Recaps

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.

The Matchmaker God and Meng Po celebrated their long-awaited wedding in the Netherworld, but the Northern Pole Exorcism Office shattered the boundary and invaded before they could enter the bridal chamber. Lu Chen welcomed the arriving army while the Ten Kings of Yama watched, and King Yama privately worried about the calamity Lu Chen had provoked.

• Meng Po and the Matchmaker God exchanged wedding vows at Meng Po Pavilion, with Boil Uncle and Sending Sister celebrating alongside them.
• The Northern Pole Exorcism Office tore through the barrier between yin and yang, and Li City God told the newlyweds to remain inside the pavilion.
• Lu Chen watched the heavenly army pour into the Netherworld and declared that he had been waiting for them.
• The Ten Kings of Yama left Yama Hall and saw Tianyou Deputy Marshal and Black Baleful General lead the Northern Pole Exorcism Office into the Netherworld.
• King Yama privately reflected that Lu Chen had stirred up a heavenly calamity, while King Qin Guang grew suspicious that he knew what was happening.

The Ten Yama Kings watched the Northern Pole Exorcism Office descend into the Netherworld, while the Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui discussed their wager on Registrar Lu. As Lu Chen’s allies blocked the Heavenly Court’s forces, Yin Marshal arrived to confront General Black Fiend.

• King Qin Guang and Yama King argued over the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s arrival, while King Chu Jiang questioned whether Yama King knew more than he admitted.
• The Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui discussed Registrar Lu’s unusual fortune and agreed to watch whether he emerged safely from the coming conflict.
• The Northern Pole Exorcism Office declared that it would seize the Matchmaker God and Meng Po, but Lu Chen ordered the attack blocked and heavenly fire destroyed its two divine bolts.
• Marshal Yang invoked the Grand Tai Sui Evil-Quelling Rite, and he and Deputy Marshal Tianyou argued over whether the rite justified obstructing the Northern Pole Exorcism Office.
• Yin Marshal arrived beneath the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court’s archway and challenged General Black Fiend for belittling his court.

Yin Marshal blocked Tianyou Deputy Marshal from arresting the Matchmaker God until the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court completed its duties, and fought back when the Northern Pole Exorcism Office challenged him. The Netherworld Sovereign and the Five Ghost Emperors then appeared, bringing the confrontation to a halt.

• Yin Marshal told Tianyou Deputy Marshal that he could arrest the Matchmaker God and Meng Po only after the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court finished its evil-quelling duties.
• The Matchmaker God and Meng Po entered the bridal chamber while the Jade Emperor’s Thorn Heavenly Edict continued to torment him.
• When Heavenly Chief Star accused Yin Marshal of defying heavenly authority, Yin Marshal trapped him in a Star-Domain Field until Tianyou Deputy Marshal broke it and freed him.
• Tianyou Deputy Marshal asked the Netherworld Sovereign whether he would also prevent the arrest, and a vast phantom of the Sovereign appeared over the Yin Sky.
• The Five Ghost Emperors appeared beside the Sovereign as the Netherworld’s ghosts and Ten Kings of Hell knelt.

Great Emperor Fengdu refused to intervene in the dispute between the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court, but opened the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore as a place for them to fight. The two forces entered and clashed, leaving King Qin Guang wondering what influence Lu’s mortal ally held over the Supreme One.

• Great Emperor Fengdu admitted his failure to supervise Matchmaker God but said he could not interfere between the Northern Pole Exorcism Office and the Evil-Quelling Grand Rite.
• Great Emperor Fengdu tore open the Yin Heaven and revealed the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore, inviting the two sides to fight there rather than damage the Netherworld.
• Yin Marshal challenged Deputy Marshal Tianyou to either fight or wait until the rite was finished, and Deputy Marshal Tianyou accepted a battle to decide which side would withdraw.
• The Heaven-Connecting Other Shore swept both forces inside, where Yin Marshal struck the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s formation with his battle-axe and Marshal Tianyou blocked the blow.
• The battle’s shockwaves shook Fengdu City, while King Qin Guang questioned why the Supreme One had exposed the Netherworld and wondered who the brat was.

Great Emperor Fengdu opened the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore and welcomed the Heavenly Court’s attention, allowing more than a hundred great powers’ divine senses to descend as Yin Marshal battled Tianyou Deputy Marshal. Lu Chen was crushed beneath their overwhelming pressure as he watched the heavens lower their gaze upon the Netherworld.

• Zhang Heng questioned Great Emperor Fengdu about the Heavenly Court noticing the Other Shore, but Fengdu welcomed the scrutiny and decided to help make the commotion bigger.
• The Other Shore’s opening spread Yin clouds and lightning across the Heavenly Court, and lesser immortals fled after more than a hundred powerful divine senses pierced the barrier.
• Yin Marshal nearly shattered Tianyou Deputy Marshal’s golden formation with a single axe strike and mocked him when he claimed he would stop showing mercy.
• More than a hundred Heavenly Court great powers sent projections of divine sense into the Other Shore, making both armies stiffen in surprise.
• Lu Chen was pinned beneath the divine pressure and watched the great powers descend, thinking, “The heavens lower their gaze” and “Hundred Lords Observe the Netherworld!!!!!”

Lu Chen watched the Heavenly Court’s great powers descend as Yin Marshal and Tianyou Deputy Marshal clashed in the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore, while Marshal Yang confronted Black Baleful General elsewhere. The battles escalated before the assembled observers, and Lu Chen was inspired to pursue the path of Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood.

• Great Emperor Fengdu concealed Lu Chen’s identity from most of the descended powers, and Lu Chen stayed to watch the conflict unfold.
• Yin Marshal accused Tianyou Deputy Marshal of obstructing the Evil-Quelling rite, and Tianyou Deputy Marshal refused to back down under the Great Heavenly Venerable’s decree.
• Yin Marshal manifested the Twelve Earthly Branches and fought Tianyou Deputy Marshal, who wielded four magical treasures and summoned eighteen thunder generals.
• As the battle shook the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore, Lu Chen watched the marshals’ power and thought that Fleshly Body Attaining Sainthood might lead him to success.
• Marshal Yang confronted Black Baleful General and engulfed him in five-colored divine flames from the Five-Fire Treasure Fan.

Marshal Yang broke through the Black Baleful General’s Nether Capital Battle Domain with his Radiance of Time, but the two powers became locked in a stalemate. Meanwhile, the Northern Pole Exorcism Office’s 108 generals faced the 59 Jiazi Grand Marshals, and both sides challenged each other over their authority and conduct.

• The Black Baleful General expanded his Nether Capital Battle Domain and swallowed the Five-Colored Divine Flames, but Marshal Yang attacked it with the power of his four divine eyes.
• The Black Baleful General’s wheel repaired the domain and resisted Marshal Yang’s golden light, but Marshal Yang’s Radiance of Time pierced through and began destroying it.
• The Black Baleful General used the wheel to draw in the River of Forgetfulness and slow Marshal Yang’s Radiance of Time, leaving the two Star Lords’ powers in a stalemate.
• The 108 generals of the Northern Pole Exorcism Office confronted the 59 Jiazi Grand Marshals, and the Heavenly Chief Star challenged them to fight.
• Dingmao, Jisi, and Guixi Grand Marshals invoked their authority and accused the Northern Pole generals of violating the Earth Division’s grand sacrifice, prompting both sides to trade threats.

The Heavenly Dippers and Earthly Fiends clashed with the fifty-nine Jiazi Grand Marshals in a fierce battle across the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore. After the Tai Sui shattered the enemy’s first assault with a time-manipulating sundial, Heavenly Chief Star prepared to use the Seven Absolutes Grand Formation to break their divine art.

• Heavenly Chief Star used the thirty-six Heavenly Dippers’ stellar net against the fifty-nine Tai Sui’s Jiazi Year Formation, and their collision shook the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore.
• Yin Marshal and Tianyou Deputy Marshal exchanged divine beams, with Yin Marshal forced farther back but continuing his attack in battle fury.
• The seventy-two Earthly Fiends attacked the Tai Sui Year Stars, but the fifty-nine annual Tai Sui raised their seals and drove the Earthly Fiends back.
• The Heavenly Dippers and Earthly Fiends joined forces against the Tai Sui, shattering the temporal millstone and wounding all fifty-nine Jiazi Grand Marshals.
• The Tai Sui formed a sundial from their star talismans and trapped their enemies in chaotic time, causing the Earthly Fiends’ attacks to strike their own allies.
• Heavenly Chief Star bloodied the Chief Star Brush and called on the Heavenly Dippers to use the Seven Absolutes Grand Formation of the Big Dipper Star Lords.

The Northern Pole Exorcism Office and the Earth Division Evil-Quelling Court fought an all-out battle in the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore while Lu Chen grew suspicious that the Northern Pole had anticipated the Netherworld trap. At the Outer Heavenly Sea, True Lord Tianpeng told True Martial Great Emperor that there was no need to wait any longer.

• The Heavenly Spirits joined their power through the Heavenly Chief Star Brush and struck the sundial with seven phantom natal stars, while Great Emperor Fengdu struggled to protect the Heaven-Connecting Other Shore from the battle’s force.
• The Five Ghost Emperors warned Great Emperor Fengdu that the fighting could draw the Great Celestial Venerable’s wrath, but he chose to remain uninvolved as the courts continued clashing.
• Star Lord of Water Virtue and the Plague Lord discussed the consequences for Lu Chen, while the Plague Lord watched him and wondered whether the turmoil had gone as he wished.
• Lu Chen watched the evenly matched battle and suspected that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had expected the Evil-Quelling Court’s intervention, leaving him uneasy about their hidden plan.
• At the Outer Heavenly Sea, True Lord Tianpeng summoned a vast thunder pool and told True Martial Great Emperor, “Fourth Brother, no need to wait any longer!”

The Northern Pole Exorcism Office held back its full strength while battling the Evil-Quelling Court, waiting for a powerful arrival. Lu Chen and the Netherworld observers expected a decisive trump card, but the newcomer was Huo Luo Fire Chariot Wang Lingguan, whose appearance alarmed Wheel-Turning King.

• Yin Marshal overwhelmed Tianyou Deputy Marshal in close combat, while Marshal Yang and Black Baleful General fought to a stalemate with their battle domains.
• Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui discussed how the battle might affect Lu Chen's plans as the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches prepared their Myriad Arts Evil-Quelling Formation.
• Tianyou Deputy Marshal ordered the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches to hold back the Jiazi Grand Marshals instead of unleashing their killing move, prompting Wheel-Turning King and Judge Cui to suspect the Northern Pole Exorcism Office was waiting for someone.
• Lu Chen sensed that the Northern Pole Exorcism Office had kept a trump card in reserve and looked anxiously toward the Netherworld's skies.
• A golden light tore open the sky, and a golden-armored divine general carrying a thunder-wreathed whip appeared; Lu Chen recognized that he was not the True Martial Great Emperor, while Wheel-Turning King identified him as Huo Luo Fire Chariot Wang Lingguan and panicked.