Chapter Summaries

After Zhang Lingjian died and the Yellow Heaven Sect fell, Gu Jinlai pacified Huang Province and assessed the losses from an ambush by the Twelve Islands of Li Province. He demoted Gu Chifeng and ordered Li Province to hand over the culprit within three months, or face retaliation.

• Zhang Lingjian vomited blood and died after Gu Jinlai revealed he had destroyed the Yellow Heaven Sect, and Gu Jinlai ordered the takeover of Haitan City and the killing of anyone who resisted.
• Gu Jinlai’s forces exterminated the Demonic Beasts and suppressed resistance across Huang Province, completing the purge after a month of upheaval.
• The Cold Moon Sect and other major sects publicly condemned the Yellow Heaven Sect, while secretly seeking to obtain sharp-sword heavy cannons for study.
• Gu Jinlai absolved Xin Tianqi of blame for failing to detect the overseas attackers but removed Gu Chifeng as commander of the Demon God Guards and appointed Gu Luocheng in his place.
• Gu Jinlai rejected Xin Tianqi’s proposal to build a fleet and demanded that Li Province hand over the culprit within three months, threatening retaliation if it refused.

Gu Jinlai returned toward Lingxiao City while strengthening defenses against the demonic beasts and arranging support for Jiangzhou. At Autumn Mountain, he exchanged technological data with Blue Star and discovered a signal from the Star Glory Federation, which he ordered tracked but not answered.

• Gu Jinlai judged Huangzhou's defenses against the Tianhe demonic beasts sufficient for now and decided to send Jing Yunshan and five thousand Demon God Guards to assist Xin Tianqi in Jiangzhou.
• Gu Jinlai returned to Autumn Mountain, reviewed Blue Star's electromagnetic cannon and laser cannon data, and sent them his translations of the Azure Luan flagship and Shadow Mecha designs.
• Gu Jinlai sent Blue Star guidance on psionic technology, hoping its researchers could develop a way for him to use the True Spirit Projection Art to see his relatives there.
• Gu Junxiu reported receiving signals in a different script, and Gu Jinlai recognized their source as the Star Glory Federation.
• Gu Jinlai ordered Gu Junxiu to track and record the Star Glory Federation's signals without establishing contact, then continued to Lingxiao City with plans to improve its weapons.

Gu Jinlai studied Blue Star’s electromagnetic and laser weapon materials, then adapted a railgun for the Xuanniao fighters. With war against Lizhou and the Twelve Sea Islands approaching, he prioritized the fighters over the Chengoying mecha and prepared to obtain precision parts from the Tianhe Demon Realm rift.

• Blue Star researchers studied Gu Jinlai’s anti-gravity and psychic energy materials, while Xie Yusheng wondered what the Star-Qian person was like.
• Gu Jinlai absorbed the weapon designs and spent three days adapting an electromagnetic railgun to fire a one-kilogram shell at Mach 12 from a Xuanniao fighter.
• Gu Jinlai considered building a Qingluan mothership to challenge the overseas forces but shelved the plan because he lacked enough void stone.
• Gu Jinlai told Zhang Lihuo and the others to pause work on the Chengoying mecha and begin modifying the Xuanniao fighters for railguns.
• Zhang Lihuo and the others agreed to build the weapon’s exterior, while Gu Jinlai said he would take them to the Tianhe Demon Realm rift for the precision parts.

Li Prefecture’s factions resisted Lingxiao City’s ultimatum, while Prefectural Lord Lei Jie secretly ordered an investigation into their possible involvement in the attack on Lingxiao City. Meanwhile, Gu Jinlai decided to create new cultivation methods to speed up the growth of his Heavenly Masters and Demon God Guards.

• Ouyang Yue, Ding Junshan, Shen Aofeng, and Yuan Zhenhai rejected Lingxiao City’s ultimatum and agreed to claim they had bought Sharp Sword cannons from the Twelve Islands.
• Lei Jie questioned the factions about their role in the Jiang Prefecture attack and ordered Lei Yuan to investigate them secretly.
• Gu Jinlai assessed the slow progress of the Great Sun methods and concluded that he could not wait decades for his subordinates to improve.
• Gu Jinlai studied Heavenly Master and body-refining methods, then resolved to create new methods that offered great power and faster cultivation.

Gu Jinlai exhausted his clear light while developing four cultivation methods, then decided he needed the White Ram Star Palace’s inheritance and a meeting with Ying Wuqing to make further progress. In the imperial capital, Jiang Tianji failed to forge an indestructible body, and Taiyuan warned that he lacked an indestructible will, though Jiang Tianji insisted time was short.

• Gu Jinlai used clear light to devise and compare cultivation methods, but ran out before creating one that met his ambitions.
• Gu Jinlai selected a new Great Sun Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method, a modified Great Sun Demon God Body-Refinement Method, the Spirit-Nurturing Art, and the Conversion Art.
• Gu Jinlai concluded that he needed the White Ram Star Palace’s inheritance and a discussion with Ying Wuqing before spending more clear light on cultivation methods.
• Jiang Tianji emerged from his cultivation room after wasting at least ten portions of fate crystals while attempting to forge an indestructible body.
• Taiyuan told Jiang Tianji that he had not fully comprehended an indestructible will, but Jiang Tianji said they could not afford to wait.

Jiang Tianji and Taiyuan discussed using the Profound Heavenly Venerable to disrupt the Ten Sects of the Demonic Path, while Gu Jinlai advanced Celestial Master cultivation and prepared to secure resources from the Tianhe Demon Realm rift. The chapter ended with Zhang Yukun setting out for Tianhe with Cheng Wanli and others to locate the rift.

• Jiang Tianji told Taiyuan that Great Qian faced a profound darkness and proposed exploiting the conflict between the Profound Heavenly Venerable, Di Luo, and the Three Pure Ones Hall.
• Jiang Tianji revealed that the Profound Heavenly Venerable had approached him to use Great Qian’s destiny to become a Celestial, intending to kill Wushi True Person and claim the title of number one beneath heaven.
• Gu Jinlai introduced the Stellar Radiance Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method, which could help Celestial Masters reach the Great Celestial Master realm in three years.
• Gu Jinlai discussed the Blackbird fighter jet modifications and considered going to Central Province to obtain needed resources, but Zhang Lihuo warned that the imperial capital might prevent his return.
• Zhang Yukun volunteered to travel to Tianhe with Cheng Wanli and others to find the Demon Realm rift, and Gu Jinlai approved the mission.

Gu Jinlai received an invitation to the Earth Immortal Hall’s Divine Sword Assembly and agreed to visit the Purgatory Sect before it, while reviewing Lingxiao City’s provincial administration and military plans. The chapter left him reflecting on how much the Gu Clan had grown during his four years in this world.

• Gu Jinlai completed and began promoting new cultivation techniques, then spent a month purifying the demonic nature of the reserve Demon God Guards.
• An Earth Immortal Hall envoy delivered an invitation containing fragments of the True Explanation of the Celestial Immortal, and Gu Jinlai recognized that an undying will was the key obstacle to becoming a Saint.
• Lu Zhanfeng invited Gu Jinlai to the Purgatory Sect ahead of the Divine Sword Assembly, and Gu Jinlai agreed to return within three months.
• Gu Chaoyang reported that Star Province, Jiang Province, and Huang Province had been integrated, and Gu Jinlai ordered more reconstruction work and professional soldier training with elite army targets for each province.
• Gu Chaoyang listed the Gu Clan’s growing ranks of Spirit Refining, Core Forming, and younger cultivators, prompting Gu Jinlai to reflect on the Clan’s growth and his four years in the world.

Gu Jinlai reassured Gu Chaoyang that he could marry the ordinary woman he favored and scheduled a Gu Clan gathering for his eighty-fourth birthday. He inspected the military workshop’s weapons production before Fang Linghai proposed that the Cold Moon Sect merge into Lingxiao City.

• Gu Jinlai learned that Gu Chaoyang favored a licentiate scholar’s daughter and told him to bring her to the upcoming clan gathering without worrying about political objections.
• Gu Jinlai visited Zhang Lihuo’s military workshop, where Sharp Sword heavy cannons were entering industrial production and electromagnetic railguns remained under development.
• Zhang Lihuo said the Chengying mecha armor would take another six months and predicted that the sect could eventually produce over eight hundred Sharp Sword heavy cannons monthly.
• Gu Jinlai discussed the Starlight Ninefold Refinement Visualization Method and advised the workshop on electromagnetic railgun production.
• Fang Linghai visited Gu Jinlai and proposed merging the Cold Moon Sect into Lingxiao City.

Fang Linghai offered to merge Cold Moon Sect and Blue Province into Lingxiao City while retaining Haiyue City and other privileges, prompting Gu Jinlai to weigh the risks and accept the proposal in principle. He planned to negotiate the terms and move up his visit to Purgatory Sect, while Xin Tianqi raised concerns about powerful sects becoming states within the state.

• Fang Linghai told Gu Jinlai that Cold Moon Sect and Blue Province were willing to join Lingxiao City, with Cold Moon Sect retaining Haiyue City and the right to recruit disciples.
• Gu Jinlai discussed Cold Moon Sect’s possible motives with Gu Chaoyang, then instructed him to negotiate the sect’s proposed rights rather than reject its submission.
• Gu Jinlai decided to advance his planned visit to Purgatory Sect and ordered Gu Chaoyang to prepare to travel with Su Nanxing, Gu Xiangyang, and a thousand Demon God Guards in half a month.
• Fang Yumian delivered Cold Moon Sect’s written demands, which Gu Jinlai passed to Gu Chaoyang and the others for review.
• Xin Tianqi warned Gu Jinlai that Cold Moon Sect’s autonomy could encourage Purgatory Sect and Yellow Springs Sect to become states within the state, and Gu Jinlai proposed allowing people to move freely within their jurisdictions.

Blue Star researchers confirmed that spiritual materials could transform their technology, leaving Lan Yuntian convinced humanity could not resist the Qianxing civilization. At the Purgatory Sect, Qin Xia learned that Gu Jinlai, the Ancient Supreme, was arriving for a grand banquet.

• Blue Star test groups synchronized their thoughts, causing voidstone, jade silver, and other spiritual materials to display supernatural properties.
• Li Xingzhou and Bai Xiangyang praised spiritual-energy technology, while Lan Yuntian warned Zhao Shanhe and Wang Chixi that humanity could only maintain friendly relations with the Qianxing person.
• A wealthy merchant asked Qin Xia to help his daughter Xiaoya enter the Purgatory Sect, but Qin Xia judged her cultivation too weak despite the Heavenly Snow Ginseng he had bought.
• Chang Zheng summoned Qin Xia to prepare for a banquet and told her to dress well in hopes of attracting the attention of the arriving dignitary or his companions.
• Chang Zheng revealed that the guest was Gu Jinlai, the Ancient Supreme and the Purgatory Sect's fourth Supreme Elder.

Five years after leaving Purgatory Sect, Gu Jinlai returned as a powerful leader, and the sect’s elders discussed the growing threat surrounding the Divine Sword Assembly. Gu Jinlai warned that the gathering could become a trap and revealed that the Cold Moon Sect had joined Lingxiao City’s system, urging Purgatory Sect to consider uniting as well.

• Gu Jinlai returned to Purgatory Sect with his disciples and a thousand Demonic Spirit guards, while Gu Xiangyang reflected on how far his cultivation and status had advanced.
• At the reception banquet, Gu Xiangyang greeted former fellow disciples and recognized Qin Xia, whose newfound attention made him resolve to focus on becoming stronger.
• Gu Jinlai received deference from Purgatory Sect’s highest-ranking leaders, while the sect’s hall masters reflected on his rise to power.
• Zhang Liefeng asked Gu Jinlai about the Divine Sword Assembly, and Gu Jinlai warned that the Earth Immortal Palace might use the Demonic Beast threat to consolidate power and make it difficult for guests to leave.
• Gu Jinlai said the Cold Moon Sect had agreed to join Lingxiao City’s system and asked Zhang Liefeng and Liu Jingtao what they thought about uniting in advance.

Gu Jinlai tested Purgatory Sect’s willingness to join Lingxiao City and invited its elders to witness his coming campaign against Lizhou. After Zhang Yukun found the enormous Demon Realm rift in the Heavenly River, Gu Jinlai hurried back to Lingxiao City to prepare for its opening.

• Gu Jinlai proposed that Cold Moon Sect join Lingxiao City and invited Liu Jingtao and Zhang Liefeng to accompany him to Lizhou.
• Liu Jingtao and Zhang Liefeng consulted Lu Zhanxian, who judged that Lingxiao City’s growing strength and Gu Jinlai’s trump card could force Purgatory Sect to submit.
• Lu Zhanxian decided to go to Lizhou himself to assess Gu Jinlai’s weapons, while leaving Hongye undisturbed as she approached a critical breakthrough.
• Zhang Yukun returned with news that he had found the enormous Demon Realm rift in the Heavenly River, prompting Gu Jinlai to leave Purgatory Sect after three days.
• Gu Jinlai returned to Lingxiao City, where Zhang Lihuo, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, and Xiang Fengyun prepared aircraft and the unfinished Chengying Mecha for the journey to the rift.

Gu Jinlai and his allies found that the Tianhe River Demon Realm fissure lay beneath the riverbed and began preparing defenses while working to complete the Shadowless mecha. A month passed without the fissure opening, but Lingxiao City’s three-month ultimatum to Lizhou expired.

• Gu Jinlai realized the Tianhe River fissure was hidden beneath the riverbed and ordered guards to watch it and defend against Demonic Beasts.
• Gu Luocheng assigned three thousand Demon God Guards to establish an artillery position near the fissure.
• Gu Jinlai and the others used shared spirit resonance to fuse immortal essence gold into the Shadowless mecha.
• Gu Jinlai described how increased mining and Heavenly Master production could make several Shadowless mecha each year possible.
• Another month passed without the fissure opening, and Lingxiao City’s three-month ultimatum to Lizhou expired.

Gu Jinlai prepared to invade Lizhou, but the opening of the Heavenly River Demon Realm rift redirected his forces to defend it. When the rift proved large enough to threaten the arrival of calamity-grade Demonic Spirits, Gu Jinlai remained confident in Lingxiao City’s growing strength.

• Xin Tianqi and the others urged Gu Jinlai to attack Lizhou after it failed to respond, and Gu Jinlai agreed to lead a sea-crossing assault with Blackbird fighters escorting the fleet.
• Zhang Lihuo announced that the Heavenly River Demon Realm rift had begun opening, so Gu Jinlai ordered the fighters to the site and commanded that the news be kept secret.
• Gu Luocheng cleared and guarded the area around the rift, deploying Demon God Guards and a new radar to detect intruders.
• After a day of observation, Zhang Lihuo estimated that the rift would take eight or nine days to open and had a high chance of releasing calamity-grade Demonic Spirits.
• Gu Jinlai said his Myriad Spirits Formation and growing strength would let them handle the threat, and he told Zhang Lihuo that Lingxiao City would eventually strike into the Demon Realm.

Li Province and the eastern sects mistook Lingxiao City's silence for weakness and planned to pressure it over Fish-Dragon City. When the Demon Realm rift opened, Gu Jinlai swiftly destroyed the first Calamity-class Demonic Spirit to emerge.

• Lu Dengxian reported that Lingxiao City had not acted against Li Province, and leaders of the Purgatory Sect debated whether Gu Jinlai had backed down.
• The Cold Moon Sect and Yellow Springs Sect also suspected Lingxiao City might be unable to carry out its ultimatum, while the Cold Moon Sect sent Fang Yumian to ask whether its True Lords should help.
• Ouyang Yue, Yuan Zhenhai, and other Li Province leaders decided to investigate Lingxiao City's naval strength before blockading Fish-Dragon City and demanding it as a port.
• Gu Jinlai waited for the Demon Realm rift to open, confident that his modified Blackbirds would help him deal with the danger.
• Zhang Lihuo warned that the rift was opening, and a Calamity-class Demonic Spirit forced its way through.
• Gu Jinlai struck the Demonic Spirit with Eternal Heaven Curse and Great Sun Eternal Radiance, destroying it in seconds.

Gu Jinlai and the Heavenly Masters destroyed a disaster-level Demonic Spirit and used the rift’s abundant spirituality to attune all eight modified Blackbird battle aircraft. With the aircraft ready to threaten Lizhou and the Eastern Sea islands, Zhang Yukun suggested using the remaining time to work on the Shadowborne Mecha.

• Gu Jinlai annihilated a disaster-level Demonic Spirit with his soul secret art, stunning Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukun, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, Xiang Fengyun, and the others.
• Gu Jinlai urged the Heavenly Masters to extract the dispersed spirituality and attune the Blackbird battle aircraft, while he burned away Demonic Spirits emerging from the rift.
• Gu Jinlai and the others used the spirituality from the Demonic Spirits to complete the attunement of all eight modified Blackbird battle aircraft.
• Zhang Lihuo and Gu Jinlai assessed the aircraft’s strength and concluded that they could overwhelm peak True Lords and make Lizhou and the twelve islands of the Eastern Sea far less threatening.
• Zhang Lihuo explained that the cost of Silicon Jade had limited them to eight aircraft, and Zhang Yukun suggested using their remaining time to work on the Shadowborne Mecha.

Gu Jinlai directed the group to use the Demon Realm crack’s spiritual energy to refine the Shadow mecha, but the demonic spirits stopped emerging after one escaped. He then led Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukun, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, and Xiang Fengyun into the Demon Realm to gather more spiritual energy and finish the mecha.

• Gu Jinlai ordered the group to fully resonate with the Shadow mecha while he killed demonic spirits emerging from the crack.
• A disaster-grade demonic spirit fled back through the crack, and the others stopped coming out, leaving the Shadow mecha over sixty percent complete.
• Gu Jinlai rejected the plan to finish the Shadow mecha over several years and decided to enter the Demon Realm to obtain more spiritual energy.
• Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukun, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, and Xiang Fengyun agreed to accompany Gu Jinlai into the Demon Realm.
• Gu Jinlai left behind the seed of the True Spirit Projection Art and stepped through the crack.

Gu Jinlai entered the Demon Realm and discovered a hostile landscape swarming with demonic spirits, where his True Spirit was constantly burned and drained. After Zhang Lihuo and the others joined him with the Chengying Mecha, he ordered them to temper the spirits’ released spirituality and resonate with the mecha before the rift contracted.

• Gu Jinlai surveyed the Demon Realm’s scorched, corrosive landscape and found it filled with enormous and calamity-level demonic spirits.
• The demonic spirits swarmed Gu Jinlai, stripping away his spirituality and dimming the Eternal Radiance of the Great Sun until clear light restored him.
• Gu Jinlai concluded that the rift’s spatial effects had limited the attacks he faced and that he could endure them with clear light.
• Gu Jinlai activated his True Spirit Projection Technique, and Zhang Lihuo, Zhang Yukun, Si Tianyan, Guan Xingyun, Xiang Fengyun, and the others brought the Chengying Mecha through the rift.
• Zhang Lihuo urged the group to temper the demonic spirits’ released spirituality and resonate with the Chengying Mecha before the rift contracted.

Gu Jinlai fought a Spirit Venerable-grade Demonic Spirit to buy time for Zhang Lihuo and the others to finish gathering spirituality for the Chengying Mecha. After the mech had enough spirituality and Gu Jinlai had exhausted his clear light, he blasted through the encircling blood cloud and led the group in retreat toward Qiantian.

• Gu Jinlai and the others destroyed waves of Demonic Spirits and infused their dispersed spirituality into the Chengying Mecha, leaving Gu Jinlai with only four strands of clear light.
• A flying Spirit Venerable-grade Demonic Spirit appeared, and Zhang Yukun and Zhang Lihuo recognized it as an enemy normally killable only by a Creator.
• Gu Jinlai chose to hold off the Spirit Venerable while Zhang Lihuo and the others poured spirituality into the Chengying Mecha.
• Gu Jinlai struck the Spirit Venerable with the Eternal Heavenly Curse, but it rapidly healed and engulfed him in a blood cloud that threatened his True Spirit.
• Gu Jinlai repeatedly used clear light to repair his True Spirit and sustain the Great Sun Eternal Radiance until Zhang Lihuo announced that the Chengying Mecha had enough spirituality.
• Gu Jinlai blasted a hole through the blood cloud and broke free, then ordered the group to retreat to Qiantian.

Gu Jinlai led Zhang Lihuo and the others out of the Demon Realm after confronting a Spirit Venerable-level Demonic Spirit, and the rift closed without further pursuit. As they prepared to complete the Chengying Mecha, Gu Luocheng reported that several fleets had assembled at Lizhou Port and seemed ready to attack Jiangzhou.

• Gu Jinlai struck the Spirit Venerable-level Demonic Spirit with a second Eternal Heavenly Curse, then retreated through the Demon Realm rift as the creature failed to fit through it.
• Zhang Lihuo and the others emerged from the rift and prepared to fight, but Gu Jinlai soon joined them and no more Demonic Spirits crossed over.
• The Demon Realm rift shrank and closed, prompting the group to celebrate surviving the invasion and marvel at Gu Jinlai's strength against the Spirit Venerable.
• Gu Jinlai told Zhang Lihuo and the others to rest before guiding the Chengying Mecha through its final transformation, and Gu Luocheng took it back.
• Gu Luocheng told Gu Jinlai that several large fleets had assembled at Lizhou Port and seemed intent on charging toward Jiangzhou.