Recaps

Ning Xiaochuan left the Sub-God Array to confront the Three-Headed Royal Lion after the demon insulted humanity, then overwhelmed him in battle. The chapter ended with Ning Xiaochuan pinning the lion down and turning back Huang Chengzi’s attack while continuing to demand that the lion eat his insult.

• The Three-Headed Royal Lion carved “All humans are turtle disciples” into a boulder and headed to sacrifice Yan Mie.
• Ning Xiaochuan emerged from the Sub-God Array, ordered the Three-Headed Royal Lion to eat his words, and struck him twice before he could respond.
• Ning Xiaochuan broke the Three-Headed Royal Lion’s sonic attack and shattered his Divine Lion Possession with the Heavenly Venerable Seal.
• Ning Xiaochuan knocked the Three-Headed Royal Lion down, stomped on his chest, and used mental force to try to make him open his mouth.
• Huang Chengzi challenged Ning Xiaochuan, who shattered his hand seal with eighteen Figurative Divine Power Swords and forced him back.

Ning Xiaochuan defeated the Three-Headed Royal Lion and challenged Huang Chengzi, the demon race’s pure-blooded Huangying descendant. Their battle began with Huang Chengzi revealing his superior speed and a secret art that could seize a Battle God Dragon Envoy’s Dragon Vein.

• Ning Xiaochuan beat the Three-Headed Royal Lion into its original form and forced it to swallow the enormous boulder inscribed with an insult to humans.
• Lin Fengxuan and Qin Luofu praised Ning Xiaochuan, while the Bright Holy Maiden realized they had misunderstood her relationship with him.
• Ning Xiaochuan challenged Huang Chengzi after mocking the demon race’s younger generation, despite Lin Fengxuan warning that successive battles could exhaust him.
• Huang Chengzi dodged Ning Xiaochuan’s attack with his Huangying speed and explained that his black wings came from his pure bloodline.
• Ning Xiaochuan used Divine Dragon Speed through Little Red’s power to match Huang Chengzi, who then claimed he could seize Ning Xiaochuan’s Dragon Vein and become a Battle God Dragon Envoy.

Ning Xiaochuan fought Huang Chengzi, who wielded a True Person Bone Whip made from Tang Shuyue’s grandfather. After Huang Chengzi threatened Tang Shuyue with her grandfather’s remains, Ning Xiaochuan vowed to retrieve them and summoned the jade seal to draw power from the Earth Veins, leaving the battle poised to resume.

• Huang Chengzi bound Ning Xiaochuan with a black iron chain, but Ning Xiaochuan broke free and forced him to reveal the True Person Bone Whip.
• Tang Shuyue recognized her grandfather’s remains in the whip and rushed to reclaim them, but Huang Chengzi severed her ribbon and attacked her.
• Ning Xiaochuan shielded Tang Shuyue and drove Huang Chengzi back with his God Slaying Sword Formation.
• Huang Chengzi described how the Tang Clan True Person had been tortured and made into the whip, then offered Tang Shuyue her grandfather’s remains if she became his Human Pet.
• Ning Xiaochuan ordered Tang Shuyue to step back and summoned the jade seal, drawing Earth Veins into himself as Huang Chengzi empowered the bone whip and swung it at him.

Ning Xiaochuan defeated Huang Chengzi by using the Earth Scripture and the Bright Holy Land’s Earth Veins, but an elderly demon rescued Huang Chengzi before Ning could kill him. Demon Empress Shiji learned that Ning possessed both the Earth Scripture and the Demon Suppressing Tower, then sent God Devouring Little Rat to challenge him.

• Ning Xiaochuan used the jade seal and Earth Veins to overpower Huang Chengzi, then severed one of his wings with the World Extinction Swordplay.
• Ning Xiaochuan subdued Huang Chengzi and took the True Person Bone Whip, but an elderly demon clansman rescued Huang Chengzi and withdrew.
• Demon Empress Shiji recognized Ning Xiaochuan’s Earth Rules and learned from God Devouring Old Rat and God Devouring Little Rat that Ning possessed the Demon Suppressing Tower.
• Demon Empress Shiji spared the God Devouring pair and assigned God Devouring Little Rat to seize the Demon Suppressing Tower, secretly hoping Ning would kill him.

Ning Xiaochuan returned Tang Shuyue’s grandfather’s True Person Bone Whip and accepted the God Devouring Little Rat’s challenge. As their battle began, the rat nearly killed him with a surprise attack, while Fanhou Demon Emperor warned Zhenhou King not to interfere because a phoenix protected Ning Xiaochuan.

• Ning Xiaochuan gave Tang Shuyue the True Person Bone Whip, and their affectionate exchange prompted others to admire or speculate about him.
• The God Devouring Little Rat challenged Ning Xiaochuan and threatened to reveal that he possessed the Demon Suppressing Tower if he refused.
• Ning Xiaochuan agreed to fight, and the God Devouring Little Rat used its spatial talent to ambush him and slash his neck.
• Fanhou Demon Emperor told Zhenhou King not to fight Ning Xiaochuan because a phoenix supported him.

Ning Xiaochuan fought the God Devouring Little Rat, which swallowed half of a king-grade Human-Grade Pill to gain strength. After breaking through to the Ninth Realm of Celestial Being, the rat’s power continued rising, leaving Ning Xiaochuan facing an even more dangerous opponent.

• Ning Xiaochuan unleashed the World Extinction Demon Flame and struck the God Devouring Little Rat with his jade seal and sword formation when it emerged from a Gate of Void.
• The God Devouring Little Rat produced a king-grade Human-Grade Pill, and Ning Xiaochuan warned that its medicinal power could kill the rat.
• The God Devouring Little Rat bit the pill in half and swallowed one half, enraging Ning Xiaochuan and Demon Empress Shiji.
• Ning Xiaochuan smashed the rat’s jade pendant and True Person Rules with repeated attacks, but the rat caught the jade seal and announced that it had reached the Ninth Realm of Celestial Being.
• The God Devouring Little Rat knocked the jade seal away as its power continued to climb toward the True Person Realm.

The God Devouring Little Rat died after consuming a half King-Grade Human-Grade Pill, and Long Taiyi appeared to claim the pill and challenge Ning Xiaochuan. The Demon Clan’s famed Divine Successor revealed his overwhelming power, leaving the human cultivators fearful that no one could defeat him.

• The God Devouring Little Rat’s body burst from the pill’s medicinal power, and Demon Empress Shiji said she could not save it.
• Ning Xiaochuan moved to retrieve the remaining half of the pill, but Long Taiyi appeared beside the corpse and condemned the Demon Clan’s defeated prodigies.
• The Seven-Winged Savage Bull King tried to seize the pill, and Long Taiyi killed him with a single attack.
• Long Taiyi identified himself as an Eight-Clawed Silver Dragon and one of the Demon Clan’s three Divine Successors, shocking the human and demon cultivators.
• The Azure Wood Spirit Maiden, the Nine Ruins Saint Child, and Wang Xu discussed Long Taiyi’s strength and worried that Ning Xiaochuan might be humanity’s only possible match.

Ning Xiaochuan learned that the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen could not stop the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor with the Bright Holy Land’s damaged Sub-God Array, so she prepared to open a path of escape and gave him dire instructions. The great battle was set to begin that night, and the Bright Sect Leader gathered the holy land’s elders to seek her counsel.

• Ning Xiaochuan identified Nie Lanxin as the Spirit Maiden of Heavenly Emperor Mountain, and night brought forth the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen within her.
• The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen rejected Long Taiyi’s challenge, and the Taiqing Dragon Emperor arrived and recognized her as the Imperial Concubine.
• The Taiqing Dragon Emperor said the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor commanded the attack on the Bright Holy Land, while the Fairy Queen warned that only the Demon Suppressing Tower could give her a chance against that enemy.
• The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen told Ning Xiaochuan she would open a Path of Life for the survivors, borrowed the Heavenly Emperor Blade, and instructed him to take Nie Lanzhi and flee if she fell.
• The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen told Ning Xiaochuan to seek the Purple Gold Imperial Lord at Burial God Mountain if she died, and the Bright Sect Leader led several thousand cultivators to request her strategy.

Bright Holy Land faced a full-scale demon assault as four White Bone Altars drained its Earth Veins and sealed its escape. The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen fought the demon emperors with the Sub-God Array, while Ning Xiaochuan and his companions joined the human breakout effort.

• Ning Xiaochuan told Nie Lanzhi that her sister was still her sister and warned her to stay close during the coming war.
• Four White Bone Altars surrounded Bright Holy Land, drained its Earth Veins, and sealed the region under the control of four Demon Kings.
• The Bright Sect Leader ordered the cultivators to activate the Sub-God Array and break through the demon army, and Ning Xiaochuan led his companions to follow them.
• The Sub-God Array crushed the four Demon Kings and drew in the White Bone Altars, prompting the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen to challenge Taiqing Dragon Emperor.
• Taiqing Dragon Emperor attacked the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen, then joined Earth Centipede Demon Emperor, Fanhou Demon Emperor, and Demon Empress Shiji in assaulting her.
• Earth Centipede Demon Emperor struck with a White Bone Altar and crushed numerous human cultivators, including three Real Person-level beings.

Ning Xiaochuan and the human cultivators tried to break out of the Demon Clan Army while the strongest fighters battled in another dimension and Bright Sect Leader fought Thunder God Demon Emperor. The escape turned into a bloody struggle, and Ning Xiaochuan captured Three-Headed Royal Lion by suppressing his consciousness.

• Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen, Taiqing Dragon Emperor, Earth Centipede Demon Emperor, Fanhou Demon Emperor, and Demon Empress Shiji entered a Different Dimension to continue fighting, while Bright Sect Leader opened a path through the demon army.
• Thunder God Demon Emperor attacked the human cultivators with a storm of lightning, and Bright Sect Leader engaged him while ordering the Bright Holy Land disciples to keep breaking through.
• Ning Xiaochuan decided to split from the Bright Holy Land formation and lead Nie Lanzhi, Yue Mingsong, Luo Wu, and Situ Jing east as the formation collapsed.
• Ning Xiaochuan fought through the demon army and resisted Huang Chengzi and a group of great demons, killing four of them with his Figurative Divine Power Sword.
• Ning Xiaochuan bound Three-Headed Royal Lion with an iron chain, stunned him, and used the Seven Aperture God Demon Heart to suppress and imprison his consciousness.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions fought through encircling demon armies after he captured the Three-Headed Royal Lion and Nie Lanzhi lent him the power of the stars. They escaped one pursuit, but the God Devouring Old Rat appeared with another horde and blocked their way.

• Ning Xiaochuan subdued the Three-Headed Royal Lion and rode it east with Yue Mingsong, Situ Jing, Nie Lanzhi, and Luo Wu while Huang Chengzi pursued them.
• Huang Ying King and the Royal Lion King surrounded the humans with vast demon armies, and Nie Lanzhi used Nine Palaces Divination to channel star power into Ning Xiaochuan.
• Ning Xiaochuan wielded the Star Luo Spear to wound Huang Ying King, defeat seven Huang Ying great demons, and pierce Huang Chengzi before the companions broke through the encirclement.
• Ning Xiaochuan drove back the Royal Lion King and escaped with his companions on the Three-Headed Royal Lion, leaving the pursuing demon army behind.
• A new horde blocked the group, and the God Devouring Old Rat emerged to confront Ning Xiaochuan.

Ning Xiaochuan and Nie Lanzhi faced the God Devouring Old Rat after Yue Mingsong, Situ Jing, and Luo Wu escaped. Under the demon king’s pressure, Ning Xiaochuan condensed Dao Embryos and broke through to the Eighth Realm of Celestial Being, drawing down tribulation clouds that followed him and the God Devouring Old Rat as he chased the demon king.

• Ning Xiaochuan told Yue Mingsong, Situ Jing, and Luo Wu to flee while he and Nie Lanzhi confronted the God Devouring Old Rat.
• Ning Xiaochuan used Nie Lanzhi’s Star Power and the Star Luo Spear to attack the God Devouring Old Rat, but the demon king overwhelmed him.
• Ning Xiaochuan refused to abandon Nie Lanzhi and endured the God Devouring Old Rat’s attacks, including its attempt to crush him beneath its foot.
• Under the demon king’s pressure, Ning Xiaochuan condensed Dao Embryos and broke through to the Eighth Realm of Celestial Being, summoning lightning tribulation clouds.
• The God Devouring Old Rat fled from the tribulation clouds, but Ning Xiaochuan pursued it and dared it to kill him.

Ning Xiaochuan escaped the demon beast encirclement after surviving a lightning tribulation, but learned that Nie Lanzhi had sacrificed six hundred years of lifespan to help him. He hid her in a ruined dojo and set out to return to the Bright Holy Land, where Little Red arrived unexpectedly.

• The God Devouring Old Rat chased Ning Xiaochuan into his lightning tribulation, and Ning used the storm to devastate the demon beasts before fleeing with Nie Lanzhi.
• Nie Lanzhi lent Ning Xiaochuan Star Power to help them escape, but Ning discovered that doing so had consumed six hundred years of her lifespan, leaving her only twelve years to live.
• Ning Xiaochuan gave Nie Lanzhi a gourd of Nine Flowers Nectar and brought her to a ruined Cultivation Dojo, where he set up concealing and defensive formations.
• Ning Xiaochuan left Nie Lanzhi hidden in the dojo and headed back toward the Bright Holy Land, worried about the battle between the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen and the demon rulers.
• Little Red arrived at the dojo and told Ning Xiaochuan that a nun and a monk had delayed her journey to support him.

Ning Xiaochuan persuaded Monk Tan Qian to help defend the Bright Holy Land from the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor, using the Demon Suppressing Tower to win his support. As they flew to aid Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury revealed her history with Tang Shuyue and asked Ning Xiaochuan to help her seek revenge, leaving him caught between them.

• Ning Xiaochuan met Monk Tan Qian and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury at the mountain gate, then pressed Tan Qian about the missing half of the Town Suppressing Tower.
• Tan Qian admitted he had not gone to the Return to Ruin and resisted joining Ning Xiaochuan, but Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury and Ning Xiaochuan persuaded him to help defend the Bright Holy Land.
• Ning Xiaochuan showed Tan Qian the Demon Suppressing Tower and led him, Little Red, and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury toward the Bright Holy Land to support Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury told Ning Xiaochuan that Tang Shuyue had lured her into an ambush, where she cultivated the Undying Zen Scripture and reached the Eighth Realm of Celestial Being.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury asked Ning Xiaochuan to help her deal with Tang Shuyue, and he postponed the matter while insisting they first fight the Demon Clan Army.

Ning Xiaochuan returned to Bright Holy Land and found it destroyed, with the Bright Sect Leader and many others dead. Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor confronted Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen, Monk Tan Qian, and Seven Mysteries Daoist, and the chapter ended as Feng Yuexi arrived in a blaze of phoenix fire.

• Monk Tan Qian brought Ning Xiaochuan, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Little Red to Bright Holy Land, where they found the land ruined and its people slaughtered.
• Ning Xiaochuan recognized the mysterious middle-aged man among the drained corpses and saw that the Bright Sect Leader had been killed.
• Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen fought Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor, who declared she would use the blood of hundreds of millions of humans to forge a Sub-God body.
• Monk Tan Qian challenged Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor, then tried to flee after Ning Xiaochuan warned him, but she trapped him in a divine cloud of lightning.
• Monk Tan Qian summoned Seven Mysteries Daoist, who arrived carrying the Heavenly Emperor Bell, while Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor challenged the gathered figures.
• A vast fire cloud swept across the sky, and Ning Xiaochuan recognized Feng Yuexi's phoenix cry and realized she had survived.

Ning Xiaochuan escaped the Bright Holy Land as the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor fought four powerful experts, then learned the battle was only a diversion from an attack on the White Bone Altar in the Great Dream Marsh. As he prepared to leave with Nie Lanxin and the others, the God Devouring Old Rat and a swarm of demon rats surrounded them and demanded the Star Luo Spear.

• Ning Xiaochuan fled the Bright Holy Land with Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury and Little Red, carrying away the Bright Sect Leader's remains and the bones of human True Persons.
• A devastating fireball struck the land while the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor battled the Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen, Seven Mysteries Daoist, and Monk Tan Qian; the fight continued past dawn.
• The Ten Thousand Sound Fairy Queen reached Ning Xiaochuan's group, treated her injuries, and then yielded control of her body to Nie Lanxin, who said the battle was meant to delay the Emperor's thoughts.
• Nie Lanxin revealed that human experts had gone to the Great Dream Marsh to topple the White Bone Altar and reclaim the Purple Gold Imperial Lord's Martial Heart Palace, and that the Heavenly Emperor Blade had been lent to Monk Tan Qian.
• As Ning Xiaochuan's group tried to leave, the God Devouring Old Rat and eleven powerful God Devouring Rats surrounded them with a vast swarm of demon rats and demanded the Star Luo Spear.
• Ning Xiaochuan refused to surrender the Star Luo Spear, and the God Devouring Old Rat threatened to kill him and take it.

Ning Xiaochuan, Nie Lanxin, and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury fought the God Devouring Old Rat and the Rat Clan forces together. The battle remained unresolved when Ning Xiaochuan blocked the Old Rat’s attack on Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury.

• Nie Lanxin killed the Fire Rat King with her Jade Crystal Ice Coffin, while the God Devouring Old Rat coveted the coffin’s divine inscriptions.
• Ning Xiaochuan combined bodies with Little Red and wounded the God Devouring Old Rat with his dragon sword as Nie Lanxin and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury joined the fight.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury and Nie Lanxin restrained the Old Rat while Ning Xiaochuan set up the Star Net Divine Sea Formation, neutralizing the Rat Clan divisions’ attacks.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury killed two Rat Clan elders, and she and Nie Lanxin wounded the Old Rat with their attacks.
• The enraged Old Rat sent Nie Lanxin and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury flying, then tried to kill Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, but Ning Xiaochuan intercepted him with the World Extinction Swordplay.

Ning Xiaochuan returned to Heavenly Emperor Mountain after killing the God Devouring Old Rat and bringing the Bright Holy Land survivors to safety. News arrived that the human assault on Great Dream Marsh had failed, while Xue Lingxu had taken Purple Gold Imperial Lord's Martial Heart Palace into Guixu, prompting Ning Xiaochuan to make a decision.

• Ning Xiaochuan, Nie Lanxin, and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury used the Star Luo Spear to wound the God Devouring Old Rat, and Ning Xiaochuan killed it with the Demon Sword and absorbed its bloodline power.
• Ning Xiaochuan's group found the Bright Holy Maiden and the Bright God Child in Fire Cloud Imperial City, where Ning Xiaochuan returned Bright Sect Leader's body and the bodies of other human True Persons.
• The Bright Holy Maiden and the surviving Bright Holy Land cultivators agreed to take refuge at Heavenly Emperor Mountain with Ning Xiaochuan.
• Ning Xiaochuan returned to Heavenly Emperor Mountain and found Yue Mingsong, Situ Jing, Luo Wu, and the others safe; he also visited Yu Qianqian and Master Mu Lan, who raised the question of his marriage to Jin Ling.
• Ning Xiaochuan learned that the human attack on Great Dream Marsh had suffered heavy losses, but Xue Lingxu had taken Purple Gold Imperial Lord's Martial Heart Palace and fled into Guixu.
• After hearing that Xue Lingxu had entered Guixu, Ning Xiaochuan's expression changed and he appeared to make a decision.

As the northern holy lands fled the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor by migrating to the Central Land World, Ning Xiaochuan stayed behind to travel to the Returning Ruins. Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury and Yue Mingsong joined him, and he arrived in the Yulan Empire with Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury insisting on meeting his family.

• Heavenly Emperor Mountain and the other northern holy lands announced they would relocate to the Central Land World as the demon clan threatened them.
• Ning Xiaochuan told Yu Qianqian he would return to the Yulan Empire to see their family, then stayed behind after the disciples departed to head for the Returning Ruins.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury waited for Ning Xiaochuan and insisted on accompanying him, while Yue Mingsong also joined their journey.
• Ning Xiaochuan rode the Two-Headed Stone Beast toward the Returning Ruins, refined a sword into his nineteenth Figurative Divine Power Sword, and studied medical texts along the way.
• After nine days, Ning Xiaochuan reached the Yulan Empire and planned to visit his grandfather and Second Uncle at the Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion; Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury offered to bring his grandfather a gift.

Ning Xiaochuan returned to the Yulan Empire and presented its cultivators with an eighty-thousand-mile Earth Vein, transforming the empire’s land and greatly enriching its cultivation resources. He left the empire poised for rapid growth, though he said an unprecedented calamity in the northern frontier required his urgent attention.

• The Sword Pavilion Marquis's Mansion prepared to welcome Ning Xiaochuan, drawing kings, marquises, the Jade Ripple Emperor, and the Empress Dowager to its gates.
• Ning Xiaochuan arrived and greeted Old Marquis and the Empress Dowager, then explained that he could not stay long because of an urgent crisis in the northern frontier.
• Ning Xiaochuan announced that he would give the Yulan Empire a Dragon Vein and raised the imperial jade seal into the sky.
• Ning Xiaochuan used the imperial jade seal to set an eighty-thousand-mile Earth Vein beneath the Yulan Empire.
• The Earth Vein increased the empire’s mysterious qi and transformed its soil, rivers, and crops, promising a dramatic rise in the Yulan Empire’s cultivation and civilization level.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions traveled to Returning Ruins, where they survived a deadly God-Slaying Hurricane and reached the Forbidden Ground Secret Chamber to gather information and prepare for their search for Xue Lingxu and Weapon Marrow. They learned that many human cultivators and demon beings had gathered there, drawn by the Goddess’s whereabouts and the emergence of the Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s Martial Heart Palace.

• Ning Xiaochuan told the Old Marquis, the Empress Dowager, and the Jade Ripple Emperor that the Sacred Lands had been destroyed and had withdrawn from the northern frontier.
• Ning Xiaochuan met Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury and traveled with her, Little Red, and Yue Mingsong toward Returning Ruins to search for Xue Lingxu and Weapon Marrow.
• A God-Slaying Hurricane swept toward them, so Ning Xiaochuan recalled the Two-Headed Stone Beast and escaped with Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury and Little Red before the storm tore apart the mountains.
• Yue Mingsong led the group to the Forbidden Ground Secret Chamber, where Guiding Envoys charged them Profound Stones to enter.
• Yue Mingsong told Ning Xiaochuan that many humans and demon beings had gathered at the secret chamber to search for the Goddess, and that overseas great demons had come after the Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s Martial Heart Palace emerged.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions bought a map to the Ninth District of the Returning Ruins, where he hoped to find Weapon Marrow. They hid when the Demon Empress Shiji arrived, but she sensed their presence, and her subordinate prepared to break into their chamber.

• The Guiding Envoys led Ning Xiaochuan, Yue Mingsong, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Little Red into the Forbidden Ground Secret Chamber, where a Treant offered maps of the Returning Ruins.
• Ning Xiaochuan learned that Weapon Marrow had only been found in the deadly Ninth District and decided to buy its map despite the danger.
• Ning Xiaochuan and his companions compared prices, then paid the old Treant one hundred thousand Earth-Grade Profound Stones for the map.
• The Demon Empress Shiji arrived with a group of demon clan creatures, and Yue Mingsong recognized her from the battle at the Bright Holy Land.
• Ning Xiaochuan and his companions hid in the Treant's array-protected chamber, but Shiji sensed someone inside and a crimson-stone demon raised his hammer to break down the door.

Demon Empress Shiji injured two human elders in the Forbidden Ground Secret Chamber, prompting them to send Zi Hanyan and the Four Symbols God Child toward the Ruins of Return. Ning Xiaochuan reunited with Zi Hanyan on the way and joined her, while the jealous God Child challenged the newcomers’ ability to survive.

• Demon Empress Shiji intimidated Gan Wei and Tai Qingxu with her demonic aura before leaving the Forbidden Ground Secret Chamber with her demons.
• Gan Wei and Tai Qingxu decided to stay behind and hold Demon Empress Shiji back while Zi Hanyan and the Four Symbols God Child went to the Ruins of Return.
• The Four Symbols God Child tried to win Zi Hanyan’s favor with a protective talisman, but she refused it and hurried ahead.
• Ning Xiaochuan, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, Yue Mingsong, and Little Red left the secret chamber and caught up with Zi Hanyan.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Zi Hanyan agreed to travel together, and the jealous Four Symbols God Child warned the newcomers that the Ruins of Return would kill anyone too weak to enter.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions reached the Returning Ruins, where the Demon Empress Shiji’s three kings attacked them and demanded that Ning return to the Forbidden Ground Secret Chamber. As Ning fought King Huo Chi, the Four Symbols God Child realized Ning might be Heavenly Emperor Mountain’s Spirit Child and began plotting to kill him.

• The Four Symbols God Child, Xuan Tianji, insulted Ning Xiaochuan and his companions and told them not to follow him and Zi Hanyan into the Returning Ruins.
• Ning Xiaochuan, Yue Mingsong, Zi Hanyan, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Little Red left Xuan Tianji and headed for the Returning Ruins as a Demon Cloud approached.
• King Huo Chi, Li Qiu King, and Ying Zhao King emerged from the Demon Cloud; Huo Chi said the Demon Empress had ordered him to take Ning back and kill the others.
• King Huo Chi attacked Zi Hanyan, but Ning Xiaochuan’s World Extinguishing Fire Lotus destroyed Huo Chi’s warhammer and knocked him back.
• The Four Symbols God Child recognized Ning’s strength and suspected he was Heavenly Emperor Mountain’s Spirit Child, then decided to use the Returning Ruins as a chance to kill him.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions defeated three demon beast kings, then entered the Returning Ruins and set out for its dangerous Ninth District. The Four Symbols God Child joined them, claiming to know the entrance to an ancient road leading into the ruins' depths, but Ning Xiaochuan remained wary of him.

• The Four Symbols God Child wounded the Ying Zhao King with its own lightning while Ning Xiaochuan killed the King Huo Chi and took its demon embryo.
• Ning Xiaochuan began refining the Two-Headed Stone Beast with the King Huo Chi's body, while Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury absorbed a liqiu demon embryo into her Sentient Beings Buddhist Beads.
• Ning Xiaochuan and his companions entered the Returning Ruins, found the Eighty-Second District, and chose to head for the Ninth District.
• The Four Symbols God Child warned them about the Ninth District and offered to guide them to an ancient road said to lead deeper into the Returning Ruins.
• Ning Xiaochuan accepted the Four Symbols God Child's offer but secretly told Yue Mingsong to watch him.