Chapter Summaries

Jian Shang endured the fourth wave of Heavenly Punishment Lightning, which devastated western San Francisco Royal City, and learned from Tisha that a concealed True God Realm expert had fled. As the fifth wave formed, he entrusted Meng Tian with the Great Huan Imperial Seal and Jingyang Dragon Ring, then resolved to shatter the void and ascend to escape certain death.

• Jian Shang scattered three of the fourth wave’s eight lightning bolts, destroying much of western San Francisco Royal City, but the remaining five struck him and left him gravely injured.
• Tisha told Jian Shang that she remained safe through his shadow and warned him of a hidden enemy; Jian Shang detected a fleeing True God Realm expert from the Undead Faction.
• Jian Shang sent the Jingyang Dragon Ring and an imperial command to Meng Tian, entrusting him with the Great Huan Imperial Seal and the task of leading the army and protecting the dynasty.
• Meng Tian received Jian Shang’s farewell message and watched him cross the city to the Corpse Emperor Hall as the fifth wave gathered.
• When sixteen bolts descended, Jian Shang realized he could not survive them and decided to shatter the void and ascend.

Jian Shang used the Eastern Sovereign Bell to survive repeated waves of Heavenly Punishment Lightning, but the strain left him badly injured and consumed much of his lifespan. The bell eventually shattered, knocking everyone unconscious and leaving Jian Shang to wonder whether he could revive after dying in the explosion.

• Jian Shang shielded himself with the Eastern Sovereign Bell, whose clash with the Heavenly Punishment Lightning devastated the battlefield and surrounding land.
• Jian Shang moved across the San Francisco Royal City as the sixth and seventh waves struck, destroying much of the city while the bell let increasing amounts of lightning through.
• Jian Shang realized Imperial Fury was draining his lifespan and that neither continuing it nor interrupting it would let him escape the Heavenly Punishment.
• The Eastern Sovereign Bell developed cracks under the lightning and exploded, killing or knocking unconscious everyone nearby as the blast tore open the void.
• Jian Shang lost consciousness, hoping that the explosion counted as an ordinary death and that he might still revive.

After Heavenly Punishment devastated San Francisco Royal City and purged the undead forces’ corrupting auras, Meng Tian used the Great Huan Imperial Seal to command the armies to enter the city. As Great Huan’s forces fought their way inside and prepared to reinforce the struggling northern front, the advancing skeleton army began to crack.

• The Heavenly Punishment faded, revealing that most of San Francisco Royal City had been reduced to sand and the Dark Sky Curtain and undead aura had vanished.
• Meng Tian appeared with the Great Huan Imperial Seal and ordered the armies to break into the city, prompting speculation that Jian Shang had passed the throne to him.
• Jiang Yao tried to reassure the generals that Jian Shang might return, while Yu Ji insisted that he was still alive.
• Wang Ben advanced the Heaven-Defying War God manifestation toward the western wall, and Great Huan’s armies charged into the city as many fighters gained breakthroughs.
• Great Huan’s forces struggled to enter through the northern front, so Meng Tian ordered the Meng Clan Iron Cavalry to reinforce it.
• As the Meng Clan Iron Cavalry assembled, cracks spread across the metallic bones of the advancing skeleton army.

After Heavenly Punishment destroyed the empowered skeleton army, the Great Huan Expeditionary Army defeated the remaining enemies in San Francisco but could not find the missing Huan Emperor. The emperor’s apparent death left Great Huan divided over succession and command as its forces prepared for a likely counterattack.

• The skeleton army collapsed when Heavenly Punishment shortened the duration of Heavenly Bone Glory, reversing the battle and letting the Great Huan forces hunt down the remaining undead.
• Tong Meng Tian ordered the enemy eliminated, the city searched for the Huan Emperor, and the battle report sent to the three fleets; by the next day, the surviving Great Huan and China Alliance forces occupied the desolate city.
• Jiang Yao told Yu Ji and the gathered leaders that the Huan Emperor remained missing and that his indestructible treasures had not been found, while Meng Tian demanded a thorough search.
• Meng Tian declared that the Huan Emperor had entrusted him with the Imperial Seal and Jingyang Dragon Ring and instructed him to support Yu Ji’s succession, prompting Jiang Yao to challenge his authority before Yu Ji stopped their dispute.
• Jiang Yao reported that the Huan Empress could not leave the unstable capital and that the three fleets, including Han Xin’s, rejected summons and believed the emperor remained alive.
• Wang Ben warned that North American forces would likely unite and counterattack, urging the divided leaders to cooperate.

Wang Ben and Jiang Yao confronted Meng Tian over suspicions that the Meng Clan planned to seize power, and Meng Tian promised to investigate and account for the matter. He discovered that most of the clan’s leadership had backed usurpation, then heard Cheng Jun argue that they had acted to save the Meng Clan from destruction.

• Wang Ben swore that the Wang Clan and Martial Marquis Tong would remain loyal to Great Huan, while Jiang Yao questioned whether Meng Tian could make the same guarantee for the Meng Clan.
• Jiang Yao cited reports linking the Meng Clan to unrest and explained why the three fleets and other leaders had refused the summons.
• Meng Tian acknowledged his failure to notice the clan’s activities and promised to give everyone an accounting by nightfall.
• Meng Tian investigated and found that more than a hundred clan members and officers, including Bao Hong, Cheng Jun, and Dong Yi, had supported his usurping the throne.
• Bao Hong admitted no defense, while Cheng Jun claimed he had acted without selfish motives and argued that the Meng Clan had to protect itself from being destroyed by Great Huan’s next ruler.

Meng Tian faced pressure from his clan to awaken the Huan Emperor and learned from Dragon Soul that Jian Shang had almost certainly died under Heavenly Punishment. The China Alliance urged Meng Tian to accept the loss and inherit the throne, while Meng Tian wondered whether the Otherworlders had influenced the clan or whether the crisis was another of the emperor’s schemes.

• Meng Tian’s clan elders and guards knelt and pleaded with him to awaken their young lord, leaving him torn over whether to punish his own people.
• Dragon Soul and the leaders of ten other Apex Otherworlder factions entered the secured hall and asked how much Meng Tian knew about Otherworlders.
• Dragon Soul explained that dead Otherworlders always returned to their world, but Jian Shang had never appeared there, making his death under Heavenly Punishment nearly certain.
• Meng Tian suggested the Otherworlders had persuaded the Meng Clan that the emperor was dead, but Dragon Soul said the truth mattered more than who had influenced them.
• Song Zutian said the China Alliance supported Meng Tian inheriting the throne because he was a trustworthy partner and the Great Huan Dynasty’s collapse would bring calamity.

Chapter Summary: Martial Marquis Tong Meng Tian

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The China Alliance, led by Dragon Soul and represented by eleven Otherworlder leaders, confronts Martial Marquis Tong Meng Tian. They have been spreading the claim that the Huan Emperor has died and calling him the “late emperor.”
• Meng Tian accuses them of committing an act of great rebellion. Dragon Soul counters that they have only shared intelligence and have not technically violated military or national law.
• Although Meng Tian knows the China Alliance is exploiting the Great Huan Army’s weakened state, he cannot move against them by force. The army needs the million-strong China Alliance to help defend against North American enemies, and internal conflict could destroy the expeditionary force.
• Meng Tian challenges the Alliance’s assumption that the emperor is dead. He points out that the Evil Empress, the princess, the State Commissioner, and others voluntarily remained with the Grand Commandant’s Fleet, clearly believing that the emperor is still alive. Their confidence must be based on solid evidence, since disobeying an imperial decree would endanger their clans.
• The China Alliance leaders are shaken by this possibility and withdraw, worried about the consequences if the emperor returns.
• Meng Tian then reprimands the Meng Clan for allowing itself to be manipulated by the China Alliance. He promises to suppress the scandal temporarily but orders that anyone who continues spreading destabilizing rumors will face military and clan punishment.
• At Immortal Empress Yu Ji’s residence, Aries Jing secretly delivers a message from Evil Empress Hua Qiandai. The message confirms that “Die is Shadow’s life gu,” strongly implying that the emperor—or the person connected to that life gu—is still alive.
• Yu Ji is overwhelmed with relief and excitement. Her sorrow and exhaustion disappear, and she destroys the message after reading it to prevent anyone else from discovering its contents.
• Later, Meng Tian reports the entire affair to the leading ministers and generals. Those implicated have been placed under surveillance rather than imprisoned to avoid damaging military morale.
• Feeling responsible for the Meng Clan’s scandal and believing he has failed the emperor, Meng Tian relinquishes the Imperial Seal and Jingyang Dragon Ring.
• Greedy Wolf King Jiang Yao supports Meng Tian’s handling of the crisis and proposes that Yu Ji take custody of the imperial symbols. Yu Ji immediately refuses, claiming she has no experience in military or political affairs.

2. Character Developments

• Meng Tian: Demonstrates restraint, political awareness, and loyalty. Though furious at the China Alliance and ashamed of the Meng Clan’s conduct, he avoids violent action because it would endanger the entire army. He accepts personal responsibility and offers to surrender his authority.
• Dragon Soul and the China Alliance: Initially act boldly, relying on their numerical strength and legalistic arguments. Meng Tian’s suggestion that the emperor may still live causes them to lose confidence and reconsider their position.
• Yu Ji: Changes dramatically from grief-stricken and exhausted to hopeful and energized after receiving Hua Qiandai’s secret message. Her reaction reveals how deeply she still believes in the emperor’s survival.
• Hua Qiandai: Though absent, she shows care and caution by sending Yu Ji vital information through a trusted messenger and a highly secure method.
• Greedy Wolf King Jiang Yao: Acts as a practical mediator. He recognizes that Meng Tian has chosen the only viable solution and proposes Yu Ji as the safest holder of imperial authority.
• The Meng Clan: Is revealed to have been manipulated and becomes frightened and submissive after Meng Tian’s reprimand.

3. Significant Themes

• Political instability and divided loyalties: Rumors about the emperor’s death threaten to fracture the Great Huan Dynasty and its military.
• Pragmatism versus justice: Meng Tian cannot simply punish every offender because doing so would weaken the army. Stability takes priority over immediate retribution.
• Evidence, belief, and uncertainty: The China Alliance demands proof, while Meng Tian emphasizes that the actions of the emperor’s closest followers constitute indirect evidence that he remains alive.
• Responsibility and sacrifice: Meng Tian offers up his authority and reputation to contain the scandal and protect the larger military effort.
• Hope amid despair: Yu Ji’s message restores hope that the emperor has survived, transforming the emotional atmosphere of the chapter.
• The limits of power: Even powerful leaders are constrained by military necessity, public morale, clan politics, and the danger of internal conflict.

4. Character Interactions

• Meng Tian and Dragon Soul: Their exchange is a tense verbal confrontation. Dragon Soul uses legalistic reasoning and veiled threats, while Meng Tian responds with imperial authority and a warning about the consequences if the emperor returns.
• Meng Tian and the China Alliance: Meng Tian intimidates them by exposing the weakness of their assumption that the emperor is dead. The Alliance retreats without gaining a clear victory.
• Meng Tian and the Meng Clan: He angrily condemns them for being used by the China Alliance but promises temporary protection if they cease spreading rumors.
• Yu Ji and Aries Jing: Jing respectfully delivers Hua Qiandai’s secret message without knowing its contents. Yu Ji’s emotional reaction reveals the message’s enormous importance.
• Meng Tian and the court leaders: He gives a complete account of the crisis, submits the imperial seals, and seeks a collective decision. Jiang Yao responds sympathetically and supports his actions.
• Jiang Yao and Yu Ji: Jiang proposes that Yu Ji take control of the Imperial Seal and Dragon Ring, but she rejects the role because of her lack of political and military experience.

Yu Ji accepted command of the Great Huan Expeditionary Army after Jiang Yao revealed the Huan Empress's secret instructions. In Pyeongseong, Xiang Yu weighed Liu Bang's proposal to attack Great Huan and ended the discussion by following Fan Zeng's advice to strengthen Western Chu before marching against it.

• Yu Ji initially refused the Imperial Seal and Dragon Ring, but Jiang Yao persuaded her to take command of the army.
• Jiang Yao revealed that the Huan Empress had ordered Yu Ji to command the army if Meng Tian made a suspicious move.
• Xiang Yu's generals debated whether reports of the Huan Emperor's fall made it the right time to attack Great Huan.
• Yu Ziqi argued that the Huan Emperor might still be alive, citing his sister Yu Ji's acceptance of command, but supported joining Han in an attack.
• Xiang Yu asked Fan Zeng for counsel, and Fan Zeng advised consolidating Western Chu, restoring its strength, becoming an imperial dynasty, and then marching on Great Huan.

Han King Liu Bang and his court planned to exploit the Great Huan Dynasty’s weakness while preparing to elevate the Han Kingdom into an empire. Liu Bang ordered the ceremony completed within a month and vowed to march on Great Huan, while Old Immortal Nanhua offered to deter interference.

• Chen Ping reported that Western Chu had agreed to ally with the Han Kingdom against Great Huan after Western Chu became an imperial dynasty, and Zhang Liang said the reply matched their expectations.
• Zhang Liang revealed that the Huan Emperor had likely survived his calamity, but Liu Bang’s court intended to proceed with its plans regardless.
• Chen Ping explained that the Han Kingdom and Western Chu needed time to consolidate their territories and ascend to imperial dynasties, while still seeking to weaken Great Huan.
• Liu Bang ordered his generals to mass troops along the southern frontier, accelerate the ascension preparations, and complete the ceremony within a month before marching on Great Huan.
• Chen Ping warned that the Huan Emperor, Great Qin, or other factions might disrupt the ceremony, and Old Immortal Nanhua promised to help hold them in check.

The Great Huan Expeditionary Army defended San Francisco Royal City against a massive coalition while the Great Huan Dynasty faced threats on several fronts. When four Western True Gods entered the battle and shattered the city’s defenses, Yu Ji faced the prospect of retreating without word from Huan Emperor Jian Shang.

• The Great Huan Dynasty reeled from Jian Shang’s disappearance as enemies gathered along its northern and southern borders, while the expeditionary army searched San Francisco for him and found no trace.
• The United States, Canada, and Mexico forces besieged San Francisco Royal City, but Great Huan reinforcements and its fleet kept the city and surrounding waters from falling.
• Wang Ben’s Heaven-Defying War God held the southern gate while Yu Ji and other commanders resisted the undead armies attacking from the north.
• Spirit God Thor attacked the northern wall, and three other True Gods engaged Wang Ben’s manifestation on the southern front.
• The True Gods’ attacks weakened the Heaven-Defying War God and collapsed part of the northern wall, prompting a palace expert to urge Yu Ji to retreat.

Yu Ji and the Great Huan forces faced the imminent fall of San Francisco Royal City and prepared to retreat, but the Huan Emperor returned at the last moment. He killed Barbarian God Agbes and Spirit God Thor, turning the collapsing battle into a sudden counterattack.

• Yu Ji, Jiang Yao, Meng Tian, and Blade urged a retreat as four Western True Gods overwhelmed the Great Huan Expeditionary Army.
• Wang Ben's Heaven-Defying War God Manifestation collapsed, and the army relied on smaller battle formations to hold the enemy back at great cost.
• As Yu Ji began issuing her retreat order, the Eastern Sovereign Bell appeared and knocked countless flying enemies from the sky.
• The bell smashed Barbarian God Agbes's attack and killed him in a burst of blood mist.
• Huan Emperor Jian Shang appeared and used Nine Heavens Annihilation to break Spirit God Thor's Annihilation Light and kill him.

Jian Shang returned to the battlefield as the Huan Emperor, killed the Barbarian God and Spirit God, and rallied the Great Huan Expeditionary Army. He shielded himself and Yu Ji from a massive enemy assault with the transformed Heaven-Earth Bell, leaving everyone stunned by its revealed identity.

• Jian Shang’s appearance caused the Barbarian God to die and the Spirit God to flee, while he killed the Spirit God and drove off the other Western True Gods.
• The Great Huan Expeditionary Army rallied as Jian Shang surveyed the changed battlefield and Yu Ji returned the Great Huan Imperial Seal and Jingyang Dragon Ring to him.
• The North American Allied Army launched more than a dozen collective attacks at Jian Shang and Yu Ji while they hovered in midair.
• Jian Shang rang the ancient bell and remained unharmed with Yu Ji after the attacks struck them.
• Yu Ji realized that the Eastern Sovereign Bell’s seal had been lifted and that it had become the Heaven-Earth Bell.

Jian Shang returned to the battle with the newly unsealed Heaven-Earth Bell, but the North American Allied Army used massed attacks to keep him from supporting San Francisco Royal City. As enemy forces breached the city walls and targeted its teleportation formations, Jian Shang ordered the Forbidden Guard to deploy the Twelve Capitals Banner-Demon Formation.

• Jian Shang awakened inside the Heaven-Earth Bell, learned it had become an independent world, and killed Spirit God Thor and Barbarian God Agbes upon returning to the battlefield.
• Jian Shang explained the bell's invulnerable inner world to Yu Ji as enemy forces began another assault on San Francisco Royal City.
• Soul-Reaping Prince Jildandin ordered the allied forces to pin Jian Shang down with rotating bombardments while their armies attacked the city.
• The allied army broke through San Francisco Royal City's northern and southern walls and sent elite troops into the city to destroy its Teleportation Formations.
• Jian Shang took Yu Ji into the city, drawing the enemy's bombardment onto the defenders, then ordered the Forbidden Guard to form the Twelve Capitals Banner-Demon Formation.

Jian Shang deployed the Twelve Capitals Banner-Demon Formation to protect the Great Huan Expeditionary Army from the North American Allied Army in San Francisco Royal City. After seven days and seven nights of relentless fighting, Great Huan’s reinforcements slowly pushed the enemy out of the ruined city, at immense cost to both sides.

• Jian Shang summoned twelve Capital-Heaven Demon Gods from the Great Huan Forbidden Guard, using their overwhelming elemental powers to shield the expeditionary army and attack the enemy.
• The North American Allied Army bombarded Great Huan’s forces, weakening the demon gods as their casualties mounted.
• Jian Shang ordered his generals and incoming reinforcements to sustain the formation, directing unfamiliar troops with extraordinary command skill.
• The battle raged for a day and two nights, then continued as reinforcements and casualties repeatedly changed the demon gods’ size.
• Over seven days and seven nights, Great Huan’s armies gradually drove the North American Allied Army out of San Francisco Royal City, leaving the city in ruins and the battlefield strewn with blood and bodies.

Huan Emperor Jian Shang helped drive the North American Allied Army out of San Francisco Royal City, then learned that the China Alliance had stirred turmoil during his monthlong absence. Enraged, he left for Earth World despite Di Wushuang’s plea for mercy.

• Huan Emperor Jian Shang ordered the exhausted Great Huan Expeditionary Army not to pursue the retreating North American Allied Army and instead to support reinforcements from three directions.
• Jian Shang dissolved the Twelve Capitals Banner-Demon Formation, restored nearby soldiers with the Great Rejuvenation Art, and reunited with Eunuch Qiu and Wushuang Marquis Di Wushuang.
• Jian Shang asked what had happened during his absence, and Eunuch Qiu and Di Wushuang told him about the China Alliance’s actions and the Han Kingdom and Western Chu threatening Great Huan.
• Di Wushuang urged Jian Shang to spare the China Alliance because it had suffered heavy casualties while assisting Great Huan, but Jian Shang remained grim and silent.
• When Western Dragon Queen Chong Shiqie’s Yue Province army arrived, Jian Shang ordered it to wait, tore open space, and left for Earth World as Di Wushuang pleaded with him to show mercy.

Di Wushuang warned the China Alliance leaders that Huan Emperor Jian Shang had logged out in anger over their disobedience and that no one could stop him if he chose to retaliate. As commanders gathered and awaited the emperor’s return, they feared punishment for defying his decree and stripping Meng Tian of authority.

• Di Wushuang explained that Jian Shang viewed the China Alliance’s actions during his absence as disloyalty and warned that he had left to deal with them.
• Di Wushuang told Dragon Soul and the other faction leaders that Jian Shang had reached the limits of power and advised them to admit fault and seek help from Lin Qianlian, Yun Feng, Qingyang, or Lan Ying.
• Dragon Soul and the other China Alliance leaders logged out to report the crisis to the powers behind them.
• Chong Shiqie arrived with the Yue Province Bird Army and asked Eunuch Qiu and Di Wushuang where Jian Shang was; Eunuch Qiu announced that everyone must await the emperor’s return.
• Chong Shiqie and the gathered commanders worried that their defiance of Jian Shang’s decree and their removal of Meng Tian’s authority could be treated as treason.

Xiao Ying returned to Earth World as a True God and found its spiritual energy nearly depleted, leaving the Legendary Realm as its cultivation limit. He ordered everyone above that realm to leave within three days, then returned to his hometown and assured the gathered people he would not destroy nations or peoples.

• Xiao Ying arrived near Tongcheng and sensed that Earth World had almost no spiritual energy, so he concealed his overwhelming power to avoid harming it.
• Xiao Ying used his divine sense to announce that anyone stronger than the Legendary Realm had to leave Earth World within three days and never return, threatening to kill those who disobeyed.
• The factions monitoring Xiao Ying withdrew, while people across Earth World feared his power and accepted his decree without challenging it.
• Xiao Ying walked through Tongcheng and reflected that his strength made it dangerous for him to remain on Earth World for long.
• Hundreds of people gathered outside Xiao Ying's former home to pay their respects, and he told them to rise, called himself Xiao Ying rather than the Huan Emperor, and reassured them before leaving.

Xiao Ying returned to his neglected Earth World apartment and reflected on the Heaven-Earth Bell, whose hidden nature he had learned during his disappearance. He suspected it was the Mysterious Supreme Treasure sought by the Upper Realm and resolved to handle the immediate affairs of the Great Huan Dynasty while pursuing answers about Earth World's myths.

• Xiao Ying returned to his dusty apartment and found that Lin Qianlian and her husband had not been back for a long time.
• Xiao Ying cleaned the apartment with a sweep of his hand, then spent hours considering the Great Huan Dynasty's response to its rivals and officials.
• Xiao Ying recalled awakening inside the Heaven-Earth Bell, where he learned it contained a movable miniature world with its own laws.
• Xiao Ying concluded that the Eastern Sovereign Bell had been a shell concealing the true Heaven-Earth Bell, the Mysterious Supreme Treasure sought by the Upper Realm.
• Xiao Ying feared that the immortals and gods might discover the treasure and descend upon Forging the Sacred Court, but hoped they would believe the Eastern Sovereign Bell had merely been unsealed.
• Xiao Ying wondered how Qin Shi Huang and other legendary figures had crossed into the Upper Realm without the Heaven-Earth Bell, then decided to focus on the immediate business at hand.

Xiao Ying went to the Pangu Mainframe, the nexus between Earth and the world of Forging the Sacred Court, and announced that he would take it away to prevent a counterinvasion. He gave everyone one day to claim it, then explained to five elders that it might be one of the ten eternal supreme treasures.

• Xiao Ying told the China Alliance to bring him the Violet Star River Record the next day, then left to avoid reuniting with his friends under strained circumstances.
• Xiao Ying reached the Pangu Mainframe and declared that he would take it to the world of Forging the Sacred Court because it could let its natives invade Earth.
• Xiao Ying silenced the crowd by warning that Earth could not withstand such an invasion, then gave anyone one day to take the Pangu Mainframe from him.
• News of Xiao Ying's plan spread worldwide, but the protesting factions did not dare confront him and instead tried to claim the Pangu Mainframe overnight.
• Five elders met with Xiao Ying, who said the Pangu Mainframe might be one of the ten eternal supreme treasures and could soon become a passage for an invasion of Earth.

Xiao Ying learned the Pangu Mainframe’s history from five Earth World elders, who explained how it had drawn humanity into Forging the Sacred Court and later lost its conscious will. After the elders departed, Xiao Ying cleared the area around the Mainframe with a devastating attack, leaving the green barrier standing alone.

• Xiao Ying explained why the Pangu Mainframe was unlikely to be a crystallization of Pangu’s consciousness and described how Heavenly Punishment had raised him to the true immortal realm.
• A blue-robed elder told Xiao Ying that a meteorite had fallen on Earth about twenty-seven years earlier, leading factions to discover Forging the Sacred Court and create the Game Dragon Ring.
• The elder revealed that Earth’s leaders had used Genesis Online as a pretext to send people into the other world, and that the Pangu Mainframe had lost its conscious will after going out of control.
• Xiao Ying reassured the elders, while privately considering that Pangu’s Remnant Soul might have sought to guide humanity and bring about Pangu’s rebirth.
• After twenty-four hours, Xiao Ying ordered everyone to leave and unleashed his Heaven-Overturning Palm, shattering the surrounding forest and glaciers while the green barrier remained intact.