Chapter Summaries

Ren Ye arranged the assignments for the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel and the group prepared to enter, while Ba Wu refused a suspicious gift from Zou Qing. After six hours of travel through the Immortality Mountain secret realm, Ren Ye and the others reached the tunnel entrance.

• Ren Ye assigned Big Fat Dragon the dangerous pouch, took a difficult assignment with Ghost-Headed Saber, and left ordinary assignments to Poison Wine Flask and Hundred-Flower Immortal.
• Big Fat Dragon learned he had to entertain the Witch Spirit Ghost Child guarding the tunnel, and Ren Ye advised him to bring treats and gifts.
• Ren Ye and Hundred-Flower Immortal argued over the Star Source Ghost-Headed Saber had paid to exchange pouches, while Ren Ye hinted that the payment would accrue heavy interest.
• Ba Wu examined Zou Qing's Bronze Disc, refused to accept it, and ordered his steward to repay the value of all the gifts Zou Qing had brought over two years.
• Ren Ye and the others followed the map for nearly six hours and reached the entrance to the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel.

Ren Ye and the others entered the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel, survived a blast of cutting wind, and split up to search its passages. In the left passage, Big Fat Dragon vanished, and Ren Ye encountered a flirtatious-looking Hundred-Flower Immortal whose appearance startled him.

• Big Fat Dragon described legends that the Witch God Clan built the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel while fleeing enemies, and the five travelers kowtowed at its entrance before entering.
• Poison Wine Flask, Ren Ye, Hundred-Flower Immortal, and Ghost-Headed Saber pushed open the bronze doors, releasing a freezing sandstorm that cut and scratched them.
• The five reached a decayed hall and split up, with Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon taking the left passage while the other three chose another route.
• Ren Ye questioned Big Fat Dragon about the Witch God’s alleged break with the Human Emperor, but Big Fat Dragon disappeared while they walked.
• Hundred-Flower Immortal appeared in the passage acting coy and wearing disheveled clothes, and Ren Ye recognized something about the strap on her shoulder that shocked him.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon fought their way through a maze of tunnels filled with False Bodies that imitated people they knew. They reached a hall covered in military stratagems, where a child’s voice announced that Earth Dragon Six Jia would belong to the one destined to receive it.

• Ren Ye saw through a False Body of the Hundred-Flower Immortal, struck it with his sword, and fled down the tunnel.
• Ren Ye reunited with Big Fat Dragon, who mistook him for a False Body and slapped him before escaping from four copies of Ren Ye.
• Ren Ye chased Big Fat Dragon, then helped fight off False Bodies while demanding four hundred thousand Star Source from him.
• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon escaped the pursuing False Bodies and reached a spacious hall after encountering copies of Ren Ye, the Hundred-Flower Immortal, and Ghost-Headed Saber.
• A blue-green light revealed Chinese military stratagems on the hall’s walls, and a child’s voice declared that Earth Dragon Six Jia would belong to the one destined to receive it.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon encountered the Witch Spirit Ghost Child, who offered Big Fat Dragon a deadly wager for the Earth Dragon Six Jia. As their first game began, Ren Ye left to find the others and reunited with the Hundred-Flower Immortal.

• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child arrived in the stone hall and frightened Big Fat Dragon with his rattle drum, while the sound drove False Bodies away from the tunnels.
• Big Fat Dragon stayed to play with the ghost child, and Ren Ye left to complete his other assignments.
• The ghost child offered Big Fat Dragon a choice between three ordinary games and a wager for the Earth Dragon Six Jia that would cost Big Fat Dragon his life if he lost.
• Big Fat Dragon chose the life-or-death wager and tried to placate the ghost child with pastries and human breast milk, but the ghost child began the game anyway.
• The ghost child's drum transported Big Fat Dragon to a mountain village, where he found a Snake Dog at his feet.
• Ren Ye found the Hundred-Flower Immortal, learned she had mutilated a False Body that attacked her, and was embarrassed when she implied it had been his False Body.

Ren Ye found and harvested Sui spirit moss in the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel, identifying the remaining ingredients he needed to cure the Thousand Gall Poison plague. Meanwhile, Big Fat Dragon faced the Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s deadly treasure-hunt game, and Ren Ye’s group discovered a faceless pottery figurine.

• Ren Ye and Hundred-Flower Immortal hurried through the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel to catch up with Ghost-Headed Saber and Poison Wine Flask.
• Ren Ye identified the moss growing on the tunnel walls as Sui spirit moss, scraped it all off, and considered how to obtain century-old white boa blood and the Formless Fruit.
• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child assigned Big Fat Dragon a treasure hunt in which Snake Dog had to find a Dragon-Shaped Military Tally before sunset, or Big Fat Dragon would die of old age.
• Big Fat Dragon tried to feed and communicate with Snake Dog, but the exhausted beast ignored his efforts while the Witch Spirit Ghost Child prepared Zhuer for the contest.
• Ghost-Headed Saber found a faceless, multicolored pottery figurine in the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel, and Ren Ye, Hundred-Flower Immortal, and Poison Wine Flask gathered to inspect it.

Ren Ye and the others triggered a curse while trying to move a painted figurine, and Ghost-Headed Saber began growing mushrooms from his head and face. In the Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s Secret Realm, Big Fat Dragon finally roused the snake-dog by cutting flesh from his own leg.

• Ren Ye, Poison Wine Flask, and Hundred-Flower Immortal stayed behind cover while Ghost-Headed Saber tried to lift the figurine, which flashed with colored light before he set it back down.
• Ghost-Headed Saber became exhausted and developed a rapidly growing mushroom on his scalp, followed by more mushrooms on his face.
• Poison Wine Flask identified the growths as a curse possibly connected to beings in the Twenty-Four Tombs, and Ghost-Headed Saber received a Star Gate warning that three instances meant certain death.
• Big Fat Dragon failed to persuade the starving snake-dog to help him, despite promising it food, a temple, and worshippers.
• With time running short, Big Fat Dragon cut a piece of flesh from his thigh and offered it to the snake-dog, which immediately sprang to its feet.

Big Fat Dragon sent the aged Snake Dog to search the mountain for the Dragon-Shaped Military Tally, while Ren Ye tried to move the cursed terracotta figurine. The curse entered Ren Ye, but the Reincarnation Lotus Lamp lit up and began drawing it in.

• Big Fat Dragon fed Snake Dog the flesh he had cut from his wounded leg, then gave it the wooden box to sniff for the military tally’s scent.
• As departure time arrived, Big Fat Dragon sent Snake Dog toward the mountain to compete with the stupid pig in the search.
• In the Spirit-Communicating Tunnel, Ren Ye and the others compared what they had observed when Ghost-Headed Saber moved the terracotta figurine and suspected its base contained a mechanism.
• Ren Ye lifted the figurine while strengthening himself with Destiny and the Human Emperor Sword’s Radiant Might.
• The mechanism activated and the figurine’s designs flowed, sending an uncanny curse into Ren Ye.
• The Reincarnation Lotus Lamp ignited in Ren Ye’s Consciousness Space and began pulling the curse’s gray mist toward itself.

Ren Ye worked out a cautious plan to overcome the cursed figurine mechanism while the Lotus Lamp slowly devoured the curse inside his Consciousness Space. Outside the Secret Realm, Li Yan, posing as the God of Wealth, agreed to help Zou Qing in exchange for an Azure Dragon Book Slip Fragment, leaving his plans for the Southern Border unresolved.

• The Lotus Lamp drew the cursed mist from Ren Ye and slowly devoured it, weakening the curse on him while strengthening the ghost in its wick.
• Ren Ye discovered that the curse had left black hair on his arms and hands, then reasoned that the figurine mechanism had to be countered with a carefully prepared weight-swapping tool.
• Ren Ye proposed making a balance scale and required the group to prepare thoroughly before attempting the remaining eighteen figurines; Poison Wine Flask stayed after Ren Ye threatened to report his departure to the Witch Lord.
• In Funan County, Zou Qing confirmed the God of Wealth's token and allowed him to stay after he said he would perform one job for the Celestial Surveillance Bureau's side.
• The God of Wealth was revealed to be Li Yan, who had traveled to the Southern Border seeking an Azure Dragon Book Slip Fragment and planned to visit Qingliang Prefecture afterward.
• Li Yan told his attendant that he would retaliate if the Celestial Surveillance Bureau failed to honor its bargain and give him the fragment.

Big Fat Dragon waited for Snake Dog to return, enduring an aging curse that took sixty years from his life, and Snake Dog won the first round by ambushing the black pig and claiming the Dragon-Shaped Military Tally. After the Witch Spirit Ghost Child revealed that Snake Dog must die for Big Fat Dragon to obtain the spirit beast needed for the second round, Big Fat Dragon and Snake Dog froze in each other’s embrace.

• As Snake Dog remained away, the Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s curse aged Big Fat Dragon by sixty years, and Big Fat Dragon crawled toward the village entrance despite breaking his leg.
• A black pig returned carrying the Dragon-Shaped Military Tally, and Snake Dog ambushed it near the village entrance as Big Fat Dragon watched.
• Snake Dog fought the black pig until its venom brought the pig down, then took the tally and returned to the courtyard, ending Big Fat Dragon’s aging curse.
• Big Fat Dragon embraced and thanked Snake Dog, while the Witch Spirit Ghost Child confirmed that Big Fat Dragon had won the first round.
• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child revealed that the spirit beast for the second round would appear only if Snake Dog sacrificed its life, leaving Big Fat Dragon and Snake Dog frozen together.

Big Fat Dragon sacrificed Snake Dog to continue the Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s game, while Ren Ye’s group tested a balance scale for the pottery figurine and discovered the quest required an evil entity’s spirit. Outside the Secret Realm, Er Leng was stranded in Immortality Mountain after Daoist Fenglin abandoned him.

• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child offered Big Fat Dragon a chance to quit, but Big Fat Dragon cut meat from his leg for Snake Dog to eat before killing it and choosing to continue.
• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child introduced Dragon Cat as the spirit beast for the second round.
• Ren Ye, Poison Wine Flask, Hundred-Flower Immortal, and Ghost-Headed Saber used a balance scale to match the pottery figurine’s weight, and Poison Wine Flask endured a curse that grew mouths on his body.
• Ren Ye saw the message that an evil entity’s spirit had to be offered in sacrifice and concluded the figurine challenge was part of a linked quest.
• Er Leng recalled reaching the second tier and helping Daoist Fenglin escape an ambush, then lamented that Daoist Fenglin had disappeared and left him alone in Immortality Mountain.

Ren Ye realized the group needed to catch Sui whose weight matched the terracotta figurines, and the four split up to search. Ghost-Headed Saber secretly pursued a different goal, but Ren Ye found him alone and confronted him, ending as they prepared to fight.

• Ren Ye explained that the assignments were connected and that Sui could replace the terracotta figurines by matching their weight.
• The four left the chamber and split up, with Hundred-Flower Immortal collecting bluestone slabs while the others searched for Sui.
• Ghost-Headed Saber used a map from a previous visit to seek an item he hoped would earn him Trust Value with Wu Yuanjun, but the chamber was empty.
• Ren Ye found Ghost-Headed Saber alone and began recording his suspicious detour for the Witch Lord.
• Ghost-Headed Saber drew his weapons, and Ren Ye summoned an ancient longsword as they prepared to fight.

Ren Ye revealed his strength and powerful Human Emperor treasures after Ghost-Headed Saber pushed him into a fierce duel in the Secret Chamber. He defeated Ghost-Headed Saber and left him badly injured on the floor.

• Ghost-Headed Saber attacked Ren Ye with his halberd and taunted him while keeping him on the defensive.
• Ghost-Headed Saber unleashed Cloud-Thunder Halberd-Annihilation, but Ren Ye endured the strike and mocked his Third Grade strength.
• Ren Ye opened his Holy Eyes, summoned the Human Emperor Seal, and knocked Ghost-Headed Saber's halberd aside.
• Ren Ye countered with Sword Presses Both Banks of the Yellow River and hurled Ghost-Headed Saber into the wall.
• Ren Ye used The Sword Holds a Divine Kingdom, broke through Ghost-Headed Saber's lifesaving defenses, and left him badly injured.
• Ren Ye planted a foot on Ghost-Headed Saber's chest and taunted him as he lay unable to rise.

Ren Ye confronted Ghost-Headed Saber about his past, the Qingliang Prefecture plague, and the conspiracy behind him, then decided to keep him alive as a useful lead. Ghost-Headed Saber revealed he had found a Cloud-Thunder Halberd and Star Source, and Ren Ye forced him to acknowledge them as his discoveries.

• Ren Ye questioned Ghost-Headed Saber about his supposed inheritance, and Ghost-Headed Saber said Wu Yuanjun had left him without guidance or the White Python Tribe’s inheritance.
• Ghost-Headed Saber recounted surviving his family’s massacre and admitted he had abandoned competing with Ren Ye in the Secret Realm to focus on survival.
• Ren Ye condemned Ghost-Headed Saber for the plague deaths in Qingshan, and Ghost-Headed Saber explained his plot and claimed he had intended to provide an antidote after abducting Ren Ye and Daoist Fenglin.
• Ghost-Headed Saber revealed that a larger force used him as a pawn and pleaded for Ren Ye to spare him, offering to help uncover the White Python Tribe’s inheritance.
• Ren Ye asked what Ghost-Headed Saber had sought in the secret chamber, then insisted that he had found a Cloud-Thunder Halberd and Star Source; Ghost-Headed Saber reluctantly agreed.

Ren Ye, Poison Wine Flask, and Hundred-Flower Immortal entered the Mountain-Outer Road and began fighting the Sui, while Ghost-Headed Saber stayed behind, injured and grieving after Prince Huai extorted his weapon and savings. The chapter left the group battling the Sui as Big Fat Dragon and Dragon Cat passed the second round of the Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s test.

• Ren Ye returned to the Terracotta Warrior Secret Chamber with Ghost-Headed Saber, whose injuries prompted Ren Ye to lead Poison Wine Flask and Hundred-Flower Immortal onward without him.
• Ghost-Headed Saber took a pill and reflected on Prince Huai’s extortion and his determination to survive and avenge his family.
• Ren Ye and his companions found the sealed Netherworld Passage, then entered the Mountain-Outer Road after Poison Wine Flask pointed out the Sui-Binding Iron Chains.
• The three took the chains and encountered a crowd of humanlike Sui as the tunnel’s bronze lamps ignited with green flames.
• Ren Ye, Poison Wine Flask, and Hundred-Flower Immortal attacked the Sui, whose mystical spells all came from the Chaos Faction.
• Big Fat Dragon and Dragon Cat passed the second round of the Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s test, but Big Fat Dragon treated his teammate coldly.

Ren Ye and his companions discovered that five Sui could replace each pottery figurine without triggering its curse, and they began replacing them throughout the chamber. In Witch Spirit Ghost Child’s secret realm, Big Fat Dragon killed Dragon Cat to pass the second game, then set out to retrieve the Earth Dragon Six Jia and stopped at the mountain path as a beast roared.

• Ren Ye, Hundred-Flower Immortal, Poison Wine Flask, and Ghost-Headed Saber used five Sui whose combined weight matched the stone slab to replace a pottery figurine, trapping the Sui in gray mist and turning them into clay figures.
• Poison Wine Flask found that the replaced figurine had become light enough to store in a consciousness space, and the four companions began replacing the remaining figurines.
• Ghost-Headed Saber tried to please Ren Ye by offering to do his share and giving him Immaculate Water, which Ren Ye accepted.
• Witch Spirit Ghost Child told Big Fat Dragon that he had to kill Dragon Cat to enter the third game, and Big Fat Dragon killed it without hesitation.
• Witch Spirit Ghost Child sent the Earth Dragon Six Jia to Qingshan and told Big Fat Dragon to reach the summit to claim it.
• Big Fat Dragon reached the village entrance and paused at the dog kennel and cat bed beside the mountain path, whereupon a beast roared from the woods.

Big Fat Dragon fought Qingshan’s countless beasts to reach the summit, but was defeated and learned the trial was a lesson about the companions and achievements he had already lost. The Earth Dragon Six Jia revealed Snake Dog and Dragon Cat’s fates, and their brief return ended with them leaving in opposite directions as Big Fat Dragon wept.

• Big Fat Dragon climbed to the ninth step and fought Qingshan’s legendary beasts, but they overwhelmed him and sent him crashing back to the foot of the mountain.
• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child told Big Fat Dragon that he had lost their wager and owed a life to the Southern Border, then explained that Snake Dog and Dragon Cat had already embodied the Earth Dragon Six Jia’s true value.
• The Witch Spirit Ghost Child took the Earth Dragon Six Jia from the summit and tossed it down to Big Fat Dragon before vanishing with the mountain path.
• Big Fat Dragon saw illustrations of Snake Dog and Dragon Cat in the tome, and the two figures appeared, watched him, and departed in opposite directions.
• The Earth Dragon Six Jia burst into the words “Great Virtue Carries All Things,” and Big Fat Dragon cried as he searched for Snake Dog and Dragon Cat.

Ren Ye reported the mission to Wu Yuanjun, secured praise for his leadership, and arranged for Ghost-Headed Saber to remain under suspicion. He then asked Wu Yuanjun for Heavenly Lord's blood to save his supposed brother Li Yan, leaving the Witch Lord stunned.

• Ren Ye waited until last to meet Wu Yuanjun, then reported that Big Fat Dragon had fought the Witch Spirit Ghost Child while the team retrieved the pottery figurines.
• Ren Ye described his own role in solving the figurines' curse and characterized Ghost-Headed Saber as unremarkable, prompting Wu Yuanjun to decide the man was deliberately lying low.
• Ghost-Headed Saber received no Trust Value and cursed Ren Ye, realizing Ren Ye would not let him regain standing.
• Wu Yuanjun announced a final assignment for six people and ordered the group to bring Weng Sanren out of prison.
• Ren Ye asked Wu Yuanjun for Heavenly Lord's blood to cure his brother Li Yan, leaving Wu Yuanjun dumbfounded.

Ren Ye collected his reward from Wu Yuanjun and asked the White Python Heavenly Lord for blood, receiving a drop of heart blood. As Weng Sanren was released from the Dungeon, a mysterious black-robed figure arrived to meet Wu Yuanjun.

• Ren Ye received four hundred thousand Star Source and twenty Trust Value from Wu Yuanjun, bringing his Trust Value to 94 and his accumulated Star Source to 1.57 million.
• Ren Ye told his companions that Wu Yuanjun had permitted Weng Sanren’s release, and Poison Wine Flask agreed to fetch him from the Dungeon.
• Ren Ye went to Clearwater Pool at midnight and asked the White Python Heavenly Lord for blood to save a brother.
• The Heavenly Lord sneezed water and mucus over Ren Ye, then sent him a drop of heart blood.
• Poison Wine Flask told Weng Sanren he was free, but Weng Sanren said he felt safe in the Dungeon and did not want to leave.
• At Immortality Mountain, Wu Yuanjun examined the eighteen Pottery Figurines as a short black-robed figure entered the main hall.

Ren Ye received the final assignments from the Witch Lord and divided the Six Gentlemen between two difficulty levels as war approached. The red-pouch group reported to General Feng, who revealed that their assignment was to remain in the Main Hall.

• Weng Sanren left the Dungeon and questioned the others about the events he had missed during the second assignment.
• Ren Ye heard officers say the Witch Lord planned to march against the Imperial Court at Deer-Watching Mountain the following dawn.
• The steward gave Ren Ye six brocade pouches and entrusted him with assigning the Six Gentlemen to the two assignments.
• Ren Ye assigned himself, Big Fat Dragon, and Poison Wine Flask to red pouches, while Weng Sanren, Ghost-Headed Saber, and Hundred-Flower Immortal received green pouches.
• The green-pouch group received orders to escort the Witch Lord's family away, while the red-pouch group was told to await General Feng's instructions.
• General Feng told Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon that their assignment was in the Main Hall, where armored soldiers and weapons had been assembled.

Poison Wine Flask secretly agreed to work with Weng Sanren against Bima Wen, while Ren Ye and his companions waited at Immortality Mountain for an unexplained assignment. After Wu Yuanjun and the White Python Twelve Generals vowed to fight the Imperial Court, General Feng revealed that no war would take place and that the night would end in a massacre.

• Weng Sanren admitted that he came from the Great Qian Court and asked Poison Wine Flask to help defeat Bima Wen in exchange for the Earth Dragon Six Jia.
• Poison Wine Flask agreed to Weng Sanren's proposal and requested a pledge of allegiance during the escort assignment.
• General Feng brought an old Taoist priest to the side hall, where they planted a formation flag while Ren Ye, Big Fat Dragon, and Poison Wine Flask waited.
• Twelve White Python generals arrived to discuss the coming campaign, and Wu Yuanjun announced that his tribe would confront the Heavenly Dragon Tribe and fight the Imperial Court if necessary.
• After Wu Yuanjun and the twelve generals pledged to fight together, General Feng told Ren Ye and Poison Wine Flask that the supposed war was a cover for a massacre meant to reassure the sovereign.