Chapter Summaries

Li Rui received the Five Thunder Divine Shield from He Qiannian, then set out for East Sea City with Tan Hu and Ge Hong. A Corpse Demon named Zhuo Sha ambushed them, but Li Rui defeated him and emerged unharmed after Zhuo Sha self-destructed.

• Li Rui entered Divine Firmament City with Tan Hu and Ge Hong, using his elder token to bypass the line and visit He Qiannian.
• He Qiannian gave Li Rui the Five Thunder Divine Shield on Gao Tianxia's behalf, and Li Rui offered his master a storage bag of spirit pills and spirit stones.
• Li Rui left for East Sea City with Tan Hu and Ge Hong, but Zhuo Sha, a Corpse Demon from Ten Thousand Demons Cave, ambushed their Flying Boat.
• Li Rui sent Tan Hu and Ge Hong away from the battle, then trapped Zhuo Sha in a fist-intent cage and battered him with his punches.
• Zhuo Sha self-destructed, but Li Rui emerged from the black mist completely unharmed.

Li Rui survived the Corpse Demon’s self-destruction, became famous in Divine Firmament City for pursuing Proving Dao Through Strength, and suspected the National Preceptor had survived as a Corpse Dissolution Immortal. He then learned how to undergo Dao Body Tribulation within his body and resolved to attempt it.

• Chong Hua identified Li Rui’s path as Proving Dao Through Strength, and news of Li Rui’s unusual cultivation spread through Divine Firmament City.
• Li Rui received 20 Achievement Points after completing the Fame Across the Immortal City quest and suspected the National Preceptor was alive after sensing immortal qi from the Corpse Demon.
• Yuan Xuanming revealed that he had survived as a Corpse Dissolution Immortal and planned to seek revenge after reaching the Celestial Realm or higher.
• Li Rui asked Weapon Spirit Old Man how to undergo tribulation transcendence within his body, and Weapon Spirit Old Man gave him an ancient expert’s handwritten record.
• After studying the record, Li Rui decided to prepare to undergo Dao Body Tribulation within his body, believing his Immortal Court and Innate Immortal Martial Dao Embryo gave him a strong chance of success.

Divine Firmament City’s leaders learned that the higher sects had ordered the Sixty-Year Purge of Demons, and Li Rui was assigned to join the campaign. He led cultivators from East Sea City to Fire Phoenix City, where familiar allies greeted him.

• The Lord of Divine Firmament City announced that the Shenxuan Sect, White Jade Capital, and Xuanyin Temple would launch the Sixty-Year Purge of Demons, and Chong Hua welcomed the decision.
• Ning Zhongtian told Li Rui that the Yu Kingdom would send troops to support the campaign, and Li Rui accepted that he would have to take part.
• Li Rui received deployment orders from Divine Firmament City and the Yu Kingdom’s Imperial Court to lead troops to the battlefield near the Golden Court Grotto-heaven.
• Li Rui led three hundred cultivators from East Sea City aboard a Flying Boat to Taihua Province and arrived at Fire Phoenix City.
• Meng Chong, Nie Siming, Yuan Xiong, and Yuan Dingting welcomed Li Rui beneath the city gates, and Yuan Dingting greeted him as Marquis Li.

Li Rui reunited with Yuan Dingting in Taihua Province, where Liao Qi joined them for a rare gathering of the Yu Kingdom’s three powerful marquises. As the Sixty-Year Purge of Demons spread across the province, the story left the war raging on both sides, with a month already passed.

• Li Rui met Yuan Dingting at the Yu Kingdom’s camp and joined him for a feast, where he praised Yuan An’s progress.
• Liao Qi returned from a distant battlefield and joined Li Rui and Yuan Dingting, bringing the three marquises together for the first time in centuries.
• Liao Qi congratulated Li Rui on his achievements and urged Yuan Dingting to prove that military-path cultivators could reach the Celestial Realm.
• After Liao Qi departed, Li Rui reflected on the rising number of cultivators entering the Celestial Realm and the opportunity the war offered Yuan Dingting and the Great Shaman.
• The Sixty-Year Purge of Demons spread across Taihua Province, prompting attacks between Righteous Path and Demonic Cultivators while leaving mortals largely untouched.
• A month passed as the war continued across the province.

Li Rui learned that Yellow Dragon Child had returned to the war and was fighting on the demonic side, then Yellow Dragon Child told True Monarch Jiuji that Li Rui and Yuan Dingting were connected to He Jiuxuan’s death. True Monarch Jiuji focused on settling the karmic debt against He Jiuxuan’s killer.

• Li Rui’s group gained recognition in Fire Phoenix City after destroying a Blood Demon Sect branch, and Li Rui gave wounded cultivators healing pills after hearing their account of a Celestial Realm battle.
• Li Rui identified the old Confucian scholar in their account as Yellow Dragon Child and decided to avoid further battles while he recuperated.
• Yellow Dragon Child arrived at Thousand-Ren Mountain, where the demonic forces had gathered, and reunited with his former fellow disciple True Monarch Jiuji.
• True Monarch Jiuji began asking about Gao Tianxia, but Yellow Dragon Child told him that Li Rui was in Fire Phoenix City and that Yuan Dingting had killed He Jiuxuan.
• True Monarch Jiuji’s gaze turned cold upon learning that He Jiuxuan’s killer had been identified.

Li Rui cultivated while the Sixty-Year Purge of Demons continued, and an assassination list revealed that he and Yuan Dingting had drawn the enemy’s attention. Two disciples of True Monarch Jiuji arrived near Fire Phoenix City to kill Li Rui, while their master planned to deal with Yuan Dingting.

• Li Rui considered how his Violet Palace Realm could reach the size needed for Tribulation Transcendence within the body and estimated that he could reach one hundred and twenty zhang in three to five years.
• Fire Phoenix Fairy sought advice on how to respond to Demonic Cultivator assassinations, and Yuan Dingting recommended an aggressive campaign that left the enemy no time to strike.
• Li Rui learned that an enemy assassination list ranked him eighth in Fire Phoenix City, above a Dao Body Realm True Person, while Yuan Dingting also appeared prominently on the list.
• Two disciples of True Monarch Jiuji reached the forest outside Fire Phoenix City and prepared to kill Li Rui, while True Monarch Jiuji intended to confront Yuan Dingting himself.

Fire Phoenix City’s cultivators launched a direct assault on the Demonic Cultivators at Thousand-Ren Mountain, where Yuan Dingting displayed overwhelming battlefield strength. When True Monarch Jiuji appeared to kill him, Gao Tianxia intervened and knocked away the Celestial Realm cultivator’s Natal Magic Treasure with one punch.

• Fire Phoenix Fairy led more than a thousand cultivators from Fire Phoenix City to attack the Demonic Cultivators’ lair at Thousand-Ren Mountain.
• Yuan Dingting charged through the Demonic Cultivators’ ranks, defeating opponents and shattering a Dao Body Realm cultivator’s Natal Magic Tool with one spear.
• Fire Phoenix Fairy noticed Yuan Dingting’s battlefield domain and realized it greatly increased his combat power.
• True Monarch Jiuji confronted Yuan Dingting, accused him of killing his disciple, and demanded his life.
• Gao Tianxia appeared at Yuan Dingting’s side, took over the fight, and punched True Monarch Jiuji’s hundred-zhang Fly Whisk dozens of li away.

Li Rui ambushed and killed two Purple Palace Realm assassins who had infiltrated Fire Phoenix City with the Primordial Chaos Ruler, then consumed their Spirit Embryos. The chapter ended with news that Gao Tianxia had defeated True Monarch Jiuji, whose head was displayed on the city walls.

• Youngster and a middle-aged male cultivator used talismans to enter Fire Phoenix City and prepared to attack Li Rui with the Primordial Chaos Ruler.
• Li Rui appeared behind the assassins, killed them with a glance, and took the Primordial Chaos Ruler.
• Li Rui trapped the assassins’ Spirit Embryos with Spirit Binding Ropes and consumed them.
• Li Rui told Ning Zhongtian to send the two corpses to the City Lord’s Mansion.
• Ning Zhongtian saw True Monarch Jiuji’s head among those displayed on Fire Phoenix City’s walls after Gao Tianxia defeated him and ruined his divine embryo.

Li Rui accepted rewards for killing two disciples of True Monarch Jiuji and learned that Fire Phoenix Fairy hoped to marry his grandmaster, Gao Tianxia. Meanwhile, Yellow Dragon Child ground True Monarch Jiuji's soul to death, revealing that he had killed and eaten their master.

• Li Rui used his knowledge of prominent cultivators to recognize the two men he killed as disciples of True Monarch Jiuji, then claimed their Spirit Embryos and a Jade Talisman worth seven Top Grade Spirit Stones.
• Li Rui refined the Spirit Embryos and expanded his Violet Palace Realm to one hundred and ten zhang.
• Fire Phoenix Fairy offered Li Rui a Dao Transformation Pill and asked whether his grandmaster, Gao Tianxia, had a wife.
• Li Rui accepted the pill and told Fire Phoenix Fairy that Gao Tianxia had never married, understanding that she hoped to become his Dao companion.
• Yellow Dragon Child ground True Monarch Jiuji's soul with a medicinal pestle and admitted that he had eaten their master long ago.

After completing every requirement in the ancient notes, Li Rui prepared to undergo Tribulation Transcendence within his body as the Righteous-Demonic War threatened to grow more dangerous. He activated his Five Thunder Divine Shield, and tribulation fortune gathered above his Immortal Court, though nothing changed in the heavens.

• Weapon Spirit Old Man marveled that Li Rui had fulfilled all the ancient notes’ requirements and warned him that body-internal Tribulation Transcendence was perilous.
• Li Rui asked Yuan Dingting for news of Yellow Dragon Child, and Yuan reported that the schemer had vanished since the battle at Thousand-Ren Mountain.
• Yuan Dingting told Li Rui that Dao Lords from White Jade Capital and Myriad Laws Palace had fought, warning that the Sixty-Year Purge of Demons might become longer and more dangerous.
• Li Rui returned to his room and spent seven days laying grand arrays and thousands of talismans, then prepared his energy and took spirit pills to stabilize his Dao foundation.
• Li Rui activated the Five Thunder Divine Shield and began Tribulation Transcendence as purple-gold lightning gathered above his Immortal Court.

Li Rui underwent the Dao Body Tribulation, endured its initial lightning, and discovered that he faced the dangerous Twelve Divine Capital Jade Void Tribulation. He battled the immortal soldiers within his Purple Palace and charged toward the twelve immortal cities.

• Li Rui endured an hour of lightning without harm as his Dao Embryo was tempered.
• The Nine Thunder Tribulation ended, and an immortal city appeared, revealing the Divine Capital Tribulation.
• Eleven more immortal cities emerged, forming the Twelve Divine Capital Jade Void Tribulation and summoning more than a hundred immortal soldiers.
• Li Rui opened his Immortal Domain, broke through the soldiers' ranged attacks, and shattered them with his fists.
• Li Rui's combat strength rose beyond that of an ordinary Dao Body Realm cultivator, and he charged toward the Twelve Divine Capitals.

Li Rui survived the Twelve Divine Capital Jade Void Tribulation and became an Earth Immortal, entering the Dao Body Realm by Proving Dao Through Strength. After emerging from seclusion, he found Ning Zhongtian and the others studying Yuan An’s map of the southeastern battlefield.

• Li Rui dispelled the external evil that had tried to mislead him during his tribulation and confirmed his Dao Heart remained firm.
• Li Rui examined his strengthened body, twenty-zhang Immortal Domain, and thirty-zhang Dao foundation, which placed him at the early stage of the Dao Body Realm.
• Li Rui considered the Dao Body Realm’s stages and realized his strength gave him a chance to survive encounters with Yellow Dragon Child or the National Preceptor.
• Li Rui emerged after a day and night to find Ning Zhongtian and the others discussing Yuan An’s map of the southeastern battlefield.
• Li Rui praised Yuan An’s strategic insight and reflected that his bond with Yuan An would help secure the Annan Marquis Residence’s future.

Li Rui and the cultivators of Fire Phoenix City arrived at the Black Wind Island battlefield under the command of Bai Renfeng, where Fire Phoenix Fairy was killed by a Blood Demon Sect Demon Son. Bai Renfeng pushed the Fire Phoenix City cultivators to join a revenge mission, and Li Rui agreed they had little choice; Yuan Dingting ended by asking whether Yu Kingdom was now founding a nation.

• Li Rui sent Yuan An away before Fire Phoenix City received orders to reinforce the Black Wind Island battlefield.
• Bai Renfeng arrived as the new commander and led over a thousand Fire Phoenix City cultivators to an island near Black Wind Island.
• Li Rui and the other cultivators endured several battles, then Nie Siming reported that Fire Phoenix Fairy had been killed by a Blood Demon Sect Demon Son.
• Bai Renfeng declared that the cultivators of Fire Phoenix City should avenge Fire Phoenix Fairy and promised to lead the mission to capture the Demon Son.
• Li Rui told Yuan Dingting that they had to comply with Bai Renfeng to protect Yu Kingdom's standing, and Yuan Dingting asked whether they were founding a nation.

Bai Renfeng led an attack on Black Wind Island and secretly used Seven Demonic Dissolutions to destroy the Blood Demon Sect’s Demon Son. After killing him, Bai Renfeng left, unconcerned about the cultivators who had fought in the assault.

• Bai Renfeng and an eight-hundred-man force reached Black Wind Island, killed its patrols, and headed for Turtle Back Mountain after learning the Demon Son was in closed-door cultivation.
• The Righteous Alliance Army attacked as battles broke out across the island, while Li Rui stayed back to observe the fighting and defend himself from nearby Demonic Cultivators.
• Bai Renfeng entered the Demon Son’s cave and revealed that his secret art had caused the Demon Son’s Dao to dissipate, aided by a Shenxuan Sect woman who had served as the Demon Son’s maid for sixty years.
• The Demon Son recognized that Bai Renfeng had sacrificed the maid to set up the attack, then dispersed his cultivation while preparing to recover using his own backup plans.
• Bai Renfeng reflected that he had exposed Fire Phoenix Fairy’s location to the Demon Son and used her death to provoke the battle, then watched the Demon Son turn to dry bones and vanished.

After Bai Renfeng’s scheme left the Fire Phoenix City cultivators trapped in a deadly battle on Black Wind Island, Li Rui led survivors toward safety until Yuan Dingting confronted a Dao Body Realm enemy. The survivors escaped, and though Bai Renfeng received the foremost credit, Li Rui and Yuan Dingting were rewarded for their battlefield exploits.

• After the Blood Demon Sect’s Demon Son died, its cultivators fought desperately, and Li Rui realized Bai Renfeng had used the Fire Phoenix City cultivators as cannon fodder.
• Li Rui rallied nearly fifty cultivators and fought through the Demonic Cultivators blocking their escape route.
• A Dao Body Realm Demonic Cultivator struck Li Rui, but Yuan Dingting arrived and told Li Rui to lead the survivors to safety while he held off the enemy.
• Li Rui led more than one hundred surviving cultivators to the Righteous Alliance Army, where he spotted Nie Siming and Yuan Xiong but not Bai Renfeng.
• After the battle, the alliance returned to Black Wind Island; Bai Renfeng received the foremost merit, while Li Rui and Yuan Dingting earned rewards from the Elder Council.

Li Rui returned to East Sea City under the pretext of recuperating after the battlefield, then received an Elder Council reward that gave him access to discounted treasures. After five years of following the worsening war from afar, he received word that Godfather had broken through.

• Li Rui left the island for East Sea City, while Nie Siming and Yuan Xiong chose to remain on the battlefield.
• Tan Hu, Ge Hong, and the others welcomed Li Rui back to Marquis Wu'an Manor, where he pretended his wounds were serious and learned that the city was peaceful.
• Shi Xueyan delivered Li Rui a Precious Splendor Pavilion Jade Talisman that granted a thirty percent discount and access to Dao Body Realm Magic Treasures.
• Shi Xueyan departed, and Li Rui planned to visit Taihua Province once he had prepared enough spirit stones.
• Li Rui recuperated in East Sea City for five years as the Sixty-Year Purge of Demons intensified and Nie Siming sent him regular battlefield news.
• Nie Siming sent Li Rui a brief transmission saying that Godfather had broken through.

After Yuan Dingting became Yu Kingdom’s first Celestial Realm cultivator, Li Rui traveled with Tan Yu to Precious Splendor Pavilion in Taihua Province to use his Jade Talisman. There, Li Rui recognized the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda slated for auction as the Dao Lord Magic Tool, the Immortal Slaughtering Pagoda.

• The Holy Emperor celebrated Yuan Dingting’s breakthrough by declaring three days of nationwide festivities and naming him Prince Qi, while Bai Renfeng worried that Yuan might seek revenge for the losses at Black Wind Island.
• The righteous and demonic war abruptly ended after deliberations among several Dao Lords, and Tan Yu praised Yu Kingdom’s role before agreeing to guide Li Rui to Taihua Province.
• Tan Yu and Li Rui entered the vast immortal market surrounding Precious Splendor Pavilion, where Li Rui marveled at the shops and the Dao Stones decorating the pavilion’s walls.
• Fairy Zisu welcomed Li Rui and showed him the pavilion’s offerings, including the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda scheduled for auction in seven days.
• Li Rui insisted on seeing the pagoda despite Fairy Zisu’s doubts about his ability to afford it, then recognized it as the Immortal Slaughtering Pagoda, a Dao Lord Magic Tool.

Li Rui attended Precious Splendor Pavilion’s auction and discovered that the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda was one of the Immortal Slaughtering Small Pagodas. Bai Renfeng won it with a Celestial Realm flying magic tool, and Li Rui recognized him and decided to take the pagoda from him.

• Li Rui entered the auction in disguise after Fairy Zisu gave him a mask and robe that concealed his identity.
• A Precious Splendor Pavilion elder revealed the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda and explained that it could help its owner survive the Heavenly Tribulation of Celestial Ascension.
• Bidders offered increasing sums of Top Grade Spirit Stones, but Li Rui realized he could not afford the pagoda.
• The cultivator beside Li Rui offered a Celestial Realm flying magic tool, and no one else raised the bid.
• Li Rui saw through the disguise and recognized the buyer as Bai Renfeng, then resolved to rob him of the pagoda.

Li Rui disguised himself as Old Demon of Tiannan and killed Bai Renfeng’s avatar, taking the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda fragment. After completing the Demonic Conduct achievement, Li Rui received an Immortal Slaughtering Array Diagram.

• Bai Renfeng obtained the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda through Precious Splendor Pavilion and was attacked in the forest by Li Rui disguised as Old Demon of Tiannan.
• Li Rui killed Bai Renfeng’s avatar in one strike and took the storage bag containing the pagoda.
• Bai Renfeng realized his avatar and treasure were lost, suspected a Blood Demon Sect trap, and sent a junior brother to retrieve the Magic Treasure from Precious Splendor Pavilion.
• Li Rui fused the recovered fragment into the Immortal Slaughtering Pagoda and reflected that it gave him another way to fight Dao Body Realm cultivators.
• Li Rui completed the Demonic Conduct achievement, earned 30 Achievement Points, and received the Immortal Slaughtering Array Diagram.

Li Rui obtained the complete Immortal Slaughtering Array Diagram and bought a Dao Body Realm Flying Boat at Precious Splendor Pavilion, gaining new combat and travel options. Bai Renfeng abandoned his attempt to reclaim the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda and planned to cultivate until reaching the Celestial Realm.

• Li Rui discovered that the system had given him the complete Immortal Slaughtering Array Diagram and resolved to refine his twin pagodas to strengthen his combat abilities.
• Li Rui told Tan Yu that someone had bid a Celestial Realm artifact for the Nine-Star Glazed Pagoda, then considered Tan Yu’s suggestion to buy a flying artifact.
• Bai Renfeng learned that his junior disciple had found nothing, concluded the Blood Demon Sect was still waiting, and chose to cultivate until he reached the Celestial Realm before seeking revenge.
• Fairy Zisu offered to help Li Rui with future purchases, and Li Rui bought a Dao Body Realm Flying Boat at Precious Splendor Pavilion.
• Li Rui took Tan Yu aboard the Flying Boat, and Tan Yu envied his wealth and wondered whether to become an official in the Yu Kingdom.