Chapter Summaries

Wood pulled Yang Qing away from the cave before the people there transformed into dangerous yin-yang people. Yang Qing realized the Wheatfield might be free of their deathly aura and suspected the Spirit-Communicating Pearl lay at the center of a formation within it.

• Wood dragged Yang Qing into the Wheatfield, and Bu Er followed and demanded an explanation.
• Wood explained that some Immortal Thunder Kingdom people divided their souls, becoming yin-yang people who could lose their reason and infect others through touch.
• The people by the cave transformed, and Yang Qing realized Wood had saved him from being infected by their deathly poison.
• Wood said the Spirit-Communicating Pearl would not be carried by the yin-yang people because it rejected the aura of death.
• Yang Qing suspected the Wheatfield was untainted by that aura, recognized a Yin-Yang Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Formation, and told Bu Er to search it with Xiao Zhou.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou broke the Eight Trigrams formation in the Wheatfield to search for the Spirit-Communicating Pearl. When the pearl burst out, Wood used a strange whistle-like object to suppress it, and stopped Yang Qing from touching it.

• Jiang Zhizhou sensed no unusual aura inside the formation, but agreed with Yang Qing that the Spirit-Communicating Pearl was likely somewhere in the Wheatfield.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou disrupted the formation’s Yin-Yang balance while Yang Qing and Wood guarded its perimeter.
• A brilliant light shot out of the Wheatfield, and Wood used a silent whistle-like object to slow and suppress it.
• Yang Qing recognized the light as a fragrant pearl and reached toward it, but Wood slapped his hand away and warned him not to touch it.

Yang Qing retrieved the Spirit-Communicating Pearl by bleeding into its special box, despite the danger to his health. With the pearl secured and the Underground Palace beginning to tremble, the group hurried to escape.

• The Spirit-Communicating Pearl emerged from the Eight Trigrams Formation, and Wood confirmed it was the real pearl.
• Wood warned Yang Qing that the special box required heart's blood and could harm anyone unable to subdue it.
• Yang Qing fed blood from one finger into the box, then had Jiang Zhizhou cut his other hand when the box had not fully opened.
• The box transformed and opened just before the one-hour limit, safely containing the Spirit-Communicating Pearl.
• Wood warned that taking the pearl might cause the Immortal Thunder Underground Palace to collapse, and Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou supported Yang Qing as they hurried out of the wheat field.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Wood escaped the collapsing Underground Palace through a flooded passage. They reached shore, where Jiang Zhizhou revealed that a horned, turtle-like creature had bitten Bu Er and left him in grave danger.

• Yang Qing and the others fled Wheatfield as the Underground Palace shook and its passages began collapsing.
• A surge of lake water swept Bu Er out of the passage before he could finish putting on his Water-Repelling Garment, and Jiang Zhizhou went after him.
• Yang Qing and Wood reached the lake’s surface first, then Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou emerged safely, though Jiang Zhizhou said Bu Er was badly injured.
• Jiang Zhizhou brought Bu Er to shore and told Yang Qing that a turtle-like creature with a horn had bitten him underwater.
• Wood rinsed Bu Er’s wounds with clean water as Jiang Zhizhou described the creature as at least as large as a chessboard.

Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou told Yang Qing that a horned turtle had attacked Bu Er in the Lake, leaving Yang Qing to wonder whether it guarded the Immortal Thunder Underground Palace’s buried treasures. Yang Qing set the mystery aside and focused on using the Spirit-Communicating Pearl to lead the surviving Hidden Clan members out, while the interim Clan Chief privately resented him and hoped he and his companions would die.

• Bu Er stayed silent when Yang Qing asked where the turtle had hurt him, so Jiang Zhizhou joked that Bu Er had nearly lost his chastity.
• Yang Qing questioned Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou about the turtle, then speculated that it might have appeared to draw their attention or guard the Underground Palace’s treasures.
• Yang Qing decided to leave the turtle’s whereabouts alone and prioritize leading the surviving Hidden Clan members out with the Spirit-Communicating Pearl.
• The interim Clan Chief recalled losing the position he had coveted and privately hoped Yang Qing and his companions would die while searching the Lake.

Yang Qing realized the Hidden Clan's old man had obtained a life-extension secret art by taking blood from a Yin-Yang Person, while secretly gathering clan members who opposed leaving the Lake. Wood was alarmed by the danger to his people, and the group was left to investigate the old man's plans and the turtle's unexplained bite.

• Wood and Jiang Zhizhou brought Bu Er to the old man, who said the turtle's bite could not be treated because the Old Clan Chief's medicinal herbs had disappeared.
• Wood accused the old man of taking the herbs, and the old man claimed he could strengthen the Hidden Clan and had found a life-extension secret art in the Immortal Thunder Underground Palace.
• Yang Qing noticed the old man's red-veined eyes resembled those of the Yin-Yang Person and stopped Wood from confronting him further.
• Bu Er said his wound felt strange, and Jiang Zhizhou guarded the doorway while Yang Qing explained that the old man and his followers had likely taken a Yin-Yang Person's blood.
• Wood realized that the old man had put the Hidden Clan in danger by making people drink the Yin-Yang Person's blood.

The Hidden Clan split over whether to follow the Old Clan Chief’s plan or stay with the Great Elder and use the Life-Extension Secret Art. Yang Qing arranged to lead the unaffected clansmen away while he and his companions dealt with those tainted by Yin-Yang Blood, and he suggested a turtle beneath the water might help save them.

• More than half of the Hidden Clan chose to stay with the Great Elder and learn the Life-Extension Secret Art, while the rest supported leaving with Yang Qing and his companions.
• The Great Elder turned the clansmen against Wood when he tried to warn them about the Yin-Yang People and the danger of their blood.
• Yang Qing urged Wood to take the unaffected clansmen somewhere separate and leave at dawn, while he and his companions handled those remaining.
• Wood realized the Great Elder had obtained the Demon Pearl, which let him suppress Yin-Yang Blood and control the tainted clansmen.
• Yang Qing explained that something supremely yang and pure might counter the Yin-Yang Blood, then suggested the turtle beneath the water.

Wood used two drops of Bu Er’s blood to cure his closest friend of Yin-Yang Blood poison, but the man betrayed him and led Hidden Clan members to capture Bu Er. As footsteps approached their lakeside room at night, Wood realized his friend had helped bring danger to them.

• Wood proposed using Bu Er’s blood to counteract Yin-Yang Blood poison and brought his closest friend to be treated.
• Bu Er gave the man two drops of blood, curing him, and the man thanked them before leaving.
• Yang Qing worried that Bu Er could not provide enough blood for the hundreds of poisoned Hidden Clan members and said they still needed to find the turtle.
• At night, Jiang Zhizhou heard many people approaching, and Wood recognized his supposedly cured friend urging the Hidden Clan members to capture Bu Er.

Wood and Yang Qing faced a clan group that had surrounded Wood’s house to seize Bu Er’s mutated blood. Wood confronted his former sworn brother, who defended the plan as a way to improve the clansmen’s lives.

• Wood realized Bu Er’s apparent recovery had been an act and that his blood had awakened the dormant Bloodthirst Factor.
• Yang Qing stopped an enraged Wood from rushing outside, and the group decided to wait and see what their pursuers intended.
• Old Yang’s men broke down Wood’s door, but Wood stopped Old Yang with his Soft Whip and rendered him unable to speak.
• Wood warned the crowd not to enter his house, and his former sworn brother stepped forward to accuse him of siding with foreigners over the clan.
• Wood rejected his former brother’s claim that seizing Bu Er’s blood would fulfill the Old Clan Chief’s hopes for the clansmen.

Wood fought the Hidden Clan members who tried to seize Bu Er’s blood, while Yang Qing’s companions joined the struggle. As the attackers’ Yin-Yang Blood activated and turned them feral, Jiangli stopped a sword aimed at Yang Qing and appeared to offer a box.

• Wood rejected the Hidden Clan members’ accusations and attacked one of them, deciding to protect Bu Er and knock the others unconscious.
• The Hidden Clan members swarmed Wood, and Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou joined the fight to help him.
• The attackers’ eyes turned red as their Yin-Yang Blood activated, making them attack like the Living Dead.
• A Hidden Clan member slipped through the melee and thrust a sword at Yang Qing, but Jiangli nudged the blade into a wooden wall with one paw.
• Jiangli waved at Yang Qing with a box in its paw and suggested there was no need to fight the muddleheaded attackers.

Jiangli used the Spirit-Communicating Pearl to give Yang Qing a way to fight the Hidden Clan members, but the pearl accidentally entered Yang Qing's body. Jiangli explained that Yang Qing now had to channel its power through his talismans to purify the Yin-Yang Blood.

• Jiangli took out the Spirit-Communicating Pearl and sent it flying into Yang Qing's mouth, where it dissolved inside him.
• At Jiangli's urging, Yang Qing drew Restraint Talismans with his sword, immobilizing the Hidden Clan members who had wanted to seize Wood.
• Yang Qing asked Jiangli what good it did to trap the Hidden Clan members, and Jiangli explained that the pearl's power now depended on Yang Qing.
• Jiangli instructed Yang Qing to clear his mind and trace the talismans with his fingers, channeling the pearl's spiritual power so the trapped members would have to confront it if they tried to escape.

Yang Qing and the others used a blood-drawn Restraint Talisman to weaken the Hidden Clan members afflicted by Yin-Yang Blood, but the giant turtle surfaced and flooded their settlement. Wood revealed that the turtle’s appearance signaled an outside enemy’s arrival and named Emperor Zetian as the only other person who could enter.

• Jiangli had Yang Qing mix his blood into the Restraint Talisman and draw a barrier inside the wooden house.
• Yang Qing, Wood, Bu Er, and the others waited outside as the talisman tripped the Hidden Clan members and diluted their Yin-Yang Blood.
• Some Hidden Clan members regained their senses and pushed their fallen clansmen onto the talisman so they could escape.
• The lake began surging, and Bu Er recognized the pitch-black shape rising from it as the giant turtle.
• Wood warned that the settlement was about to flood, and Yang Qing and the others fled to higher ground as the turtle submerged the houses.
• Wood explained that the turtle was the Hidden Clan’s Guardian Deity and said Emperor Zetian was the only other person who could enter their hidden land.

Wood and Jiangli urged Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou to awaken the legendary Black Tortoise Heavy Armor by combining their Divine Bloodline with the Divine Turtle’s blood. After Yang Qing shed blood onto the turtle’s shell, the group and the Divine Turtle vanished beneath the Lake.

• Yang Qing realized the Hidden Clan’s wards could not stop Emperor Zetian and feared an imminent confrontation.
• Wood recalled a legend linking the Divine Turtle to the Black Tortoise and told Yang Qing to climb onto its back.
• Jiangli explained that Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou could use their Divine Bloodline to awaken the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor and protect themselves.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou stood on the Divine Turtle’s back as it began sinking into the Lake.
• Bu Er gave Yang Qing his dagger, and Yang Qing cut his wrist; his blood disappeared into the turtle’s shell before a thunderclap sounded and the group vanished into a whirlpool.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou emerged from the Lake wearing the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor, then took Wood underwater to reveal its secret. The chapter ended with golden light covering Wood as he closed his eyes and let it enter his body.

• Yang Qing and his companions rose from the Lake in glowing armor, which vanished once they reached the surface.
• Wood recognized the armor as the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor, while the Hidden Clan members eyed the group but hesitated to attack.
• Wood warned his clansmen to behave, and Bu Er pulled him along as the group disappeared beneath the Lake.
• Bu Er explained that the armor let them move underwater without Water-Repelling Garments, and Yang Qing confirmed it was the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor.
• Bu Er pushed Wood into a cramped underwater cave, where golden light covered him, and Yang Qing told him to stay still and let it enter his body.

Wood entered the cave to undergo the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor's selection despite lacking the Divine Bloodline. The armor accepted him, but as the group was drawn back toward the surface, Wood pulled Yang Qing toward a whirlpool at the bottom of the Lake.

• Yang Qing and the others waited anxiously outside the cave, fearing the armor might reject Wood and cripple him or strip them of their armor.
• The cave's golden light intensified until the cave crumbled, revealing Wood in golden armor with his eyes still shut.
• Yang Qing praised the armor's acceptance of Wood as another whirlpool formed at the bottom of the Lake.
• Yang Qing grabbed Wood's arm, but Wood pulled him toward the whirlpool, and Bu Er lunged to save them.

Yang Qing and his companions followed Wood into a clear underwater realm and through a Coral Wall, where a strange man appeared and questioned Yang Qing about his fate and the Divine Turtle, Black Tortoise. Yang Qing suspected the man was Black Tortoise and asked why he had summoned them.

• Wood dragged Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou into clear water at the bottom of the Lake, where it was sharply divided from the murky water beyond.
• Wood opened a passage through the Coral Wall and led them to a coral chair, then stood silently before it.
• Waves surged around the group, and a peculiar-looking man appeared seated in the empty chair.
• The man asked Yang Qing whether he would seize the fate he believed was rightfully his, but Yang Qing declined to force his destiny.
• The man asked Yang Qing what he thought of the Divine Turtle, Black Tortoise, and Yang Qing asked whether he was Black Tortoise and why he had summoned them.

Yang Qing and his companions learned that the ugly man was Black Tortoise’s former Deputy General, who explained how the High God tormented Black Tortoise when he tried to disperse his true essence. He revealed that Black Tortoise entrusted him with half his divine power and a seal, which Yang Qing and the others had opened.

• Yang Qing identified the ugly man as Black Tortoise, but the man clarified that he had once been Black Tortoise’s Deputy General.
• The Deputy General recounted how Black Tortoise, weary of endless battles and immortal life, decided to disperse his true essence.
• The High God discovered Black Tortoise’s decision and struck him with a beam of light, causing a month of terrifying thunder and golden lightning that unsettled mortals below.
• Black Tortoise awoke and found that his loyal Deputy General had been burned beyond recognition by divine beast fire.
• Black Tortoise transferred half his divine power to the Deputy General and told him to seal it for those destined to unlock it after his death.
• The Deputy General explained that Yang Qing and the others had opened the seal and gained Black Tortoise Power, which formed their Black Tortoise Heavy Armor.

Yang Qing and the others learned that their Black Tortoise Heavy Armor held a portion of Black Tortoise’s power and that they had inherited his unfinished mission. The Deputy General explained that the High God responsible for Black Tortoise’s death had remained in the mortal world through a scheme, then revealed that Yang Qing already knew him.

• The Black Tortoise Deputy General told Yang Qing and the others that their armor contained only a portion of Black Tortoise’s power, and that they had been chosen as inheritors.
• The Deputy General recounted how a High God had forced Black Tortoise to sacrifice himself, was injured by Black Tortoise’s final attack, and was punished by being sent through the Reincarnation Path.
• The Deputy General explained that the High God had stayed in the mortal world by repeatedly committing evil to prolong his punishment while also doing good deeds.
• Yang Qing realized that receiving Black Tortoise’s power meant taking on the task of dealing with the High God.
• The Deputy General confirmed that the inheritors had to complete Black Tortoise’s unfinished goal and told Yang Qing that he already knew the High God.

Yang Qing learned that Emperor Zetian was the reincarnation of a former High God, whose rebirth had gone wrong and whose plans depended on Yang Qing. After realizing the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor was pushing its desire for revenge into his mind, Yang Qing insisted that he and his companions would act according to their own plans.

• Yang Qing connected the Heavenly Stones and Eastern Splendor's rulers to the former High God's reincarnation and the heavenly court's attempts to punish him.
• The Black Tortoise Deputy General explained that the original Emperor Zetian had been the High God's reincarnation, but an upheaval broke the succession and left Emperor Zetian reborn with diminished power.
• The Deputy General revealed that Emperor Zetian needed to seize another body to repair his flawed rebirth, which was why he had left Yang Qing alive.
• Yang Qing and his companions sensed the Black Tortoise Heavy Armor's desire to take revenge on Emperor Zetian and prevent his return.
• Yang Qing recognized that the armor was influencing his emotions and warned the Deputy General that they would follow their own plans or make him and the Black Tortoise regret it.

Yang Qing demanded the Nine-Section Whip from the Black Tortoise Deputy General and received a sealed box that supposedly contained it. Unable to discover how to open it, Yang Qing tried a simple command.

• Jiangli told Yang Qing to ask the Black Tortoise Deputy General for the Nine-Section Whip, which could grow or shrink and suit Yang Qing’s needs.
• The Deputy General offered Yang Qing a Dragon-Slaying Saber, but Yang Qing refused and insisted on the Nine-Section Whip.
• The Deputy General opened a hidden door and gave Yang Qing a seamless box, explaining that the whip was inside but he did not know how to open it.
• Jiangli admitted he did not know how to open the box, and the Deputy General hinted that it had been carved from divine wood found by the Heavenly Mountain Goddess.
• Yang Qing held the box and said, “Open.”