Chapter Summaries

Chen Zheng watched Shangguan Yi threaten Physiognomist Zhenchu as two colossal creatures battered Central Heaven City’s protective formation. When the formation broke and a great demon attacked the city, Chen Zheng pierced it with a chopstick, leaving Shangguan Yi and his followers stunned.

• Physiognomist Zhenchu tried to appease Shangguan Yi, who demanded his hand or his compass, while Chen Zheng told them to settle their dispute downstairs.
• Shangguan Yi dismissed Chen Zheng and claimed the ancient formation would protect Central Heaven City from the battling creatures.
• The great demon broke through the formation and seized more than ten thousand people from the city.
• Chen Zheng sent a chopstick through the great demon, wounding it and freeing the people it had seized.
• Shangguan Yi and his followers realized Chen Zheng had used a chopstick, and the tall, burly cultivator fell to his knees and begged him for mercy.

Chen Zheng drove off a great demon attacking Central Heaven City with an ordinary chopstick, then learned that the Flying Heaven Clan had assaulted the Ye Family while Ancestor Ye was away. He arrived at the breached ancestral residence as Ye Xue was defeated by the clan’s Old Ancestor.

• Chen Zheng pierced the great demon’s palm with a chopstick, forcing it to flee, and the other colossal creature thanked him before leaving.
• Shangguan Yi and the physiognomist knelt before Chen Zheng, and Shangguan Yi explained that the Flying Heaven Clan had attacked the Ye Family.
• The physiognomist warned Chen Zheng that the Shangguan Family might have colluded with the Flying Heaven Clan, while sword light rose from the Ye Family’s ancestral residence.
• Chen Zheng followed Shangguan Yi to the breached Ye Family residence, where Ye Xue fought the Flying Heaven Clan’s Old Ancestor.
• The Old Ancestor blasted Ye Xue from the sky and destroyed her sword, leaving the Ye Family unable to resist without Ancestor Ye’s return.

The Flying Heaven Clan’s Old Ancestor immobilized the True Martial Family and revealed that his clan had seized the ancient ruins’ inheritance and planned to slaughter its rivals. As he attacked the Ye Family, Chen Zheng shattered the sword light and named the Flying Heaven Clan’s fallen Old Ancestor, making the clan realize who he might be.

• Yu Feitian immobilized the True Martial Family and announced that the Flying Heaven Clan would take control of Central Heaven City.
• Yu Feitian revealed that the Flying Heaven Clan had fled another realm to escape a powerful being and that its clan leader had obtained the ancient ruins’ inheritance.
• Yu Feitian mocked the Ye Family for entering the ruins openly and said his clan would slaughter them after defeating Ancestor Ye.
• Yu Feitian claimed that a being in the ruins had gravely wounded Ancestor Ye, then sent crimson sword light toward the immobilized Ye Family.
• Chen Zheng said “What a coincidence,” and the crimson sword light shattered before it could strike.
• Chen Zheng named the Flying Heaven Clan’s fallen Old Ancestor, Yu Tongshen, and the clan recognized him as the being they had fled.

Chen Zheng effortlessly defeated the Flying Heaven Clan in Central Heaven City, letting Yu Feitian escape toward the ancient ruins while killing the clan members who fled after him. Ye Xue then recognized Chen Zheng as the Ancestral Master, and he revealed that poison had suppressed her Sword Physique before awakening it.

• Yu Feitian attacked Chen Zheng, but his crimson sword ray reflected back and wounded him.
• Yu Feitian claimed the clan's patriarch had gained a powerful inheritance in the ancient ruins, then fled from Central Heaven City.
• Chen Zheng killed the fleeing Flying Heaven Clan members with a glance, sparing only Yu Feitian.
• Ye Xue bowed to Chen Zheng as the Ancestral Master and thanked him for saving the True Martial Family.
• Chen Zheng identified poison suppressing Ye Xue's Sword Physique and sent immortal light into her body, awakening the sword silhouette within her.
• Shangguan Yi remembered a strange man who had once spoken to his family about a Sword Physique and a peculiar poison.

A terrifying presence stirred within the Central Heaven Ancient Ruins, drawing Chen Zheng and powerful beings from across the True Martial Realm to the site. As Chen Zheng arrived, the mirage above the ruins became real and swallowed everyone nearby.

• Demonic qi erupted from the ancient ruins, and Chen Zheng left Central Heaven City as Ye Xue, the True Martial Family cultivators, and Physiognomist Zhenchu followed.
• Shangguan Yi returned to the Shangguan Family while the people in Central Heaven City worried about Ancestor Ye and the coming battle.
• A vast mirage appeared above the ruins, and the hundred-thousand-foot demon called the being sealed inside his master.
• The Sun-Shrouding giant bird and Cangyuan greeted Chen Zheng, while the divinely armored man on the warship dismissed him and the great demon from beyond the heavens confronted him.
• The mirage suddenly became real, expanded, and swallowed everyone around the ancient ruins.

Chen Zheng and the others found a sinister ancient ruin where black-robed figures crippled the creatures who had entered it. After Chen Zheng instantly destroyed the Flying Heaven Clan patriarch, he revealed that he knew Demon Lord Huntian better than anyone there and shattered the ruins.

• Physiognomist Zhenchu and Ye Xue joined Chen Zheng inside the ruins and watched black-robed cultivators pass without acknowledging them.
• The black-robed figures crippled the great demon, the giant ape, the enormous bird, Ancestor Ye, and the other creatures on a sacrificial altar.
• The Flying Heaven Clan patriarch revealed that the site was the inheritance ground of Demon Lord Huntian and confronted Chen Zheng over Yu Tongshen's death.
• Chen Zheng crushed the patriarch's body and primordial spirit, leaving the Pitch-Black Throne to shield what remained.
• Chen Zheng said he knew who Demon Lord Huntian was and shattered the sacrificial altar and ancient buildings.

The sealed being in the ancient ruins emerged, and the black-robed figure and his allies expected the Huntian Great Demon Lord to grant them power. Chen Zheng revealed that they had mistaken it for the Demon Lord: it was only the evil the Demon Lord had left behind.

• Three ten-thousand-zhang demons knelt before a suspended black stone hall as roars came from within it, and a barrier trapped everyone in the ruins.
• The feather-robed man's primordial spirit blamed Chen Zheng for breaking the seal, while the great demon from beyond the heavens revealed that he had come to pay respects to the Huntian Great Demon Lord.
• Chen Zheng called out the sect master of the Demon Slaying Sect, and a black-robed figure appeared and declared that the True Martial Great World would become the True Martial Great Demon Realm.
• The ancient hall shattered, and a dark figure emerged and shook the True Martial Realm; the feather-robed man's primordial spirit pleaded for power, but the figure's palm shattered the Pitch-Black Throne and tore him apart.
• Chen Zheng said the emerging being was only the evil left behind by the Huntian Great Demon Lord, shocking the black-robed figure, the feather-robed man's primordial spirit, and the great demon from beyond the heavens.

Chen Zheng confronted the evil thought that had emerged in the ancient ruins, revealing that it could not harm him and that its face matched his own. After declaring himself the Demon Lord, he drove the evil thought to flee the True Martial Realm.

• The Great Demon Lord’s roar shattered the Pitch-Black Throne and annihilated the feather-robed man’s primordial spirit.
• Yu Feitian accused Chen Zheng of deliberately releasing the evil thought, and Chen Zheng warned that it would slaughter everyone while the Heavenly Dao was absent.
• Chen Zheng rose to face the evil thought’s descending palm and split its attack, then said he had survived a stronger evil before.
• The evil thought’s mask broke, revealing a face identical to Chen Zheng’s.
• Chen Zheng shattered his transparent shackles, declared, “I am the Demon Lord!”, and forced the evil thought to flee the True Martial Realm.

Chen Zheng drove away the evil thought, killed the great demon from beyond the heavens and the Demon Slaying Sect's sect master, and learned that the source of the crying had been taken to the True Martial Immortal Dynasty. He dismissed the sect master's offer to guide him and sent You'er to search the ancient ruins for anything that needed to be recovered.

• Chen Zheng's declaration as the Demon Lord frightened the evil thought away, and he killed Yu Feitian as he tried to flee.
• The great demon from beyond the heavens trapped Chen Zheng with an artifact, but Chen Zheng shattered it and annihilated him.
• The Demon Slaying Sect's sect master revealed that a powerful figure had taken the source of the crying to the True Martial Immortal Dynasty three hundred years earlier.
• Chen Zheng killed the Demon Slaying Sect's sect master after rejecting his offer to lead him to the crying's source.
• Physiognomist Zhenchu offered to guide Chen Zheng to the True Martial Immortal Dynasty, and Chen Zheng instead summoned You'er to search the ancient ruins.

After returning to Central Heaven City, Chen Zheng learned more about the Huntian Great Demon Lord’s thirteen inheritance sites and scanned the True Martial Great World. The True Martial Dao Domain had sunk beneath the realm and detached itself, while Chen Zheng left Ancestor Ye to deal with Ye Xue’s poison.

• Chen Zheng returned to Central Heaven City with You'er, Ancestor Ye, and Ye Xue, while the other visitors and cultivators left the True Martial Great World.
• A demon that had survived the ancient ruins fled as black mist, declaring that it would search for the Huntian Great Demon Lord’s true lineage.
• You'er told Chen Zheng that the Huntian Great Demon Lord had established thirteen inheritance sites and left a pure evil thought at each one.
• Chen Zheng scanned the True Martial Great World and discovered that the True Martial Dao Domain had sunk underground and detached from the realm.
• Chen Zheng told Ancestor Ye that Ye Xue’s extraordinary poison was connected to the Shangguan Family, then left with You'er.

Chen Zheng and Physiognomist Zhenchu boarded the Yutong Immortal Ship, whose crew sought Profound Immortals to help power its formation while pursuing something beneath the True Martial Dao Domain. After Chen Zheng learned the first level of Taiyi Contemplates Heaven and Earth, Miss Ji appeared and said he looked like someone.

• Chen Zheng noted that sweeping the newly ascended True Martial Realm had raised his progress to fifty-nine, while Physiognomist Zhenchu wondered about the number.
• Baili Fengyan invited Chen Zheng and Physiognomist Zhenchu aboard the Yutong Immortal Ship, explaining that Miss Ji needed two Profound Immortals to help operate its formation.
• Chen Zheng agreed to board, and Baili Fengyan introduced himself as a Peak Old Ancestor and explained that the ship had detected beings stronger than Old Ancestors in the mist below.
• Baili Fengyan gave the two men the first level of Taiyi Contemplates Heaven and Earth, and Chen Zheng immediately developed it into thirteen levels.
• Miss Ji came onto the deck, and after studying Chen Zheng, she told him that he looked very much like someone.

Miss Ji and her companions fled into the underground world aboard the Yutong Immortal Ship, pursued by Feng Xiaoyu, who planned to seize an opportunity and capture her. After the ship's formation broke and Feng Xiaoyu was about to take Miss Ji, Chen Zheng killed him with a slap and asked the unseen being in the immortal city to strike again.

• Miss Ji ordered the Yutong Immortal Ship into the pit's mist to escape Feng Xiaoyu, whom Baili Fengyan identified as her second brother's ally and a Half-Step Dao Ancestor.
• Feng Xiaoyu followed the ship and taunted Baili Fengyan, saying he would scout ahead and return once the ship's cultivators ran out of magical power.
• The ship emerged into the underground world, where Feng Xiaoyu was being slapped by an unseen opponent, while a voice from the immortal city threatened him and shattered the ship's formation.
• Feng Xiaoyu turned to seize Miss Ji, but Chen Zheng struck him and exploded his body into a mist of blood.
• Everyone stared at Chen Zheng as he asked the unseen being to make another move so he could see it clearly.

Chen Zheng killed Feng Xiaoyu, uprooted the immortal city to expose a hidden crystalline palace, and destroyed the Shicang clone that emerged from it. The survivors aboard the Yutong Immortal Ship were left stunned by his power.

• Chen Zheng annihilated Feng Xiaoyu's body and primordial spirit with two slaps.
• Chen Zheng moved the immortal city aside and exposed the crystalline palace beneath it.
• A blue-robed, purple-eyed man emerged from the palace, and the cultivators identified him as a Dao body refined from the Divine Seal Heavenly Bamboo.
• Chen Zheng shattered the man's laws and divine seal with one slap, and the man revealed his name as Shicang before his primordial spirit broke apart.

Chen Zheng recovered You'er’s split soul and gave Miss Ji the remaining secret arts of Taiyi Contemplates Heaven and Earth, then entered the True Martial Imperial Clan’s palace. There, he learned that Mu Hongzhuang had searched for someone resembling him before dying in meditation.

• Chen Zheng opened the dark bead and reunited You'er with her sealed split soul, explaining that recovering it was his main reason for coming to the realm.
• Miss Ji used the Divine Shadow Technique to reveal a figure resembling Chen Zheng, but the spell backlashed; Chen Zheng called the figure an imitator.
• Chen Zheng gave Miss Ji the thirteen levels of Taiyi Contemplates Heaven and Earth and explained that her constitution would undergo nine metamorphoses.
• Miss Ji and Baili Fengyan returned toward the Four Directions Absolute Domain, expecting to meet Chen Zheng again.
• In the True Martial Imperial Clan’s palace, Chen Zheng found a jade statue resembling himself and asked about Mu Hongzhuang.
• The emperor said Mu Hongzhuang had searched other worlds for the person depicted by the statue, returned to the True Martial Realm, and later died in meditation.

Chen Zheng left the True Martial Realm after sending a jade sword to seek Mu Hongzhuang’s reincarnation, then entered the Land of Embers with You’er. There, survivors warned him that darkness was consuming the worlds and began considering capturing him to bargain for a female god-demon’s protection.

• Chen Zheng turned Mu Hongzhuang’s jade statue into a sword and sent it to find her reincarnation before disappearing into a passage northwest of the immortal city.
• As Chen Zheng and You’er crossed the Life and Death Corridor, You’er recalled that a mysterious woman had split her primordial spirit, and Chen Zheng explained that his first incarnations had been refined into nothingness.
• Chen Zheng emerged unharmed into the Land of Embers, where a black-robed old man told him the Primordial Fire was fading after Sin Emperor shattered the Primordial Ancestral God Crown.
• A middle-aged survivor reminded the others that a female god-demon had promised protection in exchange for an outsider, and the survivors fixed their attention on Chen Zheng.

Chen Zheng confronted the Sin Emperor’s army of the living dead at the Life and Death Corridor and destroyed it with a snap, then shattered Daoist Myriad Evils and his ship. As the survivors stared in terror, Chen Zheng noticed something approaching across the dark earth.

• The middle-aged man tried to seize Chen Zheng and offer him to the goddess-demon, but the black-robed elder protected Chen Zheng and urged him to retreat into the Life and Death Corridor.
• The army of the living dead charged the platform, and Chen Zheng stepped forward despite the survivors’ pleas and Daoist Myriad Evils’ mockery.
• Chen Zheng snapped his fingers, turning the entire army of the living dead to ash.
• Chen Zheng crushed the No-Life White Bone Ship and killed Daoist Myriad Evils, whose head and primordial spirit he then destroyed.
• The middle-aged man died from terror, and Chen Zheng remarked that someone had arrived quickly as the survivors looked toward the dark earth.

Chen Zheng confronted the Sin Emperor, who came to the Life and Death Corridor to recruit him, and effortlessly destroyed his army and armor. After Chen Zheng erased the curse sustaining the Sin Emperor’s immortality, the Sin Emperor crumbled to dust, leaving the Land of Embers without its ruler.

• The Sin Emperor arrived at the Living Beings Corridor with an army of the living dead and offered Chen Zheng the position of Punishment Envoy.
• Chen Zheng rejected the offer and snapped his fingers, turning the million-strong army of the living dead to ashes.
• The Sin Emperor appeared in his Heaven-Slaying Divine Armor to test Chen Zheng, who shattered the armor with a casual gesture.
• Chen Zheng explained that the Sin Emperor’s immortality came from a curse and swept his hand to erase it.
• The Sin Emperor’s body broke apart and blew away as dust, stunning the withered-faced old man and the others.

After killing the Sin Emperor, Chen Zheng learned that the living dead were only the tip of the iceberg in the Land of Embers. He destroyed the Dead Man Dao Palace, unleashing the Nine Evils and revealing a far larger, darker world filled with strange beings.

• The gaunt-faced old man warned Chen Zheng that the Sin Emperor had served hidden beings and that the Land of Embers concealed far more than its dwindling living dead.
• The gaunt-faced old man challenged Chen Zheng to enter the Dead Man Dao Palace, but Chen Zheng instead shattered it with a sweep of his hand.
• Pillars of white light rose from the palace ruins and pierced the dark firmament, shaking the Land of Embers.
• The Land of Embers changed as fissures opened and strange landmasses filled with billions of unfamiliar beings appeared.
• The gaunt-faced old man told Chen Zheng that he had opened the true Land of Embers and released the Nine Evils sealed within it.

Chen Zheng faced the Nine Evils after Ku Shi revealed that he had released them, and the Nine Evils joined forces to regain Dao Ancestor-level power. When they unleashed their terrifying manifestations against him, shackles appeared on Chen Zheng and broke, shattering the manifestations in a single clash.

• Ku Shi told the Nine Evils that Chen Zheng had released them and urged them to kill him.
• E Xing introduced himself as the ninth Evil and displayed a butcher's knife filled with remnant souls resembling the ancient heavenly god.
• Chen Zheng dismissed most of the Nine Evils as weak, provoking them to announce they would activate their ancient killing formation.
• The Nine Evils joined forces, regained Dao Ancestor combat strength, and summoned enormous ferocious manifestations.
• Chen Zheng rose above the Nine Evils as shackles appeared across his body and broke, shattering their manifestations with an overwhelming clash.

Chen Zheng used the Epoch Shackles to suppress the Nine Evils, who summoned their master, the Eternal Night Emperor, to defeat him. Chen Zheng called the emperor “food,” and a stone egg swallowed the emperor’s descending avatar of will.

• Chen Zheng suppressed the Nine Evils with the Epoch Shackles, and a gaunt-faced old man died of fright.
• The Nine Evils recognized the Epoch Shackles and urged the female godfiend to summon their master.
• The Eternal Night Emperor descended into the Land of Embers and declared Chen Zheng his enemy.
• Chen Zheng called the emperor’s avatar “food,” and a stone egg emerged from his pocket.
• The stone egg swallowed the Eternal Night Emperor’s avatar of will before he could finish speaking.