Chapter Summaries

Li Guxian and Lin Bai prepared letters asking Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang to attend a martial contest at Eternal Night Pass, presenting it as a chance to resolve the conflict with the Northern Region. They expected the Northern Region to accept rather than face the humiliation of refusal or the consequences of war, and Li Guxian arranged for supreme treasures to support the contest.

• Lin Bai questioned why the Northern Region would agree to the martial contest, and Li Guxian explained that refusing would leave them choosing between humiliation and war against the three ancient powers’ wishes.
• Lin Bai rewrote letters to Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang, inviting them to Eternal Night Pass and asking about the Western Region’s advance on Ten Thousand Saints Mountain.
• Li Guxian added a reminder that the invitees could bring their Imperial Sons’ supreme treasures, and she said the Four Gloom Demon Palace would also provide a supreme treasure for Lin Bai.
• Li Guxian predicted that Lin Bai’s opponent would likely be Bu Junfeng and urged Lin Bai to prepare for a fierce battle.
• Li Guxian arranged for Four Gloom Demon Palace experts to deliver the letters and planned to use the contest to rescue Northern Region Holy Sons and Holy Maidens captured by Lin Bai.

Daoist Chai, Heaven Sword Peak, and Spirit Lin Bai discussed the escalating conflicts between Huangzi, the Eastern Region, and the demon world. They concluded that Huangzi would not back down and that stopping the internal war in the demon world was their only realistic option; Daoist Chai then went to meet Huangzi’s leaders.

• Heaven Sword Peak waited on Daoist Wu with Spirit Lin Bai for Daoist Chai to return from Huangzi.
• Daoist Chai arrived and told Heaven Sword Peak and Spirit Lin Bai that Huangzi had prepared for war for tens of thousands of years and would not relent.
• Spirit Lin Bai said he could not stop the Divine Medicine War but could try to prevent an internal war in the demon world.
• Heaven Sword Peak and Spirit Lin Bai agreed that Huangzi, the Chu Kingdom, and the demon-world factions were trapped by their competing interests, leaving mediation as their best hope.
• Daoist Chai and the others traveled to East Ice River, where Tang Xiong welcomed them as Huangzi’s leaders gathered beneath the clouds.

Daoist Wu, Daoist Chai, and Spirit Huangzi discussed the standoff between the barbarians and the Northern Region, with the ancient forces unable to find a political solution. As the Chu Kingdom and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace refused to surrender territory, the martial competition emerged as a possible way to decide the dispute.

• Daoist Wu explained that the Northern Region had delayed negotiations for months after the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace broke its promise to share the Seven Nights Divine Sect's territory.
• Daoist Chai reported that the barbarians rejected pressure to withdraw and demanded either seventy-two provinces or war.
• The patriarch of the Heavenly Dao Clan told Daoist Wu that he could not decide the barbarians' withdrawal alone.
• Guo Xingchen and Spirit Huangzi rejected giving the barbarians the seventy-two provinces, saying the Chu Kingdom and other powers would not agree.
• The barbarians proposed a best-of-five martial competition between their top prodigies and the Northern Region's, with the loser accepting the other side's terms.
• The Eastern Region reconsidered the martial competition as the best available solution, while the three ancient forces continued discussing how to end the crisis.

Tang Xiong faced pressure from the three ancient forces to end the Northern Region war and secured half a month to find a solution. He convened the Northern Region’s leaders at East Ice River, where Bu Junfeng’s absence became a concern.

• Daoist Wu, Spirit Huangzi, and Gan Shengqing demanded that the Northern Region find a workable way to stop the war, giving Tang Xiong half a month.
• Tang Xiong arranged for bitter wine to be sent to Heaven Sword Peak and convened a military council at East Ice River.
• Tang Xiong noticed that Bu Junfeng was missing and ordered the formation activated to contact the Soul Refinement Sect, the Corpse Refinement Sect, and the Soul Refining Sect.
• A Soul Refinement Sect elder located Bu Junfeng and brought him to the central military camp.
• Tang Xiong and the assembled leaders discussed the three ancient forces’ demand, while the Soul Refining Sect Master suggested visiting the depths of the Northern Region.

Luan Tang's leaders debated how to secure victory in a proposed martial contest with the Northern Region, whose alliance had agreed to cooperate with the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace. The chapter left Luan Tang considering a seven-on-seven contest and struggling to choose its remaining champions.

• The Northern Region agreed to assist the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace in exchange for territory from the Seven Nights Divine Sect.
• Luan Tang's leaders argued over whether to attack the Northern Region and which prodigies could represent them in a contest.
• Tang Xiong revived a proposal for Luan Tang and the Northern Region to each select seven prodigies above the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm.
• The leaders discussed possible matchups, including Bu Junfeng against the Eastern Region and Chu Emperor against Shen Xinghe, but disagreed over the likely outcomes.
• Luan Tang's leaders noted that Bu Junfeng, Wang Zhengyang, and Chu Emperor could secure three victories, then struggled to find two more reliable champions.

The Heavenly Dao Clan offered a secretly cultivated prodigy for the battle against Lin Bai, revealing that Black Water Clan had been raised in seclusion to counter Bu Junfeng. The Northern Region’s leaders had yet to agree to the contest, and the chapter left Black Water Clan’s identity and strength as a matter of intense curiosity.

• The Heavenly Dao Clan’s patriarch faced mockery over his clan’s Holy Sons and said his candidate was not one of them.
• The patriarch explained that the clan had secretly raised an infant discovered after a mysterious burst of light, supplying him with abundant resources and having him defeat the Nine Holy Sons in trials.
• Tang Muzhi’s elder said the prodigy had reached the mid-stage of the Greater Purity Dao Fruit and was stronger than Bu Junfeng.
• The patriarch revealed that the prodigy was his grandson and named him Black Water Clan.
• Lin Bai’s leaders questioned whether the Northern Region would agree to the battle, while the gathered powers weighed Black Water Clan’s emergence.

The Northern Domain chose five candidates for a martial contest against the Eastern Domain and proposed that the winner of three matches claim territory. At Eternal Night Pass, Spirit Huangzi questioned whether his earlier ominous divination about Lin Bai had been wrong.

• The Northern Domain selected Bu Junfeng, Shen Xinghe, Luan Tang, Tang Muzhi, and a Black Water Clan candidate, and planned to secretly provide them with treasures.
• The Heavenly Dao Clan patriarch presented the contest proposal to the three ancient factions, who went to Horizon Pass to consult Prince Liang.
• Prince Liang hesitated to accept Li Guxian's proposed contest because the Eastern Domain would have to surrender territory if it lost, but promised an answer within half a month.
• The three seniors went to Eternal Night Pass, where He Gongji summoned the god children and Lin Bai to discuss the proposal.
• Spirit Huangzi reminded Lin Bai that he had once predicted Lin Bai's journey to the Seven Nights Divine Sect would be like a tiger fallen into the plains and a dragon in shallow waters, then wondered if the divination had been wrong.

Daoist Wu, Spirit Huangzi, and He Gongji brought the Northern Region’s proposal for a martial competition to the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and tried to recruit Lin Bai. Lin Baixian arranged for the palace to delay its answer for half a month, leaving the proposal unresolved.

• Daoist Chai introduced He Gongji to Lin Bai, who confirmed that he was the former Prince Qin and current imperial son of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• He Gongji invited Lin Bai to join the Veiling Heaven Sect, while Spirit Huangzi hinted at Lin Bai’s connection to the Innate Dao Sect through their shared lineage with the Ancient Dao Sect.
• Daoist Wu explained that the Northern Region had proposed a martial competition and said it could proceed if the Eastern Region agreed.
• Daoist Chai asked for more time to decide, and Daoist Wu granted the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace half a month to respond.
• After the three visitors left, Daoist Chai praised Lin Baixian’s plan, and she told him to give them the answer she had arranged after half a month.

Goddess Li Guxian arranged for the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace to delay agreeing to the Northern Region’s martial contest while preparing supreme treasures for Lin Bai and the First God Child. Lin Bai accepted the dangerous Nine Deaths Demon Sword, and the First God Child reconsidered refusing his own treasure.

• Goddess Li Guxian explained that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would delay its response to the martial contest to avoid arousing the Northern Region’s suspicions.
• Goddess Li Guxian gave Lin Bai and the First God Child treasure boxes containing supreme treasures prepared for the contest.
• The First God Child refused to open his box, boasting that he would kill any opponent from the Northern Region without needing a sect treasure.
• Lin Bai opened his box and learned from Old Wen that the Nine Deaths Demon Sword had belonged to Murong Changkong and could corrupt its user’s mind.
• Goddess Li Guxian warned Lin Bai to use the sword only in a critical moment and for less than half an hour, and Lin Bai stored it away.
• After Lin Bai left, the First God Child regretted refusing his treasure, so Goddess Li Guxian returned the box to him and urged him to accept it.

The First God Child accepted a Supreme Divine Weapon from the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, while Lin Bai considered ways to advance his demon sword before the competition in half a month. As the life-and-death battle drew near, Lin Bai prepared to face the Northern Region’s prodigies while remaining wary of the Giant God Race.

• The First God Child opened the Devil Palace’s gift and was overjoyed by the treasure inside.
• Lin Bai returned to his residence and considered asking Chu’s Celestial Mystery Pavilion or the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace for a safe way to advance his demon sword.
• Lin Bai decided he might ask the Devil Palace to improve the sword or provide a method if he won the competition.
• Lin Bai anticipated fighting Bu Junfeng, Shen Xinghe, or Luan Tang in a deadly contest between the Northern and Eastern Regions.
• Lin Bai reflected that exposing his Supreme Avatar had made him a target of attention and resolved to stay cautious of the Giant God Race.

Lin Bai organized his many combat arts and abilities ahead of the martial competition, choosing Crimson Lotus Swordplay for combat while continuing to cultivate Azure Lotus Swordplay. He also reviewed his other techniques and concealed trump cards, leaving the Supreme Avatar available for use but deciding to keep Devouring Power secret.

• Lin Bai weighed the overlapping Azure Lotus Swordplay and Crimson Lotus Swordplay, deciding to keep cultivating Azure Lotus Swordplay while using Crimson Lotus Swordplay as his main method in battle.
• Lin Bai chose to use Overlord Sword Dao alongside Crimson Lotus Swordplay and listed the Nine Yuan Devil God Art, Five Elements Extremity, and Heaven Swallowing Domain as trump cards.
• Lin Bai connected the Five Elements Scripture to the Dao Sects and recalled that Ling Tianzi had urged him to obtain the Grand Five Elements Art.
• Lin Bai considered adding Devouring Power to the Heaven Swallowing Domain because Crimson Lotus Sword Domain lacked that power.
• Lin Bai decided to avoid using Devouring Power publicly but accepted that he could use his already exposed Supreme Avatar.

Lin Bai reviewed his weapons and techniques while preparing for the coming battle, then received word that Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu had arrived at Eternal Night Pass. He went to meet the two allies in the council hall as the half-month deadline approached.

• Lin Bai sorted through his Divine Weapons, deciding which to keep and how to use the Nine Deaths Demon Sword safely.
• Lin Bai reflected on his improved Reverse Five Elements Sword Formation and Void Evasion Art, and suspected the Crow had gone to the Burial Earth for the divine medicine.
• Lin Bai continued cultivating and preparing for battle while He Gongji and Li Guxian handled negotiations with the Chu Empire.
• Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu arrived at Eternal Night Pass two days before the three ancient forces' half-month deadline.
• Lin Bai went with Old Wen to the council hall to meet Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu.

Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu arrived at Eternal Night Pass to meet Lin Bai, but their visit quickly turned hostile as the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace confronted them over their sects’ bloody history. The First God Child challenged the two Saints to settle the old blood debt before Lin Bai arrived.

• Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu entered the conference hall with powerful escorts from Ten Thousand Saints Mountain and Qi Tian Sect while the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace's members eyed them with hostility.
• Li Guxian tried to ease the tension, then argued that the Demon Palace's actions had prevented a far deadlier Northern Region invasion and that the Eastern Region should help end the war.
• Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu rejected Li Guxian's defense and blamed the Demon Palace for the turmoil, while she urged them to help pacify the war.
• The First God Child rebuked the Saints for acting superior on the Demon Palace's territory and demanded that they settle the blood debt from ten thousand years ago.
• The First God Child stepped forward and released his aura as if ready to fight Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu.

The First God Child provoked Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu over the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s destruction ten thousand years ago, and Lin Bai arrived to take the guests away. He left Eternal Night Pass with Li Guxian and Lu Yunzhe, while He Gongji reprimanded the First God Child for escalating tensions before the grand plan.

• The First God Child confronted Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu, who mocked the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s diminished power and challenged his authority.
• Lin Bai entered the council hall and invited Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu to Heaven Sword Peak to get away from the hostile gathering.
• Lin Bai refused He Gongji’s offer to accompany them and said Li Guxian and Lu Yunzhe would go instead.
• The First God Child accused Lin Bai of excluding him from the Demon Palace’s grand plan, and Lin Bai told him to complain to the Palace Master or Shi Renshan.
• After Lin Bai and the others departed, He Gongji scolded the First God Child for publicly provoking Ten Thousand Saints Mountain and the Qi Tian Sect.

Lin Bai, Wang Zhengyang, Qi Lingyu, and Goddess Li Guxian discussed the Northern Region martial contest and its consequences for the Eastern Region. The meeting ended with Li Guxian asking whether Ten Thousand Saints Mountain had prepared for the Western Region to exploit the conflict.

• Lin Bai met Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu at Heaven Sword Peak to discuss the Northern Region martial contest.
• Lin Bai explained that the Northern Region had proposed settling its dispute with the Eastern Region through the contest, while Western and Southern armies waited at the borders.
• Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu recognized that an Eastern Region defeat could force it to cede the seventy-two provinces near the Northern Region.
• Goddess Li Guxian said the Eastern Region would have to honor the contest’s outcome, but its martial artists could later defend the ceded territory without acting openly under their sects’ names.
• Goddess Li Guxian asked Wang Zhengyang whether Ten Thousand Saints Mountain had prepared for the Western Region to exploit the conflict.

Li Guxian advised Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu on how to assess threats from the Western and Southern Regions. She left Qi Lingyu with the conclusion that the Southern Region was only waiting to see whether the Eastern Region would collapse, and would not attack unless it did.

• Li Guxian warned Wang Zhengyang that the Western Region's battle-hardened army could overwhelm Ten Thousand Saints Mountain's frontier forces in a direct clash.
• Li Guxian suggested that Ten Thousand Saints Mountain use agents, inducements, and rumors to revive the Western nations' rivalries and break up their united army.
• Wang Zhengyang accepted Li Guxian's advice and said he would discuss the strategy with the sect elders.
• Li Guxian told Qi Lingyu that the Southern Region was stronger than Qi Tian Sect but lacked reason to seize Eastern Region territory unless the East collapsed.
• Qi Lingyu considered why the Southern Region had halted its advance, and Li Guxian confirmed it was waiting to see whether the Eastern Region would fall.

Li Guxian outlined the Eastern Region’s strategy for the coming martial contest with the Northern Region and warned that the Southern Region’s troops remained a threat. The chapter left Lin Bai and the others studying intelligence on their likely Northern Region opponents as the contest drew near.

• Qi Lingyu and Li Guxian discussed the danger posed by the Southern Region’s troops and concluded that the Eastern Region first needed to resolve its crisis with the Northern Region.
• Li Guxian explained that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would agree to the martial contest when the three ancient powers’ half-month deadline arrived, and named the five Eastern Region fighters.
• Li Guxian said Qi Lingyu, Wang Zhengyang, and Lin Bai would likely face Bu Junfeng, Shen Xinghe, and Luan Tang, while Huang Qingyun and the First God Child would fill the remaining places.
• Lin Bai described Bu Junfeng as a formidable opponent, and Li Guxian warned the group about the Northern sects’ techniques, Soul Refining Banners, and corpse puppets.
• Li Guxian handed out Jade Slips containing intelligence collected by God Children of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace who had been sent to the Northern Region.

Goddess Li Guxian outlined the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace's plan to use the Eastern and Northern Regions' martial contest as cover for a rescue attempt at the Soul Refinement Sect. She reassured Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang that the Demon Palace would not pursue old blood debts, though their sects offered no guarantee about their future stance.

• Goddess Li Guxian said the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would delay the martial contest and draw Northern Region experts to the frontier to create an opportunity to rescue imprisoned Eastern Region Divine Sons and Holy Daughters.
• Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang offered to coordinate help from Qi Tian Sect and Ten Thousand Saints Mountain, and they exchanged contact information with Goddess Li Guxian.
• Lin Bai suspected that the rescue attempt could also reveal the Soul Refinement Sect's defenses.
• Wang Zhengyang asked whether the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would seek revenge for blood debts from a hundred thousand years earlier, and Goddess Li Guxian said it would not pursue the past or reclaim treasures already obtained by other sects.
• Goddess Li Guxian asked about Qi Tian Sect and Ten Thousand Saints Mountain's positions, and Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang said their sects were focused on crises in other regions.

Lin Bai, Li Guxian, Wang Zhengyang, and Qi Lingyu agreed to proceed toward the martial contest, while the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s unresolved tensions with neighboring powers remained. After they left, Spirit Huangzi, Daoist Chai, and Daoist Wu realized Li Guxian had used them to help settle the Eastern and Northern Regions’ conflict, but they accepted the arrangement to stabilize the borders.

• Lin Bai urged Li Guxian, Wang Zhengyang, and Qi Lingyu to leave future problems aside and focus on the martial contest.
• Wang Zhengyang and Qi Lingyu refused to return to Eternal Night Pass, and Li Guxian agreed to accompany them to Horizon Pass for talks with Chu.
• After the group departed, Spirit Huangzi, Daoist Chai, and Daoist Wu emerged from hiding on Heaven Sword Peak and discussed the contest.
• Daoist Wu said Li Guxian had used them as a weapon, and the three acknowledged her scheme while accepting it as a way to stabilize the borders.
• Spirit Huangzi and the others discussed the formidable contestants and warned that a clash between the Eastern and Northern Regions could engulf the Devil Realm.

Lin Bai and Li Guxian reunited with Chu Junyou at Horizon Pass, where the former Crown Prince agreed to support their effort to settle the border dispute through a martial contest. Li Guxian named the Eastern Region’s contestants and invited Huang Qingyun, who accepted despite her conflicted reaction.

• Lin Bai and Li Guxian entered the conference hall and found Chu Junyou, Bai Yifei, and Chu’s officials and prodigies gathered there.
• Chu Junyou and Lin Bai exchanged weary greetings, and Chu Junyou said he had arrived at Horizon Pass two or three days earlier.
• Chu Junyou acknowledged the circumstances that had set him and Lin Bai on opposing sides, then asked Li Guxian whether to address her as Princess Leping or as a Nine Underworlds Demon Palace Goddess.
• Chu Junyou pledged Chu’s full support for the Eastern Region–Northern Region martial contest and said Chu hoped to avoid a direct war.
• Li Guxian chose Wang Zhengyang, Qi Lingyu, Lin Bai, the First God Child, and Huang Qingyun to represent the Eastern Region.
• Huang Qingyun struggled with conflicting emotions before agreeing to participate.