Chapter Summaries

Meng Zhao awakened Gan Mingfeng within the white clouds and learned that the array had changed how they appeared and given Gan Mingfeng fragmented dreams. The dreams hinted at a three-legged cauldron, an indistinct figure that provoked destructive urges, and a jade talisman, leaving Meng Zhao to consider their connection to the ruins and the array.

• Meng Zhao decided to spare Gan Mingfeng and used his Mental Power to wake him.
• Gan Mingfeng saw Meng Zhao as a dragon-man and learned that the white clouds had altered their apparent forms.
• Meng Zhao questioned Gan Mingfeng about his experiences in the clouds and learned he had dreamed of a three-legged cauldron engraved with a thousand kinds of vicious beasts.
• Gan Mingfeng described an indistinct person who stirred a destructive urge in him, followed by a jade talisman he thought was linked to the great array.
• Meng Zhao considered whether the dream images were connected to Goguryeo's Evil Artifact, Emperor Yang of Sui, Shi Wansui, the Great Sui Imperial Advisor, or the array's talisman.

Meng Zhao questioned Gan Mingfeng about the visions that had guided him, then agreed to follow his instinct toward the Goguryeo Evil Artifact and Cloud Peak. In the white mist, Xu Tingyun and Min Tao recognized one another through monstrous forms, while Wu Chen struggled against a transformed Peng Haibing and tried to escape.

• Meng Zhao asked Gan Mingfeng what he sensed, and Gan Mingfeng said a voice was drawing him toward the place where the Goguryeo Evil Artifact was sealed, perhaps near Cloud Peak.
• Meng Zhao promised to protect Gan Mingfeng and told him to follow his instincts toward the destination.
• Xu Tingyun fought a lion-headed monster whose martial arts and voice belonged to Min Tao, then realized Min Tao had retained his mind.
• Wu Chen fought Peng Haibing, who had become a six-headed, rune-covered Black Tortoise-like demon and attacked with eroding, assimilating true qi.
• Wu Chen feigned exhaustion, used an explosive counterattack to retreat, and threw a device that released shimmering green Poisonous Water at Peng Haibing.

Peng Haibing was gravely injured by Wu Chen's poisonous water but resolved to recover and pursue Meng Zhao. Guided by Gan Mingfeng, Meng Zhao reached a bottomless cliff and began to approach its edge, suspecting the intuition pointed to something beneath it.

• Wu Chen's poison bypassed Peng Haibing's true qi and damaged his vitality from within, though his deep foundation kept him alive.
• Peng Haibing decided to purge the toxins, recover, and find Meng Zhao so he could claim Meng Zhao's essence blood and Special Physique.
• Meng Zhao followed Gan Mingfeng's intuition through the mist and reached a cliff far from the Cloud Peak.
• Gan Mingfeng warned that his intuition pointed to the world beneath the cliff and might be a trap.
• Meng Zhao trusted Gan Mingfeng and walked toward the cliff's edge despite the fierce winds.

Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng triggered a hidden mechanism on Lishou Mountain, causing the Town Evil Golden Hall to appear above the cliff. Golden stairways formed toward the hall, leaving Gan Mingfeng eager to enter and convinced that a secret force had chosen him.

• Meng Zhao used a purple-gold thread to inspect the cliffs below and spotted buildings clinging to the rock walls.
• Gan Mingfeng suffered a sudden, intense headache and roared until his cries dispersed the white mist and restored their surroundings to normal.
• Gan Mingfeng's roars triggered violent upheaval beneath the cliff, and the Town Evil Golden Hall emerged in the air before them.
• The hall absorbed Heaven and Earth Vital Energy and formed golden stairways leading from the cliff to its entrance.
• Gan Mingfeng asked Meng Zhao whether they should enter and privately grew confident that the hall held a special opportunity meant for him.

Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng tested the suspended golden steps leading to the Town Evil Golden Hall and began crossing them. As the steps vanished behind Gan Mingfeng, Meng Zhao realized he was connected to the hall.

• Gan Mingfeng threw a stone at the golden steps, and it fell through them into the abyss.
• Meng Zhao tossed a living mouse onto the steps, and it landed safely, proving that living things could use them.
• Meng Zhao stepped onto the steps and led the way toward the Town Evil Golden Hall.
• Gan Mingfeng followed Meng Zhao, urged by a mysterious intuition and drawn by the hope of gaining power.
• The steps vanished behind Gan Mingfeng as he crossed them, and Meng Zhao noticed that this confirmed Gan Mingfeng's connection to the Town Evil Golden Hall.

Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng struggled to reach the Town Evil Golden Hall, whose golden steps seemed to keep them the same distance from both the gates and the cliff. Elsewhere in Lishou Mountain, Min Tao, Xu Tingyun, and Wu Chen uncovered Peng Haibing’s betrayal and followed Wu Chen’s Fist Monkey to search for Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng.

• Meng Zhao suspected Gan Mingfeng’s escape from Lishou Mountain was tied to hidden arrangements from the Imperial Sui era.
• Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng walked the Suspended Golden Steps but could not get closer to the Town Evil Golden Hall, and Gan Mingfeng had no intuition to explain the obstacle.
• Min Tao and Xu Tingyun found the severely wounded Wu Chen, who told them that Peng Haibing had changed after the Beast Tide and should now be treated as an enemy.
• Wu Chen revealed that Peng Haibing had given Gan Mingfeng a healing pill containing Wu Chen’s tracking method, and that the Fist Monkey could follow its trail.
• Wu Chen, Min Tao, and Xu Tingyun followed the Fist Monkey in hopes of finding Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng.

Wu Chen, Xu Tingyun, and Min Tao watched Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng enter the Town Evil Golden Hall, then decided to wait at the cliff until the white mist cleared. Elsewhere, Third Young Master Bai’s dwindling party advanced through Lishou Mountain with three mysterious survivors: a monk, a Daoist, and a Confucian scholar.

• Wu Chen, Xu Tingyun, and Min Tao saw Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng ascend the Suspended Golden Steps into the Town Evil Golden Hall, which vanished after they disappeared inside.
• Wu Chen said the Fist Monkey could no longer trace Gan Mingfeng, and Xu Tingyun persuaded the group to wait until the white mist dispersed rather than risk searching the mountain.
• Third Young Master Bai, Mr. Yue, and Lu Hou'er led their party through Lishou Mountain’s hazards, and their numbers fell from more than fifty to twelve.
• Mr. Yue recognized Monk Cheng Kong’s mysterious Great Shift Body Technique and praised Yu Daoist’s formidable swordsmanship.
• Mr. Yue grew suspicious of the Confucian scholar, who had avoided every attack without revealing his true strength.

Third Young Master Bai and Mr. Yue led their group through Lishou Mountain’s mist using six array flags, then confronted Xu Tingyun, Wu Chen, and Min Tao at a cliff. Third Young Master Bai feared that the missing members of their party, especially Peng Haibing, might have reached the hidden realm first, and demanded to know where the others were.

• Mr. Yue led the group through Yin Soldiers Borrowing Passage and into the mist, where six array flags kept them safe.
• Lu Hou'er suspected the flags might be connected to the opportunity hidden in the mountain and kept his suspicions to himself.
• Mr. Yue found traces of a battle between Wu Chen and Peng Haibing and concluded that someone had reached the hidden realm ahead of them.
• Third Young Master Bai urged the group onward, and they soon encountered Xu Tingyun, Wu Chen, and Min Tao at the cliff.
• Lu Hou'er told Mr. Yue that Peng Haibing was missing, shattering Third Young Master Bai's confidence that no one else had reached the hidden realm.
• Third Young Master Bai asked Xu Tingyun, Wu Chen, and Min Tao whether their missing companions were dead or elsewhere.

Wu Chen and his companions explained what had happened in Lishou Mountain, prompting Third Young Master Bai to worry that Gan Mingfeng and Meng Zhao had reached the Golden Palace first. As Lu Hou'er suggested killing them, Xu Tingyun argued that the three could be useful allies and warned Bai to focus on the Seven Star Tower disciples.

• Wu Chen told Third Young Master Bai's group that Peng Haibing had changed in the mist and attacked him, while Gan Mingfeng and Meng Zhao had approached the Golden Palace on golden Suspended Golden Steps.
• Third Young Master Bai asked Mr. Yue whether the Seven Star Tower disciples reaching the palace would ruin their plan, and Mr. Yue urged him to stay calm and move quickly.
• Lu Hou'er suggested killing Wu Chen, Xu Tingyun, and Min Tao, while Wu Chen offered to follow Third Young Master Bai and help seize the opportunity.
• Third Young Master Bai accused the three of entering Lishou Mountain against orders and possibly causing the tremors and Beast Tide.
• Xu Tingyun defended their actions and warned Third Young Master Bai that Gan Mingfeng and Meng Zhao had rare opportunities, making them the true threats.

Third Young Master Bai spared Xu Tingyun and the other two, intending to use them to build his influence and help locate the Seven Star Tower pair. Mr. Yue opened a passage to the Town Evil Golden Hall, leaving the group ready to enter.

• Mr. Yue advised Third Young Master Bai to spare the three Yanzhou figures and recruit them for their knowledge and influence.
• Third Young Master Bai accepted the advice, promised the three a chance at a grandmaster breakthrough, and demanded their loyalty against their former companions.
• Xu Tingyun and the others agreed, while privately suspecting that Meng Zhao might have deliberately separated from them in the white mist.
• Lu Hou'er asked about Peng Haibing's mutation, and Xu Tingyun said it had begun during the Beast Tide and probably was not connected to the Golden Hall.
• Third Young Master Bai ordered Mr. Yue to find the Seven Star Tower pair, and Mr. Yue used a golden stone and Worldly Power to open a passage to the Town Evil Golden Hall.

The Town Evil Golden Hall appeared, revealing the true entrance to the secret realm and the dangers surrounding it. Third Young Master Bai arranged the group to cross the golden steps in a formation that put the three religious followers at the front, while Lu Hou'er hid his own ambitions.

• The Town Evil Golden Hall emerged from the cliff’s rippling space, and Lu Hou'er reacted uneasily to its name before regaining his composure.
• Wu Chen recognized that Gan Mingfeng and his junior brother had already taken the golden steps toward the hall.
• Third Young Master Bai warned everyone not to fight on the steps, explaining that spatial forces could kill anyone who fell.
• The group agreed that Monk Cheng Kong, Yu Daoist, and Mu Yi would lead, Xu Tingyun, Min Tao, and Wu Chen would follow, and Third Young Master Bai, Mr. Yue, Lu Hou'er, and the six virgin boys and girls would travel in the middle.
• Third Young Master Bai planned to use the three followers to test the hall’s mechanisms, while Lu Hou'er reluctantly accepted his position near Xu Tingyun, Min Tao, and Wu Chen.

Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng crossed the Suspended Golden Steps, where shifting visions concealed a mind-affecting trap, while Gan Mingfeng grew tempted to betray Meng Zhao. As they neared the Town Evil Golden Hall, Meng Zhao explained how observing the world could deepen Martial Dao, leaving Gan Mingfeng awed by his insight and envious of his talent.

• Third Young Master Bai explained that the Suspended Golden Steps distorted perception and could imprison the minds of those who panicked or turned back.
• Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng reached the end of the stairs after passing through visions of cloud-formed landscapes and celestial scenes.
• Gan Mingfeng sensed an urge to deliver Meng Zhao as cargo for a reward and kept his treacherous thoughts secret.
• Meng Zhao paused to study the scenery and told Gan Mingfeng that experiencing the world helped cultivate the Dao alongside martial strength.
• Gan Mingfeng listened to Meng Zhao's explanation of comprehending the laws of all things and recognized the gulf between their talents.

Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng reached the entrance to the Town Evil Golden Hall, where Meng Zhao grew suspicious of how easily they had advanced. He sent Gan Mingfeng through first, left behind a strand of hair as a probe and backup, then entered the vortex himself.

• Meng Zhao and Gan Mingfeng stepped onto the plaza before the Town Evil Golden Hall and saw a gateway rise from the golden floor.
• Meng Zhao suspected a trap because their approach had been unusually smooth, while Gan Mingfeng urged him to enter the hall.
• Meng Zhao asked Gan Mingfeng whether the gateway brought fortune or misfortune, and Gan Mingfeng said risk and opportunity went together.
• Meng Zhao ordered Gan Mingfeng to enter first, and Gan Mingfeng plunged into the black vortex.
• Meng Zhao left a strand of hair imbued with spiritual essence as a probe, then followed Gan Mingfeng through the gateway.

Meng Zhao emerged from the black vortex alone onto a flower-covered mountain peak saturated with wood-aspected Origin Qi. He realized the seemingly blessed cultivation ground could consume and transform those who absorbed too much, then searched for the golden hall and a way out.

• Meng Zhao landed on an isolated, lush mountain peak after experiencing the black vortex’s strange distortion of time and space.
• Meng Zhao used the Emperor's Qi Gazing Technique and discovered that dense wood-aspected Origin Qi filled the peak, strengthening his body but threatening to overwhelm those unable to control their absorption.
• Meng Zhao wondered whether the vortex had sent Gan Mingfeng elsewhere and suspected a powerful being had targeted his Purple Origin Dragon Blood.
• Meng Zhao searched the peak for the golden hall and an exit while carefully absorbing only a measured amount of Origin Qi.
• Meng Zhao found no creatures on the mountain, concluding that its excessive life energy had eliminated everything except him and the Heavenly Evil Battle Casket he carried.

Meng Zhao tested the force draining the mountain by exposing a drop of Purple Origin Dragon Blood, drawing out a giant mouth in the sky that tried to devour him. He destroyed it with his Purple Pole Returning Origin Divine Ability, then investigated the ruined mountaintop and discovered that wood-element vital energy was still being generated from a peculiar direction.

• Meng Zhao suspected the mountain was a living being connected to the Town Evil Golden Hall and the Goguryeo Evil Artifact, and wondered who benefited from the people it consumed.
• Meng Zhao exposed a drop of Purple Origin Dragon Blood, causing the mountain to quake and a giant mouth to appear in the sky and suck at him.
• Meng Zhao merged with the mountain's earth veins using the Standing Vajra method, resisting the mouth's suction while Evil Calamity devoured the blood.
• When the giant mouth unleashed explosions across the mountain, Meng Zhao absorbed their force and fired a pebble infused with his Purple Pole Returning Origin Divine Ability, destroying it.
• After waiting for another attack, Meng Zhao used the Emperor's Qi Gazing Technique to find that wood-element vital energy was being replenished from a peculiar direction.

After locating the source of the mountain’s abundant life essence, Meng Zhao uncovered an Amber Stone containing a mysterious creature. Flood Dragon Little Nine feared the creature, leading Meng Zhao to suspect it was a divine beast with an even nobler bloodline.

• Meng Zhao used his Emperor's Qi Gazing Technique to find the source of the mountain’s life essence and dug a deep pit to uncover it.
• Meng Zhao discovered a small, translucent Amber Stone that radiated enough life essence to nourish the entire mountain.
• Meng Zhao lifted the Amber Stone from the pit and found it unusually light, tough, and difficult to examine.
• Meng Zhao glimpsed a tiny, powerful creature inside the Amber Stone, which seemed to produce its abundant vitality.
• Meng Zhao sensed Flood Dragon Little Nine’s fear of the creature and concluded that its bloodline might surpass a flood dragon’s.
• Meng Zhao wondered whether the Amber Stone belonged to the Great Sui Imperial Advisor or predated the formation he had set up.

Meng Zhao secured the Amber Stone and hoped to hatch the divine beast within it. Meanwhile, Gan Mingfeng accepted a mysterious bronze statue’s offer of power, and black mist descended on him after it consumed his blood.

• Meng Zhao judged the Amber Stone too valuable to sacrifice for the hill’s formation and took control of the hill’s essence.
• Meng Zhao examined the Amber Stone and hoped to hatch the divine beast it might contain after leaving Lishou Mountain.
• Gan Mingfeng reached an ancient bronze hall, where a chained statue forced him to kneel and a mysterious voice offered him a hundred years of cultivation in exchange for his blood.
• Gan Mingfeng weighed the dangers of accepting the offer against his desperate need for strength and chose to drip blood onto the statue.
• Black mist emerged from the statue, swallowed Gan Mingfeng’s blood, and descended upon his body.

Gan Mingfeng accepted the black mist’s false gift and discovered it had planted a sinister seed in his Sea of Consciousness. After Meng Zhao’s power injured the mysterious being behind the trap, Gan Mingfeng escaped its illusion but remained burdened with its hidden marks and dangers.

• Gan Mingfeng accepted the black mist, which healed his injuries and increased his strength while planting a sinister seed in his Sea of Consciousness and marking him with a black cauldron.
• A burst of purple divine radiance destroyed the fanged mouth and swept away the black mist, cracking the bronze statue and disrupting the mysterious being’s control over Gan Mingfeng.
• Gan Mingfeng was transported out of the illusory hall and saw a skeletal giant whose flames had gone out and whose bony mouth had been crushed.
• Gan Mingfeng deduced that Meng Zhao had injured the mysterious being while it tried to seize something from him, indirectly allowing Gan Mingfeng to escape.
• Gan Mingfeng found that the cauldron mark and seed remained inside him, along with his increased strength and healed injuries, and worried that he had not truly escaped the danger.

Gan Mingfeng tried to escape the bone-strewn mountain and find Meng Zhao while Third Young Master Bai and Mr. Yue guided the others through the shifting spaces of the Town Evil Golden Hall. Their discussion of buried Sui treasures revealed Min Tao’s interest in Shi Wansui’s martial arts, prompting Mr. Yue to urge Third Young Master Bai to win him over.

• Gan Mingfeng left the shattered skeletal giant and headed away from the mountain of bones to find Meng Zhao.
• Third Young Master Bai explained that the Town Evil Golden Hall lay between the Divine Land and a Cave-Heaven World, and warned the group about its folded spaces and possible spatial nodes.
• Mr. Yue described the Great Sui Imperial Advisor’s interlocking arrays and told the group that buried relics, including Shi Wansui’s military arts, might remain in Lishou Mountain.
• Min Tao became interested in obtaining Shi Wansui’s ultimate martial arts, while the others continued to covet the Goguryeo Evil Artifact.
• Mr. Yue advised Third Young Master Bai to use Min Tao’s interest to gain his support, and Third Young Master Bai agreed that Min Tao suited his tastes.

After reaching the plaza before the Town Evil Golden Hall, Third Young Master Bai’s party found the black vortex open and watched the Buddhist, Daoist, and Confucian experts enter first. Xu Tingyun, Wu Chen, Min Tao, and Lu Hou'er chose to follow into the spatial fissure on their own, leaving their fate uncertain.

• Third Young Master Bai and his group reached the plaza and learned from Mr. Yue that the gate of the void had opened.
• Monk Cheng Kong, Yu Daoist, and Mu Yi charged into the black vortex without waiting for Third Young Master Bai’s party.
• Third Young Master Bai and Mr. Yue entered the vortex with the six child attendants, using their Array Flags to link their auras.
• Lu Hou'er asked Xu Tingyun, Wu Chen, and Min Tao whether they should follow or wait behind.
• Xu Tingyun urged the others to risk entering, and the four formed a temporary group and went toward the vortex.