Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hua gave his companions and the rescued cultivators care and supplies before examining the disciples whose cultivation had been ruined. He promised to work with Li Xiang to restore them, then invited him aboard the flying carriage to discuss their next steps toward Black Cloud Ridge.

• Xiao Hua let Xiaoyin play with Wang Zhengfei and released the Divine Strength Centipede to keep Liu Yi company.
• Xiao Hua brought the exhausted survivors to rest, apologized to Li Xiang, and gave him clean clothes and medicinal pills.
• Li Xiang told Xiao Hua that Tongzhu Kingdom had preserved his Nascent Soul for an unknown purpose but destroyed the Golden Cores of five disciples and ruined the cultivation of more than half the rest.
• Xiao Hua examined the nearly thirty disciples whose cultivation had been ruined and promised to help Li Xiang restore them after the restraints on his Nascent Soul were lifted.
• Xiao Hua invited Li Xiang onto the flying carriage and urged the group to continue toward Black Cloud Ridge.

Xiao Hua examined Li Xiang’s Nascent Soul restriction and revealed that he had killed Leng Qingge and possessed the formation diagram needed to remove it. After restoring Li Xiang’s Nascent Soul, Xiao Hua offered him pills, but Li Xiang lacked the Blue Phosphorus Pill formula and had lost his possessions.

• Xiao Hua and Li Xiang traveled toward Black Cloud Ridge while discussing the bone fragment Xiao Hua had taken from Zhu Cheng.
• Li Xiang realized Xiao Hua understood Confucian cultivation arts, and Xiao Hua revealed that he had killed Leng Qingge and Yan Zhijin.
• Xiao Hua identified the restriction on Li Xiang’s Nascent Soul as part of the Five Brocade Cloud Diagram and said he held the formation diagram.
• Xiao Hua removed the restriction, restoring Li Xiang’s Nascent Soul.
• Li Xiang asked for Blue Phosphorus Pills, but Xiao Hua had none; Li Xiang explained that their formula and his other possessions were lost with his Cosmic Bag.

Xiao Hua brought Li Xiang to Black Cloud Ridge, where Li recovered some cultivation and saw the stronghold transformed by a grand formation. Xiao Hua asked Li to help Princess Changling establish a nation, but Li said he needed time to consider.

• Li Xiang took Xiao Hua’s Spirit Nourishing Pill, restored his divine sense, and later found the Clear Li Pill less effective.
• Xiao Hua and Li Xiang reached Black Cloud Ridge, where Li discovered that Xiao Hua had turned the ridge into a grand formation and driven the Gaza Kingdom from its Qi Stone mine.
• The Black Cloud Ridge demons and Jiang Kingdom survivors welcomed Xiao Hua and Li Xiang, and Xiao Hua arranged lodging for Li’s disciples and a welcoming banquet.
• Xiao Hua explained how Leng Qingge had established the formation and asked Li Xiang to help Princess Changling establish a nation.
• Li Xiang, wary of repeating past mistakes despite his recovered cultivation, said he needed to consider Xiao Hua’s request.

Xiao Hua reassured Li Xiang that he only wanted help guarding Black Cloud Ridge, then discussed Li Xiang’s proposal to build a kingdom rather than openly establish the Creation Sect. Xiao Hua began restoring Li Xiang’s disciples with Sky Mending Pills and left to inspect the Qi Stone mine, where he rewarded White Lion for his diligence.

• Xiao Hua clarified that Li Xiang could leave after his disciples recovered and said he would not force Li Xiang to become Jiang Kingdom’s Second National Teacher.
• After the welcoming feast, Li Xiang warned Xiao Hua that the demons could cause trouble and suggested founding a kingdom to avoid the prohibition on Daoist sects.
• Xiao Hua considered Li Xiang’s proposal but said he had promised Princess Changling he would help restore Jiang Kingdom.
• Xiao Hua examined a Golden Core disciple, gave Li Xiang dozens of Sky Mending Pills, and had him help treat the injured disciples.
• Xiao Hua left to inspect the Qi Stone mine and rewarded White Lion with a jade flask of spirit wine for guarding the entrance.

Xiao Hua oversaw the Qi Stone mine at Black Cloud Ridge, promised to find cultivation methods for its demons, and checked on Yuan Ya’s training and his feelings for Changling. He then welcomed Li Xiang and his disciples to stay at Black Cloud Ridge, offering them spirit wine and magical artifacts.

• White Lion reported on the Qi Stone mine and explained that the bones cleared from it belonged to miners from the Three Kingdoms; Xiao Hua promised to find cultivation methods for the demons.
• Xiao Hua gathered more Qi Stones than before, then spent half a day clearing weeds from Dao Shan’s grave.
• Xiao Hua found Yuan Ya practicing an axe technique taught by General Kang Li and heard that Changling and her master were working to restore Jiang Kingdom.
• Xiao Hua urged Yuan Ya to spend more time with Changling, but Yuan Ya said he would wait until Jiang Kingdom was restored before speaking to her about Butterfly Dance.
• Li Xiang accepted Xiao Hua’s invitation to remain at Black Cloud Ridge until the Yaotai Gathering, asking for a jar of spirit wine each day.
• Xiao Hua offered Li Xiang’s disciples magical artifacts, and Li Xiang accepted one after recognizing its quality.

Li Xiang warned Xiao Hua that the Yaotai Gathering was a trap designed by the Immortal Palace to eliminate or assimilate Daoist cultivators, but Xiao Hua remained determined to attend. Li Xiang gave him information about the gathering and urged him to keep a low profile.

• Xiao Hua and Li Xiang arranged for Li Xiang's disciples to choose magical implements, then discussed the Yaotai Gathering.
• Li Xiang told Xiao Hua that the Immortal Palace used the gathering and the State Teacher position to weaken Daoist cultivators.
• Li Xiang explained how the State Teacher role, high-level techniques, and rare treasures could entangle Daoist cultivators in Confucian affairs and make them fight one another.
• Xiao Hua said he would still attend because he had promised Changling and had declared that he would establish a Daoist sect.
• Li Xiang described Yaotai Mountain and Star Lord Palace, handed Xiao Hua a jade pupil, and warned him to keep a low profile.

Xiao Hua traveled alone toward the Yaotai Gathering while puzzling over Li Xiang’s warnings and examining Zhu Xi’s mysterious bone pellet. Inside his body, Bone-Tempering Xiao Hua demanded a new way to cultivate and urged Xiao Hua to use Thunder Water to temper his bones, hinting that he understood something important about Light Escape.

• Xiao Hua left Black Cloud Ridge alone in a dazzling flying carriage after assigning Li Xiang to guide Liu Yi and Wang Zhengfei.
• Xiao Hua studied Li Xiang’s jade pupil and reasoned that Daoist cultivators on Cangxian Continent had to guard against one another over scarce cultivation resources.
• Xiao Hua used Buddhist sense and the Buddha Sarira’s light to reveal two cryptic prophetic verses inside Zhu Cheng’s bone pellet, then stored it in his space.
• Bone-Tempering Xiao Hua confronted Jade Slip Xiao Hua for neglecting his cultivation and said the Big Dipper Divine Fist no longer helped him.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua proposed using Thunder Water to temper Bone-Tempering Xiao Hua’s bones, and Bone-Tempering Xiao Hua claimed he understood what Light Escape truly was.

Jade Slip Xiao Hua and Bone Tempering Xiao Hua discussed how the seven Bone Tempering Arts could alter Xiao Hua’s foundation, then tested Thunder Water on Bone Tempering Xiao Hua. The story shifted to Xuan Songzi, a newly formed Nascent Soul cultivator traveling to the Yaotai Gathering, where a surge of buried anger briefly erupted before he calmed himself.

• Jade Slip Xiao Hua explained that Xiao Hua needed to experience seven Bone Tempering Arts and use the Five Elements Origin to change his bones, though the final origin remained unknown.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua brought a thread of Thunder Water from the damaged Execution Stage to Bone Tempering Xiao Hua, who guided it through his body with the Big Dipper Divine Fist.
• Xuan Songzi flew toward the Yaotai Gathering and reflected on how his sect had collapsed after his master and senior brothers died or departed.
• After forming his Nascent Soul, Xuan Songzi chose to become a State Teacher and selected a country whose ruler and prospects suited his plans.
• Xuan Songzi’s cry of “Kill” released a wave of force that sent his attendants flying and erased a chess piece, but he stopped them in midair and returned them safely to the table.

Xuan Songzi was ambushed in the sky by a Confucian general wielding Righteous Qi Pillars and five-colored sword lights. After his body and defenses were destroyed, his Nascent Soul was captured, and a Confucian scholar arrived to congratulate the general.

• Xuan Songzi was caught off guard when an invisible force sent his snow eagle tumbling and Righteous Qi Pillars struck from above.
• Xuan Songzi used his small tower to block the pillars, but five-colored sword pillars attacked the snow eagle and cut his Nascent Soul hand apart.
• The pillars overwhelmed Xuan Songzi’s tower, and a five-colored sword light pierced his defenses and destroyed his physical body.
• Xuan Songzi’s Nascent Soul tried to teleport away, but the Confucian general sealed the area and suppressed it with five-colored sword light.
• The general captured Xuan Songzi’s Nascent Soul in a circular disk, then drew it out as a Confucian scholar arrived and congratulated him.

The Golden Armored Confucian General and the scholar celebrated capturing a third Nascent Soul, but True Lord Huode detected their ambush and warned them to stop hunting Daoist cultivators. They abandoned their plan and flew toward the Jingqin Kingdom, where the Golden Armored Confucian General declared his ambition to rule all of Cangxian.

• The Golden Armored Confucian General praised the scholar for helping him capture three Nascent Souls near Yaotai and prepared to erase Xuan Songzi's Primordial Spirit.
• The scholar detected approaching cultivators, and the Golden Armored Confucian General concealed himself while the scholar went to investigate.
• True Lord Huode arrived with his procession, identified the hidden ruler's strength, and warned him against hunting Daoist cultivators.
• After True Lord Huode departed, the Golden Armored Confucian General and the scholar chose not to attack him and agreed to keep their captures secret.
• The Golden Armored Confucian General summoned the Mountain River Seal and flew toward the Jingqin Kingdom as the scholar cleared the way.
• The Golden Armored Confucian General declared that he would expand his empire across Cangxian and rule all its people.

Xiao Hua was attacked by two Confucian cultivators while riding his celestial horse off course from Yaotai. He killed Xuan Yanming, seized the Jingqin Kingdom’s national treasure and dragon aura, and let Xuan Yanliang flee.

• Xuan Yanming spotted Xiao Hua and charged at him, promising to take his celestial horse as a gift for his Royal Brother.
• Xiao Hua resisted Xuan Yanming’s Mountain River Seal with his Nascent Soul hand and overwhelmed the Confucian general’s attacks.
• Xiao Hua used his colossal dragon projection to swallow the Mountain River Seal and steal Xuan Yanming’s dragon aura.
• Xiao Hua killed Xuan Yanming with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors and absorbed his Nascent Soul projection.
• Xuan Yanliang attacked the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors but fled when Xiao Hua’s power proved too great.
• Xiao Hua recalled his undamaged scissors and credited Du Shanjun’s Divine Sense Method for strengthening his abilities.

After killing Xuan Yanming, Xiao Hua discovered a hidden Immortal Palace Token in the Mountain River Seal and gave it to Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua. He also learned that Nascent Souls could not survive inside his space and offered two empty Nascent Soul shells to his fellow selves.

• Xiao Hua burned Xuan Yanming’s corpse, took his belongings, and learned that he had been the king of Jingqin Kingdom.
• Dragon Vein Xiao Hua summoned Jade Slip Xiao Hua and revealed three Nascent Souls and a powerful cloud wisp hidden in the Mountain River Seal.
• Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua identified the cloud wisp as an Immortal Palace Token and claimed it for his cultivation.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua brought the Nascent Souls into his space, where they began to collapse, then took them back outside and realized they could not enter the space.
• Jade Slip Xiao Hua found that two Nascent Souls were empty shells, and green-robed Xiao Hua entered one before closing its eyes again.

Xiao Hua rescued Xuan Songzi, who offered to serve him in exchange for help surviving as a scattered Nascent Soul. As they traveled toward the Yaotai Gathering, Xuan Songzi explained the perilous path of scattered cultivation, while Xiao Hua refused to let him seize another person's body.

• Xiao Hua learned that Xuan Yanming and an accomplice had ambushed Nascent Soul cultivators traveling to the Yaotai Gathering.
• Xuan Songzi pointed Xiao Hua in the right direction after Xiao Hua admitted he had gotten lost.
• Xuan Songzi offered to swear a blood oath and serve Xiao Hua for a thousand years in exchange for help preserving his Nascent Soul cultivation.
• Xuan Songzi explained the nature of scattered immortals and scattered Nascent Souls, including the dangers and limits of their cultivation.
• Xuan Songzi admitted that body seizure was the best option but said he could not take an ordinary body, and Xiao Hua insisted he would not allow him to harm someone for one.

Xiao Hua rescued Xuan Songzi’s Nascent Soul, but Xuan Songzi initially feared Xiao Hua would exploit him and nearly self-destructed. After Xiao Hua explained himself and gave Xuan Songzi shelter and a Qi Stone, the two exchanged names and formal thanks.

• Jade Slip Xiao Hua found that Five Qi True Thunder harmed the two Nascent Souls, so he nourished them with true essence instead.
• Xuan Songzi awoke, attacked Xiao Hua, and then tried to self-destruct when he realized Xiao Hua was a Daoist cultivator.
• Xiao Hua restrained Xuan Songzi and released him, but Xuan Songzi teleported after the flying carriage and asked to speak.
• Xuan Songzi explained that a newly formed Nascent Soul could not survive long without shelter, so Xiao Hua let him aboard and supplied him with an earth-attribute Qi Stone.
• Xuan Songzi introduced himself and thanked True Person Xiao for saving him, while Xiao Hua said he had not truly saved his life.

Xiao Hua helped Xuan Songzi recover his cultivation resources and enter secluded cultivation as a Scattered Nascent Soul, then studied the Scattered Immortal method and considered its relevance to his own Nascent Souls. As he continued toward the Yaotai Gathering, he met Chang Yu and two other Daoist cultivators heading there.

• Xuan Songzi told Xiao Hua that he had found a Scattered Immortal cultivation method in an Ink Cloud Pupil six hundred years earlier and believed that discovery had led to his present crisis.
• Xiao Hua returned Xuan Songzi's Suspended Mountain Pagoda and found the Ink Cloud Pupil in Xuan Yanming's Cosmic Bag.
• Xiao Hua transmitted part of the cultivation method to Xuan Songzi, who entered the Suspended Mountain Pagoda to cultivate in seclusion while Xiao Hua promised to seek the needed materials.
• Xiao Hua studied the Ink Cloud Pupil and considered whether the method could help his own Nascent Souls cultivate as Scattered Nascent Souls.
• After several divine senses swept over his flying carriage, Xiao Hua met Chang Yu and two other cultivators, who confirmed they were traveling to the Yaotai Gathering.

Xiao Hua met Chang Yu, Zhu Chengli, and Wu Tianxin on the way to the Yaotai Gathering and learned why Daoist cultivators risked attending despite their suspicions about it. The group reached the gathering, where Xiao Hua discovered that Star Lord Palace made its deadly National Teacher selection unpredictable, leaving him with no reliable precedent to follow.

• Chang Yu introduced Zhu Chengli and Wu Tianxin to Xiao Hua, and the four traveled toward the Yaotai Gathering together.
• Wu Tianxin warned that the gathering was dangerous and might conceal malicious dealings, while Chang Yu and Zhu Chengli argued that Daoist cultivators needed National Teacher positions and access to resources.
• Chang Yu promised to invite the others to assist him if he obtained a National Teacher's token, and Xiao Hua suggested they go see the gathering for themselves.
• Chang Yu explained that Daoist cultivators also held exchanges at the gathering, which interested Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua learned that Star Lord Palace changed the selection grounds, rules, and number of tokens each time, and that no one cared how many cultivators died.
• After several days traveling with the three cultivators, Xiao Hua understood that past experiences at the Yaotai Gathering could not reliably guide him.

Xiao Hua and his companions reached Yaotai Mountain, where they received entry tokens and learned that nearby nations were recruiting Daoist cultivators. The Yaotai Gathering would not begin for ten days, and Xiao Hua ended up accepting a large collection of recruitment tokens.

• Chang Yu, Wu Tianxin, and Zhu Chengli grew to revere Xiao Hua after he answered their cultivation questions during the journey.
• The group saw soldiers and tents surrounding Yaotai Mountain, and Zhu Chengli explained that various nations were seeking to recruit Daoist cultivators.
• A cultivator delivered four entry tokens but could not explain how they would enter the mountain or where they could stay before the Gathering.
• Chang Yu led Xiao Hua and the others toward the mountain’s foot, where representatives from several nations offered them patronage tokens.
• Xiao Hua accepted dozens of tokens from the eager representatives, and Chang Yu laughed that they would be useless to him.

Xiao Hua and his companions reached Yaotai Mountain and searched for lodgings while the mountain remained hidden behind a vast crimson defensive array. The arrival of True Person Yuanqing’s grand procession drew attention, and Hong Songzi appeared to greet him as Chang Yu named several renowned Nascent Soul cultivators expected at the gathering.

• Xiao Hua and his companions flew toward Yaotai Mountain and saw its slopes and pavilions concealed beneath a crimson cloud array that rebuffed divine sense.
• Chang Yu suggested that the group stay together in an unoccupied pavilion or cave, and Xiao Hua agreed.
• True Person Yuanqing arrived aboard an enormous ship escorted by sea turtles and python-dragons, and his attendant took a gathering token from a cultivator who approached.
• Hong Songzi arrived on a silver rainbow and greeted True Person Yuanqing, while Chang Yu and Zhu Chengli recognized the two famous Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Chang Yu listed other renowned Nascent Soul cultivators attending the gathering, and Xiao Hua asked why they would need to become national preceptors.

Xiao Hua arrived at the Yaotai Gathering and revealed his strength when True Person Yuanqing and Hong Songzi failed to discern his cultivation. He settled into a palace at the foot of Yaotai Mountain with Chang Yu, Zhu Chengli, and Wu Tianxin as the gathering approached.

• Zhu Chengli described several Nascent Soul cultivators from Yang Province, and Xiao Hua admitted he knew little about the continent’s Daoist masters.
• True Person Yuanqing and Hong Songzi sensed Xiao Hua’s presence, but his cultivation resisted their examination, so they greeted him respectfully and invited him to meet them later.
• Xiao Hua accepted their invitation, then took Chang Yu, Zhu Chengli, and Wu Tianxin to a palace reserved for Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Xiao Hua activated the palace’s Daoist restrictions with a jade token and entered with the others.
• Chang Yu and Zhu Chengli left to cultivate, while Xiao Hua told them the Yaotai Gathering would begin in ten days.

Wu Tianxin revealed to Xiao Hua that his innate ability and incomplete divination art had foretold a deadly crisis on Yaotai Mountain, and he begged Xiao Hua to save him. Xiao Hua learned that Wu Tianxin had sensed a narrow chance of survival connected to him, but the danger remained unavoidable.

• Xiao Hua studied Xuan Songzi's Ink Cloud Pupil in a warded quiet room before Wu Tianxin arrived and begged him for help.
• Wu Tianxin asked Xiao Hua to save his life at the Yaotai Gathering, but hesitated to explain why until Xiao Hua sealed the room's restrictions.
• Wu Tianxin recounted how his instinct for sensing fortune and misfortune led him to an incomplete divination art and a great tribulation he could not face alone.
• Wu Tianxin explained that his divinations pointed to Yaotai Mountain as the site of his crisis and revealed a faint chance of survival, which he believed was tied to Xiao Hua.
• Xiao Hua observed that Wu Tianxin's decision to pursue that chance had brought him to the very place where his life was in danger, and Wu Tianxin agreed that returning would not avert the threat.