Chapter Summaries

Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan chased fish monsters south after they stole Luo Yunji’s Bamboo Bag, and they encountered Ghost King Sect disciples who reported another attack by the monsters. Their departure left the Azure Clouds disciples trapped in the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor, while Wild Dog Daoist traveled with Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan, who changed their route after divining.

• He Dazhi warned Du Bishu that someone would need to guard the cultivation grounds near the treasury, and Du Bishu objected to being left there alone.
• Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan went to Great King Village, where fish monsters stole Luo Yunji’s Bamboo Bag and escaped south across a lake.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji pursued the fish monsters and met Yan Hui, who reported that they had ambushed Ghost King Sect disciples and stolen Killing Monk’s Zen Staff.
• Zhang Xiaofan continued south with Luo Yunji after learning Killing Monk had chased the fish monsters in the same direction.
• Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan’s departure left Xiao Yicai and the other Azure Clouds disciples confined inside the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Wild Dog Daoist prepared to travel with Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan, but Zhou Yixian changed their route southwest after performing a divination.

Zhou Yixian led Wild Dog Daoist and Xiaohuan southwest, where they encountered the wounded Jin Ping'er and were soon confronted by Qin Wuyan. As Jin Ping'er and Qin Wuyan fought, Wild Dog Daoist returned to help, and a dark-red ghostly light struck toward Qin Wuyan's heart.

• Zhou Yixian advised Wild Dog Daoist to head southwest, and they soon met Jin Ping'er, who had been injured fighting Qin Wuyan.
• Qin Wuyan appeared and spread poisonous mist as Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist moved to protect Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan.
• Jin Ping'er engaged Qin Wuyan while Wild Dog Daoist carried Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan away, then returned to assist her.
• Zhou Yixian urged Xiaohuan to flee with him so they would not burden the fighters.
• Wild Dog Daoist waited for an opening as Jin Ping'er and Qin Wuyan fought, and a dark-red ghostly light shot from the grass toward Qin Wuyan's heart.

Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist drove Qin Wuyan away, while Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji searched for the stolen Bamboo Bag and then hurried back to rescue their trapped senior brothers. They reached the Inner Swamp and freed Xiao Yicai's group, who had nearly starved inside the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.

• Qin Wuyan was wounded by Jin Ping'er's attack and Wild Dog Daoist's Fang magic treasure, then retreated into the forest.
• Luo Yunji learned from a Fish Monster that it had taken his Bamboo Bag to its lair in Southern Border, but Zhang Xiaofan realized their trapped senior brothers might be in danger.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji met Jin Ping'er, Wild Dog Daoist, Zhou Yixian, and Xiaohuan, then continued toward the Inner Swamp to check on Xiao Yicai and the others.
• Zheng Dali found Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji on their return and pulled them to the giant tree to rescue the trapped group.
• Wu Dayi and the others gave water to Zeng Shushu and the other starving cultivators after they were freed from the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.

Luo Yunji and the Big Bamboo Peak disciples rescued Xiao Yicai, Lu Xueqi, Zeng Shushu, and the others from the treasure vault and gave them water and food. After the group recovered enough to eat, Luo Yunji set out with Zheng Dali to pursue the Fish Monsters that had stolen Zhang Xiaofan’s Bamboo Bag.

• Wu Dayi apologized for Luo Yunji’s absence while Zhang Xiaofan prepared food and the Big Bamboo Peak disciples gave the starving captives water.
• Tian Linger scolded Luo Yunji for leaving everyone trapped, while Luo Yunji asked the rescued disciples whether they would report him to their elders.
• Luo Yunji teased Zeng Shushu, but Du Bishu stopped him from feeding Zeng Shushu and told him to rest for a few days.
• Luo Yunji announced that he would find the Fish Monsters who had stolen the Bamboo Bag and insisted Zheng Dali join him before returning to the mountain.
• Wu Dayi agreed to let Zheng Dali go with Luo Yunji, and Zhang Xiaofan served porridge to the recovering disciples.

Wu Dayi and Xiao Yicai agreed that Zheng Dali would stay at the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury, while the others prepared to leave the Dead Swamp. Luo Yunji then set out with Zhang Xiaofan, Zheng Dali, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist to recover the stolen Bamboo Bag, explaining the dangers and legends of the Southern Border along the way.

• Wu Dayi told Xiao Yicai that Zheng Dali would stay at the Treasury, and Xiao Yicai agreed to inform Uncle Tian after returning to the mountain.
• Jin Ping'er entered the Inner Swamp to find Zhang Xiaofan, while Wild Dog Daoist stayed behind to protect Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan; Zhang Xiaofan later brought them all inside.
• Two days later, Luo Yunji, Zhang Xiaofan, and Zheng Dali set out south to chase the thief who had stolen the Bamboo Bag, while Xiao Yicai and the others returned to the mountain.
• Lin Jingyu took Tian Linger back with him, and Zhang Xiaofan entrusted Zhou Yixian and Xiaohuan to Wu Dayi and the others for their journey out of the Dead Swamp.
• Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist stayed with Luo Yunji, while Long Zi’s family and the Yellow Bird remained by the giant tree near the Treasury.
• Luo Yunji told Zhang Xiaofan and the others about the dangers and legends of the Southern Border and the Hundred Thousand Mountains as they traveled.

Zhang Xiaofan and his companions investigated a meeting between an Incense Valley leader and the Fish Monsters, learning that Incense Valley had supplied information about the monsters’ appearance in the Dead Swamp. They decided to wait nearby for another meeting, while Jin Ping'er volunteered to investigate Incense Valley alone.

• Jin Ping'er chased a red light and discovered that an Incense Valley higher-up was meeting with the Fish Monsters.
• The group visited the meeting place, an abandoned temple, but found only footprints after Luo Yunji and the Quadruplets trampled through it.
• Jin Ping'er told Zhang Xiaofan that Incense Valley had provided information connected to the Fish Monsters and a dark stone in the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Zhang Xiaofan decided the group would wait nearby for a few days in hopes the parties would meet again.
• Zhang Xiaofan left Zheng Dali at their campsite to guard their luggage and keep him out of the risky investigation.
• Jin Ping'er volunteered to go to Incense Valley alone, since Zhang Xiaofan's presence there could confirm rumors that he had joined the Demon Sect.

Luo Yunji led Zheng Dali, Wild Dog Daoist, and the Quadruplets into Incense Valley, evading its outer warning system by befriending Gray Swine. After hiding in the valley for two days, the group heard the area erupt into commotion and prepared to go out amid the chaos.

• Zhang Xiaofan left Luo Yunji and the others with Zheng Dali before entering Incense Valley alone.
• Luo Yunji led the group toward Incense Valley and used food to lure Gray Swine away from warning threads and bells.
• Luo Yunji and the others slipped into the valley under cover of mist, then wandered until they found an empty house to hide in.
• The group spent two days hiding and exploring at night, while Zheng Dali eventually stole food for them.
• A commotion lit up the valley, and Luo Yunji decided the group should go out and take advantage of the disorder.

Zhang Xiaofan and the others explored Incense Valley’s Profound Fire restricted area and found the towering Profound Fire Altar. As they reached its base, Luo Yunji sensed danger and hid the group behind pillars when Incense Valley’s people appeared.

• Zheng Dali led the group into the Profound Fire restricted area, where they discovered a huge altar and its crimson pagoda-like hall.
• Zheng Dali and Luo Yunji discussed whether the altar might hold a volume of the Heavenly Book, but Luo Yunji said the Incense Jade Tome was unrelated to it.
• Zhang Xiaofan joined the seven explorers and explained that he had only entered Incense Valley that day after monsters stormed the valley.
• Luo Yunji covered the eight with ice so they could approach the altar despite its intense heat.
• As they reached the altar’s base, Luo Yunji used water ribbons to pull the others behind pillars when Incense Valley’s people appeared.

Zhang Xiaofan and the others entered the Profound Fire Altar despite its scorching heat, and discovered that its hall was covered with images of evil gods. The group continued toward the red glow at the center while Luo Yunji struggled to protect their weakest members from the heat.

• Zhang Xiaofan and his companions overheard that the Fishman Tribe's Clan Chief had been ambushed and killed after meeting Lü Shun, and suspected Jin Ping'er was responsible.
• The eight companions reached the hall, forced open its heavy doors, and found the heat inside overwhelming.
• Zheng Dali urged the group to leave when the Quadruplets and Wild Dog Daoist began to fail, but Zhang Xiaofan convinced them to continue while Luo Yunji used Ice Technique to protect the five.
• The group explored the vast circular hall and followed the intensifying red light toward its center.
• Wild Dog Daoist and the others found eight different images of horned, four-armed evil gods carved into the floor and wondered why Incense Valley had preserved them.

Zheng Dali jumped into a magma-filled well to search for Fire Crystals while Luo Yunji and the others waited above. After he failed to return, they tried to get his attention by throwing ice into the well, until they accidentally blocked its mouth.

• Feng Feng discovered that a strange stone was lit by magma beneath it, and Zheng Dali pulled Luo Yunji away from the well mouth.
• Zheng Dali jumped into the well to look for Fire Crystals, leaving his belongings beside it as the hall went dark.
• A jade ring among Zheng Dali's belongings absorbed the light from the eight evil-god images, while the others watched the well for him.
• When Zheng Dali did not return, Luo Yunji stopped Zhang Xiaofan from going down and suggested making noise to attract him.
• Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan repeatedly dropped ice into the well, then accidentally blocked its mouth and Luo Yunji asked Zhang Xiaofan to stomp the ice.

Zhang Xiaofan and his companions retrieved Fire Crystals from the magma well and explored the second level, where they found a stone platform marked Mysterious Fire Mirror. Zheng Dali recognized the object as the jade ring he had been carrying, now encased in Cheng Liquid, and the group considered how to separate them.

• Zhang Xiaofan broke through the ice sealing the well, fell toward the magma, and Zheng Dali rescued him after retrieving Fire Crystals below.
• Luo Yunji opened Zheng Dali’s bundle and found a dozen large Fire Crystals, then sealed the well with ice.
• Zhang Xiaofan led the group up to the second level, where they followed a faint glow through the darkness.
• The group found a color-shifting stone platform engraved with Mysterious Fire Mirror, and Zheng Dali recognized it as his jade ring.
• Zheng Dali asked Luo Yunji whether the Cheng Liquid encasing the ring could be removed, and Zhang Xiaofan suggested having Little Junior Brother bite it open.

Luo Yunji and the others opened a passage to the icy third level of the Profound Fire Altar and encountered a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox. The Heavenly Fox recognized the Mysterious Fire Mirror and urgently asked what had happened to Xiao Liu, while Luo Yunji gleefully clung to her tails.

• Luo Yunji bit the Mysterious Fire Mirror back into shape, and it opened the stone platform’s passage to the level above.
• Zheng Dali checked the entrance, and Zhang Xiaofan led the group up onto a freezing sheet of ice.
• Luo Yunji slid across the ice, knocked Wild Dog Daoist down, and played while Zhang Xiaofan and Zheng Dali guarded the group.
• A woman’s voice called out from the darkness, and Luo Yunji rolled the Night-Shining Pearl toward her.
• Luo Yunji rushed up to a huge white fox and grabbed her tails; the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox halted her attack when she heard him mention Xiao Liu.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Zheng Dali told the Heavenly Fox they knew Xiao Liu, drawing her attention as the Quadruplets and Wild Dog Daoist trembled under her gaze.

Zhang Xiaofan and Zheng Dali reunited with the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox, told her that her son Xiao Liu and the Fox Clan survivors were safe, and learned she was imprisoned by the Mystic Fire Chain. Zhang Xiaofan brought the Mysterious Fire Mirror to unlock it while Luo Yunji tried to bargain for the Sky Fox’s tails.

• The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox asked Zhang Xiaofan and Zheng Dali about Xiao Liu, and Zhang Xiaofan told her how he had met Xiao Liu and Xiao San in Black Stone Cave.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Zheng Dali told the Sky Fox that Xiao Liu, Xiao San, and the surviving Fox Clan bloodlines were living in Sanfu Town and the Two Mountains.
• The Sky Fox explained that the Mystic Fire Chain held her captive and could be opened with the Mysterious Fire Mirror, so Zhang Xiaofan went to retrieve it.
• Luo Yunji claimed he knew the Incense Valley secret incantation and tried to bargain with the Sky Fox for some of her tails.
• Zhang Xiaofan returned with the Mysterious Fire Mirror, and the Sky Fox directed him to place it on a stone platform behind her.

Luo Yunji bit through a Mystic Fire Chain instead of using the Mysterious Fire Mirror, and Zhang Xiaofan led everyone back to the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox. After Luo Yunji touched a sensitive spot on the fox and was swatted away, she ordered everyone to turn around.

• Luo Yunji tried to bite through the Mystic Fire Chain, burned his tongue, then eventually gnawed through one link while Zhang Xiaofan put away the Mysterious Fire Mirror.
• Zhang Xiaofan and the Quadruplets carried the broken chain back, and Luo Yunji told the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox he would bite through the chain around her waist later.
• The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox asked whether Luo Yunji was a yao, and Zhang Xiaofan and Zheng Dali turned away, understanding her curiosity about his teeth.
• Luo Yunji examined the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox and pinched a lump of flesh on her abdomen, so she angrily struck him and sent him flying into the darkness.
• After Zhang Xiaofan and the Quadruplets brought Luo Yunji back, the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox ordered everyone to turn around.

The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox escaped the Profound Fire Altar with Zhang Xiaofan and the others, enduring Luo Yunji’s persistent and embarrassing questions along the way. At their campsite, she recognized the Bloodthirsty Bead and Soul Eater in Zhang Xiaofan’s treasure and warned that their power could corrupt him, leaving Zheng Dali to ask how she knew about them.

• The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox transformed into a woman, and Luo Yunji stared and asked her embarrassing questions until she slapped him away twice.
• Zhang Xiaofan covered the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox with his Mysterious Gauze robe, and Zheng Dali urged everyone to leave before people from Incense Valley arrived.
• The group escaped the Profound Fire Altar and flew to their earlier campsite, where Wild Dog Daoist collapsed from exhaustion.
• The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox recognized Zhang Xiaofan’s treasure as a weapon refined from the Bloodthirsty Bead and Soul Eater using the Blood Refining Method.
• The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox warned that the artifacts could invade Zhang Xiaofan’s soul, and Zheng Dali asked whether she knew what they were.

Zheng Dali, Zhang Xiaofan, and Luo Yunji spoke with the Nine-Tailed Sky Fox about Zhang Xiaofan’s Fire Poker, their stolen Bamboo Bag, and the Fish Monster’s lair. She told them to call her Xiaobai and gave them a lead, but Jin Ping'er arrived as their conversation ended.

• The Nine-Tailed Sky Fox questioned Zhang Xiaofan about resisting the Fire Poker’s evil aura, and he kept his cultivation secret while she urged him to wear the Mysterious Fire Mirror.
• Luo Yunji explained that Zhang Xiaofan cultivated by absorbing evil aura because he had modified the Taiji Mystic Purity Dao, then asked to see Xiaobai’s tails.
• Zheng Dali asked where the Fish Monster’s lair was, and Zhang Xiaofan explained that they had traveled to the Southern Border to retrieve their magical, spacious Bamboo Bag.
• Xiaobai agreed to guide them to the Fish Monster’s former location and insisted they call her Xiaobai rather than Senior.
• Jin Ping'er flew up to the group, and Zhang Xiaofan stood and watched her with a darkening expression.

Zhang Xiaofan and his companions discussed Incense Valley’s dealings with the fish monsters and prepared to search for their lair. Xiaobai warned that the search might lead them toward the Beast God, while Luo Yunji questioned whether immortality was worth enduring endless loneliness.

• Zhang Xiaofan confronted Jin Ping'er for hiding things, and Jin Ping'er said she had helped him during the chaos at Incense Valley.
• Jin Ping'er questioned Xiaobai about her identity, and Xiaobai explained that Zhang Xiaofan had lent her clothes after rescuing her from bad men.
• Jin Ping'er said Incense Valley had some kind of deal with the fish monsters, and Zheng Dali reflected on wrongdoing among both righteous and demonic sects.
• Xiaobai agreed to help the group search for the Bamboo Bag and mentioned a village to the west, though the fish monsters’ lair lay deeper in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
• Xiaobai asked whether the group knew of the Beast God, and Luo Yunji described immortality as a lonely existence after everyone else had died.

At camp, Luo Yunji unsettled Jin Ping'er and Xiaobai by claiming he knew a way to attain immortality, then explained his view of cultivation as insight into Heaven, Earth, and himself. After breakfast, the group prepared to follow Xiaobai to the Fish Monster’s lair and search for Luo Yunji’s Bamboo Bag.

• Zhang Xiaofan explained that Luo Yunji suppressed his cultivation so he could remain weaker than his senior brothers and let them protect him.
• Luo Yunji claimed that hearing his way to attain immortality would make someone immortal, but Xiaobai and Jin Ping'er reacted with alarm, and Wild Dog Daoist remained shaken.
• Luo Yunji complained that sleeping without his Bamboo Bag and Golden Bed had been uncomfortable, and Zhang Xiaofan promised to search for the bag after breakfast.
• Xiaobai praised Zhang Xiaofan’s cooking, and Luo Yunji challenged her to consider the true meaning of cultivation, describing it as insight into Heaven, Earth, and himself.
• Jin Ping'er told Xiaobai that Luo Yunji had improved the Azure Cloud Sect’s Taiji Mystic Purity Dao and created wondrous Dao arts, renewing Xiaobai’s interest in him.
• Luo Yunji urged everyone to finish eating so they could find his Bamboo Bag, while Wild Dog Daoist continued to avoid listening to him.

Luo Yunji and his companions searched the Hundred Thousand Mountains for the Fish Monsters’ lair, enduring poisonous plants and bickering along the way. Xiaobai and Jin Ping'er tricked Luo Yunji into entering the foul-smelling cave by promising him a Bamboo Bag and a trip to a stockade full of food.

• Luo Yunji complained about going without fresh food as the group followed a river upstream to find the Fish Monsters’ lair.
• Jin Ping'er wounded her leg on a thorny plant, and Luo Yunji dug up several plants for Sixth Senior Brother instead of helping her.
• Zhang Xiaofan found medicinal herbs with Xiaobai’s help, and Xiaobai treated Jin Ping'er's wound while she and Luo Yunji traded insults.
• Xiaobai identified a cave as the Fish Monsters’ lair and explained that underground river veins ran through it.
• Xiaobai promised Luo Yunji a Bamboo Bag and a visit to a food-filled stockade, persuading him to enter the cave with Zheng Dali and Zhang Xiaofan.
• Jin Ping'er praised Xiaobai for arranging to make Luo Yunji carry the cave’s foul stench for days.

Luo Yunji, Zhang Xiaofan, Zheng Dali, and the Quadruplets searched the Fish Monsters’ lair for the Bamboo Bag and discovered that the underwater passages behaved impossibly. The six of them drifted into a seemingly endless, dark waterway with no exit in sight.

• Luo Yunji, Zhang Xiaofan, and Zheng Dali found no Bamboo Bag in the cave and learned from a captured Fish Monster that it was hidden underwater.
• Luo Yunji entered a water cave alone but repeatedly emerged at the same spot, so Zhang Xiaofan joined him to find the way through.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji tried the passage four times, each time returning to the cave entrance despite never turning back.
• Zheng Dali and the Quadruplets joined Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan in water bubbles and followed the passage together.
• The six companions drifted for a long time through darkness without finding an exit, as their sense of time and sound faded.