Chapter Summaries

Meng Qi defeated Ji Shan by exploiting a chip in his Monastic Blade, but their fight uncovered an unsealed Bone of Yellow Springs and forced them to flee from a rising shadow. He then found evidence that an Outer Scenery Expert had died and joined a Biyou Palace meeting about the Buddha's Palm.

• Ji Shan overwhelmed Meng Qi with his Expelling Demons Saber Art until he noticed Meng Qi had repeatedly struck the same spot on his Monastic Blade and chipped it.
• Meng Qi exploited the flaw to defeat Ji Shan, then discovered an unsealed hand bone of Yellow Springs at the bottom of the crater as a sinister shadow began to emerge.
• Meng Qi and Ji Shan fled, while Zhao Qian and Wei Gao took a detour; Meng Qi suspected the Sect of Impermanence of Life and Death had joined the search for the Buddha's Palm.
• Meng Qi found bloody remains belonging to a dead Outer Scenery Expert and wondered whether they were connected to Xue Lengzhao's warning about unforeseen changes.
• Meng Qi entered Biyou Palace, where Lingbao Tianzun gathered him with Immortal Venerable Longevity, Heavenly Venerable Nanhua, Lishan Laomu, and Taiyi Zhenren to discuss the Buddha's Palm.

Meng Qi learned the identities of several Immortal Trace members as they gathered at Biyou Palace to coordinate their response to the Mythos and the search for the Buddha's Palm. Lingbao Tianzun planned to work with other Dharma Body Masters, while Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo were asked to recruit allies for the dangerous operation.

• Lingbao Tianzun revealed himself as Daoist Chong He, and Yan Wuwo, Master Mingfa, Cui Qingliu, and He Xiu also disclosed their identities to Meng Qi.
• Meng Qi reported that Zhou Qiushan was the Tithe-Blessing Heavenly Official and warned the group that the Sect of Impermanence of Life and Death was hiding beneath Flowing Sand Collection.
• Lingbao Tianzun told the group that Xie Jiugui, the Immortal Trace member Chunyangzi, had been ambushed by the Mythos and that Qu Jiuniang was missing but still alive.
• Yan Wuwo reported that the Wang Clan was acting strangely, while Cui Qingliu and He Xiu shared news that Cui Qinghe and He Qi had reached the region; Master Mingfa added that Shou Jing seemed to be pursuing the Mythos's Heavenly Emperor.
• Lingbao Tianzun decided to approach Shou Jing and secretly cooperate with him, then asked Cui Qingliu and He Xiu to deliver a proposal to Cui Qinghe and He Qi to join forces over the Buddha's Palm.
• Lingbao Tianzun asked Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo to contact potential allies because restrictions and the danger of the mission had left Immortal Trace short on people.

Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo used Qu Jiuniang’s Soul Lamp to search the Vast Sea and found an illusion formation hiding an underground river. Meng Qi discovered Qu Jiuniang alive with two unfamiliar Outer Scenery Experts, but her lack of injuries raised questions about how she had been captured so easily.

• Lingbao Tianzun gave Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo Qu Jiuniang’s Soul Lamp, a Samsara Talisman, and a formation diagram to aid their search.
• Master Mingfa identified Meng Qi’s Prayer Beads as markers for the Twelve Links of Causality, and the group decided to capture monks from Joyful Temple for information.
• Zhenhui joined Hong Neng in building a temple in the Vast Sea while planning to find his senior brother later.
• Yan Wuwo tracked Qu Jiuniang’s aura to the area between Fish Sea and Tahan, where he and Meng Qi found a concealed ravine beneath an illusion formation.
• Meng Qi transformed into a sand rat and found Qu Jiuniang beside an underground river with two unfamiliar Outer Scenery Experts.
• Meng Qi noticed that Qu Jiuniang had no injuries and wondered how the two men could have captured her so easily.

Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo investigated the forces surrounding Qu Jiuniang’s prison and suspected that an ambush might be targeting Immortal Trace or its Heavenly Venerable. To learn whether Mythos was involved, Meng Qi abducted Zhou Qiushan, leaving Qian Kai and Lu Jiang searching the empty sands.

• Meng Qi discovered that Qu Jiuniang was sealed away and warned Yan Wuwo that her captors might have set an ambush.
• Yan Wuwo used his drought-demon aspect to search the area and sensed three peak Outer Scenery Experts and five other Grandmasters nearby.
• Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo reasoned that the ambush could be aimed at Immortal Trace’s Heavenly Venerable and decided to question Zhou Qiushan about Mythos.
• Meng Qi found Zhou Qiushan, Qian Kai, and Lu Jiang searching a ravine, then waited until Zhou Qiushan was alone.
• Disguised as Shen Bao, Meng Qi struck Zhou Qiushan, sealed him, and escaped underground with Yan Wuwo.
• Qian Kai and Lu Jiang reached the spot and found Zhou Qiushan gone.

Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo found the real Qu Jiuniang in Tahan and rescued her from Ziwei Star Lord, though a second Qu Jiuniang in the underground river proved to be an impostor. The impostor transformed into a masked man wearing the Heavenly Emperor’s mask and declared that Lingbao would not come.

• Yan Wuwo used his fangs to awaken Zhou Qiushan, and Meng Qi’s mind-reading technique revealed that Zhou Qiushan had seen Qu Jiuniang in Tahan with Ziwei Star Lord.
• Zhou Qiushan burned to ash, so Meng Qi and Yan Wuwo hurried to Tahan and confirmed Ziwei Star Lord was guarding a courtyard there.
• Meng Qi disguised himself as Zhou Qiushan, entered the courtyard, and found Qu Jiuniang held captive by Ziwei Star Lord.
• Meng Qi used the formation diagram to shield Qu Jiuniang while Yan Wuwo attacked Ziwei Star Lord, allowing Meng Qi to escape with her.
• At their meeting place, Yan Wuwo removed Qu Jiuniang’s seal, and her words about her Mustard Ring convinced Meng Qi that she was real.
• In the underground river, the other Qu Jiuniang transformed into a masked man in an imperial robe and said that Lingbao would not come.

Meng Qi investigated Qu Jiuniang’s ambush and arranged to hunt Joyful Temple monks with her, then went to Fish Sea and learned that trouble might be coming. While refining the Abyssal Profound Stone, he was ambushed by Nine Heavens Thunder God and Howling Moon Divine Dog, who trapped him with the Two Realms Division.

• Yan Wuwo confirmed Qu Jiuniang was genuine, and Qu Jiuniang described how an unknown attacker knocked her unconscious and stole her Mustard Ring.
• Meng Qi and Qu Jiuniang agreed to hunt Joyful Temple monks for the secret of the Twelve Links of Causality Prayer Beads and split their spoils six-four.
• Meng Qi gave Qu Jiuniang Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures to store and list for exchange, then traveled toward Fish Sea while Qu Jiuniang returned to Biyou Heaven.
• Meng Qi asked Xue Lengzhao about her warning that trouble was coming and learned she would leave Fish Sea in three days, though she did not know what would happen.
• After finding the Sword Washing Pavilion guarded, Meng Qi hid in an empty courtyard to refine the Abyssal Profound Stone.
• Nine Heavens Thunder God ambushed Meng Qi with Howling Moon Divine Dog and sealed the area with the Two Realms Division, declaring that he intended to claim the inheritances of Thunder God and Overlord.

True Person Yunhe and Jiang Zhiwei confronted Xuan Nü after uncovering her role in luring Meng Qi into a trap, while Meng Qi fought the Nine Heavens Thunder God and the Howling Moon Divine Dog inside the Two Forms Boundary Scarf. The chapter ended with Meng Qi’s attack on the Divine Dog interrupted by the Thunder God unleashing a hidden treasure.

• True Person Yunhe told Jiang Zhiwei that two disguised pursuers had been tracking Meng Qi, and they followed their trail to the Sü Nü Immortal Realm.
• Xuan Nü revealed that she had manipulated events to learn Meng Qi’s whereabouts, while an incarnation waited outside the realm to abduct him.
• True Person Yunhe attacked Xuan Nü with a Five Elements Array and the Primordial Unity Pure Qi Divine Talisman as Jiang Zhiwei tried to break through the realm’s restraints.
• The Nine Heavens Thunder God and the Howling Moon Divine Dog cornered Meng Qi inside the Two Forms Boundary Scarf, and Meng Qi chose to strike first rather than wait for reinforcements.
• Meng Qi feinted against the Thunder God, then used the Nine-Eyed Samsara Pearl and the Great Law of Changing Heaven and Striking Earth to daze the Divine Dog.
• The Nine Heavens Thunder God crushed a hidden object and sent a stream of yellow qi toward Meng Qi.

Meng Qi killed the Howling Moon Divine Dog but was badly injured in his duel with the Nine Heavens Thunder God, who had anticipated his use of the Samsara Talisman. Trapped in a two-month detour through another world, Meng Qi chose Du'er Cha World, hoping to master Sticking to Karma before returning to face his enemy.

• Meng Qi used the Three Treasures Ruyi Fist and Fire Flowing to kill the Howling Moon Divine Dog while the Nine Heavens Thunder God’s attacks injured him.
• The Nine Heavens Thunder God pressed Meng Qi with the Purple Thunder Saber Technique, and Meng Qi fought back with Shouldering Mountains and Carrying Seas and a combined thunder strike.
• Meng Qi crushed his Samsara Talisman, but the Nine Heavens Thunder God’s Face of the Six Paths diverted him from the Reincarnation Plaza.
• The Nine Heavens Thunder God took the Howling Moon Divine Dog’s Mustard Ring and expected Meng Qi to return quickly, while Meng Qi swallowed a pill and considered which world could help him recover and grow stronger.
• Meng Qi recognized Du'er Cha World as the origin of his Ananda Breaking Precepts Saber Art and Sticking to Karma, then chose it in hopes of mastering the technique.

Meng Qi entered the hidden space beyond the sealed stone door by using Entangle Karma, finding a blood-soaked realm filled with broken bones and black mist. Meanwhile, Wang Siyuan and three companions secretly reached the same door beneath Lianhua Temple while Kong Hui was incapacitated.

• Wandering heroes and monks paid tribute at the Crimson Boulder, while Meng Qi watched from within the mountain and recalled the fallen heroes.
• Meng Qi examined the stone door and Ananda’s legacy, reasoning that the door’s inscription had been left long after Ananda and the Demon Saintess.
• Meng Qi tried brute force and powerful saber techniques against the door, but it repaired itself after each strike.
• Meng Qi used Entangle Karma on the door and passed through it into a strange land of blood-soaked black earth, scattered bones, and distant black mist.
• Wang Siyuan and three companions slipped past the guards beneath Lianhua Temple using a tortoiseshell that concealed them from notice.
• Wang Siyuan explained that Kong Hui’s noon injury kept him from controlling a divine weapon, allowing the group to approach the sealed door undetected.

Meng Qi entered a ruined Buddhist sanctuary, where a voice exposed his darkest thoughts and showed him a sinister reflection of himself. Meanwhile, Duan Rui opened a sealed gate in Shaolin, and Meng Qi was left confronting the possibility that the voice was his own evil self.

• Meng Qi fought off the reanimated corpses on the blood-black plain and reached the miasma surrounding a ruined Buddhist sanctuary.
• Wang Siyuan explained the sealed gate and Damo’s warning to the cloaked man, while an old man with pupil-less eyes spoke of seeing the past and future.
• The cloaked man revealed himself as Duan Rui and used his dark power and Wang Siyuan’s tortoiseshell to open the gate.
• Meng Qi entered the sanctuary and saw Gu Xiaosang, Jiang Zhiwei, Ruan Yushu, Qi Zhengyan, and Zhao Heng reflected in its surroundings as a hoarse voice accused him of harboring dark desires.
• Meng Qi saw his own twisted, black-eyed face in the stream, and the voice claimed to be him.

Meng Qi faced the darkness in his heart, accepted its presence without letting it control him, and reached the mountain at the center of the ruined temple. Wang Siyuan and his companions also arrived, where he warned Duan Rui about a barrier formed by the Ananda Breaking Precepts Saber Art.

• Meng Qi admitted his selfish desires and flaws, then resolved to control them rather than deny them or become their slave.
• Meng Qi united good and evil within himself through the Indestructible Yuan Shi Aspect and left the demonic version of himself behind.
• Wang Siyuan and the two Wang Family elders exposed and argued over their ugly thoughts while Duan Rui realized the demonic Pure Land magnified inner darkness.
• Meng Qi reached the mountain and saw illusions of ancient powers, including Thunder God, Zhenwu Dangmo Tianzun, and a mysterious Buddha, before finding shattered Buddhist prayer beads.
• Wang Siyuan and the others reached the mountain, and he warned Duan Rui that the white mist formed a Severing Purity barrier whose formation-eye object remained intact.

Meng Qi entered the mountain’s black-qi formation and defeated an outer demon disguised as a monk before encountering a mysterious man who had broken the formations’ array eyes. Meanwhile, Duan Rui and Wang Siyuan’s group faced the terrifying Evil Damo, and Meng Qi’s next opponent remained unknown.

• Duan Rui mistook an illusion of Feng Yuanjing for reality until Wang Siyuan showed him the wandering figures in the Demonic Soil and warned him away from a Buddhist treasure.
• Meng Qi identified the mountain’s first two formations as Severing Purity and Falling Red Dust, then entered the black qi of the Inviting Outer Demons formation.
• Wang Siyuan explained to Duan Rui that a great demon had once fought Damo and helped destroy the Pure Land.
• Meng Qi fought an outer-demon monk using the Great Strength Vajra Palm and split him apart with Mad Thunder Shakes Nine Heavens.
• Duan Rui recognized the outer-demon monk confronting his group as Evil Damo.
• Meng Qi encountered an elegant, demonic-looking man standing on a Glazed Lamp and watched him crush it.

Meng Qi survived the Inviting Outer Demons formation, discovered a broken Eight Trigrams diagram, and crossed the Red Lotus of Karmic Fire before reaching the Sticking to Karma formation. Elsewhere, Wang Siyuan sealed Damo, while a man from the ancient tomb reported that Kong Wen was headed toward the Western Regions and the Sect Master ordered him captured alive.

• Meng Qi overcame the elegant outer demon by transforming his aura to yin and cutting it down with a blade strike that split the darkness.
• Wang Siyuan used the tortoiseshell with Wang Dezhong and Duan Rui’s help to seal Damo in a golden Eight Trigrams diagram, then urged the others onward.
• Meng Qi found the same Eight Trigrams diagram on the mountain path, memorized it, and continued until he reached a cracked demonized Bodhi Seed.
• Wang Siyuan identified the Bodhi Seed’s Buddhist intent and warned that the Red Lotus of Karmic Fire and the formation beyond it required caution.
• Meng Qi crossed the karmic fire without letting it penetrate his Golden Body and arrived at the Sticking to Karma formation.
• A man reported Kong Wen’s whereabouts to the Sect Master inside the ancient tomb, and the Sect Master ordered him to secure a living Dharmakaya body for the Yellow Springs True Body.

Meng Qi navigated the Sticking to Karma formation and glimpsed past events involving the Demon Master Han Guang, Abbot Kong Wen, the Wang Family’s Number Sage, and Ananda. He reached the formation’s eye, where a blurred figure sat shrouded in firelight.

• Meng Qi entered the formation and followed its threads of karma toward the formation’s eye, avoiding their dangers with his mental method and secret art.
• A thread of karma showed Meng Qi the Demon Master Han Guang facing Abbot Kong Wen, whose Dragon Subduing Divine Fist struck but then vanished with the thread.
• Meng Qi encountered a vision of the Wang Family’s Number Sage and witnessed a gray-robed monk use the Sticking to Karma saber technique to cut away his causes and kill him.
• Meng Qi recognized the monk as Ananda and realized the Wang Family had survived the Demon Buddha’s Calamity.
• Meng Qi passed through the Curtain of Karma and found a blurred figure at the formation’s eye, surrounded by fire from a scarlet thread of karma.

Meng Qi endured the Demon Saint Fengxi’s karmic imprint, discovered Ananda’s wooden carving at the formation’s eye, and finally understood and mastered the true Entangle Karma. He found Kong Wen imprisoned in the sixth layer, while Kong Wen was drawn into a confrontation with the Sect of Impermanence of Life and Death and three Soul Lamps went out in a distant tomb.

• Meng Qi touched Fengxi’s crimson karmic thread and endured her spear’s flames as she warned that she would kill Ananda’s reincarnations until his imprint vanished.
• Wang Siyuan explained to Duan Rui that the Sticking to Karma formation’s threads carried the lingering imprints of ancient mighty figures.
• A Phoenix Wing Black Gold Spear stirred, prompting someone to announce that the Demon Saint’s weapon was awakening.
• Meng Qi saw Ananda’s wooden carving, understood that Entangle Karma controlled uncertain futures rather than changing the past, and used his blade to shatter the carving and master the technique.
• Meng Qi noticed a figure trapped in the sixth-layer formation and learned that the captive was Kong Wen; meanwhile, Kong Wen recognized the Sect of Impermanence of Life and Death’s Three Paths Grand Formation.
• In an ancient tomb, a Yin Wind extinguished three Soul Lamps as the Sect Master and a mist-wreathed man awaited news.

Meng Qi discovered that the Kong Wen imprisoned beneath Shaolin might be the real abbot, while the Kong Wen in the temple was likely Han Guang in disguise and the Mythos Heavenly Emperor. The imprisoned Kong Wen explained how Han Guang had trapped him, leaving Meng Qi with the task of judging his identity and the danger around him.

• A surviving member of the Sect of Impermanence of Life and Death found that three Supreme Elders had died and realized Kong Wen had not fallen from the Dharma Body realm.
• Meng Qi connected Shaolin’s strange incidents and other clues, concluding that the temple’s Abbot Kong Wen was Han Guang and that Han Guang was Mythos’s Heavenly Emperor.
• Meng Qi asked whether the prisoner was the real Kong Wen, identified himself as Su Meng, and mentioned that Xuan Bei was being guided by the abbot in Shaolin.
• Kong Wen recognized Meng Qi as Xuan Bei’s disciple and explained that Han Guang had lured him to a trap, where another Dharma Body helped imprison him.

Meng Qi learned from Kong Wen that the Shaolin secret realm was a Time-Space Shard tied to Ananda Pure Land, and that Han Guang had infiltrated Shaolin to reach its summit and uncover a hidden secret. In the true Ananda Pure Land, Wang Siyuan abandoned his attempt to pass the sixth level after realizing someone in a Time-Space Shard had already reached Ananda’s statue.

• Kong Wen told Meng Qi that he had never seen the hidden Dharmakaya directing the formation, and Meng Qi explained Shaolin’s current situation before asking about Han Guang’s plans.
• Meng Qi realized the secret place was in a different Shaolin and explained that its terrain matched Shaolin on Shaohua Mountain.
• Kong Wen explained that the place was a Time-Space Shard centered on Ananda’s secret realm, and described how Patriarch Damo sealed it after battling his severed Inner Demon, Evil Damo.
• Kong Wen concluded that Han Guang had reached the shard’s summit and was impersonating Kong Wen to gain access to the true Ananda Pure Land without attracting the Ananda Saber.
• Wang Siyuan found Ananda’s wooden statue shattered at the fifth level and decided he could not pass the sixth level, while Duan Rui and Wang Bingning questioned what had happened.
• Wang Siyuan laughed and said someone in a Time-Space Shard had reached the statue before them, causing karmic backlash.

Meng Qi learned that Han Guang’s Dharmakaya resembled an emperor-like form of the Six Extinguishing Yama Body and decided to report the Heavenly Emperor’s identity to Lingbao Tianzun. Elsewhere, Jiang Zhiwei escaped the Xuan Nü’s illusion, while Meng Qi killed the Nine Heavens Thunder God with a single strike.

• Kong Wen warned Meng Qi not to attempt a rescue and directed him to seek help from Lanke Temple and Huamei Villa while keeping Shaolin uninformed.
• Kong Wen described Han Guang’s altered Yama Dharmakaya, leading Meng Qi to conclude that Han Guang was the Heavenly Emperor and plan to report it to Lingbao Tianzun.
• Jiang Zhiwei used Taishang Forgetfulness to disrupt the Xuan Nü’s illusory realm and escape, but encountered the Xuan Nü Incarnation in Fish Sea.
• The Nine Heavens Thunder God prepared a trap for Meng Qi inside the Two Forms Boundary Scarf, but Meng Qi appeared and the God’s formation caught only a decoy.
• Meng Qi struck the Nine Heavens Thunder God with Heaven’s Wound, severing his connection to his Secret Treasures and killing him.

Meng Qi killed the Nine Heavens Thunder God with “Sticking to Karma” and accepted the burden of meditating on the Overlord’s Absolute Saber in the Sü Nü Immortal Realm. His victory drove Xuan Nü away, and he and Jiang Zhiwei divided the spoils with True Person Yunhe before Jiang Zhiwei prepared to return to the Sword Washing Pavilion.

• Meng Qi learned that the Nine Heavens Thunder God’s lingering karma required him to meditate on the Overlord’s Absolute Saber, then vowed to bear the dead man’s karma.
• Xuan Nü Incarnation saw the Nine Heavens Thunder God’s corpse and fled, abandoning the Two Forms Boundary Scarf; Xuan Nü then forced True Person Yunhe back and escaped with the Sü Nü Immortal Realm.
• Jiang Zhiwei joined Meng Qi and praised his victory, while Meng Qi explained that his unusual cultivation let him bear more karma than expected.
• True Person Yunhe accepted the Two Forms Boundary Scarf as his share, and Meng Qi discovered that the Howling Moon Divine Dog’s Mustard Ring held many valuable items.
• Jiang Zhiwei declined the spoils and told Meng Qi that her master had ordered her to return to the Sword Washing Pavilion and stop interfering.

Meng Qi appraised the spoils taken from the Howling Moon Divine Dog and reported to Lingbao Tianzun that Abbot Kong Wen might be an impostor tied to the Demon Master and Mythos. Lingbao Tianzun identified the captor of Qu Jiuniang as the Peacock Demon King Tai Li, while Tai Li decided to change their plan after his identity risked being exposed.

• Meng Qi found a Seven-Rank White Lotus Platform, longevity-pill ingredients, and the remains of a human Outer Scenery Expert in the Howling Moon Divine Dog's ring, then questioned the dog's connection to Mythos.
• Meng Qi met Qu Jiuniang and returned with her to Biyou Heaven, where the Lord of Six Paths Samsara temporarily sealed the Gate of All Phenomena.
• Meng Qi had the spoils appraised and learned the values of several weapons, Secret Treasures, and pills, including items associated with blessings and healing.
• Meng Qi told Lingbao Tianzun that Abbot Kong Wen might be an impostor, the Demon Master, and the Heavenly Emperor of Mythos.
• Lingbao Tianzun recognized the Five-Colored Divine Palm as the work of Tai Li, the Peacock Demon King, and Meng Qi connected this clue to earlier events at Shaolin.
• Tai Li acknowledged that Qu Jiuniang had been rescued and ordered his allies to switch the overt and covert forces of their plan.