Chapter Summaries

The white-haired old eunuch and the purple-robed Daoist decided to rely on Crown Prince Zhao Kuang to lure Li Musheng into the Earthvault Profound Hall. Zhao Kuang trapped Li Musheng and the others there, while a hidden palace expert captured the chief of Great Li’s Hidden Spy Bureau; the chapter ended with Zhao Kuang claiming the Great Xuan Emperor might be inside the hall.

• The white-haired old eunuch revealed that the palace mechanisms could trap Li Musheng and said Crown Prince Zhao Kuang would have to lead him into the Earthvault Profound Hall.
• The chief of Great Li’s Hidden Spy Bureau tried to flee the palace, but a colossal true-qi hand seized him and dragged him into a hall, prompting his pursuers to retreat.
• Zhao Kuang led Li Musheng, Zhao Muning, and the Great Xuan martial world experts to a lavish palace hall and revealed it was a hidden mechanical trap.
• The Earthvault Profound Hall sealed its exits and unleashed poisonous mercury, while the depleted heaven-and-earth true qi left the trapped experts unable to use their usual powers.
• Li Musheng ignored the angry experts’ calls to attack Zhao Kuang and asked where the Great Xuan Emperor was.
• Zhao Kuang explained that the hall could trap even a Martial Saint and said he believed his father might be cultivating there.

Crown Prince Zhao Kuang led Li Musheng and the Great Xuan martial artists into the Earthvault Profound Hall, where he tested Li Musheng by challenging him to escape its deadly mechanisms within an hour. Li Musheng cut through the vault and its defenses with one strike, and Zhao Kuang agreed to help rescue Daoist Qingyu as they continued toward the last possible place where the Great Xuan Emperor might be in seclusion.

• Zhao Kuang opened a hidden iron doorway and led Li Musheng and the others into the Earthvault Profound Hall, then revealed that one of its 127 caves was the only safe passage.
• Zhao Kuang said he would cooperate only if Li Musheng escaped within an hour, while Li Musheng asked Zhao Muning whether she had considered becoming Great Xuan’s emperor.
• Li Musheng unleashed a blade light that cut through the iron dome, deadly mechanisms, poisons, and formations, then brought Zhao Muning and the martial artists out of the underground hall.
• Zhao Kuang bowed to Li Musheng and agreed to become his teacher’s student and help rescue Daoist Qingyu.
• Li Musheng told Zhao Kuang that his test had disappointed him and ordered him to lead the way to the last possible place of the Great Xuan Emperor’s seclusion.

Zhao Kuang led Li Musheng and a small group into a hidden passage beneath an ordinary palace courtyard, believing it would lead to the Emperor of Great Xuan. While they searched below, the consort freed herself and attacked the people left behind, but Black Moon Yin Elder resisted her poison, raising questions about her identity.

• Zhao Kuang promised Li Musheng his cooperation and led him toward a secluded courtyard where he believed the Emperor went into seclusion.
• An old eunuch confronted the group at the courtyard gate, but Li Musheng incapacitated him without a word.
• Zhao Kuang found a hidden passage in the courtyard and entered it with Li Musheng, Zhao Muning, Fire Cloud Evil God, and the chief steward of the Treasure-Gathering Association.
• After the passage closed, the consort released colorless, odorless mist that knocked the remaining Great Xuan martial artists unconscious.
• The consort attacked the white-clad woman, but Black Moon Yin Elder sprang up and fought her without being harmed by her strikes.
• The consort identified her poison as Thousand-Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder, prompting Black Moon Yin Elder to suspect she was a Palace Master of Moon-Inviting Palace, while the white-haired Daoist nun questioned whether the poison had truly been used.

Second Palace Mistress Shi Yue exposed the two supposed Daoist Qingyus as decoys and discovered that the Great Xuan Imperial Palace had been monitoring events through a demon worm. Black Moon Yin Elder realized Li Musheng and the others might be in danger, but found the underground passage mechanism locked.

• Shi Yue killed the woman in white and captured the white-haired Daoist nun after determining neither was the real Daoist Qingyu.
• Black Moon Yin Elder stopped fighting Shi Yue when he suspected the two women were traps set by the Great Xuan Imperial Palace.
• Under Shi Yue's interrogation, the white-haired Daoist nun revealed that the woman in white carried a Gut-Walking Demon Worm that let the Great Xuan Imperial Palace monitor what she saw and heard.
• Black Moon Yin Elder realized the Great Xuan Emperor might know about the group's plans and feared that Li Musheng was in danger.
• Black Moon Yin Elder tried to reopen the underground passage but found the mechanism locked from inside, and Shi Yue confirmed he could not enter.

Zhao Kuang led Li Musheng, Zhao Muning, and their companions through the imperial palace’s hidden mechanisms, where they discovered a chamber of grotesque, demonic infants. The blood pool opened onto a staircase after the Great Xuan Emperor called from below, bringing the group to the emperor’s lair as Fire Cloud Evil God suddenly noticed something wrong with his hands.

• Black Moon Yin Elder and Shi Yue failed to reopen the hidden tunnel, then fought two attackers who ambushed them in the room.
• Zhao Kuang led Li Musheng and the others to a dark stone chamber, where a furry creature briefly clung to him before Fire Cloud Evil God drove it away.
• Fire Cloud Evil God’s palm strike revealed shriveled, red-furred infants in the chamber, and he destroyed them when they rushed at the group.
• Zhao Kuang said the chamber’s demonic creations were likely the Great Xuan Emperor’s work, and he and Zhao Muning argued over their imperial father’s methods.
• The blood pool parted to reveal stairs underground, and the Great Xuan Emperor called for Zhao Kuang from below.
• Fire Cloud Evil God rejoiced at finding the emperor, then abruptly looked down at his hands in alarm.

Li Musheng and his companions confronted the Great Xuan Emperor in the tunnel, where Zhao Kuang attacked the emperor before Li Musheng revealed that the apparent victim was not truly him. The emperor confronted Li Musheng over turning his children against him, while Zhao Kuang wavered between begging forgiveness and pursuing the throne.

• Fire Cloud Evil God was afflicted by the Corpse-Devouring Demon Root, but Li Musheng drew it out and saved him.
• The Great Xuan Emperor appeared before Zhao Kuang, Zhao Muning, Fire Cloud Evil God, and Li Musheng, and Zhao Kuang panicked under his father's gaze.
• Zhao Muning asked whether the emperor had fallen into the demonic path, and Zhao Kuang suddenly stabbed him through the chest with a hidden weapon.
• Li Musheng stopped Zhao Muning from rushing to the emperor and revealed that the wounded figure was not truly her father; the emperor straightened unharmed and admitted Li Musheng had seen through his tricks.
• The Great Xuan Emperor accused Li Musheng of ruining his bond with his children, while Zhao Kuang kowtowed and begged forgiveness before Li Musheng reminded him of his desire to rule for two hundred years.

Li Musheng exposed the white-haired emperor as a puppet and encountered Daoist Qingyu, who claimed the real emperor was dead and revealed his ties to the Sun-Moon Demon Cult. Qingyu began explaining how she resisted the emperor’s Soul-Seizing Technique, but her account ended with the revelation that she had unknowingly cultivated a demonic scripture.

• Fire Cloud Evil God urged Li Musheng to use the Life-Death Seal on the emperor, but Li Musheng identified the white-haired ruler as an impostor and killed the puppet with a finger strike.
• A gray-robed Daoist nun emerged from the tunnel and introduced herself as Daoist Qingyu, explaining that the emperor had tried to extract the Longevity Scripture from her.
• Daoist Qingyu revealed that the Great Xuan Emperor had cultivated the complete inheritance of the Demon Path Patriarch and was also the leader of the Sun-Moon Demon Cult.
• Li Musheng demanded proof of Qingyu’s identity, while Zhao Kuang questioned how she had escaped the Soul-Seizing Technique unharmed.
• Qingyu controlled the emperor’s corpse and explained that the real emperor had already been dead, then began describing the demonic scripture she had once found and cultivated.

Daoist Qingyu explained how a demon scripture caused the Great Xuan Emperor’s Soul-Seizing Technique to backfire, then gave Li Musheng the Longevity Scripture. Li Musheng agreed to take her from the palace but demanded the demon scripture and the Soul-Seizing Technique, leaving his true motive to collect demonic arts concealed.

• Daoist Qingyu explained that the Great Xuan Emperor’s Soul-Seizing Technique triggered the suppressed demon scripture within her, injuring him and awakening her.
• Daoist Qingyu warned that the Great Xuan Emperor might have survived by using the Soul-Seizing Technique to escape death, unsettling Zhao Kuang.
• Daoist Qingyu revealed that the demon scripture let her learn demonic techniques easily and that she feared its growing influence would turn her into a demon.
• Li Musheng said he would take Daoist Qingyu from the palace if she gave him the Longevity Scripture, and she transmitted the complete scripture to him.
• Li Musheng asked Daoist Qingyu to recite her demon scripture and said he also wanted to examine the Great Xuan Emperor’s Soul-Seizing Technique.

Li Musheng explored the Great Xuan Emperor’s secret chamber, destroyed its demonic manuals, and learned that the emperor had led the Sun-Moon Demon Cult. After Zhao Muning refused the throne and the group left the underground passage, they discovered the palace guards had vanished, just as two of Zhao Kuang’s former attendants arrived.

• Daoist Qingyu taught Li Musheng the demonic scripture, then led him and the others to the Great Xuan Emperor’s secret chamber.
• Li Musheng inspected the emperor’s demonic inheritances and burned the manuals after everyone refused to take them.
• Zhao Kuang found proof that the Great Xuan Emperor had led the Sun-Moon Demon Cult and collected the evidence, while Zhao Muning rejected Li Musheng’s suggestion that she take the throne.
• Li Musheng left the chamber with Fire Cloud Evil God and Daoist Qingyu, and Zhao Kuang followed with Zhao Muning and the emperor’s corpse.
• The group emerged to find the palace guards and the white-haired Daoist nun missing, and the white-haired old eunuch and purple-robed Daoist rushed in and saw Zhao Kuang with the corpse.

After the Great Xuan Emperor appeared to die, Li Musheng left the palace with Zhao Muning and the others, while Zhao Kuang began preparing to seize the throne and investigate Li Musheng’s identity. Outside the palace, Zhao Muning confronted the Treasure-Gathering Association’s chief shopkeeper, convinced that the emperor was alive and that a Gut-Walking Demon Worm controlled the shopkeeper.

• Zhao Kuang claimed the Great Xuan Emperor had died from qi deviation and staged a grief-stricken response, while the white-haired old eunuch accused Li Musheng’s group of murder.
• Li Musheng used the Life-Death Seal to force the eunuch’s interrogation, but Fire Cloud Evil God returned without learning where the missing martial experts had gone.
• Zhao Kuang agreed to search for those experts, and Li Musheng departed with Zhao Muning, declining Zhao Kuang’s offer to make him Imperial Preceptor.
• The purple-robed Daoist suggested Li Musheng might be Great Li’s Eighth Prince, prompting Zhao Kuang to request information about him and later confide that the Great Xuan Emperor might still be alive.
• After leaving the palace, Li Musheng made the Treasure-Gathering Association’s chief shopkeeper an offer, then departed with Daoist Qingyu as Fire Cloud Evil God went his own way.
• Zhao Muning accused the chief shopkeeper of having a Gut-Walking Demon Worm in his head and explained why she believed the Great Xuan Emperor had survived.

Zhao Muning confronted the Great Xuan Emperor, who spoke through the Treasure-Gathering Association's chief shopkeeper, and urged him to abandon his demonic methods and stop meddling in the nation’s affairs. The Emperor refused to promise anything, saying he would consider her words before losing control of the shopkeeper.

• Zhao Muning warned the chief shopkeeper that the Gut-Walking Demon Worm would kill him if anything happened to the Emperor and said she would keep the Emperor’s survival secret if he stopped ruining Great Xuan.
• The Emperor took control of the chief shopkeeper and praised Zhao Muning, then admitted that he had used the Soul-Search Grand Art as well as the demon worm.
• Zhao Muning asked her Imperial Father to stop, but he defended his demonic path as a means of protecting Great Xuan.
• The Emperor revealed that he had identified Li Musheng as Great Li’s Eighth Prince and had faked his death to avoid confronting him.
• Zhao Muning urged the Emperor to retire and turn back from the wrong path, and he said he would consider her words before losing control of the chief shopkeeper.

After rescuing Daoist Qingyu, Li Musheng returned to the inn as news spread that the Great Xuan Emperor had died and Grand Profound City was under martial law. While Li Musheng waited for Daoist Qingye, demonic experts met underground to search for the traitor who had exposed their plans.

• Zhao Muning let the Treasure-Gathering Association's chief shopkeeper leave and departed with her two Martial Uncles.
• Li Musheng gave Big Black Cat the demon essence Bai Xiaotang had stolen, and the cat set out to sell it for gold.
• The innkeeper learned that the Great Xuan Emperor had died, while Li Musheng planned to exchange Daoist Qingyu for Daoist Qingye's Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury Key.
• Li Musheng told Cao Gaoshan to watch their meeting place and returned to study Daoist Qingyu's demonic scriptures and the Great Xuan Emperor's cultivation art.
• Big Black Cat went looking for demonic cultivators to sell the demon essence, while the innkeeper had agents search for the missing Hidden Spy Bureau chief.
• Demonic experts from the three great sects blamed an insider for exposing their plans, and Protector Han accused the Blood River and Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sects of harboring the traitor.

The Sun-Moon Demon Empress told Blood River Ancestor and the Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sect Master that a young expert had killed the Great Xuan Emperor and injured her while helping the Crown Prince seize the throne. The three sects agreed they needed to recover a missing Demon Origin in Grand Profound City, and the Empress identified the expert as someone resembling the Eighth Prince of Great Li.

• Blood River Ancestor and the Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sect Master arrived at the gathering before the injured Sun-Moon Demon Empress.
• The Sun-Moon Demon Empress revealed she had witnessed a young expert kill the Great Xuan Emperor and had been seriously wounded trying to stop him.
• The Empress said the Crown Prince had offered the three sects’ Demon Origins as payment, and the sect leaders learned that one of the nine was missing in High Mound City before being traced to Grand Profound City.
• Blood River Ancestor and the Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sect Master offered to take custody of the Empress’s three Demon Origins, but she refused and warned them not to threaten the alliance.
• The Sun-Moon Demon Empress warned that the killer was young and powerful, then said he resembled the Eighth Prince of Great Li.

The demonic sects learned that Li Musheng might be in Grand Profound City and began searching thirteen neighborhoods for the final Demon Origin while avoiding him. At the Treasure-Gathering Association, Bai Xiaotang asked its chief shopkeeper to find Li Musheng and promised to help with his poison, just as her master White Shadow appeared.

• The white-robed old woman warned the demonic experts that Li Musheng might be in Grand Profound City and narrowed the Demon Origin search to thirteen neighborhoods.
• Blood River Ancestor and the Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sect's master organized their followers to search the designated neighborhoods while avoiding Li Musheng.
• The Treasure-Gathering Association's chief shopkeeper sought a cure for his poison and Gut-Walking Demon Worm, then summoned Bai Xiaotang after hearing she came from Bai Hollow.
• Bai Xiaotang identified herself as White Shadow's disciple and asked the chief shopkeeper to find Li Musheng and his companions.
• The chief shopkeeper described his plight to Bai Xiaotang, who promised to help him, while White Shadow appeared beside them.

Bai Xiaotang was caught by the Thief Saint White Shadow, who insisted she repay her debt by staying with him, while she bragged about Li Musheng’s martial arts. After Bai Xiaotang used the Sunflower Acupoint Hand on White Shadow, he demanded to know who had taught it to her.

• White Shadow stopped Bai Xiaotang from escaping and ordered her to stay with him and repay her debt by serving him.
• Bai Xiaotang told White Shadow that an expert she had met, whom she had asked the Treasure-Gathering Association's head shopkeeper to find, could defeat him.
• The head shopkeeper promised Bai Xiaotang he would do everything in his power to find the person she sought, while White Shadow dismissed her claims and drank wine.
• Bai Xiaotang used the Sunflower Acupoint Hand on White Shadow, but her attacks failed to seal his acupoints.
• White Shadow recognized the finger technique as a formidable divine skill and demanded to know who had taught it to Bai Xiaotang.

Bai Xiaotang concealed the identity of the man who taught her a finger technique, while White Shadow agreed to help the Treasure-Gathering Association’s chief shopkeeper confront the Great Xuan Emperor. Meanwhile, Big Black Cat overheard the seven great sects discussing the demon essences and tried to offer them a trade, but they failed to understand its writing.

• White Shadow threatened Bai Xiaotang until she admitted that the man she had asked the chief shopkeeper to find had taught her the finger technique, though she hid what she knew about him.
• The chief shopkeeper secretly wrote that the Great Xuan Emperor had planted a Gut-Walking Demon Worm in his head to obtain demon essence and control the Treasure-Gathering Association, and White Shadow agreed to help him.
• After the chief shopkeeper left to search for the man, White Shadow ordered Bai Xiaotang to massage his back, and she pounded it while silently vowing revenge.
• Big Black Cat wandered across rooftops with Li Musheng’s demon essence, overheard seven great sect disciples planning to intercept the demon essences, and approached their room.
• Big Black Cat scratched a message onto the doorframe to offer a trade, but the disciples could not read it, and one woman remarked that its writing was a mess.

Big Black Cat negotiated the sale of Li Musheng’s demon essence to the seven major sects, with Cao Gaoshan forcing them to sign an IOU for ten thousand taels of gold. After the sect members left with the essence, a woman in green snatched the contract from Big Black Cat, which leapt after her.

• A woman from Moon-Inviting Palace deciphered Big Black Cat’s message and realized it wanted to exchange demon essence for gold.
• Big Black Cat led seven representatives from the major sects to the inn, where Cao Gaoshan restrained them with his saber intent.
• Cao Gaoshan changed the agreed price to ten thousand taels of gold, and the seven representatives signed an IOU after seeing the demon essence.
• Big Black Cat took all the silver the representatives carried, then watched them leave with the demon essence.
• A woman in green seized the IOU from the roof, and Big Black Cat pounced at her but missed.

The woman in green confronted Cao Gaoshan and Big Black Cat over their ten-thousand-tael contract, but Li Musheng helped the cat escape her grasp. She poisoned the inn with Thousand-Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder, yet Li Musheng remained unaffected, captured her, and demanded the antidote.

• The woman in green seized Big Black Cat and questioned Cao Gaoshan about the contract forcing the Seven Great Sects to pay ten thousand taels of gold for a demonic essence.
• Li Musheng arrived, secretly used the Soul-Seizing Technique to help Big Black Cat escape, and praised its business sense before defending the agreement.
• The woman in green dismissed the contract and revealed that she had poisoned the inn with Thousand-Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder, leaving Cao Gaoshan, Big Black Cat, and others unconscious.
• Li Musheng remained standing, seized the woman in green, and demanded the antidote; she identified herself as the Grand Palace Mistress of Moon-Inviting Palace and wondered why he was unharmed.

Li Musheng subdued Wen Yue after she poisoned Big Black Cat and Cao Gaoshan, then learned that Moon-Inviting Palace’s Second Palace Mistress, Shi Yue, was likely involved in the imperial palace disappearances. While Li Musheng studied demonic arts at the inn and the three demonic sects searched Grand Profound City for the last magic essence, a black-clad woman confronted their hall masters.

• Wen Yue dispelled the Thousand-Fragrance Tendon-Softening Powder after Li Musheng released her acupoints, and Li Musheng restored Big Black Cat and Cao Gaoshan with his qi.
• Daoist Qingyu identified Wen Yue as Moon-Inviting Palace’s First Palace Mistress and reasoned that Shi Yue had likely used the poison during the events in the Great Xuan Imperial Palace.
• Wen Yue apologized to Li Musheng and promised the Seven Great Sects would pay the ten thousand taels of gold; Li Musheng dismissed the dispute, and Wen Yue left to search for Shi Yue.
• Li Musheng spent the following days studying demonic cultivation arts, whose bursts of demonic aura frightened the inn’s guests, while the three great demonic sects searched for the last magic essence.
• As Zhao Kuang prepared to ascend the throne in mourning-clad Grand Profound City, a black-clad woman appeared before several demonic sect hall masters, who surrounded her.

Wen Yue offered the three demon dao sects the ninth demon origin in exchange for every cultivation art left by the Demon Dao Patriarch, and they agreed to open the inheritance in three days. Meanwhile, Zhao Kuang learned that the palace Ancestor would not help him investigate the late emperor, and he asked whether the Eighth Prince had been found.

• Wen Yue incapacitated several demon sect hall masters with her poison and had them lead her to the stronghold of the three great demon sects.
• Wen Yue told the Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sect's Sect Master that she held the ninth demon origin and would trade it for all the Demon Dao Patriarch's cultivation arts.
• The Ten Thousand Wraith Demon Sect's Sect Master accepted the deal and said the sects would open the inheritance in roughly three days, requiring Wen Yue to remain under guard until then.
• Zhao Kuang learned that the palace search had found no trace of the Great Xuan Emperor and that the Ancestor refused to be disturbed except in a crisis threatening the imperial palace.
• Zhao Kuang asked the purple-robed Daoist whether he had found the whereabouts of the Eighth Prince, Li Musheng.