Chapter Summaries

Wang Ping, Dan Chen, and Yun Shan fought First Day Evil Cultivators, but the attackers escaped after Zi Luan intervened with a Transfer Talisman. Afterward, Wang Ping examined the captured Outer Realm Demonic Creature at Thousand Wood Temple.

• Dan Chen attacked the leading woman with his Alchemy Furnace, while Yun Shan blocked the flames and Wang Ping helped defend them.
• A crimson-skinned Cultivator exploded and regenerated, but Wang Ping's Sealing Array contained the blast and Dan Chen warned him about First Day's False Spirit.
• Three First Day Evil Cultivators fled as a bronze bell trapped Wang Ping, Dan Chen, and Yun Shan, and a seven-colored beam targeted them.
• Zi Luan used a Transfer Talisman to rescue the three men, then explained that Junior brother Xiu Yu had altered the plan and the attackers had escaped through a spatial node.
• Wang Ping placed the beautiful, fire-radiating Outer Realm Demonic Creature inside a Sealing Array at Thousand Wood Temple.

Wang Ping waited as Yulian completed her advancement and learned about her powerful new spell, then received Wen Hai’s report on the First Day incident and information about two First Sect cultivators. The chapter ended with Wang Ping receiving a calling card from Huodouzi.

• Wang Ping arranged a transaction at Sanhe Temple after Xia Yao and Yang Tian agreed to his proposal.
• Yulian awoke from her three-month advancement, gained the spell Summon the Ocean, and demonstrated its power to Wang Ping and Hu Qianqian.
• Yulian spent the next half month testing her spell on sea shrimp with Wang Ping at an isolated southern island.
• Wen Hai reported that an intelligence error had led to clashes with First Day, resulting in six hundred Qi practitioners being taken down and two Immortal Realm cultivators held accountable.
• Wang Ping read Wen Hai’s Bamboo Slips about Batu, the Demon Sword Master, and Huodouzi, a First Sect preacher.
• Wang Ping received a calling card signed by Huodouzi.

Huodouzi and Batu, two Second Realm cultivators from the First Sect, visited Thousand Wood Temple and met Wang Ping at the Mountain Top Dojo. After discussing Huodouzi’s past visit to the Xia Imperial Family and sampling Wang Ping’s tea, they faced his refusal to hand over the item they had come for.

• Huodouzi and Batu waited outside Thousand Wood Temple, presented their calling card, and were formally welcomed by Yang Hou and the Inner Sect disciples.
• Huodouzi and Batu exchanged courtesies with Wang Ping at the Mountain Top Dojo, while Yulian inspected their souls and reported her findings to Wang Ping.
• Huodouzi told Wang Ping that the True Sun Sect had marked his spiritual veins when he tried to spread its teachings in Central Province twenty years earlier.
• Huodouzi praised Wang Ping’s sandalwood incense and plain tea, and Wang Ping poured tea for both guests.
• Wang Ping said he had heard why Huodouzi and Batu had come, but it was impossible for him to give them the item.

Huodouzi explained that the Fire Spirit and Outer Realm Demonic Creatures could make cultivators obsessive and violent, then offered Wang Ping the Void Spirit Technique to suppress those effects. He asked Wang Ping to help obtain another demonic creature, but Wang Ping refused, so Huodouzi proposed that Batu spar with him instead.

• Huodouzi told Wang Ping that the Outer Realm Demonic Creature had fallen from the true Outer Realm and that such creatures could become distorted in this world.
• Yulian confirmed that Outer Realm Objects could have hidden negative effects, and Huodouzi explained how the Fire Spirit and demonic weapons could drive people into clear-minded madness.
• Huodouzi gave Wang Ping the Void Spirit Technique and explained that Batu suppressed his emotions while confronting the sensitivity caused by his demonic weapon.
• Huodouzi said Outer Realm Demonic Creatures attracted their own kind and asked Wang Ping about the creature destroyed by a Power Pill at Baishui Sect.
• Wang Ping denied knowing about Baishui Sect's affairs and refused to help Huodouzi obtain a demonic creature.
• Huodouzi said Batu wished to exchange pointers with Wang Ping.

Wang Ping and his companions tested Batu’s unstable consciousness in a battle on a solitary island. Batu was subdued, and Wang Ping was left weighing whether to advance the Purgatory Banner or refine a Puppet.

• Batu’s consciousness surged with killing intent, and Huodouzi explained that Batu needed to vent his suppressed emotions periodically.
• Wang Ping agreed to fight Batu, and Yulian and Huodouzi joined him on an island south of Shang’an Prefecture.
• Batu’s rage transformed him into a Fire Cultivator, and his flames and spiritual energy briefly dazed Wang Ping before Yulian helped him recover.
• Wang Ping used an illusion realm and Golden Armored Soldiers to wear Batu down while Daoist Tongyu suggested advancing the Purgatory Banner.
• Wang Ping’s Golden Armored Soldiers knocked Batu’s consciousness from the flames, and Wood Spirit shredded it until he reverted to his original form.
• Yulian warned Wang Ping that a curse talisman could make Batu lose control after his consciousness had been so badly damaged.

Wang Ping received the Void Spirit Technique from Huodouzi and learned how it could shield a Fire Spirit from frenzied inspiration. After arranging help for Lü Wen and his wife, Wang Ping weighed whether to use the Blood Pill to upgrade the Purgatory Banner or save it for Puppets, and decided to upgrade the banner.

• Wang Ping played chess with Huodouzi, agreed to provide him five hundred thousand Power Pills each year, and heard that Wulang's people had secretly watched Huodouzi and Batu.
• Huodouzi and Batu left Mountain Top Dojo, and Wang Ping examined the bamboo slip Huodouzi had given him, learning the Void Spirit Technique and its formation requirements.
• Wang Ping sent a coded message through Sanhe Temple to Wen Yang, asking him to help Lü Wen and his wife find a new dojo.
• Wang Ping considered traveling to Hushan Kingdom for the maturing Sacred Heart Grass and debated whether to spend the Blood Pill on the Purgatory Banner or Puppet refining.
• Daoist Tongyu advised Wang Ping that his existing materials could supply enough Wood Spirit for many Golden Armored Soldier Puppets, and explained how to upgrade the Purgatory Banner with the Blood Pill.

Wang Ping fed Blood Pills to the Purgatory Banner until it awakened an artifact spirit, which named itself Mingshui. The Banner could now generate Netherworld energy on its own and transfer its negative effects to Daoist Tongyu when Wang Ping used it.

• Wang Ping tested the Purgatory Banner with ordinary Blood Pills, but they produced almost no visible change.
• Wang Ping fed the Banner aged Blood Pills, and its patterns grew vivid as a strange area absorbed the energy from two Hundred Years Blood Pills.
• Wang Ping sensed a flicker of consciousness in the Banner, and Daoist Tongyu admitted he had hoped to awaken it.
• After two days of feeding it Blood Pills, the Banner manifested an artifact spirit that introduced itself as Mingshui.
• Mingshui told Wang Ping it could absorb spiritual energy and convert it into Netherworld energy, and that it could transfer the Banner's negative effects to Daoist Tongyu.

Wang Ping prepared Thousand Wood Temple for his journey to Hushan Kingdom, assigning construction and resource-gathering tasks before advising his disciples not to attempt Immortal Realm advancement until he returned. After settling affairs with Guangxuan, Hu Qianqian, and Zi Luan, he left in secret under the cover of a sea-route scouting mission.

• Yang Hou reported the temple’s finances and resources, and Wang Ping kept the Water Spirit Vein in reserve for Yang Hou’s branch.
• Wang Ping ordered Yang Hou to build an alchemy chamber, hollow out a mountain for the Outer Realm Demonic Creature, and gather offensive magical artifacts.
• Wang Ping told Liu Shuang to wait, along with Wang Li and the others, before making plans to enter the Immortal Realm.
• Wang Ping visited Guangxuan at Sanhe Temple and gave Hu Qianqian instructions at Baishui Lake.
• Wang Ping and Zi Luan decided he would conceal his identity in Hushan Kingdom, and on May 3rd he departed under a sea-route scouting dispatch.

Wang Ping returned in disguise to Ningyuan County and revisited the places tied to his past, finding them transformed by a century of prosperity and decay. He left the county for the Fishing Village, where he and Yulian considered whether living among people could be part of cultivation.

• Wang Ping, disguised as Liu En, drank tea outside Ningyuan County and reflected on how the county had changed since the disaster a hundred years earlier.
• Yulian warned Wang Ping that a nearby young master had noticed him and carried faint killing intent, so Wang Ping secretly gave him a Disease Talisman.
• Wang Ping entered Ningyuan County using his Daoist Scripture Hall ID Badge, bought shrimp for Yulian, and left along the coastal road after discussing the young master's illness.
• Wang Ping reached the Fishing Village, where wary villagers watched him pass through the square to an abandoned campsite.
• Wang Ping and Yulian discussed cultivation and agreed that they might try living among the world and taking on more identities.

Wang Ping visited the Golden Pavilion, where he saw how its allure consumed people, then crossed the border and sensed hostility from a Daoist Scripture Hall practitioner. He ended the chapter by casting a Sacred Divination as he continued onward.

• Wang Ping spoke with a dying man outside the Golden Pavilion and gave him two pieces of broken silver so he could listen to music.
• Wang Ping spent the evening hearing stories about the Golden Pavilion, while Yulian warned that a secret art might be luring people inside.
• The next morning, Wang Ping saw the middle-aged man’s corpse being carried away and reflected that he had died with happy memories.
• Wang Ping passed through the border checkpoint after a Qi practitioner from the Daoist Scripture Hall checked his ID Badge.
• Beyond the pass, Wang Ping sensed that the Qi practitioner had probed him with spiritual energy and harbored hostility, then cast a Sacred Divination.

Wang Ping traveled toward Sea City, clashed with wolf Yao demanding a road tax, and discovered that people from the border were tracking him. He reached Sea City the next day, finding it unchanged from his memories.

• Wang Ping encountered wolf Yao demanding one tael of silver from each traveler and let them retreat when a large merchant caravan approached.
• Two caravan guards drove Wang Ping off the road, and he reflected to Yulian on his anger at being treated with contempt.
• Wang Ping cut down several wolves when the wolf Yao returned, then used an illusion to evade an arrow and marked the figures pursuing it with a toxin talisman.
• Yulian sent Ice Spikes into the forest after the fleeing wolf Yao, while Wang Ping said the border figures had likely uncovered his purpose and forged documents.
• Wang Ping rested at a growing trading settlement, left before the caravans departed the next morning, and reached Sea City around noon.

Wang Ping and Yulian returned to Sea City and reached Thousand Lakes Inn, a secret contact point for Thousand Wood Temple Internal Affairs. After delivering a wooden box and settling into a guarded backyard room, they prepared to explore the inn’s food and strange surroundings.

• Wang Ping and Yulian crossed Sea City, discussing how Yuqing Sect managed the city’s humans and demons, then found Thousand Lakes Inn.
• Wang Ping posed as a novice Jianghu Guest, showed his ID Badge to the manager, and handed over a wooden box for delivery.
• The rat Yao led Wang Ping to a backyard room and warned him not to open the courtyard gates or drink from the well.
• Wang Ping scattered weed seeds around the courtyard to bring the area under his control, then cleaned the room while Yulian washed the quilt with Water Spirit Qi.
• Yulian reminded Wang Ping that his persona called for him to eat in the front hall, and admitted she wanted to try the venison.

Wang Ping gathered intelligence about Sacred Heart Grass and arranged a pretext to travel to Shangdan Sect. As he prepared to leave on an inn errand, the female warrior warned him against taking the job so close to the grass’s maturation.

• The innkeeper told Wang Ping that Sacred Heart Grass grew in three locations, that the main harvest was divided among the six great sects, and that the rarest patch caused deadly battles.
• The innkeeper warned Wang Ping that Xuanqing Sect and Tianshui Sect had gathered Second Realm cultivators, many from Central Province, and arranged a task that would let him visit Shangdan Sect.
• Wang Ping monitored the innkeeper with Wood Spirit Qi and confirmed he had not been followed.
• The rat Yao offered Wang Ping a paid errand to deliver supplies to Shangdan Sect, and Wang Ping accepted.
• The female warrior warned Wang Ping not to take a Shangdan Sect job with Sacred Heart Grass about to mature.

Wang Ping arrived at Shangdan Sect and met Daoist Yuanzheng, who asked him to grow a tree in his barren courtyard. Over tea, Yuanzheng offered Wang Ping a mission involving Sacred Heart Grass and Tianshui Sect.

• Wang Ping and Yulian reached Shangdan Sect, where an inner sect disciple recognized Wang Ping as Liu En and escorted him to Daoist Yuanzheng.
• Daoist Yuanzheng brought Wang Ping to his courtyard and asked him to plant a tree despite the harsh conditions.
• Wang Ping used a seed, a Spirit Gathering Array, and a Wood Spirit while Yulian supplied water spirits to grow a large banyan tree.
• Daoist Yuanzheng brewed tea with Spiritual Medicine and told Wang Ping that a Tianshui Sect elder needed Sacred Heart Grass to condense his Primordial Spirit.
• Daoist Yuanzheng offered Wang Ping a mission with four stalks of Sacred Heart Grass as the reward, whether he succeeded or failed.

Wang Ping accepted Shangdan Sect's invitation to join a raid on Tianshui Sect's base during the struggle over Sacred Heart Grass, then spent two months preparing at Shangdan Sect. As the grass neared maturity, a divination and a summons brought him to a gathering of hired cultivators.

• Daoist Yuanzheng explained that Shangdan Sect planned to attack Tianshui Sect's base while its forces sought Sacred Heart Grass, and Wang Ping agreed to take part.
• Daoist Yuanzheng warned Wang Ping that powerful figures regarded cultivators like mortals and cautioned him not to provoke them.
• Wang Ping stayed at Shangdan Sect for two months and twice inspected Biyou Mountain, finding that its marshland suited him and Yulian but offered little cover.
• Wang Ping cast an Yin Hexagram, then a Sacred Divination after changing his thoughts, while Yulian wondered whether the grass's maturity would let her see her parents.
• A young disciple summoned Wang Ping to the front hall, where Yuan Zheng, two other Shangdan Sect cultivators, and six hired helpers had gathered.

Wang Ping and his two teammates began their mission against Tianshui Sect, traveling through Sacred Heart Marsh to Yingfeng Ferry. After the three gathered intelligence, Sun Shulin revealed that Tianshui Sect’s unstable Star God had two powerful friends whose existence Shangdan Sect had not disclosed.

• Wang Ping, Sun Shulin, and Shang Ge entered Sacred Heart Marsh in disguise, and Shang Ge swiftly killed attackers at a crossroads.
• Wang Ping noticed a Thousand Wood Temple Internal Affairs mark on one of the dead but concealed his reaction.
• At Yingfeng Ferry, the three took a private room in a teahouse and agreed to gather intelligence one at a time.
• Sun Shulin revealed that he had placed people in Tianshui Sect and Qingxuan Gate, while Shang Ge described his companions’ roles on both sides.
• Sun Shulin reported that Tianshui Sect held two Gold cultivators and a half-mad Star God, who had two close friends from Hushan Kingdom branches of Earth Cave Sect.

Wang Ping, Sun Shulin, and Shang Ge waited for the Sacred Heart Grass to mature while sizing up one another and gathering intelligence. When the signal to attack the Tianshui Sect camp appeared and the grass matured, Wang Ping interpreted his divination as one where fortune and misfortune depended on one another and urged them to move.

• Sun Shulin assured Wang Ping and Shang Ge that he had no intention of changing sides, while Wang Ping shared his intelligence about the Tianshui Sect camp.
• Wang Ping cast divinations, and he and Sun Shulin exchanged knowing smiles after the signals from Biyou Mountain began appearing.
• Sun Shulin's spirit bird reported that fighting had broken out near Biyou Mountain and that the river at Windward Crossing was turning red with blood.
• Wang Ping, Sun Shulin, and Shang Ge gathered updates throughout the day as the Sacred Heart Grass drew crowds and fighting intensified.
• Shang Ge reported that the six sects' camps held no cultivators from their own sects, and a violet-red signal appeared announcing the attack on the Tianshui Sect camp.
• Sun Shulin's spirit bird reported that the Sacred Heart Grass had fully matured, and Wang Ping said they had to move.

Wang Ping, Shang Ge, and Sun Shulin launched an assault on the Tianshui Sect camp at Biyou Mountain, where the Sacred Heart Grass was guarded by powerful cultivators. After the fight revealed two Gold cultivators and a deadly black substance, Wang Ping sensed danger and ordered a retreat, just as strange green halos appeared.

• Wang Ping, Shang Ge, and Sun Shulin approached the Tianshui Sect camp and spotted the Sacred Heart Grass behind a barrier guarded by disciples.
• Wang Ping ordered Shang Ge to provoke the crowd, and Shang Ge threw a black orb into the river, drawing Jianghu Guests into the camp's deadly defenses.
• Wang Ping sent Shang Ge and Sun Shulin to attack, and Shang Ge's magnetic field trapped a Gold cultivator while Sun Shulin's black energy revealed a second Gold cultivator and turned nearby victims into Corpse Soldiers.
• Wang Ping summoned Wood Soldiers to attack the barrier as the black substance spread poisonous fumes that killed approaching Jianghu Guests.
• Yulian warned Wang Ping that something felt wrong, and Wang Ping ordered a retreat just as rows of green halos appeared where Shang Ge had been standing.

Wang Ping battled a half-mad Star God whose corrosive green halos devastated Biyou Mountain, while Shang Ge and Sun Shulin pursued the Sacred Heart Grass. Wang Ping escaped through the marsh after the Star God unleashed a realm-shaking surge, as Yulian suspected someone had tampered with him.

• The Star God attacked Wang Ping, Shang Ge, and Sun Shulin with corrosive green beams that devastated Biyou Mountain and killed nearly everyone there.
• Wang Ping used Power Pills to disrupt the Star God’s attacks, then sent Shang Ge and Sun Shulin to seize or destroy the Sacred Heart Grass.
• Wang Ping bombarded the Star God with more Power Pills and fled when Yulian sensed his aura gathering dangerously.
• Shang Ge, Sun Shulin, and the other two cultivators fled in separate directions, apparently carrying portions of the Sacred Heart Grass.
• The Star God filled the surrounding space with green halos, and one fleeing cultivator was caught in the light.
• Wang Ping concealed himself with Wood Spirit Qi, escaped beneath the marsh, and reached a river after the green light engulfed the region behind him.

Wang Ping escaped the chaos at Biyou Mountain and learned that cultivators from Central Province had come to surround and kill his Great-Grandmaster Changqing. He fled toward Gray Water Pool with the female martial hero who had brought the warning, while three pursuers tried to intercept him.

• Wang Ping retrieved a secret message from Daoist Yuanzheng telling him to withdraw and promising to find a way to deliver the Sacred Heart Grass.
• Wang Ping watched a battle involving Heavenly Lightning and a sword formation erupt near Biyou Mountain, then escaped to a prepared safe house.
• Wang Ping learned from the city's residents that a violent incident had occurred at Biyou Mountain and resolved to prepare more carefully when faced with danger.
• The female martial hero from Thousand Lakes Inn arrived and warned Wang Ping that people from Central Province planned to surround and kill Great-Grandmaster Changqing.
• Wang Ping took the female martial hero with him and sped toward Gray Water Pool as three figures pursued and tried to surround them.