Chapter Summaries

Tu Shan Jun confronted two Golden Core cultivators from Sunset Mountain, who had come to answer for the Scarlet Crow Sect’s destruction. After admitting he had killed the sect, he praised their principles and declared that he would spare them, prompting Zhuang Hai to attack.

• Zhuang Hai’s Heart-Turning Intent Sword was dissolved by an unknown divine sense as he and Lei Wuji assessed Great Black Mountain’s defenses and the Ghost King’s strength.
• Lei Wuji and Zhuang Hai called for the Ghost King, and Tu Shan Jun emerged from Ghost King Hall to meet them.
• Lei Wuji greeted Tu Shan Jun respectfully, while Zhuang Hai challenged him over the Scarlet Crow Sect’s destruction.
• Tu Shan Jun admitted that he had destroyed the Scarlet Crow Sect, and Zhuang Hai condemned him and demanded that he take his own life.
• Tu Shan Jun said he had intended to kill both visitors but would spare them after hearing their principles, and Zhuang Hai launched his flying sword at him.

Tu Shan Jun fought Lei Wuji and Zhuang Hai as Great Black Mountain's demons and ghosts prepared to support him. He defeated Zhuang Hai, spared both Sunset Mountain cultivators, and left them to face his accusations about their treatment of mortals and his subordinate.

• Zhuang Hai attacked Tu Shan Jun with the Galaxy Sword, but Tu Shan Jun broke through his divine-sense bindings and evaded the strike.
• Lei Wuji joined the battle with the Thunderbolt Sword while Great Black Mountain's forces prepared their spirit vessel and chanted support for Tu Shan Jun.
• Lei Wuji unleashed the Purple Heaven Thunderbolt as Zhuang Hai formed the Galaxy Domain, but Tu Shan Jun entered the domain and struck Zhuang Hai unconscious with Mayfly's Two Moments.
• Tu Shan Jun said he would spare the Sunset Mountain cultivators and walked away, but Lei Wuji accused him of destroying their sect.
• Tu Shan Jun challenged Lei Wuji over the deaths and injuries caused by Sunset Mountain's labor conscription and the torture of his subordinate, then had the two cultivators driven away by a ghostly roar.

Lei Wuji and Zhuang Hai failed to defeat Tu Shan Jun and left to investigate the Red Crow Sect ruins. Tu Shan Jun then prepared Great Black Mountain’s False Core cultivators to pursue Golden Cores, while a letter from Big Head revealed that he was leaving the Netherworld Lands.

• Lei Wuji told Zhuang Hai that an unknown technique had disrupted his movements and judgment, and the two decided to investigate the Red Crow Sect ruins rather than return empty-handed.
• The Azure-Eyed Ghost King ordered his followers to guard the formation and went with Night Spirit to meet Tu Shan Jun and Nie Quanjiao.
• Tu Shan Jun gave the three False Core cultivators core-forming spiritual items, Yin Soul Pills, and notes, then sent them to prepare for seclusion.
• Tu Shan Jun read Big Head’s letter, which offered support from fifty thousand Azure Sky Mountain troops but said Big Head would leave the Netherworld Lands and not come in person.
• Tu Shan Jun picked up the jade-slip letter from the power deep within the Netherworld Lands.

Tu Shan Jun received an arrogant invitation from the Horned Heavenly Ghost King and, worried about Sunset Mountain’s threat to Great Black Mountain, decided to seek help from Ancient Immortal Tower. In Sun City, Mu Cheng delivered Tu Shan Jun’s letter to Zi Shaoqing, who did not recognize his name.

• At the Horned Heavenly Ghost King’s banquet, the demons discussed the death of the Ghost King of Great Black Mountain, the Giant Court Dragon King’s grievance with Tu Shan Jun, and Sunset Mountain’s conflict with him.
• Tu Shan Jun considered the threat from Sunset Mountain and realized he needed outside aid, then comforted Tu Shan Jinghong and allowed her to call Miss Long Auntie.
• After Tu Shan Jinghong fell asleep, Tu Shan Jun decided he could not afford to fail and wrote to Ancient Immortal Tower requesting a Golden Core cultivator.
• Zi Shaoqing lamented that she still had no news of the person she had sought for seven years, despite learning of developments at Northern Luo Mountain and the Ding family.
• Mu Cheng arrived at Sun City’s Pill Pavilion and told Zi Shaoqing he was delivering a letter from Tu Shan Jun, a name she did not recognize.

Zi Shaoqing received a letter from Tu Shan Jun asking Sun City to support Great Black Mountain in exchange for Golden Core-grade Yin Soul Pills. True Person Meteorflame suspected Tu Shan Jun had concealed his cultivation and decided to travel to Great Black Mountain himself, while Zi Shaoqing asked to come along.

• Mu Cheng delivered Tu Shan Jun's letter and a talisman-sealed jade box to Zi Shaoqing at the pill pavilion.
• Zi Shaoqing opened the letter, recognized Tu Shan Jun's handwriting, and learned he would exchange Golden Core-grade Yin Soul Pills for Sun City's support.
• Zi Shaoqing brought the letter and box to True Person Meteorflame, who opened the box and found two Yin Soul Pills.
• True Person Meteorflame concluded Tu Shan Jun had concealed his cultivation and ordered intelligence gathered on Great Black Mountain and Tu Shan Jun.
• After reviewing the scant intelligence, True Person Meteorflame summoned his eldest disciple and decided to visit Great Black Mountain himself.
• Zi Shaoqing asked to accompany True Person Meteorflame and urged him not to fight Tu Shan Jun when they met.

Little Diamond Wind learned that two Golden Core cultivators were investigating Tu Shan Jun's destruction of the Red Crow Sect, while Tu Shan Jun prepared for war and received a visit from the Lord of Sun City. The chapter left Tu Shan Jun and Fallen Flame face to face at the Ghost King Hall.

• Little Diamond Wind heard a storyteller dramatize the Great Black Mountain God’s battle against the Red Crow Sect, then encountered Lei Wuji and Zhuang Hai, two Golden Core cultivators.
• Zhuang Hai explained that the Red Crow Sect had forced one hundred thousand people to mine spirit ore, killing more than three thousand, and questioned why Tu Shan Jun had destroyed the sect.
• Lei Wuji asked Little Diamond Wind about his king, then left with Zhuang Hai to report the matter to their sect; Little Diamond Wind sent word that two Golden Core cultivators had appeared in Feng Prefecture.
• Tu Shan Jun continued preparing Great Black Mountain’s defenses and considered how Sun City might respond to an alliance.
• Fallen Flame, the Lord of Sun City, appeared at the Ghost King Hall, and Tu Shan Jun greeted him.

Tu Shan Jun met True Person Meteorflame, who examined his strange existence and invited him to drink potent spirit wine. As the wine intoxicated Tu Shan Jun, True Person Meteorflame assessed Black Mountain City’s defenses and explained the broader tactics of warfare between cultivator forces.

• True Person Meteorflame recognized that Tu Shan Jun was using the dead monk Jue Fa’s body, while Tu Shan Jun gained insight from the senior’s composure and perspective.
• True Person Meteorflame asked Tu Shan Jun about his age, family, and ability to drink, then offered him Earthcore Fire Dragon Brew and promised not to attack him.
• Tu Shan Jun drank the potent wine and found that it intoxicated not only his body but also his Yin Spirit and the true intent of his visualization method.
• True Person Meteorflame observed Black Mountain City’s preparations and explained that cultivator warfare relied on armies, spirit ships, battle formations, and supply lines rather than simply confronting an enemy at its gate.
• True Person Meteorflame criticized Tu Shan Jun’s limited grasp of battle tactics but praised Black Mountain’s mountain-guarding grand formation.

Tu Shan Jun allied with True Person Fallen Flame and strengthened Great Black Mountain as several cultivators advanced to Golden Core. The chapter ended with Sunset Mountain’s Sword Master Feng Chengyin arriving aboard the enormous Heaven’s End Sword.

• Tu Shan Jun told True Person Fallen Flame he had destroyed the Crimson Crow Sect to avenge the mortals killed in his territory, and they agreed to an alliance with terms for pills, aid, and an alchemy task.
• True Person Fallen Flame explained why cultivators avoided Heavenly Dao oaths, and he and Tu Shan Jun sealed their alliance with a high-five.
• Nie Quanjue and two other cultivators broke through to Golden Core, bringing Great Black Mountain’s total to ten Golden Cores including the Yin Gods in Tu Shan Jun’s banner.
• Tu Shan Jun ordered Great Black Mountain’s grand formation raised when a vast warship blocked the sun.
• True Person Fallen Flame identified the vessel as the Heaven’s End Sword and its arrival as the work of Feng Chengyin, Sword Master of Sunset Mountain’s Second Peak.

Tu Shan Jun prepared Great Black Mountain to face Sunset Mountain’s assault, then confronted the Heavenly Pole Sword Master, Feng Chengyin. Feng demanded that Tu Shan Jun cripple his cultivation and die in exchange for sparing the mountain’s people, but Tu Shan Jun refused, and Feng prepared to attack.

• Sunset Mountain arrived with four Golden Core cultivators, including the peak Golden Core Heavenly Pole Sword Master, while Great Black Mountain’s leaders worried whether their formation could withstand him.
• Tu Shan Jun sealed his true body inside the Ghost King Hall and sent an identical figure from the Soul Banner to meet the attackers.
• Tu Shan Jun revealed his late Golden Core strength, and Feng Chengyin unexpectedly complimented his crimson hair before demanding his surrender.
• Tu Shan Jun accused the Scarlet Crow Sect of killing his subordinates and villagers, while Feng acknowledged its wrongdoing but condemned Tu Shan Jun’s private punishment.
• Feng offered to spare Great Black Mountain if Tu Shan Jun crippled his cultivation and killed himself; Tu Shan Jun refused to trust him, and Feng invoked the Heavenly Pole Sword.

Tu Shan Jun and Great Black Mountain’s forces endured Feng Chengyin’s Heavenly Extreme Sunset before Tu Shan Jun transformed into a peak Golden Core Ghost King and struck back with the power of his soldiers and the people’s faith. As his strongest punch threatened the Heavenly Extreme Sword, Feng Chengyin called for help, and an unknown senior arrived to meet Tu Shan Jun’s attack.

• Feng Chengyin unleashed Heavenly Extreme Sunset, forcing Tu Shan Jun, Jue Fa, and Great Black Mountain’s forces to hold the Six Extremes Earth Fiend Mountain-Sealing Formation.
• Tu Shan Jun realized his six Golden Core Yin Spirits could not match a peak Golden Core cultivator in a direct battle.
• Tu Shan Jun transformed into a sixteen-foot Ghost King body by gathering the power of six Golden Core Yin Spirits and thousands of lesser Yin Spirits, then punched through Feng Chengyin’s sword strike.
• Tu Shan Jun called on Great Black Mountain’s people for incense and faith, formed a hundred-zhang dharma body, and launched his strongest punch at the Heavenly Extreme Sword.
• Feng Chengyin called for his senior brother, who entered the incense-and-faith domain and met Tu Shan Jun’s punch head-on.

Tu Shan Jun faced True Person Quiet Wind after the sword elder shattered his borrowed domain, but True Person Fallen Flame intervened and challenged him. The chapter ended with True Person Fallen Flame landing his second punch and preparing the Heavenly Dao Seal for the decisive third strike.

• True Person Quiet Wind dispersed Tu Shan Jun’s incense domain and hundred-zhang Dharma body with a single sword strike, forcing Tu Shan Jun to prepare one final punch.
• Nie Quanjue left the formation to retrieve an item from Ghost King Hall, despite the Azure-Eyed Ghost King warning him that the mission carried a nine-in-ten chance of death.
• True Person Fallen Flame stopped Tu Shan Jun, explained that his fist art had not yet touched the Dao, and revealed that his name was Zi Daoxu.
• Zi Daoxu confronted Jiang Tianfeng, True Person Quiet Wind, over Sunset Mountain’s subordinate sect and its deaths of more than three thousand people.
• Zi Daoxu’s fist intent stirred a heavenly tribulation, and his first punch dispersed True Person Quiet Wind’s sword wind while his second wounded him.
• True Person Quiet Wind expanded his Dharma domain as Zi Daoxu formed the Heavenly Dao Seal for his third punch.

True Person Fallen Flame defeated True Person Silent Wind in a clash of true intents, and Sunset Mountain agreed to end its pursuit of the matter. Tu Shan Jun thanked True Person Fallen Flame for his instruction and returned to his people, who celebrated their victory.

• True Person Silent Wind unleashed his True Intent of Silent Wind, but True Person Fallen Flame shattered his Dharma Domain with the Third Fist of the True Intent of Divine Sun.
• True Person Silent Wind accepted that Sunset Mountain would no longer seek revenge and left with Feng Chengyin and the other cultivators.
• True Person Silent Wind told his disciples to value their lives and criticized Feng Chengyin for relying too heavily on the Heavenly Pole Sword.
• True Person Fallen Flame encouraged Tu Shan Jun to improve his alchemy, promised to send materials to Sun City, and departed.
• The demons, monsters, ghosts, and fiends rejoiced when they learned Sunset Mountain had retreated, and Tu Shan Jun ordered a feast.

After Great Black Mountain defeated Sunset Mountain, Tu Shan Jun joined the demons in celebrating their survival and rewarded their service. As the feast ended, he sensed a tremor from the shrine and went to investigate.

• Tu Shan Jun proclaimed victory, and Great Black Mountain's demons and ghosts erupted in cheers.
• The demons celebrated with a feast, while Stone Dog and others vowed to cultivate until they could enter the Ghost King Hall.
• Tu Shan Jun let the exhausted Nie Quanjiu sleep, approved Ma Lu's request to resign and cultivate, and reassured Night Spirit that she did not need to offer herself for his trust.
• After the banquet, Tu Shan Jun remembered that Great Black Mountain still had to guard against threats and keep its duties running.
• Tu Shan Jun felt a tremor from the shrine and went to see what had happened.

Tu Shan Jun discovered that his daughter Tu Shan Jinghong could see the Soul Banner sealed inside the temple statue, so he reinforced the seal on her eyes and ordered Long'er to keep her away from it. After a muddy reunion reminded him that she considered him home, he joined his demon kings and ghost generals to move the Spirit Stone mining and land reclamation plans forward.

• Tu Shan Jun found Tu Shan Jinghong and Long'er inside the sealed temple, where Jinghong pointed out the Soul Banner hidden within his statue.
• Tu Shan Jun realized Jinghong's dual pupils had seen the banner, reinforced the spell on her eyes, and told Long'er to keep her away from the statue.
• Jinghong returned with bugs and mud, explaining that True Person Yunyan had taught her to catch them before she smeared mud on Tu Shan Jun and asked him for a hug.
• Tu Shan Jun reflected that he should be home for Jinghong, then told Long'er to take her for a bath.
• Tu Shan Jun met with Nie Quanjii and the gathered demon kings and ghost generals, and ordered Spirit Stone mining to begin ahead of schedule before raising the land reclamation plan.

Seven years after the battle at Sunset Mountain, Tu Shan Jun saw how Black Mountain had grown into a major power but worried that Jue Fa’s dwindling magical power would soon run out. He took Jue Fa’s body, the Soul Banner, and the Black Mountain Seal and left the mountain to seek a way to replenish it.

• In Li Water City, Wang Wu brought his son Wang Lin to Black Mountain’s spirit-root selection, where Little Oddity announced the recruitment under Tu Shan Jun’s command.
• Seven years after the battle at Sunset Mountain, Tu Shan Jun surveyed Black Mountain’s expanded city, forces, resources, and cultivation community.
• Tu Shan Jun reflected on how the Yin Soul Pill had improved Black Mountain cultivators’ chances of Core Formation and on his own progress in alchemy.
• Tu Shan Jun realized that Jue Fa’s remaining magical power would last at most two more years and considered using demonic cultivators as Banner Slaves to replenish it.
• Tu Shan Jun left instructions for Ma Lu and Nie Quanjiu, retrieved Jue Fa’s body, the Soul Banner, and the Black Mountain Seal, and departed from Black Mountain.

Tu Shan Jun killed the Dragon King of Giant Court and took over his body, replenishing his mana and adding another Golden Core Yin Spirit to the Soul Banner. He discovered that the power he gained did not continue his Dao, leaving him worried about the Soul Banner’s future tribulations before he returned to Great Black Mountain.

• Tu Shan Jun confronted the Dragon King of Giant Court over his past support for the Red-Horned Python Dragon and declared that he had come to settle their karma.
• Tu Shan Jun used Mayfly's Two Moments to suppress the Dragon King of Giant Court, then placed the Soul Banner in his hand and let its backlash take effect.
• Tu Shan Jun captured the Dragon King of Giant Court’s Yin Spirit in the Soul Banner and transformed the dragon’s body into his own appearance.
• Tu Shan Jun realized that the Dragon King’s mana had replenished him but had not advanced his Dao, and he worried that the Soul Banner would face tribulations without a complete Dao.
• Tu Shan Jun put away Jue Fa's golden body and flew toward Great Black Mountain.

Tu Shan Jun reflected on his cultivation and returned to Great Black Mountain, where Tu Shan Jinghong followed her double pupils’ guidance to search for something hidden in his temple. He agreed to reveal what she had been seeking, preparing to show her the Soul Banner.

• Tu Shan Jun decided to wait for Giant Court Lake to fall into disarray before absorbing it, since he could not risk gathering more Yin Gods or killing too many people.
• Tu Shan Jun reconsidered his cultivation path after recalling how True Person Falling Flame nearly triggered a lightning tribulation.
• Tu Shan Jinghong persuaded Miss Long'er to let her enter Tu Shan Jun's temple, where she searched for the object her double pupils had guided her toward.
• Tu Shan Jun returned and learned that Jinghong had been drawn to something hidden within the incense-fed stone idol.
• Tu Shan Jun tested Jinghong's knowledge, praised her intelligence, and postponed teaching her cultivation until she was older.
• Tu Shan Jun activated the temple's barrier and formation, then prepared to show Jinghong the object she had been seeking.

Tu Shan Jun revealed the Soul Banner to Tu Shan Jinghong, then Dahei Mountain prepared to expand toward Giant Court Lake after learning its Dragon King was dead. In the Netherworld, the Faceless Ghost told the Heavenly Ghost King that Tu Shan Jun had been at Foundation Establishment seventeen years earlier, provoking the king’s fury and suspicion.

• Tu Shan Jun showed Jinghong the Soul Banner, answered her questions about cultivation, and sent her out to join Miss Long after she teased him about finding a wife.
• Jinghong led a procession of children to tour Black Mountain Reservoir, prompting the great turtle and its subordinates to prepare the lake and warn their guards to keep the children safe.
• Tu Shan Jun told Nie Quanjiu that the Giant Court Dragon King was dead and ordered a grand court assembly in half a month to discuss taking over Giant Court Lake.
• The Faceless Ghost met the Heavenly Ghost King and identified Tu Shan Jun as a thorn in his side.
• The Faceless Ghost claimed he had seen Tu Shan Jun at Foundation Establishment roughly seventeen years earlier, and the Heavenly Ghost King erupted in disbelief and threatened him.

The Faceless Ghost convinced the Heavenly Ghost King that Tu Shan Jun’s pill could improve a cultivator’s chances of forming a core and urged him to help eliminate Tu Shan Jun. The Heavenly Ghost King ordered an investigation, while the Faceless Ghost set out to recruit the Corpse Demon Sect for a plan involving something buried beneath its grounds.

• The Faceless Ghost warned the Heavenly Ghost King that Great Black Mountain threatened his position, then revealed that Tu Shan Jun possessed a pill that could raise cultivation and improve the odds of forming a core by twenty to thirty percent.
• The Heavenly Ghost King examined the Yin Soul Pill the Faceless Ghost presented and learned that he was an emissary of the Sacred Spirit Sect, remnants of the Spirit Demon Sect.
• The Faceless Ghost proposed that a late Golden Core elder use the lightning tribulation to hold back True Person Fallen Flame while they attacked Great Black Mountain, but said their priority was eliminating Tu Shan Jun.
• The Heavenly Ghost King let the Faceless Ghost leave, then ordered his subordinate to investigate Tu Shan Jun and buy two authentic scrolls from the Ancient Immortal Tower.
• After changing his face and aura, the Faceless Ghost headed for the Corpse Demon Sect to negotiate over something buried beneath its grounds, while his companion agreed to keep watch.

Tu Shan Jun planned to annex Giant Court Lake and continued trying to develop a way to dilute Full Moon Golden Pill Liquid, but his experiment produced little improvement. He decided to seek Lightning Spirit Root cultivation methods for Tu Shan Jinghong from the Myriad Dharma Sect, and his letters reached the sect, where its Merit Hall deputy peak master noticed one was addressed to True Person Canglan.

• Tu Shan Jun announced Great Black Mountain’s plan to march through the Big-Headed Ghost King’s former territory, seize Giant Court Lake, and hold back the Wolf King of Western Peak.
• Tu Shan Jun tested a revised pill formula, but its pills remained too impure to make dilution worthwhile.
• Tu Shan Jun decided to conceal Tu Shan Jinghong’s double pupils and seek Myriad Dharma Sect lightning arts suited to her suspected Lightning Spirit Root.
• Tu Shan Jun wrote letters to the Myriad Dharma Sect and True Person Canglan, then arranged for Mu Cheng to deliver them.
• Mu Cheng entered the Myriad Dharma Sect and delivered the letters to the Merit Hall deputy peak master, who recognized the letter addressed to Junior Brother Canglan.