Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu and Duan Tianlong agreed on a transport-ship deal and a high-altitude trade route, then tested each other’s strength in a spar. Their fierce fight continued after Chen Mu used Law Cloak to withstand Duan Tianlong’s full-power punch.

• Chen Mu offered Duan Tianlong ten high-speed transport ships for ten Eighth-Grade Spirit Stones each, and Duan Tianlong accepted the deal.
• Chen Mu explained his high-altitude transport plan, gave Duan Tianlong three communication Rune Artifacts, and received half the ship cost as a deposit, promising delivery in two months.
• Duan Tianlong asked Chen Mu to spar, and the two exchanged probing blows that blasted holes into the surrounding mountains.
• Duan Tianlong unleashed his Saint Body and struck with full force, while Chen Mu used Law Cloak to boost his strength to the Saint Level Late Stage.
• Chen Mu was knocked back more than ten zhang without serious injury, and Duan Tianlong charged in to continue the fight.

After sparring with Duan Tianlong, Chen Mu returned to Heavenly Emperor City and finalized plans for cooperation with the Dragon-Toppling Society. He went boating with Hou Sailei to survey the Haotian Imperial Palace from the river, preparing for his upcoming meeting with Long Bo.

• Chen Mu sparred with Duan Tianlong, admitted defeat, and parted ways with him.
• Chen Mu returned to Heavenly Emperor City and told Chen Hongjie about the agreement with the Dragon-Toppling Society; Chen Hongjie arranged for transport ships to be built.
• Hou Sailei invited Chen Mu to boat on the Canglan River, and Chen Mu asked to see the Haotian Imperial Palace from a distance.
• Chen Mu and Hou Sailei sailed upstream near the palace moat, where other pleasure boats were gathered.
• Chen Mu explained that boating gave young women from noble families a rare chance to meet men and warned Hou Sailei that romantic outings could lead to heartbreak.

Chen Mu prepared to answer Haotian Emperor Long Bo’s summons, hoping to secure time for the Chen Kingdom to grow stronger despite the danger of entering the palace. On the winter solstice, he arrived at Heavenly Emperor City and announced himself at its gates, beginning his imperial audience.

• Chen Mu tactfully suggested that Hou Sailei use a cosmetic-alteration potion, and Hou Sailei accepted the advice.
• As the Heavenly Court’s activity increased, Hou Sailei urged Chen Mu not to enter the palace, but Chen Mu insisted that the Chen Kingdom needed the time his audience might secure.
• Chen Mu said goodbye to Hou Sailei and left Heavenly Emperor City, while Hou Sailei promised to wait for news in Xihe City.
• A eunuch told Long Bo that a man suspected of being Chen Mu had left the city, and Long Bo ordered his forces to watch the Eight Directions Trading Company and report any news of Chen Mu.
• On the winter solstice, Chen Mu flew to Heavenly Emperor City aboard a black warship and declared at the gates that he had come by imperial decree to attend an audience.

Chen Mu forced his way through Heavenly Emperor City and the Haotian Imperial Palace, overcoming its defenses to answer the Haotian Emperor’s summons. He reached Long Bo during morning court, where his display of strength left the emperor’s planned show of force in disarray.

• Chen Mu entered Heavenly Emperor City by using his runic robe to withstand the gate’s defensive barrier, despite the Imperial City Bureau commander’s orders.
• Wei Lirong and his men tried to stop Chen Mu outside the palace, but Chen Mu’s warship destroyed their Imperial Heaven Ascending Dragon Formation.
• Chen Mu used formation flags to evade the palace’s attacks, damaging palace buildings as the defenses fired blindly.
• Gao Hanfei and two other Sages confronted Chen Mu, who apologized for unfamiliarity with the rules and landed his warship in the palace.
• Chen Mu reached the throne hall during morning court, introduced himself to Long Bo, and angered the emperor by demonstrating that the palace formations could not stop him.

Chen Mu rejected Long Bo’s offer to make the Chen Kingdom submit and endured the emperor’s Imperial Dragon Qi rather than kneel. Divine Lord Xuanji intervened to save him, revealing that the Heavenly Court needed his talisman skills for a future expedition to the Tomb of the Gods.

• Long Bo offered Chen Mu kingship, the Chen Kingdom’s territory, and one thousand Starry Sky Passage trips in exchange for submission, but Chen Mu refused.
• Long Bo unleashed his Imperial Dragon Qi and demanded that Chen Mu submit, but Chen Mu resisted with golden runes and refused to kneel.
• Long Bo prepared to kill Chen Mu despite the risk to the Haotian Imperial Family’s reputation.
• Divine Lord Xuanji arrived with Divine Lord Cangmu and Divine Lord Tianlang and ordered Long Bo to spare Chen Mu.
• Divine Lord Xuanji said the Heavenly Court needed Chen Mu’s talisman mastery for a future journey to the Tomb of the Gods, and Long Bo questioned whether another talisman master could replace him.

Divine Lord Xuanji forced Chen Mu to submit by placing a Soul-Devouring Insect larva inside him, then left him in Long Bo’s custody. Long Bo tried to secure Chen Mu’s help in taking the Chen Kingdom, but Chen Mu asked for time to consult its emperor.

• Long Bo agreed to hand Chen Mu over to Divine Lord Xuanji after she explained that she needed his talisman mastery for the Tomb of the Gods.
• Divine Lord Xuanji implanted a Soul-Devouring Insect larva in Chen Mu and threatened to make it devour his soul if he disobeyed her.
• Chen Mu attempted to escape using earth-escape runes, but the insect’s pain forced him to return and promise to obey Divine Lord Xuanji.
• Divine Lord Xuanji ordered Long Bo to keep Chen Mu safe until she and the other Divine Lords descended to the lower realm in half a year, then departed.
• Long Bo asked Chen Mu to help take the Chen Kingdom’s territory, but Chen Mu said he needed time because his third uncle was the kingdom’s emperor.

Chen Mu left Heavenly Emperor City after Long Bo gave him half a year to make the Chen Kingdom surrender. In a secluded canyon, he revealed a powerful clone created with cell-cloning technology and prepared to return to the Chen Kingdom despite the Soul-Devouring Insect lodged in the clone.

• Long Bo dismissed court and warned Chen Mu that the Divine Lords would intervene if the Chen Kingdom had not surrendered in half a year.
• Chen Mu left Heavenly Emperor City aboard his space battleship and flew to an abandoned mine in a secluded canyon.
• Chen Mu met his clone, which he had grown from his own cells and equipped with a third of his Divine Soul.
• Chen Mu found that the Soul-Devouring Insect reacted whenever the clone's Divine Soul stirred, so he postponed retrieving the soul fragment and planned to consult Xuejun.
• Chen Mu decided to return to the Chen Kingdom and sealed the runic-robed body before placing it aboard the space battleship.

After returning to the Chen Kingdom, Chen Mu briefed A Huo, Chen Hongjie, and Chen Zihu on his plans to strengthen the kingdom, spread the God-Slaying Art, and build a trade route to the Netherworld. The group divided their responsibilities as Chen Mu prepared to support the kingdom through the Spirit Network.

• Chen Mu sealed his cyan-clad self in the talisman robe, packed away the mine’s equipment, checked for traces, and flew back to the Chen Kingdom.
• Chen Mu told A Huo, Chen Hongjie, and Chen Zihu about Central Province, withheld the ancestral land’s location, and announced that the Chen Clan would begin cultivating the foundational section of the God-Slaying Art.
• Chen Mu urged the kingdom to use Long Bo’s presumed belief that he was afflicted by a Soul-Devouring Insect to gather resources, expand trade, and train its army, while he worked on a two-way teleportation passage to the Netherworld.
• A Huo planned to eliminate the Heavenly Puppet Sect’s remaining forces in Jing Province, while Chen Zihu arranged discreet trade with the Dragon-Toppling Society and agreed to prioritize keeping the society as a customer.
• Chen Hongjie took charge of spreading the God-Slaying Art, and Chen Mu told A Huo to contact him through the Spirit Network if danger arose.

Chen Mu brought Chen Xuejun a drop of God-Slaying essence blood and tasked him with researching how to purify and strengthen the Chen Clan’s bloodline. He then led Chen Xuejun to a genetics laboratory to investigate another problem.

• Chen Xuejun told Chen Mu he had extracted the Teng Snake Progenitor, a factor that could help snake-type demonic beasts evolve, and was studying how to cultivate it.
• Chen Mu gave Chen Xuejun one of three drops of God-Slaying essence blood and made its study the Biology Department’s top-secret priority.
• Chen Mu asked Chen Xuejun to set up a separate genetics laboratory so they could investigate another problem together.
• Chen Xuejun led Chen Mu to the ninth-floor laboratory, which had become available after an Otherworldly Demon Emperor from the Abyss killed himself.

Chen Mu and Chen Xuejun found a way for Taichu to remove Chen Mu’s Divine Soul from his clone without provoking the Soul-Devouring Insect. Chen Mu recovered his full Divine Soul, while Taichu agreed to maintain the clone until he needed it in six months.

• Chen Mu brought his clone, which was parasitized by a Soul-Devouring Insect, to Chen Xuejun’s laboratory and explained why he needed to preserve it and recover the Divine Soul inside.
• Chen Xuejun proposed replacing the clone’s Divine Soul with a similar power to trick the insect, and Chen Mu summoned Taichu to use her Power of Faith.
• Taichu gradually extracted Chen Mu’s Divine Soul while filling the clone with Power of Faith, and the Soul-Devouring Insect did not react.
• Chen Mu felt his Divine Soul restored and asked Taichu to maintain the clone until he needed it in six months.
• Chen Mu reassured Chen Xuejun that trade with the Netherworld would bring valuable yin-attribute materials and advised him to strengthen his cultivation foundation.

Chen Mu took Chen Duo and a group of talisman masters from the Chen Kingdom aboard a new transport ship for a return journey to the Netherworld. After crossing the Chaotic Void and wormhole, they arrived near the Netherworld, where Chen Mu paused to upgrade the cross-world teleportation array.

• Chen Mu told Chen Xuejun that he would leave a clone behind and asked him to report anything unusual.
• A month later, Chen Mu invited Chen Duo to travel to the Netherworld with him for cultivation and future trade.
• Chen Mu, Chen Duo, and more than a dozen Rune Research Institute talisman masters boarded the newly built transport ship and departed Source Wood City.
• In the Chaotic Void, Chen Mu advised the passengers to cultivate before the ship entered the wormhole.
• After more than twenty hours in the wormhole, the ship arrived near the Netherworld, and Chen Mu stopped for two hours to improve the cross-world teleportation array.

Chen Mu returned to the Netherworld with Chen Duo and a group of talisman masters, then learned that the Manju Imperial Court had conquered much of the region. At Iron Soul City, he arranged for an exchange of knowledge between the Netherworld and Pan Emperor Continent.

• Chen Mu updated the cross-realm teleportation array and took the space transport ship into the Netherworld.
• Mingye welcomed Chen Mu and used the Netherworld Pearl to free Chen Duo and the talisman masters from the Heavenly Dao's rejection.
• Mingye took Chen Duo sightseeing while Chen Mu headed to Iron Soul City with the talisman masters.
• Chen Mu learned that the Manju Imperial Court controlled two-thirds of the Netherworld and that Mingye and the Manju Sacred King had killed three Sages during a battle with the Asura Sacred King.
• Chen Mu entrusted the visiting talisman masters to Li Taiping and asked him to choose ten volunteers to visit the Pan Emperor Continent for an exchange.

Chen Mu met Luo Nianhan on the northern glacier, where the Ghost Sword Saint confessed his past mistake and offered to serve Chen Mu for ten years. After Luo Nianhan revealed he knew where to find clues about the Asura Sacred King's dealings with another world, Chen Mu and Mingye prepared to investigate the Asura Imperial Court.

• Chen Mu continued developing Iron Soul City and heard from Han Xiao that Luo Nianhan had come looking for him.
• Chen Mu confronted Luo Nianhan on the northern glacier about his role in the Manju Sacred King's near-death at the Extreme Evil Imperial Court.
• Luo Nianhan explained that his village had starved to death over a thousand years earlier and said he admired Chen Mu and Iron Soul City.
• Luo Nianhan offered to lead Chen Mu to clues about the Asura Sacred King's collusion with another world and vowed to serve Chen Mu for ten years.
• Chen Mu, Mingye, and Luo Nianhan agreed to investigate the Asura Imperial Court while the Manju Sacred King remained in command.
• Chen Duo began cultivating with saint-grade medicinal herbs and was expected to break through to Saint Level soon.

Chen Mu and Luo Nianhan discovered the Asura Clan sacrificing Human Clan captives to open a passage to the Abyss Devil Realm. Mingye destroyed the passage, and Chen Mu’s forces attacked Asura City as the Asura Clan gathered to defend it.

• Chen Mu and Luo Nianhan watched an Asura priest prepare a sacrifice at a platform in Asura City.
• Luo Nianhan explained that the Asura Clan worshipped a fallen god whose fading divine sense might be connected to the Asura Sacred King’s ambitions.
• The priest opened a black vortex to the Abyss Devil Realm, and a giant hand reached for the Human Clan captives.
• Mingye destroyed the giant hand, the black spear, and the vortex before the Abyss Devil Race could claim the offerings.
• Chen Mu shattered Asura City’s defensive formation with his space battleship and led his forces into an attack alongside Luo Nianhan.

Chen Mu, Luo Nianhan, and Mingye destroyed Asura City’s defenses and forced the Asura Sacred King to agree to leave the Netherworld with his clan. The chapter ended with the Sacred King preparing to lead the surviving Asura Clan to a new home despite the threat from the Abyss Devil Race.

• Chen Mu, Luo Nianhan, and Mingye stormed Asura City, killed its guarding Sage, and wiped out most of its high-level cultivators.
• Mingye engaged the Asura Sacred King while Chen Mu and Luo Nianhan fought the other Sages; Chen Mu killed one Sage, three surrendered, and another escaped badly injured.
• Chen Mu demanded that the Asura Clan leave the Netherworld within a month in exchange for sparing its ordinary members, and the Asura Sacred King accepted.
• Chen Mu freed the Human Clan captives, and he, Luo Nianhan, and Mingye left Asura City in their spaceship.
• The Asura Sacred King told his followers to prepare to migrate, insisting that the clan could recover elsewhere despite having lost most of its fighting strength.

Chen Mu, Mingye, and Luo Nianhan discussed driving the Asura Sacred King from the Netherworld and choosing its next ruler. Mingye hesitated to become Netherworld Lord because absorbing the Heart of the Netherworld would keep her from leaving for ten years, and Chen Mu backed the Manju Sacred King as an alternative.

• Mingye worried that the Asura Sacred King might refuse to leave, but Chen Mu said he would move his people through an Ancient Starry Sky Road rather than fight a losing battle.
• Luo Nianhan said the Asura Sacred King would likely take only a small number of his million-strong clan, leaving the rest to hide among the Nether Clan.
• Chen Mu said they would leave minor matters to their followers and focus on unifying the Netherworld before he needed the Manju Sacred King's help on the Pan Emperor Continent.
• Mingye revealed that the three Night Watchers had chosen her as a candidate for Netherworld Lord, but absorbing the Heart of the Netherworld would prevent her from leaving for at least ten years.
• Mingye said she wanted the Manju Sacred King to take the position instead, but the Night Watchers refused to recognize her mother as the candidate.
• Chen Mu said the Manju Sacred King could still merge with the Heart of the Netherworld while ruling the Imperial Court, regardless of the Night Watchers' approval.

Chen Mu and Mingye accompanied the Manju Sacred King to the Netherworld’s core, where the three Night Watchers offered the Heart of the Netherworld to the Manju Sacred King. The Night Watchers then gave their lives to empower Chen Mu and urged him to marry Mingye.

• The Manju Sacred King announced the Asura Clan’s departure, and cities of the Asura Imperial Court began surrendering to the Manju Imperial Court.
• The Manju Sacred King summoned Chen Mu and Mingye to meet the three Night Watchers at the Netherworld’s core.
• Chen Mu used golden earth escape runes to speed their descent through the earth toward the Heart of the Netherworld.
• Miao Qishan offered the Heart of the Netherworld to the Manju Sacred King, while Mingye said she could not fuse with it yet.
• The three Night Watchers shattered into a rain of light that greatly increased Chen Mu’s cultivation, and Elder Miao urged Chen Mu to marry Mingye soon.

Chen Mu reached the Mid Saint Level while Mingye consolidated her cultivation, and the Manju Sacred King fused with the Heart of the Netherworld. After arranging support for her fusion, Chen Mu left for the Pan Emperor Continent with Li Wei, Netherworld Talisman Masters, and Human Clan cultivators from Iron Soul City.

• Chen Mu broke through to the Mid Saint Level and discovered his expanded inner world let him form a powerful Law Cloak without outside computing power.
• Mingye finished absorbing the rain of light just short of a breakthrough, and the Manju Sacred King urged her to cultivate the Netherworld Scripture.
• The Manju Sacred King absorbed the Heart of the Netherworld and began fusing with its rules, leaving her unable to fight while she recovered.
• Chen Mu installed a Rune Core Server program to help the Manju Sacred King complete her fusion with the Heart of the Netherworld.
• Chen Mu departed for the Pan Emperor Continent with Li Wei, more than a hundred Human Clan cultivators from Iron Soul City, and ten Netherworld Talisman Masters, while Chen Duo stayed behind to cultivate.

Chen Mu returned to the Pan Emperor Continent and reunited with White Turtle, who revealed that he had nearly completed a Starry Sky Passage for the Chen Kingdom. The group discussed reforms to strengthen the kingdom before the Heavenly Court recognized it as a threat.

• Chen Mu arrived at the Rune Research Institute and exchanged a powerful punch with White Turtle, who had returned from exploring the void.
• Chen Mu brought Mingye to the State Preceptor's residence, where Meng Hui, Chen Hongjie, and Chen Zihu joined them for a feast.
• White Turtle explained that he had avoided the Heavenly Court's occupied star route and opened a Starry Sky Passage of his own, which was nine-tenths complete.
• White Turtle revealed his Albino Black Tortoise abilities and warned that the Heavenly Court might destroy the Chen Kingdom if it saw the kingdom as a threat.
• Chen Mu proposed reforms and discussed plans for the Starry Sky Passage with the others until early morning.

Five months later, Chen Mu prepared to answer the Haotian Empire’s summons and set out with White Turtle and Mingye toward the Tomb of the Gods. On the journey, White Turtle reported that his Starry Sky Passage was progressing smoothly and described the powerful Thousand Illusions Demon Realm it would connect to.

• Gao Bu told Chen Mu that the three divine lords would soon descend and ordered him to reach Heavenly Emperor City within three days, and Chen Mu agreed.
• Chen Mu used one-fifth of his Divine Soul to animate his strengthened flesh-and-blood double, then left it dressed in a runic outer robe.
• Chen Mu and Mingye met White Turtle outside the realm membrane, and White Turtle joined them aboard the space warship to travel toward the Tomb of the Gods.
• Chen Mu asked White Turtle about the Starry Sky Passage, and White Turtle said it could be completed in seven or eight months and already had a route planned to the Thousand Illusions Demon Realm.
• White Turtle told Chen Mu that the Thousand Illusions Demon Realm had sixteen God Level experts, including four True Gods and its ruler, Demon Emperor Pu Qing.