Chapter Summaries

Li Tiezhu launched the stitched monster out of Ancient Gaze City to protect the survivors, then chased it into the wilderness to beat it. Back in the ruins, Wang Yan convinced Si Qing that Li Tiezhu cultivated the legendary Path of Madness, while Li Tiezhu sneezed and wondered who was cursing him.

• Li Tiezhu redirected his staff strike upward, then kicked the stitched monster out of Ancient Gaze City and into the distant wilderness.
• Wang Yan and Si Qing watched Li Tiezhu depart, and Wang Yan silently vowed to cure his supposed brain disorder.
• Si Qing asked Wang Yan about Li Tiezhu's powers, and Wang Yan claimed he cultivated the Path of Madness by turning fantasy into reality.
• Li Tiezhu pinned the stitched monster down and pummeled it in the wilderness before sneezing and cursing whoever was badmouthing him.

Li Tiezhu destroyed the Stitched Monster with his staff and hurried back to Ancient Gaze City to evacuate Si Qing and Wang Yan. After they left, Si Chen and his companions arrived at the devastated Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences, where Black Mountain realized his home had been obliterated and demanded to know who was responsible.

• Li Tiezhu used his super armor and Mighty Heavenly Dragon Enchantment to annihilate the Stitched Monster, but the system reclaimed his gear and charged him for its lost reserves.
• Li Tiezhu saw the destruction caused by his staff, realized Si Qing was still in Ancient Gaze City, and flew there on the Somersault Cloud.
• Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan escorted Si Qing onto a Flying Boat and left Ancient Gaze City for the Joyous Union Sect.
• Si Chen, Xie Changsheng, Song Chi, Zhou Yan, Luo Hongyi, Black Mountain, and Red Wind arrived at the ruined Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences after the Flying Boat departed.
• Black Mountain recognized the devastated land as his home and roared, demanding to know who had destroyed it.

Si Chen and the others discovered that the demons of the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences had survived by retreating into Dragonfall Land, where they described an unknown force driving away the monsters. Si Chen sensed that something about the Lower Realm had changed, though he could not identify what.

• Black Mountain and Red Wind feared the Other Race had wiped out their kin, but Zhou Yan pointed out the lack of bodies or blood, and Si Chen suspected the demons had fled to Dragonfall Land.
• Si Chen led the group to Dragonfall Land, where Black Mountain called out and reunited with the surviving demons sheltering beneath the mountain.
• The old Wolf Demon explained that the demons had retreated underground after black monsters attacked and reanimated their dead, then endured a siege until strange celestial music drove the creatures away.
• After hearing the old Wolf Demon's account, Si Chen sensed that the wind in the Lower Realm had become unfamiliar, though he could not tell what had changed.

Si Chen and his companions split up to suppress the Filth Calamity, while Si Chen headed to Central Province to find Si Ming. At Zhongyang Pass, Si Ming prepared to defend Great Yin’s last barrier against the oncoming black tide.

• Si Chen sent his companions to return to their sects and purge nearby areas, assigning Black Mountain and Red Wind to the Southern Region.
• Si Chen chose to travel to Central Province because Si Ming was there, then vanished using Great Void Shift.
• Ye Tang learned that the southern defensive line had fallen and Zhongyang Pass was Great Yin’s final barrier before the capital.
• Si Ming recalled protecting refugees and soldiers as he fought his way to Zhongyang Pass, then refused the old general’s plea to retreat.
• Si Ming rallied Great Yin’s soldiers as the black tide surged toward the pass.

Si Ming arrived at Zhongyang Pass as its defenses collapsed and fought the advancing Filth Demons. Though Heartguard urged him to escape, he chose to protect the people behind the walls and charged back into the horde with her power bolstering him.

• The Filth Demons broke through Zhongyang Pass's formation, and Si Ming appeared to hold the breach with his sword.
• Si Ming fought off wave after wave of Filth Demons until his spiritual power dwindled and the breach was overrun.
• Heartguard manifested from the markings on Si Ming's wrist and crushed the demons around him with a burst of power.
• Heartguard urged Si Ming to retreat with her, but he refused to abandon the civilians and asked her to save some women and children instead.
• Heartguard joined with Si Ming and replenished his strength, and he charged back into the Filth Demons.

Si Ming and Zhongyang Pass’s defenders faced certain defeat when the city’s formation collapsed, until Si Chen appeared and froze the Filth Demons. Revealing himself as the Peerless King, Si Chen unleashed lightning against the monsters.

• Si Ming fought alongside Great Yin’s defenders while civilians supplied the wounded and the city’s formation.
• The formation over Zhongyang Pass shattered, allowing tens of thousands of Filth Demons to fly over the walls.
• Heartguard prepared to take Si Ming away, but a figure emerged from a golden fissure and froze the Filth Demons while leaving the defenders untouched.
• Si Ming and Heartguard recognized the newcomer as Si Chen, who summoned lightning and revealed himself to the defenders as the Peerless King.
• Si Chen swept his hand and commanded the lightning to destroy the frozen Filth Demons.

Si Chen destroyed the Filth Demons attacking Zhongyang Pass and reunited with Si Ming. After learning that most of Great Yin and two neighboring nations had fallen, he vowed to reclaim the lost lands.

• Si Chen summoned heavenly lightning that annihilated the Filth Demons without harming the people at Zhongyang Pass.
• Wang Mian and the defenders recognized Si Chen as the Peerless King and welcomed him back.
• Si Chen thanked Heartguard, then praised and healed Si Ming.
• Wang Mian told Si Chen that eighty percent of Great Yin and two neighboring nations had fallen to the monsters.
• Si Chen declared that they would take the lost territory back, and the generals swore to follow him.

After Zhongyang Pass survived the monster attack, Si Chen told Si Ming the calamity was tied to the Immortal Realm and sensed something wrong with Great Yin’s national fortune and the plane’s Heavenly Dao. He restored the pass’s defenses and healed its wounded before leaving with Si Ming for the Imperial Capital.

• Si Ming asked what the monsters were, and Si Chen said the calamity came from ancient troubles entangling the Immortal Realm and the Demon Realms.
• Si Ming told Si Chen that Qing'er was safe and traveling toward the Joyous Union Sect with Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan.
• Si Chen sensed something unfamiliar about Great Yin’s national fortune and wondered whether the plane’s Heavenly Dao had gone wrong.
• Si Chen reinforced Zhongyang Pass’s defensive formation by linking it to the Central Province Leyline.
• Si Chen healed the wounded and regrew Wang Mian’s missing arm, then promised supplies for the refugees.
• Si Chen and Si Ming left Zhongyang Pass for the Imperial Capital.

Ye Tang learned that the Peerless King had saved Zhongyang Pass, and Si Chen and Si Ming arrived in the Imperial Capital. Ye Tang greeted Si Chen as his imperial uncle, while Si Chen prepared to ask about Great Yin’s crisis.

• Ye Tang received a report that the Peerless King had resolved the crisis at Zhongyang Pass and laughed with relief.
• Si Chen and Si Ming opened a golden spatial rift and appeared above the refugee-filled Imperial Capital.
• Imperial commanders Chen Xiao and Lin Qing He recognized Si Chen and welcomed him back.
• Si Chen asked Chen Xiao and Lin Qing He to take him to Great Yin’s current ruler.
• Ye Tang hurried out to greet Si Chen and bowed, calling him his imperial uncle.

Si Chen reunited with Ye Tang and the officials of Great Yin, promising to end the calamity after saving Zhongyang Pass. He examined Great Yin’s Nation-Protecting Seal and discovered that the dynasty’s fortune and the people’s wishes had been consumed by filth.

• Ye Tang told Si Chen how he had been hidden away as Ye Jing’s son before Grand Princess Ye Fu placed him on Great Yin’s throne.
• Great Yin’s officials welcomed Si Chen, and he announced that Zhongyang Pass was safe and that he had returned to put an end to the disaster.
• Ye Tang reported that Ye Cang was gravely wounded while Ye Qing and Ye Xuan had gone to reinforce other prefectures and were missing.
• Si Chen asked Ye Tang to bring out Great Yin’s Nation-Protecting Seal so he could investigate an abnormality he had sensed.
• Si Chen activated the seal and revealed that black filth had devoured Central Province’s fortune and the people’s wishes.

Si Chen purified the Nation-Protecting Seal and erased the filth calamity across the Central Province with the Thunderbolt Spear. He then asked Little Lei to take him to meet the Heavenly Dao, whose condition still seemed strange.

• Si Chen burned away the filth pouring from the Nation-Protecting Seal and restored it to pure white jade.
• Si Chen went outside and saw the Imperial Capital overwhelmed by filth, then summoned the Thunderbolt Spear and declared he would wield the Heavenly Dao's authority.
• Si Chen unleashed lightning across the Central Province, destroying the Filth Demons and cleansing the calamity without harming people or buildings.
• Si Chen called Little Lei and asked it to guide him to the world's Heavenly Dao.

Si Chen entered the Origin Realm with Little Lei and found it already corrupted by Filth. He destroyed a manifestation that imitated the dead Hui Ming, Lü Ci, and Ye Jing, but it warned him that the invasion extended beyond this realm.

• Little Lei explained that the Origin Realm lay behind the world and guided Si Chen there.
• Si Chen told Si Ming, Ye Tang, and the others to handle Central Province's aftermath while he left in secret.
• Si Chen and Little Lei entered a pure white space where a Black Sphere appeared and transformed into Hui Ming.
• The Filth manifestation claimed it could take the forms of anyone who had died, then changed into Lü Ci and Ye Jing.
• Si Chen seized the manifestation and burned it with Sun True Flame, but it warned that the curtain had already risen and that its kind awaited him somewhere higher.

Si Chen saved the weakened Heavenly Dao from an invading entity and learned that his own nature existed beyond all laws. Before returning to the Immortal Realm, he proposed creating Boundary Guardians to protect the Origin Realm from future threats.

• After the invading entity vanished, Little Lei recognized the cracked sphere in Si Chen’s hand as his former boss, the Heavenly Dao.
• The Heavenly Dao took the shape of a transparent child and thanked Si Chen for saving him from being consumed by an outsider from the upper realm.
• The Heavenly Dao explained that Si Chen inspired reverence because he existed outside all laws, prompting Si Chen to wonder about a blank stretch in his memories.
• Si Chen gave the fading Heavenly Dao a wisp of refined essence, restoring his form.
• Si Chen proposed that the Heavenly Dao allow powerful beings to remain in the Lower Realm as Boundary Guardians, defending it from destruction and outside invasion.

Si Chen arranged for a Boundary Guardian to serve the Lower Realm in rotating thousand-year terms and considered Zhao Wumian for the role. After returning to Great Yin, he left its recovery to Ye Tang, Chen Xiao, and Lin Qing He, then set out with Si Ming to meet old acquaintances.

• Si Chen proposed that Boundary Guardians serve the Lower Realm for a thousand years before ascending, and the Heavenly Dao agreed that the arrangement was feasible.
• Si Chen decided to choose a guardian later, while Little Lei mocked the Heavenly Dao before Si Chen pulled him back into his body.
• Si Chen opened his own spatial rift and left the Origin Realm, returning to Great Yin's imperial capital.
• Ye Tang reported that the Filth Demons across Great Yin had vanished, and Si Chen entrusted him, Chen Xiao, and Lin Qing He with the realm's recovery.
• Si Chen told Ye Tang and the others that he had loose ends to settle, then departed with Si Ming to meet old acquaintances.

Si Chen left Great Yin after entrusting the Central Province to Ye Tang, then discovered that his Great Void Shift had taken him far from the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences. He headed for the Joyous Union Sect to retrieve Si Qing, while Xie Changsheng and the others set out to meet him there.

• Si Chen bade farewell to Ye Tang and the officials, leaving Si Ming to follow him through a Spatial Passage.
• Ye Tang realized Si Chen had recognized him as Great Yin’s sovereign and ordered relief for refugees, threatening execution for embezzlement or negligence.
• Si Chen and Si Ming arrived in the Eastern Region far from their intended destination, and Si Chen told Si Ming not to ask questions.
• Si Chen followed Si Qing’s Starlight Pendant toward the Joyous Union Sect as the brothers passed through regions struck by thunder punishment.
• Xie Changsheng asked Si Chen about the thunder and proposed meeting at the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences, but Si Chen said he was going to the Joyous Union Sect.
• Xie Changsheng told Si Chen to stay put and said he would notify the others, then abruptly ended the connection.

At the Joyous Union Sect, Si Qing was welcomed by its disciples while Li Tiezhu realized that Si Chen had caused the plane-wide lightning punishment. Si Chen and Si Ming arrived, reuniting with Si Qing and their disciples.

• Joyous Union Sect’s female disciples surrounded Si Qing with food and affection after learning she was Si Chen’s cousin.
• Li Tiezhu’s system identified the lightning punishment as the work of “that existence,” and Li Tiezhu rejoiced that his master had returned.
• Wang Yan mistook Li Tiezhu’s excitement for worsening mental illness and urged him to drink medicinal soup.
• Si Chen and Si Ming appeared above the sect, and Si Qing reunited with her brother before recognizing Si Chen.
• Li Tiezhu rushed to Si Chen and clung to his leg, while Wang Yan dropped his bowl and knelt to greet his master.

Si Chen reunited with his disciples and younger sister at the Joyous Union Sect, praising Wang Yan and affectionately greeting Si Qing. Sect Master Su Miaoyin welcomed him as an honorary elder, privately stunned that he had returned from the Immortal Realm.

• Si Chen lifted Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan to their feet, praised Wang Yan's alchemy, and teased Li Tiezhu about causing trouble and owing people money.
• The system flattered Si Chen until he ordered it to be quiet.
• Si Chen greeted Si Qing, comforted her, and learned that Li Tiezhu and Wang Yan had protected her from monsters.
• Su Miaoyin and the sect elders arrived, and Si Chen apologized for visiting without notice.
• Su Miaoyin welcomed Si Chen as family while wondering how he could travel between the Lower Realm and the Immortal Realm.

Si Chen welcomed the Eastern Region’s powerful sect leaders, who came to honor him after the Evil Spirits were purged and learned he could travel between realms. At the Joyous Union Sect, Black Mountain described the destruction of the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences, and Li Tiezhu realized he might have caused it.

• Su Miaoyin told Si Chen that the leaders of several major sects had arrived, and he went out with her to greet them.
• Xie Changsheng and the others introduced their elders, who bowed to Si Chen, but he asked them to treat him as a fellow Daoist.
• Black Mountain and Red Wind reunited with Wang Yan, who praised their appearance and celebrated his Nascent Soul Realm cultivation.
• Black Mountain lamented that the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences had been destroyed, and Wang Yan vowed to find and punish the culprit.
• Li Tiezhu recalled smashing a barren mountain with his staff and wondered if he was the one who destroyed Black Mountain’s home.

Li Tiezhu panicked when he realized Black Mountain and Red Wind had come from the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences, while Wang Yan urged him to help hunt down the culprit who had destroyed Black Mountain’s cave. After the elders and sect patriarchs gathered in the Joyous Union Sect’s Main Hall, Si Chen promised to explain the Filth Calamity and discuss arrangements for the Lower Realm.

• Li Tiezhu cursed his silent system and nervously greeted Black Mountain and Red Wind, offering to pay to rebuild the Mountain of Ten Thousand Silences.
• Black Mountain and Red Wind recognized Si Qing, and Black Mountain nearly revealed an embarrassing childhood story before Red Wind stopped him and Si Ming warned him to mind his words.
• Wang Yan vowed to poison the culprit who had destroyed Black Mountain’s cave, leaving Li Tiezhu worried that his junior brother would expose him.
• Su Miaoyin invited Si Chen and the Eastern Region sect patriarchs into the Main Hall, where Si Chen said he would explain the Filth Calamity and the Lower Realm’s future arrangements.
• Li Tiezhu sat near the hall entrance and scolded Wang Yan for wanting to sit closer to their master, while Wang Yan admired his senior brother’s observance of etiquette.

Si Chen explained the Immortal Realm’s lingering dangers and invited the Eastern Region’s leaders and his companions to ascend with him. After arranging for his disciples and cousins, he left the hall and decided to visit the Demon Realm.

• Si Chen told the Eastern Region patriarchs about the Filth, the ancient war, and the threats still sealed in the Immortal Realm, then reassured them that most dangers had been suppressed and invited them to bring fresh blood to the upper realm.
• The patriarchs eagerly considered ascending, while Zhao Wuji resolved to settle the score with his disciple Song Chi once they met as equals.
• Si Chen invited Wang Yan to ascend with him and told him to bring his mother to Undying Mountain.
• Si Chen told Li Tiezhu to ascend as well and spend less time on his Payment Term, while Su Miaoyin offered to settle Li Tiezhu’s outstanding payments.
• Si Chen invited Si Ming and Si Qing to broaden their horizons but said their decision to ascend would depend on their father, Second Uncle.
• After leaving the excited gathering, Si Chen recalled the warning that the Grand Curtain had risen and decided to visit the Demon Realm.