Chapter Summaries

Wang Quan interrogated the human ghost gods who attacked No. 95 Courtyard and learned that [Divine Emperor Heart] had empowered them and sent them to cause chaos. After bargaining for a scripture, he faced the surviving ghost gods’ claim that they were all one family because they had once praised his flower-scattering.

• The Bull Monster Tower devoured the human ghost gods as Wang Quan questioned them, and one revealed that [Divine Emperor Heart] had given them ghost-god powers and ordered them to disrupt the Underworld.
• [Divine Emperor Heart] arrived in a display of holy light, but a surviving ghost god identified her as the one who had recruited them and accused her of targeting No. 95 Courtyard.
• Wang Quan confronted [Divine Emperor Heart] and demanded compensation for the damage; she offered him a scripture for roaming the Underworld in spirit instead of rare treasures.
• [Divine Emperor Heart] admitted she had not mastered the scripture, handed Wang Quan a box containing it, and departed after threatening the ghost gods.
• The surviving ghost gods called themselves Wang Quan’s family and said they had once cheered his flower-scattering, told newcomers about it, and erected a statue of him in No. 95 Courtyard.

Wang Quan learned that the Drowning Dao Lower Court was thriving, then received a Daoist Scripture from [Divine Emperor Heart] and wondered why she had given it to him. He turned his attention back to the Present World and summoned the ghost and monster leaders to discuss their work.

• Wang Quan questioned the human ghost gods from No. 95 Courtyard, learned the Lower Court was prospering, and let them go; they burned to ashes as they tried to return to the Present World.
• Wang Quan suspected [Divine Emperor Heart] had hidden intentions in the scripture she gave him and summoned [Ghost Emperor Heart] to inspect it.
• [Ghost Emperor Heart] identified the scroll as the Daoist Scripture [Ghost Says: Scripture of Spirit Roaming and the Transformations of Mountains and Rivers], which Wang Quan could not understand.
• Wang Quan decided to focus on the Present World and called the ghost and monster leaders to a meeting about gathering materials and crafting weapons and magical artifacts.

Wang Quan reorganized Residence No. 95’s factions and expanded the gardens so they could gather materials for his weapons and Magic Treasures faster. He sent two descendants of ghost gods into the alleys to spread his name, backed by a scroll containing curses made from the descendants who had fled.

• The human cultivator reported that material shortages had slowed the red copper millstones, so Wang Quan doubled the gardens and demanded a hundred millstones within ten years.
• Ghosts and monsters reported that alley beings had taken many of the materials, so Wang Quan ordered the factions merged into six teams and planned a procession through the alleys.
• When the other descendants of ghost gods fled, Wang Quan instructed an octopus-like descendant to beat the gongs and another descendant to wave banners and shout.
• Wang Quan used the Nightmare-Subduing Technique to kill the fleeing descendants of ghost gods and refine them into curses, which he placed in a scroll bearing his image.
• Wang Quan sent the two descendants into the alleys to proclaim his name and ordered them to return if threatened, warning that he would sacrifice a thousand ghosts and monsters and burn the city if his methods failed.

Two descendants of ghost gods collected materials for Lord Flower-Scatter by force, provoking the monsters of City No. 95. Zhao Hongyi fled the city, while the alley creatures vowed to stop Lord Flower-Scatter from gathering resources.

• Two descendants of ghost gods demanded that the alley monsters gather materials for Lord Flower-Scatter and killed those who resisted.
• The monsters attacked, but the descendants used a banner, gongs, drums, and Hundred-Treasure Pouches to dismantle and collect them.
• Zhao Hongyi heard that Lord Flower-Scatter’s agents were killing monsters, packed her residence into a bottle, and fled toward another ring.
• Cloaked creatures confronted the descendants and refused to supply materials, arguing that the resources fed the alley’s inhabitants.
• The cloaked creatures gave Lord Flower-Scatter ten days before they would prevent him from collecting any more bones or flesh.

Two descendants of ghost gods used Lord Flower-Scatter’s black-light curses to force the cloaked monsters to consider surrendering resources, but a black cat intervened and demanded that Lord Flower-Scatter pay his respects to the alley’s bosses. The descendants retreated, leaving the cat to dismiss the threat posed by their lord.

• Two descendants of ghost gods challenged the cloaked beings to withstand Lord Flower-Scatter’s strike, and the first monster’s defenses and body were destroyed by a black-light curse.
• The descendants warned that more than thirty curses remained, then demanded the monsters provide commonplace resources for ten years.
• When the cloaked beings invoked the alley’s rules and refused to cooperate, the descendants unleashed more black-light curses against them.
• A black curtain trapped the curses before they could strike, and a black cat caught the bundle on its stick.
• The black cat told the descendants to have Lord Flower-Scatter buy resources slowly or pay respects to the alley’s bosses, then ridiculed the claim that a Foundation Establishment Cultivator had damaged a third of the city.

Wang Quan tried to obtain materials from the alleys through negotiation rather than striking them with the [Sky Patrol Magic Treasure]. The city lord secured an agreement just as Wang Quan summoned the weapon, leaving its strike descending while the city lord began to mention the deal’s conditions.

• Wang Quan contacted the city lord, who explained that he had no authority over the alleys and offered to negotiate with their powerful figures.
• Wang Quan asked Ruo Jinghong to tell the two descendants of ghost gods to make their sacrifice more elaborate while he waited for the city lord’s news.
• The two descendants led a prolonged sacrificial rite, offering alley ghosts and monsters to Wang Quan as Ruo Jinghong and Wang Quan waited for negotiations to conclude.
• After the sacrifice ended, the city lord arrived and announced that the alley figures had agreed to trade with Wang Quan and gather materials, though they had conditions.
• As the city lord started to mention those conditions, Wang Quan summoned the [Sky Patrol Magic Treasure], and a tongue of flame descended from the split gray sky.

Wang Quan unleashed the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure on City No. 95, directing its full force into the alleys and destroying the hidden beings there. After the strike ended, frightened residents carried their homes away and fled toward Ring No. 90.

• Ghost gods and other residents of City No. 95 saw the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure descend and realized they had been locked onto.
• Wang Quan used Inverted Wisdom to direct the full strike into the alleys while sparing everything outside them.
• The flames erupted through the alleys, consuming their inhabitants and leaving the area quiet and burned out.
• Zhao Hongyi watched from outside the city, celebrated her decision to flee, and headed toward Ring No. 90 with her companions.
• Ghost gods carried their courtyard residences out of City No. 95 and set off for Ring No. 90.

After the city lord and the ghosts and gods fled City No. 95, its residents declared Wang Quan the new city lord. Wang Quan accepted the role amid staged auspicious signs and celebrations.

• The city lord told Wang Quan that the alley big shots had left and asked him to take over their territory and rules, which Wang Quan reluctantly accepted.
• The city lord tried to persuade the ghosts and gods to flee with him, and they agreed to carry away his residence and seek a barren land where they could rule.
• Wang Quan learned that the city lord was leading more than a hundred ghosts and gods out of the city with his residence on their shoulders.
• A descendant of ghosts and gods proposed Wang Quan as the successor, and the ghosts and monsters staged auspicious signs to convince him.
• Wang Quan accepted the title of Lord City Lord as the assembled ghosts, monsters, and descendants of ghosts and gods celebrated.

Wang Quan established control over City No. 95, reorganized its alleys, and continued developing his powers in the Present World. As he considered opening a safe zone in the Second-Layer World, Bump announced that the snake spirit had mastered a brainwashing spell.

• Wang Quan's guards collected taxes and resources from the ghosts and monsters living in City No. 95's alleys.
• Wang Quan used his control of Residence No. 95 to become city lord, changed the city's rules, and accelerated the gathering of materials for his Three Heads and Six Arms form.
• Wang Quan returned to the Present World, studied Daoist arts, refined drowning water, and used Moonlight Drowning Water to nurture the mulberry tree.
• Wang Quan considered opening a safe zone in the Second-Layer World to increase worship of the sun, moon, and stars.
• Bump told Wang Quan that the snake spirit had mastered a brainwashing spell, and Wang Quan offered to find brains for testing.

Wang Quan had the Bump Spirit Monsters cleanse twelve brains and tested one as an external brain in the Second-Layer World, where it resisted corruption. After connecting it, his wisdom returned and his thoughts grew exceptionally clear.

• Wang Quan had the Bump snake spirit and the Bump Spirit Monsters cleanse one of his twelve brains into a crystal brain, which passed his detection spell.
• Wang Quan told the Bump Spirit Monsters they had been tortured by evil forces in the Second-Layer World and instructed them to cultivate the Fundamental Method and seek revenge.
• The Bump snake spirit and a Bump butterfly spirit questioned the Fundamental Method, but the snake spirit urged the others to cultivate it for now.
• Wang Quan brought the crystal brain into the Second-Layer World, where it resisted the darkness without developing self-awareness or mutating.
• Wang Quan connected the crystal brain externally, felt his wisdom return, and laughed as his thoughts became exceptionally clear.

Wang Quan and the other Dao Seal Cultivators advanced their abilities in the Second-Layer World, developing external brains, magical implements, and ways to control Evils. After nine months, Wang Quan arranged to meet Ying Jiaren and agreed to help her fight powerful Orthodox Mystic Sect experts.

• Wang Quan’s Bump Spirit Monsters and the others’ Way of Idiocy Spirit Monsters learned to cleanse brains, allowing the Dao Seal Cultivators to attach external organs and brains.
• Mei Niang created a disc-shaped magical implement that projected her images, then used another implement to tame several Multi-Barreled Artillery Evils; Ma Qingqiu subdued over three thousand other Evils.
• Fierce Tiger Daoist learned to disguise himself as Evils and went undercover, while Ma Qingqiu returned from speaking with him holding his hands behind his back.
• Over half a year, the Dao Seal Cultivators made great progress, and Wang Quan used more than a hundred crystal brains and the [Inverted Wisdom] Magic Treasure to study the Daoist Scriptures.
• Wang Quan arranged to reunite with Ying Jiaren on the ninth day of the ninth month, and she asked him to bring Magic Treasures, knockout drugs, an altar, and expert helpers to fight Orthodox Mystic Sect opponents.

Wang Quan gathered Dao Seal Cultivators to support Ying Jiaren in her spell duels in the Far Northern Land. Facing pressure from the legions to surrender her cultivator allocation, Ying Jiaren refused their offer and vowed to keep dueling until a winner was decided.

• Wang Quan contacted Ruo Jinghong, Fierce Tiger Daoist, Niu Dali, Mei Niang, Ma Qingqiu, and other Dao Seal Cultivators, who agreed to travel to the Far Northern Land the next day.
• Ying Jiaren continued developing Bitter Cold City as cultivators and spirits expanded the grove and worshipped the great sun.
• A representative of the Seventh Legion offered peace talks and warned Ying Jiaren that the other legions would seize her cannon fodder allocation if she lost a duel.
• The Seventh Legion representative invited Ying Jiaren to join one of five legions as deputy legion commander, but she rejected the offer as an attempt to limit her rise.
• Ying Jiaren declared that the spell duels would continue until victory and defeat were decided.

The legion commanders investigated Ying Jiaren’s promised helpers and learned that Flower-Scatter Daoist Wang Quan, a powerful Stone City leader, might be among them. After hearing that Wang Quan had used Sky Patrol strikes against a city, they abandoned the idea of a duel on equal terms and proposed banning those attacks and imitated Magic Treasure might.

• The legion commanders discussed Ying Jiaren’s origins and ordered an investigation into her possible allies from the Drowning Dao Lower Court.
• The Third Legion commander revealed that Flower-Scatter Daoist Wang Quan led Stone City, commanded a vast force, and kept its cannon fodder ranks supplied.
• The First Legion commander dismissed Wang Quan’s advantages, while the other commanders praised their Orthodox Mystic Sect foundations and Magic Treasure methods.
• The Third Legion commander reported that Wang Quan had launched two Sky Patrol strikes against City No. 95, alarming the commanders who understood what the strikes were.
• The Third Legion commander said he had bought information from Mei Niang, who shared Wang Quan’s bed, and the commanders gave up on the magical duel as planned.
• A cultivator proposed banning imitated Magic Treasure might and Sky Patrol strikes, then claimed he could get Wang Quan to agree by following his signals.

Ying Jiaren prepared for the final magical contest as the legions and spectators gathered in Bitter Cold City. Her companions staged an elaborate flower-filled welcome, and Lord Flower-Scatter began his grand arrival along a bridge of white smoke.

• The legion commanders decided to hold the magical contest and celebrated with a feast while Ying Jiaren studied spells and planned for the next day.
• Ox Spirits sounded horns and Spirit Monsters beat drums as the legions and spectators gathered outside the grove for the contest.
• Ying Jiaren transformed the Five Elements Fruit Tree into a raised platform and prepared wine for her arriving companions.
• Ma Qingqiu, Fierce Tiger Daoist, and other cultivators arrived amid flowers, music, and cannon blasts.
• The Beauty Snake breathed out a bridge of white smoke, and a cultivator carrying two cases walked toward the platform as beauties scattered flowers and welcomed Lord Flower-Scatter.

Wang Quan made a spectacular entrance at Bitter Cold City, and both sides staged elaborate displays before agreeing to settle their rivalry through magical duels. The Orthodox Mystic Sects then announced rules they claimed were fair, while boasting that their fighters had replicated Magic Treasure power.

• Wang Quan descended on a throne formed by the Dream Nun’s Beauty Snake transformation as auspicious creatures, colored smoke, and cheering spectators surrounded him.
• The legion commanders attempted to match Wang Quan’s spectacle with spells, lights, music, and mist around their wooden building.
• Ying Jiaren called for the magical duels to begin and declared that they would continue until victory was decided; a smart aleck was pummeled and restrained after joking that the duels should last forever.
• The two sides agreed to settle the contest through individual or formation duels, with the first side to win ten bouts taking victory.
• A clever Orthodox cultivator announced that his side would forgo Magic Treasures and power beyond a Magic Treasure Blank, while boasting that their prodigies could otherwise win quickly with replicated Magic Treasure might.

Ruo Jinghong and the legion leaders argued over whether to use copied Magic Treasure powers before agreeing to fight without them. The first duel ended with Lian Qingfeng defeating Niu Dali, though Niu Dali wounded him before escaping back to the Five Elements High Tower.

• Ruo Jinghong accused the clever fellow and the legion leaders of pretending to offer fairness because they feared the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure, but both sides agreed not to use copied Magic Treasure powers in the duels.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun fired a cannon to begin the first duel, and Lian Qingfeng of the Thirteenth Legion challenged the opposing side with his spine spear.
• Niu Dali accepted Lian Qingfeng's challenge, and the two fought as Lian Qingfeng's spear destroyed Niu Dali's weapons and his living cloud battered Niu Dali's mount.
• Niu Dali used a Life Cultivation technique to turn into flower petals and strike Lian Qingfeng from behind, shattering his heart before retreating to the Five Elements High Tower.
• Lian Qingfeng returned to his camp wounded but victorious, and the cultivators celebrated the Thirteenth Legion commander's win.

The spell duels between Bitter Cold City and Wang Quan’s side ended evenly, with the Fierce Tiger Daoist’s transformation into Evil shocking the Far Northern Land cultivators. As the legion commanders sought to reclaim their standing, Mei Niang challenged them and Feng Jiliao accepted, proposing a duel on a cloud bed.

• The Fierce Tiger Daoist transformed into a towering Evil mantis and defeated the twelfth legion commander, who fled and said his psyche had suffered a grievous blow.
• The two sides fought eight spell duels, with the legion commanders and Wang Quan’s side each winning four.
• The first legion commander urged the second legion commander to fight, but he insisted on saving himself to duel Wang Quan.
• Mei Niang entered the battlefield and challenged the cultivators, prompting Feng Jiliao to volunteer.
• Feng Jiliao proposed that he and Mei Niang fight on a three-zhang cloud bed, with whoever fell off declared the loser, and Mei Niang agreed.

Mei Niang defeated Feng Jiliao with her Purple Palace Magic Implement and a horde of evil beings, alarming the cultivators of Bitter Cold City. Wang Quan faced the First Legion Commander, who initially conceded but then attacked after learning he supposedly had no Sky Patrol Strike; Wang Quan revealed he had more than one and stopped their advance.

• Mei Niang trapped Feng Jiliao in her Purple Palace Magic Implement and used evil beings to defeat him, leaving him badly injured.
• The cultivators worried that the Far Western Land cultivators used evil beings and warned that their Sky Patrol Magic Treasure could make a direct attack dangerous.
• Ruo Jinghong challenged the First Legion Commander to defeat Wang Quan's companions before she could duel him, and she conceded instead.
• The First Legion Commander asked whether Wang Quan had a Sky Patrol Strike left, then signaled the legion commanders to advance when he said he did not.
• Wang Quan revealed that he received one Sky Patrol Strike every month, freezing the attackers, and asked which duels had been won or lost.

Wang Quan persuaded Bitter Cold City's legion commanders to follow Ying Jiaren's gradual development plan, and the banquet ended with a white elephant pleading for its dead brother to be revived before being roasted. The First Legion Commander approved the request, leaving the red deer Spirit Monster's fate unresolved.

• Wang Quan made Bitter Cold City's legion commanders publicly acknowledge Ying Jiaren's victory, and they joined the celebratory banquet.
• Feng Jiliao and Ma Qingqiu invited Mei Niang to test their related magic artifacts, while Niu Dali cornered the melancholy Lian Qingfeng.
• Ying Jiaren urged the legion commanders to develop the Far Northern Land steadily, and Wang Quan claimed that such work had earned him a monthly Sky Patrol Magic Treasure strike.
• The First Legion Commander agreed to work alongside Ying Jiaren while keeping cultivators ready to fight abnormal weather.
• A white elephant Spirit Monster explained that it had accidentally sat on the red deer Spirit Monster until it died, and pleaded for its brother to be revived before being roasted.
• The First Legion Commander approved the white elephant's request.

The First Legion commander led the cultivators into the Far Northern Land’s Underworld to retrieve the dead stag’s soul, hoping to show off her abilities to Wang Quan. After they discovered the Underworld had transformed into a manor guarded by ghost gods, she devised a plan and went to seize the stag’s soul, while Ruo Jinghong followed with plans to cause trouble.

• The First Legion commander explained that the newly formed Underworld was barren enough for the dead stag’s soul to retain its memories, then invited Wang Quan to visit, but he declined.
• Ruo Jinghong and the other cultivators entered the Underworld and found a manor, ghost gods, and laboring spirits where the First Legion commander had seen only emptiness two days earlier.
• The First Legion commander decided against retreating, divined a plan to recover the stag’s soul, and dismissed concerns that the soul might have mutated.
• Ruo Jinghong failed to find a loophole in the plan and decided to sabotage the effort openly.
• A legion commander escaped a ghost god by trapping its ear with its own hairs, and the cultivators located the stag’s soul.
• The First Legion commander went to seize the stag’s soul, Ruo Jinghong followed her, and the remaining cultivators stayed to watch.