Recaps

Zhang Yuan discussed the Eastern Bian Li Clan betrothal with Li Huixi, who insisted that neither of them bow to the visiting True Lord. Deng Yici watched them and concluded that Zhang Yuan and the white-haired Li Clan daughter had mistaken each other for his intended bride, while his actual betrothed was Li Zhongshuang.

• Zhang Yuan reminded Li Huixi to bow to True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns, but she refused and forbade Zhang Yuan from bowing as well.
• Li Huixi claimed Zhang Yuan was half a member of the Eastern Bian Li Clan because he was betrothed to one of its daughters, while Zhang Yuan said he had not agreed to the marriage.
• Zhang Yuan explained that he hoped to resurrect Chen Xinqiao himself before accepting the betrothal, and said he believed the Eastern Bian Li Clan's True Lord would not force him to marry.
• Li Huixi praised Biographies of the Lords, the book that had shaped Zhang Yuan's impression of the True Lord, while True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns listened and speculated about the betrothal.
• Deng Yici observed Zhang Yuan, Li Huixi, Li Zhongshuang, and Cui Zhaowei, then concluded that Zhang Yuan and the white-haired Li Clan daughter misunderstood who his intended bride was and that Li Zhongshuang was actually betrothed to him.
• Deng Yici also inferred that Cui Zhaowei might be trying to avoid an arranged clan marriage by marrying her friend Zhang Yuan, and she began thinking of ways to enjoy the confusion.

The True Lords of the major clans gathered for Cui Yuanxi’s Celestial Assembly, where Zhang Yuan watched their rivalries and considered their identities. After the guests presented congratulatory gifts, Li Huixi told Zhang Yuan he would need a Pre-Heaven True Treasure hairpin to visit Sun-Moon Cliff.

• Deng Yici flirted with Zhang Yuan, while True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns considered recruiting him into the Wen River Deng Clan.
• True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds arrived for the Hengyang Lu Clan, and Zhang Yuan wondered about her clan’s strange character.
• The Jingyang Li Clan and Western Bian Chu Clan arrived with their True Lords, completing the gathering of the Five Surnames and Seven Great Clans.
• True Lord Qingji Huiyu insulted Deng La Er, and True Lord Imperial Balance Myriad Turns told him to go home.
• Deng Fufeng began the gift presentations, and Zhang Yuan offered his sandalwood box as a congratulatory gift.
• Li Huixi told Zhang Yuan he would need a Pre-Heaven True Treasure hairpin to be received at Sun-Moon Cliff, leaving him puzzled.

At the Aohai Cui Clan’s Dharma Assembly, Zhang Yuan tried to keep Li Huixi from offending the gathered True Lords, while the guests settled in for a banquet. Crown Prince Wu Yuqing then challenged the Eastern Bian Li Clan, and the chapter ended with the True Lords realizing he meant Li Huixi.

• Zhang Yuan asked why the Eastern Bian Li Clan had not offered a congratulatory gift, and Li Huixi said attending the assembly was already enough of a courtesy.
• Zhang Yuan discreetly urged Li Huixi to keep quiet, while the True Lords avoided looking directly at her and [True Lord Jianmu Dinghai] considered giving her a gift.
• As the assembly’s banquet continued, Wu Yuqing volunteered to exchange spells and asked [True Lord Jianmu Dinghai] for permission to duel an Eastern Bian Li Clan disciple.
• [True Lord Jianmu Dinghai] said the clan had brought only a Nine Turns Qi Refining cultivator, who could not duel Wu Yuqing.
• Wu Yuqing demanded to know whether Li Huixi was not a member of the Eastern Bian Li Clan, and the True Lords realized she was the person he meant.

Wu Yuqing challenged the Eastern Bian Li Clan, hoping to identify which clan the Wu Family could replace while the True Lords were unable to intervene. Li Huixi persuaded Zhang Yuan to kill Wu Yuqing by offering to help him resurrect Chen Xinqiao, leaving Zhang Yuan ready to accept the task.

• Wu Yuqing challenged the Eastern Bian Li Clan, intending to assess its strength for his family's bid to replace one of the Five Surnames and Seven Great Clans.
• The True Lords recognized that Wu Yuqing had insulted Li Huixi's height, a taboo that revealed how little he understood the danger he faced.
• Li Huixi asked Zhang Yuan to kill Wu Yuqing, but he refused, saying he had little connection to her clan before his marriage.
• Li Huixi offered Zhang Yuan a reward from his betrothed, then promised to plead with the True Lord to help resurrect Chen Xinqiao and threatened to bad-mouth him if he refused.
• Zhang Yuan decided that killing Wu Yuqing was acceptable and resolved to take the task.

Zhang Yuan fought Wu Yuqing in the Martial Arts Arena Hall, using the [Flying Light Sword] to overwhelm him and save Ye Chongming from being used as a shield. After Ye Chongming exposed Wu Yuqing as a Demonic Cultivator, [True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds] denounced him before the gathered True Lords.

• Zhang Yuan vanished and struck Wu Yuqing with the [Flying Light Sword], but Wu Yuqing survived the three-colored qi-light thanks to his Dao Domain.
• Zhang Yuan attacked again, and Wu Yuqing seized Ye Chongming and drained his vitality to heal himself.
• Wu Yuqing threw Ye Chongming into the oncoming qi-light, but Zhang Yuan used [Light Leap] to send the attack through sunlight and strike Wu Yuqing instead.
• Ye Chongming thanked Zhang Yuan and revealed that Wu Yuqing had blackened organs and could plunder others' vitality, identifying him as a Demonic Cultivator.
• [True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds] distanced herself from Wu Yuqing and condemned him in front of the gathered cultivators.

Zhang Yuan killed Wu Yuqing with the seven-colored treasured radiance bestowed by True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds. The battle gave Zhang Yuan new insights into the opposite uses of Divine Abilities, and he began considering ways to develop his own.

• True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds empowered Zhang Yuan with her seven-colored treasured radiance so he could kill Wu Yuqing without directly breaking the ban on True Lords acting.
• Zhang Yuan used the radiance to destroy Wu Yuqing's Dharma Body, Primordial Spirit, and Dao Domain, leaving him no chance of returning from death.
• Zhang Yuan realized the radiance's Restored to Origin imagery could be used either to heal or to annihilate by restoring someone to nothingness.
• Zhang Yuan considered using Golden Carriage Luan Chariot's fate-disrupting effect on himself to change misfortune into good fortune.
• Zhang Yuan also considered developing Myriad Coexistence to help Xiao Yuanjun locate and reach him through the Great Void.

Zhang Yuan killed Wu Yuqing and tried repeatedly to send Xiao Yuanjun the hall’s coordinates, but she never arrived. After the first day of the Dharma Assembly ended, Li Huixi left for Sun-Moon Cliff and told Li Zhongshuang to watch Zhang Yuan, while both women misunderstood the other’s intentions regarding his relationship with Li Zhongshuang.

• Zhang Yuan thanked [True Lord Rainbow-Haloed Rosy Clouds] for saving him, then challenged the hall’s Celestial Persons to exchange spells, but they declined.
• Zhang Yuan told Li Huixi that the Eastern Bian Li Clan owed him a favor for killing Wu Yuqing and asked her to recommend him to her True Lord.
• Zhang Yuan repeatedly used [Myriad Coexistence] to send the hall’s coordinates to Xiao Yuanjun, but she did not appear.
• At dusk, Zhang Yuan left the Martial Arts Arena Hall with Cui Zhaowei as the Dharma Assembly’s first day ended.
• Li Huixi told Li Zhongshuang to stay at the Dharma Assembly and keep an eye on Zhang Yuan before departing for Sun-Moon Cliff.
• Li Huixi assumed Li Zhongshuang had romantic feelings for Zhang Yuan, while Li Zhongshuang interpreted Li Huixi’s approving look as encouragement to pursue him.

Xiao Yuanjun finally reached Zhang Yuan through the Great Void and accidentally landed on him in Clear Radiance Courtyard. After explaining that the assembly’s True Lords may have disrupted her earlier attempts, she shared a warm reunion with Zhang Yuan and agreed to have dinner with him.

• Zhang Yuan sensed someone traversing the Great Void and prepared to defend Clear Radiance Courtyard.
• Xiao Yuanjun broke through the formation and landed on Zhang Yuan, then realized he was beneath her and helped him up.
• Xiao Yuanjun said [Myriad Coexistence] had only recently provided clear coordinates, and Zhang Yuan guessed that the five True Lords at the assembly had interfered with her earlier attempts.
• Xiao Yuanjun promised to hold Zhang Yuan a grand Celestial Assembly after becoming a True Lord, but Zhang Yuan said sharing dinner with her was already the best celebration.
• Xiao Yuanjun accepted Zhang Yuan’s invitation to dinner and asked where his bedroom was.

Cui Yuanxi rejected the Wen River Deng Clan’s apology hairpin because of their treatment of Zhang Yuan, then eagerly accepted the hairpin he had given her. She ended the evening admiring its peony and red-bean decorations, while wondering what they meant.

• Xiao Shi showed Cui Yuanxi the jade hairpin sent by the Wen River Deng Clan, and Cui Yuanxi ordered it placed in the Lineage treasury.
• Cui Yuanxi asked about Zhaowei’s gift and learned that she had sent a Ritual Sword of Pre-Heaven Supreme Treasure quality.
• Xiao Shi revealed that Zhang Yuan had sent Cui Yuanxi a hairpin of Pre-Heaven True Treasure quality.
• Cui Yuanxi jumped down from the tree, took Zhang Yuan’s hairpin, and said she liked it.
• Cui Yuanxi examined the hairpin’s golden peony and red-bean decorations and wondered what they meant.

Cui Zhaowei told Zhang Yuan that Demonic Cultivators were ravaging the Ya Kingdom, so he and Xiao Yuanjun left the assembly to return with her. They arrived at the devastated Clear Harmony City, where Xiao Yuanjun sensed a Demonic Cultivator hiding nearby.

• Cui Zhaowei asked Zhang Yuan to take her back to the Ya Kingdom, explaining that Demonic Cultivators were causing widespread destruction there and in other kingdoms.
• Zhang Yuan agreed to return, left a letter for Xiao Shi, and prepared to travel through the Great Void with Cui Zhaowei.
• Xiao Yuanjun joined Zhang Yuan by clinging to him so she would not become separated during the journey.
• Zhang Yuan, Xiao Yuanjun, and Cui Zhaowei emerged in Clear Harmony City and saw its streets filled with corpses and tormented souls.
• As Zhang Yuan prepared to fly toward the Ya Kingdom's Capital City, Xiao Yuanjun warned him that a Demonic Cultivator was hiding in the city.

Zhang Yuan confronted Jingjue, a monk of the Form Refinement, Spirit Transformation Path who had consumed Qinghe City's residents. After Zhang Yuan learned Jingjue had come seeking Miaoyuan, he attacked and drove the monk to flee.

• Zhang Yuan severed a river of hair that attacked him and discovered it had gathered around a bald old monk named Jingjue.
• Xiao Yuanjun identified Jingjue's tradition as the Form Refinement, Spirit Transformation Path, whose practitioners sought to transform their bodies into immortal deities.
• Jingjue claimed he had eaten the city's residents' troubles and karmic burdens to help them, but Zhang Yuan recognized him as a demonic cultivator responsible for the slaughter.
• Jingjue said he had come from the Lotus Root Temple in the Jin Kingdom to find his disciple Miaoyuan, who had traveled east to spread the Dharma.
• Realizing Miaoyuan was connected to his Monk Trial, Zhang Yuan attacked Jingjue with the Flying Light Sword and burned half of the monk's hair.
• Jingjue recognized Zhang Yuan as a Celestial Person, cut off the burning hair, and fled.

Zhang Yuan captured and killed Old Monk Jingjue, learning that thousands of Form Refinement, Spirit Transformation Path cultivators had entered the Eastern Lands under orders from so-called Immortal Sages. With too few clues to identify the figures behind the Demonic Calamity, he decided to return to the Ya Kingdom Capital City.

• Zhang Yuan trapped Old Monk Jingjue in a cage of qi light and questioned him about the cultivators spreading through the Ya Kingdom.
• Jingjue said the Immortal Sages had ordered Form Refinement, Spirit Transformation Path cultivators to travel east and transmit their Dharma, and estimated that tens of thousands were now in the Eastern Lands.
• Jingjue described the Immortal Sages as Divine Immortals and Bodhisattvas from the Immortal Realm, while Zhang Yuan suspected their claims concealed a larger scheme.
• Zhang Yuan engulfed Jingjue in qi light and erased his body, soul, and any chance of reincarnation.
• Zhang Yuan connected the Demonic Calamity to the Wu Kingdom imperial family and regretted killing Wu Yuqing, Wu Yubai, and Wu Yu Chi before questioning them.
• Zhang Yuan concluded that Jingjue knew too little to reveal who was behind the Immortal Sages and headed back to the Ya Kingdom Capital City.

Zhang Yuan flew toward the Ya Kingdom's capital with Cui Zhaowei and Xiao Yuanjun, but Wu Duanzhuo ambushed their carriage alongside Wu Yuhei. When Wu Yuhei's Formidable Enemy Trial began, its target unexpectedly changed from Cui Zhaowei to Zhang Yuan.

• Zhang Yuan reassured Cui Zhaowei that Jizhou had likely evacuated some towns and villages before the demonic calamity reached them.
• Cui Zhaowei sensed that Wu Yuhei, her Formidable Enemy Trial opponent, and Wu Duanzhuo were waiting on a mountain near the capital.
• Wu Duanzhuo struck the Golden Carriage with his Dragon Whale manifestation and sent it crashing to the ground.
• Wu Yuhei rushed toward the wreckage, expecting to face Cui Zhaowei, while Zhang Yuan emerged from the dust with his sword.
• Wu Yuhei discovered that his trial target had changed to Zhang Yuan, a Foundation Establishment Celestial, and grew fearful.

Zhang Yuan stood in for Cui Zhaowei in Wu Yuhei’s Formidable Enemy Trial and defeated him with a single strike before he could summon an Immortal Sage. After rebuking Wu Duanzhuo for interfering, Zhang Yuan escaped into the Great Void.

• Wu Duanzhuo told Wu Yuhei not to fear Zhang Yuan and urged him to win the trial and attain Foundation Establishment Celestial.
• Wu Yuhei unleashed his dragon-whale divine ability, but Zhang Yuan’s power weakened it and revealed that he was far stronger than an ordinary Qi Refining Perfected Person.
• Wu Yuhei cut off his nose to summon Yulong Lingjian, the Nose God of the Immortal Realm, but Zhang Yuan killed him and erased the paper figure before the summoning was complete.
• Wu Duanzhuo secretly tried to disrupt Zhang Yuan’s mind, but Zhang Yuan resisted the method and accused him of interfering in the duel.
• Wu Duanzhuo moved to seal off the Great Void, but Zhang Yuan followed his connection to Cui Zhaowei and escaped into it first.

Xiao Yuanjun, Cui Zhaowei, and Zhang Yuan reached the Ya Kingdom’s Capital City as a large force surrounded it, and Zhang Yuan learned that True Lords could not intervene before the Five-Hundred-Year Ban on Becoming a Lord expired. The chapter left him wondering why a True Lord from the Bian Kingdom had killed Liu Zezheng after he attained the Dao.

• Xiao Yuanjun and Cui Zhaowei arrived outside the Capital City and found thousands of cultivators, including more than twenty Celestial Persons, surrounding its Golden Light Array.
• Cui Zhaowei worried that Zhang Yuan would incur karma by helping her pass the Formidable Enemy Trial, and Zhang Yuan said he was repaying the karmic debt from taking her Calamity-Transforming Pill.
• Zhang Yuan noticed that most of the Celestial Persons were natives of the Ya Kingdom who had joined the demonic force.
• Pei Chongtian and Shen Qiulan discussed posing as undercover agents while keeping a plan to join whichever side prevailed, and Zhang Yuan overheard them.
• Cui Zhaowei told Zhang Yuan that True Lords could not intervene for one year and ten months, when the Five-Hundred-Year Ban on Becoming a Lord would expire.
• Zhang Yuan recalled Liu Zezheng’s death and wondered why the Eastern Bian Li Clan’s True Lord had killed him after he attained the Dao.

Zhang Yuan and his companions took advantage of Jiang Peilan’s attack on the besiegers to enter Ya Kingdom’s Capital City, where Wu Duanzhuo confronted Zhang Yuan. As Jiang Peilan and Wu Duanzhuo clashed, two beams of Solar Profound Light descended from the sun, and Jiang Peilan caught the remaining light with her bare hands.

• Zhang Yuan suspected the Eastern Bian Li Clan’s True Lord had imposed a rule on the realm, then noticed the formation around the Capital City open as Jiang Peilan emerged.
• Jiang Peilan ignored a western Foundation Establishment Celestial’s demand to lower the formation and struck him, cutting down several Foundation Establishment Celestials with her Sword Qi.
• Zhang Yuan and Xiao Yuanjun concealed themselves and carried Cui Zhaowei through the opening in the formation.
• Wu Duanzhuo confronted Zhang Yuan and attacked as Jiang Peilan struck at the same time, causing their attacks to collide.
• Two beams of Solar Profound Light descended toward Jiang Peilan and Wu Duanzhuo; Jiang Peilan used her sword to deflect one beam, then caught the remaining light with her bare hands.

After Jiang Peilan drove off Wu Duanzhuo, Zhang Yuan returned to the Ya Kingdom’s Capital City with Cui Zhaowei and met the Eastern Ya Cui Clan’s True Lord. [Chang Geng] revealed that Chen Xinqiao had once been True Person Qingxu, who held Zhang Yuan in high regard.

• Jiang Peilan caught the remaining solar profound light, injured her hands, and forced Wu Duanzhuo to flee.
• A new heavenly law required Celestial Persons to fight beyond the heavens, protecting ordinary people from their battles.
• Cui Zhaowei returned from Life Continent Island to help her parents resist the Demonic Calamity, and Jiang Peilan brought her and Zhang Yuan into the Capital City.
• Jiang Peilan told Zhang Yuan that Cui Qiezhe wanted to speak with him privately, and Zhang Yuan entered Cui Qiezhe’s study.
• Cui Qiezhe introduced [Chang Geng] as an avatar of the Eastern Ya Cui Clan’s True Lord.
• [Chang Geng] told Zhang Yuan that True Person Qingxu was Chen Xinqiao and that she thought highly of him.

Zhang Yuan learned that Chen Xinqiao had died after failing to attain [Heavenly Well Radiance], but her hidden message revealed a bargain she had arranged with the Eastern Ya Cui Clan's True Lord. The chapter left Zhang Yuan holding the advantage in negotiations and learning that the True Lord was expected to refine a life-bound flying sword for him.

• Old Man Chang Geng told Zhang Yuan that Chen Xinqiao had died a thousand years earlier and that only the Eastern Bian Li Clan's True Lord might be able to resurrect her.
• Old Man Chang Geng asked Zhang Yuan to illuminate Chen Xinqiao's letter with spiritual energy, revealing her message to [Qiming] and her demand for help refining Zhang Yuan's life-bound flying sword.
• Zhang Yuan realized Chen Xinqiao had arranged the exchange to give him leverage over the Eastern Ya Cui Clan's True Lord, and he resolved not to hand over the Primordial Unity One-Qi Body-Refining Treasure Scripture outright.
• Old Man Chang Geng explained that life-bound flying swords were Outer Dao Dharma Treasures and that the [Nine-Vault Golden Li Furnace] had been True Person Qingxu's life-bound treasure.

Zhang Yuan gave Old Man Chang Geng several treasures to refine into a Life-Bound Flying Sword and cleanse the karma on his armor. He then learned that the Form Refinement, Spirit Transformation Path came from the Mountain-Sea Profound Yellow Realm, while the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm was known across the Outer Chaos as the Demon Realm; travel between realms made conquest difficult.

• Zhang Yuan consulted Xiao Yuanjun and gave Old Man Chang Geng twelve spring and summer Weather and Season Mystic Pearls, the Flying Light Sword, the Broad Thunder Sword, and the Sudden Thunder Cloud-Rending Spear for the refinement.
• Old Man Chang Geng took Zhang Yuan's Bright Yang Chengsheng Armor as well, promising to cleanse its lingering karma with the South Sea Dragon Clan while refining the Life-Bound Flying Sword over about twenty days.
• Zhang Yuan asked Cui Qiezhe about the Form Refinement, Spirit Transformation Path, and Cui explained that its Immortal Realm and Immortal Sages referred to the Mountain-Sea Profound Yellow Realm and its cultivators.
• Cui Qiezhe said the realm's Demonic Dao cultivators were at most Celestial Person level and explained that the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm was called the Demon Realm by the Myriad Heavens and Worlds.
• Cui Qiezhe told Zhang Yuan that Golden Core True Lords could not readily conquer other realms because crossing the Outer Chaos was exceedingly difficult, except during certain periods.

Cui Qiezhe explained that the approaching Chaos Calamity was a period when worlds converged in the Outer Chaos, though the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm treated it as an age of opportunity and unleashed its Demonic Dao upon other worlds. On the walk home, Zhang Yuan followed a future shown by [Heaven's Sight] and received an unexpected encounter with Ji Guang.

• Cui Qiezhe told Zhang Yuan that the Chaos Calamity would begin in one year and ten months and explained that it was an opportunity-filled age for the Azure Firmament Dust-Dyed Realm.
• Zhang Yuan deduced that Wu Duanzhuo's Demonic Calamity in the Ya Kingdom was likely part of his Truth-Seeking Rite ahead of the Chaos Calamity.
• After leaving the Ya East Cui Residence with Xiao Yuanjun, Zhang Yuan saw three futures from [Heaven's Sight], including one promising a special blessing if they walked home.
• Zhang Yuan persuaded Xiao Yuanjun to walk back to Brightheart Residence and buy food along the way.
• A young woman collided with Zhang Yuan in the crowded capital, then whispered that she was Ji Guang.

[True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] offered Zhang Yuan a chance to pursue the [Ketu Thorn] Golden Position by waiting for Wu Duanzhuo to test it first, then killing him and taking his place. Zhang Yuan withheld his decision and began asking about the risks, learning that [Ketu Thorn] was connected to the Nether Bureau.

• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] approached Zhang Yuan in an incarnation and invited him to discuss a road to heaven at [Eastern Sunken Pavilion].
• Zhang Yuan warned Xiao Yuanjun that the woman was [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts]'s incarnation, and they listened as he explained his offer.
• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] said Wu Duanzhuo would pursue [Ketu Thorn], and proposed that Zhang Yuan kill him near success and claim the position himself.
• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] promised to help Zhang Yuan ascend and asked for a wisp of the [Ketu Thorn] conceptual image in return.
• Zhang Yuan asked why [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] had approached him instead of Wu Duanzhuo, then withheld agreement while asking to hear more.
• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] asked whether Zhang Yuan knew of the Nether Bureau, revealing [Ketu Thorn]'s connection to it.

[True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] told Zhang Yuan that the [Ketu Thorn] lay within the Nether Bureau and explained the deadly obstacle to attaining it. Zhang Yuan considered pursuing it by exploiting Wu Duanzhuo’s knowledge, then angled for help reaching Celestial Person Perfection.

• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] revealed that the [Ketu Thorn] powered the Nether Bureau and remained inside it.
• Xiao Yuanjun asked whether anyone could attain the [Ketu Thorn], and [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] said the seeker would have to die and enter the Nether Bureau as a soul.
• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] suggested that Wu Duanzhuo likely knew a way to reach the [Ketu Thorn] without entering the Nether Bureau.
• Zhang Yuan considered pursuing the [Ketu Thorn] and resolved that he would seize any chance to kill Wu Duanzhuo regardless.
• Zhang Yuan professed his commitment to the pursuit, then implied that [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] should raise him to Celestial Person Perfection.
• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] recognized Zhang Yuan’s demand for benefits and reluctantly weighed whether to provide them.

Zhang Yuan received the Ninefold Nether True Lord Unmoving Torture Scripture and a box containing Xin Metal from [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts], then returned home with Xiao Yuanjun to have her inspect the manual. As she confirmed it was safe, an enormous Nether Bureau Ghost Soldier approached Clear Harmony City.

• [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] gave Zhang Yuan the Ninefold Nether True Lord Unmoving Torture Scripture and a Pre-Heaven True Treasure box containing Xin Metal.
• Zhang Yuan collected the restaurant dishes and the treasure box, then left the Eastern Sunken Pavilion with Xiao Yuanjun.
• At the Brightheart Residence, Xiao Yuanjun told Zhang Yuan that [True Lord Ceased Light Punishes Thoughts] was not trustworthy.
• Xiao Yuanjun inspected the Ninefold Nether True Lord Unmoving Torture Scripture and confirmed it was a high-quality cultivation method with no hidden flaws.
• In Clear Harmony City, Old Dai and Old Liu spotted a ten-thousand-zhang-tall, armless Nether Bureau Ghost Soldier approaching from the east.

A Night Patrol God and a Nether Bureau Ghost Soldier appeared in Clear Harmony City and transformed its living inhabitants into ghosts, while three Foundation Establishment Celestials remained unharmed. Wu Duanzhuo asked Imperial Preceptor Lu whether the calamity would bring the Ya Kingdom under the Nether Bureau.

• Old Dai and Old Liu saw the towering Ghost Soldier and Night Patrol God appear in Clear Harmony City and tried to report them to Wu Duanzhuo.
• The Night Patrol God declared that living mortals in the underworld city had to lose their bodies and become ghosts, then killed Old Dai and Old Liu.
• The Night Patrol God transformed the other living people in Clear Harmony City into ghost beings, while the Ghost Soldier gathered death qi to heal its wounded arm.
• Lei Jingbian, Wu Duanzhuo, and Imperial Preceptor Lu emerged from beside the bonfire with their bodies intact and discussed the Ghost Soldier and Jiang Peilan.
• Wu Duanzhuo asked Imperial Preceptor Lu whether the Ya Kingdom would become part of the Nether Bureau.

Wu Duanzhuo and Imperial Preceptor Lu debated how to draw the Nether Bureau into the Ya Kingdom after the demonic calamity failed to kill most of its people. Wu Duanzhuo ordered a limited sacrifice while Lu promised to find a way to bring down the Ya Kingdom's Capital City within a year.

• Imperial Preceptor Lu explained that the surviving population of the Ya Kingdom had prevented it from becoming a Ghost Kingdom, and suggested breaking through the Capital City's protective formation.
• Lu proposed abducting subjects from neighboring kingdoms, but Wu Duanzhuo rejected the plan as too dangerous.
• Lu suggested sacrificing Wu Kingdom subjects, and Lei Jingbian urgently protested.
• Wu Duanzhuo ordered the Celestial Persons to abduct people from neighboring kingdoms and bring Wu Kingdom prisoners to the Ya Kingdom.
• Wu Duanzhuo tasked Lu with finding a way into the Capital City, and Lu promised it would fall without an assault within a year.