Chapter Summaries

At the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s renaming banquet, Lin Bai and the other guests discussed the Demon Palace’s need to win the Eastern Region’s trust through benevolent rule. The Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect then began their martial contest, and five Demon Palace God Children volunteered to face their challengers.

• Lin Bai, Chu Junyou, and Wang Zhengyang discussed how the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace needed time and benevolent governance to overcome its hated reputation.
• Mo Nan and Li Xuanqiu asked Lin Bai about the coming contest and the Demon Palace’s chances, while the guests drank Yanluo’s Banquet and grew merry.
• Yao Daogu spoke privately with the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace, after which elders from the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect requested a martial exchange.
• Meng Qinxian and Wang Heng represented the Overturning Heavens Sect, while Nie Shang, Feng Chuan, and Di Hong represented the Worship Heaven Sect.
• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace declined to send Lin Bai and invited the God Children and Goddesses to fight; Yan Congjiao, Duanmu Lin, Shen Yunfan, Mo Guyu, and Zhao Yuanchen volunteered.

The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace agreed to let the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect choose their opponents for the martial contest. The first match began between Meng Qinxian and Zhao Yuanchen, leaving the guests to watch two similarly matched fighters test their inherited arts and combat skill.

• Yan Congjiao, Duanmu Lin, Shen Yunfan, Mo Guyu, and Zhao Yuanchen volunteered to represent the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace in the contest.
• Crown Prince Chu Junyou ordered the Zhao Xing Office to investigate Feng Chuan, Wang Heng, and Di Hong, while Lin Bai and the others watched the arena.
• Yan Congjiao agreed to let the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect choose their opponents, irritating the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace and Shi Renshan.
• Meng Qinxian chose Zhao Yuanchen as his opponent, and the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace approved their first match.
• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace set the contest rules, and the guests cleared the arena as the five Great Mystic Art Users protected Ancestor Heaven Mountain.
• Lin Bai, Wang Zhengyang, and Crown Prince Chu Junyou discussed the fighters' inherited arts and concluded that combat experience and reactions could decide the evenly matched battle.

Lin Bai and his companions analyzed the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s disadvantage in the coming martial contest as Meng Qinxian faced Zhao Yuanchen. Their opening exchanges revealed that both Holy Sons possessed extraordinary physical strength, and the chapter ended with them recognizing each other’s formidable constitutions.

• Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou suspected that Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect had prepared specifically for the Demon Palace’s fighters, while Lin Bai warned that the battle would ultimately depend on the fighters’ abilities.
• Yao Daogu and Elder He Gongji set up formations on Ancestor Heaven Mountain before Meng Qinxian and Zhao Yuanchen began their match.
• Zhao Yuanchen fired a storm of scarlet arrows from his bow, but Meng Qinxian endured the blasts without injury and charged at him.
• Meng Qinxian and Zhao Yuanchen chose to meet each other’s attacks with their fists, creating a devastating shockwave as hidden Great Mystic Art Users repaired the resulting cracks in space.
• After they staggered apart, Meng Qinxian praised Zhao Yuanchen’s physical strength, and Zhao Yuanchen suggested that Meng Qinxian possessed a special constitution.

Meng Qinxian and Zhao Yuanchen fought an evenly matched close-quarters battle while Lin Bai and the others discussed Meng’s secret constitution and how to overcome powerful body refiners. The fight remained unresolved, with Zhao Yuanchen relishing the rare chance to face an equal.

• Zhao Yuanchen asked Meng Qinxian about his special constitution, but Meng changed the subject and charged at him.
• Lin Bai asked Chu Junyou about Meng’s constitution, and Chu Junyou said he would have the Zhao Xing Office investigate it.
• Meng Qinxian and Zhao Yuanchen traded powerful punches and kicks, healing their superficial wounds as the prolonged fight continued.
• Lin Bai explained that a lethal weapon such as his Heaven Measuring Ruler could break through a body refiner’s defenses, while Qi Lingyu said he had spotted openings in the fighters’ defenses.
• After a thunderous exchange sent them flying apart, Zhao Yuanchen praised the battle as his first painful fight against an evenly matched opponent.

Meng Qinxian trapped Zhao Yuanchen in a formation prepared by the Overturning Heavens Sect, abandoning their contest of physical strength and earning Zhao Yuanchen’s furious condemnation. Zhao Lingyang denounced Meng Qinxian, but the Demon Palace’s Palace Lord confirmed that the tactic did not break the match rules.

• Zhao Yuanchen challenged Meng Qinxian to continue their physical contest, but Meng Qinxian changed his mind after seeing the Overturning Heavens Sect elders’ urging gazes.
• Meng Qinxian used a robe covered in formation text to form a powerful array that sealed Zhao Yuanchen inside, then knocked him back when he tried to escape.
• Zhao Yuanchen called Meng Qinxian a coward and attacked the formation, but his punch only made its golden chains ripple.
• Meng Qinxian urged Zhao Yuanchen to admit defeat, while the surrounding martial artists criticized the Overturning Heavens Sect’s underhanded plan and Meng Qinxian struggled with his shame.
• Zhao Lingyang rose in anger and berated Meng Qinxian, but an Overturning Heavens Sect elder argued that Meng had not broken the rules, and the Demon Palace’s Palace Lord agreed.

Meng Qinxian defeated Zhao Yuanchen by trapping him in a formation that drained his power, but Zhao refused to surrender and the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace stopped the battle before the formation could kill him. Meng Qinxian won the first battle but faced public scorn, while Wang Zhengyang observed that Zhao had gained fame through his defiant loss.

• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace ruled that Meng Qinxian's tactics were within the rules, and Zhao Yuanchen attacked the golden-character cage without breaking it.
• Zhao Yuanchen transformed through the Brahma Immortal Demon Art, but Meng Qinxian activated the formation to absorb his flames and spiritual power.
• Zhao Yuanchen refused to admit defeat and exhausted himself attacking the cage, so the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace ended the battle and declared victory for the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect.
• Meng Qinxian withdrew the formation and tried to help Zhao Yuanchen, who rejected him and left with Zhao Lingyang as the crowd jeered at Meng Qinxian.
• Lin Bai lamented the cost of Meng Qinxian's victory, while Chu Junyou defended his tactics and Wang Zhengyang explained that Zhao Yuanchen had become famous despite losing.

After Meng Qinxian’s controversial victory, Lin Bai and his allies realized that Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect knew the Demon Palace’s match roster and were controlling the challenges. Lin Bai stalled for time with a toast, and Li Guxian proposed that the sides take turns choosing opponents, but Yan Congjiao’s taunts sparked a public clash with Zhao Yuanchen.

• After Meng Qinxian won the first match, Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou warned Lin Bai that an informant in Nine Underworlds Demon Palace may have leaked the roster and that the next matches could be traps.
• Lin Bai toasted the assembled guests to ease the tension, then secretly warned Li Guxian that the Demon Palace could not keep letting its rivals choose opponents.
• The elder of Worship Heaven Sect announced that Nie Shang would enter the second match, and Nie Shang began choosing a Demon Palace God Child to challenge.
• Li Guxian interrupted and proposed that the Demon Palace and its rivals take turns choosing the matches.
• Yan Congjiao mocked the Demon Palace’s God Children, prompting Zhao Yuanchen to threaten him in front of the guests and expose their hostility.

Li Guxian challenged the arrangement that let Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect choose their opponents first, while Yan Congjiao fell silent after Elder Shi Renshan warned him. The Demon Palace’s Lord forced Lin Bai to weigh in on the dispute, leaving him stunned.

• The Worship Heaven Sect Elder tried to use Yan Congjiao’s approval to preserve the old arrangement, but Li Guxian insisted that the factions take turns choosing their opponents.
• Elder Shi Renshan coughed to stop Yan Congjiao from speaking, and the elders of Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect realized Lin Bai had likely seen through their scheme with help from Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou.
• The elders discussed how Chu and Ten Thousand Saints Mountain needed the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace to stabilize the Eastern Region amid threats from the other regions.
• The Worship Heaven Sect Elder invoked the Palace Master’s dignity to oppose changing the agreement, but Li Guxian offered to take full responsibility for her proposal.
• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace said he would consider Li Guxian’s request and asked Lin Bai for his opinion, making Lin Bai spray out his wine in surprise.

After the rules changed to let each contender choose an opponent, Second God Child Duanmu Lin challenged Worship Heaven Sect’s Saint Son Nie Shang, and the two began a cautious exchange of attacks. Watching them, Lin Bai realized Chu Junyou knew that Nine Underworlds City lay underground, confirming his suspicion that the Eastern Region’s peak forces had concealed its location.

• Lin Bai supported the rule that each martial artist could choose an opponent once, and Palace Master adopted it for the contest.
• First God Child Yan Congjiao offered to fight, but Duanmu Lin chose the second match and challenged Nie Shang instead.
• Nie Shang accepted Duanmu Lin’s challenge, explaining that the sect’s preparations had been intended for another opponent and that he would rely on his own strength.
• Duanmu Lin and Nie Shang exchanged fast attacks while probing each other’s abilities.
• Chu Junyou said Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had been hidden underground, and Lin Bai recognized that the Eastern Region’s powerful factions knew where Nine Underworlds City was.

Lin Bai watched Duanmu Lin fight Nie Shang and realized Duanmu Lin might have inherited two Mystic Arts of Great Mystic Art Users, including one created by Saint Elder Duanmu Peng. Duanmu Lin unleashed the Nine Underworlds Ascension Art and trapped Nie Shang with its Icy Shackles, as Lin Bai reflected that his own Five Elements Scripture might also be a complete Great Mystic Art.

• Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou discussed Nie Shang’s Three Incense Worship Heaven Art and the history of Mystic Arts of Great Mystic Art Users.
• Lin Bai reasoned that Duanmu Lin might cultivate both the Nine Underworlds Ascension Art and a secret Mystic Art created by Saint Elder Duanmu Peng, potentially making him stronger than Yan Congjiao.
• Duanmu Lin and Nie Shang exchanged hundreds of moves without either gaining an advantage, and Duanmu Lin decided to use his trump card.
• Duanmu Lin summoned black ice spikes and cast Icy Shackles, sealing Nie Shang’s escape routes.
• Lin Bai considered how Great Mystic Arts developed into complete inheritances and suspected that his Five Elements Scripture was also one.

Nie Shang ignited the Essence Fire of Worship Heaven Sect’s Three Incense Worship Heaven Art and overwhelmed Duanmu Lin with a rapid series of attacks. Duanmu Lin emerged from the rubble alive but gravely wounded, and spectators believed the Devil Palace was about to lose the second battle.

• Nie Shang broke free of Duanmu Lin’s Icy Shackles and used Heaven Piercing Sword Finger, but Duanmu Lin split the descending attack with his Sea of Blood Divine Light.
• Duanmu Lin drove Nie Shang into retreat with the Sea of Blood Divine Light until Nie Shang stopped fleeing and ignited an Essence Fire on his left shoulder.
• Chu Junyou explained that the Three Incense Worship Heaven Art strengthened Nie Shang while burning through his own strength, and Nie Shang immediately charged Duanmu Lin.
• Nie Shang shattered Duanmu Lin’s defenses, punched him in the face, and followed with successive arts that slammed him into Ancestor Heaven Mountain.
• Luo Yuanjing stabilized the cracking mountain with a formation disk, and Duanmu Lin eventually walked out of the dust gravely wounded and barely alive.

Duanmu Lin revealed the Nine Underworlds Ascension Art’s Ascension technique, recovered from Nie Shang’s assault, and turned the battle around. Nie Shang ignited a second flame to regain the advantage, and the two began a fresh clash with their strongest techniques.

• Nie Shang’s Essence Fire-enhanced assault left Duanmu Lin gravely wounded, prompting spectators to doubt the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s strength.
• Duanmu Lin refused to surrender and used Ascension to heal his injuries, restore his spiritual power, and reach his peak strength.
• Duanmu Lin overwhelmed Nie Shang with a barrage of attacks and knocked him from the sky, but Nie Shang refused to yield.
• Nie Shang ignited the Qi Fire, raising his strength to match Duanmu Lin’s.
• Duanmu Lin unleashed Divine Summoning as Nie Shang countered with Worship Heaven Seal: Sky-Pinning.

Duanmu Lin unveiled “Ascension into Demonhood,” the Great Mystic Art created by Saint Elder Duanmu Peng, and used it to overpower Nie Shang. Nie Shang then ignited all Three Fires, turning their contest into a fight to the death.

• Duanmu Lin and Nie Shang fought to a draw, each weighing whether to unleash another technique.
• After Duanmu Peng gave his approval, Duanmu Lin challenged Nie Shang to ignite the Third Fire.
• Duanmu Lin revealed “Ascension into Demonhood,” a Great Mystic Art created by Duanmu Peng from the Nine Underworlds Ascension Art.
• Duanmu Lin charged Nie Shang with relentless punches, shattered his defenses, and overwhelmed his Mystic Arts and Dao Arts.
• Nie Shang, realizing he could not win with Two Fires, ignited the Divine Fire and burned his essence, qi, and spirit.

Duanmu Lin and Nie Shang pushed their dangerous secret arts to their limits in the second battle, but the Worship Heaven Sect admitted defeat to protect Nie Shang’s cultivation foundation. The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace was declared the winner, and both fighters recovered from their injuries as they acknowledged how close the contest had been.

• Nie Shang ignited all three flames of the Three Incense Worship Heaven Art, while Duanmu Lin fought in his Ascension into Demonhood state, and their powers reached a deadlock.
• The Worship Heaven Sect elders argued over whether to stop the fight, and the Nie Family elder overruled the others and admitted defeat to protect Nie Shang.
• The Palace Lord halted the fighters, suppressed their secret arts, and warned Duanmu Lin and Nie Shang about the risks to their Dao foundations.
• Duanmu Peng gave both fighters pills that stabilized their injuries, and Yao Daogu declared the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace the winner.
• Duanmu Lin told Shen Yunfan and Mo Guyu he would have lost within ten exchanges, while Nie Shang told the Nie Family elder he would soon have admitted defeat himself.

Lin Bai worried that the Devil Palace’s poorly understood God Children would face the carefully prepared fighters of Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect, as the martial contest would affect the region’s political stability. In the third match, Worship Heaven Sect chose Feng Chuan to fight Shen Yunfan, while Lin Bai became troubled by the unexplained killing intent Feng Chuan stirred in him.

• Lin Bai discussed the contest’s stakes with Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou, who also hoped the Devil Palace would win and stabilize the territory.
• Lin Bai asked Old Wen whether he could overhear the rival sects’ secret transmissions, but Old Wen refused to eavesdrop for fear of damaging the Devil Palace’s reputation.
• The elders of Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect chose Feng Chuan to represent them in the third match.
• Worship Heaven Sect selected the Third God Child Shen Yunfan as Feng Chuan’s opponent, and Shen Yunfan entered the arena.
• Lin Bai asked Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou whether they felt unusual killing intent toward Feng Chuan, whom Lin Bai found unsettling.

Lin Bai and the others watched Feng Chuan, whose unknown origins and strange presence had stirred Lin Bai’s killing intent, fight Shen Yunfan. Feng Chuan revealed overwhelming physical strength and an uncanny ability to break attacks, leaving the battle unresolved as the spectators reeled in disbelief.

• Lin Bai learned that Chu Junyou and Wang Zhengyang sensed nothing unusual about Feng Chuan, while the Zhao Xing Office still had no information about him or the other hidden prodigies.
• Hu Zhiyao told Lin Bai that she had warned Shen Yunfan not to underestimate Feng Chuan’s physical strength and to use his wits against him.
• Feng Chuan charged Shen Yunfan with a powerful, unadorned attack, and Wang Zhengyang recognized his technique as having reached the realm of returning to simplicity.
• Shen Yunfan’s sword Qi struck Feng Chuan’s chest without harming him, and Feng Chuan then shattered Shen Yunfan’s treasured sword with a punch.
• Shen Yunfan cleaved at Feng Chuan with a sword force that split the clouds, but Feng Chuan caught it and crushed it in his hand, astonishing the spectators.

Feng Chuan effortlessly crushed Shen Yunfan’s Dao Arts-level sword aura, prompting Lin Bai and the others to speculate about his ancient origins and the strange rise of heaven-defying talents. Lin Bai suspected Feng Chuan’s presence stirred his killing intent because Lin Bai possessed the Heaven Swallowing Race’s Devouring Power, and he began asking the Demon Palace’s Palace Master about it.

• Feng Chuan caught and crushed Shen Yunfan’s powerful sword aura, leading Wang Zhengyang, Chu Junyou, and Lin Bai to conclude that Feng Chuan was no ordinary body refiner and might descend from an ancient race.
• Wang Zhengyang and Chu Junyou discussed the appearance of the Supreme Avatar, Bu Junfeng’s Celestial Bone, and other extraordinary talents, noting that the previous known Supreme Avatar had appeared over a million years earlier and its owner had been killed.
• Lin Bai reflected on how the Chu imperial clan had chosen to protect and recruit him after his Supreme Avatar was revealed, preventing hostile forces from assassinating him.
• Wang Zhengyang wondered whether the sudden emergence of multiple prodigies marked a final burst of vitality before martial arts declined, while Lin Bai silently considered the possibility.
• Lin Bai realized that his Devouring Power might explain why Feng Chuan stirred killing intent in him, then sent a voice transmission to the Demon Palace’s Palace Master, who invited him to speak.

Lin Bai asked the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace why Feng Chuan provoked such uncontrollable killing intent in him and learned that Feng Chuan seemed connected to the Giant God Race. The Palace Lord speculated that the Worship Heaven Sect might have created Feng Chuan through a secret art, leaving Lin Bai curious about his true origins.

• Lin Bai asked the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace about Feng Chuan, and the Palace Lord explained that Feng Chuan appeared to possess Giant God Race blood.
• The Palace Lord described how the Giant God Race could not produce offspring with other races and explained how the Heaven Swallowing Race’s Devouring Power was inherited, divided among descendants, and sometimes gathered anew in members of the royal family.
• Lin Bai asked how Feng Chuan could have Giant God Race blood, and the Palace Lord suggested that the Worship Heaven Sect might have created him through a secret art.
• Lin Bai considered investigating Feng Chuan’s origins after the martial contest, while the Palace Lord remarked that revealing Feng Chuan could provoke the Giant God Race against the Worship Heaven Sect.

Third God Child Shen Yunfan tried to wear down Feng Chuan, but Di Hong secretly prompted Feng Chuan to unleash a powerful attack that badly injured Shen Yunfan. Lin Bai considered secretly guiding Shen Yunfan in return, then waited for advice from the other God Children and Goddesses.

• Third God Child Shen Yunfan abandoned his fierce assault and traded basic techniques with Feng Chuan, hoping to exhaust him, while spectators and Lin Bai recognized that both fighters could sustain the stalemate for months.
• Worship Heaven Sect's elders worried that Feng Chuan's lack of intelligence would let Shen Yunfan exploit an opening, and Di Hong devised a plan after overhearing their secret discussion.
• Di Hong toasted Lin Bai while naming the Sacred Fire Wildfire Dao Art, prompting Feng Chuan to unleash Sacred Fire Burns the Plains and batter Shen Yunfan until he spat blood and flew away.
• Lin Bai considered secretly advising Shen Yunfan in return, but Ninth Goddess Li Guxian urged him to let the contest proceed, while Second God Child Duanmu Lin said Shen Yunfan would not fall easily and that another God Child could intervene if needed.

Lin Bai stayed silent as Di Hong guided Feng Chuan during his duel with Shen Yunfan, while Shen Yunfan used a secret sword art to fight back. The chapter left Lin Bai intrigued after learning that Shen Yunfan’s art could be combined with a Dao Domain.

• Di Hong secretly prompted Feng Chuan to attack Shen Yunfan, and Feng Chuan severely wounded him.
• Lin Bai considered advising Shen Yunfan but followed Duanmu Lin and Li Guxian’s counsel to remain silent because he represented the Demon Palace.
• Di Hong named the Worship Heaven Sect’s Nine Profound Soul Grasp, and Feng Chuan used it to press Shen Yunfan with renewed strength.
• Shen Yunfan unleashed the Void Lock Enemy Sword Art and attacked Feng Chuan’s flaws, but Di Hong’s warnings helped Feng Chuan evade the strikes and shatter Shen Yunfan’s swords.
• Lin Bai asked Duanmu Lin about Shen Yunfan’s sword art and learned that it let him shift anywhere within the spread of his sword shadows when combined with a Dao Domain.