Chapter Summaries

After rapidly advancing to the early Taiyi stage under Nuwa’s teachings, Shen Gui received his first assignment from her: guard a city near Southern Jambudvipa for three thousand years and pick a fight with the Demon Country to vent her grudge against Di Jun and Tai Yi. He set out after Nuwa left for Hongjun’s third sermon, looking forward to the promised reward while worrying about the task’s consequences.

• Shen Gui cultivated under Nuwa’s frequent teachings and advanced from late Golden Immortal to early Taiyi in just over two thousand years.
• Qingluan compared Shen Gui’s rapid progress with her own and found comfort in the fact that Golden Phoenix had remained at early Taiyi.
• Before leaving for Hongjun’s third sermon, Nuwa assigned Shen Gui to guard a great city bordering Southern Jambudvipa for three thousand years.
• Nuwa also told Shen Gui to go to Southern Jambudvipa and pick a fight with the Demon Country established by Di Jun and Tai Yi, promising him a reward if he did well.
• After saying farewell to Qingluan and Golden Phoenix, Shen Gui set out, reasoning that Di Jun and Tai Yi were away at the sermon.

Shen Gui arrived at Blackwater City, where the Rhinoceros Clan and Water Buffalo Clan kept the ancient fortress secure under Nuwa and Fuxi’s protection. Alongside guarding the city for three thousand years, he had to find a way to provoke Southern Jambudvipa on Nuwa’s behalf, but he lacked local knowledge and contacts.

• Shen Gui learned that Blackwater City had been an ancient Kirin Race fortress and was now mainly inhabited by the Rhinoceros Clan and Water Buffalo Clan.
• Shen Gui saw that Blackwater City had developed more like a city of later generations than the newer, mixed-race settlements on the Central Continent.
• Shen Gui determined that his main duty as guardian was to represent Nuwa and Fuxi’s protection, since the two native clans could defend the city themselves.
• Shen Gui recalled Nuwa’s additional task of provoking Southern Jambudvipa and considered the risk of accidentally helping Di Jun and Tai Yi unify the region.
• Shen Gui wondered where he could get intelligence about Southern Jambudvipa, since he had never been there and had no local connections.

Shen Gui summoned Xi San and Shui Sheng to ask for information about Southern Jambudvipa, which he had been tasked by Nuwa to investigate while guarding Blackwater City. Xi San and Shui Sheng agreed to help by sharing what they knew, relieved that Shen Gui did not expect them to take part in the dangerous task.

• Shen Gui declined the Rhinoceros Clan and Water Buffalo Clan maids and let their Tribe Leaders believe his Dao heart was firm.
• Shen Gui invited Xi San and Shui Sheng to the City Lord's Mansion because he needed information about Southern Jambudvipa.
• Xi San and Shui Sheng arrived and bowed to Shen Gui, asking why he had summoned them.
• Shen Gui explained that Nuwa had assigned him a task concerning Southern Jambudvipa, a region he did not know well.
• Xi San and Shui Sheng pledged to help because the matter concerned Nuwa.
• Shen Gui clarified that he only wanted information from them, and the two Tribe Leaders were relieved they would not need to take part in the task.

Xi San and Shui Sheng told Shen Gui about Huoyun City, the Demon Country’s nearby stronghold, and Qingmang Mountain, ruled by the powerful Shang Yang. Shen Gui considered his next move against Huoyun City and recognized Qingmang Mountain as the home of a parrot demon he had killed.

• Xi San explained that Huoyun City had been built by the Phoenix Race and was now occupied by the Demon Country’s Huoyun Toad, who had nearly exterminated the Qingniao Clan.
• Shui Sheng said the Huoyun Toad had seized control of the city and renamed it after his own true form.
• Shen Gui asked about other nearby forces, and Xi San identified Qingmang Mountain as the territory of Demon King Shang Yang.
• Xi San and Shui Sheng said Shang Yang had once driven back the Grand Unity-realm Huoyun Toad and had reportedly advanced to the Grand Unity realm.
• Shen Gui realized Shang Yang was a future member of the Ten Great Demon Sages and remembered that a parrot demon he had killed in Qingluan City had claimed to come from Qingmang Mountain.

Shang Yang attacked Huoyun City with rain infused with water laws to avenge the Qingniao Clan, while Shen Gui was still weighing his next move. Huoyun confronted Shang Yang but found his Natal True Fire overwhelmed, leaving him in grave danger.

• Shen Gui sent Xi San and Shui Sheng back after learning the locations of Huoyun City and Qingmang Mountain, then considered what to do next.
• Shang Yang used a rainstorm infused with water laws to dissolve over a hundred thousand demon soldiers and weaken Huoyun City's protective formation.
• Huoyun recognized Shang Yang and learned that he had advanced to the early Taiyi realm.
• Shang Yang declared that he would bathe Huoyun City in blood to avenge the Qingniao Clan and rejected Huoyun's warning about becoming an enemy of the Demon Country.
• Huoyun flew out of the city and attacked with his Natal True Fire, but Shang Yang's rain suppressed most of the flames.

Shang Yang destroyed Huoyun City with a rainstorm after killing its commander, Huoyun, and most of its demon army. When news reached Blackwater City, Shen Gui realized the destruction had ruined his plans to use Huoyun City to account for events back home.

• Shang Yang overwhelmed Huoyun with rain threads and killed him despite his defiant warning.
• A demon soldier opened Huoyun City's protective formation, and hundreds of thousands fled as Shang Yang's rain killed the soldiers throughout the city.
• Shang Yang left Huoyun City after the rain subsided, allowing the few survivors to carry news of its destruction.
• Shui Sheng told Shen Gui that Shang Yang had destroyed Huoyun City and killed Huoyun and most of its million demon soldiers.
• Shen Gui dismissed Xi San and Shui Sheng, ordering them to monitor Qingmang Mountain while resenting Shang Yang for disrupting his plans.

After Huoyun City’s destruction ruined his plan for completing Nuwa’s task, Shen Gui traveled to Qingmang Mountain to seek Shang Yang’s help. He openly requested an audience and waited while a demon soldier went to inform her.

• After Xi San and Shui Sheng left, Shen Gui decided to meet Shang Yang and seek information that could help him complete Nuwa’s task.
• Shen Gui left Blackwater City and traveled toward Qingmang Mountain in Southern Jambudvipa.
• As Shen Gui approached the mountain, he spotted Demon Soldiers guarding its paths and chose to visit openly rather than sneak in.
• A demon soldier sensed Shen Gui’s pressure, respectfully asked him to wait, and went to report his arrival to Shang Yang.

Shen Gui visited Shang Yang at Qingmang Mountain, hoping to cooperate with her, and encountered her lavish palace and unexpected vanity. The chapter left him realizing that the famed demon sage was a narcissist.

• After hearing that a powerful visitor had come, Shang Yang assumed he was likely a friend and ordered her Demon General to bring him in.
• A Demon General led Shen Gui to Qingmang Palace, where he entered without using his divine sense to inspect the mountain.
• Shen Gui admired the hall’s dazzling but gaudy decorations and greeted Shang Yang, who asked whether the hall was beautiful.
• Shen Gui mistook Shang Yang’s question as asking whether she was beautiful, and she clarified that she meant the hall.
• When Shen Gui called the hall all right, Shang Yang knitted her brows.

Shen Gui learned why Shang Yang had avenged the Qingniao Clan: its leader, Qing Feng, had praised her beauty and palace, making him her kindred spirit. After explaining her past, Shang Yang asked Shen Gui who he was and why he had come to find her.

• Shen Gui questioned Shang Yang’s claim that a Taiyi cultivator should have a better appreciation of beauty.
• Shang Yang explained that the Huoyun Toad had killed Qing Feng, the Qingniao Clan leader who shared her aesthetic sense.
• Shang Yang had intervened to protect the Qingniao Clan, then destroyed Huoyun City after the Huoyun Toad killed Qing Feng.
• Shang Yang recalled that, in a different history, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi’s golden appearance would have inspired her to join him.
• Shang Yang asked Shen Gui who he was and why he had sought her out.

Shen Gui learned from Shang Yang that the demon forces of Southern Jambudvipa were forming an alliance against the expanding Demon Country. Backed by Empress Nuwa, he chose to involve himself, and Shang Yang revealed that the alliance would gather at Qingmang Mountain.

• Shang Yang questioned Shen Gui about Blackwater City and whether he had come to join the conflict on behalf of the leaders in Heavenly Demon City.
• Shen Gui claimed he had come under Empress Nuwa’s orders, and Shang Yang said the demon forces would follow Nuwa if she agreed to protect them.
• Shang Yang explained that the Demon Country’s expansion had prompted the Demon Kings to unite while Di Jun and Tai Yi were away attending the Dao Ancestor’s lectures.
• Shen Gui decided to take part in the alliance, reasoning that Nuwa’s backing gave him a chance to disrupt the Demon Country and recruit powerful demons.
• Shang Yang said the demon forces planned to gather at Qingmang Mountain and choose a leader to resist the Demon Country.

Shen Gui learned that Shang Yang had chosen Qingmang Mountain for a Demon King alliance summit partly as an escape route if the Demon Country defeated them. He agreed to return in three years after assessing the alliance’s strength, leaving Shang Yang hopeful that Nuwa might intervene.

• Shang Yang explained that Qingmang Mountain’s location near the Central Continent would let the Demon Kings flee to Nuwa and Fuxi’s protection if Di Jun and Tai Yi defeated them.
• Shen Gui doubted the alliance could withstand the Demon Country, but considered that Nuwa might join to thwart Di Jun and Tai Yi.
• Shang Yang said Demon Kings would gather at Qingmang Mountain in three years after her attack on Huoyun City declared war on the Demon Country.
• Shen Gui agreed to visit the summit and judge the alliance’s strength before deciding whether to involve himself.
• Shang Yang saw Shen Gui out, then returned to Qingmang Palace and decided to inform the other Demon Kings about him.

Bai Ze learned that Nuwa might intervene in the Southern Jambudvipa Demon Kings’ resistance, threatening his plan to destroy them in one stroke. He ordered the Demon Country to proceed as planned and accepted responsibility for whatever followed.

• Shang Yang’s news about Nuwa spread among the Southern Jambudvipa Demon Kings, stirring both hope and fear.
• Bai Ze learned that Nuwa might interfere just as the allied Demon Kings were gathering according to his plan.
• Bai Ze recalled that he had secretly encouraged the alliance and planted defectors among the Demon Kings to help the Demon Country eliminate them.
• Bai Ze told the Demon Country’s officials to follow the original plan and said he would bear the consequences if anything unexpected happened.
• The officials agreed to proceed with Bai Ze’s plan.

Shang Yang hosted a gathering of Demon Kings at Qingmang Mountain, where Fei Dan and the Daluo great demon Fei Lian confronted her. The arrival of Ci Tie, one of Shang Yang’s allies, escalated the tense gathering.

• Bai Ze considered Nuwa’s possible intervention and decided to leave the matter to the two Your Majesties.
• Demon Kings arrived at Qingmang Mountain after Shang Yang sent out her message, and she kept the gathering peaceful.
• Fei Dan challenged Shang Yang, who mocked him and called his home a rat’s nest.
• Fei Lian appeared and warned Shang Yang that her tongue had grown sharper, but she teased the demons about hiding to watch her.
• Ci Tie arrived and angrily threatened anyone who might bully Sister Shang Yang, while Fei Lian told him to put away his pressure.

Ci Tie forced the hidden Demon Kings to reveal themselves and opened the Qingmang Mountain alliance gathering, where Shang Yang explained Heavenly Demon City’s interest in the conflict. The meeting ended with Fei Lian questioning whether Heavenly Demon City meant to control them just as the Demon Country did.

• Ci Tie struck the sky and exposed the concealed Demon Kings, then led everyone into Qingmang Palace.
• The five Daluo experts—Ci Tie, Fei Lian, Lu Zhu Dao Ren, Yin Yue, and Tu Shan Feng—took their seats as the alliance gathering began.
• Ci Tie asked Shang Yang about the visitor from Heavenly Demon City, and she explained that he claimed to serve Empress Nuwa and had come to assess their strength.
• Shang Yang said Heavenly Demon City’s involvement might ease the pressure from the Demon Country, and several Demon Kings agreed.
• Fei Lian warned that Heavenly Demon City might seek to absorb them, making the Demon Kings hesitate.

The Demon Alliance’s leaders debated how to answer Heavenly Demon City’s proposal and chose to wait for its envoy. Three years later, Shen Gui arrived at Qingmang Mountain for the alliance gathering and met the five Daluo experts assembled there.

• Silver Moon asked Fei Lian whether the Demon Alliance should refuse Heavenly Demon City outright, but Fei Lian deferred the decision to everyone.
• The Demon Kings discussed the matter and agreed to wait and see until Heavenly Demon City’s representative arrived.
• Shen Gui traveled to Qingmang Mountain as promised, noticing its stronger security and the powerful auras gathered there.
• A Demon General escorted Shen Gui directly to Shang Yang at Qingmang Palace.
• Shen Gui greeted Shang Yang without acknowledging the five Daluo experts, and Shang Yang introduced them as the Demon Alliance’s foundation in opposing the Demon Country.

Shang Yang introduced Shen Gui to several Daluo, and Shen Gui won their favor with tactful compliments. The introductions continued with Silver Moon, who gave her name as the chapter ended.

• Shang Yang introduced Lu Zhu Dao Ren and bluntly remarked that he had made little cultivation progress in tens of thousands of years.
• Shen Gui politely praised Lu Zhu Dao Ren’s deep magic power, and Lu Zhu Dao Ren took the compliment at face value.
• Fei Lian introduced himself, and Shen Gui exchanged courteous compliments with him.
• Shang Yang began introducing the silver-robed woman, who opened her eyes and identified herself as Silver Moon.

Shen Gui met the five Daluo leaders of the alliance opposing the Demon Country and explained that he had joined on Empress Nuwa’s orders. The leaders then asked what Nuwa intended to do, wary that she might seek to control them as the Demon Country did.

• Silver Moon closed her eyes after giving her name, while Shang Yang laughed at Shen Gui’s awkward reaction.
• Ci Tie introduced himself and reassured Shen Gui about Silver Moon’s temperament; Tu Shan Feng of the Qingqiu Fox Clan then introduced himself.
• Ci Tie asked why Shen Gui wanted to join the alliance, and Shen Gui said he had no personal reason to get involved.
• Shen Gui explained that he was acting under Empress Nuwa’s orders, making the five Daluo cautious.
• Ci Tie asked what Nuwa wanted to do, since the alliance feared being controlled by her as well as by the Demon Country.

Shen Gui reassured the Demon Alliance that Nuwa would not harm its interests, while Bai Ze ordered Ji Meng to attack Qingmang Mountain with one hundred million troops. As the Demon Kings prepared to face the invasion, Tu Shan Feng proposed placing their armies under unified command and offered his own forces to Ci Tie.

• Shen Gui told Ci Tie and the other Demon Kings that Nuwa’s plans would not harm their interests, easing their concerns.
• Bai Ze learned of the Demon Alliance’s gathering at Qingmang Mountain and ordered Ji Meng to lead one hundred million troops against it.
• The Demon Alliance’s spies reported the invasion, prompting the Demon Kings to gather at Qingmang Palace.
• Ci Tie asked how the alliance should respond, and Tu Shan Feng proposed combining their armies under unified command.
• Tu Shan Feng named Ci Tie as the best commander, pledged the Tu Shan army to him, and vowed to oppose anyone who tried to seize another ally’s forces.

The Demon Kings agreed to place their armies under Ci Tie's command while retaining joint discussion of major decisions. After the meeting, Shang Yang confronted Shen Gui over his past criticism of her great hall, and he left her declaring that she would never believe his words again.

• Tu Shan Feng and Lu Zhu Dao Ren offered to place their forces under Ci Tie, prompting many Demon Kings to agree.
• Fei Lian proposed that the Demon Kings discuss important decisions together, and Ci Tie accepted the arrangement.
• Shang Yang called on Shen Gui to share his insights, but he offered only a vague endorsement of unity.
• After the meeting, Shen Gui asked Shang Yang whether he had offended her, and she reminded him that he had once called her great hall merely "not bad."
• Shen Gui praised Shang Yang's great hall at length, but she dismissed his flattery and said she would not believe even half a word he said.

After passing Shang Yang’s test, Shen Gui found himself with little to do while the Demon Kings prepared their armies, so he went into seclusion in his cave abode. Silver Moon unexpectedly entered and asked whether he was Empress Nuwa’s confidant, leaving him confused.

• Shang Yang forgave Shen Gui, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
• The Demon Kings busied themselves gathering their armies while Shang Yang and Silver Moon remained relatively free.
• With no work assigned by the Demon Alliance, Shen Gui decided to cultivate in his cave abode.
• Silver Moon entered Shen Gui’s cave abode without acknowledging him and told him to sit.
• Silver Moon asked Shen Gui whether he was Empress Nuwa’s confidant, and he wondered why she had come.