Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen arranged indirect support for the Yue Household and the Chang Household while keeping his own role concealed. Yue Xipo and the Person in the Wall planned to use the conflict to seize a map and launch an overwhelming attack on the Chang Household.

• Qing Chen sent Gao Yuliang to the Yue Household and Deng Ziyue to the Chang Household with separate messages, then explained their missions through divine sense.
• Gao Yuliang told Yue Xipo that Qing Chen would seek support from the Council of Elders and secretly target the Black Tiger Water Stronghold as indirect aid.
• Yue Xipo gave Gao Yuliang two Storage Bags and agreed to contact Qing Chen through the formation when the time came to act.
• After Gao Yuliang left, Yue Xipo asked the Person in the Wall whether Qing Chen's offer was reliable, and the Person in the Wall warned him not to trust Qing Chen completely.
• The Person in the Wall urged Yue Xipo to attack the Chang Household openly, recruit the Cao Household, and bring six Foundation Establishment cultivators and a large force to the battle.

Deng Ziyue negotiated with Chang Silang on Qing Chen’s behalf, accepting the Chang Household’s payment and promising fair treatment. He then revealed Qing Chen’s plan to stage a siege of the Black Tiger Water Stronghold while the Chang Household secretly moved its real forces back to Mysterious Constancy Island.

• Deng Ziyue told Chang Silang that Qing Chen considered the case suspicious and difficult to investigate, prompting Chang Silang to offer thirty-five Middle-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Deng Ziyue accepted the spirit stones and an additional gift of two hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones, assuring Chang Silang that Qing Chen would enforce the law impartially.
• Chang Silang asked Deng Ziyue to put in a good word with Qing Chen and explained that the Chang Household feared the Yue Household’s pressure.
• Deng Ziyue said Qing Chen planned to lead a force to besiege the Black Tiger Water Stronghold as a show, while the Chang Household moved its Foundation Establishment cultivators and elite water bandits back to Mysterious Constancy Island.
• Chang Silang praised Qing Chen’s stratagem for misleading the Yue Household about the Chang Household’s strength.

Qing Chen visited the Demon Lotus Sect to review the beggar children he had secretly recruited and trained as his future force. He rewarded three promising disciples and heard reports on others, ending as Lin Changsheng introduced Han Shi as a low-grade spiritual root disciple who stood out.

• Qing Chen arrived at the Demon Lotus Sect’s underground palace on the Azure Dragon Stronghold and asked Lin Changsheng about the new disciples’ progress.
• Lin Changsheng reported that Duan Tianya, Jueqing, and Heku had reached the fourth layer of Qi Refining after three years of cultivation and combat.
• Qing Chen promoted Duan Tianya, Jueqing, and Heku to Silver-Rank Demon Guards and awarded them higher stipends, Mid-Grade Magical Artifacts, and a chance to choose a high-tier yellow-grade Mystic Art.
• Lin Changsheng reported that Ren Carefree had reached the peak of the third layer of Qi Refining, though his slippery character needed tempering.
• Lin Changsheng said that Han Shi had made a strong impression among the disciples with low-grade spiritual roots.

Qing Chen prepared a brutal minor tournament for the Demon Lotus Sect disciples, with trials testing their will and combat ability. He inspired them with the promise of prizes and personal instruction before the tournament began.

• Lin Changsheng praised Han Shi's perseverance and courage, and Qing Chen told him to prepare spirit stones for the formations.
• Qing Chen's minor tournament used the Heart-Questioning Pass and the Blood Refinement Pass to test the disciples against illusions and dangerous opponents.
• Ren Carefree asked Heku, Jueqing, and Han Shi about competing, and Jueqing showed confidence in facing Duan Tianya.
• Qing Chen appeared before the disciples as King of Qin'guang, warned them that death in the trials would bring no rescue, and promised rewards to exceptional performers.
• Qing Chen departed, leaving the disciples restless and awed by their first sight of the King of Qin'guang.

Qing Chen returned to Hidden Spirit Island and received the spirit stones Su Zixuan had earned from selling his treasures, then encouraged her to prepare for Foundation Establishment. He recognized her growing talent in the Formation Dao while seeking stronger sources of qi and blood to sustain his own cultivation.

• Lin Changsheng sent fifty Demon Lotus Sect disciples to attempt the trials while Qing Chen left the Azure Dragon Stronghold and planned to reward the best performers with the second level of the Qi-Blood Inner Elixir Art.
• Qing Chen reflected that his second Brahma Aperture had sharply increased his need for qi and blood, making Foundation Establishment cultivators or second-tier demonic beasts more suitable targets.
• Qing Chen returned to Hidden Spirit Island and summoned Su Zixuan, who presented the spirit stones earned by selling treasures from his storage bags.
• Qing Chen estimated the proceeds at over twenty thousand spirit stones and praised Su Zixuan for managing the shop with Yue Lian.
• After learning that Su Zixuan had reached the Qi Refining ninth layer, Qing Chen told her to reserve ten thousand spirit stones for herself and begin preparing for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Qing Chen recognized Su Zixuan's advancement as a formation master and considered how Foundation Establishment could raise her skills to the low-grade second tier.

Qing Chen arranged a secret alliance with the Yue Household while preparing a public campaign against the Black Tiger Water Stronghold as cover for his plans. Far away, Lin Changsheng promoted six successful disciples to Silver-Rank Demon Guards, singling out Han Shi for his exceptional will.

• Qing Chen learned that the Yue Household had agreed to attack Mysterious Constancy Island alongside him, though it had offered only ten Middle-Grade Spirit Stones and disclosed no troop numbers.
• Qing Chen told Gao Yuliang to warn the Yue Household that the Inspector's Manor and Hidden Spirit Island Lord's Manor would attack the Black Tiger Water Stronghold in half a month.
• Deng Ziyue delivered thirty-five Middle-Grade Spirit Stones from the Chang Household, and Qing Chen ordered him to gather intelligence and keep the stronghold unsuspecting.
• Qing Chen sent Voice Transmission Talismans throughout the region, demanding that islands and cultivating lineages either send fighters or provide supplies for the campaign against the Black Tiger Water Stronghold.
• Lin Changsheng promoted Duan Tianya, Jueqing, He Ku, Ren Xiaoyao, Han Shi, and Wanwan to Silver-Rank Demon Guards and granted them the second-level Qi-Blood Inner Elixir Art.

After the Demon Lotus Sect prepared its disciples for battle, Qing Chen assembled a large allied force to attack the Black Tiger Water Stronghold. The Yue Household had already surrounded the stronghold, where both sides stood ready as Yue Chengfeng and Yue Feng worried about the bandits’ unusual calm.

• Lin Changsheng refined Demon Guard Life Tokens for the disciples and ordered them to prepare for the campaign against the Black Tiger Water Stronghold.
• Lin Changsheng divided fifty disciples into six teams and appointed the top performers as captains to drill battle formations.
• Qing Chen gathered sect disciples, lineage cultivators, Azure Dragon Stronghold bandits, warships, and flying boats for the assault.
• The Yue Household surrounded the Black Tiger Water Stronghold, while Yue Chengfeng and Yue Feng discussed why its defenders seemed untroubled.
• The Yue Household formed three battle formations as the water bandits prepared their defenses behind the Black Tiger Water Baleful Formation.

Qing Chen sent Gao Yuliang to raid nearby water bandits while he sailed to meet the Yue Household. The Yue leaders suddenly rushed home after learning that Pujin Daoist had broken through the Condensed Jade Sect's defenses and was heading toward their island.

• Qing Chen ordered Gao Yuliang to sweep nearby water bandit dens for resources and discreetly occupy suitable islands.
• Qing Chen arrived near the Black Tiger Water Stronghold, where Yue Chengfeng and Yue Feng greeted him before urgent messages made them hurry back to the Yue Household.
• Qing Chen watched the Yue Household's forces withdraw toward Mysterious Mountain Island instead of joining the planned attack on Mysterious Constancy Island.
• A Windcatching Hall disciple told Yue Xipo that Pujin Daoist had led Blackwood Island's Blackwood Treasure Ship through Sea Prosperity Island's defenses toward the Condensed Jade Sect's heartland.
• Yue Xipo and the Person in the Wall discussed how the Yue Household's Mysterious Mountain Island lay on Pujin Daoist's route, and Yue Xipo proposed letting the ship pass while the Yue ancestor was occupied elsewhere.

The Person in the Wall urged Yue Xipo to have the Yue Household make a desperate stand against Blackwood Island, hoping the Condensed Jade Sect would send reinforcements. At sea, Blackwood Island’s warship destroyed and swallowed two Red-Eyed Shark Demons, while Xu Wenshan realized his household had been reduced to expendable vanguard troops.

• The Person in the Wall told Yue Xipo that Blackwood Island’s attack was likely a probe and that the Yue Household should resist until the Condensed Jade Sect’s reinforcements arrived.
• Two Red-Eyed Shark Demons attacked Blackwood Island’s warship, and its cannons and offensive formation killed them.
• The Blackwood Treasure Ship used cables to drag the dead demons aboard and swallowed them.
• Xu Wenshan praised the warship’s power to Pujin Daoist, who explained how its materials made it exceptionally strong.
• Xu Wenshan reflected that the Xu Household had surrendered to Blackwood Island and was now being used as cannon fodder, and he lamented the humiliation.

Qing Chen received orders to join the defense of Chanda Island after Pujin Daoist’s Blackwood Treasure Ship broke through the Sect’s defenses. At Chanda, he met Xu Jiuling, who revealed that the enemy fleet carried the man responsible for the death of the woman he loved.

• Qing Chen read the Council of Elders’ decree ordering him to report to Chanda Island and serve under Elder Shangshan.
• Qing Chen sent Gao Yuliang and Lin Changsheng to continue suppressing bandits, then hurried to Chanda aboard the Mysterious Blood Warship.
• Qing Chen and his companions passed multiple strict inspections before landing at Chanda Island.
• Xu Jiuling told Qing Chen he had given up his position as Deputy Hall Master and become an ordinary Sect Protector.
• Xu Jiuling revealed that the head of the Xu Household, who was aboard the Blackwood Treasure Ship, had taken the woman he loved decades earlier, and she had later died by suicide.

Xu Jiuling asked Qing Chen to help him kill Xu Wenshan and the Xu Household during the Condensed Jade Sect’s coming decisive battle against Pujin Daoist. As the battle preparations neared completion, Qing Chen entered Elder Shangshan’s council hall and was attacked from above and behind.

• Xu Jiuling explained that he had been demoted after a defensive island fell and asked Qing Chen to help him destroy the Xu Household.
• Qing Chen agreed, and Xu Jiuling promised to recommend him for an audience with the Third Grand Supreme after the battle.
• Chanda Island prepared for Pujin Daoist’s arrival as Qing Chen learned that Blackwood Island had slaughtered the inhabitants of a nearby island, including hundreds of thousands of mortals.
• Xu Jiuling told Qing Chen that Elder Shangshan had summoned him, and Qing Chen entered the council hall.
• A powerful spiritual hand struck Qing Chen, who blocked it with his Dark Yin Sword Formation before a cold, resentful aura attacked from behind.

Qing Chen survived Elder Shangshan’s test and learned that his strength and obscurity made him suited to a secret sect assignment. Elder Shangshan explained why the sect needed Qing Chen personally, but had not yet revealed the assignment’s details.

• Qing Chen blocked Elder Shangshan’s Necromantic Sword Qi with Blood Baleful Intent Armor, though the attack forced him backward and cracked his defenses.
• Elder Shangshan appeared in the hall, praised Qing Chen’s abilities, and revealed that he had tested him with two mystic arts.
• Qing Chen recognized the power of Elder Shangshan’s techniques and learned the names and ranks of the One-Qi Dragon-Locking Grasping Hand and Innate Form-Breaking Invisible Sword Qi.
• Elder Shangshan praised Qing Chen’s spiritual sense, sword formation, baleful armor, and evasion technique, and Qing Chen confirmed he had mastered the Nine-Bend Cloud-Brushing realm.
• Elder Shangshan asked Qing Chen to undertake an urgent assignment, but Qing Chen suggested sending experienced senior cultivators instead.
• Elder Shangshan explained that Qing Chen’s obscurity made him a better choice than the island’s stronger, well-known veterans.

Elder Shangshan ordered Qing Chen to infiltrate Blackwood Island alone, destroy the Xu Household on Yin Tiger Island, and sow chaos in the region. After receiving powerful talismans, a formation plate, and promises of pills and rewards, Qing Chen accepted the mission.

• Elder Shangshan told Qing Chen that the Council of Elders had chosen him for a secret mission in Blackwood Island's heartland.
• Elder Shangshan ordered Qing Chen to exterminate the Xu Household on Yin Tiger Island and create chaos among Blackwood Island's forces.
• Qing Chen warned that the Xu Household's cultivators, island-protecting formation, and Blackwood's Golden Core True Persons made the mission dangerous.
• Elder Shangshan gave Qing Chen Formation-Breaking Talismans, the Three-Life Bewildering Trail Formation, and four Spirit Talismans to support the mission.
• Elder Shangshan promised Qing Chen a Spirit-Raising Mystic Advancement Pill, Contribution Points, and the spoils of his mission, and Qing Chen agreed to go after the Xu Household.

Qing Chen traveled to Yin Tiger Island on a mission to target the Xu Household and secretly prepared formations to prevent anyone from escaping. After reaching the island, he headed toward Yin Tiger City to set up a second barrier and tighten his trap.

• Elder Shangshan reassured Qing Chen that Blackwood Island's strongest cultivators were occupied and assigned him a mission on Yin Tiger Island.
• Qing Chen reflected on Elder Shangshan's power, judged the island's defenses manageable, and secretly left Chanda Island.
• After more than a month of travel, Qing Chen reached Yin Tiger Island and set up the Three-Life Bewildering Trail Formation around it.
• Qing Chen concealed his aura and asked a farming couple for directions to Yin Tiger City, then flew away as the farmers and Xiao Fei watched in awe.
• Qing Chen planned to use Su Zixuan's Small Five-Element Inverted Trapping Formation to seal Yin Tiger City and keep the Xu Household from escaping.

Qing Chen entered Yin Tiger City amid celebrations for Xu Baichuan’s wedding and prepared to infiltrate the Xu Household while seeking the island’s formation hub. He disguised himself with the Thousand Transformations mask and his aura-concealing art, leaving his true identity difficult to detect.

• Qing Chen learned that Xu Baichuan was marrying the daughter of Si Snake Island’s Island Lord, and he recalled their past enmity.
• Qing Chen assessed the Xu Household’s Heavenly Cicada Listening to Rain Formation and planned to find its central hub so he could destroy it.
• Qing Chen recalled how he had dealt with Qin Zigu and Mo Qiuxian, and how Pan Yuelian had become his maidservant.
• Qing Chen put on the Thousand Transformations mask, changed his appearance, and disguised his cultivation as the sixth layer of Qi Refining.
• Qing Chen combined the mask with the Demon Seed Golden Lotus’s aura-concealing mystic art to better hide his identity, even during combat.

Qing Chen subdued a lovesick cultivator, took his invitation and command token, and disguised himself as Xu An to enter the Xu Household’s wedding celebration. He reached the inner city and headed toward the Xu residence, eyeing Xu Baichuan’s wedding display with cold amusement.

• Qing Chen considered learning a soul-searching technique as a way to obtain intelligence.
• Qing Chen used the White Bone Demon Mara Banner to seize control of a seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator and took his command token, invitation, and other items.
• Qing Chen used the Thousand Transformations spirit artifact to impersonate Xu An and persuaded the inner-city gatekeeper to let him enter ahead of the queue.
• Qing Chen walked through the lavishly decorated inner city toward the wedding platform, where a Recording Stone displayed Xu Baichuan.
• Qing Chen sneered at the mention of Yin Tiger Peak and its romantic display as he continued toward the Xu residence.

Qing Chen entered the Xu Household estate and used the Soul-Seizing Divine Ability to interrogate and kill a pale Xu descendant, learning that his father, Xu Mingyuan, was guarding the Island-Protecting Grand Array in the Formation Hall. Qing Chen slaughtered his way into the hall, where Xu Mingyuan confronted him and accused him of rebelling against the Xu Household.

• Qing Chen ignored a pale Xu descendant’s insults until the man mentioned formations, then used the Soul-Seizing Divine Ability to control him.
• Qing Chen questioned the man in an abandoned courtyard and learned that his father, Xu Mingyuan, was in the Formation Hall guarding the Island-Protecting Grand Array.
• Qing Chen refined the pale man into the White Bone Demon Mara Banner and headed for the Formation Hall.
• Qing Chen burned the Xu Household disciples who tried to stop or alert others, then advanced into the inner hall.
• Xu Mingyuan confronted Qing Chen and demanded to know whether he was rebelling against the Xu Household.

Qing Chen infiltrated the Xu Household’s wedding feast after learning how to disable the Heavenly Cicada Listening to Rain Formation, then confronted Xu Jincheng as the ceremony began. He overturned a table and demanded that the wedding be called off.

• Qing Chen used the White Bone Demon Mara Banner to subdue Xu Mingyuan, learned that both formation cores had to be destroyed simultaneously, and killed the Formation Masters in the Inner Hall.
• Qing Chen ordered Mo Qiuxian’s living corpse to destroy one control core after an hour, then left for the wedding feast while the Xu Household celebrated.
• Qing Chen entered the Reception Hall and waited for Xu Jincheng, the holder of the other formation core’s Command Token, to arrive.
• Xu Jincheng entered, followed by Xu Baichuan and Lin Miaoyu, whose gaze met Qing Chen’s and stirred buried memories.
• Xu Buyan, Xu Baichuan, and Xu Jincheng challenged Qing Chen, and Qing Chen overturned a table and demanded that the wedding be called off.

Qing Chen killed Xu Jincheng, destroyed two control cores of the Xu Household’s Heavenly Cicada Listening to Rain Formation, and caused the island-protecting array to collapse. As the Xu Household mobilized against him, he sealed Yin Tiger Island and Yin Tiger City inside two new formations.

• Qing Chen evaded Xu Buyan, seized Xu Jincheng’s Storage Bag, and killed him with Demon Fire.
• Qing Chen’s Living Corpse destroyed a control core of the Heavenly Cicada Listening to Rain Formation, and Qing Chen crushed the Command Token for another core.
• The Heavenly Cicada Listening to Rain Formation went out of control and collapsed, leaving Yin Tiger Island exposed.
• Xu Baichuan secretly rejoiced at Xu Jincheng’s death, then urged the Xu Household to capture Qing Chen while Xu Buyan rang the Bronze Bell and called the clansmen to the banquet hall.
• Qing Chen activated the Three-Life Bewildering Trail Formation around Yin Tiger Island and sealed Yin Tiger City inside the Small Five-Element Inverted Trapping Formation.

Qing Chen overwhelmed Xu Buyan and Lin Bancheng with his formations, blood baleful intent, and demon fire before unleashing Dark Yin Sword Rain. Lin Bancheng fell wounded, and a woman in red rushed in to beg Xu An to spare her eldest uncle.

• Qing Chen trapped the cultivators and force martial artists with his demon soldiers and grudge ghosts, then attacked Xu Buyan and Lin Bancheng with the Three Yin Sword Formation, blood baleful arrows, and demon fire.
• Xu Buyan and Lin Bancheng used their defensive techniques and spirit artifacts to resist Qing Chen's assault.
• Qing Chen transformed the Three Yin Sword Formation into Dark Yin Sword Rain and shattered Lin Bancheng's Thunderfire Shield and defensive dharma artifact.
• Sword shadows struck Lin Bancheng, who screamed and fell to the ground.
• A woman in red rushed in and begged Xu An to spare her eldest uncle.