Chapter Summaries

Xin Chengda prepared to attack the mountain formation, but a black cat and a white goose stole his formation disks and lured him into a chase. He jumped off Ghost Dream Cliff after the white goose, landing in a foul-smelling place.

• Xin Chengda studied the mountain-protecting formation and decided to attack its Formation Master that night to avenge his junior brother.
• Xin Chengda prepared his formation disks and began storing spiritual power in his gold-inlaid jade thumb rings.
• A black cat appeared nearby, and Xin Chengda tried to capture it for its concealment ability.
• Big White Goose swallowed one thumb ring while the black cat stole the other, and the two animals escaped in opposite directions.
• Xin Chengda pursued Big White Goose and jumped off Ghost Dream Cliff after it, then landed amid a foul fishy stench.

Xin Chengda stumbled into the Twelve Yin Yang Grand Formation and found himself trapped in an ancient swamp formation. As he fought to locate its weakness, Big White Goose and Little Black interfered, and a mysterious swordsman attacked him.

• Xin Chengda escaped a deceptive swamp, then mocked Big White Goose and Little Black for failing to lure him into the formation.
• Vines pulled Xin Chengda into the Yin Ren Zhao formation, where he sensed ancient talismans and used gang-step footwork to resist the mire.
• Xin Chengda found the formation eye and shot a sleeve arrow toward a dark cloud, but Big White Goose caught it.
• Xin Chengda aimed another arrow at Big White Goose, and Little Black knocked it aside, taking a hit.
• A swordsman appeared and attacked Xin Chengda; after their clash, Xin Chengda sent his sleeves after the swordsman, who vanished and reappeared elsewhere.

Fang Buai and Daoist Hudu attacked Xin Chengda inside Liu Xiaolou’s grand formation, and Hudu damaged the robe protecting Xin Chengda before escaping. Xin Chengda then used a formation disk of his own, injuring Lord Xingde as Liu Xiaolou prepared to respond.

• Fang Buai escaped Xin Chengda through the Life Gate and reported that Xin Chengda’s robe resisted his attacks.
• Liu Xiaolou sent Daoist Hudu into the formation, where Hudu’s five fire dragons failed to harm Xin Chengda until the fifth dragon’s poisonous water fouled his robe.
• Daoist Hudu escaped the formation while Liu Xiaolou altered its mechanisms to prevent Xin Chengda from following him.
• Daoist Hudu began restoring his fire dragons with bizarre ingredients, making Fang Buai sick and prompting him to leave.
• Liu Xiaolou realized Xin Chengda had deployed another formation disk and ordered Big White and Little Black to attack.
• Lord Xingde and Seventh Mistress Zhou returned, reporting that Xin Chengda’s strange formation had struck Lord Xingde in the back.

Xin Chengda fought his way through Liu Xiaolou’s Twelve Yin Yang Grand Formation using his own defensive formation, but Jing Zhao arrived and killed him. Liu Xiaolou then discovered that the six formation disks he coveted had vanished with Xin Chengda’s ashes.

• Xin Chengda used the Worshipping wind and rain Mountain Wood Ghost God Formation to break through four formations and enter the Yin Jifen Formation, while Liu Xiaolou watched from Qianzhu Ridge.
• Liu Xiaolou and Xin Chengda taunted each other over their formations’ spirit-stone costs as Xin Chengda replenished his disks and mocked Liu Xiaolou’s protection.
• Jing Zhao entered the grand formation and overwhelmed Xin Chengda’s summoned spirits with golden true essence, blasting him to ashes.
• Liu Xiaolou rushed to Jing Zhao and asked about the formation disks, but Jing Zhao said he had not noticed them and agreed to help search.

Liu Xiaolou and his companions searched Qianzhu Ridge for the scattered jade array-disk fragments and recovered most of them. After Jing Zhao left for Qianshan with Big White Goose and Little Black to investigate an ancient talisman, Liu Xiaolou assembled six damaged array disks and devoted himself to studying them.

• Liu Xiaolou summoned Big White Goose, Little Black, Zhou Tong, and Fang Buai to search Qianzhu Ridge, while Daoist Hudu and Lord and Lady Xingde descended the mountain.
• Big White Goose and Little Black found many large jade array-disk fragments and recovered more than a hundred spirit stones, which Liu Xiaolou shared with Jing Zhao.
• Liu Xiaolou introduced Zhou Tong as his student, and Jing Zhao gave him a Black Light Shield as a meeting gift.
• Jing Zhao and Liu Xiaolou discussed two ancient talismans, and Liu Xiaolou inferred that the second might mark an entrance to a hidden cave abode at Qianshan.
• Jing Zhao left for Qianshan with Big White Goose and Little Black to investigate the talismans, while Liu Xiaolou continued studying the fragments.
• Liu Xiaolou assembled six damaged jade array disks in three days and spent the next two months studying them without descending the mountain.

Liu Xiaolou completed a Sea Mirage Jade formation disk that summoned a powerful Bamboo Demon, then became absorbed in a new insight while repeatedly testing it. He went to sit by the Void Rift, leaving Fang Buai to warn Zhou Tong not to leave the mountain.

• Liu Xiaolou refined the Sea Mirage Jade into the Paying Homage to Qingzhu Eight Lights Ghost-God Formation, whose illusions concealed the true formation disk.
• Liu Xiaolou summoned a Bamboo Demon that smashed a boulder, caught a sparrow, and trapped Fang Buai in a regenerating cage.
• Liu Xiaolou judged the Bamboo Demon comparable to a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator and saw room for the formation to grow stronger.
• After repeatedly dismantling the Bamboo Demon's cage, Liu Xiaolou had an insight and went to sit beside the Void Rift.
• Zhou Tong brought yellow catfish to Fang Buai, who told him to stay on the mountain and not go anywhere.

Zhou Tong spent a day tending to Qianzhu Ridge’s chores and cultivating while Fang Buai trained with a Spirit Leopard. As evening fell, an armed stranger in a straw hat arrived at the mountain gate.

• Zhou Tong shared a meal and Bamboo Leaf Green with Fang Buai, then went to Liu Manor to witness a land purchase for one hundred taels per five mu.
• Fang Buai told Zhou Tong that the Sect Leader had wandered near the cliff and warned him that a mountain monster was there.
• Zhou Tong cultivated at the cliff, then watched Fang Buai fight a Spirit Leopard and nearly collapsed when its gaze frightened him.
• Zhou Tong tended the herb garden and collected honey from the Golden Ring Bees before returning to guard the mountain gate.
• A stranger wearing a straw rain cape and hat, with a long sword on his back, walked up to the mountain gate at sunset.

Zhou Tong fought off Venerable Divine Fire, a Qi Refining fourth-layer cultivator who came to offer protection to the Three Xuan Sect, and won with his magic artifacts and Black Light Shield. He returned to the mountain to cook for Fang Buai, who sent him to fetch wine.

• The Man in Straw Hat introduced himself as Venerable Divine Fire and offered to protect the Three Xuan Sect, but Zhou Tong refused.
• Venerable Divine Fire challenged Zhou Tong at the mountain gate and attacked him with a flaming sword, while Zhou Tong countered with the Flying Sickle.
• Venerable Divine Fire unleashed Meteor from Beyond the Heavens, but Zhou Tong's Black Light Shield smothered the flames and left him unharmed.
• Zhou Tong mocked Venerable Divine Fire with his supposed treasures and explained that he entered the sect through his aunt and uncle-in-law's connection to the Sect Leader, prompting the man to leave.
• Zhou Tong returned to the mountain and told Fang Buai about the fight while preparing fish soup; Fang Buai gave him a key and asked him to fetch wine.

Fang Buai defeated the returning martial hero Wan Jianxin, who had come to challenge Three Xuan Sect, and learned that an unknown powerful man had spread rumors to draw out Sect Master Liu Xiaolou. The stranger accused Liu of acting like a bandit and demanded to know why he would not come down the mountain.

• Fang Buai learned from Zhou Tong that rumors promised opportunities at Three Xuan Sect and that the sect received spirit stones as the market town’s nominal master.
• After the mountain gate’s emergency chimes rang, Fang Buai found Zhou Tong defeated by Wan Jianxin, a famed martial hero who had been at Qi Refining Perfection for over ten years.
• Fang Buai fought Wan Jianxin with his sword and defeated him, then revealed that he was Xiaofang, Hong Er’s disciple, and learned Wan had come to challenge Sect Master Liu Xiaolou.
• A powerful stranger appeared, pressured Fang Buai, and demanded to know why Liu Xiaolou would not come down the mountain.
• The stranger called Liu a bandit, and Fang Buai stopped Zhou Tong from retaliating before asking the stranger to identify himself.

As Guan Li overwhelmed the Three Xuan Sect defenders with his Miraculous Sound Illusion Conch, Liu Xiaolou underwent a breakthrough in his sea of qi. The chapter ended with a three-mu pond forming within him and the Yellow Dragon Sword swimming in its waters.

• Fang Buai continued to defend the sect gate against Guan Li, but Guan Li brought out his armor and Natal Magic Artifact, the Miraculous Sound Illusion Conch, and forced Fang Buai toward collapse.
• Lord Xingde and Seventh Mistress Zhou arrived to support Fang Buai, while Guan Li's conch suppressed them and attacked Qianzhu Ridge.
• Zhou Tong distracted Guan Li with curses until Guan Li knocked him unconscious and resumed sounding the conch.
• Liu Xiaolou sensed the conch's pressure reach his Spiritual Sense, stirring the dark clouds in his sea of qi and drawing in spiritual energy.
• Lightning struck Liu Xiaolou's sea of qi, rain fell onto the Yellow Dragon Sword, and the turbulent transformation settled into a three-mu pond.

After breaking through, Liu Xiaolou confronted Guan Li over the IOU that had led Floating Mountain Island to pressure Guan Li into subduing the Changjing Gang. Liu Xiaolou demanded compensation for his injured sect members, then bound Guan Li with the Xuanzhen Rope and sealed his sea of qi.

• A heavenly lightning phenomenon marked Liu Xiaolou's breakthrough as Guan Li and the others fought below Qianzhu Ridge.
• Liu Xiaolou met Guan Li at the mountain gate and learned that the IOU he had transferred to Floating Mountain Island had forced Guan Li to subdue the Changjing Gang and incur a major favor.
• Guan Li demanded five hundred spirit stones from Liu Xiaolou, then bargained down to three hundred, but Liu Xiaolou refused and instead asked for fifty spirit stones to compensate the injured Fang Buai and Zhou Tong.
• When Guan Li refused to write a new IOU, Liu Xiaolou tossed the Xuanzhen Rope, which bound Guan Li and knocked his Unpredictable Yin Yang Armor into the mud.
• Liu Xiaolou slapped Guan Li's dantian and sealed his sea of qi before he could counterattack.

Zhou Tong brought Guan Li food while he was held captive, and Guan Li revealed how poorly his master had treated him and how he had struggled to cultivate. Liu Xiaolou unsealed Guan Li's sea of qi and let him go after he wrote an IOU, while Fang Buai lent him a spirit stone to recover his true essence.

• Zhou Tong brought Guan Li food, but Guan refused it because he suspected Zhou had spat in the pot.
• Guan Li told Zhou that his master had neglected and mistreated him, and that he had secretly learned cultivation methods and bought his own Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Liu Xiaolou burned a letter intended for the Immortal Granny Sect and decided to handle Guan Li's debt another way.
• Guan Li agreed to write an IOU for fifty spirit stones, and Liu Xiaolou unsealed his sea of qi and allowed him to leave.
• Guan Li ate three bowls of porridge, wrote the IOU, and left with his Unpredictable Yin Yang Armor.
• Fang Buai threw Guan Li a spirit stone to help him recover his true essence, without asking for an IOU.

After Liu Xiaolou’s breakthrough, Zang Qianli and Bo Buping visited Wulong Mountain with congratulations and gifts. Liu welcomed both with lavish meals, and the chapter ended with him sending food and wine for Sect Master Ba.

• Zang Qianli congratulated Liu Xiaolou on his breakthrough and presented gifts from the Zhanglong Sect, along with additional items of his own.
• Zang Qianli asked Liu to let Zhou Tong supervise workers at Goose-Goat Mountain, and Liu agreed.
• Bo Buping arrived on behalf of the Lingqiu Sect with magical serving vessels and spirit stones, recalling how Liu had helped him recover from an injury.
• Liu ordered Zhou Tong and Fang Buai to prepare a second feast for Bo Buping.
• Bo told Liu that Sect Master Ba remembered their old agreement but could not visit because Li Wuya was threatening Qiulong Mountain, so Liu urged Bo to take food and wine back to him.

Bo Buping asked Liu Xiaolou to help the Lingqiu Sect defend a newly uncovered Spirit Eye from the Li Clan of Xiangxi River. Liu agreed after securing a hundred spirit stones and three turns of sect merit, then set out with Fang Buai and Bo Buping.

• Bo Buping explained that the Lingqiu Sect and the Li Clan disputed ownership of a Spirit Eye near Qiulong Mountain, and that the Li Clan was backed by Yumu Cave.
• Liu Xiaolou learned that the Zhanglong Sect was reluctant to escalate the dispute and that the Lingqiu Sect wanted help before negotiations decided the Spirit Eye's fate.
• Liu Xiaolou agreed to aid the Lingqiu Sect after Bo Buping promised the Three Xuan Sect one hundred spirit stones and three turns of sect merit.
• Liu Xiaolou and Fang Buai prepared to leave, and Liu instructed Zhou Tong to supervise work at Goose-Goat Mountain.
• Liu Xiaolou departed with Fang Buai and Bo Buping, then told Bo Buping that he intended to claim the promised spirit stones and merit.

Liu Xiaolou arrived at Tianxi Cliff and learned that the Lingqiu Sect was struggling against the Li Clan over a Spirit Eye. Ba Tianyou asked him to mediate rather than fight, but Liu Xiaolou summoned reinforcements as he prepared to intervene.

• Liu Xiaolou traveled up Qiulong Mountain with Bo Buping, admiring the scenery and gathering wild herbs before hurrying to Tianxi Cliff.
• Ba Tianyou warmly greeted Liu Xiaolou and introduced him to the Lingqiu Sect members, including the injured Cai Song and Ba Tian Ba, who had reached Foundation Establishment.
• Ba Tianyou explained that the Li Clan had thirty-eight people and a powerful formation, and that the Lingqiu Sect had suffered setbacks in their struggle over the Spirit Eye.
• Ba Tianyou asked Liu Xiaolou to uphold justice and mediate peace, arguing that his Danxia Sect ties and connection to the Shenwu Su Family gave him standing with the Li Clan.
• Liu Xiaolou sent Fang Buai to summon Su Jing and invited several guest elders to come help, surprising Fang Buai because they had agreed not to call reinforcements.

Liu Xiaolou visited the Li Clan to mediate its conflict with the Lingqiu Sect, using his ties to powerful factions to persuade Li Huabin to hear him out. After impressing the clan with his formation skills, he met Li Wuzhen and began asking why she had declined an offer to join a sect.

• Liu Xiaolou met Li Huabin below the Mountain Hollow and said he had come to mediate between the Li Clan and the Lingqiu Sect.
• Liu Xiaolou showed Li Huabin his divorce letter and hinted at his obligations to Bei Mang Mountain, prompting Li Huabin to invite him inside.
• Liu Xiaolou avoided the Li Clan disciples' formation by following the terrain's geomantic currents, impressing Li Huahong and the assembled clan members.
• Liu Xiaolou entered the central tent, sat beside Li Wuzhen, and praised her cultivation and Cloud Rain Talismans.
• Li Wuzhen began telling Liu Xiaolou why she had refused an offer from several elders to join their sect, after asking him to keep it secret.

Liu Xiaolou mediated between the Li Clan and the Lingqiu Sect over control of the Tianxi Cliff Spirit Eye, but the Li Clan insisted that the Lingqiu Sect surrender it. He left with their terms and a three-day deadline for Ba Tianyou to respond.

• Li Wuhui argued that Li Wuya and Ba Tianyou had jointly brought about the Spirit Eye's emergence, while insisting the Li Clan had the stronger claim.
• Li Wuhui recounted Li Wuya's dream of Ancestor Qiuming and claimed the Li Clan had ancestral ties to Qiulong Mountain and Tianxi Cliff.
• Liu Xiaolou urged both sides to avoid a devastating war and asked what the Li Clan would accept in exchange for giving up the Spirit Eye.
• Li Wuhui refused to discuss other terms and said the Li Clan would attack the Lingqiu Sect unless it surrendered Tianxi Cliff within three days.
• Liu Xiaolou left to convey the demand to Ba Tianyou, and Li Wuzhen escorted him out before explaining that her clan had planned to attack that evening.

Liu Xiaolou learned that Lingqiu Sect had lost three battles to the Li clan and helped them prepare to hold Tianxi Cliff until mediation could begin. As another battle approached, he studied the Li clan’s formation and explained its hidden attack to Elder Qin.

• Ba Tianyou admitted that Lingqiu Sect had lost all three previous battles and that over half its people were seriously wounded, while the ownership of Tianxi Cliff had never been confirmed.
• Liu Xiaolou negotiated a fee of two hundred spirit stones and urged Ba Tianyou to prepare to withstand the Li clan’s attack three days later.
• Lingqiu Sect bought spiritual pills, low-grade magic artifacts, and provisions, while Liu Xiaolou watched to ensure the Li clan kept its promise to delay the attack.
• Han Gao arrived from Great Seal Mountain, and Liu Xiaolou told him to mediate impartially while ensuring Lingqiu Sect retained the Spirit Eye.
• The Li clan assembled thirty-eight people across the stream, and Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao explained to Elder Qin that its formation’s arrows attacked upward from below.

Liu Xiaolou observed the Lingqiu Sect’s Thousand Snake Formation battle the Li Clan’s stronger formation and helped reduce the sect’s losses. When the Lingqiu Sect threatened to defile Tianxi Cliff’s Spirit Eye with the Eight Filth Items, the Li Clan halted its advance and the two sides argued over who would be disgraced.

• Elder Qin joined the Thousand Snake Formation’s tail, and Liu Xiaolou’s adjustment to its lineup strengthened the formation.
• The Li Clan’s golden blades battered the Thousand Snake Formation, whose giant python struck back before lotus shields stopped it.
• Following Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao’s signal, Ba Tianyou ordered the disciples to defend below, and their burrowing boas blocked the Li Clan’s arrows.
• Although the Lingqiu Sect fought better after three days of rest, the stronger Li Clan formation forced it back toward the cave containing the Spirit Eye.
• Ba Tianyou revealed the Eight Filth Items in the cave and threatened to defile the Spirit Eye, making the Li Clan withdraw and argue with him at the cliff.

Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao mediated between the Li clan and the Lingqiu Sect over Tianxi Cliff’s Spirit Eye. The Li clan withdrew after offering compensation and giving Ba Tianyou three days to respond, while the mediators waited to see whether the dispute could be settled.

• Liu Xiaolou introduced Han Gao as a mediator, and Han defended the Lingqiu Sect’s refusal to yield the Spirit Eye against Li Wuhui’s accusations.
• Li Wuhui challenged Han Gao’s character, but Li Wuya intervened, apologized, and accepted Han as a mediator.
• Liu Xiaolou calmed Li Wuhui by recounting how he had helped Han Gao’s younger brother marry Green Pearl, while Li Wuzhen asked to meet her.
• Han Gao reported that Ba Tianyou would either destroy the Spirit Eye and perish with the Li clan or accept compensation in exchange for the Li clan recognizing the Lingqiu Sect’s claim.
• Han Gao argued that the Lingqiu Sect had first seized control of the Spirit Eye, and Li Wuya agreed to convey Li Wuhui’s compensation proposal and give Ba Tianyou three days to consider it.
• The Li clan withdrew, and Liu Xiaolou and Han Gao concluded that neither side was likely to bring in reinforcements while they waited for a chance to mediate.