Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu helped Du Kui recover after Sima Yaoji’s execution, then Zhou Qing faced questions about the Ghost City token from Ke Shu and a mysterious silver-haired woman. Lu Yaoyao suspected the woman was connected to Zhou Qing and recorded her as a potential third mother in her handbook.

• Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu showed Du Kui the Image Stone of Sima Yaoji’s execution, and Du Kui resolved to stop wasting away and left to find himself again.
• Ke Shu questioned Zhou Qing, Yan Xiaohu, and the others about a red token seen in Ghost City, but they denied recognizing it.
• Lu Yaoyao questioned Zhou Qing about his cultivation and wondered whether he was truly a Human Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• A mysterious silver-haired woman appeared at Zhou Qing’s courtyard, asked who had taken the red token, and vanished after Zhou Qing told her Ke Shu had asked about it.
• Lu Yaoyao drew the woman in her handbook and labeled her “Third Mom.”

Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu learned that Azure Flame Dao Palace had used a paper effigy of Luo Lingling to lure them into a trap, and Mo Xingjian realized the real Luo Lingling had gone alone to face danger. The three traveled to Azure Mist Mountain to find her, but received no reply when they tried to contact her.

• Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu learned that Azure Flame Dao Palace had installed three Teleportation Arrays, including one in a wilderness mountain range, and Zhang Wanbao invited them to Soaring Cloud Prefecture for safety.
• Yu Ziqi and Li Hanshan sent an Image Stone showing what appeared to be an injured Luo Lingling, threatening to torment her unless Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu came to Azure Mist Mountain alone.
• Luo Lingling returned to Little Spirit Peak and revealed that the injured figure in the recording had been her paper-man avatar; she planned to enter seclusion and reach the Transformation Spirit Realm within three years.
• Mo Xingjian recognized that the returned Luo Lingling was a paper effigy and believed the real Luo Lingling had gone alone to confront the Azure Flame Dao Palace's scheme; he set out with Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu for Azure Mist Mountain.
• Three days later, Zhou Qing, Yan Xiaohu, and Mo Xingjian reached the mountain range, but Luo Lingling did not answer their messages.

Zhou Qing, Yan Xiaohu, and Mo Xingjian searched Azure Mist Mountain for Luo Lingling as the discovery of Old Peng King's burial ground drew powerful cultivators and demons to the mountain. After three Severing Spirit Realm experts gathered at the abyss, the silver-haired woman singled out Zhou Qing and appeared to demand his help, but Yan Xiaohu redirected her toward Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi.

• Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu entered Azure Mist Mountain with Mo Xingjian following, spotted a trail likely left by Luo Lingling, and learned that the mountain had once been the site of an ancient sect.
• Wind Elder and four golden-winged humanoid demons used essence blood to summon a great peng bird and locate Old Peng King's burial ground, triggering a violent upheaval across the mountain.
• Zhou Qing's group joined the Azure Flame Dao Palace cultivators at the abyss, where Wind Elder and Xuan Yuan Shuo fought over the Golden Winged Great Peng inheritance; Luo Lingling then arrived safely, though injured.
• A silver-haired woman descended and approached the abyss, but its ancient restrictions forced her back; Xuan Yuan Shuo revealed that four Nascent Soul cultivators had entered the burial ground without difficulty.
• The silver-haired woman teleported to Zhou Qing's group and focused on him, but Yan Xiaohu offered Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi as substitutes, drawing their killing intent.

Zhou Qing watched the battle over the abyss, where the Old Emperor’s projection destroyed the Golden Winged Great Peng Corpse Spirit. As Zhou Qing left to rejoin his companions, a blood bead attacked and burrowed into his brow.

• A silver-haired woman marked Zhou Qing with a black snowflake before leaving, while a winged girl fleeing the abyss melted into blood and died.
• The Golden Winged Great Peng emerged as a Corpse Spirit and attacked Wind Elder, prompting Xuan Yuan Shuo and the silver-haired woman to join the fight.
• Mo Xingjian led Zhou Qing, Yan Xiaohu, and Luo Lingling away; Zhou Qing later returned alone to watch the battle, worried the Corpse Spirit might track his divine-bird blood essence.
• Si Kong Yan sent Nascent Soul cultivators into the abyss, followed by the Demon King and the other factions’ experts, while Zhou Qing and Si Kong Yan remained above.
• Xuan Yuan Shuo summoned the Old Emperor’s projection, which subdued and destroyed the Golden Winged Great Peng; the others gathered its remains and descended into the abyss.
• As Zhou Qing started back toward his companions, a blood bead shot into him and burrowed into the center of his brow.

Zhou Qing survived the Golden Winged Great Peng Bird’s attempt to seize his body when Four Flowers Gathered on the Crown destroyed it, leaving him with the Emperor Radiance Scripture. After recovering, he learned that Luo Lingling had entered seclusion to break through to the Transformation Spirit Realm and that Mo Xingjian had also begun seclusion; the chapter ended with Bai He arriving to ask about Luo Lingling.

• The Four-Colored Flower destroyed the Golden Winged Great Peng Bird in Zhou Qing’s Sea of Consciousness, and its remains formed the Emperor Radiance Scripture, whose characters caused him intense pain as they entered his mind.
• Zhou Qing woke after sleeping for half a month and told Mo Xingjian, Luo Lingling, and Yan Xiaohu how the Golden Winged Great Peng Bird had nearly seized his body and how he had obtained its inherited divine ability.
• Yan Xiaohu explained that the abyss was a burial ground rather than the Old Peng King’s inheritance site, and Zhou Qing revealed that the silver-haired Severing Spirit Realm woman had previously visited to ask about the red token.
• Lu Yaoyao brought Zhou Qing Spiritual Sense pills, questioned him about the silver-haired woman, and urged him to take her along on future missions.
• Yan Xiaohu told Zhou Qing that Luo Lingling had entered seclusion to prepare for a Transformation Spirit Realm breakthrough and that Mo Xingjian had also entered seclusion after recovering his divine soul.
• Bai He arrived at Taiqing Sect to ask after Luo Lingling, and Zhou Qing told him she had entered seclusion, prompting Bai He to ask whether she was breaking through to the Transformation Spirit Realm.

Zhou Qing returned to the burial abyss with Lu Yaoyao to search for Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood and discovered signs that the Old Peng King had concealed something behind a stone wall. He stayed hidden in a pit to gather Ignorance Points while waiting for the other searchers to leave.

• Bai He hurried away after deciding to prepare a gift for Second Senior Sister, while Zhou Qing began studying the Emperor Radiance Scripture and learned that it required Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood.
• Zhou Qing brought Lu Yaoyao to Azure Mist Mountain, and they entered the abyss, where cultivators from many factions were searching the Old Peng King's burial place.
• Zhou Qing found an exhausted array fragment in the stone wall and realized the Golden Winged Great Peng's upturned head seemed to face a suspicious section of wall; the Emperor Radiance Scripture's ancient characters then reacted strongly there.
• As members of the five great sects arrived, Zhou Qing dug a pit and pretended to cultivate while Lu Yaoyao kept watch so he could gather Ignorance Points.
• Over the next month, Zhou Qing remained in the abyss as searchers came and went, and some assumed his cultivation technique was suited to the area's Death Qi.

Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao returned to the abyss after the crowds had left, where a silver-haired woman forced Zhou Qing to help her investigate the hidden stone wall. They entered an ancient cave and watched her attempt to break a powerful restriction, which she ultimately identified as a Master-level array.

• After another month passed, Zhou Qing brought Lu Yaoyao back to the stone wall and found the silver-haired woman waiting there.
• The silver-haired woman seized Zhou Qing’s Stupa Array Flags, threatened to search his soul, and accepted his explanation of how he had discovered the site.
• The woman used Golden Winged Great Peng feathers to open a golden vortex, and Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao followed her into the cave beyond.
• The cave’s apparent wealth of Spirit Stones proved to be an illusion, and the group found three Jade Bottles, a Beast Skin Scroll, and a Storage Bag protected by a five-colored restriction.
• The silver-haired woman revealed her formidable array skills and spent a long time probing the restriction with countless Spirit Seals.
• After exhausting her seals without breaking the barrier, the silver-haired woman concluded that the restriction was Master-level.

Zhou Qing discovered how to open the sealed stone platform by lighting three incense sticks and bowing, then claimed Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood while the silver-haired woman rewarded him and Lu Yaoyao. After returning to the Taiqing Sect, Zhou Qing appraised the blood and learned that the bottle held three drops.

• Zhou Qing appraised the stone platform and learned that three incense sticks and a respectful bow would undo its restriction.
• Zhou Qing opened the platform with incense and a bow, chose a bottle of Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood, and let the silver-haired woman take the remaining treasures.
• The silver-haired woman gave Zhou Qing a Jade Token capable of unleashing her full-force strike and gave Lu Yaoyao the Ice Lotus cultivation art and Ice Purity Art.
• The silver-haired woman transported Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao through a Spatial Rift back to the Taiqing Sect and told them they might meet again.
• Zhou Qing appraised the essence blood and discovered that the bottle contained three drops of exceptionally pure Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood.

Zhou Qing refined Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood, broke through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage, and mastered the Emperor Radiance Scripture’s Golden Peng True Body. After reuniting with Yan Xiaohu and agreeing to prepare to confront Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi, Zhou Qing met Martial Uncle Gao Xuan, who asked him to take a walk.

• Zhou Qing refined the Golden Winged Great Peng essence blood and used its power to break through to the Nascent Soul Late Stage.
• Lu Yaoyao broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm and returned to Divine Peak, eager to cultivate the Ice Lotus art.
• After eight months in seclusion, Zhou Qing reached Minor Success in the Emperor Radiance Scripture and startled Yan Xiaohu by appearing as a Golden Winged Great Peng.
• Yan Xiaohu learned Zhou Qing had not been possessed, then proposed that they investigate Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi and attack them separately.
• Zhou Qing exchanged points for materials to make the Eighteenth Level Earthquake array, spoke with Lu Yaoyao about an upcoming plan, and joined Martial Uncle Gao Xuan for a walk.

Zhou Qing learned that Gao Xuan had chosen him because he saw his younger self in him, then prepared to investigate the token in Greenwood City with Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao. When Yu Ziqi attacked Taiqing Sect’s spirit fields and threatened Feng Cheng, Zhou Qing and his companions intervened, bringing him face-to-face with Yu Ziqi.

• Gao Xuan praised Zhou Qing’s insight into the Blood Demon Palace story and said he had chosen him because he saw his younger self in him.
• Zhou Qing refined Array Flags, then set out with Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao to investigate Yu Ziqi and the mysterious token in Greenwood City.
• The group discovered Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi searching Ghost City, so Zhou Qing chose to watch them rather than attack in public.
• Yu Ziqi and Li Hanshan left Ghost City and attacked Taiqing Sect’s spirit fields in Greenwood City, where Yu Ziqi defeated Feng Cheng and killed several disciples.
• As Yu Ziqi’s sword threatened Feng Cheng, Yan Xiaohu blocked it and Zhou Qing appeared, prompting Yu Ziqi to angrily confront him.

Zhou Qing and his companions fought Yu Ziqi and Li Hanshan outside the city, and Zhou Qing defeated Yu Ziqi inside his layered array. As Zhou Qing prepared to face Li Hanshan, Azure Flame Dao Palace Master Si Kong Yan appeared and confronted him.

• Li Hanshan and Yu Ziqi pursued Zhou Qing outside the city, while Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao joined Zhou Qing and he lured Yu Ziqi into his array.
• Li Hanshan attacked the array from outside as Zhou Qing battled Yu Ziqi, whose Thousand Illusions intent proved formidable.
• Zhou Qing activated the array’s earthquake layer, wounded Yu Ziqi twice with Broken Tetanus, and fought his Nascent Soul Amplification clone with his Golden Crow power.
• Li Hanshan broke through the Stupa Array, injuring Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao, but Zhou Qing emerged with Yu Ziqi defeated and dead.
• Zhou Qing and Li Hanshan prepared to fight, but Si Kong Yan appeared and addressed Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu.

Zhou Qing and his companions survived Si Kong Yan’s arrival when Gui Ao intervened and challenged Li Hanshan, then returned to the Taiqing Sect with Yu Ziqi’s corpse. After reflecting on the danger of revealing his Golden Peng abilities, Zhou Qing entered the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace and agreed to explore Number Six’s forbidden zone.

• Si Kong Yan questioned Zhou Qing and his companions about Yu Ziqi’s death but left the confrontation to Li Hanshan rather than attack the younger cultivators himself.
• Gui Ao arrived in time to stop Li Hanshan from fighting Zhou Qing, and five Spirit Transformation Realm companions joined him before Si Kong Yan and Li Hanshan departed.
• Gui Ao told Zhou Qing that Li Hanshan could become his future whetstone, then left Greenwood City with his companions after sharing news and stories with Zhou Qing’s group.
• Zhou Qing, Yan Xiaohu, and Lu Yaoyao returned to the Taiqing Sect, where Cao Zhengyang and the peak masters praised them after seeing Yu Ziqi’s corpse.
• Zhou Qing decided to conceal his Golden Peng abilities, then entered the Divine Ruins Heavenly Palace and accepted Number Six’s invitation to explore her forbidden zone.

Zhou Qing and Number Six sang beneath a jujube tree in the forbidden zone, revealing a safe route to a ghost ship and its passage token. Back in Taiqing Sect, Senior Hou Shan demanded help finding the stolen Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower and warned that his future—and the sects’ peace—depended on it.

• Zhou Qing appraised the jujube tree, persuaded Number Six to sing with him, and their song revealed a paper-money path to a ghost ship.
• Number Six crossed the ice bridge, reached the ship, and obtained the passage token before Zhou Qing withdrew from the forbidden zone.
• Zhou Qing returned to the Gravity Zone, where the Corpse Wax Crows blew his head apart, then spoke with Number Six again before she logged off.
• He Han brought Zhou Qing to Divine Peak, where Senior Hou Shan explained that the Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower had been stolen from Azure Mist Mountain.
• Senior Hou Shan accused Taiqing Sect or Azure Flame Dao Palace of taking the herb and released his overwhelming pressure as he demanded they help find it.

Hou Shan brought the five sects together to search for the stolen Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower, forcing them to suspend their war for six months. An Image Stone revealed a huge-bellied, gray-robed figure stealing the herb, but the clue remained unidentified as two hostile Demon Kings threatened the sects with a beast tide.

• Hou Shan demanded that the five sects find his stolen Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower within six months, and Cao Zhengyang arranged a temporary truce and a joint search.
• Zhou Qing, Yan Xiaohu, and Lu Yaoyao joined a hundred-person team that traveled with cultivators from the Golden Thunder Sect and Azure Feather Immortal Sect to Azure Mist Mountain.
• Cao Zhengyang, Lei Wuji, Profound Abyss Immortal, and other cultivators searched Hou Shan's cave but found no clues until Hou Shan revealed an Image Stone recording the theft.
• The Image Stone showed a gray-robed figure with an enormous pregnant-looking belly plucking the Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower and leaving the cave.
• Hou Shan gave Image Stones to the Five Sects, while Zhou Qing's Daily Appraisal yielded no useful lead.
• Two hostile Demon Kings arrived, and the burly one warned Cao Zhengyang, Si Kong Yan, and the others that they would face a beast tide if they had stolen the herb.

Zhou Qing appraised the Image Stone and learned that the pregnant woman in it, Li Niang, had delayed her child’s birth so it could see its father, then deduced she might live in one of the cities around Azure Mist Mountain. Before he and Lu Yaoyao could continue investigating, Li Hanshan and Blood Bone Old Ghost ambushed them, leaving Zhou Qing facing two powerful enemies.

• Cao Zhengyang sent the Five Sects to investigate Azure Mist Mountain, while Profound Abyss Immortal suddenly coughed blood and hurried away to arrange the search.
• Zhou Qing warned Lu Yaoyao that other Demon Kings might seek the missing Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower, then appraised the Image Stone and learned the woman was a pregnant Spirit Transformation cultivator called Li Niang.
• Lu Yaoyao gave Zhou Qing a snack recipe book to share with the silver-haired woman and accidentally showed him a portrait of Profound Abyss Immortal annotated with the word “auntie.”
• A second appraisal revealed that Li Niang had delayed her child’s birth so it could see its father, and Zhou Qing concluded she might be living in a city near Azure Mist Mountain.
• Li Hanshan appeared from concealment and declared that Zhou Qing had to die, while Lu Yaoyao recorded his violation of the ceasefire agreement.
• Blood Bone Old Ghost emerged to help Li Hanshan, and Zhou Qing shielded Lu Yaoyao as he prepared to fight them both.

Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao defeated Li Hanshan and Blood Bone Old Ghost, then escaped to Lin'an City to recover. After Taiqing Sect reinforcements arrived, Zhou Qing reported the attack to Tong Min and shared clues about the gray-robed thief.

• Li Hanshan trapped Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao in a formation and attacked with Blood Bone Old Ghost, while Lu Yaoyao drew Blood Bone away and helped Zhou Qing fight.
• Zhou Qing transformed into a Golden Winged Great Peng, wounded Li Hanshan and Blood Bone Old Ghost, then broke Li Hanshan's halberd and killed him; Lu Yaoyao used the Golden Talisman to help kill Blood Bone.
• Zhou Qing and Lu Yaoyao destroyed the formation core, took the formation plate and spirit stones, and fled to Lin'an City to recover.
• On the fourth day, He Han and Pei Yan arrived, and Tong Min came after Zhou Qing asked Pei Yan to contact her.
• Zhou Qing showed Tong Min Li Hanshan's corpse and Lu Yaoyao's Image Stone, asked her to uphold justice, and shared clues about the gray-robed man who stole from Hou Shan.

Zhou Qing learned that Li Niang possessed Hou Shan’s missing sacred medicine, and Cao Zhengyang explained the political risks of finding her and offered two possible plans. Zhou Qing left without choosing between betraying allied sects and secretly rescuing Li Niang.

• Cao Zhengyang rewarded Zhou Qing for killing Li Hanshan, then privately asked him to keep his lead about Li Niang secret.
• Cao Zhengyang told Zhou Qing that Li Niang had waited for her husband for centuries and was likely hiding near the Seven Stars Sect with the Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower.
• Cao Zhengyang warned Zhou Qing that Golden Thunder Sect and Azure Feather Immortal Sect might become Taiqing Sect’s enemies, and revealed that Lei Lie and Zhu He had watched Luo Xue die without intervening.
• Cao Zhengyang proposed either letting another sect discover Li Niang or secretly moving her while finding substitute sacred medicine for Hou Shan.
• Zhou Qing judged the second plan difficult but possible, then declined to choose and left to get some air.

Zhou Qing traveled to Soaring Cloud Prefecture with Yan Xiaohu and Lu Yaoyao to search for the Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower, encountering the grieving Li Niang and reuniting with Zhang Wanbao along the way. After the search failed, they returned to learn that Li Niang had disappeared and that Hou Shan’s Demon Kings had captured and slaughtered disciples from the five sects.

• Cao Zhengyang sent Zhou Qing and Yan Xiaohu to Soaring Cloud Prefecture, and Lu Yaoyao joined them.
• Zhou Qing encountered Li Niang, who mistook him for her husband and revealed that the child in her womb was still alive; after she fled, Zhou Qing decided to pursue the Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower and explain the situation to his companions.
• The trio reached Soaring Cloud Prefecture, reunited with Li Shitao, Xiao Cancan, and Zhang Wanbao, and learned that Transformation Spirit Realm elders from Azure Flame Dao Palace and Tianji Gate were also seeking the rare medicine.
• After waiting a month without finding the Hibiscus Spirit Sunflower, Zhou Qing and his companions returned to the Eastern Region and reported their failure to Cao Zhengyang.
• Cao Zhengyang revealed that Li Niang had disappeared and showed them an Image Stone of disciples from the five sects imprisoned at Hou Shan’s cave; he said twelve Demon Kings had gathered and the captives had been slaughtered.

Cao Zhengyang brought Zhou Qing to a secret meeting where Azure Flame Dao Palace proposed using the beast tide to mature a Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus. On the way back, Duanmu Shu explained how its seeds could help cultivators sever their Obsessive Spirits, while Zhou Qing remained wary of Si Kong Yan’s offer.

• Cao Zhengyang said the sects would keep searching for the sacred medicine publicly while he took Zhou Qing to a secret gathering of the sects’ Grand Elders.
• Si Kong Yan revealed that Azure Flame Dao Palace possessed an immature Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus and proposed using the blood essence of a beast tide at Azure Mist Mountain to mature it with the Demon Sealing Extermination Array.
• The leaders agreed to cooperate and divide the lotus seeds, with Azure Flame Dao Palace taking half, Tianji Gate taking twenty percent, and the three other sects sharing the remaining thirty percent.
• Cao Zhengyang told Zhou Qing that the Old Emperor had advanced to the Severing Spirit Realm with help from the Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus.
• Duanmu Shu explained that the lotus seeds could suppress Obsessive Spirits that endangered cultivators attempting to break through to the Severing Spirit Realm, and Zhou Qing questioned whether Si Kong Yan could be trusted.

Zhou Qing and the five sects completed the formation around Azure Mist Mountain, intending to use the Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus to draw in Demonic Beasts and provoke the Demon Kings into starting a war. Zhou Qing discovered that Si Kong Yan had secretly added an indiscriminate Four-Colored Killing Array, and he asked Cao Zhengyang to stay with him for another day.

• Cao Zhengyang told Zhou Qing that the five sects needed to cooperate to obtain the Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus, then arranged for Taiqing Sect to gather the materials for the Demon Sealing Extermination Array.
• Hou Shan demanded hostages from Taiqing Sect, including Zhou Qing, but Cao Zhengyang threatened war until Hou Shan backed down and left.
• Cao Zhengyang and Zhou Qing joined the other sects at Azure Mist Mountain, where they placed formation plates while avoiding waves of Demonic Beasts.
• Si Kong Yan and the others completed the formation core, and Zhou Qing appraised it and discovered a concealed Four-Colored Killing Array designed to attack indiscriminately.
• The sect leaders planned to let the Demon Kings initiate a battle and supply Demonic Beasts for the Nine Netherworld Demon Lotus; Zhou Qing asked Cao Zhengyang to remain with him for one more day.