Chapter Summaries

Natsume and Kuramitsuha escaped the Ōtsutsuki progenitor’s true body and searched for Dragon Palace City, following Kuramitsuha’s senses beneath an illusory stretch of land. They discovered the vast underwater city built around the Ancestral Blood Vessel, though its purpose remained unclear.

• Natsume used the Wooden Ring to return from the progenitor’s true body with Kuramitsuha.
• Kuramitsuha sensed that Dragon Palace City lay below them, and Natsume sent Hu Sinatuo through the apparent ground to investigate.
• Hu Sinatuo passed through a thin barrier into water, and Natsume followed it beneath the illusory surface.
• Natsume saw a vast sea filled with ghosts and spotted the golden Dragon Palace City in its depths.
• Natsume noticed that Dragon Palace City surrounded the gigantic Ancestral Blood Vessel like a ring.

Natsume entered [Dragon Palace City] disguised as Elder Nisshiki, while Otsutsuki Yushi waited at the gates for him. Yushi revealed that Otsutsuki Xushi had ordered him to guide Natsume through the city, leaving Natsume wary of the elder’s motives but willing to follow for now.

• Kuramitsuha insulted [Dragon Palace City], and Natsume hid [Hu Sinatuo] before flying toward it.
• Otsutsuki Yushi bribed the guards with four [Chakra Fruits] and claimed he was waiting for Elder Otsutsuki Hishiki to arrive.
• Natsume passed through the city barrier and used his demigod spiritual pressure to pose as a dignified Main Family Royal House elder.
• Otsutsuki Yushi approached Natsume and secretly told him that Otsutsuki Xushi had ordered him to guide Natsume around [Dragon Palace City].
• Natsume suspected Yushi might be a pawn or a spy but decided to see what purpose he served.

Natsume entered Dragon Palace City with Otsutsuki Yushi and learned about its levels, inhabitants, and accelerated time. He discovered Otsutsuki Xushi had secretly ordered him to kill the Demigod City Lord, a task that seemed impossible with only his demigod-level soul avatar.

• Natsume entered Dragon Palace City with Otsutsuki Yushi and saw its bustling middle level.
• Otsutsuki Yushi explained the city’s upper, middle, and lower levels, its Demigod City Lord, and the 230-to-one time difference.
• Natsume learned that other Demigods who had served in Dragon Palace City had been transferred away or had fallen.
• Natsume pressured Otsutsuki Yushi into revealing Otsutsuki Xushi’s secret mission: recover from his injuries, then kill the Demigod City Lord.
• Natsume realized he lacked the strength to kill a Demigod and feared the mission would get him killed.

Natsume learned that Otsutsuki Xushi had tasked him with killing Dragon Palace City's weakened Demigod City Lord, but the mission came with safeguards that made refusal dangerous. He pretended to accept, moved into a secret castle tower, and kept his options open while taking the soul-restoring elixir for himself.

• Natsume considered killing Otsutsuki Yushi to evade the mission, but learned that failing would leave him trapped in Dragon Palace City until the Dragon Palace Well opened again.
• Otsutsuki Yushi told Natsume that the Demigod City Lord was badly wounded and gave him a sealed Demigod Artifact that could suppress a Demigod for three minutes.
• Otsutsuki Yushi revealed that ten peak pseudo-god warriors would support Natsume, while Natsume realized they could also monitor him.
• Natsume decided to feign agreement, seek the divine artifact Kuramitsuha had mentioned, and attempt the mission only if he could reach Six Paths Peak; otherwise, he planned to escape using the Progenitor Blood Vessel.
• Natsume accepted the mission and moved into a secret castle tower, where he pocketed the High Emperor Jade Elixir despite having no need for it.

Natsume learned that Kuramitsuha’s Divine Artifact was hidden in an earring carried by her younger sister, Kuraokami, and that it was likely somewhere in Dragon Palace City’s lower prison. He infiltrated the city’s prison system to search for it, while discovering the brutal rules governing its soul prisoners.

• Natsume questioned Kuramitsuha about the Divine Artifact after she warned that Otsutsuki Yushi might have detected their mental exchange.
• Kuramitsuha revealed that the artifact was hidden in an earring carried by her younger sister, Kuraokami, who she believed had died long ago.
• Natsume left a Shadow Clone as a decoy, seized an Otsutsuki guard, and used Shrine to learn how to enter the lower prison.
• Natsume learned that the lower prison trapped soul prisoners in temporary bubbles, forcing them to compete for cells or risk becoming frenzied wraiths.
• Natsume discovered that prisoners who survived for ten thousand years could seek the city lord’s approval to leave the prison and live in the main city.

White Heron recovered from his injuries in a law bubble while discussing the Main Family’s plans to kill him with a subordinate. Natsume then entered the bubble and faced White Heron, and their demigod soul waves collided.

• White Heron avoided using High Emperor Jade Elixir because its lingering spiritual contamination could damage his soul.
• A subordinate reported that a Main Family elder had entered Dragon Palace City and was being monitored.
• White Heron suspected the Main Family had sent the elder to kill him, but ordered his subordinate not to attack and risk provoking the Main Family.
• After his subordinate left, White Heron wondered whether Otsutsuki Xushi had finally moved against him and trusted the law bubbles to hide his location.
• Natsume entered White Heron’s bubble, and the two recognized each other as their demigod soul waves collided.

Natsume infiltrated the lower prison to find the Divine Artifact, but discovered that it was held by the genuine demigod White Heron City Lord. The two recognized that they were enemies and exchanged threats, leaving Natsume secretly preparing for a fight he feared he could not win.

• Natsume followed Kuramitsuha's guidance through the prison bubbles and entered the one containing the Divine Artifact.
• Natsume found White Heron City Lord inside and realized the supposedly ordinary prisoner was a demigod.
• White Heron recognized Natsume as Elder Nisshiki and asked how he had located him, but Natsume refused to explain.
• Natsume challenged White Heron for staying despite his injuries, while White Heron warned that he had home-ground traps and could take a demigod down with him.
• Natsume and White Heron continued their tense standoff as Natsume secretly gathered strength and weighed his poor odds of winning.

Natsume used his disguise as Elder Nisshiki and the Divine Measure Sword to force the Lord of White Heron City to hand over a sapphire-blue earring. He left after promising the injured lord three months to recover, though he feared the lord might attack him before he escaped.

• Natsume drew the Divine Measure Sword to intimidate the Lord of White Heron City, then offered to let him recover if he fulfilled a request.
• Natsume demanded an earring and threatened to take it from the lord's corpse if he refused.
• The Lord of White Heron City agreed to give up the earring in exchange for three months to recover.
• Natsume checked the sapphire-blue earring for traps, absorbed it into his Primordial Space, and left the bubble.
• Natsume finally relaxed after flying away without the Lord of White Heron City pursuing him.

Natsume returned to his stone tower and had Kuramitsuha unseal the earring, revealing the Yellow Spring Seal, a powerful divine artifact. After learning its true identity and world-shaping abilities, he confronted Kuramitsuha about concealing its powers.

• Natsume returned to the stone tower, withdrew his clone, and entered his Primordial Space behind a barrier to unseal the earring.
• Kuramitsuha emerged from Hu Sinatuo and used Underworld secret arts to release the sealed artifact.
• Natsume considered how to obtain Kuramitsuha's other lost Underworld secret arts while she worked.
• The earring released the Yellow Spring Seal, a divine artifact once carried by the Yellow Spring Progenitor God.
• Natsume used the system to identify the seal and challenged Kuramitsuha for hiding its greater abilities.

Natsume learned from Kuramitsuha about the soul’s three elements and the paths to becoming a True God. He discovered that the Yellow Spring Seal required divinity to activate, leaving him dependent on Kuramitsuha to use it for now.

• Natsume asked Kuramitsuha about her safeguard for the Yellow Spring Seal, and she explained that only someone with divinity could activate it.
• Kuramitsuha described spirituality, spiritual intelligence, and spiritual desire as the three elements of a soul.
• Kuramitsuha explained that sublimating one of those elements could lead to True Godhood, and identified the paths associated with the Yellow Spring, Otsutsuki, and Maha lineages.
• Natsume learned that Kuramitsuha had only enough remaining divinity to activate the Yellow Spring Seal once before needing time to recover.
• Kuramitsuha admitted that Natsume would have to rely on and protect her if he wanted to use the Yellow Spring Seal again.

Natsume had Kuramitsuha use the [Yellow Spring Seal] to compress twenty-eight [Type III God Tree Fruits] into a massive [True Chakra Pill]. After forcing Kuramitsuha back into [Hu Sinatuo], Natsume released the pill and let his true body swallow it to advance to the peak of the Six Paths.

• Natsume threatened Kuramitsuha with [Hu Sinatuo] and ordered her to refine twenty-eight [Type III God Tree Fruits] into a [Chakra Pellet].
• Kuramitsuha activated the [Yellow Spring Seal] and condensed the fruits' chakra into a dense, unstable super pill.
• Kuramitsuha warned Natsume that the artifact's suppression would not last, then complained that he had wasted a precious use of it.
• Natsume asked how long Kuramitsuha needed to recover her divinity and sealed her soul back inside [Hu Sinatuo].
• Natsume removed the [Yellow Spring Seal]'s suppression, released his true body, and let it swallow the [True Chakra Pill] to begin advancing to the peak of the Six Paths.

After absorbing the True Chakra Pellet, Natsume reached the peak of the Six Paths realm and gained the ability to use Nisshiki’s Half-God Shikigami Form, giving him a chance to contend with a Half-God. He then learned that soul power could accelerate Kuramitsuha’s recovery, leaving him to weigh whether to spend the Wraith Wheel’s reserves before his decisive battle.

• Natsume’s body, chakra, and soul underwent major transformations after he absorbed the True Chakra Pellet, and he reached the Six Paths peak.
• Natsume manifested a hundred-meter Shikigami Form and realized his improved soul could now let him use Nisshiki’s Half-God-level form.
• Natsume praised the Yellow Spring Seal but complained that Kuramitsuha had too little divine essence to fully activate it.
• Natsume released Kuramitsuha from the demonic blade, and she questioned him about hiding her and the Chakra pellet.
• Kuramitsuha admitted that soul power could cut her divinity’s recovery time by more than half, potentially restoring it in two or three months.
• Natsume considered using the soul power stored in the Wraith Wheel to help Kuramitsuha recover before his battle with the Half-God city lord.

Otsutsuki Yushi learned that the White Heron City Lord had returned and arranged an exhibition as the setting for Lord Nisshiki’s assassination attempt. The exhibition was convened with both the City Lord and a distinguished Main Family elder expected to attend.

• Otsutsuki Yushi rapidly memorized secret techniques in Dragon Palace City’s library while a death warrior reported that the White Heron City Lord had returned.
• Otsutsuki Yushi dismissed concerns about the City Lord’s recovery and ordered an exhibition to lure him into the assassination plan.
• Otsutsuki Yushi instructed the death warrior to notify Lord Nisshiki and prepare him to strike at the exhibition.
• Otsutsuki Yushi secretly stole large batches of secret technique scrolls into his Different Space.
• The Divine Research Institute held an exhibition for its new Divine Tree saplings, drawing nobles and scholars who expected the City Lord and a Main Family elder to attend.

Natsume arrived at the hall in Dragon Palace City to face the White Heron City Lord in a deadly fight, but the City Lord first sealed the hall and turned his soldiers against the gathered nobles and scholars. The chapter left Natsume watching as the massacre began, while the City Lord’s targets were revealed to be everyone else in the hall.

• An Otsutsuki scholar presented a genetically modified Divine Tree sapling to the nobles and explained how it could improve cultivation and reduce sacrifices.
• The White Heron City Lord praised the research and asked whether the mysterious main-family elder had arrived.
• Natsume entered the hall, brushed aside nobles seeking his attention, and met the City Lord, who confirmed that he was ready to fight.
• The City Lord asked to handle one small matter first, then raised three barriers that sealed the hall and restricted escape and combat abilities.
• Dragon Palace City soldiers stormed the hall and attacked the nobles and scholars with arrows tainted by wraith pollution, revealing them as the City Lord’s intended appetizers.

The White Heron City Lord used Natsume’s name as cover while his elite soldiers massacred and captured Otsutsuki nobles in Dragon Palace City. After the fighting ended, Natsume began forming an Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb, and its detonation engulfed the area.

• The White Heron City Lord’s elite troops overwhelmed the nobles and Otsutsuki clansmen, wounding and sealing them instead of killing them outright.
• Natsume realized the City Lord was using him as a scapegoat while purging Dragon Palace City’s nobles and challenging the Otsutsuki Main Family.
• The soldiers captured nearly all their opponents, and the White Heron City Lord ended the attack and apologized to Natsume.
• Natsume summoned an Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb, intending to erase the bodies, breach the barriers, and devastate Dragon Palace City.
• The Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb detonated and swallowed everything around it.

Natsume and the White Heron City Lord were drawn into the Progenitor Blood Vessel after the City Lord opened its outer wall to erase the destruction in Dragon Palace City. Natsume survived with his Progenitor Wood Ring, forcing White Heron to abandon his original plan and attack him directly.

• Natsume detonated an Expansive Truth-Seeking Orb, but the White Heron City Lord opened a breach in the Progenitor Blood Vessel's outer wall as the blast erupted.
• The chakra torrent sucked the upper district of Dragon Palace City into the vessel, destroying or sweeping away everything there while the lower levels remained protected.
• Natsume used his Progenitor Wood Ring to resist the torrent, and the White Heron City Lord entered the vessel with a ring of his own.
• White Heron revealed that he had planned to erase the battle's traces and avoid killing Natsume, but Natsume's ring disrupted his scheme.
• White Heron decided to injure Natsume or destroy his ring and hurled a spirit-artifact spear at his face.

Natsume fought the Lord of White Heron City, landing a soul attack before discovering that the city lord could reflect damage within a limited range. Natsume retreated beyond that range and launched a barrage of invisible attacks.

• Natsume used his Jōgan, Heavenly Decree, Divine Word: Time Seizure, Heavenly Kaku Arrow, Ten Directions Karma Fire, and Cormorant Thatch Fate to land a soul attack on the Lord of White Heron City.
• Natsume used Future Sight to detect that the city lord's damage-reflection ability would injure him equally, then retreated a thousand meters away.
• The Lord of White Heron City explained that he could return damage inflicted on him within a limited range and urged Natsume to give up.
• Natsume prepared ten Heavenly Kaku arrows, two Daylight shots, and his demigod blade Hu Sinatuo, then launched all thirteen attacks at the city lord.

Natsume fought the White Heron City Lord, whose golden Hagoromo let him withstand Natsume’s invisible attacks and battle the demonic blade [Hu Sinatuo]. As the city lord closed in on Natsume’s physical weakness, Natsume activated the [Heavenly Beard Cube] and brought down the [Divine Measure Sword], leaving the city lord unable to evade.

• The White Heron City Lord transformed beneath a golden Hagoromo, crushed Natsume’s [Daylights], blocked his [Heavenly Kaku Arrows], and endured a strike from [Hu Sinatuo].
• Natsume kept attacking with [Hu Sinatuo] while retreating to maintain distance, as the city lord parried the blade with a flurry of punches and pursued him.
• The White Heron City Lord recognized [Hu Sinatuo] as the sacred artifact of the Yomi lineage and grew more aggressive after Natsume said he had taken it from a dead Yomi remnant god.
• Natsume released the [Heavenly Beard Cube], halving the city lord’s power, then summoned the [Divine Measure Sword] and enlarged it into a thousand-meter greatsword.
• Natsume swung the [Divine Measure Sword] at the weakened city lord, whose movement was also suppressed by the sword’s spatial laws.

Natsume tricked the White Heron City Lord with the hollow shell of the [Divine Measure Sword], then used [Hu Sinatuo] and [Kunwu Blade] to cut him in half. The City Lord survived behind his bone fragment, but the demonic blade’s law made his lower-body wound incurable, leaving Natsume with the advantage.

• The White Heron City Lord focused his defenses on Natsume’s [Divine Measure Sword], using the [Membrane Holy Garment] and [Broken Bone Fragment] to guard against it.
• The [Divine Measure Sword] shattered on impact, revealing that Natsume had left only an empty shell to deceive his opponent.
• Natsume’s [Hu Sinatuo] pierced the [Membrane Holy Garment], and his [Kunwu Blade] struck it to cut the White Heron City Lord in half at the waist.
• The White Heron City Lord blocked Natsume’s follow-up strike with the bone fragment and retreated, but another crack appeared in the artifact.
• Natsume explained that he had reforged the [Divine Measure Sword] into the [Kunwu Blade] with the [Yellow Spring Seal] and the system’s power.
• The White Heron City Lord tried to heal, but the law power left by [Hu Sinatuo] prevented his lower body from recovering.

Natsume unleashed his demigod-level Shikigami Form and three powerful semi-divine artifacts against the White Heron City Lord, who answered with his own soul manifestation and a barrage of secret arts. Natsume’s attacks began failing as the city lord’s techniques weakened and disrupted him.

• Natsume activated his demigod-level Shikigami Form and wielded the empowered Kunwu Blade.
• The White Heron City Lord revealed his Mind Spirit Method, manifesting a vast soul body that enclosed his severed lower half.
• Kuramitsuha recognized the Mind Spirit Method as a technique of the Underworld lineage and wondered whether the city lord was its remnant.
• Natsume attacked with the Kunwu Blade, Hu Sinatuo, and Heavenly Beard Cube, while the city lord countered with numerous soul secret arts.
• The city lord’s techniques caused Natsume’s attacks to miss or deal no damage, disrupted his Shikigami Form, and steadily weakened him.