Recaps

Zhang Yuan cultivated the Misty Sea Layered Tower Heaven-Splitting Scripture and rapidly reached the Source-Lifting Realm of the Qi Sea Uniting Spirit Dao. That night, Zhao Lian arrived at his mist-shrouded room and entered after hearing eerie screams.

• Chi Guanguan gave Zhang Yuan the Misty Sea Layered Tower Heaven-Splitting Scripture and explained that he could cultivate it alongside the Azure Vault Vast Sea Art.
• Zhang Yuan gathered True Mist-Cloud Qi and reached the ninth level of the Qi Gathering Realm in less than half a day.
• Zhang Yuan converted the gathered qi into source qi and broke through to the Source-Lifting Realm.
• Zhang Yuan continued cultivating both the Qi Sea Uniting Spirit Dao and the Qi Refining to Immortality Path, creating a spectacle of mist, spiritual energy, and screaming Lonely Ghosts in the White Residence.
• Zhao Lian came alone to Zhang Yuan's room at night, pushed open the door, and heard him ask what she was doing there.

Zhao Lian visited Zhang Yuan at midnight to learn why the Sword Saint had attacked him and what he wanted from her. After explaining the sword’s history and giving it to Zhang Yuan, she asked about his business, and he admitted he could not summon Great Heng’s Empress.

• Zhao Lian deduced that Zhang Yuan’s twenty-four-hour deadline was meant to bring her to his quarters at midnight, and he invited her to sit.
• Zhang Yuan asked why the Sword Saint, Xie Jingxin, had attacked him, and Zhao Lian explained that Illuminating Netherworld was her sword, forged to imitate the Sword Saint’s Gazing into the Netherworld.
• Zhao Lian said the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King had stolen Illuminating Netherworld, and Zhang Yuan claimed he had found it by the roadside.
• Zhao Lian believed Zhang Yuan’s explanation and generously gave him Illuminating Netherworld.
• Zhao Lian asked when Zhang Yuan would discuss his business, and he said he could not currently summon Great Heng’s Empress because the Boundless Southern Heaven Realm was too far away.

Zhang Yuan asked Zhao Lian about the shifting location of the Six Heavens Demon King Palace and learned that following Wei Jianxing and Wei Liu north would not lead him there. Zhao Lian offered him access to the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s academies and libraries if he returned with her to the Roselight Capital.

• Zhang Yuan told Zhao Lian he was searching for something in the Six Heavens Demon King Palace and had stalled in White Tree City with Wei Jianxing and the others.
• Zhao Lian revealed that the Sword Saint, Xie Jingxin, had once entered the palace after learning its location from her, but could no longer find it.
• Zhao Lian explained that the Six Heavens Demon King Palace had no fixed location, so heading north would not necessarily lead to the Nether Annihilation Heaven Palace or the Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace.
• Zhao Lian said that only a few people, including the Sword Saint and the ancestors of the Wei Household and Bright Dawn Kingdom, had found the palace, and that Wei Jianxing and Wei Liu likely knew nothing of its secrets.
• Zhang Yuan considered whether the Nether Bureau’s North Gate was truly in the Far North, and Chi Guanguan said that seemed most likely based on its conceptual image.
• Zhao Lian offered to secure Zhang Yuan a Command Token for unrestricted access to the Imperial Academy and Upper Nether Academy if he returned with her to the Roselight Capital.

After confirming that the ancient records largely supported Zhao Lian’s account, Zhang Yuan learned that the Six Heavens Demon King Palace lay beneath Gui Land and agreed to travel to Roselight Capital with Bai Fu. Wei Liu also announced she was leaving for the capital with Wu Qing and Brother Pan, parting from Zhang Yuan without expecting they would meet again.

• Zhang Yuan reviewed Bai Fu’s ancient texts and found a damaged manuscript locating the Six Heavens Demon King Palace beneath Gui Land in the Crimson Firmament Roselight Realm.
• Zhang Yuan invited Bai Fu to accompany him to Roselight Capital, and Bai Fu accepted so she could complete her third Celestial Trial there.
• Wei Liu told Zhang Yuan that she, Wu Qing, and Brother Pan would leave for Roselight Capital at noon and later resume their campaign against the Demon King Palace.
• Wei Liu said goodbye to Zhang Yuan and left, doubting they would ever meet again.

Wei Liu left White Tree City with Wei Mian and the others for Roselight Capital, while Zhang Yuan stayed behind and advanced his cultivation. Zhao Lian and Xie Jingxin later told him they were leaving that night, raising the question of what would happen to White Tree City’s nightly ghost deity after the Sword Saint departed.

• Wei Mian led Wei Liu, Wei Jianxing, Wu Qing, and Pan Zhong toward Roselight Capital after Wei Liu said Zhang Yuan had wished them a smooth journey.
• Over the following days, Zhang Yuan remained in the White Residence and advanced to the peak of the Source-Lifting Realm and the perfection of the Golden Core Realm.
• Zhang Yuan sensed visitors at his door and sent three cloud-mist swords toward it, but Xie Jingxin destroyed them with a flash of sword light.
• Zhao Lian questioned Zhang Yuan about the swords, and Xie Jingxin showed interest in his deliberately accidental answer.
• Zhao Lian told Zhang Yuan that she and Xie Jingxin would return to Roselight Capital that night, and he asked what would happen to White Tree City’s nightly ghost deity after Xie Jingxin left.

Zhang Yuan prepared to leave White Tree City with Zhao Lian and Xie Jingxin, and asked to bring Bai Fu along. The group set out for Roselight Capital in an unexpected fashion when Xie Jingxin carried Zhao Lian and Bai Fu by their collars and flew off with Zhang Yuan dangling from her teeth.

• Zhao Lian told Zhang Yuan that her formation would protect White Tree City from ghost deities for ten years.
• Zhang Yuan asked to bring Bai Fu, and Zhao Lian agreed after he said Bai Chong knew; Bai Fu arrived and joined them.
• Zhang Yuan asked about Zhao Chen, and Zhao Lian said her injured imperial brother had returned to Roselight Capital to recover.
• When Zhao Lian asked Xie Jingxin to take them to Roselight Capital, Xie Jingxin said she could not carry all three of them.
• Xie Jingxin grabbed Zhao Lian and Bai Fu by their collars, then seized Zhang Yuan by the collar with her teeth and flew south toward a large city.

Ye Xiangning searched for Zhang Yuan while discussing unrest across the Five Realms, and Zhang Yuan arrived at Roselight Capital with Xie Jingxin and Zhao Lian. The chapter ended with Zhang Yuan observing the monsters and ghosts massed around the city walls and addressing Zhao Lian about her unusual pets.

• Ye Xiangning recounted major upheavals in other realms to cultivators gathered at her shop, then dismissed them and complained that Zhang Yuan had not appeared.
• Ye Xiangning tried calling Zhang Yuan’s soul without success and wondered whether he might be in the Crimson Firmament Roselight Realm.
• Ye Xiangning decided Zhang Yuan was probably still hiding in the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm and resolved to search for him there.
• After flying for a day and night in Xie Jingxin’s mouth, Zhang Yuan and Zhao Lian arrived at Roselight Capital at dusk.
• Zhang Yuan compared Roselight Capital unfavorably with the Great Heng Capital and remarked that the monsters and ghosts around the city were Zhao Lian’s distinctive pets.

Zhang Yuan, Zhao Lian, Bai Fu, and Xie Jingxin were caught in a demonic siege on Roselight Capital. After Zhang Yuan used heavenly thunder to destroy the demons around him, he noticed a wisp of soul power drifting from one of the corpses.

• Zhao Lian identified the attackers as demons and vicious monsters from the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace, which was besieging Roselight Capital.
• Xie Jingxin killed a Blood-Robed Vengeful Ghost but accidentally dropped Zhang Yuan, Zhao Lian, and Bai Fu into the demon tide.
• Zhang Yuan used As Though the Emperor Walked in Person to land safely, while Bai Fu and Zhao Lian fought their way to the ground nearby.
• Zhao Lian chose to watch Zhang Yuan rather than send the Roselight Capital Guard to help him.
• Zhang Yuan annihilated the surrounding demons with purple heavenly thunder and noticed a wisp of soul power rising from a destroyed corpse.

Zhang Yuan discovered he could refine the souls of Demons and Evil Ghosts into magical power, using the besieging horde to accelerate his path toward the Nascent Soul Realm. After wiping out nearly a hundred thousand enemies with a giant hand of magical power, he drew the attention of the Demon King Palace’s Ghost Deities.

• Zhang Yuan refined a floating corpse’s Remnant Soul into magical power and realized the ghosts could fuel his breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Zhang Yuan burned and crushed Demons and Evil Ghosts across the battlefield, refining their Remnant Souls as he moved deeper into the corpse tide.
• A group of soldiers initially followed Zhang Yuan, but their leader turned them back toward the city wall after suspecting he might not be an ally.
• After killing tens of thousands of enemies, Zhang Yuan formed an enormous black-and-gold hand from his magical and soul power.
• Zhang Yuan struck the corpse tide and killed nearly a hundred thousand Demons and Evil Ghosts, prompting a Ghost Deity to order Duanlu to kill him.

Zhang Yuan broke through to the nascent soul realm while fighting Duanlu, a powerful ghost deity of the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace. His new nascent soul looked like Chi Guanguan, and the chapter ended with Zhang Yuan dodging Duanlu’s ambush and retaliating with heavenly lightning.

• Zhang Yuan evaded Duanlu’s ambush and identified him as a ghost deity of the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace.
• Zhang Yuan stopped refining the remnant souls and broke through to the nascent soul realm.
• Zhang Yuan discovered his nascent soul resembled Chi Guanguan, who said it would give him extraordinary power and suppress other nascent souls.
• Zhang Yuan challenged Duanlu to test his new strength, but Duanlu attacked while he was speaking.
• Zhang Yuan narrowly dodged Duanlu’s saber, then blasted him with heavenly lightning while retreating.

Zhang Yuan escaped Duanlu and rescued Wei Liu and her companions from the Corpse Tide, but Yansuan, the Left Assistant of the [Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace], confronted him. Zhang Yuan realized Duanlu had transferred twenty years of his lifespan into Yansuan's abacus.

• Zhang Yuan used "As Though the Emperor Walked in Person" to flee toward Roselight Capital and spotted Wei Jianxing, Wei Liu, Wu Qing, Pan Zhong, and Wei Huai fighting the Corpse Tide outside the city walls.
• Wei Liu prepared to unleash one final killing move as a giant corpse charged at her and Wei Huai, while Wei Jianxing and the others were knocked aside.
• Zhang Yuan dropped from the sky and killed the giant corpse with his steel sword, reuniting with the five heroes.
• Yansuan, the Left Assistant of the [Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace], descended to attack Wei Liu, and Zhang Yuan threw his sword at him.
• Zhang Yuan recognized Yansuan's abacus and realized Duanlu had sent twenty years of his lifespan into it.

Wei Kan drove back the Demon King Palace Ghost Deities and met Zhang Yuan after the siege of Roselight Capital. Zhang Yuan accepted the Wei Household’s offer of thanks, then agreed to accompany Zhao Lian to meet the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s ruler.

• Zhang Yuan prepared to flee, but White-Feather Arrows from Roselight Capital struck the corpse tide and forced Yansuan and the other Ghost Deities to retreat.
• Wei Kan arrived with [Sun-Chaser], and Wei Liu told him that Zhang Yuan was one of the good ones.
• After refining nearly thirty thousand Remnant Souls, Zhang Yuan introduced himself and accepted Wei Kan’s offer of whatever the Wei Household possessed as thanks for saving Wei Liu.
• Zhao Lian arrived with Xie Jingxin and Imperial City guards, then invited Zhang Yuan to the palace to discuss an important matter with her Imperial Father.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to go with Zhao Lian.

Zhang Yuan confronted Zhao Lian about the demon and ghost invasion of Roselight Capital and demanded to know about the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace. After Zhao Lian assigned Miao Jin to find him a residence, Zhang Yuan followed the guard captain, who secretly planned to place him in the most dilapidated part of the city.

• Zhang Yuan noticed Xie Jingxin carrying Duanlu's head and learned from Zhao Lian that the Ghost Deity could only be permanently killed inside the Demon King Palace.
• Zhang Yuan demanded an explanation of the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace, and Zhao Lian admitted she had brought him to defend Roselight Capital because it was short-handed.
• Miao Jin rebuked Zhang Yuan, who prepared to attack him until Zhao Lian intervened and promised to secure him a higher-ranking official post.
• Miao Jin tried to lecture Zhao Lian about propriety, but Zhang Yuan's gesture prompted her to scold Miao Jin and remind him of his place.
• Zhao Lian and Xie Jingxin continued to the great hall, while Miao Jin led Zhang Yuan away to find him a residence and secretly resolved to choose a dilapidated one.

Zhang Yuan received a Command Token granting him access to the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s largest libraries, along with academic sinecures, and accepted Zhao Lian’s invitation to the emperor’s celebratory banquet. He planned to kill Miao Jin there instead of at the Hundred Blossoms Tower, where Miao Jin would likely have gone that night.

• Miao Jin assigned Zhang Yuan a shabby servants’ courtyard and left with the Imperial City Guards, boasting that he would take them drinking at the Hundred Blossoms Tower.
• Zhang Yuan cleaned the courtyard, began cultivating, and decided to kill Miao Jin within three days.
• Zhao Lian visited the next afternoon, regretted Miao Jin’s treatment of Zhang Yuan, and gave him a Command Token for the Imperial Academy and Upper Nether Academy libraries.
• Zhao Lian explained that the two academies held the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s largest libraries and invited Zhang Yuan to the emperor’s celebratory banquet.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to attend after realizing Miao Jin would probably be at the banquet rather than the Hundred Blossoms Tower.

Zhang Yuan entered Clear Sound Hall to locate Miao Jin, killed a palace guard, and learned through Soul Search that Miao Jin was in the main hall. A maid then led Zhang Yuan toward a seat near the front, drawing the attention of the banquet guests.

• Zhang Yuan parted from Zhao Lian and entered Clear Sound Hall after the guards recognized him as the Daoist who had fought the corpse tide.
• Zhang Yuan followed Miao Jin's lackey, killed him, and searched his soul to discover that Miao Jin was attending the banquet as the Miao Household's young master.
• Zhang Yuan learned that Miao Jin was seated near the front of the main hall and made his way inside.
• Hong Sha told Zhang Yuan that Zhao Lian would arrive with His Majesty and led him toward his assigned seat near the front.
• Zhang Yuan realized he had passed most of the guests, and many eyes were fixed on him.

Miao Jin bribed Hong Sha to trick Zhang Yuan into taking the Grand Libationer's seat, hoping Miao Tianwu would humiliate him. Zhang Yuan saw through the scheme, attacked Miao Tianwu with heavenly thunder, and was about to make a dramatic exit when Zhao Lian arrived and called for him to wait.

• Zhang Yuan noticed Hong Sha was leading him to the wrong seat and forced her to take him there anyway.
• Hong Sha revealed that Zhang Yuan had been seated in the place of the Imperial Academy's Grand Libationer.
• Miao Jin watched as Miao Tianwu ordered Zhang Yuan to leave the seat, but Zhang Yuan stayed seated and mocked him.
• Zhang Yuan unleashed Dust-Treading Divine Thunder at Miao Tianwu, who crushed the bolt apart.
• Zhang Yuan declared that Bright Dawn Kingdom had no reason to exist if its people were all like Miao Tianwu, then prepared to leave as Miao Tianwu gathered his blood baleful aura.
• Zhao Lian entered the hall and called for Zhang Yuan to wait.

Zhang Yuan was publicly slighted at the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s banquet and killed the chief eunuch when the King’s seating order insulted him. He threatened to destroy Roselight Capital within an incense stick’s time and revealed the Thunder Pearl he called [Thunder Pivot].

• Zhao Lie entered the banquet with the two Grand Libationers and Zhao Lian, then took his throne without acknowledging Zhang Yuan.
• Zhao Lian apologized to Zhang Yuan and introduced him to the Grand Libationers, but Zhang Yuan announced he was leaving.
• Zhao Lie stopped Zhang Yuan and ordered that he be given a seat at the entrance, where the chief eunuch contemptuously presented a chair.
• Zhang Yuan killed the chief eunuch with the [Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace] and fed a pastry to Chi Guanguan.
• Zhang Yuan warned that he would bring Roselight Capital down within one incense stick’s time and introduced his Thunder Pearl, [Thunder Pivot].

Zhang Yuan threatened the Bright Dawn Kingdom with [Thunder Pivot] and demanded its throne as the price of stopping the attack. The Grand Libationers accepted, and Zhang Yuan immediately demanded that the Third Princess become his empress.

• Zhang Yuan revealed [Thunder Pivot], and Wei Kan warned that its power could destroy the Roselight Capital.
• The Grand Libationer of the Imperial Academy tried to seize the Thunder Pearl, but Zhang Yuan's violet thunder scorched his hand.
• Zhang Yuan blasted Grand Libationer Ruan and rejected his appeal for compassion, insisting he was a lay Daoist.
• Zhang Yuan demanded the Bright Dawn Kingdom's throne, and Grand Libationers Qi and Ruan declared him its new ruler.
• Zhang Yuan suspected a trap and demanded that the Third Princess become his empress to prevent a Zhao Clan rebellion.

Zhang Yuan tried to escape his demand to become emperor and marry Zhao Lian by demanding Wei Liu’s hand as well. Wei Kan invited him away from the Clear Sound Hall, and Zhang Yuan left the Thunder Pearl behind as a warning.

• Zhao Lian agreed to Zhang Yuan’s demand to marry her after Grand Libationer Ruan urged her to endure the indignity for Roselight Capital’s sake.
• Wei Liu suspected Zhang Yuan and Zhao Lian had arranged the crisis, while Zhang Yuan feared the marriage could draw a great terror into the Crimson Firmament Roselight Realm.
• Zhang Yuan demanded that the Zhao Xia Imperial Family also let him marry Wei Liu, but Grand Libationer Ruan and Grand Libationer Qi would not agree on her behalf.
• Wei Liu claimed she was willing to marry Zhang Yuan, but Wei Kan dismissed her and invited Zhang Yuan to his home for a drink.
• Zhang Yuan left the Thunder Pearl in the Clear Sound Hall and walked out with Wei Kan.

At the Wei Household residence, Wei Kan tried to get Zhang Yuan drunk with his prized Heavenly Immortal Brew, while Zhang Yuan secretly watched Clear Sound Hall for signs of a True Lord’s pawn. After Zhang Yuan passed out, Wei Liu volunteered to carry him and took him somewhere other than the guest rooms.

• Wei Kan welcomed Zhang Yuan to the Wei Household residence and served him Heavenly Immortal Brew, which might contain the nine-turn bright water Zhang Yuan needed.
• Zhang Yuan drank with Wei Kan while using his divine sense and karmic link to watch Clear Sound Hall, but noticed no clear sign of a True Lord’s pawn.
• Wei Kan and Zhang Yuan eventually collapsed, and Wei Kan revealed he had only pretended to be drunk so he could get Zhang Yuan drunk.
• Wei Kan sent Wei Jianxing and Wei Huai to rest and claimed he had an important matter to consider before staggering off to his study to sober up.
• Wei Liu offered to take Zhang Yuan to a guest room, but after Wei Jianxing and Wei Huai left, she carried him toward another part of the residence.

Zhang Yuan secretly recovered while pretending to be drunk, advancing his cultivation and spiritual root before planning his next steps in Roselight Capital. Chi Guanguan told him Bai Fu was safe and explained that the ancient gods were mostly pre-heaven divine saints, many of whom had been purged by Great Luo.

• Zhang Yuan refined the wine’s potency, advanced to the nascent soul middle stage, restored his spiritual root to low-grade heavenly, and reached the fate lord realm.
• Zhang Yuan planned to search the Imperial Academy and Upper Nether Academy for information about the Six Heavens Demon King Palace, then find and kill Miao Jin before leaving Roselight Capital.
• Zhang Yuan remembered Bai Fu, and Chi Guanguan assured him she was safe in the city while attempting her final heaven-and-earth trial.
• Zhang Yuan asked Chi Guanguan about river gods, and she explained that such gods were mostly pre-heaven divine saints who had been purged by Great Luo.

Zhang Yuan discovered the two [Chaos Platform] fragments in his Sea of Consciousness, then returned to his room to find Wei Liu beneath his quilt. Wei Liu confessed that she had feelings for him and asked him not to reject her because she did not have long to live.

• Zhang Yuan learned that the Great Luo had purged the gods and noticed the two [Chaos Platform] fragments in his Sea of Consciousness.
• Chi Guanguan urgently told Zhang Yuan to check what was happening outside.
• Zhang Yuan woke in bed and found Wei Liu hiding beneath his quilt.
• Wei Liu insisted she was acting of her own will and reminded Zhang Yuan that he had called himself a Householder Daoist.
• Wei Liu admitted her feelings and pleaded with Zhang Yuan not to reject her because she did not have long to live.

Zhang Yuan stopped Wei Liu from going further because he was engaged, then learned that a demonic curse was slowly turning her into an evil ghost. He promised to find a way to cure her, leaving Wei Liu asleep in his arms.

• Wei Liu kissed Zhang Yuan and began to undress, but he drew her into his arms and reminded her that he had a fiancée.
• Wei Liu said she did not expect an official place at his side and revealed that she had little time left to live.
• Wei Liu showed Zhang Yuan the purple fuzz spreading across her shoulder and explained that the Wei Household’s cultivation method caused the curse of the Six Heavenly Demon Kings.
• Zhang Yuan divined the curse and realized that only powerful beings such as a Golden Core True Lord, Great Immortal Lord, or Divine Master could cure it.
• Zhang Yuan promised to cure Wei Liu, and she fell asleep against his chest.

Zhang Yuan returned to the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s imperial palace after Hong Sha told him the Zhao Xia Imperial Family had made him ruler. He took his place before the court and asked whether being ruler gave him final authority over the kingdom.

• Hong Sha persuaded Zhang Yuan to return to the palace, and he told the Wei Household’s maid to reassure Wei Liu when she woke.
• Zhang Yuan summoned the [Thunder Pearl] from the Clear Sound Hall and entered the Nine Saints Hall with Hong Sha and the palace maids.
• Zhang Yuan rejected the Dragon Throne, replaced it with an ordinary chair, and sat before the court officials and Zhao Xia Imperial Family.
• The two Grand Libationers led the court in welcoming Zhang Yuan as ruler, and Ruan Jiang asked him to lead the kingdom against the Demon King Palace.
• Zhang Yuan interrupted Ruan Jiang and asked whether he had final authority over everyone and everything in the Bright Dawn Kingdom.

After forcing his way onto the throne, Zhang Yuan used his new authority to punish his enemies and demand the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's treasure vault. Zhao Lian revealed she knew its location and became his empress, while Zhang Yuan ended the chapter by teasing her.

• Zhang Yuan ordered Miao Jin killed, and Qi Han sent him to the Heavenly Prison; when Miao Tianwu protested, Qi Han sent him there too.
• Zhang Yuan demanded the Bright Dawn Kingdom's treasury and treasure vault, but Ruan Jiang explained that the cultivators' treasures were kept in the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's vault.
• Zhang Yuan ordered Zhao Lie captured and tortured for the vault's location, but Zhao Lian said she knew where it was.
• Zhang Yuan praised Zhao Lian as his empress and invited her to sit beside him; she sat on his thigh despite her reluctance.
• Zhang Yuan put an arm around Zhao Lian's waist and whispered, "Flat as an ironplate."