Chapter Summaries

Lu Xingshi traveled with the Old Emperor and encountered a woman pursued by black-clad men, who were Former Yan Remnants. After learning that the woman was the Holy Maiden of the Sacred Fire Sect, Lu Xingshi decided both sides were rebels and left them to fight, suspecting she had lured the men into a trap.

• Lu Xingshi stopped to find medicinal herbs for the Old Emperor, who struggled with the rough journey.
• The Old Emperor spotted black-clad men chasing a woman, and she took cover behind him while calling for help.
• The woman identified the pursuers as Former Yan Remnants plotting rebellion, and their leader revealed she was the Sacred Fire Sect’s Holy Maiden.
• Lu Xingshi handed the Holy Maiden over to the Old Emperor, then left with him and the horse, judging that both groups were criminal forces.
• The Old Emperor realized the Holy Maiden might have been luring the men, while Lu Xingshi hurried away in case she pursued them.

Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor stumbled upon a Sacred Fire Sect altar, where the Holy Maiden attacked them and then escaped beneath it. They entered the underground cavern and were sealed inside with her, leaving Lu Xingshi ready to explore.

• Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor found an altar surrounded by pillars bearing Charred Corpses and discovered the Sacred Fire Sect's Holy Maiden dragging more bodies there.
• The Holy Maiden attacked Lu Xingshi, who kicked her away, and told them the Sacred Fire Sect had been wiped out while Former Yan Remnants sought her family's inheritance.
• Lu Xingshi demanded the inheritance, and the Holy Maiden opened a hidden entrance in the altar and slipped underground.
• Lu Xingshi found and opened the mechanism, identified the space beneath the altar as an ancestral tomb, and followed the Holy Maiden inside with the Old Emperor.
• The Holy Maiden dropped the Dragon Severing Stone to seal the entrance, revealed her burn-scarred face, and heard Lu Xingshi ask to look around the cavern.

Lu Xingshi discovered that the Sacred Fire Sect’s first leader had hidden part of a star-chart treasure clue in his skull, then learned the Holy Maiden was the Old Emperor’s daughter. The Old Emperor begged Lu Xingshi to spare her and revealed he wanted to use blood replacement to prolong his life, leaving Lu Xingshi to weigh the offer.

• Lu Xingshi examined the Sacred Fire Sect’s first leader and found tiny characters carved into his skull that formed part of a star-chart clue.
• The Holy Maiden explained that the first sect leader came from beyond Great Song, and Lu Xingshi realized the clue matched two-thirds of a treasure map he had encountered before.
• The Old Emperor recognized the Holy Maiden by her birthmark, and she revealed half of a jade pendant as Lu Xingshi mocked their reunion.
• The Holy Maiden accused the Old Emperor of ruining her mother’s reputation, while Lu Xingshi considered killing her and the Old Emperor begged him to stop.
• The Old Emperor offered to cooperate with Lu Xingshi if he spared the Holy Maiden, then admitted he wanted to replace his blood to restore his vitality and extend his life.

Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor were attacked by masked men with powerful crossbows, whom Lu subdued while trying to capture them alive. They discovered the assassins had targeted a passing young master, who accepted responsibility and began explaining the household conflict behind the ambush.

• Lu Xingshi learned about the Sacred Fire Sect's origins and its Heavenly Fire Purifying the World inheritance from the Old Emperor, then rejected the idea of seeking its complete legacy across the desert.
• Lu Xingshi spotted black-clad men with powerful crossbows and suspected they had mistaken him and the Old Emperor for their intended targets.
• After the assassins attacked again, Lu Xingshi used Full Moon to disable them and prepared to interrogate them.
• Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor saw a carriage approach and realized the young man inside was likely the assassins' true target.
• Lu Xingshi seized the young master and his old servant, but released them when the young man accepted responsibility and asked that his servant be spared.
• The young master began recounting the household affairs that had led to the ambush, and Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor listened closely.

After learning that Duan Chen’s stepmother’s family had sent soldiers to kill him, Lu Xingshi confirmed their identity and offered him work rather than letting him seek revenge. Duan Chen learned that Lu Xingshi was the Prince of Yan and the man beside him was Great Song’s Supreme Emperor.

• Duan Chen explained how his stepmother and younger brother had driven him from the Xia Cai Duan Family and tried to have him killed after his father’s death.
• Lu Xingshi recognized that Duan Chen’s pursuers were connected to his family and interrogated them, confirming they were Duan family soldiers.
• Lu Xingshi offered to spare the Duan family if Duan Chen worked for him, and Duan Chen accepted despite his old servant’s objections.
• Duan Chen said his stepmother’s family descended from Prince Xi of Former Yan, and Lu Xingshi questioned why remnants of Former Yan were still appearing everywhere.
• The Old Emperor revealed that Lu Xingshi was the Prince of Yan, and Lu Xingshi identified the Old Emperor as Great Song’s Supreme Emperor, leaving Duan Chen stunned.

Duan Long ordered rumors spread to destroy Duan Chen’s reputation after the failed ambush, while secretly seeking the Son of Heaven Destiny. As Lu Xingshi’s group crossed Bo Mu Mountain, Lu guessed that the treasure Duan Chen’s father sought lay there and had Duan Chen lead the way.

• Duan Long learned that Duan Chen had escaped and ordered his strategist to spread slanderous rumors that would ruin him.
• Duan Long told the strategist to rein in the Mu Clan and send his own people to search for martial arts connected to the Son of Heaven Destiny.
• Duan Chen explained that his father had sought the Son of Heaven Destiny based on a poem about hidden Cloud Grottoes and the land of dreams.
• Lu Xingshi guessed that the Son of Heaven Destiny was in Bo Mu Mountain, reasoning that it might be in a cave or on a peak.
• Duan Chen said his father’s men had searched Bo Mu Mountain repeatedly without success, but Lu Xingshi told him to lead the group across it anyway.

Lu Xingshi and his companions got lost in Bo Mu Mountain, where he subdued a giant bear and named it Wang Cai. After learning a White-browed Tiger ruled the area, Lu Xingshi confronted it and discovered Wang Cai would not fight for him.

• Duan Chen admitted that he had lost the way, so the group made camp as a giant bear approached their horses.
• Lu Xingshi kicked and slapped the bear until it submitted, then named it Wang Cai and decided to tame it.
• Lu Xingshi had Wang Cai lead him toward its cave, while the Old Emperor initially chose to remain at camp.
• Duan Chen spotted a White-browed Tiger nearby, and Lu Xingshi said it was likely a Mutant that Wang Cai could not defeat.
• Lu Xingshi ordered Wang Cai to tackle the tiger, but Wang Cai hid behind him, so Lu Xingshi pinned down the tiger himself.

Lu Xingshi and Duan Chen found a Divine Weapon in Wang Cai’s cave, and Duan Chen recognized it as his mother’s keepsake and resolved to investigate her death in Xia Cai. When Duan Chen refused to surrender it or remain under Lu Xingshi’s protection, Lu Xingshi killed him and took the weapon.

• Lu Xingshi and Duan Chen followed Wang Cai to his hidden cave to handle his household registration transfer, while the Old Emperor and the old servant stayed behind.
• Duan Chen recognized an offering in the cave as part of his mother’s dowry and recovered memories that convinced him her death had been suspicious.
• Duan Chen asked Lu Xingshi to let him return to Xia Cai to investigate his mother’s death, but refused to hand over the Divine Weapon or accept Lu Xingshi’s offer to accompany him.
• Lu Xingshi decided Duan Chen had become a future threat and crushed his throat, killing him before taking the Divine Weapon.
• Lu Xingshi reflected that his high Mandate of Heaven Attribute had let him turn Duan Chen’s misfortune into his own opportunity.

Lu Xingshi told the Old Emperor that he had killed Duan Chen to prevent him from claiming the Son of Heaven Destiny, then arranged for Duan Chen’s loyal old servant to be buried beside him. As Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor set off again with the Divine Weapon Zhong Nan, Lu Xingshi reflected on the fate that had brought it to him and on the Influence Value he still needed to evolve Hidden Dragon.

• Lu Xingshi admitted to the old servant that he had killed Duan Chen because Duan Chen had obtained the Son of Heaven Destiny.
• The old servant accepted Lu Xingshi’s explanation and asked to be buried beside Duan Chen, so Lu Xingshi directed him to a grave Wang Cai had prepared.
• Lu Xingshi argued with the Old Emperor about loyalty, responsibility, and how history would judge the Old Emperor’s rule.
• After Wang Cai returned, Lu Xingshi and the Old Emperor set off again, and Lu Xingshi warned the Old Emperor to cherish his life.
• Lu Xingshi examined the Divine Weapon Zhong Nan and considered how Duan Chen’s fate, the Sacred Fire Sect’s Holy Maiden, and the Ascension Treasure Chapter had led it into his hands.
• Lu Xingshi gained 1,000 Mandate of Heaven but saw that evolving Hidden Dragon still required ten million Influence Value and ascending the throne.

After returning to Eastern Ridge, Lu Xingshi learned that Yan Kingdom’s steam-engine development was constrained by shortages of fuel, minerals, and transport, and he planned to search for resources and strengthen the kingdom’s martial arts. Meanwhile, a Grotto-heaven Ancestor recognized that spiritual recovery was accelerating because of the Hidden Dragon and changed the Cave Heavens’ strategy to avoid confronting it directly.

• Lu Xingshi returned the Old Emperor to Luo Lin and learned that the former Crown Prince had been exposed for staging assassination attempts, stripped of his title, and made Han King.
• Luo Lin told Lu Xingshi that Yan Kingdom’s steam engines were useful in small-scale production but could not be widely adopted because of shortages of iron, fuel, and other materials, as well as poor transportation.
• Lu Xingshi decided to search for mineral deposits, improve transportation, and consider promoting martial arts throughout Yan Kingdom to prepare for the coming Heaven and Earth Transformation.
• A Grotto-heaven Ancestor realized that the Hidden Dragon’s rise had accelerated the recovery of spiritual energy and could cause Secret Realms to emerge sooner than expected.
• The Grotto-heaven Ancestor abandoned the plan to eliminate the Hidden Dragon, ordered the Cave Heavens to develop independently, and called for more people to enter the Mortal World.

Lu Xingshi helped advance Eastern Ridge’s technology and education while becoming the first person in the Mortal World to transform Inner Force into True Qi. As he explored its power and the conflicts among his inheritances, he considered dissecting himself to help create a martial art suited to his unusual body.

• Lu Xingshi helped develop steam technology, survey resources, compile cultivation methods, and establish schools across Eastern Ridge.
• Lu Xingshi transformed his Inner Force into True Qi and tested its power, discovering that it greatly amplified martial arts phenomena, especially when paired with a Divine Weapon.
• Lu Xingshi found that his eleven inheritances had conflicting, mutually reinforcing, or neutral properties, and that his original martial art was about seventy percent complete.
• Lu Xingshi considered using his Self-Healing Physique and Gold Coins to survive dissecting himself, and planned to find a safe place before attempting it.

The Old Emperor learned that Lu Xingshi had condensed True Qi and was approached by Gao Mao, a Grotto-heaven Disciple who wanted him to poison Lu Xingshi. The Old Emperor pretended to cooperate and sent Lu Xingshi a banquet invitation, intending to use the meeting to kill Gao Mao instead.

• The Old Emperor asked about Lu Xingshi’s breakthrough and regretted that he had never practiced martial arts.
• Gao Mao infiltrated the Old Emperor’s residence and offered to help him return to the Capital if he killed Lu Xingshi.
• Gao Mao gave the Old Emperor Qi Severing Powder and proposed that he poison Lu Xingshi at a banquet.
• The Old Emperor agreed outwardly, while Gao Mao stayed nearby to ensure he followed the plan.
• The Old Emperor sent an invitation to Lu Xingshi and planned to eliminate Gao Mao when Lu Xingshi arrived.

Lu Xingshi captured Gao Mao after discovering that the Qi Severing Powder had been switched, then interrogated him for information about the Grotto-heavens and the first Secret Realm. He learned that the Secret Realm would appear in Eastern Ridge and began planning how to secure it and draw the Grotto-heaven Disciples into his reach.

• Lu Xingshi subdued Gao Mao, who had tried to cripple him with Qi Severing Powder, and dragged him to the underground prison.
• Lu Xingshi interrogated Gao Mao, obtained the Mystic Jade Condensation inheritance, and learned that the second batch of Grotto-heaven Disciples had descended while the third planned to develop elsewhere.
• Lu Xingshi learned that the first Secret Realm would appear in Eastern Ridge, that it could grow into a Cave Heaven, and that it was compatible with his Son of Heaven Destiny.
• Lu Xingshi realized the Secret Realm’s arrival could draw Grotto-heaven Disciples and other forces to Eastern Ridge, giving him a chance to capture their inheritances and eliminate the disciples.
• Lu Xingshi considered entering the Secret Realm alone or with an army and decided to wait for clues from his Game System while preparing to guard its entrance.

Yan Kingdom dismissed the Secret Realm rumors while Lu Xingshi prepared to explore Eastern Ridge and turn foreign economic pressure into a weapon. Meanwhile, Li Xuandao mastered True Qi but realized he remained far weaker than Lu Xingshi, leaving him to consider how to handle the Secret Realm and Steam Engine reforms.

• Yan Kingdom called the Secret Realm a fabrication and blamed Grotto-heaven Disciples, but the Great Song Dynasty Court and Qi Kingdom remained convinced by their intelligence.
• Lu Xingshi agreed to take three thousand elite cavalry led by the Tian Brothers into the Secret Realm and ordered Pei Ming to capture every Grotto-heaven Disciple for their Cave Heaven inheritances.
• Lu Xingshi told Pei Ming to use economic measures to shift the costs of Yan Kingdom's reforms onto rival factions and prepare for future campaigns.
• Li Xuandao transformed his Inner Force into True Qi with the Points System, but found that his strength still fell far short of Lu Xingshi's.
• Li Xuandao concluded that he could now defeat Grotto-heaven Disciples, while acknowledging that Great Song lacked the materials and craftsmanship to implement Steam Engine technology quickly.

Lu Xingshi strengthened Yan Kingdom by spreading True Qi and captured every Grotto-heaven Disciple who had infiltrated Eastern Ridge. He ordered their executions and sensed that a Secret Realm had begun to gestate to the east.

• Lu Xingshi gained forty-six Grotto-heaven inheritances after Yan Kingdom’s newly trained True Qi users helped capture the disciples.
• Tian Fu reported that all the infiltrating Grotto-heaven Disciples had been rounded up, and Lu Xingshi ordered their heads displayed at the city gates with their Grotto-heavens identified.
• Tian Fu told Lu Xingshi that Great Song and Qi Kingdom planned to form an alliance, and Lu Xingshi left the negotiations to Prime Minister Luo and the other officials.
• Zhu Yan dragged Wang Cai away for more training, while Lu Xingshi cautioned it not to beat the Giant Bear too harshly.
• Lu Xingshi sensed a Secret Realm beginning to form east of him and wondered how long it would take to mature and whether his Game System could affect it.

As the Secret Realm finished forming, Lu Xingshi learned that it was an instance dungeon whose completion could bring him greater power, but its requirements might demand war, the destruction of a nation, and a clash with the Heavenly Mandate. The chapter ended with the Secret Realm’s challenge still ahead of him.

• Yan Kingdom expanded merchant guilds in Great Song and Qi Kingdom, profiting while gradually shifting development costs onto both factions.
• Lu Xingshi prepared to guard the forming Secret Realm with Tian Fu, Song Can, and elite troops, and dismissed concerns about other factions learning of it.
• Zhu Yan brought Wang Cai, whose Mutant transformation gave it a panel, three talents, and formidable strength.
• After two hours, the Secret Realm stabilized and its garbled panel became readable.
• Lu Xingshi discovered that the Secret Realm was tied to a kingdom and the Son of Heaven Destiny, and that completing it might require war and the destruction of a nation.

Lu Xingshi entered the Secret Realm with Tian Fu and the Three Thousand Iron Cavalry, but he and his pets were separated from the others. After following a Qing Dynasty official party toward Purple Kirin Mountain, he learned that Grand Commandant Kong Si was going to summon the Golden Cloud Celestial Master to Divine Capital.

• Lu Xingshi entered the Secret Realm and saw Mandate of Heaven phenomena representing Qing Kingdom and his own many Son of Heaven Destinies.
• Lu Xingshi discovered that Tian Fu and the Three Thousand Iron Cavalry had been separated from him, while Zhu Yan and Wang Cai remained at his side.
• Lu Xingshi spotted Qing officials riding toward Purple Kirin Mountain and followed them from a distance on Wang Cai.
• Grand Commandant Kong Si explained to his guards that he was carrying the Emperor's decree to invite the Golden Cloud Celestial Master to Divine Capital for a ritual.
• Kong Si and his party reached the foot of Purple Kirin Mountain.

Golden Cloud Celestial Master tried to finish refining the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends, but an unknown Heavenly Mandate destroyed his protection and left him mortally weakened. Kong Si opened the Demon Subduing Hall in desperation, releasing 108 streaks of starlight toward the Divine Capital as Golden Cloud Celestial Master died.

• Kong Si delivered the Emperor’s decree summoning Golden Cloud Celestial Master to the Divine Capital, but the Celestial Master insisted on completing his final day of scripture recitation first.
• Golden Cloud Celestial Master entered the Demon Subduing Hall and attempted to remove the last trace of demonic nature from the 108 Demon Stars.
• Golden Cloud Celestial Master used the decree to summon the Scarlet Flame Golden Peng, but an unknown Heavenly Mandate arrived and crushed it.
• The Demon Stars’ spirit tablets began shaking as Golden Cloud Celestial Master weakened and could no longer finish refining them.
• Kong Si opened the Demon Subduing Hall after hearing a commotion, and 108 streaks of starlight flew toward the Divine Capital.
• Kong Si found that Golden Cloud Celestial Master had died, while the Mysterious Sect disciples panicked over the Celestial Master’s death.

Lu Xingshi saw that the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends had returned to their positions after Golden Cloud Celestial Master's death, then went to Purple Kirin Mountain to see the aftermath. He left after insulting the sect, but Kong Si followed him with the Divine Capital's Grand Ritual of Cosmic Salvation in mind.

• Lu Xingshi realized the one hundred and eight Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends had regained their positions, though their demonic nature left them flawed and destined for trouble.
• Lu Xingshi considered how the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends could aid or harm a Son of Heaven Destiny, then rode Wang Cai toward Purple Kirin Mountain.
• Mysterious Sect disciples at the mountain's foot were too afraid of Wang Cai to stop Lu Xingshi, and several fled to avoid punishment.
• Lu Xingshi entered the Celestial Master Hall, saw Golden Cloud Celestial Master's corpse, and said he had come to discuss the Dao but no longer had a reason to stay.
• After Lu Xingshi disparaged Purple Kirin Mountain and a feather-robed Daoist fainted in anger, Kong Si secretly left the hall and pursued him, hoping he could help with the Divine Capital's Grand Ritual of Cosmic Salvation.

Lu Xingshi looted Purple Kirin Mountain, killed Grand Commandant Kong Si, and learned more about the Great Qing Dynasty while staying at Xu Family Village. After sensing trouble in the estate during the night, he rose to investigate.

• Lu Xingshi rejected Kong Si’s invitation to preside over the Grand Ritual, looted the Demon Subduing Hall, and ordered Zhu Yan to kill Kong Si.
• Kong Si’s death briefly damaged Great Qing’s foundation, and Lu Xingshi left Purple Kirin Mountain with Zhu Yan and Wang Cai.
• Lu Xingshi stayed at Xu Family Village, learned about its owner Old Master Xu’s history with Golden Cloud Celestial Master, and refused Old Master Xu’s recruitment offer.
• Old Master Xu gave Lu Xingshi a letter of introduction for a post in the Divine Capital, and Lu Xingshi warned that Yu Pei, Xu Family Village’s Instructor, had a problem.
• Lu Xingshi heard someone enter the estate at night and got up to investigate.