Chapter Summaries

Lin Xuan collected more than thirty refined corpses and returned from the Hundred Thousand Mountains, only to find You Province in turmoil. At the market outside the mountains, he learned that the ghosts of Yinhun Canyon had attacked Guiluo City two days earlier.

• Lin Xuan subdued and collected more than thirty Iron-Armored Refined Corpses from the ancient evil cultivator's cave.
• Lin Xuan avoided other cultivators while traveling back toward Guiluo City and encountered many frightened cultivators fleeing through the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
• Lin Xuan arrived at the market and found guards checking the identities of cultivators leaving the mountains.
• Lin Xuan identified himself as Li Yaotian, an elder of the Fire Spirit Sect, and asked what had happened near Guiluo City.
• The old man told Lin Xuan that the ghosts of Yinhun Canyon had attacked Guiluo City, and Lin Xuan connected the attack to Ghost Emperor Haotian's advancement and the conflict between the righteous and demonic paths.

Lin Xuan learned that Seven Absolutes Heaven had secretly served the fierce ghosts and that Guiluo City was under siege, leaving the cultivators stranded near the Hundred Thousand Mountains. As he prepared healing and auxiliary pills, a medicine shopkeeper asked whether he knew alchemy.

• Lin Xuan asked why cultivators' identities were being inspected, and the old man explained that Seven Absolutes Heaven had secretly allied with Ghost Emperors and tried to sabotage Guiluo City's defenses.
• The old man said loyal members of Seven Absolutes Heaven had warned the Council of Elders, allowing elite cultivators to protect the city's formations before the ghost-aligned traitors fled.
• Lin Xuan learned that several satellite cities had fallen, Guiluo City was surrounded, and cultivators had retreated toward the Hundred Thousand Mountains with their escape routes blocked.
• Lin Xuan decided to remain in the market area and gathered ingredients to prepare healing and auxiliary pills for the coming fighting.
• After Lin Xuan bought the remaining medicinal ingredients, the shopkeeper asked whether he was skilled in alchemy.

Lin Xuan stayed at an inn in the crowded market, refined pills, and accepted an invitation to meet with the Chu family about the fierce ghost attack. He reached the family’s hidden hall and joined a gathering of Core Condensation cultivators led by Chu Tianshu, whose cultivation had reached the False Nascent Soul realm.

• Lin Xuan left the medicine shop, found a room at the inn, and refined Hidden Spirit Pills and Golden Sore Pills.
• Chu Er, a steward of the Chu family, invited Lin Xuan, using the name Li Yaotian of the Fire Spirit Sect, to a discussion about the fierce ghost attack.
• Chu Er used a small white flag to reveal the Chu family’s hidden buildings and escorted Lin Xuan to its guarded great hall.
• Lin Xuan entered the hall and met Chu Tianshu, who welcomed him to the gathering of Core Condensation cultivators.

Chu Tianshu told the gathered cultivators that Guiluo City was cut off and the ghosts were preparing to attack their gathering place within a day. Lin Xuan realized a fourth Ghost Emperor was hiding, but kept the information to himself as the cultivators faced the threat.

• Chu Tianshu announced that two Tianyun Sect elders had likely been trapped by Ghost Kings and would not arrive.
• The cultivators asked Chu Tianshu about the situation, and he explained that the three Ghost Emperors had attacked Guiluo City while ghosts sealed the major routes.
• Lin Xuan realized that Hao Tian had advanced to become a fourth Ghost Emperor, but chose not to reveal it.
• Chu Tianshu reported that the ghosts had detected the cultivators and would attack their location within a day, prompting the gathered cultivators to fear they were trapped.

With Guiluo City under siege by yin souls and ghosts, Chu Tianshu gathered cultivators to discuss how to escape. He revealed an ancient teleportation array that could send them tens of thousands of li toward You Province’s hinterland, but Li questioned why the Chu family had not used it already.

• Chu Tianshu asked the cultivators to propose a way out, and Wang suggested returning to Guiluo City.
• Li argued that Guiluo City was surrounded by the yin soul army and the three Ghost Emperors, and Chu Tianshu stopped the dispute.
• A female cultivator urged Chu Tianshu to reveal the plan behind calling everyone together, and the others agreed.
• Chu Tianshu said the Chu family had discovered ancient cultivator ruins containing a teleportation formation.
• Chu Tianshu explained that the formation could send people tens of thousands of li toward You Province’s hinterland, and Li warned that the plan could not be so simple.

Chu Tianshu persuaded the gathered cultivators to help delay the approaching yin souls while his family repaired the Ancient Teleportation Array. He deceived the market’s low-rank cultivators with a story about reinforcements, leaving them to serve as cannon fodder as the powerful cultivators prepared to escape.

• Chu Tianshu told the assembled experts that repairing the damaged Ancient Teleportation Array would take two days, so they needed to delay the malicious ghosts for an extra day.
• Chu Tianshu promised to lead his family’s elite disciples into battle, and the experts agreed to keep the array secret and form a temporary alliance.
• Chu Tianshu declared that the market’s low-rank cultivators would be used as cannon fodder while the experts sought a way to escape.
• Chu Tianshu and the other experts told the market’s cultivators that Guiluo City had sent reinforcements and urged them to prepare an ambush.
• The market’s cultivators accepted the plan and grew hopeful after Chu Tianshu announced the supposed reinforcements.

Chu Tianshu organized more than twelve hundred cultivators to defend Yan Chou Valley against the approaching yin souls and ghostly creatures. While the gathered cultivators prepared in disarray, Lin Xuan subdued seven Iron-Armored Refined Corpses and then flew to meet Chu Tianshu and the other Core Condensation cultivators.

• Chu Tianshu was elected alliance leader, and he led Lin Xuan and the other Core Condensation cultivators to Yan Chou Valley to prepare an ambush.
• Chu Tuo reported that the yin souls would arrive in about half a day, and Chu Tianshu ordered his disciples to establish the Kunyang Gold-Falling Array.
• Lin Xuan sealed his temporary room with an Array Talisman and used the remaining time to subdue seven Iron-Armored Refined Corpses.
• A Sound Transmission Talisman warned Lin Xuan that the ghost creatures had arrived, and the gathered cultivators rushed to prepare for battle.
• Lin Xuan sensed Chu Tianshu and several powerful cultivators nearby, then flew to join them.

Lin Xuan joined Chu Tianshu and the other Core Condensation cultivators as they prepared to defend Yan Chou Valley from an approaching army of yin souls. Assigned to guard a western gate with Lady Lan and Wang Peng, Lin Xuan proposed using the local illusion formations to hide a surprise force.

• Lin Xuan surveyed the disciplined Chu family troops and joined Chu Tianshu and the other Core Condensation cultivators in the stone house.
• Lady Lan and the withered-faced old man warned Chu Tianshu not to use them as expendable pawns, and Chu Tianshu gave everyone jade slips marked with a map to the Ancient Teleportation Array.
• After a Chu family disciple reported that the yin-soul army was less than a hundred li away, Chu Tianshu assigned Lin Xuan, Lady Lan, and Wang Peng to lead more than two hundred Foundation Establishment disciples.
• The three reached their western gate, where Chu Zhou explained the auxiliary restrictions and handed Lady Lan an array flag, but she left him in charge of the formation.
• Lin Xuan recognized that some of the restrictions were illusion formations and suggested hiding part of their force as a surprise attack.

Lin Xuan and the others prepared to resist an approaching army of wraiths, and Lin Xuan discovered that three Ghost Kings had solid bodies. Lady Lan explained that they had consumed Soul Gathering Pills, though Lin Xuan suspected the pills had flaws.

• Lady Lan agreed to the plan, and Chu Zhou sent fifty cultivators through a crack in an illusion formation.
• Lin Xuan quieted the group when they panicked at news that the wraiths were approaching.
• Lin Xuan and the others saw a dark cloud of hundreds of wraiths, including three solid-bodied Ghost Kings.
• Lady Lan explained that the Ghost Kings had consumed Soul Gathering Pills to take solid form in the Human Realm.
• Lin Xuan asked Lady Lan whether the Soul Gathering Pills had any flaws.

Lin Xuan and the cultivators defended their position against an attack by Yin souls, but he suspected the enemy had a hidden plan. When Lin Xuan urged them to strike first, Lady Lan and Wang Peng chose to remain behind the formation, and the black clouds began to change ominously.

• Lady Lan explained that Ghost Kings who used Soul Gathering Pills would find cultivation harder and could never advance beyond great perfection in Core Condensation.
• As Yin souls and fierce wraiths approached, Lin Xuan judged that their numbers and strength might conceal a deeper scheme.
• The Yin souls attacked the Kunyang Gold-Falling Array, and Lady Lan sent cultivators out to harass them while the others defended.
• The enemy suddenly stopped attacking, and Lin Xuan discovered a strange restriction blocking his spiritual sense; he urged the group to charge out before a powerful attack came.
• Wang Peng and Lady Lan rejected Lin Xuan's proposal and chose to rely on the formation, so Lin Xuan stopped arguing and waited.
• The black clouds churned and turned glossy black as overwhelming ghostly wails shook Lin Xuan's eardrums.

A massive demonic skull attacked the formation protecting the cultivators, killing many with soul-searing ghost flames. Lin Xuan, Lady Lan, and Wang Peng joined forces to confront it, and Lady Lan revealed an unfamiliar ivory comb as the battle began.

• Lady Lan used a Golden Drum to counter the skull's ghostly wail.
• The skull emerged from the clouds and blasted the formation with bloodlight and black lightning.
• Lady Lan sent cultivators to attack, but emerald ghost flames swallowed their strikes and killed most of them.
• Lin Xuan asked Yue'er about the skull, and she said three high-level yin souls were driving it.
• Lin Xuan pressured Wang Peng into joining him and Lady Lan in attacking the skull.
• The skull devoured the victims' Primordial Spirits as Lady Lan brought out a snow-white ivory comb.

Lady Lan and Wang Peng struggled against the Skull Artifact and Ghost Flood Dragons until Lin Xuan stepped in and destroyed the Skull Artifact with his ancient treasures. Lady Lan and Wang Peng were left stunned by the power of the Fire Spirit Sect elder.

• Lady Lan's Ivory Comb failed to harm the Skull Artifact, which damaged the treasure and drove her to call for help.
• Wang Peng fought the Skull Artifact with his swift flying knife, but it shrugged off the strike and injured him with black lightning.
• Ghost Flood Dragons attacked the formation as Lin Xuan offered to face the Skull Artifact alone.
• Lin Xuan blocked the Skull Artifact's blood-red beam with the Runic Ancient Shield and then attacked with the Floating Cloud Falling Snow Sword.
• Lin Xuan split the Skull Artifact in two, leaving Lady Lan and Wang Peng astonished.

Lin Xuan destroyed the Ghost Kings’ Yin Baleful Skeleton, but Lady Lan and Wang Peng’s delay let the formation collapse. With Yan Chou Valley exposed to the invading ghosts and no route to retreat, Lin Xuan led them to attack the Ghost Flood Dragons.

• Lin Xuan destroyed the Yin Baleful Skeleton with his Floating Cloud Falling Snow Sword and secured the bead it left behind.
• Lin Xuan found Lady Lan and Wang Peng had failed to destroy the Ghost Flood Dragons while watching him fight.
• The formation’s blue light screen shattered before they could stop the Ghost Flood Dragons from breaking through.
• The Ghost Flood Dragons and a larger force of vicious ghosts attacked the cultivators, causing casualties and throwing the battlefield into chaos.
• Lin Xuan rejected Wang Peng’s suggestion to flee, explaining that they had to hold the position to protect Yan Chou Valley and its teleportation formation.
• Lady Lan and Wang Peng agreed to follow Lin Xuan, and the three flew down to destroy the Ghost Flood Dragons.

Lin Xuan turned the cultivators’ losing battle in Yan Chou Valley by killing a Ghost Flood Dragon and directing Chu Zhou to lead a careful retreat through the valley’s restrictions. He then confronted Ghost King Xuanzhen, who attacked after introducing himself, and the two launched their fiery and ghostly beads at each other.

• Lin Xuan tore a Ghost Flood Dragon apart, then killed several fierce ghosts with Sword Qi and frightened the surrounding yin spirits into retreating.
• Lin Xuan told Chu Zhou to gather the cultivators and withdraw three li while using Yan Chou Valley’s restrictions to delay the enemy.
• Lin Xuan headed to attack another Ghost Flood Dragon, but blocked a concealed strike of ink-black lightning with his Runic Ancient Shield.
• Ghost King Xuanzhen emerged from the ghost mist and identified himself as a disciple of Ghost Emperor Litian; Lin Xuan gave his name as Li Yaotian of the Fire Spirit Sect.
• Lin Xuan and Ghost King Xuanzhen each launched a flaming bead at the other, beginning their fight.

Lin Xuan and Ghost King Xuanzhen remained locked in a stalemate until Xuanzhen deployed a Yin Gathering Hood to strengthen his ghostly powers and suppress Lin Xuan’s. The chapter ended with Lin Xuan recognizing the rare treasure but not yet revealing how he would respond.

• Lin Xuan saw through Xuanzhen’s illusion and struck his hidden true form with the Floating Cloud Falling Snow Sword.
• Lin Xuan and Xuanzhen exchanged ancient treasures, but neither side gained an advantage.
• The human cultivators ambushed and defeated more than a dozen fierce ghosts, raising their morale as Lady Lan and Wang Peng kept the other ghost kings occupied.
• Xuanzhen summoned a bone tablet that expanded into a Yin Gathering Hood around Lin Xuan.
• Xuanzhen claimed the hood boosted his powers while weakening Lin Xuan, who recognized it as a rare treasure described in ancient records.

Lin Xuan faced Ghost King Xuanzhen inside the Yin Gathering Hood, but his ghost-cultivation abilities let him resist its effects. After destroying Xuanzhen’s Ghoul with Iron-Armored Refined Corpses, Lin Xuan drove the Ghost King to unleash his final trump card, an Annihilation Beam.

• Lin Xuan tested the Yin Gathering Hood’s barrier, then revealed that its yin energy empowered him rather than suppressing him.
• Ghost King Xuanzhen cut off his own arm and used a bead and gathered yin energy to turn it into a Ghoul.
• Lin Xuan tested the Ghoul’s regenerative ability with a wind blade, rejected Xuanzhen’s offer to surrender, and destroyed the Soul-Restricting Bead.
• Lin Xuan summoned Iron-Armored Refined Corpses, which overwhelmed the Ghoul and used corpse poison to prevent it from reviving.
• Ghost King Xuanzhen, enraged and out of options, attacked Lin Xuan with his self-damaging Annihilation Beam.

Lin Xuan and Lin Yue'er defeated Ghost King Xuanzhen through a counterattack, and Lin Xuan collected the fallen treasures, including a mysterious Youluo Ginseng. With the Yin Gathering Hood destroyed, he turned to the ongoing battle, where the cultivators remained at a slight disadvantage.

• Lin Xuan blocked Ghost King Xuanzhen’s annihilating light with his ancient shield, while Xuanzhen prepared to consume Youluo Ginseng and risk his life.
• Lin Yue'er appeared and offered to help Xuanzhen, then summoned a vicious ghost from her demonic banner as he put the ginseng away.
• Lin Xuan sent his beast-soul treasure to fight Xuanzhen’s flying fork while Lin Yue'er’s ghost severed Xuanzhen’s head and she burned his body to ash.
• Lin Xuan praised Lin Yue'er and collected the abandoned treasures, keeping the strange ghost-faced ginseng for later study.
• The Yin Gathering Hood broke after Xuanzhen’s death, scattering its gathered yin qi, and Lin Xuan saw that the cultivators were still slightly outmatched in the battle around him.

Lin Xuan helped Lady Lan and Wang Peng defeat three Ghost Kings and turn the battle against the yin souls, but fled after sensing Ghost Emperor Haotian’s arrival. He hid for two days, then emerged once he believed the danger had passed.

• Lin Xuan joined Lady Lan and helped her destroy a Ghost King, then the two rescued Wang Peng and defeated the last Ghost King.
• Lin Xuan, Lady Lan, and Wang Peng attacked the remaining yin souls, while Lin Xuan burned several with the Mystic Fire Divine Pearl.
• A massive explosion shattered the defensive barrier near Yan Chou Valley, and Lin Xuan sensed Ghost Emperor Haotian within the chaos.
• Lin Xuan fled nearly a hundred li, restored his magic power, and concealed his spiritual energy with a restriction.
• After hiding for two days, Lin Xuan emerged from his hiding place.

Lin Xuan avoided the yin-soul army and approached the Ancient Teleportation Array, sending Yue'er to scout its defenses. Yue'er returned with news that the array had been repaired and that ghost cultivators offered a way to sneak inside.

• Lin Xuan chose to head for the Ancient Teleportation Array rather than risk crossing the blockade at Guiluo City.
• Lin Xuan hid near the array and sent Yue'er to gather information, giving her several treasures for protection.
• Yue'er returned and told Lin Xuan that the Ancient Teleportation Array had been repaired.
• Lin Xuan reasoned that the yin souls likely wanted the array for their own purposes but focused on escaping through it.
• Yue'er explained that ghost cultivators were among the forces guarding the area and that there was a way to sneak in.

Lin Xuan infiltrated the Seven Absolutes Heaven encampment and overheard two Ghost Path cultivators discussing their master's secret history with the Supreme Demon of Extreme Evil. The chapter left the reason their master joined Seven Absolutes Heaven unresolved as the younger cultivator asked whether he meant to use the ghosts to seek revenge.

• Lin Xuan used Yue'er's guidance and his concealment spell to reach the guarded valley where Seven Absolutes Heaven cultivators stayed.
• Lin Xuan discovered that empty stone huts held piles of low-grade cultivation materials and wondered what Seven Absolutes Heaven was planning.
• Lin Xuan overheard two Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Ghost Path cultivators criticizing their service to the Underworld Realm's ghosts.
• The short, stout cultivator revealed that their master and the Supreme Demon of Extreme Evil had once belonged to the same sect, where the Old Devil had killed their grandmaster and fellow disciples.
• The short, stout cultivator identified their master's escaped junior uncle as the Heavenly Sha Devil Lord, and the tall, thin cultivator asked whether their master had joined Seven Absolutes Heaven to gain revenge.