Chapter Summaries

Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin visited Shanghua in Prajna City, where Chu Xingchen gave her money and learned that the city had once been Buddhist. They arranged rooms near hers to investigate discreetly, and Xu Jin approved of Chu Xingchen’s plan to use the brothel’s staff as sources of information.

• Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin entered Shanghua’s room and realized the brothel had arranged the meeting without her knowledge.
• Chu Xingchen asked Shanghua about her musical training and the history of Prajna City, learning that her teacher came from elsewhere and that the city had once been Buddhist.
• Chu Xingchen thanked Shanghua for her help and gave her a thousand-tael gold note to give her time and freedom from harassment.
• Chu Xingchen declined the tea and left, then paid the brothel’s madam to arrange two private rooms near Shanghua’s.
• Xu Jin recognized that the rooms and Chu Xingchen’s behavior gave them cover to use the madam and Shanghua as sources while investigating the city.

Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin tried to draw out the cultivators connected to the brothel by using Chu Xingchen’s status and a jade token from Yuyang Daozi. The chapter left Xu Jin pressured into posing as Yuyang Daozi’s relative while Chu Xingchen planned to handle the deception.

• Chu Xingchen brushed off Xu Jin’s concern that their undercover Wish Power had been discovered and said he would use himself as bait to investigate the Buddhist Sect’s reason for transforming Prajna City.
• Chu Xingchen paid the Mature Woman for information about Shanghua’s room and asked her to arrange a meeting with her master, claiming they had connections to cultivators.
• Chu Xingchen identified Xu Jin as a distant relative of Yuyang Daozi of the Great Dao Sect to impress the Mature Woman and draw out the brothel’s cultivator contacts.
• Chu Xingchen showed Xu Jin a jade pendant bearing Yuyang’s name and explained that he and Yuyang Daozi had exchanged identity tokens as a sign of friendship.
• Chu Xingchen told Xu Jin to pretend to be Yuyang Daozi’s relative and play dumb, pressuring him by saying the salvation of all living beings depended on it.

Meng Li discussed the Buddhist Sect’s compromised wish power with Jiang Yuan, then received Xu Jin and Chu Xingchen, who were investigating demons. Chu Xingchen identified Meng Li’s Demon Heart trait and directly tested her by demanding she warm Xu Jin’s bed.

• Meng Li told Jiang Yuan that someone might be investigating the Buddhist Sect’s wish power and ordered him to look into it.
• Jiang Yuan took the wish-power bead and left, while Meng Li suspected the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect was behind the investigation.
• A steward reported that a supposed kinsman of Yuyang Daozi had arrived, and Meng Li invited the visitors into her room.
• Xu Jin entered with Chu Xingchen, acting foolish as Chu Xingchen posed as his arrogant servant.
• Chu Xingchen saw Meng Li’s Demon Heart trait and told her that Xu Jin had taken a fancy to her and wanted her to warm his bed.

Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin confronted Meng Li at the Buddhist Sect’s brothel, and Chu Xingchen used a Demon-Illuminating Mirror to make her believe he had exposed her as a demon. He intended to let Meng Li reassure the Buddhist Sect that its disguise remained safe, leaving the sect unaware that he was probing its plans.

• Chu Xingchen reconsidered his plan to attack the Buddhist Sect openly and reasoned that the Great Calamity might still be far off.
• Meng Li invited Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin to stay, but Chu Xingchen mocked the Buddhist Sect for opening a brothel.
• Chu Xingchen and Xu Jin restrained Meng Li with their spiritual power, and Chu Xingchen demanded to know why the Buddhist Sect was keeping demons.
• Chu Xingchen showed Meng Li a Demon-Illuminating Mirror that displayed a demon’s face, while Meng Li privately decided the image was an illusion.
• Chu Xingchen planned to use Meng Li as a reassuring pill so the Buddhist Sect would remain cautious and would not suspect that he had uncovered its secrets.

Chu Xingchen investigated Meng Li and remained convinced that the brothel manager was a demon, then discussed the investigation with Xu Jin before returning to the Heavenly Derivation Sect. At Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge, Li Yingling read a letter and reunited with her master, joking that the disciples might replace him as sect leader.

• Chu Xingchen searched Meng Li with his divine sense, apologized for the mistake, and left her alive after claiming the Evil Spirit Cult was responsible.
• Chu Xingchen told Xu Jin he was certain the manager was a demon, and Xu Jin said he believed him.
• Xu Jin revealed that the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect was investigating other sects for ties to demons, and he chose the courtesan onstage as his next lead.
• Chu Xingchen said he needed to return to the Heavenly Derivation Sect, while Xu Jin continued investigating alone.
• At Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge, Li Yingling urged Zhang Miaoyu to focus on cultivation after reading an important letter.
• Li Yingling's master returned, and she welcomed him by joking that the disciples might make her sect leader and throw him out.

Chu Xingchen returned to the sect and reassured Li Yingling that he would let Chen Baiqing travel rather than bring her back. He took charge of the sect again, while Cui Hao worried about Chen Baiqing and missed her tea.

• Chu Xingchen teased Li Yingling by offering to make her Sect Leader, but she refused and poured him tea.
• Li Yingling asked whether Chu Xingchen would bring Chen Baiqing back from Dongsheng Shenzhou, and he said Chen Baiqing should see the wider world.
• Chu Xingchen explained that he had returned to oversee the sect and focus on his disciples' cultivation after reporting the demon matter to Lü Xuan and Bai Xuanling.
• Li Yingling offered to help Chu Xingchen think through any problems, then left with Zhang Miaoyu.
• Cui Hao told Sandong that he missed Third Senior Sister's tea and wondered whether Chen Baiqing was safe.

Chen Baiqing registered as a Golden Core Demon Hunter and accepted a low-paying mission to help a mortal employer. As she rode with the young man toward their destination, she wondered whether her master had returned safely.

• The chapter explained how Dongsheng Shenzhou's Demon Hunting Guards used a mission system and identity tokens to organize sect cultivators and rogue cultivators against demons.
• Chen Baiqing recalled how Li Yingling's stories and Demon Hunter exploits had influenced her decision to come to Dongsheng Shenzhou and register with the Guards.
• Chen Baiqing chose to complete a mission alone because its reward was too small to attract other Demon Hunters, though a mortal young man accompanied her.
• Chen Baiqing rode along a country path with the young man guiding her toward their destination and wondered whether her master had returned safely.

Chen Baiqing, traveling under the name Chu Bai, arrived in a village plagued by demons and met Haoming Sect cultivators Li Qiyun and Tang Wanjun, who had also come to investigate. She explained that she had answered Li Ergou’s plea for help because her master taught her that a few spirit stones could not buy a life, and Li Qiyun called her a good person.

• A villager hailed Zhao Gouzi as he returned with an immortal master, and Chen Baiqing entered the village with Li Ergou.
• Chen Baiqing met Li Qiyun and Tang Wanjun, who said they had come to investigate the demons attacking villagers and devouring one another.
• Li Qiyun recognized Chen Baiqing’s Demon Hunter token and invited her inside to discuss the case.
• Tang Wanjun worried about trusting Chen Baiqing, but Li Qiyun privately reassured her that Chen Baiqing’s conduct showed she was not behind the attacks.
• Chen Baiqing told Li Qiyun and Tang Wanjun that she had come after remembering her master’s words that a few spirit stones could not buy a life.

Chen Baiqing investigated the unusual demon migration and joined Li Qiyun and Tang Wanjun in the forest to inspect the beasts. She found two Foundation Establishment demons fighting and used the Azure Sky Treasure Ring to test them, discovering they retained only a little self-awareness.

• Chen Baiqing reviewed Li Qiyun's report that demons were migrating strangely and attacking one another with most of their intelligence lost.
• Chen Baiqing agreed to explore the forest with Li Qiyun and Tang Wanjun.
• At a site where two demons had fought, Chen Baiqing sensed that one had advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
• Chen Baiqing heard another clash and found a Foundation Establishment wild boar fighting a Foundation Establishment black bear.
• Chen Baiqing used the Azure Sky Treasure Ring to halt the beasts and observed that they still had a little self-awareness, but not much.

Chen Baiqing and Li Qiyun discovered that the wild beasts’ hunger and violence were tied to a ritual or experiment, and Chen Baiqing recognized a strange power connected to Zhou Family Village. As they prepared to retreat, Chen Baiqing sent the Azure Sky Treasure Ring into the forest after realizing she had uncovered what someone had hidden.

• Chen Baiqing used an illusion technique to question the Wild Boar Demon and the bear demon, learning they had been driven by hunger before their minds deteriorated into scarlet chaos.
• The Wild Boar Demon attacked Chen Baiqing, but Li Qiyun intercepted it and struck it down.
• Chen Baiqing captured the strange power released from the Wild Boar Demon and recognized it as similar to the power she had sensed during the ritual at Zhou Family Village.
• Chen Baiqing killed the bear demon and told Li Qiyun to take his junior sister and retreat, explaining that the beasts were part of a ritual or observation.
• Li Qiyun realized that his earlier attack in the forest might have drawn attention, and Chen Baiqing launched the Azure Sky Treasure Ring toward the forest after saying she had discovered what had been hidden.

Chen Baiqing called for help as two powerful demons surrounded her group, and Heavenly Derivation Sect cultivators swiftly captured them. After ordering a search of the woods, Chen Baiqing decided to return with the escort rather than worry her Master.

• Li Qiyun prepared to summon sect reinforcements and asked Chen Baiqing to protect Tang Wanjun as two dark figures closed in.
• Chen Baiqing shouted for help, and rainbow-lit cultivators arrived to overpower and bind the two figures.
• A Heavenly Derivation Sect cultivator addressed Chen Baiqing as Martial Uncle and said the group had come under the sect leader's orders.
• Chen Baiqing ordered the demons captured alive for Bai Xuanling and directed the cultivators to search the area for other abnormal creatures.
• Chen Baiqing chose to return with the Heavenly Derivation Sect escort so she would not make her Master worry.

Chen Baiqing returned from her travels with strange energy resembling the essence of Myriad Forms, and Chu Xingchen asked her to bring Senior Bai or Lingyu back from the Heavenly Derivation Sect. The chapter ended with Chu Xingchen inviting her and Cui Hao to grill fish, while reassuring Cui Hao that he could not eat the Go board.

• Chu Xingchen urged Cui Hao to cultivate more diligently because the world had become unsafe, but Cui Hao chose to keep him company until Chen Baiqing returned.
• Chen Baiqing appeared and teased Cui Hao for boasting that he would eat the Go board, then served tea that convinced him she was the real Chen Baiqing.
• Chen Baiqing showed Chu Xingchen a bottle of strange energy she had collected in Dongsheng Shenzhou, which he recognized as bearing a trace of similarity to the essence of Myriad Forms.
• Chen Baiqing recreated the incident in a forest, and Chu Xingchen praised her findings before asking her to visit the Heavenly Derivation Sect and invite Senior Bai or Lingyu back.
• Chu Xingchen told Cui Hao he could not eat the only Go board and invited him and Chen Baiqing to grill fish.

Chu Xingchen told Bai Xuanling that someone was stealing Authority to conduct experiments, and she agreed to investigate while sharing what her own inquiry had uncovered. After Bai Xuanling left to continue her work, Chu Xingchen refilled Xie Lingyu’s tea, and Qinghe held out her cup for a refill too.

• Bai Xuanling teased Qinghe about cutting off her horns, and Xie Lingyu reassured Qinghe that no one would do so.
• Chu Xingchen asked Bai Xuanling about the investigation into the Buddhist Sect, and she said they had found no decisive evidence.
• Chu Xingchen showed Bai Xuanling a bottle containing strange energy and said someone was stealing Authority to conduct experiments like those in Zhou Family Village.
• Bai Xuanling agreed to investigate and told Chu Xingchen to send future evidence directly to the Discipline Hall; she also shared details about the Puppet Art experiments and their suspected caster.
• Chu Xingchen offered to take Qinghe out for food, and Bai Xuanling left to attend to her duties.
• Chu Xingchen refilled Xie Lingyu’s teacup, and Qinghe held out her own empty cup and asked him to pour her tea too.

Qinghe spent time with Sandong and worried that Sandong’s gullibility might rub off on her, then went to find Cui Hao and Chen Baiqing. Their conversation was interrupted when a surge of spiritual power announced that Eldest Senior Sister had emerged from seclusion.

• Qinghe asked Sandong what the tree wanted, and Sandong admitted it might simply be sleeping.
• Qinghe left Sandong and decided to find Cui Hao to play and ask about new ventures.
• Cui Hao tried to convince Chen Baiqing that he had not replaced her fish, but she revealed she had been bluffing.
• Qinghe arrived to join Cui Hao and Chen Baiqing, and they sensed Eldest Senior Sister emerge from seclusion.

After Li Yingling reached the Nascent Soul Realm, Chu Xingchen reflected on her new traits and took pride in her growing confidence. Li Yingling opened registration for the ninety-seventh grand sect gathering and insisted that Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu attend too.

• Li Yingling advised Li Xingtian to balance cultivation with rest, and Cui Hao agreed before she warned him that Sandong might soon surpass him.
• Chu Xingchen saw that Li Yingling could upgrade several traits and felt especially pleased that she had gained Confidence.
• Chu Xingchen congratulated Li Yingling on reaching the Nascent Soul Realm, and she joked that she was the sect’s towering tree while he was the sun.
• Li Yingling opened registration for the ninety-seventh grand sect gathering, and Chen Baiqing, Cui Hao, Qinghe, and others signed up.
• Xie Lingyu held back from signing up after Chu Xingchen tried to speak with her, but Li Yingling declared that both of them had to attend.

At a relaxed sect gathering, Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu reminisced about their pasts and spoke about the pleasures and risks of cultivation. Chu Xingchen called Xie Lingyu cute, and she unexpectedly returned the compliment.

• The sect members enjoyed the gathering, while Chu Xingchen sat aside with Xie Lingyu and watched his disciples play Monopoly.
• Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu reflected on how much time had passed and shared memories of their childhoods.
• Chu Xingchen described his ordinary, happy childhood and joked that his successor’s ideal was to study hard and improve every day.
• Chu Xingchen told Xie Lingyu that her master had been right to call her cute, and Xie Lingyu replied that he was cute too.

After Li Yingling reached the Nascent Soul Realm, Chu Xingchen asked her which trait she would upgrade and quietly completed a quest by choosing her fortune. He received a torn, incomplete Mountains and Rivers Diagram, then learned his next reward would be the Mountains and Seas Diagram, leaving him suspicious that the system had split one reward into two.

• The Sect's gathering ended after Qinghe lost every Monopoly game but eagerly signaled Cui Hao to suggest another round.
• Chu Xingchen asked Li Yingling whether she would upgrade her fortune, beauty, or quick-wittedness, and she chose strong fortune.
• Chu Xingchen's system recorded Li Yingling's Heavenly Fortune trait and announced that his quest was complete, rewarding him with the Mountains and Rivers Diagram.
• Chu Xingchen examined the diagram and found that it showed spirit vein routes but was visibly torn and incomplete.
• The system issued a main quest requiring a disciple to reach the Spirit Transformation Realm, with the Mountains and Seas Diagram as its reward.
• Li Yingling saw Chu Xingchen looking displeased as he walked away and wondered whether she had shown off too much or disappointed him.

Xu Jin visited Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge to find Chu Xingchen and invite him to the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect, while delaying his investigation into the Buddhist Sect’s campaign against the Evil Spirit Cult. Qinghe tried to assert her status as a member of the Heavenly Derivation Sect, then realized Xu Jin was the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect’s future Sect Leader.

• Xu Jin set aside his investigation into the Buddhist Sect and the Evil Spirit Cult for the time being and traveled to Ten Thousand Flowers Ridge to meet Chu Xingchen.
• Qinghe opened a gap in the Mountain-Guarding Grand Array and led Xu Jin toward the Main Hall, calling Chu Xingchen the Black-Hearted Brat.
• Xu Jin told Qinghe that he had worked with Chu Xingchen before and had come to invite him to visit the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect.
• Qinghe challenged Xu Jin for trying to poach Chu Xingchen and introduced herself as Lord Qinghe of Zhujifeng Peak.
• Xu Jin identified himself as a disciple of the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect’s Sect Leader and a core disciple of the current generation, leaving Qinghe stunned.

Xu Jin visited Chu Xingchen at the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect to fulfill an old invitation and tell him that the Buddhist Sect had gone into lockdown, leaving the investigation without useful leads. He urged Chu to visit the sect soon to see information relevant to their investigation, and Chu arrived there with Bai Xuanling beside him.

• Qinghe led Xu Jin to the Main Hall, where he greeted Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu.
• Xu Jin told Chu that the Buddhist Sect on the Western Ox-He Continent had locked down, so he planned to return after the storm settled.
• Xu Jin reminded Chu that he had invited him to visit the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect, then urged him to come soon to see information connected to their investigation.
• Xie Lingyu agreed to look after the sect while Chu went, and Bai Xuanling accompanied him for protection.
• Li Moze greeted Chu in the sect's main hall, but Bai Xuanling criticized him for speaking with his eyes closed.

Bai Xuanling reluctantly let Chu Xingchen enter the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect’s sealed grounds with Xu Jin while she stayed behind with Li Moze. Xu Jin showed Chu Xingchen the Human Race’s stored fortune and revealed that the sect’s past slaughter and seizure of Spirit Veins had been carried out under a Heavenly Mandate.

• Bai Xuanling objected to Chu Xingchen meeting Li Moze alone, but agreed after Li Moze stayed behind and Xu Jin escorted Chu Xingchen.
• Bai Xuanling gave Chu Xingchen a dagger and told him to send Spiritual Power through it if anything went wrong.
• Xu Jin guided Chu Xingchen through the ritual barriers into a barren, grave-filled space containing the Human Race’s fortune and fragments.
• Xu Jin explained that the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect had been safeguarding the fortune and suppressing the Rules surrounding it.
• Xu Jin said the sect’s past slaughter and seizure of Spirit Veins had been its Heavenly Mandate, not merely its mission.