Chapter Summaries

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.

Hu Mang reunited with Chen Sheng and confronted Old Evil Hu and the Beauty Python before meeting Zhen'ezi, a Ghost Immortal of the Thunder Sect. After testing Zhen'ezi with a lightning attack, Hu Mang heard the group’s plan to suppress the false Thunder God, and Zhen'ezi turned to him for his response.

• Hu Mang explained that the divine offices included the Yamas of the Ten Courts, then reunited with Chen Sheng, who had disguised himself in women's clothing to blend with the Yin Makeup.
• Hu Mang asserted his rank over Old Evil Hu and frightened the Beauty Python with his demonic eyes as the group proceeded to the fourth level.
• Chen Sheng recognized Zhen'ezi as a Ghost Immortal, and Hu Mang launched a thunderstorm at him to test his strength; Zhen'ezi remained unharmed.
• Zhen'ezi identified himself as a member of the Thunder Sect, and Rogue Person Yunxiu explained that at least five Thunder God incarnations threatened Demon-Subduing City.
• After Zhen'ezi displayed his sect token, Old Evil Hu and the Beauty Python agreed to help suppress the false god, and Zhen'ezi looked to Hu Mang, whose attitude remained unchanged.

Hu Mang told Zhen'ezi that he knew the location of the fifth Thunder God incarnation, Gong Lei, but refused to join the Thunder Sect's fight against the false gods. After Hu Mang and his companions withdrew, he explained that Zhen'ezi's sense of duty to reopen Demon-Subduing City had kept negotiations from turning violent.

• Hu Mang revealed his connection between Gong Lei, the Thunder God's Shrine, and He Chang, identifying Gong Lei as the likely fifth Thunder God incarnation.
• Zhen'ezi apologized for Mingting's attack and offered compensation, but Hu Mang rejected the apology and warned that he would kill Mingting if their strength ever matched.
• Hu Mang said he would not let appeals to righteousness force him into Zhen'ezi's plans, and invited the others to choose whether to stay or leave.
• Chen Sheng declined to fight, and Zhou Yu also refused because he had to protect Zhou Tong; Hu Mang led them away from Zhen'ezi and Rogue Person Yunxiu.
• Back on the third floor, Hu Mang explained that Zhen'ezi could not risk fighting because the Thunder Sect disciple was essential to reopening Demon-Subduing City.

Hu Mang and the others examined the treasures he had obtained, and Chen Sheng identified the Corpse Liberation Book as a guide to preparing for a rare form of immortal ascension. The group learned about the method’s risks and possibilities, while Hu Mang began studying the Azure Mysterious Realm’s written language with Zhou Tong.

• Hu Mang asked Zhou Yu whether the person on the other side could hear them, and Zhou Yu said he would know if anyone tried to interfere with the prison.
• Hu Mang showed Chen Sheng the Storage Bag, the rib, and the Corpse Liberation Book; Chen Sheng explained how to open the sealed bag and identified the rib as a demonic-path inheritance written in Shamanic Script.
• Chen Sheng recognized the booklet as an orthodox guide to becoming a Corpse Liberation Immortal, and Zhou Yu joined him to study it while Hu Mang asked Zhou Tong to teach him to read.
• Hu Mang quickly learned the Azure Mysterious Realm’s writing, while Chen Sheng and Zhou Yu studied the book and discussed the nature of Corpse Liberation.
• Hu Mang realized the book described a kind of consciousness-based ascension similar to uploading consciousness to a network, and Chen Sheng confirmed that the guide covered preparing the body for Corpse Liberation, though it lacked the core method.

Hu Mang used the Dragon Eye to investigate the Tribulation Eye and discovered a hidden fifth floor beneath the Demon-Subduing Prison, where an unknown figure held the source of the prison’s tribulations. The figure sent the Tribulation Eye into Hu Mang’s left eye, and activating the Dragon Eye afterward triggered an overwhelming sense of danger.

• Chen Sheng proposed relocating the group and using their divine offices and the female Heavenly General’s corpse to establish a false office that could resist the Thunder God.
• Hu Mang, Chen Sheng, and Zhou Yu chose the Tempering Treasury as the site for their manor, while Hu Mang planned to join them after fulfilling a request for monk Jingtu.
• Hu Mang used the Dragon Eye to trace the Tribulation Eye’s threads through the prison and discovered a fifth floor beneath the fourth.
• On the fifth floor, Hu Mang saw an unknown figure holding the Tribulation Eye and controlling the prison’s tribulation force.
• The figure flicked the Tribulation Eye into Hu Mang’s left eye, after which Hu Mang’s extraordinary vision failed and trying to activate the Dragon Eye brought a terrifying sense of danger.

Hu Mang tracked down the fake monk Wei Fotuo while Zhou Yu, Old Chen, and Chen Sheng cleared the Tempering Treasury of Devil Creatures. After discovering its lightning-fire furnace, Hu Mang warned Old Chen that the final battle in Demon-Subduing City might come soon and asked for his help.

• Hu Mang saw that gray-black threads of tribulation had wound around his fate after he glimpsed the mysterious figure on the fifth level.
• Hu Mang joined Jingtu and used their Buddhist connection to track down Wei Fotuo, whom Jingtu captured while Hu Mang took the monk's Storage Bag.
• Jingtu channeled Buddhist power from Wei Fotuo into Demon-Subduing City's lightning net after Hu Mang left.
• Zhou Yu, Old Chen, and Chen Sheng fought the Devil Creatures in the Tempering Treasury, and Hu Mang's spear and black clouds annihilated the remaining devils with golden lightning.
• Hu Mang and Old Chen found the lightning-fire furnace, which Hu Mang recognized as a lightning eye, and Hu Mang asked Old Chen for help with the approaching final battle.