Chapter Summaries

Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Old Daoist Huang identified the Mass Burial Pit of Evil Dog Ridge as their best lead to find the trapped girl, and Xu Taiping sacrificed the Ghost Eye Stone to power their journey there. At the pit, a white-haired man pressured the bound Xu Ziyan to accept a netherworld bond, promising to free the girl and help rescue Dugu Qingxiao.

• Xu Taiping showed Blade Ghost his Divine Soul Mark, and they suspected the water in the girl’s vision was Meng Po Soup.
• Blade Ghost named five possible locations in the Netherworld’s Yellow Springs, and Old Daoist Huang’s Qi-Gazing Art pointed to the Mass Burial Pit of Evil Dog Ridge.
• Blade Ghost warned that the journey would consume their magic power, so Xu Taiping crushed the Ghost Eye Stone despite its value.
• Blade Ghost took a fragment of the stone and swept Xu Taiping and Old Daoist Huang toward Evil Dog Ridge in his blade qi.
• At the Mass Burial Pit, a white-haired young man confronted the bound Xu Ziyan and offered to free the trapped girl and help rescue Dugu Qingxiao if she formed a netherworld bond with him.

Xu Ziyan refused Zhai Yuan’s advances as he used A Zhu’s peril to try to force her to submit. Just as Red Hound tore off A Zhu’s arm, a familiar young man appeared in the Spirit Mirror, and Xu Ziyan recognized him as Junior Brother Taiping.

• Xu Ziyan told Zhai Yuan that she still cherished only Dugu Qingxiao, and Zhai Yuan boasted of his achievements and demanded that she beg him to release A Zhu.
• Zhai Yuan sent vicious dogs to attack A Zhu, but she fought them off with her short blade until Red Hound and Qingmian appeared.
• Red Hound and Qingmian beat A Zhu, and Red Hound tore off her arm while threatening to turn her into a Human Swine.
• Xu Ziyan demanded that Zhai Yuan stop, but a young man in green robes appeared behind the Ghost Creatures and challenged them to fight him.
• Xu Ziyan recognized the newcomer as Junior Brother Taiping.

Xu Taiping fought off Zhai Yuan’s ghost creatures in the Yellow Springs while Zhai Yuan tried to force Xu Ziyan into a Netherworld Bond. After locating Xu Ziyan, Xu Taiping unleashed his full strength and destroyed eight Grade A evil ghosts, then promised to come for her.

• Zhai Yuan sent Red Hound and Qingmian Evil Ghost to attack Xu Taiping, who burned them away with his powerful qi and blood.
• Zhai Yuan summoned eight Grade A evil ghosts and revealed that he wanted to form a Netherworld Bond with Xu Ziyan to merge with the Ghost Marshal’s legacy.
• The eight ghosts overwhelmed Xu Taiping, but he rose and drove them back with a single saber slash.
• An authoritative voice told Xu Taiping they had found Xu Ziyan, and he warned Ayu to move farther away.
• Xu Taiping cut down and burned all eight Grade A evil ghosts, then told Xu Ziyan they were coming to get her.

Xu Taiping, Blade Ghost, and Old Daoist Huang confronted Zhai Yuan at Evil Dog Ridge, where he unleashed five Rakshasa ghosts against them. Old Daoist Huang destroyed the ghosts by severing their fortune, and the group captured Zhai Yuan and freed Xu Ziyan from the Ghost Gods' Power.

• Zhai Yuan attacked with a flaming blade shadow, but Blade Ghost appeared and blocked it.
• Zhai Yuan released five Rakshasa ghosts and used his blood to strengthen them, while he silenced Xu Ziyan before she could warn Blade Ghost.
• The Rakshasa ghosts shattered Blade Ghost's blade shadow and charged him, but Old Daoist Huang struck the air with a Bronze Ruler and destroyed all five by targeting their fortune.
• Zhai Yuan tried to flee with Xu Ziyan, but Xu Taiping cut through his sleeve and separated them.
• Blade Ghost pinned Zhai Yuan to the ground, and Old Daoist Huang severed the fortune threads above his head, immobilizing him.
• Xu Taiping used qi and blood power to disperse the Ghost Gods' Power enveloping Xu Ziyan.

Xu Taiping reunited with Xu Ziyan and learned that Second Senior Brother had merged with a Ghost King Inheritance, trusting Xu Taiping to help him. After Xu Taiping freed Xu Ziyan from her chains, Venerable Northern Yin emerged, and Blade Ghost stayed behind to cover their retreat.

• Xu Ziyan told Xu Taiping that she had seen Second Senior Brother twice and that he had trusted Xu Taiping to help him survive merging with the Ghost King Inheritance.
• Xu Ziyan revealed that Venerable Northern Yin was the source of the concealed aura of misfortune and warned that Evil Dog Ridge was unsafe.
• Zhai Yuan threatened them, but Blade Ghost burned his head while Xu Taiping cut the chains binding Xu Ziyan.
• Venerable Northern Yin roared from underground after the chains broke, and Blade Ghost crushed Zhai Yuan to death.
• Blade Ghost told Xu Taiping and Old Daoist Huang to take Xu Ziyan and leave while he covered their retreat.

Blade Ghost returned after fighting Venerable Northern Yin, who survived by fusing with the minor world at Evil Dog Ridge. Xu Ziyan learned that Xu Taiping had reached the Dao-Integration Heavenly Communion Realm and had already slain a Ghost Warden.

• Xu Ziyan worried about Blade Ghost, but Xu Taiping and Old Daoist Huang assured her as distant blade strikes shook the sky near Evil Dog Ridge.
• Xu Taiping revealed that Blade Ghost was the Azure Profound Sect's legendary Red-Haired Blade Ghost, and Old Daoist Huang observed that he had cut away most of Venerable Northern Yin's power of good fortune.
• Blade Ghost arrived and said Venerable Northern Yin had escaped death by fusing with the minor world at Evil Dog Ridge.
• Blade Ghost gave Xu Ziyan and Xu Taiping Ghost Eye Stone fragments to replenish their magic power.
• Xu Ziyan learned that Xu Taiping had killed a Ghost Warden and reached the Dao-Integration Heavenly Communion Realm in one leap from the ultimate realm.

Xu Taiping reunited with Xu Ziyan and learned that she had an urgent matter involving Dugu Qingxiao, but pursuing evil ghosts and Ghost Wardens forced the group to seek refuge first. They reached Yinji Gorge, where Xu Taiping asked Xu Ziyan to explain what had happened to his second senior brother in the Yellow Springs.

• Xu Ziyan was moved by Xu Taiping’s journey to the Dao-Integration Heavenly Communion Realm and said Qingxuan would one day be a blessing to him.
• Old Daoist Huang released A Zhu, who thanked Xu Taiping for saving her and revealed she had kept hold of Xu Ziyan’s earthenware jar.
• Xu Ziyan said they had an urgent matter to attend to, but Blade Ghost and Old Daoist Huang warned that powerful evil ghosts and Ghost Wardens were pursuing them.
• Xu Ziyan suggested Yinji Gorge as a safe refuge near the urgent matter, and Blade Ghost carried the group there.
• After they settled in a cave, Xu Taiping asked Xu Ziyan to tell them everything she knew about Dugu Qingxiao’s time in the Yellow Springs.

Xu Ziyan told Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost how she entered the Yellow Springs in search of Dugu Qingxiao and tracked his battles against the Ghost Marshals. She finally reached the eighth challenge in time and met him.

• Xu Ziyan explained that Dugu Qingxiao had told her about the Longyuan Well in Fallen Longyuan, and she used it to descend into the Yellow Springs.
• After nearly dying to a Blood Palanquin Female Ghost, Xu Ziyan searched the Yellow Springs for years, advanced her cultivation, and learned that Dugu Qingxiao had challenged Nether Spring Prison's Ghost Marshal and disappeared after losing his arms and eyes.
• Xu Ziyan later learned that Dugu Qingxiao defeated the Ghost Marshal of Cold Spring Prison and reclaimed his eyes and arms, but she arrived too late to meet him.
• Xu Ziyan tracked Dugu Qingxiao's later challenges, missing him repeatedly as he won seven Ghost Marshal Inheritances in succession.
• Xu Ziyan waited near the prison ruins and finally arrived early enough to meet Dugu Qingxiao when he challenged the eighth Ghost Marshal.

Xu Ziyan told Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost how Dugu Qingxiao sought to become a Yama by collecting the Nine Hells Ghost Marshal inheritances, but Mad Monk’s forces drove him into danger and he eventually lost his sanity. Xu Taiping recognized the Dragon Spine Sword she said Qingxiao had lost, leaving Xu Ziyan stunned as he revealed where he had found it.

• Xu Ziyan explained that Dugu Qingxiao had to collect and merge all nine Ghost Marshal inheritances to become a Yama and challenge Mad Monk, who had attained the Dharma King fruit position.
• Xu Ziyan said Qingxiao gave her a Ghost Eye Stone Fragment to restore his memories if the inheritances consumed his mind, then described how he escaped the Fengquan Hell battlefield before drawing Mad Monk’s Ghost Arhat and Ghost Maitreyas away from her.
• Xu Ziyan revealed that Mad Monk had established Black Lotus Temple in Yellow Springs and that she waited two years near Yellow Springs Hell for Qingxiao to return.
• Qingxiao appeared, gravely wounded Zhai Yuan with one strike, then ignored Xu Ziyan and went to challenge the Yellow Springs Hell Ghost Marshal; she realized he had lost his sanity when she saw his Dragon Spine Sword was gone.
• Xu Taiping showed Xu Ziyan the Dragon Spine Sword he had found on an Ox-Head Ghost Warden, saying Qingxiao had likely dropped it while fleeing pursuers.

Xu Ziyan explained how Dugu Qingxiao lost his reason and how her attempts to save him had failed. Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost prepared to find Qingxiao in Yellow Springs Hell, restore his reason, and discover who might oppose them.

• Blade Ghost praised Xu Taiping for obtaining the Dragon Spine Sword, and Xu Ziyan thanked her Junior Brother for coming to help.
• Xu Ziyan recounted that Dugu Qingxiao repeatedly lost to the Ghost Marshal of Yellow Springs Hell and became increasingly controlled by the desires of the eight Ghost Marshal inheritances.
• Xu Ziyan explained that Zhai Yuan had stolen the Ghost Eye Stone fragment and that Dugu Qingxiao had rejected the Meng Po Soup and tried to kill her.
• Xu Taiping reassured Xu Ziyan that he would take charge, and the group planned to find Dugu Qingxiao in Yellow Springs Hell and give him the soup and Dragon Spine Sword.
• Blade Ghost left the timing of their next move to Xu Taiping, who activated his Left-Eye Lotus Pupil to see who would stand in their way.

Xu Taiping discovered the Mad Monk’s plan to make Dugu Qingxiao kill Xu Ziyan and consume her flesh, ripening the Avīci Buddhist fruit. With the Yellow Springs Ghost Moon due tomorrow, Xu Taiping shared the danger with Blade Ghost and Old Daoist Huang, who claimed to know a spell that could avert it.

• Xu Taiping used the Divine Soul Mark to see the Mad Monk writing on the One-Leaf Book that Dugu Qingxiao would kill Xu Ziyan during the Yellow Springs Ghost Moon, causing his Dao Heart to crumble and ripening the Mad Monk’s Buddhist fruit.
• Xu Taiping learned that the Mad Monk had arranged Xu Ziyan’s survival, her acquisition of Meng Po Soup, and her meeting with Zhai Yuan to bring about that outcome; he also saw that passages about himself and Fairy Lingyue had been crossed out.
• The Lotus Eye told Xu Taiping that a powerful being was shielding him and Fairy Lingyue from interference with their karma, and warned him to avoid confronting the Mad Monk until it and Xiaohei had absorbed Ghost Marshal Leopard Tail’s power.
• Xu Taiping learned from Xu Ziyan that the Yellow Springs Ghost Moon would descend tomorrow and told her that Dugu Qingxiao was likely to appear then, without revealing what he had seen.
• Xu Taiping asked Old Daoist Huang to place restrictions around himself, Blade Ghost, and Old Daoist Huang, then shared two Divine Soul Marks revealing the Mad Monk’s scheme.
• Old Daoist Huang said he knew a spell that could resolve the danger Xu Taiping had foreseen.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost took Xu Ziyan's clay clone toward the Yellow Springs Hell Ruins while Old Daoist Huang stayed behind to protect Xu Ziyan and conceal her aura. After they landed, a huge, flame-wreathed figure with nine faces approached, and Xu Taiping feared it was Dugu Qingxiao.

• Old Daoist Huang revealed that he had made Xu Ziyan's clone appear and feel like the real Xu Ziyan by carving runes and grafting her aura onto it.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost took the clone ahead, while Xu Ziyan and Old Daoist Huang followed from ten li behind.
• Blade Ghost warned Xu Taiping that invoking the Book of Life and Death's edict would consume most of his magic power, and said it might grant Xu Ziyan or Dugu Qingxiao another life.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost descended into the Yellow Springs Hell Ruins, where evil ghosts and Ghost Wardens had gathered around the area of recent battles.
• A huge figure wreathed in flames approached with nine faces on its upper body, and Xu Taiping suspected it was Dugu Qingxiao.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost entered the Yellow Springs Hell Ruins with Xu Ziyan’s clone and prepared to test Dugu Qingxiao’s strength while making their actions look convincing to Mad Monk. The chapter ended as they launched a joint blade attack against Dugu Qingxiao’s Flame Giant-like body.

• Blade Ghost warned Xu Taiping not to let Xu Ziyan meet Dugu Qingxiao before they entered the Yellow Springs Hell Ruins, and the three went inside.
• Mad Monk spotted the two helpers in his Spirit Mirror and used Black Prayer Beads to interfere with the ruins from afar.
• Blade Ghost and Xu Taiping realized they would need to put on an act for Mad Monk and agreed to test Dugu Qingxiao’s fighting strength.
• Blade Ghost commanded Xu Ziyan’s clone to approach Dugu Qingxiao, while Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost pretended to warn her away.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost drew their blades and struck Dugu Qingxiao together.

Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost subdued Dugu Qingxiao long enough for Xu Ziyan to approach with Meng Po Soup, but the Mad Monk used the blood moon to drive Dugu Qingxiao into a frenzy. Dugu Qingxiao swallowed Xu Ziyan, and the Mad Monk declared that the Buddha Fruit had ripened.

• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost struck down Dugu Qingxiao’s Ghost Marshal body and severed one of its arms while gauging its strength.
• Xu Taiping and Blade Ghost pinned Dugu Qingxiao down, and Blade Ghost called for Xu Ziyan to bring the Meng Po Soup.
• Dugu Qingxiao grew to more than three times his size, broke free, and sat up as Xu Ziyan continued toward him with the jar.
• The Mad Monk sent blood-red light from the blood moon onto Dugu Qingxiao, driving him mad as he seized Xu Ziyan.
• Dugu Qingxiao swallowed Xu Ziyan, and the Mad Monk proclaimed that the Buddha Fruit had ripened and he would ascend to Ultimate Bliss.

Dugu Qingxiao regained his senses after Xu Ziyan’s survival and embrace completed his fusion with the Ghost Marshal’s power, ruining Mad Monk’s plan to form the Avīci Buddha Fruit. Mad Monk’s shock and Blade Ghost’s taunts aggravated his injuries, while the others prepared to draw him into a fight.

• Dugu Qingxiao’s Ghost Marshal body swallowed Xu Ziyan’s clone, but the Meng Po Soup took effect and restored his senses as the body returned to normal.
• Mad Monk watched Dugu Qingxiao despair in the Spirit Mirror until Xu Ziyan appeared alive and embraced him, completing his fusion with the Ghost Marshal’s power.
• Blade Ghost and Xu Taiping mocked Mad Monk through the Spirit Mirror, and the shock caused Mad Monk to injure his foundation and spit blood.
• Old Daoist Huang reported that the misfortune threads above the group had snapped, and Xu Taiping urged Blade Ghost to provoke Mad Monk into revealing his condition.
• Blade Ghost taunted Mad Monk through the Blood Moon, worsening his injuries until Mad Monk threatened to kill him, shattered the Spirit Mirror, and sealed the Black Lotus Temple to heal.

Xu Taiping reunited with Dugu Qingxiao in the Yellow Springs ruins as Mad Monk sealed the realm and awakened its Ghost Marshal. Dugu Qingxiao charged into battle, and the chapter ended as he invoked the Azure Profound Sect's Sword-Forging Swordsmanship.

• Blade Ghost concluded that the vanished blood moon showed Mad Monk was gravely injured.
• Dugu Qingxiao reunited with Xu Taiping, embraced him, and promised they would protect each other as brothers.
• A blood-colored barrier sealed Yellow Springs Hell after a pillar of light struck near the Ghost Marshal's location.
• Dugu Qingxiao took back the Dragon Spine Sword and set out to fight the Ghost Marshal despite Xu Taiping's concern.
• The Ghost Marshal rose and unleashed black lightning, threatening to disperse Dugu Qingxiao's snow lotus.
• Dugu Qingxiao merged the fire dragon sword shadow with the heavenly thunder sword shadow and shouted, "Sword, Emerge!"

Dugu Qingxiao fought the Yellow Springs Hell Ghost Marshal and realized the sun-character edict could overcome the Marshal’s power. He unleashed his Heavenly Sword and destroyed the Ghost Marshal, winning the final trial.

• The Ghost Marshal shattered Dugu Qingxiao’s Heavenly Thunder Sword and overwhelmed him with the Netherworld Edict, trapping him inside a cracking Glazed Glass Sphere.
• Dugu Qingxiao recognized a bottleneck in the Ghost Marshal’s Ghost Gods’ Power and sent a Flame Lotus through the sphere into the sky.
• The Flame Lotus expanded into a great sun, and Blade Ghost realized Dugu Qingxiao was contesting Netherworld Yellow Springs’ sun-character edict.
• Dugu Qingxiao broke free, entered the great sun, and unleashed his Sixth Nirvanic Annihilation, Ultimate Dao Heavenly Sword.
• Dugu Qingxiao’s concentrated beam of sunlight destroyed the Yellow Springs Hell Ghost Marshal, and Xu Ziyan declared that he had won the final trial.

Dugu Qingxiao swallowed the final Ghost Eye Stone and obtained the Yama Inheritance, then led Xu Taiping and the others to the hidden minor world of Yizili. There, they discovered the legendary Fallen Immortal Temple.

• Dugu Qingxiao caught the Yellow Springs Hell Ghost Marshal’s Ghost Eye Stone and swallowed it after Xu Taiping and the others retreated.
• Yellow Springs Hell trembled as Dugu Qingxiao’s aura surged, and he manifested and dismissed a great sun before appearing before the others.
• Blade Ghost said Yellow Springs might hold more half-immortal seats, but Mad Monk had to be eliminated first.
• Dugu Qingxiao brought Xu Taiping, Xu Ziyan, Blade Ghost, and Old Daoist Huang to Yizili through a cold pool’s spring opening.
• Xu Taiping and the others found a Daoist temple built into a cliff, and Blade Ghost recognized it as the legendary Fallen Immortal Temple.

Blade Ghost explained the Fallen Immortal Temple’s powers and the remaining Yama Seats, while Dugu Qingxiao revealed that he had to defeat the Mad Monk before leaving Yellow Springs. Xu Taiping offered to bring Dugu Qingxiao and Xu Ziyan back to the Mortal Realm, but Dugu Qingxiao chose to stay and finish his fight.

• Blade Ghost explained that the Fallen Immortal Temple could use Soulfire Stones to refine Netherworld Qi and extract vitality, which he intended to use to restore his True Body.
• Dugu Qingxiao revealed that at least eight Yama Seats remained in the Netherworld and could offer paths to the Mortal Realm’s Heaven-Treading Contest or ascent to the Divine Realm.
• Blade Ghost insisted that defeating the Mad Monk was the most urgent matter, and Dugu Qingxiao agreed.
• Xu Taiping told Dugu Qingxiao and Xu Ziyan that the Yellow Springs Pillow and Fairy Lingyue’s Soul-Summoning Talisman could bring them back to the Mortal Realm.
• Dugu Qingxiao refused to leave before confronting the Mad Monk, explaining that their shared Great Dao had reached its end and that he had to answer for the cultivators the Mad Monk had schemed to their deaths.

Xu Taiping learned that three Azure Profound Sect disciples had died in the Taixuan Ghost Domain, but Dugu Qingxiao said their souls had reached reincarnation. The group planned to strengthen their cultivation and defeat the Mad Monk so they could descend to the Ghost Domain and rescue the Sect Master and the others.

• Xu Taiping agreed to support Dugu Qingxiao in claiming the Great Dao by killing the Mad Monk, and Xu Ziyan and Dugu Qingxiao decided to stay with him.
• Dugu Qingxiao told Xu Taiping that Zhang Qian, Wu Mo, and Wu Liang had died in the Taixuan Ghost Domain and that he had seen their souls enter reincarnation.
• Blade Ghost warned that most cultivators who died in the Ghost Domain became ghost creatures, and Dugu Qingxiao promised to return with Xu Taiping to rescue the Azure Profound Sect after gaining the Mad Monk's half of the Great Dao Edict.
• Blade Ghost said he could rebuild his true body in a dozen or so years and take Xu Taiping and Dugu Qingxiao back to the Lower Realm.
• Dugu Qingxiao learned that Xu Taiping had reached the Heaven-Connecting Realm, and Blade Ghost instructed them to return to the Mortal Realm to prepare and strengthen their cultivation.
• Blade Ghost told Old Daoist Huang to stay in the Yellow Springs and notify them when Dugu Qingxiao was ready to fight the Mad Monk, and Old Daoist Huang agreed.