Chapter Summaries

Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang repaired the Hell Steamer and reconciled with Wu Song, while Ling Qing used Sun Erniang’s yaksha heart to awaken tender feelings for Wu Song in her. After several days of fellowship, Wu Song left for Mengzhou with Zhang Qing’s letter and a promise to return for Sun Erniang’s twin sabers.

• Zhang Qing repaired the Hell Steamer and helped Sun Erniang suppress the evil ghosts, while Wu Song cut down the ghosts that escaped.
• Wu Song explained why he had killed Ximen Qing and Pan Jinlian, and Sun Erniang praised him for avenging his brother.
• Ling Qing pressed Sun Erniang’s yaksha heart against Wu Song’s heart, causing Sun Erniang to feel his grief and regard him with the affection of an elder sister.
• Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang urged Wu Song to join Two Dragons Mountain, but he declined because he remembered his brother’s wish for him to live properly.
• After Wu Song stayed with the couple for several days, he swore brotherhood with Zhang Qing and set off for Mengzhou with Zhang Qing’s letter to Shi En.

After Prefect Zhang framed Wu Song and arranged to have him killed on the road, Wu Song escaped with Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang and took revenge on the men behind the plot. With the authorities searching for him, he disguised himself as a traveling monk and set off for Two Dragons Mountain.

• Wu Song defeated Jiang the Gate God to restore Happy Grove to Shi En, but Prefect Zhang later framed him for theft and had him sentenced to exile.
• At Flying Cloud Ford, Wu Song broke his shackles and killed the two escort officers and four ambushers with help from Zhang Qing and Sun Erniang.
• Wu Song and his companions returned to Mengzhou, sealed Prefect Zhang's residence with Sun Erniang's steamer, and killed Prefect Zhang, Commandant Zhang, Jiang the Gate God, and the rest of the household.
• Wu Song urged Sun Erniang to stop eating human flesh, and she agreed because she sensed his sincere concern through the heart they shared.
• After the authorities began searching for Wu Song, Zhang Qing advised him to join the outlaws at Two Dragons Mountain, and Wu Song accepted.
• Sun Erniang gave Wu Song monk's clothing, an ordination certificate, prayer beads, and the Azure Dragon White Tiger Twin Blades; Zhang Qing cut his hair, and Wu Song left in disguise for Two Dragons Mountain.

Ling Qing reshaped Sun Erniang’s cultivation so she could sever others’ karmic sins without killing them, while Great Wisdom Chan Master and Elder Zhizhen discussed how Ling Qing’s bond between Wu Song and Sun Erniang might redeem them both. Ling Qing continued studying the Five Thunders in Eastern Capital City as Great Wisdom Chan Master set out to seek him another stroke of fortune.

• Ling Qing used Wu Song’s influence to help Sun Erniang abandon eating human flesh and transformed her cultivation art into the Naraka Sin-Severing Evil-Suppressing Scripture.
• Great Wisdom Chan Master and Elder Zhizhen discussed Ling Qing’s plan to bind Wu Song and Sun Erniang through love and the chance that their fates could redeem them.
• Great Wisdom Chan Master decided to visit Jinshan Temple and seek a thread of fortune for Ling Qing.
• Ling Qing studied the Five Thunders with Wang Wenqing, Lin Lingsu, and others, learning that practitioners could cultivate the power through different foundations.

Ling Qing considered how to perfect Mastering the Five Thunders and the difficult Zhou Tian Star Dou Method, while the wider world remained peaceful under the Demon-Quelling Celestial Venerable’s arrangements. In Jiangnan, Zhu Guang studied Manichaeism’s Life-Purifying Treasure Treasury Scripture and found ideas that could complement his own cultivation.

• Ling Qing distinguished his current Yin-Yang Five Thunders from true Mastering the Five Thunders and contemplated the broader principles behind both that ability and the Primordial One Qi Divine Thunder.
• Ling Qing assessed the Zhou Tian Star Dou Method and concluded that comprehending shifting stars and exchanging dippers would require him to cultivate and connect all three hundred and sixty-five Stellar Palace General Outlines.
• The Divine Firmament Sect and Cai Jing’s band of fiends maintained their restrained cooperation, while the Demon-Quelling Celestial Venerable’s effort to cleanse karmic sins continued and the world remained peaceful.
• Zhu Guang joined a Manichaeism altar in Jiangnan and studied the Fiery Bright Venerable’s scriptures alongside his Purification and Bright Light Precious Pearl Scripture.
• Zhu Guang read the Life-Purifying Treasure Treasury Scripture and recognized its account of refining the body’s hidden light into Bright Light Fire as similar to his own cultivation principles.

Zhu Guang compared his cultivation scripture with Manichaeism’s teachings and worried that Ling Qing’s Druid inheritance might bind him to a foreign god. Ling Qing reassured him that he had already settled the matter, though the chapter left the nature of the power controlling the Druid path unresolved.

• Zhu Guang compared the Purification and Bright Light Precious Pearl Scripture with the Life-Purifying Treasure Treasury Scripture and concluded that Manichaeism might make believers cultivate power for the Fiery Bright Venerable.
• Zhu Guang contacted Ling Qing and asked him to come to Hangzhou so they could discuss his concerns in person.
• Ling Qing traveled from Eastern Capital City to Hangzhou in disguise and picked up an oil-paper umbrella left along the West Lake embankment by a mysterious monk.
• Zhu Guang showed Ling Qing the Life-Purifying Treasure Treasury Scripture and explained his doubts about Manichaeism and the Druid path.
• Ling Qing reassured Zhu Guang that he had already made his decision while studying at Shangqing Palace, then explained that an existence had occupied the Druid concept and controlled access to its power.

Ling Qing explained to Zhu Guang how the Outer Gods’ cultivation method bound practitioners to demons and ultimately turned their cultivation into nourishment for the Bright Lord and Demon King. The two began working out how Zhu Guang could adapt the method without abandoning his foundation, and Zhu Guang ended with a clearer understanding of its danger.

• Ling Qing explained that he had made the Druid inheritance his own by grounding it in Primordial One Qi and transforming it through talisman arts.
• Zhu Guang asked Ling Qing to help integrate the Life-Purifying Treasure Treasury Scripture into his foundational method, and Ling Qing agreed to study it with him.
• In a secluded cave dwelling, Ling Qing illustrated how Zhu Guang’s foundational method cultivated brightness into a fire elixir and how Outer Gods’ methods implanted divine light and five demons in the practitioner.
• Ling Qing explained that Outer Gods’ cultivation made light and darkness mutually dependent, with practitioners strengthening both the Bright Lord and the Demon King.
• Ling Qing revealed that the Bright Lord and Demon King would consume the practitioner’s good and evil as the fruit of cultivation, and Zhu Guang recognized the danger of the heterodox path.

Ling Qing helped Zhu Guang adapt the five demons of Manichaeism into his own cultivation method, using the Brightlight Pearl to control and refine them. After they completed the method’s framework, Ling Qing gathered their fire arts to study together.

• Ling Qing explained to Zhu Guang how to transform tribulations into demons and refine them into gods, combining the principle with Zhu Guang’s White Bone Ghost Soul Method.
• Zhu Guang chose heavenly, disease, yin, blood, and heart demons to pair with Manichaeism’s five demons, trusting his Brightlight Pearl to keep them under control.
• Ling Qing and Zhu Guang fused the methods, devising a process in which the five demons fed on Zhu Guang’s tribulations while the Brightlight Pearl refined them into light and fire.
• Ling Qing completed and checked the cultivation method’s framework, leaving Zhu Guang to work out its remaining details as he cultivated.
• Ling Qing brought out his fire arts and treasures, including the Three Samadhi True Fire Method, thunderfire methods, Nine Heavens True Fire, and Nine Netherworld Ghost Fire, for them to study together.

Ling Qing and Zhu Guang studied fire arts and developed methods for cultivating several kinds of true fire. Combining the wind, fire, and thunder arts caused Ling Qing to form a cloud-light that could shield him from their calamities, and he left to tell Daoist Lingguan.

• Ling Qing and Zhu Guang compared their fire arts and created the Stellar True Fire Formula, then began cultivating Stellar True Fire and Solar True Fire.
• They worked out a Nine Netherworld Ghost Fire Formula but set it aside because cultivation would consume their life force and turn them into demonic flame.
• Ling Qing and Zhu Guang devised a Nine Heavens True Fire Formula, completing Ling Qing’s set of wind, fire, and thunder divine abilities.
• A radiant cloud-light formed above Ling Qing, concealing the three arts’ Dao resonance and promising protection from wind, fire, and thunder.
• Ling Qing gave Zhu Guang cultivation methods and divine-ability seeds, then left the instance to inform Daoist Lingguan of the discovery.

Ling Qing explained his many sect affiliations to Daoist Lingguan, who agreed to warn the other sect members about the tribulations they might bear. Ling Qing then vanished into another instance while passing through the archway, leaving his companions to wait for news.

• Daoist Lingguan explained that sect leaders bore tribulations tied to their disciples’ deeds, and Ling Qing listed the sects whose fortunes and tribulations he shared.
• Ling Qing agreed to inform the other junior brothers about the secret method, then told Daoist Lingguan about the Demon Star Instance and Lin Lingsu.
• Daoist Lingguan eagerly set out with Ling Qing to visit Lin Lingsu, but he arrived in the Demon Star Instance without Ling Qing.
• Zhu Guang detected a lingering fluctuation from another instance in the archway, and the others concluded that Ling Qing had been sent to a new instance.
• Daoist Lingguan and Zhu Guang entered the Demon Star Instance to visit Lin Lingsu, while Han Fu and Zhao Zhen arranged for people to watch the Nether-Connecting Platform for Ling Qing’s return.

Ling Qing entered the White Snake Asks Love instance as a Daoist and saw visions linking his master to the White Snake’s past. After arriving in Hangzhou, he sought lodging at a Three Pure Ones Temple, where an incense offering brought him another vision that ended with a golden figure blocking his master.

• Ling Qing followed Daoist Lingguan through the Two Realms Archway and was drawn into the White Snake Asks Love instance, where he chose the Daoist identity.
• Ling Qing arrived in Hangzhou, noticed the city’s many hidden supernatural presences, and entered through Qiantang Gate before leaving by Clear Wave Gate.
• Ling Qing asked to rest at a Three Pure Ones Temple and offered incense in its Sanqing Hall.
• The incense offering showed Ling Qing a hazy figure shrouded in Primordial One Qi teaching the White Snake, and he recognized the figure as his master.
• Ling Qing saw another vision of his master approaching the White Snake, the herb gatherer, and the shepherd boy before a golden figure blocked his way.
• A voice beside Ling Qing greeted him as a Daoist friend.

Ling Qing lodged at Sanqing Taoist Temple with Old Taoist Liu, then began cultivating the Red Emperor's true form. After his morning practice, the temple's four Daoist children asked to learn from him.

• Ling Qing met Old Taoist Liu, showed his ordination certificate, and offered money to stay at the temple.
• Ling Qing learned that Old Taoist Liu was a flawed but forthright man, then resolved to meet Xu Xian after recalling the visions at the temple.
• Ling Qing began condensing the Red Emperor's true form by reciting the Southern Three-Qi Numinous Treasure Jade Text True Script.
• Clear Wind, Bright Moon, Golden Dawn, and White Cloud watched Ling Qing's practice and eagerly agreed to learn daily practice from him.

Ling Qing taught Clear Wind and the other attendants the Eight Divine Incantations, then met Xu Xian and invited him to help with pill refinement while investigating why his Dharma Eye could not see through him. Ling Qing set up a pill-refining room at Three Pure Ones Temple, where Taoist Liu eventually joined him for wine and meat.

• Ling Qing gave Clear Wind money to buy breakfast, then taught the young attendants the Eight Divine Incantations and had them memorize his copies.
• Ling Qing visited a medicine shop, examined Xu Xian with his Dharma Eye of True Insight, and found no visible sign of the anomaly he suspected was concealed.
• Ling Qing invited Xu Xian to help him refine pills, and Xu Xian carried the medicinal ingredients to Three Pure Ones Temple and accepted the invitation.
• Ling Qing and Clear Wind prepared a pill-refining room, and Taoist Liu allowed Ling Qing to use the courtyard after hearing he would share some pills.
• Taoist Liu pawned his new Taoist crown and shoes for wine, then shared wine and meat with Ling Qing that evening.

Ling Qing began teaching Xu Xian pill refinement and cultivation after Xu Xian offered incense at the temple. When Xu Xian agreed to learn the Dao, Ling Qing sensed a powerful force and then saw a real silver moon and a phantom golden sun moving through Xu Xian’s meridians as he prepared to refine fasting pills.

• Ling Qing led Clear Wind and the others through morning scriptures while Xu Xian listened and remembered several passages.
• Ling Qing guided Xu Xian in offering incense to the Three Pure Ones, and golden and silver rays entered Xu Xian’s head from the Supreme Purity statue.
• Ling Qing taught Xu Xian about fasting pills and claimed he was nearing sixty with ten thousand years of life ahead of him.
• Xu Xian agreed to learn cultivation, but Ling Qing stopped him from formally becoming a disciple after sensing two colossal stars descending upon him.
• Ling Qing saw a solid silver moon and a phantom golden sun revolving through Xu Xian’s meridians, then began heating the pill furnace with true earthcore fire.

Xu Xian witnessed the principles of alchemy, learned the Sun and Moon Ascension-Descent Method, and began cultivating with Ling Qing’s guidance. Ling Qing gave him a pill-making booklet and left the pill room, where he saw Taoist Liu prepare to investigate an evil spirit for a wealthy client.

• As Ling Qing refined nine pills, Xu Xian envisioned the five energies and yin and yang circulating through the body to form a golden elixir, then recounted his insight to Ling Qing.
• Ling Qing taught Xu Xian the Sun and Moon Ascension-Descent Method, and Xu Xian began cultivating, but his yin qi grew too abundant and his energies failed to merge.
• Ling Qing taught Xu Xian a technique to gather yin and return it to yang, gave him nine Fasting Pills, and handed him the Innate Pill Formulas booklet to study and use in refining pills.
• Ling Qing told Xu Xian to ask Clear Wind, Bright Moon, and the others for help with the pill-making skills, then left the pill room.
• Taoist Liu said Master Liu from Dingmin Ward had invited him to deal with an evil spirit, and Clear Wind pawned the temple’s bronze chime to redeem Taoist Liu’s cap and shoes.

Ling Qing warned Xu Xian not to exhaust his cultivation treating ordinary illnesses, then sent him off to cultivate independently. When a steward sought Taoist Liu to treat a gravely ill old madam, Ling Qing offered to go in his place.

• Ling Qing taught Xu Xian that ordinary illnesses should be treated with medicine and warned him against using Daoist arts to force cures.
• Xu Xian packed his belongings, reassured Clear Wind and the others that he would still visit, and gave them the pills he had refined.
• After Xu Xian left, Ling Qing searched around West Lake for Bai Suzhen but did not find her.
• A steward arrived at the Taoist temple seeking Taoist Liu to treat Zhao Wenhui's gravely ill mother, whose sickness had followed her worry over her grandson.
• Ling Qing offered to examine the old madam using Talisman Water, and the steward hurried him to the Zhao residence while leaving a servant to wait for Taoist Liu.

Ling Qing and Daoji treated the Zhao family’s gravely ill matriarch and unconscious young master, then Daoji cured another woman at Su Beishan’s request. Ling Qing returned to Three Pure Ones Temple, where he found Taoist Liu back from gambling and drinking.

• Ling Qing met Daoji at Zhao Residence, where both had come to help the sick, and Zhao Wenhui invited them inside with physicians Sai Shu and Li Huaichun.
• Ling Qing used a Healing Talisman to clear the old madam’s illness, and Zhao Wenhui asked him to treat his unconscious six-year-old son.
• Daoji offered to treat the young master, and Ling Qing introduced him as the Living Buddha Daoji of Hidden Spirit Temple.
• Daoji used tears from Dong Shihong and Chun Niang, a father and daughter separated for years, to make a pill that cured Young Master Zhao; Zhao Wenhui gave Dong Shihong a hundred taels so he could reunite with his daughter.
• Daoji followed Su Beishan home and cured his bedridden mother, while Ling Qing accepted Zhao Wenhui’s silver and returned to Three Pure Ones Temple.
• Ling Qing found Taoist Liu back at the temple, gave him money for wine and meat, and reflected on his decent nature despite his fondness for gambling and drink.

On Qingming, Ling Qing witnessed Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen meet at West Lake, then followed Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing to learn their cultivation and intentions. Xiao Qing attacked him, and the chapter ended as she unleashed poisonous mist while Bai Suzhen tried to contain it.

• Ling Qing met Daoji at a tavern, and Daoji let him pay for a year's worth of wine and meat.
• Ling Qing saw Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen exchange a glance at West Lake and watched their first encounters unfold.
• Ling Qing followed Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, and Bai Suzhen noticed him and called him out.
• Xiao Qing attacked Ling Qing with the Green Snake Sword, but Ling Qing restrained it with his horsetail whisk.
• Xiao Qing released poisonous green mist, and Bai Suzhen began casting a spell to collect it.

Ling Qing confronted Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing, tested Bai Suzhen’s connection to the Holy Mother of Mount Li, and clarified her tribulation. After sparing them, he warned Bai Suzhen that she was already caught in a tribulation, and she admitted it was one she had chosen.

• Ling Qing sealed Xiaoqing’s poisonous mist and confronted Bai Suzhen, claiming the Holy Mother of Mount Li had sent him to capture her for misusing her name.
• Bai Suzhen surrendered rather than resist, and Ling Qing used a Primordial One Qi Talisman Seal to clarify her emotions and understanding of her tribulation.
• Ling Qing seized Xiaoqing when she attacked, then released her at Bai Suzhen’s request.
• Bai Suzhen brought Ling Qing to a deserted residence disguised as a courtyard and introduced herself and Xiaoqing.
• Ling Qing said Bai Suzhen had not taken lives or become entangled in evil karma, so he would not pursue her for stealing the Holy Mother’s name.
• Bai Suzhen asked to join the Holy Mother’s mountain gate, but Ling Qing warned that she was already caught in a tribulation, and she replied that she had chosen it.

Ling Qing explained that Bai Suzhen’s love for Xu Xian had become a tribulation that could either lead her to transcendence or destroy her. Bai Suzhen rejected his Dream Realm method and chose to help Xu Xian, so Ling Qing offered to play matchmaker between them.

• Ling Qing told Bai Suzhen that her love for Xu Xian had formed a tribulation and asked whether she would undergo it.
• Ling Qing proposed that Bai Suzhen sever her feelings and cultivate alongside Xu Xian, using a Dream Realm to overcome her tribulation.
• Bai Suzhen refused the Dream Realm method, saying it would not help Xu Xian in reality, and declared that she would fulfill his wishes as much as possible.
• Ling Qing offered to tie the red thread between Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian, and Bai Suzhen gladly accepted his help.

Ling Qing resolved to help Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian through their love tribulation, then tried to learn how deeply Xu Xian was involved. Xu Xian followed his feelings to Bai Suzhen’s home, where the two grew close, and Ling Qing arrived to find them together.

• Ling Qing reviewed the monks’ schemes and decided to use Daoji as a possible lead while helping Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian face their karmic romance.
• Ling Qing told Xu Xian that a fellow cultivator with a Red Luan fate would visit the temple, stirring Xu Xian’s thoughts of Bai Suzhen.
• Distracted by Bai Suzhen, Xu Xian nearly made a mistake at the pharmacy and was sent home early.
• Xu Xian wandered to Arrow Bridge Double Tea Alley, found Xiaoqing, and followed her to Bai Suzhen’s residence.
• Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian shared wine and food until evening, when Ling Qing arrived and found them exchanging flirtatious glances.