Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin used Lightning-Struck Wood Talismans to overcome Guo Baichi’s fate protection and win their spar. With Guo Baichi incapacitated, Luo Bin and his companions prepared to leave the Heaven Origin training grounds.

• Luo Bin struck Guo Baichi’s shoulder with a Lightning-Struck Wood Talisman, blasting him to the ground with lightning.
• Guo Baichi dislocated Luo Bin’s arm and seized the first talisman, but Luo Bin revealed a second and struck Guo Baichi below the chest.
• Luo Bin invoked the Zhen Hexagram to empower the second talisman, leaving Guo Baichi convulsing and vomiting blood.
• Luo Bin retrieved Fourth Master Gray while Heaven Origin’s elders treated Guo Baichi, and Xu Jiuqu questioned whether Heaven Origin could still host them.

After defeating Guo Baichi, Luo Bin and Xu Lu traveled to the Hanging River to cross the Talisman Arts Lineage’s haunted waters. Luo Bin entered the fog to lure out the River Lady or ferryman ghost, but the chapter ended with Xu Lu asking for a backup plan and Luo Bin admitting this was already it.

• Luo Bin left the Heaven Origin Taoist Grounds with Xu Lu after Guo Baichi’s defeat, explaining that neither side had truly won.
• Luo Bin and Xu Lu returned to the riverbank, where Fourth Master Gray summoned rats to build and propel a raft.
• Luo Bin stopped the raft at midnight and guided it into the fog, where a floating corpse grabbed the raft and the black-and-gold toad knocked it back into the water.
• Luo Bin pointed out the shadow ghost watching them from shore and explained that he intended to wait for the River Lady or ferryman ghost to appear.
• Xu Lu asked whether Luo Bin had a backup plan, and Luo Bin said their current plan was already the backup.

Luo Bin and Xu Lu traveled along the Hanging River, where the Bright Consort drew the River Ladies into the Human-Skin Garment, clearing their path. As they retreated from the bank, they spotted a motionless figure with a gash across its neck.

• Luo Bin had Fourth Master Gray and the Mountain Rats push the raft past the Talisman Arts Taoist Grounds while he and Xu Lu avoided the bank.
• The Ghost Ferryman fled when Luo Bin summoned the Bright Consort, and the water corpse-ghosts and River Ladies disappeared beneath the water.
• The lantern-bearing River Lady approached the Bright Consort, and the River Ladies entered the Human-Skin Garment one by one.
• Luo Bin and Xu Lu realized the River Ladies had cleared their way along the river, though they had failed to subdue the Ghost Ferryman.
• Luo Bin ordered the raft away from the bank, and he and Xu Lu lay flat when they noticed a motionless figure with a large gash across its neck.

Luo Bin and Xu Lu returned to the Earth Aspect Lodge, where Jiang Hongsheng explained why the three lineages had rejected the risks of accepting Xu Lu and Bai Xian. The meeting ended with Xu Lu accusing the leaders of being afraid, prompting Guo Baichi and Xu Jiuqu to rebuke him.

• Luo Bin and Xu Lu left the Talisman Arts Lineage behind and returned to the Earth Aspect Lodge the next day.
• Luo Bin and Xu Lu found the three Venue Masters and elders gathered at the lodge, and Luo Bin greeted Xu Jiuqu, Guo Baichi, and Jiang Hongsheng from the doorway.
• Jiang Hongsheng explained that divination warned of major uncertainty from Usa Mountain, Divine Firmament Mountain, and the possible betrayal of the three lineages by Xu Lu and Bai Xian.
• Jiang Hongsheng urged Xu Lu and Luo Bin to remain safely within the mountain's sect while the lineages dealt with the Corpse-Ghosts.
• Xu Lu muttered that the leaders were simply afraid, and Guo Baichi slammed his Gold-Dividing Ruler down as Xu Jiuqu rebuked him.

Xu Lu confronted the Talisman Arts Lineage’s leaders over their refusal to support him, then renounced his ties to the Mountain Gate and left with Luo Bin. As Luo Bin followed him to Bai Xian’s quarters, Fourth Master Gray suddenly vanished.

• Xu Lu admitted his earlier plans were reckless, then argued that the elders’ caution had shattered the faith he had placed in his family and the Mountain Gate.
• Xu Lu declared he would expel himself from the northern branch dry dragon, offered to surrender his inherited Yin-Yang Arts memories, and left with Luo Bin.
• Xu Jiuqu tried to stop Xu Lu, while Guo Baichi accused Luo Bin’s deity of bewitching him and Jiang Hongsheng questioned whether the Mountain Gate could restrain Xu Lu’s disillusioned heart.
• Xu Lu reached Bai Xian’s quarters and told Luo Bin he was fine, then Luo Bin noticed Fourth Master Gray had disappeared.

Luo Bin and Xu Lu prepared Bai Xian to absorb a portion of the Bright Consort’s soul, then left with her and their companions after Xu Lu and Bai Xian began a relationship. As they escaped the surrounded Talisman Arts territory, Second Madam Hu revealed that she and Fourth Master Gray had stolen several useful objects, and Xu Lu hurried everyone into the Mountain Turtle Float.

• Luo Bin and Xu Lu agreed to split off a portion of the Bright Consort’s soul, and Xu Lu collected it with a talisman before returning the Bright Consort to the Human-Skin Garment.
• Luo Bin woke to find Fourth Master Gray had regrown part of his tail, then met Miao Yun and Miao Tu as Xu Lu emerged holding Bai Xian’s hand.
• Xu Lu said he had achieved Emergence from Darkness and was ready to forge a new path with Bai Xian, while Luo Bin and the others prepared to leave.
• Xu Lu led the group around the elders and out by raft, and Luo Bin used the River Lady to help them pass the ghosts gathered at the Mountain Pass.
• Second Madam Hu revealed a jade ruler and two ink-line reels that she and Fourth Master Gray had taken, prompting Xu Lu to hurry everyone into the Mountain Turtle Float.

Xu Lu escaped the Heaven Origin Taoist Grounds with the Jade Ruler, the ink reels, and the Ruler Arts, while Guo Baichi discovered the theft and flew into a rage. On the drive away, Xu Lu began studying the Ruler Arts and realized they brought the Jade Ruler to life.

• Xu Lu urged Fourth Master Gray to hurry away from Floating Tortoise Mountain while carrying the Jade Ruler and an old book.
• Guo Baichi entered the Dao Hall, found the ink reels and Jade Ruler missing, and discovered that the Ruler Arts had also been stolen.
• Guo Baichi fell from a roof beam but caught his jacket, then recognized a tuft of white fur and blamed Xu Lu and his beast.
• As Yun Miao drove the group through the mountains, Xu Lu read the Ruler Arts with Hu Erniang resting on his lap.
• Xu Lu praised the Ruler Arts and said they made the Jade Ruler come alive, while Fourth Master Gray squeaked in agreement.

Luo Bin and his companions returned to Floating Tortoise Mountain, preparing carefully for its dangers before entering the surrounding woods. The chapter left them facing a withered length of Blackblood Vine outside the mountain’s mist, suggesting that something had changed.

• Luo Bin explained Floating Tortoise Mountain’s dangers and told Miao Yun and Miao Tu they would not enter with him.
• After resting and gathering supplies, Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian traveled to the riverbank near Floating Tortoise Mountain.
• Luo Bin recognized the route and tied himself, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian together before leading them into the woods.
• Luo Bin spotted withered Blackblood Vine on a Heaven Tree before they reached the mist, and Xu Lu wondered whether the mountain’s influence had spread outward.

Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian entered Floating Tortoise Mountain and battled waves of evil spirits while trying to head north. After Xu Lu connected the mountain’s Moss Eaters to the creatures of other veiled lands, Luo Bin heard a voice calling him back and felt the Talisman on his back activate.

• Luo Bin led Xu Lu and Bai Xian through thick mist into Floating Tortoise Mountain, where the Black-Gold Toad reacted to the mountain’s oppressive death energy.
• The group set out north toward the Feng Family, but waves of evil spirits forced them to flee and repeatedly change direction.
• A Moss Eater attacked Luo Bin from the canopy, and his Thunderstruck Blood Peachwood Sword pierced it.
• Xu Lu wondered what creature defined Cabinet Mountain, prompting Luo Bin to reconsider what he knew about the veiled lands.
• Luo Bin heard a voice saying “Come back,” then felt pain on his back and realized the Talisman had taken effect, so he urged the group to find shelter.

Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian crossed the increasingly dangerous outskirts of Floating Tortoise Mountain and found a Group Dwelling to investigate the mountain’s changes. When the dwelling’s wary resident invited them inside, Xu Lu froze at the threshold, sweating.

• Luo Bin explained the mountain’s strange changes, and Xu Lu speculated that Li Yunyi or another force might be controlling them.
• Xu Lu used his Compass and divination to find a route while Luo Bin relied on Fourth Master Gray and the black-gold toad to avoid evil spirits.
• The three traveled through woods where Luo Bin found no Blackblood Vines, and Luo Bin noted that dawn had arrived.
• Xu Lu led Luo Bin and Bai Xian to a Group Dwelling, where no one answered until Xu Lu tried to pry open the door.
• A one-eyed middle-aged man let the three enter, but Xu Lu froze at the threshold and began to sweat.

Luo Bin and his companions avoided a Group Dwelling full of disguised Observers, then spotted Zhan Qing and followed her trail into the woods. They found a Mountain God Temple but retreated without entering, while Li Yunyi appeared inside its transformed interior, repeating, “Come back.”

• Xu Lu struck the one-eyed man at the Group Dwelling’s entrance, and Luo Bin realized the sixteen people inside were likely Observers wearing their victims’ skins.
• Luo Bin led Xu Lu and Bai Xian away from the dwelling after its inhabitants refused to come outside.
• Fourth Master Gray detected Zhan Qing fleeing through the woods, and Luo Bin let the rat pursue her scent rather than chase her himself.
• Luo Bin noticed featureless faces watching from the Group Dwelling and moved the group farther away.
• Xu Lu approached a Mountain God Temple, but Luo Bin judged its surroundings suspicious and led everyone away without entering.
• Inside the temple, moss, blackblood vines, and moss eater flowers appeared as Li Yunyi emerged from the floor and whispered, “Come back.”

Luo Bin, Xu Lu, and Bai Xian followed Fourth Master Gray to Zhan Qing’s cave hideout, where Xu Lu broke through the weak defenses and defeated the night watchman’s Soul-Shocking Gong. As ash and wind stirred around the rocks, Luo Bin noticed a hidden danger and rushed into the cave, leaving Xu Lu to follow.

• Fourth Master Gray found Zhan Qing and dozens of others living in an underground cave and overheard that they planned to lure newcomers in and rob them.
• Luo Bin was briefly overcome by a voice calling him to come back, then told Xu Lu that the strange influence might be connected to the Blackblood Vine and Moss Eater Flowers.
• Xu Lu guided the group through a weak feng shui formation and reached the cave entrance, where Zhan Qing, Pan Deng, Lu Guo, and four practitioners confronted them.
• Pan Deng struck his Soul-Shocking Gong, but the backlash made him collapse, while Xu Lu challenged Lu Guo to use his fate-cleaving axe strikes.
• As the wind and drifting ash intensified, the group at the cave entrance hurried inside, and Luo Bin noticed something wrong and rushed in after them.

Luo Bin learned that Blackblood Vine had begun hunting people and concluded that the mountain itself was alive. Meanwhile, Li Yunyi briefly broke free from the vines’ control and fled up the mountain.

• Cao Yan told Luo Bin and Xu Lu that Blackblood Vine had overrun the Group Dwellings and Mountain God Temples, forcing survivors to hide in a Quarry.
• Cao Yan described a humanlike monster that Zhan Qing had seen, prompting Luo Bin to suspect that Blackblood Vine was controlling people.
• Li Yunyi remembered being killed by Luo Bin and realized he had become a puppet controlled by Blackblood Vine.
• Li Yunyi forced his way out of the vines, but they tried to pull him back, so he ran up the mountain.

Luo Bin and Xu Lu learned that Huang Ying had rescued people from being sent to the Song Family, while the Feng Family faced growing danger and internal conflict. Huang Ying offered pills as a way to secure help, and Li Yunyi arrived claiming he could strengthen the family’s formation if the pills worked.

• Cao Yan and Zhan Qing explained why their group avoided the mountain families, and Luo Bin learned that Huang Ying had saved people from the Feng Family being handed over to the Song Family.
• Xu Lu refused to remain in the group’s shelter without seeking the truth about the living mountain, then startled everyone by changing his manner and summoning incense.
• Feng Qiang told Huang Ying that supplies were dwindling, the Blackblood Vine was spreading, and Feng Lu was urging the elders to send people to the Song Family.
• Huang Ying gave the Feng Family pills and told Feng Lu to take them to a practitioner at the Taoist grounds, but an arriving Li Yunyi offered to reinforce their formation instead.
• Feng Lu handed Li Yunyi one of Huang Ying’s pills, and Li Yunyi tasted it and praised it three times.

Luo Bin and his companions hurried toward the Feng Family as Sinking Ash and Moss Eaters pursued them, with the danger seemingly drawn to Luo Bin. At Floating Tortoise Mountain’s summit, Li Qingxiu discovered that a chess piece had become new again and wondered how someone had escaped and come alive, but she remained unable to move her legs.

• Luo Bin’s group left their resting place and traveled north, while Xu Lu explained that the coffin makers Lu Guo and Lu Xie could use their axe technique against Yin-Yang Practitioners.
• Luo Bin said he wanted to uncover Floating Tortoise Mountain’s secrets, including whether they could sever the Main Vine and learn more about Yuan Yinxin.
• A wooden spike pierced Luo Bin’s foot, and the growing Sinking Ash brought oppressive voices calling him to come back and then come here.
• Moss Eaters and Blackblood Vines surged after the group, so Xu Lu used Second Madam Hu’s ink-line reel to hold the creatures back before rejoining the others.
• Xu Lu suspected Luo Bin’s connection to Li Yunyi had drawn the creatures toward them, and Luo Bin insisted they keep moving rather than risk being surrounded.
• At the summit, Li Qingxiu found a chess piece that should have shattered looking new again, wondered how someone had escaped and come alive, and lamented that her legs would not move.

Luo Bin and the others reached a mysteriously pristine wooden house on Floating Tortoise Mountain, where its protection held back the encircling Moss Eaters and Blackblood Vines. Inside, Luo Bin recognized the house as Dai Zhixiong’s former refuge and discovered a disturbing pill-making room, leaving the group sheltered but still surrounded.

• Xu Lu led Luo Bin, Lu Xie, Lu Guo, and Bai Xian into the wooden house and began laying a Ghost Metal Zhen Water Compass line across its doorway.
• Luo Bin spotted the Moss Eaters massed outside the house, and the group realized the surrounding grounds formed a protected clearing.
• Luo Bin sensed a voice urging him toward the Moss Eaters but backed away, and he told the others to wait and see whether the creatures retreated.
• Luo Bin opened a side room containing a workbench, rotten-looking pills, a furnace, and silent heads hanging from ropes.
• Luo Bin identified the wooden house as Dai Zhixiong’s resting place, and Xu Lu explained that Dai Zhixiong’s Divine Yin Spirit and talisman formations had protected it.

Luo Bin and his companions remained trapped on Floating Tortoise Mountain as they searched for a way past the Moss Eaters. Meanwhile, Li Yunyi settled in with the Feng Family, brooded over Luo Bin and Shangguan Xingyue, and grew displeased when Huang Ying avoided his advances.

• Luo Bin examined unsettling pills but left them untouched, while Bai Xian reassured Lu Xie and Lu Guo that their group would not use them as test subjects.
• Luo Bin tried covering himself with gu worms to evade the Moss Eaters, but Xu Lu explained that changing his appearance would not conceal his aura, and Luo Bin rejected Fourth Master Gray's suggestion to dig a tunnel.
• Li Yunyi learned that Luo Bin had supplied the Feng Family's talismans and privately vowed to reclaim control, become the Lord of Floating Tortoise Mountain, and claim Shangguan Xingyue as the Mountain Lord's Lady.
• Li Yunyi enjoyed the Feng Family members' deference and visited Huang Ying, saying she should rest while asking for the pills she had made.
• Huang Ying went upstairs, and Li Yunyi entered another room and sat on the bed, displeased that she had understood his advances but chosen to ignore them.

Li Yunyi assaulted and humiliated Huang Ying after discovering her wounded legs, while she continued making pills to help the Feng Family. As the Moss Eaters and Blackblood Vine kept the others trapped, Luo Bin took a corpse-poison pill, and the Moss Eaters began to retreat.

• Li Yunyi demanded that Huang Ying massage his shoulders and tried to force himself on her, but recoiled after seeing the wounds on her thighs and struck her before leaving.
• Huang Ying resumed making pills despite her injuries, having used herself as a honey person because the Feng Family was desperate for help.
• Luo Bin watched the Blackblood Vine and Moss Eaters hold their position while Xu Lu and Bai Xian's prayers and incantations made little progress.
• Luo Bin took a dark golden pill after considering its corpse poison, and Xu Lu confirmed that the pills carried it.
• The sunken ash diminished, and the Moss Eaters began retreating as though they had lost their target.

Luo Bin and his companions crossed the mountain toward the Feng Family, using ropes to traverse a chasm. The Main Corpse emerged from its cave and attacked them, leaving the group safe on the far cliff but uncertain how it had escaped.

• Luo Bin used Golden Core Pills to mask himself with Corpse Qi, and he and Xu Lu gathered the remaining Pills before setting out for the Feng Family.
• Luo Bin's group reached a chasm, and Fourth Master Gray carried a rope across while Bai Xian added a second rope and secured it as a backup.
• Xu Lu, Lu Guo, Lu Xie, and Luo Bin crossed the rope bridge one by one, with Bai Xian joining Luo Bin as he neared the far side.
• The Main Corpse appeared beside the far iron stake and reached for the ropes, so Bai Xian pinned its hands with Bronze Swords.
• The Main Corpse corroded the iron stake and swords, causing the ropes to drop; Luo Bin and Bai Xian caught themselves and climbed safely to the cliff.
• Xu Lu and Luo Bin recognized the creature as the Main Corpse and questioned how it had escaped the Main Vine's cave.

Luo Bin concluded that the Main Corpse had escaped the cave’s restraints and decided to abandon their investigation and head to the Feng Family. There, he posed as Tang Yu and said he had come to take Huang Ying and the Feng Family out of Floating Tortoise Mountain.

• Luo Bin explained that the Main Corpse’s corpse poison had overwhelmed the cave’s suppressing acupoint, and the corpse crawled into the woods.
• Luo Bin urged Xu Lu and the others to stop investigating the mountain and prioritize leaving with Huang Ying.
• The group reached the Feng Family’s grounds and waited after a sentry spotted them and ran off.
• Feng Qiang confronted the newcomers, and Luo Bin introduced himself as Tang Yu of the Cloud Dream Taoist Grounds, claiming Mr. Yunxi and Hu Jin had sent him to fetch Huang Ying.
• After hearing Luo Bin’s message and receiving a whispered report, Feng Qiang led the group to the family’s guest courtyard.