Chapter Summaries

Luo Yunji and his companions discovered an ancient underwater city and fought through swarms of Fish Monsters while heading toward its largest building to find Bamboo Bag. After Luo Yunji froze the area with his Ice Technique, the city appeared divided between an ancient city and a natural seabed, and Feng Feng spotted a distant light.

• Luo Yunji and Zheng Dali saw a vast, star-lit ancient city beneath them and suspected Bamboo Bag was in its largest building.
• Luo Yunji steered the water bubble toward the city, where Fish Monsters attacked and damaged the ruins.
• Luo Yunji fought the Fish Monsters with Water Ribbons as Zheng Dali and the Quadruplets watched from inside the bubble.
• Luo Yunji unleashed the Ice Technique, freezing the creatures and himself, while Zheng Dali guided the bubble away from the spreading ice.
• The Quadruplets noticed the city had split into an ancient upper half and a lower half of reefs and seaweed, and Feng Feng pointed out a distant light.

Luo Yunji, Zheng Dali, and the Quadruplets found the underwater ruins and recovered the Bamboo Bag, though the Fish Monsters had eaten Luo Yunji’s food. They left the mysterious inverted city unexplored, and after they departed, it slowly turned upright and glittered with treasure-light.

• Luo Yunji and Zheng Dali discovered that the ancient city was an illusion concealing a real, upside-down city inside a hole in the seabed, but Zheng Dali stopped Luo Yunji from breaking through the rock.
• Luo Yunji and the others searched the underwater hills and found the Bamboo Bag on a stone platform, surrounded by its contents, including Luo Yunji’s ruined bedding and eaten food.
• Zheng Dali retrieved the undamaged Bamboo Bag and led the group back through the passage, realizing that a curved hollow in the rock had made Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan circle back earlier.
• Zhang Xiaofan welcomed the group and reassured Luo Yunji that he would replace the food the Fish Monsters had eaten.
• After the group left, the ancient city inside the hole slowly rotated upright and shone with brilliant treasure-light.

After returning from the cave, Luo Yunji and his companions headed back to report, while Xiao Yicai told Azure Cloud’s leaders that the Big Bamboo Peak disciples had transformed the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor into a powerful cultivation ground. Tian Buyi agreed to let Azure Cloud disciples use it, then led the first group to the Dead Swamp, where they arrived as Luo Yunji’s group returned.

• Luo Yunji asked Zheng Dali and Zhang Xiaofan whether they should return to Senior Brother and the others, and they agreed to report back before visiting the Dead Swamp.
• Xiao Yicai and the others reported their journey to Daoxuan True Person and the branch leaders, then Xiao Yicai revealed the Big Bamboo Peak disciples’ plans for the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Lin Jingyu explained that the treasury contained a natural Spirit Gathering Array and golden spiritual water, allowing unusually rapid cultivation.
• Tian Buyi agreed to let Azure Cloud disciples cultivate in the treasury and asked to visit the Dead Swamp to check for hidden dangers.
• Tian Buyi led more than a hundred Azure Cloud disciples to the Dead Swamp, where they marveled at the immense tree as Luo Yunji and his companions arrived.

Tian Buyi and the Azure Cloud Sect disciples visited the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury, where Luo Yunji explained that retrieving its inner core required rare alchemy materials and a suitable furnace. After Tian Buyi asked about the Southern Border expedition, Luo Yunji revealed how foul he and Zhang Xiaofan smelled, sparking a quarrel that ended with Luo Yunji stripping off his stench-soaked clothes and overwhelming everyone nearby.

• Luo Yunji opened the Heavenly Emperor’s Treasury for the Azure Cloud Sect disciples, and Tian Buyi learned that only Luo Yunji could lead them inside.
• Luo Yunji explained that the treasury’s inner core had to be refined immediately after removal, but the group lacked materials and a proper alchemy furnace.
• Tian Buyi considered finding a furnace on Azure Cloud Mountain or borrowing one, while Du Bishu reminded him that his own furnace had nearly been ruined by Luo Yunji.
• Tian Buyi asked about the Southern Border expedition, and Luo Yunji held out his sleeve to show that the Fish Monster nests had left him and Zhang Xiaofan with a terrible stench.
• Tian Buyi scolded Luo Yunji and tried to drive him away, so Luo Yunji stripped off his clothes and moved upwind with Zhang Xiaofan, making the others nearly vomit.

Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan returned to Inner Swamp reeking so badly that Wu Dayi made them soak in soap liquid while Tian Buyi went to find a pill furnace. Meanwhile, Xiaobai arrived in Sanfu Town with Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist to search for her kin, and Wild Dog Daoist led her to meet Sixth Master.

• Zhang Xiaofan pulled Luo Yunji away before he could provoke the others and offered to cook for him.
• Luo Yunji's stench drove Yellow Bird away, made Little Dragon vomit and learn to fly, and kept Long Zi and Dahei at a distance.
• Wu Dayi made Luo Yunji, Zhang Xiaofan, and the others soak in soap pod liquid until the stench disappeared, while Tian Buyi left to look for a pill furnace.
• Xiaobai, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist reached Sanfu Town, where Wild Dog Daoist asked the soldiers to let them visit Sixth Master.
• The Old General and Old Prime Minister recognized Wild Dog Daoist and learned that Xiaobai had come to search for kin, then allowed the group to continue to Sixth Master.

Wild Dog Daoist brought Xiaobai to the government office, where she reunited with her son Xiao Liu after three hundred years apart. Xiao Liu learned how she survived and urged her to stay with him and the Fox Clan in the Two Mountains.

• Wild Dog Daoist led Xiaobai and Jin Ping'er to Xiao Liu's office, where Xiao Liu was busy reviewing official documents.
• Wild Dog Daoist stepped aside, and Xiao Liu recognized Xiaobai as his mother and wept as they embraced.
• Jin Ping'er and the others quietly left the room to give Xiaobai and Xiao Liu privacy.
• Xiaobai told Xiao Liu that Incense Valley had imprisoned her in the Profound Fire Altar for three hundred years until Luo Yunji and the others rescued her.
• Xiao Liu told Xiaobai that the Little State Preceptor and his senior brothers had saved him too, and asked her to stay with him and the Fox Clan in the Two Mountains.
• Outside, Wild Dog Daoist noticed Jin Ping'er's sadness and began to say that the Little State Preceptor had been right.

Jin Ping'er left to visit her married sisters after Wild Dog Daoist upset her, while Xiaobai comforted Xiao San. In the Western Dead Marsh, Luo Yunji and his companions finished soaking off the Soap Locust Liquid and prepared to refine pills in the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor, where Luo Yunji began stirring the liquid in a wooden cup.

• Wild Dog Daoist suggested Jin Ping'er go to Two Mountains to find a husband, and she kicked him before leaving for a visit with her sisters.
• Xiao San arrived at dusk, and Xiaobai comforted her while teasing her about possibly being pregnant.
• Tian Buyi told Luo Yunji and Zhang Xiaofan to stop soaking in Soap Locust Liquid and announced that they would soon refine pills.
• Zhang Xiaofan and Luo Yunji checked the gathered medicinal ingredients and confirmed that everything was ready.
• After Xiao Yicai and the other Azure Cloud disciples finished cultivating, Luo Yunji led them out and had Wu Dayi and Du Bishu stay behind.
• Luo Yunji reached through the Deity's crystal barrier and stirred the liquid in a wooden cup inside the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.

Luo Yunji explained how the Tree Sap could benefit his senior brothers, then helped Tian Buyi refine an ancient beast's inner core into pills. The furnace produced twenty-seven tiny pills instead of the expected nine, leaving the group unsure whether the alchemy had succeeded.

• Luo Yunji revealed that the Tree Sap could strengthen Du Bishu's mental power and serve as a tonic for the wood-attribute spiritual power of his Sixth Senior Brother.
• Luo Yunji admitted that he had forgotten to bring Duan Ming to receive some Tree Sap, but assured everyone that there was no rush because it would not run dry if used properly.
• Tian Buyi began refining the inner core in the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor, and Zheng Dali joined the effort with his Earth Vein Fire after the furnace fire proved too weak.
• After forty-nine days, Tian Buyi and his disciples found twenty-seven fingernail-sized pills in the furnace instead of the nine dragon-eye-sized pills the Deity had described.
• Luo Yunji suggested testing the pills on Long Zi, then proposed Big Yellow and Little Gray when Tian Buyi objected, prompting Tian Buyi to protest that he would not let Luo Yunji harm Big Yellow.

Luo Yunji’s additions to the pill recipe enraged Tian Buyi, but Tian Buyi still gave him nine of the twenty-seven pills. Luo Yunji fed them to the four spirit beasts, then faced his master’s fury after confessing, and the chapter ended with Tian Buyi beating him again at dawn.

• Tian Buyi scolded and beat Luo Yunji for adding golden spirit liquid and Great Yellow Pills while refining pills, then collected the twenty-seven pills from the furnace.
• Tian Buyi gave Luo Yunji one bottle containing nine pills as the group left the Treasury of the Heavenly Emperor.
• Luo Yunji fed one pill each to Long Zi, Dahei, Yellow Bird, and Little Dragon, who went off to cultivate.
• Luo Yunji confessed at dinner that he had fed the pills to the spirit beasts, alarming Tian Buyi and the disciples of Big Bamboo Peak.
• Tian Buyi beat Luo Yunji again by dawn, leaving his cheeks swollen and painful.

Tian Buyi watched the spirit beasts for signs of trouble from the pills while the disciples prepared Crystal Tablets and strengthened ties between Two Mountains and Big Bamboo Peak. Luo Yunji persuaded Xiaobai to take him to the Southern Border for Tasty Things, and they set off with the Quadruplets in a Golden Sedan Chair.

• Tian Buyi observed the four spirit beasts for two days without finding anything unusual, then followed Wu Dayi and the others back to Two Mountains.
• He Dazhi and Luo Yunji made Crystal Tablets for entering and leaving the treasury, and He Dazhi promised to send more after returning to Two Mountains.
• Xiaobai visited Luo Yunji with her son and daughter-in-law, and Wu Dayi and the others welcomed the family and reassured Xiao Liu that Xiaobai could stay long-term.
• Luo Yunji woke Xiaobai and insisted she take him to eat Tasty Things in the Southern Border.
• Xiaobai found a note saying they had gone to eat Tasty Things, then saw the Quadruplets and a Golden Sedan Chair waiting outside.

Luo Yunji ran away with Xiaobai and the Quadruplets to the Southern Border in search of new foods, and Zhang Xiaofan set out after them. A month later, the group was sampling local dishes when Big Yellow and Little Gray noticed someone at the inn entrance.

• Zhang Xiaofan discovered Luo Yunji was missing and learned that he had taken Xiaobai and the Yin Orb toward the Southern Border.
• Zhang Xiaofan volunteered to pursue Luo Yunji, while Wu Dayi and the other senior brothers agreed to inform Master.
• A month later, Xiaobai and Luo Yunji ordered Southern Border specialties at a village inn, where the innkeeper could serve only Black-Heart Fruit, Roasted Bear Tail, and Earth-Braised Yellow Sparrow.
• Luo Yunji eagerly ate the Black-Heart Fruit, while Little Gray and Big Yellow dragged the plate to their table and devoured it.
• As the two tables waited for more food, Big Yellow and Little Gray stopped eating and turned toward a figure standing in the doorway.

Zhang Xiaofan found Luo Yunji and reunited with the group, then recruited a local chef for the Food Mansion. That night, Zhang Xiaofan reflected on the killings that had troubled his state of mind and the Azure Cloud Sect’s role in them.

• Zhang Xiaofan found Luo Yunji after searching the roads and inns, and Little Gray and Big Yellow greeted him.
• Xiaobai explained that Luo Yunji had given the animals pills, and Zhang Xiaofan questioned his junior brother about leaving without telling anyone.
• Zhang Xiaofan invited the inn’s chef to join the Food Mansion and gave him a plaque to present at any branch.
• The group settled into their rooms, with Big Yellow choosing to stay with Zhang Xiaofan rather than be alone with Luo Yunji.
• Zhang Xiaofan gazed at the moon and considered his troubled state of mind, while recalling that his killings had been both the Ghost King Sect’s plan and the Azure Cloud Sect’s decision.

Zhang Xiaofan and Xiaobai talked about the Fox Clan’s origins in the Southern Border, while Luo Yunji interrupted them and kept Big Yellow awake all night. The next day, Luo Yunji and the Quadruplets enjoyed more dishes at the inn in Tianshui Village.

• Zhang Xiaofan recalled how Luo Yunji, Puzhi, and Daoyan had helped him resist demonic cultivation during a massacre, while his senior brothers kept the incident from Tian Buyi.
• Xiaobai told Zhang Xiaofan that she had grown up in the Southern Border, led the Fox Clan north a thousand years earlier, and that the Ghost King Sect Headquarters now stood on the clan’s former home.
• Luo Yunji interrupted Zhang Xiaofan and Xiaobai to ask to play with Xiaobai’s tails, then took Big Yellow to his room when he could not sleep.
• Zhang Xiaofan found Big Yellow trapped under Luo Yunji as a pillow the next morning, and Big Yellow escaped to seek comfort from him.
• The innkeeper arranged more ingredients for Zhang Xiaofan to cook, and Luo Yunji rewarded him after enjoying the new dishes with the Quadruplets.

Zhang Xiaofan followed a pursuit to an abandoned stronghold, where Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist faced Li Xun, Lu Xueqi, and another Incense Valley disciple. As reinforcements approached, Jin Ping'er used a feint to attack the Incense Valley disciple, and Zhang Xiaofan’s hidden intervention nearly struck Li Xun.

• After spotting cultivators racing toward the west, Zhang Xiaofan left Xiaobai and Luo Yunji and secretly followed them.
• Zhang Xiaofan found Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist confronting Li Xun, Lu Xueqi, and an Incense Valley disciple at an abandoned stronghold.
• Li Xun accused Jin Ping'er of taking his junior sister Yan Hong and demanded that she surrender her.
• As reinforcements approached, Jin Ping'er feinted at Li Xun and Lu Xueqi before turning her Violet Mang Blade on the Incense Valley disciple.
• Zhang Xiaofan prepared to intercept the reinforcements, and a sudden attack nearly pierced Li Xun before he blocked it with the Nine Yang Ruler.

Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist escaped with Zhang Xiaofan after Shangguan Ce attacked him, while Shangguan Ce returned to Incense Valley and entered Yun Yilan's hidden chamber. The chapter left Shangguan Ce questioning a frail, unseen elder about his health and recent events.

• Jin Ping'er killed an Incense Valley disciple and tried to take Wild Dog Daoist with her before Zhang Xiaofan crashed between the pursuers.
• Shangguan Ce fought Zhang Xiaofan and pressured him to hold back while Faxiang watched without intervening.
• Zhang Xiaofan recovered and escaped with Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist, leaving Shangguan Ce furious and Faxiang quietly pleased.
• Shangguan Ce entered Yun Yilan's secluded residence, opened a hidden passage, and reached a secret chamber behind a screen.
• Shangguan Ce asked the frail elder in the chamber about his health and whether he had learned what happened.

Yun Yilan ordered Shangguan Ce to kill Zhang Xiaofan after suspecting he had taken the Mysterious Fire Mirror and helped the Sky Fox escape. Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaofan, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist reached Qili Cave, where a crowd appeared before them.

• Shangguan Ce told Yun Yilan that Jin Ping'er had stirred up the Fish Monsters and that Zhang Xiaofan might have taken the Mysterious Fire Mirror; Yun Yilan ordered Zhang Xiaofan killed.
• Shangguan Ce reassured righteous-path visitors at Mountains and Rivers Hall that Yun Yilan was safe and in seclusion, while Faxiang and Lu Xueqi remained wary.
• Zhang Xiaofan led the injured Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist to a mountain near Qili Cave, and Jin Ping'er identified the route and the nearby Dog God legend.
• Zhang Xiaofan urged Jin Ping'er to seek treatment from his senior brothers and led the group along a narrow mountain path to find shelter.
• Zhang Xiaofan, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist emerged from the path and saw a bustling crowd ahead.

Zhang Xiaofan, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist reached a secluded Miao settlement and searched for lodging, while Luo Yunji learned that Shangguan Ce had injured Zhang Xiaofan. After Luo Yunji was talked out of attacking Incense Valley, Xiaobai deduced that Zhang Xiaofan and the others had probably gone to Qili Cave.

• Zhang Xiaofan, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist entered a lively Miao settlement and set out to find an inn.
• Luo Yunji learned from Lu Xueqi and Faxiang that Shangguan Ce had wounded Zhang Xiaofan and that Zhang Xiaofan had disappeared after rescuing Jin Ping'er and Wild Dog Daoist.
• Luo Yunji angrily threatened to attack Incense Valley, but Lu Xueqi and Faxiang persuaded him to focus on finding Zhang Xiaofan.
• Xiaobai identified Qili Cave as the likely destination of the injured Zhang Xiaofan and his companions.

Luo Yunji rushed to Qili Cave to find Zhang Xiaofan, whom the Miao people had detained for violating their sacred ground. He reunited with Zhang Xiaofan and learned that Jin Ping'er had been injured while the group fled Incense Valley.

• Luo Yunji set out with Xiaobai, Lu Xueqi, and Faxiang, threatening to destroy Incense Valley if Zhang Xiaofan had been harmed.
• Xiaobai led the group through detours to Qili Cave, where she learned that Zhang Xiaofan and his companions had been captured for pointing at the Miao altar.
• Luo Yunji insisted on seeing Zhang Xiaofan, and a Miao man eventually led the group to the house where the captives were staying.
• Luo Yunji found Zhang Xiaofan eating with Wild Dog while Jin Ping'er healed her injuries.
• Zhang Xiaofan told Luo Yunji that he was unharmed but Jin Ping'er had been wounded by Shangguan's Nine Heavens Frozen Ice Spike, and Wild Dog explained that Incense Valley had pursued her.

Luo Yunji and his companions stayed as prisoners in Qili Cave, where Luo Yunji treated their confinement as a chance to shop and feast. As they prepared to leave, a deafening roar like a dog's bark erupted over the village, interrupting their plans.

• Luo Yunji found Zhang Xiaofan, Faxiang, Lu Xueqi, Jin Ping'er, and Wild Dog Daoist staying under guard in Qili Cave, then ordered cooking utensils so Zhang Xiaofan could prepare meals.
• Luo Yunji toured the village, complained about its food, and bought large quantities of Southern Border goods from eager merchants.
• After spending several days exploring Qili Cave and feasting on Zhang Xiaofan's cooking, Luo Yunji decided the group would leave the next day.
• While the group packed, Luo Yunji wondered why the people from Incense Valley had not come after them.
• A deafening roar like a dog's bark shook Qili Cave, and the group went outside to investigate.

A mysterious attacker summoned dark clouds and fireballs to devastate Qili Cave while the Li Tribe invaded the Miao People. The Altar’s defender used Bone Jade to shield the survivors, and Shangguan Ce hurried toward the battle after seeing the sky glow red.

• The Dog God Stone sounded an alarm, and Xiaobai explained that it had only done so once in the past thousand years.
• Dark clouds gathered over Qili Cave, and a gigantic fireball killed or wounded more than half of the Miao People.
• The Li Tribe attacked the Miao warriors, but a mysterious sound rallied the defenders and the Altar’s figure unleashed red light that killed invading warriors.
• A flame-shrouded figure above the clouds sent more fireballs toward the Altar, and its defender raised a Bone Jade shield against them.
• Luo Yunji recognized the Bone Jade as a treasure while the Li warriors renewed their assault amid the falling fireballs.
• Shangguan Ce saw the red glow above Qili Cave and hurried toward it.