Chapter Summaries

Qingzhu and Liu Xiaolou worked on the damaged Candeng Taihua Immortal Formation and summoned Diao Daoyi to help. Diao Daoyi arrived at their willow-grove hideout and immediately demanded to see the ancient great array.

• Qingzhu insisted on taking charge of repairing the formation, and she and Liu Xiaolou studied its diagrams together in the woods.
• Liu Xiaolou explained that the Candeng Taihua Immortal Formation was missing parts of its diagram and that they needed an expert to help reconstruct it.
• Qingzhu wrote the formation’s name on a note and sent it to Diao Daoyi, revealing that he had once sought to marry her.
• Diao Daoyi arrived the next afternoon at Qingzhu and Liu Xiaolou’s hideout and impatiently asked to be taken to the Ancient Great Array.

Liu Xiaolou gathered formation experts to plan repairs to an ancient grand formation, and they agreed to inspect it in Qin Land. After a drawn-out boat dispute, the group set sail at sunrise.

• Gao Changjiang reunited with Liu Xiaolou, while Mi Tao demonstrated her powerful vine formation in the willow grove.
• Diao Daoyi persuaded the formation experts to focus on restoring the grand formation and enabling its three important disks to function.
• Gao Changjiang and Mi Tao supplied spirit stones, and the group decided to leave immediately for Qin Land.
• Diao Daoyi and Gao Changjiang led Liu Xiaolou toward the water route as Mi Tao's vines startled cultivators lurking outside Lotus Creek Hall.
• Diao Daoyi and Qingzhu argued over boats, then transferred a Wind Guiding Formation onto a Lotus Creek Hall pleasure boat and departed at sunrise.

Liu Xiaolou returned to Fenglin Manor with several Formation Masters and helped Diao Daoyi develop a restoration plan for the manor’s grand formation. The plan identified twenty subsidiary formation plates needing changes, but the team still needed access to fire eyes to carry it out.

• Liu Xiaolou learned how the Wind Guiding Formation worked and suggested using it to replace the Cloud Water Formation plate.
• After returning to Fenglin Manor, Liu Xiaolou introduced Diao Daoyi, Gao Changjiang, Qingzhu, and Mi Tao to Village Master Yin.
• Mi Tao outdrank Fenglin Manor’s hosts at the welcoming banquet and became their most welcome guest.
• Diao Daoyi led the group in inspecting the subsidiary formations and creating a restoration plan for the grand formation.
• The group decided to leave seven plates in place but change their deployment, reforge nine, and forge four anew.
• Diao Daoyi asked Liu Xiaolou whether the fire eyes he had mentioned could be made available.

Liu Xiaolou and the other Formation Masters visited the Qingshan Sect to rent its earthfire vents and prepare to repair an ancient formation. After negotiating the rental fee, they began planning the work, and Diao Daoyi warned them about keeping the formation’s origins secret.

• Ji Shengyuan guided Liu Xiaolou and his companions through Wenbi Peak, recounting Qingshan Sect legends and revealing that the sect’s ancient spirit pills had been refined at the three earthfire vents they wanted to use.
• Ji Shengyuan introduced the visiting Formation Masters to the Qingshan Sect leaders, who arranged a lavish banquet; Mi Tao ate and drank enough to leave the hosts thoroughly drunk.
• Liu Xiaolou and Ji Shengyuan argued over the rental price until the Formation Masters insisted on paying three spirit stones for every two days, and Ji Shengyuan reluctantly agreed.
• Diao Daoyi presented diagrams for four formation disks that needed replacing, while Mi Tao pointed out the additional formation work still required.
• Diao Daoyi asked the group whether they wanted the two- or three-thousand-year-old Ancient Great Array to become known beyond them.

Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu inspected the long-unused Santian Cave fire vent as they prepared to refine an ancient formation. After Elder Ji left, they shared an intimate moment in the cave, then the heat subsided.

• Diao Daoyi assigned the formation work, and Liu Xiaolou persuaded the group to use Siming Mountain’s Wind Guiding Formation in place of the Cloud Water Formation.
• Diao Daoyi assigned Qingzhu to refine the Pine Stone Formation in Santian Cave, while Mi Tao followed him to learn his formation-liquid technique.
• Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu followed Elder Ji into Santian Cave, where he unlocked the fire vent that had not been opened for more than a century.
• Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu tested the Santian Cave fire and found it exceptionally powerful.
• After Elder Ji departed, Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu removed their outer garments in the heat, and the underground cave cooled back to springlike warmth.

Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu refined the Pine Stone Formation disk while comparing fire-control techniques, then met Diao Daoyi, Gao Changjiang, and Mi Tao to exchange progress and discuss ancient runes. They made several promising rune interpretations and returned to their work, still facing the challenge of deciphering the old formation inscriptions.

• Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu practiced fire-control techniques and refined the Pine Stone Formation disk together in Cantian Cave.
• Diao Daoyi summoned the group, and Liu Xiaolou, Qingzhu, Diao Daoyi, Gao Changjiang, and Mi Tao met outside Shiguan Gorge to share their progress.
• Diao Daoyi and Mi Tao reported that they were using the Four Pillars Turning Time Method to refine the Purple Light Formation disk.
• Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu described their progress on the Pine Stone Formation disk, while Gao Changjiang reported progress on the Xiushui Formation disk.
• The five Formation Masters compared ancient runes and proposed new interpretations, including a powerful ancestor of the Sharp Corner Quicksand Talisman.
• The five concluded their discussion after nightfall and returned to their stone caves to continue refining formation disks.

Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu refined the three-layer array disks but were stumped by an ancient rune they could not decipher. Liu Xiaolou traveled to Xiaoyu Mountain to ask Dragon Son Fu for help, and Dragon Son Fu stared in shock at the rune Liu drew.

• Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu completed the jade disks and began etching their complex rune channels.
• When an unfamiliar rune halted their work, Liu Xiaolou and Qingzhu consulted Diao Daoyi and the others, who also failed to decipher it.
• Liu Xiaolou volunteered to seek Dragon Son Fu at the Xiaoyu Mountain villa, while Mi Tao and Qingzhu stayed behind.
• Liu Xiaolou arrived at the villa and waited outside while Dragon Son Fu and Jin Niang finished their private encounter.
• Liu Xiaolou drew the troublesome rune on the stone table, and Dragon Son Fu stared at it in astonishment.

Dragon Son Fu studied Fenglin Manor’s ancient talismans with Liu Xiaolou and the Qingshan Sect Formation Masters, then successfully deciphered and recreated one. Qingzhu named the newly deciphered talisman the Qingzhu Talisman.

• Dragon Son Fu visited Fenglin Manor at Liu Xiaolou’s invitation, where Manor Lord Yin welcomed him and promised to cover his remuneration.
• After a feast at Fenglin Manor, Dragon Son Fu went with Liu Xiaolou to Qingshan Sect and began examining their collection of sixty-nine ancient talismans.
• Dragon Son Fu studied the talismans with Liu Xiaolou, Diao Daoyi, Qingzhu, Gao Changjiang, and Mi Tao for three days and three nights.
• Dragon Son Fu recreated one ancient talisman, whose golden rune wrote itself into a beast-hide booklet.
• Dragon Son Fu explained the talisman’s meaning, and Qingzhu named it the Qingzhu Talisman.

Dragon Son Fu helped Liu Xiaolou, Qingzhu, and the other refiners make major progress on the replacement array disks, which reached their final refinement stage. Just as Liu Xiaolou prepared to finish the Earthly Disk, Advisor Luo summoned him back to Fenglin Manor because Elder Mei had arrived, leaving him uneasy about the reason for the visit.

• Dragon Son Fu deciphered ancient talismans and helped the three refinement groups advance their work, while the group gave the talismans new names, including Golden Rain Talisman.
• The groups completed the shaping, channel engraving, and True Spirit Array Fluid fusion for the three replacement array disks, leaving only final refinement.
• Qingzhu and Liu Xiaolou discussed their plans for refining the Earthly Disk and joked about their relationship before footsteps interrupted them.
• Elder Ji told Liu Xiaolou that Advisor Luo had urgent news, and Advisor Luo reported that Elder Mei had arrived at Fenglin Manor.
• Liu Xiaolou hurried toward the manor but felt uneasy about why Elder Mei, a late Golden Core elder, had come.

Advisor Luo told Liu Xiaolou how Elder Mei had first met Fenglin Manor while pursuing a Fire Bat and agreed to repair the manor’s formation in return for their help. Liu Xiaolou reached Fenglin Manor and entered a private meeting with Elder Mei, whose purpose remained unknown.

• Liu Xiaolou questioned Advisor Luo about Elder Mei’s arrival and learned that he had carefully inspected Fenglin Manor’s formation.
• Advisor Luo explained that Elder Mei had chased a Fire Bat into Feng Mountain, where Fenglin Manor’s residents helped him capture it and activated their grand formation.
• Advisor Luo said Elder Mei had agreed to repair the formation as repayment, then instructed Fenglin Manor to contact Pingdu Mountain and arrange for Liu Xiaolou to come.
• Advisor Luo accompanied Liu Xiaolou to Fenglin Manor, where a servant told Liu Xiaolou that Elder Mei wanted to speak with him alone.
• Liu Xiaolou entered the Flower Hall, bowed to Elder Mei, and was told to rise and speak.

Elder Mei questioned Liu Xiaolou about how he came to lead the work on the ancient formation and whether the project’s budget and methods were legitimate. After hearing Liu Xiaolou’s explanations and learning how far the repairs had progressed, Elder Mei decided to meet Dragon Son Fu at Wenbi Peak and asked Liu Xiaolou to take him there.

• Elder Mei challenged Liu Xiaolou’s status in Pingdu Mountain and demanded to know why Zhang Huanhe had entrusted him with the formation.
• Liu Xiaolou explained how his low-cost refining methods made the original budget workable and described the formation disks he had previously refined for the sect.
• Elder Mei questioned Liu Xiaolou about the gathered cultivators, the ancient formation’s secrecy, and the progress of its repairs.
• Liu Xiaolou reported that the work was forty percent complete and that several formation disks were being replaced or repaired.
• Elder Mei refused to attend the planned banquet and said he would personally meet Dragon Son Fu at Wenbi Peak.
• Liu Xiaolou warned that the cultivators had invested heavily and that he could no longer decide whether the group would withdraw, so Elder Mei asked him to lead the way.

Liu Xiaolou and the others waited outside the cave while Elder Mei and Dragon Son Fu held private discussions, leaving them uncertain about whether they would have to withdraw. Mi Tao and Qingzhu were summoned inside and then emerged to call Liu Xiaolou, Diao Daoyi, and Gao Changjiang in, deepening Liu Xiaolou’s worry that the talks had gone badly.

• Elder Ji told Liu Xiaolou that the banquet was ready, then nearly became trapped by the cave’s secret formation when he tried to look inside.
• Mi Tao told Liu Xiaolou that she and the others would follow his lead, while Liu Xiaolou said he had to follow Elder Mei’s decision and asked about the formation.
• Elder Mei and Dragon Son Fu summoned Mi Tao into the cave for a discussion, and the formation restarted after she entered.
• Qingzhu told Liu Xiaolou that the Mi Family ranked first among the Jiangnan Aristocratic Families, ahead of her Lotus Creek Hall and the Guyun Mountain Huang Family.
• Elder Mei summoned Qingzhu into the cave, then Qingzhu came out and called Liu Xiaolou, Diao Daoyi, and Gao Changjiang inside, leaving Liu Xiaolou fearing the talks had gone badly.

Elder Mei ended the attempt to repair the Candeng Taihua Immortal Formation, ordered the group to keep the matter secret, and offered them spirit stones. After Qingzhu and Mi Tao left to address problems with their families’ formations, Liu Xiaolou and the Siming Mountain cultivators decided to finish forging their remaining formation disks.

• Elder Mei announced that he and Dragon Son Fu would handle the formation’s aftermath and told the others to leave, swear secrecy, and accept one hundred spirit stones each.
• Diao Daoyi objected that the compensation did not cover Siming Mountain’s losses, but Elder Mei let the group keep its formation disks, talismans, and research.
• Mi Tao, Qingzhu, Diao Daoyi, Gao Changjiang, and Liu Xiaolou swore their oaths and received spirit stones before Elder Mei and Dragon Son Fu left.
• Mi Tao and Qingzhu departed after Qingzhu revealed that Elder Mei had warned her of a flaw in Lotus Creek Hall’s protective formation.
• Diao Daoyi refused Liu Xiaolou’s offer to return his spirit stones, and the group agreed to continue forging the three unfinished formation disks.

Liu Xiaolou and his companions continued refining the Pine Stone Formation disks, completing their rune channels and reaching the halfway point. After a brief celebration, Liu Xiaolou inspected Qingshan Sect’s gathered Spiritual Materials and admitted he had imposed a restriction to prevent them from buying too many.

• Liu Xiaolou sent Elder Mei and Master Long back to Fenglin Manor and gave Qingshan Sect members the task of gathering Green Tooth Vine and Red Yellow Licorice.
• Without Qingzhu, Liu Xiaolou worked harder alongside Diao Daoyi and Gao Changjiang, and after half a month they completed the rune channels on the formation disks.
• The three refiners met at the stone pavilion to celebrate their progress, and Elder Ji joined them for a meal and wine.
• Elder Ji told Liu Xiaolou that Elder Mei and Master Long had gone to Hundred Wood Cliff, while the Yin family’s two senior elders were gathering Spiritual Materials in the Qinling Mountains.
• Liu Xiaolou inspected the gathered materials, rejected two damaged lengths of Green Tooth Vine, and paid twelve spirit stones for the accepted items.
• Liu Xiaolou told Gao Changjiang that his claim about Qinling-grown materials had been a bluff to limit the purchase, and the three returned to their caves to continue refining.

Liu Xiaolou completed the Pine Stone Formation Disk after four months of refining and fusion, then tested it with Diao Daoyi and Gao Changjiang. The disk proved powerful enough to trap cultivators in a regenerating maze and could serve as a key component in restarting the Candeng Taihua Immortal Formation.

• Liu Xiaolou spent seven days completing the Earthly Disk, then hurried back to Cantian Cave to continue refining the Heavenly Disk and Human Disk.
• Elder Ji brought Liu Xiaolou Green Tooth Vine and Red Yellow Licorice gathered by the Disciples, and Liu Xiaolou bought most of the materials while setting stricter collection requirements.
• Liu Xiaolou finished fusing array fluid into all three disks after another half month, then spent a month combining them into the Pine Stone Formation Disk.
• Liu Xiaolou tested the completed disk with Diao Daoyi and Gao Changjiang, and its formation trapped intruders in a maze of strange pines and rocks that regenerated when destroyed.
• Liu Xiaolou apologized for the delay, and Diao Daoyi and Gao Changjiang praised his work before Liu Xiaolou asked to see their formation disks.

After refining three subsidiary formation disks, Liu Xiaolou, Diao Daoyi, and Gao Changjiang debated whether they could build a complete formation around them, but the cost and need for Fenglin Manor’s cooperation seemed insurmountable. Elder Ji arrived with more suspiciously uniform Spiritual Materials, and Liu Xiaolou confronted him for treating the formation masters like suckers.

• Gao Changjiang and Diao Daoyi showed off their refined formation disks, and the three formation masters discussed what they had learned.
• Liu Xiaolou proposed using the three subsidiary disks as the core of a larger formation, but Diao Daoyi explained that they needed a core formation-eye disk they could not refine without major resources and Fenglin Manor’s cooperation.
• Gao Changjiang and Diao Daoyi compared copied formation diagrams and debated which hub formation disk might serve as the grand formation’s core.
• Elder Ji arrived to invite the three formation masters to a feast and brought another batch of Green Tooth Vine and Red Yellow Licorice.
• Liu Xiaolou noticed that the Spiritual Materials matched the dimensions of an earlier batch and accused Elder Ji of trying to pass off an implausibly large supply as genuine.

Liu Xiaolou investigated whether the Green Tooth Vines and Red Yellow Licorice came from the Qinling Mountains and uncovered their connection to Phoenix Sect’s ruined formation. After accepting the materials, he and his companions considered visiting Mount Nanqi to investigate further.

• Elder Ji insisted the materials met Liu Xiaolou’s requirements and let him question the Qingshan Sect disciples who had supposedly gathered them.
• Jiang Xingyun admitted that none of the disciples had found the materials; they had been bought from Phoenix Sect, which stored them from the Qinling Mountains of the past.
• Liu Xiaolou learned that Phoenix Sect had used the materials to build a Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation, which an Earth Dragon had destroyed.
• Liu Xiaolou accepted the materials at full price and learned about Phoenix Sect’s small force and its spiritually gifted divine hawks.
• Liu Xiaolou told Gao Changjiang that Elder Ji’s explanation was mostly true but mocked his claim that Qingshan Sect would refuse a free mountain-protecting formation.
• Diao Daoyi and Gao Changjiang proposed traveling to Mount Nanqi in hopes of finding a bargain.

Liu Xiaolou and the other Formation Masters visited Phoenix Sect to buy its stored Spiritual Materials and investigate its mountain-protecting formation. Phoenix Sect agreed to consider a major sale, while Elder Ji asked that they be allowed to witness the Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation.

• Liu Xiaolou asked Elder Ji to announce their arrival, and the invitation revealed Phoenix Ridge’s hidden true form.
• Zhang Xiaofeng welcomed Liu Xiaolou, Gao Changjiang, and Diao Daoyi and explained Phoenix Sect’s unusual mountain scenery and its founding legend.
• Liu Xiaolou and Diao Daoyi learned that Phoenix Sect’s former Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation had been damaged and replaced by a formation from Gaoxi Blue Water Sect.
• Luo Shenying, Zhang Xiaofeng, and Li Laohuang showed the visitors Phoenix Sect’s stored Spiritual Materials, which the Formation Masters appraised at about sixty-five Spirit Stones.
• Elder Ji asked Phoenix Sect’s leaders to let the three Formation Masters witness the Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation in exchange for the substantial purchase.

Liu Xiaolou, Diao Daoyi, and Gao Changjiang inspected the Phoenix Sect’s Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation and identified several flaws. Elder Ji relayed their findings to Sect Master Luo, Zhang Xiaofeng, and Li Laohuang, who were left weighing repairs against the sect’s lack of spirit stones.

• Liu Xiaolou and his companions swore not to reveal the Phoenix Sect’s formation secrets, and Sect Master Luo agreed to let them inspect the Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation.
• The Phoenix Sect paid Liu Xiaolou for the spiritual materials, then Sect Master Luo activated the formation while the three formation masters studied it for an hour.
• Zhang Xiaofeng and Li Laohuang worried that the sect could not afford to repair any flaws, while Li Laohuang questioned why Liu Xiaolou led the group despite his lower cultivation.
• Elder Ji listened as the three formation masters analyzed the formation, then left the guest courtyard after a mynah bird summoned him to meet the Phoenix Sect’s leaders.
• Elder Ji told Sect Master Luo, Zhang Xiaofeng, and Li Laohuang that the Flying Luan and Wild Goose formations had problems, and that the Golden Eagle Formation consumed too many spirit stones.

Liu Xiaolou and the other Formation Masters negotiated with Phoenix Sect to repair flaws in the Myriad Beasts Frosty Sky Formation while investigating the ancient formation hidden beneath it. They began dismantling the Snow Owl Formation and uncovered its head disk, then Gao Changjiang emerged from the shaft with a sheet of yellow paper.

• Liu Xiaolou, Diao Daoyi, and Gao Changjiang discussed the formation's flaws and planned to expose the ancient formation hidden underneath, while considering Phoenix Sect's defenses and possible reinforcements.
• Elder Ji negotiated with Liu Xiaolou, who agreed that the three Formation Masters would repair seven flaws for two hundred and forty spirit stones and half a month of earthfire use.
• The three Formation Masters received the formation diagram and began with the Snow Owl Formation, digging up its head disk on Phoenix Ridge.
• Gao Changjiang used his bone-shrinking art to crawl into the shaft where the Snow Owl Formation's foot disk lay, while Zhang Xiaofeng brought a giant Phoenix Tail Eagle down to feed on Chicken Fragrance Flowers.
• Gao Changjiang crawled out of the stone hole and handed Diao Daoyi a sheet of yellow paper.