Chapter Summaries

Three months after the battle at Blackwind Abyss, Qin He recovered from the High God's Dao principle injury and learned that the High God would need time to recuperate. He decided to infiltrate the Divine Court's Realm Patrol Bureau as the deceased Lin Yan to search for the node coordinates of the hundred thousand under his command.

• Cultivators in an Embracing Moon City tavern discussed the battle between Bone Liuli and the High God, and said the High God would lie low to recover.
• Qin He reflected on his recovery, his late Other Shore Realm cultivation, and the difficulty of reaching the Saint tier.
• Qin He and Long Qingyun discussed how powerful beings expend and replenish their essence after battles involving Dao principles.
• Long Qingyun proposed that Qin He join the Realm Patrol Bureau under another cultivator's identity so he could search for node coordinates and gather intelligence.
• Long Qingyun identified the deceased realm patrol envoy Lin Yan as a suitable identity, and Qin He agreed to take his place.
• Qin He left the tavern to obtain Lin Yan's belongings and erase the traces of his former identity.

Qin He learned that Lin Yan, a missing Realm Patrol Bureau cultivator from River-Yang City, had died in a dangerous region, and Long Qingyun had concealed his death at Lin Yan’s request. Long Qingyun revealed where he had hidden Lin Yan’s Realm Patrol Token, and Qin He arrived at River-Yang City to retrieve it and impersonate him.

• Long Qingyun told Qin He that Lin Yan came from River-Yang City’s declining Lin Lineage and died during a mission they undertook together.
• Qin He questioned whether Long Qingyun had killed Lin Yan, and Long Qingyun swore that Lin Yan had been devoured by an ominous force in a region beyond the Divine Court’s reach.
• Long Qingyun explained that the Resurrection Pool could not revive people who died outside territories covered by the Divine Court’s order.
• Long Qingyun said he had reported Lin Yan missing to protect the Lin Lineage from being targeted after his death.
• Long Qingyun revealed that he had sealed Lin Yan’s Realm Patrol Token beneath the Lin Household’s ancestral graves, and Qin He planned to use it to impersonate him.
• Qin He and Long Qingyun reached River-Yang City.

Qin He and Long Qingyun entered the Lin Household’s ancestral tombs to retrieve a Realm Patrol token hidden beneath Lin Yan’s father’s tomb. After learning that the Divine Court would also require Lin Yan’s blood essence, Qin He agreed to impersonate Lin Yan and obtain it from his kin.

• Qin He subdued the guards and opened the neglected ancestral tombs without raising an alarm.
• Long Qingyun led Qin He to Lin Yan’s father’s tomb, where Qin He undid the Spirit-Binding Formation and retrieved the Realm Patrol token.
• Long Qingyun explained that Qin He would need Lin Yan’s blood essence to pass the Divine Court’s identity checks.
• Long Qingyun proposed that Qin impersonate Lin Yan and ask the Lin Household for blood essence, and Qin agreed to test the disguise on his kin.

Qin He posed as the returned Lin Yan, restoring the Lin Household’s confidence and deterring a probing envoy by displaying late Other Shore Realm pressure. Long Qingyun warned that the real test had yet to arrive.

• Lin Song and the Lin Household welcomed Qin He, disguised as Lin Yan, with a grand ceremony.
• Messengers from nearby lineages flocked to the Lin Residence to curry favor with the returned Grand Elder.
• Qin He reflected that the Lin Household revered Lin Yan’s identity and power, while outsiders posed the greater danger to his plan.
• Zhao Shu delivered a Lihuo Crystal and probed Qin He about his disappearance and increased cultivation.
• Qin He overwhelmed Zhao Shu with Law pressure, claimed the late Other Shore Realm, and demanded that the Zhao Household return what it had taken from the Lin Household.
• Long Qingyun praised Qin He’s performance but said the real target had not arrived yet.

Qin He was caught off guard when Su Mei arrived and greeted him as Lin Yan’s husband. He concealed his identity and unstable aura from her, then sent her away while planning how to handle the dangerous situation.

• Long Qingyun told Qin He that Su Mei was coming and that Lin Yan had called her Mei'er before he died.
• Su Mei entered the Lin Household hall and joyfully called Qin He her husband.
• Qin He avoided Su Mei’s touch and claimed his aura was unstable because he had recently advanced to the Late Other Shore Realm.
• Su Mei believed Qin He and said his breakthrough would protect the Lin Household, then invited him to her courtyard.
• Qin He sent Su Mei away and secretly complained to Long Qingyun for failing to tell him Lin Yan had a wife.

Qin He tried to avoid Su Mei’s demand that they have a child, but his excuses failed as she pressed closer. Long Qingyun watched through the divine soul and laughed at Qin He’s predicament.

• Qin He returned to his residence after driving off the Lineage envoys by revealing his Late Other Shore Realm pressure.
• Su Mei moved into Qin He’s residence and embraced him, urging them to have a child because they were both approaching higher realms.
• Qin He falsely asked whether Su Mei had kept male concubines, but she offered to let him inspect her divine soul to prove her innocence.
• Qin He apologized and tried to postpone intimacy, but Su Mei cited Lin Yan’s past words about pleasure soothing the heart and moved to pin him down.
• Long Qingyun laughed through the divine soul and told Qin He that Su Mei had done nothing wrong by wanting a child.

Qin He gave Su Mei two Obstacle-Breaking Pills and persuaded her to enter seclusion to break through to the Other Shore Realm. After she left, Qin He decided to collect the Lin Household's blood essence and flee in ten days.

• Qin He showed Su Mei an Obstacle-Breaking Pill, and she recognized it as a rare treasure that could help her break through to the Other Shore Realm.
• Qin He fed Su Mei the pill and soothed her concerns with affectionate promises.
• Qin He gave Su Mei a second Obstacle-Breaking Pill, and she entered seclusion to refine them and attempt her breakthrough.
• Long Qingyun teased Qin He for his sweet talk and warned that the Lin Household could be targeted if people learned about the pills.
• Qin He decided to collect the Lin Household's blood essence and leave in ten days.

Qin He gathered and refined the Lin Household’s blood essence into origin bloodline essence to pass Divine Court’s blood tests. After stabilizing his standing with the clan and leaving a message for Su Mei, he departed for Divine Court.

• Long Qingyun explained that Qin He needed pure Lin blood and taught him how to condense origin essence blood.
• Qin He persuaded Lin Song and the clan elders to select clansmen with pure bloodlines and bring him small amounts of their blood essence.
• For nine days, Qin He refined the blood essence with the Gold-Black Law, producing twenty drops compatible with Lin Yan’s bloodline.
• Nearby households returned properties and sent gifts to repair their relations with the Lin Household.
• Qin He gave the clan spiritual materials, left Su Mei a jade slip explaining his departure, and flew toward Divine Court.

Qin He returned to the Third Heaven using Lin Yan’s Realm Patrol Token and was confronted by a Realm Patrol Bureau squad. Their leader recognized that Lin Yan was dead and accused Qin He of impersonating him.

• Qin He entered Apocalypse City and retrieved a passage talisman for the Heavenly Pivot Teleportation Array by presenting Lin Yan’s Realm Patrol Token.
• Qin He used the array behind the Merit Tower to travel from Apocalypse City to the Third Heaven.
• Qin He surveyed the Divine Court’s grand and oppressive surroundings before a squad of golden-armored cultivators surrounded him.
• The squad’s Saint Tier leader resisted Qin He’s disguise and declared that Lin Yan was dead and Qin He was impersonating him.

Qin He, posing as Lin Yan, faced Li Wuming’s accusation that Lin Yan had died in the Ancient Netherworld and fought to avoid being captured. After Qin He demanded an identity examination, Li Wuming stopped attacking and agreed to the test.

• Li Wuming accused Qin He of impersonating Lin Yan, claiming he had sensed Lin Yan’s death in the Ancient Netherworld.
• Li Wuming attacked to capture Qin He, who evaded his Order Law strikes and tried to break through the law confinement.
• Long Qingyun warned Qin He that Li Wuming was baiting him and lacked solid proof.
• Qin He publicly insisted he was Lin Yan and volunteered for an identity examination, accusing Li Wuming of targeting him unfairly.
• Realm Patrol Bureau cultivators gathered to watch, and Li Wuming withdrew his attacks before agreeing to examine Qin He’s identity.

Qin He passed the Criminal Office’s blood, soul, and evil-aura tests by concealing his true nature, but Li Wuming still accused him of not being Lin Yan. The chapter ended with Qin He bound and being escorted to the Boundary Prison while Li Wuming watched him go.

• Qin He passed the bloodline test, and the crowd grew more suspicious of Li Wuming.
• Qin He used Merit soul power to pass the Immortal Soul Mirror’s verification.
• Qin He concealed his Demonic Essence and made the Evil-Clearing talisman show only residual contamination.
• Qin He demanded that Li Wuming stop harassing him, but Li Wuming ordered him taken to the Boundary Prison despite the passed tests.
• Long Qingyun urged Qin He not to resist, and Qin He allowed the golden chains to bind him.
• Li Wuming privately told Qin He that he knew he was not Lin Yan, then sent him away under guard.

Qin He was bound beside a strange dead tree in the Boundary Prison, where Li Wuming used the prison’s uncanny laws and imprisoned creatures’ auras to probe his disguise. Long Qingyun warned him to endure until the Boundary Office intervened.

• A gold-armored cultivator bound Qin He to a dead tree with Order Divine Chains that suppressed his source-birth law and probed his origin.
• Qin He questioned whether they had misjudged Li Wuming, and Long Qingyun argued that Li’s lack of evidence explained why he had imprisoned Qin He instead of killing him.
• Long Qingyun identified the dead tree and chains as tools Li Wuming could use to expose Qin He’s disguise.
• Qin He sensed imprisoned creatures’ auras being drawn toward him to provoke his demonic essence or merit power into revealing something that did not belong to Lin Yan.
• Long Qingyun urged Qin He to withstand the probing until the Boundary Office intervened.

Qin He concealed his true abilities while bound in the Boundary Prison and fought off two Mudslime Monsters using only a faint trace of merit and fire origin power. A far stronger monster then emerged, leaving Qin He preparing to face Li Wuming’s real test.

• Qin He explained the Boundary Prison’s dangers to Long Qingyun and assessed which powers he could use without exposing his identity as Lin Yan.
• Two Mudslime Monsters attacked Qin He, who destroyed them with restrained uses of merit and fire origin power while maintaining Lin Yan’s facade.
• Long Qingyun warned Qin He to keep up his act, and Qin He sensed that Li Wuming’s test had only begun.
• A powerful bone-and-mist monster bearing the Deathly Silence Law approached, and Qin He secretly gathered his strength to meet it.

Qin He fought the Rotbone Nether Beast while the Order Divine Chains and his need to conserve Demonic Essence left him reliant on his dwindling Power of Merit. He drove the beast back with Lightning and Fire Talismans, but Long Qingyun warned that Li Wuming would send stronger threats next.

• The Rotbone Nether Beast struck Qin He with its near-Saint-Tier Decay Law, corroding his shoulder and weakening his defenses.
• Long Qingyun identified the monster and warned Qin He that his Merit light barrier would not hold for long.
• Bound by the Order Divine Chains, Qin He endured repeated attacks as his Merit light barrier and vitality dwindled.
• Qin He used three Lightning Talismans and two Fire Talismans to form a shield of Order Law that burned and pushed back the Rotbone Nether Beast.
• The Rotbone Nether Beast retreated, and Long Qingyun warned that Li Wuming had likely witnessed the fight and would send stronger creatures.

In the Monitoring Realm Hall, Li Wuming tried to convince Ling Tianfan that Qin He was an impostor and sought permission to test him again. Back in the Boundary Prison, Qin He realized his defenses were nearly spent and began using the source-birth law and formation flags to find a way to gather spiritual energy.

• Li Wuming argued that Qin He was an impostor and demanded another test, but a long-faced Saint warned that he had no solid evidence.
• Ling Tianfan gave Li Wuming two days to prove his suspicions and ordered him to release Qin He if he could not.
• Qin He assessed his dwindling merit, spiritual energy, and strength while Long Qingyun warned that another powerful prisoner could overwhelm them.
• Qin He activated the source-birth law and brought out Spirit-Gathering Formation flags to separate pure fire-attribute spiritual energy from the Boundary Prison's tainted energy.

Trapped in the Boundary Prison, Qin He secretly opened a fire aperture and used it to cultivate pure fire origin power while concealing his Lotus Flame and demonic essence. After gaining a deeper understanding of fire laws, he challenged Li Wuming, burned away the dead tree, and began dismantling the Order Divine Chains.

• Qin He placed Spirit-Gathering Formation flags and opened a fire aperture beneath his left collarbone, keeping it isolated from his dantian.
• Qin He drew fire-aspected energy into the aperture and comprehended the foundations of fire laws, causing his fire origin power to surge.
• Li Wuming and the Saint observed Qin He through the Precious Jade Mirror, while Ling Tianfan watched in silence.
• After more than half a day, Qin He confronted Li Wuming and declared that he would no longer endure his imprisonment.
• Qin He burned the dead tree and its connection to the Boundary Prison's deathly aura into nothing.
• Qin He used fire laws to unravel the Order Divine Chains, burning through one of their core runes.

Qin He stopped trying to break the Order Divine Chains after Long Qingyun warned that doing so could summon heavenly punishment. When the Rotbone Nether Beast attacked again, Qin He trapped and destroyed it with a Fire Dragon Binding Formation, then challenged Li Wuming to reveal his other tricks.

• Long Qingyun warned Qin He that brute force against the Order Divine Chains could bring down chains that erased his soul, so Qin He withdrew his fire power.
• The Rotbone Nether Beast emerged from the gray mist, stronger than before, and attacked Qin He while he remained bound.
• Qin He formed a Fire Dragon Binding Formation from the Fire Element Law and trapped the Nether Beast in a cage of fire.
• Qin He merged the three fire dragons into a Fire Dragon Pillar that pierced the Nether Beast's core and reduced it to ash.
• Li Wuming watched Qin He's display in the Monitoring Realm Hall and grew more convinced that he was an impostor, while Ling Tianfan showed brief surprise.
• Qin He let the formation subside and challenged Li Wuming to bring out his remaining tricks.

Qin He rejected the Corrosion Art and waited in the Boundary Prison until the Realm Patrol Bureau cleared him and reinstated him as Lin Yan. Freed from his restraints, he reunited with Fang Qishan, while Li Wuming departed with a threat that their conflict was not over.

• Qin He received the Corrosion Art reward but refused to use a spell that would corrupt his body and soul.
• Qin He spent a day stabilizing his fire-cultivator aura in the Boundary Prison as the gray mist settled.
• Realm Patrol Bureau officials proclaimed that Lin Yan had passed their examination and reinstated him to patrol the Eastern Domain's borders, restoring his withheld pay and benefits.
• The officials removed Qin He's Order Divine Chains, and he greeted Fang Qishan as Uncle Fang.
• Li Wuming left angrily, warning Qin He that they still had a long road ahead, while Fang Qishan promised to arrange Qin He's return to duty.

After leaving the Boundary Prison, Qin He thanked Ling Tianfan and completed the formalities for the long-overdue Ancient Netherworld mission. He learned from Long Qingyun that the Ancient Netherworld was likely lost, leaving Li Wuming with little chance of investigating him.

• Qin He followed Fang Qishan's advice and went to thank Ling Tianfan for helping secure his release.
• Ling Tianfan told Qin He that Li Wuming would be warned not to trouble him and ordered him to recover before new assignments began in six months.
• At Long Qingyun's urging, Qin He reported to the patrol office and gave a prepared account of his years in the Ancient Netherworld.
• The patrol office closed the case and gave Qin He his accumulated salary and mission rewards.
• Qin He asked Long Qingyun why Ling Tianfan and the patrol office had avoided questioning him, and Long Qingyun explained that the Ancient Netherworld was collapsing and likely beyond contact.

Qin He secured a new residence in the Divine Court after concluding that Li Wuming could not easily investigate the Ancient Netherworld or expose the Lin Household’s role. He reinforced the residence in secret and began considering how to advance his plan during his six months of leave.

• Qin He reasoned that the erased memories of the Lin Household’s blood relatives and the three elders’ silence would keep the truth hidden, while Li Wuming could not openly retaliate without violating the Divine Court’s rules.
• Long Qingyun explained that Lin Yan’s former residence had been reassigned, so Qin He applied for a new one at the administrative office.
• Qin He received Residence Seventeen in Western Sector Three and activated its standard restrictions.
• Qin He added concealed formations that obscured the residence and would kill anyone who forced entry.
• Qin He purified the remaining decay from the Boundary Prison and considered how to use his six months of leave to advance the plan.