Chapter Summaries

The Zhanglong Sect defeated the East White Seven Swords but failed to capture the Wan Clan Golden Cores or take Dongbai Peak. Liu Xiaolou led the South Sea Sword Sect into the mountain’s grand formation, aiming to exploit a weakness at the wind pass.

• The South Sea Sword Sect wounded Wanqiu Ai, breaking the East White Seven Swords Formation, while the Zhanglong Sect defeated its members and the Wan Clan Golden Cores escaped capture.
• Wanxian Slope held off Sect Master Qu and Elders Du and Bai until the seven swords withdrew into Dongbai Peak’s grand formation.
• The Zhanglong Sect failed to breach Dongbai Peak, then set out to reinforce the main force before Wanxian Slope and two Fang Family Golden Cores attacked and retreated into the formation.
• Elder Qu asked Liu Xiaolou for a plan, and Liu Xiaolou pointed out the wind pass as a likely weakness in Dongbai Peak’s formation.
• Liu Xiaolou and the South Sea Sword Sect entered the formation, where alternating fire and ice overwhelmed them as Liu Xiaolou asked the others to hold it off.

Liu Xiaolou refined a water disk with help from Han Gao’s rain cloud while the Zhanglong Sect group faced Dongbai Peak’s response. As Wan Qianshan and Wan Qianhe attacked, Liu Xiaolou cast the jade disk into the air, drawing their swords toward it.

• Lin Shuangyu raised the giant leaf to shield the group while Su Jing used his Tide-Watching Sword to create waves, frost, heat, and a heavenly river.
• Liu Xiaolou struggled to refine a water disk until Han Gao summoned a rain cloud, providing the real droplets he needed.
• Wanxian Slope sent Wan Qianshan and Wan Qianhe to drive the group away, instructing them to avoid killing anyone unless necessary and to target the bamboo-hatted leader if they had to kill.
• Wan Qianshan and Wan Qianhe found the four sword-wielding Foundation Establishment cultivators difficult to overcome and could not reach Liu Xiaolou behind their defenses.
• Liu Xiaolou threw a jade disk into the air, and the two Wan clan elders immediately sent their twin swords slashing toward it.

Liu Xiaolou and the Zhanglong Sect broke Dongbai Peak’s formation, forcing Wanxian Slope and the Dongbai cultivators to retreat. Sect Master Qu rewarded Liu Xiaolou with Wulong Mountain and secured the Wan clan’s captured people and property, then looked toward Crane Releasing Peak.

• Lin Shuangyu and the others withdrew their Tide Formation, allowing the Twin Wonders of Dongbai to strike the black cloud and trigger rain that weakened the mountain formation.
• The Ruyi Flood Dragon and four other dragons entered Dongbai Peak, confirming that the East White Peak Grand Formation had broken.
• Wanxian Slope and the Twin Wonders covered the retreat of Dongbai Peak’s cultivators toward Crane Releasing Peak, while the Zhanglong Sect captured more than twenty Wan family cultivators.
• Sect Master Qu ordered the Zhanglong Sect to occupy Dongbai Peak, treat the captives well, and seal the Wan clan’s ancestral hall, treasury, and rear garden.
• Sect Master Qu granted Wulong Mountain to Liu Xiaolou, recognizing his role in breaking the formation and placing the Three Xuan Sect under Zhanglong Sect protection.
• Sect Master Qu inspected Dongbai Peak’s summit and gazed southeast toward the Zhao clan’s Crane Releasing Peak.

Liu Xiaolou explained what he knew about Crane Releasing Peak’s formation to Sect Master Qu and the Elders, who prepared for the difficult battle ahead. After receiving Rooster Crow Wine from Zang Qianli, Liu Xiaolou offered to supply Golden Ring Honey for Zang’s beloved concubine, Ling’er.

• Sect Master Qu questioned Liu Xiaolou about the Crane Releasing Peak Grand Formation, and Liu described its sub-formations and the limits of his knowledge.
• The Elders discussed how to attack Crane Releasing Peak, and Qu Xuan reported that Shigong Mountain had fallen while Jinting Sect’s forces had gathered at Ziwei Peak and Crane Releasing Peak.
• Sect Master Qu sent Liu Xiaolou to rest, and Elder Bai gave him two bottles of spirit pills.
• Zang Qianli welcomed the exhausted Liu Xiaolou with Rooster Crow Wine and gave him a bottle as a gift.
• Liu Xiaolou told Zang Qianli about the Golden Ring Bees on Wulong Mountain and promised to supply Golden Ring Honey for Ling’er.

Liu Xiaolou and the Zhanglong Sect watched the fierce battle at Ziwei Peak, where powerful formations and magical treasures clashed. The assault faltered when Lingxu arrived with its sect-suppressing Purple Mansion Cauldron, and Liu Xiaolou was told to prepare for a possible move to Dongbai Peak.

• Liu Xiaolou watched golden-armored giants, Yellow Turban Warriors, and a pill furnace attack Ziwei Peak while its defenders fought back.
• The Shi family's Star Moon Stone unleashed a devastating beam of starlight, which the Dongyang Sect's Dongzhen Wuji Mirror blocked with a moving water curtain.
• Liu Xiaolou told the others a boastful story about seeing Han Wuwang use the Dongzhen Bagua Disk to kill a bandit.
• A tremendous boom sent the attackers retreating, and the Star Moon Stone vanished as immortal cranes circled Ziwei Peak.
• Zang Qianli told Liu Xiaolou that Lingxu had reinforced Jinting Mountain with its Purple Mansion Cauldron, and that Sect Master Qu wanted him to prepare for a possible move to Dongbai Peak.

As the Jingxiang Sects prepared to face Jinting Mountain, Sect Master Qu ordered the captives released to show they would fight without using hostages as leverage. The conflict escalated when Su Zhenjiu called Han Wuwang and Liu Xiaolou to Crane Releasing Peak to deliver a challenge.

• Zang Qianli told Liu Xiaolou that Lingxu Sect had sent Sect Master Chen Longzhang and a powerful force to reinforce Jinting Mountain.
• Zang Qianli and Lin Shuangyu argued that the Jingxiang Sects could not withdraw without seeing the Ancient Cave Dwelling, and Sect Master Qu ordered Zhanglong Sect's captives released.
• Dongyang Sect brought hundreds of cultivators to Dongbai Peak, where Sect Master Han inspected captured Jinting Mountain cultivators and sent them back down the mountain.
• Han Wuwang told Liu Xiaolou that Dongyang Sect had also released its captives and declared that the victor would take the Ancient Cave Dwelling while the defeated sect would perish.
• Su Zhenjiu arrived and told Han Wuwang and Liu Xiaolou to come with him to Crane Releasing Peak to deliver a challenge.

Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang set out to deliver a challenge letter to Crane Releasing Peak, and Liu Xiaolou was drawn into accompanying them despite trying to avoid the trip. The group reached the peak under Spirit Ruins’ escort, leaving Liu Xiaolou hoping he would not run into anyone he knew.

• Moved by Liu Xiaolou’s praise of Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang, Su Jing volunteered to go with them, and Lin Shuangyu arranged for Liu Xiaolou to represent Three Xuan Sect.
• Zhang Xianhui of Jinping Mountain Villa welcomed the three with a farewell toast, while Liu Xiaolou struggled to hide how much he did not want to go.
• Traveling at night, Han Wuwang and Su Zhenjiu explained Zhang Xianhui’s history as Liu Xiaolou cautiously searched for a way to back out.
• Near Crane Releasing Peak, Spirit Ruins cultivators trapped the group with vines and thorns, then escorted them onward after Su Zhenjiu showed the challenge letter.
• At the foot of Crane Releasing Peak, Liu Xiaolou pulled down his bamboo hat and hoped both to avoid and to meet someone he knew.

Liu Xiaolou returned to Crane Releasing Peak as an envoy with Han Wuwang to deliver a challenge letter, but the Immortal Child Sect’s women warned that the Jinting Sect might refuse to spare them. At Banshanping, the familiar surroundings brought back memories of the formation masters and his past on the mountain.

• Liu Xiaolou recognized Crane Releasing Peak and remembered helping forge the Jinting Mountain grand formation.
• Han Wuwang told Liu Xiaolou that Lin Shuangyu had said he was familiar with the place, while Liu Xiaolou urged him to behave cautiously.
• Four female cultivators received Liu Xiaolou and Han Wuwang, and Han Wuwang identified them as members of the Immortal Child Sect.
• The leading woman explained the Immortal Child Sect’s split from the Immortal Granny Sect and warned that the Jinting Sect might not reply or let the envoys leave unharmed.
• At Banshanping, Liu Xiaolou recalled Tang Song, Liu Daoran, and Diao Daoyi from his earlier time on the mountain.

Liu Xiaolou accompanied Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang to deliver a challenge letter at Jinting Mountain, where Zhao Yiwu attacked them and seized Liu Xiaolou for execution. As a Zhao cultivator prepared to kill him, Liu Xiaolou called out to Diao Daoyi and revealed his identity.

• Liu Xiaolou tried to avoid Diao Daoyi, who followed him and tried to recognize him.
• Zhao Yiwu and other Jinting Mountain figures confronted Su Zhenjiu, Han Wuwang, and Liu Xiaolou, and Han Wuwang mocked their treatment of the visitors.
• Su Zhenjiu delivered the challenge letter, but Zhao Yiwu ordered Liu Xiaolou killed after dismissing his claim that he was a conscripted rogue cultivator.
• Su Zhenjiu used the Dongzhen Bagua Disk to block Zhao Yiwu's pressure, while Liu Xiaolou launched the Three Xuan Sword at Zhao Yiwu.
• Zhao Yiwu caught the Three Xuan Sword, sealed Liu Xiaolou's sea of qi, and ordered a Zhao cultivator to execute him despite Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang's protests.
• As the Zhao cultivator pinned him beside a boulder and removed his hat, Liu Xiaolou shouted to Diao Daoyi that he was Liu Xiaolou.

Liu Xiaolou was detained by Zhao Yiwu after the challenge letter reached Jinting Mountain, while Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang returned to report that the Zhao Shi had rejected the proposed battle date. The Dongyang and Zhanglong sect leaders discussed their next moves, and Lin Shuangyu angrily confronted Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang over Liu Xiaolou's capture.

• Diao Daoyi recognized Liu Xiaolou and persuaded Zhao Yiwu to spare him.
• Zhao Yiwu rejected the proposed battle date, and Sect Master Han appeared through the burning challenge letter before agreeing that Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang could return.
• Zhao Yiwu detained Liu Xiaolou because he had helped refine the Crane Releasing Peak Grand Formation, while Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang left to report.
• Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang told the Dongyang and Zhanglong sect leaders about the meeting, and the leaders discussed the Zhao Shi's intentions and how to negotiate.
• After Elder Bai summoned Lin Shuangyu, she blamed Su Zhenjiu and Han Wuwang for failing to keep Liu Xiaolou safe and demanded that they return him.

Held alone on Banshanping, Liu Xiaolou waited for the Zhao family to decide what to do with him, then got caught in a fight after an Immortal Child Sect cultivator mistook him for Jing Zhao. The misunderstanding ended with her paying him off, and Diao Daoyi arrived with the person who had once tried to behead him.

• Liu Xiaolou waited in Liu Daoran's old cabin, recalling their work together and wondering whether Liu Daoran had reached Foundation Establishment.
• Liu Xiaolou overheard cultivators discussing Jing Zhao, then ate a lamb shank outside the cabin while watching people pass.
• An Immortal Child Sect female cultivator mistook Liu Xiaolou for Jing Zhao and attacked him, destroying the cabin; Liu Xiaolou defended himself with the Liuli Shield and Three Xuan Sword.
• The female cultivator realized Liu Xiaolou was not Jing Zhao, apologized indirectly by giving him a Universe Bag with gold and three spirit stones, and left with her companions.
• Diao Daoyi arrived with the person who had once made as if to behead Liu Xiaolou.

Liu Xiaolou discovered that the disguised Golden Core cultivator was Dragon Son Fu, a master artificer who had refined his own face into a changeable artifact. Dragon Son Fu then explained that he and Diao Daoyi had returned to investigate rumors that the Crane Releasing Peak Grand Formation was unclean.

• Liu Xiaolou recognized Dragon Son Fu after he changed his artifact face back to the familiar appearance from years earlier.
• Dragon Son Fu explained that his face-refining method took years to develop and could currently imitate only one person.
• Dragon Son Fu offered to teach Diao Daoyi the method if he abandoned formations and reached the Jade Carving Realm, but advised Liu Xiaolou to keep pursuing formations.
• Dragon Son Fu asked Liu Xiaolou and Diao Daoyi to conceal his identity because his family supplied materials to the Qingyu Sect.
• Dragon Son Fu said Zhao Shi had invited him back to address rumors that something was unclean about the Crane Releasing Peak Grand Formation.

Liu Xiaolou learned that the grand formation contained an improper yin-yang harvesting illusion, which Diao Daoyi and Dragon Son Fu had been unable to locate. He proposed sorting the formation disks by the Five Elements to investigate, and the group began assigning categories.

• Dragon Son Fu told Liu Xiaolou that the grand formation contained an illusion involving yin-yang harvesting and replenishment.
• Diao Daoyi explained that the formation disks had been rearranged through the Four Pillars Turning Time Method, making the illusion difficult to find.
• Dragon Son Fu warned Liu Xiaolou to keep the matter secret and said Zhao Yongchun suspected the Eight Formations Gate of Pingdu had tampered with the formation.
• Liu Xiaolou proposed dividing the formation disks into categories so they could search more efficiently.
• Diao Daoyi chose the Five Elements as the simplest classification method, and Dragon Son Fu took responsibility for the Earth and Wood elements.

Liu Xiaolou questioned the cultivators captured inside the Jinting Sect’s mountain array and used their accounts to organize a catalog of its sub-array discs. He, Dragon Son Fu, and Diao Daoyi began working together to investigate the shifting array.

• Liu Xiaolou listened as Murong described entering the array for a view of its spectacle and seeing a spell battle in East Valley after seven days.
• Liu Deshan recounted wandering into the array from Yangmapo and finding a riverside pavilion on his thirty-seventh day inside.
• A female cultivator from Heavenly Phoenix Tower explained that a client had sent her to Crane Releasing Peak, while another captive threatened retaliation from the Da Mu Mountain Li Family.
• After hearing seven trespassers’ different accounts, Liu Xiaolou concluded that the array had been turning continuously and sorted the sub-array discs into a catalog.
• Liu Xiaolou, Dragon Son Fu, and Diao Daoyi divided up the work and began investigating the array.

Liu Xiaolou searched Crane Releasing Peak for traces of the Jingyun Talisman Formation Disk while trying to stay within Zhao Shi’s protective grand formation. At Crane Mouth Rock, a jealous cultivator mistook him for Luo Yatou’s lover and attacked him, sending Liu Xiaolou falling from the cliff.

• Liu Xiaolou searched East Valley for signs of Fire Element formations, recorded his observations, and hurried to Crane Mouth Rock to inspect the moonlight.
• Liu Xiaolou used his high-ranking passage token to pass Crane Releasing Peak’s guards and met Steward Zhao, who let him continue on his way.
• Liu Xiaolou climbed Crane Mouth Rock and found Luo Yatou there, then began to explain that he had come on business.
• An enraged cultivator accused Luo Yatou of secretly meeting her lover and attacked Liu Xiaolou with a spell.
• Liu Xiaolou blocked most of the attack with his Glazed Shield and fell backward from Crane Mouth Rock.

Liu Xiaolou was struck by Guan Li during a lovers’ quarrel between Guan Li and Luo Ning, then demanded compensation with Steward Zhao’s help. Guan Li left after signing an IOU, while Liu Xiaolou was left grumbling about the supposedly prestigious sect disciple’s poverty.

• Liu Xiaolou pretended to be badly injured after Guan Li knocked him from Crane Mouth Rock, and Steward Zhao arrived with cultivators ready to intervene.
• Luo Ning explained the quarrel with Guan Li and tossed Liu Xiaolou something for his injuries, but Liu Xiaolou insisted that Guan Li, who had attacked him, should be found.
• Steward Zhao stopped Guan Li from leaving and pressured him to admit fault and compensate Liu Xiaolou.
• Guan Li revealed that he had secretly left the Immortal Granny Sect while under punishment, and Liu Xiaolou agreed not to report him in exchange for an IOU.
• Guan Li signed an IOU for two bottles of Heart Nurturing Pills, one bottle of Meridian Protecting Pills, and ten spirit stones, promising to repay them in three months.

Liu Xiaolou examined his gains from Luo Ning, then spent the night studying moonlight to map the fire-element formation. The next day, he began testing the formations at Zhidun Ridge and returned to Banshanping after the best time for inspection had passed.

• Liu Xiaolou counted the pills, spirit stones, jewelry, and IOU he had obtained from Luo Ning, then decided to keep the IOU rather than pursue the debt himself.
• Liu Xiaolou studied the moonlight from Crane Mouth Rock through the night and gained a new insight into the Yin Yang Scripture while recording the light’s paths.
• Liu Xiaolou rested, then went to Zhidun Ridge and entered the fifth formation of the Myriad Flower Formation, escaping by stepping backward when it shifted.
• Liu Xiaolou entered the Clear Wind Sky-Thunder Formation, endured a lightning strike nearby, and withdrew when the formation began to change.
• Liu Xiaolou inspected another formation near the Mountain Hollow, recorded his observations, and returned to Banshanping when the day’s best inspection time ended.

Liu Xiaolou secretly refined and replaced the Jingyun Talisman Formation Disk, then discovered the original disk’s problem. He brought Zhao Yiwu, Dragon Son Fu, and Diao Daoyi into the illusion and asked them to turn around.

• Liu Xiaolou picked the lock on the earthfire’s iron box and refined a new Jingyun Talisman Formation Disk over several nights.
• Liu Xiaolou searched Crane Releasing Peak for formations and eventually found the Jingyun Talisman Formation in the Jin Zilin at Yangmapo.
• Liu Xiaolou broke the illusion, removed its formation disk, and considered whether to replace it or frame the Eight Formations Gate of Pingdu.
• Liu Xiaolou decided to wait, and the disruption to the formation eye brought Zhao Yiwu, Dragon Son Fu, and Diao Daoyi to him.
• Liu Xiaolou activated the Jingyun Talisman Formation and asked the three seniors to turn around.

Liu Xiaolou and the others traced the illusion at Crane Releasing Peak to a faulty array disk, though they could not determine who had forged it. Zhao Yiwu ordered a replacement, and after Dragon Son Fu left, Diao Daoyi gave Liu Xiaolou a list of costly materials for the reforging.

• Liu Xiaolou showed Zhao Yiwu, Diao Daoyi, and Dragon Son Fu the cliff’s illusion, revealing why people had been drawn into Crane Releasing Peak.
• Zhao Yiwu asked who had forged the array disk, but Diao Daoyi explained that it had been made by a group and its maker could not be traced.
• Dragon Son Fu inspected the disk and suggested that changes over time might have caused the problem.
• Zhao Yiwu ordered a new array disk and asked Dragon Son Fu to oversee the work.
• After Dragon Son Fu left, Diao Daoyi told Liu Xiaolou to collect nine valuable materials and prepare triple the required amount.

Liu Xiaolou designed a mountain-protecting formation for Qianzhu Ridge and arranged for Zhao Shi to supply the costly materials it required. After finalizing the formation’s structure and name, he began preparing its components, leaving the formation disks unfinished.

• Liu Xiaolou wrote a materials list for his planned mountain-protecting formation, adding Master Diao’s requested supplies and estimating the total cost at over two hundred spirit stones.
• Steward Zhao objected to the size of the list but agreed to gather the materials, including Summer Dragon scales from Weiyu Mountain.
• Liu Xiaolou arranged to work at Banshanping while Master Diao refined separately at Zhidun Ridge, with the disks to be combined later.
• Liu Xiaolou designed the Twelve Yin Yang Grand Formation, a six-disk illusion and trapping formation built around a complex central formation-eye disk.
• After Zhao Shi delivered the materials five days later, Liu Xiaolou finished processing the Five Metals and Eight Stones and began outlining formation talismans on jade tablets.