Chapter Summaries

Chen Mu and Chen Haoran confronted a powerful uncanny man from the Nether Clan, whose attack forced Chen Mu to consider using White Turtle's help. Chen Haoran awakened the Chen Clan's God-Slaying Soul Seal and fought back with the Heaven-Defying Sword, leaving the uncanny man on the defensive.

• The uncanny man emerged from the spatial rift, asked whether Chen Mu and Chen Haoran had killed his people, and attacked Chen Haoran with purple light.
• Chen Haoran blocked the attack with the Great Luo Dharma Mantra and Wisdom King True Body, but the lotus shield shattered and he was badly injured.
• Chen Mu used an earth escape talisman to flee with Chen Haoran, but the uncanny man drove them back aboveground and attacked them with dozens of purple streaks.
• Chen Mu called on White Turtle to intervene, but Chen Haoran's body turned cold and became wreathed in blood-red mist before White Turtle could act.
• Chen Haoran revealed the God-Slaying Soul Seal, drew the Heaven-Defying Sword from the void, and shattered the incoming attacks.
• Chen Haoran charged the uncanny man and fought him in the sky; as his strength continued to rise, he rejected the man's offer to let them go.

Chen Haoran defeated Mo Kesha and accepted nine netherworlds nether soil in exchange for letting him return to the Nine Netherworlds Realm. Chen Mu captured the remaining Nether Clan warrior, learned they had come searching for a missing member, and killed him after questioning him.

• White Turtle explained that Mo Kesha could only use his full strength on Nether Luo Mountain and that the Nether Clan had come to the Pan Emperor Continent seeking someone.
• Chen Mu asked Chen Haoran to demand nine netherworlds nether soil, and Chen Haoran forced Mo Kesha to hand over a box of it in return for safe passage home.
• Mo Kesha opened a spatial rift and escaped to the Nine Netherworlds Realm, abandoning a Nether Clan warrior who had asked to go with him.
• Chen Mu stopped Chen Haoran from killing the abandoned warrior, sealed his power with talismans, and used his knowledge of Divine Souls to make him talk.
• The warrior revealed that Mo Kesha's group was searching for a missing Nether Clan member using a Netherworld Pearl that reacted near their target, and Chen Mu snapped the warrior's neck.

Chen Mu recovered the Nether Clan members’ belongings, but Chen Haoran revealed that his God-Slaying Bloodline compelled him to join their ancestor in battle. Before leaving, Chen Haoran gave Chen Mu the God-Slaying Child Seal and warned him about the consequences of activating the clan’s bloodline.

• Chen Mu claimed the three Nether Clan storage rings and their weapons, then told Chen Haoran he wanted to return to Chen Village.
• Chen Haoran explained that he had awakened the God-Slaying Soul Seal and that the clan’s ancestor was calling him to fight.
• Chen Haoran placed the God-Slaying Child Seal on Chen Mu’s palm and cautioned him to explain the risks before activating any clan member’s bloodline.
• Chen Haoran opened a passage into the void and left to join the battle, while Chen Mu promised they would meet again.

Chen Mu parted from Chen Haoran, who gave him his cultivation insights and asked him to seek him out if he had not returned in ten years. After Azure Waves Pass fell and the empire descended into turmoil, Chen Mu returned to Chen Village and found its defensive array active.

• Chen Mu agreed to wait ten years before activating his God-Slaying Bloodline to find Chen Haoran, and Chen Haoran passed on his understanding of the Acala Heart Sutra before leaving through a void passage.
• White Turtle urged Chen Mu to absorb the Nine Netherworlds Nether Soil soon, and Chen Mu decided to return to Chen Village first.
• Luo Peng led the Otherworldly Demons in taking Azure Waves Pass; Wei Shan went missing, and the invaders ravaged the Central Land as the empire fractured into conflict.
• After the emperor died, Long Bo seized the throne and discussed the invasion with his ministers, agreeing to promote Wei Shuang while considering Wen Dao's proposal to expand the Royal Cavalry forces.
• Chen Mu returned to Chen Village, took control of its active defensive talisman array, and found the villagers unharmed, likely because the Flame Blessing Tribe had sent people.

Chen Mu returned to Chen Village, learned that the Flame Blessing Tribe was attacking its surrounding territory, and promised to prepare a counterattack. He absorbed the Nine Netherworlds Nether Soil, advancing his Divine Soul and strengthening the Five Elements Chaos Talisman.

• Chen Mu reassured Meng Hui that Chen Haoran was safe and showed her the God-Slaying Child Seal.
• Chen Hongjie told Chen Mu that the Flame Blessing Tribe’s three forces had failed to breach Chen Village but were raiding the surrounding area and exhausting its strength.
• Chen Mu vowed to settle accounts with the Flame Blessing Tribe after preparing, and learned that Chen Duo still had not returned from seclusion.
• Chen Mu absorbed the Nine Netherworlds Nether Soil, and his Divine Soul broke through to the Third Layer of the Solid Realm.
• Chen Mu discovered that absorbing the earth-element material had doubled his Divine Soul cultivation speed again and further changed the Five Elements Chaos Talisman.

Chen Mu planned ways to strengthen Chen Village for its war with the Flame Blessing Tribe, rejecting the dangerous option of activating the clansmen’s God-Slaying Bloodline and choosing improved equipment and Body-Possessing Demon Runes instead. He then visited Hou Tian at the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion to collect his latest rune sales proceeds.

• Chen Mu moved his rune equipment into Chen Village and considered how to quickly improve the villagers’ combat strength.
• Chen Mu rejected activating the God-Slaying Bloodline after weighing the Heavenly Court’s longstanding enmity with the clan.
• Chen Mu decided to upgrade Chen Village’s weapons and train its special units, while buying defensive artifacts for the Spear Squad and Cannon Squad.
• Chen Mu chose to strengthen villagers with Body-Possessing Demon Runes, relying on the knowledge he had gained at Black Wind Cliff.
• Chen Mu met Hou Tian at Pear Rain Tower, reviewed the fourth-quarter sales list, and received his share of the spirit stones.

Chen Mu bought 150 sets of third-grade defensive armor from Hou Tian to strengthen Chen Village’s army against the Flame Blessing Tribe. Back in the village, he met ten young volunteers for his experiment and prepared to address them.

• Chen Mu asked Hou Tian for recommendations on third-grade armor, and Hou Tian offered him three standard-issue options.
• Hou Tian explained that the fish-scale armor’s defenses could stack and, with more than fifty sets combined, withstand a blow from a Core Formation Realm expert.
• Chen Mu negotiated a five percent discount, ordered 150 sets, and paid half the original price as a deposit; Hou Tian promised delivery within five days by Sailei.
• Chen Zishan brought ten talented youngsters who had volunteered for Chen Mu’s experiment, including the Chen clansman Chen Rufeng.
• Chen Mu entered the hall, where the youngsters fell silent and waited for him to speak.

Chen Mu began testing his new Five Elements Pattern, designed to develop a Runic Body by channeling rune power through the body's organs. The first test left Chen Rufeng in pain and unable to cultivate normally, but Chen Mu continued the experiments by choosing Han He.

• Chen Mu gathered ten village youths, ordered them to follow his instructions, and took Chen Rufeng into the Demonic Pattern room.
• Chen Mu explained his Runic Body research and selected Chen Rufeng because he cultivated the complete Five Elements Body Tempering Art.
• Chen Mu drew and activated the Five Elements Pattern on Chen Rufeng, who endured severe pain as the pattern lit up in five colors.
• Chen Rufeng reported that circulating the Five Elements Body Tempering Art caused needle-like pain, and Chen Mu sent him to rest for observation.
• Chen Mu returned to the hall and chose Han He for the next Five Elements Pattern experiment.

Chen Mu refined the Five Elements Pattern through experiments on five women, then named his ten test subjects the Five Elements Guards and began preparing to strengthen Chen Village’s experts. Meanwhile, the Tuoba Lineage hired Earth Ranking expert Yue Siqing to eliminate Chen Mu, who remained unaware of the approaching threat.

• Chen Mu inscribed the Five Elements Pattern on five women, adjusting the runes to suit their bodies and spending the next few days researching the pattern.
• Tuoba Ziying told Yue Siqing that Chen Mu had returned to Chen Village and urged him to act, but Yue Siqing dismissed the order.
• The chapter revealed that Yue Siqing ranked ninety-seventh on the Earth Ranking and that the Tuoba Lineage had paid heavily to recruit him against Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu declared his ten experimental subjects to be his Five Elements Guards, who would obey him alone.
• Chen Mu sent Landuo to tell Third Uncle to send him five candidates each day so he could inscribe the mature Five Elements Pattern on Chen Village’s experts.

Chen Mu completed a Five Elements Pattern on his own body and discovered that he could cast talisman arts physically, though doing so injured him. He trained the Five Elements Guards and used their data to develop a battle formation simulation, then paused his work when someone knocked.

• Chen Mu inscribed the Five Elements Pattern on his body and cast a Water Condensation Talisman, damaging his kidneys and the room while proving his idea could work.
• Half a month later, Chen Mu watched Chen Rufeng and the other Five Elements Guards train, then used Fate Vision to identify flaws in their cultivation.
• Chen Mu returned to his research room and analyzed the guards’ training data with his instruments.
• Chen Mu opened the Five Elements Battle Formation project and continued calculating its battle formation model.
• Someone knocked on the research room’s door, and Chen Mu asked who it was.

Chen Mu agreed to help Chen Hongjie drive the Flame Blessing Tribe from Wuyan Market, and Chen Village marched out with an elite force. At the standoff, Tuoba Ziying offered to withdraw in exchange for spirit stones, and Chen Hongjie countered with five hundred fourth-grade spirit stones just as a deep rumble sounded behind him.

• Chen Hongjie told Chen Mu he planned to fight the Flame Blessing Tribe, and Chen Mu agreed to attend a battle meeting.
• Chen Mu failed to contact Chen Duo and Mingye but reassured himself that they might be in seclusion.
• Chen Hongjie led more than five hundred Chen Village troops toward Wuyan Market, while Chen Mu continued developing a Five Elements Battle Formation.
• Tuoba Ziying waited with the Flame Blessing Tribe's army and confirmed that Mo Junnian's forces were moving to block Chen Village's escape route.
• Tuoba Ziying demanded two thousand fourth-grade spirit stones to withdraw, and Chen Hongjie offered five hundred.
• A deep rumble sounded behind Chen Hongjie's force.

Chen Mu and Chen Village fought the Flame Blessing Tribe and the arriving Mo Lineage army, using coordinated squads, talismans, and Five Elements Patterns to turn the battle in their favor. Chen Mu broke through to the Middle Stage of the True Spirit Realm and attacked Tuoba Ziying, but more than a dozen experts rushed to protect him as Chen Mu’s Spiritual Power ran low.

• Chen Mu ambushed Tuoba Ziying’s force, and Chen Hongjie and Chen Zihu led Chen Village’s cavalry into battle.
• Tuoba Ziying survived Chen Mu’s shot, summoned support, and fought back while Chen Mu killed more than a dozen Flame Blessing experts.
• Chen Hongjie ordered Chen Village’s fighters to activate their Five Elements Patterns, strengthening them and shifting the battle’s momentum.
• The Mo Lineage army attacked Chen Village’s rear squads, but Chen Zihu led a counterattack using Ice Condensation Talismans.
• Chen Mu mastered the Acala Heart Sutra further, broke through to the Middle Stage of the True Spirit Realm, and struck Tuoba Ziying’s sword shield.
• More than a dozen Tuoba experts rushed to protect Tuoba Ziying as Chen Mu, having spent over half his Spiritual Power, considered using another technique.

Chen Mu used his Divine Soul True Body to slaughter the Tuoba fighters and kill Tuoba Ziying, but the battle left him drained. Yue Siqing, a powerful cultivator hired by the Flame Blessing Tribe, then confronted him and demanded that he submit or die.

• Chen Mu summoned his purple Divine Soul True Body, which tore through the Tuoba soldiers who had surrounded him.
• The Tuoba soldiers’ morale collapsed, and Chen Mu’s Divine Soul True Body shattered Tuoba Ziying’s sword shield and pierced his heart.
• Chen Mu recalled his Divine Soul True Body after its exertion left him dizzy and exhausted.
• Yue Siqing emerged from the forest, revealed that the Flame Blessing Tribe had hired him to kill Chen Mu, and offered to spare him as a slave.
• Yue Siqing admitted he had noticed Chen Mu buying time to recover and demanded that he submit or die.

Chen Mu fought Yue Siqing with a combination of martial arts and talisman techniques, aided by Little Blue. He killed Yue Siqing with a powerful Burst Talisman, then collapsed from exhaustion.

• Chen Mu refused to submit to Yue Siqing and challenged him, while Chen Hongjie ordered the Spear Squad to support Chen Mu.
• Yue Siqing charged through the Spear Squad's gunfire and attacked Chen Mu with a Cross Slash, but Chen Mu blocked it with a Mountain Talisman.
• Chen Mu used fire and earth talismans to attack and bind Yue Siqing, then struck him with a Lightning-Summoning Talisman that burned his hand.
• Yue Siqing combined his blades into a double-ended weapon and hurled a devastating Black Heaven Wheel Slash at Chen Mu.
• Chen Mu asked Little Blue for help and used a Burst Talisman to destroy Yue Siqing's attack and kill him, then slumped to the ground exhausted.

Mingye’s body transformed to reveal Nether Clan traits after the celadon bottle awakened, leaving her and Chen Duo hiding in the Mystic Spirit Grotto-Heaven and hoping Chen Mu could help. Meanwhile, Chen Mu refined his Runic Body and completed a model of the Five Elements Battle Formation, then asked Brother Hu to help train the Five Elements Guards.

• Mingye told Chen Duo that her changed appearance seemed to be her natural form, and Chen Duo feared the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion’s elders would imprison her if they discovered she was not human.
• Mingye and Chen Duo decided to remain hidden until Chen Mu could come help, though they worried Elder Jiyue might find them first.
• After Chen Mu killed Yue Siqing, Chen Village routed the Flame Blessing Tribe’s forces but suffered heavy casualties, and news of the victory spread across the Wilderness.
• Chen Mu adjusted his Runic Body and successfully used the Water Condensation Talisman and Mystic Fire Talisman through his body.
• Chen Mu completed the basic model of the Five Elements Battle Formation and asked Brother Hu to help train the Five Elements Guards; Brother Hu agreed to come at once.

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.