Chapter Summaries

Lu Yang visited the Seven Emotions Valley with Zhao Po and learned how Zhao Po mistook Luo Yu’s curse for proof that she disliked him. Valley Master Shuang Feiyan read the Fourth Elder’s letter, discovered its warning against visiting her, and reacted angrily, leaving Lu Yang unsure whether he would get out alive.

• Luo Yu explained that the Seven Emotions Valley had expanded into loans and other services after visitors mistook ordinary troubles for curses.
• Zhao Po told Lu Yang how he met Luo Yu while hunting a giant serpent and insisted that her curse proved she did not like him.
• Luo Yu brought Lu Yang and Zhao Po to Valley Master Shuang Feiyan, who ended her supposed seclusion as soon as she heard they were from the Ask Dao Sect.
• Shuang Feiyan read the Fourth Elder’s letter about Meng Jingzhou’s curse and grew angry when she reached his warning not to seek her help.

Frost Flying Goose recounted how she and the Fourth Elder Shiren became partners after she captured and cursed him, then led a bandit coalition across the Desolate Province. The story ended with Lu Yang learning that his master and seven fellow disciples had once caused a scandal in the Imperial Capital, leaving him wary of revealing his connection to Daoist Unspeaking.

• Frost Flying Goose said she had met Shiren after he rescued travelers from bandits, then revealed that she had been the bandit chief and captured him as her would-be husband.
• Frost Flying Goose explained that she cursed Shiren to keep him from escaping, and he later joined her plan to rob the rich and aid the poor.
• Frost Flying Goose said she and Shiren recruited the Corpse-Driving Sect's current Sect Master and the Barbarian Tribe's leader, then united the bandits across much of the Desolate Province.
• Frost Flying Goose described how their elders and the former Sect Master of Ask Dao Sect defeated a Body Integration Rogue Cultivator who had backed the bandit leader Mountain-Suppressing Tiger.
• Frost Flying Goose said she and Shiren were confined together, while Lu Yang's grand-teacher confined his master and seven others at the Cliff of Repentance after they caused a major uproar in the Imperial Capital.

Lu Yang sought help from Frost Valley Master for Meng Jingzhou’s curse, but her proposed remedy would make women despise him. After Meng Jingzhou disappeared during their search, Lu Yang found him battered by a string of misfortunes and asked whether he wanted the curse altered.

• Lu Yang learned that Frost Valley Master could not remove Meng Jingzhou’s karmic curse but offered to change it so women would despise him.
• Frost Valley Master and Lu Yang went to find Meng Jingzhou, but discovered he had vanished from the circle Lu Yang had drawn around him.
• Frost Valley Master repeatedly calculated Meng Jingzhou’s location, but their pursuit failed as he kept moving across the Barren Province.
• Lu Yang went west alone and found Meng Jingzhou resting in a mountain forest with Old Horse nearby.
• Meng Jingzhou described being swept away by a tornado, chased by a living corpse, forced to run uncontrollably, and nearly caught in a battle between Spirit Transformation Realm cultivators.
• Lu Yang told Meng Jingzhou that someone at Seven Emotions Valley could alleviate his curse and asked if he wanted women to look at him with disgust.

Lu Yang brought Meng Jingzhou to Valley Master Shuang so she could diagnose and partially dispel his backlash of causality. She prescribed a treatment, then revealed her old grudge against Lu Yang’s master, Buyu.

• Lu Yang told Meng Jingzhou that Valley Master Shuang could change his curse so women would hate him, and Meng agreed to seek her treatment.
• Valley Master Shuang proposed a suspended-thread pulse diagnosis and had Lu Yang bring Meng to the entrance of the Valley of Seven Emotions.
• Lu Yang bound Meng in threads and carried out the diagnosis while Valley Master Shuang examined him from inside the valley.
• Valley Master Shuang recognized Meng’s single-man Golden Core and prescribed raw ingredients and repeated bloodletting with Seven-Star Silver Needles to dispel the curse.
• Valley Master Shuang asked whether Buyu was still alive and explained that she had once been imprisoned with him after cursing him, then added that she hoped he was dead.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou tried Frost Valley Master’s treatment to weaken Meng Jingzhou’s curse, but her grudge against the Meng family drove them from Seven Emotions Valley. As they traveled toward the Corpse Driving Sect for help, they encountered Qing Luo’s contest to find a husband, and Meng Jingzhou felt hopeful about his romantic luck.

• Lu Yang made Meng Jingzhou eat strange raw ingredients and repeatedly pricked him with Frost Valley Master’s Seven Star Silver Needles, easing part of his curse while attracting insects to his blood.
• Frost Valley Master met Meng Jingzhou, recognized him as a Meng, and angrily sent him and Lu Yang away because of her grudge against the Meng family.
• Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Zhao Po agreed to visit the Corpse Driving Sect to seek help from its elders, Sect Master, and curse experts.
• Near a city, the group heard Qing Luo, the new Sect Master of Cloud Terrace Sect, announce a martial arts contest to choose her husband.
• Zhao Po explained Cloud Terrace Sect’s rule that a female Sect Master must marry someone stronger than herself, and Meng Jingzhou became tempted by Qing Luo.

Meng Jingzhou defeated Qingluo in the arena, but she invoked an ancestral rule that would make the winner her husband. When Meng Jingzhou welcomed the prospect, Qingluo resolved to abolish the rule instead.

• Master Xiang tried to challenge Qingluo but was sent off the arena because he was over the age limit.
• Qingluo defeated a succession of young challengers with her skillful cloud-controlling technique.
• Meng Jingzhou introduced himself as an Ask Dao Sect disciple, and spectators recalled distorted stories about his exploits at the Qingzhou Grand Ceremony.
• Meng Jingzhou countered Qingluo's cloud weapons with Mountain-Crushing Fist and defeated her in three punches.
• Qingluo said her ancestral commandment required her to marry whoever defeated her, then decided to abolish it.

Meng Jingzhou’s romantic luck surged during the journey, bringing him a series of encounters that all ended in disappointment. After his bad luck finally ran out, he and Lu Yang and Zhao Po arrived safely at the Corpse-Driving Sect.

• After Qingluo withdrew from the arena, Meng Jingzhou joined Lu Yang and Zhao Po in the city, where he paid a girl selling herself to bury her father, only for her to disappear with his money.
• Meng Jingzhou rescued a young woman from a lecherous wastrel, but she fled immediately after thanking him.
• Lü'er named Meng Jingzhou as her supposed beloved to escape a gloomy young master's pursuit, and Lu Yang explained that she was using him as a shield.
• A black-clad woman crashed into Meng Jingzhou's room, took an antidote, and left without giving him a chance to speak.
• A wealthy young lady hired Meng Jingzhou to pose as her boyfriend, then revealed that she had chosen him because her mother would dislike him and paid him to stay away.
• After Meng Jingzhou's romantic luck ran out, he, Lu Yang, and Zhao Po arrived at the Corpse-Driving Sect.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou visited the Corpse-Driving Sect, where they found Man Gu using corpse-driving techniques to roast whole lamb for the disciples. Man Gu misunderstood Meng Jingzhou’s curse as a deliberate cultivation trial and resolved to work harder.

• Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou entered the Corpse-Driving Sect with Zhao Po, but learned that the Sect Master was in seclusion and agreed to visit the Grand Elder instead.
• Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Zhao Po followed a barbecue aroma and found Man Gu roasting goat corpses for a crowd of sect disciples.
• Man Gu demonstrated how his corpse-driving techniques could roast and disassemble the goats, earning praise for quickly mastering the basics.
• Lu Yang told Man Gu that Meng Jingzhou had been cursed and was unpopular with women.
• Man Gu assumed Meng Jingzhou had willingly endured the curse to cultivate, felt ashamed of his own complacency, and resolved to work harder.

Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu reunited at the Corpse-Driving Sect, where Man Gu learned about their Heavenly Court Cult and joined it. They met Elder Gai, who said Sect Master Lu could deal with the curse after his secret attempt to break through to Tribulation Transcendence.

• Man Gu explained how he had come to the Corpse-Driving Sect and recalled surviving dangerous adventures with Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.
• Man Gu learned that Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou had founded the Heavenly Court Cult and helped the Nine Nether Cult open barbecue shops using his family’s recipe, earning him a share of the profits.
• Man Gu asked to join the Heavenly Court Cult, and Lu Yang welcomed him.
• Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou met Elder Gai and explained that they had come to Huang Province seeking a way to deal with their curse.
• Elder Gai said Sect Master Lu could handle the curse after he emerged from seclusion, where he was secretly trying to break through to Tribulation Transcendence, and asked them to keep it quiet.

Lu Yang and his companions learned that ghostly calamities were troubling Hanshui City and set out to accept a mission. After Lu Yang asked the Nine Nether Cult about the suspicions against it, Vice Cult Master Shi denied involvement and revealed that the cult master was in Hanshui City.

• Elder Gai told Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu about the ghostly calamities near Hanshui City and encouraged them to deal with them for contribution points.
• The Undying Fairy identified Elder Gai as a living corpse, and Zhao Po explained that sect elders used refined corpses to represent themselves.
• Lu Yang persuaded the group to pursue a ghost-catching mission and urged Zhao Po to accept a Nascent Soul Realm mission.
• Lu Yang messaged Vice Cult Master Shi to ask whether the Nine Nether Cult had caused the calamities, and Shi denied it, saying the cult was focused on cultivation and running chain stores.
• Vice Cult Master Shi contacted the cult master, who replied that he was in Hanshui City.

The narrator recalled the planet's will telling him that an alien invasion was coming and that he, the Corpse King, needed to use zombies to force humanity to evolve. He remained unsure whether to follow its plan and began losing consciousness again as it interrupted his writing.

• The narrator said twenty days had passed since the planet's will first summoned him, and that nobody knew he had passed out.
• The planet's will claimed humanity needed to evolve to survive an alien invasion and identified the narrator as the Corpse King, created to lead the new humans.
• The planet's will urged the narrator to attack old humans with the zombie army, noting that 152 large-scale safe zones remained.
• The narrator observed that intelligent zombies retained their human memories but prioritized spreading the virus, leaving him uncertain about the planet's claims.
• The narrator began lapsing into unconsciousness again as the planet's will spoke in a different-sounding voice and interrupted his novel writing.

Lu Yang and the others took a mission to capture a powerful Drowned Ghost in a cold pool near Baishui Village. After the ghost escaped their ambush, Lu Yang drained the pool with a secret technique, which Zhao Po mistook for Universe in the Sleeve.

• Zhao Po assigned Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu a mission to defeat a Drowned Ghost suspected of killing Liu San’s wife.
• The group traveled to the cold pool, where Zhao Po sent his living corpse underwater and discovered the Drowned Ghost was at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
• The living corpse drew the ghost toward the surface, but Zhao Po’s warning alerted it, and it retreated into the pool.
• Lu Yang drained the entire pool with a magical technique, exposing the Drowned Ghost at the bottom.
• Zhao Po identified Lu Yang’s technique as Universe in the Sleeve, and Lu Yang went along with the claim.

Lu Yang and his companions defeated the Drowned Ghost after he attacked them in the pool. As Lu Yang prepared to disperse him, the ghost revealed that the woman he had supposedly drowned was still alive, and Lu Yang pulled her from the water to learn what had happened.

• The Drowned Ghost emerged from the pool, mistook Lu Yang’s spell for Universe in a Sleeve, and tried to flee rather than answer his questions.
• Meng Jingzhou struck the ghost with Arhat Fist, and Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, and Man Gu overcame his illusions, waterweeds, and attacks.
• Lu Yang’s Arhat Fist made the Drowned Ghost lose his hair, while Man Gu’s hammer and righteous energy helped drive him to surrender.
• Lu Yang brought out a Soul-Driving and Spirit-Dispersing Talisman, but the Drowned Ghost insisted the woman in the pool was alive.
• Lu Yang pulled the woman from the pool and demanded that the Drowned Ghost explain what had happened.

Lu Yang and the others questioned the Drowned Ghost and Huang Zao'er about a staged drowning and insurance fraud. The ghost insisted he needed the payout to salt his freshwater pool, but Lu Yang ended by asking what had happened to all the fish.

• The Drowned Ghost told Lu Yang that he had been a fisherman in the East Sea, cultivated to Nascent Soul Middle Stage, and been abducted to a pool near Hanshui City.
• The Drowned Ghost explained that he had helped Liu San and Huang Zao'er fake her drowning in exchange for part of the insurance payout.
• The Drowned Ghost woke Huang Zao'er, who confirmed that she and Liu San had conspired with him to cheat the merchant association.
• Meng Jingzhou questioned why a ghost would need money, and the Drowned Ghost said he had used it to buy salt for his pool.
• The Drowned Ghost urged Lu Yang to taste the pool water as proof, and Lu Yang asked where the fish had gone.

Lu Yang confronted Huang Ming over the Drowned Ghost’s fate, and the two fought after Huang Ming challenged his authority. Their clash exposed Huang Ming’s unusual abilities, and the Undying Fairy realized he was a great cultivator who had dispersed his cultivation and started over.

• Lu Yang took Liu San into custody for insurance fraud and killing the pond’s fish, while Zhao Po brought the living corpse to Whitewater Village.
• Huang Ming arrived and tried to destroy the Drowned Ghost, but Zhao Po stood in his way and Lu Yang argued that their group had captured it.
• Lu Yang and Huang Ming fought, with Huang Ming’s living corpse blocking Lu Yang’s first punch before Huang Ming matched him with the Yellow Springs Palm.
• Huang Ming revealed his strength through the Yellow Springs Palm and Dingmao True Fire, and Zhao Po realized he had hidden his abilities during the sect competition.
• Lu Yang gained the advantage in their prolonged battle, but Huang Ming attacked his spiritual power with an invisible arrow that a small shield at Lu Yang’s brow blocked.
• The Undying Fairy recognized Huang Ming as a great cultivator who had dispersed his cultivation and started over.

The Undying Fairy explained how cultivators dispersed their cultivation and rebuilt, helping Lu Yang understand Huang Ming’s strength and background. As Huang Ming unleashed his strongest technique, Lu Yang created a double of himself and evened the fight at two against two.

• The Undying Fairy explained the requirements, risks, and benefits of dispersing cultivation and rebuilding, and said none of the Five Great Immortal Sects’ ancient immortals had done it.
• Lu Yang and Huang Ming realized that each had misjudged the other’s abilities, and Lu Yang drew the Green Edge Sword to fight seriously.
• Lu Yang unleashed a powerful sword strike, but Huang Ming used Corpse Shifting and Position Exchange to escape and let a living corpse take the blow.
• Huang Ming joined the living corpse in attacking Lu Yang, then used The Other Shore Flower Blooms, Reforging Heaven and Earth to boost them both.
• Lu Yang planted Twin Lotuses Growing on One Stem seeds with the Tree-Planting Art, creating a second Lu Yang and declaring the fight even.

Lu Yang defeated Huang Ming and learned that Huang Ming was a cultivator from the Great Yu Dynasty. A Body Integration Realm cultivator threatened Lu Yang and his companions, but Five Elements Sect Master Qiu Jinan arrived and struck him down.

• Lu Yang overcame Huang Ming in battle, forcing him to concede and explain that he had reincarnated after getting stuck at the Integrated Body Middle Stage.
• Lu Yang and Huang Ming discovered that Lu Yang was truly an Ask Dao Sect disciple and Huang Ming was Venerable Huang Cen of the Great Yu Dynasty.
• Huang Ming revealed his killing intent and summoned Fellow Daoist Meng, a Body Integration Realm cultivator, to kill Lu Yang and the others.
• The Drowned Ghost recognized Fellow Daoist Meng as the person who had abducted it from the Eastern Sea, and Lu Yang realized Meng had gathered ghosts for the Hanshui City disaster.
• Fellow Daoist Meng threatened Lu Yang and his companions, but Qiu Jinan appeared and knocked him from the sky with a five-colored halo.

Qiu Jinan arrived to protect Lu Yang and his companions from the ancient cultivator True Lord Meng Tian, who challenged him with a powerful Golden Crow technique. Qiu Jinan erased the attack with Five-Element divine light and pinned Meng Tian beneath his foot.

• Lu Yang realized Qiu Jinan had secretly followed them since they entered the shady inn, while the others reacted with relief and fear at his arrival.
• True Lord Meng Tian summoned two suns with an ancient fire technique, and Qiu Jinan identified it as a lost art devised by True Lord Meng Tian.
• True Lord Meng Tian established the rule that he could perform Three Suns Patrol the Heavens and sent three blazing suns toward Qiu Jinan and his companions.
• Qiu Jinan used Five-Element divine light to dissolve the three suns without establishing a rule.
• Qiu Jinan knocked True Lord Meng Tian down and pinned him beneath his foot, remarking that no one dared use Five-Element Arts in front of him.

Qiu Jinan drove off Meng Tian True Lord and Huang Ming, but they escaped after Meng sacrificed the Fusang Tree branch and fled into Hanshui City. After the Nine Nether Church captured them, Qiu Jinan told Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou that the power of national fortune could cleanse karma’s backlash.

• Qiu Jinan destroyed Meng Tian True Lord’s suns and nearly searched his soul, but Meng escaped with Huang Ming by sacrificing the Fusang Tree branch.
• Meng Tian True Lord and Huang Ming hid in Hanshui City, where he planned to take refuge in a house controlled by his sacrificial ghost.
• Four Nine Nether Church members confronted Meng Tian True Lord and Huang Ming and captured them.
• Qiu Jinan reunited with Lu Yang and Zhao Po, then revealed that national fortune could eliminate the backlash of karma.
• Lu Yang recognized how national fortune could protect Meng Jingzhou, who was overjoyed at the proposed solution.

Lu Yang and his companions met Qiu Jian'an after he defeated a Great Yu cultivator responsible for Hanshui City's ghostly calamity. Qiu Jian'an praised Lu Yang as the number one of the younger generation, and the group went to meet Desolate Province's newly appointed governor.

• Qiu Jian'an explained that the power of national fortune could dispel karmic backlash, while Lu Yang revealed how much he already knew about it.
• Minister An arrived in Hanshui City, and Qiu Jian'an told him that a Great Yu Body Integration cultivator had caused the ghostly calamity before fleeing.
• Qiu Jian'an handed the drowned ghost and unconscious Huang Zao'er to Minister An, who also sent subordinates to arrest their accomplice, Liu San.
• Lu Yang refilled the dried-up cold pool with water stored in his sleeve, and Qiu Jian'an declared him the number one of the younger generation.
• Lu Yang boasted about the title, but Meng Jingzhou teased him about the eldest senior sister before the group met Desolate Province's new governor.