Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai investigated the pit left where Black Stone City had vanished and learned from Wang Changhai that dozens of cities across the Ninghai Thousand Provinces had disappeared over the past year. The chapter left Lin Bai facing reports of a mysterious martial artist behind the disappearances and a growing panic among the region’s residents.

• Lin Bai considered Elder Shen Yuan’s explanation that Saint Elder Luo Yuanjing’s Grand Zhou Sky Teleportation Method could transport an entire city, then searched Black Stone City’s enormous crater with his companions.
• Lin Bai noticed that the surrounding trees had fallen toward the crater and suspected a powerful force had sucked the city and its surroundings away, but the search revealed no survivors or traces of residual power.
• A Dragon Protector Guard brought Wang Changhai, head of the Wang Family of Sky Pillar City, to meet Lin Bai and confirm that the crater marked Black Stone City’s former location.
• Wang Changhai told Lin Bai that his branch clansmen in Black Stone City had died when the city vanished and that thirty or forty other cities in the Ninghai Thousand Provinces had disappeared over the past year.
• Wang Changhai explained that witnesses had reported a shadowy martial artist casting spells above vanished cities, fueling rumors that demonic cultivators were refining living beings, and warned that residents were fleeing the province in fear.

Lin Bai discovered that the vanished cities in the Ninghai Thousand Provinces had been consumed by Devouring Power and suspected a member of the Heaven Swallowing Race was responsible. The Palace Master warned that the culprit could bring the Giant God Race into the Devil Realm, and Lin Bai remembered Gong Jun, the Border Patrol captain who had once hunted him.

• After the Wang Family Patriarch left, Lin Bai decided to visit the ruler of the Ninghai Thousand Provinces and report his findings to the Palace Master.
• Lin Bai showed the Palace Master a recording of the pit left where Black Stone City had stood, and they identified the damage as the work of Devouring Power.
• The Palace Master reasoned that the culprit was likely a Heaven Swallowing Race member from beyond the realm, since Lin Bai, the Palace Master, and Leng Xingguang were the only known members in the Devil Realm.
• The Palace Master warned that the culprit might be powerful enough to threaten many lives and that the Giant God Race would likely send experts into the Devil Realm.
• Lin Bai recalled Gong Jun, captain of the Giant God Race Border Patrol, who had previously led the hunt for him in the Barren Ancient Continent.

Lin Bai and the Palace Master planned to keep the Heaven Swallowing Race’s involvement in the Ninghai Thousand Provinces disaster secret while he and Old Wen investigated the culprit. Lin Bai arrived in Lake Province and was welcomed by the Town Sea Sect, leaving the investigation poised to continue from its mountain gate.

• The Palace Master told Lin Bai to conceal the Heaven Swallowing Race’s involvement and capture or kill the suspected Inverter without using the Devil Palace’s forces or the Dragon Protector Guard.
• Lin Bai learned that his sword should be finished within a month or two, then told Old Wen to act as usual and reveal no traces of their plan.
• Lin Bai and Old Wen traveled aboard the Night King into Lake Province and discussed the Town Sea Sect’s natural Yin Yang Town Sea Great Formation.
• The Town Sea Sect Master brought sect elders and disciples to welcome Lin Bai and invited him and the Devil Palace party to a banquet.
• After seven or eight days of travel, Lin Bai arrived at the Town Sea Sect’s mountain gate and looked out over the lake before it.

Lin Bai attended a banquet at Town Sea Sect, learned about the nourishing Glimmering Fish, and discussed the demon who had been refining cities across the Ninghai Thousand Provinces. He left knowing the demon might be tied to the Heaven Swallowing Race, but Town Sea Sect could not locate him.

• Lin Bai declined the seat of honor, then joined the Town Sea Sect Master and the Devil Palace’s people for a banquet.
• The Town Sea Sect Master served Glimmering Fish, explained its benefits and its importance as an offering, and Lin Bai offered to buy more for the Imperial Palace.
• Lin Bai told the Town Sea Sect Master that he had come to investigate the demon who was refining cities, and the master recounted the disappearances and the scant information gathered over three years.
• Lin Bai suspected the demon had ties to the Heaven Swallowing Race and worried that the Giant God Race would learn of the killings and come to the Devil Realm.
• The Town Sea Sect Master said the demon’s whereabouts were impossible to determine across the Ninghai Thousand Provinces, leaving Lin Bai frustrated and without a clear way to find him.

Lin Bai ordered the Deep Probe Guard to investigate the city-sacrificing monster, then secretly left the Town Sea Sect with Old Wen to examine the site of its latest crime. At Heavenly Rhythm City’s flooded ruins, Lin Bai questioned a martial artist who claimed the monster probably would not return to a place it had already visited.

• Lin Bai agreed to mobilize the Deep Probe Guard and asked the Town Sea Sect for a map marking the sacrificed cities, but their locations revealed no clear pattern.
• Lin Bai decided to leave the Town Sea Sect secretly with Old Wen while the Deep Probe Guard continued its investigation, and faked entering secluded cultivation as cover.
• Lin Bai and Old Wen used black-gold masks to conceal their identities and traveled to the flooded ruins of Heavenly Rhythm City, the monster’s most recent target.
• Lin Bai and Old Wen found martial artists secretly watching the ruins and approached a furtive man on a treetop.
• Lin Bai questioned the man about his presence, and the man said he had come seeking treasures and believed the monster would not revisit a place it had already attacked.

Lin Bai questioned a crooked-looking martial artist who had followed the suspected demonic cultivator to plunder treasure vaults after cities were blood-sacrificed. The man deduced that the killer was likely a Heaven Swallowing Race member and predicted Jade Sea City as his next target, giving Lin Bai a possible lead.

• Lin Bai used the promise of cultivation pills and a threat to persuade the crooked-looking martial artist to explain how he knew about the demonic cultivator.
• The martial artist recounted seeing the figure destroy North Cloud City in an instant, then admitted he had searched the ruins of blood-sacrificed cities for hidden treasure vaults.
• The martial artist explained that the killer chose cities without powerful defenders and avoided regions where nearby cities or strongholds could send experts quickly.
• The martial artist reasoned that the killer would leave Peng Province after targeting Heavenly Rhythm City and named Hero City, Jade Sea City, and Deer City as likely targets.
• The martial artist judged Jade Sea City the most likely target because it had more than three million martial artists, far more potential victims than the other two cities.

Lin Bai and Old Wen accepted Luo Zhen’s theory that Jade Sea City would be the demonic cultivator’s next target and set out with him to intervene. During the journey, Lin Bai reflected on his cultivation bottlenecks and resolved to train properly once the Demon Realm’s affairs were settled.

• Luo Zhen explained that the demonic cultivator would likely strike Jade Sea City within half a month, based on the intervals between past attacks and the time needed to travel, refine gains, and scout.
• Lin Bai invited Luo Zhen to join them, promised to protect him, and instructed Old Wen to carry him as they flew toward Jade Sea City.
• Luo Zhen was astonished by their speed and speculated that the two seniors might be Primal Chaos Dao Fruit or Chaos Dao Fruit experts.
• Lin Bai realized that the Void Evasion Art and several of his other techniques remained at the entry level because he lacked time to cultivate, and resolved to enter seclusion after handling the Demon Realm’s affairs.
• Lin Bai reviewed his primary arts and combat techniques, including the Five Elements Scripture, Red Lotus Swordplay, Nine Yuan Devil God Art, Demon Eyes, and Dragon Slaying Skill, noting that several had reached bottlenecks.

Lin Bai, Old Wen, and Luo Zhen arrived in Jade Sea City and hid in an empty residence while waiting for the demonic cultivator Luo Zhen had predicted would strike there. The cultivator appeared above the city, preparing to devour it, as Lin Bai and Old Wen waited to intercept him.

• Lin Bai and Old Wen reached Jade Sea City with Luo Zhen after flying there at full speed, and Lin Bai entered through a weak point in the city’s restriction.
• Lin Bai and Old Wen avoided scanning the whole city with Divine Sense and settled in a vacant residence that Luo Zhen identified.
• Lin Bai found strange intimate toys in one room, then waited in the courtyard with Old Wen and Luo Zhen for the demonic cultivator to appear.
• A black-robed man stood atop Sea Star Pavilion and said devouring Jade Sea City would raise his cultivation to the peak of the Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm.
• The black-robed man broke through Sea Star Pavilion’s restriction and flew into the sky above Jade Sea City.

Lin Bai waited in Jade Sea City for the demonic cultivator responsible for blood-sacrificing cities, and the attacker finally appeared with a vast black sun of Devouring Power. Lin Bai confronted him and revealed that they were both members of the Heaven Swallowing Race, but the Rebel cultivator welcomed the chance to devour Lin Bai and advance.

• Lin Bai waited several more days in Jade Sea City, then sensed Devouring Power and spotted a black sun consuming the city.
• Luo Zhen realized his prediction had been correct, and Lin Bai sent Old Wen to escort him out of the city.
• The black sun devoured buildings and martial artists, while the city’s patriarchs attacked and were quickly absorbed.
• Lin Bai approached the black sun unharmed and confronted the hidden demonic cultivator, who recognized his mask as belonging to the Dark Gold Divine Sect.
• Lin Bai’s Devouring Power suppressed the cultivator’s, and they identified one another as Heaven Swallowing Race members from opposing factions.
• The Rebel cultivator declared that devouring Lin Bai would strengthen his power and let him reach the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm.

Lin Bai confronted a young Heaven Swallowing Race fiend whose Devouring Power he naturally suppressed, then learned the youth wielded a dangerous Dao Sect treasure. The youth sent a fire phoenix after Lin Bai, leaving him facing the threat of the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl’s Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire.

• The fiend’s Devouring Power enveloped Lin Bai, but Lin Bai released his own power and absorbed most of the attack, prompting the fiend to recognize him as a member of the Heaven Swallowing Race’s Royal Clan.
• The young fiend refused to surrender and attacked Lin Bai with a top-grade Dao Divine Weapon, but Lin Bai dodged the strike and nearly seized him.
• The fiend spat out a crimson bead that protected him and transformed into a fire phoenix when he formed hand seals and chanted.
• Old Wen warned Lin Bai that the bead was a Dao Sect treasure, and the fiend revealed it contained Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire and threatened to kill him.

Lin Bai used the Heaven Swallowing Domain to defeat and kill the Devil Dao fiend who had sacrificed tens of millions of people, then escaped Jade Sea City with Old Wen and Luo Zhen. The arriving experts learned that a masked martial artist had stopped the slaughter and decided to report his identity to the Town Sea Sect.

• Lin Bai trapped the Devil Dao fiend in his Heaven Swallowing Domain, where the fiend’s spiritual power and divine sense were steadily devoured.
• Lin Bai used the Demon Eyes and several Dao arts to overwhelm the fiend and exhaust the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl’s power.
• Lin Bai crushed the fiend, absorbed his soul and Devouring Power, and took his Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl and Storage Bag.
• Old Wen warned Lin Bai that experts were approaching, then took him away from Jade Sea City and collected Luo Zhen from the mountains.
• Dozens of high-level martial artists arrived, questioned witnesses, and learned that a masked stranger had killed the fiend.
• The experts agreed to report the masked martial artist’s identity to the Town Sea Sect for the Devil Palace to investigate.

After escaping Jade Sea City, Lin Bai rewarded Luo Zhen with cultivation pills and learned that the black-gold mask belonged to a nonexistent Dark Gold Divine Cult invented by the Palace Master. Old Wen explained the origins of Dao Sect treasure refining, and Lin Bai began studying the art while refining the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl on the journey back to Town Sea Sect.

• Lin Bai and Old Wen left Jade Sea City after praising the high-level martial artists who had come to defend it, then stopped in a distant small city to rest.
• Lin Bai refused Luo Zhen’s request to follow him and gave him cultivation pills that could help him reach the Dao God Realm.
• Old Wen revealed that the Dark Gold Divine Cult was a fabricated identity used by the Palace Master, whose actions had earned the sect a joint kill order from righteous and Devil Dao sects.
• Old Wen explained that the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl was a Dao Sect treasure and described how treasure refining had become rare as materials grew scarce.
• Lin Bai asked the Devil Palace to send him treasure-refining texts, then refined the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl and tested its three abilities by reducing a mountain to dust.

Di Xuanzi of the Ascension to Heaven Daoist Temple discovered that his younger brother had died and traveled to the Devil Realm, where he tracked Lin Bai’s Night King. Lin Bai left Town Sea Sect with the Dragon Protector Guard, and Di Xuanzi demanded the return of his temple’s treasure.

• Di Xuanzi’s jade tablet shattered, revealing his younger brother’s death, so he left the temple to investigate.
• Tian Qizi sent his master a transmission saying their plan to spread the Dao through the Devil Realm had failed after the demonic fiend was killed.
• Lin Bai returned to Town Sea Sect, waited for news of the fiend’s death to spread, then left with the Night King and the Dragon Protector Guard.
• Di Xuanzi followed the Night King and introduced himself as a visitor from the Spirit Realm’s Ascension to Heaven Daoist Temple.
• Lin Bai declined Di Xuanzi’s invitation to meet privately, and Elder Shen Yuan warned him not to act arrogantly in the Devil Realm.
• Di Xuanzi insisted that Lin Bai return the treasure belonging to the Ascension to Heaven Daoist Temple.

Lin Bai met Di Xuanzi to learn what he knew about the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl and Jade Sea City, despite Old Wen's warnings. Di Xuanzi lured him away through a one-way teleportation array, and the Palace Master found them in Snow Province while sensing that the Demon Realm was involved as well.

• Lin Bai and Old Wen concluded that Di Xuanzi's knowledge of the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl could expose Lin Bai's role in Jade Sea City and his connection to the Heaven Swallowing Race.
• Lin Bai rejected Old Wen's offer to have the Dragon Protector Guard capture Di Xuanzi and decided to meet him, with Old Wen secretly placing a Divine Sense Brand on him.
• Di Xuanzi persuaded Lin Bai to leave the Night King alone with him, then used a one-way teleportation array to take them away.
• Old Wen stopped Elder Shen Yuan from destroying the active array and sent the Dragon Protector Guard to search Ninghai Thousand Provinces for Lin Bai.
• The Palace Master searched the region with divine sense, located Lin Bai and Di Xuanzi in Snow Province, and told Old Wen that the Demon Realm was also involved.

Di Xuanzi used a one-way teleportation array to take Lin Bai to Snow Province, then exposed Lin Bai’s lies about the death of his younger brother with the Mirror of the Inquiring Heart. Di Xuanzi attacked Lin Bai with a flying sword and declared his intent to eliminate him, leaving the two poised for battle.

• Di Xuanzi and Lin Bai arrived in Snow Province through a disposable teleportation array that immediately turned to ash.
• Lin Bai claimed the Dragon Protector Guard had killed Di Xuanzi’s younger brother, a demonic cultivator, and that the Fire Phoenix Spirit Pearl had been given to him afterward.
• Di Xuanzi used the Mirror of the Inquiring Heart to reveal that Lin Bai was lying and deduced that Lin Bai had killed his younger brother.
• Lin Bai warned Di Xuanzi that he was an Emperor Son of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, but Di Xuanzi said he would eliminate Lin Bai and return to the Spirit World.
• Di Xuanzi attacked with a purple flying sword that cut Lin Bai’s face, then explained that the art of flying swords came from the Daoist inheritance.

Lin Bai battled Di Xuanzi, whose empowered Purple Light Flying Sword, protective jade pendant, and Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire drove him into a desperate position. The arrival of five reforged flying swords and the Demon Sword turned the confrontation, while a voice from the Flying Sword Immortal Sect challenged Di Xuanzi’s insult.

• Di Xuanzi enhanced his Purple Light Flying Sword with spell arts and knocked Lin Bai’s Dragon Eye Flying Sword away.
• Di Xuanzi used Sword Qi into Threads to trap Lin Bai, who escaped the threads and charged at him with the Crimson Lotus Myriad Sword Seal.
• Di Xuanzi’s jade pendant blocked Lin Bai’s attack, and Di Xuanzi unleashed Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire alongside the Purple Light Flying Sword.
• Di Xuanzi taunted Lin Bai about the Flying Sword Immortal Sect’s sword formations, and an unseen voice rebuked him for calling their art wild fox Zen.
• Five flying swords arrived and merged with Lin Bai’s Dragon Eye Flying Sword, while the reforged Demon Sword flew to Lin Bai’s hand.

Lin Bai reclaimed five newly forged flying swords and bonded them with his blood essence and divine soul, then prepared to test their power against Di Xuanzi at the request of a hidden Great Mystic Art User from the Flying Sword Immortal Sect. Lin Bai unleashed the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Formation and cut through Di Xuanzi’s Purple Light Sword Qi, leaving their battle underway.

• Lin Bai examined the five flying swords forged from Burial Dragon Emperor Gold, bonded with them, and connected them to the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Formation.
• A hidden Great Mystic Art User from the Flying Sword Immortal Sect rebuked Di Xuanzi for insulting the sect and told Lin Bai to teach him a lesson.
• Lin Bai faced Di Xuanzi with the six flying swords and the Demon-Slaying Sword, while Di Xuanzi prepared his Purple Light Flying Sword and Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire.
• Di Xuanzi attacked with his sword and fire dragon, but Lin Bai activated the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Formation and sent the six swords through space toward him.
• Lin Bai evaded Di Xuanzi’s attacks and cut apart the Purple Light Flying Sword’s web of Sword Qi with a single slash of the Demon-Slaying Sword.

Lin Bai shattered Di Xuanzi’s weapons and trapped him in the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Formation, but Di Xuanzi escaped and summoned a Great Mystic Art User’s protective power. As Di Xuanzi’s soul-binding bell began pulling Lin Bai’s soul from his body, Lin Bai summoned a second figure and ordered the Heaven Measuring Ruler to destroy the bell.

• Lin Bai broke Di Xuanzi’s Purple Light Flying Sword and shattered the fire dragon formed from the Extreme Yang Heavenly Fire.
• Lin Bai used the distraction to form the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Formation, which destroyed Di Xuanzi’s defenses and battered him.
• Di Xuanzi used the Ascension to Heaven Daoist Temple secret art A Moment Lasting a Millennium to escape the formation, and Lin Bai pursued him.
• Lin Bai caught Di Xuanzi and attacked with the Six Paths Reincarnation Sword Formation, but Di Xuanzi used a banner to summon an ethereal Great Mystic Art User who shattered the flying-sword wheel.
• Di Xuanzi used a large bell to disorient Lin Bai and draw out his soul, so Lin Bai summoned an identical figure and ordered the Heaven Measuring Ruler to smash the bell.

Lin Bai used his clone to break Di Xuanzi’s soul-seizing bell and killed him, then met Lu Yunbo, a Great Mystic Art User of the Flying Sword Immortal Sect. Lu Yunbo acknowledged Lin Bai as a fellow disciple, offered to guide him, and taught him the sect’s flying-sword art for several days.

• Lin Bai’s clone struck Di Xuanzi’s little bell with the Heaven Measuring Ruler, breaking its restraints on Lin Bai and wounding Di Xuanzi through backlash.
• Lin Bai, his clone, and his flying swords overwhelmed Di Xuanzi; Lin Bai destroyed Di Xuanzi’s body and soul before he could escape.
• Lin Bai searched Di Xuanzi’s remains, found a storage ring, and kept the cracked little bell despite its lost spirituality.
• Lu Yunbo appeared and reprimanded Lin Bai for his shallow cultivation of the Nine Yuan Devil God Art, Void Evasion Art, and flying-sword art, then offered to take him to the Spirit Realm.
• Lu Yunbo identified Lin Bai’s flying-sword art as the orthodox inheritance of the Flying Sword Immortal Sect and asked Lin Bai to call him Senior Brother.
• Lu Yunbo answered Lin Bai’s questions about flying-sword art over three or four days, greatly improving Lin Bai’s understanding.

Lin Bai learned the principles of the Daoist sect’s Treasure Refining technique from Lu Yunbo, who explained the Soul Falling Bell and gave him three Jade Slips. After Old Wen arrived, Lin Bai learned that Demon Realm martial artists had been found in the Ninghai Thousand Provinces and set out with the Night King and the Dragon Protector Guard to investigate at Spirit Lake.

• Lu Yunbo identified Lin Bai’s broken bell as the Soul Falling Bell and said it could not be repaired, then gave him three Jade Slips about spiritual materials, runes, and Treasure Refining.
• Lin Bai learned that magical treasures used spiritual materials and runes to resonate with the laws of heaven and earth, and that the Treasure Refining technique had an extremely high failure rate.
• Old Wen arrived and reunited with Lu Yunbo, while Lin Bai learned that Palace Master had detected Demon Realm martial artists in the Ninghai Thousand Provinces.
• Lu Yunbo urged Lin Bai to confront outsiders who threatened the Demon Realm, and Old Wen relayed Palace Master’s message about the intruders.
• About half a month later, Lin Bai reunited with the Night King and the returning Dragon Protector Guard martial artists, then ordered them to head for Spirit Lake to deal with the guests.
• Lin Bai found no inherited Dao arts among Di Xuanzi’s belongings and continued studying the Treasure Refining technique aboard the Night King.