Chapter Summaries

Xu Mingxin’s divination first showed Zeng Anmin as a dead man, then changed to a sign of great fortune, and he later declared that Zeng Anmin could not be betrothed because of Imperial Fortune linked to Jiang Kingdom’s imperial clan. Zeng Shilin delayed the betrothal for at least a year and sent Xu Mingxin to explain the matter to the Qin Residence, while realizing Zeng Anmin had arranged the scheme.

• Xu Mingxin’s divination changed from a dead man’s chart to a sign of great fortune, leaving him confused about his calculations.
• Zeng Anmin dismissed Xu Mingxin’s doubts and persuaded him to discuss a matter with Zeng Shilin.
• Xu Mingxin told Zeng Shilin that Zeng Anmin’s Eight Characters were incompatible with a betrothal because he had been touched by Imperial Fortune.
• Xu Mingxin said the qi came from the south and suggested Zeng Anmin had deeply encountered a member of Jiang Kingdom’s imperial clan.
• Xu Mingxin said a betrothal could proceed no sooner than a year later, and Zeng Shilin recognized Zeng Anmin’s scheme.
• Zeng Shilin asked Xu Mingxin to explain the delay to the Qin Residence, and Xu Mingxin agreed.

The Princess asked Zeng Anmin about the Xiangliu Demon Emperor’s talismanic diagram and offered to accept any price for it, but Zeng said it had been destroyed. Their conversation turned to a possible marriage alliance and the Xi Huang Diagram, leaving Zeng suspecting that the Princess wanted the diagram not just to advance in martial arts but to pursue the throne.

• The Princess summoned Zeng Anmin late at night and asked about his preparations for the spring examination and the Xiangliu Demon Emperor’s talismanic diagram.
• The Princess said she suspected the diagram was the lost Xi Huang Diagram and offered to accept any price if Zeng’s father would give it to her.
• Zeng told the Princess that his father had destroyed the diagram with Vast Righteous Qi, and the Princess questioned whether that was possible for a Heavenly Dao Diagram.
• The Princess asked about the Duke of Qi’s Mansion’s proposed marriage alliance with the Qin Residence, and Zeng suggested that their families could join forces and help her obtain the Xi Huang Diagram.
• After the Princess had Zeng escorted out, Zeng concluded that she might be seeking the throne and resolved to get closer to her.

Zeng Anmin arrived at the spring examination and discovered that his father, Zeng Shilin, was the chief examiner. As the candidates prepared to enter the Illusion Array together, Master Xu announced that the Duke of Qi had personally set the examination questions.

• Zeng Anmin went to the examination grounds with Dachun, who embarrassed him by loudly offering crude words of encouragement.
• Zeng Anmin saw Zeng Shilin on the chief examiner's platform and learned that his father was overseeing the spring examination.
• Zeng Anmin took his conspicuously labeled seat and reunited with Liu Fengnian, whose emotional greeting earned him a warning from Sai Chuxue.
• Master Xu announced that all candidates would enter the changed grand formation together because there were too many participants to assess individually.
• Master Xu revealed that the Duke of Qi had personally set the examination questions.

Zeng Shilin turned the spring examination into a choice about joining a campaign against the Myriad Demon Mountain, and Zeng Anmin realized the illusion array was testing how the scholars would respond. Most of the examinees enlisted under Zeng Shilin, who led them out of the examination hall.

• Zeng Shilin announced the examination topic, “Sages Descend Upon the Demon Mountain,” and sent the examinees into the illusion array with their examination memories sealed.
• Zeng Anmin recognized the unchanged examination hall as part of the illusion when Zeng Shilin began addressing the assembled scholars.
• Zeng Shilin explained that Xiangliu’s death had prompted Demon Kings to attack the borders and revealed plans for a joint Southern Expedition against the Myriad Demon Mountain.
• Zeng Anmin urged the scholars to enlist, and more than half pledged to follow Zeng Shilin; he also dragged the hesitant Liu Xian into their ranks.
• Zeng Shilin saluted the volunteers and led the group of roughly seven hundred out of the examination hall.

Master Xu eliminated examinees who failed to endure military training, while Zeng Anmin and 472 others completed it and marched toward the Myriad Demon Mountain Range. At Funiu Mountain, Zeng Anmin faced the Fourth Rank Great Strength Bull King and prepared to fight.

• Master Xu eliminated more than three hundred examinees for prioritizing their own safety, then gave those who failed the military training a Grade D assessment.
• Wu Qianfeng put the remaining examinees through grueling drills, and Zeng Anmin pushed Liu Xian and the others to persevere.
• After three months in the formation, 473 Confucian Cultivators joined a hundred-thousand-strong campaign led by Zeng Shilin toward the Myriad Demon Mountain Range.
• The Princess led Zeng Anmin and Liu Xian with ten thousand soldiers toward Funiu Mountain, where the Great Strength Bull King appeared alone to block their advance.
• Zeng Anmin learned the Great Strength Bull King was a Fourth Rank Demon King and recalled that he specialized in killing Demon Kings.

Outside the illusion array, Zeng Shilin revealed that he intended to secure the Southern Mountains as a lasting human stronghold rather than invade the Demon Race heartland outright. He planned to use the spring examination to gather military intelligence while weakening Jiang Kingdom, and left Master Xu stunned by the scale of his ambition.

• Zeng Shilin assessed the 473 examinees and concluded that the Ghost Chariot Demon King and the Southern Mountains' unknown terrain posed the main threats.
• Zeng Shilin told Master Xu that he meant to occupy the Southern Mountains, secure their resources, and build a defensive foothold for gradual expansion.
• Zeng Shilin explained that the spring examination would use Confucian Cultivators to probe the mountains while the Holy Dynasty gained intelligence and Jiang Kingdom suffered losses.
• Master Xu realized that Zeng Shilin intended to weaken Jiang Kingdom, unify the human race under the Holy Dynasty, and eventually conquer the Myriad Demon Mountain Range.
• Zeng Shilin said that his rise to the second rank had made him consider the power of Destiny Realm cultivators to alter Heaven and Earth Rules.

Inside the illusion array, Zeng Anmin killed the Great Strength Bull King and expected to earn the top military merit, but the deduction continued without the Ghost Chariot Demon King appearing. Outside, Zeng Shilin and Master Xu discovered that an outside force had invaded the array and that the Confucian Cultivators were in danger.

• Zeng Shilin recorded the demons’ abilities and countermeasures while Zeng Anmin watched the Mandarin Duck Army face the Great Strength Bull King.
• After the Princess and her deputy general were defeated, Zeng Anmin signed a military pledge and killed the Great Strength Bull King with one strike of golden Vast Righteous Qi.
• Zeng Anmin and the Mandarin Duck Army captured the mountain, but the illusion array did not end, and the Ghost Chariot Demon King never appeared.
• Master Xu warned Zeng Shilin that an outside force had invaded the illusion array and urged him to help before the Confucian Cultivators lost their lives.

The Illusory Demon Lord invaded Master Xu’s formation and severed his control while the Spring Examination was being used to learn about Myriad Demon Mountain. Master Xu restored the Confucian Cultivators’ memories and warned them of the danger, leaving Zeng Anmin and the others trapped inside the compromised formation.

• The scroll turned red as the Illusory Demon Lord disrupted the formation, and Master Xu explained that the Demon Lord had broken his control over it.
• Zeng Shilin learned that the Illusory Demon Lord could threaten the Confucian Cultivators inside the formation and demanded a way to save them.
• Master Xu used his remaining power to restore the participants’ blocked memories and warn them about the invasion.
• Liu Xian regained his memories and asked Zeng Anmin what was happening.
• Zeng Anmin told the Mandarin Duck Army’s Confucian Cultivators that they remained inside the formation, which was no longer under Master Xu’s control.

After killing the Fourth Rank Ox Demon, Zeng Anmin led the Confucian Cultivators through the Red Mist, intending to gather all the exam participants and find his father. A red wall blocked their way, but Zeng Anmin took it as proof that their enemy was running out of options.

• Zeng Anmin told the Princess he would investigate the Red Mist and contact his father with a Signal Talisman if danger arose, then led the Confucian Cultivators down the mountain.
• Zeng Anmin calmed the frightened group by reasoning that the Demon Race had invaded the illusion array from afar and had not fully taken control of it.
• Zeng Anmin ordered the Confucian Cultivators to find the other exam participants and then seek out his father, whose Second Rank Second Sage cultivation remained within the array.
• Zeng Anmin considered how saving the Confucian Cultivators might help him establish a nation in territory his father conquered, but set the idea aside to focus on their rescue.
• The Red Mist formed a towering wall that trapped the group on the mountain, and Zeng Anmin concluded that the barrier showed their enemy had exhausted its last resort.

Zeng Anmin examined the massive wall trapping the Confucian Cultivators and deduced that their enemy had raised it to buy time for preparations. He used the Array Imprinting on his body and a spirit stone to boost his strength, then launched a punch at the wall.

• Zeng Anmin touched the red wall and found that it was nearly immovable but left a faint mark beneath his palm.
• Zeng Anmin concluded that the wall had no offensive power and that the enemy intended to trap them for half an hour.
• Zeng Anmin told Liu Xian and the Confucian Cultivators that Master Xu's Array Imprinting could help break the deadlock.
• Zeng Anmin inserted a spirit stone into the device at his waist, increasing his strength inside the illusion array.
• Zeng Anmin punched the colossal wall.

Zeng Anmin led the Confucian Cultivators through the giant wall, only to discover that the Illusory Demon Lord had lured them into a trap. The Demon Lord revealed herself and prepared to claim them as nourishment.

• Zeng Anmin smashed a hole through the giant wall, and the group discovered a vast crater beyond it.
• Zeng Anmin realized the crater was too deep to cross, led the Confucian Cultivators around it, and punched through the wall to reach a mountain path.
• Zeng Anmin and his group found the Illusory Demon Lord waiting with more than two hundred dazed examinees behind her.
• The Illusory Demon Lord revealed that she had deceived the examinees into gathering there and controlled the area within ten li.
• The Illusory Demon Lord emerged from the mist in a beautiful, alluring form and offered to make Zeng Anmin's group her nourishment.

Zeng Anmin and the Confucian Cultivators faced the Illusory Demon Lord after she transformed the area into a ten-li cage and began draining their Spiritual Power. Zeng Anmin recognized that her strength depended on capturing the scattered examinees and stepped forward to delay her while Fengnian rallied the others.

• The Illusory Demon Lord reshaped the land within ten li into a cage and threatened to drain the Confucian Cultivators one by one.
• The Confucian Cultivators scattered, and Zeng Anmin's warning only led a few dozen, including Liu Xian, to gather near him.
• The Illusory Demon Lord seized a fleeing Confucian Cultivator and absorbed his Spiritual Power, leaving him vacant-eyed among the other drained examinees.
• Zeng Anmin deduced that the Illusory Demon Lord grew more powerful with each examinee she captured and that the walls had bought her time.
• Zeng Anmin unleashed his Vast Righteous Qi, told Fengnian to steady the group, and prepared to hold off the Illusory Demon Lord.

Zeng Anmin fought the Illusory Demon Lord but was overwhelmed by her control of the illusion array. When she offered to spare the Confucian cultivators if he sacrificed himself, he agreed on the condition that she release Liu Xian first.

• Zeng Anmin unleashed his Confucian methods against the Illusory Demon Lord, but she turned his attacks back and explained that she controlled the rules within the array.
• The Illusory Demon Lord offered to spare Zeng Anmin if he joined her, but the Confucian cultivators urged him not to betray humanity.
• Zeng Anmin charged the Illusory Demon Lord with martial power, but she froze him and pulled him close.
• The Illusory Demon Lord failed to draw out Zeng Anmin's divine soul because his Unyielding Martial God ability made him immune to divine soul and mental attacks.
• The Illusory Demon Lord offered to release the Confucian cultivators in exchange for Zeng Anmin entering her furnace to have his divine soul refined, and he agreed if she released Liu Xian first.

Zeng Anmin persuaded Illusory Demon Lord to release the trapped Confucian Cultivators in exchange for entering her furnace, while Liu Xian confronted those who had condemned him. Outside the illusion array, Emperor Jianhong demanded answers from Master Xu and Zeng Shilin, and Master Xu admitted fault.

• Zeng Anmin insisted that Illusory Demon Lord release the Confucian Cultivators before he entered the furnace, and she agreed and freed them.
• The Confucian Cultivators regained their memories, recognized Illusory Demon Lord, and learned that Zeng Anmin had offered himself to save them.
• Zeng Anmin urged the Confucian Cultivators to leave the illusion array, while Liu Xian condemned them for staying silent and blaming Zeng Anmin.
• Liu Xian slapped the Confucian Cultivators who had insulted Zeng Anmin, and Zeng Anmin watched approvingly.
• Outside the illusion array, Emperor Jianhong confronted Master Xu and Zeng Shilin, and Master Xu admitted that the situation was his mistake.

Emperor Jianhong and the others learned that all 472 Confucian Cultivators had escaped Master Xu’s illusion formation, but Zeng Anmin remained unconscious. Liu Xian revealed that Zeng Anmin had sacrificed his Divine Soul Power to save them, leaving Zeng Shilin heartbroken at his son’s side.

• Emperor Jianhong and Zeng Shilin blamed Master Xu for trapping the Confucian Cultivators, and Master Xu admitted his oversight.
• The Princess asked Master Xu about the examinees’ chances, and he said they had a fifty percent chance of survival partly because Zeng Anmin was among them.
• The examinees awakened and stared toward Zeng Anmin, who remained unconscious, while those outside the formation realized everyone had survived.
• The Confucian Cultivators wept and mourned Zeng Anmin, and Liu Xian said Zeng Anmin had traded his Divine Soul Power to the Illusory Demon Lord to free them.
• Zeng Shilin approached his unmoving son but could not bring himself to reproach him.

Zeng Anmin sacrificed himself in the illusion array to save 472 Confucian Cultivators, leaving those outside convinced he was doomed and prompting them to pledge themselves to Zeng Manor. Inside the array, he questioned the Illusory Demon Lord about her furnace before jumping into it himself.

• The Crown Prince, Princess, Emperor Jianhong, and others grieved over Zeng Anmin, while Master Xu warned that the Refining Furnace could destroy even a Rank One powerhouse’s Divine Soul Power.
• A Confucian Cultivator knelt before Zeng Shilin and vowed to repay Young Master Zeng, and the surviving Confucian Cultivators pledged to brave fire and water for Zeng Manor.
• Zeng Anmin asked the Illusory Demon Lord what she would do if the furnace could not harm him, and she explained that the illusion array had stabilized after the others left.
• The Illusory Demon Lord moved the furnace toward Zeng Anmin and urged him inside, and Zeng Anmin leaped into it.

Zeng Anmin survived Illusory Demon Lord’s attempt to dissolve and absorb his divine soul, and he awoke at the Spring Provincial Examination grounds after the illusion array collapsed. He reunited with Zeng Shilin, who had been mourning him.

• Illusory Demon Lord sealed Zeng Anmin inside a furnace and intensified the fire, hoping to absorb his powerful divine soul and break through to the First Rank.
• When the furnace failed to dissolve Zeng Anmin, Illusory Demon Lord used her bloodline origin to send Origin Power inside and attack him from within.
• The illusion array collapsed, but Zeng Anmin emerged unharmed and glimpsed an unfamiliar man before falling into darkness.
• Zeng Anmin awoke at the Spring Provincial Examination grounds, where Zeng Shilin had been crying over him.
• Zeng Anmin asked Zeng Shilin if they should go home, then laughed at his father’s tear- and snot-covered face.

Zeng Anmin escaped the Illusion Array unharmed, and Zeng Shilin protected him by telling him to conceal his abilities. Emperor Jianhong planned to exploit Zeng Anmin’s supposed death, but learned that he had returned home and wondered whether the escape was deliberate or accidental.

• Zeng Shilin learned that Zeng Anmin’s powerful divine soul had withstood the Illusory Furnace and urged him to claim he had been cultivating under the Confucian Sage’s method.
• Zeng Anmin accepted his father’s protection and returned with him to the Duke’s Mansion.
• Emperor Jianhong planned to reward Zeng Anmin posthumously and use the title to restrain Master Xu, then ordered a eunuch killed for overhearing his scheme.
• Xing Siya reported that Zeng Anmin had returned home, leaving Emperor Jianhong questioning whether his escape from the Illusory Demon Lord had been deliberate or accidental.

Zeng Shilin and Zeng Anmin investigated how the Illusory Demon Lord infiltrated the imperial examination illusion array and suspected an unknown enemy might be behind it. Zeng Anmin revealed that he had absorbed the Illusory Demon Lord’s Origin Power, leaving his father shocked by the new ability he had gained.

• Zeng Shilin told Zeng Anmin that only Li Zhen, Master Xu, and His Majesty had known about his plan to investigate the Myriad Demon Mountain Range, but he considered Li Zhen too cautious to interfere with the examination.
• Zeng Shilin asked Zeng Anmin to recount everything that had happened in the illusion array, including the handsome man in Daoist robes.
• The Illusory Demon Lord woke in the Illusory Cave and discovered that half of her Illusory Power Source was gone and had ended up with Zeng Anmin.
• Zeng Anmin showed Zeng Shilin the azure Illusory Power coiling around his fingertip and explained that the Illusory Demon Lord had poured her Origin Power into him.
• Zeng Shilin listed Zeng Anmin’s many abilities and reacted in shock to his newly acquired Demon Race talent power.

After winning first place in the Illusion Array Imperial Examination, Zeng Anmin received an appointment as Southern Commander of the Imperial City Department. His father revealed that he had arranged the post so Zeng Anmin could investigate Xiang Wangxian’s suspicious death, and Zeng reported for duty the next morning.

• Zeng Anmin rode in the Top Scholar’s procession to the Duke’s Mansion while Liu Xian celebrated his Second Place Scholar ranking.
• Zeng Anmin learned that Emperor Jianhong had appointed him Southern Commander of the Imperial City Department, a fourth-rank position.
• Zeng Anmin’s father admitted he had proposed the appointment so Zeng could investigate Xiang Wangxian’s death and help form an alliance with Xiang Donglai.
• Zeng Anmin questioned his father’s political motives, received a slap of golden light, and decided to prepare for work.
• Zeng Anmin reported to the Imperial City Department the next morning, where Huang Shi guessed he had been promoted to chief clerk.
• Zeng Anmin told Huang Shi that he was the Southern Commander, shocking him.