Chapter Summaries

Gu Sheng treated Young Master Bai until his legs healed, helping him regain his confidence and stand on his own. At a banquet celebrating the recovery, the First Elder gave Gu Sheng and his companions cultivation manuals, while the physician anxiously tried to approach Gu Sheng.

• Gu Sheng treated Young Master Bai through the night, and Young Master Bai regained feeling in his legs and stood up after repeatedly falling without help.
• Gu Sheng continued treating Young Master Bai, whose legs recovered fully within a week.
• At a banquet, Young Master Bai gave Gu Sheng command tokens and promised White Cloud Sect protection for Stone Village and the Elf race, and Gu Sheng returned the sect's jade token.
• The First Elder gave Gu Sheng and Lan Yao manuals suited to them and distributed other manuals to Shi Lou and the others.
• The physician watched Gu Sheng and finally approached with his wine cup, but could not find a chance to speak.

Gu Sheng learned that two powerful generals secretly cultivated by Demon had escaped, and he and Bai Yu decided to hunt them down at Shanshui Town’s upcoming market. Before pursuing them, Gu Sheng led Bai Yu and his companions toward Stone Village, leaving the White Cloud Sect that night.

• The physician asked Gu Sheng to accept him as a disciple, and Gu Sheng gave him a medical manual instead.
• Bai Yu’s subordinates reported that two elders from the destroyed sects had escaped, and Gu Sheng identified strong Demon aura on recovered items as evidence that they were Demon’s hidden generals.
• Gu Sheng and the First Elder concluded that the escaped generals would likely hide among crowds of martial artists, so Bai Yu chose Shanshui Town’s market as their destination.
• Gu Sheng insisted they return to Stone Village before going to the market, and Bai Yu decided to accompany him and use the name Bai Yu while traveling.
• Bai Yu brought the Left and Right Protectors and several others, and the group left the White Cloud Sect that night for Stone Village.

Gu Sheng returned to Stone Village with Bai Yu and secured the White Cloud Sect’s protection before setting out to pursue Demon’s Black and White Ghosts. At an inn, Gu Sheng and his companions detected an intruder targeting Huang Shan’s room, and a bamboo tube slipped through the pierced door aimed at the bed.

• Shi Lou explained Stone Village’s troubled history to Bai Yu, who promised the White Cloud Sect would protect the village.
• Gu Sheng returned to Stone Village, where Third Elder welcomed the group and prepared a banquet; Gu Sheng said they would leave the next morning.
• Fifth Elder reported wandering martial artists near the village, and Gu Sheng ordered the elders to keep watch and drive them away if they tried to settle nearby.
• After Gu Sheng departed, Fifth Elder urged Third Elder to give him what the former village chief had left behind, but Third Elder said he would decide when the time was right.
• Gu Sheng, Bai Yu, Lan Yao, and their companions continued their pursuit of the Black and White Ghosts, while Bai Yu sent subordinates to investigate the sects heading to the Shanshui Town market.
• At the inn, Gu Sheng and Huang Shan heard footsteps outside Huang Shan’s room; an intruder pierced the door and slid a bamboo tube inside, aiming it at the bed.

Gu Sheng and his companions learned that the Black and White Ghosts had recruited the elusive Mirror Sect in Shanshui Town, then traveled there while wary of the Azure Cloud Sect. After Gu Sheng caught and released a suspicious man following Huang Shan, he warned the group that the man was likely a martial artist and that the Qingxias might be targeting Huang Shan.

• Gu Sheng discovered that the intruder outside their room carried an Azure Cloud Sect token, and Huang Shan revealed his past imprisonment in the sect’s Soul Refining Cave.
• Gu Sheng returned and said the intruder had acted alone, then switched rooms with Huang Shan to protect him; the night passed peacefully.
• Bai Yu’s men reported that the Black and White Ghosts were in Shanshui Town and had recruited the Mirror Sect, so Gu Sheng ordered warnings spread before the market opened.
• On the way into Shanshui Town, Gu Sheng noticed someone following Huang Shan and seized him in a narrow lane.
• The follower claimed he was only trying to steal Huang Shan’s money pouch, and Gu Sheng released him despite suspecting he was a trained martial artist.
• Gu Sheng told Huang Shan to conceal his money pouch and warned that the Qingxias might be targeting him.

Gu Sheng and his companions secured rooms at an inn after defeating a group of rude rivals, then learned the Mirror Sect was heading toward Shanshui Town to meet the Black and White Ghosts. They hid near the market’s eastern border to watch for the meeting, and Gu Sheng sensed that the approaching Mirror Sect scouts had unusually pure auras.

• Gu Sheng’s group claimed the inn’s superior rooms after he defeated the man who tried to take them by force.
• Gu Sheng and Bai Yu learned the Mirror Sect was traveling east, while the Black and White Ghosts were already in the area.
• Gu Sheng led the group to the market’s eastern border, where they hid their auras and waited for the Mirror Sect.
• As dawn approached, Gu Sheng sensed scouts nearby and found their auras pure, leaving him puzzled about their connection to the Black and White Ghosts.

Gu Sheng discovered that Mirror Sect’s pure auras hid a dependence on pills that produced evil energy, and learned that the sect planned to kill the Black and White Ghosts. After returning to the inn, he rushed to Shi Lou’s aid when the rival who had fought them over the key attacked, then paused as the man begged for his life and claimed to be the Orphan of the King of Luo.

• Gu Sheng secretly watched the red-plum-marked Mirror Sect leader and her followers take pills that released evil energy, then inferred they might be pursuing the Black and White Ghosts for their own reasons.
• The Mirror Sect leader sensed Gu Sheng nearby, and his attempt to send her a message with a leaf ended when she blasted it down with evil energy.
• Gu Sheng returned to the inn on the second day, reassured his worried companions, and explained what he had learned about Mirror Sect.
• Gu Sheng and the others heard a commotion downstairs and found Shi Lou fighting a group led by the man who had challenged them over the key.
• Gu Sheng fought the rival, broke his longsword, and stabbed his shoulder before the man knelt and claimed to be the Orphan of the King of Luo.

Gu Sheng uncovered Hong Mei’s plan to lure the Black and White Ghosts to the river in one week and agreed to help rescue the Peerless Hermit in exchange for her pills. After Bai Yu confirmed the spiritual aura proving Hong Mei’s connection to the Peerless Hermit, Gu Sheng decided to gather the martial artists for the ambush.

• Gu Sheng spared the Orphan of the King of Luo after defeating him, then scolded Shi Lou for not calling for help sooner.
• At a restaurant, Gu Sheng recognized Hong Mei’s group and found a note saying the Black and White Ghosts had abducted the Peerless Hermit.
• Gu Sheng learned that the Mirror Sect might serve the Peerless Hermit and secretly met Hong Mei, who said the Black and White Ghosts demanded ten heads from righteous sects within a week.
• Hong Mei promised to lure the Black and White Ghosts to the river in a week and offered pills refined by the Peerless Hermit if Gu Sheng helped kill them.
• Bai Yu confirmed that the spiritual aura on Hong Mei’s handkerchief belonged to the Peerless Hermit, and Gu Sheng told him they would bring the martial artists to the river for the ambush.

Gu Sheng and his companions prepared a plan to defeat the Black and White Ghosts, while Gu Sheng refused the Son of King Luo’s plea to become his disciple. On the night of their ambush, killings began in Shanshui Town, and Gu Sheng’s group reached the riverbank to await the Black and White Ghosts.

• Gu Sheng told Bai Yu and the others to spend the week preparing for the attack by spreading news and shopping in Shanshui Town.
• Gu Sheng caught a man who had secretly followed them, recognized him as their former opponent, and refused his plea to become a disciple despite hearing about his tragic past as the Son of King Luo.
• As the market drew near, martial artists gathered in Shanshui Town, and Gu Sheng predicted that many would avoid fighting despite claiming they had come to eliminate the Black and White Ghosts.
• Gu Sheng and his companions headed for the riverbank, where they expected the Black and White Ghosts to appear, while the Son of King Luo traveled in the same direction.
• After people from the Eight Directions Sect and others were killed in the crowd, Gu Sheng suspected the Mirror Sect had begun its plan and led his companions to hide near the riverbank.

Gu Sheng and the gathered martial artists defeated the Black and White Ghosts after they threatened Hong Mei and demanded daily human sacrifices. Hong Mei agreed to give Gu Sheng the Fire Spirit Seed and showed him a vague clue to the Peerless Hermit, leaving Gu Sheng’s group preparing to search for him.

• Hong Mei summoned the Black and White Ghosts, who destroyed the ten heads she had brought and demanded ten more heads each day in exchange for clues about the Peerless Hermit.
• Gu Sheng and the martial artists ambushed the Black and White Ghosts; Gu Sheng killed Black Ghost, then joined forces with Hong Mei to destroy White Ghost.
• Hong Mei admitted the promised pill was with the Peerless Hermit, and Bai Yu demanded the Fire Spirit Seed as an added price for helping her find him.
• Hong Mei gave Gu Sheng the Fire Spirit Seed and the vague clue, and Gu Sheng agreed to follow it to search for the Peerless Hermit.
• The Son of King Luo knelt and asked Gu Sheng to take him as a disciple, but Gu Sheng refused and left with his companions.

Bai Yu persuaded Luo Chuan to accept him as his master, allowing the group to travel together while investigating the map and searching for the Peerless Hermit. Gu Sheng led them through a distorted route to the correct path, and the group rested before continuing toward a mountain where the Peerless Hermit might be found.

• Hong Mei told Gu Sheng and Bai Yu that Saintly Hermit might be behind the recent troubles, that Demon could be her subordinate, and that King Luo was connected to her.
• After Gu Sheng refused to take Luo Chuan as a disciple, Bai Yu offered to become his master and persuaded him to accept.
• Gu Sheng led the group through a distorted map route, identified the likely paths, and guided them through a difficult road that brought them back onto the correct path.
• The group reached the end of the rugged route at dawn, and Hong Mei praised Gu Sheng after seeing that he had chosen correctly.
• Hong Mei's subordinates brought wild game for the group, and she asked Gu Sheng whether the Peerless Hermit would be on the mountain ahead.
• Gu Sheng suggested the Peerless Hermit might not be on the mountain but said they could follow the Black and White Ghosts' lingering aura; Hong Mei apologized for underestimating him.

Gu Sheng discovered that a small stone concealed a mechanism that opened a passage through the mountain, where Hong Mei sensed the Peerless Hermit's aura. The group entered the cave, and Shi Lou and Er Gou defeated two demon beasts while Bai Yu watched Luo Chuan for signs that he was hiding something.

• After Hong Mei failed to find the Peerless Hermit's aura outside, Gu Sheng sensed traces of the Black and White Ghosts near a massive boulder and insisted there was a hidden way inside.
• Gu Sheng found a small stone that turned beneath his hand, and twisting it caused the boulder to slide aside and reveal a dark passage.
• Hong Mei sensed the Peerless Hermit's aura and two demon beasts inside, so Gu Sheng sent Shi Lou and Er Gou ahead with Luo Chuan accompanying them.
• As Shi Lou and Er Gou fought the demon beasts, Gu Sheng asked Bai Yu to watch Luo Chuan's aura and see whether he was concealing anything.
• After Shi Lou and Er Gou defeated the beasts, Luo Chuan revealed he had injured himself by charging into a rock, and Gu Sheng told the group to prepare to continue deeper into the cave.

Gu Sheng and Hong Mei discovered that the Peerless Hermit had escaped her captors and followed clues she left on the cage to Cloud Sea, where the Mirror Sect had been founded. They found the wounded Peerless Hermit alive, reunited her with Hong Mei, and the Peerless Hermit examined Gu Sheng with a smile.

• Gu Sheng and Hong Mei found an open iron cage marked with the Peerless Hermit's blood, and Hong Mei confirmed that the hermit had been held there.
• Luo Chuan revealed his history with his father and swore to help kill him if he had colluded with Saintly Hermit to harm the Peerless Hermit.
• Gu Sheng found symbols scratched into the cage chains, and Hong Mei recognized them as the Peerless Hermit's message directing her back to Cloud Sea.
• The group traveled for a week to Cloud Sea, where Gu Sheng noticed carefully tended herbs and concluded that the Peerless Hermit was nearby.
• Hong Mei opened the hidden room and found the wounded Peerless Hermit, then reunited with her as the Mirror Sect disciples greeted their master.
• The Peerless Hermit comforted Hong Mei and then examined Gu Sheng, finally smiling at him.

Peerless Hermit revealed that she led the Heavenly Cang Sect and offered Gu Sheng a place in the sect in exchange for helping revive it, with Stone Village brought under its protection. Gu Sheng set out to seek the village elders’ approval and returned to Stone Village after three days of travel.

• Peerless Hermit confirmed that her dantian was damaged and her meridians sealed, then told Gu Sheng that Saintly Hermit had attacked her over the Heavenly Cang Sect’s leadership token.
• Gu Sheng revealed his origins and spiritual pearl blessing, and Peerless Hermit offered to make him an envoy and bring Stone Village into the Heavenly Cang Sect if he helped revive it.
• Gu Sheng refused to decide for Stone Village without its elders’ approval, while Peerless Hermit gave his companions a week to return and offered cultivation techniques to those who stayed behind.
• Gu Sheng explained the offer to his companions, then left the Cloud Sea with Shi Lou and the Stone Village group while Bai Yu and Lan Yao stayed to cultivate.
• Hong Mei gave Gu Sheng the pills she had promised and said she would wait for him; Shi Lou and Huang Shan teased Gu Sheng that she liked him.
• Gu Sheng and his companions traveled for three days and arrived at Stone Village.

Gu Sheng returned to Stone Village with Peerless Hermit's pills and an offer to incorporate the village into Heavenly Cang Sect if he became its envoy. The elders accepted, and Gu Sheng brought them to Cloud Sea, where Peerless Hermit welcomed Stone Village as family.

• Gu Sheng showed the elders pills refined by Peerless Hermit and told them about Heavenly Cang Sect's offer to incorporate Stone Village if he served as its envoy.
• After deliberating through the night, the elders agreed to join Heavenly Cang Sect and affirmed that Gu Sheng had already been their village chief in their hearts.
• Third Elder asked whether Stone Village would have to leave its homeland, but Gu Sheng said they would need to discuss it with Heavenly Cang Sect.
• Gu Sheng and the elders traveled back to Cloud Sea, where Hong Mei greeted them and led them to Peerless Hermit.
• Peerless Hermit welcomed Stone Village and declared that it and Heavenly Cang Sect would be one family.

Gu Sheng became Heavenly Cang Sect’s envoy and prepared to travel to Eastern Mountain to find the Saintly Hermit and destroy Fan Sect. Before setting out, he developed a medicine that eased the Peerless Hermit’s suffering, and Bai Yu and Lan Yao emerged from seclusion.

• The Peerless Hermit recruited Stone Village into Heavenly Cang Sect, let the village remain in its homeland, and sent its elders back with a sect token; Third Elder gave Gu Sheng the village chief’s token.
• The Peerless Hermit assigned Gu Sheng to seek the Saintly Hermit in Eastern Mountain and destroy Fan Sect, giving him identifying items and placing Hong Mei and Mirror Sect under his command.
• Gu Sheng and Hong Mei agreed to travel to Eastern Mountain after Shi Lou and the others emerged from seclusion, while Gu Sheng continued trying to find medicine for the Peerless Hermit.
• After working through the night, Gu Sheng prepared a new prescription that eased the Peerless Hermit’s symptoms and restored some of her divine power.
• Bai Yu and Lan Yao emerged from seclusion, and Gu Sheng went to meet them.

Gu Sheng led the group from Cloud Sea toward East Mountain to find Saintly Hermit, defeating a powerful demon beast along the way. After a week of travel, they reached the mountain, where Gu Sheng sensed that people from the Fan Sect might be nearby.

• Gu Sheng told the group they would leave for East Mountain the next day, and Hong Mei reluctantly said goodbye to Peerless Hermit.
• Gu Sheng followed Saintly Hermit's aura through a dense forest, then joined Bai Yu in killing a horned demon beast that had lured them toward it.
• Gu Sheng and Bai Yu returned safely, and the group escaped the forest and rested for the night.
• Hong Mei asked to fight a powerful demon beast next time, and Gu Sheng promised to take her along while keeping her safe.
• After a week of travel, Gu Sheng sensed a possible Fan Sect presence at the foot of East Mountain and stopped the group.

Gu Sheng’s group discovered that the Fan Sect planned to attack the Seven Aperture Gate in three days, so they traveled there to warn its leader and prepare to resist. After entering under the Mirror Sect’s identity, Gu Sheng mentioned the Fan Sect, and the leader’s expression changed with suspicion.

• Gu Sheng’s group investigated the Fan Sect’s camp and learned that its injured leader planned to massacre the Seven Aperture Gate in three days.
• Gu Sheng sent Bai Yu and Lan Yao to remain at East Mountain and destroy the deadly herbs after the Fan Sect left, while he led Hong Mei and Stone Village toward the Seven Aperture Gate.
• Gu Sheng used the Mirror Sect’s token to gain entry to the Seven Aperture Gate and meet its leader.
• Gu Sheng told the Seven Aperture Gate’s leader that they had come because of the Fan Sect, and the leader reacted with suspicion.

Gu Sheng warned the Seven Aperture Gate that the Fan Sect would attack again and helped them prepare a poison-based ambush. The Fan Sect arrived under cover of night, and Gu Sheng scattered the poison and drove it into their nostrils as the ambush began.

• Gu Sheng convinced the Seven Aperture Gate leader to accept the Mirror Sect’s help against the returning Fan Sect and advised him on the gate’s defenses.
• Gu Sheng showed Hong Mei a poison made by mixing medicinal herbs with alum, then planned with the Seven Aperture Gate leader to use it against the Fan Sect.
• Lan Yao and the others arrived with herbs taken from the Fan Sect, and Gu Sheng decided to send them to Cloud Sea for study after the battle.
• Gu Sheng rejected the Seven Aperture Gate’s banquet and ordered everyone to prepare for a nighttime surprise attack.
• Gu Sheng’s group waited in darkness until more than a dozen Fan Sect members approached, then Gu Sheng scattered the poison and used Spiritual Power to drive it into their nostrils.

Gu Sheng helped the Seven Aperture Gate defeat the Fan Sect, but the Saintly Hermit injured him during the battle. He hid the extent of his injuries from his companions, recovered overnight, and accepted the Seven Aperture Gate’s gifts before escorting Hong Mei back to her room.

• Gu Sheng’s poison weakened the Fan Sect, and he led his allies in helping the Seven Aperture Gate fight them.
• Gu Sheng fought the Fan Sect leader, but the Saintly Hermit intervened, injured him, and carried the surviving Fan Sect members away in black mist.
• Hong Mei and the others helped Gu Sheng force the chill from his body, but he secretly shut himself in his room to recover further.
• Gu Sheng’s companions guarded his door for a day and night while he meditated, and the master of the Seven Aperture Gate supplied pills and herbs.
• Gu Sheng fully recovered, accepted a box of medicinal pills from the master of the Seven Aperture Gate, and escorted Hong Mei to her room.

Gu Sheng returned to the Cloud Sea with the medicinal herbs and discovered that the Azure Cloud Sect had laid an ambush, led by survivors of the sect seeking revenge. After delivering the herbs to the Peerless Hermit, Gu Sheng and Huang Shan returned to confront the trapped ambushers, and the fight began with the Azure Cloud Sect members already being overwhelmed.

• Gu Sheng detected an unfamiliar ambush near the Cloud Sea, identified its members as the Azure Cloud Sect, and learned that True Man Lingxiao had survived with several subordinates.
• Gu Sheng told the group that Huang Shan had been rescued from the Azure Cloud Sect's Soul Refining Cave, where captives had sacrificed themselves to help others escape.
• The Peerless Hermit confirmed that the herbs Gu Sheng brought were connected to her poison, rewarded the group with secret manuals, and revealed that she had trapped the Azure Cloud Sect's array within her own.
• Gu Sheng gave Huang Shan the ruby that would trigger the Peerless Hermit's array, and the two led the others to confront the ambushers while Hong Mei stayed behind.
• Gu Sheng suppressed the Azure Cloud Sect's cultivation with his small cauldron, then sent Huang Shan, Shi Lou, Er Gou, Lan Yao, and Bai Yu into battle as the sect's members were killed or driven back.