Chapter Summaries

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told the Old Marquis, the Empress Dowager, and the Jade Ripple Emperor that the Sacred Lands had been destroyed and had withdrawn from the northern frontier.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.

Ning Xiaochuan and his companions encountered a God Eating Beast in the Ninth District and joined forces to fight it. As they nearly defeated the beast, the Four Symbols God Child attacked Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong from behind.

• The Four Symbols God Child divined that Yue Mingsong faced a death trigram, then privately predicted that the Ninth District would become his burial place.
• A God Eating Beast emerged from beneath the ground and chased Little Red, who fought back in her dragon form.
• Ning Xiaochuan fused with Little Red and attacked the beast with the Star Luo Spear, while the beast retaliated with a fragment of a Supreme King Weapon.
• The invading Demonic Qi was devoured by Ning Xiaochuan's own Demonic Qi, raising his cultivation to the peak of the Eighth Realm of Celestial Being.
• Ning Xiaochuan, Zi Hanyan, Yue Mingsong, and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury combined their power through the Star Luo Spear and nearly destroyed the God Eating Beast.
• The Four Symbols God Child ambushed Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong with Purple Jade Sabers, badly wounding both of them.

The Four Symbols God Child attacked Zi Hanyan and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, then tried to force them into submission while Ning Xiaochuan was badly depleted. Yue Mingsong gave Ning Xiaochuan the Fire Jiao King, whose power let him overwhelm the Four Symbols God Child and pursue him toward the Ninth District.

• The Four Symbols God Child injured Zi Hanyan and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, then threatened them and bound Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury with a rune-carved chain.
• Ning Xiaochuan confronted the Four Symbols God Child, but the latter pointed out that Ning was weakened from fighting the God Eating Beast and from his earlier attack.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury refused the Four Symbols God Child's demand to use her for dual cultivation, while Yue Mingsong sent Ning Xiaochuan the Fire Jiao King.
• Ning Xiaochuan filled the Fire Jiao King's seven hollows with Heaven-Grade Profound Stones and merged his heart-spirit with it to attack the Four Symbols God Child.
• The Fire Jiao King shattered the Four Symbols Sacred Method and cracked the Four Symbols God Child's Protective Jade Talisman, then struck his head as he fled toward the Ninth District.

Ning Xiaochuan killed Xuan Tianji, the Four Symbols God Child, with the Fire Jiao King and recovered his Mid-Grade Supreme Weapon. Yue Mingsong identified the weapon as the Li Stone Eight Trigrams, a spirit treasure that could locate the ancient road in the Ninth District, and traded four Mid-Grade Supreme Weapons to keep it.

• Ning Xiaochuan controlled the Fire Jiao King to break Xuan Tianji's Protective Jade Talisman and kill him, despite Xuan Tianji's pleas and threats.
• Ning Xiaochuan learned that the Fire Jiao King was equivalent to a third-grade Heaven-Grade Profound Stone Puppet, but had only three Heaven-Grade Profound Stones left.
• Ning Xiaochuan refined Xuan Tianji's ancient Eight Trigrams weapon and let Yue Mingsong examine it.
• Yue Mingsong identified the weapon as the Li Stone Eight Trigrams, a Daoist spirit treasure that could find Earth Veins and the ancient road in the Ninth District.
• Ning Xiaochuan offered the Li Stone Eight Trigrams to Yue Mingsong in exchange for four Mid-Grade Supreme Weapons, and Yue Mingsong agreed.
• Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury chose Yue Mingsong's silver-thread belt, testing how it extended tens of thousands of meters before it shrank back to nine feet.

Zi Hanyan and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury claimed rare weapons, while Ning Xiaochuan received a newly upgraded Buddha Lotus and began refining the God Eating Beast’s corpse. Demon Empress Shiji revealed that she had followed the group to the Ruins of Return for the Earth Scripture, then abducted Yue Mingsong and confronted him.

• Zi Hanyan chose a starlight ancient sword and violet-blue armor, while Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury took a translucent throwing knife.
• Yue Mingsong gave Ning Xiaochuan the repaired Ninth Grade Black Lotus, which unfolded into a Twelfth Grade defensive weapon.
• Ning Xiaochuan gave Yue Mingsong the complete Mystic Artifact Compendium, then used the World Extinction Demon Flame to refine the God Eating Beast’s corpse for Weapon Marrow.
• Demon Empress Shiji explained that her true body had entered the Ruins of Return to pursue the Earth Scripture and observed Ning Xiaochuan and his companions.
• Demon Empress Shiji secretly seized Yue Mingsong and brought him away from the group; Yue Mingsong recognized her and begged for his life.

Demon Empress Shiji learned from Yue Mingsong that Ning Xiaochuan had obtained treasures in the God Sealing Cave Abode, including a supposed divine elixir, and set out to seize it. She caught up with Ning Xiaochuan and his companions, while Ning Xiaochuan realized Yue Mingsong had invented the elixir story to save himself.

• Demon Empress Shiji threatened Yue Mingsong until he claimed Ning Xiaochuan taught him artifact refinement and gave him the Mystic Artifact Compendium from the God Sealing Cave Abode.
• Yue Mingsong told Demon Empress Shiji that Ning Xiaochuan possessed a Marrow Cleansing Divine Elixir, then pretended to resent Ning Xiaochuan and pledged his loyalty to her.
• Ning Xiaochuan finished refining the God Eating Beast’s body and collected nine drops of Weapon Marrow, but then noticed Yue Mingsong had disappeared.
• Ning Xiaochuan fled with Zi Hanyan, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Little Red when Demon Empress Shiji’s Demon Cloud approached, but she caught and blocked them.
• Yue Mingsong demanded that Ning Xiaochuan hand over the divine elixir, and Ning Xiaochuan inferred that Yue Mingsong had fabricated the story about his Heaven One Holy Water.

Ning Xiaochuan gave the Demon Empress Shiji a bottle she believed contained divine liquid in exchange for letting his companions leave. The Earth Centipede Demon Emperor then stole the bottle, and Shiji attacked him to reclaim it.

• Yue Mingsong betrayed Ning Xiaochuan by revealing that he supposedly possessed divine liquid, and Shiji demanded the liquid and that he lead her to the God Sealing Cave Abode.
• Shiji stopped Zi Hanyan’s Star Ancient Sword and struck Ning Xiaochuan with her spiritual will, but his Seven Aperture God-Demon Heart Palace blocked it.
• Ning Xiaochuan sent Zi Hanyan, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Little Red out of the Ruins of Return, then handed Shiji the bottle of Heaven One Holy Water.
• The Earth Centipede Demon Emperor emerged, stole the bottle, and revealed that the Hundred Feet King had helped him learn Shiji had entered the ruins.
• Shiji killed the Hundred Feet King and attacked the Earth Centipede Demon Emperor with an Earth Vein to take back the bottle.

Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong escaped the Demon Empress Shiji and searched the Ninth District for the Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s ancient road. They found a hidden route into Guixu’s depths and reached a stone temple, where Ning Xiaochuan discovered a footprint left by Xue Lingxu.

• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong entered the Ninth District while the Earth Centipede Demon Emperor fought the Demon Empress Shiji, then used the Li Stone Eight Trigrams to search for the ancient road.
• A Blood Yin Spirit dragged Yue Mingsong underground, but Ning Xiaochuan destroyed it with the Demon Sword, which absorbed its blood energy and strengthened Ning Xiaochuan.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Yue Mingsong reached a cliff surrounded by floating broken weapons, where Zi Hanyan, Little Red, and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury joined them.
• Ning Xiaochuan led the group down the cliff to a stone staircase and a temple built into the cliff wall.
• Ning Xiaochuan found a footprint at the temple threshold and recognized it as a mark left by Xue Lingxu.

In the Stone Temple, the Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s statue released divine power that transformed Ning Xiaochuan and helped him break through to the peak of the Ninth Realm of Celestial Being. Sui Hanyu awakened through the Demon Sword and taught him the God Receiving Path, while Zi Hanyan and the others also gained from the statue’s power.

• Ning Xiaochuan identified Xue Lingxu’s Dao aura in a footprint near the Stone Temple, and Zi Hanyan recognized the temple’s statue as the Purple Gold Imperial Lord.
• When Zi Hanyan kowtowed, the statue manifested its divinity and released power that strengthened everyone present.
• Ning Xiaochuan fed all nine drops of Weapon Marrow to the Demon Sword, awakening its Sword Spirit and raising it to a Low-Grade Supreme Weapon.
• The divine power and the Demon Sword’s advancement pushed Ning Xiaochuan into the peak of the Ninth Realm of Celestial Being, and Sui Hanyu awakened within the sword.
• Sui Hanyu imparted the God Receiving Path to Ning Xiaochuan, who studied it for three days without gaining insight.
• The statue’s manifestation ended, and Zi Hanyan, Little Red, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Yue Mingsong cultivated; Zi Hanyan formed a Purple Haze Dao Embryo.

Ning Xiaochuan and Xue Lingxu discovered the other half of the Town Suppressing Tower sealed in a hidden Small World and debated how to prevent the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor from being reborn. A blood-colored figure appeared atop the tower and struck them with its overwhelming aura, and Xue Lingxu attacked it with the Emperor's Life-Death Seal.

• Xue Lingxu told Ning Xiaochuan that she had obtained the Purple Gold Imperial Lord's Martial Heart Palace but could not remove it without alerting the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor.
• Xue Lingxu led Ning Xiaochuan through the Stone Temple's teleportation array to a Small World deep within the Ruins of Return.
• Ning Xiaochuan split open a mountain and revealed the other half of the Town Suppressing Tower, which the Purple Gold Imperial Lord had sealed there.
• Ning Xiaochuan argued that they should take the Martial Heart Palace and tower to Burial God Mountain to help the Purple Gold Imperial Lord revive and oppose the Heavenly Dream Demon Emperor.
• A sinister blood-colored figure appeared atop the tower and forced Ning Xiaochuan and Xue Lingxu to their knees with its aura.
• Xue Lingxu attacked the figure with the Emperor's Life-Death Seal, summoning a towering Emperor Shadow to suppress it.

Ning Xiaochuan and Xue Lingxu were overpowered by a blood spirit guarding the Town Suppressing Tower, which Yue Mingsong identified as a Blood Robe soaked in the Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s sub-god blood. Ning Xiaochuan planned to lure it away so the others could take the tower, while Yue Mingsong fled through the Stone Temple’s Teleportation Formation.

• Xue Lingxu attacked the scarlet figure with the Emperor's Life-Death Seal, but it broke her attack and wounded her with Evil Qi.
• Ning Xiaochuan struck the scarlet figure with the World Creation Severing Knife and gave Xue Lingxu time to escape, though the counterattack injured him.
• Ning Xiaochuan told Xue Lingxu that his knifeplay technique came from the Heavenly Emperor, and she agreed to learn it after they seized the Town Suppressing Tower.
• Yue Mingsong used a Bronze Mirror to reveal that the scarlet figure was a Blood Robe that had become an evil spirit after absorbing the Purple Gold Imperial Lord's divine blood.
• Ning Xiaochuan proposed that he and Little Red lure the blood spirit away while Xue Lingxu collected the tower and escaped with the group.
• Yue Mingsong activated the Stone Temple's Teleportation Formation and fled, promising to bring back human experts.

Ning Xiaochuan lured the Blood Spirit away from the Town Suppressing Tower so Xue Lingxu could seize it, but the creature pursued him through a teleportation formation. Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury saved Ning Xiaochuan at great cost, and their escape ended with Demon Empress Shiji appearing before them as the Blood Spirit closed in.

• Ning Xiaochuan combined with Little Red and repeatedly shot at the Blood Spirit, drawing it away from the Town Suppressing Tower while Xue Lingxu took the tower.
• Xue Lingxu sent Zi Hanyan away through the teleportation formation, while Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury stayed behind to wait for Ning Xiaochuan.
• The Blood Spirit caught Ning Xiaochuan, destroyed his Fire Jiao King, and struck at him as he reached the Stone Temple; Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury shielded him, and they escaped through the formation together.
• Ning Xiaochuan revived the injured Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury with a Three-Revolution Soul Return Pill, but the Blood Spirit followed them through the formation and chased them out of the Return to Ruins.
• With the Blood Spirit closing in, Ning Xiaochuan agreed to Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury's request to dual cultivate, then rushed toward the arriving Demon Empress Shiji for help.

Demon Empress Shiji captured the century-old Blood Spirit but was injured when she touched Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s Blood Robe. She forced Ning Xiaochuan to retrieve the robe, and he wondered whether its evil power had caused Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s death.

• Ning Xiaochuan fled toward Demon Empress Shiji with Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury as the Blood Spirit caught up and attacked.
• Demon Empress Shiji fought the Blood Spirit and sealed it inside her Stone Purification Vase.
• Demon Empress Shiji touched the fallen Blood Robe and was hurled away, her arm corrupted by its evil power.
• Ning Xiaochuan tried to escape, but Demon Empress Shiji’s Thought Manifestation stopped him and identified the robe as Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s.
• Demon Empress Shiji compelled Ning Xiaochuan to retrieve the robe, arguing that his Demonic Path Supreme Body could withstand its Evil Qi.
• Ning Xiaochuan suspected that the Blood Robe’s evil power might have been connected to Purple Gold Imperial Lord’s death in the Ruins of Return.

Ning Xiaochuan retrieved the Blood Robe for Demon Empress Shiji, who forced him to guide her to the God Sealing Cave Abode by threatening Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury with a Petrification Pearl. After they left the Returning Ruins, they encountered human cultivators captured by Shiji, including several prominent figures, whom she ordered locked up and threatened with sacrifice.

• Ning Xiaochuan placed the ten-million-jin Blood Robe inside the Stone Box and handed it to Demon Empress Shiji, who refused to let him approach closely.
• Ning Xiaochuan learned that Demon Empress Shiji had made Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury swallow a Petrification Pearl that would turn her to stone without an antidote.
• Demon Empress Shiji demanded that Ning Xiaochuan lead her to the God Sealing Cave Abode, promising the antidote if he obeyed.
• Demon Empress Shiji took Ning Xiaochuan, Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury, and Little Red out of the Returning Ruins, saying her cultivation had been damaged by Evil Qi and they needed to leave.
• Ning Xiaochuan recognized Tai Qingxu, Yan Mie, and the Azure Wood Spirit Maiden among thirteen captured human cultivators, who mistook him and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury for demon servants.
• Demon Empress Shiji ordered the captives locked up, offering a Slave Token to those who submitted and threatening to sacrifice the rest at the White Bone Altar.

Demon Empress Shiji prepared to leave the Ruins of Return and ordered Ning Xiaochuan and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury to ride with her. When her disciple Ling Yun tried to demean Ning Xiaochuan, he resisted her pressure and forced her back, then warned Demon Empress Shiji to restrain the Son of Qi Niu King.

• Demon Empress Shiji revealed that Hundred Feet King had betrayed her and been executed, then ordered the demons to keep searching for the woman who stole Purple Gold Imperial Lord's Martial Heart Palace.
• Demon Empress Shiji summoned her Nine Dragons Flying Carriage and told Ning Xiaochuan and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury to board it with her.
• Ling Yun objected to the humans riding in the carriage and demanded that Ning Xiaochuan kneel, while Demon Empress Shiji allowed her to provoke him.
• Ning Xiaochuan confronted Ling Yun with his force of mind and made her retreat, surprising Demon Empress Shiji and the watching human captives.
• The Son of Qi Niu King stepped forward to challenge Ning Xiaochuan, who warned Demon Empress Shiji to call him off.

The Earth Centipede Demon Emperor and Thunder God Demon Emperor attacked Demon Empress Shiji to seize the Divine Liquid, while their forces slaughtered her followers. As Shiji fought and her subordinates were overwhelmed, Ning Xiaochuan freed five human cultivators and fought his way into the demon horde with Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury.

• Qiniu Prince prepared to attack Ning Xiaochuan, but Demon Empress Shiji ordered him to stand down and departed in the Nine Dragons Flying Carriage.
• The Earth Centipede Demon Emperor confronted Shiji over the Divine Liquid, and the Thunder God Demon Emperor arrived to help seize it.
• The two Demon Emperors attacked Shiji, while their forces assaulted her subordinates and the Spirit Vulture King pursued Ling Yun.
• Ning Xiaochuan freed five chained human cultivators, gave them Three-Revolution Soul Return Pills, and told them to escape on their own.
• Ning Xiaochuan and Treasure Pearl Earth Treasury charged through the demon horde, killing their attackers as they tried to escape.