Chapter Summaries

Wu Jinliang and Lao Changhai helped Shi Chun test whether a trapped soul would draw the golden threads, and Shi Chun discovered that the threads could not take the bag when he shielded it with the Demon-Bathing Art. Meanwhile, a cloaked figure urged a Heavenforging Sect elder to use Situ Gu’s absence to seize Zhen'er, while Situ Gu promised the unruly Zhen'er he would take her to find Shi Chun after three days.

• Wu Jinliang tricked Lao Xi into trapping an Earth Wolf’s soul and paid him to report any further unusual activity around Wandering River.
• Shi Chun reopened the Two-Realm Passage, took the soul-trapping bag from Wu Jinliang, and sent him and Lao Changhai away with spare Earth Wolves.
• Golden threads reached for the bag, but Shi Chun blocked them with the Demon-Bathing Art and realized that the threads were too few to form a passage unless he helped burn the Death-Defying Incense.
• At the Heavenforging Sect, a cloaked figure told a yellow-bearded elder to use Situ Gu’s three-day absence to find a way to take Zhen'er from her guarded mountain.
• Situ Gu returned to Zhen'er and promised to take her to find Shi Chun after three days, and she willingly went back behind the iron door.

Shi Chun and his allies shifted their Nether Realm operations to a new soul hub while carefully arranging deliveries and keeping their movements hidden. Meanwhile, Master Qing told Xiang Lan'er and Feng Chi that Shi Chun was trapped on the Gathering Grotto Continent, where powerful factions were searching for him and the Xun Gate was under lockdown.

• Shi Chun learned that repeated trips to the Wandering River soul hub had drawn attention, so he sent Lao Changhai to take two Earth Wolf corpses to Qiangyu Hall for their next visit.
• The Black Ring-wearing man received a thousand-gold payment and instructions from the Merchant through his wife, then left the inn with her while watchers kept them under observation.
• Shi Chun, Wu Jinliang, and Xiao Sheng sealed two Soul-Capturing Bags in Iron Caskets and arranged for separate couriers to deliver the caskets and letters before regrouping in hiding.
• Master Qing met Xiang Lan'er and Feng Chi in the Eastern Victory Royal Capital and revealed that Shi Chun was believed to be hiding in a book hall on the Gathering Grotto Continent.
• Master Qing said the Xun Gate was locked down, many factions were searching for Shi Chun, and the higher-ups had taken control of Bright Mountain Sect message relays; Feng Chi insisted Shi Chun would return alive.

Feng Chi and Xiang Lan’er learned that the factions were searching for Shi Chun and his companions, then encountered a messenger bringing Shen Moming a letter supposedly from his master. Feng Chi recognized the handwriting as Shi Chun’s and realized the letter had been written to make it appear that Shen Moming’s master had returned his gifts.

• Master Qing told Feng Chi and Xiang Lan’er that the people above had acted against others while the branch searched for Shi Chun and his companions.
• Feng Chi and Xiang Lan’er returned to the residential district, where Feng Chi noticed patrol guards stopping a messenger headed for Yi-11.
• The messenger said the Wondrous Immortal Sect had sent him to deliver a letter and bundle personally to Shen Moming, so Feng Chi brought him through the formation.
• Shen Moming accepted the letter and bundle, paid the messenger ten thousand gold, and arranged for his return to the city.
• Feng Chi told Xiang Lan’er that the letter’s handwriting resembled Shi Chun’s and described its claim that Shen Moming’s master had severed ties and returned his gifts.

Feng Chi and Xiang Lan'er suspected the parcel held something important, while the old man seized Shi Chun’s letter and Iron Casket from Young Master Nan and discovered a Soul-Capturing Bag inside. Underground, Shi Chun explained that the warning written on the bag—not the delivery arrangements—was what protected the trapped souls, and said they expected to enter the Nether Realm the next day.

• Feng Chi told Xiang Lan'er that the parcel felt like an Iron Casket, and Xiang Lan'er proposed reporting it to their superiors.
• An interrogator learned that the parcel delivered to Young Master Nan had been sent from Gathering Grotto Continent in Western Ox, prompting someone to leave.
• The old man questioned Young Master Nan, took Shi Chun’s letter and Iron Casket, and cut open the casket to find a Soul-Capturing Bag labeled, “Souls confined within. Do not release!”
• Young Master Nan let the old man take the items and lamented that he had spoiled his younger brother’s plans again.
• Wu Jinliang worried that someone might open the bags and release the souls, but Shi Chun explained that the warning would deter most people and that he did not care who held them.
• Shi Chun told Wu Jinliang to keep studying the Nether Realm because they expected to enter it the next day, and Wu Jinliang cheerfully resumed attending to him.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang entered the Nether Realm through a portal that opened over Qiangyu City, where they reunited with Lao Changhai and Chu Jingtang. They learned that the wanted assassin Yu Xuanbing was living in the Nether Realm and considered hiring him to help with their plans.

• Shi Chun killed a street bully and used Death-Defying Incense with Wu Jinliang to open a passage into the Nether Realm.
• The passage appeared high above a city, so Shi Chun used the Three Corpses Mirror to carry himself and Wu Jinliang down to the streets unnoticed.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang contacted Lao Changhai and confirmed they were in Qiangyu City, then met Lao Changhai and Chu Jingtang beneath a tower.
• Chu Jingtang took the group to a rented residence and gave Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang white garments that blocked the invading yin energy.
• Chu Jingtang explained that Yu Xuanbing was a powerful former assassin hiding in the Nether Realm and could be hired for at least thirty million taels.
• Shi Chun asked Chu Jingtang how negotiations with Yu Xuanbing had gone.

Shi Chun decided to keep pursuing Yu Xuanbing as a potential hired assassin while preparing to test Nether Realm techniques with captured souls and bodies. Elsewhere, Ju Shihong failed to reach a captive on Twin Hills Mountain and agreed to help the cloaked figure attack before their opportunity passed.

• Chu Jingtang explained that Yu Xuanbing accepted offers through the Yin-Yang Boundary but had not responded to his letter, which had cost ten thousand liang.
• Shi Chun told Chu Jingtang to keep waiting for Yu Xuanbing, then asked Lao Changhai to gather souls and intact bodies for testing before his departure.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang explored Qiangyu City while the Red-Clad Woman learned that the Spirit-Building Sect was preparing Death-Defying Incense and asked whether Shi Chun had been seen outside.
• Ju Shihong discovered that Situ Gu had secured the target in the Iron Cell and that the mountain was guarded, leaving no chance to take her by trickery.
• Ju Shihong proposed an inside-and-outside assault that would expose him, and the cloaked figure agreed to proceed.

Li Hongjiu refused Dong Wenshu’s request to make Dong Liangyu his disciple, explaining that he had only helped her discover cultivation for herself. Meanwhile, Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang secured thirty-three souls and corpses from death row prisoners, tested their route back to the outside world, and emerged inside a lavish room.

• Dong Liangying asked Li Hongjiu for guidance because she still could not cultivate, and he urged her to be patient.
• Dong Wenshu asked Li Hongjiu to accept Dong Liangyu as a disciple, but Li Hongjiu refused because it would bind her to the Treasure-Evolving Sect.
• Lao Changhai told Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang that Lao Xi had supplied thirty-three death row prisoners’ souls and intact corpses.
• Shi Chun took the corpses and some Soul-Capturing Bags, then left the remaining bags with Lao Changhai for experiments.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang burned Death-Defying Incense and opened a passage to the outside world, and Shi Chun emerged inside a lavish room.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang discovered that the Two-Realm Passage had brought them into the Royal Court after Young Master Nan's Soul-Capturing Bag reached the Right Assistant Marquis. They escaped back to the Nether Realm after proving a Nether Realm corpse could open a passage, leaving Soul-Capturing Bags behind as possible routes and Wu Jinliang looting the room.

• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang found themselves in a lavish room inside the Royal Court's restricted grounds and realized Young Master Nan's item might have fallen into the Royal Court's hands.
• Shi Chun warned Wu Jinliang that contacting Shen Moming could send them into the same danger, then decided to test whether a Nether Realm corpse could open a passage.
• The Right Saint learned that one Soul-Capturing Bag held a dog's soul, but the soul escaped and led the Right Saint and a Nether Cultivator toward the Royal Court's higher grounds.
• Shi Chun saw golden threads emerging from the corpse, confirmed it could connect the realms, and tossed several Soul-Capturing Bags into the room as possible routes.
• Wu Jinliang stole the room's furnishings and valuables before following Shi Chun into the Two-Realm Passage.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang escaped the Royal Court’s inner sanctum, relying on a preserved wolf corpse as a fallback while planning to implicate the Phoenix Clan. The Queen of Eastern Victory Divine Continent ordered the Right Saint to arrest Young Master Nan and investigate Shi Chun’s suspected intrusion.

• Shi Chun explained that reviving the naked corpse with Death-Defying Incense would help prove he and Wu Jinliang were still trapped on Gathering Grotto Continent, while a preserved wolf corpse gave them another route back.
• Wu Jinliang and Shi Chun escaped through the earth, and Shi Chun said he hoped to draw the East Victory Royal Court into a conflict with the Phoenix Clan.
• The Right Saint’s party found a naked male corpse and scattered Soul-Capturing Bags in the Queen’s stripped room, then discovered that the corpse had revived.
• Queen Xin questioned the Right Saint about his investigation and heard how Shi Chun, Young Master Nan, and the Royal Court had become connected.
• Queen Xin ordered the Right Saint to arrest Young Master Nan and bring Demon Eyes to examine the room, while guards were detained for questioning.

The Right Saint investigated the resurrected corpse and ordered a Demon Eye comparison to find whoever had left the Royal Court. Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang fled to the Flame Continent to approach the Heavenforging Sect in secret, but their stay at Clear Wave Inn ended with Shi Chun discovering demonic essence among the unnaturally quiet guests.

• The Right Saint suspected Death-Defying Incense had resurrected the corpse and ordered the cloaked investigators to compare the auras at the scene before they faded.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang escaped the Royal Capital separately through the Xun Gate and traveled to the Flame Continent, avoiding contact with Situ Gu when he did not answer their messages.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang learned that Heavenforging Sect leaders had gone to discuss the Heavenly Palace renovation, then chose a secluded island inn to avoid attention.
• At Clear Wave Inn, the boatman found the inn unexpectedly full, and Shi Chun used his right-eye ability to discover that several guests possessed demonic essence.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang suspected a gathering at the Clear Wave Inn was connected to the Demonic Path and stayed nearby to watch it. In the Royal Capital, Jia Huan secretly arrested Young Master Nan and ordered Wei Mo to take him to Gathering Grotto Continent to find Shi Chun, whose whereabouts remained uncertain.

• Shi Chun noticed powerful Demonic Essence among guests at the Clear Wave Inn, left with Wu Jinliang, and paid the boatman to let them watch the inn from a hidden spot.
• Shi Chun told Wu Jinliang that the guests might belong to the Demonic Path, and they waited nearby while he periodically tried to contact Situ Gu without receiving a reply.
• Authorities secretly arrested Young Master Nan over the male corpse case and took him to a prison interrogation room.
• Jia Huan demanded that Young Master Nan contact Shi Chun, but several messages through the Mother-Child Talisman received no response.
• Jia Huan assigned Wei Mo to take Young Master Nan to Gathering Grotto Continent and find Shi Chun, warning that the search could bring more arrests and bloodshed.
• After Jia Huan left, Young Master Nan asked Wei Mo what Shi Chun had done, and Wei Mo admitted that he did not know.

Shi Chun witnessed Ju Shihong and Demonic Path operatives abduct Zhen'er from the Heavenforging Sect, then bombarded a hill to alert the sect and disrupt their escape. As the sect pursued the abductors, Shi Chun returned to Wu Jinliang and urged him to flee before the search reached them.

• Shi Chun followed Demonic Path operatives into the Heavenforging Sect and discovered Ju Shihong helping them infiltrate Twin Hills Mountain.
• Ju Shihong tricked Zhen'er into opening the Iron Cell, and the masked operatives seized her and carried her away.
• Shi Chun recognized Zhen'er among the abductors but, unable to challenge them, used the Flying Dragon Sword to blast apart a hill and raise the alarm.
• The Heavenforging Sect's patrol pursued the Demonic Path group, while the abductors surfaced and ordered their allies to abandon stealth and flee.
• Shi Chun returned to Wu Jinliang and told him to run before the Heavenforging Sect began a massive search.

Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang discovered that the Demonic Path had abducted Zhen'er from the Heavenforging Sect and traced the plot to Yin Tianlu and the secret art for finding divine fire. They met Situ Gu in the Northern Ju Royal Capital, shared their leads, and agreed to help rescue Zhen'er; Situ Gu also asked Shi Chun to take her in afterward.

• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang escaped to the Nether Realm, where Shi Chun explained that he had raised the alarm after seeing Demonic Path members abduct Zhen'er.
• Shi Chun connected the kidnapping to Yin Tianlu, the Extreme Fire Sect, and the Demonic Path's pursuit of the secret art for finding divine fire.
• Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang traveled to the Northern Ju Royal Capital and sent Situ Gu repeated messages, prompting the Heavenforging Sect's party to return early.
• Situ Gu left the party and met Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, who described the kidnapping and their suspicions about Yin Tianlu.
• Situ Gu asked Shi Chun to help rescue Zhen'er and keep her safe afterward, and Shi Chun accepted before asking Situ Gu for a favor in return.

Situ Gu agreed to take a Book Hall girl as his disciple and set out with Shi Chun to find a Demonic Path member who could carry a message about rescuing Zhen'er. Meanwhile, Ju Shihong and two accomplices delivered the captured Zhen'er to a Demonic Path deputy director, and Situ Gu and Shi Chun arrived at the Phoenix Clan’s Divine Mountain, where Shi Chun proposed inspecting its protective formation before making an arrest.

• Situ Gu refused to take the Book Hall girl at first, then agreed after Shi Chun explained that Zhen'er needed protection and ordered them to rescue her and remove her from danger.
• Situ Gu decided to capture someone from the Demonic Path branch on the Phoenix Clan’s Divine Mountain to deliver a message, while Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang planned to disguise themselves before returning to Gathering Grotto Continent.
• Ju Shihong and two Demonic Path experts met their Deputy Director and handed over the unconscious Zhen'er, whom the Deputy Director identified as a rare fire spirit and planned to examine with the Soul-Seeking Grand Method.
• Situ Gu and Shi Chun arrived at the Divine Mountain, where Shi Chun introduced Situ Gu to the guards as a visiting elder from the Heavenforging Sect.
• Shi Chun asked Situ Gu to use a visit to the Northern Dipper Spirit-Repelling Formation as a pretext to bring him to its central hub before they arrested their target.

Shi Chun persuaded Situ Gu that they should inspect the Divine Mountain’s formation hub because the Demonic Path might have infiltrated the mountain. As Feng Xi tightened his investigation into the theft of Death-Defying Incense, Shi Chun entered the mountain in disguise and recognized demonic essence in Northern Mountain Order Master Huang Ye and the Phoenix Clan Leader.

• Shi Chun told Situ Gu that he wanted to identify Demonic Path cultivators on the Divine Mountain and prepare a fallback plan.
• Feng Xi detained Granny Qi, the Bai Clan members, and Qiu Ben’s Extreme Fire Sect group while searching for the culprit who used Death-Defying Incense in the Eastern Victory Royal Court.
• Feng Xi ordered Feng Qingping to arrest everyone on the list of recent visitors, including Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, and to keep searching for them.
• Feng Jue reported that Situ Gu had arrived, and Feng Xi went with Feng Qingping to welcome him at the mountain gate.
• Shi Chun spotted demonic essence in Huang Ye and Feng Xi as they greeted Situ Gu, then concealed his identity by claiming he had burned his face while playing with fire.

Shi Chun accompanied Situ Gu to the Phoenix Clan’s Divine Mountain, where Situ Gu revealed the Northern Dipper Spirit-Repelling Formation’s central hub but could not reach it. While Situ Gu continued investigating, Shi Chun searched the mountain and identified two Demonic Path figures, then returned to report them.

• Feng Xi agreed to let Situ Gu study the Northern Dipper Spirit-Repelling Formation on the condition that the Phoenix Clan could share what he learned.
• Situ Gu used finger seals to reveal a starry expanse containing the formation’s umbrella-shaped central hub, but its barrier kept him from touching it.
• Shi Chun noticed that the hub’s shaft had a slot resembling a place for his golden Command Arrow, but he held back from testing it.
• Shi Chun left the hall with a maid, marked the locations of Soul-Returning Trees, and passed the time telling her fabricated stories about the Heavenforging Sect.
• Shi Chun returned and told Situ Gu that Huang Ye and Jiang You'er, the men who had greeted them at the Mountain Gate, were connected to the Demonic Path and had taken part in hunting him.

Situ Gu and Shi Chun left Divine Mountain after arranging to investigate Huang Ye, and Situ Gu captured Huang Ye’s operative Jiang You'er with the Mystic Heaven Treasure Bottle. Situ Gu warned Divine Mountain’s leaders to secure the release of his disciple by the next day, leaving Feng Xi and Feng Qingping to confront the discovery of a spy among them.

• Shi Chun persuaded Situ Gu to capture only one person and arranged for the Red-Clad Woman to investigate Huang Ye and his secret contacts.
• Situ Gu left Divine Mountain with Shi Chun, holding back from acting until they reached the Mountain Gate.
• Situ Gu summoned Jiang You'er and sealed him inside the Mystic Heaven Treasure Bottle as Huang Ye and Divine Mountain’s leaders watched.
• Shi Chun warned that Situ Gu would expose or capture the people behind the abduction unless his disciple was released by the next day.
• Situ Gu identified Jiang You'er as an outside spy planted on Divine Mountain and flew away with Shi Chun, leaving Feng Xi and Feng Qingping alarmed.

Feng Xi ordered Bai Qiru arrested despite warnings that powerful people had previously secured her release. Meanwhile, Situ Gu captured Jiang You'er, and Shi Chun drained his demonic essence while interrogating him, leaving Jiang You'er desperately changing his story.

• Li Xianghong reminded Feng Qingping that Bai Qiru had previously been released after someone close to the Demon Empress intervened, but Feng Xi ordered her arrested anyway.
• Huang Ye worried that Situ Gu had exposed his connection to the Demonic Path and used his Mother-Child Talisman to contact someone outside.
• Situ Gu explained the Purple-Gold Gourd to Shi Chun, then released Jiang You'er on a hilltop to question him about his Demonic Path affiliation.
• Jiang You'er transformed into a large patterned snake and tried to escape, but Situ Gu subdued him and Shi Chun dragged him into a cave to interrogate him.
• Shi Chun used the Demon-Bathing Art to drain Jiang You'er's demonic essence, and Jiang You'er first claimed the Returning to the Storehouse branch and then the Linked Mountains branch, while Shi Chun repeatedly said he did not believe him.

Shi Chun tortured Jiang You'er into revealing the location of an injured demonic expert and the identity of his superior, then reported the information to the Red-Clad Woman and Situ Gu. As Shi Chun and Situ Gu headed to Dazhi City, Young Master Nan remained conflicted about helping the authorities capture Shi Chun and his companions.

• Jiang You'er named a hideout in Dulai City and identified Lou Xiu as another Demonic Path operative while Shi Chun continued absorbing his demonic essence.
• Shi Chun sent the injured expert's location to the Red-Clad Woman, who ordered her people to investigate and began suspecting Su Qiao and the Extreme Fire Sect.
• Shi Chun dragged Jiang You'er's corpse to Situ Gu and revealed that Huang Ye, the Order Master of Northern Mountain, had been Jiang You'er's superior in the Returning to the Storehouse lineage.
• Shi Chun told Wu Jinliang to reply to Young Master Nan and postpone their meeting while he and Situ Gu flew toward Dazhi City to complete Dong Liangyi's acceptance as a disciple.
• Young Master Nan felt guilty about betraying Shi Chun and his companions, but Wei Mo reminded him that their superiors had ordered them captured and proposed investigating the Book Hall in Dazhi City.

Shi Chun learned that Bai Qiru had been arrested again and tried to recruit Li Hongjiu to help free her, while Situ Gu formally accepted Dong Liangyi as his disciple. The chapter ended with a cloaked elder beginning to extract secrets from the unconscious Zhen'er on behalf of the forces holding her.

• Investigators found an underground chamber containing a blood pool and hundreds of drained corpses, while Huang Ye remained trapped on the sealed Divine Mountain and feared Jiang You'er would expose him.
• Situ Gu arrived at the Book Hall and accepted Dong Liangyi as his disciple, with Sword Saint Fu Que present to verify his identity.
• Shi Chun learned that Bai Qiru had been arrested again and asked the Red-Clad Woman to intervene, but she said her uncle had forbidden her from getting involved.
• The Red-Clad Woman directed Shi Chun to seek help from Li Hongjiu, who angrily refused to risk his standing by assisting.
• In the Northern Ju Royal Capital, a white-bearded elder began pouring demonic qi into Zhen'er's head to extract the secrets in her spiritual consciousness.