Chapter Summaries

Qing Chen and the clan heads used the Nine Cauldrons to pull the Nine Netherworlds Forbidden Grounds gateway out of a spatial interstice, but a powerful evil aura poured through it and attacked their minds. Qing Chen activated the Demon Seed Golden Lotus to resist the aura.

• Qing Chen and the other True Lords comprehended the laws resonating through the Nine Cauldrons as the cauldrons' power surged.
• The Nine Cauldrons fused their power and drew the gateway out of a spatial interstice, bringing it within a hundred zhang.
• Dugu Yifang and the heads of the Nine Great Aristocratic Clans stabilized the gateway with nine rays of light.
• The gateway released blackish-gray mist that overwhelmed Gong Shisan with illusions, and Gong Xinghe struck him awake.
• The evil aura assaulted Qing Chen's Sea of Consciousness, and he activated the Demon Seed Golden Lotus to block it.

The Nine Cauldrons unleashed the Lingyuan Devil-Suppressing Talisman, clearing the powerful evil qi from the gateway and sealing its entrance. After warning that the forbidden grounds might hold greater dangers, Dugu Yifang entered with four members of the Gudu Household, leaving the others to decide whether to follow.

• Blackish-gray evil qi poured from the gateway, corroding Linghu Xuanji's formations and driving a Nascent Soul elder into a heart-demon frenzy.
• Dugu Yifang ordered everyone to retreat and guard their minds as the evil qi pursued them.
• The Nine Cauldrons released the Lingyuan Devil-Suppressing Talisman, which erased the escaping evil qi and formed a curtain over the gateway.
• Dugu Yifang warned that the evil qi had approached Heavenly Demon Qi in strength and told those who doubted their ability to withstand it to withdraw.
• Dugu Yifang rode the Dugu Ancient Cauldron into the gateway with Dugu Yidao, a Great Cultivator elder, and two Nascent Soul cultivators, calling to the others to meet him at the Heavenly Devil Tower.

The Nine Nether Aristocratic Clans entered the Black Gate, including Qing Chen with Yan Moyou and the Iron Household. Outside, the Gu Tribe, Southern Yue, and Ten Thousand Saints Demon Kingdom gathered as Golden Toad Granny received a message from Zhao Ningyi and bowed to welcome the Great King.

• Tuoba Shanhai and the other clan leaders led their people through the Black Gate, and Qing Chen followed Yan Moyou inside after saying goodbye to Tie Ming.
• Half an hour after the Nine Nether Aristocratic Clan disappeared, pillars of inky-green, blood-red, and gray light appeared across the horizon.
• More than eighty fourth-tier cultivators and demons from the Gu Tribe, Southern Yue, and Ten Thousand Saints Demon Kingdom assembled before the Black Gate.
• Golden Toad Granny told Heavenly Hook True Lord and Azure-Faced Lion King that she had a way to enter the Forbidden Grounds before the gate closed.
• Zhao Ningyi sent Golden Toad Granny a voice transmission, and Golden Toad Granny bowed toward someone and welcomed the Great King.

Wu Gui used the Ten Thousand Gu Source Cauldron and Annan Province’s territorial authority to open a passage through the black door, allowing the gathered cultivators and demons to enter. As he kept the passage open, Xiao Canglan launched a devastating water-sword attack at Wu Gui, the cauldron, and those entering.

• Wu Gui’s phantom appeared and bowed to Zhao Ningyi before ordering Golden Toad Granny to begin.
• Golden Toad Granny and the Miao Frontier Gu Tribe’s True Lords summoned the Ten Thousand Gu Source Cauldron, which revealed an incomplete rune carrying Annan Province’s territorial authority.
• Wu Gui used the cauldron to open a passage through the nine-colored barrier on the black door.
• Golden Toad Granny, Heavenly Hook True Lord and the Southern Yue cultivators, and the Azure-Faced Lion King and his demons charged through the door.
• Xiao Canglan attacked from the northern horizon with a massive water sword aimed at Wu Gui, the cauldron, and the people entering.

Wu Gui held the passage open as Xiao Canglan and King Cangrang clashed, while Dugu Wudi's killing strike forced the gathered Spirit Transformation Venerables to respond. The strike's residual power entered the passage, where spatial turbulence killed nearly half of the eighty-odd cultivators waiting inside.

• Wu Gui maintained the passage and protected himself as Xiao Canglan's giant sword struck toward him.
• King Cangrang intercepted Xiao Canglan's attack, then stood before the passage as they argued over Great Jin's authority and the chance to seize its opportunity.
• Dugu Wudi's Kill Character formed a thousand li away, and Kunpeng Ancestor countered it with a dark pillar of light.
• Dugu Wudi's strike dissipated without him appearing, but some of its power penetrated the cauldron and reached the passage.
• Spatial turbulence tore through the cultivators inside, killing more than twenty of the eighty-odd experts in moments.

After the Black Gate closed, Xiao Canglan and the other survivors left the battlefield, while Qing Chen was hurled into the Nine Netherworlds Forbidden Grounds. Qing Chen found himself in a bleak, oppressive wasteland where his divine sense was severely suppressed.

• The Black Gate closed after the surviving cultivators entered, leaving clouds of blood mist and a thousand-mile abyss behind.
• Xiao Canglan, Venerable King Cangrang, and Demon Master Kunpeng exchanged hostile looks before departing, while Wu Gui's phantom vanished.
• Qing Chen was swept through the forbidden grounds by a violent spatial force, and his divine sense could extend less than a hundred zhang.
• Qing Chen crashed onto a boulder and saw a gray-black wasteland filled with ravines, black mist, and dead plants.
• Qing Chen watched black mist rise from the fissures and felt an indescribable sense of oppression.

After being displaced into the Nine Netherworlds Forbidden Grounds, Qing Chen discovered that the Heavenly Devil Tower stood at the center of the mist-filled land and that spiritual energy could not be absorbed normally. He used his Xiantian Primordial Magnetism Divine Vessel to clear the mist and recover much of his true essence, but learned that survival there would require his stored spirit stones and treasures.

• Qing Chen examined himself after spatial force flung him into the forbidden grounds and found that his true essence worked sluggishly and his divine sense was severely suppressed.
• Qing Chen spotted the enormous Heavenly Devil Tower rising from the distant horizon and recognized it as the source of the black mist.
• Qing Chen tested several blood path spells on the mist, but they passed through it without effect.
• Qing Chen used Primal Magnetism Divine Light to disperse some mist, then discovered that it returned quickly and that spiritual qi, spirit stones, and a medicinal pill could not restore his power.
• Qing Chen summoned his Xiantian Primordial Magnetism Divine Vessel, which drove the mist away within fifty zhang, and replenished most of his true essence with stored resources.

Qing Chen traveled through the Nine Netherworlds Forbidden Grounds toward the place where Blood Fiend had died, using a token to follow its direction. After avoiding spatial rifts and a battle between two cultivators, he discovered that a silent plain concealed a deadly underground threat.

• Qing Chen activated the Blood Fiend Token and set out northeast toward Blood Fiend’s resting place, roughly three hundred thousand li away.
• Qing Chen used Primal Magnetism Divine Light to detect and carefully avoid hidden spatial rifts.
• Qing Chen spotted a Tuoba Household cultivator fighting an unknown saber wielder, then chose to avoid the battle and continue on.
• Qing Chen noticed an unnaturally quiet plain and took a wide detour around it.
• Eight enormous skeletal claws erupted from the ground and attacked the empty spot where Qing Chen had been standing.

Qing Chen avoided deadly traps as he traveled deeper into the Nine Netherworlds Forbidden Grounds, where he encountered a gigantic, headless creature that identified itself as a member of the Crystal Mo Tribe. After its Spirit-Severing Qi-infused attack injured him, Qing Chen realized it could absorb the surrounding mist to recover.

• Qing Chen narrowly avoided eight Nascent Soul Middle Stage skeletal ghost claws and continued through the forbidden grounds.
• Qing Chen spent three days flying slowly through the wasteland, using Primal Magnetism Divine Light to reveal spatial rifts.
• Qing Chen skirted a silent stone forest, but its pillars glowed and exploded into fragments that he dodged with Five Elements Void-Breaking.
• An enormous eight-armed, headless creature rose from underground and declared that it belonged to the Crystal Mo Tribe before attacking Qing Chen.
• The creature’s air blast carried Spirit-Severing Qi, damaging Qing Chen’s Black Demon Blood Armor and sending him flying.
• Qing Chen saw the creature plunge its arms into the earth and absorb the surrounding black-gray mist through its crystalline patterns.

Qing Chen fought nine Crystal Mo monsters with his Blood River God-Slaying Spear after their Spirit-Severing Qi weakened his other attacks. He tore apart one monster’s arms and drove his spear into its torso, but the battle continued.

• Eight more Crystal Mo monsters emerged from underground and surrounded Qing Chen, bringing their number to nine.
• Qing Chen reinforced his body and brought out the Blood River God-Slaying Spear, choosing physical attacks over blood path and magnetic origin spells.
• Qing Chen cracked a monster’s crystalline armor, pierced its arm, and snapped the arm apart with his spear.
• The monster used Spirit-Severing Qi to heal its wound, so Qing Chen intensified his attacks and tore off another arm.
• Qing Chen hurled his spear into the monster’s torso, where its fanged mouthparts failed to bite through it.

Qing Chen destroyed the hundred-zhang monster and collected the powerful black crystal it left behind. He could not extract the crystal’s sealed energy, even after trying several techniques.

• Qing Chen shattered the monster’s rows of fangs and drove his spear through its torso, destroying it completely.
• The eight remaining monsters fled into the Stone Forest ruins, and Qing Chen chose not to pursue them.
• Qing Chen examined his injuries and used his immortality true blood to begin recovering.
• Qing Chen gathered the monster’s black crystal fragments and found that the largest contained energy greater than a Nascent Soul middle stage cultivator’s reserves.
• Qing Chen tried magic power, blood path rules, the Magnetic Origin Spell, immortality true blood, the Spirit-Guiding Art, and divine sense, but none could access the crystal’s sealed energy.

Qing Chen realized he could not use the Black Crystal to advance his body cultivation because he lacked a body-cultivation grotto-heaven. He then wondered whether the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda’s grotto-heaven could help, and prepared to test the crystal with it.

• Qing Chen tried striking and smashing the Black Crystal but could not damage it or use it.
• Qing Chen recalled that advancing his body cultivation required a grotto-heaven, which he could not open because his origin meridian was fixed to Dharma cultivation.
• Qing Chen remembered the grotto-heaven inside the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda and considered using it to refine the crystal.
• Qing Chen found a secluded cavern, set up Primordial Magnetism Restrictions, and summoned the Nine-Luminaries Glazed Vidyaraja Pagoda.
• Qing Chen brought out the Black Crystal and held it above his palm, ready to test whether the pagoda could help.

Qing Chen used the Treasure Pagoda to refine a Crystal Mo Tribe core and discovered it had produced moyuan qi with the potential to transform his cultivation. He learned that reaching Seven-Luminaries Master authority and obtaining powerful sixth-tier materials could let the pagoda create a treasure that opened a second origin meridian.

• Qing Chen watched the Treasure Pagoda dissolve and absorb the black crystal, releasing tremendous energy that shook the cavern and its restrictions.
• The Treasure Pagoda produced a faint, gray wisp of qi that Qing Chen sensed was unlike the fortune qi he had encountered before.
• The Treasure Pagoda sent Qing Chen a message identifying the qi as moyuan qi and explaining its cultivation benefits and the requirements for refining an Origin Meridian Supreme Treasure.
• Qing Chen realized the treasure could potentially open a second origin meridian and erupted into eerie laughter at the prospect of advancing his body cultivation.

Qing Chen discovered that Moyuan Qi could help create an Origin Meridian Supreme Treasure, then found a way to preserve it inside Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones. He set out for the place where Blood Fiend had passed away in meditation, intent on claiming its opportunity before hunting the Crystal Mo Tribe.

• Qing Chen learned that refining an Origin Meridian Supreme Treasure required a hundred portions of Moyuan Qi, a powerful sixth-tier or higher Demon Race or Heavenly Devil Race core, and the cultivation of a Seven-Luminaries Master.
• Qing Chen used the Spirit-Guiding Art to seal the fading Moyuan Qi inside a Supreme-Grade Spirit Stone, which could hold ten portions.
• Qing Chen resolved to gather Moyuan Qi from the Crystal Mo Tribe and planned to visit where Blood Fiend had passed away in meditation first.
• Qing Chen followed the Blood Fiend Token's map and sped toward Blood Fiend's resting place before the Crystal Mo Tribe could gather reinforcements.
• More than ten days later, Qing Chen reached the foot of a barren mountain where the gray-black wasteland appeared to end.

Qing Chen reached the mountains where the Blood Fiend Token pointed, only to find powerful cultivators from several factions fighting there. As the battle escalated, he wondered what had drawn them all to the forbidden land and whether the Six-Winged Heavenly Bat was the Second Senior Brother mentioned by Qing Jie.

• Qing Chen followed the Blood Fiend Token to a barren mountain range and found several Nascent Soul cultivators already fighting deep within it.
• Qing Chen suspected the combatants had gathered either because they knew where Blood Fiend had fallen or because they had discovered another opportunity.
• Golden Toad Granny of the Gu Tribe clashed with Li Hanyi of the Nine Nether Aristocratic Clan, while the Flying Bear True Lord of Southern Yue joined the conflict.
• Tuoba Ye called for Tie Shou to join forces against the Gu Tribe, and Linghu Jiu Jian confronted the Crimson-Chain Serpent Demon and the Six-Winged Heavenly Bat.
• Qing Chen watched the battle and wondered whether the Six-Winged Heavenly Bat was the Second Senior Brother mentioned by Qing Jie.

The Blood Fiend Token escaped Qing Chen’s control and transformed into blood-colored vapor that drifted toward the battle in the mountains. The combatants failed to stop it, and it continued toward the tallest peak.

• Qing Chen’s Blood Fiend Token trembled and heated up after reacting to the Blood Jiangshi Holy Son Token, resisting his attempts to suppress it.
• The token floated out of Qing Chen’s hand and transformed into vapor that ignored his spells and magnetic attraction.
• Qing Chen chased the vapor but could not touch it, then moved away to avoid being discovered as it headed into the mountains.
• Li Hanyi, Golden Toad Granny, Flying Bear True Lord, Tuoba Ye, and the other fighters noticed the bloody light and stopped battling to attack it.
• The combatants’ spells passed through the vapor, and the Black-Robed Elder’s Gu attacks also failed to stop it.
• The fighters speculated that their battle had disturbed the laws beneath the mountain and set off after the vapor.

The Rebirth Tower emerged from a shrinking mountain, and the gathered cultivators failed to open its sealed door. Its golden light then exposed Qing Chen, revealing that his Blood Fiend Token had activated the tower and betrayed his hiding place, leaving him surrounded by hostile factions.

• A bloodlight transformed into a huge golden talisman, which caused the ten-thousand-zhang peak to shrink into the Rebirth Tower.
• Li Hanyi, Tuoba Ye, Linghu Jiu Jian, and Golden Toad Granny rushed to the tower, but their attacks failed against its door and Linghu Jiu Jian identified a fifth-tier restriction.
• The Rebirth Tower sent out streaks of light, and one struck Qing Chen, forming a pillar that revealed his location to the cultivators.
• Qing Chen realized that his Blood Fiend Token had activated the tower and exposed him, while Li Hanyi and the others recognized him and focused their attention on him.

Qing Chen emerged from the golden light and deflected questions about his connection to the Rebirth Tower, then urged the gathered factions to search for others hiding nearby. His provocation revealed Qing Sanxiao, Qing Xuansu, and the Silver Moon Wolf King, who took an interest in him.

• Qing Chen broke free of the golden light, armed himself with the Blood River God-Slaying Spear, and argued with Tuoba Ye, Li Hanyi, Five Gu True Lord, and Flying Bear True Lord.
• Qing Chen suggested that others were hiding in the mountains and called on the gathered factions to sweep the surrounding area together.
• Qing Sanxiao and Qing Xuansu emerged from a mountain fissure, and Tuoba Ye identified Qing Sanxiao as the Qing Household's Third Elder.
• The Silver Moon Wolf King appeared in a burst of silvery light, transformed into a silver-haired man, and remarked that Qing Chen knew how to stir up trouble.

Qing Chen used his formidable strength to discourage the gathered factions from attacking him, offering to help whichever side tried to enter the Rebirth Tower. Before they could decide, a horde of Crystal Mo Tribe monsters emerged around them, and the Rebirth Tower suddenly activated.

• Qing Chen warned the assembled cultivators that he could help one faction defeat another, prompting the Nine Nether Aristocratic Clan, Gu Tribe, Southern Yue, and Demon Race to reconsider attacking him.
• A tremor shook the area, and Crystal Mo Tribe monsters erupted from the ground in overwhelming numbers around the Treasure Pagoda.
• Linghu Jiu Jian and Tuoba Ye attacked the monsters, but their bodies resisted damage and absorbed Spirit-Severing Qi to heal.
• Golden Toad Granny urged everyone to stop fighting the monsters and join forces to enter the tower.
• The Rebirth Tower shook, its golden peak burst into a pillar of light, and the runes across its surface lit up.

The cultivators charged through the Rebirth Tower’s gate while fighting off the pursuing Crystal Mo Tribe monsters. After the monsters poured inside behind them and the gate shut, the tower began to shake and crack apart.

• Li Hanyi, Linghu Jiu Jian, Tuoba Ye, and the other powerhouses battled through the Crystal Mo Tribe monsters and led the charge into the tower.
• Golden Toad Granny used Crystalizing Gu Powder to corrode the monsters’ Crystal Patterns as she passed through the gate.
• Qing Chen avoided the crowded main entrance, fought off a hundred-zhang giant, and leapt through a gap beside the gate.
• The Crystal Mo Tribe monsters pursued the cultivators into the tower, and the gate shut once everyone had entered.
• The Rebirth Tower shook violently as its runes shattered and cracks spread from its base to its top.