Chapter Summaries

Ye Zhen approached the gathered Palace Opening Realm Kings using a Concealment Talisman and reported finding seven possible Devil Race altars. After revealing that Mountain Shaking King and his team had died to Demonic Spirit Ghosts, Ye Zhen rebuked Chu Yang for accusing him of standing by, then began discussing the altars with the others.

• Ye Zhen used a Concealment Talisman to approach Chu Yang and the other Palace Opening Realm Kings without being detected.
• Chu Yang questioned Ye Zhen about Mountain Shaking King, and Ye Zhen said Mountain Shaking King and his entire team had died to Demonic Spirit Ghosts.
• Ye Zhen confronted Chu Yang for calling him out for failing to help Mountain Shaking King, accusing him of hypocrisy.
• Ye Zhen told the group he had found seven possible Devil Race altars in valleys and suspected they were connected to the fortress.
• Chen Chi exclaimed that the altars might be the Seven Fiends Demon Gathering Altar.

Ye Zhen learned that the Seven Fiends Demon Gathering Altars could draw Devil Race members to them once activated with blood sacrifices, and the group gathered Multi-armed Demons to prepare. After following Tiger King Yu’s group to confront them over their past attack, Ye Zhen discovered that Yin Changsheng and his allies had joined them to trap him.

• Illusion Array King Chen Chi explained how the Seven Fiends Demon Gathering Altars worked, and the group learned that Devil Race blood could be used to activate them.
• Qingyang Palace Lord Chu Yang sent the remaining teams to capture Multi-armed Demons alive, while Ye Zhen declined to join a team and gathered Demonic Spirit Ghosts on his own.
• After seeing Tiger King Yu’s group of five leave with captured demons, Ye Zhen followed them to settle their score far from the altars.
• Tiger King Yu revealed that his group had noticed Ye Zhen following them and called for Longevity King Yin Changsheng.
• Yin Changsheng appeared behind Ye Zhen with Demonic Blade Gongsun Li and Longevity Sect Four Divine Generals Ji Ling, forming a pincer with Tiger King Yu’s group.

Ye Zhen confronted Yin Changsheng, Gongsun Li, and Tiger King Yu’s group, then turned their planned ambush into a battle against a vast army of Demonic Spirit Ghosts. He encircled the eight enemies with nearly eight hundred ghosts, and Tiger King Yu’s group was devastated as Yin Changsheng’s side faced imminent attack.

• Ye Zhen identified the disguised Gongsun Li and Yin Changsheng, and Yin Changsheng offered him wealth, status, and beauties in exchange for serving the Longevity Sect.
• Ye Zhen rejected Yin Changsheng’s offer, and both sides declared their intent to kill each other.
• Ye Zhen released more than two hundred Demonic Spirit Ghosts as the eight enemies launched attacks; he escaped with Xiao Mao behind a Flame Shield Talisman.
• Yin Changsheng and the others used about thirty Fire Talismans to kill many ghosts, but another group of more than two hundred ghosts advanced on them.
• Ye Zhen returned with nearly eight hundred Demonic Spirit Ghosts and surrounded Yin Changsheng’s group; a combined ghost attack fatally devastated Tiger King Yu’s five-man group.

Yin Changsheng unleashed the Longevity Banner, devastating Ye Zhen’s Demonic Spirit Ghosts and firing a nearly unstoppable beam at him. As Yin Changsheng escaped with Gongsun Li and Ji Ling’s corpse, Ye Zhen faced imminent death and desperately searched for a way to survive.

• After the four Tiger Shark Island Kings were killed, Yin Changsheng summoned the Longevity Banner, and Ye Zhen layered defenses around himself as he retreated.
• Yin Changsheng’s banner annihilated more than three hundred Demonic Spirit Ghosts and killed Tiger King Yu, while its use drained Yin Changsheng until he resembled a skeleton.
• Yin Changsheng pointed the banner at Ye Zhen, whose Earth Spirit Shield, Thousand Vine Luo, armor, and Green Mother Green Light Mirror were pierced or destroyed by the black beam.
• Yin Changsheng used the banner’s remaining power to envelop himself, Gongsun Li, and Ji Ling’s corpse in black-green light and escape through the Earth Fire Heart Palace’s protective array.
• As the beam threatened to strike his chest, Ye Zhen recalled a life-saving method he had used before.

Ye Zhen survived Yin Changsheng’s attack by absorbing its black radiance into the Mirage Dragon Pearl, then discovered his four-colored Innate Soul Light had left a Soul Imprint on Zi Ling. Zi Ling warned him that fully becoming her master would bring immense trouble, but revealed he could now draw on some of her true power at the cost of Spirit Crystals.

• Ye Zhen caught Yin Changsheng’s black radiance in the Mirage Dragon Pearl’s sealed space and survived the attack.
• While gathering his Demonic Spirit Ghosts, Ye Zhen asked Zi Ling why his death would also destroy her, and she explained that he had already left a trace of Soul Imprint on her.
• Ye Zhen realized his four-colored Innate Soul Light had likely formed the imprint while he used Zi Ling’s sword intent, then added another trace and sensed the vast power within her.
• Zi Ling said Ye Zhen had the qualifications to become her master but warned that fully acknowledging him would bring dangers beyond imagination.
• Zi Ling told Ye Zhen he could now draw on some of her true power, provided he paid her twice the equivalent cost in Spirit Crystals.
• Ye Zhen turned his attention to the five Storage Rings left by Tiger King Yu and the others.

Ye Zhen helped activate the seven altars, summoning a terrifying Ancient Demon God aura that drew the Devil Race away from its fortress. He raced to the fortress and found a blood-red banner resembling his Battle Soul Blood Banner, then pounced toward it.

• Ye Zhen returned to the Seven Fiends Demon Gathering Altar and cautiously strengthened his Soul Imprint on Zi Ling to ten percent before he could go no further.
• Chu Yang ordered the altar activation to proceed without Longevity King's party, and Illusion Array King assigned Ye Zhen to preside over the Metal altar.
• Ye Zhen and the other martial artists sacrificed captured Multi-armed Demons, chanted the Demon God Sacrificial Incantation, and activated all seven altars.
• A tremendous Ancient Demon God aura descended, drawing Demonic Spirit Ghosts and Multi-armed Demons toward the altars and leaving the Demon Race Fortress exposed.
• Ye Zhen raced to the fortress, recognized its resemblance to the Demon Soul Hall, and found a blood-red banner in a matching great hall.

Ye Zhen faced Qingyang Palace Lord Chu Yang, who threatened him with the Purple Flame Golden Lamp and demanded that he move away from the Demon Race Battle Flag. Realizing Chu Yang was reluctant to destroy the flag, Ye Zhen gambled on making him hesitate and unleashed Zi Ling’s hidden sword attack.

• Ye Zhen reached for the Demon Race Battle Flag but sensed danger when Chu Yang arrived wielding the Purple Flame Golden Lamp.
• Chu Yang ordered Ye Zhen away from the flag, and Ye Zhen suspected the lamp’s flame could destroy the crucial trial item along with him.
• Ye Zhen pretended to move aside and noticed Chu Yang’s relief, confirming that Chu Yang feared damaging the flag.
• As Chu Yang counted down, Ye Zhen questioned his promise to spare him and called him a hypocrite.
• Ye Zhen lunged toward the Demon Race Battle Flag while activating the Soul Imprint within Zi Ling, sending a Purple Sword Light at Chu Yang.

Zi Ling’s Purple Sword Light shattered Chu Yang’s defense and badly damaged the Purple Flame Golden Lamp, while Ye Zhen escaped the Demon Race Fortress with the Demon Race Battle Flag. Chu Yang survived but lost much of his treasured lamp’s source power and the chance to obtain the Earth Core Fire Marshal’s inheritance, then collapsed as a shriek sounded in Ye Zhen’s mind.

• Chu Yang used the Purple Flame Golden Lamp’s purple flame to block Zi Ling’s Purple Sword Light, but the sword cut through the flame and struck the lamp.
• The Purple Sword Light pierced the lamp and sent Chu Yang flying, while a gash in the lamp released hazy purple light that erupted into destructive flames.
• Ye Zhen grabbed the Demon Race Battle Flag and vanished from the Commander Hall inside its firelight.
• Qingyang Palace’s elders treated Chu Yang, who sealed the lamp’s leak at the cost of vomiting blood and losing more than sixty percent of its source power.
• Chu Yang discovered that Ye Zhen and the battle flag were gone, realized the Earth Core Fire Marshal’s inheritance had escaped him, and collapsed as a shriek sounded in Ye Zhen’s mind.

Ye Zhen and Zi Ling settled the terms for using her core power and how he would repay its enormous cost. He then discovered the Fire Spirit Pure Land, where a flame spirit welcomed him as the fourth martial artist eligible to inherit its martial path.

• Zi Ling scolded Ye Zhen for drawing ten percent of her core power, and Ye Zhen explained that he had used it to survive a near-certain death.
• Ye Zhen persuaded Zi Ling to support his growth, and she agreed that he could use her core power when necessary while warning him not to use it repeatedly.
• Zi Ling told Ye Zhen that restoring ten percent of her core power required one hundred thousand High-grade Spirit Crystals, and he agreed to provide them when he cultivated.
• After Zi Ling returned to sleep within the First Sword Meridian, Ye Zhen noticed that he had entered a crimson realm filled with harmless, lively flames.
• The flames gathered into a spirit body, which welcomed Ye Zhen to its Fire Spirit Pure Land as the fourth martial artist who could inherit its martial path.

Ye Zhen entered the Fire Spirit Pure Land and learned that the first three candidates had died in the final trial. Earth Core Fire Marshal's flame spirit told him the story of his lost confidantes and asked Ye Zhen to avenge them if he passed the trial, leaving Ye Zhen to reconsider his immediate answer.

• Ye Zhen discovered the ashes of three previous candidates and learned that they had died after failing the final trial.
• Earth Core Fire Marshal's flame spirit demonstrated its control over the sealed Fire Spirit Pure Land, then gave Ye Zhen food and wine that restored his injuries and greatly replenished his spiritual energy.
• The flame spirit recounted how his three confidantes vanished and said he suspected his rival Si Chen had been involved in their disappearance.
• Earth Core Fire Marshal's flame spirit asked Ye Zhen to avenge the blood debt, warning that Si Chen had killed over a hundred Devil Race Demon Masters and wounded a Great Demon Master.
• Ye Zhen began to answer, then a sudden thought made cold sweat run down his body.

Ye Zhen passed Earth Core Fire Marshal’s final inheritance trial by honestly explaining that he would avenge his master only after gaining sufficient strength. Earth Core Fire Marshal revealed how the previous candidates had failed, then entrusted Ye Zhen with a Mysterious Fire Talisman containing his legacy and the sleeping soul of his mount, Shui Qing Li Huo Hou; as Ye Zhen imprinted his soul, a surge of heat rushed toward his sea of consciousness.

• Ye Zhen realized the question about avenging Earth Core Fire Marshal might be the third inheritance trial and carefully considered why the previous three candidates had died.
• Ye Zhen answered that he would avenge Earth Core Fire Marshal after building enough strength, and Earth Core Fire Marshal declared that he had passed.
• Earth Core Fire Marshal explained that the roast chicken and wine carried the intent of his Heart-Questioning Art, which exposed the candidates’ true thoughts and caused their deaths.
• Earth Core Fire Marshal formed a Mysterious Fire Talisman and told Ye Zhen it held his final Innate Soul aura, his martial inheritance, and the sleeping soul of Shui Qing Li Huo Hou.
• Ye Zhen imprinted his Innate Soul into the talisman, awakening Shui Qing Li Huo Hou’s soul aura as heat surged into his sea of consciousness.

Ye Zhen learned that the Earth Core Fire Marshal had bound his soul with the Heart-Questioning Lock, forcing him to seek revenge on Si Chen or suffer its curse. After the Fire Spirit Pure Land vanished, Ye Zhen explored the ruined Earth Fire Heart Palace and tried to claim the Shui Qing Li Huo Hou, which woke and resisted him.

• The Earth Core Fire Marshal explained that the Heart-Questioning Lock would burn Ye Zhen's Innate Soul if he failed to obtain Si Chen's blood essence within a thousand years, and that each drop would delay the curse by a hundred years.
• The Earth Core Fire Marshal's remnant soul dissipated, and the Fire Spirit Pure Land collapsed, revealing the Earth Fire Heart Palace.
• Ye Zhen searched the palace's ruined halls and found tens of thousands of faded portraits of the Earth Core Fire Marshal's beloved confidantes, which reminded him of Caiyi.
• Ye Zhen discovered a Shui Qing Li Huo Hou submerged in a magma pool and used the Mysterious Fire Talisman to try to imprint it.
• The Shui Qing Li Huo Hou resisted Ye Zhen's soul imprint, roared, and opened its eyes.

Ye Zhen met Shui Qing Li Huo Hou in the Earth Fire Heart Palace and used the Mysterious Fire Talisman to stop it from eating him. Shui Qing Li Huo Hou explained how it had been imprisoned for nearly ten thousand years and revealed that it had made a poison oath after five thousand years of waiting.

• Ye Zhen approached Shui Qing Li Huo Hou, whose immense aura and fiery eyes frightened him.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou attacked Ye Zhen in its hunger, but Ye Zhen struck its Innate Soul through the Mysterious Fire Talisman and made it recoil.
• Ye Zhen fed Shui Qing Li Huo Hou monster beast corpses, and it devoured most of Little Cat’s stored provisions.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou told Ye Zhen that Earth Core Fire Marshal had imprisoned it after fleeing an enemy and dying in the Earth Fire Heart Palace.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou recounted its increasingly desperate vows to anyone who could free it, then said it had made a poison oath after waiting five thousand years.

Ye Zhen tried to force Shui Qing Li Huo Hou to accept a Soul Imprint, but the ancient creature resisted and used a secret art to destroy his own soul and the soul-origin wisp in the Mysterious Fire Talisman. Shui Qing Li Huo Hou revived beyond Ye Zhen’s control and threatened him.

• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou revealed that he had cultivated a secret art to free himself from the soul-origin wisp and attacked Ye Zhen with the lava lake.
• Ye Zhen used soul-restraining arts through the Mysterious Fire Talisman to torture Shui Qing Li Huo Hou, then attempted to place a Soul Imprint on him.
• A strange force repelled Ye Zhen’s repeated attempts to imprint Shui Qing Li Huo Hou, so Ye Zhen resumed the soul-restraining arts and demanded his submission.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou warned Ye Zhen that he would destroy his own soul rather than remain controlled, then annihilated his Soul Power and the wisp in the talisman.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou’s soul rapidly regrew at greatly reduced strength, freeing him from Ye Zhen’s control, and he threatened to kill Ye Zhen.

Ye Zhen killed Shui Qing Li Huo Hou after it used Soul Destruction Rebirth to escape his control and regain its freedom. With the beast dead, Ye Zhen turned his attention to the volcano and Earth Core Fire Marshal’s martial inheritance.

• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou sacrificed most of its cultivation with Soul Destruction Rebirth and declared that it would escape to recover its strength.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou revealed that Earth Core Fire Marshal’s martial inheritance was connected to the volcano and reached the Dao Entry Realm despite its reduced cultivation.
• Ye Zhen demanded that Shui Qing Li Huo Hou submit and surrender the inheritance, but the beast mocked him and threatened to eat him.
• Ye Zhen unleashed Zi Ling’s Purple Sword Light and struck Shui Qing Li Huo Hou with Soul Refining Divine Light, leaving it unable to defend itself.
• Shui Qing Li Huo Hou begged to submit, but Ye Zhen said it was too late and the Purple Sword Light killed it.
• Ye Zhen examined the dead beast and volcano with excitement after the Earth Fire Heart Palace fell silent.

Ye Zhen dragged Shui Qing Li Huo Hou’s corpse from the lava lake and absorbed its power with the Mirage Dragon Pearl, allowing Zi Ling to recover some of her original power. He then focused on the massive new Essence Soul Pearl and felt a strange sensation as he reached into it.

• Ye Zhen recalled that Earth Core Fire Marshal’s martial arts inheritance might be hidden in the volcano at the center of the lava lake.
• Zi Ling complained that Ye Zhen had used another tenth of her original power, and Ye Zhen promised to compensate her with Spirit Crystals.
• Ye Zhen used his soul power and Flame Shield Talismans to haul Shui Qing Li Huo Hou’s corpse out of the lava lake.
• Ye Zhen absorbed the corpse’s power with the Mirage Dragon Pearl, which condensed a Shui Qing Li Huo Hou Essence Soul Pearl.
• Ye Zhen sent the refined power into the First Sword Meridian, and Zi Ling absorbed it while claiming it restored only half a tenth of her original power.
• Ye Zhen examined the enormous Essence Soul Pearl and felt an indescribably strange sensation as his divine sense entered it.

Ye Zhen discovered that the Shui Qing Li Huo Hou Essence Soul Pearl granted him Fire Control and insights into flames, then used its power to approach the volcano containing the Earth Core Fire Marshal's martial inheritance. He reached the volcano in a transformed, half-meter Shui Qing Li Huo Hou form and sensed something below that left him stunned.

• Ye Zhen learned to control nearby flames and influence magma, though manipulating the magma rapidly depleted his Soul Power.
• Ye Zhen discovered that Fire Control also gave him lasting insights into how flames formed and could be improved, unlike the abilities he had gained from other Essence Soul Pearls.
• Ye Zhen realized the Shui Qing Li Huo Hou's ability could complement the Earth Core Fire Marshal's fire-element martial inheritance, and he crossed the magma lake inside a protective shell of flames.
• Ye Zhen found the volcano's heat too intense to approach, so he transformed into a Shui Qing Li Huo Hou to strengthen Fire Control and protect himself.
• Ye Zhen reduced his transformed body to half a meter, reached the volcano, and sent his Spiritual Sense downward before freezing in stunned disbelief.

Ye Zhen discovered that a beating scarlet heart beneath a volcano was connected to the Earth Core Fire Marshal’s inheritance, and it transferred its power into his dantian. The power created a fifth Talent Bloodline, which continued growing rapidly as the chapter ended.

• Ye Zhen realized the scarlet heart was draining energy from twenty underground spirit veins and suspected it was tied to the Earth Core Fire Marshal’s martial inheritance.
• Ye Zhen used the Mysterious Fire Talisman to touch the heart, which sent its power through their Spiritual Sense connection and into his dantian.
• The heart’s energy compressed Ye Zhen’s spiritual power and formed a smaller scarlet heart in his dantian.
• The scarlet heart released power that caused Ye Zhen intense pain and gave birth to a fifth Talent Bloodline.
• Ye Zhen watched the new bloodline grow from one inch to three chi within an hour, then was stunned by its length after three more hours.

Ye Zhen received Di Baimo’s inheritance and learned about the Unchanging Profound Fire Scripture and the Profound Fire Seed that had forged his fifth Talent Bloodline. After discovering the inheritance fire seed had reached the Heavenly Fire grade, Ye Zhen faced a far greater gift than he had expected.

• Ye Zhen explored his new fifth Talent Bloodline as the Profound Fire Seed continued feeding it energy and forging its meridian.
• The Profound Fire Seed sent Soul Power into Ye Zhen, flooding his mind with Di Baimo’s martial inheritance instead of attempting to seize his body.
• Ye Zhen learned that Di Baimo’s Unchanging Profound Fire Scripture had created the inheritance fire seed to grant a successor a new Talent Bloodline and Profound Fire Spirit Meridian.
• Ye Zhen learned that Di Baimo had moved twenty underground Spirit Veins to nourish the seed and that it had accumulated energy for ten thousand years.
• Ye Zhen discovered that the inheritance fire seed in his newly forged Profound Fire Spirit Meridian had reached the Heavenly Fire grade.

Ye Zhen completed the formation of his Heavenly Fire Spirit Meridian and learned the contents of Earth Core Fire Marshal’s inheritance. After the inherited fire seed disappeared, he claimed the Crimson Moon Soul Ring and discovered its vast storage space and powerful defensive ability.

• Ye Zhen’s inherited fire seed reached Heaven Grade, forming a Heavenly Fire Spirit Meridian and empowering his fifth Talent Bloodline.
• Ye Zhen learned that Earth Core Fire Marshal had left him cultivation guidance, flame-related Secret Arts, and a Storage Ring, but no spirit treasures.
• As the inherited fire seed dwindled, it exploded, revealing Earth Core Fire Marshal’s Storage Ring inside the volcano’s heart.
• Ye Zhen drew the ring to himself, branded it, and identified it as the mid-grade Soul Artifact called the Crimson Moon Soul Ring.
• Ye Zhen discovered that the ring could store treasures across a thousand miles and create a shield strong enough to block a full-powered strike from a mid-grade Soul Artifact.