Chapter Summaries

Ning Xiang persuaded Lu Qingchen to return from the Underworld, where she reunited with her family and received a Book of Life and Death from the Ghost Emperor. The book revealed that Yu Tingchao was fated to die that very day, and Ning Xiang hurried to get back.

• Ning Xiang convinced Lu Qingchen to return with her after teasing him about her possible marriages, and he insisted she report everything that had happened to her.
• Lu Qingchen reminded Ning Xiang that she had said she wanted to marry him while he was unconscious, then promised her all his spirit stones.
• Ning Xiang and Lu Qingchen followed the man in black armor to Mu Fang'ai and her sons, whom they found playing mahjong with the Ghost Emperor.
• The Ghost Emperor gave Ning Xiang a Book of Life and Death, which named Yu Tingchao as dying on that day's date.
• Ning Xiang urged her family to return as soon as possible, and Ning Hui read the death prediction aloud.

Ning Xiang reached Penglai Island amid a demon beast invasion and found Yu Tingchao offering himself as a hostage to protect the islanders. When he detonated himself to kill the Great Demon and strike the surrounding enemies, Ning Xiang could only watch helplessly.

• Before leaving the Underworld, Ning Xiang learned from the Ghost Emperor that crossing Yu Tingchao's name out of the Book of Life and Death would not save him.
• Ning Xiang sent Lu Qingchen's soul form with Ning Chuan toward Tianxuan Island while she and her family headed for Penglai Island, which was under siege.
• Ning Xiang teleported to Penglai Island and found its streets strewn with the bodies of cultivators and islanders.
• A Great Demon demanded the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation's Array Manual from True Lord Hengyan and threatened to kill captives; Yu Tingchao offered himself in their place.
• Trapped in a Spirit-Severing Formation, Ning Xiang watched Yu Tingchao detonate himself, killing the Great Demon and striking numerous demon cultivators and beasts.

Yu Tingchao sacrificed himself to destroy the Great Demon, and Ning Xiang fought to defend the survivors from Man-Eating Bees and the remaining Demon Cultivators and Demon Beasts. Su Lang rescued her after she nearly lost control, and she passed out, dreaming of her days at Solitary Light Peak.

• Ning Xiang realized Yu Tingchao had used the forbidden Spirit-Detonation Formation and vanished in his self-detonation.
• Ning Hui protected Ning Xiang from a swarm of Man-Eating Bees, and Ning Xiang and the others helped defend cultivators and commoners.
• Ning Xiang joined the battle against the Demon Beasts, then nearly attacked Su Lang while overcome by bloodlust.
• Su Lang, having achieved nascent soul formation, fought through the enemies with Ning Xiang until she passed out in his arms.
• Ning Xiang dreamed of Chengfeng Courtyard, where Yu Tingchao and Jiang Miaomiao appeared as they had in her memories.

After Yu Tingchao sacrificed himself, Ning Xiang grieved and learned that his body and soul had been destroyed. A Recording Pearl revealed his childhood promise to marry her, and Lu Qingchen offered to search the Underworld for him after three months, but Ning Xiang turned away from his touch.

• Su Lang told Ning Xiang that the Demon Cultivators had cursed her and that their forces had temporarily withdrawn after the others fought them.
• Ning Xiang learned that the Ghost Gate could not open for three months and that Yu Tingchao could not enter the Underworld without a soul.
• Ning Xiang found a paper fox in Yu Tingchao's room, which led her to a Recording Pearl showing his childhood promise to marry her.
• Lu Qingchen told Ning Xiang he would go to the Underworld after three months to search for Yu Tingchao, but she turned her face away when he touched her.

After Yu Tingchao’s death, Ning Xiang kept busy grieving while the Three Domains descended into chaos and the group sought a Soul-Calming Pearl that could restore mind-controlled cultivators. She set out for the Hundred-Flower Continent with Su Lang and the others, but remained unable to stop thinking about Tingchao.

• Ning Xiang spent the days after Yu Tingchao’s death rebuilding the Eastern Sea and beating demon beasts, then buried a Bunny Lord at his grave before agreeing to leave for the sect with Su Lang.
• Ning Pingzhang warned Ning Xiang not to return to the Tianyuan Continent because mind-controlled cultivators had thrown the immortal sects, including the Profound Heaven Sect, into chaos.
• Jiang Miaomiao revealed that a Soul-Calming Pearl might restore the affected cultivators, and Ning Xiang recalled that the Hundred-Flower Continent could hold one.
• Hanying joined Ning Xiang’s group and reported that Bai Xi and his allies were heading to the Hundred-Flower Continent to seek the Qin Household’s Array Manual, so they boarded the Seven-Treasure Spirit Vessel and set out.
• During the three-day journey, Ning Xiang sparred with Su Lang and Ning Chuan, then grew tearful as she repeatedly thought of Yu Tingchao despite their attempts to console her.

Su Lang and Ning Xiang learned that the Kongtong Seal might let them return to the past to save Tingchao, and they arrived at Hundred-Flower Continent to continue their search for the Soul-Calming Pearl. Ning Xiang worried that using the seal could harm Mingyuan and feared the catastrophe she had seen in the Underworld's water mirror would come to pass.

• Su Heming told Su Lang that the Kongtong Seal could reverse time and that the fruit of the undying tree might save Tingchao, then urged Su Lang to marry and leave an heir before seeking danger.
• Ning Xiang secretly studied records about the Returning Ruins and the undying tree, while Su Lang promised to accompany her and endured her repeated, discordant performances of "Green Robes."
• The Seven-Treasure Spirit Vessel reached Hundred-Flower Continent, where Qin Ge received Ning Chuan and the others and led them to the Qin residence.
• Alone in her room, Ning Xiang wondered whether saving Tingchao would harm Mingyuan and resolved to ask him to remove the life-share gu when she could.
• Ning Xiang dreamed of devastation across several domains and Tianyuan Continent, then lay awake fearing that Senior Brother's fate would match what the Underworld's water mirror had shown.

Ning Xiang and her companions searched for the Soul-Calming Pearl, then shared a chaotic meal of grilled dragon carp and wine. The next day, Hanying sensed her husband nearby, and the group pursued Bai Xi, only for the man accompanying her to disappear with her.

• Ning Xiang's group searched all day for the Soul-Calming Pearl but found none.
• Ning Xiang blasted Seven-Star Dragon Carp out of Falling Star Lake, and the group grilled and ate them.
• Ning Xiang drank Hundred-Flower Wine, passed out in Su Lang's arms, and told him she would not allow him to die.
• The group resumed their search the next morning, and Hanying sensed her husband nearby.
• The group followed the Langhua Sword to Bai Xi, but the tall man with her vanished with Bai Xi before they could catch up.

Song Tan and Bai Xi confronted Hanying and her companions in a valley, where Song Tan began to waver after Qin Ge questioned his past and Hanying stirred an unexplained sense of compassion in him. As the fight escalated, Bai Xi grabbed Ning Xiang, sealed her spiritual power, and dropped her from the air.

• Song Tan returned to the Hundred-Flower Continent to seek the Array Manual and encountered Hanying and her companions in a secluded valley.
• Bai Xi ordered Song Tan to kill the group, and Ning Xiang took them aboard the Seven-Treasure Spirit Vessel to escape.
• Bai Xi attacked the vessel with venomous snakes, but Qin Ge trapped them in a vine net and Ning Xiang burned them away.
• Qin Ge questioned Song Tan about his past and abilities, weakening his attacks, while Bai Xi insisted that they were husband and wife.
• Xia Buyan protected Jiang Miaomiao from Bai Xi, and Ning Xiang reflected Bai Xi's venom back onto her with the Starcloud Umbrella.
• Bai Xi seized Ning Xiang, sealed her spiritual power, and dropped her from the air.

Ning Xiang defeated Bai Xi and learned that the Ghost Lord had respectfully addressed someone as the Mars Star Lord. After Song Tan rejected Hanying despite glimpses of his memories, Ning Xiang used music to calm him and summoned the Dream-Eating Tapir to arrange a dream for Bai Xi.

• Ning Xiang burned and subdued Bai Xi, who revealed that the Ghost Lord had spoken respectfully to the Mars Star Lord.
• Ning Xiang bound and beat Bai Xi in snake form, then returned with her to the Seven-Treasure Spirit Vessel.
• Ning Xiang warned Xia Buyan that killing Bai Xi would kill Song Tan because they were bound by a life-share gu.
• Hanying reminded Song Tan of their marriage and daughter Caiwei, but a voice in his mind turned his confusion into killing intent.
• Su Lang played the Nine Splendors Phoenix-Felling Flute, calming Song Tan, though he still did not recognize Hanying.
• Ning Xiang called out the Dream-Eating Tapir and ordered it to arrange a dream for Bai Xi.

Ning Xiang and her companions learned that Bai Xi had used a Soul-Shattering Lamp to destroy Song Tan’s memories and discovered that the Returning Ruins had an entrance somewhere on the Hundred-Flower Continent. They returned to rest before searching for the Soul-Calming Pearl, while Su Lang’s feelings for Ning Xiang remained unspoken.

• Hanying recognized Song Tan as the man from the dreamscape, and Ning Xiang knocked him unconscious so he could rest and recover his memories.
• Ning Xiang captured Bai Xi, removed her demon core, and made her swallow Soul-Bewildering Powder after Bai Xi warned that Song Tan would die if she died because of the life-share gu.
• Su Heming told Su Lang that ancient texts revealed an entrance to the Returning Ruins on the Hundred-Flower Continent, though he could not pinpoint its location and the undying divine tree bore fruit only once every thousand years.
• Su Lang told Su Heming that there was someone he liked, then cut off the communication before his father could question him; Ning Xiang joked about marrying into the Zhou Family.
• Jiang Miaomiao said Bai Yueguang might also be under the Yin-Yang Soul-Control Curse, and the group agreed to seek the Soul-Calming Pearl before retiring for the night.
• Ning Xiang stood beneath the veranda gazing at the moon and saw Su Lang waiting at the far end of the covered walkway.

Ning Xiang and her companions found Nether Rain Crossing while searching for the Soul-Calming Pearl, then reached the dangerous White Bone Bridge. As Ning Xiang crossed first, a vision of Yu Tingchao confronted her, and she tried to expose the apparition with riddles.

• Hanying told Ning Xiang how Zhu Yu seized the throne and explained that he repeatedly challenged the Mars Star Lord, losing his power every five years after each defeat.
• Ning Xiang spotted Nether Rain Crossing on the map, and the group traveled there because its waters flowed into the Returning Ruins.
• The group discovered an array at the gorge that prevented them from flying across, so Ning Xiang decided they would cross the White Bone Bridge on foot.
• Ning Xiang rigged a die so she would have to go first, while Su Lang secretly placed a Form-Swapping Talisman on her back.
• A vision of Yu Tingchao appeared to Ning Xiang on the bridge, and she challenged it with riddles to determine whether it was really her Junior Brother.

Ning Xiang and her companions became trapped in a strange village and learned that she had used the Soul-Calming Pearl eleven years earlier to stabilize True Lord Qingchen’s fractured Divine Soul. After Jiang Miaomiao destroyed the village, the group fled across the collapsing White Bone Bridge, but Ning Xiang and Su Lang fell into the raging river.

• Ning Xiang crossed the White Bone Bridge after resisting an illusion, and the others joined her; Xia Buyan admitted he had imagined beauties fighting to marry him.
• The group found a village whose residents lacked vital auras and could not see them, then discovered they could not leave and that the bridge had vanished.
• Little Nine revealed that eleven years earlier Ning Xiang had brought the Soul-Calming Pearl to Floating Jade Mountain to stabilize True Lord Qingchen, after which the pearl secretly flew away.
• Jiang Miaomiao threw a Thunderclap Pearl, turning the village and its residents into a torrent of mud while leaving the group unable to use spiritual power.
• The group retreated across the White Bone Bridge as it began to collapse, and Ning Xiang and Su Lang fell into the raging river when the bones beneath them snapped.

Ning Xiang and Su Lang entered the Returning Ruins in search of the Undying Divine Tree to save Tingchao. After surviving traps and choosing the Scenery Gate, they found the divine tree.

• Ning Xiang and Su Lang reached the entrance to the Returning Ruins, and Lei Aotian found an underwater passage leading inside.
• Ning Xiang and Su Lang rode Lei Aotian through the water, passed a palace bearing the name Fire Virtue Mars Star Lord, and felt the Azure Sea Sword tremble.
• Ning Xiang and Su Lang survived arrows, wall blades, and grasping corpse hands in a narrow cave passage.
• Ning Xiang and Su Lang chose the Scenery Gate, which they connected to the Mars Star Lord's fire attribute.
• Ning Xiang and Su Lang entered the gate and found the Undying Divine Tree.

Ning Xiang and Su Lang braved the undying divine tree’s defenses to obtain the Undying Fruit for Yu Tingchao, while the Mars Star Lord mistook Ning Xiang for someone sent by the Ghost Emperor. After Lei Aotian picked the fruit, a sudden flood swept through the area, and the group fled on his back.

• Lei Aotian spotted a golden Undying Fruit in the tree’s crown, but Ning Xiang’s Paper Puppet vanished when it tried to reach it.
• Su Lang tried to cut the fruit free with the Langhua Sword, but the tree’s lightning and leaf arrays attacked him until Ning Xiang helped break the array with a Thunderclap Pearl.
• The Mars Star Lord appeared and, after Ning Xiang claimed the Ghost Emperor had sent her, agreed not to interfere because he owed him a favor.
• Ning Xiang threatened the Undying Divine Tree with her Golden Crow Brightflame, and the tree lowered its crown; Lei Aotian picked the fruit and kicked it to her.
• After Ning Xiang stored the Undying Fruit, seawater surged in and the mountains shifted, so Su Lang led her onto Lei Aotian’s back as they flew upward.

Ning Xiang reunited with her companions after leaving the Returning Ruins, where Lei Aotian had found the Soul-Calming Pearl. She still planned to find her junior brother, and Mingyuan refused to help her use the Kongtong Seal to return to the past.

• Ning Xiang emerged from the Returning Ruins with Su Lang and reunited with Mingyuan, Qin Ge, and the others.
• Lei Aotian gave up the Soul-Calming Pearl he had fished from the water, and Ning Xiang activated it to soothe everyone.
• Ning Xiang gave the pearl to Ning Chuan and said she would go find her junior brother, prompting Mingyuan to mistake her plan for a wish to die.
• Mingyuan tried to take Ning Xiang to the Demon Domain, but the Langhua Sword and a spirit vine stopped him as Jiang Miaomiao accidentally sent a recording to Zhu Yu and Lu Qingchen.
• Ning Xiang drew Mingyuan aside and asked how to activate the Kongtong Seal to return to the past, but he refused to give it to her.

Ning Xiang pressured Mingyuan to reveal how to activate the Kongtong Seal, but learned that using it to return to the past would shorten her life. She also asked him to remove their life-share gu, while the others dealt with turmoil in the Capital City and Xia Buyan’s suddenly bald crown.

• Ning Xiang used questions about marriage to trick Mingyuan into admitting he knew how to activate the Kongtong Seal, but he refused to explain.
• Mingyuan muted Zhu Yu’s messages while Ning Xiang promised to marry him at the start of spring, infuriating Zhu Yu.
• Mingyuan finally told Ning Xiang that activating the Kongtong Seal to return to the past could shorten her life, and Ning Xiang said she was willing to trade her life for Tingchao’s.
• Ning Xiang asked Mingyuan to remove the life-share gu, and Su Lang explained that Qin Ge and Ning Chuan had gone to the Capital City to handle Demon Beasts and cultivators who had lost their minds.
• Lei Aotian snatched Xia Buyan’s ceremonial hat and revealed that rain had corroded the hair on top of his head, while Jiang Miaomiao urged Ning Xiang to explain how to use the Kongtong Seal.

Ning Xiang said farewell to Su Lang and traveled with Mingyuan to the Tai Bai Domain to rescue her Junior Brother by entering the past. She arrived in a room with her youthful Junior Brother, who asked to hear the bells.

• Ning Xiang apologized to Su Lang and offered him a wish if he could guess her thoughts, then explained her plan to accompany Mingyuan into the past to save her Junior Brother.
• Su Lang agreed to return to support the Profound Heaven Sect and Void Palace, while Ning Xiang promised to take care of herself and received a thirty-million betrothal gift from him.
• Ning Xiang said goodbye to Jiang Miaomiao, Xia Buyan, and Su Lang, then flew with Mingyuan toward the Tai Bai Domain on Lei Aotian.
• At Chaohua Palace, Mingyuan explained that the Heavenly Gods were behind the unrest and warned Ning Xiang he would pull her out if she was in danger.
• Ning Xiang used her blood to unite with Mingyuan and entered his memories, where she saw her youthful Junior Brother ask to hear the bells.

Ning Xiang visited Yu Tingchao in the past, fed him an enormous Undying Fruit, and urged him to stay alive before preparing to leave for the Underworld. When she discovered he could hear her thoughts, she confronted him, but Yu Tingchao clung to her and pleaded for forgiveness, ending with a declaration that his heart had never lied to her.

• Ning Xiang covered Yu Tingchao in bells and made him eat the enormous Undying Fruit, pretending it was a Youthful Beauty Fruit.
• Ning Xiang told Yu Tingchao never to give up on living and said she had to prepare for her trip to the Underworld.
• Yu Tingchao stopped Ning Xiang from leaving and declared that only he could marry her, revealing he had heard her thoughts.
• Ning Xiang confronted Yu Tingchao about hearing her thoughts, but he denied it and then admitted it was accidental.
• Yu Tingchao held Ning Xiang from behind, offered to reveal his secrets, and pressed her hand to his heart as he said it had never lied to her.

Ning Xiang and Mingyuan fought a devastating Demon Beast invasion in the Tai Bai Domain, then traveled to the Purple Tenuity Domain to help Zhu Yu. The beasts retreated, and the group began investigating why they were unusually powerful and lacked demonic aura.

• Ning Xiang woke twenty days later, found Mingyuan beside her, and discovered the Bunny Lord had returned to her Spirit Bracelet, but she still could not reach Yu Tingchao.
• Countless Demon Beasts attacked the Tai Bai Domain, and Mingyuan charged into battle while Ning Xiang and Xing Dahai joined the defense.
• Mingyuan summoned the Four Fierce Beasts through Soul-Rending, but the beast tide overwhelmed the Tai Bai Domain’s demonic cultivators and caused heavy casualties.
• After receiving a reassuring message from Zhu Yu, Ning Xiang traveled with Mingyuan to the Purple Tenuity Domain, where heavenly fire and Demon Beasts had devastated the land.
• Ning Xiang and Mingyuan helped Zhu Yu fight the beasts, which soon retreated, and the group discussed their unusual strength and lack of demonic aura.

Ning Xiang returned to the Lotus Palace, where Song Tan revealed that the Mars Star Lord had directed the Ghost Lord, raising new questions about the calamity. She tried to keep Zhu Yu and Mingyuan from fighting, but they clashed anyway before she left with Zhu Yu, who joked that the Mars Star Lord would become a Pallas's cat if he lost their wager.

• Ning Xiang reunited with Caiwei and told her that her family would soon be together, then Caiwei ran to meet her returning father, Song Tan.
• Song Tan told Zhu Yu that the Mars Star Lord had given the Ghost Lord orders and explained how Meng Xin, Bai Xi, and others had altered his memories.
• Ning Xiang worried about her loved ones at the Profound Heaven Sect, and Mingyuan urged her to rest before returning there the next day.
• Mingyuan interrupted Zhu Yu and Ning Xiang, challenged Zhu Yu to a fight, and the two battled while Ning Xiang cooked hot pot nearby.
• Ning Xiang turned into a Pallas's cat to avoid Zhu Yu taking her away, and Zhu Yu carried her to his bedchamber.
• Ning Xiang asked about Zhu Yu's wager with the Mars Star Lord, and Zhu Yu joked that the Star Lord would turn into a Pallas's cat if he lost.