Chapter Summaries

Recording Jade Slips showing Deputy Alliance Leader Qing meeting with Kuang Sha stirred accusations of collusion, but Wuchen shelved the matter and returned to the vote on Nangong Lie. Wuchen supported admitting Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City, leaving the decision with the Golden Scale Alliance’s divided leaders.

• A Golden Scale Alliance manager brought recordings of Deputy Alliance Leader Qing meeting and hosting Kuang Sha and Fire Jiao, prompting accusations that Qing had ties to the Ten Thousand Gu Caves.
• Yinji and Lin Changsheng disputed the accusations, while Wuchen called the recordings suspicious and shelved the matter.
• Lin Changsheng, Yinji, and Ye Wushang opposed admitting Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City, while True Lord Dingxu, Daoist Kumu, and Gu Yuanzi supported it.
• Wuchen argued that Nangong Lie’s past crimes had been pardoned, praised his record fighting demons, and urged the alliance to accept his city and its hundreds of thousands of Rogue Cultivators.

The Golden Scale Alliance approved Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City's admission and planned an expansion into twenty archipelagos, assigning Nangong Lie’s forces the most dangerous vanguard role. Meanwhile, Qing Chen crossed the Gouwu Sea and reached the outskirts of Southern Heavenly City, ready to harvest.

• Wuchen declared Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City's admission approved in principle after the vote passed four to three.
• Wuchen proposed developing twenty archipelagos beyond the Star Sea Region, with Nangong Lie leading the vanguard into the six most dangerous ones and the alliance dividing the rest by battle merit.
• True Lord Dingxu, Daoist Kumu, Gu Yuanzi, and Yinji pledged forces to the expansion plan.
• Qing Chen traveled across the Gouwu Sea using his Five Elements Escape Void technique and arrived within sight of Southern Heavenly City.

Qing Chen arrived at Southern Heavenly City and surveyed the rogue cultivator stronghold before identifying Nangong Lie as a likely enemy maneuvering against the Demon Lotus Sect. He prepared to act while Nangong Lie’s alliance plans were coming together.

• Qing Chen flew toward Southern Heavenly City and saw the vast city and surrounding island network for the first time.
• Qing Chen surveyed the bustling city, noting its enormous population and the strength of the Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator Alliance.
• Qing Chen focused on Heavenly South Hall, where Nangong Lie was guarded behind powerful formations.
• Qing Chen recalled Yinji’s intelligence that Nangong Lie had once been a Great Jin official, had taken control of the city, and was likely colluding with the Thousand Puppet Sect, Guixu Sea Tower, and Jiaogu Island.
• Qing Chen connected Nangong Lie’s plans to join the Golden Scale Alliance with the smear against him and suspected Kuang Sha and Fire Jiao were trying to drive a wedge between him and Heavenly Abyss Pass.
• Qing Chen smiled and said Nangong Lie had forgotten one thing.

After a year in seclusion, Qing Chen arrived at Southern Heavenly City to attack Nangong Lie and Heavenly South Hall, unleashing his strengthened blood-path power and two high-grade magic treasures. His thunder and wind assault descended on Heavenly South Mountain, leaving the city’s cultivators facing the destruction of the mountaintop.

• Qing Chen revealed that he had condensed a complete blood path rules thread and declared he would become invincible beneath the heavens.
• Qing Chen flew openly toward Heavenly South Hall, and cultivators recognized him as the Blood River True Lord and panicked as the city’s protective array trapped them inside.
• Qing Chen reached Heavenly South Hall, where his aura forced the guards to their knees, but Nangong Lie did not appear.
• Qing Chen unleashed the Purple Mansion Thunder Cauldron and Xun Wind Banner, combining a thunderbolt pillar with a vast net of wind blades aimed at Heavenly South Mountain.

Nangong Lie emerged from Heavenly South Hall and used the Sharp Metal Spear to break Qing Chen’s attacks against the Profound Light Golden Bowl Array. The three Grand Elders fled, leaving Nangong Lie to face Qing Chen alone as he swore that Qing Chen could not kill him.

• The Profound Light Golden Bowl Array intercepted Qing Chen’s wind blades and lightning, but its barrier began to crack under the assault.
• Nangong Lie came out of Heavenly South Hall and used the Sharp Metal Spear to shatter Qing Chen’s lightning pillar and clear away the remaining wind blades.
• Qing Chen taunted Nangong Lie and pointed out the three Dharma Nascent Soul Grand Elders nearby.
• Xuan Lingzi, Qingyue, and Tie Sha fled in different directions, abandoning Heavenly South City.
• Nangong Lie recalled the destruction of his clan and roared that Qing Chen could not kill him.

Qing Chen summoned the Lawless Blood Seal to threaten Southern Heavenly City, while Nangong Lie prepared to face him. A Nascent Soul Peak Mirror Lord arrived and challenged Qing Chen, leaving the city’s fate in the balance.

• Qing Chen mocked Nangong Lie and manifested the Blood River God-Slaying Spear with formidable blood-path power.
• Qing Chen formed the enormous Lawless Blood Seal, damaging Southern Heavenly City’s Profound Light Golden Bowl Array and terrifying the city’s cultivators.
• Nangong Lie watched the seal and readied his Sharp Metal Spear, confident he was not facing Qing Chen alone.
• A Nascent Soul Peak Mirror Lord of the Southeastern Circuit’s Profound Mirror Sky-Hunting Bureau emerged from Southern Heavenly Hall.
• Qing Chen recognized the Mirror Lord and asked whether he intended to stop him.

Qing Chen defied Mirror Lord Yan Tong and claimed Yan’s threats had made his spell go out of control. His Lawless Blood Seal destroyed the Southern Heavenly Hall and badly injured Nangong Lie, leaving Yan Tong furious.

• Yan Tong demanded that Qing Chen salute him and threatened him with a capital offense for attacking an Immortal Dynasty official.
• Qing Chen pretended to lose control of his spell and sent the Lawless Blood Seal crashing toward the Southern Heavenly Hall.
• Nangong Lie tried to block the blood seal with his Sharp Metal Spear, but it was badly damaged and he was severely injured.
• Yan Tong fired the Abyssal Heaven Mirror at the blood seal, but their clash destroyed the hall and swept through Heavenly South Mountain.
• Qing Chen mocked Yan Tong and Nangong Lie, insisting the hall’s destruction was better than risking his life.

Qing Chen faced down Yan Tong above the ruins of Heavenly South Hall while Yan Tong tried to shield Nangong Lie from him. Nangong Lie escaped toward Great Jin, leaving Qing Chen and Yan Tong in a tense standoff.

• Yan Tong summoned the Abyssal Heaven Mirror and used its Extreme Abyss Profound Light to test Qing Chen, but Qing Chen's demonic light blocked it.
• Qing Chen denied Yan Tong's accusations and defended his past actions as lawful, frustrating Yan Tong with his excuses.
• Yan Tong challenged Qing Chen to attack him and a Great Jin official, then ordered Nangong Lie to leave.
• Nangong Lie reluctantly escaped toward Great Jin despite his injuries, while Qing Chen watched without pursuing him.
• Yan Tong kept the Abyssal Heaven Mirror ready as Qing Chen mocked him for being so trusting.

Qing Chen kept Yan Tong occupied while Nangong Lie fled across the sea, hoping to reach Great Jin territory. Thunderclap Arhat and the Di Jiang Demon God ambushed Nangong Lie and trapped him between them.

• Qing Chen stalled Yan Tong above the ruins of Southern Heavenly City while Nangong Lie escaped.
• Nangong Lie fled hundreds of thousands of li, suffering worsening fear that an unseen pursuer was tracking him.
• Thunderclap Arhat appeared ahead of Nangong Lie, forcing him to turn and flee in another direction.
• The Di Jiang Demon God emerged to block Nangong Lie's path, leaving him encircled between the Buddha and the devil.
• Nangong Lie realized Qing Chen had stationed the two powerful beings to intercept him and saw no way to escape.

Qing Chen stalled Yan Tong above the ruins of Southern Heavenly City, then abruptly left, prompting Yan Tong to realize he might have been tricked and race toward Mingzhou and Hanzhou. Far away, Nangong Lie burned his essence blood and lifespan to attack the Di Jiang Demon God, but it survived and, with Thunderclap Arhat, continued to overwhelm him.

• Qing Chen spent ten hours keeping Yan Tong from leaving, claiming he wanted cultivation advice and to discuss the Dao.
• Qing Chen declared he could leave, vanished at high speed, and left Yan Tong to realize something was wrong and pursue toward Mingzhou and Hanzhou.
• Nangong Lie used the Primordial Chaos Withered Wood Forbidden Art and his Nine Turns Sky-Splitting spell to attack the Di Jiang Demon God.
• The Di Jiang Demon God blocked most of Nangong Lie’s attack, wounded him with its claws, and sent him flying.
• Thunderclap Arhat struck Nangong Lie with a thunderbolt-wreathed Vajra, further injuring him and weakening his life-burning secret art.

Nangong Lie exhausted his treasures and was killed when the Di Jiang Demon God captured his fleeing Nascent Soul. Yan Tong found the devastated battlefield and blamed Qing Chen, while Qing Chen returned to the ruins of Heavenly South Hall and prepared to plunder Southern Heavenly City.

• Nangong Lie detonated his magic treasures, but the Di Jiang Demon God and Thunderclap Arhat fatally wounded him and captured his Nascent Soul.
• Thunderclap Arhat dispersed, and the Di Jiang Demon God sealed Nangong Lie’s Nascent Soul in a jade box before fleeing with it.
• Yan Tong found the ruined battlefield, realized Nangong Lie was gone, and vowed to remember his debt to Qing Chen.
• Qing Chen appeared above the ruins of Heavenly South Hall, confirmed the hunt had succeeded, and decided to take spoils from Southern Heavenly City while waiting for his troops.

Qing Chen’s forces arrived at the Heavenly South Island archipelago and began a twelve-hour slaughter to gather supplies and prevent the Xuanming Demon God from growing stronger. As the demon god approached and island defenses slowed the fleeing cultivators, the invading body cultivators swept through Eastern Heavenly City.

• The mid-fourth-tier Xuanming Demon God appeared while Qing Chen’s reserves, led by Lie Feng and five other Vajra Peak fighters, approached the archipelago.
• Lie Feng ordered the forty thousand body cultivators to slaughter the islands for twelve hours and collect corpses, materials, and treasure.
• The forces charged toward Heavenly South Island and Southern Heavenly City as trapped cultivators struggled to escape through the island defenses.
• Bu Jingyun smashed a pavilion in Eastern Heavenly City and collected the corpses and valuables there.
• A Vajra Realm body cultivator found and killed three Foundation Establishment elders hiding in an underground chamber, then took their Storage Bags and continued hunting.

Lian Chengbi, Duan Lang, and Little Stone looted South Star City while Qing Chen’s forces hunted the fleeing cultivators across the Heavenly South archipelago. Daoist Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi were captured and forced to submit, leaving the city’s remaining survivors under the Divine Emissary’s control.

• Lian Chengbi killed the defenders at Hundred Treasures Pavilion and claimed its treasures.
• Duan Lang and Little Stone slaughtered fleeing cultivators and killed two Golden Core pursuers.
• The Xuanming Demon God found Daoist Qingyue in her hidden Cave Abode and made her surrender her soul blood and pledge allegiance to the Divine Emissary.
• Demon God Pojun intercepted Xuan Lingzi, wounded him, and froze him after he agreed to submit.

The Greedy Wolf Demon God hunted down and killed Tie Sha, capturing his Dharma Nascent Soul. Back at Heavenly South Mountain, Qing Chen surveyed the devastation and collected a vast haul before the three demon gods returned with Daoist Qingyue imprisoned.

• The Greedy Wolf Demon God caught Tie Sha after he tried to flee, defeated his Earth Fiend Dharma Form, and crushed his physical body.
• The Greedy Wolf Demon God captured Tie Sha’s Dharma Nascent Soul in a jade box and left the bloodied sea behind.
• Eleven hours after the upheaval, Qing Chen surveyed the ruined Heavenly South Mountain and gathered hundreds of Storage Rings.
• Qing Chen found large quantities of spirit stones, demon beast remains, cultivation manuals, and other treasures among the spoils.
• The Xuanming Demon God returned with Daoist Qingyue imprisoned, followed by Demon God Pojun and the Greedy Wolf Demon God.

Qing Chen subdued Daoist Nun Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi, showing them the captured remains and Nascent Souls of Tie Sha and Nangong Lie to make clear the danger of defying him. He returned their soul-blood instead of binding them with it, leaving them bewildered about what he intended to demand.

• Qing Chen revealed Xuan Lingzi frozen and captured, then summoned the demon gods back into their banners.
• Daoist Nun Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi knelt before Qing Chen and praised his power.
• Qing Chen displayed Tie Sha's corpse and sealed Dharma Nascent Soul, then revealed Nangong Lie's unconscious Nascent Soul.
• Qing Chen warned Daoist Nun Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi that neither Nangong Lie nor Yan Tong could escape or protect them from him.
• Daoist Nun Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi offered their loyalty and soul-blood, but Qing Chen explained that their soul-blood restrictions could eventually be removed.
• Qing Chen returned their soul-blood, leaving Daoist Nun Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi wondering what he wanted from them.

Qing Chen bound Daoist Nun Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi with Composite Forbidden Seals, then appointed them as Yanluo deputies in the Demon Lotus Sect. After they revealed intelligence about the Southeastern Circuit's Profound Mirror Sky-Hunting Bureau and the Thousand Puppet Sect, Qing Chen ordered them to rebuild Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City's surviving forces.

• Qing Chen planted Composite Forbidden Seals in Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi, warning that disloyalty would kill them and promising to release them after two hundred years of service.
• Qing Chen appointed Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi as Yanluo deputy hall masters in the Hundred Arts Hall, and both pledged their allegiance.
• Xuan Lingzi and Qingyue presented Jade Slips containing secret communications between the Profound Mirror Sky-Hunting Bureau, Nangong Lie, and the Thousand Puppet Sect.
• Qing Chen praised them for the intelligence, which revealed plans to bring Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City into the Golden Scale Alliance and curb the Demon Lotus Sect.
• Qing Chen ordered Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi to gather the surviving rogue cultivators into a fighting force within one year, using the Demon Lotus Sect's support while preserving enough survivors.

Qing Chen ordered Daoist Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi to abandon the Southern Heavenly Archipelago and establish Rogue Cultivator City in the Star Sea Region with new allies and support. After they left, Lie Feng and his army reported that they had slaughtered the Heavenly South Island Chain, and Qing Chen withdrew them all into the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda.

• Qing Chen made Daoist Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi obey True Lord Budong and the Longevity Devil Lord, leave the Southern Heavenly Archipelago, and move Rogue Cultivator City to the Star Sea Region.
• Qing Chen assigned Daoist Tongyou and Jia Daoyi to help Qingyue and Xuan Lingzi, promised support from the Demon Lotus Sect, and ordered them to sacrifice the remaining rogue cultivators to the banner.
• At the twelfth hour, Lie Feng, Bu Jingyun, Duan Lang, Lian Chengbi, Little Stone, Xiao Cangfeng, and their forces returned to Heavenly South Mountain after slaughtering everyone in the Heavenly South Island Chain.
• Lie Feng presented Qing Chen with the spoils, including more than fifty-three thousand cultivator corpses and over ten thousand demon beast corpses, while Qing Chen let his fighters keep their plundered treasures.
• Qing Chen concealed the army from detection and sent more than thirty thousand survivors into the World Inside the Tower before surveying the blood-soaked island chain.

Qing Chen carved bloody characters into Heavenly South Mountain before leaving for Great Jin, and the Golden Scale Alliance learned that he had devastated Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City. The city’s leaders were dead or missing, leaving its planned admission into the alliance in doubt.

• Qing Chen carved enormous blood-red characters into Heavenly South Mountain and flew away toward Great Jin.
• Wuchen prepared to conclude the Golden Scale Alliance council after its members settled expansion into the Star Sea Region and Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City's admission.
• A manager reported that Qing Chen had broken Heavenly South City's protective array, destroyed Heavenly South Hall, and wounded Nangong Lie before confronting Yan Tong.
• The manager said Nangong Lie had disappeared and might be dead, while Tie Sha's soul tablet had shattered and Xuan Lingzi and Daoist Qingyue were missing.
• The alliance members reacted with alarm as Heavenly South Rogue Cultivator City's leadership was effectively wiped out.

After the Heavenly South archipelago was devastated and a threatening message was carved into Heavenly South Mountain, Qing Chen finished refining the spoils in seclusion at Fengsplit Gorge Valley. He emerged stronger, considered the consequences of his attack, and summoned Han Shi and Jueqing.

• A manager reported that Dao soldiers had ravaged the Heavenly South archipelago, leaving it stripped of valuables and corpses.
• Wuchen and the others read the blood-carved message on Heavenly South Mountain, while Ye Wushang praised its poetry and Yinji smiled.
• Months later, Qing Chen completed refining the corpses and spiritual materials, replenished the Five Demon Banners, and condensed a third wisp of magnetic origin rule power.
• Qing Chen reflected that the destruction of Southern Heavenly City and the spread of his message would terrify Gouwu Sea, while leaving no direct evidence against him.
• Han Shi and Jueqing waited outside Qing Chen’s cave until he called them inside.

Qing Chen learned from a secret jade slip that Zhao Ningyi had become a powerful figure among the Miao Frontier Gu Tribe and was connected to a dangerous forbidden ground. He suspected her motives for revealing the location of Blood Fiend Venerable’s legacy, but remained wary of meeting her.

• Han Shi and Jueqing knelt before Qing Chen and reported that they had brought urgent information in person.
• Jueqing gave Qing Chen a jade slip sent by Qing Jie’s highest-level infiltrator in Southern Yue, detailing Zhao Ningyi’s rise and the Gu Tribe’s secrets.
• Qing Chen learned that Zhao Ningyi had saved Qing Jie but implanted a Marrow-Devouring Gu in him, and he feared what she might do to him.
• Qing Chen read that the Nine Netherworlds Ancient Bloodline Forbidden Grounds contained Blood Fiend Venerable’s legacy and its exact location.
• Qing Chen wondered whether Zhao Ningyi wanted him to meet her, kill him, or pursue the legacy for some other reason.