Chapter Summaries

Ancestor Kongya trapped Qiong Rong in the Demon Bell and attacked her with his aging and soul-devouring arts, but his spells triggered a mysterious transformation. A divine woman appeared, defeated Kongya, and left Xing Yan and Xueyi wondering whether she was Qiong Rong.

• Xing Yan and Xueyi escaped the Illusory Shadow Maze and found Ancestor Kongya trapping Qiong Rong inside a Demon Bell barrier.
• Ancestor Kongya cast A Thousand Years in an Instant, but Qiong Rong remained lively, so he combined it with the Soul-Devouring Blood Curse.
• Xing Yan and Xueyi broke through the Demon Bell as Qiong Rong was overwhelmed by Kongya's second attack, and time froze around them.
• A divine woman appeared where Qiong Rong had stood and trapped Ancestor Kongya in a star formation.
• The woman unleashed silver butterflies and golden light, after which Kongya vanished and Xueyi and Xing Yan recovered.
• Xing Yan asked whether the woman was Qiong Rong, and she turned a cold gaze toward him.

Xing Yan and Xueyi survived a flying mountain peak and found Qiong Rong safe, though she had briefly transformed into a powerful goddess. After reuniting, the three rested and continued their journey together, while Qiong Rong revealed her innocent wish to marry Xing Yan.

• Xueyi carried Xing Yan out of the goddess's reach as a rocky peak hurtled after them, and they combined their powers to shatter it in midair.
• Xing Yan and Xueyi found that the goddess had changed back into Qiong Rong, who ran into Xing Yan's arms after their separation.
• Qiong Rong worried over Xing Yan's cuts and cleaned his face while he reassured her and Xueyi that they could be together again.
• Xing Yan lay down to sleep beside the two girls, and Qiong Rong later told Xueyi that she remembered more about Lingyi playing with Xing Yan underwater.
• A young boy asked Qiong Rong to be his bride, but she said she wanted to marry Xing Yan so she could always stay with him.
• Xing Yan led Qiong Rong and Xueyi onward through the sunset, bringing Volume Ten to a close.

Xing Yan found lodging for himself, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi at the Drunken Dream House, then fell into an erotic dream that appeared to be watched from the clouds. A strange jade lotus reflected his dream until his spirit sword rang and sent the hidden watcher plunging from the sky.

• Xing Yan and his companions reached Yaoyang, where every inn was full.
• Xing Yan persuaded Jin Erniang to let the three stay in two rooms at the Drunken Dream House.
• Xing Yan treated his injured face with herbs and fell into a deep sleep.
• Xing Yan dreamed that a beautiful woman in a green dress seduced him on a spring road.
• Qiong Rong woke Xueyi after hearing strange sounds, and Xueyi told her the brothel used false cries for help to trick people.
• A hidden girl watched Xing Yan's dream through a jade lotus until his spirit sword rang and she fell from the clouds.

A purple-eyed enchantress’s attempt to embarrass Xing Yan and Ling Yier backfired when magic brought her into Xing Yan’s bed, sparking chaos at the Drunken Dream House. After escaping back to her realm, she fumed over the humiliation and unleashed her anger on the surrounding peaks.

• The purple-eyed girl used the Jade Lotus to watch Xing Yan’s dream, but a strange force suddenly transported her into his room.
• Xing Yan woke to find the purple-eyed girl in his bed, and she sprang away as Ling Yier arrived and teased him.
• Qiong Rong and Xueyi joined the commotion, then Jin Erniang and the brothel women stormed in and accused Xing Yan of sneaking in extra guests.
• The purple-eyed girl unleashed thunder and lightning, knocked the brothel women unconscious, and escaped through the roof.
• Ling Yier teased Xing Yan before vanishing, and the next morning Jin Erniang let him leave without paying for the roof repairs.
• Back in her dark realm, the purple-eyed girl brooded over her humiliation and made the twelve peaks erupt with fire and lava.

Xing Yan traveled with Qiong Rong and Xueyi toward the lakes in search of the Highest Clarity Water Spirit, sharing a rainy inn stop that stirred memories of Ling Yier and a long-lost girl. After a smooth stretch of travel, the three became lost on a dark post road and heard mournful flute music followed by a voice chanting a poem about a dead writer.

• Xing Yan led Qiong Rong and Xueyi to an inn during a heavy rain, where they studied, wrote, and shared supper.
• Xing Yan recalled his encounter with Ling Yier and the purple-haired woman, then felt sorrow as wine brought back memories of a girl from his past.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi resumed their journey and found themselves on a deserted post road after nightfall.
• Qiong Rong heard faint flute music in the darkness, and Xing Yan recognized its mournful notes.
• A bleak voice began chanting a poem about a final letter, a coffin, and the poor burial of a dead writer.

Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi met a sorrowful old scholar in the wilderness and debated whether ghosts existed, only for the elder to vanish before Xing Yan’s eyes. After rescuing a ghost-catching Daoist, they continued toward Yin-Subduing Village, where people were said to command spirits.

• Xing Yan and his companions accepted an old man’s invitation to rest beneath a pine tree and talked with him about ghosts.
• Xing Yan argued that ghosts did not exist, then recited a poem that the old man praised.
• The old man thanked Xing Yan and vanished into the ground, leaving Xing Yan to realize that ghosts were real.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi rescued a Daoist who said unseen ghosts had forced him to run through the wilderness.
• The Daoist offered them Spirit Talismans, but Xing Yan politely declined, and the trio continued their journey.
• The trio heard of Yin-Subduing Village, where every household could commune with spirits and command ghosts.

Xing Yan and his companions encountered the Peerless Young Master, then reached Yin-Quelling Manor and witnessed its residents commanding ghosts through their ancestral tower. As Xing Yan stood before the Yin-Subduing Tower by day, an unnatural darkness suddenly swallowed the town and ghostly howls filled the sky.

• Xing Yan visited the Fortune-Gathering Restaurant with Qiong Rong and Xueyi, where Qiong Rong used magic to separate sesame seeds from the salt.
• The Peerless Young Master approached Xing Yan, gave him five taels of silver after learning he was short of money, and left before Xing Yan learned his identity.
• Xing Yan learned from the other diners that the handsome stranger was the Peerless Young Master and resolved to repay his kindness.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi reached Yin-Quelling Manor and saw ghosts serving townspeople at night under the power of the Yin-Subduing Tower.
• Xing Yan returned to the tower in daylight, but the sky abruptly darkened, separating him from the townsman as ghostly howls rang out.

Xing Yan and Qiong Rong joined Xueyi in fighting the Western Mountain Ghost Clan after its leader Peng Meng led an assault on Yin-Quelling Manor. As the ghosts began to retreat, a powerful figure in the clouds attacked Xing Yan and roared in defense of the Ghost Clan.

• Black clouds and ghostly attacks drove Yin-Quelling Manor’s villagers to seek refuge by the Yin-Suppressing Treasure Pagoda, while Xing Yan realized that vicious ghosts were possessing people.
• Peng Meng arrived with his ghost host, explained the clan’s grievances over generations of enslavement, and destroyed the pagoda with the Purple Bamboo Flute.
• Xing Yan used his golden flames to destroy ghosts attacking the villagers, while Qiong Rong fought Peng Meng and Xueyi struck down spirits with her Calyx Staff.
• The three companions turned the battle around, forcing many ghosts to flee as Peng Meng struggled against Qiong Rong.
• A violent whirlwind swept through the town and targeted Xing Yan, who dodged it before a voice from the clouds roared that he had harmed the Ghost Clan.

The Evil Spirit Ghost King arrived at Yin-Quelling Manor and attacked Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi. Xing Yan and Qiong Rong fought back, but the Ghost King’s Soul-Slaying Axe overwhelmed them, leaving them helpless as two northern stars flashed in the clouds.

• The Evil Spirit Ghost King descended into Yin-Quelling Manor, and the surviving ghosts gathered behind him.
• Xing Yan secretly channeled power through Divine Snow, preparing to summon heavenly thunder while the Ghost King underestimated the young fighters.
• Qiong Rong angered the Ghost King by asking about his horns, then attacked him with the Vermilion Bird Divine Blades as Xing Yan joined the fight.
• The Ghost King swung his Soul-Slaying Axe, and its Nightmare Hex rendered the manor’s residents helpless while Xing Yan and Qiong Rong continued to defend themselves.
• The Ghost King blasted Xing Yan and Qiong Rong away and sent his axe forward in a wave of black smoke that scattered Xueyi’s spirit blossoms.
• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong lay trapped before the approaching ghostly wave as two faint stars flashed in the northern sky.

Zhang Xingyan fought the Ghost King Xiao Mang while the villagers and his companions struggled to survive the attack. After Xing Yan knocked Xiao Mang to his knees, he stopped Qiong Rong and Xueyi from finishing him, and Xiao Mang offered to become his servant.

• The Ghost King’s black ghostly tide swallowed Yin-Quelling Manor, but Xing Yan’s Moonlit Flowing-Light Slashes left the villagers unharmed.
• Xing Yan charged Xiao Mang and used his martial skill, spells, and Dao Power to drive the Ghost King backward in close combat.
• Qiong Rong distracted Xiao Mang by bouncing on his fallen axe, letting Xing Yan strike his head with Refining Spirit into Void and knock him to his knees.
• Xueyi and Qiong Rong rushed to kill the defeated Ghost King, but Xing Yan stopped them and led them back.
• Xiao Mang offered to become Xing Yan’s servant and slave.

Xing Yan stopped Qiong Rong and Xueyi from attacking the Ghost King, who asked to become his servant because Xing Yan’s Dao Power eased his memory loss. Xiao Mang transformed into a ring so he could travel with Xing Yan, who accepted the Netherworld Ghost Ring and wore it.

• Xing Yan blocked Qiong Rong and Xueyi from striking the Ghost King when he noticed the ghost’s awareness returning.
• Xiao Mang begged Xing Yan to take him as a servant, explaining that he had forgotten much of his past and that Xing Yan’s punch had restored some of his memories.
• Xiao Mang said an extraordinary man had predicted that someone could cure his affliction with pure, harmonious energy, though he had forgotten the man’s name.
• Xing Yan hesitated to accept Xiao Mang, but said the Ghost King could join them if he found a convenient way to travel.
• Xiao Mang transformed into a jade ring, and Xing Yan put the Netherworld Ghost Ring on his finger.

Xing Yan used the Ghost King Ring to end the battle between the Western Mountain Ghost Clan and Yin-Quelling Manor, then set out with Qiong Rong and Xueyi. That night, Xueyi entered Xing Yan’s dream, and a mysterious verse left him shaken as their feelings came to light.

• After Xing Yan put on the Ghost King Ring, the ghosts bowed to him, and Elder Peng accepted his pact separating the Ghost Clan from the villagers.
• The villagers renamed Yin-Quelling Manor Zhang Family Village and gave Xing Yan twenty taels of silver before he departed with Qiong Rong and Xueyi.
• A witch from Devil Peak secretly cast purple light on Xueyi and hoped Xing Yan would transfer his affections to her.
• At an inn, Xing Yan dreamed of flying through a snowy plum grove with Xueyi and embracing her before the dream turned blood red.
• Xing Yan wrote an ominous verse about a plum blossom soul and a hundred thousand rosy faces, and Xueyi admitted she had used the Dream-Entering Immortal Art to enter his dream.

After a night of strange dreams, Zhang Xingyan traveled with Qiong Rong and Xueyi toward Yulin Commandery, where he hoped to find the missing Water Spirit. Their journey took an unexpected turn when a hurried military courier rode past and a horse cried out from behind the cliffs.

• Qiong Rong told Zhang Xingyan she had practiced making an angry face and described a dream in which she flew over fiery mountains and dark rivers while carrying him.
• Zhang Xingyan took Qiong Rong and Xueyi around the market, where Qiong Rong kissed him on the cheek and he hurriedly claimed she was his future bride to explain the scene.
• Zhang Xingyan and his companions left town for Yulin Commandery and entered a narrow pass between steep cliffs.
• Qiong Rong mistook two apparent bandits for mountain-splitting, tree-planting magicians and recited a playful verse; the men denied being bandits and let the travelers pass.
• A soldier galloped past Zhang Xingyan shouting that he carried official business, and an anguished horse's neigh sounded from beyond the cliffs.

Xing Yan rescued a commandery soldier from two bandits who killed themselves rather than reveal who was behind attacks on Yulin’s messengers. He and his companions reached the stricken Yuping County, reunited with Lingyi, and the chapter ended when she opened the inn door and something heavy fell in the courtyard.

• Xing Yan disarmed two bandits attacking the messenger soldier, but they killed themselves before he could learn who had ordered the murders.
• Liu told Xing Yan that a locust plague had devastated Yulin Commandery and that the prefect’s messengers sent to seek relief had disappeared.
• Xing Yan carried Liu to a relay station, where he learned that Prefect Bai Shijun was the Peerless Young Master who had recently given him silver.
• Xing Yan reunited with Xueyi and Qiong Rong in Yuping County, where the dark, deserted streets and candle-saving inn reflected the famine’s severity.
• Xing Yan summoned Lingyi with the Jade Lotus, and he told her and the others about the ghosts at Yin-Quelling Manor.
• Lingyi entertained Qiong Rong with a tiny ice figure, then opened the room door; a heavy thump from the courtyard made Xing Yan rush to look outside.

Xing Yan and Lingyi reunited at the inn, where Lingyi’s spell trapped a notorious thief and the innkeeper captured him. Later, Xing Yan’s concern over the famine drew Lingyi closer to him, and she departed after their moonlit meeting, asking him to visit again.

• Xing Yan dragged a thief from the courtyard and woke him, learning that Lingyi’s illusion had trapped him among endless bamboo fences.
• The innkeeper recognized the thief as a notorious robber, bound him, and thanked Xing Yan and his companions before locking him in the woodshed.
• Xing Yan and Lingyi went into the moonlit courtyard together, where he explained that the stars foretold a good harvest rather than famine and locusts.
• Lingyi grew drawn to Xing Yan as he worried that an evil creature might be causing the disasters, and the two shared an intimate moment beneath the clouds.
• Lingyi’s Mirror-Shadow Soul Departure spell neared its limit, so she said goodbye at the door and asked Xing Yan to visit her again.
• Xing Yan remained in a daze after Lingyi vanished, then opened the door onto the quiet, moonlit courtyard.

After donating his silver to Yuping County's gruel kitchen, Xing Yan performed in the street with Qiong Rong and Xueyi to earn travel money. As the three divided their earnings at a noodle shop, Commandery Soldiers arrived and said their master requested Xing Yan's presence.

• Xing Yan worried that his affection for Lingyi could not lead to a future and considered whether he might marry Xueyi instead.
• Xing Yan donated all his silver to the gruel kitchen after learning that Yuping County had exhausted its relief grain.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi staged a street performance, earning coins while Xueyi frightened off local thugs.
• Qiong Rong asked an old woman whether a child bride could have children, and Xing Yan hurried away before she could ask him about it.
• At a noodle shop, Xing Yan began dividing the earnings equally among the three when Commandery Soldiers arrived and requested his presence.

Xing Yan and his companions accepted Bai Shijun’s invitation and were welcomed to Watercloud Manor, where they toured its grand grounds. There, Xing Yan discovered cottages resembling his childhood home and learned that Bai Shijun’s mysterious guest lived nearby; the story left him invited to a full-moon banquet, still wondering about the guest and the cottages.

• Soldiers invited Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi to Watercloud Manor on Bai Shijun’s behalf, and they traveled there by carriage.
• Xing Yan and his companions admired Autumn Reed Lake and the manor’s extensive grounds before Bai Shijun greeted them and arranged their lodgings.
• Shijian showed the visitors around the manor and warned them not to disturb the distinguished guest living near the Immortal-Welcoming Terrace.
• Shijian revealed that the guest had only recently arrived and that even Bai Shijun needed the guest’s permission to visit.
• Xing Yan spotted three thatched cottages that looked like his family’s former home on Horseshoe Mountain and was startled by the resemblance.
• Shijian invited Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi to Bai Shijun’s full-moon banquet at the Pillow-the-Stream Pavilion.

Xing Yan explored Cloudwater Manor, remembered Ju Ying, and joined Bai Shijun’s moon-viewing banquet at Pillow-the-Stream Pavilion. After Bai Shijun sang beneath the rising moon, Xing Yan showed the Jade Pendant Ju Ying had given him and was teased that she had pledged her heart to him.

• Xing Yan learned that the vine-covered cottages were called Sunset Cottage and recalled Ju Ying and their time together.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi returned to their rooms, counted their performance earnings, and practiced before Shijian led them to the banquet.
• Bai Shijun welcomed Xing Yan and his companions at Pillow-the-Stream Pavilion, where the guests ate and drank as musicians played.
• Bai Shijun called for the guests to watch the moon rise, then danced with his sword and sang the Huainan Song.
• Bai Shijun discussed Princess Qingcheng’s jade pendant, and Xing Yan showed the company the Jade Pendant Ju Ying had given him.
• Bai Shijun teased Xing Yan that a girl who gave him jade had pledged her heart to him.

At a moonlit banquet at Watercloud Manor, Kou Xueyi captivated the guests with a dance before Bai Shijun made an improper advance toward her. Xing Yan protected her by taking Bai Shijun’s offered wine and pouring it into the lake, just as a Daoist at the banquet offered to perform an illusion.

• Xing Yan watched the singing girls perform and reflected on how different his world was from Ju Ying’s, while a little girl placed venison in his bowl.
• Bai Shijun stopped the dancers and invited Kou Xueyi to dance, and she asked Xing Yan for permission before accepting.
• Kou Xueyi performed a breathtaking dance beside the lake, leaving the guests entranced.
• Bai Shijun praised Kou Xueyi, recited a lewd poem, and offered her his wine; Xing Yan secretly calmed her with a touch.
• Xing Yan took Bai Shijun’s cup and poured the wine into the lake, then returned the empty cup with a pointed remark.
• A Daoist at the far end of the banquet applauded and offered to perform an illusion.

At Bai Shijun’s moon-viewing banquet, Xing Yan revealed his extraordinary powers and played a flute that drew a mysterious woman’s song from across the lake. Recognizing her as Ju Ying, he crossed the water to meet her and offered her a red lotus, leaving them poised for reunion.

• Daoist Qingyun turned lake water into wine with an illusion, but Xing Yan tasted only water and recognized the trick.
• At Bai Shijun’s request, Xing Yan made a lotus bud bloom instantly, startling the guests and alarming Qingyun, who recognized the art and noticed the bone ring on Xing Yan’s hand.
• Bai Shijun asked Xing Yan to play the flute in hopes of attracting his beautiful honored guest, and a woman across the lake answered with a song.
• Xing Yan recognized the singer as the woman who had haunted his thoughts, leaped into the lake, and rode his qi across the waves toward her.
• Ju Ying greeted Xing Yan from the white jade bridge, and he answered by forming a red lotus and reciting, “The same flower blooms... why does it bloom so late?”