Chapter Summaries

Xing Yan read a letter revealing that Xiao Mang had once been the Zhuyou Ghost Lord and had left the Ghostside to seek an art that could overcome ghosts’ weakness to yang fire. After Xiao Mang recovered his memories, he reunited with Yingluo and proposed marriage, then invited Xing Yan and Qiong Rong to the Ninefold Nether Capital to discuss the Ghostside’s future.

• Yingluo revealed that she was the Ghost Mother of Zhuyou and gave Xiao Mang a letter he had written to himself a thousand years earlier.
• Xing Yan read how Xiao Mang had left the Zhuyou Ghostside to seek a yin-yang art that would help ghosts resist yang fire, and how the Ghostside had been fighting the South Sea Dragon Clan.
• Xiao Mang pressed the talisman seal in the letter and recovered his memories, then recognized Yingluo as his sworn younger sister.
• Xiao Mang introduced Xing Yan and Qiong Rong as benefactors of the Ghostside and proposed marriage to Yingluo, crediting Qiong Rong with helping him understand love.
• After Yingluo sent the ghosts back to their caverns, Xiao Mang invited Xing Yan and Qiong Rong to the Ninefold Nether Capital, where Qiong Rong asked Yingluo whether she ate little monsters as well as little ghosts.

Xing Yan and Qiong Rong visited the Ninefold Nether Capital, where Xiao Mang reclaimed his rule and allied Ghostside with the Four Rivers water folk and the Mysterious Spirit Monster Race against the South Sea Dragon Clan. As Xing Yan and Qiong Rong departed through the Pure Land Gate, they promised to return for Xiao Mang and Yingluo’s wedding, while strange colors appeared in the sunset waves behind them.

• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong followed Xiao Mang and Yingluo through the ghostly capital to the magnificent Nether Candle Palace beneath Ghostside’s dark canopy.
• Xing Yan formally released Xiao Mang from their master-servant arrangement, and they agreed to be part teacher and part friend while keeping the Siyou Ghost Ring with Xing Yan.
• Xiao Mang declared an alliance between Zhuyou Ghostside, the Four Rivers water folk, and the Mysterious Spirit Monster Race to punish the South Sea Dragon Clan.
• Xiao Mang and Yingluo escorted Xing Yan and Qiong Rong to the Pure Land Shore, where they crossed the Pure Land Gate into the clear seas.
• Xing Yan promised to officiate at Xiao Mang and Yingluo’s wedding after the war, and Qiong Rong volunteered to be Yingluo’s bridesmaid.
• As Xing Yan and Qiong Rong prepared to leave, strange streaks of color appeared among the sunset reflections in the waves.

Xing Yan joined the Ghost Clan’s defense against the South Sea invasion and challenged deputy city lord Hu Yantuo after condemning the South Sea’s seizure of Ghost Spirit Abyss. He overwhelmed Hu Yantuo in battle, but followed him through a teleportation gate and found himself inside the South Sea army’s golden ranks.

• Xing Yan and Qiong Tong learned that the South Sea army had invaded Ghostside’s vulnerable southwestern shore, blocking their way home, and went with Xiao Mang and Yingluo to the front.
• Xing Yan faced Hu Yantuo, defended the Ghost Clan, and accused the South Sea of invading and seizing its sacred land.
• Hu Yantuo taunted Xing Yan about the woman killed at Mount Luofu, but Xing Yan held his resolve and attacked him with his sword.
• Xing Yan’s attacks repeatedly outmaneuvered Hu Yantuo’s transformed trident, forcing the general to flee through a Blazing Light Vortex.
• Xing Yan pursued Hu Yantuo through the vortex and emerged alone within the South Sea army’s golden formation.

Xing Yan fought his way through the Blazing Clouds Army, killed Azure Ram, and escaped with Qiong Tong and the army-guarding banner. After the Calamity Hound God ordered a retreat, the Ghostside forces faced a quiet battlefield as the moon rose.

• Xing Yan found himself surrounded by the Demonfire Divine Soldiers, fought through their ranks, and killed Azure Ram with a sudden sword strike.
• Xing Yan escaped to the Ghostside formation carrying Azure Ram's head, then discovered Qiong Tong had entered the enemy army to rescue him.
• Xing Yan charged back into the Blazing Clouds Army, rescued the wounded Qiong Tong, and seized the Army-Guarding Banner before returning to Ghostside.
• The Calamity Hound God suspected the Ghostside forces had planned the encounter and ordered the Blazing Clouds Army to withdraw.
• Xing Yan's return lifted Ghostside morale, and the Blazing Clouds Army retreated hundreds of li as Xing Yan stepped toward them; the moon then rose over the quiet battlefield.

After helping Zhuyou Ghostside repel the South Sea army and secure an alliance, Xing Yan returned to Wave-Subduing Island and reunited with Lingyi. At a victory banquet, the name Ruinu stirred an inexplicable grief in him, and he ended the night singing a sorrowful poem.

• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong recuperated in Zhuyou Ghostside, where Qiong Rong dreamed of a blood giant offering her a lotus before breaking apart into monsters in a red river.
• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong returned to Wave-Subduing Island, where the Four Rivers Dragon Lord praised their deeds and reported conquering Divine Pasture, Sangyu, Nanba, and Zhongshan.
• Xing Yan met Lingyi by the sea, softened his account of the dangers he had faced, and spent the night talking with her until sunrise.
• At a welcome banquet, Xing Yan learned that the Rising Sun Renewed Clan had surrendered the Divine Pasture Archipelago to Boyu and discussed Daoism with its elders.
• Xing Yan was asked to judge whether Xiangcao or Ruinu was more beautiful, but the two Bee Spirits reconciled before he could decide.
• The name Ruinu unsettled Xing Yan; recalling a poem about ghosts, he was overcome by sorrow and sang verses about a lost beauty and a fallen blossom.

After waking in Lingyi’s bedchamber, Xing Yan and Qiong Rong mistakenly ate the Cold Jade Snow Frog Paste that was meant to be applied to his forehead. Ten days later, troubled by the war and new enemy alliances, Meng Zhang discovered Moon Lady practicing swordsmanship and promised to equip her with a lighter blade.

• Xing Yan woke in Lingyi’s bedchamber, accepted the Cold Jade Snow Frog Paste from Qiong Rong, and shared it with her.
• Ling Yier revealed that the paste was meant for external use, leaving Xing Yan and Qiong Rong embarrassed by their mistake.
• After Ghostside allied with the Four Rivers water folk and the Mysterious Spirit Monster Race, Meng Zhang brooded over the worsening war in his study.
• Meng Zhang sensed a disturbance and found Moon Lady practicing swordsmanship in a coral grove.
• Moon Lady explained that she had begun training to help Meng Zhang, and he comforted her and promised to fetch her the lightweight sword Snow-Blowing Backward.

Meng Zhang resolved to retaliate against the northern forces after deciding that Moon Lady was the one he truly valued. Meanwhile, Qiong Rong wandered to a nearby island to nap, unaware that a dark rain cloud was gathering over the rainforest.

• Meng Zhang embraced Moon Lady and vowed to show the South Sea what he was capable of, blaming his enemies for his downfall.
• Qiong Rong watched trained Giant Buban carry supplies across the sea before growing bored and seeking shade from the sun.
• Qiong Rong swam to a forested island, found her favorite stone slab, and fell asleep beneath a lotus leaf.
• A dark gray rain cloud silently spread over the island and cast the rainforest into shadow while Qiong Rong slept.

Jun Tai searched the rainforest for Qiong Rong, found her, and tried to persuade her to come with him to the Hometown of Dark Rain. Qiong Rong recognized the place as belonging to the Water Marquis’s forces and remained wary as Jun Tai continued coaxing her.

• Jun Tai entered the rainforest under cover of mist and searched for Qiong Rong until the oppressive heat drove him to summon rain.
• Qiong Rong emerged from beneath the lotus leaves, complained that Jun Tai had drenched her, and heard him pretend that it had simply rained.
• Jun Tai introduced himself and used a grand speech about the principles of nature to impress Qiong Rong, but she answered his questions with an explanation of thunder taught by Brother Xing Yan.
• Jun Tai invited Qiong Rong to visit his home in the Hometown of Dark Rain, and she suspected him of being an enemy after recalling what Brother Hall Master had told her.
• Jun Tai continued trying to persuade Qiong Rong to leave with him, driven by the worsening South Sea war and his desire to take her home.

Jun Tai tried to persuade Qiong Rong to leave Xing Yan by questioning her purpose in life, but she declared that she had come into the world to be Xing Yan’s little sister and attacked Jun Tai when he insulted him. Xing Yan arrived with a vast army to rescue her, and Jun Tai transformed the heavens and earth as he faced the encirclement.

• Qiong Rong realized that the older sisters whose stories she remembered had all ended up liking their villains, but she felt she did not want to like Jun Tai.
• Jun Tai asked Qiong Rong about her origins and ambitions, and she said she had come into the world only to be Xing Yan’s good little sister.
• Jun Tai seized Qiong Rong’s shoulders and accused Xing Yan of bewitching her, then insulted Xing Yan as Qiong Rong broke free and attacked him with flames.
• Two venomous snakes bit Jun Tai’s hands, allowing Qiong Rong to flee the forest and reach Xing Yan, where she told him Jun Tai had said bad things about him.
• Xing Yan surrounded Jun Tai with a large army, and Jun Tai calmly adjusted his appearance before transforming the surroundings with a flick of his finger.

Rain Master Jun Tai unleashed a vast storm, escaped Xing Yan's forces, and left many of their troops ensnared in rain threads. After realizing the South Sea Dragon Clan had kept such powerful allies from the war, Xing Yan began to suspect a deeper deception, just as a Daoist reported a strange discovery.

• Jun Tai summoned black clouds, lightning, torrential rain, and a bell-like melody, then transformed into a rainbow and flew south while warning Qiong Rong.
• Qiong Rong rejected Jun Tai's warning, and the storm cleared to reveal Four Rivers troops and giant eagles bound by strands of rain.
• Ling Xu, Qingming, and the other Highest Clarity True Persons used divine fire to free the trapped soldiers and beast spirits.
• After hearing more about Jun Tai, Xing Yan wondered why Meng Zhang had kept such a powerful divine general out of the war and began questioning the Lord of the Clouds' conduct.
• A feather-robed Daoist approached Xing Yan and reported that he had found something strange while searching the area.

Xing Yan discovered that Jun Tai had spared the Blackwater Wolf Tribe because their direction’s tone would have disrupted his music, then returned to Wave-Subduing Island and spent a quiet evening by the shore. The night’s calm ended when a terrifying presence appeared in the southern heavens, causing the God-Sealing Sword to tremble.

• Ling Yier destroyed Jun Tai’s lingering rainbow trail with an arrow, and Ling Xu told Xing Yan that the Blackwater Wolf Tribe had escaped Jun Tai’s attack unharmed.
• Xing Yan recreated Jun Tai’s wind-and-rain melody and deduced that Jun Tai had spared the southeastern Wolf Tribe to preserve the harmony of his music.
• Xing Yan returned to Wave-Subduing Island with the others and warned Qiong Rong not to trust or follow villains like Jun Tai.
• Xing Yan later went to the beach with Lingyi and Qiong Rong, where Lingyi and Qiong Rong washed and groomed Susuang beneath the moonlight.
• Chu Huaiyu declared that he would seek a chance to meet South Sea Second Princess Wen Xiying, while Xing Yan remained distracted by Lingyi.
• A sudden, frightening presence appeared in the southern heavens, and the God-Sealing Sword began to shudder violently in Xing Yan’s scabbard.

A catastrophic storm devastated Wave-Subduing Island as Xing Yan, Lingyi, and Qiong Rong witnessed a blood-red face in the southern sky and the God-Sealing Sword reacted to the upheaval. Three days later, the Lord of the Clouds called the Dragon Clan and the powers of the world to war against the Evil Dragon God, reviving memories of the God-Sealing War.

• Xing Yan gathered Lingyi and Qiong Rong and sheltered with them as a supernatural storm wrecked the harbor and killed soldiers and spirits.
• Xing Yan felt sinister emotions overcome him, but the trembling God-Sealing Sword brought him back to his senses and pointed southeast.
• Yao Guang glowed red as a monstrous face formed in the southern clouds and laughed, after which the storm abruptly ended.
• Xing Yan, Lingyi, and Qiong Rong rode to the Dragon King's Great Tent through the devastation, where survivors mourned those killed in the catastrophe.
• Three days later, the Lord of the Clouds issued a call to arms against the Evil Dragon God, and the realms recalled that the ancient Dragon-Demon War was also called the God-Sealing War.

The Lord of the Clouds revealed the ancient origins of the Spirit Mother and Chaos, explaining how the Dragon Clan and Devil Race once united to seal Chaos in the Ghost Spirit Abyss. He declared that the rebel dragon’s actions threatened that seal, then rallied forces for the South Sea campaign, while Xing Yan prepared to fight Meng Zhang and recover Xueyi’s remains.

• The Lord of the Clouds explained that the Spirit Mother created souls and that Chaos, a primordial force of evil, repeatedly escaped imprisonment before being sealed in the Ghost Spirit Abyss.
• He recounted how Chaos deceived the Devil Race into attacking the abyss, but the Devil Emperor joined the Dragon Clan to reseal Chaos in the God-Sealing War.
• The Lord of the Clouds revealed that the rebel dragon had fallen under Chaos’s influence and declared that stopping him was the deeper purpose of the campaign.
• The Four Rivers issued a call for allies to unite against the rebel and promised rewards, while the Lord of Dongting was ordered to have twelve Cloud-Rising swords forged.
• Support for Meng Zhang weakened as allied forces rallied to the Four Rivers, and Xing Yan prepared to lead his assigned troops toward the South Sea.
• Xing Yan wondered whether Chaos was the God King mentioned by the Nine-Headed Infant Monster, but he remained focused on defeating Meng Zhang, recovering Xueyi’s remains, and returning to Mount Luofu.

Xing Yan learned that the Lord of the Clouds had received the Spirit Mother’s dream at Horseshoe Mountain, linking the God-Sealing Sword to his past. The Dragon Lord then ordered Lingyi to join the battle as the fighting entered its final, dangerous stage.

• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong visited Lingyi’s tent, where Lingyi remarked that Chaos and the Spirit Mother’s names reflected their opposing natures.
• Xing Yan joked that Lingyi’s name also combined fire and water, and connected the God-Sealing War to his God-Sealing Sword.
• The Lord of the Clouds revealed that he had received the Spirit Mother’s dream while resting at Horseshoe Mountain and had watched Xing Yan because he found the sword there.
• The Dragon Lord explained that he had once called the sword ordinary to avoid encouraging Xing Yan too soon, and teased him about winning Lingyi’s affection.
• The Lord of the Clouds told Lingyi that she must join the others in battle and ordered Xing Yan to kill her or Qiong Rong rather than let either be captured if they could not be rescued.

As the Four Rivers prepared for war against Chaos, Xing Yan encountered True Person Zhao Datong and the Flowstep Immortal while patrolling the South Sea. He learned that Daoist reinforcements were on their way, then escorted the two eccentric beast-tamers back to camp.

• Xing Yan led patrols along the northern South Sea as the Four Rivers gathered forces for war.
• A Gaoyang Lake soldier reported that two suspicious Daoists had been detained, and Xing Yan rode to investigate.
• Xing Yan and True Person Ling Xu recognized True Person Zhao Datong and the Flowstep Immortal after Zhao wrestled a black leopard.
• True Person Zhao told Xing Yan that Daoist orders had gathered at Mount Luofu and were sending reinforcements to the South Sea.
• Xing Yan’s party returned to Fubo Camp with the leopard and the two Daoists, while Zhao privately envied Xing Yan’s renown.

Xing Yan welcomed the Daoist disciples who had come to aid Four Rivers, then learned that Nanba, Sangyu, and Zhongshan had rebelled and attacked Divine Pasture. Four Rivers stopped the rebels from taking the archipelago, and the Dragon Lord sent Zhang Zuixing to besiege Mulberry Sunset Isle as the South Sea war escalated.

• True Person Zhao and Flowstep Immortal brought the Daoist disciples to Wave-Subduing Island, where Xing Yan reunited with old friends and welcomed them at a banquet.
• Xing Yan performed a sword dance and sang for the assembled guests, raising their spirits for the fighting ahead.
• Xiao Yang and infiltrating dragon guards attacked Yong He and the Divine Pasture elders, while warriors from Nanba, Sangyu, and Zhongshan moved to seize the archipelago.
• Lord of the Clouds's defenses blocked the South Sea reinforcements, and Divine Pasture's defenders held off Xiao Yang's forces until they retreated toward the three isles.
• The Four Rivers Dragon Army pursued the rebels to Mulberry Sunset Isle, where the fighting stalled against their fortified forces on Sangyu.
• The Four Rivers Dragon Lord appointed Zhang Zuixing to lead the allied contingents in a siege of Mulberry Sunset Isle.

Zhang Xingyan led the Four Rivers forces in a devastating assault on the sea-ape rebels at Mulberry Sunset Isle, while Zhuo Bihua challenged him to stop the slaughter. The battle remained one-sided until an unexpected development on the island showed why Xing Yan had refused her plea.

• Zhang Xingyan marched with the Four Rivers army and the newly arrived Daoist disciples toward Mulberry Sunset Isle, then ordered the rebels killed without mercy after they rejected surrender.
• Xiaoyang prepared the sea-ape defenders, but Four Rivers forces destroyed their whale-bone defenses with Thousand-Leaf Fire Wheel Darts and charged the island on rhinoceroses.
• The Seven Highest Clarity Disciples cast Sea-Steadying Wave Firmament, and Juji led Kun chicken and wolf cavalry in a spiraling assault that scattered the rebels.
• Zhuo Bihua asked Zhang Xingyan to stop the slaughter, but he declined, ordered her aside, and told her to watch the battle in silence.
• Something strange happened on Mulberry Sunset Isle, and Zhuo Bihua realized that her plea for mercy had been ill-timed.

Qiong Rong and Ling Yier destroyed the rebels’ flaming-arrow tower, allowing Xing Yan’s forces to crush the uprising on Mulberry Sunset Isle, though Qiong Rong collapsed from dizziness after her attack. The story then shifted to the South Sea Dragon Domain, where grief hung over the Dragon Palace.

• Gui Ji’s cavalry was driven back by the flaming-arrow tower that erupted from underground and fired indiscriminately at the attackers and rebels.
• Xing Yan approved Qiong Rong’s plan, and she spun her Vermilion Divine Blades into a fiery wheel that smashed the tower’s upper structure.
• Ling Yier enlarged herself into a towering divine maiden and brought down the Azure Cloud Halberd, collapsing the remaining tower.
• Qiong Rong collapsed from dizziness after spinning at high speed, and Xing Yan carried her to the Linghua Carriage.
• Gui Ji’s cavalry defeated the remaining rebels; Xiao Yang was killed by his own followers as he tried to surrender.
• The rebellion on Nanba’s three isles ended, and the scene shifted to the grieving South Sea Dragon Palace.

Meng Zhang considered the failing war against the Four Rivers army, approved Long Ling’s defensive plans, and privately pursued his hopes for the God King’s awakening. After sharing a tender moment with Moon Lady, he left for the Ghost Spirit Abyss, while Boyu encountered Long Ling in his garden.

• Meng Zhang worried over the Four Rivers army’s advance but took comfort in his belief that the God King would awaken and secure his rule.
• Long Ling advised Meng Zhang to deploy the Dragon God Generals, entrust the Divine Wrath Archipelago to Princess Xi Ying, and recall exiled Dragon Clan generals; Meng Zhang approved his plan.
• A minister suggested Meng Zhang pretend to transfer sovereignty to Boyu, but Long Ling denounced the proposal and Meng Zhang dismissed the gathered ministers.
• Meng Zhang found Moon Lady at her dressing table, heard that she wanted to look beautiful for him, and drew her eyebrows himself.
• Boyu drank alone in his garden until he heard someone answer his call and saw Long Ling beyond the wall.

Long Ling tested Boyu’s views on kingship through wine, a sword dance, and songs, then departed after Boyu answered with a song in an unexpected musical mode. The story returned to the Four Seas Hall Master, who sat impatiently while someone painted his portrait on Sangyu Island.

• Long Ling visited Boyu’s garden and asked him to share wine, then questioned him about the way of a true king.
• Bing'e performed a sword dance and sang a sorrowful verse, prompting Long Ling to sing a song about a neglected woman.
• Boyu asked Bing'e to sing his poem about the Fannuo Bow in Small Stone Mode, and Long Ling bowed deeply before leaving.
• Bing'e worried that Long Ling might trouble Boyu, then left him drinking alone until he fell asleep.
• The Four Seas Hall Master sat through an afternoon portrait session on Sangyu Island and wished the little girl were there to keep him company.