Chapter Summaries

Li Chen used the Pope’s Amethyst Token to command respect at Alfred’s manor while keeping his inability to wield Holy Light hidden. As Li Chen enjoyed Gwyneth’s devoted service, the Blood Demon Society began plotting an attack on the manor.

• Alfred treated Li Chen as his master, and the Amethyst Token made even the city’s bishop kneel and apologize.
• Gwyneth retrieved the token for Li Chen and took charge of his schedule and personal affairs.
• Carlos and Isabella confirmed that Li Chen possessed the Pope’s token and ordered their people to poison him with dancers sent to the manor.
• Pedro rejected the dancers at the gate, saying Li Chen did not like that type.

Carlos sent Isabella to assassinate Li Chen, but her poisoned seduction failed because Li Chen was immune to poison. When Carlos was caught sneaking into the Manor, Li Chen took him on as a probationary guard, leaving both spouses trapped in the role of Holy See believers.

• Carlos agreed to send Isabella to the Manor to kill Li Chen, and Isabella arrived disguised as a dancing girl.
• Isabella danced for Li Chen, but Gwyneth stopped her poisoned toast, so Isabella swallowed the poison herself and applied more to her chest.
• Carlos sneaked into the Manor after waiting outside for ten hours, but Li Chen immobilized him with saint-realm pressure.
• Carlos pretended to be a devout Holy See believer and asked to serve Li Chen, who appointed him a probationary guard.
• Isabella concealed her fury and joined Carlos in pretending to be a loyal believer.

Li Chen dismissed Carlos after humiliating him, then spent the night with Isabella while Carlos waited outside. The next day, Carlos and Isabella resolved to keep poisoning Li Chen, while Gwyneth and the other women arranged to share his attention.

• Carlos eagerly served Li Chen and rolled out of the room when Li Chen ordered him to leave.
• Li Chen took Isabella back inside, while Carlos spent the night listening outside and suppressing his anger.
• Carlos confronted Isabella the next morning, but she explained that she had acted for the Blood Demon Society and insisted Li Chen still needed to die.
• Carlos believed Isabella’s poison was slowly affecting Li Chen and agreed they had to continue building it up.
• At breakfast, Gwyneth asked Li Chen to perform the sacred ritual with her and the other women, and Alfred thanked Li Chen for his generosity.

Carlos gave Li Chen a dual cultivation manual to help carry out their poisoning plot, but Li Chen enjoyed practicing it with Isabella and rewarded Carlos by empowering his sword. As Li Chen remained unharmed, Carlos increased the poison and began suspecting Isabella had abandoned their mission, while she concealed her growing feelings for Li Chen.

• Carlos offered Li Chen his family's Dual Cultivation Art, and Li Chen used it with Sophia, Gwyneth, and Isabella.
• Li Chen praised Carlos's manual and infused sacred power into Carlos's Sidearm Sword, leaving Carlos humiliated but grateful.
• Carlos realized the Blood Demon Spirit Liquid had not harmed Li Chen and told Isabella to increase the poison's dosage and frequency.
• Isabella became increasingly eager to practice with Li Chen, while continuing to administer the poison.
• Carlos confronted Isabella about her behavior, and she denied betraying their mission as he secretly resolved to kill her if he found proof.

Li Chen continued his incognito inspection of the Eternal Day Empire while Carlos and Isabella discovered that their poison plot had failed. They planned to lure Li Chen to the Branch Altar and release the Blood Demon Angel, but Isabella later approached him with a new proposal.

• Li Chen explained to Xuan Ji that learning about the women around him helped him understand the Eternal Day Empire.
• Carlos learned that Li Chen was immune to poison and realized Isabella's attempts to poison him had been useless.
• Carlos and Isabella argued, then agreed to lure Li Chen to the Branch Altar and release the Blood Demon Angel.
• Carlos reminded Isabella of their shared past and promised they would leave the Blood Demon Society after killing Li Chen.
• Isabella acted shy with Li Chen that night and said she wanted to try something different.

Carlos lured Li Chen and Alfred’s guards to a Blood Demon Society ruin, expecting a powerful trap to kill Li Chen. Li Chen effortlessly destroyed the awakened Blood Demon Angel, leaving Alfred, the guards, and Carlos kneeling in awe and fear.

• Pedro reported that the Blood Demon Society had attacked the church, and Alfred pledged his guards to help Li Chen investigate.
• Alfred led three hundred guards toward the forest ruins while Carlos concealed his role in the Blood Demon Society and joined the expedition.
• The guards fought through the ruin’s monsters and reached a Blood Pool, where concealed cultists triggered a mechanism that awakened a Blood Demon Angel.
• As the guards fled from the Saint Realm demon, Li Chen destroyed it with a single golden palm strike.
• Alfred and the guards hailed Li Chen as a divine emissary, while Carlos knelt and praised Li Chen in genuine terror.

Li Chen destroyed a Blood Demon Society Branch Altar and let Alfred and Carlos take most of the credit, while Carlos hid his own ties to the cult. Alfred’s messengers spread the news across the city, drawing the attention of neighboring-city spies who began tracking Li Chen.

• Carlos killed the Blood Demon Society members, including the branch’s second-in-command, before Alfred could keep anyone alive for questioning.
• The city bishop arrived, recognized Li Chen’s Amethyst Token, and praised him for purging the Branch Altar.
• Li Chen assigned most of the achievement to Alfred and Carlos, leaving Alfred overwhelmed with gratitude and Carlos masking his resentment.
• The bishop promised to report Alfred and Carlos’s accomplishments, and Li Chen left with them for a victory banquet at the Manor.
• Alfred sent messengers to spread the news, stirring the city’s upper class and prompting spies from neighboring cities to locate Li Chen.
• Alfred realized only after returning to the Manor that his announcements might have caused trouble.

Li Chen reassured Alfred after his identity was revealed and attended a victory banquet at Alfred’s Manor. Meanwhile, Carlos persuaded Isabella to keep pursuing their plan against Li Chen, and Castro saw the banquet as a chance to advance his lineage.

• Li Chen told Alfred he would not punish him and asked him to prepare a victory banquet.
• Xuan Ji worried that their identities might be exposed, but Li Chen said he had a plan to surprise the Pope.
• Carlos told Isabella that he had blamed Li Chen for the Branch Altar’s destruction and that he had reported the incident to the Blood Demon Society’s leader; Isabella agreed to continue.
• Alfred hosted a lavish banquet where Li Chen appeared in Holy See robes, blessed the guests, and met Alfred’s parents, Castro and Ophelia.
• After Li Chen left the banquet early, Castro told Ophelia they should use the opportunity to connect with him and raise their lineage’s standing.

Old Castro and Lady Ophelia learned that Li Chen’s Holy Light had empowered Alfred’s wives, and they hoped to receive the same blessing. The next morning, Li Chen made a grand public debut as the Pope’s Personal Guard while Carlos waited for the leader’s trap to be prepared.

• Old Castro and Lady Ophelia overheard Gwyneth and Sophia in Li Chen’s bedchamber and learned from Alfred that Li Chen was infusing his wives with Holy Light.
• Old Castro urged Lady Ophelia to win Li Chen’s favor so their lineage could gain power, and she agreed to try.
• Li Chen spent the night giving Gwyneth and Sophia his energy, which they called Holy Light.
• Gwyneth dressed Li Chen in formal Holy See attire, and he left Alfred’s manor the next morning to a kneeling crowd and knights welcoming him.
• Alfred and Carlos followed Li Chen through the streets as Carlos wondered when the leader’s trap would be ready.

Li Chen performed a public baptism, then used Lady Ophelia’s cultivation troubles as a pretext to keep her in his Manor and train her through a series of private tests. Ophelia emerged cured and devoted to continuing her cultivation under him for life, while Li Chen planned to keep exploiting the opportunities he found in the Eternal Day Empire.

• Li Chen preached at the church and baptized the congregation, including Lady Ophelia.
• Old Castro asked Li Chen to examine Ophelia’s cultivation problems, and Li Chen began a private test of her faith.
• For three nights, Li Chen made Ophelia watch as he channeled holy light with Gwyneth and the others, leaving her increasingly restless.
• After Ophelia gave in on the fourth day, Li Chen kept her with him for seven days, and she emerged with her cultivation problems resolved and a more youthful appearance.
• Ophelia told old Castro she wanted to cultivate under Li Chen for life, while Li Chen continued his plan to train her to his liking.

Li Chen arrived in Holy Radiance City and visited the Holy Light Cathedral before continuing to old Castro’s fortified family estate. As Albert attacked Alfred for his failures, a red blur suddenly flashed through the hall.

• Li Chen’s procession traveled south for five days, with Ophelia repeatedly seeking private confessions from him along the way.
• Bishops and choir children welcomed Li Chen to Holy Radiance City, where he preached at the Holy Light Cathedral and declined their invitation to stay.
• Old Castro led Li Chen to his family estate, where he introduced his sons Albert and Alphonse and explained that Alfred was his youngest son and Alvira was an imperial consort.
• Ophelia led Li Chen away to rest while Albert and Alphonse taunted Alfred and blamed him for the trouble he caused.
• Albert grabbed Alfred by the collar, shoved him into an antique vase, and continued mocking him until a red blur flashed past.

Li Chen empowered Alfred with a powerful Holy Light cultivation art, allowing him to defeat Albert in the Martial Arena. Afterward, Alphonse suggested Albert seek the same blessing through his wife, but Albert refused to compromise his marriage.

• Gwyneth defended Alfred from Albert, then told him to learn from Li Chen’s Personal Guard.
• Li Chen taught Alfred the Holy Light Body Tempering Art and gave him a crystalline shortsword, then ordered him to fight Albert two days later.
• Alfred defeated Albert by using Holy Light Chains and breaking his greatsword with a burst of Holy Light.
• Alphonse suggested Albert let Mariana replenish her Holy Light so Albert could gain power, but Albert refused to involve his wife.

Albert returned home wounded after sparring with Alfred, and Mariana investigated the cause before confronting him at the old Castro residence. Li Chen judged that the brothers’ agreed sparring was permissible, but accused Mariana and Gwyneth of using Holy Light without authorization.

• Albert returned to his residence with a wound, concealed its cause from Mariana, and fell asleep after she healed him.
• Mariana ordered William to investigate and learned that Alfred had severed Albert’s greatsword with Holy Light during a sparring match.
• Li Chen studied the Holy Light Septet until a clash in the courtyard drew him outside, where everyone knelt before him.
• Mariana accused Alfred of violating the Holy See’s rule against family members harming one another with Holy Light, while Alfred said they had agreed to spar.
• Li Chen declined to punish Alfred for the sparring but confronted Mariana and Gwyneth for using Holy Light without permission, and both women admitted their guilt.

Li Chen led Mariana and Gwyneth through his private version of confession, then summoned Ophelia to show Mariana how it worked. Mariana embraced the ritual with sincere devotion, and over the following days she repeatedly returned to Li Chen for purification.

• Li Chen ordered Mariana and Gwyneth to kneel and remove their outer garments in his room, which he called the Confessional.
• When Mariana struggled to follow his instructions, Li Chen summoned Ophelia, who performed a fervent confession before him while Mariana watched in shock.
• Gwyneth joined Ophelia, and Mariana eventually asked to confess as well; Li Chen gave her his attention until morning.
• Mariana told Albert she had gone to confess and would need to return often, while he assumed she meant the church.
• Over the following days, Mariana repeatedly visited Li Chen, sometimes waking in the night to ask him to purify her.

Carlos met with Mordred and the Blood Demon Society’s stewards to report his plan to lure Li Chen into a trap. He left the meeting committed to the scheme despite resenting the Society’s leadership and considering how much easier life under Li Chen might be.

• Carlos secretly left Holy Radiance City and convinced Mordred that Li Chen had destroyed his branch altar.
• Lilith and Namelia arrived, but Mordred silenced their bickering and demanded Carlos explain his plan.
• Carlos said he had earned Li Chen’s trust and would lure him into Mordred’s Heavenly Net during an investigation in three days.
• Carlos explained that Li Chen was a Saint Realm fighter who had defeated the Six-Winged Blood Demon Angel.
• Carlos reflected on how the Society’s nepotism left him burdened with its work, but concluded that he was bound to it.

Mordred ordered Carlos to lure Li Chen out alone, while Lilith and Namelia independently went to Holy Radiance City to prove themselves. Li Chen recognized their seduction attempt and brought the sisters to a private chapel, where Carlos unexpectedly encountered them.

• Mordred added a requirement that Carlos lure Li Chen out alone, then urged Lilith and Namelia to cultivate.
• Lilith and Namelia decided to approach Li Chen in Holy Radiance City without telling Mordred.
• Li Chen sent Alfred and Carlos to investigate the fourth massacre site while he comforted frightened citizens at the Grand Cathedral.
• Lilith and Namelia disguised themselves as nuns and followed Li Chen to the Confessional, believing their ruse had fooled him.
• Li Chen took the sisters to old Castro's private chapel, where Carlos returned from investigating and found them kneeling before Li Chen.
• Li Chen called Lilith and Namelia “Lost lambs” when Carlos asked who they were.

Li Chen ordered Carlos to investigate Lilith and Namelia, who had infiltrated the castle, while the sisters scrambled to invent a cover story. After Carlos passed off their claim that they were Drake cousins, Li Chen announced a visit for the rite of confession and entered the confessional with ten women.

• Li Chen sent Carlos to investigate Lilith and Namelia's identities, then left him outside the confessional.
• Carlos told Isabella that the sisters had sneaked into the castle and asked her to help them prepare a believable lie.
• Isabella learned that Lilith and Namelia planned to pose as cousins of the Drake lineage visiting relatives in Holy Radiance City.
• Carlos reported their cover story to Li Chen, who announced that they would visit the Drake lineage the next day for the rite of confession.
• Li Chen entered the confessional late at night with ten women, including Ophelia, startling Lilith and Namelia with their beauty and bearing.

Li Chen’s staged confession ritual drew Lilith and Namelia into his circle, and the sisters soon became eager to remain by his side. Later, Carlos arranged for Nade Drake to offer his wives and daughters to Li Chen, leaving Li Chen unsure whether to accept the gift.

• Li Chen used the women’s participation in a confession ritual to coax Lilith and Namelia into undressing and joining in.
• Isabella took the exhausted sisters back to their room, where Lilith and Namelia said they wanted to keep confessing with Li Chen.
• Over the following days, Lilith and Namelia forgot their undercover mission and became distressed whenever they went without Li Chen’s purification.
• Carlos instructed Nade Drake to present his wives and daughters as sinners seeking Li Chen’s purification.
• Nade welcomed Li Chen to the Drake Manor, served him a lavish meal, and offered his three wives and five daughters, leaving Li Chen debating whether to accept.

Li Chen used his position as a Papal Guard to pursue influence among Holy Scions and nobles, then visited Nard’s manor and refused to conduct a private purification. He began a public rite before the assembled guests, leaving them stunned by the holy energy he displayed.

• Li Chen considered how his lack of direct oversight let him act freely and how he hoped to test the Pope’s response as his influence grew.
• Nard welcomed Li Chen at Drake Manor and presented his three wives and five daughters, who knelt and asked to be purified.
• Li Chen declined Nard’s offer to use a private Confessional and said he would conduct the purification in the banquet hall.
• Li Chen began a solemn rite, filling the hall with light and manifesting a vast six-winged angel as Nard and the nobles watched in astonishment.

After Li Chen purified the Drake women, his reputation rose in Holy Radiance City, while the Drake family faced punishment from the Blood Demon Society for supposedly betraying it. Nader and Veronica decided they needed to act against the Society President and considered using the women already close to Li Chen to secure his help.

• Li Chen used an Angel Apparition to purify the eight Drake women, leaving them with sacred signs and a holy glow, then departed after praising the bluefin tuna.
• A Church Scribe dismissed rumors that Li Chen was lustful, and stories of the miracle raised Li Chen's reputation in Holy Radiance City.
• Nader told Veronica that Blood Demon Society deacons accused the family of betrayal and threatened to use the blood contract against them.
• Veronica argued that the Blood Demon Society was more dangerous than the Holy See and proposed killing the Society President to free the family from the contract.
• Nader decided to visit Li Chen secretly, but Veronica proposed winning over the two Drake women who had already succeeded in getting close to him.