Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua practiced sword control with Situ Jian and discovered that his divine consciousness let him send a sword much farther than an ordinary Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator. Situ Jian recognized Mo Hua’s exceptional sword-control talent, though Mo Hua still lacked Sword Qi.

• Mo Hua met Situ Jian at Monster Refining Mountain and asked him to explain sword control and Sword Intent.
• Situ Jian explained that true sword control fused Sword Qi, a Spirit Sword, and divine consciousness, and that it could eventually nurture Sword Intent.
• Mo Hua revealed that he had secretly studied the Gold-Breaking Imperial Sword Art and used its sword-control method with a worn Spirit Sword.
• Mo Hua sent the sword roughly one hundred seventy or eighty zhang, astonishing Situ Jian with its speed and range.
• Mo Hua realized his sword-control range did not diminish because his divine consciousness had undergone a qualitative change.
• Situ Jian praised Mo Hua as a genius of sword control but regretted that he did not cultivate Sword Qi.

Mo Hua developed Divine Sense Sword Control by modifying Spirit Swords with Gold-Breaking Sword Arrays, then tested the method by hunting flying monsters to recover the swords’ cost. As Void Gate’s disciples established themselves in Monster Refining Mountain, more sects began entering the mountains, including Ta'a Gate and Chongxu Gate.

• Mo Hua practiced sword control with Situ Jian, then asked Master Gu to forge simple Spirit Swords that could serve as array media without revealing Duanjin Gate’s sword-array inheritance.
• Mo Hua inscribed modified Gold-Breaking Sword Arrays into the swords and tested one from 170 zhang away, shattering a boulder but ruining the sword.
• After realizing sword-control practice was too costly, Mo Hua began targeting flying monsters and killed a Gray-Headed Eagle with a sword array, Flame Fire Formations, and poisoned blood.
• Mo Hua sold the eagle for a thousand Merit Points and continued hunting eagles during his breaks, earning Merit Points while practicing sword control.
• Void Gate’s organized disciples held a large stretch of Monster Refining Mountain’s Outer Mountain, while Duanjin Gate and a few other sects kept their distance.
• As the second half of the year arrived, more sect disciples began entering the mountains, including disciples from Ta'a Gate and Chongxu Gate.

Ouyang Feng and the Ta'a Gate disciples discovered Void Gate’s disciplined demon-hunting operations in Monster Refining Mountain, then encountered Mo Hua skinning an eagle demon he had secretly killed with Sword Control. Suspecting Mo Hua’s connection to Void Gate’s organization, Ouyang Feng asked him to look after his younger brother, Ouyang Mu, when they met in the mountains.

• Ouyang Feng’s group found Void Gate disciples hunting demons in coordinated teams using specialized arrays, armor, and Spirit Artifacts, so Ouyang Feng warned his disciples not to provoke them.
• The Ta'a Gate disciples saw a golden Flying Sword kill a Gray-Headed Eagle and went to meet the presumed Duanjin Gate Sword Cultivator.
• They found Mo Hua skinning the eagle, and he claimed he had merely picked it up after it fell.
• Ouyang Feng questioned whether Mo Hua had entered the mountain alone, and Mo Hua said he had lots of little brothers nearby.
• Ouyang Feng connected Mo Hua’s remark to Void Gate’s organized hunting and asked him to look after Ouyang Mu if they met again.

Mo Hua watched Ouyang Mu struggle with an inexperienced hunting squad and learned that he wanted a Fire Demon Wolf spine to cast a sword. After the squad abandoned Ouyang Mu, Mo Hua had a Void Gate disciple kill a Fire Demon Wolf and bring him its spine, leaving Ouyang Mu stunned by Mo Hua’s influence.

• Mo Hua earned Merit Points hunting eagles while Xun Ziyou worried about his sword technique and discussed Ta'a Gate’s plans to advance in a possible sect-system restructuring.
• Mo Hua continued cultivating and studying the laws restricting his Divine Consciousness, then spent his break hunting Gray-Headed Eagles on Monster Refining Mountain.
• Mo Hua saw Ouyang Mu’s squad fail to kill a Fire Demon Wolf, and the other disciples blamed Ouyang Mu for their poor results.
• The next day, Ouyang Mu’s new squad also failed to hunt the Fire Demon Wolf, disbanded, and left him alone on the mountain.
• Mo Hua learned that Ouyang Mu wanted the wolf’s spine to cast a sword, then sent a Void Gate disciple to kill a Fire Demon Wolf and retrieve its spine for him.

Mo Hua arranged for Ouyang Mu to repay the cost of a Fire Demon Wolf spine by forging Spirit Swords, then discovered Ouyang Mu’s talent for sword casting and had him redesign a sword diagram. Ouyang Mu completed the first sword, and Mo Hua tested it by killing a savage eagle with a powerful Gold-Breaking Sword Array.

• Mo Hua offered Ouyang Mu the Fire Demon Wolf spine, and they agreed that Ouyang Mu would repay five hundred Merit Points by forging Spirit Swords.
• At Monster Refining Mountain, Ouyang Mu recognized that Mo Hua’s sword diagram used an open Sword Array and criticized its materials, structure, and compatibility.
• Ouyang Mu explained that he wanted to become a Sword Smith but feared disappointing his father, and Mo Hua urged him to pursue the craft that made him happy.
• Ouyang Mu carefully revised Mo Hua’s sword diagram, and Mo Hua chose to have the Spirit Swords forged according to his design.
• Ouyang Mu presented Mo Hua with the first golden Spirit Sword, and Mo Hua inscribed a Gold-Breaking Sword Array on it.
• Mo Hua used the sword to shred a savage eagle demon in midair and told Ouyang Mu to follow him from then on.

Mo Hua recruited Ouyang Mu as a swordsmith and helped him develop his craft, improving the Spirit Swords and custom artifacts used by Mo Hua and the Void Gate disciples. After Ouyang Mu explained that other Array Techniques might be transformed into Sword Arrays, Mo Hua began to suspect that Sword Dao Array Flow could let him create Spirit Power Disintegration and Fusion Sword Arrays.

• Mo Hua persuaded Ouyang Mu to forge Spirit Swords for Merit Points, supplying him with demon materials and promising steady work.
• Ouyang Mu grew more confident in sword forging, designed custom Spirit Artifacts, and had his work praised by Master Gu before it entered mass production.
• Mo Hua introduced Ouyang Mu to the Void Gate disciples, who welcomed him and began asking him to repair their Spirit Artifacts.
• Ouyang Mu optimized Mo Hua’s Spirit Sword until its materials and Sword Array reached a limit, then explained that stronger Sword Control depended on stronger Sword Arrays.
• Ouyang Mu suggested that other Array Techniques might be altered into Sword Arrays, prompting Mo Hua to connect Sword Patterns with variant Array Patterns and consider using Sword Dao Array Flow.

Mo Hua tested Ouyang Mu’s new Shattering-Style spirit sword by hunting a Second-Grade Mid-Tier Demon Wood Eagle, then confronted the youth who had claimed the fallen beast. After the youth realized Mo Hua was not from Duanjin Gate, he apologized, returned the beast, and introduced himself as Linghu Xiao of Chongxu Gate.

• Mo Hua encouraged Ouyang Mu to develop cheaper, shattering spirit swords, and Ouyang Mu became more comfortable among Void Gate disciples as their monster-hunting operation grew.
• Mo Hua tested Ouyang Mu’s latest Shattering-Style spirit sword on a Second-Grade Mid-Tier Demon Wood Eagle, severely wounding it and sending it tumbling over a cliff.
• Mo Hua tracked the fallen eagle and found a blue-robed youth beside its drained corpse, claiming the beast as his own.
• Mo Hua and the youth clashed, with Mo Hua repeatedly using Fireball Technique while the youth attacked with sword light.
• The youth mistook Mo Hua’s golden sword marks for Duanjin Gate sword qi, but Mo Hua denied belonging to the sect and called the sword qi his family’s inheritance.
• The youth apologized and returned the Demon Wood Eagle, then introduced himself as Linghu Xiao, an Outer Sect disciple of Chongxu Gate.

Mo Hua cleared up his misunderstanding with Linghu Xiao and split the Merit Points from a demon eagle they had killed together. Afterward, the elders watching them discussed their talents and the shifting sect landscape, while Mo Hua considered drawing Linghu Xiao closer.

• Linghu Xiao explained that he had mistaken Mo Hua for a Duanjin Gate disciple and had been trying to reclaim demon beasts they had stolen from him.
• Mo Hua declined Linghu Xiao’s challenge to fight again but persuaded him to share the Merit Points from the Demon Wood Eagle they had both helped kill.
• Xun Ziyou and Xuanjian revealed they had been secretly watching Mo Hua and Linghu Xiao, then discussed Mo Hua’s Array Techniques, Linghu Xiao’s sword talent, and the sect restructuring.
• Mo Hua exchanged the Demon Wood Eagle’s materials for 2,672 Merit Points and gave half to Linghu Xiao.
• Mo Hua decided Linghu Xiao’s formidable swordsmanship might make him a useful ally.

On the road back, Mo Hua persuaded Linghu Xiao to hunt with Void Gate disciples so he could earn merit and settle his grudge against Duanjin Gate sooner. Meanwhile, Elder Xun and Xun Ziyou discussed the dangerous sect reshuffling and its hidden stakes, and Elder Xun began to consider a bold gamble involving Mo Hua.

• Mo Hua convinced Linghu Xiao that teaming up with Void Gate disciples would help him earn merit and advance his sword Dao, and Linghu Xiao agreed to join them on the next ten-day rest.
• After returning to the sect, Linghu Xiao kept thinking about Mo Hua, while Mo Hua considered whether a Sword Array could reproduce or amplify Chongxu Sword Qi.
• Elder Xun asked an Inner Sect elder to seek the Murong ancestor’s approval to use the Void Heavenly Mystery Lock to lock away some karma.
• Xun Ziyou told Elder Xun about Mo Hua’s recent activities and questioned why the Four Great Sects were pushing sect reform; Elder Xun explained that the sects were gambling for power amid a deeper, dangerous secret.
• Elder Xun told Xun Ziyou to focus on looking after Mo Hua, then realized that Mo Hua’s ties to Ta'a Gate and Chongxu Gate might give Void Gate unexpected chips for a larger gamble.

Mo Hua recruited Linghu Xiao into Void Gate’s efficient monster-hunting teams and persuaded him that practical tactics could strengthen his sword dao. As Linghu Xiao settled into Void Gate, Mo Hua hit a growth bottleneck and noticed a suspicious connection between Elder Xun and Elder Xun Ziyou.

• Mo Hua waited for Linghu Xiao, then took him to hunt Kui Wood Wolves using traps and Array Techniques, earning them eight hundred Merit Points each.
• Linghu Xiao objected that ambushes and formations did not temper his sword dao, but Mo Hua warned him about the ruthless methods of evil cultivators and persuaded him to join future hunts.
• Mo Hua had Hao Xuan take Linghu Xiao hunting; Linghu Xiao’s swordsmanship helped their team kill five Demon Beasts, and he gradually became close with Void Gate’s disciples and Ouyang Mu.
• A Chongxu Gate Elder told Old Ancestor Chongxu that Linghu Xiao trusted Mo Hua, but Old Ancestor Chongxu believed Linghu Xiao would remain in control and benefit from the friendship.
• Mo Hua told Elder Xun that his cultivation, Divine Consciousness, Sword Control, and arrays had stalled, and Elder Xun cautiously asked whether his Divine Consciousness could grow further.
• Mo Hua recognized Elder Xun Ziyou, who had just visited Elder Xun, and realized the familiar aura might explain Elder Xun’s recent concerns.

Mo Hua learned that Ganxue Prefecture’s sect reforms would unfold over ten years, then investigated a mysterious monster after it severely wounded Cheng Mo in Monster Refining Mountain. The chapter ended with Mo Hua and his companions following the creature’s trail into the forest.

• Xun Ziyou told Elder Xun that the Dao Court had begun reforms that would redistribute sect rankings and spirit-mine profits across three Dao Discussion Assemblies.
• Mo Hua reviewed his arrays and considered how little he understood the Divine Dao Arrays, resolving to seek more knowledge after his confinement ended.
• Mo Hua found Cheng Mo badly wounded after a Blood Charm Fox’s bewitchment left the disciples briefly dazed and a black-clad monster attacked them.
• Situ Jian explained that the monster had slashed Cheng Mo, taken the fox’s corpse, and fled toward the Deep Mountain, leaving strange demonic power in Cheng Mo’s wounds.
• Mo Hua, Situ Jian, Hao Xuan, Yang Qianjun, and Linghu Xiao followed the blood and drag marks into the forest to investigate.

Mo Hua and the others hunted a demon cultivator in Monster Refining Mountain, using arrays and coordinated attacks to overcome its demonification. The demon cultivator escaped after Mo Hua struck it with Sword Control, but Mo Hua recovered an arm bearing Monster Patterns and recognized the Four Symbols Array Pattern.

• Mo Hua followed the causal aura to a demon cultivator feeding on the Blood Charm Fox and decided the group had to kill it.
• Mo Hua and Hao Xuan set arrays while Linghu Xiao, Yang Qianjun, Situ Jian, and the others attacked the demon cultivator and weakened it.
• The demon cultivator shed its demonification and fought back, then activated a Monster Pattern to injure Yang Qianjun and escape.
• Mo Hua used Sword Control to strike the fleeing demon cultivator, blasting off most of its right arm, but the wounded cultivator escaped into the forest.
• Mo Hua found a fragment of the demon cultivator's arm and recognized the Monster Patterns as the Four Symbols Array Pattern.

Mo Hua tracked a wounded Demon Cultivator into a forest that concealed a Divine Dao Array, but chose not to enter without preparation. After reporting the demon’s presence to Void Gate, he checked on Cheng Mo and promised they would hunt the demon down once Cheng Mo recovered.

• Mo Hua followed the wounded Demon Cultivator into a forest where a Divine Dao Array blocked Divine Consciousness, then turned back rather than risk entering alone.
• Xun Ziyou and the Chongxu Gate Elder searched the forest but could not find the Demon Cultivator; Xun Ziyou suspected Mo Hua had noticed the array and concealed the truth about Mo Hua’s apparent Sword Control.
• Mo Hua reunited with Linghu Xiao and the others, and Linghu Xiao asked whether Mo Hua knew Sword Control before resolving to fight him someday.
• Mo Hua returned to Void Gate and told Elder Song about the Demon Cultivator at Monster Refining Mountain, prompting Elder Song to alert the sect elders on duty.
• Mo Hua visited the recovering Cheng Mo, showed him the severed piece of the demon’s arm, and promised they would settle the score together.

Mo Hua studied the severed arm of a Demon Cultivator and suspected Monster Refining Mountain and Duanjin Gate were involved in the Evil God of the Great Wilderness’s plot to create an army of Demons. He realized a familiar figure might be his hidden bodyguard, while a black-clad man blamed the Song Family for the Demon Cultivator’s defeat and ordered the plan accelerated.

• Mo Hua examined the severed arm and identified the Four Symbols Monster Patterns as part of a lineage connected to Mr. Tu and the Evil God of the Great Wilderness.
• Mo Hua connected Monster Refining Mountain’s demon beasts to the materials used to blood-refine Demons and suspected Duanjin Gate was helping the Evil God’s scheme.
• Mo Hua decided to investigate Monster Refining Mountain, study the Monster Patterns and Divine Dao Array, and seek a powerful sect cultivator to protect him.
• Mo Hua recalled that Xun Ziyou had seemed familiar and realized he might already have a hidden bodyguard.
• A wounded Demon Cultivator told the black-clad man that a mysterious sword user had severed his arm, and the two wrongly concluded that the Song Family was responsible.
• The black-clad man gave the Demon Cultivator a flesh-and-blood pill and said Mr. Tu had moved the plan forward, then led him into the forest’s depths.

Mo Hua investigated a hidden Divine Dao Array in Monster Refining Mountain with Elder Xun, discovering signs that someone had concealed Demon Cultivators there for centuries. On his way back to Void Gate, he sensed the Evil God's aura from Ouyang Mu's companion, Senior Brother Ma.

• Mo Hua confronted Xun Ziyou about the Demon Cultivator, and Xun Ziyou agreed to accompany him into the forest.
• Mo Hua found that the Divine Dao Array was embedded in ancient trees and inferred that it had been laid centuries ago to hide Demon Cultivators.
• Mo Hua used his calculations to detect and copy most of the array patterns from several trees while Xun Ziyou guarded him.
• Mo Hua returned toward Void Gate after arranging to resume investigating the forest with Xun Ziyou the next day.
• Mo Hua met Ouyang Mu and Senior Brother Ma on the road, then sensed the Evil God's aura from Senior Brother Ma after entering Void Gate.

Mo Hua investigated the Divine Dao Compound Array hidden in Monster Refining Mountain’s forest while Elder Xun arranged for him to focus on studying it. He found evidence of Demon Cultivators deeper in the forest, while Song Jian continued plotting against him.

• Mo Hua sensed a faint trace of the Evil God’s aura on Senior Brother Ma, decided to watch him without warning Xiao Mutou, and wondered why Void Gate seemed untouched by corruption.
• Mo Hua studied eighteen Divine Dao Array patterns and deduced that they formed a compound array that used varied child arrays to create a mist concealing Divine Consciousness.
• Elder Xun told Xun Ziyou to protect Mo Hua but let him investigate and learn the arrays on his own.
• Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou encountered Song Jian, who angrily confronted Mo Hua but backed down after noticing the Golden Core elder beside him.
• Mo Hua asked Xun Ziyou for leave to restore the forest’s formations, and Xun Ziyou arranged it so Mo Hua could study the arrays in depth.
• Mo Hua ventured farther into the forest and discovered a blood-colored stream, dried Monster Blood, and piles of monster-beast bones and remains.

Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou discovered a Blood Creek and White Bone Land hidden within Monster Refining Mountain, then traced the Demon Cultivators there to disciples recorded as missing or dead. Mo Hua recognized the black-clad human trafficker leader as Xie Cangshan, whose disappearance matched the day he died, and he and Xun Ziyou headed back into the mountain at sunset to investigate further.

• Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou found a blood-red stream and heaps of gnawed monster bones, and Mo Hua warned that hidden evil arrays made approaching the barren riverbank dangerous.
• Mo Hua reasoned that the Demon Cultivators had once been sect disciples and proposed checking the mountain archives for disciples who had disappeared or died.
• Xun Ziyou secretly brought rubbings of a century of missing and dead disciples' records for Mo Hua to examine.
• Mo Hua connected the records to Sinful Cultivators whose sect identities had been erased, then recognized the black-clad leader as Xie Cangshan, a Guishui Gate disciple recorded as missing the day after his death.
• Mo Hua told Xun Ziyou that the mountain's Demon Cultivators were likely among the recorded missing and dead disciples, and they returned to the White Bone Land at sunset.

Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou infiltrated the Demon Cultivators’ gathering at White Bone Beach and learned about the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons and its connection to the mountain’s evil array. After following two Demon Cultivators, they uncovered a murder and captured a Message Token, but the surviving Demon Cultivator died before revealing who commanded them or how they planned to escape.

• Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou watched Demon Cultivators gather at White Bone Beach and overheard them discuss the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons, their demon-beast poaching, and the cursed White Bone Land.
• Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou followed two Demon Cultivators into the forest as they discussed escaping Monster Refining Mountain by faking their deaths.
• The tall Demon Cultivator betrayed and killed the younger one, then mutilated his corpse while explaining that he needed the death as a stepping stone to escape.
• Xun Ziyou subdued the tall Demon Cultivator, and Mo Hua took his Message Token when the man tried to send a message.
• Mo Hua concluded that the captured Demon Cultivator would not talk, and Xun Ziyou beheaded him before he could reveal his secrets.

After killing a Demon Cultivator, Mo Hua restored the man’s erased message records and uncovered clues about the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons. He and Xun Ziyou prepared to infiltrate the valley, and as the full moon rose, its gate began to open.

• Mo Hua examined the dead Demon Cultivator’s belongings, erased his unsent warning, and restored fragments of the Message Token’s erased records.
• Mo Hua learned that the Demon Cultivator had been forced into the Demon Path and that three elders and a secretive young master controlled the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons.
• Mo Hua warned Xun Ziyou against an immediate assault, and the two decided to scout the valley when it opened on the sixteenth.
• Mo Hua found Divine Dao Array patterns inside the Demon Cultivators’ black robes and copied them onto Daoist Robes so he and Xun Ziyou could conceal their auras.
• Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou waited in a tree as the full moon rose, and a surge of blood-colored karmic aura signaled that the valley’s gate had opened.

Mo Hua watched Demon Cultivators carry Ouyang Mu, Linghu Xiao, and Song Jian toward the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons, then decided he had to find a way to help Xiao Mutou and Linghu Xiao. As he searched for a way to divine fortune and misfortune before entering the dangerous valley, he discovered a copper coin left by his master.

• Mo Hua and Xun Ziyou watched two Golden Core Demon Cultivators rush out of the valley, and Xun Ziyou went after them while Mo Hua waited.
• Mo Hua overheard Demon Cultivators bring Ouyang Mu, Song Jian, and Linghu Xiao to the White Bone Path and seal them inside a Coffin bound for the valley.
• After Xun Ziyou failed to answer his messages, Mo Hua resolved to sneak into the valley to rescue Xiao Mutou and Linghu Xiao.
• Mo Hua considered learning to use Heavenly Calculation to divine fortune and misfortune so he could face dangers without relying on others.
• Mo Hua searched his Storage Ring for something to use for divination and found a copper coin bearing his master's familiar aura.