Recaps

Zhang Yuan used Dust-Treading Divine Thunder to destroy Ruan Jiang’s Yang Plate, but Ruan Jiang revealed that the attack had not stopped his plan. The Nether-Knocking Lord’s mysterious Demon King Palace power and the Black-Robed Demon King’s identity remained unresolved as the chapter ended.

• The Nether-Knocking Lord summoned a strange lamp that drew demons, evil ghosts, and the Corpse Tide toward the Upper Nether Academy.
• Zhang Yuan used Dust-Treading Divine Thunder to destroy the creatures drawn to the Nether-Knocking Lord’s lamp.
• The Nether-Knocking Lord hesitated to use his Demon King Palace power, and Zhang Yuan redirected his lightning toward Ruan Jiang.
• Zhang Yuan’s lightning struck Ruan Jiang and annihilated the Yang Plate, prompting the fighters to pause and watch.
• Ruan Jiang brushed off the charring, laughed, and claimed that destroying the Yang Plate would not stop his plan.

Zhang Yuan learned that Ruan Jiang had never intended to destroy Roselight Capital or pull it into the Nether Bureau, while the Black-Robed Demon King revealed a plan to claim the city and kingdom. The chapter ended with the Demon King declaring the city and all its inhabitants his subjects.

• Ruan Jiang told Zhang Yuan that the Yang Plate and Yin Plate had been smokescreens and that he had achieved his aim as soon as the Mysterious Yin Death Qi appeared.
• Shangxian True Person warned Zhang Yuan that the Black-Robed Demon King and Nether-Knocking Lord could still have their own goals, even if Ruan Jiang had none.
• The Black-Robed Demon King returned to the Scripture Pavilion and attacked Zhang Yuan with a Purple-Black Beam, but Xie Jingxin blocked it and suffered minor wounds.
• Zhang Yuan realized the Black-Robed Demon King’s strength had reached the limit of the Ninefold Negation Realm and suspected he meant to draw Roselight Capital into his Demon King Palace.
• The Black-Robed Demon King rose into the sky and declared that the city and kingdom, along with everyone in them, belonged to him.

The Black-Robed Demon King announced that the gate had fully opened as the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King and Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King discussed the impersonator and the mysterious Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King. The Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King remained convinced Zhang Yuan had hidden plans and chose to watch rather than intervene.

• The Black-Robed Demon King declared that the gate had opened completely and that it was time to finish things, causing the Corpse Tide's evil ghosts to stop and bow.
• The Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King confronted Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King, who admitted he had recently learned that another demon king was impersonating him but had allowed it to continue.
• Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King asked about the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King's background, and the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King said his authority involved sight and concealment.
• Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King wondered whether the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King might be human, but the Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King argued that Zhang Yuan was too evil to be an ordinary human or a Great Luo's disciple.
• The Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King said he would not join the fight because he might disrupt Zhang Yuan's plans, and he trusted Zhang Yuan still had trump cards.

Zhang Yuan identified the Black-Robed Demon King as Mingluo Hunzhao and recognized Shangxian True Person as Old Ghost Jiguang while Roselight Capital was being swallowed by the Demon King Palace. With Xie Jingxin insisting on coming along, Zhang Yuan called out to Tan Yaozheng.

• The Black-Robed Demon King seized Ruan Yu, removed her eyeballs, and used them to open a vortex and a white hole that began swallowing Roselight Capital.
• Shangxian True Person gave Zhang Yuan a silk manuscript identifying the Black-Robed Demon King as Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao of the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace.
• Zhang Yuan recognized Shangxian True Person as an incarnation of Old Ghost Jiguang and confronted him, but Jiguang said he could not stop the palace's swallowing of the capital.
• Xie Jingxin grabbed Zhang Yuan's arm and demanded that he take her with him, and Zhang Yuan called out to Tan Yaozheng.

Zhang Yuan summoned Tan Yaozheng’s divine power to Roselight Capital, where it destroyed the Corpse Tide and began suppressing the Demon King Palace’s vortex and white hole. As Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao attacked Zhang Yuan, Zhang Yuan called on Tan Yaozheng to save him.

• Zhang Yuan announced that the sun had returned, and dawn broke over Roselight Capital as the Eternal Ancient Imperial Edict Divine Master answered from Heaven-Reaching City.
• Tan Yaozheng’s divine power crossed the realms toward Roselight Capital, while the Lords of Heaven and Earth chose not to interfere.
• Zhao Lian watched a vast wave of golden light approach as the Corpse Tide threatened the city and she worried that Zhang Yuan had vanished.
• The divine radiance swept away the Corpse Tide outside Roselight Capital and compressed the Demon King Palace’s vortex and white hole.
• Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao lunged at Zhang Yuan, who called out to Tan Yaozheng to save him.

Tan Chengcheng arrived to help Zhang Yuan and learned that he had become king of the Bright Dawn Kingdom, while Zhang Yuan tried to explain away his situation and asked her to conceal his location. Zhao Lian and her companions reached him, and Tan Chengcheng introduced herself as the Great Heng emperor while teasing him about wooing another princess.

• Tan Chengcheng appeared before Zhang Yuan and swatted away the [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao], then teased Zhang Yuan about calling for the Fifth Princess.
• Tan Chengcheng explained that she had concealed the city from observation, and Zhang Yuan identified the attacker as one of the Six Heavenly Demon Kings.
• Zhang Yuan looked to Shangxian True Person for information, but Shangxian True Person said Ye Xiangning was not there.
• Zhao Lian, Wei Liu, Wei Jianxing, and two others arrived, and Zhang Yuan said he would hand over the Bright Dawn Kingdom's throne.
• Tan Chengcheng teased Zhang Yuan about his ties to Zhao Lian and Wei Liu, then introduced herself as the Eldest Princess of Great Heng and its current emperor.

Tan Chengcheng revealed herself as the Divine Master and struck down Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao, but he pursued Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin, killing them before he was erased by divine light. The chapter ended with both Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin apparently dead.

• Tan Chengcheng accepted the others’ respectful greetings after her identity as the Empress of Great Heng and a Divine Master was revealed.
• Mingluo Hunzhao charged Tan Chengcheng, endured her divine light, and then attacked Zhang Yuan to draw her attention away from Roselight Capital.
• Zhang Yuan fled toward the Imperial City’s Inner City, and Mingluo Hunzhao followed him while pushing his failing body beyond its limits.
• Xie Jingxin appeared to shield Zhang Yuan, but Mingluo Hunzhao’s purple claw shattered her Life-Bound Sword and struck them both.
• Tan Chengcheng did not intervene, and divine light destroyed Mingluo Hunzhao after he saw Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin fall.

After the Demon King’s defeat, Tan Chengcheng learned Zhang Yuan had faked his death and escaped, then dealt with the witnesses and searched for his remaining enemies. She approached Wei Liu and told her that Zhang Yuan had asked her to treat Wei Liu’s illness.

• The Demon King vanished after Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin’s apparent corpses disappeared, and divine light closed the vortex consuming Roselight Capital.
• Tan Chengcheng revealed that she had followed Zhang Yuan’s plan to let him fake his death and enter the black vortex.
• Tan Chengcheng recognized Shangxian True Person as Ye Xiangning, considered killing him to protect Zhang Yuan’s whereabouts, then let him leave after he promised to keep quiet.
• Zhao Lian and Wei Jianxing realized the Nether-Knocking Lord had escaped, while Wei Liu worried that Zhang Yuan might be dead.
• Tan Chengcheng approached Wei Liu and said Zhang Yuan had asked her to treat Wei Liu’s illness.

Tan Chengcheng suppressed Wei Liu’s cultivation malady but could not help Wei Huai, then secured the Bright Dawn Kingdom’s submission to Great Heng. She stayed to tour the realm while Zhao Lian prepared the imperial edict, and Tan learned that Zhang Yuan had a relationship with Great Heng’s empress.

• Tan Chengcheng examined Wei Liu and explained that she could not cure the malady caused by the Cavern-Peering Lamp-Kindling Path.
• Tan Chengcheng suppressed the curse on Wei Liu’s shoulder, restoring much of her strength and vitality.
• Tan Chengcheng said Wei Huai’s condition could not be helped, and Wei Jianxing thanked her for treating Wei Liu.
• Tan Chengcheng required the Bright Dawn Kingdom to become a vassal of Great Heng, and Zhao Lian accepted.
• Tan Chengcheng told Zhao Lian to draft the imperial edict while she toured the realm, then realized Zhang Yuan was involved with Great Heng’s empress.

The First God ordered the First God Cult Master to stop Zhang Yuan from entering the Nether Bureau, unaware that Zhang Yuan had already traveled with Xie Jingxin to the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace]. Zhang Yuan woke from his injuries after Xie Jingxin brought him safely down from the sky, and they found themselves in the unfamiliar realm.

• The First God Cult Master reported that the cult had not infiltrated the Zhao Xia Imperial Family's treasury and that Zhang Yuan had appeared in the Crimson Firmament Roselight Realm.
• The First God ordered the First God Cult Master to kill Zhang Yuan or keep him from entering the Nether Bureau, but not to pursue him inside.
• Xie Jingxin concealed her qi-blood and vitality as Zhang Yuan carried her through a black vortex into an unfamiliar world.
• Xie Jingxin caught Zhang Yuan by the collar and slowed their fall from ten thousand li above the ground until they landed safely.
• Zhang Yuan woke, found himself gravely injured, and recognized their destination as the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace].

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin entered the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace after faking their deaths to escape the Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao. Zhang Yuan used Penetrating Heaven's Subtleties to reach the power of a seven-turn Qi Refining Perfected Person, and the two decided to heal before approaching the palace.

• Zhang Yuan reviewed how he had arranged for Tan Chengcheng and Tan Yaozheng to help him enter the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace through the portal while preventing the Roselight Capital from falling into it.
• Zhang Yuan reasoned that the Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao had survived and could discover them if they were not careful.
• Zhang Yuan sensed a weak connection to the Great Grotto Yin-Scenery Immortal Domain and used Penetrating Heaven's Subtleties to borrow power from himself, raising himself to the level of a seven-turn Qi Refining Perfected Person.
• Zhang Yuan asked Xie Jingxin to heal before they went to the Demon King Palace, and she agreed.

Zhang Yuan and the injured Xie Jingxin hid from a powerful ghost deity in the Demon King Palace. After it passed, Xie Jingxin described how she had once escaped another palace by wandering and fighting, leaving Zhang Yuan to doubt her judgment.

• Xie Jingxin agreed to follow Zhang Yuan while recovering from her severe injuries.
• Zhang Yuan identified an approaching Hundred-Eyed Ghost Deity as a foe too powerful for them and urged Xie Jingxin to hide.
• Zhang Yuan tackled Xie Jingxin, and they lay still until the ghost deity passed without noticing or stepping on them.
• Zhang Yuan asked about Xie Jingxin's visit to the Underworld-Penetrating Soul-Severing Palace.
• Xie Jingxin recalled getting lost, cutting down enemies, escaping through empty space, and later severing the pursuing Demon King's arm.
• Zhang Yuan reflected that Xie Jingxin seemed to know little beyond drawing her sword when frightened.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin fled north from the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Deity and made a shelter with his Golden Carriage Luan Chariot. When a demon attacked them, Zhang Yuan killed it and refined the souls of its divided forms, though using his power worsened the pain from his injured Dharma Body.

• After the Hundred-Eyed Ghost Deity vanished, Zhang Yuan led Xie Jingxin north to avoid danger from the east and west.
• Zhang Yuan summoned his Golden Carriage Luan Chariot and used it to dig a dwelling where they could recuperate.
• Xie Jingxin asked to learn Zhang Yuan’s divine ability, but he told her that he could not teach it.
• Xie Jingxin spotted a demon behind Zhang Yuan, and he cut the attacker in two with the Nether-Illuminating Sword.
• The divided demon healed into two creatures, and Zhang Yuan suppressed their souls and refined both, lamenting that each split yielded only half a soul.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin sheltered in a cave while demons gathered nearby, and he temporarily repaired her shattered Life-Bound Sword. Zhang Yuan began recovering and cultivating, preparing for their likely journey into the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace.

• Zhang Yuan burned the demon's corpse, led Xie Jingxin into the cave, and assigned them separate rooms.
• Xie Jingxin asked to borrow Zhang Yuan's Nether-Illuminating Sword, but he refused and revealed that he had recovered her shattered [Gazing into the Netherworld].
• Zhang Yuan used his magic power to temporarily glue [Gazing into the Netherworld] back together and returned it to Xie Jingxin.
• Zhang Yuan settled in the living room to cultivate and nourish his dharma body as his injuries healed.
• Zhang Yuan considered the dangers ahead and planned to explore the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace, find a way out, and seek treasures to improve his spirit root.

Zhang Yuan broke through to the middle Purple Mansion Realm while cultivating in the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace, though his other cultivation and injured dharma body remained limited. Xie Jingxin returned from her daily excursion smelling of something burnt, leaving Zhang Yuan wondering what she had been doing.

• Zhang Yuan advanced from the early to the middle Purple Mansion Realm but found little change in how his cultivation felt.
• Zhang Yuan realized he could not advance his qi sea uniting spirit dao without the environmental conceptual images required by his scripture.
• Zhang Yuan checked his injured dharma body and estimated that full recovery in the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace would take eighty to a hundred years.
• Chi Guanguan told Zhang Yuan that Xie Jingxin went out with her sword every day and would return in four to six hours.
• Xie Jingxin returned from her excursion, and Zhang Yuan noticed a burnt smell on her and asked what she had been doing.

Xie Jingxin took Zhang Yuan to the surface and fed him roasted demon meat while explaining how she had survived in the Demon King Palace. When the Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao left the palace, Zhang Yuan seized the chance and rushed there with Xie Jingxin.

• Xie Jingxin led Zhang Yuan out of their burial chamber and showed him the demon meat she had prepared over the past few days.
• Xie Jingxin roasted the severed forelegs of a demon and persuaded Zhang Yuan to eat with her.
• Zhang Yuan asked about Xie Jingxin's recovery and said he planned to visit the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace.
• Zhang Yuan sensed Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao leave the palace and realized the Taiyi Realm was within reach.
• Zhang Yuan grabbed Xie Jingxin and raced toward the Demon King Palace.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin approached the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace], where Zhang Yuan discovered that stone pillars were the remains of failed cultivators. As they studied the demon-filled grounds, Zhang Yuan sought a way to reach the palace without drawing attention.

• Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin used [Severing Past and Present, Leaving or Staying] to slip through the demons and approach the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace].
• Zhang Yuan sensed that the carved stone pillars were cultivators who had tried and failed to defeat the [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao], including the last princess of the Floating Beam Kingdom.
• Xie Jingxin told Zhang Yuan that she had tried to join the Floating Beam Kingdom's expedition but had been rejected because her cultivation was too low at the time.
• Zhang Yuan read more pillars but found no useful information about the palace or the [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao].
• Zhang Yuan judged that the countless demons surrounding the palace made a direct approach too dangerous and ruled out flying over them.
• Zhang Yuan watched an early nether void realm python-like demon swim through the black lake toward the palace as weaker demons moved aside.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin disguised themselves as powerful demons and pushed through the horde gathered at the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace. As they considered how to enter the vast castle, its gate opened and a headless minister addressed them.

• Zhang Yuan observed demons of different strengths gathering around the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace and planned to infiltrate the castle with Xie Jingxin.
• Xie Jingxin confirmed she could wield Nether Void Realm power, and Zhang Yuan concealed them as ferocious humanoid demons with himself as her subordinate.
• Xie Jingxin charged through the horde, and Zhang Yuan’s aura of baleful intent made the demons clear a path to the front of Black Lake.
• The powerful demons withdrew their gazes rather than challenge the pair, while Zhang Yuan noticed the gathered demons were not fighting one another.
• The castle gate opened, and a headless minister asked Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin what had brought them there.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin entered the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace] by claiming they came from the [Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace]. Elsewhere, [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao] joined the other Six Heavenly Demon Kings, who had been waiting for him.

• The Brainless Minister mistook Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin for ghost deities from another Demon King Palace, while the surrounding demons suspected they were disguised human cultivators.
• Zhang Yuan calmed Xie Jingxin and claimed that they came from the [Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace].
• The Brainless Minister accepted their explanation and invited Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin into the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace].
• [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao] crossed several worlds and arrived at a palace in the deepest abyss, where the other four Six Heavenly Demon Kings awaited him.
• The [Miasma-Ravaging Silent-Qi Demon King] welcomed [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao] and invited him inside.

The Six Heavenly Demon Kings assembled in the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King's traveling palace to discuss business and the absent Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King. They learned she had invited him, but he had not appeared, leaving them curious about his identity and nature.

• Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao and the Miasma-Ravaging Silent-Qi Demon King joined the other four Six Heavenly Demon Kings at the gathering.
• The Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King and the Calamity-Gathering Spirit-Pitying Demon King nearly fought before the Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King intervened.
• The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King silenced the gathering and turned the discussion to business.
• The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King explained that she had sent the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King an invitation but had not met him.
• The Demon Kings discussed their unanswered messages and wondered whether the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King was from their era or had appeared later.

The Six Heavenly Demon Kings discussed whether to unite as the Great Era began, but mistrust and private schemes kept them divided. The [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] learned that Zhang Yuan was trapped in the Nether Bureau and judged him too weak to merit her attention.

• The [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao] rejected an alliance, revealed that he was cooperating with a Devil Lord from the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm, and left the [Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace].
• The [Heavy Spring Spirit-Commanding Demon King] and the [Miasma-Ravaging Silent-Qi Demon King] also left, while the [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King], the [Calamity-Gathering Spirit-Pitying Demon King], and the [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] stayed behind.
• The [Calamity-Gathering Spirit-Pitying Demon King] guessed that the [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] had summoned them to sound them out, and she admitted it.
• The [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] said the [Eternal Ancient Imperial Edict Divine Master] was the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King's lover and explained that the Demon King's true body and world were trapped deep within the Nether Bureau.
• The [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] concluded that Zhang Yuan's incarnation could not match the [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao]'s true body and dismissed him as not worth her attention.
• The [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] said they could not identify the True Lord cooperating with the [Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao].

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin entered the [Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace], where Zhang Yuan bluffed his way through [Earth Net]’s questions. After tasting the palace’s spiritual tea, he recognized it was made from an earthcore treasure lotus tree and tried to provoke [Earth Net] into leaving by insulting its quality.

• Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin gave [Earth Net] only their surnames, and he accepted their cover as ghost deities from the [Sun-Eroding Demon King Palace].
• [Earth Net] led them through the palace and questioned Zhang Yuan, who answered fluently while Xie Jingxin and [Pursuit Shadow] stayed quiet.
• [Earth Net] invited them to drink spiritual tea, and Zhang Yuan recognized it as high-quality tea beneath the level of top-grade Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
• When a voice from [Earth Net]’s neck identified the tea leaves as coming from an earthcore treasure lotus tree, Zhang Yuan realized the palace held a treasure needed for his Form and Spirit Cultivation Method.
• Zhang Yuan called the tea lower-middle-grade and claimed that only tea prepared by a Great Luo Golden Immortal could be upper-tier, hoping to make [Earth Net] unwilling to stay.

Zhang Yuan distracted Earth Net with an elaborate discussion of Great Luo-prepared spirit tea while waiting to meet Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao about secret business. After Earth Net left, Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin prepared to search the palace treasury before the Demon King returned.

• Zhang Yuan exaggerated his experience with Great Luo-prepared spirit tea until Earth Net admitted to having tasted it only once.
• Earth Net asked what Zhang Yuan had come to discuss, and Zhang Yuan said he had arrived on the Demon King's orders to discuss a secret matter with Demon King Mingluo Hunzhao.
• Zhang Yuan refused to tell Earth Net the matter and tried to resume talking about tea, so Earth Net made an excuse and left with Pursuit Shadow.
• Zhang Yuan drank the earthcore treasure lotus tree tea, noticed that it increased his cultivation, and told Xie Jingxin they would try the other tea sometime.
• Chi Guanguan offered to pick tea leaves for Zhang Yuan, and he laughed in response.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin searched the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace for its treasury after divine sense probes were blocked. Following Xie Jingxin’s hunch, they found a lavishly decorated room, only for someone inside to open the door as they arrived.

• Zhang Yuan failed to locate the palace’s treasures because its formations blocked his divine sense.
• Xie Jingxin pointed toward a direction where she felt something valuable might be, while Chi Guanguan recommended the opposite way based on her own luck.
• Zhang Yuan chose to follow Xie Jingxin, dismissing Chi Guanguan’s protests and claims that her fortune was inexhaustible.
• Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin avoided several Ghost Deities and walked more than thirty li to a lavish room that seemed to contain spiritual energy and blessed fortune.
• As Zhang Yuan approached the room to open its door, someone inside opened it and looked puzzled at him and Xie Jingxin.

Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin entered the Sin Qi Bureau Chief [Black Miasma]’s study, where Zhang Yuan spotted a treasure and launched a surprise attack. The chapter leaves them hacking at the resilient Ghost Deity while trying to kill him before other Ghost Deities hear the fight.

• [Black Miasma] mistook Zhang Yuan for a Vengeful Ghost and invited him into his study to judge his sins.
• Zhang Yuan asked Xie Jingxin whether she could defeat [Black Miasma], and she agreed to help despite her diminished strength.
• When [Black Miasma] produced a weighing weight, Zhang Yuan recognized it as a treasure and attacked him from behind.
• Zhang Yuan’s sword struck [Black Miasma], but the Ghost Deity survived as his black qi caught the blade.
• Xie Jingxin shut the study door, then joined Zhang Yuan in repeatedly striking [Black Miasma], whose body continued to entangle their swords.