Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua and the others investigated the mysterious Yunshan Illusion Array, while the Daoist and Confucian formation experts searched for a way to understand it. Xiao Hua found the array’s hidden structure but no way to break it, and Gongshu Yixin announced that she had figured out how.

• Zhang Daoran asked the cultivators to determine the formation’s identity, and Xunkong Shangren and Zhang Daoran set out to inspect it while Zhai Xingzi went to find Gongshu Yixin.
• Xiao Hua led Xue Ping and the others around the mountain, explaining formation principles and clarifying that his lessons did not reveal how to break the Yunshan Illusion Array.
• Xiao Hua examined the formation with his dharma eye and saw a gold-and-green egg-shaped radiance restrained by chains and a flowing green band.
• Xiao Hua followed the flow of the green radiance and realized something about the array, but Zhai Xingzi told him that Gongshu Yixin had already found a way to break it.
• Xiao Hua returned and found Xunkong Shangren and the others gathered around Gongshu Yixin.

Gongshu Yixin and Xunkong Shangren examined the Jade Mountain Illusion Array and identified two fused formations protecting Canglangzi's cave abode, though Gongshu claimed they were only part of a larger array. She demanded a share of the cave's treasures in exchange for breaking the formations, and negotiations stalled when she refused to lower her terms.

• Gongshu Yixin asked Xiao Hua and Xunkong Shangren what they had discovered about the Jade Mountain Illusion Array.
• Xunkong Shangren explained that the Nine Dragon Bone Lock Great Formation and the concealed Nine Yin Demon Subduing Array had to be broken simultaneously to reveal the cave abode.
• Gongshu Yixin said the two formations made up only thirty to forty percent of the full array and announced that she would set conditions before helping break it.
• Gongshu Yixin demanded first selection of formation-related items and fifty percent of the other treasures besides cultivation methods.
• Xunkong Shangren rejected her demand and proposed that the Daoist cultivators take most of the spoils, while Gu Suqiudi offered to give up her share so Gongshu could receive thirty percent.
• Gongshu Yixin refused to bargain and said she could call powerful cultivators from her family to help break the array.

Gongshu Yixin explained that the Yunshan Illusion Array contained two outer Daoist formations and inner Yuan and Buddhist formations, while Xiao Hua revealed that he understood more than he had admitted. She then reasoned that Canglangzi’s cave abode must move while its formations were active, hiding their energy fluctuations.

• Xiao Hua warned Gongshu Yixin that fifth-rank cultivators could not withstand the inner formation and demanded a thirty-percent share if they wanted his help.
• Gu Suqiudi encouraged Gongshu Yixin to explain her discoveries, and Gongshu Yixin admitted that Xiao Hua had guessed the array’s layered structure.
• Gongshu Yixin identified the outer formations as the Profound Clarity Spirit Sealing Great Formation and the Azure Falls Spring Surge Formation, which imprisoned formation spirits and worked together.
• Gongshu Yixin revealed that the array also contained an inner Yuan formation and a Buddhist formation, and said she could prevent the Yuan formation from activating while they broke the outer formations.
• Xiao Hua quietly prompted Xunkong Shangren to send Geng Metal toward a point in the formation.
• Gongshu Yixin deduced that Canglangzi’s cave abode moved while its formations were active, allowing it to absorb Primordial Qi and Vast Righteous Qi without revealing its location.

Gongshu Yixin identified the Yunshan Illusion Array’s weakest point and explained that its inner formations included ancient Daoist, Confucian, and Buddhist arrays. The group learned that the Confucian Origin Formation was called Golden Wind Jade Dew, but Gongshu Yixin had not yet explained how to break it or what the Buddhist formation was.

• Gongshu Yixin explained that the Yunshan Illusion Array had likely moved from Yongzhou and that its power had greatly weakened over time, giving the group a strong chance of breaking it.
• Spirit Monkey Chang Geng reacted with excitement and fear near the formation, and Gongshu Yixin used the Clear Sight Technique to locate the array’s most damaged spot.
• Gongshu Yixin said Chang Geng had found a place where they could see the inner Origin Formation and Buddhist formation, and Xunkong Shangren jokingly asked her to reward his demon pet.
• Gongshu Yixin identified the inner Origin Formation as an ancient formation preserved by the Gongshu family and named it Golden Wind Jade Dew.
• Gongshu Yixin described the Golden Wind Jade Dew formation’s effects, and Xunkong Shangren asked her to explain how to break it and identify the Buddhist formation.

Gongshu Yixin analyzed the Yunshan Illusion Array and assigned the cultivators to suppress its linked formations. After sending them to their positions, she found that Gu Suqiudi lacked the cold-water weapon or Buddhist artifact she needed.

• Gongshu Yixin said she was sixty percent certain she could break the inner primordial and Buddhist formations, then used eighty-one formation plates to inspect the Yunshan Illusion Array.
• After studying the formation for a day and night, Gongshu Yixin assigned Xunkong Shangren and Zhang Daoran to suppress the eastern and western formations, while Xiao Hua and Zhai Xingzi guarded the North Pole and South Pole.
• Xiao Hua showed Gongshu Yixin his earth-attributed Sea-Overturning Seal, and she accepted it for suppressing the formation despite its unsuitable attribute.
• Gongshu Yixin directed Fu Zhiwen and the other cultivators to join the seniors at their assigned positions, then asked Gu Suqiudi for a cold-water weapon or Buddhist artifact.
• Gu Suqiudi had neither, and Gongshu Yixin said that this would make the next step troublesome.

Gongshu Yixin prepared Gu Suqiudi and the others to counter the formations in Canglangzi’s cave abode as the ancient array began to awaken. Xunkong Shangren and Zhang Daoran fought its rising forces while Xiao Hua used the Sea-Overturning Seal to suppress one corner, exposing gaps in the formation.

• Gongshu Yixin obtained three drops of Innate True Water from Xiao Hua and warned Gu Suqiudi that the inner formations would erupt when the outer arrays were suppressed.
• Gongshu Yixin and Gu Suqiudi took positions apart from each other as dawn approached and prepared their magical artifacts.
• Xunkong Shangren used the Crimson Flame Stone to seize a blazing aura that rose from the formation, while Chang Geng tried to approach it.
• Zhang Daoran resisted the formation’s icy and yin forces, but Xiao Hua warned him not to act rashly; Zhang then used the Chilling Phantom Gall and his beast-shaped treasure to defend himself and strike back.
• The formation shook violently, hurling Xunkong Shangren and Zhang Daoran into the air as mountains and a river erupted with intertwined yin and yang energy.
• Xiao Hua sent the Sea-Overturning Seal down to suppress one corner of the formation, forcing the mountain ridges back into place and revealing thousands of gaps in the eroded array.

Xiao Hua and the others suppressed the Yunshan Illusion Array while Gongshu Yixin and Gu Suqiudi blocked its central formations. The formation suddenly counterattacked, forcing the cultivators to unleash their Nascent Soul Dharma Bodies as the heavens changed dramatically.

• Xiao Hua, Xunkong Shangren, Zhang Daoran, and Zhai Xingzi suppressed the great formation from its four poles as a crack opened between Gu Suqiudi and Gongshu Yixin.
• Gongshu Yixin used her magical artifact to form a mountain of literature that restrained the Origin Formation, while Gu Suqiudi poured Innate True Water into the Buddhist formation.
• The formation's power surged back, and Xiao Hua warned Fu Zhiwen, Xue Ping, and the other disciples to withdraw.
• Xunkong Shangren summoned his Nascent Soul Dharma Body and hurled a giant flaming boulder at the formation's mountain ridges.
• Zhang Daoran and Zhai Xingzi also released their Nascent Soul Dharma Bodies and drew in Primordial Qi and stellar power as winds swept across the region.

Demonic Qi emerged inside the Yunshan Illusion Array and triggered the collapse of its inner formations, overwhelming Gongshu Yixin and Gu Suqiudi’s attempts to contain it. The chaos spread to the outer formations, where Xunkong Shangren faced the release of the imprisoned spirit souls and thought only of fleeing.

• Zhai Xingzi and Zhang Daoran used their Nascent Soul Dharma Bodies to suppress the outer formations, though the formations’ damaged sections continued to break apart.
• Gongshu Yixin and Gu Suqiudi discussed Zhai Xingzi and Xiao Hua while controlling the inner formations, until Demonic Qi suddenly appeared between them.
• Gongshu Yixin urged Gu Suqiudi to destroy the Demonic Qi, but the Origin Formation turned against Gongshu Yixin’s artifact control and the Buddhist Formation attacked Gu Suqiudi’s Innate True Water.
• The Demonic Qi, Vast Righteous Qi, and Buddhist light clashed, destabilizing the formations and frightening Gongshu Yixin and Gu Suqiudi.
• The inner formations’ loss of control spread outward, releasing spirit souls from the Profound Clarity Spirit Sealing Great Formation and forcing Xunkong Shangren to think of fleeing.

Xunkong Shangren risked his life to keep the formation’s ancient spirit souls from reaching Xiao Hua, while Zhang Daoran faced the Yellow Springs Water unleashed by the Netherworld array. Zhang Daoran rejected escape, knowing it would doom Zhai Xingzi and the others, and prepared to face the attack.

• Xunkong Shangren severed his connection to his Nascent Soul and used a secret technique to enter the Out of Body realm rather than abandon the formation.
• Spirit Monkey Chang Geng helped Xunkong Shangren absorb the attacking ancient spirit souls, but the souls overwhelmed them both.
• Xunkong Shangren used a rare jade talisman to transform his Nascent Soul into a strange beast and continued fighting despite knowing he might be torn apart.
• The concealed Yellow Springs Water surged from the Yellow Springs Array of the Netherworld and rushed toward Zhang Daoran.
• Zhang Daoran considered fleeing but rejected the idea because his departure would destabilize the formation and leave Zhai Xingzi to die.

Zhang Daoran struggled to hold back the Yellow Springs Water while Zhai Xingzi discovered he could use it to refine his Nascent Soul. As Zhai Xingzi noticed a phenomenon near Xiao Hua, the chapter shifted to Xiao Hua facing the formation’s explosive force.

• Zhang Daoran used his battered great roc, magic treasures, and Chilling Phantom Gall to resist the Yellow Springs Water and vowed to delay the formation’s collapse for his fellow cultivators.
• Zhai Xingzi recognized the Yellow Springs Water, collected it with a mysterious magic artifact, and began refining his Nascent Soul with it.
• Zhai Xingzi endured nine washings of his star core, then rebuilt his Nascent Soul into a solid, powerful form.
• Zhai Xingzi saw a sudden phenomenon near Xiao Hua and wondered what opportunity Xiao Hua had encountered as brilliant rays rose from the North Pole.
• The formation’s mutation blasted Xunkong Shangren’s Nascent Soul Dharma Body into the air, and Xiao Hua struck beneath the formation with his As-You-Wish Staff to resist its force.

Xiao Hua was overwhelmed by the ancient vicious souls guarding the formation until he remembered a Huanling Sect secret technique for absorbing them. He used it with the power of his Nascent Souls to draw the souls away from Xunkong Shangren, leaving Xunkong Shangren shaken and his wavering Dao heart in danger.

• Xiao Hua and green-robed Xiao Hua fought off the vicious souls with the As-You-Wish Staff, the Kunlun Mirror, and lightning, but the Yellow Springs Array nullified the lightning.
• Xiao Hua remembered the Huanling Sect’s Spirit Awakening Five Aggregates Formation and used its secret technique to absorb a vicious soul.
• Xiao Hua summoned more than forty Nascent Souls, sending a hundred-odd beams of radiance across the formation to capture and refine the vicious souls.
• Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua used Five Qi True Thunder to help the Nascent Souls assimilate the absorbed souls as the vicious spirits converged on Xiao Hua.
• Xunkong Shangren saw the vicious souls abandon him for Xiao Hua and felt his Dao heart waver, causing his transformed Nascent Soul to begin returning to human form.

Xiao Hua absorbed the Yellow Springs Water, calming the outer formations and saving Zhang Daoran and Zhai Xingzi from immediate danger. The inner formation then erupted again, trapping Gu Suqiudi and Gongshu Yixin as their defenses began to fail.

• Xunkong Shangren suppressed his doubts about Xiao Hua and realized that his unstable Dao heart might signal an impending breakthrough.
• Xiao Hua recognized the danger of the Yellow Springs Water and collected it into the Yin aspect of his space, briefly restoring balance to the outer formations.
• Zhang Daoran and Zhai Xingzi took advantage of the diminishing Yellow Springs Water to continue cultivating and resist its corrosion.
• An immense explosion from the center destabilized the Yunshan Illusion Array again, while Xiao Hua flew toward the inner formation.
• Gu Suqiudi and Gongshu Yixin were trapped inside the collapsing inner formation, and their battered child bodies struggled to protect them as Gu Suqiudi asked Gongshu Yixin what they should do.

Gongshu Yixin and Gu Suqiudi faced destruction inside Canglangzi’s Yunshan Illusion Array until Xiao Hua arrived and used a demonic artifact and Innate True Water to stabilize the formations. With Xiao Hua holding the formations apart, Gongshu Yixin found the array’s essence and began preparing to break it.

• Gongshu Yixin explained that the formation’s layers required specialized experts to suppress them and that the trapped cultivators lacked the strength to escape.
• As the Yuan formation and Buddhist formation collided, Gu Suqiudi and Gongshu Yixin’s avatars collapsed, leaving them convinced they would die.
• Gu Suqiudi noticed that the outer formation had stabilized, and Gongshu Yixin wondered whether the Daoist seniors had found a way to break it.
• Xiao Hua arrived, recognized that the demonic qi was destabilizing the inner formations, and used a demonic artifact to collect it temporarily.
• Xiao Hua used Innate True Water to separate the Yuan formation from the Buddhist formation, allowing Gongshu Yixin to restrain the Yuan formation.
• Gongshu Yixin uncovered the essence of the Yunshan Illusion Array and began breaking it while Xiao Hua urged her to hurry.

Xiao Hua suppressed the Yunshan Illusion Array while gathering its fierce souls and Netherworld Water, allowing his companions to advance their cultivation. After the array began to collapse, Zhang Daoran and Zhai Xingzi wondered who had collected the missing Yellow Springs Water, while Xiao Hua concealed that he had done it.

• Xiao Hua balanced the formations with Innate True Water and demonic Qi while Gongshu Yixin attempted to break the vortex and Gu Suqiudi helped suppress the Buddhist formation.
• Xiao Hua told Gu Suqiudi that Zhai Xingzi was tempering his Nascent Soul and would soon reach the Out of Body realm, then secretly gathered Netherworld Water for Zhai Xingzi and Zhang Daoran.
• Xiao Hua spent forty-nine days absorbing the ancient fierce souls, and Yunshan shook apart into three sections as its surrounding water dried up.
• Xunkong Shangren and Zhang Daoran returned with greatly improved cultivation, and Zhai Xingzi soon joined them.
• Zhai Xingzi and Zhang Daoran realized that much of the Yellow Springs Water had vanished, but Xiao Hua denied collecting it and suggested the formations' damage had interrupted its flow.

After surviving the formation’s deadly inner layer, Xiao Hua and the others chose to continue toward Canglangzi’s cave abode. Fu Zhiwen recognized the restriction’s unusual design, and Gongshu Yixin began working with him to break it.

• Xiao Hua reassured Zhai Xingzi and Zhang Daoran that Gu Suqiudi and Gongshu Yixin had survived the inner formation’s dangers.
• Xiao Hua accepted Xunkong Shangren’s Qing Ming Dragon Saliva, and the group agreed to continue into the cave abode after checking Gongshu Yixin’s progress.
• Xunkong Shangren reported that parts of the grand formation had collapsed into icy abysses and that strange auras seeped from four locations.
• Fu Zhiwen recognized the formation as resembling the Daoist Nine-Bend Ghost Locking Formation, helping Gongshu Yixin realize it was a Daoist formation formed with Vast Righteous Qi.
• Gongshu Yixin explained the restriction to Fu Zhiwen and invited him to help break it, while he formed three groups of inscriptions.

Fu Zhiwen and Gongshu Yixin broke the Yunshan Illusion Array’s central formation, but the cave dwelling did not open. The group discovered four separate entrances and prepared to enter them in teams, uncertain which path led to Canglangzi’s cave.

• Fu Zhiwen activated the formation inscriptions, and Gongshu Yixin sent her bridge-like artifact through the vortex, causing the Yunshan Illusion Array and Buddhist formation to withdraw.
• Gongshu Yixin offered to take Fu Zhiwen as her disciple, but he refused because he already served True Person Xiao; she then rejected his request for her origin-formation insights.
• The formation vanished without opening the cave dwelling, and Fu Zhiwen suggested that its entrance might lie elsewhere.
• Xunkong Shangren, Zhang Daoran, Xiao Hua, and the others searched the formation’s edges and found four entrances, each leading to an illusion array that restricted divine sense.
• Gu Suqiudi agreed to split the group among the four entrances, and Zhang Daoran gave Xiao Hua, Xunkong Shangren, and Zhai Xingzi Heart-Linked Toads for communication.

Xiao Hua and his companions entered the Yunshan Illusion Array through its northern entrance, while the others explored separate entrances. Several days later, Fairy Xiangfeng arrived seeking Xiao Hua, convinced he was responsible for Xiangtian’s death, and prepared to enter the array with her allies.

• Xiao Hua and the others used linked-heart toads to communicate with Zhai Xingzi, Xunkong Shangren, and Zhang Daoran as they approached different entrances to the illusion array.
• Xiao Hua sent Fu Zhiwen, Xue Ping, and the other cultivators into the northern entrance first, promising to protect them with his national artifact if danger arose.
• Xiao Hua followed them into the array as Xunkong Shangren reported encountering ferocious beasts at another entrance.
• Several days after Xiao Hua’s group entered, Fairy Xiangfeng arrived at the ruined formation with Dao Cheng and several Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Fairy Xiangfeng rejected the possibility that Xiao Hua had been framed for Xiangtian’s death and declared that she would find him and force him to explain.
• Yi Mingzi agreed to help Fairy Xiangfeng ambush and kill Xiao Hua.

Fairy Xiangfeng and three Nascent Soul cultivators agreed to enter the breached Yunshan Illusion Array, while Fairy Xuming arrived seeking Xiao Hua to avenge True Person Chu Feng. The two groups joined forces and entered through separate openings, with Fairy Xuming’s group heading for the North Pole entrance where Xiao Hua was located.

• Fairy Xiangfeng persuaded True Person Han, True Person Diquan, and Yi Mingzi to enter the array, promising them shares of the cave’s treasures.
• Dao Cheng asked to join the expedition, and Fairy Xiangfeng offered him one or two cultivation techniques or magic treasures.
• Fairy Xuming arrived with four Nascent Soul cultivators and four Spirit Power Rank 2 cultivators, and Dao Cheng recognized the latter as people invited by Xue Ping.
• Fairy Xuming admitted she was hunting Xiao Hua for injuring True Person Chu Feng, and Fairy Xiangfeng revealed that she was pursuing him as well.
• Fairy Xiangfeng and Fairy Xuming formed an alliance, then their two groups entered the array through separate openings; Fairy Xuming’s group took the North Pole entrance.
• Ripples and inscriptions appeared in the air above the array after the cultivators had entered.

Xiao Hua and his companions navigated Canglangzi’s illusion array until they encountered strange worms that devoured divine sense and resisted his fire attack. Xiao Hua discovered that his true qi could subdue the worms, but their purpose and the danger ahead remained unclear.

• A powerful Confucian cultivator followed Fairy Xuming and Fairy Xiangfeng into the cave, hoping to kill Xiao Hua and claim Canglangzi’s legacy.
• Three unidentified Confucian cultivators entered the illusion array through a different passage.
• Fu Zhiwen used his Heart Calming Plate to choose a route, but he could not distinguish between two entrances, so Xiao Hua picked one and led the group forward.
• When the passage turned cold and blocked their senses, Xiao Hua ordered the group to retreat as sinister mist and strange roars surrounded them.
• Worms formed beast heads, devoured Xiao Hua’s divine sense, and grew after swallowing his fireball, but his true qi made the worms docile.

Xiao Hua led Xue Ping and Fu Zhiwen through Canglangzi’s dangerous Yunshan Illusion Array, using soul silk to erase its attacking worms and beasts. After they met Fairy Xuming and three Nascent Soul cultivators, Xiao Hua sensed their positions were suspicious just as Fairy Xuming revealed her Daoist title.

• Xiao Hua used soul silk to make the worms vanish and led Xue Ping and Fu Zhiwen safely through the illusion array’s attacks.
• Xue Ping regretted having once tested Xiao Hua and wondered whether he had missed a chance to join Xiao Hua’s sect.
• Xiao Hua and his companions continued through the array, while Fu Zhiwen’s Heart Calming Plate helped them choose routes but did not quickly find the exit.
• Fairy Xuming arrived with three Nascent Soul cultivators and several disciples, saying Li Xiu had told her Xiao Hua was breaking the array.
• Fairy Xuming introduced Master Xiankong, True Person Yuming, and True Person Qiuluo, who took positions that made Xiao Hua wary.
• Fairy Xuming revealed that her Daoist title was Xuming, and Xiao Hua froze in surprise.