Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Not Good! Venerable White and Shuhang Have Been Captured!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lay Buddhist Xian Gong identifies the approaching Nine Nether Demons as a vanguard force and decides to eliminate them before revealing the larger ambush prepared for the Dragon Demon.
• He is joined by two powerful Fifth-Grade cultivators:
  • Lay Buddhist Rice Cake, an Immortal Chef whose sticky rice cakes can immobilize enemies.
  • Lay Buddhist Flying Fish, a swift and deadly female Great Demon.
• Rice Cake traps most of the fifty demons with his enchanted rice cakes, allowing Flying Fish to slaughter nearly twenty of them almost instantly.
• Unknown to the group, one of the “Third-Grade” demons is actually a disguised Sixth-Grade cave master. It secretly investigates the defenses, sends a signal flare for reinforcements, and transforms into a four-headed serpent.
• The disguised cave master escapes the battlefield and rushes toward the valley, intending to capture Song Shuhang—the supposed remnant of Vajra Temple—and claim the reward before the other cave masters arrive.
• In the valley, Venerable White is pretending to be unconscious while Yu Jiaojiao, the Snow Wolf Cave Master’s family, and other cultivators stage a battle between beasts.
• The four-headed serpent becomes instantly captivated by Venerable White’s extraordinary beauty. It ignores the surrounding cultivators, wraps up Venerable White, and then captures Song Shuhang as well.
• Despite the ambush prepared by Xian Gong’s group, the chapter ends with Venerable White and Shuhang being carried away by the delighted demon.

Character Developments

• Lay Buddhist Xian Gong demonstrates his confidence and expertise as a formation master. He remains focused on the larger objective: luring and destroying the Dragon Demon.
• Lay Buddhist Rice Cake reveals the combat potential of his Immortal Chef abilities, using rice cakes as highly effective restraints rather than food.
• Lay Buddhist Flying Fish reinforces her reputation as an exceptionally fast and dangerous Fifth-Grade fighter by rapidly killing many demons.
• The disguised cave master is shown to be cunning and ambitious, infiltrating the vanguard to gather information and seize the greatest reward. However, its strategic goals are immediately undermined by its fixation on Venerable White.
• Venerable White continues his deceptive strategy by pretending to be helpless, though this allows him to be captured.
• Song Shuhang is once again placed in danger because the demons identify him as a valuable target. He is powerless to resist the Sixth-Grade demon’s sudden attack.

Significant Themes

• Deception and counter-deception: Both sides hide their true strength. Xian Gong conceals formations and reinforcements, while the demons disguise a Sixth-Grade expert among low-level cannon fodder.
• Comedic contrast between power and obsession: The cave master is strong enough to overwhelm the group, yet its battlefield priorities collapse after seeing Venerable White’s beauty.
• Unconventional combat abilities: Rice Cake’s culinary techniques become weapons, emphasizing the cultivation world’s imaginative and unpredictable powers.
• Ambition and rivalry: The cave master wants to capture Shuhang first and monopolize the credit, showing competition even among the Nine Nether demons.
• Plans going awry: Xian Gong’s carefully prepared trap succeeds in destroying the vanguard but fails to prevent Venerable White and Shuhang from being captured.

Character Interactions

• Xian Gong coordinates with Rice Cake and Flying Fish, assigning them the task of eliminating the demon vanguard.
• Rice Cake immobilizes the demons so Flying Fish can kill them efficiently, demonstrating strong tactical cooperation.
• The disguised cave master avoids direct confrontation with Xian Gong, using other demons as distractions before pursuing Shuhang.
• In the valley, Yu Jiaojiao and the Snow Wolf group cooperate with the cultivators to fake a chaotic beast battle.
• The cave master mistakes the staged situation for genuine weakness, captures Venerable White out of infatuation, and then seizes Shuhang as a secondary target.
• The chapter ends with the unexpected reversal that the supposed victims—Venerable White and Shuhang—are taken away before the rescuers can react.

Plot points and events

• A four-headed, Sixth-Grade Nine Nether Snake Demon suddenly attacks the film set, knocks Yu Jiaojiao aside, and flies away carrying Venerable White and Song Shuhang.
• The cultivators watching the scene are initially surprised but quickly assume the demon is doomed: Venerable White is among its captives. Fairy Lychee photographs the bizarre event and posts it online, where the cultivators’ main concern becomes the snake’s survival.
• Director Jacob, unaware of the real danger, assumes the interruption was an unscripted but potentially useful scene. He considers keeping the footage of the beast carrying off the protagonist.
• Yu Jiaojiao’s father, Flood Dragon Overlord, rushes to check on her. She confirms that her water-element formation protected her from the snake’s strike and explains that it fled with Venerable White and Song Shuhang.
• Far above the set, Song Shuhang tries to wake Venerable White. A flute retrieved by Onion Lady reveals that White has entered a short seclusion and will not wake for about an hour. Shuhang realizes the demon has carried them away while White is effectively unreachable.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains resourceful, asking Onion Lady to find and use the Thousand-Mile Voice Flute when White does not respond. He recognizes that White has once again chosen seclusion at an inconvenient moment.
• Venerable White is still absorbed in his cultivation, apparently inspired by the filming incident. His calm, involuntary absence makes the danger both comic and real.
• Onion Lady reluctantly helps Shuhang, reasoning that she owes him gratitude for teaching her a cultivation technique.
• Yu Jiaojiao shows competence and composure: her defensive formation protects her, and she finds the situation amusing rather than frightening.
• Flood Dragon Overlord displays strong paternal concern and anger at whoever hurt his daughter, though the snake has already escaped.
• The cultivators share a mixture of confidence in White, amusement at the demon’s foolishness, and concern for Shuhang. Phoenix Slayer’s dramatic lyric prompts jokes about Dharma King Creation’s singing.
• Director Jacob treats the supernatural interruption as a filmmaking problem and possible creative opportunity, highlighting the contrast between the cultivators’ reality and the movie’s staged plot.

Significant themes

• Comedy through dramatic irony: Everyone assumes the snake is doomed, while the reader knows White is in seclusion and cannot simply be relied upon to act.
• The collision of fiction and reality: A genuine monster attack is mistaken for an improvised film scene.
• Trust and obligation: The group’s confidence in White, and Onion Lady’s decision to help Shuhang out of gratitude, shape how characters respond to danger.

Chapter Summary: “Black Venerable White”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A powerful Four-Headed Snake Demon, Bazagu, captures Song Shuhang and Venerable White from the sky.
• Venerable White is in deep seclusion and will not awaken for roughly two hours, leaving Shuhang helpless against the demon, whose strength is at the Sixth-Grade True Lord realm.
• Shuhang worries that the seniors from the Nine Provinces Number One Group have not come to rescue them and realizes that his recent good luck may already have been exhausted.
• Because Bazagu is a Netherworld creature, prolonged contact risks contaminating Shuhang with Netherworld energy, despite the protection of his merit.
• Shuhang removes his glove and uses the Appraisal Secret Method on Bazagu, causing blood to spray from his body.
• The appraisal reveals that Bazagu:
  • Is a cunning, disguise-skilled demon from the Netherworld’s multi-headed Snake Monster race.
  • Possesses the bloodline of the Ancient Demon Nine-Headed Serpent.
  • Can regenerate severed heads.
  • Has a movable heart that is its fatal weakness, though Shuhang cannot exploit this.
  • Is extremely lustful and protects handsome creatures in its “harem.”
• Bazagu discovers a spatial rift leading to the Netherworld and decides to take both captives back to Rebirth Mountain.
• Shuhang desperately calls for Venerable White to awaken, but White remains completely unaffected by the danger. Bazagu knocks Shuhang unconscious and carries both him and White through the rift.
• Upon entering the Netherworld, a mysterious, overwhelmingly handsome black-robed figure appears after apparently hearing Shuhang’s calls.
• The figure resembles Venerable White almost exactly, but radiates pure evil, defilement, and wickedness. Bazagu recognizes the resemblance and becomes terrified as the chapter ends with the figure looking directly at him.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang displays fear and desperation but continues searching for a solution instead of surrendering. His willingness to injure himself with the Appraisal Secret Method demonstrates his resourcefulness under pressure.
• Shuhang’s reliance on Venerable White becomes especially clear; despite being nearly powerless alone, he continues hoping that White will awaken and save him.
• Venerable White remains in unusually stable seclusion, completely oblivious to Shuhang’s cries and the escalating danger.
• Bazagu is established as powerful but simple-minded, greedy, lustful, and overconfident. Its obsession with handsome creatures may become important to its relationship with the newly appeared figure.
• The black-robed figure is introduced as a dark counterpart to Venerable White, suggesting a mysterious connection between the two.

Significant Themes

• Helplessness versus self-reliance: Shuhang is vastly outmatched, yet still attempts to save himself through strategy and appraisal.
• Luck and uncertainty: Shuhang questions whether his earlier good fortune has ended, emphasizing how unreliable luck is in a crisis.
• Appearance and attraction: Bazagu’s fixation on beauty contrasts with the terrifying power of the dark figure, whose attractiveness becomes a source of fear rather than comfort.
• Light and darkness: Venerable White’s righteous aura is juxtaposed with the black-robed figure’s pure evil, creating the impression of mirrored or opposing identities.
• Danger beneath comedy: Shuhang’s absurd blood-spraying appraisal and Bazagu’s bizarre “harem” preferences provide humor, even as the threat of Netherworld contamination and death grows more serious.

Character Interactions

• Shuhang and Bazagu: Shuhang tries to provoke, deceive, or appraise Bazagu, while Bazagu restrains and threatens him, treating him as a valuable captive.
• Shuhang and Venerable White: Shuhang repeatedly begs White to wake up, but White remains secluded and unresponsive.
• Bazagu and Venerable White: Bazagu considers Venerable White a valuable “Vajra Temple remnant” and plans to deliver him to Rebirth Mountain.
• Bazagu and the black-robed figure: Their first direct encounter immediately shifts the power dynamic. Bazagu, previously confident, becomes physically terrified after seeing the figure’s resemblance to Venerable White.

Chapter Summary: “Flat-Ground Fall”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The black “Venerable White” encounters a Four-Headed Snake Demon carrying Song Shuhang and the real Venerable White.
• Although he senses that the cultivators are unusual—especially the Seventh-Grade Venerable White—the black Venerable White does not initially interfere and casually encourages the demon to continue its “meal.”
• As he leaves, the black Venerable White accidentally steps into empty air and begins falling from the sky. His descent is mysteriously drawn toward Venerable White, who is being carried on the snake demon’s tail.
• The Four-Headed Snake Demon realizes that Venerable White, rather than Song Shuhang or the Vajra Temple remnant, is attracting the terrifying figure. In an attempt to save itself, it throws Song Shuhang away first, then reluctantly discards Venerable White as well.
• The black Venerable White crashes into the ground with overwhelming force, creating a massive crater and crushing the Four-Headed Snake Demon. The demon is killed despite its ability to regenerate its heads.
• Venerable White survives the impact because he is protected inside a stone shell created by earth-element power.
• After discovering Venerable White’s stone-covered body, the black Venerable White realizes that the statue’s face is identical to his own. When he touches it, he experiences a powerful sense of danger and feels as though he might be absorbed into the stone shell.
• The chapter ends with the black Venerable White considering whether he should kill the seemingly dangerous Venerable White before he can become even stronger.

Character Developments

• Black “Venerable White”: Revealed to be immensely powerful but absent-minded, sleepy, and comically prone to “falling” from the sky. His accidental fall causes devastating destruction without deliberate intent. His curiosity and amusement turn into suspicion and hostility once he recognizes the uncanny resemblance between himself and Venerable White.
• Four-Headed Snake Demon: Shifts from confidence in capturing its prey to overwhelming fear of the black Venerable White. Its desperate choices show its survival instinct: it abandons Song Shuhang first, then Venerable White, but ultimately dies from the black Venerable White’s accidental impact.
• Venerable White: Remains unconscious or in closed-door cultivation throughout the incident, but his mysterious aura and connection to the black Venerable White become increasingly significant. His survival suggests extraordinary defensive abilities.
• Song Shuhang: Is treated as the less important hostage and is thrown aside by the snake demon when it attempts to escape death.

Significant Themes

• Comedic contrast between power and intent: The black Venerable White’s casual clumsiness produces catastrophic consequences, emphasizing how overwhelming strength can make ordinary accidents deadly.
• Survival versus attachment: The snake demon repeatedly sacrifices what it values to preserve its own life, ultimately choosing survival over wealth and beauty.
• Identity and resemblance: The identical faces of the two “Venerable Whites” suggest a deeper connection and raise questions about their origins, relationship, or shared nature.
• Uncontrolled danger: The stone shell around Venerable White appears protective but also emits a frightening aura, suggesting that hidden power can be more dangerous than visible strength.
• Fragility of life: The black Venerable White’s remark about life being fragile is ironic, since the chapter demonstrates the enormous destructive gap between powerful beings and weaker creatures.

Character Interactions

• The black Venerable White silently intimidates the Four-Headed Snake Demon, then casually tells it to continue its attack.
• The snake demon interprets the black Venerable White’s fall as a deliberate assault and repeatedly sacrifices its captives in an effort to escape.
• The black Venerable White’s presence is mysteriously drawn toward Venerable White, suggesting a supernatural link between them.
• After the crash, the black Venerable White examines Venerable White’s stone shell, recognizes his own face, and reacts with alarm at the dangerous sensation produced by their contact.

Chapter Summary: “Shuhang, Little Friend, You’re Next to Die!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In the Nine Netherworld, Black Venerable White attempts to destroy the stone statue formed from Venerable White, using the entire world’s power.
• A liquid metal entity intervenes and blocks the attack. Like Black Venerable White, it can command the Nine Netherworld, revealing that the world contains two competing wills.
• The liquid metal entity is Black Venerable White’s long-standing rival. It claims that only one ruler should exist in the Nine Netherworld and accuses Black Venerable White of occupying its rightful position.
• The metal entity reveals that Black Venerable White’s apparent victory was meaningless: the statue he swallowed was merely a decoy made from its own body. The real Venerable White, Song Shuhang, and the Four-Headed Snake Demon had already been secretly sent out of the Nine Netherworld.
• Black Venerable White admits that he sensed familiarity between himself and the statue’s occupant and therefore did not truly want to kill him. He speculates that the cultivator may be a relative or descendant, noting his resemblance to himself.
• Black Venerable White announces that he will sleep for a hundred years, effectively leaving the Nine Netherworld to the liquid metal entity. Before departing, he humorously attempts to teach it how to laugh.
• Song Shuhang wakes up injured but alive on Venerable White’s Meteor Sword. He discovers that Venerable White remains encased in stone and still unconscious.
• The Four-Headed Snake Demon is wrapped around the sword, crushed and dying. It makes a final dramatic remark about being defeated “by beauties” before dying.
• Song Shuhang receives a call from Northern River’s Loose Cultivator, who urgently warns him that he is “next to die.”

Character Developments

• Black Venerable White: Shows his usual calm, sleepy, and irreverent personality. Although he initially attacks the statue, he recognizes a possible connection to it and chooses not to destroy it. He willingly withdraws and gives the rival control of the Nine Netherworld temporarily.
• Liquid Metal Ball: Is established as Black Venerable White’s obsessive rival and ideological opposite. It is competitive, vindictive, theatrical, and determined to eliminate the “redundant” second will. Despite its menace, its literal speech tags and exaggerated dancing make it comedic.
• Song Shuhang: Survives a near-death situation, uses healing magic, and begins piecing together what happened. He remains anxious and confused, especially upon realizing that Senior White did not rescue him consciously.
• Venerable White: Remains in seclusion throughout the crisis, protected in statue form. His Meteor Sword, however, appears to have acted independently and developed a more expressive sword spirit.
• Four-Headed Snake Demon: Dies after being severely crushed, preserving its pride by making a final dramatic statement rather than openly admitting defeat.

Significant Themes

• Duality and competing identities: The Nine Netherworld has two wills, presenting a bizarre conflict between Black Venerable White and the liquid metal entity.
• Rivalry and territorial legitimacy: Both entities believe they are the rightful ruler, turning cosmic authority into a petty, personal dispute.
• Hidden protection and misdirection: The apparent attack and rescue are revealed to involve decoys, secret transfers, and actions carried out without Song Shuhang’s understanding.
• Comedy amid danger: Serious threats are repeatedly undercut by exaggerated arguments, mechanical descriptions of laughter, provocative dancing, and Black Venerable White’s casual attitude toward death and conflict.
• Uncertain identity and kinship: Black Venerable White’s recognition of a resemblance between himself and Venerable White’s statue hints at a deeper connection or shared origin.
• Survival and escalating danger: Song Shuhang survives one crisis only to learn from Northern River’s Loose Cultivator that another deadly situation awaits him.

Important Character Interactions

• Black Venerable White and the liquid metal entity: Their confrontation is both a battle over control of the Nine Netherworld and a sarcastic argument between long-term rivals. The metal entity sabotages Black Venerable White, while Black Venerable White responds with indifference and teasing.
• Black Venerable White and Venerable White’s statue: Black Venerable White initially treats the statue as a target but ultimately spares it after sensing familiarity and possible familial ties.
• Song Shuhang and the Meteor Sword: Song Shuhang thanks the sword for protecting them, and the sword responds through a triumphant, increasingly mature sword spirit.
• Song Shuhang and the dying Snake Demon: The Snake Demon delivers a cryptic final line about heroes losing to beauties, leaving Song Shuhang confused.
• Song Shuhang and Northern River’s Loose Cultivator: Their phone conversation ends the chapter on a cliffhanger, with Northern River warning that Shuhang himself is now in imminent danger.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang contacts Northern River’s Loose Cultivator while returning to Vacation Manor with Venerable White and the defeated Four-Headed Snake Demon.
• Northern River explains that the attack by Netherworld evil demons has been incorporated into the filming of Destruction of Skycloud Sect. Several group members are using the real battle to shoot their characters’ deaths.
• True Lord Ancient Lake Abbey has already “died” as the Eight-Armed Sword Saint, and Medicine Master, Jiang Ziyan, Northern River, and Song Shuhang are scheduled to perform their own dramatic deaths.
• Venerable White is still in seclusion, having apparently entered it while lying on the ground during filming. Northern River worries about filming the protagonist’s emotional return scene, but Shuhang assures him that White’s seclusion should last only about two hours.
• Neither Shuhang nor White knows how they escaped the Four-Headed Snake Demon. Shuhang suspects Venerable White’s bizarre luck may have caused the demon to be crushed repeatedly by a meteorite—or something similar.
• Shuhang orders the Meteor Sword to return to Vacation Manor at full speed. The sword accelerates uncontrollably to more than fifty times the speed of the Disposable Flying Sword, terrifying Shuhang and renewing his determination to install safety features on his future flying weapons.
• Outside Vacation Manor, Lay Buddhists Xian Gong, Flying Fish, Rice Cake, and others use formations to trap the strongest evil demons. They deliberately allow weaker demons to enter so the cultivators inside can use them as movie “extras.”
• The evil demons who enter Vacation Manor are confused when the supposedly weak cultivators suddenly reveal overwhelming strength, fight them seriously, and then inexplicably collapse while delivering theatrical death lines.
• The chapter ends with the powerful Eight-Armed Sword Saint overpowering ordinary demons before deliberately engaging a Fourth-Grade demon. He allows himself to be beaten and dramatically “dies,” leaving the demons bewildered.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang: Remains bewildered by the group’s enthusiasm for acting out deaths during a real battle. His fear of heights and extreme flying speeds resurfaces, and he recognizes the need for safer transportation.
• Venerable White: Is unconscious or statue-like while in brief seclusion. His extraordinary luck is suggested as the reason the Four-Headed Snake Demon was defeated.
• Northern River’s Loose Cultivator: Becomes fully immersed in his role as the Skycloud Sect’s Deputy Sect Master, eagerly preparing for a spectacular, blood-filled heroic death.
• Lay Buddhist Xian Gong: Demonstrates tactical leadership by controlling the battlefield, trapping powerful enemies, and coordinating which demons are allowed into the manor.
• The Nine Provinces Number One Group: Treats the invasion as an opportunity for filmmaking, enthusiastically performing exaggerated battle scenes and deaths.
• The Netherworld evil demons: Become increasingly confused because the battle does not follow normal combat logic; powerful cultivators deliberately act weaker and die theatrically.

Significant Themes

• Reality and performance: A genuine life-or-death invasion is transformed into a movie set, blurring the boundary between actual combat and acting.
• Absurdity and comedy: Characters discuss scripts, props, blood bags, and emotional preparation in the middle of a demonic assault.
• Venerable White’s unpredictable luck: His mysterious escape and the crushed demon reinforce his almost supernatural ability to benefit from bizarre coincidences.
• Camaraderie and teamwork: The group coordinates both the defense of Vacation Manor and the filming, using the enemy attack to support one another’s creative project.
• The dangers of power and transportation: Shuhang’s uncontrollable flight highlights his continuing lack of control compared with the older, more powerful cultivators.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Northern River: Discuss White’s seclusion, the Four-Headed Snake Demon’s defeat, and Shuhang’s upcoming death scene.
• Song Shuhang and Venerable White: Shuhang relies on White’s statue-like body for support during the terrifying high-speed flight.
• Northern River and Yu Jiaojiao: Northern River urgently confirms that his props and blood bags are ready for his staged death.
• Xian Gong and Flying Fish: Coordinate the defensive formations and decide which demons should be captured and which should be allowed inside.
• Cultivators and evil demons: The demons expect a genuine battle, but the cultivators repeatedly turn combat encounters into elaborate, confusing performances.

Chapter Summary: “Zuiyue Jushi’s Shot, Two Seconds?!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The [Eight-Armed Sword Saint] appears to be killed by a Rank 4 Nine Nether demon, but he is actually pretending to be dead. His powerful life force and a transparent protective shield make his “death” obvious to the stronger demons.
• The [Divine Dragon Fist King] dramatically mourns Eight-Armed Sword Saint as his “junior brother,” launching a furious counterattack against the demons. He kills the demon responsible with his powerful technique, [Wudang Mountain Jiao Dragon Barrage].
• Shortly afterward, the Divine Dragon Fist King also stages his own death, complete with tears, blood, and a theatrical final line. He too remains alive inside a protective shield.
• The Nine Nether demons become increasingly confused by the human cultivators’ bizarre behavior. Although they recognize that the “dead” True Monarchs are still alive, they are relieved that the two powerful fighters have temporarily stopped attacking.
• The Drunken Yue Hermit suddenly appears behind the demon ranks wearing black armor and carrying a massive greatsword. Pretending to be an enemy inspector general named [Evil General Mingyue], he orders the demons to attack the Kongyun Sect.
• When the demons try to kill him, Drunken Yue Hermit reveals the aura of a peak Sixth Stage True Monarch. He intimidates them into obeying him and throws demons toward the human cultivators to strengthen the illusion.
• Meanwhile, the battle is filmed for a movie. The camera focuses mainly on Su Clan’s A-Sixteen and Jiang Ziyan rather than Drunken Yue Hermit.
• Drunken Yue Hermit repeatedly attempts to steal the camera’s attention, but after finally receiving a brief shot—less than two seconds—the cameraman immediately turns back to Jiang Ziyan.

Character Developments

• Eight-Armed Sword Saint: Demonstrates his willingness to participate in an elaborate fake death for the sake of the battle’s performance and filming.
• Divine Dragon Fist King: Fully commits to his dramatic role, pretending to grieve, raging against the demons, delivering an exaggerated revenge attack, and then staging his own death.
• Drunken Yue Hermit: Reveals a strong desire for recognition. Normally overlooked because of his unusual cultivation technique, he eagerly embraces the role of a villainous inspector general and hopes the film will finally give him a moment of fame.
• Su Clan’s A-Sixteen: Shines in combat, using her small saber to produce powerful, visually impressive waves of saber energy.
• Jiang Ziyan: Receives the cameraman’s attention for her eerie and distinctive fighting style.
• The Nine Nether demons: Become increasingly bewildered and frustrated, unable to understand why the human cultivators are acting so irrationally.

Significant Themes

• Performance versus reality: The battlefield is treated like a movie set, with fake deaths, scripted dialogue, dramatic poses, and improvised acting.
• The desire for recognition: Drunken Yue Hermit’s disappointment highlights how badly overlooked individuals may crave even a brief moment in the spotlight.
• Comedic misunderstanding: The demons understand that the “dead” cultivators are alive, yet are powerless to respond normally because the humans’ behavior is so absurd.
• Power and deception: True Monarch-level strength allows the cultivators to manipulate both the demons and the apparent course of the battle.
• Beauty and spectacle: The filming emphasizes visually striking combat, especially the contrasting styles of A-Sixteen and Jiang Ziyan.

Character Interactions

• The Divine Dragon Fist King theatrically mourns Eight-Armed Sword Saint and attacks the demon who supposedly killed him.
• The Nine Nether demons observe both True Monarchs “dying” and react with disbelief, frustration, and reluctant relief.
• Drunken Yue Hermit deceives the demons by posing as their superior, then forces them into the human cultivators’ attack formation.
• Drunken Yue Hermit competes indirectly with A-Sixteen and Jiang Ziyan for camera time, becoming increasingly jealous when the cameraman ignores him.
• The cameraman prioritizes the women’s impressive fighting styles over Drunken Yue Hermit’s carefully prepared villainous performance, leaving him comically humiliated.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The filming of [Destruction of Skycloud Sect] reaches its climax. The Nine Provinces Number One Group and Venerable Spirit Butterfly’s subordinates stage a massive battle against the Nine Nether Demons.
• The demons become increasingly confused and frustrated because the human cultivators repeatedly pretend to die while remaining completely unharmed, making the battle impossible to take seriously.
• Northern River’s Loose Cultivator finally receives a major scene as True Person Wudao, the junior brother of Skycloud Sect’s master, Daoist Inaction.
• Daoist Inaction orders Wudao to escort the disciples away, but Wudao refuses to abandon his senior brother and instead volunteers to hold off the demons.
• Daoist Inaction arranges for the sect’s younger disciples to escape through a secret passage under the protection of the Mute Monk, the Heaven-Swallowing Cat, several elders, and Su Clan’s Sixteen, who plays a guest disciple of another sect.
• Northern River stages an exaggerated death scene: a mantis-shaped demon slices through his waist, after which he kills the demon with one palm and collapses dramatically with realistic fake blood and intestines.
• The production crew considers the scene too graphic for the theatrical release and decides it will likely be cut, though an unedited version may be preserved for Song Shuhang and his friends.
• Meanwhile, Song Shuhang returns to Vacation Manor on the Meteor Sword after another terrifyingly fast ride with Venerable White. He arrives just as Northern River performs his sacrifice.
• Song Shuhang is given a new Daoist robe and instructed by Yu Jiaojiao to infiltrate the escaping disciples so he can later perform the death scene of his character, Senior Brother Gao Sheng.

Character Developments

• Northern River’s Loose Cultivator enthusiastically embraces his role and proves himself highly dedicated to acting, even preparing realistic severed-body props to maximize his screen time.
• His confidence and satisfaction turn to disappointment when he learns that his carefully performed death scene may be cut for being excessively bloody.
• Daoist Inaction/True Lord Dustfall is portrayed as a self-sacrificing sect master who remains behind to protect his people while ensuring the younger generation survives.
• True Person Wudao/Northern River demonstrates loyalty and courage by choosing to defend the retreat instead of fleeing with the disciples.
• Lay Buddhist Bright Moon becomes jealous and resentful because Daoist Inaction receives far more camera attention than he did.
• Song Shuhang remains wary of Venerable White’s transportation methods and resolves never again to ask related magical artifacts to “fly faster.”
• Su Clan’s Sixteen enjoys the battle so much that she is reluctant to leave the battlefield with the younger disciples.
• Medicine Master hints that he and Jiang Ziyan will soon film their own sacrificial scene.

Significant Themes

• The contrast between genuine heroism and theatrical performance: The cultivators act out death and sacrifice, but their exaggerated commitment creates both comedy and convincing drama.
• Sacrifice and preservation: Daoist Inaction and Wudao embody the duty of protecting the sect’s future, especially its younger disciples.
• The absurdity of filmmaking: Camera placement, editing decisions, special effects, and censorship are treated as seriously as the battle itself.
• Preparation and dedication: Northern River believes careful preparation creates opportunities, though his effort ironically risks being removed from the final film.
• Comedic inversion of battle conventions: The Nine Nether Demons expect a real fight but encounter cultivators who calmly fake their deaths and treat combat as acting.

Character Interactions

• Daoist Inaction and Wudao share an emotional exchange over who will remain behind to defend Skycloud Sect, highlighting their brotherly loyalty.
• Daoist Inaction and the Mute Monk cooperate to evacuate the sect’s elite disciples, with the monk silently agreeing to help.
• Bright Moon silently compares his brief appearance with Dustfall’s prominent role and plans to complain to Director Jacob.
• Fairy Lychee assists Northern River by throwing a mantis demon toward him, unintentionally enabling his dramatic “death.”
• Northern River and the mantis demon clash in a comic misunderstanding: Northern River calls the attack a sneak attack even though he deliberately charged into the demon’s blades.
• Medicine Master comforts Northern River and teases him about the upcoming performance involving himself and Jiang Ziyan.
• Yu Jiaojiao and Song Shuhang reunite at the set, with Jiaojiao immediately preparing him for his next role in the staged tragedy.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang prepares to film Senior Brother Gao Sheng’s heroic death scene. His Daoist robe contains a mechanism that will release a flash and make thirteen sword hilts appear to stab through him.
• Yu Jiaojiao gives Shuhang blood bags for the scene, but neither of them notices that the protective transparent shield talisman treasure has been left behind in the prop cabinet.
• Shuhang places Venerable White’s statue and the Four-Headed Snake Demon’s corpse safely nearby before heading to the Skycloud Sect secret passage to join the filming.
• He reunites with Su Clan’s Sixteen, Master Profound Principle, and Young Master Phoenix Slayer. Sixteen enjoys acting because it allows her to fight, while Phoenix Slayer worries she is becoming too much like the battle-loving A-Qi.
• Shuhang again asks Phoenix Slayer to let him “rent” his “CPU,” meaning his exceptional mental and analytical abilities, so Shuhang can improve his cultivation techniques. Phoenix Slayer angrily refuses and asks him not to reveal the matter publicly.
• Outside the secret passage, the battle scene continues. Most of the Nine Provinces Number One Group members acting as Skycloud Sect disciples have already “died.”
• Fairy Lychee throws a monkey-shaped demon toward Jiang Ziyan, who is playing Senior Sister Murong Hua. The demon fears being killed, but uses hidden bat wings to stop itself before reaching her.
• Evil General Bright Moon then forces the monkey demon forward, ordering it to attack the Skycloud Sect disciples. The demon curses him but crashes into an invisible barrier. Its sword breaks, leaving only the hilt.
• Despite this, Murong Hua suddenly appears to have been stabbed through the chest and begins acting out a tragic death scene, leaving the monkey demon completely confused because its broken sword could not have caused the wound.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang remains enthusiastic and determined to perform well, while also continuing his obsessive attempts to borrow Phoenix Slayer’s extraordinary mental capabilities.
• Yu Jiaojiao demonstrates responsibility and creativity by preparing props, although her oversight regarding the shield talisman creates a potentially dangerous situation.
• Su Clan’s Sixteen reveals her increasing enjoyment of combat and hints at a growing resemblance to the battle-maniac A-Qi.
• Young Master Phoenix Slayer becomes increasingly embarrassed and defensive about Shuhang’s repeated references to borrowing his “CPU.”
• The monkey demon is portrayed as intelligent, self-preserving, and ambitious. It dreams of becoming the Cave Master of Rebirth Mountain but repeatedly finds itself dragged into deadly situations.
• Evil General Bright Moon acts as an overzealous and incompetent “teammate,” blindly pushing the monkey demon into danger while pretending to command the battle.

Significant Themes

• Reality versus performance: The characters are filming a fake battle, but real demons and genuine danger are involved, making it difficult to distinguish acting from actual combat.
• Accidental heroism and chaos: Carefully planned scenes repeatedly become absurd because of unexpected actions, hidden props, and the demons’ reactions.
• The dangers of oversight: Forgetting the transparent shield talisman may leave the actors vulnerable, showing how a small mistake can have serious consequences.
• Comedic misunderstandings: Shuhang’s “CPU” metaphor and the monkey demon’s confusion over Murong Hua’s impossible wound create much of the chapter’s humor.
• Survival instinct versus scripted sacrifice: The monkey demon desperately tries to avoid death, while the human actors willingly stage dramatic deaths for the film.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Yu Jiaojiao discuss and prepare his sacrifice scene.
• Shuhang reunites with Sixteen and exchanges comments about her enjoyment of acting and fighting.
• Shuhang repeatedly pesters Phoenix Slayer about borrowing his “CPU,” prompting Phoenix Slayer to reject him and demand secrecy.
• Phoenix Slayer and Sixteen discuss her growing resemblance to A-Qi.
• Fairy Lychee treats the demons as disposable props, throwing the monkey demon toward Jiang Ziyan.
• Evil General Bright Moon forces the reluctant monkey demon back into the fight.
• The monkey demon attacks Murong Hua, but an invisible barrier breaks its sword; Murong Hua nevertheless appears mortally wounded, setting up the chapter’s cliffhanger.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Ziyan spares a monkey fiend, then collapses and plays dead. Medicine Master rushes over, seemingly distraught at her “death,” and the monkey escapes again.
• Medicine Master then activates a flask that releases fast-spreading purple smoke. It drains the fiends’ strength and life force, killing the monkey and many others. Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan remain “dead” in an embrace.
• The film crew praises the scene as a moving display of love. Medicine Master privately boasts that emotional performances—not just convincing props—earn screen time.
• Bright Moon, When Will You Be asks how to make his performance more emotional so he can get a longer shot. After the others teasingly pretend to be dead, Flood Dragon Overlord promises to help him.
• As the Skycloud Sect retreats, Daoist Inaction (played by True Lord Dustfall) stays behind to face the pursuing demons. Bright Moon’s fiend commander steps forward to challenge him, earning a full sixteen seconds on screen—more than the ten he wanted.

Character developments

• Medicine Master shows cleverness and theatrical flair, using the flask to eliminate a large group of fiends, then proudly treats his embrace with Jiang Ziyan as a masterful performance.
• Jiang Ziyan plays along with the tragic romance, helping create the scene that fools both the monkey and the film crew.
• Bright Moon, When Will You Be is eager for recognition and screen time. His wish is granted, and he ends the chapter delighted with his substantial appearance.
• True Lord Dustfall takes on a dignified, formidable role as the steadfast Daoist Inaction, calmly facing overwhelming odds.

Significant themes

• Performance and perception: The apparent tragedy is staged, yet the film crew and monkey react as if it were genuine.
• Love as spectacle: The crew admires the staged embrace as heartfelt romance, while Medicine Master insists that emotion makes a scene memorable.
• Humor and self-promotion: The cultivators treat screen time as a prized reward, joking and bargaining over their parts.

Character interactions

• Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan coordinate their “deaths” and embrace, while Medicine Master later boasts to Northern River’s Loose Cultivator about his acting.
• The group teases Medicine Master and discusses how to create “genuine emotion”; Flood Dragon Overlord asks Yu Jiaojiao to advocate for Bright Moon.
• The monkey repeatedly misreads the cultivators’ behavior and narrowly escapes before being caught by Medicine Master’s smoke.
• Bright Moon’s bold challenge contrasts with the demons’ disbelief at his claim that Daoist Inaction is near the end of his lifespan.

Chapter Summary: “My Shield, Battalion Commander?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fellow Daoist Bright Moon, When Will You Be plays Evil General Bright Moon, hoping his major battle with True Lord Dustfall’s Daoist Inaction will make him memorable.
• The Nine Nether Demons are forced toward the secret passage by a beautiful female cultivator, who prevents them from attacking the watching low-rank cultivators and uses a powder to drive them into a frenzy.
• Daoist Inaction and Evil General Bright Moon stage an impressive sword clash. However, the fight ends almost instantly: Bright Moon’s helmet is cut in half, while Dustfall is knocked down and spits blood.
• Bright Moon is disappointed because the short “boss battle” gives him very little screen time, despite his expectations of a prolonged, spectacular duel.
• After the scene, the Nine Provinces Number One Group stops pretending to be dead, processes the Nine Nether Demon corpses for resources, and moves the film crew into the Skycloud Sect’s secret passage.
• Fairy Lychee drives the demon army into the passage so the next scene can be filmed.
• Inside the passage, Su Clan’s Sixteen, Young Master Phoenix Slayer, and others act out the disciples’ escape. Phoenix Slayer’s Heaven-Swallowing Cat stays behind to delay the demons, while two weaker disciples sacrifice themselves and safely “die” under protective shields.
• Song Shuhang notices the shields and wonders where his own protection is. Nevertheless, he dramatically chooses to stay behind as Senior Brother Gao Sheng and fight the approaching demons.
• His self-sacrificing action redeems Gao Sheng, a character who had previously been portrayed as unpleasant. Song Shuhang begins fighting the demons for real, using live combat rather than staged choreography.

Character Developments

• Bright Moon becomes increasingly eager for recognition and screen presence. His pride is wounded when his anticipated grand duel ends in an instant victory.
• True Lord Dustfall convincingly portrays Daoist Inaction as an aging cultivator whose weakened body cannot withstand repeated attacks.
• Song Shuhang demonstrates courage and responsibility by volunteering to protect his junior disciples. His actions transform Gao Sheng from a disliked character into a heroic one.
• Young Master Phoenix Slayer, as Heaven-Swallowing Cat, fulfills the sacrificial role of a guardian protecting the escaping disciples.
• The disciple extras show bravery by holding back the demons, while the hidden protective shields ensure the actors are not actually harmed.
• The Nine Provinces Number One Group continues balancing real demon suppression with movie production, treating the demon corpses as valuable resources and helping coordinate the scenes.

Significant Themes

• Reality and performance: The cultivators are acting, but many scenes involve genuine danger and real combat, blurring the boundary between film and reality.
• The desire for recognition: Bright Moon’s frustration shows how fame and screen presence can matter even to powerful cultivators.
• Heroism and redemption: Gao Sheng’s sudden decision to sacrifice himself changes how the audience—and potentially the characters—will view him.
• Duty and self-sacrifice: Several characters willingly remain behind to protect others, emphasizing the responsibility of senior disciples and guardians.
• Comedy amid danger: The chapter contrasts serious battles with absurd filmmaking concerns, such as Bright Moon worrying about screen time and Song Shuhang anxiously searching for his safety shield.

Character Interactions

• Bright Moon and Dustfall engage in a theatrical but highly convincing duel, each trying to outdo the other.
• The beautiful female cultivator manipulates both the demons and the battlefield, forcing the demons into the desired scene.
• Fairy Lychee acts as a handler for the demon army, guiding them into position for filming.
• Song Shuhang’s interactions with his junior disciples highlight his new role as a protective senior brother.
• The film crew and the Nine Provinces Number One Group cooperate closely, using real cultivators, magical shields, and controlled demons to complete the movie safely.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang prepares to fight a horde of Third- and Fourth-Grade Netherworld demons while pretending to be Senior Brother Gao Sheng for a staged death scene.
• He uses his saber techniques, movement skills, Merit Light, and demon-suppressing abilities to confront the attackers in a narrow passage.
• Song deflects a bull-headed demon’s thrown ax and kills it with a single Flame Blade strike. The attack is unexpectedly powerful, seemingly because the Overlord Shatter Saber releases stored Heavenly Tribulation lightning—an especially effective force against Netherworld demons.
• The remaining demons recognize that Song’s saber is dangerous and coordinate ranged attacks before surrounding him with swords.
• Intending to complete the scripted scene, Song activates a mechanism in his robe, creating the illusion that thirteen swords have pierced his body. He lies down in a dramatic “death” pose.
• The protective shield he expects fails to appear, leaving him genuinely vulnerable to the demons’ swords. He prepares to protect his vital points with Steel Hand and the Overlord Shatter Saber.
• At the last moment, Onion Lady activates an Armor Talisman from inside Song’s Inch-Shrinking Bag, saving him from being pierced.
• Song uses Lion’s Roar, enhanced by his Mouth Aperture Talent, to stun the demons briefly. He then rises and unleashes a spinning Flame Blade, engulfing the surrounding demons in fire.
• Director Jacob, observing the scene, complains that Song is overacting and instructs the crew to make him finish dying instead of repeatedly “reviving.”

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang demonstrates growing combat ability and confidence. His mastery of the Flame Blade has advanced enough for him to incorporate his own will into the technique rather than merely imitating Daoist Scarlet Firmament.
• He also displays tactical awareness, using enemy weaknesses, terrain, movement, saber defense, and his various talents to survive overwhelming odds.
• Song’s confidence becomes comic overconfidence when he assumes his robe contains a protective shield and deliberately places himself in danger for the staged death scene.
• Onion Lady proves dependable in a crisis by activating the Armor Talisman and protecting Song, though she still demands that he eventually restore her freedom.
• The demons shift from dismissing Song as a weak Third-Grade cultivator to recognizing him as a serious threat because of his saber and its tribulation-enhanced power.
• Song continues to treat the battle as both a real fight and an absurd film production, mentally planning the entrances and deaths of other characters.

Significant Themes

• Survival amid absurdity: A staged heroic death unexpectedly becomes a genuine life-threatening situation, blending comedy with real danger.
• Hidden strength and improvisation: Song’s power exceeds what his cultivation level suggests, especially through the Overlord Shatter Saber, stored tribulation lightning, and his combination of techniques.
• Preparation versus unpredictability: Song carefully plans his “death,” but his assumed protective shield fails, forcing him to improvise.
• The destructive power of heavenly forces: Heavenly Tribulation energy is shown to be a natural nemesis of Netherworld demons.
• Performance and reality: Song’s fake wounds and dramatic pose imitate a scripted sacrifice, yet the danger becomes real enough that he must fight for his life.

Character Interactions

• Song battles the bull-headed demon directly, overcoming its physical strength with superior technique and the Flame Blade’s demon-suppressing properties.
• The humanoid demons coordinate their attacks and attempt to counter Song’s saber by overwhelming him before he can use it again.
• Song relies on Onion Lady, who saves him with the Armor Talisman; their exchange maintains their familiar relationship of reluctant cooperation and bickering.
• Song expects White-Clad Swordsman Fan Bai to enter after Gao Sheng’s scripted death and jokingly compares the scene to other exaggerated deaths performed by members of the Nine Provinces Number One Group.
• Director Jacob criticizes Song’s theatrical behavior, emphasizing the contrast between the serious-looking battle and its underlying nature as a film shoot.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang survives the second demon wave, but realizes he lacks the transparent shield that is supposed to protect him. The next wave includes demons strong enough to break Onion Lady’s Armor Talisman, leaving him with no safe option.
• Just as he is about to call for help and disrupt filming, True Lord White Crane arrives in his feminine-leaning form, calling him “husband.” Fairy Lychee and Young Master Phoenix Slayer had recognized the prop failure and arranged for White Crane to enter the scene early.
• White Crane supports Song Shuhang, then secretly knocks him unconscious so he can be treated as dead. He fights the demons, deliberately takes a spear wound, and activates his shield around himself and Song Shuhang, completing the improvised scene of Senior Brother Gao Sheng and his wife dying together.
• Director Jacob is initially concerned that the scene deviated from the script, but the crew explains the prop problem and persuades him to accept the change. Filming continues smoothly, with a few other deaths differing from the script.
• Song Shuhang remains asleep in the lounge beside Venerable White’s statue. He begins having nightmares: in one, he marries a version of White Crane and punches the “bride” when the veil is lifted. The chapter ends as the dream shifts to an old Chinese house.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang is resourceful but increasingly desperate as the missing shield leaves him exposed. He is grateful to Onion Lady for offering help, though he refuses to give up the Enlightenment Stone. He also remains deeply unsettled by White Crane’s feminine appearance and “husband” act.
• Onion Lady offers another Armor Talisman, but Shuhang explains that it would not withstand the approaching demons. Their exchange shows both her concern and her attachment to the Enlightenment Stone.
• True Lord White Crane steps in to save Shuhang and the filming, playing the grieving wife. His tenderness is largely an act: impatient with Shuhang’s hesitation, he knocks him out, then fights and sacrifices himself to complete the scene.
• Fairy Lychee and Young Master Phoenix Slayer notice the missing shield and coordinate the rescue. The crew and Spirit Butterfly’s subordinates smooth over the improvised scene with Director Jacob.
• Yu Jiaojiao takes the unconscious Shuhang to the lounge after filming.

Significant themes

• Performance versus reality: A scripted death becomes a real rescue, while characters improvise to preserve both Shuhang’s life and the production.
• Trust and awkward cooperation: Shuhang must rely on White Crane despite feeling uneasy around him.
• Comedy amid danger: The demon attacks, White Crane’s melodramatic “wife” performance, and Shuhang’s nightmare turn a life-threatening situation into farce.
• The cost of cultivation: Shuhang is unwilling to surrender the Enlightenment Stone, even to free Onion Lady, because he depends on its benefits.

Plot points and events

Song Shuhang is trapped in a series of increasingly strange nightmares, each built around a wedding. First he is a groom whose bride turns out to be Soft Feather—but her voice and appearance shift into her handsome father, who boasts about his Shapeshifting Brooch. Song Shuhang punches him, shattering the dream. In the next dream, Doudou appears as his bridegroom, and Song Shuhang again responds with a punch.
The third wedding parody takes place in a primitive world. Su Clan’s Sixteen appears with a club, while Su Clan’s Seven knocks Song Shuhang unconscious and signals to her. Song Shuhang realizes the repeated marriage jokes are likely being imposed on him and demands to wake up. The dream then transforms into a nightmare of puppet monsters made from everything around him, which pursue him and claim they will take his blood, flesh, bones, and hair.
A black flying sword appears, releases darkness that consumes the puppets, and transforms into Venerable White. White explains that Song Shuhang has been struck by a troublesome puppet-related technique from the Ancient Ink Sect. Song Shuhang suspects it came from a disguised puppet among the Sea Urchin Warriors at Yu Jiaojiao’s villa. White then ends the nightmare and wakes him.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang grows increasingly frustrated and wary as the nightmares repeat the same marriage gag. He resists each absurd scenario and stays cautious even when Venerable White appears to rescue him.
• Venerable White acts as a calm, reassuring rescuer, identifies the source of the nightmare technique, and brings Song Shuhang out of it.
• Soft Feather, Doudou, Su Clan’s Sixteen, and Su Clan’s Seven appear in dream roles that turn the wedding motif into escalating comedy and threat.

Significant themes

The chapter mixes absurd humor with genuine menace: a repetitive marriage joke gives way to a predatory puppet nightmare. It also emphasizes the vulnerability of dreams to outside influence and the importance of staying alert when appearances may be deceptive.

Character interactions

Song Shuhang reacts to each dream “bride” with irritation and comic aggression, while the figures play along with the wedding scenarios. In the final nightmare, he faces a hostile swarm alone until Venerable White intervenes. Their exchange shows Song Shuhang’s trust in White tempered by sensible caution, and White’s response restores his safety.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang wakes from a nightmare involving puppets, realizing Venerable White could not have rescued him because White was still in seclusion. He remains unsure what the Mohist puppet curse does and grieves the loss of his evolved High-Tier Spirit Ghost, which might have consumed it.
• In Nine Netherworld, Black Venerable White reflects on the curse after observing Shuhang’s dream. Liquid Metal Ball finds him and accuses him of obstructing its plan to become Nine Netherworld’s sole will. Their argument turns into a battle, as Liquid Metal Ball tries to devour him to survive an approaching calamity.
• At the vacation manor, Shuhang learns that the Dragon Demon never appeared during the demons’ invasion. Lay Buddhist Xian Gong believes it sent six cave masters as a vanguard, then fled when the attack went wrong. Shuhang and Xian Gong fear they cannot make the potion they need to address their excessive mental energy.
• Venerable White emerges from seclusion and reveals that he already has the Dragon Demon: it is dead and preserved in amber. Shuhang and Xian Gong are stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang shifts from distress over his missing Spirit Ghost and disturbing nightmare to anxious hope about capturing the Dragon Demon. He and Xian Gong console and encourage each other after believing the hunt failed.
• Xian Gong is disappointed but determined to keep trying; his smoke-covered appearance adds to Shuhang’s alarm.
• Venerable White remains calm and matter-of-fact, finally resolving the Dragon Demon problem with an unexpected reveal.
• Yu Jiaojiao teases Shuhang about True Lord White Crane’s dramatic acting, while Dharma King Creation appears despite being sought by fellow cultivators over his mentally contaminating voice message.
• Black Venerable White and Liquid Metal Ball exchange hostile, mocking accusations before fighting. Their dispute reveals Liquid Metal Ball’s fear of disappearing and its desire to rule Nine Netherworld alone.

Significant themes

• Comic reversals and dramatic irony: Shuhang and Xian Gong mourn a failed hunt while the Dragon Demon is already in White’s possession.
• Uncertainty and hidden threats: The puppet curse, the Dragon Demon’s movements, and the fate of Nine Netherworld’s rulers remain mysterious.
• Persistence and reliance: Shuhang and Xian Gong support each other despite setbacks, while White’s intervention abruptly changes their prospects.
• Loss and attachment: Shuhang’s grief over his Spirit Ghost underscores how deeply he values his companions and hard-won treasures.

Key events

• Song Shuhang and Lay Buddhist Xian Gong discover that Venerable White has already killed the Dragon Demon they had worked so hard to capture. White explains that he accidentally encountered it in the Nine Netherworld and slew it with one sword strike.
• White offers them the Dragon Demon, and Shuhang accepts. Xian Gong plans to refine its blood into Dragon Demon Potions to strengthen their physiques, then share the potions and any treasures made from the demon’s hide and bones with Shuhang.
• Xian Gong leaves to distribute the other demon corpses to the allies who helped with the hunt.
• Shuhang asks White to free Onion Lady from the Enlightenment Stone without hurting her roots. White tries, but each tug appears to make Onion Lady grow a fresh sprout rather than detach her. Onion Lady protests, while White remains curious.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang is practical and eager to claim the Dragon Demon, despite recognizing that he already owes White a great deal. He also remembers his promise to help Onion Lady.
• Xian Gong is disappointed that his elaborate hunt was unnecessary, but remains generous and fair, offering Shuhang half of the potion yield and crafted treasures.
• Venerable White’s casual, overwhelming power contrasts with the group’s painstaking efforts; his curiosity also gets the better of him during the attempt to free Onion Lady.
• Onion Lady is distressed by the painful attempts but seems to regenerate rapidly. Yu Jiaojiao and Dharma King Creation watch and offer support.

Significant themes

• Power and luck: White’s effortless victory makes the others’ extensive preparations seem almost comically futile.
• Fairness and obligation: Xian Gong insists on sharing the benefits, while Shuhang treats another debt to White as manageable.
• Comedic misfortune and resilience: Onion Lady’s painful “extraction” produces a new sprout instead of freeing her, hinting at an unusual regenerative ability.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Venerable White examines Onion Lady’s supposed Super-Speed Regeneration and determines that she has merely shed an outer layer of onion shoots. The process was painful but ultimately refreshing and beneficial.
• White admits that he cannot currently separate Onion Lady from the Enlightenment Stone without harming one or both of them. Onion Lady therefore remains rooted to the stone, despite her strong desire for freedom.
• Yu Jiaojiao reminds everyone that filming must resume. The crew needs to shoot Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan’s wedding scene, as well as a missing scene involving White’s character, Ling Ye, mourning the destruction of the Skycloud Sect.
• Song Shuhang, Venerable White, Dharma King Creation, and Yu Jiaojiao travel to the film set. Along the way, Shuhang explains his recent ordeal involving the Four-Headed Snake Demon, the Netherworld, and the Meteor Sword.
• At the set, fellow cultivators gather as wedding guests. Venerable White disguises himself as an ordinary Skycloud Sect disciple so he can attend.
• Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan appear in wedding attire. The group prepares to film while the cultivators watch Mad Saber Three Waves, who is still floating overhead in balloon form.
• Three Waves attempts to warn everyone through secret voice transmission that Jiang Ziyan is plotting to turn the fictional wedding into a real marriage. Before he can finish, Medicine Master enlarges his balloon body and cuts off the message.
• Three Waves realizes that Medicine Master already knows and secretly supports Jiang Ziyan’s plan. Medicine Master intends to use the film’s wedding scene to transform their master-disciple relationship into that of genuine dual-cultivation partners.
• Filming begins as Three Waves continues swelling uncontrollably, raising the possibility that Medicine Master may make him explode like fireworks.

Character Developments

• Onion Lady remains trapped on the Enlightenment Stone but acknowledges its benefits, creating a conflict between her desire for freedom and her reluctance to abandon the stone’s cultivation advantages.
• Venerable White continues to be helpful and analytical, investigating Onion Lady’s condition and agreeing to cooperate with the film crew despite missing scenes.
• Song Shuhang serves as a mediator and participant, updating White on recent events and helping move the filming process forward.
• Dharma King Creation confidently returns to the set despite the trouble caused by his earlier actions, suggesting that he has devised a plan.
• Mad Saber Three Waves becomes increasingly vengeful and desperate. His determination to sabotage the wedding reveals both his grudge against Jiang Ziyan and his willingness to risk his life for revenge.
• Medicine Master is revealed to be fully aware of Jiang Ziyan’s marriage scheme and secretly welcomes it. His apparent passivity is actually a deliberate decision to secure their future together.
• Jiang Ziyan demonstrates cunning and determination by arranging the wedding scene and secretly inviting Medicine Master’s parents, hoping to turn the fictional ceremony into a real emotional commitment.

Significant Themes

• Freedom versus benefit: Onion Lady must choose between remaining on the Enlightenment Stone, where she can continue gaining power, and pursuing her freedom.
• Fiction becoming reality: The film’s wedding is being used as a means to change Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan’s real relationship.
• Love overcoming social boundaries: Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan must move beyond their awkward master-disciple relationship to become true partners.
• Comedy through humiliation and revenge: Three Waves’s balloon form, inability to speak, and possible transformation into fireworks create a farcical contrast with the seriousness of the wedding.
• Hidden cooperation and deception: Medicine Master pretends ignorance while supporting Jiang Ziyan, while Three Waves tries to expose the plan without realizing that the groom already knows.

Character Interactions

• Venerable White calmly explains Onion Lady’s condition to Song Shuhang and returns her to him.
• Song Shuhang apologizes to Onion Lady and accepts that she must remain on the Enlightenment Stone.
• Yu Jiaojiao urges White, Shuhang, and Creation to return to filming.
• Northern River’s Loose Cultivator recognizes White despite his disguise and humorously challenges Dharma King Creation for daring to return.
• The gathered cultivators anticipate Three Waves’s role in the wedding scene, treating his balloon body as part of the entertainment.
• Three Waves tries to warn the wedding guests against Jiang Ziyan, but Medicine Master silences and enlarges him before he can reveal the plan.
• Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan silently confirm their alliance through exchanged looks, while Three Waves realizes that they are cooperating against him.

Chapter 698 Summary: Senior Three Waves Wants to Be Cremated?

Key Plot Points and Events

• Medicine Master’s gu poison causes Mad Saber Three Waves to repeatedly swell, explode, and regenerate. He endures more than a hundred explosions, leaving him exhausted and nearly helpless.
• After the explosions stop, Three Waves inflates into a balloon-like figure and is wrapped in red congratulatory banners, becoming an absurd decoration at Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan’s wedding.
• Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan complete the wedding ceremony while filming their roles as Feng Chuanzi and Murong Hua. Jiang Ziyan performs especially well, portraying Murong Hua’s hope, sorrow, and eventual emotional resignation.
• Medicine Master’s parents attend the ceremony. Though only Third-Grade cultivators, their lives have been extended through Medicine Master’s pills, allowing them to live long enough to see him marry.
• After filming ends, the Nine Provinces Number One Group, Song Shuhang’s companions, and the film crew celebrate with a large wedding banquet.
• Song Shuhang becomes heavily intoxicated while looking for Medicine Master to give him a wedding gift of several-hundred-year-old scallion seedlings.
• He encounters Northern River’s Loose Cultivator and True Lord Dustfall helping Three Waves. Dustfall gives Three Waves an antidote that restores him from his bloated, weakened state.
• Drunk Song Shuhang asks Three Waves for his “last words.” Three Waves jokingly first asks to be buried between Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan, then changes his request to be cremated and have his ashes scattered into the sea.
• Taking the request literally, Song Shuhang carries Three Waves away to cremate him. After about two hundred meters, Song Shuhang collapses from drunkenness and falls asleep, accidentally throwing Three Waves aside. Three Waves survives and avoids being cremated.

Character Developments

• Mad Saber Three Waves: Remains a reckless “courting death” figure, but suffers an especially humiliating punishment. Even while close to collapse, he continues joking and trying to provoke others. His fake last wishes nearly result in a real cremation.
• Medicine Master: Demonstrates both his ruthless sense of humor and his affection for his parents and Jiang Ziyan. His gu poison is powerful enough to torment a Fifth-Grade cultivator, but he also prepares an antidote to save Three Waves.
• Jiang Ziyan: Officially establishes her relationship with Medicine Master and gives an excellent performance during the wedding scene, balancing her real happiness with the sadness required by her character.
• Song Shuhang: Shows his sincere but intoxicated desire to congratulate Medicine Master. His earnestness becomes dangerously misguided when he treats Three Waves’s joke as genuine final instructions.
• Northern River’s Loose Cultivator and True Lord Dustfall: Act as observers and helpers. Northern River maintains his familiar concern for Three Waves but also finds the situation amusing, while Dustfall provides the antidote.

Significant Themes

• Friendship expressed through teasing: The group’s harsh jokes and pranks reflect their familiarity and camaraderie, especially between Three Waves, Northern River, and Song Shuhang.
• The danger of courting death: Three Waves’s recklessness repeatedly leads to punishment, reinforcing his reputation for pursuing dangerous situations for amusement.
• Comedy through misunderstanding: Song Shuhang’s drunken literalism transforms Three Waves’s joke into a seemingly serious funeral arrangement.
• Marriage and companionship: The wedding marks Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan’s relationship becoming official, while Medicine Master’s parents’ presence emphasizes family hopes and affection.
• Performance versus reality: The characters are simultaneously acting out a fictional wedding for the film and experiencing a genuine emotional milestone in their own lives.

Important Character Interactions

• Medicine Master uses his gu poison to punish Three Waves, while secretly ensuring that an antidote is available.
• Medicine Master and Jiang Ziyan perform their wedding scene together, blending their fictional roles with their real relationship.
• Northern River and Dustfall recover Three Waves after the punishment.
• Song Shuhang drunkenly records Three Waves’s supposed final wishes, then attempts to fulfill them immediately.
• Northern River watches the absurd cremation attempt without intervening at once, amused by the possibility of seeing Three Waves’s joke become reality.

Chapter 699 Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Mad Saber Three Waves survives Song Shuhang’s drunken rage, though he is shaken by how dangerous Shuhang becomes while intoxicated.
• True Lord Dustfall gives Three Waves a medical bill from Medicine Master. Although the bill lists hundreds of extraordinarily rare ingredients, Skylark of the Mysterious Maiden Sect is named as the payer.
• The medicine was commissioned by Skylark to treat the hidden bodily dangers caused by Three Waves’ innate ability, Berserk Transformation. Taking the pill and shedding his skin more than 170 times will completely remove the danger, especially once he reaches the Sixth-Grade True Lord realm.
• Three Waves is terrified rather than grateful because Skylark—an exceptionally powerful Seventh-Grade senior who previously tormented him for over a year—is planning to visit him soon.
• Song Shuhang falls into another nightmare caused by the Ancient Ink Sect’s Nightmare Curse. He is trapped above a lake surrounded by monstrous water puppets trying to claim his blood, flesh, bones, hair, and entire body.
• Unable to awaken or summon his equipment, Shuhang uses the Heavenly Movement Is Vigorous technique to evade the puppets. When he begins falling, he unleashes the first form of his self-created Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist, “Vajra Descends.”
• Combined with his Merit Light and the power of the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique, the punch destroys every puppet hand and suppresses the curse-like nightmare.
• The nightmare does not end immediately. The familiar pitch-black flying sword appears, transforming into Venerable White and transporting Shuhang into the same mysterious black space as before.
• Shuhang becomes suspicious because this version of Venerable White does not know that he had just been drinking. He attempts to test the figure with a private joke or phrase involving “Little White” and waist-length hair.
• Before Shuhang can finish speaking, the figure silences him and reveals an unsettling reaction, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Mad Saber Three Waves: Shows fear and vulnerability beneath his usual reckless personality. His terror of Skylark is renewed, while her expensive medical gift suggests she genuinely cares about preserving his future.
• Song Shuhang: Demonstrates improved combat ability and resourcefulness while drunk and trapped in a nightmare. He successfully uses Merit Light and an anti-curse technique without relying on external weapons. His growing suspicion of the dream’s “Venerable White” also shows increasing caution and awareness.
• The mysterious Venerable White figure: Becomes more suspicious. Unlike the real Venerable White, he lacks knowledge of recent events and reacts strangely when Shuhang tries to verify his identity.

Significant Themes

• Humor mixed with danger: Three Waves’ fear of Skylark provides comic relief, while his potential medical crisis remains serious.
• Trust and identity: Shuhang questions whether the figure appearing as Venerable White is truly his senior or an impostor.
• Growth through adversity: Shuhang adapts to fighting without his usual equipment and uses his own techniques creatively.
• Friendship and frightening affection: Skylark’s “gift” protects Three Waves but also terrifies him because of their disturbing history.

Character Interactions

• True Lord Dustfall helps Three Waves recover and explains Skylark’s medical arrangement, teasing him about attracting the attention of a powerful senior.
• Three Waves mentally considers asking Shuhang to cremate him rather than face Skylark again.
• In the nightmare, Shuhang confronts the collective voice and water puppets of the Ancient Ink Sect’s curse.
• Shuhang speaks with the mysterious Venerable White and attempts to expose him through a personal test, but the figure silences him before he can complete it.

Chapter 700 summary

Key events

• In a dreamlike dark space, Song Shuhang meets a second Senior White, who clarifies that he is not the Venerable White Shuhang knows. Calling himself simply White, he tries to use a hypnotic voice to learn about the other Senior White, but it has no effect on Shuhang.
• Shuhang refuses to betray Venerable White and asks White to explain his own identity first. White warns that knowing it would bring danger, then sends Shuhang out of the dream and tells him not to mention their encounter.
• In the Netherworld, the black Venerable White wonders whether Shuhang might be his descendant or a contingency created by himself. Unable to leave, he considers sending fiends to investigate Shuhang. He reflects that becoming the ninth-stage Heavenly Dao may not be as glorious as it seems.
• Shuhang sleeps soundly until morning. On waking, he finds Ye Si crying beside his bed. She explains that approaching the original site of the Jadewater Pavilion—rebuilt as Venerable White’s holiday resort—triggered memories of her past death.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang shows loyalty to Venerable White and caution toward the mysterious White, resisting his attempt to extract information.
• White is charming and secretive, but his concern with the Venerable White Shuhang knows suggests a significant connection between them.
• Ye Si is distressed by the recovered memory and fears that she is merely a dead spirit. Shuhang calmly reassures her, insisting she is not a soul, though he has yet to explain what she is.

Significant themes

• Identity and hidden pasts: White’s relationship to Venerable White and Ye Si’s true nature remain unresolved.
• Memory and place: The Jadewater Pavilion’s original site awakens Ye Si’s buried memories.
• Trust and loyalty: Shuhang protects Venerable White’s privacy despite pressure.
• The cost of power: The black Venerable White doubts that attaining the Heavenly Dao is truly an ideal outcome.