Chapter Summaries

At Wandering Cloud Bay, a woman and her companions debated how to handle a newly emerged Nascent Soul Realm Evil Cultivator who hunted other Evil Cultivators. Despite suspecting a trap, the woman decided to investigate him herself while her allies prepared for either recruitment or a fight.

• The woman confronted a young man over his past mistake and discussed how the Evil Cultivator’s attacks had delayed their mission.
• The boy argued that the group should try to recruit the Evil Cultivator, citing evidence of a powerful blood qi cultivation legacy and the pressure of their deadline.
• The woman remained suspicious, and the boy told her the decision was hers while reminding her that time was short.
• The woman ordered the young man to make the usual preparations and told the boy to prepare a fallback for either killing or recruiting the target.
• The woman left the house and went to investigate the Evil Cultivator herself.

Li Xingtian sent his followers to attack a hidden evil cultivator gang while a woman prepared a girl to infiltrate his ranks and learn his background. Li Xingtian killed the gang’s Golden Core leader on arrival and ordered his followers to kill the rest.

• Li Xingtian learned that his Divine Cult had gained around a hundred and twenty followers, then ordered Yu Jing to lead an attack on a newly located gang and put their captive recruits at the front.
• A woman instructed a girl to approach Li Xingtian by any means and uncover his background, then left the evil cultivators in the cave to awaken.
• Li Xingtian announced that the Central Province's Evil Spirit Cult had come to recruit believers, and the gang's Golden Core leader recognized his warning phrase.
• The Golden Core evil cultivator tried to surrender, but Li Xingtian punched his head apart and ordered his followers to kill a batch of the remaining evil cultivators.

Li Xingtian led his Evil Cultivators to wipe out a stronghold and found a beautiful captive who claimed he looked like a good person. Suspecting she was a trap, he exposed her lie and stabbed her in the abdomen.

• Li Xingtian killed the Golden Core Evil Cultivator, and his followers defeated the remaining enemies under orders to leave none alive.
• Wen Zuo searched the stronghold for valuables and brought the surviving mortals out to be handed over to the Great Dao Sect.
• A captive girl called Li Xingtian her benefactor, so he sent the other mortals away and questioned her about who had sent her.
• The girl insisted that no one had sent her and said she thought Li Xingtian looked like a good person.
• Li Xingtian helped the girl up with a smile, then stabbed her in the abdomen and told her she did not look like a good person.

Li Xingtian incapacitated a suspicious girl and sent her to his master for questioning while Chu Xingchen investigated the [Demon] in Qu Lin with Xie Lingyu. The investigation continued with Yuyang Daozi coordinating intelligence, though Xie Lingyu worried he would cut ties with Chu Xingchen afterward.

• Li Xingtian questioned the girl, judged her denial suspicious, and rendered her unconscious while sealing her meridians and blocking communication and detection.
• Li Xingtian ordered Wen Zuo and Hall Master Yu to escort the girl to his master and prioritize finding out whether she was an enemy.
• Chu Xingchen traveled to Qu Lin with Xie Lingyu to investigate the [Demon] through a separate line of inquiry.
• Yuyang Daozi coordinated investigations along seven lines using the Great Dao Sect's intelligence network, and Chu Xingchen assigned him the incoming reports.
• Xie Lingyu asked whether things would be all right with Yuyang Daozi, and Chu Xingchen said Yan Yun would handle the Heavenly Derivation Sect's covert agents.
• Xie Lingyu said she felt Yuyang Daozi would cut ties with Chu Xingchen once the matter was over.

Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu investigated a suspected Evil Cultivator connection near Fuyao Immortal City and devised a way to draw out people with information without alerting other investigators. Chu Xingchen began buying people’s supposed immortal fate at a market stall, and the chapter ended with him giving gold to a man who hoped to help his mother.

• Xie Lingyu explained that a rapidly advancing Evil Cultivator leader came from Qu Lin, and that Yuyang suspected the Demon had secretly supported selected Evil Cultivators.
• Chu Xingchen proposed using a public stall to attract people rather than visiting their homes, and Xie Lingyu agreed to assist him.
• Disguised as a middle-aged Daoist, Chu Xingchen set up a stall in Qu Lin and announced that he would buy immortal fate for three days.
• Xie Lingyu held a banner beside Chu Xingchen as he evaluated sellers and offered them gold for their supposed immortal fate.
• Chu Xingchen gave a frail middle-aged man two taels of gold, and the man left hoping to save his mother.

Chu Xingchen continued buying fated connections, drawing the attention of a youth and a farmer who suspected his stall might be bait. When the farmer finally approached, Chu Xingchen recognized him as a dangerous figure and tried to negotiate his way out.

• A youth and the farmer Corn watched Chu Xingchen’s crowded stall and discussed whether it was a trap.
• The youth decided they should investigate rather than let a possible threat approach their home base, and sent Corn to join the queue.
• Chu Xingchen appeared to notice the youth, who mistook his glance at a sesame flatbread for interest in the Daoist.
• Xie Lingyu noticed Chu Xingchen had seemingly hooked someone but stayed silent and kept holding the banner.
• As Corn reached the stall at dusk, Chu Xingchen sent Xie Lingyu to buy flatbread and examined the farmer’s immortal destiny.
• After touching Corn and sensing his danger, Chu Xingchen quietly admitted he was only there to earn food and asked to leave once his business was done.

Chu Xingchen prepared for a dangerous meeting with the Evil Spirit Cult while instructing his allies to keep supporting Winter Melon if he failed to return. In Yaoguang Immortal City, Yuyang Daozi's night of work was interrupted when Zuo Wen and Yu Jing brought him an injured woman for Chu Xingchen to interrogate.

• The young man learned from the farmer that the Evil Spirit Cult was using money to gain people's trust before taking sacrifices, and he planned to question one of its members the next day.
• The young man told the farmer to treat his possible death as final, withdraw everyone from Qulin City, and keep supporting Winter Melon regardless of later orders.
• Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu spent the night admiring the moon and agreed to track down the group the following day.
• Yuyang Daozi finished reviewing intelligence reports and tried to rest, but an urgent message summoned him back to work.
• Zuo Wen and Yu Jing brought Yuyang Daozi a rigid but living, wounded woman, saying the cult leader had sent her for Chu Xingchen to interrogate.

A young man from another faction confronted Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu while they sold affinities in Qulin City, but Xie Lingyu used the Buddhist Sect’s pursuit of the Evil Spirit Cult to pressure him into yielding. After he presented a Black Crow Blood Jade, Xie Lingyu claimed his people had been requisitioned for the cult’s secret mission, leaving him torn between obeying and investigating what Cult Leader Dark Crow possessed.

• The young man challenged Chu Xingchen, who refused to buy his affinity, and threatened to ruin the operation.
• Xie Lingyu blocked the young man’s pressure and warned that she would make the Great Dao Sect suspect he had ties to the Evil Spirit Cult’s secret.
• The young man placed a Black Crow Blood Jade on the table, and Xie Lingyu recognized him as at least a deputy hall master of the Evil Spirit Cult.
• Xie Lingyu declared that the young man and his people were requisitioned for a highly classified mission at headquarters.
• The young man considered whether to follow the order, hoping the mission might reveal what Cult Leader Dark Crow had that drew the Buddhist Sect’s pursuit.

Chu Xingchen learned that the Buddhist Sect likely knew little about the demons within the Evil Spirit Cult and planned to use a forged Black Crow Direct Order Token to investigate further. After discovering Li Xingtian had sent a suspected demon for interrogation, Chu Xingchen treated the captive with his pills, leaving everyone wondering why she seemed to suffer even more.

• Chu Xingchen concluded that the hidden demon groups had little contact and decided to have the Great Dao Sect reproduce a Black Crow Direct Order Token.
• Chu Xingchen entered his guest room and found Yuyang Daozi interrogating a girl suspended with a dagger in her abdomen.
• Chu Xingchen identified the girl’s [Demon Heart] trait and joked that someone had tried to tempt Li Xingtian with a woman.
• Chu Xingchen lowered the girl and gave a staff member improved Perfect Tonic Pills to administer while he asked Yuyang Daozi to forge the token.
• The girl began violently slamming her head against the floor, and Yuyang Daozi questioned what pills Chu Xingchen had given her.

Winter Melon decided to recruit Li Xingtian rather than kill him, but prepared to attack if negotiations failed. When she arrived at the Evil Cultivators’ base, Li Xingtian struck first and declared that unannounced visitors could only be enemies.

• Winter Melon judged Li Xingtian to be a ruthless, capable Evil Cultivator and decided to negotiate with him personally.
• Winter Melon ordered her people to prepare for negotiations and to kill Li Xingtian and eliminate witnesses if she failed.
• At Stillbone Forest, Li Xingtian urged Wen Zuo and Yu Jing to send out their Evil Cultivators to find new targets.
• Li Xingtian sensed Winter Melon outside the Discussion Hall and immediately raised his weapon.
• Winter Melon deflected Li Xingtian’s strike with her Soft-Bone Long Sword as he warned her that those who came unannounced could only be enemies.

Winter Melon offered Li Xingtian a mysterious crystal and tried to recruit him, but he refused and recognized her concealed killing intent. Li Xingtian struck first, and Winter Melon prepared to fight him.

• Winter Melon approached Li Xingtian with a crystal from Ancient Ruins that she said could change the world and offered him a share in studying it.
• Li Xingtian refused to join Winter Melon's group, accused her of arranging an earlier encounter, and said he would leave soon.
• Winter Melon considered whether to recruit or silence Li Xingtian, while concealing her hostile intentions.
• Li Xingtian attacked Winter Melon with his full Blood Qi, blasting her out of the cave abode and killing several Evil Cultivators inside.
• Winter Melon survived the strike, and Li Xingtian said he had noticed the killing intent in her eyes; she raised her Soft-Bone Sword to fight.

A young man met Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu in Qulin City and examined the Black Crow Command Token they presented, which seemed genuine despite its suspiciously polished appearance. He led them toward his people while growing uneasy about their conspicuous private conversation, leaving him to suspect the Dark Crow Cult Leader’s situation was stranger than he expected.

• The young man decided to investigate the Dark Crow Cult Leader while sending Corn to support Winter Melon.
• Chu Xingchen brought Xie Lingyu to meet the young man and presented him with a Black Crow Command Token.
• The young man checked the token’s Spiritual Power and hidden anti-counterfeiting mark, found them convincing, and agreed to lead Chu Xingchen to his people.
• Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu openly transmitted messages to each other as they followed the young man out of the city.
• The young man heard their frequent voice transmissions and grew suspicious about what the Dark Crow Cult Leader was doing.

Chu Xingchen tested the young Vice Hall Master’s loyalty and ordered him to assemble his forces near Stillbone Forest, while the young man secretly planned to warn Winter Melon. Chu Xingchen then revealed to Xie Lingyu that the assignment was a diversion, and planned to seal off the area around Qulin City and force the hidden evil cultivators out.

• Chu Xingchen confronted the young Vice Hall Master about the small force he had gathered and confirmed that any other evil cultivators they encountered could be killed.
• Chu Xingchen ordered the young man to muster his people outside Stillbone Forest in three days to confront a Nascent Soul Realm blood qi evil cultivator.
• The young man realized the target was Winter Melon's prospective recruit and decided to warn Winter Melon while arranging for key people to escape.
• Xie Lingyu asked whether Chu Xingchen meant to capture or kill the young man, and Chu Xingchen said luring him away would reassure the remaining hidden cultivators.
• Chu Xingchen planned to bring in reinforcements from the Great Dao Sect and seal off the area within a hundred li of Qulin City.

Yuyang Daozi sent Great Dao Sect Secret Council cultivators to capture Chu Xingchen’s targets in Qulin City while Chu Xingchen went to Stillbone Forest, where Li Xingtian fought Winter Melon. Winter Melon unleashed a strange power after Li Xingtian cut through her sword, and Li Xingtian answered with one of Master’s quotes as they prepared to clash again.

• Yuyang Daozi ordered the masked Secret Council cultivators to capture every target in Qulin City without revealing his presence.
• Yuyang Daozi looked toward Stillbone Forest, where Chu Xingchen had gone to protect Li Xingtian, unaware that Great Dao Sect cultivators were secretly guarding him.
• Winter Melon and Li Xingtian fought amid the ruined landscape of Stillbone Forest, with Li Xingtian’s blood qi and Ghost-Head Broadsword matching her attacks.
• Winter Melon’s Soft-Bone Long Sword broke against Li Xingtian’s saber, but she advanced instead of retreating and covered her sword and eyes in black power.
• Li Xingtian recalled Master’s advice, told Winter Melon that dead people could not speak, and resolved to memorize more of the quotes.

Outside the Stillbone Forest, Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu arrived as the young man watched Winter Melon fight Li Xingtian. Misreading the situation and believing the Dark Crow Archbishop was present, the young man attacked Winter Melon and warned her that she had been exposed.

• The young man watched Winter Melon’s battle with Li Xingtian but hesitated to intervene, suspecting the Evil Spirit Cult’s envoy was observing him.
• Chu Xingchen and Xie Lingyu appeared behind the young man, and Chu Xingchen ordered him to help Winter Melon fight the evil cultivator.
• The young man charged at Li Xingtian, who mistook him for an ally until he saw the scythe aimed at him.
• Winter Melon joined the fight, and the young man realized she was the person he had mistaken for an enemy and attacked her instead.
• The young man told Winter Melon that Li Xingtian’s side belonged to the Evil Spirit Cult and claimed the Dark Crow Archbishop had come in person, then urged her to run.

Lin Luoyu reached the Golden Core Stage, and Chu Xingchen’s letter assigned her a training mission with Cui Hao before he returned. She agreed to take Cui Hao along, and the pair prepared to leave the next day.

• Cui Hao asked Chen Baiqing whether Chu Xingchen had gone sightseeing or was handling business, and Chen Baiqing reminded him to focus on his cultivation.
• Lin Luoyu arrived after breaking through to the Golden Core Stage, her breakthrough concealed by the formation Chu Xingchen had built.
• Chen Baiqing told Lin Luoyu that Chu Xingchen’s letter offered her a training task if she reached Golden Core before he returned, and said she could bring Cui Hao.
• Lin Luoyu agreed to take Cui Hao on the mission after he promised to follow her instructions, and they decided to set out the next day.
• Chen Baiqing revealed that Cui Hao had his own task in the letter and would have gone alone if Lin Luoyu had refused; Lin Luoyu promised to bring him back safely.

Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu traveled through Dongsheng Shenzhou to a ruined mountain god temple, where they reunited with Li Yingling instead of their master. Li Yingling recalled the sect’s humble beginnings and announced that she had a task for them.

• Cui Hao asked Lin Luoyu what the Golden Core Realm felt like as they rode spirit horses through the mountains.
• Cui Hao suggested visiting their eldest senior sister, but Lin Luoyu said they should handle their business first.
• Lin Luoyu stopped at a dilapidated mountain god temple and told Cui Hao they had arrived.
• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu found Li Yingling warming herself by a fire and greeted her with surprise.
• Li Yingling recalled how their master had recruited her at a ruined temple and described the hardships she and their second senior brother had faced.
• Li Yingling said she had brought Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu there to show them the sect’s difficult beginnings, then announced that she had a task for them.

Lin Luoyu received a Spirit Treasure and was assigned to question an injured target with Cui Hao, while Li Yingling warned them to return safely. The target was revealed to be the half-dead young man Winter Melon was dragging through the mountains, and she refused to abandon him.

• Li Yingling gave Lin Luoyu a top-tier Spirit Treasure, which acknowledged her as its master with ease.
• Li Yingling told Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to contact the wounded target for information, gave them instructions and Spirit Stones, and ordered them to prioritize their safety.
• Winter Melon dragged the badly injured young man along a mountain path as he urged her to leave him and escape.
• Winter Melon told the young man she would abandon him only when he was no longer useful, and he answered, "As long as... you hate me."

Winter Melon, gravely wounded and pursued by a Blood Qi Evil Cultivator, persuaded Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu to help her and the bound young man escape the mountain woods. After they got clear, she tried to ingratiate herself with Cui Hao, whose teasing left her confused.

• Winter Melon hid from Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu as they descended the mountain, then called out to them for help.
• She claimed that an Evil Spirit Cult cultivator had attacked her and the young man, and Lin Luoyu reluctantly offered medicine and protection.
• Winter Melon secretly fed a pill to the vine-bound young man before the group made it out of the woods.
• Winter Melon learned that her companions were Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu, disciples of the Burning Heaven Lijin Sect, and decided to cultivate Cui Hao's favor.
• Cui Hao joked that Winter Melon could repay him by serving as his ox or horse, then asked why she was not laughing.

Winter Melon persuaded Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to let her and the wounded boy travel with them, while Cui Hao secretly signaled a Great Dao Sect cultivator that their mission was proceeding smoothly. At Fuyao Immortal Pavilion, Chu Xingchen handed Corn over to Yuyang Daozi and prepared to leave, with Xie Lingyu set to act in his place.

• Winter Melon refused to take the boy to an inn, then asked Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao to let them accompany them toward Fuyao Immortal City.
• Lin Luoyu agreed to help treat the boy, and Cui Hao went to find a carriage.
• After leaving the house, Cui Hao signaled a nearby Great Dao Sect cultivator that the mission was proceeding smoothly.
• At Fuyao Immortal Pavilion, Xie Lingyu told Chu Xingchen that Yingling had been picked up and Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao had contacted their targets.
• Chu Xingchen told Corn that Watermelon had revealed Winter Melon's plans, then gave Corn to Yuyang Daozi under their agreement.
• Chu Xingchen said he needed to return and left Xie Lingyu to make decisions in his place.