Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen used his divine sense to confirm Qing Jie’s loyalty and learned more about the Eighteen Strongholds and their Great Cave Lord. He refused to let Qing Jie abandon his post, instead promising to help him rise within Southern Yue before asking him to demonstrate his abilities.

• Qing Chen worried about Zhao Ningyi’s immense and possibly growing power, then used his Demon Seed Divine Sense to probe Qing Jie’s thoughts.
• Qing Jie revealed that many members of the Eighteen Strongholds were Southern Yue informants and spies, and disclosed Great Cave Lord Firepit’s origins and connections.
• Qing Jie offered to kill the Great Cave Lord and bring his people and resources to Qing Chen, but Qing Chen told him to stay and earn merit by rising through the strongholds.
• Qing Chen explained that Qing Jie’s actions could eliminate political enemies and help him gain power, even if they harmed Great Jin and Qiongzhou.
• Qing Chen asked Qing Jie to attack him, and Qing Jie unleashed his middle Golden Core stage power and the Three Baleful Spirits Soul-Devouring Curse.

Qing Chen tested Qing Jie’s techniques, pointed out their flaws, and equipped him with powerful treasures, pills, and cultivation manuals. He sent Qing Jie to establish himself among the Eighteen Caves and await further instructions, leaving him newly confident in his chance to advance toward Nascent Soul.

• Qing Chen used the Pojun Battle Halberd to defeat Qing Jie’s ghost heads and Blue Poison Saber, then criticized the weaknesses in his techniques.
• Qing Chen gave Qing Jie the Nether Baleful Intent saber, Golden Cicada Silk Soft Armor, pills, and two Heaven Grade cultivation techniques.
• Qing Chen gave Qing Jie a Blood Pupil Talisman capable of manifesting a Nascent Soul-powered attack, and Qing Jie kowtowed in gratitude.
• Qing Chen told Qing Jie to establish himself among the Eighteen Caves, gave him a Communication Talisman and formation plate, and said someone would contact him about the next steps.
• Qing Jie accepted the assignment with renewed confidence, believing the gifts gave him a chance to pursue the Nascent Soul Great Dao.

Qing Chen’s marriage alliance with the Iron Household remained in progress while Tie Qingyao learned more about him at the imperial capital. After hearing of his military achievements and strength, she decided she should meet him.

• Qing Chen had arranged a marriage alliance with the Iron Household, though the formal betrothal rites would take several years.
• In Divine Capital Prefecture, Luan-yang Princess questioned Tie Qingyao’s proposed marriage to Qing Chen because of his humble origins.
• Tie Qingyao defended Qing Chen’s military merits and accepted that her family had reasons for the match.
• A eunuch reported that Qing Chen cultivated both body and magic, wielded two powers of laws, and commanded nearly two hundred and fifty thousand troops.
• Tie Qingyao heard the report and decided she should go and see Qing Chen.

Qing Chen learned that Southern Yue’s forces and the Qiongzhou Merchant Alliance were pressuring his territories from outside and within. He ordered relief distributions, military deployments, and investigations into the merchants, while reinforcing defenses to hold the situation until he could respond more decisively.

• Su Zixuan reported that Wu Gui’s forces threatened the border, Southern Yue’s Gu Masters were infiltrating nearby prefectures, and the Qian and Nangong Households were causing shortages, halting production, spreading rumors, and framing the Qiongzhou Army.
• Qing Chen ordered Xu Jiuling and Li Xiao'er to distribute treasury grain and pills at reduced prices, sent troops in civilian clothes to disrupt hoarding, and directed patrols to kill infiltrators posing as bandits.
• Qing Chen ordered Duan Tianya, Jueqing, and Han Shi to expose the Qian and Nangong Households’ crimes through public stories and reports to the authorities.
• Qing Chen sent the Guanyin Tower Master with her personal troops and fifty thousand Prefectural Army soldiers to reinforce several counties in Qiong Prefecture.
• Qing Chen judged that the added defenses in Qiong Prefecture and Anman Prefecture could deter attacks, but would only maintain the situation temporarily.

Duan Tianya, Jueqing, Han Shi, and Qing Chen’s body cultivators engineered a massive cave-in at the Qian Household’s Golden Sun Mine and planted evidence blaming the household. Chan Master Xuanshan then arrived with the Qiongzhou Army to seize control, leaving the Qian Household elders facing the Azure Abyss Marquis’s forces.

• Duan Tianya ordered Lie Feng and the body cultivators to destroy the mine’s main supports and trigger a collapse.
• Lie Feng’s men demolished critical supports, causing a cave-in that killed miners and Qian Household overseers.
• Duan Tianya’s agents blamed the Qian Household for illegal mining, while Han Shi planted a forged jade slip implicating Qian Third Master.
• Chan Master Xuanshan arrived with the Qiongzhou Army and announced that they would take control of the mine and kill anyone who resisted.
• The Qian Household elders recognized that the Azure Abyss Marquis’s forces had arrived with suspiciously perfect timing.

Qing Chen used a staged mining disaster at the Qian Household's Golden Radiance Mine to seize the mine, expose the household's abuses, and win public support. He left the Qian Household facing full responsibility as his reputation across Qiongzhou rose.

• Chan Master Xuanshan accused the Qian Household of endangering miners and seized control of the Golden Radiance Mine in the name of rescue.
• Undercover agents posed as rescued miners, accused the Qian Household of abuse, and presented a command jade slip as evidence.
• News of the disaster spread across the prefectures, turning public opinion against the Qian Household and costing it control of the mine.
• Qing Chen addressed the crowd, promised spirit-stone compensation to victims' families and treatment for the injured, and ordered the Qiongzhou Army to take over the mine.
• Qing Chen declared that the Qian Household would bear the losses and face punishment for treason if it resisted, while recordings of his actions spread across Qiongzhou.

Qing Chen secured support across Qiongzhou, then ordered raids on hostile lineages’ shipments while entering seclusion to advance the Brahma Demon-Refining Art. Qian Baoshan appealed to the imperial capital and plotted to undermine Qing Chen as his cultivation pushed toward the Brahma Blood Sea Demon Foundation.

• Qian Baoshan stopped an elder from accusing Qing Chen without evidence and decided to report Qing Chen’s actions to the household’s ancestor in the imperial capital.
• Qian Baoshan ordered the Qian Household to double compensation for bereaved families, treat the injured, and blame and publicly execute the mine overseers.
• Qing Chen instructed Qing Jie to raid cargo shipments belonging to outspoken Qiongzhou Chamber of Commerce lineages, using the Eighteen Strongholds of Southern Yue as a cover.
• Qing Chen mobilized powerful cultivators and a thousand body cultivators to support the raids, then entered seclusion in the Blood River Grotto.
• Qing Chen used the Five Demon Banners to channel vast quantities of refined qi and blood into his Three Great Brahma Apertures, strengthening the blood path rules as he endured the strain.

Qing Chen refined vast amounts of qi and blood with his demon banners, accelerated his cultivation, and gained an initial insight into the fourth devil aspect, the Lawless Devil Aspect. He left the Blood River Grotto still unable to fully master it, believing he needed to condense Blood Path Rules or unlock the Bodhi Spirit Body’s second layer.

• Qing Chen used the Di Jiang Demon Banner and Pojun Demon Banner to purify qi and blood and extract rule power, rapidly advancing his Nascent Soul cultivation.
• Qing Chen resolved to open a Fourth Brahma Aperture and realized he needed more corpses and the Brahma Demon-Refining Art’s twelfth and thirteenth layers.
• As vast essence blood nearly tore apart his divine soul, Qing Chen deepened his understanding of the first three devil aspects and glimpsed the Lawless Devil Aspect.
• After two and a half jiazi, Qing Chen touched the fourth aspect’s threshold, and his five demon banners submitted as purified power flowed into him.
• A black pillar and demon god phantom appeared over Digu Pass Peak, forcing Xu Jiuling, Lin Changsheng, and the armored soldiers to prostrate themselves.
• Qing Chen concluded that fully mastering the Lawless Devil Aspect required condensing Blood Path Rules or unlocking the Bodhi Spirit Body’s second layer.

Qing Chen began cultivating the Minor Five Elements One-Origin Evasion Art in the Blood River Grotto, enduring the clashing elemental forces as they started to circulate within him. Meanwhile, a Nangong Household caravan was ambushed in Ghost-Sees-Sorrow Gorge by nearly a thousand death warriors and powerful golden figures.

• Qing Chen studied the four realms of the Minor Five Elements One-Origin Evasion Art and began drawing five elemental qi into his body.
• Qing Chen endured the pain of refining the clashing elemental forces and guided them through the art’s pathways until his elemental lights began to stabilize.
• The Nangong Household’s caravan entered Ghost-Sees-Sorrow Gorge while transporting valuable goods toward Southern Yue.
• Steel spirit-artifact spears rained down on the caravan, killing guards and throwing its formation into chaos.
• Nearly a thousand death warriors charged the Nangong Household guards, and more than a dozen gold-like figures burst from the woods.

Qing Jie’s forces massacred a Nangong Household convoy and uncovered evidence of secret dealings with the Bone-Eroding Tribe, which he sent to Qing Chen. After Qing Chen received the evidence, the Nangong and Qian Households and other great households began demanding redress.

• Qing Jie’s Diamond Body Cultivators slaughtered the Nangong Household convoy after its guards failed to summon help through the blocked Communication Arrays.
• Qing Jie found a Bone-Eroding Tribe legacy token and Jade Slip fragments in the wrecked carriage, revealing a suspected alliance between the Nangong and Qian Households and the tribe.
• Qing Jie ordered Lie Feng to deliver the evidence personally to Su Zixuan in Miaochong Prefecture and had the massacre disguised as a bandit raid.
• Months later, Su Zixuan presented the Jade Box to Qing Chen in the Blood River Grotto, and Qing Chen read the evidence inside.
• A report arrived that the Nangong Household, the Qian Household, and other great households of Qiongzhou were beating the drum to demand redress.

Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan urged Qing Chen to send troops against the Eighteen Strongholds of Southern Yue after a caravan was supposedly destroyed. Qing Chen ordered border security measures while the two household heads believed he had accepted their story, then offered to fund the campaign.

• Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan told Qing Chen that bandits from the Eighteen Strongholds had wiped out a Nangong caravan in Ghosts-Fear Gorge and asked him to dispatch troops.
• Nangong Wang presented damaged Spirit Artifacts and Gu Arts marks as evidence, while a Qian Household elder claimed the attackers were veteran bandits.
• Qing Chen questioned their account, then ordered Sun Wudi and Xu Jiuling to impose martial law, increase patrols, and watch the Million Mountains' exits and passes.
• Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan privately believed Qing Chen had been distracted from their alleged dealings with Southern Yue.
• Qing Chen asked the two household heads to help cover military costs, and Nangong Wang offered supplies and rewards for the campaign.

Qing Chen secured twenty million low-grade spirit stones from Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan to fund a campaign against the Eighteen Strongholds of Southern Yue while concealing his suspicions about the Nangong Household. The clan heads left believing they had fooled him, then learned the Central Authority was sending someone to Qiongzhou.

• Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan offered funds to show their support and test whether Qing Chen knew about the deadly incident.
• Qing Chen ordered wanted notices for the bandit chiefs and demanded the two clan heads contribute twenty million low-grade spirit stones to the campaign.
• Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan assured Qing Chen of their support, while privately deciding he lacked evidence against them.
• Qing Chen let the clan heads leave and reflected on Qiongzhou’s strained finances as he waited for an opportunity to act.
• Outside the manor, Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan mocked Qing Chen and discussed recovering their losses and profiting from the campaign.
• Nangong Wang told Qian Baoshan that the Central Authority was sending someone over.

Qian Baoshan and Nangong Wang celebrated the prospect of a harsh imperial investigation weakening Qing Chen, while plotting to bribe the envoy’s delegation. Months later, Qing Jie faced furious criticism from the Southern Yue stronghold lords after his attack on a Nangong Household convoy brought military restrictions upon them.

• Qian Baoshan told Nangong Wang that officials and members of the Qing Household had criticized Qing Chen at court.
• Qian Baoshan revealed that Li Wenbi would lead the imperial inspection, accompanied by an imperial kinsman and a Junior Envoy from the Directorate of Ceremonial.
• Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan discussed bribing the Junior Envoy and anticipated Qing Chen losing authority.
• Months later, the seventh-ranked Blood Wolf Stronghold Lord berated Qing Jie for attacking and wiping out the Nangong Household convoy.
• The Blood Wolf Stronghold Lord blamed Qing Jie for the Azure Abyss Marquis's troops sealing the border and disrupting the strongholds' supplies.

Qing Jie clashed with the Blood Wolf Stronghold Lord at a gathering of Cave Lords and revealed his formidable strength. The Firepit Great Cave Lord ordered the bandits to leave the Nangong Household’s and Qian Household’s caravans alone and announced preparations for a major operation in Yuxi Prefecture.

• Several Cave Lords accused Qing Jie of provoking the Nangong Household and the Qian Household, but Qing Jie insisted the strong had the right to take what they could.
• The Blood Wolf Stronghold Lord attacked Qing Jie, who used the Great Five-Element Annihilation Divine Needle and [Nether Baleful Intent] to wound him.
• The Firepit Great Cave Lord intervened and sent the injured Blood Wolf Stronghold Lord away.
• The Firepit Great Cave Lord ordered all Cave Lords to leave the Nangong Household’s and Qian Household’s goods alone for now, and they agreed.
• The Firepit Great Cave Lord announced that the Bone-Eroding and Soul-Devouring tribes would soon target Yuxi Prefecture’s border and ordered the Cave Lords to prepare to assist.

Qing Chen learned that Qian and Nangong factions had persuaded the court to send Heaven-Patrolling Imperial Envoys to investigate him, so he ordered his forces to maintain strict discipline. He then resolved to reopen Qiongzhou’s imperial examinations, using ten million spirit stones and setting rules for fair county-level tests.

• Tie Qingniu told Qing Chen that the Qian and Nangong Households had impeached him and that Li Wenbi and Ji Jin would arrive as Heaven-Patrolling Imperial Envoys.
• Qing Chen ordered Tie Qingniu to keep Anman Prefecture’s troops disciplined so the envoys could find no fault with them.
• Qing Chen summoned Su Zixuan and Xu Jiuling and announced that he would reopen Qiongzhou’s imperial examinations.
• Su Zixuan and Xu Jiuling warned that the examinations would be costly and difficult to organize, but Qing Chen allocated ten million spirit stones from the Qian and Nangong donation.
• Qing Chen ordered fair county examinations for eligible Qi Refining cultivators under fifty and specified their subjects and initial privileges for successful candidates.

Qing Chen reopened imperial examinations across Qiongzhou and promised successful candidates a path to official posts, boosting his reputation and drawing applicants. At a heavily guarded county examination, Censor Li Wenbi, Ji Jin, and Eunuch Ding secretly observed the proceedings, and Li Wenbi questioned a candidate who had just finished.

• Qing Chen laid out the County, Prefecture, and Prefectural Examinations and promised Provincial Graduates who skipped the Palace Examination a substantive official post of at least Subordinate Ninth Rank.
• Qing Chen threatened severe punishment for officials who committed examination fraud, favoritism, or bribery.
• News of the examinations spread through Qiongzhou, inspiring cultivators and even young people from powerful lineages to prepare or travel to Qing Chen's territory.
• Thousands of candidates sat the final Wind-Splitting Gorge County Examination session under watch from the Prefectural Army, instructors, and Demon Lotus Sect cultivators.
• Li Wenbi, Ji Jin, and Eunuch Ding concealed their identities and inspected the examination ground, where Li Wenbi asked the departing Dongfang Ming how he felt about the examination.

Li Wenbi and Ji Jin investigated Qing Chen’s rule in Qiongzhou, where firsthand accounts of fair examinations and effective governance complicated their suspicions. A month later, as Qing Chen inspected an examination in Miaochong Prefecture, he received urgent reports that enemy armies were besieging counties in Qiong and Anman Prefectures.

• Dongfang Ming and other examination-goers praised Qing Chen’s reopened examinations, public schools, and strict enforcement of the law.
• Li Wenbi listened to the people’s accounts and reconsidered his view of Qing Chen, though he resolved to investigate more cautiously.
• Li Wenbi and Ji Jin headed for Yuxi Prefecture to examine the weakest part of Qing Chen’s control.
• A month later, Qing Chen inspected the prefectural examination in Miaochong Prefecture while Su Zixuan reported that the Black Miasma Division was attacking Linyuan and Chishui counties.
• Su Zixuan reported that the Wolf Saliva Division was besieging Shiling County, whose defenses were close to failing despite Tie Qingniu’s raid.

As Qiongzhou faced attacks on its borders, sabotage at Qing Chen’s imperial examination, and the impending arrival of an imperial envoy, Qing Chen refused to suspend the examination and ordered reinforcements from men who held grudges against him. His advisers warned that the plan could invite betrayal, and the chapter ended before Qing Chen replied.

• Lin Changsheng reported that his men had executed thirty-nine spies, while Duan Tianya warned that powerful clans and insiders in the provincial administration were secretly undermining Qing Chen.
• Gao Yuliang reported that the imperial envoy’s party, including Li Wenbi and Heir Apparent Ji Jin, had likely reached Yuxi Prefecture and would investigate for over a month.
• Su Zixuan urged Qing Chen to suspend the examination and send Sword Fool and Hanging Mountain to reinforce the threatened border, but Qing Chen refused and ordered the examination made grander.
• Qing Chen ordered Gao Yuliang to request that Xiao Canglan and Wei Ting send Chongxu and Jia Daoyi to defend the borders near Southern Yue, and to secretly report the move to Tie Zhan.
• Su Zixuan and Lin Changsheng warned Qing Chen that Chongxu and Jia Daoyi bore grudges against him and might betray him.

Qing Chen exposed a network of cheating at the prefectural examination and violently punished the officials and lineages involved. He ordered Lin Changsheng and Duan Tianya to mobilize troops against the implicated households, then turned his gaze toward Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan.

• Qing Chen intimidated Su Zixuan, Lin Changsheng, Duan Tianya, and Gao Yuliang, then seized three cheating candidates from their examination cubicles.
• Qing Chen searched one candidate's soul and uncovered bribed officials, lineages that had passed along answers, and evidence connected to the Nangong and Qian households.
• Qing Chen executed the implicated academic officials and ordered the Zhao Household, the Sun Household, and the Liu Household punished for undermining the state.
• Qing Chen gave Lin Changsheng and Duan Tianya his Command Token and ordered them to lead three thousand Qiongzhou Army troops to execute the offenders and enslave their implicated relatives.
• Qing Chen looked toward Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan on the viewing platform.

Qing Chen exposed the powerful threat behind his warning to those interfering with the prefectural examination, then left to attack the Black Miasma and Wolf Saliva tribes in Qiong Prefecture. His enforcers began arresting the cheating lineages, while Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan feared he had uncovered their secrets.

• Qing Chen unleashed his Demon God Dharma Form and warned Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan against interfering with the examination.
• Qing Chen vowed to crush the Black Miasma and Wolf Saliva tribes, then shattered a distant mountain with the Sentient Beings Annihilation Seal as a warning.
• Qing Chen departed for Qiong Prefecture, leaving Lin Changsheng to carry out his orders.
• Lin Changsheng and Duan Tianya led the Black Armor Army to raid the compounds of lineages involved in cheating.
• Nangong Wang and Qian Baoshan watched the raids begin and feared Qing Chen knew their secrets.