Chapter Summaries

Lin Xuankong revealed 36 Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifacts and used them as formation cores to summon a vastly strengthened Nine-layered Thousand Crane Array spirit. He challenged Pro Luo to test its power, leaving the onlookers waiting for the battle to begin.

• Pro Luo recognized that Lin Xuankong's 36 Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifacts were formation cores and became wary of the array they could create.
• Cultivators and Earth Immortals in Crane Immortal Sect and Crane Immortal City marveled at the artifacts and hoped they could turn the war in humanity's favor.
• Guang Yu'er wondered whether Lin Xuankong could defeat Pro Luo and become the first Third-Grade Earth Immortal to overcome an Immortal Lord-level expert.
• Lin Xuankong activated the 36 artifacts and summoned an immense immortal crane whose power nearly matched Pro Luo's.
• Lin Xuankong challenged Pro Luo to fight the array spirit, and the gathered onlookers held their breath.

Thirty-Six Tribulations Demon Lord Pro Luo unleashed the Great Accomplishment Mystic Demon Eye against Crane Immortal City and the Crane Immortal Sect, killing more than one hundred thousand cultivators. As the eye threatened hundreds of thousands more, Lin Xuankong boosted the Nine-layered Thousand Crane Array’s array spirit and it broke through Pro Luo’s defenses, leaving the battle at a sudden turning point.

• Pro Luo summoned millions of vengeful souls that formed a gigantic eyeball, and Guang Yu'er warned everyone to seal their five senses against its mental attack.
• The Mystic Demon Eye killed more than one hundred thousand cultivators whose injured spirit souls kept them from sealing their senses, while Lin Xuankong’s array spirit passed harmlessly through the eye.
• Pro Luo recognized Lin Xuankong’s resistance as evidence that he possessed Lingyun Cihang’s Heart-Protecting Immortal Artifact, and Lin Xuankong sent the array spirit to attack him instead.
• Pro Luo’s thirty-six arms repelled the array spirit as he pressed the Mystic Demon Eye against the array barrier, causing hundreds of thousands of cultivators to start trembling.
• Lin Xuankong activated Old and Vigorous, greatly increased the array spirit’s speed, and watched it break through Pro Luo’s defenses as the demon sensed danger.

Lin Xuankong used the Nine-layered Thousand Crane Array’s spirit to annihilate Thirty-Six Tribulations Demon Lord Pro Luo’s body, but Pro Luo survived by transferring his Spirit Soul into a Demon General and fled. With the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s forces scattering, Lin Xuankong resolved to strengthen his offensive arts and prepare for more dangerous enemies.

• Lin Xuankong’s enhanced Nine-layered Thousand Crane Array spirit self-destructed, silently erasing everything within three hundred miles and destroying Pro Luo’s demonic body and thirty-six artifacts.
• The Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s surviving forces watched the void left by the blast and feared that Pro Luo had been killed.
• Pro Luo’s Spirit Soul took over a Ninth Grade Demon Artifact Grade Demon General, restored his appearance and thirty-six arms, threatened Lin Xuankong, and fled west.
• The remaining demonic beings, Demonic Soldiers, and Demon Generals panicked and scattered, leaving Lin Xuankong to consider how to improve his combat abilities.
• Lin Xuankong released Guang Ling’er, Guang Yu’er, the two Qilins, and the other Earth Immortals from their sealed senses, and they stared in confusion at the empty battlefield.

After Lin Xuankong drove off the Thirty-Six Tribulations Demon Lord Pro Luo and the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s forces, the cultivators of Crane Immortal Sect and Crane Immortal City learned what had happened and celebrated their survival. Lin Xuankong accepted their thanks and vowed to destroy any demonic forces that threatened the Western Region again.

• Lin Xuankong told the Green-foreheaded Qilin that Pro Luo had escaped in the form of demonic qi after being injured by the Nine-layered Thousand Crane Array.
• The Green-foreheaded Qilin confirmed that no demonic qi remained nearby, while Guang Ling'er and Guang Yu'er struggled to believe Lin Xuankong had driven off Pro Luo in only a few breaths.
• The cultivators and Earth Immortals learned that the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s forces had been driven away and rejoiced at their survival.
• Sect Master Li bowed to Lin Xuankong and thanked him for saving Crane Immortal Sect, Crane Immortal City, and the Central Divine Dynasty’s cultivators.
• Nearly ten million cultivators and Earth Immortals bowed in gratitude, and Lin Xuankong vowed to slaughter any Devil Masters sent to the Western Region again.

After Lin Xuankong repelled the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect, the Crane Immortal Sect recorded his achievement while other sects sought to join it. Lin Xuankong received the Guangqing Illusory Arts and the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art, while Gang Gu awaited news in the Thousand Illusions Sacred Monarch Hall and learned that Pro Luo had appeared.

• Sect Master Li ordered Huang Liutao to record Lin Xuankong’s defeat of the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect in the Crane Immortal Sect’s annals.
• Earth Immortals and elders, including Chi Liuxia, asked Sect Master Li to join or affiliate their sects with the Crane Immortal Sect.
• Lin Xuankong worried that Gang Gu’s Heavenly Demon Power might pose a greater threat than the praise surrounding his victory.
• Guang Ling’er gave Lin Xuankong the Guangqing Illusory Arts, and Guang Yu’er gave him a jade slip containing the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art.
• In the Thousand Illusions Sacred Monarch Hall, Gang Gu presided as a bull-headed Demon Lord roasted twelve captured Ninth-grade Earth Immortals.
• Gang Gu asked Pro Luo whether he had captured Mu Shiba, but Pro Luo’s projection had only just appeared in the hall.

After Pro Luo reported that Mu Shiba had annihilated most of his forces with powerful immortal artifacts and arrays, Demon Son Gang Gu decided to lead an assault on the Crane Immortal Sect himself. The Profound Yin Demonic Sect’s forces began withdrawing from other fronts and converging on the Western Region, while the Immortal Lords realized that something had changed there.

• Pro Luo reported that Mu Shiba’s Nine-layered Thousand Crane Arrays had destroyed nearly twenty thousand holy soldiers and killed nearly sixty Ninth Grade Sacred Artifact Demon Generals.
• Demon Son Gang Gu rejected Pro Luo’s plan to attack again and declared that he would personally lead more than twenty Holy Lords to seize Mu Shiba and his immortal artifacts.
• Demon Son Gang Gu consumed the essences of twelve Ninth-grade Earth Immortals, then ordered the Profound Yin Demonic Sect’s forces across the Immortal World to halt their attacks and gather at the Crane Immortal Sect.
• Ling Wuming and Ling Wuji saw the Profound Yin Demonic Sect’s army withdraw from the Eastern Region and suspected it was heading toward the Western Region.
• A messenger reported that Huang Fengtian’s enemies had also withdrawn from the southeastern defensive line and appeared to be heading west.

Ling Wuji and Ling Wuming learned that the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s forces across the Immortal Realm had withdrawn and were converging on the Western Region. Elder Qiu confirmed the scale of the movement, leaving the Immortal leaders baffled about why the sect had made the impoverished region its target.

• Ling Wuji and Ling Wuming wondered why the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect forces had withdrawn toward the Western Region, and Ling Wuji suggested the move might be connected to Mu Shiba and his Third-Grade Immortal Artifact.
• Ling Wuji offered to follow the retreating forces, but Ling Wuming warned him against risking further injury.
• Elder Qiu arrived at the front and confirmed that the forces confronting him had also headed toward the Western Region.
• Elder Qiu reported that all twelve Xuan Yin Demonic Sect armies attacking the Eastern Region and Central Province had withdrawn, while twenty Devil Masters had left the Lingtai Buddhist Domain.
• Elder Qiu said that forty-nine Devil Masters, more than 4,800 Ninth Grade Demon Artifact Grade Demon Generals, and nearly ten million Demonic Beings and Demonic Soldiers were heading for the Western Region.
• Ling Wuji questioned whether the entire force could truly be moving for Mu Shiba and his artifact, but concluded that such an explanation seemed impossible.

Elder Qiu sent Ling Wuji and Ling Wuming to track the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s forces as they withdrew toward the Western Region, while Daoist Kunyuan learned that Lin Xuankong had supposedly routed the army attacking the Crane Immortal Sect. Daoist Qianyuan and Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu rejected Ling’er’s reports as impossible, especially her claims about Lin’s immense stockpile of immortal artifacts.

• Elder Qiu ordered Ling Wuji and Ling Wuming to secretly follow the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect army and report its destination.
• Daoist Qianyuan, Daoist Kunyuan, and Yan Mingyu wondered why the three Devil Masters had suddenly withdrawn from their battle.
• Daoist Kunyuan read Ling’er’s messages claiming that the Crane Immortal Sect had been attacked by nearly twenty thousand Demonic Beings and Demonic Soldiers, more than eighty Ninth Grade Demon Artifact Grade Demon Generals, and Pro Luo.
• Daoist Kunyuan reported that Lin Xuankong had defeated the attackers, including the Demonic Buddha and Pro Luo, while keeping the Crane Immortal Sect and its people safe.
• Daoist Qianyuan dismissed Ling’er’s account and said she should be severely punished for sending such absurd messages.
• Daoist Kunyuan revealed that Ling’er also claimed Lin Xuankong had used 3,600 First Grade, 36 Third-Grade, and 36 Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifacts, and he declared the report nonsense.

Daoist Kunyuan, Daoist Qianyuan, and Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu returned to the Crane Immortal Sect and confirmed that Lin Xuankong had armed its defenses with over a thousand First Grade Immortal Artifacts. They hurried to meet Lin, while the gathered sect leaders and Earth Immortals sought Sect Master Li’s help in gaining his favor.

• Daoist Qianyuan and Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu agreed to wait several days before judging whether Guang Ling'er’s claims about Lin Xuankong’s artifacts were true.
• Ten days later, Daoist Kunyuan, Daoist Qianyuan, and Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu saw that the Crane Immortal Sect’s 48 layers of Nine-layered Thousand Crane Array used over a thousand First Grade Immortal Artifacts.
• Daoist Qianyuan reconsidered Guang Ling'er’s claims about Lin Xuankong’s Third-Grade and Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifacts, and the three Supreme Immortal Lords flew to the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot to find him.
• Sect Master Li told the gathered Earth Immortals that Lin Xuankong and Guang Ling'er were discussing cultivation, then promised to speak on their behalf as they offered materials and gifts for a chance to meet Lin.
• Qu Wan'er and the Great Crane Ancestor marveled at Lin Xuankong’s rise and at how his presence had elevated the Crane Immortal Sect and Sect Master Li.

Yan Mingyu, Daoist Qianyuan, and Daoist Kunyuan returned to Lin Xuankong’s cave, where they praised his victories and extraordinary artifact-refining skills. After Qianyuan accepted that Guang Ling’er and Guang Yu’er had given Lin two Guangqing Immortal Sect arts, he asked to trade resources and techniques for one of Lin’s Third-Grade Immortal Artifacts.

• The Green-foreheaded Qilin welcomed Yan Mingyu, Daoist Qianyuan, and Daoist Kunyuan, mistakenly assuming they had defeated the three Devil Masters.
• Yan Mingyu praised Lin Xuankong for slaying demonic forces and saving cultivators across the Western Region, while Qianyuan and Kunyuan admitted their admiration for his achievements.
• Guang Yu’er told Qianyuan that she and Guang Ling’er had lost their contest with Lin and given him two Guangqing Immortal Sect immortal arts, and Qianyuan refused to punish them.
• Yan Mingyu confirmed that Lin had used dozens of Third-Grade and Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifacts in battle, then celebrated the good fortune this brought the human cultivators.
• Daoist Qianyuan offered to exchange any resources or techniques Lin required for one Third-Grade Immortal Artifact.

Lin Xuankong promised Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan a Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifact each in exchange for refining materials, and they gave him 180,000 sets. Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu then revealed that the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect was gathering its forces to invade the Western Region, leaving the group facing an imminent crisis.

• Lin Xuankong offered to forge a Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifact for each of Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan if they supplied enough materials.
• Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan gave Lin Xuankong a total of 180,000 sets of artifact-refining materials.
• Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu received a report that the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect's Devil Masters and armies were converging on the Western Region under Demon Son Gang Gu.
• Lin Xuankong tried to sense Gang Gu with the Nine Gates Heavenly Eye but found that his tracking mark had disappeared.
• Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan suspected that Lin Xuankong's victory over Pro Luo had drawn the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect's attention, and Daoist Qianyuan said there were only two likely ways to resolve the crisis.

Lin Xuankong and the Immortal Lords discussed how to prepare for the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s invasion, and Yan Mingyu revealed that she had made a breakthrough in studying the Luoshui Divine Map. She believed she could establish a New Luoshui Great Array that could accelerate time and provide stronger defenses, potentially giving Lin more time to forge Immortal Artifacts.

• Daoist Qianyuan proposed that Lin Xuankong either hide from the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect or forge Immortal Artifacts to strengthen the Central Divine Dynasty’s cultivators.
• Daoist Kunyuan warned that refining many powerful Immortal Artifacts in less than a year was unrealistic, while Lin worried that artifacts and arrays alone might not be enough against the invading Devil Masters.
• Yan Mingyu explained that the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot’s Luoshui Great Array could not activate its time-flow effect again for several decades.
• Lin Xuankong guessed that Yan Mingyu had advanced her study of the Luoshui Divine Map, and she confirmed she was confident she could establish a stronger New Luoshui Great Array.
• Daoist Qianyuan praised Yan Mingyu’s achievement, and Daoist Kunyuan asked why she had not used the new array against the three Devil Masters led by Feng Huolin.

Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu arranged the New Luoshui Great Array inside the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot, promising it could accelerate time by as much as a hundredfold. The array’s defenses proved astonishing, and Yan Mingyu asked Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan to provide the Profound Truth Jade Stones needed to activate its time-altering effect.

• Yan Mingyu explained that arranging and activating the New Luoshui Great Array required extensive preparation and enormous quantities of immortal essence, and Qianyuan and Kunyuan pledged their stock of Profound Truth Jade Stones.
• Lin Xuankong asked how much the New Luoshui Great Array could accelerate time, and Yan Mingyu said it could reach eighty or ninety times and might approach a hundredfold.
• Yan Mingyu began arranging the array within the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot, while Lin Xuankong carefully memorized her placement of its two hundred and eighty moving array nodes and her methods of controlling immortal essence.
• After twelve hours, Yan Mingyu completed the New Luoshui Great Array, whose light membrane impressed everyone with its seemingly indestructible defensive power.
• Yan Mingyu told Qianyuan and Kunyuan to provide their Profound Truth Jade Stones so the array could activate its time-acceleration effect.

Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu secured enough Profound Truth Jade Stones from Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan to activate the Luoshui Great Array’s time-flow effect, while Lin Xuankong realized she had exaggerated its cost to punish them. The two Guangqing Immortal Sect leaders urged Lin to prioritize artifact refinement and cultivation, but Yan Mingyu predicted he could master the sect’s difficult arts within a hundred years, a claim Guang Ling'er and Guang Yu'er doubted.

• Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan offered Profound Truth Jade Stones, and Yan Mingyu insisted that activating the time-flow effect required still more.
• Daoist Qianyuan contributed five hundred rare mid-grade Profound Truth Jade Stones, after which Yan Mingyu said the combined offering should be enough.
• Lin Xuankong recognized that Yan Mingyu had overstated the array’s cost to take revenge for the two Immortal Lords’ earlier contempt toward him.
• After hearing that Lin had asked about the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art and Guangqing Illusory Arts, Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan advised him to focus on artifact refinement and cultivation instead.
• Yan Mingyu predicted Lin could reach the Refined Realm in the two arts within a hundred years, while Daoist Qianyuan, Daoist Kunyuan, Guang Ling'er, and Guang Yu'er doubted he could master them so quickly.

Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu wagered her array insights and the Luoshui Divine Map against Guangqing’s seven remaining immortal arts, betting Lin Xuankong could master the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art within a hundred years. She revealed that Lin was not yet a hundred years old and had already reached Third Grade Earth Immortal, leaving him moved by her confidence as he faced the art’s daunting difficulty.

• Yan Mingyu challenged Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan to wager Guangqing’s seven remaining immortal arts against her array formation insights and the Luoshui Divine Map.
• Daoist Qianyuan accepted, and the two sides agreed to stake the treasures on whether Lin Xuankong could reach Entry Level in the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art within a hundred years.
• After leaving the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot, Daoist Qianyuan told Daoist Kunyuan that Lin was certain to fail and that they would withhold their cultivation guidance until the wager ended.
• Yan Mingyu told Lin she had used an art from the Luoshui Divine Map to determine his age and believed his exceptional cultivation talent would win the wager.
• Lin was moved by Yan Mingyu’s trust but acknowledged that the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art had been extremely difficult for him to begin cultivating.

Lin Xuankong gave Guang Yu'er a Second Grade Immortal Artifact in exchange for a favor, leaving her embarrassed and uncertain about whether to agree. Daoist Qianyuan advised her to decide for herself and treat the request as repaying Lin Xuankong's sincerity.

• Yan Mingyu reassured Lin Xuankong that he should use the next hundred years to cultivate and study arrays, then went to activate the New Luoshui Great Array's time-flow effect.
• Lin Xuankong sent a Second Grade Immortal Artifact with a communication jade stone to Guang Yu'er as she traveled with Daoist Qianyuan, Daoist Kunyuan, and Guang Ling'er.
• Guang Yu'er read Lin Xuankong's offer to give her the artifact in exchange for a small favor, astonishing Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan and making Guang Ling'er envious.
• After Guang Yu'er received Lin Xuankong's reply, she blushed and hid the jade stone, while Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan also saw the message and reacted strangely.
• Daoist Qianyuan told Guang Yu'er that the decision was hers and suggested she accept the request as a favor in return for Lin Xuankong's sincerity.

After more than ninety years of secluded cultivation, Lin Xuankong reached Ninth Grade Earth Immortal Perfection and perfected the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art and Guangqing Illusory Arts. His extraordinary cultivation remained unknown to the immortal world, which only recognized his talents in artifact refinement and formations.

• Guang Yu'er agreed to help Lin Xuankong and flew ahead, while Guang Ling'er remained baffled and Daoist Kunyuan sent her after her senior sister with a Second Grade Immortal Artifact.
• More than ninety years passed as Lin Xuankong cultivated inside the New Luoshui Great Array, whose Profound Truth Jade Stones were nearly exhausted.
• The White-foreheaded Qilin and Green-foreheaded Qilin discussed Lin Xuankong's growing strength while guarding his Cave Dwelling.
• Lin Xuankong awoke and found that he had perfected the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art and Guangqing Illusory Arts.
• Lin Xuankong's cultivation panel showed that he had secretly passed the Eighth Grade heavenly tribulation and reached Ninth Grade Earth Immortal Perfection, while the immortal world knew him only for his formation and artifact-refinement talents.

After a century of cultivation, Lin Xuankong reached the Ninth Grade Perfection Level Earth Immortal Realm and gained enormous strength, longevity, and a vast Lesser World. His family and companions also advanced, while Xiao Xiuyi forged a growth-type Ninth-Grade Immortal Artifact and Lin mastered two difficult Guangqing arts, leaving the story with his achievements far beyond what the Guangqing Immortal Sect expected.

• Lin Xuankong advanced to the Ninth Grade Perfection Level Earth Immortal Realm, making his power far greater than it had been when he faced the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect as a Third Grade Earth Immortal.
• Lin Xuankong's lifespan rose to nearly 489,000 years, while Li Xiaolan, Zhao Yufei, Xiao Ying'er, Xiao Xiuyi, and the Lin Family Seven Tigers advanced to the Seventh Grade and gained lifespans of around 100,000 years.
• Lin Xuankong's Ninth-Rank True Spirit Bone nurtured a Lesser World nearly as vast as the Immortal World's Central Continent, where Zhao Yufei managed a population of 200 billion and immense medicinal-herb production.
• Xiao Xiuyi refined the growth-type Ninth-Grade Immortal Artifact Qing Ming Third Sword, bringing her closer to crafting a permanent supreme artifact.
• Lin Xuankong perfected the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art and Guangqing Illusory Arts after cultivating them for what amounted to more than 10,000 years.

Lin Xuankong emerged from a century of cultivation with his true strength concealed, while the Qilin pair told him that the immortal realm’s greatest forces had gathered at the Crane Immortal Sect to prepare for the Xuan Yin Demonic Sect’s invasion. As the Qilins discussed the coming war and Lin Xuankong’s achievements, they left the story facing an unprecedented battle whose outcome remained uncertain.

• Lin Xuankong concealed his greatly increased cultivation and left his Cave Dwelling, keeping his strongest abilities secret because he feared demonic infiltration among the immortal realm’s Earth Immortals.
• The Green-foreheaded Qilin mistook Lin Xuankong’s cultivation for Fourth Grade Late Stage, and the White-foreheaded Qilin praised his rapid progress and his success in reaching Entry Level with the Guangqing Extreme Cold Art.
• The White-foreheaded Qilin told Lin Xuankong that Luoshui Immortal Lord had taken his two Fourth-Grade Immortal Artifacts to Daoist Qianyuan and Daoist Kunyuan, while thousands of high-grade Earth Immortals and nearly twenty strongest Immortal Lords gathered at the Crane Immortal Sect.
• The White-foreheaded Qilin warned that Demon Son Gang Gu would lead all seventy-two Devil Masters and countless Ninth Grade Demon Artifact Grade Demon Generals into the Western Region, making the gathering a preparation for a life-and-death battle.
• The Green-foreheaded Qilin urged them to believe the immortal realm could win, citing its assembled experts, Luoshui Immortal Lord’s power, and Lin Xuankong’s artifacts, while the White-foreheaded Qilin remained worried.

After a century of cultivation inside the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot, Lin Xuankong emerged confident that he could face Demon Son Gang Gu and found the Crane Immortal Sect transformed into a fortified gathering place for the Immortal Realm’s leaders. He learned that news of his training and the wager over his cultivation had spread, and decided to attend the gathering while keeping the matter confidential.

• Lin Xuankong acknowledged the danger posed by Demon Son Gang Gu but urged the Green-foreheaded Qilin and White-foreheaded Qilin to face the coming war with resolve.
• Lin Xuankong left the Demon Suppressing Immortal Chariot and saw that the Crane Immortal Sect had expanded its territory and gained a powerful Luoshui Great Array arranged by Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu.
• The Green-foreheaded Qilin pointed out the grand Deliberation Hall and the many immortal maidens serving the gathering of powerful figures.
• Sect Master Li of the Crane Immortal Sect welcomed Lin Xuankong and mentioned his hundred years of cultivation and the wager between Luoshui Immortal Lord Yan Mingyu and Daoist Qianyuan.
• Lin Xuankong realized that the secret training and wager had become widely known, suspected the Guangqing Immortal Sect had spread the news to prevent anyone from withdrawing, and told Sect Master Li to keep it confidential before heading to the Deliberation Hall.