Chapter Summaries

Chu Qing discussed the Heavenly Evil Cult’s ambitions with Grave King, who wagered that Ghost Emperor Moduo would die within a year. After Grave King escaped Nian Xin and Nian An by jumping off a cliff, the sisters mistook Chu Qing for an expert and tried to recruit him.

• Grave King gave Chu Qing an antidote and argued that the martial world was responsible for the realm’s turmoil, then declared that the Heavenly Evil Cult sought the world.
• Grave King revealed that he knew of Chu Qing’s connection to the Night Emperor and offered a wager: if Ghost Emperor Moduo died within a year, Chu Qing would join the cult; otherwise, Grave King’s life would be Chu Qing’s to take.
• Nian Xin and Nian An arrived, and Grave King recognized their Seven Treasures Glazed Body Scripture before leaping off the cliff to escape their attack.
• Chu Qing asked whether the sisters could trace Grave King to his true body, and they recognized him as the Third Young Master they had heard of.
• Nian Xin and Nian An tried to recruit Chu Qing to help unite the greenwood realm, threatening force if he refused, and Chu Qing proposed a wager with them.

After defeating Nian Xin and Nian An, Chu Qing gained two eccentric followers and reunited with his group, learning more about their mysterious Bodhi Convent master. As the group camped for the night, Chu Qing recognized a passing swordsman and pulled him from the sky.

• Nian Xin and Nian An lost their wager against Chu Qing, acknowledged him as Big Brother, and revealed that their master had trained them at Bodhi Convent and told them to destroy the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• The hungry sisters admitted they had no food and secretly plotted to take over Chu Qing’s enterprise one day, while Wen Rou fed them.
• Chu Qing and Wen Rou returned with the sisters to the waiting group, where Cao Qiupu recognized them and explained that their master had once saved him and asked him to look after them.
• Cao Qiupu said he had searched for Opera King with the sisters before the First Under Heaven Gathering, and the group continued traveling before camping for the night.
• A swordsman streaked past the camp, and Chu Qing recognized him and yanked him down from midair.

Cheng Tieshan exposed Feng Yu’s betrayal after Feng Yu tried to frame Hu Yan, and Chu Qing discovered a letter and token linking Feng Yu to a broader scheme. The chapter left Chu Qing suspecting the Heavenly Evil Cult had planted Feng Yu in Iron Blood Hall and was secretly moving against Cheng Tieshan.

• Feng Yu arrived at Cheng Tieshan’s camp and accused Hu Yan of betraying Cheng Tieshan, but Hu Yan denied the charge and blamed Feng Yu.
• Nian Xin found the missing corner of Feng Yu’s letter, and Cheng Tieshan recognized that Feng Yu had hidden evidence before striking him down for bringing danger to others.
• Cheng Tieshan challenged Feng Yu over his motives, while Chu Qing asked Nian Xin to search him and she stripped away his clothes and belongings.
• Chu Qing found a letter about a plot to execute Iron Palm and an iron token marked with the character for scholar, resembling a token found on Guo Wang.
• Chu Qing told Beitang Zun that Feng Yu might have been a Heavenly Evil Cult agent and wondered whether a hidden scheme was unfolding.

Chu Qing released Beitang Zun and urged him to investigate whether Blazing Fire Hall was connected to the Heavenly Evil Cult. After Wu Qianhuan nearly suffered qi deviation during her training, Abbess Yetan sent her down the mountain, and Wu Qianhuan set out to find Chu Qing.

• Chu Qing challenged Beitang Zun to reconsider his suspicions about his elder brother and allowed him to return to Blazing Fire Hall to investigate.
• Beitang Zun agreed to look into the matter, then left while Chu Qing and Cheng Tieshan discussed his possible usefulness.
• Abbess Yetan intervened when Wu Qianhuan nearly suffered qi deviation while practicing the Moon Pointing Profound Skill and forbade her from training for half a year.
• Abbess Yetan told Wu Qianhuan to descend the mountain, gave her the Heaven's Dawn Swordplay manual, and asked her to check on Zuo Wenchuan if she encountered him.
• Wu Qianhuan packed her belongings the next morning and set off to find Chu Qing, saying three years was too long to wait.

Chu Qing's group arrived at Iron Blood Hall's fortress, where Tie Lingyun welcomed them and repaid their help with promises of support. After hearing about the dangers facing the hall, Chu Qing warned Tie Lingyun that the Mirror of Sin had sent an expert to kill him.

• Tie Lingyun joyfully reunited with Tie Chuqing and thanked Chu Qing for saving her and Cheng Tieshan.
• Chu Qing used the Bright Jade True Scripture to dispel the scorching energy from Tie Lingyun's meridians.
• Tie Lingyun introduced Chu Qing to his subordinates, including Zhong Beitang, whose connection to Shen Hongye's village tragedy troubled Chu Qing.
• Cao Qiupu explained why he and Flower Beauty sought refuge, and Tie Lingyun welcomed them while promising Iron Blood Hall's protection.
• Tie Lingyun described the strange battle against Blazing Fire Hall, and Nian Xin and Nian An said Plum King was far away.
• Chu Qing warned Tie Lingyun that the Mirror of Sin had sent an expert from the Evil Execution List to kill him.

Chu Qing settled into Iron Blood Hall’s stronghold while preparing to protect Tie Lingyun from Mirror of Sin’s assassins. Wen Rou then found a bottle belonging to Guido, and Chu Qing followed her to overhear Guido admit he could no longer act because he had lost his poison.

• Tie Chuqing revealed that she had arranged for the Night Emperor to protect Tie Lingyun, while Chu Qing concealed that he was the Night Emperor.
• Tie Lingyun ordered a search for the Night Emperor and told Chu Qing that Ghost God Gorge was blocked, so the group would have to stay at the stronghold until the battle ended.
• Chu Qing reviewed the threats around Ghost God Gorge, including Mirror of Sin, Blazing Fire Hall, and the possibility that the Chess King was involved.
• Wen Rou brought Chu Qing a bottle she had picked up, saying it belonged to Guido, whose scent she had detected inside the stronghold.
• Chu Qing gave Wen Rou an antidote and followed her to a secluded spot, where they overheard Guido say he could not make his move because he had lost his poison.

Chu Qing and Wen Rou discovered that Guido had been sent to a hidden cave in Ghost God Gorge to prepare poison for an attempt on Cao Qiupu and Flower Beauty. Chu Qing killed Guido and escaped the poison cloud from his exploding corpse, while the contact and the Evil Execution List assassins remained at large.

• Chu Qing and Wen Rou overheard Guido and his contact discuss the lost poison, a new batch, and a hiding place in Ghost God Gorge.
• Chu Qing recognized the contact as a coordinator for assassins and decided to follow Guido while leaving the contact under observation.
• Chu Qing and Wen Rou tracked Guido from the supply convoy to a concealed crack in the gorge and found him making poison in a cave hut.
• Chu Qing seized Guido, rejected his claim that they were both Mirror of Sin members, and snapped his neck.
• Guido's corpse exploded and released green poisonous mist, so Chu Qing threw it out of the hut.

Chu Qing found three Painted Skins in Guido’s hut, used one to disguise Wen Rou, and planned to lure the people behind the hideout into the open. At Ghost God Gorge, a scholar and Old Hag Withered Butterfly began fighting until a masked monk intervened.

• Chu Qing and Wen Rou opened a box in the hut and found three sets of armor and uniforms alongside three Painted Skins.
• Chu Qing fitted one Painted Skin to Wen Rou and explained how it could be used to manipulate people and drive them to ruin.
• Chu Qing arranged for Wen Rou to make it appear that he was speaking with her in his room, then returned to the hideout to wait for someone to appear.
• At night, a scholar in a painted mask stood at Ghost God Gorge and confronted Old Hag Withered Butterfly.
• Old Hag Withered Butterfly attacked the scholar with a wooden doll, and a monk in a sorrowful painted mask descended between them and stopped their strikes.

Chu Qing ambushed Dragon-Painting Scholar, Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk, and Old Hag Withered Butterfly beneath Ghost God Gorge, killing Old Hag Withered Butterfly before confronting the other two. Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk revealed his near-impenetrable Buddhist art, but Dragon-Painting Scholar attacked as the fight continued.

• Old Hag Withered Butterfly, Dragon-Painting Scholar, and Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk found the hidden room beneath Ghost God Gorge and argued over who would lead their mission against Iron Blood Hall.
• Old Hag Withered Butterfly defeated Dragon-Painting Scholar in a brief exchange and took command, then opened the room to discover Chu Qing waiting with the Azure Night Sword.
• Chu Qing killed Old Hag Withered Butterfly with a throwing knife and wounded Dragon-Painting Scholar with his swift sword.
• Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk blocked Chu Qing's sword with his body and identified his cultivation as the Heart Scripture of the Boat to the Other Shore, though Chu Qing doubted the claim.
• Chu Qing drove Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk backward with his sword, resisted his Abhisheka, and challenged the authenticity of his Buddhist art.
• Dragon-Painting Scholar launched himself at Chu Qing with a dragon-like roar while Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk struggled to hold him off.

Chu Qing killed the Dragon-Painting Scholar and Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk, completed his commission, and learned that an Internal Cultivation Treasure Chest was available. After collecting his payment from Tie Lingyun, he found the near-dead Beitang Zun and used a life-preserving pill on him.

• Chu Qing used Heaven and Earth Lose Color to kill the Bitter-Faced Ascetic Monk and then the Dragon-Painting Scholar.
• Chu Qing found the Internal Cultivation Treasure Chest among his system rewards but decided to wait until he was somewhere safe before opening it.
• Chu Qing searched the three corpses, burned their remains in the thatched hut, and collapsed the cave entrance to conceal the battle.
• Chu Qing delivered the three heads to Tie Lingyun and collected three thousand taels, while Tie Lingyun's followers failed to track him.
• Chu Qing found the barely alive Beitang Zun and gave him a Yin-Yang Life-Preserving Pill.

Chu Qing saved Beitang Zun, learned that Beitang Lie had joined the Heavenly Evil Cult, and accepted a commission to assassinate him. After arranging to meet Beitang Zun at Iron Blood Hall's stronghold, Chu Qing returned to Wen Rou and opened an Internal Cultivation Treasure Chest.

• Chu Qing healed Beitang Zun, who identified Beitang Lie as the brother who had attacked him.
• Beitang Zun asked Chu Qing to kill Beitang Lie and revealed that his brother had colluded with the Heavenly Evil Cult and claimed the Ghost Emperor was about to die.
• Chu Qing agreed to assassinate Beitang Lie for ten thousand taels of gold and accepted the system's commission.
• Beitang Zun described a hidden route through Ghost God Gorge and said Chu Qing could find him at Iron Blood Hall's stronghold the following night.
• Chu Qing followed Beitang Zun to the stronghold, then returned to his lodgings and told Wen Rou about the encounter.
• Chu Qing asked Wen Rou to stand guard while he opened an Internal Cultivation Treasure Chest.

Chu Qing survived the clash between the Nine Yang Divine Skill and the Bright Jade True Scripture by using Tai Chi principles to harmonize yin and yang. His breakthrough ended with a roar that shook the city, while the Blazing Fire Hall’s leader and hidden voices discussed plans involving him and the leader’s younger brother.

• Chu Qing’s newly acquired Nine Yang Divine Skill clashed with the Bright Jade True Scripture, leaving him in agony as Wen Rou kept visitors away.
• Chu Qing used Tai Chi Swordplay’s principles to separate and balance yin and yang, joining the two internal arts and repairing his meridians.
• Wen Rou watched Chu Qing’s cultivation manifest through his body and drew the strange changes as he floated above the bed through the night.
• Chu Qing awoke and released a roar that pierced the roof and carried a hundred li, startling Tie Lingyun, Beitang Zun, Cao Qiupu, Miss Ling Fei, Cheng Tieshan, Nian Xin, and Nian An.
• In the Blazing Fire Hall camp, the man in red identified the roar as Chu Qing’s and argued with two hidden voices about the threat he posed and a plan involving his own younger brother.

Chu Qing completed the fusion of Bright Jade True Scripture and Nine Yang Divine Skill, naming the result Divine Jade Nine Chapters, though his legs temporarily could not move freely. As Tie Lingyun and Beitang Zun revealed the Heavenly Evil Cult's infiltration and the Chess King's methods, Chu Qing asked whether anyone had seen the so-called Chess Pieces during the war between the two halls.

• Chu Qing fused Bright Jade True Scripture and Nine Yang Divine Skill into Divine Jade Nine Chapters and tested its intertwined yin and yang forces.
• Chu Qing told Wen Rou that his qi channels had congealed and left him temporarily unable to walk, then met the Iron Blood Hall experts waiting outside.
• Chu Qing demonstrated his formidable power, and Tie Lingyun, Beitang Zun, Cao Qiupu, and Miss Ling Fei joined him inside to talk.
• Tie Lingyun reported uncovering suspicious plaques and evidence against Zhong Beitang, Xu Cunxiao, and other Iron Blood Hall hall masters.
• Beitang Zun revealed that his eldest brother Beitang Lie served the Chess King, used corpses to strengthen martial artists called Chess Pieces, and had threatened him before the Night Emperor rescued him.
• Chu Qing warned that the Heavenly Evil Cult's deeper plans remained unknown and asked whether anyone had seen Chess Pieces during the war between the two halls.

Chu Qing agreed to help Tie Lingyun and Beitang Zun oppose the Heavenly Evil Cult, then prepared Wen Rou to impersonate him while he entered secluded cultivation. He left the sisters Nian Xin and Nian An to guard his door that night and planned to deliver a head in the morning.

• Chu Qing questioned Beitang Zun and Tie Lingyun about the Heavenly Evil Cult’s aims, then heard their plans to settle the Blazing Fire Hall and Iron Blood Hall’s conflicts.
• Tie Lingyun and Beitang Zun asked Chu Qing to help if a Heavenly Evil Cult expert appeared, and Chu Qing accepted a commission to kill the cult’s invading enemies.
• Cao Qiupu offered Chu Qing a chapter of his Five Elements Returning to Origin Technique to help his legs, but Chu Qing refused and privately admitted that his injury was fake.
• Chu Qing told Nian Xin and Nian An to guard his door starting that night while he entered secluded cultivation, and the sisters went off to eat and sleep beforehand.
• Chu Qing disguised Wen Rou with a Painted Skin that made her look like him, concealed her disappearance from Tie Lingyun, and arranged to meet her in the main hall after delivering a head in the morning.

Chu Qing crossed Ghost God Gorge and infiltrated the Blazing Fire Hall to assassinate Beitang Lie. He killed the hall master, took his head and a map, and escaped while the disciples remained frozen by Heaven and Earth Lose Color.

• Chu Qing tested the miasma with a goose, then followed Beitang Zun's marked route across Ghost God Gorge and sensed a mysterious presence within the fog.
• Chu Qing reached the Blazing Fire Hall fortress and evaded its patrols as he searched the main hall and then the study for Beitang Lie.
• Hong Tao told Beitang Lie that the Deputy Hall Master had disappeared after failing to assassinate Cheng Tieshan, and Beitang Lie ordered him found.
• Beitang Lie suspected the Deputy Hall Master might have gone to Tie Lingyun after learning his elder brother had joined the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• Chu Qing attacked Beitang Lie with Heaven and Earth Lose Color, but Beitang Lie broke free and blocked the Azure Night Sword before Chu Qing pierced his head.
• Chu Qing took Beitang Lie's head and the map, then walked past the immobilized Blazing Fire Hall disciples and escaped.

After killing Beitang Lie, Chu Qing secretly watched Blazing Fire Hall’s leaders and discovered that the Chess King controlled the lives of his Chess Pieces. A Guard used the Minister’s skill to take Beitang Lie’s face and impersonate him, while Chu Qing eventually returned to Iron Blood Hall.

• Hong Tao found Beitang Lie’s headless corpse and ordered Blazing Fire Hall’s leaders to gather and discuss their next move.
• Two Guards mourned Beitang Lie, then decided to have the Minister make a face so one of them could impersonate the dead Hall Master and keep the war going.
• The Minister fashioned Beitang Lie’s face for the clever Guard, who disguised himself as Beitang Lie and went to deceive Blazing Fire Hall’s leaders.
• Chu Qing watched the Guards’ scheme and learned that the Chess King held the lives of his Chess Pieces in his grasp.
• Chu Qing explored Blazing Fire Hall, then returned to Iron Blood Hall with the big goose and entered the stronghold residence using Heaven and Earth Lose Color.

Chu Qing and Wen Rou staged a clash between Night Emperor and Third Young Master at Iron Blood Hall, while Night Emperor left Tie Lingyun a map to a hidden place beneath Ghost God Gorge. After sending Wen Fusheng a letter, Chu Qing opened a treasure chest and obtained the Six Forms of Arrogant Cold, which he began studying.

• Night Emperor arrived at Iron Blood Hall with Beitang Lie's severed head, gave Tie Lingyun a map, and challenged Third Young Master to exchange a palm.
• Third Young Master and Night Emperor traded one palm before Night Emperor departed, leaving the witnesses convinced that the two were separate people.
• Wen Rou revealed to Chu Qing that he had staged the palm exchange, and Chu Qing explained that the map marked a route through the miasma beneath Ghost God Gorge.
• Chu Qing sent Wen Fusheng a letter containing the Heavenly Secrets Net Array diagram and asked Nian Xin and Nian An whether they knew about Life and Death Chess, but neither did.
• Chu Qing opened a treasure chest, obtained the Six Forms of Arrogant Cold, and considered blending its essence with the Sixteen Paths of Startling Evil Blade.

Wu Qianhuan learned that Chu Tian had vanished after fighting Ghost Lamp Wuchan near North Lake Town, and she set out to investigate after discovering Qin Yuqi was pregnant. Meanwhile, Chu Qing confronted Blazing Fire Hall at Ghost God Gorge and exposed the false Beitang Lie as one of the two Shi.

• Wu Qianhuan heard from Zhou Miao that Chu Tian and Ghost Lamp Wuchan had disappeared after a battle near North Lake Town, leaving behind Chu Tian’s bloodstained jade pendant.
• A physician discovered that Qin Yuqi was pregnant and warned her to rest, so Wu Qianhuan promised to investigate Chu Tian’s fate on her journey north.
• Wu Qianhuan left the city on Little Azure after Chu Yunfei’s reaction to Chu Tian’s disappearance struck her as strange.
• Chu Qing joined Tie Lingyun and Beitang Zun to face Blazing Fire Hall at Ghost God Gorge, where a man posing as Beitang Lie challenged the Iron Blood Hall.
• Chu Qing pulled Cheng Tieshan out of danger and used his palm technique to tear the impostor’s human-skin mask from his face.

Beitang Zun exposed the false Beitang Lie as an agent of the Heavenly Evil Cult, and Chu Qing captured him with a devastating blade strike. Beitang Zun blamed the conflict between Blazing Fire Hall and Iron Blood Hall on the Cult’s infiltration, then ended the battle by declaring an alliance between the two halls.

• After the clever scholar’s disguise was torn away, Beitang Zun appeared with Iron Blood Hall and identified him as a thief from the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• The clever scholar tried to flee, but Chu Qing pursued him with the Sixteen Paths of Startling Evil Blade and incapacitated him with Startling Cold Glimpse.
• Chu Qing handed the captured scholar to Beitang Zun, who thanked him as the gathered fighters reacted to the enormous blade radiance.
• Beitang Zun told the crowd that the Heavenly Evil Cult had killed Beitang Lie, impersonated him, and manipulated Blazing Fire Hall into fighting Iron Blood Hall.
• Beitang Zun said Night Emperor had saved him and killed the false Hall Master, then announced that the two halls would form an alliance and that the battle was over.

Beitang Zun ended the war between the halls by blaming the Heavenly Evil Cult, then ordered a purge of its hidden agents in Blazing Fire Hall. When five Soldiers and other Chess King subordinates attacked, Chu Qing and the two nuns faced them, but the Life and Death Chess trapped Chu Qing on a supernatural board; he broke its restraints and struck back with a massive saber slash.

• Beitang Zun persuaded Blazing Fire Hall to accept his account of the conflict, ending the war between the two halls and placing blame on the Heavenly Evil Cult.
• Beitang Zun ordered everyone in the stronghold to gather before Ghost God Gorge and commanded that latecomers, disobedient people, and anyone destroying letters be killed.
• Five Soldiers attacked Beitang Zun, but Chu Qing protected the group with the Indestructible Golden Body and sent the attackers flying.
• More Chess King subordinates revealed themselves in a chess-like formation, and Chu Qing advanced with Nian Xin and Nian An while Wen Rou stayed back.
• Chu Qing found himself immobilized on a vast chessboard by the Life and Death Chess, but he resisted the aged voice's commands and shattered the board's restraints.
• Chu Qing's defiance made the fifteen opponents spit blood, and he leaped up to unleash a forty-meter Startling Cold Glimpse.