Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua safely reverse-calculated the Five Elements Source Pattern until it tried to merge with the Dao Stele, whereupon the Immortal Pattern’s tribulation lightning drove it back. Meanwhile, the Five Elements Sect’s grand elder discovered the Spirit Shrine’s door was gone and feared its inheritance had been stolen.

• Mr. Zhuang warned Mo Hua that studying the Source Pattern required suppressing it, strong Divine Consciousness, and secrecy, and told him to rename the Five Elements Spirit Array to avoid revealing ties to the Five Elements Sect.
• Mo Hua prepared safeguards, asked Bai Zixi to stop him if he acted strangely, and waited until midnight before using the Dao Stele to reverse-calculate the Source Pattern.
• Mo Hua derived many familiar Five Elements arrays and realized his Divine Consciousness limited him to patterns below thirteen marks.
• The Source Pattern made Mo Hua drowsy and sent array patterns into his Sea of Consciousness, attempting to assimilate with the Dao Stele.
• The Dao Stele’s Immortal Pattern released tribulation lightning that erased the invading patterns, forcing the Source Pattern to retreat into the diagram.
• The grand elder found the Spirit Shrine’s main door missing and the little ghost gone, and feared the Five Elements Sect’s inheritance had been taken.

The Grand Elder and Sect Leader Liao discovered that the Spirit Shrine had been emptied, and Sect Leader Liao secretly planned to exploit the crisis before abandoning the Five Elements Sect. Mr. Zhuang agreed to stay, then prepared Mo Hua to attempt Foundation Establishment; a month later, Mo Hua reached the peak of Ninth-Layer Qi Refining and touched the bottleneck.

• The Grand Elder and Sect Leader Liao found the Spirit Shrine missing a door and its hidden inheritance, and Sect Leader Liao persuaded the Grand Elder to keep Mr. Zhuang and his disciples at the sect while investigating.
• After the meeting, Sect Leader Liao revealed that he intended to flee with his accumulated wealth and leave the declining Five Elements Sect behind.
• Two days later, Sect Leader Liao invited Mr. Zhuang to stay at the sect, and Mr. Zhuang accepted.
• Mr. Zhuang told Mo Hua to prepare for Foundation Establishment with Thirteen-Pattern Peak divine sense, since reaching Fourteen-Pattern was too difficult.
• Mo Hua cultivated intensively for a month while Bai Zixi and Bai Zisheng protected him, and he reached the peak of Ninth-Layer Qi Refining and touched the Foundation Establishment bottleneck.

Mo Hua reached the Foundation Establishment bottleneck and discovered a vast Mystery Heaven Array enclosing his Sea of Consciousness, while Mr. Zhuang realized the Heavenly Derivation Art might not have been created for humans. As Mo Hua began studying the array, Aunt Xue arrived at Mr. Zhuang’s summons, and he ordered her to take Mo Hua, Bai Zisheng, and Bai Zixi away from the Five Elements Sect and Lishan City.

• Mo Hua’s cultivation reached perfected ninth-level Qi Refining, but a cocoon-like Grand Array of countless Riddle Arrays formed in his Sea of Consciousness.
• Mo Hua asked Mr. Zhuang for advice, and Mr. Zhuang identified the array as the Mystery Heaven Array and urged him to keep his Dao Heart steady.
• After examining Mo Hua’s array, Mr. Zhuang suspected the Heavenly Derivation Art was intended for a monstrous Sin rather than humans and sought a dangerous opportunity to help Mo Hua.
• Mr. Zhuang gave Mo Hua records and diagrams of the Mystery Heaven Array, while Mo Hua grew concerned that his master was preparing for an impending separation.
• Aunt Xue came to Mr. Zhuang’s room after receiving his summons, and he told her to take Mo Hua, Bai Zisheng, and Bai Zixi away from the Five Elements Sect and Lishan City.

As the Five Elements Sect came under attack, Mo Hua realized Master was the real target and the sect’s mountain-protecting array had been secretly changed into a demonic trap. Xuan Sanren demanded an audience with Mr. Zhuang, who reversed the corrupted array and restored the Five Elements Sect’s defenses.

• Mr. Zhuang ordered Mo Hua, Bai Zisheng, and Bai Zixi to leave the next day, and Aunt Xue confirmed that their mother was coming to see him.
• Mo Hua sensed that something had covered the sky, and Aunt Xue recognized the approaching blood-red Soul Refining Banner as a demonic supreme treasure.
• A Demon Sword attacked the Five Elements Sect, whose Grand Elder activated the Five Elements Mountain-Protecting Grand Array to defend the sect.
• The Grand Elder discovered that the array had been secretly altered into the Five Elements Blood-Baleful Grand Array and suspected that Liao Tiande had helped the Demon Sect target Mr. Zhuang.
• Xuan Sanren, a Feather Transformation Realm demonic cultivator, demanded an audience with Mr. Zhuang, who refused and reversed the array back into the Five Elements Mountain-Protecting Grand Array.

As Xuan Sanren’s Demonic Path forces prepared to trap Lishan City, Mr. Zhuang arranged for the Five Elements Sect and his disciples to escape, entrusted them with inheritances and warnings, and privately sent Mo Hua away. Mr. Zhuang watched Mo Hua leave, entrusting the Five Elements Sect’s future to him.

• Xuan Sanren declared that the Underworld Dao Heavenly Secret Lock, Soul Refining Banner, and Chaos Demon Sword would trap Lishan City and leave Mr. Zhuang no escape.
• Mr. Zhuang promised to save the Five Elements Sect, offered to return its inheritance through his disciple, and ordered the grand elder to keep Mo Hua’s connection to the sect secret.
• Mr. Zhuang directed the Five Elements Sect to evacuate Lishan City and gave Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi Jade Slips containing the complete Array Diagrams of the Immortal Heaven Array School.
• Mr. Zhuang gave Mo Hua a Storage Ring, reviewed his array lessons, warned him about Ghost Daoist, and told him to forge his own path in Array Techniques.
• Mr. Zhuang sent Mo Hua away with Aunt Xue, Bai Zisheng, Bai Zixi, and the Five Elements Sect; Mo Hua left in tears while Mr. Zhuang watched unseen and entrusted the sect’s future to him.

Mo Hua and the Five Elements Sect escaped Lishan City after Old Kui drove off Xuan Sanren, but Mo Hua left still grieving for his master. As Mo Hua traveled with Bai Zisheng, Bai Zixi, and Aunt Xue, they discovered Great Lishan’s communications were sealed and were confronted by Golden Core Demonic Cultivators led by a blood-robed Holy Son.

• Old Kui forced Xuan Sanren and the Demonic Cultivators to retreat, then opened a way through the Blood Banner so the Five Elements Sect could leave Lishan City.
• Mo Hua said goodbye to Old Kui, vowed to avenge his master, and parted from the Five Elements Sect with Bai Zisheng, Bai Zixi, and Aunt Xue.
• Xuan Sanren discovered that the Underworld Dao Heavenly Secret Lock had trembled and failed to deduce what it feared.
• Mo Hua declined Bai Zisheng’s invitation to go directly to the Bai Family and chose to return to Immortal City to see his parents first.
• Aunt Xue revealed that the Underworld Dao Heavenly Secret Lock had sealed Great Lishan’s heavenly secrets and cut off communications.
• As the group neared the edge of Great Lishan, Liao Tiande identified Mo Hua and the others to a blood-robed Holy Son among a group of Golden Core Demonic Cultivators.

The Devil Path Holy Son tried to seize Mo Hua to use as leverage against Mr. Zhuang, but Bai Zixi triggered her Life-Bound Longevity Talisman to protect him, killing five Golden Core Demonic Cultivators before the Dharma Image was erased by tribulation lightning. The Holy Son still targeted Mo Hua, but Bai Zisheng triggered his own talisman, and a second Void Insight Dharma Image appeared.

• The Devil Path Holy Son demanded that the Bai siblings leave Mo Hua behind so he could use the boy to bargain with Mr. Zhuang.
• Aunt Xue failed to stop the Golden Core Demonic Cultivators, and Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi stood between them and Mo Hua.
• Bai Zixi threatened to trigger her Life-Bound Longevity Talisman, then summoned its Void Insight Dharma Image and ordered it to kill; it slew five Golden Core Demonic Cultivators before tribulation lightning erased it.
• The Holy Son saw Bai Zixi's revealed appearance and, consumed by jealousy, renewed his order to capture Mo Hua.
• Bai Zisheng appeared beside the Holy Son and stabbed toward his own heart, triggering his Life-Bound Longevity Talisman and summoning another Golden Body Dharma Image.

Bai Zisheng and the Devil Path Holy Son each spent a life-saving talisman in a clash of Dharma Images, drawing attention from Liyuan City and the Central Dao Court. After the Holy Son summoned reinforcements and trapped Mo Hua, Bai Zixi, and Bai Zisheng, a filthy, mysterious figure appeared at the western road junction.

• Bai Zisheng shattered his Life-Bound Longevity Talisman to unleash the Golden Body Dharma Image, while the Holy Son’s Undying Talisman summoned the blood-colored Void Insight Blood Shadow; Heavenly Tribulation erased both Dharma Images.
• The white-robed Chief Administrator in Liyuan City sensed the talisman’s destruction and the Dharma Image clash, then ordered Golden Core cultivators to accompany him to Lishan City after the local Dao Court Office failed to respond.
• At the Central Dao Court, Elder Ge and the Overseer discussed the upheaval in Lishan City, and Elder Ge warned that scheming against Mr. Zhuang and his Senior Martial Brother would be disastrous.
• The Holy Son discovered his Undying Talisman had shattered, while Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi realized their own talismans had been spent; Mo Hua urged them to flee.
• The Holy Son’s reinforcements arrived: more than twenty Golden Core Demonic Cultivators led by a Blood-Robed Old Devil surrounded Mo Hua, Bai Zixi, Bai Zisheng, and Aunt Xue.
• Mo Hua and the Blood-Robed Old Devil sensed someone approaching from the western road junction, where a filthy, unkempt figure appeared in an ill-fitting Taoist robe.

Ghost Daoist arrived and used Dao Heart Planting Demon to drive the Golden Core demonic cultivators into slaughter, then nearly killed the Holy Son before sparing him after learning of his Blood Daoist lineage. He tried to take Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi to find his junior brother, but Mo Hua offered to lead him there and went with him.

• Mo Hua recognized the eerie newcomer as Ghost Daoist, whose aura matched the demons he had encountered before.
• After a Red-Faced Demon Cultivator attacked Ghost Daoist, the phrase “become the daoist” drove the Golden Core demonic cultivators into a deadly frenzy against one another.
• Ghost Daoist’s influence drove Blood-Robed Old Devil to attack the Holy Son, but he regained enough control to destroy his own Golden Core and die without harming him.
• Ghost Daoist stopped short of killing the Holy Son when he claimed descent from the Blood Daoist, then demanded that Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi take him to their junior brother.
• Mo Hua offered to guide Ghost Daoist to his master, and the two left together as Bai Zisheng, Bai Zixi, and Aunt Xue watched helplessly.

Mo Hua followed Ghost Daoist toward Lishan City, hoping to reach his master while relying on his dangerous martial uncle for protection. As they neared the city, they entered a bloody clash between Dao Court and Demon Sect forces, and Mo Hua wondered whether he could learn Ghost Daoist’s Dao Heart Planting Demon.

• Mo Hua reasoned that Ghost Daoist would keep him alive until they reached his master, so he continued following him toward Lishan City.
• Mo Hua persuaded Ghost Daoist to stop at a roadside noodle shop, paid for two bowls, and ate both after Ghost Daoist told him to eat.
• Ghost Daoist wondered what secret and Karma Mo Hua’s master had concealed in the boy, while deciding that meeting his junior brother would explain everything.
• Near Lishan City, Mo Hua saw Dao Court and Demon Sect cultivators fighting and scheming against one another amid growing Demonic Qi.
• When cultivators threatened Mo Hua on the road, he hid behind Ghost Daoist, who used Dao Heart Planting Demon to make them collapse or kill one another.
• Watching Ghost Daoist defeat his attackers, Mo Hua wondered whether he could learn Dao Heart Planting Demon.

Mo Hua secretly studied the Ghost Daoist’s Dao Heart Planting Demon and learned how it spread demonic thoughts through the six faculties, but the Ghost Daoist noticed and restrained himself. On the road to Lishan City, they shared a ruined temple with Young Master Yun and his companions, where Mo Hua overheard a secret about his master that made the Ghost Daoist turn murderous.

• Mo Hua decided to observe Dao Heart Planting Demon so he could understand and guard against the Ghost Daoist, and he inferred that it corrupted a victim’s Dao heart by planting demonic thoughts through the six faculties.
• The Ghost Daoist noticed Mo Hua studying his technique and limited his use of it, leaving Mo Hua to reflect on what he had observed.
• Several days later, Mo Hua and the Ghost Daoist spent the night in a ruined temple, where Young Master Yun, an old man surnamed Wen, and a middle-aged cultivator arrived seeking shelter.
• Mo Hua recognized Young Master Yun and his companions from Nanyue City, but none of them recognized him, and he quietly watched to ensure the Ghost Daoist did not attack them.
• Mo Hua overheard Wen say that his lineage’s old Sect Master had revealed that the secret carried by a certain person involved Return to Ruins Heavenly Burial.
• The Ghost Daoist heard the secret and changed the surrounding aura, opening his eyes and preparing to kill.

Mo Hua interrupted Ghost Daoist’s attempt to make three cultivators kill themselves, allowing them to escape the Dilapidated Temple. He later followed Ghost Daoist into a hidden Demon Palace at Withered Wood Cliff, where the Ten Thousand Demon Assembly began and Xuan Sanren appeared among the terrifying figures on the White Bone Thrones.

• Mo Hua altered the Warm Fire Array, disrupting Ghost Daoist’s Dao Heart Planting Demon and giving the gaunt old man, the middle-aged cultivator, and Young Master Yun a chance to flee.
• The three cultivators realized Mo Hua had saved them and decided to leave Great Lishan, fearing the Demon Sect’s gathering forces and the danger surrounding the opportunity.
• More than ten days later, Mo Hua followed Ghost Daoist to Withered Wood Cliff, where an Illusion Array concealed a Demon Palace filled with Demonic Cultivators.
• Mo Hua entered the Demon Palace with Ghost Daoist and learned that the Ten Thousand Demon Assembly was being held there.
• The assembly began as Xuan Sanren and several other powerful figures appeared on the White Bone Thrones, leaving Mo Hua to suspect they were Feather Transformation Realm Devil Ancestors.

Mo Hua attended the Ten Thousand Demon Assembly with Ghost Daoist as the demonic leaders planned to wear down Mr. Zhuang’s Five Elements Mountain-Protecting Grand Array and ambush the Dao Court. As the gathering ended, the Ten Thousand Demon Palace was sealed by arrays and a demon began slaughtering the others, leading Mo Hua to suspect Ghost Daoist had activated Dao Heart Planting Demon.

• Mo Hua identified Xuan Sanren, Poison Venerable, Black Arhat, and Lady Miao as the four Feather Transformation experts at the assembly.
• Xuan Sanren and Poison Venerable explained that Mr. Zhuang’s array could only be worn down, while the demons planned to lure in and attack the Dao Court forces.
• The demonic leaders taunted Ghost Daoist and eyed Mo Hua, but Poison Venerable calmed the gathering and the assembly concluded.
• The Ten Thousand Demon Palace was sealed by array techniques as the demons tried to leave.
• A burly Demon Cultivator suddenly killed another demon and went on a rampage, prompting the Feather Transformation leaders to look toward Ghost Daoist.
• Mo Hua saw Ghost Daoist’s pitch-black pupils and wondered whether he had begun killing through Dao Heart Planting Demon.

Ghost Daoist trapped the Feather Transformation Devil Ancestors in Ten Thousand Demon Palace with a Ghostly Path Heaven-Sealing Array and used Dao Heart Planting Demon to turn hundreds of Golden Core cultivators into weapons against them. After claiming Xuan Sanren’s Mysterious Demon Fetus and using the Heavenly Dao’s tribulation to kill the remaining Devil Ancestors, Ghost Daoist revealed his motive: they had dared to covet his junior brother.

• Ghost Daoist sealed Ten Thousand Demon Palace with a Ghostly Path Heaven-Sealing Array, planted demonic thoughts in the Golden Core cultivators, and caused them to slaughter one another.
• Black Arhat destroyed Ghost Daoist’s body, but the spreading eerie force revived the dead Golden Cores as Ghost Daoists, while Mo Hua recognized that the array used Derivation Calculation.
• The revived Golden Cores attacked the four Feather Transformation Devil Ancestors, and Black Arhat was erased by Tribulation Lightning after using Feather Transformation power.
• Lady Miao died to Tribulation Lightning after Poison Venerable tricked her into losing control, while Xuan Sanren revealed himself to be a Mysterious Demon Fetus afflicted by Dao Heart Planting Demon.
• Ghost Daoist took over Xuan Sanren’s Mysterious Demon Fetus, planted a trace of demonic thought in Poison Venerable, and caused the Heavenly Dao to erase him.
• Standing over the dead in Ten Thousand Demon Palace, Ghost Daoist declared that the Devil Ancestors were trash for coveting his junior brother.

Mo Hua watched the Ghostly Path Heaven-Sealing Array and realized its self-generating patterns shared the same Divine Thought Derivation at the core of Ghost Daoist’s Dao Heart Planting Demon. Ghost Daoist carried him toward Lishan City, while Bai Qingcheng reunited with Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi and learned that Mo Hua had been taken in their place.

• Mo Hua studied the Ghostly Path Heaven-Sealing Array and concluded that its derivation and Ghost Daoist’s Dao Heart Planting Demon came from the same Divine Thought method.
• Ghost Daoist noticed Mo Hua’s insight, knocked him unconscious, annihilated Ten Thousand Demon Palace with the array, and headed toward Lishan City carrying him.
• Chief Administrator Shangguan escorted Bai Zisheng, Bai Zixi, and Aunt Xue to Qingshan City, where Bai Qingcheng arrived to receive them.
• Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi asked Bai Qingcheng to save Mo Hua, and she learned Ghost Daoist had taken him as their substitute.
• Bai Qingcheng decided to leave with the siblings the next day, then tried and failed to calculate Senior Martial Brother’s fate and committed Mo Hua’s name to memory.

Bai Qingcheng joined the Dao Court cultivators gathered outside Lishan City, where they discussed Ghost Daoist’s destruction of powerful Demonic Path cultivators and the danger Feather Transformations faced under the Heavenly Dao. After Bai Qingcheng revealed that her ancestors had told her to stand by, True Person Situ prepared the camp against Ghost Daoist, but a disciple reporting a daoist’s arrival appeared to become one himself.

• Bai Qingcheng left Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi in a guarded residence in Anshan City before traveling to the Cultivation Camp outside Lishan City.
• The gathered Feather Transformation cultivators discussed the tribulation lightning that had erased Demonic Path cultivators and agreed that they could not safely act within the Third-Grade State Boundary.
• True Person Situ privately asked Bai Qingcheng about her family’s plans, and she told him her ancestors had ordered her to stand by with folded arms.
• True Person Situ speculated that the Return to Ruins Heavenly Burial and Mr. Zhuang’s death might be the opening moves in a much larger scheme, then ordered defenses against Ghost Daoist.
• A few days later, a disciple told True Person Situ that a daoist had arrived, then turned with pitch-black pupils and said, “I am the daoist?”

The Ghost Daoist’s Dao Heart Planting Demon devastated the cultivators outside Lishan City, but True Person Situ shielded some with the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp. The Ghost Daoist entered the Five Elements Sect with Mo Hua, where Old Kui died and Mo Hua escaped through the mountain array’s Life Gate; the Ghost Daoist then reached Mr. Zhuang in the Array Repository.

• True Person Situ used the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp to protect the unaffected cultivators while Dao Heart Planting Demon drove others to slaughter one another.
• The Ghost Daoist carried Mo Hua past the Dao Court cultivators and entered Lishan City, followed by Bai Qingcheng and three True Person Feather Transformations.
• The Ghost Daoist entered the Five Elements Mountain-Protecting Grand Array with Mo Hua, and Bai Qingcheng and the three True Person Feather Transformations followed before the entrance closed.
• At the Array Repository, the Ghost Daoist used Blood Daoist’s blood to corrode Old Kui until he became a lifeless wooden sculpture.
• Bai Qingcheng took Mo Hua from the Ghost Daoist and entered the Array Repository, while Mo Hua used Mr. Zhuang’s instructions to calculate the Life Gate and escape the mountain array.
• The Ghost Daoist broke into the fourth floor of the Array Repository, where Mr. Zhuang greeted him as his Senior Martial Brother.

Ghost Daoist killed Mr. Zhuang and took his Innate Dao Bone, revealing that their master had raised Mr. Zhuang as a vessel for the Blood of the Celestial and the Return to Ruins Heavenly Burial Diagram. As Mr. Zhuang appeared to die, Bai Qingcheng resolved to seek help from True Person Situ and the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp.

• Ghost Daoist confronted Mr. Zhuang, who accepted his fate and said the sect’s end and his death were inevitable.
• Bai Qingcheng arrived and begged Ghost Daoist to spare Mr. Zhuang, but Ghost Daoist accused her of plotting against him and revealed that their master had also used him.
• Ghost Daoist explained that their master had shattered Mr. Zhuang’s Qi Sea and Sea of Consciousness to force the Innate Dao Bone to absorb the Blood of the Celestial and reveal the Return to Ruins Heavenly Burial Diagram.
• Ghost Daoist pierced Mr. Zhuang’s chest, removed his Innate Dao Bone, and escaped as a mysterious figure tried to restrain him with golden chains.
• Bai Qingcheng held Mr. Zhuang as his life faded; after he closed his eyes and stopped responding, she remembered True Person Situ and the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp as a possible way to save him.

True Person Situ used the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp to seal Mr. Zhuang’s death and temporarily prolong his life, while Mo Hua and the Bai siblings kept watch over him. Just before the camp’s departure, Bai Qingcheng realized the Ghost Daoist’s scattered Demon Seeds were a trap, but Mo Hua had already been marked by them.

• Bai Qingcheng persuaded True Person Situ to expend the Qiankun Clear Light Lamp’s lifespan and form the Mysterious Fire Everlasting Array around Mr. Zhuang.
• Mo Hua grieved beside his unconscious master, and Mr. Zhuang briefly opened his eyes before silently closing them again.
• Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi arrived and joined Mo Hua in watching over Mr. Zhuang as Bai Qingcheng prepared to leave the camp.
• Several Dao Soldiers suddenly succumbed to Dao Heart Planting Demon, but True Person Situ detected no sign of the Ghost Daoist and initially believed the danger had passed.
• Bai Qingcheng realized the Ghost Daoist had planted the scattered Demon Seeds for a purpose and rushed to check on her children and Mo Hua.
• Bai Qingcheng found Mo Hua awake in his room with pitch-black pupils.

Mo Hua discovered that Ghost Daoist’s Demon Seed had brought a wisp of the Ghost Daoist into his Sea of Consciousness, where the Mystery Heaven Array kept him at bay. As Ghost Daoist dismantled the array with Heavenly Ghost Calculation, Mo Hua secretly learned the technique, but after the array fell, Ghost Daoist confronted him and realized what he had done.

• Bai Qingcheng and the other Feather Transformations found Mo Hua bearing a deeply planted demonic thought, and True Person Situ decided to trap him rather than kill him.
• Bai Qingcheng shielded Mo Hua beneath the Brocade Mountains and Rivers Umbrella while True Person Situ sealed him inside the God-Sealing Array.
• Inside Mo Hua’s Sea of Consciousness, Ghost Daoist appeared beyond the Mystery Heaven Array and began dismantling it with Heavenly Ghost Calculation.
• Mo Hua recognized the technique, studied Ghost Daoist’s every move, and concluded that Master might have arranged for him to learn it.
• Ghost Daoist dismantled the Mystery Heaven Array, removing Mo Hua’s Foundation Establishment bottleneck, then entered his Sea of Consciousness and attacked him.
• Mo Hua countered Ghost Daoist’s Ghostly Path Array with Heavenly Ghost Calculation, and Ghost Daoist realized Mo Hua had secretly learned the technique.