Recaps

Lu Chen became the Plague-Wielding Young Lord, brought the Rakshasa Cult under his protection, and began building a company and divine temple. After Yu Feng recruited him to investigate a series of killings that destroyed their victims’ souls, King Yama sent Zhong Kui to work with him.

• King Yama stopped the Prefectural City God from attacking Lu Chen, but the City God sealed City God Street and tried to trap them until the Five Plague Envoys arrived and killed him.
• The Five Plague Envoys appointed Zheng Zhangshi the Hundred Flowers Goddess of the Plague Department, and Lu Chen returned her soul to her body before earning 28,200 military merit points.
• The Plague Emperor named Lu Chen the Plague-Wielding Young Lord, gave him a banner and plague formulas, and appointed him Holy Ancestor of the Rakshasa Cult.
• Lu Chen persuaded Yu Feng and the authorities to grant amnesty to the 3,127 Rakshasa Cult members, then brought them to Jiangdu City under his personal guarantee.
• Lu Chen told Zeng Rou and Wang Zhidong to end the Rakshasa Cult and lead its followers in worshipping the Plague Emperor, while he planned clinics and plague treatment through the Plague Department.
• Lu Chen began arranging a temple with Lord God of Wealth and King Yama, and later appointed Zeng Rou and Wang Zhidong to run Lu Corporation and produce Plague Pills.
• Yu Feng asked Lu Chen to investigate four victims killed through the first stages of the Five-Hells Immortal Corpse-Liberation Method, and Lu Chen predicted another killing would follow in three days.
• King Yama sent Zhong Kui to work with Lu Chen on the case, and Zhong Kui appeared in Lu Chen’s office and introduced himself.

Lu Chen restored the Kitchen God's Hearthfire Register to investigate Jiangdu's murders and traced the conspiracy toward Zhao Wanliang and Li City God. After Ma Shilong's capture, Great Emperor Fengdu offered Lu Chen a path to become the Netherworld God of Wealth and left Li City God in place to test him.

• Lu Chen learned the requirements of Five Hells Ascension, but the Four Duty Merit Officers refused to let him consult the Human Register.
• Lu Chen contacted the Kitchen God through offerings at the Wu Family Shrine and promised to restore the Hearthfire Register.
• Lu Chen suspected Zhao Wanliang after learning about his lightning cultivation, frailty, and ruthless conduct.
• Li City God captured Qiu Qianluo, sought Lu Chen's support for promotion, and secretly arranged for Ma Shilong to take the blame.
• Lu Chen restored the Hearthfire Register with Jiangdu's hearthfire aura after the Kitchen God intervened to save his faltering ritual.
• The Kitchen God showed Lu Chen Qiu Qianluo's dealings with Ma Shilong and traced a concealed connection to the Zhao Residence.
• Great Emperor Fengdu warned Lu Chen about Li City God's surveillance and promised to make him the Netherworld God of Wealth if he supplied one trillion Netherworld currency.
• Yu Feng captured Ma Shilong and recovered the black jade, while Great Emperor Fengdu spared Li City God to test Lu Chen's abilities.

Lu Chen advanced to New Nobility, confronted the Zhao family, and secured the Ma Clan Shrine for his temple. In Rongcheng, he discovered that four immortals had sealed a secret realm and prepared to challenge their formation with the Plague Emperor’s aid.

• The Sun and Wu families discussed Lu Chen’s rise, while Li City God revealed his alliance with the Zhao family and his hopes of becoming Netherworld Prefect.
• At the City Lord Assembly, Lu Chen publicly challenged Zhao Wanliang, received approval to advance to New Nobility, and watched Yu Feng strip the Ma family of its title and offer its shrine for auction.
• Lu Chen confronted Zhao Wanliang over his pursuit of Sun Yourong, then acquired the Ma Clan Shrine and received the Kitchen God’s Hearthfire Seed.
• Lu Chen asked Li City God to investigate the Zhao family, while Zhao Wanliang later offered dossiers on the Wu and Qin families in exchange for a truce.
• Lu Chen accepted the Rongcheng rare-treasure mission and traveled there with Sun Yourong, where Xin Yao warned them that an immortal was tied to the secret realm.
• Lu Chen entered the mass grave with his underworld forces, fought its red-clothed ghosts, and escaped after a powerful Ghost King attacked him.
• A Lord of the Land told Lu Chen that four immortals had sealed the realm and that its rare treasure was likely the pivot sustaining it, leading Lu Chen to identify the Four Heavenly Kings.
• Lu Chen secured the Plague Emperor’s promise of aid against the formation, then returned to the village and waited as the Wang family’s young master prepared to enter the secret realm.

Lu Chen broke the Dry-Sky Musical Array with Emperor Wenchang’s blessing and entered the secret realm, where he tried to claim its Realm Pivot. The Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King captured Lu Chen and the realm in his Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda, leaving the Plague Department and its allies confronting the Military Department to demand his release.

• Young Master Wang’s Flying Dragon Sword was shattered by an Invisible Sword Aura, and Lu Chen summoned the Five Direction Plague Envoys to challenge the Ghost King and the Four Heavenly Kings.
• The Four Heavenly Kings removed the first three arrays but left Lu Chen to break the Dry-Sky Musical Array alone, and he sought Emperor Wenchang’s help after failing to cross it.
• Lu Chen impressed Emperor Wenchang in a debate about the Dao, received his blessing, and advanced to the initial stage of Fourth Rank.
• Lu Chen used the Silence Array to destroy the Dry-Sky Musical Array, entered the secret realm, and began a Dragon-Tiger Grand Rite to claim its Realm Pivot.
• As Lu Chen drew the resisting Realm Pivot toward the ritual platform, the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King descended and used his Seven-Treasure Exquisite Pagoda to capture Lu Chen and the secret realm.
• The Kitchen God traced Lu Chen’s capture to the Heavenly Court, and the Plague Lord summoned the Five Plague Envoys while Lord God of Wealth sought help from Star Lord of Water Virtue.
• Lu Chen woke imprisoned in the pagoda’s Weak Waters Realm as the Plague Lord’s forces confronted the Military Department, and the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King refused to release him.