Chapter Summaries

Shen Luo returned to Wuzhuang Temple with the Earth Mother Source as the Ginsengfruit Tree neared death. Wuman'er prepared to purge the Demonic Poison, but first the temple had to remove the three powerful formations protecting the tree.

• Yun Zhongting discussed Divine Wood Forest's plan to establish a sect, and nearly half the elders approved before he called for further deliberation.
• Two days later, Shen Luo, Jiang Shentian, and Wuman'er left Divine Wood Forest and reached Wuzhuang Temple in less than ten days.
• Guiding Daoist brought them to the failing Ginsengfruit Tree, and Wuman'er ordered the healing formations removed because they were ineffective.
• Wuman'er demanded that every Restriction within five hundred zhang of the tree be dismantled so she could use Divine Wood Forest's Secret Formation to purge the Demonic Poison.
• Jiang Shentian explained that Zhen Yuanzi was attending the Daoist Venerable Assembly at Purple Cloud Palace and identified the three remaining formations as the Ten Thousand Peaks Quicksand Formation, the Thousand Illusions Radiant Spirit Formation, and the Purple-Patterned Poison King Formation.
• Guiding Daoist and more than twenty powerful cultivators began dismantling the three formations, revealing their immense power.

Shen Luo and the others removed Wuzhuang Temple’s three protective formations, then Wuman'er used the Divine Wood Whispering Formation and Earth Mother Source to draw demonic poison out of the earth vein. The poison was being collected in Guiding Daoist’s white jade gourd as the cleansing continued.

• Guiding Daoist and the others dismantled the Ten Thousand Peaks Quicksand Formation, the Thousand Illusions Radiant Spirit Formation, and the Purple-Patterned Poison King Formation after three hours of effort.
• Wuman'er asked Senior Jieyin to help establish the Divine Wood Whispering Formation and gathered ten cultivators skilled in wood-element techniques to activate it.
• Shen Luo sensed demonic qi in the earth vein and withdrew from the formation’s powerful Yi Wood energy before using Divine Wood's Grace to dispel its effects.
• Wuman'er planted a green seed in the formation and used the Earth Mother Source to strengthen it when the green runes alone could not dislodge the demonic poison.
• The formation expelled streams of black qi from the earth vein, and Guiding Daoist collected them in a white jade gourd.

After the Ginsengfruit Tree was cured, Shen Luo, Wuman'er, and Jiang Shentian investigated the Demonic Poison and discovered it contained Yin-Yang Qi linked to a treasure held at Lion Camel Ridge. Guiding Daoist apologized to Shen Luo, though the poison’s origin remained unproven.

• Wuman'er used the Earth Mother Source and her formation to remove the Demonic Poison from the earth veins and restore the Ginsengfruit Tree.
• Guiding Daoist declared the matter between Shen Luo and Wuzhuang Temple settled, while Wuman'er asked to examine the poison and Shen Luo offered to help identify its origin.
• Shen Luo used the Ghost Spirit Pearl to absorb the poison’s demonic qi as Wuman'er separated it, with Jiang Shentian replenishing her Magic Power when it ran low.
• Wuman'er split the remaining grayish-white gas into two parts, and Guiding Daoist identified them as Yin-Yang Qi.
• Guiding Daoist said the Yin-Yang Qi could have come from the Yin-Yang Qi Bottle held by Golden-Winged Peng of Lion Camel Ridge, then apologized to Shen Luo for suspecting him.

After helping save the Ginsengfruit Tree, Shen Luo received thanks from Zhen Yuanzi and learned that the city lord of Heavenly Mechanism City might be able to repair his Jade Pillow. He spent several days stabilizing his cultivation at Wuzhuang Temple before setting out again.

• Shen Luo accepted Wuman'er's remaining Earth Mother Source and watched her leave to recover, while he and Jiang Shentian went to rest.
• Zhen Yuanzi returned, thanked Shen Luo for saving the Ginsengfruit Tree, and confirmed that the Yin-Yang Qi came from Lion Camel Ridge's Yin-Yang Qi Bottle.
• Shen Luo asked for pure yang treasures to protect his mind, and Zhen Yuanzi gave him a Coiled Dragon Jade.
• Zhen Yuanzi told Shen Luo that the city lord of Heavenly Mechanism City might be able to repair the Jade Pillow because of its space-time restrictions.
• Shen Luo cultivated at Wuzhuang Temple for seven or eight days to stabilize his foundations, then bade farewell and left.

After leaving Wuzhuang Temple, Shen Luo agreed to accompany Wuman'er to Cloud Dream Marsh to seek spiritual fluid from its Ginkgo Divine Tree. Several months later, they arrived in a nearby town to buy Wayfinding Lanterns before entering the marsh.

• Shen Luo considered investigating Lion Camel Ridge and visiting Fu Donglai before going to Heavenly Mechanism City.
• Wuman'er asked Shen Luo to accompany her to Cloud Dream Marsh, where she hoped to gather spiritual fluid to reinforce her clan's Divine Wood Restriction.
• Shen Luo agreed to repay Wuman'er for helping restore the Ginsengfruit Tree, and they set off together by flying boat.
• Several months later, Shen Luo and Wuman'er entered a town beside Cloud Dream Marsh to purchase Wayfinding Lanterns.
• Shen Luo explained to Wuman'er that the town's location near the marsh meant it would have places selling the lanterns.

Shen Luo bought a starving Leaf Spirit Sprite after driving away two customers who had mistreated her, and he also purchased a Wayfinding Lantern for the Cloud Dream Marsh. The clerk warned him to stay out of the marsh’s heart, beyond the Pink Reed Marsh.

• Shen Luo and Wuman'er entered a Heavenly Mechanism shop and learned that a Wayfinding Lantern could guide travelers through the Cloud Dream Marsh’s illusory fog.
• Shen Luo saw a reed-thin customer about to hurt a chained Leaf Spirit Sprite, seized the man’s wrist, and drove him and his bald companion out.
• Shen Luo asked the clerk about the lantern, and the clerk explained that illusory fog could defeat Divine Sense and magical artifacts.
• Wuman'er stroked the Leaf Spirit Sprite, who responded to her for the first time since being captured.
• The clerk warned that the Sprite was starving and might not survive three days, but Shen Luo bought her along with a Wayfinding Lantern.
• The clerk advised Shen Luo to remain in the Cloud Dream Marsh’s outer reaches and not cross the Pink Reed Marsh.

Shen Luo and Wuman'er traveled to Cloud Dream Marsh, where a young man harassed Wuman'er and his retainers challenged them. Shen Luo revealed overwhelming strength by breaking the short-bearded old man's wrist, leaving the group terrified.

• A shop assistant warned Shen Luo and Wuman'er about the dangers inside Cloud Dream Marsh, sold them a Wayfinding Lantern, and attached the Leaf Spirit Sprite to Wuman'er.
• Shen Luo and Wuman'er left town and reached the crowded marsh entrance, where cultivators sold overpriced supplies and recruited expedition teams.
• A young man approached Wuman'er with lewd offers, then suddenly fell with his mouth and eyes twisted askew.
• The short-bearded old man apologized on the young man's behalf and threatened Shen Luo after he refused to accept the apology.
• The old man attacked Shen Luo, who dodged and struck back with Dragon-elephant power, snapping his wrist and making him realize Shen Luo was a Mahayana cultivator.

Shen Luo and Wuman'er traveled deeper into Cloud Dream Marsh after Wuman'er exposed a young man's Gu Insect and they freed the Leaf Spirit Sprite. As they ventured farther into the marsh, Wuman'er identified a Frog Spirit Monster, and Shen Luo asked her to explain the difference between Monsters and Sprites.

• Shen Luo led Wuman'er away from the crowd, and Wuman'er used her bells to expose a Gu Insect hidden beneath the young man's eyelid.
• Shen Luo piloted a flying boat low over Cloud Dream Marsh while Wuman'er explained the Leaf Spirit Sprite's needs and gave her spiritual liquid.
• Shen Luo released the Leaf Spirit Sprite's ankle chain, and she flew away despite not having fully recovered.
• Shen Luo and Wuman'er traveled deeper into the marsh and saw a Frog Spirit Monster watching them from aquatic plants.
• Wuman'er identified the creature, and Shen Luo asked her about the difference between Monsters and Sprites.

Shen Luo and Wuman'er crossed Cloud Dream Marsh, where Shen Luo freed a trapped Frog Spirit Monster and suspected trouble had driven it from its habitat. As they entered a blood-scented fog, they used a Wayfinding Lantern that pointed toward the Ginkgo Divine Tree, but an unseen speaker warned that following it would mean death.

• Wuman'er explained the differences between spirit charms and spirit monsters, and Shen Luo noted that the marsh lacked the spiritual energy expected of their breeding grounds.
• A hidden cultivator trapped a Frog Spirit Monster in an electric net, but Shen Luo blasted a hole in the net with a spirit talisman and helped the creature escape.
• Shen Luo inferred that the Frog Spirit Monster had fled its usual habitat and that something serious might have happened inside Cloud Dream Marsh, possibly involving the Ginkgo Divine Tree.
• A wall of blood-scented mist engulfed Shen Luo and Wuman'er's flying boat, so Shen Luo lit a Wayfinding Lantern that drifted forward against the wind.
• Wuman'er explained that the lantern's ginkgo leaf drew it toward the Divine Tree, but an unseen voice warned Shen Luo that following it would be fatal.

Shen Luo and Wuman'er learned from Yuan Yuan that a powerful demon had occupied the Ginkgo Divine Tree and blocked its aura as its fruiting season approached. After hearing that Yuan Yuan’s clan had been attacked, they agreed to help her find any surviving clansfolk, and Yuan Yuan agreed to guide them toward the tree.

• Shen Luo revealed that Yuan Yuan had secretly followed them, and she explained that she was following Wuman'er rather than him.
• Yuan Yuan warned Shen Luo and Wuman'er that a powerful demon had taken over the Divine Tree and made its Wayfinding Lanterns unreliable.
• Yuan Yuan told them the tree’s fruit appeared only once every five hundred years and was nearing ripeness, drawing Shen Luo and Wuman'er's attention to the danger and opportunity.
• Yuan Yuan said a Water Python Demon had attacked her clan and swallowed the granny who raised her, while she did not know whether anyone else had survived.
• Shen Luo urged Yuan Yuan to search for her clansfolk, and he and Wuman'er agreed to help her; Yuan Yuan offered to guide them in return.
• Yuan Yuan explained that ripe Ginkgo Spirit Fruits would absorb the sun and moon’s essence for a day and night, then fly in every direction.

Shen Luo and his companions traveled deeper into Cloud Dream Marsh to find Yuan Yuan’s people and investigate the Divine Tree, but a wounded Water Ape ambushed them at Mirror Mist Lake. After Shen Luo subdued him, the Water Ape revealed that unknown attackers had targeted him after his fight with a Water Python and asked whether Shen Luo had come to avenge them.

• Shen Luo agreed to help Yuan Yuan find her people before investigating the Divine Tree.
• Yuan Yuan warned Shen Luo about the Water Ape at Mirror Mist Lake, but the beast attacked as they tried to go around the lake.
• Shen Luo blocked the Water Ape’s attack with the Mysterious Yellow Unity Staff, struck his injured shoulder, and bound him with water ropes.
• Shen Luo questioned the Water Ape about his wounds, and the ape said unknown attackers had surrounded him after his fight with a Water Python.
• The Water Ape asked Shen Luo whether he had been sent by those attackers to take revenge.

Shen Luo questioned the Water Ape about the mysterious great demon and continued deeper into Cloud Dream Marsh with Wuman'er and Yuan Yuan to seek the Ginkgo Divine Tree. As miasma rain began to fall, Shen Luo led the group toward shelter, intending to give the tired Yuan Yuan a chance to rest.

• Shen Luo forced the Water Ape to admit that the Water Python had nearly killed him before an urgent summons made him leave, and learned that the great demon was a murderous fiend whose abilities and identity were unknown.
• Shen Luo released the Water Ape, who warned him to stay away from the great demon before swimming off.
• Shen Luo told Yuan Yuan that the group sought the Divine Tree for its raw sap as well as to find her people, cheering her up.
• After several days of travel through Cloud Dream Marsh, Yuan Yuan warned that poisonous miasma rain was coming and pointed out an Umbrella Cloud Tree where they could shelter.
• Shen Luo used a Water Control Technique to keep the rain off the flying boat and continued toward shelter so Yuan Yuan could rest.

Shen Luo discovered that the young man in blue and his companions were trapping sprites beneath a burning tree during the Miasma Rain. When the beanpole-thin man tried to assault a Leaf Spirit Sprite, someone shouted for him to stop, and an azure light flashed into view.

• Yuan Yuan warned Shen Luo and Wuman'er that sprites sought shelter beneath the ancient tree during the Miasma Rain.
• Shen Luo found the tree on fire and saw electrified nets trapping the fleeing sprites.
• Shen Luo recognized the young man in blue, Yuan, and other people he had encountered before among the sprite hunters.
• The young man in blue refused Yuan's request for the Rosemary Flower Spirit because he wanted to use her for his own purposes.
• The young man in blue gave the Leaf Spirit Sprite to the beanpole-thin man, who began tearing at her clothes.
• Someone shouted for the beanpole-thin man to stop as an azure light flashed past.

Wuman'er and Shen Luo confronted the men who had captured Yuan Yuan and another Leaf Spirit Sprite, while a man in white revealed himself as a dangerous creature with a blood-red tongue. After killing most of the group, he announced that he intended to take Wuman'er and Shen Luo to replenish the king's magic power.

• Yuan Yuan rescued her companion from the rail-thin man, but both Leaf Spirit Sprites were caught in an electric net.
• The scruffy man crushed an insect that infected him with Blood Gu, and the man in white warned the others not to touch him.
• Wuman'er emerged from the miasma rain and demanded that the group release the Sprites.
• The man in white denied being allied with the group, then killed everyone except the scruffy man with his long, scarlet tongue.
• The man in white spotted Shen Luo in the tree and said he would take him and Wuman'er to the king.

Shen Luo confronted the Water Python Demon after learning he had massacred the Leaf Spirit Sprites, but the demon used a shed snakeskin to escape his opening strike and attack again. Wuman'er fought the demon with thorn and earth magic before vanishing into a mist that also blocked Shen Luo's divine sense.

• Yuan Yuan recognized the white-robed man as the Water Python Demon who had attacked her clan, and Shen Luo stepped forward to protect her.
• Shen Luo revealed his Mahayana Late Stage cultivation and thrust the Dragon Horn Awl at the Water Python Demon, who escaped by leaving behind a poisonous snakeskin that exploded.
• A green formation beneath Shen Luo dispelled the poison, and he warned Wuman'er when the Water Python Demon launched a surprise attack on her.
• Wuman'er trapped the demon with thorn vines and clay figures, but his steel-hard serpent body broke free and attacked her with his tongue.
• Wuman'er used Mist Kill to vanish into a thick cloud of mist, leaving Shen Luo unable to locate her with his divine sense.

Shen Luo and Wuman'er rescued the remaining sprites and learned that the Leaf Spirit Sprites' tribe had been destroyed. When the captured Water Python Demon refused to reveal anything about his king, the Rosemary Flower Spirit began using her ability to draw information from him.

• Wuman'er killed the Water Python, but it transformed and attacked her while she replenished her magic power.
• Shen Luo protected Wuman'er, subdued the Water Python Demon, and learned that he served the Nine-Headed Sage Lord.
• The Water Python Demon resisted Shen Luo's interrogation, even as Red Lotus Karmic Fire burned his divine soul.
• Wuman'er told Shen Luo that Yuan Yuan and Feihong were the only survivors of the Leaf Spirit Sprites' tribe.
• The Rosemary Flower Spirit offered to help, restrained the Water Python Demon, and used her feelers to put him into a dreamlike state.
• The Rosemary Flower Spirit scattered luminous powder, and a hazy image began to appear.

Shen Luo learned that Nine-Headed Insect was recovering from injuries in seclusion and had not reached the Taiyi Realm, then killed Bai Liu and avenged the Mei Sprites. As the survivors chose new homes, Shen Luo's group prepared to continue toward the Ginkgo Divine Tree after a mysterious white shape appeared in the clouds.

• Rosemary Flower Spirit Mei entered Bai Liu's dream, where Shen Luo discovered that Nine-Headed Insect was a Late True Immortal recovering from injuries and searching for Mei Sprites.
• Bai Liu noticed the intrusion, and his collapsing dream expelled Rosemary Flower Spirit Mei before she could learn more.
• Shen Luo asked the Mei Sprites how to deal with Bai Liu, then burned him and his Divine Soul to ashes with Red Lotus Karmic Fire.
• Most of the rescued Mei Sprites left to find new homes, while Yuan Yuan, Feihong, and Ru Meng agreed to return with Wuman'er to her homeland.
• A white shape briefly moved through the clouds above Cloud Dream Marsh, the miasma rain stopped, and Shen Luo's group prepared to set out for the Ginkgo Divine Tree.

Shen Luo, Wuman'er, and Yuan Yuan entered the pink reed beds of Cloud Dream Marsh, where poisonous miasma and Illusory Fog appeared. As they tried to retreat, they collided with a seemingly real mountain that none of them recognized, leaving them trapped amid the fog.

• Shen Luo sent Zhao Feiji to escort Feihong and Ru Meng to safety while he continued onward with Wuman'er and Yuan Yuan.
• The group entered the pink reeds, where Shen Luo and Wuman'er took Miasma-Avoiding Pills to withstand the poisonous air.
• A violent wind filled the sky with pink dust, and Yuan Yuan identified the haze as Illusory Fog that might signal a Mirage Monster.
• Shen Luo turned the flying boat around, but after clearing some fog, he found a huge mountain directly ahead and crashed into its wall.
• Wuman'er sensed vitality on the mountain, while Shen Luo's Netherworld Ghost Eye found no flaw in it, leaving the group unsure whether it was an illusion.

Trapped in the Illusory Fog, Shen Luo and Wuman'er used Yuan Yuan's connection to the Ginkgo Divine Tree to find a faint direction toward it. They fled through the fog on Shen Luo's flying boat, while the mountain behind them began to crack and release mist.

• Yuan Yuan warned Shen Luo and Wuman'er that the Divine Tree was unreachable and that the Illusory Fog could make them face their greatest fears.
• Wuman'er tried to contact the Ginkgo Divine Tree through the earth veins, but she could not sense it and exhausted much of her Magic Power.
• Shen Luo suggested using Yuan Yuan's familiarity with the Divine Tree as a medium, and Yuan Yuan agreed to help.
• Wuman'er and Yuan Yuan released their blood essence together, allowing Wuman'er to sense a faint summons from the front right.
• Shen Luo took Wuman'er and Yuan Yuan aboard his flying boat and sped toward the summons, as the mountain split open and released thick mist.

Shen Luo and his companions reached the Ginkgo Divine Tree but discovered they were still trapped in the Illusory Fog, which manifested their deepest fears. Shen Luo broke through part of the illusion, only to find that its attacks still carried overwhelming force.

• Shen Luo, Wuman'er, and Yuan Yuan emerged from the dense fog and approached the Ginkgo Divine Tree, but Shen Luo noticed the great demon's Magic Formation was nowhere to be seen.
• Dark clouds formed overhead, and an illusory Chi You attacked them, while Shen Luo realized they were still inside the illusion.
• The illusion showed Wuman'er her clan's Divine Tree burning and showed Yuan Yuan her clanspeople being devoured by a giant serpent.
• Shen Luo charged at the false Chi You and struck him with the Mysterious Yellow Unity Staff, splitting the figure and clearing the visions tormenting Wuman'er and Yuan Yuan.
• A remaining fist struck Shen Luo and drove him into a huge pit, revealing that the illusion could make its attacks feel real even after he had exposed it.