Chapter Summaries

Li Qingyun entered Yama City with Qian Fang and explored its streets, where unregistered residents were treated as prey. At a talisman shop, he discovered that living ghosts sold powerful immortal talismans and considered using his own talisman skills to earn money there.

• Li Qingyun and Qian Fang reached Yama City, where armored soldiers demanded entry fees from them as unregistered residents.
• Qian Fang paid their fees, and the two entered the city before parting at the Hundred Treasures Tower, where Qian Fang went to work.
• Li Qingyun explored Yama City and decided to seek a way to make money rather than take a job at the restaurant.
• Li Qingyun entered a talisman shop after seeing its sign and learned that living ghosts sold immortal talismans, including a Reincarnation Talisman.
• Li Qingyun sensed the Reincarnation Talisman's unusual power and considered working at the shop because his talisman skills were highly developed.

Li Qingyun posed as Peng Tai and persuaded Lord Ye to hire him as an immortal talisman master, hoping to earn money and learn how to enter the Life Gate Land. Lord Ye set a demanding production quota and hinted at the danger facing illegal immigrants, while Li Qingyun settled into his new talisman room.

• Li Qingyun examined an Ascension Talisman and claimed he could draw one, prompting Lord Ye to come out and test his claim.
• Lord Ye hired Li Qingyun under the name Peng Tai and required him to produce at least one Ascension Talisman for every ten portions of materials.
• Lord Ye promised to seek Peng Tai a quota to enter the Life Gate Land if he met the required yield, but declined to reveal where it was.
• Xiao Wu led Peng Tai to the shop's back courtyard, where other talisman masters warned that a previous illegal immigrant had been taken by Lord Ye.
• Peng Tai accepted the vacant talisman room and decided to stay there while he worked.

Li Qingyun discovered that a neighboring grand talisman master was sabotaging his work and waited until night to confront him. He bound the old man with his Death Gate Inscriptions and brought the Thunder Emperor’s nine-tasseled crown to bear, leaving the living ghost helpless in his grip.

• Li Qingyun began making an Ascension Talisman, but a hidden interference caused his brush to leave a blot and ruin it.
• Li Qingyun realized that the white-bearded talisman master next door was deliberately sabotaging him, then meditated while the old man waited for another chance to interfere.
• Li Qingyun rejected the food brought by attendants and ordered a hundred more sets of Ascension Talisman materials so he could work through the night.
• After nightfall, Li Qingyun knocked on the old talisman master’s door and seized him by the neck when he opened it.
• Li Qingyun bound the old talisman master with his Death Gate Inscriptions and summoned the Thunder Emperor’s nine-tasseled crown as the captive warned him about the Household.

Li Qingyun subdued the Living Ghost talisman master, stole talisman materials and coins, then escaped Yama City with ninety Ascension Talismans. He returned through Ghost Gate Pass to the Inner Mansion, planning to sell the talismans in another city and use the money to enter the Bronze Secret Hall.

• Li Qingyun knocked the Living Ghost talisman master unconscious, took the materials, and crafted ninety Ascension Talismans.
• Li Qingyun left the talisman shop with the talismans and more than three hundred Yin-Yang big coins, but the shop's guards soon discovered Old Master Xu's death and raised the alarm.
• Li Qingyun evaded the soldiers at Yama City's gate and used Shrink Ground into Inch to escape Lord Ye's pursuit.
• Li Qingyun reached the carriage safe zone, where Lord Ye crashed into its invisible boundary and could not follow.
• Li Qingyun found the Ghost Gate Pass stele and returned to the Inner Mansion with his bundle, then planned to sell the talismans and seek the Bronze Secret Hall.

Li Qingyun used a Death Mandate Scroll to pursue True Lord Mingchan, secured his Coffin Mountain retreat with an array and a bound Nether Ghost, and set out for Spirit God Palace after learning of its auction. He crossed into Fu Kingdom on his way to Spirit Country, concealing his identity and masking his unusual Death Gate Realm appearance.

• Li Qingyun burned a Death Mandate Scroll inscribed with Gu Mingchan's name and vowed that True Lord Mingchan would not escape their karmic debt.
• Li Qingyun set an array around his Coffin Mountain retreat, used a Seize Gods talisman to command a Nether Ghost to guard it, and returned to meditation to restore his Thunder Emperor foundation.
• True Lord Nian Meng informed Li Qingyun that Spirit God Palace was holding an auction, and Li Qingyun sent an avatar to attend in hopes of obtaining a Bronze Secret Hall.
• Li Qingyun crossed the Dao Lord restriction into Fu Kingdom and told its cultivators that he was passing through on his way to Spirit Country.
• Li Qingyun concealed his name and made his face look older after a Fu Kingdom cultivator remarked on his youthful appearance and asked about his maintenance secret.

Li Qingyun arrived at Spirit Country to attend Spirit God Palace’s auction convention and learned that the Bronze Secret Hall was only one of many items for sale. As the auction was about to begin, he recognized a powerful Biyou Palace cultivator and decided he might seize the man’s chance to obtain a Life Gate Land token.

• Li Qingyun reached Spirit Country, followed Spirit God Palace’s invitation to its floating bronze palace, and entered the auction hall after the doorkeepers warned attendees not to cause trouble.
• A Spirit God Palace cultivator directed Li Qingyun away from the VIP seats, so he took a middle seat and asked a nearby black-robed Daoist what else the auction would offer besides the Bronze Secret Hall.
• Cultivators from various countries arrived, and True Person Mu Bai received a warm welcome and a front-row seat as a Heaven Gate Realm expert.
• Li Qingyun sensed a formidable purple-robed cultivator with Biyou Palace’s aura and learned from the black-robed Daoist that he was True Lord Nanchen, a Death Gate Realm expert seeking a token to enter the Life Gate Land.
• Li Qingyun decided that, if the opportunity arose, he would take True Lord Nanchen’s chance to obtain the token.

Li Qingyun attended the Spirit God Palace auction and used his wealth to outbid True Lord Nanchen for Soul Stabilizing Pills, then made a steep bid on a Bronze Secret Hall. The auction continued with the Bronze Secret Hall still contested.

• True Lord Su Xian opened the auction with a bottle of Soul Stabilizing Pills, drawing bids from the Death Gate Realm cultivators.
• Li Qingyun bid fifty-eight great coins, then drove the price to seventy-five and won the pills from True Lord Nanchen.
• True Lord Nanchen resentfully vowed to reclaim his lost face after the auction.
• True Lord Su Xian presented a Bronze Secret Hall, and the bidding quickly climbed past seven hundred great coins.
• Li Qingyun bid nine hundred great coins for the Bronze Secret Hall, shocking the gathered cultivators.

Li Qingyun tricked True Lord Nanchen into overpaying for the first Bronze Secret Hall, then competed with him over a Hot Spring Token needed to enter Life Gate Land. The bidding reached 2,101 Great Coins, with the token still unsold.

• Li Qingyun learned that four Bronze Secret Halls were being auctioned and baited True Lord Nanchen into winning the first one for 931 Great Coins.
• Lord Su Xian auctioned information about a lower-grade Spirit Platform in the Heaven Gate, which a Life Gate Realm cultivator bought for three strands of Heavenly Origin Qi.
• Lord Su Xian offered a Hot Spring Token that granted three entries to Life Gate Land, and True Lord Nanchen bid 1,900 Great Coins.
• Li Qingyun raised the Hot Spring Token bid to 2,000 Great Coins, prompting other Death Gate Realm cultivators to compete cautiously.
• After Li Qingyun and True Lord Nanchen paused their bidding, True Lord Nanchen offered 2,101 Great Coins for the Hot Spring Token.

Li Qingyun exposed his wealth at the auction, secured the Hot Spring Token, Bronze Secret Hall, and Soul Stabilizing Pills, then confronted True Lord Nanchen afterward. He shattered Nanchen’s defenses and body with his Death Gate inscriptions, leaving only black ash and claiming to have stripped away two layers of Nanchen’s cultivation.

• True Lord Nanchen accused Li Qingyun of driving up auction prices without the means to pay, and Li Qingyun revealed seven Ascension Talismans to prove his wealth.
• True Lord Su Xian valued the talismans at six hundred cash each, and the other bidders backed down as Li Qingyun won the Hot Spring Token for 2,200 cash.
• Li Qingyun later secured the Bronze Secret Hall for 700 cash and obtained a bottle of Soul Stabilizing Pills, then received a VIP token from the Spirit God Palace.
• True Lord Nanchen ambushed Li Qingyun after the auction and attacked him with his Death Gate divine art, but Li Qingyun dispelled it with ease.
• Li Qingyun struck back with his 108 True Meaning Inscriptions, shattered Nanchen’s protections, and reduced his figure to black ash.
• Li Qingyun calculated that he had stripped away at least two layers of Nanchen’s cultivation before vanishing into the void.

True Lord Nanchen returned to Biyou Palace after being killed at the Spirit God Palace auction and losing much of his cultivation. Meanwhile, Li Qingyun entered secluded cultivation in the Bronze Secret Hall, secured it for the Lingbao Sect, and prepared to return to Living Ghost Heaven to sell Ascension Talismans and seek more Hot Spring Tokens.

• True Lord Nanchen told True Lord Mingchan and True Lord Guanhai that an early-stage Death Gate Realm cultivator had killed him, reducing his cultivation from completion to the seventh level and taking the Hot Spring Token.
• True Lord Mingchan lamented that he still lacked a Soul Stabilizing Pill to treat his injuries, and True Lord Nanchen suggested asking Senior Brother Chengyuan for help if necessary.
• Li Qingyun arrived at the Forbidden Zone, set the Bronze Secret Hall on the mountain, and told Chen Tao to keep his secluded cultivation secret and contact him only through a black talisman if needed.
• Li Qingyun altered the Bronze Secret Hall's hidden formations so Spirit God Palace could no longer seize it, then burned a Death Mandate Scroll bearing Gu Mingchan's name and let the mysterious soul corpse consume the backlash.
• Li Qingyun refined a hundred Yin-Yang Copper Coins into Death Gate Realm dharma power, realized that consuming coins could accelerate his cultivation, and passed the method's essence to the mysterious Daoist effigy.
• Li Qingyun entered Living Ghost Heaven again, intending to sell Ascension Talismans in another Ghost City and seek more Hot Spring Tokens while building reserves for the Lingbao Sect and his disciples.

Li Qingyun examined the nineteen carriage destinations in Living Ghost Heaven and was shaken to find that several were ancient sacrifice sites named after places from his previous life. After using Shrink Ground into Inch to inspect them, he attracted a crowd of Death Gate Realm cultivators eager to befriend him as he headed for Holy Seal City.

• Li Qingyun found the names Ancient Kunlun Earth Sacrifice Site and Ancient Fanghu Earth Sacrifice Site among the carriage destinations, then inspected the other stakes and saw Ancient Penglai and Ancient Yingzhou Earth Sacrifice Sites as well.
• Li Qingyun steadied his Dao heart by aligning with the Thunder Emperor divine rank and concluded that the four sacrifice sites were likely not towns inhabited by living ghosts.
• The cultivators were astonished by Li Qingyun's use of Shrink Ground into Inch within Living Ghost Heaven and hurried to approach him.
• Nan Chen, Guanhai, and Ming Chan entered Living Ghost Heaven together, discussed where to work, and noticed the crowd gathering around Li Qingyun.
• Li Qingyun introduced himself as Gu Xin of the Chi Kingdom and told the cultivators to work diligently, while Zhao Xuan enthusiastically presented himself as Li Qingyun's follower.

Li Qingyun boarded a crowded carriage to Holy Seal City, where fellow cultivators sought his favor and Gu Li shared information about the city’s usurping lord. As the carriage stopped at a roadside tea shed, a strange peddler forced his way aboard and opened a bundle of odd objects.

• Li Qingyun boarded the carriage to Holy Seal City, and Gu Li, Zhao Xuan, and Xiao Ao joined him while True Lord Nanchen and others were left behind.
• Gu Li told Li Qingyun that the city lord, surnamed Teng, had seized power and driven the Yin clan’s rightful heiress from her home.
• Li Qingyun agreed to share any profits he gained from Gu Li’s information and considered seeking influence among Living Ghost Heaven’s upper ranks.
• The carriage stopped at a roadside tea shed, where a young peddler squeezed aboard beside Xiao Ao.
• The peddler flung his bundle onto the table, spilling an assortment of strange objects.

Li Qingyun killed a Living Ghost peddler who tried to extort him, shocking Gu Li, Zhao Xuan, and Xiao Ao with his ability to destroy Living Ghosts. The group divided the peddler’s goods and reached Holy Seal City, where they entered together carrying their bundles.

• The Living Ghost peddler tried to force Gu Li, Zhao Xuan, and Xiao Ao to buy his goods, then demanded one hundred large coins from Li Qingyun for a broken rattle-drum.
• Li Qingyun stabbed the peddler’s palm with a sheathed knife and beat him while binding him with Iron Chain Locks Ghosts.
• Li Qingyun struck the peddler with lightning-charged fists, destroyed his head, and swept away the ash left by his body.
• Li Qingyun took some of the peddler’s goods and let Gu Li, Zhao Xuan, and Xiao Ao divide the rest.
• At successive stops, Living Ghosts boarded the carriage, until only Li Qingyun and the other three remained when it reached Holy Seal City.
• Li Qingyun and his companions paid an armored soldier one large coin each and entered Holy Seal City with bundles of goods.

Li Qingyun and the three unregistered residents settled in Holy Seal City, where he questioned them about Living Ghost Heaven and learned that his plan to open a talisman shop was blocked by the city’s strict status system. He left Gu Li behind to discuss matters privately, while Xiao Ao and Zhao Xuan hoped he would take them back to Ghost Gate Pass.

• Li Qingyun asked Gu Li, Xiao Ao, and Zhao Xuan about their former jobs, and they described their humble work as a laundress, laborer, and chamber-pot cleaner.
• Li Qingyun told Gu Li to find a cheap courtyard and said they would seek better ways to make money after settling in.
• Gu Li rented a small courtyard in Holy Seal City’s commoners’ district for ten big coins a month.
• Li Qingyun asked where Life Gate Land was, and Zhao Xuan explained that it lay at the Ancient Kunlun Earth Sacrifice Site and required a Hot Spring Token to enter.
• Gu Li, Xiao Ao, and Zhao Xuan explained Living Ghost Heaven’s five ranks and told Li Qingyun that only ministers could operate immortal talisman shops.
• Li Qingyun dismissed Xiao Ao and Zhao Xuan, then asked Gu Li to stay behind; the two men asked him to take them back to Ghost Gate Pass whenever he returned.

Li Qingyun learned about Yin Wanqing, the Yin Family’s surviving legitimate daughter, and went to the western part of Holy Seal City. At a talisman shop, he beat the greedy shopkeeper into agreeing to negotiate fairly over his Ascension Talismans.

• Gu Li told Li Qingyun that Yin Wanqing lived in a shabby house in the west of the city and had refused the Mingdeng Sect’s attempts to contact her.
• Gu Li began seeking mending and laundry work from nearby Living Ghost Heaven residents while Li Qingyun headed west.
• Li Qingyun entered a talisman shop and offered to sell Ascension Talismans, silencing the contemptuous ghosts with his intimidating presence.
• The shopkeeper took an Ascension Talisman and falsely accused Li Qingyun of stealing it, threatening to have him imprisoned.
• Li Qingyun seized the shopkeeper and beat him until he begged to negotiate fairly, then let him go.

Li Qingyun sold his Ascension Talismans in Holy Seal City and visited Yin Wanqing, the fallen daughter of the Yin family, offering her a chance to turn things around. After revealing strength that made her and her old servant recognize him as a descendant of the ancient gods, he began to explain why he had come.

• Li Qingyun sold more than eighty Ascension Talismans to the plump shopkeeper for fifty-one thousand Yin-Yang big coins, then swallowed the coins to carry them away.
• The plump shopkeeper sent an attendant to follow Li Qingyun, but Li Qingyun used Shrink Ground into Inch to shake him off.
• Li Qingyun went to the Yin family's rundown courtyard and asked the old servant to let him see Yin Wanqing.
• Yin Wanqing confronted Li Qingyun, but his fierce intent silenced her before she could expose him as an undocumented person.
• Yin Wanqing used her Ghost Seal against Li Qingyun, who struck back with black jade inscriptions; the old servant blocked his attack and recognized him as a descendant of the ancient gods.
• Li Qingyun told Yin Wanqing and the old servant that he had come to give them a chance to turn things around.

Li Qingyun learned that Yin Wanqing and Yin Yan recognized him as a descendant of a true god because he possessed 108 True Meaning Inscriptions. They showed him an ancient painting, and he was left stunned by its depiction of a three-colored deity, ten lesser beings, and a black cat resembling Yuanbao.

• Li Qingyun questioned Yin Wanqing and Yin Yan about how they knew he was a descendant of a true god, and they admitted they had never seen a true god themselves.
• Li Qingyun revealed his 108 True Meaning Inscriptions, shocking Yin Wanqing and Yin Yan into treating him with reverence.
• Yin Wanqing told Yin Yan to retrieve an ancient painting kept in a sealed bronze box passed down through the Yin Family.
• Yin Yan unrolled the painting, which depicted a three-colored deity above ten smaller beings, kneeling living ghosts, and nineteen figures resembling kings.
• Li Qingyun was stunned to see a black mystical cat before the deity that resembled Yuanbao, except it lacked the three crimson hairs on its head.

Li Qingyun learned more about Living Ghost Heaven’s ancient royal clans and proposed helping the Yin Family reclaim Holy Seal City from Teng Tongxuan. After demonstrating his power and financing their plan, he left the Yin family master and servant to arrange an opportunity to strike.

• Yin Wanqing explained that a Divine Cat served the supreme true god and that the cities of Kunlun, Fanghu, Penglai, and Yingzhou had become ruined sacrificial grounds.
• Li Qingyun declared that he wanted to reclaim what was rightfully his and asked Yin Wanqing and Uncle Yin to help revive the Yin Family and retake Holy Seal City.
• Li Qingyun tested his inscriptions on Uncle Yin, who judged that Li Qingyun could probably bind Teng Tongxuan with his full power; Li Qingyun also revealed a Thunder Lord seal.
• Yin Wanqing and Uncle Yin said Teng Tongxuan was heavily guarded, and Li Qingyun insisted that the Yin Family arrange their own opportunity to strike.
• Li Qingyun left two strings of Yin-Yang Copper Coins to pay for a Rebirth Talisman and told the Yin Family to signal their plans by posting one on the courtyard gate.

Li Qingyun took Gu Li, Xiao Ao, and Zhao Xuan on a profitable carriage trip from Ghost Gate Pass to Holy Seal City and back, then refined Yin and Yang energy from fifty thousand big coins to reach the fourth layer of the Death Gate Realm. In the Southern Nether Imperial Palace, Martial Emperor Li Zuo noticed red hairs appearing on Yuanbao as the cat played with his children.

• Li Qingyun arranged for Zhao Xuan to check a western district door for a Rebirth Talisman and told his companions he planned to take a carriage to Holy Seal City.
• Li Qingyun and his three companions boarded a full carriage after a scholar paid the other passengers to make room, and they earned bundles of goods during the trip.
• Li Qingyun refined Yin and Yang energy from fifty thousand big coins and advanced from the first to the fourth layer of the Death Gate Realm.
• Li Qingyun wondered whether Yuanbao was a Mysterious Spirit Cat or a Divine Cat, and ripples swept across the sky above the Southern Border.
• Martial Emperor Li Zuo told Empress Wu Yue that Yuanbao had begun playing with his children and pointed out red hairs on the cat's head.

Li Qingyun visited Li Zuo and Wu Yue’s children and noticed that Yuanbao had grown crimson hairs after his breakthrough into the Death Gate Realm. He brought the cat to his secret hall to investigate its awakened bloodline and test whether it could enter his inner scenery.

• Li Qingyun’s phantom appeared while Li Zuo, Wu Yue, their children, and Yuanbao were dining, and he greeted the family.
• Li Qingyun noticed the crimson hairs on Yuanbao’s head and learned they had appeared thirteen days earlier, around the time he broke through the Death Gate.
• Li Qingyun took Yuanbao to the Bronze Secret Hall, where the cat comfortably endured his powerful murderous aura.
• Li Qingyun suspected Yuanbao had awakened a Divine Cat bloodline and might accompany him to Living Ghost Heaven.
• Li Qingyun tried to draw Yuanbao into his inner mansion, but the cat entered the dark void on its own.