Recaps

Hu Mang arranged with Fifth Brother to study his rare Lightning Crystal and obtain a Spirit Stone deconstructor, while the Heavenly Soldier Divine Office continued absorbing the Devil-Slaying Bladesman. He then went to take the Foundation Establishment certification exam and discovered he was lined up with young children.

• Hu Mang told Gu Yunshu he intended to attain Golden Core through his own efforts and did not want to stop at Golden Core.
• Hu Mang called Fifth Brother and revealed he had obtained a Lightning Crystal; Fifth Brother offered to bring him a spiritual crystal structuring device from the lab.
• Hu Mang sent Fifth Brother photos of the Lightning Crystal and ended the call before dawn, then sensed that the Divine Office was nearly finished absorbing the Devil-Slaying Bladesman.
• Hu Mang went to Second Talisman Vocational Higher Education Institute for his Foundation Establishment certification exam and found himself among a line of children.
• Hu Mang answered a boy's questions about historical emperors and offered to ask his mother to introduce him to Xie Xianyu.

Hu Mang met the precocious Duanmu Ming, who agreed to translate an ancient cultivation method in exchange for spicy strips. After Hu Mang cheated on a placement test with Duanmu Ming’s help, Duanmu Ming’s mother caught him eating junk food and beat him while Hu Mang slipped away.

• Duanmu Ming answered Hu Mang’s questions about cultivation and identified an ancient character as the word for “tribulation.”
• Hu Mang and Duanmu Ming exchanged contact information, and Duanmu Ming agreed to translate Hu Mang’s ancient cultivation method for ten packs of spicy strips.
• Hu Mang struggled with the placement test and bribed Duanmu Ming with more spicy strips to help him finish it.
• A proctor told Hu Mang that the test and Foundation Establishment certificate were formalities, despite catching him cheating.
• Hu Mang and Duanmu Ming ate spicy strips outside the school until Duanmu Ming’s mother arrived and beat him for eating junk food and talking to strangers.
• Hu Mang blamed his own failure to reach Foundation Establishment on spicy strips and walked away, leaving Duanmu Ming to face an even worse beating.

Hu Mang prepared to test a Buddhist cultivation method with his bargain father, who proposed using an electronic wooden fish app to cultivate through Divine Sense internet access. The app’s developers began the experiment with Hu Mang as their unwitting Foundation Establishment Late Stage test subject.

• Hu Mang bought spiritual engineering supplies with loans from the four heavenly kings, borrowed Uncle Ma’s warehouse, and sent Duanmu photographs of the Cultivation Method in exchange for a hundred packs of spicy strips.
• At the Mysterious Materials Academy, Lu Chen dismissed his junior brothers and sisters so he could prepare to meet his second brother.
• Hu Mang’s bargain father explained the three trials of a monk of the form realm and proposed replacing traditional practices with an electronic wooden fish app, after persuading its developer to run a cultivation test.
• Hu Mang downloaded the app and agreed to try the method, while the electronic wooden fish developers watched for him to come online.
• Brother Sun and his team saw that Hu Mang, a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator, had entered the test without knowing he was their experimental subject.

Hu Mang used the software’s Divine Sense Internet Access to enter a state of Pure Body and master the Lin Character Instruction, but the app’s accumulated wishes began to wear down his concentration. The software team’s frantic efforts to keep the servers running continued as the Devil Subjugation Bureau called to investigate possible illegal mining.

• Brother Sun and the programmers activated the online method for Hu Mang, sealing his body, speech, and mind as he entered the Spirit Network.
• Hu Mang endured the wooden fish’s blows, regained stability through the Yin-Suppressing Mark and moonlight, and understood the method’s Pure Body state.
• Hu Mang formed the Method Formula and mastered the Lin Character Instruction.
• The programmers uploaded Hu Mang’s cultivation data, bought registered accounts, and increased bandwidth to keep the project running.
• The app’s accumulated wish power attacked Hu Mang’s Pure Body, so he used the software’s user benefits to form a kasaya and mastered the Jie Character Instruction.
• Buddha’s light surged through the office, and Brother Sun demanded more bandwidth before learning the Devil Subjugation Bureau was investigating illegal mining.

Hu Mang completed precept keeping and accumulated blessings, awakened the Wisdom King Fire, and used it to refine the Electronic Wooden Fish app’s underlying grotto-heaven while opening his final Qi meridian. The app came back online with its cultivation data intact, as Lu Chen found the Lightning Crystal Hu Mang had left for him and a Buddhist virtual-cultivation feature drew a surge of downloads.

• Hu Mang awakened the Devil-Subduing Pattern and fused Wisdom King Fire with the Shattering Thunder Immortal Weapon to unleash Heavenly Star Falls.
• Hu Mang entered the app’s underlying grotto-heaven, consumed the Heavenly Soldier Divine Office, and burned away abandoned talisman code as he opened his Divine Fate Qi meridian.
• The Electronic Wooden Fish app finished updating, and Old Bai confirmed that all three streams of cultivation data had reached the backend.
• Lu Chen arrived at Hu Mang’s warehouse, found the Lightning Crystal in an iron box, and took it.
• Old Zhang and Little Xu failed to find Hu Mang at home while Father Hu quietly held two Lightning Crystals.
• Duanmu Ming’s father identified the translated notes as Shen Yan’s record of the Return to the Ruins Epoch, while downloads of the app rose because of its Lesser Bodhi feature.

Hu Mang returned to the Hundred-Well Abyss and discovered that Demon-Subduing City had become a Devil City, while his heightened senses revealed devils converging on him. Elsewhere, Xu Qing, Old Chen Sheng, Zhou Yu, and Zhou Tong escaped into the Sword-Nurturing Sha-Cleansing Pool, and Old Chen Sheng led them toward the city prison.

• Hu Mang returned to the Hundred-Well Abyss wearing five Thunder-Warding Robes and found the Demon-Subduing Wells damaged, their devil-subduing patterns gone, and their Devil Qi vanished.
• Hu Mang reflected on the Qi Vessels and abilities he had gained, then sensed devil shadows, ringing bells, and Bone Devil Seeds approaching through the rain.
• Devil-possessed heavenly soldiers attacked cultivators, corpse-filled clouds churned above the Evil-Expelling Altar, and empty coffins and corrupted swords revealed that devilry had spread throughout Demon-Subduing City.
• Xu Qing, Old Chen Sheng, Zhou Yu, and Zhou Tong surfaced in the Sword-Nurturing Sha-Cleansing Pool disguised in corpse clothes, while Old Chen explained that he had suppressed Zhou Yu's transformation into a Corpse Devil Seed.
• Old Chen Sheng insisted Hu Mang was alive because the Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier office had not passed to anyone else, then proposed that they go to the prison to find Xu Qing's master.

Hu Mang cleared the demonic alley with Buddhist techniques, measured his Law Power at 8,000, and traveled to the Thunder God's Shrine. There, he encountered Gong Lei and vanished after resisting the darkness she unleashed.

• Hu Mang shattered the Bone Devil Seeds and swept away the demonic shadows with the Dou and Zhe Character Instructions and the Vajra Seal.
• Hu Mang measured his Law Power at 8,000, classified as Foundation Establishment Great Perfection, and headed for the Thunder God's Shrine on a Wind-Riding Spirit Shuttle.
• Hu Mang waited outside the shrine, then saw Gong Lei appear at a small window as the gates remained shut.
• Gong Lei's presence immobilized Hu Mang while darkness advanced, and the Heavenly Soldier Divine Office reacted violently.
• Hu Mang used his Chan forms and Shattering Thunder to unleash Wisdom King Fire, dispersing the darkness; he vanished, leaving his shuttle behind as Gong Lei smiled.

Hu Mang survived a powerful attack and suspected the Thunder God was reclaiming control of Demon-Subduing City’s lightning network, threatening his redevelopment plans. Elsewhere, an Evil-Subduing Registrar and two allied officials failed to destroy a Thunder God’s Shrine and considered seeking help from the Prison-Subduing Official.

• Hu Mang used his Divine Sense detector and found only Golden Core Late Stage fluctuations, but remained unsure whether one or two Thunder Gods were active in Demon-Subduing City.
• Hu Mang reviewed his map of three suspected locations, with the Hundred-Well Abyss crossed out, and set out to verify something with his great spear.
• A beauty python, the Gourd Daoist, and an Evil-Subduing Registrar attacked a dilapidated Thunder God's Shrine but failed to destroy it.
• The registrar explained that the Thunder God was gathering divine power and would devour the city’s divine order and officials unless they escaped.
• After the Gourd Daoist suggested recruiting the Prison-Subduing Official, the registrar hesitated over the dangers but finally agreed.

Hu Mang fought his way through the Dark Lightning Puppet-Control Hub while a lightning puppet staged a story about his battle for the market’s cultivators. After Hu Mang awakened his Heavenly Eye and destroyed the puppet and its bound ghost, he examined the Demon-Subduing Bustling Market Painting and praised the puppet’s final poem.

• A lightning puppet told the market’s cultivators that a fox demon disguised as a Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier was attacking the Dark Lightning Puppet-Control Hub, and it killed two patrons who hesitated to applaud.
• The puppet narrated Hu Mang’s battle as he broke through puppet soldiers, deflected lightning, and fought off the city-patrolling heavenly soldiers.
• The Dark Lightning Puppet-Control Hub bound Hu Mang with lightning, but his protective Buddhist light shielded him as he opened his demonic eye.
• Hu Mang’s Heavenly Eye awakened and revealed Demon-Subduing Divine Runes; when its eyelids closed, the city went dark, and he pierced the storytelling puppet with his spear.
• The puppet recited a final poem before its shell shattered and its bound lightning ghost dissolved into smoke.
• Hu Mang studied the Demon-Subduing Bustling Market Painting, recognized its grisly details, and said he would recite a poem when he died.

Hu Mang explored the Dark Lightning Puppet-Control Hub, using his awakened Divine Office to inspect the city and locate the hidden lightning eye. When he awakened a charred puppet, its occupant identified himself as Rogue Person Yunxiu, and Hu Mang immediately attacked him.

• Hu Mang watched the Divine Offices’ former controllers disappear from the Demon-Subduing Bustling Market Painting and used his Heavenly Eye to survey the spreading Devil Creatures across Demon-Subduing City.
• Hu Mang examined the damaged mechanisms in the Dark Lightning Puppet-Control Hub but could not trace the lightning threads using cultivation techniques.
• Hu Mang used a Divine Office incantation to search for the lightning eye and found a charred puppet hidden beneath debris in a woodshed.
• Hu Mang awakened the puppet, but the disturbance shattered the Mysterious Yin Devil Moon in his State of Mind before he restored his composure.
• The puppet introduced himself as Rogue Person Yunxiu, and Hu Mang struck him with his spear, prompting Yunxiu to beg him to stop.

Hu Mang subdued the charred puppet, Rogue Person Yunxiu, and exchanged information with him before leaving the woodshed. In the mechanism courtyard, Hu Mang faced the three-story thunder puppet and revealed that he cultivated both demonic and Buddhist arts.

• Hu Mang pinned the charred puppet with Demon-Subduing Divine Runes, and it begged for mercy, explaining that its consciousness had only recently awakened.
• Hu Mang showed Rogue Person Yunxiu the Profound Yin Body Refining Technique, learned that Yunxiu had once studied deduction, and traded accounts of recent events with him.
• Yunxiu admitted that he was likely the cultivator struck dead by lightning after Demon-Subduing City opened, and Hu Mang declared their debts settled before leaving the woodshed.
• Hu Mang stayed in the mechanism courtyard, where the three-story thunder puppet unleashed violent waves of Blood Qi against him.
• Hu Mang tore through the attacks with the Blood-Piercing Essence-Reversal Art, then repelled the puppet's magma-like torrent with Buddhist light, shocking Yunxiu with his Buddhist and demonic cultivation.

Hu Mang learned that the formation hubs he had surveyed would reveal thunder eyes, not the tribulation eye he sought. Rogue Person Yunxiu offered to help him locate the tribulation eye if Hu Mang found Zhen'ezi, but Hu Mang refused.

• Hu Mang ate self-heating meals while Rogue Person Yunxiu mistook his Buddhist light for proof that he belonged to a strange Buddhist lineage.
• Hu Mang told Rogue Person Yunxiu he was not interested in his identity or in leaving Demon-Subduing City.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu explained that Demon-Subduing City had belonged to the Jade Firmament Divine Dynasty, which could create tribulations, and warned that the tribulation eye was not necessarily a thunder eye.
• Hu Mang realized his formation survey could not locate the tribulation eye and learned that calculating heavenly secrets required advanced cultivation or the Future Scripture Method.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu asked Hu Mang to find Zhen'ezi, who could locate the tribulation eye, and Hu Mang refused the offer.

Hu Mang used the Dragon-Shaped Meridian Diagram and On Tribulation Dao Qi Meridians to locate the Tribulation Eye, only for the diagram to devour it. He vanished from the mechanical compound and gained dragon eyes as the Tribulation Eye space collapsed.

• Hu Mang studied On Tribulation Dao Qi Meridians alongside the Dragon-Shaped Meridian Diagram, suspecting the text explained how to use the diagram.
• After lightning made him think of the dragon’s missing eye, Hu Mang rushed to the lightning puppet at the mechanical compound’s center.
• Hu Mang pressed the Dragon-Shaped Meridian Diagram against the puppet’s eye socket and was transported to the Tribulation Eye.
• The diagram opened a maw and devoured the Tribulation Eye’s tribulation power, growing into a more complete and fearsome dragon shape.
• The Tribulation Eye space collapsed, and Hu Mang’s eyes transformed into dragon eyes as he realized the text was an instruction manual for the diagram.

Hu Mang broke the formation by absorbing the Tribulation Eye, then agreed to let Rogue Person Yunxiu help perfect his foundation in exchange for helping find Zhen'ezi. While Yunxiu prepared to demonstrate his method, Hu Mang used the Tribulation Eye to confirm that the city’s lightning net remained uncontrolled and spotted someone he knew.

• Rogue Person Yunxiu discovered that Hu Mang had broken the formation and concealed himself from heavenly divination by finding the Tribulation Eye.
• Yunxiu offered to help perfect Hu Mang’s foundation and showed him the Mountain-Suppressing Seal, asking Hu Mang to help find Zhen'ezi.
• Hu Mang agreed to guard Yunxiu while he prepared to lend his Flower of Spirit and Mountain-Suppressing Seal for eight shichen.
• Hu Mang used the Tribulation Eye and Dragon-Shaped Meridian Diagram to confirm that nobody controlled the city’s lightning net.
• Hu Mang’s Heavenly Eye turned toward someone he knew.

Zhou Tong fled from the Rogue Cultivators and their walking corpses until Hu Mang summoned the Heavenly Eye’s power to rescue her. After Red Tiger brought her to him, Zhou Tong explained that Xu Qing had used the Demon-Subduing Prison to pursue a body-stealing scheme against Turbid Sha Old Man.

• Zhou Tong escaped the prison after Old Master Chen secretly released her, then headed toward the Heavenly Eye while Rogue Cultivators pursued her.
• The Rogue Cultivators cornered Zhou Tong with walking corpses, and Hu Mang invoked a divine office to send Shattering Thunder and a fiery beast to save her.
• Shattering Thunder destroyed the walking corpses, and the Demon-Subduing Vicious Tiger drove off the cultivators before carrying Zhou Tong to Hu Mang.
• Hu Mang fed Zhou Tong as she explained that Xu Qing had lured her into the prison to seize Turbid Sha Old Man’s body using Human Face Makeup.
• Zhou Tong told Hu Mang that Old Master Chen had secretly freed her and sent her to seek his help.

Hu Mang used Rogue Person Yunxiu’s Mountain-Suppressing Seal to comprehend the forms and momentum of mountains, wind, clouds, rain, and mist. He formed two new spiritual foundations, broke through to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage through Innate Foundation Establishment, and regretted buying a costly cultivation device.

• Hu Mang reviewed the spoils from defeating the Rogue Cultivators and identified a gray booklet titled “Corpse Liberation.”
• The Mountain-Suppressing Seal drew Hu Mang into a cultivation realm where Rogue Person Yunxiu began an evolution of mountains and wind.
• Hu Mang resonated his Three Dantian and formed the grafted Spirit Vein called Spiritual Light of Water and Mist.
• Hu Mang used the Jie Character Instruction to join the Mountain-Suppressing Seal’s power to the mountain’s form and comprehend the True Form of Mountains.
• Hu Mang achieved Innate Foundation Establishment and advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, then lamented spending thirty thousand bucks on a Foundation Establishment device.

Hu Mang, Zhou Tong, and Rogue Person Yunxiu went to Demon-Subduing Prison to search for Zhen'ezi and investigate a Tribulation Eye. At the prison entrance, they encountered Jingtu, a bloodied monk who was feeding Devil Creatures to his Prison-Subduing Wisdom King, and Rogue Person Yunxiu recognized the Wisdom King as belonging to the fake monk.

• Hu Mang explained how the Heavenly Gate's Foundation Establishment Device replaced Foundation Establishment Pills, then asked Zhou Tong how Rogue Cultivators prepared to break through.
• Zhou Tong described her family's use of living medicines and mountain essences to nourish her brother, and Hu Mang joked about their practices.
• Hu Mang agreed to take Zhou Tong and Rogue Person Yunxiu to Demon-Subduing Prison, where he hoped to find Zhen'ezi and examine a Tribulation Eye.
• The group reached the prison entrance and saw Jingtu preaching to Devil Creatures before his Prison-Subduing Wisdom King devoured them.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu recognized the Prison-Subduing Wisdom King on Jingtu and asked how he was connected to the fake monk, who had not been among the bodies destroyed in the devil cloud.

Hu Mang confronted Jingtu, who sought vengeance for his younger brother, and the two fought in a brutal test of physical strength. After Jingtu gained the upper hand, Hu Mang combined Buddhist seals and ignited a powerful Buddhist fire, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Jingtu revealed that he had swallowed the Prison-Subduing Wisdom King and asked Hu Mang whether he had seen his long-haired younger brother.
• Hu Mang admitted that he had helped frame Jingtu’s brother and said the Devil-Subduing Thundercloud had killed him; Jingtu produced the charred corpse and challenged Hu Mang to a fight.
• Jingtu and Hu Mang exchanged powerful blows, while Hu Mang deflected Rogue Person Yunxiu’s and Zhou Tong’s attempts to intervene.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu shielded Zhou Tong from the shock waves as Jingtu and Hu Mang fought at close range, damaging the square around them.
• Jingtu’s higher Buddhist cultivation let him knock Hu Mang backward, so Hu Mang formed the Dou and Zhe seals, manifested binary Buddhist patterns across his body, and began combining the Nine-Character Great Hand Seal.

Hu Mang defeated Jingtu by using his opened eye and precisely targeted Wisdom King True Fire to destroy Jingtu’s vow-power kasaya. Jingtu accepted the defeat, explained why he had sought the Prison-Subduing Official title, and warned Hu Mang that divine officials either became someone’s prey or cannon fodder.

• Jingtu covered himself with a blood-colored kasaya and attacked Hu Mang with the Prison-Subduing Wisdom King’s power.
• Hu Mang opened the slit pupil in his right eye and used heavenly divination to find the weakness in Jingtu’s vow-power net.
• Hu Mang’s targeted fire shattered Jingtu’s kasaya, and Jingtu injured himself while retreating from the attack.
• Jingtu offered Hu Mang blood wine and said he would seek revenge openly if he ever did.
• Jingtu admitted he had come to claim the Prison-Subduing Official title and warned Hu Mang that divine officials became either prey or cannon fodder.

Hu Mang accepted Jingtu’s deal to kill Wei Fotuo in exchange for information about the prison and Thunder God. As Buddhist light swept through the first prison level, Hu Mang absorbed Devil Qi and discovered that Buddhist and devilish methods could be transformed into each other.

• Jingtu offered Hu Mang information in exchange for help killing Wei Fotuo, and Hu Mang agreed while asking to inspect Wei Fotuo’s Buddhist cultivation methods.
• Jingtu revealed that the Prison-Subduing Official’s advancement and divine office seemed flawed, that three survivors of the Divine Dynasty had entered the prison, and that a new Righteousness and Devilry Mechanism would judge its inhabitants.
• Jingtu warned that the mechanism would force the righteous to exterminate devils and the devils to kill righteous cultivators or gather Essence Blood, while refusing its demands would trigger the Devil Subjugation Restriction.
• Hu Mang and Rogue Person Yunxiu concluded that Zhen'ezi might be hiding on the fourth level, the Mystic Gate Law Prison, and Hu Mang entered the first level’s corridors.
• Buddhist light swept through the first level, and Hu Mang drained Devil Qi from a prison cell through his claws.
• Hu Mang found that the absorbed Devil Qi filled his meridians and realized that Buddhist and devilish methods could be transformed into each other.

Hu Mang discovered that he could convert Devil Qi into Buddhist power and back, then considered how his unusual constitution might aid his cultivation. After the group found the passage to the next level sealed, two new routes opened and Rogue Person Yunxiu split off from Hu Mang and Zhou Tong.

• Hu Mang tested his ability to cultivate Buddhist and devil methods together, finding he could convert Devil Qi into Body-Protecting Buddha Light and back, though the process had limits and risks.
• Hu Mang recalled that he had been born with the Seven Absolutes Death Meridians and that Mama Hu had kept him alive using the Moon Fox Life-Bearing Instruction and Crimson Moon Fox bloodline.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu and Zhou Tong caught up with Hu Mang, and Zhou Tong cut the black-spike shell from the defeated devil for Hu Mang to store.
• Hu Mang and the others assessed the dangers below and realized they could not find a way to the next level because the Prison-Subduing Official had sealed the passage.
• Two pitch-black passages suddenly opened in the floor, one ahead and one behind the group.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu chose to split up from Hu Mang and Zhou Tong, asking Hu Mang to tell Zhen'ezi that he was there so their deal could be concluded.

Hu Mang and Zhou Tong reached the prison level, where Hu Mang prepared to confront the prisoner on the punishment altar. Elsewhere, Old Evil Hu pursued Old Chen through a conjured mountain forest until the Prison-Subduing Official intervened, while Rogue Person Yunxiu encountered Gourd Old Daoist.

• Zhou Tong told Hu Mang how Old Chen's voice had disrupted the prison chains and allowed her to escape, and Hu Mang suspected the figure on the altar might be Xu Qing or Turbid Sha Old Man.
• Hu Mang stepped into the stake formation with Shattering Thunder, and four dark figures emerged from opened cages.
• In the mountain-forest barrier, the chained giant python urged Old Evil Hu to catch Old Chen as Old Evil Hu tracked him with the Evil-Subduing Register.
• Old Chen deflected Old Evil Hu's chains with his copper-coin sword, while Old Evil Hu discovered that Old Chen's true name was Chen Changsheng.
• The Prison-Subduing Official appeared and turned a tree into black prisons that began drawing Old Evil Hu in.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu met the Daoist carrying a fiery-red gourd and greeted him as Fellow Daoist Zhenxia.

Gourd Daoist learned that he was Immortal Guest Zhenxia, whose soul had separated from his body after a lightning strike, while Rogue Person Yunxiu explained how the Three Friends of Heavenly Mist had been scattered. On the fourth level, they reunited with Zhen'ezi, who had become a Ghost Immortal, and began investigating why the Thunder God had manifested early.

• Rogue Person Yunxiu told Gourd Daoist that his soul had merged with his Three Flowers and Five Qi, and that his memories and cultivation could return when they were restored.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu revealed that Gourd Daoist was Immortal Guest Zhenxia, one of the Three Friends of Heavenly Mist, and recounted how the Thunder God’s strike scattered their souls.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu and Immortal Guest Zhenxia entered the fourth level, the Mystic Gate Law Prison, where Pure Yang restraints and light suppressed cultivators and exposed their inner demons.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu greeted Zhen'ezi, who appeared as a figure of lightning and revealed that he had become a Ghost Immortal by comprehending yin-yang transformation in the Thunder Method.
• Zhen'ezi promised to help restore Immortal Guest Zhenxia’s Primordial Spirit and said that he and Brother Yun Shuo would gather Zongfengzi’s soul for reincarnation.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu asked Zhen'ezi why the Thunder God had appeared ahead of time, and Zhen'ezi defended Junior Brother Mingting from suspicion.

Zhen'ezi suspected Demon-Subduing City’s evolving Thunder Gods were connected to a fragment of the Five Thunders Devil-Subduing Great General’s consciousness and planned to destroy them before they could unite as an Orthodox God. Meanwhile, Hu Mang fought the Prison-Subduing Official, and as the battle reached its turning point he unleashed a Buddhist lion’s roar.

• Zhen'ezi told Rogue Person Yunxiu that the Five Thunders Devil-Subduing Great General’s body had vanished after his death and proposed that a fragment of his consciousness had entered Demon-Subduing City.
• Zhen'ezi connected the city’s emerging Thunder Gods to the Great General’s five Thunder Virtue True Bodies and warned that their union could produce a powerful Orthodox God.
• Zhen'ezi proposed killing at least four Thunder God incarnations and recruiting Zhang Zhixian, Yun Shuo, Bai, and possibly allies from within the city.
• Rogue Person Yunxiu told Zhen'ezi that Mingting had manifested his Yang Spirit and nearly killed the Devil-Slaying Bladesman and the Devil-Subduing Heavenly Soldier.
• Hu Mang fought the Prison-Subduing Official while Zhou Tong watched, and he countered the prison’s powers before forming the Dou Character Instruction and unleashing a Buddhist lion’s roar.

Hu Mang awakened Zhou Yu, who revealed that he and Old Master Chen had used Ghost Makeup to trick Xu Qing and steal the Prison-Subduing Official’s authority. When they discovered a powerful presence controlling the prison’s fourth level, the execution platform split open, forcing them to descend.

• Hu Mang used the Dou Character Instruction to awaken the Prison-Subduing Official, revealing Zhou Yu beneath the disguise.
• Zhou Yu explained how he and Old Master Chen put his face beneath Xu Qing’s skin to steal the Prison-Subduing Official’s authority.
• Zhou Yu said Old Master Chen had drawn away three divine officials, then agreed to help Hu Mang find him.
• Zhou Yu’s prison vision revealed that someone controlled the fourth level and suppressed his divine office; he identified that person as Lord Yama.
• The execution platform split open, and Hu Mang decided to descend into the opening.