Chapter Summaries

Si Ming challenged Abbot Fahong over whether the Pure Land Dharma Gate taught the true Dharma or encouraged delusion, and Fahong ended their discussion and sent Xilai to guide Si Ming and Hongdou to the Scripture Repository. On the way, they reached Sweet Dew Terrace and saw thousands of warrior monks training.

• Xilai introduced Si Ming and Hongdou to Abbot Fahong, who thanked Si Ming for offering help against the Monster Race.
• Fahong invited Si Ming to discuss Buddhist principles, and Si Ming argued that the Dharma should be understood rather than believed as an idle claim.
• Si Ming criticized the Pure Land Dharma Gate for promising rebirth through recitation while failing to explain the Dharma, and warned that its teachings resembled Māra's way.
• Fahong ended the debate, left for the Bodhi Courtyard, and told Xilai to take Si Ming to the Scripture Repository.
• Xilai guided Si Ming and Hongdou through the temple, where they saw about three thousand warrior monks practicing Arhat Fist at Sweet Dew Terrace.

Si Ming challenged Xilai and Master Fajian to follow the Buddha’s example of tolerance, arguing against reverence that demanded protection from criticism. After defeating Fajian in a brief exchange of martial arts, Si Ming left him struggling to answer whether he would learn the Buddha’s magnanimity.

• Xilai asked Si Ming for guidance about finding his own path in Buddhist teachings, and Si Ming urged him to rely on his own cultivation rather than worship Buddhas or patriarchs.
• Master Fajian confronted Si Ming for insulting the Buddha and demanded an apology.
• Fajian attacked with the Mighty Vajra Palm, but Si Ming countered with the Asura World-Annihilating Saber and then trapped Fajian’s Mighty Vajra Finger using the Ruyi Illusory Demon Hand.
• Xilai introduced Master Fajian as the disciplinary court head and Sima Liang as the Heavenly Martial Alliance leader, and Fajian acknowledged that Si Ming had held back.
• Si Ming asked Fajian whether he would learn the Buddha’s magnanimity, then told him to endure and ignore those who insulted him.

Si Ming claimed he could prove his Buddha-like wisdom by mastering the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability in five days, then studied the Glazed Temple’s martial arts. Five days later, he demonstrated the ability to Master Fajian, who confirmed that Si Ming had learned its power, though it was still immature.

• Si Ming told Master Fajian he would prove his claim to Buddha-like wisdom by learning the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability in five days.
• Si Ming joked with Xilai and Hongdou about becoming a Buddha before following Xilai to the scripture repository.
• Xilai explained the Glazed Pure Body’s abilities and its requirement for a pure yin constitution, prompting Si Ming to consider whether Si Jingyu could learn it.
• Si Ming examined the Tathagata Dharma Body and discovered that it required refining 129,600 acupoints.
• Five days later, Si Ming tested his power against Master Fajian, who recognized it as Vajra Demon-Subduing Power.

The Glazed Temple monks accepted Si Ming into the Pupil Extermination Plan after learning how rapidly he had mastered the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability. Si Ming demonstrated that merging its power with Asura Divine Power created a force ten times stronger, but the explosion injured his palm, leaving the monks debating how he could use it safely.

• Faming recounted how the late Chengkong had mastered the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability in six years and three months, while Fajian said it had taken him more than thirteen years.
• Fajian estimated that Si Ming needed another three months for his Vajra Demon-Subduing Power to fully form, and Fahong asked the monks whether they still opposed including him in the Pupil Extermination Plan.
• The monks agreed to invite Si Ming to help, and Fahong asked him to demonstrate what happened when Vajra Demon-Subduing Power merged with Asura Divine Power.
• Si Ming combined the two forces and struck a bronze incense burner, splitting it with an explosive, piercing blast that Fajian and Faming safely deflected.
• Si Ming said the merged force was ten times as strong as the original, but revealed that the small amount he had used had mangled his palm because he feared his body could not withstand the power.
• The monks debated whether Si Ming could merge and release the forces outside his body to avoid harming himself.

Si Ming accompanied the Glazed Temple monks to Sarira Hall after Fahai warned him that openly spreading his unorthodox views on Buddhist teachings could unsettle ordinary people. There, Hongdou described how much she enjoyed her stay, while Faji revealed that her extraordinary good fortune might protect her from calamities unless she sought danger herself.

• Fahai explained that ordinary people might mistake Si Ming's correct but unconventional ideas for nonsense, and Si Ming agreed not to turn the dispute into a wider conflict.
• Fahai left Si Ming, Fahong, and Faji on their way to Sarira Hall, where they met Hongdou and Si Ming asked how she had enjoyed her stay.
• Hongdou praised the temple's quiet surroundings and architecture, and Fahong complimented her for knowing her own path without needing Buddhist teachings.
• Faji said Hongdou had survived the greatest tribulation of her life and would enjoy abundant good fortune that could spare her from luck-related dangers.
• Faji offered Si Ming the Unconventional Practice of Form and Emptiness, which Si Ming recognized as a dual cultivation method and said he might borrow.

Si Ming used the Aniruddha Heavenly Eye to project his consciousness back to Minggui Orphanage, hoping to contact his old friends. He found Yao Bilian in his room and struggled to keep his spiritual projection stable as she teased him.

• Faji showed Si Ming the Aniruddha Heavenly Eye and explained how it could open a passage through space and time using the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King's ritual.
• Si Ming activated the eye and projected his consciousness into the main hall of Minggui Orphanage.
• Si Ming heard a noise upstairs and discovered Yao Bilian with another woman in his room.
• Yao Bilian heard Si Ming's voice, apologized for using his room, and then teased him about seeing her naked.
• Si Ming's agitation blurred the projection, so he steadied his emotions while Yao Bilian put on her underwear.

Si Ming used the Aniruddha Heavenly Eye to contact Yao Bilian and reassure his friends that he was safe on the Barbarian Continent. After returning to the Glazed Temple, he learned the Tower of Sealing would remain closed for now and continued cultivating while trying to remember someone he had forgotten to ask about.

• Yao Bilian told Si Ming that his friends had resumed their lives, and that Murong Qing had withdrawn from the Martial Dao League to search for him and concluded he had traveled through space and time.
• Si Ming asked Yao Bilian to tell his master and friends that he was safe, and they arranged to speak again in three months.
• Si Ming returned the Aniruddha Heavenly Eye to Fahong and Faji, who said the Tower of Sealing could not yet be opened.
• Si Ming told Hongdou about his conversation with Yao Bilian, then realized he had forgotten to ask about someone.
• Si Ming practiced the Vajra Demon-Subduing Divine Ability, the Brahma Sea Asura Art, and the Tathagata Dharma Body.

Si Ming trained with Xilai and prepared to impersonate a Glazed Temple disciple under the Dharma name Wutian. Abbot Fahong then brought Si Ming and Hongdou to the Tower of Sealing, where a formation transported them to a desolate landscape.

• Si Ming sparred with Xilai, using Buddhist saber arts and suppressing him even when Xilai used his Asura Divine Power.
• Xilai judged Si Ming ready to pose as the Buddha-Slaying Monk and suggested he take a name from the Wu generation; Si Ming chose Wutian.
• Si Ming considered the incomplete Sea-Upholding Demon Dragon Art and its lack of training methods.
• Abbot Fahong invited Si Ming and Hongdou to see the Tower of Sealing, and they joined Abbot Faji and other monks at a formation.
• The monks activated the formation, and Si Ming, Hongdou, Fahong, and Faji arrived in a desolate place that Si Ming suspected was reached by spatial teleportation.

Si Ming learned that the Glazed Temple’s Ling-generation monks sacrificed their lives to operate the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and hold back the Black Tide. As the tide continued to threaten the Barbarian Continent, Hongdou questioned the monks about their sacrifice, and an old monk affirmed their duty to protect those who came after them.

• Si Ming asked Fahong whether the Black Tide drained vitality, and Fahong explained that it harmed both body and mind.
• Xilai described entering the Black Tide and returning exhausted after half a day, despite his Glazed Pure Body.
• Si Ming argued that the Black Tide’s source should eventually be addressed, but Fahong said the Glazed Temple had to defeat the Monster Race first.
• Si Ming considered how the Monster Race might also need to resist the Black Tide to survive.
• Hongdou asked an old monk whether his sacrifice was worthwhile, and he said each generation had a duty to protect those who followed.

Hongdou agreed to help the Glazed Temple kill the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King, while Si Ming set out in disguise as a monk to make Wutian famous. On the way to the besieged Alan Temple, he encountered two inexperienced monks heading into danger and followed them into a suspicious mountain inn.

• Xilai defended the old monks’ sacrifice, and Si Ming listened as they shared stories about their lives and families.
• Hongdou agreed to deliver the final blow against the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King, and Fahong promised the temple would create an opening for her.
• Si Ming told Xilai he would set out to make Wutian famous, then disguised himself as a Glazed Temple monk after shaving his head.
• On the road to the Alan Temple, Si Ming met a young monk and nun who were secretly following their master toward the fighting, and he warned them about the danger.
• The pair entered an isolated inn without suspicion, so Si Ming followed them in to keep them safe.

Si Ming saw through an inn's Otherworld Domain and exposed a pig monster hiding among the guests and food. After rescuing Zhenmian and Zhenruo from its attack, he warned them to flee, but the two novices insisted on staying to fight beside him.

• Zhenmian and Zhenruo entered the crowded inn, believing its guests were martial artists bound for Alan Temple.
• Si Ming used his Vajra Demon-Subduing Power to see that the guests were dead and the inn's roast pigs contained human bodies.
• Si Ming called for the inn's owner, and the owner's disguise broke to reveal a pig monster when it opened its huge mouth.
• The pig monster attacked Zhenmian and Zhenruo with a rake, but Si Ming redirected its strike and blasted it through three walls with a Mighty Vajra Palm.
• Si Ming told the two novices to run, but Zhenmian and Zhenruo said they would stay and advance or retreat with him.

Si Ming defeated the pig monster by breaking his Otherworld Domain and crushing the Wild Boar King, then planned to clear the Monster Race’s ambushes. At Alan Temple, the Monster Race besieged the temple and displayed captured women, including the Xiaoxiang Fairy, as food and prey.

• Si Ming gave Zhenmian and Zhenruo room to fight off the attacking corpses while he battled the pig monster.
• Si Ming shattered the Otherworld Domain with Dragon-Elephant Stomp, removing the pig monster’s instant regeneration.
• The pig monster transformed into a Wild Boar King and charged, but Si Ming’s Vajra Demon Subjugation killed him.
• Si Ming told Zhenmian they would turn the Monster Race’s encirclement tactic against them by clearing its ambushes one by one.
• At Alan Temple, the Monster Race surrounded the temple with Otherworld Domains and taunted the monks by cooking human flesh outside its gates.
• The bull-headed monster brought six captured Lingering Waves Palace disciples before the monsters and identified their leader as the Xiaoxiang Fairy.

Man Xiong tortured Lingering Waves Palace disciples to pressure Mu Boxue and lure Alan Temple into a fight, but Abbot Fajue kept the temple’s forces inside. Outside the encirclement, Si Ming watched with rescued martial artists after wiping out the Monster Race’s ambushes and reaching level ten in Internal Cultivation.

• Man Xiong ordered Lingering Waves Palace disciples tortured and killed to make Mu Boxue beg for mercy, but she refused and eventually pierced her own eardrums to spare the last disciples further torment.
• Man Xiong killed the two remaining disciples, seized Mu Boxue, and demanded that Alan Temple come out to save Xiaoxiang Fairy.
• Abbot Fajue refused to send out the temple’s forces, explaining that the monsters were baiting them into an ambush, and sealed a monk’s acupoints when he tried to rescue Mu Boxue alone.
• Si Ming and the martial artists he had rescued watched the battlefield from beyond the Monster Race’s encirclement after he destroyed the enemy ambushes and raised his Internal Cultivation to level ten.

Si Ming led the martial heroes to break the siege of Alan Temple and attacked the monsters with overwhelming force, while Man Xiong tried to stop him by taking Mu Boxue hostage. The chapter ended with Si Ming swinging his saber toward Man Xiong and Mu Boxue without hesitation.

• Si Ming agreed to attack the monsters first and told the martial heroes to follow him toward Alan Temple.
• Si Ming used Dragon-Elephant Stomp to shatter the monsters’ strange domains, then cut down many monsters with the Crimson Blood Divine Blade.
• Man Xiong pursued Si Ming, but Si Ming dodged his attacks and continued slaughtering the monster soldiers.
• Man Xiong grabbed Mu Boxue and threatened to kill her, then crushed her arm when Si Ming refused to stop.
• Si Ming answered Mu Boxue’s plea with “All right!” and slashed his saber Qi toward Man Xiong and the hostage.

Si Ming, posing as the Glazed Temple monk Wutian, helped rout the strange race and pursued Man Xiong, who had tried to flee. Si Ming overwhelmed Man Xiong with the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique, but Man Xiong’s Fierce Spirit Devil Roar broke through Si Ming’s counterattack.

• Man Xiong threw Mu Boxue at Si Ming’s blade Qi, but Si Ming redirected it, severing Mu Boxue’s injured arm before saving her and restoring her cultivation.
• Si Ming’s rescued martial heroes and the monks of Alan Temple attacked the strange race from both sides, forcing its fighters to retreat.
• Man Xiong tried to escape, but Si Ming caught up with him and revealed that he was faster than Man Xiong had expected.
• Si Ming overpowered Man Xiong with the Tiger-Subduing Blade Technique, drawing blood and driving him back.
• Man Xiong unleashed Fierce Spirit Devil Roar, and its sound waves broke Si Ming’s Kui Drum Thunder Sound.

Si Ming defeated and killed Man Xiong by exploiting his defenses and converting the Monster Race general’s anomalous origin. After the heroes celebrated his victory at Alan Temple, Si Ming left on urgent business.

• Si Ming lured Man Xiong into a trap and struck him with Vajra Subdues All Demons from the Heart, badly wounding him.
• Man Xiong tried to escape, but Si Ming seized him, overcame his regeneration, and devoured his anomalous origin.
• Si Ming killed Man Xiong with the Burning Wood Saber Art and absorbed the cultivation he had converted from him.
• The heroes arrived, and Si Ming introduced himself to Abbot Fajue as Wutian of the Glazed Temple.
• The monks invited the heroes to Alan Temple to rest and celebrate, while Si Ming departed on urgent business.

The Buddha-Slaying Monk attacked the gathering at Alan Temple, but Wutian, revealed as Si Ming, had anticipated him and joined forces with Fajian and Faming to trap and severely injure him. Surrounded and near defeat, the Buddha-Slaying Monk mocked the Buddhist School’s doctrines and vowed to destroy its temples, while Faming defended the Dharma.

• The Buddha-Slaying Monk stormed Alan Temple and wounded Abbot Fajue before Wutian returned to stop his attack.
• Wutian and the Buddha-Slaying Monk fought through the temple, and Fajue judged that Wutian was at a disadvantage after his battle with the Barbarian Divine General.
• Si Ming used a Buddhist verse to distract the Buddha-Slaying Monk, letting Fajian attack him from behind and Faming strike him with a Prajna Zen Palm.
• Si Ming slashed the wounded Buddha-Slaying Monk, who mocked the temple’s tactics and accused Buddhist believers of hypocrisy.
• Faming explained the meaning of the Dharma, while the Buddha-Slaying Monk insisted that Buddhist temples deceived ordinary people.

The Purple-Pupiled Spirit King’s forces rescued the Buddha-Slaying Monk and proposed working with him against Glazed Temple. The Buddha-Slaying Monk agreed to attack Heavenly Sound Temple in three days, though the monsters questioned his willingness to cooperate.

• Si Ming and the Glazed Temple monks wounded the Buddha-Slaying Monk before Ghost Chariot rescued him from their attack.
• Xilai met the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King and his four Divine Generals, who discussed Man Xiong’s death and Glazed Temple’s possible trap.
• Xilai rebuked the Divine Generals, and the Spirit King stopped them from attacking him and asked him to cooperate against Glazed Temple.
• The Buddha-Slaying Monk acknowledged that the monsters had saved him and agreed to work with them against their common enemy.
• Wu Da gave the Buddha-Slaying Monk a map and ordered him to kill every monk at Heavenly Sound Temple in three days.

Henzhen confronted the Buddha-Slaying Monk about his identity, but he redirected her suspicions toward the truth about her adoptive parents and the wandering hero who exposed her. After she left, he reflected on his plan to deceive the Monster Race, while Si Ming used the Aniruddha Heavenly Eye to contact Yan Jinghong again.

• The Purple-Pupiled Spirit King told Wang Dashe and Ghost Chariot that he would use the Buddha-Slaying Monk as an ally until the Glazed Temple was destroyed, then ordered Henzhen to test him.
• Henzhen accused the Buddha-Slaying Monk of being connected to Xilai, but he challenged her suspicions and asked whether the wandering hero who identified her as a Monster had been human.
• The Buddha-Slaying Monk suggested that a fellow Monster might have exposed Henzhen and indirectly caused her adoptive parents' deaths, prompting her to reconsider the past without turning against the Spirit King.
• After Henzhen left, the Buddha-Slaying Monk reflected that Wutian's help would let him complete his deception without sacrificing Glazed Temple monks.
• Si Ming used the Aniruddha Heavenly Eye to reach Yan Jinghong at the Minggui Orphanage, and Yan Jinghong sensed and located him.

Si Ming reported on the Heavenly Martial Alliance to Yan Jinghong, who insisted he remain in the Barbarian Continent amid political turmoil at home and the danger posed by the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King. Yan Jinghong gave Si Ming a sword seal and counted his achievements toward the Grandmaster Trial; back in his body, Si Ming learned that Xilai had summoned him to the Heavenly Sound Temple.

• Si Ming told Yan Jinghong how he had established the Heavenly Martial Alliance, and Yan Jinghong praised him for putting Mohist ideals into practice.
• Yan Jinghong explained that Xiao Xuan had exposed officials’ corruption and the Mohist Knight Guard had begun killing accused officials, so no trustworthy replacement could be sent to lead the alliance.
• The Doctor warned that a spatial rift could not safely carry Spirit Transformation Grandmasters, and Si Ming realized he still had to confront the Purple-Pupiled Spirit King.
• Yan Jinghong gave Si Ming a sword seal that would summon the holy maiden to open a spatial rift and counted Si Ming’s accomplishments toward the Grandmaster Trial.
• Si Ming returned to his body and learned from Abbot Fahong that Xilai had called him to the Heavenly Sound Temple in two days; Si Ming agreed to go and exchange identities with him.