Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua outmaneuvered the black-clad burly man with an array, a Blazing Flame Talisman, and his Thousand-Jun Rod, then rushed to save the gravely wounded Ji Li. Ji Li briefly regained consciousness but began to lose focus, so Mo Hua appealed to his feelings for Fu Lan and his father to keep him holding on while he awaited help.

• The black-clad burly man survived Mo Hua’s Earth Fire Arrays with one arm badly injured, then pursued him when he appeared to flee and fall.
• Mo Hua used Flowing Water Step to circle behind the burly man and hit him with the Blazing Flame Talisman Old Zhao had given him.
• Mo Hua struck the scorched burly man repeatedly with the Thousand-Jun Rod, then used a Fireball Technique and broke all four of his limbs to ensure he could not fight back.
• Mo Hua treated Ji Li’s wounds with pills and sent up fireworks to signal for help, while Ji Li briefly opened his eyes before his divine sense began to scatter.
• Mo Hua urged Ji Li to think of Fu Lan and his father’s wedding feast, and Ji Li’s eyelids trembled as tears ran down his face.

Mo Hua found Ji Li and sent him down the mountain for treatment, then hurried south to help Ji Qingbai and two Monster Hunters who were losing a fight against sinful cultivators. He exposed the concealed attacker with a Fireball Technique, interrupting another attempt on Ji Qingbai’s life.

• Zhou Cheng and two Monster Hunters arrived, carried the injured Ji Li down the mountain, and left Mo Hua behind.
• Mo Hua used the Sinan Parent-Child Compass to locate a battle to the south and hurried to help Ji Qingbai.
• Mo Hua recognized a concealed cultivator from the Spirit Mine conflict as the hidden attacker who had been helping the sinful cultivators overwhelm Ji Qingbai and the other Monster Hunters.
• Mo Hua set off Signal Flares to call for help, but the sinful cultivators dismissed them and resumed their attack after revealing that the Kong Family had hired them to kill Ji Qingbai and his son.
• The concealed cultivator tried to stab Ji Qingbai, but Mo Hua’s Fireball Technique struck his arm and stopped the attack.

Mo Hua used Fireball Techniques and his superior Movement Technique to stall the Sinful Cultivators and help Ji Qingbai’s group hold their ground. He restored Ji Qingbai’s hope by saying Brother Ji was alive, then showed the One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator Zhao Hu’s half-charred Storage Bag.

• After Mo Hua’s Fireball Technique interrupted the fight, Diao Laosan admitted that the same cultivator who had exposed his Concealment Technique before was targeting him again.
• The One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator found Mo Hua behind a tree, but Mo Hua evaded his attacks and burned him with repeated Fireball Techniques.
• Diao Laosan and two other Sinful Cultivators came to support the One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator, giving Ji Qingbai and the other Monster Hunters time to recover and forcing the battle into a stalemate.
• The One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator taunted Ji Qingbai about his missing son, but Mo Hua said Brother Ji was not dead, renewing Ji Qingbai’s resolve.
• Mo Hua questioned the One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator about Zhao Hu, then showed him Zhao Hu’s half-charred Storage Bag.

Mo Hua helped Ji Qingbai and the other Monster Hunters survive an attack, while the Sinful Cultivators regrouped and decided to strike again. Just as Mo Hua and the gathered Monster Hunters prepared to leave, he sensed their return and announced that the big fish had taken the bait.

• The One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator ordered a retreat, and Mo Hua mocked Diao Laosan as the Sinful Cultivators withdrew into the forest.
• Mo Hua gave healing Pills to Ji Qingbai and the two injured Monster Hunters, while reinforcements arrived after the fog cleared.
• The One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator and Diao Laosan met their bald Big Brother, who agreed to lead the group back to kill Ji Qingbai and the Monster Hunters for the Kong Family's remaining Spirit Stones.
• Nearly a hundred Monster Hunters gathered on the hill after a rumor spread that Mo Hua was injured; Yu Chengyi arrived, confirmed Mo Hua was safe, and heard what had happened.
• As Ji Qingbai and the others prepared to descend the mountain, Mo Hua sensed the Sinful Cultivators returning and said the big fish had been hooked back.

Mo Hua and the injured cultivators waited as the Sinful Cultivators returned, only for more than two hundred Monster Hunters to spring an ambush and overwhelm them. After most of the attackers were captured, Mo Hua singled out Diao Laosan and demanded the formula for his Concealment Technique.

• Bald Sinful Cultivator led more than twenty Sinful Cultivators up the hill, where an Earth Fire Array blasted one attacker and halted their advance.
• One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator detected a vast force of Monster Hunters surrounding them, and Mo Hua revealed that the attackers were the ones at death’s door.
• Bald Sinful Cultivator ordered his men to seize Mo Hua, but the Earth Fire Array, Ji Qingbai, Yu Chengyi, and Mo Hua stopped their attacks as the Monster Hunters charged.
• Mo Hua exposed Diao Laosan’s hiding place with a Fireball, and the Monster Hunters captured him while One-Eyed Sinful Cultivator and Bald Sinful Cultivator escaped.
• Yu Chengyi recognized Diao Laosan from the attack on the Spirit Mine, and Mo Hua demanded that he hand over the formula for his Concealment Technique.

Mo Hua interrogated Diao Laosan to obtain the Concealment Technique and found its incantation hidden inside an ordinary manual. Searching the rest of Diao Laosan’s books, Mo Hua also discovered the Water Prison Technique.

• Mo Hua demanded that Diao Laosan reveal the Concealment Technique, but Diao Laosan refused.
• Mo Hua searched Diao Laosan’s Storage Bag and found no incantation, so Yu Chengyi’s Monster Hunters beat Diao Laosan until he reconsidered.
• As a Monster Hunter dragged him away to be killed, Diao Laosan panicked and agreed to talk.
• Diao Laosan revealed that the Concealment Technique was hidden on pages nineteen through fifty-four of Blazing Flame Fist, and Mo Hua found the incantation there.
• Mo Hua searched Diao Laosan’s other manuals and discovered the Water Prison Technique concealed in Quicksand Palm.

Mo Hua learned about the Water Prison Technique while interrogating Diao Laosan and heard how the Sinful Cultivators had been hired by the Kong Family to pursue Ji Qingbai and his son. After the survivors were delivered to the Dao Prison, Mo Hua visited the recovering Ji Li and left after Ji Qingbai promised to invite him to the wedding.

• Mo Hua questioned Diao Laosan about the Water Prison Technique and learned that the bald fugitive was known as Bald Ascetic, the current eldest brother of the Sinful Cultivators.
• The Monster Hunters delivered the captured Sinful Cultivators to the Dao Court Office, where Yu Chengyi completed the handover and locked them in Dao Prison.
• Yu Chengyi told Mo Hua that the Kong Family had hired the Sinful Cultivators to kill Ji Qingbai and his son and enslave Fu Lan, but the accusation could not be pursued without evidence.
• Mo Hua learned that the escaped Sinful Cultivators were being watched for and that he would receive a bounty for his role in their capture.
• Mo Hua visited Ji Li, who had been stabilized by Elder Feng, and Ji Qingbai agreed to invite Mo Hua to the wedding.

Mo Hua learned the Concealment Technique and Water Prison Technique, discovering that his impure water spirit root made concealment ineffective while his strong divine sense suited the binding spell. After testing the Water Prison Technique on fish and Bai Zisheng, he continued practicing to improve its accuracy.

• Mo Hua practiced the Concealment Technique while Liu Ruhua teased him, then turned partly translucent and realized his impure water spirit root made the spell ineffective for hiding.
• Mo Hua studied and quickly learned the Water Prison Technique, using his strong divine sense to bind a wild fruit in midair.
• Mo Hua tested the Water Prison Technique on fish in Mr. Zhuang's pond, trapping them before releasing them.
• Mo Hua asked Bai Zisheng to practice with him, using the Water Prison Technique while Bai Zisheng trained his Movement Technique.
• After an hour of practice, Mo Hua was trapping Bai Zisheng more often, and Bai Zisheng called the spell disgusting.

Mo Hua received a dietary manual from Bai Zixi, enjoyed Emerald Bamboo Rice with his friends, and continued studying arrays while struggling to strengthen his divine sense. Yu Chengyi then told him that Sinful Cultivators had wiped out a merchant caravan carrying Kong Family young master Kong Sheng, escalating the threat.

• Bai Zixi gave Mo Hua a dietary manual for Liu Ruhua as thanks, and Liu Ruhua used it to make Emerald Bamboo Rice.
• Mo Hua shared the bamboo rice with Mr. Zhuang and the Bai siblings, and he and Bai Zixi ate several portions together beneath the Big Locust Tree.
• Mo Hua practiced Compound Arrays and the Reverse Spirit Array, but wondered how long it would take for his divine sense to reach Foundation Establishment strength.
• Yu Chengyi told Mo Hua that Sinful Cultivators had raided a merchant caravan, leaving more than twenty cultivators missing and only bloodstains behind.
• Yu Chengyi revealed that Kong Sheng, a direct-line young master of the Kong Family, had been in the caravan.

Mo Hua learned that Kong Sheng had disappeared in Great Black Mountain and that the Kong Family suspected the Ji father and son. Zhang Lan explained that the Dao Court Office planned to search for Kong Sheng and capture the Sinful Cultivators, and Mo Hua agreed to help catch Bald Ascetic in exchange for promised benefits.

• Yu Chengyi told Mo Hua that Kong Sheng had secretly followed a caravan toward Immortal City to kill the Ji father and son and take Fu Lan, but had vanished in Great Black Mountain.
• Yu Chengyi said the Kong Family suspected Ji and wanted the group to hand him over, while Mo Hua and Yu Chengyi prepared to resist their pressure.
• Zhang Lan told Mo Hua that the Dao Court Office believed Sinful Cultivators had abducted Kong Sheng and planned to search the mountains with help from Qingxuan City's Dao Court Office.
• Mo Hua refused to help rescue Kong Sheng but agreed to help catch Bald Ascetic after Zhang Lan promised the Dao Court Office would reward him.

Zhang Lan recruited Mo Hua to help the Dao Court Office locate and capture Bald Ascetic, while Lu Hui pressured Ji Qingbai to join a search for Kong Sheng. After learning how Lu Hui had protected the Kong Family’s crimes, Mo Hua urged Zhang Lan to report him to the Dao Court’s Supervision Office.

• Zhang Lan told Mo Hua that the Dao Court Office would use Mo Hua’s Sinan Parent-Child Compound Array to locate Bald Ascetic, and Mo Hua agreed to help.
• Lu Hui arrived with Qingxuan City officials and accused Ji Qingbai of causing Kong Sheng’s disappearance, then threatened him into joining the mountain search.
• Ji Qingbai explained that Lu Hui had long covered up the Kong Family’s crimes, including the abuse and deaths of a girl and her father.
• Zhang Lan said the Dao Court’s Supervision Office could investigate local offices, and Mo Hua persuaded him to send a report about Lu Hui.
• Zhang Lan warned that Lu Hui was dangerous and said they still needed to locate Kong Sheng and capture the Sinful Cultivators; Mo Hua silently marked Lu Hui as a target.

Mo Hua and the Dao Court Office searched Great Black Mountain for Bald Ascetic and Kong Sheng, then discovered a hidden group of Sinful Cultivators in a valley. The group prepared to attack at dawn while Mo Hua secretly began sealing the only mountain pass with Earth Fire Arrays.

• Zhang Lan led the search party into Great Black Mountain, where the teams spent several days looking for Bald Ascetic without finding any Sinful Cultivators.
• Mo Hua recognized a group of supposed Immortal City Monster Hunters as suspicious, and Zhang Lan's team secretly followed them to a valley.
• Zhang Lan confirmed that Bald Ascetic and the One-Eye cultivator were inside the valley with more than twenty people, so the group planned a surprise attack at daybreak.
• Zhang Lan asked how they could seal the valley's only pass, and Mo Hua volunteered to do it.
• Mo Hua crept to the mountain pass and began drawing Earth Fire Arrays, shocking Lu Hui when he realized Mo Hua was an Array Master.

Zhang Lan’s group attacked the Sinful Cultivators’ valley at dawn, while Mo Hua’s Earth Fire Array trapped those trying to flee. During the fighting, Lu Hui tried to kill Ji Qingbai, and Bald Ascetic escaped after wearing down the array.

• Mo Hua showed Zhang Lan the gap he had left in the Earth Fire Array, and the group prepared to attack at dawn.
• Zhang Lan led the group into the valley, where they killed several Sinful Cultivators before being discovered and drawn into battle.
• Ji Qingbai, Mo Shan, and Lu Hui fought Bald Ascetic, but Lu Hui turned his sword on Ji Qingbai and Mo Shan blocked the strike.
• Zhang Lan confronted Lu Hui, while Mo Shan warned Ji Qingbai that Lu Hui intended to kill him.
• Bald Ascetic used injured Sinful Cultivators to trigger the Earth Fire Array until its Spirit Stones ran out and a gap opened.
• Bald Ascetic fled through the gap, and Mo Hua lowered his hand instead of stopping him with Water Prison Technique.

Mo Hua and Mo Shan pursued Bald Ascetic after he escaped the valley, and Mo Hua secretly used the Water Prison Technique to keep him from fleeing. Bald Ascetic remained trapped in a fight with Mo Shan, realizing his escape technique could no longer save him.

• Mo Hua stopped Mo Shan and Ji Qingbai from pursuing Bald Ascetic together, then chased after him with Mo Shan.
• Mo Hua found Bald Ascetic hiding in the woods and directed Mo Shan to his location.
• Mo Shan wounded Bald Ascetic, who used an Earth Tremor Talisman to force Mo Shan back and try to escape.
• Mo Hua bound Bald Ascetic with the Water Prison Technique whenever he tried to flee, allowing Mo Shan to keep attacking him.
• Bald Ascetic repeatedly failed to escape and grew increasingly afraid as Mo Hua's technique countered his Movement Technique.

Mo Hua, Mo Shan, and Zhang Lan trapped Bald Ascetic, then let him escape so Lu Hui would chase him alone. When Lu Hui finally cornered Bald Ascetic, Mo Hua immobilized Lu Hui at a critical moment, allowing Bald Ascetic to slash him.

• Bald Ascetic realized Mo Hua and Mo Shan were trapping him rather than trying to kill him, and Zhang Lan and Lu Hui arrived to surround him.
• Lu Hui questioned Bald Ascetic about Young Master Kong, and Bald Ascetic admitted that he killed the cultivators he robbed.
• Mo Shan deliberately left a gap in the encirclement, letting Bald Ascetic escape while Lu Hui pursued him; Mo Hua and the others followed from a distance.
• After more than half an hour, Lu Hui caught up with Bald Ascetic and fought him until Bald Ascetic was badly wounded.
• As Lu Hui stepped back to evade Bald Ascetic's final strike, Mo Hua bound him with Spirit Power Chain, and Bald Ascetic's blade cut into Lu Hui's chest.

Mo Hua’s scheme left Lu Hui wounded but alive, so he lured him down a mountain path with Monster-Scented Grass and trapped him with Water Prison Technique. As demon beasts attacked Lu Hui, Mo Hua’s plan to ensure he did not leave Great Black Mountain began to succeed.

• Lu Hui and Bald Ascetic wounded each other in a duel, but both survived, and Zhang Lan’s group rested while Lu Hui tended to his injuries.
• Zhang Lan and Mo Shan bound Bald Ascetic and escorted him with Lu Hui along a mountain path chosen by Mo Hua.
• Mo Hua handed Lu Hui Monster-Scented Grass, which Lu Hui mistakenly believed drove demon beasts away.
• Two demon beasts appeared, and Lu Hui realized the grass attracted them and fled while injured.
• Mo Hua trapped Lu Hui with Water Prison Technique, and a demon beast caught up and bit his shoulder.

Mo Hua, Mo Shan, and Zhang Lan delayed two monsters until Dao Court Office cultivators arrived, then Zhang Lan arranged Lu Hui’s death to appear as a death in the line of duty. The group returned to the valley, where Ji Qingbai learned Lu Hui was dead and thanked Mo Hua on behalf of Qingxuan City’s Rogue Cultivators.

• As Lu Hui was mauled by two monsters, Mo Hua sensed the Dao Court Office cultivators approaching, and Zhang Lan and Mo Shan attacked the beasts to recover Lu Hui’s body.
• Mo Hua used fireworks, Flowing Water Step, and spells to hold off a monster while Zhang Lan and Mo Shan stalled the other until reinforcements arrived and drove both monsters away.
• Zhang Lan shook Lu Hui until he died, then told the Qingxuan City inspectors that Lu Hui had fought bravely and died in the line of duty.
• Zhang Lan ordered Lu Hui’s remains taken to Immortal City for inspection before being sent to Qingxuan City, while Mo Hua and the others returned to the valley.
• Mo Hua, Mo Shan, and Zhang Lan assured Ji Qingbai that they had left no evidence of their involvement, and Ji Qingbai thanked Mo Hua for freeing Qingxuan City’s Rogue Cultivators from Lu Hui.

Chief Administrator Zhou examined Lu Hui’s corpse and accepted Zhang Lan’s account that Bald Ascetic had wounded Lu Hui before demon beasts killed him. In the valley, Mo Hua found a hidden chamber behind an array-protected stone wall and began to dissect its Array Technique to uncover the rest of the stolen goods.

• An Executive Inspector reported Lu Hui’s death to Chief Administrator Zhou, who inspected the corpse and found wounds from Bald Ascetic and demon beasts.
• Chief Administrator Zhou suspected Zhang Lan, Mo Shan, Ji Qingbai, and possibly Mo Hua had arranged Lu Hui’s death, then praised the killing.
• Zhang Lan and the Dao Court Office cultivators searched the Sinful Cultivators’ caves and collected their stolen goods, but found less than expected.
• Mo Hua noticed a hollow stone wall that Zhang Lan’s divine sense had failed to detect.
• Mo Hua identified an Array Technique behind the wall and said he would dissect it rather than risk forcing it open.

Mo Hua dismantled the array protecting a hidden cave, where he and Zhang Lan found stolen goods and evidence of the Sinful Cultivators’ crimes. The cave held no recently stolen Pills from Kong Sheng’s caravan, leaving the group unsure what happened to the caravan or whether Kong Sheng was alive.

• Mo Hua used external array dissection to dismantle the Array Technique on the stone wall.
• Mo Shan punched through the unprotected wall, revealing a cave filled with Spirit Stones, Spirit Artifacts, Pills, and other goods.
• Zhang Lan said they should register the goods to identify their owners and give the families of missing cultivators answers, and Mo Hua declined to take anything.
• Mo Hua noticed that the cave seemed to contain nothing from Kong Sheng’s merchant caravan, which had dealt in Pills.
• Zhang Lan found that the Pills in the cave were old, while Mo Shan noted there had been little blood in the valley, casting doubt on whether the Sinful Cultivators had attacked the caravan.
• Mo Hua, Zhang Lan, and Mo Shan wondered where the caravan had gone and whether Kong Sheng was alive.

Mo Hua found a hidden compartment in Bald Ascetic’s cave containing wind-element manuals and an unfamiliar topographical map. He joined Zhang Lan’s interrogation of Bald Ascetic and revealed that he knew the Water Prison Technique, leaving Bald Ascetic shocked to recognize him.

• Mo Hua discovered a hidden compartment, and Mo Shan broke through the wall to reveal two Dao Method booklets and a topographical map.
• Mo Hua, Mo Shan, and Zhang Lan compared the map with Mo Hua’s maps but could not identify the location, so Mo Hua copied it for later investigation.
• Mo Hua persuaded Zhang Lan to let him observe Bald Ascetic’s interrogation at the Dao Court Office.
• Bald Ascetic stayed silent through Zhang Lan’s questions and torture.
• Mo Hua approached Bald Ascetic, asked about the Water Prison Technique, and formed Spirit Power Chains around him; Bald Ascetic recognized Mo Hua.