Chapter Summaries

Li Yan lured Hundred Bones Taoist into a trap and used the Underworld’s troops to capture him, while Lu San and Wang Dao Xuan helped destroy the Earth Official’s Treasure Edict. Li Yan then went underwater toward the Netherworld Stage as the Ghost Opera Troupe’s illusion trapped Zhou Yinyao’s naval force, and its leader sensed danger approaching.

• Li Yan stopped the curse from spreading, identified the ruins of the Looking-Home Platform as its source, and learned that the Ghost Opera Troupe was attacking the naval force with the Netherworld Stage.
• Li Yan feigned weakness to draw Hundred Bones Taoist out, while Lu San’s signal ignited Old Man Lin with the Demon Gourd’s poisonous flames.
• Li Yan summoned the Underworld’s troops without the Writ of Summons and blocked Hundred Bones Taoist, while Lu San shattered the Earth Official’s Treasure Edict with a hand cannon.
• The Underworld’s troops captured Hundred Bones Taoist and Old Man Lin’s Yin Soul, and Lu San recovered the damaged Demon Gourd.
• Li Yan sent Lu San and Wang Dao Xuan to find the formation core, then plunged into the Qinhuai River to reach the naval battle.
• The Netherworld Stage’s illusions overwhelmed the sailors and local practitioners, and the Ghost Opera Troupe’s leader sensed danger in the dark river.

Li Yan and the Navy broke the Ghost Opera Troupe’s formation and defeated Corpse Clothes Granny, though the troupe master escaped the battle. As the master fled through the rain, Zhang Jingxuan and two companions surrounded him.

• Corpse Clothes Granny poisoned the Navy with Gu-infested dead fish, but Long Yan'er used her Lute Worm to protect the soldiers aboard her ship.
• After the Ghost Opera Troupe lost its supply of Yin Energy, Li Yan used the Soul Hooking Chain to summon Netherworld troops, breaking the illusion formation and overwhelming the troupe’s musicians.
• The troupe master ordered his followers to scatter and fled, while Sha LiFei and Kuai Dayou attacked the exposed boats with Explosive Fire Crows and Wu Ba drove Corpse Clothes Granny into the water with the Tiger Crouching Cannon.
• Li Yan trapped Corpse Clothes Granny underwater with Soul-Controlling Lightning Chains, and the arriving Netherworld troops killed her; he recovered her Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement and a jade cong.
• The Ghost Opera Troupe’s master fled through the rain, vowed that Li Yan had to die for the Jiangnan plan to succeed, and was surrounded by Zhang Jingxuan and two companions.

Zhang Jingxuan and two senior Daoists forced the Ghost Opera Troupe Leader to reveal Jianmu’s plan to plunge Jiangnan into chaos, then arranged to stabilize Jinling and pursue the group’s wider scheme. After Li Yan returned to a strangely welcoming city, Zhang Jingqing explained that Zhang Jingxuan had ordered local ritual lineages to cooperate; Li Yan considered how to avoid remaining dependent on surprise and artifacts as the Dragon Offering Ceremony approached.

• Zhang Jingxuan, Fire Cloud Daoist, and Linglongzi confronted the Ghost Opera Troupe Leader, who swore a heart oath and revealed that Jianmu planned to destabilize Jiangnan and shatter the Great Xuan Dynasty’s incense offerings.
• Zhang Jingxuan identified the Human Path transformation as the likely reason for Jianmu’s escalating actions and planned to retrieve the Yangzhou Cauldron after the Dragon Offering Ceremony.
• Li Yan and his companions returned to Jinling, where the prefect, officials, and local Xuan Gate representatives welcomed them with unexpected deference.
• Zhang Jingqing told Li Yan that Zhang Jingxuan had arrived and ordered Jiangnan’s ritual lineages to cooperate with the Twelve Yuan Chen.
• Li Yan examined the Earth Official’s Treasure Edict of Atonement and considered changing his strategy, while Zhang Jingxuan’s forces swept Jinling for suspected Cocoon Clothes Cult followers before the Dragon Offering Ceremony.