Chapter Summaries

Ghost Loathing tried to escape with the Dao Intent Jade Cicada but was attacked by several powerful cultivators in the river. He was gravely wounded and swept away, still clutching the cicada, whose outer layer cracked open.

• Ghost Loathing used his Netherworld Nine Hidden Secret Art to withstand the Cracked Mountain Dragon Seal and dive toward the riverbed.
• Water giants formed through Spirit Pointing General Deployment, and Ghost Loathing swallowed two before using his Sea Swallowing Bottle to destroy many more.
• Ghost Loathing broke through the river domain, but a figure wielding copper cymbals struck him with a sound-killing attack.
• Hearing that the cultivators were guarding the Delusion Breaking Pill Essence, Ghost Loathing hesitated to abandon it and escape.
• A hidden attacker struck Ghost Loathing in the temple, and his dying counterattack engulfed the river in green flames.
• Ghost Loathing collapsed and was swept away while clutching the Dao Intent Jade Cicada, cracking its outer layer and releasing wisps of Qi into his corpse.

Ghost Aversion appeared to die in battle, but the Dao Intent Jade Cicada used his lingering soul imprint to reconstruct him after the cultivators left. He emerged at dawn in a body made entirely from special primordial qi, with no trace of his parents’ flesh and blood.

• Ghost Aversion’s shattered soul fragments were drawn into a sphere of qi, which stopped his heart chakra and made his vitality seem extinguished.
• The cultivators found Ghost Aversion’s body and the Delusion Breaking Pill Essence, while Bai Dan was driven back by the green firelight.
• Venerable Master Xuan Hao attacked Ghost Aversion with Profound Nether Yin Thunder, apparently reducing him to dust, then led the cultivators away with the pill essence.
• Beneath the river, the Dao Intent Jade Cicada gathered Ghost Aversion’s remnants and reshaped his body according to his lingering imprint.
• At dawn, Ghost Aversion emerged from the water in a body formed entirely from special primordial qi.

Yu Ci’s divine will, known as Ghost Aversion, regained control of his body and senses after awakening from a long period trapped in deathly stillness. He explained how the three-way flow of primordial energy had sealed Chengqitian, the Wumeng Cicada Molt, and his Inner Void, and revealed that the turmoil surrounding Little Five had led to the Cicada Molt being stolen and brought South.

• Ghost Aversion heard cicadas and recognized the Dao Intent Jade Cicada in his mind palace, where Yu Ci’s dominant consciousness began to awaken.
• Yu Ci regained control of Ghost Aversion’s body, sensed the living world around him, and laughed after nearly two years of oppressive stillness.
• Yu Ci recalled how Qu Wujie connected the Land of Eternal Damnation, Chengqitian, and the True World, causing their primordial energies to flow through one another.
• Over more than a decade, accumulated primordial energy formed a shell that sealed Chengqitian, the Wumeng Cicada Molt, and Yu Ci’s Inner Void.
• Yu Ci explained that many beings connected to his mind had been impaired, while Little Five, Tie Lan, Li Shan, and others with weaker ties remained well.
• Little Five’s existence was exposed, triggering a struggle over the Five Sacred Peaks True Form Diagram, and the Wumeng Cicada Molt was stolen and taken to the South.

Yu Ci tested his control of Ghost Annihilation’s recreated body and went looking for clothes, but a swordsman ambushed him in the woods. After killing the swordsman, Yu Ci encountered someone who recognized Ghost Annihilation and told him to hold his fire.

• Yu Ci flew south in Ghost Annihilation’s body to test his control and received Li Shan’s news that Little Wu was in trouble and Tie Lan was helping him.
• Yu Ci noticed he had no clothes or Storage Ring, spotted a caravan, and headed down to take a garment.
• Yu Ci stumbled away from the caravan and found a Void Stepping swordsman in the woods, who attacked him with differentiated sword light.
• Yu Ci used a ghostly attack and a smoke arrow to kill the swordsman before he could unleash his lethal weapon.
• A person sprang from beneath the ground and called out to Yu Ci, telling him not to attack because they knew him.

Yu Ci let Guiyan take control of his body after killing a sword cultivator, then encountered Guiyan’s old associate Duan Xiang. Duan Xiang suspected Guiyan had changed and asked whether the affair with the Three Waters Sword Sect had been exposed.

• Yu Ci ignored the vigilant stranger, stripped clothes from the dead sword cultivator, and took his tiny sword.
• The stranger introduced himself through his familiarity with Guiyan, and Guiyan’s memories revealed that he was Duan Xiang, a wary former partner with a powerful escape art.
• Yu Ci yielded control to Guiyan, whose consciousness made the body and its memories operate more naturally.
• Duan Xiang questioned Guiyan about his changed appearance and the strange Death Demon, while Guiyan stayed guarded.
• Duan Xiang asked whether the affair with the Three Waters Sword Sect had blown open.

Gui Yan rejected Duan Xiang’s offer to help with a shady business and hurried to answer Li Shan’s prayer. The chapter explained how Li Shan’s cultivation and ties to Chengqitian had made his prayer reach Yu Ci, who was trapped in the Land of Eternal Damnation.

• Duan Xiang warned Gui Yan that Shui Jiansheng had ties to the Three Waters Sword Sect and the Sword Discussion Pavilion, then asked him to help with a lucrative deal.
• Gui Yan refused Duan Xiang’s offer and fled after receiving Li Shan’s second prayer.
• Yu Ci used a dead demon to follow the communication channel linking Li Shan, Chengqitian, and himself.
• The chapter revealed that Kou Chu had advanced to the Huan Dan realm but remained mostly unconscious, while Li Shan cared for him and learned the Heavenly Serpent Method from the Shadow Ghost.
• When Li Shan tried to revere the Devil Master, Chengqitian intercepted his demonic intent, giving the trapped Yu Ci his first sign that a way out might exist.

Yu Ci reflected on how Li Shan’s faith had become a valuable opportunity to study a normal believer while Li Shan and the wounded Sun Jie hid from pursuers. Sun Jie urged Li Shan to leave her behind, but he drew confidence from his recent prayers to Yu Ci just as an attack tore open the cabin roof.

• Yu Ci reviewed his efforts to control the energies sealing him inside the shell and regarded Li Shan as an important opportunity to learn about faith.
• Li Shan considered the pursuit closing in after the flower demon traced the fake goods, while Sun Jie remained critically wounded.
• Li Shan asked Sun Jie whether she could endure, and she said she was all right despite her injuries.
• Sun Jie urged Li Shan to escape without her and recalled her failed attempt to gain freedom from the Twin Immortals Sect.
• Li Shan took heart from the responses to his recent prayers to Yu Ci as an attacker blasted away the cabin roof and shouted for Gui Yan’s accomplice not to escape.

Li Shan and Sun Jie escaped into the river with a mist talisman, but Daoist Huifeng and Qu Shan tracked them down and surrounded their target. As Qu Shan prepared to capture them, Peng Suo arrived on the Gathering Immortals Bridge, leaving Qu Shan stunned.

• Li Shan crushed a prepared talisman as a newcomer approached, flooding the river with mist and making him and Sun Jie vanish.
• Qu Shan called on Daoist Huifeng, who scattered the mist and split the river to reveal someone fleeing underwater.
• Qu Shan sent his Water-Splitting Snake Shuttle and river-blocking nets after the target, and his subordinates believed they had caught them.
• Peng Suo appeared on the Gathering Immortals Bridge and demanded to know which of the people below was Guiyan’s accomplice.
• Qu Shan recognized Peng Suo as the Golden-Eyed Divine General and trembled at the arrival of the powerful Sword Discussion Pavilion figure.

Peng Suo used the Sea-Splitting Light Sword Formation to kill Ghost Weary, but a demonic bottle appeared and swallowed the formation’s Sword Qi. The chapter left Peng Suo facing the bottle in astonishment.

• Peng Suo’s sword formation scattered Ghost Weary’s gray light, but he sensed that its deathly root remained.
• Peng Suo tracked Ghost Weary hundreds of miles away and trapped him inside the Sea-Splitting Light Sword Formation.
• Peng Suo unleashed a decisive wave of Sword Qi, crushing Ghost Weary until his body turned to ash.
• As Peng Suo began withdrawing the formation, a hole appeared and swallowed the remaining Sword Qi.
• A bloodstained, ghost-faced demonic bottle took shape before Peng Suo.

Gui Yan survived Peng Suo’s sword formation by transforming into the Sea-Swallowing Demonic Bottle, then rapidly mastered several further transformations with Yu Ci’s guidance. His breakthrough unleashed the Six Desires Demonic Sound, stirring powerful figures across the region and sending Peng Suo’s sword soldiers into chaos; Peng Suo recognized it as a sign that the Six Desire Heavenly Demon was about to emerge.

• Gui Yan transformed into the Sea-Swallowing Demonic Bottle and swallowed Sword Qi, disrupting Peng Suo’s sword formation.
• As Peng Suo intensified the formation, Yu Ci guided Gui Yan to continue transforming and master Void Treasury.
• Gui Yan perfected the Form Hidden transformations, then advanced Netherworld Merging Mist and Five Injuries Qi, throwing the sword formation further into disorder.
• Gui Yan’s demonic sound spread across the region, provoking powerful reactions from figures including the Black Flood Dragon True Man and Venerable Master Xuan Hao.
• The Six Desires Demonic Sound drove Peng Suo’s sword soldiers into violence and chaos, and Peng Suo recognized the sign of the Six Desire Heavenly Demon’s imminent emergence.

Yu Ci’s thought guided Guiyan’s cultivation through a transformation that unleashed the Six Desires demonic sound across a thousand miles, drawing the attention of powerful cultivators. As they gathered to stop the impending threat, thunderclouds formed over Guiyan, leaving them stunned that the demonic tribulation had arrived so quickly.

• Yu Ci’s thought helped Guiyan break through the barriers holding back his cultivation, transforming the Nine Hidden Demonic Body and spreading its ethereal demonic sound across the region.
• The demonic sound disturbed nearby living beings and threatened to turn them into Heavenly Demon Kin, prompting Peng Suo to recognize the danger to the Southern Land.
• Sheng Tong arrived and warned Peng Suo about the threat, then agreed to help slay Guiyan in exchange for the spoils.
• The Black Flood Dragon True Man arrived seeking Guiyan’s demonic spirit, and Venerable Master Xuan Hao tried to mediate between him and Sheng Tong.
• Thunder struck as dark clouds gathered above Guiyan, and the assembled cultivators realized the demonic tribulation had begun.

Yu Ci used the Dao Intent Jade Cicada and the Heavenly Demon Hall method to organize the Heavenly Demon Kin into a demon kingdom, blunting the demon tribulation and trapping Peng Suo’s sword soldiers. As the lightning struck Ghost Weariness, his dim light exposed a hidden figure in the thunderclouds, whom Peng Suo recognized as Misery.

• Peng Suo sealed Gathering Immortals Bridge after the demon tribulation ended, but the demonized sword soldiers overwhelmed his control and nearly drew him into their demon kingdom.
• Peng Suo cut his links to the sword soldiers and transformed Gathering Immortals Bridge into a sealed sword prison, trapping them inside.
• Yu Ci’s core thought in the Dao Intent Jade Cicada resisted the demon tribulation because he had shaped the Heavenly Demon Kin into an ordered demon kingdom using the Heavenly Demon Hall method.
• The Heaven and Earth Law Will sent thunder and fire down on Ghost Weariness, forcing him to take physical form, while Venerable Master Xuan Hao hesitated after recognizing him.
• Ghost Weariness endured the lightning strike and projected dim light into the thunderclouds, revealing a hidden figure who fell from the sky.
• Peng Suo recognized the falling figure as Misery.

Peng Suo and the three True Persons tried to save Ling Jiao when Guiyan’s Spirit Transformation Light pulled her toward him. Ling Jiao revealed she had feigned unconsciousness and attacked Guiyan, while the battle continued beneath the tribulation clouds.

• Peng Suo recognized Ling Jiao falling from the sky and rushed to rescue her, but the lingering thunder-fire slowed him down.
• Guiyan’s dim Spirit Transformation Light caught Ling Jiao and began drawing her into a mysterious halo behind his head.
• Venerable Master Xuan Hao, Black Flood Dragon True Man, and Sheng Tong joined forces against Guiyan as Peng Suo tried to protect Ling Jiao.
• Ling Jiao broke free with the Crimson Cloud Dharma Robe, split into nine figures, and sent nine swords toward Guiyan.
• Venerable Master Xuan Hao shielded Ling Jiao while Peng Suo stopped her from pressing her attack, and she joked that she had nearly died.
• Ling Jiao remarked that the Daoist priest’s intentions were good but his power was insufficient as the thunder-fire intensified.

Peng Suo and Ling Jiao watched Ghost Weary endure his tribulation while the three True People held back, wary of his Spirit Transformation Light and Void Treasury. As the final blast descended, Black Flood Dragon True Man prepared a pestilence needle to exploit the moment and claimed Ghost Weary as his prey.

• Ling Jiao told Peng Suo that Daoist Huifeng had used the Eight Edicts of Shangqing for Summoning Dragons and her Thunder-Slaying Calamity-Averting Token to wield calamity lightning.
• Peng Suo realized Ghost Weary had likely mastered the Void Treasury, and Ling Jiao went to protect Daoist Huifeng despite Peng Suo's attempt to stop her.
• Peng Suo observed that Venerable Master Xuan Hao and the other True People had stopped attacking while Ghost Weary calmly defended himself against the tribulation.
• Black Flood Dragon True Man recognized that Ghost Weary's Spirit Transformation Light contained the Sea-Swallowing Demonic Bottle's transformation and decided to use his Blood Plague Dragon Pestilence flying needle against him.
• As the tribulation's final lightning and fire erupted, Black Flood Dragon True Man nearly revealed his demonic form and shouted that Ghost Weary was his.

Yu Ci took control of Guiyan’s body during the tribulation, resisted the Heaven and Earth Law Will, and completed the Nine Hidden Demonic Body’s transformation. After Guiyan emerged from the lightning with a new Dharma body, he struck down Daoist Huifeng and escaped while the others were distracted.

• Yu Ci observed the tribulation lightning refining Guiyan’s Nine Hidden Demonic Body and discovered that Black Flood Dragon True Man’s blood and qi had introduced a foreign substance into it.
• Yu Ci recognized that the foreign substance altered Guiyan’s body to suit the world’s laws, but decided he could undo the changes if necessary.
• Yu Ci’s divided thought replaced Guiyan’s crushed native consciousness and confronted the Heaven and Earth Law Will without fear.
• Guiyan used the Netherworld Nine Hidden Secret Art to vanish from the tribulation, then reappeared with a newly formed Dharma body as the lightning and clouds dispersed.
• Black Flood Dragon True Man retreated from Guiyan’s chilling aura, scattering the attackers’ formation, while Guiyan knocked Daoist Huifeng from the sky.
• As Peng Suo and the others reacted to Daoist Huifeng’s fall, Guiyan transformed into ghostly light and fled, leaving a song about scheming with Heaven.

Black Flood Dragon True Man learned that Sword Discussion Pavilion was preparing to contain the hundred thousand people tainted by Yu Ci’s demonic sound, and he hurried to find Ghost Weariness before the sect did. Yu Ci used his newly formed demon kingdom to survey the region and track Black Flood Dragon True Man.

• Black Flood Dragon True Man emerged from the river and heard that Sword Discussion Pavilion was debating how to deal with the demonic seeds spread across the region.
• Black Flood Dragon True Man learned that Sword Discussion Pavilion had sent for three thousand sword cultivators to form the Flag Sword Heavenly Net and seal the area.
• Black Flood Dragon True Man sensed the formation’s banner and hurried toward Ghost Weariness, hoping to reach him before Sword Discussion Pavilion.
• Yu Ci used his demon kingdom to gather information across the region and spotted Black Flood Dragon True Man within its range.
• Yu Ci noticed that the people who had truly entered demonhood seemed inclined to imitate Li Shan.

Yu Ci discovered that an exceptional cultivator infected by the Six Desires Demonic Sound had formed an Advancement Demonic Seed, giving him valuable insight that changed his plan for dealing with Black Flood Dragon True Man. At the Siding Institute, Daoist Huifeng arrived with Immortal Ling Jiao as Madam Hua of the Sea Merchant Guild waited to meet the absent institute head.

• Yu Ci identified the first infected cultivator as the bearer of a powerful Advancement Demonic Seed, whose resonance gave him valuable information and prompted him to alter his plan for Black Flood Dragon True Man.
• Madam Hua’s lavish carriage procession arrived at the Siding Institute, where Wang Shen explained that the institute head was away and Vice Head Zhang was in secluded cultivation.
• Daoist Huifeng arrived with the Void Stepping cultivator Immortal Ling Jiao, and Wang Shen recognized him as his martial uncle.
• Huifeng acknowledged Madam Hua, then decided to summon Miaolin himself and gather the Siding Institute’s disciples in the main hall.
• A voice from within the fortress announced that the institute head had just comprehended a divine talisman.

Daoist Huifeng welcomed Ling Jiao and Madam Hua to Siding Hall as the Flag Sword Heavenly Net spread over the area to detect demonic corruption. Meanwhile, Yu Ci reconsidered his plans and prepared to face the approaching Black Flood Dragon True Man, whose strange poison had trapped him.

• Zhang Miaolin mistook Ling Jiao for an enemy from Sword Discussion Pavilion, but Daoist Huifeng explained that she had come to help Siding Hall through the crisis.
• Ling Jiao used the Flag Sword Heavenly Net to conduct a preliminary examination of the stockade, while warning that anyone who had fallen to demonhood would receive no protection.
• Madam Hua advised Daoist Huifeng that Siding Hall should withdraw from Far Sky City and asked when Ghost Aversion had entered the True Person realm.
• Madam Hua described a recent encounter with a robber resembling Ghost Aversion, and Yu Ci overheard her account from more than a hundred li away.
• Yu Ci realized that the Flag Sword Heavenly Net and the visitors at Siding Hall complicated his plans, while Black Flood Dragon True Man was closing in and the strange poison remained difficult to suppress.
• Yu Ci drove Ghost Aversion to rise and prepared to fight Black Flood Dragon True Man as another person arrived at Siding Hall.

Wingless arrived outside Siding Hall as the Black Flood Dragon True Man attacked Ghost Weary, prompting Ling Jiao and Sword Discussion Pavilion to move in. Ghost Weary escaped the flood dragon’s jaws and broke through the sword formation, leaving the battle unresolved as he opened a gap in the encirclement.

• Wingless arrived at Siding Hall, where Ling Jiao greeted her and Daoist Huifeng began explaining the situation.
• Ling Jiao and the others spotted the Black Flood Dragon True Man fighting Ghost Weary in the northwestern sky, and Ling Jiao flew over with the Flag Sword Heavenly Net.
• The Black Flood Dragon True Man used his Cold Snow Domain and pestilential poison to weaken Ghost Weary, then tried to swallow him before Sword Discussion Pavilion could intervene.
• Ghost Weary shed his weakened outer shell and struck through the Black Flood Dragon True Man’s mouth, injuring him and escaping into the sky.
• Sword Discussion Pavilion’s five Guides formed a layered sword net around Ghost Weary, but he circled upward until his Spirit Transformation Light warped the formation.
• Ghost Weary revealed his true body and used a great bottle to swallow part of the distorted Sword Qi net, opening a gap in the encirclement.

Ghost Aversion used the Chaotic Desire Essence to infiltrate the Flag Sword Heavenly Net and hide among its sword cultivators. Sea Wave Guest and Peng Suo identified the threat, but the guides hesitated to search for him because the three thousand sword cultivators could be corrupted in the process.

• Ghost Aversion released a sinister light that disrupted the Flag Sword Heavenly Net and made several sword cultivators fall from formation.
• Sea Wave Guest revealed that Ghost Aversion had seen through the formation’s trap and escaped into hiding rather than through its apparent gap.
• Sea Wave Guest detected Ghost Aversion hiding among the sword cultivators through the unstable qi structure and identified his technique as the Chaotic Desire Essence.
• Peng Suo explained how the Chaotic Desire Essence possessed people and described the rare transformations Ghost Aversion had mastered in the Netherworld Nine Hidden Secret Art.
• Lu Qinghua urged the guides to search for Ghost Aversion, but Sea Wave Guest rejected the plan because it could corrupt the three thousand sword cultivators.