Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua confronted Jing Mu An, a Star Lord who tried to recruit him and then unleashed the star formation’s power. As their battle raged, Xiao Hua brought out several weapons and techniques, and Jing Mu An recognized the danger of the figure emerging from Xiao Hua’s gourd.

• Xiao Hua seized the serpent spear and forced Jing Mu An to reveal himself as a Star Lord of the Star Lord Palace.
• Jing Mu An offered to make Xiao Hua his Star General, but Xiao Hua refused and rejected the Confucian cultivator.
• Jing Mu An activated the Two Dragons Playing with a Pearl formation, trapping the cultivators as Xiao Hua attacked him with the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Xiao Hua shattered Jing Mu An’s spear and injured his arm, but Jing Mu An recovered and fought back with a bizarre weapon.
• Xiao Hua fought Jing Mu An while sending the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors after him, then summoned a figure from a small gourd.
• Jing Mu An recognized the figure emerging from the gourd and summoned a majestic boy from his own true qi.

Xiao Hua fought Jing Mu An, who revealed his Three Qi Grand Unity cultivation and refined-spirit realm, while the defensive array’s two dragons threatened to overwhelm him. Xiao Hua suppressed the array with the Mountain River Seal and beheaded Jing Mu An’s golden body, but Jing Mu An began to self-detonate his Primordial Spirit, leaving Xiao Hua in danger.

• Jing Mu An manifested his three-colored child, blocked Xiao Hua’s Spirit Severing Primordial Light, and attacked him with inscriptions and lightning.
• Xiao Hua struck Jing Mu An with ghostly green lightning and a two-colored fire net, but a hidden suction force forced his Nascent Soul back into his body.
• Jing Mu An empowered the defensive array’s two dragon shapes with True Qi and sent them toward Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua summoned the Mountain River Seal, which suppressed the dragon shapes, Dragon Pearls, and Jing Mu An’s child.
• The Spirit Severing Primordial Light cut through Jing Mu An’s defenses and severed his golden body, but Jing Mu An began to self-detonate his Primordial Spirit.

After surviving Jing Mu An’s self-destruction, Xiao Hua concealed his survival while True Person Xiangtian tried to kill him. Xiao Hua counterattacked, but a Righteous Qi Pillar appeared and seized Xiangtian’s fleeing Nascent Soul.

• Jing Mu An’s self-destruction devastated the defensive array, leaving Xiao Hua severely injured and six Nascent Soul cultivators alive.
• True Person Xiangtian discovered Xiao Hua’s body and decided to kill him for his treasures, while True Person Yuanqing and the others searched for the jade casket.
• True Person Xiangtian’s flying sword struck Xiao Hua’s As-You-Wish Staff, revealing that Xiao Hua had been feigning unconsciousness with the Concealment of Heaven’s Guise.
• Xiao Hua attacked Xiangtian with golden light, cleaving his body and forcing his Nascent Soul to flee into the void.
• Xiao Hua sent the Sword Gourd after Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul, but a Righteous Qi Pillar descended and dragged the Nascent Soul back out of the void.

Xiao Hua defeated True Person Xiangtian, though the Righteous Qi Pillar swept Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul away before Xiao Hua could determine whether he had truly died. Xiao Hua rescued Xu Tingzi and nine Golden Core cultivators, then offered to take them under his protection as they faced death on Yaotai Mountain.

• The Righteous Qi Pillar swept True Person Xiangtian’s Nascent Soul through a closing fissure, leaving Xiao Hua unsure whether Xiangtian was dead or alive.
• Xiao Hua sent True Person Yuanqing and the other four Nascent Soul cultivators to search for treasures, then considered the incomplete magic treasures he carried.
• Xiao Hua found Xu Tingzi’s Heaven Shaking Hammer and discovered that Xu Tingzi and nine Golden Core cultivators had survived, though all were gravely wounded.
• Xiao Hua gave Xu Tingzi and the nine cultivators pills that helped them recover enough to awaken, and Xu Tingzi told them their blood oaths had transferred to Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua offered to preserve the nine cultivators’ lives and support their future cultivation if they pledged loyalty to him.

Xiao Hua took Pan Yue, the other Golden Core cultivators, and Xu Tingzi into the Mountain River Seal, then worried that breaking a Star Lord imperial formation and killing a Star Lord had exposed him to Kong Hongwu. In Star Lord Palace, Kong Hongwu watched lights fall from the Twenty-Eight Mansions into the river below, until the Bi'an constellation flared and the nearby starry river began to churn.

• Xiao Hua gave Pan Yue and the others pills to help them re-condense their Golden Cores, then took them into the Mountain River Seal to cultivate.
• Xu Tingzi asked Xiao Hua to take him into the Mountain River Seal and warned him that two Nascent Souls had vanished after their hosts died in the formation.
• Xiao Hua took Xu Tingzi inside, then worried that Kong Hongwu would retaliate for his breaking the imperial formation and killing a Star Lord.
• Kong Hongwu watched lights fall from the Twenty-Eight Mansions into the river beneath the starry sky, while Xiaoyun and the girl looked on.
• The Bi'an constellation suddenly blazed, and the nearby dragon-shaped river of stars began to whirl and crash toward the stars.

Kong Hongwu discovered that the Jing Mu An star array had been breached and sent a golden-armored divine being into the starry sky. Meanwhile, Xiao Hua secured the National Teacher's token and, having decided not to continue through Yaotai Mountain, asked the cultivators about the Heavenly Soul, Earthly Essence, and Human Vitality.

• Kong Hongwu realized that Old Man Hongmeng had sent Xiao Hua to disrupt the Star Lord Palace, then summoned a golden-armored divine being and sent it into the starry sky.
• Xiao Hua burned True Person Xiangtian's corpse, collected his belongings, and took the Cold Plum Flying Sword.
• True Person Jingting found the jade box, and Xiao Hua told him the National Teacher's token would be his while the other contents would belong to Jingting.
• Xiao Hua accepted gifts from True Person Yuanqing and the other Nascent Soul cultivators, then claimed the Suanni-shaped National Teacher's token from the jade box.
• Xiao Hua announced that he would wait for the Yaotai Gathering to end rather than continue onward, then asked which cultivator knew about the Heavenly Soul, Earthly Essence, and Human Vitality.

Xiao Hua followed True Person Jingting to a hidden protective formation as the Star Lord Palace drew every cultivator into a spreading blood-red light filled with exotic treasures. There, Jingting revealed that he had attended the Yaotai Gathering thirteen times without ever obtaining a National Teacher's token, and that spite had kept him returning after his original chance to found a nation was lost.

• True Person Jingting offered to lead Xiao Hua to a place within Yaotai Mountain in exchange for a share of what they found there.
• A blood-red meteor streaked from Yaotai Mountain, and the Star Lord Palace's rosy light spread across the sky as jade caskets and cultivators vanished into it.
• Xiao Hua urged the others to enter the light, then followed True Person Jingting while True Person Yuanqing chose to stay with him.
• True Person Jingting led Xiao Hua and True Person Yuanqing to a sandbar where three streams met, identifying it as the location of the human essence.
• True Person Jingting revealed that he had attended twelve previous Yaotai Gatherings without obtaining a National Teacher's token and had continued out of spite after the general he once hoped to help abandoned him.

Xiao Hua, True Person Yuanqing, and True Person Jingting entered the sandbar’s defensive formation after a demon beast inside briefly opened a breach. They found Nascent Soul cultivators restraining the beast and threatening an injured woman, while two familiar rivals, True Person Xifan and True Person Chu Feng, watched them with mockery.

• True Person Jingting explained how he had first entered the sandbar and offered to serve Xiao Hua in exchange for his protection.
• Xiao Hua accepted Jingting’s offer, then sensed an aura breaking through the defensive formation and dragged Jingting and Yuanqing toward it.
• Xiao Hua forced open the breach and discovered a Daoist formation concealing a sandbar where cultivators were restraining a huge rabbit-like demon beast.
• Xiao Hua recognized True Person Xifan and True Person Chu Feng among the cultivators surrounding the beast and an injured woman.
• The demon beast roared and struggled against its restraints as Xiao Hua’s group entered the formation.

Xiao Hua intervened when Fairy Jing and her demon beast were besieged, then clashed with the late Nascent Soul cultivators who emerged from the spell formations. The battle escalated as his attack shook the defensive formation.

• True Person Jingting revealed that he knew Fairy Jing, and Xiao Hua chose to watch rather than immediately help her.
• Fairy Jing called out to True Person Jingting, prompting True Person Chu Feng and True Person Xifan to challenge Xiao Hua and claim they were upholding the Daoist sect's righteousness.
• Xiao Hua pretended to leave, then struck True Person Chu Feng and True Person Xifan with a golden palm, freeing Fairy Jing's demon beast from its restraints.
• A black-armored cultivator and other Nascent Soul cultivators emerged from the spell formations, and True Lord Huode and two others attacked Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua shattered the crimson fist and restrained another attack, but the whisk in the rosy mist destroyed one of his fingers.
• The black-armored cultivator raised an iron spike, and Xiao Hua abruptly retreated as a violent impact shook the defensive formation.

Xiao Hua avenged True Person Jingting by crushing True Person Chu Feng and True Person Xifan, then clashed with True Lord Huode and the cultivators beside him. The battle paused when Fairy Jing spotted True Person Jingting’s surviving Nascent Soul near the edge of the formation.

• True Person Chu Feng used a powerful diamond-shaped magical treasure to kill True Person Jingting and injure True Person Yuanqing, while Xiao Hua rushed toward the blast.
• Xiao Hua crushed True Person Chu Feng and True Person Xifan’s physical bodies, then used the Spirit Severing Primordial Light to extinguish True Person Chu Feng’s Nascent Soul.
• Xiao Hua let True Person Xifan’s Nascent Soul fall into the mist below, where the Star Lord Palace’s force overwhelmed it, while True Lord Huode attacked with his fire gourd.
• Xiao Hua’s Spirit Severing Primordial Light clashed with True Lord Huode’s crimson flame, and Xiao Hua warned Shui Ming and the others not to interfere.
• The Xuanjia cultivator attacked Xiao Hua, who used the Sea-Overturning Seal to suppress his small halberd.
• Fairy Jing spotted True Person Jingting’s surviving Nascent Soul at the edge of the formation, and Xiao Hua realized it had only been knocked unconscious.

Xiao Hua failed to save True Person Jingting's Nascent Soul from the Star Lord Palace's defensive array and received the supposed Human Vitality from Fairy Jing, discovering that it was actually a Mother-Child Spirit Fruit. As the array forced the remaining cultivators out, Xiao Hua and green-robed Xiao Hua discussed the danger threatening Nascent Souls and the mystery behind the array.

• Xiao Hua tried to shield True Person Jingting's Nascent Soul, but the Righteous Qi Pillar swept it away before he could intervene.
• True Lord Huode, the Xuanjia cultivator, Cultivator Shui Ming, and the other cultivators were carried off by the blood-red radiance as the defensive array sealed.
• Fairy Jing gave Xiao Hua the Human Vitality, and Xiao Hua recognized the fruit as a Mother-Child Spirit Fruit after recalling Cai Zhuoxia's description.
• Xiao Hua took Fairy Jing's Ink Cloud Pupil but returned the jade box and told her to leave, while she gave him the location of her cave abode and named her demonic beast Ying Huo.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua told Xiao Hua that a powerful force threatened any Nascent Soul leaving the body, and that neither of them could break the array or rescue True Person Jingting.

Xiao Hua realized the Star Lord Palace intended to kill nearly all the cultivators at Yaotai Mountain and sent green-robed Xiao Hua into the imperial formation to find a way to survive. Xiao Hua was trapped in the formation’s blood-colored glow, and his weakening connection to green-robed Xiao Hua left him fearing something had gone wrong.

• Xiao Hua and green-robed Xiao Hua concluded that the Star Lord Palace planned to eliminate the cultivators at Yaotai Mountain and that they needed to find a flaw in the imperial formation.
• Xiao Hua urged green-robed Xiao Hua to enter the formation, and green-robed Xiao Hua reluctantly chose the Nascent Soul of a mid-Nascent Soul stage cultivator as his body.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua took the Ice Mirror, obtained the Kunlun Mirror from True Person Xifan’s Cosmic Bag, and absorbed Xiao Hua’s two-colored spiritual flame to refine the mirror.
• The imperial formation seized green-robed Xiao Hua and then drew Xiao Hua into the blood-colored glow, sealing much of his power and senses.
• As Xiao Hua traveled upward within the glow, he sensed that green-robed Xiao Hua’s Righteous Qi Pillar was weakening and realized something was wrong.

Xiao Hua entered a void formation and was transported into a star-filled sky, where True Lord Huode, Ao Zhantian, Shui Mingzi, and dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators surrounded him. Accused of being a Confucian spy, Xiao Hua gave them a chance to leave and counted down as they stayed to confront him.

• Xiao Hua sensed that green-robed Xiao Hua had vanished but felt he was not yet in danger.
• Xiao Hua realized he was inside the void, was suddenly transported to a starry red sky, and repelled an ambush with his As-You-Wish Staff.
• True Lord Huode, Ao Zhantian, Shui Mingzi, and several dozen Nascent Soul cultivators surrounded Xiao Hua and accused him of infiltrating the Daoist sect as a Confucian spy.
• Xiao Hua denied the accusation, explained his plans to revive the Daoist sect, and demanded that the cultivators withdraw.
• True Lord Huode and Ao Zhantian dismissed Xiao Hua’s warning as a bluff, while the surrounding cultivators stayed silent as he counted down to two.

Xiao Hua fought True Lord Huode and dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators, using Dragon Vein Xiao Hua’s Five Qi True Thunder to break their attack. The clash left his Nascent Soul weakened, and True Lord Huode revealed that he had been targeting Xiao Hua’s sword gourd.

• Xiong Yi tried to flee the encirclement, but True Lord Huode attacked him as Xiao Hua counted down and struck Huode’s fire shuttle with lightning.
• Xiao Hua let Dragon Vein Xiao Hua control his Nascent Soul, and Dragon Vein Xiao Hua used powerful lightning to destroy two cultivators’ magic treasures.
• Xiao Hua sent the Spirit Severing Primordial Light at True Lord Huode, who rallied the cultivators into a combined attack and called on Shui Mingzi and Ao Zhantian to assist him.
• Dragon Vein Xiao Hua summoned Five Qi True Thunder and damaged the life-bound magic treasures of dozens of Nascent Soul cultivators, leaving Xiao Hua’s Nascent Soul badly weakened.
• True Lord Huode’s fire gourd destroyed the Spirit Severing Primordial Light and reached for Xiao Hua’s sword gourd, revealing that the sword gourd had been his target.

Xiao Hua fought Shui Mingzi, Ao Zhantian, and True Lord Huode at once, using his Daoist treasures and Confucian techniques to overwhelm them. He disarmed and wounded True Lord Huode, then pressed his attack while the other battles continued.

• Xiao Hua sent the Sea-Overturning Seal and Divine Strength Centipede against Shui Mingzi and met Ao Zhantian’s dragon halberd with the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Xiao Hua recited Confucian verses that struck True Lord Huode with Righteous Qi and internal fire, forcing him to use Fire Qi Ascending to Origin.
• Ao Zhantian revealed his True Dragon bloodline as Xiao Hua drove him back with the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Shui Mingzi pierced the Sea-Overturning Seal’s phantom with his whisk, but Xiao Hua redirected his attack toward True Lord Huode.
• Xiao Hua severed part of True Lord Huode’s arm with golden scissors, stole his Fire Gourd, and attacked him with sword lights and the Spirit Severing Primordial Light.

Xiao Hua defeated Ao Zhantian’s blood dragon Dharma Body and forced him to swear a thousand-year oath of service, then demanded the same from the other Nascent Soul cultivators. He left Shui Mingzi under pressure and turned his attention to making the rest submit.

• True Lord Huode used a jade pendant to escape through an array, while Xiao Hua watched him vanish.
• Ao Zhantian unleashed his blood dragon Dharma Body, but Xiao Hua summoned his Golden Body and smashed the dragon with the As-You-Wish Staff.
• Xiao Hua held Spirit Severing Primordial Light over Ao Zhantian’s Nascent Soul and offered him the choice of death or a thousand years of service.
• Xiao Hua demanded that the Nascent Soul cultivators swear blood oaths, and Ao Zhantian swore first as the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors stopped a fleeing cultivator.
• Ao Zhantian’s oath mark entered Xiao Hua’s brow, while the Sea-Overturning Seal and Divine Strength Centipede continued to pursue Shui Mingzi.

Xiao Hua gathered Ao Zhantian, Shui Mingzi, and thirty-five Nascent Soul cultivators into his space as the Star Lord Palace’s imperial formation began collapsing. Fleeing the spreading torrents, he rescued Xiong Yi and continued searching for a way out.

• Xiao Hua took the blood oaths of several dozen Nascent Soul cultivators and sent them to surround Shui Mingzi, while Xiong Yi left and Ao Zhantian agreed to serve for a thousand years.
• Xiao Hua gave Shui Mingzi and Ao Zhantian ten-thousand-year-old ginseng spirits, then offered the other cultivators rewards after the Yaotai Gathering.
• As the imperial formation collapsed into blood-red torrents, Xiao Hua sent all thirty-five Nascent Soul cultivators, Ao Zhantian, and Shui Mingzi into his space for safety.
• Xiao Hua flew away from the collapsing formation and rescued Xiong Yi from the advancing torrent.

Xiao Hua learned that the defensive array had trapped scattered groups of cultivators, then took Xiong Yi into the Mountain River Seal. As blood-red streams began destroying the space and corroding his body, Xiao Hua found the array’s hidden exit and raced toward it with help from his Confucian cultivator self.

• Xiao Hua questioned Xiong Yi about True Lord Huode’s group and learned that Fairy Jing and True Person Yuanqing had not appeared in their part of the array.
• Xiao Hua accepted Xiong Yi’s offer to serve him and placed him inside the Mountain River Seal.
• Blood-red streams erupted through the space, destroyed Xiao Hua’s protective golden light, and began corroding his body with poison and Netherworld power.
• Xiao Hua realized that his earlier arrival point was a hidden passage between the array’s stars and identified it as his way out.
• Xiao Hua used Lightning Evasion to race toward the passage as the streams threatened to seal it.
• Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua answered Xiao Hua’s call and used armor-inscription lightning to greatly accelerate him toward the exit.

Xiao Hua escaped the defensive formation by forcing the Lightning Evasion Technique into the realm of Thunderous Three Realms, but the space fractures carried him into an unknown place. Meanwhile, True Lord Huode reached the Yaotai Gathering and tried to report Shangguan Yeran’s death to Lord Linghu, only to be condemned to execution for disturbing the central command tent.

• Xiao Hua used the Five Qi True Thunder to activate the Lightning Evasion Technique and break free from the defensive formation, then emerged amid crimson clouds and was caught up in another spatial passage.
• True Lord Huode used a jade pendant to enter the Yaotai Gathering and learned that Shangguan Yeran had perished and Jiao Mu Jiao was managing the area.
• True Lord Huode persuaded Zhou Hong to escort him toward Lord Linghu’s military camp with urgent news about Shangguan Yeran’s death.
• At the central command tent, True Lord Huode invoked his Star General Token, but Lord Linghu accused him of causing a disturbance and ordered his execution.
• Lord Linghu’s sword imprisoned the space around True Lord Huode and struck through the radiance he summoned to defend himself.

True Lord Huode entered Linghu Piran’s command tent to report news about Jing Mu An’s death, but learned that his Star General Token had been revoked and that Kong Hongwu no longer considered him a subordinate. He identified Xiao Hua as Jing Mu An’s killer, leaving Kong Hongwu and Linghu Piran focused on the revelation.

• Linghu Piran forced True Lord Huode and Zhou Hong into the command tent, where he accused Zhou Hong of violating military regulations by bringing in a Daoist cultivator.
• Linghu Piran ordered an investigation into Zhou Hong’s claim that he had never received notice of True Lord Huode’s revoked Star General Token, threatening death for whoever had delayed the order or lied.
• Linghu Piran summoned Kong Hongwu, who told True Lord Huode that he was no longer a Star General and could leave to seek his own opportunity on Yaotai Mountain.
• True Lord Huode offered to reveal secrets before entering the formation to die, then reported that he had seen a cultivator concealing his cultivation and that Jing Mu An had fallen within the imperial formation.
• True Lord Huode named Xiao Hua as the one who killed Jing Mu An, and Kong Hongwu reacted as if the revelation confirmed his suspicions.