Chapter Summaries

Yin'er recovered enough to survive her Mortal Immortal tribulation, though her injuries remained severe, and Qing Ling reassured her that her master could return. Meanwhile, the princes of the Primeval Demonic Realm maneuvered as Xuan Qing faced a citywide lockdown and Xuan Zhen warned the Fifth Prince that the danger to Xuan Xiu was growing.

• Qing Ling used Buddhist fire and the Phoenix Essence to help Yin'er awaken, and a red-robed phoenix phantom merged into her before vanishing.
• Yin'er joined A'man and Mu Chengxue against her Mortal Immortal tribulation and destroyed its lightning divine general with Heavenly Punishment, Apocalyptic Catastrophe.
• Yin'er collapsed after crossing the tribulation, and Qing Ling caught her and suppressed her injuries before the Moon Worshipper Clan's elder led them to guest rooms.
• Xuan Qing watched Imperial Guards seal off the imperial capital and concluded that the First Prince and the two Demonic Emperors had conspired to make him a pawn.
• Xuan Zhen brought Xuan Luo, the lord of the Southwest King's Domain, to meet the Fifth Prince and revealed that Xuan Luo's Heavenly Demon power had been taken by Xuan Chen.
• Xuan Zhen warned the Fifth Prince that Xuan Qing would try to eliminate Xuan Xiu and said that Xuan Chen worried him more than Xuan Qing did.

Xuan Qing used an Earth Talisman to destroy much of the imperial city while remaining inside his manor, but the Emperor stopped the blast and the Twelfth Prince awakened. Xuan Zhen and Xuan Xiu prepared to testify against Xuan Qing, while Ning Chen visited both sides as the princes’ struggle continued.

• After a night of uneasy calm, an Earth Talisman exploded at the Fifth Prince's Manor, destroying nearly a quarter of the imperial city and killing countless civilians.
• Xuan Mo and the four Imperial Guard commanders tried to contain the blast, and the Emperor suppressed it with a palm strike; Xuan Qing claimed he had never left his manor.
• The Seven Luminaries Demonic Emperor and Eight Desolations Demonic Emperor discussed waiting for evidence against Xuan Qing, while the Twelfth Prince awakened in a secret chamber at the First Prince's Manor.
• Xuan Zhen reached Xuan Xiu, who said he had witnessed Xuan Qing's earlier killings and would present his memories to the Demonic Emperors.
• Ning Chen visited Xuan Xiu and Xuan Zhen, then went to see Xuan Qing, but an Imperial Guard commander blocked him from entering the manor.
• Xuan Qing came out of the manor gates and challenged the commander for denying Ning Chen the right to speak with him.

Ning Chen gave Xuan Qing the Human Talisman and learned that the Heaven Talisman lay on the perilous Qihuang Island. Xuan Qing used the talisman to trigger Xuan Xiu’s death and a devastating attack across Three Imperial Cities, then invoked Demonic Emperor Kunyi’s token to resist the Demonic Emperors’ accusations.

• Ning Chen met Xuan Qing and returned the Human Talisman in exchange for information about the Heaven Talisman’s location on Qihuang Island.
• Xuan Qing warned Ning Chen that Qihuang Island was a dangerous forbidden land and gave him a jade slip describing it.
• At the Heavenly Demon Ancestral Land, Xuan Xiu accused Xuan Qing of attacking him, and the Seven Luminaries Demonic Emperor prepared to extract his memories.
• Xuan Qing shattered the Human Talisman, causing Xuan Xiu to explode and setting off attacks and explosions throughout Three Imperial Cities.
• The Seven Luminaries and Eight Desolations Demonic Emperors confronted Xuan Qing, who blocked their attack with Demonic Emperor Kunyi’s token and denied responsibility.

After the Seven Luminaries and Eight Desolations Demonic Emperors confined Xuan Qing to his manor, Xuan Zhen prepared to retaliate for his brothers’ deaths. As Ning Chen played the White Tiger divine artifact King Yama at the third watch, slaughter erupted across the imperial city, while Xuan Que and Gou Huang also mobilized their forces.

• Xuan Qing used the Demonic Emperor's Token to stop the Seven Luminaries and Eight Desolations Demonic Emperors from taking him, and the Seven Luminaries sealed the Third Prince's Manor under house arrest.
• The Eight Desolations Demonic Emperor dismissed Xuan Zhen from the Heavenly Demon Ancestral Land, and Xuan Zhen decided to pursue revenge by his own methods.
• Ning Chen returned to his manor in the rain, looked at Xin Yu's portrait, and drank ginger soup brought by Shi Yu.
• Xuan Zhen ordered his black-clad forces to attack, while Xuan Que and Gou Huang separately mobilized their forces as chaos spread through the imperial city.
• At the third watch, Ning Chen played King Yama, and its music accompanied the deaths of wronged souls as bloodshed engulfed the city.

Ning Chen’s plan plunged the Imperial City into a night of assassinations, while the Witch Clan, Divine Capital Mountain, and the Stone Clan prepared for war against the Heavenly Demon Royal Clan. After Xuan Que visited Ning Chen, he agreed to make sure the imprisoned Third Prince learned what had happened, while Ning Chen decided it was time to discard him.

• Ning Chen’s zither music drew Imperial Guards away as assassins attacked key sites across the Imperial City, and the First Prince’s and Ninth Prince’s dead soldiers withdrew when discovered.
• Shaluo foresaw war between the Witch Clan and the Heavenly Demon Royal Clan, and the Witch Queens, Yu Luowu, and the Stone Emperor ordered their forces to prepare for battle.
• Imperial Guards sealed off important locations after the attacks, while Ling Wang’s Heir was seized before he could warn Xuan Qing about the assault on Ling Wang’s Estate.
• Xuan Que visited Ning Chen, and Ning Chen explained how the attacks had weakened Xuan Zhen and left him responsible for the damage and the Eighth Prince’s death.
• Ning Chen told Xuan Que to let the Third Prince learn what had happened, and after Xuan Que left, Ning Chen declared that he would discard him as a pawn.

Xuan Zhen was confined to Crown Prince's Estate after Eighth Prince's death, while Ning Chen encouraged Shi Yu to leave and live for herself. The five great royal clans invaded the Primeval Demonic Realm, but Ning Chen remained wary of the Scale Clan and wanted the war to weaken every side.

• Xuan Mo confronted Xuan Zhen with a Black Moon Saber found at Eighth Prince's Manor, and Xuan Que demanded that Xuan Zhen remain in his estate during the investigation.
• The Demon Emperor's decree forbade Xuan Zhen from leaving Crown Prince's Estate, making him the second prince placed under house arrest.
• Ning Chen urged Shi Yu to leave with Shi Qing and consider the life they wanted beyond the manor.
• The Twelve Witch Queens led the Witch Clan south, and Divine Capital Mountain, the Western Sacred Domain, the Stone Clan, and the Scale Clan sent their armies against the Primeval Demonic Realm.
• Ning Chen said he had never trusted the Scale Clan and wanted the war to cripple the Primeval Demonic Realm and the five royal clans alike.

As the five great royal clans invaded the Primeval Demonic Realm, Ning Chen set out for Qihuang Island to seek the Heaven Talisman and a chance to restore his cultivation. The Heavenly Demon princes met the invading armies across five fronts, where battles began with the outcome still uncertain.

• The five great royal clans launched coordinated attacks, capturing territory and forcing the Heavenly Demon Clan to mobilize its princes and troops.
• Ning Chen told Xuan Jiuyou he planned to seek the Heaven Talisman on Qihuang Island, and Xuan Jiuyou lent him the Nine Transformations of Xuanjie.
• Ning Chen left the Three Imperial Cities while five sealed Heavenly Demon kings were released and a five-hundred-thousand-strong army marched to the fronts.
• Xuanlie wounded the Four Divine Generals of Divine Capital Mountain, while Xuanqi severed one of the Stone Clan's three Sacred Protectors' right arms.
• On the western front, Shaluo invoked the Six Paths of Reincarnation against Xuanmie, and the battlefield's clash began.

Ning Chen traveled across the sea to Qihuang Island, where he fought a Teng Snake and encountered a White Tiger descendant. Meanwhile, the Heavenly Demon princes battled the Sacred Domain and the five great royal clans, and Shaluo and Xuanzhen’s duel remained unresolved.

• The Heavenly Demon princes entered the five battlefields and shifted the fighting, while Shaluo and Xuanzhen traded powerful attacks in a fierce duel.
• Ning Chen recognized Xuan Qi as the Foremost Sword Under Heaven, then continued toward Qihuang Island to return before the decisive battle.
• Ning Chen crossed the vast sea by throwing giant logs ahead and leaping after them, eventually reaching Qihuang Island.
• Ning Chen killed a Teng Snake with Star Soul and the Green Cauldron, then stored its body as a gift for King Qi.
• Ning Chen evaded repeated lightning strikes on Qihuang Island and entered a ravine where the island’s power suppressed the demon body’s cultivation.
• A White Tiger descendant attacked Ning Chen, who blocked its claws with the Green Cauldron.

Ning Chen defeated and subdued the White Tiger, then continued across Qihuang Island in search of the Heaven Talisman. He reached the Qihuang clan’s vast mausoleum, where human-made yin spirits raised questions about the clan’s origins and its destruction.

• Ning Chen overwhelmed the White Tiger with the Green Cauldron and threatened it with Immortal Slaying until it submitted; he gave it two hours to heal before ordering it to follow him.
• A red-clothed man killed the island’s Vermilion Bird Descendant and absorbed its Demonic Essence, leaving only the White Tiger’s power to claim before he could seek the King Realm.
• Ning Chen and the White Tiger traveled to a vast sea of tombs and entered the Qihuang clan’s stone mausoleum.
• Ning Chen and the White Tiger encountered yin spirits, which the White Tiger purified with lightning.
• Ning Chen wondered whether humans had once been buried in the mausoleum and whether the Qihuang clan had also been human.

Ning Chen and the White Tiger explored the depths of the stone tomb on Qihuang Island, where they awakened a blood dragon bound to a Dragon Soul Imprint. After Ning Chen absorbed the imprint with the Dragon Emperor Sword, they continued toward the tomb’s deepest reaches, where human remains and another ominous presence awaited.

• The White Tiger accidentally triggered the runes around an ancient blood pool, reviving a powerful blood dragon that struck it aside.
• Ning Chen let the White Tiger battle the blood dragon while he considered how the Qihuang clan’s techniques might give the demons in his Soul Suppressing Banner physical bodies.
• The great demons warned Ning Chen that a Dragon Soul Imprint sustained the blood dragon, and Ning Chen resolved to find a way to reshape their bodies.
• Ning Chen split the blood dragon’s head and used the Dragon Emperor Sword to devour the Dragon Soul Imprint, ending the battle and dimming the formation runes.
• Ning Chen and the White Tiger continued deeper into the tomb, found human remains, and heard a roar from ahead; Ning Chen ordered the White Tiger to hold off whatever appeared.

Ning Chen defeated a green-furred corpse guarding a stone chamber and removed the curse inscription that had revived it, then searched the chamber for anything left behind. As a familiar enemy, Vermilion Bird, arrived, the two prepared to settle their grudge.

• Ning Chen broke through the stone gate and let the White Tiger battle the King Realm green-furred corpse, stepping in with Inverted Water Moon and the Green Cauldron when the tiger could no longer hold on.
• Ning Chen battered the corpse until it could no longer rise, then cut the curse inscription from its dantian, causing its consciousness and breath to vanish.
• Ning Chen, the White Tiger, and Little Gourd searched the looted stone chamber but found nothing, while Ning Chen studied the inscription.
• Vermilion Bird entered the chamber, and he and Ning Chen agreed to fight and settle their grudge.

Ning Chen fought Vermilion Bird over the Book of Life and Death, and their battle destroyed Qihuang Island before she escaped. After realizing the Heaven Talisman might lie at the end of the island’s sky-reaching chains, Ning Chen turned back and flew upward with White Tiger, who began to falter near the Ninth Heaven.

• Ning Chen and Vermilion Bird fought with their swords and unleashed their ultimate techniques, shaking the stone tomb and Qihuang Island.
• Ning Chen’s Sword Emperor realm overwhelmed Vermilion Bird, but their attacks shattered the chains supporting Qihuang Island and sent it plunging into the sea.
• Ning Chen struck Vermilion Bird with the Immortal Slaying Sword, but she escaped using her clan’s inherited secret art.
• White Tiger caught Ning Chen as he fell, and Ning Chen realized the Heaven Talisman and Qihuang clan’s inheritance had sunk with the island.
• Ning Chen reconsidered Xuan Qing’s clues, suspected the Heaven Talisman was above the Ninth Heaven, and ordered White Tiger to fly back toward the chains.
• White Tiger carried Ning Chen upward until the extreme height slowed him, while Ning Chen watched the chains and feared they might not reach their destination.

Ning Chen found the Qihuang Clan’s cloud realm, received its Arts of Qihuang inheritance, and mastered the Heaven Talisman. He returned to the Central Continent as the war in the Primeval Demonic Realm intensified, with the Devil Race’s princes driving back the opposing forces.

• Ning Chen climbed the heaven-reaching chains to the clouds, where the Qihuang Grand Elder revealed the Qihuang Clan’s human origins and taught him the Arts of Qihuang.
• Ning Chen quickly learned the spirit-binding method and realized that the floating clouds beneath him were the Heaven Talisman.
• Ning Chen activated the Heaven Talisman, took control of the cloud realm, and rode the clouds back toward the Central Continent with the white tiger.
• Ning Chen gathered clouds into his divine restriction after descending, then continued northwest with the white tiger.
• Xuanlie and Xuanqi led the Devil Race’s attacks in the east and southeast, forcing the opposing imperial clan commanders to retreat as casualties mounted.

Ning Chen met Xuanqi after the Fourth Prince defeated the Stone Clan’s Sacred Guardians, then received orders to command the failing western front against the Western Sacred Domain. He arrived at camp and found Xuanmie unconscious, while the demons accompanying him claimed they could advance to the Fourth Realm by devouring Xuanmie’s power.

• Xuanqi defeated the Stone Clan’s three Sacred Guardians, killing one and forcing the other two to retreat, then exchanged a sword strike with Ning Chen as he departed.
• A Messenger Envoy ordered Ning Chen to reinforce the western front, where Shaluo had gravely wounded Xuanmie and the Heavenly Demon army was suffering heavy losses.
• Ning Chen learned that Xuanlie and Xuanqi were engaged on the eastern fronts, while the Witch Clan and Scale Clan remained active elsewhere.
• The Western Sacred Domain’s Palace Masters discussed Ning Chen’s arrival, and Shaluo said he could not truly help the Heavenly Demon Royal Clan resist them.
• Ning Chen reached the western camp, learned that Xuanmie remained unconscious because a special force had sealed his five senses, and asked whether the demons could reach the Fourth Realm by devouring his power.

Ning Chen faced Shaluo in a duel while the Heavenly Demon army waited for reinforcements, and the two Demonic Emperors decided to send Xuanzhen to the western front. After Shaluo wounded Ning Chen with the Six Paths of Reincarnation, Luojia ordered the Western Sacred Domain army to attack.

• The Seven Luminaries Demonic Emperor and Eight Desolations Demonic Emperor discussed the crisis on the western front and agreed to send Xuanzhen to reinforce it.
• Ning Chen told five Demonic Generals that he was their only reinforcement for now, then accepted the Western Sacred Domain's declaration of war.
• Ning Chen met Shaluo between the armies, and they fought with sword and palm techniques as their troops watched.
• Shaluo unleashed the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and Ning Chen was wounded by the attack.
• Luojia ordered ten thousand Western Sacred Domain troops to advance after Ning Chen staggered back.

Ning Chen led the Heavenly Demon army in a staged retreat, but the Sacred Domain forces pursued and shattered their camp’s defenses. Feng Shidao awakened Prince Xuanmie at the cost of his life, and Xuanmie fell in battle against Shaluo even after Ning Chen joined the fight.

• Ning Chen ordered the Heavenly Demon army to retreat, and Luojia’s attack killed two of the five Demonic Generals during the pursuit.
• Ning Chen refused to withdraw from the camp, and the Sacred Domain army broke through its formation with a combined attack.
• Shaluo entered the camp to seize the unconscious Prince Xuanmie, but Feng Shidao sacrificed himself to restore Xuanmie’s senses.
• Xuanmie awakened, shattered Shaluo’s Six Paths of Reincarnation, and challenged him to settle their old and new grudges.
• Ning Chen joined Xuanmie’s clash with Shaluo, but Shaluo’s golden light pierced Xuanmie’s chest and killed him.

Ning Chen used Xuanmie's death to help a thousand demons undergo the Thousand Demon Tribulation, while the Sacred Domain army withdrew from the lightning-struck battlefield. Xuanzhen arrived to find the camp devastated and Ning Chen unconscious, as Shaluo suspected the Thirteenth Prince had manipulated the battle.

• Ning Chen's demons took control of Xuanmie's body, and Xuanmie's final attack killed him after Shaluo defeated him.
• Ning Chen and Shaluo resumed their fight as a Thousand Demon Tribulation gathered overhead, prompting Shaluo and Luojia to order the Sacred Domain army to retreat.
• Ning Chen shielded the thousand demons as they entered the Ghost Immortal Realm, while heavenly lightning burned Xuanmie's body and destroyed a fleeing Demonic General.
• Ning Chen placed the thousand demons inside the Soul Suppressing Banner, then let the last lightning strike him and fell unconscious as the tribulation ended.
• Xuanzhen arrived at the scorched camp and ordered the generals to tend to Ning Chen, while Shaluo told Luojia that Xuanmie's death and the tribulation pointed to Ning Chen's involvement.

After the heavenly tribulation, Ning Chen was sent from the camp under Xuan Zhen’s plan to have Xuan Luo kill him, but Ning Chen revealed he had been feigning unconsciousness and fought back. Xuan Luo failed to kill him and proposed cooperation, leaving their enmity temporarily unresolved.

• Xuan Zhen arranged for Xuan Yue to send the injured Ning Chen back to the imperial city, while secretly ordering Xuan Luo to kill him along the way.
• Xuan Luo pursued the three carriages and destroyed the rearmost one, but the Demonic General protecting Ning Chen refused to surrender him and was killed.
• Xuan Luo suspected Ning Chen was pretending to be unconscious and approached him, but Ning Chen used a sword strike to wound him.
• Ning Chen rejected Xuan Luo’s threat to reveal his identity, arguing that Xuan Jiuyou would protect him and punish Xuan Luo.
• Xuan Luo proposed that they cooperate, and Ning Chen heard him out.

Ning Chen and Xuan Luo temporarily joined forces against Xuan Zhen before parting, and Ning Chen returned to the Three Imperial Cities. After meeting Xuan Jiuyou and returning to his manor, he learned the Witch Clan had brought its full force to the northern battlefield, led by the Twelve Witch Queens.

• Ning Chen agreed to cooperate temporarily with Xuan Luo, who sought the fortune of the Heavenly Demon Clan, and the two parted as the returning carriages arrived.
• Xuan Luo reported his failed attempt to Xuan Zhen, who dismissed his suspicions about Ning Chen and decided to wait for another opportunity.
• Ning Chen reached the Three Imperial Cities, visited Xuan Jiuyou, and learned he might be sent as an envoy to the Witch Clan if peace negotiations began.
• Ning Chen returned to his manor, where Shi Yu and Shi Qing welcomed him, while Xuan Que learned of his return and considered building power against the Crown Princes.
• On the northern battlefield, Xuan Kong saw the Witch Clan's army advancing with all Twelve Witch Queens and recognized the danger.

Ning Chen practiced the Qihuang Secret Art, but lost control of its power and realized he needed more time to master it. He asked Shi Yu and Shi Qing to plan for life beyond the Crown Prince's Estate, and Shi Yu agreed to leave with her family, parting from Ning Chen in tears.

• Ning Chen summoned a Sky Dragon with the Qihuang Secret Art, but the inscriptions collapsed and the resulting shockwave sent the white tiger crashing into an artificial mountain as it shielded Little Gourd and Shi Qing.
• Ning Chen explained to Little Gourd that the Qihuang Secret Art borrowed power from heaven and earth and differed from immortal arts.
• Ning Chen asked Shi Qing whether she and Shi Yu had arranged their future, prompting Shi Qing to seek an explanation from her sister.
• Shi Yu concealed her distress from Shi Qing and wondered whether Ning Chen wanted them to leave so they would not be caught up in danger.
• After studying the Qihuang Secret Art for several days, Ning Chen concluded that its unstable power was too dangerous to use in battle until he mastered it.
• Shi Yu gave Ning Chen new clothes and told him she would take her family away from the Three Imperial Cities to live in seclusion; Ning Chen wished her and Shi Qing a peaceful future, and Shi Yu wept.