Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng joked with Meng Yutong about her identity as his aunt, then met Dugu Yueli to deliver the treasures he owed her. After Yueli asked him to release her imprisoned father and the others, Lin Heng agreed to visit them in the back mountain.

• Meng Yutong questioned Lin Heng about whether he preferred her or the Female Emperor, and he teased her by calling her his aunt and pointing out their relationship to his mother and Senior Mu Li.
• Meng Yutong blushed and angrily punished Lin Heng after he called their intimacy thrilling.
• Three days later, Lin Heng met Dugu Yueli and Dugu Xuexue, arriving exhausted and handing Yueli a Storage Pouch filled with Spirit Stones and magic artifacts.
• Dugu Yueli reminded Lin Heng that he had missed their agreed meeting date, accepted the treasures, and asked him to release her father and the others.
• Lin Heng agreed to visit the prisoners in the back mountain and decide who could be released based on their behavior.

Lin Heng visited the mountain mine, where Wang Lei reported on the mining and the uncles’ fight over a spiritual treasure. Lin Heng released Lin Yi after learning he did not know the Old Lin Family’s Heaven and Earth Stone method, then taunted the three Dugu uncles about his strength and future rule.

• Wang Lei told Lin Heng that the four miners had produced over four hundred tons of Heaven and Earth Stones and that he had stopped the uncles from killing Lin Yi over a spiritual treasure.
• Lin Heng ordered Wang Lei to send the mined ore to Changlin Immortal Mountain for the Old Lin Family and went to see Lin Yi in the mine.
• Lin Heng offered to release Lin Yi if he revealed how the Old Lin Family used Heaven and Earth Stones to fuse with the Dao, but Lin Yi said only the ancestors knew the method.
• Lin Heng agreed to let Lin Yi go after warning him to behave, then confronted Dugu Wuwu, Dugu Xin, and Dugu Tao.
• Lin Heng boasted that he could defeat even a Supreme after reaching Dao Integration and taunted the Dugu brothers about Moon Glass and the future dominance of the Ten Directions Hall.

Lin Heng monitored the Demon Race’s invasion while remaining at Dragon Cliff Mountain, where he teased Jiang Caiyan and proposed using their child to claim the Jiang Imperial Clan’s throne. The Female Emperor and Murong Ziyan overheard him and caught him joking about usurping power.

• Dugu Tao and Dugu Xin warned Dugu Xin that Yueli was growing close to Lin Heng, and the three Uncle Prisons left after Lin Heng obeyed the ancestor’s order to let them go.
• Lin Heng monitored Bai Zihe, Ye Nantian, and the others as they prepared a secret Heaven and Earth Stones transaction, while he also readied for the Immortal Clans’ attack.
• Seven days later, the Demon Race invaded the Central Domain as the Four Great Immortal Clans and other forces deployed to meet them.
• Lin Heng watched the battle images from Dragon Cliff Mountain with Zhao Wanqing and Jiang Caiyan, keeping Jiang Caiyan at home because her cultivation had fallen.
• Lin Heng showed Jiang Caiyan a thirteen-point plan for a 21-day training regimen and joked that their child could claim the Jiang Imperial Clan’s throne.
• The Female Emperor and Murong Ziyan entered unnoticed and confronted Lin Heng after overhearing his plan.

Jiang Jingyi confronted Lin Heng and Jiang Caiyan over their talk of changing the dynasty, then privately warned Lin Heng that an unseen force seemed to be shaping the war. She left him with the uneasy sense that the struggle among the three powers was making the Dao itself feel unwell.

• Jiang Jingyi arrived while Lin Heng and Jiang Caiyan were talking, accused Lin Heng of plotting against the Jiang Dynasty, and threatened Jiang Caiyan over her family name.
• Jiang Caiyan explained that she had changed her surname to Yu, then left after Lin Heng said he would visit her later.
• Lin Heng offered Jiang Jingyi a wheeled chair and showed her the battle screens, boasting about his role in the war's planning.
• Jiang Jingyi told Lin Heng that the seemingly favorable course of the conflict felt unnaturally predetermined, though she had received no suspicious information.
• Jiang Jingyi said the three forces' struggle for supremacy seemed to be making the Dao feel unwell.

Lin Heng killed a Demon Venerable, frightening the Immortal Clans and triggering infighting among their factions. After Lin Heng was badly injured by the Demon Venerable’s final attack, Xiao Muyu arrived and took him to the Underworld to recover.

• Lin Heng slaughtered a hundred thousand demons and forced a Demon Venerable to self-destruct during a battle near Northern Pass.
• Dugu Qingyang recognized Lin Heng’s frightening strength and considered using Dugu Yueli to keep him close to the Dugu Clan.
• The Buddhist Incense Society and Leshan Ancient Temple moved their plans forward, while the Hong Immortal Clan withdrew from the fighting and clashed with the other Central Domain Immortal Clans.
• Lin Tianhe and Lin Wenyue discussed taking advantage of the Immortal Clans’ infighting but chose to wait as Lin Tianhe recovered from his injuries.
• Xiao Muyu crossed from the Underworld to the Star Sea, suppressed the badly wounded Lin Heng, and carried him back to the Underworld to recuperate.

Xiao Muyu brought Lin Heng to Ultimate Bliss to heal after the Demon Venerable’s self-destruction, then drove off three furious Yin Luo who blamed her for damaging the Underworld’s Heaven-Supporting Pillar. Once Lin Heng recovered, she explained how the Demon Venerable’s blood Curse had endangered his Immortal Eye and why she had not intervened on the Heavenly Action Continent.

• Luo Bazi, Ye Wusheng, and Qing Hong confronted Xiao Muyu at the Extreme Yin Gate, accusing her of causing two new cracks in the Underworld’s Heaven-Supporting Pillar by bringing Lin Heng there.
• Xiao Muyu shattered Ye Wusheng’s body with a Purple Light strike, then blasted all three Yin Luo out of Ultimate Bliss when they retaliated.
• Lin Heng awoke in the Ultimate Bliss Health-Nurturing Hall and recovered from his injuries while Xiao Muyu watched.
• Lin Heng touched his injured right eye, and Xiao Muyu explained that the Demon Venerable’s blood Curse had nearly destroyed his Immortal Eye and blinded him.
• Lin Heng thanked Xiao Muyu, then asked why she had watched events on the Heavenly Action Continent without helping him.
• Xiao Muyu said she was at least at the human immortal level but could not intervene directly because doing so would involve enormous karma.

Lin Heng received a blood pill refined from a Demon Venerable’s remains and began a dangerous breakthrough in the Ultimate Bliss Realm. As he drew in Netherworld yin qi to refine it, Xiao Muyu threatened the Netherworld rulers who considered interfering.

• Xiao Muyu lifted Lin Heng into the air for mocking her, then struck him out of the pavilion when he teased her about her size.
• A paper servant delivered Xiao Muyu’s box to Lin Heng after he woke, and he discovered it contained a blood pill refined from a Demon Venerable’s remains.
• Lin Heng swallowed the blood pill and combined its demonic yuan with the Xuanming qi in the Human Emperor Banner to attempt a breakthrough.
• Lin Heng drew on the Netherworld’s yin qi, prompting Luo Bazi, Ye Wusheng, and Qing Hong to condemn him for stealing it.
• Xiao Muyu warned the three rulers that she would flatten their territory if they disturbed Lin Heng’s breakthrough.

Lin Heng broke through to the late stage of Return to Void, but the Human Path Body forcibly absorbed some of his power and stopped him from reaching the peak. Xiao Muyu warned him that his ancestor and little sister were being overwhelmed by Calamity, so Lin Heng rushed to return to Heavenly Action Continent.

• Lin Heng consumed the Profound Nether Qi and blood pills over three days while Xiao Muyu protected his breakthrough.
• Lin Heng briefly reached the peak of Return to Void, but his Human Path Body absorbed part of his power and left him at the late stage.
• Lin Heng asked Xiao Muyu why his Human Path Body had intervened, and she said she knew little about the Human Path and suspected it was a Fourth Epoch variable.
• Lin Heng learned that about nine days had passed and said he needed to return to Heavenly Action Continent.
• Xiao Muyu warned Lin Heng that his ancestor and little sister were in danger from Calamity while trying to save Moon Glass, and Lin Heng urgently asked her to send him back.

Lin Heng returned to the Heavenly Action Continent after Xiao Muyu sent him across realms, while Dugu Zixuan and the survivors at Red God Mountain struggled against the encroaching Calamity Worms. Dugu Zixuan proposed disguising themselves as mortals, then revealed that Buddha statues were part of a new plan.

• Xiao Muyu opened a rift and sent Lin Heng to the edge of the Central Domain, and he hurried toward Dragon Cliff Mountain.
• Lin Heng suspected the Medical Path cultivators had betrayed Heavenly Profound and vowed to punish them.
• At Red God Mountain, a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator tried to escape the Black Mist but was rapidly devoured by Calamity Worms.
• Dugu Zixuan warned the trapped cultivators that the calamity overwhelmed defenses and killed powerful cultivators too quickly for them to escape by force.
• Dugu Zixuan suggested compressing their realms to pass through the calamity as mortals, but Meng Yutong doubted that hiding their realms could fool it.
• Dugu Zixuan announced that Buddha statues were part of her plan.

Dugu Zixuan discovered that Buddha statues could suppress cultivation enough to let people pass through the Calamity Worm barrier, and more than six hundred people escaped Red God Mountain. Lin Heng reached Constant Peace Town, found the old ancestor's domain under attack, and confronted two men plotting against its occupants.

• Dugu Zixuan and Meng Yutong sent Dugu Feng into the Black Mist carrying a Buddha statue, and he and Dugu Zixuan crossed safely because the statues suppressed their cultivation.
• Dugu Feng led a relay in which people carried Buddha statues back through the barrier to rescue others, and more than six hundred people escaped Red God Mountain within an hour.
• Dugu Zixuan urged the group to hurry to support the Nine Dust Alliance and the old ancestor and Moon Glass.
• Lin Heng arrived at a ravine in Constant Peace Town and recognized the Calamity Worms eroding the old ancestor's domain.
• Two men discussed taking Moon Glass and the old ancestor's remains, and Lin Heng revealed himself beside them.

After reaching late-stage Void Return, Lin Heng confronted the Lu'an Goddess and a bald monk, who revealed they had used a domain artifact to hide while threatening his family. The chapter ended with Lin Heng spotting their concealed figures and declaring that he had seen them.

• Lin Heng appeared before the Lu'an Goddess and the bald monk, then threatened to kill them and learn what had happened to Sui'an.
• The monk claimed Lin Heng's family and the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office had been caught in the Calamity, and the pair vanished using an immortal artifact called the Eye of Prying.
• The Lu'an Goddess explained that the pair could observe from their hidden domain but could not attack, and demanded Lin Heng choose between entering the Black Mist to save his family or leaving them behind.
• Lin Heng dismissed their attempt to delay him and looked toward the pair's concealed forms.
• Lin Heng met their gazes and said, "I... saw you!"

Lin Heng killed the Buddhist Incense Society monk and captured the Lu'an Goddess, learning that Dugu Yueli, Dugu Qingyang, and others were trapped by Calamity and the society’s scheme. After forcing the goddess into the Human Emperor Banner, he entered the Black Mist to rescue them.

• Lin Heng killed the bald monk with the Nine Heavens Sword, then used the Human Emperor Banner to devour his fleeing Dao Infant.
• Lin Heng used the Lu'an Goddess's fear to locate her, forced her to end her peering state, and captured her.
• Lin Heng threatened the Lu'an Goddess into explaining that the Buddhist Incense Society had lured Dugu Yueli and Dugu Qingyang into a Calamity trap and imprisoned Dugu Wuwu and others with an Immortal Restriction Grand Formation.
• The Lu'an Goddess revealed that the society planned to turn Dugu Yueli into a cultivation furnace and use Dugu Qingyang's bones for the Medical Path faction.
• Lin Heng sent the Lu'an Goddess into the Human Emperor Banner, collected valuables from the monk's corpse, and entered the Black Mist to save Little Cabbage and the others.

Lin Heng used the Eyes of Prying to enter the Black Mist unseen and find Dugu Yueli and Dugu Qingyang trapped inside. After Dugu Qingyang sacrificed himself to send Yueli out, Lin Heng reached her and she threw herself into his arms.

• Lin Heng activated the Eyes of Prying, discovered that they let him pass through objects, and entered the Black Mist without alerting the Calamity Worms.
• Lin Heng found Dugu Qingyang and Dugu Yueli sheltering inside the old ancestor's failing Red Moon Domain.
• Dugu Qingyang told Yueli to escape with her Moon Jade and explained that the Martial Emperor had once been tainted by the Calamity.
• Dugu Qingyang collapsed the domain and used his remaining strength to send Yueli out, leaving himself behind in the Black Mist.
• Yueli grieved at the edge of the Black Mist until Lin Heng approached, and she leapt into his arms, crying, "Brother... you're here!"

Lin Heng reunited with Dugu Yueli after rescuing the ancestor, then carried her toward the battle where her father and the Nine Dust Alliance had been trapped. They learned the alliance had been evacuated, while the whereabouts of Lin Heng’s mother and the Female Emperor remained uncertain.

• Lin Heng revealed that he had rescued the ancestor, and Dugu Yueli cried and struck him for arriving late.
• Lin Heng carried Dugu Yueli toward her father’s battlefield, teasing her about how she would repay him and joking about their relationship.
• Lin Heng and Dugu Yueli reached the battlefield and found shattered Buddhist statues but no bodies.
• Martial Man told Lin Heng that the Nine Dust Alliance had been transferred away and that Palace Master Zixuan had sent a withdrawal signal.
• Lin Heng asked Martial Man to take him to the Nine Dust Alliance and explain what had happened, wondering where his mother and the Female Emperor were.

Lin Heng returned to the Three Sword Sects’ encampment after the battle and revealed that the Ye father and son had helped the Buddhist Incense Society, likely with a traitor inside the Nine Dust Alliance. He treated the wounded and reunited with Dugu Yueli’s family, then jokingly claimed the old ancestor had died and left instructions about Yueli.

• Martial Man told Lin Heng that the Ye father and son had disappeared with the Buddhist Incense Society’s people, and Lin Heng suspected an insider had connected them.
• Lin Heng explained that the Demon Venerable had been killed and that the attempt to lure him away had likely been meant to weaken the Nine Dust Alliance and Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office.
• At the encampment, Lin Heng healed an injured cultivator and gave Wufu pills to distribute among the wounded.
• Dugu Yueli blamed herself for failing to seize the Ye Clan sooner, while Lin Heng reassured her and led her toward the hall where her family was recovering.
• Dugu Tao, Dugu Xin, and Dugu Wuwu asked where the old ancestor was, and Lin Heng falsely announced that he had fallen.
• Lin Heng said the old ancestor’s last words were for him to care well for Dugu Yueli and for her uncles not to interfere, then pulled her into his embrace.

Lin Heng rescued Dugu Yueli and the others, then learned that Prince Jing might have led them into an ambush. He hurried back to find his family, carrying Yueli with him, while Lin Yi revealed that the Female Emperor was in serious trouble.

• Dugu Wuwu fainted after seeing Lin Heng and Dugu Yueli embrace, and Yueli reassured him that Lin Heng had saved them.
• Lin Heng questioned Dugu Wuwu about the ambush, and Dugu Wuwu suggested Prince Jing had led them into it and vanished.
• Lin Heng left to check on the Female Emperor, doubled back, and carried Dugu Yueli away with him.
• At a temporary camp, Lin Yi argued with Dugu Zixuan and the others before warning them that the Female Emperor seemed to be in serious trouble.
• Lin Yi said the Female Emperor and her companions had disappeared since the north-south war began.

Lin Heng returned with Dugu Yueli and learned that the Female Emperor and several imperial figures had disappeared while the Immortal Clan prepared another attack. He took Dugu Zixuan, Meng Yutong, and Yueli toward the Old Lin Family with healing treasures, while he and Meng Yutong considered whether Prince Jing might be seeking the throne.

• Dugu Zixuan and Meng Yutong discussed the Female Emperor's disappearance after Lin Yi reported that the Old Lin Family could not find her.
• Lin Heng returned carrying Dugu Yueli, then told Dugu Zixuan and Meng Yutong that he had rescued her from a calamity.
• Lin Heng revealed that Prince Jing had led the Nine Dust Alliance into a trap and that the Female Emperor, Jiang Zhenqing, Jiang Qian, and others had vanished.
• Lin Heng asked Meng Yutong to bring healing treasures to the Old Lin Family, and she summoned a large stockpile of supplies.
• Lin Heng, Dugu Zixuan, and Meng Yutong set out for the Old Lin Family with Dugu Yueli, while Lin Heng planned to clarify Prince Jing's role to the Nine Dust Alliance.
• Meng Yutong suggested that Prince Jing might still want to become emperor, and Lin Heng considered his brother-in-law's desire for imperial authority.

Lin Heng learned that the Shadow Alliance had betrayed the Female Emperor and helped lure her into a trap near a forbidden zone. With her fate unknown and a greater threat looming, he decided to investigate the Shadow Alliance’s suspected headquarters himself.

• Lin Heng and Meng Yutong discussed whether the Female Emperor and Prince Jing would turn against each other, while Lin Heng teased Dugu Yueli about sacrificing his sister for wealth and glory.
• Lin Heng’s group arrived at Changlin Immortal Mountain, where Lin Xiaobai and the other Lin family brothers discussed pursuing Dugu Yueli as a potential bride.
• Lin Heng confronted Lin Tiancheng and Lin Wenyue after the Lin brothers made lewd remarks about Dugu Yueli, and warned them against such talk.
• Lin Wenyue revealed that the Shadow Alliance had betrayed the Female Emperor by feeding her false intelligence and luring her toward a forbidden zone, where she and her companions were likely trapped.
• Lin Heng learned that the Female Emperor’s fate was uncertain and that the Shadow Alliance’s headquarters might be near the forbidden zone, so he decided to go there himself.

Lin Heng and his companions questioned the purpose behind the Buddhist Incense Society’s trap and the Shadow Alliance’s possible failures. Their discussion was interrupted when they spotted Bai Yi undergoing a tribulation near the Northern Domain, close to the Plateau Forbidden Zone.

• Lin Heng left Changlin Immortal Mountain with Meng Yutong and Dugu Yueli, while Lin Tiancheng complained about him and Lin Wenyue worried that the Shadow Alliance’s intelligence might be compromised.
• Lin Heng questioned Meng Yutong about how she and the others escaped the Calamity trap, and Dugu Yueli pointed out that the Buddhist Incense Society had not sent anyone to surround and kill them.
• Lin Heng and Meng Yutong agreed that the Buddhist Incense Society might not have wanted to kill everyone, though its motives for targeting Lin Heng and Dugu Yueli remained unclear.
• The Cloud Boat shook as thunderclouds gathered, and Lin Heng recognized Bai Yi undergoing a tribulation near the edge of the Northern Domain.
• Lin Heng stopped the Cloud Boat a hundred li away, and he, Meng Yutong, and Dugu Yueli watched Bai Yi prepare for the Heavenly Tribulation with the Heaven-Earth Chessboard.

Lin Heng confronted Bai Yi after Luo Qi explained that Bai Yi had pursued Bai Zihe and been chased by the Buddhist Incense Society. After Bai Yi survived his tribulation, Lin Heng questioned him about the Female Emperor, then led the group toward the Plateau Forbidden Zone to investigate her disappearance.

• Luo Qi arrived and told Lin Heng that the Buddhist Incense Society had hunted her and Bai Yi while they tracked Bai Zihe.
• Luo Qi explained that Bai Yi had tried to capture Bai Zihe alone, but trouble forced him to flee and break through his realm.
• Bai Yi survived his tribulation, and Lin Heng threatened to put him in the Human Emperor Banner before asking him what love was.
• Lin Heng asked where the Female Emperor was, but Bai Yi denied knowing; Luo Qi suggested the Society's attack might be connected to the Female Emperor's disappearance.
• Lin Heng took everyone aboard the Cloud Boat and headed for the Plateau Forbidden Zone, while Bai Yi was made to steer the vessel.
• Lin Heng discussed the Shadow Alliance with his Masters and hinted that one of them should visit his room that night.