Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• After a tremendous explosion overnight, residents discover their Calamity-Guarding Objects are damaged. The Demon-Suppressing Bureau is overwhelmed, while local yin cultivators—including the Lin and Qian families—refuse visitors. Wealthy residents scramble for safety, then learn that Bright Moon Island has vanished entirely.
• Zheng Mei suspects the Otherworldly Fiend caused the destruction. Zheng Cuicui wonders whether such beings must be killed even if they have done no wrong. Zheng Mei explains that ordinary people must obey the rules set by Great Xia’s powerful leaders.
• Kong Xunzhen, Zhu Sheng, and Xu Jin return from Jiangya County after hearing that Chen Bai’s final strike devastated Bright Moon Lake: the Lin patriarch is gravely injured, nearly all of the Lin family’s Flying Jiangshi are destroyed, and Wu Qing failed to prevent the Otherworldly Fiends from escaping. Zhu Sheng sees Chen Bai’s death as an opportunity to surpass Xu Jin and advance with Kong.
• They find Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop burned to ruins. Kong enters his underground palace and discovers it, too, has been completely destroyed.
• Using a hidden recording bead, Kong watches the fire’s cause: an unfamiliar Paper Effigy used the Incense-Burning Method to spread smoke, destroy the palace’s paper figures, and attack Shopkeeper Li and the others. Kong realizes Li had already been possessed in Qingjiang Town. The method points Kong toward a way back to his former destination, so he decides to leave.
• Outside, Kong encounters the furious Hunchback Lin.

Character developments and interactions

• Zheng Cuicui grows troubled by the rigid distinction between humans and Otherworldly Fiends, but Zheng Mei urges her to accept the authorities’ rules unless she can gain power to change them.
• Zhu Sheng shifts from shock at Chen Bai’s feats to calculating ambition: with Chen gone, he believes Xu Jin is no longer a rival and hopes to win Kong’s favor by helping rebuild the shop. He leaves without explaining himself, confusing Xu Jin.
• Kong Xunzhen reacts to the destruction with deep, restrained emotion, but the discovery of the Incense-Burning Method gives him renewed purpose and a reason to leave.
• Kong and the burned palace’s evidence reveal the enemy’s prior infiltration: the attacker was an outsider Paper Effigy, while Shopkeeper Li had been possessed before the palace burned.
• The chapter closes on a looming confrontation between Kong and Hunchback Lin.

Significant themes

• Power and enforced conformity: Ordinary people have little choice but to follow rules imposed by those in authority.
• Prejudice and moral ambiguity: Zheng Cuicui questions whether beings should be condemned solely for belonging to another kind.
• Loss and opportunity: The catastrophe destroys homes and safeguards, while Zhu Sheng sees it as a chance to advance.
• Hidden threats and revelation: The destruction exposes a possession and infiltration that began before the attack, while the recorded method opens a new path for Kong.

Key plot points and events

• Hunchback Lin learns that the Lin Family has suffered catastrophic losses on Bright Moon Island: its Ancestor is badly injured, its flying jiangshi are gone, and its accumulated resources are depleted. Returning to his own Yizhuang, he finds his Corpse-Nurturing Ground destroyed as well.
• Hunchback Lin tries to recruit Kong Xunzhen to join him in pursuing the hidden attacker, but Kong refuses and announces that he is leaving Qingjiang Town for Cangzhou. Xu Qingchuan also declines to help, since the Demon-Suppressing Bureau has lost its calamity-guarding objects and the soul bodies in its banners. He is more worried about covering those losses—and protecting his position—than catching the culprit. Zhang San, whom he might have consulted, has been transferred.
• The next day, Zhu Sheng arrives to rebuild Kong’s Paper Effigy Shop and discovers Kong has already departed. Afraid that others will prey on him without Kong’s protection, Zhu insists Kong has not truly left and orders the shop rebuilt better than before. Xu Jin is confused by Zhu’s reaction.
• In Cangzhou, Kong Yunshuo tells Chen Xian that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau will create free Soul-Inquiry Halls. These will summon remnants of souls left in people possessed by Otherworldly Fiends, providing a second identity check beyond the Soul-Calming Talisman.
• Kong Xunzhen presents Chen Xian with a recording of a paper offering that can receive incense. Intrigued by its possible connection to the Blood-Haired Fiend and the Otherworldly Fiends’ world, Chen agrees to forgive Xunzhen for a mistake made twenty years earlier, provided he explains what happened. The three men agree to keep the discovery secret.
• Kong Yunshuo tells Xunzhen to remain in Cangzhou and settle his long-standing personal affairs, including marrying his childhood sweetheart. He also suggests that Xunzhen help the Chen family further if he learns more about the Blood-Haired Fiend, which may not be dead.
• The chapter ends with three people in Qingjiang Town praying to a shrine and calling on the “Life Bringer.” A white-haired, white-bearded apparition with a youthful face appears above it.

Character developments and interactions

• Hunchback Lin shifts from resentment toward the Lin Family to accepting that he must share its misfortune, after losing everything himself. His appeal to Kong and Xu fails.
• Kong Xunzhen abandons Qingjiang Town and returns to Cangzhou, but his discovery earns him reconciliation with the Chen family and renewed prospects for his personal life.
• Zhu Sheng reveals how dependent he is on Kong’s reputation and protection. He rebuilds the shop not to claim ownership, but to preserve the appearance that Kong will return.
• Xu Qingchuan is overwhelmed by the bureau’s losses and institutional consequences, while Xu Jin fails to grasp the danger Kong’s absence poses to Zhu.
• Kong Yunshuo and Chen Xian discuss the bureau’s new anti-possession system, then jointly recognize the importance of Xunzhen’s evidence. Xunzhen’s disclosure changes his standing with the Chen family.

Significant themes

• Collapse and self-preservation: The Lin Family, Kong’s shop, and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau all suffer losses, prompting characters to protect themselves and their remaining interests.
• Hidden threats and new safeguards: The Soul-Inquiry Hall is introduced as a response to Otherworldly Fiends able to evade existing checks.
• Unexpected redemption: Xunzhen’s long-resented past mistake is eclipsed by the value of the evidence he brings back.
• Reputation as protection: Zhu believes the shop’s continued existence—and the claim that Kong will return—may shield him from exploitation.
• Mystery and escalation: The incense-receiving paper offering, the possibly surviving Blood-Haired Fiend, and the final appearance of the Life Bringer suggest that larger supernatural forces remain active.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• After returning from Bright Moon Lake, Chen Miao is physically weakened because his soul body was damaged by the final explosion. He is recovering with rest, but cannot yet use most soul-based abilities. He expects to need months before returning to the Mortal World.
• His Aperture Key survived, so another journey remains possible once he recovers. Chen Miao is content to treat the waiting period as a vacation.
• Chen Miao calculates that he earned about forty-six jin of yin virtue during his last trip. Ten jin were consumed when the Notes on Achieving Divinity upgraded, leaving 36 jin, 5 liang, and 6 qian recorded.
• Most of the virtue came from ghosts and flying jiangshi at Bright Moon Lake. The rest came from secretly performing transcendence rites at Kong Xunzhen’s Paper Effigy Underground Palace, Hunchback Lin’s Corpse-Nurturing Ground, and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
• The rites accidentally set the Paper Effigy Underground Palace on fire. At the bureau, Chen Miao also stole its Calamity-Guarding Objects and secretly left them in different homes.
• Before leaving, Chen Miao moved Xiao Bai’s soul from the Five Prisons Common-Faced God Shrine to Qingjiang Town, hundreds of li away. He expects the Curse Cult to provide Xiao Bai with a new body.
• Chen Miao’s other rewards include 1,580 Memory Fragments, 1,720 Obsession fragments, and a vast stockpile of ghost-related materials. Despite killing many ghosts, he gained no cultivation inheritances.
• The chapter ends as Chen Miao studies the upgraded Notes and focuses on its key new feature: State Fusion.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is relieved to be free of the Mortal World’s constant danger, but remains ambitious: he believes spending his stored yin virtue wisely could make him powerful enough to challenge a Grandmaster.
• His calculations reveal his practical, strategic nature. He regrets needing to detonate some flying jiangshi, but concludes that speed mattered more than preserving them.
• Sister Li teases Chen Miao about appearing weak and asks whether he has a girlfriend. He explains that he is using traditional medicine to recover.
• Chen Miao’s actions toward Kong Xunzhen, Hunchback Lin, and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau are covert and opportunistic, exploiting distractions and his split soul.
• His handling of Xiao Bai shows concern for the other character’s future: he believes Xiao Bai’s powers will remain effective even in a replacement body.

Significant themes

• The cost of power: Chen Miao’s victory leaves his soul severely damaged, limiting his abilities and forcing a long recovery.
• Planning and resource management: Yin virtue, fragments, materials, time, and even powerful enemies are all weighed as resources.
• Unintended consequences: A routine transcendence rite accidentally destroys Kong Xunzhen’s underground palace.
• A growing mystery: The lack of cultivation inheritances from ordinary ghosts, and the Mortal World’s term “Otherworldly Fiends” for souls from reality, suggest deeper differences between the two worlds.
• Power growth and uncertainty: The upgraded Notes promise major new possibilities, but also introduce further costs and choices about how to spend Chen Miao’s accumulated virtue.

Summary

After several days studying the notebook’s second upgrade, Chen Miao discovers four new functions and reassesses how to spend his resources.

• Status Fusion: He can combine multiple statuses into a new one, making otherwise redundant abilities useful. However, fusion costs rise sharply with the number of statuses involved: for second-tier statuses, combining two costs one jin of yin virtue, while each added status doubles the price. The cost is based on the highest-tier status in the fusion. Though he has over thirty jin, Chen Miao calculates that he can afford only one major fusion and delays choosing what to combine.
• Art Transmission: For one jin of yin virtue, he can transmit an art from the notebook’s Mystic Arts list, improving the recipient’s understanding and helping them begin practicing it. He tests the function on himself with “Yin Dart” and immediately uses it to strike a pebble more than ten meters away. Transmission provides a strong start, not full mastery; further improvement still requires practice or possibly additional transmissions. He sees little reason to use it on his already-sufficient “Yin-Yang Mirror Escape” or on “Six Jiangzhen Secrets,” whose advancement depends on mysterious progress rather than ordinary proficiency. He senses that performing rites for the Paper Offerings may have brought the latter art’s Divine Gaze close to advancement. Arts acquired outside the notebook must first be added to its list, at additional cost.
• Memory Fragment uses: Fragments can raise known statuses—at set costs—or substitute for yin virtue in status fusion. Ten fragments can replace one liang of yin virtue for status-related functions. Fragments cannot advance a second-tier status to the third tier; that requires yin virtue, explaining why Chen Miao’s Yin Absorption stopped progressing. He plans to use fragments likely to yield ordinary statuses for upgrades, preserve those that may contain special statuses, and treat his thousand-plus fragments as roughly ten extra jin of yin virtue.
• Exchange-list change: The chapter introduces a fourth new function, the only one that does not consume yin virtue, but ends before explaining it.

Character development and interactions

Chen Miao becomes more strategic and cautious: instead of spending resources impulsively, he compares the costs and usefulness of each upgrade. His successful self-transmission of “Yin Dart” also shows his willingness to experiment, while the new fragment-exchange option eases his anxiety about the notebook’s heavy yin-virtue demands. He recalls Shi Manman’s quick grasp of “Southern School Corpse-Sewing Secrets” as a contrast to his own limited ability with it. The chapter otherwise focuses on Chen Miao’s examination of the notebook rather than direct interactions among characters.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes resource management and trade-offs, as powerful improvements come at steep costs; the difference between potential and mastery, since transmission can help someone begin but cannot replace further effort; and adaptation through experimentation, as Chen Miao learns to turn the notebook’s new systems—and his accumulated Memory Fragments—into practical advantages.

• Notebook upgrade: The notebook replaces its old exchange lists with a blank page that can generate an exact, discounted materials list from a requested goal—even if Chen Miao describes the need vaguely. It helps him conserve yin virtue, though it still requires a physical medium.
• Chen Miao plans his fusions: He reasons that fusion should combine complementary statuses, proceed in pairs where practical, and use upgraded statuses to avoid wasting yin virtue. He drafts a costly ghost-domain combination built around mist, water concealment, Crimson Abyss Locks the Nether, yin absorption, and illusion. He also considers pairings for physical strength, perception, disguise, speed, and temperature resistance. He postpones fusing Five Hells Immortal Body and Mirage-Escape Form because they are useful as they are, and he fears losing Five Hells Immortal Body’s protective trait.
• He tests a physical-status fusion: The next day, Chen Miao upgrades Ape Leap into Spirit Ape Treading Branches, gaining effortless leaps, coordination, and a remarkable ability to move across branches. He then fuses it with Copper Skin and Iron Bones, creating Ape Arms, Bronze Body.
• Unexpected result: The fusion leaves his treetop agility largely unchanged, but reveals a new ability: he can alter his body’s shape. While hanging from a branch, he stretches his right arm to an extraordinary length, then finds it returns to normal when he lets go.
  Character development and interaction: Chen Miao approaches the notebook’s powers methodically, weighing costs and risks before acting. His interaction with the notebook is primarily practical—he treats it as a tool for experimentation and resource management. His test of the new status shows both curiosity and caution, while his lingering mental fatigue reminds him that dying in the Mortal World has harmed his soul body.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes experimentation, strategic use of scarce resources, and the unpredictable consequences of supernatural advancement. Status fusion may combine abilities, but it can also transform the user in unexpected ways.

Key events

• Chen Miao tests Ape Arms, Bronze Body, created by fusing Spirit Ape Treading Branches with Copper Skin and Iron Bones. It preserves their benefits and adds the ability to transform his arms and skin into bronze. The skin provides strong protection without reducing his speed, though it must be activated or triggered by danger.
• Using Clearheart, he reasons that fusion combines and alters abilities rather than simply adding them together. Results may be better or worse than the originals, so each fusion remains uncertain.
• He wonders whether states used in a fusion can later be obtained again as separate states. Rather than wait for rare fragments, he tests this with Yin Absorption and Crimson Abyss Locks the Nether.
• The resulting Crimson Abyss Locks Yin retains the hair-manipulation abilities and gains the power to absorb, store, and transfer yin energy through its strands. It can gather energy over a wide area without Chen Miao spending his own yin to sustain the strands. However, it loses Yin Absorption’s ability to absorb energy directly without a medium.
• Chen Miao then uses a Flying Jiangshi Memory Fragment to verify that the original states can reappear independently. A separate second-phase Yin Absorption state appears, confirming that fusion does not permanently consume its component states.
• He revises his plans for Memory Fragments: he will save Flying Jiangshi and Leaping Hopping Corpse fragments for obtaining states, while continuing to use Black and White Jiangshi fragments as reserve yin virtue.
• His planned “Ghost Domain” still needs Mist Condensation, Water Hiding, and Illusion.

Character development and interactions

Chen Miao shows a methodical, experimental approach: he tests each new ability, weighs fusion costs against advancement, and follows up on unexpected drawbacks rather than accepting them. His confidence in fusion grows once he confirms that fused states and their original components can coexist. His interactions are primarily with his own abilities and tools; he tests the hair’s effects on a Pool Ghost and uses his notebook and Memory Fragments to investigate how the system works.

Significant themes

• Progress through experimentation: Chen Miao treats powerful abilities as hypotheses to test.
• Power comes with trade-offs: Fusion can create stronger, more versatile abilities while sacrificing useful features.
• Planning and resource management: Yin virtue and Memory Fragments are valuable, so Chen Miao carefully weighs immediate upgrades against future goals.
• Adaptability: Confirming that component states can reappear changes how he approaches future fusions.

Plot and key events

• Chen Miao advances Mist Condensation, Water Hiding, and Illusion to the second tier, spending three jin of yin virtue. Mist gains greater range and density, cold erosion, and the ability to obstruct perception. Water Hiding gains selective concealment and image projection, while Illusion lets him observe and control targets’ imagined visions, though complex illusions tax his soul.
• He fuses second-tier Mist Condensation with Illusion into Phantom Mist. It can form convincing scenes and figures from mist with little effort; those inside perceive them as real, though Chen Miao sees crude, mannequin-like shapes. He then fuses Phantom Mist with Crimson Abyss Yin Lock, spending four jin of yin virtue—one less than fusing the states separately—to create Abyssal Mist, which combines mist, illusions, and abilities to bind spirits.
• Chen tests Abyssal Mist on Twin Ridge Mountain. Two brothers, Wang Dawei and Wang Xiaowei, are caught in it. Xiaowei becomes separated from his brother and encounters a convincing but unnatural illusion of Dawei. Suspicious of its strength and behavior, Xiaowei escapes, only to become disoriented and run uphill instead of downhill.
• The real Dawei eventually finds Xiaowei, carrying a chunk of silver. Xiaowei confirms Dawei is genuine by feeling his warmth and trying to pull him; the pair leave the mountain. Chen watches from the summit, treating the silver as payment for the test, then departs despite pain from his injured soul.

Character developments

• Chen Miao is methodical and ambitious, testing each upgrade and refining his plan for a “ghost domain.” He is pleased by Phantom Mist’s unexpected potential and confirms that pairwise fusion saves yin virtue, but his soul injury limits how freely he can use his powers.
• Wang Xiaowei shifts from skeptical and mildly resentful to terrified and resourceful. He notices inconsistencies in the false Dawei, tests them, and escapes through quick thinking.
• Wang Dawei is protective of his younger brother and eager to earn money. His genuine concern contrasts with the fake Dawei’s deceptive behavior.

Themes and character interactions

• The chapter explores reality versus illusion: Phantom Mist can make imagined scenes seem real, while Abyssal Mist distorts both perception and a person’s sense of direction.
• It also emphasizes deception and discernment. Xiaowei’s familiarity with his brother helps him identify subtle clues—unnatural strength, movement, and behavior—when appearances cannot be trusted.
• Chen’s experimentation turns the mountain into a testing ground, while the brothers’ bond provides the emotional counterpoint: Dawei leads and reassures Xiaowei, and Xiaowei’s fear makes him question even someone he trusts.

Chapter summary

• Chen Miao tests his new nethermist domain. While recovering at the Funeral Home, he reviews how he used the domain to deceive the Wang brothers. By controlling the mist’s effects, he can make it harmless fog or a lethal battlefield. He can also create convincing, physical illusions from hair. The deception works on Wang Dawei, though Wang Xiaowei spots flaws in his fake brother and escapes.
• Chen Miao reassesses his combat strength. The domain’s illusions and confinement combine with his physical abilities and other techniques, leading him to believe he can challenge opponents far stronger than before—potentially even Grandmasters. He jokes that instant noodles still matter more to him than becoming a Grandmaster.
• Xiao Bai arrives unexpectedly. Sensing someone outside, Chen Miao unleashes the domain and launches a powerful attack, but the intruder redirects his blood darts and proves difficult to harm. The visitor reveals himself as Xiao Bai. Chen Miao is relieved—and embarrassed by how badly outmatched he feels, since Xiao Bai can control yin energy, vital blood, and yang energy.
• Xiao Bai explains his secrecy and recent history. He came without warning to avoid leaving traces that the Administration or Curse Cult might detect. After Chen Miao left, Xiao Bai awakened in the Shrine, survived there, and contacted three Star Lords of the Curse Dao’s Southern School. They helped remove him and the Shrine. Xiao Bai says Rank Controller and Fortune Enhancer are Grandmasters, while Calamity Deliverer is still short of Gate Knocking.
• A dangerous revelation changes Chen Miao’s plans. Xiao Bai warns him not to enter the Mortal World again until his soul body recovers. Chen Miao learns that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s Soul-Inquiry Hall may expose his identity: an inquiry could summon the original remnant soul from his body, as happened to Xiao Bai.

Character developments and interactions

Chen Miao is newly confident in his growing power, but Xiao Bai’s arrival reminds him that his abilities have limits. Their uncle–nephew relationship is warm and candid: Chen Miao scolds Xiao Bai for nearly provoking a fight, then accepts the need for secrecy and listens to his warning. Xiao Bai acts cautiously and protectively, sharing sensitive information despite the risks.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Chen Miao’s domain greatly expands his reach, yet Xiao Bai remains beyond his easy control.
• Deception and perception: The domain’s strength lies in shaping what enemies see and feel.
• Secrecy and exposure: Entering the Mortal World may reveal hidden identities, making knowledge and caution essential.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Miao learns that the Heart-Inquiring Hall’s ability to summon remnant souls may expose people with the five hells immortal body. Unless the Curse Cult finds a countermeasure, his next life may be confined to small settlements, away from major cities.
• Xiao Bai reassures him that the Curse Cult and other Mortal World factions are investigating defenses against the soul-summoning method.
• Xiao Bai explains the Curse Cult’s plan: use linked Soul Shrines and his soul-body abilities to perform apparent miracles, establish a foothold in a Mortal World settlement, and direct people arriving from reality to that location. The Cult has members inside the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and has developed a way to guide arrivals to a precise place.
• Their conversation broadens to the rivalry between reality’s Yin Cultivation organizations and the Mortal World, and to the mystery of how cultivation connects to a supposed “third level” where Immortals and Gods may exist.
• Xiao Bai reveals he went to the Mortal World seeking a rare item needed to help his master. Chen Miao offers to look for it—and then produces what appears to be the very item Xiao Bai needs.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shifts from excitement about his next Mortal World life to concern over the restrictions the soul-summoning threat could impose. He remains curious, questioning Xiao Bai about the Mortal World’s politics, cultivation, and cosmology.
• Xiao Bai is patient and forthcoming, sharing the Curse Cult’s plans and what he knows about cultivation. He also explains that he came mainly to confirm Chen Miao’s identity, not to interrogate him.
• Chen Miao shows loyalty and concern by asking about Xiao Bai’s master and offering practical help. Their warm, trusting relationship is emphasized, though they agree that a recognition code would be unsafe because soul-based mystic arts could manipulate responses.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and hidden knowledge: The Mortal World, cultivation, and the existence of higher powers remain poorly understood.
• Power and competing ambitions: Different organizations pursue different goals—some seek service and survival, while the Curse Cult aims to establish dominance.
• Trust and cooperation: Despite the danger and secrecy surrounding their worlds, Chen Miao and Xiao Bai rely on one another.
• Hope amid risk: Chen Miao’s concern gives way to a possible opportunity when he may already possess the rare Soul Crystal Fragment.

Plot points and events

• Xiao Bai recognizes the fragment Chen Miao offers as a Soul Crystal Fragment, which can help awaken his master, Zhong Cai.
• Xiao Bai explains that awakening Zhong Cai requires 100 fragments, plus another 100 to bring the completed soul crystal out of the Mortal World. One hundred fragments can be fused into a soul crystal, which has several other uses as well.
• Chen Miao reveals he has a large supply and gives Xiao Bai 99 fragments, bringing his total to 100. Xiao Bai fuses them into a deep-blue soul crystal.
• Xiao Bai says awakening Zhong Cai will take about six months to a year. He plans to return then and eventually bring his master to meet Chen Miao.
• Though Xiao Bai remains committed to the Curse Cult, he warns that its members may be dangerous and that their interest in Chen Miao could put him at risk.
• Before leaving, Xiao Bai gives Chen Miao a letter from one of Zhong Cai’s friends, inviting Zhong Cai to help with an unspecified matter. Chen Miao accepts it and says he may investigate.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao shows generosity and trust by giving Xiao Bai the fragments without asking for repayment. His casual offer of food and his concern for Xiao Bai’s safety reinforce his protective, uncle-like affection.
• Xiao Bai is overwhelmed by Chen Miao’s help and kneels to thank him, demonstrating deep loyalty and devotion to Zhong Cai. He is also cautious and independent: he intends to remain in the Curse Cult but says he will judge for himself what actions to take.
• Their bond grows through gratitude, concern, and conversation. Xiao Bai shares what he knows about the Curse Cult, while Chen Miao listens and offers support. Chen Miao reflects that Xiao Bai’s devotion resembles that of a son, and thinks fondly of his own disciple.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and chosen family: Xiao Bai’s devotion to Zhong Cai goes beyond ordinary student-teacher ties, while Chen Miao’s care extends to Xiao Bai.
• Generosity and trust: Chen Miao’s substantial gift helps Xiao Bai while also deepening their connection.
• Power and danger: Soul crystals offer major possibilities, but the Cult’s secrecy and willingness to do anything for advancement make involvement risky.
• Mystery and future ties: The letter introduces a potential new undertaking and hints at connections between Zhong Cai’s circle and Chen Miao.

Key plot points

• Rumors spread of supernatural fog at both the Tianmen County Funeral Home and Twin Ridge Mountain. Chen Miao dismisses the mountain-ghost story as attention-seeking, but Investigator Chen Guokun confirms the fog appeared and asks him to report anything unusual.
• Chen Guokun’s colleague Tong Yu cannot tell whether Chen Miao is lying. Guokun explains that Chen may now be a genuine practitioner of yin cultivation, beyond the reach of Tong Yu’s ability.
• Chen Miao synthesizes a Soul Crystal from fragments and asks Old Ghost to study it for its connection to Ghost Body Manifestation. He suspects Soul Crystals are important to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, though he cannot determine how they work.
• Two days later, Chen Miao travels to Beitai City under the alias Chen Bai, disguising himself after clearing airport identity checks. He meets Hua Jianming and Ji Hong, friends of the injured Zhong Cai, and presents Zhong Cai’s letter to establish his credentials.
• At a private dinner, Chen Miao meets Wang Wei and Pei Ran, two Spirit Mediums. Hua reveals the group’s job: relocating a wealthy businessman’s ancestral graves, a task complicated by several unresolved problems.

Character developments

• Chen Miao becomes more cautious about using his abilities near the Funeral Home as supernatural incidents draw public and official attention.
• His interest shifts toward Soul Crystals and the Demon-Suppressing Bureau’s cultivation methods. He entrusts Old Ghost with investigating the crystal.
• Chen Guokun regrets not having acted more decisively in the past, believing Chen Miao’s record might have helped him return to Shannan City.
• Chen Miao adopts a false identity for the Beitai assignment, showing greater care about concealment and the practical limits of disguising himself.

Character interactions

• Luo Zhiyong shares rumors with Chen Miao and looks to him for reassurance about the Funeral Home and Twin Ridge Mountain.
• Chen Guokun consults Chen Miao about the fog, then discusses with Tong Yu why Tong’s truth-detecting ability failed on him.
• Chen Miao asks Old Ghost to examine the Soul Crystal, beginning a collaborative investigation.
• Hua and Ji assess Chen Miao through Zhong Cai’s letter and his Corpse-Driving equipment. At the gathering, Wang Wei is dismissive while Pei Ran is cordial; Hua introduces the grave-relocation assignment.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and scrutiny: Public rumors and official inquiries make Chen Miao’s growing supernatural abilities harder to conceal.
• Knowledge and power: Soul Crystals connect to cultivation and major institutions, but their true nature remains unclear.
• Trust and credentials: Chen Miao’s identity, Zhong Cai’s letter, and his equipment are all used to establish whether he belongs in the group.
• The supernatural entering ordinary life: Online gossip, airport procedures, restaurants, and professional work coexist with ghosts, rituals, and corpse-driving.

Key plot points and events

• Hua Jianming explains the job: a wealthy client’s attempt to relocate his grandfather’s grave coincided with a ghost haunting the family home. The old grave contains yin energy and traces of corpse qi, suggesting the grandfather may reanimate as a zombie.
• The team’s roles are set: Hua will handle the client and burial-site arrangements; Ji Hong will oversee the relocation and later grave maintenance; Wang Wei will investigate the ghost, with Pei Ran dealing with it; Chen Bai (Chen Miao) will clear the corpse qi and prevent reanimation.
• The ten-million payment is divided among the team. Wang Wei questions whether Chen Bai is capable enough for the dangerous assignment. Chen Miao demonstrates his skill by using a Bloodlight Talisman to launch a chopstick through a liquor box, then gives each teammate a Spirit-Sealing Talisman.
• Hua recognizes Chen Miao as the talisman-maker Zhong Cai had mentioned. Chen Miao displays a large selection of Fine Talismans, and Hua and Ji buy several. Chen Miao earns 1.5 million in sales before the job even begins.
• The group accepts Chen Miao’s qualifications and prepares to visit the client.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains calm when challenged, proving his ability without taking offense. His extensive talisman supply and generosity make a strong impression and quickly earn the team’s confidence.
• Wang Wei voices practical concerns about safety and competence rather than personal hostility. After seeing Chen Miao’s demonstration, she drops her objection.
• Hua Jianming trusts Chen Miao based on a friend’s recommendation, then becomes enthusiastic about his talismans and more confident in the mission.
• Ji Hong supports the arrangement and purchases talismans, while Pei Ran is assigned to deal with the ghost.
• Chen Miao’s interactions with the group shift from an uncertain first meeting to mutual respect and a working partnership.

Significant themes

• Competence must be demonstrated: trust is initially tentative, but Chen Miao’s practical display and expertise settle the dispute.
• Preparation and specialized teamwork: the grave, possible zombie, and haunting require different skills, so the group divides responsibilities.
• Practical generosity and exchange: Chen Miao’s gifts and discounted talismans help establish goodwill, while his expertise also brings immediate commercial value.

Plot points and events

• Hua Jianming brings Chen Miao, Wang Wei, and Pei Ran to the Xiong estate. Their client, Xiong Jie, explains that disturbing his grandfather’s grave during a planned relocation coincided with supernatural events.
• Xiong Jie’s young son and daughter each dreamed of an old man threatening them. After a Feng Shui Master performed a rite and the children kowtowed at the grave, the children’s nightmares stopped—but the master spent the night hearing footsteps that entered his locked bedroom. He later saw an old, hunched figure fading away.
• The Feng Shui Master left town and referred Xiong Jie to Hua Jianming. Xiong Jie now reports hearing footsteps himself.
• Wang Wei, a Spirit Medium, tests the bedrooms of Xiong Jie and his children using incense, ash, a ritual circle, and rice in an old celadon bowl. Each test fails because there is not enough lingering ghost presence to trace the spirit.
• Chen Miao suggests testing the Feng Shui Master’s house instead. Hua Jianming realizes this may be the better lead, and Xiong Jie arranges transport there.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiong Jie is cautious but cooperative, increasingly convinced that the events are supernatural. He shares what happened and helps the group investigate.
• Wang Wei demonstrates a precise, specialized form of rice divination, but her inability to find enough ghost residue stalls the investigation.
• Chen Miao remains observant and curious about the group’s different Yin Gate professions. Though he does not understand the ritual, he contributes the useful idea to investigate the Feng Shui Master’s house.
• Ji Hong explains the purpose of rice divination to Chen Miao: sufficient ghost presence can let a Spirit Medium trace and temporarily sense the ghost.
• Hua Jianming coordinates the investigation, while Pei Ran supports Wang Wei by preparing the ritual equipment.

Significant themes

• The consequences of disturbing the dead: The grave relocation appears linked to escalating hauntings.
• Limits of expertise and evidence: Even trained practitioners cannot immediately locate the spirit; the investigation depends on careful testing and inference.
• Cooperation across specialized roles: The group combines different abilities, and Chen Miao’s outsider perspective helps redirect the search.
• Uncertainty and suspense: The ghost’s identity and motives remain unknown as the group follows a new lead.

Plot points and events

• Before entering Jia Sheng’s home, Hua Jianming had arranged permission to open the door. Wang Wei performs a ritual using rice, a talisman, black water, and a copper coin. The effort exhausts her, but lets her see what happened to the spirit connected to the case.
• Wang Wei describes a grave being dug up, a family being beaten, and a coffin thrown into a ravine. Her vision suggests that Xiong Jie has concealed the cause of his troubles.
• Hua Jianming refuses to proceed until Xiong Jie explains himself, making clear he will not take money to help someone who has acted unjustly.
• Xiong Jie admits that his men dug up his grandfather’s unmarked grave, beat the occupants of a nearby home, and discarded a coffin. The grave had been built over by a local farmer’s family, whose deceased patriarch had deliberately arranged to be buried there, hoping the Xiong family would pay to move him.
• Xiong Jie initially offered the family 200,000 yuan, but they demanded one million. Angry and worried that the family had schemed against his powerful clan, he had the grave removed by force. His family’s recent business losses began around the time the new grave was placed over his grandfather’s.
• With the truth established, Hua Jianming agrees to continue the job and asks Xiong Jie to lead them into the mountains to find the discarded coffin.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Wei demonstrates the Spirit Medium’s reliance on soul power rather than yin energy. Though weakened by her ritual, she confronts Xiong Jie directly and refuses to work while he withholds information.
• Hua Jianming upholds his moral principles: he is ready to walk away rather than assist an unethical client, but changes course once he hears the full story.
• Xiong Jie shifts from guarded silence to a detailed confession. He admits his actions, though he says embarrassment kept him from speaking earlier; the group remains unsure whether he was also testing them.
• Chen Miao observes Wang Wei’s ritual and pieces together the likely cause of the haunting, then reflects on how the farmer’s plan went wrong.
• The farmer’s family and Xiong Jie come into conflict over the grave: the family’s demand for a larger payment prompts Xiong Jie’s coercive response.

Significant themes

• Justice and consequences: Xiong Jie’s attempt to solve the problem by force may have worsened the spiritual trouble, while Hua Jianming insists that wrongdoing cannot simply be ignored.
• Greed and miscalculation: The farmer planned to secure a payment for his descendants, but their demand for more than the initial offer escalated the dispute.
• Power and vulnerability: Xiong Jie’s wealth and influence let him intimidate an ordinary family, but do not protect him from the consequences of disturbing the grave.
• Truth and trust: Wang Wei’s vision exposes what Xiong Jie omitted, making honesty essential before the group will help him.

Key events

• The group finds the grandfather’s discarded coffin in a mountain gully, broken open with the body missing. They follow drag marks and discover that stray animals have scattered and gnawed the remains.
• Wang Wei says she cannot summon the old man’s soul without all his bones, but Ji Hong can work with half. The group finds a pile of bones in an animal den, and Ji Hong wraps them with a talisman.
• Hua Jianming plans to give the dead man a proper burial, using Ji Hong’s grave arrangements to soothe his soul and contain his malevolent energy until it fades. Because the grave cannot be prepared that day, Hua warns Xiong Jie that the ghost may return that night. The group agrees to stay at the estate and protect the family.
• While the others prepare, Chen Miao asks Ji Hong about Grave Keepers. Ji Hong describes the profession’s different practitioners and explains that those without inherited methods must revisit graves they have handled every three years.
• Ji Hong recalls seeing an ordinary caretaker at a martyrs’ cemetery destroy a ghost with an illusory tombstone. Behind the old man, Ji Hong saw countless tombstones—a sign, he believes, of the dead honoring him for tending their graves. The encounter shaped Ji Hong’s respect for his work and for “accumulating yin virtue.”
• At the estate, the group completes a protective setup involving five cloth dolls, candles, red string, incense ash, and a talisman. Near midnight, Pei Ran removes his shirt, revealing dark red runes across his body, and exchanges a brief nod with Chen Miao.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao remains observant and skeptical, privately wondering why Hua does not involve the Administration. After Hua explains that practitioners prefer to handle matters themselves—and that a proper burial earns yin virtue—Chen accepts the reasoning. Ji Hong’s story also deepens Chen’s awareness of how much he does not know about the supernatural world.
• Hua Jianming takes responsibility for the ghost’s eventual burial and for protecting Xiong Jie’s family overnight. He is practical but also guided by professional custom and spiritual merit.
• Ji Hong reveals a thoughtful, compassionate side beneath his reserved manner. His story of the cemetery caretaker explains why he values careful grave work.
• Xiong Jie remains composed despite the threat, trusting Hua’s plan and offering additional payment, which Hua declines.
• Pei Ran’s rune-covered body and wooden pendant suggest he has a significant role in the coming confrontation, though the chapter does not yet explain it.

Significant themes

• Respect for the dead: The group’s goal shifts beyond suppressing the ghost to restoring the old man’s dignity through proper burial.
• Duty and merit: Ji Hong’s account presents care for graves as morally meaningful, with the living potentially honored by the dead.
• The limits of knowledge: Chen’s growing surprise emphasizes that the supernatural world contains powers and traditions beyond formal cultivation.
• Custom versus efficiency: Hua acknowledges that the Administration could handle the case more simply, but the practitioners prefer to resolve such matters within their own community.

Plot points

• Wang Wei sets up a ritual using five figures representing Xiong Jie’s family, blood, candles, and Soul-Guiding Incense to draw the ghost near while keeping it from attacking the clients.
• The old farmer’s ghost enters one of the figures, then breaks free when Pei Ran attempts to summon his possessing spirit. The incense snaps and the candles go out.
• Pei Ran attacks the ghost, while Hua Jianming uses small objects to confuse it. The ghost repeatedly changes targets, but Pei Ran ultimately tears it apart, dispersing its form.
• The group suspects the ghost was frightened by something near Chen Miao and Ji Hong, though neither man appears to have acted. Chen Miao remains silent about what may have happened.
• Hua assigns Ji Hong to help handle the ghost’s grave. The next day, Chen Miao accompanies Hua and Ji Hong to select a new burial site for the old farmer. Hua chooses a suitable, ordinary site using feng shui principles.
• Chen Miao decides to stay with Ji Hong rather than follow Hua, whose methods he cannot understand. He offers to help with the work.

Character developments and interactions

• Pei Ran proves to be the group’s main combatant. His self-taught martial spirit-medium technique visibly exhausts him, but he recovers after the fight. He is puzzled by the ghost’s sudden fear and change of direction.
• Wang Wei handles the protective ritual but relies on Pei Ran to fight the ghost.
• Hua Jianming directs the operation and demonstrates his practical feng shui expertise. He welcomes Chen Miao’s request to learn, though his explanations remain limited.
• Ji Hong explains the ritual and Pei Ran’s background to Chen Miao, then notices the ghost’s unexplained fear as well.
• Chen Miao observes and asks questions, showing curiosity about other Yin Gate trades. His decision to offer Ji Hong help hints at confidence in his own abilities.

Significant themes

• Self-taught practice and limited resources: Practitioners without formal lineages make do with imperfect methods, valuing results over orthodox tradition.
• Knowledge gained through experience: Chen Miao wants to learn, but specialized skills such as feng shui cannot be grasped through observation alone.
• Hidden power and unanswered questions: The ghost’s fear suggests Chen Miao may have an influence that others cannot detect, leaving a mystery unresolved.

Key events

• Ji Hong explains that he and Chen Miao will hire the client’s gravediggers to excavate the burial site, while Ji Hong prepares the necessary ritual items.
• Chen Miao carries a case weighing about fifty kilograms up the mountain with one hand, astonishing Ji Hong and demonstrating his unusual strength.
• The crew digs a deep grave with a side chamber for the coffin. Chen Miao explains the chamber’s practical and symbolic purposes.
• Ji Hong purifies the grave with talisman water, establishes an altar, offers incense, and reads a prayer asking the local deities to protect the site. He then “warms the grave,” a process meant to cleanse it and soothe the earth’s energy before burial.
• The following day, the funeral procession brings the treated remains up the mountain. Ji Hong lays out strict rules for conduct and who may approach the grave.
• As the coffin is lowered, Ji Hong recites prayers and uses incense, a peachwood branch, and talisman water to orient and cleanse it. Chen Miao wonders whether Ji Hong’s rituals have any real power, since they lack the effects he associates with the Six Jiangzhen Secrets.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao is curious about Grave Keeper customs and watches Ji Hong closely, learning the profession’s procedures. He also recognizes Ji Hong’s competence and considers recruiting him to expand the funeral home’s services, though the business could not afford his salary.
• Ji Hong proves knowledgeable, organized, and deeply respectful of burial customs. He patiently explains the rituals to Chen Miao, while Chen Miao’s strength surprises him.
• Their relationship is collaborative: Chen Miao observes and asks questions, while Ji Hong guides the work and explains its significance. Hua Jianming, meanwhile, has identified possible sites for another burial but must inspect them again at night.

Significant themes

• Tradition and respect for the dead: Burial rites impose rules meant to preserve dignity and protect the deceased’s resting place.
• Belief and uncertainty: Ji Hong performs rituals out of faith and caution, while Chen Miao questions whether they have supernatural efficacy.
• Professional skill and practical knowledge: The chapter presents grave preparation as a disciplined craft that blends construction, customs, and spiritual beliefs.

Key events

• Under Ji Hong’s supervision, the workers finish burying the Old Farmer. Ji Hong places four Tomb-Guarding Stones in the grave’s corners; once positioned, they form a feng shui formation. He then erects the headstone, burns incense, recites a Soul-Calming Incantation, and lights two specially prepared lamps.
• Ji Hong plans to inspect the grave daily for seven days. If no yin energy gathers or other trouble occurs, he expects the ghost to remain quiet.
• Chen Miao and Ji Hong examine the Xiong family’s old burial site. The barren, unusually dry clearing is permeated with yin energy and a feng shui formation that appears to contain corpse qi. A deep coffin below has accumulated enough energy that its occupant may be close to becoming a Leaping Hopping Corpse—but the formation was not designed to nurture a corpse, which could have made the danger far greater.
• Ji Hong declines to join the excavation, citing the Grave Keeper’s professional taboo against digging up graves. He leaves that work to Chen Miao while he attends to the new burial site selected by Hua Jianming.
• After taking a rare, peaceful break by the sea, Chen Miao sees Wang Wei and Pei Ran together but avoids interrupting them. Pei Ran notices him and suspects he is more capable than he appears; Wang Wei remains skeptical and worries about payment and the dangers of the excavation.
• The next morning, Chen Miao assures Hua Jianming that he has brought what is needed to handle the corpse qi. The group—including their client, Xiong Jie, and the excavation workers—sets out to dig up the coffin.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao continues to observe and assess supernatural phenomena closely, recognizing the grave’s formation and the buried corpse’s danger. He respects Ji Hong’s boundaries, enjoys a brief respite from work, and is confident he can handle the upcoming excavation.
• Ji Hong demonstrates his expertise through the burial rites and his understanding of feng shui and corpse transformation. He is diligent about safeguarding the Old Farmer’s grave but adheres firmly to his role as a Grave Keeper.
• Hua Jianming has found a reasonably suitable replacement burial site, though he remains cautious about the risks of disturbing the powerful formation at the Xiong family cemetery.
• Pei Ran shows growing confidence in Chen Miao’s abilities, while Wang Wei is more doubtful and focused on practical concerns. Their intimate appearance and conversation establish a contrast in their attitudes toward him.

Significant themes

• Respect for ritual and professional boundaries: Proper burial rites and Ji Hong’s refusal to excavate reflect the importance of tradition and role-specific duties.
• Containment versus danger: The formations can protect and control supernatural forces, but the old grave’s accumulated yin energy leaves the situation precarious.
• Appearance versus ability: Pei Ran senses that Chen Miao is more than he seems, while Wang Wei judges him more cautiously.
• Ordinary life amid the supernatural: Chen Miao’s peaceful seaside break offers a brief contrast to the ominous work awaiting him.

Plot points and events

• The group reaches the Xiong family patriarch’s grave. After digging more than four meters, the soil becomes unnaturally hard, so Hua Jianming orders the workers to widen the excavation instead of digging deeper.
• They uncover a coffin buried upright. Hua explains that upright burials can be part of feng shui formations, but this grave’s purpose is unclear: the arrangement seems inconsistent with both a blessing for the Xiong family and the corpse qi affecting the patriarch.
• The expanded excavation reveals seven iron stakes surrounding the coffin. Hua identifies them as part of a seven luminaries earth-locking formation, also known as an iron-bone tomb, which makes the earth hard and prevents the coffin from being removed.
• Hua has the group pour baijiu around the stakes, then uses Open-Flame Talismans to burn it. The stakes can then be pulled out, and the soil becomes soft enough to dig.
• The loosened ground suddenly turns dangerous, swallowing workers who struggle to escape. Chen Miao uses a rope to pull them all free, showing remarkable strength.
• Chen asks Hua whether he can remove the coffin directly. Hua says that would be another way to break the formation. Chen then leaps onto the coffin, ties the rope around it, and appears ready to pull it out himself.

Character developments

• Hua Jianming demonstrates his expertise in burial feng shui, but the grave’s unusual design leaves him uncertain. He remains practical, focusing on safely removing the coffin despite the mystery.
• Chen Miao moves from observer to decisive rescuer. His strength and agility become clear when he saves the trapped workers, and he takes bold initiative by attempting to pull out the coffin.
• Wang Wei voices the group’s concern about the upright burial and asks questions, while Pei Ran stays cautious, pulling her away from an iron stake.
• Xiong Jie confirms that the family has no clear record of the original burial instructions; his great-aunt also knows nothing.

Significant themes

• Tradition and uncertainty: Feng shui practices may have intended effects, but Hua cannot explain how this grave’s design relates to the Xiong family’s history.
• Hidden danger beneath appearances: The formation’s purpose and consequences are unclear, and removing its protections turns the grave soil into a lethal hazard.
• Expertise versus improvisation: Hua relies on specialized knowledge, while Chen’s quick judgment and physical ability become crucial when the plan goes wrong.

Character interactions

• Hua explains burial customs and the formation to Wang Wei, Pei Ran, and Chen, sharing both his knowledge and his doubts.
• Xiong Jie tries to help by contacting his family for information, but the call yields no answers.
• When workers are trapped, Chen acts without waiting for instructions, coordinating their escape through the rope.
• Hua’s reassurance that the coffin can be pulled free directly prompts Chen to take action—though the others are left astonished by his plan.

Plot points and events

• Chen Miao tries to haul the Xiong patriarch’s heavy coffin from its grave, but the ropes snap as an unseen suction force pulls it back down.
• Hua Jianming examines the iron nails used in the burial setup and recognizes their script as belonging to the Island Nation. He concludes that an Island Nation Feng Shui Master created the formation and initially assumes it is an earth-element Ground-Sinking Formation.
• Hua uses Azure Wood Talismans and logs to counter the supposed earth element, but the ground remains unstable. Chen Miao realizes the pit behaves like a mire and identifies the formation as a combination of water and earth.
• To counter the water element, Hua has the workers refill the pit with soil. He and the others then use Earth-Fixing Talismans to stabilize it, making the grave safe to enter.
• Hua searches for the expected fire- and wood-element formations but finds none. He concludes that the family who originally disturbed the burial site must have accidentally broken them. With the remaining danger addressed, he orders the coffin raised.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Miao demonstrates remarkable strength, though he cannot overcome the coffin’s supernatural pull. More importantly, his sharp observation corrects Hua’s mistaken diagnosis. He also considers whether the formation’s altered elements might help activate his Water Domain Perception status in new settings.
• Hua Jianming uses his knowledge of Feng Shui and talismans to solve the problem, but his initial theory fails. He is willing to revise it once Chen Miao points out the mire-like behavior.
• Pei Ran and Wang Wei discuss the limits of Pei Ran’s Deity Invocation. Pei Ran says he might overpower Chen Miao by overexerting it, but Wang Wei urges him not to risk his long-term cultivation; he agrees.
• Xiong Jie stays practical and hands-off, offering double pay to keep the workers following Hua’s instructions.

Significant themes

• Observation and collaboration: Chen Miao’s practical insight complements Hua’s expertise, showing that solving the mystery requires both.
• Knowledge and adaptation: The Island Nation’s Feng Shui tradition grew from Great Xia techniques but developed its own strengths.
• Caution and long-term growth: Wang Wei’s concern for Pei Ran emphasizes restraint over dangerous short-term power.
• Unexpected consequences: The old family’s accidental damage to two formations complicates Hua’s search and reveals how past actions shape the present.