Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yu became Zhang Ziling’s disciple, warned her about threats and the branch’s precarious position, and proposed a plan to use the Jade Maiden Sect’s former site to stall the enemy. After Zhang Ziling assigned him to interrogate Jade Maiden Sect captives and map the area, Mei Chunlan and Ma Cuihong attacked him on his way back.

• Xiao Yu knelt, offered Zhang Ziling warmed tea, and was accepted as her disciple, then chose a magical artifact as his reward.
• Zhang Ziling warned Xiao Yu not to capture mortals, and he explained that he had freed four women from Elder Wu’s Jade Maiden Gourd and intended to train them as disciples.
• Xiao Yu told Zhang Ziling about Hua Lian’s pledge to Lin Ce and Bai Yue’s reported arrival near Jiangliu City, then received a low-grade short bow.
• Xiao Yu assessed the branch’s weak defenses and proposed using the Jade Maiden Sect’s former site, its captives, and a concealed escape route to delay the enemy.
• Zhang Ziling ordered Xiao Yu to interrogate the Jade Maiden Sect captives and draw a map of their former home within three days.
• Mei Chunlan and Ma Cuihong attacked Xiao Yu with Fireball Talismans as he headed back to the alchemy room.

Xiao Yu defeated Mei Chunlan and Ma Cuihong, took their magical artifacts and supplies, and returned to the alchemy room. He then confronted Li Qingyun and Zhang Lan about staying, leaving Li Qingyun begging him to let her go.

• Xiao Yu used the Puppet Eagle, his physical strength, and Fireball Talismans to kill Mei Chunlan and Ma Cuihong, then fled with their belongings.
• Xiao Yu found an Azure Leaf Sword, a Crimson Blossom Needle, thirty-two Fireball Talismans, spirit stones, and a spirit beast bag among the spoils.
• Xiao Yu told Li Qingyun and Huang Xiang that he might send them and Zhang Lan away, prompting Huang Xiang to plead for them to stay.
• Xiao Yu spoke with Zhang Lan, and an hour later Li Qingyun came to him in tears and begged him to let her go.

Xiao Yu refused to let Li Qingyun return to Jiangliu City while the area remained dangerous, but promised to help her send a letter home after he left. He then visited Bai Yue’s Judgment Room, where she insulted him and he slapped her.

• Li Qingyun begged Xiao Yu to let her return home and reassure her sick mother, promising to remain loyal and help him cultivate.
• Xiao Yu explained that she could not safely reach Jiangliu City while the sects were fighting and that her capture could expose her family and him.
• Li Qingyun asked how the Hehuan Sect could win without harming mortals, and Xiao Yu promised to arrange for a letter to be delivered when he traveled to another city in one to five months.
• Li Qingyun agreed to cultivate diligently and help Xiao Yu grow stronger.
• Xiao Yu entered Bai Yue’s Judgment Room, teased her for no longer cursing, and slapped her after she called him a beast.

Xiao Yu kept Bai Yue captive while Wang Mei and Zhao Gang plotted to target Lü Ling'er, and he went to the marketplace seeking Qi-Concealing Stones. There he met the injured puppet master Lü Rui and offered to heal her if she joined him.

• Xiao Yu struck Bai Yue and taunted her, then told her she would be kept alive until she admitted her mistakes.
• Wang Mei and Zhao Gang discussed how to attack Lü Ling'er by arranging for someone to infiltrate her Jiangliu Mountain reconnaissance mission.
• Xiao Yu worried that his rapid cultivation growth would attract attention and learned from Hua Lian that Qi-Concealing Pills required Qi-Concealing Stones.
• Xiao Yu visited the marketplace, where Hua Lian explained the limitations of copied cultivation manuals and the advantages of puppets over spirit beasts.
• Xiao Yu met the injured puppet master Lü Rui, who offered to trade puppets for Qi-Replenishing Pills, and he proposed healing her if she joined him.

Xiao Yu traded Qi-Replenishing Pills with Lü Rui and learned that her sister Lü Ling'er had been trapped by the Profound Spirit Sect. He hurried to the rescue but hid and watched as the outnumbered Hehuan Sect fighters began to lose, leaving Li Yunma in danger.

• Xiao Yu gave Lü Rui half a bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills in exchange for her Puppet Rat, and Lü Rui agreed to teach him puppet arts later.
• Xiao Yu learned that Lü Ling'er had been trapped on Northern Jiangliu Mountain and suspected Wang Mei had arranged the ambush, so he went to help.
• Lü Ling'er and three survivors struggled to hold a cave formation against Lin Meng and the Profound Spirit Sect, who planned to use her to threaten her master, Zhang Ziling.
• Lü Rui, Li Yunma, and other reinforcements arrived and joined the fight, but Lin Meng's higher cultivation put Li Yunma at a disadvantage.
• Xiao Yu watched from hiding until Lin Meng knocked Li Yunma down, then called out that he was coming to help.

Xiao Yu helped Li Yunma and Lü Rui drive off Lin Meng, then returned to the branch with them. After Zhang Ziling exposed the plot against Lü Ling'er and punished Wang Mei, Xiao Yu intervened and asked to take Wang Mei for his blood-based pill refining.

• Xiao Yu used his Puppet Rat and Fireball Talismans alongside Li Yunma to injure Lin Meng and force the Profound Spirit Sect disciples to retreat.
• Li Yunma praised Xiao Yu for risking his life and declared him his own little brother, while Lü Ling'er reunited with Lü Rui before fainting from exhaustion.
• At the branch, Zhang Ziling confronted Wang Mei and Zhao Gang over the failed plot against Lü Ling'er, and Zhao Gang blamed Wang Mei while his subordinate was killed after implicating her.
• Zhang Ziling struck Wang Mei down, but Xiao Yu pleaded for her life and asked to take her for blood to refine pills, saying he would drain her for more than three months.

Zhang Ziling sealed Wang Mei in a Puppet-Human Talisman and gathered the Jade Maiden Sect captives, while Xiao Yu took the talisman back to his alchemy room. There, he discovered Wang Mei had been hideously disfigured and began considering how to make her sin against him.

• Zhang Ziling sealed Wang Mei in a golden talisman after the crowd demanded her punishment, then warned the branch not to harm fellow disciples.
• Several people released Jade Maiden Sect captives, and Hua Lian recognized her mutilated junior sisters before Zhang Ziling stored the women away for questioning.
• Xiao Yu returned to the alchemy room with the Puppet-Human Talisman and learned from Hua Lian that it could not be refined by her.
• Xiao Yu examined Wang Mei through the talisman and saw her badly disfigured face, while she begged him not to look at her.
• Xiao Yu checked Wang Mei's information and considered treating her kindly to provoke her into committing evil against him, as Wang Mei wept over her ruined face.

Xiao Yu restored Wang Mei’s beauty and injuries, then used her sudden infatuation to bring her into the Judgment Room. After she accepted judgment and became his maidservant, she woke in the Maidservant Pavilion calling for him.

• Xiao Yu used his blood and the Joyful Union Art to heal Wang Mei and restore her youthful beauty.
• Wang Mei fell in love with Xiao Yu and promised to protect him, while becoming jealous of Hua Lian.
• Xiao Yu carried Wang Mei into the alchemy room and told her he had loved her from their first meeting.
• The system confirmed Wang Mei had recognized her wrongs, and Xiao Yu placed her in the Judgment Room for judgment.
• Wang Mei received a full Judgment Score, and the system awarded Xiao Yu the Thunderwalking Art and a fourth Judgment Room.
• Wang Mei woke in the Maidservant Pavilion and called for Xiao Yu as her husband.

Xiao Yu learned the first layer of the Thunderwalking Art, then spent twenty days cultivating until he reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement. He emerged exhausted and ravenous to find his companions gathered around him, and asked how their cultivation was going.

• Xiao Yu practiced the Thunderwalking Art until he mastered its first layer.
• Xiao Yu brought Wang Mei into Bai Yue's Judgment Room and ordered her to behave herself around the others.
• Bai Yue recalled her extraordinary cultivation history and resolved to survive in hopes that her situation would change.
• After twenty days in seclusion, Xiao Yu emerged gaunt and weak, having reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement.
• Li Qingyun and Zhao Hongye mistook Xiao Yu for an intruder, then Li Qingyun prepared him a meal.
• Hua Lian delivered the pills she had refined, while Zhang Lan and Huang Xiang joined the others; Xiao Yu asked about everyone's cultivation.

Xiao Yu concealed his cultivation, reunited with Li Yunma and Lü Rui, and learned that Ye Zhirou had joined the Profound Spirit Sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators. He then reported to Zhang Ziling, who assigned him a mission in Jiangliu City and promised to grant him one wish if he succeeded.

• Xiao Yu used a Qi-Concealing Pill to disguise his cultivation and told Li Yunma that he had been badly injured but had slain his attacker.
• Lü Rui gave Xiao Yu a Puppet Rat, and Li Yunma invited him home to collect a defensive Mystic Armor and share drinks.
• Xiao Yu and Lü Rui were alone at Li Yunma’s residence, but they hid their intimacy when Li Yunma returned; Xiao Yu then gave Li Yunma a bottle of Qi-Replenishing Pills.
• Li Yunma told Xiao Yu that Ye Zhirou was among the Profound Spirit Sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators, and Xiao Yu remembered her killing A Xiang’s family and vowed revenge.
• Xiao Yu visited Zhang Ziling, reported that Wang Mei had recovered, and accepted a mission to find someone in Jiangliu City in exchange for one wish.

Xiao Yu accepted Zhang Ziling’s mission to obtain a High-Grade Dharma Artifact in Jiangliu City, but refused the promised secret-realm reward because he wanted to stay by her side. After confessing his feelings and giving her a Supreme-Grade Dharma Artifact, he left Zhang Ziling flustered, while Lü Ling'er arrived with Ye Haotian to meet her.

• Zhang Ziling gave Xiao Yu the Qi-Concealing Jade, two hundred thousand spirit stones, and a Ghost Wolf skeleton, and tasked him with obtaining a High-Grade offensive Dharma Artifact from Fire Monk in Jiangliu City.
• Xiao Yu asked Zhang Ziling to give his Ten Thousand Demons Secret Realm slot to Lü Ling'er and said he wanted to stay beside her to protect her.
• Zhang Ziling told Xiao Yu that Lü Ling'er already had a Dao companion and offered to choose one for him, prompting Xiao Yu to whisper that he wanted her as his Dao companion.
• Zhang Ziling struck Xiao Yu and threatened to kill him, but hesitated when he insisted he had no regrets and gave her the Supreme-Grade Dharma Artifact Thousand Fragrances, Ten Thousand Beauties Painting.
• Zhang Ziling grew flustered and gave Xiao Yu a Blood-Staunching Pill as Lü Ling'er arrived with Ye Haotian to meet her.

Xiao Yu convinced Zhang Ziling to let him handle a mission involving the Ten Thousand Demons Secret Realm and Jiangliu City, while he secretly smuggled Li Qingyun and the others away. He reached Jiangliu City disguised as a firewood gatherer and found its gates under intense guard.

• Zhang Ziling rejected Ye Haotian's marriage proposal to Lü Ling'er and ordered Lü to prepare for the Ten Thousand Demons Secret Realm.
• Xiao Yu warned Zhang Ziling about spies and urged her to make plans to escape or negotiate with the Profound Spirit Sect, persuading her to trust him with the mission.
• Zhang Ziling gave Xiao Yu her storage pouch and a token, and he returned to the alchemy room and hid Li Qingyun and the others inside the Jade Maiden Gourd.
• Xiao Yu left the sect disguised as a firewood gatherer and traveled toward Jiangliu City with the Qi-Concealing Jade hidden in his clothes.
• At Jiangliu City's gate, Xiao Yu saw crowds of refugees and soldiers conducting thorough searches, and suspected righteous cultivators were among the guards.

Xiao Yu entered Jiangliu City and discovered that its northern residents had been deeply affected by the Hehuan Sect, then learned that the Profound Spirit Sect was feuding with Shen Mengya’s Jade Maiden Sect faction. After hearing that Fire Monk was at Spirit Light Temple, Xiao Yu spotted a beautiful nun selling prayer beads and approached her.

• Xiao Yu passed the city gate without being searched and was propositioned by a pale-faced man, then realized that many men in Jiangliu City were intimate with other men.
• Xiao Yu consulted Li Qingyun, learned that the south of the city was more normal but had Profound Spirit Sect cultivators, and decided to gather information elsewhere first.
• At a crowded tavern, Xiao Yu overheard Profound Spirit Sect cultivators accuse Shen Mengya and Ye Zhirou of trying to seize Jade Maiden Sect supplies after Bai Yue’s defeat.
• Xiao Yu heard that the cultivators were going to Spirit Light Temple to find Fire Monk and set out to look for him.
• Xiao Yu saw a beautiful nun offering Nine-Spirit Bodhi beads to women and asked to borrow the prayer beads for a closer look.

Xiao Yu followed Lingxin after she sold him Buddhist trinkets and discovered she used the money to care for homeless children. After he assaulted Lingxin and the children, he paid her with his remaining gold and left; he later arrived at Spirit Light Temple, where Lingxin warned him about its Eighteen Bronze Warriors.

• Xiao Yu bought Lingxin’s prayer beads and trinkets, then followed her to a courtyard where she distributed food and clothes to children.
• A wealthy woman accused Lingxin of cheating her, and Xiao Yu knocked out her servants before giving Lingxin ten taels of gold for her Buddhist beads.
• Xiao Yu overheard Lingxin and the children laughing about scamming him, returned to the courtyard, and fought the children before dragging Lingxin into a room and assaulting her.
• Xiao Yu gave Lingxin fifty-two taels of gold, then left after she demanded more money to keep from reporting him.
• Xiao Yu reached Spirit Light Temple, where Lingxin warned him to leave before its Eighteen Bronze Warriors discovered he had no money.

Xiao Yu rescued Lingxin from abuse at Spirit Light Temple and persuaded her to leave with him so he could help the orphaned children she cared for. They set out with the children for the Li Residence, where the youngsters argued over whether Xiao Yu intended to sell them as servants.

• Xiao Yu saw the temple's wealth and watched a monk expect him to donate money, then hid when nuns began beating Lingxin.
• Xiao Yu used the Jade Maiden Gourd to make the three nuns disappear after one of them stole Lingxin's money and another threatened her with a stone.
• Lingxin warned Xiao Yu that cultivators from the Profound Spirit Sect collected money from the temple and said Venerable Ling Huo would be away for three days.
• Xiao Yu urged Lingxin to leave Spirit Light Temple with him, and she eventually followed him, insisting she only wanted to help the orphaned children.
• Xiao Yu and Lingxin returned to the courtyard and told the children they would go to the Li Residence, where Da Long argued that accepting the offer would give them food and shelter.

Xiao Yu rescued Li Qingyun and found her gravely ill mother, Han Qiushui, threatened by Li Wancai. After Li Qingyun killed Li Wancai, she begged Xiao Yu to treat her mother, and the chapter ended as they prepared to use his healing method.

• Xiao Yu slipped into the Li Residence and found Li Wancai threatening Han Qiushui for the storeroom key.
• Xiao Yu dragged Li Wancai into the gourd, where Li Qingyun killed him and kicked his body into the fire.
• Li Qingyun reunited with Han Qiushui, who revealed that she had only half a year to live.
• Li Qingyun pleaded with Xiao Yu to save her mother using his Nine Yang Divine Body.
• Li Qingyun shut the doors and windows as Xiao Yu prepared to treat Han Qiushui.

Xiao Yu gave Han Qiushui pills that Li Qingyun believed were Hehuan Pills, and Han Qiushui tried to kill herself after realizing what had happened. Though her illness had eased, she remained furious with her daughter until Zhang Yan burst in demanding to know where Li Wancai was.

• Xiao Yu gave Han Qiushui three pills and called them Marrow-Cleansing Pills, while Li Qingyun recognized them as Hehuan Pills and helped her mother take them.
• The next morning, Han Qiushui confronted Li Qingyun, who knelt and begged her mother not to blame Xiao Yu; Xiao Yu recalled that Han Qiushui had tried to hang herself overnight.
• Han Qiushui found that she could sit and stand more easily, but she wept over what had happened and told Li Qingyun to leave.
• Li Qingyun explained that she had trusted Li Wancai and gone to Jiangliu Mountain for medicine, where she had been captured before Xiao Yu rescued her.
• Zhang Yan kicked open the door, shouted for Li Wancai, and accused Han Qiushui of hiding him.

Han Qiushui drove Zhang Yan and her children out of the Li Residence after they failed to find Li Wancai, while Xiao Yu watched from hiding. Xiao Yu then remembered the orphans he had brought to the gates and hurried to tell Han Qiushui, as Lingxin and the others worried he had been captured.

• Zhang Yan accused Han Qiushui of seducing Li Wancai, and Han Qiushui slapped her and threatened her with a sword.
• Xiao Yu and Li Qingyun watched from hiding as Han Qiushui explained her authority in the Li family and Xiao Yu considered recruiting her to cultivate.
• Li Jin and Li Weiwei arrived with Zhang Yan, and Han Qiushui wagered her estate against their claim that Li Wancai was inside.
• Zhang Yan, Li Jin, and Li Weiwei searched the residence but found no sign of Li Wancai, so Han Qiushui had the guards throw them out.
• The steward told Han Qiushui that he had driven away the orphans waiting outside, and Xiao Yu revealed that he had brought them there.
• Lingxin and the other orphans worried that Xiao Yu had been captured until he returned, and Lingxin tearfully demanded to know where he had gone.

Xiao Yu arranged for Lingxin and the orphans to stay at the Li Residence, then learned that Han Qiushui wanted to leave and pursue revenge against Ye Zhirou of the Jade Maiden Sect. He escaped with Han Qiushui and Li Qingyun, but Lingxin ended the chapter threatening not to take him to Spiritfire Uncle-Master.

• Xiao Yu brought Lingxin and the orphans to the Li Residence, where Li Qingyun agreed to shelter them and arrange lessons for the children.
• Han Qiushui summoned Xiao Yu, revealed her desire to avenge her husband’s death at Ye Zhirou’s hands, and asked him to take her and Li Qingyun away.
• Han Qiushui warned Xiao Yu that the Profound Spirit Sect and Jade Maiden Sect knew Qingyun had gone missing, so they planned to leave the residence before noon.
• Xiao Yu gave Worry-Forgetfulness Pills to the household servants, the steward, and the orphans, while Lingxin helped Han Qiushui leave in a carriage.
• Xiao Yu met Han Qiushui and Lingxin outside the residence, put Han Qiushui and Li Qingyun into the Jade Maiden Gourd, and took the family’s valuables for himself.
• Lingxin pouted and threatened not to take Xiao Yu to Spiritfire Uncle-Master after he refused to let her look at the money.

Xiao Yu questioned Bai Yue about Ye Zhirou and Shen Mengya while using food and humiliation to pressure the starving sect master into admitting fault. Bai Yue’s Judgment Score remained at thirty percent, and the chapter left her agreeing to dance rather than be starved again.

• Xiao Yu returned to the ruined courtyard with Lingxin, tempted her with his wealth, and later released the three nuns who had bullied her.
• Xiao Yu learned he could ask Bai Yue about Ye Zhirou and entered the Judgment Room, where Wang Mei and Hua Lian reported that Bai Yue’s Judgment Score had reached thirty percent.
• Xiao Yu told Bai Yue that Ye Zhirou had joined Shen Mengya, who had rebuilt the Jade Maiden Sect and gathered three thousand members, and suggested Shen Mengya might kill Bai Yue if she found her.
• Bai Yue accepted food from Xiao Yu, then reluctantly admitted she had wronged him, but her Judgment Score did not increase.
• Xiao Yu ordered Bai Yue to wear a revealing outfit and dance; when he threatened to starve her for seven days, she agreed to dance.