Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua treated Zhi Ji’s poison and postponed deciding whether Xiao Jun should yield the throne, choosing to investigate Danliang Kingdom first. On the way, he revealed that he had brought numerous survivors of Yaotai Mountain out in the Mountain River Seal, leaving Fairy Jing and Xu Tingzi astonished.

• Xiao Jun admitted that he had disliked Zhi Ji’s facial affliction but remained devoted to her, and Xiao Hua promised not to kill him while reserving judgment on the throne.
• Xiao Hua identified Zhi Ji’s condition as poison caused by yin insects from bamboo hearts and said he could cure it, prompting Xiao Jun to kneel and beg him to act.
• Xiao Hua explained to Fairy Jing that he needed to visit Danliang Kingdom to learn what its people chose and to investigate Xiao Jian’s claims.
• Xiao Hua set up the Duotian Star Array and released Xu Tingzi and the Nine Golden Cores from the Mountain River Seal, introducing them to Fairy Jing and his disciples.
• Xiao Hua told Xu Tingzi and Fairy Jing that few cultivators had survived Yaotai Mountain, then released Shui Mingzi, Ao Zhantian, and several dozen Golden Core cultivators from the seal.

Xiao Hua gathered the rescued Daoist cultivators and explained that the Yaotai Gathering had been a Star Lord Palace trap, then invited them to seek the joy of cultivation together at Black Wind Ridge. Most departed with directions to meet him a year later, while several Golden Core cultivators asked to join his sect and Xiao Hua accepted them as registered disciples for now.

• Xiao Hua brought more than thirty Nascent Soul cultivators and dozens of Golden Core cultivators out of the Mountain River Seal, astonishing Fairy Jing and the others.
• The rescued cultivators thanked Xiao Hua, and he explained that Confucian cultivators had arranged the Yaotai Mountain gathering to slaughter Daoist sect cultivators.
• Xiao Hua invited the cultivators to gather at Black Wind Ridge and seek the joy of cultivation together; Shui Mingzi, Ao Zhantian, and the others agreed to go.
• Xiao Hua gave out jade slips with directions and his message, opened the Duotian Star Array, and watched Ao Zhantian and the other cultivators depart.
• After the Golden Core cultivators asked to join his sect, Xiao Hua agreed to accept them as registered disciples while he assessed their temperaments.

Xiao Hua accepted Xiong Yi as his first Nascent Soul disciple and sent him to Black Wind Ridge to help establish the Jiang Kingdom. Xu Tingzi warned Xiao Hua that his growing influence would draw the attention of Kong Hongwu and the Confucian cultivators, then challenged him about Xiong Yi’s plans.

• Xiao Hua explained to Xiong Yi that cultivators could pursue different forms of joy, and Xiong Yi said he wanted to fight Confucian cultivators and strengthen the Daoist sect.
• Xiong Yi chose to become Xiao Hua’s disciple, and Xiao Hua accepted him after considering his resolve and ambition.
• Xiao Hua introduced Xiong Yi to Chang Yu, Wu Tian, and the other Golden Core disciples as their senior brother.
• Xiao Hua gave Xiong Yi a jade slip and ordered him to assist Li Xiang and the others in establishing the Jiang Kingdom at Black Wind Ridge.
• Xiong Yi led the Golden Core disciples away, while Xu Tingzi admitted he feared the Star Lord Palace would retaliate against Xiao Hua’s growing movement.
• Xu Tingzi asked why Xiao Hua had accepted Xiong Yi if he claimed he did not intend to oppose the Confucian cultivators.

Xiao Hua let Xu Tingzi leave after offering him time to decide whether to cooperate, then traveled toward the Danliang Kingdom with Fairy Jing. As Xiao Hua explained his plans and his hopes for Daoist cultivators, an unknown divine sense began surveilling them.

• Xiao Hua told Xu Tingzi he could return to his cave dwelling to consider cooperating, and Xu Tingzi departed in fear after witnessing Xiao Hua kill Jing Mu An.
• Xiao Hua retrieved jade talismans and set out for the Danliang Kingdom with Fairy Jing, who used a flying boat because her mount Ying Huo was injured.
• Fairy Jing asked why Xiao Hua had chosen her, and he admitted he had needed to conceal his injuries and had used her as bait to lure hostile cultivators.
• Xiao Hua explained that he suspected someone who had once received his help wanted to harm him, though he doubted the person would dare attack while he was injured.
• Xiao Hua promised Fairy Jing that Daoist cultivators would someday have a place to cultivate freely, and explained that the Yaotai Gathering deserters lacked the resolve of Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren's alliance.
• A strand of divine sense swept over Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing, circled Xiao Hua, and quickly withdrew.

Xiao Hua traveled with Fairy Jing while True Person Yuanqing joined them and sought his cultivation guidance. After three days, Yuanqing revealed his betrayal and fled as two mounted cultivators emerged from the chasm to ambush Xiao Hua.

• Fairy Jing identified the approaching cultivator as True Person Yuanqing, who joined the flying boat and said he had searched for Xiao Hua after the Yaotai Gathering.
• Xiao Hua and Yuanqing discussed the Yaotai Mountain disaster, the fate of Nascent Souls whose bodies had been destroyed, and the cultivators who had died there.
• Xiao Hua gave Yuanqing and Fairy Jing detailed instruction on mid-Nascent Soul cultivation during their three-day journey.
• As the flying boat crossed a mist-filled chasm, Yuanqing thanked Xiao Hua, transformed into a rainbow, and fled, declaring that Xiao Hua's road had ended.
• Xiao Hua remained calm as Zhen Tiancang, carrying a red-faced cultivator, and a crimson leopard carrying a short cultivator emerged from the abyss.

Xiao Hua exposed True Person Yuanqing’s betrayal and learned that the four cultivators planned to kill him as a letter of allegiance to the Confucian cultivators. As the ambush closed in, Fairy Jing stood between Xiao Hua and the attackers, and Xiao Hua recognized that they had chosen beasts to counter their companions.

• Xiao Hua accused True Person Yuanqing of manipulating events at the Yaotai Gathering and revealed that Yuanqing had been nearby when Fairy Jing rescued him.
• True Person Yuanqing persuaded Hai Hongzi and the others that Xiao Hua had lost his cultivation, then declared that killing him would free them from the Confucian cultivators’ restrictions.
• True Person Yuanqing said Xiao Hua’s head would serve as their letter of allegiance and called him the second Ancestor Hongmeng.
• Xiao Hua identified Zhen Tiancang and the rainbow panther as counters to his Spirit Seeking Rat and Fairy Jing’s Ying Huo, while Fairy Jing stepped in front of him.
• The cultivators threatened Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing, and Xiao Hua remarked that Yuanqing’s elaborate ambush made him a talented man he would regret killing.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing faced an ambush by True Person Yuanqing, Hai Hongzi, and two other Nascent Soul cultivators. Xiao Hua revealed his formidable swordsmanship and divine sense, killed their demonic beasts and defeated the four cultivators, capturing their Nascent Souls.

• Fairy Jing shielded herself and Xiao Hua with her treasures, while Xiao Hua summoned Little Silver and the Divine Strength Centipede to meet the attackers' beasts.
• True Person Yuanqing, Hai Hongzi, and the other two cultivators attacked Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing from four sides.
• Xiao Hua unleashed four enormous sword attacks, damaged True Person Yuanqing's halberd, split Hai Hongzi's treasure, and shattered the other cultivators' Nascent Soul hands.
• Little Silver killed the Rainbow Leopard, and the Divine Strength Centipede cleaved Zhen Tiancang in two.
• As the four cultivators tried to flee, Xiao Hua restrained them with his divine sense and struck them with Divine Thought Hammers.
• Xiao Hua destroyed the four cultivators' bodies, captured True Person Yuanqing's Nascent Soul, searched the other three Nascent Souls, and stored them in the Mountain River Seal.

Fairy Jing revealed that her bloodline carried demon ancestry and that her Heart Shell was a magic treasure only she could refine. Xiao Hua exchanged old human essence with her and asked her to identify an object from a jade slip, leaving her promising to search for it and send news directly to him.

• Fairy Jing praised Xiao Hua's Light Feather Unicorn Horse, and Xiao Hua offered to refine her magic treasure as an apology, but she explained that only she could refine it.
• Fairy Jing admitted that demons' blood flowed through her veins, and Xiao Hua accepted her without judgment.
• Fairy Jing showed Xiao Hua her Heart Shell, whose runes and three-colored light reminded him of demon-beast bones and the seven-colored conch.
• Xiao Hua exchanged his golden human essence for Fairy Jing's smaller supply, which she said she needed for the Heart Shell.
• Xiao Hua gave Fairy Jing a jade slip to identify, and she said she had never seen the object but would search for it and send any news directly to him.

Xiao Hua told Fairy Jing about Xue Xue, his place on the Xuanhuang List, and his plans to investigate Xiao Jian in Danliang Kingdom. As their journey continued, Fairy Jing asked whether Xiao Hua knew stories about Ancestor Hongmeng from twenty thousand years ago.

• Fairy Jing asked who had become Xiao Hua’s dual-cultivation companion, and Xiao Hua recounted his relationship with Xue Xue.
• Xiao Hua told Fairy Jing that he had entered the Yellow Ranking of the Xuanhuang List and suspected Tongzhu Kingdom was behind it.
• Xiao Hua explained that he was going to Danliang Kingdom to uncover the truth about Xiao Jian and protect Jiang Kingdom’s restoration.
• Fairy Jing said Yuan Ya’s hopes of being with Butterfly Dance were complicated by Butterfly Dance’s identity as a princess, then asked to accompany Xiao Hua somewhere after their trip to Danliang Kingdom.
• Fairy Jing asked Xiao Hua about stories concerning Ancestor Hongmeng before he wreaked havoc in the Immortal Palace, and Xiao Hua asked how she knew of them.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing reached Danliang Kingdom and stopped to investigate a group of monks working in the fields. Xiao Hua met the farmer monk Chonghong and began chatting with him about monastic life and Buddhist precepts.

• Fairy Jing guided Xiao Hua to Danliang Kingdom after their half-month journey toward Yaotai Mountain.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing admired Danliang Kingdom’s prosperous countryside and decided to stop and explore in disguise.
• Xiao Hua spotted monks farming rice terraces and descended with Fairy Jing to investigate.
• Xiao Hua greeted the elderly monk Chonghong, who explained that he had only recently become a monk and farmed to earn his food.
• Chonghong praised Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing as a fortunate couple, then said he had given up smoking to observe Buddhist precepts.

Xiao Hua questioned Old Monk Chonghong about Danliang Kingdom’s farming monks and learned how Chenghui Temple supported the poor and cared for the vulnerable. Chonghong led Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing up Centipede Ridge to meet the temple’s abbot.

• Xiao Hua asked Chonghong why Danliang’s monks farmed and learned that Chonghong had become a monk after war scattered his family and left him alone.
• Chonghong described how Chenghui Temple cared for elderly monks, orphans, and struggling people, prompting Xiao Hua to praise the kingdom’s welfare and seek its Buddhist Imperial Preceptor.
• Chonghong blamed former ruler Xiao Jian for the war that devastated his village and separated his family, then said Danliang had enjoyed peace for years under Buddha’s protection.
• Xiao Hua asked Chonghong to take him to Chenghui Temple’s abbot, and Chonghong led him and Fairy Jing through the temple’s cultivated lands on Centipede Ridge.
• A middle-aged monk in a worn moon-white robe met Chonghong on the path, and Chonghong introduced Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing as visitors seeking the temple.

Xiao Hua visited Chenghui Temple and learned how its monks cultivated Centipede Ridge and shared its produce with the poor. He waited in a pine grove while an old monk chanted the Vimalakirti Sutra, leaving Fairy Jing outside to wonder whether he had found a Buddhist expert.

• Jiandong explained that Chenghui Temple used Centipede Ridge to grow crops for the temple and surrounding villagers, including famine refugees.
• Jiandong told Fairy Jing that women could not enter the temple, so Xiao Hua asked her to wait outside while he met the abbot.
• A young novice led Xiao Hua past the temple buildings to an old monk chanting the Vimalakirti Sutra in a pine grove.
• Xiao Hua listened silently for two hours as the old monk continued chanting, while Jiandong visited and left without disturbing him.
• Fairy Jing declined Jiandong's food and wondered whether Xiao Hua had found a Buddhist expert inside the temple.

Xiao Hua visited Chenghui Temple and debated Buddhism with its abbot, Shen Ku, whose views on cultivation and helping ordinary people impressed him. He continued exploring temples in Danliang Kingdom while a Buddhist light from Chenghui Temple flew toward the capital.

• A storm struck Centipede Ridge, and the monks set up a tent to shelter Fairy Jing while Shen Ku continued chanting in the rain.
• After the storm, Shen Ku questioned Xiao Hua, who explained his curiosity about Chenghui Temple and challenged the abbot about its work among the villagers.
• Shen Ku described cultivation through daily labor and helping people, and Xiao Hua praised his reasoning before departing with Fairy Jing.
• Xiao Hua told Fairy Jing that Chenghui Temple's Buddhist disciples were unusual and said he wanted to investigate further before visiting the Imperial Preceptor.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing visited other temples where monks farmed, while a beam of Buddhist light departed Chenghui Temple for Danliang Kingdom's capital.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing discovered that monks were blocking the way to Danliang Kingdom’s capital and suspected Xiao Jun had warned them of their arrival. Xiao Hua pushed past the groups of monks while demanding to see Xiao Jun, and the chapter ended with another elderly monk telling him to turn back.

• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing concluded that Danliang Kingdom’s prosperity had not made it strong enough to defend itself from neighboring Confucian cultivator countries, which explained Xiao Jun’s journey to Yaotai Mountain.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing encountered groups of Buddhist monks blocking the route to Danliang Kingdom’s capital and reciting scriptures.
• Xiao Hua questioned the monks, but they refused to let him proceed and insisted that he turn back.
• Xiao Hua forced his way past the monks and asked whether Xiao Jun had returned, knocking one monk aside when he would not answer directly.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing considered whether Xiao Jun had warned the monks, while Xiao Hua continued toward the capital and met a withered old monk who told him to return.

Xiao Hua confronted State Preceptor Jingyi in Danliang Kingdom and learned that Jingyi had been blocking him to prevent turmoil, not because Xiao Jun was there. Jingyi’s explanation of his ascetic service to the kingdom left Xiao Hua questioning his motives, and Jingyi dismissed both Xiao Jian and Xiao Jun as mere dung and earth.

• Xiao Hua gave up questioning the old monk who guarded the road and flew toward Danliang Kingdom’s capital with Fairy Jing.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing reached the capital, where Buddhist senses detected them before Jingyi and Jingkou came out to meet them.
• Jingyi insisted that the person Xiao Hua sought was not in Danliang Kingdom and said he had barred Xiao Hua to keep the kingdom out of future disputes.
• Xiao Hua recognized Jingyi as an Ascetic Dhuta, and Jingyi explained that serving as State Preceptor was his way of enduring the world’s suffering and helping Danliang Kingdom’s people.
• Jingyi called Xiao Jian and Xiao Jun dung and earth, leaving Xiao Hua nearly speechless.

Xiao Hua discovered that the powerful Buddhist monk Jingyi had tried to keep hidden was the figure whose likeness appeared in the Cihang statue at Changsheng Town. After meeting the monk, Xiao Hua explained that he had come to Danliang Kingdom to verify what Xiao Jian and Xiao Jun had told him, not to seek the monk.

• Xiao Hua seized Jingyi and demanded to know who he was being prevented from meeting, prompting the hidden Grandmaster to summon him from a distant mountain.
• Jingyi and Jingkou warned their Grandmaster that revealing himself was a trap, while Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing agreed to visit him despite learning he was a seventh-grade Yuan force expert.
• Jingyi explained that the mountain had been donated by King Xiao Jun and led Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing to the cave where the Grandmaster meditated.
• The Grandmaster turned around, and Xiao Hua recognized him as the monk depicted by the Cihang statue at Jiangchao Temple, realizing he had met the true Cihang.
• Xiao Hua explained that he had come to check whether Xiao Jian or Xiao Jun was lying and described how he had learned about the monk from events in Changsheng Town.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing met Master Cixiang, who explained that he was not Cihang and then expounded the Dharma for eighty-one days. After a miraculous display of Buddhist light, Xiao Hua shared his understanding, and the group visited Danliang Kingdom’s capital to resolve his doubts about Xiao Jun.

• Xiao Hua told Cixiang he had concealed his identity because he feared being silenced, and Cixiang explained that someone had used his appearance in Changsheng Town.
• Xiao Hua asked about Cixiang’s reflections on the mortal body and sarira, prompting Cixiang to invite Jingyi and Jingkou inside and expound the Dharma.
• Cixiang’s eighty-one-day Dharma exposition triggered radiant Buddhist phenomena across the mountain, and Fairy Jing found herself unable to move.
• Cixiang asked Xiao Hua whether he had understood, and Xiao Hua answered with an allegory about a lamp, its stand, and the light it cast.
• Xiao Hua, Fairy Jing, Jingyi, and Jingkou went to the capital of Danliang Kingdom, where Xiao Hua resolved his doubts about Xiao Jun and learned of his humble life with Queen Zhi Ji.
• Xiao Hua thanked Jingyi and offered him a huge Cosmic Bag as a token of appreciation.

After Master Cixiang entered nirvana, Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing traveled across Cangxian Continent toward a hidden place she had long wanted to visit. When they reached a desolate valley, Fairy Jing began telling Xiao Hua the story of a girl who loved cultivation.

• Master Jingyi accepted Xiao Hua’s Cosmic Bag of rice after learning it was for Xiao Jun and the people of Danliang Kingdom, then sensed that Master Cixiang had entered nirvana.
• Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing left the area, and Xiao Hua gave her another Cosmic Bag filled with rice.
• Fairy Jing reminded Xiao Hua of his promise to accompany her somewhere before going to the Secret Realm, and Xiao Hua agreed to follow her there first.
• During their month-long journey, Xiao Hua’s internal cultivation progressed as Bodhi, green-robed Xiao Hua, and Soul Cultivator Xiao Hua worked on their respective tasks.
• Fairy Jing led Xiao Hua to a valley in a barren desert, where she began telling him about a girl who loved cultivation.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing reunited with Fu Zhiwen, who explained that his family had cast him out for refusing to abandon his wife. At Fu Zhiwen’s hut, he revealed a strange crystal that Fairy Jing identified as a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal.

• Fairy Jing confessed her feelings for Xiao Hua, but Fu Zhiwen’s arrival interrupted their conversation before Xiao Hua answered.
• Xiao Hua told Fu Zhiwen that he had investigated Xiao Jian and was disappointed in him, though he still planned to help the Princess of Jiang Kingdom establish her kingdom.
• Fu Zhiwen explained that his father had expelled him from the Fu Family because he chose to stay with his wife, and Fairy Jing gave him a magic treasure.
• Fu Zhiwen brought Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing to his hut, where he explained that he had first met his wife there and showed them a crystal stored in Xiao Hua’s Lightning Derivation Wood box.
• Fairy Jing recognized the object as a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal and stopped Xiao Hua from touching it.

Xiao Hua and Fairy Jing learned that Fu Zhiwen’s wife was imprisoned inside a Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal, and Fairy Jing warned him of the danger of keeping it. Fu Zhiwen explained how he met Youtan and began searching for her, then described their reunion before recounting how she warned him away.

• Fairy Jing explained that the Heavenly Punishment Prisoner Crystal was an Immortal Palace punishment and warned that trying to open it could bring deadly reprisals.
• Fu Zhiwen insisted that he would never abandon his wife, while Xiao Hua encouraged him to tell their story.
• Fu Zhiwen recounted meeting Youtan, a woman who claimed to be a mountain spirit, and fleeing after she transformed and was struck by lightning.
• Unable to forget Youtan, Fu Zhiwen returned to the mountain, searched for her, and carved passages into the stone wall where she had appeared.
• Youtan returned a year later and prepared to attack Fu Zhiwen, but stopped when he offered himself without fear and saw the passages he had made.
• After they reunited, Youtan warned Fu Zhiwen that she was unlike ordinary humans and had given herself to other men before him.