Chapter Summaries

Xu Xiaoshou left Quiet Osmanthus Pavilion with Yingying and Sparrow, gathering intelligence from Old Li as they traveled toward Three Incense Sticks. After evading Liu Fuyu, he entered the black-market entrance and asked Old Li whether his friends from the Eastern Region had arrived.

• Xu Xiaoshou set out with Yingying and Sparrow, learned that A Yao was still recovering from drinking, and asked them to tell him when she woke.
• Xu Xiaoshou invited Old Li to drive his carriage, then told Ghost Face to wait while he asked Old Li about Yujing City's Dark World.
• Old Li discussed Three Incense Sticks, the Ghost-God Gang, and the major forces with Xu Xiaoshou as they headed for Three Incense Sticks.
• Old Li recognized Liu Fuyu blocking the road, but Xu Xiaoshou ordered him to go around her; Liu Fuyu then lost sight of the carriage and called for her target in the street.
• Xu Xiaoshou arrived at a run-down general store that served as an entrance to the black market, then asked Old Li whether his Eastern Region friends had arrived.

Xu Xiaoshou entered Three Incense Sticks’ headquarters with Yingying and Sparrow, posing as the sickly young master Xu Gusheng. After the assassins mistook them for easy prey, Xu Xiaoshou revealed his identity and ordered Jinren to kill everyone who had spoken up.

• Xu Xiaoshou recognized Old Li as Li Fugui of First Pavilion Under Heaven and rented his carriage while keeping their connection concealed.
• Xu Xiaoshou used the sundries shop’s hidden contact point to send Yingying and Sparrow to Three Incense Sticks, while Jinren used Soul Reading to uncover the true spatial node.
• Yingying and Sparrow arrived at Assassin’s Hall and drew the attention of its assassins, including White Wolf, who approached Xu Xiaoshou.
• Xu Xiaoshou encouraged the assassins’ advances, then silenced the hall with his aura when they realized he was dangerous.
• Xu Xiaoshou opened his fan, declared himself Xu Gusheng, and ordered Jinren to kill everyone who had called out their number.

Xu Xiaoshou used the identity of Xu Gusheng and Jinren to slaughter the assassins who had insulted him inside Three Incense Sticks, despite its rules. After claiming the Black-Gold Bounty on Xu Xiaoshou, he told the steward he knew where the target was and demanded help handling the matter.

• Xu Gusheng pretended his threat was a joke, then killed White Wolf when he approached and insulted him.
• Xu Gusheng ordered Jinren to leave no one alive, and Jinren killed the assassins who had called out numbers while Xu Gusheng mocked their pleas for mercy.
• Xu Gusheng killed the remaining assassins, including the last Purple-Token Hunt Order assassin, after the Three Incense Sticks steward arrived and tried to intervene.
• Xu Gusheng picked up the Black-Gold Bounty on Xu Xiaoshou and learned it promised a path to Half-Saint status.
• Xu Gusheng asked the steward whether he could handle affairs, then claimed the bounty and said he knew where Xu Xiaoshou was.

Xu Xiaoshou, disguised as Xu Gusheng, pressured Three Incense Sticks steward Zhou for information and persuaded him to help pursue the Black-Gold Bounty while seeking protection from retaliation. After learning the Moon Clan had replaced the Rao Clan as the group’s highest-level connection, Xu Xiaoshou left Steward Zhou with the location “Heting.”

• Xu Gusheng entered a private room with Steward Zhou and questioned him about Three Incense Sticks’ stewards, assassins, and backers.
• Xu Gusheng learned that Three Incense Sticks was backed by the Darkness Division and had previously relied on the Rao Clan, whose representative was Rao Yaoyao.
• Steward Zhou revealed that a Moon Clan member had replaced Rao Yaoyao as the Saint Emperor Families’ representative and claimed Three Incense Sticks could reach the Moon Clan.
• Xu Gusheng offered to share information about Xu Xiaoshou if Steward Zhou secured Three Incense Sticks’ resources and kept the operation secret.
• Xu Gusheng demanded seven parts of the rewards to Steward Zhou’s three, and Steward Zhou agreed to work with him.
• Xu Gusheng wrote “Heting” on the table as the place where Jinren had encountered Xu Xiaoshou.

Xu Xiaoshou used Manager Zhou’s assumptions about Heting Mountain and Jinren to manipulate Three Incense Sticks into coordinating with Holy Spirit Hall while preserving Jinren’s cover. As Xu cast a metaphorical long line to draw out Dao Qiongchang’s response, Old Li received the Heting message and a man woke Aunt Xiang to start making trouble.

• Xu Xiaoshou convinced Manager Zhou that Jinren had found him at Heting Mountain by following an Ancient Sword Cultivator’s aura, and let Zhou infer that Liu Fuyu had sought Jinren out to test her sword arts.
• Xu Xiaoshou asked whether Dao Qiongchang knew he had entered the Central Region, and Manager Zhou promised to seek orders and prevent their groups from clashing.
• After Manager Zhou left, Jinren returned to Quiet Osmanthus Pavilion, while Xu Xiaoshou stayed behind and wondered why Dao Qiongchang would know of his arrival.
• Old Li received a message claiming Xu Xiaoshou was on Heting Mountain and understood that the false information could help bring the grand scheme to fruition.
• A mysterious man entered Aunt Xiang’s room through a crack in the spiritual array, then woke her and told her to start making trouble.

Xu Xiaoshou gathered Aunt Xiang and Frost Lord for a plan to enter the Four Symbols Secret Realm while drawing the Holy Spirit Hall’s attention elsewhere. Aunt Xiang proposed waiting one day to bring stowaways into the realm, and she left Xu Xiaoshou a record of the forces assembled against Saint Slave.

• Xu Xiaoshou told Aunt Xiang about his actions at Three Incense Sticks and his plan to stage an appearance on Heting Mountain to bait the Holy Spirit Hall.
• Xu Xiaoshou summoned Frost Lord, learned that Mo Mo had come to Yujing City and that Feng Yujin might help, then gave Frost Lord an Apricot Realm passage talisman.
• Xu Xiaoshou’s attempts to assess the danger with the Saint Emperor Dragon Scale and Heavenly Secrets Disk failed, so he prepared talismans for Frost Lord and Aunt Xiang.
• Aunt Xiang agreed to join the Four Symbols Secret Realm expedition but said they should wait a day while she spread news of the Ran Ming Ruins to attract stowaways.
• Aunt Xiang gave Xu Xiaoshou a jade slip recording the new Ten-Person Council, Six Divisions, and Heaven Group formed to target Saint Slave under the flashy old Daoist.

Rumors about the Ran Ming Ruins and the Emberglow inheritance spread across the Five Domains, prompting the Aberrant Division to consult Dao Qiongchang, who ordered it to stop suppressing them. At Quiet Osmanthus Pavilion, Xu Xiaoshou learned that Lei Xier had gone to find Five Declines of Heaven and Man, so he repeatedly called for him, hoping to draw him into Yujing City.

• Rumors about the Ran Ming Ruins in the Four Symbols Secret Realm and the Emberglow inheritance at Heting Mountain spread through Yujing City and across the Five Domains, stirring interest in both opportunities.
• Xi reported to Dao Qiongchang that the Aberrant Division could not contain the rumors, and Dao Qiongchang ordered him to cease public-opinion suppression.
• Xi told the Aberrant Division to stop suppressing the rumors, reasoning that Saint Slave could not dominate Yujing City, whose skies belonged to Dao.
• Xu Xiaoshou studied the portrait of Hua Xiang and worried about Dao Xuanji, then learned from White Weasel that Lei Xier had gone to seek Five Declines of Heaven and Man.
• Xu Xiaoshou shouted Five Declines of Heaven and Man's name out the window to summon him to Yujing City, and someone opened the room door.

Xu Xiaoshou used Jinren to infiltrate Three Incense Sticks, manipulate Councilor Zhou into withholding information, and test his new Puppet Thread Control on an assassin. The chapter ended with Ghost Blade possessed and heading to Director Zhou with a report about Saint Slave.

• Councilor Zhou told Xu Gusheng that the Heaven Group operation against Master Shou of Saint Slave was classified and that he could learn nothing from his superiors.
• Xu Gusheng hinted that he knew Councilor Zhou had contacted Lord Li, then left by spatial teleportation while Councilor Zhou decided against reporting him.
• Jinren impersonated Lord Li through Councilor Zhou's communication pearl and ordered him to classify information about Xu Gusheng as top secret.
• Jinren used Weaving and Puppet Thread Control to seize Ghost Blade's body, then used Soul Reading to suppress Ghost Blade's awareness.
• Possessed Ghost Blade went to Director Zhou and began reporting a major discovery about Saint Slave, prompting Director Zhou to invite him inside.

Xu Xiaoshou used the Heavenly Secrets Art to flood Three Incense Sticks with reports of Saint Slave and other dark factions, diverting attention from Xu Gusheng. After Aunt Xiang sent him toward Golden Phoenix Plaza, he learned the Holy Palace Trial announcement had drawn the Five Domains’ young talents there and prepared to step into the crowd.

• Director Zhou received reports of Saint Slave sightings across the Central Region and learned that the gold-token assassin Double Fool had seen Master Shou at Heting Mountain.
• Xu Xiaoshou used his Second True Body and the Heavenly Secrets Art to manipulate Three Incense Sticks’ intelligence network, then left the underground black market as Xu Gusheng.
• Aunt Xiang confronted Xu Xiaoshou about the reports, told him to visit Golden Phoenix Plaza, and tried to draw him into helping with the Ghost-God Gang; he warned her that the gang had internal enemies.
• Xu Xiaoshou returned to his original body in the carriage and heard from Li Fugui that the Holy Palace Trial would be announced at Golden Phoenix Plaza by Hua Xiang of the Emberlight Lineage.
• Xu Xiaoshou arrived at the packed plaza, saw more than a thousand young talents gathered for the trial announcement, and decided to join them.

Hua Xiang announced the Holy Palace Trial at Golden Phoenix Plaza, where Xu Xiaoshou posed as Xu Gusheng and publicly challenged the Holy Palace over the rumored Ran Ming Ruins and the deaths of trial officers. Hua Xiang lost her temper and charged at him with her pill cauldron.

• Hua Xiang prepared to announce the Holy Palace Trial in the Four Symbols Secret Realm and reflected on her search for an Emberlight Lineage inheritor.
• Xu Xiaoshou interrupted Hua Xiang’s announcement, arriving slowly with Yingying and Sparrow while he gained Passive Value from the crowd’s attention.
• When a participant tried to attack Xu Gusheng, an unseen guard struck the man away, and Hua Xiang held back the Holy Palace’s Dao Protectors.
• Xu Xiaoshou asked Hua Xiang about rumors that the Ran Ming Ruins would emerge in the Four Symbols Secret Realm and whether the Holy Palace could protect the Innate trial participants.
• After Hua Xiang confirmed the trial’s location and defended the earlier deaths of trial participants, Xu Xiaoshou pressed her about the East Heavenly King City incident.
• Hua Xiang realized Xu Xiaoshou had provoked her deliberately, seized her pill cauldron, and charged at him.

Xu Xiaoshou used Jinren’s manipulation to provoke the Holy Palace and spread rumors about the Ran Ming Ruins, until Demi-Saint Wei An arrived and announced the Holy Palace Trial’s rules. The trial was suddenly moved up: participants had one hour to reach the Four Symbols Secret Realm, leaving Xu Xiaoshou stunned and his plans unfinished.

• Hua Xiang struck Xu Gusheng with her cauldron, while Jinren amplified the chaos and made the attack appear to spark a public outcry against the Holy Palace.
• Jinren manipulated Zhao Yizheng, Xiao Kun, and the Azure Law Dao Sect’s First Elder into challenging the Holy Palace, but stopped when he sensed a powerful newcomer.
• Wei An arrived, announced the trial’s month-long points system in the Four Symbols Secret Realm, and promised to supervise the participants’ safety.
• Xu Gusheng questioned Wei An about Mutated Void Aberrant Ghosts and the Ran Ming Ruins, then revealed he was not a trial participant.
• Wei An ended the questions and ordered the trial participants to reach the Four Symbols Secret Realm within one hour, leaving Xu Xiaoshou surprised that the trial had begun early.

Dao Qiongchang advanced the Holy Palace Trial to begin in an hour, forcing Xu Xiaoshou to abandon his plans and hurry toward the Four Symbols Secret Realm. After arranging support and meeting with Aunt Xiang, Xu Xiaoshou prepared to enter the trial with Mo Mo and Feng Yujin.

• Dao Qiongchang moved up the Holy Palace Trial, and Xu Xiaoshou realized he had little time to prepare before heading to Gongyang Mountain.
• Wei An met Dao Qiongchang and Ai Cangsheng at Gui-Zhe Holy Mountain, where Dao Qiongchang promised to do his utmost to keep the Holy Palace’s affairs separate from the trial.
• Xu Xiaoshou sent Old Li a message asking Ba Zunan to send Saint Slave members to support him at the Four Symbols Secret Realm.
• Aunt Xiang disguised herself as an Innate trial taker named Xiangxiang and gave Xu Xiaoshou a star-diamond earring for emergency contact.
• Xu Xiaoshou summoned Mo Mo and Feng Yujin, then used the Space Dao Disk to begin a spatial transfer.

Xu Xiaoshou and Mo Mo secretly entered the Four Symbols Secret Realm, while Yue Gongli sensed a Ghost Beast and suspected he had been cursed. As the trial began, Cen Qiaofu arrived at the Black Tortoise Golden Pagoda and started his Saint tribulation by cleaving the Blood Tree Yin Branch.

• Xu Xiaoshou and Mo Mo reached Gongyang Mountain, where the Four Symbols Secret Realm had opened an hour before their arrival.
• Xu Xiaoshou marked a trial-taker with Puppet Thread Control, then entered the secret realm through a spatial rift with Mo Mo.
• Yue Gongli arrived at the entry point, detected the scent of a Ghost Beast, and wondered if the Bloodworld Pearl had cursed him.
• Fangfang and Wang Big Hammer heard Ao Sheng and Yu Zhiwen discuss the God-Seeking Formation searching for Xu Xiaoshou's location.
• Cen Qiaofu appeared before the Black Tortoise Golden Pagoda, and Wang Big Hammer identified him as a Saint Slave member about to become a Saint.
• Cen Qiaofu split the Blood Tree Yin Branch with the Pan-Immortal Axe and declared, "Unite with the Dao, become a Saint!"

As Cen Qiaofu began sealing sainthood inside the Four Symbols Secret Realm, Xu Xiaoshou saw the opening to pursue his secret mission while sending a decoy team toward the Ran Ming Ruins. The chapter ended with the Heaven Group detecting and locking onto the Godslayer Edict’s location.

• The Saint Tribulation erupted over Gongyang Mountain, and Hua Xiang guessed that someone inside the Four Symbols Secret Realm had released suppressed cultivation to seal sainthood.
• Wei An confronted Dao Qiongchang over Cen Qiaofu’s tribulation, but Dao Qiongchang stayed calm and predicted that the desperate gambit had already lost momentum.
• Xu Xiaoshou recognized Cen Qiaofu’s Sainthood Sealing as cover for Ba Zunan’s plans and decided to pursue the Saint Beast Qilin while openly sending a team to the Ran Ming Ruins.
• Xu Xiaoshou gave the Godslayer Edict to Mo Mo and sent her, Frost Lord, and Jinren toward Blackwater Ravine, while he went separately to find the Qilin beneath the Vermilion Bird Golden Pagoda.
• The White Weasel revealed that the Qilin was in the Vermilion Bird Vein, and Xu Xiaoshou headed there alone.
• The Heaven Group reported that Ao Sheng’s clone had reached the first formation eye and that a female voice had detected and locked onto the Godslayer Edict’s location.

Xu Xiaoshou, Mo Mo, and the Frostsky Weasel entered Blackwater Ravine to reach the Ran Ming Ruins, but a Holy Spirit Hall fighter intercepted them. Xu Xiaoshou swiftly overwhelmed and killed Ao Sheng with a single finger flick.

• Mo Mo said the Godslayer Edict was guiding her, and Feng Yujin explained that the Ran Ming Ruins drew the scattered edicts back to unseal its inheritance.
• Mo Mo sensed Holy Spirit Hall's people approaching, so Xu Xiaoshou led the group into Blackwater Ravine, where an unseen force repeatedly blocked the Frostsky Weasel's descent.
• The Frostsky Weasel shattered a mountainside in frustration, and its scattered rocks reformed into Ao Sheng, the new Spirit Division chief.
• Xu Xiaoshou identified Ao Sheng and gave him three breaths to prepare while the Holy Spirit Hall forces drew closer.
• Xu Xiaoshou unleashed the Saint Emperor Lv.0 Breathing Method, stripped away Ao Sheng's power, and killed him with a forehead flick.

Xu Xiaoshou’s avatar baited the Holy Spirit Hall forces at Blackwater Ravine after Jinren killed Ao Sheng’s powerful dragon avatar with one finger. When Sword Immortal Bei Bei approached the tea table, Jinren insulted her and triggered a concealed formation packed with thousands of Explosive Origin Seeds.

• Ao Sheng reported that Xu Xiaoshou had killed his dragon avatar, which held ninety percent of his strength, with a single finger, and Dao Qiongchang warned the Heaven Group not to engage without forming a formation.
• Jinren set up a concealed Starry Formation across Blackwater Ravine and filled its thousands of empty positions with Explosive Origin Seeds.
• Cheng Huan and over a hundred Red Robes and White Robes found Xu Xiaoshou’s avatar drinking tea at the cliff edge, but they stayed back and waited for reinforcements.
• Bei Bei arrived and approached the tea table, where Xu Xiaoshou splashed tea across her face, called everyone trash, and singled her out for special contempt.
• As Bei Bei summoned her sword chest, Jinren transformed into a formation eye and activated the Starry Formation, prompting Bei Bei to shout for the others to save themselves before the explosives detonated.

Cen Qiaofu began his Saint Tribulation by attacking the Black Tortoise Golden Pagoda, forcing Fangfang and Wang Big Hammer to fight for their lives without using spiritual essence. Fangfang sacrificed himself to save Wang Big Hammer, then faced the expanding Holy Tribulation alone as Wang Big Hammer fled to request support.

• Cen Qiaofu seized the Black Tortoise Golden Pagoda and struck Fangfang with the Pan-Immortal Axe, leaving him badly wounded despite the Azure God Armor.
• Cen Qiaofu attacked Wang Big Hammer, who opened the Eight Gates, kicked off Cen Qiaofu's head, and watched him regrow it as an ancient tree.
• Cen Qiaofu felled his forest incarnations and gathered their meaning of severance into a powerful axe strike against Wang Big Hammer.
• Fangfang charged back into the battle and kicked Wang Big Hammer out of danger, but Cen Qiaofu's axe split Fangfang's body and destroyed his Azure God Armor.
• The Holy Tribulation locked onto Fangfang after he used spiritual essence, while Wang Big Hammer reported his fall and ran for support as Fangfang accepted his choice.

Cen Qiaofu fought Wang Big Hammer and challenged Wei An’s intervention, arguing that Dao Qiongchang had manipulated him into entering the conflict between the Holy Spirit Hall and the Saint Slave. Wei An reconsidered his actions as Yue Gongli arrived, applauding and accusing Cen Qiaofu of sophistry.

• Cen Qiaofu hurled the Pan-Immortal Axe at Wang Big Hammer, who activated the Beast Path, rescued Fangfang, and attacked Cen Qiaofu at tremendous speed.
• Wang Big Hammer tore off Cen Qiaofu’s leg, but Cen Qiaofu used the returning Pan-Immortal Axe to split Wang Big Hammer in two; the Holy Tribulation struck both Wang Big Hammer and Fangfang.
• Wei An appeared and used a holy shield to protect Fangfang and Wang Big Hammer, then told Cen Qiaofu to end the fight.
• Cen Qiaofu accused the Holy Palace of cooperating with the Holy Spirit Hall despite knowing the dangers to the Trial participants, and argued that Wei An had crossed the line by intervening.
• Cen Qiaofu warned Wei An that Dao Qiongchang had drawn him into the conflict, and Wei An realized he had taken the bait and fell silent.
• Yue Gongli arrived beneath the Holy Tribulation, applauded Cen Qiaofu, and accused him of using sophistry to silence Wei An.

Yue Gongli arrived during Cen Qiaofu’s saint tribulation, disrupted his attempt to sway Wei An, and used Heavenly Secrets Formation Disks to remove the tribulation’s lock from Wei An, Fangfang, and Wang Big Hammer. Wang Big Hammer remained gravely injured, and Yue Gongli gave him a God’s Blessing after learning Fangfang had spent his Spirit Crystals helping poor orphans.

• Yue Gongli recalled meeting Wei An during the Holy Palace Trial and said he had once tried to recruit him for the Cold Palace Imperial Realm.
• Yue Gongli urged Wei An to ignore Cen Qiaofu’s provocations and mocked Cen as the saint tribulation continued.
• Yue Gongli used three Heavenly Secrets Formation Disks to shield Wei An, Fangfang, and Wang Big Hammer from the tribulation’s lock.
• Fangfang discovered Wang Big Hammer was near death from the backlash of opening incomplete Six Paths, and Yue Gongli said his survival depended on his own fortune.
• Fangfang explained he had no money because he had given his Spirit Crystals to orphans in Yujing City, so Yue Gongli fed Wang Big Hammer a God’s Blessing.

Yue Gongli followed Cen Qiaofu through the Four Symbols Secret Realm, threatening him with a plan to stop his mission while Dao Qiongchang suspected Yue Gongli of colluding with Saint Slave. After Yue Gongli left the realm, Xu Xiaoshou and his companions entered the Ran Ming Ruins, where a saber-bearing old man confronted them.

• Yue Gongli kept pace with Cen Qiaofu as the Saint Tribulation destroyed Heavenly Secrets Formation nodes, then warned that he could use a Great Concealment Art to knock Cen Qiaofu back to the Sovereign stage.
• Dao Qiongchang confronted Yue Gongli over suspected collusion with Saint Slave, muted him, and later ordered Bei Bei to continue toward the Ran Ming Ruins.
• Yue Gongli realized the Godslayer Edict’s guiding power had led him to Blackwater Ravine, then tore off his communicator and left the Four Symbols Secret Realm.
• Jinren, Mo Mo, and Frost Lord descended through Blackwater Ravine’s barrier into the ancient Ran Ming Ruins, where their holy power was sealed.
• A short old man in black raised his head at the ruins’ entrance, released killing intent, and asked Jinren if he was Xu Xiaoshou.