Chapter Summaries

Liu Qianguan used Great Dream Spring and Autumn to deceive Chu Qing and escape the Myriad Treasure Tower, but Chu Qing turned the illusion against him and pursued him with a sword strike. An unseen expert intervened to help Liu Qianguan flee, leaving Chu Qing to conclude that his enemy would still die.

• Liu Qianguan confronted Chu Qing, while Pale Eyes fought the little old man on the first floor of the Myriad Treasure Tower.
• Liu Qianguan used Great Dream Spring and Autumn to make Chu Qing believe they were fighting upstairs, then fled with Pale Eyes and the black-clad men carrying Weeping God Iron.
• Chu Qing recognized flaws in Liu Qianguan’s illusion and took control of it, trapping Liu Qianguan in a collapsing mental world.
• Liu Qianguan broke free from the illusion and fled with Pale Eyes, but Chu Qing’s sword strike wounded them both before an unseen expert helped them escape.
• Chu Qing told Wu Qianhuan that they could not pursue Liu Qianguan because an expert had intervened, but he believed Liu Qianguan would not survive his wound.

Liu Qianguan sacrificed his eyes and life to restore Pale Eyes’s sight and pass on his internal energy, but the Pavilion Master of Literary Heart Pavilion said Liu Qianguan could still be saved. Back in Myriad Treasure Tower, Chu Qing considered the distant figure who had intervened and offered Jiang Li a path forward with a piece of Painted Skin.

• Liu Qianguan explained that Chu Qing’s sword had destroyed his meridians and that he had only a short time to live.
• Liu Qianguan exchanged his eyes for Pale Eyes’s and helped him perform Dot Blood into Plum Blossoms to restore his sight.
• Liu Qianguan transferred much of his internal energy to Pale Eyes before collapsing and dying.
• The Pavilion Master of Literary Heart Pavilion contacted Pale Eyes, learned that Chu Qing was Young Master Mad Blade, and promised there was still a chance to bring Liu Qianguan back.
• Pale Eyes carried Liu Qianguan away as the Pavilion Master reflected on Liu Qianguan’s plan to survive by placing himself in the land of death.
• Back in Myriad Treasure Tower, Chu Qing wondered whether the person who intervened had been the master of Literary Heart Pavilion, then offered Jiang Li a piece of Painted Skin and a path forward.

Chu Qing arranged for Jiang Li to disappear under the cover story that the Literary Heart Pavilion's Pavilion Master had abducted her, and Jiang Li agreed to work for him for three years. After Myriad Treasure Tower closed its gathering and Huangfu Yixiao left to report Jiang Li's supposed abduction, a messenger arrived with news that something had happened to the Dao Master.

• Chu Qing told Jiang Li he would claim the Literary Heart Pavilion's Pavilion Master had abducted her, and she agreed to hide while he helped protect her and cut off the source of the danger.
• Jiang Li accepted Chu Qing's request to observe people around the Dao Master in Small River Bend and agreed to serve at Chu Qing's command for three years.
• Chu Qing told the injured old man and the returning guests that the Literary Heart Pavilion's Pavilion Master had abducted Jiang Li, and the old man ended the Myriad Treasure Tower gathering.
• Chu Qing explained to Huangfu Yixiao that Jiang Li had refused to join the Heavenly Evil Cult and had been taken, and he urged Huangfu Yixiao to send word rather than attempt a rescue alone.
• A man arrived at Myriad Treasure Tower carrying a woman and a child, found Bai Sheng, and told him to come quickly because something had happened to the Dao Master.

Chu Qing learned that Shopkeeper Song had been abducted and followed his scent to a cave with Wu Qianhuan and Wen Rou. The chapter ended with them finding the Tall Man and Short Man captured inside, while Shopkeeper Song’s whereabouts remained uncertain.

• The Skinny Man brought Shopkeeper Song’s wife and child to Bai Sheng and reported that Shopkeeper Song had been taken by attackers.
• Chu Qing placed the Weeping God Iron fragments in a gold box, learned that Sword Inquiry Hut’s Heaven and Earth Furnace might destroy them, and arranged to store them with Destiny Abode Pavilion.
• Bai Sheng gave Chu Qing his identity token, and Chu Qing left with Wu Qianhuan and Wen Rou to pursue Shopkeeper Song while Wan Chunhua and the plain-faced girl stayed with the rescued family.
• Wen Rou tracked Shopkeeper Song’s scent to a cave several dozen li from Small River Bend, and Chu Qing led the group inside.
• Chu Qing and his companions found the Tall Man and Short Man bound and captured in the cave, while the Short Man shouted curses.

Chu Qing and his companions rescued Zhang Mo and Wu Ding, then discovered five enslaved martial artists trying to force Shopkeeper Song to reveal the Five Ghosts Heavenly Corpse Command. Chu Qing defeated them and revealed his status as Martial Arts Alliance Leader, then demanded to know what the command was.

• Chu Qing showed the token Bai Sheng had given him, freed Zhang Mo and Wu Ding, and entered the cave with them while Wu Ding kept cursing as a distraction.
• Chu Qing silently subdued the guard in the passage, and the group saw the five attackers tormenting Shopkeeper Song to break the Three Yang Soul Locking Command.
• The attackers discussed seizing Shopkeeper Song's wife and child and harming them to force his cooperation, while Shopkeeper Song pleaded for their safety.
• When one attacker approached the passage, Chu Qing struck him and sent the others flying, then caught Shopkeeper Song before he hit the ground.
• The red-haired attacker recognized Chu Qing as the Martial Arts Alliance Leader of the Lingbei martial world, and Chu Qing demanded that they explain the Five Ghosts Heavenly Corpse Command.

Chu Qing questioned the captured men about the Five Ghosts Heavenly Corpse Command and the Mirror of Sin, then concealed their memories and left the cave with Zhang Mo, Wu Ding, and Shopkeeper Song. Shopkeeper Song asked Chu Qing to kill him if recovering his memories revealed he was a cruel man who tried to reclaim money meant for a widow and her child.

• The red-haired man explained that the Five Ghosts Heavenly Corpse Command was said to have been created by Li Juechen and the First Dao Master, and that its five offshoot arts were used to control and torment their practitioners.
• Chu Qing and Zhang Mo reasoned that Li Juechen had likely spread a false story about the martial art to keep captives hopeful, draw them toward the missing Dao Master, and expose potential rebels.
• The red-haired man said the Mirror of Sin had served Li Juechen for years and held a gathering every tenth month, where its leaders and top assassins met, though he did not know the location.
• Chu Qing offered the captives a chance to live in exchange for help finding the Mirror of Sin gathering, then erased their fixation on the martial art and concealed their memories of the night.
• Chu Qing’s group left the cave with Wu Ding, and Shopkeeper Song asked Chu Qing to kill him if he recovered his memories and tried to reclaim one thousand taels intended for a widow and her orphan.

Chu Qing restored Shopkeeper Song’s sealed memories, revealing that he was Song Chengdao, the First Dao’s former Dao Master, and exposing how Martial Emperor Li Juechen betrayed him over the Primal Dao Opening Scripture. Song Chengdao explained that the Scripture could manifest as different martial arts, and the chapter ended before he finished describing its potential.

• Chu Qing used his finger to guide Shopkeeper Song through his past, where Song Chengdao broke the Three Yang Soul Locking Command’s chains and recovered his memories.
• Song Chengdao’s memories revealed that Li Juechen had tricked him into surrendering the Primal Dao Opening Scripture, then attacked and sealed his memories when Song Chengdao confronted him.
• Song Chengdao recalled his years as a slave and beggar before the mistress rescued him and he became Shopkeeper Song.
• Song Chengdao told Chu Qing that the Primal Dao Opening Scripture was the First Dao’s foundation and that its forms differed between practitioners.
• Chu Qing questioned whether the Scripture could truly be the source of all martial arts, and Song Chengdao explained that it could appear as any martial art, though those derived by Li Juechen remained limited by his knowledge.

Song Chengdao told Chu Qing about the Primal Dao Opening Scripture and his plan to expose Li Juechen, but Chu Qing urged him to wait until Chu Qing could judge Li Juechen for himself. After Chu Qing and his companions left for Heavenly Buddha Temple, Meng Hui heard a strange voice and found a plaque marked with the character “Void” in Myriad Buddha Forest.

• Song Chengdao explained that he had recovered his memories and intended to die after dealing with Li Juechen, but he did not want the innkeeper's wife to suffer because of him.
• Chu Qing told Song Chengdao about the Heavenly Evil Cult and argued that Li Juechen's threat made the situation more complicated.
• Chu Qing promised to meet Li Juechen within a year before deciding whether to act, and Song Chengdao agreed to keep his restored memories secret and wait.
• Chu Qing and his companions shared breakfast with Song Chengdao's group, then left for Heavenly Buddha Temple with Wan Chunhua.
• Meng Hui woke troubled by strange thoughts about his past and heard a woman's voice call him an idiot.
• At Myriad Buddha Forest, Meng Hui found a plaque marked with the character “Void” beside his carving tools and felt inexplicable grief.

Meng Hui began seeing signs that Heavenly Buddha Village and its villagers were trapped in a repeating, unnatural routine, but he feared that his own Karma had made him unreliable. After throwing away a token marked with “Void,” he opened his door to four strangers, one of whom held the token and asked if it was his.

• Meng Hui picked up a cold token marked with “Void” and joined Cuihua and the Zhang brothers as they carved Buddha statues and discussed Heavenly Buddha Temple.
• Meng Hui saw the villagers’ faces turn into Buddha faces and heard them accuse him of being entangled in Karma, but a bell and chanting left him believing the village was normal again.
• Meng Hui realized that he and the villagers repeated the same conversations and noticed the village had no children or elderly people, then hurried home.
• Meng Hui found the unseen woman in his house and threw the token through the window when her voice startled him.
• Four strangers came to Meng Hui’s door, and the young man at their front showed him the token and asked if it belonged to him.

Chu Qing and his companions found Meng Hui in Heavenly Buddha Village, where Mu Tong'er had been trying to awaken him from the temple’s influence. After learning that Meng Hui was connected to Xuhuai Sect through Chu Qing’s token, Chu Qing approached him to try a different way of helping him.

• Meng Hui instinctively acknowledged the Xuhuai Sect plaque as his, while Mu Tong'er and Chu Qing recognized each other and Mu Tong'er agreed to postpone killing Wan Chunhua.
• Chu Qing introduced Mu Tong'er to Wu Qianhuan and Wen Rou, and Mu Tong'er explained that she had entered Heavenly Buddha Temple while pursuing Wan Chunhua.
• Mu Tong'er said Heavenly Buddha Temple's bewitched followers repeatedly urged her to convert, so she used tricks to hide from them in Heavenly Buddha Village.
• Mu Tong'er explained that Meng Hui had become lost under the temple's influence after throwing away the Xuhuai Sect token, and that she had been trying to awaken him.
• Chu Qing approached Meng Hui as he shut his eyes and repeatedly muttered, "Begone, Karma."

Chu Qing freed Meng Hui from Heavenly Buddha Village’s mental deception and learned that Meng Hui was seeking to reunite the scattered Xuhuai Sect. As the village’s chanting began to affect Meng Hui and Mu Tong'er, Chu Qing led the group to confront the old monk behind it, hoping to find Heavenly Buddha Temple.

• Chu Qing used a mind-affecting technique to restore Meng Hui’s clarity, and Meng Hui introduced himself as a member of the Xuhuai Sect.
• Meng Hui explained that he had come to the Southern Region to reunite the scattered Xuhuai Sect disciples, but Heavenly Buddha Village had trapped him and his companions.
• Chu Qing told Meng Hui that the Buddha King of the Heavenly Evil Cult controlled Heavenly Buddha Temple, and Meng Hui realized the monks had used their teachings to conceal their abuse of villagers.
• Meng Hui asked Chu Qing to return to the Xuhuai Sect, but Chu Qing said he would consult his father after June and asked where the sect was based.
• When the strange bell and chanting began to muddle Meng Hui and threaten Mu Tong'er, Chu Qing helped them resist and decided to confront the chanter.
• Chu Qing led the group outside and found an old monk sitting on the shoulder of an ancient Buddha statue.

Chu Qing defeated a monk who guarded the way to Heavenly Buddha Temple, then waited with his companions for the temple’s people to respond. At dawn, the upside-down temple appeared in the sky and its influence drove villagers to crowd into Meng Hui’s courtyard, where Chu Qing confronted whoever was behind the trick.

• Chu Qing stopped the old monk’s chanting, defeated his attacks with a single palm, and killed him when the monk tried to use a desperate technique.
• Chu Qing and the others returned to Meng Hui’s residence, where Mu Tong'er agreed to wait until Wan Chunhua fulfilled her promise to Chu Qing before taking revenge for her maidservant.
• No one came during the night, but at dawn Meng Hui and Chu Qing saw Heavenly Buddha Temple floating upside down in the sky.
• The temple’s presence compelled Meng Hui and Mu Tong'er to kneel, and Chu Qing used his fingers to help them resist the urge to worship.
• Cuihua, Da Mao, Er Mao, and other villagers entered Meng Hui’s courtyard chanting that the Buddha would deliver all living beings; Chu Qing stopped Wan Chunhua from attacking them and challenged the temple’s unseen masters.

Chu Qing and his companions discovered that Heavenly Buddha Temple was underground and that its apparent presence in the sky was a projection from the lost Mirage Pearl. They searched Myriad Buddha Forest, where a monk confronted them over Zen Master Jingkong's death, and Chu Qing killed the assembled monks as he faced the old monk.

• Chu Qing used his transformed Vajra Zen Lion's Roar to subdue the villagers of Heavenly Buddha Village without seriously harming them.
• Mu Tong'er identified the sky temple as a mirage projected by the Mirage Pearl and reasoned that the real Heavenly Buddha Temple was underground.
• Chu Qing led the group to Myriad Buddha Forest to search for the temple's entrance.
• About a hundred yellow-robed monks surrounded the group, and an old monk accused them of killing Zen Master Jingkong.
• The old monk ordered the monks to attack, but Chu Qing unleashed wind, ice, and fire that killed them all, then reached for the old monk and commanded, "Come!"

Chu Qing forced a monk to guide his group through the perilous passage beneath Heavenly Buddha Temple, where Weeping God Iron script clouded the mind. After confronting Meng Hui over mercy toward the temple’s monks, Chu Qing flew the group to the temple gates, where a barrage of arrows met them and was reflected by his golden light.

• Chu Qing crippled the old monk, forced him to lead the group, and killed another monk who emerged from the hidden passage entrance.
• The group crossed the mechanism-filled passage and learned that its mind-bending secret script came from Weeping God Iron.
• Chu Qing’s group emerged above an enormous abyss and saw Heavenly Buddha Temple standing on a platform reached by narrow paths.
• Chu Qing ordered the old monk to set himself on fire and jump into the abyss, then argued with Meng Hui about whether he had shown needless cruelty.
• Chu Qing lifted the group across the abyss toward Heavenly Buddha Temple, deflected a storm of arrows with golden light, and landed them on the steps before its gates.

Chu Qing and his companions stormed Heavenly Buddha Temple, where Meng Hui discovered his junior sister Jiang had been mutilated and turned into a Joyful Corpse. Chu Qing overwhelmed the temple’s monks and crippled the giant monk, then told Meng Hui to take revenge and leave no one alive.

• Chu Qing blasted apart Heavenly Buddha Temple’s gates after announcing that he had come to see Buddha King.
• A giant monk arrived carrying two women, and Meng Hui recognized the woman on his shoulder as Junior Sister Jiang.
• The giant monk revealed that he had mutilated Jiang and used her as a Joyful Corpse, driving Meng Hui into despair and fury.
• Chu Qing confronted the giant monk, evaded his mind-bewitching technique, killed the surrounding monks, and shattered the monk’s hammer.
• Chu Qing severed the giant monk’s arm and legs, and Meng Hui gouged out his eyes before Chu Qing ordered him to continue the revenge and leave no one alive.

Chu Qing and his companions searched Heavenly Buddha Temple for the Earth Character Scroll and the Mirage Pearl, while Chu Qing drew out the temple’s hidden defenders. The Buddha King appeared only as a phantom and set the eighteen monks against Chu Qing in the Eighteen Kalarakshasa Dharma Protector Great Array, which Chu Qing began to counter with the Shark Slaying Saber.

• Meng Hui repeatedly slapped the blinded, crippled great monk while Chu Qing led the others deeper into Heavenly Buddha Temple.
• Mu Tong'er found hidden passages and traps as the group gathered manuals, treasures, pills, and luminous pearls.
• At a high platform, a gaunt monk tried to subdue the group with chanting, but Chu Qing broke its influence and killed two hidden monks.
• Chu Qing called out Buddha King, who appeared as a phantom and announced the Eighteen Kalarakshasa Dharma Protector Great Array.
• Eighteen monks surrounded Chu Qing with fierce Kalarakshasa Dharma Images and launched a relentless assault that damaged the temple buildings.
• The Shark Slaying Saber flew from Wan Chunhua's hand to Chu Qing, who used it to disperse a Dharma Image and raised the blade against the array.

Chu Qing slaughtered the monks of the Heavenly Buddha Temple after defeating their eighteen Karura Dharma Images, then forced a surviving monk to reveal where the Heavenly Evil Cult's hidden items were kept. He set off with his companions, though Wen Rou warned that the temple's monks all deserved death.

• Chu Qing shattered the eighteen Karura Dharma Images and beheaded the monks, mocking their faith in the Buddha Lord to save them.
• One monk begged for his life and condemned the Buddha Lord, while another revealed his hatred of being imprisoned at the temple for twenty years.
• Chu Qing spared the last monk temporarily after making him curse the Buddha Lord, then learned that the monk could lead them to the items sent from Heavenly Secrets Valley through Little Cold Valley.
• Ambushing monks attacked Chu Qing and the surviving monk, but Chu Qing wiped them out with the Eight Sounds of the Heavenly Dragon on his Ancient Chapter Zither.
• Chu Qing returned the Shark Slaying Saber to Wan Chunhua and ordered the monk to lead the group to the hidden items.
• Wen Rou argued that none of the temple's monks should be spared, and Chu Qing said he would not hold himself to promises made to such enemies.

Chu Qing reached the Scripture Repository and killed its formidable guardian with a single saber strike before searching the hidden chamber for the Book of the Immutable Heavens. The group found the scroll, but a hidden poison mechanism in its box killed the monk who had led them there.

• The monk led Chu Qing and the others to the Scripture Repository, where its guardian approached them.
• Chu Qing killed the guardian with one strike of Wan Chunhua's saber, then entered the repository and ordered the monk to reveal the hidden chamber.
• The monk opened a concealed room containing objects moved from Heavenly Secrets Valley, and Chu Qing, Wu Qianhuan, Wen Rou, and Mu Tong'er searched for the Book of the Immutable Heavens.
• Wu Qianhuan found the box containing the Book of the Immutable Heavens, and Wen Rou smiled as Chu Qing celebrated finding it.
• The monk tried to escape while Chu Qing opened the box, but a burst of deadly poison struck him and dissolved his body, leaving only his robes.

Chu Qing recovered the Earth Character Scroll of the Book of the Immutable Heavens and discovered a mind-affecting stone slab in the Scripture Pavilion, then left Heavenly Buddha Temple with his companions. At the temple entrance, he destroyed its foundations and turned to Meng Hui, asking if he had anything to say.

• Chu Qing retrieved the secret manual from the dead monk’s box, and Wen Rou confirmed that it matched the Earth Character Scroll of the Book of the Immutable Heavens.
• Chu Qing found a stone slab engraved with a character that nearly disrupted his mind, recognized its potential to refine his technique, and packed it away.
• Mu Tong'er found the Mirage Pearl among the corpses, and Chu Qing handed it back to her as she promised to share its value with the others.
• Chu Qing led the group out of Heavenly Buddha Temple, where they found Meng Hui kneeling beside Junior Sister Jiang’s remains and the tortured body of the monk.
• At the entrance, Chu Qing shattered the temple’s foundation pillars with Dragon Form Qi Energy, bringing Heavenly Buddha Temple down into the abyss.
• Chu Qing turned to Meng Hui and asked whether he had anything to say.

Chu Qing exposed Buddha King living inside Meng Hui through the Boat Changing Scripture and learned how the body seizure had unfolded. Buddha King then summoned countless kasayas and awakened the stone Buddhas in the Myriad Buddha Forest, leaving Chu Qing and the others facing a new attack.

• Chu Qing struck Meng Hui, triggering a vision in which Meng Hui relived his death and revealed himself as Buddha King.
• Chu Qing explained how he suspected Buddha King had taken Meng Hui's body, and Buddha King confirmed the Boat Changing Scripture let him transfer his spirit into a new vessel.
• Buddha King described how Meng Hui had retained his own memories and identity until Chu Qing's actions forced Buddha King to surface.
• Buddha King admitted he had planned the Heavenly Buddha Temple's apparent defeat to lure Chu Qing, but said Meng Hui's arrival had been a coincidence.
• Buddha King spread countless kasayas across the sky, and Chu Qing cut them apart with the Shark Slaying Saber as the stone Buddhas began to rise.