Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua explored the vast Qi Stone mine, weighed how to protect it, and discovered a trove of divine-sense techniques in Du Shanjun’s Ink Cloud Pupil. He left the mine after collecting some ore and learning its extent from his companions, while Dragon Vein Xiao Hua revealed that he had replaced the Five Dragon Imperial Seal’s fortune with his own fart.

• Xiao Hua considered stripping the Qi Stone mine or fortifying Black Cloud Ridge, and sent Xiaohuang, Xiaohei, and Xiaoyin to find the mine’s boundaries.
• Xiao Hua mined higher-grade Qi Stones but could not store large loads at once, and found that the Essence Devouring Insects he had taken from the Profound Water Palace had vanished outside it.
• Xiao Hua examined Du Shanjun’s Ink Cloud Pupil and found numerous divine-sense techniques, then asked Dragon Vein Xiao Hua to study it while the other incarnations were occupied.
• Dragon Vein Xiao Hua said he had devoured the Dragon Qi in the Five Dragon Imperial Seal and left his own fart inside, prompting the other Xiao Hua incarnations to overhear the secret.
• Xiao Hua collected ore from another gold-element vein, then summoned Xiaohuang and Xiaohei, asked them about the mine, stored them away, and left Xiaoyin behind.

Xiao Hua began setting up the Duotian Star Array around the Qi Stone mine beneath Black Cloud Ridge, but a powerful force underground disrupted the formation. Investigating, he discovered a Metal-Wood Primordial Magnetism Space, a material needed to refine the Five Elements As-You-Wish Heaven-Piercing Staff.

• Xiao Hua decided to include the Qi Stone mine in the Duotian Star Array so it could supply Primordial Qi to the formation.
• Xiao Hua placed the array’s jade talismans and activated a node, but an underground force pulled its crystalline light away from the talisman.
• Xiao Hua used the Eye of Delusion Breaking and saw azure and golden rays converging beneath him, revealing Metal-Wood Primordial Magnetism.
• Xiao Hua followed the magnetic force underground and stored his belongings when it began tugging at them.
• Xiao Hua used spirit fire to open a passage through the black cloud-mist and entered the Metal-Wood Primordial Magnetism Space.

Xiao Hua collected Metal Essence Gold Marrow and Wood Marrow Li Crystal from the Metal-Wood Primordial Magnetism, then devised a way to approach its Gold pole. The chapter ended as his essence blood, stripped of its Five Elements substances, reached the pole and began transforming into a golden image of Xiao Hua.

• Xiao Hua gathered sixty-one drops of Metal Essence Gold Marrow and saw an azure dragon elemental spirit emerge before vanishing into the primordial magnetism.
• Xiao Hua collected sixty-one drops of Wood Marrow Li Crystal and watched a golden tiger elemental spirit appear and disappear.
• Xiao Hua realized he might use essence blood to temper the vast Metal-Wood Primordial Magnetism and tested how its poles repelled and attracted him.
• Xiao Hua used the Wood Escape Technique to approach the Gold pole, then withdrew his magic power and removed his clothing to avoid the magnetic force.
• Xiao Hua dripped essence blood onto the pole, where its Five Elements substances were stripped away and the remaining blood formed a tiny golden image of him.

Xiao Hua failed to discover how to refine the Metal-Wood Primordial Magnetism, then spent several days preparing the Duotian Star Array around Black Cloud Ridge. He struggled to activate the massive formation alone, and the chapter ended as he worked through its final nodes amid increasingly powerful celestial phenomena.

• Xiao Hua tried the Blood Refinement technique on the Metal and Wood Primordial Magnetism poles, but both attempts failed and left him exhausted.
• Xiao Hua left the primordial magnetism space, returned to the Qi Stone mine, and rested while setting up the formation over the following several dozen days.
• Xiao Hua activated the Duotian Star Array's nodes with his Nascent Soul, alarming the humans and demons at Black Cloud Ridge with the array's radiance and force.
• After Xiao Hua tired, he let green-robed Xiao Hua control the Nascent Soul, but their competing use of Dharma power caused coordination problems.
• Xiao Hua considered whether the Nascent Soul could cultivate independently, then resumed controlling it as green-robed Xiao Hua grew weary.
• Xiao Hua began setting the final several dozen nodes as thunder and lightning filled the sky, while the people and demons of Black Cloud Ridge feared the formation might collapse.

After completing Black Cloud Ridge’s grand formation, Xiao Hua recovered in seclusion while Qin Xiaoyao managed the growing refuge and its defenses. Xiao Hua left Qin Xiaoyao in charge and departed for Qianyu Mountain to rescue Li Xiang, despite the Confucian scholars awaiting him there.

• Xiao Hua completed the Duotian Star Array, gave Qin Xiaoyao the Mountain-Suppressing Spirit Stele, and entered seclusion.
• Qin Xiaoyao organized Black Cloud Ridge’s defenses and handled an influx of cultivators seeking refuge, while Princess Changling and Xiao Jian worked to restore Jiang Kingdom.
• After emerging from seclusion, Xiao Hua ordered Qin Xiaoyao to expel or kill cultivators who refused his authority within the formation.
• Qin Xiaoyao told Xiao Hua that several great Confucian scholars had arrived at Qianyu Mountain, but Xiao Hua resolved to go there and rescue Li Xiang.
• Xiao Hua left Qin Xiaoyao responsible for Black Cloud Ridge and took Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei with him, while Wang Zhengfei went to inform his mother.

Xiao Hua left Black Cloud Ridge for Qianyu Mountain, unaware that he had flown in the wrong direction. At Tongzhu Kingdom's capital, new inspections at East Gate revealed that the Imperial Preceptor had died, prompting heightened security.

• Xiao Hua gave Qin Xiaoyao a Thousand Mile Sound Transmission Talisman, then departed Black Cloud Ridge with Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei on his heavenly horse.
• Qin Xiaoyao realized Xiao Hua had flown in the wrong direction, but Xiao Hua was already out of sight.
• Several days later, Captain Situ and his soldiers began inspecting merchants entering Tongzhu Kingdom's capital at East Gate.
• Captain Situ compensated an old vegetable seller for the damage his soldiers caused and sent him into the city.
• Captain Situ told Gao Peng that the Imperial Preceptor had died nearly a hundred days earlier, and Gao Peng reacted in shock.

Xiao Hua left Tongzhu Kingdom’s capital with Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei, then helped a nervous scholar evade soldiers who suspected him of trouble. The scholar parted from Xiao Hua after they had put the city gate behind them, while Xiao Hua continued toward his own business.

• Captain Situ and Gao Peng discussed the National Teacher’s death and began inspecting people entering the East Gate.
• Gao Peng spotted a nervous scholar surrounded by four martial artists and went to alert the general on the city wall.
• Xiao Hua arrived at the gate with Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei, and a scholar in the crowd grabbed his sleeve while pretending they were old acquaintances.
• Xiao Hua played along with the scholar’s story about a missed outing, helping him leave the gate without raising further suspicion.
• After checking that no soldiers were following, the scholar released Xiao Hua, who said farewell and continued on his way.

Xiao Hua refused to help a scholar enter the capital after learning that he was hiding from Tongzhu Kingdom’s soldiers, then revealed his power by flying away in a heavenly horse and carriage. The scholar headed for another city gate to seek help from Senior Dao Hong, while Xiao Hua wondered whether Dao Hong was the cultivator he had encountered at an earlier auction.

• Xiao Hua challenged the scholar’s interpretation of the Doctrine of the Mean, and the scholar admitted that he had been taught a lesson.
• The scholar asked Xiao Hua to take him through the city gate, but Xiao Hua refused to risk involving his family in the scholar’s hidden business.
• After a burly man threatened Xiao Hua, the scholar revealed that Tongzhu Kingdom had killed members of his family and captured his father, but he stopped himself from ordering an attack on Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua suggested that the scholar try another city gate, then summoned a flying carriage and heavenly horse and departed with Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei.
• The scholar recognized the heavenly horse from an auction at Star Picking Tower and decided to seek Senior Dao Hong at another gate.
• Xiao Hua wondered whether Dao Hong was the cultivator who had once competed with him for a cultivation technique, while Liu Yi asked why Xiao Hua had not helped the scholar.

Xiao Hua explained why he had refused to intervene in the scholar’s troubles, then guided Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei as they traveled toward Qianyu Mountain. Wang Zhengfei showed a surprising talent for talisman-making, while green-robed Xiao Hua revealed he had discovered a secret through his experiments with lightning.

• Xiao Hua told Liu Yi that he had no reason to help the scholar, whom he distrusted, and praised Captain Situ for his kindness to the vegetable farmer.
• Xiao Hua explained the scholar’s reference to Yu Shi Ming Yan and suspected his origins were unusual, then told Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei to take three or four days to reach Qianyu Mountain because it was a trap.
• Xiao Hua discussed Confucian cultivators’ Vast Righteous Qi and advised Liu Yi to focus on Daoist cultivation, while Wang Zhengfei drew Liu Yi’s portrait and discovered he could condense spiritual energy into a talisman.
• Wang Zhengfei told Xiao Hua that he was near the peak of the first Qi Cultivation layer, and Xiao Hua advised him to delay his breakthrough and develop his talent for painting and talisman-making.
• Xiao Hua checked Liu Yi’s cultivation and gave both disciples further guidance as the heavenly horses carried them onward.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua told Jade Slip Xiao Hua that he had discovered a secret while overseeing the nascent soul, after experimenting with lightning to temper his body.

Jade Slip Xiao Hua and Green-robed Xiao Hua theorized that Confucian cultivation followed the Way of Life, then discussed their cultivation and other complications. Jade Slip Xiao Hua discovered Little Yellow was restless and eager to imitate his adventures after hearing about them from Wang Zhengfei, leaving him alarmed that the two had met.

• Green-robed Xiao Hua proposed that the Five Qi True Thunder revealed the vitality behind Confucian cultivation and that Five Qi Ascending to the Origin meant life itself.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua wondered whether Confucian cultivators had misunderstood their path by pursuing Daoist-style powers, while Green-robed Xiao Hua speculated about Buddhism and death.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua and Green-robed Xiao Hua discussed their cultivation duties, the problems with their companions' seals, and the complications of having multiple Primordial Spirits.
• Green-robed Xiao Hua warned Jade Slip Xiao Hua that Little Yellow seemed listless, so Jade Slip Xiao Hua summoned and questioned him.
• Little Yellow said that life at home felt too comfortable and that he wanted to imitate Jade Slip Xiao Hua's adventures, then revealed that Wang Zhengfei had told him about them.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua was shocked to learn Little Yellow had met Wang Zhengfei and realized something was wrong.

Jade Slip Xiao Hua agreed to let Little Yellow and Xiaohei leave the space and see the world, while Little Silver stayed behind. Wang Zhengfei’s dreams revealed how his stories had inspired Little Yellow to go, and also showed Xiao Hua that Jiang Liuer had been walking through a Buddhist vision for more than a hundred years.

• Little Yellow told Jade Slip Xiao Hua she wanted to leave home, and Xiaohei admitted he wanted to go too but would follow his father’s decision.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua agreed to send Little Yellow and Xiaohei out in a few days, while Little Yellow insisted Little Silver was too young to join them.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua gave the three creatures Rejuvenation Pills, then questioned Wang Zhengfei about the dreams he had during his journey.
• Wang Zhengfei described telling Little Yellow stories about the outside world and urging her to sneak away, prompting Jade Slip Xiao Hua to realize his own overprotectiveness had kept her sheltered.
• Wang Zhengfei described a monk reciting the Heart Sutra beneath a towering Buddha phantom, and Xiao Hua recognized the monk as Jiang Liuer, who had been walking for more than a hundred years.

Xiao Hua arranged for Liu Yi to study Buddhist scriptures with Wang Zhengfei’s help, then the story shifted to a rescue party gathering near Qianyu Mountain. Young Master Zhu and Dao Hong debated whether to infiltrate the heavily guarded prison to save Zhu’s father, and one elder urged them to act while Tongzhu Kingdom was distracted.

• Liu Yi recited the Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra from memory, and Xiao Hua offered to guide him in Buddhist cultivation.
• Xiao Hua gave Liu Yi a booklet of Buddhist characters and told Wang Zhengfei to teach his senior brother.
• The chapter described Qianyu Mountain as a perilous prison surrounded by corrosive black water and guarded by Tongzhu Kingdom’s forces.
• Young Master Zhu, Dao Hong, and several hundred others watched the unusually large military camp near Qianyu Mountain.
• Dao Hong warned that the heightened defenses made an assault dangerous, but an elder argued that Tongzhu Kingdom’s attention was elsewhere and urged them to rescue Zhu’s father now.

Young Master Zhu, Xian Lao, and Dao Hong led a large force toward Qianyu Mountain to rescue Master Zhu, believing General Hei Mo was away. The infiltration met a far stronger defense than expected, and the Black Armored Army attacked with Immortal Slaying Crossbows.

• Dao Hong agreed to infiltrate Qianyu Mountain with the Zhu family, while Young Master Zhu stayed behind to hold the rear.
• Xian Lao ordered Zhu Cheyun and two guards to protect Young Master Zhu, then led several hundred Zhu family elites toward the mountain.
• Young Master Zhu and Zhu Cheyun heard cries and saw lights and weapons fire erupt around Qianyu Mountain.
• Xian Lao discovered that the camps were far more numerous than expected and that the Black Armored Army had assembled inside them.
• The Black Armored Army formed groups and launched Immortal Slaying Crossbow arrows infused with Vast Righteous Qi at Xian Lao and his people.

Tongzhu Kingdom’s forces ambushed the Daoist sect remnants near Qianyu Mountain with Immortal Slaying Crossbows and God Slaying Bows, killing Xian Lao and Dao Hong. Young Master Zhu heard the slaughter from afar and realized Xian Lao had sacrificed himself to protect him.

• Immortal Slaying Crossbow bolts tore through the Zhu family's retainers as Xian Lao tried to fend off an attack and retreat.
• A God Slaying Bow pierced Xian Lao’s heart and pinned him to an ancient tree, killing him.
• Three God Slaying Bows wounded Dao Hong, and General Hao Hu revealed that Tongzhu Kingdom’s forces had prepared an ambush around Qianyu Mountain.
• Dao Hong used his bronze ring to block volleys of arrows and fought General Hao Hu, but the God Slaying Bows and crossbow soldiers kept him under attack.
• Dao Hong detonated his Golden Core to destroy Hao Hu’s tiger-shaped phantom, then arrows pierced his cheek and heart, killing him.
• Young Master Zhu heard the screams and understood that Xian Lao had held off the attackers to save his life.

Xiao Hua arrived at Qianyu Mountain and overwhelmed General Hao Hu’s army, then confronted Tongzhu Kingdom’s prime minister Yan Zhijin and the Confucian elder Zhan Rushui over the Imperial Seal of Succession. Young Master Zhu recognized Zhan Rushui and feared Xiao Hua might be in trouble.

• Young Master Zhu tried to order a retreat, but Zhu Cheyun told him there was no retreat and Xiao Hua arrived before General Hao Hu could finish addressing them.
• General Hao Hu ordered his soldiers to fire, but Xiao Hua destroyed their attacks with heavenly lightning and swept away their camp with a giant Nascent Soul hand.
• Xiao Hua broke General Hao Hu’s spear, defeated him with a punch, and ordered the soldiers to lay down their Weapons; General Hao Hu obeyed.
• Yan Zhijin introduced himself as Tongzhu Kingdom’s prime minister and questioned Xiao Hua’s conduct, while Zhan Rushui demanded that Xiao Hua return the Confucian cultivators’ Imperial Seal of Succession.
• Young Master Zhu recognized Zhan Rushui and worried that True Person Xiao might be in trouble.

Yan Zhijin accused Xiao Hua of stealing the Five Dragon Imperial Seal and called on Zhan Rushui to recover it, but Xiao Hua denied the charge and challenged them to fight. Zhan Rushui unleashed the power of his literary qi, and Xiao Hua broke through his attacks with a dragon-shaped pair of scissors, leaving Yan Zhijin alarmed as the blade closed on Zhan Rushui.

• Yan Zhijin claimed Xiao Hua had stolen the Five Dragon Imperial Seal and demanded that he hand it over and withdraw from Qianyu Mountain.
• Xiao Hua said he had given the seal to Du Shanjun and accused Yan Zhijin and Zhan Rushui of inventing an excuse to attack him.
• Zhan Rushui invoked Vast Righteous Qi to summon an army-like assault and strike Xiao Hua with pillars of righteous qi.
• Xiao Hua shattered the pillars with his Nascent Soul hand, but Zhan Rushui blocked the Sea-Overturning Seal and broke Xiao Hua's golden threads.
• Xiao Hua summoned dragon-shaped scissors that split Zhan Rushui's Vast Righteous Qi and slashed toward his waist, prompting Yan Zhijin to warn him.

Xiao Hua defeated Zhan Rushui with the Five Qi True Thunder and spared his life, but Yan Zhijin’s self-destruction triggered a demon formation that trapped Xiao Hua near Qianyu Mountain. The chapter ended as Xiao Hua used Heaven and Earth Manifestation to seize two ancient savage-beast phantoms.

• Xiao Hua used the Five Qi True Thunder to dispel Zhan Rushui’s Vast Righteous Qi, cut his sash with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors, and captured him with his Nascent Soul hand.
• Yan Zhijin attacked Xiao Hua with turquoise true qi, then used a blood-red bone and charged; his body exploded, scattering blood onto Xiao Hua’s hand.
• Xiao Hua released Zhan Rushui unharmed and called on Qianyu Mountain’s generals to send out Li Xiang and his disciples, but no one answered.
• As Xiao Hua flew toward Qianyu Mountain, Yan Zhijin’s lingering blood light trapped him in a dark formation where demonic runes summoned a fiery bird and an azure savage beast.
• Xiao Hua recognized the formation as one from the Sacred Realm of a Thousand Demons, activated Heaven and Earth Manifestation, and caught both beast phantoms with his enormous hands.

Xiao Hua broke Qianyu Mountain’s demon array, rescued Li Xiang and his companions, and prepared to leave with them. As they set out, Young Master Zhu appeared and begged Xiao Hua to save his father.

• Xiao Hua summoned Xiao Huang and Xiaohei to fight the demon beast phantoms, then used the Ice Mirror to block most of the starlight sustaining them.
• Xiao Huang and Xiaohei absorbed the phantoms’ beast souls, causing the demon array to collapse and the black water around Qianyu Mountain to fall.
• Xiao Hua collected two rune-marked bones and ordered Qianyu Mountain’s general to release Li Xiang and the others.
• Xiao Hua learned that Li Xiang’s cultivation had not been crippled, spared the soldiers, and used his flying sword to break the prisoners’ chains and restraints.
• Xiao Hua arranged horses for Li Xiang and the rescued prisoners, but Young Master Zhu appeared and pleaded for Xiao Hua to save his father.

Xiao Hua rescued Zhu Cheng and the Zhu family from Qianyu Mountain, then accepted a bloodstained ancestral inheritance item that had brought the family trouble. After helping the family leave and giving Zhu Xiang medicine, Xiao Hua departed with Li Xiang, while Tongzhu Kingdom’s forces watched him board his flying carriage.

• Zhu Xiang told Xiao Hua that Tongzhu Kingdom had imprisoned Zhu Cheng and the Zhu family while searching for their rumored True Explanation of the Heavenly Book.
• Xiao Hua ordered the Qianyu Mountain general to release Zhu Cheng and the other Zhu family members, who emerged gravely injured.
• Zhu Cheng asked about Xiao Hua’s cultivation, cut open his own calf, and offered Xiao Hua a tiny ancestral item before fainting.
• Xiao Hua accepted the item and warned Qianyu Mountain’s forces not to pursue the Zhu family or reveal the inheritance, threatening Tongzhu Kingdom if it continued its interference.
• Zhu Xiang thanked Xiao Hua and left with his rescued family after receiving jade bottles and news about Zhu Feng’er.
• Xiao Hua departed with Li Xiang, boarded his flying carriage, and summoned Little Yellow, Xiaohei, and Little Silver as Wang Zhengfei reacted with alarm.

Xiao Hua reluctantly sent Little Yellow and Little Black out to explore and grow, trusting them to discover their own inheritances despite worrying about their safety. After they departed, he told Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei that he considered the young demon beasts his children and would fiercely protect them.

• Little Yellow learned Wang Zhengfei was Xiao Hua's disciple and apologized for challenging him, while Xiao Hua told them to treat each other as peers.
• Xiao Hua spent hours warning Little Yellow and Little Black about the dangers outside, while Little Silver asked to go with them and Xiao Hua persuaded him to stay.
• Xiao Hua finally let Little Yellow and Little Black leave, but they returned briefly to comfort him before setting off again and promising to come back safely.
• Xiao Hua watched the two little ones fly away, worried that he had not given them enough medicine or taught them ways to protect themselves, but trusted their inheritances to guide them.
• Liu Yi asked whether Xiao Hua had placed restrictions on the demon beasts, and Xiao Hua said he would not restrain his children and would punish anyone who harmed them.