Chapter Summaries

Luo Bin and Luo Xianshen fought Miao Qi’s group while Mao Yousan held off the Cave God, the Corpse King, and the Medicine Person. The Chief Seat Deity possessed the Medicine Person, enabling Luo Bin to power Luo Xianshen’s strike, but Luo Xianshen was immediately seized by his remaining attackers.

• Luo Xianshen charged Miao Qi and the masked fighters, but their counterattack hurled him back and left him struggling against their Gu Worms.
• Qin Tianqing entered the Nuo God Temple to break through the enemy’s position while Luo Bin and Luo Xianshen moved to their designated ritual positions.
• The Chief Seat Deity possessed the Medicine Person, then removed its shinbones and forearm bones and pinned it to the ground.
• Luo Bin invoked Yin Hexagrams using the Medicine Person’s life force to empower Luo Xianshen, who smashed the head of the Nuo-masked man with the High Heaven Pestle.
• The Butterfly Lady, Nuo Lord, and Nuo Lady masked fighters grabbed Luo Xianshen while Miao Qi sent six Gu Silkworm Gold Threads plunging toward his brow.

Luo Bin and the Tomb Guardian tried to save Luo Xianshen from Miao Qi’s ritual, which was making Luo Xianshen resemble a sickly newborn. The Tomb Guardian revealed he had never intended to leave, and Luo Xianshen counterattacked with thunder and a Daoist binding spell as Fourth Master Gray brought him the Nuo Deity Mask.

• Luo Bin used the Miao King's Ocarina and his three Golden Silkworm Gu to restrain Miao Qi’s Gu while sustaining Luo Xianshen with the Medicine Person’s Life Force.
• Miao Qi explained that Luo Xianshen was suited to guard the Nuo God Temple, while the Butterfly Lady, Nuo Lord, and Nuo Lady’s powers transformed him and afflicted him with Grave Illness.
• The Tomb Guardian appeared behind Luo Bin and said that Luo Bin’s refusal to accept Soul Return would not make him abandon his other self.
• Miao Qi charged at the Tomb Guardian, who used Hexagram Speech Manifestation to strengthen Luo Xianshen and draw Miao Qi away from him.
• Fourth Master Gray lifted the fallen Nuo Deity Mask, and Luo Xianshen struck back with earth thunder and a Daoist incantation that bound Miao Qi with a mystic cord.
• Luo Bin ordered Fourth Master Gray to give Luo Xianshen the Nuo Deity Mask, and the animal shot toward him.

Luo Xianshen used the Thunder Duke Nuo Deity Mask and successive Daoist incantations to unleash his own power instead of summoning his patriarch. He overwhelmed Miao Qi with repeated heavenly thunder, leaving nothing behind.

• Fourth Master Gray placed the Thunder Duke Nuo Deity Mask on Luo Xianshen, whose presence changed as the mask's power took effect.
• Luo Xianshen chanted the Four Spirit Summoning Incantation and then the Molten-Gold Fire Bell incantation, raising his cultivation toward the level of a Corpse-Liberation Immortal.
• Mao Yousan praised Luo Xianshen for relying on his own strength rather than inviting his patriarch to possess him.
• Miao Qi broke free of Luo Xianshen's blood-mist mystic cord and charged toward the Nuo deity temple.
• Luo Xianshen summoned heavenly thunder like Palm Thunder and struck Miao Qi repeatedly until he vanished.

After Luo Xianshen destroyed the Black Miao Corpse-Liberation Immortal with heavenly thunder, Luo Bin followed Mao Yousan into the Nuo God Temple and found the sealed Butterfly Lady Hall. The Tomb Guardian explained the plague-gu crisis and demanded that Luo Bin remain Primordial Calculation’s master instead of becoming Mao Yousan’s disciple, while Mao Yousan claimed he had never heard of Six Mountain Yin.

• Luo Xianshen’s heavenly thunder obliterated the Corpse-Liberation Immortal, and he collapsed after the hexagram formation ended.
• Mao Yousan and Luo Bin entered the Nuo God Temple, where Luo Bin said he needed to check whether his friends at Divine Firmament Mountain were safe.
• Luo Bin, Mao Yousan, and Qin Tianqing found the Tomb Guardian in a talisman-sealed hall before a statue of the Butterfly Lady.
• The Tomb Guardian revealed the Corpse-Liberation Immortal’s body inside the statue and explained how Primordial Calculation had sealed the hall to contain the plague gu.
• The Tomb Guardian asked Luo Bin to leave root vines around the statue and said he intended to seal the mountain.
• The Tomb Guardian warned Luo Bin not to become Mao Yousan’s disciple and questioned what Six Mountain Yin wanted from Primordial Calculation, but Mao Yousan said he had never heard of it.

Luo Bin used the Blackblood Vines to contain the Black Miao Corpse-Liberation Immortal and its Plague Gu, then watched Yuan Tianshu emerge and receive orders to guard the mountain. When Luo Bin objected, Mao Yousan invoked the Taoist Grounds’ rules, saying Yuan Tianshu’s soul had to be obtained before Luo Bin could decide his fate.

• Mao Yousan defended his decision to nurture Luo Bin and explained that he had protected him from Yuan Tianshu’s schemes.
• The Tomb Guardian explained that the Black Miao had gathered outside the Nuo God Temple to create the necessary conditions, and Luo Bin approached the Butterfly Lady’s statue.
• Luo Bin’s Blackblood Vines spread through the hall, pierced the Plague Gu, and trapped the Black Miao Corpse-Liberation Immortal inside a cage of vines.
• The Tomb Guardian revealed that Yuan Tianshu had emerged and ordered him to guard the mountain and protect a seal.
• Luo Bin objected to Yuan Tianshu guarding the mountain, and the Heart-Gouging Jailer, the Heart-Gouging Ghost Prison, and the chief Bright God appeared.
• Mao Yousan told Luo Bin that he had to obtain Yuan Tianshu’s soul before deciding his fate under the Taoist Grounds’ rules.

Luo Bin and Mao Yousan settled the plan for the Purple Miao and Black Miao as they left the Nuo God Temple. Mao Yousan then prepared to deal with Zhou Sanming and Yuan Yinxin while Luo Bin gathered masks and headed for Purple Miao Village.

• Mao Yousan persuaded Luo Bin to accept the Tomb Guardian’s arrangements, including using root vines to remove the Black Miao’s plague gu while preserving the Sealing Suppression.
• The Tomb Guardian instructed Luo Bin to examine the Purple Miao with the Four-Rules Mirror and warned him to take only the Nuo Deity Masks he had already seen.
• Mao Yousan learned that Zhou Sanming was Six Mountain Yin’s greatest traitor and said he would take Zhou’s last life before leaving Cabinet Mountain.
• Mao Yousan sensed Zhou Sanming was still linked to the Dao Corpse and arranged for Luo Xianshen to use Luo Bin’s Corpse Core before Yuan Yinxin was killed and the core was given to Bai Wei.
• Luo Bin collected the masks from the fallen Nuo figures and prepared to take them to Three Perils Mountain for the old Miao King.
• Mao Yousan stayed behind to watch over the unconscious Luo Xianshen while Luo Bin and Qin Tianqing went to gather the people leaving for Purple Miao Village.

Luo Bin and the others escorted the Purple Miao people out of the tomb, where the Tomb Guardian suddenly attacked Yuan Tianshu and trapped him inside. The Tomb Guardian revealed that Yuan Tianshu had never been free to leave and that he had deceived himself about their arrangement.

• Luo Bin and Qin Tianqing discussed going to Heavenly Mechanism Mountain together and whether Yuan Yinxin could survive Heavenly Thunder.
• Luo Xianshen clarified that Hua Qi was his sister-in-law, while Mao Yousan urged everyone to leave before anything changed.
• Qin Tianqing checked the Purple Miao people for Plague Gu, and the group departed, paying respects to the Purple Miao Corpse-Liberation Immortal along the way.
• At the tomb entrance, the Purple Miao people recognized Yuan Tianshu as Miao Mao, but he did not respond.
• As Yuan Tianshu invited Luo Xianshen to leave, the Tomb Guardian pinned him with Crane-Bone Nails and devoured his Yin Spirit.
• The Tomb Guardian told Yuan Tianshu that he had to guard the mountain from inside the door and that he had lied to himself about being allowed to leave.

The Tomb Guardian explained his final plans and returned Luo Bin’s belongings, urging him to grow steadily before leaving the tomb. Luo Bin and the others gathered the rescued Purple Miao in the valley, then set out toward Cabinet Mountain to deal with Yuan Yinxin and secure a safe way out.

• Luo Bin realized the Tomb Guardian expected the Blackblood Vine and the Miao people to eventually kill Yuan Tianshu after the Plague Gu was removed.
• The Tomb Guardian reunited with Gu Yiren, lit the Ten-Thousand-Year Lamps, and told Luo Bin he must continue Heavenly First’s path and learn the yin-yang art of Emergence from Darkness himself.
• Gu Shanhong returned Luo Bin’s belongings, including the Corpse Core, and the Tomb Guardian advised him to stay calm and wait for his growth to unfold.
• Luo Bin handed the Corpse Core to Luo Xianshen, and the Black-Gold Toad hopped into the jar at Luo Bin’s waist before the group agreed to wait for Yuan Ying’s transformation to finish.
• Luo Xianshen proposed eliminating Yuan Yinxin before taking the Purple Miao people onward, and Luo Bin led everyone to the mountain valley.
• Qin Tianqing arranged for his disciples to care for the Purple Miao as Luo Bin, Luo Xianshen, Bai Wei, Qin Tianqing, and Mao Yousan headed toward Cabinet Mountain with the three Dao Corpses.

Luo Bin and his companions reached the deserted Cabinet Mountain Taoist Grounds, where Yuan Yinxin had vanished. Luo Bin feared Yuan Yinxin might have escaped with Yi Yi to Sawu Mountain, while Luo Xianshen proposed searching for the nine infants instead.

• Luo Xianshen and the Dao Corpses helped the group cross the Yin Dragon Water and travel through the mountains at night without being approached by evil spirits.
• Bai Wei led the group into the silent Cabinet Mountain Taoist Grounds, where they found Gua Kuo's statue shattered and Yuan Yinxin gone.
• Bai Wei and the others searched the dojo and concluded that its inhabitants had left before the group arrived.
• Luo Bin suspected Yuan Yinxin had fled to Sawu Mountain with Yi Yi, where Dai Zhixiong's rampage could endanger them.
• Luo Xianshen suggested searching for the nine infants, but Luo Bin warned that finding them among Cabinet Mountain's villages and formations could take years.

Luo Bin asked Luo Xianshen to help him confront Black City Monastery and kill its new Sinpo, Kong An, but Mao Yousan proposed a plan involving another Sinpo, Luo Muye. As they discussed how to act, the Chief Seat Deity inside Luo Bin seized control of his body, and Luo Xianshen and Heaven-Dumping Qin moved to stop it.

• Luo Bin persuaded Luo Xianshen to help investigate Divine Firmament Mountain and Black City Monastery, then explained that Kong An had made him Chief Seat and threatened his friends and Shangguan Xingyue.
• Luo Xianshen reacted with alarm to Kong An's name and appearance, while Mao Yousan reassured him that Kong An was not Luo Muye.
• After hearing Luo Bin's account, Mao Yousan devised a plan to bring Kong An to Luo Muye's Black City Monastery, have Luo Muye yield his position, and then kill Kong An.
• Mao Yousan warned that the Chief Seat Deity could not be allowed to escape and report back, but it took control of Luo Bin's body.
• Luo Xianshen shone the Four-Rules Bright Mirror on Luo Bin as Heaven-Dumping Qin illuminated him with the Heaven's Secrets Jade Slip.

Luo Bin and his allies drove the Chief Seat Deity out of Luo Bin, but Ba Xiao’s transformation of Yuan Yinxin’s statue unleashed a new threat at the Cabinet Mountain Taoist Grounds. As Qin Que struggled against Zhou Sanming and the hair consuming the dojo, the group fled and saw a Mountain God-like creature devouring the Chief Seat Deity.

• Luo Xianshen, Qin Tianqing, and Mao Yousan used their ritual artifacts and Calling Bell to force the Chief Seat Deity out of Luo Bin.
• Yuan Yinxin’s statue transformed as Ba Xiao’s hair attacked the group, and the Chief Seat Deity escaped into the Martial Arts Arena.
• A second Calling Bell immobilized the Chief Seat Deity, while Qin Que emerged from a fissure and dragged him down with hair.
• Qin Que revealed Zhou Sanming’s main soul and child soul on his head, then struggled to resist them as the dojo began sprouting fissures and hair.
• Mao Yousan ordered the group to retreat, and Luo Bin saw a Mountain God-like creature bite the Chief Seat Deity’s head and drain him.

After leaving Outer Cabinet Mountain, Luo Bin returned to the valley and found that Gu Yiren had left without saying goodbye. He chose to leave He Lianxin and his father's human skin behind while he pursued other urgent matters, unaware that a flower-crowned figure took them away.

• Qin Tianqing, Luo Bin, Bai Wei, Mao Yousan, and Luo Xianshen left Cabinet Mountain Taoist Grounds and discussed Ba Xiao and the need to seek a countermeasure at Elephant Mountain.
• The group returned to the valley, where Luo Bin found the Stone Bridge archway sealed and realized Gu Yiren had left again.
• Gu Shanhong told Luo Bin that Gu Yiren had an important purpose and that Sacred Way Mountain was safe, then vanished.
• Luo Bin attempted to summon He Lianxin's soul but realized the five organs needed for the ritual were missing.
• He Lianxin urged Luo Bin to leave her and his father's human skin behind, and Luo Bin agreed to return for her later.
• After Luo Bin departed, a flower-crowned figure picked up the Cloth Doll and human skin and walked away with a hazy figure following.

Luo Bin arranged for the Purple Miao people to travel safely to Greater Xiang City while his companions split up to pursue their next tasks. As Luo Bin and Mao Yousan set off, Miao Zi entered the mountain's interior through the Yin Dragon Water, watched by Qin Que.

• Luo Bin joined Qin Tianqing, Mao Yousan, Bai Wei, and Luo Xianshen to plan their departure and divide responsibilities for reaching Divine Firmament Mountain.
• Luo Bin arranged for his people and the underworld shops to escort the Purple Miao to Greater Xiang City, and everyone accepted the plan.
• After the group emerged from the mountain's interior, Xu Jin accompanied the Purple Miao convoy, Qin Tianqing headed for Four-Rules Mountain, and Luo Xianshen went with Bai Wei toward the Primordial Calculation Mountain Gate.
• Luo Bin drove Mao Yousan and three Taoists away from the area after the others had departed.
• Miao Zi fought his way through the Yin Dragon Water into the mountain's interior while Qin Que watched from the bank and called him a monster.

Kong An’s efforts to bless the Chief Seat Deity ended with its destruction, while Xu Lu remained a ghostly presence in the Bright Consort Palace and was placed with the Bright Divine Consort’s Talisman Person. Elsewhere, Lama Tsangyang uncovered rat remains that made him doubt the Living Buddha Tulku’s claims, and Mao Yousan brought Luo Bin to his Taoist sanctuary.

• The Chief Seat Deity’s statue shattered, and Kong An assured the Black Rakshasas that the Chief Seat was still alive and would return.
• Xu Lu watched from the roof beams as Kong An’s group moved his body and the Bright Divine Consort’s Talisman Person beneath the Bright Consort’s statue, while Xu Lu felt an unexpected hunger.
• Lama Tsangyang dug up rat heads, tails, and paws on the hill, feared the Living Buddha Tulku’s claims might be false, and hid every remnant.
• After two days of travel, Mao Yousan brought Luo Bin and the Dao Corpse to his Taoist establishment, where Luo Bin stopped Fourth Master Gray from diving into the Mountain Pool.
• Mao Yousan warned Fourth Master Gray not to eat the pool’s auspicious creatures, and the Tailed Rat retreated into Luo Bin’s clothes.

Luo Bin rested at Mao Yousan’s residence and learned how Mao had kept his master’s life force going while preparing to return him to his place of origin. After eating in town, Luo Bin wandered into the crowds and became absorbed in the different faces and emotions around him, as a mass of voices flooded his mind.

• Mao Yousan showed Luo Bin how a wick burning oil made from a benevolent corpse sustained his master, and said Luo Bin had found the old man a place to be laid to rest.
• Mao Yousan arranged a room and clothes for Luo Bin, who showered and slept deeply while Fourth Master Gray explored the residence.
• Luo Bin woke to find Mao Yousan away and learned from Fourth Master Gray that he had gone out; Luo Bin then walked through a park and ate with Fourth Master Gray in town.
• Luo Bin wandered toward downtown and watched the varied expressions and movements of passersby as thoughts about their different fortunes occupied him.
• Luo Bin heard countless voices pour into his mind, sounding at once clamorous and clear.

Mao Yousan prepared gifts for Luo Bin’s apprenticeship and planned to guide him through emerging from darkness. When Luo Bin failed to return, Mao Yousan found him standing in a decaying intersection beneath a veiled sky, and realized why he had not yet emerged from darkness.

• Mao Yousan arranged Taoist arts, a One Goodness Talisman, and books as gifts for Luo Bin’s apprenticeship ceremony.
• Mao Yousan took a talisman brush and inkstone from his master’s living corpse to add to Luo Bin’s gifts.
• After waiting until dusk, Mao Yousan calculated Luo Bin’s whereabouts and sensed that chaotic forces obscured him.
• Mao Yousan drove out and found Luo Bin motionless in an intersection, seemingly detached from his surroundings as the sky darkened.
• Luo Bin pointed at the night sky and laughed, and Mao Yousan realized why he had not emerged from darkness.

Luo Bin openly defied Heaven, declaring that fear and desire shaped fate, while Mao Yousan watched the storm rage around his prospective disciple from the safety of his car. The Blackblood Vine initially shielded Luo Bin from the wind and thunder, but the rain reached him, and he seemed to shatter with every falling drop.

• Luo Bin connected Dai Zhixiong’s warning about fear and fate with Zhang Yunxi’s ideas, then accused Heaven of amplifying people’s convictions and punishing those who refused to submit.
• Mao Yousan heard Luo Bin’s words and questioned whether he could face Heaven himself, but he retreated into his car as wind and thunder struck around him.
• Mao Yousan realized Heaven’s storm could not be kept out and watched Luo Bin remain inside the Blackblood Vine’s shelter.
• Rain began falling around Luo Bin, and he eventually heard the thunder and felt the wind as the downpour intensified.
• Luo Bin saw his reflection in the raindrops and felt himself break apart as each drop struck the ground.

As heavenly thunder threatened Luo Bin during his emergence from darkness, Mao Yousan intervened and used a false yin spirit to draw the strikes away. Luo Bin saw through the barrier holding him back, completed his emergence, and formally accepted Mao Yousan as his master.

• Grudge Infant Moss Eaters emerged from the Blackblood Vines as Luo Bin defied heaven and the storm intensified.
• Mao Yousan appeared beside Luo Bin, cursed heaven, and threw a talisman containing a false yin spirit into the sky.
• Heavenly thunder repeatedly struck the false yin spirit while Mao Yousan told Luo Bin that the storm would not stop until someone was struck.
• Luo Bin realized his state of mind, not his Yin-Yang Arts, had held back his emergence from darkness, and the storm subsided as the moss and Grudge Infant Moss Eaters vanished.
• Mao Yousan called himself Luo Bin's master, and Luo Bin knelt and formally accepted him as his revered master.

Mao Yousan gave Luo Bin a powerful talisman, Taoist arts, and his father’s ritual brush and inkstone, while Luo Bin handed Mao Yousan the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Pestle. The story left them with an invitation from On-Duty City God Shi Xin to a ceremony at the City God Temple in the Land of Three Souths, where Luo Bin recognized the name of the mountain tied to the ghost lantern flower.

• Mao Yousan gave Luo Bin a One Goodness talisman and a book of Taoist arts, explaining that Luo Bin’s potential could take him beyond Emergence from Darkness.
• Mao Yousan gave Luo Bin his father’s ritual brush and inkstone, then used a bell to pull the resentful man into it after the man accused him of theft and using him to block lightning.
• Mao Yousan and Luo Bin returned to the Outer Field, where Luo Bin gave Mao Yousan the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Pestle.
• An On-Duty City God delivered an invitation from Shi Xin for Mao Yousan to attend a ceremony at the City God Temple in the Land of Three Souths.
• Luo Bin recognized that the Land of Three Souths included Three Souths Mountain, where the Primordial Calculation inheritance placed the ghost lantern flower.

Mao Yousan taught Luo Bin to weigh risks and prioritize self-preservation after the City God Temple moved up its invitation and temple fair. Suspecting the temple had a powerful reason for its unusual summons, Mao Yousan refused to attend and told Luo Bin to pack up and meet Xianshen instead.

• Mao Yousan explained that Ling Zheng and Zero Hall were one inheritance, and that he had inherited the Dual Yin-Yang Arts after Guo Sanhe was expelled.
• Mao Yousan struck Luo Bin with the Divine Firmament Five Thunder Pestle and taught him to consider the benefits and risks of a situation before deciding how to act.
• Luo Bin reasoned that the City God Temple's early invitation and rescheduled fair suggested a serious hidden motive, and he told Mao Yousan about the Death-Prison Yama Ghost and his killings of Night Watch.
• Mao Yousan concluded that the City God Temple must have a powerful trump card, refused to risk attending the fair, and ordered Luo Bin to pack so they could meet Xianshen.