Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua and Bai Zixi watched Inspector Pu try to arrest Miao'er, but she escaped his restraints before Gu Changhuai and the Gu twins captured her. Miao'er revealed that Liu San was hidden beneath her bed, and the group descended into the passage there while Mo Hua remained behind, uneasy about the situation.

• Inspector Pu struggled with Miao'er, but her technique siphoned his Primordial Yang Essence until he poisoned it, weakening her and allowing him to bind her.
• Inspector Pu questioned Miao'er about Liu San, but she feigned ignorance and slipped free of her bonds before fleeing toward the door.
• Gu Changhuai arrived with Gu An and Gu Quan, wounded and captured Miao'er, then forced her to reveal that Liu San was beneath her bed.
• Gu An used a jade key from Miao'er's waist to open the bed and uncover a hidden passage.
• Gu Changhuai, Inspector Pu, Gu An, Gu Quan, and the bound Miao'er entered the passage, while Mo Hua and Bai Zixi stayed behind and Mo Hua sensed something was wrong.

Mo Hua and Bai Zixi discovered a hidden Joyous Union Prison beneath Jade Fragrance Pavilion, where Gu Changhuai rescued Liu San. Inspector Pu then revealed his betrayal and trapped Gu Changhuai in a scheme involving the Joyous Union Sect, leaving him surrounded by powerful fiends.

• Mo Hua and Bai Zixi descended beneath the jade bed and found an empty prison filled with cells and beds used by the Joyous Union Sect.
• Gu Changhuai and his men freed the depleted Liu San, while Miao'er claimed Liu San had ruined himself by indulging in pleasure.
• Inspector Pu attacked Gu Quan, freed Miao'er, and admitted that he had lured Gu Changhuai to Jade Fragrance Pavilion.
• Inspector Pu and Miao'er offered Gu Changhuai a night of pleasure, but he refused and challenged them to stop him.
• Joyous Union Sect cultivators emerged from hidden passages, led by a pale-faced man at the Golden Core Peak Stage.

Mo Hua and Bai Zixi were discovered hiding in the Jade Fragrance Pavilion as Hua Yinke’s Joyous Union Sect surrounded Gu Changhuai. While Gu Changhuai fought off eight elders, Hua Yinke prepared to intervene, but a hidden cultivator launched a deadly ambush against him.

• Hua Yinke ordered the Joyous Union Sect elders to capture Gu Changhuai, and Miao'er revealed Mo Hua and Bai Zixi hiding in the rafters.
• Mo Hua and Bai Zixi jumped down and were surrounded with Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan.
• Eight Joyous Union Sect elders attacked Gu Changhuai and his companions, but Gu Changhuai used his Seven-Colored Peacock Feather Fan and Wind-Feather Transformation Art to push them back.
• Hua Yinke began casting a powerful Dao Method against Gu Changhuai, while Mo Hua noticed a concealed water-element sword beam racing toward Hua Yinke from behind.
• Mo Hua realized that an unseen cultivator had used Gu Changhuai as bait to create an opening for an assassination.

Yu Cangming ambushed Hua Yinke in the Joyous Union Prison, and the Dao Court forces began to turn the battle against the Joyous Union Sect. The conflict escalated when Lady Rui arrived with three other Golden Core Peak Stage Demonic Path titans.

• Yu Cangming stabbed Hua Yinke with the Dark Water Heart-Punishing Sword, crippling his yang body, but Hua Yinke drove him back with the Begonia Sickle.
• Hua Yinke realized the Dao Court had used Gu Changhuai as bait to draw him and the Joyous Union Sect Elders into an ambush.
• Yu Cangming attacked Hua Yinke again, and the two fought while Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan battled the Joyous Union Sect Elders.
• Mo Hua and Bai Zixi watched the fighting until red flowers bloomed across the prison and Lady Rui appeared.
• Lady Rui revealed that she had brought the Blood Flood Dragon Mountain Master, Withered Bone Loose Cultivator, and Green Corpse Child, all Golden Core Peak Stage Demonic Path experts.

Mo Hua and Bai Zixi were discovered hiding in the Jade Fragrance Pavilion as Hua Yinke’s Joyous Union Sect attacked Gu Changhuai and his companions. As Hua Yinke prepared to intervene, a hidden cultivator launched a deadly ambush against him, leaving the assassin’s identity unresolved.

• Hua Yinke confronted Gu Changhuai and ordered the Joyous Union Sect elders to seize him.
• Miao'er detected Mo Hua and Bai Zixi in the rafters by sensing their desire, forcing them to reveal themselves.
• Hua Yinke postponed dealing with the masked pair and sent eight elders to attack Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan.
• Gu Changhuai used his Seven-Colored Peacock Feather Fan and the Wind-Feather Transformation Art to gain the upper hand against the eight elders.
• Hua Yinke began casting a Dao Method, but a concealed cultivator struck at his back with a powerful water blade as Mo Hua realized Gu Changhuai had served as bait.

Mo Hua rescued Liu San from Joyous Union Prison and brought him to Houtu City's Dao Court Office with Gu Changhuai, while the Demonic Path giants withdrew and Bai Zixi returned home with True Person Rong. At the office, Mo Hua learned that Jade Fragrance Pavilion was a Joyous Union Sect base and that the sect’s influence had deeply compromised Houtu City’s Dao Court.

• Mo Hua denied killing the Demonic Path giants, then helped Gu Changhuai and the others carry the emaciated Liu San out of Jade Fragrance Pavilion.
• True Person Rong took Bai Zixi and Bai Xiaosheng home, while Mo Hua went with Gu Changhuai to Houtu City's Dao Court Office.
• Gu Changhuai arranged for Liu San to be confined and examined, and Mo Hua asked to claim the four-million-Spirit-Stone reward for finding him.
• Gu Changhuai confirmed that Jade Fragrance Pavilion was a Joyous Union Sect base and that Inspector Pu had served as an inside man.
• Gu Changhuai explained that Inspector Pu would probably escape charges because the Joyous Union Sect had compromised the Dao Court Office throughout Houtu City.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai discussed the Joyous Union Sect’s growth in Houtu City and uncovered signs that the Earth Sect may have helped corrupt the Dao Court Office to conceal records tied to the Great Spirit Field Realm. Gu Changhuai explained that the Xia Family had sent him to Kun Province to test his prospects with Sister Xia, while Mo Hua learned the Demonic Path was beginning to take notice of him.

• Gu Changhuai traced the Joyous Union Sect’s rise in Houtu City from the spread of Brothels to its open exploitation of Flower Street amid the Dao Court’s war with the Great Wilderness.
• Mo Hua suspected the Earth Sect had tacitly enabled the Joyous Union Sect, and Gu Changhuai said that Houtu City’s missing case files most likely concerned the Great Spirit Field Realm.
• Mo Hua revealed that the Great Wilderness war had already ended in defeat, while Gu Changhuai said the Dao Court and Great Clans still officially reported that it continued.
• Gu Changhuai told Mo Hua that the Xia Family had transferred him to Kun Province to prove himself worthy of Sister Xia, and Mo Hua cursed the Xia Family’s ancestor for opposing their relationship.
• Gu Changhuai warned Mo Hua that the Demonic Path would target him and that powerful demons were emerging; meanwhile, Mo Hua’s name spread through demon dens across Kun Province.

Hua Yinke learned from Lady Miao that Mo Hua might possess a Joyous Union treasure that draws out desire, while several Demonic Path figures separately questioned Mo Hua’s identity and feared his connection to the Great Wilderness and Ghost Daoist. The chapter left Green Corpse Child pondering whether Ghost Daoist had let Mo Hua escape and stressing the importance of daoists amid the coming changes.

• Hua Yinke eased his injuries with pills and offerings, then summoned Lady Miao and demanded the yang essence she had harvested.
• Lady Miao said the Dao Court Office’s investigations had prevented her from harvesting yang essence, then revealed that Mo Hua’s desire seemed stirred by a Joyous Union treasure.
• Hua Yinke ordered Lady Miao to keep the possible treasure secret and report any further clues to him.
• The Blood Flood Dragon Mountain Master ordered his subordinates to investigate Mo Hua after venting his rage over the humiliation he had suffered.
• Withered Bone Loose Cultivator wondered why other Great Demons feared Mo Hua and suspected Mo Hua carried an extraordinary burden of killing sin.
• Green Corpse Child recalled Gold Corpse True Person’s warning about Mo Hua and wondered whether Ghost Daoist had allowed him to escape the Great Wilderness.

Mo Hua returned to Little Luan Mountain Blessed Land after a night out with Junior Martial Sister, appeased an upset Xiao Ju, and considered the dangers of the Golden Needle and the Demonic Path’s plans. His plans to earn Spirit Stones and strengthen his cultivation were disrupted when Zhu Muchen told him he was going to the Great Spirit Field Realm.

• Yu Nujiao learned that Lady Rui had encountered the gifted young master surnamed Mo and grew curious about him, while Lady Rui warned her to stay away from dangerous men.
• Mo Hua returned from the market to find Xiao Ju angry that he and the others had left her alone, so he apologized and calmed her with oranges.
• Mo Hua examined Xiao Ju’s Array Technique homework and found that she had mastered patterns related to Spirit Planting while neglecting the rest.
• Mo Hua meditated to suppress the desire stirred by the Heart-Binding Love-Inducing Desire-Falling Golden Needle and considered the Demonic Path figures gathered in Houtu City.
• Mo Hua decided he should earn enough Spirit Stones and reach the Golden Core Middle Stage before visiting the Great Spirit Field Realm.
• Two days later, Mo Hua met Zhu Muchen at the Fortune Pavilion and learned that Zhu Muchen was going to the Great Spirit Field Realm.

Mo Hua accepted Zhu Muchen’s invitation to visit the Great Spirit Field Realm by the Zhu Family’s array highway, while True Person Rong refused to let Bai Zixi accompany them. During the fast journey, Mo Hua studied the highway’s arrays and began guiding Zhu Muchen in array techniques.

• Zhu Muchen invited Mo Hua to inspect the Zhu Family’s farmland in the Great Spirit Field Realm, explaining that the family’s private array highway made the trip take three days.
• Mo Hua decided to travel with Zhu Muchen, and True Person Rong refused Bai Zixi’s request to join them; Xiao Ju also stayed behind to keep Bai Zixi company.
• Mo Hua met Zhu Muchen at Fortune Pavilion, and the two traveled to the Zhu Family estate before boarding a vermilion carriage on the array highway.
• Mo Hua recovered from the carriage’s speed, studied its Wind-Type Array Patterns and the highway’s structures, and recorded his findings in a Jade Slip.
• Mo Hua assessed Zhu Muchen’s array skills and began teaching him Five Elements Array Techniques during the journey.

Mo Hua traveled with Zhu Muchen to the Great Spirit Field Realm, where they settled into the Zhu Family’s Cloud Ease Manor. After falling asleep there, Mo Hua woke to find four grotesque constables walking along a Yin Qi road, and they noticed that he could see them.

• Mo Hua taught Zhu Muchen array techniques during their journey, while Zhu Muchen served him carefully prepared food and wine.
• The carriage entered the Great Spirit Field Realm, and Mo Hua admired its vast fields and learned from Zhu Muchen how land was divided among the region’s owners.
• Zhu Muchen brought Mo Hua to Cloud Ease Manor, where they explored the estate, attended a banquet, and spent the evening among its stewards and local villagers.
• Mo Hua went to sleep in the manor’s guest room, then woke to find four malformed constables walking along a road of Yin Qi through his room.
• The constables froze when Mo Hua looked at them, and one asked whether he could see them.

Mo Hua saw four Underworld constables and resisted their attempt to seize his soul, but they escaped back to the Underworld. The constables decided not to pursue him, while Mo Hua wondered whether the Underworld held clues to saving his Master.

• The four Underworld constables mistook Mo Hua for a suitable Substitute Ghost and tried to seize his soul, but their Soul Hooking Chain cracked when they hooked him.
• Mo Hua tried to grab the ox-headed constable’s horn and Soul Hooking Chain, then failed to touch the constables as they fled along the Underworld road.
• After the road vanished, Mo Hua considered the constables’ authority and wondered whether the Underworld was connected to his Master’s life and death.
• The constables discussed finding another Substitute Ghost, but the ox-headed constable warned them not to provoke Mo Hua because his origins seemed extraordinary.
• The ox-headed constable concluded that the times had changed and that Kun Province might face upheaval in both the mortal realm and the Underworld.

Mo Hua inspected the Zhu Family’s farmlands with Zhu Muchen, studying their formations and rare mechanism wooden oxen while searching for a particular kind of grass. At the welcoming feast, Mo Hua sensed that the estate’s apparent normality concealed something and asked Elder Lu whether someone had recently died there.

• Mo Hua found no trace of the Yin wardens after daybreak and joined Zhu Muchen for breakfast at Cloud Ease Manor.
• Elder Lu guided Mo Hua and Zhu Muchen on an inspection of the Zhu Family’s fields, where Mo Hua quickly assessed the formations and learned that the mechanism wooden oxen were too costly to use widely.
• Mo Hua studied the wooden oxen and searched the fields for a suitable kind of grass, but the wild grass he found did not meet his needs.
• After inspecting the estates and accounts, Mo Hua reflected that the Great Spirit Field Realm seemed more stable than the suffering he had expected, though something felt wrong.
• Mo Hua asked Elder Lu whether someone had died at the estate a few days earlier, and Elder Lu reacted nervously before denying it.

Mo Hua pressed Elder Lu to reveal that thirty or forty displaced refugees had died mysteriously after being driven away from Cloud Ease Manor, then went with Zhu Muchen to inspect their burial site. When a surviving boy burst from the grave and accused them of killing his family, Mo Hua restrained him and began to consider what had happened.

• Mo Hua challenged Elder Lu's denial of any deaths, and Elder Lu admitted that thirty or forty displaced refugees had died in a wasteland after the manor guards drove them away.
• Elder Lu said the refugees had shown no obvious wounds and had terrified expressions, then agreed to take Mo Hua and Zhu Muchen to their burial site.
• Mo Hua, Zhu Muchen, Elder Lu, and a guard escort reached the mass grave at night, and Mo Hua ordered the guards to dig up the bodies.
• A figure sprang from the grave and attacked Zhu Muchen, but Mo Hua bound it with a Water Prison before Elder Lu could strike it.
• Mo Hua discovered that the figure was a surviving boy, who accused them of killing his father, mother, and little sister.

Mo Hua investigated the deaths of a group of refugees and promised their surviving youth that he would find the killer. He led Zhu Muchen, Elder Lu, and the guards to a hidden Demonic Cultivator stronghold in Little Wang Village and prepared them to attack.

• Elder Lu tried to punish the cursing youth, but Zhu Muchen stopped him, and Mo Hua ordered the guards to dig up the refugees' bodies.
• Mo Hua questioned the youth, learned that Elder Lu had driven the refugees away but had not been seen killing them, and suggested that the youth himself was dead too.
• Mo Hua promised to find the killer, secretly took a piece of the youth's flesh as a supposed primer, and used his Karma sense to locate the trail.
• Mo Hua led the group to an abandoned farmhouse in Little Wang Village and identified a hidden passage and an Evil Array concealing a Demonic Cultivator stronghold.
• Mo Hua showed Elder Lu the safe paths through the array, gave the cultivators Black Cloth to cover their Divine Consciousness, and ordered them to kill everyone inside.

Mo Hua and the Zhu Family raided a Demon Den run by Skull Cave, but its White-Bone-Eyed leader escaped after Mo Hua warned him not to harm the villagers. The next morning, Mo Hua watched the surviving refugee youth bury his family and fellow refugees, reflecting on the growing tragedies across Kun Province.

• Elder Lu and the Zhu Family guards stormed the hidden Demon Den while Mo Hua and Zhu Muchen kept watch outside.
• The White-Bone-Eyed demon recognized Mo Hua from a demon-killing warrant, fought Elder Lu, and fled after Mo Hua warned him not to attack Little Wang Village's residents.
• Mo Hua led the others into the underground stronghold, where they found Evil Artifacts and the remains of the refugees; he put the grieving youth to sleep and had a guard look after him.
• Elder Lu decided to burn the Demon Den and its corpses instead of involving the Dao Court Office, and Mo Hua accepted his decision.
• The next morning, the youth carved gravestones and buried his family and the other refugees as Mo Hua watched in silence.

Mo Hua took Tu Sheng out of the Great Spirit Field Realm after the youth chose to seek revenge, while realizing Tu Sheng seemed to be living without a divine soul. Back at a deserted Land God Temple, Elder Lu confronted the White Bone-Eyed Demon over Skull Cave’s dead cultivators and discussed Mo Hua’s strange power.

• Tu Sheng told Mo Hua he had no family or hope of revenge, but Mo Hua urged him to live and try; Tu Sheng knelt and asked Mo Hua to help him take revenge.
• Mo Hua, Zhu Muchen, and Tu Sheng left the Great Spirit Field Realm for Houtu City, and Zhu Muchen shared food with the grieving Tu Sheng during the ride.
• Mo Hua sensed that Tu Sheng had no divine soul and believed he had already died, but he took him along because he suspected a hidden secret.
• At a deserted Land God Temple, Elder Lu met the White Bone-Eyed Demon, who accused him of betraying their agreement and killing Skull Cave’s cultivators.
• Elder Lu explained that Mo Hua had exposed their killings and that the Black Cloth he supplied had helped defeat Skull Cave’s ghost arts; the two then debated whether Mo Hua could be killed.

The White Bone Eye Demon suspected Mo Hua had survived the battle through a costly hidden power and learned that Mo Hua had taken away a young survivor from Skull Cave’s massacre. Mo Hua brought Tu Sheng to the Dao Court Office for shelter, then alarmed Yu Cangming by revealing that he knew of Yu Cangming’s connection to the Water Prison Sect’s direct bloodline.

• The White Bone Eye Demon reasoned that Mo Hua’s reputation might be exaggerated or backed by a costly secret legacy, and considered setting a trap for him.
• Elder Lu told the White Bone Eye Demon that one Foundation Establishment youth had survived Skull Cave’s attack and been taken away by Mo Hua.
• Mo Hua brought Tu Sheng to the Zhu Family estate, kept his destination secret from Zhu Muchen, and then led Tu Sheng to the Dao Court Office in Houtu City.
• Mo Hua asked Yu Cangming to shelter Tu Sheng, and Yu Cangming agreed to let him stay near Gu Changhuai and do odd jobs.
• After Tu Sheng left, Mo Hua asked Yu Cangming about his surname and identified the Yu of the Water Prison Sect’s direct bloodline, prompting Yu Cangming to demand to know who Mo Hua was.

Mo Hua questioned Yu Cangming about the Water Prison Sect and learned that Yu was its descendant and a Deputy Chief Administrator of the declining Demon Suppression Office. Yu explained the office’s dangers and political isolation, then grew wary after realizing how much he had revealed to Mo Hua.

• Mo Hua used his knowledge of the Water Prison Sect and the Dark Water Heart-Punishing Sword to ask Yu Cangming about his connection to the sect.
• Yu Cangming admitted that he was a Water Prison Sect descendant who had changed his surname and taken refuge in Kun Province.
• Yu Cangming explained that the Demon Suppression Office hunted powerful Demonic Cultivators but had declined because of its dangers, dwindling recruits, and opposition from other powers.
• Yu Cangming said that Demon Sects, great clans, sects, and even the Central Dao Court had reasons to prevent the Demon Suppression Office from regaining strength.
• Mo Hua left the office after Yu Cangming refused to answer further questions, and Yu privately suspected that Mo Hua was dangerous.

Mo Hua returned from the Great Spirit Field Realm, gave Tu Sheng Spirit Stones, and asked True Person Rong to examine a strange cultivator’s flesh. Reunited with Bai Zixi, he told her about the dangers he had witnessed and confided his doubts about fulfilling his Dao Heart, leaving comforted by her encouragement as a greater threat gathered beyond the horizon.

• Mo Hua warned Tu Sheng to work hard and stay out of trouble, gave him Spirit Stones, and left the Dao Court Office.
• Mo Hua returned to Little Luan Mountain Blessed Land, brought Xiao Ju food and gifts, and asked True Person Rong to examine flesh from a soulless cultivator; she agreed to report back in seven days.
• Mo Hua reunited with Bai Zixi and described the Great Spirit Field Realm, including the Demon Sect, the deaths of refugees, and an ox-headed Yin Messenger that had tried to seize his soul.
• Mo Hua told Bai Zixi that he feared he was drifting away from his Dao Heart and might never change the fate of cultivators at the bottom of the world.
• Bai Zixi held Mo Hua’s hand and urged him to keep going, easing his loneliness as they lay together and watched the sky.