Recaps

Lin Bai kept the Thousand Province Edict in his own hands to ensure the God Children and Goddesses continued supporting him, while Li Guxian arranged to use it to negotiate with their Lineages’ elders. As they prepared for Shi Renshan’s retaliation after the Renaming Ceremony, Li Guxian hinted that she already had a countermeasure.

• Hu Zhiyao bluntly asked whether Lin Bai was withholding the edict to keep the God Children and Goddesses from abandoning him, and Li Guxian defended his decision as necessary while the Devil Palace’s provinces remained unsettled.
• Li Guxian proposed inviting the elders of the God Children and Goddesses’ Lineages to the Devil Palace when Lin Bai showed them the edict, and Hu Zhiyao agreed to wait for his news.
• After the others left, Li Guxian explained that the Lineages’ true authorities needed to be consulted and said the Duanmu, Shen, Mo, Hu, and Zhao Families had shown interest in pledging allegiance.
• Li Guxian revealed that the Murong Family had also wanted to visit Lin Bai, and Lin Bai promised it a share of the fertile provinces if it pledged allegiance.
• Lin Bai warned that Shi Renshan would retaliate after the Renaming Ceremony and asked Li Guxian for a countermeasure, and she said she had anticipated the attack and already had a plan.

Lin Bai and Li Guxian planned to exploit the First God Child’s recent defeat by seizing control of the Treasure Pavilion and Demon Palace Treasury before Saint Elder Shi Renshan could retaliate. The chapter ended with Lin Bai reflecting that the risky scheme had broken his ties with the Shi Family but gained the allegiance of six divine palaces.

• Li Guxian recounted how Shi Renshan had risen from being an Earth-Rank Martial Soul outcast to a powerful leader, and proposed striking before he could prepare his retaliation.
• Li Guxian proposed taking control of the Treasure Pavilion and Demon Palace Treasury, then gradually stripping the Shi Family of its authority and military forces.
• Li Guxian warned that Shi Renshan might provoke infighting if his family faced defeat, and Lin Bai cautioned her against causing trouble before the Renaming Ceremony.
• Li Guxian left after saying she had another plan that depended on the right opportunity and would tell Lin Bai if it became viable.
• Lin Bai reflected that the scheme had severed his relationship with the Shi Family but brought six of the Nine Great Palaces to his side.

Lin Bai’s support from six palace families had resulted from Elder Shi Renshan’s efforts to win over smaller families and rivals among the great families, forcing the palace families to side with Lin Bai. As the Renaming Ceremony approached, Lin Bai received provincial documents, prepared to meet powerful Demon Palace figures, and learned that the Stone Throne could be activated by Devouring Power.

• Elder Shi Renshan won over small and medium-sized families and the Xiang Family and Duan Family, while his stalled negotiations pushed the Nine Great Palaces’ families into Lin Bai’s faction.
• Lin Bai received thirty provincial documents from the Palace Master, filled in five for the Hu, Duanmu, Shen, Mo, and Zhao Families, and entrusted the remaining documents to Old Wen.
• Lin Bai declined to meet visiting small and medium-sized families and ordered Old Wen to summon Goddess Li Guxian and prepare a banquet.
• Lin Bai contemplated the Stone Throne, and Goddess Li Guxian explained that its hidden power required Devouring Power to activate.
• Goddess Li Guxian reviewed the five completed documents and noted that the Murong Family’s provincial document was missing; Lin Bai said the family had not yet made a request.

Lin Bai prepared to meet the leaders of the Devil Palace’s divine hall families after they pledged allegiance to him, while considering how to address their interests and the conflict with Shi Renshan. As he bathed in the Immortal Cleansing Pool before the meeting, Yi Jinyun joined him and reminded him not to let the burden of his position consume him.

• Goddess Li Guxian advised Lin Bai to summon the leaders of the allied divine hall families, including the Murong Family, and Lin Bai ordered her to invite them to a banquet at the Imperial Palace.
• Lin Bai spent the night preparing for discussions about the Shi Family and the families’ future interests, while Old Wen and Dao Child Yu You arranged a grand banquet.
• Dao Child Yu You told Lin Bai that the Immortal Cleansing Pool was ready, and Lin Bai reluctantly agreed to bathe in its Sacred Spirit Spring Water before the meeting.
• Lin Bai sent the maids and Dao Child Yu You away so he could bathe alone, but Yi Jinyun appeared and massaged his shoulders.
• Yi Jinyun reassured Lin Bai that the Imperial Palace was safe and declined his invitation to bathe with him, noting that he had a meeting to attend.

Lin Bai prepared for a crucial meeting with the lineages of the Divine Halls, which he and Li Guxian hoped would provide the strength to resist Shi Renshan and the Shi Family. The meeting began as leaders from the Duanmu Family and Shen Family arrived at the Imperial Palace, where old rivalries quickly showed.

• Yi Jinyun warned Lin Bai that his defeat would bring the destruction of the six Divine Hall lineages supporting him and other allied sects, including the Seven Nights Divine Sect, Pure Yang Sect, and Phoenix Valley.
• Lin Bai and Yi Jinyun agreed that he needed the Nine Great Palace lineages' strength and knowledge to overcome the Shi Family.
• Dao Child Yu You told Lin Bai that the six Divine Hall lineages had arrived, and Lin Bai dressed in the Emperor Child Robe before heading to the meeting.
• Li Guxian told Old Wen that the meeting could determine their plans, and they agreed the Nine Great Palace lineages were needed to prevent their opponents from overturning the balance of power.
• Duanmu Xin arrived with senior members of the Duanmu Family, followed by Shen Family elders led by a thin old man who teased Duanmu Xin about their rivalry.

Li Guxian and Old Wen welcomed the heads of several Divine Hall families to the Imperial Palace as they gathered to meet Lin Bai, the Imperial Prince. The senior family heads traded old insults and rivalries inside, while Hu Xiangdao and Murong Jiangchuan arrived last.

• Shen Xing arrived with the Shen Family, teased Li Guxian about finding a sweetheart, and argued with Duanmu Xin, who entered the hall with the Duanmu Family.
• Zhao Lingyang and the Zhao Family arrived, and Zhao Lingyang bowed to the Holy Lord's words carved above the Imperial Palace entrance while expressing hope that Lin Bai would revive the Demon Palace's glory.
• Mo Danqiu arrived with the Mo Family and joined Old Wen in the hall, where her presence briefly quieted the arguing family heads.
• Shen Xing challenged Zhao Lingyang, Zhao Lingyang mocked Shen Xing, and Duanmu Xin called them both defeated generals.
• Hu Xiangdao and Murong Jiangchuan arrived together at the Imperial Palace entrance.

The six gathered family heads quickly turned the meeting in the Imperial Palace into a confrontation over old grudges. Lin Bai arrived as their clashes shook the hall, learning that the nine family heads had been rivals since their days as Divine Sons and Goddesses.

• Murong Jiangchuan and Hu Xiangdao entered the hall, where Shen Xing and Zhao Lingyang provoked them over past insults and betrayals.
• Hu Xiangdao challenged Zhao Lingyang after learning that Zhao's Celestial Demon Flame Art had reached perfection, while Duanmu Xin confronted Shen Xing for stirring up trouble.
• Mo Danqiu tried to calm the elders as their Supreme Dao Fruit auras clashed, and Li Guxian learned from Old Wen that the arriving family heads had longstanding grudges.
• Lin Bai and Dao Child Yu You felt the Imperial Palace hall shake and summoned Yu Ce to learn what was happening inside.
• Yu Ce explained that the family heads had once been rival Divine Sons and Goddesses, and their old conflicts had hardened into feuds over thousands of years.

Elder Yu Ce explained the old rivalries among the heads of the Nine Great Palaces and revealed that the Devil Palace’s current Palace Master had ruled for nearly twenty thousand years. He introduced several family heads from his generation, then began telling Lin Bai about Mo Danqiu’s husband.

• Lin Bai asked Elder Yu Ce why he had been only a Saint Child despite reaching the Supreme Dao Fruit Realm, and Yu Ce explained that the Shi Family had limited his advancement until his later breakthrough secured Dao Child status for Yu You.
• Elder Yu Ce told Lin Bai that Duanmu Xin had once been the Devil Palace’s foremost prodigy and a leading candidate for Palace Master, but he and Shi Renshan abandoned their rivalry because the current Palace Master lived far longer than expected.
• Elder Yu Ce estimated that the Palace Master had lived nearly twenty thousand years, leading Lin Bai to suspect that he had reached the Tribulation Transcendence realm and become an Earth Immortal.
• Elder Yu Ce explained that Shi Renshan supported Yan Congjiao as his successor, while Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing had been bitter rivals since their youth.
• Elder Yu Ce introduced Mo Danqiu as the Fourth Divine Hall’s family head and said her husband was even more famous, prompting Lin Bai to ask who he was.

Elder Yu Ce briefed Lin Bai on the personalities, histories, and rivalries of the Divine Hall family heads gathered at the Imperial Palace, and Lin Bai chose to begin winning over Mo Danqiu. Lin Bai invited Yu Ce into his inner circle, then entered the main hall with him and Dao Child Yu You, where powerful auras surged toward them.

• Elder Yu Ce revealed that Mo Danqiu was married to Saint Elder Luo Yuanjing and warned Lin Bai that her longstanding kindness had earned her many loyal allies, including Yu Ce.
• Elder Yu Ce described Hu Xiangdao as ruthless and calculating, and explained that Zhao Lingyang's Grand Completion Celestial Demon Flame Art could let him contend with a Great Mystic Art User.
• Elder Yu Ce recounted the unresolved feud between Hu Xiangdao and Zhao Lingyang, who had accused each other of betrayal during an expedition to the Burial Earth.
• Elder Yu Ce described Murong Jiangchuan's pride, and Lin Bai weighed the family heads' personalities before deciding to approach Mo Danqiu first and deal with the others gradually.
• Lin Bai thanked Yu Ce and invited him to enter the Imperial Palace's main hall alongside him, formally bringing him into his inner circle.
• Elder Yu Ce and Dao Child Yu You opened the hall's doors, and several Supreme Dao Fruit auras surged toward Lin Bai as he prepared himself and Yu Ce shielded him.

Shi Renshan dismissed the threat of Lin Bai’s meeting with six powerful families, believing their patriarchs were too divided to cooperate. As tensions in the Imperial Palace rose, Lin Bai arrived to face the five-way standoff, which remained unresolved.

• Xiang Dinghan and Duan Hui warned Shi Renshan that the six families’ patriarchs had gathered with their senior elders, but Shi argued that their rivalries would prevent them from forming a real alliance.
• The Imperial Palace island trembled, and Shi assumed the patriarchs had begun fighting while Lin Bai struggled to control them.
• Inside the Imperial Palace, Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing clashed, while Hu Xiangdao and Zhao Lingyang threatened to fight; Mo Danqiu and Murong Jiangchuan watched, and Old Wen and Li Guxian hesitated to intervene.
• Lin Bai entered the hall with Elder Yu Ce and joked that the elders should not use the Imperial Palace as a place to exercise.
• The patriarchs kept their auras raised, and Lin Bai’s arrival turned their four-way standoff into a five-way deadlock.

Lin Bai faced four powerful family heads in the Imperial Palace and held his ground when Shen Xing tested him with his aura, establishing his authority as the Devil Palace's Emperor Child. After the elders restrained their auras and exchanged greetings, Lin Bai took the Stone Throne as Old Wen began introducing the guests.

• Lin Bai endured the four family heads' pressure in silence, determined not to appear weak at their first meeting.
• Shen Xing directed his Supreme Dao Fruit aura at Lin Bai, who summoned his Supreme Avatar and challenged the elders to fight him.
• Duanmu Xin rebuked Shen Xing and apologized to Lin Bai, while Shen Xing claimed he had only been testing him; Lin Bai accepted the explanation as an elder's test.
• Hu Xiangdao and Zhao Lingyang introduced themselves and restrained their auras, and Lin Bai greeted Mo Danqiu and Murong Jiangchuan.
• Lin Bai sat on the Stone Throne, reassured Li Guxian that she was not at fault for knowing little about the family heads, and listened as Old Wen introduced Duanmu Xin and his companions.

Lin Bai welcomed the Devil Palace’s powerful family heads and elders, then defended his right to judge their advice as they tested his authority. Duanmu Xin raised the families’ lack of territory and resources, and Lin Bai confirmed that he had secured several provinces for them, though the Murong Family received none.

• Lin Bai returned the elders’ salutes, hosted a banquet, and asked them to guide him while promising to consider reasonable advice.
• Duanmu Xin urged everyone to set aside the entertainment and discuss serious business, while other elders questioned whether Lin Bai would heed their counsel.
• Lin Bai said he had cultivated for over five hundred years, explained that he came from the lower realms, and asserted that his experiences gave him his own standards of judgment.
• Mo Danqiu supported Lin Bai by praising the difficulty of his journey from the lower realms, and Duanmu Xin then shifted the discussion to the families’ cramped quarters and lack of access to resources in the newly acquired provinces.
• Duanmu Xin asked whether Lin Bai had secured territory for the families, and Lin Bai confirmed it, showing documents that the elders verified as genuine.
• The elders saw that the documents included no territory for Murong Jiangchuan’s Murong Family, leaving him displeased.

Lin Bai gave the five Thousand Province Edicts to the family heads and proposed that they make a deal instead of using the edicts to threaten them. He argued that if First God Child Yan Congjiao became Palace Master, the Shi Family would eventually attack the other Eight Divine Halls, leaving the family heads to weigh the danger of opposing them.

• Lin Bai displayed the five Thousand Province Edicts, then admitted Palace Master wanted him to withhold them and said he would hand them over anyway.
• Lin Bai gave the edicts to Duanmu Xin, Shen Xing, Mo Danqiu, Hu Xiangdao, and Zhao Lingyang, explaining that he preferred to negotiate with their families rather than try to command them.
• Lin Bai and the family heads agreed that First God Child Yan Congjiao was a puppet cultivated by Shi Renshan and that he would likely become Palace Master if Lin Bai lost their struggle.
• Lin Bai warned that the Shi Family would gain control of the Devil Palace through Yan Congjiao and eventually target the other Eight Divine Halls.
• When an elder dismissed the threat, Lin Bai argued that the Shi Family could rally the entire Devil Palace against the families and slaughter their clansmen.

Lin Bai persuaded the palace families that the Shi Family and the First God Child threatened their power, and secured their agreement that they shared a common enemy. He proposed cooperation without forcing them to submit, leaving the family heads and elders to consider his offer.

• Lin Bai explained that the Shi Family would undermine the other palace families if the First God Child became Palace Lord, and described how the Shi Family had supported rival families while keeping the palace families waiting.
• Duanmu Xin, Shen Xing, and Mo Danqiu confirmed that they opposed the Shi Family's plan because it endangered their families.
• Zhao Lingyang and Hu Xiangdao agreed with Lin Bai, while Murong Jiangchuan said the Murong Family also feared the Shi Family's rise.
• Lin Bai declared the First God Child, the Shi Family, and Shi Renshan their common enemies and proposed that they cooperate while setting aside past grudges.
• Lin Bai promised not to force the families to submit through his Imperial Heir status or fief documents, then returned to the Stone Throne without demanding an immediate reply.

Lin Bai offered the great families territory and protection for their lineages in return for helping him defeat the First God Child and the Shi Family. After a day of deliberation, Hu Xiangdao became the first to pledge the Hu Family’s support, provided Lin Bai kept his promises.

• Shen Xing asked Lin Bai how the families would cooperate with him and what benefits they would receive.
• Lin Bai promised each lineage at least ten additional Thousand Provinces and said he would preserve the Devil Palace’s existing power structure if they supported him.
• An elder questioned whether Lin Bai could be trusted, and Lin Bai said their alliance depended on mutual trust rather than further guarantees.
• The family heads and elders deliberated throughout the day while Lin Bai waited in the Imperial Palace’s main hall.
• Hu Xiangdao declared that the Hu Family would help Lin Bai oppose the First God Child and the Shi Family if Lin Bai honored his promises.

Lin Bai secured the support of several Divine Hall Lineages as they formed an alliance against the Shi Family. The elders then debated the risks of confronting the Shi Family and concluded that its buried ancestors’ intervention could give the Palace Master a reason to destroy the family.

• Hu Xiangdao reminded the gathered Lineages that Hu Zhiyao, Zhao Yuanchen, and Mo Guyu had helped scheme against the First God Child, and Zhao Lingyang pledged the Zhao Family’s support for Lin Bai.
• Mo Danqiu, Duanmu Xin, and Shen Xing declared their Lineages’ support after Mo Danqiu invoked the Palace Master and three Saint Elders’ backing of Lin Bai.
• Murong Jiangchuan sought the Crescent Moon Thousand Province for the Murong Family, and Lin Bai agreed to try to secure it.
• Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing questioned whether their alliance could defeat the Shi Family, especially if its ancestors emerged from the Burial Earth.
• Hu Xiangdao argued that the ancestors’ intervention could prompt the Palace Master to destroy the Shi Family, while Lin Bai reasoned that the alliance would see him as a means of checking Shi power.

Lin Bai and the family heads assessed Shi Renshan’s plans and the danger posed by the Shi Family, while Lin Bai recognized that Mo Danqiu was quietly helping his side. The discussion revealed that the Shi Family had secretly built up millions of followers beyond the Demon Palace, leaving Lin Bai facing a far larger threat than he had expected.

• Lin Bai agreed with Hu Xiangdao that the Palace Master needed a compelling pretext to confront the Shi Family, and that the Shi ancestors leaving the Burial Earth could provide one.
• Mo Danqiu said the Palace Master and Saint Elders would handle the Shi ancestors if they emerged, leading Lin Bai to conclude that she was secretly supporting him.
• Lin Bai considered how to manage tensions among the allied family heads as Zhao Lingyang suggested starting a war against the Shi Family.
• Shen Xing explained that Shi Renshan had spent thousands of years building a Shi Family force in the Devil Realm Eastern Region, bringing its numbers there to over two million.
• Duanmu Xin revealed that the Shi Family also had more than a million members in the Qi Tian Sect’s territory, raising its known Eastern Region strength to nearly five million.
• Lin Bai realized that the Shi Family’s forces, including its controlled legions, could exceed ten million troops.

Lin Bai realized Elder Shi Renshan had built the Shi Family’s strength in the Devil Realm Eastern Region as a fallback plan in case the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace could not rise again. As the family heads weighed the Shi Family’s power, Mo Danqiu revealed the Mo Family’s forces and pledged the Fourth Divine Hall’s strength to Lin Bai.

• Lin Bai concluded that Elder Shi Renshan had prepared either to establish the Shi Family independently in the Devil Realm Eastern Region or to remain with the Devil Palace if it rose again.
• Shen Xing estimated that the Shi Family had over five million warriors and could mobilize at least ten million troops.
• Murong Jiangchuan questioned whether the Duanmu Family and Shen Family had also made preparations in the Devil Realm Eastern Region, but Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing did not answer.
• Mo Danqiu disclosed that the Mo Family had seven Supreme Dao Fruit Realm warriors, about three hundred thousand clansmen, and an Eastern Region force of roughly one million.
• Mo Danqiu said the Fourth Divine Hall had 1,372 lineages, and that its forces could mobilize at least ten Supreme Dao Fruit Realm warriors and more than three million soldiers.

Lin Bai gathered commitments from several Divine Halls for a potential crisis and reflected on how cultivation power underpinned the Demon Palace’s political order. After Zhao Lingyang publicly challenged Hu Xiangdao’s proposed contribution, Lin Bai reframed the preparations as protection against outside enemies, and Hu Xiangdao agreed to expand the Sixth Divine Hall’s forces.

• Elder Mo Danqiu revealed the Fourth Divine Hall could field three million warriors and more than ten Supreme Dao Fruit realm warriors, and Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing promised that the Second and Third Divine Halls could match it.
• Duanmu Xin explained that the Second Divine Hall lacked a Great Mystic Art User backer, while Lin Bai considered the combined military strength of the three halls and the role of cultivation in maintaining the Demon Palace’s authority.
• Hu Xiangdao said the Sixth Divine Hall could provide one million warriors and at least five Supreme Dao Fruit realm warriors, but Zhao Lingyang declared that the Seventh Divine Hall could match the Fourth Divine Hall’s full contribution.
• Lin Bai eased the confrontation by saying preparations were for defending the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory from outside enemies, then asked Hu Xiangdao to prepare at least two million warriors and more than ten Supreme Dao Fruit realm warriors.
• Hu Xiangdao accepted Lin Bai’s request and promised to expand the Sixth Divine Hall’s forces.

Lin Bai coordinated the Divine Halls’ forces and discussed how to weaken the Shi Family after the Renaming Ceremony. He learned that Shi Renshan had secured control of the treasury and Treasure Pavilion by undermining the Duanmu and Shen Families when they managed them.

• Hu Xiangdao and Murong Jiangchuan pledged that their Divine Halls could each muster millions of martial artists and more than ten Supreme Dao Fruit experts, while Lin Bai considered Devil Palace’s strength and hidden resources.
• Lin Bai asked the Divine Halls to prepare one million martial artists each and as many Supreme Dao Fruit experts as possible, then identified the treasury and Treasure Pavilion as targets to seize after the Renaming Ceremony.
• Duanmu Xin and Hu Xiangdao proposed taking back Devil Palace’s military forces and treasury, and Lin Bai agreed that the treasury and Treasure Pavilion were their next targets.
• Lin Bai asked how the Shi Family had gained control of the treasury and Treasure Pavilion despite opposition from the Duanmu and Shen Families.
• Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing explained that Shi Renshan had repeatedly exploited and publicized mistakes made while those families managed the treasury and Treasure Pavilion, eroding their standing until they were forced to hand control to the Shi Family.

Lin Bai weighed whether to reveal Goddess Li Guxian and the Sect Master of Phoenix Valley’s plan against the Shi Family, then assigned Hu Xiangdao and Murong Jiangchuan to develop a strategy for reclaiming the treasury and Treasure Pavilion. He also approved Hu Zhiyao’s participation and began arranging efforts to recover the Sea Guard Legion and Divine Mountain Guard.

• Lin Bai consulted Goddess Li Guxian privately, and she advised keeping their plan secret while ordering the Family Heads to assist and seeing whether they could devise their own response.
• Hu Xiangdao proposed using a series of false and real traps to weaken the Shi Family, and Lin Bai assigned the Hu Family and Murong Family to lead the effort with Goddess Li Guxian’s guidance.
• Lin Bai approved Hu Zhiyao joining the effort, and Hu Zhiyao promised to serve her family and the Emperor Child well.
• Lin Bai turned to Duanmu Xin and Shen Xing and said he would arrange a separate plan to recover the Sea Guard Legion and Divine Mountain Guard from the Shi Family.

Lin Bai gathered the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s family heads and elders to coordinate a move against the Shi Family before the Renaming Ceremony, while warning them to keep any operations limited. After the families departed, Lin Bai and Li Guxian acknowledged that Mo Danqiu had helped unite them and that the Palace Master and Saint Elders might tolerate their plans.

• Lin Bai assigned the Hu Family and Murong Family to seize the treasury, while the Duanmu, Shen, Mo, and Zhao Families were tasked with taking the Divine Mountain Guard and Sea Guard Legion.
• Shen Xing and Hu Xiangdao pressed Lin Bai to clarify whether the Palace Master would intervene, and Lin Bai said he would explain their actions as long as they avoided a major disturbance.
• Shen Xing argued that the period before the Renaming Ceremony was the best time to prepare against the Shi Family, and Duanmu Xin agreed to have the Duanmu Family make arrangements.
• Lin Bai met with the family heads and elders for two or three days, then thanked Mo Danqiu as she left for secretly supporting him in the meeting.
• After the families departed, Li Guxian praised Lin Bai for bringing them together, and Lin Bai identified Mo Danqiu as his inside ally.

Lin Bai secured the support of several Divine Hall families and went into seclusion while they began pressuring the Shi Family before the Renaming Ceremony. Shi Renshan faced mounting attacks on his allies and institutions, then vowed to retaliate against Lin Bai.

• Lin Bai and Li Guxian discussed Shi Renshan's likely response and the Fifth Divine Hall and Eighth Divine Hall's decision to wait and see how the coming clash unfolded.
• Lin Bai explained that he had handed over land-grant documents to win the commitment of the families that had joined him, then went into seclusion as Li Guxian coordinated with the Hu Family and Ninth Divine Hall.
• Palace Master observed Shi Renshan calmly reassuring his supporters while privately growing alarmed about Lin Bai's alliance with the Divine Hall families.
• The Duanmu Family and Shen Family attacked the Xiang Family and Duan Family, aided covertly by the Mo Family and Zhao Family, while reports of irregular accounts at the Treasure Pavilion and treasury stirred the Council of Elders.
• Shi Renshan's supporters complained that their families and forces were being targeted, and Shi Renshan resolved to provoke trouble for Lin Bai in return.

Shi Renshan investigated a wave of accusations and unrest striking the Shi Family and its allies across the Demon Palace. He suspected rival Divine Hall families were behind it, while learning that the Xiang and Duan Families had provoked military mutinies by abusing their authority.

• Shi Yuqing told Shi Renshan that nearly a hundred reports had accused the Shi Family of exploiting its control of the treasury and Treasure Pavilion, and that the Sky Heart Guard had found no clues to the mastermind.
• Shi Yuqing suspected the families of the six Divine Halls that attended Lin Bai’s Imperial Palace Banquet, while Shi Renshan considered and rejected the likelihood that the Duanmu and Shen Families were behind the reports.
• Xiang Dinghan and Duan Hui reported that mutinies had broken out in the Divine Mountain Guard and Sea Guard Legion over unfair treatment.
• Xiang Dinghan admitted that Xiang Family members had plundered money and benefits from the Divine Mountain Guard, and Duan Hui confirmed that the Duan Family had done the same in the Sea Guard Legion.
• Shi Renshan rebuked Xiang Dinghan and Duan Hui for their families’ abuses and demanded to know how much they had taken.

Shi Renshan devised a plan to counter the reports of corruption and theft targeting his faction by spreading accusations and escalating the conflict. His plan hit a snag when Duan Hui and Xiang Dinghan revealed that only their own families' martial artists held power in the two armies.

• Shi Renshan learned that Duan Hui and Xiang Dinghan had skimmed about half the military provisions allocated to the Sea Guard Legion and Divine Mountain Guard, triggering unrest after soldiers discovered their increased pay had been withheld.
• Shi Renshan warned that compensating the soldiers would confirm the families' guilt and leave them vulnerable to future accusations, then proposed stalling for time or blaming other families.
• After reviewing the reports, Shi Renshan focused on the Treasure Pavilion and the two armies, deciding to make the accusations bigger by drawing other families into the dispute.
• Shi Renshan ordered Shi Yuqing to report officials from rival families in the Treasure Pavilion and told Duan Hui and Xiang Dinghan to blame junior members of their families and accuse rival officials in the armies.
• Duan Hui and Xiang Dinghan told Shi Renshan that only members of their own families held power in the Sea Guard Legion and Divine Mountain Guard, leaving him shocked.