Recaps

Gu Tong briefed the Gu family disciples on the dangers and boundaries of their Azure Ruins Battlefield expedition. As the flying ship entered the outskirts, Lin Bai sensed an intruder and joined Gu Rong in searching for it, where they discovered a black fox.

• Gu Tong showed the disciples a map and ordered them to search only Monarch's Slope, warning them about the battlefield's dangers.
• Lin Bai returned to his room to cultivate, and two days later took an Antitoxin Pill when the flying ship entered the outskirts of the Azure Ruins Battlefield.
• Lin Bai sensed a concealed presence aboard the ship and asked Gu Rong to help search for it.
• Lin Bai and Gu Rong found a faint aura near the rear of the ship, spotted a black shadow, and chased it through a passageway.
• Lin Bai and Gu Rong caught sight of a black fox, which turned toward them and laughed sinisterly.

Lin Bai and Gu Rong confronted a Black Fox Demon that had infiltrated their flying vessel in the Azure Ruins Battlefield. After the fox wounded Gu Rong and mocked the Silver Moon City disciples, Lin Bai struck it with his sword intent, but the badly wounded demon escaped into the night.

• Gu Rong attacked the Black Fox with the Frost Spirit Sword, but its agility let it evade her strikes.
• Gu Siling arrived and warned Lin Bai that the fox’s presence in the Azure Ruins Battlefield was unusual, and Lin Bai deduced it came from the Boundless Wasteland.
• The Black Fox found an opening and clawed Gu Rong, then mocked the Gu family disciples from Silver Moon City.
• Lin Bai pulled Gu Rong out of the way when the Black Fox attacked again, while the fox dismissed him as an unworthy Quasi-Dao Realm cultivator.
• Lin Bai unleashed his sword intent and struck the retreating Black Fox, which screamed and escaped gravely wounded.

After Lin Bai drove off the Black Fox, the Gu Family’s flying ship reached Monarch’s Slope, where the disciples established a camp and began searching for treasures. Lin Bai and Gu Rong set out alone, leaving Gu Siling to lead her own group.

• Lin Bai chose not to pursue the wounded Black Fox, and Gu Rong vowed to kill him after he defeated her.
• Gu Siling recognized that Lin Bai’s sword intent surpassed Nangong Mo’s Extreme Dao Sword Intent and reported the attack to Elder Gu Tong, who ordered the ship patrolled.
• Three days later, Elder Gu Tong announced that the Gu Family had reached Monarch’s Slope, and Gu Yule chose a quiet canyon for their camp.
• After the Gu Family disciples began searching for treasures, Gu Siling invited Lin Bai and Gu Rong to join her group, but Gu Rong refused.
• Lin Bai apologized to Gu Siling and followed Gu Rong into the forest to search for treasures alone.

Lin Bai left Gu Rong to search Monarch's Slope alone and discovered that the Azure Ruins Battlefield's sinister burial grounds could nurture ghosts and corpse monsters. After destroying a Quasi-Dao Realm corpse, he considered using his Soul Refining Banner to deal with other such beings.

• Gu Rong told Lin Bai she could search for treasures on her own, and he left three strands of sword intent in her hair so he could sense danger and be contacted.
• Lin Bai flew over Monarch's Slope, sensed a sinister aura in a mountain forest, and descended after confirming nobody else was nearby.
• A dried corpse in a tomb lured Lin Bai in and attacked him, but he destroyed it with two strands of sword intent.
• Lin Bai realized the battlefield's corpses and dense sinister aura could nurture wandering souls, ghosts, and corpse monsters, then took out his Soul Refining Banner.

Lin Bai used the sinister yin energy in the Azure Ruins Battlefield to strengthen the Soul Refining Banner and absorb wandering spirits. As the banner drew energy from across Monarch's Slope, Xu Ci and fellow martial artists from Tianchi City noticed and prepared to investigate.

• Lin Bai planted the Soul Refining Banner in a forest and found that it absorbed the local sinister yin energy, strengthening its souls and drawing in unconscious wandering spirits.
• Lin Bai poured spiritual power into the banner, expanding its range and drawing sinister yin energy toward it from across Monarch's Slope.
• Xu Ci, a Two-Tribulation Dao Realm martial artist from Tianchi City, sensed the energy disappearing and suspected a powerful evil fiend or creature was consuming it.
• Xu Ci's injured companions worried that the evil creature they had fought might be recovering, and Xu Ci ordered them to heal before investigating.

Lin Bai used the Soul Refining Banner to absorb the sinister energy and lingering souls at Monarch's Slope, angering the ghost cultivator who had gathered them. Xu Ci and his companions approached Lin Bai but decided not to provoke him, only for the ghost cultivator to arrive and confront them.

• Lin Bai's Soul Refining Banner drew in the lingering souls beneath a distant cliff, enraging the ghost cultivator who had stored them as food.
• The ghost cultivator turned into a mass of black qi and charged toward Lin Bai's mountain forest.
• Xu Ci and four companions spotted Lin Bai refining the banner and descended to question him.
• Lin Bai said he was refining a magical treasure and told them they could leave, while Xu Ci judged it safer not to attack.
• As Xu Ci and his companions turned to go, the ghost cultivator appeared in a storm of black clouds and demanded to know who was causing trouble on his turf.

Xu Ci and four companions fought the old ghost in a forest thick with sinister energy, but were badly defeated. Lin Bai then revealed his sword power, captured the ghost with the Soul Refining Banner, and began dragging him inside.

• Xu Ci and the four companions attacked the old ghost, but after a prolonged fight he used the forest’s dense sinister energy to overwhelm them and tear flesh from Xu Ci’s chest.
• The old ghost spotted the Soul Refining Banner and attacked Lin Bai, assuming the Quasi-Dao Realm cultivator would be an easy target.
• Lin Bai struck the old ghost with a single finger of sword intent, blasting him away and astonishing Xu Ci and his companions.
• Lin Bai raised the Soul Refining Banner and sent its souls and soul-binding chains after the old ghost as he tried to flee.
• Nine black chains caught the old ghost and dragged him toward the Soul Refining Banner, leaving him unable to escape.

Lin Bai captured the old ghost with the Soul Refining Banner, and the Crow showed interest in the treasure after awakening from his memories. The Crow then recalled a powerful Ghost King at Monarch's Slope and explained ghost cultivation's benefits and limits, leaving Lin Bai asking how ghost cultivators preserved their intelligence.

• Lin Bai used the Soul Refining Banner to bind and capture the weakened old ghost for soul refining.
• The Crow asked to borrow the Soul Refining Banner, prompting Lin Bai to reconsider its potential and the Crow's ability to develop it.
• Xu Ci and the other four thanked Lin Bai for saving them, then left to find a place to heal.
• Lin Bai resumed refining the banner and asked the Crow what he had remembered at Monarch's Slope.
• The Crow recalled that a Ghost King had once cultivated there and explained how ghost cultivators could avoid heavenly lightning and live indefinitely, but could not pass on their bloodline or return to life.
• Lin Bai asked how ghost cultivators maintained their intelligence.

Lin Bai and the Crow discussed ghost cultivators and planned to subdue the Ghost King on Monarch's Slope to claim its treasures and use it to locate others. The Crow taught Lin Bai the Thunder Seal, then asked to borrow his Soul Refining Banner, and Lin Bai began working out conditions for the loan.

• The Crow explained that ghost cultivators craved flesh and blood and that powerful ghost cultivators had created the poisonous miasma around the Azure Ruins Battlefield.
• The Crow proposed that Lin Bai and it subdue the Ghost King on Monarch's Slope, take its treasures, and make it lead them to more.
• The Crow urged Lin Bai to rely on the Five Elements Divine Lightning Manual and taught him the Thunder Seal as a means to fight or escape the Ghost King.
• Lin Bai practiced the Thunder Seal and felt the destructive power of the Five-Colored Divine Lightning in his palm.
• The Crow asked Lin Bai to give it the Soul Refining Banner, and Lin Bai offered to lend it only if the Crow accepted his conditions.

Lin Bai lent the Soul Refining Banner to the crow on the condition that it be returned whenever needed and that the crow develop its potential. While searching Monarch’s Slope for the Ghost King’s cave, Lin Bai followed Gu family disciples to a gathering at Watching the Moon Cave, where cultivators had assembled for Moonflower Dew.

• Lin Bai lent the Soul Refining Banner to the crow, which swallowed it and urged him to search for the female Ghost King.
• Lin Bai searched Monarch’s Slope for several days while cultivating the Thunder Seal, but he and the crow failed to find the Ghost King’s cave.
• Lin Bai followed anxious Gu family disciples to a mountain where Gu family disciples, Demon Race members, and human cultivators had gathered, but he saw no sign of Gu Rong.
• The crow recognized the mountain as the site of Watching the Moon Cave, home to the female ghost cultivator Yue Shuang.
• Xu Ci greeted Lin Bai and asked whether he had come for Moonflower Dew, while Lin Bai wondered what the treasure was.

Lin Bai learned that humans, the Demon Race, and ghost cultivators were contending over Moonflower Dew in the Moon Gazing Cave, then waited outside while the other factions entered and fought. When the battle quieted, Lin Bai and the crow prepared to enter and take advantage of the weakened survivors.

• Xu Ci explained that a Ghost King cultivated in the Moon Gazing Cave and that humans and the Demon Race were stalemated outside, each afraid to attack first.
• Lin Bai and the crow stayed back while Gu Yule reached an agreement with the Tiger Demon, and Xu Ci left with his companions to join the others.
• The humans and Demon Race charged into the cave, where black fog engulfed them and a fierce battle began against the ghost cultivators.
• Xu Ci and his companions entered amid the chaos, and an unnoticed woman entered as well.
• After waiting for the fighting to die down, Lin Bai and the crow set off for the Moon Gazing Cave to seize the opportunity.

Lin Bai entered Moon Gazing Cave searching for the Ghost King and found humans and demons fighting over Moonflower Dew at Yue Hua Pool. He rescued Gu Rong from the Black Fox, but the Crow doubted the claim that the Ghost King had been killed.

• Lin Bai entered Moon Gazing Cave, where the Crow used the Soul Refining Banner to absorb fleeing remnant souls.
• Lin Bai heard humans and demons fighting over Yue Hua Pool and found them battling beside the emerald-green pool.
• Lin Bai saw Gu Rong being badly wounded by the Black Fox as she fought to protect the Frost Spirit Sword.
• Lin Bai pierced the Black Fox with sword intent, then pulled Gu Rong to his side and asked what had happened.
• Gu Rong said the Tiger Demon, Gu Yule, and Gu Gongyu had killed a powerful ghost cultivator, but the Crow angrily insisted they could not have killed the Ghost King.

Lin Bai warned the humans and demons that the Ghost King was still alive and hiding beneath Yue Hua Pool. He forced Yue Shuang out of the water, and she attacked him, only to be driven back by his Five Elements Divine Lightning.

• Black Fox told Tiger Demon that Lin Bai had arrived, prompting the demons and humans to stop fighting and gather on opposite sides.
• Tiger Demon questioned whether Lin Bai had wounded Black Fox, while Lin Bai denied being a Gu family disciple and told both sides to keep fighting without minding him.
• Lin Bai warned everyone that the Ghost King had likely faked her death and was waiting for them to exhaust each other.
• Lin Bai called to the calm waters of Yue Hua Pool and gathered the Five Elements Divine Lightning in his palm.
• Yue Shuang, Ghost King, erupted from the pool and revealed her plan to kill everyone after they weakened one another.
• Yue Shuang attacked Lin Bai with black mist, but Lin Bai shattered it with his lightning and forced her to flee aside.

Lin Bai used Five Elements Divine Lightning and the Soul Refining Banner to subdue Yue Shuang, Ghost King, and left Moon Gazing Cave without claiming the Moonflower Dew. The humans and Demon Race members watched in shock as he departed, while Tiger Demon and Black Fox resolved not to provoke him.

• Yue Shuang, Ghost King recoiled from Lin Bai's Divine Lightning as Crow sent the Soul Refining Banner's nine chains after her.
• Yue Shuang, Ghost King unleashed a sound wave that injured the gathered martial artists, then fled toward the cave exit.
• Lin Bai activated the Soul Refining Banner and struck Yue Shuang, Ghost King with the Thunder Seal, leaving her weakened enough for the chains to bind her and drag her into the banner.
• Crow saw Yue Shuang, Ghost King's Soul Body trapped inside the soul-refining space, where a mysterious force began devouring her Ling Zhi.
• Lin Bai declined to compete for the Moonflower Dew and headed for the exit, while Tiger Demon and Black Fox decided not to provoke him.

After Lin Bai subdued the Ghost King Yue Shuang, the humans and demons negotiated over the Moonflower Dew while he withdrew to question her. The chapter ended with the bound Yue Shuang trying to charm Lin Bai, only for the Crow to demand that she call him Grandpa.

• Gu Yule and Gu Gongyu debated Lin Bai’s strength, while Gu Siling reminded them that Senior Hong Ding had chosen him.
• The humans and demons negotiated over the Moonflower Dew instead of fighting, then went their separate ways after leaving the Moon Gazing Cave.
• Lin Bai settled in a mountain ravine and asked the Crow what they should do with the subdued Ghost King.
• The Crow released Yue Shuang from the Soul Refining Banner but kept her bound with nine chains.
• Yue Shuang called Lin Bai “Young master” and tried to entice him, but the Crow ordered her to call him Grandpa.

Lin Bai and the Raven forced Yue Shuang, Ghost King, to reveal her ghost manor and help them find treasures in the Azure Ruins Battlefield. When she denied knowing about other treasures, the Raven exposed her past with the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor, leaving her terrified.

• Yue Shuang, Ghost King, tried to win Lin Bai's sympathy, but he told her to cooperate and listen to the Raven.
• The Raven demanded Yue Shuang hand over her treasures and take them to her ghost manor.
• Yue Shuang claimed her treasures had been taken and denied knowing about a ghost manor, so the Raven struck her with an iron chain.
• Yue Shuang asked whether surrendering the ghost manor would earn her freedom, but the Raven said she must also lead them to other treasures.
• Yue Shuang denied knowing the Azure Ruins Battlefield, and the Raven recounted how the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor had used her before she fled on their wedding day.

The Crow revealed that Yue Shuang had escaped the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor, who had planned to use her Nine Yin Spirit Nurturing Body to produce a Ghost God Child. Yue Shuang agreed to guide Lin Bai and the Crow to treasures, and the Crow began explaining the rare Nine Yin Ghost Physique and Yue Shuang’s unusual nature.

• The Crow told Yue Shuang that the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor had taken her in to cultivate her Nine Yin Spirit Nurturing Body and intended to drain her strength, but she escaped during their wedding.
• The Crow threatened to expose Yue Shuang unless she cooperated, and she agreed to reveal the location of her ghost manor and guide Lin Bai and the Crow to other treasures.
• Yue Shuang willingly entered the Soul Refining Banner, and Lin Bai and the Crow set out for her ghost manor.
• Lin Bai confronted the Crow about knowing Yue Shuang’s origins, and the Crow admitted he had kept the matter secret because it involved too much.
• The Crow explained that the Nine Yin Ghost Physique usually emerged in martial artists after death, but Yue Shuang had developed it as a wandering soul and possessed exceptionally pure Yin Essence.

The Crow explained Yue Shuang’s Nine Yin Spirit Nurturing Body and the Ghost God Child’s extraordinary nature, revealing why the human and Demon races attacked the Azure Ruins Battlefield. He urged Lin Bai to find and protect Yue Shuang so they could take her to the Netherworld and sell her, though Lin Bai resisted treating her as merchandise.

• The Crow told Lin Bai that Yue Shuang’s pure Yin Essence could strengthen his divine soul and that she could give birth to the Ghost God Child, a being with ghost-cultivator talent and eternal life.
• The Crow explained that ghost cultivators were immortal but faced Heaven’s wrath, while the Ghost God Child could escape the laws of heaven and earth and become a godlike power in the Spirit Realm.
• The Crow recounted how Yun Jun’s divination revealed the Ghost God Child’s existence, prompting the human and Demon races to attack the Azure Ruins Battlefield and drive Rakshasa Ghost Emperor and the ghost cultivators away.
• The Crow revealed that Yue Shuang had escaped during the chaos and that the human and Demon races had searched for her, while Rakshasa Ghost Emperor later returned to the Ghost Manor to heal.
• The Crow urged Lin Bai to find Yue Shuang and sell her in the Netherworld, then offered her to Lin Bai for a hundred billion Vermillion Bird Pills if he wanted her to bear the Ghost God Child.

Lin Bai and Raven brought Yue Shuang to her hidden ghost mansion, where she revealed her treasure vault. As Raven collected the decayed weapons, Lin Bai discovered a green jade fragment that had stirred an unknown power within him.

• Raven explained how Yue Shuang's Nine Yin Spirit Nurturing Body had led the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor to cultivate her for his plans, and how she escaped during an attack on his wedding banquet.
• Lin Bai followed Raven to a hidden chamber beneath a cliff, where Yue Shuang opened the entrance to her ghost mansion.
• Yue Shuang led Lin Bai and Raven to her treasure vault and said she had stored treasures she secretly found at Monarch's Slope.
• Raven began collecting the mostly decayed Divine Weapons and offered Lin Bai one item, while Lin Bai noticed a green jade fragment that affected him.
• Yue Shuang said she had taken the green jade from the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor, who had treasured it, and Raven's pupils contracted as he examined it.

Lin Bai recognized Yue Shuang’s green jade as a fragment he had been searching for, but the crow refused to explain its origin. Lin Bai kept the fragment and left Yue Shuang’s Ghost Manor with the crow after it looted the treasures.

• Yue Shuang told Lin Bai that the Rakshasa Ghost Emperor had worn the green jade close to his body and that she had taken it while escaping.
• The crow tried to trade Lin Bai several treasures for the jade, but Lin Bai refused and asked whether it was one of the fragments.
• The crow’s shocked reaction convinced Lin Bai that the green jade was a fragment, though the crow would not reveal what it knew.
• Lin Bai kept the fragment, and the crow gave up trying to obtain it.
• The crow swept the treasures from Yue Shuang’s Ghost Manor into its storage, and Lin Bai left on his flying sword half a day later.

Lin Bai found Gu Rong and Xu Ci hiding in a valley after the Three-Headed Hound Clan attacked them and killed Xu Ci’s companions. As Gou Hong arrived and attacked the valley, Gu Rong prepared to hold him off while Xu Ci begged Lin Bai for help.

• Lin Bai found Gu Rong, Xu Ci, and several wounded martial artists recovering in a valley.
• Xu Ci explained that Gou Hong and the Three-Headed Hound Clan had hunted the humans after they left Moon Gazing Cave, killing Xu Ci’s companions.
• Xu Ci asked Lin Bai to teach Gou Hong a lesson, but Lin Bai warned Gu Rong that he had planned to leave Monarch’s Slope and asked about Gou Hong’s strength.
• Gou Hong appeared in the sky as a gigantic Three-Headed Mastiff and attacked the valley with a thunderbolt.
• Xu Ci begged Lin Bai to save them, while Gu Rong drew her Frost Spirit Sword and told Lin Bai to flee as she held Gou Hong back.

Lin Bai used the God Seal to defeat and kill Gou Hong, the Three-Headed Mastiff, despite his apparent Quasi-Dao Realm cultivation. After claiming the demon’s Dao Fruit, he told Gu Rong and Xu Ci he was leaving Monarch’s Slope and warned them to be careful.

• Gu Rong urged Lin Bai to flee from Gou Hong, but Lin Bai stepped forward to face the Three-Headed Mastiff.
• Lin Bai’s initial sword attacks failed to harm Gou Hong, so he activated the God Seal and raised his strength to the One-Calamity Dao Realm.
• Lin Bai severed Gou Hong’s first head, then split its thunder and flames before cutting off its remaining two heads.
• Lin Bai took Gou Hong’s Dao Fruit, and the Crow stored the demon’s corpse in its Storage Bag.
• Lin Bai told Gu Rong and Xu Ci that he was leaving Monarch’s Slope and advised them to be careful.

Lin Bai traveled to Red Leaf Valley in the Tomb Mountain Range to search for the South Clarity Dao Lord’s inheritance, despite Yue Shuang’s warning about powerful ghost cultivators in the region. He found no clues and left after encountering five guarded visitors from Tianyi City.

• Lin Bai warned Gu Rong and Xu Ci to stay alert after killing Gou Hong, then left Monarch's Slope for Red Leaf Valley.
• Yue Shuang told Lin Bai that Red Leaf Valley lay in the Tomb Mountain Range, where a Seven Tribulations Dao Realm ghost cultivator served the Asura Ghost Emperor.
• Lin Bai crossed the mountain range and followed a drifting red leaf to Red Leaf Valley.
• Lin Bai searched the valley for most of the day but found no trace of the South Clarity Dao Lord’s inheritance.
• Lin Bai encountered three men and two women from Tianyi City, smiled to show no hostile intent, and walked away.
• Wu Xuan said Lin Bai seemed like a visitor, but a long-faced young man warned her that he could be a wolf in human skin.

Lin Bai searched Red Leaf Valley for the South Clarity Dao Lord’s cave residence and inheritance, while the Crow insisted the valley held no treasure. On the second night, a frigid yin aura revealed a towering mountain that Lin Bai had never seen there before.

• Lin Bai searched Red Leaf Valley through the day and rested beside a stream as the Crow said the valley showed no sign of treasure.
• Lin Bai decided to keep searching for two or three more days before leaving for another location.
• Lin Bai encountered Wu Xuan, Liu Hang, and their companions, who debated whether he was a dangerous hidden enemy.
• Lin Bai spent the next night deducing the valley’s clues while the Crow complained beside him.
• The Crow sensed something unusual, and Lin Bai detected a frigid yin aura spreading from the east.
• Lin Bai rushed toward the aura and saw a newly appeared mountain bearing two faintly lit places.

Lin Bai climbed the newly appeared mountain and found Liu Hang rampaging in a courtyard after reading a book. Wu Xuan told Lin Bai that Liu Hang had killed three companions, and Lin Bai turned his attention to the room where the book lay.

• Lin Bai climbed the ancient mountain path while the Crow collected wandering souls with the Soul Refining Banner.
• Lin Bai reached a thatched cottage and courtyard, where an oil lamp glowed with eerie green light.
• Lin Bai entered the courtyard and saw Liu Hang slashing wildly beside the bodies of Xiao Wu, Li Le, and Tang Chui, while Wu Xuan lay gravely wounded.
• Wu Xuan asked Lin Bai to save Liu Hang and explained that he had gone mad after picking up a book in a small room.
• Lin Bai looked toward the room containing the book.