Chapter Summaries

Tu Shan Jun trapped the Black Mountain King's forces in a formation and used Iron Wolf to test his spell technique before the chief commander understood that the formation turned their own killing intent against them. The demons and ghosts launched a coordinated attack anyway, and the chief commander suddenly warned them that Tu Shan Jun could not be killed.

• The chief commander failed to harm the chanting monk and confronted the red-haired Daoist, whom the others recognized as a formidable threat.
• Iron Wolf attacked Tu Shan Jun and suddenly died, revealing the Daoist’s lethal secret art.
• The chief commander realized the formation drew out the attackers’ own killing intent, but the formation barrier blocked their retreat.
• Tu Shan Jun asked the assembled demons and ghosts about Big Head, a one-horned ghost, and learned that they knew of him.
• Four Foundation Establishment demons and ghosts attacked Tu Shan Jun, and the chief commander shouted that they could not kill him.

The mirage demon chief realized that the red-haired Daoist’s death was an illusion created by a formation that stirred the monsters’ desires and turned them against one another. After the survivors broke free, the Daoist and Jue Fa continued toward the Shengyun Plains, leaving their pursuers to seek reinforcements.

• The chief and the other Foundation Establishment cultivators questioned the red-haired Daoist’s apparent death when they could not find his yin spirit.
• The formation drove the monsters into lust and violence, while Chai Gui and the badger demon began fighting each other.
• The chief used his visualization method to recognize the formation, but his attacks failed to break it as Baleful Intent repaired the damage.
• The chief and the others attacked together, broke the formation, and discovered that nearly half their force had been lost.
• The chief ordered the pursuit to continue and sent for reinforcements from Great Black Mountain, accepting blame for his misjudgment.
• The red-haired Daoist told Jue Fa that the pursuers had reached Bishui Lake and faced his prepared gift, while the pair traveled toward the Shengyun Plains.

Tu Shan Jun and Juefa faced Millipede, a late Foundation Establishment demon who challenged Juefa to a fight and offered a fragment of a divine-path artifact as the prize. As they began their battle, news of trouble at Great Black Mountain spread, and its subordinate forces started mobilizing.

• A figure in a stone cavern learned that the White Bone Temple monk and the red-haired Daoist had entered his territory, then rose from meditation to confront them.
• Millipede met Tu Shan Jun and Juefa, discussed their cultivation, and challenged Juefa while offering a divine-path artifact fragment as the prize.
• Juefa accepted Millipede's challenge and revealed that he was not truly a mid Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Millipede charged Juefa with a barrage of iron fists, and Juefa formed the White Bone Seal and summoned his Pure Lapis White Bone Dharma Body.
• A hooked-nosed man ordered his forces to muster and prepare to travel to Great Black Mountain, while transmission talismans roused the mountain's subordinate forces.

Millipede admitted that the monk had defeated him, while the demons recoiled at memories of the red-haired Daoist’s formation and gathered reinforcements to pursue them. The monk and the red-haired Daoist reached Highplain Prefecture and planned to continue toward Great Black Mountain, but an unseen speaker warned that they might not make it.

• The Mirage Demon chief leader found Millipede at the ruined Rising Cloud Plain and learned that the monk and Daoist had already crossed it.
• Millipede revealed the fist wound on his chest and admitted that he had lost to the monk.
• Millipede reminded the gathered demons of the red-haired Daoist’s formation at Jade Water Lake, stirring their fear of fighting him again.
• The chief leader announced that the Three Generals and Five Ghosts would join the pursuit at Highplain Prefecture, and Millipede agreed to go with them.
• At Highplain Prefecture, Tu Shan Jun counted the wandering souls in his Soul Banner while the monk and red-haired Daoist discussed their route to Great Black Mountain.
• A clear voice warned the monk that they might not be able to reach Great Black Mountain.

Tu Shan Jun and Juefa met Ma Lu in a teahouse as demons and ghosts gathered, expecting the Three Generals and Five Ghosts to reinforce them. The Five Ghosts arrived with only four members and turned on their own allies before a green-faced man entered and rebuked them.

• Tu Shan Jun invited Ma Lu to drink, and Ma Lu warned him and Juefa that the Three Generals and Five Ghosts were on their way.
• The chief and the gathered demons waited for reinforcements, while Tu Shan Jun remained calm despite Ma Lu's warning.
• Four of the Five Ghosts arrived and declared that no one they targeted had ever escaped.
• The round ghost swallowed a little demon, provoking the mirage demon chief, the badger, and the others.
• A green-faced man in elaborate robes entered the crowded teahouse and condemned the demons and ghosts for fighting among themselves.

Tu Shan Jun and Jue Fa joined the Three Generals Zeng and Sun and the demons in battle, then summoned Ding Xie to end the fight with a single Golden Core strike. After Jue Fa delivered the defeated demons, a mysterious master sent a carriage and invited Jue Fa, Tu Shan Jun, and Ma Lu to travel to Great Black Mountain.

• Tu Shan Jun revealed his identity as the former Lake Drum Mountain Market guardian, Bai Yin, and Jue Fa introduced himself as a monk of White Bone Temple.
• The Three Generals Zeng and Sun attacked Jue Fa, and Ma Lu and the chieftain joined the battle as the lesser demons fled.
• Tu Shan Jun asked Jue Fa to let the Golden Core Yin God in the Soul Banner intervene to protect the city’s living people, and Jue Fa agreed.
• Ding Xie emerged from the Soul Banner and killed the Three Generals Zeng and Sun, the chieftain, and the remaining Foundation Establishment demons and ghosts with Spellbreaking Spikes.
• Tu Shan Jun seized the Yin Gods of the Three Generals Zeng and Sun, while Jue Fa began delivering the dead and received nine blue-gray fruits.
• A servant delivered the surviving lust ghost as a meeting gift and invited Jue Fa, Tu Shan Jun, and Ma Lu into the carriage, which was bound for Great Black Mountain.

Tu Shan Jun and Juefa accepted Nie Quanjiu’s invitation and learned that the Prefectural Lord wanted them to kill the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain. As their carriage neared its destination, Juefa’s cultivation surged while he carved Buddhist beads, and he announced that he wished to bathe.

• Juefa turned the Lust Ghost into ash and took the bluish-gray fruit, then Tu Shan Jun agreed to board the carriage invited by its owner.
• Ma Lu joined Tu Shan Jun and Juefa, and they met Nie Quanjiu, the Prefectural Lord of Gaoping Prefecture, who recognized the Red-Haired Immortal.
• Tu Shan Jun deduced that Nie Quanjiu had given them a controlled Five Ghost to prevent news from leaking and to secure help against the Ghost King.
• Nie Quanjiu said the Ghost King’s strange power had disrupted Great Black Mountain and that he hoped to act before his remaining life ran out; Juefa revealed he had encountered the Ghost King before.
• As the carriage traveled two thousand li in two days, Juefa carved the bluish-gray fruit into Buddhist beads, and his cultivation rose from peak Foundation Establishment toward a higher realm.
• Juefa opened his eyes and said he wished to bathe.

Tu Shan Jun, Juefa, and Nie Quanjiao arrived at Great Black Mountain City amid a gathering of demons and spirits, while the city’s human residents lived under the Ghost King’s protection and oppression. As they entered the city, Tu Shan Jun recognized that the Ghost King’s abundant incense and prayers came from the fear and suffering his demons inflicted on the people, and he pressed Nie Quanjiao about his own experience with that power.

• Nie Quanjiao explained that he had brought no troops because they would be useless without human cultivators’ war artifacts, while Tu Shan Jun privately doubted his explanation and weighed their chances against the Golden Core Ghost King.
• A bear demon learned that a monk and Daoist had killed several factions and that the Ghost King had sent forces to hunt them down.
• General Bai stopped Nie Quanjiao’s carriages at the city gate, then let them pass after recognizing the Lord Prefect.
• Tu Shan Jun observed that Great Black Mountain City held many humans and cultivators, and Ma Lu left the carriage to seek his lover.
• Nie Quanjiao explained that the Ghost King’s demons frightened people into worshiping him, and Tu Shan Jun asked whether Nie Quanjiao had experienced the strength of incense and prayers.

Tu Shan Jun and Juefa prepared for the Great Black Mountain banquet, where the inner hall’s new invitation limit left Nie Quanjui’s group short of entry passes. Juefa revealed that he had an invitation just as they faced the choice of who would stay outside.

• Nie Quanjui mistook Tu Shan Jun’s motives for a bid to challenge the Great Black Mountain Ghost King, while Tu Shan Jun kept his true purpose to himself.
• Tu Shan Jun urged Juefa to use the Soul Banner’s Divine Descent technique to help suppress his rising demon heart, but Juefa refused to owe him a favor.
• Nie Quanjui, Tu Shan Jun, Juefa, and Ma Lu climbed to the Great Black Mountain banquet, where Yin Ji barred uninvited demons from the inner court.
• The black bear learned that each invitation now admitted only two people to the inner hall and entered with one of his children.
• Ma Lu said he had declined his invitation, leaving Nie Quanjui unsure which companions could enter, until Juefa produced a golden invitation.

Tu Shan Jun and Juefa attended the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain’s banquet, where the White Tiger demon tried to avenge Chi Hu before the King stopped him. The King revealed herself as a female ghost, but Tu Shan Jun realized this was not her true body and asked Juefa why she had invited him.

• Tu Shan Jun, Juefa, Nie Quanjiiu, and the millipede took their seats at the banquet as demons and monsters gathered around them.
• Tu Shan Jun sensed a Blood Fiend Sect cultivator and concealed his killing intent, which the cultivator noticed but could not trace to him.
• The White Tiger demon confronted Tu Shan Jun over Chi Hu’s death and attacked after accusing Juefa of killing its brother.
• Nie Quanjiiu intervened, but the White Tiger demon’s attack ended when the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain arrived and ordered it to stand down.
• The Ghost King discarded her disguised body and revealed herself as a beautiful female ghost, then began the banquet.
• Tu Shan Jun recognized that the Ghost King before them was not her true body and asked Juefa why she had invited him.

At the Great Black Mountain banquet, Black Flood Dragon challenged the Great Black Mountain Ghost King and attacked her, believing her cultivation had weakened. She revealed the power of her Dao Field Domain and crushed him with the Black Mountain Seal, though his Yin Spirit escaped.

• Tu Shan Jun felt the Ghost King's spiritual pressure block him and Juefa from speaking privately.
• Black Flood Dragon killed a ghost concubine, revealed his Golden Core cultivation, and challenged the Great Black Mountain Ghost King.
• Black Flood Dragon demanded that the Ghost King submit to him, then attacked her with a black spear.
• The Ghost King manifested her true power through incense and wish power, forming the Black Mountain Seal.
• The Black Mountain Seal shattered Black Flood Dragon's Dharma Domain and body, while his Yin Spirit fled as black mist.

The Great Black Mountain Ghost King killed the Black Flood Dragon and revealed her plan to consume a pregnant woman’s divine fetus to control her incense-powered body and transform from ghost into god. Tu Shan Jun recognized the horror of the ritual and demanded that Juefa act, but Juefa still had not moved.

• The Great Black Mountain Ghost King seized the Black Flood Dragon’s Yin Spirit, swallowed it with its Golden Core, and served its flesh to the assembled guests.
• Tu Shan Jun reassessed the Ghost King’s strength as demons and monsters ate the flood-dragon meat under her command.
• The Great Black Mountain Ghost King confronted Thousand-Faced Ghost about the technique used to raise the Black Flood Dragon, then announced she would break free of her incense-power burden.
• The Great Black Mountain Ghost King emerged from her statue in her true body and revealed a pregnant woman in a crystal coffin as the source of a divine fetus she intended to consume.
• The Great Black Mountain Ghost King immobilized everyone in the hall, and Tu Shan Jun recognized the ritual as using people as ingredients and urged Juefa to act.

The Great Black Mountain Ghost King tried to kill Millipede for leaving her ceremony, but the Red-Haired Ghost Daoist sacrificed a clone to save him. Juefa revealed his Golden Core cultivation and challenged the Ghost King over her plan to eat people, leaving them facing off inside his White Bone World-Honored Realm.

• Millipede rose to leave the ceremony, and the Great Black Mountain Ghost King demanded he withstand one palm strike before going.
• The Red-Haired Ghost Daoist blocked the Ghost King's palm with his clone and was destroyed, allowing Millipede to leave.
• Juefa revealed that he was a Golden Core Grandmaster and challenged the Great Black Mountain Ghost King to stop her from eating people.
• Juefa and the Ghost King clashed in the sky, and Juefa formed a dharma domain to protect Great Black Mountain's commoners from their battle.
• The Ghost King invoked the people’s prayers and argued that they depended on her protection, but Juefa resisted the influence and refused to back down.

Juefa fought the Black Mountain Ghost King but struggled against her incense-powered divine body and Black Mountain Seal. Tu Shan Jun revealed his true body and used her brief lapse while absorbing incense to destroy the divine body, leaving the injured Ghost King facing him and Juefa.

• Juefa’s White-Bone Bodhisattva battled the Black Mountain Ghost King’s incense-powered divine body, and Tu Shan Jun concluded they needed to cut off her incense or strike with overwhelming force.
• Juefa used Buddhist scriptures to strengthen his domain and suppress the incense, but the Black Mountain Ghost King’s seal tore a breach in it and wounded him.
• Tu Shan Jun seized the moment when the Black Mountain Ghost King absorbed incense, revealed his true body, and broke through her divine body’s incense barrier.
• The Black Mountain Ghost King exploded her divine body to stop Tu Shan Jun, but the blast shattered Juefa’s Bodhisattva and domain while leaving her injured and unable to reform the divine body quickly.
• Tu Shan Jun stood beside Juefa as the Black Mountain Ghost King recognized him as a mid-stage Golden Core ghost cultivator, while Ma Lu and the others realized Daoist Red Hair had been their hidden support.

Tu Shan Jun intervened to protect Jue Fa and fought the Great Black Mountain Ghost King, who unleashed her power over Great Black Mountain and a powerful Dharma treasure. Tu Shan Jun’s spells broke through her attacks, but the Black Mountain Seal struck him and cracked his skull, leaving him badly shaken as the fight continued.

• The Great Black Mountain Ghost King refused Tu Shan Jun’s offer to negotiate and transformed Great Black Mountain into a realm of incense offerings.
• Tu Shan Jun unleashed sword qi that tore open the divine realm, then used the Myriad Dharma Sect’s Dharma-Breaking Spike against her Mountains and Rivers Fist.
• The Great Black Mountain Ghost King summoned the Black Mountain Seal and smashed through Tu Shan Jun’s protective barrier.
• The Black Mountain Seal struck Tu Shan Jun’s head, cracking his skull and disrupting his divine sense.
• Tu Shan Jun realized he had misjudged the danger of fighting an opponent with a Dharma treasure and regretted not fleeing or using the soul banner.

Tu Shan Jun and Jue Fa fought the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain, whose domain and magic treasure nearly overwhelmed them. Tu Shan Jun trapped her with his Soul Banner and shrine, but after she escaped, Jue Fa betrayed him and stabbed him through the chest.

• The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain formed her domain and summoned a hundred-zhang incense-powered divine body to attack Tu Shan Jun.
• Tu Shan Jun used Yin Soul Pills to recover, then opened his Divine Spirit Bright Death Realm while Jue Fa lent him mana.
• Tu Shan Jun blocked the Ghost King's Mountain and River Seal with his mid-grade Soul Banner, shocking the Blood Fiend Sect's Demon Cultivator.
• Tu Shan Jun pinned the Ghost King's divine body with his banners and used his shrine to drain her yin spirit, but her incense power let her shatter part of the shrine and escape.
• Tu Shan Jun raised the shrine again, but found the Ghost King had left an empty shell; Jue Fa then pierced Tu Shan Jun's chest from behind.

The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain revealed that she had replaced Jue Fa’s heart and took control of his body, then seemingly killed Tu Shan Jun. Tu Shan Jun survived with the Spirit Demon Death-Enduring Art and helped Jue Fa awaken, leaving them ready to fight back.

• The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain sealed Tu Shan Jun and used his Dharma Eye to reveal that she had bound Jue Fa’s ethereal spirit with a demonic heart.
• The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain explained that she had replaced Jue Fa’s heart to bear incense wish-power and planned to reclaim it before devouring him.
• The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain struck Tu Shan Jun’s head and pierced his body, believing she had killed him as she absorbed power from her incense divine body.
• The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain moved to seize Tu Shan Jun’s ethereal spirit, but Tu Shan Jun opened his eyes and struck her with Demonic Ape Fixing Intent.
• Tu Shan Jun used the Spirit Demon Death-Enduring Art to survive and called on Jue Fa to wake up; Jue Fa regained some awareness and took hold of the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun defeated the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain inside Juefa’s sea of consciousness, but Juefa died when the backlash took him into the Soul Banner. Tu Shan Jun claimed Great Black Mountain, punished its cannibal demons, and rescued a newborn, then stopped two groups trying to leave because he had matters to discuss with them.

• The Ghost King of Great Black Mountain realized Tu Shan Jun was the Soul Banner’s Main Soul and that Juefa had summoned him, while Juefa revealed the demonic heart had already bound their fates together.
• Juefa asked Tu Shan Jun to repay his favor by acting, and Tu Shan Jun began the backlash that drew their yin spirits into Juefa’s sea of consciousness.
• Tu Shan Jun defeated the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain with the Demon Ape Mind-Settling Fist and trapped her yin spirit in the Soul Banner, but Juefa also entered the banner and died.
• Tu Shan Jun absorbed the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain’s body and incense-fire power, then killed the demons and monsters who had eaten people, including Chihu’s brother.
• Tu Shan Jun declared that cannibal demon and ghost cultivators would be killed without mercy, took a newborn from a crystal coffin, and prevented the departing ghost cultivator and Blood Fiend Sect demonic cultivators from leaving.

Tu Shan Jun claimed Great Black Mountain after defeating its Ghost King and began using its resources to strengthen the Soul Banner. He learned that the Blood Fiend Sect was maneuvering around Sun City, while the Spirit Demon Sect's agent died without revealing his secrets.

• Hundred Years and Nie Quanjiu led the demons and ghosts in asking Tu Shan Jun's name, and he declared himself the new Supreme King of Great Black Mountain.
• Tu Shan Jun decided to settle at Great Black Mountain and use its incense, wishes, and accumulated Baleful Intent to advance the Soul Banner.
• Tu Shan Jun questioned the Holy Spirit Sect ghost cultivator about the Spirit Demon Sect, but the ghost refused to reveal anything and warned that his mind was sealed.
• Tu Shan Jun seized and Soul Searched the Blood Fiend Sect Demon Cultivator, killing him and learning that the sect was recruiting allies ahead of True Person Yunyan's impending death and was near Sun City.
• The Spirit Demon Sect ghost cultivator committed suicide, but Tu Shan Jun still searched his soul and found no memories before adding his yin spirit to the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun reorganized Great Black Mountain after defeating the Ghost King, rewarding the demons with pills and appointing Millipede and Nie Quanjiu to oversee them. He refined the Black Mountain Seal, changing the temple statue into his own likeness, while the emperor’s court began investigating the transformation and Tu Shan Jun discovered the infant had extraordinary aptitude.

• Tu Shan Jun gave the demons Yin Soul Pills and ordered them to destroy divine statues, retrieve treasures, divide territories, and avoid harming common people.
• Tu Shan Jun appointed Millipede Commander-in-Chief and Nie Quanjiu Chancellor of Great Black Mountain.
• Tu Shan Jun examined the Black Mountain Seal, merged the Huai Feng City God seal into it, and refined the combined artifact.
• The stone statue in the temple changed to resemble Tu Shan Jun, alarming the emperor and ministers, who suspected it depicted the Red-Haired Immortal.
• Tu Shan Jun checked the crying infant and discovered that the child had extraordinary aptitude.