Chapter Summaries

Lu Chen met Venus Star, who explained that the Jade Emperor had allowed Matchmaker God and Meng Po to reincarnate and revealed that Lu Chen’s elaborate scheme had not outsmarted Heaven. Venus Star then admitted that he had saved Lu Chen from Wang Lingguan’s lash and suggested that Lu Chen might be his incarnation.

• Venus Star confronted Lu Chen over impersonating the City God, and Lu Chen returned to his body and welcomed him inside.
• Venus Star explained that the Heavenly Court’s laws forbade divine love, but the Jade Emperor had spared Matchmaker God and Meng Po so they could reincarnate and pursue mortal love.
• Venus Star told Lu Chen that the Jade Emperor had understood and cooperated with his plan, then questioned why Lu Chen had gone so far as to seek a Heavenly Matchmaker.
• Lu Chen revealed his suspicion that he might be the Jade Emperor’s incarnation, and Venus Star explained that the silver radiance during Wang Lingguan’s lash had come from him.
• Venus Star told Lu Chen that he might be Venus Star’s incarnation, leaving Lu Chen stunned.

Venus Star showed Lu Chen a vision of his past life as a horse bandit and explained that his bond with the Great Heavenly Venerable earned him the Horse-Fodder Registrar position. He said Lu Chen’s scheme against the Matchmaker God had prematurely cut short his good fortune, but Wondrous Daoist Hermit then claimed Venus Star was deceiving him.

• Venus Star told Lu Chen that his fate with the Great Heavenly Venerable came from a karmic bond five hundred years earlier, not from being an incarnation.
• Venus Star showed Lu Chen Zhang Bairen’s descent to the mortal realm, where a young shepherd boy misdirected him toward horse bandits.
• Zhang Bairen withstood the bandit chief’s blows, then tested the man’s desire to become an immortal by making each step toward him cost him years of life.
• The bandit chief died taking the final step, and Zhang Bairen promised to fulfill his wish in a future life after his sins were cleansed.
• Venus Star explained that the bandit leader was Lu Chen in a former life and that his Horse-Fodder Registrar post fulfilled Zhang Bairen’s promise, while his plot against the Matchmaker God had cut short his prospects.
• Wondrous Daoist Hermit eavesdropped from a hotel rooftop and warned Lu Chen not to believe Venus Star.

Venus Star revealed that Lu Chen’s powers remained a mystery to him and warned him to cherish his bond with the Jade Emperor. He then delivered the Jade Emperor’s decree punishing Lu Chen as a guilty strongman under the Heavenly Bureau of Peril, leaving Lu Chen wondering whether the game was still underway.

• Venus Star questioned Lu Chen about his mysterious powers, and Lu Chen claimed they might have been bestowed secretly by the Great Heavenly Venerable.
• Venus Star urged Lu Chen to behave uprightly and said he could ascend to the Heavenly Court after a hundred years of merit.
• Venus Star read the Jade Emperor’s decree sentencing Lu Chen to serve as a guilty strongman for secretly arranging a meeting between the Matchmaker God and Meng Po.
• Venus Star explained that Lu Chen belonged to the Heavenly Bureau of Peril and needed one hundred thousand merits to clear his karmic sins.
• Venus Star said he would conceal Lu Chen’s City God dharma body, then departed as Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong noticed Lu Chen’s return.
• Lu Chen wondered whether the game was still underway after hearing about the Heavenly Bureau of Peril and Pure Source Wondrous Dao True Lord.

Lu Chen completed the task of bringing Matchmaker God and Meng Po together, then went to report to the City Lord's Manor. Meanwhile, Wondrous Daoist Hermit and Venus Star discussed their hidden plans, and Venus Star's interruption provoked the Immortal Lord to destroy a thousand years of his cultivation.

• Lu Chen wondered whether Venus Star's talk of fated ties and his guilty-strongman punishment were part of a larger design, but decided to stop speculating.
• Lu Chen told Xie Qingyi and Fan Rusong that Matchmaker God and Meng Po had met and gotten together, then sent them back to the Netherworld.
• Lu Chen set off for the City Lord's Manor to submit his assignment and pursue his Lu Family's advancement.
• Venus Star found Wondrous Daoist Hermit and asked why he had intervened in Lu Chen's affair with Matchmaker God and Meng Po.
• Wondrous Daoist Hermit and Venus Star discussed how their plans had been shaped by Heavenly Court's pressure and how Lu Chen's suspicions might benefit him.
• Venus Star reminded Wondrous Daoist Hermit that he had promised not to interfere, and Wondrous Daoist Hermit struck him down, erasing a thousand years of his cultivation.

Lu Chen completed the Matchmaker God’s assignment and received a Promotion Rank Ticket, bringing him close to entering the Great Clans. Yu Feng explained that advancement to fifth rank requires Lu Chen to commit to a single cultivation path, and Lu Chen had not yet decided which one to choose.

• Wondrous Daoist Hermit warned Venus Star that Lu Chen’s actions could disrupt the foundation Venus Star had spent a century building, then departed.
• Lu Chen submitted the Matchmaker God’s token to the Spirit Terrace Clerk, who promised to process his reward quickly after Lu Chen gave him a fourth-rank heavenly treasure.
• Yu Feng began scolding Lu Chen for bribing the clerk, but accepted a fifth-rank fire-path heavenly treasure and invited Lu Chen to share tea.
• Lu Chen revealed that the Matchmaker God had rewarded him with a Promotion Rank Ticket, and Yu Feng realized it would let Lu Chen advance toward becoming a Great Clan.
• Lu Chen asked Yu Feng about reaching fifth rank, and Yu Feng explained that spiritualists must choose one cultivation path and focus on it after advancing.

Lu Chen agreed to Yu Feng’s secret-realm development project but refused to let him enter without paying a sixth-rank heavenly treasure, then considered consulting the heavens about his cultivation path. As Lu Chen prepared to advance to a great clan and choose a temple to break, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King uncovered a powerful captive in his pagoda and greeted him as the Great Sage.

• Lu Chen told Yu Feng he had not decided between the Plague Path and the Netherworld Path, then agreed to the secret-realm project but demanded a sixth-rank heavenly treasure for entry.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King learned that Giant Spirit God and the Four Heavenly Kings had helped Lu Chen and received chests of Heavenly Gold, then warned them not to act without permission.
• The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King recounted how Lu Chen’s matchmaking scheme ended with the Matchmaker God and Meng Po erased by the Great Celestial Venerable, and heard that Lu Chen had tied up Wang Lingguan.
• Suspecting a scheme involving his Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King entered its seventh floor and found the Great Sage imprisoned behind a wall.
• Lu Chen finished reporting the Grass Temple Village mission at Jiangcheng No. 3 High School and left after the director marveled at his impending promotion to a great clan.
• Lu Chen considered which family’s temple to break, then spotted a familiar figure and recognized Student Li.

Lu Chen reunited briefly with Li Ruoyi before heading to the South City Factory, while Great Emperor Fengdu settled the dispute over Li City God by approving his promotion and restricting travel between the Heavenly Court and Netherworld. As Lu Chen prepared to return home, he sensed an urgent summons.

• Lu Chen spoke with Li Ruoyi, who said she worked at the North City government office, and watched her leave.
• Great Emperor Fengdu asked Zhang Heng and Yang Yun to weigh Li City God's punishment, and Yang Yun argued that Li City God deserved a reward.
• Great Emperor Fengdu approved Yang Yun's proposal to promote Li City God to Prefectural City God and ordered all immortals and gods to report before traveling between the Heavenly Court and Netherworld.
• Lu Chen met with Zeng Rou and Wang Zhidong at the South City Factory and urged them to keep expanding the market.
• As Lu Chen prepared to go home, he sensed an urgent call summoning him.

Lu Chen received the Red-Fate Dharma Robe and ten thousand immortal merits from the Matchmaker God, who had entered reincarnation with Meng Niang. He asked Broom Star to verify the merits and bring him records about the Imperial Horse Office, then began studying the robe’s divine abilities.

• Broom Star told Lu Chen that the Matchmaker God had left him a jade box containing a letter and the Red-Fate Dharma Robe.
• The Matchmaker God’s letter thanked Lu Chen for helping him and Meng Niang, bestowed the robe’s four divine abilities, and credited Lu Chen with ten thousand immortal merits.
• Broom Star explained that immortal merits could be exchanged for official posts, and agreed to verify Lu Chen’s balance and copy a register of available posts.
• Lu Chen asked Broom Star to bring the Imperial Horse Office documents, and Broom Star delivered a chest of ledgers before leaving for the Office of Fate.
• Lu Chen noticed that the Myriad Transformations Bureau supplied much of the Imperial Horse Office’s fodder at higher prices, suspected possible kickbacks, and then began examining the Red-Fate Dharma Robe’s powers.

Lu Chen discovered the Red-Fate Dharma Robe’s powerful abilities, then learned the Netherworld would not punish him for his recent actions. Emperor Yang invested him as the Prefectural City God of Jiang Province, leaving Lu Chen to turn a chilling gaze on Hu Sanniang.

• Lu Chen examined the Red-Fate Dharma Robe’s abilities and began nourishing the treasure with his spiritual power.
• Emperor Yang arrived at City God Street with an underworld army and ordered Hu Sanniang to fetch Li City God.
• Lu Chen entered Li City God’s dharma body and met Emperor Yang, who said his actions against Wang Lingguan were justified but rebuked him for concealing the Binding Demon Rope.
• Emperor Yang issued a decree investing Li Qingyuan as the Prefectural City God of Jiang Province and bestowed a golden seal and jade register.
• After Emperor Yang departed, Hu Sanniang congratulated Lu Chen, but his sudden, cold stare made her smile freeze.

Lu Chen forced Hu Sanniang to confess that she had helped Zhao Wuya kill Li Qingyuan, then learned that a concealed Heavenly Court envoy had secretly met with Li Qingyuan. Hu Sanniang could not identify the envoy’s divine department, leaving Lu Chen poised to uncover the next part of the secret.

• Lu Chen used the Red-Fate Dharma Robe to detect Hu Sanniang’s deception and confronted her with Zhao Wuya’s account of Li Qingyuan’s murder.
• Hu Sanniang admitted that she had been Li Qingyuan’s concubine and had poisoned his tea so Zhao Wuya and his allies could kill him.
• Hu Sanniang explained that Zhao Wuya’s son, Zhao Jindu, had been regarded as the incarnation of a great immortal before he was made into a Human Pill.
• Hu Sanniang revealed that a disguised Heavenly Court envoy had met privately with Li Qingyuan, who addressed him as Lord Divine Envoy.
• Lu Chen asked which Heavenly Court department the envoy’s token represented, but Hu Sanniang had not yet answered.

Hu Sanniang revealed that a divine envoy from the Heavenly Court’s Myriad Transformations Bureau had helped Zhao Wanliang, and Lu Chen realized the bureau connected to Spirit Cypress Immortal. After sparing Hu Sanniang, Lu Chen questioned how he could trust her and proposed confining her in the Plague Emperor Banner.

• Hu Sanniang told Lu Chen that Li Qingyuan had visited the Zhao family after meeting a divine envoy, and that secret treasures had enhanced Zhao Wanliang’s spiritual nature.
• Hu Sanniang explained that the Four Duty Merit Officers had revealed the treasures’ purpose and identified the token’s plant pattern as belonging to the Myriad Transformations Bureau.
• Lu Chen recognized the bureau as the domain of Spirit Cypress Immortal, while Hu Sanniang begged him to spare her and admitted she had withheld the information from Zhao Wuya.
• Hu Sanniang explained that she betrayed Zhao Wuya because he had cursed her and because she believed his bid for power was doomed, then pledged her loyalty to Lu Chen.
• Lu Chen agreed to spare Hu Sanniang but asked how she could earn his trust, then summoned the Plague Emperor Banner and offered to put her inside it.

Lu Chen took control of Qianjiang City God Street as Prefectural City God and began reshaping its administration. After turning Hu Sanniang into a plague ghost while preserving her consciousness, he left her in charge of the street and planned to make it a divine meeting place for deities of the Three Realms.

• Lu Chen refined Hu Sanniang into the third plague ghost in his Plague Emperor Banner, preserved her consciousness, and placed her under his control.
• Lu Chen traveled with Hu Sanniang to Qianjiang City God Street, assumed office with his Prefectural City God Seal, and declared seven days of free expenses for its inhabitants.
• Lu Chen assigned the fawning Left and Right Judges to work in the privy, then reassured the Five Paths General and other former allies that he had made peace with General Lu.
• Lu Chen gave Hu Sanniang a City God Token to travel between the Jiangdu and Qianjiang City God Streets and ordered her to prepare the street for a Divine Club.
• Lu Chen reflected that Zhao Wuya had become Prefectural City God as he had wished, though only through his death.

After inspecting the City God Hall, Lu Chen suspected that the Great Heavenly Venerable was guiding him to uncover a plot to harvest mortal merit, and he concluded that Wood Virtue Star Lord might be responsible. Broom Star then reported that the merit they had earned had been intercepted, leaving Lu Chen demanding to know who had taken it.

• Lu Chen decided not to appoint a Jiangdu City God yet and told Hu Sanniang to build relationships with the Four Duty Merit Officers.
• Lu Chen traced the chain of events around Madam Zheng’s death and suspected that the Great Heavenly Venerable was steering him toward the truth about the Myriad Transformations Bureau.
• Lu Chen reasoned that Wood Virtue Star Lord might have harvested mortal merit and that the Plague Lord had intervened to protect Madam Zheng.
• Lu Chen waited to see whether events would confirm his theory about the Great Heavenly Venerable’s scheme.
• Broom Star urgently told Lu Chen that their earned immortal merit had been intercepted, and Lu Chen asked who had taken it.

After the Northern Pole Exorcism Office froze the Matchmaker God’s immortal merits, Lu Chen planned to gain control of the Imperial Horse Office and use its authority to counter them. Broom Star agreed to redeem the Horse-Handling Director position and investigate suspicious dealings tied to the Myriad Transformations Bureau, while Lu Chen wondered where the Horse Guardian had gone.

• Broom Star told Lu Chen that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had frozen the Matchmaker God’s merits and tried to seize Lu Chen’s five hundred merits, while several officials received punishments from the Thunder Department.
• Lu Chen asked Broom Star to find a vacant Imperial Horse Office position with real authority and learned that the Horse-Handling Director position cost one thousand merits.
• Broom Star advised Lu Chen to redeem the Horse-Handling Director position, explaining that the role managed the office’s daily operations and the leasing of Heavenly Court steeds.
• Lu Chen accepted Broom Star’s thousand merits and planned to use the office’s control over steeds to make the Northern Pole Exorcism Office wait for its requests.
• Broom Star reported suspicious fodder and provisions accounts, and Lu Chen warned him that immortals in the Myriad Transformations Bureau might be causing trouble in the lower realm.
• Lu Chen told Broom Star to win over Imperial Horse Office officials and asked where the Horse Guardian had gone.

Broom Star explained the history of the Horse-Tending Official and shared clues about powerful figures and the West Ward Sect, prompting Lu Chen to consider a future trip to Xiangnan. In the Heavenly Court, Broom Star defended his choice to serve Lu Chen despite the stigma of Lu Chen’s guilty-strongman status, and suspected the title might carry a deeper purpose.

• Broom Star told Lu Chen how the Horse-Tending Official, later called the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, fought the Heavenly Court and then disappeared, and described later changes involving Buddhism and Pure Source Wondrous Dao True Lord.
• Lu Chen asked Broom Star to invite his master and Lord Jun Cai to visit, as he planned to turn Qianjiang City God Street into a place for deliberations before destroying temples.
• Lu Chen suspected the Great Sage’s disappearance, the failed mission, and the founding of the West Ward Sect were connected, but decided he was not ready to travel to Xiangnan.
• At the Office of Fate, Broom Star accepted a jade plaque for a higher Horse Officer rank after lending out his immortal merit.
• An Office of Fate clerk urged Broom Star to abandon his service to Lu Chen, warning that Lu Chen’s guilty-strongman status would deter other immortals.
• Broom Star rejected the clerk’s advice, argued that immortals might seek Lu Chen’s help, and wondered whether the guilty-strongman title had a deeper purpose.

Broom Star secured the Plague Emperor’s and Lord God of Wealth’s support for Lu Chen’s gathering, while powerful immortals set out for the Divine Empyrean Jade Palace and Purple Tenuity Enclosure. Back in Jiangdu, Lu Chen promised to rebuild his family’s residential compound, then learned that Zhao Wanliang, Wu Jingzhi, and Qin Guangshan were dead.

• Broom Star told the Plague Emperor about Lu Chen’s plan to become Horse Marshal Physician and invited him to City God Street, and the Plague Emperor agreed to attend.
• Broom Star informed Lord God of Wealth of the invitation, and Lord God of Wealth promised to attend as well.
• Zhao Gongming encountered Broom Star on his way to the Divine Empyrean Jade Palace, while a ceremonial carriage left the Dipper Department for the Purple Tenuity Enclosure.
• Lu Chen reassured Mother Lu that the Temple-Breaking affair was not dangerous and agreed to rebuild Southern Mountain Residential Compound for his parents and their neighbors.
• Yu Feng called Lu Chen and told him that Zhao Wanliang, Wu Jingzhi, and Qin Guangshan were dead.

After Zhao Wanliang poisoned Qin Guangshan and Wu Jingzhi and took his own life to obstruct Lu Chen’s rise to a great clan, Lu Chen went to the Netherworld to confront him. Zhao Wanliang claimed he had forced Lu Chen toward a more glorious challenge, and the chapter ended with Lu Chen summoning Zhao Wanliang’s grandfather.

• Lu Chen learned that Zhao Wanliang, Qin Guangshan, and Wu Jingzhi had died from poison, and realized their deaths could block his Temple-Breaking challenge.
• Zhao Jiutang told Lu Chen that Zhao Wanliang was waiting for him on City God Street, so Lu Chen went to the Netherworld.
• Lu Chen found Zhao Wanliang with the spirits of Qin Guangshan and Wu Jingzhi, then took Zhao Wanliang to City God Hall.
• Zhao Wanliang said he had killed the other clan heads so Lu Chen would have to challenge three families alone or defeat the Sun family.
• Lu Chen restrained Zhao Wanliang and summoned Li City God’s dharma body, prompting Zhao Wanliang to tremble at his grandfather’s voice.

Lu Chen learned that Zhao Wanliang had used his death to block Lu Chen’s rise to a great clan unless he broke the Sun family’s temple and ruined his relationship with Sun Yourong. Rejecting that choice, Lu Chen decided to face the Zhao, Wu, and Qin families together, then asked Broom Star to invite Star Lord of Water Virtue.

• Zhao Wanliang revealed that he had arranged his death to force Lu Chen to choose between breaking the Sun family’s temple and remaining unable to rise to a great clan.
• Lu Chen refused to let Zhao Wanliang’s trap dictate his choice, and Hu Sanniang escorted Zhao Wanliang away under normal procedures.
• Yu Feng explained that Lu Chen could wait five years or move his family to another city, but Lu Chen preferred to consider breaking three families’ temples himself.
• Lu Chen counted the chief gods he might face and decided to ask Plague Lord and the others about Temple-Breaking in the Heavenly Court.
• Broom Star reported that he had secured the Horse-Attending Physician position and Plague Lord and Lord Jun Cai had agreed to help.
• Lu Chen told Broom Star that he now needed to break three families’ temples, and asked him to invite Star Lord of Water Virtue.

Zhao Gongming and other immortals were summoned to the Southern Pole Heavenly Palace, while Ziwei and Gouchen punished Tianyou Deputy Marshal and Black Baleful General for detaining Lu Chen’s Immortal Merits. Ziwei revealed that he had arranged the Matchmaker God affair as a test and would now serve as an assisting emperor; the chapter left Lu Chen facing the powerful gods who had arrived at City God Street.

• Thunder Ancestor escorted Zhao Gongming to the Southern Pole Heavenly Palace, where they waited with Longevity Star for the Great Emperor of the Southern Pole, Eternal Life.
• Ziwei and Gouchen confronted Tianyou Deputy Marshal and Black Baleful General over their unauthorized detention of Lu Chen’s ten thousand Immortal Merits, then sentenced them to confinement in the Exorcism Bureau.
• Ziwei told Dipper Mother, Primordial Sovereign that Lu Chen’s fate was unusual, asked her to care for him, and admitted that he had instigated the Matchmaker God affair as a test.
• Ziwei declared that he was willing to serve as an assisting emperor, and True Martial Great Emperor arrived at the Southern Pole Heavenly Palace.
• Lu Chen saw the Plague Great Emperor Haotian, the Lord God of Wealth, Star Lord of Water Virtue, and Yama King arrive at City God Street, then stepped forward to greet them.

Lu Chen invited Plague Lord, Lord God of Wealth, King Yama, and Star Lord of Water Virtue to discuss breaking three temples, but Star Lord of Water Virtue insisted he would defend the Qin family’s temple unless Lu Chen shared his main-hall position. Lu Chen refused and declared that he would have to oppose the Star Lord.

• Lu Chen welcomed the immortals to the City God Hall, while Lord God of Wealth and Star Lord of Water Virtue teased King Yama about being Lu Chen’s sworn father.
• Plague Lord told Lu Chen to dismiss his City God dharma body, and Star Lord of Water Virtue realized Lu Chen had temporarily held the divine rank in the Netherworld.
• Lu Chen explained that he needed to break three temples and listed their eight main-hall deities, including Star Lord of Water Virtue at the Qin family temple.
• Star Lord of Water Virtue agreed not to intervene for Lord God of Wealth’s sake but said he would defend the Qin family if Lu Chen broke its temple.
• Star Lord of Water Virtue offered to improve Lu Chen’s temple’s efficacy if Lu Chen shared its main-hall position, and Lu Chen refused and said he would oppose him.