Chapter Summaries

Lu Ren survived Guang Chengzi’s self-destruction, upgraded his Bodhisattva path, and attained Bodhisattva Fruition. He left Guang Chengzi’s Great Spirit World in ruins, but other powerful spirits intervened and kept Lu Ren from reaching him.

• Guang Chengzi hugged Lu Ren and detonated himself, destroying the manifested city, but Lu Ren survived and used the System to upgrade his Bodhisattva path.
• Lu Ren regenerated with the Crimson Dragon Inner Core, attained Bodhisattva Fruition, and advanced his physical body and spiritual realm to First Tier, Seventh Level.
• Lu Ren refused Guang Chengzi’s offer to talk and attacked his followers, tearing open black rifts as he pursued them through the Great Spirit World.
• Guang Chengzi repaired the rifts, but Lu Ren’s rampage caused the Great Spirit World to collapse before several radiant figures halted the spreading destruction.
• The radiant figures restrained Lu Ren by extending the distance between him and them, so he turned and lunged at Guang Chengzi instead.

Lu Ren was dragged with Guang Chengzi into a Spatial Rift, where Guang Chengzi escaped and Lu Ren was pulled into the Netherworld. Lu Ren began moving toward a Yang World region and used the Earth Mantra to destroy the surrounding demonic and ghostly creatures.

• Lu Ren seized Guang Chengzi as he tried to leave, and Guang Chengzi dragged them both out of the Great Spirit World into a Spatial Rift.
• Guang Chengzi tore off one arm to escape Lu Ren, who was then pulled through the rift and entered the Netherworld.
• Lu Ren learned that the system was calibrating a dimensional anchor for his return to the real world and headed toward the nearest Yang World region.
• Lu Ren used Buddhist power and Bright Yang True Qi to erase the Netherworld's demonic creatures as he traveled.
• Lu Ren unleashed the Earth Mantra, destroying the evil beings surrounding him across a three-li radius.

Lu Ren returned to the ruined Chentai City and encountered a Great Resentful One that imitated his appearance and sought to devour him. He badly wounded it with a powerful punch, learning that it was a conglomeration of resentment left by the city’s million dead.

• Lu Ren entered Chentai City and absorbed some of its dense yin energy, converting it into Bright Yang Qi.
• Lu Ren resisted the earthbound spirits’ influence and ignored the bizarre citizens and monsters as he walked through the devastated city.
• Lu Ren visited the ruined Prefect’s Manor, where he remembered Cao Jingde and his own past death there.
• A Great Resentful One emerged from the darkness, copied Lu Ren’s Bodhisattva appearance, and claimed it would take his power by eating him.
• Lu Ren struck the Great Resentful One with Bright Yang True Qi and a powerful punch, sending it crashing through buildings.
• Lu Ren realized the creature was likely formed from the resentment of Chentai City’s million dead.

Lu Ren defeated and delivered the Resentful One collective in Chentai City, then traveled to Xiang Yang and entered a powerful Yang Membrane. He suspected the region was the Netherworld’s last refuge of human vitality and wondered whether Guang Chengzi had reached it.

• Lu Ren overwhelmed the Resentful One with a barrage of blows, then used the Deliverance Chapter of the Reality Tathagata True Skill to destroy it and earn a Skill Point.
• After confirming that Chentai City held nothing more worth investigating, Lu Ren took a sack of gold and raced toward Xiang Yang.
• Lu Ren reached a Yang Membrane roughly thirty li thick and plunged into it, feeling its warmth and cleansing energy.
• Inside the Yang Membrane, Lu Ren concluded that the area might be the Netherworld’s final place of vitality for humanity and wondered whether Guang Chengzi had entered it.

Lu Ren arrived in Juliu City, explored its defenses and districts, and arranged to obtain household registration through the broker Wang Zhihuan. He agreed to stay in Wang Zhihuan’s courtyard for the night and planned to visit the government offices the next morning.

• Lu Ren entered Juliu City, where his imposing appearance intimidated Young Master Chen after he insulted Lu Ren’s physique.
• Lu Ren bought a fitted black martial outfit from a clothing shop using a gold ingot.
• Lu Ren explored Juliu City and sensed powerful auras, while realizing his dimensional anchor would need time to determine its coordinates.
• Lu Ren asked broker Wang Zhihuan to help him obtain household registration so he could buy a house, offering him a gold ingot.
• Wang Zhihuan offered Lu Ren a place to stay and proposed registering him under his nephew Wang Feng’s household record.
• Lu Ren accepted the guest room in Wang Zhihuan’s courtyard and inspected its well-equipped facilities.

Lu Ren bought a residence in Juliu City and spent a quiet month cultivating there. Meanwhile, two Martial Persons learned that Wang Feng was alive and set out to find him, while Lu Ren watched a couple arguing by the river.

• Lu Ren inspected a residence with Wang Zhihuan, met its owner Chen Bao, and praised his belief that scholarship could cultivate righteous qi before buying the house.
• Lu Ren settled into his new residence and spent a month living quietly while refining his strength and body-tempering arts.
• Two Martial Persons outside Juliu City received news that Wang Feng had bought a house and decided to find him to learn where the key was.
• Lu Ren, unaware of Wang Feng's past, watched a man and woman argue by the river as his blood qi continued to grow denser.

Lu Ren secretly explored Juliu City's Hall of Books and learned that the Netherworld shared historical figures and connections with the real world. When he returned home near dawn, he found two men leaving with his gold.

• Ya Jun rejected Wang Qixian's flirtation, while Xu Li also rebuked him for his shameless behavior.
• Lu Ren returned home and, after nightfall, used his concealment techniques to sneak into Juliu City's Hall of Books.
• Lu Ren read that Shakya and Laozi had lived in the Netherworld ten thousand years earlier, and learned about the Great Qian Dynasty's pure-yang location and other nations.
• Lu Ren returned to his courtyard before dawn and spotted two tall men emerging from his room with his gold.

Lu Ren killed two Li Yuan Organization men who came looking for Wang Feng and learned that they sought a key to the Human King Tomb, rumored to contain a Pure Land. After burying the bodies, he returned to their residence and waited for more members of the organization to appear.

• Lu Ren followed two men to a private residence, killed one, and learned the pair belonged to the Li Yuan Organization and were searching for Wang Feng and the Human King Tomb key.
• Lu Ren killed the braided-haired man after learning the tomb was said to contain a Pure Land, then took their loot and found a partial map.
• Lu Ren questioned Xu Li about Li Yuan and learned that Great Qian considered the organization a dangerous criminal group with a Netherworld headquarters.
• Lu Ren decided to stop waiting passively, buried the two men in their courtyard, and returned to their residence to wait for another Li Yuan member while studying martial techniques.

Lu Ren interrogated and killed a woman from the Li Yuan Organization, learning that the key he sought was at Tongfu Inn in Xinfan Town. At the inn, he met Li Tianming, a fellow arrival from the real world, who began recounting his difficult years in the foreign world.

• Lu Ren captured a woman who admitted she belonged to the Li Yuan Organization and revealed that its base was Tongfu Inn in Xinfan Town.
• The woman said the organization had taken a key from Wang Feng's body, but Lu Ren snapped her neck and buried her.
• Lu Ren hid his valuables at home, traveled to Xinfan Town, and found Tongfu Inn.
• Lu Ren heard Li Si'er complain about working as a waiter and recognized him as someone from the real world.
• Li Tianming told Lu Ren he had survived for over three years through begging, fleeing a demon-struck village, and joining bandits.

Lu Ren exposed the Tongfu Inn owner as an enemy, forced him to reveal a hidden chamber, and killed him and the men who attacked. He took Li Tianming to the cellar and began searching for the chamber, confident they had time before the authorities arrived.

• Li Tianming told Lu Ren about his hardships and how the Tongfu Inn owner abused him.
• Lu Ren stopped the owner from striking Li Tianming, demanded the key, and broke the owner’s flexible sword before beating him down.
• Lu Ren tortured the owner until he revealed a secret chamber beneath the middle room’s cellar.
• Several hidden men attacked Lu Ren, who killed them and crushed the owner’s head beneath his foot.
• Lu Ren brought Li Tianming to the cellar, explained that the Patrol Constabulary would take time to arrive, and pulverized a wall with Bright Yang True Qi.

Lu Ren destroyed a Doyagara-worshipping altar before its spatial passage could open, survived the primordial evil god’s mental attack, and found the key to the Gate of Rebirth. Li Tianming recovered but remained stranded in the Netherworld and pleaded for help returning home.

• Li Tianming learned that Lu Ren had reached Enlightened Awareness and followed him into a hidden altar chamber where hooded cultists worshipped Doyagara.
• The cult leader identified Lu Ren as a transcendent martial artist and tried to summon Doyagara, but Li Tianming struck him with a broken brick and killed him.
• When a spatial passage began forming, Lu Ren smashed the skull altar and prevented it from opening.
• Doyagara attacked Lu Ren mentally, but Lu Ren blocked the god’s gaze and erased the mental imprint before Doyagara vanished.
• Lu Ren found the key to the Gate of Rebirth in the cult leader’s robes and woke Li Tianming, who asked how he could return to the real world.

Lu Ren burned the Tongfu Inn, wiped out the Li Yuan Organization fighters at its hidden stronghold, and returned to Juliu City with Li Tianming. After learning the organization had been exposed, he worried about Doyagara’s reach, then continued training Li Tianming as his disciple.

• Lu Ren and Li Tianming set fire to the Tongfu Inn’s altar passage, escaped through its hidden route, and killed everyone at the nearby estate.
• Zhang Cong investigated the burned inn, found human remains and a metal plate identifying the Li Yuan Organization, and realized the discovery was serious.
• Xu Li told Lu Ren that authorities had uncovered the Li Yuan Organization’s altar in Xinfan Town and that an expert had killed its members.
• Lu Ren considered whether Doyagara might use the organization to find him, but calmed himself after remembering the system had erased its spiritual imprint.
• Lu Ren corrected Li Tianming’s boxing by beating him, then checked his Phoenix Union Fist stance after explaining that he had become his teacher.

After accepting Xu Li’s invitation to a martial arts exchange gathering, Lu Ren arranged for Li Tianming to open a noodle shop as a cover while intensifying his training. Lu Ren and Li Tianming arrived at the Dragon Abyss Book Club, where several guests watched them enter.

• Lu Ren accepted Xu Li’s invitation to an exchange gathering after deciding it would help him build connections in Juliu City.
• Lu Ren chose a storefront for Li Tianming’s noodle shop and had him take charge of opening it.
• Lu Ren continued training Li Tianming harshly while the shop was prepared, then told him to close early and accompany him to the gathering.
• Li Tianming learned that Lu Ren had begun martial arts at twenty-five and had reached the sixth step of Enlightened Awareness.
• Lu Ren and Li Tianming entered the Dragon Abyss Book Club, where three richly dressed guests recognized Lu Ren as someone Xu Li had recommended.

At a women’s martial arts gathering, Lu Chenggong threatened Lu Ren over his identity and noodle shop, then ordered a subordinate to burn it down. Lu Ren waited for Lu Chenggong to leave the Dragon Abyss Book Club and told Li Tianming to kill him.

• Chen Yichen and Tang Yan watched the gathering and discussed whether Lu Ren was worth befriending.
• Lu Ren told Li Tianming to ignore provocations, while Xu Li offered to play matchmaker for him.
• Lu Chenggong challenged Lu Ren and threatened to expose his Wang Feng identity and shut down his noodle shop.
• After Lu Ren walked away, Lu Chenggong ordered a subordinate to burn down Wang Feng’s noodle shop.
• Lu Ren took Li Tianming to a dark alley, waited for Lu Chenggong, and ordered Li Tianming to kill him.

Lu Ren forced Li Tianming to fight and kill Lu Chenggong’s guards, then found a route map to the Human King Tomb among Lu Chenggong’s belongings. The Li Yuan Organization arrived at the alley afterward and discovered that someone had killed Lu Chenggong before them.

• Lu Ren ordered Li Tianming to attack Lu Chenggong, but a subordinate kicked him into the alley.
• Lu Chenggong entered the alley and was killed by Lu Ren, who then defeated the guards as they rushed inside.
• Lu Ren made Li Tianming fight the last surviving guard; after calming himself and using the Phoenix Union Fist, Li Tianming beat the guard to death.
• Lu Ren found the upper section of the Human King Tomb route map in Lu Chenggong’s robes, joining it with the middle section he already had.
• Men from the Li Yuan Organization found Lu Chenggong’s twisted body and realized someone had reached him first.

Lu Ren learned that Lu Chenggong had possessed the upper and middle route maps to the Human King Tomb, while the Li Yuan Organization searched for the stolen key and the person who took it. After training Li Tianming and settling into a quiet routine, Lu Ren asked Xu Li why patrols had increased, and she linked them to Lu Chenggong’s death and his father’s strange inaction.

• Outlier and a Li Yuan Organization man found Lu Chenggong dead and realized the key and both route maps had been taken; they decided to seek the lower map and obey Doyagara’s oracle by searching Juliu City for the suspected thief.
• Lu Ren saw Li Tianming practicing and infused him with Bright Yang True Qi to strengthen his body and foundation.
• After several days, Lu Ren left A Noodle Shop in Li Tianming’s hands and noticed that patrols by the Patrol Constabulary and garrison army had increased across Juliu City.
• Lu Ren asked Xu Li why the city was being patrolled day and night, and she said Lu Chenggong had been beaten to death while his father had made no move.

Lu Ren learned that an organization was searching Juliu City for a key identified by its High Priest, and he sent Li Tianming to find where its members gathered. After Li Tianming traced them to Nine Curves Pavilion, Lu Ren went undercover and met Xiao Que, a courtesan whose martial art gathered yang to nourish yin.

• Xu Li told Lu Ren that the garrison had been on alert, but she dismissed his concerns about Juliu City.
• Lu Ren overheard men at his noodle shop say the High Priest had located a key inside Juliu City and ordered Li Tianming to follow them.
• Li Tianming reported that the men were staying at a brothel in the Pear Blossom Quarter.
• Lu Ren changed his appearance and entered Nine Curves Pavilion, where he arranged to meet its top courtesan.
• Xiao Que arrived with her zither, and Lu Ren recognized that she cultivated a technique for gathering yang to nourish yin.

Lu Ren uncovered the Li Yuan Organization’s connection to the Human King Tomb and learned that its members believed the Netherworld had become Hell. After killing Xiao Que and Xiao Hong, he went to find Qing Luo, the person who knew the High Priest’s whereabouts.

• Lu Ren exposed Xiao Que as a member of the Li Yuan Organization, beat her for information, and killed her when she would not reveal the High Priest’s location.
• Lu Ren captured Xiao Hong and used his Magic Power to learn that Qing Luo knew where the High Priest was and that the organization relied on Doyagara to save humanity from the Emperor Yin.
• Lu Ren connected the Li Yuan Organization’s plans to the Gate of Rebirth in the Human King Tomb and learned that Great Qian was also searching for its key.
• Lu Ren learned that Qing Luo had gone to the rear courtyard with the guest who had spent the most money, then climbed out a window and headed there along the eaves.

Lu Ren tracked Li Yuan Organization's intelligence chief, Qing Luo, to Nine Curves Pavilion and learned that the organization's chief priest was at Zhuan Kong Temple. He confronted the chief priest, Xie Kong, who revealed his advanced spiritual cultivation and recognized Lu Ren's unusual progress.

• Lu Ren entered Qing Luo's room, resisted her illusion, and used a soul-searching art that left her mind shattered.
• Lu Ren retained key information identifying Qing Luo as Li Yuan Organization's intelligence chief and hurried to Zhuan Kong Temple before the organization could be alerted.
• Lu Ren used Bright Yang True Qi to disguise himself and entered the temple's abbot's quarters.
• Lu Ren confronted Master Xie Kong and identified him as Li Yuan Organization's chief priest.
• Xie Kong revealed that he had reached the sixth step of Enlightened Awareness and recognized that Lu Ren had advanced in both spirit and physique.

Lu Ren confronted Xie Kong over the Li Yuan Organization’s Life Sacrifice and attacked him with the Mingyang Great Radiance Art, destroying Zhuan Kong Temple’s meditation chamber. Xie Kong survived and identified Lu Ren as the person Doyagara sought as Liu Changkui’s forces sealed off the temple.

• Xie Kong demanded that Lu Ren hand over the key and map, but Lu Ren refused and tested Xie Kong’s protective art.
• Lu Ren fired a Mingyang Great Radiance Art through Xie Kong’s defenses, blasting apart the meditation chamber and surrounding buildings.
• Lu Ren launched another blast as powerful auras approached, then fled through Juliu City and returned to his residence.
• Liu Changkui arrived at Zhuan Kong Temple and watched Xie Kong regenerate, warning that his sacrifice of vitality had shortened his life.
• Xie Kong threatened to make all of Juliu City a Life Sacrifice and ordered his followers to find Lu Ren, declaring that Doyagara sought him.