Chapter Summaries

Shen Lin joined the four Vice City Lords as they entered Mirage Dragon Tower to find the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor and remove their restriction. After suppressing a clash with Black Crow, Yuan Shan sensed that Shen Lin carried an aura resembling the flames the City Lord used to refine puppets.

• Ying Yang took Shen Lin to Mirage Dragon Tower and gathered the other Vice City Lords, including Yu Qianmo, Black Crow, and Yuan Shan.
• Black Crow insulted Shen Lin, who provoked him in return, but Yuan Shan stopped their fight so they could continue toward the City Lord.
• The group entered the tower and found a destroyed mechanical puppet that still emitted a Primal Chaos Realm aura.
• Yuan Shan warned Black Crow not to cause trouble again and blocked him from seeing Shen Lin's sudden murderous intent.
• Yuan Shan told Ying Yang that Shen Lin's aura resembled the City Lord's puppet-refining flames.

At the Mirage Dragon Tower’s ninetieth floor, Shen Lin agreed to hold off six powerful puppet soldiers while Ying Yang, Yuan Shan, Black Crow, and the others fought the remaining four. Shen Lin quickly destroyed two puppets, forcing the others to fight harder as he raced ahead of them.

• Ying Yang and Yuan Shan suspected Shen Lin had a Heaven Grade Spiritual Flame and hurried with the group toward the upper floors.
• At the ninetieth floor, Yuan Shan asked Shen Lin to occupy six of the ten powerful puppet soldiers while the others each handled one.
• When the puppets awakened and attacked, Shen Lin blocked their swords and seized one puppet’s Bronze Sword.
• Shen Lin destroyed the first puppet with a punch and announced that five remained.
• Shen Lin blasted a hole through a second puppet, startling the others and prompting them to intensify their own attacks.

After helping the Demon Race defeat the puppet soldiers on one level, Shen Lin demanded valuable rewards for further assistance and left them to face the next level alone. Their mistrust forced them to retreat, and Shen Lin offered to help again for a price.

• Shen Lin defeated the puppet soldiers first, making Yuan Shan and Black Crow wary until Ying Yang reminded them that Shen Lin was injured.
• Shen Lin said his original agreement only covered that level, then demanded one Earth-grade technique or martial art, or one thousand-year-old spirit herb, from each person for help on every further level.
• Yuan Shan tried to lower the price to one item per level, but Shen Lin refused and walked toward the stairs as the Demon Race continued upward.
• Shen Lin waited near the stairs, counting on the Demon Race's suspicion of one another to prevent them from fighting at full strength.
• Less than a quarter of an hour later, Yuan Shan, Ying Yang, Yu Qianmo, and Black Crow retreated from the next level after clashing over their lack of effort.
• Shen Lin greeted the retreating group and offered his help again at fair, transparent prices.

Shen Lin learned the Spirit Ape Staff Technique from Yuan Shan’s offered manual and continued helping the Demon Race group fight their way up Mirage Dragon Tower. On the ninety-fifth floor, the group faced six powerful puppet monsters, each as strong as Li Xingyi, and Yuan Shan asked Shen Lin to fight.

• Shen Lin swallowed three supposed thousand-year-old spirit medicines and discovered they were illusions, then learned the Spirit Ape Staff Technique from Yuan Shan’s manual.
• Shen Lin and the Demon Race group defeated the puppet soldiers on the ninety-first floor, after which the group handled the next three floors without his help.
• On the ninety-fifth floor, Yuan Shan explained that the volcanic Flame Mountain Range lay beneath the City Lord’s weapon-refining chamber and asked Shen Lin to act.
• Shen Lin took four spirit herbs as payment and saw six horned puppet monsters prowling among the volcanoes, each as strong as Li Xingyi.

Shen Lin’s injuries began to heal after he swallowed a thousand-year-old spirit herb, and he helped the four Vice City Lords battle the Puppet Beasts. He destroyed the two creatures he was fighting and grew interested in taking them apart to inspect their materials.

• Shen Lin’s Heavenly Demon Body recovered enough to begin healing itself after he swallowed the spirit herb.
• Yuan Shan assigned the four Vice City Lords to lure the other Puppet Beasts away while Shen Lin held back two.
• Yu Qianmo warned that the City Lord might enslave Shen Lin and make him the fifth Vice City Lord.
• Shen Lin discovered that the water-buffalo-shaped Puppet Beasts could boost their strength with internal machinery, but their rigid movements left them vulnerable.
• Shen Lin smashed off the Puppet Beasts’ horns, crushed their heads, and left them motionless.

Shen Lin defeated a Puppet Beast and joined Yuan Shan’s group as they continued toward the City Lord’s retreat. At the top level, they found the Heaven Grade Spiritual Flame extinguished, and Yuan Shan suspected the City Lord had fallen.

• Shen Lin crushed a Puppet Beast and gathered its shell fragments while Yuan Shan and the others finished their battles.
• Black Crow urged the others to eliminate Shen Lin, but Yuan Shan refused, and Ying Yang suggested they might become colleagues instead.
• Shen Lin agreed to continue with the group after Yuan Shan warned that the next level held the Heaven Grade Spiritual Flame.
• Yuan Shan led the group through the flame-filled passages to the top level, where they found the bronze furnace dark and the Heaven Grade Spiritual Flame gone.
• Yuan Shan realized the flame’s disappearance might mean the City Lord had fallen.

Shen Lin followed Yuan Shan and the others through the empty upper levels of the Mirage Dragon Tower, confirming that the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor was not present in the illusionary realm. On the ninety-ninth level, they found a figure on the throne who identified Shen Lin as a Heavenly Demon from outside the island.

• Yuan Shan and the others found the Heaven Grade Spiritual Flame missing and feared the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor had fallen, but Yuan Shan urged them to keep searching.
• On the next level, Yuan Shan discovered that the Yang Jue Puppet was gone, and the group wondered whether the City Lord had left the tower.
• The following level was also empty, including the Yin Jue Puppet, so Yuan Shan led the others toward the tower's highest level.
• Shen Lin and the others entered the ninety-ninth level and found a silver-armored figure seated on a golden throne; Yuan Shan and the others knelt and asked the City Lord to forgive their intrusion.
• The figure rose and passed Yuan Shan and the others, then asked Shen Lin whether he had come from outside the island because of his Heavenly Demon bloodline.

Shen Lin discovered that the supposed Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor was actually the intelligent Mirage Demon, which had brought him into Mirage Spirit City to ask for his help. The Mirage Demon revealed that it wanted to use Shen Lin’s Heavenly Demon Body to turn the illusory city into a real one.

• Shen Lin questioned the silver-armored figure’s identity, and it admitted that the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor had been dead for many years.
• The Mirage Demon froze Yuan Shan and the others, then invited Shen Lin to speak with it over wine.
• The Mirage Demon explained that Mirage Spirit City existed inside its body and that developing intelligence had weakened its control over its enormous form.
• The Mirage Demon asked Shen Lin what he thought of Mirage Spirit City and revealed that it could make the illusion real.
• Shen Lin guessed that the Mirage Demon needed his Heavenly Demon Body, and the Mirage Demon confirmed that it planned to use him as the catalyst to make Mirage Spirit City real.

The Mirage Demon offered Shen Lin the power and inheritance of the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor in exchange for helping turn Mirage Spirit City into reality. Shen Lin refused and fought the illusion’s controlled inhabitants, killing Ying Yang and Yu Qianmo while Yuan Shan and Black Crow remained.

• The Mirage Demon explained that Shen Lin could inherit the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor’s strength, memories, bloodline, and power if he agreed to the plan.
• Shen Lin rejected the offer and attacked the Mirage Demon, but his fist passed through the demon’s illusory form.
• The Mirage Demon restored Yuan Shan and the others and made them attack Shen Lin with their full strength.
• The Mirage Demon revealed that he planned to make Mirage Spirit City real and devour its inhabitants to gain enough soul power to control his body.
• Shen Lin refused again, endured the group’s attacks, crushed Ying Yang’s head, and killed Yu Qianmo with a punch.

Shen Lin realized the blinding sun above Mirage Spirit City was the Mirage Demon's Mirage Pearl and attacked it, while the Mirage Demon remained confident that Shen Lin was courting death.

• The Mirage Demon opened the top of the Mirage Dragon Tower and froze the Demon Race members across Mirage Spirit City, sending them toward the tower.
• The Blood Ring Race patriarch killed Chi Xiao as the clan members marched away, and Lin Sinian stole the patriarch's conch.
• Bai Kaize and Zhong Bailing suspected Shen Lin had discovered the illusionary realm's foundation when the Demon Race members gathered above the tower.
• The Mirage Demon tried to make Shen Lin submit, but Shen Lin declared he would attack the Mirage Demon's true body.
• Shen Lin deduced that the sun was the Mirage Pearl, punched a hole in it, and charged inside while the Mirage Demon watched without concern.

Shen Lin entered the Mirage Pearl for its life-infused spiritual energy, but its Essence of Netherwater threatened to freeze both his body and soul. The Sea Burning Flame intervened, restored his soul, and supplied enough refined spiritual power to fill an aperture, while the Mirage Demon waited for him to perish.

• The Mirage Demon recalled that the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor had raised it for the precious Essence of Netherwater and planned to use Shen Lin’s body to make Mirage Spirit City real.
• Shen Lin discovered that the pure yin energy inside the Mirage Pearl froze his body and damaged his soul faster than the life-infused spiritual energy could heal him.
• The Sea Burning Flame emerged on its own, swallowed the pure yin energy, and sent a warm current to restore the part of Shen Lin’s soul that had been torn away.
• The Sea Burning Flame scrutinized Shen Lin, then sent refined energy into his true body, where the Heaven Burning Sea Boiling Art refined it and filled one aperture.

Shen Lin absorbed the Mirage Pearl’s pure yin qi to raise his true body to the peak of the Aperture Opening Realm, then used its life force to heal his Heavenly Demon Body. When the Mirage Demon and several Primal Chaos Realm Demons attacked, Shen Lin outmaneuvered them and fully recovered his injuries, leaving him ready to fight at full strength.

• Sea Burning Flame converted the pure yin qi into spiritual power, filling Shen Lin’s 180 acupoints and raising him to the peak of the Aperture Opening Realm.
• Shen Lin summoned his Heavenly Demon Body and absorbed the Mirage Pearl’s life force, rapidly healing its injuries as the Mirage Demon felt his true body weakening.
• Blood Ring Race Patriarch attacked Shen Lin, but Shen Lin punched him away; Shen Lin then kicked Yuan Shan through his black staff and sent him flying.
• Black Crow tried to stab Shen Lin from behind, but Shen Lin switched to his true body, dodged the dagger, and unleashed Purgatory to expose the hidden Demon.
• Shen Lin changed back into his Heavenly Demon Body and punched the concealed Primal Chaos Realm Demon into a cloud of blood mist, completing his recovery.

Shen Lin absorbed life force from the mist inside the Mirage Pearl, growing stronger even as the Demon Race repeatedly attacked him. As the Mirage Demon summoned the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor to kill him, Shen Lin faced a new and powerful threat.

• Shen Lin’s Heavenly Demon Body absorbed the mist and rapidly replenished his Blood Qi Power, strengthening his body.
• The Mirage Demon ordered the Demon Race to attack Shen Lin, who endured their blows so his injuries would accelerate his absorption of life force.
• Shen Lin’s wounds healed, and his body grew so durable that a second barrage of attacks could not break his skin.
• The Mirage Demon sacrificed the members of the Demon Race and the illusion of Mirage Spirit City, reducing the city to ruins as their light gathered inside the Mirage Pearl.
• The Mirage Demon turned the gathered illusion into reality and summoned the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor, ordering him to kill Shen Lin.

Shen Lin survived the Mirage Demon’s attempt to summon the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor, then absorbed the mist and destroyed the Mirage Pearl. Outside the southern marshlands, the Imperial Uncle revealed that the enormous Mirage Beast had surpassed the Dharma Aspect Realm and would have ascended if it were not a Demon Beast.

• The Mirage Demon exhausted his accumulated illusion power to summon the Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor, while Shen Lin prepared to fight him.
• The Mirage Dragon Demon Emperor vanished because he was still alive in the world and could not be created from illusion.
• Shen Lin absorbed the mist after the Mirage Demon’s illusions failed, leaving the demon helpless and pleading for him to stop.
• Shen Lin inhaled the final wisp of mist, cracked the Mirage Pearl, and shattered it beneath his foot.
• Outside the southern marshlands, the Imperial Uncle told Ding Juncai and the Hundred Refinements Valley Elders that the enormous Mirage Beast had broken through the Dharma Aspect Realm and would have ascended if it were not a Demon Beast.

The Imperial Uncle explained that the Mirage Beast surpassed the Dharma Aspect Realm but lacked intelligence, then watched as its life rapidly faded and it vanished. Shen Lin reunited with Bai Kaize and the others at sea, concealed what had happened in the illusion, and heard a nearby figure cry out that they had succeeded.

• The Great Elder of Hundred Refinements Valley recalled an ancient account of a Dharma Aspect Realm expert ascending into the sky, and the Imperial Uncle confirmed that the Mirage Beast exceeded the Dharma Aspect Realm.
• The Imperial Uncle rebuked the Great Elder for speaking on behalf of Xu Province’s people, then said the Mirage Beast’s vitality was fading and he no longer needed to find its weakness.
• The Mirage Beast howled and crumbled into powder, revealing that the southern marshlands had been above a vast sea filled with Demon Beasts.
• Bai Kaize, Zhong Bailing, Wu Juncai, and Shen Lin surfaced and gathered together, and Shen Lin claimed he had been trapped in a mountain forest fighting Demons.
• Wu Juncai questioned Shen Lin about knocking them unconscious, but Shen Lin said he had needed to use Hundred Refinements Valley’s secret technique before being pulled into an illusion realm.
• A nearby figure laughed and shouted that they had succeeded, startling Shen Lin, Bai Kaize, and the others.

Lin Sinian used the conch to summon and control powerful sea demon beasts, but the Imperial Uncle intervened and attacked him with his golden dragon Dharma Aspect. Lin Sinian escaped inside a Conjoined Mussel, leaving the Imperial Uncle uncertain where he had gone.

• Lin Sinian discovered the conch had survived Mirage Spirit City and blew it to summon a Primal Chaos Realm squid demon beast.
• Shen Lin and Bai Kaize's group confronted Lin Sinian, who summoned more sea demon beasts and spared them while sending Shen Lin a threat about avenging his father's death.
• The Imperial Uncle arrived and identified Lin Sinian as a Demon Race threat, prompting Lin Sinian to use the conch again despite the strain on his spirit.
• The Imperial Uncle unleashed his golden dragon Dharma Aspect and destroyed the demon beasts in Lin Sinian's path.
• Lin Sinian escaped inside a Conjoined Mussel, but the Imperial Uncle shattered its shell and realized Lin Sinian had gotten away.

The Imperial Uncle learned that an unknown, powerful Demon Race member had defeated the Mirage Beast before Lin Sinian escaped, and he returned to the capital to discuss the threat. Meanwhile, Yuwen Yan prepared a dangerous attempt to escape his confinement, relying on Meteor Flame and Forging Illusion Flame.

• The Imperial Uncle gave up pursuing Lin Sinian after the Conjoined Mussel teleported him away, then questioned Bai Kaize and heard about the unknown Demon Race member who had defeated the Mirage Beast.
• The Imperial Uncle left to discuss the unexplained Demon Race member with Great Wei’s other Dharma Aspect Realm experts, while Bai Kaize thanked Shen Lin for saving the survivors.
• Elder Ye warned Shen Lin to remain in Hundred Refinements Valley until his assignment was complete, and Shen Lin agreed.
• In the western Xuzhou snow mountains, Yuwen Yan stood above a frozen abyss containing a dead Demon Race member and ordered Mo He to find more Demon Race members.
• Yuwen Yan kept the Second Elder of Hundred Refinements Valley alive for his plans and resolved to use Meteor Flame and Forging Illusion Flame to reach the Second Step and escape his cage.

The Great Wei experts discussed Lin Sinian’s escape and the possibility that a powerful demon was nearing the Dharma Aspect Realm. Gao Yichen identified the demon as Shen Lin and painted his portrait for a new kill order, while Yuwen Fengxian demanded War Sky as a reward for capturing it alive.

• The Imperial Uncle told Prime Minister Zhang, Yuwen Fengxian, Ji Zhanxie, and Gao Yichen that Lin Sinian had escaped after controlling dozens of Primal Chaos Realm demon beasts.
• Ji Zhanxie prepared to mobilize the four Demon Slaying Marquis squads, and Prime Minister Zhang proposed sharing information with the Myriad Demon Kingdom so it would help eliminate Lin Sinian.
• The Imperial Uncle warned that a demon might have reached the Dharma Aspect Realm after destroying a Mirage Beast’s Mirage Pearl and absorbing its life force.
• Gao Yichen recognized the demon as the one he had seen fighting Li Xingyi in Youzhou and suspected it had been sealed beneath the Dragon Locking Mountain Range.
• Gao Yichen painted Shen Lin’s portrait, and Ji Zhanxie considered what bounty to offer for the demon.
• Yuwen Fengxian said he would capture Shen Lin alive in exchange for the Heaven Grade cultivation technique War Sky.

Shen Lin assembled five Divination Plate fragments and gained an initial comprehension of the Dao Principle Secret Technique Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Skill. He spent four thousand years of Demon Lifespan deducing it, mastering and then abandoning the flawed Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Gate Technique, but the secret technique remained incomplete.

• Shen Lin reviewed his restored cultivation, new treasures, and fifty thousand years of Demon Lifespan gained from killing the Mirage Demon.
• Shen Lin joined five Divination Plate fragments and witnessed visions of the cycle of life, death, and nature, gaining an initial comprehension of Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Skill.
• Shen Lin spent one thousand years of Demon Lifespan on deduction but gained only a vague sense that much work remained.
• Shen Lin spent another three thousand years deducing the secret technique, mastered Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Gate Technique, then abandoned it after discovering its errors.
• Shen Lin realized that Dao Principle Secret Techniques interfered with the world outside the body rather than using internal spiritual power, but he still did not understand how to use them.

Shen Lin deduced the Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Skill and discovered that a giant serpent surrounding the world suppressed the other Great Daos. After he gained the skill, the serpent appeared in the sky and fixed its gaze on him.

• Shen Lin spent Demon Lifespan deducing the Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Skill and saw the giant serpent blocking other Great Daos from the world.
• Shen Lin continued the deduction, sensed the Water Dao, and gained the Water Mastery talent.
• Shen Lin found the Dao that let the Heaven-Intercepting Marvelous Skill seize a thread of life and initially mastered the secret technique.
• The giant serpent's head appeared across the continent, terrifying Prime Minister Zhang, Yuwen Fengxian, and the Demon Emperors.
• Shen Lin stepped outside Hundred Refinements Valley and saw the serpent's enormous eyes staring directly at him.