Chapter Summaries

Xing Yan wounded the spirit creature attacking the Peng Residence, and it fled to a remote pool, where it was revealed to be the Deep Pool God. Peng Xiangpu confided that the creature had been violating Runlan, and Xing Yan promised to protect her as the county prepared to pray for rain.

• Xing Yan froze the spring and struck the spirit creature with his sword, driving it away after it dodged his follow-up attack and charged into the rockery.
• Xing Yan and Peng Xiangpu found golden-tinged blood among the damaged rocks, and Runlan thanked Xing Yan reluctantly.
• Peng Xiangpu pressed Xing Yan to marry Runlan, then revealed his suspicion that the creature had been visiting and defiling her; Xing Yan promised to deal with it.
• The wounded spirit creature washed his wounds in a secluded pool and identified himself as the Deep Pool God, wondering who had injured him.
• Dawn arrived in drought-stricken Zhenyang on the day the recruited men were to pray for rain.

Xing Yan decided against marrying Peng Runlan and resolved to focus on driving away the demon, while the demon secretly swallowed the clouds and stilled the Zhenshui River. At the rain-summoning ceremony, Xing Yan fought off a villager who tried to force him to marry his sister, leaving Fan Chuan astonished by the brawl.

• Xing Yan reflected on Peng Runlan's sorrow and Lord Peng's proposal, decided he felt no affection for her, and resolved to rid her family of the demon.
• A black-armored supernatural being swallowed the clouds, stilled the Zhenshui River, then disguised himself as the Daoist Fan Chuan and registered for the ceremony.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi took their places at the rain-summoning platform as crowds gathered and Magistrate Peng arrived.
• Liu Hu confronted Xing Yan over lifting his sister's veil and tried to force him into marriage, but Xing Yan fought him until he gave up.
• The crowd laughed as Xing Yan returned to his seat, while Fan Chuan watched him with astonishment.

Zhang Xingyan played the Divine Snow Jade Flute and overcame an unseen force to summon rain over drought-stricken Zhenyang County. As Kou Xueyi turned the rain into snow, the crowd rejoiced, but one onlooker’s face turned livid.

• Six rain-summoning adepts failed, and Daoist Zhi Mu’s impressive Five Thunders Orthodox Method also brought no rain.
• After the eighth adept failed, Magistrate Peng asked Zhang Xingyan to take the altar before Fan Chuan could make his attempt.
• Qiong Rong recited a muddled rain prayer while Xing Yan played the divine flute, sensing an immense force resisting his music.
• Xing Yan invoked the Four Rivers Divine Spell and summoned clouds and rain, while Fan Chuan clutched his belly and began retching.
• Kou Xueyi danced with the Greenwood Spirit Hairpin and transformed some of the rain into snow, delighting the crowd as an onlooker turned livid.

After Xing Yan and his companions summoned rain for Zhenyang, Fan Chuan abducted Peng Runlan and fought them on the flooding Zhenshui River. Xing Yan struggled to stop Fan Chuan’s flood from engulfing the county, and as he faced death, a golden-clawed, silver-scaled dragon burst from his chest.

• Peng Xiangpu announced that Xing Yan would be entrusted with Peng Runlan, but Fan Chuan seized her amid a thunderclap and fled toward the Zhenshui River.
• Xing Yan, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong pursued Fan Chuan, who trapped Peng Runlan atop a pillar of water and manifested a giant spirit body.
• Fan Chuan’s waves swept Qiong Rong away and struck Xing Yan with his three-pronged fork, but Xing Yan wounded Fan Chuan’s right arm with a Moonlit Flowing-Light Slash.
• Fan Chuan drove a flood toward Zhenyang City, and Xing Yan froze the advancing waters while townsfolk fled behind the city walls.
• Wounded and exhausted, Xing Yan was caught in the rising flood as Fan Chuan’s waves surged toward the city.
• A bolt of lightning revealed a golden-clawed, silver-scaled dragon bursting from Xing Yan’s chest and soaring toward the waves.

Xing Yan was saved from Fan Chuan’s flood by Lingyi, who defeated and captured the water god. After learning Fan Chuan had raised the waters to win Peng Runlan’s hand, Xing Yan spared him, while Lingyi’s connection to the Four Rivers Dragon Palace—and the Water Marquis’s portrait of her—came to light.

• Peng Runlan’s plea stopped Fan Chuan from flooding Zhenyang City, but Xing Yan remained trapped in the river’s raging crest.
• Xing Yan’s divine sword Yao Guang flew to threaten Peng Runlan, and a golden-clawed silver dragon burst from his torn clothing and subdued Fan Chuan.
• Lingyi appeared, calmed the Zhenshui River, freed Xing Yan, and handed the bound Fan Chuan over to him.
• Peng Runlan shielded Fan Chuan and revealed that he was her beloved; Fan Chuan explained that he had raised the waters to improve his chances of marrying her.
• Xing Yan trusted the couple and asked Lingyi to release Fan Chuan, then learned she was the Four Rivers Dragon Palace’s princess and that the Water Marquis kept a portrait of her.
• Xing Yan asked Fan Chuan where the painter lived so he could seek a copy of Lingyi’s portrait, and Lingyi rapped him on the head.

Xing Yan and Lingyi helped Fan Chuan and Runlan secure a future together, then reunited privately beneath the Zhen River and shared their first kiss. The story left them sinking happily into the river’s depths as volume nine ended.

• Lingyi offered to teach Runlan the Water-Repelling Method Spell and promised to ask her grandfather to appoint Fan Chuan River Earl of the Zhen River.
• Xing Yan agreed to speak to the magistrate of Peng County in support of Fan Chuan and Runlan’s marriage.
• Lingyi showed Xing Yan her embroidered handkerchief and reproached him for not using the Jade Lotus to call her.
• Xing Yan explained that he had avoided calling Lingyi because the spell drained her vitality, and she told him she had mastered Mirror-Shadow Soul Departure.
• Lingyi led Xing Yan into the deepest part of the Zhen River and asked whether he had secretly kissed her before.
• Lingyi kissed Xing Yan underwater, and they sank together toward the riverbed.

After helping Fan Chuan and Peng Runlan marry, Xing Yan left Zhenyang with Kou Xueyi and Qiong Rong to continue his training and search for the highest clarity water spirit. A mysterious woman watched him from violet clouds as the group set out on the spring road.

• Xing Yan returned to shore with Qiong Rong, and the two rejoined Kou Xueyi, Fan Chuan, and Runlan before heading back toward Zhenyang.
• A woman hidden in violet clouds watched Xing Yan and angrily complained that Lingyi had beaten her to him, while her cloud servant tried to flatter her.
• Peng Xiangpu readily agreed to Fan Chuan and Runlan's marriage, and the wedding took place with Xing Yan, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong in attendance.
• Xing Yan gave the newlyweds his rain-summoning reward silver and a wedding couplet, while Fan Chuan presented Kou Xueyi with a fire-repelling battle garment.
• Xing Yan declined Peng Xiangpu's request to establish a shrine to him, citing his rank as Central Court Grand Master, then left Zhenyang with the two girls.
• As they passed a village school, Xing Yan heard children reciting an ancient poem and continued along the spring road, recalling his own school days.

Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi traveled through the spring mountains, shared their warmth with a group of beggars, and spent the night in a ruined Mountain God Temple. As Xing Yan dozed, he heard a strange disturbance outside and an unseen voice boasting of killing several people.

• Xing Yan reflected on how he had once abandoned Qiong Rong, then praised Xueyi and Qiong Rong as they played among the flowers.
• Xueyi used magic to make a flower crown for Xing Yan, and all three wore flowers as they continued along the mountain road.
• At dusk, Xing Yan led Qiong Rong and Xueyi to a ruined Mountain God Temple, where they found seven or eight elderly beggars sheltering.
• Xing Yan roasted a prepared chicken for the beggars, who gratefully shielded him and the two girls from the cold night wind.
• While dozing, Xing Yan heard an unusual silent disturbance outside, followed by a distant voice boasting that it had killed several people.

After an arson attack on a temple sheltering beggars, Xing Yan suspected the World-Cleansing Divine Cult was behind the Zhenyang Dragon King Temple fire and investigated its teachings in Qinglin Town. Chan Master Golden Bowl threatened the Zhurong Gate and Red Sash Society with his magical bowl, but Qiong Rong unexpectedly picked it up.

• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong extinguished the fire at the mountain god's temple, and Xing Yan searched nearby with Yao Guang but found no arsonists.
• At dawn, Xing Yan sent the surviving beggars to Zhenyang County and resolved to hunt the villains behind the fires.
• In Qinglin Town, Xing Yan heard Chan Master Golden Bowl preach and learned that the World-Cleansing Divine Cult recruited members by warning of a coming crimson fire calamity.
• Xing Yan recalled the arsonist's words about cleansing the world of people with impure mortal bodies and connected them to the cult's doctrine.
• Outside town, Golden Bowl used his Golden Notched Soul-Locking Bowl to capture Brother Gao and pressured Zou Yanzhao to agree to a contest.
• Qiong Rong picked up Golden Bowl's enchanted bowl, leaving Golden Bowl and the others astonished as Xing Yan scolded her from outside the grove.

Xing Yan, Kou Xueyi, and Qiong Rong rescued Brother Gao from the Golden Bowl Monk and became the Zhurong Gate’s chosen fighters in its challenge against the Pure World Sect. The Golden Bowl Monk arranged his sect’s three opponents, planning to concede his own match against Qiong Rong while relying on Luo Ziming and Feng Ruhui to win the other two.

• Qiong Rong repeatedly snatched the Golden Notched Bowl from the Golden Bowl Monk, then released Brother Gao from it, and the monk fled with his treasure.
• Xing Yan told Zou Yanzhao that he knew the Zhurong Gate’s gate master, Li, and joined the group at its Yangshan Branch Hall.
• Zou Yanzhao explained that the Pure World Sect had challenged the local religious orders to three matches to decide which sect would submit.
• The Zhurong Gate named Zhang Xingyan, Kou Xueyi, and Zhang Qiong Rong as its contestants, and the Pure World Sect scheduled the matches for two days later at Pine Mountain.
• The Golden Bowl Monk assigned Feng Ruhui to face Zhang Xingyan, Luo Ziming to face Kou Xueyi, and himself to face Zhang Qiong Rong, expecting his sect to win two matches.

After learning that the Pure World Sect was behind several deadly fires and child abductions, Xing Yan promised to fight the sect in the next day’s contest. As he prepared with Qiong Rong and Xueyi, Master Golden Bowl realized he might have to face Qiong Rong himself and resolved to secure victories in the first two matches.

• Xing Yan discreetly questioned Zou Yanzhao and learned that Luo Ziming had started the temple fires while Duan Ruhui was abducting children; he promised to take on the Pure World Sect’s challenge.
• Xing Yan paid a street seller of curses one tael to curse murderous Pure World Sect members, then explained to Xueyi that he had also wanted to help a hungry man earn money.
• Xing Yan practiced swordplay while Qiong Rong and Xueyi bathed; Xueyi taught Qiong Rong about boundaries, and Qiong Rong later mistook Xing Yan’s attempt to stroke her hair for an inappropriate touch.
• A hidden observer reported on Xing Yan and Qiong Rong to Master Golden Bowl, who feared that losses in the first two matches could force him to face Qiong Rong.
• Master Golden Bowl decided to ensure that Duan Ruhui and Luo Ziming won their matches the next day.

Xing Yan and his companions traveled to Pine Mountain for the contest against the Pure World Sect, discovering and foiling a poison trap along the way. The contest began when Duan Ruhui launched a surprise blade attack that appeared to strike Xing Yan.

• Xing Yan warned Xueyi and Qiong Rong to rescue one another if either was in danger, and to rescue him if necessary.
• Three beggars offered Xing Yan tea, which Zou Yanzhao tested before Xing Yan and the two girls drank it.
• Xing Yan grew thirsty and realized the tea had been tampered with to make its drinkers vulnerable to poisoned oranges; Shi Yuying tested an orange and watched it turn purple-black when Xing Yan spat on it.
• Xing Yan's party reached Pine Mountain, where Monk Golden Bowl believed his poison scheme had succeeded and secretly urged Duan Ruhui to use the Pure World Sect's supreme art if needed.
• Duan Ruhui suddenly drew his blade and sent a surge of blade aura into the unprepared Xing Yan, then waited for him to die.

Xing Yan absorbed Duan Ruhui’s soul-slaying blade aura and secretly refined it into great splendor dao power, while Duan Ruhui’s demonic weapon and hidden attacks failed to harm him. When the warped souls broke free and turned on Duan Ruhui, Xing Yan purified them, and Duan Ruhui died; Luo Ziming then fought a woman in snow-white armor.

• Duan Ruhui attacked Xing Yan with his star-sundering blade aura, but Xing Yan lowered his shield and refined the attack into great splendor dao power.
• Duan Ruhui circled Xing Yan with waves of blade aura, while Luo Ziming secretly added bone-corroding yin fire, but Xing Yan absorbed both attacks.
• Duan Ruhui struck with his blade, and Xing Yan parried it with enough force to knock it back and numb Duan Ruhui’s arm.
• Duan Ruhui awakened his soul-devouring blade with a secret art, but the trapped spirits appeared terrified and refused to attack Xing Yan.
• The warped souls tore free of Duan Ruhui’s blade and overwhelmed him, and Xing Yan used his soul-suppressing flame to purify them as Duan Ruhui died.
• Luo Ziming fought a duel to the death with a graceful woman wearing snow-white divine armor.

After Xing Yan killed Duan Ruhui, Monk Golden Bowl accused him of sorcery but continued the contest and sent Luo Ziming to fight. Kou Xueyi defeated Luo with her fire-resistant armor and Sacred Azure Jade Spirit Staff, while the master of Four Seas Hall realized the flowers above Luo's head had foretold his death.

• Monk Golden Bowl mourned Duan Ruhui, accused Xing Yan of using an evil art, and agreed to continue the contest under the rule that life and death were left to fate.
• Monk Golden Bowl sent Luo Ziming into the next bout, and Xing Yan told Kou Xueyi to put on her snow armor before fighting.
• Kou Xueyi asked Luo Ziming whether he had burned people in a temple, and he admitted it while declaring his intent to purge those he considered impure.
• Luo Ziming trapped Kou Xueyi in his Soul-Chasing Crimson Lotus flames, but her fire-washed snow armor protected her as she walked out unharmed.
• Kou Xueyi transformed her hairpin into the Sacred Azure Jade Spirit Staff and struck down Luo Ziming, whose flames burned his body into charcoal.
• The master of Four Seas Hall realized that the flowers and spirit buds above Luo Ziming had been an omen of life and death.

Xing Yan’s group won the contest against the Pure World Sect, and Xing Yan used his imperial title to deter Monk Golden Bowl from pursuing charges over the deaths. The victors celebrated at Shi Yuying’s residence, while Monk Golden Bowl regrouped alone at the sect’s altar that night.

• Kou Xueyi killed Luo Ziming, giving Xing Yan’s group its second victory, and Xing Yan stopped Qiong Rong from entering the unnecessary third bout.
• Monk Golden Bowl tried to turn the deaths into a threat by invoking the government, but Xing Yan claimed the protections of a Central Court Grand Master and departed with his allies.
• Xing Yan explained the Eight Deliberations to Qiong Rong on the journey back, then attended a victory feast at Shi Yuying’s residence.
• Xing Yan confessed that killing Duan Ruhui troubled him, but Zou Yanzhao’s words helped him accept that removing the murderous villain had been right.
• Qiong Rong vowed to eat less because she feared getting fat, but she agreed to try Shi Yuying’s chicken and put off her diet until the next day.
• Monk Golden Bowl questioned a follower about the feast, rewarded him, and then rallied from his grief as he sat alone holding the Soul-Slaying Blade.

Xing Yan pursued two men carrying a struggling woman, only to be framed as a sorcerous lecher by her husband and a crowd waiting in ambush. As poisoned assassins closed in, a vast flock of birds darkened the sky and halted the confrontation.

• Xing Yan reflected on the changing yin and yang qualities of his great splendor Dao power and resolved to learn swordsmanship.
• Xing Yan took Qiong Rong and Xueyi shopping for white silk and learned about Xueyi’s staff technique.
• Xing Yan saw two men carrying a struggling young woman and pursued them toward a grove.
• Chen Dalang and a crowd sprang from hiding, accused Xing Yan of abducting Chen Dalang’s wife, and surrounded him.
• Poisoned assassins crept toward Xing Yan while the crowd restrained him, but an enormous flock of birds suddenly blotted out the sunlight.

Xing Yan was ambushed by followers of the Pure World Sect, but Yin Tieya and Ying Xiaodie of the Mystic Spirit Cult rescued him with a flock of birds. When a bald monk unleashed a blood-soul formation, Xing Yan destroyed it with a powerful sword strike, and the monk vanished beneath the birds’ attack.

• A pink swallowtail butterfly transformed into a maiden and flew away as Pure World Sect assassins closed in on Xing Yan.
• Hundreds of birds attacked the ambushers, driving them off and sparing Xing Yan from harm.
• Yin Tieya and Ying Xiaodie introduced themselves as members of the Mystic Spirit Cult, and their birds formed the words “Mystic Spirit” in the sky.
• A blood-soul mist pillar appeared, devouring people and birds, while Xing Yan sensed the monk controlling it.
• Xing Yan charged the formation and unleashed intertwined sun-and-moon sword slashes that dispersed the blood-soul mist and shattered its master’s soul.
• Yin Tieya sent the birds after the motionless bald monk, while a copper bowl secretly flew southwest and a young maiden hurried toward the battlefield with her elder sister.

Ancestor Kongya learned that his disciple Jin Quezi had died and resolved to descend the mountain for revenge. Xing Yan left Yangshan with Qiong Rong and Xueyi, and the travelers’ next adventure began when they heard rumors of treasure revealed by a strange cavern.

• Ancestor Kongya absorbed Jin Quezi’s soul-shadow and decided to avenge his disciple by going down the mountain.
• Xing Yan watched Yin Tieya and Ying Xiaodie depart, then learned that Lang Cheng and Hu Erniang had gained a promise of admission to the Mystic Spirit Cult.
• Xing Yan discovered that his silver had spilled from his saddlebag, recovered it with help from the Pure World Sect followers, and let the followers go after warning them.
• Xing Yan bought silk for Qiong Rong, left Yangshan with her and Xueyi, and traveled west through a landscape of lakes and mountains.
• In a market town, Xing Yan heard that a cavern had split open and emitted five-colored light, and he became excited by rumors that it held an immortal’s treasure.

Xing Yan avoided Ancestor Kongya’s cave trap by frightening the crowd away, and Ancestor Kongya abandoned his scheme. On the road, Xing Yan met a red-haired demonic immortal who warned that Soul Devouring would bring him a catastrophe, leaving Xing Yan suddenly wary.

• Xing Yan took Qiong Rong and Xueyi to inspect a cavern outside Yellowstone Town but refused to enter it.
• Ancestor Kongya tried to lure the travelers into his cave with black smoke, but Xing Yan fled with the others and the crowd scattered.
• Ancestor Kongya left the cave after his plan failed, while Xing Yan and the girls continued down the road.
• Xing Yan found a red-haired old man lying on the road, who introduced himself as an immortal of the demonic path.
• The red-haired immortal warned Xing Yan that Soul Devouring could bring a catastrophe within a few years, and Xing Yan grew watchful.

After a black horse stole Xing Yan’s money, he followed a farmer’s directions into the hills and became trapped in an illusion, separated from Qiong Rong and Xueyi. He escaped by flying on his sword, found the farmer’s skeleton, and reached Qiong Rong, who was with a kindly old man promising to help her grow up.

• Xing Yan rejected Immortal Kongya’s offer to teach him Soul Devouring and continued traveling with Qiong Rong and Xueyi.
• A black horse stole Xing Yan’s money satchel, so he led the others into the hills to pursue it.
• A farmer directed Xing Yan and the girls toward a thief’s hut, but the farmer was later revealed to be a skeleton.
• Xing Yan became trapped on an endless mountain path and lost sight of Qiong Rong and Xueyi.
• Xing Yan flew above the illusion on his Ancient Sword, found the farmer’s skeleton, and headed toward the deepest part of the hills.
• Xing Yan and Xueyi reached Qiong Rong, who stood with a white-jade-faced old man who had promised to help her grow up.