Chapter Summaries

Jiang Qiao learned that the incomplete great array could contend with a Half-God, while the Giant Ghost Shadows unleashed the Demon Tower’s deadly Calamity Curse. Linggong Prefectural City God explained that the curse would become lethal when the array connected with the earth veins, leaving them no choice but to press on and activate it.

• Jiang Qiao watched the great array frighten the negative magnetic field ghosts to death and judged that it might contend with or suppress a Half-God when fully activated.
• The Eight Giant Ghost Shadows grew hundreds of meters tall and swallowed the surrounding seawater, leaving the plaza in a vacuum filled with the Green Cloud Mass.
• Jiang Qiao sensed a spreading malice in the Green Cloud Mass and asked Linggong Prefectural City God what the attack was.
• Linggong Prefectural City God identified it as the Demon Tower’s Calamity Curse, cultivated from Calamity Sha and capable of killing even a Ninth Rank or injuring a Divinity Ninth Tier.
• Linggong Prefectural City God warned that the curse would become deadly when the great array connected with the earth veins in about five minutes, but said they had to activate it to survive the Death Tribulation.

The City Gods and Fengyin Mountain’s Great Grandmothers watched the sealed pyramid withstand the Great Vicious Ghosts while the formation neared activation. Great Grandmother revealed that reconnecting the ley line could release the dangerous entity trapped inside it: half of an Ancient Evil Spirit’s body.

• Mingzhou Prefecture City God and Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain observed that the pyramid resisted the Great Vicious Ghosts’ attacks as the formation approached activation.
• Great Grandmother warned that Yan Yishu and the others would exhaust their incense power and said the ley line held another danger beyond Mental Interference.
• Great Grandmother explained that an anomaly had developed inside the ley line and could escape when the ley line was connected.
• The City Gods learned that Mountain Ghosts had inherited secrets from their ancestors and discussed how Mountain Ghosts, Vicious Ghosts, and Supernatural Erosion were linked.
• Mingzhou Prefecture City God asked what was trapped inside the ley line, and Great Grandmother revealed it was half of an Ancient Evil Spirit’s body.

Jiang Qiao learned that the earth veins held half an Ancient Evil Spirit’s body, while Yan Yishu and the City Gods prepared a ritual to activate the altar. The ritual began as the pyramid rose from the seabed, and Yan Yishu called for help.

• The six City Gods drew out purple incense and ritual objects while Yan Yishu described how both sides were waiting for the earth veins to connect.
• Jiang Qiao overheard Yan Yishu reveal that half an Ancient Evil Spirit’s body lay hidden in the earth veins and realized it powered the formation.
• Yan Yishu and the other City Gods attached a golden-thread talisman to a straw man and cast it into the bronze cauldron.
• The six City Gods lit the purple incense and recited a prayer, sending its smoke into the cauldron.
• The pyramid rose from the seabed amid visions of a vast mountain range, and Yan Yishu called for Jiang Qiao’s help.

Jiang Qiao used Thunder Art to shield himself and the altar from the pyramid’s spreading corruption and mental interference. The Six City Gods continued their ritual as the six divine beasts transformed into grotesque creatures, while Jiang Qiao focused on holding back the forces outside.

• The pyramid erupted from beneath the underground ocean and rose through the ruins as its eerie laughter accompanied flesh-covered runes and statues that rotted the eight Great Evil Spirits into minced flesh.
• Jiang Qiao saw that the seabed’s new mountain ranges resembled stretch marks and recognized that they were causing powerful Mental Interference.
• Jiang Qiao unleashed seventy-two black thunder patterns and formed a Ball Lightning that suppressed the rot, the mental interference, and the pyramid’s spreading curse.
• The six divine beasts came alive in grotesque forms, including Vermilion Bird with green ghostfire and cursed Mo Wen Script feathers and White Tiger with a mercury body full of moving pupils.
• Jiang Qiao avoided looking directly at the beasts and maintained his thunder shield around himself and the altar while the mountain ranges continued to disorient him.

Jiang Qiao resisted the growing Mental Interference as the City Gods discussed his mastery of the Thunder Art and the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain predicted he would soon fail. While holding the Divine Platform, Jiang Qiao reflected on the Daoist sect’s ability to create Awakened and wondered what the Black Tide was and why it had destroyed the sect.

• Mingzhou Prefecture City God asked Gongsun Xiang about Jiang Qiao, and Gongsun Xiang described how Jiang Qiao’s fluid control of the Thunder Art had defeated him and Mr. Yu.
• Gongsun Xiang explained that Jiang Qiao combined lightning talismans, countless seamless afterimages, and a Dharma Idol shaped like an axe tainted by the Power of Chaos.
• The Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain claimed Jiang Qiao could resist the Mental Interference for no more than five minutes and secretly pinched a half-stick of incense.
• As the Mental Interference intensified and the Ball Lightning contracted, Jiang Qiao stabilized it with a Thunder Pool beneath his feet.
• Jiang Qiao recalled that the Daoist sect had a system for creating Awakened and Evolvers, then wondered why the Black Tide had destroyed the sect after the Red Moon collapsed.

Jiang Qiao pieced together the mysteries surrounding the Daoist Order, the Red Moon, and the Black Tide, then prepared to use talismans to seek help from a powerful figure. Meanwhile, the City Gods and Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain unleashed the Demon Tower, bringing the world's dark side into the mortal world.

• Jiang Qiao realized that the Deities' attack had seemingly wiped out the Daoist Order while leaving humanity alive, and resolved to seek answers in the Supernatural World.
• Jiang Qiao decided to help the City Gods for now and considered using the Thunder Art to draw a talisman and pray to a powerful woman.
• The Mingzhou Prefecture City God and Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain agreed to activate the Demon Tower and help the entity in the earth vein emerge sooner.
• Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain opened a black hole behind the Demon Tower and unleashed the world's dark side, spreading deadly sha energy across the land.
• The dark side engulfed the mortal world, turning the sky purplish black and driving countless people to slaughter one another.

The Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain opened a massive rift to the World's Dark Side, unleashing Vengeful Sinful Energy across the mortal realm. The energy drove people and animals into murderous madness, while a group of survivors escaped to a mountain cave where its effects were weaker.

• The Great Grandmother used the Demon Tower to widen the connection between the human world and the World's Dark Side, releasing a torrent of Vengeful Sinful Energy.
• The County City God sensed an approaching calamity as the energy darkened the sky, destroyed his temple, and drove worshipers into violent madness.
• The Vengeful Sinful Energy spread through cities, villages, and wilderness, causing people and animals to attack one another.
• A man who recognized the Fierce Sha Vengeful Energy gathered friends and relatives and led them away from the city toward the mountains.
• The group sealed themselves inside a cave, where the negative energy was thinner and they could better resist its influence.

Yang Ling explained that the Dark Side’s fierce sha and vengeful sin had driven people into violent madness, and he led his companions through their mountain shelter while treating a girl’s spiritual pollution. He left the others to protect their families, then privately lamented being reincarnated in this world and mentioned the City God.

• Young men in the shelter asked Yang Ling what had caused the violent outbreak, and he explained the Dark Side and its polluting aura.
• Yang Ling led two companions through the shelter to check its camouflaged entrances and said the mortal realm might still purify the evil aura unless the passage widened.
• Yang Ling used a talisman to ease a young girl’s distress and warned Mao Jie to keep her away from his ordinary parents while she recovered.
• Yang Ling reassured Mao Jie that his sister might be all right, then left him to watch over her.
• Alone, Yang Ling lamented being reincarnated in this place and began to mention the City God.

Jiang Qiao guarded the City Gods as the formation began to fail, while reasoning that the River of History might reset and planning to collect a greater reward for his help. In the Demon Tower, the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain defended her cooperation with the City Gods, then warned that the thing underground was emerging.

• Jiang Qiao noticed Fierce Sha Energy seeping through a flaw in the formation while the Six City Gods continued nourishing the bronze cauldron.
• Jiang Qiao decided not to retreat and reasoned that the River of History might repair itself, treating its inhabitants as temporary images while gathering information and planning to demand more later.
• The Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain told the Mingzhou Prefecture City God that the formation was breaking and that outside forces had helped them.
• The Mingzhou Prefecture City God questioned the Demon Tower's power and whether its plan to use lingering spirits could let the City Gods regain bodies and break their shackles.
• The Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain affirmed the plan but refused to let the City Gods control the Demon Tower alone, then warned that the thing underground was coming out.

As the formation failed and an Ancient Evil Spirit began to emerge, Jiang Qiao trapped Yan Yishu on the altar while claiming to protect him. Far away, Yang Ling realized his refuge had become unsafe and decided to face the crisis rather than hide.

• The earth veins unleashed a Mental Shock that destroyed the formation’s outer defenses, while Fierce Sha and floodwaters battered Jiang Qiao’s shrinking lightning barrier.
• Yan Yishu warned Jiang Qiao that an Ancient Evil Spirit was emerging early and asked him to protect the altar while he used the formation to suppress it.
• Jiang Qiao enclosed the altar in a thunder cage, telling Yan Yishu he was resisting the evil thing.
• The Mental Shock reached Yang Ling’s cavern, fouling the Bronze Mirrors, killing the fish, and bringing strange sounds from deep inside.
• Yang Ling realized the cavern was no longer safe and decided to face the crisis instead of continuing to hide.

Jiang Qiao and the others watched an Ancient Evil Spirit emerge from the earth veins, which held pure Mental Power. Its appearance transformed the world into a distorted dream and halted the killing, while Fengyin Mountain and the City Gods prepared for the next stage of their plans.

• Jiang Qiao sealed the divine altar in a thunder cage as Yan Yishu promised cooperation and summoned three divine-beast rules to help resist the emerging Evil Spirit.
• A towering Shadow Figure rose from the earth veins, releasing powerful Mental Storms as Jiang Qiao realized the veins stored pure Mental Power.
• Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain warned that one wrong move could doom them, while Fourth Grandma planned to capture Jiang Qiao alive and have him cursed.
• Mingzhou Prefecture City God noticed tension within Fengyin Mountain but abandoned his thoughts because of the Mountain Ghost.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit broke free in a catastrophic earthquake, and its appearance plunged the world into a distorted dream, weakening the Mental Storms and stopping the violence.

Jiang Qiao witnessed the Shadow Figure’s strange vitality make Star Prefecture’s survivors smile with forced happiness before it set its sights on the bronze cauldron atop the pyramid. The altar’s guardians revealed their horrific forms and attacked, with Azure Dragon’s parasitic worms surging toward the Ancient Evil Spirit.

• The Shadow Figure’s aura dispersed the Fierce Sha Vengeful Sin and mental storm, but made everyone in Star Prefecture laugh and feel happy regardless of their suffering.
• The Shadow Figure focused on the bronze cauldron, and Jiang Qiao retreated to weaken the strange mental influence affecting him.
• The Shadow Figure moved toward the pyramid, but three beastly shadows burst from the altar and knocked it back.
• Black Tortoise, Gou Chen, and Azure Dragon revealed their grotesque forms at the pyramid’s edge.
• Azure Dragon sent clouds carrying parasitic worms toward the Ancient Evil Spirit to make it their host.

Jiang Qiao watched Black Tortoise and Azure Dragon struggle to contain the Ancient Evil Spirit as Gou Chen tried to seal the Black Hole behind Demon Tower. The Evil Spirit remained unharmed and advanced toward the pyramid, while a powerful monster emerged from the World's Dark Side.

• Jiang Qiao saw Gou Chen manifest as a giant figure stitched together from the corpses of people who had died violent deaths.
• Azure Dragon summoned strange clouds and wrapped the Ancient Evil Spirit, while Black Tortoise stole portions of its movements to slow it down.
• Gou Chen attempted to seal Demon Tower and the Black Hole behind it, but the barrier cracked as something approached from within.
• Jiang Qiao sensed that the approaching monster had reached at least Divinity Ninth Tier and might be nearing Half-God.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit tore Azure Dragon from its body and continued toward the pyramid despite the divine beasts' efforts.
• The monster from the World's Dark Side emerged as the Evil Spirit neared the pyramid.

Jiang Qiao and the grand formation’s divine beasts struggled to hold back powerful enemies while the Metropolitan City God formed inside the bronze cauldron. The Azure Dragon summoned the Bridal Lady’s power, and Jiang Qiao recognized her voice, wondering whether the grand formation had reached across time to borrow it.

• A towering monster in mourning clothes emerged from the Black Hole, and Gou Chen charged it to buy the formation four minutes.
• The Beihu Prefecture City God and the Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain decided to kill the divine beasts to further delay the Metropolitan City God.
• The Great Grandmother used the Demon Tower to summon a cursed warehouse and a muddy road toward the pyramid, while the mourning-clothes monster struck Gou Chen and stopped it from intervening.
• The Azure Dragon transformed into a red candle and trapped the Evil Spirit in the illusion of a wedding ceremony.
• Jiang Qiao recognized the officiant’s voice as the Bridal Lady’s and concluded that her power had likely been borrowed from a distant point in time.

Azure Dragon summoned Bridal Lady’s power to force the Ancient Evil Spirit into a wedding ritual, but the spirit resisted and broke free, using the earth vein to overpower Azure Dragon. Black Tortoise attacked with a world-spanning flood as Azure Dragon tried to weaken the spirit, but the spirit seized it again.

• Bridal Lady’s Couple’s Bow ritual failed when the Ancient Evil Spirit refused to bow and broke free of its restraints.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit grabbed Azure Dragon and snapped its candle form in two, leaving Azure Dragon smaller after it re-formed.
• Jiang Qiao realized the Ancient Evil Spirit had used its connection to the earth vein to resist Bridal Lady and disrupt the great formation.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit caught Azure Dragon again, while Black Tortoise summoned a vast flood that swept across the world and into the starry sky.
• Azure Dragon transformed part of itself into a flower-covered rotten stump that weakened the spirit, but the spirit clenched its hand and seized Azure Dragon again.

Yang Ling rushed toward the catastrophe and discovered Jiang Qiao confronting the Ancient Evil Spirit near the Demon Tower. Surprised by Jiang Qiao’s Thunder Art, Yang Ling wondered whether he was also a Daoist disciple.

• The Azure Dragon’s rules of life and the Black Tortoise’s rules of concealment failed to stop the Ancient Evil Spirit, which broke free from their attacks.
• The Demon Tower’s warehouse opened, and gold, jade, and gemstones surged toward the pyramid as the crisis intensified.
• Yang Ling left his companions in a cave and traveled toward the Supernatural Aura, grieving over the widespread destruction and deaths.
• Yang Ling considered using his trump cards to intervene, though he feared the City Gods would take advantage of his weakened state.
• Yang Ling spotted Jiang Qiao at the top of the pyramid and was startled to see him use Thunder Art.

Yang Ling recognized the figure on the pyramid as a fellow Daoist sect disciple and used his damaged talisman record to try to contact him. Meanwhile, the Ancient Evil Spirit overwhelmed the Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise with a road of cursed treasures, leaving the Black Tortoise trapped beneath their deadly weight.

• Yang Ling recognized the Thunder Art at the pyramid and concluded that the Visitor from beyond the heavens was a Daoist sect disciple.
• Yang Ling summoned his damaged register and used blood to strengthen a transmission toward the pyramid, despite the effort draining him.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit tore the Azure Dragon in two and sent it crashing into distant mountains.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit cleaved the Black Tortoise with the road from the Demon Tower and forced it to retreat.
• The road’s treasures clung to the Black Tortoise, revealing themselves as cursed objects that suppressed it and left it at a disadvantage.

Gou Chen gained the upper hand against the monster from the World's Dark Side, while Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise remained under pressure. As the Metropolitan City God neared completion, Gongsun Xiang grew uneasy about Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain and the Mingzhou Prefecture City God's plan to seize it.

• The Ancient Evil Spirit pursued Azure Dragon while the Demon Tower's treasury suppressed Black Tortoise.
• Gou Chen overwhelmed the weeping monster with its death aura and a crushing punch, though the fight continued.
• Beihu Prefecture warned that the Metropolitan City God would emerge in four minutes, and the Mingzhou Prefecture City God said it would be vulnerable while absorbing earth-vein power.
• Gongsun Xiang challenged Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain and the Mingzhou Prefecture City God after learning they intended to take the Metropolitan City God for themselves.
• Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain said the Mountain Ghosts' old ancestor would descend, and Gongsun Xiang and the Doukui Prefecture City God exchanged worried looks.

Jiang Qiao watched the Cloth Doll and Black Tortoise annihilate each other, then saw the Ancient Evil Spirit crush Azure Dragon. With both divine beasts dead, the warehouse and avenue vanished, leaving the battle’s next stage unresolved.

• Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain judged that the formation’s City Gods had fallen into a passive position and ordered the Cloth Doll to kill the divine beasts.
• The Cloth Doll approached Black Tortoise and swallowed it, with both of them perishing as their rules annihilated each other.
• The Cloth Doll’s death caused the warehouse door to shut and the avenue to crumble back into a muddy dirt road.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit overwhelmed Azure Dragon despite its transformations and attacks.
• The Ancient Evil Spirit crushed Azure Dragon into pieces, killing it.

As the Ancient Evil Spirit climbed toward the divine platform and the bronze cauldron neared breaking, Jiang Qiao considered summoning a Half-God for help. He instead received a warning from Yang Ling, who urged him not to risk his life or spend his trump card for the City Gods.

• Black Tortoise and Azure Dragon died, leaving Gou Chen unable to stop the Ancient Evil Spirit from climbing the pyramid.
• Jiang Qiao realized the bronze cauldron would soon shatter and weighed whether to summon a Half-God he had once met.
• A voice reached Jiang Qiao through the Thunder Spirit and identified its speaker as Yang Ling, a Daoist disciple.
• Yang Ling warned Jiang Qiao that the City Gods intended to send him against the Ancient Evil Spirit before using their backup plan.
• Yang Ling urged Jiang Qiao to pretend he could not defeat the Evil Spirit and retreat around the altar without breaking his agreement.