Chapter Summaries

After Elder Yu connected Black Mountain Stronghold’s First Leader to the supposedly dead Qian Family Grand Elder, Mo Hua and the others investigated whether the Qian Family Ancestor secretly led the stronghold. They left to seek confirmation and gather evidence, while recognizing that exposing the Qian Family’s ties to Shen Keyuan could bring down its centuries-old scheme.

• Elder Yu recalled that Black Mountain Stronghold’s First Leader had an artificial arm, matching the Qian Family Grand Elder’s lost arm, and concluded that the Grand Elder had faked his death.
• Mo Hua and the others reasoned that the Qian Family Ancestor had secretly supported Black Mountain Stronghold and that the Qian Family had endured public losses to protect its connection to Shen Keyuan.
• Mo Shan proposed questioning the Seventh Leader, while Yang Jiyong offered to ask city elders for clues and Immortal City prepared to request more time from the Dao Soldier Bureau.
• Mo Hua visited Old Master An and asked whether the An Family’s caravans had disappeared on Little White Mountain and whether he knew the Qian Family Ancestor.
• Old Master An described the Qian Family Ancestor as ruthless and confirmed the An and Qian families had long competed, then cleared the room to share what he knew.

Mo Hua learned how the Qian Family had destroyed the An Family’s strength and persuaded Old Master An to help take revenge. After two days of planning, the group began preparing to enter the Qian Family and kill the Qian Family Ancestor.

• Old Master An told Mo Hua that an An Family expedition had vanished in Little White Mountain, crippling the family, and that the Qian Family Ancestor’s words later convinced him the Qian Family was responsible.
• Mo Hua explained that the Qian Family Ancestor had established Pengpiaoyao behind the scenes and likely used its Evil Cultivators to kill the An Family disciples.
• Mo Hua and the others discussed evidence linking Elder Yu’s Stronghold Master to the Qian Family Ancestor, while Zhang Lan reported that the Seventh Leader had dismissed claims that the Little Leader and Stronghold Master were dead.
• Mo Hua asked Old Master An to join the effort against the Qian Family Ancestor, and Old Master An agreed to bring the An Family’s forces.
• Old Master An shared details about the Qian Family’s terrain and the Qian Family Ancestor’s abilities, and the group spent two days and one night arranging its plan.
• Black Mountain Stronghold and the others agreed to enter the Qian Family and kill the Qian Family Ancestor.

Mo Hua helped prepare an ambush on the Qian Family, where the attackers exposed Qian Family Yanjing as an Evil Cultivator. The Qian Family disciples began to abandon their weapons as the four Foundation Establishment cultivators confronted him, while Mo Hua watched from hiding.

• Mo Hua mapped the Qian Family’s formation weaknesses for Commander Yang as Dao soldiers and allies prepared a covert assault.
• Yan Jingfei and Old Chief Administrator entered the Qian Family and argued with its elders, drawing Qian Family Yanjing out of seclusion.
• Qian Family Yanjing emerged with blood-red eyes and a ruined appearance, revealing himself as the suspected Evil Cultivator.
• Dao soldiers broke through the Qian Family’s formations as Commander Yang, old Master An, Chief Administrator Zhou, and Black Mountain Stronghold surrounded Qian Family Yanjing.
• Yan Jingfei revealed that he had lost an arm in a failed sneak attack, while Qian Zhongli questioned whether the Qian Family should abandon its Dao Court.
• Black Mountain Stronghold declared the Qian Family Dao Court guilty of evil cultivation and collusion with Evil Cultivators, and many Qian Family disciples dropped their weapons.

Mo Hua watched the siege of the Qian Family Ancestor and realized Black Mountain Stronghold's Third Leader had kept Mo Hua's involvement secret. The Qian Family Ancestor escaped the battle badly wounded and fled toward Little White Mountain, while the Qian family's Eighth Brother died fighting.

• Mo Hua wondered why the Qian Family Ancestor had not learned that Mo Hua had tampered with Black Mountain Stronghold's Array Technique, and concluded the Third Leader had concealed their encounter.
• Commander Yang, Jianglexing, Old Master An, Chief Administrator Zhou, and the Dao Soldiers besieged the Qian Family Ancestor, gradually wearing him down as the Qian family disciples refused to help him.
• Black Mountain Stronghold appeared and forced Commander Yang back, giving the Qian Family Ancestor a chance to break through the encirclement and flee toward Little White Mountain.
• The Qian family's Eighth Brother, revealed as Jianglexing's Eighth Leader, stayed behind and fought until he died.
• Mo Hua reflected that his Array Technique skills were not yet strong enough and that he still had much to learn.

Mo Hua helped the Dao Court Office investigate the Qian Family Ancestor’s ties to Black Mountain Stronghold and learned how the Qian family might be punished. After reassuring Master Qian that the innocent would not be treated as guilty, Mo Hua left the family’s fate in the hands of Chief Administrator Tang.

• Mo Hua inspected the Qian Family Ancestor’s Cave Abode, found Evil Arrays, and uncovered evidence linking him to Black Mountain Stronghold.
• Chief Administrator Zhou explained that the Qian family’s punishment would depend on whether its members knew of the Ancestor’s crimes, and Mo Hua suggested punishing the guilty while making the survivors work for their living.
• Master Luo invited Mo Hua for tea and told him that Master Qian wanted to meet about the Qian family’s fate.
• Mo Hua obtained an entry token from Chief Administrator Zhou and visited Master Qian, first confirming that he was alone before speaking with him.
• Mo Hua assured Master Qian that the family would not be exterminated indiscriminately, and Master Qian thanked him and offered his help in the future.

Mo Hua searched the Deep Mountain with Commander Yang for the Third Leader, a Foundation Establishment Evil Array Master, and found his concealed cave. Commander Yang subdued the Third Leader, but the Qian Family Ancestor remained at large as the chapter left the hunt unresolved.

• Mo Hua volunteered to help Commander Yang search the Deep Mountain for the Third Leader and the Qian Family Ancestor.
• Mo Hua found a Concealment Array on a cliff, used Divine Sense Derivation to map the cave’s arrays, and slipped inside to scout.
• Mo Hua saw the Third Leader drawing an evil array among array materials and vats of human blood, then returned to Commander Yang with a map and warned him about the hidden passage.
• Commander Yang followed Mo Hua into the cave and fought the Third Leader until the commotion stopped and the Third Leader was subdued.
• Mo Hua reentered the cave, while Commander Yang joked about finding a suitable girl to lure him into the Yang Family; the search for the Qian Family Ancestor still had no results.

Mo Hua questioned the captured Third Leader about Black Mountain Stronghold, its Stronghold Master, and the Evil Arrays, while Third Leader tried to understand Mo Hua’s extraordinary Divine Consciousness and Array Techniques. Third Leader was taken to Dao Prison for interrogation, still unaware that the Qian Family Ancestor had escaped after being exposed.

• Mo Hua inspected the ruined cave and found a damaged Visualization Diagram and an unusual Evil Array among Third Leader’s belongings.
• Mo Hua asked Third Leader about the Evil Arrays and the Stronghold Master, and Third Leader admitted he had suspected Mo Hua tampered with Black Mountain Stronghold’s Arrays.
• Third Leader explained that he had not told the Stronghold Master about Mo Hua because the Stronghold Master would have tried to recruit or capture him and seize his secrets.
• Third Leader confirmed that he had feared Mo Hua might join the Stronghold Master, then asked whether Mo Hua had truly dismantled his Array Techniques.
• Commander Yang pulled the spear from Third Leader and prepared to escort him to Dao Prison, while Mo Hua noted that the Qian Family Ancestor had escaped with grave injuries.

Mo Hua brought clues about the White Bone Alchemy Furnace and strange herbs to Elder Feng, and the alchemists tried to identify the evil pills the Qian Family Ancestor might have been refining. Their suspicions deepened when a young alchemist recounted hearing an evil alchemist discuss a pill made from a person's lifespan, but they could not determine what the herbs were for.

• Mo Hua reasoned that the Third Leader's Evil Array in the White Bone Alchemy Furnace had been intended for alchemy, then took his sketches and the strange herbs to Elder Feng at the Alchemy Guild.
• Elder Feng gathered the alchemists to examine Mo Hua's drawings and asked them to identify the possible pills and herbs.
• A young alchemist recalled being captured and hearing his master speak with a strange-voiced Taoist about a Life-Turning Yuan Pill that used a person's lifespan to create medicinal power.
• The young alchemist said his master had only bought a few herbs before the Dao Court Office arrested him and sent him to Dao Prison.
• The alchemists shared what they knew of evil pills, but Elder Feng and Mo Hua could not tell which pills the Qian Family Ancestor had been preparing.

Mo Hua and Zhang Lan learned that Qian Family Dan was pursuing the demonic Life-Turning Yuan Pill, which required prolonged mass slaughter to refine. After completing his compound-array calculations, Mo Hua tested their collapse on a White Bear Beast and saw the array annihilate half its body, leaving him with a new measure of the technique’s power.

• Mo Hua asked Zhang Lan and Commander Yang to identify the Life-Turning Yuan Pill, and both sent its drawings and herbs to their clans for answers.
• Zhang Lan and Commander Yang learned that the pill was a demonic method that converted lives into cultivation power, and they ordered searches for Qian Family Dan’s pill furnaces and White Mountain Stronghold.
• Mo Hua finished calculating the compound array’s collapse and set a trap for a White Bear Beast to test its power.
• The White Bear Beast triggered Mo Hua’s Earth Fire Compound Array, whose collapse annihilated half its body and killed it on the spot.

Mo Hua tested his newly derived Array Disintegration on a White Bear Beast and discovered that its Life Gate could preserve a blade of grass amid the destruction. As Bai Zisheng’s departure approached, Mo Hua and Jie Zhili reflected on their bond and the parting ahead.

• Mo Hua used compound Array Disintegration on a White Bear Beast, reducing half its body and the surrounding land to ash while leaving the other half intact.
• Mo Hua found the blade of grass he had deliberately spared as the array’s Life Gate and considered the limits and risks of using disintegration against cultivators.
• Mo Hua realized that the enormous pig in the Blood-Colored Alchemy Room was the true pill furnace and recalled that its bloodstains had been evil-array patterns.
• Mo Hua practiced Dao Methods with Jie Zhili, whose strategy of tiring Mo Hua out eventually let him seize and restrain him.
• Mo Hua asked whether Jie Zhili would leave when Mr. Zhuang departed, and the two shared food beneath a locust tree while facing the coming parting.

Mo Hua realized the missing pig from Black Mountain Stronghold was the Pill Furnace refining the Life-Turning Yuan Pill, and warned the city’s leaders that the Qian Family Ancestor might be hiding on Little White Mountain. The cultivators mobilized to search the Deep Mountain, but after a day they had found no trace of him.

• Mo Hua deduced that the missing pig had been used to refine the Life-Turning Yuan Pill and that the elixir might already be nearly complete.
• Mo Hua told Commander Yang and Zhang Lan about the pig, prompting them to warn the city’s leaders that the Qian Family Ancestor could be on Little White Mountain.
• Commander Yang, Elder Shou Huayuan, Chief Administrator Zhou, and the city’s families and organizations mobilized a thorough search of the Deep Mountain.
• Mo Hua helped map the Deep Mountain and arranged for Mist Arrays to be dismantled and Stone Needles bearing the Sinan Child Array to monitor the area.
• The searchers avoided seventh-grade monster lairs, and Mo Hua suggested inspecting them for Array Techniques that could reveal the Qian Family Ancestor’s presence.
• After searching the Deep Mountain for nearly a day, the cultivators found no trace of the Qian Family Ancestor.

Mo Hua detected an Array Technique hidden inside a monster beast nest, reconstructed its paths, and helped the group search for the Qian Family Ancestor. Meanwhile, Wen Yunbo prepared to leave without taking the Bai children as disciples, while Elder Yu sensed a possible change in the Heavenly Dao.

• Mo Hua used his Divine Consciousness to detect traces of an Array Technique in a mountain cave, then spent an hour mapping its passages and patterns.
• Mo Hua warned that his incomplete calculation might contain omissions, and Chief Administrator Zhou identified the mapped passages as routes toward the Qian Family Ancestor’s hiding place.
• Mr. Zhuang and the others split up to search the nest, and Mr. Zhuang warned Mo Hua to hide and stay careful.
• Wen Yunbo told Old Kui he would not take the Bai children as disciples and said he was preparing Array Technique insights for Mo Hua before leaving.
• Elder Yu performed a Derivation Calculation and wondered whether a change in the Heavenly Dao had arisen in the small Immortal City.

Mo Hua discovered a hidden chamber near the entrance of the demon beast nest and found Qian Family Wei Xian and Qian Hong there with the Qian Family Ancestor. He overheard the Ancestor explain his evil cultivation and plans to refine the Life-Turning Yuan Pill, leaving Mo Hua concealed inside and weighing whether to retreat and call for help.

• Mo Hua noticed a newly filled cave entrance near the nest and slipped inside to investigate.
• Mo Hua descended into a blood-stained chamber, where he saw Qian Family Wei Xian and Qian Hong beside a sleeping pig demon.
• The Qian Family Ancestor spoke to Qian Hong about using evil arts, Human Longevity Pills, and the Life-Turning Yuan Pill to overcome the limits facing his family.
• The Qian Family Ancestor argued that the cultivation world was built on the exploitation of Rogue Cultivators and described people as tools for the strong.
• Mo Hua realized the pig demon was meant to serve as a pill furnace and that the chamber was the Ancestor's hidden alchemy room.

Mo Hua discovered that Qian Hong had killed the Qian Family Ancestor and was using Xue Tao and a pig demon to complete the Life-Turning Yuan Pill. After Qian Hong swallowed the pill and began refining it, Mo Hua tried to stall him with taunts and set off an array while calling for help, leaving Qian Hong to confront the threat as reinforcements rushed over.

• Mo Hua noticed the Qian Family Ancestor was dead and realized Qian Hong had been speaking to a corpse while preparing the Life-Turning Yuan Pill.
• Qian Hong tore out Xue Tao’s heart and fed it to the pig demon, completing the Evil Array and the pill.
• Qian Hong swallowed the Life-Turning Yuan Pill and began refining its power, aiming to break through to Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
• Qian Hong deduced that Mo Hua had infiltrated White Mountain Stronghold and uncovered his identity and schemes.
• Mo Hua cursed Qian Hong, set out the first-grade Earth Fire Compound Array, and rang the Dao Court Office’s Bronze Bell to summon help.
• Commander Yang and the others heard the Bronze Bell and hurried toward Mo Hua as Qian Hong recognized the array’s threat.

The Qian Family Ancestor tried to recruit Mo Hua to rebuild White Mountain Stronghold, but Mo Hua refused and exposed the Ancestor’s ruthless ambitions. As the Ancestor prepared to finish refining the Life-Turning Yuan Pill, the supposedly dead pig demon attacked and swallowed him.

• The Qian Family Ancestor admitted that he had killed Qian Hong because he valued his bloodline only as a medicinal primer.
• The Qian Family Ancestor offered Mo Hua power and influence if he helped rebuild White Mountain Stronghold, but Mo Hua refused to join him.
• The Qian Family Ancestor revealed that he had been refining the Life-Turning Yuan Pill while stalling for time and planned to kill the rescuers when they arrived.
• Mo Hua saw the dead pig demon rise behind the Qian Family Ancestor, who failed to notice it.
• The pig demon bit the Qian Family Ancestor repeatedly and swallowed him whole.

Mo Hua and the others discovered that the pig demon had eaten the Qian Family Ancestor and was regenerating by refining his blood qi and the Life-Turning Yuan Pill. Mo Hua used his array to destroy the demon’s leg and help the group escape, but the monstrous beast revived and emerged into the world as cultivators fled the Deep Mountain.

• Mo Hua saw the pig demon swallow the Qian Family Ancestor and begin refining the medicinal power and blood qi, restoring its strength.
• Mo Hua warned Commander Yang and Zhang Lan that Qian Family Wei Lan had been eaten and that everyone searching the mountain needed to flee.
• When the pig demon pursued them, Mo Hua activated his Earth Fire Compound Array, whose disintegrating patterns dissolved the demon’s hind leg.
• The pig demon regenerated its leg and chased Mo Hua, Commander Yang, and Zhang Lan out of the cave.
• Mo Hua and the others reached the mountain’s foot as the pig demon erupted from the Deep Mountain, and the cultivators began evacuating.

Mo Hua learned that the pig demon above Deep Mountain had been identified as the great demon Feng Xi, whose overwhelming blood qi made it nearly impossible to defeat without feeding it more victims. The Dao Court ordered that Fei Xiangmei consider moving the city, leaving Mo Hua to face the prospect that the region’s people might have to flee.

• Eight days after seeing the pig demon’s rising blood qi, Mo Hua learned that the Dao Court had identified it as the great demon Feng Xi.
• Zhang Lan explained that cultivators above Foundation Establishment could not enter the seventh-grade Baishan Prefecture, because the Heavenly Dao erased anyone who exceeded the region’s cultivation limit.
• Fei Xiangmei told Mo Hua that Feng Xi’s immense blood qi and ability to replenish it by eating people made a prolonged battle likely to end with the demon consuming the city’s cultivators.
• Zhang Lan recounted that a previous Feng Xi had eaten the cultivators and demon beasts of its region before starving to death after more than a century without food.
• The Dao Court advised the local office to consider moving the city if it lacked the strength to respond, and Mo Hua understood that nearby immortal cities might have to flee as well.

Mo Hua learned that Lesser Monsters were Dao Sins born when cultivators violated the Heavenly Dao, and that State Boundary grades limited the cultivators able to fight them. Mr. Zhuang revealed that the sky itself was an innate immortal-grade grand formation, then warned Mo Hua to keep the secret of Dao Sin; the city’s people still faced moving south if no solution emerged.

• Zhang Lan told Mo Hua that great monsters were nearly invincible within a realm and that the Zhai Fen Bureau might have to move the city south.
• Mo Hua asked Mr. Zhuang about Lesser Monsters and State Boundary grades, and Mr. Zhuang explained that Lesser Monsters were Dao Sins caused by violations of the Heavenly Dao.
• Mr. Zhuang revealed that the Heavenly Dao was the world’s strongest formation: an innate grand array known as an immortal-grade array.
• Mr. Zhuang warned Mo Hua not to tell anyone about Dao Sin, while Mo Hua agreed to keep the explanation secret.

Mr. Zhuang and Wei Aihui explained the Heavenly Dao Grand Array and how it restrained high-level cultivators, while Mo Hua considered learning grand arrays to fight Feng Xi. Mo Hua resolved to pursue that path, despite the immense difficulty and risks.

• Mr. Zhuang told Mo Hua that the Heavenly Dao Grand Array had existed since the Dao Court's founding and determined State Boundary grades by restricting cultivation.
• Wei Aihui explained that the array's checks and balances gave low-level cultivators room to survive, while its absence could unleash widespread slaughter across Feng Xi.
• Wei Aihui warned that Dao Sin could become invincible within a State Boundary under the array, but argued that its destruction would be less disastrous than unchecked cultivators destroying all of Feng Xi.
• Mo Hua asked whether he could learn grand arrays, and Wei Aihui described the immense demands of their materials, construction, Array Hubs, and many collaborating Array Masters.
• Mo Hua concluded that a grand array was the only way he could deal with Feng Xi and resolved to consider the undertaking seriously.

As Dao Sins emerged across the Nine Provinces, Mo Hua’s family and the independent cultivators around him prepared to relocate, though the dangerous journey threatened to separate him from his friends and home. Mr. Zhuang resolved to stay until the crisis was settled, while an old man in the Dao Court began investigating the spreading calamities.

• Mr. Zhuang watched the blood aura over Deep Mountain and told Old Kui he would leave only after the Dao Sin matter was settled.
• Mo Hua learned that his family and the cultivators he knew were preparing to relocate, likely south of Li Prefecture, and worried about the perilous journey and parting from his friends.
• Master Luo visited Mo Hua’s family eatery, explained that he planned to move north of Li Prefecture to Lanling State Boundary, and handed Mo Hua an invitation.
• An old man in the Dao Court traced a route of few survivors on a compass and considered the increasingly frequent Dao Sins and the causes behind them.