Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu visited Listening Wind Tower to meet its master, Fan Jing, and discovered disguised Otherworldly Demons and a powerful presence while surveying the headquarters. Fan Jing welcomed him and recognized that Chen Mu concealed unusual abilities, leaving the two leaders alone to talk.

• Gu Zi'an presented Chen Mu’s calling card, and an attendant led them to a private tearoom while the tower master finished receiving another guest.
• Chen Mu declined Gu Zi'an’s offer to make inquiries and used his rune-modified eye to map the headquarters, where he detected disguised Otherworldly Demons and a powerful presence.
• Fan Jing finished meeting a gorgeous woman who had failed to persuade him to agree to something, then learned that Chen Mu was waiting.
• Fan Jing met Chen Mu, recognized that his Qi was hidden behind gray chaos, and sent the others out so they could speak privately.

Chen Mu asked Listening Wind Tower Master Fan Jing for information about the Heavenly Court and the Abyss Devil Race, and Fan Jing offered the information in exchange for help retrieving an item from the Tomb of the Gods. Chen Mu agreed to consider the dangerous alternate space after learning it would not delay the Chen Kingdom’s planned counterattack.

• Chen Mu asked Fan Jing for detailed information about the Abyss Devil Realm and the Nine Heavens Realm, but Fan Jing questioned whether the Chen Kingdom was strong enough to become involved.
• Chen Mu revealed that the Chen Kingdom would soon counterattack the Otherworldly Demons and confirmed that he had reached Emperor Level, prompting Fan Jing to reassess the kingdom’s strength.
• Fan Jing offered to share what he knew about the two realms if Chen Mu retrieved an item from the Tomb of the Gods.
• Fan Jing explained that the Tomb of the Gods lay within an alternate space where time passed ten times slower and that Chen Mu’s rune skills and rune puppets made him suited to enter and search it.

Fan Jing recruited Chen Mu to investigate the runic power in the Tomb of the Gods, believing his rune expertise could retrieve something Fan Jing had lost there. As they traveled, Chen Mu’s flying vehicle matched Fan Jing’s Purple Cloud Shuttle and impressed him with its speed and concealment.

• Fan Jing explained that Emperor Level talisman masters were rare and that he valued Chen Mu’s rune knowledge, so Chen Mu agreed to visit the Tomb of the Gods.
• Chen Mu and Fan Jing instructed their subordinates before setting out, with Chen Mu sending Gu Zi'an back to the Chen Kingdom.
• Fan Jing offered Chen Mu a ride on his Purple Cloud Shuttle, but Chen Mu chose to follow in his talisman-puppet flying vehicle.
• After Fan Jing’s shuttle sped away from Guangling City, Chen Mu’s vehicle appeared above him using spatial concealment.
• Fan Jing pushed the Purple Cloud Shuttle to full speed, but Chen Mu’s vehicle kept pace, leaving Fan Jing impressed by Chen Mu’s puppet techniques.

Chen Mu followed Fan Jing through a spatial tunnel into the Tomb of the Gods, an alternate plane with chaotic rules and no Spiritual Qi. After finding shelter, Chen Mu began adapting to the plane and discovered that his runes still worked despite the changed rules.

• Fan Jing showed Chen Mu the sinkhole entrance to the Tomb of the Gods and gave him a spatial coordinate stone for the return journey.
• Fan Jing warned Chen Mu about the unstable tunnel and dangers inside, then led him into the sinkhole while Chen Mu followed in his talisman puppet flying car.
• After four hours in the spatial tunnel, Chen Mu and Fan Jing emerged into a dark, barren world and flew away from the entrance before hiding near a rocky mountain.
• Chen Mu discovered the plane had no Spiritual Qi and that its chaotic rules interfered with his flying car, so he put the car away and flew on his own.
• Chen Mu studied the plane's rules and saw runes form around him, confirming that his runes continued to function under different rules.

Chen Mu adapted the Water Condensation Talisman to the Tomb of the Gods’ rules and produced pure water, astonishing Fan Jing. He said he could use about thirty percent of his strength in the plane, and Fan Jing recognized his exceptional cross-plane adaptability.

• Chen Mu analyzed why runes lost their effects in the Tomb of the Gods and considered how to adjust them to different planes.
• Chen Mu modified the Water Condensation Talisman using his intelligent brain and the local rules, then condensed pure water.
• Fan Jing was stunned by the feat, and Chen Mu explained that he had adapted the rune to the plane.
• Fan Jing asked how much of his strength Chen Mu could use, and Chen Mu estimated about thirty percent.
• Fan Jing compared Chen Mu’s adaptability with his own and concluded that Chen Mu had reached the highest level.

Chen Mu and Fan Jing traveled across the dangerous Tomb of the Gods, using Chen Mu’s scout puppets to avoid its native creatures and reach Fan Jing’s destination. They arrived at a valley marked by the remnants of a deadly bagua formation, where Fan Jing’s lost object was located.

• Fan Jing showed Chen Mu a map and explained that they needed to travel toward a valley in the northern barren lands.
• Chen Mu warned Fan Jing of an approaching beast, and the two fled until they escaped it.
• Chen Mu took the lead using his detection range as they crossed a chasm and survived spatial rifts and void beast attacks.
• Chen Mu released scout puppets on the Blood-Red Mountain Range and used their reports to guide them around dangerous creatures.
• Chen Mu and Fan Jing reached the valley, where Chen Mu found traces of a damaged formation and residual bagua rune power.

Chen Mu examined the ancient Eight Trigrams runes in Divine Furnace Valley and learned that Fan Jing had lost his sarira there years ago. After deducing a safer route into the valley, Chen Mu entered alone to search for it, leaving Fan Jing outside.

• Chen Mu studied the ancient runes and turbulent energy throughout Divine Furnace Valley.
• Fan Jing told Chen Mu that he had once been a Buddhist disciple and had lost his sarira in the valley.
• Fan Jing explained that he had escaped after using his sarira to attack a rune-covered wall, but could no longer summon it back.
• Chen Mu used the valley's layout and the Eight Trigrams to identify a safer entrance.
• Chen Mu told Fan Jing to wait outside and rushed into Divine Furnace Valley alone.

Chen Mu deciphered the Ancient Runes in Divine Furnace Valley, found the sarira Fan Jing had sent him to retrieve, and continued exploring the valley. He reached a ruined building marked “Pill Hall.”

• Chen Mu studied the Ancient Runes, learned to control the chaotic energy currents, and discovered that some runes could draw power from the cosmic void.
• Chen Mu sent reconnaissance puppets deeper into the valley and found a golden human skeleton and several strange ores, which he stored in his spatial wristband.
• Chen Mu located a rune-covered stone cave, overcame its suction force, and retrieved the sarira for Fan Jing.
• Chen Mu left the cave and continued exploring, eventually reaching a dilapidated hall bearing the plaque “Pill Hall.”

Chen Mu found that an incomplete but formidable formation guarded the Pill Hall, so he recorded its patterns and left Divine Furnace Valley. He traded Fan Jing’s recovered sarira for promised intelligence on the Heavenly Court and the Abyss, while Fan Jing hinted that the Heavenly Court also treated humans as livestock.

• Chen Mu found the Pill Hall protected by an ancient formation, recorded its patterns in his intelligent brain, and left without entering.
• Chen Mu met Fan Jing outside Divine Furnace Valley and asked why the Listening Wind Tower worked with the Abyss Devil Race.
• Fan Jing said the Listening Wind Tower served whoever paid and claimed that the Abyss Devil Race wanted to cooperate with humans, prompting Chen Mu to challenge him.
• Fan Jing claimed the Heavenly Court openly treated humans as pigs in a pen, but stopped explaining until Chen Mu handed over the sarira.
• Chen Mu gave Fan Jing the five-colored sarira, and Fan Jing swallowed and refined it, recovering his cultivation.
• Fan Jing promised to provide intelligence on the Heavenly Court and the Abyss at Listening Wind Tower headquarters, and the two prepared to return to the Pan Emperor Continent.

Chen Mu returned from the Tomb of the Gods to Guangling City with Fan Jing’s help and collected intelligence on the Heavenly Court and the Abyss Devil Race. After confirming that his plans were proceeding smoothly, he left for the public teleportation array.

• Fan Jing praised Chen Mu’s quick learning and offered him a discount on the Listening Wind Tower’s services, and Chen Mu agreed to cooperate in the future.
• Fan Jing explained how to use the spatial coordinate stone to navigate the random exit of the tunnel, and Chen Mu asked why the Tomb of the Gods’ creatures did not escape to the Pan Emperor Continent.
• Fan Jing said the Pan Emperor Continent’s Heavenly Dao would kill outsiders with Heavenly Tribulation, while the Abyss Devil Race had its own means of evading that fate.
• Chen Mu and Fan Jing traveled through the spatial tunnel and emerged over a lake in Yang Province; Chen Mu identified the direction of Guangling City and flew away.
• Chen Mu reached the Listening Wind Tower’s courtyard, contacted Gu Zi'an, and learned that everything was proceeding according to plan.
• Fan Jing gave Chen Mu sealed scrolls containing intelligence on the Heavenly Court and the Abyss Devil Race, and Chen Mu left for the public teleportation array in his Rune Puppet Flying Car.

Chen Mu learned from the Listening Wind Tower’s intelligence that the Heavenly Court and Abyss Devil Race were vast powers beyond the Pan Emperor Continent, then shared what he had learned with the Chen Kingdom’s leaders. He insisted that their campaign against the Otherworldly Demons would proceed, arguing that enemies entering the Pan Emperor Continent could not use power beyond Emperor Level.

• Chen Mu read intelligence describing the Pan Emperor Continent as a supreme material plane and explaining the Heavenly Court’s strength and influence over part of its Heavenly Dao.
• Chen Mu studied the Abyss Devil Race’s origins and forces, noting that the Listening Wind Tower had no information about its apparent backer.
• Chen Mu sent the intelligence to the Chen Kingdom’s higher-ups and summoned them to a meeting before the planned campaign against the Otherworldly Demons.
• At the meeting, Chen Zihu worried that they should withdraw their troops, but Chen Mu reassured the leaders that enemies entering the Pan Emperor Continent were limited to Emperor Level.

Chen Mu launched a full-scale assault on the Otherworldly Demons, and the Chen Kingdom's forces rapidly captured cities and passes along the border. As reports of early victories arrived, Chen Zihu asked when the six Otherworldly Demon Emperors would intervene.

• Chen Mu won Chen Hongjie's support, and the leaders agreed to attack the Otherworldly Demons the next day.
• At daybreak, the Chen Kingdom sent millions of combat rune puppets to attack dozens of enemy cities and passes at once.
• Zheng Fengdao's army breached an Otherworldly Demon city's walls, killed seven Demon Kings, and captured the city lord's residence and its formation core.
• Zheng Fengdao reported that Black White City had been secured as Chen Zihu monitored reports of victories and ongoing attacks.
• Chen Zihu asked Chen Mu when the six Otherworldly Demon Emperors would make their move.

Chen Mu and Chen Zihu discussed the Chen Kingdom’s campaign against the Otherworldly Demons and the army’s secret Talisman Puppet reserves. Wei Shuang then contacted Chen Mu to propose an alliance, offering to help him take Yi Province peacefully, and he asked what she wanted in return.

• Chen Mu reassured Chen Zihu that the Otherworldly Demons were unlikely to attack before judging the Chen Kingdom’s strength and said he could stop them if they did.
• Chen Zihu reported that Nan Yuanshan had delivered more than five million military Talisman Puppets, which he had secretly positioned as a reserve.
• Wei Shuang contacted Chen Mu to ask about the invasion, warned him about the forces behind the Otherworldly Demons, and offered help if needed.
• Chen Mu told Wei Shuang he planned to enter Yi Province after taking Moon Capital Pass, and argued that his campaign would protect its people.
• Wei Shuang proposed an alliance, offering to persuade Yi Province’s city lords to surrender without bloodshed, and Chen Mu asked what she wanted the Chen Kingdom to do.

Chen Mu agreed to an alliance with the King Who Guards the West's Residence after promising to treat Yi Province's people well, while continuing to improve the Chen Kingdom's military command system. Meanwhile, A Huo used the Pioneer No. 3 to attack a fourth Otherworldly Demon camp besieging the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion, prompting Baer and two other Demon Emperors to confront the warship.

• Wei Shuang told Chen Mu that the King Who Guards the West's Residence required him to promise to treat Yi Province's people well, and Chen Mu agreed.
• Wei Shuang arranged to visit the Chen Kingdom's imperial capital in three days to discuss the alliance, and Chen Zihu welcomed the news.
• Chen Mu used lessons from the ongoing battles to optimize the Chen Kingdom's command system and reduce casualties.
• A Huo led the Pioneer No. 3 and the Demon-Slaying Sword against a fourth Otherworldly Demon camp near the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion, bombarding it from the air.
• Baer and two other Otherworldly Demon Emperors led surviving experts into the air to attack the Pioneer No. 3.

Baer led the Otherworldly Demon Emperors and Demon Kings in an assault on Pioneer Number Three, but A Huo transformed the vessel into a towering steel giant and fought back. The battle left Baer alarmed by the machine’s formidable combat strength and determined to warn Lord Inner Demon.

• A Huo ordered the Demon-Slaying Sword to split into squads and pursue fleeing Otherworldly Demon soldiers while he dealt with the higher-ranking demons.
• The three Otherworldly Demon Emperors summoned their Life-Bound Demon Soldiers and attacked Pioneer Number Three, whose shield blocked their strikes as it transformed into a steel giant.
• A Huo controlled Pioneer Number Three in Human Combat Form, evaded the demons’ encirclement, and traded blows with the three Otherworldly Demon Emperors.
• A Huo ordered the pilots to fire the vessel’s cannons, inflicting casualties among the Otherworldly Demon Kings.
• Baer recognized that Pioneer Number Three was a dangerous individual combatant as well as a siege weapon and resolved to report it to Lord Inner Demon.

A Huo and the Pioneer Number Three fought three Otherworldly Demon Emperors while the Demon-Slaying Sword routed the enemy camp. After killing tens of thousands, Nangong Feng spotted a new force approaching and went to meet it.

• The three Otherworldly Demon Emperors burned their bloodlines, grew larger, and attacked the Pioneer Number Three, forcing A Huo to defend himself.
• The Demon-Slaying Sword squads slaughtered the scattered Otherworldly Demon soldiers and attacked the remaining Otherworldly Demon Kings.
• Nangong Feng led Demon-Slaying Team No. 1 against an Otherworldly Demon King, and the fleeing Kings were hunted down and killed.
• Nangong Feng continued pursuing the fleeing soldiers as the Demon-Slaying Sword left tens of thousands of corpses across the camp.
• Nangong Feng spotted a force approaching from the distance and led his squad to intercept it.

Cao Lingxiao and Heaven-Questioning Pavilion arrived to support A Huo after their scouts found the Otherworldly Demons withdrawing. A Huo and Cao Lingxiao defeated the demon emperors besieging Pioneer Number Three, then pursued and killed Baer.

• Cao Lingxiao led Heaven-Questioning Pavilion to assist A Huo after learning the Otherworldly Demons had withdrawn from their camps.
• Nangong Feng thanked Cao Lingxiao and led his squad away to fight elsewhere, while Cao Lingxiao and Qi Zhengqi watched the demon-slaying battle formation.
• Two hidden Otherworldly Demon Emperors ambushed A Huo, and Cao Lingxiao joined the fight as A Huo summoned his Demon-Breaking Sword.
• A Huo and Cao Lingxiao killed one gravely wounded Early Emperor Level demon and forced the four remaining demon emperors to flee.
• A Huo and Cao Lingxiao pursued Baer and killed him after overpowering him.

Chen Mu completed an alliance with Wei Shuang's residence, then learned of Wei Shuang's feelings for him while admitting he loved Mingye. More than ten days later, Chen Zihu's army advanced toward Moon Capital Pass, where powerful Otherworldly Demons had gathered to defend the route.

• Chen Mu and Wei Shuang finalized an alliance between the Chen Kingdom and the King Who Guards the West's Residence, then toured the imperial capital together.
• A Huo reported that the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion was safe, and Chen Mu ordered the Demon-Slaying Sword troops to rest before joining the front lines as a mobile force under Brother Hu.
• Chen Mu told Wei Shuang about Mingye and admitted that he loved her, while Wei Shuang confessed that she liked him.
• Wei Shuang asked whether Chen Mu would have chosen her if they had met first, and Chen Mu could only say he did not know.
• More than ten days later, Chen Zihu's army wiped out nearly a tenth of the Otherworldly Demons in southern West Ge Province and approached Moon Capital Pass, which the demons had heavily reinforced.

Chen Mu took three units of the Five Elements Army to support the campaign against Moon Capital Pass and convened the generals to plan an attack. The council chose Meng Zhenshan’s Blazing Bear Legion as the vanguard, and the army prepared to attack after a three-shichen rest.

• Chen Zihu asked Chen Mu to help counter the Late Emperor Level defender at Moon Capital Pass, and Chen Mu agreed to take three units of the Five Elements Army.
• Yin Zhan and the other commanders stationed their forces near Moon Capital Pass, where Chen Mu arrived aboard the Pioneer Number One with three thousand soldiers.
• Chen Mu ordered the army to rest for three shichen before attacking and summoned the senior officers to a council.
• Chen Mu asked the generals to propose ways to capture the narrow, defensible pass, acknowledging his limited experience commanding large-scale battles.
• Meng Zhenshan volunteered the Blazing Bear Legion as the vanguard, and Chen Mu approved, promising rewards for the Fierce Bear Tribe if they captured the pass.

Chen Mu organized the Chen Kingdom’s forces for an assault on Moon Capital Pass, using satellite intelligence to plan a coordinated attack. As the army advanced at noon, he confronted the eight Otherworldly Demon Emperors guarding the pass while Chen Ju took control of Pioneer Number One.

• Generals from several Chen Kingdom corps volunteered to lead the attack, but Chen Mu told them he would choose the forces and presented his battle plan using a satellite map.
• Chen Mu sent Landuo orders to launch missiles at Moon Capital Pass at exactly noon, then rested after receiving confirmation.
• At noon, the Chen Kingdom’s army advanced, and Chen Mu piloted Pioneer Number One to within five kilometers of Moon Capital Pass.
• Chen Mu counted eight Otherworldly Demon Emperors guarding the pass, including one late Emperor Level expert.
• Chen Mu ordered Pioneer Number One into heavy firepower mode and left Chen Ju in command of the ship before taking his place at its bow.
• Asna, Moon Capital Pass’s commander-in-chief, recognized that Pioneer Number One was different from the iron monster at Heaven-Questioning Pavilion and wondered how many the Chen Kingdom possessed.