Chapter Summaries

Mo Hua and his companions investigated Guishui Gate, then followed a carriage from Hundred Flowers Valley and abducted Wang Chen to question him. Wang Chen revealed that the Dao Court had sent investigators from above, leaving Mo Hua to wonder what was happening inside Guishui Gate.

• Wang Chen refused Mo Hua entry to Linshui Restaurant, so Hao Xuan and the others went inside while Mo Hua explored Guishui City.
• Hao Xuan and the others left the restaurant after Guishui Gate canceled their plans, and they told Mo Hua that a senior brother had intervened.
• Mo Hua spotted a Hundred Flowers Valley carriage leaving Guishui City, followed it to Hundred Flowers Valley, and saw several women enter the sect without Hua Ruyu.
• Mo Hua decided to investigate Wang Chen, and Hao Xuan knocked him unconscious, bound him, and helped question him that night.
• Wang Chen said Guishui Gate had closed the venue because investigators had arrived from above, then identified them as people from the Dao Court.

Mo Hua learned that the Central Dao Court had entered Ganxue Prefecture to investigate Guishui Gate after the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons incident, and decided to use its intervention to help capture Water Yama. The chapter ended with Mo Hua urging Gu Changhuai to build a connection with Inspector Xia.

• Mo Hua questioned Wang Chen about the pleasure boat and persuaded him to consider helping, with Hao Xuan vouching for him.
• Mo Hua visited the Dao Court Office and met Inspector Xia, then left with Gu Changhuai after joking that the Gu Family was arranging a matchmaking date for him.
• Gu Changhuai explained that Inspector Xia belonged to the powerful Xia Family and that the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons had given the Dao Court an opening to intervene in Ganxue Prefecture.
• Mo Hua revealed that he knew the Valley of Ten Thousand Demons and learned that the Central Dao Court's intervention might extend beyond temporary oversight.
• Mo Hua decided to use the Dao Court's investigation of Guishui Gate to help capture Water Yama and sent Gu Changhuai a message urging him to contact Inspector Xia.

Mo Hua persuaded Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia to join forces to capture Water Yama, sharing his knowledge of the fugitive’s crimes and methods. After Inspector Xia uncovered another trace of Water Yama along the Yanshui River, Mo Hua saw that their plan to hunt him could begin.

• Mo Hua convinced Gu Changhuai to invite Inspector Xia to discuss joining forces against Water Yama.
• At the Gu Family Restaurant, Mo Hua explained that Water Yama was tied to the Guishui Gate and shared details about his abilities and crimes.
• Inspector Xia agreed to help capture Water Yama after Mo Hua argued that bringing him to justice was every righteous cultivator’s duty.
• Gu Changhuai warned Mo Hua not to trust Inspector Xia’s intentions blindly, and Inspector Xia gave Mo Hua a Message Token.
• Inspector Xia found another trace of Water Yama and shared it with Mo Hua, who concluded that the hunt could begin.

Mo Hua joined Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia to investigate Water Yama’s suspected territory along the Yanshui River, using his unusual divination to trace the water bandits. As the group turned back for the day, a tiny silver fish called out to Mo Hua, leaving their investigation poised on a new discovery.

• Mo Hua used causal calculations to narrow the places where Water Yama might be hiding, then convinced Inspector Xia to investigate the Yanshui River with him and Gu Changhuai.
• The three searched the river, found traces of Sinful Cultivators, and learned from Fisher Cultivators that a murderous gang of water bandits operated there at night.
• Mo Hua used a broken blade and his Divination Path-Finding Method to guide them through the tangled waterways, prompting Inspector Xia to suspect he had used Heavenly Mystery Arts and warn him about causal backlash.
• After Mo Hua exhausted himself calculating their route, the group decided to return before nightfall, but a tiny silver fish chased their boat and called him “Benefactor.”

Mo Hua reunited with Little Silver Fish, who guided him, Gu Changhuai, and Inspector Xia to a hidden island where Water Bandits were based. After secretly scouting their numbers and crimes, the group returned to Qingzhou City to plan a raid, and Mo Hua offered to handle the island’s array techniques.

• Mo Hua called Little Silver Fish from the Yanshui River and asked it to lead them to the Water Bandits.
• Little Silver Fish guided Mo Hua, Gu Changhuai, and Inspector Xia to a hidden island protected by array techniques, where they found a large bandit encampment.
• Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia decided to observe the island and gather information before attacking, while Mo Hua mapped its array techniques.
• The three watched more than two hundred Water Bandits leave at night and return at dawn with plunder and corpses, confirming that about four hundred were based on the island.
• After returning to Qingzhou City, Inspector Xia prepared to gather forces while Gu Changhuai discussed trapping the bandits and breaking their escape arrays.
• When Inspector Xia questioned how they would seal the island’s array, Mo Hua volunteered to handle it.

Mo Hua designed an Eight Trigrams Eight Gates Array plan and prepared the Spirit Artifacts needed for the Dao Court Office’s assault on the Water Bandits. As the group traveled toward Yanshui River, Inspector Xia revealed that the Xiao Family had secretly joined her family and informed on Guishui Gate.

• Mo Hua explained how the island’s Eight Trigrams Eight Gates Array worked and identified the steps needed to breach it, trap its defenders, and block their escape.
• Inspector Xia approved Mo Hua’s array plan and agreed to launch the operation in three days; Mo Hua commissioned Spirit Artifacts from Master Gu and drew arrays on them through the night.
• Inspector Xia gathered more than three hundred cultivators from the Xia and Gu Families, then accepted another 112 Xiao Family members led by Xiao Tianquan.
• Mo Hua led the group’s Spirit Boats into Yanshui River, while Gu Changhuai questioned Inspector Xia about the Xiao Family’s presence.
• Inspector Xia revealed that the Xiao Family had pledged itself to the Xia Family and had secretly reported Guishui Gate’s misconduct to her uncle.

Mo Hua helped Inspector Xia and Gu Changhuai prepare a stealthy assault on Water Island, using his knowledge of the array and Water Monsters to block the bandits’ escape routes. The Dao Court Office stormed the stronghold at midnight while Mo Hua stayed safely aboard a Stealth boat as the battle intensified.

• Mo Hua reasoned that Inspector Xia was using the Xiao Family and Guishui Gate as pieces in a larger plan, possibly to test the Xiao Family’s loyalty.
• Inspector Xia ordered the concealed fleet to surround Water Island and briefed the Executive Inspectors on the island’s Eight Gates and the assault plan.
• Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia silently killed the island’s hidden sentries while Mo Hua’s team laid traps around the island.
• When they ran short of traps for the Li Gate, Mo Hua baited nearby Water Monsters with ugly Blood Pills and Fishy Algae to make the water a deadly escape route.
• At the hour of the boar, Inspector Xia’s forces ambushed the Water Bandits as they left the island, then Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia broke through the Kan Gate at midnight.
• The Dao Court Office charged into the stronghold as its Eight Gates shifted, while Mo Hua remained in a Stealth boat and drank Lychee Wine.

Mo Hua infiltrated the Water Bandits’ stronghold during the Dao Court Office’s assault and stole a mysterious Jade Box from Water Yama’s secret chamber. Water Yama pursued the thief as Mo Hua fled with the box and called for Uncle Gu to save him.

• Mo Hua used his knowledge of the island’s Eight Gates Eight Trigrams Array to help trap and kill the Water Bandits, then slipped into the stronghold while the battle continued.
• Mo Hua reached the bandit stockade’s center and overheard Water Yama order his men to escape through a hidden passage.
• Mo Hua followed Water Yama into a secret chamber, where Water Yama retrieved a Jade Box bearing a Dao Prison Diagram.
• Mo Hua distracted Water Yama with repeated spells, cut the Black Cloth, and stole the Jade Box while Water Yama’s senses were dulled.
• Water Yama realized the Jade Box was gone and raged as Mo Hua fled Stone Stronghold, launched a firework signal, and shouted for Uncle Gu to save him.

Mo Hua helped Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia drive Water Yama into retreat, then searched the Water Bandits’ island for hidden loot and Array Diagrams. He discovered that Xiao Tianquan had been searching a secret chamber and realized Xiao Tianquan intended to kill him, though he had not yet acted.

• Mo Hua stole Water Yama’s Jade Box and escaped until Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia arrived to fight Water Yama.
• Mo Hua used Water Prison Technique to hinder Water Yama, but Water Yama’s Blood Baleful Eye Technique dazed Gu Changhuai and Inspector Xia long enough for him to flee.
• Mo Hua decided not to pursue Water Yama and searched the island, leaving ordinary stolen goods for the Dao Court Office while taking valuable Array Diagrams.
• Mo Hua searched the island’s secret chambers but found no Evil God Altar, then encountered Xiao Tianquan rummaging through a remote chamber.
• Mo Hua sensed Xiao Tianquan’s killing intent after leaving, while Xiao Tianquan concealed his intentions and mutilated a dead Water Bandit’s corpse.

Mo Hua uncovered Xiao Tianquan’s fixation on something he had taken from Water Yama and examined the sealed Jade Box in secret. He learned from Yu Canghai that it was called the Water Prison Forbidden Box, but its purpose remained unknown.

• After Water Yama escaped into Third-Grade waters, an unidentified cultivator rescued him, and Gu Changhuai explained that the Dao Court’s campaign had exposed a larger target.
• Xiao Tianquan demanded that Mo Hua’s Storage Bag be inspected, but it contained no stolen goods, only legitimate supplies and many Array Diagrams.
• Gu Changhuai warned Mo Hua to be careful of the Xiao Family before escorting him back to the Void Gate.
• Mo Hua secretly examined Water Yama’s seamless Jade Box, found that he could not open it, and decided to seek another Water Prison Sect inheritor.
• Mo Hua visited Yu Canghai and described the Jade Box, prompting Yu Canghai to identify it as the Water Prison Forbidden Box.

Mo Hua learned from Yu Canghai that the Water Prison Forbidden Box held the Water Prison Sect’s forbidden Pupil Technique, which cultivated Righteous Baleful Qi, and that Water Yama had likely twisted it with a Demon Path baleful refinement art. Yu Canghai explained how the technique worked, then questioned Mo Hua’s detailed knowledge of the box’s image, and Mo Hua claimed he had seen it clearly when Water Yama fled.

• Mo Hua pressured Yu Canghai with the prospect that Water Yama might never be caught until Yu Canghai revealed that the Water Prison Forbidden Box contained the Water Prison Sect’s supreme inheritance.
• Mo Hua learned that the box’s forbidden art was a Pupil Technique, and Yu Canghai said Water Yama’s bloody version was likely a Demon Path method grafted onto the sect’s technique.
• Yu Canghai explained that the Water Prison Sect cultivated Righteous Baleful Qi by killing evildoers, though its practitioners risked backlash that could turn it into Evil Baleful Intent.
• Yu Canghai said the image on the box contained a Visualization Method that let practitioners channel Righteous Baleful Qi through their eyes to attack another person’s mind.
• Yu Canghai questioned Mo Hua about knowing the image showed eight cells, punishments, and criminals, and Mo Hua claimed he had seen the box clearly when Water Yama fled.

Mo Hua questioned Yu Canghai about the Water Prison Forbidden Box and learned the name of the sect’s Pupil Technique, then sought Xun Zixian’s guidance on the divine soul. Xun Zixian explained that destructive Divine Consciousness required a soul’s will and called its manifestation Soul Projection, leaving Mo Hua to suspect that the Dao Prison Diagram taught this method.

• Mo Hua asked Yu Canghai about Water Yama’s Pupil Technique, the forbidden box, and the Water Prison Sect’s inheritance, learning that its true Pupil Technique was called the Seven Souls Blood Prison Pupil.
• Mo Hua decided to keep the forbidden box for now, then studied its Dao Prison Diagram and wondered how to cultivate the Pupil Technique and understand the divine soul.
• Mo Hua visited Xun Zixian and described the Pupil Technique and its connection to visualization and the divine soul.
• Xun Zixian explained that the divine soul comprised three souls and seven spirits, and that Divine Consciousness was Thought Power derived from it.
• Xun Zixian told Mo Hua that destructive Divine Consciousness required a divine soul and named the process Soul Projection, prompting Mo Hua to suspect the Dao Prison Diagram taught that method.

Xun Zixian explained why Void Gate forbade Soul Projection and Divine Sense Sword: the sword art’s practitioners died young, their souls exposed to hidden threats. After studying the Water Prison Forbidden Box, Mo Hua sensed his divine soul and realized the Penal Prison Heart Image would distort his nature, so he turned toward merging swordsmanship instead and drew out the Broken Sword from Blood-Colored Fishing Village.

• Xun Zixian told Mo Hua that Void Gate forbade Soul Projection and Divine Sense Sword because the sword art endangered its practitioners’ souls and had left many predecessors dead in the Back Mountain Sword Graveyard.
• Xun Zixian explained that the sect was trying to develop a safer sword inheritance and warned Mo Hua that Soul Projection remained dangerous even for powerful cultivators.
• Mo Hua studied the Water Prison Forbidden Box and deduced that its eight prisons represented the Life Soul and Seven Souls, forming a Penal Prison Heart Image that could power the Pupil Technique.
• Mo Hua attempted to merge the Penal Prison Heart Image into his divine soul, but stopped when it filled him with violent hatred and a desire to punish criminals.
• Mo Hua decided the Penal Prison Heart Image did not suit him and wondered whether he could merge Divine Sense Sword instead.
• The name Soul-Startling Style surfaced in Mo Hua’s mind, and he took out the Broken Sword from Blood-Colored Fishing Village for the first time within Void Mountain.

Mo Hua used the karma of a broken sword to learn the Soul-Startling Divine Sword, then fused its Sword Intent with the Water Prison pupil technique’s Killing Intent to create the Sword Fiend. Meanwhile, an old man in the Sword Graveyard sensed Xuan’er’s aura and feared the sword path was about to end.

• Mo Hua recalled the broken sword’s owner, Senior Xuan, and studied the fading karmic scenes to understand the Soul-Startling Divine Sword.
• Mo Hua cultivated Sword Intent but found his technique weak because he lacked a strong sword foundation and a Spirit Sword for Sword-Borrowing Projection.
• Mo Hua realized he could combine the sword art with the Seven Souls Blood Prison Pupil Technique by replacing the prison’s torture instruments with swords.
• Mo Hua formed a Sword Punishment Diagram that fused Sword Intent and Killing Intent, creating a powerful Soul-Startling Divine Sword he called the Sword Fiend.
• An old man in the Sword Graveyard sensed Xuan’er’s aura but lost its trail, then lamented that the sword path might be cut off.

Mo Hua challenged the Big White Dog that had frightened Yu'er, using his newly combined Soul-Startling Sword and Seven Souls Pupil Technique. After strengthening his art and defeating the dog in a contest of souls, he discovered she belonged to the Void Gate Sect Master, who noticed her hostility toward Yu'er as Mo Hua led him away.

• Mo Hua learned that the Big White Dog had frightened Yu'er, then went to confront her outside a secluded Book Pavilion.
• Mo Hua and the dog clashed through their gazes, and neither won; Mo Hua returned to practice and gradually integrated the Fu Shi soul into his Sword Prison.
• After several days of training, Mo Hua defeated the Big White Dog in their next soul contest and made her whine at Yu'er as an apology.
• The Void Gate Sect Master emerged from the Book Pavilion, and Mo Hua hurried away with Yu'er after learning the dog belonged to him.
• The Sect Master noticed the dog's fierce gaze following Yu'er and furrowed his brow.

After injuring his divine soul in his clash with Big White Dog, Mo Hua used divine marrow to repair it and later made peace with the dog. Gu Changhuai then recruited him to infiltrate the Guishui Gate’s Rouge Boats during Yanshui City’s Lantern Festival, and Mo Hua arrived in the city with his companions as the festivities began.

• Mo Hua repaired the damage to his divine soul by circulating divine marrow through his Divine Sense Avatar and realized he needed to stockpile more.
• Mo Hua brought chicken legs to Big White Dog, admitted its strength, and shook its paw to make peace.
• Gu Changhuai told Mo Hua that the wounded Water Yama was hiding aboard a Guishui Gate Rouge Boat and explained the Dao Court Office’s plan to investigate the upcoming gathering.
• Mo Hua agreed to infiltrate a Rouge Boat during the Lantern Festival and asked Gu Changhuai for official proof that he was investigating rather than seeking amusement.
• Mo Hua reassured Elder Gu Hong by claiming he would secretly help with Gu Changhuai’s matchmaking, then met Wang Chen, Hao Xuan, Cheng Mo, and Situ Jian.
• Mo Hua and his companions traveled to Yanshui City as cultivators from across Ganxue Prefecture gathered for the Lantern Festival.

Mo Hua searched for a way to board a Rouge Boat and followed a divination clue to Ye Hong, a cultivator whose children had died in connection with Guishui Gate’s crimes. He persuaded Ye Hong to help him by offering a chance to avenge them.

• Wang Chen told Mo Hua that Guishui Gate’s ships would secretly sail after sunset and arranged for the group to board, but a greedy Senior Martial Brother refused to let Mo Hua aboard because he looked too young.
• Mo Hua equipped Cheng Mo, Situ Jian, and Hao Xuan with defensive measures, then reflected on the gulf between poor cultivators and those spending enormous sums on pleasure boats.
• Mo Hua’s attempt to divine the Rouge Boats triggered a dangerous omen, so he instead divined Ye Jin’s death and followed the resulting clue to an old pleasure boat.
• Mo Hua recognized Ye Hong as a cultivator linked to Ye Jin and learned that Guishui Gate men had taken advantage of him when he hired a ship.
• Mo Hua described how Ye Hong’s son had been killed on the Yanshui River and his daughter had burned herself to become a Fierce Ghost, then challenged Ye Hong to seek revenge.
• After Mo Hua briefly suppressed Ye Hong’s violent reaction with his sword intent, Ye Hong agreed to do anything necessary to avenge his children.

Mo Hua boarded a Guishui Gate spirit boat with Ye Hong to investigate the Rouge Boat and avenge Ye Hong’s children. He discovered that his ship was the real Rouge Boat, and as it entered a dense black fog, he sensed an intense Evil God aura.

• Mo Hua disguised himself as Ye Hong’s attendant and learned that Ye Hong had traced his children’s deaths to the Rouge Boat and suspected Water Yama of killing Ye Jin.
• Mo Hua watched the boats change course and realized that his spirit boat, not Cheng Mo’s, was the true Rouge Boat.
• Mo Hua sent Gu Changhuai and Situ Jian details of the route so they could help identify the ship’s destination, and reminded Situ Jian to recover the ticket money.
• A Guishui Gate Elder discussed the scheme with an associate, revealing that boats connected to the Dao Court Office, Void Gate, and Gu Family had been forced to disembark while selected sect disciples boarded.
• The spirit boats gathered and linked together with iron chains, entered a dense black fog, and Mo Hua sensed an intense Evil God aura.

Mo Hua infiltrated the Rouge Boat’s secret chambers and discovered that Hua Ruyu was recruiting a Hundred Flowers Valley disciple to exploit her beauty. He then recognized the one-armed masked visitor as Water Yama, who was having an affair with Hua Ruyu.

• Mo Hua disguised himself as a servant, observed the Rouge Boat’s banquet, and followed its distinguished guests to a ship filled with sealed secret chambers.
• Mo Hua hid in the ship’s corridor and followed a pink-robed Hundred Flowers Valley disciple to Hua Ruyu’s chamber.
• Mo Hua secretly listened as Hua Ruyu urged the disciple to use her beauty to attract wealthy and powerful cultivators.
• A masked, one-armed man entered Hua Ruyu’s chamber, revealed himself as Water Yama, and exchanged intimate words with her.

Mo Hua uncovered Hua Ruyu and Water Yama’s affair and learned that the Rouge Boat was preparing to drug sect disciples and trap them. He discovered Hua Qianqian bound in a secret chamber, then recognized Senior Brother Ma—whom he had sensed carried an Evil God’s aura—speaking with Hua Ruyu as her plans advanced.

• Mo Hua realized Hua Ruyu was Lady Miao and suspected Water Yama belonged to the Guishui Gate Xie Family; he overheard Water Yama identify Gu Changhuai as the man who had cut off his arm.
• Hua Ruyu told Water Yama that core disciples from the sects had been invited aboard the Rouge Boat and would be given a pill to make them unable to leave, while Void Gate was being avoided.
• Water Yama asked about a captive virgin, and Hua Ruyu warned him that the girl was reserved for the Young Master; after he left, Hua Ruyu secretly went to check on her captive.
• Mo Hua followed Hua Ruyu to a secret chamber and found Hua Qianqian bound there; Hua Ruyu explained that she had arranged for a handsome Young Master to take Hua Qianqian’s virginity that night.
• Hua Ruyu left Hua Qianqian and spoke with Senior Brother Ma, whom Mo Hua recognized as the Ta'a Gate disciple carrying an Evil God’s aura.