Chapter Summaries

While Ning Chen wandered the Underworld Netherworld, he gave Ghost Maiden his true qi to help her approach the Innate realm, worsening his poison. Outside, Fan Lingyue’s Northern Mongol forces battered Great Xia and began probing Yueyang City, leaving Duke Jingwu to face the war’s uncertain turning point.

• Ning Chen explored the Underworld Netherworld with Ghost Maiden and found that the demon blade and violet divine sword still would not accept him.
• Ning Chen used the Scroll of Life to transfer his true qi to Ghost Maiden, accelerating the poison in his own body as she prepared to enter seclusion.
• Fan Lingyue’s cavalry defeated Great Xia’s forces, while assassinations and the Eternal Night Divine Cult’s advance further weakened the dynasty.
• Xia Mingri sent 150,000 Imperial Guards north to defend Yueyang City and Xiling City against Northern Mongol’s advance.
• Northern Mongol’s army halted near the cities and began probing attacks on Yueyang City, where Duke Jingwu watched from the walls and reflected on Great Xia’s decline.

Ning Chen visited Old Lu and The Master before heading toward the southeastern tombs after a Heavenly Book appeared. The twin Yin and Yang Tombs slaughtered many powerful intruders, and the survivors came to believe the Yang Tomb held the chance of life.

• Ning Chen visited Old Lu, borrowed a better wheelchair, and then went to see The Master at Tiancang Academy.
• The Master urged Ning Chen to keep living and told him the Scroll of Nothingness was about to emerge and that they were relying on him to find it.
• A Heavenly Book’s radiance appeared in the southeast, and Ning Chen rode his ghost carriage toward the twin tombs.
• The Yin and Yang Tombs unleashed deadly yin mist and fire waves, killing many intruders and forcing others to retreat.
• Grand Elders who escaped the Yin Tomb died soon afterward, and the crowd shifted its attention to the Yang Tomb, believing it offered a chance of survival.

Ning Chen and the Ghost Maiden entered the Yin Tomb after he judged that its death-and-life cycle was about to change, hoping to reach the Scroll of Life. Deep inside, they encountered a vast swarm of ancient yin spirits, and the Ghost Maiden warned that the tomb could be far older than a thousand years.

• Ning Chen kept watch on the twin tombs and confirmed that the Scroll of Life lay in the Yin Tomb, while the Ghost Maiden said she was still half a step from a breakthrough.
• Ning Chen questioned the Ghost Maiden about undying bodies, and she explained their limits and revealed that taking the Underworld Source from the Underworld Son could repair Ning Chen's body.
• After observing the tombs for several more days, Ning Chen concluded that the Yin and Yang Tombs alternated between governing death and life, and decided the time had come to enter the Yin Tomb.
• As the Yang Tomb erupted in flames and those who escaped were killed, Ning Chen and the Ghost Maiden rode the ghost sedan into the Yin Tomb.
• Ning Chen and the Ghost Maiden passed through the ancient tomb and spotted countless yin spirits drifting from the darkness; the Ghost Maiden warned that they might be in a ten-thousand-year-old sage's tomb.

Ning Chen and Ghost Maiden explored the Yin Tomb, where they found a Humanoid Medicine King and reached the seventh gate. The Underworld Son arrived with You Yue, and after You Yue attacked Ning Chen and Ghost Maiden intervened, Ning Chen challenged the Underworld Son to fight.

• Ghost Maiden explained that the Yin Tomb likely held the remains of an ancient sage, while attacks from outside shook the tomb and the pair hurried onward.
• Ghost Maiden burned hundreds of yin spirits with her source ghostfire after they trapped the pair, leaving her exhausted.
• Ning Chen passed up the Humanoid Medicine King and tried to open the seventh gate, but his sword strike only marked it.
• The Underworld Son arrived with You Yue and ordered her to attack Ning Chen, but Ghost Maiden struck You Yue back.
• The Underworld Son revealed that he had killed the people who entered the tomb behind them, and Ning Chen charged at him with the Ink Sword.

Ning Chen and Ghost Maiden fought the Underworld Son and You Yue, then opened a Yin Tomb door and took a Heavenly Book guarded by four Headless Knights. After recovering in the Underworld, Ning Chen learned Yueyang City had fallen to a devastating fire attack and arrived to find the city in ruins, where he identified the fuel as crude oil.

• Ning Chen and Ghost Maiden fought the Underworld Son and You Yue, and Ghost Maiden forced a fragment of Underworld Source from the Underworld Son before the pair escaped.
• Ghost Maiden opened the middle door of the Yin Tomb, and she took the Heavenly Book while Ning Chen held off four Headless Knights.
• Ning Chen and Ghost Maiden returned to the Underworld, where he healed and she fused the fragment of Underworld Source into his body.
• Ghost Maiden entered seclusion to pursue the Innate realm, while Ning Chen left the Underworld and learned that Yueyang City had fallen after the Northern Mongols set it ablaze with black liquid.
• Ning Chen reached the ruins of Yueyang City and identified the substance that had burned the city as crude oil.

After discovering that Fan Lingyue had used crude oil to capture Yueyang City, Ning Chen realized Great Xia faced a grave military crisis. He returned to the underworld and began cultivating the Scroll of Heaven, though the Yellow Springs Flower poison still limited his progress.

• Ning Chen searched the camps at Jialing City and found oil trenches, realizing Fan Lingyue had used crude oil as a weapon.
• Ning Chen assessed Great Xia's repeated defeats and the severe losses at Yueyang City, while Changsun and Qing Ling grieved over the empire's worsening situation.
• Ning Chen left Jialing City and returned to the underworld before dawn.
• Ning Chen cautiously circulated his true qi, but the Yellow Springs Flower poison began spreading when he used too much.
• Ning Chen began cultivating the Scroll of Heaven, slowly gathering qi in his dantian.

Fan Lingyue pressed toward Great Xia’s Imperial City while her illness worsened, and Ning Chen emerged from the Underworld to advise Xia Mingyue before returning to the Zhiming Marquisate. He left Liu Ruoxi with no promise that he would stay, while the war with Northern Mongol continued to threaten Great Xia.

• Fan Lingyue coughed blood on the march toward Great Xia’s Imperial City and entrusted Mingyue with Northern Mongol’s future.
• The Barbarian King ordered a figure to follow Fan Lingyue in secret, while A'man continued searching Great Xia for Ning Chen.
• Ning Chen woke after seven days in the Underworld and found that he had to rebuild his cultivation through the Scroll of Heaven and Changsun Lineage martial arts.
• Ning Chen advised Xia Mingyue to use the approaching wheat harvest to track Northern Mongol’s route and requested thirty thousand cavalry to counter its heavy cavalry.
• Ning Chen returned to the Zhiming Marquisate, where Liu Ruoxi welcomed him and asked whether he would leave again; he said he had only come back to take a look.

Ning Chen left the marquis's estate, met Xia Ziyi, and drank with him before returning to the underworld. Meanwhile, Prince Yan entered Featherfall Valley seeking Phoenix Blood and faced seven terrifying innate experts as their deathly power darkened the sky.

• Ning Chen departed the marquis's estate, leaving Liu Ruoxi in tears, and traveled to the Haowu Prince's Estate.
• Ning Chen apologized to Xia Ziyi for the arrow that had prevented him from entering the innate realm, and Xia Ziyi urged him to visit Changsun.
• Ning Chen and Xia Ziyi drank together through the night as they discussed Changsun, Xin Yu, and Ning Chen's refusal to pursue love against his beliefs.
• Ning Chen returned to the underworld at dawn, and Xia Ziyi headed for the imperial palace.
• Prince Yan entered Featherfall Valley and demanded a drop of Phoenix Blood, then split an enormous attacking palm with the Crimson Sword.
• Seven innate experts emerged from beneath Featherfall Valley, and Prince Yan summoned the Azure Sword to face them.

Prince Yan defeated seven Xiantian experts in Featherfall Valley and obtained Phoenix Blood, while Ning Chen advised Great Xia on seeking Barbarian reinforcements without surrendering territory. Prince Yan then found Ghost Maiden cultivating with the Scroll of Life's power and restrained his swords, saying he would wait until dawn.

• Prince Yan defeated and grievously wounded seven experts in Featherfall Valley, then forced its hidden beings to give him Phoenix Blood.
• The Master appeared as Ji Taishi and told Prince Yan that Grand Righteous Qi could neutralize Phoenix Blood, instructing him to bring Ning Chen to the academy.
• Ning Chen advised Xia Ziyi to reject the Barbarian King's demand for Southern Xinjiang and negotiate for troops using grain, supplies, and Zhenji Kingdom as leverage.
• Prince Yan searched the Underworld, broke through the restrictions around Ghost Maiden's chamber, and found her attempting to break through the Xiantian barrier.
• Prince Yan sensed the Scroll of Life's power within Ghost Maiden, restrained the trembling Azure-Crimson Twin Swords, and said, “Wait until dawn!”

Ning Chen returned to the Underworld Netherworld in time for Prince Yan to save the Ghost Maiden’s cultivation, then accompanied him to the academy, where the Master and Prince Yan used Phoenix Blood and Xiantian True Qi to protect Ning Chen from the Yellow Springs poison. After learning his body could not be healed, Ning Chen chose the Yin Tomb and Prince Yan broke through its defenses to reach the unopened doors.

• Ning Chen returned to the Underworld Netherworld just as Prince Yan intercepted the Azure-Crimson Twin Swords and prevented them from interrupting the Ghost Maiden’s cultivation.
• Prince Yan left a War-Stopping Sword to guard the Ghost Maiden’s chamber, examined the divine sword in the great hall, and then took Ning Chen to the academy.
• The Master purified Phoenix Blood with righteous energy while Prince Yan dissolved the Yellow Springs poison in Ning Chen’s body, protecting his spiritual consciousness from the final corpse transformation.
• Ning Chen awoke, learned that his body was beyond saving for now, and followed Prince Yan to the twin tombs, choosing the Yin Tomb.
• Prince Yan cut through the Yin Tomb’s yin spirits, restrictions, and four Headless Knights, then shattered one of the two unopened doors and revealed a cascade of mirror light.

Ning Chen and Prince Yan opened the final gate of the Yin Tomb and witnessed Ancient Sage’s grief over Yaoyue, then escaped the tombs and returned to the underworld. As Ning Chen began cultivating toward the Innate realm, Fan Lingyue realized the Northern Mongol army’s rear forces had fallen dangerously far behind.

• Prince Yan retrieved the ancient mirror from the sixth gate and gave it to Ning Chen, then the seventh gate opened and revealed Ancient Sage’s lingering image and memories of Yaoyue.
• Ancient Sage watched Yaoyue fade away after waiting for his return, and his shadow vanished, leaving the ancient mirror and two empty coffins behind.
• Prince Yan and Ning Chen left the Yin Tomb; Prince Yan entered the Yang Tomb alone, then carried Ning Chen back to the underworld and gave him two Medicine Kings to aid his cultivation.
• Ning Chen entered secluded cultivation while Prince Yan guarded the underworld, and three days later the Yin and Yang Tombs sank underground and their energies disappeared.
• As Northern Mongolia’s campaign against Great Xia continued, Fan Lingyue learned that her army’s rear force had fallen 120 li behind and reprimanded the general who had failed to report it.

Fan Lingyue anticipated Great Xia’s attacks on Northern Mongolia’s supply lines and worked out that Ning Chen’s strategy aimed to force her army toward difficult terrain. Meanwhile, A'man traveled toward Taiyue City to find Ning Chen, unaware of the danger around her, and revealed his identity to a brothel madam.

• Fan Lingyue sent Qing Wuyou to protect the grain convoys, then learned that Great Xia had destroyed twenty percent of Northern Mongolia’s provisions.
• After Qing Wuyou reported back, Fan Lingyue predicted Great Xia would attack the supplies again to force Northern Mongolia to change its route and identified Ning Chen as the planner.
• Duke Jingwu ordered Great Xia’s forces to keep intercepting Northern Mongolian grain convoys while warning that the enemy might have prepared an ambush.
• A'man asked for directions to Taiyue City, changed into simpler clothes, and followed an old woman into an alley for tea while her hidden guard watched in alarm.
• When the old woman asked whom she was seeking, A'man named Ning Chen and said he seemed to be Great Xia’s Marquis of Knowing Fate, making the woman spit out her tea.

A'man traveled west with Prince Yan, who had her carry his sword rack while promising to take her to Ning Chen. As Northern Mongolia's forces advanced south after a feint by Fan Lingyue, Ning Chen reached the peak of the ninth rank and began cultivating the Daoist Sect's Clear Sky After Snowfall Art.

• A'man escaped a band of criminals at an inn when an unseen figure killed them before they could attack her.
• Prince Yan met A'man on the road and had her carry his sword rack as they traveled west to fight a bad man.
• The Barbarian King recalled A'man's secret guard, leaving Prince Yan and A'man to continue their journey alone.
• Duke Jingwu's forces destroyed a Northern Mongolian grain depot, but Fan Lingyue had falsified the reported provisions and redirected her army south to escape the encirclement.
• Ning Chen consumed two Medicine Kings, reached the peak of the ninth rank, and failed to break through to the innate realm.
• Ning Chen began cultivating the Clear Sky After Snowfall Art, the Daoist Sect's secret art suited to the Scroll of Life and his cold constitution.

As Great Xia faced invasion on several fronts, Prince Hua secured the Barbarian Dynasty’s military support by offering iron ore, while Prince Yan reached Marquis Kaixuan and challenged the Martial Lord. Prince Yan wounded the Martial Lord in their opening exchange, as Ning Chen watched from the Underworld Netherworld and considered how the Martial Lord’s dual seas of qi might be overcome.

• The Northern Mongol army advanced through Great Xia, while Marquis Kaixuan and Marquis Zhongyong struggled to hold their respective fronts.
• Prince Hua negotiated with the Barbarian King, offering twenty percent of Bairuo Plains’ iron ore output for ten years in exchange for troops; the Barbarian King sent one hundred thousand soldiers north.
• Prince Yan and A'man arrived at Marquis Kaixuan’s camp, where Prince Yan agreed to fight the Martial Lord the next day.
• Prince Yan and the Martial Lord began their duel, and Prince Yan’s twin swords pierced the Martial Lord, drawing first blood.
• Ning Chen watched from the Underworld Netherworld and reasoned that defeating the Martial Lord required overcoming the advantage of his dual seas of qi.

Prince Yan and the Martial Lord fought a devastating battle between the Blackwater Army and the Divine Cult's iron cavalry. After the Martial Lord gained the advantage, Prince Yan used Ning Chen's advice to search for the Martial Lord's second qi sea, and launched his twin swords toward the healed sword scars.

• Prince Yan and the Martial Lord exchanged supreme techniques, with neither gaining the upper hand despite grievous injuries.
• The Martial Lord unleashed Heavenly Desolation God-Slaying, and Prince Yan answered with Three Swords Share the Heavens, leaving both men badly wounded.
• As their true qi waned, the Martial Lord struck Prince Yan with his palm and appeared to secure victory.
• Prince Yan recalled Ning Chen's plan to locate the Martial Lord's second qi sea by tracking the places his swords had struck.
• Prince Yan sent his twin swords toward the Martial Lord with Azure and Crimson in Shared Breath, One Qi Without Delusion.

Prince Yan wounded the Martial Lord and confirmed the location of his second dantian, then withdrew to protect the Azure Sword. Ning Chen emerged from the Netherworld, joined the Blood-clothed Marquis on the northern battlefield, and helped plan a gamble against the advancing Northern Mongol army.

• Prince Yan pierced the Martial Lord’s Qihai and wounded him, but ended their unfinished battle when he feared the Azure Sword would break.
• Prince Yan and A'man left for the Confucian School so he could mend the sword, while the western armies returned to their camps.
• Ning Chen emerged from the Netherworld and told the Blood-clothed Marquis that Northern Mongol had outmaneuvered Great Xia and was advancing toward the north.
• Ning Chen said reinforcements might arrive after Prince Yan’s battle, and the Blood-clothed Marquis agreed to risk joining the fight against Northern Mongol.
• Ning Chen and the Blood-clothed Marquis spent the night refining their plans, then Ning Chen departed before sunrise because he could not face sunlight.

Mu Bai sent Mu Chengxue away from the edge of the world, insisting that her path and an unfinished debt of affection lay in the mortal world. After speaking with Xia Mingri, Ning Chen met Mu Chengxue, fought her over the Scroll of Life, and struck a bargain to keep her by his side for the months he had left.

• Mu Bai used Sword Qi to send Mu Chengxue away and told her not to return, saying she still had unfinished business in the mortal world.
• Ning Chen left the underworld, visited Xia Mingri in the Heavenly Edict Hall, and then traveled north.
• Ning Chen and Mu Chengxue crossed paths, and she attacked him to reclaim the Scroll of Life.
• Mu Chengxue pierced Ning Chen, but he survived with his Undying Body and returned Chengying to her.
• Ning Chen deduced that Mu Chengxue descended from the Ziyin Dynasty's imperial family and offered her a deal: she would stay with him and aid him once, then take the Scroll of Life when the Yellow Springs poison killed him.
• Ning Chen added the Scrolls of Earth and Heaven to the bargain, and Mu Chengxue agreed to travel with him.

Ning Chen infiltrated the Northern Mongol camp and fought Fan Lingyue, discovering that her illness had weakened her but that her cultivation art could overwhelm his attacks. Fan Lingyue used the Scroll of Moon to destroy his heart meridians, but his Undying Body let him rise again; she then drew the ancient sword Pure Karma Primeval.

• Ning Chen confronted Fan Lingyue in the Northern Mongol camp, and four generals joined the fight against him.
• Ning Chen drove Fan Lingyue back with Changsun Lineage techniques, then realized she was gravely ill as she coughed blood.
• Qing Wuyou arrived and received orders to lead thirty thousand light cavalry away, but Ning Chen wounded her with three arrows before she could escape.
• Fan Lingyue unleashed her full strength and repeatedly countered Ning Chen’s attacks, while he searched for a way through her cultivation art.
• Fan Lingyue used Scroll of Moon, Moonfall Silence to immobilize Ning Chen and destroy his heart meridians, but his Undying Body allowed him to stand again.
• Fan Lingyue drew the ancient sword Pure Karma Primeval, shocking Mu Chengxue.

Ning Chen fought Fan Lingyue but was overwhelmed by Pure Karma Primeval and her Heavenly Tome techniques, escaping only after both fighters were badly injured. Back in the Underworld Netherworld, he survived an eruption of the Underworld Source and tried to understand the Scroll of Chaos, while Fan Lingyue ordered her forces to move against the Blood-clothed Marquis.

• Fan Lingyue drew Pure Karma Primeval and battled Ning Chen, whose attacks could not overcome her white protective light.
• Ning Chen briefly wounded Fan Lingyue, but she turned the fight around and struck him down as the Four Noted Swords joined the attack.
• Ning Chen unleashed Quick Snow Sentiment, July Snowfall to cover his retreat, while Fan Lingyue’s suppressed illness erupted and forced her to stop pursuing him.
• Mu Chengxue told Ning Chen that Fan Lingyue possessed the Scroll of Chaos, and Ning Chen used two Buddha Heaven Pills to contain the Underworld Source’s eruption.
• Fan Lingyue ordered Wu Xueyan, General Baili, Ying Shaoyuan, Yuwen Fei, and Kang Ping to mobilize, then collapsed after the others departed.
• Ning Chen wondered whether the Scroll of Chaos had concealed the flaw in Fan Lingyue’s defense, while Mu Chengxue watched him and questioned whether they had known each other before.

Ning Chen saved the Ghost Maiden from a dangerous cultivation backlash, then returned to Great Xia’s campaign against the Northern Mongols and assessed the threat around Yangguan City. The chapter ended with him seeking a way to keep the forces inside and outside the city from joining up before Duke Jingwu’s army arrived.

• The Ghost Maiden’s attempt to enter the Innate Realm went awry, and Ning Chen suppressed her surging true qi before she briefly awoke and struck him out of the chamber.
• Mu Chengxue fought the War-Stopping Sword through the night but could not pass it, then carried the badly injured Ning Chen away.
• The Northern Mongol army crossed the North River after heavy losses, while the Blood-clothed Marquis’s Imperial Guards also suffered severe casualties.
• Fan Lingyue’s army captured Yangguan City, and Ning Chen and the Blood-clothed Marquis discussed the difficult battle as western reinforcements arrived.
• Ning Chen returned to the Underworld Netherworld and asked Mu Chengxue about killing Fan Lingyue; she said she had a fifty percent chance and refused to help.
• Ning Chen concluded that Great Xia needed to prevent the Northern Mongol forces inside and outside Yangguan City from joining before Duke Jingwu arrived.