Chapter Summaries

In the Netherworld, Zhong Shan’s Great Zheng captured invading forces while his main body traveled to the Supreme Beginning Sacred Court as a hostage. After Sima Zongheng sealed Zhong Shan’s cultivation, the story shifted to Qingqiu, where Young Master A Fo approached the prison hoping to see him.

• Zhong Shan ordered Mud Bodhisattva and King Skeleton to face the Heaven Household’s experts and sent his ministers against the armies of six Heavenly Dynasties.
• Mud Bodhisattva and King Skeleton killed one Great Immortal and captured Paradise, another Great Immortal, and eight generals; Zhong Shan handed the prisoners to Liu Wushuang for interrogation and torture.
• The Supreme Beginning Sacred King hurried back to court with fifteen subordinates, leaving Sima Zongheng to escort Zhong Shan to Qingqiu.
• Sima Zongheng questioned Zhong Shan about the eight-tailed beast and Sima Ce, then sealed Zhong Shan’s cultivation.
• Young Master A Fo complained to Hong Xiao about being sent to the Eighteenth Level of Hell and said he wanted to see Zhong Shan before entering it.
• A Fo ordered prison guards Liu Ding and Liu Jia to prepare for him.

Zhong Shan arrived in Qingqiu Holy Capital as Sima Zongheng’s prisoner and was publicly paraded into Qingqiu Great Prison. He was sent to the Eighteenth Level of Hell, where he discovered its extreme gravity, its worn-down prisoners, and a strangely comfortable sleeping inmate.

• Sima Zongheng brought Zhong Shan to Qingqiu Holy Capital and ordered Sima Sanliang to put him in the Eighteenth Level of Hell.
• Sima Sanliang had Zhong Shan marched along Great Prison Street to attract a crowd, while Zhong Shan endured their ridicule in silence.
• At Qingqiu Great Prison, Sima Sanliang ordered Liu Ding and Liu Jia to send Zhong Shan to the Eighteenth Level despite their concerns.
• Zhong Shan arrived in a valley of prison cells where gravity exceeded normal levels by more than two hundred thousand times, and he saw a prisoner die under the strain.
• Zhong Shan noticed a fat man sleeping comfortably amid plants and delicacies, ignored another prisoner’s questions, and sat down to meditate.

Sima Sanliang arranged for Liu Ding and Liu Jia to torment Zhong Shan in the Eighteenth Level of Hell, believing his cultivation had been sealed. Zhong Shan revealed his power by killing both guards, then turned his commanding gaze on the prisoners.

• A noblewoman ordered Sima Sanliang to torment Zhong Shan but keep him alive, and he planned to use the Five Great Commanders’ keys to reach him.
• Liu Ding and Liu Jia brought Black Iron Tower and other prisoners into Zhong Shan’s ring and urged them to attack, but Zhong Shan’s murderous gaze made them retreat.
• Liu Ding and Liu Jia attacked Zhong Shan themselves, and he revealed his power and killed them both with his palms.
• The prisoners stared at Zhong Shan in fear, while the awakened fat man praised his strength.
• Zhong Shan rose and swept his gaze across the prisoners, imposing the authority of a Sacred King.

Zhong Shan freed the prisoners in the Eighteenth Level of Hell and led them in a mass escape that devastated the Qingqiu Great Prison. As the Qingqiu Holy Capital raised the alarm, Su A Fo fled to find out whether Zhong Shan had reached Supreme Beginning.

• Zhong Shan learned that the Eighteenth Level of Hell suppressed prisoners and ordered Black Iron Tower to use the Red Bracelets and Secret Keys to open every cell.
• Zhong Shan led the freed prisoners upward, killed the guards on the seventeenth level, and ordered that level’s prisoners released as well.
• Sima Sanliang admitted to his fellow commanders that he had sent Liu Ding and Liu Jia to teach the Great Zheng Sacred King a lesson, then learned that a million prisoners had escaped.
• The prisoners rampaged through the Qingqiu Great Prison, destroyed nearby buildings, and triggered the highest-level distress signal across the Qingqiu Holy Capital.
• Su A Fo told Zhong Shan he would return to Supreme Beginning to check on Zhong Shan’s whereabouts, then vanished.

Zhong Shan freed a million prisoners from the Qingqiu Great Prison and used the Eighteenth Level of Hell to trap the prison grounds as Qingqiu forces rushed to contain the chaos. A Fo returned home and learned that the man behind the prison break was Zhong Shan, the Declining Fate Sacred King he had hoped to meet.

• Zhong Shan gave Black Iron Tower and the freed prisoners leave, then activated the five beads to raise the Eighteenth Level of Hell and form a Zhou Tian World around the prison.
• Officials and a general arrived, ordered the formation attacked, and sent troops across Qingqiu Holy Capital to hunt the escaped prisoners.
• General Su allowed Hong Xiao to take the Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends to guard A Fo, but A Fo arrived home before they could leave.
• A Fo told General Su that a stranger had freed a million prisoners and complained that he had missed Zhong Shan by one day and lost his Vajra Pestle in a wager.
• Hong Xiao revealed that Zhong Shan had been thrown into the Eighteenth Level of Hell, and A Fo realized that Zhong Shan had led the prison break.

After escaping Qingqiu Great Prison during a mass prison break, Zhong Shan hid in Qingqiu Holy Capital instead of fleeing and entered the Chess Soul Competition Selection to pass the time. He solved all ten qualifying endgames and approached the tournament just as Sima Qianjun reached ninety-nine consecutive victories.

• The Supreme Beginning Sacred King learned that Zhong Shan had been thrown into the Eighteenth Level of Hell, then heard that a million prisoners had escaped and ordered a search.
• Zhong Shan quietly escaped the prison but stayed in Qingqiu, reasoning that fleeing would endanger Great Zheng, and made his way toward Qingqiu Mountain.
• Zhong Shan entered Second Chess Plaza and learned that entrants had to solve ten endgames and then win one hundred consecutive matches to qualify for the Chess Soul Duel.
• Zhong Shan solved all ten endgames with astonishing speed and received a score token for the competition.
• Zhong Shan headed to the tournament tables as the crowd announced that Sima Qianjun had won ninety-nine matches in a row.

Zhong Shan challenged Sima Qianjun, who had won ninety-nine matches in a row, and defeated him with his Emperor Chess. The game ended with Zhong Shan’s black stones spelling “Too Weak,” while Sima Qianjun’s bid for a hundred consecutive victories collapsed.

• Nine Tails Princess berated her defeated attendant as Sima Qianjun taunted her and boasted that he was close to qualifying for the Sea of Mist.
• Sima Qianjun demanded another opponent, and Zhong Shan stepped forward despite having a tally of zero.
• Zhong Shan opened at Tengen, drawing mockery from the crowd, while Sima Qianjun built an apparently dominant position.
• Zhong Shan’s Emperor Chess transformed the board, and the watching players realized his Tengen stone commanded the game.
• Zhong Shan captured Sima Qianjun’s stones and won, leaving the words “Too Weak” spelled across the board.

Zhong Shan defeated Sima Qianjun in three consecutive chess games, humiliating him with words formed on the board. When Sima Qianjun summoned nearly a hundred Sima Family experts to seize him, powerful Qingqiu figures, tens of thousands of troops, and nearly ten Great Immortals arrived to protect Zhong Shan.

• Zhong Shan defeated Sima Qianjun in their first game, forming the words "Too Weak" on the board, and Nine Tails Princess praised him.
• Sima Qianjun demanded another game, but Zhong Shan won again and formed the words "Same" on the board.
• Sima Qianjun insisted on a third game, which lasted through the night until he lost and saw the words "Idiot" on the board.
• Enraged, Sima Qianjun summoned nearly a hundred Sima Family experts and ordered them to seize Zhong Shan despite Nine Tails Princess's warning.
• Zhong Shan declared that even the Sima Family patriarch would not dare threaten him, and Qingqiu powerholders, tens of thousands of troops, and nearly ten Great Immortals from the Supreme Beginning Sacred Court arrived around him.

Sima Zongheng broke into Qingqiu Great Prison and learned how Sima Sanliang had enabled the escape, while Sima Sanliang sought help from the noblewoman who had ordered him to target Zhong Shan. Zhong Shan was escorted away from Second Chess Plaza as the Great Zheng Sacred King, and Nine Tails Princess spotted Su A Fo carrying a collection of Great Immortal Artifacts.

• Sima Zongheng broke the prison formations, found the surviving commanders, and ordered them to explain how the Secret Keys had been lost.
• Sima Sanliang knelt before the noblewoman for a day, then received a Great Immortal Bodyguard Elixir and promised to cripple Zhong Shan.
• Mr. Li and nearly ten Great Immortals arrived at Second Chess Plaza with a vast army, and Mr. Li identified Zhong Shan as the Great Zheng Sacred King.
• Zhong Shan left with Mr. Li and the Great Immortals, while Sima Qianjun watched helplessly and Nine Tails Princess took Zhong Shan's folded token marked Three.
• Nine Tails Princess spotted Su A Fo carrying seven Great Immortal Artifacts and called him to a stop.

Zhong Shan completed the initial form of his personal world, named it the God Realm, and instructed its Eye of Heavenly Punishment to absorb the Great Chiliocosm World's laws. When Sima Sanliang ambushed him in the Great Zheng Hall, Zhong Shan's Immortal Execution Sword repelled the attack and left Sima Sanliang gravely wounded.

• Su A Fo told the Nine Tails Princess that Zhong Shan had released the prisoners from the Eighteenth Level of Hell, then fled with his Great Immortal Artifacts and decided to send one to Hong Xiao.
• Mr. Li brought Zhong Shan to the Hostage Imperial Residence, where Zhong Shan entered the Great Zheng Hall and activated its formation to cultivate.
• Mr. Li ordered the residence's guards to assign Celestial Immortals to watch Zhong Shan whenever he went outside and to record his actions.
• Zhong Shan completed the initial form of his world, named it the God Realm, and ordered the Eye of Heavenly Punishment to copy and absorb the Great Chiliocosm World's laws and Heavenly Daos.
• Sima Sanliang infiltrated the Great Zheng Hall and attacked Zhong Shan, but the Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail's Immortal Execution Sword shattered his Black Sword and severely injured him.
• Zhong Shan emerged from the smoke, looked down at the fallen Sima Sanliang, and asked if he had come to kill him.

Zhong Shan defeated Sima Sanliang’s assassination attempt, then joined the Nine Tails Princess as her retainer to gain greater freedom and a possible path back to Great Zheng. The chapter ended with Sima Zongheng and Sima Qianjun studying the Go formation Zhong Shan had used to humiliate Qianjun.

• Sima Sanliang swallowed a Great Immortal Bodyguard Elixir, but Zhong Shan’s attacks still overwhelmed him and the Nine Tails Princess joined in beating him.
• After Sima Sanliang threatened Zhong Shan’s family, Zhong Shan kicked him down and the Nine Tails Princess had the guards hold him while she stomped on his face.
• The Nine Tails Princess told Zhong Shan she had arranged for him to become her retainer, offering him greater freedom and a chance to earn merit toward returning to the imperial court.
• Zhong Shan agreed to follow the Nine Tails Princess after learning that returning as a Sacred King required King Rank achievements.
• Sima Zongheng and Sima Qianjun examined the Go formation Zhong Shan had used to humiliate Qianjun.

Zhong Shan returned to Second Chess Plaza and won ninety-nine games in succession before Sima Zongheng challenged him. Their match began with both masters unleashing powerful chess realms, leaving the watching players caught in visions of a battlefield.

• Sima Zongheng told Sima Qianjun that Zhong Shan approached the Dao Realm in chess, while the Sima Family's Little Prince had reached it.
• Zhong Shan faced ten opponents at once and defeated them, then swept through successive batches until he reached ninety-nine consecutive victories.
• Sima Zongheng confronted Zhong Shan, who rebuked him for sealing his cultivation and sending him toward the Eighteenth Level of Hell.
• Sima Zongheng accepted Zhong Shan's challenge, and the two began a match with Zhong Shan playing black and opening at the heavenly star.
• As the match intensified, Zhong Shan's moves created a battlefield vision, and Sima Zongheng answered with an image of the Heavenly River washing over the armies.

Zhong Shan defeated Sima Zongheng in a prolonged chess duel, forcing him to vomit blood and securing the Nine Tails Princess Residence’s place at Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain. The Supreme Beginning Sacred King and Mr. Li discussed the duel’s political implications before the King sent Mr. Li to Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain in his place.

• Zhong Shan and Sima Zongheng’s chess duel drew huge crowds and continued for ten days and nights, with the game’s pressure overwhelming many spectators.
• Zhong Shan’s Zombie Legion move trapped Sima Zongheng, who remained unable to play for a day and night before vomiting blood and conceding defeat.
• Sima Qianjun gathered Sima Family experts, but Sima Zongheng ordered them to leave, while the Nine Tails Princess celebrated Zhong Shan’s hundred consecutive victories.
• Zhong Shan’s victory advanced his state of mind, and the Nine Tails Princess confirmed that her residence could go to Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain.
• The Supreme Beginning Sacred King and Mr. Li reviewed the game, and Mr. Li said Zhong Shan had damaged Sima Zongheng’s dao heart.
• The Supreme Beginning Sacred King ordered Mr. Li to go to Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain in his place.

Zhong Shan accompanied the Nine Tails Princess to Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain, where a celestial phenomenon revealed that a new Saint had been born. They reached the island after the Soul Chess Duel had already begun and saw Mr. Li facing the Ghoul Chess Saint.

• The Nine Tails Princess took Zhong Shan out of Qingqiu using a Supreme Beginning Token and traveled with him to retrieve something her father had left behind.
• A sweeping celestial phenomenon filled the sky with divine beasts and auspicious lights, and the Nine Tails Princess explained that a new Saint had been born to replace one who had died.
• Zhong Shan and the Nine Tails Princess traveled to Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain and found its sea concealed by a disorienting array.
• The Nine Tails Princess used Zhong Shan's token to board a Cloud Ship piloted by a Great Array Puppet, which carried them through the mist to the island.
• The Nine Tails Princess hurried Zhong Shan to the Soul Chess Duel, where Mr. Li was playing the Ghoul Chess Saint, the event's organizer.

Zhong Shan arrived at the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game, learned about the players who had attempted it, and watched Sima Qing challenge the Ghoul Chess Saint. Sima Qing reached the twenty-first move before the game overwhelmed him, and Sima Zongheng rescued him; Sima Qing conceded defeat.

• Zhong Shan examined the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game and resisted its lethal illusion, then met Su A Fo, who described the earlier challengers and Sima Qing.
• Mr. Li withdrew after reaching fifteen moves, and the Ghoul Chess Saint reset the board before Sima Qing began his challenge.
• Sima Qing advanced to the twenty-first move as dark clouds and a soul-seizing aura gathered over the Sea Island.
• Sima Qing lost control of himself, so Sima Zongheng froze and rescued him before the chess game's vortex could consume him.
• Sima Qing acknowledged his defeat, and the Ghoul Chess Saint warned him not to covet what did not belong to him.

Zhong Shan entered the Soul Chess Duel after the Purple Firmament Sect Master’s projection was destroyed by the Ghoul Chess Saint’s Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game. As Zhong Shan prepared his first move, his shadow body in Chang Capital asked NanGong Sheng to decipher the same chess game.

• The Purple Firmament Sect Master arrived at Smoky Sea Cloud Mountain, demanded the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm, and challenged the Ghoul Chess Saint’s game.
• The Purple Firmament Sect Master placed twenty-three stones before his lightning projection exploded, then reassembled and withdrew after acknowledging the Ghoul Chess Saint’s skill.
• With no other players willing to continue, the Nine Tails Princess urged Zhong Shan to challenge the Ghoul Chess Saint and win glory for her residence.
• The Ghoul Chess Saint recognized the Nine Tails Princess’s status, and Zhong Shan stepped onto the terrace and prepared to place a black stone.
• In Chang Capital, Zhong Shan’s shadow body asked NanGong Sheng to decipher the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game.

NanGong Sheng began tackling the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game in the Underworld while Zhong Shan faced the Ghoul Chess Saint in the living world. Zhong Shan endured the game’s escalating moves until the Ghoul Chess Saint spat blood and heavenly lightning shattered the board, leaving the onlookers stunned.

• Zhong Shan warned NanGong Sheng that three Dao Realm powerhouses had suffered disastrous outcomes trying to break the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game, but NanGong Sheng said he was confident it could help him reach the Great Immortal Realm.
• NanGong Sheng began playing the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game as Zhong Shan replayed his moves against the Ghoul Chess Saint in the living world.
• Sima Qing and Mr. Li debated Zhong Shan’s unusual opening and watched as he passed twelve, then sixteen stones without showing signs of trouble.
• Zhong Shan continued playing past twenty-five stones and eventually reached 126, while the Ghoul Chess Saint grew increasingly strained and the watching chess masters were left speechless.
• The Ghoul Chess Saint spat out vital blood, then heavenly lightning struck and shattered the chessboard, leaving the onlookers stunned by Zhong Shan’s apparent victory.

Zhong Shan defeated the Ghoul Chess Saint through a game actually played by NanGong Sheng, helping both men break through their realms. The Ghoul Chess Saint then revealed the true Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game, which Zhong Shan and NanGong Sheng began trying to break to open the tomb of the Nine Tails Heavenly Fox.

• The Ghoul Chess Saint vomited blood, then broke through into the Ancient Immortal Realm and conceded the chess game to Zhong Shan.
• NanGong Sheng reached the Great Immortal Realm in the world below, and Zhong Shan concealed that he had not played the match himself.
• The Ghoul Chess Saint led Zhong Shan and Nine Tails Princess to a vast sea of islands and revealed the true Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game.
• The Ghoul Chess Saint explained that breaking the formation would open the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm, the tomb of the Nine Tails Heavenly Fox.
• Zhong Shan agreed to attempt the formation, while the Ghoul Chess Saint placed the pieces and NanGong Sheng faced the new game below.
• The Purple Firmament Sect Master watched from above and wondered what long-reaching plan the dead Nine Tails Heavenly Fox had laid.

Zhong Shan chose the decisive move in the Heavenly Tribulation Chess Game, breaking it and opening the Ancient Immortal Secret Realm. Inside, he heard a voice warn that those who tampered with Heaven’s mandate would die.

• NanGong Sheng reached his limit in the chess game and identified two possible moves, one that meant life and one that meant death.
• Zhong Shan used the Red Phoenix Pink Lotus to reject the star point and ordered the Ghoul Chess Saint to place a stone at the corner.
• The Star Golden Lightning surged back into the sky, destroying the Purple Firmament Sect Master’s projection as the chess game broke.
• The Ancient Immortal Secret Realm opened, and the Ghoul Chess Saint, Zhong Shan, the Nine Tails Princess, Su A Fo, and other cultivators entered.
• Zhong Shan pulled the Nine Tails Princess away from the crowd and heard a voice proclaim that those who tampered with Heaven’s mandate would die.

Zhong Shan and Nine Tails Princess followed a bead to a hidden fox tomb, where Su Daji’s Residual Thought revealed that the seven Sages had died after meddling with Heaven’s Mandate and offered Nine Tails Princess the fox clan’s inheritance. Zhong Shan left the tomb to guard the ritual, consumed three Great Immortal Artifacts to advance his cultivation, and faced a sudden purple heavenly thunderbolt.

• Zhong Shan and Nine Tails Princess followed the bead to a plaza with a Nine Tails Fox gate and a stele declaring that Nüwa and the six other Sages had died for meddling with Heaven’s Mandate.
• Zhong Shan placed the bead in the fox’s eye, opening the tomb, and he and Nine Tails Princess found a vast chamber containing a giant Nine Tails Fox skeleton.
• Su Daji’s Residual Thought appeared, questioned Nine Tails Princess about the fox clan, and offered to pass down the Nine Tails Heavenly Fox inheritance.
• Nine Tails Princess began the inheritance ritual and gave Zhong Shan three Great Immortal Artifacts to guard the entrance while she underwent it.
• Zhong Shan fed the three artifacts to Eight Extremes Heavenly Tail and advanced to the fourth layer of the Celestial Immortal realm before a purple heavenly thunderbolt struck toward him.