Chapter Summaries

Tao Yu traveled north aboard Du Fuwei’s warship while rumors blamed him for the Living Dead catastrophe. Hou Xibai arrived to ask whether Tao Yu had caused the disaster, and the chapter ended before Tao Yu answered.

• News spread that the Living Dead had seized half of Yangzhou, and factions across the land called for the Outer Realm Demon to be hunted down.
• Tao Yu sailed upriver with Bai Qing'er, Wen Caiting, Kou Zhong, and Xu Ziling aboard a warship lent by Du Fuwei.
• Tao Yu sensed a lone visitor approaching, then went to eat fish while the skiff drew near.
• Hou Xibai boarded the ship and asked Tao Yu whether he was responsible for the Living Dead catastrophe.
• The captain angrily defended Tao Yu before Tao Yu could respond.

Tao Yu’s group defended themselves against rumors of atrocities in Yangzhou as Hou Xibai revealed that powerful martial artists were gathering to attack them. The chapter ended with Tao Yu demanding Hou Xibai’s Flower Chamber Sect techniques and overwhelming him with his presence.

• The boat captain denounced the accusations against Tao Yu’s group, and Hou Xibai asked them to explain themselves.
• Ba Fenghan warned that the group would have chances to clear their names on the way to Chang’an, while Tao Yu showed little concern about the rumors.
• Hou Xibai revealed that Xie Hui had called the martial world to unite against Tao Yu, with forces from the Li Clan and Song Clan and several Grandmasters joining.
• Song Shidao and Fu Junyu offered to testify for the group, and Hou Xibai asked to travel with them to help them explain their side.
• Tao Yu asked Hou Xibai to hand over the Flower Chamber Sect’s techniques, then used Unity of Heaven and Man to paralyze him with pressure.

Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng studied the Flower Chamber Sect’s inheritance as the Five-Fang Warship traveled upstream toward Yuzhou Gorge. When rival forces ambushed the ship with boulders, Tao Yu repelled the attack and launched a devastating assault on both banks, leaving the confrontation in chaos.

• Hou Xibai handed Tao Yu the Flower Chamber Sect’s Twelve Branches, which Tao Yu compared with the Great Heavenly Demon Technique and the Longevity Art while Zhang Sanfeng studied their martial principles.
• At Yuzhou Gorge, Tao Yu announced himself to the forces blocking the river, where Song Que, Xie Hui, Liao Kong, Ning Daoqi, Bi Xuan, Fu Cailin, and others had gathered.
• Bi Xuan revealed to Li Shentong and Fu Cailin that the grasslands had connected to the Outer Realm and that Tao Yu had fought him before, while they anticipated that Xie Hui would provoke a clash.
• The trebuchets on both banks hurled boulders at the Five-Fang Warship, and Tao Yu redirected the first rocks, shattered the last one, and sent its fragments into the southern cliff.
• Tao Yu crossed to the northern bank, confronted Bi Xuan, and attacked him with a fire dragon that Fu Cailin helped weaken before it blasted Bi Xuan backward.
• Tao Yu summoned more than twenty flying dragons and savaged the northern-bank martial artists, killing and crippling many as the survivors fled or fell into the river.

Tao Yu crushed the martial artists opposing him, forced them to blame the Buddhist Sect and Luck Stealers, and ordered the survivors to come to Yuzhou. The survivors gathered at Yuzhou’s port as his ship arrived, while Zhu Yuyan celebrated the Yin Gui Sect’s rising influence.

• Tao Yu shattered the boulder, devastated the southern bank, and overwhelmed Bi Xuan and Fu Cailin with his flying dragons.
• Ning Daoqi and Liao Kong realized Tao Yu was beyond their power, while Song Que recognized a new path beyond his own limits.
• Liao Kong tried to blame Xie Hui for the stone-thrower, and Xie Hui died after resisting Liao Kong’s attack.
• Tao Yu made Liao Kong kill himself, killed Wang Bo, and compelled the survivors to condemn the Buddhist Sect and Luck Stealers as witnesses.
• Tao Yu ordered the martial artists to meet him in Yuzhou, and Zhu Yuyan set out with Bian Fuchu and Wanwan, pleased that he was raising the Yin Gui Sect’s standing.
• The Five-Fang Warship reached Yuzhou, where the gathered martial artists watched its arrival in uneasy silence.

Tao Yu subdued the Jianghuai Army and other powerful factions, then accused the Buddhist Sect of colluding with the Luck Stealers and explained the Abyss. As the crowd began to accept his account, news arrived that Living Dead had appeared in Yuzhou.

• Tao Yu greeted the gathered martial artists and called for unity after defeating them, then accused the Buddhist Sect of betraying their side by working with the Luck Stealers.
• Song Que asked who the Luck Stealer was, and Shi Feixuan admitted she did not know, while Tao Yu explained that the Buddhist Sect had spread the rumors against him.
• Tao Yu described the Abyss and the connected worlds, and Bi Xuan confirmed that their world had linked with one several hundred years in the future.
• Shi Feixuan resolved to preserve what remained of her sect, even if she had to fight the Buddhist Sect.
• Screams and the sound of gongs announced that Living Dead had appeared in Yuzhou, surprising Tao Yu.

Tao Yu helped organize the response to a Living Dead outbreak in Yuzhou, then traced its source to the Mountain God Temple. He defeated two intelligent zombies there and trapped the black smoke escaping from their bodies.

• Tao Yu assigned Kou Zhong to lead the response in Yuzhou and told the martial artists to contain the infected areas using their experience from Yangzhou.
• A boatman and his family fled up the steps to the Mountain God Temple while zombies pursued them, but Tao Yu arrived and killed the horde.
• Tao Yu warned the family that the temple was a demon's lair and hurried inside after sensing the source of the outbreak.
• A talisman on the temple plaque caught fire as two zombies with clear voices emerged from coffins and attacked Tao Yu.
• Tao Yu severed the zombies' limbs with the Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword, then immobilized and compressed the black smoke escaping from their bodies.

Tao Yu captured two vengeful spirits and learned that Shi Shaojian planned to corrupt Li Shimin in Chang'an, while Shi Jian remained alive. After the spirits revealed the threat and were killed, Tao Yu gained the Spirit Control Technique and prepared to lead the martial world against the plot.

• Tao Yu interrogated two vengeful spirits and learned Shi Shaojian had gone to Chang'an to corrupt Li Shimin, while Shi Jian was recovering and planned to follow.
• The spirits revealed that a pioneer had helped them travel by sea and that Shi Shaojian suspected Tao Yu and his companion were Chosen Ones.
• Tao Yu brought the spirits and two zombies to Yuzhou, where Kou Zhong had helped suppress the Living Dead outbreak.
• Tao Yu explained the threat to Song Que, Zhang Sanfeng, Bi Xuan, Li Shentong, and the other martial leaders, and Bi Xuan revealed that history recorded Li Shimin taking the throne after the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
• Tao Yu killed the two vengeful spirits despite their pleas and absorbed the Spirit Control Technique they dropped.

On the way to Chang'an, Tao Yu received the Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Law and the Yin Gui Sect leadership from Zhu Yuyan, then accepted Wanwan's offer to help him cultivate. He planned to bind the women to him with spiritual seeds and bring them along to face Shi Shaojian and possibly Shi Zhixuan.

• Tao Yu met Zhu Yuyan and Wanwan on the road, and Zhu Yuyan gave him the Dao Heart Seed Demon Great Law that they had taken from members of the Evil Extreme Sect.
• Zhu Yuyan offered Tao Yu the position of Sect Master, and he accepted before ordering her to accompany him to Chang'an to deal with Shi Shaojian and possibly Shi Zhixuan.
• Zhu Yuyan presented a healing manual, then offered Wanwan's help; Wanwan explained that her Yin Essence could enhance Tao Yu's cultivation.
• Tao Yu gained two months' worth of cultivation progress from practicing with Wanwan and decided to implant spiritual seeds in the women to keep the Yin Gui Sect in line.

Tao Yu and his group rushed toward Chang'an as the Luck Stealer Alliance’s plot to spread Living Dead came to light. Li Shimin learned that the city’s water had been contaminated, but an enemy who arrived as a swarm of bats attacked his tent before he could respond.

• Tao Yu, Wanwan, Bai Qing'er, and their companions spotted an army near Chang'an while racing to stop the Luck Stealer Alliance.
• Shi Zhixuan and Shi Shaojian recruited Zhao Deyan, revealed that they had contaminated Chang'an’s water, and gave him information about the Living Dead to deliver to Li Shimin.
• Zhao Deyan brought Li Shimin a human-skin scroll and two destroyed zombies, warning him that contaminated residents would eventually become increasingly dangerous Living Dead.
• Li Shimin realized that rotting corpses at Chang'an’s water sources had likely contaminated most of the city and could enable an expanding Living Dead Army.
• Chai Shao warned Li Shimin that they were under attack, and a bat-shaped intruder entered the tent and demanded to know who had killed the zombies.

Li Shimin ordered his army to enter Chang'an and seal the gates to prevent the Living Dead Army from spreading. Meanwhile, Tao Yu's party encountered Shi Shaojian, Shi Zhixuan, a Vampire, and a horde of zombies, leaving them facing three Luck Stealers and an uncertain number of hidden enemies.

• After learning that Chang'an's frail residents were turning into Living Dead, Li Shimin ordered his army to seize the city and seal its gates.
• Chai Shao refused to follow Li Shimin's order, while Li Shimin mobilized the troops without him.
• Tao Yu sensed danger as the Li Clan Army entered Chang'an and saw a black-robed Vampire gather bats to block his party.
• Dozens of zombies appeared, including Qu Ao and the remains of Li Mi and other warriors, while Bi Xuan recognized Qu Ao.
• Tao Yu realized Shi Zhixuan had recovered and that Shi Shaojian and the Vampire were Luck Stealers who controlled the zombies.
• Shi Shaojian mocked the gathered experts as expendable materials and leered at Wanwan and the other women.

Tao Yu used his newly completed divine art and combined abilities to kill the Vampire in a single surprise attack. He then turned on Shi Shaojian and Shi Zhixuan while the Grandmasters continued battling the zombies.

• Shi Shaojian sent his zombies to encircle the group, and Zhang Sanfeng warned that they were forming a star-position formation.
• Tao Yu assigned Zhang Sanfeng, Song Que, and the other Grandmasters to hold off the zombies while he faced the Vampire, Shi Shaojian, and Shi Zhixuan.
• Song Que killed one zombie but found Huang Gongcuo’s zombie powerful, while Tao Yu realized the zombies and their Vengeful Spirits could wear down the group.
• Tao Yu entered Unity of Heaven and Man and combined Chronostasis, Deification, Shadow Meld, and Shadow Control to strike the Vampire without warning.
• Tao Yu erased the Vampire with a single attack, then charged at Shi Shaojian and Shi Zhixuan through the shadows.

Tao Yu defeated Shi Zhixuan and Shi Shaojian, ending the zombie assault on the Great Tang experts. He recovered two Wish Power items from the fallen Luck Stealers and left with the Great Tang martial artists recognizing his strength.

• Shi Zhixuan fled from Tao Yu, but Tao Yu caught up and struck him down with the Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword, leaving him barely alive.
• Tao Yu questioned Shi Shaojian about Shi Jian and the Reincarnators, but Shi Shaojian summoned a talisman that called down heavenly lightning and killed him.
• Tao Yu's Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms destroyed Shi Shaojian's remains, and the zombie horde froze as the bound Vengeful Spirits vanished.
• Heavenly Blade Song Que acknowledged that Tao Yu had saved the Great Tang experts, while Shi Feixuan worried about the growing disadvantage facing Cihang Jingzhai.
• Tao Yu found Vampire Ash that could grant a Vampire bloodline, then recovered the Corpse Hiding Mirror, a Wish Power item with a half-cubic-meter space.

Tao Yu and his companions rushed into Chang'an, where Li Shimin had ordered the city burned and its people killed to prevent a supposed Living Dead outbreak. After Tao Yu exposed a deception and struck down a decoy, he raced into the city to pursue Shi Jian.

• Tao Yu left the inactive zombies behind and led his companions toward Chang'an as fires and battle cries rose from the city.
• Li Shimin defended his decision to burn Chang'an and kill its fleeing residents, while Li Xiuning questioned him.
• Li Shentong, Bi Xuan, Shi Feixuan, and another man arrived, and Li Shentong told Li Shimin that Luck Stealers had deceived him into slaughtering the city.
• A pale soldier revealed that the supposed outbreak had been staged, but Tao Yu killed him with a point-blank attack and destroyed the corpse-poison explosion.
• Tao Yu realized the soldier was a decoy, called for Shi Jian, and charged through the flames to pursue him.

Tao Yu pursued the injured Shi Jian through a burning city and defeated him in a deadly clash of lightning and swordsmanship. Shi Jian died after warning Tao Yu to watch out for “Ace,” and Tao Yu found a charred fragment of a Maoshan Sect manual that could absorb willpower.

• Tao Yu used Chronostasis - Time Control to catch up with Shi Jian, who had been fleeing through the flames.
• Shi Jian unleashed lightning magic and gathered power while Tao Yu attacked him with a fire dragon concealing the Mysterious Iron Heavy Sword.
• Tao Yu's Minor Three Harmonies overwhelmed Shi Jian's lightning, leaving him charred and reduced to his upper body beneath a collapsed pavilion.
• Shi Jian warned Tao Yu to watch out for Ace, but Tao Yu struck him down before he could finish speaking.
• Tao Yu found a charred Maoshan Sect Daoist Magic (Fragment) on Shi Jian's corpse, which could absorb 10,000 points of willpower.

After the Li Clan’s ruin, Tao Yu urged the realm’s powers to settle the Tang Dynasty’s turmoil while he and the Twin Dragons searched Yang Gong’s Treasury for the Evil Emperor’s Relic. During the search, he tested his Deified Lightning Strike Fist and discovered that it could combine Yin-Yang Five Elements into powerful, guided thunder attacks.

• Li Shimin tried to kill himself after the fire, but Tao Yu knocked away his sword and told him to live and atone for his sins.
• Tao Yu left the realm’s major powers to discuss ending the turmoil and took Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling to search for the Evil Emperor’s Relic.
• While Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling searched near a stone bridge, Tao Yu practiced his Deified Lightning Strike Fist and formed Geng Metal and Xin Metal thunderballs.
• Tao Yu merged and hurled the thunderballs beneath the bridge, destroying part of a pier and demonstrating a powerful ranged attack.
• Tao Yu considered ways to develop his Yin-Yang Five Elements thunder arts, then prepared to enter Yang Gong’s Treasury with the Twin Dragons.

Tao Yu absorbed the Evil Emperor's Relic, greatly increasing his power, then went to deal with the zombies and encountered Shi Feixuan. She offered to answer his earlier question, and Tao Yu carried her off to a secluded place.

• Tao Yu took the Evil Emperor's Relic from its mercury jar and absorbed its chaotic energy, more than doubling his power and advancing his Longevity Art.
• Tao Yu sent Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling to find Yuwen Huaji, then returned to the zombies, which had buried themselves after Shi Shaojian lost control of them.
• Tao Yu considered taking the strongest zombies for himself and selling or burning the rest.
• Shi Feixuan arrived and accepted that Tao Yu could punish the Buddhist Sect for its actions.
• Shi Feixuan said she had come to answer Tao Yu's earlier question, and Tao Yu carried her away to a secluded spot.

Tao Yu spent two months training, reunited with Wanwan and Shi Feixuan, and learned that the factions had agreed on a Song-led government with Kou Zhong as a possible emperor. After discussing cultivation with Zhang Sanfeng, he decided to return and settle his mission and debt.

• Tao Yu reached level four in the Longevity Art, woke Shi Feixuan, and gave her clothes and his Inner Scale Armor.
• Wanwan told Tao Yu that Zhu Yuyan had obtained the Seven Illusions of Immortality and that Shi Zhixuan was dead, while the factions considered a Song-led cabinet and Kou Zhong as emperor.
• Tao Yu reflected on the limits of his influence over politics and left the factions to decide their own leaders and policies.
• Tao Yu and Zhang Sanfeng discussed Daoist teachings and practiced the Lightning Strike Fist together.
• Tao Yu planned to cover his mission advance by selling skills and other items, then decided to return after more than half a month of negotiations and restoration efforts.

Tao Yu returned to the Inner City, noticed that the Real World now resisted stronger powers slightly, and reunited with Tao Long and Tao Hu. After arranging a family dinner at Shi Zhi Xuan, he headed out to check on the mission hall and collect information.

• A Floating City inspector noticed a new Boundary Breaker in the Inner City but saw no reason to intervene.
• Tao Yu sensed that using powerful techniques in the Real World now brought some resistance and recalled how the inspector had suppressed a giant dragon.
• Tao Yu reunited with Tao Long and Tao Hu, who discussed the growing popularity of inner force and the Tao family's renewed connections.
• Tao Yu invited Tao Hu's family to dinner at Shi Zhi Xuan, where he could use his lifetime discount.
• Tao Yu tried to contact the young heiress, then put on his Partner cloak and left to visit the mission hall and check for information from Lethal Bullet and the Redemption group chat.

Tao Yu learned that the Morning Sun Society was under mounting attacks in the Real World and old Pioneer Zone, while Lin Chao and the Society's members remained comparatively secure in the New Frontier. He collected Redemption’s messages and planned how to spend his Willpower, leaving the chapter on his way to claim his share from the Scripture Repository.

• Tao Yu read messages from Lethal Bullet, Jack, and Panda and learned that Gu Qiu’s strength had not prevented escalating attacks on the Morning Sun Society.
• Miss Margot recognized Tao Yu as a member of Redemption, warned him not to rely too heavily on the mutual aid group, and installed surveillance equipment at the mission hall.
• Tao Yu imported his guild messages and headed to the Scripture Repository’s representative office to collect his share.
• Tao Yu weighed Deifying Demonic Transformation and Corpse Refining Technique, hoping the latter might let him turn nonhuman creatures such as a Phantom Dragon into zombies.
• Tao Yu browsed Redemption’s chat and noted that its Senior Partners included a small number of elites close to Silver Rank.

Tao Yu visited the Scripture Repository dojo and learned that his share of the growing internal-force business was 4.07 million. The unexpected income left him able to Deify several techniques, though he decided to keep some money in reserve.

• Tao Yu read the Redemption group chat and saw mechanical augmenters discussing internal force and people paying in advance to reserve instruction.
• Tao Yu arrived at the Scripture Repository dojo and found a long line, where Rocket Full Open was asking to skip ahead to pay and book a spot.
• Tao Yu greeted Mumu and asked her to let his guildmate Rocket Full Open pay in advance, and Mumu made an exception.
• Mumu told Tao Yu that his share was 4.07 million, and he decided to Deify Corpse Refining Technique, Lightning Strike Fist, and the demonic transformation while keeping money for emergencies.