Chapter Summaries

Elder Ge watched Mo Hua arrive in Cloud Ferry City, played chess with him, and saw him depart aboard the Cloud Ferry with a clearer Dao Heart. In Ganxue Prefecture, the Slaughter Mo Alliance rallied again, and a month later the Central Dao Court arrived to judge the Blood Sacrifice crisis and the Four Prodigies.

• Elder Ge warned the Overseer about the burden of power and his readiness to become Elder Ge, then watched Mo Hua enter Cloud Ferry City.
• Mo Hua and Elder Ge played chess together until the Cloud Ferry sounded its flute, and Mo Hua left Ganxue Prefecture aboard the vessel.
• An anonymous voice revived the Slaughter Mo Alliance by stirring its members’ resentment toward Mo Hua, while his records and achievements were sealed or suppressed.
• A month later, Ganxue’s clan and sect leaders gathered to face the Central Dao Court’s accountability and decide the fate of Shen Linshu, Ao Zhan, Xiao Wuchen, and Duanmu Qing.
• The Central Dao Court’s delegation arrived in a Nine Heavens Gilded Carriage, and Duanmu Qing was captivated when a white-robed figure stepped down.

At Void Gate, Bai Zixi visited the sect and learned that Mo Hua had lived there, stirring memories and warmth in her. As their paths crossed briefly aboard separate Cloud Ferries, the Dao Court’s settlement sent the Four Prodigies of Ganxue away, while Duanmu Qing became obsessively fixated on Bai Zixi.

• Bai Zixi’s appearance overwhelmed the cultivators at the joint trial, while Elder Hong’s scorched red thread made her suspect Mo Hua’s marriage fate was connected to Bai Zixi.
• The Dao Court negotiated with Ganxue and secured the Four Prodigies of Ganxue for reform under its authority.
• Bai Zixi visited Void Gate, recognized the name Mo Hua when the Sect Master spoke of him, and viewed the mountain through memories of her Junior Martial Brother.
• Duanmu Qing prepared to leave for Dao Province, convinced that Bai Zixi belonged to her, as Mo Hua traveled through the Cloud Vein toward the branching route.
• Mo Hua and Bai Zixi saw each other across the clouds from their Cloud Ferries before they continued toward separate destinies.

Mo Hua returned to Li Prefecture after ten years away, but leaving Gan Province weakened Ganxue’s protection and brought his killing intent back to the surface. After suppressing it, he traveled with a poor merchant caravan through Great Black Mountain, secretly protecting them as they made their way to Immortal City.

• Mo Hua returned to Li Prefecture and felt a dangerous Killing Intent backlash after Ganxue’s fortune weakened, so he left the crowds and calmed himself in the mountains.
• Mo Hua joined a merchant caravan and discreetly crippled attacking demon beasts so the low-level cultivators could defeat them and gather materials.
• The caravan leader credited their good fortune to Mo Xiantong, and the group prayed to the legendary Immortal Child for protection.
• Mo Hua secretly helped the caravan cross Great Black Mountain safely and followed them to Immortal City, where he saw how much the city had grown.
• Mo Hua told the caravan leader his name before vanishing, leaving the man convinced that the Immortal Child had protected them.

Mo Hua returned to Immortal City after ten years and reunited with his parents, who learned how far he had advanced in cultivation. After discovering that Grandpa Kui had planted the Big Locust Tree beside their home, Mo Hua began planning for Golden Core Formation.

• Mo Hua returned to Liu Eatery and reunited with his mother, Liu Ruhua, before his father, Mo Shan, came home and joined them.
• Mo Hua learned that Liu Ruhua had kept his letters but refused to write back because she feared his family’s origins would hold him back.
• Mo Hua told his parents he had reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage, easing Mo Shan’s doubts that he had truly joined a great sect in Gan Province.
• Mo Hua learned that Liu Ruhua had preserved their old home and kept the eatery as a memento of his childhood.
• Liu Ruhua told Mo Hua that Grandpa Kui had visited the eatery and that a Big Locust Tree had sprouted where he sat the next day.
• Mo Hua studied Array Techniques in his childhood bedroom and began planning how to form a Golden Core.

Mo Hua weighed the challenges of forming a Golden Core and dissolving his accumulated Killing Intent, then found peace in childhood memories and returned to his family. His homecoming drew a crowd of old acquaintances, who celebrated his achievements and learned that he had reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage.

• Mo Hua considered the divine sense, array comprehension, engraving, and refinement required to form his unusual Golden Core, and worried about dissolving the Killing Intent tied to his murderous Sin.
• Mo Hua slept in his childhood bed, and the familiar memories calmed his mind and suppressed his demonic nature and Killing Intent.
• Mo Hua reunited with Liu Ruhua and Mo Shan, then went out to stroll through Immortal City, where a Monster Hunter recognized him and drew a crowd.
• Elder Yu and Mo Hua's other old acquaintances gathered at the An Family Dining Hall to welcome him, and An Xiaofu arranged a citywide feast at the Fortune Meal Pavilions.
• Mo Hua told the guests about his studies and accomplishments in Ganxue Prefecture, leaving them amazed by his connections and array achievements.
• Mo Hua revealed that he had reached Foundation Establishment Late Stage and was preparing for Golden Core Formation, shocking everyone at the banquet.

Mo Hua’s fame spread through Immortal City, and after visiting Elder Feng, he reflected on the plight of independent cultivators. The Azure Wolf Sect’s Sect Master then visited to recruit him, but his dismissive words about Immortal City’s cultivators left Mo Hua’s response pending.

• Mo Hua’s reputation as a Foundation Establishment Late Stage disciple of Void Gate brought a flood of visitors, most of whom he declined.
• Mo Hua visited Elder Feng at Apricot Forest Pavilion, listened to his practical alchemy lessons, and heard his concerns about the hardship faced by independent cultivators.
• Elder Yu told Mo Hua that the Azure Wolf Sect’s Sect Master wanted to visit, and Mo Hua agreed to meet him.
• The Azure Wolf Sect’s Sect Master arrived with Foundation Establishment followers, but Mo Hua’s calm presence and a flash of terrifying killing intent unsettled him.
• After meeting privately, the Sect Master asked Mo Hua to join the Azure Wolf Sect and urged him to leave Immortal City’s impoverished independent cultivators behind.

Mo Hua considered the Azure Wolf Sect Master's offer and chose to remain in Immortal City, while the Sect Master schemed to recruit him and exploit his reputation. Left alone, Mo Hua reaffirmed his purpose: to use what he learned in cultivation and Array Technique to benefit all cultivators.

• The Azure Wolf Sect Master urged Mo Hua to sever his ties to his past and join the Azure Wolf Sect, then left him gifts and offered him three days to decide.
• The Azure Wolf Sect Master and an elder discussed Mo Hua's uncertain background, judged that his status as a fifth-grade sect disciple made him dangerous to offend, and planned to win him over for the sect's benefit.
• Elder Yu worried that the Azure Wolf Sect's vicious reputation made it a poor choice for Mo Hua, but Mo Hua reassured him and encouraged him to keep cursing people.
• Three days later, Mo Hua declined the Azure Wolf Sect Master's offer and said he would stay in Immortal City, so the Azure Wolf party departed.
• Mo Hua reflected on the temptation of status and advancement, reaffirmed his identity as an independent cultivator from Immortal City, and resolved to pass on his knowledge for the benefit of all cultivators.

Mo Hua gave Elder Yu cultivation inheritances and a plan to expand Immortal City toward a Second-Grade Grand Array, then arranged a Dao Discussion Meeting to teach Array Techniques. At the meeting, he revealed that he had reached the pinnacle of Second-Grade High-Level Array mastery.

• Mo Hua decided to help Immortal City rather than leave without preparing its cultivators, and he organized cultivation inheritances gathered during his years at Void Gate.
• Mo Hua gave Elder Yu the inheritances, a Dao Heart booklet, and the Immortal City Grand Array Diagram, proposing that Immortal City expand through Child Cities before building a Second-Grade City Protection Array.
• Elder Yu pledged to begin the long-term expansion plan, while Mo Hua worried about coming calamities and the safety of Immortal City's people.
• Mo Hua asked Master Luo to organize an annual Dao Discussion Meeting, and Master Luo spread the news, drawing Array Masters from across Great Black Mountain Province.
• At the meeting, Mo Hua respectfully greeted Instructor Yan and began explaining Five Elements Eight Trigrams Arrays, shocking the audience by revealing his mastery of Second-Grade High-Level Nineteen-Pattern arrays.

Mo Hua’s array teachings and cultivation guidance helped Immortal City flourish, and he spent his remaining time at home with his parents before preparing to leave. His search for Big Tiger turned up no trace, while a dream left him with a plea to save the Great Wilderness Clan from extinction.

• Mo Hua explained advanced array principles and Foundation Establishment cultivation, earning the respect of the assembled cultivators and spreading a scholarly atmosphere through Immortal City.
• Elder Yu began expanding Immortal City as visiting Array Masters settled there, and Mo Hua realized his work was done and that he would soon leave home.
• Mo Hua spent time with Liu Ruhua and Mo Shan, who shared meals, childhood memories, and practical survival advice with him.
• Mo Hua learned that Da Hu and his brothers had become direct disciples of the Great Wilderness Sect, while Uncle Meng and Aunt Meng had joined them.
• Mo Hua discovered that Big Tiger had vanished after a violent battle more than a year earlier, but his search and inquiries found no clues.
• As Mo Hua pondered where to form his Golden Core, he dreamed of a bloodied old man pleading with him to save the Great Wilderness Clan from a catastrophe.

After dreaming of the Second Elder’s plea, Mo Hua decided to travel to the Great Wilderness to uncover the secrets of the Taotie Spirit Bone Array and pursue Golden Core Formation. Meanwhile, Shen Xiuyan unknowingly awakened a sealed demonic body, which fled Ganxue Prefecture despite Elder Ge’s attempt to destroy it.

• Mo Hua connected the Second Elder’s warning about the Great Wilderness Clan’s impending destruction to the secrets of his Natal Array and resolved to go to the Great Wilderness.
• Shen Xiuyan, controlled by an unseen force, opened a hidden altar and used his blood to awaken a sealed demonic body before returning to the Xiaoling Sect with no memory of what he had done.
• Shen Xiuyan dreamed of the familiar Dilapidated Temple and believed he had driven away the black-mist daoist, unaware that the daoist stood behind him.
• Three days later, the awakened demonic body identified itself as Mr. Tu and fled through the Earth Veins toward Li Prefecture.
• Elder Ge attacked Mr. Tu with heavenly calculations, but a Ghostly Pattern shielded the last remnant of his flesh and blood long enough for him to escape Ganxue Prefecture.
• Elder Ge recognized the Ghostly Path’s interference and warned that someone was seeking Divine Molting Transformation.

Elder Ge and other powerful cultivators sensed a growing crisis in the Southern Wilderness as Mo Hua prepared to leave Immortal City and return to the Great Wilderness. Before departing, Mo Hua said farewell to friends and elders, while Elder You and Li San traveled south toward the same region.

• Elder Ge sensed that the Ghost Shadow had grown more powerful and noticed ominous red light in the southern sky, prompting cultivation factions to investigate the changes in the Southern Wilderness.
• Elder You met Li San, who explained that he had escaped the Dao Prison and avoided the blood-colored grand array by following what he believed were Elder You's unspoken orders; Elder You made him a confidant and promised to help him form his Golden Core.
• Mo Hua decided to leave for the Great Wilderness in three days and visited Instructor Yan and Manager Mo, who encouraged him and wished him well.
• An Xiaofu gave Mo Hua a Fortune Meal White Jade Token that would let him eat for free at Fortune Meal Pavilion.
• Elder Yu gave Mo Hua a Jade Slip containing his collected insults, which Mo Hua treated as a precious inheritance and vowed to pass on.

Mo Hua left Immortal City to pursue Golden Core Formation and searched the Great Black Mountain for clues about the missing Big Tiger. In the wilderness, he persuaded Pixiu to let him take a piece of the Evil God True Fetus, but the small boost to his Divine Consciousness left him needing another way to grow stronger.

• Mo Hua urged Liu Ruhua to cultivate, reassured his parents, and left Immortal City before dawn to seek Golden Core Formation.
• Mo Hua visited Mr. Zhuang's former residence, then entered the Great Black Mountain and used Heavenly Calculation to investigate what had happened to the Big Tiger.
• Mo Hua stopped his calculation when Killing Intent threatened to overwhelm his Divine Thought, and he continued south without learning the Big Tiger's fate.
• Mo Hua entered the sealed Hall of Divine Beasts and fought Pixiu until it agreed to let him take one piece of the Evil God True Fetus.
• Mo Hua cut off and refined a piece of the Evil God True Fetus, gaining only a slight increase in Divine Consciousness and deciding he needed another source of nourishment.

Mo Hua traveled from Great Black Mountain Province through impoverished Jieji Prefecture, where he strengthened a village’s defenses and received faint Merit Vow Power. After his Fate Balefulness drove him to slaughter a group of bandits, he vowed never to kill again.

• Mo Hua left Great Black Mountain Province and entered Jieji Prefecture, where his Killing Intent resurfaced and he used his parents as anchors to steady his mind.
• Mo Hua met an impoverished village elder, learned the routes ahead, built an Earth-Wood Gen Mountain Array to protect the village, and gave Inedia Pills to hungry children.
• The villagers mistook Mo Hua for the Immortal Child and prayed for his blessing, sending faint Merit Vow Power into his Fate and easing some of his Killing Intent.
• Mo Hua encountered bandits on the middle path and killed them all with Fireball Techniques after his Killing Intent overwhelmed his restraint.
• Mo Hua realized that both suppressing his Killing Intent and indulging it carried dangers, then vowed never to kill again.

Mo Hua struggled to control the Killing Intent growing in his heart, but after discovering the bandits’ atrocities, he returned to their stronghold and slaughtered its inhabitants. He killed the Stronghold Master after rejecting his excuses, then left the story with his murderousness still growing.

• Mo Hua killed two groups of bandits with Fireball Technique before forcing himself to use Concealment Technique to avoid further conflicts.
• Mo Hua found a bandit cultivator stronghold but initially left, intending to report it to the Dao Court Office rather than kill its occupants himself.
• Mo Hua discovered the bandits’ display of murdered civilians, lost control of his restrained Killing Intent, and returned to the stronghold.
• Mo Hua used Concealment Technique, Fireball Technique, and Array Techniques to kill the bandits in the stronghold’s hall.
• The Stronghold Master tried to ambush Mo Hua while offering excuses for his crimes, but Mo Hua restrained him with Water Prison Technique and killed him with Nirvana Extinction fire.

After wiping out a bandit stronghold, Mo Hua struggled with the immense Killing Intent from killing more than a hundred cultivators and learned that he had begun nurturing dangerous Righteous Baleful Qi. He set out for Azure Wolf City with an escort, hoping to avoid further killing, but left carrying a volatile burden that could turn into Evil Baleful Intent if he harmed an innocent person.

• Mo Hua’s destruction of the bandit stronghold became a miracle in the nearby village, and villagers prayed to the Immortal Child for protection.
• In a secluded cave, Mo Hua drew the Killing Intent into his soul through the Seven Souls Blood Prison Pupil and transformed the rest with the Demon Path Baleful Transformation True Art.
• Mo Hua realized he had accumulated an immense amount of Righteous Baleful Qi and that killing an innocent person could turn it into catastrophic Evil Baleful Intent.
• Mo Hua concealed the traces of his cultivation and traveled to Jieji Immortal City, where he hired Head Escort Luo to take him to Azure Wolf City.
• As the caravan traveled, Head Escort Luo and his men drove off bandits while Mo Hua stayed safely among the passengers.

Mo Hua traveled toward Azure Wolf City with Head Escort Luo’s caravan and learned of the Azure Wolf Sect’s sinister reputation. When Elder Duan tried to force Ying Niang into marriage and engineered a pretext to destroy her family’s escort agency, Mo Hua killed him with a single spell.

• Mo Hua reflected on the hardship and cruelty facing poor independent cultivators as Head Escort Luo’s caravan crossed the mountains toward Azure Wolf City.
• Head Escort Luo revealed his fear of the Azure Wolf Sect, and Mo Hua sensed a familiar presence drawing him toward Azure Wolf City.
• Elder Duan and Elder Sun intercepted the caravan, and Elder Duan pressured Head Escort Luo to merge the Luo Family Escort Agency into the sect by marrying Ying Niang.
• Elder Duan attacked Ying Niang and provoked Head Escort Luo into striking him, then accused Head Escort Luo of attempting to assassinate an Azure Wolf Sect elder.
• Ying Niang refused to become Elder Duan’s concubine and prepared to kill herself, but Mo Hua blasted a hole through Elder Duan’s chest with a spell.

Mo Hua killed Elder Duan and the Azure Wolf Sect forces who attacked the Luo Family Escort Agency, then helped Head Escort Luo conceal the deaths and enter Azure Wolf City as his guest. The chapter ended with Sect Master Duan welcoming Mo Hua and thanking Head Escort Luo for escorting him, unaware that his own nephew had been killed.

• Elder Sun attacked Mo Hua with a poisoned dart, but Mo Hua dodged it and blasted off his leg as the remaining Azure Wolf Sect disciples fled.
• Head Escort Luo and the escorts captured the fleeing disciples, then killed Elder Sun and the other Azure Wolf Sect cultivators at Mo Hua's urging.
• Mo Hua burned the corpses, buried the evidence with an Array Technique, and persuaded Head Escort Luo's group to enter Azure Wolf City with him.
• At the North Gate, Mo Hua presented a token identifying him as the Sect Master's honored guest, and the Azure Wolf Sect escorted the group into the city.
• Head Escort Luo told Mo Hua that Sect Master Duan was Elder Duan's uncle, but Mo Hua decided to meet the Sect Master as planned.
• Sect Master Duan warmly received Mo Hua and thanked Head Escort Luo for bringing him to the city.

Mo Hua stayed at the Azure Wolf Sect while studying how direct and indirect killing affected his Killing Intent, and he resolved to avoid Karma by working behind the scenes. As a wolf howl shook the sect at dawn, he sensed that his chance to reach Twenty-One-Pattern had arrived.

• Head Escort Luo returned safely to the Luo Family Escort Agency and warned his escorts to keep silent about what had happened, while Ying Niang worried about Mo Hua.
• The Sect Master of the Azure Wolf Sect invited Mo Hua to join and arranged for him to stay at the sect; Mo Hua accepted the lodging but refused the two women sent to serve him.
• Mo Hua set up protective arrays in his room, then refined the Killing Intent from his recent kill and compared the backlash from killing directly and indirectly.
• Mo Hua recalled the chess-playing old grandpa and decided to conceal his actions, minimize his Karma, and let others handle the killing when possible.
• Mo Hua considered his stalled Divine Consciousness growth, practiced arrays through the night, and continued his morning cultivation.
• A powerful wolf howl shook the Azure Wolf Sect, and Mo Hua sensed that he had found an opportunity to reach Twenty-One-Pattern.

Mo Hua investigated the Azure Wolf Sect’s secret wolf howl while concealing his suspicions from the elders and visiting Head Escort Luo. Elder Ji then took him to the city’s extravagant entertainments and gambling den, where Mo Hua saw the contrast between the sect’s luxury and the surrounding poverty; he returned to the sect with faint black qi stirring in his eyes.

• Mo Hua searched the Azure Wolf Sect for the source of the wolf howl, then questioned an elder who denied that the sect kept demonic beasts.
• Mo Hua visited Head Escort Luo, waited for the Divine Consciousness watching him to withdraw, and asked about the wolf howl and the Azure Wolf Sect’s growing dominance over the city.
• Mo Hua refused a beautiful woman sent to his room, and Elder Ji later brought him to a luxurious pavilion in Azure Wolf City.
• Elder Ji showed Mo Hua the pavilion’s performers and gambling den, but Mo Hua saw through the rigged games and deliberately lost all the Spirit Stones he had won.
• As Mo Hua rode back to the sect, he saw the impoverished cultivators living beyond the prosperous main city, and faint black qi stirred in his eyes.

Mo Hua investigated clues linking the Azure Wolf Sect to Big Tiger’s disappearance while the Sect Master tried to exploit Mo Hua’s talents and secretly investigate the deaths of his nephew and Elder Sun. Mo Hua earned respect by repairing an artifact furnace but found no way to search freely, while the Sect Master sought a divination about who had killed his nephew.

• Mo Hua suspected Elder Ji’s chest scar came from Big Tiger and reasoned that the Azure Wolf Sect had been watching Immortal City for much longer than he had realized.
• Elder Ji reported that Mo Hua resisted the Sect Master’s attempts to manipulate him through women and entertainment, so the Sect Master decided to give him work and make use of his array skills.
• Elder Ji told the Sect Master that Hong and Elder Sun had vanished and might have been killed, while the Sect Master ordered a discreet investigation and feared that a hidden crime could be exposed.
• Elder Ji took Mo Hua to repair a broken Second-Grade Mid-Tier array in an Artifact Refining Furnace, and Mo Hua fixed it after pretending to study for most of the day.
• Mo Hua helped with the Azure Wolf Sect’s array problems over the following days, gaining respect but remaining under Elder Ji’s watch and unable to investigate freely.
• The Azure Wolf Sect Master secretly visited a black-robed person in the forbidden ground and asked for a divination to identify who had killed his nephew.