Chapter Summaries

Lin Mo defeated the Saint King with Lotus Annihilation, then recovered as the Jianmu Sapling within him transformed into a World Tree Sapling. A second Saint King appeared and revealed that Lin Mo’s ally had also lost a helper, making Lin Mo fear for Miss Qingcheng.

• Lin Mo collapsed after using Lotus Annihilation to slay the Saint King, and Gongsun Fu tried to heal him.
• Lin Mo explained that the technique had exhausted his vitality rather than his lifespan, and the Jianmu Sapling restored him.
• Lin Mo discovered that his Jianmu Sapling had become a World Tree Sapling, producing and converting vitality essence far more quickly.
• A voice revealed that the White-Clad Youth, the first Saint King, had appeared and claimed Lin Mo’s rebellion would end.
• The White-Clad Youth said his opponent had also lost a helper, and Lin Mo realized Miss Qingcheng might be in danger.

Lin Mo arrived at the rooftop to find the Coalition Army devastated and Xue Qingcheng, Feng Xu, and Mo Qing gravely wounded, then confronted the Saint King in a furious battle. As Lin Mo fought to keep the Saint King from summoning meteors, Luo Lan noticed the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon and realized the others could still help.

• Lin Mo and his companions reached the rooftop and found the Coalition Army’s five hundred members dead or incapacitated, with Xue Qingcheng unconscious and Feng Xu and Mo Qing pinned by Spirit Swords.
• The Saint King taunted Lin Mo, while the exhausted Coalition Army members could barely move and Lin Mo vowed to face him alone.
• Lin Mo summoned the Four Sages Immortal Spirits and used Water Spirit Ward to block three fireballs from the Flame God Furnace.
• Lin Mo charged the Saint King with Hundredfold Fist Dance, using close combat to prevent him from summoning meteors.
• Luo Lan spotted the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon and told the others there was still something they could do.

The Saint King captured Lin Mo and began draining his life force, but Gongsun Fu used Life-Spirit Symbiosis to share his suffering. The World Tree Sapling bloomed and its green light shackled the Saint King, leaving Lin Mo holding him by the throat.

• Qin Baochuan rallied Luo Lan and the others to attack the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon while Lin Mo fought the Saint King.
• Lin Mo summoned wood dragons to protect Luo Lan and the others from the Saint King’s flame dragons, but the Saint King caught him and confined his power and soul.
• Gongsun Fu used Life-Spirit Symbiosis to take on half of Lin Mo’s pain and pressure, collapsing to her knees and bleeding.
• The Saint King drained Lin Mo’s life force and began devouring the World Tree Sapling’s vitality, causing it to wither.
• The World Tree Sapling recovered, blossomed, and released green light that immobilized the Saint King and suppressed his power of rules.
• Lin Mo seized the Saint King by the throat, and the Saint King recognized him as the World Tree Descendant Lord Nether Venerable had spoken of.

Lin Mo awakened after meeting the enormous Divine Tree and learned that he had advanced the World Tree within him to the Blossoming Stage. He discovered that he had killed the second Saint King, while Xue Qingcheng and the others had survived, but he and Xue Qingcheng suspected the Saint King's true body might still be hiding.

• Lin Mo met the Divine Tree in an ethereal space, where it explained the World Tree's stages and gave him a Spirit Seed to plant and water with Spirit Spring Water.
• Lin Mo returned to the Heavenly Nether Sacred Tower and learned that he had killed the second Saint King, whose body had become a wooden statue, while the Flame God Furnace had turned to stone.
• Xue Qingcheng, Feng Xu, Mo Qing, and the other Coalition Army members recovered, and Xue Qingcheng said she had thought she would die but had returned from the brink of death.
• Luo Lan, Qin Baochuan, and the others began forming an Origin-Shattering Formation to destroy the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon.
• Xue Qingcheng doubted the war was truly over because the Saint King's true body had not appeared, while Lin Mo speculated that she had gone into hiding after realizing the battle was lost.

After helping Lin Mo defeat the Saint King's clones, Gongsun Fu stabbed him and revealed herself as the Saint King's hidden vessel. The Saint King's True Form emerged and seized Lin Mo just as an even greater evil presence gathered in the sky.

• Gongsun Fu secretly stabbed Lin Mo through the chest, then knocked Xue Qingcheng aside when she attacked.
• Gongsun Fu revealed that she had forced the heroes to drive the Saint King into her current state.
• Black mist erupted from Gongsun Fu and formed the Saint King's True Form, leaving Gongsun Fu near death.
• The Saint King's True Form lifted Lin Mo by the neck while Qin Baochuan, Luo Lan, and the others stood helpless.
• Black clouds and a distorted vortex formed overhead, and Qin Baochuan sensed that something even more terrifying was coming.

Xuantian Nether Venerable arrived at Bluestone Ghost City, captured Lin Mo, and prepared to fire the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon at the Divine Land. Lin Mo and his allies were left helpless as the cannon gathered enough power to destroy a city.

• Xuantian Nether Venerable descended into Bluestone Ghost City, awakening the soul slaves and making them worship him.
• The Saint King handed Lin Mo to Xuantian Nether Venerable, who tortured him and pinned him to the rooftop.
• Xuantian Nether Venerable explained that the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon could strike any lower plane and chose the Divine Land as its first target.
• The Saint King kept Qin Baochuan, Luo Lan, and the others from intervening while Xuantian Nether Venerable powered up the cannon.
• Lin Mo struggled against his restraints as Xuantian Nether Venerable forced him to watch the cannon aim at the Divine Land and threatened to destroy it.

The Saint King mortally wounded Xuantian Nether Venerable and trapped them both with the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon inside the Flame God Furnace, destroying them. Lin Mo discovered that the enlightened spirit consciousness survived, but it explained that it would return to the Prophet Spirit Spring rather than choose another person.

• The Saint King betrayed Xuantian Nether Venerable by piercing his chest, interrupting the Nether Baleful Ghost Cannon before it could fire.
• The Saint King summoned the Flame God Furnace and held Xuantian Nether Venerable inside as it crashed onto the tower and burned them both along with the cannon.
• Lin Mo recovered as the evil aura vanished, and he and the others watched the furnace burn down to a charred shell containing only black mist and burnt tentacles.
• Lin Mo noticed a radiant orb emerge from the mist and recognized it as the enlightened spirit consciousness, which confirmed its identity as the crystallization of the Prophet Spirit Spring.
• The enlightened spirit consciousness rejected Lin Mo's hopes of receiving its guidance and said it would return to the Prophet Spirit Spring because the Saint King had died.

Lin Mo learned that the Saint King had secretly prepared the Dry Jade Continent to support his resistance against the Netherworld and had sacrificed herself to defeat Xuantian Nether Venerable. After the survivors learned the truth and Gongsun Fu awoke, Lin Mo turned to freeing the continent’s remaining soul slaves.

• Lin Mo used his first question for the enlightened spirit consciousness to ask what the Saint King’s plan had been.
• The enlightened spirit consciousness revealed that the Saint King had surrendered the Dry Jade Continent to Xuantian Nether Venerable, weakened loyal Netherworld forces, and preserved the continent’s strongest cultivators so Lin Mo could lead a resistance.
• The enlightened spirit consciousness explained that the Saint King had hidden inside Gongsun Fu, staged attacks on Lin Mo, and drawn Xuantian Nether Venerable into a trap, prompting Qin Baochuan, Xue Qingcheng, and the others to grieve over her sacrifices.
• After Gongsun Fu awoke, Lin Mo comforted her and took responsibility for failing to protect her from the Saint King’s possession.
• Lin Mo taught Shen Changqing the formula and refining method for the Nine-Turn Demon-Cleansing Pill so they could free the remaining soul slaves.

After liberating the Dry Jade Continent, Lin Mo learned that overcoming his stalled cultivation required slaying the Three Corpses and stabilizing the plane, but the guidance left him uncertain. When Xue Qingcheng came under attack, Lin Mo emerged from the Gourd Space to find the Nine Bone Nether Venerable waiting for him.

• Lin Mo left the Coalition Army to return toward the Divine Land, while Gongsun Fu, Feng Xu, and Mo Qing chose to remain with him.
• Lin Mo asked the Enlightened Spirit Consciousness how to break through from the peak of the Golden Core Realm, and it told him to slay the Three Corpses, form the Nascent Soul, mend the Heavenly Dao, and anchor the Four Extremes.
• The Enlightened Spirit Consciousness explained that the Three Corpses represented greed, anger, and delusion, while the Four Extremes represented the plane's four directions and stability.
• The Gourd Space shook, and Lin Mo realized Xue Qingcheng was under attack, so he left the space with Feng Xu, Mo Qing, and Gongsun Fu.
• Lin Mo's group found Xue Qingcheng gravely injured and faced the Nine Bone Nether Venerable, who declared he would kill Lin Mo for sabotaging his plans.

Lin Mo and his allies tried to escape Nine Bone Nether Venerable, a powerful foe they could not defeat. Xue Qingcheng fled with the injured companions while Lin Mo stayed behind to delay their pursuer, but Nine Bone Nether Venerable quickly broke free and continued after him.

• Lin Mo secretly told Feng Xu, Mo Qing, Gongsun Fu, and Xue Qingcheng his escape plan, then used the Heavenly Pivot Soul-Guarding Sword to protect Feng Xu and Mo Qing as they attacked Nine Bone Nether Venerable.
• Nine Bone Nether Venerable overpowered Feng Xu and Mo Qing with Evil Energy Burst, leaving them gravely injured and unconscious.
• Lin Mo clashed swords with Nine Bone Nether Venerable and admitted he only meant to hold him off while the others escaped.
• Gongsun Fu healed Xue Qingcheng enough to move, and Xue Qingcheng carried the gourd containing their companions away.
• Lin Mo summoned two Wood Dragons, using one to seal Nine Bone Nether Venerable and the other to carry him away, but Nine Bone Nether Venerable quickly destroyed the sealing dragon and pursued him.

The Nine Bone Nether Venerable poisoned Lin Mo with a bone spike, leaving him unconscious and near death. After bringing him back to the Divine Land, Xue Qingcheng summoned the Enlightened Spirit Consciousness to answer Lin Mo’s final question, but it insisted that only Lin Mo could ask.

• The Nine Bone Nether Venerable struck Lin Mo with the fourth bone spike, infecting him with netherbone evil poison and leaving him unable to move.
• Lin Mo used his last awareness to guide the Wood Dragon toward the agreed meeting place, where Xue Qingcheng rescued him as the dragon crashed.
• Xue Qingcheng carried Lin Mo into the Gourd Space and returned with him to the Divine Land.
• Feng Xu told Xue Qingcheng that Lin Mo had been poisoned and that his remaining vitality was only delaying his death.
• Xue Qingcheng called the Enlightened Spirit Consciousness and demanded that it answer Lin Mo’s third question.
• The Enlightened Spirit Consciousness appeared but said that only Lin Mo was qualified to ask it questions.

Xue Qingcheng persuaded the Enlightened Spirit Consciousness to reveal how to cure Lin Mo’s Netherbone Evil Poison, then returned with him to the Deep Sea Imperial City to prepare the formation. Just as she sought a fourth female cultivator to help, Xuanyuan Hong arrived with his adopted daughter and learned that Lin Mo was in danger.

• Xue Qingcheng convinced the Enlightened Spirit Consciousness to answer Lin Mo’s third question on his behalf.
• The Enlightened Spirit Consciousness revealed that Lin Mo had the Netherbone Evil Poison and gave Xue Qingcheng the Phoenix Yin Demon-Transforming Formation diagram, which required four female Golden Core Realm cultivators or stronger.
• Xue Qingcheng brought Lin Mo back to the Deep Sea Imperial City, where Hai Beier agreed to help, but the group lacked a fourth cultivator.
• Xue Qingcheng resolved to find and recruit another female cultivator, then Xuanyuan Hong arrived with his adopted daughter, Xuanyuan Ziyan, who had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm.
• Xuanyuan Hong learned that Lin Mo had returned and eagerly asked to see him, but the others’ grave expressions made him suspect something had happened.

Xue Qingcheng, Hai Beier, Gongsun Fu, and Xuanyuan Ziyan began the Phoenix Yin Demon-Transforming Formation at the Dragon Sea Graveyard to purge Nine Bone Nether Venerable’s poison from Lin Mo. The formation was underway, but Gongsun Fu was struggling to maintain her strength.

• Xue Qingcheng explained that four women of Golden Core cultivation or higher had to perform the formation to save Lin Mo, and Xuanyuan Ziyan volunteered to help repay his past kindness.
• Hai Beier led the group with Lin Mo to the Dragon Sea Graveyard, where they found a cave and Xue Qingcheng opened the formation diagram.
• The women discovered that the formation required all four of them to be naked, and Xuanyuan Ziyan undressed first, encouraging the others to follow.
• Xue Qingcheng arranged the formation around Lin Mo and explained that they had to sustain their yin energy to create a demon seed that would purge his bone poison.
• The four women began channeling yin energy into Lin Mo, but Gongsun Fu grew pale and weak as the formation continued.

As Xue Qingcheng and the other women nearly finished cleansing Lin Mo's poison, a female corpse attacked and gravely wounded Xue Qingcheng, causing the formation to collapse and Lin Mo to die. A pure white lotus and the World Tree Divine Tree revived Lin Mo, who rose with the Heavenly Pivot Soul-Guarding Sword as the corpse remained suspended.

• Xue Qingcheng and the other three women sustained the Phoenix Yin Demon-Transforming Formation as the Demon Seed cleared most of Lin Mo's Netherbone Evil Poison.
• A bloodied female corpse emerged from the cavern and lunged at the women, so Xue Qingcheng froze her with Ice Seal.
• After the women continued the formation, the corpse broke free and stabbed Xue Qingcheng, making her collapse unconscious.
• The formation collapsed, and Lin Mo died as black blood poured from his seven orifices.
• A white lotus and the revived World Tree Divine Tree restored Lin Mo, who opened his eyes, rose, and summoned the Heavenly Pivot Soul-Guarding Sword.

Lin Mo recovered from the netherbone evil poison, returned to the Deep Sea Imperial City, and received the ingredients and furnace he needed to refine Ancient Blood-Congealing Pills. The chapter ended with him successfully producing four pills in the Gourd Space.

• Lin Mo killed the female corpse and fed unconscious Xue Qingcheng a stalk of yin baleful grass, then explained that the Nirvana Chain had revived him.
• Lin Mo reassured Gongsun Fu, Hai Beier, and Xuanyuan Ziyan that their efforts to remove his poison had saved him from becoming a living corpse.
• Lin Mo returned to the Deep Sea Imperial City, where Hai Dafu held banquets and cultivators gathered to celebrate his survival and accomplishments.
• Feng Xu and Mo Qing agreed to stay with Senior Zhu Feng for a while, while Xue Qingcheng returned to Snow Burial Valley after recovering.
• Gongsun Qian delivered ten stalks of great wilderness spirit-void grass, ten drops of Primordial Calamity Beast essence blood, and a high-grade Day-Spirit Alchemy Furnace; Gongsun Fu chose to stay with Lin Mo.
• Lin Mo refined the ingredients in the Gourd Space and produced four Ancient Blood-Congealing Pills.

After an Ancient Blood-Congealing Pill unexpectedly formed a faint Nascent Soul in Lin Mo’s dantian, he learned that slaying three mysterious corpses might be necessary for his breakthrough. Convinced the next corpse could be at Ten Thousand Fiends Mountain, Lin Mo set out and gave Ancient Blood-Congealing Pills to Xuanyuan Hong and Hai Dafu, with one for Qingcheng.

• Lin Mo swallowed an Ancient Blood-Congealing Pill and discovered a faint Nascent Soul in his dantian as the barrier to his breakthrough weakened from three masses of chaos to two.
• Lin Mo recalled that he had slain a female corpse at the Dragon Sea Graveyard and suspected it had been one of the three corpses blocking his breakthrough.
• Hai Dafu said the corpses might embody the impulses of greed, anger, and ignorance, while Xuanyuan Hong proposed that they represented the Divine Land’s evil impulses and that slaying them could earn Lin Mo the Heavenly Dao Will’s recognition.
• Hai Dafu suggested that another corpse might be at Ten Thousand Fiends Mountain in the Southern Wasteland, and Xuanyuan Hong warned Lin Mo that the place was dangerous.
• Lin Mo declared that he would go to Ten Thousand Fiends Mountain immediately, then gave Ancient Blood-Congealing Pills to Xuanyuan Hong and Hai Dafu and asked them to save the third for Qingcheng.

Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu reached Shadow Ink State and found signs of a strange evil aura and an ominous formation around the city. After Lin Mo killed a wounded Blood-Eyed Tiger, three masked men from the Great Black Heaven Divine Church accused him of stealing their prey and demanded his treasures.

• Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu traveled from Deep Sea Imperial City to the Southern Wilds and landed outside Shadow Ink State after Lin Mo detected a dangerous formation above the city.
• Lin Mo noticed the formation carried an aura resembling the Netherworld's evil aura, and he and Gongsun Fu decided to investigate the city on foot.
• A wounded Blood-Eyed Tiger charged at Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu, and Lin Mo killed it with Greenwood Sword Rain.
• Lin Mo stored the tiger in the Gourd Space before three black-robed cultivators arrived, searching for their prey.
• The burly leader accused Lin Mo of taking the tiger and ordered his companions to attack after demanding all of Lin Mo's treasures.

Lin Mo learned that the Great Black Heaven Divine Church had seized control of the Shadow Ink State under the hidden Heaven-Connecting Church Master, whose sword formation guarded the city. Suspecting the Church Master might be connected to the Netherworld, Lin Mo decided to investigate before continuing to Ten Thousand Fiends Mountain.

• Lin Mo killed two attackers with his Spirit-Devouring Vine and captured their leader, Lu Zhi, for questioning.
• Lu Zhi revealed that a Spirit Transformation Pinnacle expert had conquered the Shadow Ink State and founded the Great Black Heaven Divine Church.
• Lu Zhi explained that the hidden Heaven-Connecting Church Master had slain the city lord and academy heads with the Great Black Heaven Sword Formation and demanded tribute from the major factions.
• Lu Zhi told Lin Mo that travelers needed Black Sun Tokens to enter or leave the Shadow Ink State without being killed by the formation.
• Lin Mo took Lu Zhi into the Gourd Space and decided to stay in the Shadow Ink State to investigate the Heaven-Connecting Church Master.

Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu entered the Shadow Ink State in disguise and met Yang Xue'er, a Heaven-Seeking Academy disciple who took them to an auction at the Black Mysterious Market. The auction began with Ye Qing presenting a still-beating human heart from a peak Golden Core cultivator, shocking Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu.

• Lin Mo gave Gongsun Fu a Black Sun Token, and they disguised themselves in black robes and bamboo hats before entering the city.
• Yang Xue'er recognized their Heaven-Seeking Academy robes, introduced herself, and offered to guide them around the transformed Shadow Ink State.
• Lin Mo asked Yang Xue'er about trade, and she explained that auctions required exchanges of resources of equivalent value.
• Yang Xue'er brought Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu to the Black Mysterious Market auction, where they saw her greeted by fellow disciples.
• Ye Qing opened the auction by revealing a still-beating human heart, which he identified as belonging to a cultivator at the peak of the Golden Core Realm.

At the Black Mysterious Market auction, Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu watched cultivators eagerly trade for and consume parts of other human cultivators, while Yang Xue'er joined in with enthusiasm. As the auction’s final lot, Ye Qing presented a bound, wounded Foundation Establishment girl, leaving the bidders puzzled and Lin Mo alarmed.

• Ye Qing auctioned a still-beating Golden Core cultivator’s heart, which a middle-aged cultivator won and ate on the spot.
• Yang Xue'er offered a Spirit Shadow Fox head for the heart, then later exchanged it for Foundation Establishment cultivator essence blood and drank some.
• Lin Mo and Gongsun Fu saw the auction proceed through body parts from cultivators of increasingly powerful realms, while Gongsun Fu struggled with nausea.
• Ye Qing announced the crowning final lot and revealed a wounded, chained girl whose cultivation was at the early Foundation Establishment Realm.
• Lin Mo jolted at the sight of the girl as the bidders wondered why a low-level cultivator had been chosen as the final lot.