Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci watched Jin Huan retreat after Old Daoist Yu Zhou explained the natural transformation of fish dragon grass, then followed Yu Zhou to Tongde Hall to learn how the sect’s merit system worked. There, Yu Ci discovered that obtaining a complete longevity technique would require resources far beyond his reach, and the chapter ended with him confronting the difficulty of pursuing longevity.

• Old Daoist Yu Zhou explained that artificially cultivated fish dragon grass could never become a true fish dragon, and Jin Huan accepted the rebuke and admitted he had oversimplified the matter.
• Jin Huan left Zhixin Temple, while Jin Chuan departed resentful toward Yu Ci, who recognized that Bai Ri Mansion now regarded him as a blood enemy.
• Yu Ci asked Yu Zhou about good deeds and news, and Yu Zhou took him to Tongde Hall and explained its merit-based resource exchange system.
• Yu Ci searched the method listings for a longevity technique and found that the sect’s leading scriptures cost boundless merit or at least one hundred thousand deeds.
• Yu Zhou explained that a complete longevity technique required compatible pill formulas, void-stepping arts, and tribulation-transcending methods, leaving Yu Ci to reflect on how difficult longevity was to attain.

Yu Ci secured permission to earn merits through public notices at Zhixin Temple and settled there while preparing to pursue an immortality pill formula. After forging a Pure Yang Talisman Sword, he was interrupted by Baoguang, who arrived with scratches and said a feathered beast had bullied him.

• Yu Ci asked Yu Zhou about becoming an outer resident disciple and learned that he could accept notices from the posting board despite not belonging to the Li Chen Sect.
• Yu Ci thanked Yu Zhou, arranged to lodge at Zhixin Temple for protection from Bai Ri Mansion, and explored the temple.
• Yu Ci learned that most of the temple's Daoists were lodgers hoping to join the sect, then began forging a Pure Yang Talisman Sword.
• Yu Ci successfully fused the talisman swords into a Pure Yang Talisman Sword, strengthening his plans.
• Baoguang flew into Yu Ci's courtyard with scratches on his cheek and said a feathered beast had bullied him.

Yu Ci joined Baoguang in trying to capture a water aspect bird at South Frost Lake, but they could not identify it among a flock of wild ducks. After Baoguang mentioned a wide-ranging thunder technique, Yu Ci consulted his talisman manual and found the Yindu Black Law Ghost Binding Curse.

• Baoguang explained that his first attempt to capture the water aspect bird had failed and asked Yu Ci for help.
• Yu Ci and Baoguang flew to South Frost Lake on Baoguang’s Ghost Gauze Cloud while Baoguang recounted how the bird had outwitted him.
• They spotted the flock of wild ducks, but Baoguang admitted his marker had fallen off, leaving them unable to distinguish the bird.
• Yu Ci considered how to capture the bird without exposing the Zhaoshen Map, then recalled Baoguang’s mention of a thunder technique with a range of one li.
• Yu Ci unrolled his talisman manual and found the Yindu Black Law Ghost Binding Curse.

Yu Ci caught the Water Aspect Bird with the Yindu Black Law Ghost Binding Curse and discovered that the talisman responded smoothly to his Innate Qi. Later, Yu Zhou summoned him, showed him a Merit Token, and revealed that Yu Ci had accumulated 360 Good Deeds.

• Yu Ci used the Yindu Black Law Ghost Binding Curse to bind the flock of wild ducks and expose the Water Aspect Bird hidden among them.
• Baoguang returned to the temple with Yu Ci and offered to share his Good Deeds, but Yu Ci declined.
• Yu Ci noticed that using the curse had felt unusually effortless and that his Innate Qi circulated smoothly.
• Baoguang brought Yu Ci to meet Yu Zhou, who practiced sword forms in his courtyard before speaking with him.
• Yu Zhou gave Yu Ci a Merit Token, and Yu Ci saw that it recorded 360 accumulated Good Deeds.

Yu Ci received 360 Good Deeds for the Fish Dragon Grass and prepared to return to Sky Rift Valley, where the Temple Master asked him to search for six rare herbs. After learning about the Blood Prison Ghost Manor and the valley’s dangers, Yu Ci set out the next morning with Baoguang’s Ghost Gauze Cloud to speed his journey.

• The Temple Master gave Yu Ci 360 Good Deeds for the Fish Dragon Grass, including an extra payment from Senior Brother Lu.
• Yu Ci told the Temple Master he planned to return to Sky Rift Valley to gather herbs and complete requests.
• The Temple Master gave Yu Ci a jade slip listing six herbs and explained how the Blood Prison Ghost Manor and past demonic incursions had led to the restriction on Core Formation cultivators entering the valley.
• Yu Ci agreed to search for the herbs, and the Temple Master told him he could stay in Sky Rift Valley through winter.
• After Yu Ci confirmed he would leave the next morning, Baoguang gave him the Ghost Gauze Cloud to shorten his journey.

Yu Ci returned to the Sky Rift Valley after a grueling journey on Baoguang’s Ghost Gauze Cloud and discovered that several major sects had converged there amid rumors about a ghost beast and a hidden treasure. Suspected of killing three powerful figures, he faced growing danger but continued toward the valley, amused by the enemies his actions had made.

• Yu Ci flew roughly four thousand li per day on the Ghost Gauze Cloud and reached the Sky Rift Valley on the tenth morning.
• Yu Ci noticed a controlled goshawk had been following him, then landed and confirmed its handler was beyond the range he could detect.
• Yu Ci questioned nearby herb-gatherers and learned that the Wanling Sect and Jingshui Altar had come searching for Zheng De, Lu Quan, and Xu Ji, prompting violent clashes with Bai Ri Mansion.
• Rumors linked the search to a ghost beast and a hidden treasure, drawing Bai Ri Mansion, the Wanling Sect, the Xuan Yin Sect, and Jingshui Altar into the Sky Rift Valley.
• Yu Ci realized that the sects might identify him as the one who killed Zheng De and the others, but he laughed and continued toward the valley.

Yu Ci continued searching Sky Rift Gorge for medicinal materials and killed an ancient Hidden Skin snake to claim its valuable slough. He was confronted by Cheng Rong of the Wanling Sect and Shi Xin, the sect master’s granddaughter, who accused him of killing her snake.

• Yu Ci marked trees hosting Shrimp Whisker Grass and searched the gorge for natural Fish Dragon Grass as winter approached.
• Yu Ci tracked down an old Hidden Skin snake, killed it with Sword Qi, and prepared to retrieve its snake slough worth thirty Good Deeds.
• A blood vulture arrived carrying Cheng Rong and Shi Xin, and Shi Xin demanded that Yu Ci pay for killing her snake.
• Cheng Rong introduced himself as a Wanling Sect cultivator and explained that Shi Xin was the sect master’s youngest granddaughter.
• Shi Xin claimed she had placed a Soul Tethering Curse on the Hidden Skin and had been waiting for it to lead her to its slough.

Yu Ci saw through Cheng Rong’s attempt to recruit him and learned that the Wanling Sect wanted to build ties with him because of his clash with Bai Ri Mansion and his possible connection to the Li Chen Sect. The chapter ended with Yu Ci understanding the sect’s political ambitions and the mutual interests behind its friendly overtures.

• Cheng Rong explained that Shi Xin had used the Soul Tethering Curse to track the Hidden Skin snake, and Yu Ci challenged her claim to it.
• Cheng Rong admitted Bai Ri Mansion had issued a notice demanding Yu Ci be captured alive or dead, then invited him to join the Wanling Sect.
• Yu Ci said he was seeking rare herbs and ores, and Cheng Rong offered the Wanling Sect’s Ghost Appearance Flower.
• Cheng Rong praised Yu Ci for humiliating Jin Huan and harming Bai Ri Mansion, revealing that the Wanling Sect knew about the ichthyosaur deal.
• Yu Ci recognized that the Wanling Sect hoped to use his possible entry into the Li Chen Sect to gain influence in Juebi City.

Yu Ci questioned herb gatherers near Sky Rift Valley, using their rumors to find two medicinal herbs worth six or seven Good Deeds. He caught Xuanqing fleeing and revealed that he could see the nine-person force from Bai Ri Mansion approaching the valley camp.

• Yu Ci encountered a group of herb gatherers, recognized many of them as the swindlers from the ruined temple, and asked them about medicinal herbs.
• The herb gatherers shared information, and Yu Ci learned of two herbs worth six or seven Good Deeds.
• Xuanqing slipped away from camp and ran into the forest after crushing a communication talisman.
• Yu Ci appeared before Xuanqing and confronted him about contacting Lu Ding of Bai Ri Mansion and putting Yu Ci on a wanted list.
• Xuanqing drew his sword and warned that Bai Ri Mansion's main force was coming, but Yu Ci showed him nine figures approaching the valley camp through the blue light.

Yu Ci lured Bai Ri Mansion’s pursuers to the valley and fought Lu Ding, Si Long, and the Mansion Lord’s guards with his Pure Yang Talisman Sword. He broke through the guards and pressed Lu Ding, but Si Long unleashed a sweeping fire attack as the battle continued.

• Yu Ci returned to the campfire carrying Xuanqing’s severed head and sent the herb gatherers away before Bai Ri Mansion’s pursuers arrived.
• Lu Ding demanded that Yu Ci surrender, but Yu Ci ignored him and assessed Si Long and the seven elite guards accompanying them.
• Yu Ci struck Si Long with the Pure Yang Talisman Sword, then attacked the guards as they formed a coordinated formation around him.
• Yu Ci broke through the guards, killing three, and charged across the stream toward Lu Ding.
• Lu Ding blocked Yu Ci for two breaths, giving Si Long time to recover and join the attack.
• Si Long unleashed the Supreme Blazing Sun Method in a broad wave of fire, forcing Lu Ding to retreat while Yu Ci turned toward the attack.

Yu Ci killed Si Long, Lu Ding, and the rest of Bai Ri Mansion’s party, then left the valley as witnesses spread word of the massacre. The next morning, Cheng Rong arrived at the scene with the Shi family’s ninth miss, where several powerful figures had gathered to inspect the corpses.

• Yu Ci used the Pure Yang Talisman Sword, Innate Qi, and atomized sword intent to fatally wound Si Long, then killed Lu Ding and the remaining personal guards.
• Yu Ci confirmed Si Long still had a faint breath and finished him after Si Long recognized the role of Innate Qi in his defeat.
• Yu Ci reflected that his victory depended on keeping control of the fight, then left while the herb-gatherers watched in fear and reverence.
• News of Yu Ci’s slaughter of Bai Ri Mansion’s party spread through Sky Valley during the night.
• Cheng Rong arrived at the valley the next morning with the Shi family’s ninth miss and found Master Ming, Steward Huang, Monk Zhengyan, and others examining the bodies.

Cheng Rong and Monk Zhengyan examined the nine Bai Ri Mansion corpses and realized Yu Ci had defeated them with extraordinary swordsmanship and destructive power. As Liu Siwei used Bai Ri Mansion’s Soul Searching Mirror to locate the killer, Yu Ci’s strength and background remained a mystery.

• Cheng Rong inspected the corpses with Monk Zhengyan while Ninth Girl watched from behind him.
• Zhengyan explained that Yu Ci had killed three guards with a single, exceptionally fierce sword strike that penetrated their bodies from within.
• Cheng Rong and Zhengyan concluded that Yu Ci had also destroyed Si Long’s powerful armor with a devastating attack.
• Cheng Rong reconsidered his earlier low estimate of Yu Ci after comparing his skill with Juebi City’s renowned swordsmen.
• Ninth Girl noticed Liu Siwei using Bai Ri Mansion’s Soul Searching Mirror, which could track a killer by sensing a dead person’s resentment.

Shi Xin spotted Yu Ci while he evaded the Bai Ri Mansion’s search and went to meet him, claiming she had come to fish. Yu Ci realized her cliffside fishing was a Wanling Sect method for training true qi with dangerous creatures, leaving him watching her unusual practice.

• Minglan explained that Lu Ding’s strong lingering grievance made him the Bai Ri Mansion’s best lead, while Zhengyan mocked the dead man and provoked Steward Huang.
• The Bai Ri Mansion searched for Yu Ci without success as Shi Xin watched from a blood vulture and wondered whether he would be found.
• Shi Xin saw Yu Ci emerge near the searchers, directed the blood vulture toward him, and secretly watched him after it landed beside him.
• Yu Ci teased Shi Xin about coming to collect a debt, and she denied it before claiming she had come to fish.
• Shi Xin cast a scented hook over the cliff, and Yu Ci recognized her fishing as a method for sensing and training true qi with dangerous creatures.

Yu Ci rescued Shi Xin from a flying ape and spent time talking with her as Bai Ri Mansion forces approached Sky Rift Valley. He sent her away safely and leaped into the valley to face the approaching pursuers.

• Yu Ci saved Shi Xin from a flying ape and killed the two creatures following it.
• Yu Ci and Shi Xin sat together, and she admitted she had recklessly used the Spirit Fishing Technique before telling him about Wanling Sect and Bai Ri Mansion.
• Shi Xin warned Yu Ci that Bai Ri Mansion was hunting him and described the feud between Jin Huan and Hu Dan.
• As Wanling Sect guards and Bai Ri Mansion forces approached, Yu Ci put Shi Xin on her blood vulture and sent her away.
• Shi Xin urged Yu Ci to give it his all, and Yu Ci leaped from the cliff as Bai Ri Mansion forces appeared nearby.

Yu Ci watched Bai Ri Mansion use the Soul Searching Mirror and Liu Siwei’s One Breath Three Calls technique to track him through Sky Valley, while learning more about their strength and tactics. With their pursuit still close behind, Yu Ci prepared to put his own plan into action.

• Huang Tai ordered Bai Ri Mansion’s men to search the valley after Liu Siwei found blood at the cliff and suggested it could help extend the Soul Searching Mirror’s range.
• Yu Ci used the Zhaoshen Map to observe the search and learned that Tu Du was on his way to Sky Valley.
• Liu Siwei used vital blood and One Breath Three Calls to lock onto Yu Ci fifteen miles away, prompting Huang Tai to lead the group after him.
• Yu Ci realized One Breath Three Calls was a distinct technique for activating a Dharma artifact and considered testing it with his Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror.
• During the ensuing pursuit, Yu Ci assessed the guards’ formations and Huang Tai’s Thousand Mouth Bees, then began moving stealthily at dusk to carry out his plan.

Huang Tai’s pursuit of Yu Ci faltered as Liu Siwei urged the group to withdraw, but Yu Ci exploited their argument to kill Liu and steal the Soul Searching Mirror and his Storage Ring. Huang Tai’s men were left scattered and shaken, while Huang Tai abandoned the chase and climbed away.

• Liu Siwei argued that the group should return to Bai Ri Mansion and use Elder Tu’s Soul Locking Technique, but Huang Tai insisted they continue pursuing Yu Ci.
• Yu Ci appeared during the argument, killed a guard, and escaped into the clouds before the Soul Searching Mirror could be used again.
• Liu Siwei followed with two subordinates, and Yu Ci ambushed and killed him with a sword strike through the throat.
• Yu Ci killed another guard while fleeing and took Liu Siwei’s Soul Searching Mirror and Storage Ring.
• Huang Tai rushed back, found Liu Siwei dead and the Mirror missing, then killed a warrior with his Thousand Mouth Bees after the man shouted that Yu Ci was nearby.
• Huang Tai dismissed the remaining warriors and climbed away without continuing the pursuit.

After escaping with Manager Liu’s Storage Ring, Yu Ci broke its restriction and learned the One Breath Three Calls technique, then tested it on his Pure Yang Talisman Sword and recovered while watching Huang Tai’s group struggle through Sky Rift Valley. The Zhaoshen Map suddenly began to distort and lose much of its range, leaving Yu Ci alarmed by whatever was happening below.

• Yu Ci used his refined divine intent to break the restriction on Manager Liu’s Storage Ring, damaging it but retrieving its contents.
• Yu Ci found the One Breath Three Calls technique among Manager Liu’s jade slips and learned that it could temporarily raise a magical implement’s refinement at great cost.
• Yu Ci tested the technique on his Pure Yang Talisman Sword, but its accumulated Killing Intent nearly broke the seal, so he stopped after losing a third of his vital essence.
• Yu Ci recovered while refining the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and watched Huang Tai and his group continue fighting through Sky Rift Valley.
• The Zhaoshen Map jolted and began losing its range to spreading distortions, prompting Yu Ci to stand and wonder what had happened below.

Yu Ci used the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror with the Zhaoshen Map to reveal a swarm of demons pouring from what he believed was the entrance to Blood Prison Ghost Manor. He followed the demons into the depths of Sky Rift and watched from hiding as a powerful disturbance approached the entrance.

• Yu Ci amplified the Zhaoshen Map with One Breath Three Calls and saw tens of thousands of demons trapped around a void entrance deep in Sky Rift.
• He watched some demons break through the barrier and fly north, then pursued them down into the dark region below forty miles.
• Yu Ci sheltered in a rocky crevice and found five or six hundred demons gathered ahead, including thirteen or fourteen with Core Formation cultivation.
• After more powerful Core Formation demons escaped the entrance, Yu Ci realized the threat could endanger Juebi City and resolved that the Li Chen Sect and Sunset Valley needed to be warned.
• Distorted ripples battered the edge of the Zhaoshen Map, and Yu Ci glimpsed two shadows racing toward the entrance.

Yu Ci watched the wounded ghost beast flee from a powerful two-headed demon, using the Heart-Pulling Horn to resist its Rakshasa Illusory Power. The two monsters began a brutal fight, and Yu Ci noticed that the ghost beast’s festering old wounds might have been inflicted by Ye Bin.

• Two shadows tore through a gathering of demons, and Yu Ci hid in a rock fissure as the ghost beast and its pursuer raced past.
• Yu Ci recognized the fleeing ghost beast as the creature whose horn he had severed and which Ye Bin had wounded.
• The ghost beast’s roar drove demons into madness, while Yu Ci used the Heart-Pulling Horn to keep his mind clear.
• The two-headed demon countered the ghost beast’s illusory power, restored the demons’ wits with its shriek, and caught the fleeing creature.
• The two-headed demon battered the ghost beast in a bloody fight, and Yu Ci spotted festering old wounds that he suspected Ye Bin had caused.

Yu Ci watched the wounded ghost beast battle a host of Core Restoration demons, then saw it kill their two-headed leader with a terrifying Illusionary Art. After the ghost beast escaped a second wave of demons, Yu Ci sensed an unfamiliar, icy scent and suspected a mysterious visitor connected to its illusion power.

• Yu Ci observed the ghost beast charge through the demons’ formation, killing several demons despite its severe wounds.
• The two-headed demon gathered power for a talismanic attack, but a sudden, overwhelming Illusionary Art shook the valley and shattered the Zhaoshen Map’s image.
• The ghost beast tore off half the two-headed demon’s body, severed both of its heads with its tail, and sent the remaining demons fleeing.
• A new force of demons approached, so the wounded ghost beast fled into the clouds while the demons searched for it.
• Yu Ci climbed from his hiding place and detected a clean, bitterly cold scent, leading him to suspect that a visitor connected to the ghost beast’s illusion power had appeared.