Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin used medicine person blood and a Primordial Calculation formation to revive Xu Jiuqu and summon back part of his soul. Xu Jiuqu then stopped the ritual and drew the Five Elements Soul-Suppressing Hundred Aspects Unification Talisman, leaving the group poised to confront the projected yin spirits.

• Luo Bin recognized that a projected yin spirit had seized Xu Jiuqu’s soul, drove it off with the Thunderstruck Blood Peachwood Sword, and restored Bai Xian, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu’s souls with the Purple Flower Lantern.
• Luo Bin agreed to check that the gathered people were safe before going to the summit to find Xu Lu, then poured medicine person blood into Xu Jiuqu’s mouth.
• Luo Bin arranged sixteen Blood Talismans into a tortoise-shaped formation and used Primordial Calculation to summon Xu Jiuqu’s soul from the Shadow Ghost and the projected yin spirit.
• Xu Jiuqu regained consciousness and halted the summoning ritual, then drew the Five Elements Soul-Suppressing Hundred Aspects Unification Talisman in his own blood.

Xu Lu recovered the scattered fragments of his living soul and remembered the dangers he had survived, then learned that Xu Shanding had entered the burial shaft to seal the ghosts. Realizing Luo Bin was in danger, Xu Lu hurried to save him.

• Xu Lu's recovered memories revealed how fragments of his living soul had wandered through the Ten Thousand Mountains and suffered past ordeals before dissolving and returning to him as white smoke.
• Xu Lu remembered that Xian'er Gu and Mr. Luo had helped him, and resolved to repay them.
• Second Madam Hu told Xu Lu that Xu Shanding had entered the burial shaft to seal the ghosts rather than kill himself.
• Xu Lu said Luo Bin was not human, recalling that he had defeated two Yin Spirit Projections and helped Xu Lu without using the black hexagram.
• Second Madam Hu urged Xu Lu to hurry before Luo Bin died, and Xu Lu set off down the mountain.

Xu Lu discovered that Xu Shanding had died and sealed the route out of the Talisman Arts Lineage, then hurried back to find He Huangdao’s corpse gone. At the Venue Master’s Dao Hall, Xu Changzhi denounced Xu Jiuqu’s group as enemies and led the elders in preparing a lethal talisman attack.

• Xu Lu heard energy surge from the Golden Well and realized Xu Shanding was dead and had sealed the route.
• Xu Lu returned to the houses and found He Huangdao’s corpse missing, then hurried down the mountain.
• Xu Jiuqu arrived at the Dao Hall with Luo Bin, Bai Xian, Miao Yun, and Miao Tu, but Xu Changzhi accused them of murdering the Primordial Calculation Venue Master and the White Real Person.
• The Grand Elder ordered the elders to use the Child-Severing, Stone-Crossing, Solitary New Evil-Dispelling Self-Devouring Fate Talismans against Xu Jiuqu’s group.
• Luo Bin recognized from Xu Changzhi’s words and physiognomy that Xu Changzhi intended to kill him and Bai Xian as well.

Luo Bin exposed Xu Changzhi’s treachery with Hexagram Speech Manifestation, and the elders prepared to kill him. Xu Lu arrived after apparently emerging from darkness and intervened, leaving Luo Bin and Bai Xian startled by his sudden recovery and defense of Xu Changzhi.

• Luo Bin used Bai Xian’s chant to disrupt the elders’ attack, then struck Xu Changzhi with two Hexagram Speech Manifestations and forced him to reveal his resentment and ambitions.
• Xu Changzhi accused Luo Bin of using sinister methods, but Xu Jiuqu defended Luo Bin and condemned Xu Changzhi as a traitor.
• The five elders surrounded Xu Changzhi with talismans and prepared to kill him, while Fourth Master Gray cheered them on.
• Xu Lu arrived in a yellow Tang suit, appearing vigorous and veiled from Luo Bin’s divination, and promised to speak with Luo Bin and Bai Xian later.
• Xu Lu urged the elders not to kill Xu Changzhi over a momentary mistake and suggested that their own haste had contributed to the crisis.

Xu Lu manipulated Xu Changzhi into accepting the role of Third Consecrator, then took his place as Sixth Elder while the Talisman Arts Lineage faced a crisis after the Blood Moon. Xu Jiuqu sent Luo Bin toward the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart, with the group preparing to leave as a Little Earth Aspect remained in the Taoist Grounds.

• Xu Lu praised Xu Changzhi’s loyalty and qualifications, then offered him the Consecrated Elder position and revealed that part of his soul would be cut away.
• The Elders seized Xu Changzhi, and Xu Jiuqu explained that the Third Consecrator had sealed the Dragon Vein against the escaped Corpse-Ghosts; Xu Changzhi would become the new Third Consecrator, while Xu Lu became Sixth Elder.
• Xu Jiuqu gave Xu Lu Xu Changzhi’s jade token and entrusted Xu Lu and the others with explaining the crisis to Heavenly Origin.
• Xu Jiuqu warned Xu Lu to gather everyone and leave quickly because a Little Earth Aspect capable of Yin Spirit Projection remained in the Taoist Grounds.
• Xu Jiuqu asked Luo Bin to go to the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart and said the Talisman Arts Lineage might help establish a Primordial Calculation Mountain Gate if Luo Bin could not leave.
• Fourth Master Gray offered to raise Immortal Ash for Xu Jiuqu’s sects, and Luo Bin relayed the offer.

Xu Lu led Luo Bin, Bai Xian, Miao Tu, Miao Yun, and a crowd of survivors away from the Talisman Arts Taoist Grounds while explaining the danger posed by the Yin Spirits and the Blood Moon. They reached the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart, but the group remained trapped within the Mountain Gate, with no clear way to escape.

• Xu Jiuqu and the others split off to escort Xu Changzhi toward the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart while Xu Lu led Luo Bin and the survivors through the woods.
• Bai Xian concluded that five practitioners of Yin Spirit Projection were involved, and Xu Lu reassured the crowd that the lineages’ elders could handle them.
• Miao Yun and Miao Tu worried that capturing the Corpse-Ghosts could take decades, while Bai Xian suggested she might summon the Patriarch with a sufficiently powerful ritual artifact.
• The Blood Moon faded as the group left the woods and reached a mountain near the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart.
• Xu Lu warned Luo Bin that they could not escape by the Hanging River because its river maidens were dangerous, and he invited the group to get hot tea at the Ten Paths.

Xu Lu brought Luo Bin and the surviving Talisman Arts Lineage to the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart, where Guo Shi welcomed them and learned of the lineage’s disaster. At the Heaven Origin Ten Paths grounds, Luo Bin prepared to meet its leaders and learn what they knew about Ma Daozi.

• Xu Lu introduced Luo Bin and Bai Xian to Guo Shi, telling him that Luo Bin had saved the Talisman Arts Lineage and divined five hostile practitioners of Yin Spirit Projection.
• Guo Shi said the Second Consecrator’s warning about the Third Heavenly Dragon Ridge had been true and hurried the group toward the Heaven Origin Ten Paths.
• Xu Lu explained the relationship between the feng shui of the Talisman Arts Lineage and the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart as Luo Bin examined the four surrounding mountains.
• Guo Shi sent masters to find lodging for the Talisman Arts disciples, women, and children at the Heaven Origin Ten Paths grounds.
• Luo Bin and Bai Xian prepared to meet the Venue Masters and elders and ask what they thought of Ma Daozi.

Luo Bin, Bai Xian, and Xu Lu entered the Heaven Origin Taoist Grounds, where a supposed safety test turned into a confrontation with the Venue Master and the elders. Luo Bin sensed the danger escalating and shouted for Xu Lu to move as the elders surrounded them.

• Guo Shi questioned Luo Bin about Primordial Calculation and led the group to the Dao Hall, where the Venue Master and elders were waiting.
• Xu Lu assured Luo Bin and Bai Xian that the hall’s poisoned blades only targeted enemies, but an unsecured axe fell toward his head and Bai Xian deflected it with her Bronze Sword.
• The roof blades began swaying, prompting Xu Lu to leap outside; the Venue Master then demanded that Luo Bin and Bai Xian enter the hall.
• Luo Bin refused to comply, and the Venue Master ordered the elders to surround the group while revealing that he knew Bai Xian was a Taoist.
• Luo Bin felt a powerful sense of dread and shouted for Xu Lu to get out of the way as the elders closed in.

Xu Lu tried to stop Heaven Origin’s masters from attacking Luo Bin and Bai Xian, but distrust and a broken formation nearly led to a fight. Earth Aspect’s Venue Master Jiang Hongsheng intervened, halted the confrontation, and respectfully greeted Luo Bin, leaving him wary of the powerful man’s intentions.

• Xu Lu urged Guo Shi to explain that Heaven Origin intended to help Luo Bin and Bai Xian, but Luo Bin prepared to defend himself with his lantern, sword, and Gu Worms.
• Guo Baichi ordered the elders to use Human Hexagram to bind Luo Bin and Bai Xian, and Luo Bin’s hand seal broke after a sharp pain in his finger.
• Jiang Hongsheng collapsed, disrupting the elders’ formation and causing their bronze mirrors to fall as he used a wooden figure pierced with thorns.
• Jiang Hongsheng entered, and Heaven Origin’s elders and Xu Lu greeted him as the Venue Master of Earth Aspect.
• Jiang Hongsheng bowed to Luo Bin, introduced himself as master of the Earth Divination Arena, and praised Luo Bin’s influence on the fortunes of the Talisman Arts Lineage.

Jiang Hongsheng tried to reassure Luo Bin that Guo Baichi meant well, but a trap in the Dao Hall revealed that Heaven Origin intended to confront the Bright Divine Consort possessing Bai Xian. The elders subdued the spirit with bronze mirrors, and Guo Baichi offered it a chance to rest in peace.

• Jiang Hongsheng defended Guo Baichi’s intentions, and Luo Bin decided to let Bai Xian enter the Dao Hall.
• Bai Xian entered the hall, where a sword dropped toward her as Heaven Origin’s elders used bronze mirrors to immobilize her.
• Bai Xian summoned the Bright Divine Consort through a Demon-Subduing Pestle, and the spirit deflected the sword.
• The elders aimed tiger-headed bronze mirrors at the Bright Divine Consort, making her scream and revealing her as a ghost formed from an underage girl.
• Guo Baichi asked why the Bright Divine Consort harmed others after being victimized and offered her a place to rest in peace.

Guo Baichi fought to expel the Bright Consort Deity from Bai Xian, striking her with a golden ruler and burning away the ghosts she had assimilated. As the Bright Consort called Luo Bin “Chief,” an inexplicable force drove him toward the Taoist hall, and Xu Lu moved to stop him.

• Guo Baichi identified the Bright Consort Deity’s hold over Bai Xian and prepared to beat her out with his golden ruler.
• The Bright Consort revealed dozens of assimilated female ghosts, but Guo Baichi used his ruler and mirror to suppress her and destroy the ghosts.
• Guo Baichi struck the Bright Consort repeatedly, weakening her and exposing Bai Xian as the Ten Worms threatened to overwhelm her.
• Bai Xian pleaded for Guo Baichi to stop, but he struck the Human-Skin Garment where the Bright Consort resided.
• The Bright Consort spoke the word “Chief” while staring at Luo Bin, and an unseen force drove him toward the Taoist hall as Xu Lu blocked his path.

Luo Bin and the others faced the hidden forces controlling them as Guo Baichi tried to drive the Bright Consort Deity from Bai Xian. The Bright Consort escaped into the Dao Hall, and Guo Baichi questioned what Luo Bin was hiding—or what was concealed from him.

• Luo Bin was compelled to walk toward Guo Baichi until Jiang Hongsheng used a carving knife and wooden legs to immobilize him, revealing that something inside Luo Bin was driving him.
• Guo Baichi struck Bai Xian until the Bright Consort Deity left her body, while Xu Lu nearly crossed the Dao Hall's threshold before realizing he, too, had been affected.
• Bai Xian resisted the ten insects with lama methods as Guo Baichi's talismans failed to stop the Bright Consort, which engulfed him in mist before he escaped the Dao Hall.
• Luo Bin's forced movement stopped, and he told Guo Baichi that the forces inside him and Xu Lu would not enter anyone else.
• Guo Baichi questioned Luo Bin's strength and asked what he was hiding or what was hidden from him, but Luo Bin remained silent.

Luo Bin arrived at Earth Aspect Lodge, where Jiang Hongsheng offered him access to the corpse heads and bones used to train Earth Aspect disciples. After resting, Luo Bin began carefully studying them to develop his skeletal physiognomy.

• Xu Lu, Luo Bin, and their companions left the Ten Paths of the Heavenly Heart with Jiang Hongsheng and reached Earth Aspect Lodge within a few hours.
• Jiang Hongsheng explained that Earth Aspect kept corpse heads in the lodge for study and that incense made from Tai Sui flesh helped keep them calm.
• Jiang Hongsheng invited Luo Bin to examine the heads and bones, then took Fourth Master Gray to feast on Tai Sui flesh.
• Luo Bin rested in the lodge before beginning his study, then examined a green-level head and moved on to a second one.

Luo Bin investigated Bai Xian’s worsening condition and concluded that they needed to retrieve the Bright Consort to escape the Talisman Arts Lineage. A broken needle in his shoe prompted a dangerous divination, and his fifth hexagram finally succeeded.

• Luo Bin left the Earth Aspect Lodge and learned from Miao Yun and Miao Tu that Bai Xian had gone into seclusion while Xu Lu watched over her.
• Luo Bin used Rewind to deepen his understanding of the skulls he had examined, then heard Xu Lu describe Bai Xian’s strange behavior and worms moving beneath her skin.
• Luo Bin warned Xu Lu that Bai Xian was at risk and proposed drawing out the tampering in their bodies and recovering the Bright Consort before leaving.
• Luo Bin found a broken needle in his shoe, and Xu Lu urged him to cast a hexagram about the unusual event.
• Luo Bin’s first four hexagrams were disrupted and injured his fingers, but his fifth hexagram succeeded.

Shangguan Xingyue struggled to trust Dai Zhixiong while the ghost bound to her Buddhist Prayer Beads warned her that he was deceiving her. Dai Xiong Zhi revealed that he planned to use the pills to replace Shangguan Xingyue with the woman in the coffin, leaving her fate in danger.

• Dai Zhixiong prepared a Jade Brainstone Pill while Shangguan Xingyue saw the six-eyed ghost appear behind him, though he seemed unaware of it.
• The ghost’s voice disrupted Shangguan Xingyue’s attempt to tell Dai Zhixiong about it, and Dai Zhixiong gave her three pills, claiming they would nourish her body and soul.
• In her chamber, Shangguan Xingyue saw one pill turn into a severed finger marked by a black feather, then change back into a golden core.
• The ghost appeared before Shangguan Xingyue and called itself the Bright God; it flicked the pill into its mouth as she refused to feed it innocent people.
• Dai Xiong Zhi watched the black feathers recede from a woman in a transparent coffin and revealed his plan to have her replace Shangguan Xingyue after the former Palace Master took the Jade Brainstone Pill.

Luo Bin interpreted a warning hexagram about Huang Ying and decided to return to Floating Tortoise Mountain after resolving matters at the Earth Aspect Lodge. After searching its skull rooms for nearly two days, he emerged to find Xu Lu worried about Taoist Bai Xian and Guo Baichi, and the group prepared to investigate.

• Luo Bin read the Small Taming hexagram and concluded that Huang Ying faced a concealed danger at Floating Tortoise Mountain, with the warning possibly connected to him.
• Luo Bin decided to travel back to Floating Tortoise Mountain after spending another day or two at the Earth Aspect Lodge, while Xu Lu warned him not to touch the black-blood vines.
• Luo Bin examined the skulls in the Earth Aspect Lodge and discovered a hidden room beneath the courtyard containing another ninety-nine skulls.
• After nearly two days, Luo Bin emerged to find Xu Lu waiting and learned that Taoist Bai Xian remained unchanged and Guo Baichi might still be trapped in the Dao Hall with the Bright Consort.
• Fourth Master Gray joined Luo Bin and Xu Lu, and Xu Lu asked whether they should head over to investigate.

Luo Bin and Xu Lu returned to the Heaven Origin Taoist Grounds, where the Venue Master had sealed the Main Hall to contain the Bright Consort. Xu Lu insisted they should take her away and handle their own problems, but Guo Shixin demanded that Luo Bin make him stand down.

• Xu Lu told Luo Bin that the Bright Consort’s power might purify impurities, then realized the process could involve the suffering of tortured deities.
• At the grounds’ entrance, Xu Lu ignored the restrictions on visiting the sealed Main Hall and used Second Madam Hu to force two guards to do squats.
• Luo Bin and Xu Lu found ten Heaven Origin Elders guarding the Main Hall, with the threatening mist withdrawn inside.
• Xu Lu offered to take the Bright Consort away, but Guo Shi warned him that the Venue Master needed to resolve the problems one at a time.
• Xu Lu refused to back down, and Guo Shixin invoked the rules and told Luo Bin to take him away; Luo Bin assured the Elders their Venue Master could handle the problem.

Luo Bin used his Human-Skin Garment to draw the Bright Consort out of the Dao Hall and free Guo Baichi, who insisted he had nearly subdued her. Guo Baichi then attacked Luo Bin to seize the garment.

• Xu Jiuqu arrived with five Talisman Arts Lineage elders and learned that Guo Baichi had been trapped inside the Dao Hall for two days.
• Guo Shixin warned that the Ghost-Gold Ram Dipper would force the evil ghosts on Luo Bin to manifest if he entered.
• Luo Bin stopped at the threshold and used his Human-Skin Garment to draw the Bright Consort's mist out of the Dao Hall.
• The mist poured into the garment, revealing Guo Baichi alive but injured amid a rune of swords and knives.
• Guo Baichi demanded Luo Bin hand over the garment, then struck at Luo Bin's wrist with the Gold-Dividing Ruler.

Guo Baichi attacked Luo Bin and ordered Heaven Origin’s Elders to form a sealing formation, convinced that an evil ghost had corrupted him. Xu Lu and Xu Jiuqu intervened on Luo Bin’s behalf, and Guo Baichi finally ordered the Elders to hold their formation while he fought Luo Bin alone, just as Luo Bin asked whether he was sure.

• After Luo Bin put Bright Consort away, Guo Baichi swung his Gold-Dividing Ruler at him, but Luo Bin dodged and sprang away.
• Guo Baichi ordered the Heaven Origin Elders to surround Luo Bin and seal him, while Xu Lu urged Xu Jiuqu to intervene.
• Xu Jiuqu and the Talisman Arts Lineage’s six Elders formed an opposing encirclement to stop Heaven Origin from sealing Luo Bin.
• Guo Baichi dismissed their objections and ordered his Elders to guard the formation while he fought Luo Bin alone.
• Luo Bin asked Guo Baichi twice whether he was sure about fighting one-on-one, and Guo Baichi strode toward him, convinced the evil ghost was bewitching him.

Luo Bin fought Guo Baichi while the Heaven Origin elders held the others at bay, but Guo Baichi countered his lantern, gu worms, and Fourth Master Gray. With Luo Bin cornered, he struck Guo Baichi with a lightning-marked wooden talisman, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• The Heaven Origin formation isolated Luo Bin and Guo Baichi, and Luo Bin’s Purple Flower Lantern snapped the cord on Guo Baichi’s Heaven Origin Earth-and-Heaven Seal before Guo Baichi stopped him from using it again.
• Guo Baichi drove back Luo Bin’s gu worms with pale-yellow powder, then dislocated Luo Bin’s wrist when fate’s protection disrupted Luo Bin’s close-range strike.
• Guo Baichi used a bronze mirror and cinnabar to force Fourth Master Gray out of Luo Bin, leaving Luo Bin without the spirit creature’s speed and strength.
• Luo Bin caught Guo Baichi’s Gold-Dividing Ruler, but Guo Baichi struck the Three-Refined Snake Gu and dissolved Gu Silkworm Gold’s silk with powder.
• Guo Baichi brought the Hall Seal down toward Luo Bin as Luo Bin thrust a lightning-marked wooden talisman at his chest, while the Tianyuan elders watched without intervening.