Chapter Summaries

Pinned by the White-Robed Man’s giant palm seal, Lin Bai awakened Heart Demon Implantation and unleashed the Demon Flower’s power, forcing the two peak Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm men to retreat. The chapter then shifted to a young man on a distant Spirit Realm mountain, who sensed something and began laughing wildly.

• The White-Robed Man and Black-Robed Man attacked Lin Bai while the White-Robed Man moved to seize Xia Jingzhi.
• Lin Bai’s scarlet Demon Flower bloomed as Heart Demon Implantation raised his strength to the lower-grade Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm.
• Lin Bai broke the Black-Robed Man’s palm seal and struck at the White-Robed Man, who retreated to his companion.
• The White-Robed Man and Black-Robed Man decided to fight Lin Bai and escape with Xia Jingzhi as soon as possible.
• On a distant Spirit Realm mountain, a young man sensed something, smiled, and burst into wild laughter.

Lin Bai fought the Two Moons of the Sun Moon Pavilion while protecting Xia Jingzhi, but the two peak Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm martial artists overwhelmed him. Huang Qingyun arrived as their barrier collapsed, and Lin Bai left for the Imperial Capital with Xia Jingzhi while she stayed to face them.

• Lin Bai used the demon flower and the Yellow Springs Demon Bone to raise his strength, but the White-Robed Man and Black-Robed Man still crushed his attacks and badly injured him.
• The White-Robed Man tore off Xia Jingzhi's left hand as Lin Bai tried to protect him.
• The barrier collapsed, and Huang Qingyun arrived and told Lin Bai to take Xia Jingzhi to the Imperial Capital.
• Lin Bai warned Huang Qingyun that the two attackers were peak Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm martial artists, then answered her questions about their methods.
• Huang Qingyun told Lin Bai to leave the fight to her, and Lin Bai flew toward the Imperial Capital with Xia Jingzhi.

Huang Qingyun revealed that the Black-Robed Man and White-Robed Man were warriors of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and used herself as bait so Lin Bai could take Xia Jingzhi to the imperial capital. She unleashed her recovered strength and defeated the Black-Robed Man, while the White-Robed Man pursued Lin Bai.

• Lin Bai flew toward the imperial capital as Huang Qingyun blocked the Black-Robed Man and White-Robed Man from pursuing him.
• Huang Qingyun identified the men as warriors of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and provoked them with her knowledge of their past defeat.
• The White-Robed Man fled to pursue Lin Bai while the Black-Robed Man attacked Huang Qingyun with the Thousand Lifetimes Palm.
• Huang Qingyun revealed her Grand Luo Dao Fruit cultivation and struck the Black-Robed Man through his defenses, sending him flying and spitting blood.

Badly wounded after fighting through the eastern-suburb mountains, Lin Bai raced toward the Imperial Capital while the White-Robed Man pursued him and tried to seize Xia Jingzhi. With the city almost in reach and his strength nearly spent, Lin Bai considered using one of his two greatest trump cards.

• Lin Bai raced toward the Imperial Capital but was struck from behind by the Black-Robed Man and knocked from the sky.
• The White-Robed Man tried to seize Xia Jingzhi, but Lin Bai intervened with a crimson sword light and continued battling him while heading for the city.
• Lin Bai used the Heaven's Will Four Symbols Sword Formation, the Heaven Measuring Ruler, and repeated sword attacks, but the White-Robed Man shattered them with his overwhelming cultivation.
• The White-Robed Man struck Lin Bai down again with a huge palm, leaving him gravely wounded outside the Imperial Capital as the martial artists on its walls watched.
• Lin Bai struggled to his feet and weighed whether to use the Heaven Swallowing Race's Devouring Power or the Supreme Avatar from the Supreme Path.

Lin Bai revealed his Supreme Avatar rather than expose his Devouring Power, driving back the White-Robed Man and shocking the Imperial Capital. Emperor Chu ordered Xiao Cangsheng to keep Lin Bai safe and win him over, while recognizing that rival forces might soon compete for him.

• Facing the White-Robed Man's attack, Lin Bai chose to reveal the Supreme Avatar instead of using the Heaven Swallowing Race's power.
• Lin Bai's hundred-zhang-tall Supreme Avatar appeared and blasted the charging White-Robed Man backward.
• Martial artists across the Imperial Capital, including members of the Qian Family and Chen Family, recognized the Supreme Avatar and reacted with shock.
• Emperor Chu discussed Lin Bai's potential with Xiao Cangsheng and ordered him to keep Lin Bai safe and try to bring him into the Chu Kingdom.
• Emperor Chu warned that hidden Demon Realm forces might pursue Lin Bai and that the Chu Kingdom should prepare for a battle over the Supreme Avatar.

Lin Bai used his Supreme Avatar to repel the White-Robed Man, who had tried to seize Xia Jingzhi, but a powerhouse beyond the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm then moved to take him. As more immense palms appeared from the heavens, Lin Bai faced several powerful strangers competing to summon him away.

• Lin Bai manifested his Supreme Avatar and forced the White-Robed Man to abandon his attempt to take Xia Jingzhi.
• A mysterious power sealed Lin Bai in place and reached down from a thunderous vortex with a gigantic black palm.
• Lin Bai struck the White-Robed Man with his Supreme Avatar, sending him flying and ending his attempt to seize Xia Jingzhi.
• A second vortex formed overhead, and another voice invited Lin Bai to the Northern Region as an enormous hand reached for him.
• A third palm appeared in the sky, followed by a fourth and a fifth.

Nine powerful outsiders tried to seize Lin Bai and recruit him, but Chu Xi and Zhang Bailiu brought a coffin containing a Supreme Dao Fruit expert’s resting place to protect him. Xiao Cangsheng drove off the attackers, then told Lin Bai to return to the Imperial Capital.

• Nine vortexes appeared above the Imperial Capital, and nine palms reached for Lin Bai as their masters offered him wealth and resources to join their forces.
• Zhang Bailiu and Chu Xi arrived atop a coffin, and Zhang Bailiu warned the attackers that Lin Bai was the Tianshui Sect’s Holy Son.
• Chu Xi wedged a shovel into the coffin’s crack, releasing a world-destroying aura that shook the attackers but did not make them retreat.
• Xiao Cangsheng emerged from the Imperial Capital and shattered all nine vortexes with a peach blossom petal, warning the outsiders not to act recklessly in Chu.
• Xiao Cangsheng told Lin Bai to return to the Imperial Capital.

Lin Bai brought the defeated Xia Jingzhi to the Imperial Capital, where Xiao Cangsheng's intervention deterred the hidden experts and the Third Prince's forces. Lin Bai handed Xia Jingzhi to Zhu Mo, while the Storyteller watched from a wonton stall and left behind a glimpse of his age and memories.

• The Storyteller noticed Xiao Cangsheng's move and decided there was no need for him to intervene.
• Xiao Cangsheng's appearance intimidated the experts lurking around Lin Bai and let him reach the city gates with Xia Jingzhi.
• Three Blood Dragon Legion warriors attacked Xia Jingzhi, but Lin Bai blocked the killing blow with his Five Elements Dao Body.
• Lin Bai refused to hand Xia Jingzhi to the Blood Dragon Legion as a whole and entrusted him to Zhu Mo instead.
• The Storyteller left an immortal jade at the wonton stall, and the couple recognized his resemblance to an ancient portrait.

Lin Bai and his allies completed their operation, then withdrew from the eastern outskirts as he escorted Xia Jingzhi toward the Purgatory. Their enemies realized they had lost, while a mysterious woman also received the retreat order and prepared to take a captive to the Purgatory.

• Lin Bai protected Xia Jingzhi from an attack, and Zhu Mo’s forces subdued three Blood Dragon Legion martial artists who had tried to kill her; the three poisoned themselves before they could be questioned.
• Zhu Mo ordered the three attackers’ clans and associates exterminated, then asked Lin Bai to take Xia Jingzhi to the Purgatory; Lin Bai sent out the order for everyone to retreat.
• Bai Yifei, Qin Yao, Meng Hua, Old Li, and the other allied forces withdrew from the eastern outskirts, leaving Zhao Xiantu and Li Mo to conclude that Lin Bai had won.
• Chen Yule withdrew from his fight with Shangguan Tong after the Chen Family elders persuaded him to follow Lin Bai’s order.
• At dawn, a woman who had bound a dying Black-Robed Man’s soul received the retreat order and said she would send him to the Purgatory.

Lin Bai handed the wounded Xia Jingzhi over to Prince Chen and entered the Zhao Xing Office’s Purgatory, where he learned how Chu tortured prisoners to extract secrets. There he recognized the captured younger sister of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace siblings, who begged him to save her.

• Lin Bai arrived at the Zhao Xing Office with Zhu Mo and presented the gravely wounded Xia Jingzhi to Prince Chen for interrogation in Purgatory.
• Prince Chen led Lin Bai and the Blood Dragon Legion through Purgatory’s gates and explained that its prisoners were kept alive because they held secrets or information Chu wanted.
• Lin Bai saw chained prisoners being lashed with God-Striking Whips, which injured both the body and the soul.
• A prisoner with peak Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm cultivation cursed at the guards, who continued to torture him despite his sealed limbs and dantian.
• Lin Bai heard a woman calling for help and recognized the captured younger sister of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace siblings.
• The woman begged Lin Bai to rescue her, insisting she had already revealed everything she knew.

Lin Bai and Prince Chen brought Xia Jingzhi to Purgatory’s first-layer Guard Office and explained his links to the Third Prince, the deaths of the First and Second Princes, and Southern Border Insect Valley. Prince Yu ordered Xia Jingzhi sent to the fifth layer for interrogation, and Lin Bai and Prince Chen departed.

• A jailer flogged a pleading woman in Purgatory as Lin Bai and Prince Chen passed by.
• Zhu Mo led Lin Bai, Prince Chen, and the Blood Dragon Legion into the first-layer Guard Office, where Prince Yu welcomed them.
• Lin Bai told Prince Yu that Xia Jingzhi had joined the Third Prince and used a stolen poison formula to kill the First Prince and Second Prince.
• Lin Bai revealed that Xia Jingzhi had been hidden in Southern Border Insect Valley’s guesthouse and that the valley’s experts had tried to rescue him.
• Prince Yu ordered Xia Jingzhi taken to the fifth layer and demanded that the interrogators uncover his memories and intelligence within half a month.
• Prince Chen reassured Lin Bai that Prince Yu would handle the matter, and the two left the Guard Office.

Lin Bai returned to the Tianshui Sect's temporary residence badly wounded after the operation against the Third Prince, where the sect learned that twenty-six of its forty-seven Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm fighters had died. Zhang Bailiu accepted that the Tianshui Sect sought its own restoration rather than Prince Chen's coronation, and Lin Bai said their objective had already been achieved.

• Zhu Mo offered to show Lin Bai the nine levels of Purgatory, but Lin Bai coughed blood, so Prince Chen insisted he return to recover.
• Blood Dragon Legion martial artists escorted Lin Bai to the Tianshui Sect's temporary residence, where disciples helped him into the meeting hall.
• Zhang Bailiu ordered an immediate casualty count and learned that only twenty-one of the Tianshui Sect's forty-seven fighters had returned; all the survivors were severely wounded.
• Bai Yifei reported that Lin Qianyu, Zhang Jinling, and others had not returned, while Zhang Bailiu reassured the disciples that the Zhao Xing Office had taken the Holy Son and Xia Jingzhi into Purgatory.
• Zhang Bailiu asked whether the sacrifices had been made to put Prince Chen on the throne, and Lin Bai clarified that the Tianshui Sect wanted to rise again, regardless of who became Emperor of Chu.
• Lin Bai said the Tianshui Sect had already achieved its objective, and ordered the finest healing pills from Prince Chen's treasury to be sent to the sect.

Lin Bai told Zhang Bailiu that his investigation of Xia Jingzhi had doomed the Third Prince and fulfilled the Tianshui Sect’s bargain for a chance at revival. Though Lin Bai intended to remain the sect’s Holy Son for now, Zhang Bailiu warned that the Chu Emperor and other powerful forces might not let him leave the Demon Realm alive.

• Lin Bai explained that Xia Jingzhi’s ties to the Southern Border Insect Valley could expose the Third Prince to charges of meddling in Chu Kingdom affairs and poisoning the First and Second Princes.
• Lin Bai said the Third Prince’s faction included the Wen Tian Sect, Heaven and Earth Gate, Li Family, Zhao Family, and Sun Family, which the Chu imperial clan would likely suppress after the battle.
• Zhang Bailiu asked Lin Bai to stay as Tianshui Sect’s Holy Son, while Lin Bai said their wager was fulfilled but he would remain in the Chu Kingdom for a while longer.
• Zhang Bailiu warned that Lin Bai’s Supreme Avatar had attracted powerful figures and that the Chu Emperor might prevent him from leaving, or kill him rather than let him join another force.
• Lin Bai’s expression turned cold as he considered Zhang Bailiu’s warning.

After the battle, Lin Bai considered the uproar over his Supreme Avatar and the Demon Realm’s efforts to keep him, but said his path lay outside the Demon Realm. He checked the allied forces’ losses and left their rewards and affairs to Prince Chen.

• Zhang Bailiu offered Lin Bai support if he stayed in the Demon Realm, but Lin Bai postponed the decision and returned to recover.
• Lin Bai met the Crow, who urged him to consider his cultivation resources; Lin Bai said he would rather find his master in the Spirit Realm.
• Lin Bai visited the Heavenly Guard Battalion outpost and learned that thirty of its fifty-three deployed warriors had died and twenty-three had returned.
• Lin Bai told Old Li and Meng Hua to send the casualty list to His Highness Prince Chen, who would handle the dead warriors’ affairs.
• Lin Bai met Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun, who reported that the Chen Family and Sacred Lotus Palace had lost only a few warriors each.

After the battle, Lin Bai met with Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun, then went to Prince Hong Estate to discuss Xia Jingzhi’s imprisonment and the danger of an attempt on his life. He was reassured that Purgatory was nearly impossible to infiltrate, and the group agreed to wait for the Zhao Xing Office’s conclusion.

• Lin Bai told Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun that Xia Jingzhi had been handed over to Prince Yu in Purgatory, and they discussed the Third Prince’s possible involvement in the princes’ deaths.
• Lin Bai thanked Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun for their help, and they warned that his exposed Supreme Avatar could draw the attention of forces across the Demon Realm.
• Lin Bai went to Prince Hong Estate, where Chao Yushi, Zhang Linghu, Liu Canhong, and others welcomed him and praised the estate’s role in blocking the Third Prince’s reinforcements.
• Lin Bai worried that the Third Prince might bribe someone in Purgatory to kill Xia Jingzhi, but Chao Yushi and Liu Canhong assured him that Purgatory was difficult to infiltrate.
• Lin Bai accepted that Xia Jingzhi was secure in Purgatory and agreed to wait for the Zhao Xing Office to announce its conclusion.

Lin Bai warned Prince Chen that the Third Prince might resort to force and that the princes’ struggle could escalate into civil war. After returning three Grand Yi Divine Weapons, Lin Bai accepted the Chaos Divine Lightning, while Prince Chen cautioned that Lin Bai’s revealed Supreme Avatar would attract powerful factions.

• Prince Chen told Lin Bai that the emperor had summoned the Third Prince, whose influence had suffered after his misdeeds were exposed.
• Lin Bai urged Prince Chen to press the Zhao Xing Office to investigate Xia Jingzhi and prepare for the Third Prince to make a desperate move.
• Lin Bai warned that the princes’ conflict could turn into a civil war involving Chu’s military and a struggle among feudal lords.
• Lin Bai returned the Sun-Shooting Ballista, Nine Dragons Truefire Shroud, and Chaos Divine Lightning to Prince Chen.
• Prince Chen offered Lin Bai a Grand Yi Divine Weapon, and Lin Bai chose the Chaos Divine Lightning, which could be used three times.
• Prince Chen warned Lin Bai that sects and lineages would try to recruit him or seize him after learning about his Supreme Avatar.

Prince Chen offered Lin Bai generous rewards and Chu's protection in exchange for temporarily joining the kingdom, following the threat posed by factions seeking Lin Bai's Supreme Avatar. Lin Bai left without deciding, suspecting the proposal was a scheme to keep him in Chu, while Prince Chen regretted following the Chu Emperor's advisers' instructions.

• Prince Chen told Lin Bai that nine powerful martial artists had tried to seize his Supreme Avatar and warned that other factions would continue to target him.
• Prince Chen proposed that Lin Bai publicly join Chu temporarily, offering him status, treasures, cultivation resources, and protection, and promising to help him leave when he wished.
• Lin Bai questioned whether refusing would lead to his death, and Prince Chen explained that the Chu Emperor would instead place him under house arrest until he agreed to stay.
• Lin Bai said he needed time to consider the proposal, then left Prince Chen's Residence suspecting the offer was a calculated scheme.
• Prince Chen watched Lin Bai leave and felt guilty because he had repeated the Chu Emperor's advisers' plan almost word for word.

While waiting for news about Leng Xingguang, Lin Bai received a flood of banquet invitations from powerful Demon Realm factions. He decided to host fifteen of them at the Immortal Abode Restaurant, leaving his search for Leng Xingguang on hold.

• Lin Bai remained at the Tianshui Sect's imperial lodge, recovering from his injuries and asking about Leng Xingguang, who had not yet arrived in the imperial capital.
• Qiao Mo and Qin Yao showed Lin Bai the many invitations from prominent Demon Realm powers and explained that the sect left attendance to his discretion.
• Lin Bai arranged to host fifteen invited powers at the Immortal Abode Restaurant and asked Qiao Mo and Qin Yao to inquire whether Wind and Snow Villa had arrived and where Leng Xingguang was.
• Chen Yule personally invited Lin Bai to a banquet at the Immortal Abode Restaurant, and Lin Bai accepted.
• Lin Bai called Bai Yifei, Zhou Xinjin, and the others, then set out with Chen Yule for the restaurant.

Lin Bai attended a gathering of the Eastern Region’s leading sects and families, where they discussed the danger surrounding his Supreme Avatar and urged him to seek protection. He left undecided about joining a force, while Qian Hen pointed to the upcoming Hunting Realm at the Chu Emperor’s Birthday Celebration.

• Lin Bai and Chen Yule struggled through the crowd at Immortal Abode Restaurant as martial artists greeted Lin Bai and sought his favor.
• Lin Bai and Chen Yule joined the gathered prodigies, including Meng Qinxian, Huang Qingyun, Qian Hen, and Mo Nan, in a packed private room.
• Huang Qingyun, Qian Hen, and Mo Nan warned Lin Bai that Tianshui Sect might not be strong enough to protect him from forces threatened by his Supreme Avatar.
• Meng Qinxian suggested that Lin Bai join Overturning Heavens Sect, but Lin Bai said he had not decided and urged everyone not to interfere in Chu’s internal affairs.
• Qian Hen reminded the gathering that the Hunting Realm would open in half a month during the Chu Emperor’s Birthday Celebration.

Qian Hen proposed that the gathered sects form an alliance of attack and defense for the upcoming Hunting Realm hunt, where each team could take away three exotic breeds. The Holy Sons and Holy Daughters agreed, and Lin Bai was counted in despite not yet knowing whether he would participate.

• Qian Hen explained the Hunting Realm’s rare exotic breeds and the rule allowing hunters to take away three prey, then proposed that the sects protect one another.
• The gathered Holy Sons and Holy Daughters discussed their sects’ hunting lists and asked the others to help if they fell into danger.
• Mo Nan and Li Xuanqiu said their Star Sect and Moon Sect disciples would benefit from the alliance because they were not skilled at killing.
• Lin Bai said he would join the alliance if he participated in the hunt, and Qian Hen counted him in.
• Qian Hen, Chen Yule, Lin Bai, and the others toasted, formally establishing the alliance of attack and defense.