Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin secretly obtained the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword and returned to his room before dawn. The next day, Tang Yu showed him the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ mountain village and explained its ties to Primordial Calculation and the forbidden Sea-Eye Spring, which Luo Bin asked to approach.

• Luo Bin studied the sword’s precepts and scabbard methods, then concealed the sword in his backpack after its power tormented the ghosts in his Human-Skin Garment.
• Luo Bin left gu worms at the rift, let Shi'an possess him, and returned to his room at four in the morning.
• Tang Yu took Luo Bin through a mountain passage to a village above the cliff terrace and explained why the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey guarded the area.
• Tang Yu said Cloudmist Mountain was connected to Primordial Calculation and that the Sea-Eye Spring was protected by ghost lantern flowers that could illuminate trespassers’ souls.
• Luo Bin claimed he had come seeking the Sea-Eye Spring and asked Tang Yu to take him closer to it.

Luo Bin entered the Ghost Lantern Flower Garden on Cloudmist Mountain, where the flowers nearly pulled his soul from his body, and pressed on to search for white blossoms. At the mountain’s foot, Zhou Sanming arrived with Lu Min and Lu Wu and began climbing, intent on finding Luo Bin and killing him.

• Tang Yu led Luo Bin to the edge of the Ghost Lantern Flower Garden and warned him that the flowers could drive souls from their bodies.
• Luo Bin deliberately made it seem as though the flowers’ influence had overcome him, then charged into the garden as Tang Yu tried to stop him.
• After Tang Yu ran off to get the Venue Master, Luo Bin recited a formula that steadied his soul and began searching the flowers for white blossoms.
• Zhou Sanming reached the foot of Cloudmist Mountain with Lu Min and Lu Wu, pursued by Six Yin Mountain’s Main Hall masters through a fate-talisman brand.
• Zhou Sanming led Lu Min and Lu Wu up the mountain, planning to find Luo Bin, learn what he needed, and kill him.

Tang Gaoji learned that Luo Bin had stolen the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword and ordered the elders to kill him, while Yuan Yinxin sought Heaven-Dumping Qin with a Purple Flower Lantern. Luo Bin gathered purple Ghost Lantern Flowers and continued uphill, sensing an ominous chill as the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ search party approached.

• Tang Gaoji discovered the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword was missing and accused Luo Bin of stealing it after Tang Yu said Luo Bin had been trapped in the Ghost Lantern Flower Grounds.
• Tang Gaoji ordered the elders and disciples to hunt Luo Bin and recover the sword, while Tang Yu tried to defend him.
• Yuan Yinxin carried a Primordial Purple Flower Lantern across Cabinet Mountain and called for Heaven-Dumping Qin so he could force his soul from his body.
• Luo Bin found no white Ghost Lantern Flowers, filled his backpack with purple ones, and sensed the approaching search party through the dead Gu Worms.
• Luo Bin continued uphill to make a Primordial White Flower Lantern before the flowers withered, but felt a faint, sinister chill.

Luo Bin reached the Sea-Eye Spring cave and began making a Primordial White Flower Lantern from ghost lantern flowers and stone fruits. Meanwhile, Tang Gaoji led the elders into the flower grounds to pursue him, convinced that Luo Bin had gone farther uphill.

• Luo Bin reached the summit, found the river flowing from the Sea-Eye Spring cave, and prepared ghost lantern flower petals and stalk fibers near its entrance.
• Luo Bin fed the black fish with leftover plant material, caught and ate two of them, then used the dried flower pith to sew petals and stone fruits into a lantern.
• Tang Yu returned with Tang Gaoji and the others, but they found Luo Bin missing from the place where he had been left.
• Tang Gaoji rejected Tang Yu's suggestion that Luo Bin had escaped and accused Luo Bin of pursuing the Sea-Eye Spring and Cloudmist Mountain's treasures.
• Tang Gaoji and the elders pressed crystal scales to their foreheads and entered the flower grounds, following the formation toward the Sea-Eye Spring.

Tang Gaoji’s group searched the Ghost Lantern Flower Grounds for Luo Bin, while Zhou Sanming’s party encountered the Chestnut Grove’s supernatural guardians. The last Abbey Master of the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey appeared as an Ascended Malevolent Corpse, and Zhou Sanming sensed danger as its purple mist overwhelmed the white mist.

• Tang Gaoji’s group found broken Ghost Lantern Flowers and grew increasingly alarmed that Luo Bin might have reached the Sea-Eye Spring cave.
• Zhou Sanming, Lu Wu, and Lu Min found Long Liang’s corpse in the Chestnut Grove and used a talisman to question him.
• Long Liang recited a warning about the forest’s Fire Direction before his awareness faded and Taoist figures appeared around the group.
• Zhou Sanming used his bowl and bronze rod to break the Taoists’ chant, but an Ascended Malevolent Corpse began reciting a more powerful incantation.
• Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirit attacked the corpse, which unleashed purple mist that suppressed the white mist; Zhou Sanming sensed that something was wrong.

Tang Heshou saw the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison erupting in purple fog as Luo Bin finished his lantern, while Xu Lu and Bai Xian were released from prison by Lama Tsangyang. Luo Bin's lantern unexpectedly lit without oil, leaving him unsure what had caused it.

• Tang Heshou spotted black and purple fog spreading from Chestnut Grove and feared the enraged Ten Commandments Dao Corpse would destroy the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey.
• Lama Tsangyang arrived at Dergé Thangka Temple, declared Bai Xian a born Jomo and Xu Lu an Ongze, and took them away despite the abbot's hesitation.
• Luo Bin completed the Primordial Purple Flower Lantern with the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword suspended beneath it.
• Luo Bin cast several ghosts into the lantern, but they passed through instead of becoming lamp oil, and he feared he had failed.
• Every lamp in the lantern suddenly ignited without oil, while no ghosts appeared around Luo Bin.

Luo Bin discovered that the Primordial Purple Flower Lantern consumed something from him without releasing or suppressing the ghosts. Tang Gaoji and the Cloudmist Daoist Sanctuary elders found Luo Bin, and Tang Gaoji stepped into the lantern’s light, where his soul left his body.

• Luo Bin relit the Primordial Purple Flower Lantern and found that the Human-Skin Garment’s ghosts remained inside, even after he removed it.
• Tang Gaoji led the elders across the Ghost Lantern Flower Grounds and found Luo Bin near the Sea-Eye Spring cave.
• The elders recognized Luo Bin’s purple lantern and Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword, but Tang Gaoji insisted that Primordial Calculation had no disciples left.
• Tang Gaoji advanced into the lantern’s light, and his Scale Stone shattered as his soul separated from his body.
• Luo Bin turned toward Tang Gaoji with bloodshot eyes.

Luo Bin discovered that the Primordial Purple Flower Lantern revealed human souls, not ghosts, and used the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword to destroy Tang Gaoji’s soul. Afterward, Luo Bin realized that lighting the lantern had exacted a terrible price from him.

• After exhausting himself with Rewind, Luo Bin saw Tang Gaoji’s soul separated from his body and realized the lantern had worked.
• Luo Bin rushed Tang Gaoji and pinned his fleshly shell’s head beneath his foot as the elders shouted for him to retreat.
• Tang Gaoji tried to charge into Luo Bin’s body, but Luo Bin impaled his soul with the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword.
• Tang Gaoji’s soul disintegrated, leaving the nine elders horrified as Luo Bin’s lantern flame went out.
• Luo Bin realized the lantern revealed human souls rather than ghosts and glimpsed the price he had paid to light it.

Luo Bin survived the cost of lighting the primordial Purple Flower Lantern, then explored the depths of Sea-Eye Spring and encountered a terrifying scaled woman beneath the water. He escaped and used his ocarina to summon a tide of venomous creatures, leaving the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds elders afraid to approach him.

• Luo Bin realized the Purple Flower Lantern burned its holder’s yang lifespan, and the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds elders retreated in terror after seeing him kill Tang Gaoji with it.
• Luo Bin recovered by eating blackfish, searched Tang Gaoji’s corpse for ritual artifacts, and found shattered translucent scale stones that appeared to anchor the soul.
• Luo Bin explored the Sea-Eye Spring cave but found only ordinary scale stones before a huge whirlpool formed in the water.
• Luo Bin saw a tall, scaled woman with a hole in her chest standing on the water, then fled when she vanished beneath the surface and Tang Gaoji’s corpse was swept away.
• Luo Bin played his ocarina in the Ghost Lantern Flower Grounds and summoned a tide of venomous creatures, keeping the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds elders at a distance.

After killing Tang Gaoji and driving off the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds, Luo Bin returned to their grounds and discovered that the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison’s black-purple mist had spread across the mountain. Tang Hui admitted the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds had betrayed their old ties to primordial calculation and vowed to help Luo Bin leave Cloud Veil Mountain safely.

• The Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds elders and disciples retreated from the Ghost Lantern Flower Grounds after learning Luo Bin had killed the Venue Master with the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword.
• Luo Bin returned to the village, examined the Moon-Shaped Stone, and decided that leaving the Nine-Bump White-Flower Tree might be necessary to avoid stirring the dao corpse.
• Luo Bin saw black-purple mist engulfing the Three-Altars Cliff and much of the mountainside, suspected the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison had fully activated, and turned back toward the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds entrance.
• Luo Bin returned to his lodging, frightened the gathered elders into retreating, and ordered them to bring Tang Yu and the Grand Elder to meet him.
• Tang Hui confirmed that the Nine-Bump White-Flower Tree contained a corpse soul and admitted the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds had been blinded by greed and failed to stop Tang Gaoji.
• Tang Hui accepted that the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds had lost its chance at freedom and vowed to protect Luo Bin and help him leave Cloud Veil Mountain.

Luo Bin accepted the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ Tree Heart in exchange for returning the Nine-Bump White-Flower Tree’s trunk, while Tang Hui explained how the tree held the Three-Altars Abbey Master’s partner’s soul. As corpse qi spread across Three-Altars Cliff, Tang Heshou warned that the intruder could drive the corpse prison across Cloudmist Mountain and accused Luo Bin of being a thief.

• Tang Hui explained that the Nine-Bump White-Flower Tree trapped the Three-Altars Abbey Master’s partner’s soul and offered Luo Bin the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds’ Tree Heart for its trunk.
• Tang Yu told Luo Bin that Tang Hui had ordered him to obey Luo Bin, then left after Luo Bin said he had no instructions for him.
• Tang Hui brought the Tree Heart to Luo Bin and carried the tree trunk to Three-Altars Cliff, where its spirit appeared briefly before disappearing into the corpse prison.
• Tang Heshou warned that the intruder might be able to project a yin spirit and that the corpse prison could spread across Cloudmist Mountain if the Three-Altars Abbey Master could not kill them.
• Tang Heshou confronted Luo Bin, accused him of being a thief, and declared that he would be buried with the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds.

Luo Bin revealed that he was recognized as Primordial Calculation’s Venue Master and had become the Miao King, then entered the Corpse Prison despite the danger. He reached the cliff’s edge and spotted a Lifespan Person resembling Lu Si wandering below.

• Tang Heshou taunted Luo Bin about the Corpse Prison, but Luo Bin stopped Tang Hui from having him seized and told the elders to continue preparing the formation.
• Tang Hui explained that the Three-Altars Abbey Master and other Taoists turned Fierce Corpses threatened the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds, and Luo Bin warned that the village and mountain could be lost.
• Luo Bin told Tang Hui that people acknowledged him as Primordial Calculation’s current Venue Master, though he had lost the Moonstone and Primordial White Flower Lantern that could prove his identity.
• Luo Bin revealed he was an outsider who had become the Miao King, then asked Tang Hui to tell Tang Yu not to lose faith in Primordial Calculation.
• Luo Bin entered the Corpse Prison, determined to follow Primordial Calculation’s teachings, and walked toward the edge of Three-Altars Cliff.
• Luo Bin saw a Lifespan Person resembling Lu Si pacing below the cliff’s edge.

Luo Bin realized Zhou Sanming had come to Cloudmist Mountain and that killing the Three-Altars Abbey Master depended on Zhou Sanming dying first. As Zhou Sanming struggled to survive the Dao corpses’ chanting, both men searched for a way to break the deadlock.

• Luo Bin recognized the lifespan person as part of Zhou Sanming’s effort to find Lu Si and destroyed it with the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword.
• Luo Bin reached the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey and concluded that Zhou Sanming had to die before the Three-Altars Abbey Master became dormant, but he did not know how to kill a yin spirit projector.
• Zhou Sanming remained inside his body while the Dao corpses chanted, using clapper bells and talismans to protect himself and Lu Wu and Lu Min.
• Lu Wu and Lu Min were badly weakened by the chanting, and Zhou Sanming fed them a lifespan person to keep them alive.
• Zhou Sanming rejected Lu Wu’s suggestion to retreat and considered how to kill the feathered fiend without projecting his yin spirit.

Luo Bin entered the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey and discovered that its master had grotesquely combined the bodies of a Yang Spirit Grandmaster and other Real Persons. Trapped inside and pursued by Dao Corpses, Luo Bin followed Jin Youde’s directions toward a window, only to encounter the mysterious white-haired figure again on the roof.

• Luo Bin realized he could not kill Zhou Sanming and considered breaking the stalemate by wounding him.
• Luo Bin entered the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey and found Real Person corpses arranged around a coffin containing a body stitched together from many parts.
• Luo Bin understood that the Three-Altars Abbey Master had mutilated a Yang Spirit Grandmaster and other Real Persons in pursuit of uniting with the Dao.
• The abbey doors shut, and the Real Person Dao Corpses rose and pursued Luo Bin while chanting the verses from the plaques and the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword.
• Jin Youde appeared and led Luo Bin through the abbey, then urged him to escape through a window as the Four Ghosts attacked the pursuing corpses.
• Luo Bin climbed onto the roof and saw the white-haired figure beckon; its voice reached into his mind, making him lose his balance.

Luo Bin escaped the burning Three-Altars Taoist Abbey with a massive Corpse Core and found a way out of the Blood Peach Grove. After collecting Lu Si’s soul, he hid in the woods as a feather-covered figure raced toward Three Altars Temple.

• Luo Bin discovered that the Yang Spirit Patriarch had guided him to extract a huge, creamy-yellow Corpse Core from its stitched corpse.
• Luo Bin escaped the burning abbey as the Patriarch’s intervention stopped the Real Person Dao Corpses from pursuing him.
• Luo Bin used blood to disperse the woman in white’s Yin spirit, then followed the Nine-Bump White-Flower Tree trunk out of the Blood Peach Grove.
• Luo Bin used Tang Gaoji’s bronze mirror and the human-skin garment to reveal and collect Lu Si’s soul.
• Luo Bin hid in a thicket when he saw a black-feathered figure rushing toward Three Altars Temple.

Luo Bin discovered that the corpse core from the Yang Spirit Patriarch contained no life force, then continued toward the Chestnut Grove while planning how to confront Zhou Sanming. At Six Yin Mountain, Shangguan Xingyue fed captured souls to the Six-Eyed, Six-Eared Black City Monastery Deity, and Dai Zhixiong's yin spirit returned to his body.

• The Three-Altars Abbey Master passed Luo Bin's hiding place, and Luo Bin tried the corpse core but found it could not restore his life force.
• Luo Bin put away the Primordial Purple Flower Lantern, secured the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword, and headed toward the Chestnut Grove while considering his slim chances against Zhou Sanming.
• Dai Ci and the Underground Palace disciples found Dai Zhixiong's mutilated body hanging in the Main Hall, while Shangguan Xingyue perceived his yin spirit on a roof beam.
• Shangguan Xingyue used Hexagram Speech Manifestation to see the Six-Eyed, Six-Eared Black City Monastery Deity and ordered the disciples to bring it living people unharmed.
• Shangguan Xingyue secretly captured and tortured Six Yin Mountain disciples so the deity could consume their souls, until it became black smoke and darted toward her.
• Dai Zhixiong's yin spirit returned to his body, and he opened his eyes.

Shangguan Xingyue begged Dai Zhixiong to avenge her junior brother, and Dai Zhixiong promised to teach her and bring her justice. On Cloudmist Mountain, Luo Bin found Zhou Sanming and tried to secure his help escaping the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison, but Zhou Sanming sensed that Luo Bin still had another motive.

• Shangguan Xingyue told Dai Zhixiong that her junior brother had died after Bai Wei took him to Sawu Mountain, and asked him to avenge her.
• Dai Zhixiong promised Shangguan Xingyue that he would teach her and avenge her junior brother.
• Luo Bin used Lu Si's soul to lead him through the thickening mist on Cloudmist Mountain, where they found Zhou Sanming with Lu Wu and Lu Min.
• Luo Bin revealed that the Three-Altars Abbey Master had been watching Zhou Sanming and explained that they were trapped in the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison.
• Zhou Sanming demanded Luo Bin's White Lantern, but Luo Bin said he had abandoned his former body and offered to explain the prison in exchange for help escaping.
• Zhou Sanming agreed that he wanted to leave, then accused Luo Bin of still harboring ulterior motives.

Luo Bin explained the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey and the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison to Zhou Sanming while concealing key details, then accepted Zhou’s demand to eat Lifespan Soil. As Zhou prepared to torment a woman’s soul, Luo Bin braced for the next move in his plan.

• Tang Yu appeared and claimed the Grand Elder had sent him to help Luo Bin, but Zhou Sanming ordered Lu Wu and Lu Min to extract his Essence of Two and Five and Soul Qi.
• Luo Bin described the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey and explained that its master was the core of the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison, while hiding several details.
• Zhou Sanming gave Luo Bin a bowl of Lifespan Soil, which eased his depletion and silenced the mysterious call.
• Luo Bin grew worried that the Three-Altars Abbey Master might attack the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds while Zhou Sanming finished setting up a ritual formation.
• Luo Bin released a woman’s soul, and Zhou Sanming stabbed her eye with a bone spike as she screamed in agony.
• Luo Bin tensed and prepared to draw the Three Altars Yin-Slaying Sword.

Luo Bin resisted the Ten Commandments Corpse Prison’s attempt to erase his memories as Zhou Sanming fought to restrain the Three-Altars Abbey Master. When Zhou Sanming’s Yin Spirits emerged and left him immobilized, Luo Bin turned against him with the Three-Altars Yin-Slaying Sword.

• The Corpse Prison’s celestial immortal great precepts began emptying Luo Bin’s mind, but the Calling Bell restored his memory of his mother, He Lianxin, and strengthened his resolve to break free.
• Zhou Sanming bound the Three-Altars Abbey Master and used the woman’s soul to restrain him, while bone spikes and Calling Bells suppressed his movements.
• The woman’s soul broke free of Zhou Sanming’s control, attacked Luo Bin, and recoiled when it struck him; the Three-Altars Abbey Master’s incantations also set the Nine-Bump White-Flower Tree and crimson cord ablaze with purple flames.
• Luo Bin used the Innate Purple Flower Lantern to knock Lu Wu and Lu Min down, but its light consumed Zhou Sanming’s vital essence and froze his body, allowing three Yin Spirits to leave him.
• Luo Bin drew the Three-Altars Yin-Slaying Sword and thrust it into the mouth of the slightly younger Zhou Sanming.

Luo Bin failed to kill Zhou Sanming and was left severely weakened, while Zhou Sanming turned to fight the Three-Altars Abbey Master. As the corpse prison contracted, Tang Yu helped Luo Bin escape into a room in the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey, where Luo Bin wondered who had brought them there.

• Luo Bin was briefly possessed and drove the Three-Altar Yin-Slaying Sword into Zhou Sanming's mouth, but Zhou Sanming forced him back and called for Lu Wu and Lu Min to seize him.
• Luo Bin's three-refined snake gu poisoned Lu Wu, and Zhou Sanming's yin spirit blasted Lu Min away before trying to pull Luo Bin's soul out, but recoiled from touching him.
• Zhou Sanming pierced the Three-Altars Abbey Master's fontanelle and dantian, but the Abbey Master and the Taoist corpses rallied against him as the corpse prison contracted.
• Tang Yu supported the exhausted Luo Bin and gave him ginseng; the mist vanished, revealing that they were inside a room in the Three-Altars Taoist Abbey.
• Luo Bin told Tang Yu that his arrival had helped, then opened the window a crack and wondered who was there.