Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci learned that healing Ye Niangzi required fusing her sword intent and reshaping her sword embryo, a process that could leave her asleep for centuries or expose her to fatal danger. He then asked Madam Huanyong about the Demonic Sect carvings in the spring pool and sent her another set of characters to interpret.

• Madam Huanyong explained that Ye Niangzi's sword intent had merged with the injury's source, making it difficult to expel without damaging her cultivation.
• Yu Ci proposed helping Ye Niangzi fuse and control the sword intent, but Madam Huanyong warned that reshaping her sword embryo could take hundreds of years or risk her life if forced.
• Yu Ci accepted that Ye Niangzi's sword intent and embryo still needed to be reshaped, while he considered how to address the dangers.
• Yu Ci asked about the spring pool's carvings, and Madam Huanyong identified them as True Demonic Scripts that likely came from a larger array.
• Madam Huanyong said the carvings formed a modest array that nourished the mind and spirit, and Yu Ci sent her another set of characters to interpret.

Yu Ci learned the basic construction of the True Demonic Script from Madam Huanyong and reread the Boundless Void Divine Lord’s “Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament’s Profound Passage,” gaining new ideas for controlling the Myriad Demon Pool. He left the spring and headed to Madam Hua’s water pavilion, where he overheard her discussing cooperation involving the Clear Sky Discourse and void worlds.

• Madam Huanyong examined Yu Ci’s copy of the “Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament’s Profound Passage,” recognized it as the Boundless Void Divine Lord’s work, and listened as Yu Ci explained its hidden mechanisms and his theories about its purpose.
• Madam Huanyong explained the basic construction principles of the True Demonic Script, clearing up Yu Ci’s lingering doubts about its glyphs and composition.
• Yu Ci reread the method with his new understanding and found ideas that could help him complete and control the Myriad Demon Pool, though he concluded the script offered little practical information about the Jade Firmament Celestial Palace.
• Madam Huanyong departed, and Yu Ci left the cold spring before taking a boat toward Madam Hua’s water pavilion.
• Yu Ci overheard Madam Hua discussing cooperation with a guest, including the Clear Sky Discourse and void worlds.

Yu Ci joined Madam Hua, Xue Pingzhi, and Ao Xiu as they discussed the Sea Merchant Guild’s bid for a void world at the Clear Sky Discourse. He declared his intention to reclaim former Shangqing territory and learned that Cloud-Splitting Talisman Combat would likely decide who gained ownership.

• Madam Hua explained that the Sea Merchant Guild wanted a void world, while Xue Pingzhi demanded an equal share of the profits and a permanent residence there.
• Ao Xiu objected to Xue Pingzhi’s conditions, then reluctantly greeted Yu Ci after Madam Hua introduced them.
• Ao Xiu continued negotiating with Xue Pingzhi, while Yu Ci noticed that Madam Hua seemed content to watch the discussion.
• Madam Hua asked Yu Ci about his plans, and he said he intended to reclaim the former Shangqing territory known as the Death Star.
• Madam Hua told Yu Ci that Cloud-Splitting Talisman Combat was the most likely method for determining ownership of the void worlds.

Madam Hua explained Cloud-Splitting Talisman Combat and its rules as Yu Ci and Xue Pingzhi discussed how the Clear Sky Discourse might decide the contest for a void world. Ao Xiu then presented a water lotus crafted by Wandering Cultivator Tianfeng and asked Yu Ci to make him a talisman keepsake.

• Madam Hua described the origins of Cloud-Splitting Talisman Combat and explained its four popular methods.
• Yu Ci questioned whether the contest favored the Xuan Sect, and Madam Hua said other traditions also had skilled talisman practitioners.
• Ao Xiu offered Xue Pingzhi the Sea Merchant Guild's talisman experts, but Xue Pingzhi coldly dismissed him.
• Ao Xiu told Yu Ci that he had studied talismans under True Monarch Tiancheng and had recently received a water lotus from Wandering Cultivator Tianfeng.
• Ao Xiu explained that the lotus could transform into a Great Purity Heart Cleansing Curse and asked Yu Ci to create a talisman keepsake for him.

Ao Xiu tried to use Wandering Cultivator Tianfeng’s Water Lotus Flower to embarrass Yu Ci, but Yu Ci made a lotus-leaf talisman that enhanced it. Ao Xiu was left stunned by Yu Ci’s skill and the talismans’ extraordinary synergy.

• Ao Xiu presented Wandering Cultivator Tianfeng’s Water Lotus Flower, hoping to make Yu Ci lose face or surrender a greater treasure.
• Yu Ci accepted Ao Xiu’s challenge and drew a talisman on a lotus leaf gathered from Xi Yu Lake.
• Ao Xiu placed Yu Ci’s lotus-leaf talisman beside the Water Lotus Flower, and the two fused their energies and hovered in the air.
• Yu Ci explained that his Primordial Qi River Cart Curse could convert slain fiends’ essence into energy, greatly extending the Water Lotus Flower’s effects.
• Ao Xiu noticed the intricate fractal patterns on the lotus leaf and realized Yu Ci had crafted a perfectly matched talisman almost instantly.

Yu Ci transformed the Water Lotus Flower and its leaf into linked talismans, leaving Ao Xiu to learn that they needed the essence of a hundred thousand demons—and ideally an Outer Realm Calamity Demon—to function. He then gave Madam Hua a lotus whose mist affected her body, and Xue Pingzhi asked whether he had found a way to deal with her condition.

• Yu Ci told Ao Xiu that the Water Lotus Flower and leaf had merged into a talisman that needed a hundred thousand demons to restart and an Outer Realm Calamity Demon to reach its full effect.
• Ao Xiu realized the transformed lotus was effectively unusable until he gathered immense demonic essence, but he could not bring himself to challenge Yu Ci.
• Yu Ci offered Madam Hua a half-bloomed red lotus in return for her help with the Cold Spring.
• Madam Hua inhaled the lotus's shimmering stamens, felt an unusual soothing sensation, and recited a verse about the flower and leaf reflecting one another.
• Madam Hua grew pale as light flowed through her body, and Yu Ci apologized for his imperfect control of the talisman medicine.
• Xue Pingzhi examined Madam Hua's pulse and asked Yu Ci whether he had found a way to deal with her condition.

Yu Ci used a lotus talisman to ease Madam Hua’s illness and explained that careful, repeated treatment could restore her vitality without aggravating the restriction. When Ao Xiu begged to learn the method, Yu Ci began explaining its intricate calculations, and Ao Xiu vomited blood trying to follow them.

• Yu Ci observed the changes in Madam Hua after creating a lotus talisman, while Ao Xiu realized its craftsmanship surpassed his Water Lotus Flower.
• Ao Xiu asked whether the talisman would have a lasting effect, and Madam Hua said it nurtured vitality and moistened her body more effectively than the Grand Profound Yin Birth Talisman.
• Yu Ci and Xue Pingzhi concluded that regular use could restore Madam Hua’s vitality, but Yu Ci warned that the talisman must not be used more than seven hundred times.
• Ao Xiu asked to learn the talisman method, and Yu Ci began explaining how to calculate the changing currents of Madam Hua’s vitality.
• Ao Xiu listened for a quarter of an hour before vomiting a mouthful of blood.

Yu Ci used his talisman technique to stabilize Madam Hua’s vitality, while Ao Xiu exhausted himself trying to follow his method. As Yu Ci left with Xue Pingzhi, she proposed joining forces with Madam Hua and made clear that her alliance with Yu Ci rested on their shared enemy, the Rakshasa Ghost King.

• Yu Ci used seven hundred talismans to replenish Madam Hua’s vitality without triggering the restrictive spell, leaving Ao Xiu mentally and spiritually drained.
• Madam Hua thanked Yu Ci, agreed to let him use the Cold Spring for Ye Chi’s recovery, and invited him to continue helping with her treatment.
• Xue Pingzhi helped Madam Hua clear the room, and Ao Xiu left without getting to use the Cold Spring.
• Yu Ci departed with Xue Pingzhi and Luo Yuniang, carrying with him a strong impression of Madam Hua’s solitary presence.
• Xue Pingzhi told Yu Ci she intended to join forces with Madam Hua and said she trusted her alliance with him while the Rakshasa Ghost King remained alive.

Yu Ci learned that Ye Bin had recommended both him and Madam Hua to Xue Pingzhi as allies against the Rakshasa Ghost King. He agreed to speak on Xue Pingzhi’s behalf and considered Madam Hua’s ambitions and potential value, while his own household remained badly overstretched.

• Xue Pingzhi told Yu Ci that Ye Bin had recommended Madam Hua and Yu Ci as possible allies.
• Yu Ci wondered why Ye Bin had specifically told Xue Pingzhi to ask him for advice.
• A distant blast interrupted Yu Ci’s thoughts as the boat reached Xi Yu Lake, where a conflict was unfolding.
• Yu Ci agreed to speak for Xue Pingzhi and suggested they move away before discussing Madam Hua.
• Xue Pingzhi said Madam Hua wanted not to live beneath others, and Yu Ci cautioned that the Sea Merchant Guild would not necessarily support her against the Rakshasa Ghost King.
• Yu Ci considered Madam Hua’s ambitions and the help she might provide, noting that his own household was already stretched to the breaking point.

Yu Ci weighed the risks of an alliance with Madam Hua and agreed to investigate her further before Xue Pingzhi committed. After arranging future contact and discussing Xue Pingzhi’s injuries, Yu Ci returned to Xi Yu Lake, where the dispute was still being handled by the Xiyu Alliance.

• Yu Ci considered how Madam Hua’s political instincts might make her use Xue Pingzhi, the Sea Merchant Guild, and even the Rakshasa Ghost King for her own ambitions.
• Yu Ci asked Xue Pingzhi to wait while he examined Madam Hua’s intentions, and Xue Pingzhi agreed to contact him through Luo Yuniang after entering seclusion.
• Luo Yuniang gave Yu Ci her residence location and a set of flying transmission swords, and Yu Ci arranged for her to help him visit Madam Hua in a few days.
• Xue Pingzhi explained that she had to periodically extract foreign qi from her injuries and asked whether Yu Ci could make talismans to help contain it.
• Yu Ci flew back to Xi Yu Lake and saw Xiyu Alliance law enforcement separating the two sides of the ongoing dispute and interrogating their ringleaders.

Xiao Jiu intervened in a dispute between Tianfa Ling Sect disciples and Xiyu Alliance cultivators over spirit fish, then negotiated a future sale with Li Cunzhong. After settling the conflict, she reprimanded her sect companions for their reckless behavior.

• The red-robed captain questioned both groups after they argued over spirit fish and learned that Li Cunzhong and a Tianfa Ling Sect cultivator were fighting underwater.
• Li Cunzhong emerged battered, while Xiao Jiu stood unharmed on the lake and was identified as Nine Spirit Lady Shi Xin.
• The red-robed captain warned Li Cunzhong and Xiao Jiu to obey Xi Yu Lake’s rules, and Xiao Jiu offered to supply ten Three-tailed Spirit Fish in half a month.
• Li Cunzhong offered a bottle of Skywater Pill and a Dharma artifact in exchange, and he and Xiao Jiu agreed to meet again.
• Xiao Jiu returned to the seven Tianfa Ling Sect cultivators and scolded them for leaving the sect and acting recklessly.

Xiao Jiu reunited with Yu Ci after more than a dozen years, following her arrival at Xi Yu Lake to meet Fan Ping and his fellow Tianfa Ling Sect disciples. The chapter ended with Xiao Jiu bursting into tears at the sight of Yu Ci.

• Xiao Jiu questioned Fan Ping and the other Tianfa Ling Sect disciples about their conflict on the lake and their search for spiritual fish.
• Yan Chen complained that the crowded Three True Immortal Cities and lake environs offered no suitable spirit-gathering place, so Xiao Jiu offered to take the group beneath Xi Yu Lake.
• Yu Ci appeared behind Xiao Jiu, pressed down on her head, and tried to surprise her by asking her to guess who he was.
• Yu Ci moved around to face Xiao Jiu, and she began to cry aloud.

Yu Ci reunited with Xiao Jiu at Xi Yu Lake and comforted her before greeting Fan Ping, whose family had benefited from Yu Ci’s past help. After bringing the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples beneath the lake, Yu Ci learned that an injured Guanlin Dingjiao fish-dragon in Fan Ping’s Spirit Hiding Bag had drawn them into danger.

• Xiao Jiu burst into tears and clung to Yu Ci, then relaxed as he comforted her.
• Yu Ci recognized Fan Ping as Fan Lao’s son, and Fan Ping kowtowed in gratitude for Yu Ci’s past kindnesses to his family and sect elders.
• Yu Ci led Xiao Jiu and the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples to a place seven li beneath Xi Yu Lake and asked what had happened.
• Yan Chen explained that a spirit fish had pursued something connected to Xiao Jiu’s hometown and pointed out Fan Ping’s Spirit Hiding Bag.
• Yan Chen revealed that the bag contained an injured Guanlin Dingjiao fish-dragon raised by Fan Ping.

Yu Ci reunited with the fish-dragon he had befriended decades earlier and learned that Zhang Yan had been raising it. After discovering the creature had been caught near Fan Lao’s burial site, Yu Ci searched for Zhang Yan but found no trace, leaving the group to suspect the lake’s deep waters or a sealed mining area.

• Fan Ping opened the Spirit Hiding Bag, and the fish-dragon inside recognized Yu Ci and excitedly circled him, growing brighter as their shared True Dragon Form Qi resonated.
• Xiao Jiu revealed that Zhang Yan had raised the fish-dragon for nearly thirty years after rescuing it from traffickers who sold stolen Sword Garden treasures.
• Yu Ci learned that the fish-dragon had been caught near Fan Lao’s burial site and urgently led the group there to search for Zhang Yan.
• Yu Ci paid his respects at Fan Lao’s burial site while Xiao Jiu and the others searched the surrounding waters, but they found no useful traces.
• Xiao Jiu reasoned that Zhang Yan’s disappearance was most suspicious in Xi Yu Lake’s deep waters or in a sect-controlled mining area sealed by formations.

Yu Ci questioned Shang Qing, a Wuji Pavilion spy who had exposed the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples’ activities, and learned that Senior Brother Zhang had escaped during transport with other captured cultivators. Yu Ci located a special existence deep beneath Xi Yu Lake, leaving Xiao Jiu unaware of what he had discovered.

• Xiao Jiu identified the spirit fish as Siming Spirit Fish, which lived below the thirty-li water layer of Xi Yu Lake.
• Yu Ci dragged Shang Qing before the group and learned through his thoughts that Wuji Pavilion had arranged for him to follow the Tianfa Ling Sect disciples.
• Xiao Jiu sent Yan Chen and the other disciples toward their lodging with a refined spirit tool, while Yu Ci gave them golden bracelets that could summon Mystic Gate Warriors.
• Yu Ci learned that Senior Brother Zhang had been captured while training in the Outer Domain and escaped during transport with similar captured cultivators.
• Xiao Jiu said Senior Brother Zhang had switched to cultivating the Pure Sword Dao, and Yu Ci located a special existence one hundred and fifty li beneath Xi Yu Lake.

Zhang Yan rested in an abandoned underwater sanctuary after escaping capture at the bottom of Xi Yu Lake with an injured, amnesiac sword cultivator. As she began recalling a warning about the lake’s deep waters, a disturbance outside shook the cave.

• Zhang Yan found and secured a dry cave dwelling with defensive layouts after being driven more than one hundred miles beneath Xi Yu Lake.
• Zhang Yan reflected on his transformation into a sword cultivator and how he had escaped his captors before fleeing deeper into the lake with the woman he rescued.
• Zhang Yan observed that the woman’s head injury had scattered her memories and continued to weaken her, though she said they were gradually returning.
• The woman recalled her master warning that the deep waters beneath Xi Yu Lake were rife with treachery and started to remember where to flee from overwhelming enemies.
• Zhang Yan warned the woman not to touch her injured head as a powerful current struck outside and shook the cave.

Zhang Yan fought off a wave of lake-bottom demons in a cave, though his injuries left him unable to return to the water. Meanwhile, Su Shuanghe raged over the Wuji Pavilion’s failure and learned that Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu had come to visit.

• A fish demon broke through the cave’s array, and Zhang Yan killed it with a sword strike before driving back the other aquatic spirits and demons.
• Zhang Yan retreated into the cave’s shadows, coughing blood from the injuries he had sustained during nearly a day of running and fighting.
• The woman remarked that Zhang Yan’s swordsmanship looked familiar, then noticed his gold-flecked black snake had returned through another entrance.
• Su Shuanghe cursed the Wuji Pavilion for losing track of the people and blamed Zhang Yan’s fish-dragon for breaking through the blockade and becoming entangled with Yu Ci.
• Su Shuanghe resolved to take the field himself, but a servant announced that Heavenly Monarch Yuanxu of the Shangqing Sect had arrived to visit.

Su Shuanghe agreed to use the Xiyu Alliance’s Three Origins Secret Array to search for Yu Ci’s missing fellow disciple, unaware that Yu Ci had mainly come to probe his weakened state and draw out Zhai Que’er. The next day, Yu Ci arrived at Lotus Pond with Ye Chi for treatment and saw Madam Hua receiving a mysterious middle-aged visitor.

• Su Shuanghe welcomed Yu Ci and Xue Zhi, then agreed to ask the Xiyu Alliance’s supervising inspectors to activate the deep-water detection formation.
• Yu Ci left Su Shuanghe’s residence, and Su Shuanghe ordered Xue Zhi to recount everything that had happened aboard the ship before learning that Young Master Qizhe sought an audience.
• Yu Ci recognized that Su Shuanghe’s second Primordial Spirit was weakened and reasoned that his visit had been meant to pressure him and force Zhai Que’er to reveal herself.
• Yu Ci asked You Rui to investigate the plans involving Su Shuanghe and Flying Soul City, while Madam Huanyong’s avatar went to protect Zhang Yan and Ling Jiao beneath the lake.
• The following day, Yu Ci brought Luo Yuniang, Lu Ya, and the injured Ye Chi to Lotus Pond, where he saw Madam Hua speaking with a middle-aged man.

Yu Ci used the cold spring and an illusion to guide Ye Chi through honing her sword intent while nourishing her divine soul. Ye Chi’s training entered a sustainable cycle, though Yu Ci remained wary of the risks of relying on Equality Heaven’s powers.

• Yu Ci had Lu Ya place Ye Chi in the cold spring and asked Luo Yuniang to witness over them.
• Ye Chi’s sword-focused thoughts began nourishing her divine soul, but Yu Ci judged that the conflicting sword qi made this approach unsuitable.
• Yu Ci used Rakshasa Illusory Power to create a sword duel in Ye Chi’s mind, guiding her to absorb the God Slaying Thorn’s strengths.
• Ye Chi continued tempering her sword intent as the spring’s power kept nourishment ahead of depletion, while Yu Ci bore the cost of sustaining the illusion.
• Yu Ci reflected that Equality Heaven’s cultivation methods might leave traces that could expose him to dangers from the Realm of Truth or the Heaven and Earth Law System.

Yu Ci examined the laws behind Equality Heaven and the Rakshasa Ghost King's power, then treated Madam Hua and asked about the Clear Sky Discourse. They had no clues for their planning despite its rules being finalized.

• Yu Ci reflected on the risks of his four strands of true intent and the fundamental laws connecting reality and illusion.
• Yu Ci confirmed that his method for resolving conflicting sword intents was working as Ye Chi entered a normal track.
• Yu Ci visited Madam Hua and checked her pulse, using the opportunity to study her true intent before giving her a lotus talisman filled with sweet dew.
• Madam Hua told Yu Ci that the Clear Sky Discourse's date and rules had been finalized, but she had no clues for their plan.