Chapter Summaries

Luo Hong offered the village Fire Flood Dragon Scales in exchange for help carrying Soul Stones out of the Netherworld, and the villagers agreed after a night of discussion. While examining the village’s stone steles, he found a Buddhist treasure left by a Great Jin monk and took it with him.

• Luo Hong explained that he wanted the villagers to gather Soul Stones, while the old man considered the danger to the village and asked for time to discuss the proposal.
• Luo Hong visited the village’s stone steles, where he learned of Great Jin and found an inscription from a Pure Lotus Sect Guardian Arhat asking that a treasure be returned to his sect.
• Luo Hong took the dusty beast-hide image from the stele, and Fan Mengyi picked out a Bronze Sword.
• The villagers agreed to help Luo Hong, and he handed the old man the Fire Flood Dragon Scales as a show of good faith.
• Luo Hong asked whether the village had sturdy weapons, preferably long whips.

Luo Hong cleared Netherworld Beasts from the stone mountains to collect Soul Stones, then recognized that the Netherworld lay inside the ancient True Spirit Rahu. Han Li arrived at the village with Zi Ling, and Luo Hong prepared to hunt alongside him.

• Luo Hong killed the Jiao Zheng Beast King and explained to Fan Mengyi that Soul Stones would help him prepare to establish and defend a cultivation territory.
• Luo Hong realized the stone mountains resembled Rahu's teeth and understood that the Netherworld was inside the ancient True Spirit.
• Luo Hong and villagers spent a month clearing Netherworld Beasts and gathering Soul Stones.
• Han Li arrived with Zi Ling, whom Luo Hong recognized, and agreed to hunt Netherworld Beasts with him.
• Luo Hong found Mei Ning reunited with her brother, while Han Li used the Soul-Devouring Beast to help hunt Netherworld Beasts.

Luo Hong and Han Li escaped the Netherworld and returned to the Southern Sky Cultivation World, where they settled the rescued villagers and considered how to form Nascent Souls. Luo Hong planned to travel to the Nine Nations Alliance and revealed that he intended to visit the Moon Concealing Sect.

• Luo Hong and Han Li emerged from the Netherworld into the Boundless Sea, and Han Li confirmed they had returned to Southern Sky.
• Luo Hong sensed the spatial rift linked to Yuan Yao, then led the group north across the sea for four months until they reached Xi Kingdom.
• Luo Hong settled the Netherworld villagers on a fertile plain, and the cultivators temporarily lodged near a town in Minzhou.
• Zi Ling urged Han Li to take Mei Ning as a concubine, but Han Li refused, and Zi Ling and Mei Ning left with Mei Ning's brother.
• Luo Hong and Han Li discussed finding suitable spiritual land for Nascent Soul Formation, and Han Li proposed infiltrating a sect in the Yunmeng Mountain Range.
• Luo Hong said he preferred the Nine Nations Alliance and revealed that he intended to go to the Moon Concealing Sect.

Luo Hong and Han Li discussed Nangong Wan and their plans for Nascent Soul Formation before parting ways. Later, Luo Hong visited his parents’ memorial tablets in Shanyang City and then flew with Fan Mengyi toward Crimson Sun Mountain.

• Luo Hong recognized Han Li’s concern for Nangong Wan and promised to watch over her situation in the Moon Concealing Sect.
• Han Li chose to attempt Nascent Soul Formation in the Yunmeng Mountain Range first, and Luo Hong gave him two Heavenly Demon Pills.
• Han Li offered Luo Hong a Nine-Bend Nascent Soul Nurturing Pill, which Luo Hong agreed to take before leaving.
• Luo Hong visited his parents’ Spirit Tablets in Shanyang City and found no tablets for his cousin Luo Ying and her husband.
• Luo Hong left Shanyang City with Fan Mengyi and discovered Ghost Spirit Sect cultivators at Crimson Sun Mountain.

Luo Hong reached the Moon Concealing Sect and disguised himself as a low-level cultivator to join, leaving Fan Mengyi in seclusion nearby. After passing the sect’s recruitment test through an unusual display of wealth and cultivation, he drew attention by admitting that he had come looking for a Dao companion.

• Luo Hong left Fan Mengyi in seclusion on a nearby mountain so she could pursue Core Formation while he entered the Moon Concealing Sect alone.
• Luo Hong observed the sect’s recruitment test and saw Qiu Changfeng reject three rogue cultivators for failing its preliminary character assessment.
• Luo Hong registered Fifth-grade Spiritual Roots but stunned the examiners by demonstrating Level 10 Qi Refining and producing an Intermediate Spirit Stone and pill bottles.
• Qiu Changfeng questioned Luo Hong about his cultivation and hidden Spirit Fields, and Luo Hong explained that he grew Spirit Grain for his family.
• Luo Hong said he had come looking for a Dao companion, prompting the pink-skirted female cultivator to pass him and offer to introduce her younger sister.

Luo Hong passed the Moon Concealing Sect’s age inspection and Heart-Questioning Trial while concealing his true identity and cultivation. As he left, the white-haired elder warned him that displaying wealth could provoke even fellow disciples, making Luo Hong suspect that someone had taken notice of his spirit stone.

• Elder Mo exposed Gu Le and his wife for falsifying their ages, and Qiu Changfeng had them expelled from the pavilion.
• Elder Mo recognized that Luo Hong’s unusual bones came from body tempering and asked Qiu Changfeng to escort him upstairs for closer questioning.
• The white-haired elder used a Heart-Questioning Talisman to ask Luo Hong about his background, motives, and cultivation, and Luo Hong answered with his prepared persona.
• The white-haired elder cleared Luo Hong to join the Moon Concealing Sect and warned him not to flaunt his wealth.
• Luo Hong suspected the warning was connected to the Intermediate Spirit Stone he had shown and looked directly at the white-haired elder.

Luo Hong uncovered the source of a cultivator’s hostility, secretly planted a Blood Puppet Flying Ant in him, and entered the Moon Concealing Sect as a new disciple. Assigned to Spirit Jade Peak, he was taken to meet Yu Ruoxi but found Qi Yunxiao there instead, who said she had gone into seclusion.

• Luo Hong used the Soul-Bewitching Technique on the white-haired old man and learned that a sallow-skinned cultivator hated him for possessing many Spirit Stones, though the man was not motivated by greed.
• Luo Hong planted a tiny Blood Puppet Flying Ant inside the sallow-skinned cultivator so he could track him and potentially kill him if he became a threat.
• After the trials ended, Luo Hong and the new disciples entered the Moon Concealing Sect and were assigned to its peaks; Luo Hong was sent to Spirit Jade Peak.
• Madam Zhou and Huang Huaiying explained Spirit Jade Peak’s work and mentioned Martial Uncle Yu’s young relatives, briefly alarming Luo Hong before he learned they were Yu Ruoxi’s grandchildren.
• Huang Huaiying brought Luo Hong to meet Yu Ruoxi, but Qi Yunxiao said she had gone into seclusion and that he was temporarily managing Spirit Jade Peak.

Huang Huaiying brought Luo Hong to choose a cultivation art and explained why Martial Ancestor Yu was avoiding Martial Uncle Qi. While browsing the sect’s collection, Luo Hong found an art that could help him study Heart Demons and reviewed his understanding of the three steps of Nascent Soul Formation.

• Huang Huaiying told Luo Hong that Martial Uncle Qi used dual cultivation and harvesting methods, and she planned to avoid him.
• Huang Huaiying explained that Martial Ancestor Yu had secluded himself because his cultivation art required a Dao companion, while Martial Uncle Qi had the Great Elder’s approval to pursue him.
• Huang Huaiying took Luo Hong to a building that stored cultivation art Jade Slips, where Senior Sister Wang gave him a one-use Jade Token.
• Luo Hong found the Ice Heart Art and considered studying it to better understand Heart Demons, though he rejected its promise of erasing emotions.
• Luo Hong reviewed Nascent Soul Formation’s three steps: Shattering the Core, Spiritual God Fusion, and slaying the Inner Demon.

Luo Hong chose the Ice Heart Art to help him withstand the Heart Demon trial of Nascent Soul Formation, but discovered that its later layers would strip away too much emotion and desire. After settling into his new Spirit Herb Garden, he devised a plan to create an Ice Heart Personality as a weapon against his Heart Demon without cultivating the art normally.

• Luo Hong selected the Ice Heart Art from the Moon Concealing Sect’s collection, and Senior Wang warned him not to cultivate beyond its second layer.
• Huang Huaiying explained the benefits of the first two layers and brought Luo Hong to his new Spirit Herb Garden.
• Luo Hong took charge of the garden, built a concealed cave residence and Spirit Restraining Array, and cast the Small Rain Cloud Art over the fields.
• Luo Hong studied the Ice Heart Art and realized its later layers would suppress emotions and desire, making it unsuitable as direct protection against his Heart Demon.
• Luo Hong conceived of creating an Ice Heart Personality to fight his Heart Demon and realized he could use the art without actually cultivating it.

Luo Hong developed a plan to create an External Incarnation that could isolate the Ice Heart Art’s effects from his own mind. He destroyed the Giant Blood Puppet Flying Ant and used its Blood Marrow to house an independent Split Spirit, leaving the incarnation at an initial stage of refinement.

• Luo Hong realized he could separate the Ice Heart Art’s emotion-wearing effect from its cultivation method and planned to create corresponding talismans.
• Luo Hong studied the Six Harmonies Blood Burning Method and decided to use it as a reference for refining an External Incarnation.
• Luo Hong summoned the Giant Blood Puppet Flying Ant and used his restrictions and Silver Spirit Eye to destroy its Fierce Soul.
• Luo Hong confirmed the Blood Marrow could serve as a protective shell and separated his Split Spirit from his primordial spirit.
• Luo Hong placed the independent Split Spirit inside the Blood Marrow, creating the initial form of an External Incarnation.

Luo Hong received an award at Spirit Jade Peak’s Blessing Assembly for his work in the Spirit Herb Garden, then set out to buy herbs for brewing improved Azure Flame Wine. After Huang Huaiying arranged a meeting between him and her younger sister, Luo Hong intervened when Qi Yeming harassed Wang Qingqing, a direct disciple of Martial Uncle Yu.

• Madam Zhou presented Luo Hong with two jade bottles and a pouch of spirit stones for his contribution to the sect’s spirit grain harvest.
• Luo Hong left for Emerald Mist Hall to buy spiritual herbs for wine brewed with a Level 8 Demonic Core.
• Huang Huaiying told Luo Hong that her younger sister had agreed to meet him and urged him to take part in Spirit Jade Peak’s affairs.
• Huang Huaiying explained that Wang Qingqing was Martial Uncle Yu’s direct disciple and that Qi Yeming was Martial Uncle Qi’s nephew.
• Qi Yeming grabbed Wang Qingqing’s forearm, and Luo Hong flew over and invited her to go to Emerald Mist Hall with him.

Luo Hong helped Wang Qingqing escape Qi Yeming’s matchmaking advances and asked her for the final three layers of the Ice Heart Art in return. He then accompanied her to Emerald Mist Hall, where he ordered several costly spiritual herbs and waited for the shopkeeper to retrieve them.

• Wang Qingqing flew away with Luo Hong, leaving Qi Yeming furious and plotting against Luo Hong with Senior Song.
• Huang Huaiying saw Qi Yeming and Senior Song plotting, then returned to her cave abode, believing the matchmaking would fail.
• Wang Qingqing checked Luo Hong’s meridians, confirmed he had cultivated only the first layer of the Ice Heart Art, and agreed to take him to the Scripture Depository for the remaining layers.
• Luo Hong asked to stop at Emerald Mist Hall to purchase spiritual herbs, and Wang Qingqing accompanied him.
• Luo Hong ordered several rare herbs, including three-hundred-year-old He Shou Wu, and the gray-haired shopkeeper went to retrieve them after Luo Hong showed he had enough spirit stones.

Luo Hong accepted Qi Yeming’s challenge after Qi provoked him by insulting his master, then defeated him with a single punch. He pretended the effort had badly injured him as Wang Qingqing came to his side.

• Qi Yeming admitted he had taken the Phoenix Sun Ganoderma and Black Frost Flower and challenged Luo Hong to a bet match, wagering Luo Hong’s herbs against the missing ones.
• After Qi Yeming insulted Martial Ancestor Yu, Luo Hong agreed to fight him under the sect’s rules, and Wang Qingqing followed as a witness.
• Luo Hong and Qi Yeming presented their spiritual herbs as stakes before the match began outside Emerald Mist Hall.
• Qi Yeming summoned his Li Fire Pearl, but Luo Hong used his movement technique to get close and knock him into the pool with one punch.
• The Black-robed Old Man jumped into the pool to rescue Qi Yeming while Luo Hong pretended his secret technique had injured him, and a figure approached him on a fragrant breeze.

After defeating Qi Yeming, Luo Hong arranged his death during a failed Foundation Establishment breakthrough and left the Moon Concealing Sect a year later. He traveled with Fan Mengyi to Yellow Maple Valley’s Trade Fair, where they arrived at the busy Lone Sword Peak venue.

• Wang Qingqing gave Luo Hong a pill after his duel with Qi Yeming, then warned him that the Qi Family would retaliate and lent him a formation set.
• Luo Hong secretly left a Blood Puppet Flying Ant inside Qi Yeming, planning for it to rupture his dantian when he attempted Foundation Establishment.
• A year later, Luo Hong learned that Qi Yeming had died during his breakthrough while Qi Yunxiao secretly investigated the death.
• Luo Hong left the Moon Concealing Sect and traveled to Yellow Maple Valley’s ten-year Trade Fair at Lone Sword Peak.
• Luo Hong arrived with his disciple Fan Mengyi, who had reached Foundation Establishment Late-stage, and headed toward the pavilion as she noticed a lively area.

Luo Hong attended Yellow Maple Valley’s Trade Fair with Fan Mengyi, bought several spiritual materials, and watched the barter session begin. When Floating Cloud Child revealed a strange jade slip, Luo Hong noticed three masked Core Formation cultivators react to it and became curious about its secret.

• Luo Hong and Fan Mengyi arrived at the Giant Pavilion, where Dong Xuelong seated Luo Hong in a quiet part of the trading hall.
• The Trade Fair began with an unclaimed magic treasure, the Purple Sun Sword, which sold for over forty thousand Spirit Stones; Luo Hong reminded Fan Mengyi to focus on reaching the Core Formation Stage.
• Luo Hong bought three rare spiritual materials for five thousand Spirit Stones during the first half of the fair.
• Floating Cloud Child reached the platform first when the barter session began and presented a jade slip surrounded by red fiery clouds.
• Luo Hong noticed three masked Core Formation cultivators grow agitated at the jade slip, and one of them called it Long Shang before another silenced him.

Luo Hong traded a Seventh-grade Earth Flood Dragon Scale for Floating Cloud Child’s Mulan Spirit Arts jade slip, attracting many would-be traders who hoped to obtain his remaining scales. The chapter ended with Luo Hong asking a Moon Concealing Sect Elder whether she had a Demon Breaking Pill.

• Floating Cloud Child offered a jade slip containing a Mulan Superior Master’s Spirit Arts in exchange for high-grade earth-element spiritual materials.
• Luo Hong traded a Seventh-grade Earth Flood Dragon Scale for the jade slip, and Ancestor Linghu calmed the excited crowd.
• Several cultivators tried to trade rare items for Luo Hong’s remaining scales, but he rejected their offers, while Fan Mengyi grew uneasy.
• A Palace Attire Female Cultivator offered a ring-shaped magic treasure for Pills, but attracted no trade interest.
• Luo Hong asked the Palace Attire Female Cultivator whether she had a Demon Breaking Pill, which she was reluctant to trade because she had reserved it for her own Nascent Soul Formation.

Luo Hong traded Seventh-grade Flood Dragon Scales for a Demon Breaking Pill, then rejected Ancestor Linghu’s offer to join Yellow Maple Valley. On his way back to the Moon Concealing Sect, he discovered the three Mulan cultivators confronting an injured man over a captive woman and a mysterious item.

• Luo Hong exchanged twenty Seventh-grade Flood Dragon Scales with the red-clad female cultivator for a Demon Breaking Pill.
• A Painted-face Cultivator offered a partially refined Green Splendor Treasure Hairpin, and a tense cultivator agreed to consider buying it.
• Ancestor Linghu invited Luo Hong to join Yellow Maple Valley with promises of Nascent Soul formation support and future inheritance, but Luo Hong declined.
• Ancestor Linghu asked Dong Xuelong to investigate Luo Hong’s name after Luo Hong left with Fan Mengyi.
• Luo Hong followed the three Painted-face Cultivators and found them threatening an injured black-clothed cultivator over a captive woman and an item.
• The Black-faced Cultivator tossed the Jade Hairpin to the White-faced Cultivator and agreed to let the black-clothed cultivator see the captive.

Luo Hong killed two Mulan cultivators and pursued their leader after the black-clothed spy died from poison. Fan Mengyi relayed the spy’s final words, “Sacred Beast” and “Precious Mirror,” leaving Luo Hong aware that the affair was more complicated than he had expected.

• The black-clothed cultivator learned through his jade hairpin that Yanran had been killed, then realized he had been poisoned with the Ten Absolute Poisons.
• A Signal Arrow revealed the three masked Mulan cultivators to Luo Hong and Fan Mengyi, and the red-faced leader ordered an attack on Luo Hong.
• Luo Hong teleported past the trio’s spirit beasts, killed the black-faced and white-faced cultivators, and pursued the fleeing red-faced cultivator.
• Fan Mengyi collected the dead Mulan Magicians’ Storage Bags and heard the dying spy say, “Sacred Beast” and “Precious Mirror.”
• Luo Hong returned after the distant fighting, took Fan Mengyi a thousand li to a market town, and asked her what the spy had said.

Luo Hong killed three Mulan Magicians who had attacked a spy carrying intelligence about the Mulan Sacred Beast’s planned descent, then escaped with Fan Mengyi. The Mulan leaders decided to continue their plan while Nangong Wan and Ancestor Linghu investigated the killings and connected them to Luo Hong.

• Luo Hong found blood-red Tracking Stones in the Mulan Magicians’ Storage Bags and teleported with Fan Mengyi to a distant underground safe house.
• Divine Master Zhong failed to track Luo Hong, and Madam Yang reasoned that the spy probably had not revealed the Mulan plan to the Nine Nations Alliance.
• Divine Master Zhong ordered the Mulan spies to watch the Moon Concealing Sect and continue preparations for the Sacred Beast’s descent.
• Nangong Wan arrived at Nameless Green Mountain and questioned Ancestor Linghu about the deaths of the Mulan Magicians and the poisoned spy.
• Ancestor Linghu suspected Luo Hong had killed the Mulan Magicians, but learned from Nangong Wan that Luo Hong had been a disciple of Li Huayuan from Yellow Maple Valley.

Nangong Wan ordered an investigation into Luo Hong after learning that the Mulan people might threaten the Moon Concealing Sect, while Luo Hong returned to his Spirit Herb Garden and completed his preparations for Nascent Soul Formation. Two years later, Wang Qingqing told him about the upcoming Moonlight Grand Competition, but Luo Hong remained troubled and planned not to participate.

• Shi Zhongqin told Nangong Wan that a third party had intervened in the agent disciple’s death and ordered her to investigate Luo Hong and prepare the sect’s Core Formation Elders for danger.
• Nangong Wan sent Fairy Nishang to investigate Luo Hong and warned Core Formation disciples in seclusion to remain summonable.
• Luo Hong returned to his Spirit Herb Garden, shut himself away, and spent two years completing his preparations for Nascent Soul Formation.
• Wang Qingqing visited Luo Hong and explained the Moonlight Grand Competition, its rewards, and the opportunity to be chosen as a personal disciple.
• Wang Qingqing interpreted Luo Hong’s troubled expression as concern about finding a cultivation partner, while Luo Hong decided not to participate in the competition.