Chapter Summaries

Jing Zhao and Dongfang Yuying finalized plans for the Six Sects’ joint market at Wu Chao Town, while Three Xuan Sect became the voluntary small sect of all six families. Hou Ying was assigned to help manage the market and went to meet Liu Xiaolou at Qianzhu Ridge.

• Dongfang Yuying told Jing Zhao that the Six Sects had agreed to build and manage a market at Wu Chao Town, with Tianmen Market closing and merging into Wulong Mountain.
• Dongfang Yuying explained that Three Xuan Sect would join all six families as a small sect and serve as the market’s nominal founder, with Liu Xiaolou named nominal chief steward.
• Jing Zhao accepted the arrangement and let Dongfang Yuying choose Hou Ying to manage the market, while advising him to be generous with Three Xuan Sect’s subsidies.
• Dongfang Yuying instructed Hou Ying to meet Liu Xiaolou, arrange Three Xuan Sect’s registration with Qingyu Sect, and discuss its annual subsidies.
• Hou Ying traveled to Qianzhu Ridge and called out to Liu Xiaolou from the mountain path.

Hou Ying visited Qianzhu Ridge to join the Three Xuan Sect as a guest elder and agreed on generous annual subsidies with Liu Xiaolou. As Hou Ying left, he met Lady Luo, who asked him to look after her in her new role and whether Liu Xiaolou was on the mountain.

• Liu Xiaolou welcomed Hou Ying to the Three Xuan Sect and showed him the grounds and plans for a discussion hall.
• Hou Ying examined the subsidy agreements from the Zhanglong Sect, Gengsang Cave, and Dongyang Sect before asking Liu Xiaolou how the Three Xuan Sect counted its members.
• Hou Ying wrote an agreement providing each of fifteen people with two divine talismans, three spirit stones, three jars of Spirit Wine, and twenty taels of silver yearly.
• Liu Xiaolou accepted the agreement, offered to sign for fifteen people while receiving supplies for eight, and gave Hou Ying a personally carved Guest Official Token.
• As Hou Ying descended the mountain, he met Lady Luo, who said she had been entrusted with a guest elder role and asked whether Liu Xiaolou was there.

Liu Xiaolou welcomed Lady Luo as a guest elder and discovered she had altered the Three Xuan Sect’s agreement register. At dusk, Yellow Leaf Immortal arrived as Tianmu Mountain’s representative, forcing Liu Xiaolou to confront their shared past and reject her offer of compensation.

• Liu Xiaolou received Lady Luo, who presented documents for the Eight Formations Gate of Pingdu to join the Three Xuan Sect as a guest elder.
• Lady Luo read the other sects’ registers, secretly altered her own, and left it to dry beside them.
• Liu Xiaolou struggled against Lady Luo’s enchanting presence, then sent her down Qianzhu Ridge and approved her register.
• Yellow Leaf Immortal arrived on behalf of the Lu Clan of Tianmu Mountain, and she and Liu Xiaolou confronted their painful history at the lakeside.
• Yellow Leaf Immortal offered a generous annual subsidy and said she and Dai Shenggao intended it as compensation, but Liu Xiaolou angrily refused their pity.

Six sect representatives prepared to open Wu Chao Town’s market town, debating how to arrange its first shops before settling on a plan to encourage shops to arrive early. Yellow Leaf Immortal later discussed Xiaolou’s refusal of personal compensation with Dai Shenggao, who urged her to give him time.

• Zang Baili, Zhang Daming, Zhang Xianhui, Hou Ying, Lady Luo, and Yellow Leaf Immortal arrived in Wu Chao Town and began preparing seven courtyards for the market town.
• The six representatives discussed the first wave of shops and disagreed over how to arrange them, with Hou Ying’s proposal to let early arrivals choose locations gaining support.
• The representatives agreed on twenty-seven shops for the first wave and favored Hou Ying’s open-choice plan to speed the market town’s opening.
• Yellow Leaf Immortal told Dai Shenggao that Xiaolou had accepted the sect’s spirit stones but returned the spirit pills offered personally by them.
• Dai Shenggao advised Yellow Leaf Immortal to give Xiaolou time rather than go to Qianzhu Ridge to explain or apologize.

Liu Xiaolou attended the opening of Wuchao Market, then returned to Qianzhu Ridge and resumed cultivating while the market prospered. The chapter ended as he watched New Year fireworks and falling snow with Big White and Little Black.

• Hongji Restaurant and other shops moved into Wu Chao Town, while nearly a hundred former residents settled in a new village at the foot of Wulong Mountain.
• The elders of the six sects opened Wuchao Market, and Liu Xiaolou joined the celebrations and praised the guest advisors serving the Three Xuan Sect.
• After getting drunk at the ceremony, Liu Xiaolou returned to Qianzhu Ridge, opened the fissure, and cultivated with Big White, Little Black, and the Golden Ring Bees nearby.
• Liu Xiaolou spent a month cultivating the Yellow Dragon Sword Art and waiting to sense yellow qi in his sea of qi.
• Liu Xiaolou watched New Year fireworks over Wu Chao Town as snow fell, and Little Black climbed onto his shoulder.

Liu Xiaolou visited Wu Chao Town’s bustling marketplace to find a way to preserve the flickering yellow qi in his sea of qi. At the black market, he asked about his cultivation and discovered that the mysterious expert answering him was Senior Brother Jing.

• Liu Xiaolou took Big White and Little Black down Wulong Mountain and rafted to Wu Chao Town’s newly expanded marketplace.
• A gatekeeper insulted Liu Xiaolou, who sent him flying into the Three Xuan Sect courtyard and demanded that the Affairs Hall compensate him for the broken furniture.
• Hou Ying gave Liu Xiaolou a token for free entry to the black market and led him to its hidden entrance in Second Lane.
• Liu Xiaolou asked a black-market expert how to address the flickering sensation in his sea of qi, and she recommended Huangting Pills.
• The expert explained that Liu Xiaolou lacked knowledge because his sect’s inheritance had been cut off, then removed her face covering and revealed herself as Senior Brother Jing.

Liu Xiaolou took Jing Zhao’s payment to pose as a know-it-all in the black market while watching for a suspicious man with an unusual gait. He fielded two customers and gave them information about Three Xuan Sect and Zhang Daming, but had not yet spotted Jing Zhao’s target.

• Liu Xiaolou paid Jing Zhao twenty-one spirit stones for cultivation advice, then accepted a seven-day job to watch for a man whose walk seemed odd.
• Jing Zhao sent Liu Xiaolou to another part of the black market to pose as an information seller, and Liu Xiaolou disguised himself beside a Wooden Tablet.
• A wary customer asked about Three Xuan Sect, and Liu Xiaolou explained its healing services and when its members could be found on Wulong Mountain.
• A second customer offered three spirit stones to ask about gifting Zhang Daming, and Liu Xiaolou advised approaching Zhang’s Foundation Establishment uncle as well as Three Xuan Sect’s Sect Leader.
• Liu Xiaolou watched the second customer leave and continued waiting, but the man’s steps seemed normal.

Liu Xiaolou failed to identify the limping person Jing Zhao sought during seven days in the black market, then returned to Qianzhu Ridge to meet a client who had paid for his help. He staged an imposing reception for Sun Yangong and claimed they should wait for another guest.

• Liu Xiaolou could not answer a visitor asking about Nangong Wenshu, and Jing Zhao went after the woman when Liu described her appearance.
• Liu Xiaolou spent seven days searching the black market without finding anyone who limped, while Jing Zhao disappeared.
• Liu Xiaolou returned to Qianzhu Ridge, avoided the visitor waiting at the mountain gate, and entered through the back of the mountain.
• Liu Xiaolou arranged prayer mats in the discussion hall and used the Sound Transmission formation to summon Sun Yangong inside.
• Liu Xiaolou told Sun Yangong to wait for a second guest, and Sun became increasingly uneasy about whether he could afford the help he needed.

Liu Xiaolou received Sun Yangong and Huang Shuangxi, discerning that Sun sought help for his health while Huang came to test his strength and discuss a marketplace matter. After defeating Huang with the Xuanzhen Rope, he left her convinced of his ability, while Sun waited in the side room.

• Huang Shuangxi arrived at the Three Xuan Sect and demanded that Sun Yangong leave, but Liu Xiaolou told Sun to remain and then sent him into a side room.
• Liu Xiaolou identified Huang’s ties to Longjiabao Manor and Zhang Xiaojin, learning she had come to secure Zhang Daming’s cooperation by appealing to both men.
• Huang challenged Liu Xiaolou to a fight to judge his strength, and he used the Xuanzhen Rope to bind her and cut off her connection to the Xuanhua Axe.
• Huang admitted defeat and said she was convinced, and Liu Xiaolou withdrew the rope without pressing the fight further.

Huang Shuangxi hired Liu Xiaolou to help Huang Feng Village open a shop in Wu Chao Town, while Sun Yangong paid him for access to his illusion array. After testing Spirit Clam Essence Oil on Big White and Little Black, Liu Xiaolou visited Qianling Pill Workshop to find an alchemist, where he was stunned by the person who arrived.

• Huang Shuangxi gave Liu Xiaolou a gift and asked him to help Huang Feng Village challenge Immortal Spirit Oil Residence’s effort to keep it out of Wu Chao Town’s market.
• Liu Xiaolou lent Huang Shuangxi his Three Xuan Sect Guest Official Token and directed her to seek help from Zhang Daming.
• Sun Yangong paid Liu Xiaolou four spirit stones for twenty sessions in the illusion array, and Liu Xiaolou granted him thirty entries.
• Liu Xiaolou gave Big White and Little Black Spirit Clam Essence Oil, but they leaped off Qianzhu Ridge before he could observe its effects.
• Liu Xiaolou visited Qianling Pill Workshop to find an alchemist, then stared in shock when the newly hired alchemist arrived.

Liu Xiaolou reunited with Old Hudu, who explained how he taught himself pill refining while captive at Tianmu Mountain. Old Hudu ended by wondering how far his talent might have taken him if he had started fifty years earlier.

• Liu Xiaolou discovered that the pill master he had come to find was his old Wulong Mountain companion, Old Hudu.
• Old Hudu recounted how he pretended to surrender after Tianmu Mountain defeated Wulong Mountain and secretly studied ordinary pill scriptures while serving there.
• Old Hudu said Immortal Huang arranged for him to sweep Wuhua Terrace, where he secretly listened to Lu Clan children learn pill-refining techniques.
• Old Hudu described covering a steward's shift at Cloud Terrace and producing three low-grade Heart Nurturing Pills in his first furnace.
• Old Hudu asked Liu Xiaolou what he might have become if he had started refining pills fifty years earlier.

Liu Xiaolou heard Old Hudu explain how he stole a Foundation Establishment Pill while escaping Yuntai and later joined the Qianling Pill Sect. Old Hudu revealed that he had returned to open a pill workshop but stayed away from Liu Xiaolou to protect the Three Xuan Sect’s standing.

• Old Hudu accidentally discovered Tianmu Mountain’s pill pools, stole a Foundation Establishment Pill, and escaped after Manager Ren helped him evade capture.
• Old Hudu explained that he joined the Qianling Pill Sect in Qianzhong and used Wu Boyang’s name to help the sect sell pills.
• Old Hudu told Liu Xiaolou he returned to Wulong Mountain because he missed the place and had been encouraged by Immortal Huang to open a pill workshop.
• Liu Xiaolou and Old Hudu argued over Old Hudu’s old rivalry with Liu Xiaolou’s master and the story of Mama Zhang.
• Old Hudu said he avoided visiting Liu Xiaolou because he feared that a fugitive’s presence would endanger the Three Xuan Sect’s hard-won position.

Old Hudu examined Liu Xiaolou and refined three Huangting Pills to address a strange yellow presence moving inside his belly. Liu Xiaolou swallowed one, sensed the presence clearly, and asked to keep the other two as Old Hudu celebrated his success.

• Old Hudu gave Liu Xiaolou a hundred taels of silver to repair Gourd Temple and asked him to let Xian Da take charge of it as a daoist.
• Liu Xiaolou revealed that he needed a Huangting Pill, and Old Hudu insisted he could refine one.
• Old Hudu examined Liu Xiaolou, gave him medicinal soup, and questioned him about the fleeting yellow light in his belly before calculating a pill formula.
• Old Hudu refined three uneven Huangting Pills after three shichen and fed one to Liu Xiaolou.
• After circulating his energy until dawn, Liu Xiaolou sensed the yellow presence and asked Old Hudu for the remaining pills, while Old Hudu celebrated his first-try success.

Liu Xiaolou completed the first step of his Yellow Dragon Sword Art after taking Huangting Pills and secretly practiced his new sword ability. Three days after receiving Gengsang Cave’s summons, he arrived at Longjiabao Manor with other minor sect leaders and found Tu Junyi waiting amid a grim assembly.

• Liu Xiaolou returned to Qianzhu Ridge and took two more Huangting Pills, causing the Three Xuan Sword to absorb a yellow light and gain a faint golden sheen.
• Liu Xiaolou celebrated his first accomplishment in the Yellow Dragon Sword Art, then decided to hide his sword-cultivator identity and practice alone.
• Zhang Daming reported that Huang Shuangxi had opened Happy Building across from Divine Oil Residence and relayed Elder Tu’s order for Liu Xiaolou to report to Longjiabao Manor.
• Liu Xiaolou traveled to Longjiabao Manor three days later and joined more than ten summoned representatives of Gengsang Cave’s subordinate minor sects.
• Zhang Xiaojin led the assembled cultivators to Tu Junyi, who waited in a pavilion flanked by Gengsang Cave disciples.

Liu Xiaolou joined Tu Junyi and the sect leaders on their expedition to North Tiger Mountain after its bandits robbed Sect Master Qian. As the group prepared to attack, Liu Xiaolou discovered the fortress had a mountain-protecting formation and warned Tu Junyi.

• When Tu Junyi spat out his tea, Liu Xiaolou prepared to flee, then realized Tu Junyi was only complaining about the tea.
• Tu Junyi explained that North Tiger Mountain had robbed Sect Master Qian and ordered the assembled cultivators to confront the bandits.
• Tu Junyi led fifteen cultivators west and traveled through the night to North Tiger Mountain, where Sect Master Qian reported that more than twenty bandits remained.
• Tu Junyi assigned the sects routes to surround the fortress, then led Zhang Xiaojin and Zhang Daming up the mountain.
• Liu Xiaolou examined the southwest cliffs, found a double-cliff formation, and discovered a mountain-protecting formation above it.
• Liu Xiaolou shouted to Tu Junyi to beware the formation.

Liu Xiaolou fought a bald bandit who attacked him from the cliff and captured her alive after a perilous exchange of artifacts. He climbed back up with the female bandit, having secured six turns of merit.

• Liu Xiaolou warned his companions about the mountain-protecting array as poisonous liquid fell from the cliff and a bald bandit leaped down to attack him.
• Liu Xiaolou used his binding rope to sever the bandit's connection to her meridians and Natal Misty Wave Ring, then discovered she was a woman when his artifacts tore away her clothes and disguise.
• The female bandit's restored Natal Misty Wave Ring clashed with Liu Xiaolou's staff and Three Xuan Sword while he used a carrying pole to knock her unconscious and a net to catch her.
• Liu Xiaolou sealed the female bandit's sea of qi, took her storage bracelet, wrapped her in a spare robe, and carried her up the cliff to claim the reward for capturing a major bandit alive.

Liu Xiaolou used the captured female bandit to trigger North Tiger Mountain’s killing formation, allowing Elder Tu and the others to destroy it and capture every bandit. After earning six turns of merit, Liu Xiaolou looked forward to gaining enough merit to command Gengsang Cave to run an errand for him.

• Liu Xiaolou circled North Tiger Mountain, studied the powerful killing formation, and prepared the captured female bandit in a net bag on the Xuanzhen Rope.
• Liu Xiaolou hurled the female bandit into the formation, causing it to erupt and break through brute force as Elder Tu survived inside a burning Talisman Treasure.
• Elder Tu seized the remaining bandit leader, while Sect Leaders Qian, Wu, and Xu and their Disciples captured every other bandit.
• Liu Xiaolou presented the female bandit leader to Elder Tu, who questioned the captives, ordered their merits recorded, and sent them to Badong Gengsang Valley.
• Liu Xiaolou received the foremost merit for the expedition and six turns of merit, then considered how to earn enough to have Gengsang Cave do an errand for him.

After the bandits were captured, Liu Xiaolou searched their mountain stronghold and learned that the spoils had to be handed over to the Sect Treasury. When a second Gengsang Cave Elder arrived, the sects dispersed, and Liu Xiaolou began the journey back to Wulong Mountain.

• Liu Xiaolou searched the female bandit leader’s residence, collected its furnishings and books, and secretly kept a jade ruyi from a chest of refined trinkets.
• Zhang Xiaojin and Zhang Daming told Liu Xiaolou that Elder Tu had ordered all seized wealth turned over to the Sect Treasury, with compensation to follow.
• Sect Master Qian thanked Liu Xiaolou for capturing the bandit leaders and invited him to a banquet, while Zhang Xiaojin and Zhang Daming warned Liu Xiaolou to be wary of him.
• After another Elder from Gengsang Cave arrived at North Tiger Mountain around midnight, Elder Tu ordered the sects to disperse, and Liu Xiaolou set off for Wulong Mountain.

Liu Xiaolou failed to break the Spiritual Sense seal on the orange bracelet and chose to keep it hidden while he waited to learn whether Gengsang Cave would demand its return. After Zhang Daming warned him about changes at the Sihai Sect, Liu Xiaolou turned back to cultivation and set out to find Ringing Grass.

• Liu Xiaolou’s Spiritual Sense attack on the orange bracelet rebounded, leaving him incapacitated until Da Bai and Little Black helped him recover through their clumsy feeding.
• Liu Xiaolou decided to keep the bracelet rather than break its seal or return it, and planned to hide it in his Universe Bag for three years.
• Zhang Daming visited Wulong Mountain, delivered Liu Xiaolou’s merits and a share of the seized goods, and warned him to be cautious if Sect Master Qian came to the mountain.
• Liu Xiaolou worried that Gengsang Cave might require the North Tiger Mountain spoils back, especially the sealed orange bracelet.
• Liu Xiaolou recalled Jing Zhao’s warning that turbid true essence could limit his future Golden Core cultivation, so he went down the mountain to search for Ringing Grass.

Liu Xiaolou searched Wu Chao Town for Ringing Grass, then appealed to Gengsang Cave and Zhanglong Sect after learning that the herb was scarce and Gengsang Cave’s growing grounds had been destroyed. Zhanglong Sect refused to help, directing him to Gengsang Cave or the other sects that shared the Three Xuan Sect.

• Liu Xiaolou learned from a shopkeeper that Ringing Grass matured after sixty years, was difficult to cultivate, and had to be reserved in advance.
• Liu Xiaolou asked Zhang Xiaojin at Longjiabao Manor about obtaining Ringing Grass, but Zhang Xiaojin said Gengsang Cave’s Myriad Dragon Cave had been destroyed by Zhanglong Sect.
• Elder Tu told Liu Xiaolou that Gengsang Cave had no Ringing Grass and that six turns of credit were not enough to obtain any.
• Liu Xiaolou went to Zhanglong Mountain and asked to see Elder Bai, while Steward Liu recalled the attack on Myriad Dragon Cave as a great victory.
• Steward Liu relayed Elder Bai’s refusal, explaining that Zhanglong Sect had to give half its Ringing Grass to Gengsang Cave under their truce and advising Liu Xiaolou to ask other sects.