Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chu exposed the Red Lantern Cult figure’s Underworld Lamp as relying on the Old Character Stele, then destroyed the Lamp Guides and the figure with his overwhelming Spiritual Power. The chapter ended with Song Li asking about the Sea Heart Cave opportunity the figure had mentioned.

• The figure used the Underworld Lamp to drain Zhang Chu and Song Li, but Zhang Chu recognized the Old Character Stele’s power behind it.
• Zhang Chu activated Tribulation Armor, greatly reducing the lamp’s suction, as the figure awakened more than twenty Lamp Guides hidden among Green Fish Town’s villagers.
• Zhang Chu killed the Lamp Guides with Heaven Covering, and their blood strengthened the Underworld Lamp and the figure.
• Zhang Chu overwhelmed the figure with his Spiritual Power, shattered the Underworld Lamp, and severed the figure’s connection to God Worship power.
• The figure’s half-human, half-paper true form was exposed before Decomposition Power reduced it to powder.
• Song Li asked Zhang Chu about the Sea Heart Cave opportunity the dying figure had mentioned.

After killing the Paper Person, Zhang Chu concluded that the Old Character Stele was likely hidden in Sea Heart Cave and began gathering information before entering the Mist Sea Region. He accepted a new Imperial Court edict and, after finding clues that bronze could help navigate the mist, prepared to sail with Song Li via the City of Extreme Evil.

• Zhang Chu explained to Song Li that the Paper Person had used the Old Character Stele's power of decay to change bodies and judged that the stele was probably in Sea Heart Cave.
• Zhang Chu and Song Li returned to Wanghai City's Sky Patrol Guard, where Zhao Tieshan reported that an Imperial Court eunuch had waited four days to deliver a new edict.
• Zhang Chu received a Spirit Pill, permission to enter the Great Ling Armory, ten thousand taels of gold, and an order to inspect the waters near Seven Star Islands after recovering.
• Zhang Chu and Song Li searched old Sky Patrol Guard records and found accounts of people navigating the Mist Sea Region with a Bronze Bell or by spotting a passage through a copper coin.
• Zhang Chu decided to sail in two days, and Song Li proposed traveling first to the City of Extreme Evil to buy current sea charts at its underground black market.

Zhang Chu and Song Li traveled to City of Extreme Evil, where Zhang Chu bought a sea chart of Sea Heart Cave and learned of the strange bells said to haunt its waters. After Song Li collapsed from a mysterious medicine, Ding Yi appeared and revealed that he was the Demonic Cult’s Poison Dao Master.

• Zhang Chu left Wanghai City with Song Li and heard how the lawless City of Extreme Evil had grown into a refuge for fugitives and was suspected of Red Lantern Cult influence.
• At the island docks, Zhang Chu killed a burly man who demanded an exorbitant fee, then paid a local guide to take him to a sea-chart seller.
• Zhang Chu bought a detailed chart of Sea Heart Cave for five hundred taels of gold and heard warnings about the fog, the bell toll, and not turning around at the fifth bell.
• Zhang Chu and Song Li explored the underground market, then returned to an inn as night fell and sensed that someone had been tracking them since the docks.
• Song Li collapsed after an unknown medicine made her Gang Qi grow, while Zhang Chu recognized the visitor who had given it as Ding Yi, the former Poison Dao Master of the Demonic Cult.

Poison Dao Master Ding Yi warned Zhang Chu that the Heavenly Evil Cult would retaliate for Mang’s death, then asked him to help kill his senior brother Fei, a god worshiper from the Ten Thousand Poisons Grotto-Heaven. Zhang Chu agreed in exchange for what Ding Yi knew about the Demonic Cult’s destruction, as they prepared for the coming Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven opening.

• Ding Yi revealed that he was the Poison Dao Master and warned Zhang Chu that the Heavenly Evil Cult might send multiple Divine Generals after Mang’s death.
• Ding Yi asked Zhang Chu to help kill Fei, his senior brother and rival inheritor of the Ten Thousand Poisons Grotto-Heaven, whom he believed had worshiped Great Red Heaven.
• Ding Yi revealed that Sea Heart Cave was the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven and that powerful hidden forces were gathering for its opening.
• Zhang Chu accepted Ding Yi’s offer on the condition that Ding Yi tell him everything he knew about the Demonic Cult’s destruction.
• Ding Yi vanished, and Zhang Chu watched the darkened city, anticipating a violent struggle when the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven opened.

Song Li awakened with her strength greatly increased, while Zhang Chu accepted the City Lord’s invitation to discuss Sea Heart Cave. At their meeting, the Grey Robed Guest offered a Sinking Anchor and a share of the treasure in exchange for Zhang Chu’s secret techniques, then revealed a trap when Zhang Chu refused.

• Song Li discovered that her Gang Qi had improved overnight and that she was close to entering the Bone Law Realm after a mysterious fragrance helped her comprehend her attribute.
• Steward Chen invited Zhang Chu to the City Lord’s Mansion, and Zhang Chu agreed to go while assigning Song Li another task.
• The Grey Robed Guest offered Zhang Chu a Sinking Anchor and proposed cooperating to explore Sea Heart Cave.
• The Grey Robed Guest demanded that Zhang Chu share the method that severed God Worshipers’ connection to those above and offered thirty percent of the harvest plus information about another Seven Limits.
• After Zhang Chu questioned whether refusal would prevent him from leaving, dark-red array patterns covered the pavilion and a hooded Daoist Canon expert appeared beside the Grey Robed Guest.

Zhang Chu fought the Grey Robed Guest in the City Lord’s Mansion, destroying a resurrecting puppet and breaking the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade array. The Grey Robed Guest summoned the Lamp Mother’s phantom, whose gaze drove Zhang Chu to the brink of death, until Zhang Chu’s Dao Embryo opened its eyes and stared back.

• Zhang Chu killed the Black-Robed Daoist, recognized him as a puppet, and identified the Grey Robed Guest as a God Worshiper of the Red Lantern Cult.
• The Grey Robed Guest resurrected the Black-Robed Daoist through the mansion’s array, but Zhang Chu destroyed the puppet again with a single strike.
• The Grey Robed Guest unleashed the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, draining the guards and attacking Zhang Chu with countless Human Faces.
• Zhang Chu used Tribulation Armor to withstand the Human Faces and stomped apart the array patterns, disrupting the sacrificial art.
• The Grey Robed Guest offered his flesh, blood, and Soul Fire to summon the Lamp Mother’s phantom, whose gaze crushed Zhang Chu’s defenses and brought him near death.
• Zhang Chu’s Dao Embryo opened its eyes and stared directly at the phantom.

Zhang Chu survived Lamp Mother's gaze after Grey Robed Guest severed the sacrifice sustaining the Evil God projection. He recovered enough to kill Grey Robed Guest, whose body revealed that the City Lord of Extreme Evil was a young woman, leaving observers to question how she could have lived after dying more than two hundred years earlier.

• Zhang Chu's Dao Embryo formed a Jade Talisman and resisted Lamp Mother's gaze, but the pressure cracked his Dao Embryo and began erasing his memories.
• Grey Robed Guest suffered the sacrifice's backlash and withdrew it, causing Lamp Mother's phantom to fade after it looked at Zhang Chu once more.
• Zhang Chu and Grey Robed Guest exchanged threats, but Zhang Chu's Secret Treasury of Essence and Southern Bright Undying Heavenly Art began repairing him and decomposing the Evil God Substance.
• Zhang Chu struck Grey Robed Guest with the Heavenly Saber, severing her connection to Lamp Mother and killing her.
• Grey Robed Guest's body revealed a young woman, and distant observers wondered how she could be alive after reportedly dying more than two hundred years earlier.

Zhang Chu killed the Grey Robed Guest, survived the Evil God's projection, and destroyed the docks while harvesting Merit Points, then followed Ding Yi into a hidden chamber to recover. There he found evidence of a plan involving Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven and discovered a little girl hiding in a flooded cavern.

• The people of the City of Extreme Evil recognized Zhang Chu and fled, so he struck the docks with Heaven Covering and killed many fugitives despite his worsening injuries.
• Ding Yi returned, learned that Zhang Chu had killed the Grey Robed Guest and faced the Evil God's projection, then offered to guard the island while Zhang Chu recovered.
• Ding Yi led Zhang Chu through a secret passage beneath a well into the Grey Robed Guest's hidden chamber, where Zhang Chu found a letter mentioning Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven, the Pearl, and the Eighteen Underworld Envoys.
• Zhang Chu found treasures, Mysterious Flowers and exotic herbs, and three cultivation booklets, including the Supreme Divine Qi Evil-Slaying September Sword Formation.
• Zhang Chu detected a hidden flooded cavern beneath the chamber and opened it, where a little girl surfaced and asked whether they had come to catch her.

Zhang Chu rescued a nameless girl from the water cave beneath the Grey Robed Guest’s secret chamber and discovered that she could hear the Sea Heart Cave’s mysterious Tide. While Zhang Chu struggled to purge the Evil God Substance from his body, the girl unknowingly imitated his Four Symbols Divine Skill, leaving him astonished by her talent.

• The girl told Zhang Chu and Ding Yi that the Grey Robed Guest had kept her in the cave and warned her about something in the water, while she also heard a distant voice she called the Tide.
• Zhang Chu and Ding Yi suspected her sounds were linked to the Sea Heart Cave’s strange bell toll, and Zhang Chu promised she would be safe before asking Ding Yi to bring supplies and guard the Island.
• Zhang Chu began using all four Four Symbols Manifestations to remove the Evil God Substance, enduring severe pain as he fought to recover before the Sea Heart Cave opened.
• While Zhang Chu cultivated, the girl quietly explored the chamber, then watched him and copied the circulation of light she saw on his body.
• Zhang Chu sensed the Four Symbols Divine Skill’s aura coming from the girl and realized she had independently traced its route; when she worried that she had done something wrong, he was left stunned by her apparent genius.

Zhang Chu healed from the Evil God Substance while the little girl mastered his Northern Cold Flame True Hand at an astonishing speed. He accepted her as his disciple and named her Sea God as the mist gathered over the sea.

• The little girl followed the Four Symbols Divine Skill’s circulation and, under Zhang Chu’s instruction, condensed frost on her first attempt at the Northern Cold Flame True Hand.
• Zhang Chu spent three days removing the Evil God Substance and repairing his body while the little girl went outside to practice.
• Zhang Chu found the little girl had reached the Jade Liquid Realm and shattered a reef with the third move of the Northern Cold Flame True Hand.
• Ding Yi asked Zhang Chu for permission to take the little girl as his sole disciple, but Zhang Chu refused and said he would take her as his own disciple.
• The little girl agreed to follow Zhang Chu and called him Master.
• Zhang Chu named his new disciple Sea God as the mist over the distant sea grew denser.

Zhang Chu named the little girl Sea Maiden and demonstrated his North Sea Sown Golden Lotus Manifestation, then learned that Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven was about to open and drew many powerful rivals to the Mist Sea Region. He entered seclusion to strengthen the September Sword Formation as the coming battle approached.

• Ding Yi warned Zhang Chu that calling the little girl Sea God would expose her to powerful enemies, so Zhang Chu named her Sea Maiden instead.
• Zhang Chu demonstrated his North Sea Sown Golden Lotus Manifestation, inspiring Sea Maiden to try to cultivate one of her own.
• Ding Yi told Zhang Chu that Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven, ranked second among the Seven Great Grotto-Heavens, was about to open and that dozens of experts had gathered near its entrance.
• Ding Yi explained that Grotto-Heavens offered powerful inheritances without the restrictions imposed by the Eight Profound of Heaven and Earth, and confirmed that his senior brother Fei would come.
• Zhang Chu ordered Ding Yi and Sea Maiden to remain on the island and repel intruders, then went into seclusion to prepare for the coming chaos.
• Zhang Chu used one million Merit Points to strengthen the first layer of the Supreme Divine Qi Evil-Slaying September Sword Formation, then began strengthening its second layer.

Zhang Chu completed the nine-layer Supreme Divine Qi Evil-Slaying September Sword Formation and discovered that Song Li had been cornered at sea while carrying the Merfolk Tear. The chapter ended with Zhang Chu appearing behind her pursuers and demanding to know who their master was.

• Zhang Chu spent eight million Merit Points strengthening the Sword Formation to its ninth layer, awakening nine linked swords and concealed sword shadows.
• Sea Maiden showed Zhang Chu her rapid progress toward a Manifestation, and he reassured her that she could cultivate at her own pace.
• Ding Yi told Zhang Chu that a large ship carrying at least one Daoist Scripture Realm expert had entered the Mist Sea Region.
• Zhang Chu sensed a fight far away and rushed across the sea, leaving Ding Yi to send Sea Maiden back before following him.
• Song Li, wounded and exhausted, faced two mid-stage Bone Law Realm men who demanded the Merfolk Tear and identified her as a member of Zhongzhou Academy.
• Zhang Chu appeared behind Song Li's pursuers and challenged their claim that their master deserved Zhang's respect.

Zhang Chu rescued Song Li and killed two Dragon King Hall envoys, then faced Wei Chengfeng, who offered him access to the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven in exchange for cooperation and the Merfolk Tear. Zhang Chu rejected the offer, and as Wei Chengfeng prepared to fight with the Two Worlds Umbrella, Ding Yi arrived and warned of its power.

• Zhang Chu appeared behind Song Li and killed the two Dragon King Hall envoys and their ship's crew with a casual palm strike.
• Song Li warned Zhang Chu that Dragon King Hall controlled the Sea Regions, but Zhang Chu revealed he had already killed its Third Prince, Lei Yi.
• Wei Chengfeng arrived aboard a large ship and offered Zhang Chu entry to the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven if he cooperated and surrendered the Merfolk Tear.
• Zhang Chu rejected Wei Chengfeng's terms and mocked Dragon King Hall, prompting Wei Chengfeng to summon the Two Worlds Umbrella and attack.
• Ding Yi arrived and identified the umbrella as the Yellow Springs Two-World Paper, warning that it could isolate a world, drain Spiritual Power, and weaken opponents.

Zhang Chu defeated Wei Chengfeng by breaking the defensive power of the Two Worlds Umbrella with his September Evil-Slaying Sword Formation, then claimed the divine artifact. The Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven’s Tide arrived three days early, and Song Li revealed a Merfolk Tear bearing a clue about the Reverse Scale.

• Ding Yi warned Zhang Chu that Wei Chengfeng’s Two Worlds Umbrella could absorb Spiritual Power, but Zhang Chu resisted its suction and tested the canopy’s defenses with the Undying Heavenly Saber.
• Zhang Chu used the September Evil-Slaying Sword Formation to overwhelm the umbrella, shatter its defense, and kill Wei Chengfeng, earning 8,200,000 Merit Points.
• Zhang Chu took the Two Worlds Umbrella from the sea as a bell tolled and the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven began opening ahead of schedule.
• Ding Yi and Zhang Chu suspected the Dragon King Hall’s new leader had arranged a plot connected to the early Tide and a battle in the Mist Sea Region.
• Song Li gave Zhang Chu a Merfolk Tear she had recovered from a secret chamber and reported the inscription: “When the Tide sweeps across all things, it is the time for the Reverse Scale to return to its place.”

Zhang Chu realized Dragon King Hall had engineered Song Li’s pursuit to bring the Merfolk Tear to him and draw him toward Sea Heart Cave, but he decided to enter anyway. He and Ding Yi reached an ancient Innate Array surrounding the Sea Heart Vortex, where four powerful figures stood waiting.

• Zhang Chu concluded that Wei Chengfeng had stalled him so Dragon King Hall could use the Merfolk Tear to guide him toward Sea Heart Cave, and he suspected the scale had been planted for him to find.
• Zhang Chu gave Song Li an Imperial Court Spirit Pill to heal, left her on the island with protections for his disciple, and set off with Ding Yi.
• A terrifying palm strike destroyed a luxurious ship and killed everyone aboard as Zhang Chu and Ding Yi traveled through the fog toward the seven-colored light.
• Zhang Chu used the Merfolk Tear to navigate the shrinking fog, and he and Ding Yi passed a wrecked ship surrounded by three dead experts whose minds seemed to have been drained.
• Zhang Chu and Ding Yi discovered an ancient Innate Array beneath a mirrored expanse of water, where the Bell Toll shifted the stars and revealed seven stone pillars around the Sea Heart Vortex.
• Four supreme powerhouses stood atop the pillars at the edge of the vortex.

Zhang Chu and Ding Yi reached the Sea Heart Vortex, where seven rune-covered pillars offered entry to the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven’s core. As powerful figures gathered and three positions remained open, Zhang Chu claimed the northwest pillar and declared he would take two.

• Ding Yi explained that the seven pillars were the qualifications for entering the grotto-heaven’s core, while Zhang Chu sensed many powerful auras approaching.
• Ding Yi identified Lei Qianjun and Granny Kurong among the four people occupying pillars, while Zhang Chu observed Pei Yuan and the mysterious woman in red.
• Han Jue, Pagoda Walker, two people from Heavenly Star Pavilion, and a fisherman-like old man arrived as the crowd hesitated over the three empty pillars.
• Pagoda Walker drew attention to Zhang Chu, and Ding Yi urged him to claim a pillar before more rivals arrived.
• As Han Jue prepared to take a pillar, Zhang Chu stepped onto the northwest pillar and announced that he was taking two, challenging anyone who objected.

Zhang Chu claimed two positions at the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven, then crushed Han Jue’s saber radiance with one hand and shattered his meridians. Lei Qianjun recognized him as the Yellow Court Dao Master and challenged his claim, leaving the fight over the positions unresolved.

• Zhang Chu stood on the northwest stone pillar and declared that he wanted two positions, despite warnings that its path led to the perilous Return to Ruins.
• Han Jue attacked Zhang Chu with his signature Eternal Annihilation saber technique, but Zhang Chu crushed the blade radiance barehanded and sent Han Jue flying with his meridians shattered.
• Song Qingfeng and Liu Ruyan realized Zhang Chu had stopped Han Jue’s full-power attack without moving from the pillar.
• Lei Qianjun identified Zhang Chu as the Yellow Court Dao Master and judged him three parts stronger than the intelligence reports described.
• Lei Qianjun said that Zhang Chu and Ding Yi still could not occupy two positions because the gathered fighters would not accept one man monopolizing both opportunities.

Zhang Chu claimed two stone pillars at the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven and faced down four powerful challengers. After blocking their attacks with the Two Worlds Umbrella, he unleashed the September Formation—Jinyun, leaving them wounded and asking whether they had any last words.

• Zhang Chu declared that the two pillars belonged to him, and Han Jue, Pagoda Walker, Pei Yuan, and Lei Qianjun challenged his claim.
• Zhang Chu called everyone present trash, then shattered Han Jue’s blade strike and blasted half his body into blood mist.
• Pagoda Walker, Pei Yuan, Han Jue, and Lei Qianjun attacked Zhang Chu together, but the Two Worlds Umbrella blocked their blows.
• Lei Qianjun recognized the Two Worlds Umbrella as Dragon King Hall’s lost treasure, and Zhang Chu revealed that Wei Chengfeng was dead.
• The four experts launched another combined assault, but Zhang Chu put away the umbrella and used the September Formation—Jinyun to wound and drive them back.
• Zhang Chu stood over the battered challengers and asked if they had any last words.

Zhang Chu killed Han Jue and Pagoda Walker as Lei Qianjun and Pei Yuan escaped into the newly opened Sea Heart Vortex. He entered the Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven with Ding Yi and found an ancient mural depicting a giant absorbing a strange substance through God Worship.

• Zhang Chu's sword formation killed Han Jue and Pagoda Walker while Lei Qianjun and Pei Yuan fled into the Sea Heart Vortex.
• The red-clad woman and Granny Kurong entered the vortex, and Zhang Chu chose the Return to Ruins pillar before entering with Ding Yi.
• Zhang Chu and Ding Yi arrived in the silent Sea Heart Grotto-Heaven and approached a mountain carved with ancient murals.
• Zhang Chu recognized the mural's depiction of God Worship and the strange substance entering the giant's body.

Zhang Chu and Ding Yi discovered that the Return to Ruins contained a Black River made of Evil God Substance, with the Myriad Phenomena Curse glowing on an island beyond it. Determined to reach the secret, Zhang Chu prepared to make Ding Yi cross the deadly river.

• Zhang Chu sensed a faint disturbance and led Ding Yi across an ancient battlefield where warriors from different eras had been killed by identical, precise wounds.
• Zhang Chu and Ding Yi found a vast Black River whose waters released dense Evil God Substance, confirming the danger of the Return to Ruins.
• A golden glow appeared on an island across the river, and Ding Yi recognized it as the Myriad Phenomena Curse, one of the Nine Secrets.
• Ding Yi explained that the Myriad Phenomena Curse had vanished thousands of years earlier and might be connected to the Myriad Dharma Aperture, making Zhang Chu eager to reach it.
• Ding Yi warned Zhang Chu that many powerful figures had died near the river, but Zhang Chu urged him onward and revealed that he expected Ding Yi to cross.