Chapter Summaries

Black Snake and Xiao Yu defeated the man who ambushed them, learning that he had attacked to protect a cave rumored to enable ascension. Injured and back at the cave, they questioned whether its promise was real as Black Snake considered what he might do if his cultivation eventually reached a dead end.

• Black Snake tricked the man into turning away, then attacked him, but the man's special inner garment blocked his fangs.
• Xiao Yu dove onto the blinded man and gouged out his eyes, injuring her wing in the process.
• Black Snake poisoned the man, who revealed that he had ambushed them because the cave was a sacred site for ascending to the upper realm and its secret had to be protected.
• Xiao Yu searched the corpse while Black Snake took the man's compass, clothes, and iron rod, and the two demons climbed back to the cave to recover.
• Xiao Yu asked whether ascension was possible there, and Black Snake doubted it before wondering whether he might someday try to feign death if he could not advance further.

Black Snake and Xiao Yu fought an incense-soaked living corpse while defending the cave, but three newcomers arrived and discovered the blessed site. After Xiao Yu’s cry exposed the cave’s secret, Black Snake and Xiao Yu fled as humans and demons began converging on the summit.

• Black Snake waited with Xiao Yu until an incense-soaked living corpse approached the cave, recognizing it as the Sculpture that had escaped earlier.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu attacked the living corpse, battering it for half an hour while Black Snake’s lightning remained depleted.
• Black Snake spotted three people approaching and withdrew with Xiao Yu to the cave entrance as the injured corpse crawled after them.
• A young gentleman recognized the cave as a blessed site and claimed it, while the limping man identified Black Snake as a spirit beast of Azure Cloud Temple.
• Xiao Yu shrieked and revealed the blessed site’s secret, enraging the newcomers, and Black Snake fled with Xiao Yu and the spoils as other presences closed in.

Black Snake returned to the Azure Cloud Monastery after a cave expedition and learned that someone had blamed it for taking a failed cultivator’s treasures. He Ning reassured Black Snake that the monastery master had claimed the items, leaving Black Snake wondering why she had intervened.

• Xu Jin treated Xiao Yu’s wound, and he and Black Snake discussed the cave, the dead cultivator, and the items Black Snake had brought back.
• Xu Jin advised Black Snake to dispose of the distinctive garment and melt down the iron rod, while Black Snake and Xiao Yu recovered from their journey.
• Black Snake traveled back to the Azure Cloud Monastery, told He Ning about the cave and the limping men, and heard that the monastery master was unconcerned about the men’s claim to the site.
• He Ning told Black Snake that powerful cultivators and demons had taken joint custody of the treasured site and that rumors accused Black Snake of taking the senior’s treasures.
• He Ning reassured Black Snake that the monastery master had told everyone the items were in her hands, and Black Snake wondered why she had taken the trouble to protect it.

Black Snake struggled with the prospect of He Ning and the Abbot eventually leaving the Azure Cloud Monastery, then endured a worsening drought that drove him into dormancy. As drought-fed unrest and Evil Spirits gathered, he learned from a yellow ox Yin Spirit that an expert had divined future bandit uprisings.

• He Ning explained that she and the Abbot would leave someday, and Black Snake realized that time would eventually separate him from everyone at the Azure Cloud Monastery.
• Black Snake withdrew from the mountain and entered near-hibernation as the drought dried streams and stalled his cultivation.
• He Ning warned that the drought could bring autumn and winter banditry and more Evil Spirits, so Black Snake patrolled the mountain and practiced swordsmanship.
• Black Snake met a yellow ox Yin Spirit, who said an expert had foretold widespread bandit unrest the following spring.
• Black Snake questioned how anyone could know the future and was astonished to hear that people could divine heaven's secrets.

Black Snake watched a harsh winter give way to drought and growing unrest as outlaws gathered and fighting broke out at the County Seat. After frightened refugees fled to the mountain, he remained confused by human affairs and decided to wait for the fighting to end before hunting.

• During winter, Xiao Yu visited Black Snake on the mountain, and they quietly watched the Azure Cloud Monastery before she flew away.
• In spring, Black Snake heard people pray for rain, but the sky stayed dry and the River had grown shallow.
• Black Snake learned that more than a thousand outlaws had appeared nearby, and officers took able-bodied men from the village, including a man he had watched grow up.
• Groups of weary people converged on the County Seat, where fighting broke out and fires rose above the town.
• At night, three carts brought terrified women and children from a wealthy County Seat family up the mountain, while the drivers fled.
• Unable to understand the turmoil or settle his mind, Black Snake decided to wait for the fighting to end before searching for prey.

Black Snake guarded the Azure Cloud Monastery amid rising unrest, watched a rebel army occupy the County Seat, and welcomed the rain that ended a drought. Over the next two months, Black Snake observed another force confront the occupiers, hoping to understand how humans weighed power.

• Black Snake stopped a hotheaded Yin Soul from heading up the mountain, then sent him away when an elderly scholar arrived to apologize.
• Black Snake watched a large armed group approach the Azure Cloud Monastery, negotiate with a Daoist, and leave without attacking.
• He Ning relayed the monastery master's order to keep unfamiliar spirits away, and Black Snake agreed while asking to learn how to foresee future events.
• Black Snake warned foxes and weasels on the northern slope and guarded the mountain against approaching Yin Souls and Beast Demons.
• A rebel army occupied the County Seat as authorities prepared to encircle it, while rain finally fell on the parched land.
• Two months later, Black Snake observed another group confront the County Seat's occupiers and tried to understand the human struggle for power.

Black Snake avoided the fighting below Azure Cloud Monastery while watching the troops and Heretic Cultivators. After fighting broke out at the County Seat, Black Snake fed on a horse and another mount, then carried off a heavy sack as people gathered around a dying soldier.

• Black Snake watched martial artists deliver six carts of grain to Azure Cloud Monastery and later escort women and children away in the carts.
• Black Snake spotted Heretic Cultivators meditating beside a pit of corpses but chose not to interfere and returned to the mountain for the Evening Liturgy.
• After hearing fighting at the County Seat, Black Snake went to the crossroads and found a wounded rider being dragged by his horse.
• Black Snake ate the horse while the rider lay nearby, then ambushed and killed one of the fleeing rider's Packhorses.
• Black Snake took a heavy sack and climbed the mountain as people gathered around the dying rider.

Black Snake joined He Ning and the Azure Cloud Monastery Daoists at a wasteland outside the County Seat to help guide the war dead onward and guard them from Heretic Cultivators. As the ghosts departed, Black Snake sensed a powerful surge of yin energy and drove off a Red-Skirted Vengeful Ghost.

• Black Snake watched the aftermath of fighting near the mountain, avoided the smoke-tainted morning mist, and saw a government official deliver a letter to the Azure Cloud Monastery.
• He Ning asked Black Snake to accompany the Daoists to perform a ritual for the war dead, explaining that Heretic Cultivators were keeping the departed from reaching the underworld.
• The Daoists and Black Snake traveled by ox cart to a wasteland outside the County Seat, where they began chanting among the unburied dead while Government Office cultivators stood guard.
• Black Snake sensed that the wandering ghosts were burdened by resentment, and the Daoists' chanting eased their anger as they joined the procession to the underworld.
• Black Snake felt an unusual benefit settle upon it, then intercepted a Red-Skirted Vengeful Ghost approaching the ritual and watched it flee.

During the rites on the wasteland, Black Snake discovered Heretic Cultivators breaching the boundary between yin and yang to collect the dead with a black banner. He disrupted their formation and returned to guard the rites, while the fugitives remained nearby and the rites continued through the night.

• Black Snake noticed a breach above a burial pit and learned that an evil spirit was disrupting the rites.
• At the elderly Daoist's request, Black Snake sent his Yin Spirit through the breach into the Underworld, using He Ning's chanting as an anchor.
• Black Snake found three Heretic Cultivators collecting battle-dead souls with a black banner and a formation of triangular flags.
• Black Snake evaded their attacks and cut down several flags, throwing the formation into disarray and forcing the Heretic Cultivators to flee.
• Black Snake returned to his body and resumed guarding the wasteland as the rites continued and the Government Office drove away intruders.

Black Snake detected and drove off a stealthy intruder during the funeral ritual, then returned safely to Azure Cloud Temple with He Ning. At a stream, he asked He Ning to bring him some yellow silver, while she reminisced about climbing the mountain and smiled at his promise to keep growing.

• Black Snake watched the burial grounds and became fascinated by a mole cricket that crawled into his spines.
• Black Snake sensed trampled grass and a crushed insect, warned the Daoists, and helped expose a human-shaped intruder fleeing into the darkness.
• The ritual ended at dawn, and Black Snake accompanied the Daoists and He Ning back toward Azure Cloud Temple while keeping watch for the intruder.
• He Ning washed her hands at a mountain stream, and Black Snake asked her to bring him some yellow silver the next night.
• He Ning recalled climbing to the summit and told Black Snake he would grow forever and stay young.

Black Snake spent a peaceful day on the mountain before bringing He Ning a gold bar he had found on a horse and learning it was valuable. He Ning wrote characters for him in charcoal, and he stayed behind to memorize them.

• Black Snake rested on the mountaintop, while Xiao Yu visited and they talked about learning to write.
• Black Snake brought a gold bar to the Stone Terrace, hoping to exchange it for eggs.
• He Ning identified the bar as gold and explained that it could buy many things but could not buy time.
• He Ning wrote characters on the ground with charcoal, and Black Snake watched closely and tried to memorize each stroke.

Black Snake watched two powerful Daoists visit the Azure Cloud Monastery and assumed they had dealt with a hidden threat, then studied characters with He Ning before secretly checking on the villagers taken away. He learned that some young men had died, while the old lad he cared about was still alive but remained at the county seat.

• Black Snake saw two accomplished Daoists arrive at the Azure Cloud Monastery and recognized that one had a yang spirit.
• After the Abbot escorted the Daoists away, Black Snake believed the danger had passed and waited by the road for an animal or money.
• He Ning taught Black Snake more characters, and he snapped at a firefly before spitting it out when she explained it was beautiful, not food.
• Black Snake went to the village to check on the people taken away and learned that several young men had died.
• Black Snake heard that the old lad he had watched grow up was alive but had been kept working in the county seat.

Black Snake learned to read while watching Daoists build a stone well and imprison a Heretic Cultivator inside it. As autumn turned cold and He Ning grieved Senior Brother Wang’s death, Black Snake stayed near the mountain and gathered Pine Cones and medicinal herbs.

• Black Snake practiced writing in the dirt to strengthen its Yin Spirit and learn to read.
• The Abbot poured a being with a muddled demonic aura from a talisman-covered kettle into the newly built eight-sided Stone Well.
• He Ning explained that the imprisoned soul belonged to a Heretic Cultivator who had swallowed a Demonic Beast's inner core and would remain sealed until it repented or its soul scattered.
• Black Snake studied characters with He Ning until it learned to read, then planned to pause lessons when winter arrived.
• He Ning mourned the death of Senior Brother Wang, and Black Snake stayed quietly beside her rather than leaving to play with Xu Jin and Little Feather.
• Black Snake collected Pine Cones, lingzhi, and other medicinal herbs, storing them in its cave.

Black Snake woke from an unusually long hibernation after medicinal herbs accelerated his growth, then traveled downstream to visit Xu Jin and Xiao Yu. At a riverside village, he found villagers worshipping a ghost as the Dragon King, and the ghost attacked him as he continued along the River.

• Black Snake returned to his cave, where the fragrance from his medicinal herbs kept him in a deep sleep through the winter and spurred his body to grow soft spines along its back.
• After waking in spring, Black Snake realized the herbs had lost much of their medicinal scent and decided to gather more, but then remembered he should visit Xu Jin and Xiao Yu before lessons resumed.
• Black Snake traveled through Lin Family Crossing, ate fish, checked the Stone Formation, and swam downstream along the River.
• Black Snake discovered villagers worshipping a huge ghost in a new Dragon King temple and decided not to interfere.
• As Black Snake swam away, the ghost charged after him and shouted that he had trespassed in its waters.

Black Snake fought and destroyed a Fake Dragon King’s temple, then returned to the valley and asked Xiao Yu why so many temples had appeared along the River. Xiao Yu confirmed that temples had multiplied in recent years, leaving Black Snake with questions about their spread.

• Black Snake battled the incense-powered Fake Dragon King in the River and wore away its essence until it scattered.
• After the villagers left, Black Snake watched people steal offerings from the Dragon King Temple, then crushed the temple and fled downstream.
• Black Snake traveled through the night, passed another temple whose ghost hid from him, and reached the valley near dawn.
• Black Snake asked Xiao Yu why there were more temples along the River, and Xiao Yu said many had appeared on hills with spiritual energy.

Black Snake reunited with Xu Jin and Xiao Yu in the valley, where they discussed dangerous cultivation methods and the possibility of finding loved ones in another life. Encouraged by Xu Jin’s words, Black Snake resolved to find He Ning again, and the three friends celebrated with Xu Jin’s medicinal wine.

• Black Snake returned to the valley and reunited with Xu Jin and Xiao Yu after hearing Xiao Yu warn him about human conflicts.
• Xu Jin explained that Black Snake’s rough method of absorbing medicinal herbs could poison humans, and cautioned him to avoid highly poisonous plants.
• Black Snake asked whether medicine could restore He Ning’s youth, and Xu Jin said that cultivation of the heart might let people meet again in another life.
• Black Snake rejoiced at the thought of finding He Ning again and promised to seek Xu Jin too if they did not reunite in this life.
• Xu Jin fetched his medicinal wine, and the three friends drank together and celebrated their bond.

Black Snake hunted a wild boar in the River, carried its hide back to the valley for Xu Jin, and learned that cultivators were searching for a child from the upper realm. Xiao Yu later reported that a Demonic Fox and other demons had arrived, while Black Snake returned to the valley for supper.

• Black Snake killed a huge wild boar in the River, ate most of it, and carried its hide back as a gift for Xu Jin.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu watched cultivators travel downstream, and Xiao Yu flew off to learn why they had gathered.
• Xiao Yu reported that the cultivators were hunting a child who had come down from the upper realm.
• Xiao Yu later told Black Snake that demons led by a Demonic Fox had come from deep in the mountains.
• Black Snake returned to the valley and inspected the golden-gleaming medicinal broth Xu Jin had prepared.

Black Snake dreamed that the Abbot asked him to escort a child to Lin Family Crossing, so he set out with Xiao Yu guiding him. He found the child aboard River Ash's boat amid a chaotic battle on the River and rammed a pursuing boat to protect them.

• Black Snake dreamed that the Abbot asked him to help a child and bring him safely to Lin Family Crossing.
• Black Snake asked Xiao Yu where the child was, and she agreed to guide him while he told Xu Jin to stay in the valley.
• Black Snake swam downstream through the night, eating as he traveled, until Xiao Yu led him to a crowded battle on the River.
• Black Snake spotted River Ash transporting a man, a woman, and a young boy in his black boat, pursued by another boat.
• Black Snake decided to protect River Ash's boat without killing its pursuers and rammed the hostile boat.

Black Snake and River Ash defended a family fleeing upriver from human and demon pursuers, but a short-haired man with a long staff injured Black Snake and tried to take the child as a disciple. The parents refused, and Black Snake and River Ash prepared to fight the man as he pursued them.

• A huge underwater snake attacked the pursuing boats, and Black Snake drove back pursuers who came near the black boat.
• Black Snake joined River Ash and learned the family was traveling upriver to Lin Family Ferry after River Ash accepted a dream-delivered deposit.
• A short-haired man with a long staff struck the water, injuring Black Snake with powerful vibrations, while River Ash used waves to keep him from reaching the boat.
• The short-haired man offered to take the boy as his disciple, but the parents declined after the child called out to the otter and big snake.
• Black Snake circled through the river to churn up waves, while River Ash left the boat and swam underwater toward the fight.

Black Snake, River Ash, and Xiao Yu worked together to defeat a short-haired cultivator who attacked them on the River. Black Snake rejoined the black boat, while the child aboard appeared to have fallen ill.

• Black Snake used Thermal Sensing to evade the short-haired man's attacks while River Ash harried him and Xiao Yu struck with a piercing cry.
• Black Snake dragged the short-haired man underwater, where River Ash bit his thigh and Black Snake slammed him against the riverbed.
• Black Snake unleashed lightning, broke through the man's Iron Body Art with his venomous fangs, and killed him before tearing apart the corpse.
• Black Snake surfaced and hurried upstream after the black boat as the onlookers hesitated to pursue him.
• River Ash asked whether Black Snake was hurt, and Black Snake said he had only a small tear in his mouth.
• Black Snake noticed the child's elevated temperature, and the child's mother tried to cool him while his father paced anxiously.