Chapter Summaries

Tian Buyi and the others entered the increasingly uncanny Yinyou Land, where the old man transformed into ashes and the group became trapped in the black fog. Luo Yunji’s umbrella drove the fog away, but he then heard a warning that matched Zhou Yixian’s words, leaving the group on guard as they pressed deeper.

• Dabai warned everyone that the fog was changing, and Zhang Xiaofan used the Jiemo Bead to maintain a Buddhist protective art as the group continued onward.
• Tian Buyi and the others noticed a soul-chilling cold and darker, ash-like fog beyond the giant rock, while the restrained old man changed into a stone-gray, pupil-less figure.
• The Ghost King struck the old man, and Tian Buyi stabbed him with Scarlet Flame; the old man screamed, turned to ashes, and merged with the black fog.
• Tian Buyi urged everyone to flee, but the group felt as if they were running in place until Luo Yunji opened his umbrella and pushed the black fog away.
• Luo Yunji said he heard an unseen voice warn that those who entered Yinyou Land would not return, and Tian Buyi and He Dazhi recognized its first half as Zhou Yixian’s exact warning.

Tian Buyi and the others discovered that the ancient ruins and their enemies had been illusions, then realized the creature behind them was the deadly Lizi. Tian Buyi fell unconscious after its attack, and Zhang Xiaofan prepared to fight it while Ghost King warned that its true body might still be hidden.

• Luo Yunji dispelled the illusion, revealing a massive creature and explaining that it seemed unable to move and was near death.
• Tian Buyi and the others approached the creature, whereupon ash formed into Ancient Remnants and they realized the remnants had been illusions.
• Tian Buyi attacked the giant shell, but a claw struck him from the flames and left him unconscious.
• He Dazhi identified the creature as Lizi and explained that its illusions drove victims mad, while Old Ancestor Fengyue said its back claw could save Tian Buyi.
• Zhang Xiaofan drew the Fire Poker and stepped toward the burning shell, but Ghost King stopped him, warning that Lizi's true body might not be what they saw.

Luo Yunji used the Ice Bowl to find and freeze the dead spirit Lizi, but Lizi broke free as Blackheart Elder identified the black mist controlling it. The mist revealed a resentful voice accusing Blackheart Elder of breaking a promise and demanding an explanation.

• He Dazhi told Zhang Xiaofan that spiritual attributes could counter the illusion, so Zhang Xiaofan gave Luo Yunji the Ice Bowl to save Tian Buyi.
• Luo Yunji spread Ice Mist through the area, found Lizi, and fought its black mist while Zhang Xiaofan's Buddhist light protected the others.
• Luo Yunji exposed Lizi's attacks as illusions and froze the dead spirit in ice.
• Lizi shattered the ice, and Luo Yunji noticed another mass of black mist beside it.
• Blackheart Elder identified the method as corpse control, and the voice in the mist accused him of breaking his promise and owing the speaker's clan an explanation.

Luo Yunji destroyed the Lizi’s corpse and recovered its claw and heart before Tian Buyi woke and learned that the refugees and landscape he had seen were illusions. The group debated whether to follow the river or enter the woods, and Tian Buyi left Old Ancestor Fengyue uncertain about which route they would take.

• Luo Yunji tore apart the Lizi’s corpse with bands of ice and extracted its claw and heart.
• A languid old man in a stone house said he had encountered an old acquaintance, drawing the attention of the black-robed people around him.
• Tian Buyi woke, and Zhang Xiaofan explained how Luo Yunji had defeated the Lizi and freed them from its illusions.
• Tian Buyi learned that the surrounding scenery and refugees were illusions and heard that the Ghost King and others wanted to investigate something ahead.
• The Ghost King argued with Old Ancestor Fengyue over whether to follow the river or cross the woods, while Tian Buyi observed that either route might lead to danger.

Luo Yunji caught a strange Human-Faced Fish, but the group could neither roast nor safely eat it before he ran into the forest. After rescuing him from a carnivorous vine, the group continued deeper into the dangerous forest and found it covered in fine black threads.

• Luo Yunji caught a Human-Faced Fish, and Zhang Xiaofan tried to roast it, but the flames had no effect and the group decided not to eat it.
• Luo Yunji ran into the forest in search of food, and Zhang Xiaofan chased after him as Tian Buyi agreed to continue the journey with the others.
• Tian Buyi found Luo Yunji caught in a vine, while Zhang Xiaofan and He Dazhi freed him and the Ghost King and Old Ancestor Fengyue examined the plant.
• The group traveled deeper into the forest and found fine black threads tangled across the trees, though touching them seemed to cause no unusual effect.

Tian Buyi and the others cut through a forest sealed in Black Silk and discovered a peaceful hidden world beyond it. At the bottom of the winding path, they found signs of human life and agreed to search for the people who might live there.

• The group found the forest and its creatures wrapped in Black Silk, which formed a dense wall across their path.
• Luo Yunji noted that the strands resembled his own Black Silk, and Tian Buyi cut through the barrier with Scarlet Flame.
• Tian Buyi’s group emerged into a warm, thriving space and followed a mountain path deeper underground.
• At the path’s bottom, the group found signs of creatures and human life, including a broken arrowhead.
• He Dazhi and Ghost King supported searching for possible Ancient Remnants, and the group followed the traces onward.

Tian Buyi and the others entered Wuyuan Village, where a black-robed man and the village elder trapped them in a powerful illusion. Luo Yunji awakened them beside a river and explained that someone had used the Lizi corpse to cast it, while Tian Buyi remained unconscious after being caught in the illusion twice.

• Tian Buyi and the others found a settlement in the forest and learned from its elder that it was Wuyuan Village, a secluded place hidden from the outside world.
• A Black-Robed Man entered the elder’s home and began gathering gray-black smoke, while the elder struck the Ghost King with his cane.
• The Black-Robed Man’s smoke enveloped the room, and a familiar voice woke Zhang Xiaofan and the others in a different setting beside a river.
• Luo Yunji told the group they had been caught in an illusion cast with the black mist inside the Lizi corpse.
• He Dazhi checked on Tian Buyi, and Luo Yunji said Tian Buyi would need time to wake because he had been caught in the illusion twice.

Luo Yunji led the group through the real ruins of the village and absorbed the black qi with the Ice Bowl, while Blackheart Elder shared insights on the Heavenly Book with Ghost King. The group reached another silk wall, where the chapter left them wondering what lay beyond it.

• Luo Yunji gave Zhang Xiaofan Lizi's Illusion Pearl and warned everyone that illusions could combine truth and falsehood.
• Blackheart Elder took Ghost King into the forest and offered to share his insights into the first volume of the Heavenly Book.
• Luo Yunji led the group through the black fog to the village ruins, where the illusion's bright village had been replaced by a ruined, vine-covered settlement.
• Luo Yunji continued ahead as the ruins froze, vanished, and released gray-white mist that entered his Ice Bowl.
• A black-robed observer watched the group from a treetop before disappearing, while others in an ancient building announced that Luo Yunji and an old acquaintance had arrived.
• Luo Yunji led the group to a vast area and stopped before a black silk wall, which Old Ancestor Fengyue, Ghost King, and Tian Buyi suspected might conceal another village.

Luo Yunji led the group through the Ice Mist to a mountain range, where the Black-Robed Man appeared and confronted Blackheart Elder. The Loose Cultivator Yin Spirit fought him, and the chapter ended as a skeletal creature burst from the ground and the Monk and Lady Jinling asked to let the Loose Cultivator face the opponent alone.

• Luo Yunji used the Ice Bowl to cover the area in Ice Mist and guided Tian Buyi and the others through it with Water Ribbons.
• Luo Yunji cleared the mist and spotted the Black-Robed Man, who confronted Blackheart Elder over the broken seal.
• Blackheart Elder unleashed his full strength, while He Dazhi and Zhang Xiaofan resolved to become stronger and the Ghost King watched with excitement.
• The Loose Cultivator Yin Spirit attacked the Black-Robed Man and exchanged powerful blows with him.
• The Black-Robed Man summoned a bizarre skeleton from beneath the ground, and the Monk and Lady Jinling asked Luo Yunji to let the Loose Cultivator fight alone.

Luo Yunji watched the Loose Cultivator defeat the Black-Robed Man, then led the group across a grassland where two enormous beasts fought. The group followed him despite their fear, and He Dazhi suggested Senior Blackheart knew the way because he had visited before.

• The Loose Cultivator shattered the Black-Robed Man's bone wall with a final punch, but the Black-Robed Man escaped.
• Luo Yunji returned the Mountain and River Fan to He Dazhi and led the group around the green mountain.
• The group encountered a gathering of strange beasts, including a fully grown Huiwen Golden Eagle and another enormous beast that attacked it.
• Luo Yunji walked toward the fighting beasts, warning the others that the escaped beasts might return if they stayed behind.
• He Dazhi proposed that Senior Blackheart had visited before and was helping Luo Yunji find the way, and the others silently agreed.

Luo Yunji’s group escaped an illusion by killing two black-robed attackers, then continued through the forest toward a place that Zhang Xiaofan suspected was protected by a barrier. After spending the night there, Luo Yunji threw the Ice Bowl into the sky as sunlight reached the forest.

• Luo Yunji used the Ice Mist and a shout to wake the group from the illusion, while Dabai and the Loose Cultivator killed the two Black-Robed Men.
• Dabai used the Skull Artifact to capture the attackers’ souls, and Luo Yunji absorbed the black mist from their bodies with the Ice Bowl.
• Blackheart Elder explained that the attackers’ remains had to be taken to the Sea of Nether Domain to prevent them from becoming bone monsters, and the group continued along the same path.
• Zhang Xiaofan sensed a possible barrier among the towering trees, while He Dazhi remembered that Luo Yunji would not let others approach him to borrow the hairpin.
• After the group spent the night in the forest, Luo Yunji threw the Ice Bowl into the sky as daylight shone through the branches.

The Ice Bowl absorbed the black qi disguising the landscape, revealing a barren world and a massive rock that marked the barrier entrance. Luo Yunji explained how the bowl affected his damaged soul, then revealed that the Sea of Nether Domain entrance lay elsewhere.

• Dabai protected the group with a golden barrier while the Ice Bowl sucked in the scenery, and the Loose Cultivator Yin Spirit explained that the trees and terrain were condensed from black qi.
• The Ice Bowl revealed a barren landscape and a massive rock; Luo Yunji sat down to eat while Ghost King and Old Ancestor Fengyue examined the rock.
• Tian Buyi asked Luo Yunji about his behavior while holding the Ice Bowl, and Luo Yunji explained that his incomplete Tianchong and dispersed hun were affected by the bowl and its black qi.
• Zhang Xiaofan asked whether the massive rock was the entrance to the Sea of Nether Domain, and Luo Yunji clarified that it was the barrier entrance and that the Sea of Nether Domain entrance was elsewhere.

Luo Yunji used the Ice Bowl to draw black smoke from a gray, lifeless realm, restoring color as the group followed him through the barrier. They encountered a Black-Robed Man from the Seal-Guarding Clan, whose dispute with Blackheart Elder revealed that the clan had abandoned its ancient duty and wanted to live freely.

• Luo Yunji explained that Blackheart Elder had said the Black-Robed Men were bound by restrictions and that the Black Talisman sealed them in their black clothes.
• After eating and napping, Luo Yunji had Zhang Xiaofan use the complete Fire Poker to lead the group through the barrier.
• Luo Yunji carried the Ice Bowl forward, drawing gray and black smoke into it as the gray realm regained its color.
• The group followed Luo Yunji for nearly two hours until a Black-Robed Man appeared, and Blackheart Elder told them to withdraw.
• The Black-Robed Man accused Blackheart Elder of breaking their agreement and failing to help the Seal-Guarding Clan.
• Blackheart Elder warned that abandoning their mission and destroying the seal would destroy the realm and doom the entire clan.

Blackheart Elder and the others confronted a Black-Robed Man of the Seal-Guarding Clan, who revealed that his clan planned to spread the forbidden land’s gray corruption beyond its borders. After Dabai destroyed the attacker, the group continued onward, and Blackheart Elder disclosed the origins of the Heavenly Book and the Boundary Rift the clan guarded.

• The Black-Robed Man explained that his clan had grown weary of its confinement and planned to turn the surrounding world into the gray land they inhabited.
• Dabai used the Black Silk and Skull Artifact to erase the Black-Robed Man and his black mist.
• Luo Yunji and the five Yin Spirits spread living seeds across the land, and Blackheart Elder later warned the group to rest before entering an area with ferocious beasts.
• Blackheart Elder told the Ghost King that each of the four Holy Sect branches possessed a volume of the Heavenly Book and guessed that all four could be found in the Nether Abyss.
• Blackheart Elder identified the Black-Robed Men as the Seal-Guarding Clan and revealed that they guarded the Boundary Rift, shocking He Dazhi and Zhang Xiaofan.

Blackheart Elder explained the Seal-Guarding Clan’s terrifying strength and warned the group about the Boundary Rift. The travelers entered the Sea of Nether Domain, where Tian Buyi feared the seal had been undone and urged Ghost King and Old Ancestor Fengyue to turn back.

• Blackheart Elder told the group that the Seal-Guarding Clan had guarded the seal for ten thousand years and that the two figures they had encountered were only phantoms.
• After resting overnight, Zhang Xiaofan helped Luo Yunji wash, and the group set out without encountering the Black-Robed Man.
• The group reached the Sea of Nether Domain, where He Dazhi recalled Zhou Yixian’s warning and Blackheart Elder reacted sorrowfully.
• Tian Buyi warned Ghost King and Old Ancestor Fengyue that an undone Boundary Rift could bring beings from another world and leave them no way to survive.
• He Dazhi urged Old Ancestor Fengyue to return, but Fengyue looked at the Mountain and River Fan in He Dazhi’s hand.

He Dazhi, the Ghost King, and the others followed Blackheart Elder into the Sea of Nether Domain, where they encountered ghostly souls and learned how to pass through them. They reached Wuyuan Village, whose familiar appearance recalled a deadly illusion, and Blackheart Elder accepted the village chief’s invitation to rest at his home.

• Old Ancestor Fengyue and the Ghost King chose to accompany Tian Buyi’s group as they followed Blackheart Elder into the Sea of Nether Domain.
• The group saw ghostly souls gathering in the darkness, and Blackheart Elder warned them that Buddhist light would provoke the intelligent souls in nearby villages.
• The Ghost King absorbed the ghostly wind with his spiritual power, clearing the way and delighting in the ghostly souls that joined his attacks.
• The group entered a village that looked eerie from outside but appeared sunny and peaceful within, where the village chief identified it as Wuyuan Village.
• Tian Buyi and the others recognized Wuyuan Village from a dangerous illusion, but Blackheart Elder calmed them and accepted the chief’s invitation to his home.

The group rested at the village chief’s home after the frightening illusion, while Zhang Xiaofan’s carefully packed food drew attention. The chapter left Blackheart Elder asking Zhang Xiaofan for Monkey Wine.

• Blackheart Elder thanked the village chief, and the group followed him to the village chief’s home.
• He Dazhi discovered Zhang Xiaofan had packed chicken drumsticks for Luo Yunji and dry pancakes for himself, then accepted Spirit Wine from him.
• Tian Buyi accepted meat and Spirit Wine from Zhang Xiaofan, while Ghost King and Old Ancestor Fengyue received dry rations.
• Ghost King rummaged through Zhang Xiaofan’s Bamboo Bag and ended up with another dry pancake, prompting laughter from Tian Buyi and Old Ancestor Fengyue.
• He Dazhi explained that Zhang Xiaofan kept Luo Yunji’s food at the top of the Bamboo Bag, and Tian Buyi urged Zhang Xiaofan to take care of himself too.
• Blackheart Elder asked Zhang Xiaofan for Monkey Wine, and Zhang Xiaofan handed him a bamboo tube.

Blackheart Elder reunited with the village chief of Wuyuan Village, who recognized him from centuries earlier and urged him to marry Lady Jinling. With Luo Yunji’s approval and the village chief’s insistence, their long-unfulfilled love was set to culminate in a wedding in two days.

• Blackheart Elder shared Monkey Wine with the village chief, who recognized him as the dark-skinned young man he had sheltered long ago.
• The village chief’s memories revealed to Ghost King and the others that he had lived for nearly a thousand years or more.
• The village chief asked whether Blackheart Elder had found the girl he loved, then recognized Lady Jinling and proposed that they marry.
• Blackheart Elder and Lady Jinling agreed, and the village chief announced he would arrange their wedding in two days.
• Luo Yunji happily accepted the village chief’s offer of tasty food, while Dabai, Monk, Tian Buyi, and the others congratulated the couple.

Blackheart Elder revealed that the Old Village Chief had rescued him and founded Wuyuan Village for intelligent Specters, while the villagers prepared for Blackheart Elder and Lady Jinling’s wedding. Outside, the Old Village Chief’s reaction to Luo Yunji’s Yellow Springs aura left Zhang Xiaofan on the ground as the villagers looked at Luo Yunji with delighted surprise.

• Blackheart Elder told the group that the Old Village Chief had saved him in the Sea of Nether Domain, founded Wuyuan Village, and sheltered the Specters who became the Black-Robed Men.
• The Ghost King proposed preparing for Blackheart Elder and Lady Jinling’s wedding in two days, and the couple agreed to keep the celebration simple.
• Tian Buyi, the Ghost King, Old Ancestor Fengyue, and He Dazhi each reflected on women they had loved, while the Loose Cultivator teased the Monk about his past and his lack of descendants.
• Zhang Xiaofan watched villagers return with exotic beasts, and the Old Village Chief explained that they had brought food suitable for living people.
• Luo Yunji made rain fall to defend Zhang Xiaofan, and the Old Village Chief recognized the aura of the Yellow Springs; the rain knocked Zhang Xiaofan down while the Old Village Chief and Daqing reacted with delight.

Luo Yunji’s Rain Technique caused the Wuyuan Village villagers to recognize him as the Son of the Underworld, and the Old Village Chief asked whether he could help wandering souls reach the Yellow Springs. Dabai revealed that Luo Yunji was also a true Son of God, leaving the Old Village Chief stunned as she warned him not to speak of heavenly mysteries.

• Luo Yunji used the Rain Technique, and the villagers knelt before him, believing him to be the Son of the Underworld.
• Dabai explained that the villagers had not been affected by the spell, and Luo Yunji let them rise after they promised not to bully Zhang Xiaofan.
• The Old Village Chief invited Dabai and the others to Daqing’s home and asked Luo Yunji to let wandering souls enter the Yellow Springs.
• Dabai said Luo Yunji could not yet help wandering souls, then disclosed that he was a true Son of God.
• The Old Village Chief guessed that a Deity had possessed Luo Yunji, and Dabai stopped him from revealing heavenly mysteries.