Chapter Summaries

After Liu Qingping’s failed attempt to pressure Xu Yi, Xu Yi and Huangmei discussed how to handle the Liu family. Liu Wenyuan decided to kill Xu Yi, but a sudden red light decapitated him, the white-robed scholar, and Liu Qingping.

• Huangmei criticized Xu Yi for not using Liu Qingping’s actions to purge Anlu City God’s Mansion, and Xu Yi explained why he preferred to keep the existing officials under control.
• Liu Wenyuan berated Liu Qingping for provoking Xu Yi, while the white-robed scholar advised caution and recounted Xu Yi’s history.
• Liu Qingping urged Liu Wenyuan to kill Xu Yi, and Liu Wenyuan chose to fight rather than back down over his ambitions for the Earth Palace of Jiangdong.
• The white-robed scholar proposed a direct decapitation operation against Xu Yi, but a streak of red light killed Liu Wenyuan, the scholar, and Liu Qingping instead.

Xu Yi killed Liu Wenyuan and Liu Qingping to protect his position as Anlu City God, then Mu Kuang learned of the deaths and abandoned his effort to spy on Xu Yi. Mu Kuang went to meet Xu Yi, who understood his fear and had no intention of killing him.

• Xu Yi used the Ding Yuan Technique to kill Liu Wenyuan and Liu Qingping, erase the evidence, and escape with Huang Mei.
• Mu Kuang learned that Liu Wenyuan, the Left Palace Official, had died and concluded Xu Yi was responsible.
• Mu Kuang ordered his agents to withdraw every spy they had planted in Anlu City God's Mansion.
• Mu Kuang decided to visit Xu Yi and show that he meant no harm, because he wanted to stay alive.
• Xu Yi recognized why Mu Kuang was acting so warmly and knew he had never intended to kill him.

Xu Yi ordered Anlu’s City God officials to listen to the people and help them, aiming to increase incense offerings, but Tu Min warned him that this approach had once caused chaos. Tu Min explained the Yin Court’s limits on incense and the steep Essence quota for officials who showed kindness, leaving Xu Yi asking whether the authorities would demand an additional share.

• After Mu Kuang left, Huang Mei urged Xu Yi to condense Incense Spirit Essence, and Xu Yi summoned Xie Hua and Tu Min to announce his plan.
• Xu Yi ordered every City God’s Mansion official to serve at Anlu’s six temples and hear the people’s hardships; Xie Hua agreed, while Tu Min warned against the plan.
• Tu Min explained how earlier efforts to attract incense had caused disorder and led the Yin Court to restrict underworld officials’ interference in the mortal world.
• Tu Min described the Yin Court’s revised rules and explained the difference between Incense Beads and a cultivator’s own Incense Spirit Essence.
• Tu Min told Xu Yi that pursuing the plan would raise his six-year quota from one Incense Spirit Essence Bead to ten, and Xu Yi asked whether the higher-ups would take more on top of that.

Xu Yi decided to make Anlu City God Temple’s incense flourish despite Tu Min and Xie Hua’s warnings about the severe penalty for failing to meet his target. He revealed a vast stockpile of cultivation resources to fund his plan, turning his officials’ despair into hope.

• Tu Min and Xie Hua warned Xu Yi that failing to gather ten Incense Spirit Essence Beads could lead to imprisonment and that Anlu’s population and faith made the goal difficult.
• Xu Yi briefly appeared to reconsider, then told Old Desolate he had been running an experiment with the Four-Colored Seal.
• Xu Yi summoned Tu Min and Xie Hua again and announced that he would grant favors to followers and increase the temple’s incense.
• Xu Yi displayed nearly a thousand Sumeru Rings filled with cultivation resources, explaining that they would support his plan.
• Tu Min and Xie Hua inspected the resources, became hopeful, and pledged to serve Xu Yi.

Xu Yi, Tu Min, and Xie Hua cultivated worship of the City God among the sick, and Li Xiaohua and Liu Lin brought his ill mother to pray after Liu Lin’s injured leg improved. The mother’s breathing eased overnight, while the crowds at the temples continued to grow.

• Xu Yi gave Tu Min and Xie Hua authority to use the Anlu City God's Mansion’s resources to develop their plan.
• Liu Lin told Li Xiaohua that his dog-bitten leg had improved after he prayed at a City God Temple, then offered to take Li Xiaohua’s sick mother into the city.
• Li Xiaohua and Liu Lin hauled his mother to the city, where enormous crowds filled the streets and newly built temples received worshippers.
• After praying until late that night, Liu Lin found his leg hurt less and saw that Li Xiaohua’s mother was sleeping peacefully without violent coughing.
• Xu Yi watched the worshippers and warned Tu Min and Xie Hua to manage their limited resources carefully as their plan focused on cultivating the faith of the sick.

Xu Yi expanded his followers’ healing efforts and arranged a blessing for the Anlu prefect while keeping the authorities at bay. Meanwhile, Xuan Zi’an and Sun Antong recruited Jiangnan powerhouses to oppose him, offering rewards until Zhao Lingwu agreed to speak up.

• Xu Yi had Tu Min and Xie Hua exchange their resources for medicinal pills and use them to treat only the most seriously ill followers.
• Tu Min warned Xu Yi to maintain ties with the Anlu prefect, and Xu Yi agreed to send him a blessing before hosting a banquet for Tu Min and Xie Hua.
• Xuan Zi’an and Sun Antong gathered Jiangnan powerhouses to discuss how to counter Xu Yi, but the attendees stayed silent.
• Xuan Zi’an offered each attendee fifty Immortal Spirit Beads and promised Incense Beads to those who distinguished themselves.
• Zhao Lingwu praised Xuan Zi’an and Sun Antong’s cause and volunteered to oppose Xu Yi.

Xuan Zi'an and Chen Antong tried to rally cultivators against the newly appointed Anlu City God, but the crowd learned that he was Xu Yi, known as Old Demon Yiling, and their coalition collapsed. Just as they prepared to secure the remaining supporters with Immortal Spirit Beads, a man from the Criminal Justice Department revealed his mission, prompting everyone else to flee.

• Xuan Zi'an and Sun Antong praised Zhao Lingwu and helped him obtain assistant-official positions for two young men of his clan.
• Lu Zhenhai and Zhao Lingwu recognized that the new Anlu City God was Xu Yi and tried to leave the gathering.
• Lu Zhenhai identified Xu Yi as Old Demon Yiling, and stories of his fearsome deeds spread through the crowd.
• Nearly half the cultivators withdrew, while Xuan Zi'an offered Immortal Spirit Beads to keep the remaining supporters on his side.
• A man sent by Director Mu to investigate the gathering announced that he would report back to the Criminal Justice Department, and the remaining cultivators fled.

After Mu Kuang disrupted the scheme in Anlu, Xuan Zi'an and Chen Antong feared Xu Yi would bring trouble down on them and expected powerful ghost immortals to target him. More than five years later, Xu Yi had strengthened his body by tempering it with Incense Spirit Essence and was still seeking to cross another cultivation threshold.

• Xuan Zi'an asked Chen Antong why Mu Kuang had helped Xu, and Chen Antong concluded Mu Kuang had not intended to frame them.
• Xuan Zi'an lamented that Xu's upheaval in Anlu had cut his incense offerings by nearly thirty percent, while Chen Antong predicted Xu would attract the ghost immortals' attention.
• On Xiaoqing Mountain, Xu Yi finished tempering his body with Incense Spirit Essence and unleashed thunder without letting it spread outward.
• Huang Mei said Xu Yi could already overpower an ordinary first-layer ghost immortal and reminded him that only a little over five years had passed.
• Xu Yi reflected on spending those years refining pills to support his followers and tempering his body daily with Incense Spirit Essence.
• Xu Yi's perception had extended beyond a thousand zhang and could reach as far as a hundred li when he focused his thoughts.

After nearly six years of cultivation, Xu Yi had reached the peak of the True Form Realm but failed to break through to the Spirit Communion Realm. Warned by Li Jinhuan that powerful figures were targeting his rare, single-lineage Incense Spirit Essence Beads, Xu Yi prepared to face the danger as his term as Anlu City God neared its end.

• Xu Yi perfected his thunder technique over three years, spreading his thunder bead into an invisible attack and protective barrier.
• After spending nearly two years trying to enter the Spirit Communion Realm, Xu Yi accepted that he could not break through and learned to disperse the thunder bead effortlessly.
• Huang Mei urged Xu Yi to leave seclusion and meet their guests, and Xu Yi said he should be grateful they had waited.
• Xu Yi recalled Li Jinhuan's warning and realized powerful forces had let him gather Incense Spirit Essence so they could seize it.
• Li Jinhuan explained that Xu Yi's ten beads were valuable because they all came from one deity's lineage and could help gifted Dao Integration cultivators become immortals.
• Xu Yi prepared to face the coming danger, knowing his term as Anlu City God would end in less than three months.

Xu Yi survived a surprise attack by the Three Yin Soul Shattering Nail and escaped through the Four-Colored Seal while Huang Mei held off the attackers. After healing inside the seal, Xu Yi returned to find Huang Mei exhausted and safe.

• A streak pierced Xu Yi’s Thunder Shield and tore open his body, and Huang Mei recognized it as the Three Yin Soul Shattering Nail.
• Three attackers emerged and struck at Xu Yi, but his Thunder Cage Net blocked a fireball while the nail continued draining his power.
• After realizing Xu Yi had an Ice-Skin Jade-Body, the attackers watched him escape through the Four-Colored Seal.
• Huang Mei seized the fallen Four-Colored Seal and used Golden Mire Corpse Sludge to stall the attackers.
• Xu Yi removed the nail inside the seal, restored his body with spirit liquid, and returned to Huang Mei.

Xu Yi defeated three Ghost Immortals who had come to capture him, then learned from Huang Mei that a powerful figure in the Eastern Judgment Prefecture was behind the attack. He was left facing a far more dangerous threat than the Jiangbei Earth God Palace.

• The Black-robed Old Man offered to spare Xu Yi in exchange for five Incense Spirit Essence Beads, but Xu Yi refused and told the three Ghost Immortals to leave.
• The Black-robed Old Man, the black-clad middle-aged man, and the hooded man attacked Xu Yi together.
• Xu Yi countered with Thunder Bullets and unleashed a Lightning Storm that killed all three Ghost Immortals.
• Huang Mei emerged, swallowed the pure Qi left by the dead Ghost Immortals, and received more than ten Immortal Spirit Beads from Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi contacted Tu Min and Xie Hua, confirmed that Anlu City was safe, and then heard Huang Mei warn that a big shot in the Eastern Judgment Prefecture had targeted him.

Xu Yi returned to Anlu City and underwent a mysterious Incense Quenching Deity, then settled in the City God Temple to await whoever was plotting against him. The chapter ended when he discovered that someone had left a Body Shattering Pill and a precious Storm Talisman at the temple, leaving their purpose unclear.

• Xu Yi rejected Desolate Charm's suggestion to flee and returned openly to Anlu City, where he entered a strange state surrounded by Incense Spirit Essence.
• Desolate Charm recognized Xu Yi's experience as Incense Quenching Deity, and Xu Yi described sensing a connection with the world before joking with him and cutting off their mental link.
• Xu Yi settled in the City God Temple and handled official business, while several quiet days passed without anyone confronting him.
• Old Gu told Xu Yi that someone had left a Sumeru Ring on the City God statue, and Xu Yi found a Body Shattering Pill, a Storm Talisman, and jade explaining the talisman's power inside it.

Zhang Bao'er played military chess with several old men in an alley and revealed her extraordinary abilities when she fulfilled a bet by rolling through the air. The old men mistook her for an immortal and begged her to spare them.

• Zhang Bao'er brought Zhang Baoyu back into Anlu City after agreeing to take him along to the ancestral rites.
• Zhang Bao'er watched the old men play military chess, then challenged the plump old man to a match after they argued over their advice.
• The plump old man defeated Zhang Bao'er and offered to teach her chess if she became his disciple.
• Zhang Bao'er fulfilled the bet by flipping through the air and rolling out of the alley before returning.
• The six old men knelt and begged Zhang Bao'er to spare them, and she lifted them up with a stream of air.

Zhang Bao'er and Zhang Baoyu reunited with Xu Yi, who gave them gifts before they left. Xu Yi returned to the City God Temple, where a Ghost Immortal destroyed his statue and fled, signaling a final challenge.

• Zhang Bao'er found Zhang Baoyu eating at Xu Yi's feast and greeted Xu Yi, now the City God of a prefecture.
• Zhang Bao'er teased Xu Yi by asking for his Four-Colored Seal, then invited him to visit Penglai Island and departed.
• Xu Yi gave Zhang Baoyu a Sumeru Ring filled with food and sent three hairpins to Zhang Bao'er, who wished for him to reach Immortal King City before next Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Xu Yi returned to the City God Temple, where a Ghost Immortal destroyed his statue and escaped.
• Huang Mei told Xu Yi that the attack was a final demand for him to leave.

Xu Yi was summoned to the Jiangnan Earth Palace after the Anlu City God statue exploded, where its leaders pressed him to explain the incident and declare his position. He stayed composed and refused to be drawn into their accusations as Cao Qing demanded the truth.

• Two Heaven's Patrol Envoys arrived after the statue exploded and ordered Xu Yi to accompany them to the Jiangnan Earth Palace.
• Xu Yi told Huang Mei to look for a chance to escape, but Huang Mei refused and remained hidden in the Starry Sky Ring.
• Xu Yi recalled how Jiang Yu had kept his distance despite years of respectful gifts, and concluded that Jiang Yu had taken a side in the affair.
• Xu Yi greeted Jiang Yu and the four palace officials, then answered Zhou Mingfu that an official could not be punished severely merely because a statue was destroyed.
• Chen Shen tried to unsettle Xu Yi about the consequences, but Xu Yi said he trusted the Yin Court to judge fairly.
• Cao Qing demanded that Xu Yi state his position and tell them the truth about the statue's destruction.

Xu Yi sparred with Jiang Yu and the four Superior Clerks over the destruction of his divine statue and the threat of dismissal, while Jiang Yu and the others struggled to maintain their act. The dispute ended with Xu Yi claiming he had already completed his incense quota and become a non-serving official, a claim the others rejected.

• Xu Yi taunted the four Superior Clerks and asked Jiang Yu to protect him after his divine statue was destroyed.
• Jiang Yu explained that the Great Edict required Xu Yi's immediate dismissal but promised to vouch for him before the Underworld Court.
• Zhou Mingfu and the other three demanded that Jiang Yu take Xu Yi's order talisman, threatening to resign if he refused.
• Xu Yi said he would stay and face the Underworld Court's envoy with Jiang Yu, frustrating the five men who had been putting on a show.
• Jiang Yu ordered Xu Yi to surrender his Gold Order Talisman, but Xu Yi claimed that completing his quota had made him a non-serving official outside the Jiangnan Earth Palace's jurisdiction.
• Zhou Mingfu and the others rejected Xu Yi's claim, insisting he could not have completed his quota with five months remaining.

Xu Yi revealed that he had collected all ten Incense Spirit Essence Beads and was no longer bound to the Jiangnan Earth Palace, but officials from the Eastern Judgment Prefecture arrived to take control of the case. Director Mu accused Xu Yi and summoned Xie Hua as a witness, leaving Xu Yi facing a coordinated attempt to uncover or condemn him.

• Xu Yi produced ten Incense Spirit Essence Beads, proving that he had completed his task and could leave the Jiangnan Earth Palace's system.
• Mu Kuang arrived with Su Shun and more than ten officials from the Eastern Judgment Prefecture, including six Ghost Immortals.
• Su Shun handed control of the investigation to Mu Kuang, while Jiang Yu reported Xu Yi's completed task.
• Mu Kuang ordered Xu Yi to confess and summoned Xie Hua as a witness.
• Xie Hua avoided Xu Yi's gaze and confessed in a thought that he had been forced to betray him.

Xu Yi confronted Mu Kuang and Xie Hua’s attempt to frame him, then openly declared war on the Eastern Judgment Prefecture. When its forces attacked, he killed Jiang Yu and Zhou Mingfu and began sweeping up their resources.

• Xie Hua accused Xu Yi of destroying the City God statue, and Xu Yi admitted he had smashed it with one punch.
• Xu Yi condemned Mu Kuang and the nether court, then vowed to tear down the corrupt Eastern Judgment Prefecture.
• Jiang Yu attacked Xu Yi with a golden lightning python, but Xu Yi destroyed the attack and killed him with thunderbolts.
• The officials launched a simultaneous assault, but Xu Yi used a Gold Order Talisman to shield himself from the ensuing spiritual power.
• Xu Yi manifested his Crimson Flame Thunder Monkey form and blasted Zhou Mingfu apart with thunderbolts.

Xu Yi fought off the Eastern Judgment Prefecture’s forces, killing several opponents before his remaining attackers fled and falsely claimed they had nearly defeated him. Their report left the Judge and ministers facing the threat posed by Xu Yi, whom Tong Kun called a formidable enemy.

• Su Shun used the Duoluo Umbrella to suppress Xu Yi’s Gold Order Talisman, but Xu Yi froze him with the Ding Yuan Technique and killed him with lightning.
• Xu Yi killed Dong Chen, collected the scattered resources, and seized the Duoluo Umbrella as the six remaining fighters retreated.
• While Xu Yi recovered, the six survivors argued over whether to attack or flee, then coordinated a false account of the battle after Xu Yi escaped.
• The six reported to Luo Dongyang, Su Che, Tong Kun, and Yin Zhao in the Auspicious Cloud Hall, claiming they had badly wounded Xu Yi and nearly killed him.
• Tong Kun lamented that Xu Yi had become their sworn enemy and called him a monster among geniuses.

Su Che accepted responsibility for the disaster caused by his son, while Luo Dongyang sent Qin Guang and the Jinling Guard after Xu Yi. At Nine Canals Thunder Dragon Mountain, Xu Yi began a dangerous Ghost Immortal breakthrough as pursuers were expected to close in.

• Luo Dongyang understood that Su Xun’s actions had caused the crisis and told Su Che he would face punishment after the matter was settled.
• Luo Dongyang revealed he had sent Qin Guang and the Jinling Guard to deal with Xu Yi, then invited the others to meet Young Emissary Chen.
• Xu Yi reached Nine Canals Thunder Dragon Mountain with Huang Mei and merged with his corpse before entering his prepared underground chamber.
• Xu Yi swallowed Body Shattering Pills and used Incense Spirit Essence Beads to dissolve his body and form a new, shifting phantom vessel.
• Xu Yi’s new vessel turned pure gold as he broke through layers of perception and sensed the Heavens’ Intent growing clearer.