Chapter Summaries

The Council of Elders ruled that Yan Congjiao had to apologize in person to every sect he offended or face a hundred years at Contemplation Cliff. After Shi Renshan and Yan Congjiao left, Li Guxian suggested that Shi had deliberately kept his disciple shallow and obedient so he could control the Devil Palace through him.

• Li Guxian proposed that Yan Congjiao apologize or spend a hundred years at Contemplation Cliff, and Luo Yuanjing ordered him to visit each offended sect and earn its forgiveness.
• Shi Renshan accepted the verdict and arranged to send records of his duties to the Affairs Hall as Yao Daogu and Zhao Fengxia took over receiving guests and envoys.
• Yan Congjiao complained that Shi Renshan had failed to defend him, but Shi explained that the three Saint Elders and Li Guxian had already secured Lin Bai's victory in the council.
• Shi Renshan lamented that success and failure both came through Xiao He, leaving Yan Congjiao confused.
• Li Guxian explained to He Gongji and the others that Shi Renshan may have deliberately raised Yan Congjiao to be an obedient, shallow heir he could control as Emperor Child and future Palace Lord.

Li Guxian told Lin Bai how the Council of Elders had punished the First God Child and warned him that Qi Lingyu might seek military aid for the Qi Tian Sect. Lin Bai prepared to meet Qi Lingyu alongside representatives of the Chu Kingdom and Ten Thousand Saints Mountain, while weighing the defensive alliance against the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s unstable territory.

• Li Guxian assigned Yao Daogu and Zhao Fengxia to receive envoys and build ties with smaller sects, while He Gongji was tasked with watching the First God Child.
• Li Guxian told Lin Bai that the First God Child would have to apologize to the leading sects or undergo a century of secluded meditation and monthly flogging; she also said the plan against the Shi Family was nearly ready.
• Old Wen reported that Qi Lingyu had arrived, and Lin Bai invited Chu Junyou and Wang Zhengyang to join a meeting at the Imperial Palace.
• Li Guxian warned Lin Bai that Qi Lingyu would likely request aid, and explained that the defensive alliance obligated the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace to help the Qi Tian Sect.
• Lin Bai considered agreeing to help without immediately sending troops, but questioned whether that would be dishonorable; Li Guxian argued that the Demon Palace had to secure its own territory first.

Lin Bai met with Qi Lingyu at Star Gazing Pavilion and heard how the Southern Region’s invasion and plague had driven Qi Tian Sect toward collapse. Qi Lingyu warned Lin Bai that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s war was only beginning, and the chapter ended as Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou joined them for a private discussion that could shape the Devil Realm Eastern Region.

• Lin Bai decided to meet Qi Lingyu without Li Guxian, and she warned him that Qi Tian Sect might grasp at any chance to survive.
• At Star Gazing Pavilion, Qi Lingyu described Qi Tian Sect’s worsening internal divisions, defections, and desperation amid the Southern Region’s invasion and plague.
• Qi Lingyu warned Lin Bai to settle the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s internal conflicts before facing threats from Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect.
• Qi Lingyu suggested eliminating the people behind a problem, but Lin Bai explained that killing the First God Child would not resolve the wider struggle between the Demon Palace’s powerful families.
• Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou arrived, and Lin Bai ordered Old Wen to keep others away while the four representatives prepared to discuss Qi Tian Sect’s situation.

Qi Lingyu told Lin Bai, Chu Junyou, and Wang Zhengyang that Southern Border Insect Valley’s Burial Sky Smoke had devastated the Qi Tian Sect’s defenses and could not yet be countered. He urged the three eastern powers to honor their alliance and aid the Qi Tian Sect, warning that its fall would expose their territories to invasion.

• Qi Lingyu described how Burial Sky Smoke broke the Qi Tian Sect’s second defensive line and explained its deadly effects and its ability to penetrate most formations.
• Chu Junyou said the Celestial Mystery Pavilion of Chu had failed to identify the poison’s ingredients or create an antidote, and Qi Lingyu said captured antidote pills had also proved impossible to replicate.
• Qi Lingyu explained that Burial Sky Smoke severely affected most martial artists below the Dao Realm, leaving the Qi Tian Sect’s largely lower-ranked army unable to fight.
• Qi Lingyu asked Chu Junyou, Wang Zhengyang, and Lin Bai to seek aid from their sects, warning that Southern Region forces would threaten Chu, Ten Thousand Saints Mountain, and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace if the Qi Tian Sect fell.

Qi Lingyu sought aid for Qi Tian Sect as Southern Region forces invaded and Burial Sky Smoke devastated its territory. Lin Bai proposed asking the Three Ancient Forces to stop the plague, while Chu Junyou agreed that Chu would send troops and supplies after the ceremony.

• Qi Lingyu explained that Qi Tian Sect needed help against the Southern Region invasion, but Chu Junyou and Wang Zhengyang warned that reinforcements would be vulnerable to Burial Sky Smoke.
• Lin Bai argued that Qi Tian Sect should seek aid from the Three Ancient Forces, who might intervene to stop Southern Border Insect Valley's plague even if they would not join the war.
• Lin Bai advised Qi Lingyu to emphasize the plague's devastation and provide evidence of its suffering, and Qi Lingyu agreed to contact his sect.
• Qi Lingyu insisted that the Three Great Sects should prepare to send both troops and supplies in case the Three Ancient Forces refused to act.
• Chu Junyou pledged that Chu would send twenty million troops and supplies under the command of two Army Kings after Nine Underworlds Demon Palace's ceremony.

Chu Junyou agreed to send twenty million troops to aid Qi Tian Sect, while Lin Bai and Wang Zhengyang explained that their sects could not send comparable forces. They agreed to seek help from the Three Ancient Powers and provide supplies, but the chapter ended with the leaders confronting the problem of more than a hundred million refugees from Qi Tian Sect's territory gathering along their borders.

• Chu Junyou promised to send twenty million troops to Qi Tian Sect, whose territory was under attack by the Southern Region.
• Wang Zhengyang and Lin Bai said Ten Thousand Saints Mountain and Nine Underworlds Demon Palace could not send large armies while Burial Sky Smoke remained a threat.
• Lin Bai proposed that the Four Great Flourishing Powers jointly seek aid from the Three Ancient Powers to stop Southern Border Insect Valley and its Burial Sky Smoke.
• Wang Zhengyang and Lin Bai agreed to provide Qi Tian Sect with supplies, including pills and medicines for treating poison.
• Chu Junyou reported that more than a hundred million refugees had reached Chu's borders, while Lin Bai said even more had gathered near Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Qi Lingyu said Qi Tian Sect would try to persuade the refugees to return, but Chu and Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would have to decide how to handle them.

Chu, the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, and the Qi Tian Sect discussed how to handle refugees and investigated the unexpected invasions of the Eastern Region. They suspected forces beyond the realm were driving events, while learning that a Tortoise Race ancestor might be close to immortality; Lin Bai and the others concluded that outside Great Mystic Art Users could be stirring up the Devil Realm’s Divine Medicine War.

• Chu Junyou obtained Qi Lingyu’s permission for Chu and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace to handle the Qi Tian Sect refugees as they saw fit.
• Wang Zhengyang revealed that Chu had secretly encouraged the Western Region’s civil war, and the group discussed how the Western and Southern Regions’ sudden invasions might have been influenced by outside forces.
• Qi Lingyu said the Southern Region had taken advantage of the Eastern Region’s distractions, while Wang Zhengyang and Lin Bai argued that it must have had powerful backing to act so boldly.
• Chu Junyou and Wang Zhengyang recalled the Demon Realm’s Divine Medicine War seventy thousand years earlier, when a Tortoise Race ancestor’s aura frightened away Great Mystic Art Users.
• Lin Bai asked whether the living fossil might be immortal, and Wang Zhengyang said the ancestor had likely crossed half the threshold of immortality.
• Chu Junyou warned that outside Great Mystic Art Users might be trying to recreate the earlier Divine Medicine War, and Lin Bai agreed that some could be intervening in the Devil Realm.

Lin Bai learned that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would hold its Renaming Ceremony in two months, after securing support from much of the Devil Realm Eastern Region. The Palace Lord told Lin Bai to postpone his plan against Shi Renshan and the Shi Family until after the ceremony, and Lin Bai raised Qi Tian Sect’s worsening crisis with the Southern Border Insect Valley.

• Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang discussed the Renaming Ceremony with Lin Bai, who estimated it could be held within three months and promised to urge the Demon Palace to set a date.
• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace told Lin Bai that delegations and letters from sects across the Devil Realm Eastern Region had secured enough support to hold the ceremony, and set it for the fifteenth day of the eighth month, two months later.
• The Palace Lord told Lin Bai that Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect had requested martial combat and that the Demon Palace would prepare a list of fighters without Lin Bai.
• The Palace Lord revealed that he knew Lin Bai and Li Guxian planned to target Shi Renshan and the Shi Family, and asked Lin Bai to suspend the plan until after the ceremony; Lin Bai agreed.
• Lin Bai told the Palace Lord that the Southern Border Insect Valley had thrown Qi Tian Sect into disarray with Burial Sky Smoke and that he had advised Qi Lingyu to seek help from the three ancient powers.

Lin Bai agreed with the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace to ask the three ancient forces to stop Southern Border Insect Valley’s Burial Sky Smoke after the Demon Palace Renaming Ceremony. He also secured approval for expanding the Nine Underworlds Army and Skyguard Legion, while suspending the plan against the Shi Family until the ceremony ended.

• Lin Bai proposed that the three ancient forces intervene against the Burial Sky Smoke, and the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace agreed to plead for Qi Tian Sect's territory after the Renaming Ceremony.
• Lin Bai told the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace that he had secretly begun expanding the Nine Underworlds Army and Skyguard Legion, and the Palace Lord approved the expansion while ordering the Shi Family plan suspended.
• Lin Bai informed Li Guxian and the Palace Lord of Phoenix Valley that the plan against the Shi Family had to wait until after the Renaming Ceremony, scheduled for two months later.
• Li Guxian deduced that the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace had halted internal conflict to protect the ceremony, and agreed to pause the plan against the Shi Family.
• Lin Bai told Li Guxian that the Palace Lord had approved the army expansion, and they agreed to keep it secret and organize the new troops separately from the existing armies.

Lin Bai hosted a banquet for the Devil Realm’s Holy Sons and Holy Daughters as the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace prepared for its Renaming Ceremony. The guests discussed the worsening crisis in Qi Tian Sect territory and Lu Qingjun’s absence before Old Wen brought Lin Bai the finalized martial competition roster for his approval.

• The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace announced that its Renaming Ceremony would be held in two months, and news of its growing support spread throughout the Devil Realm.
• Lin Bai invited prominent young martial artists to a banquet at the Star Gazing Pavilion and asked them to set aside sect affairs and enjoy themselves.
• Yi Song and other guests questioned Qi Lingyu about the situation in Qi Tian Sect territory and pointed out that Lu Qingjun had not come; Lin Bai and Wang Zhengyang helped redirect the conversation.
• Shui Mo Dan asked about Lu Qingjun, then accepted Yi Heze’s offer to teach her swordsmanship and Mo Nan’s offer to teach her astrology.
• Qian Hen told Chu Junyou that Shui Mo Dan was not human but had formed from a treasure, while Lin Bai and Wang Zhengyang avoided explaining more.
• Old Wen delivered the Demon Palace’s finalized martial competition roster against Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect, and Lin Bai opened it to review.

Lin Bai confirmed the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s five-person tournament roster and discussed the strength of its chosen God Children against the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect. He left the gathering’s Holy Sons and Holy Daughters stunned by revealing that his past fight with Bu Junfeng had ended before either fighter was exhausted.

• Yi Song correctly guessed that Yan Congjiao, Duanmu Lin, Shen Yunfan, Mo Guyu, and Zhao Yuanchen would represent the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, and Lin Bai confirmed the roster.
• Lin Bai told Old Wen to inform the Council of Elders that he approved the roster and to bring him the finalized matchups after the rival sects submitted their entries.
• Lin Bai said Meng Qinxian and Nie Shang would likely compete for the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect, while Chu Junyou and Wang Zhengyang assessed the likely strength of the contestants.
• Qi Lingyu and Wang Zhengyang agreed that Lin Bai’s victory over Bu Junfeng placed him above the other gathered prodigies, but Lin Bai said he did not consider himself the winner of their fight.
• Lin Bai explained that Bu Junfeng surrendered while both of them still had strength to continue fighting.

Lin Bai explained why Bu Junfeng’s defeat might have been a Northern Region concession to avoid a costly war, then received six Nine Underworlds Demon Palace God Children and Goddesses. Hu Zhiyao and Zhao Yuanchen urged him to challenge the First God Child, leaving Lin Bai to consider their blunt proposal.

• Lin Bai told Li Xuanqiu and Wang Zhengyang that a contest with Bu Junfeng might have ended in mutual injury, though a fight to the death would have favored Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai and Chu Junyou discussed the possibility that the Northern Region had arranged Bu Junfeng’s admission of defeat to avoid a war, and Chu Junyou confirmed that the Chu Kingdom kept its border forces ready.
• Old Wen brought Duanmu Lin, Shen Yunfan, Li Guxian, Mo Guyu, Hu Zhiyao, and Zhao Yuanchen to meet Lin Bai in the Imperial Palace.
• Hu Zhiyao criticized the First God Child and Zhao Yuanchen’s reliance on force, while Zhao Yuanchen defended his approach.
• Hu Zhiyao accused Lin Bai of letting the First God Child and Shi Renshan reduce him to a figurehead, and Zhao Yuanchen proposed trapping and killing the First God Child.

Lin Bai learned that the Western, Southern, and Northern Regions might be facing hidden forces pushing the Devil Realm into chaos, then asked about Southern Border Insect Valley’s deadly poison, Burial Sky Smoke. He heard that the valley’s poisonous cave was once an Immortal Tomb containing many True Immortals, and that its depths might hold the secret behind the Immortal Realm’s lost connection to the ancient Spirit Realm.

• Hu Zhiyao argued that the God Children should eliminate the First God Child, but Lin Bai refused to rush into a conflict before the Renaming Ceremony.
• Li Guxian explained that Hu Zhiyao, Mo Guyu, Zhao Yuanchen, and other God Children had been sent to the other regions to monitor their movements.
• Hu Zhiyao reported that the Western Region’s warring nations had unexpectedly united, and she suspected Great Mystic Art Users from other realms were behind it.
• Mo Guyu and Zhao Yuanchen said the Southern Region had prepared to invade the Eastern Region, while Lin Bai raised the subject of Burial Sky Smoke and Southern Border Insect Valley’s poisonous cave.
• Mo Guyu and Li Guxian revealed that the poisonous cave was once an Immortal Tomb containing multiple True Immortals, where many Great Mystic Art Users had died searching for answers about the lost connection between the Immortal Realm and ancient Spirit Realm.

Lin Bai discussed Burial Sky Smoke and warned the God Children about the coming contest against Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect. Hu Zhiyao then raised her family’s request for a fief, and Lin Bai asked what she wanted.

• Lin Bai considered whether the Immortal Tomb Poisonous Cave was connected to the Immortal Realm’s severed contact with the Primordial Spirit Realm, and concluded that the Chu Kingdom’s Celestial Mystery Pavilion would likely work on a Burial Sky Smoke antidote.
• Lin Bai briefed Second God Child Duanmu Lin, Third God Child Shen Yunfan, Fourth God Child, Seventh God Child, and Sixth Goddess Hu Zhiyao on the coming martial contest, urging them to prepare carefully and give their best.
• Hu Zhiyao asked Lin Bai about the fiefs granted to the He Family, Yao Family, and Zhao Family, then explained that Hu Family also wanted territory to govern on Devil Palace’s behalf.
• Lin Bai said the other families had earned their fiefs through their contributions, while Hu Family would receive a territory in time; Hu Zhiyao worried that only barren lands would remain.
• Lin Bai asked Hu Zhiyao what she wanted.

Lin Bai negotiated with the God Children and Goddess over the distribution of newly acquired provinces, demanding that their families support him in return for favorable territories. He secured the Duanmu and Shen Families’ allegiance and left Mo Guyu, Hu Zhiyao, and Zhao Yuanchen facing his warning that the Demon Palace would soon launch an offensive and reshape its families.

• The Hu Family asked Lin Bai to grant it Mystic Heart Thousand Provinces, while the other God Children and Goddess revealed that their families also wanted territories.
• Lin Bai pointed out that the Duanmu, Shen, Mo, Hu, and Zhao Families had not supported him and demanded their allegiance before he would help them.
• Hu Zhiyao argued that Lin Bai needed the families’ support more than they needed his, and Lin Bai admitted he was at a disadvantage against First God Child.
• Duanmu Lin pledged the Duanmu Family’s support for Lin Bai and requested Yaotai Thousand Provinces, which Lin Bai agreed to consider after the Renaming Ceremony.
• Shen Yunfan pledged the Shen Family’s support and requested Nine Immortals Thousand Provinces, and Lin Bai also agreed to handle the request after the ceremony.
• Lin Bai told Mo Guyu, Hu Zhiyao, Zhao Yuanchen, and the others that he had enough family support to launch a great offensive after the Renaming Ceremony and warned that some families would lose their status.

Lin Bai negotiated with Hu Zhiyao, Mo Guyu, and Zhao Yuanchen over their clans’ support, making clear that neutrality would not protect them from the struggle against the First God Child. After they left, he learned why the other God Children feared Hu Zhiyao: she had beaten many of them when they were young.

• Lin Bai promised to request territory for the Hu, Zhao, and Mo Families after the Renaming Ceremony, while warning that the Devil Palace would purge families that chose the losing side.
• Hu Zhiyao said her family would show Lin Bai its sincerity before the Renaming Ceremony and asked him to secure the Mystic Heart Thousand Provinces for them.
• After Hu Zhiyao, Mo Guyu, and Zhao Yuanchen left, Duanmu Lin and Shen Yunfan recalled that Hu Zhiyao had refused to travel with Lu Yunzhe because she found him overly cautious.
• Li Guxian revealed that Hu Zhiyao had beaten Duanmu Lin, Shen Yunfan, and many other God Children when they were younger.
• Shen Yunfan recounted that Hu Zhiyao had nearly castrated Li Siyuan after he abducted women, prompting the Li and Hu Families to nearly clash.

Duanmu Lin and Shen Yunfan pledged the support of the Duanmu and Shen Families to Lin Bai and Li Guxian, helping them reclaim influence in the Council of Elders. Lin Bai learned that Shi Renshan had won over the rival Duan and Xiang Families by promising them control of two Divine Halls, while their forces already commanded the Sea Guard Legion and Divine Mountain Guard.

• Duanmu Lin and Shen Yunfan told Lin Bai that their families would support him, and Lin Bai asked them to cooperate with Li Guxian in the Council of Elders.
• Li Guxian asked the two God Children for their families' help, and they confirmed they would stand with Lin Bai in the struggle against the Shi Family.
• Duanmu Lin explained that the Duan Family had allied with Shi Renshan in exchange for Elder Duan Hui's command of the Sea Guard Legion and a chance to control the Second Divine Hall.
• Shen Yunfan revealed that the Xiang Family had likewise allied with the Shi Family, which had helped it gain control of the Divine Mountain Guard.
• Lin Bai realized that Shi Renshan had secured the Duan and Xiang Families while prompting the Duanmu and Shen Families to switch their support to him.

Lin Bai assessed Saint Elder Shi Renshan and the First God Child’s control of the Devil Palace’s guards and weighed his own faction’s support. Li Guxian explained that the guards could intimidate rivals and reassure allies, but could not enable a successful rebellion while the Palace Lord and Great Mystic Art Users protected the powerful Devil Palace.

• Lin Bai calculated that Shi Renshan and the First God Child controlled most of the Devil Palace’s guards and other institutions, while his own faction retained the Nine Underworlds Army, the Skyguard Legion, and the support of the Palace Lord and several Saint Elders.
• Lin Bai concluded that the First God Child and Shi Renshan had underestimated him when he secured provinces for allied families, giving him an opportunity to win more support before the Renaming Ceremony.
• Li Guxian argued that the Devil Palace’s armies could not overthrow its leadership because the Palace Lord and four Great Mystic Art Users were powerful enough to prevent a rebellion.
• Li Guxian explained that Shi Renshan’s control of several guards served to threaten opponents and reassure allies, rather than to seize the Palace Master’s position by force.

Lin Bai and Li Guxian agreed to compete for authority over the Devil Palace’s guards, while the Second and Third God Children pledged their families’ support. At the Hu Family’s meeting, Hu Zhiyao argued that the family should support Lin Bai, but the elders’ demand for a rich territory remained unresolved.

• Lin Bai told Li Guxian to seek control of the Devil Palace’s Upper, Middle, and Lower Six Guards within the Palace Master’s limits, and the Second and Third God Children offered their families’ cooperation.
• Hu Zhiyao returned to the Hu Family’s temporary residence and explained that the Second and Third God Children had also pledged allegiance to Lin Bai.
• The Hu Family’s elders debated whether to support Lin Bai or the First God Child, worrying that the Shi Family might undermine their position in the Sixth Divine Hall.
• Hu Zhiyao told the elders that families opposing Lin Bai could be eliminated, while those supporting him might gain from the redistribution of families and resources.
• The Hu Family’s elders pressed Hu Zhiyao about securing Mystic Heart Thousand Provinces and complained that Lin Bai had already assigned other valuable territories to the He, Zhao, and Yao Families.
• Hu Zhiyao reminded the elders that the Hu Family had never decisively supported Lin Bai and said they could not expect him to grant them a fertile territory when they had come to him empty-handed.

Hu Zhiyao persuaded the Hu Family to support Imperial Son Lin Bai over the First God Child, Yan Congjiao, arguing that the Shi Family would control the Devil Palace if Yan Congjiao prevailed. The Hu Family’s ancestors approved the alliance and authorized Hu Zhiyao to act, even if her plan risked violating the Palace Master’s order.

• Hu Zhiyao asked the Hu Family elders to choose whether to support Imperial Son Lin Bai or the First God Child, but they argued without reaching agreement.
• Hu Zhiyao argued that Yan Congjiao was arrogant and would become the Shi Family’s puppet, while Lin Bai posed less danger to the Hu Family and might grant them the Mystic Heart Thousand Provinces.
• The Hu Family elders summoned their old ancestors, who agreed that the Palace Master and three Saint Elders could decisively intervene and that supporting Lin Bai offered greater benefits.
• The old ancestors declared that the Hu Family would support Lin Bai and ordered its members to unite against the Shi Family and the First God Child.
• Hu Zhiyao said she had a plan to show Lin Bai the family’s sincerity but warned that it might violate the Palace Master’s order against internal strife; the ancestors told her to proceed and promised to accept punishment on her behalf.