Chapter Summaries

Mu Cheng delivered Tu Shan Jun’s request to the Myriad Dharma Sect, where the Merit Hall deputy peak master selected an unusual lightning cultivation scripture and thunder seeds for him. True Person Canglan investigated Ding Xie’s death and set out for Great Black Mountain, where Tu Shan Jun was believed to be.

• Mu Cheng left the Myriad Dharma Sect after delivering his letter, and the deputy peak master confirmed his identity through the sect token.
• True Person Canglan read his senior brother’s letter and recalled Ding Xie’s return as a living corpse after Liberation by Violence, with his soul and Primordial Spirit missing.
• True Person Canglan explained that Ding Xie’s death had led Daoist Cangyun to perfect his False Core state of mind, but Canglan still intended to investigate what happened at Beiluo Mountain.
• Meng Fengzheng reviewed lightning cultivation methods for Tu Shan Jun and chose the Nine Extremes Demon-Subduing Divine Origin Thunder Scripture, along with three thunder seeds.
• True Person Canglan said he was going to Great Black Mountain, and Meng Fengzheng asked him to take Tu Shan Jun the scripture and thunder seeds.

Tu Shan Jun’s forces advanced under the threat of their spirit ships, while he studied combat intent and discovered a way to deconstruct the Full Moon Golden Core Elixir. True Person Azure Billows arrived with the cultivation method and thunder seed Tu Shan Jun had exchanged for, then made a grave request concerning Ding Xie.

• Tun Chan used Great Black Mountain’s spirit-ship fleet to deter the Western Yue Wolf King from attacking, and the army continued its advance to Giant Court Lake.
• Tu Shan Jun studied his combat methods and reflected on Primordial Spirit, cultivation, and true intent, but did not reach a clear understanding of combat intent.
• Tu Shan Jun realized that reversing the five elements could deconstruct the complete Full Moon Golden Core Elixir and prepared to refine pills.
• True Person Azure Billows arrived at Tu Shan Jun’s temple and delivered the exchanged cultivation method and its accompanying thunder seed.
• True Person Azure Billows asked Tu Shan Jun, as Ding Xie’s friend, to hear an important request.

True Person Canglan visited Tu Shan Jun to learn why Ding Xie had died and where his Yin Spirit had gone. Tu Shan Jun could not explain or reveal the Soul Banner’s secret, and their conversation was interrupted when Tu Shan Jinghong arrived with Big Yellow.

• Tu Shan Jun led True Person Canglan from the training ground to the Ghost King Hall, where Canglan described his disciples and his regret over how he had treated Ding Xie.
• True Person Canglan recounted how Ding Xie died after returning to the sect, and Tu Shan Jun said he had tried but failed to persuade him.
• Tu Shan Jun told True Person Canglan that Ding Xie’s Yin Spirit had dispersed its cultivation and his true spirit had gone to reincarnate, but he could not explain the matter further.
• True Person Canglan accepted that Tu Shan Jun could not help him and reflected on the strange transformation during Ding Xie’s final Liberation by Violence.
• Tu Shan Jinghong arrived on Big Yellow after complaining that the others had made hunting and fishing no fun, greeted True Person Canglan, and started to leave.
• Someone told Big Yellow to wait, and the tiger froze with one paw raised.

Tu Shan Jun received True Person Canglan’s recommendation token and warning about the coming conflict, then successfully developed pills that could strengthen the Yin Spirits in his soul banner. His joy gave way to loneliness, and he told Jinghong about her powerful lightning spirit root while warning her that surpassing him would take great effort.

• True Person Canglan gave Jinghong a Thunder Pearl and Tu Shan Jun a Myriad Dharma Sect recommendation token, warning that Sun City could become a target as cultivators sought a Nascent Soul Pill.
• True Person Canglan explained that the Myriad Dharma Sect would remain neutral unless war reached its territory or involved mortals, then departed.
• Tu Shan Jun returned to his pill furnace and used his understanding of the reversed Five Elements to refine the Full Moon Golden Core Liquid.
• Tu Shan Jun produced twenty-one white pills and confirmed that one safely strengthened a Qi Refining Yin Spirit.
• Tu Shan Jun celebrated his success but decided to test the pills more thoroughly before giving them to the Yin Spirits in his soul banner.
• Jinghong asked Tu Shan Jun about her spirit root, and he told her she had a powerful lightning spirit root and would need to work hard to surpass him.

Tu Shan Jun prepared the Nine Extremes Demon-Subduing Divine Origin Thunder Scripture for Tu Shan Jinghong and guided her through her first cultivation. After she awakened her double pupils and saw the terrifying demons behind her father, she panicked, and he comforted her by promising to teach her boxing.

• Tu Shan Jun spent months using the Soul Banner's yin gods to test and annotate the thunder scripture, then prepared a controlled thunder seed for Jinghong.
• Tu Shan Jinghong recited the scripture and instantly reached the first level of Qi Refinement, drawing in spiritual energy and receiving a thunder seal from Tu Shan Jun.
• Jinghong sensed Tu Shan Jun's overwhelming presence and stubbornly opened her double pupils to see him clearly.
• Her double pupils revealed the countless demons and ghosts behind Tu Shan Jun, frightening her so badly that he had to break her out of her shock.
• Jinghong cried in Tu Shan Jun's arms, and he soothed her by promising to teach her a set of boxing techniques.

Tu Shan Jun developed the Soul-Devouring Fist and used a spirit-attachment technique to conceal Tu Shan Jinghong’s double pupils, making her soul fuse with a ghost horn. In the Netherworld, the Heavenly Ghost King considered cooperating with an elder who had emerged from seclusion, but his adviser warned that the opportunity to form an infant might not be shared.

• Tu Shan Jun named his emerging fist art the Soul-Devouring Fist and decided to teach Jinghong to practice it so she would no longer be afraid.
• Jinghong advanced rapidly to the third layer of Qi Refinement, while Tu Shan Jun tempered her through illusions guarded by Yin Gods.
• Tu Shan Jun fashioned a robe from his mutated body and prepared a technique to conceal Jinghong’s eyes.
• Tu Shan Jun inscribed his likeness onto Jinghong’s Heaven Soul with a ghost horn, making her double pupils appear as a single pupil and binding her soul to the horn.
• The Heavenly Ghost King asked whether cooperating with an elder who had emerged from seclusion would make things easier, and his adviser questioned whether the chance to form an infant would be shared.

Tu Shan Jun prepared for Tu Shan Jinghong’s Foundation Establishment while the Heavenly Ghost King agreed to join forces with the Holy Spirit Sect against Black Mountain. As Jinghong began her breakthrough, Tu Shan Jun’s unease persisted despite raising Black Mountain’s protective formation.

• The Faceless Ghost persuaded the Heavenly Ghost King to help dismantle Black Mountain’s formation and target Tu Shan Jun, while the Heavenly Ghost King claimed the chance to form a Nascent Soul and Tu Shan Jun’s Yin Spirit for himself.
• Tu Shan Jun struggled to control the bizarre body’s influence and resolved to destroy it after completing his plans; he also planned to travel to Sun City once Jinghong established her foundation.
• Over the next three years, Black Mountain grew wealthier and gained another Golden Core cultivator, while Jinghong reached great completion of Qi Refining.
• Feeling an unexplained foreboding, Tu Shan Jun ordered Nie Quanjiu to raise Black Mountain’s mountain-guarding formation.
• Tu Shan Jinghong swallowed a Thunder Seed Foundation Establishment Pill and began establishing her foundation as a purple lightning domain spread around her.

Tu Shan Jinghong successfully established her foundation at Great Black Mountain, and Tu Shan Jun celebrated with the gathered demon kings and ghost generals. The feast was interrupted when the Heavenly Ghost King arrived with thirteen Golden Core companions, leaving Tu Shan Jun facing a possible battle.

• Tu Shan Jinghong completed her Yin Spirit and established her foundation, with the spirit-attaching inscription in her Yin Spirit concealing her double-pupiled eyes.
• Tu Shan Jun congratulated Jinghong, gave her a storage pouch, and hosted a feast where the assembled guests presented gifts.
• Tu Shan Jun sensed danger during the feast and led the Golden Core cultivators outside to confront a spirit boat carrying fourteen Golden Core auras.
• The Heavenly Ghost King claimed he had come to congratulate Jinghong and brought gifts, but Nie Quanjii warned Tu Shan Jun that the visitors seemed hostile.
• Tu Shan Jun told the Heavenly Ghost King to leave, but the Heavenly Ghost King demanded that they make their move against the formation.

A traitor within Great Black Mountain helped the attackers sabotage the mountain-sealing formation, while the Heavenly Ghost King and the Holy Spirit Cult pressed their assault. Tu Shan Jun abandoned the outer formation and ordered his forces to regroup at the main peak.

• The scorpion ghost poisoned Iron Feather, revealed his plan to destroy the formation node, and killed him when he tried to stop the sabotage.
• The Brocade-Furred Demon survived an attempted betrayal because he had distrusted the cat-like cultivator, while attackers struck formation nodes across Great Black Mountain.
• The formation’s connected nodes went dark, leaving only a thin, faltering light curtain as Azure Horn and Wingbeat realized the defenses were failing.
• The Heavenly Ghost King demanded Tu Shan Jun surrender the secret of forming a Nascent Soul, while the faceless ghost revealed that the Holy Spirit Cult sought a dharma treasure and Tu Shan Jun’s daughter.
• A Golden Core cultivator used the Five Directions Blazing Flame White Luan Fan to burn a hole through the formation, and Tu Shan Jun ordered his forces to abandon the outer defenses and gather at the main peak.

Tu Shan Jun prepared Great Black Mountain City’s inner formation after the Heavenly Ghost King’s forces broke through the outer defenses, while True Person Fallen Flame rushed to help and was intercepted by two late Golden Core cultivators. Tu Shan Jun confronted a traitorous horned-bearded cultivator, who warned that True Person Fallen Flame and everyone at Great Black Mountain would die, but did not reveal who was behind the plot.

• Tu Shan Jun ordered the Golden Core cultivators to hold the inner formation as wounded Yin Spirits and routed troops gathered at Great Black Mountain’s main peak.
• True Person Fallen Flame left Sun City after receiving a crisis signal, but two late Golden Core cultivators intercepted him tens of thousands of miles away.
• True Person Fallen Flame identified Zi Daoxu and confronted him and his brother, whose merged true intents formed a Dharma barrier.
• Tu Shan Jun stopped a Golden Core attacker and confronted the horned-bearded traitor, demanding to know why he had betrayed Great Black Mountain.
• The horned-bearded man urged Tu Shan Jun to run, warning that True Person Fallen Flame and everyone else would die, and Tu Shan Jun demanded to know who they were.

Hornbeard triggered a Golden Core self-detonation that damaged Great Black Mountain’s inner formation, but Tu Shan Jun survived and emerged transformed and more powerful. As the enemy prepared to break through, Tu Shan Jun ordered Ma Lu to escort Jinghong to the Myriad Dharma Sect and rallied his forces to defend the mountain.

• Hornbeard activated his spell and began a Golden Core self-detonation, forcing Tu Shan Jun to contain the blast with the Incense Divine Domain.
• The explosion damaged the Heavenly Pillar foundation, destabilizing Great Black Mountain’s inner formation, while Ma Lu returned to the Ghost King Hall to find Tu Shan Jun missing.
• Nie Quanjiu ordered the troops to prepare their defenses, mobilize spirit vessels, and hold out for Sun City’s reinforcements.
• The Heavenly Ghost King urged his forces to break the failing formation before True Person Falling Flame could arrive.
• Tu Shan Jun emerged from the black mist transformed, gave Ma Lu resources and concealment talismans to escort Jinghong to the Myriad Dharma Sect, and rallied his cultivators to fight while he went to defend the grand formation.

Tu Shan Jun confronted the Ghost King and his allies to protect Great Black Mountain, unleashing the power of his ominous body despite its threat to his consciousness. After his opponents fled and the Ghost King invoked his strongest arts, Tu Shan Jun manifested a hundred-zhang divine body and attacked with a punch driven by pure slaughter.

• Tu Shan Jun left the formation and confronted the Ghost King, refusing to flee and striking first with a blood sword and phantom.
• The Faceless Ghost recognized Tu Shan Jun's powers as connected to the Holy Spirit Sect, but the Ghost King interrupted him and attacked with a giant staff.
• Tu Shan Jun broke the Ghost King's protective aura and fought the Ghost King and eleven other Golden Core cultivators as incense-offering wish power strengthened his body.
• Tu Shan Jun used Break Emotion to suppress the ominous body's influence, expanded into a sixteen-foot demonic body, and killed one Golden Core cultivator.
• Mount Gong Grand Guardian and the other Golden Core cultivators fled, leaving the Ghost King to face Tu Shan Jun alone.
• The Ghost King unleashed Heavenly Ghost Extinguishes Life as Tu Shan Jun manifested a hundred-zhang divine body and struck with a punch of slaughter; the Ghost King answered with Heavenly Ghost Domain.

Tu Shan Jun fought the Ghost King with his demonic body and domain while the Faceless Ghost and Hanmu infiltrated the Great Black Mountain formation to search for a child. The Ghost King’s domain failed to stop Tu Shan Jun, who reached him and brought down a black seal as the battle neared its end.

• Tu Shan Jun shattered the Ghost King's attacks and pierced his domain with a punch, declaring himself the true god of the Great Black Mountain.
• Tu Shan Jun formed the Divine Spirit Death Realm, but the Ghost King endured, expecting Tu Shan Jun's powerful state to fade.
• The Faceless Ghost and Hanmu used a luan fan to break through the Great Black Mountain's formation and entered to search for a child.
• The Ghost King summoned his Netherworld Ghost King Manor domain and challenged Tu Shan Jun to cross the Bridge of Life Extinction.
• Tu Shan Jun crossed the bridge by leaving his yin spirit behind in each footprint, reached the Ghost King, and struck at his head with a black seal.

Tu Shan Jun fought the Heavenly Ghost King until the king comprehended the true intent of destruction and turned the battle around. As Tu Shan Jun neared defeat, his followers entered the Soul Banner to reinforce him, and the Brocade-Furred Demon joined them.

• Tu Shan Jun relentlessly struck the bound Heavenly Ghost King with the Black Mountain Seal, nearly killing him.
• The Heavenly Ghost King accepted the draining of his vitality, comprehended the true intent of destruction, and broke free of the shrine’s threads.
• The Heavenly Ghost King used his new true intent to erode Tu Shan Jun’s vitality and shatter his Dharma domain.
• Tu Shan Jun realized he had also comprehended true intent but could not use it without the Dao to support it, and he accepted the possibility of defeat.
• Tie Yu entered the Soul Banner, followed by the Foundation Establishment Yin Spirits, stabilizing Tu Shan Jun’s fading aura.
• The Brocade-Furred Demon decided to follow Tu Shan Jun and flew into the Soul Banner.

Tu Shan Jun drew strength from the spirits who entered the Soul Banner and killed the Heavenly Ghost King with a feint followed by the Great Black Mountain River Prefecture Seal. Exhausted and dying, he threw the Soul Banner beyond the horizon before a powerful man arrived too late to find him.

• The Faceless Ghost told the Azure-Eyed Ghost King that the Soul Banner needed a Golden Core yin spirit to turn the battle, and the Azure-Eyed Ghost King chose to sacrifice himself to strengthen it.
• Tu Shan Jun reached peak Golden Core as the spirits in the Soul Banner lent him their power, then faced the Heavenly Ghost King's final attack.
• Tu Shan Jun feinted a punch, seized the Heavenly Ghost King's horn, and smashed the Great Black Mountain River Prefecture Seal into his head, killing him.
• Tu Shan Jun, fatally depleted, summoned the Soul Banner and hurled it beyond the horizon before falling from the sky.
• A white-haired man in a Nine Suns Flame God Robe searched Great Black Mountain and lamented that he had arrived too late.

After the battle at Great Black Mountain, True Person Fallen Flame found Tu Shan Jun dead and learned the attackers’ story, while the Heavenly Ghost King survived by possessing a descendant. Hanmu failed to recover the Soul Banner, and the Faceless Ghost confirmed that their forces had also failed to find the child, leaving the child’s whereabouts unknown.

• True Person Fallen Flame arrived at Great Black Mountain, saw Tu Shan Jun’s decayed corpse, and heard Nie Quanju recount the battle while concealing Tu Shan Jinghong’s whereabouts.
• True Person Fallen Flame mourned Tu Shan Jun, said that Tu Shan Jun had broken his promise, and left Great Black Mountain.
• The Heavenly Ghost King returned to his territory and possessed a Foundation Establishment descendant, planning to flee and restore his cultivation.
• Hanmu chased the Soul Banner, but it vanished just as he was about to seize it, leaving him unable to recover the Black Mountain Seal.
• The Faceless Ghost told Hanmu that their search for the child had failed and that Elder Zhong and Elder Mu had lost their physical bodies to True Person Fallen Flame.
• Hanmu and the Faceless Ghost considered requesting that the artifact be deployed.

The Faceless Ghost concluded that the missing magic treasure had fallen through a grotto-heaven rift, while Yunyan True Person captured Heavenly Ghost King and killed Zhangtou. Aboard a spirit boat far from Great Black Mountain, Tu Shan Jinghong woke from a nightmare and realized she could no longer sense her father.

• The Faceless Ghost told Hanmu that the magic treasure had likely fallen into a grotto-heaven through a rift node and said Tu Shan Jun was dead.
• Zhangtou intercepted Heavenly Ghost King as he left the Heavenfall Plains, but Yunyan True Person arrived, seized Heavenly Ghost King, and killed Zhangtou with a single punch.
• Yunyan True Person sealed Zhangtou's Yin spirit and Golden Core, then took the weakened Heavenly Ghost King away to question him.
• Ma Lu, Lady Night Spirit, and Miss Long'er continued carrying the exhausted Tu Shan Jinghong away from Great Black Mountain aboard a spirit boat.
• Tu Shan Jinghong woke from a nightmare, tried to summon her ghost shadow, and wept when she could no longer sense her father.

Ma Lu and Ye Ling carried out Tu Shan Jun’s plan to escort Tu Shan Jinghong toward the Myriad Dharma Sect, while Daoist Chixuan was called to deal with Old Master Zhou’s transformed corpse. Chixuan found that the corpse’s demonic Baleful Intent was beyond his means, but Young Master Zhou revealed that a mysterious object had fallen into the family courtyard shortly before the corpse began changing.

• Ma Lu told Ye Ling that they should take Tu Shan Jinghong through Sun City and then travel to the Myriad Dharma Sect marketplace, following Tu Shan Jun’s plan.
• A daylight meteor flashed across the sky, drawing treasure seekers who found no trace of it afterward.
• Ma Wu told Chixuan that Old Master Zhou had risen from his coffin, and Chixuan went with him to the Zhou family.
• Chixuan discovered that Old Master Zhou’s corpse had become demonic and that his talisman could remove only a small portion of its Baleful Intent.
• Young Master Zhou offered Chixuan a mysterious treasure, explaining that it had fallen into the courtyard shortly before his father’s corpse began changing.

Chi Xuan claimed the Zhou family’s Soul Banner, ending the spread of its Baleful Intent, then went to the cultivators’ market seeking supplies. He learned the county office had summoned cultivators for an urgent task and hurried to join after hearing the reward included a Spirit Stone.

• After recovering from his injuries, Chi Xuan visited Zhou Hui’s estate and found Baleful Intent covering the grounds.
• Chi Xuan entered the sealed courtyard, approached the Soul Banner, and absorbed it into a compact jade-like form, dispersing the Baleful Intent.
• Chi Xuan told Zhou Hui the artifact was harmful to ordinary people and accepted seventy taels of silver without revealing its true value.
• At the market, Chi Xuan learned from Old Dan’s disciple that the county office had summoned cultivators two days earlier.
• A county constable told Chi Xuan the magistrate wanted his help and that the greatest contributor could earn a Spirit Stone, so Chi Xuan immediately agreed.

Chi Xuan joined a group summoned to deal with a demon in Ji County, hoping to earn a reward and a chance to become a Qi Refiner. The tiger demon attacked the county yamen, killed the magistrate, and overwhelmed its defenders as the battle began.

• Chi Xuan learned that the gathered practitioners had been promised a Spirit Stone and a qualification to become a Qi Refiner for capturing the demon.
• A tiger demon appeared in the county yamen, carrying part of the county magistrate’s robe after killing him.
• A Banner Officer of the Demon-Subduing Yamen offered rewards for killing the tiger demon, and Butcher charged it first but was struck down.
• County Commandant Wu ordered the soldiers to fire arrows, while the Banner Officer blocked the demon and the practitioners, including Chi Xuan, attacked.
• The tiger demon broke through the defenders, reached the roof, and killed a wandering hero in a single exchange.