Chapter Summaries

After Lu Xingshi killed the Fan King, Tian Fu led Yan troops to conquer the Secret Realm while Lu Xingshi struggled to manage its new territories. When the last Heavenly Mandate Phenomena vanished, the Secret Realm connected to Lu Xingshi’s Son of Heaven Destiny, and he opened the dungeon panel to inspect his rewards.

• Lu Xingshi killed the Fan King and routed the Fan Army, while Tian Fu predicted the Secret Realm would be unified within a month.
• Tian Fu prepared to lead his Three Thousand Iron Cavalry north as Lu Xingshi stayed behind to govern the conquered territory.
• Lu Xingshi worked through days of official business and learned from Tian Fu’s report that the Yan Army had reclaimed the north and was advancing with little resistance.
• Over the following twenty-five days, Lu Xingshi’s appointed officials took on more work as Tian Fu’s campaign continued.
• The remaining Heavenly Mandate Phenomena disappeared, and Lu Xingshi sensed the Secret Realm connect with his Son of Heaven Destiny.
• Lu Xingshi wondered how the Grotto-heaven Ancestors had controlled the Secret Realm and opened the dungeon panel to check his clearing rewards.

Lu Xingshi chose to occupy and fuse the first Secret Realm, gaining the Zi Wei Dou Shu inheritance and expanding his farming management game. After resolving the Realm’s instability by expelling its inhabitants and formatting its contents, he completed the fusion and began assessing the changes.

• Lu Xingshi examined the Secret Realm’s options and decided to occupy it before fusing it into his game.
• The Secret Realm connected to Lu Xingshi’s Son of Heaven Destiny and granted him the Zi Wei Dou Shu inheritance, which revealed the location of its Divine Weapon in the Great Abyss.
• Lu Xingshi occupied the Secret Realm, discovered the operation had caused a conflict between its ownership and datafication, and expelled Tian Fu and the others.
• Lu Xingshi formatted the Secret Realm, converting its contents into data and adding its special plants, animals, minerals, and other resources to his game.
• Lu Xingshi fused the Secret Realm into his game, greatly expanding its size and enhancing the farming management Game Villagers.

Lu Xingshi chose the Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend Demon Stars Enter Fate Innate Trait and began studying the Son of Heaven inheritance, Zi Wei Dou Shu. He postponed Yan Kingdom’s planned march east until he obtained a Divine Weapon and developed the inheritance, while Pei Ming urged him to keep its importance secret.

• Lu Xingshi expanded his farming Game Villagers’ skills and then discovered a new set of Martial Arts Game Character traits based on the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.
• Lu Xingshi chose Heavenly Spirit and Earthly Fiend Demon Stars Enter Fate, gaining 108 enhancements along with powerful health, True Qi, recovery, and survival effects.
• Lu Xingshi studied Zi Wei Dou Shu and learned that it used the spirit and Son of Heaven Destiny to strengthen both himself and his faction.
• Pei Ming told Lu Xingshi that over half a year in the Secret Realm had passed as only a little more than half a day in the Mortal World, then urged him to march east while rival rulers remained inside their Secret Realms.
• Lu Xingshi refused to march before retrieving a Divine Weapon and developing the Son of Heaven inheritance, explaining how it could strengthen Yan Kingdom’s forces.
• Pei Ming warned that the inheritance had to remain secret, and Lu Xingshi assured him that he would not leave immediately.

Lu Xingshi assessed the new Purple Star Emperor trait and its uses, then discussed Son of Heaven Destinies and military technology with Pei Ming. He ordered plans to promote Dual Qi Power and recruit talent before preparing to travel to the Great Abyss for Zi Wei Dou Shu’s Divine Weapon.

• Lu Xingshi gained the Purple Star Emperor trait from mastering Zi Wei Dou Shu and explored how it let him control and combine Son of Heaven Destiny abilities.
• Lu Xingshi concluded that territories with emerging Secret Realms belonged to people with Son of Heaven Destinies, but declined to attack them before Yan Kingdom marched east.
• Pei Ming reported that Dual Qi Powered Armor was difficult to use because few people possessed enough True Qi, so Lu Xingshi ordered accelerated promotion of Dual Qi Power and National Martial Arts Promotion.
• Lu Xingshi told Pei Ming’s group to devise a solution to the education and martial arts training barriers before his return from the Great Abyss in about a month.
• Lu Xingshi asked Pei Ming to recruit more talent, and Pei Ming explained that new recruits were being assigned elsewhere because the positions above were full.

Li Xuandao and Emperor Pingyang fought the rebels in the Liling Battle Secret Realm, while Liao Lan struggled with a detective storybook Secret Realm and devised another way to complete its cases. Li Xuandao began turning the defeated rebels into his army, and Liao Lan headed to a new crime scene to gather intelligence for a future attempt.

• Li Xuandao reassured Emperor Pingyang that his preparations would defeat the rebel army and used traps and an arrow volley to rout its vanguard.
• Li Xuandao offered the rebels food and safety if they surrendered, intending to recruit them into his army.
• Liao Lan remained unable to solve the Red Makeup Case and learned that another murder had occurred.
• Liao Lan decided to use his time in the Secret Realm to cultivate and gather information, planning to kill the storybook's culprits on a later entry.
• Liao Lan followed Detective Wu to the new crime scene while pretending that the Red Makeup Case still occupied his thoughts.

Lu Xingshi took scholar Dongfang Huan into the Great Abyss, where they learned that a rumor about a powerful Secret Realm had drawn the Xuan Chan Sect and Dongfang’s fiancée into danger. Dongfang offered his family’s inherited Heavenly Crafting Compendium in exchange for Lu helping rescue her, and Lu asked him to recite it.

• Lu Xingshi met Dongfang Huan, who asked for help finding his fiancée, Ying Mei, in the Great Abyss.
• Lu agreed to take Dongfang along and led him down a relatively easy route into the Abyss.
• Dongfang told Lu about the settlements and Secret Realms in the Abyss, including a rumor of one that rivaled the Prince of Yan’s realm.
• Lu suspected the rumor was a trap meant to gather people, and Dongfang realized the Xuan Chan Sect had followed it there.
• After learning the sect had left more than three days earlier, Lu initially refused to delay his own search, but Dongfang offered the Heavenly Crafting Compendium in exchange for help.
• Lu asked Dongfang to recite part of the inheritance so he could decide whether to help.

Lu Xingshi accepted Dongfang Huan’s request to rescue Ying Mei and followed intelligence to the Secret Realm where she had gone. He learned that Ding Tong was not Dongfang Huan’s rival, and the three set off to save Ying Mei after realizing the Xuan Chan Sect’s Second Senior Brother An Yong might have manipulated them.

• Lu Xingshi bought information about the Xuan Chan Sect’s destination from Listening Wind Pavilion and learned Ying Mei had entered a nearby Secret Realm.
• Lu Xingshi noticed Ding Tong following them, and Dongfang Huan identified him as the Xuan Chan Sect’s senior disciple who supposedly wanted to kill him over Ying Mei.
• Ding Tong denied knowing about the Secret Realm and explained that he had come to find a new base for the sect; after reading the intelligence, he realized Second Senior Brother An Yong had led the team into the Secret Realm without telling him.
• Dongfang Huan and Ding Tong realized they may have been misled about Ding Tong’s intentions, while Lu Xingshi suspected An Yong was plotting against them as the sect leader’s son.
• Dongfang Huan agreed to hurry to the Secret Realm to rescue Ying Mei, and Lu Xingshi continued toward it with him and Ding Tong.

Lu Xingshi entered the Jianghu Grudges Secret Realm and was replaced as the Manor Lord of Sword Forging Manor, where he discovered a chance to forge the Heavenly Time Sword Chest and obtain a Peerless Divine Art. He began improving the sword chest’s design, while wondering where Dongfang Huan had been replaced and how he would find Dongfang Huan’s fiancée.

• Lu Xingshi warned Dongfang Huan to stay alive if they were separated, then followed him into the Secret Realm.
• Lu Xingshi learned the instance’s five clear conditions and inherited the memories of Sword Forging Manor’s declining Manor Lord.
• Lu Xingshi studied the manor’s hammer-based Martial Arts and forging techniques, then found the blueprint for the Heavenly Time Sword Chest.
• Lu Xingshi identified flaws in the sword chest’s materials and forging equipment and decided to practice the Heavenly Crafting Compendium before refining its design.
• Lu Xingshi realized Dongfang Huan might be destined to obtain the Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword and resolved to forge the sword chest first, make it famous, and search for Dongfang Huan’s fiancée.
• Lu Xingshi sent Wang Cai to stoke the furnace and Zhu Yan to fetch materials so they could begin work.

Dongfang Huan, now the Xiaqu Kingdom Crown Prince, escaped One-Eyed Ghost Huang Jia by tricking him with a hidden message in a letter. After resolving to help find his predecessor’s missing mother, he was rescued from Huang Jia’s pursuers by a woman in black, though his embrace angered her.

• Dongfang Huan learned that he was the Xiaqu Kingdom Crown Prince and that Huang Jia had kidnapped him to obtain Yin Yang Invisible True Qi.
• Dongfang Huan wrote Huang Jia a letter containing a hidden acrostic, handed over his Jade Pendant, and escaped after Huang Jia left.
• Dongfang Huan remembered that his predecessor had been searching for his vanished mother and promised to help find her after locating Ying Mei.
• Dongfang Huan waved to a passing woman in black for help, drawing the attention of men pursuing her.
• The woman in black returned, pulled Dongfang Huan onto her horse, and grew angry when he wrapped his arms around her waist.

Lu Xingshi modified the Heavenly Time Sword Chest into a giant Mechanical Puppet and assigned Wang Cai to learn Puppet Technique so it could control it. After learning that the White Tiger Bandits had threatened Sword Forging Manor, Lu Xingshi prepared to leave and secretly planned to attack their stronghold on the way.

• Lu Xingshi had Wang Cai carry the Heavenly Time Sword Chest and ordered Zhu Yan to teach it Puppet Technique, persuading Wang Cai that Mechanical Puppets could help it build a funeral business.
• The old steward told Lu Xingshi that the White Tiger Bandits demanded weapons and full-body armor within half a month, and that Sword Forging Manor lacked the resources to comply.
• Lu Xingshi allowed the manor’s workers and the old steward to leave with an extra month’s wages, then learned that the White Tiger Bandits were based in Great Scorched Mountain.
• Lu Xingshi asked the old steward to help him pack and told Zhu Yan and Wang Cai to prepare to leave, intending to head east and eliminate the White Tiger Bandits.

Wang Cai attacked the White Tiger Bandits’ stronghold and defeated Qiu Yi, their leader, before Lu Xingshi questioned him. Qiu Yi learned that Lu Xingshi was the Manor Lord of Sword Forging Manor, leaving him captured and at Lu Xingshi’s mercy.

• Qiu Yi ordered the White Tiger Bandits to kill the people fleeing Sword Forging Manor and revealed his plan to seize the Prefecture City.
• Wang Cai burst into Qiu Yi’s quarters, crushed his saber, and battered him despite Qiu Yi’s threats and attempts to escape.
• Qiu Yi rushed at Lu Xingshi, but Zhu Yan struck him unconscious with an iron rod.
• Wang Cai told Lu Xingshi about Qiu Yi’s threats, and Lu Xingshi woke Qiu Yi to question him.
• Qiu Yi tried to seize Lu Xingshi, who crippled his hand with a slap and revealed he was the Manor Lord of Sword Forging Manor.

Lu Xingshi learned that the Qiu Family had planted Qiu Yi and the White Tiger Bandits as part of a plan to stir up chaos in the Prefecture City, and he examined the Secret Realm’s temperament-based martial arts after claiming Qiu Yi’s White Tiger Yin Sha Saber. When Qiu Hui arrived to cover up the scheme and avenge Qiu Yi, Zhu Yan defeated him in one move.

• Lu Xingshi concluded that Qiu Yi had likely been used by the Qiu Family and realized the White Tiger Yin Sha Saber was a Peerless Divine Art shaped by its wielder’s temperament.
• Lu Xingshi reasoned that Secret Realm martial arts were independent components that required a compatible combination, while his Innate Trait protected him from their flaws.
• Wang Cai continued performing funeral rites for the White Tiger Bandits as a newcomer arrived on Great Scorched Mountain.
• Qiu Hui revealed himself as Qiu Yi’s fifth uncle and attacked Lu Xingshi to avenge Qiu Yi and conceal the Qiu Family’s involvement.
• Zhu Yan blocked Qiu Hui’s sword and knocked him into the air with a single strike, leaving Qiu Hui stunned.

Lu Xingshi uncovered the Qiu Family’s plan to create chaos and crown themselves king, then killed Qiu Hui after Wang Cai stopped his escape. Elsewhere in the Secret Realm, An Yong used the True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art to kill Ding Tong and resolved to hunt down the escaped Xuan Chan Sect elders.

• Lu Xingshi learned that the Qiu Family had spent years plotting to seize several prefectures and declare themselves king, and he realized their scheme could cause martial-world turmoil.
• Qiu Hui offered Lu Xingshi strategies for gaining fame by defeating the Qiu Family, but Lu Xingshi refused to spare him because he saw no reason to keep him alive.
• Qiu Hui tried to flee, but Wang Cai struck him with a boulder, dragged him back, killed him, and buried him without funeral rites.
• Ding Tong confronted An Yong, who revealed that he had mastered the True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art and was draining Ding Tong’s Inner Force.
• Ding Tong stabbed at An Yong, but An Yong caught the dagger and slit his throat, then planned to find the escaped Xuan Chan Sect elders and devour their power.

Lu Xingshi realized the Secret Realm’s Peerless Divine Arts could transform practitioners into material for forging a Divine Weapon, and suspected the Secret Realm itself was luring people inside. Meanwhile, Dongfang Huan mastered the first step of the Xiaqu Royal Family’s Yin Yang Invisible True Qi and learned that he must grow stronger before the Xiaqu King would tell him about his mother.

• Lu Xingshi concluded that Peerless Divine Arts magnified their practitioners’ temperaments and could turn them into raw material for a Divine Weapon.
• Lu Xingshi suspected the Secret Realm itself had spread news of its unusual nature to attract people, and feared it needed to be stopped.
• Dongfang Huan successfully entered the gate of the Yin Yang Invisible True Qi after three days of practice, impressing the Xiaqu King.
• The Xiaqu King told Dongfang Huan that An Yong had killed several Xuan Chan Sect members, including Ding Tong, and that Cheng Ying was alive and would be rescued.
• Dongfang Huan asked about his mother, but the Xiaqu King said he would explain only after Dongfang Huan reached Great Accomplishment in his divine art.

Lu Xingshi used the Qiu Family’s rebellion and his Heavenly Time Sword Chest to build his reputation, then confronted a Qiu Family party. He killed the family’s disciples and elder, demonstrating his simulated Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword.

• Lu Xingshi found the Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword and confirmed that it could complement the Heavenly Time Sword Chest, though his mutated chest could not use the art as intended.
• Lu Xingshi met a Qiu Family elder, who challenged him for making the Qiu Family a target to raise Sword Forging Manor’s prestige.
• Wang Cai and Zhu Yan brought out the Heavenly Time Sword Chest, and Lu Xingshi used its twelve swords to kill the attacking Qiu Family disciples.
• Lu Xingshi claimed he was using the Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword, and the Qiu Family elder inferred that Sword Forging Manor possessed a hidden sword inheritance.
• The Qiu Family elder fled, but Lu Xingshi struck him with a sword and killed him.

Lu Xingshi interrupted the Qiu Family’s king-naming ceremony and used the Heavenly Time Sword Chest to defeat its forces. He captured Qiu Zhang and declared that he had come to punish the family for Qiu Yi’s attack on Sword Forging Manor, leaving the Qiu Family defeated and Sword Forging Manor famous.

• Lu Xingshi arrived at the Qiu Family’s king-naming ceremony and challenged Qiu Zhang, introducing the Heavenly Time Sword Chest to the gathered witnesses.
• Lu Xingshi shattered Qiu Zhang’s crown with a thrown sword, then fought the Qiu Family’s guards and soldiers using the Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword.
• Qiu Zhang tried to ambush Lu Xingshi, but Lu Xingshi anticipated the attack, overpowered him, and seized him by the throat.
• Qiu Zhang ordered his people to attack despite being held hostage, so Lu Xingshi unleashed the Heavenly Time Sword Chest’s Sword Blade Storm and slaughtered those who approached.
• Lu Xingshi told Qiu Zhang that he had come to avenge Qiu Yi’s attempt to destroy Sword Forging Manor, declaring that a father was responsible for his son’s misdeeds.

After killing Qiu Zhang and destroying the Qiu Family, Lu Xingshi used the banquet to encourage others to believe that his power depended on the Heavenly Time Sword Chest and the “Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword.” He turned down no opportunity to profit from them, then ignored a woman sent to tempt him and focused on cultivation and preparations for the Secret Realm.

• Lu Xingshi killed Qiu Zhang, and Jianghu sects and powerful clans seized the fallen Qiu Family’s possessions.
• At the banquet, Lu Xingshi implied that the Heavenly Time Sword Chest and the “Twelve Hour Heavenly Sovereign Sword” were both needed for his strength.
• Lu Xingshi claimed that forging another Heavenly Time Sword Chest would take ten years, cost enormous wealth, and carry a fifty percent chance of failure, so the guests declined to commission one.
• Lu Xingshi realized the guests wanted to steal his weapons and art, and expected them to try indirect tactics such as a honey trap or planting spies.
• When a seductive woman called to him, Lu Xingshi locked the doors, went to bed, and continued cultivating and studying the “Heavenly Crafting Compendium” for the Secret Realm.

Lu Xingshi trained Zhu Yan and Wang Cai in custom martial arts while waiting in vain for news of Dongfang Huan. Meanwhile, An Yong sought to grow his True Qi to ten thousand years and chose Lu Xingshi as his next target.

• Lu Xingshi received the Gift of Obsession trait, but his attributes and forging skill had already reached their limits, so it was useless to him.
• Lu Xingshi created the Ape Strike Art for Zhu Yan, which quickly mastered it and beat Wang Cai in practice.
• After discovering Wang Cai had been shirking martial arts, Lu Xingshi punished it and then created Bear Beckoning, which combined puppetry, mechanisms, and combat techniques.
• Wang Cai improved its funeral-work skills and built a mechanical carrying puppet for Lu Xingshi and Zhu Yan, while Lu Xingshi gave up on finding information about Dongfang Huan and Xuan Chan Sect.
• An Yong, now holding three thousand years of True Qi, decided to target Lu Xingshi to gather more power before confronting Dongfang Huan.
• As Jianghu fighters surrounded An Yong and demanded his surrender, he resolved to defeat Lu Xingshi and take his True Qi.

An Yong attacked Sword Forging Manor, but Zhu Yan used its iron rod and superior fighting skills to frustrate him despite his Four Thousand Years of True Qi. Lu Xingshi arrived as An Yong turned his attention to demanding the True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art.

• An Yong struck Wang Cai and chased the injured bear toward Sword Forging Manor.
• Zhu Yan blocked An Yong’s attack with Lu Xingshi’s iron rod and knocked him away with Mountain-Bearing Chasing the Sun.
• Zhu Yan evaded An Yong’s attacks and humiliated him with a pebble while exploiting his anger and poor technique.
• Lu Xingshi arrived, and An Yong’s True Qi retreated as though confronted by a superior force.
• Lu Xingshi confirmed An Yong wanted his True Qi, then demanded that An Yong hand over the True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art.

Lu Xingshi defeated An Yong, destroyed his True Qi, and took him away to interrogate him about the True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art. Dongfang Huan perfected the Yin Yang Invisible True Qi and set out to investigate his mother’s disappearance at the ruins of the Flying Armor Sect, while his former engagement to Cheng Ying remained dissolved.

• Lu Xingshi exposed the flaws in An Yong’s True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art, seized him, and destroyed all the True Qi in his body.
• An Yong refused to reveal the True Demon Qi Devouring Divine Art, so Lu Xingshi took him to an interrogation room.
• Dongfang Huan told the Xiaqu King that his Yin Yang Invisible True Qi had reached perfection.
• The Xiaqu King sent Dongfang Huan to the Flying Armor Sect ruins to investigate his mother’s disappearance and its possible connection to the sect’s destruction.
• Dongfang Huan encountered Cheng Ying, but they did not reconcile after their engagement had been dissolved.