Chapter Summaries

Xu Changqing entered the demon-ridden Central Region to pursue Zhu Hong and seek information from Li Lingbi. After reaching the Black Rust Dynasty’s imperial city, he told Li Lingbi that Zhu Hong had killed Hu Bugui and Lin Xiaoyan, and Li Lingbi warned that finding him would be difficult amid the chaos.

• Xu Changqing killed several groups of Lesser Demons on his way through the Central Region, and a wary Bear Demon King fled to report him to Kong Ling.
• Kong Ling ordered the Bear Demon King to track Xu Changqing and report when he stopped, intending to meet him personally.
• Xu Changqing reached the imperial city, where its spiritual barrier and demon-repelling runes protected the residents from demons.
• The Li Clan steward escorted Xu Changqing to the residence, where he waited for Li Lingbi.
• Xu Changqing told Li Lingbi that Zhu Hong had killed Hu Bugui and Lin Xiaoyan before fleeing to the Central Region.
• Li Lingbi said finding Zhu Hong would be difficult because the Central Region was in chaos.

Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi discussed the Central Region’s demon invasion, political turmoil, and the weakness of the human cultivators, but Li Lingbi hesitated to abandon the Black Rust Dynasty. As Xu Changqing left the next morning, he discovered demons had surrounded the imperial city and were attacking its defenses.

• Li Lingbi assured Xu Changqing that Yue Yao and Mu'er were safe at Azurewood Sect and explained that Lu Chenyuan had shattered the Interstice, allowing demons to pour into the Central Region.
• Li Lingbi told Xu Changqing that Mo Yin and the Mo Clan had tried to seize power, but Han Xin had warned him in time; Mo Yin fled and the Li Family took over the Black Rust Dynasty.
• Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi discussed the weakened human cultivators, the threat of Demon God Kong Fang, and Xu Changqing’s proposal to relocate people from the Central Region until the Defiled-Earth God threat was resolved.
• Li Lingbi remained undecided about relocating, and Xu Changqing stayed overnight at the Li Clan residence before leaving at dawn to pursue Lao Hu’s vengeance.
• Xu Changqing found the imperial city surrounded by more than a thousand Lesser Demons, five Demon Kings, and at least one concealed Demon Emperor-level demon as the city’s defensive formation began to falter.

Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi led the imperial city's cultivators in defending against a demon horde, but the demon emperor Kong Ling revealed its power and incapacitated them. Kong Ling prepared to make the trapped humans its prey.

• Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi arrived at the imperial city's walls and gathered the city's cultivators to defend against the demon horde and its five Demon Kings.
• Kong Ling ordered four Demon Kings to lead an assault on the city's protective formation while it watched from the depths of the horde.
• Xu Changqing cut down more than a hundred Lesser Demons with Threefold Azure Edge, drawing the Tiger, Snake, Wolf, and Eagle Demon Kings into battle.
• Li Lingbi and the city's cultivators fought the four Demon Kings, killing the Snake, Wolf, and Eagle Demon Kings and wounding the others.
• Kong Ling unleashed a surge of red demon energy that suppressed the cultivators' spiritual power and left many unconscious.
• Kong Ling rose from the demon horde and declared that the humans would become its meat.

Xu Changqing revealed his power when Kong Ling suppressed the cultivators and trapped the imperial city. He summoned the Chaos Deity, broke Kong Ling’s red-light suppression, and drew the Demon Emperor’s attention as its most prized prey.

• Kong Ling’s imitation eyes unleashed red light that suppressed Li Lingbi and the other Nascent Soul Cultivators.
• Xu Changqing revealed the Five-Colored Banners and enclosed the imperial city and all the demons in a barrier.
• Kong Ling recognized Xu Changqing as the strongest cultivator present and revealed that it was a direct descendant of Demon God Kong Fang.
• Xu Changqing strengthened the barrier, summoned the Chaos Deity, and dispersed Kong Ling’s red-light suppression.
• Kong Ling resolved to devour Xu Changqing to gain his Chaos Force and advance its cultivation.

Xu Changqing defeated Kong Ling and forced the Demon Emperor to become his contracted mount, then eliminated the remaining demons that had attacked the imperial city. Li Lingbi agreed to organize the city's migration to the Eastern Domain after Xu Changqing warned that stronger forces from the Demon Realm would soon arrive.

• Li Lingbi killed a cultivator who urged everyone to sacrifice Xu Changqing to the Demon Emperor.
• Kong Ling's attacks failed against Xu Changqing and the Chaos Deity, and Xu Changqing bound Kong Ling with lightning and dismantled its demon power.
• Kong Ling begged for its life and agreed to sign a spirit pet contract with Xu Changqing, who chose to keep it as a mount and hostage.
• Xu Changqing used the Five-Colored Banners to kill the Bear Demon King, the Tiger Demon King, and the remaining Lesser Demons.
• Li Lingbi agreed to prepare the imperial city's migration to the Eastern Domain after Xu Changqing warned that more Demon Emperors and possibly a Demon God would soon enter the Central Region.

Xu Changqing left the imperial city for Chi Yan Valley to avenge Lao Hu, while the Five-Colored Banners protected the city during preparations for migration. On the way, he rescued a group of survivors and sent them toward the imperial city before pressing on through the devastated Central Region.

• Xu Changqing entrusted Li Lingbi with protecting the imperial city beneath the Five-Colored Banners, then rode Kong Ling south toward Chi Yan Valley.
• Xu Changqing saw the destruction and deaths caused by the demon calamity as they crossed the Central Region.
• Xu Changqing stopped at a ruined county city and had Kong Ling devour the Lesser Demons attacking survivors in a Daoist temple.
• Xu Changqing gave the survivors pills and spirit talismans and directed them to travel east to the imperial city.
• Kong Ling warned Xu Changqing that the Central Region's fall was inevitable, but Xu Changqing urged it to keep moving.

Xu Changqing reached the ruined Chi Yan Valley and traced Zhu Hong and his followers to the Flameglow Sect’s former site. As Zhu Hong celebrated becoming sect master and dismissed the possibility of revenge, Xu Changqing approached to avenge Hu Bugui and his wife.

• Xu Changqing saw that demons had ruined Chi Yan Valley but chose not to fight them, focusing instead on finding Zhu Hong.
• Xu Changqing sensed many human auras at the Flameglow Sect’s former site and concluded that Zhu Hong and his followers were hiding there.
• Xu Changqing ordered Kong Ling to fly to the old sect grounds, where they found its protective formation still active.
• Zhu Hong claimed credit for killing Lin Xiaoyan and taking the Flameglow Sect’s resources, then accepted the elders’ and disciples’ call to become sect master.
• A disciple worried that Hu Bugui’s master and friends from the Dongting Immortal Sect might seek revenge, but Zhu Hong dismissed the danger and boasted that he would soon reach the Nascent Soul Realm.

Xu Changqing arrived at the Flameglow Sect to avenge Hu Bugui and his wife, revealing overwhelming Spirit Transformation strength when Zhu Hong and the sect attacked him. He offered to spare everyone if one of them personally killed Zhu Hong, and the crowd turned on their leader.

• Xu Changqing descended on the Flameglow Sect atop a seven-colored peacock and declared that he had come to avenge Hu Bugui and his wife.
• Zhu Hong admitted that he had killed Hu Bugui and ordered his elders and disciples to attack Xu Changqing.
• Xu Changqing released his Spirit Transformation pressure, crushing the attackers' spells and forcing them to fall helplessly to the ground.
• Zhu Hong and the others begged Xu Changqing to spare them, and he offered mercy to anyone who personally killed Zhu Hong.
• The elders and disciples turned on Zhu Hong and lunged at him.

Xu Changqing avenged Lao Hu by destroying Zhu Hong and the Flameglow Sect’s remaining members, then returned to the imperial city after rescuing people from demons along the way. He and Li Lingbi agreed to accelerate the migration from the Central Region despite some residents refusing to leave.

• Zhu Hong’s former subordinates killed him and turned on one another, but Kong Ling devoured the survivors despite their pleas for mercy.
• Xu Changqing absorbed the dead with his Blood Gourd and took the Flameglow Sect’s plundered resources; he then killed the Fire Demon King and its underlings with a glance.
• Xu Changqing and Kong Ling rescued three groups of people trapped by demons and carried them toward the Black Rust Dynasty.
• Xu Changqing entrusted the rescued people to the imperial city’s guards and told Li Lingbi that Zhu Hong and the others were dead.
• Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi agreed that the migration could not wait for residents unwilling to leave, and Xu Changqing promised to support Li Lingbi.

Xu Changqing comprehended a new spell by studying the chaotic qi beyond the imperial city and refined it through the night. By dawn, he had mastered two levels of the spell, Spirit Flow and Demon-Baleful, while the dangerous qi outside the city continued to churn.

• Xu Changqing sensed the demon qi, Killing Intent, and restless Earth Qi surrounding the city and realized they were forms of primordial qi tainted by different wills.
• Xu Changqing sat cross-legged and created a spell that let him draw in and guide the surrounding qi.
• Xu Changqing refined the spell through the night, then gained complete insight when the sun's purple qi reached him at dawn.
• Xu Changqing named the first level Spirit Flow and demonstrated how it controlled six kinds of spiritual qi for attack, defense, restraint, and support.
• Xu Changqing named the second level Demon-Baleful and used demon qi and Killing Intent to disrupt targets' laws, Dao resonance, and spiritual power.

Xu Changqing mastered and named Return Flow, then helped Li Lingbi lead the people from the imperial city after demons destroyed their Teleportation Array. The evacuation faced a massive demon attack led by the Jade-Eyed Snake, and Xu Changqing prepared to defend the flying ships.

• Xu Changqing discovered the powers of Purple Origin, combined it with other forms of qi, and named the spell Return Flow.
• A bloodied cultivator told Li Lingbi that demons had destroyed the Teleportation Array, and Xu Changqing suspected a traitor had helped them.
• Li Lingbi abandoned the teleportation plan and organized hundreds of flying ships to carry willing residents across the Central Region toward the Eastern Domain.
• Xu Changqing rode Kong Ling and used the Five-Colored Banners to clear a path as the ships left the imperial city, while demons swarmed around them.
• The Jade-Eyed Snake appeared, revealed its role in destroying the array, taunted Kong Ling, and ordered the demons to attack the humans.

Xu Changqing led the fleet through demon attacks and a near-disaster caused by the Defiled-Earth God, reaching the Hands-Off Region at the border of the Central Region and Eastern Domain. He sent Li Lingbi onward to the Great Abundance Empire while deciding to return and deal with the Defiled-Earth God.

• Xu Changqing killed the Jade-Eyed Snake and its demon horde, learning that the snake was the offspring of Qing Xuan, the Dao Son of the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Xu Changqing and Li Lingbi continued the fleet’s journey, purifying survivors of demon qi and detaining them on a separate ship to prevent ambushes.
• The Defiled-Earth God’s movement split the earth beneath the fleet, but Xu Changqing suppressed the erupting Earth Qi and saved most of the ships.
• Xu Changqing led the fleet to the Hands-Off Region, where the Wan Family’s auction ship was sheltering refugees and fighting off demons.
• Xu Changqing told Li Lingbi to take the others to the Great Abundance Empire while he returned to deal with the Defiled-Earth God.

Xu Changqing found the Lifeless Insect Mother controlling Bei Qingtang’s corpse, and they agreed to cooperate to find the Defiled-Earth God. After fighting through its Rolling Earth Dragon minions underground, they encountered a powerful variant dragon that disrupted mana.

• Xu Changqing returned to the fissures with Kong Ling while Li Lingbi ordered the flying ships to head for the Great Abundance Empire in the Eastern Domain.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother revealed that Bei Qingtang’s soul had scattered and offered to return her body if Xu Changqing helped her gain control of the Defiled-Earth God.
• Xu Changqing agreed to cooperate for now, and he and the Lifeless Insect Mother descended into the underground fissures with Kong Ling.
• The pair killed dozens of Rolling Earth Dragons with Profound River Water and Xu Changqing’s Return Flow.
• A Variant Rolling Earth Dragon burst from the sludge, its dense foul Earth Qi capable of disrupting cultivators’ mana.

Xu Changqing extracted the Earth Dragon Bloodline from a Variant Rolling Earth Dragon while he and the Lifeless Insect Mother pushed deeper underground. In a vast cavern filled with Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi, they found no sign of the Defiled-Earth God, so the Lifeless Insect Mother used a parasite to animate Lu Chenyuan’s corpse.

• Xu Changqing and the Lifeless Insect Mother defeated the Variant Rolling Earth Dragon, and Xu Changqing extracted its Dragon Bloodline before storing the weakened creature in his Square-Inch Ring.
• Xu Changqing inspected the Earth Dragon Transformation abilities he had gained, then continued deeper underground with the Lifeless Insect Mother.
• The pair entered a vast cavern where dense Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi floated in heavy, destructive clumps, but they found no trace of the Defiled-Earth God.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother revealed Lu Chenyuan’s corpse and inserted a parasitic insect into its nostril, making the corpse stand up under its control.
• Xu Changqing recognized the insect and cried out that it was a parasite.

The Lifeless Insect Mother revealed her plan to seize the Defiled-Earth God's reincarnation authority and used Bei Qingtang's corpse to lure Xu Changqing toward the divine eye. Xu Changqing entered its turbid qi with her corpse, but they were sucked inside before the Lifeless Insect Mother could carry out her scheme, leaving her unable to control Bei Qingtang's body.

• Lu Chenyuan activated a formation that gathered Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi and revealed the Defiled-Earth Divine Eye.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother explained that she wanted the Defiled-Earth God's reincarnation authority to escape her shell and become a true god.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother approached the divine eye in Bei Qingtang's body, and Xu Changqing followed after storing Kong Ling in the Square-Inch Ring.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother planned to use Xu Changqing's Water-Wood Spiritual Roots, Profound River Water, and a Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl to control the Defiled-Earth God.
• Xu Changqing activated Earth Dragon Transformation, embraced Bei Qingtang's corpse, and let the divine eye's turbid qi engulf them.
• The divine eye sucked Xu Changqing and Bei Qingtang's corpse inside, severing the Lifeless Insect Mother's control over her host.

Xu Changqing buried Bei Qingtang in Azure Emperor's Back Garden, then found and spoke with the weakened Defiled-Earth God. He persuaded her to enter his Portable Space for protection, and she explained that their bond would let him withstand and draw nourishment from Earth Qi and Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi.

• Xu Changqing removed the Lifeless Insect Mother's parasite from Bei Qingtang's corpse and stored it in his Square-Inch Ring.
• Xu Changqing buried Bei Qingtang, carved a tombstone for his Dao companion, and vowed to care for Hehe and Suisui and avenge her.
• Xu Changqing followed the connection between Azure Emperor's Back Garden and the Defiled-Earth God through the earth, reaching a space filled with Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi.
• The Defiled-Earth God told Xu Changqing that Lu Chenyuan had awakened her prematurely and stolen part of her source power with the Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl.
• Xu Changqing persuaded the weakened Defiled-Earth God to enter his Portable Space, and she promised their bond would help him endure and draw strength from Earth Qi and Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi.

Xu Changqing used a Five-Colored Lotus Seed as a vessel for the Defiled-Earth God's source force, joining the god's power with his portable space and Five-Element Spiritual Root. The lotus bloomed, and the Earth Dragon Transformation merged with the Defiled-Earth God's authority.

• Xu Changqing realized the Defiled-Earth God's source force needed a vessel and chose his Five-Colored Lotus Seed.
• Xu Changqing opened his portable space and let the Defiled-Earth God pour its source force inside.
• The source force transformed the space, enriching its spirit soil and plants, expanding it beyond three thousand mu, and creating new mountains and spirit springs.
• The Five-Colored Lotus Seed sprouted and bloomed, forming a yellow lotus seed imbued with the Defiled-Earth God's origin aura.
• Xu Changqing guided the Five-Colored Lotus into his Five-Element Spiritual Root, linking his body, spiritual root, portable space, and the Defiled-Earth God's will.
• The Nine Transformations of the Wandering Dragon absorbed the source force, and the Earth Dragon Transformation merged with the Defiled-Earth God's authority.

Xu Changqing completed the Defiled-Earth Earth Dragon Transformation and gained immense power, though the Defiled-Earth God warned him that its tainted qi could consume him. He confronted the Lifeless Insect Mother, who failed to reconnect with the Defiled-Earth God, and his new strength left her attack ineffective.

• Xu Changqing completed the transformation, sensing the Earth Veins and gaining the Defiled-Earth God's power as the god warned him against tainted qi.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother used Lu Chenyuan's corpse and the Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl to try to contact the god, but neither worked and the divine eye began to dissipate.
• Xu Changqing emerged from the Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi alive, and the Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl flew into his hand.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother attacked Xu Changqing with a palm seal formed from Mysterious Yellow Mother Qi, but it dissolved against him without harming him.

Xu Changqing destroyed Lu Chenyuan's corpse and drove off the Lifeless Insect Mother, then discovered a rare vein of Mysterious Yellow Mother Ore underground. He began refining the Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl so he could control the ore and complete Senior Brother Zhu's unfinished cauldron.

• Xu Changqing commanded over a thousand Rolling Earth Dragons to tear apart Lu Chenyuan's corpse and imprison the parasitic insect carrying the Lifeless Insect Mother's will.
• The Lifeless Insect Mother revealed that her true body had left Qiong Valley to refine the Profound River Water, then destroyed the parasitic insect and escaped.
• Xu Changqing assessed the crises across the five great regions and decided to return to the Eastern Domain.
• The Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl reacted to something underground, so Xu Changqing followed the Earth Vein and found a vast vein of Mysterious Yellow Mother Ore.
• Xu Changqing realized the ore could complete Senior Brother Zhu's unfinished Profound Yellow Mother Qi Cauldron and began refining the Dragon Pearl.

Xu Changqing refined the Defiled-Earth Dragon Pearl, absorbed a miles-long Mysterious Yellow Mother Ore vein, and returned to the Central Region. There, he confronted a horde of Savage Bull Clan demons and began slaughtering them with summoned Rolling Earth Dragons.

• Xu Changqing discovered the Dragon Pearl’s abilities and absorbed the entire Mysterious Yellow Mother Ore vein into its space.
• Xu Changqing traveled underground to the Central Region, where he sensed demon qi and encountered roughly a hundred Savage Bull Clan demons.
• The Savage Bull leader and its followers attacked Xu Changqing, but he summoned more than a thousand powerful Rolling Earth Dragons to overwhelm them.
• The Rolling Earth Dragons suppressed the Savage Bulls’ Earth Qi and began killing them in a one-sided battle.
• Xu Changqing summoned his Blood Gourd to absorb the Savage Bulls’ flesh-and-blood essence and divine souls.