Chapter Summaries

The Growth Heavenly King proposed a civil contest and led Lu Chen and the Plague Envoys into the mass graveyard to challenge the formation guarding a secret realm. Li Qi tried to reach the crimson fruit tree but was repelled by the ancient Dry-Heaven Net-Sound Formation, leaving the Plague Envoys stunned.

• The Growth Heavenly King learned that Lu Chen held the post of Plague-Wielding Young Lord and invited the Plague Envoys to follow him into the mass graveyard.
• The Much-Hearing Heavenly King used his Primal Umbrella to remove the barrier, and the gods entered while Young Master Wang was frightened back by a renewed ghostly howl.
• The Growth Heavenly King showed the group a crimson fruit tree and said the secret realm lay beyond it; Zhu Tianlin explained that eating a fruit would activate the entrance.
• The Growth Heavenly King asked the Plague Envoys to break the invisible formation, and Li Qi charged toward the tree.
• The Upholding Heavenly King's pipa notes activated the Dry-Heaven Net-Sound Formation, which stopped Li Qi and pulled him back.
• The Upholding Heavenly King named the formation as the Upper Law Three Thousand · Dry-Heaven Net-Sound Formation, shocking the Five Directional Plague Envoys.

Lu Chen watched the Five Plague Envoys fail to breach King Who Upholds the Nation’s Dry-Sky Musical Array, which expelled anyone or anything that disturbed its music. After Lu Chen was thrown back outside despite stepping in without using mana, the secret realm remained just beyond his reach and the trial seemed impossible to solve.

• King Who Upholds the Nation explained that his altered formation specialized in forbidding passage, and Li Qi mocked it as a crude imitation of the ancient Heaven-Drying Sound-Net Grand Formation.
• Yang Wenhui used his Ink-Point Ascending Immortal technique to slip toward the formation but was detected and expelled.
• Zhu Tianlin sent plague ghosts and miasma against the formation, but the music repelled them and resisted corrosion.
• Zhou Xin proposed that the Five Plague Envoys search for the formation eye while King Who Upholds the Nation warned that even Lu Chen could not cross.
• Lu Chen stepped into the formation without circulating mana, but the music returned him to his starting point, leaving him despairing before the inaccessible secret realm.

Lu Chen’s senior brothers confronted the Four Heavenly Kings over the Dry-Sky Musical Array, but withdrew after learning the Star Lord had ordered them to leave its breaking to Lu Chen. With only two mortal days remaining before the treasure matured, the barriers around the mystic realm were removed and the crowd rushed toward it.

• Zhou Xin trapped the Dry-Sky Musical Array in the Four Spirits Plague Formation to challenge the Four Heavenly Kings and defend Lu Chen.
• Growth Heavenly King revealed that the Star Lord had ordered the Plague Envoys not to intervene further and had left the final array for Lu Chen to break.
• Lu Chen accepted that he would face the array alone, and the Four Heavenly Kings agreed to remove the first three arrays while warning him that he had only two mortal days.
• The Four Heavenly Kings departed, the mass graveyard vanished, and Young Master Wang, City Lord Huang, and the other disciples charged toward the mystic realm.
• The Five Plague Envoys returned to the Heavenly Court, leaving Lu Chen to continue on his own as Heaven and Earth returned to normal.

Lu Chen explained that an immortal array blocked the secret realm, and repeated attempts by Young Master Wang and the others failed to cross it. With less than two days remaining, Lu Chen decided to seek guidance from the Kitchen God, leaving the array still unbroken.

• City Lord Huang thanked Lu Chen, and Young Master Wang enthusiastically offered to be his friend.
• A clan disciple tried to rush toward the fruit tree but was expelled by the Dry-Sky Musical Array, and Young Master Wang beat him for trying to steal a fruit.
• Lu Chen explained how the array worked, but Young Master Wang and the other clan disciples failed to pass it using several methods.
• City Lord Huang, Sun Yourong, and Xin Yao realized that the array was beyond their ability to break.
• Lu Chen gave up on asking the Plague Lord and decided to seek advice from the Kitchen God.

On the way back, Lu Chen worried that King Who Upholds the Nation might betray him while he tried to break the Dry-Sky Musical Array. After the Kitchen God outlined three possible solutions, Lu Chen settled on seeking Heavenly Deaf and Earthly Mute’s help through Emperor Wenchang, though the Kitchen God assumed Lu Chen had a close relationship with the Emperor.

• Lu Chen doubted King Who Upholds the Nation’s promise and discussed the mission’s difficulty with Sun Yourong and Xin Yao, then revealed he was the Plague-Wielding Young Lord of the Plague Department.
• Back at the hotel, Lu Chen carved a Kitchen God idol and used the Hearthfire Seed to summon the Kitchen God for advice about the Dry-Sky Musical Array.
• The Kitchen God suggested suppressing the array with a Dao Foundation-level deity, using Supreme Lord Lao’s Sound-Settling Pearl, or asking Heavenly Deaf and Earthly Mute to create a Silence Barrier.
• The Kitchen God said Heavenly Deaf and Earthly Mute would not answer Lu Chen’s worship directly, but Emperor Wenchang could ask them to help.
• The Kitchen God presumed Lu Chen was close to Emperor Wenchang and highly rated in divine service, leaving Lu Chen silently stung by the assumption.

Lu Chen learned from the Kitchen God that Emperor Wenchang might be reached through literary talent and the spiritual Literary Bell, and he decided to try ringing it to advance his ritual path and help break the Grand Formation of Withered Heavenly Notes. Wang Yiming drove him to a cleared Wenchang Hall, eager to witness whatever spectacle Lu Chen had planned.

• Lu Chen told the Kitchen God that his Divine Service Rating with Emperor Wenchang was only 0.5%, so ordinary worship was unlikely to attract the Emperor's attention.
• Lu Chen recited a famous poem, and the Kitchen God praised it and suggested that literary works might draw Emperor Wenchang's notice.
• The Kitchen God explained that ringing the Literary Bell outside the Nine-Heavens Enlightenment Palace could win the Emperor's attention and ignite Lu Chen's literary flame.
• Lu Chen decided to seek out a temple dedicated to Emperor Wenchang, hoping the opportunity might also help him advance and eventually hold a Heaven-Encompassing Grand Rite.
• Wang Yiming stopped Lu Chen outside the hotel, offered him a ride, and arranged for Wenchang Hall at the nearby Hu Clan Temple to be cleared.
• Lu Chen told Wang Yiming that any exciting spectacle might happen in the sky, leaving Wang Yiming curious as they headed to the temple.

Lu Chen entered the Hu Clan Temple to offer incense to Emperor Wenchang, then recited numerous masterpieces that transformed into a torrent of literary aura. In the Heavenly Court, the phenomenon shook the Nine-Heavens Enlightenment Palace and struck the Astronomical Bell, whose ringing spread across the Heavenly Court.

• The Hu Family head welcomed Lu Chen and Wang Yiming, and Wang Yiming revealed that Lu Chen had created the battle of the eight Dharma Aspects in Rongcheng.
• Lu Chen learned that the Wang Family and other great families had suffered heavy losses completing an SS-rank mission together.
• Lu Chen apologized to the worshippers outside Wenchang Hall, asked Wang Yiming and the Hu Family head to wait outside, and entered alone.
• After his incense offering produced no response, Lu Chen recited several poems and prose passages, sending streams of literary aura toward the Nine-Heavens Enlightenment Palace.
• The chime bells in all four corners of the palace rang as the literary qi conjured the Four Symbols and five-colored auspicious light.
• The auspicious light struck the Astronomical Bell, whose immense peal sent shockwaves across the Heavenly Court.

The Four Heavenly Kings learned that the Destiny-Fixing Soul-Calming Lotus would mature within hours and believed Lu Chen could not disrupt their plans. When Lu Chen recited famous poetry in the Hu Clan Temple, the Literary Bell rang across the Heavenly Court, and Emperor Wenchang descended to meet him; Lu Chen admitted the poems were not his own.

• King Who Upholds the Nation revealed that the Destiny-Fixing Soul-Calming Lotus would mature in a few hours, and Giant Spirit God came to ask about the treasure on the Marshal’s behalf.
• The Literary Bell rang, drawing the attention of the Heavenly Court, while the Five Plague Envoys suspected their junior brother Lu Chen had caused it.
• The Office of Rank and Emoluments found no record of a Kui Star descending, and Emperor Wenchang said he had already investigated Lu Chen’s circumstances before sending an incarnation to the mortal world.
• At the Hu Clan Temple, Wang Yiming saw a cloud vortex form as golden light entered Wenchang Hall and illuminated Lu Chen’s recitation.
• Emperor Wenchang praised Lu Chen’s literary talent, and Lu Chen replied that he had not written the poems he recited.

Lu Chen faced Emperor Wenchang’s scrutiny over the poems he recited and revealed his ties to several powerful gods. Seeking a blessing from Heaven-Deaf and Earth-Mute to break the Dry-Sky Musical Array, he challenged Emperor Wenchang to debate the Dao, and the Emperor agreed to test his knowledge.

• Emperor Wenchang questioned Lu Chen about the poems, and Lu Chen claimed they had been passed down by his ancestors.
• Emperor Wenchang examined Lu Chen’s karmic ties, and Lu Chen identified himself as the Plague-Wielding Young Lord and the underworld’s Mighty Martial Virtue General.
• Lu Chen presented a page from the Hearthfire Register as proof of his dealings with the Kitchen God and asked for Heaven-Deaf and Earth-Mute’s blessing to break the Dry-Sky Musical Array.
• When Emperor Wenchang questioned whether Lu Chen deserved a blessing, Lu Chen asked whether virtue or literary skill mattered more when granting blessings.
• Emperor Wenchang agreed to test Lu Chen’s knowledge in a debate about the Dao.

Lu Chen debated Emperor Wenchang over how literary fortune should reward writing and merit, and the Literary Bell rang twice as their discussion stirred the Heavenly Court. Lu Chen emerged from Wenchang Hall surrounded by auspicious light, but appeared unable to speak or hear, leaving Wang Yiming to fear a backlash from the blessing.

• Lu Chen argued that blessings should weigh merit as their foundation and writing as their wings, persuading Emperor Wenchang to offer him a reward if he could debate for three rounds without falling behind.
• The Literary Bell rang for a second time, alarming the Vermilion-Robed Divine Lord and Kui Star Lord and drawing the attention of major Heavenly Court deities.
• Dipper Mother, Primordial Sovereign rejected the rumor that a Kui Star was returning to his place and ordered a generous congratulatory gift prepared if a worthy mortal had stirred literary fortune.
• The Vermilion-Robed Divine Lord and Kui Star Lord questioned Emperor Wenchang about the repeated bell tolls, but he only called Lu Chen interesting and dismissed them.
• Lu Chen emerged from Wenchang Hall at dusk radiant with auspicious signs, then indicated to Wang Yiming that he could neither speak nor hear, making Wang Yiming suspect blessing backlash.

Lu Chen gained Heaven-Man Resonance and advanced to Fourth Rank after his discourse with Emperor Wenchang, then flew toward Grass Temple Village to break the Dry-Sky Musical Array. As Rongcheng’s powerful figures followed him, King Who Upholds the Nation realized Lu Chen had seen through the array’s weak point.

• Lu Chen attained Heaven-Man Resonance, received the Emperor’s blessing, and broke through from the peak of Subordinate Third Rank to the initial stage of Fourth Rank.
• Lu Chen flew toward Grass Temple Village, leaving golden lotuses in his wake; Wang Yiming followed on the Sky-Lifting Tiger, and the Hu Family head and City Lord Huang pursued them.
• Sun Yourong and Xin Yao recognized Lu Chen in the sky and set out for Grass Temple Village.
• Lu Chen’s spiritual power began draining as he flew, so he joined Wang Yiming on the Sky-Lifting Tiger and restored his power with [Huailan Tuning].
• The Four Heavenly Kings linked Lu Chen to the Wenchang Bell’s chimes, and King Who Upholds the Nation admitted that Lu Chen seemed to have seen through his array’s weak point.

Lu Chen used the powers of Heavenly Deaf and Earthly Mute to break the Four Heavenly Kings’ Dry-Sky Musical Array and reach the secret realm’s entrance. As the Heavenly Kings were blocked from intervening by the Five Plague Envoys, Lu Chen picked a vermilion fruit from the towering tree and took a bite.

• King Who Upholds the Nation revealed that Heavenly Deaf and Earthly Mute could nullify his array, while the Four Heavenly Kings realized Lu Chen had sought Emperor Wenchang’s help.
• The Five Plague Envoys, led by Zhou Xin, blocked the Four Heavenly Kings from descending to the lower realm, and Growth Heavenly King ordered King Who Upholds the Nation to trigger the array’s final transformation.
• Lu Chen arrived at the Dry-Sky Musical Array with Wang Yiming and walked through its zither music unharmed as City Lord Huang and Rongcheng’s experts watched.
• King Who Upholds the Nation transformed the array’s musical notes into a charging army, but Lu Chen used the Silence Array to freeze and destroy the musical weapons.
• Lu Chen broke through the array, reached the secret realm’s towering tree, plucked a vermilion fruit, and bit into it.

Lu Chen entered the secret realm and discovered a vast trove of rare treasures, then witnessed its lotus treasure briefly increase his magical power. The lotus’s bloom exposed a hidden restriction on cultivation, while the secret realm’s core appeared before him.

• Lu Chen was pulled into the secret realm after the Dry-Sky Musical Array shattered, while Wang Yiming and City Lord Huang realized they could not enter after him.
• Lu Chen found that his divine blessings and Yanluo Token no longer worked inside, so he released plague ghosts for protection and marked the entrance as an escape route.
• Lu Chen gathered rare herbs and fruits as he traveled deeper, determined to seize the realm core and take the secret realm with him.
• Lu Chen found an enormous lotus whose spiritual energy surpassed any treasure he could identify, and recalled that its aura was strongest just before blooming.
• The lotus bloomed, briefly increasing Lu Chen’s magical power before an unseen force suppressed the effect, revealing that heavenly treasures could aid cultivation.
• A hazy figure emerged above the lotus and drew in the secret realm’s aura, and Lu Chen recognized it as the realm core.

Lu Chen attempted to claim a secret realm and its nearly mature lotus treasure, then performed a Dragon-Tiger Grand Rite to connect with the realm. Meanwhile, the Four Heavenly Kings waited for the Marshal to seize the treasure, while the suspicious Five Plague Envoys sought guidance from their Star Lord.

• Lu Chen failed to move the realm nexus or damage the lotus treasure, so he concluded he needed to claim the nexus first.
• Lu Chen reasoned that claiming the realm might resemble opening a blessed land and began the Dragon-Tiger Grand Rite for Opening a Temple.
• Winds and clouds churned across the secret realm as Lu Chen performed the rite.
• Growth Heavenly King and the other Heavenly Kings revealed that the Marshal held a secret key and planned to take the mature treasure himself.
• Zhu Tianlin voiced suspicion about the Four Heavenly Kings' unusual calm, and Zhou Xin sent a message to the Star Lord.

Plague Emperor and Li Jing traded warnings over their departments’ conflict while Li Jing prepared to retrieve the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda from the mortal realm. At Grass Temple Village, Sun Yourong revealed Lu Chen’s Divine Service Rating was only 0.5%, and inside the secret realm Lu Chen successfully completed the furnace invocation on his first attempt.

• Plague Emperor used his Dharma Eyes to monitor the Military Department, and Li Jing challenged his right to do so before the two exchanged pointed warnings.
• Li Jing dismissed Giant Spirit God’s offer to confront the Plague Department and decided to retrieve the treasure himself, confident Duowen’s formation would let him act before Plague Emperor could intervene.
• Sun Yourong and Xin Yao arrived at Grass Temple Village and learned Lu Chen had entered the secret realm after breaking the Dry-Sky Musical Array.
• Sun Yourong told the gathered dignitaries that Lu Chen’s Divine Service Rating with Emperor Wenchang was only 0.5%, astonishing everyone.
• City Lord Huang wondered whether Lu Chen might take control of the realm nexus, while those gathered waited to learn what was happening inside.
• Lu Chen completed the altar purification and furnace invocation rituals, and the realm nexus accepted the furnace invocation on his first try.

Lu Chen used the Dragon-Tiger Grand Rite to seize the Realm Pivot, but the lotus exotic treasure matured and summoned the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King into the secret realm. The Heavenly King saw the Realm Pivot falling toward Lu Chen and attacked him with his pagoda.

• Lu Chen obtained the Realm Pivot's consent for [Furnace Ignition] and smoothly completed [Setting the Seat] before chanting a green prayer for [Worshipping the Dragon and Tiger].
• Lu Chen used the ritual formation and more than a hundred talismans to drag the resisting Realm Pivot toward the ritual platform, while the tremors alarmed those outside the secret realm.
• The lotus exotic treasure's thirty-sixth flower blossomed, unleashing spiritual power that strengthened Lu Chen and the Realm Pivot; Lu Chen used tongue-tip blood to overpower the Realm Pivot's resistance.
• The lotus's spiritual power activated a rune that opened a rift in the Heavenly Court, and the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's avatar descended into the secret realm.
• The secret realm began collapsing under the Heavenly King's divine might as he saw Lu Chen about to capture the Realm Pivot and dropped his treasure pagoda toward him.

The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King captured Lu Chen and the secret realm in his Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, then began refining the Realm Pivot and Destiny-Fixing Soul-Calming Lotus. As Lu Chen remained unconscious in the pagoda, the Kitchen God sensed that his Hearthfire Seed had disappeared.

• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King used the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda to absorb Lu Chen, the Realm Pivot, and the secret realm, causing the realm to collapse.
• City Lord Huang concluded that Lu Chen had perished, and Sun Yourong cried out his name before fainting.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King told the Giant Spirit God that Lu Chen had bound the Realm Pivot and that he would refine it and the Destiny-Fixing Soul-Calming Lotus over forty-nine days.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King left Lu Chen unconscious in the pagoda's Weak Water Realm under Lan'er’s watch and began refining the Realm Pivot.
• The Kitchen God sensed that Lu Chen’s Hearthfire Seed had disappeared.

The Kitchen God discovered that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King had captured Lu Chen and the secret realm in the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, then sought help from Lu Chen’s allies. As the Kitchen God and the Lord God of Wealth hurried to meet the Plague Emperor, the Kitchen God warned that something had happened to Lu Chen.

• The Kitchen God followed Lu Chen into the secret realm and witnessed the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King seize the entire realm and imprison Lu Chen inside the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda.
• The Kitchen God used the Hearthfire Register to locate Lu Chen, then withdrew when the register’s spiritual resonance could not sustain a pursuit into the Heavenly Court.
• The Plague Emperor saw that the secret realm’s connecting tree had withered and summoned the Five Plague Envoys, while the Four Heavenly Kings believed the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King had succeeded.
• The Lord God of Wealth met the Five Plague Envoys on their way to the Nine Dragon Palace and joined them after learning the Plague Emperor had summoned them.
• The Kitchen God arrived and urged the Lord God of Wealth and the Plague Envoys to see the Plague Emperor, saying that something had happened to Lu Chen.

After Lu Chen was trapped in the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, the Plague Lord and Lord God of Wealth planned to pressure the Military Department into releasing him without starting a war. As the Plague Lord set out for Cloud Tower Palace and Zhou Xin went to summon Great Emperor Fengdu, Lord God of Wealth hurried to recruit allies and made a deeply respectful appeal to Star Lord of Water Virtue.

• Lord God of Wealth and the Kitchen God joined the Five Plague Envoys at Nine Dragon Palace and learned that Lu Chen had been seized by the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King.
• The Five Plague Envoys urged the Plague Lord to attack the Military Department, but the Kitchen God warned that its forces and the consequences of a battle made a direct assault too dangerous.
• The Kitchen God proposed gathering powerful immortal allies to pressure Heavenly King Li, while the Plague Lord ordered Zhou Xin to report Lu Chen’s situation to Great Emperor Fengdu.
• Lord God of Wealth departed to recruit allies, and the Plague Lord traveled with the Kitchen God toward Cloud Tower Palace under the Plague Dao Tianhuang Banner.
• Lord God of Wealth reached Mysterious Dipper Palace and bowed deeply to Star Lord of Water Virtue, startling him and Winnowing Basket Leopard.

Lu Chen was imprisoned by the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King inside the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, where he found himself unable to escape or contact the gods. Outside Cloud Tower Palace, the Plague Lord confronted the Military Department over Lu Chen, and the Heavenly King ended the chapter by refusing to release him.

• Lord God of Wealth told Star Lord of Water Virtue that Lu Chen had been captured and asked for his help.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King ordered his generals to prepare for the Plague Department’s arrival and resolved to keep Lu Chen and the World Nexus.
• Lu Chen woke inside the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, where a green-clad girl told him he was imprisoned in the Weak Waters Realm and could not escape or summon help.
• The Plague Lord’s forces confronted the Military Department outside Cloud Tower Palace, and the Kitchen God revealed that he had witnessed the Heavenly King capture Lu Chen.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King refused the Plague Lord’s demand to release Lu Chen, declaring that he would not let him go.