Chapter Summaries

Chu Xinghe tried to turn the lucky grand draw’s frustrations into a chance to disgust the visiting factions by arranging a disastrous Southern Branch performance. He left the story expecting Lu Chengqing’s show to ruin Haotian Tower’s reputation, while Zheng Yu remained determined to raise Martial Emperor City’s stake despite losing every flute.

• Martial Emperor City dominated the first two days of the draw, and Zheng Yu taunted the other factions as they increased their stakes.
• Chu Xinghe tried to calm Thunder Shadow and urge the factions’ geniuses to stop competing so fiercely, but Zheng Yu’s boastful visit only irritated him further.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that his joint effort with Lu Chengqing was not going smoothly, so Chu Xinghe scheduled their performance that very evening to embarrass the other factions.
• Chu Xinghe warned Lu Chengqing and his musicians that important guests would attend, hoping their nerves would make the already dreadful performance even worse.
• Martial Emperor City won none of the ten Flutes of Space and Time on the third day, but Zheng Yu announced that they would increase their stake again.
• Guo Qizhen dismissed the threat to Star Moon Tower, while Chu Xinghe anticipated that the Southern Branch’s performance would make Haotian Tower infamous as a hellish troupe.

Chu Xinghe expected the Vast Heaven Sect’s performance to fail, and the musicians’ ghost-filled show initially baffled the audience and demoralized the backstage crew. Ma Liang took over the second half with a story brought to life by the Fengdu Grand Formation, leaving Chu Xinghe stunned as the audience watched the protagonist’s tragedy unfold.

• The guests admired the lavish Vast Heaven Music Venue as Chu Xinghe anticipated that the performance would disgrace the sect.
• The Haotian Tower’s musicians played well, but flying vicious ghosts ruined the show and left the audience confused and displeased.
• Lu Chengqing gave up managing the second half, while Ma Liang struggled to persuade the demoralized musicians to perform.
• Ma Liang went onstage and began telling a story about Chu Ahe, a child born with a Supreme Divine Bone that his elder brother stole.
• Ma Liang used the Fengdu Grand Formation and the Ghost Emperor’s illusions to dramatize Chu Ahe’s story across the venue, shocking Chu Xinghe.

Ma Liang used the Fengdu Grand Formation and the Vast Heaven Sect’s musicians to turn his improvised story about Chu Ahe reclaiming his Supreme Bone into a spectacular performance. The story ended on a cliffhanger, leaving the audience eager for another installment and Chu Xinghe appalled that his plan to stage a terrible show had backfired.

• Ma Liang began telling a melodramatic story about Chu Ahe overcoming oppression after his Supreme Bone was stolen, while the Ghost Emperor and vicious ghosts acted it out through illusions.
• Lu Chengqing ordered the musicians to accompany the ghosts’ performance, transforming the clumsy story into an immersive spectacle.
• As Chu Ahe challenged the heavens to reclaim his Supreme Bone, Ma Liang ended the show with a promise of a next installment, frustrating the audience.
• The guests praised the unprecedented performance and asked whether Haotian Tower would stage more shows like it.
• Guo Qizhen worried that the Vast Heaven Sect had surpassed expectations, while Chu Xinghe privately regretted that his idea had produced a hit instead of an awful performance.

After Chu Xinghe declared that Haotian Tower’s performance was priceless and would not sell tickets, the visiting big shots showered the troupe with spirit-stone tributes. Lu Chengqing turned the unexpected donations into a Tribute Ranking, leaving Chu Xinghe horrified as the free performances became a new way to pressure patrons into giving.

• After the performance, the grand elder promised future shows, and Lu Chengqing invited the big shots to attend performances at Haotian Tower.
• Chu Xinghe insisted that art was priceless and that Haotian Tower would not sell tickets, frustrating Lu Chengqing and confusing the grand elder.
• Zheng Yu praised the performance and offered three thousand spirit stones as a tribute, prompting the other big shots to donate as well.
• The grand elder and Lu Chengqing recognized that tributes could bring Haotian Tower income while keeping its art above ordinary commercial shows.
• Lu Chengqing announced a Tribute Ranking to record donors, and Chu Xinghe regretted inspiring the plan and feared the ranking would shame those who gave nothing.

Chu Xinghe attended a cultivation gathering where Cheng Xiaotian pressed Gu Mingchao about the incomplete Formless Heart Sutra. Just as Chu Xinghe admitted he had made a mistake buying it, a messenger announced it had been completed, leaving him worried the Dark Moon Clan’s technique-completion ability would draw the factions’ attention.

• Shen Chun told Chu Xinghe to attend the gathering at Haotian Palace, where Zheng Yu directed him to sit near the assembled leaders.
• The leaders exchanged cultivation insights, and Gu Mingchao arranged for Elder He to share knowledge about techniques recorded in ancient texts.
• Cheng Xiaotian asked Gu Mingchao to demonstrate the Formless Heart Sutra, prompting the other leaders to question him about how it could be completed.
• Chu Xinghe admitted that the Formless Heart Sutra had no circulation route and that buying it had been rash.
• A dark figure rushed into the gathering and announced that the Formless Heart Sutra had been completed, alarming Chu Xinghe about the Dark Moon Clan’s potential to attract requests from other factions.

Chu Xinghe’s claims that the Vast Heaven Sect had completed the Formless Heart Sutra prompted Cheng Xiaotian to demand proof, so Gu Mingchao led the gathered leaders to the City of Dark Moon. Their visit ended with two corpses blocking their path, leaving Cheng Xiaotian convinced the sect was staging an excuse.

• Chu Xinghe agreed with the Grand Elder’s admonition after the Vast Heaven Sect announced the Formless Heart Sutra was complete.
• Cheng Xiaotian and the other leaders demanded to witness the completed technique, and Gu Mingchao invited them to the Dark Moon Palace.
• Chu Xinghe tried to delay the demonstration, but Gu Mingchao led everyone from the Heavenly One Dao Field to the City of Dark Moon.
• Cheng Xiaotian noticed the city was strangely quiet and suspected the Vast Heaven Sect had fabricated its claim.
• Two corpses appeared in the visitors’ path, and Cheng Xiaotian suspected Gu Mingchao was using them as another excuse.

Guests visiting the Dark Moon Palace witnessed members of the Dark Moon Clan kill one another in a bizarre ceremony, only to discover that they could revive because of their Undying Bodies. The guests left stunned by the clan’s power and the Vast Heaven Sect’s potential future dominance.

• Two Vast Heaven Sect disciples killed each other in front of the guests, leaving Cheng Xiaotian and the others bewildered.
• The grand elder said the Dark Moon Palace’s situation was complicated as An Lan welcomed the guests to the clan’s highest ceremony.
• An Lan and the Dark Moon Clan members killed themselves and one another, filling the palace with corpses.
• The first two dead disciples revived, and the grand elder explained that the Dark Moon Clan had Undying Bodies.
• Chu Xinghe stopped the clan from continuing its ceremony while the guests grasped how formidable the Dark Moon Clan could make the Vast Heaven Sect.

The Great Sage An Zhi demonstrated how his supposedly incomplete Formless Heart Sutra strengthened the Dark Spirit Orb by nearly thirty percent, astonishing the visiting leaders and prompting the Vast Heaven Sect to boast about its unfinished techniques. After the guests left, Yan Shoujing secretly memorized the sutra’s circulation routes, hoping it would bring him closer to Xiao Cui’er.

• An Lan welcomed Gu Mingchao, Chu Xinghe, and the other guests to the Dark Moon Palace and explained that the Great Sage had died of happiness after completing part of the Formless Heart Sutra, then resurrected.
• Great Sage An Zhi began a demonstration of the Formless Heart Sutra, increasing the Dark Spirit Orb’s power by nearly thirty percent and claiming a perfect circulation route could raise it by forty percent.
• The Grand Elder and Gu Mingchao praised An Zhi’s work and urged him to complete the sect’s other unfinished techniques, leaving Cheng Xiaotian and the other visitors stunned.
• An Zhi escorted the guests out while An Lan and the Dark Moon clanspeople performed their highest rite again by hacking at one another.
• Yan Shoujing slipped into An Zhi’s cultivation room, memorized the repaired Formless Heart Sutra’s circulation routes, and left while thinking of Xiao Cui’er.

Cheng Xiaotian and the major powers allied with the Vast Heaven Sect to have the Dark Moon Clan complete their cultivation techniques, while Chu Xinghe despaired over the consequences. Yan Shoujing passed the completed Formless Heart Sutra to Wu Xingyun, whose attempt to test it killed a Demonic Sect genius, and Yan ended up on the Demonic Sect Must-Kill List.

• Zheng Yu advised Cheng Xiaotian that Martial Emperor City should share its techniques with the Vast Heaven Sect rather than fall behind while the sect grew stronger.
• Cheng Xiaotian met Gu Mingchao, who promised the Vast Heaven Sect would keep half the submitted techniques and not study the rest; leaders from other powers made similar alliances that night.
• The Great Elder told Chu Xinghe that the alliances would bring the Vast Heaven Sect many techniques, and Chu Xinghe decided to spend sect resources on wedding supplies to restore his health.
• Yan Shoujing gave Wu Xingyun the completed Formless Heart Sutra, and Wu Xingyun summoned a Demonic Sect genius to test whether it worked.
• The genius died in an explosion while working through the sutra, and the Demonic Sect added Yan Shoujing to its Must-Kill List the next day.

Chu Xinghe oversaw lavish preparations for Feng Fei and Jiuli’s wedding, repeatedly ordering costly upgrades so the Vast Heaven Sect would spend as much as possible. After arranging extravagant decorations and teleportation arrays, he ended the day frustrated when his lucky draw returned four Zheng Yus and nearly replenished the spirit stones he had spent.

• Chu Xinghe ordered the construction division to build Jiuli a luxurious residence within three days, regardless of cost.
• Wei Deqian showed Chu Xinghe wedding robes priced at one hundred thousand spirit stones, and Chu Xinghe demanded priceless upgrades and gave the merchant a fifty percent profit.
• Chu Xinghe ordered gemstone-studded wedding outfits for the Vast Heaven Sect’s people and livestock, along with gemstone-covered carriages and a peacock-feather carpet.
• Yan Shoujing agreed to build the ten-thousand-person teleportation arrays with supreme-grade spirit stones, and Chu Xinghe also arranged to pave the route with Ten Perfections Flowers.
• Chu Xinghe drew four Zheng Yus from the Flute of Space and Time and lamented that the draw had nearly earned back the spirit stones he had spent.

Chu Xinghe celebrated Yan Shoujing’s plan to build enormous teleportation arrays for Feng Fei’s wedding procession, believing they would drain the Vast Heaven Sect’s reserves and help him lose the round. Yan Shoujing secretly welcomed the spending as sabotage, while both men mistook each other’s enthusiasm for proof of their own good fortune.

• Chu Xinghe watched the Lucky Grand Prize Draw’s final days turn into a bidding frenzy that earned the Vast Heaven Sect far more than he had spent on Feng Fei’s wedding.
• Yan Shoujing showed Chu Xinghe a ten-thousand-person teleportation array built with top-grade spirit stones and proposed constructing an even larger array in Wuj iang for the return journey.
• Chu Xinghe enthusiastically approved Yan Shoujing’s plan to make the Wuj iang array large enough for as many as a hundred thousand people, and urged him to make the plans even bigger.
• Yan Shoujing was delighted that Chu Xinghe approved the costly plans, since he thought Xinghe would take the blame for draining the sect’s reserves.
• Chu Xinghe considered Yan Shoujing his lucky general, while Yan Shoujing wondered whether Chu Xinghe was a Demonic Sect spy and reasoned that a real spy would not act so recklessly.

Chu Xinghe led the Vast Heaven Sect’s lavish wedding procession to Wuj iang for Feng Fei’s marriage to its saintess. After arriving in the holy city, the procession began Wuj iang’s wedding trials, and the Dark Moon Clan cleared the first Gu-insect trial by letting the insects devour them.

• Gu Mingchao learned that Chu Xinghe had proposed building a vast teleportation array in Wuj iang, while the Vast Heaven Sect prepared for the wedding.
• Liu Bo and the outer disciples dressed Chu Cheng in red bandages after hearing him boast about collecting saintesses.
• Feng Fei set out with Chu Xinghe and more than ten thousand Vast Heaven Sect members, teleporting to Wuj iang’s holy city in a grand procession.
• Chu Xinghe led the procession through the city, where the disciples scattered spirit stones as wedding coins and Zhu Bo welcomed them on Wuj iang’s behalf.
• Zhu Bo presented Wuj iang’s first wedding trial, but Feng Fei refused the offered drinking route and insisted that the procession break through the Gu-insect array.
• An Lan led the Dark Moon Clan into the array, where they let the Gu insects devour them before shaking the insects off and rejoining the procession.

Chu Xinghe’s wedding procession overcame Wuj iang’s three trials and brought Jiuli to the Vast Heaven Sect for her marriage to Feng Fei. After the wedding rites, the Wuj iang Holy Mother presented Jiuli’s dowry, leaving Chu Xinghe utterly dumbfounded.

• The Vast Heaven Sect used the Dark Moon Clan to break the Gu worm formation and Nangong Yan to endure Wuj iang’s poisons, while the Ouyang Lineage cleared Jiuli’s cooking.
• Feng Yuzheng used Treasure Appraisal Art to strip the Eternal Unity Lock of its radiance, allowing the procession to enter the Holy Mother Palace and then celebrate with Wu Flower Brew.
• Feng Fei and Jiuli traveled to the Vast Heaven Sect through the enormous teleportation formation and were welcomed along a road paved with Ten Perfections Flowers.
• Feng Fei and Jiuli completed the wedding rites in Haotian Palace and paid their respects to Gu Mingchao, the grand elder, and the Wuj iang Holy Mother.
• The Wuj iang Holy Mother revealed Jiuli’s dowry, and Chu Xinghe was stunned by what she had given.

At Jiuli and Feng Fei’s wedding, the Wuj iang Holy Mother praised Chu Xinghe’s role in bringing the couple together and announced a vast replacement dowry tied to his teleportation array. The revelation left the Vast Heaven Sect’s leaders and guests stunned, while Chu Xinghe realized the array would earn the sect far more than it had spent and Yan Shoujing fell from his seat in tears.

• The Wuj iang Holy Mother publicly recounted how Chu Xinghe helped Jiuli and Feng Fei overcome their fate and marry.
• The Wuj iang Holy Mother replaced Jiuli’s planned dowry with monthly shipments of Wuj iang treasures and spirit jade until the teleportation array ran out of power.
• Gu Mingchao, the first elder, and the wedding guests were stunned by the scale of the promised resources.
• Zheng Yu calculated that the array could transport resources worth at least five times the supreme-grade spirit stones the Vast Heaven Sect had spent.
• Chu Xinghe realized the dowry had turned his costly wedding plan into a massive gain, and Yan Shoujing fell from his seat in tears.

Wuj iang Holy Mother pledged half of Wuj iang’s inheritance as Jiuli’s dowry, binding Wuj iang and the Vast Heaven Sect in an alliance that the onlookers credited to Chu Xinghe’s teleportation array. Yan Shoujing’s array made the alliance possible, and Gu Mingchao’s public announcement led the Demonic Sect to raise Yan’s rank on its Must-Kill List.

• Wuj iang Holy Mother promised half of Wuj iang’s inheritance as Jiuli’s dowry, and the gathered powerhouses recognized the alliance with the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Zheng Yu and the other powerhouses praised Chu Xinghe’s foresight, while Chu Xinghe privately lamented that the teleportation array had brought Wuj iang’s resources to the sect.
• Yan Shoujing despaired that the array he built to waste the sect’s supreme-grade spirit stones had instead become the alliance’s transport hub.
• Gu Mingchao announced that the alliance would be publicized and a copy sent to Wu Xingyun, presenting Yan Shoujing as a proven enemy of the Demonic Sect.
• Wu Xingyun flew into a rage after the announcement, and the next day Yan Shoujing climbed into the middle ranks of the Demonic Sect Must-Kill List.

After the wedding, Chu Xinghe tried to slow the Dark Moon Clan’s cultivation by urging them to prioritize completing techniques, while Great Sage An Zhi warned him that the unfinished Formless Heart Sutra required a special inheritance. Yan Shoujing ignored the warning and tried to cultivate it, leaving him gravely injured.

• Chu Xinghe saw off the wedding guests, whose praise made him fear that his days were numbered because of the Dark Moon Clan.
• At the Dark Moon Palace, Chu Xinghe persuaded Great Sage An Zhi to make completing cultivation techniques the clan’s priority instead of cultivation.
• Great Sage An Zhi warned Chu Xinghe that practicing the unfinished Formless Heart Sutra without his inheritance ceremony would cause severe injury.
• Yan Shoujing argued with Wu Xingyun about the Formless Heart Sutra, then decided to cultivate it himself.
• Yan Shoujing’s Spiritual Qi went out of control as he practiced the Formless Heart Sutra, and he spat blood and collapsed.

Ma Liang received a letter saying his sister Ma Zhen had died in childbirth, and he suspected her death was no accident. He asked Chu Xinghe for help and prepared to seek blood vengeance against whoever was responsible.

• Chu Xinghe wandered around the sect while the vice sect master remained in seclusion, and he encouraged Tieniu and the Muyue Kingdom disciples to continue their reckless research.
• Ma Liang received a letter from his sister’s maid while discussing a drama with Lu Chengqing, then left with the Fengdu Token, consumed by killing intent.
• Ma Liang knelt before Chu Xinghe and showed him the letter announcing that Ma Zhen and her unborn child had died.
• Ma Liang explained that Ma Zhen had been forced into an imperial marriage alliance and had once been the person who cared for him most.
• Ma Liang rejected the claim that Ma Zhen’s death was an accident and vowed to make whoever caused it pay with blood.

Ma Liang sought Chu Xinghe’s help to uncover the truth behind his sister’s death, and Chu Xinghe gave him the Haotian Token, resources, and permission to take the Fengdu Grand Formation, promising to take responsibility for whatever followed. Ma Liang reached the Great Moon Kingdom as his sister’s funeral procession left the capital, arriving in a terrifying aura of ghostly Qi.

• Ma Liang explained that he could not trust the Cloud Firmament Sect to investigate his sister’s death and asked Chu Xinghe to let him act on his own.
• Chu Xinghe gave Ma Liang the Haotian Token, his storage ring, and a pouch, and vowed to take the blame for Ma Liang’s actions.
• Ma Liang left the Vast Heaven Sect, and Chu Xinghe told Lu Chengqing to keep his departure secret.
• Ma Bowang held his daughter’s funeral, knowing the imperial family had killed her and that the Ma Lineage had accepted compensation rather than seek justice.
• As the funeral procession approached the capital gates, Ma Liang appeared, wreathed in ghostly Qi and filled with killing intent.

Ma Liang stormed the Great Moon capital with the Fengdu Ten Thousand Ghosts Grand Formation to avenge his sister, uncovering that Empress Tian Wenxin had poisoned both her and her newborn. As Tian Qingquan confronted him and Ma Liang worried about implicating Senior Brother Xinghe, he opened Xinghe’s pouch and found a note urging him to take down whoever was responsible.

• Ma Liang carried his sister’s coffin into the capital, drove back the Ma Lineage, and unleashed the Fengdu Ten Thousand Ghosts Grand Formation against anyone who tried to stop him.
• Ma Liang broke through the imperial city’s defenses and used the Soul-Devouring Formation to uncover that Tian Wenxin had poisoned his sister after she gave birth and had also killed the infant.
• Ma Liang’s vengeful ghosts attacked those implicated in the murder, while he seized Tian Wenxin and let the ghosts tear at her.
• Tian Qingquan arrived through a teleportation formation and fought the Ghost Emperor, warning Ma Liang that killing Tian Wenxin could start a war between the Cloud Firmament Sect and the Vast Heaven Sect.
• Ma Liang hesitated because he feared Senior Brother Xinghe would suffer for his actions, then opened Xinghe’s brocade pouch and read a note telling him to take down whoever it was and promising to shoulder the consequences.

Ma Liang opened Chu Xinghe’s pouch and, encouraged by his senior brother’s words, killed Tian Wenxin and fought Tian Qingquan with the Fengdu Grand Formation. As Tian Qingquan neared death, Cloud Firmament Sect grand elder Ling Su intervened with the Nine Heavens Soaring Cloud Seal and struck Ma Liang down.

• Ma Liang read Chu Xinghe’s note urging him not to back down and promising to take responsibility for the consequences.
• Ma Liang ordered Tian Qingquan to go to hell and had the vengeful ghosts tear Tian Wenxin apart, including her soul.
• Ma Liang activated the Fengdu Grand Formation and fought Tian Qingquan, driving him back as the Ghost Emperor grew stronger.
• Ma Liang’s ghosts captured Tian Qingquan and devoured the Spiritual Qi protecting him despite Ma Bowang’s pleas to stop.
• Ling Su arrived using the Nine Heavens Soaring Cloud Seal, struck the Fengdu Grand Formation, and made Ma Liang spit blood.