Recaps

After dismissing court, Zhang Yuan learned from Zhao Lian that the [Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace] threatened Roselight Capital with another attack, potentially led by its Demon King. He agreed to look for a solution, then demanded to inspect the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's treasury.

• Zhang Yuan dismissed court after spending the day evading serious discussions with Qi Han, Ruan Jiang, and the officials.
• Once they were alone, Zhao Lian asked Zhang Yuan what he was plotting, and he challenged her about the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's intentions.
• Zhao Lian explained that Qi Han and Ruan Jiang had made Zhang Yuan King to keep him in the capital as a safeguard, and warned that the next attack might bring the [Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace]'s Demon King.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to think of a solution for Bright Dawn Kingdom, then told Zhao Lian to take him to the imperial treasury so he could collect payment and inspect his own holdings.
• Zhao Lian suppressed her anger and led Zhang Yuan toward the treasury.

Zhang Yuan explored the Zhao Xia Imperial Family’s vast underground treasure vault with Zhao Lian, finding rare treasures and a collection of cultivation spells. After eating a valuable artifact material to nourish his spiritual root, he stayed behind to study spells while Zhao Lian left.

• Zhao Lian led Zhang Yuan into the imperial family’s underground treasure vault and warned him not to take too much.
• Zhang Yuan surveyed the vault’s immense stores and judged that its treasures rivaled the Mysterious Court’s sect vault.
• Zhang Yuan searched for materials needed by the Form and Spirit Cultivation Method and found a piece of nether heaven gold crystal stone.
• Zhang Yuan ate the stone to nourish his spiritual root, startling Zhao Lian.
• Zhang Yuan examined the vault’s books, challenged Zhao Lian about the family’s collection, and learned that the books there held cultivation techniques and spells.
• Zhang Yuan asked Zhao Lian to leave and stayed to study spells suited to his cultivation.

Zhang Yuan learned several soul-path spells in the underground treasury, then went to the Ministry of Justice prison to attack Miao Jin. He killed Miao Jin with a single blow and left him dying after Miao Jin threatened him with his grandfather.

• Chi Guanguan sulked at Zhang Yuan for being a womanizer but still guided him to the Three Netherworlds World-Swallowing Great Hand Seal.
• Zhang Yuan learned the Three Netherworlds World-Swallowing Great Hand Seal, the Ghost King Divine Shield, and Soul-Gathering Lure, storing gathered soul power in a jade seal.
• Zhang Yuan teleported to Hundred Blossoms Tower and used his divine sense to locate Miao Jin in the Ministry of Justice prison.
• Zhang Yuan appeared behind Miao Jin, who was boasting that he would marry the Third Princess after the false king fell.
• Zhang Yuan struck Miao Jin's head, leaving him mortally wounded, and Miao Jin died after threatening him with his grandfather.

Zhang Yuan killed Miao Jin in the Ministry of Justice Prison, then encountered a mysterious golden-eyed figure before Miao Tianwu arrived to avenge his grandson. Zhang Yuan escaped the prison but remained under attack as he repeatedly evaded Miao Tianwu’s strikes.

• Zhang Yuan refined Miao Jin’s soul, found it strangely weak, and killed the other inmates to conceal his identity.
• A hidden figure with golden eyes told Zhang Yuan that his sins, karma, and burden of slaughter ran deep, then said they were not his enemy.
• Miao Tianwu heard of his grandson’s death and rushed to the prison, prompting Zhang Yuan to escape with As Though the Emperor Walked in Person.
• Miao Tianwu crushed the prison and blasted a breach through West City’s wall while trying to strike Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan blocked Miao Tianwu’s spear for an instant with the Netherworld Spirit God-Slaying Finger and escaped another blow by shifting through space.
• Miao Tianwu continued pursuing Zhang Yuan, vowing to make him pay for Miao Jin’s death.

Zhang Yuan defeated Miao Tianwu in Roselight Capital, proclaimed himself the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King, and threatened the city with a powerful attack. Xie Jingxin stopped his strike, forcing Zhang Yuan to flee and hide in an alley.

• Zhang Yuan knocked Miao Tianwu from the sky with twelve Mystic Pearls and announced himself as the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King.
• Zhang Yuan secretly sent Wei Liu a lifespan-extending fruit while the people of Roselight Capital reacted to his claims.
• Zhang Yuan unleashed the Netherworld Spirit God-Slaying Finger at Miao Tianwu, who stood his ground to protect the city behind him.
• Xie Jingxin appeared and split Zhang Yuan's finger with her Steel Sword.
• Zhang Yuan warned Xie Jingxin and Miao Tianwu, then used [As Though the Emperor Walked in Person] to escape and hide in a narrow alley.

Zhang Yuan met the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King, who revealed that he had not ordered the invasion of Roselight Capital and suspected the Underworld-Penetrating Soul-Severing Palace was responsible. They agreed to investigate its Demon King together and split the spoils.

• Zhang Yuan identified the figure in the alley as Zhao Lie, Lord of the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace, and learned his title was the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King.
• The Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King denied ordering the invasion of Roselight Capital and said another Demon King might have impersonated him.
• Zhang Yuan and the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King suspected the Underworld-Penetrating Soul-Severing Palace had orchestrated the invasion.
• The Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King proposed that they investigate the palace together and split the spoils, and Zhang Yuan agreed.

After killing Miao Jin and meeting [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King], Zhang Yuan returned to the Wei Residence, where Wei Kan worried about his relationship with Wei Liu. Wei Liu eagerly prepared for Zhang Yuan’s visit and greeted him with an embrace, then asked where he had gone during the day.

• Zhang Yuan concluded that his meeting with [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] had been coincidence and traveled to the Wei Residence.
• Wei Kan rejected the maid’s teasing about Zhang Yuan being his young master-in-law and told her to watch Zhang Yuan and Wei Liu.
• Wei Liu hid her excitement, asked Xingyu to apply light makeup, and waited in her room for Zhang Yuan.
• Zhang Yuan entered the Wei Residence and knocked on Wei Liu’s door.
• Wei Liu rushed into Zhang Yuan’s arms, and he teased her about being clingy.
• Wei Liu asked Zhang Yuan where he had gone during the day.

Zhang Yuan visited Wei Liu after serving as emperor for a day, then returned to the Imperial City and secretly checked in on Zhao Lian. He left her believing the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King had killed Miao Jin, while she remained furious at his behavior.

• Zhang Yuan told Wei Liu about his day as emperor, and she offered to accompany him on future visits to the Imperial City with their allies.
• Zhang Yuan left the Wei Residence before sunrise, failed to meet Wei Kan, and returned to the Third Princess Hall to make his presence known to Zhao Lian.
• Zhao Lian woke to find Zhang Yuan beside her bed and attacked him before realizing he was there in person.
• Zhao Lian told Zhang Yuan that Miao Jin and other prisoners had been killed and blamed the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King, who had come from White Tree City.
• Zhang Yuan praised Zhao Lian, then left after misleading her about his whereabouts; Zhao Lian punched her pillow until it burst.

After Zhao Lian sought Zhang Yuan’s help protecting Roselight Capital, he discussed his romantic entanglements and a possible escape with Chi Guanguan. The capital faced danger from the [Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace] and the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King, and Zhang Yuan agreed to contact the Empress of Great Heng.

• Zhao Lian left her palace to look for Zhang Yuan after he departed.
• Zhang Yuan and Chi Guanguan discussed his relationship with Wei Liu and his promise to help resolve the problem with Chi Guanguan’s true body so they could flee together.
• Chi Guanguan warned Zhang Yuan that Zhao Lian was catching up to him.
• Zhao Lian asked Zhang Yuan to contact the Empress of Great Heng because Roselight Capital was threatened by the [Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace] and the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to contact the Empress of Great Heng.

Zhao Lian secured Zhang Yuan’s promise to try contacting Tan Chengcheng for help against the Demon Kings and began seeking other allies to protect the Roselight Capital. She invited Wei Liu to the imperial palace for breakfast, where Wei Liu arrived convinced the invitation was a provocation and openly accused Zhao Lian of making her angry.

• Zhang Yuan agreed to try contacting Tan Chengcheng, though he warned Zhao Lian that the distance might make it impossible.
• Zhao Lian told Zhang Yuan that the Zhao Xia Imperial Family would support him, and he teased her before promising to send her a list of what he needed.
• Zhao Lian invited Wei Liu to the imperial palace for breakfast as she considered gathering support from the Wei Household and other powerful cultivators.
• Wei Liu arrived at dawn in an angry mood and sat opposite Zhao Lian, believing the invitation was a challenge.
• Zhao Lian asked what was wrong, and Wei Liu said that a vicious woman had made her angry.

Zhang Yuan visited the Upper Nether Academy to search its records for information about the Six Heavenly Demon Kings. After reaching the academy’s vast Scripture Pavilion, he realized that its enormous collection would be difficult to read through with his current Divine Sense.

• Zhang Yuan followed Upper Nether Academy students toward the outskirts of Roselight Capital, while Chi Guanguan questioned his choice to trail them.
• A student told gatekeeper Mister Lu that a leering Daoist had followed them, but Zhang Yuan slipped into the academy before they could point him out.
• Zhang Yuan surveyed the Upper Nether Academy and used his status to learn where its Scripture Pavilion was located.
• Zhang Yuan entered the seven-hundred-and-seventy-seven-meter-tall Scripture Pavilion and found it filled with more books than he could quickly read.

Zhang Yuan met Ruan Yu, a pale Scripture Pavilion attendant and daughter of Grand Libationer Ruan Jiang, then searched the pavilion for records about the six heavenly demon kings. He found two ancient silk manuscripts describing demon kings and their palaces in the Northern Central Region and Central South.

• Zhang Yuan mistook Ruan Yu for an evil ghost and prepared to attack her, but Chi Guanguan stopped him and explained that she was alive.
• Ruan Yu introduced herself as a Scripture Pavilion attendant and explained that her cultivation gave her unusually powerful consciousness and knowledge of every book in the pavilion.
• Zhang Yuan asked where to find records about the six heavenly demon kings and the Six Heavens Demon King Palace, then hurried upstairs before Ruan Yu could offer further help.
• Armed academy students asked Ruan Yu about a suspected thief, and she identified Zhang Yuan as the academy's new Libationer after verifying his Command Token.
• Zhang Yuan found two ancient silk manuscripts describing the Miasma-Ravaging Silent-Qi Demon King and the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King, along with their palaces.

Zhang Yuan discovered that the Six Heavens Demon King Palace led down to the Nether Bureau, where he could recover his dao domain, but an attempt to lure him through a neglected door revealed a hidden True Lord's scheme. He left the academy floor unharmed and realized the scheme likely extended across the Roselight Capital.

• Zhang Yuan studied the academy's manuscripts, took two copies of the Six Heavenly Ancient Gods account, and found records linking the Six Heavens Demon King Palace to the Nether Bureau.
• Zhang Yuan learned that the Nether Bureau lay beneath the palace and could lead him to his lost dao domain, letting him combine his two goals in one journey.
• Zhang Yuan sensed something important behind a decayed door but abruptly abandoned his plan to open it and descended to Ruan Yu and the academy students.
• Chi Guanguan confirmed that a concealed conceptual image had tried to influence Zhang Yuan, and that she had suppressed it.
• Zhang Yuan concluded that a True Lord's scheme likely covered the whole Roselight Capital and resolved to be more cautious.

Zhang Yuan left the Upper Nether Academy after mistaking Cao Xu for a possible pawn of a True Lord, then continued to the Imperial Academy to search its Scripture Pavilion. There he found another fragment about the Six Heavenly Ancient Gods, while Chi Guanguan encouraged him to press on and considered taking him away herself.

• Zhang Yuan confronted Cao Xu at the Upper Nether Academy, then decided she was probably innocent and told her to collect reward money from Ruan Jiang.
• Ruan Jiang confirmed that Zhang Yuan was the new Libationer and granted Cao Xu two extra months' salary.
• Zhang Yuan traveled to the Imperial Academy, resolved to continue despite the True Lord's earlier attack, and entered its Scripture Pavilion.
• Chi Guanguan urged Zhang Yuan to charge in and privately considered confining him so she could take him away.
• Zhang Yuan found a silk manuscript describing the eastern Underworld-Penetrating Soul-Severing Palace and the Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King.

Zhang Yuan returned to Roselight Capital and learned that the Demon King Palace had launched another attack, with a corpse tide threatening the city. He went to the wall and prepared to use the Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace to rout the tide and draw the hidden demon king’s attention.

• Zhang Yuan left the Imperial Academy, found the Wei Residence deserted, and went to the Imperial City to seek Zhao Lian.
• Qi Han told Zhang Yuan that the Demon King Palace had attacked four hours earlier and that Wei Kan, Libationer Ruan, and General Miao had gone out to meet the enemy.
• Zhang Yuan accompanied Zhao Lian, Qi Han, and the ministers to the city wall, where he saw Wei Liu, Wei Jianxing, Ruan Yu, Cao Xu, Wei Kan, and Miao Tianwu fighting the corpse tide.
• Zhang Yuan reasoned that he needed to rout the corpse tide to attract the demon king watching from behind, but avoided using techniques that could reveal his identity.
• Zhao Lian placed a crown on Zhang Yuan’s head, and he brought out the Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace, calling it the sun’s afterglow.

Zhang Yuan used the Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace to plunge Roselight Capital and the surrounding battlefield into darkness, then unleashed its power to destroy the Corpse Tide within three hundred thousand meters. He revealed himself as the Zhao Xia Ruler and savior of the Bright Dawn Kingdom, leaving Wei Jianxing and the others amazed by his identity and strength.

• Zhang Yuan tossed out the Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace and activated its [Eroding the Sun] divine effect, swallowing the sun's radiance and plunging the battlefield into darkness.
• Wei Jianxing, Wei Liu, and their companions tried to retreat toward the City-Protecting Grand Formation but were trapped as the darkness drove the demons and evil ghosts into a frenzy.
• Zhang Yuan released the palace's black-and-gold radiance, annihilating every demon and evil ghost within three hundred thousand meters of Roselight Capital.
• Zhang Yuan declared himself the Zhao Xia Ruler and the Bright Dawn Kingdom's final savior, while Ruan Yu and Wei Jianxing recognized him and Cao Xu asked how they knew him.

After Zhang Yuan annihilated the Corpse Tide, Wei Liu bristled when Cao Xu called him lecherous, while Ruan Yu sensed danger and the group headed back toward Roselight Capital. A Heavenly Demon King and a concealed True Lord then trapped Zhang Yuan outside the city’s protective formation, leaving him exposed to their attack.

• Cao Xu praised Zhang Yuan’s power but told Wei Liu that he had followed the academy’s female disciples, and Wei Liu angrily refused to believe he was lecherous.
• Ruan Yu sensed that a major threat was coming, so the group decided to return inside Roselight Capital.
• A dark-robed figure with a purple-vortex face appeared, and Wei Jianxing warned that a Ghost Deity from the Demon King Palace might be targeting them.
• The figure rushed toward Zhang Yuan, who recognized it as one of the Six Heavenly Demon Kings and believed the city’s formation kept him safe.
• A concealed True Lord used Profound Mystery to shrink the City-Protecting Grand Formation, exposing Zhang Yuan outside it.
• The Heavenly Demon King closed to within two arm’s lengths of Zhang Yuan as the True Lord’s figure stood behind him.

Xie Jingxin saved Zhang Yuan from the ninefold negation realm Demon King and fought it while Zhang gathered souls to forge a magical seal and advanced to nascent soul realm perfection. After noticing an unidentified ancient True Lord on the city wall, Zhang found the figure had vanished and offered to help Xie Jingxin.

• Xie Jingxin severed the Demon King's arm and kicked it away before it could kill Zhang Yuan.
• Xie Jingxin attacked the Demon King, while Zhang Yuan gathered the slain demons' and ghosts' remnant souls into a jade seal he named the Heavenly Yin Jade Radiance Seal.
• Zhang Yuan refined the seal's soul power and advanced from mid-stage nascent soul realm to nascent soul realm perfection.
• Zhang Yuan noticed an unknown True Lord watching him from the city wall and suspected the figure was an ancient being.
• Chi Guanguan scolded Zhang Yuan for calling her old, and he placated her with a compliment.
• Zhang Yuan saw that the ancient True Lord had vanished, then called out to Xie Jingxin that he would help her fight the Demon King.

Zhang Yuan joined Xie Jingxin's battle with the Black-Robed Demon King, using his attacks to harvest remnant souls from the distant Corpse Tide rather than to harm the demon king. After the Black-Robed Demon King shielded himself from Xie Jingxin's blows, Zhang Yuan moved above the Corpse Tide to unleash a powerful technique and gather souls.

• Xie Jingxin fought the Black-Robed Demon King while Zhang Yuan's initial attack missed and annihilated a million corpses and ghosts instead.
• Zhang Yuan gathered and refined the remnant souls, revealing that he wanted to accumulate power for his future breakthrough to the Purple Mansion Realm.
• Xie Jingxin agreed to let Zhang Yuan support her and charged the demon king while he repeated his soul-harvesting attack.
• The Black-Robed Demon King covered himself with his hardened sleeve as Xie Jingxin struck it at tremendous speed.
• Zhang Yuan slipped away above the Corpse Tide and prepared to unleash the Three Netherworlds World-Swallowing Great Hand Seal while the demon king was shielded.

Zhang Yuan slaughtered the Corpse Tide to harvest souls, then fled when the Black-Robed Demon King revealed his power. Roselight Capital’s City-Protecting Grand Formation refused to let him in, so he threatened to destroy the city and the formation’s incarnation.

• Yansuan and Duanlu held back the Nether Void Death-Inscribing Palace’s ghost deities on their lord’s orders while Zhang Yuan attacked the Corpse Tide.
• Zhang Yuan used the Upper Nether Soul-Devouring Seal to crush the corpses and ghosts and absorb their souls, gathering enough power to approach a breakthrough to the Purple Mansion Realm.
• The Black-Robed Demon King noticed Zhang Yuan’s soul cultivation and stirred the authority of the Six Heavenly Demon Kings, threatening to draw in even the soul power inside the Heavenly Yin Jade Radiance Seal.
• Zhang Yuan chose to flee rather than fight and used As Though the Emperor Walked in Person to escape toward Roselight Capital.
• The City-Protecting Grand Formation repeatedly retreated as Zhang Yuan approached, while Zhao Lian, Qi Han, and the other officials begged him to stop before the formation endangered the city.
• Zhang Yuan stopped outside the formation and threatened to use the Thunder Pivot to destroy Roselight Capital and the formation’s incarnation if it would not let him in.

Zhang Yuan ended the invasion of Roselight Capital by threatening the Ancient Lord with [Thunder Pivot], then hid in the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's underground treasury to prepare for seclusion and seek a way to contact Tan Chengcheng. Chi Guanguan taught him a secret voice-transmission ritual, and he began setting it up.

• Zhang Yuan threatened to unleash [Thunder Pivot] on Roselight Capital, prompting the City-Protecting Grand Formation to admit him and the Black-Robed Demon King to withdraw the Corpse Tide.
• Zhang Yuan searched for a safe place to cultivate, left Wei Liu a note, and entered the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's underground treasury.
• Zhang Yuan asked Chi Guanguan how to contact Tan Chengcheng, and she offered him three methods.
• Chi Guanguan chose to teach Zhang Yuan a secret art that required no cultivation or special materials.
• Zhang Yuan prepared an offering table with pastries and a wooden tablet honoring [Dust-Treading Cosmos True Lord], then followed Chi Guanguan's instructions for the ritual.

Chi Guanguan contacted Tan Yaozheng, who agreed to help Zhang Yuan, then returned to guard him as he began breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm. Zhang Yuan refined the remnant souls in the Heavenly Yin Jade Radiance Seal and prepared to build a purple mansion in his upper dantian.

• Zhang Yuan used Chi Guanguan’s titles to establish a connection that let her summon Profound Mystery from her true body.
• Chi Guanguan explained the significance of the titles True Lord, Primordial Lady, and Imperial Lord before leaving to contact the Great Heng Dynasty.
• Chi Guanguan returned almost immediately and told Zhang Yuan that Tan Yaozheng had agreed to help him.
• Chi Guanguan warned Zhang Yuan to be careful during his breakthrough and offered to guard him.
• Zhang Yuan began cultivating with the Heavenly Yin Jade Radiance Seal, refining its two hundred million remnant souls as he prepared to construct a purple mansion in his upper dantian.

Zhang Yuan began breaking through to the Purple Mansion Realm, using his experience and vast resources to open a hundred-meter space in his sea of consciousness. Chi Guanguan stabilized the sea and took control of his nascent soul as he began forming the new space into a world.

• Zhang Yuan decided his two hundred million soul power and the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's treasury would provide enough resources for his breakthrough.
• Zhang Yuan failed to calm his sea of consciousness completely until Chi Guanguan arrived and stilled it.
• Chi Guanguan explained that opening the purple mansion could endanger his nascent soul and took control of it while Zhang Yuan focused on the breakthrough.
• Zhang Yuan used a construct of the [Primordial Form-Converging Sword] to divide his sea of consciousness and create a hundred-meter space.
• Zhang Yuan placed the Pre-Heaven Five-Direction Banners around the space and used his golden core's magic power to form its sky and land.

Zhang Yuan opened his purple mansion and broke through to the Purple Mansion Realm, only for the [Chaos Platform] to draw it into one of its chaos cavities and expand it enormously. With Chi Guanguan's guidance, he considered filling the platform's remaining cavities with his dao domain and another treasure.

• Zhang Yuan completed a hundred-meter purple mansion, and Chi Guanguan's nascent soul moved into it.
• Zhang Yuan broke through to the Purple Mansion Realm, gaining a conceptual image and greatly increased magical power.
• The [Chaos Platform] drew Zhang Yuan's purple mansion into a chaos cavity, where chaos qi expanded its space to six thousand six hundred and sixty meters.
• Chi Guanguan explained that the [Chaos Platform] had recognized Zhang Yuan and warned him not to use its chaos qi at his current cultivation level.
• Zhang Yuan asked whether he could fill all three chaos cavities, and Chi Guanguan suggested placing his dao domain in one after they retrieved it from the Nether Bureau.
• Zhang Yuan counted his purple mansion and dao domain as two occupants and wondered what could fill the third cavity.

Zhang Yuan emerged from a long seclusion in the Underground Treasure Vault after advancing his qi refining path to the early purple mansion realm and his qi sea uniting spirit dao to the peak of the fate lord realm. He reunited with Zhao Lian, learned that the capital had searched for him, and followed her out to ask what had happened while he was gone.

• Zhang Yuan reached the peak of the fate lord realm in his qi sea uniting spirit dao and decided not to attempt the spirit calamity breakthrough yet.
• Zhao Lian found Zhang Yuan in the Underground Treasure Vault and told him that Wei Liu had nearly held a funeral after the capital failed to find him.
• Zhang Yuan said he had contacted the Empress of Great Heng, who could now come to aid the Roselight Capital, and Zhao Lian briefly praised him to get permission to use the vault’s treasures.
• Zhang Yuan teased Zhao Lian, caught both of her punches, and released her when she demanded it, causing her to stumble.
• Zhao Lian took a purplish-black fruit from the vault, then Zhang Yuan followed her out and prepared to ask about events in the Roselight Capital and the Ancient Lord.