Chapter Summaries

With the Demon Race massing troops at the border, Huang Wanchao considered how to protect his position in the True Treasure Path. Hundred Spirits Daoist proposed exploiting the rival Children of Destiny to weaken them, and Huang Wanchao's court debated the plan's risks.

• Li Qing learned that the Demon Race had unified its destiny and gathered 1.6 million Dao soldiers at the border.
• Huang Wanchao asked his court how to respond to the Demon Race's threat.
• Hundred Spirits Daoist urged Huang Wanchao to demand troops from Li Fengxian and Bai Wuxue, threatening to withdraw and let the Demon Race attack them if they refused.
• Hundred Spirits Daoist proposed waiting for the Demon Race to weaken its rivals, then striking from behind to seize the south.
• Huang Wanchao considered the strategy, while Soul-Extinguishing Daoist warned that the Hundred Schools of Thought and Confucian Dao in Dragon Province remained an unknown factor.

Huang Wanchao accepted Hundred Spirits Daoist’s plan to preserve his Dao soldiers and let the Hundred Schools of Thought face the Demon Race, while Li Qing turned his attention toward the East Wasteland. In the Demon Race’s ancestral hall, the Demon Gods investigated the Great Ape King’s victory and questioned why Primordial Spirit cultivators had driven every decisive event.

• Hundred Spirits Daoist advised Huang Wanchao to demand that Li Fengxian and Bai Wuxue each send one hundred thousand Dao soldiers, or yield South Province and let them face the Monster Path army.
• Huang Wanchao adopted the plan and ordered notices sent to Li Fengxian and Bai Wuxue.
• Li Qing reflected on his strategic advantage, then sent his Divine Body east to target the Child of Destiny of the Ghost Path.
• The Taotie Demon God recounted how the Great Ape King had killed the True Dragon Prince, taken Black Dragon Pass, and defeated the Qilin Prince after the White Tiger Demon King betrayed him.
• The Taotie Demon God questioned why Primordial Spirit cultivators, rather than Divine Soul Realm cultivators, had determined every crucial event, and the Myriad-Eyed Demon God said his examination had found no signs of control or manipulation.

Li Qing examined the Ghost Path’s three rival nations in the East Wasteland and considered how to engineer a decisive victory without revealing his larger strategy. He began shaping the ground as he planned a single move that could overturn the nations’ stalemate.

• The Monster Path’s Tribulation Realm cultivators chose to keep investigating the Children of Destiny while concluding that they had found no clear evidence of a hidden manipulator.
• Li Qing noted the higher realms’ scrutiny and focused on the Divine Body, which had traveled to the East Wasteland.
• Li Qing reviewed the Ghost Path’s structure, its Ten Yama Courts, and the three Children of Destiny supported by King Qin Guang, Chu Jiang King, and Song Di King.
• Li Qing arrived in General Deman’s Dragon Kingdom and studied how its three neighboring nations had fought repeatedly without breaking their balance.
• Li Qing used his merchant network and Myriad Spirit Mother Eye system to assess the East Wasteland, then concluded that one carefully planned move was needed to decide the conflict.
• Li Qing crouched and used his mana to make the earth bulge upward.

Li Qing studied the three kingdoms’ terrain and chose to support General Deman as the victor in the Child of Destiny contest. King Qin Guang then proposed a plan to lure the Tiger and Blade Kingdoms into a mountain ravine and ambush them.

• Li Qing assessed the terrain and decided that Deman’s open plains made him best suited to act as bait and hunter.
• Li Qing completed a detailed strategy and secretly connected with King Qin Guang.
• Deman asked his ministers and cultivators for a way to win after many inconclusive battles, and King Qin Guang offered a plan.
• King Qin Guang dismissed everyone except Five Officials King and Yama King, then sealed the hall against spies.
• King Qin Guang proposed disguising Dragon Kingdom’s full army as a smaller force, drawing enemy attention, and marching toward Blade Kingdom.
• King Qin Guang described using a hidden passage and a misty ravine to prepare an ambush with fire oil, dry grass, and Thunderfire Pearls.

King Qin Guang proposed a gorge ambush to General Deman, who weighed the risks before Li Qing used Wish Spell to influence his perception and push him toward taking action. The chapter ended with Deman resolving to strike first in the struggle for destiny.

• King Qin Guang outlined a plan to lure the Tiger and Blade Kingdom forces into a gorge, trap them with fire and collapsing rock, and escape through a hidden passage.
• Yama King questioned whether Ueda would take the bait and whether Ashikaga knew of the passage, but King Qin Guang said the route was concealed and the preparations could be made in advance.
• General Deman dismissed the others to consider the risky plan alone in his garden.
• Li Qing watched Deman from outside the residence and used Wish Spell to make him see ants fighting, with one group breaking and being slaughtered.
• Deman took the ants' battle as a warning against hesitation and resolved that he had to strike first.

General Deman committed to King Qin Guang’s plan, and Qin Guang traveled to a foggy gorge to prepare an ambush. He finished planting Thunderfire Pearls and concealing fire oil, leaving the trap ready for its intended targets.

• General Deman resolved to stake everything and accepted King Qin Guang’s plan, asking one of his trusted hall masters to make the necessary arrangements.
• King Qin Guang volunteered to handle the mission, while Five Officials King and Yama King agreed to keep it secret and assist Deman with troop deployments.
• Yama King created a duplicate of King Qin Guang to deceive observers, and Qin Guang departed for the Blade Kingdom.
• At a concealed gorge near the border, King Qin Guang planted two rows of Thunderfire Pearls along both sides to trigger a massive collapse.
• King Qin Guang hid dry grass and barrels of fire oil throughout the gorge, completing the preparations for his ambush.

General Deman led the Dragon Kingdom’s army out under a plan to mislead its neighbors about their target. After the Tiger Kingdom learned that the army had reached the Blade Kingdom’s border, Ueda celebrated the news, though Song Di King questioned what he had discovered.

• King Qin Guang completed the canyon traps, and Li Qing used Wish Spell to hide them beneath lush growth.
• General Deman mobilized fifteen thousand Dao soldiers and sealed the Dragon Kingdom, while spies reported the army’s movements to the Tiger Kingdom and Blade Kingdom.
• Song Di King and Chu Jiang King advised Ueda and Ashikaga to gather their armies and wait until General Deman’s target became clear.
• King Qin Guang told General Deman that the spies would mistake the Blade Kingdom for the army’s target, and General Deman approved the deception.
• A day and a half later, the army reached the Blade Kingdom’s border, and Ueda celebrated new intelligence as Song Di King asked what it revealed.

Li Qing used the Wish Spell and carefully placed advice to set General Ueda and Ashikaga moving toward General Deman, drawing three armies toward a confrontation near Blade Kingdom. As the forces advanced, Li Qing watched from a mountain, confident that their choices were within his calculations.

• Song Di King warned General Ueda that General Deman might be luring Tiger Kingdom into a trap, and advised him to follow Deman’s army rather than attack Dragon Kingdom.
• Li Qing secretly cast Wish Spell, strengthening General Ueda’s inclination to follow Song Di King’s plan.
• General Ueda mobilized fifteen thousand troops and advanced toward Blade Kingdom under heavy security and concealment.
• Chu Jiang King told Ashikaga that General Deman was using himself as bait to draw out Tiger Kingdom, then proposed that Blade Kingdom follow the armies and exploit the ensuing battle.
• Ashikaga accepted Chu Jiang King’s plan and mobilized Blade Kingdom’s army toward General Deman.
• Li Qing watched as the three armies converged, believing that their movements all followed his calculations.

Li Qing watched the Dragon Kingdom enter Mist Gorge as Tiger Kingdom and Blade Kingdom closed in, then adjusted his plan to exploit the armies’ movements. Song Di King proposed joining forces with Blade Kingdom to trap General Deman’s army inside the gorge, leaving General Ueda to consider the plan.

• Li Qing resolved to verify information through the Jade Tablet because he could not trust every ally or be sure his spells would remain hidden.
• General Deman confirmed that the Dragon Kingdom’s target was Mist Gorge and ordered his concealed army to enter it.
• A Tiger Kingdom cultivator spotted the disturbance in the mist and alerted Ueda, who prepared to move against the Dragon Kingdom.
• Ashikaga learned that the Dragon Kingdom had entered Mist Gorge and ordered the Blade Kingdom’s army toward the surrounding peaks while searching for Tiger Kingdom.
• Li Qing saw that Tiger Kingdom and Blade Kingdom were closing in and adjusted his plan through Song Di King and Chu Jiang King.
• Song Di King urged Ueda to contact Chu Jiang King so Tiger Kingdom and Blade Kingdom could trap General Deman’s army in Mist Gorge.

Song Di King and Chu Jiang King coordinated with Ashikaga to trap General Deman’s army in Mist Gorge, while Deman secretly used the attack as cover to withdraw most of his troops through a hidden passage. The Tiger and Blade Kingdom armies believed victory was near as two thousand Dragon Kingdom soldiers remained behind to hold the gorge.

• Song Di King contacted Chu Jiang King, who persuaded Ashikaga to join the plan to attack General Deman from both ends of Mist Gorge.
• King Qin Guang told General Deman that the Blade and Tiger Kingdom armies were approaching, and Deman agreed to let them attack before retreating through a secret passage.
• Ashikaga’s Blade Kingdom army struck the Dragon Kingdom from the gorge’s exit as Ueda’s Tiger Kingdom army attacked from the rear.
• General Deman ordered the retreat after the enemy armies entered the gorge, and over ten thousand Dao soldiers escaped through a concealed cave.
• General Deman withdrew as the Third Hall cultivators prepared to leave, while two thousand Dao soldiers remained to make a final stand.

Ashikaga sensed danger and withdrew eight thousand Dao soldiers while General Deman's forces lured Ueda and the remaining troops deeper into the gorge. After the trap was exposed and the armies began to retreat, King Qin Guang ignited it, triggering thunder-fire explosions that brought down the gorge's peaks.

• Ashikaga pulled eight thousand Dao soldiers out of the gorge but left the rest under Chu Jiang King's command.
• General Deman ordered his troops to retreat and prepare to activate the traps once only two thousand Dao soldiers remained in the gorge.
• Mount Tai King noticed that General Deman's army had suffered almost no casualties and warned Ashikaga that the gorge was a trap.
• King Qin Guang ignited the hidden licorice and fire oil as General Deman's troops withdrew and Ueda ordered a retreat.
• Thunder-fire explosions erupted along the gorge, collapsing the surrounding peaks onto the armies below.

General Deman’s army destroyed most of Ueda’s Dao soldiers and launched a surprise attack that breached Tiger Kingdom, while Ashikaga retreated to defend Blade Kingdom. Ueda was killed in battle, leaving Deman and the six Ghost Path Hall Masters to decide how to proceed against Blade Kingdom.

• General Deman’s forces collapsed a mountain onto Ueda’s army, killing at least twenty thousand Dao soldiers, and King Qin Guang urged Deman to attack Tiger Kingdom before Ueda could regroup.
• King Qin Guang, Five Officials King, and Yama King rushed toward Tiger Kingdom as Song Di King, Ueda, and their allies fled there, while Deman led his army after them.
• After losing seven thousand Dao soldiers in the gorge, Ashikaga followed Chu Jiang King’s advice and ordered a retreat to Blade Kingdom, where his forces prepared terrain-based defenses.
• Li Qing watched the factions’ balance shift as Deman’s forces breached Tiger Kingdom two days later.
• General Deman defeated Ueda and killed him, then declared victory as his forces celebrated and the Ghost Path cultivators gathered around him.
• Deman met with six Primordial Spirit Ghost Path cultivators in Ueda’s former palace and asked how they should proceed against Blade Kingdom.

Song Di King devised a plan to invade Blade Kingdom by sending troops openly while secretly moving Dao soldiers into its territory and recruiting Ashikaga’s former subordinates. As Blade Kingdom prepared its defenses and forcibly awakened bloodlines to create more Dao soldiers, General Deman began the operation and ordered Guitian Xiatu to contact the potential defectors.

• Song Di King advised General Deman to attack Blade Kingdom’s passes openly while secretly transporting three thousand Dao soldiers beyond them and recruiting Ashikaga’s retainers to sabotage the city’s defenses.
• General Deman sent his army toward Blade Kingdom, and Ashikaga gathered Chu Jiang King, Biancheng King, and Mount Tai King to discuss defending its mountain passes with fewer than four thousand Dao soldiers.
• Chu Jiang King urged Ashikaga to delay the invasion by forcibly awakening civilians’ bloodlines, and Ashikaga ordered Mount Tai King to carry out the process.
• Blade Kingdom’s cultivators killed nine of ten civilians who transformed during the bloodline ritual, while the sole survivor awakened as a ronin.
• General Deman’s army entered Blade Kingdom’s territory as Song Di King and the other Ghost Hall cultivators secretly led Dao soldiers toward the kingdom.
• General Deman contacted Guitian Xiatu and ordered him to recruit Ashikaga’s former subordinates to help bring down Blade Kingdom’s city-protecting formation.

General Deman’s plan to capture the Blade Kingdom advanced after Ashikaga’s four trusted subordinates pledged allegiance. Deman’s forces secretly gathered outside the kingdom and set the attack for two days later, while Li Qing wondered why the Ghost Path’s most powerful cultivators remained uninvolved.

• Guitian reported that Yoshida Ryu and Yamashita Hiyo had agreed to help General Deman open the gates and disable the formation.
• A phantom emissary offered Yoshida Ryu protection and rewards, and Yoshida accepted by writing and sealing a letter of allegiance.
• General Deman left his army and secretly joined 4,500 soldiers and cultivators hidden outside the Blade Kingdom.
• General Deman told the six Hall Masters that Ashikaga’s four confidants would change shifts at midnight in two days, and the attack would begin at the Hour of the Rat.
• Li Qing’s Divine Body observed that Ghost Path cultivators of the Longevity Realm and Tribulation Realm had not appeared, and he wondered what they were doing.

Li Qing sent a duplicate beneath Hell Mountain and discovered Ghost Path cultivators conducting a blood sacrifice around a mysterious Stone Stele in a lake of blood. After the first Samsara King detected the duplicate, the kings searched and killed every living thing nearby, while Li Qing recorded what he had witnessed.

• Li Qing used the Great Duplication Spell to send a duplicate toward Hell Mountain and entered the underground caves.
• Li Qing found a blood lake filled with corpses and saw Ghost Path’s Ten Hall kings and other Longevity Realm and Tribulation Realm cultivators surrounding a blood-red Stone Stele.
• The first Samsara King sensed Li Qing’s duplicate and attacked, causing it to vanish before the force reached it.
• Ghost Path cultivators searched within three hundred li of Hell Mountain and killed every living thing they found.
• The first Yama King ordered the watch strengthened, and the great formation began to cover the lower part of Hell Mountain.
• Li Qing returned to his Present Body and recorded the blood sacrifice and Stone Stele in his Record Book.

Li Qing learned that Ghost Path planned to smuggle the will of a conceptual logic into the world, threatening an invasion while Heaven and the Enemy of Heaven remained helpless. Meanwhile, General Deman’s forces entered the Blade Kingdom after its defenses were sabotaged, and King Qin Guang’s Ghost Path Hall Masters confronted its defenders.

• Li Qing learned that Ghost Path had arranged a blood sacrifice to bring in a wisp of a conceptual logic’s will, and he considered warning the other Immortals about Nether River Yama Son of Heaven.
• General Deman gathered his army outside the Blade Kingdom while its defenders concentrated on the northern and western approaches.
• At midnight, Mount Tai King and five others led 4,500 soldiers under concealment to the northern city wall.
• Guitian Xiatu and Grass Path Holy Son destroyed two formation altars, weakening the Blade Kingdom’s protective formation.
• Yoshida Ryu and Yamashita Hiyo opened the city gates, allowing General Deman’s forces to storm into the Blade Kingdom.
• Mount Tai King and Ashikaga rose to defend the city, but King Qin Guang and five Ghost Path Hall Masters surrounded them.

Ashikaga fled the besieged Blade Kingdom and tried to escape through a secret passage, hoping to regroup in the Cherry Blossom Kingdom. Li Qing’s Wish Spell led a squad to discover him, and General Deman, King Qin Guang, and Song Di King pursued him as his strength and hope dwindled.

• Ashikaga and Mount Tai King fled to the northwestern peaks, where Chu Jiang King and Biancheng King joined them inside the protected Gale Flame Formation.
• Ashikaga told the three kings that the Cherry Blossom Kingdom was his last base and asked them to hold off the attackers while he escaped through a secret passage.
• Li Qing activated the Wish Spell, causing Ashikaga to emerge from the passage directly in front of a squad of Dao soldiers.
• The Dao soldiers signaled Ashikaga’s escape, and General Deman, King Qin Guang, and Song Di King broke away from the battle to chase him.
• After half a day of flight, Ashikaga had lost more than seventy percent of his strength and was overwhelmed by despair.

General Deman killed Ashikaga and absorbed the Ghost Path’s destiny, prompting its armies to gather at the East Wasteland border. At Tang Wanshan’s court, Cloud Feather Daoist proposed ceding land to secure allies and conceal a plan to seize the Infinite Sect’s Mandate of Heaven.

• Song Di King sent a tide of ferocious ghosts that exhausted Ashikaga and stopped his escape.
• General Deman killed Ashikaga with a flaming sword and absorbed the Ghost Path’s destiny, declaring himself its destiny.
• The Ghost Path’s armies gathered at the East Wasteland border, placing pressure on the Infinite Sect.
• Tang Wanshan convened his court, where Cloud Feather Daoist proposed ceding border territory to make Guo Wushuang and Chen Shanhe commit troops to its defense.
• Cloud Feather Daoist urged Tang Wanshan to borrow Confucian Dao troops, exploit the resulting conflicts, and annex his rivals to claim the Infinite Sect’s Mandate of Heaven.

Li Qing used the Jade Tablet to infer that the Ghost Path might betray the world to become a vassal race, while a mysterious girl manipulated a Demonic Path cultivator into seeking Zhong Feilong in White Mist City. The chapter left Zhong Feilong in danger as the cultivator set out, driven by an unnatural craving.

• Tang Wanshan accepted Cloud Feather Daoist’s plan, and his envoys departed for Chen Shanhe’s and Guo Wushuang’s territories.
• The first-generation lords of the Ten Halls sent the Ghost Path’s Longevity Realm cultivators to the East Wasteland border while they remained beneath Hell Mountain.
• Li Qing suspected the Ghost Path intended to sell out the world and used the Jade Tablet to identify the Nether River Yama Son of Heaven’s ties to an entity beyond the world.
• Zhong Feilong sent an intelligence report by paper crane, which a Demonic Path cultivator received in his underground room.
• A mysterious little girl implanted a craving in the cultivator, who decided to go to White Mist City and capture Zhong Feilong.

Cao Zhengde abducted Zhong Feilong after discovering that Zhong’s blood carried a mysterious aura that nourished his aberrated organs, while Li Qing’s plan continued to unfold. The Divine Body reached the Western Region, where the three great Buddhist Sect Children of Destiny held positions across its major oases.

• Cao Zhengde sensed Zhong Feilong’s unusual aura, traveled to White Mist City, and knocked him unconscious before drinking his blood.
• Cao Zhengde carried Zhong Feilong to his underground cave and imprisoned him, while the young girl secretly followed to ensure the plan proceeded.
• Cao Zhengde felt the aura changing his organs and mana, then resolved to keep its source secret and claim the treasure for himself.
• Li Qing sensed that the five logical Anomalies’ plan was proceeding smoothly and hoped it would divert several immortals’ attention.
• The Divine Body arrived in the Western Region, where the Buddhist Sect’s tribes relied on oases and its three Children of Destiny occupied the three largest ones.