Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua departed Soaring Dragon Mountain Range and considered how to let his disciples cultivate safely in the Kunlun Immortal Realm and his own space. Just as he prepared to leave, a strange thunderclap shook the starry sky and sent an obscure fluctuation into Jade Slip Xiao Hua, whose expression changed drastically.

• Xiao Hua warned Xiong Yi to put the safety of Creation Sect disciples first, then left the Soaring Dragon Mountain Range as the disciples bowed farewell.
• Xiong Yi, Lan Dianzi, and Li Xiang began planning to oversee and expand Creation Sect.
• Xiao Hua asked Wu Tian about the Primordial Qi in the Kunlun Immortal Realm and realized his own space might safely support Nascent Soul disciples because their physical bodies could protect them from its different Primordial Qi.
• Xiao Hua passed Wu Tian new cultivation instructions and created a Kunlun Immortal Realm within his space, while Green-robed Xiao Hua discussed training their respective disciples.
• A muffled thunderclap twisted the starry sky, swayed the Hand of Cause and Effect, and sent an obscure fluctuation into Jade Slip Xiao Hua, startling him.

Xiao Hua prepared for an uncertain calamity while traveling toward Yifeng Kingdom, where he began passing Demon Race cultivation inheritances to Black Bear, Golden Eagle, and White Lion. The chapter left Golden Eagle grateful but alarmed after the inheritance caused him to forget seventy percent of what he knew.

• Jade Slip Xiao Hua sensed an unavoidable calamity but could not determine its source or timing.
• Xiao Hua had Wu Tian teach Liu Yi and the other disciples a new cultivation technique, then learned from Fu Zhiwen that they were in Donglin Kingdom and set course for Yifeng Kingdom.
• Xiao Hua summoned Black Bear, Golden Eagle, and White Lion, accepted their Demon Race oaths, and kept their Life Spirit Tablets.
• Xiao Hua transmitted suitable Demon Race inheritances to the three demons while his own bloodline continued to change and Soul Cultivator Xiao Hua failed to penetrate the dark clouds in Liaoxin Heaven.
• Golden Eagle awoke first, thanked Xiao Hua, and revealed that he had forgotten seventy percent of what he knew.

Xiao Hua discovered that the demon inheritances he had passed on were fading, then intervened when Fu Zhiwen’s rapid Confucian cultivation caused his Heavenly Book to run wild. They reached Yifeng Kingdom to find You Zhongquan, but the You family’s servant said the young master was away and refused to announce Fu Zhiwen because of urgent military affairs.

• The Golden Eagle, White Lion, and Black Bear Spirit awakened with portions of their inheritances lost, and Xiao Hua sent them to cultivate in his space.
• Fu Zhiwen’s True Qi surged out of control and his Heavenly Book inscriptions attacked, so Xiao Hua restrained him and sealed most of the book.
• Xiao Hua warned Fu Zhiwen against rushing toward the Great Confucian realm and urged him to cultivate steadily before they descended into Yifeng Kingdom.
• Xiao Hua and Fu Zhiwen arrived at You Manor seeking You Zhongquan, whom Xiao Hua meant to take as a disciple.
• A servant told Fu Zhiwen that You Zhongquan was absent and that the master was receiving only officials because of military affairs.

Fu Zhiwen and Xiao Hua went to You Manor seeking You Zhongquan, only to learn that he had repeatedly fled his arranged marriage and was missing again. You Heming began explaining You Zhongquan’s misguided attempts to uphold justice before someone from behind him interrupted.

• Fu Zhiwen followed the servant’s instructions and asked at You Manor’s side gate to settle accounts with You Zhongquan.
• Xiao Hua recognized You Heming as one of the guards who had once pursued You Zhongquan, and learned that You Zhongquan had fled his marriage many times.
• You Heming explained that You Zhongquan’s betrothed was the Chang family’s eldest young lady, who still insisted on marrying him despite his repeated refusals.
• You Heming revealed that You Zhongquan also left home to uphold justice, often turning clever plans into blunders.
• A voice from behind You Heming asked whom he was speaking with, and You Heming anxiously recognized it as his master.

Xiao Hua visited the You family to ask to take You Zhongquan as his disciple, but You Yun refused. Before Xiao Hua could leave, Sima Minghong attacked the manor and demanded justice over Sima Yan’s missing arm, accusing You Zhongquan of injuring him.

• You Yun offered Xiao Hua a thousand taels of gold for saving You Zhongquan, but Xiao Hua said he had come to take You Zhongquan as his disciple.
• You Yun refused to let a descendant of the You family join the Daoist sect, and Xiao Hua accepted the refusal.
• Sima Minghong burst into the You Manor, hurled debris at You Heming, and then blasted You Yun back with an attack involving a servant.
• Sima Minghong introduced the one-armed Sima Yan and accused You Zhongquan of using his cultivation and swordsmanship to bully him.
• You Yun questioned Sima Yan’s account and defended his son, while Sima Minghong insisted that You Zhongquan had no right to use force against a helpless scholar.

Sima Minghong pressured You Yun to surrender You Zhongquan over Sima Yan’s severed arm, threatening the You family and its Grand Minister. Chang Yuan arrived and offered to face the Sima family in her betrothed husband’s place.

• Sima Yan accused You Zhongquan of cutting off his arm, and You Yun promised to seek his son’s side of the story.
• Sima Minghong presented You Yun with the Sima Family Head’s terms, then threatened to force his way into You Manor when You Yun refused them.
• Sima Minghong demanded that You Yun swear a Confucian oath and reveal You Zhongquan’s whereabouts, threatening to kill You Zhongli.
• Chang Yuan arrived and defended her betrothal to You Zhongquan, trading barbs with Sima Minghong and Sima Yan.
• Chang Yuan said she had come on her own and invited Sima Minghong to direct his demands at her in You Zhongquan’s place.

Xiao Hua intervened when the Sima family threatened Chang Yuan and tried to awaken her memories of Huang Yi, but she still identified herself as Chang Yuan. Recognizing Huang Yi’s soul in Chang Yuan’s eyes, he declared her his disciple and revealed himself as True Person Xiao Hua of Black Wind Ridge.

• Chang Yuan refused to let You Yun or the Chang family intervene as Sima Minghong prepared to take her away, while news arrived that Donglin Kingdom had sent troops toward the capital.
• Xiao Hua stepped forward, questioned Chang Yuan about Huang Yi, and showed her visions of Huang Yi and You Zhongquan’s past, but Chang Yuan said she could not remember being Huang Yi.
• Chang Yuan declined Xiao Hua’s help, choosing to face death alongside You Zhongquan rather than let him suffer alone.
• After examining Chang Yuan’s eyes, Xiao Hua recognized her as the person he had been seeking and asked her to become his disciple.
• Fu Zhiwen supported Xiao Hua’s offer, and Xiao Hua said he also intended to accept You Zhongquan as a disciple.
• Xiao Hua identified himself as Daoist Xiao Hua, and Sima Minghong recognized him as True Person Xiao Hua of Black Wind Ridge.

Chang Yuan became Xiao Hua’s disciple, and Xiao Hua punished Sima Yan for his crimes before warning the Sima family to leave. As Xiao Hua prepared to take Chang Yuan to find You Zhongquan, he revealed that Murong Hanping was approaching Yifeng Kingdom, and You Heming begged him to protect the You family and the kingdom.

• Chang Yuan accepted Xiao Hua as her master, saying she had nowhere else to turn and hoped to find You Zhongquan again.
• Xiao Hua compelled Sima Yan to confess his crimes, then killed him despite Sima Minghong’s promise to let the Sima family punish him.
• Xiao Hua warned Sima Minghong not to involve others in seeking revenge, and Sima Minghong left with the Sima family cultivators.
• Xiao Hua told You Yun and You Zhongli that Murong Hanping, a Wen Shi cultivator, had arrived and said he would leave with Chang Yuan to find You Zhongquan.
• You Heming recognized Xiao Hua as the immortal elder who had once rescued You Zhongquan and begged him to save You Manor and Yifeng Kingdom.

You Zhongli prepared to face Murong Hanping, but Xiao Hua agreed to protect Yifeng Kingdom and confronted Donglin Kingdom’s State Teacher. Xiao Hua shattered Murong Hanping’s Literary Saint Wen Scroll and left him pinned beneath a sword, unable to move.

• You Zhongli knelt before Xiao Hua and asked him to protect the You family before going to meet Murong Hanping.
• You Yun apologized to Xiao Hua and asked him to take You Zhongquan as a disciple; Xiao Hua agreed but warned that helping Yifeng Kingdom could expose it to trouble from the Immortal Palace.
• Xiao Hua flew out to confront Murong Hanping, sending nine flying swords powered by Vast Righteous Qi against him.
• Murong Hanping used a Wen Scroll written by a Literary Saint to summon more than a dozen swords and resist Xiao Hua’s attack.
• Xiao Hua’s sword broke Murong Hanping’s Wen Scroll and stopped above his head, leaving him bloodied and unable to move.

Xiao Hua drove Murong Hanping’s forces from Yifeng Kingdom, gave the You family a vast supply of grain, and learned that You Zhongquan had gone to Fengxiang Kingdom. A warning about impending danger sent Xiao Hua toward Fengxiang Kingdom instead of the North Sea, while an Earth official secretly reported his movements to Tongming Hall.

• Xiao Hua spared Murong Hanping after forcing him and his troops to retreat, then reassured the You family that he would support You Zhongquan and take responsibility for his violations of Confucian law.
• You Yun gave Xiao Hua You Zhongquan’s letter, and Xiao Hua reacted to it with alarm before handing the You family grain to distribute in famine-stricken Yifeng Kingdom, Xin Kingdom, and Donglin Kingdom.
• After Xiao Hua departed with Fu Zhiwen and Chang Yuan, an Earth official concealed nearby used an artifact to report Xiao Hua’s whereabouts to Tongming Hall.
• Xiao Hua told Fu Zhiwen and Chang Yuan that You Zhongquan’s letter named Fengxiang Kingdom in Xuzhou as his destination and that he sensed a serious warning connected either to You Zhongquan or himself.
• Xiao Hua chose to travel to Fengxiang Kingdom to protect You Zhongquan, postponing the journey to the North Sea, and asked Fu Zhiwen to drive the flying carriage while he guided Chang Yuan’s cultivation.

Xiao Hua accepted Chang Yuan as his disciple, taught her sword cultivation, and gave her a flying sword and sword intent. He then reached Fengxiang Kingdom seeking You Zhongquan, where famine had struck, and met its Daoist overseer, Chang Qingzi.

• Chang Yuan explained her limited cultivation opportunities, chose Xiao Hua's sword arts, and received instruction in sword cultivation and the Five Qi Ascending to the Origin technique.
• Xiao Hua gave Chang Yuan Daoist pills, one of a pair of Mandarin Duck Swords, and half of a sword intent meant to help her reach Sword Transformation.
• Xiao Hua sent Chang Yuan and Fu Zhiwen into the Kunlun Immortal Realm, then flew toward Fengxiang Kingdom to search for You Zhongquan.
• Xiao Hua found Fengxiang Kingdom suffering famine and called for the Daoist who governed it.
• Chang Qingzi, an early Nascent Soul cultivator, came from the Royal Palace and respectfully greeted Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua visited Fengxiang Kingdom, where Chang Qingzi praised his reputation and accepted grain seeds for famine relief. While searching for a young Confucian cultivator, Xiao Hua learned that the Zhu family lived in Wuyuan County, and Chang Qingzi suspected he was seeking them and decided to warn an old Senior.

• Chang Qingzi welcomed Xiao Hua and repeated the stories of his victory at Black Wind Ridge, while Xiao Hua recognized that True Lord Qingxu had deliberately spread his fame.
• Xiao Hua gave Chang Qingzi several Cosmic Bags filled with grain seeds and suggested sharing the surplus with neighboring countries.
• Xiao Hua searched a registry of Confucian cultivators but found no one he recognized.
• Chang Qingzi told Xiao Hua about the Zhu family of Wuyuan County and its young master, Zhu Xiang, but Xiao Hua claimed the family was not his destination and departed toward another part of Xuzhou.
• Chang Qingzi suspected Xiao Hua was actually heading to the Zhu family and decided he must send word to an old Senior.

Xiao Hua arrived at Wuyuan County and found it overrun by sinister gray moss, famine, and desperate people. He saved an old man and his grandson from their pursuers by giving the starving crowd grain, then offered food to the child and his grandfather.

• Xiao Hua reached Wuyuan County and saw that its moss-covered mountains and town were filled with famine and apparent misery.
• Xiao Hua saw an old man fleeing with his grandson in a donkey cart as starving townspeople chased them.
• Xiao Hua used his power to lift the fallen old man back onto the cart and scattered grain to stop the pursuers.
• Xiao Hua offered more grain to the old man and child, and the child tried to share it with his grandfather.

Xiao Hua gave grain to the starving people of Wuyuan County, then learned from an old man that ghosts haunted the town at night. He carried the old man and his grandson to Zhu Family Manor, leaving them there as someone called out to identify the newcomers.

• Xiao Hua watched the starving townspeople fight over grain and scattered it throughout the town after stopping a deadly attack.
• The old man told Xiao Hua that ghosts ate people in Wuyuan County and begged him to take him and his grandson away.
• Xiao Hua learned the old man’s family had died and agreed to take them to the Zhu family estate.
• Xiao Hua flew with the old man, his grandson, and their donkey cart over Wuyuan County to Zhu Family Manor.
• The grandson recognized the manor and its locust tree, while lanterns appeared and a voice called out from the darkness.

Xiao Hua visited Zhu Family Manor to ask whether You Zhongquan had come to see Zhu Xiang, and arranged for an impoverished old man to be taken in. As Zhu Cheng welcomed him, Xiao Hua noticed his unease and waited for the Zhu family to confirm whether You Zhongquan was at the manor.

• Xiao Hua frightened the servants with his transformed appearance, then revealed himself and was recognized by Zhu Changxing.
• Zhu Cheng welcomed Xiao Hua, who asked whether You Zhongquan had come to visit Zhu Xiang from Yuzhou.
• A Zhu family elder said Zhu Xiang had invited old acquaintances to the manor and went to check whether You Zhongquan was among them.
• Xiao Hua asked Zhu Cheng to shelter the old man and his donkey cart, and Zhu Cheng agreed.
• At the guest hall, Xiao Hua paid respects to the portrait of Elder Zhu Xi and praised the Confucian cultivation revealed in Zhu Cheng's fragrant tea.

Xiao Hua accepted the Zhu family's gratitude for lifting their curse and gave Zhu Cheng enough grain to relieve Wuyuan County's famine. He learned that You Zhongquan had entered Youwang Ghost Cave with Ying Xiang'er and more than a dozen young juniors, leaving Zhu Cheng alarmed.

• Zhu Cheng honored Xiao Hua for saving his clansmen and breaking the Zhu family's curse, and the family members came to bow and thank him.
• Xiao Hua declined to explain how he knew about the curse or how he obtained the medicinal pills that lifted it.
• Zhu Cheng described the famine devastating Wuyuan County and neighboring counties, and Xiao Hua gave him grain to distribute to the starving people.
• Xiao Hua confronted Zhu Cheng about concealing something, and the returning old man reported that You Zhongquan had arrived months earlier.
• The old man revealed that Ying Xiang'er had led You Zhongquan and more than a dozen young juniors into Youwang Ghost Cave, shocking Zhu Cheng.

Xiao Hua learned that the Zhu family had secretly guarded Youwang Ghost Cave for generations and that Zhu Xiang had entered it to seal it with his life. He set out to help Zhu Xiang and You Zhongquan, then opened his Heavenly Eye after a distant scream left Zhu Cheng visibly horrified.

• Zhu Cheng revealed that Zhu Xiang had gone to Youwang Ghost Cave on the Ghost Festival, and Xiao Hua connected the danger to You Zhongquan.
• A chilling wind and strange shrieks signaled the Hundred Ghosts Night Parade, and Zhu Cheng admitted the ghost cave was linked to Wuyuan County’s heavy yin energy.
• Zhu Cheng confessed that the Zhu family had guarded the cave for generations and that its seal required the heart-blood of a direct descendant.
• Zhu Cheng explained that Zhu Xiang would be drawn into the seal and die, while Xiao Hua realized Zhu Xiang had misunderstood his father’s warning.
• Xiao Hua insisted on going to the ghost cave to help, but a distant scream turned Zhu Cheng pale, so Xiao Hua opened his Heavenly Eye to see what had happened.

Xiao Hua learned that blood-colored Netherworld Qi was erupting from multiple ghost caves across nearby counties, making the crisis far worse than expected. He sent Zhu Cheng home, dispatched green-robed Xiao Hua to protect nearby towns, and began investigating the Zhu family’s Youwang Ghost Cave alone.

• Xiao Hua saw blood-colored pillars of Netherworld Qi appear in Jingyue County and Fanchang County and learned that neither was the Zhu family’s Youwang Ghost Cave.
• Zhu Cheng led Xiao Hua toward the Youwang Ghost Cave and warned that its restriction was weakening despite Zhu Xiang’s essence blood.
• Xiao Hua sent Zhu Cheng back to Zhu Family Manor rather than let him risk his life, then asked green-robed Xiao Hua to protect Wuyuan County and nearby towns.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua agreed to use the Mao Ri Demon Devouring Immortal Array and left with the spirit fire, Kunlun Mirror, and other treasures.
• Xiao Hua opened his Eye of Delusion Breaking and probed the Netherworld Blood threads drifting from the Youwang Ghost Cave.

Xiao Hua discovered that the blood threads from the Zhu family's ghost cave carried deadly qi and found a vast primordial array weakening beneath the earth. Zhu Xiang and his companions reached the array to repair it, but it began to break apart, leaving them exposed to the rising Netherworld Wind.

• Xiao Hua used Earth Evasion to descend into the ghost cave and realized its blood threads contained death qi.
• Xiao Hua saw the Zhu family's primordial array struggling to contain a vast blood-red mist, while Buddhist light beneath it faded.
• Zhu Xiang brought You Zhongquan and several Confucian scholars to the array, but their flying shuttle could not descend any farther.
• You Zhongquan confirmed that Underworld yin wind surrounded the shuttle, while Zhu Xiang prepared to attempt the repair with his friends' help.
• The primordial array surged upward and broke apart, its Righteous Qi Pillars scattered by the Netherworld Wind as the shuttle's protective clouds vanished.

Zhu Xiang sacrificed his essence blood to repair the failing formation, but the Netherworld yin energy overwhelmed his efforts and left him dying. Xiao Hua arrived to rescue the surviving scholars, and Zhu Cheng reached his son as Zhu Xiang warned him to stay away from the formation.

• Zhu Xiang insisted on staying to repair the formation, and Brother Song sent him out of the Earthwalker Shuttle so it could escape.
• You Zhongquan left the shuttle to help Zhu Xiang, but the formation erupted and its Netherworld Wind tore through them both.
• An oracle-bone inscription drained Zhu Xiang's essence blood and formed a Confucian Classics figure that briefly repaired the formation before the backlash shattered it.
• Xiao Hua arrived, took the scholars and unconscious You Zhongquan to safety, and found that the formation prevented him from moving Zhu Xiang.
• Zhu Xiang asked Xiao Hua to tell Zhu Cheng that he had failed, but Zhu Cheng arrived and reassured his son before Zhu Xiang warned him not to approach the formation.