Chapter Summaries

Mountain Ghosts overwhelmed Yan Yishu and the other City Gods, leaving them unable to stop the Metropolitan City God from fading. Yang Ling watched the defeat and wondered whether the sinister aura in the Demon Tower, the heart, and Fengyin Mountain’s passage explained Mountain Ghosts’ rapid growth.

• Yan Yishu and the remaining City Gods lost control of the formation as the Metropolitan City God faded, while Mountain Ghosts waited for its power to disappear.
• Linggong Prefectural City God urged the others to flee to forbidden lands, but Nandou Prefectural City God argued that escape would only delay their deaths.
• The Metropolitan City God returned to the formation, and Mountain Ghosts reached for Yan Yishu and the other defeated City Gods.
• Yang Ling watched from dozens of li away and wondered whether Fengyin Mountain’s passage or the sinister heart in the Demon Tower was connected to Mountain Ghosts’ rapid progress.

Jiang Qiao confronted the Mountain Ghost, who argued that his memories, thoughts, and living body made him human. Meanwhile, Leng Quan secured the formation platform and the Metropolitan City God, while Fengyin Mountain claimed the earth vein and the fallen City Gods’ corpses, and Great Grandmother turned her attention to Jiang Qiao’s knowledge of the Other Shore.

• The Mountain Ghost effortlessly killed Yan Yishu and the other City Gods after the Metropolitan City God dissipated.
• Jiang Qiao questioned whether the Mountain Ghost counted as human, and the Mountain Ghost defended himself by comparing his humanity to that of cruel living people.
• Inside the Demon Tower, Great Grandmother rebuked a City God for questioning the Mountain Ghost’s actions, and Leng Quan negotiated the spoils with her.
• Great Grandmother warned Leng Quan that the Metropolitan City God was a Half-God and that he could not control it if he tried to use the earth vein to replace it.
• Great Grandmother said Fengyin Mountain had prepared a passage to the world beyond, but Jiang Qiao’s claim that he could find the Other Shore would require changes.

Jiang Qiao debated the Mountain Ghost about whether an evil being could still count as human, while investigating how it had hidden its supernatural nature. Suspecting the Mountain Ghost was seeking a human pronouncement, Jiang Qiao prepared to answer its argument with a question about Artificial Intelligence.

• The Mountain Ghost argued that humans who committed terrible crimes remained human, and asked whether it too could count as human if it blended into human society.
• Jiang Qiao joked about the Mountain Ghost’s reasoning, then noticed its human-sized body seemed indistinguishable from a living person and lacked Supernatural Aura.
• Jiang Qiao wondered whether the Mountain Ghost’s debate was an intentional attempt to obtain recognition, like the folk practice of asking for a pronouncement.
• Jiang Qiao considered how incense offerings could help supernatural practitioners advance and realized the Mountain Ghost might sense that his body was extraordinary.
• Jiang Qiao decided to debate the Mountain Ghost and asked whether it had ever heard of Artificial Intelligence.

Jiang Qiao argued that Mountain Ghosts could not call itself human because it lacked both biological origins and human social identity. Mountain Ghosts, unable to rebut him, invited him to Fengyin Mountain to further develop the theory.

• Mountain Ghosts asked Jiang Qiao what Artificial Intelligence was, and he explained how it differed from a living human.
• Jiang Qiao compared Mountain Ghosts to Artificial Intelligence and argued that supernatural beings could define themselves as a new kind of life, but not as human.
• Jiang Qiao said human identity depended on biological origins and social recognition, and that Mountain Ghosts lacked both.
• Mountain Ghosts struggled to answer Jiang Qiao's argument, then praised his theory and invited him to Fengyin Mountain to improve it.

Jiang Qiao refused the Mountain Ghost’s order to go to Fengyin Mountain, and the Mountain Ghost used its power over space to seize him. Inside the Demon Tower, Leng Quan and Great Grandmother celebrated his apparent capture and mocked the Daoist sect, but Great Grandmother suddenly noticed something outside the tower.

• Jiang Qiao challenged the Mountain Ghost’s understanding of human memories, and it invited him to Fengyin Mountain to help it learn human logic.
• Jiang Qiao refused the invitation and told the Mountain Ghost to study the memories itself, but it declared that taking him was an order.
• The Mountain Ghost folded space across the sealed world and reached for Jiang Qiao, leaving him unable to dodge or break free.
• Leng Quan and Great Grandmother assumed the Mountain Ghost would capture Jiang Qiao and discussed extracting information about the Other Shore from him.
• Leng Quan and the others mocked Jiang Qiao and the Daoist sect, until Great Grandmother abruptly turned toward the tower’s exterior and cried out in alarm.

A series of spatial rifts drew the attention of Void Abyss entities, but they fled when they sensed an aura from within the world. As Jiang Qiao faced the Mountain Ghost, Yang Ling revealed a Daoist Sect Taboo Weapon that manifested as an immense palace and radiated Supreme Detachment from Emotion, leaving the Mountain Ghost intrigued.

• Repeated spatial tremors shattered the sky and attracted evil spirits from the Void Abyss, but the entities sensed an aura and fled.
• A palace appeared high above the world as radiant light, runic chains, and chanting filled the surroundings.
• Jiang Qiao recognized the palace as a Taboo Weapon and realized Yang Ling possessed it.
• Jiang Qiao sensed Supreme Detachment from Emotion emanating from the weapon and suspected Yang Ling had held a high position in the Daoist Sect.
• The Mountain Ghost acknowledged that Yang Ling had hidden himself well and regarded the Taboo Weapon with greater seriousness.

Yang Ling confronted Mountain Ghost, revealing a Taboo Weapon and striking first with a sacrificial chant that summoned a force from the Deep Blue World. Mountain Ghost blocked the strike with the Demon Tower and retaliated against Yang Ling’s palace.

• Mountain Ghost realized Yang Ling possessed a Taboo Weapon and questioned where he had obtained it.
• Yang Ling warned Mountain Ghost that its Eighth-Step Realm would not let it act without restraint, while Mountain Ghost dismissed him as a weak Awakened.
• Yang Ling unleashed a vast sacrificial chant before Mountain Ghost could attack.
• The chant summoned a colorless radiance from the Deep Blue World that struck the Demon Tower and shattered the surrounding space, exposing it to the Void Abyss.
• Mountain Ghost blocked the radiance with the Demon Tower, then unleashed blood-colored power and ghostly figures against Yang Ling’s palace.

Yang Ling used a Taboo Weapon to confront the Mountain Ghost and its Demon Tower, while Jiang Qiao realized the Heavenly Palace and Jade Steps formed a gigantic talisman. The Mountain Ghost’s blood-colored world stalled and began to lose its color as Yang Ling prepared to teach it a lesson.

• The Mountain Ghost used the Demon Tower’s Demigod Heart to drag its blood-colored world into reality and attack Yang Ling’s Heavenly Palace.
• Yang Ling faced the attack with the Taboo Weapon, while the Mountain Ghost tried to overwhelm him until he could no longer control it.
• Jiang Qiao retreated from the clash and observed that the Mountain Ghost wielded the Demon Tower more aggressively than the City Gods had.
• Jiang Qiao recognized the Heavenly Palace and Jade Steps as parts of a gigantic talisman.
• The blood-colored world stopped spreading across the Ninety-ninth Tier of Jade Steps and began spinning as its color faded.
• Yang Ling told the Mountain Ghost that arrogance was an obstacle to survival.

Yang Ling used the Heavenly Palace, Jade Steps, and strange patterns to destroy Mountain Ghosts’ temporary body and force it back to Fengyin Mountain. Mountain Ghosts warned that it would return, while the Demon Tower escaped with a phantom figure.

• Mountain Ghosts tried to break through the Jade Steps, but Yang Ling’s power trapped it and rapidly drained its crimson world.
• Yang Ling explained that Mountain Ghosts had underestimated the Taboo Weapon and said he needed to end the fight quickly.
• Yang Ling unleashed the Heavenly Palace’s radiance, causing the talisman-like formation to burn and trapping Mountain Ghosts.
• Yang Ling told Jiang Qiao that he could destroy Mountain Ghosts’ temporary body but could not kill its consciousness, which would return to Fengyin Mountain.
• Mountain Ghosts admitted defeat and vowed to return before its body burned to ashes.
• Leng Quan, Gongsun Xiang, and Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain fell from the unharmed Demon Tower, which vanished carrying a phantom figure.

Yang Ling destroyed the Mountain Ghost’s physical body with a Taboo Weapon, but the spirit escaped inside the Demon Tower and abandoned Leng Quan and the Fengyin Mountain Grandmothers. Yang Ling and Jiang Qiao prepared to leave, with Yang Ling warning that his condition was too poor to use the weapon again.

• Leng Quan summoned the Mountain Ghost, which defeated Yan Yishu and the other City Gods before trying to capture Jiang Qiao.
• Yang Ling intervened with a Taboo Weapon and overwhelmed the Mountain Ghost, destroying its physical body.
• The Mountain Ghost escaped with the Demon Tower, leaving Leng Quan and the three Fengyin Mountain Grandmothers behind.
• Yang Ling told Jiang Qiao that the heart and Demon Tower held secrets, then praised Jiang Qiao’s method of accommodating rules.
• Yang Ling said he could not use the Taboo Weapon again and warned that Jiang Qiao might have to hold off Leng Quan’s group as they prepared to leave.

After the battle, Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling surveyed the devastation left by the confrontation between demigod forces, which had killed vast numbers of people and left the world in ruins. Yang Ling reflected on the fate of the Small World and his homeland before Jiang Qiao began asking about his reincarnation, but someone called out to them.

• Jiang Qiao asked Yang Ling whether he was badly weakened, and Yang Ling admitted that using a Taboo Weapon had left him lacking in strength.
• Jiang Qiao suggested that they find somewhere to rest, while the two surveyed the enormous crater, supernatural changes in the sky, and the barren No Man's Land.
• Survivors mourned their dead, and many people who had killed family members while mentally contaminated took their own lives.
• Yang Ling said that a past crisis in his homeland had sparked conflicts over ordinary people's rights, but sages had defended them and established a new civilization.
• Jiang Qiao asked Yang Ling why he had reincarnated and ended up in the Small World; Yang Ling said he had died fighting Evil Spirits in the Void Abyss.
• An unknown person called out to Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling, asking them to wait.

Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling were intercepted by Third Grandma Jiang Ye Fei and City Gods Gongsun Xiang and Lu Dingsheng after fleeing the battlefield. Gongsun Xiang proposed cooperation to escape their world, but Jiang Qiao recognized that the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture was secretly preparing to attack.

• Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling left the battlefield, expecting Leng Quan’s group to pursue them once they learned Yang Ling might be weakened.
• Third Grandma Jiang Ye Fei, Gongsun Xiang, and Lu Dingsheng caught up with them and were surprised that Yang Ling knew their names.
• Gongsun Xiang tried to reconcile with Jiang Qiao, blaming their earlier conflict on Yan Yishu and dismissing Leng Quan’s son’s death as deserved.
• Yang Ling demanded that Gongsun Xiang state what he wanted and explain what benefit could overcome their enmity.
• Gongsun Xiang proposed that they cooperate to find a way out of the world through Fengyin Mountain and offered compensation for their earlier battle.
• Jiang Qiao pretended to be moved by Gongsun Xiang’s speech but revealed that he had noticed the City God of Mingzhou Prefecture preparing a killing move.

Gongsun Xiang stalled Jiang Qiao while Leng Quan and four other City Gods climbed onto the divine platform to summon and control the Metropolitan City God against Yang Ling. As the City Gods prepared their plan, Jiang Qiao mocked Fengyin Mountain’s threats and its ancestor’s history.

• Gongsun Xiang kept Jiang Qiao talking to buy time while Leng Quan and the other City Gods secretly approached the divine platform.
• Leng Quan explained that six City Gods could control the Metropolitan City God for half an hour, while Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain believed the five remaining City Gods could manage roughly ten minutes.
• The City Gods praised Leng Quan and agreed to proceed, while Great Grandmother and Second Grandmother stayed below the pyramid, wary of them.
• Jiang Ye Fei accused Jiang Qiao of having no way to stop the plan and threatened him on behalf of Fengyin Mountain.
• Jiang Qiao rejected her threats and mocked Fengyin Mountain for hiding in its mountain and exaggerating its power.

Jiang Qiao faced Third Grandma of Fengyin Mountain and the two City Gods, who believed Yang Ling could not use the Taboo Weapon. When Jiang Ye Fei attacked, Jiang Qiao overwhelmed her with black lightning, and Gongsun Xiang recognized Gou Chen’s rule.

• Third Grandma of Fengyin Mountain attacked Jiang Qiao after he belittled Mountain Ghosts, and Gongsun Xiang and Lu Dingsheng joined her while secretly planning to stall for time.
• Jiang Ye Fei used her power to strip color and life from Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling.
• Jiang Qiao said he had already understood the Mountain Ghosts’ rule and refused to trade blows with Jiang Ye Fei.
• Jiang Qiao struck Jiang Ye Fei with black lightning, leaving her severely injured as Gongsun Xiang and Lu Dingsheng stared in shock.
• Gongsun Xiang realized Jiang Qiao was using Gou Chen’s rule.

Jiang Qiao overwhelmed Gongsun Xiang, Lu Dingsheng, and Jiang Ye Fei with the Thunder Art fused with Gou Chen’s rules, killing Jiang Ye Fei. As Gongsun Xiang called for Leng Quan to intervene, a terrifying power rose from the pyramid.

• Jiang Qiao revealed his strength and Gou Chen’s rules, leaving Gongsun Xiang and Lu Dingsheng too wary to attack at first.
• Lu Dingsheng ordered Gongsun Xiang and Jiang Ye Fei to attack Jiang Qiao together, but Jiang Qiao’s lightning battered Lu Dingsheng and forced Jiang Ye Fei to shield him.
• Jiang Qiao used lightning fused with Gou Chen’s rules to break through Jiang Ye Fei’s supernatural field, then struck her with a Giant Axe and reduced her to dust.
• Gongsun Xiang screamed for Leng Quan to emerge from the pyramid, and a terrifying surge of power rose from its direction.

Jiang Qiao confronted Gongsun Xiang as the Metropolitan City God was being summoned, but killed Gongsun Xiang before the deity could arrive. The Metropolitan City God continued to manifest, leaving Jiang Qiao facing the impending threat.

• Leng Quan and the others activated the formation and began summoning the Metropolitan City God.
• Gongsun Xiang taunted Jiang Qiao and retreated, planning to evade him until the deity arrived.
• Jiang Qiao caught Gongsun Xiang despite his use of Supernatural Space and demanded that he continue boasting.
• Jiang Qiao bound Gongsun Xiang with Gou Chen rule chains and killed him with thunder.
• Jiang Qiao reflected that his power had reached Ninth Tier Peak and that he could contend with Divinity Ninth Tier opponents.

After Jiang Qiao killed Gongsun Xiang, the Metropolitan City God fully descended and threatened him and Yang Ling with overwhelming mental attacks and the Book of Life and Death. Yang Ling prepared to use his Taboo Weapon to escape, but Jiang Qiao began drawing a talisman to try another way.

• The Metropolitan City God manifested above the world, and its gaze unleashed a devastating Mental Shock against Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling.
• The City God summoned the Yellow Springs and struck with waves of lethal water vapor that Jiang Qiao could only slow with his rules.
• Yang Ling explained that he could use his jade ruyi for only thirty seconds and proposed fleeing into the World's Dark Side.
• The City God opened the Book of Life and Death, prompting Yang Ling to prepare his Taboo Weapon.
• Jiang Qiao stopped Yang Ling and began drawing a black-and-red talisman, which Yang Ling recognized as Borrowing strength.

Jiang Qiao used the Heaven-Connecting Talisman’s techniques to summon Ruyi Yuanjun as the Metropolitan City God prepared to punish him. The passage reached Ruyi Yuanjun in the Supernatural World, where she sensed the call.

• The Metropolitan City God opened his ledger and declared Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling guilty, unleashing a deadly threat.
• Yang Ling recognized Jiang Qiao’s talisman technique as resembling the Heaven-Connecting Talisman and wondered how Jiang Qiao had learned it.
• Jiang Qiao completed the talisman and recited Ruyi Yuanjun’s honorific name to summon her help.
• The passage connected to the Supernatural World, where powerful experts asked Ruyi Yuanjun to prepare for the Green Lotus Emissary’s departure next month.
• After the experts left, Ruyi Yuanjun sensed the call and looked toward the sky in confusion.

The Metropolitan City God erased Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling, then used its power to restrain Jiang Qiao and pull him toward the pyramid. Just as Yang Ling prepared to use his Taboo Weapon, Jiang Qiao sensed that the mysterious being he had contacted had arrived, though he did not recognize it.

• The Metropolitan City God began erasing Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling, but Yang Ling’s Taboo Weapon shielded him while Jiang Qiao’s body started to vanish.
• The City Gods mocked Jiang Qiao and Yang Ling, confident that Yang Ling could not use his weapon and that they could capture Jiang Qiao.
• Jiang Qiao sensed that the mysterious existence he had contacted was responding and resolved to repay Yang Ling if they survived.
• Leng Quan put away the Book of Life and Death and unleashed the Metropolitan City God’s chains and descending wooden tablets.
• The tablets restrained Jiang Qiao, and Leng Quan pulled him toward the pyramid as Yang Ling prepared to intervene.
• Yang Ling stopped when he sensed that the being Jiang Qiao had summoned had arrived, though he did not recognize it.

Leng Quan and the other City Gods tried to capture Jiang Qiao, but their chains shattered before reaching him and they lost their ability to sense him. After Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain relayed the Mountain Ghost’s order to kill him, the City Gods unleashed the Metropolitan City God’s power, then sensed something that shocked them.

• Leng Quan’s chains, formed from the Metropolitan City God’s rules, broke apart before they could bind Jiang Qiao.
• The City Gods realized they could no longer sense Jiang Qiao, and Great Grandmother of Fengyin Mountain ordered them to attack with all their strength and kill him.
• Leng Quan summoned a giant cinnabar brush and used the City God’s authority to surround Jiang Qiao with a black coffin and death notices bearing his name.
• The five City Gods sensed something unexpected and cried out in shock.