Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua and the others were pulled toward the phoenix at terrifying speed, and Xiao Hua grasped the principles of Light Evasion as its radiance engulfed them. They arrived in a vast, strange space filled with tablet-like objects, which Xiao Hua realized was the Cai Family Ancestral Hall.

• Xiao Hua discovered that he could move by pushing true essence from his golden core, while Xiao Mao and the others could not move their true essence.
• Fairy Hongxia's blood-red radiance flared, and a tremendous force from the phoenix dragged the group toward it; Xiao Hua realized the light protected those with the Cai Family's Ice Phoenix bloodline.
• Xiao Hua used Innate True Water to shield himself, Xiao Mao, and Li Zongbao, then withdrew it from Fairy Hongxia when she said it blocked the Phoenix Ancestral Image's guidance.
• As the group hurtled toward the phoenix, Xiao Hua studied the extreme speed, and the phoenix's light sparked his realization of Light Evasion.
• Xiao Hua and the others appeared in a vast space filled with flowing radiance and countless square tablets, and Xiao Hua recognized it as the Cai Family Ancestral Hall.

Fairy Hongxia received the Cai Family Phoenix Inheritance in the ancestral hall and learned that it would hasten her cultivation. The Phoenix Barrier expelled Xiao Hua and the others, but Xiao Hua was immediately threatened by an unseen attack.

• Xiao Hua, Li Zongbao, and Xiao Mao learned that the ancestral hall’s Sumeru-like array had made its vast interior seem enormous and that they were inside the Phoenix Totem.
• Fairy Hongxia absorbed the Phoenix spiritual light for more than ten days, then emerged with the Phoenix Inheritance and a Phoenix Token.
• Fairy Hongxia explained that only one qualified Cai Family descendant could inherit the Phoenix spiritual light in each generation and predicted she would reach the Golden Core stage by the next year.
• The Phoenix Barrier began closing and forced Fairy Hongxia, Xiao Hua, Li Zongbao, and Xiao Mao out at extreme speed.
• Xiao Hua encountered a scorching aura, an ape cry, and a foul stench, then dodged a piercing attack by curling his body and flying aside.

Xiao Hua encountered the Golden Core Fire Ape in Million Meng Mountain and fought it with talismans, a wolf-tooth club, and fire techniques. When the Fire Ape released its inner core, Xiao Hua revealed the power of his Nascent Soul hand and broke its confinement.

• The Fire Ape attacked Xiao Hua, and he recognized it from Yanlin Mountain Marsh while confirming that Li Zongbao and the others were absent.
• Xiao Hua hurled fire talismans at the Fire Ape, which easily controlled and smashed the flames before retaliating with its own fireballs.
• The Fire Ape used Fire Evasion to rush Xiao Hua, and they fought at close range with the wolf-tooth club and their immense strength.
• Xiao Hua countered the Fire Ape's pillar of fire with Lingmou Zhu Fire and then used Innate True Fire to absorb its flames.
• The Fire Ape released its fiery inner core and trapped the area in pressure and confinement, but Xiao Hua unleashed his Nascent Soul hand to tear through the force with a hurricane.

Xiao Hua tried to capture the Fire Ape with his Sun Moon Crown, but a powerful red-furred creature and a host of soul cultivators arrived to help it. He seized the Fire Ape and fled, then discovered that the creature’s scorching power overwhelmed even his divine sense and Buddhist awareness as he searched for his wife and companions.

• Xiao Hua used a Nascent Soul hand to restrain the Fire Ape’s inner core, but the Fire Ape burned through the hand and tried to flee.
• Xiao Hua pursued the Fire Ape and summoned the Sun Moon Crown, which began drawing a fiery phantom from its head.
• A red-furred creature arrived and attacked Xiao Hua with its cry, disrupting the crown’s pull on the Fire Ape.
• Xiao Hua transformed the Sun Moon Crown into a daoist crown and fastened it to the Fire Ape’s forehead.
• Hundreds of soul beasts and soul cultivators appeared, so Xiao Hua imprisoned the Fire Ape with Sleeve Universe and stored it in a spirit pouch.
• Xiao Hua tried to locate his wife and companions, but the red-furred creature’s heat forced back his divine sense and Buddhist awareness, so he released his divine sense again despite the pain.

Xiao Hua recognized the monster as a Drought Fiend and fled while it shrugged off his lightning and pursued him. As Ye Yu and Hou Yan’s forces failed to stop the creature, Ye Yu realized that two Qingxi Wuyu flying nearby might lead him to Xiao Mao.

• Xiao Hua identified the monster as a Drought Fiend after it drained a hillside, then attacked it with heavenly lightning, which barely harmed it.
• The Drought Fiend’s roar wounded Xiao Hua’s divine sense, while nearby soul cultivators’ green radiance also eroded it as he tried to escape.
• Xiao Hua detected something that enraged him and raced away using the Thunder Control Transformation, drawing the Drought Fiend after him.
• The Drought Fiend turned on the soul cultivators pursuing it and killed many of them, forcing the survivors to follow from a distance.
• The Qingxi Wuyu flew past Qie Qi and the pursuing Ye Yu and Hou Yan, and A Qi recognized them as possibly connected to Xiao Mao.
• Ye Yu inferred that the Qingxi Wuyu could lead him to Xiao Mao and proposed asking Hou Yan for help.

Ye Yu and Hou Yan tortured Qie Qi while searching for Xiao Mao, then intercepted Xiao Mao, Li Zongbao, and Fairy Hongxia after they reappeared in Million Meng Mountain. As the two sides prepared to fight, Fairy Hongxia realized that Xiao Mao might be the person Ye Yu was seeking.

• Ye Yu ordered A Qi to torture Qie Qi for Xiao Mao’s whereabouts, while Hou Yan objected and prepared to leave.
• Xiao Mao, Li Zongbao, and Fairy Hongxia appeared nearby without Xiao Hua, and Ye Yu urged Hou Yan to help capture them.
• Ye Yu pursued Xiao Mao while Hou Yan sent his soul warriors after Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia.
• Li Zongbao, Fairy Hongxia, and Xiao Mao readied their magical weapons as Ye Yu confronted them and explained his vendetta against the sword cultivators who destroyed his ancestors.
• Fairy Hongxia accused Ye Yu of having hidden motives, then recognized that Xiao Mao might be the person Ye Yu was searching for.

Yeyu and Hou Yan turned against Xiao Mao, Li Zongbao, and Fairy Hongxia, accusing the Daoist cultivators of intruding into Meng Mountain. As the battle began, Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia repelled the first attacks, but Hou Yan unleashed a field of ghosts and became greedy after seeing the power of Fairy Hongxia’s Phoenix Token.

• Yeyu urged Hou Yan to kill Xiao Mao, Li Zongbao, and Fairy Hongxia, while Hou Yan declared that he would attack the two Daoist Sect cultivators.
• Fairy Hongxia appealed to Hou Yan’s ties to Shebi Village, and Xiao Mao condemned the villagers’ treatment of their people in Meng Mountain’s local tongue.
• Hou Yan ordered his soul warriors to attack Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia, and Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia killed two attackers and drove back the others.
• Yeyu used the Gecko Beast to separate Xiao Mao from Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia while Hou Yan and the soul warriors summoned a black vapor filled with ghosts.
• Li Zongbao warned that invisible ghosts were the real danger, and Fairy Hongxia destroyed many with her Phoenix Token.
• Hou Yan recognized the Phoenix Token’s power, stopped chanting, and signaled the Houtu Village soul warriors to move.

Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia struggled against swarms of ghost heads while Ye Yu attacked Xiao Mao with a soul sword. Xiao Mao’s brow repelled the soul sword and turned it against Ye Yu’s Gecko Beast, but Ye Yu prepared to continue the fight without soul arts.

• Li Zongbao fought off ghost heads with the Immortal-Piercing Whip, but its backlash stirred bloodthirsty agitation in him as his defenses weakened.
• Fairy Hongxia’s disorganized attacks and dwindling spiritual power left her surrounded by ghost heads and ghost fiends.
• Ye Yu’s Gecko Beast launched a soul sword at Xiao Mao, and the Qingxi Wuyu sacrificed itself to block the attack before the sword reached Xiao Mao.
• Xiao Mao fired the Sun-Shooting Arrow at Ye Yu, who deflected it with his natal small sword, while the arrow wounded several soul beasts and soul cultivators.
• The soul sword entered Xiao Mao’s brow, but dark green seal characters sent it back into the Gecko Beast, destroying the soul artifact and grievously injuring Ye Yu.
• Ye Yu realized Xiao Mao could resist ordinary soul arts, then vowed to kill him without using them.

Xiao Mao and Li Zongbao struggled against Ye Yu and Hou Yan while the Terrifying Phoenix approached. After Ye Yu killed Qie Qi and Qingxi Wuyu, Xiao Hua arrived and launched a heart-shaped sword attack, determined to kill Ye Yu.

• Xiao Mao’s Sun-Shooting Arrow broke the head of Ye Yu’s dragon-form Sword Intent, but the attack continued toward him.
• Hou Yan summoned a giant ghost head that devoured smaller ghosts, then sent it against Li Zongbao; Li Zongbao split it apart, but it multiplied and overwhelmed him.
• Qie Qi and Qingxi Wuyu blocked Ye Yu’s dragon-form Sword Intent, but Ye Yu’s hidden natal sword flew toward Xiao Mao as Qie Qi died.
• Ye Yu sensed the approaching Terrifying Phoenix and pressed his attack while Hou Yan’s ghost heads endangered Li Zongbao.
• Xiao Hua arrived as two flying swords formed a heart-shaped sword and struck toward Ye Yu, driven by fury over Qie Qi’s death.

Xiao Hua arrived to rescue Xiao Mao and the others, breaking the soul cultivators’ array and overwhelming Ye Yu with his sword skills and treasures. Just as Xiao Hua stole Ye Yu’s Five Elements planet disk and prepared to kill him, a scorching blast erupted behind them and Xiao Mao cried out in alarm.

• Xiao Hua’s Heart Sword clashed with Ye Yu’s Flying Dragon Sword Intent, while Xiao Hua’s Soul Thorn and heavenly lightning disrupted Ye Yu and the soul cultivators.
• Hou Yan strengthened the ghost head attacking Li Zongbao, and Fairy Hongxia and Xiao Mao moved to protect Xiao Mao and aid the others.
• Xiao Hua’s Soul Capturing Bell broke under the soul array’s force, so he cleaved the array apart with sword transformation and flew toward Ye Yu.
• Ye Yu used the Five Elements planet disk to block Xiao Hua’s Spirit Severing Primordial Light, but Xiao Hua attacked with the Sea-Overturning Seal and Fire Talismans.
• Xiao Hua ambushed Ye Yu, used Sleeve Universe to steal the Five Elements planet disk, and sent the Spirit Severing Primordial Light toward him.
• A scorching blast wave surged from behind Xiao Hua and the others as Xiao Mao cried out in alarm.

Xiao Hua failed to stop the drought demon from abducting Xiao Mao and pursued its faint red trail, leaving Fairy Hongxia and Li Zongbao behind. After losing the trail in a desolate region, he summoned the fire ape and used the Sun Moon Crown to subdue it.

• The drought demon overwhelmed the battlefield, bound Xiao Mao, and abducted him as Xiao Hua’s attempts to free and retrieve him failed.
• Xiao Hua spotted a faint red trace and pursued the drought demon while Fairy Hongxia and Li Zongbao followed as long as they could.
• After more than half a day of pursuit, Xiao Hua lost the trace and realized the drought demon might have lured him away from the others.
• Xiao Hua released the fire ape from his spirit beast pouch, and the Sun Moon Crown caused it excruciating pain when it attacked him.

Xiao Hua tortured a fire ape for directions, lost track of Fairy Hongxia and Li Zongbao, and attacked a group of soul warriors in Million Meng Mountain. He stopped when Zi Ming recognized him, learned she was Ziye’s twin sister, and asked whether Ziye was well.

• Xiao Hua forced the fire ape to lead him toward the drought demon, but it could not find the demon and he put it in his spirit beast pouch.
• Xiao Hua searched the surrounding area for Fairy Hongxia and Li Zongbao, then unleashed heavenly lightning on the mountains in frustration.
• A female soul warrior and her companions confronted Xiao Hua, and he attacked them with heavenly lightning and the Spirit Severing Primordial Light.
• Zi Ming arrived and pleaded with Xiao Hua to spare her maid, Xiaohong; Xiao Hua recognized her as Ziye’s twin sister and withdrew his attack.
• Xiao Hua apologized to Xiaohong, then asked Zi Ming whether Ziye was well.

Xiao Hua told Ziming that Xiao Mao had been abducted by a drought demon, and she ordered her Soul Masters to search for it. He agreed to accompany her to meet Master Ke Qin while her ghost heads went to find Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia.

• Xiao Hua declined to reveal his full purpose to Ziming, but explained that the drought demon had abducted Xiao Mao.
• Ziming ordered her maids and Soul Masters to search for the drought demon, which she identified as an ancient Iron Corpse with the Shebi bloodline.
• Xiao Hua reasoned that the demon likely wanted something from Xiao Mao and agreed to let Ziming's subordinates search while he accompanied her.
• Ziming invited Xiao Hua to visit Master Ke Qin, and Xiao Hua asked to bring Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia along.
• Ziming summoned more than a hundred ghost heads to search for Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia.

Xiao Hua reunited with Li Zongbao and Fairy Hongxia, and Miss Zi Ming led them toward news of Xiao Mao. Fairy Hongxia's hostility toward Miss Zi Ming faded when she learned Xiao Hua had seriously damaged his divine sense searching for them.

• Miss Zi Ming located Xiao Hua, Li Zongbao, and Fairy Hongxia and invited them to travel with her.
• Fairy Hongxia and Miss Zi Ming exchanged pointed remarks, and Li Zongbao piloted the Flowing Cloud Flying Boat in the direction Miss Zi Ming indicated.
• Miss Zi Ming asked whether the drought demon had injured Xiao Hua's divine sense, and Fairy Hongxia realized his injury might be serious.
• Xiao Hua revealed that he had used his divine sense to search for his companions after encountering the drought demon.
• Fairy Hongxia sensed Xiao Hua's severely weakened divine sense and was overcome with concern.

Xiao Hua concealed his confidence that he could heal his divine sense while Fairy Hongxia and Zi Ming promised to seek help from Master Ke Qin. As the group traveled through declining Meng Mountain, Li Zongbao asked whether its shamans could resurrect the dead, and Zi Ming said she knew of no such method.

• Fairy Hongxia blamed herself for Xiao Hua's severe divine-sense injuries, while Zi Ming suggested Master Ke Qin might know a way to heal him.
• Xiao Hua privately recalled that Jiu Xia's Veiling Sun Art could repair his divine sense and resumed comprehending it without telling Fairy Hongxia.
• As the flying boat traveled toward Master Ke Qin's dwelling, Zi Ming lamented Meng Mountain's decline and Li Zongbao asked about its Twelve Great Gods and Sacred Beasts.
• Li Zongbao asked whether Zi Ming's Houtu descendants knew how to bring the dead back to life, explaining that he would trade anything to restore his beloved.
• Zi Ming said that although the descendants of the Twelve Great Gods inherited secret shaman abilities, she knew of no present-day method to resurrect the dead.
• Xiao Hua asked whether others had come to Meng Mountain seeking such arts, and Zi Ming said many cultivators had, including a past request for Zi Ye to help a cultivator named Tu Hong.

Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao learned that Houtu Village’s soul treasure Tong Ming might let Li see Cai Zhuoxia, and Miss Zi Ming invited them to the village. As they neared Master Ke Qin’s home, Xiao Hua suggested he might know a way to help the people suffering from Million Meng Mountain’s worsening conditions.

• Xiao Hua explained that Ziye had only made Yu Ji move and speak, not revived her, and Miss Zi Ming said a person dead for decades could not be restored that way.
• Miss Zi Ming revealed that Houtu Village’s Tong Ming could show the departed, and offered to take Li Zongbao to use it after their visit to Master Ke Qin.
• Cai Hongxia said Cai Zhuoxia was her elder blood sister but declined to risk disturbing her through Tong Ming.
• After flying for more than a dozen days, the group reached a withered region, while Xiao Hua remained worried about Xiao Mao and the drought demon.
• Miss Zi Ming described how Million Meng Mountain had once flourished before its climate changed, and Xiao Hua suggested there might be a way to help its people survive.

Ziming brought Xiao Hua and his companions to meet Master Ke Qin, hoping he could help with an important matter. After making them wait on the Reception Platform and walk down a long staircase, Ke Qin welcomed them into his cave.

• Ziming explained that her urgent, undisclosed matter concerned having an artifact refined, and Xiao Hua suggested finding Xiao Mao for help with a celestial problem.
• Ziming guided Xiao Hua, Fairy Hongxia, and Li Zongbao to the Reception Platform, where they waited from midday until nightfall.
• Qingming arrived and told Ziming that she and her companions could enter the valley because she was an honored guest bearing the Witch Token.
• Ziming led the group down Master Ke Qin's long staircase, and they eventually met Ke Qin and Qingming at the bottom.
• Ke Qin greeted Ziming and the Dao Sect cultivators warmly, then invited them into his cave.

Zi Ming asked Master Ke Qin to repair Houtu Village’s Soul Falling Lamp, but learned that soul treasure refinement consumed the refiner’s life essence and that this would be his third and final refinement. After Xiao Hua and Li Zongbao apologized for misjudging him, Fairy Hongxia asked why the lamp required Master Ke Qin’s help and why soul artifact refinement cost life essence.

• Master Ke Qin said he had no way to save Million Meng Mountain’s natives from the calamity, and Zi Ming explained that the soul cultivators’ war against the sword cultivators was going well.
• Master Ke Qin agreed to attempt repairing Houtu Village’s Soul Falling Lamp, while warning Zi Ming that he had little confidence in the repair.
• Zi Ming revealed that Master Ke Qin could refine soul treasures only three times because the process consumed his life essence, and that repairing the lamp would likely leave him near death.
• Xiao Hua apologized to Master Ke Qin after learning of his sacrifice, and Li Zongbao also bowed to him.
• Fairy Hongxia asked Zi Ming why Master Ke Qin alone had to repair the Soul Falling Lamp and why refining soul artifacts consumed life essence.

Zi Ming revealed that the damaged Soul Falling Lamp was essential to her succession as Houtu Village's next Ji Man and might also hold the power to resurrect the dead. She asked Master Ke Qin to repair it despite the cost to his life essence, and presented him with a Dao Sect medicinal pill Zi Ye had brought back.

• Zi Ming showed Xiao Hua and the others the Soul Falling Lamp and explained that it had once passed through Xiao Hua's hands in the storage pouch Zi Ye brought to Xuntian City.
• Zi Ming said the lamp had to be lit for her to become Ji Man and might enable its controller to resurrect the dead, a hope shared by Li Zongbao.
• Zi Ming revealed that the lamp had been damaged for thousands of years and that she feared its failure would destabilize Houtu Village during the upheaval in Meng Mountain.
• Xiao Hua realized Zi Ye had entrusted him with Houtu Village's safety, and his understanding of the Hand of Cause and Effect deepened.
• Zi Ming explained that she had repeatedly sought Master Ke Qin's help and offered him a Dao Sect medicinal pill Zi Ye had brought back; Master Ke Qin opened the jade case and examined it.

Ziming gave Master Ke Qin a Rejuvenation Pill from Xiao Hua, and Master Ke Qin discovered it could restore the life essence he had spent refining soul treasures. After recognizing Xiao Hua as True Person Xiao, Master Ke Qin asked him to save the people of Million Meng Mountain, and Xiao Hua revealed that his plan was already underway in Hongdi Village.

• Ziming gave Master Ke Qin the Rejuvenation Pill, and he found that its thunder-born life force could replenish his life essence after he repaired the Soul Falling Lamp.
• Master Ke Qin thanked Xiao Hua, whose star-filled gaze startled him, and Ziming revealed that Xiao Hua was the mysterious alchemist behind the pill.
• Xiao Hua let slip that he was True Person Xiao, and Master Ke Qin begged him to help the people of Million Meng Mountain.
• Xiao Hua said he already had a plan underway in Hongdi Village to help Xiao Mao return to Great Shebi Village and claim what was his.
• Ziming proposed that Houtian Great Village support Xiao Mao once she became the next Ji Man after helping repair the Soul Falling Lamp.