Chapter Summaries

Chu Xingchen brought Yuankong to meet Venerable Buddha Ru Nan and discuss a Buddhist Sect operation centered on the Southern Jambu Continent. Ru Nan explained the sect’s past neglect of Yuankong and promised compensation, while Chu Xingchen described their operation as helping people by killing evil cultivators and man-eating demons.

• Yuankong realized Chu Xingchen had brought him to meet Ru Nan and nervously worried that the Venerable Buddha would punish him for their earlier deception.
• Ru Nan recognized Yuankong as the Buddhist Child from Chanwood Temple and explained why the Great Thunderclap Temple had sent him there and later left him in Chu Xingchen’s care.
• Ru Nan acknowledged that the Buddhist Sect had neglected Yuankong and agreed to provide treasured Dharma Treasures as compensation.
• Chu Xingchen and Ru Nan agreed to begin their operation with the Southern Jambu Continent as its center, with Chu Xingchen accompanying Ru Nan.
• Yuankong asked what the operation involved, and Chu Xingchen described killing evil cultivators and man-eating demons to help the poor.

A golden Buddha palm destroyed the Evil Spirit Cult’s stronghold at Qingxi Mountain, and Yuankong captured a fleeing cultivator. He began stripping away the man’s stolen blood qi and said he would be paraded through the streets before being delivered, as a warning to others.

• An Evil Spirit Cult lookout watched auspicious clouds approach and imagined the power he could gain by sacrificing more lives.
• A huge golden palm emerged from the clouds and crushed the cult’s mountain stronghold, shattering its protective formation.
• After dozens of golden streaks descended, the lookout fled but was stopped by Yuankong, who challenged him over refining people into blood qi.
• The cultivator attacked Yuankong, who caught his head and began removing the blood qi from his body.
• Yuankong told the pleading cultivator that he would be marched through the streets and then delivered as a warning to evil cultivators and their would-be recruits.

Bai Xuanling investigated a shifting spirit-vein convergence at Liupingsha and confronted Boluo, who revealed that his formation could detect her and threatened to face her in person next time. After Boluo’s incarnation was destroyed, Bai Xuanling was left preparing for their eventual confrontation.

• Bai Xuanling studied the spirit-vein tributaries flowing toward the lake at Liupingsha and suspected the Heavenly Demons had used an authority to shift them.
• Bai Xuanling decided not to investigate the lake directly and considered luring evil cultivators there to test its dangers.
• Boluo appeared in an incarnation and told Bai Xuanling that his formation had detected her and that he had deduced how she tracked spirit veins.
• Bai Xuanling accused Boluo of sacrificing Xu Linglong and relying on his authority, while Boluo defended his actions as the strong imposing their will on the weak.
• Bai Xuanling severed Boluo’s pointing hand, and Boluo warned that he would meet her in person next time before she cut off his incarnation’s head.

Bai Xuanling uncovered a blood-qi-driven formation beneath the pool, while Chu Xingchen visited Cloud Dream Marsh to reveal that it held the remains of a true dragon. Yun Li offered to share his inherited memories with the Cloud Marsh God, leaving its response uncertain.

• Bai Xuanling exposed the silent formation beneath the pool, memorized it, and asked the arriving cultivators to copy it before she departed.
• Chu Xingchen apologized to the Cloud Marsh God for his disciple’s earlier disturbance and asked for its help.
• Chu Xingchen explained that Yun Li carried an inheritance connecting Cloud Dream Marsh to the blessings left by the Divine Dragon’s Demise.
• Yun Li told the Cloud Marsh God that the true dragon in Cloud Dream Marsh had sustained its weakening Teng Snake Bloodline, then offered to share his inheritance.

Cloud Marsh weighed Chu Xingchen’s offer to preserve the Teng Snake bloodline while avoiding a commitment without Cloud Dream Pavilion’s approval. Bai Xuanling arrived with news that Boluo had developed a blood-qi-powered formation, and Chu Xingchen ended the chapter with a dangerous smile as they considered how to respond.

• Cloud Marsh thanked Chu Xingchen for his proposal but asked for time to consider it, wary of Cloud Dream Pavilion’s interests.
• A maid announced Bai Xuanling’s arrival, and Cloud Marsh invited her into the hall.
• Bai Xuanling told Chu Xingchen that Boluo knew they could observe the Spirit Veins and had created a blood-qi-powered ritual that could detect concealed auras.
• Bai Xuanling warned that Boluo might power its Grand Formation by gathering blood qi from living beings, causing widespread devastation.
• Chu Xingchen smiled gently after Bai Xuanling asked whether he had a way to disgust Boluo in return, alarming Cloud Marsh.

Yun Li tried to persuade Cloud Marsh to accept Sect Leader Chu’s proposal, using boasts about his dragon bloodline and pointed remarks about Cloud Marsh’s cultivation and circumstances. Cloud Marsh remained wary of Yun Li, who asked for a place to cultivate and urged him to decide soon.

• Cloud Marsh offered Yun Li fruit, and Yun Li joked that Third Senior Sister might raise Cloud Marsh like a fish if she saw how he cared for them.
• Yun Li mentioned Senior Brother Cui and Zheng Zhaoling’s work at Cloud Dream Pavilion, implying Cloud Dream Marsh should consider the Sect Leader’s proposal.
• When Cloud Marsh asked about Yun Li’s true form, Yun Li claimed he was a dragon and recounted an inheritance story before releasing a trace of his bloodline aura.
• Cloud Marsh briefly feared Yun Li might be a true Divine Dragon, then decided there was something wrong with Yun Li’s head when he called himself an Azure Dragon.
• Yun Li criticized Cloud Marsh’s weak bloodline and delayed cultivation, while acknowledging that Cloud Marsh might have his own reasons for his choices.
• Yun Li asked Cloud Marsh to arrange a place for him to cultivate and to decide soon whether to accept the proposal, saying he did not want to depend on someone else for food.

Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling investigated the Evil Spirit Cult’s operations at the Worthy Gathering Pavilion in Nine Directions Terrace. After forcing a waiter to reveal a hidden entrance, Chu Xingchen entered the Cult’s underground market and cowed everyone there with his blood qi.

• Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling arrived in Nine Directions Terrace to investigate the Evil Spirit Cult’s blood qi activity.
• At the Worthy Gathering Pavilion, Chu Xingchen exposed the waiter’s attempt to send them into a trap and compelled him to reveal the correct entrance and promise information about blood qi collectors.
• Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling entered a concealed passage through the west room and reached the underground market.
• Chu Xingchen released an overwhelming wave of blood qi and challenged everyone in the market to look at him.
• The gathered evil cultivators lowered their heads and dared not meet Chu Xingchen’s gaze.

Chu Xingchen used a forged Black Crow Command Token to recruit evil cultivators for a supposed plan to refine the Northern Lan Kingdom into a blood feast. After leaving the Worthy Gathering Pavilion, he explained to Bai Xuanling how he would lure more ambitious blood cultivators with a fabricated ancient secret realm.

• Chu Xingchen intimidated the underground square’s cultivators, then presented a forged Black Crow Command Token that the Nascent Soul attendant accepted as genuine.
• Chu Xingchen placed a second token as a deposit and ordered the attendant to find capable people for his plan to refine the Northern Lan Kingdom into a blood feast.
• The attendant warned that the plan could draw the Buddhist Sect and powerful righteous forces, but Chu Xingchen insisted that he only needed candidates’ contact details.
• Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling left the Worthy Gathering Pavilion, leaving the gathered evil cultivators to speculate about his identity and audacious proposal.
• Bai Xuanling asked how Chu Xingchen planned to attract significant recruits, and Chu Xingchen described a fabricated Tribulation Transcendence blood cultivator’s secret realm as bait.

Zhao Xuan discovered that two genuine Black Crow Command Tokens had surfaced and realized they were connected to a search by two major sects for dangerous Blood Qi secret arts. He learned that Li Ye'an had directed the sects toward the Worthy Gathering Pavilion, leaving Zhao Xuan alarmed as their investigation closed in.

• News spread among Evil Cultivators that a powerful Blood Qi cultivator had offered two Black Crow Command Tokens to refine the Northern Lan Kingdom.
• Zhao Xuan examined a token from the Worthy Gathering Pavilion and concluded it was genuine, though only four unrecovered tokens were believed to be in circulation.
• Li Ye'an told Zhao Xuan that the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect and the Heavenly Derivation Sect were searching for stolen secret arts that could devastate kingdoms.
• Li Ye'an said he had reported rumors about the Worthy Gathering Pavilion and the Black Crow Command Tokens to the sect disciples.
• Li Ye'an explained that he had urged the disciples to watch the Worthy Gathering Pavilion before striking, and Zhao Xuan praised his actions through gritted alarm.

Zhao Xuan considered whether the Black Crow Command Token and rumors of a blood qi cultivation secret method were a trap, then decided to investigate through the Evil Spirit Cult. Chu Xingchen reviewed updates from his disciples and exchanged playful accusations with Bai Xuanling.

• Li Ye'an reported his findings to Zhao Xuan, who told him to stop investigating and focus on cultivation.
• Zhao Xuan suspected the Black Crow Command Token was linked to a secret method and a gathering of blood qi cultivators, but worried the Eighteen Immortal Sects might be luring him out.
• Zhao Xuan decided to return to the Evil Spirit Cult, verify the Secret Realm and its rumors, and contact the Blood Qi Evil Cultivator who had appeared.
• Chu Xingchen read that Cloud Marsh had agreed to share the True Dragon's blessings with his disciples, while Cloud Dream Pavilion accepted compensation for the arrangement.
• Chu Xingchen received updates from Chen Baiqing and Li Yingling about their reconciliations and Qian Qing's growing friendship with Sandong.
• Bai Xuanling teased Chu Xingchen about his smile, and they jokingly accused each other of slander.

Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling watched the Worthy Gathering Pavilion, where Chu Xingchen identified powerful Evil Cultivators hiding among the crowds. When Mo Huang arrived on behalf of the Black Crow Cult Leader, Chu Xingchen demanded that the Cult Leader meet him in person if he wanted a share of the scheme.

• Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling spent two days observing the Worthy Gathering Pavilion as strangers gathered nearby.
• Chu Xingchen pointed out an old candied-hawthorn seller whose face had been taken by a late-stage spirit transformation cultivator.
• Chu Xingchen explained that he could identify monsters and Evil Cultivators with the system entries and intended to deal with those he had marked after the events concluded.
• A servant announced that Mo Huang had come to meet Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling on the Cult Leader's command.
• Mo Huang said the Black Crow Cult Leader had recognized them through the blood qi on the Black Crow Command Token and considered them to have rendered the cult a great service.
• Chu Xingchen said the Black Crow Cult Leader had to meet him in person and risk his life to claim a share of the plan.

Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling prepared to draw out the Evil Spirit Cult’s hidden forces while the Eighteen Immortal Sects closed in. Bai Xuanling killed the disguised old man who had been spying and using a Soul-Refining Pearl, revealing her identity before he died.

• Chu Xingchen gave the visitor a Jade Token and identified himself as Blood Slaughter True Lord, while warning that the Eighteen Immortal Sects had arrived.
• Bai Xuanling said the missing Cult Leader True Person might refuse to emerge, and Chu Xingchen explained that the Evil Spirit Cult remained useful to both righteous and evil factions.
• Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling decided to gather the lurking enemies and restore peace to the area.
• The disguised old man abandoned his candied-hawthorn stall after the young man called Old Zhang offered him copper coins to stay away.
• The old man returned to his house to retrieve the Soul-Refining Pearl, but found Bai Xuanling waiting beside the corpse he controlled.
• Bai Xuanling struck down the old man with her sword, told him she was killing him because he was weak, and identified herself as Bai Xuanling.

Zhao Xuan learned that Xu Si might be a Mahayana cultivator and weighed the danger to his Evil Spirit Cult and Eight Directions Valley. He returned to the valley still uncertain about his path, only to discover that Li Ye'an had helped the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect capture Changping.

• Changping reported that Xu Si was likely the Blood Slaughter True Lord, a feared cultivator who might have reached Mahayana.
• Zhao Xuan ordered Changping to investigate Xu Si and the Eighteen Immortal Sects, and to inform Wang An.
• Zhao Xuan took a circuitous route back to Eight Directions Valley, pondering whether pursuing greater cultivation would expose his identity and endanger the sect.
• Li Ye'an told Zhao Xuan that the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect had destroyed the Worthy Gathering Pavilion and captured Changping.
• Li Ye'an revealed that he had identified Changping as suspicious and reported him to the Profound Clarity Heavenly Sect, leaving Zhao Xuan shaken.

At Golden Light Gorge, Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling waited to meet the Black Crow Cult Leader after Li Yingling unexpectedly captured an Evil Spirit Cult deputy envoy. Zhao Xuan arrived through a Body-Swapping Puppet, but after Chu Xingchen showed him pure blood qi, he agreed to bring his true body to seize the opportunity.

• Bai Xuanling praised Li Yingling for capturing the deputy envoy, while Chu Xingchen noted that the contact led to Eight Directions Valley's master, who could reach the Black Crow Cult Leader.
• Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling disguised themselves with human-face Dharma Treasures when they sensed someone approaching.
• A black-cloaked visitor identified himself as the Black Crow Cult Leader and addressed Chu Xingchen as Senior Xu Si, the Bloodthirsty True Lord.
• Chu Xingchen realized the visitor was Zhao Xuan's Body-Swapping Puppet and challenged him for avoiding a personal meeting.
• Chu Xingchen showed Zhao Xuan a Prismatic Crystal that released exceptionally pure blood qi, convincing him the secret method could let Blood Qi Cultivators reach the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
• Zhao Xuan agreed to bring his true body to meet Chu Xingchen, who insisted he wanted the real Black Crow Cult Leader.

Chu Xingchen posed as Xu Si, a late Mahayana blood cultivator seeking an opportunity to reach Tribulation Transcendence, and drew the Black Crow Cult into revealing its leaders and strength. He ended by declaring that the plan was to refine a nation.

• Chu Xingchen used pure blood qi and outrageous stories of villainy to convince the Black Crow Archbishop that he was a genuine evil cultivator.
• Zhao Xuan arrived with more than a dozen powerful cultivators and introduced the Evil Spirit Cult’s leaders, including deputy cult leader Ling E, a Devil Race member.
• Chu Xingchen recognized Zhao Xuan as the Black Crow Cult Leader and confirmed that he had brought the cult’s strongest forces to the meeting.
• Chu Xingchen introduced himself as Blood Slaughter True Lord Xu Si and released a wave of blood qi that convinced Zhao Xuan he had glimpsed a path to Tribulation Transcendence.
• Chu Xingchen promised to share the breakthrough opportunity and declared that they would refine a nation.

Qian Qing spent a peaceful half-year on A Loving Family Peak, where Sandong treated her as a friend and helped her tend a spirit field. Chu Xingchen returned and reassured her that she had done nothing wrong, inviting her to stay while Yuankong reflected on how he had treated her.

• Qian Qing tended the spirit field with Sandong, who praised her and accepted her offer to cook him a feast.
• Qian Qing reflected on the friends gathered around Chu Xingchen and recognized him as the person connecting them.
• Qian Qing arrived at the mountaintop and found Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling waiting there.
• Chu Xingchen gave Sandong a high-grade moonstone and told Qian Qing that Yuankong would undergo the Inverted Hanging Temple trial in a mortal body.
• Chu Xingchen urged Qian Qing to stay, said she could live on A Loving Family Peak for the rest of her life, and told her not to think she had done anything wrong.

After a family-style dinner, Chu Xingchen explained how he planned to exploit the Evil Spirit Cult’s movements against Boluo and went to Heavenly Derivation Peak to await news. Meanwhile, Zhong Su found Boluo lying in a muddy lotus pond and gave him a Jade Token containing information about Chu Xingchen’s possible involvement.

• Qian Qing cooked a generous meal for Chu Xingchen, Bai Xuanling, and Sandong, and they ate together on A Loving Family Peak.
• Bai Xuanling asked about the plan involving the Black Crow Archbishop, and Chu Xingchen explained that he hoped to use the Evil Spirit Cult’s movements to hinder Boluo and expose him.
• Bai Xuanling returned to Pearl-Gem Peak, while Chu Xingchen left for Heavenly Derivation Peak after promising Sandong he would return with good news.
• Zhong Su discovered Boluo lying in a dried-out lotus pond and criticized him for acting strangely.
• Zhong Su threw Boluo a Jade Token with information to help him judge whether Chu Xingchen was behind the Evil Spirit Cult’s unusual movements.

Boluo explained why he planned to let the Evil Spirit Cult fall, then revealed his understanding of Mahayana Buddhism and declared that he would handle Bai Xuanling. He left to attend to another important matter, while Zhong Su wondered where Boluo would steer their failing plans.

• Boluo told Zhong Su to encourage the Evil Spirit Cult’s scheme without becoming deeply involved, so they could either buy time or make Chu Xingchen deal with the threat.
• Boluo explained that he had helped suppress Mahayana Buddhism because its teachings revealed the principles of the world, though he still considered himself converted by it.
• Boluo manifested pure Buddha Light and said he could be both a Heavenly Demon and a Buddha, then ordered Zhong Su and the others not to seek him until the Evil Spirit Cult’s fate was settled.
• Boluo claimed he would handle Bai Xuanling, and Zhong Su suspected that Boluo had arranged Xu Linglong’s death to seize control of the situation.

Black Crow Cult Leader Zhao Xuan weighed Northern Jambudvipa as a site for Refining a Nation while seeking confidence in the Evil Spirit Cult’s deputy leader. Meanwhile, Cui Hao and Zheng Zhaoling arrived at Cloud Dream Marsh, where Cui Hao learned she had no intention of softening her manner.

• Zhao Xuan considered Northern Jambudvipa ideal for Refining a Nation because its people worshipped mountain and wilderness spirits, but he remained wary of Xu Si and the Evil Spirit Cult’s motives.
• Evil Spirit confirmed that investigations had found no problems and said the organization would share any secret method they obtained, though it would offer no further help.
• Evil Spirit warned Zhao Xuan that Northern Jambudvipa’s mountain and wilderness spirits had guarded their rules and interests for a thousand years and would resist outsiders trying to control a nation.
• Cui Hao and Zheng Zhaoling arrived at Cloud Dream Marsh, and Cui Hao recalled that it had once wanted to turn him into a human sky lantern.
• Zheng Zhaoling teased Cui Hao about his master’s unknown purpose and threatened to slap him when he complained that she had changed.

Cui Hao visited Cloud Marsh in Cloud Dream Marsh and used advice about feeding fish to make Cloud Marsh mistake his remarks for criticism of its treatment of the demons under its command. He left without revealing why he had come, while Zheng Zhaoling warned that she might expose his deception.

• Cui Hao and Zheng Zhaoling met Cloud Marsh beside a fishpond, where Cloud Marsh cautiously welcomed Cui Hao despite its wariness of him.
• Cui Hao advised Cloud Marsh to feed fish generously, and Cloud Marsh interpreted his words as a rebuke for withholding resources from the demons it led.
• Cloud Marsh thanked Cui Hao and grew more welcoming, while Zheng Zhaoling remained unsure whether they had understood each other.
• Cui Hao ended the conversation and departed with Zheng Zhaoling without explaining his purpose for visiting.
• Zheng Zhaoling told Cui Hao that Cloud Marsh seemed to have misunderstood him, and Cui Hao admitted he intended to let the misunderstanding continue.
• Zheng Zhaoling warned Cui Hao she could tell on him, and he appealed to their comradeship.