Chapter Summaries

At Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace, Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess agreed to negotiate with the Demon Kings rather than continue a battle she could not win. Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King proposed that Zhang Yuan retrieve the Dragon Clan’s Supreme Treasure, leaving its fate to whether he could bring it out safely.

• Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King and Miasma-Ravaging Silent-Qi Demon King arrived, followed by Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King, bringing five of the Six Heavenly Demon Kings together.
• Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King urged Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess to talk, and Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess agreed after judging that she could not break through the Demon Kings’ defenses alone.
• Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King summoned a tea table, and the gathered Demon Kings and Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess’s companions sat down.
• Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess insisted she would obtain the sword, while Dipper-Piercing Immortal Lord Haotian and Gengyao Great Void Star Lord supported her.
• Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King suggested that Zhang Yuan retrieve the sword from the six heavens and promised to help fight anyone who opposed him if he brought it out safely.
• Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess considered Zhang Yuan’s greed and concluded that the proposal could work.

Ao Zhi tried to borrow lifespan from Zhang Yuan, but he refused until she used an awkward attempt at seduction to persuade him. He agreed, creating debt Karma between them, which gave him protection from her while the debt remained unpaid.

• Zhang Yuan refused Ao Zhi's request to borrow lifespan, citing their past enmity and her reputation for breaking promises.
• Ao Zhi grabbed Zhang Yuan and accidentally hurt him with her immense strength while trying to seduce him into agreeing.
• Ao Zhi swore on Karma that she would repay the lifespan, and Zhang Yuan agreed to lend it to her.
• A strand of debt Karma appeared between Ao Zhi and Zhang Yuan, after which Ao Zhi went to [Wish Well].
• Xie Jingxin teased Zhang Yuan about seeming to enjoy Ao Zhi's advances, and Zhang Yuan realized the Karma would protect him from her until the debt was settled.

Zhang Yuan bought supplies for the injured group before preparing to refine treasures and advance his cultivation. A ghost deity named [Ling Axe] attacked them, forcing Zhang Yuan, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi to flee by different routes as another ghost deity’s growing iron chains pursued them.

• Ao Zhi bought supplies to replenish blood and vitality from [Wish Well], and Zhang Yuan paid her bill before buying more supplies, food, and pastries.
• Zhang Yuan planned to find a safe place to refine the Nine-Heavens Divine Hemp Soil and Nine-Heavens Immortal Peak Jade and break through his cultivation.
• [Ling Axe] ambushed the group with a Giant Axe and announced that he would kill the intruders by the Demon King's command.
• Ao Zhi burrowed underground while Zhang Yuan took Xie Jingxin into the sky, splitting their escape routes.
• [Ling Axe] summoned [Iron Chain], whose chains grew rapidly toward all three; Zhang Yuan shifted upward with Xie Jingxin, and they landed on the chains as they swept past.

While fleeing from three Ghost Deities, Zhang Yuan refined three heavenly treasures, restored his spirit root, and broke through to the Mahayana Realm. He defeated [Ling Axe] and [Iron Chain], then attacked the hidden Ghost Deity who had kept him from escaping.

• [Ling Axe] and [Iron Chain] pursued Zhang Yuan, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi, while a third Ghost Deity secretly closed the distance.
• After Ao Zhi warned him about the hidden pursuer, Zhang Yuan refined the heavenly oracle glazed flower, nine-heavens divine hemp soil, and nine-heavens immortal peak jade while dodging attacks.
• The treasures restored Zhang Yuan's spirit root, and their remaining medicinal potency helped him break through to the Mahayana Realm as he caught [Ling Axe]'s axe with one hand.
• Zhang Yuan used the Great Nether World-Swallowing Hand to knock [Ling Axe] down and severely injure [Iron Chain].
• Zhang Yuan located the hidden Ghost Deity with his Celestial Person divine sense and attacked them with the Great Nether World-Swallowing Hand and two slaughter divine abilities.

Zhang Yuan was nearly killed by an Ancient True Lord’s Incarnation, but the [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] intervened and destroyed it. After learning the dangers of the [Nether Annihilation Heaven Palace], Zhang Yuan chose to travel to the [Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace].

• The Ancient True Lord revealed himself and pulled Zhang Yuan close, preventing him from escaping.
• The Ancient True Lord refused to reveal his identity and struck at Zhang Yuan, who prepared to call upon the [Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess].
• The [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] appeared and used Primal Death Qi to destroy the Ancient True Lord’s Incarnation.
• The [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] warned Zhang Yuan that Nether Heaven would severely weaken him and recommended the [Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace].
• Zhang Yuan agreed, and the [Death-Severing Baleful Fiend King] transported him, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi to the [Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace].

Zhang Yuan, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi entered the [Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace], where Zhang Yuan’s power had surged enough to halt the storm and carry them safely into an abyss. They discovered a hidden Microcosm inhabited by cat-eared Spirit Monsters and landed before a grandfather and granddaughter.

• Ao Zhi and Xie Jingxin fell through the raging storm, but Zhang Yuan used [Spring Harmony Scenery] to still it and stop their descent.
• Zhang Yuan led Xie Jingxin onto a glacier, examined the abyss, and sensed life deep below as an unfamiliar Divine Sense probed toward him.
• Zhang Yuan used [Golden Carriage Luan Chariot] to leap into the abyss with Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi followed after hesitating alone on the glacier.
• The three fell into a Microcosm with mountains, rivers, lakes, and signs of habitation, and Zhang Yuan controlled their landing to avoid destroying the area.
• A cat-eared grandfather and granddaughter saw the three arrive, and the granddaughter asked why people had fallen from the sky.

After landing in the Nine Heavens, Zhang Yuan learned from the cat demons Mao Dan and Mao Xiao that their village’s great shamans could be powerful cultivators and planned to meet them the next day. He decided to prepare traps while waiting, then asked Ao Zhi why she had followed him.

• Zhang Yuan questioned Mao Dan and Mao Xiao, who told him that this small realm was the Nine Heavens and that they knew of Immortal Peak Mountain but not Divine Hemp Mountain.
• Mao Dan explained that village great shamans went to cultivate at Immortal Peak Mountain and would gather the next day to take young adults behind the mountain.
• After hearing that the great shamans could supposedly destroy heaven and earth, Zhang Yuan chose not to enter the village and agreed to wait for their gathering.
• Mao Dan introduced himself and his granddaughter as Mao Dan and Mao Xiao, then took her back toward their village.
• Zhang Yuan watched the cat demons leave and planned to set traps for the great shamans before asking Ao Zhi why she had followed him.
• Ao Zhi awkwardly replied that she had only followed Zhang Yuan to have a look.

Zhang Yuan repaired Xie Jingxin’s life-bound sword and learned she had come to Six Heavens Demon King Palace to search for her lost family. When Ao Zhi revealed that she had caused the deaths of three dragon progenitors, Zhang Yuan’s promised connection to the East Sea Dragon Lord offered a possible way forward.

• Zhang Yuan used his magic power and celestial conceptual image to repair [Gazing into the Netherworld] and Illuminating Netherworld, but Xie Jingxin pointed out that he had placed one fragment incorrectly.
• Xie Jingxin fed spirit swords to [Gazing into the Netherworld], restoring most of the sword’s damage and returning her strength to the late Divine Ignition Realm.
• Xie Jingxin told Zhang Yuan that she had lost memories of a distant past and had come to Six Heavens Demon King Palace to search for her family.
• Ao Zhi said she did not want to return to the East Sea Dragon Clan, and Zhang Yuan offered to plead her case with the East Sea Dragon Lord.
• Ao Zhi admitted that she had caused the deaths of the other three progenitors.

Ao Zhi told Zhang Yuan how she helped bring about the deaths of three True Dragon ancestors, while Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin recovered and waited. They followed a cat-demon gathering to see the Great Shamans confront the God of No Return, who sent the demons back to their village as the shamans fled.

• Ao Zhi revealed that she had caused the deaths of two Primordial Unity Divine Saint ancestors and believed Ao Ying was still alive in the Six Heavens Demon King Palace.
• Zhang Yuan asked Ao Zhi about the Wenren Clan, but she knew nothing about them, then spent the night cultivating as Xie Jingxin and Ao Zhi recovered.
• The next day, Zhang Yuan and Xie Jingxin found their injuries largely healed and waited until a host of cat demons led by three Great Shamans climbed the mountain.
• Zhang Yuan concealed himself, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi, then followed the cat demons to the far side of the mountain.
• The Great Shamans summoned the God of No Return and declared that they had come to take the god to task, while the cat demons demanded their freedom.
• The God of No Return teleported the cat demons back to their village, and the three Great Shamans immediately fled in different directions.

Zhang Yuan and Ao Zhi encountered the God of No Return, who had captured three Great Shamans, including Ao Sha. Zhang Yuan challenged the God of No Return for directions to the First Mountain of the Nine Heavens, then overwhelmed him with an assault, while Ao Zhi killed Ao Sha.

• The God of No Return impaled the three fleeing Great Shamans with spears and sentenced them to three thousand years of punishment.
• Ao Zhi recognized the True Dragon Ao Sha and revealed her history of hatred toward him.
• The God of No Return detected a disturbance, and Zhang Yuan, Ao Zhi, and Xie Jingxin emerged from concealment after Zhang Yuan absorbed his Thunder Spear with [Thunder Pivot].
• Zhang Yuan challenged the God of No Return to a contest, wagering that victory would earn him directions to the First Mountain of the Nine Heavens.
• Zhang Yuan unleashed his treasures and Divine Abilities, shattered the God of No Return's purple Demon Flame shield, and made him vanish.
• Ao Zhi cut off Ao Sha's head after he tried to bargain for his life.

Ao Zhi killed the remaining prisoners after she and Zhang Yuan defeated Ao Sha, leaving them without anyone to guide them through the Nine Heavens Demon Prison. Before they could explore another route, the Demon King seized Zhang Yuan, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi and carried them away.

• Ao Zhi killed the pleading Cat Demon and Human Race cultivator, then dealt with the remaining Great Shamans.
• Zhang Yuan questioned Ao Zhi about killing their possible guides, and they decided to search for other cracks in the ice.
• Zhang Yuan clarified that he and Xie Jingxin would go together, while Ao Zhi could follow if she wished.
• A Black Vortex appeared as the Demon King reached into the Microcosm with a purple-haired arm.
• The Demon King seized Zhang Yuan, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi and vanished into the Black Vortex.
• The Microcosm returned to normal, and the God [No Return] reappeared and bowed toward where the Demon King had emerged.

Zhang Yuan, Ao Zhi, and Xie Jingxin were thrown into a strange place that resembled Mount Great Mystery, where a Ghost Deity named Tai Xuan challenged them to a duel. Zhang Yuan recognized Tai Xuan as an impostor and let him make the first move.

• Zhang Yuan, Ao Zhi, and Xie Jingxin landed at the foot of Mount Great Mystery after the Demon King hurled them into the abyss.
• Zhang Yuan teased Ao Zhi about her weight and recognized the mountain as the ancient form of Sky Mountain.
• Tai Xuan appeared and claimed to be the Supreme Profound Mountain Venerable, but Zhang Yuan questioned his identity because the Venerable had died long ago.
• Tai Xuan admitted his name was Tai Xuan and said he was the mountain god guarding the gate, then proposed a duel in which each fighter took turns making one move.
• Zhang Yuan accepted the challenge and invited Tai Xuan to attack first.

The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King abandoned negotiations and vanished from the Sixth Heaven, while Zhang Yuan defeated Tai Xuan at the foot of Mount Great Mystery. Ziluo then recognized Zhang Yuan as the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King and invited him up the mountain.

• Dipper-Piercing Immortal Lord Haotian confronted the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King, who admitted to acting against Zhang Yuan before vanishing from the Yin Net Tranquil-Illumination Palace.
• The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King revealed that she had never intended to negotiate and had used the talks to delay the Heavenly Army Night-Cutting Goddess and her companions.
• Tai Xuan attacked Zhang Yuan at the foot of Mount Great Mystery, but Zhang Yuan's Ninefold Harmonizing Qi blocked the punch.
• Zhang Yuan unleashed his techniques against Tai Xuan and left him unconscious in a crater.
• Ziluo descended from Mount Great Mystery, recognized Zhang Yuan as the Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King, and invited him to come up for a talk.

Zhang Yuan and his companions climbed Mount Great Mystery after the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King summoned them. At the summit, Zhang Yuan mistook the dragon maiden who greeted him for an impostor and told her to change back.

• Ziluo told Zhang Yuan that someone had invited them to the summit, and Zhang agreed to go meet the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King.
• As they climbed, Zhang Yuan revealed that he had once tried and failed to claim Mount Great Mystery’s Golden Position, leading Ziluo to suspect he had caused the Supreme Profound Mountain Venerable’s fall.
• Near the summit, Zhang Yuan warned Ao Zhi that he might not be able to protect her, then continued upward with Xie Jingxin.
• At the summit, Ao Ying appeared before Zhang Yuan, who assumed she was a fake and told her to change back.

Zhang Yuan brought Ao Zhi before Ao Ying, who teased him with the promise of an Ancestral Dragon's Hand before confronting Ao Zhi over her desertion and theft of the clan’s Supreme Treasure. Ao Zhi defended herself by accusing the Dragon Clan of having no place for her, leaving her fate unresolved.

• Ao Zhi warned Zhang Yuan that the woman before him was the genuine Ao Ying, and Zhang Yuan hastily explained away his touch as brushing dust from her shoulder.
• Ao Ying praised Zhang Yuan for bringing Ao Zhi and offered him an Ancestral Dragon's Hand, then teased him when he tried to refuse.
• Ao Ying turned her attention to Ao Zhi and demanded to know what punishment she deserved for deserting in wartime and stealing the clan's Supreme Treasure.
• Ao Zhi admitted the Dragon Clan had ostracized and mistreated her, then challenged Ao Ying's accusation by asking what crime she could be guilty of.

Ao Ying confronted Ao Zhi and demanded she return to the East Sea, but Ao Zhi refused. The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King then appeared before Zhang Yuan and demanded that he complete three tasks, which he rejected.

• Ao Ying offered to spare Ao Zhi if she surrendered the sword and returned to the East Sea, but Ao Zhi refused.
• The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King appeared beside Zhang Yuan, effortlessly took and examined his Primordial Form-Converging Sword, then returned it.
• Zhang Yuan asked why the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King had summoned him, and she asked him to take her outside, drive the goddess, Star Lord, and Immortal Lord from the Yin Netherworld Six Heavens, and restore the Six Heavens to the mortal world.
• Zhang Yuan refused the three tasks, and the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King offered him a reward for agreeing.

Zhang Yuan accepted Solar True Qi and Lesser Yin Cold Qi from [the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] and learned that a Devil Lord in the Nether Bureau would try to kill him. He agreed to go to the Nether Bureau to investigate, while Ao Ying ordered Ao Zhi to accompany him.

• Zhang Yuan asked [the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] for Solar True Qi, Lesser Yin Cold Qi, and Mysterious Yang Life Qi, and she gave him the first two pearls.
• [The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] warned Zhang Yuan that the Devil Lord in the Nether Bureau had noticed him and would try to eliminate him.
• Zhang Yuan suspected the Devil Lord was the Ancient True Lord who had forbidden Lu Qingwu from realizing [Ketu Thorn], and asked [the Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] for a plan.
• [The Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] offered three strategies, and Zhang Yuan chose to go to the Nether Bureau to investigate.
• Ao Ying ordered Ao Zhi to go with Zhang Yuan, and Ao Zhi moved to stand beside him and Xie Jingxin.

Zhang Yuan asked [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] to contact Ye Xiangning for help against the Nether Bureau's Ancient True Lord, then jumped from Mount Great Mystery toward the Nether Bureau with Xie Jingxin and Ao Zhi. After they vanished, Ao Ying and [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] discussed Zhang Yuan and wondered whether Ye Xiangning was another of his lovers.

• Zhang Yuan asked [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] to contact Ye Xiangning, a Mysterious Court True Disciple, and tell her that he had sent her.
• Zhang Yuan learned that the route to the Nether Bureau was to jump from the cliff, then refused Xie Jingxin's offer to carry him by the collar in her teeth.
• Zhang Yuan, Xie Jingxin, and Ao Zhi jumped from Mount Great Mystery and disappeared when space rippled halfway down the mountain.
• Ao Ying questioned whether Zhang Yuan was truly a Seventh Sun-Eroding Demon King, and [Mysterious Calamity-Bearing Ominous Demon King] defended the possibility.
• Ao Ying joked that Ye Xiangning might be another of Zhang Yuan's lovers, and revealed that she had stolen a reclining chair from his Purple Mansion.

Zhang Yuan arrived at the Ashen Plain, learned it was a passage between the Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace and the Nether Bureau, and obtained the two treasures needed to restore his Immortal Spirit Root. He prepared to continue toward the Nether Bureau while Chi Guanguan revealed that Ao Ying was only half-alive.

• Zhang Yuan landed beneath Xie Jingxin, Ao Zhi, and Ziluo, then recovered and recognized the gray expanse as the Ashen Plain.
• Ziluo explained that each Six Heavens Demon King Palace connected to the Nether Bureau and identified the Ashen Plain as the Ninefold Calamity-Dispelling Palace's passage.
• Zhang Yuan called to Mysterious Calamity for the Nine-Heavens Heavenly Dragon Fruit and Nine-Heavens Heavenly Heart Fire, and an earth lightning bolt delivered both treasures while narrowly missing him.
• Zhang Yuan pocketed the two treasures and blamed Ao Ying for the lightning strike.
• Chi Guanguan said Ao Ying was half-dead and claimed she had a Dragon-Trapping Immortal Formation that could help them deal with her.

After refining the Nine-Heavens Heavenly Dragon Fruit and Nine-Heavens Heavenly Heart Fire, Zhang Yuan’s Spirit Root rose to middle-grade, and he used his karmic connection to reach Clear Harmony City in the Nether Bureau. Finding the city guarded and suspecting he was wanted there, he accepted Ao Zhi’s plan to sneak underground with her Divine Ability.

• Zhang Yuan’s Spirit Root advanced to a middle-grade Five Elements Immortal Spirit Root, and he wondered whether his potential reached a higher grade.
• [Ziluo] explained two ways to enter the Nether Bureau, and Zhang Yuan’s karmic ties caused Clear Harmony City to appear on the Ashen Plain.
• Zhang Yuan led Xie Jingxin, Ao Zhi, and [Ziluo] to Clear Harmony City, where Ghost Deities guarded the gates.
• Zhang Yuan decided not to enter through the gates because the Nether Bureau might recognize him as a wanted person.
• Ao Zhi proposed taking the group underground while Zhang Yuan concealed their Qi signatures and Karma, then used her True Dragon Divine Ability to burrow beneath the city.