Chapter Summaries

Black Snake went to the war-torn County Seat to buy books and killed three bandits who attacked him in the bookshop. He returned to the mountain with his purchases and decided it was time to go to the World Spirit now that the Continuous Rainy Season had ended.

• Black Snake left the mountain for the County Seat, intent on buying books despite the fighting.
• Black Snake ignored a dying man’s plea for help and found the old bookseller injured but alive in his damaged shop.
• Three bandits attacked Black Snake, and he killed them before choosing a primer and two books about medicinal herbs.
• Black Snake paid the bookseller, gave his name as Black Snake, and left carrying the books.
• Black Snake spotted a Heretic Cultivator fleeing into ruins and watched him retreat with Thermal Sensing.
• Black Snake concluded that the Continuous Rainy Season was over and it was time to go to the World Spirit.

Black Snake settled into the Spirit Realm, found a dry cave to use as a home, and established a quiet routine of cultivation and study. When two evil cultivators approached the mountain, Black Snake and Xiao Yu drove them away without a fight.

• Black Snake considered choosing a name but set the decision aside, then carried its books through the Spirit Realm with Xiao Yu nearby.
• Black Snake searched the mountain and chose a spacious, dry cave as a safe dwelling and place to keep its books.
• Black Snake settled into a routine of absorbing mist, tending medicinal plants, cultivating, studying, and occasionally visiting the Mortal Realm.
• After Black Snake sensed two evil cultivators approaching, Xiao Yu circled overhead to distract them while Black Snake prepared to strike.
• The evil cultivators sensed danger and retreated, and Black Snake let them leave before returning to the mountain heights.

Black Snake asked the Cloud Immortal Hall to pave his cave entrance, and its demon spirits transformed the clifftop into a more comfortable cave abode. As he waited for the Mist Tide and prepared to cultivate, he sensed a strange disturbance coming from the Mortal Realm.

• Black Snake struggled to lay smooth stones at his cave entrance until Xiao Yu suggested asking the Cloud Immortal Hall for help.
• Black Snake asked Hu Changqing to pave the entrance, and Hu Changqing eagerly agreed and brought dozens of demon spirits to the mountain.
• The demon spirits built an arched bridge and pond, paved the cave and the ground beneath the old pine, and then returned to the Cloud Immortal Hall.
• Black Snake practiced swordplay beneath the pine, struck a falling pine needle, and reflected that his skill still needed work.
• As the Mist Tide rose, Black Snake sensed a faint, troubling disturbance originating in the Mortal Realm.

Black Snake followed a desperate prayer to the ruins of the Dragon King Temple, where he gave a boy medicinal herbs for his dying mother and discovered that false stories were circulating about him. He left to investigate claims that he had helped Master Nan subdue demons in Stone Bridge Town and at Great Black Mountain.

• Black Snake traced a sorrowful plea from the Spirit Realm to a boy kneeling at the ruined Dragon King Temple.
• Black Snake stopped the boy from praying, gathered medicinal herbs for his ill mother, and noticed that the woman's lifespan had increased by about two years.
• The boy recognized Black Snake as the Dragon King and offered to give up some of his own lifespan, but Black Snake refused.
• The boy told Black Snake a story claiming that he had aided Master Nan in doing good deeds and vanquishing demons.
• Black Snake suspected the story concealed a danger and set out to investigate Stone Bridge Town and Great Black Mountain.

Black Snake followed a desperate plea to the ruins of the Dragon King Temple, where he gave a sick boy medicinal herbs for his mother and learned that false stories claimed he had vanquished demons. He headed toward Stone Bridge Town and Great Black Mountain to investigate who was spreading the rumors and why.

• Black Snake traced a sorrowful plea from the Spirit Realm to the ruins of the Dragon King Temple beside the River.
• He found a boy praying for his ill mother, stopped him from kneeling, and gathered medicinal herbs for him.
• Black Snake noticed the boy's mother had gained a little over two years of lifespan, then told the boy not to pray there again.
• The boy asked Black Snake to give some of his lifespan to his mother, but Black Snake silently refused and left.
• Black Snake learned that a story claimed he had joined Master Zhui Suinan to vanquish demons at Stone Bridge Town's Great Black Mountain.
• Suspecting the rumor concealed a hidden danger, Black Snake set out to investigate Stone Bridge Town and Great Black Mountain.

Black Snake investigated two powerful ghosts in a starving town and watched cultivators tear down the house where they were hiding. The house’s destruction revealed two towering figures made from Incense Faith Power and an old man sitting between them.

• Black Snake asked Xiao Yu to scout Great Black Mountain, and she found no cultivators there but reported two powerful ghosts in a nearby town.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu watched the town for several days and suspected that Master Nan, hidden in a tightly shut house, feared sunlight.
• More than twenty cultivators arrived, surrounded the house, and began pulling off its roof and breaking down its walls.
• Black Snake sent his primordial spirit toward town as the cultivators brought down the house.
• Two armored figures emerged from the rubble unharmed by sunlight, and Black Snake recognized them as beings formed from Incense Faith Power.
• The cultivators’ leader identified the figures’ power as Incense Faith Power, while a gaunt old man sat between them.

Black Snake watched Master Nan and his two great ghosts battle a disciplined group seeking a dragon, then followed them to an abandoned temple. After the pursuers recognized Black Snake as a Yang Spirit, Black Snake stood outside the hall, wary of Master Nan and the ghost within.

• The pursuers demanded that Master Nan hand over the dragon, and his great ghosts fought them as Black Snake watched from a wall.
• One great ghost burst into black vapor to disrupt the attackers while the other carried Master Nan away toward an abandoned temple, and Black Snake followed.
• Master Nan and the surviving great ghost entered the temple hall as the pursuers stopped outside.
• Black Snake entered the courtyard and revealed a Yang Spirit, startling the pursuers.
• Black Snake sensed that Master Nan was hiding something and began drawing a sword to deal with the remaining great ghost.

Black Snake and the others fought Master Nan’s guardian ghost in the abandoned temple, then uncovered a temple-wide illusion meant to subdue them. Black Snake killed Master Nan and left the temple, aware that the old man had targeted him from the start.

• Black Snake wounded the great ghost and forced it back into the hall, where it collapsed into a dim bead.
• Master Nan summoned a false dragon to protect himself, but Black Snake saw through its appearance and recognized the temple’s trap.
• A golden illusion made the ruined temple appear restored and compelled the others to kneel, but Black Snake resisted and attacked the golden figure.
• Black Snake struck the false dragon, destroying it and breaking the illusion’s hold over the others.
• Black Snake killed Master Nan, identified the dragon as a ghost, and left the abandoned temple after confirming no one followed him.

Black Snake spread sightings of himself at Lin Family Crossing to undermine the rumor that he had been subdued, then returned to the Spirit Realm and resumed cultivation as the seasons changed. While he hibernated, Xiao Yu guarded the Medicine Field and drove off a Yin Spirit searching for a young Yang Spirit.

• Black Snake surfaced before crowded ferries at Lin Family Crossing, and reports of the dragon spread through the town and County Seat.
• Black Snake returned to the Spirit Realm, inspected the Medicine Field, and resumed his secluded cultivation routine.
• As autumn and winter passed, Black Snake gathered medicinal herbs and hibernated at Azure Cloud Monastery Back Mountain while outsiders searched the River for him.
• Xiao Yu weeded the Medicine Field and warned off an unfamiliar Yin Spirit who entered her territory.
• The Yin Spirit asked Xiao Yu whether a shabby, sword-wielding boy Yang Spirit was nearby, and Xiao Yu denied knowing him as he withdrew.

Black Snake returned to the Spirit Realm after waking from hibernation and was asked to join an alliance against a ghost king. He refused the invitation but considered entering the underworld alone to attempt an assassination.

• Black Snake woke from hibernation, found that he had grown, and returned to the Spirit Realm to cultivate through the dry early spring.
• Xiao Yu told Black Snake that someone had returned asking about him, and he decided to confront the visitor with a show of force.
• Black Snake’s primordial spirit found a yin spirit drawing a map and held a sword to his neck while asking why he had come.
• The yin spirit explained that three factions sought help defeating a ghost king who was raising ghost soldiers and manipulating people.
• Black Snake recognized the ghost king as the self-proclaimed Holy King, refused to join the alliance, and returned to his body.
• Remembering the Red-Dressed Female Ghost’s long pursuit of the Holy King, Black Snake considered entering the underworld alone to seek a chance to assassinate him.

Black Snake learned from Hu Changqing that several powers, including at least three Yang Spirit Cultivators, were preparing to destroy the Ghost King called the Holy King. After spending time cultivating and pondering its physical transformation, Black Snake heard from Xiao Yu about a distant battle involving yin energy and ghosts, recalling a secluded cultivator it had encountered before.

• Black Snake visited the Cloud Immortal Hall and asked Hu Changqing about the Ghost King called the Holy King.
• Hu Changqing explained that the Ghost King had disrupted the Spirit Halls by capturing departed souls, and that several powers with at least three Yang Spirit Cultivators had joined forces against him.
• Black Snake asked Hu Changqing to arrange for Demon Spirits and Ghost Cultivators to watch the Underworld and report developments.
• Black Snake explored nearby lakes, rode the Mist Tide, and spent time cultivating while considering how its body and sense of smell might evolve.
• Xiao Yu told Black Snake that she had seen a magical battle on a distant peak, with signs of yin energy and ghosts, prompting Black Snake to recall a secluded cultivator it had once encountered.

Black Snake found Red Clothes battling four cultivators and brought her back to his mountain. She settled in a hidden sinkhole and agreed to join him in confronting the Ghost King, while Black Snake returned to tending his Medicine Field.

• Black Snake followed the spirit-power fluctuations and found Red Clothes fighting four cultivators.
• Red Clothes left the battle and followed Black Snake back to his mountain.
• Black Snake told Red Clothes that factions planned to attack the Saint King and Ghost King Hall, and she said she would go if he went.
• Red Clothes chose a hidden sinkhole as her new home.
• Black Snake gathered an herb, planted it near the sinkhole, and returned to the stone terrace.

Black Snake and Xiao Yu attended a market for demon spirits, hoping to hear cultivation advice and see what was available. Black Snake explored the stalls and memorized the scents of unfamiliar medicinal herbs.

• Hu Changqing invited Black Snake and Xiao Yu to a market where rogue cultivators could trade and discuss cultivation.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu realized they had nothing to trade and decided to start building up wealth little by little.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu met Hu Changqing and more than twenty demon spirits at the Cloud Immortal Hall, then traveled together to the market.
• Black Snake noticed human cultivators among the market’s visitors and drew attention with its half-flood-dragon appearance.
• Black Snake and Xiao Yu strolled through the bustling market, and Black Snake smelled unfamiliar medicinal herbs and committed their scents to memory.

Black Snake wandered through the market, examining stalls and seeking cultivation advice, but found no answers to his cultivation problem and felt the absence of someone who once guided him. As he left the market, he spotted three familiar black bears and then noticed two striped tigers emerging from the woods.

• Black Snake tried to trade for a plump bird’s seeds, learned it wanted spiritually charged nuts, and moved on empty-handed.
• He examined a crowded magical-artifact stall and found a four-hundred-year-old ginseng root, deciding to let some of his own herbs grow older.
• Black Snake found the market’s cultivation discussions unhelpful and felt hollow as he remembered the person who had once patiently taught him.
• He overheard Hu Changqing and several hall masters discussing the Mortal Realm’s new dynasty, preparations to attack the ghost king, and the standoff between the Mystic Sect and its enemies.
• Black Snake left without resolving his cultivation problem, noticed three black bears sleeping beneath a tree, and then saw two striped tigers emerge from the woods.

Black Snake helped keep the marketplace peaceful, traded pine nuts for a pouch of unknown seeds, and met a fox scholar who had secretly studied at a county school. After returning to the Stone Terrace, he learned from Red Clothes that two strangers had escaped her the previous afternoon.

• Hu Changqing asked Black Snake to stay at the marketplace to help keep the gathering stable, and Black Snake agreed in exchange for nuts to trade.
• Black Snake traded pine nuts with a small bird for a pouch of seeds and later questioned a fox scholar about his studies.
• The fox scholar said he had learned by secretly listening to lessons through a crack in an abandoned house beside the county school.
• After the marketplace dispersed, Black Snake returned to the Stone Terrace with Little Feather and the seeds.
• Red Clothes told Black Snake that two strangers had come the previous afternoon and escaped.

Black Snake planted seeds in his Medicine Field and waited for the continuous rainy season, then returned to the Azure Cloud Monastery as the clouds gathered. He flew into the storm, absorbed its rain and lightning, and refined his technique for spitting lightning bolts.

• Black Snake cleared weeds from the Stone Terrace and planted seeds in the Medicine Field.
• Black Snake spent two or three months cultivating and tending the Medicine Field while waiting for the rainy season.
• Black Snake entered the Mortal Realm and returned to the Azure Cloud Monastery as the continuous rainy season began.
• Black Snake rested on the mountain summit and let the downpour soak his scales.
• Black Snake flew into the clouds, absorbed rain-laden air and lightning, and enjoyed the storm.
• Black Snake repeatedly tested his lightning breath until he could spit out several more accurate bolts at once.

Black Snake played in the thunderclouds and cultivated through the Continuous Rainy Season while people fortified the dry well and the New Abbot distanced the Azure Cloud Monastery from supernatural affairs. After the rain ended, Black Snake sensed a fierce clash near Ghost King's tomb but headed for the Medicine Fields instead, unaware that something was wrong above the ancient tomb complex.

• Black Snake learned to release lightning, flew higher than before, and played freely in the thunderclouds.
• Workers encircled the dry well at the Wasteland Ancient Tomb Complex with peachwood stakes to keep ordinary yin souls and ghosts from emerging.
• The New Abbot ordered the Daoists to stop discussing supernatural matters and planned to put away the monastery's old records of legends.
• Black Snake spent the prolonged rains cultivating in the clouds and flying over the mountain, then slept for about three days after the weather cleared.
• Black Snake sensed a fierce clash of spiritual power near Ghost King's tomb, but went to tend the Medicine Fields without noticing the strange veil of light over the ancient tomb complex.

Black Snake discovered that a mountain youth had dug up herbs from his hidden Medicine Field on Rabbit Tooth Ridge and frightened him into leaving. Knowing the field was no longer secret, Black Snake planned to move its remaining plants into the World Spirit in autumn and spent the night on the mountain.

• Black Snake followed a human scent to the hidden Medicine Field on Rabbit Tooth Ridge.
• He found a mountain youth digging up the oldest ginseng and saw that the youth had damaged other herbs.
• Black Snake told the youth to put down the herbs and never return, and the frightened youth dropped the ginseng and fled.
• Black Snake surveyed the ruined Medicine Field and decided to move the remaining plants into the World Spirit before winter.
• Hearing voices from below and expecting people to investigate the next day, Black Snake stayed on the mountain overnight.

A Suo sought Granny Liu’s help with the Great Black Snake and the precious herbs on Rabbit Tooth Ridge, but the Immortals warned him to leave them alone. After Black Snake frightened off villagers searching for the Medicine Field, Granny Liu’s apology song settled the matter, and Black Snake replanted the damaged herbs.

• A Suo visited Granny Liu at night, then returned in the morning and asked her to have the Immortals drive away the Great Black Snake so he could claim its herbs.
• Granny Liu relayed the Immortals’ warning that the snake had guarded the herbs for generations and that A Suo would face disaster if he returned.
• Villagers climbed Rabbit Tooth Ridge to search for ginseng and lingzhi, and Black Snake drove them away with a terrifying scare.
• Granny Liu sang an apology to Black Snake at an offering table, and he accepted it by leaving the incense untouched.
• Black Snake’s Primordial Spirit carefully replanted the herbs that could still be saved.

Black Snake returned to the Azure Cloud Monastery and learned that the Ghost King had defeated the cultivators, driving survivors to seek refuge there. When Holy King Hall’s ghosts came to slaughter them, Black Snake went out to confront the Ghost King and protect the monastery.

• Black Snake swallowed the ginseng and headed back toward the Spirit Realm, but turned aside to investigate the Azure Cloud Monastery.
• Black Snake found the monastery crowded with wounded cultivators and fleeing families, then learned that the Ghost King had survived the battle and the cultivators had lost.
• Black Snake returned to the Stone Terrace, found the Spring Well altered, and decided it would protect the monastery if no one else came.
• Holy King Hall’s ghosts gathered at the mountain and advanced on the monastery in force.
• Black Snake identified the Ghost King among the approaching spirits, rose into the air, and descended the stone steps to face them.