Chapter Summaries

Lu Chen received permission to meet the Supreme One of Fengdu, with King Yama paying the costly underworld merits required for the audience. In Zhoujue Yin Heaven Palace, Great Emperor Fengdu exposed Lu Chen’s false City God identity, blasted his soul from his body, and an evil ghost swallowed Li City God’s Dharma body.

• Judge Cui asked Lu Chen to help him secretly and befriend Lu Chen, while Lu Chen kept his real purpose for visiting to himself.
• King Yama summoned Lu Chen, then took him back to the hall where the black-robed judge announced that the Supreme One had approved his audience.
• King Yama paid one thousand underworld merits for Lu Chen, warned him that the Supreme One could see through his false divine rank, and gave him the sacred decree.
• Lu Chen activated the decree, which carried him to Zhoujue Yin Heaven Palace, where he found an empty, freezing hall and heard Great Emperor Fengdu address him as Registrar Lu.
• Great Emperor Fengdu’s force knocked Lu Chen’s soul from Li City God’s Dharma body, and an enormous evil ghost appeared and swallowed the body.

Lu Chen faced Great Emperor Fengdu over his crimes of killing a false City God and entering the Netherworld under an assumed identity, then offered ten trillion Netherworld currency as atonement. Fengdu agreed to spare him and let him return, but Lu Chen asked him to protect him from the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.

• Great Emperor Fengdu confronted Lu Chen over killing a City God, assuming Li Qingyuan's identity, and trespassing into the Netherworld.
• Lu Chen asked Fengdu to let Matchmaker God and Meng Po meet, then questioned whether he was Fengdu's avatar or someone else's.
• Fengdu told Lu Chen not to obsess over whether he was an avatar and demanded that he answer for his crimes.
• Lu Chen explained that he had secured ten trillion Netherworld currency through the Chang and Lao families, and Fengdu agreed to spare him and let him return if he left the false City God's dharma body behind.
• Lu Chen insisted that he needed the dharma body to fulfill Matchmaker God's commission and asked Fengdu to shield him from the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.

Lu Chen asked Great Emperor Fengdu to open the Netherworld gates so the Matchmaker God could meet Meng Po, then sought help against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office. Fengdu offered to help if Lu Chen vowed to bring half the mortal world's incense offerings into the Netherworld within three years, but forbade him from using Netherworld forces against the Office.

• Great Emperor Fengdu threatened Lu Chen and demanded to hear his plans, so Lu Chen explained his request for the Matchmaker God and revealed his concerns about the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Lu Chen cited Lord God of Wealth's account of Fengdu's past ties to the Office, but stayed silent when Fengdu pressed him for more details.
• Great Emperor Fengdu offered to open the Netherworld gates if Lu Chen swore to bring half the mortal world's incense offerings there within three years, and gave him Li City God's dharma body to use.
• Lu Chen accepted the vow, and Fengdu warned that failure would leave him as a yin puppet in Zhoujue Yin Heaven Palace.
• Great Emperor Fengdu forbade Lu Chen from using schemes to rally Netherworld soldiers and clerks against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office, exposing Lu Chen's intended plan.

Lu Chen sought Great Emperor Fengdu’s support for his plan against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office, but learned the Sovereign would offer only a promise and advice. Fengdu warned him that Meng Po might refuse to meet Matchmaker God and revealed that He, not the Jade Emperor, had caused her aged appearance.

• Great Emperor Fengdu saw through Lu Chen’s plan to use Netherworld forces against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and refused to provide personnel or supplies.
• Lu Chen reaffirmed that he would continue despite Fengdu’s limited support, and Fengdu offered him a promise and pointers.
• Fengdu warned Lu Chen that Meng Po might not agree to meet Matchmaker God, and explained that she had once sought to have Matchmaker God naturalized as an Underworld Matchmaker.
• Fengdu described how heavenly officials could transfer to Netherworld posts and recalled that Meng Po and Matchmaker God had fled there without authorization.
• After Lu Chen repeated King Yama’s account that the Jade Emperor had aged Meng Po, Fengdu denied it and implied that he was responsible.

Great Emperor Fengdu revealed that Meng Po’s punishment had been lenient and promised Matchmaker God an underworld divine post if Lu Chen succeeded in his task. With his usual allies constrained, Lu Chen asked for guidance, and Great Emperor Fengdu hinted that he should seek help from a powerful but obscure Heavenly Court department.

• Great Emperor Fengdu explained that Meng Po had left to preserve Matchmaker God’s hope, and promised to let Matchmaker God serve as an Underworld Marriage Envoy if Lu Chen succeeded.
• Great Emperor Fengdu revealed that he had once intended Meng Po to succeed the Wheel-Turning King, while Lu Chen wondered whether the current king’s misconduct had been carried out with the Supreme One’s knowledge or orders.
• Lu Chen admitted he had no plan and asked Great Emperor Fengdu for guidance after his usual sources of support had been constrained.
• Great Emperor Fengdu explained the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s strength and history, then urged Lu Chen to seek a powerful Heavenly Court department or division that he might reach through offerings.

After leaving Zhoujue Yin Heaven Palace, Lu Chen told King Yama that the Supreme One had agreed to open the Netherworld gates for the Matchmaker God, then encountered Tai Sui Yuan Duke on the way back to Fengdu. Yuan Duke’s attention settled on Lu Chen, who feared his secret had been discovered.

• Great Emperor Fengdu sent Lu Chen out of Zhoujue Yin Heaven Palace after declining to give him further guidance.
• Lu Chen returned to the Sage-Visitation Pavilion and met King Yama, then told him the Supreme One had agreed to open the Netherworld gates for the Matchmaker God.
• King Yama questioned Lu Chen about his plans to oppose the Heavenly Laws, and Lu Chen said he would try despite the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s strength.
• Lu Chen and King Yama encountered Yuan Duke’s sedan chair as it headed to present the Tai Sui Department’s annual records to the Supreme One.
• Yuan Duke noticed Lu Chen and focused a heavy beam of divine light on him, making Lu Chen fear that Yuan Duke had seen through him.

Lu Chen left the Netherworld after Tai Sui Yuan Duke discovered his false divine identity but found that Lu Chen’s karmic record had been altered. Back in Jiangdu, Lu Chen asked Broom Star which Heavenly Court department could oppose the Northern Pole Exorcism Office, and Broom Star pointed him toward the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court.

• Tai Sui Yuan Duke used the Nether-Illuminating Mirror and Merit-and-Demerit Ledger to identify Lu Chen and discover that much of his record had been erased, then hurried to report the anomaly to the Star Lord.
• Lu Chen left the Hall of Yama, while King Yama and his officials discussed his growing recklessness and hoped their relationship had not been damaged.
• At Meng Po Pavilion, Lu Chen told Fan Rusong that he intended to arrange more than a simple reunion between Meng Po and the Matchmaker God.
• Lu Chen returned to his body in Jiangdu, dismissed Li Qingyuan into the Plague Banner, and asked Broom Star which Heavenly Court department could stand against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Broom Star recommended the Tai Sui Department’s Yin Marshal and Marshal Yang, along with the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court led by their two Star Lords.

Lu Chen decided to seek the Tai Sui Department’s help against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and sent Broom Star to ask Plague Lord for guidance. At Fortune-Bearing Palace, Yin Marshal told Marshal Yang that signs of imperial light had appeared near Lu Chen, indicating a mighty being had been there.

• Broom Star explained that the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court could give Lu Chen a chance against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office, unless its strongest figures joined forces.
• Lu Chen decided to offer worship to Tai Sui and asked Broom Star to consult Plague Lord before he sent a letter to the Tai Sui Department.
• Broom Star said he was busy at the Imperial Horse Office with Growth Heavenly King, and Lu Chen asked him to organize its documents for review.
• At Fortune-Bearing Palace, Yin Marshal reported to Marshal Yang that Lunar Star Lord’s patrol had likely sent Lu Chen to Haicheng at the Moon Goddess’s behest.
• Yin Marshal revealed that imperial light had appeared near Lu Chen’s route back to Jiangdu, and Marshal Yang concluded that a being at least at the Six Royals level had appeared there.

Yin Marshal and Marshal Yang suspected that the Horse-Fodder Registrar might be an incarnation of a great power and decided to use the opportunity to approach him. As Broom Star hurried toward the Plague Department, Yin Marshal intercepted him with his divine eyes.

• Marshal Yang and Yin Marshal speculated that the Horse-Fodder Registrar might be an incarnation of the Great Celestial Venerable, destined for great rank or tied to a coming tribulation.
• The marshals discussed how the registrar had uncovered a human demon impersonating Jiangdu City’s City God, then taken its place and entered the Netherworld.
• Yin Marshal and Marshal Yang agreed to learn why the registrar had gone to the Netherworld and chose Broom Star to carry a message to him.
• Yin Marshal used his Dharma eyes to find Broom Star traveling toward the Plague Department, then vanished from Fortune-Bearing Palace to intercept him.
• Yin Marshal stopped Broom Star in a darkened void and asked why he was in such a hurry, and Broom Star recognized him in alarm.

Broom Star told Lu Chen that Yin Marshal wanted him to meet Marshal Yang, and Lu Chen summoned Marshal Yang through a freshly carved statue. Marshal Yang warned Lu Chen about the Heavenly Court’s penalties for privately making divine statues, then began discussing Lu Chen’s recent actions.

• Yin Marshal interrogated Broom Star about his journey, then restored his damaged cultivation and ordered him to tell Registrar Lu to worship Marshal Yang.
• Broom Star reported the encounter to Lu Chen, who agreed to meet Marshal Yang and said he intended to contend with the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Lu Chen carved a statue of Marshal Yang and summoned him with incense and the Grand Marshal Incantation.
• Marshal Yang warned Lu Chen that each privately made statue was recorded by the Four Duty Merit Officers and could cost him merit.
• Marshal Yang said Lu Chen had been making many moves lately.

Lu Chen revealed that the Sovereign of Fengdu had agreed to open the Netherworld for the Matchmaker God, then sought help from Marshal Yang’s Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court against the Northern Pole Exorcism Office. Marshal Yang returned to the Heavenly Court to warn Yin Marshal, who considered whether the chance to promote their court was worth fighting for.

• Marshal Yang questioned Lu Chen about his Netherworld mission and learned that the Matchmaker God had sent him to arrange a meeting with Meng Po.
• Lu Chen admitted that the Sovereign of Fengdu had agreed to open the Netherworld’s gates for the Matchmaker God.
• Lu Chen began asking Marshal Yang for help from the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court, but Marshal Yang abruptly returned to the Heavenly Court.
• Marshal Yang told Yin Marshal that Lu Chen wanted their court to oppose the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Yin Marshal asked whether Marshal Yang would fight True Lord Tianpeng and the True Martial Great Emperor if victory could lead to their court’s promotion.

Yin Marshal and Marshal Yang agreed to help Lu Chen oppose the Northern Pole Exorcism Office, but decided to demand advancement for their offices in exchange. After the Plague Lord warned the Broom Star that Lu Chen must consider the consequences, Marshal Yang told Lu Chen he would agree and awaited his response to the conditions.

• Yin Marshal argued that the Tai Sui Department had been denied authority and urged Marshal Yang to fight for the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court's advancement.
• Marshal Yang proposed an aboveboard pretext for intervening, and Yin Marshal agreed to proceed while Marshal Yang negotiated with Lu Chen on the condition of advancing their offices.
• The Plague Lord told the Broom Star to warn Lu Chen that his plan would have irreversible consequences, then reflected on Lu Chen's connection to the Lunar Heavenly Patrol and the Matchmaker God.
• The Broom Star told Lu Chen that Marshal Yang wanted him to offer incense and invite him again, and Lu Chen did so at Cloudtop Manor.
• Marshal Yang appeared through the statue, said he could agree to Lu Chen's request, and Lu Chen asked what conditions he required.

Lu Chen secured Marshal Yang’s support for carrying out the Matchmaker God’s commission, while promising to help the Tai Sui Department’s Evil-Quelling Court gain a place among the Three Bureaus if he ever gained the power. He then set out to test how much the Matchmaker God was willing to sacrifice for Meng Po.

• Marshal Yang explained that the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court had been excluded from the Heavenly Court’s One Prefecture, Two Courts, Three Bureaus structure and asked Lu Chen to help it enter the Three Bureaus someday.
• Lu Chen agreed to help if he gained the ability, and Marshal Yang promised the Tai Sui Department would support him in return.
• Marshal Yang said he would arrange for the Sixty Jiazi Grand Marshals to cleanse baleful intent in the Netherworld, giving the Evil-Quelling Court a legitimate reason to hold back the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• After Marshal Yang’s divine consciousness vanished, Lu Chen considered whether the Matchmaker God could truly live with Meng Po in the Netherworld and decided to test his resolve.
• Lu Chen appeared at the Zhao Family Temple and paid to light incense for the Matchmaker God.

Lu Chen met the Matchmaker God in his sea of consciousness and confirmed that the Netherworld gates had opened and his plan for the Northern Pole Exorcism Office was ready. After learning the truth behind the Three-Three Principle and the Matchmaker God's thousand-year effort to reunite with Meng Po, Lu Chen offered to arrange a heavenly match for him.

• Lu Chen visited the Matchmaker God Hall, entered the Matchmaker God's sea of consciousness, and told him that the Netherworld gates had opened and his plan for the Northern Pole Exorcism Office was in place.
• The Matchmaker God explained that he had chosen the Engagement Office partly to help lovers and partly to try to restore his marriage fate with Meng Po.
• The Matchmaker God revealed that the Three-Three Principle grew from his efforts to fulfill the Nine-Nine Pact for His Majesty Ziwei's mortal incarnation, in exchange for permission to meet Meng Po.
• The Matchmaker God said His Majesty Ziwei had not kept the promise after the pact was fulfilled, so he had sought another way to meet Meng Po.
• The Matchmaker God declared he would risk heavenly imprisonment or death in the Thunder Pool to see Meng Po, and Lu Chen offered to arrange a heavenly match for him.

Lu Chen enlisted Matchmaker God in a plan to arrange a match with Meng Po, then went to the Netherworld in his City God disguise to carry it out. Wondrous Daoist Hermit watched his scheme unfold, and Meng Po rose when Lu Chen named Matchmaker God.

• Lu Chen offered to arrange a marriage between Matchmaker God and Meng Po, then revealed a plan that shocked Matchmaker God.
• Zhao Zhihong reported Zhao Wanliang’s breakdown after Zhao Wuya’s death, and Lu Chen punished Zhao Zhihong for trying to curry favor by betraying his master.
• Lu Chen possessed Li City God’s dharma body, guarded his physical body with a hundred yin soldiers, and opened the gates of the Netherworld.
• Wondrous Daoist Hermit appeared in the sealed room and observed that Lu Chen had put the Jade Emperor in a dilemma by openly breaking Heaven’s rules.
• Lu Chen met Meng Po at her pavilion and told her he had come at Underworld Martial and Virtuous General’s request to discuss Matchmaker God, prompting her to stand abruptly.

Lu Chen revealed his identity to Meng Po and offered to reunite her with Matchmaker God, prompting her to accept marriage after a thousand years apart. Three days later, Lu Chen entered the Netherworld amid a major evil-suppression operation and prepared to confront whoever had been manipulating him.

• Lu Chen told Meng Po that Matchmaker God had arranged the Spirit Cypress Immortal mission to meet her, then revealed that he was Lu Chen rather than Li Qingyuan.
• Meng Po told Boil Uncle and Sending Sister that she would marry Matchmaker God, and Sending Sister embraced her with joy.
• Matchmaker God entrusted Red Luan Star Manor to Azure Luan and Fire Phoenix, who accepted his command with tears.
• Fan Rusong reported that the Netherworld was under martial law and that the Bridge of Helplessness had been cleared of interference.
• Lu Chen possessed Li City God, entered the Netherworld, and planted the Plague Emperor Banner beside the Bridge of Helplessness as Matchmaker God arrived.

The Matchmaker God entered the Netherworld and, with Lu Chen’s guards escorting him, set out to meet Meng Po. As the Heavenly Court’s nine bolts of violet-gold lightning signaled the Great Heavenly Venerable’s wrath, the Plague Lord and Dipper Mother, Primordial Sovereign considered the danger surrounding Lu Chen’s plan.

• Great Emperor Fengdu watched Lu Chen through the Profound Light Mirror and warned that he would resist anyone plotting against the Netherworld.
• The Matchmaker God entered the Netherworld despite the heavenly decree that caused thorns to pierce him, and Lu Chen’s hundred yin soldiers escorted him in wedding attire toward Meng Po Pavilion.
• Lu Chen learned from Marshal Yang that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had discovered the Matchmaker God’s entry and might send officers to arrest him.
• The Matchmaker God reached Meng Po Pavilion and called out to Meng Niang while Lu Chen prepared for the approaching threat.
• Nine bolts of violet-gold divine lightning pierced the Thirty-Three Heavens, alarming the immortals and revealing the Great Heavenly Venerable’s fury.
• The Plague Lord worried over the consequences of Lu Chen’s scheme, while Dipper Mother, Primordial Sovereign traced the events to Lu Chen and wondered whether he was an incarnation of her son or the Great Heavenly Venerable.

Dipper Mother, Primordial Sovereign discovered that Lu’s fate had been deliberately concealed and suspected treason among the Six Imperials. As the Northern Pole Exorcism Office prepared to await a decree before acting against Matchmaker God, Venus Star remained confident that the crisis would push His Majesty Ziwei to side with His Majesty the Great Heavenly Venerable.

• Dipper Mother, Primordial Sovereign tried to divine the boy’s fate, found it blank, and suspected that one of the Six Imperials harbored treasonous intentions.
• Nine-Heavens Thunderbolt Universalizing Heavenly Venerable ordered the Thunder Department gods to stay at their posts and leave the matter to the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Lord God of Wealth feared that Matchmaker God would be overwhelmed by the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and regretted agreeing to Matchmaker God’s earlier request.
• Black Baleful General urged the Four Sages to seize Matchmaker God, but True Lord Deputy Marshal Tianyou insisted they wait for a lawful decree.
• True Lord Marshal Tianpeng suspected the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court had gone to the Netherworld prepared, while True Martial Great Emperor advised following the law and awaiting the decree.
• At Bright Spirit Mountain, Venus Star reproached Friend Lu for being outmaneuvered but confidently predicted that His Majesty Ziwei would finally side with His Majesty the Great Heavenly Venerable.

Venus Star received the Great Celestial Venerable’s decree as Ziwei and the Great Celestial Venerable competed to recruit Lu Chen into their service. At the Northern Pole Exorcism Office, Venus Star challenged Tianpeng over the office’s unauthorized investigation of Lu Chen, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Venus Star explained that the scheme had targeted Ziwei’s hopes and received the Great Celestial Venerable’s decree to manage Lu Chen’s case discreetly.
• Ziwei ordered Tianpeng and True Martial Great Emperor to capture the Matchmaker God and bring Lu Chen into the Northern Pole Exorcism Office as Mingyang Law Officer.
• Tianpeng prepared to descend into the Netherworld while True Martial Great Emperor was to send demon-subduing generals to Jiangdu to capture Lu Chen.
• Venus Star arrived with the Great Celestial Venerable’s decree, prompting Ziwei’s earlier edict to vanish.
• Tianpeng admitted that Ziwei had also ordered Lu Chen to serve as Yangming Magistrate, and Venus Star accused the Northern Pole Exorcism Office of violating procedure by investigating mortal affairs without approval.

Venus Star relayed Haotian’s orders: Tianyou and Black Baleful General would arrest Matchmaker God, while Tianpeng and Lingying Yousheng would lead troops against the Outer Heavenly Sea. As two Northern Pole sages descended into the Netherworld, Emperor Wenchang cut another third of his fate connection with Lu Chen and warned his attendants to stay out of Lu Chen’s affairs.

• Venus Star announced Haotian’s decree and claimed Lu Chen would face separate severe punishment for arranging marriages between immortal officials.
• Tianpeng and Lingying Yousheng led one hundred thousand soldiers toward the Outer Heavenly Sea, while Tianyou and Black Baleful General mustered divine generals to arrest Matchmaker God in the Netherworld.
• Venus Star descended to Jiangdu to wait for Lu Chen and avoid exposing his City God rank.
• Tianyou and Yisheng Baode led a vast army through the Netherworld gate, stunning the Heavenly Court with the scale of the deployment.
• Emperor Wenchang severed another third of his fate connection with Lu Chen and told the Vermilion-Robed Divine General and Kui Star Lord not to involve their office.