Chapter Summaries

After the False Heaven was exposed, Ouyang and Dongxu Zi discussed the war ahead and Chen Changsheng's future as Demon Venerable. Chongming agreed to give Chen Changsheng the position, but demanded Ouyang's eyes in return.

• Ouyang reflected that Leng Qingsong's strength had been revealed and that banishing him would protect him while drawing hidden enemies out.
• Ouyang teased Dongxu Zi about the false sky, while Zhang Zixiang wondered why Shenjing Zi's power had appeared within Ouyang.
• Zhang Zixiang said he had handled the Myriad Laws Sect's internal affairs, then hurriedly vanished before Dongxu Zi could ask more.
• Dongxu Zi told Ouyang that Chongming had agreed to let Chen Changsheng succeed him as Demon Venerable, and Ouyang was relieved that their Third Brother would have a place in the world.
• Dongxu Zi revealed that Chongming's condition was that he wanted Ouyang's eyes.

Ouyang let Dongxu Zi cover his eyes as the price for Chen Changsheng to take the position of Demon Venerable, then realized he could no longer see even the system panel. Blind and left alone, he reflected on the struggle to reopen the Immortal Path and the Old Immortals’ plans to possess suitable cultivators.

• Ouyang joked that losing his eyes was a worthwhile trade for Changsheng’s place in the world, and Dongxu Zi used a strand from his whisk to cover Ouyang’s eyes.
• Dongxu Zi handed Ouyang a small box and vanished before offering comfort, leaving Ouyang alone in the gray haze of blindness.
• Ouyang found he could not see the system panel and concluded that the remaining path to victory required becoming a piece on the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
• Ouyang reasoned that the Old Immortals would seek possession of cultivators to return to High Heaven, and recognized that Dongxu Zi and the others had anticipated their plans.
• Ouyang slipped a bloodstained silver needle into his Storage Space, stopped the bleeding from his finger, and complained that he had been left alone despite being blind.

Ouyang briefly spoke with Little Bie San about the inverted sky before his mind slipped into madness again, and Little Bie San carried him away. As Ouyang raved, the land, mountains, and rivers seemed to breathe in secret, unnoticed even by Dongxu Zi.

• Ouyang hid his notebook’s final page as Little Bie San arrived to take him away.
• Ouyang pointed out the inverted sky and asked Little Bie San whether they should visit it together.
• Little Bie San reflected on his Integration Realm and his determination to repair his body and rescue Chen Changsheng.
• Ouyang suddenly lost lucidity, clawed at his painful fingers, and screamed that everyone was bullying him and that he wanted to go home.
• Little Bie San bound the struggling Ouyang with the Immortal-Binding Rope and carried him on his back.
• As Ouyang raved, the land, mountains, and rivers released a faint breath that even Dongxu Zi did not notice.

Former immortals hiding beneath the earth debated abandoning reincarnation to possess ninth-level Tribulation Transcendence cultivators and race to become the first to reopen the Heavenly Gate. They left to begin their contest, unaware that Ouyang had secretly listened in.

• The former immortals complained that Ouyang had been hunting them underground and recalled the calamities caused by powerful figures including Li Taibai and the God-Sealing brat.
• The immortals debated returning to their own Mortal Worlds or risking possession of ninth-level Tribulation Transcendence cultivators, fearing the God-Sealing brat might enslave them after reincarnation.
• The immortals agreed to abandon reincarnation and gamble on possessing cultivators, hoping to reopen the Heavenly Gate first and claim Heaven and Earth's reward.
• One immortal declared he would go first, and the others left the secret chamber as their contest began.
• Ouyang laughed on Little Bie San's back and called the immortals a bunch of idiots.

Ouyang revealed that he had feigned madness to lure the hidden Immortals into exposing their plans, then rewarded Little Bie San by setting out to find Chen Changsheng. He left the monkey behind with an instruction to watch the courtyard’s water vat and wait for the Lotus Pod to ripen.

• Ouyang explained to Little Bie San that he had scattered his True Essence to protect Leng Qingsong and had pretended to be senile so the hidden Immortals would lower their guard.
• Ouyang described how the Great Calamity had forced the Immortals and cultivators into open conflict and turned former players into pieces on the board.
• Ouyang asked Little Bie San about his ten years of Dao study, and the monkey described mastering many cultivation arts despite failing to advance his cultivation.
• Ouyang told Little Bie San that it was time to go, but refused to take him along to find Chen Changsheng.
• Ouyang transformed into Paper Cranes and Paper Butterflies and flew toward the inverted Demon Realm, telling Little Bie San to watch the water vat until the Lotus Pod ripened.

As the inverted Demon Realm appeared above the Mortal Worlds, panic spread while the Nine Great Sacred Lands stayed silent. Bai Feiyu worried about the Demon Realm and the Immortals’ true spirits, while Zu Yuan questioned how this world differed from the apocalypse he remembered.

• Rumors about the inverted world spread across the Mortal Worlds, and the Nine Great Sacred Lands sealed their gates, drawing anger from the people seeking explanations.
• Bai Feiyu surveyed the inverted sky after sealing gods in thirty Mortal Worlds and considered the danger the Demon Realm posed to the Mortal Worlds and reincarnation.
• Bai Feiyu drew reassurance from the disciplinary ruler at his waist and resolved to face the difficulties once God-Sealing was complete.
• The Demon Realm’s tribes calmed down after their Demon Gods ordered them to continue their usual routines.
• Zu Yuan stared at the inverted world and wondered why the events differed from the apocalypse and rebirth he remembered.

Chen Changsheng, inhabiting Zu Yuan’s body, faced Demon Venerable Chongming, who recognized the soul inside his adopted son and recalled Zu Yuan’s extraordinary origins and death. Chongming asked whether Chen Changsheng wanted to kill him and take his place.

• Zu Yuan saw the Cultivation World spread upside down across the sky and greeted Demon Venerable Chongming when he appeared behind him.
• Chongming recognized that Zu Yuan’s body held Chen Changsheng’s soul and remembered that Zu Yuan had been born from the Twelfth Grade Black Lotus with exceptional powers.
• Chongming recalled that Zu Yuan had died during an infiltration mission at the Azure Cloud Sect and that Chen Changsheng had returned to the Demon Realm in his body.
• Chongming reflected that Ouyang and Dongxu Zi had warned him about Chen Changsheng and that their plan involved surrounding and killing the Immortals.
• Chongming asked Chen Changsheng, “Do you want to kill me and take my place?”

Chongming tested Zu Yuan, then discussed the Devil Race’s harsh existence and ordered him to subdue its Twelve Tribes. Zu Yuan accepted eagerly, while Chongming wondered whether Chen Changsheng would ultimately destroy the Devil Race or lead it toward a new life.

• Chongming threatened Zu Yuan, then lifted the pressure and urged him to become the Devil Race’s future leader.
• Chongming told Zu Yuan to keep cultivating the Way of Slaughter granted by the Twelfth Grade Black Lotus.
• Chongming questioned Zu Yuan about the Devil Race and described how its barren Demon Realm contrasted with the prosperous Cultivation World.
• Zu Yuan remained unable to sympathize with the Devil Race and resolved to lead it to destruction as he had in his previous life.
• Chongming gave Zu Yuan a map of the Demon Realm and ordered him to subdue all Twelve Tribes.
• Zu Yuan accepted the order and left, while Chongming wondered whether Chen Changsheng would destroy the Devil Race or guide it toward a new life.

Zu Yuan traveled to the Gonggong Clan’s territory, where he encountered the three Devil Lords who had killed him in his previous life. After they welcomed him as the Great Demon Venerable’s son, Zu Yuan killed them and declared that he had come for their heads.

• Zu Yuan studied the Demon Realm map and wondered how his past self had replaced the powerful Demon Venerable.
• Zu Yuan decided to visit the Gonggong Clan, whose water-cultivating Devil Lords had surrounded and killed him in his previous life.
• Zu Yuan reached the Gonggong Clan’s great river and saw the clan’s members and a statue of their deity.
• Shuqi, Yeming, and Bojiu welcomed Zu Yuan as the Young Demon Venerable and asked whom the Great Demon Venerable wanted them to kill.
• Zu Yuan beheaded Shuqi, Yeming, and Bojiu, saying his father had sent him to borrow their heads.

Zu Yuan tested his new saber, Startling Swan, by decapitating three Gonggong Clan Devil Lords, who promptly declared their loyalty and explained that he still needed the clan’s Demon God totem to recognize him. Zu Yuan touched the Gonggong statue, whose phantom appeared as the clan knelt in submission.

• Zu Yuan used Startling Swan to cut off the heads of three Devil Lords, who reattached them and praised his strike.
• Zu Yuan told the Devil Lords he had come on his father’s orders to obtain recognition from the twelve tribes, and they pledged to serve him.
• Zu Yuan recalled that the three Devil Lords had killed and eaten him in his previous life, then laughed at how completely their positions had reversed.
• The Devil Lords explained that Zu Yuan still needed recognition from the Gonggong Clan’s Demon God totem and showed him the statue in the great river.
• Zu Yuan touched the Gonggong statue, a Demon God phantom appeared, and the clan members knelt in submission to him.

Zu Yuan gained the Gonggong Clan’s Water System Laws and realized the demon patterns of the twelve Demon Gods could make him powerful enough to challenge Great Demon Venerable Chongming. Though he could now kill the three Devil Lords and command the Gonggong Clan’s lives, their unreserved trust made him reconsider his plans.

• The Water System Laws manifested before Zu Yuan, and the Gonggong Clan’s Demon God recognized him, granting him immense water-based power.
• Zu Yuan realized that gaining the demon patterns of all twelve Demon Gods was the key to overcoming the strength gap between himself and Great Demon Venerable Chongming.
• Zu Yuan sensed that the river’s power made him effectively undying while it endured, then decided he could still arrange for his own death if necessary.
• The Gonggong Clan knelt before Zu Yuan, and he realized he had completed one-twelfth of his plan to unify the Demon Realm.
• Zu Yuan learned that the three Devil Lords had placed their clan’s fate in his hands as a pledge of loyalty, and their trust made him hesitate to harm them.

Zu Yuan accepted the Gonggong Clan’s help and agreed to become their Witch, finding a little relief in their celebration. The feast continued into the night until an angry voice arrived amid a towering sea of flames.

• Zu Yuan rejected the idea that his death could stop the great calamity and resolved to uncover the force behind it.
• Zu Yuan asked the three Gonggong Devil Lords to help him set things right, and they offered to make him their adoptive father.
• Shuqi proposed that Zu Yuan become the Gonggong Clan’s Witch, and Yeming explained that the role was not limited by gender.
• Zu Yuan accepted the position, and the Gonggong Clan celebrated with a feast along the Great River.
• A furious voice roared from the distance, demanding to know why the Gonggong clansmen were dancing instead of sleeping.

Zu Yuan recognized Eldest Senior Brother among the Zhurong Clan after the Gonggong and Zhurong Clans escalated their feud into battle. He reached the volcanic tribe but held back from revealing himself, leaving their reunion still to come.

• The Gonggong Clan and Zhurong Clan traded insults across the river until the Zhurong Clan wrote flaming curses and gestures across the sky.
• Zu Yuan recognized Eldest Senior Brother’s signature emoticons and flew toward the Zhurong Clan.
• Yeming mistook Zu Yuan’s departure for a command to attack and led the Gonggong Clan into battle against the Zhurong Clan.
• Zu Yuan crossed the battlefield unnoticed and entered the Zhurong Clan’s volcanic territory.
• Zu Yuan found Eldest Senior Brother cursing from atop the Demon God statue and stopped himself from rushing forward to reveal himself.

Ouyang, blind and mistaken for the Zhurong Clan’s witch, confronted Zu Yuan, who was secretly his former junior brother Chen Changsheng. Zu Yuan recognized Ouyang but could not reveal who he was, and the two parted emotionally unable to acknowledge their bond.

• Ouyang ordered two Zhurong Clan members to spread his trash talk, then sent them to fight the charging Gonggong Clan.
• Ouyang sensed Zu Yuan’s arrival and traded barbed remarks with him, believing him to be the Gonggong Clan’s witch.
• Ouyang felt Zu Yuan’s clothes to confirm he was an ordinary man, while Zu Yuan recognized his Eldest Senior Brother beneath the gauze and mourned his condition.
• Zu Yuan’s grief and anger stirred his killing intent, but Ouyang’s touch and words brought him back to his senses.
• Ouyang joked that the Demon Realm had restored his clarity, while Zu Yuan silently endured the pain of being unable to identify himself.

Ouyang and Zu Yuan watched the Zhurong and Gonggong clans fight while discussing Zu Yuan’s uncertainty and agreeing to travel the Demon Realm together. Ouyang returned the Zhurong Clan’s fire demon pattern to Zu Yuan, then said he wanted to see what Zu Yuan looked like.

• Ouyang and Zu Yuan drank together atop the Zhurong Clan’s Demon God statue as the two clans repeatedly killed and revived on the battlefield below.
• Ouyang recalled that the Demon Realm’s twelve Demon Gods cultivated their bodies and urged Zu Yuan to travel until he understood what he should do.
• Zu Yuan invited Ouyang to travel the Demon Realm with him, and Ouyang agreed.
• Ouyang tapped Zu Yuan’s palm, returned the fire demon pattern to him, and restored his access to the Zhurong Clan’s fire laws.
• Ouyang told Zu Yuan that he really wanted to see what Zu Yuan looked like.

Ouyang traveled through the Demon Realm in a wheelchair pushed by Zu Yuan, while both concealed their identities and questioned each other without being candid. When they encountered a statue of Dijiang, strange space-folding phenomena produced attacking creatures, and Ouyang began lowering their cultivation realms.

• Ouyang and Zu Yuan left the Zhurong and Gonggong clans behind and traveled across the desolate Demon Realm, exchanging cautious questions and evasive answers.
• Zu Yuan described the Demon Realm’s scenery to Ouyang as they journeyed, while Ouyang wondered about his junior brother Chen Changsheng.
• Zu Yuan stopped before a huge statue of the Demon God Dijiang and sensed unnatural folds in the surrounding space.
• A black shadow burst from the folded space, and Zu Yuan attacked it with a saber formed from the Dao of Slaughter.
• Ouyang recognized the statue as Dijiang, spread his hands, and caused Zu Yuan’s cultivation realm to rapidly regress as more strange birds emerged from the distorted space.

Zu Yuan and Ouyang confronted the Di Jiang Clan, who revealed that they were the Devil Race’s historians and that the Zhuj iu Tribe had held that role before its Demon God died. Zu Yuan entered the Di Jiang Clan’s recorded history to seek recognition, while Ouyang wondered what participating in that history would reveal.

• Zu Yuan subdued the strange birds, and Ouyang proposed roasting some before a bird identified them as the Di Jiang Clan, one of the Devil Race’s Twelve Tribes.
• Zu Yuan questioned the Di Jiang Clan about their abilities, and a bird explained that they manipulated space and recorded the Devil Race’s history.
• Ouyang asked whether the Zhuj iu Tribe belonged to the Twelve Tribes, and the bird said it had once served as the historians until its Demon God died for the Father God.
• Ouyang reflected on the Zhuj iu Tribe’s death and grew tired, leaving Zu Yuan to handle the rest.
• Zu Yuan asked how to earn the Di Jiang Clan Demon God’s recognition, and a bird said he had to experience the Devil Race’s entire history.
• The Di Jiang Demon God’s statue sent a space-distorting tornado to carry Zu Yuan into the recorded history, and the bird said he would participate in it.

Zu Yuan witnessed the Devil Race’s account of the world’s creation and the struggle between the Dao and those who sought freedom. The vision ended with Zu Yuan wondering what burden he bore in resisting his own fate.

• Zu Yuan found himself in a world with nine suns and no true essence, then learned he was observing the Devil Race’s recorded history.
• Zu Yuan saw the Ancestral Phoenix, Ancestral Dragon, and Ancestral Qilin open heaven and earth and transform themselves into the world’s birds, sea races, and beasts.
• The Dao gave rise to xiantian deities and more than three hundred demon gods, whose conflict left only forty-nine Immortals remaining.
• The Twelve Demon Gods challenged the Dao and fell, leaving the Devil Race unable to cultivate and forcing them to rely on their bodies and bloodline abilities.
• As living beings resisted fate, the Heaven and Earth Chessboard emerged, and Li Taibai was born amid the conflicts.
• After the vision ended, Zu Yuan reflected on resisting fate and wondered what burden he carried.

Zhuyin, the Demon God who could observe the River of Time, confronted Zu Yuan about his hatred of the Devil Race and exposed that Zu Yuan had taken over Zu Yuan’s body. He revealed that he had brought Zu Yuan from the future into the past.

• Zhuyin appeared before Zu Yuan as a vast, snake-bodied Demon God phantom and introduced himself as the ruler of time, able to observe the River of Time.
• Zu Yuan challenged Zhuyin’s claims and demanded answers about the coming calamity, but Zhuyin said he could not answer his questions.
• Zhuyin sensed Zu Yuan’s hatred of the Devil Race, while Zu Yuan denied it and insisted he would lead the race to glory.
• Zhuyin told Zu Yuan that he had seized Zu Yuan’s body, leaving Zu Yuan shaken and furious.
• Zhuyin revealed that he had brought Zu Yuan from the future into the past.

Zhuyin revealed that a group had engineered Zu Yuan's rebirth, leaving Zu Yuan devastated and unsure whether even his death could escape their plans. Zhuyin then suggested that Zu Yuan himself might be the reason the Great Calamity began.

• Zu Yuan demanded to know who Zhuyin was, and Zhuyin admitted he had helped arrange Zu Yuan's rebirth with others on the Heaven and Earth Chessboard.
• Zu Yuan nearly attacked Zhuyin, but stopped when Zhuyin warned that his death might serve their plans and reminded him that Zhuyin was already dead.
• Zu Yuan sank into despair as he realized he did not know who controlled him or whether he could choose his own death.
• Zhuyin reflected that contemplating the River of Time had convinced him fate could not be changed, then moved closer to Zu Yuan.
• Zhuyin asked why Zu Yuan alone had been reborn and revealed that Zu Yuan might be the reason the Great Calamity began.