Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai explained to Palace Master how he had used the Duanmu Family’s massacre to create a chance to reclaim its authority over Yaotai Thousand Provinces. Palace Master agreed to help mediate, then revealed that she had expected the Duanmu Family’s demands and had counted on Lin Bai to deal with them.

• Old Wen told Lin Bai that the slain families and sects may have had ties to the Demon Subjugation Alliance, but Lin Bai remained troubled by the lack of evidence and the harm to innocents.
• Shen Yunfan reported that the five Thousand Province rulers had gathered secretly, and Lin Bai let them complain to the Devil Palace while ordering the Duanmu Family to stop the killing.
• Palace Master summoned Lin Bai after the rulers accused the Duanmu Family of massacres and Lin Bai of failing to govern Yaotai Thousand Provinces.
• Lin Bai admitted that he had given the Duanmu Family a fabricated Demon Subjugation Alliance list, hoping they would target its members, and planned to use their excesses to reclaim their authority over the province.
• Palace Master agreed to mediate and explained that she had not stopped Lin Bai from granting the province to the Duanmu Family because their demand for territory was inevitable and she needed his help to handle them.

Lin Bai realized the Palace Master had used him to take responsibility for curbing the Duanmu Family, then proposed dividing Yaotai Thousand Provinces to weaken them without provoking Saint Elder Duanmu Peng. The Palace Master agreed that the Duanmu Family would likely accept Lin Bai’s resource-focused redistribution plan.

• Lin Bai understood that the Palace Master had agreed to give Yaotai Thousand Provinces to the Duanmu Family so Lin Bai would be responsible for managing their expansion.
• The Palace Master warned that Saint Elder Duanmu Peng might prevent them from expelling the Duanmu Family, even if the family caused further trouble.
• Lin Bai proposed redrawing the borders of Yaotai Thousand Provinces and the four neighboring provinces to weaken the Duanmu Family while satisfying the other factions.
• Lin Bai planned to give the Star Palace two-thirds of Yaotai Thousand Provinces and return borders it had previously lost to neighboring provinces.
• Lin Bai proposed giving the Duanmu Family a smaller share rich in resources coveted by its senior members, and the Palace Master agreed they would accept.

Lin Bai and Palace Master planned how to divide Yaotai Thousand Provinces and control the Devil Palace’s vassal rulers. They agreed to postpone broader reforms until the frontier and rebellions were stabilized, while using a staged border conflict to justify conscription and resource demands.

• Lin Bai allocated most of Yaotai Thousand Provinces to Star Palace, gave the Duanmu Family resource-rich territory and additional lands, and assigned the remainder to four neighboring Thousand Provinces.
• Lin Bai proposed requiring vassal families’ Supreme Dao Fruit martial artists to serve in the Devil Palace, and Palace Master added a plan to bring rulers’ descendants there every hundred years as both trainees and hostages.
• Palace Master approved Lin Bai’s territorial plan but postponed institutional reforms until the situation stabilized.
• Lin Bai proposed conscripting Thousand Provinces rulers’ experts to reinforce the frontier, demanding resources from those who refused, and arranging for Goddess Li Guxian to stage limited fighting whose losses the Deep Probe Guard would exaggerate.
• Palace Master agreed to issue the order, and Lin Bai said he would use the Dragon Protector Guard and Elder Shen Yuan against rulers who refused both conscription and payment.
• Lin Bai asked about his unfinished sword, and Palace Master said its precious materials made the work difficult and told him to wait longer.

Lin Bai confronted Elder Duanmu Hong over the Duanmu Family's indiscriminate slaughter of sects and lineages across five Thousand Provinces. Elder Duanmu Hong rejected his authority and prepared to leave, while Lin Bai stopped her with a cutting challenge.

• After meeting the Palace Master, Lin Bai returned to Cloud Immortal Tavern and summoned the Duanmu Family's martial artists, pretending he had been scolded to keep his private plans secret.
• Two or three days later, Elder Duanmu Hong arrived with angry Duanmu Family martial artists as the Star Palace Master and other rulers watched from nearby.
• Elder Duanmu Hong barged into Lin Bai's room, where Lin Bai accused the Duanmu Family of killing sects and lineages beyond his orders to target the Demon Subjugation Alliance.
• Elder Duanmu Hong defended the slaughter as a way to eliminate future threats, claimed Yaotai Thousand Provinces belonged to the Duanmu Family, and warned Lin Bai not to overstep his authority.
• As Elder Duanmu Hong turned to leave, Lin Bai stopped her, and she challenged him for acting as though he controlled the Devil Palace.

Lin Bai confronted Duanmu Hong over her order to slaughter sects and lineages across five thousand provinces, then arranged for them to take the dispute to the Devil Palace’s Palace Master. As they headed to the communication chamber aboard the Night King, Shen Yuan emerged from seclusion and revealed his history with Duanmu Hong.

• Lin Bai invoked his authority as Imperial Son and accused Duanmu Hong of ordering the Duanmu Family’s massacres; she admitted it and challenged him to punish her.
• Lin Bai told Duanmu Hong to accompany him to the Night King, where he would contact the Palace Master and Saint Elder Duanmu Peng.
• The Star Palace Master told the other provincial rulers that the failed talks could bring the dispute before the Palace Master, though he remained unsure whether the Palace Master would favor them or the Duanmu Family.
• Duanmu Hong mocked Shen Yuan aboard the Night King, but he rebuked her and greeted Lin Bai after emerging from seclusion.
• Shen Yuan explained that he had once slapped Duanmu Hong after she bullied people, and Lin Bai then led her toward the communication chamber.

Lin Bai convened the Devil Palace’s leaders to address the Duanmu Family’s handling of the Northeast Seventy-Two Provinces rebellion in Yaotai Thousand Provinces. After Duanmu Hong accused Lin Bai of neglecting his duties, he explained why he had entrusted the campaign to her family, and the Palace Master questioned why the Duanmu Family had not worked with local forces.

• Lin Bai brought Duanmu Hong to the Night King’s communication chamber and activated the formation to summon the Palace Master and Saint Elder Duanmu Peng.
• Duanmu Hong interrupted Lin Bai and accused him of spending his time drinking and making merry instead of carrying out the Devil Palace’s mission.
• Lin Bai explained that the Star Palace had already quelled the Southwest Thirty-Seven Provinces rebellion and that he had assigned the Northeast Seventy-Two Provinces campaign to the Duanmu Family after Duanmu Hong guaranteed her family could handle it.
• Duanmu Hong said the rebels kept escaping into the mountains and claimed the Duanmu Family expected to eliminate them within half a year.
• The Palace Master asked why the Duanmu Family had not joined forces with Yaotai Thousand Provinces’ native families and sects to suppress the rebels faster.

The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace and Saint Elder Duanmu Peng confronted Duanmu Hong over the Duanmu Family’s rule and indiscriminate massacres in Yaotai Thousand Provinces and four neighboring regions. Lin Bai explained that he had only asked the family to investigate suspected Demon Subjugation Alliance members, and the chapter ended with the Palace Lord asking Duanmu Peng whether he had known about or ordered the killings.

• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace and Saint Elder Duanmu Peng told Duanmu Hong to build ties with Yaotai Thousand Provinces’ local powers instead of ruling through slaughter.
• The Palace Lord assigned the Duanmu Family to handle the rebellions and the Imperial Son, then asked Lin Bai to continue his report.
• Lin Bai revealed that the Duanmu Family had exterminated thirty or forty lineages and sects across five thousand-province regions after he gave Duanmu Hong a list of suspected Demon Subjugation Alliance members.
• Lin Bai reported that the massacres had frightened local martial artists and prompted Star Palace and the four neighboring rulers to submit a joint complaint to the Devil Palace.
• Elder Shi Renshan admitted that he had withheld the complaint because he suspected Lin Bai had ordered the killings, and Lin Bai clarified that Duanmu Hong had acted on her own.
• The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace asked Saint Elder Duanmu Peng whether he had known about or secretly instructed the Duanmu Family’s massacres.

The Palace Lord of the Demon Palace confronted the Duanmu Family over its slaughter of sects and lineages in Yaotai Thousand Provinces, which had frightened the people and threatened the Devil Palace’s control of the region. He rejected the family’s immediate removal from Yaotai Thousand Provinces and began laying out Lin Bai’s plan to calm public anger and redistribute the thousand provinces.

• Elder Shi Renshan admitted that he had suppressed reports of the killings because they involved Lin Bai and the Duanmu Family.
• The Palace Lord questioned Duanmu Peng and Duanmu Hong, and Duanmu Peng explained that Hong’s open violence had turned public resentment against the Duanmu Family.
• Lin Bai reported that Yaotai Thousand Provinces and its neighbors feared further attacks and might turn to the Demon Subjugation Alliance if the Devil Palace failed to respond.
• The Palace Lord proposed that the Duanmu Family surrender Yaotai Thousand Provinces, but Duanmu Peng countered with an apology, Hong’s dismissal and confinement, and a new family elder to govern there.
• Lin Bai said Hong’s resignation alone would not appease the people, so the Palace Lord called for the Duanmu Family to offer benefits and then began explaining Lin Bai’s plan for distributing the thousand provinces.

Lin Bai and the Palace Lord of the Demon Palace negotiated a plan to settle unrest in Yaotai Thousand Provinces by dividing its territory among Star Palace and the Duanmu Family, while compensating the neighboring rulers. The Duanmu Family was likely to accept the proposal, and Lin Bai left to persuade the rulers, especially Star Palace.

• The Palace Lord proposed giving Star Palace two-thirds of Yaotai Thousand Provinces and the Duanmu Family the remaining third, along with fertile prefectures from the surrounding regions.
• Saint Elder Duanmu Peng said he would consult the Duanmu Family's higher-ups but expected them to agree, and assigned Lin Bai to plan the territorial division.
• Saint Elder Duanmu Peng ordered Duanmu Hong to return to Huang Long Thousand Provinces, enter confinement, and leave the family's affairs in Yaotai Thousand Provinces to Duanmu Yang.
• After the transmission ended, Lin Bai explained the negotiations to Elder Shen Yuan, who agreed that Duanmu Hong's slaughter had worsened the situation.
• Lin Bai left the Night King with Old Wen, Dao Child Yu You, and Shen Yunfan, intending to persuade Star Palace and the four other regional rulers to accept the settlement.

Lin Bai completed a proposed redrawing of the five great thousand-province regions and won the Palace Master's approval. He began privately consulting the regional leaders, starting with the Heavenly Sword Sect Master, to build support for the plan.

• Lin Bai told the Star Palace Master and the other leaders that the territorial decision had been made and asked them to return in three days.
• Lin Bai and his aides completed a map reallocating prefectures and resources among the Star Palace, Duanmu Family, Heavenly Sword Sect, Qinghe Island, Zhou Family, and Li Family.
• The Palace Master approved the map but said it still needed the forces' agreement, and Lin Bai learned that Duanmu Yang would soon receive the Duanmu Family's appointment.
• Lin Bai secretly summoned the Heavenly Sword Sect Master, intending to secure support from four regional leaders before pressuring the Star Palace and Duanmu Family.
• Lin Bai asked how long the Heavenly Sword Sect had led Wannian Thousand Provinces and how many prefectures and resources the region contained.

Lin Bai negotiated a territorial exchange with the Heaven Sword Sect, offering it wealthy land in Guan Province in return for nearly three hundred provinces in the Wannian Thousand Provinces. The Sect Master accepted and signed the agreement, leaving Lin Bai to persuade the Star Palace to approve the deal.

• Lin Bai explained that he wanted to discuss a deal and asked the Heaven Sword Sect's Sect Master about the Wannian Thousand Provinces' resources and border disputes.
• The Sect Master described the Wannian Thousand Provinces' struggle to obtain resources from the richer Yaotai Thousand Provinces and clarified that the Heaven Sword Sect did not intend to replace the Star Palace or the Duanmu Family.
• Lin Bai offered the Heaven Sword Sect seventy-two wealthy provincial territories near Guan Province in exchange for more than two hundred provinces in the Wannian Thousand Provinces.
• The Sect Master worried about the size of the territory her sect would surrender, but Lin Bai argued that this was its only chance to gain a foothold in the Yaotai Thousand Provinces.
• The Sect Master agreed to the exchange, and Lin Bai produced prepared documents for them both to seal and sign.

Lin Bai negotiated with the Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect and the Zhou Family Patriarch to transfer parts of Yaotai Thousand Provinces to neighboring powers. After sealing the agreements, he proposed exchanging Liuzhou and more than eighty surrounding territories for 470 territories in Shuiyun Thousand Provinces.

• Lin Bai and the Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect sealed documents granting the Heavenly Sword Sect and Wannian Thousand Provinces new territories, with Lin Bai promising to announce the deal in three days.
• The Sect Master of the Heavenly Sword Sect left Star Moon City and told the elders to wait three days to learn what had happened.
• Lin Bai met secretly with the Zhou Family Patriarch and learned that the Zhou Family had ruled Shuiyun Thousand Provinces for more than seventy thousand years.
• Lin Bai offered Liuzhou and more than eighty nearby territories in Yaotai Thousand Provinces to Shuiyun Thousand Provinces, and the Zhou Family Patriarch agreed to take them.
• Lin Bai proposed exchanging those territories for 470 provincial territories within Shuiyun Thousand Provinces and marked the new boundary on the map.

Lin Bai secured territorial exchanges with the Zhou Family, Qinghe Island, the Li Family, and the Heavenly Sword Sect, then met Duanmu Yang to discuss the Duanmu Family’s worsening position in the Yaotai Thousand Provinces. Duanmu Yang sought better terms from Palace Master, but Lin Bai reminded him that the Duanmu Family owed its current opportunity to him.

• Lin Bai exchanged the Zhou Family’s barren Shuiyun Thousand Provinces territories for more fertile land in the Yaotai Thousand Provinces and raised the Devil Palace’s need for frontline fighters and resources.
• Lin Bai obtained agreement to his territorial exchanges from the Qinghe Island Master, the Li Family Head, and the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Sect Master.
• Lin Bai noted that talks with the Star Palace and Duanmu Family remained the hardest parts of his plan.
• Duanmu Yang arrived and explained that he had taken charge of the Duanmu Family’s affairs in the Yaotai Thousand Provinces after Duanmu Hong returned to the Devil Palace.
• Duanmu Yang said the Duanmu Family had tentatively accepted Palace Master’s proposal but wanted Lin Bai to seek a lower price for them.
• Lin Bai rejected Duanmu Yang’s attempt to bargain and reminded him that the Duanmu Family had offered little while receiving the Yaotai Thousand Provinces.

Lin Bai secured the Duanmu Family’s acceptance of a territorial agreement and invited the region’s forces to a banquet, intending to pressure Star Palace next. The Star Palace Master suspected the gathering would force Star Palace into an unfavorable deal, but knew his sect could not resist the Devil Palace.

• Duanmu Yang told Lin Bai that the Duanmu Family accepted the Palace Master’s proposal, and Lin Bai presented a map and document assigning the family five or six hundred territories.
• Duanmu Yang used a family seal to sign the agreement, while Lin Bai warned him against the family expanding excessively over the next thousand years; Duanmu Yang said he would relay the warning to the family’s higher-ups.
• Lin Bai ordered Old Wen to invite Star Palace, the rulers of the four great thousand provinces, Duanmu Yang, and other forces to a banquet at the Cloud Immortal Tavern the next day.
• Star Palace spies reported the banquet preparations, and the Star Palace Master visited the rulers of the four great thousand provinces but learned little from them.
• The Star Palace Master inferred that Lin Bai had reached an agreement with the other rulers and warned his elders that the banquet would likely pressure Star Palace, while reminding them of the Devil Palace’s overwhelming strength.

Lin Bai prepared a banquet in Star Moon City as he worked to settle Yaotai Thousand Provinces before leaving. After the Star Palace Master arrived early, Lin Bai revealed that the Duanmu Family and the rulers of the four great provinces had already accepted his solution, leaving the Star Palace to agree or face isolation.

• Lin Bai invited Star Moon City's factions to a banquet, and the old shopkeeper received their gifts at the Cloud Immortal Tavern.
• The Star Palace Master arrived early, and the old shopkeeper told her that Lin Bai wanted to meet her immediately.
• Lin Bai let the Star Palace Master into his room despite her arrival disrupting his plan to meet with the other provincial rulers first.
• The Star Palace Master asked how Lin Bai would handle Yaotai Thousand Provinces, and he explained that direct intervention by the Devil Palace would leave her no room to appeal.
• Lin Bai told the Star Palace Master that the Duanmu Family and the rulers of the four great provinces had approved his solution, and she said the Star Palace would accept it as long as it was not too excessive.

Lin Bai persuaded the Palace Master of Star Palace to accept a territorial settlement that gave the Duanmu Family Yaotai Thousand Provinces’ richest lands while reducing Star Palace’s holdings. After the Palace Master signed the agreement, Lin Bai prepared to announce the division at the banquet, completing a plan to weaken both powerful factions.

• Lin Bai showed the Palace Master of Star Palace a map exchanging territory among Yaotai Thousand Provinces and four neighboring provinces, leaving Star Palace with two-thirds of its former holdings and assigning the Duanmu Family the richest resource-producing lands.
• The Palace Master of Star Palace objected to losing fertile territory, but Lin Bai argued that giving those resources to the Duanmu Family would prevent it from later warring with Star Palace to seize them.
• As guests arrived for the banquet, the Palace Master of Star Palace concluded that accepting the settlement was Star Palace’s best way to preserve its remaining strength.
• The Palace Master of Star Palace used his Identity Token as a seal and signed the agreement, then Lin Bai sent Shen Yunfan to escort him to the banquet.
• Lin Bai gave Old Wen a copy of the agreement, and Old Wen recognized that the territorial division would weaken both Star Palace and the Duanmu Family.

Lin Bai considered how to stabilize the Yaotai Thousand Provinces and weaken powerful local sects, while Old Wen explained that the Palace Master had assigned him to advise and watch over Lin Bai. Lin Bai arrived at the expanded Cloud Immortal Tavern and greeted the assembled guests, leaving the banquet about to begin.

• Lin Bai weighed the redistribution of the five great provinces and the need to curb the resources and power of local families and sects.
• Old Wen admitted that the Palace Master had instructed him to learn Lin Bai’s thoughts and offer advice, partly to guard against Elder Shi Renshan’s schemes.
• Lin Bai and Old Wen discussed how the Star Palace had helped transform and expand the Cloud Immortal Tavern for the banquet.
• Lin Bai arrived as Shen Yunfan received the guests, and the assembled families and sects stood to greet the Emperor Child.
• Lin Bai welcomed the guests and invited them to take their seats.

Lin Bai hosted a banquet for the Yaotai Thousand Provinces and announced that the Devil Palace had redrawn the borders of five provinces to create a new territory for the Duanmu Family. He named it the Eternal Evergreen Thousand Provinces and said the finalized map would be distributed across all six provinces.

• Lin Bai welcomed the assembled forces to the banquet, where guests watched Elder Shen Yuan warily and noted the Duanmu Family's arrogance.
• After half a day of toasts, Lin Bai announced that the Devil Palace had decided to redraw the borders of the Yaotai Thousand Provinces and four surrounding provinces because it was displeased with the Duanmu Family's recent decisions.
• Lin Bai revealed the new map, which divided the five provinces' territory among the Star Palace, the Zhou Family, Qinghe Island, the Li Family, the Heavenly Sword Sect, and the Duanmu Family.
• Lin Bai invited Duanmu Yang to name the Duanmu Family's new territory, and, at Duanmu Yang's request, named it the Eternal Evergreen Thousand Provinces.
• Lin Bai said the Devil Palace had approved the finalized map and would distribute copies, while the rulers of the six provinces agreed to claim their assigned territories.

Lin Bai finished overseeing the redistribution of Yaotai Thousand Provinces and reported its successful resolution to the Palace Master, who planned to weaken the regional powers and sent Lin Bai to suppress unrest elsewhere. After years of traveling through the Devil Palace's territories, Lin Bai received a puzzling message and returned to the voice-transmission chamber.

• Lin Bai instructed the rulers of Yaotai Thousand Provinces to exchange territories carefully and avoid letting disputes turn into war.
• Lin Bai told the Palace Master that Yaotai Thousand Provinces had been settled, and the Palace Master explained plans to pressure regional powers into opening their treasuries.
• The Palace Master told Lin Bai to continue to prosperous rebellious provinces and said his new weapon was still being forged, while recommending the sealed Nine Deaths Demon Sword as a dangerous alternative.
• Lin Bai asked the Palace Master to send an elder to oversee Yaotai Thousand Provinces, then prepared to leave with Old Wen.
• Three days later, Lin Bai departed Yaotai Thousand Provinces aboard the Night King and spent the next five years suppressing rebellions across the Devil Palace's territories.
• Lin Bai received a puzzling message and returned to the voice-transmission chamber.

Lin Bai and Elder Shi Renshan spent five or six years stabilizing the Demon Palace’s territory while the Devil Realm’s regional wars remained locked in stalemates or intensified. Lin Bai then reached the site of vanished Black Stone City and found only a vast pit, leaving him questioning whether a Great Mystic Art could have moved an entire city.

• Lin Bai quelled unrest across the Demon Palace’s important provinces while Elder Shi Renshan’s War Preparations Hall collected resources and recruited martial artists.
• The Northern Region remained locked in a costly border stalemate with the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and the Chu Kingdom, while Qi Tian Sect struggled against the Southern Region and Ten Thousand Saints Mountain repelled the Western Region’s invasion.
• After five or six years, Lin Bai received the Palace Master’s summons about cities vanishing in Ninghai Thousand Provinces and hurried to Black Stone City with the Night King and the Dragon Protector Guard.
• Lin Bai and his companions found that Black Stone City had disappeared, leaving a vast, bottomless pit in its place.
• Elder Shen Yuan suggested that a Great Mystic Art User might have moved the city with a spatial technique, and Lin Bai wondered whether such an art existed.