Chapter Summaries

Tang Changsheng secured Tang Changsheng's support for Lower River, then used a crackdown on Holy Salt trafficking to reassure Hemp Mountain's residents and strengthen his public image. The chapter ended with Fan Wan'er secretly meeting him and showing him intelligence about the Long-Haired Remnants, which he said he had no authority to act on.

• Tang Changsheng and the finance chief struck a backroom deal over Hemp Mountain and Lower River.
• Tang Changsheng ignored foreign reporters pursuing his convoy and later gave an interview blaming the unrest on Holy Salt.
• After a half-day grace period, Great Chu Military raided Holy Salt gangs, killing more than thirty resisters and arresting thousands.
• The government planned to edit the crackdown footage for domestic broadcasts to promote Tang Changsheng's strong-leader image.
• Fan Wan'er secretly met Tang Changsheng at the Lower River Hotel and showed him an intelligence report about the Long-Haired Remnants.
• Tang Changsheng said he had no authority over the Long-Haired Remnants and would not meddle in their affairs.

Tang Changsheng learned that Li Qinghe may have allied with surviving experts from the Southern Demon Cult, and Fan Wan'er asked him to help capture Li Qinghe during a three-base operation. The chapter left Tang Changsheng considering the operation while already knowing about the alliance from earlier intelligence.

• Tang Changsheng told Fan Wan'er he did not want to deal with the Long-Haired Remnants, but acknowledged that power and influence were vital to securing the resources needed for cultivation.
• Fan Wan'er explained that the Imperial Court was attacking three Long-Haired Remnant bases at once to capture Li Qinghe, without powerful experts available to support Tang Changsheng.
• Tang Changsheng recognized the Myriad Forms Mirror in a photograph of A Ruo, the Myriad Illusions Founding Patriarch, and revealed that he already possessed the mirror.
• Fan Wan'er said Li Qinghe might have joined forces with surviving experts from the Southern Demon Cult who had disappeared during its purge.
• Tang Changsheng remembered the group and revealed that he had received intelligence about them before Fan Wan'er had.

Tang Changsheng agreed to investigate the surviving Southern Nan Demon Cult experts after Fan Wan'er warned that Li Qinghe might unleash them against Great Chu. While examining Zhang Monkey's account of the Ancient Tomb, Tang Changsheng experienced a mysterious vision seemingly triggered by the Soul Stone.

• Fan Wan'er warned Tang Changsheng that surviving Southern Nan Demon Cult experts might include Yin Spirit True Persons and could threaten Great Chu.
• Tang Changsheng agreed to step in once Fan Wan'er found Li Qinghe, and she invited him to visit Luodu to see her grandfather.
• After Fan Wan'er left, Tang Changsheng decided to deal with the hidden Southern Nan Demon Cult experts and summoned Da Xiang and the others.
• Tang Changsheng listened as Zhang Monkey recounted his escape into the Ancient Tomb while Tang Changsheng tested his suspicions with the Soul Stone.
• The Soul Stone seemed to draw Tang Changsheng into a vision of a shadowy hall filled with a Daoist, Divine Generals, and Spirit Officials.
• Tang Changsheng dismissed the experience as a nightmare, then concluded that the Soul Stone must have caused the vision.

Tang Changsheng used the Soul Stone to strengthen his Yin Spirit and gained the ability to perceive through walls before setting out to investigate the ancient tomb in Cloudmist Mountain. He sent a golden tiger formed through the Golden Tiger Soul-Chasing Seal ahead and reached a valley where an earthquake had ruined the tomb site's feng shui.

• Tang Changsheng illuminated the Soul Stone with the Primordial Yang Divine Lamp, and his Yin Spirit encountered the Heavenly Heart Seeds within it.
• Tang Changsheng discovered that he could hear and see through the walls of his residence, then lost that perception when he withdrew his awareness.
• Tang Changsheng sealed the Soul Stone in its box and decided to investigate the ancient tomb in Cloudmist Mountain himself, using the Golden Tiger Soul-Chasing Seal to avoid risking his body.
• Tang Changsheng linked his spiritual sense to the golden tiger through the Three Realms Mirror and sent it racing through the mountain forest.
• The golden tiger reached a valley where the Tang Tomb was located and found that an earthquake had destroyed the site's feng shui arrangement.

Tang Changsheng entered the Ancient Tomb with the injured Cave-Guarding General, expecting to help activate its grand formation, but the tomb proved to be a trap. There he faced a force tied to the Moon-Worshipping Cult and its Bronze Armor Corpses.

• Tang Changsheng found armed young fighters defending a camp near the Ancient Tomb and hesitated to attack them while their Blood Essence surged.
• The Cave-Guarding General appeared and asked Tang Changsheng to help activate the tomb’s grand formation.
• Tang Changsheng and the Cave-Guarding General entered the Ancient Tomb together.
• Black chains bound the Golden Tiger as the mist lifted and revealed rows of Bronze Armor Corpses in stone coffins.
• A zombie announced that they had lured Tang Changsheng into a trap, and Tang Changsheng suspected the attackers belonged to the Moon-Worshipping Cult.

Tang Changsheng recognized the dozens of emerging zombies as members of the Moon-Worshipping Cult who had transformed themselves through the Lunar Yin Form-Refining Method. As the cultists mocked the old Human Way Torrent, they revealed that corpses were overwhelming the Armed Militants outside the Ancient Tomb.

• Tang Changsheng identified the zombies as Moon-Worshipping Cult practitioners who had refined themselves into Bronze Armor Corpses.
• The leading Bronze Armor Corpse blamed the Imperial Court’s persecution for the cult’s transformation and boasted that the Human Way Torrent had faded after they hid for centuries.
• A Bronze Armor Corpse showed Tang Changsheng a vision of corpses rising around the Ancient Tomb and attacking the Armed Militants.
• The Armed Militants’ bullets failed to stop the corpses, and one bitten young man turned gray-eyed and attacked his companion.
• The corpses’ blood and flesh injured an Esper who had been impervious to blades and spears.

Tang Changsheng escaped the Southern Demon Cult remnants’ trap after destroying their Corpse-Guarding Worms with white fire. He then revealed the transformation they wanted from him: a swarm of bees, which left the Moon-Worshipping Cult members staring at him greedily.

• The Bronze Armor Corpses infected Tang Changsheng’s Golden Tiger Doppelganger with Corpse-Guarding Worms and threatened to use them to reach his True Self.
• Tang Changsheng identified the Southern Demon Cult factions involved and asked whether they had also played a part in what happened at Hemp Mountain.
• Tang Changsheng burned away the worms and his chains, then claimed he was from the Bottomless Cave.
• Tang Changsheng revealed a flaming peony that transformed into a swarm of bees, drawing the Moon-Worshipping Cult members’ greedy attention.

Tang Changsheng used his Golden Tiger Clone to negotiate with the trapped Southern Demon Cult experts, but they attacked and discovered they had seized only a shred of his consciousness. As his plane returned, he realized the old monsters were confined inside the Ancient Tomb’s Cave Abode and considered calling in warplanes, while a Soul Stone began to pulse.

• Tang Changsheng kept his Divine Power secret and used the Moon-Worshipping Cult experts’ fear of his apparent strength to make the Southern Demon Cult expert ask for his help.
• Tang Changsheng questioned the experts about Hemp Mountain, and the first Bronze Armor Corpse denied working with the Long-Haired Bandits before ordering an attack to restrain his Doppelganger.
• The Southern Demon Cult experts discovered that they had captured only a small piece of Tang Changsheng’s consciousness, not his Primordial Spirit Doppelganger.
• The Bronze Armor Corpses admitted they needed Divine Power because they had become bound to their failing Cave Abode, and they decided to demand help from the people seeking to break the Heaven-Earth Sealing Array.
• Tang Changsheng concluded that the old monsters were trapped in the Ancient Tomb and considered asking the Great Chu Military to bomb it.
• A Soul Stone warmed and pulsed as Tang Changsheng’s anger rose.

Tang Changsheng met Youxu True Person in the supposed Origin Pole Immortal Realm and learned that Youxu was a Ghost Immortal seeking help to reclaim his cave abode from the Southern Demon Cult. After examining Youxu’s powerful Divine Sense, Tang Changsheng detected that it was decaying, leaving him wary of the ancient cultivator’s claim that his method could lead to the Yang God Realm.

• Tang Changsheng entered the hall and realized the Daoist’s so-called Immortal Realm was not proof that he was an Earth Immortal.
• Youxu True Person sensed Tang Changsheng’s killing intent and explained that he opposed the people occupying his cave abode.
• Tang Changsheng recognized the cave abode as the ancient tomb and questioned Youxu’s claim that he had lived since the Great Tang.
• Youxu claimed his cultivation method could let a Ghost Immortal live a thousand years and reach the Yang God Realm.
• Youxu sent a mote of Divine Sense into Tang Changsheng’s Spirit Terrace, where Tang Changsheng caught and examined it.
• Tang Changsheng found Youxu’s Divine Sense far stronger than his own but sensed rot and decay within it.

Tang Changsheng learned that Youxu True Person was a Lower Grotto Immortal whose Netherworld foundation had been severed during the Great Calamity. Youxu asked Tang to help reclaim his Cave Abode without destroying the Southern Demon Cult members trapped inside it.

• Tang Changsheng sensed Youxu True Person's powerful Yin Spirit and eagerly accepted his offer to copy a Dao Art.
• Youxu explained that he had once ruled a vast Netherworld domain and was considered a Lower Grotto Immortal.
• Youxu told Tang that the Great Calamity and the Heaven-Earth Sealing Array had devastated the world's Immortal Dao and left him stranded in the Netherworld.
• Youxu revealed that the Southern Demon Cult had occupied his Cave Abode, and asked Tang to help reclaim it without razing it.
• Tang realized the cult's old monsters had become trapped in the Cave Abode after Youxu altered it through his connection to the Soul Stone.

Tang Changsheng negotiated with Youxu True Person for an Imperial Investiture in exchange for the Great Void and Abundance Scripture and a contribution to the Imperial Court. He then entered the Cave Abode and faced the awakened Southern Demon Cult experts, who intended to use his Divine Power to restore their failing realm.

• Tang Changsheng concluded that Youxu True Person could not threaten his plans and offered to help him obtain an Imperial Investiture.
• Youxu True Person agreed to earn merit for the Imperial Court, and Tang Changsheng received the Great Void and Abundance Scripture.
• Tang Changsheng laid out further tasks for Youxu True Person to complete before he could be invested.
• Tang Changsheng entered the Cave Abode, waking the Southern Demon Cult experts and Bronze Armor Corpses.
• The Bronze Armor Corpses surrounded Tang Changsheng and declared that his Divine Power could replenish their crumbling Cave Abode.

Tang Changsheng offered the Southern Nan Demon Cult's Bronze Armor Corpses Imperial Investiture by the Great Chu Imperial Court, dividing them over whether to accept. He proved he had authority to decide their fate by displaying the Imperial Court's Credentials of Authority, leaving them bowed before him.

• Tang Changsheng told the Bronze Armor Corpses he had brought no Divine Flame, then asked whether they would consider Imperial Investiture by the Imperial Court.
• The Moon-Worshipping Cult members argued over whether to accept amnesty from Great Chu or refuse to become its servants.
• A Bronze Armor Corpse asked whether Tang Changsheng could decide on the Imperial Court's behalf.
• Tang Changsheng displayed the Credentials of Authority, showing he could grant them Imperial Investiture himself.
• The Bronze Armor Corpses bowed their heads and listened meekly, recognizing that Tang Changsheng could determine their fate.

Tang Changsheng resisted a Bronze Armor Corpse’s attack and revealed that he had mastered Primordial Magnetic Divine Light before questioning the Southern Demon Cult’s claim to the tomb. The Soul Stone then transported him and the Bronze Armor Corpses to a mysterious place, where Youxu True Person appeared with dozens of Divine Generals and Spirit Officials.

• A Bronze Armor Corpse attacked Tang Changsheng with Underground Primordial Magnetism, but Tang Changsheng absorbed it into his Primordial Magnetism Realm.
• Tang Changsheng challenged the Southern Demon Cult’s claim to the tomb, and its leader explained that the cult’s Founding Patriarch had taken over Youxu True Person’s Living Tomb more than a century earlier.
• The Southern Demon Cult experts recalled hiding in the tomb as zombies to escape the Imperial Court’s campaign and waking to find Great Chu stronger and the world changed.
• Fog enveloped the tomb, and the Soul Stone on Tang Changsheng’s person grew hot before he and the Bronze Armor Corpses were pulled into another place.
• Dozens of Divine Generals and Spirit Officials appeared, followed by Youxu True Person, whose power Tang Changsheng sensed was comparable to the Ancestral God of Black Rock Mountain.

Tang Changsheng and Youxu True Person trapped the Southern Demon Cult masters and persuaded many to pledge loyalty to the Great Chu Imperial Court. As fighting neared the hall, Youxu revealed that foreign Ghost Soldiers had invaded his Netherworld domain and asked Tang Changsheng for help.

• Youxu True Person used the Cave Abode's power to bind the Southern Demon Cult masters while Tang Changsheng revealed their plan to strike from within and without.
• Youxu identified himself to Tang Changsheng and proposed killing the captured masters, prompting several to pledge loyalty to the Imperial Court.
• As battle sounds grew closer, Youxu pulled Tang Changsheng aside and confessed that foreign Ghost Soldiers had nearly overwhelmed him in the Netherworld.
• Youxu showed Tang Changsheng a vision of the Ghost Soldiers attacking his palace, and Tang Changsheng recognized them as the Outer Regions Ghost Soldiers he had fought before.

Tang Changsheng saw that Outer Regions Ghost Soldiers were invading Youxu True Person’s Cave Abode and appointed him under the Son of Heaven’s command. The appointment unleashed immense Fortune, drove back part of the invaders, and lifted the Cave Abode out of the void, leaving Youxu True Person wondering what kind of ruler held the throne.

• Tang Changsheng and Youxu True Person witnessed a Divine Temple pouring out tens of thousands of Hu People Ghost Soldiers into the Netherworld.
• Tang Changsheng realized that Youxu True Person’s losses among his Divine Generals and Spirit Officials weakened the Cave Abode’s power.
• With the Cave Abode under attack, Tang Changsheng appointed Youxu True Person using his Credentials of Authority.
• A powerful beam of light swept through the Cave Abode, erased roughly a tenth of the invading Hu People Ghost Soldiers, and lifted the Cave Abode out of the void.
• Youxu True Person and the Iron Armor Corpses marveled at the vast Fortune behind the Son of Heaven’s decree.

Tang Changsheng used the Credentials of Authority to direct Great Chu’s immense Fortune, stabilizing the Netherworld Cave Abode and leaving Youxu True Person and the Southern Demon Cult experts awed and regretful. After departing, he resolved to strengthen the Immortal Dao within the Great Chu and set aside the Golden Tree Branch he had won at Hemp Mountain for later study.

• Tang Changsheng’s use of the Credentials of Authority drew on Great Chu’s Fortune, restoring the Cave Abode and transforming its surroundings.
• Tang Changsheng left the Netherworld despite calls from Youxu True Person and the Demon Cult experts, who regretted hesitating over Imperial Investiture.
• Tang Changsheng decided not to grant Youxu True Person authority because he intended to reserve its benefits for his General’s Temple and its Protector King Divine General.
• Tang Changsheng considered how the Great Chu could preserve a share of the Immortal Dao while remaining prepared for foreign enemies behind the Heaven-Earth Sealing Array.
• Tang Changsheng examined the Golden Tree Branch from Hemp Mountain, sensed its great power, and put it away to study later.

Tang Changsheng discovered that the Great Void and Abundance Scripture was a rare Spirit Refinement Method that used Dragon Aura to strengthen the Yin Spirit. Because of his ties to the Imperial Court, he realized he could readily obtain Imperial Dragon Aura and accelerate his cultivation before the Trial.

• Tang Changsheng read the Great Void and Abundance Scripture in his Sea of Consciousness and learned that it could cultivate his Yin Spirit.
• He understood that the Method drew on Earth Dragon Aura from land and Imperial Dragon Aura gained through good deeds and imperial investiture.
• Tang Changsheng realized Youxu True Person had strengthened his Yin Spirit by borrowing Fortune from the Imperial Court.
• He concluded that his position as an imperial envoy and son-in-law of the Imperial Family would make Imperial Dragon Aura easy to obtain.
• Tang Changsheng estimated that the Scripture could help him cultivate his Yin Spirit before leaving for the Trial.

Tang Changsheng borrowed Great Chu Dragon Aura through the Scepter and rapidly strengthened his Yin Spirit, prompting him to prepare for the Wind and Fire Tribulation sooner than expected. Meanwhile, Attilabo complained to De Moya about losing the Golden Branch, and De Moya questioned whether Tang Changsheng had also destroyed his Divine Temple.

• Tang Changsheng reflected that he needed to return to the Eastern Glory World to continue cultivating and decided to settle matters in Great Chu first.
• Tang Changsheng connected with the Scepter and borrowed a wisp of Great Chu Dragon Aura, then spent four or five days absorbing and refining it.
• Tang Changsheng found that the Dragon Aura had increased his cultivation by nearly a tenth and estimated he could reach Yin Exhaustion, Yang Emergence within three years.
• Attilabo cursed the people who had taken the Golden Branch, while De Moya mocked him for losing it.
• Attilabo argued that his enemy had ambushed him because he could not use his full strength across the Divine Temple, and admitted he would not dare enter that dangerous world.
• Attilabo reminded De Moya that Tang Changsheng had killed Argus and destroyed one of his Divine Temples, and De Moya demanded to know whether Tang Changsheng had been responsible.

Attilabo recruited De Moya to kill Tang Changsheng, warning that Tang was a Demigod Hero whose fortune could frustrate the invasion. Meanwhile, Tang endured the Netherworld’s Astral Wind before returning to the Governor’s residence, where he used Dragon Aura to begin restoring his depleted Yin Spirit.

• Attilabo told De Moya that Tang Changsheng was a Demigod Hero and urged him to help prevent Tang from growing stronger.
• De Moya agreed to kill Tang and demanded that Attilabo’s Believers lure him into a trap, though he warned Attilabo not to trust them.
• Tang Changsheng traveled deeper into the Netherworld’s Astral Wind, enduring it to prepare for the coming Yang Fire.
• Tang emerged from the Netherworld through the Three Realms Mirror with his Yin Spirit and strength severely depleted.
• Tang drew a small amount of Dragon Aura from the Scepter and used it to restore his Yin Spirit.

Tang Changsheng recovered his strength by absorbing Dragon Aura, then demonstrated that his Yin Spirit could fly through daylight while accompanying Fan Wan'er. Fan Wan'er suspected he had reached the Yin Spirit Dharma Realm and revealed that the true imperial Attendants were elsewhere, prompting Tang Changsheng to ask if they were in the New World.

• Tang Changsheng absorbed the Dragon Aura and fully restored his Yin Spirit, which seemed stronger than before.
• Fan Wan'er invited Tang Changsheng to see Dragon Fang's special operations squad and flew from the balcony in flight-capable Exoskeleton Armor.
• Tang Changsheng sent his Yin Spirit after Fan Wan'er beneath a protective dark cloud and quickly overtook her in daylight.
• Fan Wan'er wondered whether Tang Changsheng had reached the Yin Spirit Dharma Realm, then decided he must be using a Treasured Artifact.
• Fan Wan'er told Tang Changsheng that the true expert Attendants were not in this world, and Tang Changsheng asked if they were in the New World.