Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin and his companions escaped the danger at Primordial Calculation but learned that Divine Firmament Mountain had lost its Abbey Master and Elder Bai Yi. As they struggled up Elephant Mountain, Luo Bin shared his ritual implements with Xu Lu, then learned that others nearby were trapped and doomed.

• Xu Lu and Bai Xian discussed the deaths at Primordial Calculation and the danger their loss posed to Divine Firmament Mountain.
• The bronze bells in Divine Firmament Mountain's Main Hall shattered, signaling that the Abbey Master and Elder Bai Yi had fallen, and White Oak ordered Chen Hongming to investigate whether Luo Bin was involved.
• Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian struggled uphill on Elephant Mountain while Fourth Master Gray and Little Gray Spirit accompanied them and the Mountain Rats scouted ahead.
• Luo Bin gave Xu Lu the Fourfold Compass, a crystal bottle, and other ritual implements, prompting Xu Lu to declare that he wanted Luo Bin as his adoptive father.
• The Mountain Rats returned with news that people ahead were trapped and doomed, and Luo Bin and Xu Lu used spirit-invoking talismans to hear what they had discovered.

Luo Bin and his companions sought a way to rescue Shangguan Xingyue and the others without confronting Zhou Sanming directly. They traveled to Elephant Mountain’s foot and ate turtle meat to regain their strength while Luo Bin used the Primordial White Flower Lantern, leaving their next move unresolved.

• Bai Xian and Xu Lu discussed how Zhou Sanming’s Lifespan Theft worked and agreed that Shangguan Xingyue and the other captives needed rescuing.
• Luo Bin led Bai Xian and Xu Lu down Elephant Mountain, warning them to trust no one else as malign entities began appearing.
• Luo Bin assured Xu Lu that Shangguan Xingyue had believed the people drawn into the Mountain Cabinet were evil, though her actions could be judged later.
• The group rested, then continued around the mountain until they reached the pool beneath the Elephant Trunk and found the turtle meat left there.
• Luo Bin rekindled the fire and ate turtle meat with the others to recover, while he held the Primordial White Flower Lantern and monitored its oil.

Luo Bin uncovered a suppressed Ascended Malevolent Corpse beneath the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins and removed its corpse core. He threatened to destroy the core unless the corpse helped them kill someone, leaving the corpse’s response unresolved.

• Luo Bin used the Primordial White Flower Lantern to destroy the Ascended Malevolent Soul when it tried to attack Xu Lu.
• Luo Bin found the formation’s focal point, led Xu Lu and Bai Xian underground, and discovered an Ascended Malevolent Corpse pinned beneath an old turtle.
• Luo Bin had the Mountain Rats help remove the turtle corpse, freeing the Ascended Malevolent Corpse from its physical restraint while the formation still kept it contained.
• Bai Xian cut open the corpse’s abdomen, and Luo Bin removed its jade-like corpse core before placing the Gu Silkworm Gold on it.
• Luo Bin told the corpse he would spare its core if it helped them kill one person, but would destroy the core if it tried to kill them.

Luo Bin freed a deadly monk corpse from the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins and led it toward Zhou Sanming, then used the mountain god sacrifice to ask the Nightmare Fiend to open a path and let someone in. He ordered the Mountain Rats to search for Bai Wei and said he had a surprise prepared for Yuan Yinxin.

• Luo Bin and Fourth Master Gray had the Mountain Rats carry the monk corpse out of the burial chamber, while Xu Lu explained its Corrosive Bone Poison and Jade Feather traits.
• The monk corpse rose outside the valley, released purple poison smoke, and followed Luo Bin, who held its corpse core.
• Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian knelt for the mountain god sacrifice, and the Nightmare Fiend appeared before them.
• Luo Bin asked the Nightmare Fiend to open a mountain path and let one person in, and a gap appeared in the mist.
• Luo Bin ordered Fourth Master Gray to send the Mountain Rats to find Bai Wei, then told Xu Lu he had prepared a surprise for Yuan Yinxin.

Luo Bin prepared a surprise strategy against Yuan Yinxin while Zhou Sanming held Shangguan Xingyue and the others captive. Shangguan Xingyue tried to die rather than obey Zhou Sanming, but he repeatedly healed her and left her in despair.

• Xu Lu realized Luo Bin had devised a bold plan using the fierce corpse from the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins and a search for Bai Wei.
• Yuan Yinxin prepared a Spirit Tortoise Formation with sixteen living tortoises, intending to seize Luo Bin with his projected yin spirit.
• Zhou Sanming fed blood-soaked rice while Bai Xianming and the other captives knelt before him, and he ordered Shangguan Xingyue to let the newcomers enter Elephant Mountain.
• Shangguan Xingyue refused to cooperate and tried to tear open her neck, but Zhou Sanming healed her with blood-soaked rice.
• Shangguan Xingyue invoked Death-Star Exchange, but Zhou Sanming survived and forced more medicine into her before dislocating her jaw.

Zhou Sanming battled the Old Monk, an ascended malevolent corpse whose soul trapped his Yin Spirit, and revealed that he could project three Yin Spirits. After defeating the Old Monk, Zhou Sanming confronted Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian outside the Outer Observatory.

• Zhou Sanming stabbed Shangguan Xingyue and threatened to use her face for a longevity bowl until a visitor knocked at the Outer Observatory.
• The Old Monk entered, resisted Zhou Sanming’s Calling Bell, and attacked him with purple corpse qi.
• The Old Monk’s malevolent soul seized Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirit while his body advanced on Zhou Sanming’s fleshly shell.
• A younger Zhou Sanming pinned the Old Monk, while an aged Yin Spirit emerged through Zhou Sanming’s body and destroyed the malevolent soul with three copper beads.
• Xu Lu urged Luo Bin and Bai Xian to flee, but they stayed, and Luo Bin lit the White Flower Lantern when Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirit appeared before them.

Luo Bin, Bai Xian, and Xu Lu fought Zhou Sanming at the Outer Observatory, using the lantern, Blood Peach Sword, and hidden protections to injure him before his Bronze Club subdued them. Zhou Sanming prepared to take them as lifespan people while Luo Bin’s weakened allies struggled to protect him.

• Luo Bin used the Primordial White Flower Lantern and Cloudmist Mountain Blood Peach Sword to immobilize and slash Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirit, badly wounding its head.
• Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirit struck Fourth Master Gray away, but Luo Bin cut through Zhou Sanming’s neck while Bai Xian attacked his body, dispersing his soul into gray aura.
• Bai Xian survived Zhou Sanming’s bronze beads because of the souls in her Human-Skin Garment and struck him with a talisman, sending his body crashing backward.
• Bai Xian tried to stab Zhou Sanming’s eyes, but he struck the Bronze Club and knocked Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian down.
• Zhou Sanming’s main Yin Spirit gathered behind him as he advanced toward Luo Bin, while the black-gold toad and Fourth Master Gray tried to defend him.
• Zhou Sanming struck the Bronze Club again, leaving the mountain rats collapsed and Fourth Master Gray motionless on Luo Bin’s shoulder.

Luo Bin’s talisman briefly restrained Zhou Sanming, but Zhou Sanming escaped with help from Bai Xianming and surrounded Luo Bin and his companions with beggars. Bai Xian summoned the Bright Consort Deities and used their nine-retreat spell to age Zhou Sanming and Bai Xianming, while the mountain god Chi Xiao began devouring Zhou Sanming’s escaping vital energy.

• Luo Bin revealed that he had pinned the Primordial Fiend-Subduing Talisman beneath Zhou Sanming’s foot, restraining Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirits.
• Bai Xianming attacked Fourth Master Gray, while the youthful Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirit summoned beggars to encircle Luo Bin and his companions.
• Bai Xian rose and released the fifth Ghost Prison’s mist and the Bright Consort Deities, prompting Bai Xianming to retrieve Zhou Sanming’s body.
• Bai Xian chanted the nine retreats, causing Bai Xianming and Zhou Sanming to rapidly age as she and Luo Bin advanced.
• Chi Xiao appeared and sucked in Zhou Sanming’s escaping vital energy, while Xu Lu urged the mountain god to consume him.

Luo Bin and the others escaped the Outer Observatory after the Mountain God Nightmare Fiend carried Zhou Sanming into the mist. Inside, Luo Bin chose to repay the karmic debt to the imprisoned Yin-Yang Practitioners by sharing the turtle meat and restoring their strength, while Shangguan Xingyue reflected on her injury and the emptiness of an apology.

• Luo Bin used the Primordial White Flower Lantern to stop the Bright Consort, but Zhou Sanming attacked the Mountain God Nightmare Fiend and was carried away into the fog.
• Luo Bin explained that they could not safely kill someone capable of Yin Spirit Projection, and Xu Lu accepted that their best course was to leave.
• Bai Xian entered the Outer Observatory, where Luo Bin found the Yin-Yang Practitioners near death and recognized Fang Jinyan and Tao Kan among them.
• Luo Bin ordered the Mountain Rats to bring turtle meat for the practitioners, explaining that sharing it would settle the karmic debt caused by the Yuan Master and Disciple.
• Fang Jinyan distributed the turtle meat, while Shangguan Xingyue handed out golden pills to the practitioners and said she would let them leave.
• Luo Bin offered Shangguan Xingyue cooked turtle meat, but she declined and reflected that an apology could not undo the harm done to her.

Luo Bin led the effort to escape Zhou Sanming’s threat, then returned the Monk Corpse to the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins and restored its suppression. The chapter ended with the Monk Corpse opening his eyes and asking Luo Bin to return something.

• Luo Bin told Shangguan Xingyue that she had to leave Elephant Mountain because she could not defeat Zhou Sanming, and Bai Xian explained why they lacked the means to kill him.
• Luo Bin retrieved the Primordial Fiend-Subduing Talisman, pressed it to the Monk Corpse’s forehead, and had the black-gold toad feed on its blood.
• Luo Bin asked Fang Jinyan to warn the others to leave, then arranged for Mr. Xu and Bai Xian to lead them away while he took the Monk Corpse back to the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins.
• Luo Bin traveled down the mountain with the Mountain Rats carrying the Monk Corpse and examined the evil Pill Corpse, noting that it looked and felt identical to the good Pill Corpse.
• Luo Bin returned the Monk Corpse to its original suppression beneath the turtle corpse, where it opened its mismatched eyes and told him to return something.

Luo Bin sealed the Monk Corpse away, strengthened the defenses of the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins, and reunited with Bai Wei, who revealed what had happened to the pursuing Daoists. Bai Wei invited Luo Bin to Usa Mountain, but Luo Bin said he first needed treatment and had a gift to deliver.

• Luo Bin took the Malevolent Corpse Core from the Monk Corpse, sealed the tomb chamber, and covered its door with venom and earth.
• Luo Bin summoned venomous insects to guard the Elephant-End Turtle Ruins, gave the Corpse Core to the weakened Black-Gold Toad, and cleaned away signs of the gathering.
• Fourth Master Gray found Bai Wei, who told Luo Bin that Bai Zihua and Bai Yi had died and become mountain-guarding corpses after their Grandmaster purged them.
• Luo Bin explained what had happened and asked whether Bai Wei could destroy the Yin Spirit Projection; Bai Wei said he could not and told Luo Bin he would no longer pursue Shangguan Xingyue.
• Bai Wei invited Luo Bin to Usa Mountain, but Luo Bin said he needed Lady White Immortal to treat his hand, had other business, and needed to deliver a gift.

Luo Bin left Bai Wei to travel alone and prepared a trap for Yuan Yinxin’s soul fragment at the old dojo. Yuan Yinxin’s possession attempt was caught in Luo Bin’s ritual arrangement, but he noticed the Primordial White Flower Lantern was incomplete and continued resisting.

• The White Immortal Lady treated Luo Bin’s burned hand, and Bai Wei warned him not to overuse the Primordial White Flower Lantern.
• Luo Bin left Bai Wei with Fourth Master Gray and traveled through the mountain forest while suppressing his fate with the Jade Star Qimen Compass.
• At the old dojo, Luo Bin arranged talismans and the Hanging Tortoise Mirror, then summoned He Lianxin’s soul and the dead practitioner’s ghost with the Primordial White Flower Lantern.
• Yuan Yinxin split off a soul fragment to possess Luo Bin, but the Hanging Tortoise Mirror and Luo Bin’s talisman arrangement trapped it.
• Yuan Yinxin recognized the incomplete lantern and continued trying to activate his Yin Spirit as blood mist invaded his body.

Luo Bin destroyed a fragment of Yuan Yinxin’s Yin Spirit and escaped the Taoist Grounds, then traveled to the Primordial River and reunited with Shen Dong. At Shenxiao Mountain, Bai Xiaoshan remained imprisoned and was being tortured.

• Luo Bin stabbed Yuan Yinxin’s Yin Spirit with the Cloudmist Mountain Blood Peach Sword and split it apart, grievously injuring Yuan Yinxin.
• Yuan Yinxin tried to crawl toward the Inner Hall as black-and-red vines began growing around the Taoist Grounds.
• Luo Bin gathered the ritual artifacts, left the Taoist Grounds, and slept safely in another room with Fourth Master Gray guarding him.
• Luo Bin left the Taoist Grounds, crossed the Primordial River, and returned to Shen Dong’s courtyard, where Shen Dong asked where Xu Lu and Taoist Bai Xian were.
• At Shenxiao Mountain, a young Taoist repeatedly lashed the imprisoned Bai Xiaoshan with a thorn-covered rod.

Bai Xiaoshan challenged White Oak Grandmaster over his betrayal and asked whether he feared Corpse Liberation. In Victory Qi Town, Luo Bin sent Bai Xian to warn Shangguan Xingyue to leave and seek help from the Underground Palace, while he considered how to strengthen his abilities.

• White Oak Grandmaster punished Bai Xiaoshan and demanded that he reveal the Divine Firmament Four Sovereigns Mirror's location, but Bai Xiaoshan accused him of body theft and asked whether he feared Corpse Liberation.
• Bai Xian told Luo Bin that Shangguan Xingyue refused to leave with them, and Luo Bin instructed her to warn Shangguan that Zhou Sanming might target her and that the Underground Palace should rescue Dai Zhixiong from Six Yin Mountain.
• Xu Lu worried that sending Shangguan to the Underground Palace would put her in danger, but Luo Bin explained that it would give her a way out and stir conflict between the Underground Palace and Six Yin Mountain.
• Third Master Hu briefly possessed Bai Wei and demanded that Luo Bin give him any benevolent Corpse Core, while Xu Lu backed away from Bai Wei.
• Luo Bin examined the exhausted Primordial White Flower Lantern and wondered how powerful it would become when all sixteen lamps were filled, then wished for a magical artifact that could project a Yang spirit.
• Fourth Master Gray climbed onto Luo Bin's chest and eagerly gestured as Luo Bin considered finding a Yang-spirit artifact.

Luo Bin and his companions traveled to Peach Immortal Town and entered the territory surrounding Sawu Mountain, where Bai Wei explained why spirit mediums were expected to join its community. As they reached Sawu Mountain, an enormous weasel approached, and Third Great-Uncle Hu spoke through Bai Wei to challenge it.

• Luo Bin refused to take the important mirror and talisman from Divine Firmament Mountain, and Fourth Master Gray left the room after seeming to devise a scheme.
• Xu Lu told Luo Bin that Liu Shuisheng had survived the Primordial River’s feng shui through a ritual artifact, while Shangguan Xingyue and Fang Jinyan set out together and Bai Xianming prepared to return to Divine Firmament Mountain with four red-robed Taoists.
• Luo Bin’s group picked up Yan Nan and traveled through heavy snow to Peach Immortal Town, where Bai Wei explained Sawu Mountain’s place in the spirit-medium lineages.
• After resting, the group traveled for three days through mountains and forest until they reached Sawu Mountain’s distinctive drum-shaped peaks.
• An enormous, ragged weasel approached the group, and Third Great-Uncle Hu spoke through Bai Wei, questioning whether it was truly an immortal.

Bai Wei returned to Sawu Mountain with Luo Bin and the others, where his powerful Fox Immortals forced the gatekeeper to welcome them despite the mountain’s rules. After the group reached the summit, Bai Wei began the formalities of his return while the others settled into a lavish courtyard.

• An old yellow weasel guided Bai Wei and the others through sinister Sawu Mountain to its gate, where Huang Shan recognized Bai Wei but said the mountain’s rules barred him and his companions from entering.
• Bai Wei revealed the Corpse Immortals accompanying him, and Huang Shan fell to his knees before arranging a chair to carry Third Master Hu up the mountain.
• At the summit, Bai Wei learned he had to burn incense, bathe, change robes, and visit Old Lady Black before meeting the leader, while the others were sent to settle in.
• Fox Immortals led Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian to a grand courtyard, where Xu Lu admired its wealth and Fourth Master Gray briefly climbed onto a tall seat before returning to Luo Bin’s shoulder.
• Yan Nan found rooms for the group, and Luo Bin sat down to rest as Fourth Master Gray crawled up to him and began making faces.

Luo Bin followed Fourth Master Gray into Sawu Mountain’s ghost-raising woods, hoping to find a powerful ghost to fuel the Primordial White Flower Lantern. The rat led him into a cave containing a black bear corpse and a sword-stabbed dried corpse surrounded by five House Immortals, leaving Luo Bin alarmed as Fourth Master Gray urged him to take the sword.

• Luo Bin refused Fourth Master Gray’s invitation to leave the room, but the rat later stole the Primordial White Flower Lantern and lured him away from the summit.
• Luo Bin found a ghost in the woods, and Fourth Master Gray explained that Sawu Mountain released ghosts there for spirit mediums to capture.
• Luo Bin searched deeper for stronger ghosts, passing increasingly dangerous burial mounds as Fourth Master Gray guided him onward.
• Luo Bin entered a cave and discovered a huge black bear corpse, a dried corpse with a sword in its mouth, and five House Immortals nearby.
• Fourth Master Gray urged Luo Bin to take the sword as a treasure, and Luo Bin realized he had been foolish to trust the rat.

Luo Bin explored the Burial Mound Complex, refused to take a sword from the remains of a powerful practitioner, then became absorbed in the Primordial Calculation Inheritance for three days and two nights. After waking, he learned Xu Lu had been offered a path to become a Spirit Medium and that Sawu Mountain’s leaders wanted to assess him; he fell asleep and awoke to Luo Shan’s face and an urgent whisper to get out.

• Luo Bin recognized that the sword-swallowing corpse among the remains of five Immortal Creatures had likely pursued corpse liberation, but refused Fourth Master Gray’s urging to take its sword.
• Luo Bin returned to the spirit hall, where Xu Lu left with Fourth Master Gray to find food and promised to bring some back for Luo Bin and Bai Xian.
• Luo Bin studied the Primordial Calculation Inheritance until he lost track of time and went three days and two nights without eating, drinking, sleeping, or resting.
• Bai Wei told Luo Bin that Xu Lu had been offered a chance to become a Spirit Medium in exchange for producing Spirit-Inviting Talismans, while Bai Xian had entered seclusion to stabilize her realm.
• Bai Wei said the Cult Leader and Black Granny wanted to meet Luo Bin and assess his aptitude before deciding who would teach him.
• After eating and returning to his room, Luo Bin fell into a strange sleep and woke to Luo Shan’s freckled face as someone whispered for him to get out.

Luo Bin discovered that someone was repeatedly summoning his soul while he was on Sawu Mountain, and Bai Wei brought him to meet the sect leader. There, the sect leader Gan Shi recognized Luo Bin as the master of the innate divination sanctuary and asked him to demonstrate the Moon-Showing Stone Form.

• Luo Bin saw a fox-headed, human-bodied figure watching him outside his window, but it vanished when he went to investigate.
• Luo Bin experienced his soul leaving and returning to his body, then used the Jade Star Qimen Disc and realized someone was repeatedly summoning it.
• Bai Wei said the soul summoning was improper and took Luo Bin to meet the Sawu Mountain sect leader.
• Luo Bin told Gan Shi that he had found a cave containing bear and human corpses, and Gan Shi said he had been free to explore the area.
• Gan Shi identified Luo Bin as the master of the innate divination sanctuary and asked him to show the Moon-Showing Stone Form.

Luo Bin learned that Sawu Mountain’s Shamanesses were interested in him and could suppress Spirit Mediums, so Shi Gan postponed teaching him their arts while he investigated. That night, strange beast-headed figures appeared outside Luo Bin’s room, and a snake-headed person suddenly materialized beside him.

• Shi Gan welcomed Luo Bin as the Master of the Grounds and promised Sawu Mountain’s support for primordial calculation, but said he would first consult the Black Grannies about the Shamanesses.
• Bai Wei explained that the Shamanesses were a group whose rites could summon and control souls, and warned Luo Bin not to resist if they took him.
• Luo Bin returned to his room, studied the primordial calculation legacy, and spent the day waiting while Bai Wei guarded the door.
• At midnight, Luo Bin saw a Fox-Headed Person collapsed across Bai Wei’s legs as Bai Wei murmured the name “Xing'er.”
• Two beast-headed figures knocked at Luo Bin’s door while Bai Wei remained still, and a snake-headed person suddenly appeared beside Luo Bin.