Chapter Summaries

Shi Chun learned why the Dong sisters wanted to study under Situ Gu and Li Hongjiu, then negotiated with the Red-Clad Woman to help arrange their apprenticeships. He secured her agreement to seek Bai Qiru’s release and accepted her condition that the masters teach the siblings at the Book Hall.

• Dong Liangyu told Shi Chun that Dong Liangyu and the Third Miss wanted to become disciples of Situ Gu and Li Hongjiu to protect their family, while the fourth young master favored Fu Que.
• Shi Chun considered whether the Red-Clad Woman knew his identity, then decided to work with her and went to her room in person.
• Shi Chun agreed to help arrange the Dong siblings’ apprenticeships, but asked the Red-Clad Woman to have her cousin-uncle help release Bai Qiru because Li Hongjiu liked her.
• The Red-Clad Woman agreed to seek Bai Qiru’s release on the condition that the masters she found would teach the siblings at the Book Hall, and Shi Chun accepted.

Shi Chun secured Bai Qiru’s release through the Red-Clad Woman and arranged to meet her at the Book Hall. After learning Bai Qiru could contact her grandmother on Divine Mountain, he warned her that Li Hongjiu had fallen for her.

• The Red-Clad Woman rejected Shi Chun’s advances, told him her cultivation had regressed, and agreed to arrange Bai Qiru’s release.
• The Azure-Robed Literatus revealed his new Sword Sense to the Red-Clad Woman, then encountered Shi Chun in the Library Pavilion.
• The Red-Clad Woman informed Shi Chun that Bai Qiru had been released, and Shi Chun asked Wu Jinliang to contact her and send her to the Book Hall.
• Bai Qiru arrived at the Book Hall and asked Wang Ping why he dared come; Shi Chun told her an expert was upstairs and questioned her about contacting her grandmother on Divine Mountain.
• Shi Chun told Bai Qiru that Li Hongjiu had fallen for her.

Shi Chun escaped the Red-Clad Woman’s escort with Wu Jinliang, then returned to the Divine Mountain to steal soul-returning trees. The Red-Clad Woman began tracking him, and her allies arrived at the mountain’s formation as the Smiling Woman questioned whether the fugitives had entered it.

• Shi Chun asked the Red-Clad Woman to arrange an escort and took ten jars of wine before gathering books about the Nether Realm from the Library Pavilion.
• A Smiling Woman escorted Shi Chun toward Barrier Slope, but he slipped away through a cave and fled with Wu Jinliang.
• The Red-Clad Woman discovered Shi Chun had escaped, exchanged teasing messages with him through the Mother-Child Talisman, and went to summon Tracking Experts.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang returned to the Divine Mountain and secretly uprooted soul-returning trees, storing them in the Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet.
• The Smiling Woman arrived at the Divine Mountain with two cloaked figures bearing crimson Demon Eyes and questioned whether Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang had entered the formation.

A-Lan and the Red-Clad Woman pursued Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang onto Divine Mountain after discovering they had entered through the Northern Dipper Spirit-Repelling Formation. The trail vanished near the formation’s perimeter, leading the Red-Clad Woman to suspect the Demonic Path had helped them escape and might be hiding on the mountain.

• A-Lan led six cloaked investigators into Divine Mountain while Feng Qingping and Huang Ye watched uneasily.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang collected nearly two hundred soul-returning trees, saved a sample of the pale-yellow paste, and decided to give Granny Qi only a hundred at first.
• Shi Chun noticed someone watching the route they had used to enter, so he and Wu Jinliang changed course and escaped with the Demon-Bathing Art and Void-Treading Steps.
• The Red-Clad Woman and a Demon Eye user followed the targets’ trail around Divine Mountain, marking the places where they had disturbed the soil.
• Near the formation’s perimeter, the Demon Eye user lost the trail, and the Red-Clad Woman concluded that members of the Demonic Path might have helped Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang escape.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang hid underground to process the soul-returning tree while the Red-Clad Woman searched for them and exchanged a message with Shi Chun. Days later, Li Hongjiu received a letter and wine from an old friend, and eagerly opened the basket before reading the letter.

• Wu Jinliang confirmed that nobody had followed Shi Chun and him, and they went underground to prepare the soul-returning tree for making Death-Defying Incense.
• A-Lan reported that the Red-Clad Woman's search had found no trace of Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, and the Red-Clad Woman told her to keep the search secret.
• Shi Chun replied to the Red-Clad Woman that he missed her and was going to find Situ Gu and Li Hongjiu, prompting her to leave the Divine Mountain.
• Yin Fei told Granny Qi that Gao He had helped Miss Ru escape and had left more materials; Granny Qi ordered him to have the restaurant collect them and finish preparing the dishes.
• Guang Haoyou brought a messenger bearing a letter and two jars of wine for Li Hongjiu, who opened the basket to inspect the wine before reading the letter.

Li Hongjiu received a wine-filled letter from Shi Chun summoning him to Gathering Grotto Continent, then traveled there despite suspecting a trap. Shi Chun promised him wine and beautiful women in Distant Mountain City, but Li Hongjiu remained wary.

• Li Hongjiu tested the delivered wine, drank deeply, and read a letter from Shi Chun asking for help on Gathering Grotto Continent.
• Li Hongjiu realized Shi Chun was threatening to expose his master's scandal and worried that refusing could lead to the revelation of Ten-Thousand-Jun Thunder's destruction of the sects' Magical Treasures.
• Li Hongjiu burned the letter, then left the sect in disguise after getting permission and evaded his master's questions about the wine delivery.
• Li Hongjiu traveled through the Eastern Victory Royal Capital, tried contacting Shi Chun, and asked about Gathering Grotto Continent before heading there.
• Li Hongjiu noticed strict inspections at the continent's exit and contacted Shi Chun, who urged him to come to Distant Mountain City for fine wine and beautiful women.

Shi Chun brought Li Hongjiu to Dazhi City, showed him evidence of his group’s activities, and revealed that he wanted Li’s help pursuing a woman connected to the Demon Empress. He explained that winning her over would secure ingredients for Death-Defying Incense, which could repair Li’s damaged magical treasures.

• Granny Qi confirmed that the group should cook as many of the hundred fish as they had obtained.
• Huang Ye ordered Jiang You'er to withdraw from Shi Chun’s affairs and observe without acting.
• Li Hongjiu followed Xiao Sheng to Dazhi City and learned about Shi Chun’s past work and schemes there.
• Shi Chun welcomed Li Hongjiu with fine wine and food, then admitted he wanted help pursuing a woman from Morning Moon Hall.
• Shi Chun showed Li Hongjiu the repaired Boundless Banner and explained that he needed the woman’s connections to obtain ingredients for Death-Defying Incense.

Shi Chun persuaded Li Hongjiu to help him by accepting Dong Liangying as a disciple in name and pretending to confess to the married proprietress of the Bai Family Rice Shop. Li Hongjiu agreed for the sake of their brotherhood, but warned that he would abandon the plan if anything differed from Shi Chun’s account.

• Shi Chun told Li Hongjiu that Dong Liangying wanted him as her master and offered to handle the arrangement so Li Hongjiu could avoid his master’s scrutiny while enjoying the Book Hall’s fine wine.
• Shi Chun explained that he had claimed Li Hongjiu loved the Bai Family Rice Shop’s proprietress to secure her release and gain a favor from the Bai Clan for his Death-Defying Incense plans.
• Shi Chun asked Li Hongjiu to confess his supposed feelings to the married proprietress so she could reject him, then accept Dong Liangying as a disciple in name only.
• Li Hongjiu agreed to help Shi Chun but said he would walk away if the plan involved unexpected obligations or risks.
• Shi Chun revealed that Wu Jinliang had threatened to expose Li Hongjiu’s destruction of the sects’ magical treasures, and Li Hongjiu agreed that Wu was untrustworthy.
• Shi Chun poured Li Hongjiu more wine and proposed that they finish drinking before going to the Rice Shop.

Shi Chun guided Li Hongjiu to visit Bai Qiru, then brought him to the Book Hall while concealing his movements from the Red-Clad Woman. The Red-Clad Woman challenged Shi Chun to bring Li Hongjiu to her before midnight in exchange for becoming his woman, and Shi Chun wondered whether he could actually do it.

• Shi Chun persuaded Li Hongjiu to visit Bai Qiru so their supposed connection would seem credible.
• Li Hongjiu checked on Bai Qiru at the rice shop, but left without confessing after she told him she had a husband.
• Shi Chun took Li Hongjiu to the Book Hall, where they learned Mister Fu was still upstairs.
• The Red-Clad Woman messaged Shi Chun to check whether he had left Gathering Grotto Continent, and he claimed he would bring Li Hongjiu to her.
• The Red-Clad Woman demanded that Shi Chun bring Li Hongjiu before midnight and promised to become his woman if he did; Shi Chun was surprised by her offer.

Shi Chun brought Li Hongjiu to the Book Hall to claim the Red-Clad Woman’s promise, while she waited for news about Li Hongjiu and the Xun Gate. After Shi Chun arrived at her room and pressed her to honor their bargain, Li Hongjiu appeared, leaving Ruojun unsettled by her mistaken assumptions and Shi Chun’s teasing introduction.

• Shi Chun asked the Red-Clad Woman to confirm her promise, then hid Li Hongjiu upstairs while she secretly ordered an investigation of the Xun Gate.
• The Red-Clad Woman waited in her room, and Shi Chun slipped inside after nightfall and reminded her that she had promised to be his woman if he brought Li Hongjiu before midnight.
• Shi Chun persuaded Ruojun to agree first, and she let him embrace and kiss her before stopping him from going further.
• Shi Chun messaged Li Hongjiu, who came downstairs, while Ruojun sensed another person in the Library Pavilion and realized her information about the Treasure-Evolving Sect might be wrong.
• Ruojun confirmed Li Hongjiu’s identity, and Shi Chun introduced her as Ruojun and told Li Hongjiu to call her “sister-in-law.”

Li Hongjiu arrived at the Dong family residence to discuss Dong Liangying’s apprenticeship, while the Red-Clad Woman questioned the conflicting reports about his arrival. After Dong Liangyu withdrew from consideration as Fu Que’s disciple, Li Hongjiu proposed a powerful teacher for her and revealed the person was the Chief of the Bright Mountain Sect.

• The Red-Clad Woman questioned Li Hongjiu about arriving at Shi Chun’s invitation, and Shi Chun admitted he had brought him within the promised time by exploiting the wording of his agreement.
• Dong Liangze met Li Hongjiu and Shi Chun, then summoned his family; Fu Que watched from the Library Pavilion as Shi Chun touched the Red-Clad Woman’s waist and received an elbow strike.
• The Red-Clad Woman secretly ordered her people to verify in person whether Li Hongjiu was still at the Treasure-Evolving Sect.
• Dong Wenshu explained Dong Liangying’s wish to become Li Hongjiu’s disciple, and Li Hongjiu listened while intending to avoid involvement in trouble.
• Dong Liangyu withdrew from consideration as Fu Que’s disciple, so Li Hongjiu offered her another teacher and revealed that he was the Chief of the Bright Mountain Sect.

Li Hongjiu praised Shi Chun to the Dong family as a teacher for Dong Liangyu, but Dong Wenshu rejected the match over Shi Chun’s origins and reputation. Li instead accepted Dong Liangying as his first disciple, and Shi Chun later met the Red-Clad Woman, who gave him a black ring as a token of affection.

• Li Hongjiu extolled Shi Chun’s martial and scholarly accomplishments and promised he could help Dong Liangyu overcome her inability to cultivate.
• Dong Wenshu refused to let Dong Liangyu become Shi Chun’s disciple because Shi Chun was born in the Land of Exile and had a questionable reputation.
• Dong Wenshu wrote a Betrothal Invitation, and Dong Liangying completed the tea-offering ceremony to become Li Hongjiu’s first disciple.
• The Red-Clad Woman invited Shi Chun to her room, discussed his plans to leave, and gave him a patterned black ring as a token of love.
• Shi Chun gave the Red-Clad Woman a hairpin and tried to kiss her, but she dodged his lips and let him kiss her cheek.

Shi Chun left the Book Hall after evading the Red-Clad Woman’s watchers, then met Wu Jinliang at Barrier Slope and explained why they needed her help. He planned to seek a pardon for the Golden-Haired Rat Clan from the Demon Empress in exchange for their freedom and possible access to the Demon Tome and Northern Dipper Spirit-Repelling Formation.

• Shi Chun gave the Red-Clad Woman a hairpin, but she rejected his advances and ordered A-Lan to watch him and everyone he contacted.
• A-Lan reported that Li Hongjiu had left the Treasure-Evolving Sect, while Shi Chun returned to Li Hongjiu with wine and examined the ring Dong Liangyu had given him.
• Shi Chun quietly left the Book Hall, and the Red-Clad Woman’s watchers lost track of him after he used magic to conceal his aura and escaped by carriage.
• The Red-Clad Woman sensed that Shi Chun was approaching the north gate but told A-Lan to keep the watchers on standby.
• Shi Chun flew to Barrier Slope and told Wu Jinliang they should ask the Red-Clad Woman’s cousin-uncle to secure a pardon for the Golden-Haired Rat Clan from the Demon Empress.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang hid in a mountain cave to study the Nether Realm while the Red-Clad Woman secretly watched them. After learning that Zhuyong Hall processed wolf and dog souls at Wandering River, they prepared to collect newly made Death-Defying Incense, but Shi Chun spotted an ambush outside the cave.

• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang hid in a cave and studied books about the Nether Realm while waiting for more Death-Defying Incense.
• Li Hongjiu explored the Book Hall's extensive library, and the Red-Clad Woman secretly tracked Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang but could not discover what they were reading.
• Wu Jinliang found that Zhuyong Hall handled wolf and dog souls at Wandering River, explaining why killing an earth wolf had sent them there.
• The Red-Clad Woman asked Fu Que to use his Sword Sense to spy on the two men, but Fu Que refused.
• Yin Xu told Shi Chun that the next batch of Death-Defying Incense was ready, and Shi Chun prepared to collect it and test travel to the Nether Realm.
• Shi Chun spotted an ambush outside the cave and urgently stopped Wu Jinliang from opening a path out.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang retrieved another batch of Death-Defying Incense and Soul-Returning Tree material while A-Lan’s people secretly tracked their collection site. Shi Chun reopened a passage to the Nether Realm to contact Chu Jingtang, and the Red-Clad Woman sensed the passage and recognized it as connected to the Nether Realm.

• Shi Chun detected eight demon cultivators observing the area, but he and Wu Jinliang escaped without being pursued and later collected three jars of Death-Defying Incense with Xiao Sheng’s help.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang hid their remaining Soul-Returning Tree cores at a rocky mountain and arranged for Granny Qi to receive another batch of goods.
• A-Lan’s people discovered black wood scraps at the hidden cache, and the Red-Clad Woman suspected they were Soul-Returning Tree wood and ordered A-Lan to have them identified.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang burned Death-Defying Incense beneath the ground, opening a passage through which Shi Chun entered the Nether Realm and contacted Chu Jingtang.
• The Red-Clad Woman sensed the passage and cried out that it was the Nether Realm, then concentrated again to confirm what she had felt.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang waited underground while the Red-Clad Woman investigated Shi Chun and the Nether Realm, and Lao Changhai helped clear Nether Realm guards from their meeting place. When Shi Chun discovered they had been surrounded again, he suspected the Black Ring had pinpointed his location.

• Wu Jinliang buried the resurrected Earth Wolf, and Shi Chun rested while the Red-Clad Woman sensed him underground and went to investigate.
• The Red-Clad Woman found Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang beneath the earth, then had A-Lan's watchers conceal themselves around her position.
• Lao Changhai arrived at the Wandering River, used Lao Xi's help to avoid arrest, and paid him to get the armored guards to leave.
• A-Lan told the Red-Clad Woman that the soul-returning tree had been traced to two winehouse workers in Distant Mountain City, and the Red-Clad Woman decided to question Shi Chun about its source.
• After an hour, Shi Chun checked their surroundings and discovered ten demon cultivators had encircled him and Wu Jinliang, prompting him to examine the Black Ring.

Shi Chun suspected the ring was being used to track him, escaped the watchers, and set a trap in Distant Mountain City to test it. The Red-Clad Woman discovered his decoy and realized he was investigating the ring, but ordered her operatives to continue the plan so he would believe she had not noticed his discovery.

• Shi Chun abandoned his meeting with Lao Changhai and fled with Wu Jinliang, while their watchers let them go.
• The Red-Clad Woman and A-Lan investigated the underground hiding place and found signs that Shi Chun had used Death-Defying Incense.
• Lao Changhai waited in the Nether Realm and grew concerned when Shi Chun failed to arrive or send word.
• Shi Chun arranged for Xiao Sheng to give the ring to a lookalike in Distant Mountain City, then watched from a nearby inn to see whether the watchers followed it.
• The Red-Clad Woman sensed the ring on the decoy and identified Shi Chun's nearby position, concluding that he was testing whether the ring was compromised.
• The Red-Clad Woman told A-Lan to let the eight operatives proceed, intending to let Shi Chun expose them while concealing that she knew he was onto her.

Shi Chun confirmed that the ring in Distant Mountain City was a trap and decided to let the Red-Clad Woman keep watching while he tested the Nether Realm passage again. He brought Lao Changhai back to the living world, learned why Lao Xi was willing to help, and heard Wu Jinliang ask why the Nether Realm used ancient money.

• Shi Chun confirmed the ring was suspicious, left the city, and warned Wu Jinliang not to alert Granny Qi or halt the Soul-Returning Tree handover.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang traveled beyond the Divine Mountain's influence, opened the Black Hole using an Earth Wolf's corpse, and Shi Chun entered the Nether Realm.
• Shi Chun contacted Lao Changhai, arranged a return time with Lao Xi, and brought Lao Changhai through the Two-Realm Passage.
• Shi Chun destroyed the Golden Thread bundle, and Lao Changhai explained that Lao Xi needed money to secure good reincarnations for his family.
• Wu Jinliang asked Lao Changhai why the Nether Realm used ancient money despite being sealed off.

Shi Chun failed to capture souls with the Nether Realm pouch and sent Lao Changhai and Wu Jinliang to test whether they could open the Two-Realm Passage from the Nether Realm side. Meanwhile, Dong Liangyu gained an unexpected insight while reading the Borrowed Realm cultivation art, and Li Hongjiu intervened as she entered a strange state.

• Lao Changhai explained how the Nether Realm’s ancient coins were made from liang and jie, and told Shi Chun that he and Wu Jinliang had bought a pouch for capturing souls.
• Shi Chun used Death-Defying Incense on an earth wolf, but the souls vanished when he severed their golden threads and tried to catch them in the pouch.
• Shi Chun sent Lao Changhai and Wu Jinliang into the Nether Realm with the earth wolf and pouch to test whether they could seize its soul there and open the Two-Realm Passage.
• Dong Liangyu read Li Hongjiu’s Borrowed Realm cultivation art and, despite being unable to cultivate, stirred faint ripples in the space around her.
• Li Hongjiu, Fu Que, and the Red-Clad Woman came to Dong Liangyu as she seemed trapped in a nightmare, and Li Hongjiu stopped Fu Que from intervening and began reciting a passage to her.

Li Hongjiu helped Dong Liangyu overcome her damaged meridians as she discovered an unconventional way to cultivate, while the Red-Clad Woman reacted angrily to his calling her “sister-in-law.” Meanwhile, Shi Chun reopened the passage to the Nether Realm so Lao Changhai and Wu Jinliang could recruit Lao Xi for their business.

• Li Hongjiu recited from Borrowed Realm until Dong Liangyu joined him and found a way to circulate breath around her defective meridians.
• Dong Liangyu began cultivating, drew in spiritual energy, and divided her circulating breath into countless strands as her vitality improved.
• Li Hongjiu called the Red-Clad Woman “sister-in-law,” then claimed Dong Liangyu had comprehended the method herself before returning upstairs.
• The Red-Clad Woman denied Fu Que had heard Li Hongjiu correctly, examined the book Borrowed Realm, and left while Fu Que began reading it.
• Shi Chun reopened the Nether Realm passage for Lao Changhai and Wu Jinliang, who met Lao Xi in the wilderness and asked him to help with their business.