Chapter Summaries

Ling Ji’s million Yin soldiers wore down the eighteen Ghost Kings while Ling Qing and his companions guarded the Yin-Yang Passage. As the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s roar shook the passage and his enormous stone head appeared, the anticipated confrontation began.

• Ling Ji surrounded the eighteen Ghost Kings and gradually weakened their formations with his million Yin soldiers.
• Ling Qing explained that the first formation held back wandering ghosts while Ling Ji’s forces dealt with the Ghost Kings and their elite soldiers.
• Ling Qing warned that the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s avatar could decide the battle, and Li Changyang vowed to stop the ghosts from entering the mortal world.
• Ling Ji nearly captured the eighteen Ghost Kings when a roar from the Yin-Yang Passage shattered the recovering seal.
• The Demon-Severing Hero Sword unleashed a vast beam that destroyed the ghosts near the passage, and the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s gigantic stone head emerged.

Ling Qing and his allies defeated the eighteen Ghost Kings, then faced the enormous incarnation of the Yin Mountain Ghost King as it emerged from the Yin-Yang Passage. Ling Qing challenged him to return to the Netherworld, but the Ghost King defended his plan to reverse the roles of humans and ghosts.

• The Wondrous Dao Emperor withdrew from the Eight Gates Formation with Wenjun and Sun Yuwei as Ling Qing and Li Changyang abandoned their positions to join the fight.
• Ling Ji broke the enemy ghost formation, and Ling Qing, the Wondrous Dao Emperor, Li Changyang, and their allies killed or captured all eighteen Ghost Kings.
• Ling Qing ordered the others to clear the remaining ghosts and withdraw toward the Yin-Yang Realm while he stayed to confront the Yin Mountain Ghost King.
• The Yin Mountain Ghost King's thousand-zhang incarnation emerged from the Yin-Yang Passage, and Ling Qing rose to meet it with his mana.
• Ling Qing urged the Ghost King to return to the Netherworld, but the Ghost King rejected his argument and described his plan to make ghosts yang and humans yin.

Ling Qing fought the Yin Mountain Ghost King, whose overwhelming strength forced him to rely on his talisman and defensive techniques. As the battle continued, Ling Qing summoned his emperors and treasures to construct a vast dharma form, leaving the clash poised to escalate.

• Ling Qing refused to join the Yin Mountain Ghost King's path, and the Ghost King attacked him with a mountain-sized palm.
• Ling Qing met the blow with his Primordial One Qi Grand Grappling hand, but the impact sent him flying and left him bleeding.
• The Yin Mountain Ghost King pursued Ling Qing and struck again, but Ling Qing's Primordial One Qi Divine Talisman shielded him, and he escaped through a gate to the Azure Palace.
• Ling Qing returned to the fight, and the Yin Mountain Ghost King brushed aside the Demon-Severing Hero Sword before striking at him again.
• Ling Qing deployed the Azure Emperor Nine-Layer Gate to absorb and rebound the Ghost King's attack, then summoned his emperors to build a nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-zhang dharma form.

Ling Qing fought the Yin Mountain Ghost King in the Yin Mountain ghost domain, using his Nine Heavens Dharma Realm and Primordial One Qi to overcome the ghost king’s advantage. He forced the ghost king to withdraw, but his own dharma manifestation collapsed and left him nearly unable to stand.

• Ling Qing used the Nine Heavens Dharma Realm to resist the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s earth-and-heaven-powered axe strike, then counterattacked with his Wanhua Whisk and Myriad Beast True Strength.
• After hours of battle, Ling Qing gained the upper hand as the Demon-Quelling Seal weakened the Yin Mountain Ghost King and Primordial One Qi proved able to restrain his arts.
• Ling Qing changed tactics, using Primordial One Qi Divine Talisman Seals and the Primordial One Qi Great Grapple to disrupt the ghost king’s body and divine abilities.
• The Yin Mountain Ghost King shattered his stone axe, injuring Ling Qing’s dharma manifestation, then tried to capture him with a shadowy ghost domain drawn from a stone egg.
• Ling Qing’s seals formed a net that stopped the ghost domain and compressed the Yin Mountain Ghost King, who said they would meet again before his body collapsed.
• Ling Qing’s spirit deities and incarnations returned to the Galaxy Scroll and his body, and he descended to the ground, staggering from exhaustion.

Ling Qing returned from Mount Tai Yin Domain after slaying the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s incarnation, and the defenders contained the ghost tide. The Netherworld Ghost King ordered its ghosts free to invade the living world, while Ling Qing and his companions continued their journey and reached Mount Mao.

• Ling Qing collected the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s rocky heart and escaped the depleted Yin Domain as ghosts began pouring from the passage again.
• Ling Qing told Ling Ji, Li Changyang, and Xu Sheng that he had slain the Ghost King’s incarnation, shocking them; Xu Sheng said the Ghost King was unlikely to send another incarnation soon.
• Ling Ji led the Yin-Gathering Yang-Transforming Array into the domain, cleared the ghost tide, and restored the Eight Gates Ghost-Suppressing Demon-Warding Array while Xu Sheng sent word to Xu Da.
• The Yin Mountain Ghost King awakened in the Netherworld, acknowledged Ling Qing as a formidable obstacle, and ordered the Netherworld’s ghosts to travel to the living world without restraint.
• Ling Qing sensed a deep karmic bond with the Yin Mountain Ghost King at the empty passage, then departed with his companions and eventually reached Mount Mao.

Ling Qing traveled with Li Changyang to Mount Mao and met its sect master, Mao Renying, after arriving at the Supreme Purity Sect’s inner grotto-heaven. Mao Renying praised Ling Qing for defeating the Yin Mountain Ghost King, and the story left them beginning their meeting.

• Ling Qing and Li Changyang rested in a town near Mount Mao while Qin Renli ran an errand; Li Changyang had accepted Qin Renli as his disciple after seeing his courage at Mount Tai.
• The next morning, Ling Qing, Li Changyang, Qin Renli, and the others climbed Mount Mao and entered Huayang Grotto-Heaven through its inner gate.
• Li Changyang led the group to Gold Accumulation Peak, where Lin Changsheng welcomed them and escorted them to the Three Pure Ones Treasure Hall.
• Ling Qing and his companions paid their respects to Mao Renying, the Mount Mao Sect Master.
• Mao Renying praised Ling Qing for slaying the Yin Mountain Ghost King, while Ling Qing modestly credited good fortune.

Mao Renying recounted how he overcame a demonic obsession by entering the Yin Mountain Ghost Domain and reflected on his long hope to face the Yin Mountain Ghost King. He envied Ling Qing for slaying the Ghost King’s incarnation and wondered why it had never crossed Mount Mao’s Netherworld Passage Well.

• Mao Renying learned about Ling Qing’s sect and cultivation, and suspected Ling Qing was connected to the disturbance sensed by the Supreme Purity Jade Talisman twenty years earlier.
• Mao Renying told Ling Qing and the others how a glimpse of the Yin Mountain Ghost King left him with a demonic thought that repeatedly thwarted his Foundation Establishment.
• Mao Renying described returning alone to the Yin Mountain Ghost Domain, saving a city of demon ghosts, subduing a Ghost King, and escaping pursuit to dispel the demonic thought.
• Ling Qing praised Mao Renying’s courage, while Mao Renying explained that he had long regretted never confronting the Yin Mountain Ghost King himself.
• Mao Renying wondered why the Yin Mountain Ghost King had not used Mount Mao’s Netherworld Passage Well, and the chapter described other passages and Xu Da’s defense against the Ghost King at Lake Baikal.

Ling Qing discussed his battle with the Yin Mountain Ghost King and the prospect of breaking through to Earthly Immortal with Mao Renying. He then spent several days studying Mount Mao’s cultivation methods, leaving with ideas about how Daoqing Temple and the Mount Lao Sect might develop.

• Mao Renying asked Ling Qing how he had defeated the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s incarnation, and Ling Qing explained that the fight had nearly exhausted him.
• Mao Renying asked whether they could still attain Earthly Immortal, and Ling Qing said that continued seeking would bring an opportunity; Mao Renying then sensed a faint connection to heaven and earth’s numinous essence.
• Mao Renying considered asking Ling Qing about his identity but suppressed the impulse and turned their discussion to Mount Mao’s methods and the Great Dao.
• Ling Qing stayed at Mount Mao with Ling Ji and the others for several days, touring Huayang Grotto-Heaven and discussing cultivation with its palaces and temples.
• Ling Qing studied Mount Mao’s spirit-refining inheritances and its roles in ritual arts, thunder methods, summoning gods, training Dao soldiers, and guarding its Netherworld Dharma Domain.
• Ling Qing noticed traces of Zhengyi and Quanzhen inner alchemy in some lineages and formed ideas about how Daoqing Temple and the Mount Lao Sect could grow stronger.

Ling Qing returned to the former Huaiyin Mountain and discovered that the hidden mountain had been moved into Half-Step Away, where Zhiyu and the others had been waiting for him. He reunited with the women at Wudang Temple and greeted Mu Jingrou, leaving the story with his old companions gathered around him.

• Mao Renying told Li Changyang that Ling Qing was worth befriending, and Ling Qing led Ling Ji and the others away from Mount Mao to tour Taihu Lake, Suzhou, and Hangzhou.
• Ling Qing arrived at the former Huaiyin Mountain and found that it had become a flat plain, then entered the Nether Lotus Inn and asked to visit its rear courtyard.
• Zhiyu recognized Ling Qing and explained that Daoist Crimson Mist and Daoist Mu had moved Huaiyin Mountain into Half-Step Away while she ran the inn to guard the passage and await his return.
• Ling Qing entered the courtyard and saw Huaiyin Mountain, where a disturbance from the Red Lotus Incarnation sent a scarlet lotus-shaped glow across the sky.
• Xiao Qian, Zi Xiang, and the other women welcomed Ling Qing back, and Mu Jingrou introduced herself to him.

Ling Qing returned to Wudang Temple with Mu Jingrou and the others after their years of atonement, and his Red Lotus Ghost King incarnation merged back into him. At the temple, he offered incense and seated his three disciples, leaving Ziyu envious of their place beside him.

• Mu Jingrou reunited with Ling Qing after years spent cleansing her sins and refining her Merit Golden Lotus and Demon-Binding Chain.
• Ling Qing returned to Wudang Temple with the others and saw that its red lotus had become a twelve-grade Red Jade Lotus Platform.
• The Red Lotus Ghost King incarnation merged with Ling Qing, briefly deepening his insight into the yin and yang realms.
• Ling Qing offered incense at the temple statue and then arranged seats for Mu Jingrou, Xiao Qian, and the others.
• Ling Qing conjured prayer mats for Ling Ji and the other two, confirming to Xiao Qian and the others that they were his disciples and stirring Ziyu's envy.

Ling Qing reunited with the people at Wudang Temple and learned that Tian Ying and Yang Liyi had left to investigate Ning Caichen’s dangerous journey home. After discovering how the others had advanced through their Wild Spirit Artifacts, he returned to the Abbot’s Quarters to study their paths and the information gathered over nearly twenty years.

• Ling Qing introduced Ling Ji, Wenjun, and their companion to Mu Jingrou, Xiao Qian, and the others, who respectfully greeted the Human Immortals.
• Zhiyu and Xiao Qian told Ling Qing that Tian Ying and Yang Liyi had gone to help Ning Caichen, who had been stripped of office and faced rumors of an attempt on his life.
• Zhiyu explained that Yan Chixia had been away for more than half a year, and Ling Qing decided to wait for his return.
• Ling Qing inspected the temple residents and found that they remained at the peak of Foundation Establishment but had raised many Wild Spirit Artifacts beyond level 10 and chosen paragon paths.
• Ling Qing recognized that the residents’ paths could help him create methods for attaining Human Immortal status and deepen his understanding of the mortal-to-immortal transformation.
• Ling Qing settled Ling Ji and the others in the main hall, then returned to the Abbot’s Quarters to sort through the accumulated information.

Ling Qing examined the Red Lotus Ghost King's new legendary abilities and its Purifying Karma Spirit Lord exemplar path, then began the day by leading morning practice at Wudang Temple. He retrieved the Red Lotus spirit artifact containing Xiao Qian and the others' insights and discovered it was now a unique Purple Palace Spirit Script-grade artifact.

• Ling Qing inspected the Red Lotus Ghost King's level 15 template, including its Red Lotus Karma Fire, Sin Tracking, and Netherworld Ghost King abilities.
• Ling Qing considered how the Red Lotus Ghost King's powers related to yin and yang, karma, and sin, and examined its Purifying Karma Spirit Lord exemplar path.
• Ling Qing rested overnight, then offered incense at Wudang's sacred image and led Ling Ji, Xiao Qian, and the others in morning practice.
• Ling Qing sent the group to their own affairs and entrusted Ling Ji and the other two to Xiao Qian and the others to get acquainted.
• Ling Qing summoned the twelve-grade Red Lotus from the lotus pond and took it as a spirit artifact containing insights from those who had refined Wild Spirit Artifacts.
• Ling Qing recognized that the artifact had become a Purple Palace Spirit Script-grade magic treasure and the sole artifact of the Red Lotus Ghost King template.

Ling Qing experienced a transformation into an innate infant and developed an incomplete, personal version of Womb Transformation and Shape Shifting. He then taught the Meritorious Spirit Talisman Method to Xiao Qian and the other female ghosts, and Xiao Qian became the first to break through.

• Ling Qing studied the Wildness Templates and their exemplars, then incorporated his insights into the Myriad Qi Beast Transformation Spirit-Taming Scripture.
• Ling Qing merged Thousand Faces and the Myriad Beast Dharma Body with his insights, becoming a newborn infant within a sphere of light before growing back into an adult.
• Ling Qing realized his transformation shared principles with Womb Transformation and Shape Shifting, which his panel identified as an incomplete, personal divine ability.
• Ling Qing prepared to teach the Meritorious Spirit Talisman Method after discovering that Zhiyu and the other female ghosts had turned toward the Dao.
• Ling Qing explained how Xiao Qian and the others could build on their existing foundations to nurture sacred embryos, and Xiao Qian was the first to break through.

Ling Qing taught Xiao Qian and the others how to cultivate sacred embryos, and Xiao Qian broke through to become a Great Yin Sacred Body with her own Moonlight Dharma Realm. Li Li, Zhu Guang, Tian Ying, Yang Liyi, and Ning Caichen returned to the Nether Lotus Inn after surviving battles against invading Ghost Kings and Pudu Cihang.

• Ling Qing explained that Xiao Qian and the other ghosts could use their Ghost Bodies to nurture Primordial Spirit sacred embryos, and Xiao Qian used moonlight and the Seven-Treasure Pond to complete her breakthrough.
• Xiao Qian formed the Great Yin Sacred Body and Moonlight Dharma Realm, then joined Wenjun in guiding the others' cultivation.
• Li Li returned and told Ling Qing how he had helped suppress the Ghost King invasion of Fengdu Ghost City after Ling Qing's victory against the Yin Mountain Ghost King's incarnation disrupted the enemy.
• Zhu Guang, Tian Ying, Yang Liyi, and Ning Caichen arrived together after Zhu Guang helped the two women defeat Pudu Cihang, the Imperial Preceptor of the Nanjing court.
• Ning Caichen thanked Zhu Guang, Tian Ying, and Yang Liyi for saving his life, then remarked that twenty years had passed while Ling Qing and Zhu Guang remained unchanged.

Ling Qing and his fellow disciples planned to gather materials in the Netherworld to forge the Two Realms Archway and take control of the world’s gateway. As they prepared to depart, Daoist Crimson Mist returned.

• Ling Qing and Zhu Guang reassured Ning Caichen about his Confucian path, and Ning rested at Huaiyin Mountain before later returning home.
• Zhu Guang, Yang Liyi, and Tian Ying reported that Ghost Kings were attacking freely after the Yin Mountain Ghost King changed his orders, so Ling Qing left the investigation to the City God Department and Three Mountains.
• Ling Qing and his disciples agreed to refine the Two Realms Archway before confronting the Yin Mountain Ghost King, and planned to search the Netherworld for materials.
• Several female ghosts reached the Human Immortal Realm over the following days, and Ning Caichen left for home.
• Ling Qing and the others prepared to enter the Netherworld when a woman announced that Daoist Crimson Mist had returned.

Ling Qing reunited with Yan Chixia and introduced him to his senior brother, fellow cultivators, and disciples. The group then entered the Netherworld through the Ghost Gate Pass, with the Star God-Demon Baleful Treasure Pagoda stabilizing the passage as their base.

• Ling Qing welcomed Yan Chixia back to the Taoist Temple and introduced him to Li Dao Li, Zhu Guang, Tian Ying, Yang Liyi, and his disciples.
• Yan Chixia agreed to join Ling Qing and the others on their planned journey into the Netherworld to seek materials for refining treasures.
• Ling Qing unfolded the Earth Sha Array Diagram into the Star God-Demon Baleful Treasure Pagoda and placed seventy-two Celestial Star Pearls within it to stabilize the Yin-Yang Passage.
• The group reached the pagoda's center, where the Ghost Gate Pass opened and netherworld yin-baleful qi poured through without harming the pagoda.
• Ling Qing entered the Ghost Gate Pass first and urged the others to follow.

Ling Qing led the group through the Yin-Yang Passage into the Netherworld and used his unusual affinity for its rules to guide everyone safely to Ghost Gate Pass. They arrived at the ruined gateway, where Ling Qing began looking for material to refine the Two Realms Archway.

• Ling Qing and the others crossed into the Netherworld protected by Zhu Guang’s Three Yang Fire Talismans.
• Zhu Guang bound the group together with a red cord and explained how to find the Road to the Yellow Springs without getting lost.
• Ling Qing sensed the Road to the Yellow Springs at once and led the group onto it.
• Ling Qing focused on reaching Ghost Gate Pass and brought everyone there in just three steps.
• Zhu Guang identified Ghost Gate Pass as a gateway between the underworld and the realm of the living, while Ling Qing surveyed its ruins for suitable material.

Ling Qing and Zhu Guang examined Ghost Gate Pass to improve the Two Realms Archway while Zhu Guang explained the weakened Netherworld’s factions and history. They found valuable Nine Netherworlds Cold Iron but not enough for a full refinement, and Xiao Qian returned to summon Ling Qing to something strange that Dao Li had discovered.

• Ling Qing sent Xiao Qian and the others to search for refining materials and assigned Li Li, Yan Chixia, and Mu Jingrou to guard the area.
• Ling Qing and Zhu Guang inspected Ghost Gate Pass while Zhu Guang described the Yin Mountain Ghost King’s dominance and the scattered remnants of the underworld.
• Zhu Guang explained that Zhong Kui continued resisting the Yin Mountain Ghost King and that Lady Meng’s Pavilion and reincarnation remained intact.
• Ling Qing and Zhu Guang studied Ghost Gate Pass’s restrictions and materials, then recovered more than a hundred jin of Nine Netherworlds Cold Iron from its concealed storehouse.
• Zhu Guang said the recovered cold iron was insufficient to forge the Two Realms Archway entirely from it, and Ling Qing suggested seeking more in Ice Hell.
• Xiao Qian returned and asked Ling Qing to see something strange that True Person Dao Li had found.

Ling Qing and the others searched Peach Halt Mountain for Netherworld materials to build the Two Realms Archway. Xiao Qian and Wenjun discovered an immense buried limb bearing a Ghost Peach Tree seed, and Ling Qing identified it as part of the legendary Ghost Peach Tree of Peach Halt Mountain.

• Li Li sent the others to search for Netherworld artifact-refining materials while he watched over them.
• Xiao Qian and Wenjun found a valley full of ghost pipes and uncovered a seed rooted in an enormous buried limb.
• Wenjun and Xiao Qian failed to move the seed, so they summoned Li Li for help.
• Li Li found that removing the limb might shake the mountain's foundations and asked Ling Qing to examine it.
• Ling Qing used Nature Wayfinding and confirmed the limb belonged to the Ghost Peach Tree and the seed was a Ghost Peach Tree seed.

Ling Qing and his companions gathered materials from the ruined ghost peach tree and decided to search the Frozen Hell for Nine Netherworlds cold iron before refining the Two Realms Archway. After bypassing Senluo Hall, they reached Mount Beiyin, where Ling Qing wondered whether this was the Yin Mountain Ghost King's mountain.

• Ling Qing explained that the ghost peach tree's last seed could restore the tree, so he and the others left it untouched and took a living bud and a branch as materials.
• The group returned with enough materials to refine a Two Realms Archway, but Zhu Guang said more Nine Netherworlds cold iron would improve it.
• Yan Chixia urged them to gather the remaining materials, and Ling Qing agreed to travel to the Frozen Hell.
• The group passed the deserted Ghost Gate and approached Senluo Hall, where Ling Qing sensed hundreds of Human Immortal Realm demons and ghost officials.
• Mu Jingrou explained that the Yin Mountain Ghost King's enemies included underworld dragon courts, the remnants of the Underworld Administration, and rebellious Ghost Kings.
• Li Li led the group around Senluo Hall toward Mount Beiyin to find cold iron, and Ling Qing asked whether it was the Yin Mountain Ghost King's Yin Mountain.