Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yuechu’s group continued east toward Great Tang while Mo Qianxun confronted White Elephant in the Cave of No Light over the Star Palace Atlas and the Painting Realm. The chapter ended with Mo Qianxun revealing that he had touched the Painting Realm, shocking White Elephant.

• Jiang Yuechu called Demon Emperor Juechen a useful pet, and he eagerly accepted the role.
• The flying vessel carrying Jiang Yuechu and her companions headed east as the You Mountain Range faded behind them.
• White Elephant mocked Mo Qianxun’s interest in the Painting Realm and refused to reveal the Star Palace Atlas’s whereabouts.
• Mo Qianxun admitted he was an unremarkable subordinate of True Lord Xuanyang but said even chess pieces could have ambitions.
• Mo Qianxun revealed a trace of Painting Realm intent, leaving White Elephant stunned.

Mo Qianxun tried to persuade the White Elephant to give him the Star Palace Atlas, saying he wanted to stay and deal with the world’s troubles. Jiang Yuechu returned to Chang'an, left Wang Ziyu and Hu Cuihua there, and went to the palace while Demon Emperor Juechen met the other demons at her estate.

• Mo Qianxun told the White Elephant that Xuanyang would abandon the world with the Star Palace Atlas, while he intended to stay if it was given to him.
• Jiang Yuechu arrived in Chang'an with Wang Ziyu, Hu Cuihua, and Demon Emperor Juechen, and told Wang Ziyu and Hu Cuihua to remain in the city.
• Jiang Yuechu returned to her estate, where Old Red Flood Dragon and Niu Ben greeted her and noticed Demon Emperor Juechen behind her.
• Jiang Yuechu introduced Demon Emperor Juechen as a newcomer, then left for the palace.
• Demon Emperor Juechen offered Old Red Flood Dragon and Niu Ben a jade bottle as a welcome gift, and Old Red Flood Dragon told him he would learn Jiang Yuechu's rules soon enough.

Old Red Flood Dragon, Niu Ben, and Hu Cuihua formed an alliance to protect their standing as His Highness’s earliest followers after Juechen joined them. Juechen then asked about His Highness’s status and wrongly concluded that he was plotting to seize the human city.

• Hu Cuihua recounted Juechen’s history in the You Mountain Range, leaving Old Red Flood Dragon and Niu Ben alarmed by the new demon’s abilities and manners.
• Old Red Flood Dragon warned Niu Ben and Hu Cuihua that His Highness kept bringing demons home and proposed they join forces as veterans.
• Old Red Flood Dragon, Niu Ben, and Hu Cuihua agreed to share information, praise one another to His Highness, and avoid fighting among themselves.
• Juechen entered the woodshed, and the three demons concealed their alliance from him.
• Juechen asked what His Highness’s status was and speculated that he was secretly preparing to take control of the city.

Jiang Yuechu returned to the imperial city, left a Storage Bag of treasures with the emperor, and told him she would be leaving for a while. After her new chess-condensing method was deduced, she prepared to enter the Chess-Player Realm.

• Old Red Flood Dragon warned Demon Emperor Juechen to stay quietly in the residence, avoid harming anyone in the city, and stop asking about Jiang Yuechu.
• The emperor hurried to meet Jiang Yuechu at the palace, where she gave him a Storage Bag and said she might leave for months or longer.
• Jiang Yuechu returned to her residence and studied geography records until the ancient square in her mind began to flicker.
• The ancient square completed its deduction and gave Jiang Yuechu the Prison-Suppressing Evil-Subduing Chess-Condensing Chapter.
• Jiang Yuechu realized she had the art and materials she needed, then decided to enter the Chess-Player Realm that day.

Jiang Yuechu left Chang'an to break through in a remote wilderness, using the Li Fire Gold Scabbard to condense a Dao Chess Piece and manifest her Central Palace. She entered the Chess-Player Realm and learned that the Prison-Suppressing Sword Guard would only be enlightened after she slew demons and fiends and reshaped their bodies.

• Jiang Yuechu traveled west of Chang'an and spent over three million years of Dao Cultivation entering the Prison-Suppressing Evil-Subduing Chess-Condensing Chapter.
• She crushed the wrapping around the Li Fire Gold Scabbard and swallowed its fire and metal aura to condense her Dao Chess Piece.
• Her Central Palace manifested above the cliff, and the Prison-Suppressing Sword Guard appeared as a Dao Chess Piece that was not yet enlightened.
• Jiang Yuechu learned that slaying demons and fiends and reshaping their bodies would enlighten the Dao Chess Piece.
• After solidifying her Central Palace, Jiang Yuechu completed her breakthrough into the Chess-Player Realm and gained the standing to rival the great Chief Seats.

Jiang Yuechu discovered the headless corpse of a white-furred beast in a ruined cavern beneath Spirit Mountain and wondered whether someone had reached the Star Palace Atlas first. In Jade Capital Heaven, True Lord Xuanyang told three powerful figures that Jiang Yuechu had entered the Chess-Player Realm in just over ten days, and they accused him of lying.

• Jiang Yuechu searched Spirit Mountain for Demon Emperors and found only a few minor demons hiding there.
• Jiang Yuechu followed the Pure Yang aura into a cavern, where she found a ruined battlefield and a white-furred beast with its chest torn open.
• Jiang Yuechu suspected someone had reached the Star Palace Atlas before her.
• True Lord Xuanyang summoned three Jade Dao Tablets and announced that Jiang Yuechu had entered the Chess-Player Realm.
• Yuanshan and the other figures doubted Xuanyang’s claim and warned that they would not tolerate him deceiving them.

True Lord Xuanyang told the three Dao Tablets that an eighteen-year-old girl had entered the Chess-Player Realm, but the others feared she had advanced too quickly to be controlled. They decided to give her the Dao-Integration Material anyway and tamper with it, leaving their centuries-old plan dependent on her.

• True Lord Xuanyang said the girl had risen from the String-Hearing Realm to the Chess-Player Realm in little more than a year.
• The second Dao Tablet reported that it could no longer see the girl because a Central Palace shielded her.
• The third Dao Tablet warned that the girl had condensed her chessboard in just over ten days and might not be practicing Xuanyang's method.
• True Lord Xuanyang realized the hidden mechanism in the Great Evolution Pure Yang Supreme Chess-Condensing Record might not work and that they could lose the Dao-Integration Material.
• True Lord Xuanyang persuaded the others to send her the Dao-Integration Material and tamper with it instead.

Jiang Yuechu returned to Living Soil Mountain after entering the Chess-Player Realm, but she had failed to obtain the Star Palace Atlas and brought back the dead White Elephant instead. The old woman suspected Xuanyang had taken the atlas, then said there was another way, though she hesitated to explain it.

• Jiang Yuechu told the Silver-Haired Old Woman that she had entered the Chess-Player Realm in just over ten days.
• Jiang Yuechu said she had not obtained the Star Palace Atlas but had brought back the White Elephant from the Cave of No Light.
• Jiang Yuechu dumped the White Elephant’s headless, mutilated corpse onto the hall floor, shocking the old woman.
• Jiang Yuechu explained that the White Elephant had already been dead when she found him in the Cave of No Light.
• The old woman suspected True Lord Xuanyang had taken the atlas and worried that Jade Capital Pavilion now held the advantage.
• The old woman told Jiang Yuechu there was another way, but hesitated before revealing it.

Jiang Yuechu learned that the Star Palace passage had opened, creating a way for Chess-Player Realm cultivators to leave the Painting Realm for Cloud Dream Haven. Before departing, she asked the old woman to protect Great Tang and promised to deliver her message.

• The old woman urged Jiang Yuechu to leave the Painting Realm for Cloud Dream Haven, warning that the Dao lineages would unite against her and that the world would limit her growth.
• Golden clouds and immortal phenomena appeared in the sky, and the old woman recognized that the Star Palace had emerged ahead of schedule.
• The old woman explained that the passage could let Chess-Player Realm cultivators escape and described Cloud Dream Haven, including the location of Cloud Dream Palace.
• Jiang Yuechu asked the old woman to watch over Great Tang while she was gone and promised to do her best to deliver the old woman's message.
• The old woman vowed to keep demons, fiends, and wicked spirits out of Great Tang as long as she lived.

The Xu Family’s Xu Gongzi and Uncle Xun traveled across the Fifty Thousand Mile Great Marsh to seek the favor of Immortal Lord Guanlan after their former patron, the Azure Wave Sect, was destroyed. When a mysterious young woman appeared before their boat, Xu Gongzi offered to help her and invited her to Watching Waves Island.

• Uncle Xun explained that the Xu Family was seeking Immortal Lord Guanlan’s protection after the Azure Wave Sect’s destruction.
• A young woman in dark robes suddenly appeared in midair before the Xu Family’s flying boat.
• Xu Gongzi was captivated by the woman and asked whether she needed help.
• Uncle Xun grew alarmed, but Xu Gongzi introduced himself and invited the woman to travel with them to Watching Waves Island.

Jiang Yuechu joined Xu Linmiao’s flying boat after he invited her to travel with his family to Watching Waves Island for Immortal Lord Guanlan’s birthday. As Xu Linmiao boasted about the Great Marsh’s dangers and his family’s protection, two demons appeared on the boat.

• Xu Linmiao invited Jiang Yuechu aboard the Xu Family’s flying boat, and Uncle Xun reluctantly welcomed her.
• Jiang Yuechu gave her name and sat on the deck while Xu Linmiao questioned her about her past.
• Jiang Yuechu invented a tale about being betrayed by her family and sect, and Xu Linmiao vowed to protect her.
• Xu Linmiao told Jiang Yuechu about the Great Marsh, the Azure Boundary Sect, and the trip to Watching Waves Island.
• Two demonic figures burst from the water and landed on the flying boat.

Xu Linmiao, Uncle Xun, and Jiang Yuechu were stopped on the way to Watching Waves Island by two toad demon generals demanding payment and threatening to rob them. When Uncle Xun refused to surrender their Storage Bags and tried to leave, the demons blocked the boat and declared they would force the travelers across.

• Uncle Xun recognized the red and green toad demons as patrol generals under Immortal Lord Guanlan and offered them a gift to let the boat pass.
• The red toad claimed the gift was short one share, and Xu Linmiao offered to cover the missing payment for Jiang Yuechu.
• The green toad seized on Xu Linmiao's boast to demand that everyone hand over their Storage Bags for inspection.
• Jiang Yuechu quietly offered to help, saying she was careful not to leave a trace, while Uncle Xun decided to abandon the birthday visit rather than surrender their belongings.
• The red toad threw his steel fork onto the deck and warned that the travelers could not leave, insisting they would cross whether they wanted to or not.

Jiang Yuechu intervened when the Xu Family was threatened by the Green Toad and Red Toad, revealing overwhelming power as she confronted them. She summoned a vast Hall of Senluo and commanded the Red Toad to look up at her heavens.

• The Green Toad threatened Uncle Xun with a Water Sound Conch, leaving him unable to resist without risking the Xu Family's destruction.
• Jiang Yuechu offered to help, and Xu Linmiao begged her to save them.
• Jiang Yuechu shattered the Water Sound Conch and stamped the Green Toad's head against the deck.
• Uncle Xun summoned his Purple Gold Hall while the Red Toad brought forth its Demon Palace and attacked Jiang Yuechu.
• Jiang Yuechu summoned a Hall of Senluo that eclipsed both palaces, transformed with enormous dark wings, and told the Red Toad to look up at its heavens.

Jiang Yuechu revealed her overwhelming Central Palace reserves and killed the two demon attackers. Afterward, she wondered how Cloud Dream Haven cultivators advanced and whether she could use the system to reshape Demon Forms or condense a new Dao Chess Piece.

• Jiang Yuechu’s hundred-li blood mist and dark-red palace terrified the red toad, the Green Toad, Xu Linmiao, and Elder Xun.
• Jiang Yuechu sent her stone statue to burn the red toad with scarlet flames and crushed the Green Toad with a black-mist arm.
• Jiang Yuechu killed both Chess-Player Realm demons and received system prompts offering Dao Cultivation and the option to reshape their Demon Forms.
• Jiang Yuechu questioned why Cloud Dream Haven demons carried their Central Palaces with them and why their deaths yielded no Dao-Integration Materials.
• Jiang Yuechu decided to investigate how cultivators in the Fifty Thousand Mile Great Marsh condensed Dao Chess Pieces.

After Jiang Yuechu killed two toad demon generals, she used their Demon Forms to awaken a new Dao Chess Piece. Its emergence triggered a hundred-mile phenomenon of immortal cranes and celestial music, which Uncle Xun recognized as a sign of a Spirit-Grade Dao Chess Piece.

• Jiang Yuechu killed the Green Toad General and Red Toad General, frightening Uncle Xun into treating her as a senior and bringing her and Xu Linmiao aboard a new flying boat.
• Jiang Yuechu studied the panel and found that restoring the two Demon Forms had cost far more Dao Cultivation than she had gained from killing the demons.
• Jiang Yuechu sent the Green Toad General’s form toward her Dao Chess Piece, but it vanished without awakening it.
• Jiang Yuechu sent the Red Toad General’s form into her Qi Sea, transforming the Prison-Suppressing Sword Guard into the Prison-Suppressing Sword Toad.
• A deep-blue pillar of light rose from Jiang Yuechu as immortal cranes appeared and celestial music sounded over the Great Marsh.
• Uncle Xun recognized the phenomenon as the emergence of a Spirit-Grade Dao Chess Piece.

Jiang Yuechu condensed a Spirit-Grade Dao Chess Piece, astonishing Uncle Xun and Xu Linmiao. After learning how Dao Chess Piece grades and Five-Qi Treasure Lands worked in Cloud Dream Haven, she reflected on why cultivators relied on Five Elements Qi rather than scarce Dao-Integration Materials.

• Jiang Yuechu’s Prison-Suppressing Sword Toad settled into her Qi Sea as a Spirit-Grade Dao Chess Piece, producing celestial signs across the Great Marsh.
• Uncle Xun warned Xu Linmiao not to stare at Jiang Yuechu, then congratulated her on condensing a Spirit-Grade piece.
• Jiang Yuechu asked what a Spirit-Grade Dao Chess Piece was and claimed she had grown up secluded in the mountains.
• Uncle Xun explained Dao Chess Piece grades, Dao-Integration Materials, and Five-Qi Treasure Lands to Jiang Yuechu.
• Jiang Yuechu concluded that cultivators relied on Five Elements Qi because the world could not provide enough Dao-Integration Materials for everyone.

Jiang Yuechu learned about the ranks of Dao Chess Pieces and the rival powers that shaped Cloud Dream Haven. Uncle Xun explained that Immortal Lord Guanlan was a Carp Demon secretly raised by the Southern Immortal Palace, and the pair were preparing to congratulate him with lavish gifts.

• Jiang Yuechu asked Uncle Xun about Dao Chess Pieces above Spirit-Grade, and he described Immortal-Grade and legendary Heaven-Grade pieces.
• Uncle Xun recounted Cloud Dream Haven’s origins, the disappearance of the Immortal God’s disciples, and the rise of the Nine Great Dao Sects and Cloud Dream Palace.
• Jiang Yuechu compared Uncle Xun’s account with what she had heard in the You Mountain Range and resolved to keep a low profile around the powerful factions.
• Uncle Xun revealed that the Southern Immortal Palace secretly supported Immortal Lord Guanlan, a Carp Demon whose romance with the Little Palace Mistress led the palace to raise him to the Sixth Rank of Chess-Player.

Jiang Yuechu, Uncle Xun, and Xu Linmiao arrived at Watching Waves Island for Immortal Lord Guanlan’s birthday celebration, where human guests were openly humiliated while demons received preferential treatment. As the three reached the island, three figures descended from the clouds and silenced the gathering.

• Uncle Xun warned Jiang Yuechu to restrain herself at the birthday banquet, and she calmly agreed.
• Uncle Xun landed the flying vessel at Watching Waves Island, where Jiang Yuechu and Xu Linmiao saw the lavish preparations and crowded pier.
• A carp demon receiving guests insulted human cultivators and their gifts while letting them enter only after they bowed and scraped.
• Immortal Lord Black Feather bypassed the queue and received an invitation to the inner hall, prompting Uncle Xun to reflect on the divide between demons and humans.
• Three figures descended from the clouds, their sharp aura cutting off the music and drawing everyone's attention.

Azure Boundary Sect deacon Ling Han and disciples He Wuya and Tang Wanyin arrived at Watching Waves Island to congratulate Immortal Lord Guanlan on his birthday. As they headed to the inner hall, He Wuya warned Tang Wanyin that a fight might soon break out.

• Ling Han, He Wuya, and Tang Wanyin arrived at the ferry landing, silencing the crowd with their Azure Boundary Sect robes.
• The Carp Demon welcomed the three and escorted them onto the island, while Jiang Yuechu watched and reminded herself to stay calm.
• Immortal Lord Guanlan came to greet the visitors, and Ling Han introduced himself and the two direct disciples.
• Tang Wanyin privately questioned why the sect had sent them to congratulate a demon, and He Wuya warned her to stay alert because a fight might break out.

Jiang Yuechu attended Immortal Lord Guanlan’s birthday banquet at Cloud Dream Haven, where demons and human cultivators gathered under the watch of the Azure Boundary Sect and the Southern Immortal Palace. She restrained her urge to attack the many powerful demons, while the Little Palace Mistress received their adoration and a Catfish Demon ate undisturbed.

• Jiang Yuechu entered the mountain manor with Uncle Xun and the Xu Family’s young master, drawing curious looks as she led them to a human cultivator’s side table.
• Jiang Yuechu noticed that three Azure Boundary Sect sword cultivators had seats at the main table and learned from Uncle Xun that they had come to honor Immortal Lord Guanlan.
• Jiang Yuechu surveyed the banquet’s many demons, including nearly ten Chess-Player Realm Great Demons, and forcibly suppressed her desire to slaughter them.
• Immortal Lord Guanlan welcomed the guests and introduced the veiled Little Palace Mistress, who told them to eat and drink their fill.
• The demons rose to praise the Little Palace Mistress, while the Catfish Demon across from the Azure Boundary Sect ignored the commotion and tore into a bloody beast’s leg.