Chapter Summaries

Yu Ci learned that Zhu Tai Yi had fallen and suspected he was Old Mr. Zhu, then arranged for Haoran Sect disciples to bring news of their trapped elders to True Man Guangwei. The plea for aid reached Guangwei, while Zhao Ziyue realized information had leaked and prepared to deal with Yu Ci.

• Daoist Xin Yi told True Man Guangwei that he had returned after seeing Tai Yi fall, and Yu Ci inferred that Zhu Tai Yi might be Old Mr. Zhu.
• Yu Ci cursed Zhao Ziyue for failing to provide useful news, while Zhao Ziyue and Elder Xiao discussed information west of Yinshan and how to make Yu Ci let go.
• Yu Ci used Suixin Pavilion's channels and Cai Xuan's trust to send Haoran Sect disciples to seek help from True Man Guangwei for trapped elders Cheng Xiang and Cheng Zhi.
• Luo Qian, Cai Xuan, and other Haoran Sect disciples arrived at the Heavenly Script Branch and requested an audience with Guangwei, prompting Yu Ci to leave.
• Elder Xiao discovered that news had spread, and Zhao Ziyue ordered an investigation, preparations for the fallout, and a private talk with Yu Ci.

Yu Ci witnessed Zhao Ziyue contact the Great Brahma Demon King through a blood ritual, while the demon’s eye nearly detected Yu Ci before the Divine Intent Astral Ray expired. In the sealed palace, Daoist Duanyang realized the demon had been trapped by Lu Cheng’s Fist Intent, and Xin Tianjun arrived.

• Zhao Ziyue used blood and Crimson Fire Demonic Flame to summon the Great Brahma Demon King, who ordered him to prioritize the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion.
• The Great Brahma Demon King’s demonic eye searched Zhao Ziyue’s mind-palace, but Yu Ci’s Divine Intent Astral Ray expired just in time to conceal him.
• Shadow Ghost asked Yu Ci for something to do, then questioned his plan to draw the Great Brahma Demon King into peace talks.
• Hongyuan Daoist used the Nine Revolutions Divine Illumination Cold Jade Tower to protect Xie Yan and the others from waves of demonic shadows.
• Daoist Duanyang determined that Lu Cheng’s Fist Intent had forcibly hooked and sealed the demon in the palace.
• A golden scroll appeared above the cultivators, and Daoist Duanyang recognized Xin Tianjun’s arrival.

After Xin Tianjun’s talisman decree destabilized the intersecting voids, Yang Zhu was separated from his companions and drawn into the End Law Lord’s demon domain. There he encountered a pair of vast, world-spanning eyes and realized their owner was weakened, while the jade pendant in his hand began to flicker.

• Xin Tianjun’s talisman decree struck the void, causing Lu Chen’s Palace to collapse and its fist intent to vanish.
• Daoist Duanyang used his Mystic Pupil Divine Illumination to guide the cultivators through the collapsing void, then stabilized it with the talisman token.
• Yang Zhu recovered his jade pendant, but the void split through the group’s formation and swept him away from his companions.
• The jade pendant’s movement carried Yang Zhu into the Outer Domain of the Nine Heavens, where he recognized the End Law Lord’s demon domain.
• Yang Zhu sensed the End Law Lord’s weakened soul behind a pair of immense eyes and stepped toward it with the jade pendant flickering at his fingertip.

Zhao Ziyue weighed intelligence about Yu Ci against other urgent threats and suspected connections between Yu Ci, the rune master Soul Chaser, and Shen Wan. At the Suixin Dharma Assembly, Yu Ci discovered that an old iron box he had consigned was an Innate Secret Treasure worth far more than he had realized, and wondered if he could withdraw it from sale.

• Zhao Ziyue prioritized news about Yu Ci as the deadline for the Pan Huang Sect's plan to seize Manoo approached, while the sect's Longevity True Men were still hours away.
• Zhao Ziyue connected reports about Yu Ci, Shen Wan, Soul Chaser, and the powerful maidservant from Red Fang Workshop, though he could not confirm whether they were linked.
• Yu Ci examined the jade slips Shen Wan had given him, which listed the Suixin Dharma Assembly's auction treasures and his own consigned items.
• Yu Ci recognized the Nine Nether Prison he had casually consigned as an Innate Secret Treasure that could summon and imprison ghost gods.
• Yu Ci read that the Nine Nether Prison was especially valuable to ghost-path cultivators and wondered whether he could stop it from being sold.

Yu Ci explained the Nine Nether Prison’s cruel purpose to Shen Wan and used his interest in the Suixin Dharma Assembly’s treasures to uncover a possible connection to a five-year-old robbery. Meanwhile, Zhao Ziyue waited for Yu Ci in the Northern Wilderness, but received only a cryptic message as the Clear Sky Gang Thunder Boat departed.

• Yu Ci learned from Shen Wan that the Nine Nether Prison used the Reincarnation Tu Ling Demonic Light to grind away imprisoned ghosts’ intelligence, and Shen Wan warned him that revealing the treasure could endanger him.
• Yu Ci asked Shen Wan to disclose details about treasures listed for the Suixin Dharma Assembly, and her reaction to several items led him to recall Zhou Youde’s robbery at the Sky Rift Valley Mountain-Moving Cloud Boat dock.
• Yu Ci asked whether Shen Wan had contacts in Huayan City and hinted that Western Buddhist treasures there might relate to her private concern; Shen Wan nodded.
• Zhao Ziyue waited in the black sandstorm for Yu Ci, while Manoo fell from the Clear Sky Gang Thunder Boat after Lu suppressed it with her fist intent and delivered a jade slip.
• Zhao Ziyue read the jade slip and realized Yu Ci had found better collateral than Manoo; Manoo discovered the message contained the words, “Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, and I know.”

Yu Ci negotiated with Third Master He while disguised as Soul Chaser, then exchanged messages with Zhao Ziyue until they agreed to meet at the Heavenly Script Branch. The chapter left Yu Ci and Zhao Ziyue at a talismanic test guarding the entrance to the branch’s garden.

• Yu Ci met Third Master He, collected the promised spirit materials, and heard a dubious pitch for a talisman-dueling assembly.
• Third Master He arranged a quiet courtyard for Yu Ci, who later visited Shen Wan and resumed contact with Zhao Ziyue through a jade slip.
• Yu Ci and Zhao Ziyue exchanged messages repeatedly until Yu Ci agreed to meet him at the Heavenly Script Branch.
• Yu Ci and Zhao Ziyue walked through the branch toward its garden, where Yu Ci noticed a talismanic entrance test.
• Zhao Ziyue slapped the wall, scattering the test’s colorful light and making its patterns harder to read.

Yu Ci negotiated with Zhao Ziyue over Wan Quan’s safety and heard an offer to cooperate, while Zhao Ziyue secretly planned to use the deal against the Eastern Branch. Yu Ci then examined the Great Accomplishment Buddha Shrine of Radiant Glass with Shen Wan and noticed its link to the Ten Directions Ci Guang Buddha.

• Yu Ci confronted Zhao Ziyue about Pan Huang Sect’s plans and negotiated for Wan Quan’s safety, demanding at least two hundred years of protection.
• Zhao Ziyue offered Yu Ci a chance to cooperate on a secret matter if he swore an oath, and Yu Ci listened to his proposal.
• Zhao Ziyue told Manoo he intended to use the deal to undermine the Eastern Branch’s Great Evolution Formation, then learned the Great Accomplishment Buddha Shrine of Radiant Glass had been privately sold and ordered an investigation.
• Yu Ci examined the Buddha shrine in Shen Wan’s courtyard as Shen Wan explained that she had acquired it to investigate stolen treasures from Great Guanghua Temple.
• Yu Ci read the shrine’s appraisal and focused on its reference to the Ten Directions Ci Guang Buddha.

Yu Ci and Shen Wan connected Zhao Ziyue to the robbery of the Suixin Pavilion caravan and planned to trace the stolen Buddhist implements through Huayan City's black market. At the Heavenly Script Branch, Yu Ci sorted the forces around the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion into those that kept him hidden and those that exposed him, and decided Zhao Ziyue's side was his target.

• Shen Wan told Yu Ci that Ten Directions Ci Guang Buddha had survived defeat by the Karmaless Sword Immortal before vanishing, and that Buddhist Kingdom implements resembling Manager Zhou's treasures had surfaced in Huayan City.
• Yu Ci compared Zhao Ziyue's fundraising with the Buddhist implements and concluded that Zhao Ziyue was probably behind the Suixin Pavilion caravan robbery.
• Shen Wan explained that she had put up a Buddhist shrine as bait, and Yu Ci proposed comparing the Huayan City items with old manifests to identify what the thieves had taken.
• Yu Ci entered the Heavenly Script Branch garden and considered the many factions involved in the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion.
• Yu Ci divided the forces into those that allowed him to stay hidden and those that pushed him into the open, then resolved to act against Zhao Ziyue's side.

Yu Ci listened to Third Master explain how he adapted the Tiangang Disha Refining Method to heterodox treasures, then saw Third Master’s grief over his limited lifespan and unfinished work. The discussion was interrupted by the return of Xin Yi, a powerful talisman grandmaster whom Yu Ci recognized from the screen wall.

• Yu Ci joined a garden discussion where Third Master demonstrated how he had modified a heterodox Soul-Shaking Gourd with the Tiangang Disha Refining Method.
• Third Master explained that his method could strengthen heterodox treasures but remained incomplete, and said True Man Guangwei had praised his self-taught work.
• Yu Ci handed Third Master his Immortal Binding Rope for examination.
• Third Master wept over how little time he had left to pursue refining, then insisted on examining the other treasures so he could leave his method for later generations.
• Xin Yi arrived and declared Third Master’s warning wrong, and Yu Ci recognized the returned expert as the man True Man Guangwei had welcomed.

Xin Tianjun encouraged Xu Bo to combine ritual refinement with artifact forging and offered to guide him if he raised his gourd to the ninth tier. Yu Ci used that approach to improve the Immortal Binding Rope, then received a message from Three Families Market summoning him back on the day Zhai Que'er returned.

• Xin Tianjun urged Xu Bo to broaden his approach to ritual refinement and artifact forging, then wagered that he could raise his gourd to the ninth tier in exchange for guidance at the Cloud Mountain Range.
• True Man Guangwei asked Xin Tianjun to explain the essentials of ritual refinement and artifact forging to the gathered cultivators, and Xin Tianjun agreed.
• Yu Ci experimented with Xin Tianjun's advice and refined the Immortal Binding Rope, lowering its refinement level before restoring it with a stronger, blood-red quality.
• Yu Ci completed his ritual at the Seven Stars Altar and received a jade slip from Three Families Market ordering him to return at once, as Zhai Que'er was due back.

Yu Ci solved Zhai Que'er's talisman scroll and learned that the promised business deal involved the Longevity True Man, though she insisted the risks were manageable. As Yu Ci demonstrated his finished talisman, Ge Fu, Third Master He, Miaoxiang, and You Rui arrived.

• Yu Ci showed Zhai Que'er his analysis of the upper scroll's nine fractal structures, and she revealed that he needed to combine them with the lower scroll's seven structures.
• Zhai Que'er admitted the business deal was connected to the Longevity True Man and said he was her senior martial brother who would now join their group.
• Yu Ci asked about compensation, then studied the two scrolls and began refining a talisman.
• Yu Ci completed a talisman using the Great Evolution Diagram's analysis method and the Heavenly Evolution Pearl.
• Ge Fu entered with Third Master He, Miaoxiang, and You Rui, and Yu Ci recognized the two women.

Yu Ci joined Zhai Que’er’s talisman cultivators and learned how the Great Evolution Diagram worked. Zhai Que’er then announced that the group would leave immediately to handle their business, surprising Yu Ci and unsettling Ge Fu.

• Zhai Que’er introduced Ge Fu and Tushan as the leaders of the talisman cultivators and revealed that Master Miao Xiang and You Rui had joined the group.
• Yu Ci explained that Soul Chaser was his nickname and Lu Dun was his real name, and Master Miao Xiang confirmed that he had helped her in Huayan City.
• Tushan showed Yu Ci the Great Evolution Diagram, a brocade handkerchief that combined talisman cultivators’ mental efforts to deduce talisman patterns.
• Zhai Que’er explained that the Great Evolution Diagram could work with fifty Heavenly Evolution Pearls, and Yu Ci promised to help if the group faced a difficult problem.
• Zhai Que’er ordered the group to leave at once, leaving Yu Ci surprised and Ge Fu visibly unsettled.

Yu Ci joined Zhai Que'er’s sudden expedition to the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion and was assigned to lead Group B in the Great Evolution Formation. As the rune cultivators prepared to begin their deductions, Tushan gave Yu Ci his advance payment.

• Zhai Que'er set out for the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion well before the Rune Combat Assembly, catching Zhao Ziyue, the Ten Directions Great Venerable, and Yu Ci unprepared.
• Yu Ci left the city with Tushan and traveled with the expanding group of rune cultivators and ghost cultivators into the Graveyard of Grudges.
• Ge Fu organized fifty cultivators into three groups for the Great Evolution Formation, and Yu Ci became Group B’s Talisman Commander.
• Yu Ci assigned his new subordinates code names and appointed the Returning Elixir middle-stage cultivator as his deputy.
• Tushan handed Yu Ci Heavenly Evolution Pearls and another item as an advance deposit for his participation.

Yu Ci joined Ge Fu's group as they descended into the strata to use the Great Evolution Formation and locate the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion. Their attempt revealed a ring of Nine Heavens Yuan Magnetism Divine Light, confirming that the Eastern Branch of the Demonic Sect had found the mansion's location without the Xuan Ling Yin.

• Yu Ci donned the Azure Lotus Robe of the Great Void and received the Heavenly Evolution Pearl from Tushan.
• Ge Fu warned the cultivators not to disrupt the Great Evolution Formation, while Miao Xiang and Gao Ji led guards around the formation's perimeter.
• The group traveled through the woods to meet the leaders and elite forces, where Yu Ci exchanged a brief glance with Ling Xi Wanderer and confirmed his control remained firm.
• Ge Fu used Earth-Escape Dragon Talismans to protect the cultivators, and Gao Ji used the Heavenly Escape Treasure Mirror to guide their descent through the strata.
• Tushan raised the Great Evolution Diagram as the cultivators channeled their Heavenly Evolution Pearls into it.
• The Heavenly Escape Treasure Mirror's light struck an unseen barrier and revealed a ring of Nine Heavens Yuan Magnetism Divine Light around the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion.

The cultivators used the Great Evolution Formation to probe the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion and identify an approach through the Southern Peak direction of the Five Sacred Peaks True Form Diagram. As they began their planned entry, the diagram activated and a boundless sea of stars appeared before them.

• An elder of the Eastern Branch of the Demonic Sect used the Magnetic Light Myriad Transformations Bottle to absorb the Nine Heavens Yuan Magnetism Divine Light and fire Primordial Magnetic Divine Thunder, creating an opening for the formation to advance.
• Ge Fu and the other cultivators gathered talisman fragments revealed by the magnetic light, then arranged the talisman cultivators into four layers to combine their mental strength and analyze the patterns.
• Gao Ji used the Heavenly Escape Mirror to locate another part of the secret mansion, and Ge Fu identified the direction as the Southern Peak of the Five Sacred Peaks True Form Diagram.
• Zhai Que'er and the others began their planned assault from the Southern Peak direction, while the elder of the Eastern Branch of the Demonic Sect blasted a path through the hardened earth with Primordial Magnetic Divine Thunder.
• The Nine Heavens Yuan Magnetism Divine Light abruptly contracted, and Zhai Que'er and Tushan warned that the Five Sacred Peaks True Form Diagram had activated.
• A boundless sea of stars appeared before the cultivators.

The Four Extremes Celestial Star Divine Prohibition trapped Yu Ci and the cultivators in the Great Evolution Formation, while the Northern Dipper’s deadly power killed two experts. The Great Evolution Formation opened a rift and helped the main force escape, but shifted Five Sacred Peaks and ghostly shadows appeared as Yu Ci’s group tried to follow.

• Tushan identified the starry restriction as the Four Extremes Celestial Star Divine Prohibition and ordered the cultivators to hold their positions and restrain their auras.
• A warning about Nine Heavens Yuan Magnetism Divine Light disrupted the cultivators’ deductions, and the restriction reshaped its stars into familiar constellations.
• The Northern Dipper’s death-inflicting power turned the Eastern Branch elder and another cultivator to ash when they tried to take the Magnetic Light Myriad Transformations Bottle.
• Zhai Que'er recognized magnetic induction as the trigger, and Yu Ci and the talisman cultivators used the Great Evolution Formation to form a cloud-hand that opened a rift through the prohibition.
• Zhai Que'er led the main force through the rift, and Ge Fu’s group began following before dark cyan lights and ghostly shadows emerged from the shifted Eastern Peak.

Ge Fu, Tushan, Miaoxiang, and Gao Ji struggled to lead their group through a shifting prohibition as ghostly attacks and Primordial Magnetic Divine Thunder tore apart their formation. They forced their way through the fissure, but a piercing sound triggered a new assault by the ghost cultivators.

• Miaoxiang used her Yin Illusion Sarira to burn away ghostly figures, while Gao Ji revealed the fissure with the Heavenly Escape Mirror.
• Ge Fu and Tushan ordered a retreat, but strange darkness and crimson flames obscured the fissure as the group tried to escape.
• A figure resembling the dead Elder Hong attacked with Nine Heavens Yuan Magnetism Divine Thunder, ripping apart the Great Evolution Formation and causing casualties.
• Tushan steadied the panicking cultivators, and Ge Fu struck Elder Hong with the Heaven-Piercing Dharma Palm, widening the fissure so more than a hundred people could charge through.
• A piercing sound rang out again, and Yu Ci heard screams as the ghost cultivators attacked the people crowded inside the five-colored cloudy vapor.

Yu Ci and the others fought off a wave of maddened ghost cultivators and Yin entities inside a strange realm, while figures resembling Elder Hong and Feng Ting appeared and vanished. The group concluded they might be trapped in the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion and planned to find a way toward the Southern Peak, while Yu Ci secretly placed starlight points into five ghost cultivators.

• Maddened ghost cultivators attacked the crowd as Yin entities surged into the Great Evolution Formation, and figures resembling Elder Hong and Feng Ting joined the assault.
• Miaoxiang struck the transformed ghost cultivators, whose bodies melted into crimson flames and smoke that spread through the formation.
• Yu Ci used the Taiyin Banner and Five Thunder Command to restrain the ghost cultivators, helping the four Void-Jumping experts and their guards repel the Yin tide.
• Tushan used a golden eagle talisman to scout the realm, then suggested that they had entered the Yellow Springs Secret Mansion.
• Ge Fu and Tushan reasoned that the Five Sacred Peaks True Form Diagram had drawn them into a real realm and agreed to seek a route toward the Southern Peak.
• As Yu Ci lifted the restraint on the remaining ghost cultivators, he secretly flicked starlight points into five of their bodies.

Yu Ci watched the Great Evolution Formation’s deduction as Spirit Devouring Fire filled the realm and the dead appeared in the sky. When the Ten Directions Great Venerable’s followers began making a marker for his Unimpeded Minor Three Realms Banner, Yu Ci secretly focused on Gui Yi and recognized the Divine Path’s familiar aura.

• Tushan’s golden eagle talisman vanished in the flames, while his arrow and Ge Fu’s summoned ghost passed through unharmed, revealing that the barrier was Spirit Devouring Fire.
• Elder Hong, Feng Ting, and the dead talisman cultivators appeared embedded in the flaming sky; a sixteenth figure joined them, and Ge Fu identified him as Fan Hu, who had died at the Southern Peak Divine Prohibition.
• Ge Fu announced that the Ten Directions Great Venerable was coming, and Yu Ci learned that his Unimpeded Minor Three Realms Banner required a marker to bypass formations and prohibitions.
• Yu Ci secretly planted divine intent in Gui Yi as Ge Fu and You Songzi began creating the Great Venerable’s marker with his aura and impression.
• Yu Ci recognized the aura being invoked as the same one he had sensed before.

Yu Ci watched the Ten Directions Great Venerable empower Gui Yi and sensed that the magical treasure fragments were connected to the Great Venerable and Zhao Ziyue. A sudden Karmic Fire trapped the cultivators, leaving Tu Shan and Ge Fu to lead them in resisting the flames and deducing a way through the restriction.

• Yu Ci sensed power flow from the Ten Directions Great Venerable into Gui Yi and detected a corresponding change in Gui Yi’s inner void.
• The metallic moth fragments in Yu Ci’s Cloud Tower Tree space began trembling, strengthening his suspicion that they were connected to the Ten Directions Great Venerable and Zhao Ziyue.
• Blazing fire erupted from underground, killing more than twenty cultivators and trapping the survivors beneath a canopy of flames.
• Ge Fu urged the talisman cultivators to form their array in the air, while Tu Shan took control of the Great Evolution Formation and rallied the group.
• Ge Fu identified the restriction as Buddhist magical power, allowing the cultivators to adjust their deductions and work together to find a way out.
• Yu Ci continued monitoring Gui Yi and the flames before learning that the fire was Karmic Fire.