Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai tortured Jia Ren with Mo Hua’s improved Iron Plate, but a Silence Curse kept him from revealing anything about Fire Buddha or the Xie Family. They found Jia Ren’s hidden storage chamber and unsealed a message token whose recovered words pointed to “Bishan Demon Cave, Heavenly Outer Grotto-Heaven.”

• Mo Hua recognized Jia Ren as the first person he had tested his Iron Plate on, and Gu Changhuai forced Jia Ren to kneel on its improved Five Elements Array until he agreed to talk.
• Jia Ren’s Silence Curse prevented him from speaking or writing about Fire Buddha and the Xie Family, but he revealed that his real Storage Bag was hidden behind the Secret Chamber in Bishan City’s Rouge Shop.
• Gu Changhuai’s Gu Family Inspectors took custody of Jia Ren, while Gu Changhuai and Mo Hua searched the Rouge Shop and Mo Hua dismantled the array sealing its secret chamber.
• Mo Hua identified a hidden Earth Seal Array concealing a Primal Magnetism Array mechanism, then safely retrieved Jia Ren’s Storage Bag from the hidden compartment.
• Gu Changhuai found a sealed Message Token among the Storage Bag’s contents, and Mo Hua deciphered it to reveal the words “Bishan Demon Cave, Heavenly Outer Grotto-Heaven.”

Mo Hua deduced that Fire Buddha and his followers were hiding in a concealed Demon Den in Bishan City, and Gu Changhuai’s investigation found its entrance at Hanging Lone Mountain. Gu agreed to let Mo Hua help inspect the arrays, and Mo Hua secured seven days away from class to join the effort, determined to capture Fire Buddha and obtain the Meteor Fire Technique.

• Mo Hua ruled out teleportation and reasoned that Fire Buddha had escaped the Xie Family massacre using a Concealment Array, possibly to hide in the Bishan Demon Cave.
• Gu Changhuai explained how Storage Bags gained their space from Azure Sky Silkworm silk, and Mo Hua drew on his experience with hidden strongholds to suggest where the Demon Den might be.
• Gu Changhuai initially sent Mo Hua back to Void Gate, but later admitted that the Dao Court Office had found the Demon Den’s entrance at Hanging Lone Mountain and could not safely enter because of its arrays and Demonic Cultivators.
• Mo Hua persuaded Gu Changhuai to let him help inspect the Demon Den’s arrays, then convinced Elder Xun to approve five days of leave by saying the Dao Court Office had invited him to draw a difficult array.
• Mo Hua received his leave approval and resolved to help capture Fire Buddha within seven days so he could obtain the Meteor Fire Technique formula.

Mo Hua joined Gu Changhuai’s mission to capture Fire Buddha and discovered that a Second-Grade High-Level Array Master guarded the Demon Den. He persuaded Gu Changhuai to let him accompany the team across the hidden bridge, and they set out under concealment.

• Mo Hua met Gu Changhuai at the Dao Court Office, changed into oversized standard robes, and overheard Inspector Xiao pressure Gu Changhuai to close Fire Buddha’s case by arresting people.
• Mo Hua learned that the Dao Court Office’s Array Masters could not handle the hidden routes and arrays around the Demon Den, and he assured Gu Changhuai he could help.
• Gu Changhuai led Mo Hua, Gu An, and Gu Quan to Sky-Line Gorge, where Mo Hua detected a Second-Grade Nineteen-Pattern Concealment Array and concluded Fire Buddha had a Second-Grade High-Level Array Master.
• Mo Hua warned that a Small Primal Magnetism Array on the hidden bridge could alert Fire Buddha, then convinced Gu Changhuai that his array skills were needed on the mission.
• Gu Changhuai gave each of them a Water Stealth Jade, reminded Mo Hua to protect himself, and led the concealed group onto the stone bridge toward the Demon Den.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai infiltrated the Demon Den, discovered it was a Demon Sect stronghold, and searched its Demon Palace for Fire Buddha. After patrols repeatedly returned as if alerted to their presence, Mo Hua found a concealed Primal Magnetism Array and realized the palace was being monitored by a network of such arrays.

• Mo Hua guided Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan across the array-filled stone bridge and reconstructed the Demon Den’s outer arrays to find a quiet way inside.
• Mo Hua used Mountain-Opening Arrays to tunnel through a weak point in the rock, and the group entered a vast Demon Palace built inside the mountain.
• Gu Changhuai identified the site as a Demon Sect stronghold and decided to investigate for Fire Buddha rather than return for reinforcements.
• Mo Hua and the others cautiously searched the Outer Palace but found dense patrols and demon dogs blocking their way toward the Inner Palace.
• After patrols returned twice to search their hiding place, Mo Hua discovered a concealed Primal Magnetism Array and inferred that a network of arrays was monitoring the Demon Palace.

Mo Hua discovered the Yuan Magnetic Compound Array monitoring the Demon Palace and found its secret control chamber, where an Evil Array Master guarded the main hub. He returned to Gu Changhuai and the others, and they prepared to assassinate the array master so they could take control of the compound array.

• Mo Hua realized the Demon Palace’s Primal Magnetism Arrays were coordinated by a Yuan Magnetic Compound Array, then proposed locating its hub instead of withdrawing.
• Mo Hua traced the array’s magnetic flows to a hidden passage and crawled through it to find the secret chamber containing the main control Array Hub.
• Mo Hua spotted a Second-Grade High-Tier Evil Array Master monitoring the Demon Palace and decided he had to be killed before they could tamper with the compound array.
• Mo Hua returned to Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan and reported the chamber’s location and its guard.
• Gu Changhuai prepared a poisoned Short Blade, while Mo Hua gave Gu An a Thousand-Jun Rod and instructed the group on how to assassinate the Evil Array Master.
• The three Dao Court Office cultivators followed Mo Hua toward the secret chamber to carry out the assassination.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai’s group assassinated the Evil Array Master guarding the Demon Palace’s Primal Magnetism Array Hub, then Mo Hua studied the compound arrays and took control of the hub. The chapter ended with Mo Hua seeing the entire Demon Palace through its array network and declaring it his.

• Mo Hua led Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan through the patrols and unlocked the Array Hub Privy Chamber.
• Gu Changhuai stabbed the Evil Array Master while Gu An disrupted his attacks, and Mo Hua used an Array School Diagram to devour the Evil Array Master’s projected Divine Consciousness before Gu Changhuai killed him.
• Mo Hua and the others secured the chamber, and Gu Changhuai sealed away the strange eye steeped in the Evil Array Master’s wine.
• Mo Hua examined the Evil Array Master’s Primal Magnetism manuals and learned the principles of the Spirit-Vision compound array.
• Mo Hua forced his Divine Consciousness through the array hub’s chaotic Magnetic Flow and took control of the Demon Palace’s Primal Magnetism network.

Mo Hua used the Demon Palace’s Primal Magnetism array to guide Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan in secretly killing Demonic Cultivators and planned to surround the Inner Palace. While impersonating the dead array master and juggling the victims’ message tokens, he accidentally cursed at someone who appeared to be Fire Buddha.

• Mo Hua discovered that Fire Buddha and the Inner Palace were hidden from the array’s surveillance, while more than four hundred Demonic Cultivators occupied the Demon Palace.
• Mo Hua proposed clearing the Outer and Middle Palaces through stealth killings before Gu Changhuai summoned reinforcements to surround the Inner Palace.
• Mo Hua used the Spirit-Vision Compound Array to guide Gu Changhuai, Gu An, and Gu Quan as they silently killed Demonic Cultivators and concealed the deaths.
• Mo Hua monitored the Book Demon Tokens, impersonated Master Yuan, and sent replies through the tokens of dead Demonic Cultivators to keep their disappearance secret.
• Mo Hua began cursing Demonic Cultivators through their tokens using insults he had learned from Elder Yu.
• A correspondent addressed Mo Hua as Master Yuan and spoke of greed, anger, delusion, purity, and evil consequences, leading Mo Hua to suspect he had just cursed Fire Buddha.

Mo Hua impersonated Master Yuan to speak with Fire Buddha, then worked with Gu Changhuai to retreat from the Demon Palace after their assassinations were noticed. Fire Buddha discovered the dead cultivators and revealed that he wanted to absorb their Killing Intent to cultivate Fire Baleful Qi.

• Mo Hua convinced Fire Buddha he was Master Yuan by discussing arrays, wine, and Buddhist Dharma, while Fire Buddha offered to send him blood wine made from High-Grade Spirit Root sacrifices.
• Mo Hua told Gu Changhuai that Fire Buddha had contacted him, and Gu Changhuai ordered an immediate retreat while their group continued killing Demonic Cultivators.
• Mo Hua intercepted Fire Buddha's message about growing Killing Intent and warned Gu Changhuai, then locked the Compound Array and left the Demon Palace with Gu Changhuai and the other two.
• Mo Hua and his companions escaped through a mountain cave after killing the gate guards and tampering with the gate array.
• Qiao the Sixth found the Outer Palace empty and discovered the dead cultivators' remains in the Rotting River, then alerted Fire Buddha.
• Fire Buddha emerged from the Inner Palace, sensed the dense Killing Intent, and lamented that he had not killed the cultivators himself so he could absorb it and cultivate Fire Baleful Qi.

Fire Buddha discovered that Gu Changhuai had killed Master Yuan and ordered the Inner Palace destroyed before the Dao Court Office could uncover its secrets. Mo Hua helped the inspectors reach the Demon Den, where Xiao Tianquan led the breach; after they opened the Inner Palace, Mo Hua recognized the maze’s Array Technique as the Mystery Heaven Array.

• Qiao the Sixth reported that the Outer Palace was empty and its Demonic Cultivators were dead, and Fire Buddha’s group found Master Yuan’s body in the Array Hub chamber.
• Fire Buddha identified Golden Core wind-element Lingli in the corpse and suspected Gu Changhuai, then ordered the Demonic Cultivators to retreat to the Inner Palace and destroy everything there.
• Gu Changhuai arrived with more than four hundred Executive Inspectors, including Xiao Tianquan and the Xiao Family, and told Mo Hua that he had once fought Fire Buddha and killed his brothers.
• Xiao Tianquan led the inspectors in breaking through the Demon Den’s gates, and they found the Outer and Middle Palaces deserted while the Demonic Cultivators barricaded themselves in the Inner Palace.
• After the inspectors forced open the Inner Palace gates, Mo Hua saw a maze of stone walls and realized the Array Technique built over it was the Mystery Heaven Array.

Mo Hua guided Gu Changhuai and the Dao Court Office through the Mystery Heaven Array labyrinth and its deadly traps, where they fought their way to Fire Buddha. The chapter ended as Fire Buddha unleashed the forbidden Meteor Fire Technique and the two sides prepared to clash.

• Mo Hua recognized the labyrinth’s hidden Riddle Array, and Gu Changhuai ordered the Dao Court Office to follow him inside after Mo Hua offered to guide the way.
• Mo Hua secretly directed Gu Changhuai through the labyrinth and warned him that a Kill Array and Demonic Cultivators waited ahead.
• Demonic Cultivators ambushed the Dao Court Office with concealed Evil Arrays, and Gu Changhuai covered the rear while Mo Hua led the group through the fighting.
• The Dao Court Office emerged into a great hall and found Fire Buddha waiting at its center.
• Gu Changhuai confronted Fire Buddha, who unleashed the forbidden Meteor Fire Technique.

Fire Buddha unleashed his Killing Intent and Meteor Fire Forbidden Technique against Gu Changhuai and the Dao Court Office Cultivators, while Mo Hua watched the battle and slipped into the great hall to search for the technique’s secrets. He discovered a hidden passage in a mural that led into an artificial mountain, where he found an altar at the center of its Riddle Heaven Array.

• Fire Buddha used Killing Intent to frighten nearby inspectors and killed them, then challenged Gu Changhuai with his perfected Meteor Fire Forbidden Technique.
• Gu Changhuai fought Fire Buddha while Blood Woodcutter, Yin Thunder Child, and Ghost-Faced Baleful led Demonic Cultivators into battle against the remaining inspectors.
• Mo Hua studied Fire Buddha’s Meteor Fire Technique and worried that its incantation would be lost if Fire Buddha were captured or killed.
• Mo Hua searched the great hall and found a hidden entrance in the Wild Mountain Mural, which led into an artificial hill built to resemble the mural.
• Mo Hua followed the hill’s Riddle Heaven Array to its center and found an altar.

Mo Hua discovered Fire Buddha’s hidden altar, where he found the Meteor Fire Technique manual and learned that Fire Buddha revered an unknown lord. After Mo Hua guided Gu Changhuai to the altar, he stole the manual while the two fought and began plotting how to get Fire Buddha killed.

• Mo Hua sat on the altar and sensed that it felt strangely familiar, but he found no offerings or formation clues to the Meteor Fire Technique.
• Fire Buddha returned injured, prayed to the altar’s revered lord, and retrieved the Meteor Fire Technique manual from a hidden storage brick.
• Mo Hua hid from Fire Buddha and messaged Gu Changhuai with directions to the altar and the news that Fire Buddha was recovering there.
• Gu Changhuai entered the altar, and Fire Buddha attacked him to protect the secret site while Mo Hua stayed hidden.
• Mo Hua used Fire Buddha’s hidden storage brick to retrieve two booklets, including the Meteor Fire Technique manual, and stored them in his Storage Ring.
• Mo Hua watched Gu Changhuai and Fire Buddha battle and began devising a way to trick Fire Buddha into dying.

Mo Hua secretly weakened Fire Buddha with spells and arrays while Gu Changhuai fought him, leaving Fire Buddha poisoned and cornered in the Altar. As the Demon Palace began to shake from exploding arrays, Fire Buddha threatened to bury them all with him.

• Mo Hua struck Fire Buddha’s eyes with the Golden Light Technique, disrupting his Killing Intent and giving Gu Changhuai the advantage.
• Mo Hua repeatedly hindered Fire Buddha with hidden spells and trapped him in the Eight Trigrams Gen Mountain Binding Array, allowing Gu Changhuai to wound him.
• Fire Buddha returned to the Altar for the Meteor Fire Technique manual, but Mo Hua had taken it and prepared a Yi Wood Water Poison Compound Array that poisoned and slowed Fire Buddha.
• Fire Buddha recognized Mo Hua as the child from the Tea House outside Bishan City and tried to escape, but Gu Changhuai attacked him again.
• A violent tremor and the sounds of exploding arrays came from above the Demon Palace, and Fire Buddha threatened to bury everyone with him.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai escaped the collapsing Demon Palace, but Fire Buddha used a Ten Thousand Mile Travel Talisman to flee. On the journey back to the sect, Mo Hua studied Fire Buddha’s manuals and discovered Fire Buddha waiting to ambush him.

• Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai fled the collapsing Demon Palace, then helped the Dao Court Office cultivators fight Demonic Cultivators outside the Demon Den.
• Fire Buddha broke through the cultivators’ encirclement with a Ten Thousand Mile Travel Talisman, while Mo Hua noticed that Xiao Tianquan seemed to recognize him.
• Gu Changhuai returned to Bishan City after failing to catch Fire Buddha and warned Mo Hua to keep his suspicions about Xiao Tianquan secret.
• Mo Hua returned toward the sect by carriage and studied Demon Path Baleful Transformation True Art and Fire Buddha’s Meteor Fire Forbidden Technique, deriving a stable Fireball spell structure.
• Mo Hua sensed danger through Heavenly Calculation and escaped his carriage just before Fire Buddha destroyed it, then confronted Fire Buddha waiting at a road junction.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai fought to stop Fire Buddha, who pursued Mo Hua through Qingcheng Mountain and unleashed a forbidden transformation. As Gu Changhuai prepared to use Golden Core power, Mo Hua struck Fire Buddha from behind with a fused, mutated Fireball, blasting through his chest.

• Fire Buddha recognized Mo Hua as the one who had stolen his techniques and attacked him, forcing Mo Hua to flee through Qingcheng Mountain using arrays, Stealth, and Flowing Water Step.
• Mo Hua sent Gu Changhuai his location, and Gu Changhuai rushed to Qingcheng Mountain while calling nearby Executive Inspectors to help surround Fire Buddha.
• Mo Hua lured Fire Buddha into a ravine, sealed its entrance with an array, and let Gu Changhuai engage it while he recovered nearby.
• After Mo Hua reversed Fire Buddha's Killing Intent with Heavenly Calculation and Ghost Calculation, Gu Changhuai wounded Fire Buddha, but Fire Buddha swallowed a Blood Pill and transformed into a regenerating, more powerful form.
• Mo Hua told Gu Changhuai to target Fire Buddha's heart meridians, and Gu Changhuai fought on until he prepared to use Golden Core power despite the Second-Grade restriction.
• Mo Hua appeared behind Fire Buddha and fused two Fireballs into a purple-black spell that blasted through its chest.

Mo Hua and Gu Changhuai killed Fire Buddha, but concealed Mo Hua’s role and let Gu Changhuai receive the credit. Mo Hua returned to Void Gate and settled back into sect life as his first year came to an end.

• Gu Changhuai struck Fire Buddha’s weakened Evil Artifact heart, causing it to shatter and Fire Buddha to self-destruct; Gu Changhuai shielded Mo Hua from the blast and was badly injured.
• Mo Hua treated Gu Changhuai with pills, contacted Gu An and Gu Quan, and urged them to spread the story that Gu Changhuai had killed Fire Buddha alone.
• Gu Changhuai recovered at the Gu Family, where the family and Dao Court Office learned of his victory; Mo Hua later asked him to keep Mo Hua’s part in the battle secret.
• Gu Changhuai thanked Mo Hua before Mo Hua returned to Void Gate and resumed classes.
• Mo Hua kept his days quiet at the sect, and his first year there came to an end.

Mo Hua received one A in Array Technique and six Cs in his Year-End Assessment, then spent the New Year holiday at the Gu Family after choosing not to return to distant Li Prefecture. As he prepared to return to Void Gate, Gu Changhuai told him Merit Points for destroying the Demon Den would be processed, then an elder arrived to arrange a marriage for Gu Changhuai.

• Mo Hua received an A in Array Technique and Cs in six other subjects, while the cultivation elder warned him that slow progress could make him repeat a year.
• Mo Hua mailed his report card and a letter to his parents in Li Prefecture, then stayed at the sect for the New Year holiday.
• Mo Hua accepted Wenren Wei's invitation to the Gu Family and spent several days there with Yu'er before Yu'er returned to the Shangguan Family.
• Mo Hua explored Qingzhou City and told Gu Changhuai he planned to return to Void Gate; Gu Changhuai said the Dao Court Office would award him Merit Points for the Demon Den's destruction, though the process would take time.
• A Gu Family elder entered to arrange a marriage for Gu Changhuai, and Mo Hua sat back down to eat melon and watch.

During the New Year, Mo Hua learned about Gu Changhuai’s lonely past and decided to help him find a Dao companion while refining a safer version of his Fireball Forbidden Technique. He named it the Small Meteorite Technique, and after Void Gate reopened, the disciples received access to merit-point missions.

• Elder Hong urged Gu Changhuai to meet a young Hua Family instructor from Hundred Flowers Valley, while Mo Hua listened and teased him.
• Elder Hong told Mo Hua that Gu Changhuai’s parents had died when he was young and that Wenren Wan had often looked after him; Mo Hua promised to persuade him to find a Dao companion.
• Mo Hua returned to Void Gate for the New Year and repeatedly refined his Fireball Forbidden Technique, improving its stability and control.
• Mo Hua tested the spell in a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Daoist Arts Chamber, producing a weaker but safer fused Fireball that he named the Small Meteorite Technique.
• Void Gate reopened after the New Year, and the new disciples received access to the Void Token’s merit-point privileges and began taking missions.

Mo Hua found himself with little to do while his senior disciples entered Monster Refining Mountain, so he increased his cultivation and began practicing sword arts. When Cheng Mo and his companions returned successfully from a secret bounty mission, Cheng Mo offered to bring Mo Hua along next time.

• Mo Hua learned that Foundation Establishment Middle Stage disciples such as Murong Caiyun would enter Monster Refining Mountain, but he could not qualify for entry.
• Mo Hua spent a month cultivating and studying arrays, then began practicing the Gold-Breaking Imperial Sword Art despite producing weak, shapeless Sword Qi.
• Mo Hua overheard Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, and three other disciples planning to secretly accept a Dao Court Office bounty, and he warned them to be careful without asking for a share of their merit.
• Cheng Mo and the others returned successfully from their mission, and their achievement encouraged other disciples to consider pursuing bounties.
• Cheng Mo offered to bring Mo Hua on a future mission, but Mo Hua declined, and Cheng Mo insisted that Mo Hua would need to acknowledge him as the senior partner in bounty hunting.

Mo Hua investigated how Array Masters used array media in combat and learned from Zheng Fang that specialized Spirit Artifacts formed the foundation of practical array applications. He traveled from Qingzhou City to Lone Mountain City to consult a Gu Family Artifact Refiner, planning to visit Lord Yellow Mountain on the way back.

• Cheng Mo tried to recruit Mo Hua for missions by offering Merit Points in exchange for being called Senior Martial Brother, but Mo Hua refused.
• Void Gate disciples increasingly took missions in groups and gained experience capturing ordinary Sinful Cultivators, while Mo Hua focused on cultivation, classes, and drawing arrays.
• Mo Hua asked Zheng Fang how Array Masters applied arrays in battle, and Zheng Fang explained the role of Array Media and the specialized Spirit Artifacts used as them.
• Mo Hua asked around the sect about unusual array media, then consulted Wenren Wan, who found that Gu Family Artifact Refiners were working in Lone Mountain City.
• Mo Hua left Qingzhou City alone in a Gu Family carriage to seek advice from an Artifact Refiner and planned to visit Lord Yellow Mountain on his return.