Chapter Summaries

Ouyang Qinxin reported her suspicions that Zhang Taibai was working with devil cultivators, and Azure Cloud Mountain’s elders decided to investigate without alerting him. On his way back to Spirit Herb Mountain, Lin Xuan heard alarming news in a market city that stopped him from leaving.

• The blue-green-robed elder and his senior brother suspected Spirit Herb Mountain was concealing its true strength because of the Heaven Dust Pill.
• After receiving Ouyang Qinxin’s message, the elders considered Zhang Taibai a possible traitor and resolved to watch him closely while keeping their suspicions secret.
• Ouyang Qinxin informed her martial uncles about Zhang Taibai but concealed Lin Xuan’s involvement.
• Lin Xuan stopped in a market city on his way back to Spirit Herb Mountain to sell surplus treasures and buy cultivation materials before entering seclusion.
• Lin Xuan overheard cultivators discussing something that left him pale with shock.

Lin Xuan heard rumors that Spirit Herb Mountain might still possess Heaven Dust Pills or other powerful spirit herbs, though he knew the sect had none. He weighed leaving before the rumors attracted dangerous attention, but remained unsure because he needed the sect’s protection and felt loyalty to Perfected Master Tongyu.

• Lin Xuan listened as cultivators discussed the destroyed Heaven Dust Pill and speculated that Spirit Herb Mountain might have more.
• Lin Xuan left the market and concluded that outsiders’ rumors could draw powerful cultivators to Spirit Herb Mountain.
• Lin Xuan considered abandoning the sect to avoid danger, but hesitated because he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator who needed a sect’s backing.
• Lin Xuan decided that he would flee if Spirit Herb Mountain truly faced danger, despite his regard for Perfected Master Tongyu.

Lin Xuan returned to Spirit Herb Mountain and found no sign that rumors about the sect had caused trouble. He studied the Mystic Demon True Scripture, discovering it was a powerful ghost-cultivation art that Yue'er could use, but whose yin spiritual energy made it unsuitable for him.

• Lin Xuan decided to return to Spirit Herb Mountain rather than flee, reasoning that he could leave later if the rumors brought danger.
• Three days later, Lin Xuan returned and learned from an outer disciple that the sect had experienced no unexpected events.
• Lin Xuan went to his Alchemy Chamber, stored the Heaven Dust Pill, and began studying the Mystic Demon True Scripture.
• After reading through more than half the scripture overnight, Lin Xuan realized it was a ghost-cultivation art practiced by the Supreme Demon of Extreme Evil.
• Lin Xuan recognized that Yue'er could cultivate the scripture, but he could not use its methods because ghost cultivators required yin spiritual energy.

Lin Xuan weighed the Mystic Demon True Scripture against the limitations of his Nine Heavens Profound Art and considered using it as an auxiliary cultivation method. After studying the scripture further, he discovered something that gave him unexpected hope.

• Lin Xuan concluded that he could not use the ghost-path arts in the Mystic Demon True Scripture because they required yin spiritual power.
• Lin Xuan reflected that the Nine Heavens Profound Art would remain comparatively weak until he reached Core Condensation, despite its great power at the great accomplishment realm.
• Lin Xuan considered seeking an easy-to-learn, powerful auxiliary cultivation method but had found none in the markets and did not trust Perfected Master Tongyu enough to ask for one.
• Lin Xuan returned to reading the Mystic Demon True Scripture and, several hours later, stood up with an expression of complicated excitement.

Lin Xuan discovered that the Mystic Demon True Scripture contained only half of the Yin-Yang Art, a technique that could convert spiritual power between yin and yang. By comparing it with the Heavenly Thunder Art he had obtained from Lei Ao, he found the missing half and completed the technique.

• Lin Xuan read that the Yin-Yang Art could let him cultivate the Mystic Demon True Scripture, but learned that the scripture held only its latter half.
• Lin Xuan learned from Heavenly Sha Devil Lord's notes that a Nascent Soul sword cultivator had taken the missing half five hundred years earlier, leaving its whereabouts unknown.
• Lin Xuan noticed that the Yin-Yang Art resembled incantations in the Heavenly Thunder Art stored in his Storage Bracelet.
• Lin Xuan studied both methods for a day and a night and found that the opening incantations of each section of the Heavenly Thunder Art formed the first half of the Yin-Yang Art.
• Lin Xuan assembled both halves and engraved the complete Yin-Yang Art onto a blank Jade Slip.

Lin Xuan bound a spirit beast egg from the Heavenly Sha Devil Lord's cave abode to himself and set up a formation to help it hatch. Growing wary of Spirit Herb Mountain's unnatural calm, he began preparing defenses against a possible hidden threat.

• Lin Xuan examined the spirit beast egg, decided to keep it, and completed the master-recognition ceremony with his essence blood.
• Lin Xuan placed the egg in a stone chamber and set up a formation to draw Earth Vein Fire and gather spiritual energy for hatching.
• Lin Xuan considered cultivating after his rest but worried that Spirit Herb Mountain's lack of response to the rumors was suspicious.
• Lin Xuan concluded that Spirit Herb Mountain might be unsafe and took out formation plates and flags to prepare, determined to keep his secrets hidden.

Lin Xuan studied and set up the Extreme Yin Evil Spirit Array to protect his secrets at Spirit Herb Mountain, then rested and watched the sect for signs of trouble. He discovered that far more cultivators than usual had come to refine pills, and they seemed to be probing for information.

• Lin Xuan studied the Jade Slip’s instructions and set up the Extreme Yin Evil Spirit Array around his cave residence.
• Lin Xuan rested for several days after returning from the Kui Yin Mountain Range, choosing not to resume cultivation while exhausted.
• Lin Xuan read and toured the area while observing Spirit Herb Mountain for changes.
• Lin Xuan noticed that two or three times the usual number of cultivators had come to refine pills and that they were asking probing questions.

Lin Xuan secluded himself to cultivate and studied the Yin-Yang Art, discovering that it required no particular spiritual root or aptitude. The art promised powerful ghost-path techniques but inflicted unimaginable pain during its initial cultivation, and the chapter left Lin Xuan weighing its costs as he read on.

• Lin Xuan watched the terrain around Spirit Herb Mountain and prepared for possible danger before returning to cultivation.
• He purified and took mid-grade Foundation Establishment Pills while remaining in his cave residence.
• Lin Xuan focused on mastering the Yin-Yang Art so he could use secret arts from the Mystic Demon True Scripture without abandoning the Nine Heavens Profound Art.
• After studying the art, Lin Xuan learned that spiritual roots and aptitude did not affect whether he could cultivate it.
• Lin Xuan discovered that converting yin and yang spiritual power would cause agonizing conflict in his meridians, though the pain would end once he mastered the art.
• Lin Xuan continued reading and encountered a further warning that made cultivators reluctant to attempt the art.

Lin Xuan sought the Seven Heart Pill’s ingredients to protect his mind while cultivating the dangerous Yin-Yang Art, and left Spirit Herb Mountain for a nearby market. Several factions secretly monitored him, while Azure Cloud Mountain used the assignment to test whether Zhang Taibai had ties to the demonic path.

• Lin Xuan found a record of the Seven Heart Pill in an Alchemy Book and decided to obtain its ingredients before attempting the Yin-Yang Art.
• Zhang Taibai and Feng Yuan spotted Lin Xuan leaving Spirit Herb Mountain, and Zhang Taibai sent a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator to follow him.
• The righteous and demonic factions watched Spirit Herb Mountain for evidence behind rumors of the Heaven Dust Pill, while Azure Cloud Mountain secretly tested Zhang Taibai’s loyalty.
• Other cultivators also followed Lin Xuan, who noticed them but continued toward a market to buy the Seven Heart Pill’s poisonous herbs.

Lin Xuan lured the cultivators tailing him into a mist-filled valley, where Jiang Yan and two disciples from Thunder Cloud Villa followed. The chapter ended with Wu Yun'er entering the valley recklessly while her subdued companion followed behind her.

• Lin Xuan swallowed a pill and entered the misty valley after noticing his pursuers.
• Jiang Yan followed Lin Xuan, hoping to earn merit and secure help advancing to Golden Core, but his divine sense could not penetrate the strange mist.
• Jiang Yan used his Heaven-Mixing Ruler to shield himself and entered the valley.
• A Thunder Cloud Villa couple arrived, and the man warned Wu Yun'er that the mist might conceal a trap.
• Wu Yun'er scolded her companion and entered the mist without taking precautions, while he followed behind her.

Lin Xuan awakened the zombies in Yin Corpse Gorge and concealed himself, leaving the cultivators who followed him to face the danger. Jiang Yan and Wu Yun'er became trapped among powerful zombies as the other intruders struggled in the mist.

• Lin Xuan learned from Yue'er's message that many cultivators were following him and decided to use Yin Corpse Gorge's zombies against them.
• Lin Xuan struck the cave to awaken its zombies, then hid himself with ghost mist and concealment techniques.
• Jiang Yan tried to leave the maze-like gorge but discovered the mist prevented flight and nearly twenty zombies surrounded him.
• Wu Yun'er was trapped by three zombies with Foundation Establishment Middle Stage strength and regretted entering the gorge alone.
• The cultivators from the other powers discovered that the mist blocked divine sense and restricted flight as zombies attacked them.

After escaping the zombie-filled gorge, Lin Xuan disguised himself and went to a market town to buy poisonous herbs. While waiting for his order, he overheard the shopkeeper rebuffing a young man named Wu Li, who begged to trade a jade tube for a Light Spirit Grass.

• Lin Xuan left the gorge without drawing the zombies' attention and flew away, leaving the pursuing cultivators behind.
• Lin Xuan reached a busy market town, swallowed a Hidden Spirit Pill, changed his appearance and clothes, and headed to the southern shops.
• Lin Xuan asked a shopkeeper for several poisonous medicinal ingredients and ordered half a jin of each listed in a jade tube.
• As Lin Xuan was about to wait in a side hall, he heard the shop assistant and shopkeeper drive off Wu Li, who pleaded to exchange a jade tube for a Light Spirit Grass.

Lin Xuan intervened when the shopkeeper threatened Wu Li, a mortal seeking Light Spirit Grass for his sick mother, and agreed to hear his plea. Wu Li offered his late father's damaged Jade Slip in exchange, and Lin Xuan was astonished when he saw it.

• Lin Xuan learned that Wu Li was a mortal without a spiritual root who had grown up in the cultivators' market after his father died.
• Wu Li appealed to Lin Xuan for help obtaining Light Spirit Grass for his gravely ill mother.
• The shopkeeper tried to strike Wu Li with a black ribbon of light, but Lin Xuan stopped it and ordered the shopkeeper to prepare medicinal ingredients.
• Lin Xuan sent the shop assistants away and asked Wu Li what he needed.
• Wu Li offered his late father's damaged Jade Slip as payment for the Light Spirit Grass, and Lin Xuan recognized something surprising about it.

Lin Xuan bought a strange Jade Slip that resisted divine sense, paying one crystal stone so Wu Li could obtain Light Spirit Grass for his sick mother. He left the market convinced the ancient slip might contain something extraordinary and flew toward Spirit Herb Mountain.

• Lin Xuan examined Wu Li's Jade Slip but could not penetrate it with his divine sense.
• The shopkeeper told Lin Xuan that Wu Li's father and other cultivators had failed to uncover the Jade Slip's contents, and that Wu Li's father had died obsessed with it.
• Lin Xuan bought the Jade Slip for one crystal stone and told the shopkeeper to give Wu Li three stalks of Light Spirit Grass.
• Wu Li thanked Lin Xuan, and the shopkeeper sent him to collect the herbs.
• Lin Xuan left the market with his medicinal herbs and Jade Slip, reasoning that its ancient appearance and resistance to divine sense suggested it might hold something extraordinary.

Lin Xuan returned to his cave, refined Seven Heart Pills, and endured a week of excruciating cultivation to master the Yin-Yang Art. He succeeded, though the ordeal left him utterly exhausted.

• Lin Xuan noticed Core Condensation experts from major factions secretly watching him and expected Spirit Herb Mountain to weather the crisis as long as nothing unforeseen happened.
• Lin Xuan refined nine Seven Heart Pills to prepare for cultivating the Yin-Yang Art.
• After studying the art and preparing himself, Lin Xuan swallowed a Seven Heart Pill and began its dangerous cultivation.
• Lin Yue'er cultivated in another chamber, approaching Foundation Establishment with her pure-yin body and Yin Soul.
• Lin Xuan endured a week of intense pain without losing focus and successfully cultivated the Yin-Yang Art.

Lin Xuan mastered the Yin-Yang Art’s spiritual-power conversion and studied ghost-path secret arts to strengthen himself. He chose to learn how to use his Hundred Soul Banner with yin spiritual power, while Yue'er entered seclusion to stabilize her new Foundation Establishment Realm.

• Lin Xuan practiced the Yin-Yang Art and found that converting spiritual power between yin and yang was initially too slow for battle.
• Yue'er reached the Foundation Establishment Realm in less than ten days, then returned to seclusion to stabilize her cultivation.
• After two months of practice, Lin Xuan learned to switch between yin and yang spiritual power with ease.
• Lin Xuan examined the Foundation Establishment secret arts in the Mystic Demon True Scripture and selected two to pursue.
• Lin Xuan decided to learn how to activate his Hundred Soul Banner with yin spiritual power, drawing on a method recorded in the Mystic Demon True Scripture.

Lin Xuan cultivated the Hundred Soul Banner’s secret art and learned the first level of the Heavenly Demon Ghost Corpse Art, hoping to command zombies from Yin Corpse Valley. His attempt to advance to the second level triggered a dangerous reaction, forcing him to stop.

• Lin Xuan practiced the Hundred Soul Banner secret art for a month and gained much greater control over its Yin souls and ghost mists.
• Lin Xuan studied the Heavenly Demon Ghost Corpse Art and learned that its first level could command a dozen or so zombies equivalent to Spirit Movement Stage cultivators.
• Lin Xuan quickly mastered the first level and then began practicing the second level to control Foundation Establishment Realm zombies.
• Lin Xuan stopped after a day when the second level caused his spiritual energy to boil and threatened qi deviation and the scattering of his soul.

Lin Xuan returned to Yin Corpse Valley and prepared to capture zombies using the Extreme Yin Evil Spirit Array. After noticing signs of a powerful creature, he lured two weaker zombies from a cave, ready to confront them.

• Lin Xuan sent Yue'er into Yin Corpse Valley to scout, and she reported that the zombies remained while the people from their previous visit had disappeared.
• Lin Xuan entered the valley, set up the Extreme Yin Evil Spirit Array in an open area, and concealed its spiritual fluctuations.
• Lin Xuan found a huge Iron Stone boulder damaged by a powerful blow and deep claw marks, then continued toward the mountain caves.
• Lin Xuan concealed his aura, used a rooster as bait, and drew two Spirit Movement middle stage zombies from a solitary cave.
• The zombies charged at Lin Xuan, who raised a strange insect in his palm.

Lin Xuan used Heavenly Silkworm Gu to capture fifteen zombies without drawing attention, but two Core Condensation cultivators suddenly arrived in the valley. Hidden behind a boulder, he heard the woman ask whether this was where Martial Nephew Wu and Martial Nephew Liao had fallen.

• Lin Xuan used the Heavenly Silkworm Gu to poison and bind two zombies, then stored them in his Spirit Ghost Bag.
• Lin Xuan explained how he had obtained and prepared the gu mother insect from Spirit Herb Mountain.
• Over three double-hours, Lin Xuan captured fifteen zombies, including two at the great circle of perfection realm.
• As Lin Xuan headed toward another corpse cave, he sensed two cultivators approaching and hid behind a boulder.
• A Core Condensation man and woman entered the valley, and the woman asked whether Martial Nephew Wu and Martial Nephew Liao had fallen there.

Two Thunder Cloud Villa cultivators searched Zombie Valley for their missing fellow disciples and discussed why the other sects were withdrawing from Spirit Herb Mountain. They left believing the mountain possessed hidden strength comparable to Thunder Cloud Villa, while Lin Xuan remained beyond their reach because of his status.

• The female cultivator dismissed Lv Hai as weak, but the male cultivator warned that his disappearance suggested a greater danger in Zombie Valley.
• The pair wondered why Wu and Liao had entered the zombie-filled canyon and whether Lin Xuan had lured them there, but the male cultivator refused to let them capture him without proof because he was Spirit Herb Mountain’s young master.
• The cultivators lamented losing Wu and Liao and not knowing whether Lv Hai was alive, then discussed why Spirit Herb Mountain could no longer make Heaven Dust Pills without the Earth Vein Fire in its Mountain within a Mountain.
• The female cultivator asked why people from other sects were leaving Spirit Herb Mountain, and the male cultivator said its hidden strength might equal Thunder Cloud Villa’s.