Chapter Summaries

The North Lake City God urged Jiang Qiao to leave the realm through a passage at Sanxing Lake, blaming him for the City Gods’ growing conflict. Jiang Qiao rejected the demand and destroyed the City God’s clone, then pursued his true body.

• The North Lake City God told Jiang Qiao that he should leave the realm and described a passage at Sanxing Lake that led to an abandoned Small World.
• Jiang Qiao said he would first consult the City God of Star Prefecture, despite the North Lake City God’s warning that allied City Gods might act against him.
• Jiang Qiao attacked the North Lake City God’s clone with a lightning blade and destroyed it after it re-formed.
• Thirty li away, the North Lake City God’s true body rose from his sedan chair and shouted at Jiang Qiao.
• Jiang Qiao appeared and declared that he would not let the North Lake City God hide, then brought thunder down upon the area.

Jiang Qiao pursued the North Lake City God's true body and destroyed the Ghost-Carriers protecting it, then confronted Mr. Yu, a Ninth Rank Awakened who served the Mountain Ghosts. After Jiang Qiao mocked him, Mr. Yu erupted in anger and prepared to attack.

• Jiang Qiao tracked the North Lake City God's true body and blasted more than a hundred Ghost-Carriers into nothing with thunderbolts.
• Jiang Qiao recognized that the austere old man beside the North Lake City God had a physical body and incense power, and suspected he had reached Ninth Rank on his own.
• The old man called himself Mr. Yu and criticized Jiang Qiao for provoking Fengyin Mountain and the City Gods.
• Jiang Qiao insulted Mr. Yu for serving the Mountain Ghosts, calling him a coward and a bootlicker.
• Mr. Yu declared that Jiang Qiao would die and made the earth churn as he prepared to fight.

Jiang Qiao evaded Mr. Yu and the North Lake City God's attacks by using supernatural techniques to create indistinguishable afterimages. After they buried every apparent figure in coffins, the North Lake City God warned that Jiang Qiao was still nearby, right beside Mr. Yu.

• Jiang Qiao dodged Mr. Yu's sludge and shattered the grasping finger bones with a thunder greatsword.
• The North Lake City God confused Jiang Qiao's senses as Mr. Yu attacked, but Jiang Qiao used his refined techniques to evade the assaults.
• Mr. Yu released worms and used foul gas to reveal figures in the area, only to find that Jiang Qiao's afterimages were indistinguishable from his true form.
• Mr. Yu ordered every figure sealed in a coffin and buried beneath the Grave soil.
• The North Lake City God warned Mr. Yu that Jiang Qiao was still nearby, right beside him.

Jiang Qiao wounded Mr. Yu while fighting off the North Lake City God's reflected-damage and identity-inversion abilities. Surrounded and facing attacks from both opponents, Jiang Qiao was left in a dangerous position as Mr. Yu threatened to hand him over to the Mountain Ghost's ancestor.

• Jiang Qiao emerged from the lightning and battered Mr. Yu, while Mr. Yu summoned black blood from the tombs to suppress his powers.
• The North Lake City God unleashed methods that reflected Jiang Qiao's injuries back onto him, but Jiang Qiao pressed on and wrapped himself in a cocoon of lightning.
• Jiang Qiao ignored the City God's figures and cut deeply into Mr. Yu with a lightning axe, expanding the wound across Mr. Yu's chest and face.
• The City God began inverting Jiang Qiao's identity with the surrounding figures, leaving Jiang Qiao trapped between the City God and the wounded Mr. Yu.
• Mr. Yu threatened to deliver Jiang Qiao alive to the Mountain Ghost's ancestor and make a specimen of his tongue.

Jiang Qiao used a new, disorder-infused axe technique to break through Mr. Yu’s defenses and turn the fight around. Gongsun Xiang’s identity-reversal technique faltered when Jiang Qiao changed to his true face, leaving Gongsun to suspect he had two faces.

• Jiang Qiao transformed into a giant axe and shattered Mr. Yu’s mud pocket and wall, striking him in the head.
• Jiang Qiao pursued the wounded Mr. Yu and explained that his axe combined concentrated force with a trace of supernatural disorder.
• The figures imitating Jiang Qiao fell into confusion and began returning to their original forms.
• Gongsun Xiang realized Jiang Qiao’s changed appearance had disrupted his reversal technique and suspected Jiang Qiao had Two Faces.
• Jiang Qiao kept his true face’s identity secret and revealed that he had been using Thunder Spirit’s face since entering the Small World.

Jiang Qiao used the Thunder Spirit’s appearance to evade Gongsun Xiang’s face-changing technique and overwhelm Mr. Yu. After resisting repeated axe blows, Mr. Yu was finally killed by Jiang Qiao’s giant lightning-charged axe.

• Jiang Qiao attacked Mr. Yu with his axe, leaving him unable to fight back effectively.
• Gongsun Xiang tried to reverse Jiang Qiao’s attacks, but the Power of Disorder weakened his technique.
• Jiang Qiao used his knowledge to learn and counter Fengyin Mountain’s technique while continuing to strike Mr. Yu.
• Gongsun Xiang’s face-changing technique nearly copied Jiang Qiao, but Jiang Qiao switched back to the Thunder Spirit’s appearance and broke its effect.
• Jiang Qiao’s giant axe struck Mr. Yu, killing him in a burst of mud and lightning.

Jiang Qiao killed Mr. Yu and drove the Huzhou Prefecture City God Gongsun Xiang into retreat, using a strange attack that carried the Power of Disorder. After Gongsun Xiang escaped, Jiang Qiao realized the leg bone he had found had consumed the City God’s incense power and left a mark on him.

• Jiang Qiao appeared after killing Mr. Yu and confronted Gongsun Xiang, whose Reversal rule could not overcome Jiang Qiao’s two identities.
• Gongsun Xiang chose to flee and planned to rejoin the other City Gods, who were gathered to debate the Other Shore.
• Jiang Qiao hurled a Lightning Saber at Gongsun Xiang, then a bizarre Ball Lightning containing the Power of Disorder struck and injured him.
• Gongsun Xiang panicked at Jiang Qiao’s use of the Power of Disorder and fled without turning back to fight.
• Jiang Qiao let Gongsun Xiang escape and noticed that the leg bone had devoured incense power mixed with vital blood and marked him.

Jiang Qiao confronted the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture after killing Mr. Yu and driving Gongsun Xiang away, while the leg bone absorbed incense power from the City God. The City God tried to persuade Jiang Qiao to withdraw, but Jiang Qiao continued attacking, and the leg bone began to turn yellow.

• Jiang Qiao struck the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture from behind, interrupting his attack on the prefectural soldiers.
• Jiang Qiao told the City God that Mr. Yu was dead and Gongsun Xiang had fled, then shattered the City God's arm with a punch.
• The City God restored his arm with incense power and concluded that Jiang Qiao had been weakened by his earlier fight.
• Jiang Qiao noticed that the leg bone was absorbing the City God's incense power, and the City God warned him that Yan Yishu might turn against him if he became weaker.
• Jiang Qiao ignored the City God's plea to stop fighting and attacked again, causing the leg bone to take on a slight yellow tint.

Jiang Qiao battered the Mingzhou Prefecture City God's clone while Yan Yishu fought Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain and discovered that several City God factions had allied with Fengyin Mountain. Great Grandmother vanished in the rain, leaving Jiang Qiao and Yan Yishu unable to trace her.

• Jiang Qiao repeatedly injured the Mingzhou Prefecture City God's clone, draining the incense aura that sustained him as the prefectural soldiers completed their formation.
• Yan Yishu reflected on Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain's strength and realized that at least seven City God factions had joined her side, with three more undecided.
• Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain admitted that Yan Yishu had the advantage and abruptly vanished into the rain.
• Jiang Qiao arrived at the courtyard and, like Yan Yishu, could no longer sense Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain.

Jiang Qiao learned that Fengyin Mountain and its allies had concealed a growing threat, but a sudden Calamity Omen began afflicting the prefectural city and forced Yan Yishu to rush toward a confrontation between City Gods. The chapter ended with a City God urging Yan Yishu to launch their escape plan before the world was lost.

• Yan Yishu explained that the Mountain Ghost had likely devoured missing Outer-Realm Demons and gained strength with help from the Mingzhou Prefecture City God, while Mr. Yu had been an Awakened Visitor who joined Fengyin Mountain.
• Yan Yishu and Jiang Qiao saw strange green clouds appear in the northern sky, and the clouds caused the residents of the prefectural city to break out in blisters and pus.
• Yan Yishu raised an incense-fire barrier that protected the residents, then recognized the clouds as a Calamity Omen and hurried toward the City God confrontation hundreds of miles away.
• Jiang Qiao sensed a godlike will in the clouds and suspected the leg bone he carried was connected to the anomaly.
• A City God in divine robes told Yan Yishu that they had to enact their plan and leave the world immediately or be doomed.

Yan Yishu explained that the City Gods planned to temporarily reach Metropolitan City God strength and redirect their world before it was dragged into the tunnel. Jiang Qiao learned that their homeland had become a chaotic, lethal wasteland, and the chapter left the refugees facing a return in as little as three years.

• Yan Yishu told Jiang Qiao that the City God inheritance had lost its State City God rank, leaving the surviving Prefectural Lords with flawed foundations.
• Yan Yishu and the other City Gods revealed that they hoped to use a costly method to gain Metropolitan City God strength temporarily, with Jiang Qiao's help, and save their world from the tunnel's pull.
• Jiang Qiao asked about the homeland beyond the tunnel, and Yan Yishu explained that the tunnel had been left to keep its dangers contained.
• Yan Yishu and the Linggong Prefectural City God described how the Abyss's upheaval and the Red Moon's pollution had turned their homeland into a chaotic realm where even Half-Gods suffered.
• Yan Yishu warned that the world might be pulled into the tunnel within three to ten years.

Yan Yishu explained that the City Gods needed Jiang Qiao’s Daoist Thunder Magic to resist the Remnant Array’s mental interference and activate its Demigod-class phantom. Jiang Qiao agreed to help save their Small World, and the group headed for the desert while he wondered why the Mingzhou Prefecture City Gods and Fengyin Mountain were obstructing them.

• Yan Yishu explained that the City Gods could combine their Spiritual Bodies through a damaged Remnant Array to control Demigod-level Power temporarily.
• Yan Yishu asked Jiang Qiao to use Daoist Thunder Magic to protect the City Gods from the array’s mental interference.
• Yan Yishu said the Metropolitan City God might pull their Small World away from the gravitational force threatening to consume it.
• Jiang Qiao agreed to cooperate, and the City Gods set out for the desert to reach the underground ocean.
• Jiang Qiao questioned why the Mingzhou Prefecture City Gods and Fengyin Mountain were opposing them despite the danger to their world.

Jiang Qiao and the City Gods reached an abandoned desert city and learned that its underground freshwater ocean had been built as a reservoir. They witnessed cannibals slaughtering one another at a base before Yan Yishu killed them, and the group continued toward the ancient well.

• Yan Yishu explained that people had abandoned the desert city as conditions worsened and that its underground freshwater ocean had been built to store supplies.
• Jiang Qiao and the City Gods found the ancient well among the city's fortified shelters and underground bases.
• A group of armed men killed several people outside a base, and Yan Yishu explained that they were cannibals who preyed on travelers and one another.
• Jiang Qiao learned that the desert was a lawless refuge for bandits, fugitives, and refugees, where Ghost-Carriers also hid.
• Yan Yishu apologized to Jiang Qiao and used azure light to kill the cannibals.

Jiang Qiao accompanied Yan Yishu and the other City Gods to the underground ocean to activate the ancient Grand Array. They reached its seafloor altar and prepared to begin as Fengyin Mountain and Mingzhou Prefecture approached.

• Jiang Qiao and the City Gods traveled through the abandoned underground base to a concealed well leading to the underground ocean.
• Yan Yishu explained that the Grand Array had once protected their homeland’s evacuation tools and that entering the ocean elsewhere risked losing one’s way or contracting a curse.
• The group descended through the well and found a seafloor plaza centered on a nine-level divine altar.
• Yan Yishu asked Jiang Qiao to use the Thunder Art to protect the six City Gods from Mental Interference while they activated the array.
• Yan Yishu saw that Fengyin Mountain and Mingzhou Prefecture were approaching, so the group prepared to begin immediately.

Jiang Qiao and the Linggong Prefectural City God confronted the Demon Tower as Yan Yishu accused Fan Qing of secretly refining it with the Mountain Ghosts. The City God explained that the tower contained a polluted heart from a supreme expert, and the chapter ended with the heart sealed inside Fengyin Mountain.

• An antique nine-story pagoda called the Demon Tower descended opposite the pyramid, and Linggong Prefectural City God recognized it as a dangerous object.
• Fan Qing accused Suwen and Yan Yishu of trying to tamper with a formation, while the Demon Tower polluted the seawater and unleashed waves through its human-skin drums.
• Yan Yishu accused Fan Qing of joining the Mountain Ghosts to refine the Demon Tower around a polluted object kept from their homeland.
• Jiang Qiao asked the Linggong Prefectural City God about the tower, and she explained that it contained a heart scattered into their Small World by a supreme expert during their homeland's upheaval.
• The City God said the seniors had tried to turn the heart into a powerful Supernatural Item, but its pollution killed many before it was sealed inside Fengyin Mountain.

The City Gods revealed the dark side and explained how a Demigod-Class heart, the Mountain Ghosts, and the Demon Tower were connected to Fengyin Mountain. As the City Gods prepared to activate their formation against their enemies, Jiang Qiao agreed to keep helping them.

• The Liugui Prefectural City God identified the dark side as the realm of negative information, and the Youxin Prefectural City God explained that it paralleled and intertwined with the living world.
• Yan Yishu and the Huaizhou Prefectural City God agreed that their side had the advantage and prepared to control the formation against the Demon Tower.
• The Linggong Prefectural City God told Jiang Qiao that their predecessors had tried to hide the heart in an abandoned Small World through a passage in Fengyin Mountain, but the heart contaminated them and the Mountain Ghosts took it.
• The Linggong Prefectural City God explained that the City Gods later discovered the Evolvers had allied with the Mountain Ghosts and were trying to complete the Demon Tower before the City Gods purged them.
• Yan Yishu apologized to Jiang Qiao for withholding information about Fengyin Mountain and asked him to continue helping them.
• Jiang Qiao agreed to uphold his promise, and Yan Yishu announced that the City Gods would activate the grand formation.

Jiang Qiao observed the six prefectural lords activating a grand formation with incense power and examined the strange Divine Platform at its center. The Demon Tower then summoned terrifying Divinity Ninth Tier figures, while Jiang Qiao recognized numerous hostile City Gods and Ghost-Carriers gathering against them.

• Jiang Qiao sensed something trapped inside the solid Divine Platform but could not reach it with his Mental Power.
• The six prefectural lords released incense power from their Divine Temples to activate the grand formation, and Jiang Qiao noticed that the distant temples’ power was weakened.
• The Demon Tower stirred and produced ghost soldiers, yin generals, and several shadowy figures with Divinity Ninth Tier power.
• A bronze cauldron appeared on the divine altar and absorbed the surrounding incense power, producing an ethereal chant.
• Jiang Qiao spotted hostile City Gods and three Ghost-Carriers from Fengyin Mountain atop the Demon Tower, then glared back at the woman who stared at him viciously.

Fourth Grandma of Fengyin Mountain prepared to avenge Gui Lang by capturing Jiang Qiao after the formation collapsed. The Great Fierce Evils bound the pyramid and pulled on the earth veins, triggering a catastrophic collapse that devastated the desert and shook the world.

• Fourth Grandma of Fengyin Mountain vowed to capture Jiang Qiao and avenge Gui Lang, whose Main Body had been gravely injured when Jiang Qiao killed his Special Clone in Qinggua Town.
• Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain explained that the earth veins would expose the formation to Mental Interference and said the Fengyin Mountain forces would demonstrate their power.
• Great Fierce Evils emerged around the pyramid, bowed toward its divine platform, and bound it with iron chains.
• Great Grandmother ordered the Great Fierce Evils to pull the pyramid out, unleashing violent earthquakes and collapsing the desert into a vast Black Hole.
• The destruction spread to surrounding cities and distant regions, killing and injuring countless people and causing people around the world to sense a great disaster.

Jiang Qiao learned that Fengyin Mountain was trying to contaminate the divine platform and its hidden ley line as the City Gods prepared to summon the Metropolitan City God. As the ritual neared its critical moment, the Vicious Ghosts sent a wave of Yin Soldiers and ghost generals toward the pyramid.

• The Youxin Prefectural City God explained that Fengyin Mountain was using the Vicious Ghosts to contaminate the divine platform and ley line, disrupting the grand formation.
• Yan Yishu and the City Gods said they needed Jiang Qiao to shield them from Mental Interference when the lotus bloomed and the ley line connected.
• Jiang Qiao asked about the three undecided City Gods, and Yan Yishu said they had yet to appear and might tip the balance.
• As incense power filled the bronze cauldron, a lotus began to bud, and Jiang Qiao sensed an ominous presence inside the Demon Tower.
• The eight Vicious Ghosts grew impatient and sent the Yin Soldiers and ghost generals surging toward the pyramid.

Jiang Qiao watched the grand formation defend its pyramid against waves of little ghosts formed from the World's Dark Side. The Six Beasts revealed powers tied to six Rules, and the ghosts began collapsing under the Teng Snake's influence.

• Jiang Qiao realized the green clouds came from the World's Dark Side and that their clash with the mortal world was worsening the Small World's decline.
• The White Tiger statue roared and shattered the first wave of little ghosts charging the pyramid.
• More little ghosts appeared, embodying negative emotions tainted by the World's Dark Side, and rushed toward the divine platform.
• The Teng Snake entangled the ghosts and filled them with genuine fear, causing them to collapse in swathes.
• Jiang Qiao inferred that the grand formation wielded six Rules and considered how such a formation might relate to beings who controlled multiple Rules.