Chapter Summaries

Xin Xin and Xiao Hua entered the platform’s golden barrier and found a genuine Kunlun Mirror that overwhelmed them with its pressure. The mirror activated the golden throne and sent them away, but Xiao Hua reappeared in the Profound Water Palace’s mirror chamber, where he spotted a strange milky-white sword.

• Xin Xin cut open the golden barrier with her flying sword, and Xiao Hua broke the opening wider so they could enter the platform.
• The Kunlun Mirror’s pressure forced Xin Xin to collapse and drove Xiao Hua to his knees, while they found no sign of Xin Xin’s father.
• Xin Xin proposed using the golden hairpin to send Xiao Hua to the throne, but Xiao Hua instead used his Dharma Body to throw her onto it.
• Xiao Hua released the Ice Mirror, whose three-colored radiance entered the Kunlun Mirror and caused Xin Xin to vanish from the throne.
• Xiao Hua stepped into the throne’s teleporting halo and reappeared in the Profound Water Palace’s mirror chamber, where he noticed a strange treasured sword inside a mirror.

Xiao Hua discovered that the Son of Heaven Sword was suppressing Xin Xin’s father inside the Kunlun Mirror and decided to seize it to free him. He fought the sword with his divine sense, lightning, and Spirit Fire, weakening its radiance but leaving the father’s rescue unresolved.

• Xiao Hua realized that the Profound Water Palace was inside the Kunlun Mirror and that the Son of Heaven Sword was suppressing a gigantic golden sword containing Xin Xin’s father.
• Xin Xin explained that her father had entered sword transformation and would remain trapped unless Geng Earth and her golden hairpin could be used to awaken and free him.
• Xiao Hua declared that he would claim the Son of Heaven Sword and enlarged his golden body before trying to lift it with Sleeve Universe.
• The Son of Heaven Sword retaliated with immense pressure and countless sword lights, injuring Xiao Hua as he met its attack with divine sense and the Sun-Shading Art.
• Xiao Hua used Spirit Fire, black flames, and nine thunderbolts to break through the sword’s defenses and engulf it.
• The Son of Heaven Sword’s golden spikes pierced the Spirit Fire, but both attacks vanished and the sword remained, trembling with its radiance dimmed.

Xiao Hua subdued the Son of Heaven Sword after using his Nascent Soul and four Kunlun Mirrors to trap it, while Xin Xin recovered her father’s flying sword. They escaped to Sage River, with Xin Xin planning to seek help to awaken her father.

• Xin Xin used her golden hairpin to break the phantom suppressing her father’s flying sword, then cut her hand so the sword would accept her blood and settle into her grasp.
• The Son of Heaven Sword severed Xiao Hua’s Dharma body arm and nearly struck his head, despite the Sea-Overturning Seal and Xin Xin’s blood-red hairpin.
• Xiao Hua’s Nascent Soul used Ice Mirror techniques and four Kunlun Mirrors to trap the Son of Heaven Sword, allowing a fire arm to seize and subdue it.
• Xiao Hua celebrated capturing the Son of Heaven Sword, and Xin Xin explained that awakening her father would require a Great Grandmaster of Earth Qi Returning to Origin.
• Xiao Hua revealed that he could control the true Kunlun Mirror because he had refined one of its fragments, then opened a passage and led Xin Xin back to Sage River.

After parting from Xin Xin, Xiao Hua flew toward Golden Mountain Temple to investigate Jiang Liuer and Cihui’s fate. Along the way, he met a mysterious little monk who seemed to have been waiting for him and gave him a strange black triangle.

• Xin Xin gave Xiao Hua her flower token and departed for Nüwa Country, asking him to visit her there.
• Xiao Hua set off alone for Golden Mountain Temple, worried about Jiang Liuer and uncertain what had happened to Cihui and Master Guzhen.
• As a storm gathered over the mountains, Xiao Hua found a little monk sitting beneath a Bodhi Tree, who greeted him as if he had expected him.
• The little monk stopped the storm with a gesture and asked Xiao Hua to finish a game of chess before they talked.
• When a chess piece was missing, the little monk blamed Wang Zhengfei and gave Xiao Hua a heavy black triangle to use instead; Xiao Hua lost the game soon afterward.

Xiao Hua discovered that the little monk had left him a Buddhist treasure containing a chess piece, then found the child Wang Zhengfei, whom the monk had mentioned. Wang Zhengfei was summoned to paint a portrait of Miss for Master Wang, and he began painting after studying her in silence.

• Xiao Hua played nearly thirty chess games with the little monk, improving until he repeatedly defeated him.
• The little monk vanished after pointing Xiao Hua toward Wang Zhengfei, and Xiao Hua found a hidden chess piece inside the black triangle with his Dharma Eye.
• Xiao Hua used his Buddhist consciousness to find Wang Zhengfei, a young child drawing beneath a flowering tree in a mountain village.
• A steward brought Wang Zhengfei to Master Wang and offered him silver to paint a portrait of Miss.
• Wang Zhengfei studied Miss in silence, prepared the ink himself, and began painting with a thick brush.

Wang Zhengfei refused to alter his honest portrait of Master Wang’s daughter, even when the steward threatened his family. After his mother was thrown into a cage with a vicious dog, Wang Zhengfei began painting a tiger to save her, while Xiao Hua watched and the missing monk remained nowhere to be found.

• Wang Zhengfei painted Master Wang’s daughter with the black mole on her left cheek, angering Master Wang and the steward.
• Wang Zhengfei refused Master Wang’s gold and the steward’s demands to remove the mole, insisting that a painter must depict what he saw.
• The steward demanded a tael of silver for the paper and threatened to put Wang Zhengfei’s mother in a cage with a vicious dog unless he painted a tiger that frightened it.
• The servants brought Wang Zhengfei’s mother and threw her into the cage, where the dog lunged at her.
• Wang Zhengfei asked for painting supplies and began painting a tiger instead of changing the portrait, while Xiao Hua watched from the wall.

Wang Zhengfei went into the mountains to find a tiger so he could save his mother from the vicious dog, while Xiao Hua watched over him. An old hunter met Wang Zhengfei with a tiger cub and offered to show him what a tiger looked like.

• Wang Zhengfei pleaded for one day to find a tiger, and Master Wang agreed after his veiled daughter intervened.
• Wang Zhengfei's mother tried to approach the vicious dog, but servants restrained it before it could hurt her.
• Master Wang sent the steward after Wang Zhengfei, but the steward stopped at the village and waited for him to return.
• A maid brought an old hunter up the mountain, while Xiao Hua invisibly followed Wang Zhengfei.
• After searching for half a day, Wang Zhengfei met Grandpa Zhang, who had taken a tiger cub from its den and offered to show it to him.

Wang Zhengfei painted a fierce tiger from memory while trapped in a mountain crevice with an injured old hunter and used the lifelike picture to frighten away the real tiger. They descended the mountain together, while the steward waited anxiously below.

• Wang Zhengfei asked the old hunter to show him the tiger so he could paint it, then learned the old hunter had mentioned Miss Wang.
• A great tiger returned early and chased Wang Zhengfei and the old hunter, who escaped into a narrow rock crevice as the tiger guarded them through the night.
• Wang Zhengfei drew an enraged tiger on straw paper and persuaded the old hunter to hold it up toward the crevice entrance.
• The real tiger mistook the painting for another tiger, took its cub, and ran away.
• Wang Zhengfei and the old hunter descended the mountain together as the steward waited below with household servants.

Wang Zhengfei escaped Master Wang’s threats by using his tiger painting to subdue the dog and painting Miss Wang’s face as she wished. Back home, he apologized to his mother, accepted her punishment, and then told her he no longer wanted to study painting, leaving her to ask why.

• The steward brought Wang Zhengfei back to the Wang residence, where his mother collapsed on seeing him and Master Wang demanded that he paint Miss Wang as a beauty.
• Wang Zhengfei unfurled his tiger painting, frightening the vicious dog into submission, and Miss Wang asked her father to let him go.
• Miss Wang covered one cheek with a fan, and Wang Zhengfei painted her beauty portrait; Master Wang rewarded him with gold and dismissed him.
• Wang Zhengfei returned home, apologized to his mother, and was punished before his father’s portrait until his injured hands made her stop and embrace him in tears.
• As his mother urged him to become a master painter, Wang Zhengfei said he no longer wanted to study painting and asked her not to be angry before explaining why.

After Wang Zhengfei decided that becoming a great painter would not free him from the powerful, he told his mother he wanted to find a cultivator. Xiao Hua appeared and offered to show him the Dao, leaving Wang Zhengfei and his mother astonished as he carried them into the sky.

• Wang Zhengfei told his mother that the Wang family's treatment of him had convinced him that painting alone could not let him control his fate, and he wanted to seek a cultivator.
• Wang Zhengfei's mother agreed to search with him, but Wang Zhengfei realized he could not leave her alone.
• Xiao Hua understood that the Buddhist senior had intended for him to pass his Daoist lineage to Wang Zhengfei, and he chose to help the boy.
• Xiao Hua appeared in Wang Zhengfei's home, restrained Wang Zhengfei and his mother briefly, then introduced himself as True Person Xiao and offered to demonstrate his abilities.
• Xiao Hua carried Wang Zhengfei and his mother into the sky, rising toward the edge of heavenfire, wind, and thunder.

Xiao Hua took Wang Zhengfei as a registered disciple and began teaching him cultivation in the Pure Land World. As Xiao Hua used the Soul Bridge to investigate Wang Zhengfei, the world shattered, and he abruptly awoke embracing Xin Xin.

• Xiao Hua praised Wang Zhengfei's resolve and accepted him as a registered disciple after Wang Zhengfei agreed to cultivate.
• Xiao Hua left Wang Zhengfei's mother spiritual dates and took Wang Zhengfei to a nearby mountain, promising to return him after three days.
• Wang Zhengfei quickly learned an introductory cultivation technique but could not sense Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi.
• Xiao Hua used the Soul Bridge to examine Wang Zhengfei, and spatial cracks shattered Wang Zhengfei, the mountain, and the Pure Land World into fragments.
• Xiao Hua awoke with Xin Xin in an intimate embrace, and the two noticed their position as Xin Xin's expression turned to shyness and fury.

Xiao Hua and Xin Xin discovered that the events inside the Profound Water Palace had been an illusion and found themselves trapped between devil qi and water-blue Yingluo ornaments. As the two forces began closing in, Guzhen entered the immense water-blue space and found the bridge behind him gone.

• Xiao Hua and Xin Xin realized they had been caught in an illusion array formed from devil qi, though they could not be sure whether their current surroundings were real.
• Xin Xin used her golden hairpin to release Vast Righteous Qi, clearing the devil qi around them and allowing Xiao Hua and Xin Xin to escape their bindings.
• Xiao Hua and Xin Xin searched the boundless space, learned that an immortal artifact was suppressing a demonic artifact, and found no way out or the person Xin Xin sought.
• The Yingluo ornaments contracted overhead as devil qi surged upward toward Xiao Hua and Xin Xin.
• Guzhen passed through the water-blue halo into a vast space of interlinked Yingluo ornaments and discovered that the arched bridge behind him had vanished.

Gu Zhen used the jade-green pearl and Heavenly Dragon scepter to break through the Yingluo and reach the water-blue banner, then summoned the Heavenly King representing his future Buddhahood to help subdue it. As Gu Zhen and the Heavenly King prepared their opposing Buddha and demonic powers, Gu Zhen launched the first strike at the banner.

• Gu Zhen swallowed the jade-green pearl, summoned the Heavenly Dragon from his scepter, and rode it through the Yingluo toward the banner.
• Gu Zhen found the water-blue triangular banner and realized the Heavenly Dragon’s explosion had only restrained it temporarily.
• Gu Zhen summoned a Heavenly King from his crown and learned that the figure was his future Buddha body, then joined it in preparing to seize the banner.
• Gu Zhen used blood-red relics and the pearl’s technique to draw out his demonic nature, while the Heavenly King formed a matching black, flame-filled Buddha palm.
• Gu Zhen formed seals and sent his Buddha palm crashing down toward the banner.

Guzhen tried to seize the Profound Origin Water Control Banner, which Xiao Hua identified as the seal suppressing a Demonic Beast, and fought Xiao Hua when he intervened. Xiao Hua pinned Guzhen with the Spirit Severing Primordial Light, but a dragon-shaped phantom suddenly swept across Xiao Hua’s left arm.

• Guzhen and the Heavenly King tried to take the Profound Origin Water Control Banner, but its resistance grew as its Yingluo gathered around it.
• Xin Xin arrived with Xiao Hua and warned that taking the banner would release the Demonic Beast; Xiao Hua recognized that Guzhen had fallen to demonhood and prepared to stop him.
• Xiao Hua grew to more than three hundred feet tall and struck the Buddha-Demon Hand with his Nascent Soul hand and As-You-Wish Staff, damaging it and forcing Guzhen to abandon the banner and attack him.
• Xiao Hua fought off Guzhen’s Buddha-Demon Hand with his staff, then used the Spirit Severing Primordial Light to pin Guzhen in midair and begin cutting him down.
• A dragon-shaped phantom burst from the demonic qi and black flames and swept across Xiao Hua’s left arm while Xin Xin watched the fight.

Xiao Hua was badly wounded when Guzhen’s demonic power overwhelmed him, but the appearance of Er Lengzi stopped Guzhen from killing him. Guzhen rejected the Heavenly King’s attempts to dismiss Er Lengzi as an illusion, while the demonic dragon refused to withdraw.

• A black shadow severed Xiao Hua’s left arm, injured his other forms, and caused his Spirit Severing Primordial Light and golden body to disappear.
• Guzhen’s Buddha-Demon Hand restrained Xiao Hua, but a mysterious voice froze Guzhen and the Heavenly King-shaped golden body.
• Guzhen recognized the approaching little monk as Er Lengzi, his younger brother, and the two tearfully reunited.
• Er Lengzi urged Guzhen to reject the demonic dragon, while the Heavenly King claimed the monk was an illusion created by the Profound Origin Water Control Banner.
• Guzhen insisted that he would protect Er Lengzi even if he was an illusion and ordered the demonic dragon to withdraw.
• The Heavenly King laughed off Guzhen’s command, and Er Lengzi cried out as he sensed danger.

Gunnian sacrificed his golden body to destroy the Heavenly King, but the demonic dragon then merged with Xiao Hua and possessed him, transforming him into a towering demon. Xin Xin tried to flee toward the Profound Origin Water Control Banner, but Xiao Hua turned his attention to the banner and blocked her escape.

• Gunnian collapsed his golden body, destroying the Heavenly King and freeing Xiao Hua from the Buddha-Demon Hand.
• The demonic dragon emerged from the Yingluo, swallowed Xiao Hua's severed left arm, and transformed into a demonic blade that merged with him.
• Xiao Hua awakened with blood-red eyes and became a hundred-zhang-tall Demon God, his demonic qi consuming the Yingluo around him.
• Xin Xin realized the demonic blade was possessing Xiao Hua and hurried toward the Profound Origin Water Control Banner while searching for the little monk Gunnian.
• Xiao Hua taunted the Profound Origin Water Control Banner and turned his attention toward it as Xin Xin approached.

Xin Xin used the Profound Origin Water Control Banner and her own golden hairpin to stop Demon God Xiao Hua, then passed half of her golden Dan Heart into Xiao Hua’s mouth. The clash of Dan Hearts erupted inside Xiao Hua and began tearing apart his demonic armor and driving back the demonic artifacts.

• Demon God Xiao Hua cleaved the Profound Origin Water Control Banner’s protective radiance with the demonic saber, but the exertion forced his demonic body to shrink.
• Xin Xin realized both artifacts required a wielder, briefly tried to bind the banner, and found that her body could not contain it.
• Xin Xin used the banner to block a second saber strike, then rushed at Demon God Xiao Hua and thrust her golden hairpin into his chest.
• The golden hairpin briefly halted Xiao Hua, and the Profound Origin Water Control Banner restrained him again after he broke free.
• Xin Xin kissed Xiao Hua and transferred half of her golden Dan Heart into his mouth, where it collided with his crimson Dan Heart.
• The burst of golden and crimson radiance shattered Xiao Hua’s demonic armor and sent the demonic artifacts retreating.

Xin Xin tried to use her Confucian Heaven’s Heart to keep the demonic dragon from taking over Xiao Hua, but Xiao Hua secretly drew the dragon into his own inner space and began refining it. After the demonic qi subsided, Xiao Hua returned to himself, while Xin Xin gained control of the Profound Origin Water Control Banner.

• Xin Xin gave Xiao Hua her Heaven’s Heart to awaken his mind and resist the demonic dragon, but the dragon’s power surged again and broke through the Profound Origin Water Control Banner’s defenses.
• Xiao Hua secretly yielded control of his body and drew his consciousness near his inner space, where he began refining the demonic spirits gathered by the demonic blade.
• As the demonic qi poured into Xiao Hua, Xin Xin retreated and discovered that the damaged Profound Origin Water Control Banner had developed an affinity for her and flown into her hand.
• After the demon heads vanished and Xiao Hua returned to normal, he reassured Xin Xin that he remained himself and joked that he was teaching the demonic dragon to read.
• Xiao Hua’s thoughts revealed that the demonic dragon had been suppressed by the Ancient Buddha Sarira and had later beguiled Gu Zhen because it could not possess his body.

Xiao Hua trapped and devoured the Demon Dragon within his inner space, then revealed his true appearance to Xin Xin while she revealed hers. Xin Xin gave him the Heavenly Book and shared secrets about refining the Five Elements As-You-Wish Heaven-Piercing Staff, leaving them with their identities still partly concealed.

• The Demon Dragon tried to possess Xiao Hua but was lured into his inner space, where Jade Slip Xiao Hua and the other Primordial Spirits devoured it.
• Xiao Hua and Xin Xin pressed each other for the truth, then revealed their true appearances without exchanging their names.
• Xin Xin let Xiao Hua keep the half of the Heavenly Heart and gave him the Heavenly Book, explaining that it could help him cultivate Five Qi Ascending to the Origin.
• Xiao Hua gave Xin Xin seven flying swords and two higher-quality swords, which she accepted for a pair of Mandarin Duck Swords.
• Xin Xin described the Five Elements materials needed for Xiao Hua's staff and privately revealed its final required material.

Xiao Hua learned how to leave the Profound Water Palace from Xin Xin and discovered that Gunnian’s soul could return to his preserved body. After helping Gunnian and Guzhen choose reincarnation together, Xiao Hua burned Gunnian’s body and the other corpses.

• Xin Xin revealed that she knew a safe way out of the Profound Water Palace, and Xiao Hua summoned Gunnian from the corpses.
• Xiao Hua promised to restore Gunnian to life and learned that Wang Zhengfei had entered the illusion through dreams.
• Gunnian asked Xiao Hua to help Guzhen, so Buddha Xiao Hua summoned Guzhen’s soul and offered to bear his karmic burdens.
• Gunnian chose to give up returning to life and join Guzhen in reincarnation, and Buddha Xiao Hua sent the brothers away together.
• Xiao Hua burned Gunnian’s body and the other corpses.