Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci investigated how the Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror and a magical treasure fragment were linked to Kou Chu’s stellar spark of divine will, while his effort to use ghosts to find fragments failed. As the march toward Black Moon Lake accelerated, You Rui challenged Lu Dun over their route after noticing they had reached an unexpected location.

• Yu Ci concluded that the magical treasure fragment served as an inducement and channel, while the stellar spark of divine will was the root of the link.
• Yu Ci tested whether ghost entities could search for magical treasure fragments, but found they lacked the awareness needed to follow complex commands and were gradually being lost.
• You Rui grew frustrated as Lu Dun controlled the march, though his pace picked up and brought them more than halfway toward Black Moon Lake in five days.
• You Rui questioned Lu Dun about their destination and pointed out that their route had taken them to an unexpected spot on her map.
• Yu Ci asked You Rui where the marked location was.

Yu Ci traveled to the newly opened area of the Graveyard of Grudges and secretly examined a comatose survivor linked to the magic treasure fragments. A sudden disaster at the entrance revealed that Wuzun Hall had opened a Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven, leaving the crowded market in chaos.

• Yu Ci recognized the destination as the newly cleared wasteland near Huayan City and decided to visit despite You Rui's objections.
• Yu Ci disguised himself and crossed the crowded market to a shack where a survivor lay unconscious.
• Yu Ci implanted a spiritual-intent star-glint in the survivor, gaining a deeper connection to his senses and the magic treasure fragments.
• A commotion erupted as cultivators fled the mining area amid reports of a collapsed tunnel, a fiend, and a massive brawl.
• Someone announced that Wuzun Hall had opened the Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven, then exploded before finishing his sentence.

Yu Ci and his companions escaped the chaos around the rumored Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven, choosing to continue toward Black Moon Lake. After seven days of travel, they reached the Black Moon Ring Array, where You Rui led them to a secluded courtyard and called for her sister-in-law.

• News of a Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven sparked a marketplace riot as cultivators attacked one another and rushed into the mining area.
• Yu Ci's group avoided the violence and traveled toward Black Moon Lake, while many cultivators headed the opposite way to pursue the treasure.
• After seven days of rapid travel through the Graveyard of Grudges, You Rui announced that they had reached the outskirts of Black Moon Lake.
• Lu Qing explained that the Black Moon Ring Array gathered yin energy and drew in the essence of the sun and moon, creating a rare, fresh environment beneath the earth.
• You Rui led the group away from the transfer village to a secluded courtyard, opened its gate, and called, “Is Sister-in-law here?”

Yu Ci and his companions reached Black Moon Lake, where You Rui reunited with the nun Miao Xiang and paid Yu Ci for escorting her. After learning that news of a distant Secret Mansion had emptied much of the lake’s population, Yu Ci went out alone to investigate a signal from the west.

• You Rui led Yu Ci, Lu Qing, and Kou Chu around Black Moon Lake, explaining the array and the cultivation settlement on its waters.
• You Rui recognized Miao Xiang on a boat and formally introduced her to Yu Ci as a Buddhist nun.
• You Rui gave Yu Ci a bottle of Sea Soul Jade Liquid and asked him to deliver a letter to Third Master He in exchange for the Ghost King Lock Ring; Yu Ci gave no firm answer.
• Yu Ci learned that news of a Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven had driven most cultivators away from Black Moon Lake, including the Void-Stepping experts.
• On the second day, Yu Ci took a boat onto the lake and received vague information from a distant target to the west.

Jian Shao and his companion were ambushed in the Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven, where Jian Shao’s desperate plea activated a talisman Yu Ci had implanted in his soul and killed their attacker. Yu Ci studied the result while refining the Taiyin Banner at Black Moon Lake, then noticed a flawless figure rising from the water beneath the purple moon.

• Jian Shao and Second Senior Brother crawled away from a battle between Core Formation cultivators, still lost among the ruins of the Secret Mansion and Grotto-Heaven.
• An unseen attacker ambushed them, killing Second Senior Brother and stabbing Jian Shao in the abdomen.
• As Jian Shao neared death, he cried out to the Ten Directions Great Venerable, activating the talisman in his soul; it saved his life and unleashed the Rainbow Cutting Light Extinguishing Method, which killed the attacker.
• Yu Ci sensed Jian Shao’s talisman through the connection he had planted and considered how his soul-imprinting method differed from Ye Bin’s transmitted sword intent.
• Yu Ci continued refining the Taiyin Banner on the lake, then looked toward a surge of yin-energy and saw a flawless figure rise from the water and send a thread of pale-red mist toward the purple moon.

Yu Ci watched Master Miao Xiang cultivate on the lake, refined the Taiyin Banner to its twentieth tier, and greeted her after she finished. Miao Xiang explained that an injury to her lung meridian affected her voice and said she knew why someone had brought Yu Ci there.

• Yu Ci saw Master Miao Xiang cultivating unclothed on the lake while a black bird urged her to make a decision; Miao Xiang killed the bird with a surge of Yin energy.
• Yu Ci asked Shadow Ghost about the Yin Illusion Sarira and learned that Miao Xiang was cultivating both her Yang God and true form.
• Yu Ci refined the Taiyin Banner to its twentieth tier and examined the incomplete formation of his natal golden talisman.
• Miao Xiang finished cultivating, exchanged greetings with Yu Ci, and killed another black bird that had returned to complain.
• Miao Xiang dressed, crossed the lake to Yu Ci, and identified his banner’s sacrificial refinement as the Tiangang Disha technique.
• Miao Xiang pointed out that her lung meridian was injured and told Yu Ci she knew why she had been brought there.

Yu Ci learned that You Rui had tried to use him as leverage with Master Miao Xiang, then uncovered her ties to the Xia clan, Murong, and the Eastern Sea. He left Black Moon Lake for a secluded cultivation site, where he gathered magical treasure fragments until Jian Shao suddenly begged him for help.

• Master Miao Xiang told Yu Ci that You Rui had praised his talisman skills and warned him to cultivate on the outskirts of Black Moon Lake.
• You Rui complained that Lu Dun had left, but Master Miao Xiang refused to help her and confronted her about Xia Shuanghe and Murong.
• Yu Ci recognized the names Xia clan, Murong, and Eastern Sea, realized he had nearly been drawn into trouble, and recalled planting Star Consciousness in You Rui's mind palace.
• Tie Lan returned with news of a hidden cultivation site, and Yu Ci moved there with his companions and formally entered seclusion.
• Yu Ci gathered more than three hundred magical treasure fragments over half a month, then Jian Shao suddenly begged the Ten Directions Great Venerable to save his life.

Yu Ci monitored Jian Shao through the Divine Intent Star Radiance as a dark-skinned giant captured him and began draining his blood through a ritual pattern. The ritual’s ghostly overseer revealed that Jian Shao was one of many intended sacrifices for the Ten Directions Great Venerable, leaving Yu Ci horrified.

• The dark-skinned giant captured Jian Shao and carried him into a sealed chamber beneath the ruins.
• The giant nailed Jian Shao’s limbs to bloody ritual nodes, causing his blood to flow through the patterns.
• Yu Ci felt Jian Shao’s pain through the Divine Intent Star Radiance and tried to calm him, but Jian Shao’s impure faith interfered.
• The giant returned with a ghost cultivator, who said another hundred victims would be needed and instructed the giant to replace any who died.
• The ghost cultivator told Jian Shao that sacrificing his life for the Ten Directions Great Venerable was a stroke of fortune, horrifying Yu Ci.

Yu Ci observed Jian Shao’s death and the strange transformation caused by the bloody patterns, then sensed a distant entity answer the name Ten Directions Great Venerable. Their clash severed Yu Ci’s perception of the place ten thousand li away, leaving the mysterious being’s identity unresolved.

• The ghost cultivator sealed Jian Shao’s senses and left him to bleed to death, while Yu Ci watched through their remaining mental connection.
• Jian Shao’s despair made the divine intent starlight in his soul fluctuate, and bloody patterns transformed his body until his vitality expired.
• Jian Shao’s remnant soul underwent a strange change and communicated with a distant presence that recognized the name Ten Directions.
• The distant presence swallowed Jian Shao’s remnant consciousness and Yu Ci’s divine intent starlight, then detected Yu Ci across ten thousand li.
• Yu Ci and the mysterious presence clashed through Jian Shao’s soul, shaking the Inner Void before their connection was severed.

Yu Ci and the Shadow Ghost analyzed the bloodstain patterns that killed Jian Shao and identified them as part of a ritual to transform someone into a Heavenly Demon. By recreating Jian Shao’s death in the Inner Void, Yu Ci found a chance to intervene with his spells, and the chapter ended as his starlight joined the struggle against the force behind the ritual.

• The Shadow Ghost reconstructed part of the bloodstain patterns and explained that they were tied to a Heavenly Demon ritual involving Essence Washing and Form Shifting.
• The Shadow Ghost estimated that the transformation would take about a year and a half and said the ritual appeared to involve controlling people’s hearts.
• Yu Ci and the Shadow Ghost sorted the ritual patterns and Jian Shao’s soul changes into a detailed cycle of life and death within the Inner Void.
• Yu Ci identified Jian Shao’s glabella as the point where his life force was about to fail and activated the Soul Recovery Star-Fixing Spell.
• Yu Ci joined the Balance Star with the Natal Star, and their combined power shook the Inner Void as they contended with the force beyond it.

Yu Ci completed the first stage of his natal golden talisman and projected a fish-dragon through the earth into the night sky, where he sensed a distant star. An old man recognized the flashing star as the Heavenly Barrier Natal New Star.

• Lu Qing examined the damaged stele and recognized it as a mark left by someone at the peak of his power.
• Lu Qing hurried to her nominal master's seclusion after sensing an upheaval in the earth-vein Qi, where Kou Chu was crushed by the pressure of Lord Lu's advancing cultivation.
• Yu Ci's five seed true talismans linked with the newly formed Soul Recovery Star-Fixing Spell, completing their circulation and fusing the talismanic sphere with the Life and Death Talisman.
• Yu Ci's natal golden talisman drew on the Life Extension and Calamity Averting Star Spell, and a fish-dragon projection burst through the earth into the sky.
• Yu Ci sensed a faint star at the edge of the sky, and an old man tens of millions of miles away woke and identified it as the Heavenly Barrier Natal New Star.

Yu Ci completed the Heavenly Barrier Natal Golden Talisman and entrusted his life-and-death mechanism to a hidden star, triggering a celestial upheaval that Yu Qing Xuan recognized as Grand Uncle Zhu’s message to her. After discovering that the cultivation manual described this kind of star omen as something that should happen much later, Yu Ci was left wondering why it had appeared for him.

• Yu Qing Xuan watched an unranked star vanish as a bright star in the Ziwei Enclosure shifted and fell, and she realized Grand Uncle Zhu was asking her to remember their past bonds.
• Yu Ci completed his natal golden talisman, formed a resonance with a hidden star, and felt his vital Qi and body begin to transform.
• Yu Ci used the Nameless Tribulation Star Soul Shattering Divine Light to destroy two dark entities before returning his mental projection to his body.
• With his guardians holding off the surrounding dark entities, Yu Ci consulted the cultivation methods sealed in Old Mr. Zhu’s beaded string.
• Yu Ci found that the manual associated a new natal star with the completion of the Golden Elixir and the approach to Void Stepping, even though he still had three barriers ahead of him.

Yu Ci studied how to move his Natal Star from a scattered star toward a proper starfield and began cultivating the White Tiger method. His breakthrough also affected Kou Chu and You Rui, while his heightened perception brought back a disturbing scripture about an impending calamity.

• Yu Ci learned that Return to Palace Enter the Enclosure could guide his Natal Star from scattered stars through the Twenty-Eight Mansions and into the Three Enclosures.
• Yu Ci found that his stabilized Natal Star lay west of the Three Enclosures and identified the White Tiger starfield as a fitting destination for his cultivation path.
• Yu Ci practiced the White Tiger Seven Mansions Induction Heart Art, drew in White Tiger star power, and felt its icy and scorching force surge through his body.
• Yu Ci realized the star power was harming Kou Chu, whose connection to him left the ghost cultivator close to collapse, and adjusted its effects so Kou Chu survived.
• Yu Ci expanded his perception through the Divine Intent Starlight and sensed that You Rui had also been affected by his advancement.
• Yu Ci recalled a scripture describing a coming calamity, the opening of the Three Realms Heaven Connection, and the suffering of beings trapped in the six paths.

Yu Ci discovered that the scripture was awakening Ling Xi Wanderer and identified it as the Wuliang Star Constellation Tribulation Scripture. After realizing the scripture was penetrating Ling Xi Wanderer’s Primordial Spirit and affecting his own implanted divine intent, Yu Ci began a ritual to intervene, ending as a fearsome power entered his body.

• Yu Ci sensed Ling Xi Wanderer’s consciousness awakening in the distant cocoon, while Black Robe carefully examined the faint change and withdrew to keep watch.
• Yu Ci observed Ling Xi Wanderer’s consciousness taking shape and recognized that the divine intent starlight had reached his Primordial Spirit.
• Yu Ci entered the deepest layer of Ling Xi Wanderer’s soul and saw the golden lotus seed surrounded by the Wuliang Star Constellation Tribulation Scripture, whose power began penetrating the Primordial Spirit.
• Yu Ci returned to his meditation chamber, set up the Seven Stars Altar, and invoked his natal star with a sword ritual.
• A cold, fearsome force entered Yu Ci through his crown, swelling his body and bathing the meditation chamber in blood-red light.

Yu Ci used the White Tiger Seven Mansions Induction Heart Art to refine his spirit and channel its baleful force toward the Ling Xi Wanderer’s golden lotus seed. The seed bloomed into a pink lotus, restoring the Wanderer’s Qi circulation and prompting laughter.

• Yu Ci drew White Tiger Star Force into his body and unleashed three roars that destroyed nearby Yin spirits while drawing their lingering force back to him.
• Lu Qing sensed the accumulating baleful pressure outside Yu Ci’s sealed room and recognized that it was affecting her spirit.
• Yu Ci’s White Tiger baleful force reached You Rui, who struggled to steady her cultivation while Miaoxiang assisted her.
• Yu Ci sent his mental intent into the Ling Xi Wanderer’s golden lotus seed, where the White Tiger force clashed with the Wuliang Star Constellation Tribulation Scripture and weakened the Wanderer’s consciousness.
• The forces exceeded the seed’s limit, and it burst into a pink hundred-petaled lotus as the Ling Xi Wanderer’s Qi circulation became complete and laughter rang out.

Ling Xi Wanderer emerged from a cocoon as a giant Mystic Bee after using the Future Star Tribulation Scripture to transform into a demon, but Black Robe quickly defeated and questioned him. Ling Xi Wanderer revealed that the Xuan Ling Yin was missing and offered to track down the person who had attacked him before a mysterious voice sounded and he was knocked unconscious.

• Ling Xi Wanderer woke inside a cocoon and realized his rebirth had transformed his body and greatly increased his cultivation.
• Black Robe identified Ling Xi Wanderer as he burst out of the cocoon as a giant Mystic Bee Demon Body.
• Black Robe engulfed Ling Xi Wanderer in magma, badly burned him, and sealed him in hardened rock.
• Black Robe questioned Ling Xi Wanderer about the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion, and Ling Xi Wanderer said he could not find it without the missing Xuan Ling Yin.
• Ling Xi Wanderer explained that he had hidden the Xuan Ling Yin aboard a Suixin Pavilion cargo ship, then claimed he could track the attacker who had stolen it.
• A mysterious voice spoke, and Ling Xi Wanderer was struck on the head and fainted.

Zhai Que'er confronted Black Robe and offered him a deal over the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion, while probing him about its treasures and a mysterious fighter. Black Robe left with Ling Xi Wanderer, saying he would consider the offer.

• Zhai Que'er appeared before Black Robe and questioned his plans for the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion and how he had overcome its formations.
• Zhai Que'er showed Black Robe the Shadow Void Token and told him that Liu Guan had returned to Heavenly Star Palace and was pleased by Black Robe's advancement.
• Zhai Que'er explained that Black Robe could not return to the sect but could seek Liu Guan's help with the tribulation-crossing method he lacked; she warned that Liu Guan would not interfere in the Eastern Branch's grievances.
• Zhai Que'er asked whether the Twelve Heavens of Jade Firmament's Profound Passage remained in the secret mansion, then offered Black Robe one magic treasure, several magic artifacts, and the method if it was there.
• Zhai Que'er asked Black Robe about the fighter who had killed the spirit shaman hired by Three Families Market, and Black Robe said the fighter's methods included ties to the north.
• Black Robe grabbed Ling Xi Wanderer and escaped, telling Zhai Que'er he would think over her offer.

Black Robe forced the wounded Ling Xi Wanderer to become his servant and sent him east toward Yinkui City to scout for the person who had stolen the Xuan Ling Yin. While trying to understand the changes in his cultivation, Ling Xi Wanderer discovered a white tiger phantom within his Primordial Spirit that could scatter the Future Star Tribulation Scripture’s light.

• Zhai Que'er let Black Robe leave and warned him to mention the Graveyard of Grudges if the big hornet caused trouble.
• Black Robe demanded that Ling Xi Wanderer serve him, and Ling Xi Wanderer used his cultivation art to sense that the person he sought was east.
• Black Robe ordered Ling Xi Wanderer to return to human form, gave him clothes, planted a Molten Core Divine Fire Seal in him, and sent him to scout toward Yinkui City.
• Ling Xi Wanderer examined his Primordial Spirit and found that the Future Star Tribulation Scripture circled a hundred-petaled lotus without entering it.
• A white tiger phantom emerged from the lotus, scattered the scripture’s light, and struck Ling Xi Wanderer with overwhelming spiritual force.
• Black Robe reappeared and accused Ling Xi Wanderer of trying to break the seal, while Ling Xi Wanderer recovered without explaining what he had seen.

Yu Ci completed his White Tiger Seven Mansions ritual, learned how its baleful power could strengthen killing talismans, and set out with Lu Qing for Black Moon Lake. Meanwhile, Ling Xi Wanderer entered Yinkui City in a new identity, tested his demonic abilities by robbing and killing cultivators, and headed toward Red Fang Workshop.

• Yu Ci ended his ritual, used the White Tiger stellar power to strengthen his natal golden talisman, and drew a Rainbow Cutting Light Extinguishing Talisman and a Nameless Tribulation Star Soul Shattering Divine Light.
• Yu Ci inferred that combining the White Tiger Seven Mansions Induction Heart Art with killing and ghost-suppressing talismans could improve his cultivation, then packed his ritual implements.
• Yu Ci met Lu Qing, and they agreed to leave for Black Moon Lake.
• Ling Xi Wanderer entered Yinkui City in a prepared new identity, while suspecting Black Robe was following him as bait.
• Ling Xi Wanderer killed a junior cultivator and robbed several people to raise money and test the demonic abilities he had gained from his demon core.
• Ling Xi Wanderer went to South Sea Street and chose Red Fang Workshop as his next amusement.

Ling Xi Wanderer nearly caused trouble at Red Fang Workshop before sensing a True Person’s Longevity Incense and fleeing in fear. Yu Ci received the warning near Black Moon Lake, wondered whether Lu Qing was connected to the powerful figure, and continued toward the lake.

• Ling Xi Wanderer left Red Fang Workshop after spending the night with a woman and became interested in visiting Bao Yun’s courtyard.
• Ling Xi Wanderer saw Bao Yun emerge with a person whose Longevity Incense terrified him, then fled the workshop without recognizing the person’s face.
• Yu Ci received Ling Xi Wanderer’s message near Black Moon Lake and identified the scent as Awakening Dao Longevity Incense from a True Person.
• Yu Ci suspected the figure might be fighting Black Robe over the hunting ground and wondered whether Lu Qing had a connection to them.
• Yu Ci urged Ling Xi Wanderer through their Primordial Spirit lotus to tell Black Robe what had happened, then entered the Black Moon Ring Array with Lu Qing.