Chapter Summaries

Lu Sheng refined the Four Spirits Flower into pills, strengthening his cultivation and the Red Zenith Nine Fiends Skill before emerging to prepare for his wedding to Chen Yunxi. As the wedding began, he realized his immense vitality might harm her and decided to avoid having a child until he could find a solution in the Central Plains.

• Lu Sheng had Hong Mingzi and the pharmacists refine the entire Four Spirits Flower into Four Spirits Pills, then consumed five pills and gained roughly three hundred years of cultivation.
• The Four Spirits Flower's heat poison transformed the Red Zenith Nine Fiends Skill, and Lu Sheng named his enhanced Bright Void technique the Bright Void Earth Stomp Skill.
• After the grand competition and initiation ceremony, Chen Yunxi asked Lu Sheng to teach her martial arts, and he gave her a simple internal cultivation method to study.
• Lu Sheng and Chen Yunxi set their wedding for the coming days, and he told his family he planned to travel to the Central Plains without them.
• On his wedding day, Lu Sheng worried that his powerful vitality could injure Chen Yunxi during conception and decided to avoid pregnancy until he found a remedy.

Lu Sheng traveled from Northland toward the Central Plains, learning about the region from Zhang Rongshi after helping her convoy on the road. He arrived in White Bell City, where people arranged by Shangyang Jiuli were waiting for him.

• Lu Sheng discussed the Central Plains and its powerful families with Ying Ying as their convoy crossed the worsening snowstorm.
• Lu Sheng let Zhang Rongshi’s stranded convoy join his group and shared camp with her and her daughters.
• Zhang Rongshi told Lu Sheng about White Bell City and the Central Plains’ prosperous cities, imperial forces, and aristocratic families.
• The convoys parted at Rongxin Pass, and Zhang Rongshi left Lu Sheng her address before continuing on her own.
• Lu Sheng’s convoy reached White Bell City, where people arranged by Shangyang Jiuli were waiting.

Lu Sheng arrived in White Bell City to pursue his studies and chose the declining Yuan Devil Sect for its research into devil creatures and the freedom its weak status offered him. He reached the sect and followed Song Zi'an into its dark cave, where he encountered the motionless Senior Apprentice Sister White Face.

• Chen Quansong welcomed Lu Sheng, explained Shangyang Jiuli's arrangements, and gave him a list of schools he could join.
• Lu Sheng chose the Yuan Devil Sect, warned the Umbrella Woman to stay out of trouble, and sensed a powerful gaze watching White Bell City from the Thousand Spirits Pagoda.
• Lu Sheng left Ning San and Xu Chui in the city and traveled with a guide to the Yuan Devil Sect in Black Smoke Great Canyon.
• Song Zi'an received Lu Sheng at Yuan Devil Cave and led him into the darkness while the Umbrella Woman returned with the guide.
• Lu Sheng saw White Face standing in a side cave with an upside-down axe, and Song Zi'an told him she liked watching newcomers arrive.

Lu Sheng joined the declining Yuan Devil Sect, chose a cave to live in, and crossed a dangerous suspension bridge to explore its Hidden Book Pavilion. He began reading about Origin Divine Weapons and the history of the great clans, while the nature of the world’s great terrors remained unclear.

• Song Zi'an brought Lu Sheng past the poisonous stream and guardian python Mi to meet Grand Elder Liu Shanzi, who explained the sect’s routines and welcomed him as a disciple.
• Liu Shanzi reflected that the sect had lost its mining area, resources, and most of its disciples, and feared Lu Sheng would soon leave too.
• Song Zi'an showed Lu Sheng the caves and warned him to stay inside after nightfall; Lu Sheng chose an empty cave and asked where to find the Hidden Book Pavilion.
• Lu Sheng crossed a dilapidated suspension bridge over a mist-filled abyss and entered the deserted Earth Origin Building.
• Lu Sheng lit lamps, read Origin Divine Weapon, and learned about the great clans’ history and their struggle against the world’s great terrors.

Lu Sheng began morning lessons at the declining Yuan Devil Sect and learned the Three Yin Method, discovering that its physical training could work for him. As disciples continued to leave and the Grand Elder reflected on the sect’s losses, the Yuan Devil Secret Art remained its last inheritance to protect.

• Lu Sheng returned to his cave after the Hidden Book Pavilion doors shut on their own, then met Flying Locust Zi and Lotus Fragrance Zi outside the Grand Elder’s cave the next morning.
• Grand Elder Liu Shanzi assigned Lotus Fragrance Zi to teach Lu Sheng the Three Yin Method while the other disciples practiced during morning class.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi explained that the Yuan Devil Sect’s ninety-nine foundational secret arts led toward the Yuan Devil Secret Art, which could develop half of a person’s bloodline power.
• Lu Sheng realized the Three Yin Method relied on physical self-training and could be practiced by anyone with a sufficiently strong body, so he began studying it carefully.
• After class, Lu Sheng heard that disciples were fleeing the sect because the Nine Bells School had taken its Mining Area and resources had stopped arriving.
• The Grand Elder recalled that most of the Yuan Devil Sect’s secret arts and elders had been lost, leaving him to protect the final Yuan Devil Secret Art and seek a loyal successor.

Lu Sheng confirmed that the Modifier recognized the Three Yin Method and learned the Yuan Devil Sect’s taboos from Lotus Fragrance Zi. In the Hidden Book Pavilion, he discovered that Great Song’s greatest power came from Weapon Masters and Divine Weapon Devil Blades, but a passage about their origins had been erased; the evening bell interrupted his investigation.

• Lu Sheng found the Three Yin Method on the Modifier but could not improve it because he had not initiated it.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi warned Lu Sheng to return to his cave before nightfall and avoid the Demon Pools, Secret Arts Hall, and unmarked caves.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi explained that Lu Sheng should cultivate the Three Yin Method patiently and later use the Demon Pool only after developing sufficient Bloodline Power.
• Lu Sheng read in the Hidden Book Pavilion that nineteen Weapon Masters had forced Great Cloud to sue for peace and Great Glory to withdraw its troops.
• Lu Sheng learned that noble families cultivated toward wielding Divine Weapon Devil Blades, but found the passage on the weapons’ origins deliberately erased.
• When the bell rang, Lu Sheng returned the book to its shelf and left the Hidden Book Pavilion.

Lu Sheng learned more about the importance of Saint Weapons and the Yuan Devil Sect’s decline before Lotus Fragrance Zi led him to the devil pools. He entered a low-grade pool and found that its black qi rapidly corroded his body, forcing him to use the Yin-Yang Jade Crane Treasure Bottle Qi to recover.

• Lu Sheng completed the Three Yin Method, received the No Cause Art, and learned that more disciples had disappeared.
• While reading, Lu Sheng discovered that aristocratic families used Divine Weapons to empower Weapon Masters and that schools relied on weaker Pseudo Saint Weapons, which Lotus Fragrance Zi called Saint Weapons.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi told Lu Sheng that the Yuan Devil Sect had lost its Saint Weapon in a calamity and now survived largely through the Grand Elder.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi showed Lu Sheng the devil pools and warned him to use only pools marked with fewer than three incense sticks.
• Lu Sheng entered a pool marked with two incense sticks, where black qi began corroding his flesh and organs, so he activated the Yin-Yang Jade Crane Treasure Bottle Qi to heal himself.

Lu Sheng absorbed the Devil Pool’s poison mist and rapidly completed the first layer of No Cause Art, then advanced his training over the following month. At a practical examination, Flying Locust Zi challenged Lotus Fragrance Zi while the Grand Elder watched the few remaining disciples.

• Flying Locust Zi repeatedly tried to summon devil qi in a Devil Pool, but the qi weakened instead of responding.
• Lu Sheng absorbed an overwhelming surge of poison mist, completed the first layer of No Cause Art, and left the pool before his body gave out.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi searched for Lu Sheng but failed to find him, while other disciples and Flying Locust Zi noticed that the Devil Pools had weakened.
• Lu Sheng trained No Cause Art’s yin-fire visualization and postures, then continued practicing for more than a month.
• At the Grand Elder’s practical examination, Flying Locust Zi asked to fight Lotus Fragrance Zi, and the Grand Elder agreed.
• The Grand Elder asked Jiao Xin whether she had passed the fourth layer, and Lu Sheng saw his disappointment when she said she had not.

During the sect’s demonstration, Lu Sheng was dismissed as a weak disciple, while Flying Locust Zi injured Lotus Fragrance Zi and lost the Grand Elder’s attention. Afterward, Lotus Fragrance Zi explained Saint Weapons, devil qi, bloodline generations, and chief disciples to Lu Sheng, leaving him with a clearer picture of the sect and its succession.

• The Grand Elder examined Lu Sheng and, mistaking his unmarked forehead for proof of weak bloodline and cultivation, dismissed him without asking about his progress.
• Flying Locust Zi severed Lotus Fragrance Zi’s wrist during their demonstration, and the Grand Elder ended the gathering without rebuking him.
• The Grand Elder withheld the Yuan Devil Secret Art from Flying Locust Zi, deciding to observe him longer because of the malice he had displayed.
• Lu Sheng followed Lotus Fragrance Zi to her cave, where she explained that Saint Weapons were powerful consumables assembled from Divine Weapon Devil Blade fragments.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi warned Lu Sheng to handle devil qi carefully and told him that she was fifth generation in her bloodline.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi explained that chief disciples, also called Seasoned Scholars, were the sect master’s intended successors.

Lu Sheng assessed the strength of Huangyi School’s chief disciple Ming Bo and decided to rapidly advance the No Cause Art while the Yuan Devil Sect’s devil pool remained available. Meanwhile, Shangyang Fei enlisted Shangyang Jiuli to deal with Huang Shuling and capture the mortal carrying the Mystic Jade, as the Yuan Devil Sect’s Grand Elder explained the origins of secret arts to his dwindling disciples.

• Lu Sheng saw Ming Bo leave no footprints and inferred that the Huangyi School chief disciple was at least as powerful as the White Corpse Chief Priest; he found that the books Ming Bo’s group had read concerned Devil Disasters.
• Lu Sheng resolved to use the Modifier to raise the No Cause Art quickly because disciples were leaving and the Yuan Devil Sect might not last much longer.
• Shangyang Fei revealed that she had made preliminary contact with the Mu Shan Brush and asked Shangyang Jiuli to handle Huang Shuling and capture the mortal who possessed the Mystic Jade.
• Shangyang Jiuli accepted Shangyang Fei’s request, though she suspected the mortal would be subjected to brutal experiments if captured.
• The Yuan Devil Sect’s Grand Elder explained that secret arts were weaker imitations of the Law wielded by Divine Weapon Devil Blades, while only six disciples remained to hear him.

Lu Sheng trained in the Demon Pool to strengthen his body with the No Cause Art, while most of the Yuan Devil Sect disciples abandoned the school. The chapter ended with the Grand Elder learning that Lu Sheng had reached the Second Layer and reacting in shock.

• After morning class, Lu Sheng secretly watched Flying Locust Zi struggle before leaving, then went to the Demon Pool to continue his training.
• Lu Sheng endured cycles of demonic qi destroying and restoring his body, improving his toughness and poison resistance, and decided to raise the No Cause Art with the Modifier after recuperating.
• The next morning, Lotus Fragrance Zi told the Grand Elder that Ru Meng had left, leaving only Lu Sheng, Flying Locust Zi, and Lotus Fragrance Zi among the disciples.
• When the Grand Elder dismissed the remaining students, Lu Sheng stayed to ask about the day's lesson on Divine Weapon Insignias and said he liked the school because it had books.
• Lu Sheng told the Grand Elder that his No Cause Art had reached the Second Layer, and the Grand Elder interrupted him in shock.

Lu Sheng impressed the Grand Elder with his rapid progress in the No Cause Art, then used the Modifier to reach its Fourth Layer and gain Devil Thought. After days of training and visits to the Demon Pool, he waited for more Bu Yuan Pills and was approached by Lotus Fragrance Zi.

• Lu Sheng told the Grand Elder he had reached the Second Layer, and the Grand Elder tested his cultivation before teaching him the next stages of the No Cause Art.
• Flying Locust Zi waited outside the cave after Lu Sheng's morning lesson, gave him a cold look, and left.
• Lu Sheng used the Modifier to raise the No Cause Art to the Fourth Layer, gaining Physical Strengthening Level Four and Devil Thought Level One.
• Lu Sheng studied how his Yin Extremity State could suppress the eerie mental field created by Devil Thought and took Bu Yuan Pills to recover from his breakthrough.
• Lu Sheng continued morning classes and Demon Pool training for seven or eight days, then waited at his cave for a delivery of more pills.
• Lotus Fragrance Zi joined Lu Sheng at the cave entrance and asked whether he missed home.

Lu Sheng learned more of the Yuan Devil Sect’s inheritance as the Grand Elder began preparing him to become its successor. He discovered the sect had failed the Hundred Veins’ minimum standard for three years, leaving its future dependent on finding a worthy representative.

• Lotus Fragrance Zi told Lu Sheng that Flying Locust Zi had been beaten and expelled after trying to steal the Yuan Devil Secret Art from the Ancestral Hall.
• The Grand Elder asked Lu Sheng to arrive earlier each morning and began teaching him foundational arts and the sect’s inheritance.
• The Grand Elder explained that the sect’s devil qi came from the Poison Mist River beneath its headquarters.
• Lu Sheng advanced to the Fifth Layer of the No Cause Art while memorizing the formulas and knowledge the Grand Elder taught him.
• Lu Sheng learned that the Yuan Devil Sect had failed the Hundred Veins’ minimum standard for three consecutive years and that the Hundred Veins Assembly judged schools through contests of strength.

Lu Sheng found that the Seven Fragrance Devil Pool could no longer provide enough stimulation for his seventh-layer No Cause Art, so he traveled to the Buried Bone Stone Forest to cultivate in a stronger cavern. There he discovered two objects containing Yin Qi, giving him a way to continue improving the art.

• Over two months, Lu Sheng advanced through the sixth layer and reached the seventh layer of the No Cause Art, consuming nearly all his Treasure Bottle Qi.
• Lu Sheng tested the Seven Fragrance Devil Pool but found its Devil Qi too weak for his needs and decided to seek a stronger source.
• Lu Sheng reached the Buried Bone Stone Forest and entered a cavern used by the Yuan Devil Sect's strongest patriarchs to cultivate near the Poison Mist River.
• Lu Sheng found a black iron ring with Yin Qi on a dried corpse arm, then searched the cavern and discovered a broken Bronze Mirror containing even more Yin Qi.
• Lu Sheng inferred that the ring and mirror had belonged to patriarchs who had cherished them and poured their spirit and emotions into them before death.

Lu Sheng used the Yin Qi from a ring and a broken Bronze Mirror to advance the No Cause Art to its Ninth Layer while absorbing the cave’s poisonous mist and demonic qi. He gained a Black Membrane-like outer layer and a Demonic Intent Embryo, and considered continuing his breakthroughs into the Ghost Face Art.

• Lu Sheng absorbed twelve units of Yin Qi from the ring and more than thirty from the broken Bronze Mirror.
• Lu Sheng spent five units of Yin Qi to raise the No Cause Art to the Eighth Layer, increasing his resistance to the poisonous mist.
• Lu Sheng upgraded the No Cause Art to the Ninth Layer as a vortex of demonic qi and poisonous mist surged into his body.
• Lu Sheng developed a Black Membrane-like protective layer and realized it could help him impersonate an aristocratic family scion.
• Lu Sheng released a Demonic Intent Embryo that resembled a translucent fish with his face and recalled how demonic intent affected others.
• Lu Sheng determined that the Ghost Face Art was his only available successor to the No Cause Art and noted that Yin Qi remained for further upgrades.

Lu Sheng adapted to his strengthened body and returned to the Yuan Devil Sect, where he learned that the Nine Bells School was threatening to take over its headquarters. Liu Shanzi brought him into the Secret Arts Hall to show him the sect’s origins, and they reached a side hall after hearing heavy footsteps ahead.

• Lu Sheng considered the limits of the human body, ended his training, and left the poisonous cave after hearing a distant bell.
• Hong Qing visited Liu Shanzi and threatened the declining Yuan Devil Sect, demanding its headquarters in exchange for help preserving its inheritance.
• Lu Sheng met Liu Shanzi, who dismissed the Nine Bells School’s visit and offered to show him the Secret Arts Hall.
• Liu Shanzi explained the hall’s dangers and led Lu Sheng through the Sin Punishment Courtyard, saying the Yuan Devil Sect had studied demons from its beginnings.
• Liu Shanzi and Lu Sheng entered the Secret Arts Hall, followed a corridor in silence, and reached a side hall as heavy footsteps sounded ahead.

The Grand Elder brought Lu Sheng through the Secret Arts Hall, showed him the sealed devil and gave him a Red Human-Face Mask that strengthened his Yin Fire Human-Face visualization. Lu Sheng began the Grand Elder’s first lesson to traverse the hall alone, then drew the sealing saber and briefly stirred the devil before forcing it back into place.

• The Grand Elder led Lu Sheng past the Chain Armor Men and across a floorless passage to a saber embedded in black stone, identifying it as the devil.
• The Grand Elder gave Lu Sheng a Red Human-Face Mask, and Lu Sheng felt its powerful Yin Qi sharpen his visualization of the Yin Fire Human-Face.
• The Grand Elder offered the mask as a reward if Lu Sheng could cross the Secret Arts Hall alone without alerting the Forbidden Puppets.
• Lu Sheng entered the hall, passed the Forbidden Puppets and crossed the passage by recalling the Grand Elder’s route.
• Lu Sheng pulled the saber from the stone, releasing black mist and a voice from beneath it, then quickly shoved the saber back and left the room.

Lu Sheng absorbed the God-Entrusting Power in the mask and advanced the No Cause Art into the No Cause Ghost Face Art, enduring a dangerous burst of Yin Fire. Meanwhile, Hong Yuanrui emerged from seclusion having reached Six-Mark, and Hong Qing went to meet an arriving guest.

• Lu Sheng absorbed more than a hundred and twenty units of God-Entrusting Power from the red mask and used the Modifier to transform the No Cause Art into the No Cause Ghost Face Art.
• Lu Sheng raised the new secret art to its Second Layer, which caused Yin Fire to burn through his body until the cultivation backlash subsided.
• At the Nine Bells School, Hong Qing waited outside as his son Hong Yuanrui completed more than five days of seclusion.
• Hong Yuanrui emerged and told Hong Qing that he had reached Six-Mark, while Hong Qing anticipated the school's success at the alliance gathering.
• A disciple informed Hong Qing that a guest was arriving, and Hong Qing left to meet the pale-faced scholar in the garden.

Hong Qing received orders from the Lin Family to coordinate action at the Hundred Veins Assembly while pursuing the Yuan Devil Sect’s grounds. At the Yuan Devil Sect, the Grand Elder taught Lu Sheng the Listening to the Nether Art, then sent him to Phoenix Dance City by a secret passage as the Grand Elder prepared to leave for a gathering.

• A Lin Family scholar warned Hong Qing to speed up his plans and coordinate with other groups at the Hundred Veins Assembly, with the Wandering Gods available if needed.
• Hong Qing resolved to move against the Yuan Devil Sect’s grounds because its Grand Elder refused to yield them.
• The Grand Elder taught Lu Sheng about devils and passed on the Yuan Devil Sect’s secret art, which he called the Listening to the Nether Art.
• An envoy delivered an invitation, and the Grand Elder told Lu Sheng to carry a letter to the City Lord of Phoenix Dance City while he attended a gathering.
• The Grand Elder sent Lu Sheng and Lotus Fragrance Zi through a secret passage, then remained behind and wept as shadows moved through the Yuan Devil Sect.

Lu Sheng left the Yuan Devil Sect through a Secret Passage while the Grand Elder fought intruders attacking the sect. After learning that Lotus Fragrance Zi had been left as bait, Lu Sheng hurried back through another passage and reached an iron gate.

• Lotus Fragrance Zi guided Lu Sheng to the Secret Passage exit, and Lu Sheng left, deciding not to risk revealing his strength to save the Yuan Devil Sect.
• Three black-clad intruders broke into the Sin Punishment Courtyard, and a familiar man ordered two fighters to attack Grand Elder Liu Shanzi.
• Liu Shanzi fought back with his yin devils, then merged with the black-flamed lion as the two attackers overwhelmed his Black Snake.
• A black-clad man told Lotus Fragrance Zi that Liu Shanzi had used her as bait to cover Lu Sheng's escape, but she accepted her teacher's decision and refused to resent him.
• Several figures surrounded Lotus Fragrance Zi after the black-clad man departed, while Lu Sheng raced through a second Secret Passage and reached another iron gate.