Chapter Summaries

Zhong Shan secured the Western Poison Emperor’s cooperation by producing eight Immortal Steles and arranging a meeting with Hao Meili, then led a 500,000-strong army out of Matchless City to begin his campaign for the Twelve Coastal Cities. The army set out with eight months left for Zhong Shan to fulfill his promise to conquer the twelve cities.

• The Western Poison Emperor returned to Matchless City and took the Immortal Stele Zhong Shan had placed outside the South City Gate.
• Zhong Shan demonstrated his saber technique, then met with the Western Poison Emperor and told him how he had helped Hao Meili.
• Zhong Shan offered the Western Poison Emperor eight more Immortal Steles in exchange for a meeting with Hao Meili and her possible help in seizing twelve cities.
• Under the Western Poison Emperor’s mediation, Zhong Shan met Hao Meili, and four months passed after Zhong Shan’s deadline agreement with King Da Xuan.
• Zhong Shan addressed his army of 500,000 and led it out of Matchless City toward the Twelve Coastal Cities.

King Da Xuan, Marquis Qitian, and Mister Shui Jing learned that Zhong Shan had begun his campaign against the Twelve Coastal Cities with only five hundred thousand troops. Zhong Shan’s force reached Skyfire City, where his war drums sounded and the City Lord raised the city to its highest alert.

• King Da Xuan agreed to send civil officials to coordinate the Twelve Coastal Cities after hearing Zhong Shan had requested them.
• Marquis Qitian ordered scouts to investigate the Twelve Coastal Cities, while Mister Shui Jing told his men to observe Zhong Shan’s campaign.
• Zhong Shan bypassed the first two coastal cities and led his troops to Skyfire City, where he ordered them to climb the surrounding mountains and prepare the War Drums.
• The Western Poison Emperor arrived and told Zhong Shan that Hao Meili would arrive within an hour.
• Shui Wuhen raised his flag, and the War Drums thundered across Skyfire City as its defenders spotted Zhong Shan’s army.
• The Skyfire City Lord recognized Zhong Shan and ordered the city to its highest alert, keeping troops at all four gates and watching for suspicious figures.

Zhong Shan launched his attack on Skyfire City by ordering the dragons led by Hao Meili to draw an enormous flood from the East Sea. As seawater rose outside the eastern gate and dragon-made rain poured inside the city, the Skyfire City Lord's defenses faced a growing deluge.

• Zhong Shan demanded that the Skyfire City Lord surrender, but the lord refused and vowed to defend the city.
• Zhong Shan beat the war drums, and a vast flood surged toward his army as Hao Meili rode atop a golden dragon.
• The Skyfire City Lord ordered troops to reinforce the eastern gate and tried to reassure his generals that the city's height would protect them.
• Hao Meili ordered Little Gold and the other dragons to raise the water around Skyfire City.
• The dragons weathered the defenders' arrows and drove seawater up the eastern walls while sending clouds and torrential rain over the city.
• The flood continued flowing from the East Sea, and rainwater began surging from Skyfire City's high eastern side toward its lower western side.

Zhong Shan used a massive flood to break Skyfire City’s defenses and took control of it within five days. After reorganizing the city and its surrendered troops, he left to conquer the next city while the defeated Skyfire City Lord abandoned plans to retake it.

• The flood overwhelmed Skyfire City’s walls, and the defenders retreated as Flood Dragons opened the East Gate; Zhong Shan ordered the assault to continue until the city surrendered.
• After the West Gate opened, Zhong Shan led his five-hundred-thousand-strong army into Skyfire City and ordered his troops to pacify surrendering residents and kill stubborn resisters.
• Shui Wuhen reported that the city’s civilians had been pacified, its wealth seized, and nearly four hundred thousand soldiers had surrendered; Zhong Shan ordered the forces reorganized and prepared to march on another city.
• Zhong Shan left Skyfire City with the army, leaving fifteen thousand of Shui Wuhen’s subordinates behind and ordering the gates kept shut until King Da Xuan sent people.
• The Skyfire City Lord rejected a general’s proposal to retake the city and decided to leave with his troops to seek forgiveness from the Great Deer King.

Zhong Shan captured Great Pool City, completing his conquest of the Twelve Coastal Cities without losing a soldier. After meeting the Western Poison Emperor and Hao Meili, he returned six Immortal Steles and gave Hao Meili an Ice Coffin, leaving her visibly shaken.

• Zhong Shan predicted that Great Pool City would fall easily, and the Great Pool City Lord chose to retreat with his million troops rather than fight.
• Zhong Shan refused Shui Wuhen's request to pursue the retreating army and revealed that the Western Poison Emperor and Hao Meili were already inside the city.
• A group of Zhong Shan's agents opened Great Pool City's eastern gate, fulfilling a plan he had begun a year and a half earlier, and his army entered without a fight.
• Zhong Shan's forces occupied the city's key strongholds and began pacifying its people.
• Zhong Shan met the Western Poison Emperor and Hao Meili, returned the six Immortal Steles, and gave Hao Meili an Ice Coffin containing someone she recognized.

Zhong Shan’s rapid conquest of the Twelve Coastal Cities alarmed commanders and rulers across the Great Yu front, while Great Xuan’s court debated how to curb his growing momentum. The chapter ended with King Da Xuan asking how they should suppress Zhong Shan.

• Mister Shui Jing and his generals read a report confirming Zhong Shan had taken the Twelve Coastal Cities in five months and discussed his likely transfer.
• Marquis Qitian learned of Zhong Shan’s victories, requested details, and sent King Da Xuan a report about the campaign.
• Iron Blood urged Nalan Piaoxue to activate Yi Yan, but Nalan Piaoxue refused to act.
• Yi Yan told Iron Blood that Zhong Shan would likely be transferred to fight Xiao Wang, and explained that he still cared about the Great Yu Emperor Dynasty because of the Late Emperor’s kindness.
• King Da Xuan and his strategists debated Zhong Shan’s growing influence, and the First Strategist agreed that they should suppress him.
• King Da Xuan asked his strategists how they should suppress Zhong Shan.

Zhong Shan visited Corpse Mister and invited him to join the Great Zheng Dynasty, but Corpse Mister demanded that Zhong Shan prove his worth by defeating him in a future battle. Zhong Shan returned to celebrate his hundredth birthday, having already received what he considered the best gift.

• Zhong Shan used Earth Escape to enter Corpse Mister’s forbidden palace and thanked him for helping him in the past.
• Zhong Shan invited Corpse Mister to join the Great Zheng Dynasty and revealed that he had taken the Nine Dragons Heaven Halberd Jade beneath Eight Gates Mountain.
• Corpse Mister said Zhong Shan had a formidable fate but must defeat him in his domain during the future war between the Great Zheng Dynasty and the Yin Moon Imperial Dynasty.
• Corpse Mister’s five zombies attacked Zhong Shan, who vanished after saying farewell; he later appeared outside the imperial city with Qingyun Wolf General.
• Zhong Shan returned to the Great Zheng Dynasty for his hundredth-birthday celebration, where officials and generals gathered and two seats were left empty for Empress Tian Ling'er and Empress Kui Er.

On his centennial birthday, Zhong Shan reunited with Dark Emperor before leading a million troops into the Great Radiance Emperor Dynasty. As his army approached the unexpectedly abandoned Great Ye City, Zhong Shan sensed a disaster omen and went to investigate in person.

• Zhong Shan celebrated his hundredth birthday with Dark Emperor, while Zhong Zheng, Zhong Tian, and Bei Qing Si marked the occasion in their own ways.
• Five months later, Zhong Shan chose to seize Great Ye City and ordered his million troops to march there.
• Xiao Wang predicted Zhong Shan’s target and ordered Xiao Yuandeng to withdraw the garrison from Great Ye City, warning that the city would become a graveyard.
• Zhong Shan halted his army after the Red Phoenix Pink Lotus turned blue, and scouts reported that Great Ye City had been emptied of soldiers.
• Zhong Shan ordered the army to withdraw and camp, then rode toward Great Ye City with A Da, Blazing Fire, and Nian Youyou to investigate.

Zhong Shan refused to enter Great Ye City because he sensed a trap, and the Sin Demon soon descended and slaughtered nearly everyone inside. After suspecting Xiao Wang had concealed and exploited the demon, Zhong Shan summoned his army as the creature left to seek more blood.

• Zhong Shan ignored Nian Youyou's urging to seize Great Ye City and waited outside while his scout reported that the city appeared empty of defenses and unusual activity.
• Xiao Wang revealed that he had kept the Sin Demon hidden as a weapon, and Xiao Yuanfeng worried that Zhong Shan might die if it attacked him.
• The Sin Demon swept over Great Ye City, drained the blood of nearly all its residents, and grew large enough to engulf the city while its formation trapped fleeing people.
• Zhong Shan ordered a scout to send Shui Wuhen instructions to bring the army, explaining that Xiao Wang had likely suppressed reports of the demon and could have lured it toward them.
• After draining the city, the Sin Demon emerged and flew southwest in search of more blood as Zhong Shan and his companions watched from a distance.

Zhong Shan lured Xiao Yuandeng’s army into Great Ye City and ambushed it, then pursued the shattered survivors to a river. Xiao Yuanfeng arrived with a million troops, leaving Zhong Shan’s six hundred thousand soldiers facing a fresh enemy force.

• Zhong Shan staged Great Ye City as a massacre site and hid troops and Armor Piercing Arrows to ambush anyone who entered.
• Xiao Yuandeng led his million soldiers into the city, where Zhong Shan’s forces killed or wounded hundreds of thousands in the ambush.
• Zhong Shan left Shui Wuhen with four hundred thousand soldiers to search the city and guard it, then pursued Xiao Yuandeng with Zhao Chuan.
• Xiao Yuandeng’s army fell apart during the pursuit, dwindling to fewer than one hundred thousand soldiers by the time they reached a river.
• Xiao Yuanfeng appeared with a million reinforcements, and Zhong Shan halted his six hundred thousand soldiers to confront them.

Zhong Shan’s army faced Xiao Yuanfeng and Xiao Yuandeng’s larger force until Nian Youyou’s powerful master arrived and stunned both armies with her bell. Xiao Yuanfeng retreated, and the Purple-Robed Woman took Nian Youyou to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, leaving Zhong Shan to return to the city with his troops.

• Zhong Shan and Xiao Yuanfeng prepared their armies to fight, but neither commander launched an attack.
• The Purple-Robed Woman rang her bell, leaving nearly everyone on the battlefield dazed before Zhong Shan and a few others recovered.
• Nian Youyou called the woman her master, and Xiao Yuanfeng and Xiao Yuandeng withdrew their army while Zhong Shan chose not to pursue.
• The Purple-Robed Woman ordered Nian Youyou to accompany her to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and Nian Youyou waved goodbye to Zhong Shan before leaving.
• Zhong Shan acknowledged Nian Youyou’s departure and ordered his army back to the city to celebrate their victory.

Zhong Shan returned to Great Ye City and discovered that Bai Ye had entered the city and drawn a Ninth Grade Murderous Saber from beneath the imperial palace’s Yang Spring. After Bai Ye departed with the saber, Zhong Shan and his escorts left the devastated city.

• Zhong Shan found Great Ye City’s gate open and learned from Shui Wuhen that Bai Ye had smashed it with one palm while Great Might Heavenly Dragon had entered to investigate an evil demon.
• Zhong Shan ordered his troops to plunder the city’s remaining wealth and waited near the imperial palace while Bai Ye remained inside.
• A roar and eruption of Earth Yang Energy destroyed the palace as Bai Ye drew a saber from beneath the Yang Spring.
• Bai Ye took the Ninth Grade Murderous Saber and flew away, leaving Zhong Shan to retreat from Great Ye City with A Da and Blazing Fire.

Zhong Shan’s army captured White Emperor City after Dark Emperor secretly opened its South City Gate, while Xiao Yuanfeng arrived too late to stop the defeat. Two years later, Zhong Shan commanded an established force there and reviewed its troops and the situation in Great Radiance Territory.

• Zhong Shan identified the Ninth Grade Murderous Saber beneath Great Ye City and led his army toward White Emperor City.
• Zhong Shan ordered Liu Wushuang, Shui Wuhen, and Zhao Chuan to attack White Emperor City, and Liu Wushuang’s Wolf Cavalry entered through the mysteriously opened South City Gate.
• Zhong Shan revealed that Dark Emperor had helped open the gate, then let Dark Emperor depart to follow his late mentor’s instructions.
• Xiao Yuanfeng learned that White Emperor City had fallen and withdrew his troops, blaming Zhong Shan’s speed and the defenders’ failure.
• Two years later, Shui Wuhen reported that he commanded six hundred thousand elite soldiers, while Zhao Chuan said only four of the six armies in Great Radiance Territory could hold out.

Zhong Shan met with Golden Cicada, who asked him to halt his campaign for a year so he could gather merit and recover his past-life memories. Zhong Shan agreed under pressure from Great Might Heavenly Dragon, then prepared to take over Golden Cicada’s cities and troops while concealing the change from Xiao Wang.

• Zhao Chuan reported that Zhong Shan, Water Mirror, Golden Cicada, and Xiang Bu commanded the four remaining armies, and Zhong Shan inferred that Golden Cicada was using the war to accumulate merit.
• Shui Wuhen warned Zhong Shan that the army’s provisions were running low, and Zhong Shan assured him supplies would arrive the next day.
• Golden Cicada and Great Might Heavenly Dragon visited Zhong Shan at White Emperor City, where Golden Cicada admitted that he sought merit to recover his past-life memories and asked Zhong Shan to suspend hostilities for a year.
• Golden Cicada offered his captured cities and soldiers in exchange for Zhong Shan’s cooperation, and Zhong Shan agreed after recognizing the danger of refusing him.
• After Golden Cicada departed, Zhong Shan explained that Great Might Heavenly Dragon could have helped him kill Zhong Shan, then ordered his men to receive the transferred forces and devise a strategy to deceive Xiao Wang.

Golden Cicada recovered his Past Life Memories while serving under Zhong Shan, then refused the Great Might Heavenly Dragon’s plea to search for the Sinful Demon and prepared to return to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Before vanishing, he gave Zhong Shan an invitation to the Great Nirvana Assembly and a kasaya, leaving Zhong Shan suspicious of his motives.

• Golden Cicada led 1.5 million troops to join Zhong Shan’s army, startling the factions and commanders across the battlefield.
• Zhong Shan learned that more than twenty Emperor Realm experts had gathered in Great Radiance to hunt the increasingly elusive Sinful Demon.
• After eight months, Golden Cicada recovered his Past Life Memories, and the Great Might Heavenly Dragon arrived to ask him to find the Sinful Demon.
• Golden Cicada refused to help, prompting the Great Might Heavenly Dragon to transform into a golden dragon and break through White Emperor City’s protective formation.
• Golden Cicada invited Zhong Shan to the Great Nirvana Assembly in ten years, gave him a Purple Cotton Kasaya, and vanished.
• Zhong Shan accepted the gifts but suspected Golden Cicada had another motive for giving him the kasaya.

Zhong Shan received a War Sealing Order that barred armies from the area around Moonbright City and Moonsparse City while Emperor Realm experts hunted the Sin Demon. After the Great Deer King was killed, Nalan Piaoxue appointed Yi Yan to command Great Yu’s military forces.

• Zhong Shan learned that the kasaya could not be stored in his Storage Bracelet and suspected it had become a Ninth Grade Magical Treasure.
• Ten Emperor Realm experts delivered a War Sealing Order forbidding troops from entering within five hundred thousand kilometers of Moonbright City and Moonsparse City for five months.
• Shui Wuhen reported that Marquis Qitian had killed the Great Deer King at Eight Desolations City, and Zhong Shan predicted that Great Yu would recall Yi Yan.
• Nalan Piaoxue asked his ministers how to respond to the Great Deer King's death, and Iron Blood proposed recalling Yi Yan or having the emperor lead the campaign himself.
• Nalan Piaoxue visited Yi Yan and appointed him Grand Commandant of Great Yu, and Yi Yan accepted the decree.

Yi Yan returned to serve Da Yu in gratitude to the Late Emperor, while Zhong Shan prepared a strike on the battlefield to gain strength. Zhong Shan’s forces trapped a powerful commander, and the Purple Cotton Kasaya protected him as Blazing Fire brought the enemy down and poisoned him with desire.

• Yi Yan explained to Iron Blood that he had accepted the Grand Commandant position to repay the Late Emperor, then ordered military records gathered and a Rewards and Punishments Document sent throughout Da Yu.
• Zhong Shan told Shui Wuhen that Yi Yan’s return came too late to change the battlefield, then ordered Zhao Chuan to prepare fifty thousand elite archers for a secret mission.
• Zhong Shan left White Emperor City with the archers, intending to kill Emperor Realm experts and use their Primordial Spirits to strengthen himself.
• A black-robed commander blocked Zhong Shan’s army, but the archers, A Da, and Blazing Fire attacked him; Zhong Shan’s Purple Cotton Kasaya shattered the commander’s assault and protected him from capture.
• Blazing Fire struck the commander into a deep pit, where the wounded man realized that his desire had been mysteriously inflamed and suspected he had been poisoned.

Zhong Shan subdued and killed Da Han, then hunted down Emperor Realm experts until he broke through to the eighth layer of the Golden Core Realm. He joined A Da and Chi Huo near the Twin Plains to await the evil demon, while anticipating that the demon hunt would trigger a major conflict between the Da Luo and Great Radiance dynasties.

• Zhong Shan used the colorless Red Phoenix Mist to help A Da and Chi Huo subdue Da Han, then killed him and fed his Primordial Spirit to the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail.
• Zhong Shan led repeated ambushes against Emperor Realm experts, and after consuming the fifth new target's Primordial Spirit, he broke through to the eighth layer of the Golden Core Realm.
• Zhong Shan sent Zhao Chuan and the army back to garrison White Emperor City, then traveled with A Da and Chi Huo to lure the evil demon near the Twin Cities.
• Great Might Heavenly Dragon and a group of experts prepared a blood formation on the Twin Plains, hoping to draw out the evil demon, whose strength now rivaled his own.
• While waiting near the Twin Plains, Zhong Shan told A Da that the demon hunt could decide the course of the war and that Shui Wuhen and other commanders were preparing for the fighting to follow.

Great Might Heavenly Dragon and the gathered experts lured the Sin Demon to the Twin Plains, but it emerged around Zhong Shan after sensing the Source Bloodline inside him. Trapped within its vast blood sea, Zhong Shan watched the experts’ attack fail as the Sin Demon devastated their ranks.

• Great Might Heavenly Dragon waited beside the Central Blood Pool Array while Zhong Shan reasoned that the Sin Demon would seek out the finest blood in the Twin Plains.
• The Sin Demon sensed Xianxian’s Source Bloodline within Zhong Shan and erupted around him, spreading a crimson blood sea across nearly half the Twin Plains.
• Great Might Heavenly Dragon led dozens of Emperor Realm experts in a sword-array attack, which pierced the Sin Demon before its blood sea quickly healed.
• Bai Ye watched the Sin Demon from an empty tavern, sipping wine and appearing to pursue another scheme.
• Zhong Shan used the Purple Cotton Kasaya to protect himself and A Da and Blazing Fire, while A Da’s attack failed to cut a lasting opening in the blood sea.
• The Sin Demon overwhelmed the expert formation, leaving thirty Emperor Realm experts alive after Great Might Heavenly Dragon’s roar pushed back the blood sea.

Zhong Shan escaped the Sin Devil’s blood sea by cutting open a path with his Heavenly Laws, while the Great Might Heavenly Dragon continued fighting inside. As everyone waited for the battle’s outcome, Bai Ye arrived and split the Sin Devil in two with the Ninth Grade Murderous Saber.

• The Sin Devil copied the Great Might Heavenly Dragon’s roar and killed an Emperor Realm expert with its blood sea.
• Zhong Shan used Heavenly Laws: Tear Wind to help A Da and Chi Huo reach the edge of the blood sea.
• Zhong Shan used Heavenly Laws: Wave Cutting to open a tear in the Sin Devil, allowing himself and four Emperor Realm experts to escape.
• A Da and Chi Huo carried Zhong Shan to safety as the Sin Devil closed the opening and the Great Might Heavenly Dragon kept fighting within it.
• Bai Ye approached the Sin Devil and split it in two with a single slash from his Ninth Grade Murderous Saber.