Chapter Summaries

Chu Qing and his companions reached Ten Absolutes Cave to search for the Ghost Emperor, but their preparations were interrupted when they encountered Mu Tong'er emerging from a grave tunnel. After explaining her tomb-raiding expedition, Mu Tong'er collapsed from hunger and poison, leaving Chu Qing to assess her condition.

• Chu Qing arrived at Ten Absolutes Cave with allies from many factions and planned to begin searching at dawn.
• Wu Qianhuan and Wen Rou joined Chu Qing on a hill, where he recalled Wu Ganqi's plea to treat his daughter well.
• Wen Rou noticed movement underground, and Mu Tong'er emerged from a robbery tunnel, startling the group.
• Mu Tong'er admitted she had come to Ten Absolutes Cave to raid tombs while her father was away and her master was unable to stop her.
• Mu Tong'er asked Chu Qing's group for food after going hungry for three days, then collapsed unconscious; Chu Qing found her pulse weak and suspected she was poisoned.

After Chu Qing rescued Mu Tong'er from a tomb, he treated her poison and persuaded her to help the alliance explore Ten Absolutes Cave. He proposed dismantling the dangerous tombs to find the Ghost Emperor, and the gathered leaders agreed to let Mu Tong'er lead a team to scout and relocate the graves.

• Chu Qing purged Mu Tong'er's poison and learned she had spent half a month trapped in a tomb after digging an escape tunnel.
• Mu Tong'er agreed to repay Chu Qing by joining the search for the Ghost Emperor in Ten Absolutes Cave.
• Chu Qing restored Mu Tong'er's vitality overnight, and she recovered enough to travel with the group.
• Chu Qing proposed dismantling the tombs in Ten Absolutes Cave to avoid losing time and lives to their mechanisms and traps.
• Liu Zhaonian and the other leaders approved Chu Qing's plan, and Chu Qing named Mu Tong'er leader of a team tasked with scouting and relocating the graves.

Chu Qing oversaw the excavation of Ten Absolutes Cave, where ancient tombs, fire oil, and Corpse Beetles endangered his workers. When a Great Zongzi appeared and nearly killed Sikong Yijian, Chu Qing intervened, and the creature recognized him as the Third Young Master.

• Mu Tong'er discussed the tangled tombs and the Corpse Buriers with Chu Qing, Wu Qianhuan, and Wen Rou.
• Fire oil from a hidden tomb tile ignited, and Chu Qing extinguished the flames and stabilized the injured workers.
• Corpse Beetles emerged from underground, but Chu Qing froze them and ordered his people to clear them away.
• The excavation continued for three days, uncovering dozens of tombs and many burial objects.
• Ren Beiming told Chu Qing that the workers had uncovered a formidable Great Zongzi, and Chu Qing went to the site.
• The Great Zongzi poisoned and overwhelmed Sikong Yijian, but Chu Qing rescued him and knocked the creature down before it greeted him as the Third Young Master.

Chu Qing defeated Grave King’s Great Zongzi body and learned that the Ghost Emperor was supposedly dead, though he suspected Grave King was lying. Nian Xin traced Grave King’s true body, and Chu Qing’s group set out to find it, ending when Mihua brought back Not a Monk’s prayer beads.

• Chu Qing overwhelmed the Great Zongzi with his martial arts and Shark Slaying Saber, then recognized that Grave King was controlling its body.
• Grave King claimed the Ghost Emperor had died from the Poison of Dripping Water and demanded that Chu Qing honor their wager by joining the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• Chu Qing rejected Grave King’s claim without proof of the Ghost Emperor’s corpse, struck him with his saber, and severed his legs.
• Grave King destroyed the Great Zongzi body to prevent Bodhi Convent from tracing him, but Nian Xin used her Seven Treasures Glazed Body Scripture to locate his true body.
• Chu Qing took Wu Qianhuan, Wen Rou, Nian Xin, and Nian An to search in the direction Nian Xin indicated.
• Mihua returned with prayer beads, and Wen Rou identified them as Not a Monk’s prayer beads.

Chu Qing followed Not a Monk’s scent into an ancient tomb and found him guarding a coffin. Not a Monk hinted that Fleeing Scholar had been waiting for him, and Chu Qing asked to hear his story.

• Wen Rou traced Not a Monk’s scent from the prayer beads to a tomb robbers’ tunnel, and Chu Qing led the group inside.
• Chu Qing and the others explored the tunnels and found an empty side chamber before Chu Qing located Not a Monk in the main burial chamber.
• Not a Monk claimed a demon was trapped in the coffin and tried to persuade Chu Qing to take his place, but Chu Qing saw through the false story.
• Chu Qing questioned Not a Monk about his injuries and asked whether Fleeing Scholar had caused them; Not a Monk revealed that he had been waiting for someone and invited Chu Qing to hear his story.

Not a Monk recounted how his brutal experiences led him to seek a ruler capable of bringing prosperity to the world, then admitted that he had chosen a Co-Ruler of the World and killed Fleeing Scholar to clear the way. Chu Qing rejected his justification and prepared to kill him.

• Not a Monk recalled being attacked by starving commoners and later discovering that the Carefree Gang, which had rescued him, was exploiting and murdering the people.
• Not a Monk destroyed the Carefree Gang, then learned from a prosperous town that people could live kindly when they had enough, until a larger gang ruined their lives.
• Not a Monk vowed to find a Co-Ruler of the World who could govern the realm and prevent people from being driven into desperation.
• Chu Qing questioned Not a Monk about the stolen son of Huangfu Changkong, Fleeing Scholar's death, and the injuries Not a Monk received afterward.
• Not a Monk defended his ruthless methods as necessary to transform the world, and Chu Qing declared that it was time for him to enter nirvana.

Chu Qing killed Not a Monk to complete his mission, but the ancient tomb collapsed and sent him and Wen Rou into an underground river. After confessing their feelings and agreeing to be together, they found a massive Bronze Gate deeper underground, and Chu Qing prepared to open it.

• Chu Qing used One Yang Finger to kill Not a Monk, completing his commission and earning a Random Martial Arts Treasure Chest.
• The tomb floor collapsed, and Chu Qing sent Wu Qianhuan out of danger before falling with Wen Rou; he reassured Wu Qianhuan through Heavenly Sound Transmission.
• Chu Qing landed beside an underground river with Wen Rou, while Not a Monk's corpse was swept away by the current.
• Wen Rou confessed that she loved Chu Qing and asked whether he wanted her; Chu Qing said he did.
• Chu Qing and Wen Rou followed the river until they found a huge Bronze Gate, which Chu Qing prepared to open.

Chu Qing and Wen Rou left the underground Bronze Gate behind and tracked the Heavenly Evil Cult to its hidden base. Disguised as a guard, Chu Qing entered the base and seized a cult member as he prepared to leave with a captive woman.

• Chu Qing failed to force open the Bronze Gate without risking a cave-in, so he and Wen Rou decided to return after dealing with the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• Chu Qing carried Wen Rou out of the pit, then followed Nian Xin and Nian An to a barren hill where he sensed people hidden underground.
• Chu Qing left Wu Qianhuan, Wen Rou, Nian Xin, and Nian An waiting while he used the Heavenly Sound Transmission to stay in contact.
• Chu Qing entered the Heavenly Evil Cult's base disguised as a guard and followed a cult member to Chess King, who rewarded the man with a captive woman.
• Evil King announced that he would go outside to investigate the strange wind, while Chess King ordered the cult to stay alert.
• Near the exit, Chu Qing revealed himself, seized the cult member, and took the woman from his shoulder.

Chu Qing infiltrated the Heavenly Evil Cult, confirmed the location of Grave King’s forces, and escaped with a captive girl before returning to camp. As the alliance prepared to attack at dawn, Mu Tong'er reacted with shock when Chu Qing mentioned a Bronze Gate, asking if he had found the First Martial Emperor’s tomb.

• Chu Qing disguised himself as a cult guard, investigated the Heavenly Evil Cult’s stronghold, and escaped with a rescued girl after subduing the man who had received a reward.
• Evil King encountered the gray-robed Good King, and the two began fighting near the cult’s hiding place.
• Nian Xin and Nian An sensed the Benevolent Scripture and Villain’s Record, but Chu Qing chose not to return to the fight and led the group back to camp.
• Chu Qing told the gathered leaders that he had found Grave King’s forces and ordered them to assemble for a dawn attack while Mu Tong'er kept the grave-moving operation going.
• Chu Qing told Mu Tong'er about the Bronze Gate he had found in an ancient tomb, and she asked whether he had discovered the First Martial Emperor’s tomb.

Chu Qing confirmed that Mu Tong'er had identified the First Martial Emperor's true tomb and led a large Southern Region force toward it. Before they could attack the Heavenly Evil Cult stronghold, they found Good King, who asked Chu Qing to kill Evil King and offered to die in return.

• Mu Tong'er identified the thirty-zhang Bronze Gate as the entrance to the First Martial Emperor's true tomb and agreed to accompany Chu Qing.
• Chu Qing opened a random martial arts treasure chest, obtained Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi, and reached the peak of the sixth realm.
• Chu Qing led more than two thousand Southern Region experts toward the Heavenly Evil Cult stronghold and discussed blasting open the hill while protecting Ghost Emperor.
• The group discovered Good King severely mutilated but still alive, and Chu Qing learned that Evil King had attacked him.
• Good King asked Chu Qing to kill Evil King and promised to help him slay both kings in one stroke, offering his own life as repayment.

Chu Qing learned how Good King and Evil King’s martial arts were linked, accepted a commission to assassinate Evil King, and heard about the Heavenly Evil Cult’s monstrous Cult Master. After reaching the cult’s hidden stronghold, Chu Qing and Mu Tong’er set off explosives and launched an attack.

• Good King explained that the Benevolent Scripture and Villain’s Record had to be cultivated together for either to reach completion, and that killing Evil King could also require Good King’s death.
• Chu Qing accepted the commission to assassinate Evil King and learned about Evil King’s Karma Fire, his past, and the ruthless genius who led the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• Good King’s severed limbs healed rapidly after they were reattached, and he continued traveling beside Chu Qing without attacking him.
• At the Heavenly Evil Cult’s destination, Mu Tong’er directed Chu Qing to place gunpowder around the hill while the gathered group prepared to attack.
• Chu Qing detonated the gunpowder with flaming palm strikes, collapsing ancient tombs and exposing the stronghold, then ordered everyone to kill the cult’s disciples.

Chu Qing led the Southern Region experts into the Heavenly Evil Cult’s stronghold, cutting through its defenses and breaking Chess King’s Life and Death Chess Array with Nian Xin and Nian An. He found Grave King and Chess King using the Heavenly Demon Mind Control Art on the Ghost Emperor, leaving him to choose between killing them and risking the Ghost Emperor’s death or sparing them and facing the Ghost Emperor as an enemy.

• Chu Qing combined A Sword Separating Worlds with Innate Body-Piercing Formless Sword Qi and killed hundreds of Heavenly Evil Cult disciples as Liu Zhaonian and the others charged in.
• Chu Qing suppressed the cult’s Karma Fire with ice and led Nian Xin and Nian An deeper into the stronghold.
• Nian An threw Nian Xin into Chess King’s Life and Death Chess Array, and Nian Xin shattered the formation with her Guanyin Dharma Image.
• Chu Qing carried Nian Xin and Nian An onward, then fought through a tomb chamber and found Chess King, Grave King, and the Ghost Emperor.
• Grave King revealed that he and Chess King had used the Heavenly Demon Mind Control Art to make the Ghost Emperor their lackey and warned Chu Qing that killing either of them could kill the Ghost Emperor.

Chu Qing faced public pressure to kill Grave King before Ghost Emperor became a puppet, but chose to give Ghost Emperor a short chance to resist the Heavenly Demon Mind Control Art. After driving off Evil King and arranging for Good King to fake his death, Chu Qing stayed beside Grave King and Chess King to watch for a rare opportunity.

• Wu Qianhuan, Wen Rou, Liu Zhaonian, and Tianfengzi warned Chu Qing that either choice about Grave King and Ghost Emperor could have serious consequences, while Hua Jinnian urged him to kill Grave King.
• Chu Qing asked how long the Heavenly Demon Mind Control Art would take to succeed, then gave Ghost Emperor until a cup of tea had passed to resist before he would strike.
• Chu Qing repelled Evil King's ambush with a palm strike and sword qi, blasting him through the mountain and into the sky.
• Chu Qing told Good King to kill himself; Good King smashed his own head, survived, and recovered while a startled Heavenly Evil Cult disciple fled into the Supreme Sword Sect's sword formation and died.
• Chu Qing told Liu Zhaonian to fight carefully while he remained with Grave King and Chess King to verify something he considered a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.

Chu Qing confronted Grave King as the Ghost Emperor awakened and attacked Hua Jinnian, forcing Chu Qing to fight him with the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon and his martial arts. After Hua Jinnian revealed that the Ghost Emperor wanted her to kill him, Chu Qing defeated his crushing rock-wall attack and faced him alongside Grave King and Chess King.

• Chu Qing questioned Grave King about the Heavenly Evil Cult’s campaign, learned the Northern Region still resisted, and refused Grave King’s invitation to join the cult.
• Ghost Emperor Moduo awoke and used Third Watch Death, but Chu Qing countered with the Ancient Chapter Zither and the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon.
• Chu Qing and Ghost Emperor Moduo’s sound techniques destroyed the tomb chamber, and Moduo turned on Hua Jinnian before Chu Qing intercepted him.
• Chu Qing fought Moduo in close combat and suspected he was not under another person’s control; Hua Jinnian then asked Chu Qing to help kill her father in exchange for the imperial throne.
• Moduo hurled the shattered tomb ceiling at Chu Qing, but Chu Qing destroyed it with the Three Parts Divine Finger and sent Moduo flying before Grave King and Chess King joined him.

Chu Qing confronted Ghost Emperor Moduo over his long-running deception and the lives sacrificed to his plan, then fought him and the Twelve Sacred Kings in Ten Absolutes Cave. The battle ended with Chu Qing holding Evil King by the throat and demanding that he repeat his threat.

• Ghost Emperor Moduo admitted that he had played along with the Twelve Sacred Kings’ scheme to gain a chance to kill the Heavenly Evil Cult Master, while Chu Qing challenged the lives his plan had cost and questioned why he had killed Hua Jinnian.
• Ghost Emperor Moduo summoned the Senluo Ghost King’s Dharma Image and attacked Chu Qing, who answered with a powerful sword strike that shook Ten Absolutes Cave.
• Chu Qing learned from Wu Qianhuan that the group had lost their transmission after Grave King was counter-controlled by Ghost Emperor Moduo.
• Ghost Emperor Moduo retreated as Grave King and Chess King attacked Chu Qing, while Evil King launched a sudden assault from above.
• Chu Qing used Divine Dragon Swings Tail to fill the area with white mist, sent Grave King and Chess King flying, and seized Evil King by the throat.

Chu Qing fought Ghost Emperor Moduo, Grave King, and Chess King underground while holding the wounded Evil King, and the battle’s shockwaves reshaped the battlefield above. After Chu Qing struck Ghost Emperor and Grave King down, he heard Mu Tong’er crying out overhead and looked up to find her.

• Chu Qing seized Evil King and began pulling at his bones, but released him to meet Ghost Emperor’s attack.
• Ghost Emperor used Six Paths of Suffering against Chu Qing, who answered with a sword-infused palm and was driven underground.
• Wu Qianhuan and Wen Rou felt the battle’s tremors, while Hua Jinnian teamed up with Good King to search for Chu Qing and Ghost Emperor.
• Mu Tong’er used her compass to search for the First Martial Emperor’s tomb, but the tremors made her fall into a tomb raider’s tunnel.
• Chess King and Grave King joined Ghost Emperor against Chu Qing; Chu Qing endured their attack and struck back using Evil King as a sword, sending Ghost Emperor and Grave King falling away.
• Chu Qing prepared to search for Ghost Emperor and Grave King, then heard Mu Tong’er crying overhead and recognized her.

Chu Qing rescued Mu Tong'er from a fall, and the two descended into a strange underground space that suppressed their inner power. Mu Tong'er suspected they had found the First Martial Emperor's tomb and identified the Town Origin Stone, while Chu Qing showed her an object that startled her.

• Chu Qing caught Mu Tong'er after she tore off Evil King's scalp by grabbing his hair, and Evil King fell away in a rage.
• Mu Tong'er joined Chu Qing in investigating the structure below, but their inner power weakened as they approached its rooftop and they fell through into a star-lit space with a river.
• Chu Qing rescued Mu Tong'er from the river, while Evil King disappeared downstream; Chu Qing then discovered his inner power weakened again whenever he climbed toward the rooftop.
• Mu Tong'er explained that the suppression likely came from the Town Origin Stone, one of the Nine Treasures of Heaven and Earth that was rumored to be buried with the First Martial Emperor.
• Chu Qing showed Mu Tong'er an object, and she immediately asked where he had gotten it.

Chu Qing and Mu Tong'er explored the Tomb of the First Martial Emperor after learning about the Sound Transmission Bell and deciding to seek the tomb’s secrets before Ghost Emperor escaped. They broke through the tomb’s mechanisms and formations, then found a black-flame figure whom Chu Qing recognized as the Evil King—now bald because of Mu Tong'er.

• Chu Qing examined the Sound Transmission Bell he had taken from Grave King, and Mu Tong'er explained that it was one of the Nine Treasures of Heaven and Earth that could transmit sound across a thousand miles.
• After hearing how Ghost Emperor had used Grave King and Chess King in his scheme, Mu Tong'er urged Chu Qing to explore the tomb instead of leaving, and she led him through hidden doors and mechanisms.
• Chu Qing smashed the Square Stone Formation, while Mu Tong'er studied the Dragon Guiding Formation and concluded that the First Martial Emperor may have built the tomb because he did not want to die.
• Mu Tong'er deciphered the stone forest’s formation and led Chu Qing through its Gate of Life into a room containing an Alchemy Furnace, racks of bottles and jade slips, and a black-flame figure.
• Chu Qing identified the figure as the Evil King and pointed out that Mu Tong'er had made him bald; Mu Tong'er remembered discarding his hair and tried to suppress her laughter.

Chu Qing used Mu Tong'er’s taunts to provoke the Evil King, then exploited the link between the Evil King and the Good King to complete his assassination commission. He used the Sound Transmission Bell to contact allies and explore the tomb, but the Ghost Emperor damaged the bell, forcing Chu Qing and Mu Tong'er to hurry after him and the Grave King.

• Mu Tong'er mocked the Evil King alongside Chu Qing until the Evil King’s cultivation went awry and left him helpless as his injuries rapidly healed.
• Chu Qing decapitated the Evil King, used the Sound Transmission Bell to contact the Good King, and told him he could die; the Good King killed himself, completing Chu Qing’s commission and earning him a Random Martial Arts Treasure Chest.
• Chu Qing searched the tomb with the Sound Transmission Bell, found Wu Qianhuan and Wen Rou’s traces, and discovered the inner palace and a mysterious object that might be a broken stone tablet.
• Chu Qing located the Ghost Emperor and the Grave King, but the Ghost Emperor detected his spiritual search and cracked the Sound Transmission Bell.
• Chu Qing decided to leave quickly before the Ghost Emperor and Grave King reached the palace, refusing Mu Tong’er’s request to take the alchemy furnace and pills.

The Ghost Emperor and Grave King entered the Martial Emperor Pavilion, where the Ghost Emperor destroyed its traps and discovered a strange blood pool that might conceal the First Martial Emperor. When the Ghost Emperor shattered the pool, Chu Qing and Mu Tong'er arrived, interrupting his attempt to seize a half stone stele.

• Grave King destroyed the mechanical puppets guarding the Martial Emperor Pavilion, and the Ghost Emperor suspected Chu Qing was watching him.
• The Ghost Emperor forced his way through the pavilion's mechanisms and illusions until he reached its third floor.
• The Ghost Emperor examined a blood pool, flood dragon pillars, and a mural that suggested the First Martial Emperor might still be alive.
• A hand seized Grave King's wrist from the pool, so the Ghost Emperor used his half-god, half-ghost Dharma Image to smash the pool and pillars, blasting a pale figure onto a chair.
• As the Ghost Emperor reached for the half stone stele, Chu Qing's Alchemy Furnace crashed through the wall; Chu Qing and Mu Tong'er appeared, and Mu Tong'er mourned its damage.