Chapter Summaries

Yan Ruxue and Xiao Mo shared a pleasant conversation at Jade Spring Lake without revealing their identities, and Xiao Mo found her pastries oddly familiar. As Yan Ruxue prepared to enter the palace as his bride, she confessed to Xiao Chun that she had loved him for seven thousand years.

• Yan Ruxue and Xiao Mo exchanged thoughts about love, drank tea together, and parted with a box of pastries.
• Xiao Mo tasted an Osmanthus Cake, found its flavor familiar, and briefly looked back toward Jade Spring Lake before dismissing the thought.
• Yan Ruxue explained to Xiao Chun that she had kept their chance meeting simple by not exchanging names or identities.
• Yan Ruxue told Xiao Chun that she liked Xiao Mo and had loved him for seven thousand years, leaving Xiao Chun to protest that she was only nineteen.

Xiao Mo trained with Jiang Qingyi, learned the principles of the Sword Way, and advanced to Qi Cultivation Level 6 during their sparring. Jiang Qingyi accepted his invitation to lunch and chose buns again.

• Xiao Mo gave Jiang Qingyi the Grass Character Sword Art, and she exchanged it for the Wind Shadow Sword Art.
• Jiang Qingyi explained sword moves, Sword Qi, and sword intent, and advised Xiao Mo to practice both sword arts together.
• After an hour of practice, Jiang Qingyi tested Xiao Mo in repeated sparring matches and knocked his sword away several times.
• Xiao Mo sensed an opening in their final exchange, countered Jiang Qingyi, and broke through to Qi Cultivation Level 6.
• Xiao Mo invited Jiang Qingyi to lunch, and she agreed to eat buns again.

Xiao Mo shared steamed buns with Jiang Qingyi, who remembered how her master had once saved and raised her. In Heavenly Secrets City, He Yeye asked He Baihua about Xiao Mo and learned that his romantic entanglements might cost him his life.

• Xiao Mo told Jiang Qingyi that she seemed different from the people of the mountain, prompting her to recall her kind master.
• Jiang Qingyi remembered being saved from a bun shop owner by a man named Xiao Mo, whom she had called her master.
• He Yeye arrived at the Heavenly Secrets City lord's residence with He Gang and asked He Baihua about Xiao Mo.
• He Baihua said Bai Ruxue had asked her to divine Xiao Mo's fate and warned that his peach blossom tribulation might cost him his life.

Wang Xin began daily sutra recitations at Zhou’s Altar of Heaven in preparation for the emperor’s wedding, while officials whispered about her ability to read people’s thoughts and her past with a demonic sect’s Holy Son. At Kong Nian Temple, Xu Jing and Hui Jue discussed Wang Xin’s search for her senior brother, whom Xu Jing said was both the demon in her heart and her Buddha.

• Hui Ming welcomed Minister Yan Zhen and the Zhou officials to Hundred Lantern Temple, where Wang Xin finished praying and greeted them.
• Yan Zhen asked Wang Xin to recite sutras daily at the Altar of Heaven for the thirty days before the emperor’s wedding, and she agreed.
• Wang Xin learned the wedding rites from Yan Zhen and began reciting sutras at the Altar of Heaven.
• Wang Qi and Zhou Lu discussed Wang Xin’s reputed ability to sense emotions and her history with a demonic sect’s Holy Son, but Yan Zhen ordered them to stop gossiping.
• Hui Jue told Xu Jing that Wang Xin would not believe his tricks anymore and that the Myriad Dao Sect was searching for her senior brother.
• Xu Jing said Wang Xin’s senior brother was not only the demon in her heart but also her Buddha.

Wang Xin used the demonic saber Ink Dye to locate the man she believed to be her former-life master in the Zhou Dynasty, then resolved to search for him herself. Meanwhile, Yu Yunwei learned that the Myriad Dao Sect’s search array had likely found its previous Sect Master’s reincarnation in the Zhou Kingdom and sent disciples to investigate.

• Wang Xin finished reciting Buddhist scriptures on the Heaven-Worshiping Platform and used Ink Dye to search for its former master.
• Ink Dye’s black light flew toward the northern district of the Zhou Dynasty’s Imperial Capital, and Wang Xin decided she would search for him despite the crowds.
• Wang Xin worried that the man might bully her again, but told Chaos she would let him do it a couple more times.
• The Formation Hall Master reported that the Thousand Search Array had located the previous Sect Master’s reincarnation in the Zhou Kingdom with seventy percent certainty.
• Yu Yunwei ordered Wan'er and Green Tree to investigate the Zhou Dynasty and vowed to bring her Senior Brother back.

Jiang Qingyi helped Xiao Mo break through to Qi Cultivation Level 7, then saved him from Sword Qi backlash and ordered him to rest. After giving him the Nourishing Intent Art, she left, and Xiao Mo entered the fourth life in the Book of a Hundred Lives.

• Jiang Qingyi taught Xiao Mo swordsmanship for three days at the Dao Seeking Altar.
• Xiao Mo fused the Grass Character Sword Art and Wind Shadow Sword Art during a spar with Jiang Qingyi and broke through to Qi Cultivation Level 7.
• Sword Qi rampaged through Xiao Mo's Spiritual Meridian, and Jiang Qingyi forced it out before he could suffer further harm.
• Jiang Qingyi gave Xiao Mo pills and the Nourishing Intent Art, then told him to rest for three days.
• Xiao Mo accepted the Book of a Hundred Lives' prompt and entered its fourth life using his own name.

Xiao Mo entered his fourth life in the war-torn Western Regions and learned that he had three missions, including helping a Buddhist prodigy attain Buddhahood and uniting the demonic sects. After rejoining his four older companions, he heard that they had found Steward Fang’s hidden money and planned to steal it.

• The Book of a Hundred Lives told Xiao Mo about his orphaned life in the Western Regions and assigned him three missions.
• Xiao Mo considered the dangerous state of the Western Regions and waited for the little girl with a Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart to appear.
• Zheng Shanhan, Lou Tai, Tang Kuang, and Qian Zhenhao called Xiao Mo over and discussed their plans.
• Zheng Shanhan announced that Lou Tai had discovered Steward Fang’s hidden stash, and the five boys set off for Luofeng City to take it.

Zheng Shanhan and three brothers set out north to seek immortals, while Xiao Mo stayed behind to search for his family and wait for the little girl. After his brothers left, Xiao Mo spent several days alone in the village, and a noise outside his courtyard woke him on the fifth night.

• Zheng Shanhan persuaded his brothers to seek the Black Dragon Sect and become cultivators so they could protect themselves and their gold.
• Xiao Mo told Zheng Shanhan he would stay behind, claiming he wanted to find his uncle and aunt in the Liang Kingdom.
• Four days later, Zheng Shanhan gave Xiao Mo a share of the gold, and he and the other brothers left most of their food with him before heading north.
• Xiao Mo waited alone in the abandoned village for the little girl, but no one arrived for four days.
• On the fifth night, Xiao Mo woke suddenly after hearing a sound outside the courtyard.

Xiao Mo discovered a starving little girl in his kitchen and offered her food and a place to stay while they looked for her missing Sister Zi. She accepted on the condition that he not bully her and introduced herself as Jiang Xin, though Sister Zi called her A Xin.

• Xiao Mo heard a noise in the kitchen and found a filthy little girl hesitating over his leftover rice.
• Xiao Mo offered the girl food, and she ate the rice and drank water after he stepped back.
• The girl explained that she had been searching for Sister Zi since finding their cave empty two days earlier, and that she had refused to steal because Sister Zi taught her stealing was wrong.
• Xiao Mo offered to let the girl stay and help with chores in exchange for food while they searched for Sister Zi.
• The girl agreed, asked Xiao Mo not to bully her, and told him her name was Jiang Xin, but he could call her A Xin.

Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin spent the day together after she told him how she had been abandoned by her mother and separated from Big Sister A Zi. After Jiang Xin accidentally let their only fish escape, she feared Xiao Mo was angry and secretly returned to the stream at night to catch another one, asking him to stop being mad when she brought it back.

• Jiang Xin told Xiao Mo that her mother had left her during a famine and that Big Sister A Zi had taken her in with four other children before they all disappeared.
• Xiao Mo promised to search for news of Big Sister A Zi with Jiang Xin the next day, and the two went fishing for their food.
• Jiang Xin slipped and let the catfish escape, then repeatedly offered to let Xiao Mo hit or scold her for losing it.
• Xiao Mo woke during the night, found Jiang Xin gone, and searched the woods for her.
• Xiao Mo found Jiang Xin catching fish in the cold stream, and she returned with a catfish and asked him to stop being mad at her.

Xiao Mo took Jiang Xin to Luofeng City to exchange gold and search for news of A Zi. He learned that a swordswoman matching her description had flown toward Danyang Sect, leaving him to decide what to do with the lead.

• Xiao Mo cooked fish porridge with Jiang Xin, then agreed to let her accompany him into the city after she blackened her face to disguise herself.
• Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin traveled to Luofeng City, where Xiao Mo exchanged his gold for seventeen taels of silver at Ma Ji Pawnshop.
• Xiao Mo paid Feng Yue Tower for information about A Zi and heard that a woman matching her description had flown toward Danyang Sect with several children.
• Xiao Mo asked what Danyang Sect was, paid for more details, and learned that it was a modest alchemy sect led by a Golden Core cultivator.
• The woman at Feng Yue Tower thanked Xiao Mo for his manners and teased him by inviting him to become one of her husbands.

Xiao Mo learned that A Zi and the other children had gone to Danyang Sect, and Jiang Xin decided to go there to find them. Xiao Mo traveled with her, and as night approached on the road, Jiang Xin told him she would rather be scolded than left behind.

• An older girl offered Xiao Mo a place at Feng Yue Tower and gave him a map to Danyang Sect.
• Xiao Mo told Jiang Xin that A Zi was safe, and Jiang Xin decided to go to Danyang Sect to see whether A Zi and the other children were there.
• Xiao Mo insisted on accompanying Jiang Xin, and they bought a donkey and provisions before leaving Luofeng City.
• Xiao Mo checked that no one had followed them, then made Jiang Xin eat several meat buns before they continued toward Danyang Sect.
• As darkness fell, Jiang Xin asked Xiao Mo not to leave her behind, and then said he might as well scold her.

Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin traveled to Danyang Sect so Jiang Xin could find A Zi, whom the guards identified as Senior Sister Zixia. As the guards went to report their arrival, Zixia stood by an alchemy furnace while a man questioned why she had brought back only four children instead of the five their Master requested.

• Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin reached Blood Moon City, bought food, and left quickly to avoid attracting attention.
• While resting in a cave, Jiang Xin asked why Xiao Mo was kind to her, and he said he was softhearted and couldn't bear to see fools suffer.
• Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin reached Danyang Sect, where Jiang Xin asked the gate guards for Big Sister A Zi.
• The guards recognized A Zi as Senior Sister Zixia, and one went to report the children’s arrival.
• In Danyang Sect’s Alchemy room, a man asked Zixia why she had brought back four children when their Master had requested five.

Zi Xia’s fellow disciple Teng Ziming questioned why she had spared Jiang Xin, while Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin arrived at the Danyang Sect seeking her. Zi Xia reunited with Jiang Xin in the Alchemy room and revealed that Xiao Han and the others were inside the furnace.

• Teng Ziming questioned Zi Xia about sparing the mind-reading girl, and she threatened him with her sword.
• An Outer disciple reported that Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin had arrived, and Teng Ziming ordered that they be treated well.
• Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin were escorted through the Danyang Sect and taken to Zi Xia’s Alchemy room.
• Jiang Xin recognized Zi Xia’s voice, then sensed something was wrong and asked about Xiao Han and the others.
• Zi Xia told Jiang Xin that Xiao Han and the others were inside the Alchemy furnace.

Jiang Xin learned that Zi Xia had lured children to Danyang Sect to refine them into pills, and she and Xiao Mo were imprisoned for the same fate. When Mountain Ghost Sect invaded Danyang Sect, Xiao Mo seized the chaos to flee with Jiang Xin.

• Zi Xia revealed that she had brought Jiang Xin and dozens of other children to Danyang Sect to make pills, then ordered Jiang Xin and Xiao Mo imprisoned and prepared for sacrifice.
• Teng Ziming suggested using Xiao Mo for pills and keeping Jiang Xin alive, leaving Zi Xia to consider his proposal.
• At the guest peak, Xiao Mo endured daily Marrow Cleansing Pills while Jiang Xin blamed herself, and he urged her to live even if he died.
• A blast shattered the courtyard Formation as Mountain Ghost Sect invaded Danyang Sect, and Zhou Ye challenged Pill Daoist to battle.
• Xiao Mo took Jiang Xin's hand and ran toward the foot of the mountain amid the fighting.

Xue Kui turned the Mountain Ghost Sect's victory over the Danyang Sect into a test for Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin, forcing them to kill. The chapter ended with Xiao Mo killing Zi Xia to save Jiang Xin, then telling Xue Kui his name.

• Xue Kui killed the Danyang Sect's sect master and trapped the fleeing cultivators in her Red Thread Cage as the Mountain Ghost Sect attacked.
• Xiao Mo led Jiang Xin down the mountain, but Xue Kui stopped them and demanded they kill Teng Ziming and Zi Xia to become her disciples.
• Xiao Mo killed the barely conscious Teng Ziming while Jiang Xin refused to attack Zi Xia.
• As Xue Kui prepared to kill Jiang Xin, Zi Xia lunged toward her, and Xiao Mo thrust his sword into Zi Xia's chest.
• Zi Xia asked Xiao Mo to care for Jiang Xin before dying, and Xiao Mo told Xue Kui his name.

After Xue Kui brought Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin to the Myriad Dao Sect, she settled them at Karma Blood Peak and ordered Xiao Mo to begin cultivating. Jiang Xin grieved over the blood on Xiao Mo’s hands, and he vowed to kill and spill blood when necessary so she could remain a source of light for him.

• Xiao Mo learned that Xue Kui had helped the Mountain Ghost Sect's sect master destroy the Danyang Sect to gather souls for her pill.
• Xue Kui explained that strength ruled the Myriad Dao Sect and said she would only protect Xiao Mo from opponents at least two major realms above him.
• Xue Kui took Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin to Karma Blood Peak, gave Xiao Mo a Storage Bag, and threatened to kill them if he failed to meet her expectations.
• Xiao Mo and Jiang Xin bathed in the spirit spring, then Jiang Xin repeatedly tried to wipe the blood from his hands.
• Xiao Mo comforted Jiang Xin, told her the world was at fault, and promised to carry the burden of killing so she could remain unchanged.

Xiao Mo endured Xue Kui’s brutal Blood Demon Blade Art training and established his foundation in less than three months. While visiting Myriad Dao Town to buy wine, he overheard two cultivators plotting against Xue Kui, and his blood-red saber energy struck before their conversation could continue.

• Xue Kui began teaching Xiao Mo the Blood Demon Blade Art, warning him that failure or Qi Deviation would mean death.
• Xiao Mo endured the training and medicinal baths, reaching the ninth layer of Qi Refining after two months despite growing bloodlust.
• On his seventy-fifth day of cultivation, Xiao Mo established his foundation, and Xue Kui gave him the Spirit Gathering Blade before sending him to fetch wine.
• Xiao Mo visited Myriad Dao Town, bought clothes and snacks for Jiang Xin, and went to the Blind Man’s Wine Shop for Sangluo Wine.
• Wang Weijun and Li Chen mocked Xue Kui and discussed their plans for her, so Xiao Mo unleashed a blood-red saber strike that shattered their table and chairs.

Xiao Mo killed Wang Weijun and Li Chen after they attacked him, then defied the Myriad Dao Sect’s Great Elder Xia Kong when he tried to intervene. Xue Kui protected Xiao Mo and left town with him after sharing wine, telling him not to die too soon.

• Wang Weijun and Li Chen attacked Xiao Mo, but he overpowered them, killed Li Chen, and pursued the fleeing Wang Weijun.
• Xia Kong appeared and pressured Xiao Mo to spare Wang Weijun, but Xiao Mo killed Wang Weijun and destroyed his soul.
• Xue Kui intercepted Xia Kong’s attack and drove him away after defending Xiao Mo.
• Xiao Mo told Xue Kui that he had fought the men because they insulted her, and she laughed before sharing Sangluo Wine with him.
• Xue Kui and Xiao Mo left town together, and she told him not to die too soon.

Xiao Mo asked Xue Kui to let Jiang Xin leave Karma Blood Peak and follow her own path, and learned that her Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart could draw the attention of Buddhist powers. Xue Kui agreed to let them go to Kong Nian Temple if Xiao Mo could withstand three of her strikes after reaching the Cave Mansion Realm, then secretly coughed up blood and wondered how much time she had left.

• Jiang Xin welcomed Xiao Mo back to Karma Blood Peak, and he brought her new clothes and food.
• Xiao Mo asked Xue Kui to let Jiang Xin leave, and Xue Kui explained the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart and its connection to Buddhism.
• Xue Kui agreed that Jiang Xin could go to Kong Nian Temple with Xiao Mo if he endured three strikes from her after reaching the Cave Mansion Realm.
• After Xiao Mo left, Xue Kui coughed up blood, wondered how much time remained to her, and smiled as she remembered him calling her his master.