Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua recovered scattered crystals and inspected the progress of Little White Dragon and his soul-cultivating Primordial Spirit. Little White Dragon explained his need for a dragon body, revealed what he knew about the Huanghua Ridge massacre, and suggested Xiao Hua might transform his dragon-qi meridians into a dragon body as well.

• Xiao Hua accepted Yuan Ya's meat pie as a kind gesture, gathered the valuable crystals, and returned to the Taoist temple to cultivate.
• Xiao Hua found that Little White Dragon's soul had become solid and enormous, while his soul-cultivating Primordial Spirit had also grown and advanced in cultivation.
• Little White Dragon told Xiao Hua that he needed a dragon body's secret art to transform, since an ordinary dragon body could not withstand his True Dragon Soul.
• Little White Dragon said his memories of Huanghua Ridge and Minghua had been erased, but he described the cultivators who had killed him and destroyed Huanghua Ridge.
• Little White Dragon warned Xiao Hua about the other Primordial Spirit in his meridians and proposed that he transform his dragon-qi meridians into a dragon body.

Jade Slip Xiao Hua learned that a seal inside his soul blocked his Primordial Spirit’s advancement, and Little White Dragon offered to break it with Heavenly Fire. Back in the Daoist temple, Xiao Hua gave a desperate father a medicinal pill for his dying wife, then saw Yuan Ya return carrying a drunken, battered old man and offer him food.

• Little White Dragon told Jade Slip Xiao Hua that a powerful seal lay between the grotto-heavens and offered to use Heavenly Fire to break it.
• Xiao Hua returned to his body, reflected on the seals obstructing his cultivation, and resumed meditating while waiting to refine the Earth Crystal Yao Ru.
• A grieving father entered the temple to pray for his gravely ill wife, and Xiao Hua secretly gave him part of a Wutuodan before telling him to use it to save her.
• Xiao Hua followed the father with his soul sense and saw him give the pill to his wife before the family hurried away.
• Yuan Ya returned carrying a battered, drunken old man, settled him in the eastern wing, and brought Xiao Hua a cold steamed bun.

Xiao Hua spent the night at the temple with Yuan Ya and the old man, then practiced the Big Dipper Divine Fist at dawn and examined his progress in bone tempering. He also considered the seven-colored conch and spirit fire in his space, leaving the conch hidden there and asking green-robed Xiao Hua to pass the Water Repelling Incantation to the one in the Buddha Sarira.

• Yuan Ya shared buns with Xiao Hua, played a mournful tune on his xun, and slept on a pine branch after the old man shouted at him to stop.
• At dawn, Yuan Ya filled the water vat, cooked porridge, and swept the temple while Xiao Hua swallowed solar essence and practiced the Big Dipper Divine Fist.
• Xiao Hua invited Yuan Ya to learn his fist, but Yuan Ya fled through the pine branches, and the old man challenged Xiao Hua to demonstrate spells.
• Xiao Hua examined his bones and realized that obtaining the Origin of Earth had completed the second tempering and advanced him to the third stage, with his body's attribute transformed into Metal.
• In his space, Xiao Hua hid the seven-colored conch, observed that his spirit fire now contained both crimson and yellow, and asked green-robed Xiao Hua to give the Water Repelling Incantation to the one within the Buddha Sarira.

Xiao Hua improved his cultivation and awakened to find that he had knocked Yuan Ya down while practicing the Big Dipper Divine Fist. He joined True Person Xiao and Yuan Ya on their trip to Changsheng Town, where True Person Xiao tried to earn money by telling fortunes and selling a secret manual before an angry husband appeared.

• Xiao Hua refined the Earth Crystal Yao Ru with spiritual fire, expanding his meridians and transforming some of his true qi into true essence.
• Xiao Hua emerged from the space and accidentally knocked Yuan Ya flying, impressing True Person Xiao with his eyes-closed fighting.
• Xiao Hua learned that the old man called himself True Person Xiao and agreed to accompany him and Yuan Ya to Changsheng Town.
• True Person Xiao dressed up and set out with Yuan Ya and Xiao Hua, who followed after declining Yuan Ya's uneaten meat bun.
• True Person Xiao tried to sell a secret manual to a little girl after his fortune-telling pitch to her mother failed, and the woman called for her husband.

Daoist Master Xiao, Yuan Ya, and Xiao Hua set up a fortune-telling stall in Changsheng Town, where Xiao Hua watched the townsfolk and glimpsed blurred memories of Lu Town. Their attempt to get food on credit failed, leaving Daoist Master Xiao hungry and boasting about his former grandeur.

• A burly man stormed off after Yuan Ya intimidated him, while Xiao Hua noticed two old men watching Daoist Master Xiao and Yuan Ya from a tea stall.
• Yuan Ya prepared a fortune-telling stall at a busy intersection, and Xiao Hua stood behind Daoist Master Xiao as his assistant.
• Watching the street awaken memories of Lu Town, Xiao Hua recalled a vague tale of a hero saving a beauty but could not recover the details.
• Daoist Master Xiao sent Yuan Ya to buy pork and scallion buns on credit, but Yuan Ya returned with only tea because the shop owner refused further credit.
• A one-eyed, two-tongued monster passed through the street as Daoist Master Xiao offered to suppress it for silver, but no one hired him.

Xiao Hua wandered through Changsheng Town, stopped a purse thief, and entered a grocery store, where a shop assistant tried to drive him away. Zen Master Mingyue intervened on Xiao Hua’s behalf, and the chapter ended as Xiao Hua turned to face the monk.

• Daoist Master Xiao discussed Xiao Hua’s unusual strength and origins with Yuanya, then sent him to buy more tea.
• Xiao Hua strolled through town like an ordinary mortal and briefly recalled Lu Town and Qiutong.
• Xiao Hua warned a woman about a child trying to steal her purse, and the thief ran off.
• Xiao Hua entered Gao Liansheng Grocery Store, where a shop assistant blocked him and threatened to beat him.
• Zen Master Mingyue appeared behind Xiao Hua and rebuked the shop assistant for threatening a fellow religious man.

Xiao Hua explored Changsheng Town, observed how its people regarded Buddhism, and discovered Liu Ge'er being beaten by two men for failing to hand over enough money. He intervened when the men threatened Liu Ge'er’s eight-year-old sister, Xiao Yun.

• Zen Master Mingyue accepted a shopkeeper’s invitation for tea while mocking Xiao Hua and praising Little Gold Temple.
• Xiao Hua asked local children where to find Confucian scholars, learned about Changsheng Academy, and gave the children spirit dates.
• Xiao Hua obtained rice, flour, and copper coins from a shopkeeper, then wandered into a poorer part of town.
• Xiao Hua heard cries and found two men whipping Liu Ge'er while demanding money from him.
• Liu Ge'er defended his sick sister Xiao Yun, and Xiao Hua kicked open the gate to confront the men.

Xiao Hua rescued Liu Yi and Xiao Yun from two violent men, gave Liu Yi money and supplies, and left after warning him against stealing. When he returned with meat buns, Daoist Master Xiao was already entertaining a woman in a sedan chair with talk of her destined marriage.

• Xiao Hua defeated Third Brother and Second Brother, freed Liu Yi, and learned the brothers had killed people.
• Xiao Hua gave Liu Yi copper coins for Xiao Yun’s treatment, burned the two men’s bodies with Samadhi True Fire, and left rice behind for the siblings.
• Liu Yi gave his name and vowed never to betray his conscience again, while Xiao Hua told him to take care.
• Xiao Hua bought ten meat buns, then found Daoist Master Xiao and Yuan Ya well fed beneath the great tree.
• Daoist Master Xiao urged the woman in the sedan chair to seize her destined marriage, and she offered him money through Qing Huan.

Xiao Hua learned about Yuan Ya’s past after Yuan Ya asked him to teach the fist technique and insisted on calling him Master. The chapter left Xiao Hua considering whether to teach Yuan Ya, whose life had taken him from the forest to an arena and then into Daoist Master Xiao’s care.

• Miss Hao left copper coins with Daoist Master Xiao as a deposit before departing for the Hao Family in the East of Town.
• Daoist Master Xiao explained that Miss Hao had used fortune-telling as a pretext to help him, then fell asleep after eating the meat buns.
• Yuan Ya told Xiao Hua that he had felt lost when Xiao Hua left and asked whether Xiao Hua would teach him the fist technique.
• Xiao Hua asked Yuan Ya to explain his origins before considering the request.
• Yuan Ya recounted that he grew up with a she-wolf in the Xuan Yao Dark Forest, became a wolf-pack leader, was sold to an arena, and was rescued by Daoist Master Xiao after suffering a grave injury.

Yuan Ya explained his confusion and frustration with worldly social customs to Xiao Hua, then asked to learn the Big Dipper Divine Fist. Xiao Hua refused to take him as a disciple without Daoist Master Xiao’s approval, while beginning to consider founding a Creation Sect on Cangxian Continent.

• Xiao Hua told Yuan Ya he could not become his disciple unless Daoist Master Xiao agreed, and Yuan Ya described how he struggled to understand his master's dealings with other people.
• Yuan Ya said Daoist Master Xiao had never taught him combat techniques, explaining why he wanted to learn from Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua reflected on his past companions and decided he might establish a new Creation Sect on Cangxian Continent to rebuild the Daoist schools and help Jiu Xia.
• Xiao Hua asked Yuan Ya about his xun, but respected his wish to keep the instrument’s origin secret.
• Xiao Hua resumed refining the Earth Crystal Yao Ru, while Yuan Ya patiently waited for a chance to learn the Big Dipper Divine Fist.

Daoist Master Xiao and Zen Master Mingyue turned their rivalry into a public challenge between Jiangchao Temple and Little Gold Temple, with the loser required to leave Changsheng Town. Dean Zhu then proposed that Changsheng Academy join the contest at the upcoming Immortal-Buddha Grand Ceremony, leaving Daoist Master Xiao wary of the growing alliance.

• Zen Master Mingyue and two monks mocked Daoist Master Xiao, who defended his Daoist school and challenged them to a fight through Yuan Ya.
• Zen Master Mingyue accepted a one-on-one challenge at Little Gold Temple's mountain gate three days later and declared that the losing side must leave Changsheng Town.
• Daoist Master Xiao reluctantly agreed to the wager after Zen Master Mingyue threatened to publicize the challenge.
• Dean Zhu arrived with scholars from Changsheng Academy and proposed joining the challenge ten days later, during the Immortal-Buddha Grand Ceremony.
• Daoist Master Xiao questioned why Changsheng Academy and the Buddhist sect were joining forces, while Dean Zhu dismissed his concerns about their ancient cooperation.

At Demon Subduing Valley, the Three Cultivation Kingdoms and the Shaque Immortal Alliance had nearly sealed the Demon Realm’s breach after a devastating battle. True Person Xuanqing and Deputy Alliance Leader Luo exchanged thanks, while Xuanqing’s concern hinted that the danger might not be over.

• Thousands of cultivators surrounded Demon Subduing Valley as its formations contained the aftermath of a fierce battle.
• The surviving cultivators inside the valley advanced through spatial rifts and violent storms past corpses and restrictions that were destroying remnants of black qi and blood-colored light.
• More than two hundred exhausted cultivators and sword fighters maintained the Mao Ri Demon Devouring Immortal Array around a shrinking hollow filled with black qi and flames.
• True Person Xuanqing thanked Deputy Alliance Leader Luo for the Shaque Immortal Alliance’s aid in defeating the Demon Realm’s invasion.
• Deputy Alliance Leader Luo, who called himself Xing Tian, urged the Daoist factions to unite against their enemies, and True Person Xuanqing said he wished to protect Demon Subduing Valley and the Three Cultivation Kingdoms.

Luoxing Heaven and True Person Xuanqing discussed the growing danger of the Immortal-Demon Wars and the need to prepare more cultivators, before a Devil Lord’s spear struck at the formation. As the battle appeared to end, a shaken Daoist hidden in Demon Subduing Valley attacked someone concealed in the mist.

• Luoxing Heaven warned True Person Xuanqing that the Shaque Immortal Alliance could provide more support, while Xuanqing worried that casualties in successive wars were rising.
• A demonic spear burst from the mist and shattered Fairy Liyou’s defenses, costing her an arm as she escaped its strike.
• Jiang Zhu and Jiang Lingjian cut the spear into three pieces, and Jifengzi left with subordinates to search Demon Subduing Valley for surviving demonic beings.
• A disheveled Daoist searched the mist, demanded that someone reveal themselves, then formed a giant ruyi phantom and sent it toward the hidden presence.

Xunle Zhenren fought three Demon Generals from the Demon Realm, but an unseen attacker struck him while his power faltered. As the demons moved to seize his Nascent Soul, it laughed mockingly, leaving its fate uncertain.

• Xunle Zhenren identified himself to Chihē of the Demon Realm and attacked him with his ruyi.
• A second demonic being ambushed Xunle Zhenren with a Corrosive Ruler, but he dodged the strike despite being injured.
• Chihē and the second demon attacked Xunle Zhenren as he formed a towering Dharma body, but his power abruptly collapsed.
• A third Demon General stabbed Xunle Zhenren through the heart with a spear, and the three demons surrounded him as he weakened.
• The demons used a blood-red net to capture Xunle Zhenren's Nascent Soul, which laughed mockingly as the net descended.

Xunle Zhenren detonated his unusually powerful Nascent Soul, killing three Demon Generals and tearing open spatial rifts that scattered creatures and strangers across the Human Realm. Alliance Leader Jifeng and a fellow Daoist arrived afterward and recognized the lingering aura as Xunle Zhenren’s.

• Chihē, the spear-wielding Demon General, and the androgynous blood shadow noticed Dragon Yu in Xunle Zhenren’s Nascent Soul and attacked to seize it.
• Xunle Zhenren’s Nascent Soul detonated with overwhelming force, while Dragon Yu slipped into a spatial void.
• The blast killed the three Demon Generals, and two escaping blood shadows were sucked into a void as the last fled deeper into the valley.
• Spatial rifts opened across distant places, releasing a lanky person, a marten, a black dog, a sword embryo, a four-tailed fox, a silver wolf, Empress and Dai Er, a cloaked figure, and a being with luminous wings.
• Alliance Leader Jifeng arrived with more than a dozen cultivators, and a Daoist from Xunle Zhenren’s sect confirmed the aura belonged to Martial Nephew Xunle.

During the search of Demon Subduing Valley, Feng Shu and Chan Simiao learned that a naked, unharmed Qi Cultivation cultivator had been found near where Xunle fell. They brought him in for questioning, and Feng Shu tried to prevent Chan Simiao from examining him before offering to use the Soul Searching Method.

• Jifengzi ordered Golden Core stage disciples and above to search Demon Subduing Valley for survivors and belongings left behind by the fallen.
• After ten days of searching, a disciple reported that he had found a naked, unharmed Qi Cultivation cultivator near the place where Xunle fell.
• Feng Shu and Chan Simiao questioned the report, wondering how the man could have survived Xunle’s self-detonation and whether he was from the Demonic Realm.
• The disciple brought in the bald, unconscious man, and Feng Shu and Chan Simiao noted that his cultivation and true qi were unusual.
• Feng Shu stopped Chan Simiao from trying to wake the man and offered to use the Soul Searching Method, warning that it might turn him into an idiot.

Feng Shu’s Soul Searching Method left Zhang Xiaohua without his memories, and Feng Shu and Chan Simiao discussed the political dangers of the incident. The chapter left Chan Simiao alarmed that others might use Feng Shu’s treatment of the Qi Cultivation boy against them.

• Feng Shu used the Soul Searching Method on the unconscious man, but the man woke with no memories and could not recall his name or origins.
• Chan Simiao identified the man as belonging to the Human Realm, and Feng Shu arranged for a disciple to take Zhang Xiaohua away to rest.
• Feng Shu warned Chan Simiao that competition over the Immortal Alliance Leader position and missing resources from fallen cultivators could make the Soul Searching incident politically dangerous.
• Feng Shu suggested that jealous rivals might exploit the incident to target them, and Chan Simiao reacted with alarm.

After Feng Shu and Chan Simiao plotted to keep Zhang Xiaohua’s lost memories from causing trouble, Zhang Xiaohua woke in Demon Subduing Valley with amnesia and began discovering strange abilities and objects within himself. He left his hut, where a powerful disciple reprimanded him for using his divine sense to inspect others.

• Feng Shu proposed telling Zhang Xiaohua that he served the Deputy Alliance Leader and instructing him not to reveal anything, and Chan Simiao agreed.
• Zhang Xiaohua woke in a sealed wooden hut unable to remember his identity, and discovered he could not draw in spiritual qi despite sensing its abundance.
• Zhang Xiaohua found a vast space behind his head containing a golden light and learned he could store the serpent-shaped ring inside it.
• Zhang Xiaohua opened the hut door and encountered a disciple whose presence his divine sense could not detect.
• The disciple overwhelmed Zhang Xiaohua with pressure, reprimanded him for probing another’s cultivation, and told him to use techniques such as Heavenly Eye Technique or Probing Technique instead.

Zhang Xiaohua was brought before Feng Shu, who pressured him to join Ascension Gate but gave him supplies and instructions to leave Demon Subduing Valley. Feng Shu then praised Qiu Feng and offered to answer his cultivation questions, while Zhang Xiaohua prepared to change clothes and depart before the Alliance Leader returned.

• A young-looking disciple discovered Zhang Xiaohua’s unusual divine sense and escorted him to Feng Shu after Feng Shu summoned them.
• Feng Shu questioned Zhang Xiaohua about his origins and warned that entering Demon Subduing Valley violated the Immortal Alliance’s rules.
• Feng Shu tried to recruit Zhang Xiaohua into Ascension Gate, then used his spiritual pressure when Zhang Xiaohua hesitated.
• Zhang Xiaohua explained that he had a master and sect, so Feng Shu gave him a storage ring, clothes, and instructions for leaving and concealing Feng Shu’s involvement.
• Feng Shu removed his restriction, identified the disciple as Qiu Feng, praised his cultivation, and invited him to ask questions in the future.

Feng Shu arranged for Qiu Feng to escort Zhang Xiaohua out of Demon Subduing Valley, disguising the rescue as a favor to a descendant of the Alliance Leader. They passed through the valley’s heavily guarded exit, leaving the guards convinced Qiu Feng had secret orders from a powerful Immortal Alliance official.

• Feng Shu offered Qiu Feng future guidance in return for his service to the Immortal Alliance, then asked him to handle Zhang Xiaohua’s release discreetly.
• Qiu Feng agreed to escort Zhang Xiaohua out, while Feng Shu warned him to leave before the Alliance Leader returned.
• At the valley entrance, Qiu Feng argued that no rule barred Qi Cultivation disciples from leaving and hinted that his mission came from a higher-up.
• The guards examined Zhang Xiaohua, confirmed he had no Demon Realm aura, and opened a gap in the formation for Qiu Feng and Zhang Xiaohua to depart.
• After the pair vanished through the formation, the guards concluded Qiu Feng’s unnamed secret orders were genuine.