Chapter Summaries

Chu Mu prepared for the looming Great Terror by turning to perfect his Lifebound Treasure, the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower. He stripped the consciousness from nine Fire Attribute dragon souls and began fusing them into the tower with his Great Sun True Fire.

• Chu Mu told Chang Hongyi that the Great Terror threatened the whole cultivation world and instructed her to stay secluded while he handled matters.
• Chu Mu said the Human Alliance had transferred Xu Yuan from Demon Suppression City and returned to the Longevity Sect.
• Chu Mu examined the embryonic Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower and planned to strengthen its Nine Dragons Divine Fire and Suppressing Prison Cage.
• Chu Mu released the nine dragon souls, restrained them, and ground away their consciousness, memories, and emotions.
• Chu Mu summoned his Great Sun True Fire and began refining the tower as the nine blank dragon souls merged with its phantom dragons.

As the one-year deadline approached, Chu Mu prepared for a possible disaster at the Longevity Mountain Gate while arranging an escape for Chang Hongyi and sending Xu Yuan to the Thousand Bamboo Kingdom. He chose to remain and fulfill his duties as a Longevity True Disciple, though he had prepared to withdraw if the situation became uncontrollable.

• More than half a year passed after the Sect Master's Decree, with the Longevity Sect's summoned disciples gathering at the Longevity Mountain Gate and no further developments.
• Chang Hongyi reported that she had sold the True Understanding Pavilion's branches outside the Big Dipper Seven Cities and delivered the proceeds to Chu Mu.
• Chu Mu told Chang Hongyi to leave Yao Guang City when the deadline arrived and use a protected miniature Teleportation Array if danger arose, but he refused to leave with her.
• Chang Hongyi said she would wait for Chu Mu, then left the courtyard.
• Chu Mu gave Xu Yuan a Jade Slip and sent him to the Thousand Bamboo Kingdom to find someone, then gave him a Storage Talisman containing pills and treasures.

On the final night of the year, Chu Mu prepared for the coming upheaval and followed the Longevity Sect’s summoned disciples into the Longevity Secret Realm. There, he realized the realm was sealed under the Sect Master’s control and began to suspect that the Sect’s many Nascent Soul experts might not all remain loyal.

• Chu Mu reviewed his three cultivation systems and concluded that he had made every preparation he could before the year ended.
• The Nine Bell Rings summoned the Longevity Sect’s disciples, and Chu Mu told Yan Qiuling to return only if she could after the mission was finished.
• The Longevity Sect Master ordered the summoned disciples and elders into the Longevity Secret Realm through a bronze Spatial Portal, which vanished and left no path back.
• Chu Mu entered the secret realm with Xu Changqing and recognized the overwhelming heavenly surveillance as the Sect Master’s control over the realm.
• Chu Mu counted twenty-one Nascent Soul Great Experts associated with the Longevity Sect and worried that the Heaven’s Secrets and Suppressing Prison Lineages, among others, might be suspect.

The Longevity Sect Master trapped Xuan Cheng and Xuan Ming, accusing them of no longer being themselves, and attacked them despite the other Nascent Soul cultivators’ protests. The two transformed into monstrous Demon Bodies while retaining their Divine Soul Auras, and Chu Mu recognized the same mixed demon-and-fiend aura he had encountered at Emerald Lake.

• A sword net descended over the Nascent Soul Supreme Elders and imprisoned Xuan Cheng and Xuan Ming.
• The Longevity Sect Master questioned whether the two Heaven's Secrets Lineage Supreme Elders were still themselves, then ordered their souls destroyed when they denied the accusation.
• Other Nascent Soul cultivators tried to stop the Longevity Sect Master, but their attacks vanished before reaching him.
• Xuan Cheng and Xuan Ming twisted into towering, blood-armored Demon Bodies as the sword Dao struck them.
• Chu Mu recognized the transformed bodies’ mixed demon-and-fiend aura from his encounter at Emerald Lake.

Demons disguised as Longevity Sect members revealed themselves during the secret realm gathering, turning the expected trap into a sudden confrontation. Chu Mu watched as twelve Nascent Soul Supreme Elders and numerous disciples transformed, leaving the plaza in chaos.

• The Longevity Sect cultivators attacked the two demons, but their combined assaults failed to injure them.
• The demon transformed from Old Ancestor Xuan Cheng accused the Longevity Sect Master of trying to trap and kill them.
• Yun Qingfeng and other Nascent Soul Supreme Elders revealed themselves as demons, leaving twelve demon bodies facing the seven remaining elders.
• The Longevity Sect's Third True Disciple and more than a dozen others transformed into demons near Chu Mu.
• Chu Mu withdrew several hundred zhang as fighting erupted across the plaza and the disciples attacked the newly revealed demons.

Chu Mu fought two transformed core disciples while concealing his true strength and watching the standoff between the Longevity Sect’s Fourth-Order experts. The Longevity Sect Master faced twelve transformed demons, and Xuan Cheng hinted at the ancient ownership of the Longevity Secret Realm.

• Two demon bodies, core disciples ranked third and fifth, attacked Chu Mu and challenged him to exchange moves.
• Chu Mu inferred that Demon Transformation increased cultivation power and considered whether the demons’ Other Selves had suppressed or replaced their Original Selves.
• Chu Mu pretended to struggle against the two demons while keeping his true strength hidden and watching the Fourth-Order confrontation.
• Twelve of the Longevity Sect’s nineteen Fourth-Order Great Experts had transformed into demons, leaving the remaining experts gathered around the Longevity Sect Master.
• The Longevity Sect Master regretted failing to discover the transformations sooner, while Xuan Cheng urged him to submit to the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast.
• Xuan Cheng claimed the demons feared no schemes and asked the Longevity Sect Master who had owned the Longevity Secret Realm in ancient times.

The Longevity Sect Master and Xuan Cheng’s forces began a devastating Nascent Soul battle after the Secret Realm Heaven and Earth failed to suppress the demons. As Chu Mu entered the fight, Xu Lingtian arrived and launched a desperate attack that badly wounded Xuan Cheng.

• Xuan Cheng summoned a cloud-wreathed spear and clashed with the Longevity Sect Master, while their battle tore through the surrounding space and killed fleeing cultivators and demons.
• Chu Mu rescued Lie Yan from an aftershock, gave him a protective talisman, and entered the battlefield to restrain a third-order demon.
• Chu Mu assessed that twelve transformed demons were overwhelming the Longevity Sect’s seven Nascent Soul experts, leaving the sect close to collapse.
• Xu Lingtian arrived and killed one demon with a sword strike, then charged Xuan Cheng despite the ancient spear shattering more than half his body.
• Xu Lingtian’s sword opened a huge, worsening wound in Xuan Cheng, and the badly injured swordsman continued charging him.

Xu Lingtian’s suicidal strike killed one Fourth Order Demon and grievously wounded Xuan Cheng, but Xuan Cheng transformed into a peak late Fourth Order Demon and turned the battle against the Longevity Sect. As the Nascent Soul battle erupted again, Chu Mu recognized that Xuan Cheng’s transformation resembled the Wang Family Old Ancestor’s.

• Xu Lingtian pierced Xuan Cheng with his sword, then vanished as his shattered body fell, while the attack killed one demon and severely wounded Xuan Cheng.
• The Longevity Sect’s seven remaining Nascent Soul Great Experts attacked Xuan Cheng, and their blows triggered his loss of control and transformation.
• The Longevity Sect Master tried to suppress transformed Xuan Cheng with a net of heaven and earth, but Xuan Cheng shattered it and reached peak late Fourth Order.
• Xuan Cheng’s ancient treasure spear struck back at the Longevity Sect cultivators, reversing the battle and letting the demons attack their wounded opponents.
• Chu Mu fought two Third Order Demons and recognized Xuan Cheng’s transformation as similar to the Wang Family Old Ancestor’s, though he sensed no second Saint Spirit Gu.

Chu Mu concluded that the demons’ deathbed transformations were likely rare, then revealed his power to rescue the Longevity Sect from its worsening battle. His surprise attack wounded two demons and let the Sect Master regain the initiative against Xuan Cheng.

• Chu Mu observed Xuan Cheng’s sudden advancement and reasoned that the Heavenly Evolution Sacred Beast’s influence made such transformations unlikely to be widespread.
• As the demons killed another Longevity Sect Supreme Elder and outnumbered the survivors eleven to five, Chu Mu was surrounded by demons and fled with help from his Third Order Puppets.
• When Wu Jingyun attacked him, Chu Mu summoned the Thunder Hell Puppet and unleashed his Blade Domain and dawn strike, severely wounding Wu Jingyun and another demon.
• The Thunder Hell Puppet cast a devastating thunder prison over the demons, while Xuan Cheng redirected his spear toward Chu Mu.
• The Longevity Sect Master blocked Xuan Cheng’s attack and countered, turning the battle’s momentum back toward the Longevity Sect.

Chu Mu killed a Fourth Order Demon with his blade and helped the Longevity Sect turn the battle against the Demon Side. He then faced two demons, experienced the power of a Nascent Soul Middle Stage opponent, and was left confronting a demon’s Top-Grade Spiritual Treasure.

• Chu Mu’s blade killed a severely wounded Fourth Order Demon as the Longevity Sect Supreme Elders annihilated another, reducing the demons to nine against six Nascent Soul Cultivators.
• Chu Mu returned the Thunder Hell Puppet to his Qiankun Pouch and replaced its drained High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Two Fourth Order Demons attacked Chu Mu, and he discovered that the Nascent Soul Middle Stage demon’s power far exceeded that of an early-stage opponent.
• Chu Mu coated his blade in crimson true fire and wounded the Nascent Soul Early Stage demon, which retreated rather than face him directly.
• The other demon gathered black threads into a Top-Grade Spiritual Treasure and hurled its pitch-black sphere at Chu Mu.

Chu Mu used the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower and its Great Sun True Fire to attack a pitch-black Top-Grade Spiritual Treasure, quickly burning through its threads and trapping its core. He realized the fire naturally countered the treasure’s Demonic Qi and Resentment Qi, leaving the Nascent Soul Middle Stage demon severely disadvantaged.

• Chu Mu summoned the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower, which absorbed remnant souls and refined them into nourishment for its nine dragon souls.
• The pitch-black sphere unleashed a powerful force that made the dragon souls turn illusory, but refined soul energy quickly restored and strengthened them.
• Chu Mu’s Great Sun True Fire burned through the sphere’s threads and began eroding its surface, surprising him with how easily he had reached the enemy’s core.
• Chu Mu gathered the nine dragon souls to form the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Grand Array and attack the trapped sphere.
• Chu Mu recognized that the Great Sun True Fire countered the sphere’s Demonic Qi and Resentment Qi, though he regretted that the tower was not a life-bound treasure.

Chu Mu fought two demons, broke through the Demon Magic Dharma Body’s attacks, and discovered a way to unite his blade powers into a single strike. He killed the Nascent Soul Early Stage demon, while the ink-armored Dharma Body remained in the battle.

• Chu Mu froze the insect swarm with his Blade Domain, then used Man-Blade Unity to shatter the giant finger attack, but the Demon Magic Dharma Body stopped his strike with black tentacles.
• The demon transformed its phantom into an ink-black Demon Magic Dharma Body covered in tentacles, and Chu Mu attacked it with his blade and true fire.
• Chu Mu used a Spirit Radiance Blessing to unleash another Blade Domain, severing tentacles and wounding the Demon Magic Dharma Body while the Nascent Soul Early Stage demon joined the assault.
• Chu Mu integrated his blade intent, Blade Intent Treasure, Blade Domain, dawn, and Man-Blade Unity into the Three Foot Blade, then forced the Demon Magic Dharma Body to retreat.
• Chu Mu turned his ordinary-looking slash on the attacking Nascent Soul Early Stage demon, killed it, and sent its body crashing into the plaza.

Chu Mu lost his Blade Intent after killing a demon, then survived Xuan Cheng’s spear strike with the help of the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower and the Longevity Sect Master. With his tower badly damaged and his strength greatly reduced, Chu Mu sent the activated Thunder Hell Puppet to attack the Demon Magic Dharma Body.

• Chu Mu noticed that his Blade Intent was nearly exhausted after his strike killed another demon.
• Xuan Cheng launched a lethal spear at Chu Mu, but Chu Mu entered the Nine Dragons Suppressing Prison Tower’s sea of fire, allowing the Top-Grade Spiritual Treasure to escape.
• The spear shattered the nine dragon souls and struck the tower, sending Chu Mu crashing into a deep pit.
• The Longevity Sect Master wounded Xuan Cheng, forcing the spear to stop before it could kill Chu Mu.
• The Demon Magic Dharma Body sent a swarm of tentacles toward Chu Mu, who summoned the activated Thunder Hell Puppet to unleash lightning against it.

Chu Mu used a Thunder Hell Puppet and a series of temporary fourth-grade array restrictions to hold off the demon after his Blade Intent and Great Sun True Fire were badly damaged. As the Nascent Soul battle continued, he suspected that Xuan Cheng’s Slaughter Ancient Treasure was the key to the conflict and considered whether Xu Lingtian had appeared only to deliver one strike as part of a larger plan.

• Chu Mu’s Thunder Hell Puppet struck the demon with a storm of powerful bolts, but the demon disrupted the thunder and targeted the puppet with its palm.
• Chu Mu recalled the Thunder Hell Puppet, then used twelve Supreme-Grade Magic Treasures to form a temporary fourth-grade restriction that delayed the demon before breaking.
• Chu Mu repeatedly assembled new restrictions from scattered magic treasures, using the Array Dao to entangle and wear down the demon.
• Chu Mu observed that Xuan Cheng’s Slaughter Ancient Treasure had changed the course of the Nascent Soul battle, since Xuan Cheng wielded it without apparent backlash.
• Chu Mu wondered whether Xu Lingtian had possessed strength for only one strike and concluded that the Longevity Sect Master’s influence suggested the fleeting appearance had been planned.

Chu Mu stalled the enraged demon while the Longevity Sect Master discovered that Demon Xuan Cheng could wield its powerful Slaughter Ancient Treasure for less than a quarter of an hour. As the demons hesitated and the treasure weakened, the battle remained unresolved.

• Chu Mu kept the demon occupied with formation restrictions as his Blade Intent recovered and the Longevity Sect gained the advantage.
• The Longevity Sect Master noticed Demon Xuan Cheng's Slaughter Ancient Treasure was weakening and estimated that Xuan Cheng had less than a quarter of an hour before backlash.
• The Longevity Sect Master warned Xuan Cheng that it had a quarter of an hour left to live, but Xuan Cheng attacked again.
• The demons and Longevity Sect's Nascent Soul Supreme Elders grew cautious, while Chu Mu concluded that the demons retained human emotions and chose not to take risks.
• The battle between the Longevity Sect Master and Xuan Cheng continued, and the Slaughter Ancient Treasure's momentum visibly weakened as the quarter hour passed.

The Longevity Sect Master trapped Xuan Cheng and the demons in the Azure Lotus Sword Array, but Xuan Cheng’s ancient treasure disrupted the Secret Realm’s Heaven and Earth Authority and sent the world toward collapse. Chu Mu realized the battle’s outcome could still be overturned, while the Longevity Sect faced devastating losses and an uncertain future.

• Xuan Cheng opened a Spatial Portal to retreat, but the Longevity Sect Master blocked it with the Azure Lotus Sword Array as the other demons tried to flee.
• The Longevity Sect Supreme Elders formed an encirclement, and the Longevity Sect Master strengthened the sword array with gathered spiritual qi before trapping the demons inside it.
• Xuan Cheng and the demons fought back, but the sword petals overwhelmed them, while the ancient treasure’s power disrupted the balance of Heaven and Earth Authority and caused the Secret Realm to collapse.
• Xuan Cheng threatened to take everyone down with him as several demons were badly wounded beneath the array, while the Longevity Sect cultivators remained unable to intervene.
• Chu Mu concluded that the ancient treasure could let Xuan Cheng shatter the Secret Realm and escape, and he reflected on the Longevity Sect’s terrible losses and the danger facing the wider cultivation world.

As the Secret Realm Heaven and Earth collapsed, Chu Mu and the Longevity Sect survivors fought to escape the deadly Space Storms. Chu Mu reached the halo surrounding the cultivation world with more than a dozen disciples still behind him, unable to linger.

• The collapsing Secret Realm Heaven and Earth destroyed the Azure Lotus Sword Array, and Space Storms swept away the surviving demons.
• The Longevity Sect Master ordered the elders to save their disciples, and they plunged into the collapsing realm to rescue them.
• Chu Mu used the Blade Intent jade talisman to protect the Flower of Similarity, then saved a dozen or so Longevity Sect disciples with Man-Blade Unity.
• Chu Mu reached the translucent halo at the cultivation world's boundary and recalled how it converted chaotic energy into nourishment for the world.
• Chu Mu turned from the halo, aware that more than a dozen Longevity Sect disciples still needed rescuing and could not survive Outside the World.

After escaping the collapsing Longevity Secret Realm with seventeen Longevity Sect disciples, Chu Mu found himself in the Moyun Gobi and questioned why the Longevity Sect Master had prevented the demons from fleeing. As Chu Mu prepared to return to the sect, the wounded Nascent Soul demon Qing Kong charged toward him.

• Chu Mu cut a crack in the world membrane and led seventeen Longevity Sect disciples from Outside the World into the Moyun Gobi.
• Chu Mu realized that fewer than one in a hundred of the Longevity Sect disciples had survived and wondered why the Longevity Sect Master had allowed such losses to stop the demons from escaping.
• A Prison-Suppressing direct disciple identified the Moyun Gobi as territory of the Duo Yan Tribe, and Chu Mu decided to return to the sect.
• Chu Mu sensed a Nascent Soul demon within a distant sandstorm and recognized the charging Qing Kong as a severely wounded former Supreme Elder of the Longevity Sect.

Chu Mu killed the blood-crazed, gravely wounded Demon Qing Kong and escorted the Longevity Sect disciples to the Yan Yun Mountain Range. As they reached the fortified border, he worried over the loss of nearly twenty Nascent Soul Great Experts and the limits of his influence over Lie Yan.

• Chu Mu realized Demon Qing Kong's injuries had let its savage bloodlust take control and recognized that it was charging at him for blood.
• Chu Mu unleashed his blade intent and killed Demon Qing Kong, then gathered several streaks of spiritual light from the blood mist.
• Chu Mu carried the Longevity Sect disciples away from the blood-stained battlefield and ordered them to return to the sect.
• After more than a month of travel, Chu Mu and the disciples reached the Yan Yun Mountain Range, a heavily fortified border against the Star Luo Grassland.
• Chu Mu considered the loss of nearly twenty Nascent Soul Great Experts and worried that the still-immature Flower of Similarity limited his ability to control Lie Yan.

Chu Mu arrived at the Yan Yun Mountain Range and found its fortresses and cities engulfed in chaos as demons attacked cultivators. He questioned why the demons had revealed themselves and learned that the Longevity Sect’s authority system had collapsed, then asked Gong Shan Hong to explain what had happened.

• Chu Mu used a spirit-detection Compass and saw widespread signs of fighting across the Yan Yun Mountain Range.
• He flew closer and found demons rampaging through the mountain range while Longevity Sect disciples and independent cultivators fled or fought them.
• Chu Mu sent his followers to investigate and considered why the demons had risen openly despite still being impossible to distinguish from humans.
• He saw that his True Inheritance Token had gone dark, indicating the collapse of the Longevity Sect’s authority system.
• Gong Shan Hong and a Golden Core elder arrived, and Chu Mu asked Gong Shan Hong to tell him what had happened.