Chapter Summaries

After a traitor exposed Ye Zhen’s relief force, Ye Zhen led his troops into a desperate battle to reach Bloodlight Fortress. When Ironclad Demons halted their breakthrough, he revealed the Mystic Gate Clone and unleashed Nightmare Roar enhanced by the Battle Soul Blood Banner.

• Ye Zhen ordered his army to disembark and attack Bloodlight Fortress after the Warning Talisman exposed their position.
• He Qi assembled the Northern War Zone First Army while Ye Zhen’s forces fought through the Devil Race’s encirclement and requested support.
• Ye Zhen ordered Yi Jue’s forty thousand Demon Slaves to lead the breakthrough against the seventy-thousand-strong Devil Race force.
• He Qi led his army as the left-wing vanguard, cutting down Devil Race troops with his Nine-Ring Golden Saber.
• Ironclad Demons slowed the Demon Slave Army and He Qi’s advance, threatening to trap Ye Zhen’s forces.
• Ye Zhen sent out the Mystic Gate Clone, which unleashed Nightmare Roar combined with the Battle Soul Blood Banner’s battle intent.

Ye Zhen’s reinforcements punched through the Devil Race army toward Bloodlight Fortress, using the Mystic Gate Clone’s Nightmare Roar to weaken enemy troops and Dao Realm fighters. Instructor Liao Feibai’s sword array slew a powerful Bull Demon and helped turn the defenders’ despair into hope, while Zhui Ri ordered Qi Shu to investigate Ye Zhen’s Nightmare Roar and promised the Wa Ling Holy Son he would stop him.

• The Mystic Gate Clone’s Nightmare Roar staggered the enemy ranks, allowing Ye Zhen’s vanguard to kill their foes and Sun Ba to seize three dazed Dao Realm experts.
• Sun Ba threw a wounded Wa Ling Dao Realm expert to Ye Zhen, who sealed him and stored him in the Mirage Dragon Pearl Space, while Sun Ba killed another Devil Race expert and Ye Zhen’s Battle Soul Blood Banner consumed the fleeing spirit.
• A Phoenix Spirit Clan attacker struck Sun Ba with Five-Colored Primordial Soul Light, but Sun Ba survived with defensive talismans, and Ye Zhen located the attacker and blasted him from hiding with Lesser Five Elements Primordial Divine Thunder.
• Instructor Liao Feibai’s fifth-revolution sword array froze and killed a Peak Early Dao Realm Bull Demon, then held back more than seven Devil Race Dao Realm experts.
• The reinforcements’ victories lifted the morale of Bloodlight Fortress’s defenders, while Zhui Ri ordered Qi Shu to investigate Ye Zhen’s Nightmare Roar and agreed to stop Ye Zhen for the Wa Ling Holy Son.

Ye Zhen’s relief force broke through the Devil Race’s first line but was surrounded by Zhui Ri’s reinforcements. Tong Na ordered Long Ruo to unleash the Fire Spirit Hall’s Earth Core Poison Flame Bombs, opening a path for Ye Zhen’s army to enter Bloodlight Fortress.

• Ye Zhen’s relief legion broke through more than seventy thousand Devil Race troops, but Zhui Ri redirected his forces to surround them with hundreds of thousands more.
• The Wa Ling Holy Son considered leaving the battle to rescue a Wa Ling warrior, but Zhui Ri promised to kill Ye Zhen and kept him engaged.
• Ye Zhen prepared to deploy the Blood Skeleton Legion and Yi Dong Qing Guard Legion as his relief force faced near-certain defeat.
• Tong Na ordered Long Ruo to launch all five thousand Earth Core Poison Flame Bombs and guide them with the Primordial Golden Crow Divine Staff.
• Long Ruo’s Golden Crow Phantom directed the poison flames through the Devil Race ranks, destroying tens of thousands of troops and opening a road to Bloodlight Fortress.
• Tong Na called for Ye Zhen to enter the city, and Ye Zhen’s army charged through the cleared path.

Ye Zhen’s reinforcements broke through to Bloodlight Fortress, forcing the Devil Race to fall back and earning him command of the fortress’s defenses. He began reorganizing the shattered forces and prepared to investigate the traitor who had exposed his army’s position.

• Long Ruo’s attacks opened a path for Ye Zhen’s reinforcements to enter Bloodlight Fortress, damaging the Devil Race’s morale and prompting Zhui Ri to withdraw to the outer city.
• Ye Zhen reviewed the heavy casualties, including the loss of more than forty thousand reinforcements and thirty thousand soldiers from He Qi’s army.
• Tong Na appointed Ye Zhen commander of Bloodlight Fortress’s Defense Army, and Miao Bi and the Zhennan Legion’s surviving generals accepted his command while asking him to pursue Bai Tai’s murderer.
• Ye Zhen promised to investigate the internal traitor once a lead appeared, while Miao Bi pledged that the Zhennan Legion would follow his orders.
• Ye Zhen ordered Miao Bi to provide a detailed account of the Zhennan Legion within an hour and summoned He Qi to discuss purging the traitor in his army.

Ye Zhen took command of He Qi’s Northern War Zone First Army after He Qi accepted blame for a traitor’s warning signal, then assessed Bloodlight Fortress’s defenses and sought resources to counter the Devil Race. The traitor’s records yielded no obvious clues, and Niu Er returned to report his findings as Ye Zhen and He Qi awaited the result.

• He Qi knelt before Ye Zhen, accepted responsibility for the battle’s losses, and pledged the Northern War Zone First Army to Ye Zhen’s command.
• He Qi reported that the traitor had killed himself with Soul Extinguishing Poison, and Ye Zhen tasked Niu Er with investigating the traitor’s records and corpse.
• Ye Zhen inspected Bloodlight Fortress’s inner city with He Qi, Gu Tieqi, and Liu Feng, assessing its defenses and the danger posed by enemy Dao Realm experts.
• Ye Zhen asked Long Ruo about using Earth Core Poison Flame Bombs, but learned that the supply was scarce and production could not exceed three hundred a year.
• Ye Zhen asked Long Ruo for the number of Ancestral God Hall fighters available for deployment, then returned to the command tent with He Qi.
• Niu Er returned from investigating the traitor, and Ye Zhen asked whether he had found clues as He Qi waited expectantly.

Niu Er inferred that Sun Huan had been a dead soldier of the Heavenly Patrol Division, likely sent by Western Patrol Envoy Xi Qiangu to sabotage Ye Zhen’s forces and alert the Devil Race. Ye Zhen feared Xi Qiangu had blinded Luoyi to the battlefield’s true state and ordered a message sent to the Grand Governor’s Mansion; then Zhennan Legion Deputy Marshal Miao Bi requested an audience.

• Niu Er reported that Sun Huan’s records were spotless and his mother and wife had vanished, leaving no trace to investigate.
• After He Qi left, Niu Er told Ye Zhen that Sun Huan’s clean records, poison concealment method, and Soul Extinguishing Poison pointed to the Heavenly Patrol Division’s dead soldiers.
• Ye Zhen concluded that Western Patrol Envoy Xi Qiangu had likely used Sun Huan to sabotage Ye Zhen and tip off the Devil Race.
• Ye Zhen and Niu Er worried that Xi Qiangu’s actions had left Luoyi unable to see the battlefield clearly and might trigger upheaval across the Primordial Continent.
• Ye Zhen ordered a message sent to the Grand Governor’s Mansion confirming that his forces had carried out the military order.
• A guard announced that Zhennan Legion Deputy Marshal Miao Bi had come to report on Zhennan Legion military affairs.

Niu Er’s investigation led Ye Zhen to suspect that Sun Huan was a death warrior belonging to the Heavenly Patrol Division, likely sent by Xi Qiangu to sabotage the reinforcement effort. Ye Zhen feared Luoyi had lost a clear view of the Human-Demon Battlefield and sent word to the Grand Governor’s Mansion, then received a request from Miao Bi for an audience.

• Niu Er reported that Sun Huan’s records were spotless and that his mother and wife had disappeared, leaving no trail to follow.
• After He Qi left, Niu Er explained that Sun Huan’s records, poison, and method of concealment pointed to a death warrior from the Heavenly Patrol Division.
• Ye Zhen concluded that Xi Qiangu had likely used Sun Huan to sabotage his plans and alert the Devil Race.
• Ye Zhen worried that Xi Qiangu’s actions had obscured the battlefield’s true situation from Luoyi and might trigger wider upheaval.
• Ye Zhen ordered a message sent to the Grand Governor’s Mansion, and Miao Bi requested an audience to report on the Zhennan Legion’s military affairs.

Ye Zhen took command of Bloodlight Fortress after reinforcements helped repel a Devil Race attack, but the Zhennan Legion suffered devastating losses and its defensive formation could not be repaired in time. As Xi Qiangu and Grand Governor Ji Yuan plotted with Hong Ru, Ye Zhen received orders to hold the fortress for ten days until reinforcements arrived.

• Xi Qiangu met with Grand Governor Ji Yuan, and they discussed how Ye Zhen’s arrival had strengthened Bloodlight Fortress and threatened their plans.
• Ji Yuan and Xi Qiangu called in Hong Ru, a Heaven Temple Holy Land True Disciple living in Bloodlight Fortress’s inner city.
• Ye Zhen learned that the Zhennan Legion had lost 330,000 soldiers and all but five of its seventeen Dao Realm experts.
• Grand Elder Wu Lian determined that the fortress’s sabotaged defensive formation could not be repaired quickly, leaving Ye Zhen to defend with manpower alone.
• Ye Zhen, He Qi, and Miao Bi redistributed the fortress’s defenses as a military order placed him in command and ordered him to hold for ten days.

Ye Zhen arranged Bloodlight Fortress’s defenses and, preparing for the coming siege, had Niu Er question a captured Dao Realm Wa Ling before Little Demon began devouring him. As the process started, Little Demon detected an unusual power in the Wa Ling’s essence blood.

• Ye Zhen and his officers finalized arrangements to defend Bloodlight Fortress for ten days while Ye Zhen remained uncertain about the battlefield’s future.
• Ye Zhen entered the Mirage Dragon Pearl Temporal Space to absorb the Heaven and Earth Laws of his captured Dao Realm Wa Ling clansman, avoiding the risks of using the Soul Binding Technique on him.
• Ye Zhen had Niu Er question the captive, learning about the Wa Ling Race’s sparse population, Creation Realm Spirit Kings, and bloodline hierarchy.
• Little Demon pierced the captive with thirty-six Plum Blossom Spirit Seizing Needles and began directing his laws and power to Ye Zhen and the Mirage Dragon Pearl’s sealed seventh level.
• Little Demon noticed an unusual power in the captive’s essence blood and asked Ye Zhen whether he wanted to examine it.

Ye Zhen discovered that Little Demon could extract the Wa Ling Race’s inherited bloodline power, which might let him obtain their innate Divine Abilities. He used the Mirage Dragon Pearl to begin condensing an Essence Soul Pearl from the Dao Realm Wa Ling, hoping to find a way to use that power.

• Little Demon sent a trace of a Dao Realm Wa Ling’s blood essence into Ye Zhen, who identified its strange power as the Wa Ling Race’s inherited bloodline power.
• Ye Zhen realized Little Demon might be able to devour the Primordial Wa Ling Clan’s innate Divine Abilities and warned himself and Little Demon to keep the discovery secret.
• Ye Zhen considered how to make the Wa Ling bloodline abilities his own and rejected directly fusing the blood essence into his body.
• Ye Zhen stopped Little Demon from devouring the blood essence, killed the helpless Dao Realm Wa Ling, and activated the Mirage Dragon Pearl to condense its Essence Soul Pearl.
• A lifelike phantom of a Primordial Wa Ling began forming in the Mirage Dragon Pearl’s essence soul space.

Ye Zhen tested the new Wa Ling Essence Soul Pearl and suspected it was a rare Growth-Type Pearl that could strengthen with power from the same source. After cultivating briefly, he faced a renewed assault on Bloodlight Fortress’s inner city, where the defenders were overwhelmed and suffering heavy losses.

• Ye Zhen used the Wa Ling Essence Soul Pearl and found that it let him influence Earth and Gold Spirit Energy, though its power was far weaker than a living Dao Realm Wa Ling’s.
• Ye Zhen concluded that the pearl might be a Growth-Type Essence Soul Pearl, but he could not test the theory because he could not safely capture another Dao Realm Wa Ling.
• Ye Zhen entered the Mirage Dragon Pearl Temporal Space and spent twenty-five days there comprehending Gold Element Heaven and Earth Laws before the Devil Race resumed its attack.
• Under Demon Emperor Second Crown Prince Zhui Ri, more than a million Devil Race soldiers attacked Bloodlight Fortress’s inner city alongside Wa Ling and Phoenix Spirit Clan experts.
• The attackers overwhelmed the defenders, whose weapons had become ineffective, and soldiers on both sides died in a brutal battle across the city walls.
• Gu Tieqi, bloodied and watching his comrades fall, cried out to Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen ordered the Great Zhou defenders to withdraw from Bloodlight Fortress into the Blood River Forbidden Zone after their losses made the inner city impossible to hold. Once the battered army secured the entrance, he gathered the Ancestral God Hall leaders to discuss the danger ahead.

• Ye Zhen told Second Grand Authority Priest Tong Na that the defenders would be overrun within one or two days and proposed retreating into the Blood River Forbidden Zone.
• Tong Na approved the withdrawal, and Ye Zhen used Little Demon and the Wood Spirit Hall priests' poisonous vines to cover the army's retreat.
• Ye Zhen sacrificed ten thousand Demon Slave Army soldiers as rearguard while the defenders withdrew into the Blood River Forbidden Zone.
• The retreat left the defenders with about four hundred thousand soldiers, after more than one hundred and forty thousand had died, including heavy losses among the North Sea Heavenly Wave Army, Northern War Zone First Army, Zhennan Legion, and Demon Slave Army.
• Ye Zhen asked Tong Na, Kan Mo, and Grand Elder Wu Lian whether the Devil Race could collapse the Forbidden Zone's space; Wu Lian said doing so would also destroy the underground formation and was unlikely.
• Ye Zhen raised a second problem, calling it the warning of the overturned cart ahead, and Tong Na and Kan Mo reacted gravely.

After the Bloodlight Fortress disaster, Ye Zhen took command of the Blood River Forbidden Zone’s defenses and imposed strict action-area restrictions while the Heavenly Patrol Division searched for traitors. Just as He Qi urged him to ease the restrictions, A Yuan detected something suspicious and Ye Zhen rushed toward the location.

• Second Grand Authority Priest Tong Na gave Ye Zhen records of Bloodlight Fortress’s priests and guards and entrusted him with screening them for traitors.
• Ye Zhen passed the records and the investigation to Niu Er, then reorganized the defenses to prevent traitors from creating an opening for the Devil Race.
• Ye Zhen fortified the narrow entrance to the Blood River Forbidden Zone as the Devil Race repeatedly probed without making progress.
• After nine days, Ye Zhen maintained severe military restrictions, and enforcement teams executed more than a thousand soldiers and eight priests or guards for violating military law.
• He Qi urged Ye Zhen to loosen the action-area restrictions, but A Yuan identified a location, and Ye Zhen led Heavenly Patrol Generals toward it.

Ye Zhen executed priests who secretly contacted the outside world, insisting that military law applied despite protests from Ancestral God Hall leaders. After his crackdown inflamed the priests, an inciting voice triggered a mass attack on Ye Zhen and the Heavenly Patrol Division, and Ye Zhen’s figure dispersed under the bombardment.

• Ye Zhen caught two Mystic Palace Realm priests using a communication array, had both executed, and ordered their heads displayed as a warning.
• A Yuan detected fourteen more unauthorized communications, and Ye Zhen executed twenty-one Mystic Palace Realm priests and five World King Realm priests.
• Hai Fan and Long Ruo condemned Ye Zhen’s executions, but Ye Zhen continued enforcing the prohibition and ordered another Fire Spirit Hall priest killed.
• Long Ruo blocked the execution, and thousands of priests gathered to denounce Ye Zhen and his forces.
• An unidentified voice urged the crowd to kill Ye Zhen, prompting more than a thousand priests to attack; Ye Zhen’s figure dispersed in the barrage.

Hong Ru explained the Heaven Temple’s plot to throw the Blood River Forbidden Zone into chaos and destroy its Space Folding Formation. When one sabotage attempt failed, he insisted that further measures would ensure the zone’s fall.

• Hong Ru revealed that he had provoked unrest in the Blood River Forbidden Zone by exploiting Ye Zhen’s enforcement of military law, while Gu Yue subtly warned Ji Yuan about the Heaven Temple’s ruthless methods.
• At the zone’s entrance, disguised as Gu Tieqi, a World King Realm expert ordered the guards to kill a Heavenly Patrol Divine Hunter, then found an unexploded Nine Nether Yin Thunder on his corpse.
• Hong Ru explained that destroying a vital array node would collapse the zone’s folded space and kill most of the army and priests within it.
• Sun Ba killed a traitor priest carrying a Nine Nether Yin Thunder near an array node, but the priest’s Innate Soul escaped in golden talisman light.
• Hong Ru recovered his composure and told Ji Yuan that the Heaven Temple had several plans underway, then showed him another array node.

Demon Emperor Second Crown Prince Zhui Ri and Seven-Surname Prophet Demon Master Qi Shu waited for human divisions to create an opening into the Blood River Forbidden Zone. At a guarded formation node, Yan Ning exposed himself as a traitor and attacked with a Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl.

• Demon Emperor Second Crown Prince Zhui Ri told Wa Ling Holy Son Yu Shou and Phoenix Spirit Second Princess Jiang Huiying that the Devil Race was waiting for someone to open the Blood River Forbidden Zone's entrance or create an opportunity.
• Seven-Surname Prophet Demon Master Qi Shu said the human race's shrewdness would lead someone to help the Devil Race seize the forbidden zone.
• Yan Ning approached a guarded formation node under the pretense of relieving its guards and presented a supposed order from the High Priest.
• A Mystic Palace Realm priest warned the guard by Soul Transmission, and the guard remembered Ye Zhen and First Grand Authority Priest Tong Na's prohibition on unauthorized changes to guard rotations.
• Yan Ning charged into the warning formation with a Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl, and Heaven Temple Holy Land true disciple Hong Ru announced to the Grand Governor that the deed was done.

Hong Ru watched Yan Ning attempt to destroy the Blood River Forbidden Zone’s formation node with a Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl, but Ye Zhen and Xiao Mao stopped him. Yan Ning’s soul was destroyed by a hidden talisman, leaving Hong Ru furious and vowing to kill Ye Zhen if he survived the battle.

• Hong Ru showed Ji Yuan, Gu Yue, and Xi Qiangu the mirror as Yan Ning prepared to use the Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl against the formation node.
• Xiao Mao severed Yan Ning’s hand with a Void Slash and struck him through the chest before he could detonate the pearl.
• Ye Zhen arrived with reinforcements and tried to capture Yan Ning, but a golden talisman unleashed a soul attack that erased Yan Ning’s Innate Soul and Ye Zhen’s grasping hand.
• Hong Ru smashed the mirror in a rage, then apologized to Ji Yuan, Xi Qiangu, and Gu Yue and explained that Yan Ning’s devout faith made him exceptionally valuable to Heaven Temple.
• Hong Ru vowed to personally kill Ye Zhen if he survived the battle.

Hong Ru revealed a backup plan to breach the Blood River Forbidden Zone from within, using a planted Ancestral God Hall assistant priest. Ye Zhen discovered Hong Ru’s Spirit Mirror talisman and vowed to expose him, while the assistant priest prepared to attack a central formation node with a Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl.

• Hong Ru told Grand Governor Ji Yuan that he had prepared another pawn to carry out the breach plan if Yan Ning failed.
• Ye Zhen and Grand Elder Wu Lian found Hong Ru’s hidden Spirit Mirror talisman, and Ye Zhen threatened to kill Hong Ru and brand his family as traitors.
• Hong Ru taunted Ye Zhen and then showed Ji Yuan, Gu Yue, and Xi Qiangu his backup plan: a Dao Realm assistant priest planted in the Ancestral God Hall.
• The assistant priest entered a guarded central formation node and revealed a Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl, alarming the five priests guarding it.

Ye Zhen’s forces stopped a Heavenly Temple plot to detonate a Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl at a Space Folding Formation node. The conspirators’ pawn died, Ye Zhen seized the pearl, and Hong Ru destroyed the spirit mirror in fury.

• Little Demon trapped the Dao Realm assistant priest and drained his spiritual power, preventing him from detonating the Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl.
• Hong Ru urged the assistant priest to use Origin Vital Blood, but Little Demon’s layered grass blades absorbed the blood arrow before it could reach the pearl.
• Ye Zhen and Grand Elder Wu Lian arrived with Heavenly Patrol Generals and Dao Realm priests, and the assistant priest died before he could try again.
• Ye Zhen took the Nine Nether Yin Thunder Pearl and ordered Little Demon to keep monitoring the Space Folding Formation nodes.
• Grand Elder Wu Lian found formation fluctuations in a speck of dust, and Ye Zhen mocked the hidden observer for exposing traitors and delivering the pearl.
• Hong Ru roared that he would kill Ye Zhen, smashed the spirit mirror, and left the Grand Governor’s Mansion’s secret chamber in a grave mood.

After the defense of the Blood River Forbidden Zone, Ye Zhen reconciled with Tong Na and explained why he believed the Heaven Temple had orchestrated the attacks. He asked whether Luoyi had any countermeasures if the accusation was confirmed, leaving Tong Na hesitant to answer.

• Tong Na and Kan Mo thanked Ye Zhen for saving the Blood River Forbidden Zone and bowed to him.
• Tong Na apologized for their past conflict, and Ye Zhen accepted his apology, ending their grievances.
• Tong Na recorded Ye Zhen's reasoning on an Imprint Jade Slip so it could be sent to Luoyi for judgment.
• Ye Zhen explained how he had identified and guarded the fourteen formation nodes visited by Hong Ru, allowing him to anticipate the enemy's attacks.
• Ye Zhen and Wu Lian cited the planted Spirit Mirror Formation talisman and other clues as evidence pointing to the Heaven Temple.
• Ye Zhen asked what countermeasures Luoyi would take if the Heaven Temple were confirmed as the mastermind, and Tong Na hesitated.