Chapter Summaries

Lu Xingshi captured Captain Deng Tie after Deng attacked him, then treated his poisoning with a serum that transformed him into another Mad Wen Chou. Mad Wen Chou Number Three revealed that the Eastern Palace Crown Prince had ordered the attack, and Lu Xingshi planned to turn him into Number Four before considering how to spread Mad Wen Chou as a source of contamination.

• Deng Tie confronted Lu Xingshi over reports that Mad Wen Chou had left the Lu Residence, then attacked him as Killer Yama, but Lu Xingshi reflected the damage and pinned him to a wall.
• Deng Tie took poison to avoid revealing who had sent him, so Lu Xingshi injected him with an antidote mixed with Mad Wen Chou Serum.
• Deng Tie recovered as Mad Wen Chou Number Three, with memories from earlier Mad Wen Chous, Owl Claw Nineteen, and Deng Tie.
• Mad Wen Chou Number Three told Lu Xingshi that the Eastern Palace Crown Prince had arranged the attack, and Lu Xingshi said he would make him Number Four.
• Mad Wen Chou Number Three said he wanted to kill the emperor because it was fun, while Mad Wen Chou Number One proposed contaminating the Capital City's water supply.
• Lu Xingshi suggested turning Mad Wen Chou into a source of contamination instead of merely squeezing him into juice.

Lu Xingshi invaded the East Palace and unleashed Mad Wen Chou, whose Living-Body Cultivation Method spread through the capital and turned the dungeon’s objective into quelling the foreign calamity. After using Mysterious Nether Fire to destroy the weakened infected, Lu Xingshi turned toward the imperial palace to confront the emperor.

• Lu Xingshi entered the East Palace with a coffin, and its foul stench and Mad Wen Chou’s influence drove the guards into madness.
• Lu Xingshi fought the Crown Prince’s heretical experts, then opened the coffin and released Mad Wen Chou, who flattened the Crown Prince and infected those nearby.
• Lu Xingshi discovered that the dungeon’s conditions had changed to quelling the foreign calamity, while the original objectives still remained as alternate ways to earn rewards.
• Mad Wen Chou revealed that the emperor had discovered him and had crushed the East Palace with a Great Handprint while taking away the Noble families’ elders.
• Lu Xingshi used Mysterious Nether Fire to destroy the many weakened Mad Wen Chous and decided to confront the emperor next.

Lu Xingshi confronted the nameless emperor and learned that the Ten Evils Great Art had warped the Blessed Land. After the emperor vanished and the art attacked him, Lu Xingshi unleashed Limitless Realm and shattered the entire dungeon, leaving him unsure whether he had cleared it or destroyed it.

• Lu Xingshi defeated the emperor, who revealed that he and his nameless dynasty were fake and that the Ten Evils Great Art had caused the Capital City's corruption.
• The emperor became wrapped in black ink, urged Lu Xingshi to join the sins of heaven and earth, and vanished as the Ten Evils Great Art attacked.
• Lu Xingshi fought off the art's demonic sounds and black natural phenomena, then activated all his Acquired Traits.
• Lu Xingshi used his embryonic Limitless Realm palm strike to destroy the Ten Evils Great Art and shatter the entire Blessed Land.
• Lu Xingshi memorized the Ten Evils Great Art but suspected that destroying the dungeon had left him with a substantial loss.

Lu Xingshi seized the ruptured Blessed Land, gained Evil Cultivation Method inheritances, and discovered that he could forcibly destroy Secret Realms and Blessed Lands to claim them as dungeons. After dealing with intruders in Jin Capital, he prepared to leave, while Yan Qi decided to defect to him and offer the Sacred Fire Sect leader as a token of allegiance.

• Lu Xingshi ignored the dungeon-clear prompt, took control of the ruptured Blessed Land, and realized that destroying Secret Realms and Blessed Lands could let him claim them as dungeons.
• Lu Xingshi had Wang Cai and the Mechanical Puppets kill people drawn to the rupture, while Zhu Yan killed a man who tried to ambush him.
• Lu Xingshi rejected the idea of razing Jin Capital to test his power, then ordered Wang Cai to clean up as they prepared to leave.
• Yan Qi witnessed the aftermath and concluded that Lu Xingshi might have destroyed the Secret Realm through martial strength.
• Yan Qi decided to defect to Lu Xingshi and planned to offer his foster father, the Sacred Fire Sect leader, and the Dragon Slaying Saber as a token of allegiance.

Xiang Tiansheng prepared to invade the Jin Kingdom and seize Lu Xingshi’s True Dragon-grade Son of Heaven Destiny, while dismissing concerns about the danger to his followers. Ancestor Juqu learned that Xiang had taken the Sacred Fire Sect’s elites and chose not to investigate who had helped conceal the expedition.

• Xiang Tiansheng read Yan Qi’s letter and dismissed his son Xiang Yunge’s concerns about Yan Qi’s dangerous work.
• Xiang Yunge warned that Lu Xingshi might kill Yan Qi, but Xiang Tiansheng said he would honor Yan Qi by cutting off Lu Xingshi’s head if Yan Qi died.
• Fei Yi smoothed over the quarrel between Xiang Tiansheng and Xiang Yunge, and Xiang Tiansheng decided to promote Yan Qi if he survived.
• Xiang Yunge told Xiang Tiansheng that the Sacred Fire Sect could enter the Jin Kingdom within three days and would need Yan Qi’s help finding Lu Xingshi.
• Xiang Tiansheng ordered Xiang Yunge to tell Yan Qi to watch Lu Xingshi closely.
• Ancestor Juqu learned that Xiang Tiansheng had taken the Sacred Fire Sect’s elites into the Jin Kingdom, then chose to let the matter pass without investigating who had concealed the expedition.

Yan Qi pledged allegiance to Lu Xingshi and told him that Xiang Tiansheng and the Sacred Fire Sect were coming to kill him. Lu Xingshi prepared to ambush them, while the Grotto-heaven Ancestors debated his destruction of Secret Realms and decided not to interfere.

• Yan Qi offered his allegiance to Lu Xingshi, who gave him a Golden Book Jade Scroll and learned Xiang Tiansheng would arrive with others within three days.
• Yan Qi described Xiang Tiansheng’s character and abilities, and Lu Xingshi concluded that his strengths were undermined by his lack of power.
• Lu Xingshi insisted on setting an ambush for Xiang Tiansheng, explaining that he never underestimated enemies and wanted to capture him for questioning.
• The Western Mysterious Ancestor questioned why Lu Xingshi was destroying Secret Realms and asked Ancestor Juqu about the Sacred Fire Sect’s plan to kill him.
• The Western Mysterious Ancestor dismissed the idea of investigating Lu Xingshi’s actions, and the Grotto-heaven Ancestors agreed to leave him alone.

Yan Qi reassured Xiang Tiansheng that Lu Xingshi’s rumored ability to destroy Secret Realms was limited, then concealed his resentment over how the Sacred Fire Sect treated him while discussing plans with Xiang Yunge. As Xiang Yunge began offering him a poison to use against Lu Xingshi, one of Xiang Tiansheng’s adopted sons collapsed at the banquet, and Yan Qi’s unusually bright smile left Xiang Yunge alarmed.

• Yan Qi welcomed Xiang Tiansheng and his companions, then claimed Lu Xingshi could damage only Secret Realms and posed no threat to Cave Heavens.
• Xiang Yunge questioned Yan Qi about whether Lu Xingshi had discovered him, and Yan Qi said he had been disguised as a merchant.
• At the banquet, Xiang Yunge promised to arrange a prosperous post for Yan Qi after Lu Xingshi’s death, but Yan Qi insisted he wanted to retire as a wealthy idler.
• Xiang Yunge asked whether Yan Qi could poison Lu Xingshi, and Yan Qi confidently said he could.
• One of Xiang Tiansheng’s adopted sons fell face-first onto the banquet table, and Xiang Yunge grew uneasy as Yan Qi smiled brightly.

Yan Qi revealed that he had helped Lu Xingshi trap Xiang Tiansheng and his allies, who had been poisoned by Lu Xingshi. After Zhu Yan defeated Xiang Tiansheng, Lu Xingshi acquired the Sacred Fire martial arts and shared a newly deciphered technique with Yan Qi and Feng Renjie.

• Xiang Yunge accused Yan Qi of poisoning the banquet guests, and several more people collapsed as Xiang Tiansheng demanded the antidote.
• Xiang Yunge realized Yan Qi had sided with Lu Xingshi, and Yan Qi admitted he had delayed the group so Lu Xingshi could confront them.
• Wang Cai brought out Mechanical Puppets and True Qi Firearms, while Zhu Yan beat back Xiang Tiansheng and knocked him unconscious.
• Lu Xingshi questioned Yan Qi about Xiang Tiansheng's fire-resistant clothes, then had Yan Qi retrieve the Sacred Fire Token and Sacred Fire Orthodox Canon.
• Lu Xingshi identified the token's technique as the Burning Ritual Soul Sacrifice Path and taught it to Yan Qi and Feng Renjie.

Lu Xingshi examined the Dragon Slaying Saber and an incomplete blueprint, then questioned the captured Xiang Tiansheng about the weapon’s origins. Xiang Tiansheng refused to cooperate until Lu Xingshi threatened to humiliate him in front of his followers, leaving him ready to talk.

• Lu Xingshi inspected the Dragon Slaying Saber’s four powerful attributes and learned that its backlash would destroy it after one use.
• Feng Renjie found Xiang Yunge’s incomplete, error-ridden copy of the Dragon Slaying Saber blueprint, which Lu Xingshi recognized as related to the Former Yan Blood Slave Shield and Mysterious Nether Fire.
• Yan Qi explained how Xiang Tiansheng, Xiang Yunge, and the Eldest Senior Brother divided power within the Sacred Fire Sect.
• After the poison weakened Xiang Tiansheng, Lu Xingshi asked what the Dragon Slaying Saber had originally been modeled after, but Xiang Tiansheng refused to answer.
• Lu Xingshi threatened to dress Xiang Tiansheng in women’s clothes and have brothel girls humiliate him, so Xiang Tiansheng agreed to talk.

After destroying the Sacred Fire Sect, Lu Xingshi prepared to retrieve its Sacred Flame blueprint and encountered Lin Ning, the Wei Country First Sword Saint, who invited him to discuss an alliance. Lu Xingshi agreed to consider visiting Wei Country after obtaining the item, while already planning how to exploit the country.

• Lu Xingshi ordered Yan Qi and Feng Renjie to cultivate while he handled retrieving the Sacred Flame, and decided to take Wang Cai along as a flying glider.
• Wang Cai finished burying the Sacred Fire Sect members, and Yan Qi and Feng Renjie departed to lie low until the Yan Army entered the pass.
• Lu Xingshi confronted Lin Ning, who revealed that the Wei Emperor wanted an alliance with Yan Kingdom because Wei Country was struggling to contain its enemies.
• Lu Xingshi said he might visit Wei Country after retrieving the Sacred Flame, but refused to hurry for the Wei Emperor's sake.
• After Lin Ning left, Lu Xingshi considered exploiting Wei Country and obtaining its Son of Heaven Destinies.

Lu Xingshi searched the abandoned Sacred Fire Sect headquarters and found the plans for the Divine Weapon Sacred Fire, then encountered a man controlled by the Nine Nether God King. After striking back against the God King’s attacks, Lu Xingshi demanded an explanation from the frightened man.

• Lu Xingshi found the plans for the Divine Weapon Sacred Fire among the wreckage of the Sacred Fire Sect headquarters.
• A sharp-faced middle-aged man tried to rob Lu Xingshi, but Lu Xingshi knocked him down and learned he feared people who practiced Martial Arts.
• The middle-aged man invoked the Nine Nether God King, who possessed him and attacked Lu Xingshi with a technique that had no effect.
• Lu Xingshi recognized the attack as similar to the Nine Nether Immersion God Great Technique and counterattacked through the connection between their consciousnesses.
• The Nine Nether God King released the middle-aged man, who begged Lu Xingshi for help and agreed to explain who the God King was.

Gao Lun’s growing delusion as the Nine Nether God King drove him to hunt Lu Xingshi and drain people’s mental power. After learning about the God King and reviewing the Divine Weapon Sacred Fire blueprints, Lu Xingshi began considering a new weapon made from the Earth Mother Book and other materials.

• Gao Lun recognized that the Nine Nether Corpse Wrapping Great Technique was consuming his identity, then projected Lu Xingshi’s image into his followers’ minds and ordered them to capture him.
• Gao Lun left the ancestral hall and began seizing mental power from passersby, as his control over himself deteriorated.
• Lu Xingshi learned what he could about the Nine Nether God King from Gao Xian, who died after his mind and lifespan were exhausted; Wang Cai prepared the man’s funeral.
• Lu Xingshi examined the Divine Weapon Sacred Fire blueprints and deduced that its core treasure would shape the finished weapon.
• Lu Xingshi considered using Mysterious Nether Fire, half a Blood Slave Shield, and the Earth Mother Book to create a companion spirit creature, possibly harmonized with the Nine Nether Immersion God Great Technique.

Lu Xingshi freed villagers controlled by Gao Lun and led them toward the Gao Family to retrieve Gao Lun’s corpse from the Cold Pool. As the villagers’ growing momentum weakened Gao Lun’s power, Gao Lun forced his father, Gao Xian, into becoming a puppet so he could retrieve the corpse and pursue the Spirit Soaking Great Technique.

• Lu Xingshi used True Qi to free a group of villagers, who revealed that Gao Lun had controlled them and pleaded with him to save the remaining townspeople.
• Lu Xingshi restored other controlled villagers along the way, weakening Gao Lun’s influence as the crowd gathered around him.
• A recovered man revealed that Gao Lun’s corpse was kept in a Cold Pool on the Back Mountain, and Lu Xingshi led the crowd to dig it up.
• Gao Lun realized that the Nine Nether Profound Technique had been broken and feared that losing his corpse would kill him.
• Gao Lun controlled the Gao Family and forcibly elevated Gao Xian’s mind, erasing his consciousness and turning him into a puppet to retrieve the corpse.

Lu Xingshi destroyed Gao Lun’s corpse before Gao Lun arrived, then seized the formless Nine Nether God King and broke his confidence. After noticing a Grotto-heaven Ancestor’s hidden gaze, Lu Xingshi suspected that Ancestor Juqu had guided Gao Lun’s rise to fill the gap left by Xiang Tiansheng.

• Lu Xingshi found the Nine Nether Corpse Wrapping Great Technique fused with Gao Xian’s corpse and realized a corresponding object was likely hidden in Cold Pool.
• Wang Cai used Lu Xingshi’s True Qi-powered Flamethrower to burn Gao Lun’s corpse after ordinary flames failed.
• Gao Lun arrived too late to save the corpse, and the people he controlled broke free as the crowd fled.
• Lu Xingshi seized Gao Lun’s supposedly intangible mind-spirit body and mocked him until Gao Lun shut down.
• Lu Xingshi sensed a fleeting Grotto-heaven Ancestor’s gaze and suspected Ancestor Juqu had secretly steered Gao Lun’s rise.

Lu Xingshi investigated the Cold Pool, took its black Mysterious Ice, and realized it contained a hidden presence connected to the Nine Nether Profound Technique. He concluded that Ancestor Juqu had been pursuing the being inside the ice, which now lay in Lu Xingshi’s hands.

• Lu Xingshi examined the Transparent Crystal left by Gao Lun and considered how the Nine Nether Profound Technique could turn a person into such material.
• Lu Xingshi entered the Cold Pool and discovered that a growing mass of ice concealed a black core.
• The Purple Star Emperor’s passive counterattack cracked the Mysterious Ice when it tried to release Cold Qi, changing its name to Damaged Mysterious Ice.
• Lu Xingshi sealed the ice and suspected its mind-like fluctuations meant an old cultivator was hidden inside it.
• Lu Xingshi inferred that the being had deliberately passed half the Nine Nether Profound Technique to Gao Lun, while Ancestor Juqu had targeted the being within the ice and retreated after Lu Xingshi took it.

Lu Xingshi captured the ancient Xu Wangxian, exposed his schemes, and revealed his True Dragon-level Son of Heaven Destiny. Xu Wangxian realized he would be forced to shield Lu Xingshi from disaster and panicked when he learned Lu planned to forge another Divine Weapon, since he had already forged one.

• Xu Wangxian emerged from the Black Mysterious Ice and tried to recruit Lu Xingshi, but Lu exposed his consciousness trick and threatened to leave him to Ancestor Juqu.
• Xu Wangxian attacked Lu Xingshi, was overwhelmed by his True Qi, and accepted that he could not defeat him even at his peak.
• Lu Xingshi told Xu Wangxian that Zhao Kui had been forced to shield disasters for him, then revealed his True Dragon-level Son of Heaven Destiny.
• Xu Wangxian tried to escape, but stayed when Lu let him go, fearing the disaster would otherwise fall on him.
• Lu Xingshi explained his plan to forge a companion spirit from the Earth Mother Book, Mysterious Nether Fire, and Dragon Slaying Saber, and Xu Wangxian warned him that forging a Divine Weapon invited Heaven's condemnation.
• Lu Xingshi said he had already forged a Divine Weapon, leaving Xu Wangxian fearing that he would die as collateral.

Lu Xingshi forced Xu Wangxian to reveal his failed methods for forging Divine Weapons, learning from the older man’s experience. Afterward, Lu Xingshi killed Xu Wangxian to keep his knowledge of Divine Weapon All Under Heaven secret.

• Xu Wangxian explained that Divine Weapon Terror had failed to mature and that Heavenly Retribution Backlash had destroyed the force that forged it.
• Lu Xingshi concluded that forces nourished Divine Weapons through Influence Value and refused Xu Wangxian’s advice to abandon his forging plans.
• Lu Xingshi threatened Xu Wangxian until he agreed to share his Divine Weapon forging knowledge and the location of his old records.
• Xu Wangxian recounted his group’s primitive forging methods and their forty-nine-year failure, giving Lu Xingshi useful ideas.
• After Xu Wangxian warned that Heavenly Retribution Backlash might still come, Lu Xingshi seized and crushed him into mind crystal.

Lu Xingshi searched for the Mysterious Spirit Society’s underground palace to recover records from its attempts to forge Divine Weapon Terror, but found the palace collapsed. He met Tao Yang and his party at the site and joined their spring outing, hoping Tao Yang’s family might help him reach the ruins.

• Lu Xingshi reached the site of the Mysterious Spirit Society’s underground palace and found its entrance buried beneath rubble.
• Lu Xingshi had Wang Cai and Zhu Yan clear debris, but they uncovered only a collapsed passage, so he called off the digging.
• A spring outing party led by Tao Yang arrived, and Tao Yang questioned Lu Xingshi about entering the Tao Family’s sealed Nine Lotus Enclosure.
• Tao Yang invited Lu Xingshi to join the outing, and Lu Xingshi accepted after Wang Cai frightened a mocking youth into silence.
• Tao Yang had the youth slapped and sent away, then began explaining his powerful family’s history to Lu Xingshi.

Lu Xingshi revealed his strength after exposing Grandmaster You’s attempt to deceive Tao Yang and seize him. Tao Yang recognized Lu Xingshi as the Yan Emperor and asked him to forge a bond with Qi Country, while the threat against Tao Yang remained unresolved.

• Tao Yang tried to learn about Lu Xingshi’s origins and martial arts as they camped for the night.
• Grandmaster You secretly warned Tao Yang that someone was watching them, but Lu Xingshi denied sensing anyone and called the warning a lie.
• Grandmaster You attacked Lu Xingshi and accused him of harboring ill intent, but Zhu Yan quickly subdued him at Lu Xingshi’s command.
• Tao Yang recognized Lu Xingshi as the Yan Emperor and suspected Grandmaster You had been sent by a Grotto-heaven Force.
• Wang Cai killed Grandmaster You and began funeral rites, while Tao Yang asked Lu Xingshi to forge a good bond with Qi Country.

Lu Xingshi intervened as He Hong killed Situ Cailian, then killed He Hong and watched Qi Country descend into a battle among Grotto-heaven Disciples. As he sought the Mysterious Spirit Society’s legacy, the Cave-heaven Ancestors learned that a move to destroy Qi Country had already begun and abandoned the disciples caught in it.

• Situ Cailian waited for You Hui to bring Tao Yang, but He Hong appeared and revealed that Tao Yang was dead.
• He Hong killed Situ Cailian, only for Lu Xingshi to appear and kill He Hong as well.
• Lu Xingshi sensed the chaos in Qi Country and let the fighting continue while he considered how it might trigger the Mysterious Spirit Society’s legacy.
• The Cave-heaven Ancestors discussed the Mysterious Spirit Society’s activated backup plan and learned that Yan Emperor had headed toward its ruins.
• The Ancestors discovered that a move to destroy Qi Country had already begun, and the Western Mysterious Ancestor gave up on the disciples caught in it.