in embroidered robes discussed the battle with Ning'an City and the beast-skin martial artist, who said the Northern Region forces were ready to join the fighting.
• Lin Bai captured a white-robed martial artist near Ning'an City and used Soul Search to learn that his lineage served the Four Gloom Demon Palace and had been ordered to gather there.
• The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace ordered the assembled white-robed forces to attack Ning'an City, whose protective formation then shattered from within.
• White-robed martial artists poured through the breach and began slaughtering the city’s inhabitants as its defenders fought back, while Lin Bai concealed himself and watched.

Lin Bai realized that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had launched a surprise attack on Ning'an while the main forces were occupied at the Mutian Plains. Pill Pavilion infiltrated Lin Bai City and found it ravaged but not yet fully taken, leaving the defenders to hold out for reinforcements.

• Lin Bai recognized that the attack on Ning'an was part of the wider war and saw that the city was under assault.
• Pill Pavilion headed toward Ning'an, suspecting that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had breached Lin Bai City's formation from within.
• Pill Pavilion disguised himself with a bamboo hat taken from a corpse and slipped into Lin Bai City through the breach.
• Pill Pavilion found martial artists fighting amid smoke and flames, while Ning'an and other key locations remained protected by defensive formations.
• Pill Pavilion concluded that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had not completely seized the city and that its forces needed to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Lin Bai watched the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace fail to break Ning'an's Pill Pavilion Formation until a Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm martial artist arrived and attacked the city. A hidden formation unleashed the Nether Spirit Divine Light, devastating the attackers and revealing that Ning'an's defenses remained formidable.

• Lin Bai watched the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace martial artists attack the Pill Pavilion Formation for hours without breaking it.
• A white-robed Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm martial artist arrived, rebuked the attackers, and struck Ning'an's formation.
• The newcomer tested the formation and identified the Four Deaths Spirit Transformation Formation and its Nether Spirit Divine Light.
• The City Protection Formation unleashed the Nether Spirit Divine Light, killing roughly two-thirds of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace force gathered before Ning'an.
• Lin Bai and the surviving martial artists witnessed the attack's devastating power as the divine light swept across Formation City and dissipated.

The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace launched an internal coup and a forceful assault on the Pill Pavilion’s formation, but Yi Jinyun and the defenders survived the chaos. As the formation began to crack under the attack, the Pill Pavilion acted against the formation’s attackers.

• The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s Palace Darkhold rebelled inside the Pill Pavilion and severely wounded Yi Jinyun, while defenders fought to protect her.
• After several hours, the coup was suppressed and nearly all the Palace Darkhold were killed, thwarting the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm martial artist’s plan to seize the formation core.
• The Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm martial artist ordered fourteen Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artists to use formation flags and elemental forces to batter the Pill Pavilion’s defenses.
• Lin Bai saw cracks appear in the formation and recognized that the attackers were using a specialized offensive formation.
• The Pill Pavilion vanished from its position and reappeared beside the martial artist holding the Thunder Formation Flag.

Ning'an fought five Four Gloom Demon Palace martial artists in East City of Ning'an City while racing to avoid reinforcements. Lin Bai killed the four Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm opponents, leaving Ning'an to face the lone Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm martial artist.

• Ning'an saw the crimson-red sword intent and attacked the five martial artists before they could surround him.
• Ning'an prioritized the four Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artists and killed them in rapid succession, though their souls escaped.
• The surviving Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm martial artist clashed with Ning'an, who broke through his defenses and pressed the attack.
• Ning'an asked the opponent's name, but he dismissed the question and continued fighting while worrying about Four Gloom Demon Palace reinforcements.

Lin Bai met Shen Yunbang, helmsman of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s Withered Sea Branch, who revealed how the Palace’s branches were organized across the One Night Divine Sect’s territory. Shen Yunbang said the Palace was determined to emerge from hiding and make a comeback.

• Shen Yunbang used his divine sense to stop Lin Bai and recognized him as Ji Canghai.
• Lin Bai removed his bamboo hat, and Shen Yunbang introduced himself as the Withered Sea Branch’s helmsman.
• Shen Yunbang explained that the Withered Sea Branch managed the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s many branches across the One Night Divine Sect’s territory.
• Shen Yunbang said Ji Canghai would eventually learn about the branch and explained that the Demon Palace now had nine divine halls devoted to cultivating experts.
• Shen Yunbang said the Demon Palace intended to make a comeback because circumstances had changed.

Lin Bai and Ji Canghai discussed the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s prospects as the battle over Prince Qin wound down. The sides withdrew after the city’s defenses were wrecked, leaving the One Night Divine Sect unable to restore them quickly and the cause of Shen Haoyue’s death still concealed.

• Ji Canghai said the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace could rise again despite the obstacles, and Lin Bai wished it success.
• Lin Bai returned the Thunder Formation Flag, but Li Siyuan said Ji Canghai had not come for it and explained that the Devil Palace wanted to invite him for tea.
• Li Siyuan revealed that the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect had reached Prince Qin and fought on the Mutian Plains.
• The One Night Divine Sect’s forces prepared to return to Prince Qin as the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace withdrew after its surprise attack failed.
• Both sides left the battle with gains, but Prince Qin’s ruined defenses would take substantial resources and time to rebuild, and Shen Haoyue’s death remained undisclosed.

Lin Bai struggled to understand Ji Canghai’s strange movement technique as the martial artist repeatedly appeared in his path. Meanwhile, Ning An summoned his Supreme Avatar to face Yi Jinyun, leaving the nearby fighters stunned and unable to approach.

• Lin Bai watched Ji Canghai vanish completely and emerge through what seemed to be a slit in space, and wondered whether his cultivation surpassed the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm.
• Ning An judged that his other weapons and techniques could not reliably stop Yi Jinyun, so he put away his three Grand Yi Divine Weapons and manifested his Supreme Avatar.
• The hundred-zhang phantom appeared over Lin Bai City, and martial artists across the city cried out in shock as its power forced them to their knees or halted their approach.
• Geng Liguang recognized Ning An’s Supreme Avatar, while Prince Qin suspected that Ji Canghai had been among the fighters who took the Thunder Formation Flag.
• Yi Jinyun faced Ning An without fear as the Supreme Avatar’s aura spread across the area, leaving the two of them alone in the region.

Ji Canghai tried to take Lin Bai to the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, but four ancient Chu Kingdom experts arrived to stop him. The Chu elders challenged Ji Canghai despite their dwindling life force, and one launched the first attack.

• A Chu elder confronted Ji Canghai over taking Lin Bai, while Ji Canghai insisted he had only invited the prince and was protecting him as they crossed the void.
• Three more Chu Kingdom experts arrived, joining the elder to make four powerful members of the imperial clan facing Ji Canghai.
• Ji Canghai recognized Chu Jiang, Chu Mo, and Chu Baiqing as old acquaintances, and one elder recalled that Ji Canghai had been a divine son of the Second Divine Hall seven thousand years earlier.
• The dragon-robed elder explained that the four had waited for reinforcements and warned Ji Canghai that they had strength in numbers.
• Ji Canghai warned the aging Chu experts that fighting would consume their life force, but one elder laughed and attacked him while keeping Lin Bai out of the blast.

Xuanqing, the Demonic Daoist, arrived in the void and helped Ji Canghai repel an attack from the four Chu powerhouses. Ji Canghai took Lin Bai away while Xuanqing held off their pursuers with his Primal Chaos Divine Weapon.

• A powerhouse from Chu attacked Ji Canghai, but Xuanqing’s azure-violet divine light neutralized the strike.
• Xuanqing introduced himself to Lin Bai as the chief helmsman of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s branch in Chu’s territory.
• Xuanqing urged Ji Canghai to take Lin Bai away before other powerhouses arrived, and Ji Canghai agreed.
• The four Chu powerhouses attacked to stop them, so Xuanqing blocked the group and prepared to delay them with his treasured gourd.
• Ji Canghai dragged Lin Bai into the darkness of the void, where Lin Bai sensed a devastating clash erupt behind them.

Ji Canghai explained how Space Nodes allowed travelers to escape the void, then used one to take Lin Bai from the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory to Ten Thousand Saints Mountain. The chapter ended with Lin Bai realizing how far they had traveled.

• Ji Canghai explained that travelers trapped in the void needed to find a Space Node to return to the Demon Realm.
• Ji Canghai told Lin Bai that Space Nodes were temporary unless powerful sects used secret arts to preserve them, and that Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm martial artists often traveled through them.
• Lin Bai and Ji Canghai found a Space Node, which Ji Canghai opened to return them to the outside world.
• Lin Bai sensed that they had arrived in an uninhabited primeval forest, and Ji Canghai identified it as the territory of Ten Thousand Saints Mountain.

Ji Canghai took Lin Bai through a Space Node to the Ten Thousand Saints Mountain Territory and revealed that Plum Blossom Mountain Manor was the hidden headquarters of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace. Lin Bai confronted the manor’s sect master, asking whether he should call him Manor Lord Mei or Palace Master.

• Ji Canghai explained that Space Nodes could connect distant places across the Devil Realm and brought Lin Bai to the Ten Thousand Saints Mountain Territory.
• Ji Canghai told Lin Bai that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace was certain to rise again after the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s internal conflict ended.
• Ji Canghai led Lin Bai to Plum Blossom Mountain Manor and revealed that it served as the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s headquarters.
• Ji Canghai used a passage token to bring Lin Bai through Plum Blossom Mountain Manor’s protective formation and to its palace.
• The Plum Blossom Mountain Manor sect master greeted Ji Canghai and Lin Bai, and Lin Bai asked whether to address him as Manor Lord Mei or Palace Master of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.

Lin Bai learned how Plum Blossom Mountain Manor had risen through the destruction of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and confronted its Sect Master, Hua Mei, who revealed that he only served the Devil Palace. Ji Canghai led Lin Bai into the manor’s forbidden rear mountain grounds, where Li Guxian was staying.

• Lin Bai recalled Plum Blossom Mountain Manor’s history, including how its ancestors seized treasures after the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace was destroyed.
• Lin Bai asked Hua Mei whether he was the Palace Master of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, and Hua Mei said he merely ran errands for it.
• Hua Qianshu mocked Lin Bai for becoming a prisoner, and Lin Bai replied that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had needed Ji Canghai to capture him.
• Ji Canghai told Lin Bai to come with him, while Hua Mei mentioned that Li Guxian was at the manor and Lin Bai could visit her.
• Ji Canghai led the group toward the forbidden rear mountain grounds, and Lin Bai noticed that Hua Mei and Hua Qianshu ranked below Ji Canghai within the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.

Lin Bai and the others used an ancient teleportation array to reach the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s headquarters, hidden one hundred thousand zhang beneath Plum Blossom Mountain Manor. Ji Canghai and Manor Lord Mei explained how the site connected to Ten Thousand Saints Mountain and the ancient battle that had made the region a graveyard of powerful experts.

• Ji Canghai activated an ancient teleportation array in Moon Gazing Cave, sending Lin Bai and the others deep underground.
• Lin Bai learned that layers of the Devil Realm’s hardest rocks protected the underground headquarters from ordinary intruders.
• Manor Lord Mei explained that Plum Blossom Mountain Manor had discovered the site beneath its territory but had not built it.
• Manor Lord Mei described Ten Thousand Saints Mountain as a region filled with ancient experts’ cave dwellings and ruins.
• Ji Canghai explained that Ten Thousand Saints Mountain lay at the core of an ancient battle that caused the Devil Realm to break away from the Spirit Realm.

Manor Lord Mei explained that Plum Blossom Mountain Manor’s founder discovered the underground depths and founded the manor after finding opportunities there, though she withheld further secrets. Ji Canghai led Lin Bai and the others to Nine Underworlds City, the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s vast underground headquarters, and they arrived at its gloomy gates.

• Manor Lord Mei told Lin Bai that Plum Blossom Mountain Manor’s founder followed clues to the underground depths and gained opportunities that helped him establish the manor.
• Lin Bai asked how Plum Blossom Mountain Manor, founded more than ten thousand years before the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, became its branch, but Manor Lord Mei declined to explain the complicated history.
• Ji Canghai led Lin Bai, Manor Lord Mei, and the others through a narrow passage to a cliff overlooking an enormous underground city.
• Ji Canghai identified the city as Nine Underworlds City, the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s headquarters, built seventy thousand years earlier and home to tens of millions of martial artists.
• Ji Canghai used a passage token to lead Lin Bai and the others through the city’s formation, and they landed at its dark, mist-shrouded gates.

Lin Bai entered Nine Underworlds City with Ji Canghai and learned about the ranks of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, including the Imperial Son who once united its strongest prodigies. Ji Canghai said the position was currently vacant but might soon be filled, leaving Manor Lord Mei and Hua Qianshu visibly shaken.

• Ji Canghai showed his Identity Token to the guards, who apologized and let him lead Lin Bai and the others into Nine Underworlds City.
• Hua Qianshu invited Lin Bai to sample the city’s wine, and Lin Bai asked about Hua Qianshu’s standing in the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Manor Lord Mei explained that Hua Qianshu and Yao Qian were both Daoists, and outlined the Demon Palace’s ranks of Imperial Son, Divine Sons, Daoists, Saint Sons, and young prodigies.
• Lin Bai recalled how the former Imperial Son had united the Divine Sons and led the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace into its era of power, remembered as “One Emperor, Nine Saints.”
• Lin Bai asked whether the Demon Palace had a current Imperial Son, and Ji Canghai said there was none at present but there might be one soon.
• Manor Lord Mei explained that the Imperial Son’s position would remain vacant unless someone truly worthy appeared.

Lin Bai explored Nine Underworlds City after Ji Canghai let him roam freely, while Ji and Manor Lord Mei went to meet the Palace Master to learn why the Devil Palace had summoned him. Hua Qianshu found Lin Bai examining a Violet Affinity Stone containing a Crimson Bloodworm and invited him to a tavern to explain the stone’s origins.

• Ji Canghai gave Lin Bai an Ordinary Token and let him explore Nine Underworlds City on his own.
• Manor Lord Mei asked Ji Canghai why the Devil Palace had invited Lin Bai, but Ji Canghai admitted he did not know.
• Manor Lord Mei sent Hua Qianshu to watch Lin Bai while he and Ji Canghai went to see the Palace Master.
• Lin Bai browsed the city's stalls and examined a Violet Affinity Stone containing a Crimson Bloodworm.
• Hua Qianshu explained the worm's healing properties and took Lin Bai to a tavern to tell him about the stone's origins.

Hua Qianshu explained that Violet Affinity Stone could preserve living beings by slowing time, and Lin Bai discovered that the insect sealed inside his stone was alive. After Lin Bai wondered whether the many stones he had found concealed other things, Hua Qianshu avoided answering, leaving Nine Underworlds City's secrets unresolved.

• Lin Bai learned from Hua Qianshu that Iron-Devouring Worms ate spirit stones and excreted Celestial Hardrock, revealing that spirit-stone veins existed nearby.
• Hua Qianshu explained that Violet Affinity Stone could seal people or other beings and slow the passage of time and the consumption of lifespan.
• Lin Bai injected spiritual power into his Violet Affinity Stone, melting it and reviving the insect sealed inside.
• Hua Qianshu caught the insect, placed it in a treasure box, sealed it with talismans, and gave it to Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai wondered whether the Violet Affinity Stones he had found concealed more insects or even people, but Hua Qianshu changed the subject.

Lin Bai questioned Hua Qianshu about why Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had brought him to its hidden headquarters, and Hua Qianshu explained the Council of Elders and the Nine Great Palaces. Lin Bai learned that the Council had ordered him brought back alive, but the chapter left the reason for that order unexplained.

• Lin Bai asked whether the Violet Affinity Stone contained a sealed insect or person, but Hua Qianshu revealed nothing.
• Hua Qianshu said an order from Nine Underworlds City had instructed the Demon Palace, about half a year earlier, to bring Lin Bai back alive if possible.
• Hua Qianshu explained that the Council of Elders managed Nine Underworlds Demon Palace in the Palace Master's absence and consisted of core elders, Eternal Elders, and three Saint Elders.
• Hua Qianshu identified Ji Canghai and his father as core elders, with Ji Canghai overseeing the branch in Seven Nights Divine Sect territory and his father overseeing the branch in Ten Thousand Saints Mountain territory.
• Hua Qianshu described the Nine Great Palaces as elite paths for gifted martial artists who passed the Demon Palace's assessments, and Lin Bai understood how members could join them.