Chapter Summaries

Xu Lu helped stabilize Luo Bin after the medicine used by Bai Xiaoshan and the other Real Persons failed to heal him. On Divine Firmament Peak, Bai Xiaoshan opposed using Luo Bin to aid the Old Abbey Master, and Bai Zihua set aside the proposal and ordered everyone to remain in the hall.

• Bai Xiaoshan found that soul-nourishing medicine stabilized Luo Bin, but yang medicines did not heal his body, so Xu Lu urged the Real Persons to replace them with yin medicine.
• Luo Bin's breathing and complexion improved after the medicinal liquid was changed, and Bai Xiaoshan left Xu Lu to watch over him while he went to report to Bai Zihua.
• Bai Xiaoshan told the elders that Luo Bin's unusual living corpse condition had drawn Dai Xiong Zhi's interest and that Luo Bin should leave Divine Firmament Mountain soon.
• Chen Hongming proposed using the Ascension Tortoise Shells and Luo Bin's primordial calculation to help the Old Abbey Master, despite the danger to Luo Bin.
• Bai Xiaoshan rejected the proposal as inhumane and warned that it would endanger Luo Bin's life and the elders' Dao hearts.
• Bai Zihua agreed to let the matter rest and ordered the elders to remain in the main hall.

Xu Lu discovered a sign that Luo Bin was in danger and fled Divine Firmament Mountain with him, determined to get them both to safety. After an unseen assailant repeatedly wounded his knee, Bai Su appeared and stopped them.

• Xu Lu found a bone sign on Luo Bin’s nose and decided to escape with him, carrying him out of the Medicine King Hall.
• Bai Qingjin searched the hall for Xu Lu and Luo Bin, then grew angry when she found they were gone.
• Xu Lu carried the unconscious Luo Bin down Jade Clarity Peak, hoping to reach Three Incense Mountain and find a way through the Veiling Heaven Lands.
• Pebbles struck Xu Lu’s knee as he continued down the mountain, shattering his kneecap despite the talismans he applied.
• Bai Su appeared and asked Xu Lu if he could keep going, leaving Xu Lu stunned that Bai Su was alive.

Xu Lu taunted Bai Su, who tried to kill him for fleeing and insulting Divine Firmament Mountain. Bai Xian arrived, severed Bai Su’s remaining arm, and faced his desperate attack.

• Xu Lu mocked Bai Su and accused him of serving the Abbey Master’s schemes.
• Bai Su explained that killing Xu Lu would protect Divine Firmament Mountain’s honor, then stabbed toward his chest.
• An unseen attacker severed Bai Su’s arm before his sword could kill Xu Lu.
• Bai Su recognized Bai Xian, begged her to spare him, and insisted he was following the Abbey Master’s orders.
• Bai Su sprayed bloody mud at Bai Xian and charged at her, but she held her sword across her lower abdomen as he shouted for her to move.

Bai Xian killed Bai Su and led Luo Bin and Xu Lu down the mountain after rescuing them. Luo Bin learned that Divine Firmament Mountain had planned to use him in a dangerous ritual, and the three continued their escape with Bai Xian treating him as her master and Xu Lu as a sacrifice.

• Bai Xian stabbed Bai Su through the mouth and killed him after he ambushed her and threatened Xu Lu.
• Bai Xian carried the unconscious Luo Bin down the mountain while Xu Lu followed on his injured leg, then knelt before Luo Bin when they stopped.
• Bai Xian told Luo Bin that she had sensed his danger, rescued him, and killed Bai Su, while Xu Lu warned that another Real Person was pursuing them.
• Xu Lu explained Bai Su's revelations, and Luo Bin deduced that Bai Zihua had planned to use him to support the Grandmaster through innate divination.
• Luo Bin took the jade turtle talisman from Bai Xian and carried Xu Lu as they resumed their escape, with Bai Xian leading the way.

Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian reached the village after escaping Divine Firmament Mountain, but their plans to find Fourth Master Gray were interrupted when Bai Qingjin caught up with them. Bai Qingjin attacked Xu Lu and demanded that Luo Bin return to the mountain to try to restore the old Abbey Master, leaving Luo Bin facing her assault.

• Luo Bin noticed that Divine Firmament Mountain's medicine had strengthened his body as well as his soul, and he grew uneasy about Bai Xian's obedience to him.
• At the village courtyard, Luo Bin worried about the missing Fourth Master Gray and waited for Shen Dong, but Shen Dong did not arrive and would not answer his phone.
• Xu Lu opened the gate and found Bai Qingjin outside; she forced her way in and sent the gate crashing down on him, leaving him motionless beneath it.
• Bai Xian drew her sword to defend Luo Bin, but Luo Bin ordered her to stop and tried to reason with Bai Qingjin by warning that forcing him back would disgrace Divine Firmament Mountain.
• Bai Qingjin rejected Luo Bin's objections, demanded that he return and spare no cost to restore the old Abbey Master's lucidity, then attacked him.

Luo Bin and Bai Xian fought Bai Qingjin, who tried to take Luo Bin away and overpowered them despite Bai Xian’s innate constitution. Luo Bin’s taunts and dangerous Gu attack left Bai Qingjin exposed to the essence-devouring Gu as the struggle continued.

• Bai Xian attacked Bai Qingjin with talismans and thunder techniques while Luo Bin dragged the wounded Xu Lu into the Main Hall.
• Bai Qingjin wounded Bai Xian with a bronze sword and struck her despite Luo Bin’s empowering hexagram.
• Luo Bin tried to summon Yuan Yinxin and used a misfortune hexagram against Bai Qingjin, but the backlash left him injured and Bai Xian was knocked away.
• The Black-Gold Toad attacked Bai Qingjin with venom, but she dodged and blasted it into the Main Hall with a talisman.
• Luo Bin provoked Bai Qingjin and used a spoken Gu hexagram, sending an essence-devouring Gu into her nostril.

Luo Bin escaped Bai Qingjin with Bai Xian’s help, then devised a plan while Divine Firmament Mountain’s elders debated whether to seek his aid. The chapter ended with Bai Xiaoshan invoking the patriarchs and Luo Bin discovering that his Golden Silkworm Gu had completed its first transformation.

• Bai Xian struck Bai Qingjin with talismans, giving Luo Bin time to flee the village.
• Luo Bin considered confronting Bai Qingjin with his Yin-Yang Arts, then reconsidered and used the Fourfold Compass to plan a different approach.
• At Divine Firmament Mountain, Chen Hongming and Bai Zihua urged the elders to find Luo Bin after the Old Abbey Master showed signs of yin spirit projection.
• Bai Xiaoshan withdrew to First Ancestor Peak and invoked the patriarchs through the Divine Firmament Four Sovereigns Mirror.
• Luo Bin waited beside a pond with Jade Turtle Talismans and discovered that his Golden Silkworm Gu had emerged from its cocoon transformed.

Bai Qingjin pursued Luo Bin, who used divination to strengthen and unsettle her while luring her into a trap. At Divine Firmament Mountain, Bai Xiaoshan, possessed by a Grandmaster, forced a Yang Spirit sword into the Abbott Grandmaster’s mouth and invoked the Five Thunders, prompting Bai Zihua to order an assault on Wenqing Peak.

• Bai Qingjin subdued Bai Xian, knocked Xu Lu unconscious, and left the village to follow Luo Bin’s trail.
• Luo Bin used Lake-Thunder Following and Lake-Moon Stillness to affect Bai Qingjin as she chased him around a pond, then revealed that provoking her was part of his plan to cast Lake-Wind Great Exceeding.
• At the Great Divine Hall, Chen Hongming organized Divine Firmament Mountain’s disciples and Real Persons to chant the Five Purifications Curse and suppress the Abbott Grandmaster’s Three Corpses.
• Bai Xiaoshan arrived with the Divine Firmament Four Sovereigns Mirror and a Yang Spirit sword, thrust the sword into the Abbott Grandmaster’s mouth, and began chanting the Five Thunders incantation.
• Bai Zihua attacked Bai Xiaoshan but was thrown back and forced to his knees; he ordered the others to stop chanting and suppress Wenqing Peak as Thunder Heaven erupted over Divine Firmament Peak.

Luo Bin crippled Bai Qingjin with a hexagram and gu poison, but she recovered quickly and pursued him until an unseen shadow cut her body apart. He reached the courtyard and helped free Bai Xian, then used retrospection to glimpse the shadow that had attacked Bai Qingjin.

• Luo Bin used lake-wind great exceeding and the essence-devouring gu to overwhelm Bai Qingjin, then struck her with the Golden Silkworm Gu until middle corpse white emerged.
• Bai Qingjin regained her movement and chased Luo Bin, but an utterly black shadow passed through her and severed her body at the hips.
• Luo Bin fled to the courtyard, where Xu Lu was removing swords from the badly wounded Bai Xian, and urged them to escape.
• Luo Bin retrieved the injured black-gold toad and rewound the moment Bai Qingjin was cut apart, glimpsing a concealed figure with what might have been a rat's tail.

Luo Bin returned to find Bai Qingjin gravely wounded, used a fragment of the Corpse Core to keep her alive, and escaped with Xu Lu, Bai Xian, and Shen Dong. The group drove toward a nearby town to recover, while Luo Bin remained uncertain about what to do next.

• After helping Bai Xian escape, Xu Lu urged Luo Bin to leave, but Luo Bin went back to check whether Bai Qingjin had survived.
• Luo Bin followed the drag marks and found Bai Qingjin beneath banana trees, near death from her severed wounds.
• Luo Bin fed Bai Qingjin a fragment of the Corpse Core, restoring her breathing, then left when a white worm emerged from her eyelid.
• Luo Bin met Xu Lu, Bai Xian, and Shen Dong at the village entrance and learned Xu Lu had stabilized Shen Dong's soul.
• Xu Lu excitedly discussed their escape and called their group “Horse-Riding, Taoist, and Black-Robed Man!”
• When Shen Dong asked where they should go, Xu Lu suggested finding a nearby town so they could rest.

White Oak Patriarch confronted Bai Zihua at Divine Firmament Mountain and demanded Luo Bin, while a bell's collapse interrupted the confrontation. After Luo Bin reunited with Xu Lu in Tongzhou City, Xu Lu suggested Luo Bin had been born as a vessel for a yin spirit, and Luo Bin left the revelation unanswered as he turned the conversation to primordial calculation.

• White Oak Patriarch and other corpse-liberated patriarchs emerged from Wenqing Peak, and White Oak rejected Bai Zihua's warnings and accused Divine Firmament Mountain of forcing corpse liberation on Taoists.
• White Oak demanded that Luo Bin be brought to him, and Bai Zihua said Bai Qingjin had already gone after Luo Bin; then a bronze bell crashed to the floor in the Main Hall.
• Luo Bin woke at Shen Dong's house in Tongzhou City, ate with Xu Lu, and recounted what had happened at Divine Firmament Mountain.
• Xu Lu inferred that Luo Bin's body and soul were mismatched and that he might be a vessel for a yin spirit, possibly explaining Dai Zhixiong's interest in refining him into a pill.
• Luo Bin considered leaving Tongzhou City and avoiding Divine Firmament Mountain, then asked Xu Lu whether they had crossed the threshold of primordial calculation.

Luo Bin and Xu Lu planned to gather Gray Immortals and enter Primordial Calculation's old Mountain Gate, while Luo Bin went to Tongzhou City's Nether Market seeking information. He was lured toward a mountain residence where Huang Zhili and Wu Zhenqing had arranged a trap to seize his soul.

• Xu Lu explained the dangers of entering Primordial Calculation and agreed with Luo Bin to seek Gray Immortals; Luo Bin gave him a Gray Immortal Spirit-Inviting Talisman and went to find the Nether Market.
• Luo Bin contacted Chen Zu, who arranged help from Orthodox Origin Hall, and met Xu You, who offered to take him to the absent hall master.
• Huang Zhili met Wu Zhenqing at the City God Temple and discussed joining their Night Watches to capture Luo Bin, with Mo Kun leading him to a Five-Prison Ghost first.
• Xu You drove Luo Bin to a small mountain and directed him toward the houses at its summit, which Luo Bin recognized as an ill-omened place unsuitable for a residence.

Luo Bin met Mo Kun, the hall master of Tongzhou Nether Market, and grew suspicious of the haunted residence where they were supposed to talk. After Mo Kun and an unseen attacker ambushed him, Luo Bin struck Mo Kun down and demanded to know why he had targeted him and how he was connected to Mo Qian.

• Xu You explained the history of the Ghost Shrine and why the Tongzhou Nether Market had grounds to investigate its former site.
• Luo Bin climbed Branch Dragon Mountain and met Mo Kun, whose appearance reminded him of the dead Mo Qian.
• At a residence marked by the Three Fiend Gods, Luo Bin refused Mo Kun's repeated invitation to enter and suggested they talk elsewhere.
• Mo Kun sprang a trap with an unseen accomplice, but Luo Bin pierced him with the Six Yin Mountain Bronze Club as the gate slammed shut.
• Luo Bin questioned the immobilized Mo Kun about the ambush and his relationship with Mo Qian, and Mo Kun began to react in alarm.

Luo Bin was trapped in a haunted house filled with ghosts, but the Black-Gold Toad suppressed the Green Wraith Ghost and saved him. He emerged to find Mo Kun gone and the courtyard gate open, leaving him to wonder who had helped Mo Kun escape.

• Green mist separated Luo Bin from Mo Kun, and Luo Bin escaped a noose before confronting Blood-Grudge Vengeful Ghosts in a room.
• Luo Bin struck down a ghost and found a Green Wraith Ghost peeling Mo Kun's skin, so he tried to intervene.
• The Green Wraith Ghost sent Luo Bin back into the room, where swarms of ghosts overwhelmed him and stole his Five Thunder Pestle.
• A Green Wraith Ghost tried to draw out Luo Bin's soul, but the Black-Gold Toad appeared on his face and suppressed the ghosts.
• Luo Bin recovered a garment made of human skin and found the courtyard empty, with Mo Kun gone and the gate open.

After escaping the Green Wraith, Luo Bin resolved to find out why Mo Kun had tried to kill him and tracked him to Orthodox Origin Hall in Tongzhou City's Nether Market. Huang Zhili and Wu Zhenqing discussed recruiting more Night Watches to capture Luo Bin, while Luo Bin confronted Mo Kun in public.

• Luo Bin used the Fourfold Compass to suppress the Human-Skin Garment and the black-gold toad, then left the courtyard after the blood-colored mist disappeared.
• Luo Bin decided not to call Chen Zu and resolved to investigate Mo Kun himself, since he still did not know why Mo Kun had attacked him.
• At the City God Temple, the Night Watch told Huang Zhili and Wu Zhenqing how Luo Bin's black-gold toad had suppressed the Five-Prison Ghost and how the Five Thunder Pestle threatened the Night Watch.
• Huang Zhili offered Wu Zhenqing Luo Bin, the Five-Prison Ghost, and the black-gold toad if they helped capture him with more Night Watches.
• Luo Bin found Mo Kun at Orthodox Origin Hall in Tongzhou City's Nether Market and made one of its managers collapse by approaching with the Five Thunder Pestle.
• Luo Bin looked toward the second-floor window and ordered Mo Kun to come out.

Mo Kun attacked Luo Bin, but Luo Bin swiftly subdued him and the Nether Market's fighters, then forced Mo Kun to explain that Wu Zhenqing had sent him. Learning Huang Zhili may have been behind the attempts to summon his soul, Luo Bin turned his attention to revenge and offered to spare Mo Kun if he helped.

• Mo Kun leaped from Orthodox Origin Hall to attack Luo Bin, but Luo Bin dodged his strike and incapacitated him with a precise blow.
• A Coffin Bearer, an Executioner, and a Barber charged Luo Bin, but his words left them unable or unwilling to fight, while the watching Nether Market crowd stayed back.
• Luo Bin dragged Mo Kun into the Wine House and waited until he could speak, whereupon Mo Kun blamed Wu Zhenqing of the City God Temple for ordering the attack.
• Mo Kun told Luo Bin that Huang Zhili had recently come to Tongzhou City, prompting Luo Bin to connect him to the attempts to summon his soul and his mother, He Lianxin.
• Luo Bin told Mo Kun he needed some of his people and wanted him to do something, promising to spare his life for Qian Mo's sake if he obeyed.

Huang Zhili and Wu Zhenqing prepared the Grand Night Watch to seize Luo Bin, but Mo Kun turned against them and helped Luo Bin attack the City God Temple. Luo Bin fought the Night Watch that wore his mother’s face, then stopped just before killing Huang Zhili when he learned his father’s soul was also there.

• Huang Zhili explained that the Grand Night Watch would use He Lianxin’s soul to locate and seize Luo Bin.
• Mo Kun arrived, embedded the Jade Turtle Talisman in the Night Watch statue, and used Xu Lu’s Heaven Origin Soul-Sealing Talismans to remove three Night Watches.
• Luo Bin’s formation empowered Mo Kun’s tongue-tip blood, wounding the remaining Night Watches as Mo Kun subdued Huang Zhili and Wu Zhenqing.
• The remaining Night Watches merged and used He Lianxin’s appearance to make Luo Bin hesitate before attacking him.
• Luo Bin struck the Night Watch with the Five Thunder Pestle, then drew his bone-cleaving knife and nearly killed Huang Zhili.
• Huang Zhili threatened Luo Bin and revealed that Luo Yong’s soul was also in his possession, making Luo Bin stop his blade.

Luo Bin confronted Huang Zhili over his mother and father, then killed Huang and destroyed the escaping wisp of his soul. He forced Wu Zhenqing to summon Huang’s soul, but the Heavenly Origin Soul-Anchoring Talismans began releasing black vapor.

• Luo Bin pressed a knife to Huang Zhili’s neck and demanded to know whether his mother could return to normal.
• Huang Zhili threatened Luo Bin and tried to petition the Netherworld Office, but Mo Kun cut up the document and wounded him.
• Huang Zhili taunted Luo Bin about his mother and He Lianxin, so Luo Bin killed him and used the Five Thunder Pestle to disperse his soul.
• Luo Bin made Wu Zhenqing summon Huang Zhili’s soul and threatened him when he hesitated.
• The three Heavenly Origin Soul-Anchoring Talismans trembled and began leaking black vapor, prompting Mo Kun to cry out in alarm.

Luo Bin destroyed the three Heaven Origin Soul-Sealing Talismans and stopped the Grand Night Watch from reforming. He ordered Wu Zhenqing killed, and Mo Kun pulled out Wu Zhenqing’s soul, leaving the three of them implicated in the cover-up.

• Luo Bin used the Five Thunder Pestle to burn away the three Heaven Origin Soul-Sealing Talismans, while the Black-Gold Toad subdued the Night Watch and reduced it to talisman paper.
• Wu Zhenqing summoned Huang Zhili, but then crushed Huang Zhili’s soul into a talisman and begged Luo Bin to spare him.
• Mo Kun urged Luo Bin to kill Wu Zhenqing, then questioned the plan when Wu Zhenqing offered to conceal the Night Watch’s destruction.
• Luo Bin ordered Mo Kun to kill Wu Zhenqing, and Mo Kun used the Ghost Hag’s Neck-Twisting Technique before extracting Wu Zhenqing’s soul and sealing it in a talisman.
• Luo Bin said he had considered killing Mo Kun too, but praised his decisiveness; Mo Kun explained why Wu Zhenqing’s soul could not safely be left alive.

Luo Bin burned down the City God Temple to conceal his actions and spared Mo Kun, promising to help free Mo Qian. After returning to Xu Lu, he revealed the captured netherworld officials and their souls, leaving Xu Lu to warn that the souls had to be destroyed and object that Luo Bin was passing his karma to him.

• Luo Bin ordered Mo Kun to burn down the City God Temple and explained that involving himself further would give the City God Temples and the Netherworld Office clues to investigate.
• Luo Bin spared Mo Kun and told him he intended to bring Mo Qian out of the Mountain Cabinet, with Mo Kun's help.
• Luo Bin and Mo Kun burned the temple, dismantled the formation, and returned to the Nether Market, where Mo Kun agreed to investigate nearby House Immortals.
• Luo Bin returned to the old Western-style house and told Xu Lu he had killed two On-Duty City Gods, captured their souls and several Night Watches, and burned down the temple.
• Xu Lu warned Luo Bin that the captured souls had to be scattered completely and complained that Luo Bin was leaving him to handle the karma.