Chapter Summaries

Shen Wan proposed consigning Yu Ci’s Sword Garden treasures to the upcoming Suixin Dharma Assembly and offered him the location of a Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein. Yu Ci agreed, then went to Red Fang Workshop to seek another component for his dharma altar, where a familiar cry caught his attention.

• Shen Wan visited Yu Ci and explained that she wanted rare Sword Garden treasures for the Suixin Dharma Assembly in Fengdu City.
• Shen Wan offered to consign Yu Ci’s treasures through Suixin Pavilion and reveal the location of a Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein.
• Yu Ci accepted the deal, choosing consignment so he could sell dangerous magical tools through a trusted channel and obtain materials for his Seven Stars Altar of Footwork.
• Yu Ci went to Red Fang Workshop to find another component for his dharma altar, but a familiar cry turned into a low moan before he could see who made it.

Yu Ci collected the Taiyin Banner from Lu Qing, then followed Wan Quan to a violent disturbance at Red Fang Workshop. Lu Qing intervened against the attackers, and as the giant fled with Old Gu, he hurled a ghostly green sphere into the air.

• Yu Ci glimpsed Bao Yun in a neighboring courtyard, where her companion sang Daoist verses while she moaned.
• Yu Ci examined and paid Lu Qing for the newly crafted Taiyin Banner.
• Wan Quan reported trouble, and Yu Ci followed him to a courtyard where two men had attacked a faction hall master and others.
• Lu Qing struck the attackers and rescued an unconscious woman, while the giant defeated one opponent and Old Gu fought her.
• As powerful cultivators converged, the giant retreated with Old Gu and threw a gloomy green sphere into the air, unleashing ghostly shrieks.

Lu Qing pinned the activated Soul Capturing Orb beneath the earth, and Yu Ci stepped forward to control its yin souls rather than destroy them. He began sacrificing his newly acquired Taiyin Banner while an unseen observer watched with interest.

• Lu Qing wounded Old Gu, and the two fiends fled after leaving the activated Soul Capturing Orb behind.
• Lu Qing forced the orb ten zhang into the ground and held it there, limiting the danger of its ghostly cries and possible explosion.
• Su Tong warned that the orb could unleash a destructive yin explosion, while Bao Yun urged Yu Ci to help and counter Su Tong’s influence.
• Yu Ci declared that controlling the yin souls would resolve the danger, then learned from Lu Qing that she could hold the orb down for about half an hour.
• Yu Ci took out the unrefined Taiyin Banner and began sacrificing it with the Life and Death Talisman, drawing the attention of a hidden observer.

Yu Ci demonstrated the Taiyin Banner’s rapid ritual refinement, then used it to draw most of the wandering souls from the Soul Capturing Orb while the onlookers and Su Tong departed. As the Red Fang Workshop collapsed from distant tremors, Shadow Fiend revealed that two Longevity True Men had begun fighting over territory near Yinkui City.

• Yu Ci completed six layers of ritual refinement on the Taiyin Banner in an instant, astonishing the cultivators gathered at the Red Fang Workshop.
• Yu Ci used the banner to absorb most of the wandering souls from the Soul Capturing Orb while Lu Qing helped, and Su Tong left after recognizing the banner’s method.
• Yu Ci destroyed the remaining soul hostility with Nameless Tribulation Star Soul Shattering Divine Light, while Bao Yun teased him and clung to his arm.
• A powerful tremor began collapsing the Red Fang Workshop, and Yu Ci realized the source lay dozens of miles away.
• Shadow Fiend explained that two Longevity True Men were fighting over their hunting grounds near Yinkui City.

Yu Ci tried to leave Yinkui City after learning that the Xuan Ling Yin might draw danger, but Red Fang Workshop rewarded him for his help and Third Master He’s group intercepted him. They forced him to accompany them to the abandoned mining area, where they wanted his soul-summoning skills.

• The Shadow Ghost warned Yu Ci to leave quickly because powerful forces might come seeking the Xuan Ling Yin, and Yu Ci postponed his plans for the Hundred Revolving Wind Cave.
• Yu Ci accepted a Soul Capturing Orb and Dragon Palace Shells from Lu Qing as thanks for protecting Red Fang Workshop.
• Steward Wen intercepted Yu Ci outside the Hundred Turns Guesthouse and summoned him to meet Third Master He.
• Third Master He and his companions offered Yu Ci a large discount on supplies if he helped them investigate the abandoned mining area.
• Yu Ci refused to join them, but Third Master He tried to seize him, so Yu Ci agreed to go rather than fight.

Yu Ci joined Third Master He's group and helped search the lava-scarred mining district for traces of Fifth Master He. His soul-recovery spell detected lingering fragments, but Mr. Xia revealed an unexpected ability to sense them and uncovered something from one of the marked locations.

• Yu Ci traveled with Third Master He’s group to the abandoned mining district while Shadow Ghost assessed the distant battle between two Longevity True Men.
• At the ravaged Earthfire Eye, Third Master He ordered Yu Ci to search for soul fragments and other clues, and Yu Ci asked the group to withdraw and conceal their auras.
• Yu Ci cast the Soul Recovery Star-Fixing Spell and detected several faint traces, then used the Taiyin Banner and the Lunar Restraint Ghost Art to protect and mark them.
• Mr. Xia entered the field of yin energy, told Yu Ci to leave the rest to him, and headed for one of the marked spots.
• Yu Ci sensed that Mr. Xia’s aura resembled the spirit-shaman rhythm of the deceased Master Zhang Ye, and Mr. Xia dug something out from beneath the rock.

Yu Ci watched Mr. Xia recover Fifth Master He's preserved eyeball and the Luminous Bug, while Third Master He's attitude toward him softened after learning of his reputation. As the group rested, the Shadow Ghost deduced that they had been avoiding magma flows and recognized the eyeball's origin, but Third Master He interrupted with a new business offer.

• Mr. Xia excavated a preserved eyeball from the lava, then later recovered the Luminous Bug sealed in a jade bottle and handed the eyeball to Third Master He.
• After reading a transmission from Mr. Xia, Third Master He questioned Yu Ci about the Taiyin Banner and the One Breath Piercing the Heavy Heavens method, then invited everyone to rest.
• Mr. Xia and Third Master He discussed the Flying Firefly and Mr. Xia's hopes of reaching the Spirit Witch throne, while Yu Ci wondered whether Mr. Xia was related to Xia Boyang.
• The Shadow Ghost told Yu Ci that the group had deliberately avoided underground magma flows and said he recognized the eyeball's background.
• Third Master He brought Yu Ci a jade slip with a temporary business offer, and Yu Ci was startled by its contents.

Yu Ci crafted a talisman for Third Master He and bargained for the Three Families Market to supply his requested items, while the Shadow Ghost explained that a Demon Sect technique could track Yu Ci and the places he had stayed. As Yu Ci remained with Third Master He and Mr. Xia during their search, a disguised attacker approached and suddenly revealed himself.

• Yu Ci quickly made a talisman that met the client’s requirements, and Third Master He confirmed it worked.
• Yu Ci negotiated for the Three Families Market to supply his desired items at half price without middlemen, and Third Master He accepted the arrangement.
• The Shadow Ghost identified an eyeball as a tracking tool of the Primordial Demon Sect and warned Yu Ci that the sect could trace his past and current locations.
• Third Master He and Mr. Xia sent cultivators to investigate areas near the magma flows, while Yu Ci stayed behind and discussed talismancraft with them.
• A blue-clothed cultivator returned to the cavern, and the Shadow Ghost warned Yu Ci just as the newcomer revealed his unusual lips and light-purple irises.

Yu Ci met Zhai Que'er, who inspected the Curse Demon Crystal and led the group to investigate places where Black Robe had stayed. Their conversation about Yu Ci’s search for Mysterious Water Obsidian ended when Zhai Que'er accused him of pretending not to know about talisman duels.

• Zhai Que'er arrived disguised in He Wan's clothes, greeted Third Master He, and discussed Mr. Xia's prospects and her connection to Ancestor Ling.
• Zhai Que'er recognized Yu Ci as an outsider who had heard their secrets, then told him to accompany them as they searched two places where Black Robe had stayed.
• Zhai Que'er asked Yu Ci about his planned journey to find a Mysterious Water Obsidian vein, and he explained that he still needed to gather supplies himself.
• Zhai Que'er questioned why a talisman expert like Yu Ci lacked money and mentioned his earnings from talisman duels, leaving Yu Ci confused.
• Zhai Que'er accused Yu Ci of playing dumb when he asked what talisman duels she meant.

Yu Ci explained that he had never practiced creating talismans on demand, while Zhai Que'er tested his Water Strike Three Thousand Miles talisman and praised its effect. When she proposed another form of talisman duel, Layered Aperture Form Integration, Yu Ci recognized the technique and recalled using it in the past.

• Zhai Que'er explained that talisman duels could test either on-demand talisman creation or Layered Aperture Form Integration.
• Yu Ci told Third Master He that Water Strike Three Thousand Miles was a traditional talisman from a classic, not one he had created himself.
• Zhai Que'er tested the jade talisman and used her control over the air to make its coiled forces lash through the tunnel.
• Mr. Xia praised the talisman, and Third Master He reconsidered his view of Yu Ci after seeing its power.
• Zhai Que'er praised the talisman's effect and introduced Layered Aperture Form Integration, which Yu Ci recognized from his past practice.

Yu Ci tried to simplify Zhai Que'er’s talisman while remaining wary of her mental acuity and secret arts. After two hours of reverse-engineering, he produced a rough jade talisman with ninety-two aperture points, leaving Zhai Que'er and Xia Shuanghe keenly interested in his result.

• Zhai Que'er challenged Yu Ci to simplify a talisman, then set off with Third Master He and Xia Shuanghe to inspect the Black Robe’s former dwelling.
• The Shadow Ghost warned Yu Ci that Zhai Que'er could detect and exploit his emotional fluctuations.
• Yu Ci unexpectedly planted mental starlight in Xia Shuanghe’s soul and began receiving his perceptions and emotions.
• Yu Ci spent two hours reverse-engineering the talisman’s fractal structures instead of using his vital-energy-consuming analysis ability.
• Yu Ci produced a jade talisman with ninety-two aperture points, drawing intense attention from Zhai Que'er and Xia Shuanghe.

Yu Ci’s flawed ninety-two-aperture talisman unexpectedly revealed his exceptional skill when it formed a living phantom cat, earning him Zhai Que’er’s offer of a business deal and a trip to Fengdu City. Before he could discuss the Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein, a violent tremor and a scream interrupted them.

• Yu Ci learned that his ninety-two-aperture talisman ranked poorly by practical standards, while Xia Shuanghe praised Soul Chaser’s much higher-scoring Heavenly Script Society scroll.
• Xia Shuanghe explained the Heavenly Script Society’s Class A and Class B scrolls as Third Master He continued to criticize Yu Ci’s slow work.
• Zhai Que’er crushed Yu Ci’s jade talisman, releasing a black cat that displayed the Nine Lives Phantom Spirit Talisman’s spiritual nature and concealed her with its power.
• Yu Ci recognized that the cat’s form was incomplete, but Zhai Que’er offered him a business deal and invited him to travel with them to Fengdu City.
• A stronger subterranean tremor shook the group, and a scream was crushed by an even more intense sound wave.

As the battle between two Longevity True Men devastated the underground, Zhai Que'er guided Yu Ci, Third Master He, and Xia Shuanghe through the shifting shockwaves. They encountered Black Robe's Molten Core Puppet and realized he had targeted them, then scattered to escape as another wave approached.

• A scream and surging explosions revealed that the Longevity True Men had begun fighting in earnest, so Zhai Que'er led the group away from the danger.
• Zhai Que'er used the deaths of subordinates and the changing shockwaves to find safer paths through the underground.
• Zhai Que'er recognized a Molten Core Puppet sent by her senior brother Black Robe, and Third Master He destroyed it.
• Zhai Que'er warned that Black Robe was greedy and intended to seize them, while Yu Ci recommended splitting up to improve their chances of escape.
• As a massive shockwave approached, Zhai Que'er ordered everyone to flee separately, and the four shot underground as the air exploded.

Yu Ci escaped deeper underground while Zhai Que'er hid in his aura, then slipped away after giving him a Class A Heavenly Script Society scroll. Through his starlight link to Xia Shuanghe, Yu Ci watched Xia release Flying Firefly and follow it to an underground lava river, where something appeared to be floating.

• Zhai Que'er entered Yu Ci's protective aura and clung to him to conceal herself from her senior brother, then left him a Class A scroll before descending away.
• Yu Ci sensed that the battle between Black Robe and the other True Person had moved far from him, while Xia Shuanghe remained alive and outside the immediate danger zone.
• Xia Shuanghe released Flying Firefly from its bottle, and the luminous insect led him through the earth toward a heat-filled fissure.
• Xia Shuanghe followed Flying Firefly into a vast underground lava river, where Yu Ci noticed something floating in the magma.

Yu Ci watched Xia Shuanghe battle a Fire Rock Lizard in the lava river and uncover a mysterious object, only for Black Robe’s deadly power to erupt. Yu Ci fled underground but was caught in the resulting shockwave and raised his Seven Star Sword to defend himself.

• Xia Shuanghe provoked the Fire Rock Lizard and used three Voodoo Soul Puppets to paralyze it, sending it tumbling into the magma.
• Xia Shuanghe raised a mysterious translucent object from the lava with a magma puppet, but a red light erupted and melted the puppet as he escaped.
• The Shadow Ghost identified the red light as Molten Core Great Annihilation Magnetic Light and suspected Black Robe had unleashed it.
• Yu Ci fled deeper underground, but the shockwave tore through the earth, so he summoned the Seven Star Sword and shielded himself with Sword Qi.

Yu Ci survived the shockwaves from the clash between two Longevity True Men by refining his sword techniques under the shadow ghost’s guidance, though the strain cost him several years of lifespan. After refusing the shadow ghost’s offer to become a sword cultivator, he wondered whether the battle had ended as the impacts ceased.

• Yu Ci endured the True Person cultivators’ devastating shockwaves with the Flawless Sword Circle while the shadow ghost warned him not to draw on his Innate Vital Energy.
• As the pressure crushed his sword circle, Yu Ci followed the shadow ghost’s sword guidance and used the Seven Star Sword to redirect and dissolve the force.
• Yu Ci slipped free of the battle zone, but his injuries triggered his blood marrow vital energy and cost him three to five years of lifespan as his body recovered.
• The shadow ghost offered to help Yu Ci form a Sword Embryo within three days, but Yu Ci refused because he remained committed to the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman.
• Yu Ci recalled the sword formulas the shadow ghost had taught him and found that they clarified his understanding of swordsmanship.
• The impacts stopped and the pressure eased, leaving Yu Ci uncertain whether the battle had ended.

Yu Ci discovered that the Mind Intent Star Glow had transferred from Xia Shuanghe to a sleeping passenger inside the mysterious object, whom he identified as Ling Xi Wanderer. Fearing Ling Xi Wanderer would expose him once awake, Yu Ci set out to kill him before he could be found.

• Yu Ci sensed a new, healthy target through the Mind Intent Star Glow and fled the battlefield rather than investigate.
• While sleeping, Yu Ci dreamed of a yellow-red lotus seed absorbing streams of light and heard a strange scripture before Shadow Ghost woke him.
• Yu Ci realized the star glow had transferred to an unknown sleeping person whose six faculties were blocked, and the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror reacted.
• Yu Ci and Shadow Ghost inferred that the fast-moving target was inside the elliptical object and was likely Ling Xi Wanderer.
• Yu Ci rejected Shadow Ghost's suggestion to disguise themselves and decided to find and kill Ling Xi Wanderer before he woke up.

Yu Ci considered using long-range curse talismans against Ling Xi Wanderer, but realized he first needed an altar and greater cultivation. While searching underground for a Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein, he encountered Lu Qing in a confrontation with two men.

• Yu Ci discussed using the Nail Head Seven Arrows Book or the North Star Soul Control and Death Infliction Art to kill Ling Xi Wanderer from afar, but concluded that both required an altar he had not yet built.
• Yu Ci spent seven or eight days underground searching for the Mysterious Water Luminous Rock Vein while monitoring the distant divine-intent starlight for signs of Black Robe.
• Yu Ci found a magma pool without any Mysterious Water Obsidian and followed the magma upstream.
• Yu Ci sensed living beings on the Zhaoshen Map and heard two men threaten a woman.
• Yu Ci recognized Lu Qing as she punched the two men, her force solidifying the surrounding earth strata.

Yu Ci hurried to help Lu Qing fight Old Gu and a nine-foot-tall brute, but Lu Qing wounded Old Gu with a concealed ribbon-like Dharma artifact before Yu Ci could intervene. Old Gu survived, expelled Yu Ci’s Divine Intent, and revealed that he had detected Yu Ci nearby.

• Yu Ci recognized Lu Qing’s opponents as the two men who had caused trouble at the Red Fang Workshop, and noticed Old Gu had recovered from his earlier injuries.
• Lu Qing held off Old Gu’s evasive attacks while the nine-foot-tall brute disrupted her Divine Intent and threatened to strike.
• Yu Ci approached the battlefield and prepared to assist Lu Qing, but she used a hidden ribbon-like Dharma artifact to slash Old Gu’s neck.
• Old Gu emitted an eerie infant-like wail, survived his injury, and warned the brute that Yu Ci was ten miles away.
• Old Gu forced Yu Ci’s Divine Intent out of his brain palace, leaving the Zhaoshen Map’s view of the battlefield hazy.

Yu Ci used Tie Lan to hold off a nine-foot-tall Void Stepping cultivator while he tried to help Lu Qing escape Old Gu’s suppression. Old Gu’s attack failed to stop Yu Ci, but the combined strikes of Lu Qing and Tie Lan wounded him and drove him into a furious transformation.

• Yu Ci summoned Tie Lan, who emerged from the strata and engaged the nine-foot-tall man in battle.
• Yu Ci reached the edge of Lu Qing’s fight with Old Gu and asked whether she could break away, but Old Gu attacked him with a Sound Killing Technique.
• Yu Ci’s Immortal Binding Rope countered much of the attack, and he retreated while secretly sending an attack toward Old Gu.
• Old Gu’s protective baleful intent stopped the hidden strike, but the follow-up Sword Qi and Lu Qing’s Fist Intent injured him.
• Old Gu unleashed his accumulated power, collapsed the surrounding strata, and revealed a giant body as he threatened to eat his opponents raw.