Chapter Summaries

Lu Chen learned how temple-breaking could let a family replace a great clan, then welcomed the battered Rakshasa Cult members home. At the Zhao family villa, Zhao Wanliang was visited by his grandfather, Li City God.

• Yu Feng explained that a temple-breaking challenge pitted the gods of rival family temples against each other and described how the Wu family had risen by exploiting the Ao family's lost divine protection.
• Lu Chen learned that challenging multiple great clans could earn imperial court support and might eventually let his family advance to the rank of a great house.
• Lu Chen gave Yu Feng five Scarlet Radiance Fruits and left to reunite with the Rakshasa Cult members released from South City Prison.
• Lu Chen comforted the wounded Wang Zhidong and led the cult members home, prompting them to shout their relief and joy.
• Zhao Jiutang learned that Zhao Wanliang needed at least a month to recover, but Wanliang warned him against attacking Lu Chen and asked to be left alone.
• Li City God emerged in Zhao Wanliang's room, and Wanliang addressed him as his grandfather.

Lu Chen returned to his temple, where he planned its growth and considered recruiting Broom Star as a guardian deity. The Lord God of Wealth told him that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King had visited and that Lu Chen would soon receive another Heavenly Court military office.

• Li City God told Zhao Wanliang to recover, keep a low profile, and wait until the prefectural office was settled before seeking revenge on Lu Chen.
• Lu Chen and Zeng Rou returned to the Lu Clan Temple, where Lu Chen reassured the staff and handed out red envelopes.
• Lu Chen instructed Zeng Rou to establish a service evaluation system and considered making Broom Star the guardian deity of his Plague-Wielding Young Lord position.
• Lu Chen offered incense in the Lord God of Wealth Hall and learned that the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King had visited.
• The Lord God of Wealth predicted that Lu Chen would soon receive a new, powerful divine office in the Heavenly Court's Military Department.

Lu Chen learned the value of controlling the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda and the lasting authority of his Horse-Fodder Registrar post while thanking Lord God of Wealth for helping him at the Heavenly Court. The chapter ended with Lord God of Wealth warning that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office would cut off their contact for up to several years.

• Lord God of Wealth explained that controlling the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda gave Lu Chen leverage over the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, who feared Nezha's retaliation if he lost it.
• Lu Chen offered his collected heavenly treasures to Lord God of Wealth, who took a portion for Star Lord of Water Virtue and the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions and asked Lu Chen to seek out moneywort for him.
• Lord God of Wealth explained that Lu Chen's Horse-Fodder Registrar post was a permanent entry in the immortal registry, unlike his revocable divine offices, and could be promoted through merit.
• Lord God of Wealth explained that Lu Chen could incorporate divine offices into his immortal registry through promotion or cultivate an immortal fruition, though divine-office incarnations had fixed limits.
• Lord God of Wealth told Lu Chen that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office would bar them from contacting each other for six months to two or three years and urged him to avoid further trouble.

Lord God of Wealth explained to Lu Chen how the Northern Pole Exorcism Office gained authority over celestial law through a thousand-year contest between the Thunder and Dipper Departments. After Lord God of Wealth departed, Lu Chen went to the Plague Lord Hall to speak with Broom Star and his master, hoping to secure a post for Broom Star and investigate the spiritual energy that might help him become a saint.

• Lu Chen questioned Lord God of Wealth about the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s legal basis, and Lord God of Wealth explained that the Fengdu Ghost Code had been replaced by the Northern Emperor Black Book Code after Great Emperor Fengdu became an independent ruler.
• Lord God of Wealth told Lu Chen that Erlang God Yang Jian had once held celestial-law authority, but his refusal to attend to Heavenly Court affairs led the Thunder and Dipper Departments to compete for enforcement power.
• Lord God of Wealth explained that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office won the thousand-year struggle and joined the Thunder Department, forming the structure of one prefecture, two courts, and three bureaus.
• Lu Chen carelessly criticized the intermingling of Heavenly Court departments, and Lord God of Wealth urgently warned him to guard his words as a registered immortal.
• Lu Chen promised to find indirect ways to keep in contact with Lord God of Wealth and asked him to invite Star Lord of Water Virtue and the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions to reside in the Lu Clan Temple; Lord God of Wealth agreed.
• After Lord God of Wealth left, Lu Chen headed to the Plague Lord Hall to arrange a post for Broom Star and tell his master that spiritual energy from a matured strange treasure had raised his cultivation.

Lu Chen visited the Plague Lord, Kitchen God, and Hall of Yama, then returned to Cloudtop Manor and summoned the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. The Heavenly King offered him a military post and the authority to command the Four Heavenly Kings and Giant Spirit God, leaving Lu Chen to decide whether to accept.

• Lu Chen offered treasures to the Plague Lord, secured approval for Broom Star to enter the Plague Department, and learned that the exotic treasure’s connection to sanctifying the flesh remained a secret until he found a method to sanctify his body.
• The Plague Lord praised Lu Chen’s escape from the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda and advised him to stay out of trouble, while Lu Chen resolved to wait for the Third Prince.
• The Kitchen God returned Lu Chen’s treasures and invited him to visit Samadhi True Fire Heaven to absorb more true fire; Lu Chen then summoned Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong and told them about becoming guardian deities.
• Lu Chen hosted a banquet for his followers and neighbors, then carved a statue of the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King and summoned him at Cloudtop Manor.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King proposed becoming sworn brothers with Lu Chen and offered him command over the Four Heavenly Kings and Giant Spirit God in the Military Department.

Lu Chen rejected the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King's hollow offer of a divine office and bargained for practical rewards instead. The Heavenly King refused to teach him Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood or instantly raise his cultivation, so Lu Chen seized on the offer of a magical treasure and asked about the Demon-Revealing Mirror and Binding Demon Rope.

• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King offered Lu Chen the Pagoda-Subduing Heavenly King office, but Lu Chen declined because he already held the Plague-Wielding Young Lord position.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King invited Lu Chen to name another request, and Lu Chen asked to learn Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King said Lu Chen could not cultivate the method and offered to help him advance gradually instead.
• Lu Chen asked the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King to raise him directly to the eighth or ninth rank, but the Heavenly King warned that forcing divine power into him could kill him.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King offered to teach Lu Chen an offensive divine ability, but Lu Chen rejected the long training period and asked for a magical treasure.
• Lu Chen named the Demon-Revealing Mirror and Binding Demon Rope as the treasures he wanted, leaving the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King speechless.

Lu Chen secured the Pagoda-Subduing Heavenly King’s favor and the Binding Demon Rope while learning more about the Heavenly King’s feud with Nezha. As Lu Chen prepared to make Broom Star’s divine statue, Li City God schemed to avoid meeting him while sending Hu Sanniang to win his goodwill.

• Lu Chen persuaded the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King to give him the Binding Demon Rope and warned that Nezha might seek him out.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King cautioned Lu Chen about contacting gods who attained sainthood in the flesh, then returned to the Heavenly Court.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King ordered Giant Spirit God to pass the Binding Demon Rope to Lu Chen and warned the assembled gods not to offend him.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King sensed a strange estrangement from the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda and wondered whether he had been led into a trap.
• Hu Sanniang advised Li City God to pretend he was in seclusion and send gifts to Lu Chen, and Li City God ordered her to visit him immediately.

Lu Chen received a midnight visit from Hu Sanniang, who warned him not to help Li City God compete for the prefectural post. She revealed that the apparent Li City God was actually Zhao Wuya, the Zhao family’s supposedly deceased patriarch, who had killed the real Li City God and stolen his identity.

• Lu Chen put away the Evil-Repelling Bell so Hu Sanniang could enter his home.
• Hu Sanniang brought Lu Chen a basket of treasures and claimed Li City God had entered seclusion to break through the Mystic Gate.
• Hu Sanniang probed whether Lu Chen planned to help Li City God secure the prefectural post, then urged him not to do so.
• Hu Sanniang revealed that the current Li City God was Zhao Wuya, who had used an evil art to kill and impersonate the real Li Qingyuan.
• Hu Sanniang said Zhao Wuya had been to Xiangnan.

Hu Sanniang revealed that Zhao Wuya had assassinated Li City God with help from his Xiangnan fellow disciples and used a secret art to steal his divine rank. She explained how Zhao Wuya sacrificed Zhao Wanliang’s lifespan to complete the scheme, leaving Lu Chen asking whom he had bribed in the Netherworld.

• Hu Sanniang told Lu Chen that Zhao Jiutang was adopted and that Zhao Wuya changed after his only son, Zhao Jindu, died.
• Hu Sanniang recounted how Zhao Wuya and three fellow disciples from Xiangnan plotted to assassinate Li City God, with Qiu Qianluo helping restrain him.
• Hu Sanniang said Zhao Wuya devoured Li City God’s divine power, took his identity, and used a soul restriction to force her cooperation.
• Hu Sanniang explained that Zhao Wuya faked his death to deceive heaven, then sacrificed at least sixty years of Zhao Wanliang’s lifespan to secure the divine rank and prepare him to become a Ghost Immortal.
• Hu Sanniang said Zhao Wuya repeatedly descended into the Netherworld to alter Zhao Wanliang’s lifespan in the master Book of Life and Death, and Lu Chen asked whether he had bribed King Yama or Judge Cui.

Lu Chen learned from Hu Sanniang that Zhao Wuya had orchestrated Rebirth Academy and Five Hells Ascension while secretly helping Zhao Wanliang eliminate Jiangdu’s rivals. Hu Sanniang sought Lu Chen’s protection and a chance to reincarnate, and Lu Chen agreed to let her atone while keeping his plans against Zhao Wuya hidden.

• Hu Sanniang explained that Zhao Wuya had learned secret arts in Xiangnan and used them to murder Li City God, though Xiangnan’s hidden realms were said to be beyond the Heavenly Court’s reach.
• Lu Chen concluded that Zhao Wuya had manipulated Five Hells Ascension to secure the City God post and planned to control the fates of Qiu Qianluo, Zhao Wanliang, and the Ma family.
• Hu Sanniang revealed that Zhao Wuya had watched Jiangdu’s powers and helped Zhao Wanliang eliminate anyone who threatened the Zhao family, including people on Zhao Wanliang’s observation list.
• Hu Sanniang confessed that she had served Zhao Wuya under coercion, sought revenge for Li City God, and hoped to earn a chance to reincarnate; Lu Chen promised she could atone through merit.
• Lu Chen told Hu Sanniang to continue spying on Zhao Wuya and planned to wait another month before acting, using the time to draw out the old schemer.
• Hu Sanniang revealed that Zhao Wuya had sent her to please Lu Chen with her body, warning him to hide their conversation if Zhao Wuya visited.

Lu Chen learned more about Hu Sanniang’s history and Zhao Wuya’s schemes, then discovered Lan’er planned to leave Jiangdu with Chun’er to help the young dragon grow. Lan’er asked whether Chun’er should pursue the position of River Dragon King or Sea Dragon King.

• Hu Sanniang warned Lu Chen that Zhao Wuya monitored him and explained that Zhao Wanliang likely resented his grandfather for sacrificing sixty years of his lifespan.
• Hu Sanniang revealed she had secretly watched Lu Chen at the South City Office before they met on City God Street, then left in a wisp of smoke.
• Hu Sanniang told Zhao Wuya that Lu Chen had promised to speak in his favor, and Zhao Wuya promised her the position of Jiangdu City God after he became a Prefect.
• Lu Chen found Lan’er asleep at home, released Chun’er, and heard that Lan’er planned to travel with the young dragon so she could absorb spiritual energy and learn dragon arts.
• Lan’er gave Lu Chen a dragon scale as a warning signal and agreed to take Chun’er to visit her clan uncle, Huai Lie, the Xu River Dragon King.
• Lan’er asked Lu Chen whether he wanted Chun’er to cultivate the position of River Dragon King or Sea Dragon King.

Lu Chen chose the Sea Dragon Kinghood for Chun’er, setting her on a path toward conflict with the Four Seas Dragon Kings, and learned that his master had made him Deputy Marshal of the Military Department. He then visited the Sun Clan Temple, promoted his own Lu Clan Temple to two spirit users, and ran into Sun Yourong while preparing to worship the Giant Spirit God.

• Lu Chen chose the Sea Dragon Kinghood for Chun’er, whose transformation triggered a storm over Jiangdu and upheaval in the East Sea that enraged Ao Guang.
• A powerful Holy Lord and two subordinates froze the East Sea’s waves, discussed Ao Guang’s anger and Lu Chen’s abilities, then departed.
• Lan’er warned that Chun’er would eventually have to defeat or kill the Four Seas Dragon Kings, while Lu Chen insisted they would face that conflict regardless of their choice.
• Lu Chen told Lan’er that her master had appointed him Deputy Marshal of the Military Department, called the Pagoda-Subduing Heavenly King, and given him the Binding Demon Rope.
• At the Sun Clan Temple, Lu Chen advertised the Lu Clan Temple to two visiting spirit users, who learned from their guide that he was the Lu Family Head behind the Plague Sweep Style.
• Lu Chen bought incense and headed toward the Giant Spirit God Hall, where he met Sun Yourong and offered to give her a stroke of fortune.

Lu Chen brought Sun Yourong to the Giant Spirit God Temple, where the Giant Spirit God manifested and gave him the Binding Demon Rope. After arranging for the treasure to be sealed in Lu Chen’s sea of consciousness, Lu Chen asked the Giant Spirit God and the Four Heavenly Kings to manage the Imperial Horse Office for him.

• Lu Chen took Sun Yourong to the Giant Spirit God Temple and told her to wait while he offered incense.
• The Giant Spirit God manifested in response to Lu Chen’s worship and invited him into his sea of consciousness.
• Lu Chen tried to take the Binding Demon Rope but learned that his mortal body could not wield the spiritual treasure.
• The Giant Spirit God sealed the Binding Demon Rope in Lu Chen’s sea of consciousness for him to use after attaining divine rank.
• Lu Chen asked the Giant Spirit God to help arrange for the Four Heavenly Kings to manage the Imperial Horse Office, leaving the Giant Spirit God stunned.

Lu Chen pressured the Giant Spirit God into handling the ledgers and arranging Sun Yourong’s blessing, which advanced her to the fourth rank. Meanwhile, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s rogue pagoda repeatedly swallowed passing immortals, leaving him furious and fearing the consequences as he reached the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.

• Lu Chen forced the Giant Spirit God to take charge of the ledgers and learned that Sun Yourong had been the Giant Spirit God’s sworn younger sister in a past life.
• The Giant Spirit God blessed Sun Yourong, and she broke through from the third rank to the fourth rank.
• Sun Yourong questioned Lu Chen about his influence over the Giant Spirit God, but he offered an implausible explanation and pushed her toward a celebratory meal.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King’s Exquisite Pagoda independently swallowed two divine generals, then released them when he commanded it.
• The pagoda repeatedly swallowed the Star Lord of Fate, General Fagang, and other immortals, prompting the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King to curse his way toward the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.

Broom Star joined the Plague Department as Lu Chen’s Dharma Protector God and agreed to monitor the Imperial Horse Office’s accounts. In Jiangdu, Lan’er and Chun’er left after saying goodbye to Lu Chen, who then received a report from Zeng Rou about the company’s revenue.

• Lu Chen offered Broom Star a position as his Dharma Protector God, gold, robes, and an assignment to watch the Imperial Horse Office; they sealed an Imperial Concord Pact.
• Zhou Xin welcomed Broom Star into the Plague Department and defended him when Heavenly soldiers and immortal maidens mocked him, leaving Broom Star feeling that he had finally stood up for himself.
• Three days later in Jiangdu, Lu Chen gave Lan’er a Sumeru Ring of supplies and warned her to contact him or turn back if she encountered trouble.
• Lan’er concealed Chun’er and flew away, bidding farewell to Lu Chen.
• Zeng Rou approached Lu Chen with account books to report the company’s revenue.

Lu Chen and Zeng Rou reviewed the cult’s growing spirit-money and Plague Pill businesses before discovering that bad luck had corrupted the secret realm’s remaining treasures into poisonous materials. Lu Chen decided to hand most of the corrupted stock to the court, expecting to earn twenty thousand military merits.

• Zeng Rou reported that spirit-money revenue had surpassed one billion, Plague Pill sales were growing, and salespeople were gaining divine abilities through worship of the Plague Department deities.
• Zeng Rou told Lu Chen that her Divine Service Ratings had reached 30% for the Plague Lord and 27% for Lord Yama, while Elder Wang had reached 33% worshipping Zhu Tianlin and received a pill-refining treasure.
• Lu Chen and Zeng Rou entered the secret realm and found its outer region devastated, with most remaining materials unsuitable for high-grade Plague Pills.
• Zeng Rou touched Foul-Qi Poria and warned Lu Chen that it brought bad luck, prompting him to realize that bad luck had mutated all the secret realm’s remaining treasures into poisonous substances.
• Lu Chen and Zeng Rou inventoried the corrupted materials and found several ingredients useful for Plague Pills, but most of the stock had little value to them.
• Lu Chen proposed taking the usable materials and handing the rest to the court through Yu Feng’s development plan, expecting to receive twenty thousand military merits.

Lu Chen discussed the Lu Clan Temple’s prospects and learned about the sects of Inner Xiangnan, including the West Ward Sect. In Heaven, the Matchmaker God tied a black slipknot between Zhao Wanliang and Sun Yourong, and both awoke thinking of each other.

• Zeng Rou advised Lu Chen to target the Zhao family because Zhao Gongming’s temple drew worshippers away from the Lu Clan Temple, while the Qin, Zhao, and Wu families subsidized visitors as compensation.
• Lu Chen planned a month of rest, asked Zeng Rou to commission blue and red Daoist robes, and heard her describe Inner Xiangnan and the West Ward Sect.
• The Matchmaker God confirmed that Zhao Wanliang had fulfilled the required number of three threes and decided to grant him a destined marriage with Sun Yourong.
• The Matchmaker God ordered Fire Phoenix to tie Zhao Wanliang and Sun Yourong together with a black thread and a slipknot.
• That night, Zhao Wanliang and Sun Yourong awoke in their separate family residences and called each other’s names in their thoughts.

Sun Yourong discovered that Zhao Wanliang had bound her to a blackish-red marriage thread, and Lu Chen sought help from the Lord God of Wealth after he could no longer contact him directly. The Lord God of Wealth and Broom Star reached Red Luan Star Manor, where Matchmaker God greeted them, saying he had been waiting.

• Sun Yourong woke to find a blackish-red thread beneath her skin and rushed with Sun Qingcang to Lu Chen for help.
• Sun Yourong told Lu Chen and Sun Qingcang that Zhao Wanliang's face kept appearing in her mind and made her feel sick, while recalling another woman trapped by a similar marriage bond.
• Lu Chen tried three times to summon the Lord God of Wealth, but the incense went out; he then sent Broom Star to deliver an urgent message.
• Broom Star reached the Lord God of Wealth Hall despite the Northern Pole Exorcism Office's guards, and the Lord God of Wealth set out to investigate the bond.
• The Lord God of Wealth and Broom Star arrived at Red Luan Star Manor, where Matchmaker God welcomed them and invited them inside.

The Matchmaker God revealed that Zhao Wanliang and Sun Yourong were bound by a Severing-Fate Thread, then asked Lord God of Wealth to help him test whether Lu Chen could break it. Lord God of Wealth agreed to keep the plan secret for now, though he warned that the Matchmaker God’s final chance might lead to consequences neither of them could control.

• The Matchmaker God showed Lord God of Wealth the Severing-Fate Thread on Zhao Wanliang and Sun Yourong, which would erase their memories of one another in nine days.
• The Matchmaker God asked Lord God of Wealth not to tell Lu Chen yet because he wanted to test Lu Chen’s abilities before asking for help with a matter that violated heavenly law.
• Lord God of Wealth warned the Matchmaker God to reconsider, but the Matchmaker God insisted that he had already decided to act.
• The Matchmaker God explained that if Lu Chen broke the thread, he would arrange suitable marriages for Zhao Wanliang and Sun Yourong and pursue his larger plan; if Lu Chen failed, the matter would end.
• Lord God of Wealth accepted the plan after warning that events might move beyond their control, and the Matchmaker God called it his final chance.

After learning the Severing-Fate Thread was not a marriage thread and Sun Yourong would be unharmed, Lu Chen discovered that the Matchmaker God had used it to test him and was offering a major commission. Lu Chen decided to try to break the tribulation, drawn by the chance to advance to a great clan, though the commission’s true purpose remained unknown.

• Lord God of Wealth told Broom Star that the thread on Sun Yourong was a Severing-Fate Thread and that the Matchmaker God would entrust Lu Chen with a commission if he broke the tribulation within nine days.
• Broom Star reported that Lu Chen could earn a great-clan advancement opportunity or ten thousand military merits for trying, and that Sun Yourong was only bait for the test.
• Lu Chen calculated that the unknown commission could offer at least sixty thousand military merits, enough to make it a top-tier SS-rank or possibly SSS-rank mission.
• Lu Chen reassured Sun Qingcang and Sun Yourong that Sun Yourong was safe, then explained that the Matchmaker God’s test was aimed at him.
• Lu Chen told them he intended to break the Severing-Fate Thread and admitted that the prospect of the Matchmaker God’s commission had caught his interest.