Recaps

Chen Shi and his companions explored the Tianchi Capital City and learned about its ghost tribes and divine abilities while preparing to rescue people from the Eastern Palace. After the monarch died and the Crown Prince left the palace, Chen Shi led Sang Xixi and Peng Yan'er toward the sealed Eastern Palace, where Ying Rumeng and Monk Wuchen also appeared nearby.

• Sang Xixi showed Chen Shi and Peng Yan'er the Tianchi Kingdom's tribes, and Chen Shi recognized the ghosts' bloodline powers as divine abilities.
• Chen Shi and Sang Xixi discussed skeleton cultivators, the Underworld's inhabitants, and the possibility that some ghosts were cultivators from other worlds.
• Sang Xixi found Chen Shi a physician's robe and hat, then left to gather intelligence while Chen Shi and Peng Yan'er practiced the Blood Lake True Scripture.
• Chen Shi refined divine blood and strengthened his blood lake, while converting the souls of the ghosts and gods he had killed.
• Sang Xixi reported that the Tianchi monarch had died and the Crown Prince had left the Eastern Palace, but the palace was under lockdown.
• Chen Shi, Peng Yan'er, and Sang Xixi headed toward the Eastern Palace as Ying Rumeng and Monk Wuchen stopped nearby after Ying Rumeng glimpsed an old acquaintance.

After learning that the Tianchi Kingdom Lord had died under a mysterious attack during the fog moon, Crown Prince Xiang Kun planned to seize power and force Peng Ju to reveal the Blood Lake True Scripture. Chen Shi and his companions stormed the Eastern Palace, rescued Peng Ju, and fled after Empress Shi Ji recognized the giant copper coin.

• Crown Prince Xiang Kun saw the Kingdom Lord’s half-flesh, half-bone corpse and learned that his last words had been, “There are immortals in the fog.”
• Crown Prince Xiang Kun recalled capturing Peng Ju after he displayed the Blood Lake True Scripture and resolved to extract the scripture from him.
• Chen Shi, Sang Sisi, and Peng Yan'er killed the Eastern Palace guards and fought through its defenders while sparing the little yakshas.
• Chen Shi and his companions reached the palace hall, where Empress Shi Ji removed a towering armored ghost god and Chen Shi freed Peng Ju from a birdcage.
• Empress Shi Ji recognized the gigantic copper coin behind the hall and told Chen Shi it was impossible for it to be there.

Chen Shi and Empress Shi Ji fought their way out of the Tianchi Kingdom palace, where a gigantic copper coin disabled the ghost tribes’ prehistoric relics. After the chieftains recognized Chen Shi’s Blood Lake True Scripture, they brought him to the palace and named him the next Tianchi Kingdom Lord.

• Empress Shi Ji identified the gigantic copper coin as a Huaxia Divine Continent treasure, and Chen Shi fled the East Palace with Peng Ju, Peng Yan'er, and Sang Xixi inside his temple.
• Shi Ji held off pursuing ghosts and gods until powerful chieftains confronted them and prepared to awaken the capital’s prehistoric relics with their blood.
• Chen Shi and Shi Ji raised the copper coin, whose light stripped the relics of their power and allowed them to face the chieftains.
• The chieftains recognized Chen Shi’s Blood Lake True Scripture and asked him to speak with them at the Kingdom Lord’s palace.
• Lei Qu announced that the one hundred and twelve ghost tribes jointly recommended Chen Shi as the next Tianchi Kingdom Lord.

Chen Shi was unexpectedly crowned lord of the Tianchi Ghost Kingdom, and Lei Qu explained that the tribes saw him as the prophesied savior because he understood their lost language and scriptures. As Chen Shi cultivated on the throne, a summons from Granny pulled his primordial spirit back to the Yang World, leaving Empress Shi Ji to guard his kingdom.

• Lei Qu announced that the 112 tribal leaders supported Chen Shi as the next kingdom lord, overruling Crown Prince Xiang Kun and his allies.
• Chen Shi was crowned and, the next day, asked Lei Qu why the tribes had chosen him.
• Lei Qu explained the ghost kingdoms’ lost golden age and said an ancient prophecy described a savior who would restore their knowledge and light.
• Chen Shi offered to share the Blood Lake True Scripture and decipher the tribes’ methods, but Lei Qu warned that doing so without overwhelming strength could plunge the kingdom into war.
• Lei Qu proposed sending female ghosts to Chen Shi’s inner palace, but Chen Shi showed him his skeleton and rejected the idea.
• After cultivating and strengthening his Blood Lake Hell, Chen Shi was summoned by Granny and left Empress Shi Ji in the palace to guard his kingdom.

Chen Shi’s skeleton defended the Tianchi royal palace from assassins and continued cultivating, while Chen Tang’s demon-hunting mission ended with two demons escaping into the Talisman God Heavenly Mechanism and Chen Shi’s body. After Chen Shi awoke, his family discussed safer methods and he shared a tender meal with Wu Qingyu, ending by telling her he had become ruler of the Tianchi Ghost Kingdom.

• Empress Shi Ji discovered Chen Shi’s skeleton retained a single guarding thought, then watched it kill ghosts and gods who stormed the royal palace.
• Over the following days, Chen Shi’s skeleton defeated further assassins, refined its stolen divine blood, and traveled to Wuliang Cliff to harvest divine blood before returning to cultivate.
• Chen Tang explained that the sixty-fifth demon had possessed the Talisman God Heavenly Mechanism while another demon seized Chen Shi’s corpse, forcing the group to fight and recapture both.
• Wu Qingyu warned that multiple demons might emerge from Chen Shi’s abyss, so Granny Sha summoned Chen Shi’s Primordial Spirit while the others planned new countermeasures.
• Chen Shi ate a meal with Wu Qingyu and said he feared their family reunion might be a dream; she reassured him and agreed they still needed to find his grandfather.
• Chen Shi told Wu Qingyu he had become ruler of the Tianchi Ghost Kingdom, and she said she believed him.

Chen Shi expanded the Heavenly Court by recruiting Tong Qianhou and the Medicine King Sect to provide healing and elixirs, then sent a group of allies into the Underworld to join him in pulling demons. Crown Prince Xiang Kun watched the new arrivals with suspicion, while Wu Qingyu worried about the dangers of Chen Shi’s plan and her son’s fate.

• Chen Shi learned that demonic seeds were multiplying across the Western Ox Continent and that some disguised themselves among ordinary people to prey on them.
• Tong Qianhou arrived with Medicine King Sect pharmacists, pledged to support the Red Mountain Hall, and agreed to move the sect to Ganyang Mountain.
• Chen Shi revealed that he was the lord of the Tianchi Kingdom, and Tong Qianhou joined the Heavenly Court under the code name Pharmacist.
• Tong Qianhou used simulated-death medicine and bribed an underworld bailiff to bring Shao Jing, Yutian City, Li Tianqing, and others to the Tianchi Kingdom.
• Crown Prince Xiang Kun resolved to wait for another power to attack Chen Shi, while Chen Shi, Granny Sha, and their companions entered the Underworld to pull demons.

Chen Shi discovered that the Underworld near Ganyang Mountain consisted of two overlapping layers and learned that the Yang World might face the same catastrophe that had destroyed the ghost race’s sun. After identifying Wen Wuyu as a hidden Sky Listener from Despair Slope, he confronted her over the former lord’s death and the removal of his Innate Dao Embryo, ending by challenging her to fight.

• Chen Shi possessed his skeleton body and found that its cultivation and soul had grown enormously, but he still feared entering the Body Integration Realm because of the evil qi.
• Shao Jing and Li Tianqing established the Gathering Immortals Tower to trade Yang World goods for rare Underworld herbs, then used the Youquan Wandering Dragon Sword to discover that two Underworld layers overlapped.
• Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Shao Jing learned from Chieftain Lei Qu that the ghost race’s world had once been the Yang World before a cataclysm extinguished its sun and merged Yin and Yang.
• Chen Shi realized Sky Listeners might be connected to the former lord’s death, and he and Li Tianqing watched their movements until they identified a hidden observer.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing cornered the little yaksha Wen Wuyu, who returned Chen Shi’s paper money and revealed that she served Despair Slope.
• Wen Wuyu said immortals had killed Lord Xiang Fu and described Despair Slope’s mission; Chen Shi then confronted her about cutting out his Innate Dao Embryo and challenged her to make her move.

Chen Shi battled Wen Wuyu at Heavenly Lake, matching her formidable techniques with his Blood Lake Hell and Spirit Banner Ten Absolute Array before allowing her to escape. Afterward, he worried that the person who had taken his Innate Dao Embryo might have become stronger than he could ever be, but Li Tianqing reminded him that his talent and comprehension were his own.

• Wen Wuyu unleashed five-colored techniques that turned the lake into mountains and sword energy, while Chen Shi blocked her attacks with the ghosts and gods of his Blood Lake Hell.
• Chen Shi closed in and battered Wen Wuyu with a rapid melee assault, even launching his own bones at her as she retreated across the lakes.
• Wen Wuyu and Chen Shi each entered Body Integration, and their powers clashed until Chen Shi formed the Spirit Banner Ten Absolute Array and blasted her away with a pillar of light.
• Wen Wuyu thanked Chen Shi for showing mercy and left the Underworld; Chen Shi stopped Lei Qu and the other chieftains from pursuing her.
• Chen Shi told Li Tianqing he feared the person who had obtained his Innate Dao Embryo might have grown beyond his reach, and Li Tianqing reassured him that his talent could not be taken away.

Chen Shi discovered that reaching the Body Integration Realm had attached a living strand of evil qi to his body and soul, but the white-robed female immortal removed it. He then walked with Wen Wuyu, learned more about her past and Despair Slope, and agreed to investigate the former Lord Xiang Fu’s death and the possible existence of immortals.

• Chen Shi told Li Tianqing that evil qi had entered him during his breakthrough, and Li Tianqing warned that pulling it out would only let the world’s evil qi replace it.
• Chen Shi tried thunder and true fire to destroy the strand, but it returned and began influencing his thoughts.
• The white-robed female immortal pulled the strand from Chen Shi’s ear, severing its connection to him for the time being.
• Wen Wuyu visited Chen Shi, admitted she had worked at Yuanchen Palace for only a few days, and recalled meeting him as a child in Xinxiang County.
• Wen Wuyu told Chen Shi that Despair Slope’s Senior Brother was named Wuwang and had exceptional talent and strength.
• Wen Wuyu invited Chen Shi to investigate the former Lord Xiang Fu’s death and the signs of immortal power on his corpse, and Chen Shi agreed.

Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu disguised themselves as ox-headed imps and led Crown Prince Xiang Kun’s party to a glowing immortal palace chained inside a split mountain. After clashing over whether Huaxia deities were rebels, the two reaffirmed their friendship, then rushed toward the palace when they heard the Feather Kingdom had ambushed the others.

• Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu transformed into ox-headed imps to travel unnoticed, then joined Crown Prince Xiang Kun and other young ghost experts seeking an immortal.
• Xiang Kun declared that his awakened bloodline would make him a better kingdom lord than Chen Shi, while You Huan argued that Chen Shi was the savior foretold in ghost-tribe songs.
• Wen Wuyu led the group to a floating immortal palace locked inside a split mountain, and Chen Shi recognized it as resembling divine halls he had seen in the Yang World.
• Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu argued over whether Huaxia deities were protectors or rebels, but Wen Wuyu called Chen Shi her last friend and quietly hooked her tail around his.
• A roar announced that the Feather Kingdom had ambushed the party near the immortal palace, and Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu hurried to join the fight.

Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu crossed the deadly mountain paths beneath the Immortal Palace, rescued two little yakshas, and defeated Crown Prince Lou Che and the Feather Country experts attacking Xiang Kun’s group. Chen Shi revealed that he was Tianchi Kingdom’s skeleton lord and continued toward the Immortal Palace, while Xiang Kun still intended to compete for the immortal destiny.

• Chen Shi found corpses whose missing flesh matched Lord Xiang Fu’s strange death and learned that drifting rosy light cut apart anyone it touched.
• Chen Shi rescued two little yakshas from a falling Da Xi ghost god, and they guided him and Wen Wuyu along the safe path through the rosy light.
• Crown Prince Lou Che and the Feather Country experts cornered Xiang Kun and his injured companions beside the chains securing the Immortal Palace.
• Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu defeated the Feather Country fighters and Lou Che, then Chen Shi revealed his skeleton form and identified himself as Tianchi Kingdom’s lord.
• You Fei, You Huan, and Yan Wu gave up competing for the kingdom lord position, while Xiang Kun insisted he would still contend for the immortal destiny.

Chen Shi and the others entered the Immortal Palace’s Void Realm, where Daoist Tian Tian was fighting an evil corruption that had tainted the stars and flesh. Tian Tian sent the group away, taught Chen Shi a method to temper evil qi, and entrusted him with the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword; Chen Shi discovered Tian Tian’s body had already perished and vowed to return the sword to the Qingyang Palace.

• Crown Prince Lou Che entered the Immortal Palace and was drawn into a strange Void Realm with Chen Shi and Wen Wuyu.
• Chen Shi recognized the sun, moon, and stars of a Yang World cultivator’s realm, then saw the immortal’s domain and stars being overtaken by evil flesh.
• Lou Tianyi rescued Crown Prince Lou Che from the flesh tentacles, then threatened Chen Shi and the Tianchi Kingdom party until Daoist Tian Tian appeared and stopped the confrontation.
• Daoist Tian Tian identified himself as a human cultivator from Taihua Qingyang Palace, gave everyone protective talismans, and opened a way out of the Void Realm.
• Tian Tian taught Chen Shi yin and yang tempering to suppress evil qi and entrusted him with the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword to return to the Qingyang Palace.
• Chen Shi found Tian Tian’s half-body dead in the Immortal Palace, took the sword, and promised to help him return home.

Chen Shi and his companions survived the immortal fire in Daoist Zhen Tian’s palace, then realized the Fog Moon had risen and rushed to escape its deadly fog. The fog swallowed them as Chen Shi fought off its flesh-and-blood tentacles, while Granny Sha began contesting the force that kept her from recalling his Nascent Soul.

• Chen Shi persuaded Wen Wuyu to delay reporting Daoist Zhen Tian’s fate to Despair Slope and promised to return the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword to Taihua Qing Palace.
• Chen Shi recreated Daoist Zhen Tian’s Golden Bell Sealing Art and discovered a strange flame that shattered into countless clusters, unleashing an immense wave of immortal fire.
• Lou Tianyi fled with Crown Prince Lou Che, while the immortal fire killed the other Yu Kingdom fighters; Daoist Zhen Tian’s corpse protected Chen Shi and the others inside the palace.
• After the palace cooled, Wen Wuyu recognized that the approaching night was a Fog Moon Night, and Chen Shi realized Daoist Zhen Tian might come back to life.
• A huge, many-eyed moon poured deadly fog over Yin Mountain, and Chen Shi led the group into a desperate flight as flesh-and-blood tentacles pursued them.
• The fog engulfed the group, Chen Shi used the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword to hold back the tentacles, and Granny Sha set out to challenge the force preventing her from recalling his Nascent Soul.

Granny Sha summoned Chen Shi’s Primordial Spirit while Chen Shi and his companions fought through the deadly Fog Moon Night on Yin Mountain. Chen Shi’s soul was recalled, but his skeleton led the survivors safely to Tianchi Capital City before collapsing; days later, his bones began to stir.

• Granny Sha built a soul-summoning altar in the Underworld and called on Chen Tang to help recall Chen Shi’s Primordial Spirit.
• Daoist Zhen Tian’s flesh-and-blood tentacles attacked Xiang Kun, You Huan, Yan Wu, Chi Zun, Gou Xi, You Fei, Chen Shi, and Wen Wuyu in the fog, while Granny Sha’s repeated summons began pulling Chen Shi’s spirit from his skeleton.
• Daoist Zhen Tian attacked Empress Shi Ji, but the white-robed female immortal destroyed his fleshy wings and drove him into the fog.
• Chen Shi’s Primordial Spirit left with Empress Shi Ji and the white-robed female immortal, while his skeleton pledged to protect the survivors and led them through the fog toward Tianchi Capital City.
• Skeleton Chen Shi fought through resurrected enemies, guided Wen Wuyu and the injured young experts past Wuliang Cliff, and reached the royal palace at daybreak.
• Skeleton Chen Shi’s bones collapsed in Tianchi Capital City, and Xiang Kun and the others guarded them until the fragments began to move days later.

Chen Shi returned to his body after the attempt to eradicate the evil in his Sea of Consciousness, unaware that a Calamity remained and had shown Chen Tang and Granny Sha a mysterious star map. After learning about the hidden danger and recalling his companions’ plight in the Underworld, Chen Shi and Black Pot searched for them and arrived at Tianchi Capital City.

• Chen Shi woke in his body, reunited with Black Pot, and learned that 102 evils had been eradicated, though Chen Tang concealed the Calamity that had appeared.
• Chen Tang and Granny Sha recalled how the Calamity had displayed an unfamiliar star map that they suspected showed the starry sky hidden by the True God.
• Chen Shi persuaded Black Pot to reveal what the others were hiding, then shared his Underworld adventures and suspected that someone had used immortal fire to try to turn Daoist Zhen Tian into a heavenly calamity.
• Chen Shi decided to return to Yin Mountain with Black Pot to rescue his companions, and they searched the Underworld for more than ten days without finding it.
• Chen Shi recognized Wuliang Cliff and guided Black Pot to Tianchi Capital City, where Xiang Kun and You Fei were guarding his shattered bones.
• Chen Shi arrived atop Black Pot in its Huo Dou form as his scattered bones began to tremble.

Chen Shi returned to Tianchi atop Black Pot and won the allegiance of the ghost tribes, while his allies began organizing the kingdom and strengthening its forces. After investigating clues about the underworld’s ancient past and deciding to deal with the threat surrounding Daoist Zhen Tian, Chen Shi set out for Taihua Qing Palace with Black Pot.

• Black Pot carried Chen Shi into Tianchi, where Xiang Kun, You Fei, and the ghost tribes bowed and swore allegiance to him.
• Lei Qu and Chi Di hailed Chen Shi as the ghost tribes’ savior, and a bright moon and blazing sun appeared around him as Wen Wuyu watched and decided not to report his return yet.
• Li Tianqing and Yutian City organized Tianchi’s court and military reforms, while Chen Shi ordered Sang Sixi to release the rest of his treasury for their work.
• Peng Yan’er demonstrated her speed at the Divine Machine Battalion and awakened more of her bloodline, transforming her feathers to gold.
• Chen Shi and Li Tianqing discussed the ghost tribes’ forgotten language, ancient relics, and possible ties to Despair Slope and the Huaxia Divine Continent.
• Chen Shi left Tianchi’s affairs to his skeleton body and told Black Pot to accompany him to Taihua Qing Palace to fulfill Daoist Zhen Tian’s wish.

Chen Shi learned that the primeval star chart could make Dao Integration and immortality possible, while Chen Tang and Wu Qingyu confronted the terrifying beings watching them. The chapter left Chen Tang learning that Chen Shi had attracted dangerous followers during his eight years in the underworld.

• Chen Shi returned to Huangpo Village after visiting Wuliang Cliff and spent several days worshipping the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword.
• Granny Sha, Du Yiran, A Zhuo, and the others revealed that they had matched the primeval star chart to the stars and taught Chen Shi its positions and transformations.
• Du Yiran explained that the modern cultivation path had failed to achieve Dao Integration because its star chart was wrong, and demonstrated how a corrected celestial model could merge with a cultivator's body and Void Realm.
• Du Yiran told Chen Shi to memorize the star chart and prepare to follow the old cultivation path if their new path to Dao Integration failed.
• Wu Qingyu entered Chen Tang's Divine Shrine and saw the godlike beings he had been watching; she comforted him, then revealed that Chen Shi had made a name for himself during his eight years in the underworld and had attracted terrifying followers.

Chen Shi traveled with Green Goat and Black Pot to Mount Taihua, where Green Goat grazed on the Qing Palace ancestors’ grave grass and provoked its Daoists. The Taihua Qing Palace Sect Master recognized Green Goat and invited him back to the palace.

• Wu Qingyu told Chen Tang that she had found Chen Shi in a sea of demonic fire among mysterious beings who called him the Prince, and she revealed a strange phrase that summoned a vast phantom.
• Chen Shi said he was going to Taihua Qing Palace with Black Pot, while Chen Tang complained that his family kept leaving him out and declined to join them.
• Green Goat pulled Chen Shi and Black Pot in the wooden cart to Mount Taihua, where he and Black Pot ate grass from more than a dozen grave mounds and Chen Shi offered incense.
• Chen Shi told Green Goat about Daoist Zhen Tian and demonstrated the Yin Yang Tempering, which could refine evil qi and prevent evil transformation.
• Taihua Qing Palace Daoists confronted the group over the ancestors’ graves, but Green Goat stopped their swords and one Daoist fled, calling Chen Shi a demon from the Chen family.
• The Qing Palace Sect Master arrived with a crowd of Daoists and bowed, inviting Ancestor Green Goat back to the palace.

Chen Shi brought Qingyang back to Taihua Qing Palace and returned the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword, while Qingyang explained why he had once left the sect with Chen Yindu. The sect welcomed Qingyang for a short stay and planned to hear more about Daoist Zhen Tian’s return.

• Daoist Changying and the other Daoists escorted Qingyang toward Taihua Qing Palace after Chen Shi and Black Pot stopped him from pulling their cart.
• Chen Shi learned about Taihua Qing Palace’s buried ancestors and the Eighty-Eight Demon Peaks as the group reached the sect.
• Qingyang told Daoist Changying that he had left with Chen Yindu to find a way to keep generations of Daoist disciples from dying; Daoist Changying learned his master had regretted Qingyang’s departure.
• Chen Shi explained that Daoist Zhen Tian wanted to return to Qingyang Palace and presented the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword, which Daoist Changying accepted for enshrinement.
• Daoist Changying persuaded Chen Shi to stay, and Qingyang revealed that some ancestors’ empty tombs contained only clothes or swords because they had achieved Liberation by Violence and become immortals.

Chen Shi met Ancestor Qiongyang, who revealed her past with Chen Yindu and agreed to help him release Yulingzi. She then took Chen Shi and Yulingzi to dig up Sect Master Jinghong’s grave, where they found an empty coffin and a Daoist robe.

• Green Goat told Chen Shi that several Taihua Qing Palace sect masters had empty tombs and might have become ghost immortals, while Black Pot confirmed Jinghong’s grave grass tasted bland.
• Chen Shi learned that Yulingzi was confined in the Demon Suppressing Cave and asked Ancestor Qiongyang to have him released.
• Ancestor Qiongyang recalled her romance with Chen Yindu and admitted that she had helped him dig up the ancestors’ graves in the past.
• Qiongyang gave Chen Shi a Luoyang shovel and brought Yulingzi along to investigate Jinghong’s grave.
• Chen Shi and Qiongyang opened Jinghong’s coffin and found it empty except for a Daoist robe.

Chen Shi, Ancestor Qiongyang, and Yulingzi followed Sect Master Jing Hong’s robe fragment into the Demon Suppressing Cave and discovered evidence of Jing Hong’s repeated transformations and his use of the Sun Gold Crystal to refine fairy fire. They realized Jing Hong was not there and might be outside gathering strength for his next transformation.

• Ancestor Qiongyang learned that natural disasters remained hidden inside Chen Shi and that incorrect alignment with the Dao of Heaven and Earth caused corruption.
• Chen Shi used a piece of Jing Hong’s Daoist robe to track him, and the fragment led them toward the Demon Suppressing Cave.
• Ancestor Qiongyang explained that the cave contained powerful pure-yang qi and demon souls sealed inside black urns.
• The group found multiple empty shells of Jing Hong suspended by blood-red tentacles and discovered a palace with a mural of the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram.
• Chen Shi recognized the Sun Gold Crystal in the palace and suspected Jing Hong had used it to refine the fairy fire that broke Daoist Zhen Tian’s seal.
• Yulingzi wondered where Jing Hong had gone, and Ancestor Qiongyang concluded that he was outside gathering strength for another transformation.

Chen Shi and Yulingzi searched Mount Taihua for Jing Hong, who was undergoing an eerie metamorphosis, and Chen Shi appointed mountain spirits as local gods to illuminate the peaks on his Map of Mountains and Rivers. On the main peak, they discovered Daoists shedding their skins and crawling toward Qingyang Palace, where the chapter ended as a courtyard door opened behind them.

• Ancestor Qiongyang hid in the heavens while Chen Shi and Yulingzi searched the mountain, and Black Pot scouted through the Underworld.
• Chen Shi found Huanfei on Xiuyun Peak and used the West King's Jade Seal to make her its Mountain God; he later appointed Suishou, Qiangwei, and Qingluan to guard other peaks.
• After the other peaks showed no sign of Jing Hong, Chen Shi and Yulingzi suspected Ancestor Qingyang was his target and headed for Qingyang Palace with Black Pot.
• Chen Shi's leaf-transformed birds fell from the sky after their flesh and blood vanished, and the searchers discovered that a night-watch Daoist had shed his skin and crawled toward the palace.
• They recognized the metamorphosing Daoist as Uncle Wen and watched him emerge from a new split in his skin before crawling onward; then a courtyard door creaked open behind them.

Chen Shi and Yulingzi followed Taihua Green Palace’s Daoists as they underwent a deadly skin-shedding mutation and discovered that Sect Master Jing Hong was cultivating the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram. They reached Qingyang Palace, where Jing Hong called the transformation the sect’s collective ascension, and the Taihua Four Elders began succumbing to it.

• Chen Shi found Yulingzi beginning to molt and used Yin Yang Tempering within his primordial spirit domain to suppress the evil mutation.
• The Daoists gathered outside Qingyang Palace shed their skin and primordial spirit shells, then continued transforming as they crawled into the palace.
• Chen Shi concluded that the accelerating transformations pointed toward a pollution source inside Qingyang Palace and followed the Daoists there with Yulingzi.
• Daoist Changying and the Taihua Four Elders met Chen Shi and Yulingzi, then proceeded toward the main hall to confront the evil entity.
• Jing Hong told Qingyang that he was cultivating the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram and intended for the entire sect to ascend together.
• The Taihua Four Elders began resisting the mutation, but one elder shed his skin and declared that he was about to ascend, prompting the others to call on Changying to join them.

Chen Shi entered Qingyang Palace and learned how Jing Hong’s rivalry with Chen Yindu shaped his pursuit of ascension through the Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram. As Taihua Qing Palace’s Daoists transformed into cicada-like beings, Chen Shi realized Jing Hong did not know about Daoist Zhen Tian, and the green goat seized the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword to attack Jing Hong.

• Chen Shi and Yulingzi passed the transforming Taihua Four Elders under the protection of the sun-and-moon tempering, briefly restoring the elders’ awareness before the evil transformation took hold again.
• Chen Shi met Jing Hong in Qingyang Palace and revealed that he was Chen Yindu’s grandson, prompting Jing Hong to recount how Chen Yindu once outshone and defeated him at Taihua Qing Palace.
• Jing Hong described finding Chen Yindu’s annotated Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell Heavenly Immortal Diagram and declared that he would use it to lead Taihua Qing Palace’s Daoists to ascension.
• The Taihua Four Elders and other Daoists continued shedding their bodies and Primordial Spirits, while Daoist Changying questioned whether Jing Hong’s path truly led to immortality.
• Chen Shi realized Jing Hong did not know about Daoist Zhen Tian or the person who had used immortal fire to burn away the Golden Bell Sealing Art.
• The green goat seized the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword and called on Changying and Qionghua to help slay Jing Hong.

Jing Hong’s influence drove Taihua Qing Palace’s people to shed their skins and believe they were ascending, while Chen Shi empowered Green Goat to resist him. Green Goat beheaded Jing Hong, but Jing Hong shed another skin and returned, still pursuing immortality.

• Green Goat and Daoist Changying halted their attacks after the True Martial Evil-Slaying Sword and Tai Zhen Ruyi revealed visions of ascension, while Yulingzi also began transforming under Jing Hong’s influence.
• Chen Shi used the West King’s Jade Seal to gather the power of Taihua’s mountain deities into Green Goat, restoring his sanity and allowing him to attack Jing Hong alongside Ancestor Qiongyang.
• Jing Hong evaded Green Goat’s sword and Qiongyang’s lightning, then struck Qiongyang and left her on the verge of transformation as the influence spread across Mount Taihua and into the Underworld.
• Green Goat abandoned the sword, fought Jing Hong with his horns, and eventually drove one into Jing Hong’s chest before cutting off his head.
• As Chen Shi and Green Goat believed they had won, Jing Hong’s corpse shed its skin and a new, skinless Jing Hong emerged, claiming he was closer to becoming a true immortal.