Chapter Summaries

Li Yan and the others confronted Shangqing Palace over the disaster at Mount Mang, then joined forces with its Taoists and Xiangshan Temple to investigate the threat tied to the Nine Cauldrons. They discovered that Shangqing Palace’s missing talisman and the damaged Three Purities Hall were part of an ancient suppression arrangement, and learned that painter Lu Mo had also recently repaired the Vairocana Buddha.

• Dan Qingzi accused Li Yan’s group of destroying Jingling, but Madam Pei arrived and explained that the Twelve Yuan Chen were investigating the Paper Figure Case and the Yin Talisman Sect’s soul-collecting boat.
• Yin JiuGe explained the crisis involving the Nine Cauldrons, the Six Kingdoms Demon Army, and the Suihou Pearl Serpent, prompting Shangqing Palace and Xiangshan Temple to cooperate.
• Dan Qingzi admitted Shangqing Palace had removed the All-Heaven Five Thunder Talisman from the Three Purities Hall, and Yin JiuGe led everyone there to inspect the damaged shrine.
• Yin JiuGe found that the Three Purities Hall and its pill furnace were nodes in an ancient arrangement, while Li Yan recognized damaged talismans beneath the caisson’s star painting.
• Dan Qingzi revealed that the hall had been renovated in the early Northern Song and again recently; Golden Eye Feng recalled a record linking its earlier reconstruction to the return of Xuan Mo.
• Li Yan questioned whether the renowned Kong Hui had been involved in the ancient repair, and Dan Qingzi identified the more recent painter as Lu Mo, prompting Master Kuzhu to admit he had hired him to repair the Vairocana Buddha.

As the Maitreya Sect rebellion plunged Luoyang into chaos, Li Yan and his allies searched for and suppressed the corrupted nodes tied to the Netherworld Bureau. They left Luoyang’s City God Temple under Long Yan’er’s protection while other groups worked to repair nodes elsewhere, but Yue SanEr feared the Soul-Reaping Boats still hid a danger.

• The Maitreya Sect rebellion spread through Luoyang as mobs attacked the City God Temple, granary, wealthy homes, prefectural government, and other parts of the city.
• Li Yan and his allies reached Luoyang after finding the Longmen Grottoes node damaged, then investigated the City God Temple and found polluted offerings, Jinxian Zhensha Coins, and Dongying iron plates beneath the divine statue.
• Yin JiuGe performed a rite to stabilize the City God Temple node, and Long Yan’er stayed behind to guard it with Gu worms and Frost Moths that concealed the temple from rioters.
• Dan Qingzi and the Shangqing Palace Daoists used Five Thunder Talismans and the Five Thunder Mantra to suppress a node, while monks at the Longmen Grottoes chanted the Surangama Mantra and repaired the carvings.
• Yue SanEr and the HeLuo Merchant Guild burned the Soul-Reaping Boats with Peach Wood Arrows, but Yue SanEr warned that the Yin Souls aboard were missing.

Li Yan and Yin JiuGe traced the Seven Stars Lock Dragon formation through Luoyang and suppressed several corrupted nodes as riots and fires spread through the city. With Zi Hour approaching, Li Yan headed alone toward the King of Luoyang’s residence, where the final node and Wang Xuanmo’s trap awaited.

• Yin JiuGe connected Shangqing Palace, the Vairocana Buddha, and the City God Temple to reveal the Big Dipper formation and led the group to the burning Luoyang granary.
• Li Yan dispelled the bewitched civilians and fought Maitreya Sect disciples while Lu San’s rats uncovered a buried Tang-era cellar containing Five Grains Corpse Worms and a corrupted Dark Wood tortoise at Kaiyang.
• Lu San used the Zhi Lan Sutra to suppress the Dark Wood and remained behind to guard it as Li Yan’s group moved on.
• At Tianjin Bridge, Li Yan broke the rusted sword beneath the bridge with Yin JiuGe’s Qin Law Sword, dispersing the mist and Walking Corpses, then left Wu Ba to guard the node.
• Yin JiuGe identified the ancient Ming Hall as the Tianquan node and stayed to suppress its Soul-Calling Banner while Li Yan rushed toward the King of Luoyang’s residence before Zi Hour.

As Mangshan’s baleful energy threatened Luoyang, Li Yan fought through Wang Xuanmo’s supernatural defenses and confronted the Mount Mang Ghost Emperor in Gan Yang Hall. Wang Xuanmo revealed that his arrangements were meant to defend against Heaven and said he wanted to enlighten Li Yan about becoming a scapegoat for immortals and gods.

• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan led Shaolin reinforcements toward Luoyang, while Master Hui Yuan rushed ahead carrying a bronze chest.
• Li Yan entered the Luoyang Prince’s Residence, discovered paper effigies controlled by Five Colors Corpse Spiders, and identified Gan Yang Hall as the site of the formation.
• Li Yan provoked Wang Xuanmo, then used the Body of Thunder and Severing Dust Blade to destroy the paper effigies and Yin soldiers blocking his path.
• Li Yan entered Gan Yang Hall, where the Mount Mang Ghost Emperor, Wang Xuanmo, dismissed the evil creatures outside and faced him directly.
• Wang Xuanmo told Li Yan that his arrangements were meant to defend against Heaven and that he wanted to enlighten him about becoming a substitute scapegoat for immortals and gods.

Li Yan rejected Wang Xuanmo’s offer to help seize the Yu Province Cauldron and fought him in Gan Yang Hall, where a strange formation kept Li Yan from reaching or striking the Ghost Emperor. As Wang Xuanmo unleashed waves of evil creatures and the Dongying monks moved to summon the cauldron, Lu San continued suppressing the earth-vein hub at Hanjia Warehouse.

• Wang Xuanmo told Li Yan that the Great Luo Dharma Realm was a cage, revealed his suspicions about Zhao Changsheng’s plans for the Nine Cauldrons, and offered to establish a ghost kingdom overseas with Li Yan.
• Li Yan feigned interest before attacking Wang Xuanmo, but a formation distorted distance and redirected his gunfire.
• Wang Xuanmo summoned the Five Colors Corpse Spiders, paper effigies, and yin soldiers to overwhelm Li Yan, then howled to signal his allies.
• Dongying monks at a nearby residence heard Wang Xuanmo’s signal and scattered to disrupt the formation and summon the treasure cauldron.
• Lu San used the Orchid and Iris Scripture and repeated plantings to suppress the corrupted Dark Wood Black Tortoise statue while a Dongying monk planted a bomb at Hanjia Warehouse’s passageway.

Lu San and his companions defended the array cores against coordinated attacks by Dongying monks and Maitreya Sect followers. Yin JiuGe defeated the monks at his post with the Five Sacrifices Suppressing Sha Technique, then set out with Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan to rescue Li Yan at the Prince of Luoyang's residence.

• Lu San knocked away a bomb, survived a two-man ambush, and used Falcon Li Dong and the Poisonous Bees to defeat the attackers before returning to stabilize the Dark Wood tortoise statue.
• Wu Ba crushed a Dongying monk and drove the Maitreya Sect followers away from Tianjin Bridge.
• Long Yan'er guarded the City God Temple while the Dongying monks and Maitreya Sect followers fought under the influence of an enchantment.
• Yin JiuGe used the patchwork robe to suppress the Soul-Calling Banner, then shielded Golden Eye Feng from the green lantern's enchantment with the Gate Sacrifice.
• A hidden gunman wounded Yin JiuGe and interrupted his technique, but Sha LiFei killed the gunman while Yin JiuGe destroyed Aoi no Goryo and killed the three Dongying monks with the Kitchen Sacrifice.
• Sha LiFei and Wang Dao Xuan caught the collapsing Yin JiuGe, who told them Li Yan was likely trapped and asked them to help break the formation.

Yin JiuGe identified the palace trap as an Eight Gates of Life and Death Formation while the Yu Province Cauldron neared emergence, and Shaolin monks used the Damo Shadow Wall to suppress the turmoil at Mangshan. In Gan Yang Hall, Li Yan trapped Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo’s attempted escape with the Underworld soldiers and began absorbing their Yin Qi as Wang Xuanmo raised an Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement.

• Yin JiuGe used Wang Dao Xuan’s Mystic Turtle Shell compass to identify the palace formation and directed the others to destroy its cores in the six eastern and western palaces.
• Master Hui Yuan and the Shaolin monks set up the Damo Shadow Wall at the Northern Wei Imperial Tombs to suppress the Earth Qi surging around the Yu Province Cauldron.
• Li Yan killed the paper-figure puppets and Ghost Ship yin soldiers in Gan Yang Hall, but Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo declared that the Yu Province Cauldron had been hooked up and attempted to flee with the Great Five Ghosts Transporting Technique.
• Sha LiFei destroyed a coffin in one of the palace halls, while the Gou Tablet grew hot and Li Yan summoned the Underworld’s soldiers and horses to stop Wang Xuanmo’s escape.
• Wang Xuanmo used an Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement to repel the Underworld soldiers, but Li Yan absorbed their Yin Qi and a gigantic black humanoid shadow dropped toward Wang Xuanmo.

Li Yan pursued Ghost Emperor Wang Xuanmo after Wang escaped his ruined body, but Wang used the Yellow Heaven Five Elements Banner to summon Mangshan’s incense-born emperors and spirits and shake Luoyang’s earth veins. As the Yu Province Cauldron threatened to emerge, Li Yan charged into the black mist to stop him.

• Li Yan killed Wang Xuanmo’s body, discovered that his soul had escaped, and broke open a buried iron box to reveal a Qin Tiger Tally.
• Wang Dao Xuan and Sha LiFei entered the main hall and told Li Yan to suppress the formation while they handled the situation there.
• Li Yan found Wang Xuanmo’s unfinished Earth Immortal’s Body in the palace garden and pursued him toward Mount Mang.
• Wang Xuanmo planted five black flags and summoned a vast black mist filled with incense-bearing figures, causing the earth veins to shake.
• Wang Xuanmo revealed that the figures were emperors, ministers, and folk gods gathered from Mangshan, while Li Yan transformed into a Thunder God and charged into the mist.

Li Yan broke through to Pellet Strength while fighting through Wang Xuanmo’s formation, using the Heavenly Thunder Demon Smashing Fist to defeat him and learn about Jianmu. After destroying Wang Xuanmo’s remnant soul and releasing the folk gods trapped in the ritual flags, Li Yan saw the cauldron-shaped Yin cloud begin to fade.

• Li Yan endured the lightning and the formation’s yin baleful qi as Wang Xuanmo mocked him and continued operating the formation.
• Repeatedly drawing down lightning tempered Li Yan’s body and helped him enter the Martial Arts Pellet Strength realm.
• Li Yan used the Heavenly Thunder Demon Smashing Fist to split the lightning and smash through the formation until he reached Wang Xuanmo.
• Li Yan struck Wang Xuanmo with heavenly lightning, then learned that Jianmu included Kong Hui, Lei Yin, and an unnamed man surnamed Zhao, while Zhao Changsheng had fled to Dongying.
• Wang Xuanmo died, and Li Yan shattered his remnant soul before taking the five ritual flags and releasing the folk gods within them.
• The cauldron-shaped Yin cloud began to fade, and the Shaolin monks on Mount Mang believed the Yu Province Cauldron had been suppressed.

Li Yan and the Mang Mountain gods suppressed the Six Kingdoms Demon Army, causing the Suihou Pearl Serpent to shatter and the Yu Province Cauldron to depart into the earth veins. In the aftermath, Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan arrived in Luoyang to manage relief and investigate the damage, while Madam Pei chose to keep the Dragon Gate Inn open and wait for Shen SanYou.

• Zen Master Hui Yuan and the Shaolin monks reinforced their formation as the Longmen Grottoes' Vairocana Buddha and Mang Mountain's ordinary gods helped suppress the Yu Province Cauldron.
• Li Yan used the North Emperor God Control Method to witness the gods' intervention, then saw the Suihou Pearl Serpent shatter and the Yu Province Cauldron merge into the earth veins.
• Li Yan glimpsed Erlang Zhenjun Yang Jian on a distant mountain before returning to his body and finding Luoyang's blood-colored sky had cleared and Wang Xuanmo was dead.
• Pei Zongti and Bai Chenshan traveled to Luoyang as imperial commissioners, planning relief, repairs to the Mang Mountain formation, and action against Luoyang's Xuan Gate factions.
• Madam Pei returned to the Dragon Gate Inn, refused to leave Luoyang, and resolved to wait for Shen SanYou after learning he had gone to Dongying.

Li Yan reached Zhangqiu Town with the imperial court’s help and arranged for Zhao the Donkey and Feng FeiYan to find safer lives at Qiankun Academy. Zhao then revealed that he had encountered a white-robed Daoist and Qin-dressed Yin soldiers in the Qinling Mountains, leaving Li Yan alarmed by their connection to the Qin King's Undying Palace and Xu Fu.

• Chen San welcomed Li Yan’s group to Zhangqiu Town and reported the court’s investigation into the Jianmu organization and the escaped Japanese monks.
• Li Yan visited the recovering Zhao the Donkey and Feng FeiYan, and Zhao explained why he had left Guanzhong and broken his sect’s taboos.
• Zhao recounted finding his father’s marks in the Qinling Mountains, encountering a white-robed Daoist, and being wounded while escaping Yin soldiers.
• Li Yan offered Zhao a teaching position at Qiankun Academy, and Zhao accepted after Feng FeiYan urged him to agree.
• Zhao recalled that the Yin soldiers looked like Qin soldiers and that the Daoist had called out to his master Xu Fu, prompting Li Yan to suspect a connection to the Qin King's Undying Palace.

Li Yan studied the Yellow Heaven Five Elements Banner and tried to awaken the Bronze Nuo Mask by visualizing the Great Luo Dharma Realm. The mask connected him to Erlang Zhenjun Yang Jian, who led him through the netherworld and showed him Luo Feng Mountain, giving him a clearer basis for practicing the Fengdu Method.

• Li Yan considered how Jianmu, the Nine Cauldrons, and the Netherworld Sect might be connected, then joined the Chen residence’s lavish banquet with his companions.
• Li Yan examined Wang Xuanmo’s Yellow Heaven Five Elements Banner and concluded that the Five Directions Fengdu Banner could use it as a vessel, though he still lacked the five Celestial Decrees it required.
• Li Yan recalled the Great Luo Dharma Realm while holding the Bronze Nuo Mask, causing it to fill with Malevolent Qi and frost.
• Li Yan wore the mask and visualized the Great Luo Dharma Realm, which drew him into a vision where he found Erlang Zhenjun Yang Jian.
• Yang Jian led Li Yan past the Yellow Springs and the Netherworld Bureau, then showed him Luo Feng Mountain and signaled that he should use it as a basis for meditation.

Li Yan returned from viewing Luo Feng Mountain in the Great Luo Dharma Realm, healed from the damage and secluded himself to improve his Fengdu Method. While he meditated, Sha LiFei and the others visited the bustling Jingyang Gang fair, where hunters warned that a Tiger Demon had appeared on the mountain.

• Li Yan memorized the true layout of Luo Feng Mountain, the Iron Encirclement Mountain, the Yin Locust Forest, and the Luo Feng Six Palaces before the vision ended and injured him.
• Li Yan healed with his Great Luo Dharma Body and entered meditation to refine his visualization method using what he had seen.
• Wang Dao Xuan stayed behind to protect Li Yan while Sha LiFei, Wu Ba, Long Yan'er, Zhao the Donkey, and Cao Gang disciples went to explore Zhangqiu Town.
• The group searched Zhangqiu Town's streets for Heavenly Spiritual Treasures but found nothing promising, then learned that Jingyang Gang was holding a grand fair.
• At the fair, Sha LiFei and the others watched performers and storytellers until bloodied hunters rushed down from the mountain and announced that a Tiger Demon had appeared.

Sha LiFei and his companions calmed a panicked market after hunters reported a Tiger Demon, then agreed to investigate in exchange for a treasure Zhao the Donkey found at the Jingyang Gang Inn. The treasure turned out to be an Everlasting Lamp from a tomb, which Zhao said had been placed to curse Shi Heilong; the chapter ended with him asking whether Shi Heilong had been dreaming strangely.

• Hunters fleeing the mountain triggered panic at the market, and Long Yan'er used her Gu Arts to stop the crowd until Sha LiFei and Shi Heilong's men intervened.
• Shi Heilong and Sha LiFei cleared up their misunderstanding, and the hunters described a strange creature near Old Pine Slope and the Mass Burial Grounds.
• Shi Heilong asked the Twelve Yuan Chen to deal with the Tiger Demon, but the group initially prepared to leave when he balked at their thirty-thousand-tael fee.
• Zhao the Donkey spotted something valuable at the inn and persuaded Sha LiFei to accept an item from Shi Heilong in exchange for handling the danger.
• Zhao the Donkey used a calico cat to locate an old bronze candlestick on a roof beam and identified it as an Everlasting Lamp from a tomb placed there to curse Shi Heilong.

Wang Dao Xuan and his companions investigated the Tiger Demon’s trail on Jingyang Gang and discovered it had dug into Wu Song Temple to steal something hidden inside the statue. County records revealed that the temple’s missing treasure was a surviving fragment of Xu Fu’s Bamboo Strips.

• Wang Dao Xuan dispelled the harmful arrangement on the Jingyang Gang Inn’s roof beam and agreed to investigate the Tiger Demon, while warning Shi Heilong to find out who was targeting him.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s group found frozen tiger paw prints and dead ants, which showed that the Tiger Demon could use Netherworld Spirit Travel.
• Long Yan’er led the group to Wu Song Temple, where they found a fresh hole behind the statue and yellow fur around the bricks.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s group learned that the Tiger Demon had dug into the statue and removed something hidden inside it, but they could not track its scent.
• Wang Dao Xuan and his companions consulted Yanggu County’s building records, which identified the missing temple treasure as a surviving fragment of Xu Fu’s Bamboo Strips.

Wang Dao Xuan and the others investigated the Tiger Demon's attack on Bao Hua Book Company, recovered Xu Fu's Seeking Immortality Chapters, and set a trap for the demon. Li Yan woke in time to join the ambush, but the Tiger Demon did not appear, and Chen San returned with information about Kong Hui.

• Wang Dao Xuan learned that Bao Hua Book Company belonged to the Meng family, but a Cao Gang disciple reported that the company was burning and several Meng family members had died.
• Uncle Fu ordered the Cao Gang to help extinguish the fire, and Sha LiFei identified stone fire oil as the cause.
• Wang Dao Xuan summoned the Meng master's Yin Soul, which led Sha LiFei and Wu Ba to a hidden iron box containing Xu Fu's Seeking Immortality Chapters.
• Wang Dao Xuan concluded that someone in town was aiding the Tiger Demon and arranged a trap at the Chen residence.
• Li Yan finished stabilizing his visualization space, woke from meditation, and joined the ambush after Lu San explained what had happened.
• The Tiger Demon failed to appear by Zi Hour, and Chen San returned with information about the Rotten Document Mister, Kong Hui.

Li Yan questioned Kong Shangzhao about Kong Hui and agreed to help him escape to the capital, then the group discovered that intruders were attacking Chen's residence to steal the Bamboo Strips of Xu Fu. Li Yan and his allies captured the attackers, and Chen San recognized one of them as Yang Lao Hai from Wuqiao.

• Kong Shangzhao described Kong Hui's suspected ties to the Ghost Sect and the Golden Horde Wolf Country, while revealing his own feud with the Yansheng Duke's family.
• Kong Zhenshan offered Li Yan thirty thousand taels to escort Kong Shangzhao to the capital, and Li Yan agreed while asking about Kong Hui's later whereabouts.
• Rat One alerted the group to an attack, and Li Yan recognized the apparent tiger in the woods as an illusion created by an old man with a puppet.
• Wu Ba captured the old man as Li Yan intercepted three youths emerging from a drainage channel and stopped their firebombs from exploding.
• Long Yan'er subdued the three youths with Gu Arts, and the group captured all the intruders before Chen San recognized one as Yang Lao Hai from Wuqiao.

Li Yan and the others uncovered how Yang Lao Hai’s troupe had been coerced into crime through opium addiction and discovered that a spy in the Chen residence had exposed their investigation. The temple keeper fled before they could catch him, and the group left by ship for Tianjin, where the people behind Yang Lao Hai’s troubles were said to be, stopping at Linqing City on the way.

• Chen San identified Yang Lao Hai’s group as an Acrobatic Troupe from Wuqiao, and the troupe’s disciples revealed they had been forced into crimes by people who controlled their opium supply.
• Kong Shangzhao recognized the opium as Mi Nang Flower and recounted its history and its rumored use in making Netherworld Incense and ghost soldiers.
• Yang Lao Hai identified a spy in the Chen residence, but the gardener tried to flee and named the temple keeper at Ren Fengzi Temple as the person who had paid him.
• Li Yan reached Ren Fengzi Temple ahead of Chen San’s men and found it burning, while the suspects had escaped toward the canal.
• Li Yan ordered Chen San to report the opium case and investigate people from Dongying and the Red Haired Foreigners; the group then sailed toward Tianjin and arrived at Linqing City the next day.

Li Yan and his companions reached Linqing, where corrupt tax clerks searched their ship before they entered the bustling city for the night. On the streets, they encountered martial artists fighting over territory, and Li Yan recognized Courtesan Zhao WanFang watching from an upstairs window.

• Li Yan agreed to wait overnight while the Cao Gang arranged passage through Linqing Customs.
• Tax clerks tried to search the grain ship, but Long Yan'er used her Gu worms to make them forget Lu San's confrontation, and the Cao Gang paid off the elderly clerk.
• Li Yan and his companions went ashore and traveled through Linqing's crowded streets toward the city.
• Yuan Heng and Tian Fan fought over territory until a white-robed scholar intervened and recognized Kong Shangzhao as his junior brother.
• The scholar mentioned Kong Shangzhao's conflict with Monk Shangqing, and Li Yan stepped in beside Kong Shangzhao.
• Courtesan Zhao WanFang greeted Li Yan from an upstairs window.

Li Yan reunited with Zhao Wan Fang in Linqing City, where she explained the Golden Swallow Gate’s interest in Qiankun Academy and offered to arrange introductions in Chang'an. After he left, Zhao Wan Fang turned to investigating the rising unrest around Eunuch Ma, while Wang Dao Xuan announced that he had deciphered Xu Fu’s letter.

• Zhao Wan Fang introduced Li Yan to the Twelve Yuan Chen, prompting Ming and the two fighters to leave in embarrassment.
• Li Yan joined Zhao Wan Fang at Drunken River Pavilion, where she treated him to a feast prepared by the Vegetable General.
• Zhao Wan Fang told Li Yan that Qiankun Academy had become a focus of court politics because the emperor wanted to compete with foreign powers and their new technology.
• Zhao Wan Fang offered to arrange introductions for Li Yan in Chang'an on behalf of the Golden Swallow Gate, and he accepted.
• After Li Yan departed, Zhao Wan Fang ordered Uncle Liu to gather intelligence on the brewing turmoil in Linqing City.
• Wang Dao Xuan told Li Yan and Kong Shangzhao that he had deciphered Xu Fu’s posthumous letter about the path to immortality.