Recaps

A Huo and the Demon-Slaying Sword rescued prisoners from Otherworldly Demons in Flying Peng City, then offered the survivors a chance to join them. The story shifted to Chen Village, where two groups of Five Elements Guards attacked Chen Zihu in a training exercise.

• A Huo and the Demon-Slaying Sword stormed Flying Peng City, killed thousands of Otherworldly Demons, and freed the humans imprisoned there.
• A Huo led the surviving cultivators into the forest, where they freed more than a hundred prisoners from their demon chains and invited them to join the group.
• Nangong Feng joined the Demon-Slaying Sword, while Ye Wanrong stayed behind; seven or eight other survivors joined as well.
• A Huo and the group departed for their next destination.
• At Chen Village's training ground, two groups of Five Elements Guards attacked Chen Zihu while Chen Rufeng and his four teammates formed a Five Elements Battle Formation.

Chen Mu watched the Five Elements Guards train, then prepared to return to the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion to check on Chen Duo and discuss his new invention with his master. Worried by a bad premonition, he asked White Turtle to accompany him and set out to travel by flying vessel.

• Chen Rufeng and Miao Ya led their Five Elements Battle Formation squads in a prolonged training fight against Chen Zihu, and Chen Mu ended the session.
• Chen Mu explained to Chen Hongjie that the guards’ rune-enhanced bodies made them Battle Talisman Soldiers and asked him to help train other soldiers with the formation.
• Chen Mu reassured Chen Hongjie that Chen Duo and her companion were safe in the Mystic Spirit Grotto-Heaven, then said he planned to return to the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion.
• Chen Mu told Meng Hui he was leaving, and she prepared pastries and food for him to take along.
• Chen Mu asked White Turtle to accompany him; after learning the teleportation formation could not carry White Turtle, he decided they would travel by flying vessel.
• White Turtle agreed to go and transformed into a tattoo on Chen Mu’s chest using Chen Mu’s rune technique.

Chen Mu visited Kong Yu in Wilderness Border City and sold his legion new rune weapons before traveling to Heaven-Questioning Pavilion to report to Elder Ming. After hearing about Chen Mu’s recent discoveries and seeing his Runic Body abilities, Elder Ming led him into his spacious rune-making room.

• Chen Mu visited Kong Yu, who had risen to chief adviser while his former demon-hunting corps became an elite regular legion.
• Chen Mu showed Kong Yu the improved Rune Gun No. 2 and Rune Handheld Cannon, and Kong Yu ordered thirty guns and twenty cannons.
• Chen Mu left Wilderness Border City and arrived at Heaven-Questioning Pavilion that evening, then visited Elder Ming the next morning.
• Chen Mu apologized for staying away and told Elder Ming about his recent experiences, including the Runic Body and Five Elements Battle Formation.
• Chen Mu demonstrated his ability to control flames and water, and Elder Ming brought him into the rune-making room.

Chen Mu discussed his Five Elements Pattern and Runic Body with Elder Ming, who praised the invention and helped identify ways to improve it. After learning Chen Mu's data analyzer could model the body, Elder Ming asked him to investigate his long-standing injury, and the medical program began analyzing him.

• Chen Mu showed Elder Ming his Five Elements Pattern, and Elder Ming praised its potential while warning that cultivating runes inside the fragile body was dangerous.
• Elder Ming suggested changes to the pattern, and he and Chen Mu discussed runes, the five elements, matter, yin and yang, and the heavenly cycle.
• Chen Mu demonstrated his Runic Body and explained that his data analyzer helped simulate its changes.
• Elder Ming asked whether the analyzer could help treat injuries and revealed his hope that it could examine his own condition.
• Chen Mu scanned Elder Ming, completed a human medical program, and began an analysis that would take about another hour.

Chen Mu learned that he could enter the inner court by climbing the Wentian Stairway, then used Elder Ming’s Spirit-Illumination Pill to develop a treatment for his master’s brain injury. Elder Ming accepted Chen Mu’s inscription, and they waited to see whether it would help.

• Elder Ming told Chen Mu that climbing the ninety-nine steps of the Wentian Stairway could earn him entry to the inner court, and said it lay behind the Nether-Penetrating Abyss.
• Chen Mu’s data analyzer failed to find a treatment for Elder Ming’s severe brain trauma, but Elder Ming gave him a Spirit-Illumination Pill bearing healing runes.
• Chen Mu scanned the pill’s runes, and the data analyzer generated a treatment using the Runic Body technique to place a Spirit-Illumination Talisman in Elder Ming’s brain.
• Elder Ming agreed to the treatment, and Chen Mu shaved his head and inscribed the runic patterns.
• Chen Mu completed the inscription, and Elder Ming sensed the talisman inside his head but felt no noticeable change.

Chen Mu collected his earnings and ordered armor for Chen Village, while Hu Peng and Ge Yu confronted Chen Duo and Mingye after discovering Mingye’s altered appearance. The chapter left Mingye and Chen Duo fleeing Hu Peng’s attack as Chen Mu considered spending his contribution points on spirit materials.

• Chen Mu collected the proceeds from his works at Pear Rain Tower and ordered two hundred sets of fish-scale armor for Chen Village.
• Ge Yu accused Chen Duo of sheltering a demon woman, and Hu Peng demanded that she step aside so he could investigate.
• Hu Peng struck Chen Duo with Thundercloud Palm, injuring her and forcing Mingye to come out of the cottage.
• Hu Peng identified Mingye as a possible member of the Nether Clan and attacked when she refused to go with him.
• Mingye used Lovesickness Curtain to escape with Chen Duo, but Hu Peng pursued them in the form of a lightning eagle.
• Chen Mu remembered his unspent contribution points and entered a shop selling spirit materials to turn them into strength.

Chen Mu bought a damaged Jianmu tree branch after White Turtle revealed it held the wood-element power of creation his Five Elements Chaos Talisman needed. He overheard that Hu Peng had disrupted Mystic Spirit Grotto-Heaven while hunting a Nether Clan spy, prompting him to rush off and suspect a link to Mingye.

• Chen Mu bought several spiritual materials at Hundred Herbs Hall, including a damaged Jianmu tree branch, after White Turtle urged him to acquire it.
• Chen Mu overheard Wei Yatong tell Qi Xiaolei that Hu Peng had driven everyone from seclusion in Mystic Spirit Grotto-Heaven while pursuing a Nether Clan spy.
• Chen Mu connected the spy to Mingye, the Tuoba Lineage, and Nether Luo Mountain, then paid for his purchases without checking them and hurried downstairs.
• Qi Xiaolei recognized Chen Mu and suggested to Wei Yatong that they follow him because Hu Peng's target might be connected to him.

Chen Mu challenged the Wentian Stairway and climbed beyond the point where Ye Gudan had turned back, while Ye Gudan and his companions cornered Mingye and Chen Duo in the Mystic Spirit Grotto-Heaven. The chapter ended with Chen Mu advancing through a storm of lightning as inner pavilion disciples recognized him.

• Chen Mu reached the Wentian Stairway and rapidly climbed past its fiftieth step as Wei Yatong and Qi Xiaolei watched.
• Ye Gudan, Hu Peng, and Lin Siyu attacked the mountain where Mingye and Chen Duo were hiding, forcing them out of their crevice.
• Mingye and Chen Duo fought back, but Ye Gudan trapped them with the Brahma Great Luo Barrier, struck Mingye down, and held a sword to Chen Duo's neck.
• Chen Mu emerged from the clouds on the Wentian Stairway, blocked a lightning strike with a yellow-earth shield, and was recognized by the inner pavilion disciples.

Chen Mu climbed the final steps of the Wentian Stairway and reached the Inner Pavilion, where the Wentian Pavilion Master offered to make him a personal disciple. After Chen Mu declined because he was already Elder Ming’s disciple, the pavilion master asked him to see whether the awakened Wentian Divine Spear would return to its hall.

• Chen Mu used his Golden Armor Rune to withstand the lightning and climbed the ninety-seventh and ninety-eighth steps, then reached the final step.
• The Wentian Divine Spear flew from the Inner Pavilion and revealed itself as the source of the stairway’s pressure; Chen Mu endured it and stepped onto the landmass.
• The Wentian Pavilion Master and Feng Shao arrived, and the pavilion master offered to take Chen Mu as his personal disciple.
• Chen Mu declined the offer because he had already taken Elder Ming as his master, and the pavilion master accepted that they would discuss it another time.
• The Wentian Pavilion Master explained that the spear was the founding patriarch’s weapon and asked Chen Mu to persuade it to return to its hall.

Chen Mu earned the Wentian Divine Spear’s favor and entered the inner pavilion, then found Mingye and Chen Duo captured by disciples who accused them of aiding a Nether Clan spy. He rescued them, but Ye Gudan used the escape to declare Chen Mu guilty and demand his death.

• Chen Mu touched the Wentian Divine Spear, which promised to help him once if he awakened his bloodline.
• The Heaven-Questioning Pavilion Master sent Yi Qiao'er to guide Chen Mu to the Mystic Spirit Grotto-Heaven.
• Chen Mu found Mingye and Chen Duo unconscious and held by Ye Gudan, Hu Peng, Lin Siyu, and Ge Yu.
• After learning Chen Mu had ascended the Wentian Stairway, Ye Gudan stayed out of the fight as Chen Mu immobilized Hu Peng and Lin Siyu and rescued Mingye and Chen Duo.
• Ye Gudan accused Chen Mu of sheltering a Nether Clan spy and declared that he must be put to death.

Chen Mu fought Ye Gudan, Hu Peng, and Lin Siyu after Ge Yu trapped him and his companions in the Brahma Great Luo Barrier. He incapacitated Hu Peng and held off the others with his runes, leaving the battle at a ranged stalemate that favored him.

• Ge Yu trapped Chen Mu in the Brahma Great Luo Barrier, and Ye Gudan, Hu Peng, and Lin Siyu closed in to attack.
• Chen Mu awakened Mingye and Chen Duo, gave them talisman papers, and confronted Ye Gudan while they recovered.
• Chen Mu used an Azure Armor Rune to withstand Hu Peng's lightning and struck him hard enough to send him crashing into the barrier.
• Lin Siyu retreated to Ye Gudan as Chen Mu blocked their ranged attacks with a Misty Moon Water Mirror.
• Chen Mu and Ye Gudan's group continued exchanging ranged attacks, with Chen Mu holding his ground to protect Mingye and Chen Duo.

Yin Zhan and Zheng Fengdao decided to help Chen Mu against Ye Gudan and the others, while Ding Danxi learned of the fight and sent Elder Shen to arrest the disciples. The Brahma Great Luo Shield fell, giving Chen Mu the chance to press his attack as Ye Gudan and Lin Siyu ran low on Spiritual Power.

• Zheng Fengdao urged Yin Zhan to join the fight, and Yin Zhan agreed to leave the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion with him if necessary.
• The Myriad Phenomena Disk told Ding Danxi that disciples were fighting over a member of the Nether Clan, and Ding Danxi ordered Elder Shen to arrest them.
• Ge Yu asked Yi Qiao'er to summon an elder, but Yin Zhan attacked her before she could send word.
• Zheng Fengdao struck Ge Yu and sent him flying, causing the Brahma Great Luo Shield to collapse into a golden alms bowl.
• Chen Mu intensified his assault on Ye Gudan and Lin Siyu as their Spiritual Power dwindled.

Mingye and Chen Duo escaped after Chen Duo killed Ge Yu, while Chen Mu helped the group flee the inner pavilion and stayed behind to confront Elder Shen Rufeng. Chen Mu absorbed the elder’s punch with a magically enhanced tree as he attempted to break through his Divine Soul realm.

• Chen Duo shot Ge Yu dead and forced Yi Qiao'er to surrender at gunpoint.
• Chen Mu blasted Ye Gudan and Lin Siyu away, then helped Zheng Fengdao lead the group toward the grotto-heaven’s exit.
• Chen Mu gave his companions speed-boosting runes, then stayed behind to hold off the pursuing elder while they continued fleeing.
• Shen Rufeng confronted Chen Mu and revealed that the pavilion master had ordered his capture.
• Chen Mu used a tree and Mass-Energy Conversion to absorb Shen Rufeng’s powerful punch while his Divine Soul power surged.

Chen Mu broke through to the Solid Realm Fourth Layer and escaped Shen Rufeng by repeatedly teleporting, then rejoined Chen Duo, Mingye, Zheng Fengdao, and Yin Zhan at the sealed edge of the inner pavilion. When Ding Danxi arrived and ordered Mingye detained, Chen Mu shielded her, drawing the pavilion master's attention to his ability to use runes through his body.

• Chen Mu reached the Solid Realm Fourth Layer and endured Shen Rufeng's attack before teleporting out of range.
• Chen Mu repeatedly used the Instant Movement Talisman to evade Shen Rufeng, shake him off, and find Chen Duo and the others.
• Chen Duo, Mingye, Zheng Fengdao, and Yin Zhan failed to break through the barrier sealing the inner pavilion's edge, and Chen Mu's Burst Talisman did not affect it.
• Ding Danxi arrived, questioned Mingye about her Nether Clan identity, and ordered the Myriad Phenomena Disk to take her to the dungeon.
• Chen Mu appeared before Mingye and blocked the green energy ribbon with a Mountain Talisman, prompting Ding Danxi to notice the runes emerging from Chen Mu's body.

Chen Mu and his companions tried to escape the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion after he refused to surrender Mingye, but Ding Danxi trapped them with a powerful formation. The little porcelain bottle shielded them from his attacks, yet He Xiao's runic chains slowed their flight as they neared the pavilion's outskirts.

• Chen Mu secretly asked White Turtle for help, then gathered Mingye, Chen Duo, and the others and fled with him through the pavilion's protective barrier.
• Ding Danxi summoned the Heaven-Severing God-Slaying Formation, whose power of rules stopped White Turtle and sent the group falling.
• Chen Mu used the Nine Heavens Blazing Sun Brush to keep the five airborne, but Ding Danxi sent three energy swords after them.
• Mingye's little porcelain bottle formed a seven-colored dome that blocked Ding Danxi's swords and the formation's rules, allowing White Turtle to resume flying.
• He Xiao joined Ding Danxi and wrapped the dome in runic chains, slowing White Turtle as he carried Chen Mu and the others toward the outskirts.

Elder Ming intervened when Ding Danxi and the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion elders attacked Chen Mu and the Nether Clan woman, revealing his restored strength and disrupting the pavilion’s array. He threatened Ding Danxi with a powerful cannon as the White Turtle remained caught by the Myriad Phenomena Disk.

• Ding Danxi and the elders attacked the seven-colored barrier around Chen Mu and his companions, while Elder Ming arrived and demanded they be released.
• Elder Ming fired his Imperial Zenith World-Shocking Cannon, destroying He Xiao’s shields and rune scroll and injuring him.
• Elder Ming vanished as the White Turtle escaped, then sent Golden Puppets to block the pursuing elders.
• Elder Ming used his knowledge of the array’s foundation runes to extinguish two pillars and weaken the Heaven-Severing All-Gods Array.
• Ding Danxi used the Myriad Phenomena Disk to pull the White Turtle back, so Elder Ming aimed a gigantic cannon at him and challenged him to test it.

Chen Mu and his companions escaped the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion and traveled to Chen Village, where Yin Zhan departed to handle family matters. Chen Mu reunited with Chen Duo and prepared to introduce Zheng Fengdao and Mingye to Chen Hongjie.

• Ding Danxi withdrew the Myriad Phenomena Disk and the rules restraining White Turtle, allowing Chen Mu and the others to escape while Elder Ming stayed behind.
• Zheng Fengdao agreed to accompany Chen Mu to the Wilderness, while Yin Zhan chose to return to his Lineage before joining them later.
• Chen Mu made Mingye a transformation talisman in Alkaid City, then led the group to the public teleportation array.
• Yin Zhan departed through the teleportation array, and Chen Mu, Zheng Fengdao, Mingye, and Chen Duo returned to Chen Village.
• Chen Mu told Chen Duo that their mother had returned, and she ran home to see her; Chen Mu then took Zheng Fengdao and Mingye to meet Chen Hongjie.

Chen Mu returned to Chen Village and told his family he planned to stay, then helped Mingye reclaim the power sealed in the Netherworld Pearl. After Mingye accepted a role leading the village's secret guards and other duties were assigned, Chen Mu settled in to focus on rune research.

• Chen Mu told Chen Hongjie and Chen Zihu that he and his companions would stay in Chen Village, then suggested Mingye seek her people on Nether Luo Mountain.
• Mingye said she wanted to remain in Chen Village, and the Netherworld Pearl flew toward her before Chen Mu restrained it.
• The White Turtle confirmed the pearl held Mingye's power, so Chen Mu let her absorb it; she gained Death Qi and left to adjust to her new power.
• Mingye agreed to lead Chen Village's secret guard force, while Zheng Fengdao joined the talisman artifact team and Chen Duo became commander of the village guards.
• Chen Mu returned to the talisman-making room to devote himself to rune research.

Over the year, Chen Mu reorganized Chen Village’s production and built the Rune Research Institute into a large research and manufacturing center supported by the artificial intelligence Xiaozhi. The chapter ended with an iron spider demonstrating its speed, agility, and firepower at the institute.

• Chen Mu reorganized Chen Village’s production, began building an automated line for talisman artifact components, and expanded the talisman-making room into the Rune Research Institute.
• Chen Mu formally accepted Chen Ju and Chen Xuejun as disciples after assessing their talisman-making skills.
• Chen Duo, Mingye, and Zheng Fengdao joined Chen Village, which expanded its territory as Chen Mu’s Divine Soul reached the fourth layer.
• Chen Mu developed the institute’s artifact refinement, biology, and formation areas, with Chen Xuejun leading biological research in his absence and Nan Huaiyuan helping with formations.
• Chen Mu built a central processing system and created the artificial intelligence Xiaozhi to support the institute’s research.
• An iron spider raced through a test course, dodged Spiritual Power attacks, and destroyed all the surrounding targets with its gun barrels.

Chen Mu received Gu Zi'an, who explained that the Gu Lineage had been driven from the Flame Blessing Tribe after its ancestor died fighting Otherworldly Demons. Gu Zi'an sought refuge with Chen Mu, who considered accepting him and recognized the potential of his Seven Kills Sword Art.

• Chen Mu approved the spider-model Rune Puppet for mass production and ordered Landuo to send ten to the battlefield for testing.
• Chen Mu learned that Gu Zi'an had come to see him and invited him to the Rune Research Institute.
• Gu Zi'an was astonished by Chen Village’s rapid construction and its advanced rune-powered machinery.
• Chen Mu asked Gu Zi'an why he had come, and Gu Zi'an revealed that the Gu Lineage had been expelled from the Flame Blessing Tribe after its ancestor died fighting Otherworldly Demons.
• Gu Zi'an said only he and his younger sister remained alive, and Chen Mu considered taking him in because of his skill and the potential of his Seven Kills Sword Art.

Over two years, Chen Mu’s arms trade helped Chen Village expand into a power that rivaled the Wilderness’s great tribes. When new envoy Xing Le investigated Chen Village through the Suspended Light Realm, the artifact went black before he could see anything.

• Chen Mu welcomed Gu Zi'an to Chen Village and promised to modify his Demonic Patterns so he could cultivate the Seven Kills Sword Art.
• Chen Mu partnered with the Eight Directions Chamber of Commerce to sell weapons, and Chen Village grew rapidly, gaining control of more than a thousand square kilometers.
• Xing Le replaced Mu Zhang as a Wilderness envoy and asked Su Wanyi about recent events in the Wilderness.
• Su Wanyi told Xing Le that the Otherworldly Demons had been driven back and that Chen Village had risen unusually fast, defeating other tribes with powerful weapons and rune artifacts.
• Xing Le used the Suspended Light Realm to investigate Chen Village, but its image turned pitch-black.

Chen Zihu led Chen Village’s army against the Jianglan Tribe for control of the Blazing Sun Mountain Range, using new explosive shells and Rune Guns to inflict heavy losses. As the larger, more experienced Jianglan army gained the advantage in close combat, Landuo’s steel beasts emerged to attack it from three directions.

• Su Wanyi explained that a formation had shielded Chen Village’s inner city from the Suspended Light Mirror for two years and advised Xing Le to observe the armies it sent out.
• Chen Zihu ordered nearly ten thousand Chen Village soldiers to attack Jiang Kunyu’s larger Jianglan army in the Blazing Sun Mountain Range.
• Jianglan’s divine archers shattered the Rune Handheld Cannon shells, but their fragments exploded across the battlefield and caused heavy casualties.
• Chen Village’s Rune Gun troops inflicted further losses, but Jianglan’s superior numbers and soldiers began to overwhelm Chen Village in close combat.
• Jiang Kunyu fought Chen Zihu to a standstill with their weapons, while Chen Zihu waited for Landuo to act.
• Hundreds of spider-like steel beasts emerged behind and on both flanks of Jianglan’s army and opened fire.

Chen Village defeated the Jianglan army with the help of Rune Puppet No. 2 Spiders, while Xing Le decided to intervene to protect the Jianglan Tribe. Su Wanyi allowed him to act as long as he obeyed the Heavenly God's rules.

• Jiang Kunyu led the Jianglan army against Chen Zihu, but Rune Puppet No. 2 Spiders ambushed them from behind.
• Chen Zihu defeated Jiang Kunyu's attack, and Jiang Kunyu ordered a retreat as Chen Village pursued the survivors.
• Chen Village returned to its base after the battle, having lost more than four thousand ordinary soldiers while the Jianglan army suffered nearly twenty thousand deaths.
• Xing Le questioned whether Chen Village's rune puppets disrupted the Wilderness's order, and Su Wanyi explained that they did not violate the existing rules.
• Xing Le revealed that he wanted to protect the Jianglan Tribe because of an old promise, and Su Wanyi let him leave to act as long as he followed the Heavenly God's rules.

Chen Mu completed the fusion of Soul Power and Spiritual Power into Dharma Power and stabilized his cultivation at the Peak of the True Spirit Realm. After learning of an auction offering the Water of Supreme Yin, he prepared to attend, but an imposing old man arrived above Chen Village and demanded to see its leader.

• Chen Mu absorbed medicinal liquid to strengthen his Dharma Power and reflected on his plans to break through to the Core Formation Realm.
• Chen Xuejun told Chen Mu that the Water of Supreme Yin would be auctioned in Kuiming City, and Chen Mu decided to attend himself.
• Chen Mu checked Xiaozhi's progress deciphering the Fate Dao of Talismans and considered how its luck runes benefited those close to him.
• An old man called for Chen Village's leader, and Chen Mu flew outside to confront the visitor.

Temple envoy Xing Le came to Chen Village to punish Chen Mu for using puppet talisman artifacts in a tribal war, but the White Turtle drove him back. Chen Mu challenged Xing Le to watch his disciples make the artifacts and left the envoy to judge whether they could produce them.

• Chen Mu and Chen Hongjie greeted Xing Le, who accused Chen Mu of violating the heavenly deity’s ban on Core Formation-level cultivators participating in tribal wars.
• Xing Le tried to seize Chen Mu, but Chen Mu escaped with Chen Hongjie using an Instant Movement Talisman.
• Xing Le pursued them, but the White Turtle struck him with a beam of white light and ordered him to leave.
• Chen Mu asked Xing Le to watch his disciples make puppet talisman artifacts, promising to submit if they failed to make any kind used in the war.
• Xing Le accepted Chen Mu’s challenge and agreed to watch the disciples demonstrate.