Chapter Summaries

Meng Qi absorbed the Demon Lord's Relic and used the overwhelming essence to temper his body with the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts. Outside Yuanjue Temple, the Evil Lord arrived as the emperor's death and the struggle for succession plunged the capital into chaos.

• The relic's essence forced Meng Qi's remaining nose-aperture acupoints open, so he circulated his Vitality and Blood and used the excess power to strengthen his body.
• The Grandmasters watched from outside Yuanjue Temple while Xu Yue held the Demon Queen's hand and promised to help her cultivate.
• The Evil Lord rushed into the temple seeking the relic, and the Right Prime Minister accused him of causing the turmoil and urged the others to capture him.
• Xu Yue pointed out that the imperial palace was burning and suggested the emperor had already been killed; the Right Prime Minister realized the Evil Lord might have raided the palace.
• The Sword Emperor concluded that the emperor had been behind the scheme, while fighting broke out across the city as the rival Princes began contending for the throne.

Meng Qi broke through after Evil Lord’s attack and fought him at Yuanjue Temple, but his lightning-powered strike triggered the buried gunpowder. Xu Yue rescued the badly burned Meng Qi as the Grandmasters fled, while events in the city were nearing their end.

• Evil Lord charged at Meng Qi to seize his essence and was blasted backward when Meng Qi’s newly unified power rebounded against him.
• Meng Qi recovered from his breakthrough, wounded Evil Lord with the Five Tiger Broken Door Saber, and judged that he could contend with Grandmasters but was not yet their equal.
• Meng Qi unleashed Heavenly Punishment against Evil Lord, and Xu Yue warned that gunpowder lay beneath Yuanjue Temple as he fled with the Demon Queen.
• The buried gunpowder exploded, engulfing Evil Lord and blasting Meng Qi through the trees into an ancient tree near Xu Yue.
• Xu Yue stopped the Demon Queen from killing Meng Qi, gave him healing pills, and carried him away while noting that events in the city were nearly over.

Xu Yue and his allies secured the Third Prince’s succession after eliminating the Crown Prince and convincing the Fourth Prince to surrender. The Sword Emperor and Demon Queen ascended to the upper realm, while Xu Yue gained the title of Demonic Venerable and the remaining groups completed their missions.

• Ke Changji and Luo Shengyi killed the Crown Prince, using evidence of his treason to justify the act and weaken his supporters’ resolve.
• Xu Yue explained that he had arranged the Seventh Prince’s death to prevent the Evil Lord from starting a devastating rebellion, then promised to spare the Fourth Prince if he surrendered.
• Ke Changji’s forces surrounded the Fourth Prince’s residence, and the Fourth Prince eventually abandoned his claim to the throne and became an idle Prince.
• The Third Prince took the throne with support from the Right Prime Minister and the Imperial Preceptor, while Xu Yue fought the Sword Emperor, who broke through to the Exterior Realm and ascended.
• Xu Yue opened his Nose Aperture, became known as the Holy Sect’s Demonic Venerable, and helped the Demon Queen ascend to the upper realm.
• Luo Shengyi, Cao Zhan, Ge Huaien, Meng Qi, and Ruan Yushu completed their missions and secured military authority from the enthroned Third Prince.

The group returned to Six Paths Square and received their mission evaluations, learning that their next mission would be a Death Mission in one year. Xu Yue drew the seventh form of Buddha's Palm, shocking the group and leaving them with renewed hopes of receiving powerful rewards.

• Six Paths announced that the group’s next mission would be a Death Mission beginning in one year, then awarded evaluations and Virtuous Deeds or draws to the reincarnators.
• Meng Qi sold weapons and pills from the mission, acquired the Undying Seal Method and Illusion Demon Body Technique, and exchanged for martial-arts outlines to strengthen his own techniques.
• Liu Shuyu openly asked Meng Qi where he was staying, while Jiang Zhiwei teased him about attracting a beauty.
• Ke Changji decided to reveal his Blood Claw training after spending all his Virtuous Deeds on strengthening himself.
• Xu Yue received an excellent-evaluation draw and obtained Buddha's Palm, Seventh Form—Saving All Beings, leaving the group stunned.

After Xu Yue obtained the seventh form of Buddha's Palm, Luo Shengyi warned the team that a deadly mission awaited in a year and often killed more than half its participants. The team began preparing by strengthening their abilities and gathering resources, while Cao Zhan sacrificed his future prospects to gain a desperate combat technique.

• Meng Qi asked Luo Shengyi about the Death Mission, and Luo Shengyi described surviving a previous mission in which an Outer Scenery expert hunted his team for seven days.
• Zhang Yuanshan urged everyone to improve their strength and gather resources during the year before the next mission, while Qing Ying planned to seek training and support from the Xuantian Sect.
• Xu Yue offered to help Ke Biqun, who had developed poisons and gathered resources through the Great River Gang, while Fu Zhenzhen focused on support and Ge Huaien chose divination.
• Cao Zhan, worried that the team considered him expendable, traded his mission gains for an Aperture Opening Stage version of the Zhou County King Family's Might Cannot Be Bent.
• Cao Zhan accepted that the technique required him to cultivate Vast Righteous Qi and give up using poisons, though it could briefly let him hold back a Half-step Outer Scenery opponent.

After returning to the main world, Meng Qi traveled toward Zhou County to meet Qi Zhengyan and Xu Yue, then encountered Xu Yue aboard a riverboat. There, Xu Yue pointed out Shan Xiumei, a heroine who closely resembled Liu Shuyu, as the story introduced several passengers and their connections.

• Meng Qi activated the True Martial Great Emperor's Chain Missions, returned to the main world, and arranged to travel to Zhou County and meet Xu Yue.
• Xu Yue climbed into Meng Qi's cabin, where they argued about Liu Shuyu and Xu Yue's pursuit of her.
• Meng Qi learned that Cui Qingyu's battle with a mysterious enemy had caused the sudden cold and snowfall.
• Xu Yue took Meng Qi to the riverboat's open hall and identified a guarded young gentleman as Wang Ce of the Zhou County Wang Family.
• Xu Yue introduced the sword-wielding heroine Shan Xiumei, who resembled Liu Shuyu, and said he thought they were fated.

Xu Yue and Meng Qi exposed a staged attack meant to let Shan Xiumei get close to Wang Ce, making the Wang Family's old servant suspicious. As Wang Ce fought the impostors, Shan Xiumei killed the fake Iron Hand Demonic with a secret sword technique.

• Xu Yue identified Wang Ce and suggested the apparent Demonic figures might be impostors, alerting the Wang Family's old servant and the nearby young masters.
• The fake Iron Hand Demonic attacked Shan Xiumei, while Wang Ce stepped in to fight the fake Joyful Demonic and her sickly husband.
• Xu Yue openly called out the staged hero-saving-a-beauty scheme, causing the old servant to prepare for battle and Wang Ce to become wary.
• Wang Ce used his Vast Righteous Qi to suppress the two Su Nu Dao disciples as the old servant watched and prepared to capture them.
• Shan Xiumei unleashed the Zhoushan Sword Sect's ultimate secret technique and killed the fake Iron Hand Demonic.

Xu Yue and Meng Qi witnessed a deadly attack on Wang Ce’s group, then accepted an invitation to speak with the survivors. Shan Xiumei’s reaction to their identities raised Meng Qi’s suspicions about her connection to Miss Liu.

• Shan Xiumei killed Iron Hand Demonic, Wang Ce killed Joyful Demonic, and the old servant killed the final attacker after he tried to take Wang Ce with him.
• A Buren Tower assassin killed Young Master Wan and knocked Tang Jing into the water before escaping.
• Xu Yue watched without intervening, then accepted the old servant’s invitation and brought Meng Qi into the hall.
• Shan Xiumei resented Xu Yue for ruining her planned encounter with Wang Ce, while Meng Qi noticed signs that she and Miss Liu were connected to a hidden scheme.
• Xu Yue identified himself as a Shaolin lay disciple, startling Wang Ce and Shan Xiumei; Shan Xiumei recognized Meng Qi as Muscular Ascetic, and Meng Qi noticed her reaction differed from Miss Liu’s.

Meng Qi realized Shan Xiumei was likely a successor of the Mystic Maiden lineage and decided to avoid revealing that he had seen through her. When Tang Jing, a badly wounded young master, reached the deck, Meng Qi chose to impersonate him to escape Shan Xiumei’s attention.

• Meng Qi connected Shan Xiumei and Liu Shuyu to the Mystic Maiden lineage and suspected Shan was trying to draw him into Su Nu Dao’s schemes.
• Meng Qi and Xu Yue exchanged a nod as Meng Qi considered having Xu Yue handle Shan Xiumei.
• Wang Ce learned Meng Qi and Xu Yue were ranked experts, tried to recruit Meng Qi, and then departed with his old servant.
• Shan Xiumei claimed she was also heading to Yi City and planned to travel with Meng Qi.
• Tang Jing crawled onto the deck mortally wounded, and Meng Qi decided to impersonate him after noticing his human-skin mask and signs of torture.

Xu Yue arrived in Yi City with Shan Xiumei, while Meng Qi was already there disguised as Tang Jing and gathering information. Their reunion with Qi Zhengyan revealed that Xu Yue was being treated as Qi Zhengyan’s younger male cousin, though the tense atmosphere suggested something had happened to him.

• Shan Xiumei learned that Xu Yue had driven Meng Qi away and considered how to win Xu Yue over for the Mystic Maiden Lineage.
• Xu Yue arrived at Yi City with Shan Xiumei clinging to him, and Meng Qi recognized that Su Nu Dao might be using Xu Yue to draw him out.
• Meng Qi relaxed after Xu Yue privately assured him that Buddha’s Palm’s true intent would protect him from Shan Xiumei’s influence.
• Xu Yue greeted Qi Zhengyan and Meng Qi, disguised as Tang Jing, as his cousins.
• Meng Qi sensed something was wrong when he noticed the tense atmosphere surrounding Xu Yue and Qi Zhengyan.

Qi Zhengyan explained how the Ye Family had crippled his cousin and why local politics had kept him from seeking justice. Xu Yue and Meng Qi decided to confront the Ye Family, leaving Qi Zhengyan with allies willing to act on his behalf.

• Qi Zhengyan told Meng Qi and Xu Yue that his cousin had come to Yi City for refuge and been crippled by a Ye Family retainer.
• Qi Zhengyan described the struggle among Yi City's four powerful families and how the Ye Family's ties to the Zhou County King Family had discouraged him from acting.
• Meng Qi considered sneaking into the Ye Family to kill the Ghost Shadow Sword.
• Xu Yue argued that the Flower Washing Sword Sect could demand justice from the Zhou County King Family and urged Qi Zhengyan not to endure the insult.
• Xu Yue promised Qi Zhengyan that he and Meng Qi would handle the matter.

Xu Yue confronted the Ye Family over its attack on Qi Zhengyan and forced the Ye Family Head to openly admit his family’s abuse of power. With Captain Huang witnessing the admission, the Ye Family faced official consequences.

• Meng Qi decided to follow Xu Yue and Shan Xiumei after worrying that Xu Yue might provoke a fight with the Ye Family.
• Xu Yue arrived at the Ye Family’s celebration with Shan Xiumei and demanded that the family head apologize for attacking Qi Zhengyan.
• The Ye Family Head admitted that his family had acted against Qi Zhengyan and declared that the Ye Family was the law in Yi City.
• Xu Yue revealed that Captain Huang had heard the admission and could use it as evidence.
• Captain Huang acknowledged the evidence and warned the Ye Family Head that he could no longer overlook the family’s actions.

Xu Yue confronted the Ye Family over Qi Zhengyan’s injured cousin, and Captain Huang revealed Xu Yue’s identity as a top-ranked Shaolin disciple. The Ye Family head offered costly compensation, but Xu Yue also demanded that the culprit be handed over, leaving the head resentful despite his outward submission.

• The Ye Family head questioned Captain Huang after he intervened on Qi Zhengyan’s cousin’s behalf.
• Captain Huang identified Xu Yue as a Shaolin lay disciple ranked tenth on the Human Ranking, alarming the Ye Family head and the gathered guests.
• The Ye Family head apologized and offered medicine to reconnect the injured man’s tendons and veins, along with resources to help him reach Nine Apertures.
• Xu Yue accepted the compensation on the condition that the Ye Family deliver it to the Flower Washing Rice Shop and hand over the culprit.
• The Ye Family head agreed outwardly but resented Xu Yue’s demand, believing his family’s Treasure Soldier and experts could defeat him.

Xu Yue confronted the Ye Family over the Ghost Shadow Sword’s attack, then survived their surprise assault with the inherited Treasure Soldier and split the Ye Estate with a counterstrike. The terrified Ye Family head pleaded for mercy, but Xu Yue reminded him that he was only a lay disciple.

• The Ye Family head offered compensation and asked Xu Yue to spare the Ghost Shadow Sword, but Xu Yue insisted that compensation could not replace punishment.
• As the Ye Family head withdrew, the Ye Estate unleashed a purple-red sword strike at Xu Yue while its experts surrounded the area.
• Xu Yue pushed Shan Xiumei out of danger and used the Formless Calamity Finger and his Sword Intent to dissolve the attack before shattering it.
• Xu Yue struck back with sword qi that severed the Treasure Soldier’s connection to the outside world, killed its wielder, and split the Ye Estate in two.
• The Ye Family head begged Xu Yue to punish only the principal culprit, and Xu Yue replied that he was a lay disciple.

Xu Yue wiped out the Ye Family’s fighters while claiming self-defense, then used Captain Huang as a witness as he seized the family’s treasure, resources, businesses, and estate as compensation. The surviving Ye Family descendants were left with a farmstead and the prospect of renting their former home from him.

• Xu Yue defeated the Ye Family’s experts, killing some and crippling the dantians of those who fled or lost the will to fight.
• Xu Yue asked Captain Huang to confirm that he had acted in self-defense, and Captain Huang reluctantly agreed.
• Xu Yue claimed compensation for his emotional injury and took the Purple Scar Sword, cultivation resources, shops, and fertile lands.
• Xu Yue revealed his Mustard Bracelet and used it to carry away the Ye Family’s possessions.
• Xu Yue took the deed to the Ye Estate and proposed leasing the residence back to the surviving descendants while lending them money at the city’s usual interest rate.

Xu Yue emptied the Ye Family treasury, then returned to the rice shop with Shan Xiumei as Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan discussed the fallout. Xu Yue revealed signs that the city’s unrest involved Nurturing Evil God, leaving them to suspect a hidden plot behind the Ye Family’s troubles.

• Xu Yue emerged from the Ye Family residence with its treasury’s spoils while Meng Qi watched from the crowd, then Meng Qi returned to the rice shop without revealing himself to Shan Xiumei.
• Meng Qi told Qi Zhengyan that Xu Yue had acted lawfully with the Six Doors chief constable present, and Qi Zhengyan worried the incident would damage Xu Yue’s reputation on the Human Ranking.
• Xu Yue returned with Shan Xiumei, traded jokes with Meng Qi, and asked Qi Zhengyan about the city’s recent unrest.
• Xu Yue said the Ye Family head’s new concubine had vanished and that he had sensed a yin-spirit aura resembling Nurturing Evil God.
• Meng Qi and Qi Zhengyan recognized the danger of Nurturing Evil God and realized it could explain the influence behind the city’s unrest.

Thousand-Faced Demonic and the other Demonic Gate members realized that Xu Yue had ruined their plans in Yi City and feared his strength. Unwilling to abandon the effort he had invested, Thousand Faces proposed a new scheme to unite the three remaining great families and drive Xu Yue away.

• Thousand-Faced Demonic recognized Sword Immortal Descends as Xu Yue, the powerful Reincarnator who had reached the Human Ranking’s top ten.
• Thousand Faces, Joyful Demonic, and Iron Hand Demonic discussed how Xu Yue had destroyed their influence over the Ye Family and shattered its inherited Treasure Soldier.
• Joyful Demonic urged the group to withdraw, but Thousand Faces refused because the Ye Family’s defeat had also ruined his plan to use its experts and resources for a blood sacrifice.
• Iron Hand Demonic warned that Xu Yue’s strength and Dharmakaya-level abilities made him too dangerous to confront with a single Treasure Soldier.
• Thousand Faces proposed persuading the three remaining great families to join forces and force Xu Yue to leave Yi City.

After the local factions refused to meet, Xu Yue and his allies suspected the hidden Blackhand had influenced them and prepared to investigate. Xu Yue left the city to draw out their enemies, while Meng Qi went to the Tang Family and Wang Zai arrived there to choose its new head.

• Qi Zhengyan told Xu Yue that the local factions, Captain Huang, and even his martial uncle had declined their invitations, while the Tang Family and Wan Family had sided with the Wang Family.
• Xu Yue suspected the Blackhand was influencing the factions, and Qi Zhengyan sent a letter to his sect.
• Meng Qi volunteered to visit the Tang Family, and the rice shop clerk reported that Wang Zai had arrived in the city and was visiting the family to choose its new head.
• Xu Yue asked Qi Zhengyan to coordinate with Zhen Ding while he left the city to lure out their enemies, and he arranged signals by carrier pigeon and fireworks.
• Xu Yue departed with Shan Xiumei as a white-clad figure watched from the city wall, then vanished after he passed through the gates.

Shan Xiumei sensed danger as Xu Yue escorted her away, while Gu Xiaosang continued planning to reach the Nine Heavens without provoking him. In Yi City, Meng Qi returned to the Tang Family disguised as Tang Jing and challenged the ongoing succession proceedings, leaving Wang Zai to witness the dispute.

• Shan Xiumei clung to Xu Yue after sensing danger, and the narration explained why Gu Xiaosang still wanted to use her to open the Nine Heavens stele.
• Gu Xiaosang planned to take the Reincarnation Talisman from Thousand-Faced Demonic before beginning her Nine Heavens preparations, while she and Xu Yue maintained their mutual distance.
• Meng Qi returned to the Tang Family disguised as Tang Jing, disrupting the planned choice of a new family head and giving Tang Mingyue hope of support.
• Meng Qi questioned Wang Zai about interfering in the Tang Family's affairs, and Wang Zai agreed to remain as a witness.
• Meng Qi asked Wang Zai to explain who could inherit the family head position when the legitimate heir remained alive and their grandfather had given instructions.

Meng Qi arranged to undergo bloodline verification as Tang Jing and asked Wang Zai to witness it, while Tang Second Master and the others sought to delay the process. Gu Xiaosang then appeared and proposed that she and Meng Qi work together to capture Thousand-Faced Demonic, leaving Meng Qi weighing cooperation against plotting against her with Xu Yue.

• Wang Zai explained that Six Doors had to verify Tang Jing’s bloodline before he could inherit, and Meng Qi agreed to wait for the procedure.
• Meng Qi asked Wang Zai to witness the verification, thwarting Second Master Tang’s plan to control who would oversee it.
• Meng Qi went with Tang Mingyue to a guest room and reflected that he might help her inherit the Tang Family before he left.
• Gu Xiaosang appeared without Meng Qi noticing and asked whether he had taken a fancy to Tang Mingyue.
• Gu Xiaosang identified the Nurturing Evil God as Thousand-Faced Demonic of the Destroyer of Heaven Gate and proposed working with Meng Qi to obtain his Reincarnation Talisman.