Chapter Summaries

Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e set out to investigate the corpse-demon disaster, following evidence toward the Yanggu Zhang Clan. The Wang Clan learned that someone could control corpse demons and expected the Chen Clan to pursue the lead.

• Chen Guangsheng warned Chen Qingyu to keep proper boundaries with Wu Su'e, then gave her the golden talisman entrusted by her clan's elder.
• Chen Qingyu said he and Wu Su'e would investigate the Eighteen-Family Alliance's lair at Heaven-Reaching Sword Gorge before pursuing the lead toward the Yanggu Zhang Clan.
• Chen Guangsheng agreed to take them to the Yanggu Zhang Clan after investigating, but left first to return the Heaven-Swallowing Ba Serpent's corpse to the Chen Clan for examination.
• Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e flew toward Heaven-Reaching Sword Gorge to continue their investigation.
• After hearing the Wang brothers' account, the disheveled-haired ancestor concluded that the Chen Clan would pursue the Yanggu Zhang Clan lead.

The Wang Clan chose to investigate the Eighteen-Family Alliance from the sidelines while its elder stayed behind to guard Heaven-Reaching Sword Gorge. After finding evidence that the Canhe Zhang Clan secretly served the Yanggu Zhang Clan, Chen Qingyu decided to confront the Yanggu Zhang Clan openly as Chen Shaojun.

• The loose-haired Wang elder told the eldest Wang brother to let the Chen Clan lead the investigation, while the Wang Clan searched for leads and sent its Saint King's successor home.
• After the Heavenly Sword Saint King's sword intent vanished and a wild beast attacked Heavenly Sword Mountain, panic spread through Heaven-Reaching Sword Gorge and its inhabitants fled.
• Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e searched five factions of the Eighteen-Family Alliance and uncovered evidence of collusion before a Wang Clan sword cultivator brought them a golden crystal chip.
• Chen Qingyu learned from the chip that the Canhe Zhang Clan was a secret branch of the Yanggu Zhang Clan that had maintained covert contact with the main clan for thousands of years.
• Chen Qingyu told Wu Su'e he would go to Yanggu as Chen Shaojun, demand access to the Yanggu Zhang Clan's records and grounds, and investigate the mysterious woman he suspected belonged to its direct line.

After returning from a seven-day absence, Chen Guangsheng told Chen Qingyu that someone had deliberately transformed the Heaven-Swallowing Ba Serpent’s corpse into a Corpse Demon. The holy lands appointed Chen Qingyu to lead the investigation into the Yanggu Zhang Clan and all related leads.

• Chen Qingyu checked in at Heaven-Reaching Sword Gorge and slightly improved his command of the True Dharma of Commanding and Controlling All Lightning.
• Chen Guangsheng returned and explained that the Ninth Ancestor had been occupied investigating the Supreme Void Eternal World Mirror’s stolen authority.
• Chen Guangsheng revealed that someone had dug up the long-dead Heaven-Swallowing Ba Serpent and deliberately catalyzed its transformation into a Corpse Demon.
• The Chen Clan alerted the other holy lands, which kept the discovery secret to prevent panic.
• The holy lands unanimously appointed Chen Qingyu to oversee the investigation into the Yanggu Zhang Clan and related leads, and Chen Guangsheng handed him a sky-blue jade talisman.

Chen Qingyu received a jade command talisman granting him authority to investigate the Corpse Demon calamity on behalf of the sacred lands. He arrived with Wu Su'e and Chen Guangsheng at the Yanggu Zhang Clan’s ancestral land, ready to search it openly.

• Chen Guangsheng gave Chen Qingyu a sky-blue jade talisman bearing the authority of the five eternal clans and six ancient sacred lands.
• Wu Su'e told Chen Qingyu that Emperor Yuan had once received the same trust while investigating the Corpse Demon calamity, but had failed to uncover its cause.
• Chen Guangsheng brought Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e through the void to the Yanggu Zhang Clan’s ancestral land.
• Chen Qingyu announced that they would approach the Yanggu Zhang Clan openly and asked Chen Guangsheng to intimidate them if they resisted.
• Chen Guangsheng agreed to safeguard Chen Qingyu, who then flew down toward the city.

Chen Qingyu arrived at the Yanggu Zhang Clan with Wu Su'e and Chen Guangsheng, intending to call the clan to account, but the Zhang Clan's guards tried to seize them. Chen Guangsheng overwhelmed the clan's defenders with his starry manifestation, prompting clan leader Zhang Hechu and other mighty figures to come out and greet him.

• Chen Qingyu noticed a long queue of visitors gathering at the Yanggu Zhang Clan's inner city and learned they were registering for a selection.
• Chen Qingyu told the checkpoint official he had come to call the Zhang Clan to account and demanded that its leader and senior members appear.
• The checkpoint official dismissed Chen Qingyu as a Spirit Origin Realm cultivator and ordered guards to seize the group.
• Chen Guangsheng unleashed a vast sea of stars that crushed the Heavenly Impulse Realm guards and shattered the resistance of more than twenty Zhang Clan presences.
• Zhang Hechu and several Zhang Clan mighty figures came out, and Zhang Hechu bowed and asked which sacred land's mighty figure had arrived.

Chen Qingyu arrived at the Yanggu Zhang Clan bearing the Azure Command Talisman and announced that he would investigate the clan, prompting Zhang Hechu to escort him and his companions into the inner city. In the Morning Sun Hall, Zhang Hechu asked to see the talisman, and Chen Qingyu challenged whether he doubted his identity.

• Chen Guangsheng identified himself as a supreme elder of the Chen Clan and deferred to Chen Qingyu, who introduced himself as Chen Shaojun and declared he had come as the human race's sacred envoy to investigate the Yanggu Zhang Clan.
• Zhang Hechu cautiously welcomed Chen Qingyu and asked what offense had brought him there; Chen Qingyu said the matter was unsuitable to discuss at the city gates, then followed Zhang Hechu into the inner city with Chen Guangsheng and Wu Su'e.
• After the visitors left, a Zhang Clan mighty figure returned to the city gates, blamed the middle-aged gatekeeper for mishandling Chen Qingyu's arrival, and ordered that his cultivation be crippled and that he be made a slave.
• In the Morning Sun Hall, Chen Qingyu took the principal seat while Chen Guangsheng and Wu Su'e sat beside him.
• Zhang Hechu asked Chen Qingyu to show the Azure Command Talisman, and Chen Qingyu narrowed his eyes and asked whether Zhang Hechu doubted his identity.

Chen Qingyu proved his identity as humanity’s Sacred Envoy and confronted the Yanggu Zhang Clan over its branch’s role in the Desolate Wilds Calamity. Zhang Hechu denied the clan’s involvement and revealed that a mysterious illness had afflicted more than half its direct descendants, leaving the investigation at a new lead.

• Chen Qingyu displayed the Azure Command Talisman, convincing Zhang Hechu and the Zhang Clan elders that he was the Sacred Envoy.
• Chen Qingyu told Zhang Hechu that the Canhe Zhang Clan had joined seventeen powers, allied with a hidden force, caused the Desolate Wilds Calamity, and colluded with Corpse Demons.
• Zhang Hechu acknowledged that the Canhe Zhang Clan was a secret branch of the Yanggu Zhang Clan, but insisted they had little contact and acted without the clan’s knowledge.
• Chen Qingyu said the evidence pointed to the Yanggu Zhang Clan and that the mastermind’s cultivation methods and divine abilities resembled theirs.
• Zhang Hechu revealed that a strange illness had begun spreading through the Zhang Clan half a year earlier, weakening the infected, damaging their cultivation, and shortening their lifespans.
• Zhang Hechu said the illness had infected more than half the clan’s direct descendants, forcing the Zhang Clan to seal off the inner city and seek a cure.

Chen Qingyu demanded unrestricted access to the Yanggu Zhang Clan’s territories and records so he could investigate the clan’s strange illness and its possible connection to the mysterious woman. After Zhang Hechu left to make arrangements, Chen Guangsheng revealed that the clan’s old matriarch was its true leader.

• Chen Qingyu realized the Zhang Clan’s selection at the inner city gates had been intended to find someone who could diagnose its strange illness.
• Chen Qingyu ordered the Zhang Clan to open all its territories, forbidden grounds, archives, and descendant registers, and barred its people from leaving during his investigation.
• Zhang Hechu and the other Zhang Clan elders agreed to comply, then argued among themselves before Zhang Hechu ordered them to make the arrangements and said he would report to the old matriarch.
• Chen Qingyu told Wu Su'e that he had acted overbearing to test the Zhang Clan’s reaction, but could not tell whether the elders were ignorant or pretending.
• Chen Guangsheng explained that the old matriarch, granddaughter of the Zhang Clan’s founding ancestor, was the clan’s true leader.

Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e set out to investigate the Yanggu Zhang Clan’s forbidden Supreme Harmony Altar while Chen Guangsheng remained at Chaoyang Hall. They reached the altar with Zhang Liusheng as their guide, though her reaction to Chen Qingyu’s request hinted at how sacred the place was to the clan.

• Chen Qingyu grew wary after learning the Zhang Clan had an old matriarch he had not heard about, then decided to explore the clan grounds for clues.
• Chen Guangsheng stayed at Chaoyang Hall, while Wu Su'e agreed to accompany Chen Qingyu to the Supreme Harmony Altar.
• Zhang Liusheng introduced herself as the clan leader’s great-great-granddaughter and revealed that she had once fought Wu Su'e in Golden Bridge Heaven.
• Chen Qingyu asked Zhang Liusheng to lead them to the forbidden Supreme Harmony Altar, and she reluctantly agreed under Zhang Hechu’s orders.
• Chen Qingyu, Wu Su'e, and Zhang Liusheng crossed the quiet inner city and arrived before the immense underground palace of the Supreme Harmony Altar.

Chen Qingyu visited the Zhang clan’s Supreme Harmony Altar and received six cultivation rewards from the Sign-In System, claiming the first and advancing to the Spirit Origin Realm Third Heaven. He returned with Wu Su'e and Zhang Liusheng to wait for the Zhang family’s records and materials before getting down to business.

• Zhang Liusheng led Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e through the formation-protected underground palace to the ancient Supreme Harmony Altar.
• Chen Qingyu signed in at the altar and learned that the system had drawn six cumulative cultivation rewards.
• Chen Qingyu claimed the first reward, and a surge of primordial Qi raised his cultivation to the Spirit Origin Realm Third Heaven.
• Wu Su'e suspected that Chen Qingyu had gained another benefit, but he did not explain what had happened.
• Chen Qingyu said they should return and wait a few hours for the Zhang family to deliver records and materials, and Zhang Liusheng led them toward the guest accommodations.

Chen Qingyu examined the Zhang Clan’s genealogical records while resentment grew among its young descendants. During a thunderstorm, he told Wu Su'e that the records revealed secrets and that the Zhang Clan had problems even if it was not involved in the Corpse Demon calamity.

• Zhang Hechu gave Chen Qingyu records about the Zhang Clan’s direct descendants and asked him to clear the clan’s name if it proved innocent.
• Chen Qingyu began examining the genealogies as young Zhang Clan descendants complained about his investigation and discussed the authority of the Azure Command Talisman.
• A handsome Zhang Clan descendant urged the others to trust their clan and wait for Chen Qingyu’s investigation to fail before settling the score with him.
• Wu Su'e found Chen Qingyu watching a thunderstorm, and he said he had been imagining a powerful technique combining his methods.
• Chen Qingyu told Wu Su'e that the records offered few reliable clues but had revealed secrets and problems within the Zhang Clan.

Chen Qingyu investigated the Yanggu Zhang Clan’s extreme close-kin marriages and suspected they were tied to the clan’s mysterious illness. After secretly comparing the clan’s descendants, he identified the masked woman who had controlled the Heaven-Swallowing Ba Serpent as a member of the Zhang Clan’s direct line and claimed he had found her branch.

• Chen Qingyu told Wu Su'e that the Zhang Clan’s generations of marriages between close relatives had become extreme and might explain their strange illness.
• Chen Qingyu questioned Zhang Clan direct descendants for several days while secretly comparing their appearances to find the branch of the masked woman.
• Wu Su'e confronted Chen Qingyu for seemingly wasting his investigation on painting a beautiful woman’s portrait.
• Chen Qingyu revealed that the portrait depicted the woman who had controlled the Heaven-Swallowing Ba Serpent.
• Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e concluded that the woman’s distinctive appearance marked her as a Zhang Clan direct descendant, and Chen Qingyu said he had identified her branch.

Chen Qingyu concluded that the Zhang Clan's Old Matriarch had erased the traces of a woman connected to his investigation, so he went to demand a meeting with her. Zhang Hechu refused, claiming the Old Matriarch was sealed away with a highly contagious illness.

• Chen Qingyu told Wu Su'e that the woman had two sisters who knew nothing of her, and he suspected the Zhang Clan's Old Matriarch had erased her existence.
• Chen Qingyu decided to confront the Old Matriarch, and Wu Su'e agreed to accompany him after reminding him to call for Chen Guangsheng's protection.
• Chen Qingyu met with Zhang Hechu in Morning Sun Hall and asked to see the Old Matriarch.
• Zhang Hechu said the Old Matriarch had contracted a terrifying illness and sealed herself in a separate space, warning that entering could infect Chen Qingyu.

Chen Qingyu learned that the Zhang Clan’s strange illness could infect outsiders and had killed many who came to treat it. He asked Zhang Hechu to take him to the outbreak’s source to examine the infected, and the chapter ended as they prepared to enter the pavilion.

• Zhang Hechu explained that the illness infected Zhang Clan members almost immediately but took outsiders several days to spread to.
• Chen Qingyu rejected Zhang Hechu’s offer to take him to the old matriarch and instead asked to see people infected with the illness.
• Zhang Hechu agreed to lead Chen Qingyu and his companions to the pavilion where the first infected person was located.
• Zhang Hechu said most healers left after five or six days, while Master Jia had treated the Zhang Clan for nearly half a year and was supposedly immune to illness.
• Chen Qingyu felt reassured by Master Jia’s immunity and asked Zhang Hechu to lead them inside.

Chen Qingyu examined the Zhang Clan’s strange illness and heard Master Jia’s theory that a special kind of Dust Gu caused it. After Master Jia admitted he could only keep the infected alive, Chen Qingyu offered to try treating them himself.

• Zhang Hechu sent a soldier to summon Master Jia rather than enter the pavilion himself.
• Master Jia met Chen Qingyu and warned him not to interfere with his treatment of the Zhang Clan’s illness.
• Chen Qingyu followed Master Jia into the bedchamber and saw an infected young man weakened almost beyond recognition.
• Chen Qingyu praised Master Jia for keeping thousands of infected Zhang Clan members alive.
• Master Jia explained that he suspected a special Dust Gu caused the illness but had found no way to identify it.
• Chen Qingyu offered to try treating the illness himself.

Chen Qingyu used Drawing Out Primordial Yang to awaken a Zhang Clan patient whom Master Jia had believed beyond saving, but he told Wu Su'e that the cure treated only the symptoms. He left the tower with Master Jia, who admitted his inferiority and told Zhang Hechu that the Zhang Clan’s savior had arrived.

• Chen Qingyu examined the unconscious young man from a distance and used Drawing Out Primordial Yang, despite Master Jia’s skepticism.
• The young man woke, sat up, and quickly regained his strength, shocking Master Jia and the physicians.
• Master Jia apologized to Chen Qingyu and asked how he had performed the cure, but Chen Qingyu kept his method secret.
• Chen Qingyu privately told Wu Su'e that the young man could become ill again unless they found the illness’s source.
• Master Jia escorted Chen Qingyu and Wu Su'e outside and told Zhang Hechu that Chen Qingyu had cured the patient and was the Zhang Clan’s savior.

After Chen Qingyu cured the first patient infected with the strange illness, Zhang Hechu asked him to save the Yanggu Zhang Clan, and Chen Qingyu agreed to help once his investigation cleared the clan of suspicion. Chen Qingyu then checked in at the Supreme Harmony Altar, reached the Spirit Origin Realm Eighth Heavenly Layer, and unlocked the Summit of Liangshan as his fourth check-in location.

• A physician confirmed that Chen Qingyu had completely cured the first infected patient, and Zhang Hechu thanked him and asked him to save the Yanggu Zhang Clan.
• Chen Qingyu agreed to cure the clan if his investigation found it innocent, then arranged to meet the old matriarch at Morning Sun Hall an hour later.
• Chen Qingyu went alone to the Supreme Harmony Altar and claimed his sixth cultivation reward.
• The reward raised Chen Qingyu to the Spirit Origin Realm Eighth Heavenly Layer, and the system announced that the altar's rewards were exhausted and unlocked the Summit of Liangshan.

Chen Qingyu agreed to investigate the Zhang Clan’s strange illness and went with Wu Su'e and Chen Guangsheng to meet the weakened old matriarch in her sealed retreat. The old matriarch welcomed them and invited them to ask their questions.

• Chen Qingyu learned that the fourth check-in location was the Summit of Liangshan and planned to visit it after returning to the Central Region.
• Zhang Liusheng told Chen Qingyu that his cure had stirred hope among the Zhang Clan, and he assured her he would act after investigating the family’s affairs.
• Chen Qingyu left for Morning Sun Hall and met Zhang Hechu, who led him, Wu Su'e, and Chen Guangsheng to the old matriarch’s retreat.
• Chen Guangsheng reassured Chen Qingyu as the three crossed the void passage into the old matriarch’s bedchamber.
• Chen Qingyu greeted the old matriarch and explained that they had come to clear the Yanggu Zhang Clan of suspicion, and she invited them to ask their questions.

Chen Qingyu questioned the Zhang Clan's Old Matriarch about Zhang Yanqing and learned she was hiding in the clan's inner city. He arranged to meet her at the Plucking Osmanthus Pavilion that afternoon, while preparing for the possibility of danger.

• Chen Qingyu showed the Old Matriarch Zhang Yanqing's portrait and accused her of causing the Heavenly Sword Mountain upheaval and colluding with those behind the Corpse Demon calamity.
• The Old Matriarch revealed that Zhang Yanqing was in the Zhang Clan's inner city and might appear at the Plucking Osmanthus Pavilion at three quarters past the hour of the Rooster.
• Chen Qingyu told Wu Su'e that he did not fully trust the Old Matriarch but would give her a chance, and Chen Guangsheng offered to watch over the meeting unseen.
• Chen Guangsheng warned Chen Qingyu to summon the Ninth Ancestor if his life was in danger.
• Chen Qingyu asked Zhang Hechu about the pavilion and ordered him to keep all Zhang Clan members away from it.

Chen Qingyu met Zhang Yanqing at the Plucking Osmanthus Pavilion to learn about her hidden affiliations and motives. She revealed that she belonged to the Sage Enactment Palace and wanted to destroy the Yanggu Zhang Clan, leaving Chen Qingyu questioning how he could judge the clan’s deeply troubling traditions as an outsider.

• Chen Qingyu entered the osmanthus garden alone while Wu Su'e waited outside.
• Zhang Yanqing arrived at the Plucking Osmanthus Pavilion and invited Chen Qingyu to ask his questions.
• Zhang Yanqing told Chen Qingyu she had joined the Sage Enactment Palace about ten years earlier and explained that it sought to overthrow the existing order above all.
• Zhang Yanqing revealed that her sole goal was to destroy the Yanggu Zhang Clan.
• Chen Qingyu challenged Zhang Yanqing’s desire to destroy her own clan, then admitted he was not qualified as an outsider to judge the clan’s traditions.